TIFF Withdraws ‘Sparta’ Before World Premiere Following Allegations of Impropriety Against Director Ulrich Seidl

Luke Shaw has been hailed by Manchester United fans for scoring England’s first goal in their 3-3 Nations League draw with Germany on Monday evening.

Manchester City have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of the Manchester derby after watching John Stones pull up with a hamstring problem while playing for England on Monday night.

Ulrich Seidl has canceled his trip to San Sebastian for the premiere of his latest film Sparta following a report in German magazine Der Spiegel that raised concerns about the treatment of younger cast members during the production.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Austrian director Ulrich Seidl has cancelled his visit to San Sebastian for the Sept. 18 world premiere of “Sparta,” amid allegations of impropriety and child exploitation made against the director. The world premiere will still go ahead at San Sebastian with the film playing in main competition contending for San Sebastian’s Gold Shell. Seidl’s decision comes after the Toronto Film Festival pulled “Sparta” and on Sept. 14, FilmFest Hamburg announced that it would no longer be giving Seidl its Douglas Sirk Award, though it would be screening “Sparta.”

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Filmfest Hamburg will no longer present Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl with its prestigious Douglas Sirk Award following a report in German magazine Der Spiegel that raised concerns about the treatment of younger cast members during the production of his latest film Sparta.

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The San Sebastian Film Festival is pushing on with a competition screening of Austrian director Ulrich Seidl’s new film Sparta, following a report in German magazine Der Spiegel raising concerns about the treatment of its young cast, saying only a court order would result in it dropping the film.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Ulrich Seidl’s “Sparta” has been pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival amid allegations of impropriety and child exploitation against the director, but its premiere at next week’s San Sebastian Film Festival will continue as planned, Variety can reveal. A spokesperson for the Spanish festival tells Variety on behalf of festival management that “Sparta” will remain in competition. Providing a three-point list explaining their reasoning, San Sebastian said “the festival team assesses the films after their viewing according to their interest and quality” and that the event “does not have the ability to judge how a film has been shot and whether a crime has been committed in the course of the filming. If anyone has any evidence of a crime, they should report it to a judge.”

UPDATED w/TIFF Statement: Sparta, the German-Romanian drama from Austrian director Ulrich Seidl that is in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the Toronto Film Festival, has been pulled from the festival lineup.

“The Swimmers” is inspired by the true story of teenage Olympic athlete and Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini who, in 2015, along with her sister Sara and two others, dragged a boat full of fellow refugees across the Aegean sea. After the girls made it to Germany, Yusra was selected along with ten others to compete with the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

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