Berlin-Brandenburg Film Fund Medienboard Fetes Cannes Festival Films

Naman Ramachandran Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency has released “Uprooted,” a powerful short film featuring and made by Ukrainian refugees now living in Germany. The film shows loud noises – a door slamming, the sirens of an ambulance, the bangs of a firework display – and how they can trigger terrifying memories of war.

Marta Balaga Despite teasing his retirement in 2017, “Le Havre” director Aki Kaurismäki will follow his Berlin Silver Bear winner “The Other Side of Hope” with a new feature film under the working title of “Dead Leaves” (“Kuolleet lehdet” in Finnish).The new project was announced on Friday by Helsinki-based company B-Plan Distribution.The film will star Alma Pöysti, who recently starred in Zaida Bergroth biopic “Tove,” about Moomins creator Tove Jansson — a film that won her a Jussi award for best actress in 2021. Jussi Vatanen, known for the drama “Forest Giant” and smash hit trilogy “Lapland Odyssey” has also joined the cast.

BAFTA Dates 2023 Film Awards, Berlin Clash

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Locarno Film Festival will pay tribute to Greek-French director Costa-Gavras with its Pardo alla carriera lifetime achievement award.The longtime Paris-based master of politically engaged cinema will be on hand at the prominent Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking to receive the prize during a ceremony on its Piazza Grande square on Aug. 11 followed by an audience-led conversation the next day.Locarno will also host screenings of two of Costa Gravras’ lesser known films: “Un homme de trop” (“Shock Troops”) from 1967, and “Compartiment tueurs” (“The Sleeping Car Murders”), which is his 1965 debut feature.In a career spanning nearly 60 years, Costa-Gavras — which is short for Konstantinos Gavras — has become known for highly political works, such as 1969’s “Z,” about the military’s coup d’etat in Greece, which won the foreign film Oscar in 1969; and 1982’s “Missing,” which starred Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek in a story inspired by the military overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentA group of prominent Algerian film directors is launching an alarm over the de-facto cancellation of the country’s national film fund which they say puts Algerian cinema “at risk of death.”In an open letter to Algerian culture minister Malika Bendouda, the North African country’s filmmakers are lamenting that they “see no future for our films” after the government support scheme called the National Fund for the Development of the Arts and Techniques of Cinema (Fdatic) was scrapped by last year by the government.The culture ministry has given Algeria’s film community vague assurances that this fund would be replaced by another support scheme which however has not materialized. Nor has the minister replied to several previous, less clamorous, requests for clarification about the future of what is considered a crucial driver for local filmmaking.

This year has produced several films if terrorist attacks in France. One Year and One Night by Isaki Lacuesta (which premiered in Berlin this year) and November by Cedric Jimenez which is being shown out of competition at Cannes, and Alice Winocour’s deeply personal Paris Memories (Revoir Paris) which was inspired by Winocour’s own brother who was in the midst of the November 2015 attacks at Bataclan. The film follows a woman’s journey to recovery after surviving a mass shooting. 

Tom Hanks looked as dapper as ever with Priscilla Presley on his arm at the star-studded Cannes premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated Elvis biopic. The film, which is out in June, stars Austin Butler as the king of rock ‘n’ roll, which follows Presley’s rise to fame. Tom, who plays Presley’s enigmatic manager Colonel Tom Parker, was seen on the red carpet at the 75th Cannes Film Festival with Presley’s ex-wife by his side.

Neon has acquired North American rights to Ruben Östlund’s buzzy satire, Triangle of Sadness, following its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Naomi Campbell stole the show as she stepped out at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in a nothing short of a phenomenal outfit. The 52 year old, who recently shared a snap of her baby daughter watching her at the Met Gala, stepped out on to the red carpet in an incredible black ballgown by much-loved designer Valentino.This being one of the most iconic supermodels in the world, it wasn't just any ballgown as the recent new mum decided to ditch her bra as the dress came with a daring plunging neckline and no sides to the bodice, therefore leaving the legend embracing the side boob trend.

Naman Ramachandran The European Genre Film Foundation (EGFF), aimed at restoring and raising awareness of classic genre films in Europe and globally, launched at Cannes on Tuesday.The non-profit organization, headquartered in Stockholm, will work with film libraries, archives, rights holders, academics, film festivals and other institutions. It is modelled on Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) in the U.S.Among the first projects of the EGFF will be an academic study of historic female genre film makers in Europe and raising funds for a 4K film scanner set-up dedicated to digitizing and restoring genre films and related material that is languishing in archives.

Detective Hae-joon investigating the death of a man who fell from a mountain top. When he meets the deceased man’s wife in Park Chan-wook’s latest film in competition at Cannes, Decision To Leave.  

Here are some of the key talking points from the Cannes Film Festival and market at half-way.

The Swedish Film Institute today launched its annual gender equality report. The survey ‘406 Days’, which looks at gender disparity in the development and production process, demonstrates that the average female-led fiction feature spends over one year longer in development than projects led by male filmmakers.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorErotic love story “99 Moons,” which has its world premiere in Cannes’ ACID sidebar today, has kicked off international sales. Berlin-based M-Appeal is handling the rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann.Arthouse VOD platform Filmin has taken the rights in Spain, and arthouse distributor StraDa Films has taken the films for Greece. France and Latin America are in negotiation.

K.J. Yossman Horror movie “Two Witches” has been acquired by Arrow Films for distribution in U.S., Canada, U.K.

Rebecca Souw Four films, “Decision to Leave,” “Broker,” “The Hunt” and “No Return” selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival shed rays of hope for a positive uptake in the Korean film industry, severely damaged due to the COVID pandemic. Juxtaposed against a fruitful run in 2019, the year Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, the massive slow down of the industry saw box office sales plummeting, sizable shrinking of the business, theater closures and a backlog of unreleased filmsAt last year’s Busan Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market veteran film director Park Chan Wook said the release date for “Decision to Leave” was uncertain and as no one is rushing, the team is constantly retouching parts of the film.

JD Linville Zürich-born writer, director and burgeoning auteur Jan Gassmann (“Chrigu,” “Europe, She Loves”) will bring his newest film, “99 Moons,” to the ACID sidebar at Cannes, and with it a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of lovers in head-on collision. Produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi at Zodiac Pictures in co-production with Swiss public broadcaster SRF, the film follows Bigna, a 28-year-old disaster prevention scientist and her chance encounter turned love affair with Frank, a 33-year-old DJ.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s Cannes presence this year offers testimony to its developing co-production scene, as well as economic concerns driving the search for international partners and the ambitions of a highly cosmopolitan generation of cineastes that is driving art cinema production in Spain.Four Spanish features have made this year’s Cannes cut: Albert Serra’s competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; José Luis López Linares’ Cannes Classics title “Goya, Carriere and the Ghost of Buñuel”; and Directors’ Fortnight contender “El Agua,” by Elena López Riera.All four are international co-productions. Also at Cannes, a Spanish Producers Network showcase, backed by ICEX Trade and Investment and ICAA Film Institute, will highlight eight potential overseas co-production projects.

Emilio Mayorga From Berlin Golden Bear winner ‘Alcarrás’ to Cannes Competition title ‘Pacifiction,’ these projects will represent Catalonia at Cannes.Alcarràs Director: Carla Simón The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, a family farm drama marking the flagship title for Catalonia’s newest generation of cineastes. Sales: MK2 FilmsAmazing Elisa Director: Sadrac González-Perellón The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González- Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, seeks revenge after her mother’s tragic death. La Charito Films produces.