On the indie side of filmmaking life, Sean Price Williams has seen it all. He’s worked with the Safdies, Alex Ross Perry, Nathan Silver, Robert Green, and Athina Rachel Tsangari, and often more than once. He’s the premier chronicler of New York City independent movies behind the camera, typically shooting on celluloid, and bringing surreal, gritty poetry to character-driven stories that feel on the ground like portraits of versions of ourselves.
One of the most unabashedly movie-loving cinematographers working today, Williams last year moved to directing for the sprawling, scratchy-edged tale of East Coast youth, “The Sweet East,” which remains in theaters and features stars like Jacob Elordi, Simon Rex, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ayo Edebiri.
But even more recently than that directorial debut, he released a “1000 Movies” book via Metrograph Editions, a simple, unadorned paperback that offers, rather than commentary, pages listing his favorite essential films and...
One of the most unabashedly movie-loving cinematographers working today, Williams last year moved to directing for the sprawling, scratchy-edged tale of East Coast youth, “The Sweet East,” which remains in theaters and features stars like Jacob Elordi, Simon Rex, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ayo Edebiri.
But even more recently than that directorial debut, he released a “1000 Movies” book via Metrograph Editions, a simple, unadorned paperback that offers, rather than commentary, pages listing his favorite essential films and...
- 5/7/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Welcome back, Insider crew. Jesse Whittock taking you through another eventful week in film and TV. Let’s begin.
Drama In UK Drama ‘This Is Going to Hurt’
Antitrust the process: Not great news for the UK’s fabled TV drama community this week as we brought news that the antitrust investigation spooking producers will be prolonged for at least six months – and likely far longer. A reminder: the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) probe is examining whether BBC Studios, ITV Studios and four other storied indies colluded by informally fixing freelancers’ wage rates. The extension will see the CMA implement “further investigatory steps” and assessment of evidence” for the next six months, and those Max spoke with said the authority has an enormous wealth of evidence to get through. “Stressed” and “jittery” was the vibe described by one connected source about those being probed, who now face months...
Drama In UK Drama ‘This Is Going to Hurt’
Antitrust the process: Not great news for the UK’s fabled TV drama community this week as we brought news that the antitrust investigation spooking producers will be prolonged for at least six months – and likely far longer. A reminder: the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) probe is examining whether BBC Studios, ITV Studios and four other storied indies colluded by informally fixing freelancers’ wage rates. The extension will see the CMA implement “further investigatory steps” and assessment of evidence” for the next six months, and those Max spoke with said the authority has an enormous wealth of evidence to get through. “Stressed” and “jittery” was the vibe described by one connected source about those being probed, who now face months...
- 4/5/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Some of the biggest names in the world of British film have showered praise on the “game-changing” new 40% British indie film relief.
Announced earlier today by UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt following lobbying from the BFI and Pact for months, the relief will apply to movies made for less than £15M ($19M). Today’s move was coupled with a 5% increase in tax relief for UK VFX costs in film and high-end TV, and business rates relief of 40% for major studios.
Sixteen Films producer and Ken Loach collaborator Rebecca O’Brien joked that the “genuine game changer” has prompted her to rethink whether to stop making movies.
“It’s extraordinary,” she told Deadline shortly after the credit was announced. “It just gives me confidence and means if I can raise the money more easily, I can spend more time helping the production and making a good film rather than spending all my time...
Announced earlier today by UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt following lobbying from the BFI and Pact for months, the relief will apply to movies made for less than £15M ($19M). Today’s move was coupled with a 5% increase in tax relief for UK VFX costs in film and high-end TV, and business rates relief of 40% for major studios.
Sixteen Films producer and Ken Loach collaborator Rebecca O’Brien joked that the “genuine game changer” has prompted her to rethink whether to stop making movies.
“It’s extraordinary,” she told Deadline shortly after the credit was announced. “It just gives me confidence and means if I can raise the money more easily, I can spend more time helping the production and making a good film rather than spending all my time...
- 3/6/2024
- by Zac Ntim and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Roll up, roll up: It’s Cannes prognostication time.
With the 77th edition of the great cinema showcase less than three months away, the blurred outline of a lineup is beginning to emerge. At this stage, the process of elimination is as telling as the process of inclusion: hardly any films have been guaranteed a slot by the festival, but we’re starting to get some clarity on which projects are likely to be ready and which are leaning towards a different launch strategy.
There has been a longstanding expectation that George Miller will be back at the festival with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux himself has said he “hopes” it’ll be there and while it isn’t locked yet, nothing we’re hearing so far indicates it won’t be at the festival. The film’s May 22 France release date and Miller’s long...
With the 77th edition of the great cinema showcase less than three months away, the blurred outline of a lineup is beginning to emerge. At this stage, the process of elimination is as telling as the process of inclusion: hardly any films have been guaranteed a slot by the festival, but we’re starting to get some clarity on which projects are likely to be ready and which are leaning towards a different launch strategy.
There has been a longstanding expectation that George Miller will be back at the festival with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux himself has said he “hopes” it’ll be there and while it isn’t locked yet, nothing we’re hearing so far indicates it won’t be at the festival. The film’s May 22 France release date and Miller’s long...
- 2/29/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
“There’s market failure because the streamers came in, high-end TV got higher end, and Hollywood arrived. And they took a lot of our investors away,” Sixteen Films producer Rebecca O’Brien concluded when quizzed on the state of the UK indie film sector during an appearance at the UK’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry.
She added: “Some additional fiscal support for the sector is essential. I think we could really die without it.”
O’Brien appeared in front of the bipartisan committee this morning, where she discussed her decades-long experience producing features with Ken Loach, navigating the independent market of international co-productions and financing, and what must change for the UK indie industry to push forward.
The session began with O’Brien being asked how she and her team at Sixteen Films have managed to successfully produce and land distribution for the films of the company’s founder, Ken Loach.
She added: “Some additional fiscal support for the sector is essential. I think we could really die without it.”
O’Brien appeared in front of the bipartisan committee this morning, where she discussed her decades-long experience producing features with Ken Loach, navigating the independent market of international co-productions and financing, and what must change for the UK indie industry to push forward.
The session began with O’Brien being asked how she and her team at Sixteen Films have managed to successfully produce and land distribution for the films of the company’s founder, Ken Loach.
- 2/21/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadpan stoicism has become the default mode of the Greek Weird Wave. Though equally strange, the wavelengths of the films by such proponents of the movement as Babis Makridis, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and—before vaulting to Hollywood’s big leagues—Yorgos Lanthimos don’t always align. But there’s a sense of cold, wry detachment that informs the way in which these works probe the friction between human nature and nurtured civility.
The Greek Weird Wave movement’s films are inseparable from their constituent tropes. Many of them set out to concoct visions of a society where human society is seen merely as unhinged, irrational, or paradoxical. That’s not an untrue observation, but it doesn’t help that the experimental potential afforded by absurdism squanders itself so easily by way of uninspired and hackneyed reiterations of the tropes and conventions that define the movement.
Arcadia, Yorgos Zois’s second feature following 2015’s Interruption,...
The Greek Weird Wave movement’s films are inseparable from their constituent tropes. Many of them set out to concoct visions of a society where human society is seen merely as unhinged, irrational, or paradoxical. That’s not an untrue observation, but it doesn’t help that the experimental potential afforded by absurdism squanders itself so easily by way of uninspired and hackneyed reiterations of the tropes and conventions that define the movement.
Arcadia, Yorgos Zois’s second feature following 2015’s Interruption,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Morris Yang
- Slant Magazine
How Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films Is Charting a New Course Without Its Iconic ‘I, Daniel Blake’ Director
If there was one puzzle from the 2023 Venice Film Festival, it concerned Caleb Landry Jones and the actor’s curious decision to conduct all his press arrangements for the Luc Besson thriller “Dogman” with a Scottish accent. As was later revealed, the Australian had taken a quick break from shooting U.K. drama “Harvest” on location in Scotland and was staying in character for the duration of his brief Italian detour.
Alongside honing Landry Jones’ vocal abilities, “Harvest,” being directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari (the Greek director’s first English-language film) and based on the book by Jim Crace, also marks the beginning of a new chapter for one of the U.K.’s best-known indie production companies.
Sixteen Films, co-founded by Ken Loach and producer Rebecca O’Brien in 2002, has been behind every film by the beloved and iconoclastic director over the last two decades, including “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,...
Alongside honing Landry Jones’ vocal abilities, “Harvest,” being directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari (the Greek director’s first English-language film) and based on the book by Jim Crace, also marks the beginning of a new chapter for one of the U.K.’s best-known indie production companies.
Sixteen Films, co-founded by Ken Loach and producer Rebecca O’Brien in 2002, has been behind every film by the beloved and iconoclastic director over the last two decades, including “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
The Queen’s Gambit’s Harry Melling and Blue Jean star Rosy McEwen have joined Caleb Landry-Jones in Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest, as The Match Factory reveals a first look and launches sales at the European Film Market (EFM).
Further cast includes Arinzé Kene, Thalissa Teixeira and Frank Dillane.
Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time, disappears. A townsman-turned-farmer and benevolent lord of the manor (Melling) are childhood friends about to face an invasion from the modernity of the outside world, in this neo-Western.
The feature was written by Joslyn Barnes and Tsangari,...
Further cast includes Arinzé Kene, Thalissa Teixeira and Frank Dillane.
Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time, disappears. A townsman-turned-farmer and benevolent lord of the manor (Melling) are childhood friends about to face an invasion from the modernity of the outside world, in this neo-Western.
The feature was written by Joslyn Barnes and Tsangari,...
- 2/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Greek non-profit creative incubator Oxbelly has revealed the participants of its 2023 retreat for writers in episodic, fiction and poetry.
Founded by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Oxbelly is known for its screenwriters and directors labs — which run under the artistic direction of Athina Rachel Tsangari — and draws a number of international filmmakers every summer to Greece. Past participating mentors include Maren Ade, Michael Almereyda, Paul Thomas Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees and Lulu Wang.
Advisors for the 2023 program include Barry Jenkins, Rebecca Makkai, Nadifa Mohamed, Sue Naegle, Fiammetta Rocco, Anuradha Roy, Vera Santamaria, Anna Winger, Jörg Winger, Lulu Wang, Graham Yost and Tsangari.
The 2023 writers retreat, which took place in June, was led by program director Chigozie Obioma. The episodic program supported writers interested in entering a career in television by unpacking the many facets of the role of television writer through sessions that included a series of simulated writers room exercises,...
Founded by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Oxbelly is known for its screenwriters and directors labs — which run under the artistic direction of Athina Rachel Tsangari — and draws a number of international filmmakers every summer to Greece. Past participating mentors include Maren Ade, Michael Almereyda, Paul Thomas Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees and Lulu Wang.
Advisors for the 2023 program include Barry Jenkins, Rebecca Makkai, Nadifa Mohamed, Sue Naegle, Fiammetta Rocco, Anuradha Roy, Vera Santamaria, Anna Winger, Jörg Winger, Lulu Wang, Graham Yost and Tsangari.
The 2023 writers retreat, which took place in June, was led by program director Chigozie Obioma. The episodic program supported writers interested in entering a career in television by unpacking the many facets of the role of television writer through sessions that included a series of simulated writers room exercises,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Not unlike how a young Athina Rachel Tsangari ended up being part of a Richard Linklater film, Summer Shelton has been part of the fabric of the American indie scene dating back to a bit appearance in a David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls. After cutting her teeth as a producer (with a pair of prominent titles in the cinema of Ramin Bahrani), Shelton would put all of one’s chips on the table with her feature debut You & I. A second chance at romance or a proper visit with the past, Shelton is joined by Clayne Crawford for a drama romance that re-examines a dynamic (was it ever meant to be more?)…...
- 11/25/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Maria Hatzakou and Alexandra Matheou’s “Stringa,” a female-led folk-horror set in remote rural Greece, won the top prize at Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Crossroads Co-Production Forum, which wrapped with an award ceremony Wednesday.
The Greek project took home the Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, giving full post-production image and sound support to a film that’s in development. This will be a debut feature for Matheou and Hatzakou, who also produces the film under her label Merricat. She was the one to receive the prize from the jury, which called the project “very solid and persuasive” in the ways in which it “addresses freedom of choice in a patriarchal society.”
The directors, who also co-wrote the script, describe it as “a film about the female experience,” a subversive horror that “touches on post-generational trauma and the sly ways by which the patriarchy still manages to impose itself on our lives and choices.
The Greek project took home the Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, giving full post-production image and sound support to a film that’s in development. This will be a debut feature for Matheou and Hatzakou, who also produces the film under her label Merricat. She was the one to receive the prize from the jury, which called the project “very solid and persuasive” in the ways in which it “addresses freedom of choice in a patriarchal society.”
The directors, who also co-wrote the script, describe it as “a film about the female experience,” a subversive horror that “touches on post-generational trauma and the sly ways by which the patriarchy still manages to impose itself on our lives and choices.
- 11/9/2023
- by Savina Petkova
- Variety Film + TV
More than 200 international filmmakers have rallied in support of ousted Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian, pledging their names to an open letter imploring the cultural organization to keep the artist director in place. Among the first signatories were Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Joanna Hogg, “Corsage” director Marie Kreutzer, Andrew Ross Perry, and Olivier Assayas. Over the course of the day on Wednesday, another 130 directors joined them, the list swelling to include M. Night Shyamalan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tilda Swinton, and Claire Denis. 260 filmmakers have now signed the open letter.
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
- 9/6/2023
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
Martin Scorsese, Radu Jude, Joanna Hogg, Claire Denis, Bertrand Bonello, M. Night Shyamalan, Kristen Stewart, Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Margarethe von Trotta are among the international filmmakers and talents who have signed an open letter in support of Carlo Chatrian whose mandate as artistic director of the Berlinale will come to an end next year. The number of signatories has now exceeded 400 names and keeps growing.
As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (Kbb), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition. The festival’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek will also be leaving her post after the next edition.
As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (Kbb), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition. The festival’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek will also be leaving her post after the next edition.
- 9/6/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Caleb Landry Jones is set to star in U.K. drama Harvest from Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari (Chevalier) and produced by Ken Loach and Rebecca O’Brien’s Sixteen Films, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
News of the film answers a major question hanging over the Venice Film Festival, where Landry Jones touched down this week as the lead in Luc Besson’s dark thriller Dogman. At the film’s press conference on Thursday and in later interviews, Landry Jones spoke throughout with a thick Scottish accent, with Besson saying that he was method acting for a new role. “It’s not his normal voice,” the director explained. “He needs to stay in character.”
THR can now reveal that this role is for Harvest, Tsangari’s first feature since her multi-award-winning comedy-drama Chevalier.
Based on the award-winning 2013 novel of the same name by Jim Crace, the feature is to be...
News of the film answers a major question hanging over the Venice Film Festival, where Landry Jones touched down this week as the lead in Luc Besson’s dark thriller Dogman. At the film’s press conference on Thursday and in later interviews, Landry Jones spoke throughout with a thick Scottish accent, with Besson saying that he was method acting for a new role. “It’s not his normal voice,” the director explained. “He needs to stay in character.”
THR can now reveal that this role is for Harvest, Tsangari’s first feature since her multi-award-winning comedy-drama Chevalier.
Based on the award-winning 2013 novel of the same name by Jim Crace, the feature is to be...
- 9/1/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The backdrop of Oban, Scotland and Germany will be the lieu of location for Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari‘s next feature film. Production is set for August. We first heard about the book to film adaptation of Jim Crace’s Harvest almost three years back and the project still has all three principle production players onboard with: The Match Factory’s Michael Weber, Rebecca O’Brien and Louverture Films’ Joslyn Barnes. Look for casting announcements shortly. This has the 2024 Venice Film Festival competition slot stamped all over it.
On the morning after harvest, the inhabitants of a remote English village awaken looking forward to a hard-earned day of rest and feasting at their landowner’s table.…...
On the morning after harvest, the inhabitants of a remote English village awaken looking forward to a hard-earned day of rest and feasting at their landowner’s table.…...
- 6/29/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
’The Light’ is one of a slate of features to receive backing from German regional fund Film-und Medienstiftung Nrw.
The Light, Tom Tykwer’s first film for the cinema since his 2016 German-us comedy A Hologram For The King is one of 10 feature film projects allocated almost €6m in production support by the Düsseldorf-based regional fund Film-und Medienstiftung Nrw.
Tykwer’s original screenplay for The Light (Das Licht) centres on a troubled family who take on a Syrian immigrant as a housekeeper. When she successfully shakes up the lives of the family she then confronts them with the dark fate of her own.
The Light, Tom Tykwer’s first film for the cinema since his 2016 German-us comedy A Hologram For The King is one of 10 feature film projects allocated almost €6m in production support by the Düsseldorf-based regional fund Film-und Medienstiftung Nrw.
Tykwer’s original screenplay for The Light (Das Licht) centres on a troubled family who take on a Syrian immigrant as a housekeeper. When she successfully shakes up the lives of the family she then confronts them with the dark fate of her own.
- 6/21/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
In August 2011, The Guardian ran a two-page spread that wound up christening a brand-new cinematic movement. Written by Steve Rose, “Attenberg, Dogtooth, and the Weird Wave of Greek Cinema” began with two questions: “Are the brilliantly strange films of Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari a product of Greece’s economic turmoil? And will they continue to make films in the troubled country?” Greece, as it turned out, continued to be troubled, the Greeks continued to make films, and the Greek Weird Wave somehow stuck as a catch-all term to denote what Rose then hyperbolically called “the world’s most messed-up cinema.” But the several films that earned the label since have only questioned its meaning and applicability. Messed-up and inexplicably strange the descendants of Attenberg and Dogtooth no doubt remain, but the many different shades of weird they brim can hardly be accounted for by an increasingly empty buzzword.
- 4/29/2023
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Michel Dimopoulos, former director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, has died. He was 74.
Dimopoulos served as Thessaloniki’s artistic director from 1991 to 2005. In a statement published Thursday afternoon, the festival said Dimopoulos brought a “fresh breath of originality” to Thessaloniki during his tenure and “expanded the institution’s international horizons.”
“Michel had always been on the side of the Festival and its people. He was an ardent film lover and a passionate supporter of independent European cinema,” the statement read.
“He will live on in Olympion’s corridors, in the Port, inside the movie theaters, tireless and with a smile on his face, soulfully speaking for the films he loved, expanding our horizons and introducing us to the pioneering and restless cinema of the new era.”
Dimopoulos was born in 1949 in Paris. He studied cinema in France and began his career as a film critic in Avgi, a daily left-wing newspaper published in Athens,...
Dimopoulos served as Thessaloniki’s artistic director from 1991 to 2005. In a statement published Thursday afternoon, the festival said Dimopoulos brought a “fresh breath of originality” to Thessaloniki during his tenure and “expanded the institution’s international horizons.”
“Michel had always been on the side of the Festival and its people. He was an ardent film lover and a passionate supporter of independent European cinema,” the statement read.
“He will live on in Olympion’s corridors, in the Port, inside the movie theaters, tireless and with a smile on his face, soulfully speaking for the films he loved, expanding our horizons and introducing us to the pioneering and restless cinema of the new era.”
Dimopoulos was born in 1949 in Paris. He studied cinema in France and began his career as a film critic in Avgi, a daily left-wing newspaper published in Athens,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
A couple months after spotlighting the world’s greatest actress, the Criterion Channel have taken a logical next step towards America’s greatest actress. May (or: next week) will bring an eleven-film celebration of Jennifer Jason Leigh, highlights including Verhoeven’s Flesh + Blood, Miami Blues, Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker, her directorial debut The Anniversary Party, and Synecdoche, New York, and a special introduction from Leigh. Another actor’s showcase localizes directorial collaborations: Jimmy Stewart’s time with Anthony Mann, an eight-title series boasting the likes of Winchester ’73 and The Man from Laramie. Two more: a survey of ’80s Asian-American cinema (Chan Is Missing being the best-known) and 14 movies by Seijun Suzuki.
That would be enough for one month (or two), but No Bears and Cette maison will have their streaming premieres, while Criterion Editions offers the Infernal Affairs trilogy (plus its packed set), Days of Heaven, and the aforementioned Chan Is Missing.
That would be enough for one month (or two), but No Bears and Cette maison will have their streaming premieres, while Criterion Editions offers the Infernal Affairs trilogy (plus its packed set), Days of Heaven, and the aforementioned Chan Is Missing.
- 4/20/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Oxbelly, film producer Christos V. Konstantakopoulos’ non-profit supporting emerging screenwriters and directors, has announced the creation of two new programs for international writers: the Oxbelly Writers Retreat and the Oxbelly Episodic Program.
The Episodic Program is a week-long training course that will select 10-12 writers interested in entering the television industry, and provide them with simulated writers room exercises, masterclasses, and panels that aim to demystify the writers room process and share best practices for a career in TV writing. The Oxbelly Writers Retreat will bring together 15 emerging fiction writers and poets to participate in workshops, craft sessions, and unstructured writing time lead by program director Chigozie Obioma and faculty members Rebecca Makkai and Kwame Dames.
“Since its inception, Oxbelly has provided a training ground and a launchpad for emerging international film talent,” Konstantakopoulos said in a statement. “As the demand for singular serialized content continues to grow, we are...
The Episodic Program is a week-long training course that will select 10-12 writers interested in entering the television industry, and provide them with simulated writers room exercises, masterclasses, and panels that aim to demystify the writers room process and share best practices for a career in TV writing. The Oxbelly Writers Retreat will bring together 15 emerging fiction writers and poets to participate in workshops, craft sessions, and unstructured writing time lead by program director Chigozie Obioma and faculty members Rebecca Makkai and Kwame Dames.
“Since its inception, Oxbelly has provided a training ground and a launchpad for emerging international film talent,” Konstantakopoulos said in a statement. “As the demand for singular serialized content continues to grow, we are...
- 1/16/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Former Sundance Institute director Caroline von Kuhn has been appointed executive director of Greek non-profit Oxbelly.
Founded by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Oxbelly is known for its screenwriters and directors labs — which run under the artistic direction of Athina Rachel Tsangari — and draws a number of international filmmakers every summer to Greece. Past participating mentors include Maren Ade, Michael Almereyda, Paul Thomas Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees and Lulu Wang.
Von Kuhn will help Oxbelly expand its operations and break the traditional lab model with its annual gatherings of international creatives.
“Oxbelly was started with a vision to construct an international community of world builders, based on the values of generosity and inclusiveness inherent in Greek hospitality,” said Konstantakopoulos. “I can’t think of a better person than Caroline to lead Oxbelly into our next chapter, as we expand our programs, to serve and empower storytellers...
Founded by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Oxbelly is known for its screenwriters and directors labs — which run under the artistic direction of Athina Rachel Tsangari — and draws a number of international filmmakers every summer to Greece. Past participating mentors include Maren Ade, Michael Almereyda, Paul Thomas Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees and Lulu Wang.
Von Kuhn will help Oxbelly expand its operations and break the traditional lab model with its annual gatherings of international creatives.
“Oxbelly was started with a vision to construct an international community of world builders, based on the values of generosity and inclusiveness inherent in Greek hospitality,” said Konstantakopoulos. “I can’t think of a better person than Caroline to lead Oxbelly into our next chapter, as we expand our programs, to serve and empower storytellers...
- 1/12/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Former Sundance Institute director Caroline von Kuhn has been appointed Executive Director, of Greece-set, non-profit film and TV Lab Oxbelly created by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos.
Von Kuhn will lead Oxbelly as it expands its activities bringing international storytellers together in a communal atmosphere.
“Oxbelly was started with a vision to construct an international community of world builders, based on the values of generosity and inclusiveness inherent in Greek hospitality,” said Konstantakopoulos.
“I can’t think of a better person than Caroline to lead Oxbelly into our next chapter, as we expand our programmes, to serve and empower storytellers on their own terms in the ever-shifting creative industries.”
Since its creation in 2015, as a non-profit focused on film and TV education, it has supported more than 60 projects by around 80 filmmakers and screenwriters across the world. The initiative takes its name from a beach in Oxbelly after a beach near Pylos,...
Von Kuhn will lead Oxbelly as it expands its activities bringing international storytellers together in a communal atmosphere.
“Oxbelly was started with a vision to construct an international community of world builders, based on the values of generosity and inclusiveness inherent in Greek hospitality,” said Konstantakopoulos.
“I can’t think of a better person than Caroline to lead Oxbelly into our next chapter, as we expand our programmes, to serve and empower storytellers on their own terms in the ever-shifting creative industries.”
Since its creation in 2015, as a non-profit focused on film and TV education, it has supported more than 60 projects by around 80 filmmakers and screenwriters across the world. The initiative takes its name from a beach in Oxbelly after a beach near Pylos,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Toronto International Film Festival announced its second big wave of programming for the 47th edition, a 54 feature title lineup across its Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths sections.
Twenty-six countries are represented in the three programs with the Discovery opening night film being Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection starring Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine and Raul Castillo about the filmmaker’s life and time as a Marine Corp vet. Also booked in Discovery is the acquisition title Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe from Aitch Alberto starring Eva Longoria, Eugenio Derbez and Isabella Gomez.
Meanwhile, we hear that Golda, Bleecker Street’s movie with Helen Mirren as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Nattiv directing, is delayed this year.
“TIFF’s Discovery programme is a showcase of cinema and talent from around the world — a place to unearth work that is bold, distinctive, and, above all,...
Twenty-six countries are represented in the three programs with the Discovery opening night film being Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection starring Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine and Raul Castillo about the filmmaker’s life and time as a Marine Corp vet. Also booked in Discovery is the acquisition title Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe from Aitch Alberto starring Eva Longoria, Eugenio Derbez and Isabella Gomez.
Meanwhile, we hear that Golda, Bleecker Street’s movie with Helen Mirren as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Nattiv directing, is delayed this year.
“TIFF’s Discovery programme is a showcase of cinema and talent from around the world — a place to unearth work that is bold, distinctive, and, above all,...
- 8/4/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
New Release Wall
David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.
Also available:
“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...
David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.
Also available:
“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...
- 8/2/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
It’s another eclectic month for Mubi releases as they’ve announced their July 2022 slate. When it comes to new releases, highlights include Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley’s inventive Sundance hit Strawberry Mansion, Andrew Dominik’s new Nick Cave and Warren Ellis documentary This Much I Know to Be True, Camilo Restrepo’s Los conductos, Laura Wendel’s Oscar-shortlisted drama Playground, and Lucrecia Martel’s new short North Terminal.
They’ll also be featuring Johnnie To’s Drug War, King Hu’s Raining in the Mountain, Terence Davies’ Sunset Song, Bertrand Bonello’s Zombi Child, a pair of features from both Diao Yi’nan and Athina Rachel Tsangari, and much more.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
July 1 – Strawberry Mansion, directed by Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley | Mubi Spotlight
July 2 – The Wild Goose Lake, directed by Diao Yi’nan | The Electric Dark: Two Neo-noirs by Diao Yinan
July 3 – Little Girl,...
They’ll also be featuring Johnnie To’s Drug War, King Hu’s Raining in the Mountain, Terence Davies’ Sunset Song, Bertrand Bonello’s Zombi Child, a pair of features from both Diao Yi’nan and Athina Rachel Tsangari, and much more.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
July 1 – Strawberry Mansion, directed by Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley | Mubi Spotlight
July 2 – The Wild Goose Lake, directed by Diao Yi’nan | The Electric Dark: Two Neo-noirs by Diao Yinan
July 3 – Little Girl,...
- 6/29/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Willem Dafoe and Michael Weber among creative advisors helping artistic director Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Thirteen projects from promising filmmakers selected for the Oxbelly Screenwriters and Directors Labs received guidance from mentors such as actor Willem Dafoe, Arte France’s Olivier Pere and The Match Factory founder Michael Weber when they took place in Greece from May 29-June 5.
The Labs were held in Costa Navarino under the artistic direction of Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose credits include Chevalier and Trigonometry.
The Labs offer international filmmakers the opportunity to work on their first or second feature script, as well as workshop...
Thirteen projects from promising filmmakers selected for the Oxbelly Screenwriters and Directors Labs received guidance from mentors such as actor Willem Dafoe, Arte France’s Olivier Pere and The Match Factory founder Michael Weber when they took place in Greece from May 29-June 5.
The Labs were held in Costa Navarino under the artistic direction of Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose credits include Chevalier and Trigonometry.
The Labs offer international filmmakers the opportunity to work on their first or second feature script, as well as workshop...
- 6/24/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
What would you do for a habanero-orange compact sport utility vehicle? Blowing as many balloons as possible in one minute seems like an easy enough task, but what about fetching a human earlobe? These are the questions at the heart of “Stanleyville,” or at least they seem to be. In reality, director Maxwell McCabe-Lokos’ debut feature uses the bizarre “platinum-level exclusive contest” at its center as a metaphor for self-actualization — even if achieving it requires more than a little self-destruction along the way. With a firm commitment to its alluringly offbeat premise and a grounding lead performance from Susanne Wuest, this indie oddity is an enjoyable descent into the absurd despite an apparent lack of interest in answering most of the questions it raises.
If a bird colliding with a window in the opening moments isn’t enough to suggest that something strange is afoot, the fact that “The Lord...
If a bird colliding with a window in the opening moments isn’t enough to suggest that something strange is afoot, the fact that “The Lord...
- 4/20/2022
- by Michael Nordine
- Variety Film + TV
Louverture Films, the production company founded by actor Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes, is moving into television as well as animation, gaming and installation works. With two new principal partners in situ, the expansion has enlisted a host of creatives, including directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Lucrecia Martel.
Co-founded by Glover and Barnes in 2005 — alongside long-time partners Susan Rockefeller and the Bertha Foundation’s Tony Tabatznik — the company has brought on board Sawsan Asfari and Jeffrey Clark as principal partners. Variety understands that the new partners will allow Louverture to access more funding resources.
In addition, producer Karin Chien, who on Sunday delivered a rousing Sundance Institute Producing Fellows’ keynote, is becoming a partner and executive VP. Meanwhile, Barnes has been promoted to president while Glover remains CEO and co-founder.
Louverture, named after Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture, has built its reputation on international and arthouse films and a strong theatrical documentary slate.
Co-founded by Glover and Barnes in 2005 — alongside long-time partners Susan Rockefeller and the Bertha Foundation’s Tony Tabatznik — the company has brought on board Sawsan Asfari and Jeffrey Clark as principal partners. Variety understands that the new partners will allow Louverture to access more funding resources.
In addition, producer Karin Chien, who on Sunday delivered a rousing Sundance Institute Producing Fellows’ keynote, is becoming a partner and executive VP. Meanwhile, Barnes has been promoted to president while Glover remains CEO and co-founder.
Louverture, named after Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture, has built its reputation on international and arthouse films and a strong theatrical documentary slate.
- 1/24/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Nezouh
Been spotting French-born Syrian filmmaker Soudade Kaadan‘s fourth feature film (and second consecutive fiction) project a little bit everywhere for the past couple of years workshopped at Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Oxbelly Writers & Directors Lab 2020, was a TorinoFilmLab invite, and selected for Cannes’ Cinefondation that same year. The Day I Lost My Shadow was selected for the Orizzonti section at Venice (where she won the Lion of the Future award), and was further showcased at TIFF and Rotterdam. Quickly after that epic year, she submitted her short Aziza to Sundance and got an invite. Kaadan began production on Nezouh (which means the displacement of souls and people in Arabic) in July of last year with French cinematographer Hélène Louvart onboard.…...
Been spotting French-born Syrian filmmaker Soudade Kaadan‘s fourth feature film (and second consecutive fiction) project a little bit everywhere for the past couple of years workshopped at Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Oxbelly Writers & Directors Lab 2020, was a TorinoFilmLab invite, and selected for Cannes’ Cinefondation that same year. The Day I Lost My Shadow was selected for the Orizzonti section at Venice (where she won the Lion of the Future award), and was further showcased at TIFF and Rotterdam. Quickly after that epic year, she submitted her short Aziza to Sundance and got an invite. Kaadan began production on Nezouh (which means the displacement of souls and people in Arabic) in July of last year with French cinematographer Hélène Louvart onboard.…...
- 1/10/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to Georgis Grigorakis’ feature debut “Digger,” Greece’s official entry for the Oscars’ international feature film race.
Set in the rich forests of Northern Greece, “Digger” is a modern-day psychological Western starring Vangelis Mourikis as an iconoclastic farmer at war against the encroachments of a ravenous industry and the demons of his past. When his estranged son appears on his doorstep, with a motorcycle and a grudge, nature itself will shake at their clash.
Grigorakis wrote the film, which was produced by Athens-based banner Haos Film. “Digger” had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival where it won the Cicae prize and went on to have a successful career in festivals, including Sarajevo, Thessaloniki and Philadelphia, and won several awards at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards. The movie has also had a strong box office run in Greece.
”We’re thrilled to...
Set in the rich forests of Northern Greece, “Digger” is a modern-day psychological Western starring Vangelis Mourikis as an iconoclastic farmer at war against the encroachments of a ravenous industry and the demons of his past. When his estranged son appears on his doorstep, with a motorcycle and a grudge, nature itself will shake at their clash.
Grigorakis wrote the film, which was produced by Athens-based banner Haos Film. “Digger” had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival where it won the Cicae prize and went on to have a successful career in festivals, including Sarajevo, Thessaloniki and Philadelphia, and won several awards at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards. The movie has also had a strong box office run in Greece.
”We’re thrilled to...
- 11/11/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The 65th British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival has revealed the eight films in its official competition.
The competition titles include a few films currently playing at the Venice Film Festival, including Michelangelo Frammartino’s “Il Buco” (Italy-Germany-France), Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” (Italy) Harry Wootliff’s “True Things” (U.K.) and Michel Franco’s “Sundown” (Mexico-France-Sweden).
Films that bowed at Cannes also make an appearance in the competition, including Mamoru Hosoda’s “Belle” (Japan), Justin Kurzel’s “Nitram” (Australia), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui” (Chad-France-Germany-Belgium) and Panah Panahi’s (Hit The Raad” (Iran).
The winner will be chosen by the official competition jury, the members of which will be revealed imminently.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle said: “With official competition our aim is to present a curated programme that showcases the breadth and richness of international cinema for our audiences. Anyone new to the Lff should consider official...
The competition titles include a few films currently playing at the Venice Film Festival, including Michelangelo Frammartino’s “Il Buco” (Italy-Germany-France), Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” (Italy) Harry Wootliff’s “True Things” (U.K.) and Michel Franco’s “Sundown” (Mexico-France-Sweden).
Films that bowed at Cannes also make an appearance in the competition, including Mamoru Hosoda’s “Belle” (Japan), Justin Kurzel’s “Nitram” (Australia), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui” (Chad-France-Germany-Belgium) and Panah Panahi’s (Hit The Raad” (Iran).
The winner will be chosen by the official competition jury, the members of which will be revealed imminently.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle said: “With official competition our aim is to present a curated programme that showcases the breadth and richness of international cinema for our audiences. Anyone new to the Lff should consider official...
- 9/3/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Greek indoor cinemas are confirmed to reopen from July 1.
Georgis Grigorakis’ Digger, starring Vangelis Mourikis and Argyris Pandazaras, dominated the Hellenic Film Academy (Helfiac) Iris awards on June 16, winning 10 of the 14 awards for which it was nominated, including best film, director, first film and screenplay.
Digger tells the story of a father-son reunion set against the backdrop of rural and environmental issues.
The Greek-German-French co-production is a collaboration between Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Haos Films, Christos Konstantakopoulo of Faliro House, Fenia Cossovitsa’s Blonde and Gabrielle Dumon’s Le Bureau Films. It premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale...
Georgis Grigorakis’ Digger, starring Vangelis Mourikis and Argyris Pandazaras, dominated the Hellenic Film Academy (Helfiac) Iris awards on June 16, winning 10 of the 14 awards for which it was nominated, including best film, director, first film and screenplay.
Digger tells the story of a father-son reunion set against the backdrop of rural and environmental issues.
The Greek-German-French co-production is a collaboration between Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Haos Films, Christos Konstantakopoulo of Faliro House, Fenia Cossovitsa’s Blonde and Gabrielle Dumon’s Le Bureau Films. It premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale...
- 6/21/2021
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou marks his directorial debut with “Apples,” an accidentally timely pandemic movie that captured imaginations at the Venice Film Festival, where it opened the respected Orrizonti section, and has since gone on to represent Greece in the international feature film Oscar race.
The film wasn’t actually shot during the Covid-19 crisis, but follows a man (Aris Servetalis) struggling to recover his memory amid a pandemic that causes widespread amnesia. Doctors at a special rehabilitation clinic present a list of tasks ranging from the mundane to the downright bizarre that may trigger his memory — all of which must be carefully documented with a Polaroid camera.
The film’s Lido bow in September — which, by most accounts, increasingly feels like a small miracle given the ongoing Covid-19 situation in Europe — marks the only time Nikou was able to watch “Apples” with audiences.
“I haven’t gone to any...
The film wasn’t actually shot during the Covid-19 crisis, but follows a man (Aris Servetalis) struggling to recover his memory amid a pandemic that causes widespread amnesia. Doctors at a special rehabilitation clinic present a list of tasks ranging from the mundane to the downright bizarre that may trigger his memory — all of which must be carefully documented with a Polaroid camera.
The film’s Lido bow in September — which, by most accounts, increasingly feels like a small miracle given the ongoing Covid-19 situation in Europe — marks the only time Nikou was able to watch “Apples” with audiences.
“I haven’t gone to any...
- 1/22/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
In the months since HBO Max launched, a majority of the attention given to the platform has centered on what’s available. That has often meant sifting through the vast HBO Max library, mainly the relative strength of its haul of animation, classic film, and comics-centered offerings.
Amidst all of the questions about what films might make the jump from theatrical to streaming, the HBO Max Originals brand has included a handful of TV series as well. Those shows getting the full bus stop ad/billboard push have been a mixed bag at best, ranging from wildly ambitious heady sci-fi gambits to aggressively safe star-driven romantic dramedies.
But much like its competitors’, HBO Max’s definition of what constitutes an “Original” is flexible, combining those aforementioned streaming tentpoles with a collection of overseas imports and co-productions. They may not have broken through to the general pop culture consciousness (or made...
Amidst all of the questions about what films might make the jump from theatrical to streaming, the HBO Max Originals brand has included a handful of TV series as well. Those shows getting the full bus stop ad/billboard push have been a mixed bag at best, ranging from wildly ambitious heady sci-fi gambits to aggressively safe star-driven romantic dramedies.
But much like its competitors’, HBO Max’s definition of what constitutes an “Original” is flexible, combining those aforementioned streaming tentpoles with a collection of overseas imports and co-productions. They may not have broken through to the general pop culture consciousness (or made...
- 11/25/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The Greek filmmaker’s new feature is based on Jim Crace’s novel of the same name. Greece’s Athina Rachel Tsangari is ready to direct her new project, a drama entitled Harvest. The Athens-born filmmaker is best known for her sophomore feature, Attenberg (2010), and for her buddy comedy Chevalier (2015), as well as for her recent television endeavour, the BBC Two series Trigonometry, which premiered during this year’s Berlinale Series and is set in a crowded, expensive London, where a cash-strapped couple is forced to open their small flat to a third person. The announcement was first reported by Screen International. The script of Harvest, based on Jim Crace’s 2013 novel of the same name and penned by veteran producer Joslyn Barnes, is set in a medieval village in England and follows the villagers’ reaction to three newcomers, who become scapegoats in a time of economic turmoil. The project benefited from.
- 11/18/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Leading off today’s news round-up, multi-hyphenate Mélanie Laurent is in pre-production on 2021’s WWII drama The Nightingale, starring both Fanning sisters, but Variety reports she will begin filming a project next week. The first French Amazon Prime original movie, The Mad Woman’s Ball, reunites Laurent with Breathe breakout Lou De Laâge and follows a woman in the 19th century who is institutionalized in the infamous Salpêtrière hospital in Paris when she tells her parents that she can hear the dead.
Coming off this year’s King of Staten Island, Judd Apatow will next (per the Netflix Twitter account) direct a feature about a group of actors and actresses stuck in a hotel during a pandemic while attempting to complete a film. It’s co-written by Pam Brady who’s had her hand in offbeat comedy ranging from Lady Dynamite to Hamlet 2.
Following the sleeper festival hit, Rams (whose...
Coming off this year’s King of Staten Island, Judd Apatow will next (per the Netflix Twitter account) direct a feature about a group of actors and actresses stuck in a hotel during a pandemic while attempting to complete a film. It’s co-written by Pam Brady who’s had her hand in offbeat comedy ranging from Lady Dynamite to Hamlet 2.
Following the sleeper festival hit, Rams (whose...
- 11/17/2020
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Netflix acquired worldwide rights in 2018.
Fernando Frías de la Parra’s I’m No Longer Here has been selected as Mexico’s international feature film Oscar submissions.
The drama premiered at 2019 Morelia Film Festival where it won the feature film competition award and the audience award, and went on to screen at Tallinn Black Nights.
I’m No Longer Here centres on a gang member who flees Monterrey for New York and is forced to question where he belongs when he learns his gang and the Kolombia culture is under threat.
Netflix acquired worldwide rights in 2018 and debuted it on the platform in May.
Fernando Frías de la Parra’s I’m No Longer Here has been selected as Mexico’s international feature film Oscar submissions.
The drama premiered at 2019 Morelia Film Festival where it won the feature film competition award and the audience award, and went on to screen at Tallinn Black Nights.
I’m No Longer Here centres on a gang member who flees Monterrey for New York and is forced to question where he belongs when he learns his gang and the Kolombia culture is under threat.
Netflix acquired worldwide rights in 2018 and debuted it on the platform in May.
- 11/17/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
If you think the folks in Days if Heaven had it rough…think again. Athina Rachel Tsangari is setting her sights on the book to film adaptation of Harvest – a 2013 novel by Jim Crace which features intimation, revenge, displacement and social decomposition. While her second and third features in coming-of-age a tad bit late anthropological bliss Attenberg (2010) and the one upping competition comedy Chevalier (2015) were contemporary setting affairs, this drama promises to bring out the best in harsh economic horse and trolley era with a healthy helping of The Crucible type denouement. The project will be produced by Sixteen Films’ co-founder Rebecca O’Brien (they obviously produce all of Ken Loach’s films and most recently Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here) who is teaming with the docu and distinctly auteur cinema producer Joslyn Barnes of Louverture Films (this year they released Gunda in Berlin (read review) and In...
- 11/16/2020
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Fremantle also has first-look arrangements with Chile’s Larraín brothers and Luca Guadagnino.
Michael Winterbottom’s UK production company Revolution Films has signed a first-look deal with global producer and distributor Fremantle to develop and produce scripted series and films.
Fremantle will co-produce the projects under the deal, and distribute them worldwide. The deal has been made in collaboration with Richard Brown and his New York- and London-based firm Passenger, which signed its own first-look deal with Fremantle in 2019.
The first project in the deal will be UK political title This Sceptred Isle, a real-life drama series about the national...
Michael Winterbottom’s UK production company Revolution Films has signed a first-look deal with global producer and distributor Fremantle to develop and produce scripted series and films.
Fremantle will co-produce the projects under the deal, and distribute them worldwide. The deal has been made in collaboration with Richard Brown and his New York- and London-based firm Passenger, which signed its own first-look deal with Fremantle in 2019.
The first project in the deal will be UK political title This Sceptred Isle, a real-life drama series about the national...
- 11/16/2020
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films to produce the UK drama based on Jim Crace’s award-winning novel.
Award-winning Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari is set to direct Harvest, a drama produced by Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films and Louverture Films on which The Match Factory will handle international sales.
Tsangari is known for features including Attenberg, which won prizes at Venice in 2010, and Chevalier, which screened at Toronto and won best film at the London Film Festival in 2015. Her most recent project was UK TV series Trigonometry, which screened at the Berlinale in February.
Harvest, based on the award-winning 2013 novel...
Award-winning Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari is set to direct Harvest, a drama produced by Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films and Louverture Films on which The Match Factory will handle international sales.
Tsangari is known for features including Attenberg, which won prizes at Venice in 2010, and Chevalier, which screened at Toronto and won best film at the London Film Festival in 2015. Her most recent project was UK TV series Trigonometry, which screened at the Berlinale in February.
Harvest, based on the award-winning 2013 novel...
- 11/16/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
This summer a new board of directors took the reins at the Greek Film Center (Gfc), the body that oversees all aspects of the country’s film policy, from bolstering the development and production of local cinema to luring international film and television shoots to the Mediterranean nation. Despite recent years in which the Gfc has often appeared adrift, industry veterans have thus far been cautiously optimistic that the shake-up will bring much-needed stability and continuity to the organization.
Markos Holevas, who was recently named president of the Gfc’s board, told Variety that the center would waste little time in ensuring that the Greek industry hits the ground running in 2021. “We want to change many things before the end of the year, to begin the new year with a new profile,” he said.
As the Thessaloniki Film Festival winds down, Holevas said the new board was now determined “to...
Markos Holevas, who was recently named president of the Gfc’s board, told Variety that the center would waste little time in ensuring that the Greek industry hits the ground running in 2021. “We want to change many things before the end of the year, to begin the new year with a new profile,” he said.
As the Thessaloniki Film Festival winds down, Holevas said the new board was now determined “to...
- 11/16/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: This year’s Oxbelly Labs has set creative advisors including directors Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Ulrich Köhler (In My Room) and Lulu Wang (The Farewell), as well as producer-seller Michael Weber, founder of The Match Factory.
The Lab is designer to offer promising international filmmakers the opportunity to work on their first or second feature script, as well as workshop and direct one scene from it, with guidance from industry mentors.
Led by Oxbelly’s artistic director and Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg), the Lab is being hosted online this year.
Returning creative advisors include Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), Michael Almereyda (Tesla), Ritesh Batra (Photograph), Lisa Cholodenko (Olive Kitteridge), Willem Dafoe (Tommaso), Naomi Foner (Running On Empty), Nick Kroll (Big Mouth), Jeff Nichols (Loving), Olivier Père and Eva Stefani (Manuscript).
The Labs were established...
The Lab is designer to offer promising international filmmakers the opportunity to work on their first or second feature script, as well as workshop and direct one scene from it, with guidance from industry mentors.
Led by Oxbelly’s artistic director and Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg), the Lab is being hosted online this year.
Returning creative advisors include Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), Michael Almereyda (Tesla), Ritesh Batra (Photograph), Lisa Cholodenko (Olive Kitteridge), Willem Dafoe (Tommaso), Naomi Foner (Running On Empty), Nick Kroll (Big Mouth), Jeff Nichols (Loving), Olivier Père and Eva Stefani (Manuscript).
The Labs were established...
- 11/12/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
A few minutes before the end of “Digger,” first-time feature director Georgis Grigorakis arrives at a closing shot for the ages: an ambiguous, breath-halting ellipsis that distills all the film’s themes of dueling familial, economical and community values into one spooky, funny man-versus-machine tableau. Except, as it turns out, it’s not the closing shot, as “Digger” continues into a needless bow-tying epilogue that double-underlines points the film has already made elegantly clear.
A little like the clashing men at its center — an estranged father and son fighting for family land in an absurd, escalating war of physical and emotional attrition — Grigorakis doesn’t exactly know when to quit. The rest of his debut, however, could hardly be more exactingly poised and composed, drenched in thick, cloudburst-blue mood that lends heft and consequence to its small-scale storytelling.
A Berlinale Panorama premiere which later resurfaced in the Sarajevo lineup, “Digger...
A little like the clashing men at its center — an estranged father and son fighting for family land in an absurd, escalating war of physical and emotional attrition — Grigorakis doesn’t exactly know when to quit. The rest of his debut, however, could hardly be more exactingly poised and composed, drenched in thick, cloudburst-blue mood that lends heft and consequence to its small-scale storytelling.
A Berlinale Panorama premiere which later resurfaced in the Sarajevo lineup, “Digger...
- 8/18/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
For a feature debut that he describes as a contemporary Western, Greek director Georgis Grigorakis settled on a familiar archetype — “a lonely guy with his horse, with his shotgun” — who, in keeping with the genre’s conventions, is drawn into a confrontation and is prepared to fight to the bitter end in the defense of his beliefs.
But while the battle lines may seem clear at the outset of “Digger,” which world premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival and now plays in the main competition lineup of the Sarajevo Film Festival, a more unsettling conflict takes shape for Nikitas (Vangelis Mourikis) when his son Johnny (Argyris Pandazaras) appears after a 20-year absence, demanding his share of the family’s land. An offer to buy the property for a princely sum pits the two men against each other, while exposing deeper rifts in a mountain community struggling for its survival.
But while the battle lines may seem clear at the outset of “Digger,” which world premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival and now plays in the main competition lineup of the Sarajevo Film Festival, a more unsettling conflict takes shape for Nikitas (Vangelis Mourikis) when his son Johnny (Argyris Pandazaras) appears after a 20-year absence, demanding his share of the family’s land. An offer to buy the property for a princely sum pits the two men against each other, while exposing deeper rifts in a mountain community struggling for its survival.
- 8/14/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
As much as we adore and revere the theatrical experience, as theater chains prep to reopen amidst a virus that is spreading rapidly in certain areas of the country, one is far better off staying at home and enjoying films from around the world. There’s no better place to do that than The Criterion Channel, and now they’ve unveiled their July lineup.
Coming to the channel next month are retrospectives dedicated to the stellar early films of Atom Egoyan, works by Miranda July, films featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto scores, Olympic films (including their recent release Tokyo Olympiad), plus Kelly Reichardt’s masterful Certain Women, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô (coming soon to disc with Scorsese’s next World Cinema Project release), Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, and much more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
Coming to the channel next month are retrospectives dedicated to the stellar early films of Atom Egoyan, works by Miranda July, films featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto scores, Olympic films (including their recent release Tokyo Olympiad), plus Kelly Reichardt’s masterful Certain Women, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô (coming soon to disc with Scorsese’s next World Cinema Project release), Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, and much more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
- 6/26/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There was a time not long ago when any talk of Greek cinema quickly turned to a movement loosely characterized as the Greek Weird Wave, known for a certain deadpan aesthetic that was popularized with the breakout success of Yorgos Lanthimos (“Dogtooth”) and Athina Rachel Tsangari (“Attenberg”).
That has changed, if the label ever truly fit to begin with. “I don’t believe that there is a specific Greek wave,” says Christos Nikou, whose debut feature, “Apples,” about a lonely man who becomes a victim of an unexplained surge of amnesia in his city, is being sold by Alpha Violet during the Cannes virtual market.
“My intention was to make a movie more close to the cinema I love as a viewer,” he continues. “Movies that create their own worlds and have conceptual ideas and at the same time have an unusual and complete story to narrate.”
It’s an artistic vision that,...
That has changed, if the label ever truly fit to begin with. “I don’t believe that there is a specific Greek wave,” says Christos Nikou, whose debut feature, “Apples,” about a lonely man who becomes a victim of an unexplained surge of amnesia in his city, is being sold by Alpha Violet during the Cannes virtual market.
“My intention was to make a movie more close to the cinema I love as a viewer,” he continues. “Movies that create their own worlds and have conceptual ideas and at the same time have an unusual and complete story to narrate.”
It’s an artistic vision that,...
- 6/22/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Athina Rachel Tsangari directs five episodes of ‘Trigonometry’ for Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell’s House Productions.
When UK producer Tessa Ross was talking to Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari about a film project, she decided to, as Ross puts it, “take my life slightly into my hands”.
Ross had enjoyed her conversations with the director of festival favourites Attenberg and Chevalier so much she wondered if Tsangari would be interested in taking on a TV series she was also developing.
“Would you think about television?” Ross asked Tsangari.
The “television” in question is Trigonometry, an eight-part drama series set in London,...
When UK producer Tessa Ross was talking to Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari about a film project, she decided to, as Ross puts it, “take my life slightly into my hands”.
Ross had enjoyed her conversations with the director of festival favourites Attenberg and Chevalier so much she wondered if Tsangari would be interested in taking on a TV series she was also developing.
“Would you think about television?” Ross asked Tsangari.
The “television” in question is Trigonometry, an eight-part drama series set in London,...
- 2/25/2020
- by 88¦Louise Tutt¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Maryam Touzani’s critically acclaimed feature debut, “Adam,” which had its world premiere at Cannes in Un Certain Regard.
“Adam” is also the official entry for Morocco in the international feature film race at the Oscars. Represented in international markets by Berlin-based Films Boutique, “Adam” has been on a laureled path since its Cannes debut. It won the New Director’s Prize Roger Ebert Award at Chicago and the best first feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival, among other prizes. It also played at big international festivals such as Toronto and Karlovy Vary and will next screen at the AFI Fest.
The film stars Lubna Azabal as a woman who runs a modest local bakery from her home in Casablanca, where she lives alone with her 8-year-old daughter. Their lives are transformed by the arrival of a young pregnant woman searching for work,...
“Adam” is also the official entry for Morocco in the international feature film race at the Oscars. Represented in international markets by Berlin-based Films Boutique, “Adam” has been on a laureled path since its Cannes debut. It won the New Director’s Prize Roger Ebert Award at Chicago and the best first feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival, among other prizes. It also played at big international festivals such as Toronto and Karlovy Vary and will next screen at the AFI Fest.
The film stars Lubna Azabal as a woman who runs a modest local bakery from her home in Casablanca, where she lives alone with her 8-year-old daughter. Their lives are transformed by the arrival of a young pregnant woman searching for work,...
- 11/8/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Ina Weisse’s “The Audition,” the tense psychological drama which world premiered at Toronto and went on to win the Silver Shell Award (for Nina Hoss) at San Sebastian.
Represented in international markets by Les Films du Losange, the film stars Hoss as Anna Bronsky, an obsessive violin teacher at a high school focused on honing young talent. When Anna finds a young student, Alexander, she sets off to create a model of herself but her dedication gradually creates a tense situation and affects her personal life with her husband and son.
“‘The Audition’ features such a powerful performance from Hoss that is heartbreaking, vulnerable and unforgettable, we are proud to have the film for North America” said Strand Releasing’s Jon Gerrans who negotiated the deal with Alice Lesort of Les Films du Losange. Strand plans to release “The Audition” next Spring or Summer.
Represented in international markets by Les Films du Losange, the film stars Hoss as Anna Bronsky, an obsessive violin teacher at a high school focused on honing young talent. When Anna finds a young student, Alexander, she sets off to create a model of herself but her dedication gradually creates a tense situation and affects her personal life with her husband and son.
“‘The Audition’ features such a powerful performance from Hoss that is heartbreaking, vulnerable and unforgettable, we are proud to have the film for North America” said Strand Releasing’s Jon Gerrans who negotiated the deal with Alice Lesort of Les Films du Losange. Strand plans to release “The Audition” next Spring or Summer.
- 10/16/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — Sales house The Match Factory is launching exclusively via Variety the trailer of “Patrick,” Gonçalo Waddington’s debut feature, as the film world premieres in the Official Selection at the San Sebastian Festival.
Screening in main competition, “Patrick” recounts the story of an eight-year old Portuguese boy, Mario, who is re-discovered years later after being imprisoned in a Parisian jail, aged 20, now called Patrick. It is loosely inspired by the true-life story of an 11-year old child called Rui Pedro who was abducted in Portugal in 1998 and never found.
Patrick has become a borderline criminal who lives with Mark, a 45-year old artist in Paris, having been involved in child pornography since his abduction. He must choose between a lengthy prison sentence or returning to his family in Portugal where, because of his abduction, he would be given a much softer sentence.
Lead actor Hugo Fernandes, a French thesp of Portuguese origin,...
Screening in main competition, “Patrick” recounts the story of an eight-year old Portuguese boy, Mario, who is re-discovered years later after being imprisoned in a Parisian jail, aged 20, now called Patrick. It is loosely inspired by the true-life story of an 11-year old child called Rui Pedro who was abducted in Portugal in 1998 and never found.
Patrick has become a borderline criminal who lives with Mark, a 45-year old artist in Paris, having been involved in child pornography since his abduction. He must choose between a lengthy prison sentence or returning to his family in Portugal where, because of his abduction, he would be given a much softer sentence.
Lead actor Hugo Fernandes, a French thesp of Portuguese origin,...
- 9/23/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
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