Deckert Picks Up Ukrainian Documentary ‘Outside,’ Ahead of CPH:DOX Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorNorth American distributor Greenwich Entertainment has released the new trailer for Vincent Kelner’s documentary “A Taste of Whale,” which will screen at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen on March 29, and opens in North American theaters, and on Amazon and Apple TV on May 27.Every year, hundreds of pilot whales are hunted in the fjords of the Faroe Islands, an ancient tradition known as “The Grind.” International animal rights activists, including Sea Shepherd and Pamela Anderson, fight to eradicate this bloody massacre. while the Faroese denounce the hypocrisy of those who eat meat without criticizing what is happening in slaughterhouses.“I wanted to rely on the specific circumstances of the Faroe Islands to reflect on a significant, global issue of our time,” Kelner said.

Christopher Vourlias Toronto-based sales agent Syndicado Film Sales has acquired world rights to “Hide and Seek” (Nascondino), the debut feature from director Victoria Fiore, which will screen in the main DOX:AWARD competition at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).The Naples-set documentary follows Entoni, a rambunctious 10-year-old, as he navigates childhood in a country where the justice system – in response to rising levels of youth criminality – allows courts to remove high-risk children from families involved in organized crime.

Lise Pedersen Organizers at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX), which is going ahead in-person for the first time in three years, are taking a stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine with a dedicated program of seven specially curated films.Spirits may be high in the Danish capital at the prospect of finally having a live event after two editions that were pushed online due to the COVID-19 pandemic but, as the fest’s artistic director Niklas Engstrøm stressed, “All our thoughts go to Ukraine and the many refugees who are currently being forced to leave their homeland.”As the event’s programmer, Mads Mikkelsen, explained to Variety, organizers had already put together a selection of films from or about Ukraine when they closed the program in late January.

Christopher Vourlias Taskovski Films has acquired world sales rights to Nataša Urban’s “The Eclipse,” which has its world premiere in the main DOX:AWARD competition at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).Focusing on the events of Aug. 11, 1999, when most of Serbia’s population barricaded themselves in their homes and nuclear bunkers in fear of a total solar eclipse, the film uses the rare natural phenomenon as a metaphor for a nation’s unclean conscience about the consequences of its political choices.

HELLO! magazine, entrepreneur and philanthropist John Caudwell and his partner, former Olympic cyclist Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, reveal why they want to offer a home to Ukrainian refugees.MORE: 5 ways to cope with news-induced anxiety right now"I feel heartbroken for the people whose lives have been destroyed," John, who is offering the detached two-bedroom Coach House in the grounds of his Staffordshire mansion to a fleeing family, tells the magazine.WATCH: Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher share emotional video as they raise astonishing sum for Ukraine"Picture yourself in that situation," continues the businessman who kicked off a campaign to encourage wealthy individuals to host Ukrainian refugees who have escaped their war torn country.READ: Sarah, Duchess of York meets Ukrainian refugees in Poland during heartbreaking visitRELATED: Amanda Holden praised by fans after highlighting heartbreaking cause"You've got no home, and the fear of death and being murdered on the street is constant. It's beyond comprehension." John with his wife ModestaIn the interview, Lithuanian-born Modesta, 38, who is mum to Leo, nine, and one-year-old William - her son with John, who founded Phones4U and created children's charity, Caudwell Children – also tells for the first time how she personally understands how it feels to be invaded."I know from experience the fear and trauma that the children and families in Ukraine are going through.

Christopher Vourlias Simon Lereng Wilmont’s “A House Made of Splinters,” a tender and humane story of a children’s shelter in eastern Ukraine, earned the top prize at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, taking home the Golden Alexander Award at a ceremony on Sunday.The international competition jury praised Wilmont’s acclaimed documentary, which also won the best director prize at Sundance, as “an unforgettable film that shines a light on the burden carried by children for the horrors and mistakes perpetrated by the world of the adults who should be caring for them.”The jury also announced a Special Jury Award for “Young Plato,” by Declan McGrath and Neasa Ní Chianáin, calling it “a film that can only give us hope in future generations and their capacity to make the world a better place.” In handing out the awards, the jury described the prize-winning duo as “two profoundly moving and intricate films that, in many ways, struck us as companion pieces, and that deserve to be seen together.”In the Newcomers Competition for young and up-and-comings directors presenting their first or second features, the Golden Alexander “Dimitri Eipides” Award went to “Golden Land,” by Inka Achté, which the jury described as “a beautiful and moving family story of belonging in a way which changes the narrative of migration…[and] shows – in a non-didactic manner – a family’s struggles and dreams.” The Special Jury Prize went to “The Devil’s Drivers,” by Daniel Carsenty and Mohammed Abugeth.In the Film Forward Competition, which showcases the work of young and daring directors who challenge genre conventions, the Golden Alexander Film Forward Award went to “The Bride,” by Samira Guadagnuolo and Tiziano Doria, which the jury praised as a

This is one of the best weekends for new indie releases in some time — a bit of space in theaters to run and audiences slowly, but increasingly, willing to return.

(Reuters) -Roger Federer said he will donate $500,000 to aid children affected by the war in Ukraine, while the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said it would donate a percentage of ticket revenue from their Billie Jean King Cup tie against Ukraine to a relief fund. The U. N.

Christopher Vourlias For the second time in its past three editions, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has faced a sudden disruption in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. Two years ago, the festival was among the first to be forced online as the coronavirus pandemic swept across Europe.

Brent Renaud has sadly died.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBrent Renaud, a U.S. filmmaker and journalist, was killed in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday, while reporting on the Russian invasion of the country.

Christopher Vourlias Under different circumstances, the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival might have been a more celebratory affair, with coronavirus restrictions gradually loosening across Greece and the country’s second city hosting an in-person edition of a festival that was among the world’s first to go virtual at the start of the pandemic in 2020.But with the humanitarian toll rising in Ukraine, as Russia continues its relentless assault of its Eastern European neighbor, festival director Orestis Andreadakis offered a sobering reflection on the eve of opening night on war, cinema and the need for solidarity.“It’s shocking what is happening,” Andreadakis told Variety, likening the threat to the one faced by Europe during World War II. “After the war, we had this slogan: Never again.

EXCLUSIVE: Timur Bekmambetov, the high-profile Russian-Kazakh director who is credited as the creator of the Screenlife genre with projects including Searching and Unfriended, has condemned the “tragedy” in Ukraine and is working on a project analyzing the digital aspects of the conflict.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorFeature-length documentary “Outside,” directed by the Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba, has debuted its trailer, ahead of its premiere in the main competition section of the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).The film tells the story of the turbulent youth of Roma, a 13-year-old street boy neglected by his family and the state, who becomes a poster boy for the Ukrainian Revolution in 2014.

Manori Ravindran International EditorJake Paltrow’s forthcoming feature film “June Zero” has been picked up for sales by ICM Partners in North America and Films Boutique for the rest of world.Written by Paltrow and Tom Shoval, “June Zero” explores true stories surrounding the 1962 execution of Adolf Eichmann — one of the key architects of the Holocaust — in Israel through three characters intimately involved in the nation-defining event: David, a precocious thirteen-year-old Libyan factory worker looking to belong; Haim, Eichmann’s main prison guard, tasked with protecting this dead man walking; and the Police Investigative officer of the Eichmann trial, Micha, on his first trip back to Poland since surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau — where he tries to make sense of the future of the Jewish homeland’s soul post-execution. “June Zero” was shot on Super-16mm film in Israel and Ukraine under strict COVID-19 regulations, and represents writer-director Paltrow’s first foreign language production.

Pavlo Li on his U.S. IMDb page, was killed in the Ukranian city of Irpin on March 6, according to Ukranian journalist Sergiy Tomilenko and a post by the Odesa International Film Festival.More to come …