Movies

Pathé has closed major pre-sales on Sian Heder’s anticipated film “Coda,” starring Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez and Marlee Matlin, after unveiling an exclusive promo reel of the film at EFM. An English-language remake of the French smash hit “La Famille Belier,” “Coda” is being produced by Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi at Vendôme Group, alongside

Beta Cinema has sold the German box-office hit “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” by Oscar-winner Caroline Link to the U.S. Greenwich Entertainment picked up the rights to the feature, which has attracted almost one million admissions since its Christmas release in Germany alone. German media lauded the film, calling it “a real godsend for the

More often than not, “A” festival competitions privilege the arty over the entertaining, so hats off to the Berlinale Generation section, where the two qualities frequently coexist. A case in point: the delightful coming-of-age dramedy “H Is for Happiness,” which provides feel-good entertainment for the entire family without pandering — and definitely without sacrificing style

After roaming for more than a year on the international festival circuit, “Jinpa” — the latest effort from Tibetan director Pema Tseden (“Old Dog,” “Tharlo”) — has finally launched a limited run in U.S. art houses, where it might find an appreciative if occasionally perplexed audience for its idiosyncratic mix of deadpan wit and understated

BERLIN — Having slowed incentives to a near halt this year, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s government looks set to decimate film funding in 2020. Brazil’s industry is bracing – and fighting back. On Sunday, at Berlin, Projeto Paradiso, a philanthropic organization, announced a Sao Paulo Forum, New Business Models for a New Audiovisual Era, and

Animation feature “The Journey,” co-produced by Saudi animation studios Manga Productions and Japan’s Toei Animation, has struck a deal with Dubai-based exhibitor Vox Cinemas for theatrical distribution across the Middle East and North Africa. Manga has also announced that the toon epic based on Saudi folklore and directed by Japan’s Shizuno Kobun (“Godzilla: City on the

Andrea Štaka, who won a Locarno Golden Leopard in 2006 with “Fraulein,” unveils her latest film “Mare” in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlin Festival. Telling the story of a middle age mom, Marija Škaričić (“The Priest’s Children”) and Goran Navojec (“All the Best”) were cast to tell the story of a family in

Olivier Delbosc’s Paris-based company Curiosa Films is partnering with Wild Bunch Germany on “Charlotte,” a WWII-set film about the short and prolific life of the German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, who died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 26. “Charlotte” will be directed by Gilles Bourdos. His film “Renoir” played in Un Certain Regard

Playtime has closed raft of pre-sales to key territories on a pair of anticipated prestige films, Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85” and Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers,” after unveiling promo reels of both pics at the EFM in Berlin. “Summer of 85” has pre-sold to Israel (Lev Cinema), Turkey (Bir Film), Poland (Against Gravity), Spain (Golem),Belgium

For the past decade, Ethiopia has boasted the world’s fastest-growing economy, and its new reform-minded government seems determined to harness that growth to transform an already vibrant creative sector. That was the takeaway from a presentation Sunday morning at the Berlinale Africa Hub, led by producer Mehret Mandefro (“Difret”) and director Abraham Gezahagne, who outlined

At dawn in an orderly, middle-class suburb in regional Germany, three young people — a girl and two guys — stagger home from a night out. Two of them are siblings, two of them friends and two of them are falling in love. One of them is very drunk and tripping over the long blond

There are a host of important, even vital ideas behind “All the Dead Ones,” a hybrid period piece addressing Brazil’s unresolved legacy of slavery and the imprint it’s had on an all-too-often downplayed contemporary racism of malignant toxicity. Set largely in 1899, 11 years after the abolition of slavery but designed so modern São Paulo

Searchlight Pictures has emerged as the frontrunner for the Olivia Wilde-directed gymnastics movie “Perfect,” amid a days-long bidding war out of Berlin’s EFM. Variety understands that the studio is ‘heavily pursuing’ world rights to the hot title — one of a crop of female-led projects at the market — with A24 and Warner Bros. also

February 23, 2020 12:30PM PT Covering a violent chapter of colonial history, Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s Australian western excavates ugly truths beneath lush lensing. There’s a hint of John Ford to “High Ground,” a sinewy, sun-baked faceoff between indigenous and invading armies in the Arnhem Land wilderness of Australia, though by now we probably need a

Christian Petzold’s “Undine” begins with a breakup. Framed tightly on the face of lead actor Paula Beer, we absorb the news as she does. But this is no ordinary separation, and as jilted lovers go, Undine’s far from typical. Her name betrays what sets her apart, although in the vast realm of mythological entities, undines

“The Call of the Wild” is a cozy, square, kind-of-synthetic, kind-of-touching canine adventure movie that a lot of critics were probably too harsh about, all because it has a CG dog. Don’t get me wrong; I’d have preferred a flesh-and-blood dog as well. But critics have developed a line-in-the-sand attitude about this technology, at least

Pablo Guisa, founder-CEO of the Morbido Group, Latin America’s largest horror conglomerate, based out of Mexico City, and Gabriela Sandoval, founder-director of Sanfic Industria, the Santiago Intl. Film Festival sidebar for projects and works in progress, met in Berlin to finalize details for the inaugural Factoría Mórbido-Sanfic, a joint initiative intended to strengthen the genre

Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” were feted Saturday night at a party held by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg at Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Co-hosting the evening were Kirsten Niehuus and Helge Jürgens, managing directors of Medienboard, the regional film, TV and digital-media funding body. Pictured above are U.K. filmmaker and rapper Andrew Onwubolu, known by his alias Rapman

In a rare moment of light, everyday pleasure in the otherwise perma-brooding “Funny Face,” two young Brooklyn lovers build sandwiches from international deli ingredients, accompanied by Serbian butter and sour watermelon pickle, and eat their creations with relish on a bench overlooking the shore. Whether intended or not as a reference to an almost century-old

Chair of Time’s Up U.K. Heather Rabbatts had fighting words about the imminent verdict from the New York Harvey Weinstein rape trial for a packed audience gathered to hear a panel on gender equality on the sidelines of the Berlin Film Festival. “Whatever happens tomorrow, it is not the end of this issue. It isn’t

After a close box office battle, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” pulled ahead of Disney and 20th Century’s “The Call of the Wild” on North American charts. The two movies had been in a tug-of-war for first place. Heading into the weekend, “Sonic” was expected to easily dominate again but Harrison Ford’s “Call of the Wild”

BERLIN —   Ventana Sur, the biggest film-TV industry event in Latin America – and bulwarked by a hugely popular Cannes Film Week hosted by Thierry Fremaux – has set dates for its 12th edition, and announced a new venue in Buenos Aires. Running Monday Nov. 30 to Friday Dec. 4, this year’s 12th Ventana

BERLIN — News on the first day of the Berlin Festival that film – read Constantin Film  – had helped drive a 2019 full year profits surge at parent Highlight Communications came as little surprise. Few European movie companies enjoy the robust health of Constantin Film. Oliver Berben’s presentation on Monday of Constantin Television’s lineup

Cannes XR, the Marché du Film’s program dedicated to immersive and augmented reality content, is set to expand. For its second edition, Cannes XR has partnered with tech creator Positron and Brogent Technologies to introduce a new VR theater, dedicated space and competition. While keeping its 700-square meter exhibition space in the basement of Cannes’

Just months after assuming the role of Hungarian film commissioner, Csaba Káel has designs on revamping the film and television industries to boost content development and production, expand already formidable studio facilities, and become a lynchpin for film and TV production and servicing that extends far beyond Budapest. Káel took up his post in September,

With production in China suffering a coronavirus-imposed slowdown, “The Italian Recipe” is one co-production between Europe and China that is poised to potentially capitalize on the resulting dearth of Chinese content. It is positioned to advance European cinema’s efforts to make inroads in China. “The Italian Recipe,” in which a famous Chinese pop singer travels

February 23, 2020 12:01AM PT The Doha Film Institute has added French auteur Claire Denis and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (“Nebraska”) to the lineup of star talent who will act as mentors for the Qumra Masters program during its upcoming Qumra event dedicated to fostering fresh Arab film fare that is opening up to TV

In “Schindler’s List,” most of the actors spoke English, using accents to indicate their characters’ origins. In “Son of Saul,” the cast struggles to communicate in a mish-mosh of languages, as Jews of different nationalities were thrown together in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Stories about the Holocaust — so vital in trying to reconcile the horrors of the

February 22, 2020 10:48PM PT Beta Cinema has acquired international sales rights to debut Argentine director Juan Pablo Félix’s “Karnawal,” winner of the Le Film Français, Ciné Plus, Gomedia and Titrafilm awards at December’s Ventana Sur. “Karnawal” featured co-producers from five countries: Argentina’s Bikini Films, Brazil’s 3 Moinhos Produçoes, Chile’s Picardía Films, Mexico’s Phototaxia Pictures,

Italian sales company True Colours has scored multiple sales at the EFM on several titles including Christmas comedy “Once Upon a Time in Bethlehem,” which was Italy’s top-grossing domestic title in 2019. “Bethlehem,” which scored roughly $17 million domestically, toplines comic duo Ficarra and Picone as a thief and a priest who time-travel to Palestine