News

Peter Garde, European film financing vet and frequent collaborator of filmmakers like Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, has died aged 67 in Fakse, Denmark, after a long battle with cancer. Garde’s wife, Nanna, confirmed the news to Deadline alongside his close associates, Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Anders Kjærhauge.

Garde began his education in finance in the small town of Store Heddinge in Denmark, where he was a student set to become a banker. He ultimately went on to start his own financial exchange company.

After the success of Lars Von Trier’s Breaking The Waves, Garde was convinced by his close friend producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen to join Zentropa and help manage all the money that was pouring into the studio, which ultimately became the beginning of Garde’s long career with Lars Von Trier and Zentropa Studios’ films. He joined the company in 1997.

Garde was responsible for piecing...

Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert’s transgender drama Women Of world premieres in Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.

As ever the filmmaking team – who have been working together for more than two decades on titles such as Mug, In The Name Of and French-language drama Elles – are pushing boundaries in their native Poland.

Set against the backdrop of the country’s transition from communism to capitalism, Woman Of follows protagonist Aniela Wesoły across the course of 45 years as she seeks to live freely as a trans woman in a small provincial town.

The film charts Wesoly’s journey with her wife, as the couple navigate her transition in an environment where it is neither recognized nor accepted.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time. The first impulse was 20 years ago when Michal [who is also a cinematographer] filmed one of the first [transition] surgeries,” says Szumowska.

“But there...

Memento International and Anonymous Content have boarded “Woman Of,” a bold Venice competition entry written and directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. The film is a pioneering trans drama set in against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism.

“Woman Of” stars Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik as Aniela Wesoły, who lived more than half of her adult life in a provincial Polish town as a man. “Woman Of…” spans 45 years of the life of Aniela as she aspires to find personal liberty as a trans woman and faces hardships in marriage and parenthood, strained family relations and complicated attitudes in her environment.

“‘Woman Of’ is the result of many years of work, a film that tells a story of a mature trans woman living in Poland, who does not fit the social norms of a traditional family,” said Szumowska and Englert, who have been working on movies together for over 20 years.

BlondePhoto: Netflix

Young Adam (2003): A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers’ lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer.

Bad Education (2004): An examination...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its membership.

According to a press release, the organization that hands out Oscars each year at the Academy Awards has extended invitations to join the Academy to 398 artists and executives who have made notable contributions to the motion picture industry.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a joint statement.

Read More: The Academy Announces 2024 Oscars Date As Well As Submission Deadline

There are some big names and familiar faces among the invitees, including musicians Taylor Swift and David Byrne, and numerous actors, ranging from Selma Blair to Keke Palmer to “Elvis” Oscar nominee Austin Butler.

Those who accept will be only additions to Academy’s membership in 2023.

Vicky Krieps, Paul Mescal, Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav, Aftersun writer-director Charlotte Wells, She Said director Maria Schrader, and Kerry Condon are among 398 who have been invited to join the Academy.

Some 40% of the 2023 class identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 76 Oscar nominees including 22 winners among the invitees.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership. Should they all accept, the total number of members...

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert, recent acting nominees Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Stephanie Hsu, and bold-face names for the extremely online like Taylor Swift, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav were among the 398 people announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

“The academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang in a joint statement.

This year’s class of new members is heavy on 2022 breakouts, like the aforementioned Kwan and Scheinert – invitees in both the directors’ brand and the producers’ branch. In keeping with academy practice,...

The Academy has invited 398 artists across cinematic disciplines to join its membership, including Taylor Swift, Keke Palmer and this year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

Also scoring invitations are actors Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Ram Charan, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Noémie Merlant, Paul Mescal, Nt Rama Rao Jr. and Paul Reiser, directors Joseph Kosinski, Maria Schrader and Michael Showalter, writers Josh Friedman, Kazuo Ishiguro and Charlotte Wells.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo The Daniels (Credit: Getty Images)

Eight people were invited to join the Academy by multiple branches and must choose which...

Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and David Byrne, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro, former SXSW chief Janet Pierson, WME co-chairs Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, and actors including Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Bill Hader, Paul Mescal, Nicholas Hoult, Keke Palmer, Ke Huy Quan and Rrr stars Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. are among the 398 artists and executives from around the world who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year, the Oscar-dispensing organization announced Wednesday.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the names of its newest round of invitees, increasing the number of voting members past 10,000, should everyone accept.

With the addition of the 398 artists and executives that the Academy extended invitations to (totaling one more invite than last year), the Academy now boasts a membership that is 34 percent women, 18 percent from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 20 percent from countries or territories outside of the United States. Though their invites have a rolling deadline, they must accept them and pay dues in order to vote for the Oscars and gain access to benefits like the Academy Screening Room.

Among the list of possible new members are, predictably, many of the filmmakers behind Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu, Best Film Editing winner Paul Rogers,...

It’s that time of year again — the break between Cannes and the fall festivals, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes its membership invitations. The Oscars group said today that it has extended offers to 398 artists and execs — one more than last year — who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.

The list includes actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians, executives, artist reps, publicists and below-the-liners such as casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, production designers and sound pros.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”

As usual, the invitees include newly minted Oscar winners,...

Polish directorial duo Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert have set drama “Let Me Out” as their next film.

Spanning 45 years, the film will focus on Adam, trying to be a good husband and father in a small town in Poland. But Adam starts to feel increasingly uncomfortable in his body, one that doesn’t reflect his true identity — as a woman, Aniela.

Produced by No-Mad Films — a collaboration of Madants and Nowhere — it stars Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik and “Cold War” breakout Joanna Kulig, recently seen in Berlinale opener “She Came to Me.”

Both actors have collaborated with Szumowska before, on her films “Body,” for which Szumowska won a Berlinale Silver Bear, and “Elles.”

“People’s knowledge of that subject is still very limited — old stereotypes persist. It will be a difficult film and a sensitive subject, but therefore very important,” says Szumowska, admitting the duo has been thinking about the story...

Hello, everyone! We’re back with the final installment of our Sunday Shorts series that we’ve been running as part of Daily Dead’s 2022 Indie Horror Month celebration. For today’s selection of quick bites of fright, we have a fun assortment of horror shorts on tap, including Lydie Manzano’s Elles, Rancour by Dane Hallett, Dalton Sherrill’s Don’t Press Record, and Peek A Boo from Alex Magaña. And if you’ve missed any of our previous Sunday Shorts installments, you can catch up with them Here).

Enjoy!

Elles (Directed by Lydie Manzano)

Synopsis: In a world devastated by a virus, Alex tries as best he can to mourn his wife...

Rancour (Directed by Dane Hallett)

Synopsis: A mother reaches out to her estranged son in a last-ditch effort to convince him to farewell his father, but we soon discover that the wayward scion is lost in...

by Nathaniel R

Though it's easy to lose track of great cinema, especially in this strange time of virtual festivals and very little traditional moviegoing, you won't want to miss Never Gonna Snow Again, when it arrives this Spring. The Polish hopeful in this year's Oscar's International Feature Film race is a hard-to-describe elusive wonder about a Ukranian massage therapist (Stranger Thing's Alec Utgoff) who a suburban community becomes obsessed with. We were thrilled to jump on the phone with its talented 47 year-old director Malgorzata Szumowska. She's forged a long and international career for herself with award winning films like Elles (with Juliette Binoche), Body, the LGBT drama In the Name of, and her first English language picture last year, the cult drama The Other Lamb. 

She goes by 'Malgo'. "It's easier," she offers quickly, surely having heard her name mangled before. The director lives up to our expectations with...

Kino Lorber has acquired the North American rights to “Never Gonna Snow Again,” Poland’s submission to the Oscars race for Best International Film, and the indie distributor is planning a release in spring 2021.

Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert directed “Never Gonna Snow Again,” and the two also co-wrote and produced, with Englert also serving as the cinematographer. The film premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival this year and won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Award, and it was also an official selection of the canceled Telluride Film Festival.

“Never Gonna Snow Again” stars “Stranger Things” actor Alec Utgoff as Zhenia, a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East who enters the lives of the rich residents of a bland, walled-off community as a masseur. Despite their wealth, the residents emit an inner sadness and a longing. The mysterious newcomer’s hands heal and his eyes seem to penetrate their souls.

Małgorzata Szumowska's The Other Lamb is exclusively showing October 16, 2020 - November 14, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.“Would anyone like more lamb?,” a jolly voice proclaims, as pairs of arms pass around the dish in question. Arranged in an orderly fashion, the seats around this scant dining table are gendered and color-coded—a single male figure in the center separates girls in blue from women in red. This strict hierarchy makes up the world of The Other Lamb, a male-dominated religious cult led by a charismatic leader. The less the Shepherd (Michiel Huisman) speaks, the more suffocating this social circle seems, and his power, as is made evident early on, is bestowed via gestures of violent touch, gazes, or merely his presence. The women appear complacent, like lambs headed to the slaughter, all except Selah (Raffey Cassidy), whose tremendous (but blind) devotion proves most prone to disillusionment. Polish filmmaker Małgorzata...

How much healing can a good massage provide? A fast-fading hour or so of relaxation, or a more sustained sense of general well-being and peace with the world, so long as it’s topped up with repeat appointments? In “Never Gonna Snow Again,” a searching, cryptic satire of bourgeois insularity in modern Poland, the magic hands of an immigrant Ukrainian masseur are tasked with easing a litany of woes, from middle-class guilt to climate change anxiety to terminal cancer — though no one thinks to ask him about his own interior aches and pains. After last year’s moody but mildly received English-language diversion “The Other Lamb,” prolific Polish auteur Malgorzata Szumowska returns to home turf in this Venice competition entry, and the result is her most compelling and hauntingly realized film to date.

With a run of variously provocative, distinctively styled films through the 2010s — including the Juliette Binoche starrer...

Yes, really. A full calendar year since Game of Thrones ended. It's true what they say about time and flying, as swiftly as if it were thrown out the moon door.

David Benioff and Dan Weiss' Emmy-winning, record-smashing, epic fantasy adaptation of George R.R. Martin's even more epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire reached the end of the line on May 19, 2019, a before time that gives all new meaning to the phrase "sweet summer child." The rage and pain some fans felt after feeling burned by the events of the ...

There’s a scene in Małgorzata Szumowska’s dark, stomach-churning, brilliant drama The Other Lamb that perfectly encapsulates the life-on-the-outside longing of being born into a cult. A charismatic man referred to by his flock as Shepherd is leading his all-female acolytes on foot as they search for a new home; a visit from the authorities set this plan into action. One of his followers–his daughter–is Selah, a teenager whose mother passed away shortly after giving birth. Selah is simultaneously spellbound by and suspicious of Shepherd. As she and her fellow daughters and wives wander the harsh landscape, a car passes by. Selah imagines herself in the backseat, chewing gum, wearing a high school jacket. Her eyes meet the eyes of her imaginary double. And away the car drives.

Achingly memorable scenes like this make The Other Lamb a shattering film, the type of harrowing genre entry that should develop a strong following.

Marriage Story actress Laura Dern is cleaning up this awards season with a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and many are putting their money on her to win the Oscar come February 9. Now, the Little Women star is heading to Quibi for the forthcoming series Just One Drink.

The mobile streaming platform, which launches April 6, is partnering with Jaywalker Pictures to develop the new project which will be a series of one-act vignettes between a bartender and the customers she serves, all of whom are in various states of emotional disrepair.

The series will be written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and award-winning author Nick Hornby who will also serve as executive producer with Dern as well as Jayme Lemons for Jaywalker Picture and Elisa Ellis for Platform One Media.

Dern’s new project comes after the announcement of Quibi’s nature docuseries Fierce Queens which will...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

Before we get to our weekly streaming picks, check out our annual feature: Where to Stream the Best Films of 2019.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld (Mads Brügger)

In 1961, Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in a plane crash in Africa under mysterious circumstances. Beginning as an investigation into his still-unsolved death, the trail that Mads Brügger follows in Cold Case Hammarskjöld is one that expands to implicate some of the world’s most powerful governments in unfathomably heinous crimes. Without revealing the specifics of the jaw-dropping revelations in this thoroughly engrossing documentary, if there’s any justice, what is brought to light will cause global...

Malgorzata Szumowska, best director winner at the Berlin Film Festival for “Body,” has started shooting “Wonder Zenia,” starring “Stranger Things” actor Alec Utgoff, on location in and around Warsaw.

Utgoff, who played Alexei in the third season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and also appeared in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” stars in the title role in “Wonder Zenia.” The film also stars Agata Kulesza, who played “Red Wanda” in Oscar-winner “Ida,” Maja Ostaszewska (“Body”), Weronika Rosati and Katarzyna Figura.

Zenia, the film’s protagonist, is an industrious Ukrainian migrant worker in Poland who makes house calls as a masseur to the needy and aspirational residents of a middle-class gated community near Warsaw. He is privy to all of their problems, anxieties and secrets – and something of an unwitting guru figure. Zenia’s grounded spirituality, apparent healing powers and broad shoulders make him an object of lust for many of the lost souls in the community.

Movies about religious cults used to be a relatively rare occurrence. They’ve grown more frequent of late, however, surely sending up some kind of emergency flare to illuminate disturbing general cultural trends. “The Other Lamb” is just one of several such films at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, and as the English-language debut of Polish helmer Malgorzata Szumowska may have the best shot among them at finding a substantial audience beyond the festival circuit.

Still, this often visually striking tale of an all-female cult in thrall to its lone-male leader is very much art-house fare — slowly paced, terse with character and narrative insight. In the end, the director and screenwriter Catherine S. McMullen don’t really seem to be saying anything more complicated than the basic notion that blind submission to a patriarch is bad news for women, children and probably men as well. Still, the film’s...

“China Yellow, China Blue” is a two part documentary which covers the turbulent history of China from the end of the Qing dynasty and the formation of the Republic of China up until 1996. The documentary has two parts: “Part 1: The Time of Troubles” which covers the years 1900-1949 and “Part 2: The People’s Republic of China” which deals with the years 1949-1996. The title of the documentary refers to the two competing Chinas: the yellow: the rural and agrarian China of the peasants (yellow is the colour for the Earth in Chinese) and the blue (the colour of the Water): the coastal and urban China founded upon maritime trade, that of the Intellectuals and Communist Party Officials. The two parts juxtapose the old and the new, using archival footage from a variety of sources to take the viewer on a historical and political journey through time.

“China Yellow,...

Juliette Binoche on Sunday opened up about performing an intimate sex scene in her latest movie, Safy Nebbou's Celle que vous croyez (Who You Think I Am), with French co-star François Civil, who also played her teenage son in the 2011 drama Elles.

"It was pretty rapid, actually. He felt a bit shy and modest, and I found that sweet. But that's part of the things that happen to you in this profession," Binoche told a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival. The Chocolat star was touting Nebbou's dramedy, in which she plays Claire, a 50-year-old ...

Juliette Binoche on Sunday opened up about performing an intimate sex scene in her latest movie, Safy Nebbou's Celle que vous croyez (Who You Think I Am), with French co-star François Civil, who also played her teenage son in the 2011 drama Elles.

"It was pretty rapid, actually. He felt a bit shy and modest, and I found that sweet. But that's part of the things that happen to you in this profession," Binoche told a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival. The Chocolat star was touting Nebbou's dramedy, in which she plays Claire, a 50-year-old ...

Mug

Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska has been steadily making features since 2000, but her 2011 film Elles (read review) was an initial international breakout thanks to the participation of French actress Juliette Binoche (who recently announced she will be producing another project with Szumowska in the near future).

Continue reading...

In order to make accurate predictions about the potential Cannes Film Festival lineup, it’s first important to explore which films definitely won’t make the cut. The glamorous French gathering is notorious for waiting until the last minute before locking in every slot for its Official Selection. That includes competition titles, out of competition titles, a small midnight section and the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Cannes announces the bulk of its selections in Paris on April 13, but until then, there are plenty of ways to make educated guesses. Much of the reporting surrounding the upcoming festival selection is simply lists of films expected to come out this year. However, certain movies are definitely not going to the festival for various reasons.

That’s why our own list of potentials doesn’t include “Image Et Parole,” Jean-Luc Godard’s followup to “Goodbye to Language,” which sales agent Wild Bunch now anticipates as a 2018 title.

Face

Director: Malgorzata Szumowska

Writer: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert

Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska has been steadily making features since 2000, but her 2011 film Elles was an initial international breakout thanks to featuring French actress Juliette Binoche (who recently announced she will be producing another project with Szumowska in the near future).

Continue reading...

Robin Wright, Catherine Hardwicke, Freida Pinto and Juliette Binoche are joining forces for a new omnibus film Together Now, to be produced by the nonprofit production company We Do It Together. The company’s first feature, Together Now, will be comprised of seven short films, each of which will pair a woman director with a prominent actress to tell what producers promise will be an inspiring story. The directors who have come on board include Wright, Hardwicke, Katia Lund (All the Invisible Children), Patricia Riggen (The 33), Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda), Malgorzata Szumowska (Elles) and Melina Matsoukas (Beyonce’s Formation). Pinto and

read more...

As always, a number of deserving film festival entries are stragglers in need of distribution or funneled away by buyers to be released in the following year. One of the downsides of attending a number of film fests is seeing great cinema sometimes plopped unceremoniously into a limited theatrical (or even VOD) release over a year later without any traction. And if a film happened to receive a cold shoulder at a prestigious venue like Cannes the chances of convincing audiences otherwise is a difficult feat.

Happily, all but two titles from this list currently have Us distribution (and with a little luck, someone will eventually get around to snapping those up, too). A thankful shout out to the following distributors is in order, with Strand Releasing responsible for three of the titles, while Kino Lorber, Sundance Selects, Drafthouse, A24, and Alchemy make up the others. Until then, here’s...

Malgorzata Szumowska's previous films (Elles, In the Name Of) have looked at the conflict between mind and body, in a darkly serious tone. In her latest film Body (which won the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlinale), she again looks to how mind and body interact, but with a decidely comic tone, though it's still a dark one. It's a rather absurdist look at how three connected people deal with death and grief, told with intimacy and engaging characters.A prosecuting attorney (Janusz Gajos) visits the sites where various citizens of Warsaw have died, either by their own hand or someone else's, and in the meantime, lives with and tried to help his daughter Olga (Justyna Suwala). Olga suffers from anorexia, and her mental state...

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

Exclusive: Latest feature from Anne Fontaine has just started principal photography in Poland’s Mazury region and stars Ida’s Agata Kulesza.

Films Distribution has picked up international distribution rights for Anne Fontaine’s latest feature Innocent with Ida star Agata Kulesza appearing in a French and Polish cast.

The French-Polish co-production between Mandarin Cinema and Aeroplan Film centres on true events in Poland during winter of 1945 when a young French Red Cross intern (played by Lou de Laage) discovered a group of nuns in a nearby convent in the advance state of pregnancy after they were raped by soldiers of the Red Army.

Kulesza - who was the young nun’s aunt in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-nominated film - is one of the nuns in this drama written by Fontaine with Sabrina B. Karine, Alice Vial and Pascal Bonitzer. Other parts are taken by Polish actresses Agata Buzek (Reverse) and Joanna Kulig (Elles)

Principal photography has just...

Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Pattinson, added to Berlinale competition line-up; Mr. Holmes, starring Ian McKellen as an aged Sherlock, to play out of competition.

The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has added a further eight titles to its Competition programme, ahead of the complete line-up next week.

The films, which originate from across Europe, Asia, the Us and the Middle East, include the world premiere of Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog’s biopic based on the life of British explorer Gertrude Bell.

Nicole Kidman plays the 19th century explorer, known as the female Lawrence of Arabia, and her co-stars include James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson (as Te Lawrence).

Berlinale 2015: new Competition films

Body

Poland

By Malgorzata Szumowska (Stranger, Elles, In the Name of)

With Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala

World premiere

Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories)

Vietnam / France / Germany...

Sebastian Schipper, Werner Herzog, Benoit Jacquot and Further Titles Added to the Selection

Another eight films have been selected for the Competition Programme of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The productions are from the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong/China, Iran, the People’s Republic of China, Poland, the USA, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Body

Poland

By Malgorzata Szumowska (Stranger, Elles, In the Name of)

With Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala

World premiere

Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories)

Vietnam / France / Germany / Netherlands

By Di Phan Dang (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid)

With Do Thi Hai Yen, Le Cong Hoang, Truong The Vinh

World premiere

Journal d’une femme de chambre (Diary of a Chambermaid)

France / Belgium

By Benoit Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen; Three Hearts)

With Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Clotilde Mollet, Hervé Pierre, Vincent Lacoste

World premiere

Mr. Holmes

United Kingdom

By Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate)

With...

Toward the end of the potent In the Name of by Polish director Malgoska Szumowska (Elles, 33 Scenes From Life), about a country priest’s desperate efforts to repress the love that dare not speak its name, a glorious procession snakes through an empty meadow. All the residents of a nearby isolated provincial community participate, many holding icons in their hands or tall embroidered banners aloft, the pageantry proudly announcing the devout Catholicism that is their passion. Accompanied by what sounds like mellow English folk music, the lengthy sequence is more a holy entr’acte than a chunk of in-progress narrative. In […]...

Toward the end of the potent In the Name of by Polish director Malgoska Szumowska (Elles, 33 Scenes From Life), about a country priest’s desperate efforts to repress the love that dare not speak its name, a glorious procession snakes through an empty meadow. All the residents of a nearby isolated provincial community participate, many holding icons in their hands or tall embroidered banners aloft, the pageantry proudly announcing the devout Catholicism that is their passion. Accompanied by what sounds like mellow English folk music, the lengthy sequence is more a holy entr’acte than a chunk of in-progress narrative. In […]...

A conflicted cleric gets stranded at a rural retreat for teenage tearaways in a film infused with stifled longing

This quiet provocation from the Polish arm of Lars von Trier's Zentropa Entertainments falls into that conflicted-cleric subgenre encompassing everything from The Thorn Birds to Antonia Bird's Priest. The tightening dog collar here belongs to Adam (Andrzej Chyra), who – after several muttered-about transfers – has been stranded at a rural retreat for teenage tearaways, where he finds regular woodland runs can't burn off a growing sense of isolation. Co-writer/ director Malgorzata Szumowska, improving upon 2011's Elles, downplays the conflicts in a scenario apparently ripe for torrid melodrama, allowing the story and characters to reveal themselves at their own pace. The gotcha-like ending may prove debatable, but Szumowska refuses to judge her protagonist, instead placing him within a persuasive atmosphere of stifled longing: every lingering sunbeam serves as an encouragement to...

★★★☆☆ Catholicism and homosexuality is hardly a taboo partnership in modern Western cinema, but it is subject matter that retains the potential to be incendiary if mishandled. Thankfully, director Malgorzata Szumowska approaches the topic with apposite sensitivity in new film In the Name Of (2013), in UK cinemas this week through Peccadillo Pictures. Andrzej Chyra takes centre stage as a priest desperately trying to reconcile his faith and sexuality, whilst also acting as shepherd to a troubled flock. Yet, though the themes and performances combine to great effect, it remains hampered by a rough-edged, desultory narrative.

It's a dry, hot summer in a Polish backwater and Father Adam (Chyra) is the likeable head of a reformatory hostel for delinquent teenagers, along with his stern colleague Michal (Lukasz Simlat). Working days are spent on manual labour whilst the pair try to impart a sense of discipline and camaraderie through evening football matches. A...

Małgowśka Szumowska’s In the Name Of made its debut out in Berlin at the start of the year, walking away from the festival with two awards to its name.

Of those two awards was the prestigious Teddy Award, given to a film which looks at Lgbt topics, with past winners including Ira Sachs’ acclaimed Keep the Lights On last year, Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right, and many more.

Having spent the past few months on the festival circuit since its bow at the Berlinale, the film will soon be heading into UK cinemas at the end of the month, and we have the UK quad poster to exclusively share.

Directed by auteur Malgoska Szumowska (Elles) and winner of this 2013′s Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival, In The Name Of is a gripping and controversial look at homosexuality in the church, steeped in religious symbolism...

The last time we saw Juliette Binoche on screen, she was frantically grinding away on Robert Pattinson's crotch in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. Before that was prostitution tale Elles – in which the fearless 49-year-old French star confronted us with graphic masturbation – and she then took on Strindberg's Miss Julie at London's Barbican. Just a typical year in the career of the one who, back home, they call "La Binoche". "As an actor, you go into dangerous places," she shrugs. "And you're showing things that not always everybody wants to see or feel."...

Films from Poland, Romania and Slovenia will screen in the 2013 Berlinale Official Competition. The Official Competition, Panorama, Forum and Generation sections have also selected films from Turkey, Georgia, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic and Latvia.

The Polish director Małgośka Szumowska returns to the Berlinale after Elles (2012), starring Juliette Binoche, with W imię... /In the Name of, selected for the Official Competition. The film is produced by Mental Disorder 4 in coproduction with Canal +, and it follows Father Adam who takes over a small parish in the middle of nowhere and has to confront a long forgotten burden and passion. The main characters are played by Andrzej Chyra and Mateusz Kościukieiwcz. Memento Films is the sales agent.

Danis Tanovic makes his entrance in the Official Competition of the Berlinale with Epizoda u životu berača željeza/An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, the story of a 31 year old woman pregnant with her third child who needs emergency surgery, but has no health inssurance. The film is a coproduction between Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Slovenia, involving Pro.ba, Emotionfilm and Asap Film France. The cast includes Senada Alimanovic, Nazif Mujic, Sandra Mujic, and Semsa Mujic.

This is also the first Berlinale for the Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer, who screens in the Official Competition with Poziţia copilului/Child's Pose, a mixture of drama, emotion and humour about the relationship between an overbearing mother and her adult son. Răzvan Rădulescu and Călin Peter Netzer wrote the script and the main characters are played by Luminiţa Gheorghiu (Moartea domnului Lăzărescu/The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu) and Bogdan Dumitrache (Cu cele mai bune intenţii/Best Intentions). Child's Pose is a 100% Romanian production between Parada Film and HaiHui Entertainment.

After travelling with the first two parts of his Paradise film trilogy to Cannes and Venice, ground-breaking Austrian director Ulrich Seidl is a newcomer to the Berlinale where the third film in the series is to be screened in the Official Competition. Paradies: Hoffnung/Paradise: Hope is a coproduction between Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion GmbH (Austria, www.ulrichseidl.com), Tatfilm (Germany, www.tatfilm.de) and Société Parisienne de Production ( France, www.coproductionoffice.eu).

Georgia sends two films to Berlin. On 7 February, the Panorama’s main programme will openwith the GeorgianChemi Sabnis Naketsi/A Fold in My Blanket by Zaza Rusadze. Produced by director’s production companyZazarfilm with the support of the Georgian National Film Centre, the film tells the story of a young man returning to his home town after studying abroad. Tornike Bziava, Tornike Gogrichiani, and Zura Kipshidze are the main actors. Media Luna New Films is the sales agent.

A Georgian-German coproduction will be screened in Forum. Grzeli nateli dgeebi/In Bloom, the first feature by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß, is focusing on two young female friends in a country marked by civil war and poverty in 1992.

Two Turkish films were also selected for Panorama. Asli Ozge's Hayatboyu/Lifelong is a Turkish-German-Dutch coproduction between Razor Film Produktion, Augustus Film, Kaliber Film, Bulut Filmand, and Soda Media. The cast includes Defne Halman, Haka Cimenser, and Gizem Akman. Uğur Yücel's Soğuk/Cold is a 100% Turkish production starring Cenk Alibeyoğlu, A. Rıfat Şungar, and Valeria Skorohodova.

Croatia is also represented with two films selected for the Forum section. Krugovi/Circles Srdan Golubović’s drama of three parallel stories about heroism is produced by the Serbian company Bas Celik and the German company Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, in coproduction with the Slovenian company Vertigo/E-motion Film, the Croatian company Propeler Film and the French company La Cinefacture.

Another Croatian coproduction, this time with Bosnia and Herzegovina, was also selected in Forum. The story from Obrana i zaštita/A Stranger aka The Bridge, written and directed by the acclaimed theatre and film director Bobo Jelčić, is set in Mostar, a town still divided into the Croatian and the Bosnian side 20 years after the war. The film is a tale about prejudice, human weaknesses and conflict between the individual and the society played by: Bogdan Diklić, Nada Đurevska, Ivana Roščić, and Izudin Bajrović. The project involves Spiritus Movens, Produkcija Kadar and Croatian Radio and Television.

Two Austrian films will be shown in the Forum section, beginning with the world premiere of Gustav Deutsch's Shirley – Visions of Reality. This Austrian production of Kgp Kranzelbinder Gabriele Production uses 13 cinematically vivified paintings by Edward Hopper in order to tell the story of a woman who lives in a reality she sees as a made up construct. The cast includes Stephanie Cumming, Christoph Bach, and Florentin Groll.

Die 727 Tage ohne Karamo/The 727 Days without Karamo by Anja Salomonowitz (also in Forum) is a documentary experiment of 21 binational couples sharing personal moments of their love stories, forming one complete story of how love can rise above the written law. The 80 minite film is produced by Amour Fou Vienna.

The German-Polish coproduction Sieniawka by Marcin Malaszczak, screening in Forum, is a lyrical portrait of post-socialist reality between Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, conceived of as a mix of fictional staging and documentary representation of a dilapidated mental asylum and a landscape scarred by coal mining

Reha Erdem's Jîn (Turkey), selected in Generation 14plus, sees the war between guerrillas and the army in Kurdish areas in Turkey through the eyes of a 17 year old girl, a young fighter (played by Deniz Hasgüler). The film is produced by Ömer Atay through Atlantik Film.

Kasia Rosłaniec's Baby Blues (Poland), will have its European premiere in Generation 14plus. After Mall Girls, Kasia Rosłaniec made a teenage mother’s tour de force through a world of daily chores, nappies fashion and drugs. Zentropa International Poland is producing.

Mammu, es Tevi mīlu/Mother, I Love You by the Latvian director Jānis Nords, selected in Generation Kplus, is the touching story of a misunderstood adolescent who tries to negociate his relationship with his mother while delving into the world of the petty crime. The film is produced by Tanka ( [email protected]) and stars Kristofers Konovalovs, Vita Varpina, and Matiss Livcans.

Cee Films At The Berlinale:

Official Competition:

W imię... /In the Name of by Małgośka Szumowska (Poland)

Epizoda u životu berača željeza/An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina-France -Slovenia)

Poziţia copilului/Child's Pose by Călin Peter Netzer (Romania)

Paradies: Hoffnung/Paradise: Hope by Ulrich Seidl (Austria-Germany-France)

Panorama:

Chemi Sabnis Naketsi/A Fold in My Blanket by Zaza Rusadze (Georgia)

Hayatboyu/Lifelong by Asli Ozge (Turkey-Germany)

Soğuk/Cold by Uğur Yücel (Turkey)

Forum:

Grzeli nateli dgeebi/In Bloom by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß (Georgia-Germany)

Krugovi/Circles by Srdan Golubović (Serbia-Germany-Slovenia-Croatia-France)

Obrana i zaštita/A Stranger by Bobo Jelčić (Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Shirley – Visions of Reality by Gustav Deutsch (Austria)

Die 727 Tage ohne Karamo/The 727 Days without Karamo by Anja Salomonowitz (Austria)

Sieniawka by Marcin Malaszczak (Germany-Poland)

Generation 14plus:

Jîn by Reha Erdem (Turkey)

Baby Blues by Kasia Rosłaniec (Poland)

Generation Kplus:

Mammu, es Tevi mīlu/Mother, I Love You by Jānis Nords (Latvia)...

★★☆☆☆ Malgoska Szumowska's In the Name Of (W imie, 2013) is first out the blocks in the race for this year's Golden Bear prize. An uneven, yet innovative examination of love through the constraints of the Catholic church, Szumowska's follow up to the underwhelming Elles (2011) is a patchy affair that asks its audience to cast the first stone. Adam (Andrzej Chyra) is a Catholic priest who discovered his calling late in life. He's slowly found a niche for himself working in rural Poland helping young orphaned boys with behavioural problems reintegrate into society. It's an insular life and not one suited to a man whose soul hungers for companionship.

Read more »...

With the turn of a new year, the uncomfortably futuristic sounding 2013, comes twelve more months of cinematic gold, silver and bronzed offal. There will be Supermen, more Hollywood remakes of cult Korean cinema, at least one memorable meltdown and the continuation of Marvel’s epic campaign of terror against bewildered audiences. But amidst the blockbuster A-list and populist spotlight of public consciousness smaller things will be occurring, whirling cogs that are put in motion purely to make sure I get what I want. These are the things we want to see happen in film this year.

A year ago I hoped for five things and got two and a half, with Leo DiCaprio waiting for the last moment to shine as the villainous Calvin Candie in Django Unchained, while Megan Fox disappeared almost completely from our screens during a barren year and Taylor Lautner’s agent earned no calls aside...

Pacha, a Bolivian film by Héctor Ferreiro will open the first edition of the Kochi International Film Festival today. The festival that will run from December 16-23 will be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy.

The festival will screen films from Latin America, Europe, Asia and USA, apart from films on the 100 Years of Indian Cinema and Centenary of Masters.

A total of 50 international films and 24 Indian films will be screened. Five films from Thailand, eight from Poland six films from Iran will be a part of the international section. While 18 Malayalam, one Tulu film and three Hindi films are in the line-up.

Line up of films:

100 Years of Indian Cinema

Malayalam Golden 10:

Elippathayam (The Rat Trap) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Chidambaram by G. Aravindan

Danny by T. V. Chandran

Amma Ariyan by John Abraham

Oppol by K. S. Sethumadhavan

Nirmalyam by M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Uppu by Pavithran

Olavum Theeravum by P.

Sneak Peek "Elles", directed and co-written by Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska, starring Juliette Binoche as 'Anne', a journalist in Paris for French "Elle" magazine who is researching an article about female student prostitution :

"...'Anne' persuades two students into talking to her: the provocative 'Alicja' (Joanna Kulig), an ambitious economics student who left Poland to further her education; and the subtle 'Charlotte' (Anaïs Demoustier), enrolled in a Parisian classe préparatoire, determined to leave her modest provincial background behind.

"Where Anne is expecting misery and distress, she discovers freedom, pride, and empowerment. As Anne’s professional curiosity in the two women becomes a matter of personal interest, she starts to rediscover her own sexuality..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Elles"...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 1, 2013

Price: DVD $24.98, Blu-ray $29.98

Studio: Entertainment One

Robert Pattinson lives by limo in Cosmopolis.

Robert Pattinson took a step away from Twilight superstardom to star in David Cronenberg’s (A Dangerous Method) 2012 film adaptation of Cosmopolis, a drama based on Don DeLillo’s 2003 novel of the same name.

In the movie, Pattinson stars as 28-year-old billionaire financier Eric Packer, who spends one long day riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut. As Packer’s limo is luxurious, spacious, sound-proofed and filled with television screens and computer monitors so that he can continue working, it shouldn’t be a problem that there’s heavy traffic all over the city. But between a handful of strange events and even stranger encounters with a host of people, Packer’s day devolves into a dangerous odyssey that starts to tear his world apart.

Cronenberg...

The 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) has announced its lineup. The festival will run from 7th to 14th December, 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.

Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.

Complete list of films:

Competition Films

Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.

Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)

Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)

A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)

Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)

Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)

The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)

Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)

Present Tense...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 11, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $34.95

Studio: Kino Lorber

Juliette Binoche likes what she hears in Elles.

The 2011 foreign-language drama film Elles starring the always-watchable Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) is the latest exploration of female sexuality to come out of France.

Vacillating between opposing worlds defined alternatively by sexual freedom and constraint, Elles stars Binoche as Anne, a well-off Parisian journalist investigating the lives of two student prostitutes (Joanna Kulig and Anais Demoustier) for a magazine article. What begins as a routine assignment shaped by preconceived notions quickly turns personal, as Anne is drawn into the lives of the pair of fiercely independent young women and forced to confront her own sexual fears and desires.

Co-written and directed by Malgoska Szumowska, the unrated Elles received a limited rollout to theaters in the U.S. in April, 2012, just as it did across the world in the preceding and subsequent months.

Last week saw the release of a handful of new international films, with Jo Nesbø’s Headhunters topping the list, and this week brings with it a rather different line-up, with Peter Berg’s Battleship being the biggest name amongst the new arrivals, opposite Kevin Macdonald’s critically acclaimed documentary, Marley.

My picks of the week:

Kevin Macdonald’s Marley & Daniel Lee’s White Vengeance.

Marley Iframe Embed for Youtube

DVD and Blu-ray (inc. Digital and UltraViolet Copies)

Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) returned this year with Marley, a documentary following on from his Life in a Day project last year, bringing us a portrait of one of the most iconic figures in music of the last century.

And we’ve currently got three copies of the film on Blu-ray to give away – click here to enter the competition.

“Marley is the definitive film about one of...