Phoebe Waller-Bridge Supports Partner Martin McDonagh at 'Banshees of Inisherin' Premiere in Venice

Ed Meza @edmezavar The 18th Zurich Film Festival kicks off Sept. 22 with a muscular lineup that includes some of the year’s most anticipated international pics while also putting the spotlight on Swiss and German-language cinema. In addition to a strong selection of U.S. films, including Oscar-winning writer-director Florian Zeller’s “The Son” and Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” Zurich is also honoring Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard for their contribution to cinema. “We are very proud that this year about one-fourth of our program are world or European premieres, which – especially when it comes to American films – are quite hard to get because there’s a lot of competition,” says ZFF artistic director Christian Jungen.

best actor prize at Venice Film Festival for Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Colin Farrell was spotted pounding the pavement on a run in California. The Irish star looked to be powering through West Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon as he ran shirtless in the sunshine as part of his exercise regime. Running in dark shorts, turquoise trainers and a grey baseball cap, the 46-year-old was in fine form as he got his sweat on in the heat.

Toronto Film Festival returned in spectacular fashion after two years of virtual premieres or limited capacity screenings. The parties were packed (which may lead to COVID outbreaks down the road, but… that’s showbiz?), the red carpets were glittering and the atmosphere was electric, bordering on euphoric, as director Rian Johnson’s acclaimed sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story,” Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” and the Harry Styles-led romantic drama “My Policeman” debuted to blockbuster-starved audiences in Canada. Hollywood seemed eager to make up for lost time. So, as the curtain comes down on TIFF, here’s a look back at the major trends and takeaways from the 10-day festival.

Toronto International Film Festival on Monday night. Running time: 109 minutes. Rated R (language throughout, some violent content and brief graphic nudity).

Brad Pitt joins Ana de Armas and the rest of the cast of Blonde on the red carpet at the film’s premiere during the 2022 Venice Film Festival Thursday (September 8).

Tilda Swinton is gracing the red carpet at the 2022 Venice Film Festival!

Zooey Deschanel leans back for a kiss from boyfriend Jonathan Scott at the premiere of her movie, Dreamin’ Wild, during the 2022 Venice Film Festival on Wednesday night (September 7) in Venice, Italy.

Zooey Deschanel and Casey Affleck are stepping out to support their new movie.

Colin Farrell received a 13-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival following the premiere of his new film The Banshees Of Inisherin.The actor reunited with his In Bruges co-star Brendan Gleeson and director Martin McDonagh for the upcoming drama about two Irish men whose life-long friendship is brought to an abrupt end.According to Variety, Farrell, Gleeson and McDonagh received the “longest and loudest reception” of any film yet to show at this year’s festival.However, the publication speculated that this was in response to Farrell, “who broke with tradition by wading into the crowd to take selfies with fans and sign autographs, which only made the cheering grow louder and more sustained”.Earlier at the festival, Brendan Fraser was moved to tears after receiving a six-minute standing ovation following the premiere of his new film The Whale.Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film sees Fraser play a reclusive English teacher who lives with severe obesity. Stranger Things‘ Sadie Sink also stars, playing Fraser’s estranged teenager daughter.Following the film’s premiere over the weekend, footage emerged of the audience giving Fraser a rapturous reception.

Evgeny Afineevsky released his Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom in 2015, documenting the Euromaidan protests the previous year in the city of Kyiv that led to the collapse of the Russia-aligned Azarov government and the removal and exile of Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine’s president. Afineevsky returns to Venice this year with Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, a follow-up that details the real stories of the people of Ukraine as they continue their fight against Russia’s invasion of their country.

As the 49th Annual Telluride Film Festival comes to a close on this Labor Day holiday, it once again could be a fest that ignites the Oscar chances of a number of films that have either had their World Premieres or North American Premieres this weekend. As part of the so-called Fall Festival Trifecta of Venice/Telluride/Toronto (the latter beginning this Thursday), this is where the six month+ awards season officially starts, even if the even longer Emmy season doesn’t conclude until a week from today.

The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s return to the Venice Film Festival after 2017’s triumphant Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, had its world premiere Monday night, getting the biggest response from fest audience so far this year with a 15-minute standing ovation.

Colin Farrell suits up sharp for the premiere of his new movie, The Banshees of Inisherin, during the 2022 Venice International Film Festival on Monday (September 5) in Venice, Italy.

Playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh is up to more deliciously fiendish tricks in The Banshees of Inisherin, a simple and diabolical tale of a friendship’s end shot through with bristling humor and sudden moments of startling violence. It world premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival Monday. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and the small handful of supporting players make the most of the author’s vibrant prose in McDonagh’s first film since Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri five years ago.

The mordantly comedic assault on the politics of revenge used to be the province of English/Irish playwright turned filmmaker Martin McDonagh. In more recent years, the writer/director has turned his probing eye towards compassion, forgiveness, and redemption and the unanswerable question of whether his problematic protagonists are worthy of either.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Friendships can be as changeable and temperamental and outright dramatic as grand romances, though they tend to get a bland rap on screen — with friends, for most screenwriters, merely convenient constants, there to support protagonists through matters of supposedly more consequence. If substantial platonic relationship studies are rare, ones about men are rarer still. And if that comes down to a social convention rather than a cinematic one, that’s integral to the power and poignancy of Martin McDonagh’s searing “The Banshees of Inisherin,” a film that traces the tortured breakup between two best pals in remote rural Ireland with all the anguish and gravity of the most charged romantic melodrama — its high, unleashed emotions all the more startling in a world where men don’t speak their feelings.

Martin McDonagh is back on the Lido where he’s set to debut his latest film The Banshees of Inisherin, the first film he’s produced in his home country Ireland.