News

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Virgil Vernier's Sophia Antipolis (2018), which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing from June 3 – July 2, 2019 in Mubi's The New Auteurs series.If there’s one thing we can say for sure about the forever shifting cinema of Virgil Vernier is that it’s indefinable. In his previous feature, Mercuriales (2014), Vernier showed a friendship of two fiercely independent young women, against a vivid portrait of desolate corporate streetscapes. Where some filmmakers may venture into extensive character development, or stretches of dialogue, to inveigle against the 21st century capitalist morass, Vernier instead lets urban landscape speak mostly for itself—and a myriad of social and urban-planning ills, such as the ravaging of communal feeling in most big cities, and the physical emptying out of previously robust residential areas, with the economically underprivileged pushed out further from the affluent zones.

After a series of celebrated short films and his fiction debut Mercuriales (2014), French filmmaker Virgil Vernier has brought his sophomore feature Sophia Antipolis to Locarno’s wonderfully-titled “Filmmakers of the Present” section. A psycho-geographical, state-of-the-nation survey that centers solely on the eponymous, strange and tacky business park, Vernier’s film—shot on gorgeously grainy 16mm film—moves with the momentum and anxious ambiguity of a chain letter, from character to character and detour to detour. During this fourth week of August, some of Sophia Antipolis’s permanent residents seek spiritual salvation, and others seek vigilante justice. All remain desperate, and deeply dissatisfied. I spoke with Vernier to break down the irregular rapport of his beguiling and often elusive Sophia Antipolis—a film of speculative spontaneous combustions that at the same time feels highly modern and mythological, and, in its boucler la boucle, both begins and ends with the inexplicable. Notebook:...

The film starts with a young black man getting a tour on the first day of his job as security personnel in Les Mercuriales, the twin skyscrapers, which eerily resemble the World Trade Center, situated in an industrial neighborhood in a Paris suburb. Before we get accustomed to the young man, the film's focus shifts to a group of scantily dressed young women. They talk about normal things while they wait (for interviews?). They might be seeking jobs in various areas throughout the buildings - as casino workers, hostesses, receptionists, etc. There are some hidden seedy aspects to these prolonged proceedings. The whole sequence is quite seductive yet unnerving. Then we are slowly introduced to two pretty girls - a French girl, Lisa (Ana Neborac)...

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

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The new Film Comment features pieces on Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Virgil Vernier's Mercuriales, Riley Stearns's Faults, Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, Kornél Mundruczó's White God, Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt, Noah Baumbach's While We’re Young, Rupert Goold's True Story, Richard Laxton's Effie Gray, Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner's Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Kristian Levring's The Salvation and more. Also in today's news: Sight & Sound on women film critics, Adrian Martin on Ernst Lubitsch, David Bordwell on Strange Interlude (1932), the Paris Review on John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) and lots more. » - David Hudson...

The shortlist for France’s Louis Delluc Prize, one of the country’s highest film honors, has been released with 14 films making the cut across two categories: Best Film and Best Debut Feature. Among the eight main movies, six hail from this year’s Cannes crop. Saint Laurent – which is France’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar – by Bertrand Bonello; Olivier Assayas’ Juliette Binoche/Kristen Stewart-starrer Clouds Of Sils Maria; veteran Jean-Luc Godard’s 3D Goodbye To Language; Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu; Pascale Ferran’s Bird People, starring Josh Charles; and Claus Drexel’s Au Bord Du Monde will vie alongside Venice pics Trois Coeurs, by Benoît Jacquot, and Robin Campillo’s Eastern Boys. Godard, Ferran and Jacquot are all former Delluc laureates. The Debut Feature shortlist is made up of Thomas Cailley’s well-received Fortnight film Love At First Fight; Camera d’Or winner Party Girl; Virgil Vernier...

A roundup of news from the inaugural St Petersburg International Media Forum includes a busy French delegation and a local controversy brewing over Leviathan.

The King Of Madagascar, a kind of Russian answer to the pirate adventure films à la Pirates of the Caribbean, is being set up as a $ 16m international co-production by producer-director Oleg Ryaskov’s Moscow-based Bft Movie.

Speaking at the opening of St Petersburg International Media Forum’s (Spimf) co-production market this morning, producer Ryaskov revealed that the project - which is based on real historical events abouta Russian expedition by Peter The Great to the island of Madagascar in danger of being thwarted by Great Britain’s King George - has Spain’s Smartline Spain and the Us casting company Scott Carlson Entertainment on board as partners and is currently in talks with French and German production companies to join.

Ryaskov added that he intends to have American, European and Russian...

A roundup of news from the inaugural St Petersburg International Media Forum includes a busy French delegation and a local controversy brewing over Leviathan.

The King Of Madagascar, a kind of Russian answer to the pirate adventure films à la Pirates of the Caribbean, is being set up as a $ 16m international co-production by producer-director Oleg Ryaskov’s Moscow-based Bft Movie.

Speaking at the opening of St Petersburg International Media Forum’s (Spimf) co-production market this morning, producer Ryaskov revealed that the project - which is based on real historical events abouta Russian expedition by Peter The Great to the island of Madagascar in danger of being thwarted by Great Britain’s King George - has Spain’s Smartline Spain and the Us casting company Scott Carlson Entertainment on board as partners and is currently in talks with French and German production companies to join.

Ryaskov added that he intends to have American, European and Russian...

The 2014 Viennale gets underway on October 23rd and runs to November 6th. The festival has published a preview of their lineup:

Features

Frank (Lenny Abrahamson)

Jauja (Lisandro Alonso)

Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas)

Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)

Two Day, One Night (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)

Li'l Quinguin (Bruno Demont)

Hard to Be a God (Aeksej German)

Adieu au langage (Jean-Luc Godard)

Mambo Cool (Chris Gude)

Amour fou (Jessica Hausner)

The Last Summer of the Rich (Peter Kern)

Time Lapse (Bradley King)

The Kindergarten Teacher (Nadav Lapid)

Sorrow and Joy (Nils Malmros)

Suddarth (Richie Mehta)

Macondo (Sudabeh Mortezai)

Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund)

I'm Not Him (Tayfun Pirselimoglu)

Favula (Raúl Perrone)

Buzzard (Joel Potrykus)

A Proletarian Winter's Tale (Julian Radlmaier)

Two Shots Fired (Martín Rejtman)

Mauro (Hernán Rosselli)

The Sad Smell of Flesh (Cristóbal Arteaga Rozas)

Love is Strange (Ira Sachs)

The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy)

Why Don't You Play in Hell?...

Vienna film festival to include a tribute to Viggo Mortensen and a retrospective on John Ford.Scroll down for list of higlights

Highlights of the 52nd Vienna International Film Festival (Oct 23-Nov 6) have been unveiled, including buzz titles from Cannes and Sundance as well as a tribute to actor Viggo Mortensen and a retrospective on director John Ford.

The feature film programme includes Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, Olivier Assayas’s Clouds of Sils Maria and the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night. Other titles include Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, Ruben Ostlund’s Turist and Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank.

In the documentary line-up, highlights include Nick Cave doc 20,000 Days On Earth, from directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard; Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery; and Tessa Louise Salome’s Mr Leos Carax.

The Viennale will pay tribute to American-Danish actor Viggo Mortensen, whose films range from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to David Cronenberg features...

The Cannes Film Festival's lineup of films include the Competition titles of several legendary auteurs such as Jean-Luc Godard, David Cronenberg, The Dardenne Brothers, Atom Egoyan, Mike Leigh, and Ken Loach. In the Un Certain Regard section, the highly anticipated film by actor-turned-director Ryan Gosling. Those in the business will be happy to find Alison Thompson in her new company, Sunray Films, selling Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner. Two films out of 18 in Competition are by women, but across all sections there are 15 women directors. Further in Competition, three films are from Canada; two are from U.S. one film is from Latin America (Argentina); one is from Japan; one from Turkey; one from Russia and the rest are European.

Opening Night Film :

Grace of Monaco (Producer: Stone Angels/ U.S. The Weinstein Company) from France by Olivier Dahan

In Competition

Clouds of Sils Maria (Isa: MK2/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from France/ Gremany/ Switzerland by Olivier Assayas

Saint Laurent (Isa: EuropaCorp) from France by Bertrand Bonello

Winter's Sleep aka Kis uykusu (Producer: Zeynofilm ) from Turkey by Nuri Bilge Ceylan who has a great website.

Maps to the Stars (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by David Cronenberg

Two Days, One Night (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from Belgium and France by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Mommy (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Xavier Dolan

The Captive (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by Atom Egoyan. You can watch the trailer here.

Goodbye to Language aka Adieu au Langage (Isa: Wild Bunch) from France by Jean-Luc Godard

The Search (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: Worldview Entertainment) from France by Michel Hazanavivius

The Homesman (Isa: Europacorp) from U.S. by Tommy Lee Jones

Still the Water (Isa: MK2) from Japan and France by Naomi Kawase ♀

Mr. Turner (Isa: Sunray Films/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.K. by Mike Leigh. Sunray Films is Alison Thompson's new company and she brought the film over from her former employer Focus Features International when they left the international sales business.

Jimmy's Hall (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Ireland and U.K. by Ken Loach

Foxcatcher (Isa: Panorama Media/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.S. by Bennett Miller

Le Meraviglie (Isa: The Match Factory) from Italy, Switzerland and Germany by Alice Rohrwacher ♀

Timbuktu (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Abderrahmane Sissako

Wild Tales (Isa: Film Factory Entertainment/ U.S. Distribution: Palmera International) from Argentina by Damian Szifron

Leviathan (Isa: Pyramide International) from Russia by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Un Certain Regard

Party Girl (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Marie Amachoukeli ♀ , Claire Burger ♀ , Samuel Theis

Jauja (Isa: Ndm) from Argentina by Lisandro Alonso

The Blue Room (Isa: Alfama Films) from France by Mathieu Amalric

Misunderstood aka Incompresa aka L'Incomprise (Production: Paradis Films) from Italy by Asia Argento ♀

Titli (Isa: Westend Films) from India by Kanu Behl

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Isa: Myriad Pictures/ U.S. Distribution: The Weinstein Company) from U.S. by Ned Benson

Bird People (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Pascale Ferran ♀

Lost River (Isa: Sierra/Affinity) from U.S. by Ryan Gosling

Amour Fou (Isa: Coproduction Office Paris) from Austria by Jessica Hausner ♀

Charlie's Country (Isa: Visit Films) from Australia by Rolf de Heer

Snow in Paradise (Isa: The Match Factory) from U.K. by Andrew Hulme

A Girl at My Door (Isa: Cj Entertainment) from So. Korea by July Jung ♀

Xenia (Isa: Pyramide International) from Greece by Panos Koutras

Run (Isa: Bac) from France by Philippe Lacote

Turist from Sweden and Norway by Ruben Ostlund

Beautiful Youth aka Hermosa Juventud (Producer: Fresdeval Films) by Jaime Rosales

Fantasia by Wang Chao

The Salt of the Earth (Isa: Le Pacte) from Germany and Brazil by Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

Away From His Absence (Isa: Bizibi) from Israel by Karen Yedaya ♀

Out of Competition

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dreamworks Animation) from the U.S. by Dean Deblois

Coming Home aka Gui Lai (Isa: Wild Bunch) from China by Zhang Yimou

Special Screenings

Bridges of Sarajevo (Les Ponts de Sarajevo) from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Germany, and France

Red Army from the U.S. and Russia by Gabe Polsky

Maidan (Isa: Atoms & Void Bv) from Belarus by Segei Loznitsa

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait from Syria by Ossama Mohammed

Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers Of Democracy from France by Stephanie Valloatto

Directors' Fortnight

Opening Film: Girlhood aka Bande De Files (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Céline Sciamma

Closing Film: Pride (Isa:Pathe International) from the U.K. by Matthew Warchus

Features

Alleluia (Isa:snd- Groupe M6) from Belgium and France by Fabrice Du Welz

Catch Me Daddy (Isa: Altitude Film Sales) from the U.K. by Daniel Wolfe

Next To Her aka At Li La Yla (Isa: Films Boutique) from Israel by Asaf Korman

Cold In July (Isa: Memento Films International) from the U.S. by Jim Mickle

Fighters aka Les Combattants (ISa: Bac Films) from France by Thomas Cailley

Gett — The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem (Isa: Films Distribution) from France, Germany, Israel by Ronit & Shlomi Elkabetz

The Tale of Princess Kaguya aka Kaguya-Hime No Monogatari (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Japan by Isao Takahata

Eat Your Bones aka Mange Tes Morts (Isa:Capricci Films) from France by Jean-Charles Hue

A Hard Day aka Kkeut-Kka-Ji-Kan-Da (Isa: Showbox/Mediaples, Inc.) from South Korea by Seong-Hun Kim

National Gallery (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Frederick Wiseman

Queen And Country (Isa: Le Pacte) from the U.K. and Ireland by John Boorman

Sheltered aka Refugiado (Isa: Backup Media Films) from Argentina, France, Poland, and Colombia by Diego Lerman

These Final Hours (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/Nightmares) from Australia by Zach Hilditch

Tu Dors Nicole (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Stéphane Lafleur

Whiplash (Isa:Sierra /Affinity) from the U.S. by Damien Chazelle

Special Screening

P'tit Quinquin by Bruno Dumont

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper (4K restoration)

Acid Program

Brooklyn (Produced by Les Enfants de la Dalle) from France by Pascal Tessaud

The Way Out aka Cesta Ven (Produced by Cinema de Facto) from France and the Czech Republic by Petr Vaclav

Challat of Tunis aka Le Challat the Tunis (Produced by Cinetelefilms ) from Tunisia and France by Kaouther Ben Hania

The Girls and the River aka La Fille et le Fleuve (Produced by 31 Juin Films) from France by Aurélia Georges

Mercuriales (Produced by Kazak Productions) from France by Virgil Vernier

New Territories (Produced by Paraiso Production Difussion) from France by Fabianny Deschamps

Insecure aka Qui Vive (Isa: Udi- Urban Distribution International ) from France by Marianne Tardieu

The Rules of the Game aka Les Regles du Jeu (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard

Spartacus & Cassandra (Produced by Morgane Productions) from France by Ioanis Nuguet

Critics' Week

Opening Night: Faire: L'Amour (Fla) from France by Djinn Carrénard

Closing Nigh: Hippocrates aka Hippocrate (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Thomas Lilti

Features

Darker Than Midnight aka Piu' Buio di Mezzanotte (Isa: Rai Trade) from Italy by Sebastiano Riso

Gente de Bien (Isa: Versatile) from Colombia and France by Franco Lolli

Hope (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Boris Lojkine

It Follows (Isa: Visit Films) from the U.S. by David Robert Mitchell

Self Made aka Boreg (Isa: Westend Films) from Israel by Shira Geffen

The Tribe aka Plemya (Isa: Alpha Violet) from Ukraine by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy

When Animals Dream aka Nar Dyrene Drommer (Produced by Gaumont) from Denmark by Jonas Alexander Arnby

Critics' Week: Special Screenings

Breathe aka Respire (Produced by Gaumont) from France by Mélanie Laurent

The Kindergarten Teacher aka Haganenet Teacher aka (Isa: Le Pacte) from Israel by Nadav Lapid...