Deadline is reporting on the new project from Stephen Frears, the director of Dangerous Liasons, The Queen and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Frears is set to make Wilder & Me, which will be a screen adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s popular novel Mr. Wilder and Me. The screenplay for the film will be penned by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father), with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing the film. Frears has assembled his impressive cast for the film, which will include Christoph Waltz as legendary movie director Billy Wilder, who has helmed such films as Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. Waltz is set to be joined by Maya Hawke, Jon Hamm and John Turturro.
According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure,...
According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure,...
- 2/2/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Maya Hawke and Jon Hamm have joined Christoph Waltz in the starry cast for Stephen Frears’ upcoming drama, Wilder & Me.
Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.
Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.
Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...
Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.
Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.
Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Exclusive: Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Stranger Things and Maestro star Maya Hawke, Cannes Best Actor winner John Turturro (Severance), and Emmy winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are set to star in Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears’ (The Queen) Wilder & Me, which will be a buzzy package at this month’s EFM market.
Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.
Described as a “bittersweet drama”, the project has been adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing and shoot scheduled for early 2025 in Greece.
Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.
Described as a “bittersweet drama”, the project has been adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing and shoot scheduled for early 2025 in Greece.
- 2/2/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
James Sanders with Matt Ducharme (of Woods Bagot) at the Rizzoli book launch in New York of Renewing The Dream: The Mobility Revolution And The Future Of Los Angeles Photo: Anne Katrin Titze
In the second instalment with architect, author, filmmaker James Sanders (co-writer with Ric Burns on the PBS series New York: A Documentary Film), we discuss the Billy Wilder connection to producer Jeremy Thomas and Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me; Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch and The Apartment (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond and starring Jack Lemmon); Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Mariel Hemingway, and apartment sounds; Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and the stoop; the office building and Jean Negulesco’s The Best of Everything; Daniel Mann’s Butterfield 8 and and the canopy; Blake Edwards’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and how certain stories can...
In the second instalment with architect, author, filmmaker James Sanders (co-writer with Ric Burns on the PBS series New York: A Documentary Film), we discuss the Billy Wilder connection to producer Jeremy Thomas and Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me; Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch and The Apartment (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond and starring Jack Lemmon); Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Mariel Hemingway, and apartment sounds; Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and the stoop; the office building and Jean Negulesco’s The Best of Everything; Daniel Mann’s Butterfield 8 and and the canopy; Blake Edwards’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and how certain stories can...
- 12/29/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
A group of 200 internationally renowned writers, publishers, directors and producers have signed an open letter sounding the alarm over the implications of AI for human creativity.
“Several generative models of language and images have recently appeared in the public and private domains; they are developing at breakneck speed, accessible to all for any task which involves writing and creating,” read the letter, published online on Tuesday.
“These models are shaping a world where, little by little, creation can do without human beings, thereby hastening the automation of many creative and intellectual professions formerly deemed inaccessible to mechanization.”
The letter, initiated by European translation professionals under the banner of “Collective For Human Translation – In Flesh And Blood”, comes amid growing concern about the impact of generative AI technology on professionals working in the creative industries.
Signatories from the literary world included Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux (Happening) as well as best-selling...
“Several generative models of language and images have recently appeared in the public and private domains; they are developing at breakneck speed, accessible to all for any task which involves writing and creating,” read the letter, published online on Tuesday.
“These models are shaping a world where, little by little, creation can do without human beings, thereby hastening the automation of many creative and intellectual professions formerly deemed inaccessible to mechanization.”
The letter, initiated by European translation professionals under the banner of “Collective For Human Translation – In Flesh And Blood”, comes amid growing concern about the impact of generative AI technology on professionals working in the creative industries.
Signatories from the literary world included Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux (Happening) as well as best-selling...
- 10/3/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Jeremy Thomas with Anne-Katrin Titze on his next mission, Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder and Me to be directed by Stephen Frears and starring Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder: “We’ve got all the locations in Corfu and Paris where the drama is set. Now I’m looking for eight million dollars more …”
In the first instalment with producer extraordinaire Jeremy Thomas we discuss his work and admiration for Nicolas Roeg, Wim Wenders, and Matteo Garrone.
Jeremy Thomas with Glenn Kenny and Michael Almereyda at the Posteritati Gallery reception Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Karel Reisz’s Everybody Wins (written by Arthur Miller) came to Jeremy’s mind; the connection between Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (winning nine Oscars), Paul Bowles and The Sheltering Sky; Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) plus Glazer’s Martin Amis adaption of The Zone Of Interest (a Main Slate selection of...
In the first instalment with producer extraordinaire Jeremy Thomas we discuss his work and admiration for Nicolas Roeg, Wim Wenders, and Matteo Garrone.
Jeremy Thomas with Glenn Kenny and Michael Almereyda at the Posteritati Gallery reception Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Karel Reisz’s Everybody Wins (written by Arthur Miller) came to Jeremy’s mind; the connection between Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (winning nine Oscars), Paul Bowles and The Sheltering Sky; Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) plus Glazer’s Martin Amis adaption of The Zone Of Interest (a Main Slate selection of...
- 9/23/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe on Billy Wilder’s Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes after speaking with Paul Diamond (Ial Diamond’s son): “They shot all the footage but a lot of it was never scored, never dubbed, never graded. So the three-hour-version, which so many of us yearn for, never did exist in fact.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...
In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...
- 7/21/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe on Billy Wilder’s Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes after speaking with Paul Diamond (Ial Diamond’s son): “They shot all the footage but a lot of it was never scored, never dubbed, never graded. So the three-hour-version, which so many of us yearn for, never did exist in fact.”
In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...
In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...
- 7/21/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I love Powell and Pressburger, so I was very happy to get in a reference to them.”
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
- 7/8/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Volker Schlöndorff, director of the Oscar and Palme d’Or winning The Tin Drum (adapted from Günter Grass’s novel Die Blechtrommel) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Jonathan Coe’s research on a Billy Wilder film for Mr. Wilder And Me: “I told him everything I knew about Fedora and the shooting of Fedora in Munich.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Jonathan Coe’s imaginative and savvy novel, Mr. Wilder & Me, which centres on the making of Billy Wilder’s penultimate movie, Fedora, seen through the lens of a fictional Greek composer named Calista, credits Volker Schlöndorff as an important source.
Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me (Europa Editions), collection Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
I met Volker at the Austrian Cultural Forum’s Hedy Lamarr: Actress. Inventor. Viennese exhibition to discuss his role in the research for the novel, which led us into a wide-ranging conversation that included his documentary series Billy,...
Jonathan Coe’s imaginative and savvy novel, Mr. Wilder & Me, which centres on the making of Billy Wilder’s penultimate movie, Fedora, seen through the lens of a fictional Greek composer named Calista, credits Volker Schlöndorff as an important source.
Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me (Europa Editions), collection Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
I met Volker at the Austrian Cultural Forum’s Hedy Lamarr: Actress. Inventor. Viennese exhibition to discuss his role in the research for the novel, which led us into a wide-ranging conversation that included his documentary series Billy,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Hampton gave updates on ‘Heart of A Soldier’, ‘White Chameleon’ and ‘Dalila’.
Stephen Frears’ Billy Wilder And Me is looking at a 2024 shoot due to other commitments from cast and crew, according to writer Christopher Hampton.
Speaking to Screen in Doha, Qatar, where he is a master at the Qumra incubator, Hampton said, “We’re in a good space because Stephen Frears is going to direct it, and Christoph Waltz is going to be playing Billy Wilder.”
He said didn’t believe that a shoot this year would be possible, with next year looking most likely.
First announced by Screen in May last year,...
Stephen Frears’ Billy Wilder And Me is looking at a 2024 shoot due to other commitments from cast and crew, according to writer Christopher Hampton.
Speaking to Screen in Doha, Qatar, where he is a master at the Qumra incubator, Hampton said, “We’re in a good space because Stephen Frears is going to direct it, and Christoph Waltz is going to be playing Billy Wilder.”
He said didn’t believe that a shoot this year would be possible, with next year looking most likely.
First announced by Screen in May last year,...
- 3/13/2023
- by E. Nina Rothe
- ScreenDaily
Bob Dylan released his latest book The Philosophy of Modern Song in November.
The book contains Dylan’s commentary on 66 songs by other artists. It is the first book Dylan has published since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In a new interview, Dylan explained the unusual dedication in the new book, to coffee and bakery company Dunkin’ Donuts.
“In the book, I thank: the ‘crew from Dunkin’ Donuts’,” he said.
“Because they were compassionate, supportive and they went the extra mile.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he revealed that he was a fan of the TV shows Coronation Street, Father Brown and some early Twilight Zones.
“I know they’re old-fashioned, but they make me feel at home,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
“I’m no fan of packaged programs or news shows. I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting, nothing dog ass.”
In November,...
The book contains Dylan’s commentary on 66 songs by other artists. It is the first book Dylan has published since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In a new interview, Dylan explained the unusual dedication in the new book, to coffee and bakery company Dunkin’ Donuts.
“In the book, I thank: the ‘crew from Dunkin’ Donuts’,” he said.
“Because they were compassionate, supportive and they went the extra mile.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he revealed that he was a fan of the TV shows Coronation Street, Father Brown and some early Twilight Zones.
“I know they’re old-fashioned, but they make me feel at home,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
“I’m no fan of packaged programs or news shows. I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting, nothing dog ass.”
In November,...
- 12/20/2022
- by Ellie Muir
- The Independent - Music
Landing a role in EastEnders was the thing that helped Martin Kemp recover “more than anything else”, the Spandau Ballet bassist has said.
The 61-year-old starred as villain Steve Owen in the popular BBC One soap between 1998 and 2002.
Appearing on the Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Kemp said when he was offered the role, he was urged by friends not to accept it.
“Everybody around me was saying, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it. It’s going to ruin your career, don’t do it’,” he recalled. “Well because they hadn’t had any name actors in that show before, right?
“Everybody had grown up with EastEnders, so I was kind of the first one of those name actors to go in.”
Kemp says he was offered the role around five years after he’d gone through “ the whole brain tumour business” in the mid-Nineties,...
The 61-year-old starred as villain Steve Owen in the popular BBC One soap between 1998 and 2002.
Appearing on the Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Kemp said when he was offered the role, he was urged by friends not to accept it.
“Everybody around me was saying, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it. It’s going to ruin your career, don’t do it’,” he recalled. “Well because they hadn’t had any name actors in that show before, right?
“Everybody had grown up with EastEnders, so I was kind of the first one of those name actors to go in.”
Kemp says he was offered the role around five years after he’d gone through “ the whole brain tumour business” in the mid-Nineties,...
- 11/16/2022
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - TV
Saturday Night Live fans have criticised the announcement that Dave Chappelle will host the series next week.
Chappelle has become a polarising figure in recent years, thanks to several jokes about transgender people in his recent stand-up specials that critics have described as transphobic.
Over the weekend, it was announced that Chappelle would be hosting the 12 November episode of the long-running US sketch show, with hip-hop duo Black Star appearing as musical guests.
Chappelle has hosted the show twice before, with his most recent hosting stint coming in November 2020, hours after Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.
Reacting to the news on social media, some fans of the show voiced objections to Chappelle’s involvement with SNL, with many raising concerns about his comments regarding trans people.
“Ugh why is #SNL bringing back Dave Chappelle again? So he can make more transphobic jokes?”
“I love SNL. I’ve...
Chappelle has become a polarising figure in recent years, thanks to several jokes about transgender people in his recent stand-up specials that critics have described as transphobic.
Over the weekend, it was announced that Chappelle would be hosting the 12 November episode of the long-running US sketch show, with hip-hop duo Black Star appearing as musical guests.
Chappelle has hosted the show twice before, with his most recent hosting stint coming in November 2020, hours after Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.
Reacting to the news on social media, some fans of the show voiced objections to Chappelle’s involvement with SNL, with many raising concerns about his comments regarding trans people.
“Ugh why is #SNL bringing back Dave Chappelle again? So he can make more transphobic jokes?”
“I love SNL. I’ve...
- 11/7/2022
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - TV
Zac Efron turned down the opportunity to play Matthew Perry again, the Friends actor revealed.
Efron and Perry co-starred in the 2009 movie 17 Again, in which the fictional 37-year-old Mike O'Donnell (Perry) is transformed back into his 17-year-old self (Efron) after expressing his regrets in life.
While promoting his new memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, on SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight With Jessica Shaw, Perry revealed that he is currently shopping around the screenplay for a rom-com he’s written.
Perry said that he wrote the lead role for himself only to realise that he was 20 years too old for the part.
Asked who his “dream younger version” of himself was by host Shaw, Perry replied: “Well, it was Zac Efron. But he said no. So, we’ve got to find someone who says yes.”
As for the female lead, Perry said that The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza “almost did it.
Efron and Perry co-starred in the 2009 movie 17 Again, in which the fictional 37-year-old Mike O'Donnell (Perry) is transformed back into his 17-year-old self (Efron) after expressing his regrets in life.
While promoting his new memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, on SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight With Jessica Shaw, Perry revealed that he is currently shopping around the screenplay for a rom-com he’s written.
Perry said that he wrote the lead role for himself only to realise that he was 20 years too old for the part.
Asked who his “dream younger version” of himself was by host Shaw, Perry replied: “Well, it was Zac Efron. But he said no. So, we’ve got to find someone who says yes.”
As for the female lead, Perry said that The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza “almost did it.
- 11/4/2022
- by Tom Murray
- The Independent - Film
Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz will portray legendary Old Hollywood director Billy Wilder in a biographical film from director Stephen Frears, the film’s producer Jeremy Thomas announced Monday.
“Billy Wilder and Me” is part coming-of-age-story and part true-life portrait about a young woman who begins working with Wilder during the filming of “Fedora” on a Greek island in 1977. But as she continues with him to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey into the memory of his family history. The Austrian-Hungarian born Wilder is the director of such masterpieces as “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Apartment,” “Some Like It Hot,” “Double Indemnity” and many more.
Christopher Hampton, who is collaborating with Frears for the third time after working together on “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Cheri,” wrote the script based on the novel “Mr. Wilder and Me” from author Jonathan Coe.
Also Read:
Sarah Silverman Joins Bradley Cooper’s...
“Billy Wilder and Me” is part coming-of-age-story and part true-life portrait about a young woman who begins working with Wilder during the filming of “Fedora” on a Greek island in 1977. But as she continues with him to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey into the memory of his family history. The Austrian-Hungarian born Wilder is the director of such masterpieces as “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Apartment,” “Some Like It Hot,” “Double Indemnity” and many more.
Christopher Hampton, who is collaborating with Frears for the third time after working together on “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Cheri,” wrote the script based on the novel “Mr. Wilder and Me” from author Jonathan Coe.
Also Read:
Sarah Silverman Joins Bradley Cooper’s...
- 6/6/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
If there’s one thing Hollywood likes almost as much as superheroes, it’s Hollywood itself. Continuing the tradition, a new drama is now in the works telling the story of one of cinema’s most iconic writer-directors.
Variety reports that Stephen Frears will direct Christoph Waltz in Billy Wilder & Me, a drama that follows the Sunset Blvd. filmmaker (as played by Waltz) during the making of his 1978 feature Fedora. Based on Jonathan Coe’s book, as adapted by Christopher Hampton, the film is set in the summer of 1977 and tells both a coming-of-age story and a portrait of Wilder. The film follows an innocent young woman who begins working for Wilder and his screenwriter I. A. L. Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. “When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history,...
Variety reports that Stephen Frears will direct Christoph Waltz in Billy Wilder & Me, a drama that follows the Sunset Blvd. filmmaker (as played by Waltz) during the making of his 1978 feature Fedora. Based on Jonathan Coe’s book, as adapted by Christopher Hampton, the film is set in the summer of 1977 and tells both a coming-of-age story and a portrait of Wilder. The film follows an innocent young woman who begins working for Wilder and his screenwriter I. A. L. Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. “When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Christoph Waltz has signed up to play the iconic filmmaker Billy Wilder in the Stephen Frears directed ‘Billy Wilder and Me.’
A part coming-of-age story, part true-life portrait of the beloved Billy Wilder (Waltz), the film is set during the summer of 1977, when an innocent young woman begins working for the famed director and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
Based on Jonathan Coe’s much-loved 2020 book ‘Mr Wilder and Me’, Christopher Hampton is adapting for the big screen.
Also in news – Liam Neeson to reprise role as Qui-Gon Jinn in ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’
Jeremy Thomas is producing alongside Reinhard Brundig and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, who previously partnered with Thomas on Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive.
A part coming-of-age story, part true-life portrait of the beloved Billy Wilder (Waltz), the film is set during the summer of 1977, when an innocent young woman begins working for the famed director and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
Based on Jonathan Coe’s much-loved 2020 book ‘Mr Wilder and Me’, Christopher Hampton is adapting for the big screen.
Also in news – Liam Neeson to reprise role as Qui-Gon Jinn in ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’
Jeremy Thomas is producing alongside Reinhard Brundig and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, who previously partnered with Thomas on Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive.
- 6/6/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Christoph Waltz will play Hollywood legend Billy Wilder in a new project from producer Jeremy Thomas.
“Billy Wilder & Me” will be adapted by Christopher Hampton from Jonathan Coe’s book, with Stephen Frears directing. Billed as part coming-of-age story and part true-life portrait of Wilder, the film looks to capture “a heroic icon of Hollywood’s golden era for all cinema lovers.”
Wilder’s directing credits include “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Apartment” and “The Seven Year Itch.”
Here’s an official synopsis for the pic: In the summer of 1977, an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of “Fedora.” When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
Frears has again teamed with two-time Oscar winning screenwriter Hampton,...
“Billy Wilder & Me” will be adapted by Christopher Hampton from Jonathan Coe’s book, with Stephen Frears directing. Billed as part coming-of-age story and part true-life portrait of Wilder, the film looks to capture “a heroic icon of Hollywood’s golden era for all cinema lovers.”
Wilder’s directing credits include “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Apartment” and “The Seven Year Itch.”
Here’s an official synopsis for the pic: In the summer of 1977, an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of “Fedora.” When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
Frears has again teamed with two-time Oscar winning screenwriter Hampton,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Christoph Waltz is to lead Stephen Frears and Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Billy Wilder & Me.
The No Time to Die and Inglorious Basterds star will play Wilder in the part coming-of-age story, part true-to-life portrait of the Hollywood icon, which is adapted from a book by Jonathan Coe. In the summer of 1977, an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
The film sees Frears and two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Hampton reunited for their third collaboration after Dangerous Liaisons and Cheri.
Production will commence in Greece, Munich and Paris, with casting of further principal roles coming shortly.
Waltz said: “Christoph Waltz said: “Billy Wilder said “You have...
The No Time to Die and Inglorious Basterds star will play Wilder in the part coming-of-age story, part true-to-life portrait of the Hollywood icon, which is adapted from a book by Jonathan Coe. In the summer of 1977, an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora. When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
The film sees Frears and two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Hampton reunited for their third collaboration after Dangerous Liaisons and Cheri.
Production will commence in Greece, Munich and Paris, with casting of further principal roles coming shortly.
Waltz said: “Christoph Waltz said: “Billy Wilder said “You have...
- 6/6/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Film is based on Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name.
UK director Stephen Frears is set to reunite with writer Christopher Hampton on Mr. Wilder & Me, an adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name about the struggles of legendary US director Billy Wilder to make his penultimate film Fedora.
The film is in development and is being co-produced Germany’s Pandora Film which has received €75,000 in development funding from Bavarian regional film fund Fff Bayern’s latest funding round.
Mr. Wilder And Me takes place in Germany and Greece in 1977. It tells the story of...
UK director Stephen Frears is set to reunite with writer Christopher Hampton on Mr. Wilder & Me, an adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name about the struggles of legendary US director Billy Wilder to make his penultimate film Fedora.
The film is in development and is being co-produced Germany’s Pandora Film which has received €75,000 in development funding from Bavarian regional film fund Fff Bayern’s latest funding round.
Mr. Wilder And Me takes place in Germany and Greece in 1977. It tells the story of...
- 5/19/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Film is based on Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name.
UK director Stephen Frears is set to reunite with writer Christopher Hampton on Mr. Wilder & Me, an adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name about the struggles of legendary US director Billy Wilder to make his penultimate film Fedora.
The film is in development and is being co-produced Germany’s Pandora Film which has received €75,000 in development funding from Bavarian regional film fund Fff Bayern’s latest funding round.
Mr. Wilder And Me takes place in Germany and Greece in 1977. It tells the story of...
UK director Stephen Frears is set to reunite with writer Christopher Hampton on Mr. Wilder & Me, an adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s 2020 novel of the same name about the struggles of legendary US director Billy Wilder to make his penultimate film Fedora.
The film is in development and is being co-produced Germany’s Pandora Film which has received €75,000 in development funding from Bavarian regional film fund Fff Bayern’s latest funding round.
Mr. Wilder And Me takes place in Germany and Greece in 1977. It tells the story of...
- 5/19/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The satirist who skewered the 1980s in What a Carve Up! is approaching elder statesman status. He talks about Brexit, prizes, cancel culture – and his Hollywood hero Billy Wilder
One Sunday evening in 1975 in a leafy suburb of Birmingham, 14-year-old Jonathan Coe put off his school dread by switching on the telly. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was on BBC One, the beginning of the author’s lifelong fascination with director Billy Wilder, who was to become “a far more influential figure on the way that I write than any novelist,” he says, 45 years later. Such was the impact on the young Coe that he started recording the soundtracks of his favourite films from the TV so he could lie in bed listening to Wilder on his Walkman until “the rhythm to his dialogue kind of seeped into my subconscious”. That screening “set a lot of ripples in motion,...
One Sunday evening in 1975 in a leafy suburb of Birmingham, 14-year-old Jonathan Coe put off his school dread by switching on the telly. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was on BBC One, the beginning of the author’s lifelong fascination with director Billy Wilder, who was to become “a far more influential figure on the way that I write than any novelist,” he says, 45 years later. Such was the impact on the young Coe that he started recording the soundtracks of his favourite films from the TV so he could lie in bed listening to Wilder on his Walkman until “the rhythm to his dialogue kind of seeped into my subconscious”. That screening “set a lot of ripples in motion,...
- 10/31/2020
- by Lisa Allardice
- The Guardian - Film News
Set in an unearthly department store, Peter Strickland’s bizarre ghost story is utterly unlike anything else around
Here is a comedy that doesn’t know it’s a comedy, a scary movie that doesn’t know it’s a scary movie, a pastiche that isn’t aware of any film other than itself. It is a deadpan-bizarre spectacle with stabs of electronic music on the soundtrack and could have been shot decades ago, forgotten, and then revived on the Talking Pictures TV channel.
Like director Peter Strickland’s previous movie The Duke of Burgundy (2014), it features thoroughly odd fetishistic fabrications, brand names and artefacts from an alternative commercial universe. I can imagine Rick Wakeman turning this film into a triple concept album or a character in a Jonathan Coe novel becoming obsessed with it.
Here is a comedy that doesn’t know it’s a comedy, a scary movie that doesn’t know it’s a scary movie, a pastiche that isn’t aware of any film other than itself. It is a deadpan-bizarre spectacle with stabs of electronic music on the soundtrack and could have been shot decades ago, forgotten, and then revived on the Talking Pictures TV channel.
Like director Peter Strickland’s previous movie The Duke of Burgundy (2014), it features thoroughly odd fetishistic fabrications, brand names and artefacts from an alternative commercial universe. I can imagine Rick Wakeman turning this film into a triple concept album or a character in a Jonathan Coe novel becoming obsessed with it.
- 6/27/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The ‘bible’ for the series is being written by fellow novelist Douglas Kennedy.
Prolific Belgian producer and tax shelter financier Scope Invest, which has five projects in Official Selection in Cannes, is hatching an ambitious new Cold War series, Expo 58, based on the novel of the same name by bestselling UK writer Jonathan Coe. The ‘bible’ for the series is being written by fellow novelist Douglas Kennedy.
The story is set during the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. It follows a British employee at the Central Office of Information assigned to oversee the creation of an authentic British pub at...
Prolific Belgian producer and tax shelter financier Scope Invest, which has five projects in Official Selection in Cannes, is hatching an ambitious new Cold War series, Expo 58, based on the novel of the same name by bestselling UK writer Jonathan Coe. The ‘bible’ for the series is being written by fellow novelist Douglas Kennedy.
The story is set during the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. It follows a British employee at the Central Office of Information assigned to oversee the creation of an authentic British pub at...
- 5/17/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Black Mirror and Peterloo star Maxine Peake is attached to front a British drama about the murder of a young woman and her mother’s fight to get the 800-year-old double jeopardy law revoked.
Peake, who recently starred in Hulu and Channel 4 comedy drama The Bisexual, is attached to star in Reasonable Doubt from Duchess Street Productions, the scripted production company run by former Fremantle worldwide drama chief Donna Wiffen.
Reasonable Doubt is the story of Ann Ming’s battle to change the double jeopardy law in the UK after her daughter Julie Hogg was killed by Billy Dunlop in 1989. She subsequently wrote a book, For The Love Of Julie, about the experience. Peake is set to star as Ming in the project, which is in development with Duchess Street. Susan Everett, who has previously written for BBC Welsh crime drama Hinterland, has penned a script.
The project...
Peake, who recently starred in Hulu and Channel 4 comedy drama The Bisexual, is attached to star in Reasonable Doubt from Duchess Street Productions, the scripted production company run by former Fremantle worldwide drama chief Donna Wiffen.
Reasonable Doubt is the story of Ann Ming’s battle to change the double jeopardy law in the UK after her daughter Julie Hogg was killed by Billy Dunlop in 1989. She subsequently wrote a book, For The Love Of Julie, about the experience. Peake is set to star as Ming in the project, which is in development with Duchess Street. Susan Everett, who has previously written for BBC Welsh crime drama Hinterland, has penned a script.
The project...
- 1/10/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
On the Brexit vote anniversary, Jonathan Coe remembers his days in Brussels covering the cocoa wars – and trying to turn them into a film
The film was to begin with a shot of the Houses of Parliament. Patriotic music on the soundtrack (“Land of Hope and Glory”, probably). A blustering British journalist in his mid-60s – think Boris Johnson if he had never become an MP – speaking to camera. “London,” he intones. “For centuries, the place where the British ruling class has made its decisions. The parliament building is the seat of government for the whole of the United Kingdom. A place steeped in tradition, symbolising all that is best about Britain: proud, independent, committed to the freedom of the British people.”
At which point a voice off camera calls out “Cut!”. And then “the music stops abruptly and the camera pulls back to reveal what appears to be a man 300ft tall,...
The film was to begin with a shot of the Houses of Parliament. Patriotic music on the soundtrack (“Land of Hope and Glory”, probably). A blustering British journalist in his mid-60s – think Boris Johnson if he had never become an MP – speaking to camera. “London,” he intones. “For centuries, the place where the British ruling class has made its decisions. The parliament building is the seat of government for the whole of the United Kingdom. A place steeped in tradition, symbolising all that is best about Britain: proud, independent, committed to the freedom of the British people.”
At which point a voice off camera calls out “Cut!”. And then “the music stops abruptly and the camera pulls back to reveal what appears to be a man 300ft tall,...
- 6/23/2017
- by Jonathan Coe
- The Guardian - Film News
Jury led by Jeremy Thomas awards Terence Davies title with top award.
The 43rd annual Film Festival Ghent (Oct 11-21) awarded Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion with the Grand Prix for Best Film.
Shot largely at Aed Studios in Antwerp, the Emily Dickinson biopic is a UK-Belgium co-production.
The international jury was led by Jeremy Thomas. The veteran UK producer was also recognised by the festival for his contribution to cinema, receiving the lifetime achievement award.
Ahead of the closing-night screening of Belgian film-maker Bavo Defurne’s romantic drama Souvenir, Thomas and his jury – including Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, author Jonathan Coe and actresses Maaike Neuville, Lina El Arabi and India Hair – handed out the prizes.
Davies’ A Quiet Passion win came with $47.500 (€43,500) in prize money; special mention went to Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s Glory.
The Georges Delerue Award for best score went to Us producer/composer Johnny Jewel for Fien Troch’s Home...
The 43rd annual Film Festival Ghent (Oct 11-21) awarded Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion with the Grand Prix for Best Film.
Shot largely at Aed Studios in Antwerp, the Emily Dickinson biopic is a UK-Belgium co-production.
The international jury was led by Jeremy Thomas. The veteran UK producer was also recognised by the festival for his contribution to cinema, receiving the lifetime achievement award.
Ahead of the closing-night screening of Belgian film-maker Bavo Defurne’s romantic drama Souvenir, Thomas and his jury – including Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, author Jonathan Coe and actresses Maaike Neuville, Lina El Arabi and India Hair – handed out the prizes.
Davies’ A Quiet Passion win came with $47.500 (€43,500) in prize money; special mention went to Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s Glory.
The Georges Delerue Award for best score went to Us producer/composer Johnny Jewel for Fien Troch’s Home...
- 10/24/2016
- ScreenDaily
British director’s Palme d’Or winning film opened the 43rd edition of the festival.
I, Daniel Blake director Ken Loach and actress Hayley Squires were in Ghent, Belgium last night (Oct 11) for the opening of the 43rd Film Fest Gent.
Loach, tireless at age 80, passionately introduced his Palme d’Or winning drama five times in five separate cinema screens at the Kinepolis multiplex. Loach said, “This is a story we needed to share. It is in a sense about how we choose to live together.”
The veteran director also held a Q&A away from the red carpet, at a public screening at the Vooruit, a venue that has long been associated with socialist causes, where the audience gave him a lengthy standing ovation.
Festival artistic director Patrick Duynslaegher said he wanted to open the festival with I, Daniel Blake because it offered a shared artistic experience “without excluding social and political relevance.”
Loach was also...
I, Daniel Blake director Ken Loach and actress Hayley Squires were in Ghent, Belgium last night (Oct 11) for the opening of the 43rd Film Fest Gent.
Loach, tireless at age 80, passionately introduced his Palme d’Or winning drama five times in five separate cinema screens at the Kinepolis multiplex. Loach said, “This is a story we needed to share. It is in a sense about how we choose to live together.”
The veteran director also held a Q&A away from the red carpet, at a public screening at the Vooruit, a venue that has long been associated with socialist causes, where the audience gave him a lengthy standing ovation.
Festival artistic director Patrick Duynslaegher said he wanted to open the festival with I, Daniel Blake because it offered a shared artistic experience “without excluding social and political relevance.”
Loach was also...
- 10/12/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The 43rd edition of the Belgian film festival to open with Cannes Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake.Scroll down for competition line-up
The programme for the 43rd Film Fest Gent (Oct 11-21) has been officially announced, including 12 films in official competition, as well as a diverse array of features in the Nordic, Japanese and Belgian cinema categories.
The festival will open with Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, which won this year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes.
International guests will include Loach, Isabelle Huppert, Terence Davies, Olivier Assayas, Mark Rappaport, Derek Cianfrance, Asghar Farhadi and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The official competition opens on 16 October with Fien Troch’s Home, with the cast and crew in attendance.
Other directors presenting films in competition include Ivo Ferreira, Kôji Fukada and Terence Davies.
The international jury consists of producer Jeremy Thomas, director Tran Anh Hung (Norwegian Wood), actors Lina El Arabi (A Wedding) and India Hair (Staying Vertical...
The programme for the 43rd Film Fest Gent (Oct 11-21) has been officially announced, including 12 films in official competition, as well as a diverse array of features in the Nordic, Japanese and Belgian cinema categories.
The festival will open with Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, which won this year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes.
International guests will include Loach, Isabelle Huppert, Terence Davies, Olivier Assayas, Mark Rappaport, Derek Cianfrance, Asghar Farhadi and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The official competition opens on 16 October with Fien Troch’s Home, with the cast and crew in attendance.
Other directors presenting films in competition include Ivo Ferreira, Kôji Fukada and Terence Davies.
The international jury consists of producer Jeremy Thomas, director Tran Anh Hung (Norwegian Wood), actors Lina El Arabi (A Wedding) and India Hair (Staying Vertical...
- 9/23/2016
- ScreenDaily
Festival’s soundtrack awards will have a TV focus this year, including performances of the Fargo and House Of Cards [picturted] soundtracks.
Film Festival Ghent’s World Soundtrack Awards will this year focus on music for television.
At this year’s Cannes, festival director Patrick Duynslaegher has confirmed that attendees at the festival, which runs Ocr 11-21, will include David Arnold, Hans Richter, Jeff Russo and Jeff Beal.
The festival has also introduced a new prize, which is the Best Original Score for a Television Series and Mini-Series.
Music from series like Fargo, Homeland, House Of Cards, Madmen and Sherlock will be performed at a special concert by the Brussels Philharmonic and the Flemish Radio Choir.
Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Revenant) will be in town to receive the festival’s main prize, the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award.
There will be concerts both of contemporary TV music and also one of old TV classics such as...
Film Festival Ghent’s World Soundtrack Awards will this year focus on music for television.
At this year’s Cannes, festival director Patrick Duynslaegher has confirmed that attendees at the festival, which runs Ocr 11-21, will include David Arnold, Hans Richter, Jeff Russo and Jeff Beal.
The festival has also introduced a new prize, which is the Best Original Score for a Television Series and Mini-Series.
Music from series like Fargo, Homeland, House Of Cards, Madmen and Sherlock will be performed at a special concert by the Brussels Philharmonic and the Flemish Radio Choir.
Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Revenant) will be in town to receive the festival’s main prize, the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award.
There will be concerts both of contemporary TV music and also one of old TV classics such as...
- 5/18/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
John Thomson and Kate Adie are among the famous faces who will take part in this year's Christmas series of University Challenge.
Notable graduates from 14 universities and colleges will compete to become the series champions - and earn Jeremy Paxman's approval, of course.
Thomson will be fighting for the honour of Manchester Metropolitan University along with Gordon Taylor from the Professional Footballers' Association, actor Bernard Hill and Eddie Morland from the Health and Safety Laboratory.
Meanwhile, Adie is batting for Newcastle along with journalist Giles Fraser.
Other teams competing include King's College, Cambridge; Trinity Hall, Cambridge - featuring actor Dan Starkey; Royal Holloway - with a team including broadcaster Francis Wheen; and York, who will include broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis in their squad.
Warwick University have novelist Jonathan Coe in their ranks, while Leeds University, Balliol College, Oxford, Surrey University and Goldsmiths, London will also all field teams.
Meanwhile, actor Samuel West,...
Notable graduates from 14 universities and colleges will compete to become the series champions - and earn Jeremy Paxman's approval, of course.
Thomson will be fighting for the honour of Manchester Metropolitan University along with Gordon Taylor from the Professional Footballers' Association, actor Bernard Hill and Eddie Morland from the Health and Safety Laboratory.
Meanwhile, Adie is batting for Newcastle along with journalist Giles Fraser.
Other teams competing include King's College, Cambridge; Trinity Hall, Cambridge - featuring actor Dan Starkey; Royal Holloway - with a team including broadcaster Francis Wheen; and York, who will include broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis in their squad.
Warwick University have novelist Jonathan Coe in their ranks, while Leeds University, Balliol College, Oxford, Surrey University and Goldsmiths, London will also all field teams.
Meanwhile, actor Samuel West,...
- 12/5/2014
- Digital Spy
Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish nun drama adds to a growing haul of prizes. Other winners include Starred Up and Of Horses and Men
Ida picked up the Crystal Arrow at the 5th Les Arcs European Film Festival (Dec 14-21) in the French Alps last night.
The Best Actress Prize was jointly awarded to Ida’s Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza. Trzebuchowska, who plays the titular role, collected the trophy at the awards ceremony
They are the latest in a string of top awards for the film, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, which tells the story of a novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the Nazi occupation.
It marks the first Polish-language film for Warsaw-born British filmmaker Pawlikowski, best known for The Last Resort and BAFTA-award winning My Summer of Love.
The film has picked up prizes at festivals around the world...
Ida picked up the Crystal Arrow at the 5th Les Arcs European Film Festival (Dec 14-21) in the French Alps last night.
The Best Actress Prize was jointly awarded to Ida’s Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza. Trzebuchowska, who plays the titular role, collected the trophy at the awards ceremony
They are the latest in a string of top awards for the film, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, which tells the story of a novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the Nazi occupation.
It marks the first Polish-language film for Warsaw-born British filmmaker Pawlikowski, best known for The Last Resort and BAFTA-award winning My Summer of Love.
The film has picked up prizes at festivals around the world...
- 12/21/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Comic hints that a high-profile hunger strike might be on the cards. And if that wasn't confusing enough, Sunday is now a day of atheism and Jo Brand a product of patriarchy
This week's comedy news
Is Frankie Boyle about to go on hunger strike? As reported by the Guardian last week, the human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith is currently hunger-striking in solidarity with his client Shaker Aamer, who is imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay and has been striking for 150 days. In an interview last Thursday on Radio Scotland, and again the following day on this website, Stafford Smith claimed the standup and ex-Mock the Week star is lined up to "take over from me when I fail" – ie starve himself to raise awareness of the plight of inmates at Guantánamo. The move would represent a strong break with Boyle's cynical public image, but all his management will say...
This week's comedy news
Is Frankie Boyle about to go on hunger strike? As reported by the Guardian last week, the human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith is currently hunger-striking in solidarity with his client Shaker Aamer, who is imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay and has been striking for 150 days. In an interview last Thursday on Radio Scotland, and again the following day on this website, Stafford Smith claimed the standup and ex-Mock the Week star is lined up to "take over from me when I fail" – ie starve himself to raise awareness of the plight of inmates at Guantánamo. The move would represent a strong break with Boyle's cynical public image, but all his management will say...
- 7/16/2013
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
From Meryl Streep's Iron Lady to Spitting Image and the Spice Girls, Observer writers and critics pick the films, books, art, music and TV that show Thatcher's lasting influence
Art, chosen by Laura Cumming
Treatment Room (1983)
In Richard Hamilton's installation, Thatcher administered her own harsh medicine from a video above the operating table with the viewer as helpless patient: a case of kill or cure.
Taking Stock (1984)
Hans Haacke portrayed Thatcher enthroned, nose in the air like a gun-dog, surrounded by images of Queen Victoria, the Saatchi brothers and, ominously, Pandora. Caused national furore.
In the Sleep of Reason (1982)
Mark Wallinger edited Thatcher's 1982 Falklands speech from blink to blink, fading to black in between, emphasising her solipsistic tendency to close her eyes when speaking as if nobody else existed.
The Battle of Orgreave (2001)
Jeremy Deller's restaged the worst conflict of the miners' strike from multiple viewpoints, uniting...
Art, chosen by Laura Cumming
Treatment Room (1983)
In Richard Hamilton's installation, Thatcher administered her own harsh medicine from a video above the operating table with the viewer as helpless patient: a case of kill or cure.
Taking Stock (1984)
Hans Haacke portrayed Thatcher enthroned, nose in the air like a gun-dog, surrounded by images of Queen Victoria, the Saatchi brothers and, ominously, Pandora. Caused national furore.
In the Sleep of Reason (1982)
Mark Wallinger edited Thatcher's 1982 Falklands speech from blink to blink, fading to black in between, emphasising her solipsistic tendency to close her eyes when speaking as if nobody else existed.
The Battle of Orgreave (2001)
Jeremy Deller's restaged the worst conflict of the miners' strike from multiple viewpoints, uniting...
- 4/13/2013
- by Robert McCrum, Kitty Empire, Philip French, Andrew Rawnsley, Euan Ferguson
- The Guardian - Film News
From a full programme of film and stage adaptations to a new James Bond novel, unpublished works by Rs Thomas and Wg Sebald and a new prize for women writers, 2013 is set to be a real page-turner
January
10th The Oscar nominations are announced unusually early this year. Keep an eye out for a bumper crop of literary adaptations, including David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, the David Nicholls-scripted Great Expectations, as well as Les Miserables, Anna Karenina and The Hobbit.
18th A new stage adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida theatre in London. In the year of the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, his musical version will also feature around the country in both concert and stage performances.
24th The finalists for the fifth Man Booker International prize will be announced at the Jaipur festival.
January
10th The Oscar nominations are announced unusually early this year. Keep an eye out for a bumper crop of literary adaptations, including David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, the David Nicholls-scripted Great Expectations, as well as Les Miserables, Anna Karenina and The Hobbit.
18th A new stage adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida theatre in London. In the year of the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, his musical version will also feature around the country in both concert and stage performances.
24th The finalists for the fifth Man Booker International prize will be announced at the Jaipur festival.
- 1/5/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Ahead of the BFI's Hitchcock season, we'd like to know what you think is the greatest film ever made by the master of suspense
A major celebration of the work of Alfred Hitchcock kicks off at the end of this month at BFI Southbank in London – in part to mark the restoration of the director's nine surviving silent films.
Last week, Bee Wilson wrote about Hitchcock's mastery of imagery and how it could be traced back to his work in silent movies, while in Sunday's Observer, seven writers discussed their favourite Hitchcock films:
Jonathan Coe on The Lady Vanishes
'Hitchcock never made anything warmer or more lovable than this. I must have seen it 20 or 30 times and can't imagine ever growing tired of it.'
Al Kennedy on The 39 Steps
'[It's a] joyful confection of subversive humour, intelligent twists and wild sexual tension. The movie has all the elements I love in film – it likes people,...
A major celebration of the work of Alfred Hitchcock kicks off at the end of this month at BFI Southbank in London – in part to mark the restoration of the director's nine surviving silent films.
Last week, Bee Wilson wrote about Hitchcock's mastery of imagery and how it could be traced back to his work in silent movies, while in Sunday's Observer, seven writers discussed their favourite Hitchcock films:
Jonathan Coe on The Lady Vanishes
'Hitchcock never made anything warmer or more lovable than this. I must have seen it 20 or 30 times and can't imagine ever growing tired of it.'
Al Kennedy on The 39 Steps
'[It's a] joyful confection of subversive humour, intelligent twists and wild sexual tension. The movie has all the elements I love in film – it likes people,...
- 6/18/2012
- by Adam Boult
- The Guardian - Film News
It's easy to view the new film Lawrence of Belgravia as a depressing film about a delusional musician – but better to think of it as an excuse to celebrate Lawrence himself
In 1986, Lawrence, the mononamed frontman of Felt, recruited a new bass player. Phil King (later of Lush) was chosen not merely for his musicianship or his ability to fit in with the enigmatic indie band, but for his hair, seemingly always a deciding factor when Lawrence hired or fired musicians: an early drummer had been booted out because his was too curly, a previous bassist had got the gig because his was "lovely and thick". There was excitement around Felt at the time. Everyone seemed to think their forthcoming album, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, was magnificent. There was talk of an NME cover. The West Midlands meeting between King and Lawrence, however, somehow didn't suggest a gleaming future.
In 1986, Lawrence, the mononamed frontman of Felt, recruited a new bass player. Phil King (later of Lush) was chosen not merely for his musicianship or his ability to fit in with the enigmatic indie band, but for his hair, seemingly always a deciding factor when Lawrence hired or fired musicians: an early drummer had been booted out because his was too curly, a previous bassist had got the gig because his was "lovely and thick". There was excitement around Felt at the time. Everyone seemed to think their forthcoming album, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, was magnificent. There was talk of an NME cover. The West Midlands meeting between King and Lawrence, however, somehow didn't suggest a gleaming future.
- 10/20/2011
- by Alexis Petridis
- The Guardian - Film News
This week's news in the arts
In recent years, exam results have been accompanied by two things – commentators grumbling about declining standards, and countless pictures of pretty girls hugging each other. And while that's plenty for most people, others have found exams to be a rich source of creative inspiration.
O-levels form much of the anxiety that drives the protagonist in Sue Townsend's The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, along with the constant threat of nuclear war. Having put him through more turmoil than the average student will experience, Jonathan Coe ends The Rotters' Club by allowing Ben Trotter to collect his exam results (spoiler!) relatively unscathed. Then there's Lynn Barber's An Education, in which her affair with a dubious older man can be read as an example of fairly extreme exam procrastination.
While 2007's movie Superbad might be primarily remembered for its bungled adolescent sexualityand the term...
In recent years, exam results have been accompanied by two things – commentators grumbling about declining standards, and countless pictures of pretty girls hugging each other. And while that's plenty for most people, others have found exams to be a rich source of creative inspiration.
O-levels form much of the anxiety that drives the protagonist in Sue Townsend's The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, along with the constant threat of nuclear war. Having put him through more turmoil than the average student will experience, Jonathan Coe ends The Rotters' Club by allowing Ben Trotter to collect his exam results (spoiler!) relatively unscathed. Then there's Lynn Barber's An Education, in which her affair with a dubious older man can be read as an example of fairly extreme exam procrastination.
While 2007's movie Superbad might be primarily remembered for its bungled adolescent sexualityand the term...
- 8/17/2011
- by Stuart Heritage
- The Guardian - Film News
Film director whose work included the wartime masterpiece Western Approaches
The director Pat Jackson, who has died aged 95, was best known for the semi-documentary war film Western Approaches (1944). This neglected classic – a feature-length portrait of the Battle of the Atlantic – was shot under the auspices of the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit and predominantly filmed at sea under hazardous conditions. The shoot's logistical nightmares were compounded by the vast size of the Technicolor camera. Jackson himself devised the story of the imminent convergence of a German U-boat and an English ship which is on the way to save a group of comrades in a lifeboat.
Jackson was in his late 20s when he shot Western Approaches with the outstanding cameraman Jack Cardiff and a cast of amateur actors. It was a remarkable achievement that remained unsurpassed throughout the writer-director's lengthy career. The film was well received in Britain and...
The director Pat Jackson, who has died aged 95, was best known for the semi-documentary war film Western Approaches (1944). This neglected classic – a feature-length portrait of the Battle of the Atlantic – was shot under the auspices of the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit and predominantly filmed at sea under hazardous conditions. The shoot's logistical nightmares were compounded by the vast size of the Technicolor camera. Jackson himself devised the story of the imminent convergence of a German U-boat and an English ship which is on the way to save a group of comrades in a lifeboat.
Jackson was in his late 20s when he shot Western Approaches with the outstanding cameraman Jack Cardiff and a cast of amateur actors. It was a remarkable achievement that remained unsurpassed throughout the writer-director's lengthy career. The film was well received in Britain and...
- 7/12/2011
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
"African cinema is generally woefully overlooked by the West, and the filmmaking being done in Republic of Chad has been particularly invisible," begins Farihah Zaman in Reverse Shot. "The oversight is not entirely unreasonable; decades of civil war have left the local film industry all but nonexistent — for thirty years there was not even a single movie theater in the entire country. That changed in 2010 when Mahamet-Saleh Haroun won the Cannes Jury Prize for A Screaming Man. His film, the first from his country to screen in competition at the prestigious French festival, now has another distinction, having convinced a government in the midst of war the importance of investing a million dollars in building a movie theater specifically so that it could be shown."
In this "ingenious and moving take on Fw Murnau's classic The Last Laugh," writes the New Yorker's Richard Brody, "Adam (Youssouf Djaoro), a former swimming...
In this "ingenious and moving take on Fw Murnau's classic The Last Laugh," writes the New Yorker's Richard Brody, "Adam (Youssouf Djaoro), a former swimming...
- 4/18/2011
- MUBI
From Page To Screen, Bridport
Guest curator Jonathan Coe lends the appropriate literary lustre to this festival of movies adapted from novels, and for a respected author he's not as sniffy as you'd expect. Coe's list includes some successful examples recent and ancient – from True Grit, The Social Network and How To Train Your Dragon to Jacques Demy's Donovan-scored The Pied Piper and forgotten 1945 melodrama They Were Sisters – most of which are introduced by himself and other experts. Coe also talks to some of those concerned in the process, including Kazuo Ishiguro about the recent version of his Never Let Me Go and Bill Forsyth on his version of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, while Rowan Joffé discusses his recent adaptations of The American and Brighton Rock.
Bridport Arts Centre & Electric Palace, Wed to 17 Apr
From Ecstasy To Rapture: 50 Years Of The Other Spanish Cinema/Pere Portabella, London
You...
Guest curator Jonathan Coe lends the appropriate literary lustre to this festival of movies adapted from novels, and for a respected author he's not as sniffy as you'd expect. Coe's list includes some successful examples recent and ancient – from True Grit, The Social Network and How To Train Your Dragon to Jacques Demy's Donovan-scored The Pied Piper and forgotten 1945 melodrama They Were Sisters – most of which are introduced by himself and other experts. Coe also talks to some of those concerned in the process, including Kazuo Ishiguro about the recent version of his Never Let Me Go and Bill Forsyth on his version of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, while Rowan Joffé discusses his recent adaptations of The American and Brighton Rock.
Bridport Arts Centre & Electric Palace, Wed to 17 Apr
From Ecstasy To Rapture: 50 Years Of The Other Spanish Cinema/Pere Portabella, London
You...
- 4/8/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
When he was asked to be guest director for a festival dedicated to films based on books, Jonathan Coe set out to disprove the adage that great literature makes terrible movies
In the course of their famous book-length interview, François Truffaut once asked Alfred Hitchcock about his approach to literary adaptation, and Hitch's response was as magisterial, worldly and mischievous as one would expect: "What I do is to read a story only once, and if I like the basic idea, I just forget all about the book and start to create cinema. Today I would be unable to tell you the story of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds. I read it only once, and very quickly at that."
Hitchcock's comment was the first thing that occurred to me when, towards the end of last year, I was approached with an interesting proposition. "From Page to Screen" is the...
In the course of their famous book-length interview, François Truffaut once asked Alfred Hitchcock about his approach to literary adaptation, and Hitch's response was as magisterial, worldly and mischievous as one would expect: "What I do is to read a story only once, and if I like the basic idea, I just forget all about the book and start to create cinema. Today I would be unable to tell you the story of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds. I read it only once, and very quickly at that."
Hitchcock's comment was the first thing that occurred to me when, towards the end of last year, I was approached with an interesting proposition. "From Page to Screen" is the...
- 4/1/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
From Donald Rumsfeld's memoir to David Foster Wallace's posthumous novel, here are the 21 books that you won't want to miss in 2011.
The mistletoe has been put away, the presents unwrapped, the New Year's Champagne uncorked, and you still haven't quite finished Franzen's Freedom. But new books on how to run the world, turn around Starbucks, deal with a famous father, and even join a club are all coming out in the next few months. So get ready for the new literary season.
Related story on The Daily Beast: This Week's Hot Reads
Here is The Daily Beast's picks of the most controversial, intriguing, and just best reads for the first few months of 2011.
January
How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next RenaissanceBy Parag Khanna
From the author of Second World comes a guide to the future of international relations in an increasingly chaotic and fractured world.
The mistletoe has been put away, the presents unwrapped, the New Year's Champagne uncorked, and you still haven't quite finished Franzen's Freedom. But new books on how to run the world, turn around Starbucks, deal with a famous father, and even join a club are all coming out in the next few months. So get ready for the new literary season.
Related story on The Daily Beast: This Week's Hot Reads
Here is The Daily Beast's picks of the most controversial, intriguing, and just best reads for the first few months of 2011.
January
How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next RenaissanceBy Parag Khanna
From the author of Second World comes a guide to the future of international relations in an increasingly chaotic and fractured world.
- 1/3/2011
- by The Daily Beast
- The Daily Beast
Jonathan Franzen's family epic, a new collection from Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin's love letters, a memoir centred on tiny Japanese sculptures ... which books most excited our writers this year?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In Red Dust Road (Picador) Jackie Kay writes lucidly and honestly about being the adopted black daughter of white parents, about searching for her white birth mother and Nigerian birth father, and about the many layers of identity. She has a rare ability to portray sentiment with absolutely no sentimentality. Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns (Random House) is a fresh and wonderful history of African-American migration. Chang-rae Lee's The Surrendered (Little, Brown) is a grave, beautiful novel about people who experienced the Korean war and the war's legacy. And David Remnick's The Bridge (Picador) is a thorough and well-written biography of Barack Obama. The many Americans who believe invented biographical details about Obama would do well to read it.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In Red Dust Road (Picador) Jackie Kay writes lucidly and honestly about being the adopted black daughter of white parents, about searching for her white birth mother and Nigerian birth father, and about the many layers of identity. She has a rare ability to portray sentiment with absolutely no sentimentality. Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns (Random House) is a fresh and wonderful history of African-American migration. Chang-rae Lee's The Surrendered (Little, Brown) is a grave, beautiful novel about people who experienced the Korean war and the war's legacy. And David Remnick's The Bridge (Picador) is a thorough and well-written biography of Barack Obama. The many Americans who believe invented biographical details about Obama would do well to read it.
- 11/27/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
True story: When I read Drew's less than stellar review of An Education -- the Nick Hornby scripted coming-of-age drama -- a few months back, I thought: What the fuck? Is Drew riding the crack-horse? There's no way a Nick Hornby scripted movie featuring Peter Sarsgaard and an apparently immense performance from Carey Mulligan couldn't be anything less than exceptional. I thought, "Drew's new; what the fuck does he know? No goddamn film studies PhD candidate is gonna tell me that An Education isn't one of the best goddamn movies of the year."
And then I saw it. And I more or less agreed with everything Drew wrote. It's an exceptionally well acted movie; the direction is good; and even the script is better than average. It's the source material -- and thus the story -- that lacks. It's just not that compelling. Kind of empty and aimless, and builds toward a unsatisfying payoff.
And then I saw it. And I more or less agreed with everything Drew wrote. It's an exceptionally well acted movie; the direction is good; and even the script is better than average. It's the source material -- and thus the story -- that lacks. It's just not that compelling. Kind of empty and aimless, and builds toward a unsatisfying payoff.
- 12/8/2009
- by Dustin Rowles
With An Education still sucking up plaudits like a child in a spaghetti commercial, its director Lone Scherfig is in negotiations over her next project, which will see her tackle another novel adaptation.One Day, the most recent novel by David Nicholls - who also penned the similarly silver screen-friendly Starter For 10 - is a high-comcept rom-com-friendly novel about two friends who have a brief fling at their university graduation in 1988, and then meet up one day a year for the next 20 years.So far so When Harry Met Sally At Four Weddings, but it’s another classy literary step for Scherfig as, despite its commercial credentials, One Day was described by The Times as “the best British social novel since Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up!” Unfortunately, nobody at Empire Towers has read What a Carve Up! (there were no lightsabers in it, so we passed), but...
- 12/8/2009
- EmpireOnline
Bill Forsyth, 1984
Whenever I contemplate the career of Bill Forsyth, I realise I'm getting old. It's more than a quarter of a century since he was considered one of the great new hopes of British cinema, but to me, the sudden flowering of his oblique, wilful talent still seems like one of the more recent miracles of film history.
After the cult success of his Glaswegian caper comedy That Sinking Feeling (just issued on DVD in an insulting format – with a dubbed soundtrack for American audiences), Forsyth hit the big time with his second feature, Gregory's Girl. I watch this film whenever it comes on TV – every two or three years, I suppose – and it never disappoints. The bittersweet experience of adolescent love is expertly captured, but more than that there is an unstoppable flow of comic invention: even the smallest characterisations are quirkily memorable, every scene crackles with good lines.
Whenever I contemplate the career of Bill Forsyth, I realise I'm getting old. It's more than a quarter of a century since he was considered one of the great new hopes of British cinema, but to me, the sudden flowering of his oblique, wilful talent still seems like one of the more recent miracles of film history.
After the cult success of his Glaswegian caper comedy That Sinking Feeling (just issued on DVD in an insulting format – with a dubbed soundtrack for American audiences), Forsyth hit the big time with his second feature, Gregory's Girl. I watch this film whenever it comes on TV – every two or three years, I suppose – and it never disappoints. The bittersweet experience of adolescent love is expertly captured, but more than that there is an unstoppable flow of comic invention: even the smallest characterisations are quirkily memorable, every scene crackles with good lines.
- 12/6/2009
- The Guardian - Film News
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