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.
Oscar-Nominated ‘Timbuktu’ Director Abderrahmane Sissako on Being ‘Free to Dream’ in Berlin Competition Romantic Drama ‘Black Tea’
19.02.2024 - 06:47 / variety.com
Christopher Vourlias Oscar nominee Abderrahmane Sissako (“Timbuktu”) returns to the screen for the first time in nearly a decade with his latest feature, “Black Tea,” a lushly lensed romantic drama about a love spanning cultural divides that world premieres Feb. 21 in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.
It has been almost 10 years since the release of Sissako’s last film, “Timbuktu,” which was set during the jihadist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and was described by Variety’s Jay Weissberg as a “stunningly shot condemnation of intolerance and its annihilation of diversity.” The film, a resounding critical success, competed for the Palme d’Or in Cannes, swept France’s Cesar Awards and was nominated for an Oscar in 2015 in what was then the best foreign language film category. “Black Tea” finds Sissako working in a more gentle, melancholy tone.
The film follows Aya, played by Nina Mélo, who walks out on her wedding day in Ivory Coast and sets off to start a new life in China. Amid the African hair salons and cluttered market stalls of the Guangzhou district known as “Chocolate City,” she finds work in a tea shop owned by Cai (Han Chang), who initiates her into the traditional Chinese tea ceremony.
Gradually, a romantic bond develops between the two. Much like their slowly simmering love affair, Sissako says “Black Tea” has been brewing since long before the movie’s script was written.
The first seeds, in fact, were planted in the director’s 2002 breakout “Heremakono” (Waiting for Happiness), an elusive, contemplative film set in a small West African seaside village. In a memorable scene from that film, which won the FIPRESCI award after premiering in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, a Chinese merchant
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Israeli Director Says He Is Getting Death Threats After German Officials Criticized Berlin Film Festival Acceptance Speeches As “Anti-Semitic”
Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham, who last week picked up the best documentary award at the Berlin Film Festival, has said he has received death threats and had to cancel his flight home after German officials and Israeli media described his acceptance speech as “anti-Semitic”.
China, Taiwan, And The ‘Island In Between’: Perilous Outpost Explored In Oscar-Nominated Short
At their nearest point, Taiwan and mainland China are less than a hundred miles apart. But historically and politically – for over 70 years – a broad gulf has separated them. In the case of the Kinmen Islands, part of Taiwan, the paradox between geography and history is even more stark: the islands sit but a few miles from the mainland city of Xiamen, in the increasingly fraught waters of the Taiwan Strait.
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).
The Match Factory Locks Multiple Deals On Berlin Competition Titles ‘Dying’ And ‘Architecton’
The Match Factory has locked multi-territory deals on Berlinale titles Architecton by Victor Kossakovsky and Dying by Matthias Glasner, which picked up the festival’s Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.
Berlin Competition Title ‘La Cocina,’ Starring Rooney Mara, Sells Nearly Worldwide for HanWay (EXCLUSIVE)
Alex Ritman “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories. HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis.
‘Seven Veils’ Review: Atom Egoyan’s Cold But Bracing Take on ‘Salome’ – Berlin Film Festival
From his breakthrough work Family Viewing, which dates back to 1987, Atom Egoyan has been exploring the possibilities of different communication technologies by showing screens within screens, stories within other stories and the ways unconnected stories may merge with each other and with real life. Seven Veils is named for the Biblical character Salome, whose seductive dancing as she shed those veils earned her a grisly prize: the severed head of John the Baptist, the ascetic prophet who predicted the coming of Jesus Christ.
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.
‘Black Tea’ Review: Abderrahmane Sissako’s Cross-Cultural Love Story is a Disappointingly Weak Brew
Guy Lodge Film Critic Tea can be an energizer or a sedative. “Black Tea,” the first film in a decade from veteran Mauritanian auteur Abderrahmane Sissako, sips exclusively from the latter end of the shelf, passing through chamomile-type calm into outright soporific territory.
‘Black Tea,’ Abderrahmane Sissako‘s African-Chinese Romance From Gaumont, Sells Wide Ahead of Berlinale Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Black Tea,” Abderrahmane Sissako‘s lushly lensed romance drama set in China, has been bought by major distributors in key territories ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Gaumont, which co-produced the film, has sold it to Caramel (Spain), Academy two (Italy), Pandora Films (Germany, Austria), Cineart (Benelux), Films4you (Portugal), Provzglyad (CIS), Mozinet (Hungary), Another World Entertainment (Norway), Film Bazar (Denmark), MCF Megacom (Former Yugoslavia, Albania), Filmstop (Latvia, Estonia), MB Taip Toliau (Lithuania), Imovision (Brazil), AV Jet (Taiwan), Falcon (Indonesia), Pathé BC (Sub-Saharan Africa, Maghreb) and New Cinema (Israel).
Margherita Vicario’s Musical Comedy ‘Gloria!’ Scores Multiple Sales Ahead of Berlin Competition Bow (EXCLUSIVE)
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario’s directorial debut “Gloria!” has scored a slew international sales ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival competition. RAI Cinema International Distribution has sealed deals to nine territories on Vicario’s vibrant musical comedy set in a late 18th century Venetian female orphanage where a young rebel named Teresa leads a group of performers to challenge classical canons and invent a precursor to pop music.
‘The Devil’s Bath,’ Berlinale Competition Thriller From ‘Goodnight Mommy’ Duo, Sells to Key Markets for Playtime (EXCLUSIVE)
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has had a busy EFM, where it’s locked a raft of major deals on “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath” stars Anja Plaschg, the up-and-coming singer and composer known as Soap & Skin. Plaschg plays Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, which is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations.
Iranian Debut Director Aliyar Rasti on Faith, Magic and Miracles in Berlinale Encounters Premiere ‘The Great Yawn of History’
Christopher Vourlias A cross-country journey in search of a mysterious treasure puts the nature of faith to the test in “The Great Yawn of History,” the feature debut of Iranian director Aliyar Rasti, which premieres Feb. 23 in the competitive Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival. The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave.
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.
Why ‘From Hilde, With Love’ Director Made Nazi-Era Berlin Seem Almost ‘Normal’: ‘I Wanted to Bring It Closer to Our Reality’
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor When Laila Stieler’s script for “From Hilde, With Love,” which world premiered Saturday in competition at the Berlinale, first came to director Andreas Dresen he was a little reluctant to take the project on. The issue was not the script but the subject-matter: set in Nazi-era Berlin, “From Hilde, With Love” is a love story about two real life members of the pro-Communist, German resistance movement known as the Red Orchestra, Hilde and Hans Coppi. More than 50 members of the group were guillotined in Berlin’s Plötzensee Prison between 1942 and 1943, including the Coppis.
‘Napoleon’s’ Oscar-Nominated Production And Costume Designers On The Challenges Of Ridley Scott’s Latest Epic – Contenders Film: The Nominees
The Oscar-nominated artisans from Ridley Scott‘s epic Napoleon joined me as part of Apple Original Films‘ presentations at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event. Veteran production designer Arthur Max and costume designers Janty Yates and David Crossman talked extensively about what it was like to work with Sir Ridley on the ambitious, large-scale production that saw Joaquin Phoenix play Napoleon Bonaparte and Vanessa Kirby his wife Josephine.
Gael García Bernal On Reviving Romantic Films With Berlin Competition Title ‘Another End:’ “There Aren’t So Many Around Anymore”
“This is a very, very romantic film,” Gael García Bernal said of his Berlin competition title, Another End.
‘Another End’ Star Gael García Bernal and Director Piero Messina Discuss the Central Question Behind the Berlin Drama: ‘What Happens After Death?’
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World”) star as lovers caught in an unusual bind in Italian director Piero Messina’s unconventional sci-fi film “Another End,” which is competing in Berlin. Set in a near-future when a new technology exists that can put the consciousness of a dead person back into a living body in an attempt to ease the grief of separation, the English-language film sees Bernal play Sal, a man who loses his wife. Reinsve plays Zoe, the woman who rents her body for the implantation of Bernal’s wife’s consciousness.
‘From Hilde, With Love’ Director Andreas Dresen Says He Sympathises With Berlinale Leaders Over Far-Right Invitation Controversy: “It Must Have Been Hell”
Filmmaker Andreas Dresen and actress Liv Lisa Fries took part morning in the press conference for new drama From Hilde, With Love, which debuts this weekend in Competition at the Berlin Film Festival.
‘Meanwhile On Earth’ Review: An Endearingly Surreal Meditation On Loss – Berlin Film Festival
Grief is a concept that everyone with a heart can relate to, but it’s not always something that everyone with a brain can deal with. Riffing on Jean Cocteau’s 1950 classic Orphée and giving it a very modern makeover, French writer-director Jérémy Clapin explores that very paradox with Meanwhile on Earth, a strange, poetic, and endearingly surreal meditation on the counterintuitive ways in which we react when confronted with loss.