Sales agency The Playmaker Munich has signed a deal with Elsani & Neary Media to handle the international sales for “The Albanian Virgin.” The film had its world premiere in the competition section of the Warsaw Intl. Film Festival on Friday, and The Playmaker Munich will present it to buyers at Mia Market in Rome, with a physical screening taking place on Thursday.
The film, which was written by Katja Kittendorf and directed by Bujar Alimani, is set in 1958 in Albania. An arranged marriage forces Luana to deny her love for Agim. To meet her father’s expectations, she almost sacrifices her love, but she soon realizes that the Kanun – the set of traditional laws governing Albanian society – only benefits men. So, she decides she has to become one of them: A man.
“ ‘The Albanian Virgin’ does not judge or raise a moral finger, but presents the events in real terms...
The film, which was written by Katja Kittendorf and directed by Bujar Alimani, is set in 1958 in Albania. An arranged marriage forces Luana to deny her love for Agim. To meet her father’s expectations, she almost sacrifices her love, but she soon realizes that the Kanun – the set of traditional laws governing Albanian society – only benefits men. So, she decides she has to become one of them: A man.
“ ‘The Albanian Virgin’ does not judge or raise a moral finger, but presents the events in real terms...
- 10/13/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Swiss productions and co-productions are on the rise, driven in part by federal and regional funders that offer attractive opportunities for domestic and international filmmakers.
Quickly recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the local film industry has gotten off to another strong year with local films and international co-productions.
Elie Grappe’s Swiss-Ukrainian-French title “Olga” premiered at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, while unspooling in Locarno were Lorenz Merz’s “Soul of a Beast” and Swiss-international co-productions like Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verita” and Laurent Geslin’s nature documentary “Lynx.” Venice saw such Swiss co-productions as “Ariaferma,” by Italian helmer Leonardo Di Costanzo, and Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s “El Gran Movimiento.” And opening this year’s Zurich Film Festival (Zff) was Michael Steiner’s Swiss-German Taliban thriller “And Tomorrow We Will Be Dead.”
The upswing in Swiss cinema is due in no small part to Zurich as a film location,...
Quickly recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the local film industry has gotten off to another strong year with local films and international co-productions.
Elie Grappe’s Swiss-Ukrainian-French title “Olga” premiered at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, while unspooling in Locarno were Lorenz Merz’s “Soul of a Beast” and Swiss-international co-productions like Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verita” and Laurent Geslin’s nature documentary “Lynx.” Venice saw such Swiss co-productions as “Ariaferma,” by Italian helmer Leonardo Di Costanzo, and Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s “El Gran Movimiento.” And opening this year’s Zurich Film Festival (Zff) was Michael Steiner’s Swiss-German Taliban thriller “And Tomorrow We Will Be Dead.”
The upswing in Swiss cinema is due in no small part to Zurich as a film location,...
- 10/3/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Locarno Film Festival, long known as a safe haven for indie cinema, is taking a turn into genre territory while remaining true to
its origins.
“People know what the mission is for Locarno,” says the fest’s new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, referring to the prestige of the event — the 74th edition runs Aug. 4-14 — that is known worldwide as a festival of discovery.
But Nazzaro, an Italian film critic and former chief of the Venice Critics’ Week, now intends “to broaden the moral imagination of this mission,” as he puts it, by digging deeper into genre cinema, and “also into the [festival’s] relationship with the U.S. studios and what people would consider as [pure] entertainment.”
Significantly, this year’s Locarno opener is Netflix Original “Beckett,” a thriller toplining John David Washington as an American tourist who becomes the target of a political assassination while vacationing in Greece, and...
its origins.
“People know what the mission is for Locarno,” says the fest’s new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, referring to the prestige of the event — the 74th edition runs Aug. 4-14 — that is known worldwide as a festival of discovery.
But Nazzaro, an Italian film critic and former chief of the Venice Critics’ Week, now intends “to broaden the moral imagination of this mission,” as he puts it, by digging deeper into genre cinema, and “also into the [festival’s] relationship with the U.S. studios and what people would consider as [pure] entertainment.”
Significantly, this year’s Locarno opener is Netflix Original “Beckett,” a thriller toplining John David Washington as an American tourist who becomes the target of a political assassination while vacationing in Greece, and...
- 8/3/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Playmaker Munich, formerly known as Arri Media Intl., has picked up Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verità,” which world premieres in August in the Piazza Grande section of the Locarno Film Festival. The historical drama, written by Kornelija Naraks and based on true events, focuses on Europe’s first eco-community.
Set in 1906, “Monte Verità” is centered on a group of society dropouts — including the writer Hermann Hesse — who search for a paradise and find it in Ascona, Switzerland. As well as their clothes, the free-thinking radicals strive to shed the mental corsets that constrict their minds. A young mother, Hanna Leitner, is drawn to the commune to escape her middle-class life. Torn between feelings of guilt toward the family she left behind and her fascination with a life of self-determination, Hanna discovers a passion for photography, and finds her own true voice.
The cast includes Maresi Riegner (“Egon Schiele”), Max Hubacher...
Set in 1906, “Monte Verità” is centered on a group of society dropouts — including the writer Hermann Hesse — who search for a paradise and find it in Ascona, Switzerland. As well as their clothes, the free-thinking radicals strive to shed the mental corsets that constrict their minds. A young mother, Hanna Leitner, is drawn to the commune to escape her middle-class life. Torn between feelings of guilt toward the family she left behind and her fascination with a life of self-determination, Hanna discovers a passion for photography, and finds her own true voice.
The cast includes Maresi Riegner (“Egon Schiele”), Max Hubacher...
- 7/9/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Year after year a site par excellence for the most innovative premieres—in that respect an antithesis to the ensuing fall circuit—the Locarno Film Festival returns triumphant next month. Their 2021 lineup, per usual, mixes iconic names with complete unknowns and, admittedly, a head-scratcher or two. Abel Ferrara’s much-anticipated Zeros and Ones, sure. Gaspar Noé’s Vortex—makes sense. A new film from The Wild Boys director Bertrand Mandico? Great! But Shawn Levy and a Jennifer Hudson Aretha Franklin biopic?
However, new festival head Giona A. Nazzaro sees it as part of a steady influx, telling Variety “A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time. That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.” By that metric it’s more inclusive than almost any other major competition on the European circuit.
However, new festival head Giona A. Nazzaro sees it as part of a steady influx, telling Variety “A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time. That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.” By that metric it’s more inclusive than almost any other major competition on the European circuit.
- 7/1/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
After Blue (Paradis sale)The lineup for the 2021 festival has been revealed, including new films by Bertrand Mandico, Axelle Ropert, Abel Ferrara and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEBeckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino)Free Guy (Shawn Levy)Heat (Michael Mann)Hinterland (Stefan Ruzowitzky)Ida Red (John Swab)Monte Verità (Stefan Jäger)National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis)Respect (Liesl Tommy)Rose (Aurélie Saada)Sinkhole (Kim Ji-hoon)The Alleys (Bassel Ghandour)The Terminator (James Cameron)Vortex (Gaspar Noé)Yaya e Lennie — The Walking Liberty (Alessandro Rak)Tomorrow My Love (Gitanjali Rao)Lynx (Laurent Geslin)Zeros and OnesCONCORSO INTERNAZIONALEAfter Blue (Paradis sale) (Bertrand Mandico)Al Naher (The River) (Ghassan Salhab)Espíritu sagrado (The Sacred Spirit) (Chema García Ibarra)Gerda (Natalya Kudryashova)I giganti (The Giants) (Bonifacio Angius)Jiao ma teng hui (A New Old Play) (Jiongjiong Qiu)Juju StoriesLa Place d'une autre (Secret Name) (Aurélia Georges)Leynilögga (Cop Secret...
- 7/1/2021
- MUBI
With Cannes right around the corner, two more prominent European film festivals announced their official lineups for 2021 this week. The 2021 Locarno Film Festival (the 74th edition of the event) is taking place August 4-14 and will feature the world premiere of Abel Ferrara’s “Zeroes and Ones,” plus the Melissa Leo-Frank Grillo starring thriller “Ida Red” from director John Swab. Perhaps the most prominent U.S. title in the Locarno lineup is “Respect,” the Jennifer Hudson-starring Aretha Franklin biopic that has already caught the eye of Oscar pundits here in the states. The film will screen out of competition, as will Ryan Reynolds’ long-delayed Disney-Fox tentpole “Free Guy.”
“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time,” Nazzaro told Variety in a statement. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.
“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time,” Nazzaro told Variety in a statement. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.
- 7/1/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller ’Zeros And Ones’ stars Ethan Hawke.
Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller Zeros And Ones and Srdjan Dragojević’s dark comedy Heavens Above are among 17 films from 12 countries having their world premiere in the international competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (August 4-14) under the new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.
Scroll down for full line-up
In his first collaboration with Ferrara, Zeros And Ones sees Ethan Hawke plays an American soldier stationed in Rome who pursues an unknown enemy threatening the entire world after the Vatican gets blown up.
Ahead of shooting in Italy...
Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller Zeros And Ones and Srdjan Dragojević’s dark comedy Heavens Above are among 17 films from 12 countries having their world premiere in the international competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (August 4-14) under the new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.
Scroll down for full line-up
In his first collaboration with Ferrara, Zeros And Ones sees Ethan Hawke plays an American soldier stationed in Rome who pursues an unknown enemy threatening the entire world after the Vatican gets blown up.
Ahead of shooting in Italy...
- 7/1/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Switzerland’s Locarno Film festival has unveiled its line-up ahead of a physical 2021 edition running August 4-14. Scroll down for a list of titles.
As previously announced, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, will open the festival with its world premiere on August 4.
Joining the movie for a screening at the fest’s main venue, the Piazza Grande, will be titles including John Swab’s Ida Red starring Frank Grillo, which will world premiere, Shawn Levy’s Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, and several U.S. classics including Michael Mann’s Heat and James Cameron’s The Terminator.
Back in November last year, Deadline interviewed new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who told us about his love for popular cinema and American movies. This will mark his debut edition at the helm.
Screening in the Concorso Internazionale strand, which features international works from around the world,...
As previously announced, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, will open the festival with its world premiere on August 4.
Joining the movie for a screening at the fest’s main venue, the Piazza Grande, will be titles including John Swab’s Ida Red starring Frank Grillo, which will world premiere, Shawn Levy’s Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, and several U.S. classics including Michael Mann’s Heat and James Cameron’s The Terminator.
Back in November last year, Deadline interviewed new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who told us about his love for popular cinema and American movies. This will mark his debut edition at the helm.
Screening in the Concorso Internazionale strand, which features international works from around the world,...
- 7/1/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled a promising lineup combining edgy new works by established auteurs such as Abel Ferrara alongside plenty of potential discoveries by emerging helmers and global newcomers for its upcoming 74th edition.
It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.
“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films,” he added.
As usual the bulk of Locarno’s crowdpleasers will launch from the Swiss lakeside town’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande square which is Europe’s largest outdoor venue and this year has been approved...
It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.
“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films,” he added.
As usual the bulk of Locarno’s crowdpleasers will launch from the Swiss lakeside town’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande square which is Europe’s largest outdoor venue and this year has been approved...
- 7/1/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
At the Zurich Summit, the burning issue of film production during the pandemic was discussed by European professionals, who nevertheless also looked to the future. With the future of the film industry remaining uncertain, one of the key topics discussed at Zff Industry’s Zurich Summit was film production during the pandemic, and how to move forward. As the moderator of the panel, Wendy Mitchell, mentioned, everyone’s belief is that everything will start up again in March, but is this really the case? Producer Katrin Renz (Tellfilm) offered her experience from her upcoming period drama film Monte Verità by Stefan Jäger (see the news), which she is planning to carry on shooting in Vienna. The initial plan was to be there in June, which proved impossible, so after the shoots in Ticino, Italy, and more recently in studios in Cologne, Renz now has to persuade her cast and crew to visit.
The ever-moving targets of setting up film production in Europe during the pandemic was the focal point of a session at the Zurich Film Festival’s industry-focused Summit, where producers shared their concerns — and hopes — for the sector.
Cecile Gaget, president of international production and distribution at Anton; Christophe Barral of Srab Films; Tommaso Marzotto, co-founder of Texit Films; and Katrin Renz of Tellfilm were among the speakers gathered for the panel “Production During a Pandemic and How We Move Forward.”
Renz described the work on feature film “Monte Verità” by Stefan Jäger, which marks the most ambitious Tellfilm undertaking to date. “We wanted to start shooting in the middle of June, and then it became clear it wasn’t possible. Now the big task is going to be the shoot in Vienna, because it’s a risk area,” she said, also mentioning the extra costs attached to strict Covid-19 measures.
Cecile Gaget, president of international production and distribution at Anton; Christophe Barral of Srab Films; Tommaso Marzotto, co-founder of Texit Films; and Katrin Renz of Tellfilm were among the speakers gathered for the panel “Production During a Pandemic and How We Move Forward.”
Renz described the work on feature film “Monte Verità” by Stefan Jäger, which marks the most ambitious Tellfilm undertaking to date. “We wanted to start shooting in the middle of June, and then it became clear it wasn’t possible. Now the big task is going to be the shoot in Vienna, because it’s a risk area,” she said, also mentioning the extra costs attached to strict Covid-19 measures.
- 9/28/2020
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The film, set to start filming on 22 August, is a period drama revolving around a woman’s across-the-board emancipation. Cameras will soon begin rolling for Stefan Jäger’s new project, a period drama entitled Monte Verità. The Swiss filmmaker, best known for flicks such as Der Grosse Sommer (2016) and Horizon Beautiful (2013), will start shooting his new endeavor in the Locarno region of Ticino on 22 August. The news was first reported by Variety. In detail, Monte Verità is a story of emancipation set in 1906, at the titular artists’ health spa in Ascona, Ticino, which channeled much of the groundswell of forces challenging the then Belle Époque bourgeois conservatism: Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, the fight for women’s rights, free dance love and even vegan food. The script, penned by Cornelia Naraks, focuses on a young woman called Hanna Leitner, who feels suffocated by the rigid routine imposed by her husband...
Zurich-Berlin based Tellfilm, producer of “Blue My Mind” from “Killing Eve” director Lisa Brühlmann, is set to go into production on Aug. 22 on its biggest movie yet, “Monte Verità,” a period drama about a woman’s across-the-board emancipation.
Set to shoot in the Locarno region of Ticino, southern Switzerland, “Monte Verita” is lead produced by Tellfilm and co-produced by Vienna’s Kgp Filmproduction and Coin Film in Germany’s Cologne.
Directed by Stefan Jäger (“Horizon Beautiful”), “Monte Verità” consolidates Tellfilm’s transformation from a company making movies targeting the Swiss domestic market into one creating higher-profile European co-productions.
“‘Blue My Mind’ and ‘Animals’ marked a kind of breakthrough for us. ’Monte Verità’ is our next step, the biggest Telefilm production to date. We have become bigger and more international,” said Katrin Renz, CEO at Tellfilm and one of the European Film Promotion’s 2018 Producers on the Move at the 71st Cannes Festival.
Set to shoot in the Locarno region of Ticino, southern Switzerland, “Monte Verita” is lead produced by Tellfilm and co-produced by Vienna’s Kgp Filmproduction and Coin Film in Germany’s Cologne.
Directed by Stefan Jäger (“Horizon Beautiful”), “Monte Verità” consolidates Tellfilm’s transformation from a company making movies targeting the Swiss domestic market into one creating higher-profile European co-productions.
“‘Blue My Mind’ and ‘Animals’ marked a kind of breakthrough for us. ’Monte Verità’ is our next step, the biggest Telefilm production to date. We have become bigger and more international,” said Katrin Renz, CEO at Tellfilm and one of the European Film Promotion’s 2018 Producers on the Move at the 71st Cannes Festival.
- 8/11/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Eleven Swiss films and five Swiss co-productions will screen during the 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25-Oct 5).
This year two local films will be vying for the Golden Eye in the festival’s International Feature Film Competition: Simon Jaquemet’s well-received debut Chrieg, which had its world premiere last week in San Sebastian, and Bruno Deville’s comedy Bouboule.
The Swiss films to screen in the festival’s new competition Focus Switzerland, Germany, Austria comprise: Children Of The Arctic by Nick Brandestini, who won the Golden Eye at the Zff in 2011 with his documentary Darwin; Dark Star – Hr Gigers Welt by Belinda Sallin; Die Demokratie ist los! by Thomas Isler; and Zu Ende leben by Rebecca Panian.
Out of competition titles include Claudio Fäh’s epic Northmen: A Viking Saga and co-production The Wonders, directed by Alice Rohrwacher, which premiered in Cannes.
Daniel von Aarburg’s documentary Carl Lutz – Der Schweizer Schindler will be screened in the...
This year two local films will be vying for the Golden Eye in the festival’s International Feature Film Competition: Simon Jaquemet’s well-received debut Chrieg, which had its world premiere last week in San Sebastian, and Bruno Deville’s comedy Bouboule.
The Swiss films to screen in the festival’s new competition Focus Switzerland, Germany, Austria comprise: Children Of The Arctic by Nick Brandestini, who won the Golden Eye at the Zff in 2011 with his documentary Darwin; Dark Star – Hr Gigers Welt by Belinda Sallin; Die Demokratie ist los! by Thomas Isler; and Zu Ende leben by Rebecca Panian.
Out of competition titles include Claudio Fäh’s epic Northmen: A Viking Saga and co-production The Wonders, directed by Alice Rohrwacher, which premiered in Cannes.
Daniel von Aarburg’s documentary Carl Lutz – Der Schweizer Schindler will be screened in the...
- 9/27/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The 18th International Children’s Film Festival of India has announced the competition lineup for 2013. Some of the well-known Indian films in competition are Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry [Read interview], Shilpa Ranade’s Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya [Read interview] and Batul Mukhtiar’s Kaphal.
Organized by the Children’s Film Society of India, the biennial festival also known as The Golden Elephant will be held from November 14-20, 2013 in Hyderabad.
Competition Live Action
A Horse on the Balcony
Dir.: Hüseyin Tabak (Austria)
Tainá – an Amazon Legend
Dir.: Rosanne Svartman (Brazil)
Havanastation
Dir.: Ian Padrón (Cuba)
The Great Bird Chase
Dir.: Christian Dyekjær (Denmark)
Horizon Beautiful
Dir.: Stefan Jäger (Ethiopia, Switzerland)
Windstrom
Germany
Igor and the Cranes’ Journey
Dir.: Evgeny Ruman (Germany, Israel, Poland)
Fandry
Dir.: Nagraj Manjule (India)
Kaphal
Dir.: Batul Mukhtiar (India)
Good Fellows
Iran
7 Days of Himmawari and her Puppies
Dir.: Emiko Hiramatsu (Japan)
Mother,...
Organized by the Children’s Film Society of India, the biennial festival also known as The Golden Elephant will be held from November 14-20, 2013 in Hyderabad.
Competition Live Action
A Horse on the Balcony
Dir.: Hüseyin Tabak (Austria)
Tainá – an Amazon Legend
Dir.: Rosanne Svartman (Brazil)
Havanastation
Dir.: Ian Padrón (Cuba)
The Great Bird Chase
Dir.: Christian Dyekjær (Denmark)
Horizon Beautiful
Dir.: Stefan Jäger (Ethiopia, Switzerland)
Windstrom
Germany
Igor and the Cranes’ Journey
Dir.: Evgeny Ruman (Germany, Israel, Poland)
Fandry
Dir.: Nagraj Manjule (India)
Kaphal
Dir.: Batul Mukhtiar (India)
Good Fellows
Iran
7 Days of Himmawari and her Puppies
Dir.: Emiko Hiramatsu (Japan)
Mother,...
- 10/30/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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