News

Artem Vasilyev, the Russian producer and CEO of Metrafilms and its animation arm Studio Metrafilms, has launched the new label Lazy Sunday, based in Ireland and dedicated to developing and producing both animation and live-action projects for international audiences.

The new outfit will serve as a bridge linking Western Europe with Eastern Europe, Vasilyev hopes, while also connecting with his current base of operations in Moldova.

“I strongly believe that the Eastern European region is extremely rich in world-class talent and exciting stories that are yet to be told,” he said. “Eastern European talent can bring a lot to the international film industry table, and Lazy Sunday is a company that can bridge East and West thanks to our experience, history and where we are today. This is truly an exciting position to be in.”

Lazy Sunday, which will have an office in Dublin, is actually the rebranded Irish arm of Film and Music Entertainment,...

Exclusive: The European Producers Club (Epc) has voiced its support for Ukrainian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, after a Russian court sentenced him in absentia last week to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

The sentence was related to charges of spreading fake news about Russia’s war in Ukraine, after the producer posted on social media against Russian missile attacks on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and andother civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnieper and Zaporozhye in the early days of the 2022 invasion.

Paris-based body Epc – which gathers 160 top independent producers in Europe including Rodnyansky – said its members were “deeply troubled” by the sentence.

“Alexander embodies the very essence of what it means to be an independent producer: a champion of creative diversity and an advocate for art as a platform to explore differing perspectives on society. The harshness of the sentence imposed upon him underscores the importance of his role in this capacity,...

Arthouse distributor, production banner and streamer Mubi has partnered with luxury fashion house Chanel to present a selection of films by winners of the Chanel Next Prize. The biennial award, launched in 2021, honors 10 artists working across art, film, performance and music, with each given €100,000 to help further their practice and realize their most ambitious work.

The newly-announced Next Prize Collection, curated by Mubi, will present seven films from winners of the 2022 and 2024 editions of the prize, with all available to stream on Mubi from Sept. 1.

The films include “Beanpole” by Kantemir Balagov (Next Prize winner in 2024), “Guts and Glitz” by Fox Maxy (2024), “I Am Not a Witch” by Rungano Nyoni (2022), “Here” by Ho Tzu Nyen (2024) “The Human Surge” by Eduardo Williams (2022), “Skate Story: Shortplay Depth I” by Sam Eng (2024) and Cyrus Moussavi’s 15-minute music video to accompany the album “Jazz Codes” by musician Moor Mother (2024).

“The launch of the Next Prize Collection,...

Arrow Films has acquired Kazakh thriller Steppenwolf for the US, UK and Canada from UK-based Blue Finch Films, ahead of its North American premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.

The feature was written and directed by Kazakhstan’s Adilkhan Yerzhanov, whose credits include The Owners and The Gentle Indifference Of The World, which played at Cannes in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

His latest follows a mother, played by Anna Starchenko, who is searching for her missing son in a small town consumed by riots and violence. In an act of desperation, she hires a dubious ex-detective, played by Berik Aitzhanov, who employs...

Alexander Rodnyansky expects Russian authorities to sentence him to up to ten years in prison in his absence over his anti-war stance, but the Ar Content founder says it’s “too late to be scared” as he focuses on bolstering his slate of film and TV series.

Rodnyansky was born in Kyiv but a Moscow resident when, as a vocal critic of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, he was forced to flee in 2022.

Speaking at NATPE Budapest, the producer and former TV exec talked about his anti-war position and his large social media following. “That’s why I am arrested in absentia,” he said. “I’m on trial right now and I am about to get a sentence of from eight-to-ten years of imprisonment. Many of my friends already received these sentences; writers, journalists, some filmmakers.”

Rodnyansky said charges against him and others are designed to shut down anti-war voices inside Russia.

Rai Cinema International Distribution (Rcid) has taken international sales rights for “Of Dogs and Men,” an upcoming drama directed by Dani Rosenberg and produced by Ar Content. Rcid is introducing the film to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival’s market, where Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look image.

Written by Rosenberg, Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir, “Of Dogs and Men” is produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content and Itai Tamir (“Under a Blue Sun”) of Laila Films.

Set and filmed in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the film follows 16-year-old Dar, who is returning to her kibbutz to look for her dog which was lost during the terror spree. She navigates the horrors inflicted upon the place and on the faces of people she meets while encountering the stark reality of the unfolding disaster beyond the fence. Between those...

Kino Lorber is expanding its streaming footprint. The boutique art-house distributor just launched its own SVOD platform, the Kino Film Collection.

The new app is available now as a standalone service on Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku, and it will feature hundreds of movies from Kino Lorber’s film library of more than 4,000 titles. Subscriptions will begin at $5.99 per month.

In November 2023, Kino Lorber launched an Amazon Prime Video channel; you can still access its titles there. But having its own service puts the company in the race alongside other niche streaming options in the space, like the Criterion Channel ($10.99/month) or Mubi ($14.99/month).

As part of the launch, Kino Film Collection curated a selection of titles that showcase auteurs who have played at Cannes; the 2024 film festival is currently ongoing. The collection includes early movies from Yorgos Lanthimos, Jia Zhangke, and Ken Loach, as well as...

Exclusive: Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions is joining Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content to produce Beanpole helmer Kantemir Balagov’s first English-language film Butterfly Jam. Goodfellas is set to launch sales on the project in Cannes next week.

The project, which is financed by Ar Content, is set to go into production later this year with casting still underway. Based on Balagov’s script and set in a tight-knit U.S. community of Circassian immigrants, Butterfly Jam portrays a complicated relationship between a father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess.

Rodnyansky produces with Caucheteux while exec producers are Michael Kupisk for Ar Content, Pauline Lamy for Why Not Productions and Livia Van der Staay from Goodfellas.

Rodnyansky is a two-time Oscar-nominee who has produced projects such as Loveless, Leviathan and Beanpole and his Ar Content banner has a long history with Balagov and Goodfellas,...

Amy Adams has been tapped to star in At the Sea, a new drama from Kornel Mundruczó and Kata Wéber — the director and writer of such acclaimed films as Pieces of a Woman and White God — as well as Hammerstone Studios, Ryder Picture Company and Ar Content.

Set to enter production in Boston in June, the film follows the life of Laura (Adams) after a long rehabilitation, as she returns to her family at their beach holiday home where she has to readjust to the complicated life she left behind. Now she is forced to face the following next chapter of her life without the career that gave her fame, fortune and, most importantly, identity.

Pic will be produced by Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content, Stuart Manashil, Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett for Ryder Picture Company, Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici and Jon Oakes, and Viktória Petrányi and Mundruczó. Exec producers are Paul J. Diaz, Maria Breese of 3:33 Creative, Lee Broda of Lb Entertainment, Jeff Rice of Jeff Rice Films, and Michael Kupisk. Zsofi Oblath and Rachel Rubin will co-produce.

Ar Content, Paul J. Diaz, and Hammerstone Studios will finance the film, with WME Independent to rep domestic rights, Capstone Pictures handling international, and Sacker Law to oversee production legal.

A six-time Academy Award nominee, Adams most recently wrapped production on 3000 Pictures’ Klara and the Sun, the next film from Oscar winner Taika Waititi, which adapts the dystopian sci-fi story from Kazuo Ishiguro. Up next, she’ll be seen starring in Searchlight Pictures’ Nightbitch from filmmaker Marielle Heller, a dark comedy she also produced through her production company Bond Group Entertainment that hits theaters December 6.

A married director-writer pair out of Hungary, Mundruczó and Wéber are perhaps best known for their 2020 pregnancy drama Pieces of a Woman, which premiered in Venice and brought star Vanessa Kirby her first Oscar nomination following its release on Netflix. Prior to that, the duo collaborated on White God, which won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes in 2014; Jupiter’s Moon, which was nominated for the Palme d’Or; and Evolution, which also played the French festival. Separately, Mundruczó directed the pilot of the Apple TV+ limited series, The Crowded Room, starring Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried.

Most recently, Hammerstone produced the action thriller Boy Kills World starring Bill Skarsgård, which will release wide on April 26, and the horror-thriller Don’t Move, starring Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock, for Netflix.

Ryder Picture Company has produced acclaimed titles like Dumb Money and Bruiser.

Ar Content is known for Cannes prize winners like 2019’s Beanpole, from filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, and 2021’s Unclenching the Fists from Kira Kovalenko.

Adams is represented by WME, Linden Entertainment, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Mundruczó and Wéber are repped by United Agents and Novo.

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.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson)

A film that feels uprooted from deep beneath the earth, Raven Jackson’s poetic, patient debut is a distillation of cinema to its purest form, a stunning patchwork of experience and memory. Tethered around the life of Mack, a Black woman from Mississippi, as we witness glimpses of her childhood, teenage years, and beyond, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt becomes a sensory experience unlike anything else this year. Shot in beautiful 35mm by Jomo Fray and edited by Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s collaborator Lee Chatametikool, there’s a reverence for nature and joy for human connection that seems all too rarified in today’s landscape of American filmmaking. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: VOD...

A quietly phenomenal performance by Milana Aguzarova as a young woman trying to break free from the unsettling relationships within her stifling family

Like her partner Kantemir Balagov’s 2019 film Beanpole, there’s an uncanny claustrophobic charge to Kira Kovalenko’s family drama, though it finally exhales an equally powerful sigh of self-redemption. Milana Aguzarova stars as Ada, a young woman in a North Ossetian mining town trapped by her ailing and possessive father Zaur (Alik Karaev). He guards the only front door key, letting her and her siblings out when he chooses, and refuses to let her have an operation to correct injuries sustained during a school hostage-taking that mean she has to wear an incontinence nappy.

Ada’s brother Akim (Soslan Khugaev) comes home from the city of Rostov and seems to have the self-possession and moral compass Zaur does not. He promises to get her the treatment...

Alexander Rodnyansky, the producer of Oscar nominated films “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has boarded the next project from Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (pictured), whose film “Goliath” has its world premiere at Venice Film Festival on Thursday in the Horizons Extra section.

The new project, “Nosorog,” tells a contemporary story of Tamara, a distraught woman on a desperate search for her missing son in a small town consumed by violent riots. To help get her son back, she hires a shady detective, Brayuk, with unexpected consequences.

Rodnyansky joins producers Aliya Mendygozhina and Olga Khlasheva on the project, which is a co-production between the State Center of Support of the National Cinema of Kazakhstan and Kazakh film company Golden Man Media.

Rodnyansky said: “My strategy has always been to work with the best directors from any country and I am very excited to be a part of a new film of Adilkhan Yerzhanov,...

Click here to read the full article.

Russian filmmakers had been doing their best to build up new international cultural relations and embed our country into a global art world. Vladimir Putin has unearthed the hatchet and buried all these efforts by our national talents.

On Feb. 24, President Putin declared war on Ukraine in all but name. But war has been waged inside Russia for years. Culture — cinema to be exact — has become a battlefield. We now have to stand up for the right to talk about issues we have been discussing for decades.

The so-called “gay propaganda” law, the infamous anti-gay legislation, has prevented LGBTQ filmmakers like me from representing my community without demeaning euphemisms. It was impossible, for example, in my country to shoot and release a series about a 15-year-old transgender girl. I’ve seen such stories seep into pitching sessions, only to be killed before getting the green light.

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.

Beanpole (Kantemir Balagov)

The horrors of war are often told through male-centric narratives. Heroes who go through hell on the battlefield, brothers who sacrifice everything for each other, soldiers who return home scarred for life etc., all of which we’ve seen put on the big screen time and again. But wars are of course collective nightmares, tears in the fabric of history that leave no one–men, women, children–unscathed. This is the premise of Russian writer–director Kantemir Balagov’s second feature Beanpole, a radical relationship drama that examines the trauma of war from a distinctly female perspective. – Zhuo-Ning Su (full review)

Where to Stream: Ovid.tv

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Junta Yamaguchi)

The logistics behind Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes...

Two-time Academy Award-nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky is developing a new series that charts the rise of Vladimir Putin in what the producer describes as “the actual, horrifying story of how the man who changed the world got the power to do so.”

Produced by Rodnyansky’s L.A.-based production shingle Ar Content, “All the Kremlin’s Men” is based on the bestseller by acclaimed reporter Mikhail Zygar, the former editor-in-chief of Russian independent station TV Rain, which was banned and disbanded in the first week of the war in Ukraine. The book is based on an extraordinary series of interviews with Putin’s inner circle.

The series will tell the story of how an unassuming ex-Kgb officer became one of the most feared politicians in the world, drawing back the curtain on what goes on behind the Kremlin’s walls and revealing how Putin and his inner circle operate.

The Russian theatre and film director was first spotted in Paris.

Russian film and theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov has left Russia following the lifting of a travel ban and suspended prison sentence linked to a contested embezzlement case.

News of his departure from Russia emerged on social networks on Tuesday evening (March 29) after Joël Chapron, who oversees Central and Eastern Europe for promotional body Unifrance, posted a picture on his Facebook account of Serebrennikov in Paris, with its historic Place de la Bastille in the background.

The move was confirmed by Ilya Stewart, Serebrennikov’s long-time film producer, of Moscow-based film company Hype.

Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content is developing a slate of new series as the two-time Oscar-nominated producer continues his push into high-end episodic content.

Rodnyansky revealed details of two new projects to Variety during the Berlinale Series Market, just days after Fox Entertainment acquired U.S. rights to Ar Content’s upcoming epic action show “Khan: The Series,” as Variety previously reported.

“The Doghead” is a series loosely based on the book of the same name by best-selling author Alexey Ivanov, whose previous works adapted for the big screen include Cannes Un Certain Regard prize winner “Tsar.”

The series follows Kirill, a homebody historian who prefers stability to change or adventure, but who travels to a remote village to look for his lost girlfriend. Her disappearance is just the first in a chain of mysterious events that started in the 17th century around an enigmatic fresco of an ancient spirit known as the Doghead.

Russian director Alexander Zolotukhin has sky-high ambitions for “Brother in Every Inch,” which has its world premiere Feb. 13 in the Berlin Film Festival’s competitive Encounters section.

Zolotukhin’s sophomore feature is the story of twin brothers whose inseparable bond complicates their efforts to fulfill their shared dream of becoming air force pilots. The film is produced by Andrey Sigle and Mary Nazari for Proline Film. Paris-based Loco Films is repping the pic internationally.

The son of an air force pilot, Zolotukhin was granted rare access to a Russian military base to shoot “Brother in Every Inch,” filming real-life fighter planes and casting pilots and cadets as extras to bring a documentary-style verité to his film.

Pic was lensed by veteran Russian cinematographer Andrey Naydenov, who worked as Dp on Andrei Konchalovsky’s Venice prize-winner “Dear Comrades!” Naydenov collaborated with military engineers to construct special camera cases that would allow...

Loco Films has taken world sales rights on Alexander Zolotukhin’s “Brother in Every Inch” ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s competitive Encounters section. The Paris-based sales agent has also acquired “The Land of Sasha,” the feature debut of Julia Trofimova, which plays in the festival’s Generation 14plus strand.

Zolotukhin’s sophomore feature is the story of twin brothers whose inseparable bond complicates their efforts to fulfill their shared dream of becoming military pilots. The film is produced by Andrey Sigle and Mary Nazari for Proline Film.

The son of a pilot, Zolotukhin was granted rare access to a working military base to shoot “Brother in Every Inch.” Acclaimed cinematographer Andrey Naydenov (“Dear Comrades!”) worked with military engineers to construct special camera cases that would allow him to capture high-octane flight scenes.

“I wanted to show the process of being a pilot as realistically as possible,...

Every year, former President Barack Obama reminds us just how good we had it by flexing his impeccable taste in film and TV. As December gets halfway through, it’s that time of year again for Obama to name his favorite films of 2021.

“Over the next few days, I’ll share my annual list of favorite books, music, and movies. Art always sustains and nourishes the soul. But for me, music and storytelling felt especially urgent during this pandemic year,” Obama wrote on Twitter before beginning the rollout of the best art he consumed in the past year. His list of top films includes critics’ favorite “Drive My Car” (which is Japan’s entry for the International Feature Oscar), Questlove’s Oscar-hopeful documentary “Summer of Soul,” “West Side Story,” and “The Power of the Dog.”

Obama also made room for films including “Pig,” “Passing,” “The Card Counter,” Oscar winner “Judas and the Black Messiah,...

A small movement of young filmmakers in Russia’s remote, politically fraught North Caucasus Mountains is starting to make a big noise, first at the Cannes Film Festival and now in the Oscar’s best international feature race.

Remarkably, filmmakers Kantemir Balagov (with 2019’s Beanpole) and Kira Kovalenko (with her new drama, Unclenching the Fists) — both of whom studied with the great Russian director Alexander Sokurov in a North Caucasus filmmaking workshop — have won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard grand prize in consecutive editions. Now, Kovalenko’s movie is Russia’s official Oscar submission, the country’s striking acknowledgment of an artist who may be ...

A small movement of young filmmakers in Russia’s remote, politically fraught North Caucasus Mountains is starting to make a big noise, first at the Cannes film festival and now in the Oscar’s Best International Film race. Remarkably, filmmakers Kantemir Balagov (with 2019’s Beanpole) and Kira Kovalenko (with her new drama, Unclenching the Fists)—both of whom studied with the great Russian director Alexandr Sokurov in a North Caucasus filmmaking workshop—have won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard grand prize in consecutive editions. Now, Kovalenko’s movie is Russia’s official Oscar submission, the country’s striking acknowledgment of an artist who may be working on the geographic ...

Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky brings a basket brimming with projects to this year’s AFM as he looks forward to easier international conditions as the Covid pandemic begins to recede.

Deals with two of Russia’s biggest platforms — Kinopoisk HD on local search engine giant Yandex, and Okko, part of leading bank Sber (which has a client base that numbers 90 million) — as well as a strategic partnership and first-look deal with Apple to produce Russian-language and multilingual international shows for Apple Plus TV allows the two-time Oscar nominee a breadth of material with which to work.

Top projects include “Red Rainbow,” the winner of this year’s co-production pitching competition at Series Mania. “Rainbow” is based on a true story set in 1979 about three young gay activists from West Berlin who are invited to Moscow on an official visit, not realizing that homosexuality is a crime in the Soviet Union.

Unclenching the Fists, the drama directed by Kira Kovalenko that won the grand prize this year in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard sidebar, has been selected to represent Russia in the Best International Feature Film category at the 94th Oscars. The news was announced Monday by the Russian Oscar Committee.

Produced by Ukranian-Russian super-producer Alexander Rodnyansky with Sergey Melkumov, the pic (titled Razzhimaya Kulaki in Russian) is set in a former mining town in the industrial section of North Ossetia and follows a young woman named Ada (Milana Aguzarova) who struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she loves as much as she rejects.

Mubi has North American, UK and Ireland, Latin America and India rights to the the film, which will make its Los Angeles premiere next month at AFI Fest.

This year’s Un Certain Regard sidebar has spawned at least four submissions...

There are clenched fists aplenty in Unclenching the Fists. Stuck in a former mining town high in the mountains of North Ossetia, its characters are as weighed down with misfortune as they are with strained mitts. There are the protagonist Ada’s, racked with frustration; her brother Akim’s, all white-knuckled and ready for swinging; but most obviously there are their father Zaur’s, strict as iron and with a rigor-mortis grip. The film is the second feature from Kira Kovalenko, a filmmaker from Nalchik, in the foothills of the Caucuses—a locale just next Ada’s, and that sense of place is apparent. The film, a bleak and provocative work with few (if any) soft edges, premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regarde sidebar earlier this summer, where it was awarded the Grand Prix by a jury led by Andrea Arnold—another filmmaker synonymous with tales of young women and isolated places,...

Savvy viewers of bleak Eastern European festival fare will get a sense early on in “Unclenching the Fists” why “Beanpole” director Kantemir Balagov championed this Russian slice of neorealism. Indeed, Kira Kovalenko’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning sophomore feature trades in that same kind of brutal austerity, as if the movie was conceived and shot from inside the bowels of a landfill. But at the same time, .

That young woman is Ada, living in a withering industrial town in the agriculturally anemic North Ossetia region of Russia with her father and two brothers. From the outset, her relationship with her father, Zaur (Alik Karaev), is established as one of parasitic codependence — he doesn’t like the perfume she’s wearing, or for her hair to be too long, or for her to be too far out of sight. She, meanwhile, abides his curfews and gets into a nervous state whenever...

Rising Russian director Vladimir Bitokov’s sophomore effort, “Mama, I’m Home,” bows this week in the Horizons sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Following on the heels of his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” it’s produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov. Wild Bunch Intl. is handling world sales.

“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver (Kseniya Rappoport) living on the outskirts of a provincial Russian town, where she awaits the return of her only son, who’s fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When she’s told that he’s been killed in action, she refuses to believe it and begins a grueling public battle to fight for his return. But when all efforts to silence her prove fruitless, a mysterious young man (Yuri Borisov) arrives on her doorstep.

Bitokov told Variety that he was already developing...

Wild Bunch International has acquired world sales rights to Vladimir Bitokov’s “Mama, I’m Home,” which will have its world premiere next month in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival, Variety can reveal.

Bitokov’s second feature, which follows his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” is a Non-Stop Production and Ar Content film produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov. It was written by Maria Izyumova and stars Kseniya Rappoport, Yura Borisov, Ekaterina Shumakova, Alexander Gorchilin, Natalia Pavlenkova, Darren Kushkhov, Mazhit Zhanguzarov and Valeriy Balkizov.

“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver, Tonya, who lives in a village on the outskirts of Nalchik, a modest city in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Together with her daughter, Tonya eagerly awaits the return of her only son, who is fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When Tonya is told...

Mubi, the London-based streamer and theatrical distributor that’s been on a buying spree this week in Cannes, has acquired the rights for North America, U.K., and a host of other territories for Kira Kovalenko’s “Unclenching the Fists,” which took home the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, Variety can reveal.

Set in a former mining town in Russia’s North Ossetia region, “Unclenching the Fists” is the story of a young woman, played by Milana Aguzarova, who struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she both loves and rejects. The film is produced by two-time Oscar nominee Alexander Rodnyansky.

The deal includes all rights for North America, U.K., Ireland, Latin America and India. Wild Bunch International, which is handling the film’s world sales, has also closed deals for France (Arp), Benelux (September Film), Greece (Cinobo), Italy (Movies...

When she was growing up in Nalchik, the capital of Russia’s remote Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Kira Kovalenko wasn’t particularly interested in cinema. She can cite few films that inspired her as a girl. “In all honesty, I never wanted to be a director,” she tells Variety.

The 31-year-old filmmaker has traveled a long way since, as she prepares to bow her second feature, “Unclenching the Fists,” in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. Produced by two-time Oscar nominee Alexander Rodnyansky, her sophomore effort marks her as a rising talent in a country with a venerable tradition of arthouse auteurs.

Sitting in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Nalchik is far from Russia’s cultural lode stars in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It’s a city that likely would never have produced a single filmmaker to walk the red carpet in Cannes — let alone two — were it not for Alexander Sokurov,...

He is also working again with Kantemir Balagov and with US documentarian and visual artist Godfrey Reggio.

Leading Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky has unveiled a new internationally-focused slate.

It is headlined by the English-language debut of Andrey Zvyagintsev, the next film from filmmaker Kantemir Balagov following their collaboration on 2019’s Beanpole and a documentary by US filmmaker and visual artist Godfrey Reggio that is being co-produced by Steven Soderbergh.

Zvyagintsev’s What Happens is written by Oleg Negin and will shoot in the US. No further details are yet known. Rodnyansky and Zvyagintsev prevously collaborated on the Oscar-winning Leviathan and the Oscar- nominated Loveless.

He is also working again with Kantemir Balagov and with US documentarian and visual artist Godfrey Reggio.

Leading Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky has unveiled a new internationally-focused slate.

It is headlined by the English-language debut of Andrey Zvyagintsev, the next film from filmmaker Kantemir Balagov following their collaboration on 2019’s Beanpole and a documentary by US filmmaker and visual artist Godfrey Reggio that is being co-produced by Steven Soderbergh.

Zvyagintsev’s What Happens is written by Oleg Negin and will shoot in the US. No further details are yet known. Rodnyansky and Zvyagintsev prevously collaborated on the Oscar-winning Leviathan and the Oscar- nominated Loveless.

Top Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, who was Oscar nominated for Andrey Zvyagintsev’s films “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” is reteaming with Zvyagintsev for his first English-language film, and with Kantemir Balagov, who directed “Beanpole,” best director winner in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2019. Rodnyansky will also co-produce a documentary by Godfrey Reggio alongside Steven Soderbergh.

Rodnyansky has two films in Cannes Festival this year: Oscar nominated Ari Folman’s Out of Competition title “Where Is Anne Frank,” and Kira Kovalenko’s Un Certain Regard selected “Unclenching the Fists.”

Zvyagintsev’s “What Happens,” which will be shot in the U.S., is written by Oleg Negin. It is a contemplation on the nature of human relationships, the state of modern man, and the fragility of human life. Rodnyansky and Zvyagintsev collaborated on “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” both of which were nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

“After Andrey finished working on ‘Loveless,...

Alexander Rodnyansky has spent his career being prolific on the international scene and Cannes 2021 is no different, with the producer in town touting three buzzy upcoming projects, alongside attending the premieres of two of his latest pictures: Ari Folman’s Where is Anne Frank and Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching the Fists.

Rodnyansky’s slate includes What Happens, which will mark the English-language debut of the twice-Oscar-nominated director of Loveless and Leviathan Andrey Zvyagintsev. Pic is the director’s contemplation on the nature of human relationships, the state of modern man, and the fragility of human life, the team said.

“After Andrey finished working on Loveless, which I always thought was the final film of our Russian trilogy, we took a break. Only last year we have been discussing our potential future plans and finally decided that our next film would be in English. It has always been my belief that Andrey’s work,...

Alexander Rodnyansky, the Russian producer whose films — including Leviathan and Beanpole – have landed four Oscar nominations, has unveiled a new slate of features set for production in 2021 and 2022.

Announced in Cannes, where Rodnyansky’s films Where Is Anne Frank from Ari Folman and Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching the Fists are getting their world premieres, the three-film strong slate includes the next movie from Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole), the first English-language film from Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless), and a documentary by Godfrey Reggio, which Rodnyansky will co-produce alongside Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh.

Balagov — who won the Cannes International Critics Prize with Closeness and the Un Certain Regard ...

Alexander Rodnyansky, the Russian producer whose films — including Leviathan and Beanpole – have landed four Oscar nominations, has unveiled a new slate of features set for production in 2021 and 2022.

Announced in Cannes, where Rodnyansky’s films Where Is Anne Frank from Ari Folman and Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching the Fists are getting their world premieres, the three-film strong slate includes the next movie from Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole), the first English-language film from Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless), and a documentary by Godfrey Reggio, which Rodnyansky will co-produce alongside Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh.

Balagov — who won the Cannes International Critics Prize with Closeness and the Un Certain Regard ...

Oscar nominee Jasmila Žbanić and Ali Abbasi (Border) have been added as directors on The Last of Us, HBO’s high-profile series adaptation of the Sony Playstation franchise from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Kantemir Balagov is directing the pilot episode of The Last Of Us, a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog produce the TV series, based on...

“Terminator: Dark Fate” actor Gabriel Luna has joined the cast of HBO’s “The Last of Us” series adaptation, joining previously announced stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

Based on the hit PlayStation game developed by Naughty Dog, the series takes place 20 years after a fungal plague has destroyed civilization. Pascal stars as Joel, a hardened survivor hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl with an apparent immunity to the plague, away from an oppressive quarantine zone and into the care of scientists supposedly on the verge of a breakthrough.

Luna will play Tommy, Joel’s younger brother, a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world.

“The Last of Us” will be written by “Chernobyl” writer Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, who broke out at Cannes with 2019’s “Beanpole,” will direct the pilot.

Beanpole (Dylda) Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Kantemir Balagov Writer: Kantemir Balagov, Aleksadr Terekhov, inspired by Svetlana Alexievich’s book “The Unwomanly Face of War” Cast: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov, Igor Shirokov, Konstantin Balakirev Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 11/27/20 Opens: January 29, 2020 […]

The post Beanpole Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

“The Mandalorian” lead Pedro Pascal has joined “The Last of Us,” HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the popular PlayStation video game, and will co-star as Joel. Pascal joins “Game of Thrones” breakout actress Bella Ramsey who will co-star as Joel’s adoptive daughter Ellie.

“The Last of Us” will be written by “Chernobyl” writer Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, who broke out at Cannes with 2019’s “Beanpole,” will direct the pilot.

Set 20 years after a fungal plague has destroyed civilization, “The Last of Us” follows Joel, a hardened survivor hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl with an apparent immunity to the plague, away from an oppressive quarantine zone and into the care of scientists supposedly on the verge of a breakthrough. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking cross-country journey, as they grow to depend on each other for survival.

HBO has found one of its leads for the upcoming The Last Of Us series. Deadline confirmed that Game of Thrones breakout star Bella Ramsey, known for appearing as the pugnacious but brave Lyanna Mormont, will play Ellie.

Though HBO has yet to announce who will appear as Ellie’s companion Joel, the series based off Neil Druckmann’s 2013 video game is getting into shape. In January the premiere cable network announced that Beanpole helmer Kantemir Balagov will direct the pilot. Druckmann will team with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin to pen the television adaptation.

The Last Of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a sickness that renders victims dangerous, blood-thirsty mutants. Hardened survivor Joel is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, breathtaking journey as unlikely duo depends on each other for survival.

Pedro Pascal is joining his former Game of Thrones co-star Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us, HBO’s adaptation of the hit video game, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Craig Mazin, who created HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, is penning the script and executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, the Cannes darling behind 2019 drama Beanpole, has been tapped to direct the pilot.

Last of Us, from Sony and game developer Naughty Dog, took the world by storm when it was released in 2013, winning numerous “game of the year” awards and going on ...

Pedro Pascal is joining his former Game of Thrones co-star Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us, HBO’s adaptation of the hit video game, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Craig Mazin, who created HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, is penning the script and executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, the Cannes darling behind 2019 drama Beanpole, has been tapped to direct the pilot.

Last of Us, from Sony and game developer Naughty Dog, took the world by storm when it was released in 2013, winning numerous “game of the year” awards and going on ...

“The Last of Us,” HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the popular PlayStation video game, has landed “Game of Thrones” fan favorite Bella Ramsey in a lead role, according to an individual with knowledge of the project. Ramsey will play Ellie, a 14-year old orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet, struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world.

“The Last of Us” will be written by “Chernobyl” writer Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, who broke out at Cannes with 2019’s “Beanpole” will direct the pilot.

Mazin and Druckmann will write and executive produce the project with Carolyn Strauss and Evan Wells, the president of “The Last of Us” developer Naughty Dog. The project is a...

Bella Ramsey, perhaps best known for her breakout role as the fierce Lyanna Mormont in HBO’s Game of Thrones, is reuniting with the cabler to star in The Last of Us, the company’s adaptation of the hit video game.

Craig Mazin, who created HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, is penning the script and executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, the Cannes darling behind 2019 drama Beanpole, has been tapped to direct the pilot.

One person not involved with the show is former True Detective star Mahershala Ali, whom geek websites on Wednesday had pegged as having an ...

Bella Ramsey, perhaps best known for her breakout role as the fierce Lyanna Mormont in HBO’s Game of Thrones, is reuniting with the cabler to star in The Last of Us, the company’s adaptation of the hit video game.

Craig Mazin, who created HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, is penning the script and executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, the Cannes darling behind 2019 drama Beanpole, has been tapped to direct the pilot.

One person not involved with the show is former True Detective star Mahershala Ali, whom geek websites on Wednesday had pegged as having an ...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: A screening of Abel Gance's Napoléon at the Paramount Theatre Oakland in 2012. (Photo by San Francisco Silent Film Festival.)In partnership with the Cinémathèque Française and the French National Film Board, Netflix will be financing a new restoration of Abel Gance's 1927 silent epic Napoléon ahead of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death this summer. The film has been restored many times before, but this restoration aims to bring to life Gance's 7-hour "Apollo cut," named after the Apollo Theatre where the film screened in 1927. Beanpole filmmaker Kantemir Balagov has found his next project: An HBO series adaptation of the hit zombie video game series, The Last of Us. Bong Joon-ho will head the main jury of this year's Venice Film Festival, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked...

Much is still unknown about HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the popular video game “The Last of Us,” including who is set to star and when it will actually be arriving on the network, but steady progress is being made toward answering those questions. The latest piece to fall into place is setting a director for the much-anticipated pilot.

Kantemir Balagov, helmer of last year’s historical drama “Beanpole,” has been tapped to direct the series. He’ll join screenwriter Craig Mazin, of “Chernobyl” fame, and executive producer Neil Druckmann.

The series will be a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and game developer Naughty Dog. Carolyn Strauss, Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells, and Playstation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan will also serve as executive producers.

The show’s plot looks to mimic that of the original video game. Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed,...

The upcoming HBO series adaptation of “The Last of Us” just got a whole lot bleaker. “Beanpole” director Kantemir Balagov has reportedly been tapped to direct the pilot for the upcoming adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptical adventure game.

Read More: Sony Pictures CEO Teases A Wave of New PlayStation Film & TV Projects Beyond ‘Uncharted’ & ‘The Last of Us’

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on “The Last of Us,” reporting that the Russian filmmaker behind the award-winning Cannes darling, “Beanpole,” will be replacing “Chernobyl” director, Johan Renck, who had to drop out of the show due to scheduling conflicts.

Continue reading ‘The Last Of Us’: HBO Taps ‘Beanpole’ Filmmaker To Direct TV Adaptation Pilot at The Playlist.

HBO has tapped Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov to direct the pilot episode of HBO’s upcoming drama series The Last of Us, the adaptation of the PlayStation video game, from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, game creator Neil Druckmann and Game of Thrones exec producer Carolyn Strauss.

Written by Druckmann and Mazin based on the acclaimed video game, the story takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, the Mighty Mint and Naughty Dog produce.

2020-21 HBO Pilots & Series Orders

Druckmann and Mazin executive produce alongside Strauss, Naughty Dog’s...