The exiled Russian producer is in Berlin with Encounters title ’The Cage Is Looking For A Bird’.
Berlin-based Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Disappearance, set to star August Diehl as Josef Mengele, will shoot in South America this summer, confirmed Ilya Stewart, the film’s exiled Russia producer of Hype Studios, at the European Film Market this weekend.
The director will move straight onto it after the completion of his latest feature, Limonov. A sales agent is likely to be announced in time for Cannes. Diehl will play the Nazi war criminal during the years he hid out in Brazil.
Berlin-based Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Disappearance, set to star August Diehl as Josef Mengele, will shoot in South America this summer, confirmed Ilya Stewart, the film’s exiled Russia producer of Hype Studios, at the European Film Market this weekend.
The director will move straight onto it after the completion of his latest feature, Limonov. A sales agent is likely to be announced in time for Cannes. Diehl will play the Nazi war criminal during the years he hid out in Brazil.
- 2/20/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
China’s Pingyao International Film Festival got under way on Tuesday with the gala screening of Zhang Lu’s new drama film “Yanagawa.” The festival will unspool Oct. 12-19 with a familiar package of competition screenings a work in progress section, a film lab, a project market and a tribute section dedicated to Tsui Hark.
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
- 10/13/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Festival, which opens today, also annouced its Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons competition sections.
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
- 10/12/2021
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
“Bodies are heavier after death, my pop told me.” So says a child at the beginning of Mama I’m Home, setting the scene for Vladimir Bitokov’s compelling second feature which premiered in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival.
This is Kabardino-Balkaria, a world where some children grow up to have a choice between unemployment, and fighting for a Russian private military contractor. Tonya (Kseniya Rappoport) has persuaded her son to take the latter option, but bitterly regrets it when she is told that he has been killed in action. Refusing to believe it, she storms into everywhere from army offices to police stations, demanding the truth. When the authorities realize that she won’t give up, a young man arrives at her home, claiming to be her long lost son, alive and well. But he’s a stranger to Tonya, and the conspiracy unfolds as she continues to battle for answers.
This is Kabardino-Balkaria, a world where some children grow up to have a choice between unemployment, and fighting for a Russian private military contractor. Tonya (Kseniya Rappoport) has persuaded her son to take the latter option, but bitterly regrets it when she is told that he has been killed in action. Refusing to believe it, she storms into everywhere from army offices to police stations, demanding the truth. When the authorities realize that she won’t give up, a young man arrives at her home, claiming to be her long lost son, alive and well. But he’s a stranger to Tonya, and the conspiracy unfolds as she continues to battle for answers.
- 9/11/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Rising Russian director Vladimir Bitokov’s sophomore effort, “Mama, I’m Home,” bows this week in the Horizons sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Following on the heels of his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” it’s produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov. Wild Bunch Intl. is handling world sales.
“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver (Kseniya Rappoport) living on the outskirts of a provincial Russian town, where she awaits the return of her only son, who’s fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When she’s told that he’s been killed in action, she refuses to believe it and begins a grueling public battle to fight for his return. But when all efforts to silence her prove fruitless, a mysterious young man (Yuri Borisov) arrives on her doorstep.
Bitokov told Variety that he was already developing...
“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver (Kseniya Rappoport) living on the outskirts of a provincial Russian town, where she awaits the return of her only son, who’s fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When she’s told that he’s been killed in action, she refuses to believe it and begins a grueling public battle to fight for his return. But when all efforts to silence her prove fruitless, a mysterious young man (Yuri Borisov) arrives on her doorstep.
Bitokov told Variety that he was already developing...
- 9/4/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The veteran Russian producer is attending the Venice Film Festival with Vladimir Bitokov’s Mama I’m Home.
Alexander Rodnyansky is Russia’s busiest and most prolific producer, making films for both the international arthouse market and for local Russian audiences including those who run more mainstream in their tastes.
The 60-year-old Kiev-born mogul had two features in official selection in Cannes earlier this summer: Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching The Fists, which won the Un Certain Regard prize, and Ari Folman’s animated feature Where is Anne Frank, which screened out of competition.
He has many new films in the pipeline,...
Alexander Rodnyansky is Russia’s busiest and most prolific producer, making films for both the international arthouse market and for local Russian audiences including those who run more mainstream in their tastes.
The 60-year-old Kiev-born mogul had two features in official selection in Cannes earlier this summer: Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching The Fists, which won the Un Certain Regard prize, and Ari Folman’s animated feature Where is Anne Frank, which screened out of competition.
He has many new films in the pipeline,...
- 9/2/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we’re speaking to super-producer Alexander Rodnyansky in advance of his upcoming fall festival run. His latest title, Mama, I’m Home, is premiering in Venice’s Horizons section while his Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Unclenching The Fists is set to screen in Telluride.
When independent producer Alexander Rodnyansky reflects on his prolific career in the media business so far, he quips that he’s “had five lives.” If you know the well-respected mogul, you’ll know that he’s on the mark. The Ukrainian-born producer is behind a slew of esteemed international festival hits, with projects like Leviathan and Loveless, from Russian helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev, both earning Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film as well as Best...
When independent producer Alexander Rodnyansky reflects on his prolific career in the media business so far, he quips that he’s “had five lives.” If you know the well-respected mogul, you’ll know that he’s on the mark. The Ukrainian-born producer is behind a slew of esteemed international festival hits, with projects like Leviathan and Loveless, from Russian helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev, both earning Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film as well as Best...
- 9/2/2021
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Though the Venice Film Festival will serve as a launching pad for several blockbusters, festival artistic director Alberto Barbera this year is introducing a section called Horizons Extra, dedicated to more offbeat works of all genres with no length constraints although they must be more than an hour long. These pics will be judged by festgoers.
The Horizons Extra section is an extension of Horizons, the Venice section focusing on new trends in world cinema that, under Barbera, became a competition instrumental in promoting emerging auteurs.
It’s a small but significant new component of the fest’s programming structure that, along with the competitive Venice VR Expanded section dedicated to virtual reality works of any length and format, gives the festival a spot to host innovative programming.
With Horizons Extra, Barbera is boosting his effort “to give value to a certain kind of cinema that is auteur-driven, ambitious and demanding,...
The Horizons Extra section is an extension of Horizons, the Venice section focusing on new trends in world cinema that, under Barbera, became a competition instrumental in promoting emerging auteurs.
It’s a small but significant new component of the fest’s programming structure that, along with the competitive Venice VR Expanded section dedicated to virtual reality works of any length and format, gives the festival a spot to host innovative programming.
With Horizons Extra, Barbera is boosting his effort “to give value to a certain kind of cinema that is auteur-driven, ambitious and demanding,...
- 8/27/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Wild Bunch International has acquired world sales rights to Vladimir Bitokov’s “Mama, I’m Home,” which will have its world premiere next month in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival, Variety can reveal.
Bitokov’s second feature, which follows his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” is a Non-Stop Production and Ar Content film produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov. It was written by Maria Izyumova and stars Kseniya Rappoport, Yura Borisov, Ekaterina Shumakova, Alexander Gorchilin, Natalia Pavlenkova, Darren Kushkhov, Mazhit Zhanguzarov and Valeriy Balkizov.
“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver, Tonya, who lives in a village on the outskirts of Nalchik, a modest city in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Together with her daughter, Tonya eagerly awaits the return of her only son, who is fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When Tonya is told...
Bitokov’s second feature, which follows his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” is a Non-Stop Production and Ar Content film produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov. It was written by Maria Izyumova and stars Kseniya Rappoport, Yura Borisov, Ekaterina Shumakova, Alexander Gorchilin, Natalia Pavlenkova, Darren Kushkhov, Mazhit Zhanguzarov and Valeriy Balkizov.
“Mama, I’m Home” is the story of a bus driver, Tonya, who lives in a village on the outskirts of Nalchik, a modest city in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Together with her daughter, Tonya eagerly awaits the return of her only son, who is fighting for a private military contractor in Syria. When Tonya is told...
- 8/23/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The programme for the 2021 Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michelangelo Frammartino, Pablo Larraín, Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, and more.Parallel MothersCOMPETITIONParallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Ana Lily Amirpour)Un Autre Monde (Stephane Brize)The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)America LatinaL’Evenement (Audrey Diwan)Official CompetitionThe Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino)Sundown (Michel Franco)Lost Illusions (Xavier Giannoli)The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)Spencer (Pablo Larrain)Freaks Out (Gabriele Mainetti)Qui Rido Io (Mario Martone)On The Job: The Missing 8 (Erik Matti)Leave No Traces (Jan P. Matuszyński)Captain Volkonogov EscapedThe Card Counter (Paul Schrader)The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino)Reflection (Valentyn Vasyanovych)The Box (Lorenzo Vigas)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesDune (Denis Villeneuve)Il Bambino Nascosto (Roberto Andò)Les Choses Humaines (Yvan Attal)Ariaferma (Leonardo Di Costanzo)Halloween Kills (David Gordon Green...
- 8/3/2021
- MUBI
Taking place September 1 through 11, the Venice Film Festival has now unveiled its lineup, after a few teases of what it contains (the opening night selection of Madres Paralelas by Pedro Almodovar and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune). Among the selections are Jane Campion’s The Power of a Dog, Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter, Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, Ana Lily Amirpour’s Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, and Edgar Wright’s The Last Night in Soho will premiere there, along with new shorts by Radu Jude and Tsai Ming-liang.
Check out the line below for the festival that will feature 50% capacity at screenings.
Venezia 78 – Competition
Madres Paralelas, dir: Pedro Almodovar
Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon, dir: Ana Lily Amirpour
Un Autre Monde, dir: Stéphane Brizé
The Power Of The Dog,...
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, and Edgar Wright’s The Last Night in Soho will premiere there, along with new shorts by Radu Jude and Tsai Ming-liang.
Check out the line below for the festival that will feature 50% capacity at screenings.
Venezia 78 – Competition
Madres Paralelas, dir: Pedro Almodovar
Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon, dir: Ana Lily Amirpour
Un Autre Monde, dir: Stéphane Brizé
The Power Of The Dog,...
- 7/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Venice film festival runs September 1-11.
The line-up for the 78th Venice Film Festival (September 1-11) is being unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
The press conference will be live-streamed here below, and the story will be updated with the films as they are announced.
As previously announced, Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers will open the festival in competition. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will also have its world premiere at the festival out of competition on September 3.
Bong Joon Ho will preside over the competition jury that also includes Chloé Zhao,...
The line-up for the 78th Venice Film Festival (September 1-11) is being unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
The press conference will be live-streamed here below, and the story will be updated with the films as they are announced.
As previously announced, Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers will open the festival in competition. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will also have its world premiere at the festival out of competition on September 3.
Bong Joon Ho will preside over the competition jury that also includes Chloé Zhao,...
- 7/26/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
While the coronavirus pandemic briefly shut down local production last year and sent the exhibition industry into a tailspin, Artem Vasilyev, of Metrafilms, is among the many Russian producers who did not sit idly by in quarantine.
“We had a very, very fruitful autumn in the industry,” says Vasilyev, who shot four features between August and November, including “30 Days and 30 Nights,” the new film from Venice Silver Lion winner Alexey German, Jr. (“Paper Soldier”), and “Jetlag,” a feature film and episodic series from Michael Idov (“The Humorist”).
Despite the financial and logistical challenges, cameras continued to roll in Russia throughout most of 2020. Coupled with optimism over the rollout of a locally produced coronavirus vaccine, Vasilyev says industry players are hopeful that the growing Russian biz can come roaring back in 2021. “I really see things on the bright side at the moment,” he says.
Alexander Rodnyansky shares that optimism. The two-time...
“We had a very, very fruitful autumn in the industry,” says Vasilyev, who shot four features between August and November, including “30 Days and 30 Nights,” the new film from Venice Silver Lion winner Alexey German, Jr. (“Paper Soldier”), and “Jetlag,” a feature film and episodic series from Michael Idov (“The Humorist”).
Despite the financial and logistical challenges, cameras continued to roll in Russia throughout most of 2020. Coupled with optimism over the rollout of a locally produced coronavirus vaccine, Vasilyev says industry players are hopeful that the growing Russian biz can come roaring back in 2021. “I really see things on the bright side at the moment,” he says.
Alexander Rodnyansky shares that optimism. The two-time...
- 3/4/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Producer Ilya Stewart was in the early days of financing “Petrov’s Flu,” the latest feature from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto”), when he chose to bypass state funding bodies. The decision was made “for a variety of reasons,” he says, but it was nonetheless a risky move in a country where government support is still the main driving force of film production.
Instead, Stewart turned to Kinoprime, the $100 million film fund launched last year by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, which provides up to 50% of a film’s budget. Kinoprime boarded “Petrov’s Flu” at an early stage “and could accommodate the sometimes fluid nature of a financing plan, especially when it comes to working with multiple territories and the various funding bodies in Europe,” says Stewart. The veteran producer then turned to partners in France, Germany and Switzerland to close financing on a film now in the final stages of post-production.
Instead, Stewart turned to Kinoprime, the $100 million film fund launched last year by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, which provides up to 50% of a film’s budget. Kinoprime boarded “Petrov’s Flu” at an early stage “and could accommodate the sometimes fluid nature of a financing plan, especially when it comes to working with multiple territories and the various funding bodies in Europe,” says Stewart. The veteran producer then turned to partners in France, Germany and Switzerland to close financing on a film now in the final stages of post-production.
- 6/25/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Alexander Rodnyansky, who produced Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated pics “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” says that the Russian films best able to travel tend to be “serious dramas,” such as the works of Zvyagintsev and Alexander Sokurov, whose stories “at their core examine the complexity of human existence.”
Rodnyansky is working with three up-and-coming filmmakers whom, he says, demonstrate “absolute freedom” of expression: Kantemir Balagov, whose “Beanpole” won two prizes at Cannes last year; Kira Kovalenko, whose “Unclenching the Fists” is in post; and Vladimir Bitokov, whose “Mother, I Am Home” has been put on pause due to the pandemic.
“Their perception of the world is much more nuanced and complex than that of an older generation,” he says. “They do not compromise their vision, and in their brutal and complex films they speak the truth as they see it to people of their generation,” he says.
Producer Ilya Stewart, whose “Sputnik...
Rodnyansky is working with three up-and-coming filmmakers whom, he says, demonstrate “absolute freedom” of expression: Kantemir Balagov, whose “Beanpole” won two prizes at Cannes last year; Kira Kovalenko, whose “Unclenching the Fists” is in post; and Vladimir Bitokov, whose “Mother, I Am Home” has been put on pause due to the pandemic.
“Their perception of the world is much more nuanced and complex than that of an older generation,” he says. “They do not compromise their vision, and in their brutal and complex films they speak the truth as they see it to people of their generation,” he says.
Producer Ilya Stewart, whose “Sputnik...
- 5/7/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Vladivostok’s 16th Pacific Meridian International Film Festival of Asian Pacific Countries took place from September 21st to 27th 2018.
Jean-Marc Thérouanne co-founder and General Manager of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema was there, along with his wife Martine Thérouanne – who was also a member of the Netpac Jury – and this is his report of the event:
“The town of Vladivostok, founded in 1860, has quickly evolved into a big city thanks to the Trans-Siberian Railway and its commercial and military port. Vladivostok’s festival organizers are very proud actor Yul Brynner has been born in the city back in 1920.
This year’s program included 199 long and short fiction and documentary features in different sections: Competition, Panorama, Russian Cinema, Tribute to Yamamura Koji, Moving Forward, Documentaries, “Family Time” topic, horror movies (After Midnight), Russian Animation, Ingmar Bergman retrospective, film school movies including productions of Vladivostok’s movie school.
The...
Jean-Marc Thérouanne co-founder and General Manager of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema was there, along with his wife Martine Thérouanne – who was also a member of the Netpac Jury – and this is his report of the event:
“The town of Vladivostok, founded in 1860, has quickly evolved into a big city thanks to the Trans-Siberian Railway and its commercial and military port. Vladivostok’s festival organizers are very proud actor Yul Brynner has been born in the city back in 1920.
This year’s program included 199 long and short fiction and documentary features in different sections: Competition, Panorama, Russian Cinema, Tribute to Yamamura Koji, Moving Forward, Documentaries, “Family Time” topic, horror movies (After Midnight), Russian Animation, Ingmar Bergman retrospective, film school movies including productions of Vladivostok’s movie school.
The...
- 10/2/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
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