To say that filmmaker Lars von Trier is unconventional is an understatement. This is a filmmaker that aims to keep his audience on their toes and isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get a rise out of people.
To say that filmmaker Lars von Trier is unconventional is an understatement. This is a filmmaker that aims to keep his audience on their toes and isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get a rise out of people.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kirsten Dunst said in a new interview with Marie Claire that she’s finally at a stage in her career where she no longer feels “nervous” speaking her mind, adding: “I feel at home sharing everything on set now.” It’s a far cry from the version of Dunst who was on the “Spider-Man” set decades ago. As a young actor, Dunst didn’t have the confidence to speak up when things bothered her. Case in point: Being repeatedly called a “girly-girl” on the “Spider-Man” set.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Fantasporto, the Oporto Intl. Film Festival, kicked off Friday in Portugal’s Porto — city famed for its elegant Romanesque cathedral, a bookstore that inspired “Harry Potter,” and the heady alcoholic drink — with an eclectic mix of titles but an emphasis on fantasy films. Typifying the broad tastes of the festival chiefs, film critics Beatriz Pacheco Pereira and Mário Dorminsky, Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand’s satire “Testament” opened the event’s 44th edition at Batalha Centro de Cinema, and Chinese fantasy epic “Creation of Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” directed by Wuershan, closes it.
London Film Festival program boss Rowan Woods is to take on the Creative Director post at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In my opinion, the two greatest directors to emerge from the nexus of international cinema in the 1990s were both Scandinavian. One of them, Lars von Trier, became quite famous, for reasons both good and bad.
Stephan Komandarev’s Blaga’s Lessons (Уроците на Блага), which took the Grand Prix in the Crystal Globe Competition at 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival as well as the Best Actress Award for its star Eli Skorcheva, will be Bulgaria’s International Film submission for the 2024 Academy Awards.
EXCLUSIVE: Distributor-producer Lucky Red is one of Italy’s most respected independent film and TV companies. Run by former actor Andrea Occhipinti since 1987, the firm has released more than 500 titles and produced more than 50 films.
Marta Balaga Mika Gustafson’s “Paradise Is Burning” – sold by Italy’s Intramovies and previously known as “Sisters” – has debuted a trailer and exclusive first clip ahead of its premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section. Set in Sweden, it sees young sisters Laura, Mira and Steffi trying to get by on their own after their mother leaves. When social services call, Laura comes up with a plan: in order to avoid foster care, she needs to find someone to impersonate their mom.
EXCLUSIVE: Karlovy Vary competition pic The Hypnosis, starring Herbert Nordrum (The Worst Person In The World) and Asta August (The Kingdom), has inked a series of international deals for Totem Films.
Lars von Trier has advertised that he’s looking for a “girlfriend and muse” in a new Instagram video.The director, known for films such as Nymphomaniac, Dogville and The Idiots, posted the video Tuesday (August 15), in which he holds up a sign to the camera that reads “Lars von Trier looking for girlfriend/muse.”Von Trier, who has been married twice before, announced last August that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and would be taking a break for his health.“I don’t know what I’ve dragged myself into this time,” von Trier said in the video (captioned in English).“So before I drown myself in smug advertising, let me make a few things clear: I’m 67 years old. I have Parkinson’s disease, OCD, and at the moment, controlled alcoholism.
Marta Balaga Producer Marianne Slot will continue her successful collaboration with Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson, following 2018 “Woman at War” with TV show “The Danish Woman” and upcoming feature film “Normal Men.” “It’s a comedy, as you can imagine. Benedikt Erlingsson and a feminist producer – that’s a good combination,” she laughs, recalling their previous film about an environmental activist going rogue. “’Woman at War’ was so joyful to make.
The lessons learned in this pitch-black German-Bulgarian co-production are very grim indeed, a social-realist drama that takes an unexpectedly shocking turn at its harrowing climax. The film’s recent win at Karlovy Vary, where it took the Grand Prix in the Crystal Globe Competition, should give it a welcome boost on the arthouse circuit, but the unwary are warned that Stephan Komandarev’s latest feature packs a punch not seen since Lars Von Trier or Michael Haneke in their provocative prime.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran Swedish star Stellan Skarsgård, who plays villain Baron Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” – part two of which will be released in November – will be honoured by the Locarno Film Festival with its Leopard Club Award. Skarsgård, who started his Hollywood career working with top directors such as StevenSpielberg in “Amistad” (1997) and Gus Van Sant in “Good Will Hunting,” the same year, and segued to memorable roles in Gore Verbinsky’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and in “Mamma Mia!,” among other films. He is being feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema with its Leopard Club Award dedicated to a film industry artist who has made a “mark on the collective imagination.”
The Locarno Film Festival will fete Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård with its Honorary Career Leopard award at the upcoming edition, running August 2 to 12.
Mubi has acquired 11 films by Lars von Trier for North America, including the director’s Dogme 95 entry The Idiots. It will release a new uncut 4K restoration of the film June 16 theatrically timed to its 25th anniversary, followed by an exclusive streaming release.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prominent Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, who has been instrumental to bringing works by auteurs such as Lars Von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso to the big screen, is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival. Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6. Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina, Emma Dante, Marian Crişan, Juliette Garcia, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Sergei Loznitsa, and Naomi Kawase.
Rebecca Souw One of the leading actors of his generation, Korea’s Choi Min-sik is tackling his first TV role in some 25 years, with Disney+ crime drama series “Big Bet.” Choi says the gamble was a challenge, but ultimately worth the risk. While he has notched up iconic cinema roles in “Oldboy” “Shiri,” “I Saw the Devil,” Luc Besson’s “Lucy” and all-time Korean box office record holder “Roaring Currents,” Choi’s last significant TV role was in dark comedy “The Moon of Seoul” (aka “Seoul ui Dal”) in the 20th century’s pre-streaming era. Choi says that the changes in the TV industry are palpable and mostly for the better.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Denmark has finally started addressing the lack of diversity in local movies and TV series. From afar, the country is the epitome of liberalism and home to provocative filmmakers like Lars von Trier and a new wave of directors with foreign origins, such as Ali Abassi (“Holy Spider”) and Milad Alami (“The Charmer”). But up close, the Nordic country has been sliding to the far right and enacting Europe’s harshest anti-immigration laws, pushing the local film community to react. The alarm was recently rung by A Bigger Picture, a female-led advocacy group spearheaded by Laura Allen Müller (“Borgen”), Sandra Yi Sencindiver (“The Wheel of Time”), Malaika B. Mosendane (“Chosen”), Siir Tilif (“Fatal Crossing”) and Dorcas Joanna Hansen (“Elvira”).
Who do we traditionally consider to be Danish on screen, and why?
Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas is best known for his work on-screen with filmmakers such as Lars von Trier and Anders Thomas Jensen, but he’s in Berlin this week with Agent, his first project as a writer-director.
Marta Balaga Nikolaj Lie Kaas’ series “Agent,” shown at Berlinale Series, centers around Joe, who has high hopes for his famous clients. But it’s not another remake of a certain French smash. “I started writing it before ‘Call My Agent!’ even came out. Then I saw it on Netflix and went: ‘Oh, for f**k’s sake…’,” Danish actor-turned-director tells Variety. “I guess I was just longing for a comedy, something that would also have depth, heart and all that stuff. I said to myself: ‘Nikolaj, you are being a bitch about it. Create something yourself, instead of asking others to do it.’”
EXCLUSIVE: For the second time this week, we can reveal a milestone performance for a Mubi film, with the update that Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave has become the company’s most streamed film in North America.
Not yet thirty years old, Mia Goth has already collaborated with several world-renowned filmmakers for her willingness to follow their most demented muses. Her girlish appearance strikes a shocking contrast with the atrocity exhibitions that she gravitates toward: eagerly taking to sexual grooming in Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac;” undergoing forcible insemination and grisly spaghettification with Claire Denis in “High Life;” becoming an insane asylum’s incestuous princess for Gore Verbinski in “A Cure for Wellness;” witnessing her own disembowelment as part of the orgiastic blood ritual Luca Guadagnino that’s the grand finale to “Suspiria;” manifesting a century of madness for Ti West’s in-progress trio of period pieces of “X,” “Pearl,” and the upcoming “Maxxxine.” And so it’s no surprise that Goth’s latest outing is another twisted affair: Brandon Cronenberg‘s “Infinity Pool,” which takes place at a Mediterranean beach resort that hides a violent and depraved sub-culture.
It’s a backhanded compliment to Sundance to see such an emotionally-stunning film as Belgian director Veerle Baetens’ When It Melts, which premiered tonight in the festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and wonder, right away, why a film of this power won’t be debuting in the official selection at Cannes this year. This is in no way to suggest that the American indie showcase is a kind of second-best place for it, more an indictment of Europe’s biggest cinema event, which routinely takes such harrowing stories of tortured and troubled women — as long as they are directed by men.
The American Film Institute (AFI) Board of Trustees will bestow his 49th AFI Life Achievement Award on Oscar winner Nicole Kidman at their June 10, 2023 ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Kidman is the first Australian actor to receive this honor.
For the first time in twenty-five years, Lars Von Trier returns to Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet and his cult TV series “The Kingdom.” And while “The Kingdom Exodus” may be Von Trier’s final edition of the show, MUBI will give its streaming premiere a prestige rollout. READ MORE: ‘The Kingdom Exodus’ Review: Lars Von Trier Is Down With The Sickness In Revived Hospital Comedy Series [Venice] Starting on November 13, MUBI will release remastered director’s cuts of the previous two seasons of “The Kingdom.” All five episodes of “The Kingdom I” hit the streamer this Sunday, while “The Kingdom II” debuts next Sunday, November 20.
The European Film Academy has unveiled a new public-facing event called the Month of European Film.
While you’re still trying to figure out exactly what your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans are, the Criterion Collection is already looking at 2023. Yes, with their 2022 schedule already locked, the boutique DVD/Blu-Ray label has finalized its January 2023 release, and as usual, it’s a terrific crop of films.
EXCLUSIVE: Another Round creator Thomas Vinterberg’sdebut TV project has set cast and commenced principal photography.
Ed Meza @edmezavar Celebrated actor and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, speaking to an audience at the Zurich Film Festival, shared her experiences filming Celyn Jones and Tom Stern’s “The Almond and the Seahorse,” the valuable instructions received from Lars von Trier, and the challenges of shooting a documentary about mother Jane Birkin. Based on the play of the same name by Kaite O’Reilly, who wrote the screenplay with Jones, “The Almond and the Seahorse,” which screens in Zurich’s Gala Premieres section, revolves around two couples struggling with severe brain injuries. Toni (Gainsbourg) is dealing with her partner Gwen (Trine Dyrholm), who no longer is the same person that she was before. She finds support in Sarah (Rebel Wilson), whose husband Joe (Jones) is suffering from a similar brain injury.
Charlotte Gainsbourg revealed the lasting impact of working with Danish director Lars von Trier at a Masterclass at the Zurich Film Festival this week, where she also received its honorary Golden Eye career award.
Lars von Trier made a triumphant return to filmmaking at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month with “The Kingdom Exodus” as he battles Parkinson’s disease. Now, MUBI has a date set for the third season of von Trier’s series for its exclusive release on the streamer: November 27, with restored versions of the previous two seasons of the show premiering in the weeks beforehand.
After two years of holding in-person but stripped down editions of the festival, South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, October 5-14) is back in full force this year with a packed line-up of screenings, red carpets, parties, awards and industry events.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Loco Films has boarded international sales rights to actor-turned-helmer Dinara Droukarova’s feature debut “Woman at Sea” which will world premiere in the New Directors section at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Produced by Marianne Slot and Carine LeBlanc at Paris-based Slot Machine (“Melancholia”), “Woman at Sea” stars Droukarova as Lili, who has left everything behind to travel to the end of the earth to fulfil her dream of fishing in the northern seas, in Iceland. She convinces Ian, a fishing boat skipper, to give her a chance and embarks on the Rebel. She is the only woman in the crew but she will win everybody’s respect thanks to her determination and courage. “We are proud of this first film, shot on the harsh northern seas about a young woman seeking the fresh air of freedom. A beautiful and free film and the birth of a new director,” said Laurent Danielou, founder and president of Loco Films.
“The Kingdom: Exodus,” lurching unnaturally back to life nearly twenty years since Lars von Trier first plumbed the depths of madness contained within Copenhagen’s Rigethospitalet, has returned, and it is swarming with ghosts. The five new episodes serve as a continuation of the auteur’s ‘90s-era surreal gallows comedy while looking inward, making conversation with its own past as well as the sinister penumbra of history itself.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Venice Film Festival title “Music for Black Pigeons,” directed by Danish filmmakers Jørgen Leth, best known for “The Five Obstructions,” and “The Lost Leonardo” helmer Andreas Koefoed, has debuted its trailer with Variety. The documentary, which premieres on Tuesday in Venice’s Out of Competition section, explores the lives and processes of some of the world’s most renowned and prolific jazz musicians, including Jakob Bro, Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian and Midori Takada. Leth, who has directed more than 40 films including landmark works such as “A Sunday in Hell” (1977) and the surrealist short “The Perfect Human” (1968), returns to Venice after his feature documentary “The Five Obstructions,” which he co-directed with Lars von Trier, screened on the Lido in 2003.
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