Exclusive: Veteran manager Aleksey Ageyev — who while repping a roster of top global filmmakers, has produced more than 30 scripted series and features — has joined David Unger’s global management company Artist International Group as Partner.
Ageyev brings to Aig clients including 2021 Tribeca prize-winning filmmaker Levan Koguashvili (Brighton 4th); screenwriter Elena Kiseleva, who co-wrote Andrey Konchalovskiy’s 2020 Venice Special Jury Prize winner Dear Comrades!; screenwriter Andrey Zolotarev (Sputnik); and showrunner Roman Kantor, among others.
Prior to joining Artist International Group, Ageyev headed up the global talent management company PlusSeven as well as the Los Angeles-based Storyworld Entertainment, where he specialized in adapting foreign formats for the U.S. market. Notable credits include To the Lake and Seven Seconds, both for Netflix.
“International projects are the future of our industry. David Unger has been nurturing international voices for two decades,” said Ageyev. “With our combined efforts, we...
Ageyev brings to Aig clients including 2021 Tribeca prize-winning filmmaker Levan Koguashvili (Brighton 4th); screenwriter Elena Kiseleva, who co-wrote Andrey Konchalovskiy’s 2020 Venice Special Jury Prize winner Dear Comrades!; screenwriter Andrey Zolotarev (Sputnik); and showrunner Roman Kantor, among others.
Prior to joining Artist International Group, Ageyev headed up the global talent management company PlusSeven as well as the Los Angeles-based Storyworld Entertainment, where he specialized in adapting foreign formats for the U.S. market. Notable credits include To the Lake and Seven Seconds, both for Netflix.
“International projects are the future of our industry. David Unger has been nurturing international voices for two decades,” said Ageyev. “With our combined efforts, we...
- 11/21/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Ammonite, Apples, Promising Young Woman, Supernova, The Dig, The Father and The Mauritanian are among the first wave of movies recommended by a European Film Awards committee for nomination at this year’s event.
A record number of movies have been suggested by the committee this year in light of the pandemic disruption. More than 40 films have been revealed today — features and docs — with more set to be revealed in September.
The feature films have been selected by a committee of the Academy Board and a range of European industry professionals. The documentary films have been selected by Efa Board Members Graziella Bildesheim (institutional/Italy) and Ada Solomon (producer/Romania), Katja Gauriloff, Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer/Germany), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director/Kosovo), Orwa Nyrabia, Rada Šešić (festival programmer and filmmaker/Bosnia & Herzegovina/The Netherlands), Rajesh Thind and...
A record number of movies have been suggested by the committee this year in light of the pandemic disruption. More than 40 films have been revealed today — features and docs — with more set to be revealed in September.
The feature films have been selected by a committee of the Academy Board and a range of European industry professionals. The documentary films have been selected by Efa Board Members Graziella Bildesheim (institutional/Italy) and Ada Solomon (producer/Romania), Katja Gauriloff, Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer/Germany), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director/Kosovo), Orwa Nyrabia, Rada Šešić (festival programmer and filmmaker/Bosnia & Herzegovina/The Netherlands), Rajesh Thind and...
- 8/24/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Dear Comrades Neon Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Andrei Konchalovsky Writer: Andrei Konchalovsky, Elena Kiseleva Cast: Julia Vysotskaya, Andrei Guseve, Yulia Burova, Sergei Erlish, Vlaislav Komarov Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 1/28/21 Opens: January 29, 2021 in virtual cinema. February 5, 2021 streaming Not only political candidates, […]
The post Dear Comrades Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Dear Comrades Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/15/2021
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
To say “Sin” is about Michelangelo is much too reductive. Rather than offering up a definitive portrait of the Italian artist, Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky has crafted instead He’s all those things and yet defined by none of them. It’s telling that “Sin” doesn’t actually spend much time with Michelangelo creating, less interested as it is in what makes a great artist than in the material conditions that shape and inspire one.
The Italian-language art film, which releases in virtual cinemas Feb. 19, opens with a written précis about the political rivalry between the Della Rovere nobility and the Medici family (soon to take over when Leo X ascends to the papacy), locating Michelangelo (an aptly disheveled Alberto Testone) squarely within the two. Much too broke to turn away handsome commissions (such as Pope Julius II’s tomb) and much too vain to refuse coveted endeavors (the façade...
The Italian-language art film, which releases in virtual cinemas Feb. 19, opens with a written précis about the political rivalry between the Della Rovere nobility and the Medici family (soon to take over when Leo X ascends to the papacy), locating Michelangelo (an aptly disheveled Alberto Testone) squarely within the two. Much too broke to turn away handsome commissions (such as Pope Julius II’s tomb) and much too vain to refuse coveted endeavors (the façade...
- 2/19/2021
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
“What am I supposed to believe in if not communism?” Lyudmila stutters, drunk and disheveled, toward the end of Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!. A Stalin devotee and World War II veteran, she serves as a Communist Party official in her native Novocherkassk, a town in southern Ussr. But her unquestioning ideology suddenly wavers after a strike at the local factory is quelled with deadly force by the Kgb and Red Army forces. Seldom known outside Russia, the real-life massacre shook Novocherkassk on June 2, 1962, claiming the lives of 26 unarmed civilians. Dear Comrades! is a faithful and impeccably crafted exhumation of the tragedy—an event the Soviet Union kept secret until its dissolution in the early nineties. Konchalovsky has cited films such as Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1957 The Cranes Are Flying and Grigori Chukhray’s 1959 Ballad of a Soldier as stylistic reference points, and indeed—shot by Andrey Naidenov in stark, gorgeous...
- 2/2/2021
- MUBI
Andrei Konchalovsky’s historical drama won the special jury prize in Venice.
The UK’s Curzon Artificial Eye and France’s Potemkine Films have acquired Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, in a series of fresh deals by Films Boutique.
The historical drama, which is Russia’s Oscar submission and earned a special jury prize at Venice, has also been picked up for Canada (Films We Like) and Japan (New Select).
It follows a recent deal with US distributor Neon, which previously handled the release of Bong Joon Ho’s South Korean Oscar-winner Parasite.
Berlin-based international sales outfit Films Boutique previously...
The UK’s Curzon Artificial Eye and France’s Potemkine Films have acquired Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, in a series of fresh deals by Films Boutique.
The historical drama, which is Russia’s Oscar submission and earned a special jury prize at Venice, has also been picked up for Canada (Films We Like) and Japan (New Select).
It follows a recent deal with US distributor Neon, which previously handled the release of Bong Joon Ho’s South Korean Oscar-winner Parasite.
Berlin-based international sales outfit Films Boutique previously...
- 11/20/2020
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Film won special jury prize in Venice.
Neon has picked up US rights from Films Boutique to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Russian Oscar submission Dear Comrades!
The film premiered at Venice, where it earned a special jury prize, and centres on the Novocherkassk Massacre of June 1962 during Nikita Khrushchev’s rule, when workers were slaughtered for going on strike over rising food prices.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish star.
Konchalovsky co-wrote the screenplay with Elena Kiseleva, and Alisher Usmanov produced. His previous films include Il Peccato (The Sin). The White Nights Of Postman, and Paradise.
Neon has picked up US rights from Films Boutique to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Russian Oscar submission Dear Comrades!
The film premiered at Venice, where it earned a special jury prize, and centres on the Novocherkassk Massacre of June 1962 during Nikita Khrushchev’s rule, when workers were slaughtered for going on strike over rising food prices.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish star.
Konchalovsky co-wrote the screenplay with Elena Kiseleva, and Alisher Usmanov produced. His previous films include Il Peccato (The Sin). The White Nights Of Postman, and Paradise.
- 11/13/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Neon has acquired U.S. rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Dear Comrades!” on the heels of the film being announced as Russia’s official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards.
The film is set in 1962 as the Communist government raises food prices, triggering a strike by rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
“Dear Comrades!” premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival where it won the special jury prize. Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film was produced by Alisher Usmanov. It stars Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish.
Critic Jessica Kiang wrote in her review for Variety: “Meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect, this scrupulous recreation of the lead-up to and aftermath of the Novocherkassk massacre six decades ago is...
The film is set in 1962 as the Communist government raises food prices, triggering a strike by rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
“Dear Comrades!” premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival where it won the special jury prize. Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film was produced by Alisher Usmanov. It stars Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish.
Critic Jessica Kiang wrote in her review for Variety: “Meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect, this scrupulous recreation of the lead-up to and aftermath of the Novocherkassk massacre six decades ago is...
- 11/13/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Neon has taken U.S. rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, which made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize. As announced this morning, film is Russia’s official submission for the 2020-2021 Oscars.
Dear Comrades! follows the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk in 1962 who go on strike after the communist government raises food prices . The massacre which ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
Konchalovsky co-wrote with Elena Kiseleva with the pic being produced by Alisher Usmanov. Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, Sergei Erlish star.
Ayo Kepher-Maat negotiated the deal for Neon with Jean-Christophe Simon and Julien Razafindranaly from Films Boutique.
Konchalovsky’s most recent work includes Il Peccato (The Sin). His two previous features, The White Nights of Postman and Paradise, brought him best director Silver Lions at the Venice International Film Festival.
Dear Comrades! follows the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk in 1962 who go on strike after the communist government raises food prices . The massacre which ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
Konchalovsky co-wrote with Elena Kiseleva with the pic being produced by Alisher Usmanov. Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, Sergei Erlish star.
Ayo Kepher-Maat negotiated the deal for Neon with Jean-Christophe Simon and Julien Razafindranaly from Films Boutique.
Konchalovsky’s most recent work includes Il Peccato (The Sin). His two previous features, The White Nights of Postman and Paradise, brought him best director Silver Lions at the Venice International Film Festival.
- 11/13/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Neon has picked up the U.S. rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, which is set to be Russia’s official Oscars submission.
The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize, is set in 1962 and told through the eyes of a devout party activist. It takes place when the communist government raises food prices and the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike, and captures the massacre which then ensues.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova and Sergei Erlish star. Konchalovsky penned the movie with Elena Kiseleva, with Alisher ...
The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize, is set in 1962 and told through the eyes of a devout party activist. It takes place when the communist government raises food prices and the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike, and captures the massacre which then ensues.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova and Sergei Erlish star. Konchalovsky penned the movie with Elena Kiseleva, with Alisher ...
- 11/13/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Neon has picked up the U.S. rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, which is set to be Russia’s official Oscars submission.
The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize, is set in 1962 and told through the eyes of a devout party activist. It takes place when the communist government raises food prices and the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike, and captures the massacre which then ensues.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova and Sergei Erlish star. Konchalovsky penned the movie with Elena Kiseleva, with Alisher ...
The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize, is set in 1962 and told through the eyes of a devout party activist. It takes place when the communist government raises food prices and the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike, and captures the massacre which then ensues.
Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova and Sergei Erlish star. Konchalovsky penned the movie with Elena Kiseleva, with Alisher ...
- 11/13/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With another day at the (virtual) 56th Chicago International Film Festival comes another batch to sift through. It was a lighter batch too, not just in numbers but also in runtimes. Day three consisted of two short documentaries and another scripted feature, but did the quality make up for quantity? Not quite, but at least they all had their moments.
Making its Midwest premiere at the festival is Gregory Monro’s Kubrick by Kubrick (Grade: C), a 72-minute documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s work. Here, Monro zips us from the filmmaker’s childhood to death, touching on a majority of his offerings in between. Yet it’s not so much Monro doing it: It’s Kubrick himself through interviews and recordings. The idea of making a documentary about the man isn’t inherently flawed, but this one’s approach is, lacking the insight or visuals to make it feel like...
Making its Midwest premiere at the festival is Gregory Monro’s Kubrick by Kubrick (Grade: C), a 72-minute documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s work. Here, Monro zips us from the filmmaker’s childhood to death, touching on a majority of his offerings in between. Yet it’s not so much Monro doing it: It’s Kubrick himself through interviews and recordings. The idea of making a documentary about the man isn’t inherently flawed, but this one’s approach is, lacking the insight or visuals to make it feel like...
- 10/17/2020
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Venice’s Special Jury Prize-winning “Dear Comrades!,” a Russian historical drama directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, has been sold by Films Boutique to Southern Europe.
“Dear Comrades!” was acquired for Italy by Paolo Del Brocco at Rai Cinema and for Spain by the Barcelona-based distributor Vercine.
The film, which sheds light on the Novocherkassk massacre, was produced, co-written (with Elena Kiseleva) and directed by Konchalovsky, a revered and now veteran Russian auteur who is best-known for directing “Runaway Train,” “Duet For One” and “House Of Fools.”
Shot in black and white, the politically-minded film retells the tragic events of 1962, when the Soviet Union military opened fire on workers from a construction plant who were staging one of the first street protests in Soviet Russia. The movie stars Julia Vysotskaya (”Paradise”).
“Dear Comrades!” world premiered in main competition at the Lido to strong reviews and went on to win the Special Jury Prize.
“Dear Comrades!” was acquired for Italy by Paolo Del Brocco at Rai Cinema and for Spain by the Barcelona-based distributor Vercine.
The film, which sheds light on the Novocherkassk massacre, was produced, co-written (with Elena Kiseleva) and directed by Konchalovsky, a revered and now veteran Russian auteur who is best-known for directing “Runaway Train,” “Duet For One” and “House Of Fools.”
Shot in black and white, the politically-minded film retells the tragic events of 1962, when the Soviet Union military opened fire on workers from a construction plant who were staging one of the first street protests in Soviet Russia. The movie stars Julia Vysotskaya (”Paradise”).
“Dear Comrades!” world premiered in main competition at the Lido to strong reviews and went on to win the Special Jury Prize.
- 9/18/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Above: Dear Comrades!After a week of four films a day, unhealthy amounts of coffee, and dangerously little sleep, the countless screenings you’ve been shuttled into tend to merge into one confused amalgam. You’ve watched enough films for creative pairings between the selection to start percolating, and a great double bill came about yesterday, as the Lido welcomed back Andrei Konchalovsky and his latest, Dear Comrades! I watched it as a storm raged over the Lido, the thunders roaring above the roof of the Sala Darsena, a fitting soundtrack for a film that unearthed a tragic chapter of Soviet history, and brought me back to another Golden Lion contender from a few days ago, Quo Vadis, Aida? Both Konchalovsky and Jasmila Žbanić’s films home in on unspeakable massacres, and follow women struggling to protect their families against the forces of History. Incidentally, both are also among the...
- 9/8/2020
- MUBI
The subject of “Dear Comrades!” stretches across the decades: On June 2, 1962, Soviet soldiers opened fire on workers in the city of Novocherkassk who were protesting for better living conditions and lower food prices. The Novocherkassk massacre ended with 26 people dead and buried in secret by Kgb officials; it wasn’t until a 1992 investigation that the full scope of the violence came to light. Director Andrei Konchalovsky doesn’t need to follow the story that far. Instead, “Dear Comrades!” hovers in the immediacy of the disaster, with the vivid black-and-white saga of a Communist Party official whose own daughter goes missing in the chaos.
That face belongs to Lyudmila (a tense Julia Vysotskaya), who has served as a loyal servant of the Communist Party for decades. “Dear Comrades!” follows her through nearly every scene, as the government braces for the first major labor strike and the ensuing demonstration before it tips into violence.
That face belongs to Lyudmila (a tense Julia Vysotskaya), who has served as a loyal servant of the Communist Party for decades. “Dear Comrades!” follows her through nearly every scene, as the government braces for the first major labor strike and the ensuing demonstration before it tips into violence.
- 9/7/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Venice main competition contender “Dear Comrades,” the latest feature from legendary Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, has been snapped up for world sales by Berlin-based Films Boutique, in what looks like one of the biggest sales agents deals on a title vying for the Golden Lion at 2020’s 77th Venice Intl. Film Festival.
Packing a brief stint in Hollywood in the 1980s, Konchalovsky’s now 60-year career runs a huge gamut, from co-writing Russian colossus Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1965 masterpiece “Andrei Rublev,” to adapting an unfilmed Akira Kurosawa script for 1985’s “Runaway Train,” a feature that spawned a friendship with Billy Wilder, to being fired from the 1989 Sylvester Stallone comedy “Tango & Cash.”
Unambivalent about Hollywood — “‘Tango & Cash,’ like every real Hollywood film, is a film for people who cannot read,” he once told The Guardian — “Good Comrades” delivers what many will see as Konchalovsky’s take on the Soviet regime,...
Packing a brief stint in Hollywood in the 1980s, Konchalovsky’s now 60-year career runs a huge gamut, from co-writing Russian colossus Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1965 masterpiece “Andrei Rublev,” to adapting an unfilmed Akira Kurosawa script for 1985’s “Runaway Train,” a feature that spawned a friendship with Billy Wilder, to being fired from the 1989 Sylvester Stallone comedy “Tango & Cash.”
Unambivalent about Hollywood — “‘Tango & Cash,’ like every real Hollywood film, is a film for people who cannot read,” he once told The Guardian — “Good Comrades” delivers what many will see as Konchalovsky’s take on the Soviet regime,...
- 7/31/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Arri Media International has acquired international distribution rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Michelangelo biopic “Il Peccato” (“Sin”), which will have its world premiere as a Special Closing Event at the 14th Rome Film Festival (Oct. 17-27).
Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film is set in Florence in the 16th century and follows Michelangelo through “the agonies and ecstasy of his own creative genius, as two rival noble factions compete for his loyalty,” according to Arri.
Although widely considered a genius by his contemporaries, Michelangelo, played by Alberto Testone (“Suburra”), is reduced to poverty and depleted by his struggle to finish the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When his commissioner and head of the Della Rovere nobility Pope Julius II dies, Michelangelo becomes obsessed with sourcing the finest marble to complete his tomb.
The artist’s loyalty is tested when Leo X of the rival Medici family ascends to...
Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film is set in Florence in the 16th century and follows Michelangelo through “the agonies and ecstasy of his own creative genius, as two rival noble factions compete for his loyalty,” according to Arri.
Although widely considered a genius by his contemporaries, Michelangelo, played by Alberto Testone (“Suburra”), is reduced to poverty and depleted by his struggle to finish the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When his commissioner and head of the Della Rovere nobility Pope Julius II dies, Michelangelo becomes obsessed with sourcing the finest marble to complete his tomb.
The artist’s loyalty is tested when Leo X of the rival Medici family ascends to...
- 10/8/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Paradise (Ray) Film Movement Director: Andrey Konchalovsky Written by: Andrey Konchalovsky, Elena Kiseleva Cast: Yuliya Vysotskaya, Peter Kurth, Viktor Sukhorukov, Philippe Duquesne, Thomas Darchinger Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 10/2/17 Opens: October 6, 2017 In the final paragraph of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” Sidney Carton does a far, far better thing than […]
The post Paradise Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Paradise Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/4/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
‘Land of Mine’ (Courtesy: Toronto International Film Festival)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
If there’s one thing for certain about the foreign-language film category at the Oscars it’s that the Academy sure has a soft spot for films about World War II. Just this year alone there are three movies on the Academy’s shortlist that are set during that very tumultuous time — Denmark’s Land of Mine, Norway’s The King’s Choice, and Russia’s Paradise. How often has the Academy nominated or given the win to films based specifically during the World War II era?
According to Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter, the best foreign-language film Oscar race is shaping up to potentially only feature one of these World War II-set movies in the official nominations. So far Land of Mine is listed as a frontrunner along with Germany’s Toni Erdmann, Iran’s The Salesman,...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
If there’s one thing for certain about the foreign-language film category at the Oscars it’s that the Academy sure has a soft spot for films about World War II. Just this year alone there are three movies on the Academy’s shortlist that are set during that very tumultuous time — Denmark’s Land of Mine, Norway’s The King’s Choice, and Russia’s Paradise. How often has the Academy nominated or given the win to films based specifically during the World War II era?
According to Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter, the best foreign-language film Oscar race is shaping up to potentially only feature one of these World War II-set movies in the official nominations. So far Land of Mine is listed as a frontrunner along with Germany’s Toni Erdmann, Iran’s The Salesman,...
- 1/13/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
‘My Life as a Zucchini’ (Courtesy: Rita/Blue Spirit/Gebeka/Knm)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
With a shortlist announced, the best foreign language film category is quickly whittling down and gearing up for the 2017 Oscars. A grand total of 85 movies were accepted from the record 89 submissions, but now the Academy is only eyeing nine of them to eventually nominate five from. Let’s take a closer look the lucky ones to make the shortlist — as controversial as they are — and get to know them better and see if history can provide context for what makes them so special.
Tanna (Australia)
Tanna, Australia’s submission, is set on the titular island that is a part of Vanuatu in the South Pacific and focuses on the Romeo and Juliet-esque romance between a couple who decide to marry for love instead of obeying their parents’ wishes. The film — co-directed by Martin Butler...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
With a shortlist announced, the best foreign language film category is quickly whittling down and gearing up for the 2017 Oscars. A grand total of 85 movies were accepted from the record 89 submissions, but now the Academy is only eyeing nine of them to eventually nominate five from. Let’s take a closer look the lucky ones to make the shortlist — as controversial as they are — and get to know them better and see if history can provide context for what makes them so special.
Tanna (Australia)
Tanna, Australia’s submission, is set on the titular island that is a part of Vanuatu in the South Pacific and focuses on the Romeo and Juliet-esque romance between a couple who decide to marry for love instead of obeying their parents’ wishes. The film — co-directed by Martin Butler...
- 12/21/2016
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
- 5/6/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.
The Postman’s White Nights
Written by Elena Kiseleva and Andrey Konchalovskiy
Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy
Russia, 2014
Set on the beautiful, densely wooded shores of Lake Kenozero in northern Russia, Andrey Konchalovskiy’s The Postman’s White Nights, winner of the Silver Lion at last year’s Venice International Film Festival, is an offbeat exploration of small town life through the eyes of the titular postman Lyokha (Aleksey Tyrapitsyn), whose job creates the sole tenuous link between the insular village and the outside world. Relying on a cast comprising non-actors, the fictional narrative is a triumph of verisimilitude that spins a delicate web of intimacy and levity by capturing fleeting moments and small gestures.
In his habitual uniform of camo, black galoshes and large satchel, Lyokha crosses the lake each day by boat, picking up mail and other necessities to deliver to his neighbors.
The Postman’s White Nights
Written by Elena Kiseleva and Andrey Konchalovskiy
Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy
Russia, 2014
Set on the beautiful, densely wooded shores of Lake Kenozero in northern Russia, Andrey Konchalovskiy’s The Postman’s White Nights, winner of the Silver Lion at last year’s Venice International Film Festival, is an offbeat exploration of small town life through the eyes of the titular postman Lyokha (Aleksey Tyrapitsyn), whose job creates the sole tenuous link between the insular village and the outside world. Relying on a cast comprising non-actors, the fictional narrative is a triumph of verisimilitude that spins a delicate web of intimacy and levity by capturing fleeting moments and small gestures.
In his habitual uniform of camo, black galoshes and large satchel, Lyokha crosses the lake each day by boat, picking up mail and other necessities to deliver to his neighbors.
- 4/29/2015
- by Misa Shikuma
- SoundOnSight
★★★★☆If Anton Chekhov had been a reality show creator, Andrei Konchalovsky's The Postman's White Nights (2014) might well have been the result. Playing in competition at the 71st Venice Film Festival, this beautifully realised picture tells the story of a small, marginalised village in Northern Russia on the banks of Lake Kenozero. Using for the most part locals instead of actors and capturing their lives with hidden cameras, Konchalovsky's story (co-written with Elena Kiseleva) is a simple tale of the life of one Lyokha (played by real-life postman Aleksey Tryapitsyn) and the community he serves. In a startling opening shot, Lyokha leafs through some old photographs which show him as a hard-drinking man.
- 9/8/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Venice — Blending fiction with documentary and exquisite film craft with playful improvisational freedom, Andrei Konchalovsky delivers what might be the most captivating screen work of his post-Hollywood career with The Postman's White Nights. Shot in an isolated village in Northern Russia on and around breathtaking Kenozero Lake, with a cast made up primarily of untrained locals playing versions of themselves, this is a gently nuanced portrait of a backwater community untouched by the transformations of their post-Soviet nation. Written by Konchalovsky with former journalist Elena Kiseleva, the screenplay was basically a flexible storyline built around the central
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- 9/5/2014
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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