News

There is a subgenre that basks in the creaturely natures of girls and women. Forget the ethereal sisters of “The Virgin Suicides” for here are some hot messes. Found in the literature of Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter and Deborah Levy and in films by Josephine Decker and Luna Carmoon, this is a mode of characterisation that delights in stripping away the illusion of a “fairer sex” in order to marinate in the feminine grotesque.

Ariane Labed’s entry to this canon, her directorial feature debut “September Says,” is infused with her own history as a Greek New Wave actress. There are shades of her break-out role in Yorgos Lanthimos’ claustrophobic family drama “Dogtooth” and a callback to her animal impressions in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s sublime, underrated “Attenberg.” Otherwise, Labed follows the sketchy map laid out by Daisy Johnson’s source novel, “Sisters.”

September (Pascale Kann) is older than her...

Norwegian director Thea Hvistendahl’s zombie movie “Handling the Undead,” premiering at Sundance and to be released in the U.S. by Neon, sees the reunion of Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the stars of Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” in a poetic, visually-charged chronicling of a hot summer’s day in Oslo when the dead mysteriously come back to life.

Hvistendahl’s feature debut, an adaptation of the eponymous novel by “Let the Right One In” author John Ajvide Lindqvist, is not your conventional zombie movie. “It’s very important to mention to people who are going to see it that they shouldn’t expect the regular zombie flick. I made the film with the zombie genre in mind, and wanted to subvert some of the classic tropes, but if people are only looking for a thrill, this film might not be it!,” quips the director.

Thea Hvistendahl’s “Handling the Undead,” fresh off its Sundance premiere, has already scared multiple buyers into submission, Variety has found out exclusively.

Starring “The Worst Person in the World’s” Renate Reinsve and sold by TrustNordisk, it has been picked up by Hungary (Vertigo Media), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), France (KinoVista), Spain (Avalon Distribution), Korea (Pancinema), Japan (Tohokushinsha Film Corp.), Taiwan (Swallow Wings Films) and Anz (Signature Entertainment).

Neon Rated acquired North American and U.K. rights.

In the Norwegian film, Mahler and his daughter, Anna, mourn the too early passing of his grandson. Tora says her final goodbye to her wife at the funeral home, while a family of four face a life without a wife and mother.

Then, a strange electric field and collective migraine spread across Oslo on an especially hot summer day. Television sets, lightbulbs and electronics go haywire, and suddenly, it’s all over.

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for September, including the exclusive streaming premieres for Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children; and Lola Quivoron’s Rodeo; and Rotting in the Sun by Sebastián Silva, whose work is highlighted in a series that also includes The Maid, Life Kills Me, and Nasty Baby.

Additional selections include a mini-retro of last year’s TIFF (Pacifiction and the newest film by Sophy Romvari among them), 10 by Pedro Almodóvar, and David Lynch’s rare 1988 short The Cowboy and the Frenchman, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Jack Nance.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

September 1

Volver, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Matador, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Dark Habits, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Law of Desire, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

High Heels, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Kika, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Live Flesh,...

Film is set to start shooting next week in Buenos Aires and to continue in Barcelona and Las Vegas.

Barcelona-based production company Mr. Miyagi has teamed with Uruguay’s Mother Superior and Argentina’s Sombracine to co-produce queer romantic comedy Astronaut, the feature directorial debut of producer-director David Matamoros.

Lead-produced by Mr. Miyagi’s Matamoros and Ángeles Hernández, Astronaut follows David, an inveterate romantic who has a travel agency specialising in trips linked to romantic comedies. His 15-year relationship with Quique is stagnant. So, David decides to give Quique a trip down Route 66 with a special stop in Las Vegas.

To celebrate the release of Anti-Worlds’ – Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig and Alejandro Fadel’s Murder Me Monster, out on Blu-Ray this week, we have both Blu-Rays to give away to 2 lucky winners!

Earwig – A mesmerizing fable of long-repressed secrets and awakening memories from the mysterious and oneric world of Lucile Hadzihalilovic making her debut feature in the English language.

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia’s well-being. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave…

Murder Me Monster – Rural police officer Cruz investigates the bizarre case of a headless woman’s body found in a remote region by the Andes Mountains. David, the husband of Cruz’s lover Francisca, becomes...

Hollywood actress Marion Cotillard is to play the role of the Snow Queen in French female auteur Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s next film ‘La tour de glace’.

‘La Tour de glace’ is expected to be the French director’s most ambitious film to date and will reteam Hadzihalilovic with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Inception’ star Cotillard.

Cotillard had starred in Hadzihalilovic’s 2004 film ‘Innocence’, as per ‘Variety’.

Co-written by Geoff Cox, ‘La tour de glace’ is set in the 1970s and follows Jeanne, a teenage girl who runs away from her orphanage located in a mountain village.

She flees to Paris with big dreams to fulfill and finds shelter in a warehouse which turns out to be used as a studio where ‘The Snow Queen’ is being filmed. The film’s star, Cristina, a beautiful woman in her 40s, takes Jeanne under her wing, exerting a dangerous and overpowering influence...

After starring in Mona Achache’s “Little Girl Blue” which played at Cannes, Marion Cotillard will work with another daring French female auteur, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, on her next film “La tour de glace.”

The long-gestated film marks the first collaboration between Hadzihalilovic and Muriel Merlin, producer at 3B Productions. Hadzihalilovic’s follow up to “Earwig,” which won the jury prize at San Sebastian, “La Tour de glace” is expected to be the director’s most accessible and ambitious film to date. The movie will reteam Hadzihalilovic with Cotillard who had starred in her 2004 film “Innocence.”

Co-written by Geoff Cox, “La tour de glace” is set in the 1970s and follows Jeanne, a teenage girl who runs away from her orphanage located in a mountain village. She flees to Paris with big dreams to fulfill and finds shelter in a warehouse which turns out to be used as a studio where...

Arte France Cinéma have thrown their support behind a quintet of projects and among them we find Lucile Hadzihalilovic re-teaming with Marion Cotillard for La Tour de glace La Tour de glace. Set to shoot in January and February next year in both France and Germany, this fourth feature film is set in the 1970s. Cotillard was cast in Hadzihalilovic’s debut back in 2004 (Innocence). By the sounds of the synopsis it looks like the central character will be a young actress. Co-written along with Geoff Cox (who helped with Évolution (2015) and Earwig (2021)), from her high mountain village, 15-year-old Jeanne dreams of leaving her childhood orphanage and discovering the world.…...

Throughout the past nine years, the amazing team behind the Popcorn Frights Film Festival has helped keep horror cinema alive and well in South Florida, and after expanding with an additional weekend sponsored by the streaming platform Alter last year, we're thrilled to announce that Popcorn Frights is partnering with Entertainment Squad's The Horror Collective to return to Miami Beach this August with a free theatrical screening room, vital panel discussions, and insightful industry sessions for filmmakers!

Taking place August 18th–20th at the O Cinema South Beach, “The Horror Collective Screening Room” will showcase must-see movie premieres and short films, with The Horror Collective representatives also on hand to host and moderate panels and industry sessions during the weekend!

In addition to Miami Beach, Popcorn Frights will also be returning to Fort Lauderdale's historic Savor Cinema for scary good screenings beginning August 10th, and the festival is also...

Paris-based Petit Film has boarded “Hot Spot” by Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska.

The story, set in the near future, follows a disillusioned private eye Djonny, called to investigate a murder at a refugee camp. But he becomes increasingly unstable as he confronts a cyber witch who gradually takes control of his life.

Smoczyńska’s previous film, Cannes premiere “The Silent Twins” – based on the lives of June and Jennifer Gibbons – earned Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance a BIFA [British Independent Film Award] for Best Joint Lead Performance.

“Agnieszka’s work does not derive from, or resemble, any existing films. That’s the first and foremost reason why I would not miss the chance to participate in one of them,” says producer Jean des Forêts, also behind Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” and Lucile Hadžihalilović’s English-language debut “Earwig.”

“Last year the opportunity arose and I seized it immediately. The project brings together a nice band...

Hanway Films to launch Joanna Coates’ gothic horror at the EFM.

Game Of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Romola Garai are to star in gothic horror Virtue, on which HanWay Films is to launch sales at the upcoming EFM.

It will be directed by UK filmmaker Joanna Coates, who won best British feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2014 for her romantic drama Hide & Seek, and is written by Sam Hoare, whose credits include feature Having You and Netflix miniseries The English Game.

The production aims to start shooting at the end of Q3 this year.

Set in 1350 England,...

New York-based Juno Films has acquired all North American distribution rights to “Munch,” the upcoming Rotterdam Film Festival opening night film which is backed by Viaplay, Scandinavia’s leading streamer, and directed by Norway’s Henrik M. Dahlsbakken’s (“The Outlaws”).

“Munch” is produced by The Film Company. The deal was negotiated between Vondah Elizabeth Sheldon on behalf of Juno Films and Vimish Gandesha, VP Viaplay select & content distribution. The feature is expected to premiere in New York, late spring 2023, with a nationwide run to follow.

“Our latest Norwegian feature paints a sensitive portrait of one of history’s most enigmatic artists,” says Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group chief content officer. “[Edvard] Munch’s work is famed around the world, but his equally fascinating life is much less well-known.”

The film, which opens Rotterdam on Jan. 15, is, in some way, a quadriptych, split as it is into four chapters. Each part captures...

Exclusive: Juno Films has picked up North American rights to Hilma — the latest film written and directed by three-time Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallström (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), which is poised to make its North American premiere at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

The cinematic portrait of the Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint — who’s played at different ages by Tora Hallström and Oscar nominee Lena Olin — will premiere theatrically at the Quad Cinema in NYC on April 14 before expanding nationwide.

Hilma brings to the big screen the life story of a woman who defied conventions and revolutionized the art world when her work was exhibited in its entirety in 2019 at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. The artist died in 1944, unknown and unrecognized as the woman who invented abstract painting, displacing Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian as the initiators of abstract painting and Modernism. From her adoration of...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The African Desperate (Martine Syms)

Early into Martine Syms’ The African Desperate, Mfa finalist Palace (Diamond Stingily) sits for her last exam in an upstate New York art school tucked deep in the woods. It’s the end of a three-year voyage, the kind of moment that should trigger swaths of pride and relief. But Palace, a Black student in an exceedingly white college, is frustrated, tired, on the verge of a breakdown. Her art has already shown at the Venice Biennale, a feat her all-Caucasian examiners don’t really know how to respond to. Even after they christen her a Master of Fine Arts, the mix of animosity and envy lingers acridly in the room. “There are lots of female artists...

Lucile Hadžihalilović's Earwig is showing exclusively on Mubi in most countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, India, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, and Canada—starting October 15, 2022, in the series Luminaries, as well as in the series Mubi Spotlight.One day, my collaborator Geoff Cox told me about a mysterious novel that a friend of his, the British artist and writer Brian Catling, had begun to write after having had a dream—or dreamlike visitation—in which a little girl came to him and, opening her closed hand, gave him her teeth. She was called Mia. I felt immediately intrigued. A few months later, Geoff gave me the finished, still unpublished novel to read. He felt that it could inspire me for a film. It was called Earwig.Catling’s Earwig was full of tension, emotion, and wonderful surprises. It was very cinematic, too: the girl with ice-teeth, the cabinet of glasses,...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month and amongst the highlights are Martine Syms’ The African Desperate, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig, plus films from George A. Romero, Dario Argento, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Thomas Vinterberg, Nanni Moretti, and more.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

October 1 – Goodnight Mommy, directed by Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors

October 2 – Van Gogh, directed by Maurice Pialat | I Don’t Like You Either: A Maurice Pialat Retrospective

October 3 – The Great Buster: A Celebration, directed by Peter Bogdanovich | Portrait of the Artist

October 4 – Invisible Demons, directed by Rahul Jain | Viewfinders

October 5 – Pulse, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Thrills, Chills and Exquisite Horrors

October 6 – Diary of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero | George A. Romero: Double of the Dead

October 7 – Free Chol Soo Lee, directed by Eugene Yi,...

After showcasing 36 movies and 77 short films at their eighth film festival, Popcorn Frights has even more treats in store for horror fans this October with their annual Wicked Weekend.

Taking place September 28th–October 2nd at Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale, this year's Wicked Weekend will celebrate horror films both old and new, including Smile, Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge, Terrifier 2, Spirit Halloween: The Movie, as well as anniversary screenings of Near Dark and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Wicked Weekend will also feature a screening of The Crow and a double feature of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

We have the official press release with full details below, and to learn more, visit:

https://popcornfrights.com/

Press Release: Miami, Fl – Just in time for the spooky season, Popcorn Frights is thrilled to announce its annual...

TrustNordisk has acquired international sales rights to the upcoming horror drama “Handling the Dead,” Variety has found out at Haugesund.

Anonymous Content is repping U.S. rights.

Thea Hvistendahl’s feature debut, produced by Kristin Emblem and Guri Neby for Einar Film and currently shooting, will be presented at Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair’s Nordic Selection sidebar in September. Its first still has also been shared with Variety.

“We are thrilled to be working with Thea and Einar Film on this exciting genre project, [one] that will be spine-chilling and moving at the same time. We believe it has strong appeal both within festivals and distribution,” observed TrustNordisk’s managing director Susan Wendt.

Based on a novel by acclaimed writer John Ajvide Lindqvist – also behind “Let the Right One In” and short story “Border,” later adapted by Ali Abbasi – it will kick off during an especially hot summer day in Oslo,...

Exclusive: Juno Films has acquired rights to the experimental drama The Same Storm, from writer-director Peter Hedges (Ben Is Back), for distribution in the U.S., Canada and the UK. The film will open at the Quad Cinema in NYC and the Laemmle Santa Monica on October 14.

Filmed during the Covid pandemic using cell phones and laptops, The Same Storm invites viewers into the lives of 24 characters as they navigate the spring and summer of 2020. With lockdowns, the Black Lives Matter movement and the looming 2020 election as key backdrops, the film explores the importance of human connection, family and love during a time when all of that seemed out of reach.

Two-time Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker (Colin in Black & White), two-time Oscar nominee Elaine May (Crisis in Six Scenes), Emmy nominee Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Independent Spirit Award nominee...

Croatian writer-director Juraj Lerotić’s “Safe Place,” an emotional story of a family reeling in the wake of a suicide attempt, took the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival, which wrapped a record-setting 2022 edition in the Bosnian capital on Friday night.

The Heart of Sarajevo Award for best feature film was given by a jury headed by Austrian filmmaker Sebastian Meise (“The Great Freedom”), which included French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović (“Earwig”), Croatian writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina”), Serbian actor Milan Marić (“Dovlatov”) and Israeli producer and consultant Katriel Schory.

“Safe Place” plays on Lerotić’s own pained family history, with the Croatian multihyphenate taking on the lead role in his deeply personal story — a performance that also earned him the award for best actor in Sarajevo.

Fresh off a triumphant world premiere in Locarno, where the film won three awards including best first feature, “Safe Place” was described by...

Eight films battled it out in competition at the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival, but Austrian director Sebastian Meise’s jury—including French director Lucile Hadžihalilović , Croatian director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, Serbian actor Milan Marić and Israeli producer Katriel Schory—spread the love quite widely.

By far the critics’ darling, Juraj Lerotić’s powerful suicide drama Safe Place was a popular choice for the big winner, with plaudits for Berlin/Sundance title Klondike and Cannes favorite Corsage.

The winners were…

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film

Safe Place, dir: Juraj Lerotić (Croatia)

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director

Maryina Er Gorbach, dir: Klondike (Ukraine/Turkey)

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress

Vicky Krieps, Corsage (Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France)

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor

Juraj Lerotić, Safe Place (Croatia)

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film

Museum of the Revolution, Srđan Keča

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Documentary Film

We,...

The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Earwig (2021).There’s a moment in Lucile Hadžihalilović’s feverish 2021 psychodrama Earwig in which a man rifles through a small refrigerator, within it an icebox, and within that a stack of thick metallic cases, each one containing denture molds brimful of frozen saliva. Behind him sits a young girl in elaborate headgear, her small face flanked by tubes and two ampoules collecting her spit. The act is uncanny but clearly routine—a chilling, briefly expository moment that proffers countless questions and exemplifies Hadžihalilović’s aesthetic of reticence. Her films all possess this matryoshka-like effect, coming undone only to neatly curl back into themselves at will. As female-driven body horror stipples its way into the mainstream, Hadžihalilović’s work feels all the more resonant and, perhaps most crucially, misprized. Hadžihalilović auteurism is...

From its opening shot — a close-up of the nautilus-like curl of a human ear — Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s “Earwig” sets out to unsettle, slowly burrowing its way into our brains by any orifice it can. Not quite a horror film, this sometimes freaky, often frustrating third feature from the French art-house director of twisted socialization tales “Innocence” and “Evolution” (better known in some quarters as the producer and partner of Gaspar Noé) is light on dialogue and therefore, largely lacking in explanations for the haunting ideas in store.

Hadzihalilovic is a master of atmosphere and tone, but someone not terribly interested in good, old-fashioned narrative. This project, which she liberally adapted from a short surrealist novel by retired English art professor B. Catling, trades in the imagery of dreams. “Earwig” subscribes to their logic as well, all but daring audiences not to fall asleep in their seats as it lulls them...

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris, a kind Cinderella story for older women with a Dior twist, arrives in 978 theaters this weekend with strong reviews and great word of mouth. The film is a known property among that demo given its prime trailer treatment before Focus Features’ fan favorite Downtown Abbey: A New Era — not a bad setup.

Deadline review here. The film by Anthony Fabian with Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert and Jason Isaacs has a 92/critics, 94/audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It shares the pond with a handful of strong studio holdovers and new wide releases Paw Patrol: The Movie and drama Where The Crawdads Sing. Like Crawdads, Mrs. Harris is based on a popular book – the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico – and book clubs are prominent in a large marketing push.

Manville plays Ada Harris, a British housekeeper and widow who dreams of buying her own couture Christian Dior gown.

Earsatz: Hadzihalilovic Sinks Her Teeth In Ambiguous Menace

For her highly anticipated third feature, France’s Lucile Hadzihalilovic resorts to adaptation with the enigmatic Earwig, based on the novella by Brian Catling, a nightmarish episode from the revered British sci-fi writer. In many ways, it’s in keeping with her previous films, wherein children are being groomed for indeterminate but clearly insidious uses. But while it opens upon the imagery of a visually related appendage, this is a narrative clearly turned on its own head by the final frames, a story of fate obfuscated by a series of themes and motifs never clearly illuminated.…...

From vital donations and must-see screenings to virtual streamings and drive-in experiences, the amazing team behind the Popcorn Frights Film Festival has always found ways to show support for the horror community in South Florida and beyond, and this year is no exception, as Popcorn Frights Co-Founders and Co-Directors Igor Shteyrenberg & Marc Ferman have announced a partnership with the streaming platform Alter for a free theatrical screening room in Miami Beach this August!

Taking place from August 19th–21st, the Alter Screening Room will be held at the O Cinema South Beach, featuring new movie premieres and intriguing short films featured at this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival. Representatives from Alter will also be on hand for panel discussions and industry sessions, making the Alter Screening Room a truly unique experience for Popcorn Frights attendees.

All screenings at the Alter Screening Room will be free and must be registered for...

Lola Quivoron’s debut is set in the world of dirt-bike racing.

Curzon has secured UK and Ireland rights to Lola Quivoron’s Rodeo from Les Films Du Losange following its award-winning debut at Cannes last month.

The French feature, set in the world of urban dirt-bike riders, will receive a theatrical release by Curzon later this year or in early 2023.

It marks the feature directorial debut of Quivoron and won the Coup de Coeur du Jury special prize at Cannes in May, where the film received its world premiere in Un Certain Regard.

Newcomer Julie Ledru stars as a...

Wild Bunch is handling international sales.

US sales agent and distributor Juno Films has picked up North American rights to French director Lucile Hadžihalilović’s English-language debut, Earwig from Wild Bunch.

It will be distributed theatrically in the US from July 15, ahead of a digital release later in the year.

The body horror premiered at Toronto in 2021 and also won the special jury award at San Sebastian Film Festival.

Paul Hilton stars as a man employed by a figure known only as the ‘master’ to look after a young girl living in near solitary confinement, played by Romane Hemelaers, with teeth made of ice.

One of our favourite directors of all time, Lucile Hadzihalilovic is back with a new and disturbing looking horror film called Earwig.

Syopsis:

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia's wellbeing. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave.

Watch the first trailer for the film below:...

The British Quad-style poster feels like a rare bird these days, so it is a joy to behold this fiery key art for Lucile Hadžihalilović's peculiar, moody, mysterious film Earwig. The poster, designed by the iconic Laurent Lufroy, echoes a piece of art used in the film, but here, it features the two principal characters, a young girl and her mysterious caretaker (and dentist) as they leave the insular world of their large postwar apartment, and navigate a strange, fecund world outside their spartan walls. The film is a dark parenting faerie tale, and this key art certainly evokes a house on fire. (Note: I am a wee bit late to the release of this poster back in May, as I was on holiday at...

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

‘All My Friends Hate Me’, ‘Earwig’ and ‘Il Buco’ also open this weekend.

Jurassic World Dominion is hoping to snare the top spot from Top Gun: Maverick at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, after two weeks at the number one for Paramount’s Tom Cruise hit.

Universal is distributing Jurassic World Dominion at 708 sites – Universal’s fourth biggest UK-Ireland opening of all time, behind No Time To Die (772),Downton Abbey: A New Era (746) and Downton Abbey (730). The Colin Trevorrow-directed title opened with 55m from early markets last week, and expands to North America, UK/Ireland, China, France, Germany, Australia and Spain this weekend.

Earwig, the new film from French filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic, is finally heading to UK cinemas this June, and with it comes the first trailer. In the film… “Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after 10-year-old Mia. His most important task is to see to her ice dentures, which must be changed […]

The post ‘Earwig’ Trailer Messes With a Strange Girl’s Icy Teeth [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Meise joined by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic, Milan Maric, Katriel Schory.

Austrian writer-director Sebastian Meise will lead a five-person jury for the Competition programme of the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival.

Meise will be joined by filmmakers Lucile Hadzihalilovic from France and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic from Croatia; Serbian actor Milan Maric; and Katriel Schory, producer, consultant and former director of the Israel Film Fund.

Meise’s Great Freedom won the jury prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2021, going on to take the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film and for Best Actor for Georg Freidrich at last year’s Sarajevo Film Festival.

Earwig Trailer — Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig (2021) movie trailer has been released by Juno Films. The Earwig trailer stars Paul Hilton, Romola Garai, Alex Lawther, Romane Hemelaers, Peter Van den Begin, Michael Pas, Marie Bos, and Anastasia Robin. Crew Geoff Cox and Lucile Hadzihalilovic wrote the screenplay for Earwig. Nicolas Becker, Warren Ellis, and Augustin [...]

Continue reading: Earwig (2021) Movie Trailer: A Caretaker Looks After a Girl with Ice Teeth in Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Thriller Film...

Anti-Worlds Releasing has revealed the trailer for Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s debut feature in the English language, Earwig. We have the exclusive first look at the trailer and the film’s beautiful new poster by Laurent Lufroy.

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia’s wellbeing. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave…

Based on the novel by Brian Catlin, the film is directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic who is making her debut feature in the English language. The film stars Paul Hilton, Alex Lawther and Romola Garai.

Also in trailers – Exclusive: We reveal the trailer for Moon, 66 Questions

The film hits cinemas on June 10th – check out https://anti-worldsreleasing.co.uk...

One of our favourite directors of all time, Lucile Hadzihalilovic is back with a new and disturbing film called Earwig.

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia's wellbeing. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave.

Watch the film clip from the film below:...

The team members behind Popcorn Frights Film Festival have always been great supporters of horror cinema, and now they're sharing that same passionate support for the LGBTQ community by announcing that a portion of their proceeds for their upcoming eighth season will be donated to the Our Fund Foundation, a vital LGBTQ non-profit in Florida.

The eighth season of Popcorn Frights' events kicks off tonight with a double feature of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II!

To learn more about Popcorn Frights, check out the official press release below as well as the festival's website, and for information on how you can donate to the Our Fund Foundation, visit:

https://www.our-fund.org/

Press Release: Miami, Fl – Popcorn Frights has announced that a portion of proceeds from its eighth season will go to benefit the LGBTQ non-profit, Our Fund Foundation, in response to Florida’s recent passage of the controversial LGBTQ school measure,...

Eleven of the projects are debut features.

European development programme Less Is More (Lim) has selected 16 feature film projects for its 2022 scheme, plus the 12 ‘development angels’ who will follow the development of the projects, and four tutors who will provide guidance to the selected teams.

Among the titles are Bethan, the debut feature of UK writer-director Zillah Bowes; and Deborah Viegas’ Brazilian-Portuguese debut feature Young Woman Seen From Behind.

Scroll down for the full list of projects, filmmakers and development angels

Eleven of the 16 films are from debut filmmakers, with four from second-time directors and one – Christian Volckman’s Herself – from a third-time filmmaker.

Yellow Veil Pictures Has Acquired All North American Rights For Gaspar Noé’s Lux Aeterna. The Saint Laurent Commissioned Film Stars Famed Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg and Béatrice Dalle, Theatrical Release Planned For Later This Year

Yellow Veil Pictures announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to Gaspar Noe’s Lux ÆTERNA and are planning a theatrical release in May, followed later in the year by a full digital and collector’s edition home video release. The film made its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was later selected for the Tribeca Film Festival prior to cancellation due to the pandemic.

Lux ÆTERNA takes place backstage of a French film production, often utilizing split-screens to follow two characters at once. Charlotte Gainsbourg, acting as herself, plays the film’s — and the film-within-a-film’s — leading role of an actress taking on the role of a witch burned...

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired all North American rights to Gaspar Noé’s new meta movie “Lux Aeterna.” The studio is planning a theatrical release for the film this spring. “Lux Aeterna” made its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was later selected for the Tribeca Film Festival prior to its cancellation due to the pandemic.

“Lux Aeterna” unfolds backstage at a French film production and is stylistically daring, in the manner of many of Noé’s movies. It’s shot documentary style and frequently deploys split-screens to follow two characters at once. In a metafictional twist, Charlotte Gainsbourg, acting as herself, plays the film’s — and the film-within-a-film’s — leading role of an actress taking on the role of a witch burned at the stake while French actress Beatrice Dalle, playing a version of herself as well, assumes the on-screen role of director. Slowly the set descends into aggressive chaos,...

Mubi is kicking off the new year with a selection of our 2021 highlights, including some of which haven’t picked up proper distribution yet. Most notably, their own release, Alexandre Koberidze’s dazzling What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, will premiere along with a New Voices in Georgian Cinema series. Also arriving is Salomé Jashi’s Taming the Garden, Ana Katz’s The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu, and Nino Martínez Sosa’s Liborio.

As part of a series of first films, they’ll also feature works from Janicza Bravo, Noah Baumbach, Garrett Bradley, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Terry Gilliam, and more. A double bill of Federico Fellini classics, Nights of Cabiria and The White Sheik, will also come to the platform.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

January 1 | Kicking & Screaming | Noah Baumbach | First Films First

January...

New label has released 40 titles in Saudi Arabia including The Father, Another Round and Pinocchio.

Pan-Arab distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is out in the force at Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival (Dec 6-15) with seven films in the selection, including recent acquisition Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road, which plays in competition.

Other titles playing at the Red Sea include Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, Red Sea competition jury president Giuseppe Tornatore’s Ennio, Official Competition, Earwig, Ted K and The Good Boss.

The Dubai-based distributor works all over Mena...

Julia Oh has been hired by 2Am, the full-service production and management company founded by Christine D’Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe, as a producer.

Oh will be based in NY with the company’s production team, working alongside Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.

2Am’s film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is currently in post-production on Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies, starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, and Pete Davidson, and on Emmy winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut, What If?, at Orion Pictures. It’s also finishing principal photography on Past Lives, a feature drama written and directed by Celine Song.

The company’s management division represents such acclaimed writers and directors as Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Janicza Bravo (Zola), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Kota Eberhardt (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Leilah Weinraub (The Shakedown...

The International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Iffmh) has very much captured the social, cultural and political zeitgeist with this year’s film selections, exploring such themes as female empowerment, HIV/AIDS and the post-Soviet collapse of Ukraine.

“The festival doesn’t work in topics, we are trying to show the best films, but the interesting thing is that the topics come to us through the films,” says Iffmh director Sascha Keilholz. “Obviously we are sensitive to the whole range and diversity that can be had in cinema.”

Indeed, this year’s films in the On the Rise competition section and supplemental Pushing the Boundaries sidebar, which showcases cutting-edge works by young and established filmmakers, ended up sharing unmistakable themes. Many new female voices are putting their mark in Eastern European film with stories of women rebelling against patriarchy and male structures, for example, Keilholz points out. “That was quite striking for us.

Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Icelandic-Swedish-Polish drama “Lamb,” starring Noomi Rapace was awarded best film and actress for Rapace at the 54th edition of Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, which wrapped Sunday.

The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.

“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.

Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...

To European filmmakers few awards are as important in the genre community as the Méliès d’Or Awards. Tonight, Sitges hosted the Méliès d'Or awards ceremony and rewarded Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor the Best European Feature Film award, the Méliès d'Or . The Méliès International Festivals Federation also rewards a short film with the Méliès d'Argent prize. The honor went to Last Dance, from directors Danny Gibbons and Alex Scott. Earwig director Lucile Hadzihalilovic received the Méliès Career Award in recognition of her contributions to French and European genre cinema. Earwig played in an Official Fantàstic special screening after the awards ceremony. The jury members have presented awards to the following films: Sitges 2021 hosts the Méliès d’Or Awards gala celebration The...

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

Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s first English-language feature is intriguing, but its nightmarish dentures slant needs a mouthful of narrative

A fog of menace descends on this hauntingly photographed, oppressive and driftingly directionless movie from Lucile Hadzihalilovic. It has the intensively curated atmosphere of body-horror noir – if not the conventional plot structure – and some way into the running time you might find yourself awakened from its reverie of formless anxiety by a sudden, horrifying stab of violence. It’s a flourish of brutality whose meaning and motivation are never entirely revealed (there is no question of calling the cops in this nightmare-world) and maybe it doesn’t entirely earn the resulting jolt of attention as the story loops mysteriously around and in on itself.

This is Hadzihalilovic’s first feature in English, adapted from the experimental novella of the same name by Brian Catling, author, performance artist and longtime Iain Sinclair collaborator.

“It’s about filmmakers having a spider-sense [about the zeitgeist], picking fears from the ether and giving it form.”

UK writer-director Corinna Faith joined Lizzie Francke, senior production and development executive at BFI Film Fund, and Sophie Green, head of acquisitions and development at Bankside, to explore the creative and business reasons fuelling the growing popularity of genre films by female UK directors, including Faith’s The Power, Rose Glass’s Saint Maud and Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor at a ScreenDaily Talk hosted in partnership with the Dinard Festival Of British Film on September 30.

Watch the session above.

The panel noted it’s...

Blue Moon (Crai Nou) by Romanian director Alina Grigore won the Golden Shell at the 69th San Sebastian Film Festival whose top awards were swept by female filmmakers and actors.

For the first time, the film festival a gender neutral acting award. The Best Leading Performance prize was shared. Jessica Chastain was honored for her portrayal of televangelist Tammy Faye Messner in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. The other winner was 16 -year-old Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, star of the Danish film As in Heaven (Du som er i himlen). The film’s Tea Lindeburg was named Best Director.

Other major female winners included Tatiana Huezo, whose Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de fuego) took the prize for Best Latin American film, Claire Mathon, Best Cinematography winner for Undercover (Enquête sur un scandale d’état) and Lucile Hadzihalilovic whose film Earwig was recognized with the festival’s special prize.

The sole...