News

Bloody, Sexy, Unpredictable Meat Is To be Released – Ah, 6 Years Late! Obsessed with discovering and promoting the most challenging of international genre films, Artsploitation presents the 2010 Dutch film, Meat (Vlees) co-directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs. The film has been described as “Bizarre, chilling… a haunting, unsettling piece of work.” by …

The post 2010 film Meat Comes to VOD & Amazon first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

The long awaited, by me at least, new feature film by Maartje Seyferth & Victor Nieuwenhuijs is finally here. You should remember them from their 1994 début Venus in Furs, or a bit more recently with 2010's Meat (review). In our world where "independent" is now nothing more than a marketing label abused by majors in search of a more diverse customer base (see "The global war on culture" by Frédéric Martel if you doubting my word) directors like them deserve a better term to qualify their output. I'll settle on "artisan." More on that later.

Cat and Mouse is a picture born of twilight. A fugue state between innocence and despair, revolving aro [Continued ...]...

France will be electrified starting tomorrow, which is when the 21st edition of L'Etrange Festival kicks off in Paris. It runs through September 13 at Forum des images. The festival has released a new poster (©Dom Garcia), which you can glimpse above, and also announced a new batch of guests, including actors Sara-Jane Noon and Lachlan Nieboer (for the International Premiere of Brand New-u by Simon Pummel) and actors Jérémie Renier, Finnegan Oldfield and Marc Robert (for the preview of The Wakhan Front by Clément Cogitore).Two new videos have also debuted. The first is for Cat and Mouse, a film by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs, that looks suitably intriguing. It enjoys its world premiere on Sunday, September 6. The other is a promotional trailer for two screenings of...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage has resumed for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world (during and after the festival) and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.

Matteo Lovadina is the founder and sole principal of Reel Suspects, a multi-faceted “all rights” distribution company based in Paris, France. He represents "feature films with a twist": films both from first-time and revered directors, including the genres of cult, classic, thriller, horror, fantasy, Lgbt and erotic. His background as a photographer inspires him to choose only the richest quality of cinematography for the Reel Suspects catalog. His aim is to share the most cinematic and innovative stories.

Matteo talks about his reasonably budgeted films, the first Reel Suspects co-productions, and gives realistic advice to first-time filmmakers who are looking for distribution:

When and how did you start Reel Suspects?

I started Reel Suspects in 2011, after ten years in the business as a sales agent. When I started the company, I really wanted to focus on young directors and films by true auteurs. We love independent cinema, and it is our passion to put amazing and visually stunning films into distribution. A twist can be a genre: it can be a very strong drama, or fantasy. We are currently selling some fantasy art house horror, as we did in the past; we always try to find good films that are not purely commercial. This year's selections at Cannes Film Festival reflect our work in numerous ways, and give the sign that we are going in the right direction. The second focus is cinematography; I am a big fan of images and colors. I love when the image speaks for itself. This helps buyers to identify our quality without question.

Where are your buyers?

Over the years, we have developed a wide range of titles that go from youth films to experimental dramas. We have never cared about the country of origin. Being a French company, we obviously carry French films, but we really focus on the entire world. We have films from the Us, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Lithuania, and a catalog of French and Spanish classics.

We like young talents, and are passionate to help their careers takeoff. Two years ago, we had a film called Aurora (Vanishing Waves), a glamorous and sophisticated sci-fi film by first time director Kristina Buozyte. It was a Lithuanian and French co-production, and was a worldwide success. It was selected for all the major international festivals, and won several awards including the “Meliès d’Or”, a sort of “Fantasy Film” award renowned in Europe and abroad. It sold to nearly 25 territories between Cannes and Toronto, and was the first Lithuanian film with a theatrical release in the U.S.

How are sales?

Sales are doing well because of our “twist”. Distributors in our network know what they can find when they come to Reel Suspects. They know they will not find the 20 million dollars films. However, they also know that they will find a carefully chosen, cost-effective selection of quality films that will attract the right audience. This helps our buyers to take smaller risks on reliable niches in film. Luckily, sales are good and constantly growing, even if the competition is hard. Our films are being distributed in many countries. The festival circuit loves us, because we are defending new producers and directors and they appreciate our taste. Germany, Australia, and Japan are big for us, but we really work worldwide.

What is your background?

I was previously in the music and photography worlds. When I realized the music business was dead, I finally made the move to film.

What are some of the challenges of being a young company on the market?

The industry has this thing of labeling people. During the first year of my company, I had an erotic film that was sold to many countries. Many buyers think that I still do erotic films, and I do not. It's a struggle to get identified when you launch your own company. When you have one film that really works, people think you only do that. This year in Cannes, we had two horror films, and I can see people six months from now saying, "Reel Suspects only carries horror films." It's frustrating to be categorized so quickly, and to convince people that we're more than what they assume.

Do you have advice for first time directors who are looking for distribution?

You have to think before you make the film, "Am I able to find a good balance between making a film that will have a commercial success, and making a film that will only travel the festival circuit?" I think this is an essential question that all directors and producers should answer before shooting. Balance is important. With the supremacy of digital shooting nowadays, the production value of your delivery is now essential. Mediocrity is now harder to defend, when digital postproduction can help a film to be finalized in the best conditions.

Please discuss some of the films from the Reel Suspects catalog.

I'm really excited for the market premiere of Cat & Mouse, a psychological drama by Maartje Seyferth & Victor Nieuwenhuijs. It's about a girl who is completely lost between her present and her past. It’s our first co-production. Our expectations are quite high, and we feel it will be equally successful in the commercial market and in the festival scene.

Fièvre (new title: Horsehead) is a French fantasy horror by Romain Basset that follows the story of a student that gets lost in her nightmares.

Wild in Blue, our Cannes best seller, is an intense Us indie that we recently acquired. It features the last performance of Karen Black, in a super graphic psychodrama about a psychopath who kills his girlfriends until he finds real love.

We also have the most anticipated German Angst, a portmanteau film that combines the work of three well-known horror genre directors: Jörg Buttgereit (Nekromantik), Andreas Marschall (Tears of Kali), and Michal Kosakowski (Zero Killed). It's a shocking horror film, which has already reached cult status with its large fan base.

Learn about the Reel Suspects catalog.

More About Reel Suspects:

Reel Suspects is a multi-faceted “all rights” distribution company, specialized in emerging filmmakers. Reel Suspects is devoted to bring a new cost-effective business model to its partners from all over the world, in the context of an international market changing forever towards new directions, and specialized niches constantly growing and evolving. Promoting films in a new and different way, with an eye on newcomers and focusing on innovative marketing approaches might be the final goals of Reel Suspects.

Extended from first-timers directors to revered cinema masters, the ever growing Reel Suspects‘ catalogue already presents some classic films from better-known directors, such as “Vivre sa Vie” by Jean-Luc Godard, “Une partie de campagne” by Jean Renoir, as well as the “Alain Robbe-Grillet Collection”, restored in HD and the “Chris Marker Collection”.

Victor Nieuwenhuijs and Maartje Seyferth's bizarre, chilling little character drama Meat certainly covers all the bases. Nearly every major synonym, metaphor or other interpretation of that one word is in there somewhere. Mostly it seems to be about people who've lost, or think they've lost the capacity for emotional attachment - obsessing over the flesh versus the spirit, if you like - but Meat also looks at appetite in general, the way our carnal impulses overrule our better judgement, and what these things can drive us to do. Some of this comes out through how characters communicate, but while there's no graphic violence as such it's a pretty explicit film - plenty of the human body on display, as well as animal carcasses hacked to...

Each year the Sitges Film Festival commercial spot is almost as eagerly awaited by the general public as its lineup, and Rafa Antón, creative director of the China agency and the man responsible for its campaigns over the last ten years, has presented this year’s commercial, entitled "Alter Ego". In addition, the preliminary lineup for the Festival has been revealed, but it's not complete by any means. More will be announced throughout the month.

Antón presented the commercial at the Velodrome, property of the brand, along with Festival director Angel Sala and one of Sitges 2011’s partners Moritz Beer.

As explained at the presentation of the Sitges 2011 posters, artificial intelligence is this year’s central theme, represented through the geminoids created by professor Ishiguro in Japan. For the commercials, Rafa Antón stated that he’d “continued with the same commemorative leitmotif of the tenth anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg...

In recent years France has been among the front-runners in pushing the boundaries of modern horror. With such offerings as Frontier(s), Inside and High Tension, French filmmakers have been making us seriously squirm. It is with this reminder of the quality of their filmmaking that we at Dread Central bring you an announcement of the film list from the 17th Annual L'Etrange Festival, France's biggest horror film festival.

With over 70 films being screened and more than 17,000 attendees expected to descend on Paris, Le'Etrange Festival

Below we have the Complete listing of the festival's events:

From the Press Release

L’Étrange Festival – a unique event bringing filmgoers a fascinating roster of provocative and eye-opening films – is thrilled to announce the line-up for its 17th edition, September 2 – 11, 2011 in Paris, France.

The 2011 line-up continues the tradition of highlighting emerging talent, paying homage to independent-minded filmmakers and featuring a truly diverse program that includes cutting-edge works,...

Year: 2010

Directors: Victor Nieuwenhuijs & Maartje Seyferth

Writers: Maartje Seyferth

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: Rick McGrath

Rating: 9 out of 10

When killer Dutch writer/director Maartje Seyferth came up with the concept for Meat, she must have seriously pondered Matthew’s admonition about the flesh being weak in the face of temptation.

And then dropped some acid.

Or she may have considered the wisdom of Oscar Wilde, who claimed the only way to deal with temptation was to give into it.

In Meat, both ideas work, and both are explored. The resultant story is a stunningly rich study of sex and death, pleasure and pain, fantasy and reality – as well as one of the most imaginative damnations of the animal industry you’ll ever experience. Yes, butchers are a tradition that goes back to the domestication of animals, but a butcher is also a metaphor for cruel and deadly people,...

The 4th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival, which runs for three days on Sept. 9-11, will screen about 10 features from all over the world and a veritable ton of short films from even further out there.

The fest will open with the latest documentary by a Hollywood icon. It’s Oliver Stone’s South of the Border, which has the director meeting with South American politicians and dignitaries. (The film opened to mixed reviews here in the States earlier this year.) Also screening is Trash Humpers, the latest film by indie rabble-rouser Harmony Korine, which has been confounding audiences on the indie film fest circuit, and Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void, which has been earning rave reviews.

The rest of the features in the lineup are an eclectic, oddball concoction, including Mladen Djordjevic‘s Serbian atrocity Life and Death of a Porno Gang, Victor Nieuwenhuijs and Maartje Seyferth’s twisted Netherlands tale Meat,...

Before going into my Women Directors Tracking which I have vowed to continue until women reach a parity with men in the film business and Latino Directors groove, I want to thank Howard Feinstein for watching the most obscure films of Rotterdam to find the jewels! Scratching Below the Surface for Some Rotterdam Fest Gems - indieWIRE. Kudos! I wish I could have seen these!

Howard spotted this one: "A young woman named Rusudan Pirveli brought to the 'Bright Future' section Susa, another story of hard financial times. 'The Lost Generation' is represented here by the absent father of an adolescent boy, who, working for his mother, sells bootleg vodka in bottles. Sadly, he lives under the delusion that dad’s return would ease his and his mom’s hardship. Like Koguashvili, Pirveli eschews unnecessary authorial intervention: Both directors understand all too well that they are living amidst powerful,...

[Editor's note: Crepuscule premiered at the recent International Film Festival Rotterdam]

Year: 2009

Directors: Victor Nieuwenhuijs & Maartje Seyferth

IMDb: N/A

Trailer: link (Nsfw)

Review by: Dr. Nathan

Rating: 9 out of 10

There’s an old maxim that goes: “Whom the gods would destroy, they first turn mad”. Crepuscule is a stunningly brilliant story about a nameless young girl’s slow and lingering journey from the daylight of sanity to the darkness of madness. And what a long, strange trip it is.

The brainchild of Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs (Seyferth wrote the script, Nieuwenhuijs shot it and both co-directed) Crepuscule leads us through the psychological twilight of an alienated and psychotic young woman as she slips thru the cracks of an uncaring society and reveals the deep and complex terror of being trapped in a mind which has severed any and all relationships with the public world of humanity.

And what a curious twilight Crepuscule shows us. Is this a horror movie?...

I get the distinct feeling this is an experimental piece with almost (or possibly) no speaking whatsoever. Beautifully shot in black and white with a brief mention of Godard, it's a naked portrait, both metaphorically and realistically, of an attractive young woman. The film is directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs with Victor Nieuwenhuijs Dp'ing.

In the film, darkness descends on a young woman. Or better put: a girl. A silent, limber and beautiful girl. We are allowed to see her. All of her, while she explores her body in a mirror. Bravely played by Nellie Benner in a ground-breaking performance. She enters the city and the film closed and introverted. The film captures the girl from up close. Alone with the camera, the girl has no shame. She exposes herself. She dances. Strips, really. She has a job at a gas station and none of her colleagues seem to consider her special.

I get the distinct feeling this is an experimental piece with almost (or possibly) no speaking whatsoever. Beautifully shot in black and white with a brief mention of Godard, it's a naked portrait, both metaphorically and realistically, of an attractive young woman. The film is directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs with Victor Nieuwenhuijs Dp'ing.

In the film, darkness descends on a young woman. Or better put: a girl. A silent, limber and beautiful girl. We are allowed to see her. All of her, while she explores her body in a mirror. Bravely played by Nellie Benner in a ground-breaking performance. She enters the city and the film closed and introverted. The film captures the girl from up close. Alone with the camera, the girl has no shame. She exposes herself. She dances. Strips, really. She has a job at a gas station and none of her colleagues seem to consider her special.