Venice: ‘Zanka Contact’ Director Subverts Genre Moviemaking to Explore PTSD

Ben Croll Director Yulene Olaizola might have already worked on a number of films over the course of her still young career, but nothing could prepare the Mexican filmmaker for what she would encounter with her latest, “Tragic Jungle.”A 1920’s-set, mythology-influenced chase film set on the verdant border between Mexico and Belize, this Mexican-French-Colombian co-production, which premiered in Venice earlier this month before heading to San Sebastian and New York, marked a serious scale-up for

Tom Grater International Film ReporterHello and welcome to International Insider. Tom Grater here bringing you our latest rundown of international news, including some exciting TIFF deal-making action, a key hire in the German TV market, and the winners from the first major film festival to take place in the pandemic era.Pre-market nerves: “How will this year’s market play out? Who knows?” Wrote Deadline’s Mike Fleming on the eve of this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Clayton Davis Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories.

Tomris Laffly You know something terrible is going to happen when the early moments of a film greets you with an obvious reference to “The Shining” — in the case of the time-and-memory-twisting psychological horror “Violation,” the bird’s-eye view of a lone car, creeping ahead on a narrow road through dense trees, accompanied by a screechy score.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian sales company True Colours has acquired world sales in most territories on Moroccan director Ismaël El Iraki’s gritty Casablanca-set “Zanka Contact,” a romancer pairing a faded rock star with a drug problem and a “streetwise amazon (…) with a liquid gold voice,” according to catalog notes from the Venice Film Festival, where the film world premiered in the Horizons section dedicated to cutting-edge titles.The film, which is El Iraki’s debut

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentVariety spoke with Kiyoshi Kurosawa the day after the world premiere of his World War II suspense drama “Wife of a Spy” in competition at the Venice Film Festival. A frequent invitee to Venice, Cannes and other major festivals, Kurosawa did the interview via Zoom from the Tokyo office of his Japanese distributor.

Alissa Simon Film CriticThe winner of Karlovy Vary’s East of the West prize for her debut, “The Wednesday Child” (2015), Hungarian multihyphenate Lili Horvát screens “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival after its world premiere in Venice Days.

Amongst the upcoming films that suffered at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic was Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible 7. In February, production was supposed to kickstart in Venice before moving to Rome.

Filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó is no stranger to the film festival circuit, with his 2005 film “Johanna” screening at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, before “White God” took home the Prize Un Certain Regard later in 2014. “White God” was even selected to be Hungary’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 87th Academy Awards.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSusanna Nicchiarelli’s “Nico, 1988,” about the German singer who performed with the Velvet Underground, made a splash in Venice in 2017 when it took top honors in the cutting-edge Horizons section.

Manori Ravindran International EditorRoger Michell, the British director behind Venice competition title “The Duke” and films such as “Notting Hill” and “Venus,” says he feels “great sympathy” for the BBC and its ongoing tensions with the U.K.

Christopher Vourlias Three teenagers living in an institution for people with special needs fall into an unexpected love triangle, and are suddenly forced to navigate powerful new feelings of envy and desire. As their emotions threaten to upend the carefully structured world around them, the trio find themselves increasingly willing to resort to desperate measures to find a way out.“Oasis” is the sophomore feature film from Serbian director Ivan Ikić, which world premieres Sept.

coronavirus pandemic, Tamhane plans to be there.“It’s been my dream, in a way to, you know, (to) be in competition at the festival,” he said. “You know, there would be no bigger high than presenting the film in person at Venice.”“I started off almost like a journalist, you know, attending concerts, interviewing musicians and hanging out in these spaces that they inhabit.

Taylor Hill stuns on the red carpet with a pretty Etro gown for the 2020 Venice Film Festival opening ceremony on Wednesday (September 2) in Venice, Italy.

Cate Blanchett walks the red carpet while attending the opening ceremony of the 2020 Venice Film Festival on Wednesday (September 2) in Venice, Italy.

Tilda Swinton is honouring Chadwick Boseman once again at the Venice Film Festival.