Movies

A high school teacher and her husband make a sex tape, which finds its way onto the internet, sparking outrage among her pupils’ parents, in Romanian director Radu Jude’s irreverent contemporary satire, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn.” Jude pitched the project, then simply known as “Sleepwalkers,” at Berlin’s European Film Market in February 2020,

MK2 Films has come on board to handle world sales on “House Arrest,” a satirical drama directed by critically acclaimed Russian helmer Aleksey German Jr. (“Dovlatov”) that tackles Russia’s judicial system. “House Arrest” follows David, a Russian university professor who takes to social media to criticize his city’s administration and the Mayor’s dodgy dealings. But

In his latest work, “Fabian — Going to the Dogs,” Dominik Graf adapts a work that defines the tragic, hedonistic and dysfunctional era of the Weimar Republic from a writer widely known for his children’s books. Set in 1931 Berlin, the story, based on Erich Kästner’s novel of the same name, is seen through the

Berlin has been wrought a shadow of its former bustling self by the ongoing pandemic, and while locals can still be seen on the streets, its once thriving nightlife, packed restaurants, crowded bars and 24-hour dance parties seem like a distant memory. The Berlinale was one of the few major industry events that managed to

A Normandy-set cop movie with far more on its mind than simply solving the case, Xavier Beauvois’ Berlinale competition entry “Drift Away” examines the toll that law enforcement takes on an earnest sergeant (Jérémie Renier), and also how the locals react to intrusions by authority figures. Though not necessarily intended as such, it’s a nuanced

TrustNordisk has closed key territory sales on “Riders of Justice,” Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen. “Riders of Justice” revolves around a military man Markus (Mikkelsen), who returns home to his teenage daughter after his wife dies in a tragic train accident. When a passenger on the wrecked train surfaces with claims of

Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales continues its pre-sales of “The Peasants,” the hotly anticipated follow-up from Oscar-nominated “Loving Vincent” director Dorota Kobiela, selling rights for Germany and Austria to Koch Media. As reported earlier, New Europe brokered a deal with The Jokers for distribution in France of the buzzy animated feature. “The Peasants”

When Ketie Danelia was approached a few years ago with the script for “And Then We Danced,” Levan Akin’s gay romantic drama about a young man’s sexual awakening in the masculine world of Georgian dance, the producer knew the risks. “Everyone was telling me not to take this project, because it’s very dangerous. Which turned

Voltage Pictures is launching international sales at the EFM on Italian romantic comedy “Per Tutta La Vita” (“For All Life”), from the writer-director team behind global hit “Perfect Strangers.” “Strangers,” a dramedy involving cellphones and personal secrets, grossed over $31 million domestically and spawned remakes in a dozen territories including France, Germany, Spain, Greece and

When directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige uncovered a trove of photographs, journals and audio recordings they had made while growing up in Beirut of the 1980s, they knew these personal archives would fuel their next film. Acclaimed artists and documentarians, the creative duo opted to develop these archives into a narrative feature that tells

Ten years ago, German director Tim Fehlbaum’s decent little post-apocalyptic sci-fi debut “Hell,” made two category errors that impacted its reach and longevity, both of which are corrected in his decent, slightly larger post-apocalyptic sci-fi follow-up, “Tides.” First, somewhat forgivably, “Hell” was in German, and so although a perfectly serviceable survivalist riff on “Mad Max,”

After Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to ever win the Golden Globe for best director, Chinese social media was abuzz about everything related to Zhao—except the film itself. Although most Chinese viewers have yet to see the film, many cheered the Golden Globe win. Scores of posts praised Zhao’s heartfelt acceptance speech about

Rapper T.I. will not be returning for the third installment of Marvel’s “Ant-Man” franchise, Variety has confirmed. The performer, whose off-stage name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., previously played a supporting role in a comedic crew of men assisting Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, the titular hero of the past two films. Insiders close to the Disney

As soon as Makeup Head Angie Wells received Emerald Fennell’s script for “Promising Young Woman,” she had notes to make. She noticed the different personas that Carey Mulligan’s Cassie goes through, especially when “she’s doing her hits; it wasn’t soft and pretty.” Fennell’s film follows Cassie, who by day works in a coffee shop, and

Makeup head and prosthetics designer Scott Wheeler put four distinct transformations into Regina King’s “One Night in Miami.” Wheeler, who is on the Academy shortlist for makeup and hairstyling, was tasked with re-creating four icons for the film: Cassius Clay, played by Eli Goree; Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge); Malcolm X, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir and

Where Ira Levin’s “The Stepford Wives” ends is where a truly fascinating domestic drama should begin. Have you never wondered if the misogynistic menfolk of Stepford, Conn., having finally realized their collective dream of flawless, submissive android wives with cleavage and housekeeping skills to die for, ever tire of the dull perfection they’ve designed? Life

In Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the sound of the 1960s is an authentic and riveting one. As King tells the story of Illinois Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya) and his betrayal by an FBI informant, the key for the sound team was to not just be authentic,

“The Mandalorian” star Simon Kassianides is set to make his feature screenwriting debut. The actor, who plays Axe Woves on the hit Disney Plus Star Wars series, has sold the psychological thriller “The Weatherman” to U.K.-based production house Raw. The film is said to be female-led and in the vein of Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” with

Polish director Paweł Maślona (“Panic Attack”) is prepping a lavish period drama about the American Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kościuszko. Produced by Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham for Aurum Film, the production house behind Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi,” the historical epic — with the working title “Scarborn,” from a script by Michał A. Zielinski

It’s been 15 years since screenwriter Tina Fey brought peace to the teenage girl world with the groundbreaking “Mean Girls.” Now it’s her frequent creative partner Amy Poehler’s turn to stride the hallways of a contemporary high school, searching for harmony and justice among the heightened emotions and high-stakes conundrums of young adults. Marking the

Swiss filmmaker Tim Fehlbaum’s dystopian feature “Tides” is screening in this year’s Berlinale Special section and looking to make a mark at the European Film Market while in town. “Tides” has science fiction in its production DNA, co-produced by leading European independent company Constantin, which has established itself among the world’s leading producers of genre

The Party Film Sales has closed further deals on Filippo Meneghetti’s romance “Two of Us,” which represents France in the international feature film race at the Oscars and is part of 15 shortlisted films. Headlined by Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa, the Golden Globe-nominated feature debut follows Nina and Madeleine, two pensioners who have hidden

MK2 Films has boarded Italian-American filmmaker Jonas Carpignano’s anticipated movie “A Chiara” which recently wrapped shooting in Calabria, in Southern Italy. Carpignano’s third feature, “A Chiara” is now in post and will be ready this summer. Carpignano made his feature debut in 2015 with “Mediterranea,” which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week. His sophomore outing, “A

Scandinavia’s film industry has proven resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, bolstered by well-established production and sales banners, as well as high-profile talent who have seized opportunities from streamers and broadcasters. Spanning Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland, the Nordic film biz has been able to ride through the health crisis better than

A year after featuring as the European Film Market’s focus country, Chile returns with a delegate of more than 20 producers who will participate in a virtual stand, backed by ProChile and the Ministry of Culture. Bastard. The Inheritance of a Genocide(Pepe Rovano)In this Chilean-Italian co-production between Totoral Films and Media Lab, Rovano faces down

After enduring endless months of COVID-19 lockdown, Chile’s film and TV industry is revving up production once more. And several women are leading the charge. Various high-profile titles are either in production or setting up dates, such as season two of Lucía Puenzo’s hit series “La Jauria” and, starting this month, Francisca Alegria’s debut feature,

Long ago, about a year ago to be exact, when COVID-19 first reared its ugly head and the United States was not yet the fiery petri dish of percolating viral plague it would soon come to be, friends and I gathered in our Los Angeles area homes, expecting lockdown to last three, four weeks, at

Using historical recreation, comedy and the tropes of horror, many of the most impactful movies of 2020 dramatized important cultural conversations — some that audiences began examining long ago, and others they may still be reluctant to broach at all. Social commentary has become an additive, even essential element in the resonance of a contemporary

Less Is More (LIM), a European development scheme for limited-budget feature films, has unveiled its selection of 16 projects, a majority of which are from women filmmakers and talents coming from theater, visual arts or documentary. In spite of the pandemic, the 7th edition received as many as 350 applications from more than 70 countries.

Perhaps it’s because “Memory Box” is freely adapted from co-director Joana Hadjithomas’ teenage letters and diaries that this is the most affectingly Proustian of the filmmaker’s works made with Khalil Joreige. “Perhaps” because it would be wrong to treat this richly multi-layered exploration of memory and how it’s processed across generations as a standard fictionalized