At this year’s Berlin Film Festival, politics and protests, not cinema and celebrities, have gotten top billing.
The activist uproar, whether its protesting environmentalists, demonstrations on the rights of women in Iran, or shows of solidarity with the embattled people of Ukraine, has created a media echo that has often overpowered what has been happening on screen.
Thursday’s opening night red carpet so no fewer than three demonstrations. Holy Spider star Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, together with two German-Iranian actresses, The Empress star Melika Foroutan and Jasmin Tabatabai (Bandits, The Baader Meinhof Complex), joined activists to unveil a banner reading “Women Life Freedom,” the slogan of the anti-government, pro-women’s rights protests that have rocked Iran since last September. Before the ceremony started, demonstrators representing concession workers and ushers in Berlin’s movie theaters, held up banners to call for fairer wages. And members of environmental activist group Last...
The activist uproar, whether its protesting environmentalists, demonstrations on the rights of women in Iran, or shows of solidarity with the embattled people of Ukraine, has created a media echo that has often overpowered what has been happening on screen.
Thursday’s opening night red carpet so no fewer than three demonstrations. Holy Spider star Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, together with two German-Iranian actresses, The Empress star Melika Foroutan and Jasmin Tabatabai (Bandits, The Baader Meinhof Complex), joined activists to unveil a banner reading “Women Life Freedom,” the slogan of the anti-government, pro-women’s rights protests that have rocked Iran since last September. Before the ceremony started, demonstrators representing concession workers and ushers in Berlin’s movie theaters, held up banners to call for fairer wages. And members of environmental activist group Last...
- 2/18/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hello and welcome back to your weekly International Insider. Berlin’s back and with most of our team in the German capital, it’s Jesse Whittock here bringing you the latest from the worlds of TV and film.
Berlin Sensation Kristen Stewart at Berlin
“I’m kind of shaking”: Straight over to Zac Ntim with this dispatch from the first night of Germany’s top film fest: Kristen Stewart, Sean Penn and Anne Hathaway were among the big names present as the 73rd Berlin Film Festival opened Thursday evening. This year is the festival’s full-blown return since the pandemic and the festivities began early Thursday morning as the festival jury, headed by Kristen Stewart, was presented to the press. “In full transparency, I’m kind of shaking,” Stewart said when asked about her jury duties at the opening presser. She was joined by fellow jurors Golshifteh Farahani, Valeska Grisebach,...
Berlin Sensation Kristen Stewart at Berlin
“I’m kind of shaking”: Straight over to Zac Ntim with this dispatch from the first night of Germany’s top film fest: Kristen Stewart, Sean Penn and Anne Hathaway were among the big names present as the 73rd Berlin Film Festival opened Thursday evening. This year is the festival’s full-blown return since the pandemic and the festivities began early Thursday morning as the festival jury, headed by Kristen Stewart, was presented to the press. “In full transparency, I’m kind of shaking,” Stewart said when asked about her jury duties at the opening presser. She was joined by fellow jurors Golshifteh Farahani, Valeska Grisebach,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival’s opening-night red-carpet gala Thursday stayed on schedule despite a pair of climate change activists who apparently glued themselves to the carpet in front of the Berlin Palast.
Related Story Berlin Film Festival Opening Night Red Carpet Gallery: Kristen Stewart, Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway & More Related Story Kristen Stewart Talks Weight Of Berlin Fest Jury Presidency: "In Full Transparency, I Am Shaking" Related Story Kiah Roache-Turner's 'Sting' Lands Deals; Magnolia Acquires 'A Compassionate Spy'; Paramount Lands Matt Johnson's 'Blackberry' — Berlin Briefs
Crowds had gathered to see the festival’s opening-night film, Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me, which stars Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James and Anne Hathaway. Most were in attendance tonight ahead of the screening.
The student activist group The Last Generation said it was behind the protest, according to Reuters. The incident did not interrupt the red carpet,...
Related Story Berlin Film Festival Opening Night Red Carpet Gallery: Kristen Stewart, Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway & More Related Story Kristen Stewart Talks Weight Of Berlin Fest Jury Presidency: "In Full Transparency, I Am Shaking" Related Story Kiah Roache-Turner's 'Sting' Lands Deals; Magnolia Acquires 'A Compassionate Spy'; Paramount Lands Matt Johnson's 'Blackberry' — Berlin Briefs
Crowds had gathered to see the festival’s opening-night film, Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me, which stars Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James and Anne Hathaway. Most were in attendance tonight ahead of the screening.
The student activist group The Last Generation said it was behind the protest, according to Reuters. The incident did not interrupt the red carpet,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival and its accompanying European Film Market will not accredit any companies or media outlets with direct ties to the Russian or Iranian governments, the Berlinale confirmed in a statement Wednesday.
Berlin introduced a ban on Russian-backed companies and outlets last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following a policy also implemented by the Cannes and Venice festivals. Now Berlin has added Tehran to the list, responding to the Iranian government’s brutal crackdown on the wave of protests that have rocked the country for months. The demonstrations were triggered by the death, in September, of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
Germany is home to a large Iranian diaspora —including such film luminaries as Berlin Alexanderplatz director Burhan Qurbani and actress Jasmin Tabatabai (The Baader Meinhof Complex) —and...
Berlin introduced a ban on Russian-backed companies and outlets last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following a policy also implemented by the Cannes and Venice festivals. Now Berlin has added Tehran to the list, responding to the Iranian government’s brutal crackdown on the wave of protests that have rocked the country for months. The demonstrations were triggered by the death, in September, of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
Germany is home to a large Iranian diaspora —including such film luminaries as Berlin Alexanderplatz director Burhan Qurbani and actress Jasmin Tabatabai (The Baader Meinhof Complex) —and...
- 1/18/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Filmmakers Dominik Graf, Emily Atef, Sol Bondy among many who signed petition calling for executive to resign.
Frankfurt-based regional film fund HessenFilm has fired CEO Hans Joachim Mendig over a controversial meeting pictured in an Instagram post in which the businessman is seen sitting down with far-right politician Jörg Meuthen.
The fund’s supervisory board voted unanimously at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday (24) to terminate Mendig’s employment with immediate effect.
The decision came after growing calls from the German film community for Mendig to step down after a local Frankfurt newspaper reported on the Instagram post dated July 24 by Meuthen,...
Frankfurt-based regional film fund HessenFilm has fired CEO Hans Joachim Mendig over a controversial meeting pictured in an Instagram post in which the businessman is seen sitting down with far-right politician Jörg Meuthen.
The fund’s supervisory board voted unanimously at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday (24) to terminate Mendig’s employment with immediate effect.
The decision came after growing calls from the German film community for Mendig to step down after a local Frankfurt newspaper reported on the Instagram post dated July 24 by Meuthen,...
- 9/24/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
’Under The Shadow’, ’Radio Dreams’ actors set for project from Dutch-Iranian Kaweh Modiri.
A cast of actors with Iranian roots whose credits include Under The Shadow, Radio Dreams and Fack Ju Göthe 2, have signed up for Dutch-Iranian Kaweh Modiri’s upcoming suspense drama Mitra.
Inspired by the director’s own family history, the project will be set between present day Netherlands and 1981 Tehran. 37 years after her daughter Mitra was executed in Iran and she fled her home country, Haleh leads a successful life as a renowned academic in the Netherlands. Her peaceful existence is shaken by the arrival of...
A cast of actors with Iranian roots whose credits include Under The Shadow, Radio Dreams and Fack Ju Göthe 2, have signed up for Dutch-Iranian Kaweh Modiri’s upcoming suspense drama Mitra.
Inspired by the director’s own family history, the project will be set between present day Netherlands and 1981 Tehran. 37 years after her daughter Mitra was executed in Iran and she fled her home country, Haleh leads a successful life as a renowned academic in the Netherlands. Her peaceful existence is shaken by the arrival of...
- 3/1/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Grace (Jasmin Tabatabai) is a war photographer who abandons her career after suffering from some terrible losses and Max (Olivier Gourmet), her husband, is an eye doctor who often works at a clinic in Peru. At the same time, we follow the story of Saturnina (Magaly Solier) and the village (Turumba) nearby that is being victimized by mercury contamination. The combination of sorrow, anger and hope takes hold of the film, essentially describing how people might be living separate lives but are coping with the same issues: the awakening of inner pain, the will to find peace within and find security in their own “land”. Validating the true meaning of what it is to see your own land being possessed by foreign hands, Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth's Altiplano is comprised of beautiful shots, symbolic imagery and carries a mood reminiscent of Alejandro Jorodowsky's films. While both filmmakers aren't of Peruvian descent,...
- 8/24/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
This past Thursday, shortly after Michael Jackson’s untimely passing, a sick Internet rumor started that veteran actor Jeff Goldblum had died. His reps were quick to point out that the actor was, in fact, very much alive and well. For any of you doubting Thomases out there, here’s photographic evidence of the actor’s good health, taken just a couple weeks ago:
Of course, as many here in the MTV offices will attest to, Jeff Goldblum is king. He will always be David Cronenberg’s original “Fly” of course, but I love him best for starring alongside a young Laurence Fishburne as a high-class drug dealer in “Deep Cover.” And a designer drug dealer at that. In the honor of the fact that Jeff Goldblum still walks among us, I present to you this little photographic tour through his career.
I’ll admit, my heart skipped a beat...
Of course, as many here in the MTV offices will attest to, Jeff Goldblum is king. He will always be David Cronenberg’s original “Fly” of course, but I love him best for starring alongside a young Laurence Fishburne as a high-class drug dealer in “Deep Cover.” And a designer drug dealer at that. In the honor of the fact that Jeff Goldblum still walks among us, I present to you this little photographic tour through his career.
I’ll admit, my heart skipped a beat...
- 6/27/2009
- by Adam Rosenberg
- MTV Movies Blog
Cologne, Germany -- Vicco von Bulow, the German comedy multihyphenate better known as Loriot, will receive a lifetime achievement Lola at next week's German Film Awards.
A 10-member jury, which included producers Bernd Eichinger and Gunter Rohrbach, director Michael Bully Herbig and actress Jasmin Tabatabai among other local film luminaries, picked Bulow for the honor.
The 85-year-old first rose to fame as a cartoonist in postwar Germany before crossing over into television and then film.
His gently sardonic humor won over mass audiences as well as critics. His film debut, "Odipussi" (1988), which he wrote, directed and starred in, won him several awards, including a German Film Prize. His follow-up, "Pappa Ante Portas," was a similar critical and commercial success.
"Even though he only directed two feature films, (von Bulow) became a role model for everyone around him and for those who came after him in the field," Rohrbach said. "He set the standard.
A 10-member jury, which included producers Bernd Eichinger and Gunter Rohrbach, director Michael Bully Herbig and actress Jasmin Tabatabai among other local film luminaries, picked Bulow for the honor.
The 85-year-old first rose to fame as a cartoonist in postwar Germany before crossing over into television and then film.
His gently sardonic humor won over mass audiences as well as critics. His film debut, "Odipussi" (1988), which he wrote, directed and starred in, won him several awards, including a German Film Prize. His follow-up, "Pappa Ante Portas," was a similar critical and commercial success.
"Even though he only directed two feature films, (von Bulow) became a role model for everyone around him and for those who came after him in the field," Rohrbach said. "He set the standard.
- 4/15/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
No sooner does Berlin begin than the sales agents begin tipping their titles for Cannes. Fortiissimo is touting Taiwan director Tsai Ming-Liang's Face. Helen Loveridge, a founder of Fortissimo has set up her new company and has Cannes hopeful Altiplano directed by Peter Bosens and Jessica Woodworth and starring Jasmine Tabatabi, Olivier Gourmet and Magaly Solier. Her sales on Yes Madam, Sir are going well. TF1 has Love Reclaimed (Aka Starting Over, Tout Peut Recommencer) directed by CHAO Wang and produced by Sylvain Bursztein. A complete Tipped for Cannes Report is available to subscribing clients and will be updated until the final report comes out after the press announcemnt April 23.
- 2/9/2009
- Sydney's Buzz
It's easy to see why Katja von Garnier's "Bandits" is being eyed by Warner Bros. as ripe remake material.
A big hit in its native Germany as well as throughout Europe, the spunky crowd-rouser has at its core one terrific premise -- a group of escaped female cons-turned-cult rockers find themselves avoiding the spotlight and a police dragnet while giving new meaning to Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".
Although the rock 'n' roll fantasy road picture hits a couple of mucky snags along the way, the irresistible combination of "Thelma & Louise," "The Commitments" and "Caged Heat" could prove an attractive proposition for the likes of Jennifer Lopez or Madonna.
In the meantime, the original subtitled version, complete with its hard-driving, English-language soundtrack, should make a little art house noise for distributor Stratosphere Entertainment.
Von Garnier ("Making Up!") puts her directorial pedal to the metal from the get-go, as we find inmates Marie (Jutta Hoffmann), Angel (Nicolette Krebitz) and the tough Luna (Jasmin Tabatabai) rehearsing their songs in the prison chapel.
As luck would have it, they lose their drummer (she's paroled) just when they're booked by a campaigning politician to perform their first outside gig at the annual Policeman's Ball.
Enter the recently incarcerated Emma (Katja Riemann), a jazz musician with a mean sense of rhythm who is recruited by the band even though she and Luna initially butt heads. Settling on the name Bandits (they like how it combines the words, "band" and "tits"), they are taken to the gig but never quite make it to the stage.
Instead, due to some unfortunate circumstances involving their abusive escort, the Bandits end up hitting the road in a police van en route to Hamburg harbor and a South America-bound boat, making a pit stop at Gold Records, where their demo tape had been tossed in the trash prior to their newfound status as on-the-lam rock refugees.
Through a little forceful bargaining, they leave the office with a record deal and eventually pick up a willing American hostage (Werner Schreyer), while a cigarillo-puffing cop (Hannes Jaenicke) remains doggedly on their collective tail.
Working in collaboration with writers Ben Taylor and Uwe Wilhelm, von Garnier has created a group of strong, vivid female characters that are easy to root for. Riemann, one of her country's most popular film stars, along with Tabatabai, Krebitz and the maternal Hoffmann add to the charisma quotient significantly.
While there are places where von Garnier opts for a few too many prolonged periods of downtime, her direction generally, accompanied by Torsten Breuer's vigorous cinematography and Hans Funck's vivid editing, echoes the fast-forward urgency of her characters' predicament.
Last but not least, there are those contagious pop-rock songs, which were, for the most part, written by and sung by the actors. That the accompanying CD went on to become the biggest-selling soundtrack of any European film to date is also something that Warner Bros. should find intriguing.
BANDITS
Stratosphere Entertainment
An Olga Film production
co-produced by Vela X
in association with ProSieben
and Flach Film/Jean-Francois Lepetit
Director: Katja von Garnier
Writers: Katja von Garnier, Uwe Wilhelm
Based on an idea by: Katja von Garnier, Ben Taylor
Producers: Harry Kugler, Molly von Furstenberg, Elvira Senft
Director of photography: Torsten Breuer
Production designer: Susann Bieling
Editor: Hans Funck
Costumes: Claudia Bobsin
Music: the Bandits
Color/stereo
Cast:
Emma: Katja Riemann
Luna: Jasmin Tabatabai
Angel: Nicolette Krebitz
Marie: Jutta Hoffmann
Schwartz: Hannes Jaenicke
West: Werner Schreyer
Gold: Peter Sattmann
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
A big hit in its native Germany as well as throughout Europe, the spunky crowd-rouser has at its core one terrific premise -- a group of escaped female cons-turned-cult rockers find themselves avoiding the spotlight and a police dragnet while giving new meaning to Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".
Although the rock 'n' roll fantasy road picture hits a couple of mucky snags along the way, the irresistible combination of "Thelma & Louise," "The Commitments" and "Caged Heat" could prove an attractive proposition for the likes of Jennifer Lopez or Madonna.
In the meantime, the original subtitled version, complete with its hard-driving, English-language soundtrack, should make a little art house noise for distributor Stratosphere Entertainment.
Von Garnier ("Making Up!") puts her directorial pedal to the metal from the get-go, as we find inmates Marie (Jutta Hoffmann), Angel (Nicolette Krebitz) and the tough Luna (Jasmin Tabatabai) rehearsing their songs in the prison chapel.
As luck would have it, they lose their drummer (she's paroled) just when they're booked by a campaigning politician to perform their first outside gig at the annual Policeman's Ball.
Enter the recently incarcerated Emma (Katja Riemann), a jazz musician with a mean sense of rhythm who is recruited by the band even though she and Luna initially butt heads. Settling on the name Bandits (they like how it combines the words, "band" and "tits"), they are taken to the gig but never quite make it to the stage.
Instead, due to some unfortunate circumstances involving their abusive escort, the Bandits end up hitting the road in a police van en route to Hamburg harbor and a South America-bound boat, making a pit stop at Gold Records, where their demo tape had been tossed in the trash prior to their newfound status as on-the-lam rock refugees.
Through a little forceful bargaining, they leave the office with a record deal and eventually pick up a willing American hostage (Werner Schreyer), while a cigarillo-puffing cop (Hannes Jaenicke) remains doggedly on their collective tail.
Working in collaboration with writers Ben Taylor and Uwe Wilhelm, von Garnier has created a group of strong, vivid female characters that are easy to root for. Riemann, one of her country's most popular film stars, along with Tabatabai, Krebitz and the maternal Hoffmann add to the charisma quotient significantly.
While there are places where von Garnier opts for a few too many prolonged periods of downtime, her direction generally, accompanied by Torsten Breuer's vigorous cinematography and Hans Funck's vivid editing, echoes the fast-forward urgency of her characters' predicament.
Last but not least, there are those contagious pop-rock songs, which were, for the most part, written by and sung by the actors. That the accompanying CD went on to become the biggest-selling soundtrack of any European film to date is also something that Warner Bros. should find intriguing.
BANDITS
Stratosphere Entertainment
An Olga Film production
co-produced by Vela X
in association with ProSieben
and Flach Film/Jean-Francois Lepetit
Director: Katja von Garnier
Writers: Katja von Garnier, Uwe Wilhelm
Based on an idea by: Katja von Garnier, Ben Taylor
Producers: Harry Kugler, Molly von Furstenberg, Elvira Senft
Director of photography: Torsten Breuer
Production designer: Susann Bieling
Editor: Hans Funck
Costumes: Claudia Bobsin
Music: the Bandits
Color/stereo
Cast:
Emma: Katja Riemann
Luna: Jasmin Tabatabai
Angel: Nicolette Krebitz
Marie: Jutta Hoffmann
Schwartz: Hannes Jaenicke
West: Werner Schreyer
Gold: Peter Sattmann
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/1/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.