EXCLUSIVE: Upon Entry, from directors Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, will make its North American debut at SXSW later this week, and we’ve got the trailer to go with it (check it out above).
17.02.2023 - 10:25 / variety.com
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded Berlin Film Festival title “Measures of Men,” which focuses on the genocide committed by the German army against the Ovaherero and Nama tribes in Southwestern Africa. The trailer debuts (below). The film is written and directed by Lars Kraume, whose credits include Berlin’s “The Silent Revolution” and Toronto’s “The People vs. Fritz Bauer.” It stars Leonard Scheicher (“The Silent Revolution,” “Das Boot” TV series), Namibian actor Girley Charlene Jazama and “Toni Erdmann” star Peter Simonischek. The film has its world premiere on Feb. 22 in the Berlinale Special section, and will be released in Germany by Studiocanal in late March.
The film begins in Berlin at the end of the 19th century when a delegation of the Ovaherero and Nama tribes travels to the city. Alexander Hoffmann, a student of ethnology, is impressed by the intellect of their translator Kezia Kambazembi, and begins to question the racial theories of white supremacy. He joins an expedition to the tribes’ homeland, and witnesses the massacres of the tribes by the German army. “Measures of Men” is produced by Thomas Kufus of Zero One Film. It is co-produced by Studiocanal, ZDF/ARTE, Akzente Film- & Fernsehproduktion and WunderWerk. PTI’s Berlin slate includes John Malkovich vehicle “Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes” by Robert Schwentke, Dominque Deruderre’s “The Chapel,” urban fairy-tale “First Snow of Summer” and black comedy “The Peacock.”
EXCLUSIVE: Upon Entry, from directors Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, will make its North American debut at SXSW later this week, and we’ve got the trailer to go with it (check it out above).
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Autlook Filmsales has sold “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which won the directing award for Anna Hints in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance, to more than 20 territories in North America, Europe and Australia. Deals are confirmed with Neue Visionen in Germany, Trigon in Switzerland, Against Gravity in Poland, Fidalgo in Norway, Ost For Paradise in Denmark, Vedetta in Benelux, Filmtrade in Greece and Cyprus, FilmIn in Spain, Alambique in Portugal, Filmladen in Austria, Pasaka Films in Lithuania, Artcam in Czech Rep. and Slovak Rep., Best Film in Latvia, Mozinet in Hungary, and Madman in Australia and New Zealand. The rights in U.S. have been picked up by Greenwich Entertainment and in Canada by Sherry Media Group. The theatrical release in Estonia is by ACME Film.
Love Island's Ellie Spence has taken to her Instagram to show off her new hairdo after having revealed the insights on being on the show. Ellie, 25, entered the villa as a bombshell on day ten of the show alongside Spencer Wilks, and soon chose to couple up with Ron Hall, who was with Lana Jenkins at the time. However, she was dumped two weeks later along with Jordan when the two was picked as the least compatible couple by the viewers.
Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Utopia and Sumerian have acquired worldwide rights to Eddie Alcazar’s Sundance-premiering “Divinity.” The film had a memorable premiere in Park City, where there was a medical incident (unrelated to the movie) during its world premiere at the Egyptian Theater. Guests in attendance — who received zines and VHS boxes upon arrival — were also treated to writer-director Alcazar showing up to the event in a terrifying mask. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and starring Stephen Dorff, the experimental film is set in an otherworldly human existence, where the creation of a groundbreaking immortality serum named “Divinity” is wreaking havoc.
A transgender rapist who raped two women while still a man has been jailed for eight years.
Angelique Jackson The eighth annual Icon Mann Honors dinner will salute “The Woman King” filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood, “Sidney” director Reginald Hudlin and Uzodinma Iweala, CEO of the Africa Center NYC and author of the New York Times bestseller “Beasts of No Nation.” Icon Mann partnered with Sony Pictures for the event, which has a “Reimagining African Diasporic Narratives” theme and will take place on Wednesday, March 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, Calif. The dinner is part of a series of awards week events for Icon Mann, which is a media, production and management consultancy representing African Diasporic heritage. The company is a leading strategic broker for investments and enterprise within creative industries for Hollywood and media-driven African nations, cultivating a global network of creators and leaders focused on “positive narrative representation.”
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. film financier Grandave Capital will invest in the documentary “Romano Artioli – The Last Great Dreamer,” about the one-time owner of the Bugatti and Lotus automobile brands, Romano Artioli. In 1952, Artioli, a 20-year-old technician in Italy watched in astonishment as Bugatti ceased production in Molsheim, France. Artioli studied mechanical engineering and went on to repair cars, before eventually setting up an automotive retail and import business. By the mid-1980s, this business became so successful that Artioli was able to begin discussions with the French government about buying the Bugatti brand. In 1987, his dream became a reality.
is not only the third in a trilogy of movies from director Peyton Reed but it also officially kicks off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang formally introduces Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror and the film franchise's new big bad after he first made a surprise appearance in the season 1 finale of . Kang's presence is expected to be a major presence in the remaining projects of both Phase Five and Phase Six, with presumably being one of the final chapters in that saga.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlinale competition film “Music” opens with gray clouds racing across the face of a Greek mountain as a storm prepares to break. It is a suitably dramatic prelude to the tumultuous events that will unfold, albeit rendered in an understated manner by German director Angela Schanelec, who won the Berlinale best director award in 2019 for “I Was at Home, But.” As the storm lifts, an abandoned baby boy is rescued a paramedic, who names him Jon. Years later, Jon, now a young man, kills another man, accidentally, and ends up in prison. Here, he is tended to by a female guard, Iro, as his eyesight begins to deteriorate. When he is released, the two get married and have a child. But several years later, his wife discovers a terrible secret.
The brand new trailer for the upcoming series “Rabbit Hole” zips right into the drama.
Stacey Solomon was left cheekily telling her husband Joe Swash to 'shut up' as she shared a little life update weeks after daughter Belle's arrival into the world. The Loose Women star is just a few weeks into life as a mum-of-five after she and former EastEnders star Joe welcomed their third child together.
Kiefer Sutherland is the target in Paramount+'s new espionage drama, .The actor stars in the eight-episode series, which launches Sunday, March 26 with the first two episodes, as John Weir, a master of deception in the world of corporate espionage. When he is framed for murder by powerful forces who have the ability to influence and control populations, John becomes the hunted.ET exclusively debuts the official trailer and key art for the drama, which features an ensemble that includes Charles Dance as Dr.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Memento Intl. has unveiled the first clip and poster from Liu Jian’s Berlin competition title “Art College 1994,” which world premieres on Feb. 24. The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become. It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor When Frank Doelger, a six-time Emmy award-winning showrunner, whose credits include “Game of Thrones,” “John Adams” and “Rome,” was preparing to adapt Frank Schätzing’s 900-page novel “The Swarm” into an eight-part eco-thriller, he resolved to place it in a different genre. Whereas the novel read like a “disaster movie,” Doelger wanted the series to be a “monster movie” — but with a twist, the monster was us. In the first few episodes of the show, which premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday, seemingly random, unconnected events occur in different parts of the world in which marine creatures start behaving in abnormal ways that threaten the lives of those who come in contact with them. After each event, scientists are given the task of finding the cause of the change in behavior, and they slowly start to wonder whether the events are connected, and ask what is triggering them.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired the North American rights for suspense sci-fi thriller “I’ll Be Watching” from Iuvit Media Sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film has also been picked up by Falcon Films in the Middle East and North Africa, while Dolphin Medien has taken German-speaking territory rights. The film is directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”), and stars “The 100” stars Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley, along with Bryan Batt (“12 Years a Slave”), David Keith (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Hannah Fierman (“VHS”), and Seth Michaels (“Red Notice”).
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor 101 Films Intl. has secured worldwide distribution rights for World War II adventure film “War Blade,” starring Joseph Millson (“Casino Royale,” “The Last Kingdom”), Paul Marlon (“Trigger Point”), Michael McKell (“Murder Investigation Team,” “Doctors”) and Rebecca Scott (“The Capture,” “Transhuman”). The sales company is presenting the film to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film was written and directed by Nicholas Winter (“Robin Hood: The Rebellion,” “Breathe,” “Bone Breaker”). “War Blade” follows Robert Banks, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, who is tasked with rescuing a French resistance fighter from a hidden Nazi bunker. With the help of a German nurse and a ragtag group of allies, Banks must journey to the belly of the beast.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Russian documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky and the production team behind his Oscar-shortlisted feature “Gunda” will follow up with the second instalment in his “Empathy Trilogy.” AC Independent will handle the North America sale and Cinephil will be selling international rights. They will be kicking off sales this week at the European Film Market in Berlin. The new film focuses on the health of the oceans and the effects of industrial fisheries. The “Empathy Trilogy,” of which “Gunda” formed the first part, looks at the sentience of non-human animals.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kino Lorber has acquired all rights in the U.S. to “Diabolik,” “Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?” from Beta Cinema at the European Film Market in Berlin. The movies are based on the smash-hit Italian comic-book series about a ruthless master thief, which has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. The stylish crime-comic adaptations are written and directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Marvel’s Avengers” actor Giacomo Gianniotti stars in “Diabolik — Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?,” and Luca Marinelli (“The Old Guard”) in the first installment, “Diabolik.” Monica Bellucci (“Matrix,” “The Apartment”) stars in the role of Altea, Miriam Leone (“The Invisible Witness,” “Medici”) as Eva Kant, and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers,” “Nine”) as Inspector Ginko.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AnnaSophia Robb has joined Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root and Lewis Pullman in the cast of “Thelma.” The Exchange is selling the film at Berlin’s European Film Market. Robb starred in Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Act,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and HBO Max’s “The Carrie Diaries,” and is toplining Netflix’s upcoming “Rebel Ridge.” “Thelma” tells the true story of the 11-year battle by the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” to get his novel published after his suicide.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Writer-director Dustin Guy Defa has shared a first-look clip (below) of his feature comedy drama “The Adults,” which will have its world premiere Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival, with stars Michael Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, and Defa in attendance. The film, which is distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures Content Group, will be releasing internationally on July 3 and in the U.S. on July 4. In Berlin, it plays in the Encounters section. “The Adults” follows Eric (Cera) as he returns home for a short visit and finds himself caught between reuniting with his sisters and chasing a victory with his old poker group.