Cannes Critics’ Week, now in its 63rd year, is always an opportunity to explore uncharted work from new and emerging filmmakers — and away from the glitter and glitz of the Croisette, where the main competition bows. Recent Critics’ Week Grand Prize winners have included everything from “Tiger Stripes,” a Malaysian coming-of-age debut opening in stateside theaters later this month, to 2019’s honoree “I Lost My Body,” the animated favorite that went on to be nominated for an Oscar.
Coming up in the Special Screenings category of Critics’ Week, Alexis Langlois makes their feature directorial debut with “Queens of Drama,” a French pop/punk musical that brings a mid-aughts camp sensibility to Cannes this year. Below, IndieWire shares an exclusive clip for the film along with a first-look image. “Queens of Drama” premieres at Critics’ Week on Saturday, May 18, with Charades handling sales.
Per the synopsis, in 2005, Mimi Madamour, the young pop idol,...
Coming up in the Special Screenings category of Critics’ Week, Alexis Langlois makes their feature directorial debut with “Queens of Drama,” a French pop/punk musical that brings a mid-aughts camp sensibility to Cannes this year. Below, IndieWire shares an exclusive clip for the film along with a first-look image. “Queens of Drama” premieres at Critics’ Week on Saturday, May 18, with Charades handling sales.
Per the synopsis, in 2005, Mimi Madamour, the young pop idol,...
- 5/9/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
After Blue (Bertrand Mandico)
In the post-apocalyptic nightmare of After Blue, humanity—or what’s left of it—roams a former paradise turned wasteland. The Armageddon that wrecked the Earth in some undetermined past left no machines behind, no screens, and, perhaps most conspicuously, no men. In the distant planet the human race fled to, and which writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s film is named after, “they were the first to die,” we’re warned early on: “their hairs grew inside them, and killed them.” As it was for its predecessor, The Wild Boys, After Blue is suffused in a feverish ecstasy, that wild excitement that comes from a watching one world crumble and another jutting into being from scratch, a vision of...
After Blue (Bertrand Mandico)
In the post-apocalyptic nightmare of After Blue, humanity—or what’s left of it—roams a former paradise turned wasteland. The Armageddon that wrecked the Earth in some undetermined past left no machines behind, no screens, and, perhaps most conspicuously, no men. In the distant planet the human race fled to, and which writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s film is named after, “they were the first to die,” we’re warned early on: “their hairs grew inside them, and killed them.” As it was for its predecessor, The Wild Boys, After Blue is suffused in a feverish ecstasy, that wild excitement that comes from a watching one world crumble and another jutting into being from scratch, a vision of...
- 3/22/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A scene from She Is Conann. Courtesy of Altered Innocence
Let’s begin with the title, She Is Conann. One might expect a distaff approximation of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1982 Conan The Barbarian, its sequel Conan The Destroyer two years later, and the zillion, or so, incarnations those spawned in live action or anime over the following 41 years. Or a reboot of 1985’s Red Sonja, in which statuesque Brigitte Nielsen matched Ahnuld’s Kalidor (think Conan Lite) blow-for-blow. But, as the Pythons would say, “And now for something completely different…”
This version comes from France, Belgium and Luxembourg. It’s sort of a post-apocalyptic or alternate universe piece of mysticism, with time travel in the mix. The tale is narrated in a wraparound with an elderly Conann telling her story to a possible successor to her throne, guided by dog-faced vassal, Rainer (Elina Lowensohn). I didn’t mention who plays Conann...
Let’s begin with the title, She Is Conann. One might expect a distaff approximation of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1982 Conan The Barbarian, its sequel Conan The Destroyer two years later, and the zillion, or so, incarnations those spawned in live action or anime over the following 41 years. Or a reboot of 1985’s Red Sonja, in which statuesque Brigitte Nielsen matched Ahnuld’s Kalidor (think Conan Lite) blow-for-blow. But, as the Pythons would say, “And now for something completely different…”
This version comes from France, Belgium and Luxembourg. It’s sort of a post-apocalyptic or alternate universe piece of mysticism, with time travel in the mix. The tale is narrated in a wraparound with an elderly Conann telling her story to a possible successor to her throne, guided by dog-faced vassal, Rainer (Elina Lowensohn). I didn’t mention who plays Conann...
- 2/9/2024
- by Mark Glass
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After the cinematic doldrums of January, February brings surprisingly packed, varied offerings, from Oscar-contending international features to biographical documentaries of legendary film artists to some electrifying genre outings. Check out my picks to see below, and catch up with our Sundance coverage ahead of our Berlinale reviews here.
16. The Monk and the Gun (Pawo Choyning Dorji; Feb. 9)
Returning after his Oscar-nominated directorial debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Ifsn Advocate Award-shortlisted The Monk and the Gun premiered at Telluride and TIFF to much acclaim and will now be released this month. Selected by Bhutan as their Oscar entry, the heartwarming film is about an American in search of a long-lost, vintage gun in Bhutan as the country’s launching a democracy.
15. Ennio (Giuseppe Tornatore; Feb. 9)
The film world lost perhaps its most legendary musician when Ennio Morricone died at the age of 91 in July 2020. Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore,...
16. The Monk and the Gun (Pawo Choyning Dorji; Feb. 9)
Returning after his Oscar-nominated directorial debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Ifsn Advocate Award-shortlisted The Monk and the Gun premiered at Telluride and TIFF to much acclaim and will now be released this month. Selected by Bhutan as their Oscar entry, the heartwarming film is about an American in search of a long-lost, vintage gun in Bhutan as the country’s launching a democracy.
15. Ennio (Giuseppe Tornatore; Feb. 9)
The film world lost perhaps its most legendary musician when Ennio Morricone died at the age of 91 in July 2020. Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
French auteur Bertrand Mandico has earned a reputation as one of contemporary cinema's most intriguing and inventive talents. With an extensive portfolio of experimental short films under his belt, Mandico first gained widespread recognition through his feature-length debut, Wild Boys. This film set the stage for his unique cinematic vision, one that employs a surrealistic approach to merge narrative and form in a manner that eschews naturalism. His subsequent work, After Blue, further explored this dreamlike narrative structure, imbued with a complexity of themes. Mandico returned to Locarno with his latest work, She Is Conann (orig. title: Connan), while also screening the complete Barbarian cycle, in which She Is Conann serves as a central element. Though the film bears a fleeting resemblance to Robert E. Howard's creation, Mandico...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/31/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Decadent, hermetic, and gleefully hostile to realism, French writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s She Is Conann is the cinematic equivalent of a French Symbolist poem. Throughout, the oneiric imagery seeping from every frame takes precedence over narrative linearity. And yet, even as the film embodies the self-indulgent ideal of art for art’s sake, it devours itself from within and drops the viewer back into the arena of politics.
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
- 1/28/2024
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
The Wild Boys director Bertrand Mandico returned earlier this year, debuting his 35mm-shot queer fantasy She Is Conann at Cannes Film Festival. Now set for a February 2 release in NY, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver and more, with the director and star Elina Löwensohn in person at NYC’s Anthology Film Archives, the new trailer has arrived from Altered Innocence.
Savina Petkova said in her review, “Following The Wild Boys and After Blue, Conann marks the third feature-length project from prolific shorts filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. Many are still not convinced long-form fits his intense and imaginative style, but what’s certain is that Conann makes one heck of a watch. Part of the self-contained cosmos of Mandico’s explosive vision, this new film is a provocative tale of endurance and self-discovery inspired by the fantasy character Conan the Barbarian (or the Cimmerian). Mandico takes the figure of a sword and...
Savina Petkova said in her review, “Following The Wild Boys and After Blue, Conann marks the third feature-length project from prolific shorts filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. Many are still not convinced long-form fits his intense and imaginative style, but what’s certain is that Conann makes one heck of a watch. Part of the self-contained cosmos of Mandico’s explosive vision, this new film is a provocative tale of endurance and self-discovery inspired by the fantasy character Conan the Barbarian (or the Cimmerian). Mandico takes the figure of a sword and...
- 1/5/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Forget the riddle of steel, here’s the riddle of glitter: Bertrand Mandico‘s “She Is Conann” finally hits theaters next month after a rousing run on the 2023 festival circuit. Premiering at Cannes and screening at Fantastic Fest, Locarno, and more, Mandico’s latest is a gender-swapped take on Robert E. Howard‘s infamous Conan The Barbarian, immortalized in John Milius‘ 1982 film.
Continue reading ‘She Is Conann’ Trailer: Bertrand Mandico’s Queer Epic Fantasy Takes Select Theaters By Storm On February 2 at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘She Is Conann’ Trailer: Bertrand Mandico’s Queer Epic Fantasy Takes Select Theaters By Storm On February 2 at The Playlist.
- 1/5/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
“She Is Conann” is a new science fiction fantasy thriller feature, directed by Bertrand Mandico, starring Claire Duburcq, Christa Théret, Sandra Parfait, Agata Buzek, Nathalie Richard, Françoise Brion, Julia Riedler and Elina Löwensohn, releasing February 2, 2024 in theaters:
“…traveling through the abyss, underworld dog ‘Rainer’ recounts the six lives of ‘Conann’, perpetually put to death by her own future, across eras, myths and ages.
‘Follow her, from her childhood as a slave of ‘Sanja’ and her barbarian horde…
“…to her accession to the summits of cruelty at the doors of our world…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…traveling through the abyss, underworld dog ‘Rainer’ recounts the six lives of ‘Conann’, perpetually put to death by her own future, across eras, myths and ages.
‘Follow her, from her childhood as a slave of ‘Sanja’ and her barbarian horde…
“…to her accession to the summits of cruelty at the doors of our world…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 1/5/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"Six lives. Six incarnations." Altered Innocence has revealed the US trailer for a wild & crazy experimental French film called She Is Conann, a unique re-imagining of the classic Conan the Barbarian myth through a modern gender-swapped lens. Yes, you read that right! This premireed at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year in Directors' Fortnight, with stops at Fantastic Fest and Sitges. It'll be opening in February in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, and more, with director Bertrand Mandico and the star at opening weekend showings at Anthology Film Archives in NYC. Conan's life at different stages is shown with a different aesthetic and rhythm from the classic Sumerian era to the near future. The film is a barbaric fantasy sci-fi trip that boldly celebrates the influences of Fellini Satyricon, The Night Porter, The Hunger, and Fassbinder’s entire oeuvre to craft a moving portrait of a warrior...
- 1/4/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Experimental French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico isn’t for everyone — i.e. an acquired taste whose visions push boundaries of cinematic expression — but he’s achieved something of a cult fandom over the last three decades. After last pairing with the director on 2022’s “After Blue” and 2017’s uninhibited Venice winner “The Wild Boys” — Cahiers du Cinéma’s top film of 2018 — the distributor Altered Innocence again teams with Mandico on another provocation. His 2023 Cannes premiere “She Is Conann,” nominated for the Queer Palm before going on to play at other festivals including Locarno, is an acid-trip transgressive riff on the Conan the Barbarian myth. IndieWire shares the trailer here.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
- 1/4/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival announced an impressive full slate of programming for its 2023 edition, running October 12-19 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations.
From the press release:
Audiences are in for an unearthly lineup of films and events, including the inaugural Leviathan Award, which will be presented to NYC horror legend William Lustig at a special 35th anniversary screening of Maniac Cop, followed by a post-screening conversation with Lustig.
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Kier Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s...
From the press release:
Audiences are in for an unearthly lineup of films and events, including the inaugural Leviathan Award, which will be presented to NYC horror legend William Lustig at a special 35th anniversary screening of Maniac Cop, followed by a post-screening conversation with Lustig.
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Kier Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s...
- 9/13/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
It's the most fantastic time of the year once again, when the fans of the creepy, the weird, the fun, and the bizarre gather in Austin Texas to celebrate a whole week of the best genre cinema has to offer during another iteration of Fantastic Fest.
The ongoing double strike of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, and the studios' stupid refusal to negotiate already, put all the fall film festivals in doubt. Still, the lineup for this year's Fantastic Fest seems to maintain the expected balance of big genre premieres, international titles, small indies, and all-around weird stuff.
Possibly the biggest announcement is the triumphant return of Mike Flanagan to Austin with the first two episodes of his last Netflix show, "The Fall of the House of Usher," which boasts the most impressive cast for a Flanagan joint yet. The last time the filmmaker was at the festival was with...
The ongoing double strike of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, and the studios' stupid refusal to negotiate already, put all the fall film festivals in doubt. Still, the lineup for this year's Fantastic Fest seems to maintain the expected balance of big genre premieres, international titles, small indies, and all-around weird stuff.
Possibly the biggest announcement is the triumphant return of Mike Flanagan to Austin with the first two episodes of his last Netflix show, "The Fall of the House of Usher," which boasts the most impressive cast for a Flanagan joint yet. The last time the filmmaker was at the festival was with...
- 8/15/2023
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Altered Innocence has picked up North American rights to Bertrand Mandico’s gory, transgressive fantasy movie “Conann,” which had its world premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and will soon be making its way to Locarno Film Festival. Kinology is handling world sales.
The film will tour at film festivals throughout the fall and be released theatrically next year.
Following different iterations of the ruthless Connan the Barbarian, the film also stars Elina Löwensohn in canine prosthetics as Rainer, Conann’s spiritual guide.
In the film, guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, still has a muzzle, but here he is called Rainer, and has the breasts and the voice of a woman, wears a studded black leather jacket, and a flash camera fit for the paparazzi. Talking to us from the great beyond, he details the successive reincarnations of Conann the Barbarian, a bloodthirsty Amazon from ancient times.
“A visceral and impulsive queer illusionist,...
The film will tour at film festivals throughout the fall and be released theatrically next year.
Following different iterations of the ruthless Connan the Barbarian, the film also stars Elina Löwensohn in canine prosthetics as Rainer, Conann’s spiritual guide.
In the film, guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, still has a muzzle, but here he is called Rainer, and has the breasts and the voice of a woman, wears a studded black leather jacket, and a flash camera fit for the paparazzi. Talking to us from the great beyond, he details the successive reincarnations of Conann the Barbarian, a bloodthirsty Amazon from ancient times.
“A visceral and impulsive queer illusionist,...
- 7/6/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude).The lineup for the 76th edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Eduardo Williams, Leonor Teles, Lav Diaz, Radu Jude, and others.Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAnimal (Sofia Exarchou)Critical Zone (Ali Ahmadzadeh)Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)Home (Leonor Teles)The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)The Invisible Fight (Rainer Sarnet)Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude)Lousy Carter (Bob Byington)Manga D’Terra (Basil Da Cunha)Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où (Sylvain George)Patagonia (Simone Bozzelli)The Permanent Picture (Laura Ferrés)Rossosperanza (Annarita Zambrano)Stepne (Maryna Vroda)Sweet Dreams (Ena Sendijarević)The Vanishing Soldier (Dani Rosenberg)Yannick (Quentin Dupieux)Excursion (Una Gunjak).Concorso Cineasti Del PRESENTECamping du Lac (Eléonore Saintagnan)Ein Schöner Ort (Katharina Huber)Excursion (Una Gunjak)Family Portrait (Lucy Kerr)Dreaming...
- 7/6/2023
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSConann.The lineup for the 76th Locarno Film Festival is now online, and it includes new films from Radu Jude, Eduardo Williams, Bertrand Mandico (a feature and two shorts), Leonor Teles, Lav Diaz, and Denis Côté, plus many more. The festival runs from August 2 through 12.Following Barbie, which releases later this month, Greta Gerwig will next direct two Chronicles of Narnia adaptations for Netflix. This news comes as a side detail in a wide-reaching New Yorker piece on Mattel Films by Alex Barasch, which details the toy company’s plans to develop more than 45 films using its properties, including a Hot Wheels film by J.J. Abrams and a Daniel Kaluuya-led, "surrealistic" reboot of the children's show Barney.REMEMBERINGThe great comic actor Alan Arkin died last week at age 89. For the New York Times,...
- 7/5/2023
- MUBI
Following The Wild Boys and After Blue, Conann marks the third feature-length project from prolific shorts filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. Many are still not convinced long-form fits his intense and imaginative style, but what’s certain is that Conann makes one heck of a watch. Part of the self-contained cosmos of Mandico’s explosive vision, this new film is a provocative tale of endurance and self-discovery inspired by the fantasy character Conan the Barbarian (or the Cimmerian). Mandico takes the figure of a sword and sorcery hero––obviously interested in his pulp magazine origins––and fashions a timeless, iterative narrative of phantasmagoric fluidity… and glitter.
Conann is framed by a first-person narration, that of Rainer the hellhound (Elina Löwensohn in impressive dog-faced costume), who roams the netherworld and is suspiciously attracted to the main protagonist, however antagonistic he may appear. But the hero is Conann, a queer rendition of an otherwise masculine symbol,...
Conann is framed by a first-person narration, that of Rainer the hellhound (Elina Löwensohn in impressive dog-faced costume), who roams the netherworld and is suspiciously attracted to the main protagonist, however antagonistic he may appear. But the hero is Conann, a queer rendition of an otherwise masculine symbol,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Savina Petkova
- The Film Stage
How did John Cameron Mitchell become the head of this year’s Queer Palm award jury in Cannes? “Sexual favors,” he quips.
While the director of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” (which played out of competition at Cannes) is joking, sexuality is at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ+ film awards. And with more anti-queer legislation being enacted around the world than at any time in recent memory, the attention it brings to films that humanize this scapegoated population is arguably more important than ever.
“The Queer Palm, the festival and any awards help to dignify work, so that it often can be distributed and sometimes celebrated in its own queer-phobic country,” says Mitchell, who helped start a queer dance night at the American Pavilion in 2004 and DJs when he’s in town. “[The trans-themed] ‘Joyland’ was banned in...
While the director of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” (which played out of competition at Cannes) is joking, sexuality is at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ+ film awards. And with more anti-queer legislation being enacted around the world than at any time in recent memory, the attention it brings to films that humanize this scapegoated population is arguably more important than ever.
“The Queer Palm, the festival and any awards help to dignify work, so that it often can be distributed and sometimes celebrated in its own queer-phobic country,” says Mitchell, who helped start a queer dance night at the American Pavilion in 2004 and DJs when he’s in town. “[The trans-themed] ‘Joyland’ was banned in...
- 5/18/2023
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
The lineup for the 2023 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) at Cannes has been announced. See also the lineup of the Official Selection and Critics' Week.Creatura.Feature FILMSThe Goldman Case (Cédric Kahn)Agra (Kanu Behl)The Other Laurens (Claude Schmitz)Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Thien An Pham)Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Elene Naveriani) Blazh (Ilya Povolotsky)She Is Conann (Bertrand Mandico)Creatura (Elena Martín Gimeno)Déserts (Faouzi Bensaïdi)In Flames (Zarrar Kahn) Légua (Filipa Reis and João Miller Guerra)The Book of Solutions (Michel Gondry)Mambar Pierrette (Rosine Mbakam)Riddle of Fire (Weston Razooli)The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something has Passed (Joanna Arnow)The Sweet East (Sean Price Williams)A Prince (Pierre Creton)A Song Sung Blue (Zihan Geng)In Our Day (Hong Sang-soo)Short FILMSThe House Is on Fire, Might as Well Get Warm (Mouloud Aït Liotna)A Storm Inside (Clément Pérot)The Birthday Party (Francesco Sossai...
- 4/18/2023
- MUBI
The Cannes Directors’ Fortnight lineup has been unveiled ahead of this year’s festival.
Set for May 16 through May 27, the Directors’ Fortnight will debut 20 feature films and 10 short films this year.
Cédric Kahn’s “The Goldman Case” is the opening night selection. The film centers on the 1976 trial of left-wing revolutionary Pierre Goldman who was convicted of multiple armed robberies and later murdered.
Korean director Hong Sangsoo’s “In Our Day” will conclude the festival. The feature stars Kim Minhee and Ki Joobong in parallel stories of cat owners grappling with their felines’ respective mortality.
Directors’ Fortnight highlights also include Oscar winner Michel Gondry’s French comedy “The Book of Solutions,” starring Pierre Niney as a filmmaker with writer’s block. The film marks “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Gondry’s first feature in seven years.
“Good Time” director of photography Sean Price William makes his directorial feature...
Set for May 16 through May 27, the Directors’ Fortnight will debut 20 feature films and 10 short films this year.
Cédric Kahn’s “The Goldman Case” is the opening night selection. The film centers on the 1976 trial of left-wing revolutionary Pierre Goldman who was convicted of multiple armed robberies and later murdered.
Korean director Hong Sangsoo’s “In Our Day” will conclude the festival. The feature stars Kim Minhee and Ki Joobong in parallel stories of cat owners grappling with their felines’ respective mortality.
Directors’ Fortnight highlights also include Oscar winner Michel Gondry’s French comedy “The Book of Solutions,” starring Pierre Niney as a filmmaker with writer’s block. The film marks “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Gondry’s first feature in seven years.
“Good Time” director of photography Sean Price William makes his directorial feature...
- 4/18/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Cannes Directors’ Fortnight sidebar has unveiled its 2023 lineup, which will feature new films from arthouse favorites Hong Sang-soo, Michel Gondry and Cédric, Kahn as well as a broad selection from up-and-coming international directors.
Gondry’s French-language comedy The Book of Solutions, the first film in seven years from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep director, is a clear Fortnight highlight this year. Franz and Yves Saint Laurent star Pierre Niney plays the lead as a director dealing with a creative block. The project was a hot seller for Kinology at the Cannes market last year.
The phenomenally-productive Hong Sangsoo will close this year’s Fortnight section with In Our Day, a drama starring Kim Minhee as a 40-something woman temporarily living at the home of a friend and Ki Joobong as a 70-something man living alone. Both receive visitors, eat noodles, and talk.
Gondry’s French-language comedy The Book of Solutions, the first film in seven years from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep director, is a clear Fortnight highlight this year. Franz and Yves Saint Laurent star Pierre Niney plays the lead as a director dealing with a creative block. The project was a hot seller for Kinology at the Cannes market last year.
The phenomenally-productive Hong Sangsoo will close this year’s Fortnight section with In Our Day, a drama starring Kim Minhee as a 40-something woman temporarily living at the home of a friend and Ki Joobong as a 70-something man living alone. Both receive visitors, eat noodles, and talk.
- 4/18/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After Cannes Film Festival announced its main lineup last week, the Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week sidebars have unveiled their slates. Now in its 55th edition, Directors’ Fortnight features Hong Sangsoo’s second feature of the year, In Our Day, while Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East, Michel Gondry’s The Book of Solutions, Bertrand Mandico’s She Is Conann, and more.
“The Directors’ Fortnight was born when a community of directors came together with the desire to create an independent space that would encourage the emergence of free filmmaking regardless of geographical provenance or any other limiting criteria,” said Julien Rejl, Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight. “At the heart of the creation of the Directors’ Fortnight was the singular quality of a work of art and the impossibility of pigeonholing it. We have chosen to present 30 films to you which, through their own unique language, embody a spirit...
“The Directors’ Fortnight was born when a community of directors came together with the desire to create an independent space that would encourage the emergence of free filmmaking regardless of geographical provenance or any other limiting criteria,” said Julien Rejl, Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight. “At the heart of the creation of the Directors’ Fortnight was the singular quality of a work of art and the impossibility of pigeonholing it. We have chosen to present 30 films to you which, through their own unique language, embody a spirit...
- 4/18/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The sidebar unveiled its 55th selection under new artistic director Julien Rejl on Tuesday (April 18).
Films from Michel Gondry, Hong Sangsoo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.
Scroll down for the full selection
Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.
Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.
Films from Michel Gondry, Hong Sangsoo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.
Scroll down for the full selection
Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.
Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.
- 4/18/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The sidebar unveiled its 55th selection under new artistic director Julien Rejl on Tuesday (April 18).
Projects from Michel Gondry, Hong Sang-Soo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.
Scroll down for the full selection
Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.
Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.
Projects from Michel Gondry, Hong Sang-Soo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.
Scroll down for the full selection
Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.
Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.
- 4/18/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has announced the selection for its 55th edition, running May 17 to 26.
The once renegade Cannes parallel section – launched in 1969 and overseen ever since by the French Directors Guild (Société des Réalisateurs de Films) – will present 20 features and 10 shorts this year. Scroll down for the full list.
The selection is the inaugural line-up of incoming Delegate General Julien Rejl, who was announced as predecessor Paolo Moretti’s replacement last June.
This edition also marks the section’s first outing under the new French name of Quinzaine des Cinéastes.
The name change from Quinzaine des Réalisateurs was announced back in June as a move to make its French-language banner title more gender-inclusive. This year, seven of the 21 filmmakers in the 20-title feature selection are women.
Rejl and his new selection team have pulled together an eclectic line-up mixing confirmed directors, buzzed-about newcomers and a handful of off-the-radar titles.
French...
The once renegade Cannes parallel section – launched in 1969 and overseen ever since by the French Directors Guild (Société des Réalisateurs de Films) – will present 20 features and 10 shorts this year. Scroll down for the full list.
The selection is the inaugural line-up of incoming Delegate General Julien Rejl, who was announced as predecessor Paolo Moretti’s replacement last June.
This edition also marks the section’s first outing under the new French name of Quinzaine des Cinéastes.
The name change from Quinzaine des Réalisateurs was announced back in June as a move to make its French-language banner title more gender-inclusive. This year, seven of the 21 filmmakers in the 20-title feature selection are women.
Rejl and his new selection team have pulled together an eclectic line-up mixing confirmed directors, buzzed-about newcomers and a handful of off-the-radar titles.
French...
- 4/18/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
New films from Hong Sang-soo and Michel Gondry will world premiere at Directors Fortnight, a selection running parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. This edition marks the first under the leadership of Julien Rejl as artistic director.
Succeeding to Paolo Moretti, Rejl was named by the governing body of Directors’ Fortnight, the Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films), as part of a rebranding. Unlike previous artistic directors for this selection, Rejl doesn’t come from the festival circuit. He was previously in charge of distribution, international co-productions and international sales at Capricci, an arthouse film banner based in Paris.
The well-balanced lineup shows his taste for international cinema, with a mix of emerging directors and established masters, such as Hong, who will present his movie “In Our Day” on closing night. The edition will kick off with “The Goldman’s Case,” a thriller directed by actor-turned-helmer Cedric Kahn about the true story of Pierre Goldman,...
Succeeding to Paolo Moretti, Rejl was named by the governing body of Directors’ Fortnight, the Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films), as part of a rebranding. Unlike previous artistic directors for this selection, Rejl doesn’t come from the festival circuit. He was previously in charge of distribution, international co-productions and international sales at Capricci, an arthouse film banner based in Paris.
The well-balanced lineup shows his taste for international cinema, with a mix of emerging directors and established masters, such as Hong, who will present his movie “In Our Day” on closing night. The edition will kick off with “The Goldman’s Case,” a thriller directed by actor-turned-helmer Cedric Kahn about the true story of Pierre Goldman,...
- 4/18/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Bertrand Mandico’s trippy, erotic, preposterous odyssey is packed full of deranged details that could propel it to cult classic status
‘You must kill Kate Bush!” The order is given on a planet far, far away. And so begins the odyssey at the centre of this trippy, erotic sci-fi fantasy, a film that looks like a horny music video from the 80s, neon-lit and smothered with glitter, the screen filled with erect nipples in quantities not seen since the early seasons of Game of Thrones. It’s French, of course, directed by underground film-maker Bertrand Mandico with such loopy abandon I could almost forgive him the film’s obscenely indulgent two-hour-plus running time.
Kate Bush is not the Kate Bush. Her full name is Katarzyna Buszowska (Agata Buzek), and she’s a Polish outlaw on a post-Earth colony in space populated by women. (The men all died soon after arrival.
‘You must kill Kate Bush!” The order is given on a planet far, far away. And so begins the odyssey at the centre of this trippy, erotic sci-fi fantasy, a film that looks like a horny music video from the 80s, neon-lit and smothered with glitter, the screen filled with erect nipples in quantities not seen since the early seasons of Game of Thrones. It’s French, of course, directed by underground film-maker Bertrand Mandico with such loopy abandon I could almost forgive him the film’s obscenely indulgent two-hour-plus running time.
Kate Bush is not the Kate Bush. Her full name is Katarzyna Buszowska (Agata Buzek), and she’s a Polish outlaw on a post-Earth colony in space populated by women. (The men all died soon after arrival.
- 10/4/2022
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Bertrand Mandico’s new film After Blue is a sci-fi head trip that is going to catch the interest of some viewers, while leaving others feeling dried out and bored. It’s a bold effort, to be sure. A drug-fueled fever dream of a film that aims to recapture the strangest of the strange of 70’s science fiction. In some aspects, it’s a success. It has a wild color palette and style that is visually arresting, but as a story, the film fails to pull itself together enough to form a cohesive narrative that will keep most audiences interested.
When humans made the Earth too toxic for habitation, they fled to a far-off planet they dubbed After Blue. Men quickly died out, unable to adapt to the atmosphere of the planet. Women continued to thrive through artificial insemination, living in small, close-knit communities. One day, teenaged Roxy (Paula Luna...
When humans made the Earth too toxic for habitation, they fled to a far-off planet they dubbed After Blue. Men quickly died out, unable to adapt to the atmosphere of the planet. Women continued to thrive through artificial insemination, living in small, close-knit communities. One day, teenaged Roxy (Paula Luna...
- 7/15/2022
- by Emily von Seele
- DailyDead
New Release Wall
At the midway point of 2022, it seems difficult to imagine how “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24/Lionsgate) wouldn’t be figuring heavily in best-of lists and award chatter come December. The sophomore feature from The Daniels (“Swiss Army Man”) mixes genres and metaphysics with heart and soul to create a hard-to-describe but easy-to-love masterpiece, one that’s not quite like anything else you’ve ever seen. Moving, funny, exciting, mind-bending and always giving you something to look at — including extraordinary performances from Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis — this is a one-of-a-kind film that will reward repeat viewings (and a deep dive into the extras on the DVD and Blu-ray).
Also available:
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” (20th Century Studios): There’s a mystery to solve, a sinkhole to fill, and a restaurant to save in the first big-screen outing for the long-running Fox animated sitcom.
At the midway point of 2022, it seems difficult to imagine how “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24/Lionsgate) wouldn’t be figuring heavily in best-of lists and award chatter come December. The sophomore feature from The Daniels (“Swiss Army Man”) mixes genres and metaphysics with heart and soul to create a hard-to-describe but easy-to-love masterpiece, one that’s not quite like anything else you’ve ever seen. Moving, funny, exciting, mind-bending and always giving you something to look at — including extraordinary performances from Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis — this is a one-of-a-kind film that will reward repeat viewings (and a deep dive into the extras on the DVD and Blu-ray).
Also available:
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” (20th Century Studios): There’s a mystery to solve, a sinkhole to fill, and a restaurant to save in the first big-screen outing for the long-running Fox animated sitcom.
- 7/11/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Writer/Director Bertrand Mandico unleashes his wild imagination and flair for the surreal on screen in his trippy, sensual feature After Blue. Mandico fuses the western genre with sci-fi and fantasy, though never as straightforward as that may sound. While the heady plunge into a sumptuous dreamscape offers an immersive sensory experience unlike any other, After Blue’s overindulgent pacing and […]
The post ‘After Blue’ Review – Psychedelic Phantasmagorical Voyage Overstays Its Welcome appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post ‘After Blue’ Review – Psychedelic Phantasmagorical Voyage Overstays Its Welcome appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 6/3/2022
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Her name is Roxy, but the village girls call her Toxic. With peroxide-blond hair and the Lolita-like naiveté of a vintage sexploitation-movie heroine, Roxy wanders through a post-apocalyptic world as unfamiliar to us as it is to her — for we have all stepped into the parallel dimension that is underground filmmaker Bertrand Mandico’s erotic imagination. Welcome to the dirty paradise of “After Blue.”
Humans have poisoned Earth and fled to a new planet, which they’ve dubbed After Blue. Screens and machines have since been banished, making way for a kind of old-world mysticism of sparkling dust, psychedelic lights and occult symbols — like a third eye, superimposed over the pubic triangle of the most enlightened. Operating in the mode of Polish porno-surrealist Walerian Borowczyk, Mandico creates sensual mood trips using only practical effects (this one could be the “Barbarella”-style sci-fi film-within-a-film being produced in Mandico’s 2018 meta-textual short...
Humans have poisoned Earth and fled to a new planet, which they’ve dubbed After Blue. Screens and machines have since been banished, making way for a kind of old-world mysticism of sparkling dust, psychedelic lights and occult symbols — like a third eye, superimposed over the pubic triangle of the most enlightened. Operating in the mode of Polish porno-surrealist Walerian Borowczyk, Mandico creates sensual mood trips using only practical effects (this one could be the “Barbarella”-style sci-fi film-within-a-film being produced in Mandico’s 2018 meta-textual short...
- 6/3/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
A voice introduces us to the future: “You are in space,” it says, “...the Earth was sick and rotten.” Bertrand Mandico’s second feature, the comedy-western-fantasy After Blue (Dirty Paradise), is named after a post-Earth home to humanity. This other planet, After Blue, located in another solar system, offers anyone with ovaries—anyone without them dies choked by their own hairs—the hope of a redemption. “If everything is to be done, nothing is to be done again,” declares a sign in the natural wilderness: strict and arbitrary rules are established to “strike the evil at its roots,” as one of the surviving women state. At best phantasmagorical, the dream of a humanity free of evil—through its systematic eradication of one gender—produces distortions where community becomes authoritarian, and purification, commanded.One day on an excursion outside her community, Roxy (Paola Luna) discovers buried in the sand a female...
- 6/2/2022
- MUBI
In the not-so-distant future, on a planet far, far away, a mother and daughter travel across a hostile landscape with one mission and one mission only: to kill Kate Bush.
Don’t worry, it’s not beloved 1980s singer-songwriter Kate Bush, but a once-dormant evil Polish woman named Katajena Bushovsky now spreading violence and hatred. This is the quest at the center of Bertrand Mandico’s new film “After Blue (Dirty Paradise).”
The film’s title comes from its setting: “After Blue (Dirty Paradise)” is an acid space western set on the planet that comes after Earth, and it is indeed a dirty paradise, though more the former than the latter. After Blue is populated only by women, or so we’re informed, and they hoped to start society anew with greater peace and prosperity. No screens, no machines (though there are guns).
Also Read:
‘Stranger Things’ Catapults Kate Bush...
Don’t worry, it’s not beloved 1980s singer-songwriter Kate Bush, but a once-dormant evil Polish woman named Katajena Bushovsky now spreading violence and hatred. This is the quest at the center of Bertrand Mandico’s new film “After Blue (Dirty Paradise).”
The film’s title comes from its setting: “After Blue (Dirty Paradise)” is an acid space western set on the planet that comes after Earth, and it is indeed a dirty paradise, though more the former than the latter. After Blue is populated only by women, or so we’re informed, and they hoped to start society anew with greater peace and prosperity. No screens, no machines (though there are guns).
Also Read:
‘Stranger Things’ Catapults Kate Bush...
- 6/2/2022
- by Fran Hoepfner
- The Wrap
The long-awaited return of beloved auteurs, new discoveries, decades-in-the-works passion projects, festival winners, and beyond are among June’s major offerings. Check out our picks for what to see below.
15. Watcher (Chloe Okuno; June 3)
Slipping back into a genre she knows well, Maika Monroe leads Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, a slow-burn thriller with a sense of paranoia seeping into every frame. Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “Ever since It Follows, the 2014 horror movie about a spectral grim reaper stalking a teenage girl, Maika Monroe has become her generation’s avatar of fear and paranoia. Throughout her filmography, she boasts an inner world of melancholy that begins in a delicate register and then multiplies into a feverish anguish the farther her characters tumble down their own rabbit holes. It’s the kind of psychological spiraling that gives oxygen to director Chloe Okuno’s feature debut, Watcher, a chamber piece...
15. Watcher (Chloe Okuno; June 3)
Slipping back into a genre she knows well, Maika Monroe leads Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, a slow-burn thriller with a sense of paranoia seeping into every frame. Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “Ever since It Follows, the 2014 horror movie about a spectral grim reaper stalking a teenage girl, Maika Monroe has become her generation’s avatar of fear and paranoia. Throughout her filmography, she boasts an inner world of melancholy that begins in a delicate register and then multiplies into a feverish anguish the farther her characters tumble down their own rabbit holes. It’s the kind of psychological spiraling that gives oxygen to director Chloe Okuno’s feature debut, Watcher, a chamber piece...
- 6/1/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Taste of a Toxic Paradise: Mandico Casts a Dark Spell with Broody Sci-Fi
Through a variety of short films, music videos (including several for M83), and his 2017 feature film, The Wild Boys, Bertrand Mandico fills a transgressive void in his dazzling mutations of arthouse queer aesthetics. Pushing boundaries of sexuality and gender through narrative themes and visual metaphors, his sophomore film After Blue is revisionist Western masquerading as vintage sci-fi, like hallucinogenic Heinlein meets femme-centric Ballard. An ambitious palette dwindles into a trance-inducing odyssey through a strange world’s poisonous hinterlands, where trippy vibes are broken up only by odd jabs of titillation and unfurling desires.…...
Through a variety of short films, music videos (including several for M83), and his 2017 feature film, The Wild Boys, Bertrand Mandico fills a transgressive void in his dazzling mutations of arthouse queer aesthetics. Pushing boundaries of sexuality and gender through narrative themes and visual metaphors, his sophomore film After Blue is revisionist Western masquerading as vintage sci-fi, like hallucinogenic Heinlein meets femme-centric Ballard. An ambitious palette dwindles into a trance-inducing odyssey through a strange world’s poisonous hinterlands, where trippy vibes are broken up only by odd jabs of titillation and unfurling desires.…...
- 5/31/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Official Selection: Locarno, TIFF Midnight Madness, Fantastic Fest, Sitges Film Festival Awards: Fantastic Fest — Jury Award, Best Fantastic Feature, Locarno — Fipresci Prize, Sitges Film Festival — José Luis Guarner Critic’s Award, Best Film & Special Prize of the Jury, Secció Oficial Fantàstic “Seductive, ethereal, and bizarre… A kaleidoscopic fantasy warped through the lens …
The post Bertrand Mandico’s Award-Winning Queer Sci-Fi Fantasy After Blue (Dirty Paradise) Hits US Theaters June 3rd from Altered Innocence, New Trailer Released appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
The post Bertrand Mandico’s Award-Winning Queer Sci-Fi Fantasy After Blue (Dirty Paradise) Hits US Theaters June 3rd from Altered Innocence, New Trailer Released appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
- 4/24/2022
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
"When she gets here, you'll have to shoot her." Altered Innocence has revealed the US trailer for a French sci-fi film called After Blue (Dirty Paradise), which first premiered at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival. It also played at the Toronto Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, and Busan. Everything about it sounds mesmerizing. A chimeric future on After Blue, a planet in another galaxy, a virgin planet where only women can survive in the midst of harmless flora & fauna. The story follows a punitive expedition to the planet. “Seductive, ethereal, bizarre... A kaleidoscopic fantasy warped through the lens of a 1970s sci-fi Western, After Blue is a synthetic siren song for the freaks of the future and the past," one review states. The PR folks add: "the newest vision from Bertrand Mandico (The Wild Boys) plays like a lesbian El Topo (in space!) with stunning 35mm in-camera practical effects, otherworldly set pieces,...
- 4/24/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After his delirious, vividly strange debut The Wild Boys, Bertrand Mandico is back with After Blue (Dirty Paradise), which premiered at Locarno Film Festival last year and will now arrive in U.S. theaters starting June 3. Set in a faraway future, on a wild and untamed female inhabited planet called After Blue, the queer sci-fi fantasy romance follows a lonely teenager named Roxy who unknowingly releases a mystical, dangerous, and sensual assassin from her prison. Roxy and her mother Zora (Elina Löwensohn) are held accountable, banished from their community, and forced to track the murderer named Kate Bush down. Haunted by the spirits of her murdered friends, Roxy starts a long journey pacing the supernatural territories of this filthy paradise. Ahead of the release, the new U.S. trailer has now arrived.
Leonardo Goi said in his review, “In the post-apocalyptic nightmare of After Blue, humanity—or what’s left...
Leonardo Goi said in his review, “In the post-apocalyptic nightmare of After Blue, humanity—or what’s left...
- 4/21/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDesigned by Hartland Villa, the official poster for the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival features a still from Peter Weir and Andrew Niccol’s The Truman Show. The festival has also unveiled the lineup for its official selection, which features a hefty list of competitors for the Palme d'Or. Check out the full lineup here.Accompanying the official selection are the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week lineups, which are not to be overlooked. Pietro Marcello's French-language debut Scarlet will be opening the Directors' Fortnight, while Yann Gonzalez and July Jung will be premiering new films at Critics' Week. Kelly Reichardt will be receiving an honorary Golden Leopard from this year's Locarno International Film Festival in celebration of her distinguished career, throughout which she's "[redesigned] the profile of genres, from western to thriller,...
- 4/20/2022
- MUBI
Altered Innocence is traveling to After Blue (Dirty Paradise), a nightmarish sci-fi horror fantasy from French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. that had its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Bloody Disgusting previously scored an exclusive look at the English-language teaser trailer that’s nothing short of spectacular, sparkling with glitter and gold and dropping viewers into […]
The post Altered Innocence Travels to the Glittery Hell of ‘After Blue (Dirty Paradise)’ This June [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post Altered Innocence Travels to the Glittery Hell of ‘After Blue (Dirty Paradise)’ This June [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 4/20/2022
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
In a world drowning in content, independent films give jaded audiences a fresh way to look at the world. Nothing new there. But lately, some of these movies have really gone off the deep end.
In “Lamb,” an Icelandic couple discovers an adorable sheep-baby and attempts to raise it as their own. In “Titane,” a car-show dancer murders a would-be rapist, then turns around and has sex with a tricked-out Cadillac. In “The Green Knight,” a reckless Arthurian hero hacks down a human tree, knowing full well it will cost him his head.
Unconventional as these movies may be, they’re finding an audience today that I would not have thought possible a decade or so ago. Not a huge audience, mind you, but a small yet dedicated segment of the public that’s fed up with formula, hungry for movies with the capacity to surprise, perhaps even to shock.
In “Lamb,” an Icelandic couple discovers an adorable sheep-baby and attempts to raise it as their own. In “Titane,” a car-show dancer murders a would-be rapist, then turns around and has sex with a tricked-out Cadillac. In “The Green Knight,” a reckless Arthurian hero hacks down a human tree, knowing full well it will cost him his head.
Unconventional as these movies may be, they’re finding an audience today that I would not have thought possible a decade or so ago. Not a huge audience, mind you, but a small yet dedicated segment of the public that’s fed up with formula, hungry for movies with the capacity to surprise, perhaps even to shock.
- 1/19/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
French helmer Bertrand Mandico has achieved a cult following for his gender-bending sensorial surrealist visions, with more than 20 short films and two feature films completed to date.
His first feature, “The Wild Boys,” about five wealthy adolescent boys sent to a tropical island, all played by actresses, premiered in Venice. It won the Louis-Delluc 2018 prize for best first film and topped Cahiers du Cinéma’s 2018 list of Top 10 films.
His sophomore feature “After Blue (Dirty Paradise),” is a sci-fi western, again primarily with a female cast, including Mandico’s fetish actress Elina Löwensohn. It had its world premiere at Locarno in 2021, where it won the Fipresci prize, followed by its North American premiere in Toronto’s Midnight Madness sidebar, and U.S. premiere in the Fantastic Fest, where it won Best Film. It won the Special Jury Prize at Sitges.
The helmer is now completing post-production on his third feature,...
His first feature, “The Wild Boys,” about five wealthy adolescent boys sent to a tropical island, all played by actresses, premiered in Venice. It won the Louis-Delluc 2018 prize for best first film and topped Cahiers du Cinéma’s 2018 list of Top 10 films.
His sophomore feature “After Blue (Dirty Paradise),” is a sci-fi western, again primarily with a female cast, including Mandico’s fetish actress Elina Löwensohn. It had its world premiere at Locarno in 2021, where it won the Fipresci prize, followed by its North American premiere in Toronto’s Midnight Madness sidebar, and U.S. premiere in the Fantastic Fest, where it won Best Film. It won the Special Jury Prize at Sitges.
The helmer is now completing post-production on his third feature,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
France’s burgeoning VR sector is exploring the hybrid territory between commercial applications, film festivals and contemporary art museums.
French producers and authorities are increasingly interested in VR and extended reality solutions against a backdrop of multiple recent developments – such as Facebook’s rebranding as Meta, Sony’s next-generation VR headset for PlayStation 5, Disney’s patents of “virtual-world simulator” tech, and an estimated $3 billion of virtual reality headsets sold during Covid-19 lockdowns.
One of the key French hubs for VR production is Plaine Images, a Hauts-de-France innovation park, based in Lille, in Northern France, which houses production companies, research centers, and three schools, including Le Fresnoy – National Studio of Contemporary and Visual Arts.
Le Fresnoy produced Faye Formisano’s “They Dream in My Bones – Insemnopedy II,” one of 10 VR projects screening at Sundance 2022, within the fest’s New Frontier sidebar.
French helmer Bertrand Mandico (“After Blue”) and philosopher Emanuele Coccia...
French producers and authorities are increasingly interested in VR and extended reality solutions against a backdrop of multiple recent developments – such as Facebook’s rebranding as Meta, Sony’s next-generation VR headset for PlayStation 5, Disney’s patents of “virtual-world simulator” tech, and an estimated $3 billion of virtual reality headsets sold during Covid-19 lockdowns.
One of the key French hubs for VR production is Plaine Images, a Hauts-de-France innovation park, based in Lille, in Northern France, which houses production companies, research centers, and three schools, including Le Fresnoy – National Studio of Contemporary and Visual Arts.
Le Fresnoy produced Faye Formisano’s “They Dream in My Bones – Insemnopedy II,” one of 10 VR projects screening at Sundance 2022, within the fest’s New Frontier sidebar.
French helmer Bertrand Mandico (“After Blue”) and philosopher Emanuele Coccia...
- 1/9/2022
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Icelandic-Swedish-Polish drama “Lamb,” starring Noomi Rapace was awarded best film and actress for Rapace at the 54th edition of Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, which wrapped Sunday.
The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.
“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.
Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...
The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.
“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.
Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...
- 10/18/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
It's awards time at Sitges as the festival nears its end. The Méliès d'Or awards are just a half hour away and the festival has handed out its awards last night. Valdimar Johánnsson's Lamb has won for best feature film, Bertrand Mandico's After Blue will take home the Special Jury Prize and Justin Kurzel was awarded for his direction of his new film Nitram. Recognition for acting was divied up for both actors and actresses. The special effects award was kind of a no-brainer, going to animating legend Phil Tippett for his stop motion opus Mad God. Mulitple award winners include Lamb, After Blue, Nitram, Mad God, Luzifer, and Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon. All the winners are listed below. ...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/16/2021
- Screen Anarchy
Paradis Sale, the original french title of Bertrand Mandico's sophomore feature, translates as 'Dirty Paradise'. And this place isn't exactly a paradise, nor is it dirty. But it is most definitely strange and surreal, filled with intoxication and eroticism, and highly dangerous. After his first feature about wild boys, it seems Mandico (a prolific filmmaker of shorts) wanted to take a proverbial (and literal) walk on the wild side with women. Humans have long since left the earth, finding a new planet to colonize, which they name 'After Blue'. But the planet, it turns out, is hostile to men, and only women (or those with ovaries) survive. The species is maintained through artificial insemination, but society itself has become both beautiful and at times cruel,...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/15/2021
- Screen Anarchy
‘After Blue’ Review: Erotic Lesbian Acid Trip Is Like ‘The Love Witch’ Set on Planet ‘Annihiliation’
If you unearthed a glittery demon with one hairy arm who awakened your deepest desires from the third eye between her legs, what lengths would you travel to find her again? This, and plenty more completely insane scenarios, are among the many posed in Bertrand Mandico’s seductive, ethereal, and bizarre epic “After Blue,” aptly subtitled “Dirty Paradise.”
Set on a fantasy planet where only women can survive the harsh climate, the adventure follows a mother and daughter on a grueling journey to find and kill the evil “Kate Bush,” rumored to be death herself. One part “Annihilation” and one part “The Love Witch,” and cast under the veneer of a sadistic “The NeverEnding Story,” the film
The fantastical fable is narrated by Roxy (Paula-Luna Breitenfelder), a petulant teenager with a bleached-blonde mullet, who stares blankly into the camera in conversation with a mysterious disembodied voice. “The Earth was sick,...
Set on a fantasy planet where only women can survive the harsh climate, the adventure follows a mother and daughter on a grueling journey to find and kill the evil “Kate Bush,” rumored to be death herself. One part “Annihilation” and one part “The Love Witch,” and cast under the veneer of a sadistic “The NeverEnding Story,” the film
The fantastical fable is narrated by Roxy (Paula-Luna Breitenfelder), a petulant teenager with a bleached-blonde mullet, who stares blankly into the camera in conversation with a mysterious disembodied voice. “The Earth was sick,...
- 10/7/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Horror fans don’t have to wait until October to celebrate the scary movies, but this month offers a welcome opportunity to embrace the form. Last year, when the pandemic made in-person film festivals hard to achieve, four respected genre festivals from around the country — Boston Underground, Brooklyn Horror, North Bend, and Overlook — joined forces for a virtual festival event called Nightstream. Blending traditional horror programming with broader examples of genre filmmaking, the lineup provided a welcome opportunity to bring the festival experience to audiences nationwide.
This year is no exception: The second edition of Nightstream begins tonight and runs through October 13, with an exciting online program of films and events accessible to anyone in the U.S. Badgeholders will be able to tune into conversations with David Lowery, “Malignant” writer Akela Cooper, and “Creepshow” showrunner Greg Nicotero, as well as recurring events like The Future of Film Is Female...
This year is no exception: The second edition of Nightstream begins tonight and runs through October 13, with an exciting online program of films and events accessible to anyone in the U.S. Badgeholders will be able to tune into conversations with David Lowery, “Malignant” writer Akela Cooper, and “Creepshow” showrunner Greg Nicotero, as well as recurring events like The Future of Film Is Female...
- 10/7/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Fantastic Fest 2021 is bringing its physical edition to an end on September 30, and IndieWire is exclusively revealing this year’s award winners below. Many of the winning features will be available to stream September 30 through October 11 as part of the virtual Fantastic Fest at Home, including “After Blue,” “Zalava,” “Name Above Title,” and “Let the Wrong One In.” All the award-winning short films will stream virtual as well.
This year’s Competition winner for Best Film is Bertrand Mandico’s “After Blue.” The movie is set on a mysterious planet populated entirely by women, where a teenager and her mother set out on a journey to find a murderous criminal.
“After Blue (Dirty Paradise) is a mutant-cinema dream,” Mandico said in a statement. “The dream of taking my actresses and collaborators towards an emotional lyricism of creation. The dream of giving spectators an out-of-format, intoxicating and disturbing fantasy. Thanks to...
This year’s Competition winner for Best Film is Bertrand Mandico’s “After Blue.” The movie is set on a mysterious planet populated entirely by women, where a teenager and her mother set out on a journey to find a murderous criminal.
“After Blue (Dirty Paradise) is a mutant-cinema dream,” Mandico said in a statement. “The dream of taking my actresses and collaborators towards an emotional lyricism of creation. The dream of giving spectators an out-of-format, intoxicating and disturbing fantasy. Thanks to...
- 9/29/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
To say that Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or win in July inspired waves of excitement across swaths of the French industry would be something of an understatement.
Indeed, to those working in genre, the fact that the “Titane” filmmaker became only the second woman director to claim one of the film world’s most august accolades follows well behind an accomplishment that they would argue puts in her even more rarified company: That she claimed such a feat from within an industry still hostile to genre itself.
“It’s not our culture,” says Grégoire Melin, producer and CEO of sales outfit Kinology. “Unlike American or Asian or English film cultures, ours is not versed in pure genre films. In France, there’s still a built in resistance to these kinds of projects. Which is very strange!”
The former sales chief at Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, Melin has toiled in...
Indeed, to those working in genre, the fact that the “Titane” filmmaker became only the second woman director to claim one of the film world’s most august accolades follows well behind an accomplishment that they would argue puts in her even more rarified company: That she claimed such a feat from within an industry still hostile to genre itself.
“It’s not our culture,” says Grégoire Melin, producer and CEO of sales outfit Kinology. “Unlike American or Asian or English film cultures, ours is not versed in pure genre films. In France, there’s still a built in resistance to these kinds of projects. Which is very strange!”
The former sales chief at Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, Melin has toiled in...
- 9/10/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
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