Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.
How Locarno Winner Nele Wohlatz Explores Migrants’ Loss of a Sense of Belonging in Berlinale Film ‘Sleep With Your Eyes Open’
21.02.2024 - 14:39 / variety.com
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor German filmmaker Nele Wohlatz‘s “Sleep With Your Eyes Open,” which had its world premiere on Saturday in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival, tells a story about the search for a sense of belonging in a foreign country. It starts with Kai, a young Taiwanese woman with a broken heart, arriving at a Brazilian beach resort for a holiday. Here, her life crosses paths with a group of Chinese migrants living in a luxury tower block, and in particular a young woman called Xiaoxin, who accepts her fate, and Fu Ang, who is working in an umbrella store when we meet him but harbors ambitions to become wealthy.
Xiaoxin writes about her life on a series of postcards, which are never sent and are eventually discarded. Kai finds them and reads them, provided a connection between the two women. At one point, we stop following Kai and our attention shifts to Xiaoxin and Fu Ang.
Among the filmmakers who have influenced Wohlatz’s film are Martín Rejtman, one of the founders of the New Argentine Cinema. “He has this very deadpan, absurd humour, and works with highly professional actors, but they are very low key in their expressions,” she tells Variety. She also “adores” the films of the late Edward Yang, who was part of the Taiwanese New Wave.
“He reads the city, in his case Taipei, as if there were meaning [in the shots] you could read. He finds those very elegant shots in order to organize the chaos on the street, the traffic, the people, the architecture, and puts it together as if there was a meaning you could read. And it’s almost like a foreign perspective that he throws on his own city,” she says.
Doha Film Institute’s Qumra Workshop to Kick Off With Toni Collette, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan Among Masters and Project Mentors
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Doha Film Institute’s unique Qumra incubator kicks off Friday with six days of master classes, labs and mentoring sessions and some 200 industry professionals – including programmers from Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin and many other major festivals – expected to make the trek to the Qatari capital. Qumra, which is an Arab word believed to be the origin of the word “camera,” is dedicated to supporting and shepherding first and second works by Arab directors but also supports some projects from other parts of the world.
‘Ploey 2’ Flies to Multiple Territories After Debuting at European Film Market With the Playmaker (EXCLUSIVE)
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month. The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers.
Berlinale Competition Titles ‘Dying’ and ‘Architecton’ Score Multiple Deals With the Match Factory
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).
Joburg Film Festival Celebrates 30 Years of South African Democracy With Spotlight on ‘Inspiring’ Local Storytellers
Christopher Vourlias Following on the heels of a successful post-pandemic reboot one year ago, the Joburg Film Festival kicks off its sixth edition on Feb. 27, with the glitzy capital of South Africa’s media and entertainment industry showcasing a selection of top talents from the host country and across the African continent.
In Berlinale Film ‘Paradises of Diane,’ a Woman Abandons Her Baby but Finds Herself: ‘We Don’t Want to Judge Her’
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Paradises of Diane,” which premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival, came out of an exploration of the “dark side of maternity” and the role of the mother in society, director Carmen Jaquier tells Variety. The film, which was directed with Jan Gassmann, starts with Diane abandoning her new-born baby at a maternity clinic in Zurich, and heading to the seedy Spanish seaside resort Benidorm, without telling anyone.
Berlin Film Festival: Mati Diop Wins Golden Bear With Documentary ‘Dahomey,’ Emily Watson And Sebastian Stan Take Acting Honors
Winners have been announced at the 74th Berlin Film Festival, with Dahomey by French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Saturday evening at the Berlinale Palast.
‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ Producer Marie-Ange Luciani Talks Berlin Film ‘Langue Étrangère’ & Future Projects
Anatomy of a Fall French producer Marie-Ange Luciani put in a flying appearance at the Berlinale this week with Claire Burger’s coming-of-age drama Langue Étrangère which received a warm reception in competition.
Ray Yeung’s LGBT Bereavement Tale ‘All Shall Be Well’ Sells to Several Territories Following Berlinale Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hong Kong director Ray Yeung ‘s “All Shall Be Well” has sold in several key markets following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Represented in international markets by Films Boutique, “All Shall Be Well” is playing in the Panorama section at the Berlinale and is eligible for the Teddy Award.
Christoph Waltz, Sebastian Stan, Tom Wlaschiha Celebrate Berlinale Films at Studio Babelsberg Party
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sebastian Stan, whose “A Different Man” screens in the Berlin Film Festival, Christoph Waltz and Tom Wlaschiha, the “Faceless Man” in “Game of Thrones,” were among the guests at Studio Babelsberg Night, the historic Berlin film studios’ party at Soho House Berlin held to celebrate the 74th edition of the festival. The event was supported by Mexican tequila brand Don Julio, the Motion Picture Assn. and Little Moons.
Helicopter Rescues, Motorbike Accidents, Altitude Sickness: How Nepal’s Min Bahadur Bham Overcame the Odds to Shoot Berlin Competition Title ‘Shambhala’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Naman Ramachandran Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham‘s journey to make Berlin competition title “Shambhala” was arduous but an ultimately rewarding one. Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” (aka “The Black Hen,” 2015) won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry.
Carey Mulligan, Adam Sandler, & Paul Dano Premiere 'Spaceman' at Berlinale Film Festival 2024
Carey Mulligan and Adam Sandler are hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.
Berlin: Taiwan’s ‘Shambhala,’ ‘Sleep With Your Eyes Open’ Producers Join Forces for Film, TV Venture
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Taiwan-based production companies with features in this week’s Berlin Film Festival have joined forces to launch new venture, Long Hu Bao × An Attitude. Taiwan’s Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao International Entertainment, is one of eight co-producers on main competition film “Shambhala,” from Nepal’s Min Bahadur Bham.
Saudi Arabia Launches Film Fund For Arab Cinema With Slate Toplined by Biopic of Singer Umm Kulthum Played by Mona Zaki
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has launched a new film fund called Big Time Investment to boost production of quality Arabic movies and announced a slate of Egyptian feature films toplined by a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer. Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic “Kira and El Gen” about local resistance to British occupation, is recent hit, will direct the film titled “El Set.” Egyptian star Mona Zaki will play Kulthum who from the late 1920s onwards became the first prominent Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.
‘From Hilde, With Love,’ About Anti-Nazi Activists in World War II Berlin, Debuts Trailer Following Berlinale Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “From Hilde, With Love,” which world premiered Saturday in competition at the Berlinale, has debuted its trailer (below). The film, directed by Andreas Dresen, centers on a group of young anti-Nazi activists in Berlin during World War II. (Read Variety‘s review here.) The film, which is being sold by Beta Cinema and is produced by Claudia Steffen and Christoph Friedel for Pandora Film, stars “Babylon Berlin” breakout Liv Lisa Fries and Johannes Hegemann.
Greek Filmmaker Yorgos Zois, Director of Berlinale Encounters Premiere ‘Arcadia,’ Developing Mystery-Drama Series ‘Play’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Christopher Vourlias Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life.
How Novelist Christine Angot Came to Make a Film About Her Family’s Reaction to Revelation That Her Father Repeatedly Raped Her
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor In Christine Angot‘s documentary “A Family,” which premieres Sunday in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival, the French novelist explores how various members of her family reacted to the revelation that she was repeatedly raped by her father from the age of 13. The film starts with a startling confrontation between Angot and her stepmother in Strasbourg, with Angot pushing her way into her stepmother’s apartment with a camera-person and proceeding to question the woman about Angot’s late father’s crimes and the wife’s view on that. Angot says that this incident was not planned at all.
Rooney Mara Promotes New Movie 'La Cocina' in Chic Black Looks at Berlinale Film Festival
Rooney Mara is hard at work promoting her new movie La Cocina at the 74th Berlinale International Film Festival on Friday (February 16) in Berlin, Germany.
Saoirse Ronan Shimmers Alongside 'The Outrun' Co-Star Paapa Essiedu at Berlinale Film Festival 2024
Saoirse Ronan is hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.
Italian Film Business Bounces Back With Production Percolating as Box Office Picks Up
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy — which is the Country of Focus at this year’s European Film Market in Berlin — is flourishing in terms of production activity just as its box office grosses start to pick up. Yet there’s room for improvement in terms of the number of titles that are able to break out internationally. The Cinema Italiano output currently stands at over 350 movies a year, including co-productions, which is up compared with pre-pandemic levels.