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I got into Star Wars when I was 13 and quickly discovered that no matter how many times I watched the war against the Empire, the best way to continue enjoying the franchise was to pick up a book. And I did, getting my hands on the original Thrawn trilogy and buying the third book in The Jedi Academy trilogy while waiting for a relative's flight to get in. The prequels didn't come out until weeks before my high school graduation. The book have always been a big part of my fandom.

In the spirit of October being Star Wars Reads month, here are my picks of where to start your Star Wars Book journey!

The Heir to the Empire Trilogy

Do you like The Empire Strikes Back for its battle scenes and asteroid field chases and get a lot of enjoyment from the chaos at Endor? When not watching Star Wars,...

Seit Ende September standen Eröffnungs- und Abschlussfilm der diesjährigen Viennale fest. Jetzt wurde das komplette Programm präsentiert.

Viennale-Direktorin Eva Sangiorgi (Credit: Alexi Pelekanos)

Nachdem Viennale-Direktorin Eva Sangiorigi Ende August die ersten Programmpunkte für die von 17. bis 29. Oktober stattfindende Festivalausgabe präsentiert hatte und seit Ende September mit Leos Carax‘ „C’est pas moi“ und Mati Diops „Dahomey“ Eröffnungs- und Abschlussfilm feststehen, hat Sangiorgi jetzt zusammen mit Florian Widegger (Leitung Programm Metro Kinokulturhaus) und Michael Loebenstein (Direktor des Österreichischen Filmmuseums) das komplette Programm der Viennale präsentiert.

Neben den bereits bekannt gegebenen Titeln wie Sean Bakers Cannes-Gewinner „Anora“, Jacques Audiards ebenfalls in Cannes ausgezeichneter „Emilia Pérez“, „Peacock“ von Bernhard Wenger, „Henry Fonda For President“ von Alexander Horwarth, „The Village Next to Paradise“ von Mo Harawe,, „Zwischen uns Gott“ von Rebecca Hirneise, „Bluish“ von Lilith Kraxner und Milena Czernovsky, „Dear Beautiful Beloved“ von Juri Rechinsky, „Dreaming Dogs“ von Elsa Kremser und Levin Peter...

The American French Film Festival unveiled the full-line up of its upcoming edition at a press conference at the Résidence de France in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, as the event returns after a one-year hiatus due to the Hollywood strikes.

The 28th edition, running October 29 to November 3 in the Director’s Guild of America Theatre Complex, will showcase 60 films and series, with 14 shorts, 14 Series and TV movies, and 32 feature films and documentaries, many of which are International, North American and U.S. premiere presentations.

As previously announced the event will be book-ended by Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez as the opening film and The Count of Monte Cristo, which will close the event.

The American French Film Festival was created and is produced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration between the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers...

German producer Dorothe Beinemeier of Red Balloon Film has won the €25,000 Hamburg production award for international cinema co-productions at the 10th anniversary of the Hamburg Production Awards on September 30.

Beinemeier co-produced Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays, about which the jury said: “It approaches all its characters with great empathy and grants us insights into a world where everyone is trapped.” The jury was comprised of

Happy Holidays won the prize for best screenplay at Venice’s Horizons section last month; Beinemeier’s further co-producer credits include Bruno Dumont’s The Empire and Ameer Fakher Eldin’s Yunan.

Furthermore,...

Star Wars is known for its sequels, even in its video game sector. It's even better known for its trilogies, so it makes sense that the third Star Wars: Jedi game will be the last.

The untitled game, which also does not yet have a release date, will round out the game series as a trilogy. According to Gizmodo, EA Entertainment and Technology president Laura Miele stated recently that the end is coming -- but it's the conclusion to a highly successful run.

"We have delivered some of the highest quality and best-selling Star Wars games of all time," Miele said. "Respawn is working hard to bring the final chapter of this thrilling story to players.”

The second and most recent game in the series, Jedi: Survivor, ended in a way that could have been considered a satisfying end to the story. Cal Kestis and crew (what remained of them) were back together,...

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures is an animated series suitable for very young audiences. You may have seen Yoda’s delightful green smirk on posters or in other advertisements, however he is actually not one of the main characters in the television series that airs on both Disney Jr. and Disney Plus. Younglings Kai, Lys, and Nubs are the primary protagonists.

The showrunner wisely took advantage of Yoda’s “star power”, which, in terms of drawing in viewers, is certainly an important factor with the success of the pre-schooler appropriate Disney/Lucasfilm collaboration. There was a similar design when Star Wars: The Clone Wars was produced 20 years ago (although other famous Jedi are also in that series), while Yoda’s ratio of actual appearances throughout the Clone Wars seasons are comparable to Young Jedi Adventures.

Just like his absence for large chunks of The Clone Wars chronicles, the Master Jedi...

The 2024 Busan International Film Festival is kicking off on Oct. 2 with the international premiere of Uprising, director Kim Sang-man’s historical war epic with a script written by an auteur Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and distributed by Netflix. The 29th edition of the 10-day event closes with Singaporean director Eric Khoo’s Spirit World, starring French screen legend Catherine Deneuve.

“Uprising is a charming historical drama put together by an outstanding team of directors, writers and actors while Khoo’s Spirit World is a co-production that explores the fundamental questions of human existence and the meaning of life through beautiful cinematic expression,” said Park Do-shin, the festival’s acting director, who was previously Busan’s senior programmer. Uprising is also the first streaming title to be invited to screen as the festival’s opening film.

Park Kwang-su, a former director who was appointed as the festival’s chairperson in February,...

The Busan International Film Festival will expand its screening program by some 8% in what it calls “an effort to maintain a scale befitting Asia’s top film festival.” This is despite a 50% cut in government financial support.

The festival will open on Oct. 2 with “Uprising,” a star-studded period drama from Netflix that was scripted and produced by Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy”) and directed by Kim Sang-man.

It will close on Oct. 11 with the Eric Khoo-directed “Spirit World,” which the Singaporean director shot in Japan with French icon Catherine Deneuve in the lead role.

“Uprising” involves a servant (played by Gang Dong-won) and his master, the som of a noble family with military connections. While they agree that the servant should be free, complications arise. The film also stars Cha Seung-won, Kim Shin-rock, Jin Sun-kyu and Jung Sung-il. “With Park Chan-wook’s signature humor oozing through the well-woven narrative, full of intense conflict and tension,...

On Wednesday August 28 2024, NBC broadcasts Today With Hoda & Jenna!

Season 6 Episode 237 Episode Summary

On August 28, 2024, “Today With Hoda & Jenna” will air Season 6, Episode 237 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on NBC, focusing on exciting surprises and memorable moments.

The episode will kick off with “Best of Surprises,” featuring a compilation of the most heartwarming and surprising moments from past episodes. This segment will revisit some of the most unforgettable surprises that have made viewers smile.

In “Catching Up with Vanessa Williams,” the show will feature the talented actress and singer, who will share updates on her latest projects and personal life, offering an inside look at her current endeavors.

“Knock Knock Surprise in Bermuda” will follow, showcasing a special surprise segment set in Bermuda. This feature will highlight a touching or exciting surprise event happening in this beautiful location.

“Quintuplets Graduation” will celebrate the milestone of quintuplets graduating, providing...

Hidden within the seedy streets of New York’s Times Square lies the remarkable story of one woman’s rise from poverty to prominence. Queen of the Deuce takes viewers on a journey through the life and times of Chelly Wilson, the formidable matriarch who came to reign over the city’s 1960s porn scene. Born in Greece as Rachel Serrero, Chelly narrowly escaped the Holocaust to start anew in America with just five dollars in her pocket. Through grit and enterprise, she would build an empire that came to own hundreds of properties across Manhattan.

Director Valerie Kontakos weaves this unlikely tale through archival footage and interviews with Chelly’s family and friends. We learn of her early struggles selling nuts in New York before finding her fortune in the fledgling “adult” film industry. Chelly soon came to own several iconic theaters along 42nd Street, including the Adonis located above her lavish apartment.

The Star Wars fanbase is in its most divided state, especially after The Acolyte. The series received generally negative reviews from fans, especially because several creative choices did not land well. However, one Marvel star seemingly predicted this fallout almost two years ago.

Mark Ruffalo criticized the Star Wars universe two years ago (Credit: Avengers | Marvel Studios).

During an interview, Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo was critical of the formulaic storytelling in the Star Wars universe. While Ruffalo’s comments were humiliating and infuriated the fanbase at the time, the criticism proved to be accurate after the release of The Acolyte. Here is what Ruffalo had to say about the shortcomings of the Star Wars franchise.

MCU Star Mark Ruffalo Dissed Star Wars With an Infuriating Comment Mark Ruffalo felt the Star Wars content was too formulaic (Credit: Avengers | Marvel Studios).

Mark Ruffalo is best known for playing the Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Matrix aka one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time is a groundbreaking classic that blew everyone’s minds with a trip to a world where everything makes you question reality. One of the best parts about the film is its wild action sequences that keep viewers on the edge of their seats. However, it was not an easy task to achieve such perfection.

The Matrix (1999) | Warner Bros.

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving had to go through a grueling training regimen to make sure that they would be able to execute the fight scenes perfectly and do justice to them. Of course, anyone who has seen the film knows that the training paid off well but it sure did take a toll on the actors including Hugo Weaving who revealed that their training went on for about six months.

Hugo Weaving Opened Up about...

Rogue One stands out from the rest of the entries in the Star Wars franchise, as it steers the story away from the conflict between the Jedi and Sith. It follows the story of Jyn Erso, a member of the Rebel Alliance, who is part of a group that steals the plans for the Death Star.

Rogue One is a stand-out entry in the Star Wars franchise (Credit: Lucasfilm).

Despite its unique plot and mostly standalone nature, Rogue One was a critical and commercial success. However, the film nearly made one critical error that would have almost certainly ruined its impact on the audience and legacy. Here is how Rogue One narrowly avoided making a Death Star-sized blunder that has plagued the franchise.

Rogue One Originally Planned to Reveal Jyn Erso as the Daughter of a Jedi

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is widely considered as one of...

Disney’s latest Star Wars venture, ‘The Acolyte,’ stirred controversy well before its official debut. As most are aware, the series premiered on Disney+ on June 4, 2024, with two episodes. Now, critics and fans alike have the opportunity to weigh in on the highly-discussed show. As anticipated, critics have generally expressed satisfaction, though not overwhelmingly so, while fan reception remains notably critical, resulting in yet another polarizing addition to the Star Wars universe.

Even though critics have acknowledged that “The Acolyte” isn’t a top-tier Star Wars series after watching the initial episodes, they see significant potential in the show. Conversely, fans have labeled it as subpar, prompting speculation about whether this criticism stems from ideological review bombing or if critics harbor biases for unknown reasons.

To uncover the truth, we’ve watched the series and analyzed critics’ reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it boasts an impressive 88% positive rating and is Certified Fresh.

Am kommenden Freitag startet Richard Linklaters Actionkomödie „Hit Man“ bei Netflix. Unterdessen arbeitet der US-Regisseur und -Drehbuchautor an zahlreichen Projekten.

Richard Linklater, hier im Vorfeld der Premiere seiner Actionkomödie „Hit Man“ im vergangenen Jahr in Venedig, hat derzeit einiges in der Pipeline (Credit: Imago / Independent Photo Agency Int.)

Während am kommenden Freitag Richard Linklaters Actionkomödie „Hit Man“, die im vergangenen Jahr in Venedig ihre Premiere gefeiert hatte, bei Netflix startet, arbeitet der US-Regisseur und -Drehbuchautor an zahlreichen Projekten.

So arbeitet Linklater aktuell an einem weiteren Langzeitprojekt, nach „Boyhood“, den er in den Jahren 2002 bis 2013 realisierte, der Adaption von Stephen Sondheims Musical „Merrily We Roll Along“, dessen Handlung auf einen Zeitraum von 20 Jahren angelegt ist – und für dessen Umsetzung er sich auch exakt 20 Jahre Zeit lassen will.

In einem Interview mit der „New York Times“ darauf angesprochen, dass Linklater, der Ende des Monats seinen 64. Geburtstag feiern wird, ja dann über 80 Jahre...

When George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope was released in 1977, it revolutionized the sci-fi genre. The film series combined classic themes with compelling storylines and well-written characters. Everything was neatly integrated with jaw-dropping visual effects and surreal world-building, making the audience fall in love with the series and have a massive impact on pop culture.

A still From Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back. Credits: Lucasfilm Ltd.

However, Leslye Headland, the showrunner of The Acolyte has shared her views on the original trilogy having political undertones and Lucas deliberately made the films in that manner to appeal to his audience. Interestingly, Headland’s upcoming show has been criticized by fans because her upcoming show is blasted by fans for being too woke, and how the theme of her show is similar to the very idea of the creator of the original films.

Leslye Headland on...

Harrison Ford has been known for his gritty and hard-boiled roles in his long career. While he has been part of adventurous films such as the Indiana Jones franchise, he is mostly known for his grim action films such as Air Force One, The Fugitive, and Blade Runner.

The actor has gotten the reputation of being a no-nonsense man off-screen as well due to his brutal honesty. However, one interview with his Blade Runner 2049 co-star Ryan Gosling seemed to have broken him out of his shell. The 1923 star can be seen laughing his heart out in an interview with Alison Hammond on This Morning, which surprised many fans.

Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling Cannot Stop Laughing In This Interview Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049

Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling starred together in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. The film was a sequel to Ridley Scott...

When it comes to the indie movie business, you don’t get more old-school than Kino Lorber. The New York outfit, founded as Kino International in 1977, has been the first source of independent cinema for U.S. audiences. It was the first to distribute films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Aki Kaurismäki, Wong Kar-wai, Andrei Tarkovsky and Michelangelo Antonioni in U.S. theaters and the first to restore and rerelease silent classics like Metropolis, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, and the films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

In 2009, when Richard Lorber’s home entertainment company Lorber Ht Digital acquired and merged with Kino International, physical media got added to the mix, and the newly minted Kino Lorber became known for its home entertainment releases, ranging from classic (Nosferatu, The Sacrifice) to cult (Mad Max, Emmanuelle). The Kino Lorber library now counts more than 4,000 titles and the company is continually adding to the list,...

Star Wars Tales of the Empire: Did Barriss Offee Become an Inquisitor? - Main Image

Did Barriss Offee Become an Inquisitor? This is one of the questions that fans are wondering in anticipation of the release of the upcoming Star Wars series Tales of the Empire.

The character was last seen in the fifth season finale of The Clone Wars where she was imprisoned because of her involvement in the bombing of the Jedi Temple.

Let's explore the character's journey in the upcoming series below.

Also Read: Did Barriss Offee Survive Order 66? How She's Alive in Tales of the Empire

Did Barriss Offee Become an Inquisitor?

The final three episodes of Tales of the Empire will deal with the aftermath of Barriss' imprisonment in the fifth season finale of The Clone Wars.

The Fourth Sister will offer Barriss a choice that could change the trajectory of her life: join the...

Memento International has boarded “Gazer,” the debut feature of American filmmaker Ryan J. Sloan which will world premiere at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Set in New Jersey, the paranoia thriller stars Ariella Mastroianni as Frankie, a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. Struggling to perceive time, she uses cassette tapes for guidance and is unable to find steady work with her condition. When a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences that await.

Sloan, who is from New Jersey and previously worked as electrician, pays tribute to New Hollywood’s great masters by revisiting the mystery thriller genre in “Gazer.” Lensed in 16mm stock, the film follows a magnetic character played by Ariella Mastroianni, who stars opposite Marcia Debonis, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts and Grant Schumacher.

“‘Gazer’ is a redemption story derailed by a revenge story, following flawed characters...

The upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte promises plenty of martial-arts-inspired action and a climactic lightsaber battle. The makers of the show recently mentioned that the team aimed to compete with Darth Maul’s legendary battle with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and called it the best lightsaber battle in Star Wars history.

But is it? The franchise has seen numerous lightsaber battles across media, with fan getting their first taste of the trope in Star Wars: A New Hope. While the original trilogy is still considered to be the best of the films released to date, the lightsaber battles seem to have improved since then. The prequel trilogy’s climactic showdown between Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker definitely has a higher ground in the category.

Which Is The Best Lightsaber Battle In Star Wars History? Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back

Across eleven films,...

Memento International has boarded Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s eighth feature The Other Way Around set to world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.

The relationship comedy is about a couple who decide to throw a party to celebrate their recent break up after 15 years together.

It is produced by Trueba and Javier Lafuente of Spain’s Los Ilusos Films and Sylvie Pialat and Alejandro Arenas of France’s Les Films du Worso. Elastica is handling Spanish distribution and Arizona Distribution will distribute the film in France.

Trueba’s credits include Goya-nominated first feature Every Song Is About Me,...

The Berlin-based German Federal Film Board (Ffa) is following the lead of other European countries and launching its dedicated minority co-production fund with an annual budget of €1m.

Producers based in Germany can apply to this fund if their financial participation is at least 10% and less than that of the foreign delegate producer.

The fund is open to feature-length fiction, animation and documentary films that have a high degree of festival potential, or could be commercially successful in Germany and abroad.

The projects applying for support must show that they have a German financing share of at least €350,000.

The minimum...

While Hugh Jackman retired as Wolverine in the 2017 film Logan, he was confirmed to reprise his iconic role in the first X-Men film in the MCU i.e. Deadpool and Wolverine. The character has been one of the most popular X-Men characters in the comics, made more popular by Jackman’s seventeen-year tenure in the Fox Studios X-Men franchise.

Wolverine is famously known for his loner personality. But the immortal regenerative superhero has fathered a number of kids across the multiverse. He reportedly has ten kids alone in the main continuity in the Marvel universe Earth-616. And those children have many times been with other superheroes, making his spawns much more powerful. Here are three who could be introduced in the MCU after Hugh Jackman’s exit after the third Deadpool film (via The Empire Podcast).

3. James Hudson Jr. a.k.a Ultimate Wolverine James Hudson Jr. in Ultimate End Vol.

Oscar contenders and Berlin prize-winners will be among the European films represented by visiting companies to FilMart that are making use of the European Film Promotion umbrella stand within the annual Hong Kong market.

In total, 29 European film sales companies are making the trip, including more than a dozen from France under the Unifrance banner. Prominent rights brokers include Charades, Goodfellas, Fandango and Filmax.

“Efp has built up the European brand at Hong Kong for many years through setting up a prominent umbrella. The aim was always to prominently flag our mission as being the one-stop shop for the European industry and European films,” said Efp executive Susanne Davis. “And we’re happily surprised that so many of them are taking advantage.”

The 29 companies are collectively representing over 140 new European titles, including Oscar contender “Anatomy of a Fall,” represented by MK2 Films, while “Four Daughters” is handled by the Party Film Sales.

Kino Lorber have picked up all rights in North America to Bruno Dumont’s sci-fi farce The Empire after its triumphant debut at the Berlin Film Festival last month, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize.

Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the French-language feature, which re-imagines the world of George Lucas’ Star Wars with its epic sci-fi battle of good vs. evil, relocating the action to a sleepy northern France town and filtering the story through the frankly bonkers mind of the director of Slack Bay, Li’l Quinquin and Coincoin and the Extra-Humans. There are plenty of VFX spaceships and lightsaber battles and only a few gratuitous sex scenes (this is a French film after all).

Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release for L’Empire later this year 2024, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release across all major platforms.

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Bruno Dumont’s recent Berlinale selection The Empire.

‘The Empire’: Berlin Review

Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the sci-fi farce about extraterrestrial forces who descend on Earth after the birth of a baby in a French village triggers a secret intergalactic war.

The film won the Silver Bear Jury Prize in Berlin and is a Tessalit Productions production in co-production with Red Balloon Film, Ascent Film, Novak Prod, Rosa Filmes, and Furyo Films.

Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre produced, and the co-producers are Dorothe Beinemeier,...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Bruno Dumont’s “The Empire,” a sci-fi satire starring Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Lyna Khoudri (“The Three Musketeers”) and Fabrice Luchini.

“The Empire” just world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize. The movie marks Dumont’s follow up to “France,” a dark comedy starring Léa Seydoux which competed at the Cannes Film Festival.

Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release later this year, followed by a home video, educational and digital release on all major platforms. The acquisition of “The Empire” marks the sixth time that Kino Lorber has collaborated with Dumont, with previous releases including “Li’l Quinquin,” “Coincoin and the Extra-Humans,” “Slack Bay,” “Camille Claudel 1915” and, most recently, “France.”

The film is set in a quiet and picturesque fishing village in Northern France, where a special...

Dahomey won the Golden Bear Photo: Les Films Du Bal - Fanta Sy French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop took home the top prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival for her documentary Dahomey. The film considers the return of plundered artefacts to Berlin. It is the second year in a row a documentary has taken the Golden Bear after On The Adamant won last year.

The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to prolific South Korean director Hang Sang-soo for his tale of a French teacher (Isabelle Huppert) navigating a new life, A Traveler's Needs.

Bruno Dumont's spoof that transports a Star Wars-style plot to the French countryside, The Empire, won a Silver Bear, while Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias' experimental hippo drama Pepe won the Best Director prize. Matthias Glasner's Dying, which dives into the heart of a family with an ailing matriarch and patriarch, won Best Screenplay.

Mati Diop’s documentary Dahomey, about artefacts being returned from Paris to present-day Benin, was awarded the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival tonight (February 24).

The film, handled internationally by Les Film du Losange, is the second from the African continent to take the Berlinale’s top prize after Mark Dornford-May’s musical U-Carmen eKhayelitsha in 2005. It is also the second year in a row that a documentary has clinched the Golden Bear, following Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant last year.

In her speech, Diop said: “To restitute is to do justice. We can...

After two weeks of new cinema, the Berlin Film Festival comes to a close this Sunday, February 25, with its annual awards ceremony. This year’s event marks one of change, as festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian, at his post since 2018, steps down to make way for Tricia Tuttle, who will take over for next year’s outing.

This year’s Berlinale has already stirred plenty of buzz for films like Alonso Ruizpalacios’s “La Cocina,” a drama set in a New York City kitchen and starring Rooney Mara, and Tim Mielants’ opener “Small Things Like These,” starring likely Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. Both films are eligible for awards, along with “Timbuktu” director Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Black Tea,” “Goodnight Mommy” filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s “The Devil’s Bath,” “The Guilty” director Gustav Möller’s “Sons,” Olivier Assayas’ “Suspended Time,” plus Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance hit “A Different Man,” and many more.

by Elisa Giudici

L'empire © Tessalit Productions

If I think about the typical film competing at Berlin, I imagine something quite dramatic, decidedly political, and sometimes rather heavy. This edition of the Berlinale has added the adjective "bizarre" to this profile of mine. Here are four films seen in these hours that deserve this adjective.

L’Empire by Bruno Dumont

Let me preface this one: Dumont and I just don't see eye to eye. He might be the only French director whose work I can't seem to appreciate, despite my overall fondness for French cinema. Given this history and a rather late screening on a very heavy day, the recipe for disaster was served. However, one positive thing about L’Empire I can say: in hindsight, it made me reassess his previous film, France, which I saw at Cannes and detested...

Hong Sangsoo’s A Traveler’s Needs and Mati Diop’s Dahomey earned strong average scores on Screen’s Berlin jury grid, while Bruno Dumont’s The Empire divided critics.

A Traveler’s Needs stars Isabelle Huppert as a French woman teaching in Korea and is currently on an average of 2.9, with one score still to come (from Paolo Bertolin from cinematografo.it). Screen’s own critic awarded it four stars (excellent), while three critics gave it three stars (good) and three gave it two (average).

Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.

The score is currently slighter...

Playing his signature brand of rural French absurdity in stark counterpoint to the grandiose strains of a space opera, Bruno Dumont returns with The Empire: his Barbarella bourguignon, his dijionnaise Dune. The Empire is the story of two warring factions: one whose mothership resembles the palace of Versailles; the other’s as if someone glued together two Notre Dames, crypt to crypt. It follows their envoys on earth, now in human form and attempting to capture a toddler who they believe to be the Chosen One––whose mere presence makes them bow down like bodies in rigor mortis. There are blasé beheadings with lightsabers, a group of men on Boulonnais horses who call themselves the Knights of Wain, and, for no apparent reason, the commandant (Bernard Pruvost) and lieutenant (Philippe Jore) from P’tit Quinquin.

If that all sounds like a mixed bag it’s probably because The Empire is...

Kirsten Niehuus, head of German film fund Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, is confident that the changes to film funding proposed by the German government recently will have a “very positive effect on the production scene in Berlin-Brandenburg.”

The proposed changes to the funding system were presented last week to German lawmakers in the Bundestag by commissioner for culture and media Claudia Roth (see here).

Kirsten Niehuus, Martin Moszkowicz

Speaking to Variety Saturday at a party Medienboard hosted at Berlin’s Holzmarkt, Niehuus said the changes “will mean that we would have a tax system in place that could compete, for instance, with Budapest or Prague, so that not so many German productions would go and shoot somewhere else, and more foreign productions would come and shoot in Germany.”

Looking at the media landscape across Germany she notes that one major challenge is the decision by high-end outlets such as Paramount+, HBO and Sky to cancel local productions,...

The Satire Strikes Back: Dumont Claims His Own Multi-Verse

It’s sometimes difficult to predict what mode French auteur Bruno Dumont will be choosing for his latest film project. Initially revered for his rural, austere tendency for Neo-realism, which earned him comparisons to Bresson and Pialat, Dumont has also shown a penchant for outrageous provocations and thorny social satires. His latest, L’empire, was rumored to be a Star Wars parody, but even this kind of statement is rather superficial considering Dumont seems to hold such reference points in cultural contempt. The film quite infamously triggered the self-exile and retirement of Adèle Haenel from the French film industry, which may lead many to expect Dumont would be pushing boundaries with this odd bird premise.…...

Out of the many movies you could imagine emerging from the mind of French auteur Bruno Dumont, a Star Wars parody was probably somewhere at the bottom of the list.

And yet it’s been some time since the Cannes Grand Jury Prize laureate, who broke out in the late 90s with viscerally stylized, hard-hitting works of Gallic realism like The Life of Jesus and Humanity, has strayed far from his gritty roots towards a brand of accentuated arthouse satire.

His latest effort, the sci-fi farce The Empire (L’Empire), definitely fits the latter mold, although it’s loaded with enough VFX, light saber battles, spacecrafts and prophecies to give George Lucas a run for his money. That is, if Lucas decided to set the next Star Wars in a sleepy northern French city, used a local mechanic to play one of the leads and tossed in a few flagrant sex scenes,...

It is increasingly weird to recall that for a while, French director Bruno Dumont was the kind of filmmaker who reminded you, often forcibly and somewhat against your will, that the word “auteur” contains most of the letters of “austere.” “The Empire,” another of the director’s proudly off-kilter comedies that pitches the bumbling denizens of a small French village into a vast, sinister conspiracy extending far beyond their foreshortened horizons, hovers several light years — and two janky light sabers — away from austerity. Unfortunately, though, the air out there is also a little thin on hilarity, with the film’s one-gag setup becoming stretched to the point that it doesn’t even matter that it’s a pretty good gag.

The humor, as ever with the Dumont of “Li’l Quinquin” and “Slack Bay,” derives largely from the collision of the grandiose with the drolly mundane. This time out, harking back to,...

Iranian tragicomedy My Favourite Cake has taken the early lead on Screen international’ s 2024 Berlin competition jury grid, with scores for seven titles now in.

The latest from Iranian duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. It scored a strong 3.1 average, including three fours (excellent) from Ahmed Shawkey (Egypt’s filfan.com), Rita Di Santo (UK’s Morning Star) and Screen’s own critic.

Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.

Currently in joint second on the grid with...

While Andrea Arnold is putting the finishing touches on her next feature Bird, starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, the British director has already unveiled her next project, one based on a true story. Scarlett Johansson will lead Arnold’s crime thriller Featherwood, according to Deadline.

Johansson will take the role of Carol Blevins, “a heroin addict and ‘Aryan Princess featherwood’ (property of a gang member) who became one of the FBI’s most important informants during an epic, six-year investigation into the murderous, neo-Nazi crime and drug syndicate known as the Aryan Brotherhood Of Texas. Blevins, who lived with the gang, memorized details, pre-empted murders and interrupted robberies, helped convict 13 members of the group. However, her harrowing journey left her with significant physical and mental scars and she lives under constant threat of reprisal by the Abt.” Though no production timetable has been unveiled, Johansson’s schedule is fairly clear,...

Berlinale competition director Bruno Dumont is lining up his next film Red Rocks, a Romeo and Juliet-style love story set one summer on the French Riviera, to shoot later this year, with Luxbox handling sales

The film is being produced by Tessalit Productions with Italy’s Nightswim, Belgium’s Novak Prod and Portugal’s Rosa Filmes.

Red Rocks is about the rivalry between two gangs of kids, a blend of locals and summer visitors, who compete in the perilous game of cliff jumping.

“The setting – the shattered, reddish and picturesque of the rocky coast of the South of France,...

"The opposing forces are formidable." Time to battle the Empire! Memento Films has revealed a brand new official trailer for The Empire, the strange French sci-fi film from filmmaker Bruno Dumont. We already posted a trailer for this last year when it was first unveiled. It will premiere at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival next month, perhaps because every other fest rejected it. Bruno Dumont's sci-fi The Empire (aka L'Empire) is set in a quiet fishing village on the Opal Coast in Northern France, and tells the story of a child who is so unique and peculiar it unleashes a secret war between extraterrestrial forces of good and evil. Starring a big French cast including Virginie Efira, Lily-Rose Depp, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, with Fabrice Luchini. It's a bit weird how this trailer hides so much of the sci-fi until the last few shots at the end, instead focusing...

The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.

A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.

Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...

"The Prince of Darkness must be removed from the face of the Earth." Arp Selection in France has revealed the first look official trailer for a sci-fi epic called L'Empire, which translates to The Empire in English. It's the latest film from French filmmaker Bruno Dumont and was originally rumored to premiere in Cannes, though it never showed up. Now set to open in France in March 2024. "Between Ma Loute and The Life of Jesus, between heaven and earth, Bruno Dumont offers us his caustic, cruel and crazy vision of Star Wars." That's their description. A small village of Northern France is the battleground of undercover extraterrestrial knights. Starring a big French cast: Virginie Efira, Lily-Rose Depp, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, with Fabrice Luchini. This has spaceships galore, ethereal aliens, lightsabers, religious metaphors, French sex jokes, and all kinds of other crazy sci-fi things going on. Whoa! But will it be any good?...

Currently in pre-production phase and deep in the casting process, Audrey Diwan (who will be in Cannes as the head of the Critic’s Week jury) appears to have lassoed the actress she knows well for her highly anticipated buzzy third feature film. Golden Lion-winning Happening in Anamaria Vartolomei might have joined the project and would likely play one of the many Western ex-pats that are part of the main character’s entourage. As we already know, Noémie Merlant landed the top role in Emmanuelle – the one of the sexually adventurous wife. The project was co-written by Diwan and Rebecca Zlotowski. It’s a particularly great moment for Vartolomei who might surface in Cannes next month (if they add the title in the last wave offerings) with Bruno Dumont’s L’Empire, and she is attached to play Maria Schneider in Jessica Palud’s Maria.…...

A film project that originally had (at different junctures) the likes of Virginie Efira, Lily-Rose Depp and Adèle Haenel had a change of fleet with Camille Cottin, Anamaria Vartolomei and finally Lyna Khoudri coming aboard. The Cineuropa folks have confirmed that Julien Manier and the Li’l Quinquin tandem Bernard Pruvost and Philippe Jore have also joined the Bruno Dumont‘s L’Empire – a three month (in sections) production that began last week until beginning of September on the Opal Coast that will then move into Brussels, then Caserte, and Berlin in November. Tessalit Productions’ Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre are producing.…...

Dumont describes his ambitious Northern France-set sci-fi extravaganza as a ”space and earth opera”.

Paris-based Memento International has secured sales to Bruno Dumont’s sci-fi drama The Empire and also confirmed its key cast members as Lily-Rose Depp, Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin and Fabrice Luchini.

The €6.1m (6.4m) feature is in pre-production and is due to start shooting this summer for delivery in 2023.

After exploring the Paris media world in last year’s Cannes Palme d’Or contender France, starring Léa Seydoux, Dumont returns to his native Northern France, which has been the setting for most of his films. The...