European Film Market Chief Dennis Ruh Talks 2022 Virtual Edition: VOD Catch-Up Screenings; Delegate & Exhibitor Numbers; Covid Situation In Berlin

Emilio Mayorga Carla Simón’s first feature “Summer 1993” was a knockout; a Generation Kplus and Best First Feature award winner at the 2017 Berlinale and Spain’s 2018 Oscars submission, winning three Spanish Academy Goya Awards. The director has since become a reference within a new wave of Catalan women filmmakers that have broken out to considerable box office and festival success.Now, Simón competes in Berlin’s main competition with her sophomore effort “Alcarràs,” exploring her own roots through her adoptive mother’s family.Set in the so-called Catalan Far West, in a small village near Lleida, the film is shot entirely using non-professional actors.

Penzing Studios, a significant film and TV studio facility development, has begun a phased opening plan in a former air base 30 miles west of Munich.

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.

Part concert film, part character portrait, Andrew Dominik’s This Much I Know To Be True is another glimpse into the life and world of musician Nick Cave. The Berlin Film Festival Berlinale Special documentary flits between interviews in his home to performances of the songs from his albums “Ghosteen” (with the Bad Seeds) and “Carnage” (with Warren Ellis).

Ben Croll “I asked myself, why was it so difficult to name a Quebecois film from the past 25 years that treated sexuality as its central theme?” Côté told Variety. “Why could France foster directors who filmed the human body in direct and unselfconscious ways, and Quebec could not? Were Quebecois more prudish than others?”And so the Montreal-based filmmaker started on his 14th feature, which follows three so-called “hypersexual” women, plagued with troubled histories and fragile mental states, as they participate in a month-long therapy retreat. But as he developed the script with a local sexologist, the filmmaker saw potential traps in two very different directions.“The film could never be meant to judge,” Côté explained.

EXCLUSIVE: Organizers of the Berlin Film Festival have told us that the world premiere screening of opening film Peter Von Kant was disrupted last night due to “a server problem”.

K.J. Yossman “Taurus” is the semi-autobiographical tale of a rap-slash-rock star on the tail-end of a self-destructive kick. Set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival Feb.

The 72nd Berlin Film Festival kicks off in physical form today with M. Night Shyamalan leading the main competition jury. Also notable among panelists is Oscar nominee Ryusuke Hamaguchi whose Drive My Car this week became the first Japanese movie ever nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. Hamaguchi was actually on a plane heading to Berlin when the nominations were announced, and only learned of the results upon landing.

coronavirus infection rates to new daily records in Germany, and numerous restrictions remain in place.“We have developed a very reduced format, in consultation with health authorities here in Berlin," the festival's executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek, told Deutschlandfunk radio. The festival's main business has been reduced to seven days, with four days at the end reserved for repeat public screenings.Cinemas will only be half-filled, and movie-goers will be required to show proof of vaccination or recent recovery from COVID-19, as well as a booster shot or a negative test.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe leadup to the 2022 Berlin Film Festival has been a veritable rollercoaster ride for co-directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian due to the global spread of the Omicron variant.But while other top fests such as Sundance and Rotterdam went online again, Berlin has stayed the course due to the two chiefs’ determination to not go virtual and also to keep their February slot, albeit in its current reduced Feb. 10-16 form.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFrance’s Anamaria Vartolomei, star of Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner “Happening”; Ireland’s Clare Dunne, whose character in AMC’s Dublin-set series “Kin” has been dubbed “the female Tony Soprano”; and Croatia’s Gracija Filipovic, who made a splash in Alamat Kusijanovic’s “Murina,” winner of the 2021 Cannes Camera d’Or, are among the 10 young actors selected by European Film Promotion for the 25th anniversary edition of European Shooting Stars.Due to coronavirus concerns, EFP, which is the umbrella organization of national film agencies across Europe, will shine a spotlight on these standout talents with a hybrid event culminating with an in-person red carpet awards ceremony Feb. 14 in Berlin during the film festival.This year’s Shooting Stars roster — seven women, three men — was picked from a pool of nominations by a jury comprising Swedish-Georgian filmmaker Levan Akin; Timka Grin, who is president of the Intl.

Filmmaker David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s drama The Fabelmans, Deadline has confirmed.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the first trailer for his long-awaited film “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Starring Alia Bhatt (“Gully Boy”) in the titular role alongside Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji”), the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis-featuring film This Much I Know To Be True has been released – you can watch the clip below.The Andrew Dominik-directed film is set for release later this year, and will be a companion piece to the 2016 music documentary One More Time With Feeling. It’ll premiere at the Berlin Film Festival later this month.This Much I Know To Be True will explore Cave and Ellis’ creative relationship and feature songs from their last two studio albums, 2019’s ‘Ghosteen’ (by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) and last year’s ‘Carnage’ (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis).The first clip from This Much I Know To Be True has been released today (February 3), and begins with Cave discussing his own definition of his artistry.The clip concludes with Ellis conducting a string quartet as Cave performs the track ‘Lavender Fields’ – you can watch the first teaser video for This Much I Know To Be True above.The film was shot on location in London and Brighton last year, and will “document the duo’s first performances of the albums and feature a special appearance by close friend and long-term collaborator, Marianne Faithfull“ (via Deadline).It’ll also visit the workshop where Cave is “creating a series of sculptures depicting the life of the Devil”.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBrussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired “Coma,” the latest film by celebrated French director Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”). “Coma” will have its world premiere premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the Encounters section. Weaving genre, animation and live action, the stylish movie boasts an exciting cast including Louise Labeque (“Zombi Child”) and Julia Faure (“Camille Rewinds”), with voices by beloved late actor Gaspard Ulliel, as well as Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste.

Radiohead side-project The Smile have announced a UK and European tour for 2022 – see all the details below.The trio – comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – released their debut single ‘You Will Never Work In Television Again’ and its follow-up ‘The Smoke’ earlier this month.The Smile then took to the stage for three gigs at the Magazine venue in London over the weekend (January 29/30), with each performance being live-streamed online.Today (February 1) it’s been confirmed that the band will hit the road this spring for a run of European headline shows. Kicking off in Zagreb on May 16, the tour also includes appearances in Vienna (May 17), Prague (19), Berlin (20), Stockholm (23), Oslo (24) and Amsterdam (27).Yorke and co.

Pete Doherty and collaborator Frédéric Lo have announced a UK and European tour – see all the details below.The Libertines and Babyshambles frontman teamed up with the French musician for a new joint album, ‘The Fantasy Life Of Poetry & Crime’, which is due for release on March 18 via Doherty’s own Strap Originals label.So far, the pair have shared the single ‘You Can’t Keep It From Me Forever’ as well as the record’s title track.Today (January 28) it’s been confirmed that Doherty and Lo will hit the road in May for ‘The Fantasy Life…’ tour. Kicking off in Paris on May 5, the stint also includes stop-offs in Cologne (May 6), Berlin (7), Amsterdam (9) and Belgium (11).The duo will touch down in the UK on May 13 for a headline performance at KOKO in Camden, London.

Berlin Film Festival organizers on Wednesday said they have further updated their Covid regulations ahead of the fest, which kicks off February 10.

Kim Gordon has announced details of a new US, UK and European tour in support of her 2019 album, ‘No Home Record’.The UK and European portion of the dates, which kick off in March, will mark the iconic musician’s first international solo headline tour.Gordon will first take the record across the US, beginning at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA, before venturing on to six further cities for her own shows. She will also perform at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN and Treefort Festival in Boise, ID.