Emma Laird, Fionn Whitehead, Zar Amir and Adwoa Aboah star in psychological drama “Satisfaction.”
The film is the narrative feature debut of theater and commercial director Alex Burunova, who is also known for the acclaimed shorts “Pale Blue” and “Lonely Planet.” Set against the backdrop of the Greek isles, the film follows Lola (Laird) who takes revenge against her sexual partner Philip (Whitehead). Things begin to unravel when they encounter the enigmatic Elena (Amir), who intoxicates Lola with her uninhibited way of being and emboldens her to face the roots of her pain. Amir, best actress winner at Cannes 2022 for “Holy Spider,” also serves as executive producer for the female empowerment tale.
The film, which has wrapped principal photography, is shot by Budapest-based cinematographer Mate Herbai (Oscar-nominated “On Body and Soul”). The film is a Ukrainian co-production with Ukrainian companies Constant Production and Kristi Films.
Burunova said: “I wanted to...
The film is the narrative feature debut of theater and commercial director Alex Burunova, who is also known for the acclaimed shorts “Pale Blue” and “Lonely Planet.” Set against the backdrop of the Greek isles, the film follows Lola (Laird) who takes revenge against her sexual partner Philip (Whitehead). Things begin to unravel when they encounter the enigmatic Elena (Amir), who intoxicates Lola with her uninhibited way of being and emboldens her to face the roots of her pain. Amir, best actress winner at Cannes 2022 for “Holy Spider,” also serves as executive producer for the female empowerment tale.
The film, which has wrapped principal photography, is shot by Budapest-based cinematographer Mate Herbai (Oscar-nominated “On Body and Soul”). The film is a Ukrainian co-production with Ukrainian companies Constant Production and Kristi Films.
Burunova said: “I wanted to...
- 1/17/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Renowned Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai ditched his quiet, brooding persona on Saturday in Venice, where he is to receive a Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award.
Instead, at a press conference in his honor, Leung positively gushed about his upcoming first European movie role and about the strengths of the “golden era” acting training he received in Hong Kong in the 1980s.
Leung has made a speciality of saying little in many of his films. In his first Venice film, “City of Sadness,” Leung pays a mute. In “The Grandmaster” he lets his fists and feet do the talking. In “In the Mood for Love,” Leung’s facial expressions are far more expressive than words.
And on many public occasions, Leung keeps the repartee to a minimum, amps up the soulful glare and goes long on banal gratitude. Awarded the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at Busan in October,...
Instead, at a press conference in his honor, Leung positively gushed about his upcoming first European movie role and about the strengths of the “golden era” acting training he received in Hong Kong in the 1980s.
Leung has made a speciality of saying little in many of his films. In his first Venice film, “City of Sadness,” Leung pays a mute. In “The Grandmaster” he lets his fists and feet do the talking. In “In the Mood for Love,” Leung’s facial expressions are far more expressive than words.
And on many public occasions, Leung keeps the repartee to a minimum, amps up the soulful glare and goes long on banal gratitude. Awarded the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at Busan in October,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In the Mood for Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” has joined the cast of “Silent Friend” by Oscar-nominated Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedi (“On Body and Soul”).
Leung will be honored at the Venice Film Festival, where he will receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. He previously starred in three movies that have won the Venice Golden Lion: “A City of Sadness” (1989) by Hou Hsiao-hsien, “Cyclo” (1995) by Tran Anh Hung and “Lust, Caution” (2007) by Ang Lee.
“Silent Friend” is being produced by German banner Pandora Film. It marks Enyedi’s follow up to “The Story of My Wife” which competed at Cannes, and “On Body and Soul,” the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning film that earned an Oscar nomination.
Currently in pre-production, “Silent Friend” is set in the botanical garden of Marburg, a medieval university town in Germany,...
Leung will be honored at the Venice Film Festival, where he will receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. He previously starred in three movies that have won the Venice Golden Lion: “A City of Sadness” (1989) by Hou Hsiao-hsien, “Cyclo” (1995) by Tran Anh Hung and “Lust, Caution” (2007) by Ang Lee.
“Silent Friend” is being produced by German banner Pandora Film. It marks Enyedi’s follow up to “The Story of My Wife” which competed at Cannes, and “On Body and Soul,” the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning film that earned an Oscar nomination.
Currently in pre-production, “Silent Friend” is set in the botanical garden of Marburg, a medieval university town in Germany,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Hungarian director and screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi brought some art-house royalty to the Shanghai International Film Festival this week with a masterclass that focused on her process and the struggle to maintain a unique voice.
At one point in her on-stage discussion with Chinese director Zheng Dasheng, she called filmmaking “essentially a sole desperate cry, hoping to be heard by others.”
Enyedi’s voice has certainly registered and been heard at Europe’s major film festivals. She won the Camera d’Or in Cannes in 1989 for best debut feature “My 20th Century,” saw her 1994 film “Magic Hunter” play in competition in Venice and she won the top prize Golden Bear in Berlin in 2017 with “On Body and Soul.”
Her subjects have ranged from music to the human condition in its dry absurdity (“On Body and Soul”), to Stasi agents in the old East Germany (TV series “Balaton Brigade”). But her process...
At one point in her on-stage discussion with Chinese director Zheng Dasheng, she called filmmaking “essentially a sole desperate cry, hoping to be heard by others.”
Enyedi’s voice has certainly registered and been heard at Europe’s major film festivals. She won the Camera d’Or in Cannes in 1989 for best debut feature “My 20th Century,” saw her 1994 film “Magic Hunter” play in competition in Venice and she won the top prize Golden Bear in Berlin in 2017 with “On Body and Soul.”
Her subjects have ranged from music to the human condition in its dry absurdity (“On Body and Soul”), to Stasi agents in the old East Germany (TV series “Balaton Brigade”). But her process...
- 6/15/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Denmark’s “Norwegian Offspring,” by Marlene Emilie Lyngstad, from Den Danske Filmskole, was chosen as the winner of the 26th edition of La Cinef.
In the story, a mother passes away and her estranged son – obsessed with theories about the repression of male sexuality in modern society – starts longing for offspring of his own.
“The jury was captivated by this bold filmmaker,” said Ildikó Enyedi, who presided over the jury.
“It made us laugh and cringe at the same time.”
Earlier, the Hungarian director – behind “On Body and Soul” and, most recently, “The Story of My Wife,” which was at Cannes – addressed the audience: “You made it. To be in this room, it’s a lot and we all know it. We really felt for you [during our discussions]. We tried to go for the raw talent, for the promise. I just hope we did a good job, because we wanted to.”
“It...
In the story, a mother passes away and her estranged son – obsessed with theories about the repression of male sexuality in modern society – starts longing for offspring of his own.
“The jury was captivated by this bold filmmaker,” said Ildikó Enyedi, who presided over the jury.
“It made us laugh and cringe at the same time.”
Earlier, the Hungarian director – behind “On Body and Soul” and, most recently, “The Story of My Wife,” which was at Cannes – addressed the audience: “You made it. To be in this room, it’s a lot and we all know it. We really felt for you [during our discussions]. We tried to go for the raw talent, for the promise. I just hope we did a good job, because we wanted to.”
“It...
- 5/25/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Here’s a rundown of some of the top Hungarian projects in the pipeline or selling at the Cannes Market:
Semmelweis
Director: Lajos Koltai
Producer: Tamas Lajos (Film Positive)
Sales: N/A
Set in 1847, as a mysterious epidemic rages in a maternity clinic in Vienna, this period drama from the Oscar-nominated cinematographer and director Koltai (“Malena”) stars promising young thesp Miklos H. Vecsei as the titular doctor Ignác Semmelweis, who spurns traditional medical theories to find a cure.
The Lefkovicses Are in Mourning
Director: Ádám Breier
Producers: Kázmér Miklós, Felszeghy Ádám, Ausztrics Andrea
Sales: N/A
Breier’s feature debut is a dramedy about a generous but stubborn elderly boxing coach who gets along with everyone except his own son. While the two haven’t spoken in years, they’re reunited during after the death of the old man’s wife and forced to face old grievances.
Cat Call
Director:...
Semmelweis
Director: Lajos Koltai
Producer: Tamas Lajos (Film Positive)
Sales: N/A
Set in 1847, as a mysterious epidemic rages in a maternity clinic in Vienna, this period drama from the Oscar-nominated cinematographer and director Koltai (“Malena”) stars promising young thesp Miklos H. Vecsei as the titular doctor Ignác Semmelweis, who spurns traditional medical theories to find a cure.
The Lefkovicses Are in Mourning
Director: Ádám Breier
Producers: Kázmér Miklós, Felszeghy Ádám, Ausztrics Andrea
Sales: N/A
Breier’s feature debut is a dramedy about a generous but stubborn elderly boxing coach who gets along with everyone except his own son. While the two haven’t spoken in years, they’re reunited during after the death of the old man’s wife and forced to face old grievances.
Cat Call
Director:...
- 5/18/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Hungarian director and screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi has been announced as president of the Cannes Film Festival jury deciding the Short Film Palme d’Or and the 3 La Cinef prizes for student films in the Official Selection.
She will be joined by Iranian-American screenwriter and director Ana Lily Amirpour, Canadian actress and director Charlotte Le Bon, French actress Karidja Touré and Israeli filmmaker Shlomi Elkabetz.
Enyedi got her international break in Cannes in 1989 when her first film My 20th Century was selected for Un Certain Regard and won the Caméra d’Or
“When, in 1989, in that magical year of change in Europe I arrived in Cannes with my first feature film – with exhibitions banned, a student film banned and many difficulties – it was an unbelievable feeling,” said Enyedi.
“Being chosen meant to be understood, to be seen for real, as if this huge, colorful and flamboyant community of brilliant artists and...
She will be joined by Iranian-American screenwriter and director Ana Lily Amirpour, Canadian actress and director Charlotte Le Bon, French actress Karidja Touré and Israeli filmmaker Shlomi Elkabetz.
Enyedi got her international break in Cannes in 1989 when her first film My 20th Century was selected for Un Certain Regard and won the Caméra d’Or
“When, in 1989, in that magical year of change in Europe I arrived in Cannes with my first feature film – with exhibitions banned, a student film banned and many difficulties – it was an unbelievable feeling,” said Enyedi.
“Being chosen meant to be understood, to be seen for real, as if this huge, colorful and flamboyant community of brilliant artists and...
- 4/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) comprises the annual pre-autumn festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and Cannes. Though the competition isn’t exactly a pipeline to the Oscars, it has hosted premieres for past Best International Feature winners and nominees “A Fantastic Woman,” “On Body and Soul” and “A Separation.” Additionally, the festival launched “45 Years,” which earned Charlotte Rampling her first Academy Award nomination in 2016, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which received nine bids and won four in 2015. The 73rd festival was held February 16 – 26.
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
- 3/14/2023
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
The Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) comprises the annual pre-autumn festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and Cannes. Though the competition isn’t exactly a pipeline to the Oscars, it has hosted premieres for past Best International Feature winners and nominees “A Fantastic Woman,” “On Body and Soul” and “A Separation.” Additionally, the festival launched “45 Years,” which earned Charlotte Rampling her first Academy Award nomination in 2016, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which received nine bids and won four in 2015. The 73rd festival was held February 16 – 26.
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
- 3/7/2023
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
A version of this review first ran during the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
When you saw Joaquin Phoenix dancing down those outdoor steps toward the end of “Joker,” you probably didn’t think about Princess Elsa belting out “Let It Go” in the 2013 animated film “Frozen.” But Mark Cousins did –- and that’s the difference between him and you and me and the rest of the people who see Cousins make that juxtaposition in his documentary “The Story of Film: A New Generation.”
Cousins ties Joker and Elsa together because of the defiance at the heart of his dance and her song, and he does so at the start of “The Story of Film: A New Generation.” The documentary was an extraordinarily apt film to screen on the opening afternoon of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, which came 14 months after the pandemic had forced the festival to cancel its 2020 edition. The...
When you saw Joaquin Phoenix dancing down those outdoor steps toward the end of “Joker,” you probably didn’t think about Princess Elsa belting out “Let It Go” in the 2013 animated film “Frozen.” But Mark Cousins did –- and that’s the difference between him and you and me and the rest of the people who see Cousins make that juxtaposition in his documentary “The Story of Film: A New Generation.”
Cousins ties Joker and Elsa together because of the defiance at the heart of his dance and her song, and he does so at the start of “The Story of Film: A New Generation.” The documentary was an extraordinarily apt film to screen on the opening afternoon of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, which came 14 months after the pandemic had forced the festival to cancel its 2020 edition. The...
- 9/9/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
On the outskirts of Budapest, a big-budget period drama is recreating the fateful day that sparked the Hungarian war of independence in 1848. Construction is underway at the state-owned Mafilm studio complex on a massive set that will stand in for the Hungarian capital in the 19th century. With 100-plus shooting days planned through September, director Balázs Lóth describes “Now or Never!” as “the most ambitious Hungarian film ever made.”
That ambition is being matched by Hungary’s National Film Institute, which awarded “Now or Never!” a 12.5 million production grant — the largest amount given to a feature film since the fall of communism in 1989.
It’s the second big swing on a splashy historical drama taken by the Nfi in the past year, after it awarded 29 million to “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah...
That ambition is being matched by Hungary’s National Film Institute, which awarded “Now or Never!” a 12.5 million production grant — the largest amount given to a feature film since the fall of communism in 1989.
It’s the second big swing on a splashy historical drama taken by the Nfi in the past year, after it awarded 29 million to “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah...
- 5/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unwrapped its main competition lineup, which includes Belfast, Dune and The Tragedy of Macbeth, which will be the opening night film, with director Joel Coen and Dp Bruno Delbonnel scheduled to attend.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In three of the past five years, the winners of Camerimage’s Golden Frog have gone on to earn Oscar nominations in cinematography. Those films include 2016’s Lion, 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland. The 2017 Camerimage winner, On Body and Soul, was nominated in the foreign-language film Oscar category.
The festival’s 2018 ...
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In three of the past five years, the winners of Camerimage’s Golden Frog have gone on to earn Oscar nominations in cinematography. Those films include 2016’s Lion, 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland. The 2017 Camerimage winner, On Body and Soul, was nominated in the foreign-language film Oscar category.
The festival’s 2018 ...
- 10/26/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unwrapped its main competition lineup, which includes Belfast, Dune and The Tragedy of Macbeth, which will be the opening night film, with director Joel Coen and Dp Bruno Delbonnel scheduled to attend.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In three of the past five years, the winners of Camerimage’s Golden Frog have gone on to earn Oscar nominations in cinematography. Those films include 2016’s Lion, 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland. The 2017 Camerimage winner, On Body and Soul, was nominated in the foreign-language film Oscar category.
The festival’s 2018 ...
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In three of the past five years, the winners of Camerimage’s Golden Frog have gone on to earn Oscar nominations in cinematography. Those films include 2016’s Lion, 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland. The 2017 Camerimage winner, On Body and Soul, was nominated in the foreign-language film Oscar category.
The festival’s 2018 ...
- 10/26/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The European Arthouse Cinema Day, an initiative aimed at promoting European films and moviegoing, will be hosting its sixth edition with ambassadors including Oscar-nominated Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi (“The Story of My Wife”) and Italian actor Valeria Golino (“The Morning Show”).
Organized by the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (Cicae) in partnership with Europa Cinemas, the event has involved hundreds of cinemas in more than 40 countries as well as film promotion orgs and right holders including distributors and sales agents. Last year, over 700 cinemas in 44 countries registered.
The lineup will comprise European classics and premieres of new films, as well as masterclasses, special guests, programmes for young audiences and exhibitions. All cinemas have access to common promotional materials created specially for the day.
Besides Enyedi and Golino, the other ambassadors of this upcoming edition include Spanish filmmaker Jonás Trueba (“La reconquista”) and actor-turned-director Mathieu Amalric (“Hold Me Tight”); they will...
Organized by the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (Cicae) in partnership with Europa Cinemas, the event has involved hundreds of cinemas in more than 40 countries as well as film promotion orgs and right holders including distributors and sales agents. Last year, over 700 cinemas in 44 countries registered.
The lineup will comprise European classics and premieres of new films, as well as masterclasses, special guests, programmes for young audiences and exhibitions. All cinemas have access to common promotional materials created specially for the day.
Besides Enyedi and Golino, the other ambassadors of this upcoming edition include Spanish filmmaker Jonás Trueba (“La reconquista”) and actor-turned-director Mathieu Amalric (“Hold Me Tight”); they will...
- 10/22/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“Commitment Hasan,” a Turkish drama by Semih Kaplanoğlu that world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been sold by Films Boutique to several key markets.
The movie is part of a trilogy that began with “Commitment Asli,” Turkey’s official entry for the Oscar international feature film race in 2020. Kaplanoglu, one of Turkey’s most celebrated filmmaker, previously directed the trilogy “Grain,” “Honey” and “Milk.” “Grain” won Berlin’s Golden Bear award in 2010.
“Commitment Hasan” is now being buzzed about as Turkey’s potential Oscar submission. Films Boutique has closed a raft of deals on the movie to Spain (Paco Poch Cinema), Ex Yugoslavia (Five Stars Distribution), Israel (Lev Cinemas) and Portugal (Leopardo). Arp Selection will release the film in France and Cgv Mars will distribute it in Turkey.
“Commitment Hasan” follows a man who makes his living from gardening and farming in the land he inherited from his father.
The movie is part of a trilogy that began with “Commitment Asli,” Turkey’s official entry for the Oscar international feature film race in 2020. Kaplanoglu, one of Turkey’s most celebrated filmmaker, previously directed the trilogy “Grain,” “Honey” and “Milk.” “Grain” won Berlin’s Golden Bear award in 2010.
“Commitment Hasan” is now being buzzed about as Turkey’s potential Oscar submission. Films Boutique has closed a raft of deals on the movie to Spain (Paco Poch Cinema), Ex Yugoslavia (Five Stars Distribution), Israel (Lev Cinemas) and Portugal (Leopardo). Arp Selection will release the film in France and Cgv Mars will distribute it in Turkey.
“Commitment Hasan” follows a man who makes his living from gardening and farming in the land he inherited from his father.
- 10/20/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
European television group Newen Connect and Berlin-based Flare Entertainment are joining forces to co-develop and distribute Balaton Brigade, a Cold War spy drama from Hungarian production company Joyrider, which Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi (On Body and Soul, The Story of My Wife) will direct.
The project, which Joyrider presented at the Berlinale Co-Pro series pitching event earlier this year, is set at the Hungarian resort of Lake Balaton in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. It follows Berndt Reider, the leader of a Stasi unit stationed at Balaton and tasked with preventing East German holidaymakers from sneaking over the border ...
The project, which Joyrider presented at the Berlinale Co-Pro series pitching event earlier this year, is set at the Hungarian resort of Lake Balaton in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. It follows Berndt Reider, the leader of a Stasi unit stationed at Balaton and tasked with preventing East German holidaymakers from sneaking over the border ...
- 8/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
European television group Newen Connect and Berlin-based Flare Entertainment are joining forces to co-develop and distribute Balaton Brigade, a Cold War spy drama from Hungarian production company Joyrider, which Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi (On Body and Soul, The Story of My Wife) will direct.
The project, which Joyrider presented at the Berlinale Co-Pro series pitching event earlier this year, is set at the Hungarian resort of Lake Balaton in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. It follows Berndt Reider, the leader of a Stasi unit stationed at Balaton and tasked with preventing East German holidaymakers from sneaking over the border ...
The project, which Joyrider presented at the Berlinale Co-Pro series pitching event earlier this year, is set at the Hungarian resort of Lake Balaton in 1986, at the height of the Cold War. It follows Berndt Reider, the leader of a Stasi unit stationed at Balaton and tasked with preventing East German holidaymakers from sneaking over the border ...
- 8/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Newen Connect, the distribution arm of the TF1-owned group Newen Group, has boarded “Balaton Brigade,” a prestige historical spy thriller series directed by Ildikó Enyedi, the Oscar-nominated Hungarian director of “On Body and Soul” and “The Story of My Wife” which competed at Cannes.
Created by Gábor Krigler (“Terapia”), Balázs Lengvel (“Thos Janos”) and Balázs Lovas, the eight-part series was previously pitched at the Berlinale Series Market and was selected to be presented at Series Mania’s CoPro Pitching Sessions as part of the partnership between the two industry events. The show, which is produced by Joyrider and Film Force, and co-produced by Martin Heisler at Flare Entertainment in Germany, garnered strong buzz at the Berlinale and sparked the interest of more than 50 companies.
“Balaton Brigade” is set in 1986, amid the Cold War, during a long hot summer in a seemingly idyllic Hungarian summer resort. Located by the Balaton Lake,...
Created by Gábor Krigler (“Terapia”), Balázs Lengvel (“Thos Janos”) and Balázs Lovas, the eight-part series was previously pitched at the Berlinale Series Market and was selected to be presented at Series Mania’s CoPro Pitching Sessions as part of the partnership between the two industry events. The show, which is produced by Joyrider and Film Force, and co-produced by Martin Heisler at Flare Entertainment in Germany, garnered strong buzz at the Berlinale and sparked the interest of more than 50 companies.
“Balaton Brigade” is set in 1986, amid the Cold War, during a long hot summer in a seemingly idyllic Hungarian summer resort. Located by the Balaton Lake,...
- 8/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The industry centerpiece at Series Mania’s Forum, Monday’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions take on a special relevance this year as the number of admissions have almost doubled – up to 560, near twice the usual number, says Series Mania director Francesco Capurro. “Producers have had more time to develop with Covid-19. Projects run a wide gamut. The idea is tat there will be something for everybody attending,” Capurro explains. Ambitions – budgetary, artistic – are often high. There are multiple period thrillers, as projects wrestle with key issues – identity, peace, high-tech, big business, sacrifice, survival – crucial to these convulsive times.
“Amal,” (Eran Riklis, Israel)
Powered by one of the most established talents at the Forum, reputed film director Riklis (“Lemon Tree”). Also one of its most ambitious projects, an epic yet intimate love story between a Palestinian woman and Israeli man, spanning three decades and Columbia U, Hollywood, Ramallah and Gaza through to...
“Amal,” (Eran Riklis, Israel)
Powered by one of the most established talents at the Forum, reputed film director Riklis (“Lemon Tree”). Also one of its most ambitious projects, an epic yet intimate love story between a Palestinian woman and Israeli man, spanning three decades and Columbia U, Hollywood, Ramallah and Gaza through to...
- 8/29/2021
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
A man asks the first woman who enters the room to marry him and then is surprised to find she does not respect him. This sums up “The Story of My Wife” from Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi, playing in Competition at this year’s Festival de Cannes. It might seem like an unfairly reductive interpretation of an almost three-hour-long film from a respected arthouse director, who won the Camera d’Or for her film “My Twentieth Century” in 1989 in Cannes and more recently the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2017 for “On Body and Soul.” But so little is done with the emotions running through this husband across the years that the ups and downs of his torturous marriage merely register as repetitive blips on a fairly unchanging screen.
Continue reading ‘The Story of My Wife’: Léa Seydoux Hypnotic Performance Prevents Ildikó Enyedi’s Drama From Fully Falling Into Tedium [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Story of My Wife’: Léa Seydoux Hypnotic Performance Prevents Ildikó Enyedi’s Drama From Fully Falling Into Tedium [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
- 7/16/2021
- by Elena Lazic
- The Playlist
Today’s grid also includes Ildiko Enyedi’s ’The Story Of My Wife’.
Jacques Audiard’s Paris, 13th District and Sean Baker’s Red Rocket achieved middling scores on Screen‘s Cannes jury grid, whilst Ildiko Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife failed to impress the majority of our jurors.
The latest film from Jacques Audiard – a Palme d’Or winner in 2015 with Dheepan – came out on top of the new arrivals with a score of 2.5, placing it fifth on the grid - just behind Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero. Helping the average were scores of four (excellent) from...
Jacques Audiard’s Paris, 13th District and Sean Baker’s Red Rocket achieved middling scores on Screen‘s Cannes jury grid, whilst Ildiko Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife failed to impress the majority of our jurors.
The latest film from Jacques Audiard – a Palme d’Or winner in 2015 with Dheepan – came out on top of the new arrivals with a score of 2.5, placing it fifth on the grid - just behind Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero. Helping the average were scores of four (excellent) from...
- 7/15/2021
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
A man declares he will marry the next woman to walk into a bar. That’s the most interesting thing about Ildiko Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife, a flat Cannes Film Festival competition entry that squanders its intriguing premise.
An adaptation of Milán Füst’s 1920s set novel, it enjoys attractive settings but suffers from fatal flaws. Chief of these is the decision to hire international actors for a script that’s in the English language. Dutch actor Gijs Naber plays it straight as Jakob Störr, the sea captain who decides to marry the conveniently beautiful Lizzy (Léa Seydoux) when he spies her in the Parisian bar. Mystifyingly, she agrees. He goes off to sea; we don’t know what she gets up to while he’s away. He comes back, worried about what she’s been up to while he’s been away. It probably involved Louis Garrel.
An adaptation of Milán Füst’s 1920s set novel, it enjoys attractive settings but suffers from fatal flaws. Chief of these is the decision to hire international actors for a script that’s in the English language. Dutch actor Gijs Naber plays it straight as Jakob Störr, the sea captain who decides to marry the conveniently beautiful Lizzy (Léa Seydoux) when he spies her in the Parisian bar. Mystifyingly, she agrees. He goes off to sea; we don’t know what she gets up to while he’s away. He comes back, worried about what she’s been up to while he’s been away. It probably involved Louis Garrel.
- 7/15/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
In The Story of My Wife (A feleségem története), the strong auteurist voice of one of Eastern Europe’s most fascinating filmmakers, Hungarian distaff director Ildikó Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician, On Body and Soul), seems not only muted but even slightly musty. This adaptation of Milán Füst’s most famous novel, set in the 1920s in Paris, Hamburg and at sea, is divided into chapters and should feel novelistic. Instead, especially its midsection more often feels like an endless feuilleton in which an upright Dutch sea captain and his flighty French wife seem to play a monotonous game of cat and mouse,...
- 7/14/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
In The Story of My Wife (A feleségem története), the strong auteurist voice of one of Eastern Europe’s most fascinating filmmakers, Hungarian distaff director Ildikó Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician, On Body and Soul), seems not only muted but even slightly musty. This adaptation of Milán Füst’s most famous novel, set in the 1920s in Paris, Hamburg and at sea, is divided into chapters and should feel novelistic. Instead, especially its midsection more often feels like an endless feuilleton in which an upright Dutch sea captain and his flighty French wife seem to play a monotonous game of cat and mouse,...
- 7/14/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Though legendary for a callous disregard for the lives of the sailors who criss-cross her stormy surfaces, the sea turns out to be a far milder mistress than Léa Seydoux in Ildikó Enyedi’s handsome but heavy-bottomed “The Story of My Wife,” the Hungarian director’s first return to Cannes since winning the Camera d’Or for her charming 1989 debut, “My Twentieth Century.” Starring Imola Lang’s superb 1920s/’30s production design, Leá Seydoux’s bouncy, tousled bob and Seydoux herself — in roughly that order — the film probably contains enough visual flourish to fill a perfectly watchable, if hardly groundbreaking feature. Just not one that sails dangerously close to the three-hour mark, taking on water the whole time.
A central problem: This is much more the story of the veteran seaman husband of the titular wife, played recessively by Dutch actor Gijs Naber, who is apparently as passively weak-willed on...
A central problem: This is much more the story of the veteran seaman husband of the titular wife, played recessively by Dutch actor Gijs Naber, who is apparently as passively weak-willed on...
- 7/14/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi has already won at the Cannes Film Festival once already: the Golden Camera award for her 1989 feature film debut “My 20th Century.” Now, Enyedi vies for the Palme d’Or as her latest film, “The Story Of My Wife,” has its world premiere in competition at Cannes this week.
Read More: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch
“The Story Of My Wife” is Enyedi’s first film since 2017’s “On Body And Soul.” That film won the coveted Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and later nabbed a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at that year’s Oscars.
Continue reading Watch 3 ‘Story Of My Wife’ Clips: Léa Seydoux Stars In Hungarian Director Ildikó Enyedi’s New Cannes Romance at The Playlist.
Read More: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch
“The Story Of My Wife” is Enyedi’s first film since 2017’s “On Body And Soul.” That film won the coveted Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and later nabbed a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at that year’s Oscars.
Continue reading Watch 3 ‘Story Of My Wife’ Clips: Léa Seydoux Stars In Hungarian Director Ildikó Enyedi’s New Cannes Romance at The Playlist.
- 7/6/2021
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
"You want me to like your admirer?" Films Boutique has unveiled a festival promo trailer for The Story of My Wife, the first English-language feature from acclaimed, award-winning Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi. She won the Golden Bear top prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017 for her last film On Body and Soul. The Story of My Wife, adapted from Hungarian author Milán Füst's novel, is set to premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in the Main Competition, and it runs a full 2 hours, 49 minutes. Whew. There's not of a description. Only an introduction: the film follows a Dutch sea captain who makes a bet in a café to wed the first woman who enters through the door. In walks Lizzy, played by Léa Seydoux. The cast also includes Gijs Naber and the ubiquitous Louis Garrel. This is the best of any Cannes trailer we've posted before the festival...
- 6/30/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “The Story of My Wife,” which screens in competition at Cannes Festival. Oscar-nominated director Ildikó Enyedi’s film stars Palme d’Or winner Léa Seydoux. Films Boutique is handling world sales rights.
Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2017 and was Oscar nominated the following year. Seydoux won Cannes’ Palme d’Or, alongside director Abdellatif Kechiche and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos, for “Blue Is the Warmest Color” in 2013.
Also in the cast are Gijs Naber (“How to Avoid Everything”), Louis Garrel (“Redoubtable”), Josef Hader (“Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe”), Sergio Rubini (“The Stuff of Dreams”) and Jasmine Trinca (“Honey”).
“The Story of My Wife” is an adaptation of Milan Fust’s 1942 novel of the same name. The story, a variation of the legend of the Flying Dutchman, is set in the 1920s. In it sea...
Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2017 and was Oscar nominated the following year. Seydoux won Cannes’ Palme d’Or, alongside director Abdellatif Kechiche and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos, for “Blue Is the Warmest Color” in 2013.
Also in the cast are Gijs Naber (“How to Avoid Everything”), Louis Garrel (“Redoubtable”), Josef Hader (“Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe”), Sergio Rubini (“The Stuff of Dreams”) and Jasmine Trinca (“Honey”).
“The Story of My Wife” is an adaptation of Milan Fust’s 1942 novel of the same name. The story, a variation of the legend of the Flying Dutchman, is set in the 1920s. In it sea...
- 6/30/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Bonnie Anderle Bunyik, co-founder of the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles, has died. She was 77.
Bunyik died on May 19 in Los Angeles following a battle with Als, according to her representatives who said she “passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones.”
The veteran film distributor was raised in L.A. by her parents Albert and Pauline Anderle and went on to graduate from Fairfax High School in 1962. Two decades later, she and husband Bela Bunyik founded European Video Distributors and Bunyik Enterprises. The European film distribution company brought overseas cinema westward and distributed films throughout the United States and Canada. Propelled by their mission to bring Hungary’s greatest in feature films, documentaries, shorts and student and animated movies to North American audiences, the Bunyiks produced and distributed over 900 films. Titles included “My 20th Century,” “We Never Die” and “Simon the Magician.”
Building on their success, Bunyik co-founded...
Bunyik died on May 19 in Los Angeles following a battle with Als, according to her representatives who said she “passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones.”
The veteran film distributor was raised in L.A. by her parents Albert and Pauline Anderle and went on to graduate from Fairfax High School in 1962. Two decades later, she and husband Bela Bunyik founded European Video Distributors and Bunyik Enterprises. The European film distribution company brought overseas cinema westward and distributed films throughout the United States and Canada. Propelled by their mission to bring Hungary’s greatest in feature films, documentaries, shorts and student and animated movies to North American audiences, the Bunyiks produced and distributed over 900 films. Titles included “My 20th Century,” “We Never Die” and “Simon the Magician.”
Building on their success, Bunyik co-founded...
- 5/27/2021
- by Haley Bosselman
- Variety Film + TV
Industry veteran survived by husband of 48 years, Bela Bunyik, children, grandchildren.
Bonnie Anderle Bunyik, the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles co-founder who also established two distribution companies with her husband Bela Bunyik, has died in Los Angeles. She was 77.
Bunyik passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, on May 19 after a battle with Als.
She was born to Albert and Pauline Anderle and grew up in several Los Angeles neighbourhoods. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1962 she eventually made her way into the film industry.
In 1982, Bunyik and her husband launched European Video Distributors and later established Bunyik...
Bonnie Anderle Bunyik, the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles co-founder who also established two distribution companies with her husband Bela Bunyik, has died in Los Angeles. She was 77.
Bunyik passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, on May 19 after a battle with Als.
She was born to Albert and Pauline Anderle and grew up in several Los Angeles neighbourhoods. After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1962 she eventually made her way into the film industry.
In 1982, Bunyik and her husband launched European Video Distributors and later established Bunyik...
- 5/24/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic. StraDa Films is planning a theatrical release “when the situation allows.”
M-Appeal previously closed deals for France to Diaphana, which plans a theatrical release in the second semester of 2021, with 80 to 150 prints; Portugal to Leopardo Filmes, which plans a theatrical release in November 2021; Korea to GreenNarae Media, which is planning to release the film in theaters in fall or early winter of 2021, “ideally on 100 screens or more if the pandemic situation allows”; and Taiwan to Andrews Films, which is planning a theatrical release in fall or winter 2021.
M-Appeal is in...
Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic. StraDa Films is planning a theatrical release “when the situation allows.”
M-Appeal previously closed deals for France to Diaphana, which plans a theatrical release in the second semester of 2021, with 80 to 150 prints; Portugal to Leopardo Filmes, which plans a theatrical release in November 2021; Korea to GreenNarae Media, which is planning to release the film in theaters in fall or early winter of 2021, “ideally on 100 screens or more if the pandemic situation allows”; and Taiwan to Andrews Films, which is planning a theatrical release in fall or winter 2021.
M-Appeal is in...
- 3/5/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The winners for the virtual 2021 Berlin International Film Festival have been revealed, and Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude’s satire “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” received the Golden Bear for best film. The competition jury celebrated the film as “a rare and essential quality of a lasting art work,” adding in a statement, “It captures on screen the very content and essence, the mind and body, the values and the raw flesh of our present moment in time. Of this very moment of human existence.”
This year’s Berlinale competition jury was made up of six former winners of the festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear: “There is No Evil” director Mohammad Rasoulof, “Synonyms” filmmaker Nadav Lapid, “Touch Me Not” helmer Adina Pintilie, “On Body and Soul” director Ildiko Enyedi, “Fire at Sea” filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, and “Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams” director Jasmila Zbanic.
The Silver Bear...
This year’s Berlinale competition jury was made up of six former winners of the festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear: “There is No Evil” director Mohammad Rasoulof, “Synonyms” filmmaker Nadav Lapid, “Touch Me Not” helmer Adina Pintilie, “On Body and Soul” director Ildiko Enyedi, “Fire at Sea” filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, and “Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams” director Jasmila Zbanic.
The Silver Bear...
- 3/5/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
For the first time ever, two Hungarian films are competing for the Berlinale’s Golden Bear: “Forest – I See You Everywhere,” a standalone sequel to the 2003 Berlinale hit “Forest,” from veteran auteur Bence Fliegauf, and “Natural Light” from feature debutant Dénes Nagy. Csaba Káel, chairman of the National Film Institute of Hungary (Nfi), says, “I believe it demonstrates the vitality and strength of the Hungarian industry flourishing despite the unprecedented circumstances caused by the pandemic worldwide.”
The two films represent opposite poles of current Hungarian filmmaking. Brimming with discourse, the independently funded “Forest” tells multiple complex, engaging stories of contemporary life in Hungary. And as he did in his Berlinale-winner “Just the Wind” (2012), Fliegauf creates deep empathy for his characters who deliver standout performances.
On the other hand, “Natural Light,” with its minimal dialogue, harks back to an older tradition in Hungarian cinema where stunning cinematography leads the other formal elements.
The two films represent opposite poles of current Hungarian filmmaking. Brimming with discourse, the independently funded “Forest” tells multiple complex, engaging stories of contemporary life in Hungary. And as he did in his Berlinale-winner “Just the Wind” (2012), Fliegauf creates deep empathy for his characters who deliver standout performances.
On the other hand, “Natural Light,” with its minimal dialogue, harks back to an older tradition in Hungarian cinema where stunning cinematography leads the other formal elements.
- 3/3/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Cold War spy drama “Baloton Brigade” has been selected to pitch at Series Mania in Lille as part of the Berlinale-Series Mania Project Exchange.
Under the terms of the partnership, now in its seventh year, one project pitched at Series Mania at Lille is invited to pitch again at the ongoing Berlin Series Market’s Co-Pro Series (March 1-5). In return, Series Mania invites a Berlinale project to pitch in Lille as part of the Series Mania Forum (Aug. 30-Sept. 1).
“Baloton Brigade,” an eight-part historical spy drama produced by Joyrider and Film Force (Budapest), is now Lille-bound. As revealed by Variety, Hungarian broadcaster Rtl Klub has boarded the project, which is created by Gaìbor Krigler, Balaìzs Lengyel and Balaìzs Lovas, and directed by Ildikoì Enyedi (Oscar-nominated “On Body and Soul”).
“This year again, we are delighted to collaborate with Berlinale, to choose a project that will be pitched during the Series Mania Festival,...
Under the terms of the partnership, now in its seventh year, one project pitched at Series Mania at Lille is invited to pitch again at the ongoing Berlin Series Market’s Co-Pro Series (March 1-5). In return, Series Mania invites a Berlinale project to pitch in Lille as part of the Series Mania Forum (Aug. 30-Sept. 1).
“Baloton Brigade,” an eight-part historical spy drama produced by Joyrider and Film Force (Budapest), is now Lille-bound. As revealed by Variety, Hungarian broadcaster Rtl Klub has boarded the project, which is created by Gaìbor Krigler, Balaìzs Lengyel and Balaìzs Lovas, and directed by Ildikoì Enyedi (Oscar-nominated “On Body and Soul”).
“This year again, we are delighted to collaborate with Berlinale, to choose a project that will be pitched during the Series Mania Festival,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Year by year, the Berlin Film Festival’s drama series strand and market movers closer to center-stage. As in so many ways, Covid-19 may merely accelerate that process. The Zoo Palast Berlinale Series showcase no longer screen a time-consuming 20-minute taxi ride from the festival center, but online, its titles as accessible as festival movies.
For industry attendees movies — first arthouse and documentaries, later studio-style indie tentpoles — were the name of the game at Berlin. Now many producers who go to Berlin to talk movies are looking for a future with TV. After canvassing marketgoers, five takeaways about Berlin’s drama series lineup and Berlinale Series Market, which celebrates March 2 its Co-Pro Series pitching sessions, emerge:
The Biz So Far
In early industry news, Keshet Intl. has swooped in on sales rights to Norway’s “Suck It Up,” a drama produced by Monster Scripted for Viaplay and a reported standout...
For industry attendees movies — first arthouse and documentaries, later studio-style indie tentpoles — were the name of the game at Berlin. Now many producers who go to Berlin to talk movies are looking for a future with TV. After canvassing marketgoers, five takeaways about Berlin’s drama series lineup and Berlinale Series Market, which celebrates March 2 its Co-Pro Series pitching sessions, emerge:
The Biz So Far
In early industry news, Keshet Intl. has swooped in on sales rights to Norway’s “Suck It Up,” a drama produced by Monster Scripted for Viaplay and a reported standout...
- 3/2/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Hungarian broadcaster Rtl Klub has boarded “Balaton Brigade,” a Cold War spy drama set on the shores of Hungary’s Lake Balaton in the summer of ’86, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is among the projects that will be pitched this week at the Berlinale Series Market’s Co-Pro Series.
The show follows a secret agent in the elite Stasi unit codenamed the Balaton Brigade, a team tasked with observing East German holidaymakers as they meet their relatives from west of the Iron Curtain on the sun-kissed shores of the “Hungarian Sea.” Forging an uneasy alliance with a local counterpart, he engages in increasingly intense psychological warfare against their target, only to realize that the tables are being turned—even as he hatches his own plot to escape with his family to the West.
“Balaton Brigade” is created by Gábor Krigler, Balázs Lengyel and Balázs Lovas, and directed by Oscar...
The show follows a secret agent in the elite Stasi unit codenamed the Balaton Brigade, a team tasked with observing East German holidaymakers as they meet their relatives from west of the Iron Curtain on the sun-kissed shores of the “Hungarian Sea.” Forging an uneasy alliance with a local counterpart, he engages in increasingly intense psychological warfare against their target, only to realize that the tables are being turned—even as he hatches his own plot to escape with his family to the West.
“Balaton Brigade” is created by Gábor Krigler, Balázs Lengyel and Balázs Lovas, and directed by Oscar...
- 3/1/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled an unusual jury format for this year’s unusual edition, with six former Golden Bear winners (the festival’s top prize) set to convene during the March event to decide on its awards.
As previously announced, the fest is taking place in two stages, an ‘Industry Event’ March 1-5 which will include the European Film Market as well as the presentation of the event’s festival program to industry delegates. This will be followed by an audience-focused festival from June 9-20.
The jury will convene in Berlin during the first event in March and will watch the film’s in the Competition program on the big screen, with the awards announced that week. The plan is for a physical ceremony to follow in June where the winners can be honored.
The six members of the jury are below. No president has been appointed this year.
As previously announced, the fest is taking place in two stages, an ‘Industry Event’ March 1-5 which will include the European Film Market as well as the presentation of the event’s festival program to industry delegates. This will be followed by an audience-focused festival from June 9-20.
The jury will convene in Berlin during the first event in March and will watch the film’s in the Competition program on the big screen, with the awards announced that week. The plan is for a physical ceremony to follow in June where the winners can be honored.
The six members of the jury are below. No president has been appointed this year.
- 2/1/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the International Jury for its 71st edition. All the jury members are winners of Berlin’s Golden Bear for best film.
The jury will comprise Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, Israeli director Nadav Lapid, Romania director Adina Pintilie, Hungary director Ildikó Enyedi, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi and Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić. There will be no jury president this year. The jury will view the competition films in a movie theater in Berlin.
Rasoulof won the Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil” in 2020; Lapid for “Synonyms” in 2019; Pintilie for “Touch Me Not” in 2018; Enyedi for “On Body and Soul” in 2017; Rosi for “Fire at Sea” in 2016; and Žbanić for “Grbavica” in 2006.
Artistic director Carlo Chatrian said: “I’m happy and honored that six filmmakers I admire a great deal have enthusiastically accepted our invitation to take part in this unique edition. They express not only...
The jury will comprise Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, Israeli director Nadav Lapid, Romania director Adina Pintilie, Hungary director Ildikó Enyedi, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi and Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić. There will be no jury president this year. The jury will view the competition films in a movie theater in Berlin.
Rasoulof won the Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil” in 2020; Lapid for “Synonyms” in 2019; Pintilie for “Touch Me Not” in 2018; Enyedi for “On Body and Soul” in 2017; Rosi for “Fire at Sea” in 2016; and Žbanić for “Grbavica” in 2006.
Artistic director Carlo Chatrian said: “I’m happy and honored that six filmmakers I admire a great deal have enthusiastically accepted our invitation to take part in this unique edition. They express not only...
- 2/1/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Festival also reveals details of Summer Special event, which is set to include physical screenings and an awards ceremony.
The international jury of the 71st Berlinale will comprise six former Golden Bear winners: Mohammad Rasoulof, Nadav Lapid, Adina Pintilie, Ildikó Enyedi, Gianfranco Rosi and Jasmila Žbanić.
The long-awaiting selection of films that will make up this year’s online-only edition will be announced next week from February 8-11.
While the selection would usually be announced by the end of January, the unusual nature of this edition will see the Retrospective and Generation named on February 8; the Berlinale Shorts, Forum and...
The international jury of the 71st Berlinale will comprise six former Golden Bear winners: Mohammad Rasoulof, Nadav Lapid, Adina Pintilie, Ildikó Enyedi, Gianfranco Rosi and Jasmila Žbanić.
The long-awaiting selection of films that will make up this year’s online-only edition will be announced next week from February 8-11.
While the selection would usually be announced by the end of January, the unusual nature of this edition will see the Retrospective and Generation named on February 8; the Berlinale Shorts, Forum and...
- 2/1/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Six former winners of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film will make up the jury for this year’s event.
Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year’s winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin’s top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for ...
Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year’s winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin’s top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for ...
Six former winners of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film will make up the jury for this year’s event.
Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year’s winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin’s top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for ...
Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year’s winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin’s top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for ...
“This is Music,” an anthology TV series to be directed by Wim Wenders, David Byrne, and Norwegian talents Joachim Trier and Julie Andem, is among projects set to be pitched at the upcoming Berlinale Series Market. These Co-Pro Series pitching sessions and meetings run March 2-5.
This TV section of the Berlin Film Festival’s market has been a launchpad for high-profile shows such as “Babylon Berlin,” Norway’s “Valkyries” and Netflix’s “Freud.”
“This is Music” is being produced by Norway’s Oslo Pictures and was created and written by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen who penned the Wenders’ film “Every Thing Will be Fine.” Julie Andem is the creator of hit Norwegian series “Skam.” Trier directed “Louder Than Bombs.” Further details are being kept under wraps.
The 10 selected Berlinale Co-Pro Series projects also comprise promising British series project “58 Seconds” from Jeremy Brock who won screenplay adaptation BAFTA for “The Last King of Scotland...
This TV section of the Berlin Film Festival’s market has been a launchpad for high-profile shows such as “Babylon Berlin,” Norway’s “Valkyries” and Netflix’s “Freud.”
“This is Music” is being produced by Norway’s Oslo Pictures and was created and written by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen who penned the Wenders’ film “Every Thing Will be Fine.” Julie Andem is the creator of hit Norwegian series “Skam.” Trier directed “Louder Than Bombs.” Further details are being kept under wraps.
The 10 selected Berlinale Co-Pro Series projects also comprise promising British series project “58 Seconds” from Jeremy Brock who won screenplay adaptation BAFTA for “The Last King of Scotland...
- 1/26/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Six series will play in the festival with 10 titles in the Market.
A new anthology series titled This Is Music from directors including Wim Wenders and David Byrne is one of 10 international projects selected for the Co-Pro Series section of the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2021 (March 2-5).
The Berlinale Series has also selected six series to play in the online festival, which runs from March 1-5.
Scroll down for full list of Co-Pro Series, Berlinale Series and Series Market Selects titles
Produced by Norway’s Oslo Pictures, anthology series This Is Music is created by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, who wrote Wenders...
A new anthology series titled This Is Music from directors including Wim Wenders and David Byrne is one of 10 international projects selected for the Co-Pro Series section of the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2021 (March 2-5).
The Berlinale Series has also selected six series to play in the online festival, which runs from March 1-5.
Scroll down for full list of Co-Pro Series, Berlinale Series and Series Market Selects titles
Produced by Norway’s Oslo Pictures, anthology series This Is Music is created by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, who wrote Wenders...
- 1/26/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Hungarian writer-director Kristóf Deák, who won an Academy Award for best live-action short, has started shooting his debut theatrical feature, “The Grandson.”
The coming-of-age drama, disguised as a crime thriller, with darkly comic undertones, will shoot for 40 days on location in Budapest. Nfi World Sales is handling global distribution, with an expected release date in autumn 2021.
The cast includes emerging actor Gergely Blahó, and Tamás Jordán, who appeared in Oscar nominated “On Body and Soul” (2018), as well as “Time Stands Still” (1981), “Sweet Emma,” and “Dear Böbe” (1992).
The film centers on quiet 28 year-old office manager Rudi, the “nice guy” everyone can count on. When his beloved grandpa falls victim to a particularly ruthless scam, his comfortable world is turned upside down. Pushed by guilt and a desire to bring justice to the criminals, Rudi starts his own investigation, descending into the world of petty crime – and finding peculiar allies along the way.
The coming-of-age drama, disguised as a crime thriller, with darkly comic undertones, will shoot for 40 days on location in Budapest. Nfi World Sales is handling global distribution, with an expected release date in autumn 2021.
The cast includes emerging actor Gergely Blahó, and Tamás Jordán, who appeared in Oscar nominated “On Body and Soul” (2018), as well as “Time Stands Still” (1981), “Sweet Emma,” and “Dear Böbe” (1992).
The film centers on quiet 28 year-old office manager Rudi, the “nice guy” everyone can count on. When his beloved grandpa falls victim to a particularly ruthless scam, his comfortable world is turned upside down. Pushed by guilt and a desire to bring justice to the criminals, Rudi starts his own investigation, descending into the world of petty crime – and finding peculiar allies along the way.
- 10/6/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The winner of Karlovy Vary’s East of the West prize for her debut, “The Wednesday Child” (2015), Hungarian multihyphenate Lili Horvát screens “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival after its world premiere in Venice Days. Her unusual love story explores the role of projections in love and the fine line between romance and madness.
Your first film boasted a gritty, neo-realistic look and this one feels mysterious and dreamy. How did you decide on the visual style and why did you decide to shoot on 35mm?
The key element of “Preparations” is insecurity, the fragility and precariousness of reality. While researching that, Róbert Maly, the Dp, and I came upon the work of Saul Leiter, an American photographer, at an exhibition in Vienna. The mysteriousness hidden in his photos, in their texture, color, lighting and framing, became our first point of reference.
Your first film boasted a gritty, neo-realistic look and this one feels mysterious and dreamy. How did you decide on the visual style and why did you decide to shoot on 35mm?
The key element of “Preparations” is insecurity, the fragility and precariousness of reality. While researching that, Róbert Maly, the Dp, and I came upon the work of Saul Leiter, an American photographer, at an exhibition in Vienna. The mysteriousness hidden in his photos, in their texture, color, lighting and framing, became our first point of reference.
- 9/10/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Russian director Ivan Bolotnikov after several prizewinning documentaries made his feature debut in 2016 with “Kharms,” a biopic of renowned Russian absurdist author Daniil Kharms that travelled on the international festival circuit. His sophomore outing is ambitious upcoming drama “Palmyra” based on the true story of a former Russian military, a widower, who learns that his only daughter Maryam has been recruited by terrorists and run off to Syria.
The film, which is now completed, is produced by Proline Film Studios chief Andrey Sigle, who interestingly also composed the “Palmyra” score. It’s being presented to prospective buyers at both the Roskino Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition market and the upcoming Cannes virtual Marché du Film.
Bolotnikov and Sigle both took questions from Variety about the film.
Ivan, what drew you to the project?
Ivan Bolotnikov: The whole history of the human race is a history of wars. Today, it seems...
The film, which is now completed, is produced by Proline Film Studios chief Andrey Sigle, who interestingly also composed the “Palmyra” score. It’s being presented to prospective buyers at both the Roskino Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition market and the upcoming Cannes virtual Marché du Film.
Bolotnikov and Sigle both took questions from Variety about the film.
Ivan, what drew you to the project?
Ivan Bolotnikov: The whole history of the human race is a history of wars. Today, it seems...
- 6/12/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Several international directors join the leading Greek film festival’s lockdown-inspired initiative.
Award-winning filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Radu Jude, Denis Côté and Ildiko Enyedi have joined a lockdown-inspired film series launched by Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff).
The directors, who have all previously attended the leading Greek film festival, will each make a three-minute short on the theme of confinement. The series, titled Spaces, is inspired by the coronavirus quarantine that has seen a third of the world’s population placed under some form of restriction.
Other filmmakers set to participate include Us actor and director John C. Lynch, Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold,...
Award-winning filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Radu Jude, Denis Côté and Ildiko Enyedi have joined a lockdown-inspired film series launched by Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff).
The directors, who have all previously attended the leading Greek film festival, will each make a three-minute short on the theme of confinement. The series, titled Spaces, is inspired by the coronavirus quarantine that has seen a third of the world’s population placed under some form of restriction.
Other filmmakers set to participate include Us actor and director John C. Lynch, Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold,...
- 4/6/2020
- by 307¦Alexis Grivas¦39¦
- ScreenDaily
The director, who rose to fame with Loop, is in Budapest toiling away on his second feature, a FocusFox Studio production toplined by Péter Bárnai, Vivien Rujder and János Kulka. Since 20 February, Isti Madarász has been shooting Half Way Home (Átjáróház), his second feature, following the promising science-fiction flick Loop (2017), which took part in the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and Fantasporto, among other gatherings. Toplining the movie, which would appear to be a modern revisiting of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, are Péter Bárnai (the young prosecutor from Strangled), Vivien Rujder (glimpsed in On Body and Soul) and János Kulka, who are flanked by Elizabeth Kútvölgyi, Miklós Galla, Attila Árpa and Kata Dobó.In the story, written by Attila Veres, protagonist Krisztián, in his...
“Sheytan vojud nadarad” (“There Is No Evil”) has won the Golden Bear Award at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlin jury announced at a ceremony on Saturday.
The film by director Mohammad Rasoulof consists of four different stories about military men in Iran who are asked to perform executions. It won in a competition lineup that consisted of 18 movies and also included Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow,” Sally Potter’s “‘The Roads Not Taken,” Philippe Garrel’s “The Salt of Tears,” Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia” and Christian Petzold’s “Undine.”
Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the story of two teenage girls traveling from Pennsylvania to New York City for an abortion, won the Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-place award.
Also Read: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' Director Explains Why Her Stars Auditioned in a Bathroom (Video)
Acting awards went to Elio Germano for “Volevo nascondermi” (“Hidden Away...
The film by director Mohammad Rasoulof consists of four different stories about military men in Iran who are asked to perform executions. It won in a competition lineup that consisted of 18 movies and also included Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow,” Sally Potter’s “‘The Roads Not Taken,” Philippe Garrel’s “The Salt of Tears,” Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia” and Christian Petzold’s “Undine.”
Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the story of two teenage girls traveling from Pennsylvania to New York City for an abortion, won the Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-place award.
Also Read: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' Director Explains Why Her Stars Auditioned in a Bathroom (Video)
Acting awards went to Elio Germano for “Volevo nascondermi” (“Hidden Away...
- 2/29/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The romantic drama stars Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber and Louis Garrel.
Films Boutique has closed deals with top distributors on Golden Bear winner Ildikó Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife.
The romantic drama, starring Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber and Louis Garrel, has sold to France (Pyramide Distribution), Germany and Austria (Alamode), Benelux (September Films), Israel (Lev Cinema), Italy (Rai Cinema), Hungary (Mozinet), Greece (Strada), Russia (Russian Report), Czech Slovak (Film Europe) and Portugal (Leopardo).
Films Boutique has been showing a first promo for the English-language, €10m project at the Efm.
The film, scripted by Enyedi from the novel by Milan Füst,...
Films Boutique has closed deals with top distributors on Golden Bear winner Ildikó Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife.
The romantic drama, starring Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber and Louis Garrel, has sold to France (Pyramide Distribution), Germany and Austria (Alamode), Benelux (September Films), Israel (Lev Cinema), Italy (Rai Cinema), Hungary (Mozinet), Greece (Strada), Russia (Russian Report), Czech Slovak (Film Europe) and Portugal (Leopardo).
Films Boutique has been showing a first promo for the English-language, €10m project at the Efm.
The film, scripted by Enyedi from the novel by Milan Füst,...
- 2/24/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
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