‘The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs’ Review: A Feminist, Film-Noir Tinged Indian Folk Tale

Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann has helped a Ukrainian refugee who was stranded after fleeing the ongoing war in her country.Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. At the time of writing, the UN reports that at least 816 civilians had died, with a further 1333 injured.The story of refugee Alisa Komm’s meeting with Lindemann was posted on Instagram by the rapper Potap, and has since been confirmed by Rammstein’s reps to Loudwire.Komm arrived at Berlin train station shortly after Russia declared war on Ukraine, but was unable to find an available hotel. She then described how Lindemann helped her to find a hotel via a volunteer at the station.The post reads (as translated via Metal Addicts): “I feel bad, I want to cry [and] approach another volunteer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe shares of China’s largest entertainment and tech companies plunged for a second day on Tuesday as Russia’s war in Ukraine, regulatory warnings and China’s slowing economy all combined to signal tougher times ahead.Alibaba shares crashed 11.7% to reach an all-time low of HK$71.2 in Hong Kong, where they have a secondary listing. Tencent shares plunged by 10.2% to HK$298, their lowest in several years. Both companies have in the past held the title of China’s largest enterprise and are major components of the Hang Seng Index of leading equities.The Hang Seng Index fell by more than 1,000 points and by nearly 6% on Tuesday to close at 18,415.

Filmmaker Megan Park has written what will be her sophomore feature, My Old Ass, which LuckyChap Entertainment and Indian Paintbrush are producing.

Megan Park, the director of the SXSW award winner “The Fallout,” has set her second feature film called “My Old Ass” that will be produced by Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment and Indian Paintbrush. Park is writing and directing “My Old Ass,” which is described as a modern coming-of-age comedy, though any other plot details are being kept under wraps.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorPalm Springs International Film Society announced today that the annual Palm Springs International ShortFest, one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America, will return with in-person screenings June 21-27. For this year’s edition veteran programmer, Sudeep Sharma will act as interim 2022 ShortFest Director, with the planned maternity leave of PSIFF Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez.“Sudeep’s been an excellent collaborator, holding key roles at ShortFest for close to a decade,’” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez.

EXCLUSIVE: Yash Raj Films, a key production house and distributor in India, has named Akshaye Widhani to the new role of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Kanaa,” an Indian-produced film from 2018 which tells the story of an aspiring woman cricketer and delves into issues of race and gender equality, will get a theatrical release in mainland China on March 18, 2022, according to Chinese state media. It is only the second Tamil-language film to be released in China in recent years, after “2.0” in 2019.

on Paramount+, is that Troye Sivan has real acting chops. Running time: 104 minutes. Not Rated. On Paramount+.

A collective of filmmakers in India have banded together to protest the cancellation of this year’s Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), addressing their concerns to chairperson Priyanka Chopra.

Naman Ramachandran Fifteen prominent Indian independent filmmakers have issued an open letter to the Mumbai Film Festival, appealing to festival chair Priyanka Chopra Jonas to lay on physical screenings at the canceled – but partially online – event.The letter is signed by several filmmakers whose films premiered at A-list festivals, including Aditya Vikram Sengupta (“Once Upon A Time In Calcutta,” Venice), Gurvinder Singh (“Adh Chanani Raat,” Rotterdam), Irfana Majumdar (“Shankar’s Fairies,” Locarno), Natesh Hegde (“Pedro,” Busan/London), Nithin Lukose (“Paka,” Toronto), Payal Kapadia and Ranabir Das (“A Night of Knowing Nothing,” Cannes) and Rahul Jain (“Invisible Demons,” Cannes).The physical edition of the festival was called off earlier this month, “due to a multitude of challenges brought upon by the continuing pandemic,” per a statement from the festival. “At this point, we do not know when, what form and shape the festival will take in the future,” the statement from the festival, run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image popularly known as MAMI, added.

Jamie Lang SF Studios has announced that the 2021 Berlin Generation Kplus player “Nelly Rapp: Monster Agent” is getting a sequel. The original was a hit among kids and parents alike in its native Sweden and won a pair of Swedish Guldbagge Awards. Based on Martin Widmark’s popular children’s books of the same name, the film features rising star Matilda Gross as the titular Nelly, a young girl who, along with her dog London, are dragged into a world of ghosts, vampires and werewolves.Johan Rosell will direct with Jon Nohrstedt and Niklas Larsson producing for SF Studios.

After nearly two years of tough travel restrictions many Brits will be looking forward to jetting away on a foreign holiday this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Novelist’s Film,” which Wednesday earned Korean director Hong Sang-soo the Grand Jury Prize in Berlin, has scored multiple rights deals. With Seoul-based Finecut handling the rights sales, the film was licensed to Ama Films for Greece and Cyprus, Mimosa Films for Japan, L’Atalante Cinema for Spain, Arizona Films Distribution for France and to The Cinema Guild for the U.S.Finecut also did European Film Market business with “Contorted,” an unorthodox horror about a family tragedy.

Guy Lodge Film CriticAll great actresses of a certain age should get to anchor as many starring vehicles as the indefatigable Isabelle Huppert. Her prolific output and enduring marquee-name status are testament to French cinema’s continued interest in women past the age where Hollywood mostly confines them to secondary mom roles.

Alokesh Lahiri aka Bappi Lahiri, the popular Indian singer, composer and record producer, has died at the age of 69.

Caitlin Quinlan In her debut feature, “Fogaréu,” director Flávia Neves interweaves the broader impact of colonialism in Brazil with a close-up tale of insidious goings on in Goiás, her home town in central Brazil. Having gained support from the CNC’s Aide Aux Cinemas du Monde, “Fogaréu” is an accomplished first film that offers a nuanced critique of power dynamics within a bold, cinematic thriller framework.

Lata Mangeshkar was a legendary Indian playback singer whose voice was lip synced by actresses in countless Bollywood movies. Lata Mangeshkar was a legendary Indian playback singer who was the singing voice of Bollywood’s top female stars for several decades.

Jamie Lang AMC Networks’ genre-focused streaming platform Shudder has acquired the rights to horror maestro Gustavo Hernández’s “Virus: 32” in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.The deal was closed between Shudder and Pip Ngo from XYZ, CAA Media Finance and Juan Torres from Latido Films. Spanish sales powerhouse Latido is selling the film and has been showing it to buyers at this year’s European Film Market.A high-profile title to track since it was first unveiled at the virtual Cannes Market in 2020, “Virus: 32” stars Paula Silva (“In the Quarry”) and former Berlin Silver Bear winner Daniel Hendler (“Lost Embrace”) in a story about a rapidly spreading virus which transforms people into intelligent, ultra-violent, extra-fast zombie hunters.

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.

A couple struggles to process the aftermath of the Bataclan terrorist attack in One Year, One Night (Un Ano, Una Noche), an affecting Berlin Film Festival competition title from Spanish director Isaki Lacuesta (Between Two Waters). Inspired by a book from Ramón González entitled Peace, Love and Death Metal, it’s based on recollections from real survivors of the 2015 attack in Paris, and the level of detail is compelling.