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China’s 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival (Hiiff) welcomed an esteemed roster of global movie figures including jury head and Palme d’Or-winning auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan when it opened on Dec. 16, with local state media hailing the event for building new platforms for filmmakers to “communicate and collaborate.”

But the festival continues to be shadowed by accusations concerning a distinct lack of communication — and the non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money promised to young filmmakers at its past editions.

Chinese producer Yini Qian’s film Drop Your Cat won the festival’s 2020 Hainan Choice Award, which included a RMB1.5 million (about $212,000) production-support prize. But the filmmaker says only RMB225,000 ($32,000) was paid — and not until June 2021. Repeated attempts by Yini and her partners to follow up on the unpaid award have yielded nothing.

“From 2021 to 2022, the former festival organizer responded with acknowledgment of the debts,...

Nader Saeivar’s Iranian drama No End has been dropped from the official selection of the Hainan Island International Film Festival in what filmmakers say was an act of censorship by Chinese authorities.

ArtHood Entertainment, which is handling world sales for No End, told The Hollywood Reporter it received a confirmation from the Hainan Island festival on Nov. 19 that the Iranian drama had been picked to run in the main competition at the event. The 2023 Hainan festival runs Dec. 16-22 in the tropical resort city of Sanya in China’s southernmost province.

But this week, the festival has pulled the film, citing “political pressure and censorship laws of the Chinese government,” said ArtHood.

The Hainan festival is backed by the state-run China Media Group and the People’s Government of Hainan Province, under the guidance of the China Film Administration. The event’s competition jury this year includes international figures like...

Rule 34International Competition(Jury: Michel Merkt, Laura Samani, Prano Bailey-Bond, Alain Guiraudie, William Horberg)Golden Leopard: Rule 34 (Julia Murat)Special Jury Prize: Gigi la legge (The Adventures of Gigi the Law) (Alessandro Comodin)Best Direction: Valentina Maurel (Tengo sueños eléctricos)Best Actress: Daniela Marín Navarro (Tengo sueños eléctricos)Best Actor: Reinaldo Amien Gutiérrez (Tengo sueños eléctricos)Filmmakers Of The Present( Jury: Annick Mahnert, Gitanjali Rao, Katriel Schory )Golden Leopard: Svetlonoc (Nightsiren) (Tereza Nvotová)Special Jury Prize: Yak Tam Katia? (How Is Katia?) (Christina Tynkevych)Prize for Best Emerging Director: Juraj Lerotić (Sigurno mjesto (Safe Place))Best Actress: Anastasia Karpenko (How Is Katia?)Best Actor: Goran Marković (Safe Place)Special Mention: Den siste våren (Franciska Eliassen)First Feature(Jury: Boo Junfeng, Shahram Mokri, Madeline Robert)Best First Feature: Sigurno mjesto (Safe Place) (Juraj Lerotić)Special Mention: Love Dog (Bianca Lucas) and De noche los gatos son pardos (Valentin Merz)Pardi Di Domani(Jury: Walter Fasano,...

The news of the arrest of Jafar Panahi, Mostafa Al-Ahmad and Mohammad Rasoulof last week came to cement the oppressive tactics of the current Iranian regime, with the industry now being in more fear than ever for more incarcerations. At the same time, and despite these issues and the whole censorship that dominates all aspects of life, the Iranian movie industry remains rather vibrant, still one of the biggest in the world, with hundreds of movies produced every year. In a homage to both the arrested and the industry, we present 25 Iranian movies, released post-2010, in alphabetical order.

1. 180° Rule (2020) by Farnoosh Samadi

Based on real events, Samadi’s first feature film after 3 increasingly successful short ones, is not an easy work. It’s highly dramatic and is a real punch in the guts; we assist, unable to intervene, to a self-destructive behaviour that appears fool to say the least. However,...

For his second feature, Iranian director Shahram Mokri was inspired by a story which seems more fitting for a gruesome murder movie or slasher horror. In 1998. the owners of a restaurant in northern Iran were arrested after they were caught having served human meat in their dishes to their guests. However, he also aimed to further his skills in film and cinematic form, as well as expand on the themes he had introduced in his first feature, “Ashkan, the Sacred Ring and Other Stories”. One of the most interesting aspects, and ultimately a quite demanding, was to use a single-take approach, changing the perspective from one character to the next and utilizing one location, a small lake and the forest close by. “Fish & Cat” thus would manifest the reputation of Mokri within the festival circle and audiences, winning the Horizons Award at Venice Film Festival 2013.

from Vinegar...

After graduating from Soore University with a Bachelor of Film and Television in Directing, Shahram Mokri set out to find his own voice as a director, but also to further explore the language of various media, in this case movies and theater, and utilize his findings in his various projects. After several short features which can be understood as means to reach aforementioned aims, he directed his first feature “Ashkan, The Charmed Ring And Other Stories”, which started Mokri’s international career and received nominations for the Golden Alhambra at Granada Film Festival Cines del Sur and for the Jury Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2010. Similar to his previous works, “Ashkan” may be seen as an experiment in cinematic storytelling, blending various perspectives and also references to cinema, but also a mirror to a state of confusion which may today be more relevant than ever.

When you see in the description of a film that it is a dystopian, detective/horror story with vampires, presented in a single unedited shot, and from Iran, well, if you are a true film buff, you will feel the urge to watch it. “Invasion” definitely stays true to its description, but the film is even more extreme than that, since Shahram Mokri wrapped it in an art-house package that also defies the “normal” perception of time and space. Let us take things from the beginning though.

from Vinegar Syndrome

Evidently, writing a synopsis about a film like this is not the easiest thing to do. The central point, however, is that a body has been found in a stadium where a sport that is never revealed in the film is taking place. The police has already determined the culprit, and has come to the stadium to...

Movies about historical events or personalities have always been the perfect candidates for prestigious awards along with actors showing their set of skills giving a performance as a person we probably only know from history books. However, a majority of these productions, despite being awarded, are often content with the retelling of a person’s biography or the steps which led to event, without presenting a view or new idea of the event’s broader context or what it means to a contemporary viewer. “Careless Crime”, the new feature by Iranian director Shahram Mokri, which is part of this year’s Orizzonti competition during the Venice Film Festival, is based on the 1978 attack on the Cinema Rex in the city of Abadan which caused the death of 473 people trapped in the burning cinema. However, instead of recounting the chronology of the event, Mokri aims to show the relationship between cinema...

Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby will start shooting next week in Malta on Ridley Scott’s film “Kitbag,” about Napoleon’s rise to power. Polish cinematographer Dariusz Adam Wolski is lensing, according to Film New Europe.

Phoenix, who plays the French emperor, and Kirby, who plays his wife Josephine, arrive in Malta this week, according to Times of Malta, quoting sources in the local film industry. The cast includes Tahar Rahim, Youssef Kerkour, John Hollingworth, Edouard Philipponnat and Alfredo Tavares. David Scarpa penned the script.

The Apple Studios production will use several locations in Malta including Attard, Senglea, Valletta, Mellieħa, Siġġiewi, Mdina, Fort Ricasoli and the Malta Film Studios, according to Times of Malta.

Filming in Malta will wrap in mid-May. Kitbag is also shooting in France and the U.K.

Scott previously used Malta as a location for “White Squall” (1996) and “Gladiator” (2000).

Macedonian Director Agim Abdula in Post With...

The Unknown Man Of Shandigor (1967) Lands On Video-on-demand March 1St From Deaf Crocodile And Grasshopper Films

Long-Unseen 60s Swiss Black & White Cold War Spy Thriller Stars Marie-France Boyer, Ben Carruthers, Jacques Dufilho, Daniel Emilfork, and Famed Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg

Recently restored in 4K from the camera negative by the Cinémathèque suisse with additional digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile, Jean-Louis Roy’s visually stunning The Unknown Man Of Shandigor originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967 and stars legendary French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork. Deaf Crocodile Films and Grasshopper Films will be releasing the long-unseen 60s Cold War super-spy thriller on VOD on March 1st, 2022.

The Unknown Man Of Shandigor is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville, with sly nods to British TV shows like “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who.” The film stars a who’s who of...

. The Surreal Romanian Sci-Fi Animated film Delta Space Mission from Directors Mircea Toia And Călin Cazan is set for February 2022 Release with Ocn Distribution, Digital Releases To Follow With Grasshopper Films. Here’s a New Teaser From The Restoration:

Deaf Crocodile Films is proud to announce the upcoming 4K restoration release of the wildly surreal Romanian animated sci-fi film Delta Space Mission (Misiunea SPAȚIALĂ Delta) from directors Mircea Toia and Călin Cazan. Pre-sales will launch on February 1, 2022, followed by a digital launch several weeks after, released in collaboration with Grasshopper Films.

Delta Space Mission features a new 4K restoration from the original 35mm picture and sound elements by the Arhiva Nationala de Filme – Cinemateca Romana / National Film Archive – Romanian Cinematheque and the Centrul National al Cinematografiei / Romanian Film Centre (Cnc). The Blu-ray edition of Delta Space Mission contains a new interview with co-director Călin Cazan, an essay by acclaimed comic...

Nominations in the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) were revealed today with nods for 38 films from 25 Asia Pacific countries and regions. Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 11, at the 14th Apsa Ceremony on the Australia Gold Coast. Nominations include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, which won the best screenplay award at Cannes, Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Grand Prix winning, film A Hero, and the TIFF Platform award winning film Yuni directed by Kamila Andini.

Apsa celebrates cinema from over 70 countries, with an enhanced focus on content that reflects the region’s diversity.

Below is the full list of nominees.

Best Feature Film

A Hero (Ghahreman)

Directed by Asghar Farhadi

A Night of Knowing Nothing

Directed by Payal Kapadia

Drive My Car

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

The Pencil (Prostoy karandash)

Directed by Natalya Nazarova

There is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

Best Youth Feature...

Winners will be announced on November 11.

Cannes winners Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero lead the nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (Apsa) awards.

Drive My Car is Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 Competition best screenplay winner. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife.

A Hero, which won the grand prix at Cannes, is a French-Iranian co-production which looks at what happens when an unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a social media storm.

Both...

HappeningIn Competition(Jury: Bong Joon-ho, Saverio Costanzo, Virginie Efira, Cynthia Erivo, Sarah Gadon, Alexander Nanau, Chloé Zhao)Golden Lion – Happening (Audrey Diwan) | Read our reviewSilver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) – The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino) | Read our reviewSilver Lion (Best Director) – Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) | Read our reviewCoppa Volpi for Best Actress – Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) | Read our reviewCoppa Volpi for Best Actor – John Arcilla (On The Job: The Missing 8)Best Screenplay – Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)Special Jury Prize – The Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino) | Read our reviewMarcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress – Filippo Scotti (The Hand of God)Orizzonti(Jury: Jasmila Žbanić, Mona Fastvold, Shahram Mokri, Josh Siegel, Nadia Terranova)Orizzonti Award for Best Film – Pilgrims (Laurynas Bareisa)Orizzonti Award for Best Director – Éric Gravel (A Plein Temps)Special Orizzonti Jury Prize – El Gran Movimiento (Kiro Russo) | Read our reviewOrizzonti Award for Best Actress...

Other compeition jurors are Sarah Gadon, Saverio Costanzo and Virginie Efira.

Chloé Zhao, the Golden Lion and Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, will serve on the international competition jury of the 78th Venice International Film Festival (Sept 1-11), which is comprised of four women and three men.

The other jurors are UK actress Cynthia Erivo, an Oscar-nominee for Harriet; Benedetta star Virginie Efira; Canadian actress and producer Sarah Gadon, a regular collaborator with David Cronenberg; Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo, best known for Hungry Hearts and My Brilliant Friend, and Romania’s Alexander Nanau, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Collective.

The jury...

The 78th Venice International Film Festival has set its full roster of juries.

As previously announced, Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon Ho will preside over this year’s Competition jury. Joining the Korean filmmaker are Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo, Belgian-French actress Virginie Efire, British actress Cynthia Erivo, Canadian actress and producer Sarah Gadon, Romanian director Alexander Nanau, and Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao.

Zhao arrives off the back of her success with Nomadland, which premiered at Venice last year, winning the Golden Lion, and went on to triumph at the Oscars, taking home Best Picture and Best Director. She also co-wrote and directed Marvel’s Eternals, which is out later this year.

Costanzo has presented pics in Venice including La solitudine dei numeri primi and Hungry Hearts; the latter won two Coppa Volpi awards for its stars Alba Rohrwacher and Adam Driver. Nanau presented his documentary Collective at Venice in 2019, it went on to be Oscar nominated.

Multiple Oscar-winning Chinese-American director Chloé Zhao, whose “Nomadland” launched from the Venice Film Festival last year, is set to return to the Lido as a member of the upcoming fest’s main jury, which will comprise four women and three men.

As previously announced, “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, another recent multiple Oscar winner, will preside over the jury of the event’s upcoming edition.

They will be serving jury duty on the Lido alongside French actor Virginie Efira, who most recently starred in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta”; the U.K.’s Cynthia Erivo, who plays Aretha Franklin in the third season of National Geographic’s “Genius” series; and Canadian actor and producer Sarah Gadon who made a splash in Venice in 2011 with her role in David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method” and more recently appeared in Xavier Dolan’s “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.”

Italian director...

Award-winning Iranian film has previously sold to France, Italy and Germany.

Shahram Mokri’s Iranian drama Careless Crime has been snapped up by Deaf Crocodile Films for North America, in a deal with French sales outfit Dreamlab Films.

The feature, which premiered in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section in 2020, will receive a theatrical release in North America this autumn before heading to digital platforms.

Dreamlab Films previously closed distribution deals for France (Damned Films), Italy (Pfa Films) and Germany (Trigon).

Careless Crime is inspired by a tragedy in 1978, when four men set fire to a cinema in Iran, killing...

After highlighting the most overlooked films of 2020, today we’re putting a spotlight on the films that need a home to be seen in the first place: the 40 or so films (and honorable mentions) that we loved on the festival circuit that are still seeking U.S. distribution.

Acting also as a 2020 preview, we hope that highlighting these titles spurs some distributor interests and a release in the next twelve months. Featuring favorites from Berlinale, SXSW, Sundance, TIFF, NYFF, Rotterdam, and beyond, make sure to follow us on Twitter to get the latest distribution updates. As we move into 2021, one can also track all of our upcoming festival coverage here.

200 Meters (Ameen Nayfeh)

In a time where the Israeli occupation of Palestine is still causing the deaths of children, the separation of families, and the oppression of Palestinian citizens, a film like 200 Meters becomes even more necessary and relevant.

Since, for the past few years we have intensified our coverage of films that do not belong in the S/Se Asia or the Asean countries, we decided, for the first time, to have a list that deals with movies from outside these regions, essentially including movies from all Asian countries that do not belong in the aforementioned three. The list is probably the most diverse, as it includes films from Israel, Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Palaistine and Kurdistan, although, expectedly, being one of the largest film industries in Asia, Iran has the lion’s share.

Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2020, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2020, we decided to include them.

*By clicking on the title, you can read the full review of the film

20. The Death of Cinema and my Father

“The Death...

Iranian multi-hyphenate Babak Karimi is an actor, film editor, and academic who won the Berlin Silver Bear in 2011 for playing the judge in “A Separation,” one of several films in which he stars directed by his friend Asghar Farhadi.

Karimi also appears in the drama “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” by Massoud Bakhshi, which has circulated widely after winning a prize at Sundance earlier this year, and in Shahram Mokri’s “Careless Crime,” which since launching from Venice has sold to several countries including Germany and Italy. He recently also performed with Sophia Loren in “The Life Ahead,” an experience that Karimi “never imagined fate would have me live,” he says.

Karimi, who has close ties to Italy, is being honored with a lifetime achievement award by Rome’s MedFilm Festival. He spoke exclusively to Variety from Tehran about how Iran’s film community is reacting to Donald Trump’s...

Chicago – The Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) is competitive, and the 56th edition presented its awards on October 23rd, 2020, as a live virtual and online event on the Ciff YouTube page. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best International Film was “Sweat” (France), directed by Magnus von Horn.

The 56th Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates Day Ten of the movie extravaganza, with films available for 2020 virtually and online. Click here for a complete how-to guide on navigating the 2020 Ciff. Go to Page Two for the schedule of October 23rd, 2020.

The awards were presented by the various jury members in each film category, and were hosted by Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, Managing Director Vivian Teng, as well as programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher. The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.

International Feature Film Competition

‘Sweat’

Photo credit: Chicago International Film...

Chicago – The 56th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) is virtual and online Right Now, so go download some movies! This is your last chance for Industry Days (through October 18th), where you can rub virtual elbows with some of the movers and shakers in the film industry here in Chicago.

..and nationally/internationally. All the information to “sit in” on the events is available by clicking here.

The 56th Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates The Weekend. On Saturday, October 17th, the Drive In is showing “Ammonite” (click here). On Sunday, October 18th, the Drive in showing “The Road Up” (click here).

Appearances Of The Day:

Friday, October 16th 7:00pm: “For Madmen Only” … Livestream Q&a with actor James Urbaniak and director Heather Ross. Suggested streaming start time, 5:20pm. 9:00pm: “Finding Yingying” … Livestream Q&a with director Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, producer Brent E. Huffman and cinematographer Shilin Sun.

With each October comes the Chicago International Film Festival, but with 2020 also comes a pandemic. Yes, Ciff is rightfully falling in the same school as several other festivals this year. It’s virtual! Of course, that means I get to sit giddy and bleary-eyed in my apartment for days on end instead of downtown. Insert a joke here about this being the future liberals want. The future is still a thing, right?

But enough of that. This year, the festival’s 56th iteration is keeping the communal experience alive against all odds. By expanding its Special Presentations program into Special Presentations and Drive-Ins, Ciff is showing a handful of their selections at ChiTown Movies at 2343 S. Throop St.

Alas, I don’t have a car. That’s okay, though; my first movie turned out to be quite good. It was Sabine Lubbe Bakker & Niels van Koevorden’s Becoming Mona (Grade:...

Exclusive: Following its premiere in the Horizons strand at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Shahram Mokri’s Careless Crime has sold into Germany, Austria and Switzerland in a deal with Trigon-film. DreamLab Films is handling sales on the picture, which is set to have its North American premiere at the Chicago Film Festival.

Produced by Negar Eskandarfar (A Separation), the Farsi-language feature follows four ordinary people who decide to set fire to a cinema packed with people. It was produced by Negar Eskandarfar of the Karnameh Institute of Arts and Culture.

“Trigon-film had the pleasure to distribute Fish & Cat, this extraordinary movie by Shahram Mokri shot in one shot. There I’ve discovered a filmmaker who really treats film as an art of time to be modelized and who proves that the language of cinema has not at all been fully explored. He does the same in Carless Crime...

“Love Mooning,” a drama by veteran Japanese director Manda Kunitoshi, has been set as the opening film of Tokyo Filmex. The festival announced the line-up for its 21st edition on Thursday.

Filmex, which has long specialized in Asian art films and usually starts in late November, will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 7 this year. It will be operated in partnership with the Tokyo International Film Festival, whose dates are Oct.31-Nov. 9.

“Love Mooning,” charts the troubled romance between the head of a mental health clinic and one of his patients. Manda also chairs the festival’s five-person jury.

The closing film will be Elia Suleiman’s “It Must Be Heaven,” a 2019 Cannes selection about a director, played by Suleiman himself, who finds himself comically trapped in Palestine even when he is in New York and Paris. Suleiman is also the subject of the festival’s Filmmaker in Focus section, which will...

Shahram Mokri was born in 1978 in Kermanshah, Iran. After graduating from Tehran’s Soureh College, he has made eight TV dramas, two TV series and over 20 short features. His second feature “Fish & Cat” won the prestigious Orizzonti Award for innovative content during the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

His fourth feature “Careless Crime” was selected at this year’s Orizzonti competition at Venice Film Festival and based on a tragic incident which happened in Iran in the 1970s.

In an interview with Amp, Shahram Mokri talks about the background of his movie, its narrative style as well as the cast of “Careless Crime”.

“Careless Crime” is based on a specific incident which happened in Iran in the 1970s. Could you explain what happened and why this event is relevant for your film?

This is a story which is very important in my home country, especially for cinema. If you...

Virtual festival to run from October 14-25.

A host of Cannes Label and autumn festival selections populate the competitions line-up at the upcoming virtual edition of the 56th Chicago International Film Festival announced on Monday (September 21).

Venice and Toronto selections in the International Feature Competition include Apples (Greece) from Christos Nikou and Philippe Lacôte’s Ivorian Night Of The Kings, while among the New Directors highlights are João Paulo Miranda Maria’s Memory House from Brazil, and Palestine-set Gaza Mon Amor from Tarzan and Arab Nasser.

True Mothers (Japan) from Naomi Kawase in International Feature Competition and Spring Blossom (France...

Time doesn't just shift in Shahram Mokri's Iranian drama about a fire at a cinema that killed 478, it also folds like origami and pirouettes, the past and present so close as they dance they can feel each other's breath. The fire really happened, 40 years ago, as the shah stood on the brink, a catalogue of errors adding, like tinder, to the tragedy. Now that period flows into the present day as another group of men decide to take on what they view as the decadence of the moving image and a similar set of careless choices prime the scene.

In the threatened cinema of the here and now another film, Careless Crime, is playing, about soldiers stuck in the desert with a flat tyre and an unexploded missile and the way they cross paths with a group of women who are preparing to watch Masud Kimai's The Deer - the same.

Movies about historical events or personalities have always been the perfect candidates for prestigious awards along with actors showing their set of skills giving a performance as a person we probably only know from history books. However, a majority of these productions, despite being awarded, are often content with the retelling of a person’s biography or the steps which led to event, without presenting a view or new idea of the event’s broader context or what it means to a contemporary viewer. “Careless Crime”, the new feature by Iranian director Shahram Mokri, which is part of this year’s Orizzonti competition during the Venice Film Festival, is based on the 1978 attack on the Cinema Rex in the city of Abadan which caused the death of 473 people trapped in the burning cinema. However, instead of recounting the chronology of the event, Mokri aims to show the relationship between cinema...

French distributor Damned Films has closed a deal with sales outfit Dreamlab films for “Invasion,” director Shahram Mokri’s Iranian film “Careless Crime” that will have its world premiere Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section.

Damned will distribute in France, overseas territories administered by France, Monaco and Andorra.

Set 40 years ago, during the uprising to overthrow the Shah’s regime in Iran, the film follows protestors who set fire to movie theaters as a way of showing opposition to Western culture. In one tragic case, a theater was set on fire with 400 people inside, most of whom were burned alive. Forty years hence, in contemporary Iran, four individuals also decide to burn a cinema down. Their intended target is a theater showing a film about an unearthed, unexploded missile.

“We are thrilled to have this deal sealed especially at a time where physically going to a cinema...

Wife of a SpyThe programme for the 2020 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Gia Coppola, Lav Diaz, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Alice Rohrwacher, Gianfranco Rosi, Frederick Wiseman, Chloé Zhao, and more.COMPETITIONIn Between Dying (Hilal Baydarov)Le sorelle Macluso (Emma Dante)The World to Come (Mona Fastvold)Nuevo Orden (Michel Franco)Lovers (Nicole Garcia)Laila in Haifa (Amos Gitai)Dear Comrades (Andrei Konchalovsky)Wife of a Spy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)Sun Children (Majid Majidi)Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó)Miss Marx (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Padrenostro (Claudio Noce)Notturno (Gianfranco Rosi)Never Gonna Snow AgainThe Disciple (Chaitanya Tamhane)And Tomorrow The Entire World (Julia Von Heinz)Quo Vadis, Aida? (Jasmila Zbanic)Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesThe Ties (Daniele Luchetti)Lasciami Andare (Stefano Mordini)Mandibules (Quentin Dupieux)Love After Love (Ann Hui)Assandria (Salvatore Mereu)The Duke (Roger Michell)Night in Paradise (Park Hoon-jung)Mosquito...

The 77th Venice International Film Festival is one of the first “big” Festivals that will open its physical doors after the Covid-19 pandemic. The Festival is organised by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera; it will take place at Venice Lido from 2 – 12 September 2020.

Here are all the Asian Titles on the Programme:

Competition/Venezia 77

“In Between Dying” by Hilal Baydarov

“Laila In Haifa” by Amos Gitai

“Wife of a Spy” by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)

“Sun Children” by Majid Majidi (Iran)

“The Disciple” by Chaitanya Tamhane (India)

“Nomadland” by Chloe Zhao (USA)

Out of Competition (Fiction)

“Love After Love” by Ann Hui (China)

“Night in Paradise” by Park Hoon-Jung (South Korea)

Horizons

“Milestone” by Ivan Ayr (India)

“The Wasteland” by Ahmad Bahrami (Iran)

“Genus Pan” by Lav Diaz (Philippines)

“Careless Crime” by Shahram Mokri (Iran)

“Gaza Mon Amour” by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser (Palestine/Qatar)

“The Best Is Yet to Come...

‘The Furnace.’

Writer-director Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace, an 1890s drama set during the gold rush in Western Australia, will have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the 77th Venice Film Festival.

Produced by Timothy White (I Am Mother) and Tenille Kennedy (H is for Happiness), the film follows Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as a young Afghan cameleer who partners with Mal, a mysterious bushman (David Wenham) on the run with two Crown-marked gold bars.

Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace – the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.

The cast includes Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson (The Luminaries), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Trevor Jamieson (Storm Boy), Mahesh Jadu (The Witcher) and Samson Coulter (Breath).

“I’m thrilled at this opportunity for the...

Hot on the heels of the 2020 New York Film Festival releasing its first selection in Nomadland (taking the Centerpiece slot at the fest), Venice is chiming in as well. Not only are they also going to be showing Chloe Zhao’s movie, but the festival has in fact unveiled its entire lineup for this year. It’s a crop of titles that’s low on flashy name recognition, at least for now, but it’s an international group that should hopefully be cause for some celebration in the cinematic world. These days, that’s hard to come by, to say the least. Read on for the entire list… If there’s something else of note besides Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland at Venice right now, it’s either The Duke from Roger Michell, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, or The World to Come. The former is a crime comedy, while...

This year’s pandemic-altered Venice Film Festival will include a record number of competition films directed by women, festival organizers announced on Tuesday. And two of those are also the only Hollywood studio films to make the competition lineup — Mona Fastvold’s “The World to Come” and Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland.”

In all, eight of the 18 competition features have a female director — an improvement from last year, when just two made the cut.

“Nomadland,” a drama starring Frances McDormand released by Searchlight Pictures, will simultaneously premiere through the Toronto Film Festival as well as through the New York Film Festival and the now-canceled Telluride fest (at a special drive-in screening in Southern California). Sony’s “The World to Come” stars Casey Affleck, Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston.

Also Read: Frances McDormand's 'Nomadland' to Get Joint World Premiere From Venice and Toronto Film Festivals

Other top titles screening out...

With Telluride Film Festival forced to cancel their yearly event, what is now the first of the major fall festivals, Venice, has announced their complete lineup. Along with Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, which was revealed yesterday, the lineup includes more of our most-anticipated films of the year, including Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Wife of a Spy, Gia Coppola’s Mainstream, Abel Ferrara’s Sportin’ Life, Lav Diaz’s Genus Pan, Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come, Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman, Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno, and more.

There were also a few surprises in the lineup. Luca Guadagnino has directed a new documentary titled Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, while Alice Rohrwacher and Jr have teamed for the new short film, Omelia Contadina. Quentin Dupieux’s Mandibules will also premiere out of competition.

In perhaps the best surprise of all, a new, recently uncovered film by Orson Welles,...

While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride, the 2020 Venice Film Festival is moving ahead as planned and will be the world’s first major film festival since Sundance and Berlin at the start of the year. Venice 2020’s main selection will be split into three sections: Venezia 77 (aka the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. The titles selected for the main competition will compete for the Golden Lion, which was awarded last year to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”

As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...

The Venice Film Festival is unveiling the lineup of its 77th edition, which, barring complications, will be the first major international film event to hold a physical edition following the coronavirus crisis.

Previously announced titles include Chloé Zhao’s road drama “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, which will screen at Venice and Toronto simultaneously on Sept. 11, in both cases preceded by virtual introductions.

The out-of-competition opener will be Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s anatomy of a marriage drama “Lacci” (“The Ties”) (pictured) starring Alba Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) and Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Traitor”) as the couple at the film’s center.

The virtual press conference is scheduled to begin at 11am Cet. This post will be updated live as films are revealed.

Venice Film Festival Lineup

In Competition

“In Between Dying,” Hilal Baydarov

“Le Sorelle Macaluso,” Emma Dante (Italy)

“The World to Come,” Mona Fastvold (U.S.)

“Nuevo Orden,” Michel Franco

“Lovers,...

Competition line-up includes films by Chloe Zhao, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Kornel Mandruczo and Andrei Konchalovsky.

The line-up of the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12) has been announced.

Scroll down for the full line-up

The big talking points from this year’s selection include an improved gender split, with eight women selected for the competition section (compared to two last year), and a lack of major US projects. Venice will be one of the first major film festivals to take place as a physical event following the Covid-19 outbreak.

Among the big-name auteurs selected are Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Michel Franco (Nuevo...

The cult film VOD platform Spamflix has launched a new worldwide app, available now for mobile and smart TV compatible. Via the app users can browse, rent and stream from the full catalog, which includes a wide range of feature and short films from around the globe.

Visit spamflix.com/app.do for more information, or available directly on Google Play and the Apple Store.

Spamflix was founded in 2018 by Markus Duffner, a project manager at the Locarno Film Festival and Julia Duarte, former producer of São Paulo International Film Festival. Called ‘Netflix for Cult Film Fans’ by Geek Spin the bulk of Spamflix’s library consists of hard to find and lesser-seen genre titles, many of which garnered acclaim on the festival circuit only to land without significant distribution.

A treasure trove for cult film enthusiasts that has a specialty focus on black comedy and adult animation, the new...

Imagine a platform where viewers watch never before seen cult films which have yet to reach their audience through traditional means of distribution.. Now imagine you can also play thematically tied quizzes, puzzles, and other fun, online challenges. This is the goal of Spamflix, a new VoD platform where genre enthusiasts can become ensorcelled with cinematic oddities from around the world.

Spamflix gives access to bonus content like making of clips and interviews with the directors. In the Games section users win prizes by playing trivia games about the films available in the platform.

Spamflix was released last October out of Lisbon, Portugal, by Italo-German Markus Duffner, a project manager at the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) team and Julia Duarte, ex-producer of São Paulo International Film Festival (Brazil).

After several successful partnerships in the international festival community, including Sitges, Spamflix will be an official partner at the Fall editions of Fantastic Fest and Brooklyn Horror,...

When you see in the description of a film that it is a dystopian, detective/horror story with vampires, presented in a single unedited shot, and from Iran, well, if you are a true film buff, you will feel the urge to watch it. “Invasion” definitely stays true to its description, but the film is even more extreme than that, since Shahram Mokri wrapped it in an art-house package that also defies the “normal” perception of time and space. Let us take things from the beginning though.

“Invasion” is screening at the 27th Art Film Fest Kosice

Evidently, writing a synopsis about a film like this is not the easiest thing to do. The central point, however, is that a body has been found in a stadium where a sport that is never revealed in the film is taking place. The police has already determined the culprit, and has come...

Film Fest Košice loves Asian Movies. They have a whole section dedicated to them, called Eastern Promises, and curated by Kristina Aschenbrennerova (also a contributor of Asian Movie Pulse).

But beside Eastern Promises they also have always a good selection of Asian Titles within the general Programme. Let’s have a look at those titles.

Asian Films in The Programme

International Competition Of Feature Films (Peter Nágel)

(1st-3rd feature films of the director produced after 1 January 2018)

Still Human by Oliver Chan, 2018, Hk

The Day After I`m Gone, by Nimrod Eldar, 2019, Il

A Tale of Three Sisters, by Emin Alper, 2019, Tr-de-nl-gr

A Tale of Three Sisters

International Competition Of Short Films

(Short films (up to 30 minutes) produced after 1 January 201)

Brotherhood by Meryam Joobeur, 2018, CA-tn-qa-se

The Fox by Sadegh Javadi Nikjeh, 2018, Ir

Tungrus by Rishi Chandna, 2018, In

Tungrus

Around The World (Peter Nágel)

Bag of Rice by Kiseye Berendj, 1996, Ir-jp...

The Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama sidebar is now complete, bursting with 47 titles from 40 countries, and mixing documentary and features. Among the new additions today is Idris Elba’s directorial debut Yardie which just premiered at Sundance. Other selections announced include the Pedro Almodovar-produced Franco regime doc The Silence Of Others and Lemonade, produced by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu.

Also on deck are new works from Korea’s Kim Ki-duk, Human, Space, Time And Human; and Ursula Meier’s Shock Waves – Diary Of My Mind.

Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx will open Panorama Special on February 16. The nearly dialogue-free film film tells the story of a female doctor on a sailing holiday gone unexpectedly sour somewhere between Europe and Africa. The main program will open on the evening before with the previously announced River’s Edge from Isao Yukisada.

Below is the full...

The Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam has selected fourteen film projects from countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to receive grants in the categories Hbf Script & Project Development and Hbf Postproduction, totalling € 175,000. The selected films include the latest project by acclaimed Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof

Two film projects from Argentina, produced by Viking Film and Topkapi Films, have been selected for the second round of the Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund (Nff+Hbf) Coproduction Scheme 2015.

Hbf Script & Project Development selection

In its Fall 2015 selection round, the Hbf supported eight projects with a Script and Project Development grant, selected from 259 applications. The selection includes four first or second projects by filmmakers Sorayos Prapapan, Gym Lumbera, Shahram Mokri and Liu Shu, and new projects by four award-winning filmmakers.

"Arnold Is a Model Student," Sorayos Prapapan, Thailand

"Kékszakállú," Gastón Solnicki, Argentina

"Lotus Position," Liu Shu, China

"The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine Volcano and Lake, Her Sea Life and Lost Towns," Gym Lumbera, Philippines

"Over the City," Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan

"Wine Sediment," Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran

"Yellow Apples," Shahram Mokri, Iran

"Antigone," Pedro González-Rubio, Mexico

Hbf Postproduction selection

The Hubert Bals Fund supported six films with a Postproduction grant, selected from 65 applications. Three filmmakers’ first fiction feature films were selected: "Hedi" by Mohamed Ben Attia, "Suspension" by Ala Eddine Slim and Alba by Ana Cristina Barragan. Also awarded with a Hbf Postproduction grant are: "La flor" by Mariano Llinás, "Era o Hotel Cambridge" by Eliane Caffé and "Burning Birds" by former Iffr Tiger Awards nominee Sanjeewa Pushkumara.

"Alba," Ana Cristina Barragan, Ecuador

"Burning Birds," Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, Sri Lanka

"Era o Hotel Cambridge," Eliane Caffé, Brazil

"Hedi," Mohamed Ben Attia, Tunisia

"La flor," Mariano Llinás, Argentina

"Suspension," Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia

Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme 2015 selection

The Netherlands Film Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund have selected two Argentinian film projects in the Fall 2015 round of its joint Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme: "Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat, coproduced by Dutch producer Viking Film and "La cama" by Mónica Lairana, coproduced by Dutch producer Topkapi Films. These two projects will receive a production contribution of €50,000 from the Netherlands Film Fund.

Viking Film will coproduce "Rojo," Benjamin Naishtat’s third feature film. Earlier films of this filmmaker include " Historia del miedo" (Competition Berlinale, 2014) and "El movimiento" (Competition Locarno, Filmmakers of the Present, 2015). "Rojo" is set in Argentina in the 1970s, a country suffering from an unprecedented wave of political violence. In these dark times, an ordinary man sees his chances to hide a very bad deed. The film will be produced by Pucará Cine (Argentina) and coproduced by Ecce Films (France), Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion (Germany) , Desvia (Brazil) and Viking Film (The Netherlands).

Topkapi Films will coproduce Mónica Lairana’s first feature film "La cama." Laraina’s previous short films include "María" (2012), "Rosa" (2010), which both screened at Iffr. La cama tells the story of Jorge (58) and Mabel (56) in the final day of their relationship. We see them eat, make love, cry and laugh, while deconstructing their family home after 30 years of marriage. The film will be produced by Rio Abajo Producciones (Argentina) and coproduced by Gema Films (Argentina), Adriana Yurkovich (Argentina) , Mónica Lairana (Argentina) and Topkapi Films (The Netherlands).

Iran's Farabi Cinema Foundation has shortlisted 10 films that are being considered as potential candidates to represent the Middle Eastern nation in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. A team of experts from the Iranian film industry has been commissioned to review the films and make a final selection in the upcoming days. Iran is one of the last country's to submit a film into the race which this year includes films from 67 countries so far.

Here are the 10 films being considered:

Note that none of this films has secured U.S. distribution, thus rights are available.

"13"

Dir. Hooman Seyedi

Isa: Visual Media Institute

"Crazy Castle"

Dir. Abolhassan Davoodi

Facebook Page

"Fish & Cat"

Dir. Shahram Mokri

Isa: Iranian Independents

"I Am Diego Maradona"

Dir. Bahram Tavakoli

Isa: Iranian Independents

"The Long Goodbye"

Dir. Farzad Motamen

Isa: Farabi Cinema Foundation

"Melbourne"

Dir. Nima Javidi

Isa: Iranian Independents

"Muhammad: The Messenger of God"

Dir. Majid Majidi

PC: Nourtaban Film Indsutry

"Tales"

Dir. Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

Isa: Noori Pictures

"Track 143" 

Dir. Narges Abyar

Isa: Irib Media Trade

"What's the Time in Your World?"

Dir. Safi Yazdanian

Isa: Dreamlab Films

Despite censorship and other restrictions imposed on Iranian filmmakers, which would never allowed a film like Panahi's "Taxi" to become the country's Oscar entry, Iranian cinema is thriving and the films in this list showcase a range of sophisticated stories that have gotten the attention of multiple international festivals. 

Simply based on its scale and the talent involved, the clear favorite would be Majidi's biopic "Muhammad: The Messenger of God." Not only is the director one of the most internationally acclaimed Iranian auteurs of all time, but the film also has 3-time Academy Award-winner  Vittorio Storaro as its Dp. It's also the most expensive Iranian film ever made. However, regardless of these numerous qualities, the committee might choose to look elsewhere to avoid more controversy as the film has been banned in other Muslim countries that reject any visual depiction of the prophet, even if his face never appears in the film.

If Majidi's epic is deemed too much of a liability, there are plenty of other great options among the shortlisted works: Yazdanian's "What's the Time in Your World?" stars two of Iran's most well-known actors,  Leila Hatami ("A Separation") and Ali Mosaffa ("The Past"), and won the Fipresci Prize at last year's Busan International Film Festival; "Tales" won the Best Screenplay award at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and stars "A Separation's" Peyman Moaadi; "Melbourne," which also stars Moaadi, had extensive presence in the festival circuit picking up several awards, and Mokri's "Fish & Cat" screened at AFI Fest and won a Special Prize in Venice back in 2013. 

Iran won its first Academy Award with Asghar Farhadi's masterpiece "A Separation" in 2012. Prior to that deserved win, the country had only been nominated once for Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven."...

Titles include London Stories from Hana Makhmalbaf [pictured].Scroll down for full selection

Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up to include Hana Makhmalbaf’s London Stories and Yu Lik Wai’s A Mean To An End.

In its 18th year, the co-production market will showcase 30 projects from 15 countries including the UK, China, Vietnam and Iraq.

Up to last year, Apm selected a total of 442 projects of which 200 were completed and screened at film festivals around the world.

Organizers noted a rising trend of international co-productions tailored from the pre-production stage, not only between Asian countries but also European and Asian countries.

This year’s line-up also includes up-and-coming directors such as 2014 Cannes Un Certain Regard film Titli director Janu Behl with family comedy Agra, a India-France co-production, and 2014 Rotterdam invitee Siti director Eddie Cahyono with The Wasted Land, a story about an Indonesian peasant who is ready to do anything she can...

Come and Find Me, Unleashed, and Holjoom have made recent film casting, screenwriting, and director news. These films come from movie studios primarily based in the United States. The castings, screenwriters, and directors are subject to change.

Come And Find Me

Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) has signed on to star in Come And Find Me, which Zack Whedon has written and will direct…Come And Find Me, which appeared on the 2012 Black List, follows the character of David (Paul) who must track down his missing girlfriend after he realizes she’s not who she was pretending to be.

Unleashed

Sean Astin, Illeana Douglas, Hana Mae Lee and Josh Brener have joined indie Unleashed, which will be directed by Finn Taylor.

Kate Micucci and Shameless actors Steve Howey and Justin Chatwin are already signed on to star in the film

Micucci will star as Emma, a thirty-something app designer who moves...

The real magic of the I for Iran series in Toronto lies in curation: the talent they have recruited to present and contextualize the various films screened is a testament to their commitment to offering the best possible cinematic experience. More so than not, each film is accompanied by a presenter – a variety of filmmakers, writers and scholars – who offer invaluable insight and context. While this has always been the case, the I for Iran series has been particularly rich.

Presenting the opening screening was Roya Akbari, who participated with Abbas Kiarostami on the film Ten and is a filmmaker in her own right. Her poetic short Only Image Remains was the opening film of the series, and featured her own reminiscence as well as interviews with many top Iranian filmmakers. This set the tone for presenters like Shahram Tabe, Hamid Naficy, Amir Soltani and, perhaps most notably, acclaimed Iranian...