Tag Archives: Art

China Clears Golden Globe Winner ‘La La Land’ for Release

Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Fergus Ryan

Although the details are still being worked out, the film, which won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes on Sunday, has been cleared to open in the world’s second-largest movie market this year.

Fresh off its Golden Globes success, Damien Chazelle’s modern musical La La Land got some more good news with the announcement the film will get a release in China.

The Lionsgate film has been approved for distribution in China and will screen in the China Giant Screen format and possibly IMAX 2D, although a specific date is yet to be announced, according to local reports.

China Film Group, the state-backed film company, will be distributing the film, while Shanghai-based Baian Film and Joy Pictures will handle marketing.

Chinese-language posters and trailers were released on Tuesday featuring the film’s Chinese name, or Aiyue Zhicheng, which roughly translates as ‘Music-Loving City.”

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-9-03-46-pm

Local reports indicate that Chazelle and actor Ryan Gosling will travel to China to promote the local release of the film at the end of January. Emma Stone may be absent due to scheduling conflicts.

The feel-good film won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes on Sunday night for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) for Ryan Gosling, Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for Emma Stone, Best Screenplay and Best Director for Damien Chazelle, Best Score for Justin Hurwitz, and Best Original Song for “City of Stars.”

Taiwan pop star Jay Chou’s movie The Rooftop holds the box office record for a musical in China, earning RMB 120 million (US$17.3 million) in 2013. Universal’s 2012 big screen musical Les Misérables pulled in RMB 64.3 million ($9.3 million).

No doubt the film’s local distributors will be hoping to ape the success of last year’s The Revenant, which was able to piggy-back buzz from the Oscars to pull in RMB 377 million ($54.4 million) in China.

La La Land will mark the first time Ryan Gosling has featured on the big screen in China, while co-star Emma Stone has appeared four times previously, including Birdman in 2015, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in 2014, the animated feature The Croods, in 2013, and The Amazing Spider-Man, in 2012.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-9-05-26-pm

(Source: chinafilminsider.com)

Nominations for the British Academy Film Awards in 2017

Posted by Larry Gleeson

On 10 January, the nominations for the British Academy Film Awards in 2017 were announced by Sophie Turner and Dominic Cooper.

maxresdefault
Sophie Turner, left, and Dominic Cooper announce the British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, January 19th, 2017 at BAFTA Headquarters, 195 Picadilly in London. (Photo via YouTube)

The nominations for the British Academy Film Awards in 2017 have been announced.

La La Land is nominated in 11 categories. Arrival and Nocturnal Animals both receive nine nominations and Manchester by the Sea has six. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, Lion and I, Daniel Blake receive five nominations each. Moonlight and Florence Foster Jenkins have both been nominated four times.

La La Land is nominated for Best Film, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design and Sound.  Damien Chazelle is nominated for both Director and Original Screenplay and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone for Leading Actor and Leading Actress.

Arrival receives nominations for Best Film, Adapted Screenplay, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Sound and Special Visual Effects, as well as Director for Denis Villeneuve and Leading Actress for Amy Adams.

Nocturnal Animals is nominated for Leading Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal, and for Supporting Actor for Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The film is also nominated for Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design and Make Up & Hair. Tom Ford is nominated for both Director and Adapted Screenplay.

Manchester by the Sea is nominated for Best Film and Editing. Kenneth Lonergan is nominated for both Director and Original Screenplay. Casey Affleck is nominated for Leading Actor and Michelle Williams for Supporting Actress.

Ken Loach is nominated for Director for I, Daniel Blake, which is also nominated for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress for Hayley Squires.

Moonlight is nominated for Best Film and Original Screenplay with two further nominations for Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris who are nominated for Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress respectively.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is nominated for Outstanding British Film, Production Design, Costume Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects.

Andrew Garfield is nominated for Leading Actor for Hacksaw Ridge, which is also nominated for Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Make Up & Hair and Sound.

Lion is nominated for Adapted Screenplay, Original Music and Cinematography. Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman are nominated for Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress respectively.

Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant are nominated for Leading Actress and Supporting Actor for their roles in Florence Foster Jenkins. The film is also nominated for Costume Design and Make Up & Hair.

Jeff Bridges is nominated for Supporting Actor for Hell or High Water, which is also nominated for Original Screenplay and Cinematography.

Natalie Portman is nominated for Leading Actress for Jackie, which is also nominated for Original Music and Costume Design.

Also receiving acting nominations are: Viggo Mortensen for Leading Actor for Captain Fantastic; Emily Blunt for Leading Actress for The Girl on the Train; and Viola Davis for Supporting Actress for Fences.

The four films nominated for Animated Film are Finding Dory, Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana and Zootropolis. The nominations for Film Not in the English Language are Dheepan, Julieta, Mustang, Son of Saul and Toni Erdmann.

Notes on Blindness is nominated for Documentary and Outstanding British Film. The film also receives a nomination for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Pete Middleton (Writer/Director/Producer), James Spinney (Writer/Director), and Jo-Jo Ellison (Producer).

The other nominations in the Documentary category are 13th, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years, The Eagle Huntress and Weiner.

Under the Shadow receives a nomination for Outstanding British Film, as well as for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Babak Anvari (Writer/Director) alongside the film’s producers Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill and Lucan Toh.

The other nominations for Outstanding British Film are American Honey and Denial.

The remaining nominations for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer are The Girl With All the Gifts (Mike Carey, Writer, Camille Gatin, Producer), The Hard Stop (George Amponsah, Writer/Director/Producer, Dionne Walker, Writer/Producer) and The Pass (John Donnelly, Writer, Ben Williams, Director).

Doctor Strange receives nominations for Production Design, Make Up & Hair and Special Visual Effects. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is nominated for Make Up & Hair and Special Visual Effects.

Five other feature films receive one nomination each: Hidden Figures for Adapted Screenplay; Hail, Caesar! for Production Design; Allied for Costume Design; Deepwater Horizon for Sound and The Jungle Book for Special Visual Effects.

The British Short Animation nominees are The Alan Dimension, A Love Story and Tough. The five nominations for British Short Film are Consumed, Home, Mouth of Hell, The Party and Standby.

The nominees for the Rising Star Award, announced last week, are Anya Taylor-Joy, Laia Costa, Lucas Hedges, Ruth Negga and Tom Holland. This audience award is voted for by the British public and presented to an actress or actor who has demonstrated exceptional talent and has begun to capture the imagination of the UK public.

The British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 12 February at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The ceremony will be hosted by Stephen Fry and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One and BBC One HD. The ceremony is also broadcast in all major territories around the world.

bafta

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – featuring workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes – in the UK, USA and Asia; it offers unique access to the world’s most inspiring talent and connects with a global audience of all ages and backgrounds.

(Source: bafta.org)

Hugh Jackman’s Logan claws out world premiere in Berlin film festival

Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Andrew Pulver

Logan, the third and final standalone Wolverine film to star Hugh Jackman as the adamantine-clawed mutant, is to receive its world premiere at the Berlin film festival in February.

Logan, which follows X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013) in featuring the character as its main protagonist, revolves around an ageing Wolverine whose powers are failing. Directed by James Mangold, and co-starring Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen, Logan will screen an as out-of-competition film, ahead of its cinematic release in early March.

Also receiving its world premiere at the festival will be Viceroy’s House, the Gurinder Chadha-directed historical drama about the end of the Raj and the partition of India, featuring Hugh Bonneville as Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, and Gillian Anderson as Lady Edwina Mountbatten.

Like Logan, Viceroy’s House will screen in an out-of-competition slot; as will T2 Trainspotting, the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 Irvine Welsh adaptation. Although T2 Trainspotting will have been released in the UK before the festival begins, its screening at the festival is billed as an “international premiere”.

These films join the already announced lineup, which includes the Richard Gere thriller The Dinner, Penélope Cruz in The Queen of Spain and Aki Kaurismäki’s latest, The Other Side of Hope. The festival also revealed recently that this year’s opening film would be Django, a biopic of the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt directed by Étienne Comar.

67berlinale_logo

The Berlin international film festival runs from 9-18 February.

(Source: theguardian.com)

The Berlinale Festival profile

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Berlin: an exciting, cosmopolitan cultural hub that never ceases to attract artists from around the world. A diverse cultural scene, a critical public and an audience of film-lovers characterize the city. In the middle of it all, the Berlinale: a great cultural event and one of the most important dates for the international film industry. More than 335,000 sold tickets, more than 20,000 professional visitors from 122 countries, including more than 3,800 journalists: art, glamour, parties and business are all inseparably linked at the Berlinale.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-11-51-03-am

The entire world of film

The public program of the Berlin International Film Festival shows about 400 films per year, mostly international or European premieres. Films of every genre, length and format find their place in the various sections: great international cinema in the Competition, independent and art house in Panorama, films for young audiences in Generation, new discoveries and promising talents from the German film scene in Perspektive Deutsches Kino, avant garde, experimental and unfamiliar cinematography in the Forum and Forum Expanded, and an exploration of cinematic possibilities in Berlinale Shorts. The Berlinale Special, including Berlinale Special Gala, is showing new and extraordinary productions and honours great cinema personalities. Berlinale Special Series, which began in 2015, presents selected international series. The program is rounded out by a Retrospective as well as an Homage, which focuses on the œuvre of a great personality of cinema, curated by the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen. Beginning in 2013, the Retrospective expanded to include presentations of Berlinale Classics. They show current restorations of film classics as well as rediscovered films.

Furthermore the Berlinale has regularly organized a program of special presentations that open up new perspectives, provide insight into key themes, make new connections and explore realms where film intersects with other creative disciplines. Food, pleasure and the environment – these are the topics that lie at the centre of the Culinary Cinema. Berlinale Goes Kiez is traveling from arthouse cinema to arthouse cinema within the city to present selected films from the Berlinale program and NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema is devoted to the cinematic story-telling of Indigenous peoples worldwide.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-11-54-16-am

The film industry at the Berlinale

The Berlin International Film Festival is a source of inspiration in the global film community: film programs, workshops, panel discussions, joint projects with other social and cultural actors – the forms of cooperation and the possibilities for creative interaction are countless.

The most important meeting point is the European Film Market (EFM). Around 550 companies and more than 9,000 professionals from 110 countries build and foster contacts here, strengthen their position in the industry or negotiate film rights.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market, affiliated to the EFM, offers fertile ground for international co-productions.

Berlinale Talents brings high profile professionals attending the Berlinale to workshops and discussions with 250 promising young film talents from all over the world. Both sides benefit. The talents profit from the experience of the professionals, who in turn gain fresh ideas from taking part.

The World Cinema Fund (WCF) provides financial support to film projects in countries with weak film infrastructure thereby helping strengthen the regions’ position on the international film market.

The Berlinale Residency program offers international directors a grant to come to Berlin for several months. Working in close contact with individually selected mentors and market experts, the directors can take a decisive step toward placing their next film project on the way to a successful theatrical release.

The close connection between the festival and market is a unique characteristic of the Berlinale and always results in exceptional synergies.

67berlinale_logo

(Source: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin)

Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2017: The Millennial Generation

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Fourteen Films, including nine full-length fiction and documentary films, have been invited for the Perspektive Deutsches Kino in 2017.

Strong fiction films by millennials characterize this year’s selection. The directors, who are mostly in their early 30s and were coming of age around the turn of the millennium, were shaped and socialized by this period. With them we take a look back into childhood and adolescence. We see kids affected by their parents’ separation, and encounter endless parties and drugs. We accompany the protagonists on their search for personal freedom and stability.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-4-55-35-am

The fiction film Millennials (dir: Jana Bürgelin, prod: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg) uniquely exemplifies this generation. It is a documentary-style big city tale that follows the two protagonists, Anne Zohra Berrached and Leonel Dietsche, on their “éducation sentimentale” around Berlin. Leo is a photographer and would finally like some recognition for his photos. Anne is a successful film director and wants a child, but since she has no partner, she has, in wise foresight, frozen a few of her eggs.

In the fiction film Die Tochter (Dark Blue Girl, prod: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg) director Mascha Schilinski approaches in an unusual way the problems children have after their parents split up. How must they redefine their positions and attitudes towards their separated parents when it comes to closeness and distance? Seven-year-old Luca (Helena Zengel) – in her desire to remain the only woman in her father’s life and, at the same time, the link between her parents – becomes a master manipulator.

Director Adrian Goiginger, who also studied at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, took a year off and during this time found production partners for his fiction film Die beste aller Welten (The Best Of All Worlds) in Lailaps Pictures in Munich and RitzlFilm in Austria. In a love story of a different kind, he re-examines his childhood by following seven-year-old Adrian (Jeremy Miliker) into the extremely exciting and adventurous world of his heroine-addicted mother.

In the film Zwischen den Jahren (End of the Season, prod: Radical Movies Production, Cologne) by Lars Henning, the world of Becker (Peter Kurth), the film’s protagonist, is very limited. After having served fifteen years in jail, he just wants to lead a quiet life in self-imposed solitude. But then the man whose life he destroyed eighteen years earlier returns to haunt him. It is Lars Henning’s second full-length fiction film and again he has reversed the victim-offender constellation conventional for this genre.

For the first time ever the Perspektive Deutsches Kino will show a film from the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK). The film Final Stage by Nicolaas Schmidt stands out for the filmic balancing act it conducts between documentary observation and subtle staging. Gabi, produced at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, will open the Perspektive 2017 together with Back for Good (see post from December 21, 2016). According to director Michael Fetter Nathansky, it is a cinematic attempt to find expression for what has so often been said but has still been unable to change anything.

Christian von Brockhausen and Timo Großpietsch’s Könige der Welt (We were kings) about the music band “PICTURES” completes the programme. First known as “Union Youth”, the band came together at the turn of the millennium. With their mix of grunge and alternative they quickly became the German “Nirvana”. The film revisits a drug-filled past and accompanies their new start.

On February 19, 2017 – Berlinale Publikumstag – the Perspektive will screen the winners of the Max Ophüls Prize 2017 for best fiction feature and the First Steps Award 2016 for best documentary (Raving Iran, dir: Susanne Regina Meures).

Film list:

Die beste aller Welten (The Best Of All Worlds)
By Adrian Goiginger
With Verena Altenberger, Jeremy Miliker, Lukas Miko, Michael Pink
Feature film
World premiere

Final Stage
By Nicolaas Schmidt
With Aaron Hilmer, Fynn Grossmann
Medium long feature film
World premiere

Gabi
By Michael Fetter Nathansky
With Gisa Flake, Florian Kroop, Britta Steffenhagen, Martin Neuhaus
Medium long feature film
World premiere

Könige der Welt (We were kings)
By Christian von Brockhausen, Timo Großpietsch
Documentary film
World premiere

Millennials
By Jana Bürgelin
With Anne Zohra Berrached, Leonel Dietsche, Jan Koslowski, Anna Herrmann
Feature film
World premiere

Die Tochter (Dark Blue Girl)
By Mascha Schilinski
With Helena Zengel, Karsten Antonio Mielke, Artemis Chalkidou
Feature film
World premiere

Zwischen den Jahren (End of the Season)
By Lars Henning
With Peter Kurth, Karl Markovics, Catrin Striebeck, Leonardo Nigro
Feature film
World premiere

Films announced so far:

Back for Good
By Mia Spengler
With Kim Riedle, Juliane Köhler, Leonie Wesselow
Feature film
World premiere

Eisenkopf (Ironhead)
By Tian Dong
Documentary film
World premiere

Kontener (Container)
By Sebastian Lang
With Joanna Drozda, Anka Graczyk
Medium-long feature film
World premiere

Mikel
By Cavo Kernich
With Jonathan Aikins
Medium-long feature film
World premiere

Selbstkritik eines bürgerlichen Hundes (Self-criticism of a Bourgeois Dog)
By Julian Radlmaier
With Julian Radlmaier, Deragh Campbell, Beniamin Forti, Kyung-Taek Lie
Feature film
German premiere

Tara
By Felicitas Sonvilla
With Sasha Davydova, Leo van Kann, Lena Lauzemis
Medium-long feature film
World premiere

Ein Weg (Paths)
By Chris Miera
With Mike Hoffmann, Mathis Reinhardt
Feature film
World premiere

Logo-Berlinale-Facebook

(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

Competition and Berlinale Special

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Danny Boyle, Hong Sangsoo, Thomas Arslan, Volker Schlöndorff, Sabu, Álex de la Iglesia and Josef Hader’s Directorial Debut in the Competition Programme

screen-shot-2017-01-10-at-10-55-31-am

Competition

The following films will be celebrating world or international premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2017.

Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun, Kwon Haehyo, Song Seonmi, Ahn Jaehong, Park Yeaju
World premiere

El Bar (The Bar)
Spain
By Álex de la Iglesia (Mad Circus, The Day of the Beast, The Oxford Murders)
With Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi, Terele Pávez, Secun de la Rosa, Alejandro Awada, Joaquín Climent, Jaime Ordóñez
World premiere – Out of competition

Helle Nächte (Bright Nights)
Germany / Norway
By Thomas Arslan (Dealer, Vacation, In the Shadows, Gold)
With Georg Friedrich, Tristan Göbel, Marie Leuenberger, Hanna Karlberg
World premiere

Joaquim
Brazil / Portugal
By Marcelo Gomes (Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures, The Man of the Crowd, I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You)
With Julio Machado, Isabél Zuaa, Nuno Lopes, Rômulo Braga, Welket Bungué, Karay Rya Pua
World premiere

Logan
USA
By James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted, Walk The Line, The Wolverine)
With mit Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Doris Morgado, Sienna Novikov, Elizabeth Rodriguez
World premiere – Out of competition

Mr. Long
Japan / Germany / Hong Kong, China / Taiwan
By Sabu (Monday, Chasuke’s Journey)
With Chen Chang, Sho Aoyagi, Yiti Yao, Junyin Bai
World premiere

Return to Montauk
Germany / France / Ireland
By Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, Diplomatie)
With Stellan Skarsgård, Nina Hoss, Susanne Wolff, Niels Arestrup
World premiere

T2 Trainspotting
United Kingdom
By Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire)
With Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner
International premiere – Out of competition

Viceroy’s House
India / United Kingdom
By Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham, What’s Cooking)
With Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi
World premiere – Out of competition

Wilde Maus (Wild Mouse)
Austria
By Josef Hader
With Josef Hader, Pia Hierzegger, Georg Friedrich, Jörg Hartmann, Denis Moschitto
World premiere – First Feature

Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

Es war einmal in Deutschland… (Bye Bye Germany)
Germany / Luxemburg / Belgium
By Sam Garbarski (The Rashevski’s Tango, Irina Palm, Quartier Lointain)
With Moritz Bleibtreu, Antje Traue, Mark Ivanir, Tim Seyfi, Hans Löw, Anatol Taubman, Pál Mácsai, Vaclav Jakoubek
World premiere

Berlinale Special Gala at the Zoo Palast

In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (In Times of Fading Light)
Germany
By Matti Geschonneck (Boxhagener Platz, Das Zeugenhaus)
In collaboration with Wolfgang Kohlhaase
With Bruno Ganz, Hildegard Schmahl, Sylvester Groth, Evgenia Dodina, Natalia Belitski, Alexander Fehling, Gabriela Maria Schmeide
World premiere

Berlinale Special at Kino International

Masaryk (A Prominent Patient)
Czech Republic / Slovakia
By Julius Sevcík (Restart, Normal – The Düsseldorf Ripper)
With Karel Roden, Hanns Zischler, Arly Jover, Oldrich Kaiser, Dermot Crowley, Milton Welsch, Eva Herzigová
World premiere

A further 13 films have thus been invited to screen in the Competition and Berlinale Special section at the 67th edition ofthe Berlin International Film Festival.

In addition to the previously announced titles (see press releases from January 4, 2017 and December 15, 2016), productions from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong – China, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxemburg, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the USA have now been added to the programme. Austrian actor Josef Hader will be presenting his directorial debut in the Berlinale Competition 2017.

The complete programme of the Competition and Berlinale Special will be announced soon.

Logo-Berlinale-Facebook

(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

19 Filmmakers from the United States at Berlinale Talents 2017

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Berlinale Talents welcomes 250 of the best emerging film and drama series professionals from 71 countries as 2017 Talents.

19 of the selected Talents are living and working in the United States, of whom 11 have US citizenship. The group is comprised of 6 directors, 4 producers, 3 production designers, 3 cinematographers, 1 distributor, and 2 actors.

In addition, 2 Talents with US citizenship are living abroad: Bryerly Long (Japan), Jordan Schiele (China).

The Talents will take part in an expansive six-day programme featuring around 100 events with internationally renowned experts holding master classes and workshops, many of which are open to the public.

Berlinale Talents takes place at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer, February 11 – 16, 2017.

(Source: Berlinale Talents Press Department)

Berlinale Talents: 250 Young Filmmakers from 71 Countries Invited – ARRI new Partner

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Berlinale Talents welcomes 250 emerging professionals from 71 countries to its 15th edition. Exploring the theme “Courage: Against All Odds”, the Talents will participate in a six-day programme featuring over 100 events, with many open to the public. Environmental sculptor Christo is going to join Berlinale Talents. The acclaimed artist will be one of around 100 internationally renowned experts presenting and discussing their work. Berlinale Talents will again take place in the theatres of HAU Hebbel am Ufer from February 11 to 16, 2017.

screen-shot-2017-01-09-at-10-24-11-am

Festival Director Dieter Kosslick comments on the upcoming anniversary edition: “Since 2003 we have welcomed 5,128 young Talents to Berlin, with over 100 returning to the festival or the film market each year. This extended network symbolises cultural exchange across all borders, keeps the festival cutting-edge and is living proof that talent development always pays off.”

An international selection committee chose the 250 Talents out of 2,711 applicants from 127 nations based on their prior achievements and the impact and relevance of their artistic work in their home countries. The 2017 Talents hail from the fields of directing (106), producing (49), acting (15), screenwriting (5), cinematography (17), editing (14), production design (13), film criticism (8), sales and distribution (10), score composing (6) and sound design (8). Out of these, 40 participants with projects in development have been selected for Project Labs in the categories documentary, fiction and short film. The Talents are usually five to ten years into their careers and have extensive professional expertise, considerable festival exposure and, often times, award-winning films under their belts.

ARRI New Co-Partner of Berlinale Talents

In order to further boost its talent development, Berlinale Talents is delighted to welcome ARRI as a co-partner in 2017. Boasting a long tradition, the company is a global leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of camera and lighting systems for the film industry, and is also active as an integrated media service provider in postproduction and in the rental of camera, lighting and stage equipment. ARRI will support the 2017 Berlinale Talents programme with several events focusing on technical innovation in image and light design as well as digital postproduction. These include, among others, a workshop with leading experts at the “Camera Studio” and a case study on a large TV drama series production.

2015_0011_img_175xvar
Berlinale Talents Project Manager Christine Trostrum (Photo via berlinale media archive)

“ARRI and Berlinale Talents share core values such as a pioneering spirit, a dedication to perfecting their craft and a passion for artistic work. It is an honour for us to have gained a strong and visionary partner such as ARRI, especially on its 100th company anniversary,” Berlinale Talents Project Manager Christine Tröstrum comments.

Dr. Jörg Pohlman, Managing Director of ARRI AG, adds: “Berlinale Talents is where success stories are created and future trends are forged. It’s important to us to actively support this major platform for talent development and to help shape the programme. We very much look forward to the ideas and contributions of the international Talents and wish all participants a successful Berlinale Talents 2017.”

For more information on the Berlinale Talents Click Here

The full Berlinale Talents programme will be published on January 31, 2017.

Press contact Berlinale Talents:
Malte Mau

phone +49 30 259 20-518
fax +4930 259 20-534

Berlinale Talents is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, in cooperation with the Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Federal Film Board.

Logo-Berlinale-Facebook

(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

Palm Springs International Film Festival – January 9

Posted by Larry Gleeson

See some of the day’s top films! Here’s my tip sheet for some of the day’s most spectacular screenings!

MORE GREAT FILMS SCREENING ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 10

THE LAST FAMILY

Poland – 2016 – 123 minutes
Director: Jan P. Matuszyński
FOCUS ON POLAND
Last_family_psiff.jpg

Drawing on an incredibly dense personal archive compiled by surrealist Zdzislaw Beksinski, Matuszynski has fashioned not a traditional portrait of the artist, but an immersive chronicle of an extreme, morbid domesticity in late 20th-century Poland. Winner: Best Actor, Locarno; Best Film, Denver, Lisbon & Estoril, and Polish (Gdynia).

Tue, Jan 109:30 AM – Regal
Thu, Jan 127:00 PM – Regal
Purchase tickets HERE

A SERIOUS GAME

Sweden/Denmark/Norway – 2016 – 115 minutes
Director: Pernilla August
WORLD CINEMA NOW
saving_psiff

An achingly sensual story of love and adultery set in the early years of the 20th century, this is an adaptation of a classic 1912 novel by Hjalmar Söderberg about a passionate affair between a painter and a journalist. “A visual delight [with] a deft screenplay by Lone Scherfig.” Screen

Tue, Jan 1010:00 AM – Mary Pickford

Purchase tickets HERE.

YOU CAN READ THE PSIFF PROGRAM BOOK ONLINE!
did_you_know_psiff
You can read the official 2017 Palm Springs International Film Festival
Souvenir Program Book online.
Just click HERE.

THE NET

South Korea – 2016 – 114 minutes
Director: Kim Ki-duk
MODERN MASTERS

 

THE_NET_PSIFF.jpg

The provocative auteur Kim Ki-Duk delivers his most restrained and nuanced work in some time with The Net, a story about a simple North Korean family man who inadvertently drifts into South Korean waters, where he is brought in for questioning and accused of being a spy.

Tue, Jan 104:30 PM – Camelot
Fri, Jan 138:30 PM – Regal
Purchase tickets HERE.

SEALED CARGO

Bolivia/France/Mexico/Venezuela – 2015
108 minutes
Director: Julia Vargas Weise
AWARDS BUZZ-BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
sealed_cargo_psiff
A crew of hapless police and a stowaway make their way across Bolivia in an aged train, searching for a place to dump highly toxic cargo in this sharp, witty satire. “Boundlessly energetic.” Hollywood Reporter.

 

Tue, Jan 105:00 PM – Mary Pickford
Sat, Jan 144:30 PM – Regal

Director, Julia Vargas Weise to attend January 10.

Purchase tickets HERE.

FESTIVAL MERCHANDISE

merchandise_psiff

A stand-alone Film Festival Store  for the Palm Springs International Film Festival is featuring a complete collection of Film Festival Merchandise at Destination PSP. The Festival Store is now open and will be open every day through January 16.
The Festival Store is located in the Regal Cinema Courtyard Plaza, unit 16,
just down from the Regal Cinemas and across the courtyard from the
Festival Ticket and Information Center.

You can also shop online at Destination PSP by clicking HERE

SOUVENIR

Belgium/Luxembourg/France – 2016 – 90 minutes
Director: Bavo Defurne
WORLD CINEMA NOW
US Premiere

sovenir_psiff

Huppert sings! The radiant Isabelle Huppert does it again in Defurne’s musical romance, playing a former Eurovision star who lets her handsome co-worker (Kévin Azaïs) convince her to make a comeback. A sweet and simple gem from the director of North Sea Texas.

Tue, Jan 105:30 PM – Camelot
Fri, Jan 134:00 PM – Regal
Sun, Jan 1512:45 PM – PSHS
Director, Bavo Defurne to attend January 10.
Purchase tickets HERE
GREAT FILMS, GREAT Q&As 
qas_psiff

THE ARDENNES

Belgium – 2015 – 96 minutes
Director: Robin Pront
AWARDS BUZZ-BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
the_ardennes
Belgium’s Oscar® submission is a wintery crime drama about two brothers with bad blood and a trust deficit between them. A downbeat first half quickens into a brutal, unnerving climax with an extra helping of “crazy” on the side.
Tue, Jan 107:00 PM – Regal
Thu, Jan 1210:00 AM – Mary Pickford
Purchase tickets HERE.

KEEP QUIET

UK/Hungary – 2016 – 97 minutes
Directors: Sam Blair, Joseph Martin
TRUE STORIES
KEEP_QUIET.jpg
While still young, anti-Semite Csanád Szegedi became vice president of Jobbik, Hungary’s far-right political party. Then he discovered he was Jewish and converted to Orthodox Judaism… Sam Blair and Joseph Martin’s captivating film is judiciously even-handed about Szegedi’s supposed change of heart. Or is it?
Tue, Jan 107:30 PM – Palm Canyon
Purchase tickets HERE

(Source:psiff.org)

Golden Globes – Winners & Nominees (Film) 2017

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Tra la la!  La La Land  scores a record seven Golden Globe Awards!

Here’s a list of this year’s winner and nominees for this year’s film awards:

 

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 8.30.27 PM.png

Best Motion Picture – Drama:
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight” (WINNER)

 

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-34-11-pm

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
“20th Century Women”
“Deadpool”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Sing Street”
“La La Land” (WINNER)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-36-46-pm

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Amy Adams – “Arrival”
Jessica Chastain – “Miss Sloane”
Ruth Negga – “Loving”
Natalie Portman – “Jackie”
Isabelle Huppert – “Elle” (WINNER)

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-43-02-pm

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Joel Edgerton – “Loving”
Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Viggo Mortensen –  “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington – “Fences”
Casey Affleck – “Manchester by the Sea” (WINNER)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-45-33-pm

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
Annette Bening – “20th Century Women”
Lily Collins – “Rules Don’t Apply”
Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen”
Meryl Streep – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Emma Stone – “La La Land” (WINNER)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 8.47.55 PM.png

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
Colin Farrell – “The Lobster”
Hugh Grant – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Jonah Hill – “War Dogs”
Ryan Reynolds – “Deadpool”
Ryan Gosling – “La La Land” (WINNER)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-50-00-pm

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Naomie Harris – “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman – “Lion”
Octavia Spencer – “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams – “Manchester by the Sea”
Viola Davis – “Fences” (WINNER)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-52-33-pm

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Mahershala Ali – “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges – “Hell or High Water”
Simon Helberg – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Dev Patel – “Lion”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – “Nocturnal Animals” (WINNER)

 

Best Director – Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-54-52-pm

Best Director – Motion Picture:
Tom Ford – “Nocturnal Animals”
Mel Gibson – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan – “Manchester by the Sea”
Damien Chazelle – “La La Land” (WINNER)

 

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-57-20-pm

Best Screenplay:
“Nocturnal Animals”
“Moonlight”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land” (WINNER)

 

Best Motion Picture – Animated

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-9-02-27-pm

Best Motion Picture – Animated:
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“Sing”
“Zootopia” (WINNER)

 

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-9-04-06-pm

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language:
“Divines” – France
“Neruda” – Chile
“The Salesman” – Iran/France
“Toni Erdmann” – Germany
“Elle” – France (WINNER)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-9-06-14-pm

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
Nicholas Britell– “Moonlight”
Johann Johannsson – “Arrival”
Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka – “Lion”
Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch – “Hidden Figures”
Justin Hurwitz – “La La Land” (WINNER)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-9-08-57-pm

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” – “Trolls”
“Faith” – “Sing”
“Gold” – “Gold”
“How Far I’ll Go” – “Moana”
“City of Stars” – “La La Land” (WINNER)

(Sources: goldenglobes.org, variety.com)