A selection of Russian films will screen in-person during the Beijing International Film Festival (Bjiff) through a collaboration with the new Russian Film Festival, part of an effort by both governments to promote Russian cinema in China and cultural exchange.
The Chinese festival is set to run from Sept. 17 to Sept. 30 as an in-person event after being pushed back from its typical April release date due to the pandemic. Given its close ties to Chinese film authorities, it is often a platform to showcase works from countries with which China hopes to strengthen political ties.
The Russian Film Festival is a program targeting international audiences via a series of online screenings organized by state-run Roskino and backed by Russia’s ministry of culture, in response to the global shutdown of cinemas amid the pandemic. Last year, the festival was held online in Australia, Mexico, Spain and Brazil. This year, it has gone up in Argentina,...
The Chinese festival is set to run from Sept. 17 to Sept. 30 as an in-person event after being pushed back from its typical April release date due to the pandemic. Given its close ties to Chinese film authorities, it is often a platform to showcase works from countries with which China hopes to strengthen political ties.
The Russian Film Festival is a program targeting international audiences via a series of online screenings organized by state-run Roskino and backed by Russia’s ministry of culture, in response to the global shutdown of cinemas amid the pandemic. Last year, the festival was held online in Australia, Mexico, Spain and Brazil. This year, it has gone up in Argentina,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Production in Russia has continued apace throughout much of the coronavirus pandemic, and a broad slate of titles launching at the virtual edition of this year’s European Film Market — from high-concept period dramas to psychological thrillers to horror pics — will look to tap into international interest in the fast-growing industry. “For us, it’s business as usual — boosting that potential,” says Vadim Vereshchagin, CEO of Central Partnership.
During EFM, Vereshchagin’s production and distribution outfit will launch sales on a raft of titles including “The World Champion,” a drama based on the legendary 1978 chess match between Soviet world champion Anatoly Karpov and the dissident Viktor Korchnoi. The co-production with Nikita Mikhalkov’s Studio TriTe and pubcaster Russia-1 is directed by Alexey Sidorov, who helmed the WWII blockbuster “T-34.”
Set in the noir atmosphere of 1920s Russia, “December” follows the last days of Sergey Yesenin, a famous Russian poet and...
During EFM, Vereshchagin’s production and distribution outfit will launch sales on a raft of titles including “The World Champion,” a drama based on the legendary 1978 chess match between Soviet world champion Anatoly Karpov and the dissident Viktor Korchnoi. The co-production with Nikita Mikhalkov’s Studio TriTe and pubcaster Russia-1 is directed by Alexey Sidorov, who helmed the WWII blockbuster “T-34.”
Set in the noir atmosphere of 1920s Russia, “December” follows the last days of Sergey Yesenin, a famous Russian poet and...
- 3/4/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Go for Baroque: Litvinova Invokes Her Muses in a Delicious Feast of Opulent Visuals
“Nobody loves anybody and no one is happy,” remarks the matriarchal narrator at the heart of The North Wind, the third feature from actor/writer/director Renata Litvinova, based on her own play. The statement conjures the sentiments of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, wherein “Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Litvinova most assuredly presents a wholly unique clan of unhappy, potentially preternatural oligarchs in one of the most elegant and sumptuously shot cinematic baubles one is apt to see from any era of the medium.…...
“Nobody loves anybody and no one is happy,” remarks the matriarchal narrator at the heart of The North Wind, the third feature from actor/writer/director Renata Litvinova, based on her own play. The statement conjures the sentiments of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, wherein “Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Litvinova most assuredly presents a wholly unique clan of unhappy, potentially preternatural oligarchs in one of the most elegant and sumptuously shot cinematic baubles one is apt to see from any era of the medium.…...
- 2/7/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam had to forego a physical event for its 50th anniversary edition, but it’s aiming to reach a wider audience with expanded competition sections and showcases that include promising new voices and established filmmakers alike.
Under new festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR has reduced the overall number of films from the more than 270 feature films that unspooled last year while beefing up the main Tiger Competition, which celebrates innovative works from up-and-coming filmmakers, from 10 to 16 titles. Also expanded was the Big Screen Competition, which bridges the gap between popular, classic and arthouse cinema.
The revised competitions “encapsulate IFFR’s spirit as a platform for the discovery of visions that pique our curiosity and capture our imagination,” Kaludjercic says.
Female self-realization is one subject that is explored in a number of films vying for this year’s Tiger Award, namely Karen Cinorre’s U.S. title...
Under new festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR has reduced the overall number of films from the more than 270 feature films that unspooled last year while beefing up the main Tiger Competition, which celebrates innovative works from up-and-coming filmmakers, from 10 to 16 titles. Also expanded was the Big Screen Competition, which bridges the gap between popular, classic and arthouse cinema.
The revised competitions “encapsulate IFFR’s spirit as a platform for the discovery of visions that pique our curiosity and capture our imagination,” Kaludjercic says.
Female self-realization is one subject that is explored in a number of films vying for this year’s Tiger Award, namely Karen Cinorre’s U.S. title...
- 2/1/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Looking for VeneraThe first titles for the International Film Festival Rotterdam's hybrid multi-part 50th edition program have been revealed. Under new festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, the newly-organized and extended IFFR 2021 will feature a new program structure, with competition sections to be presented between 1 – 7 February. The festival will resume again between 2 – 6 June with Bright Future (the festival's existing section dedicated to emerging film talent) and what will be the festival's latest and largest section, Harbour. In February the festival will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of Amsterdam's Eye Filmmusuem, while in June IFFR's own 50th year will be celebrated with a special anniversary program. Tiger COMPETITIONAgate mousse (Selim Mourad)Bebia, à mon seul désir (Juja Dobrachkous)Bipolar (Queena Li)Black MedusaA Corsican Summer (Pascal Tagnati)The Edge of Daybreak (Taiki Sakpisit)Feast (Tim Leyendekker)Friends and Strangers (James Vaughan)Gritt (Itonje Søimer Guttormsen)Landscapes of Resistance (Marta Popivoda)Liborio (Nino Martínez Sosa...
- 12/22/2020
- MUBI
The Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR) has unveiled the line-up for its 50th edition, with the Mads Mikkelsen-starring Riders Of Justice set to open the fest.
You can see the full line-up below. The event has had to change its traditional format for 2021 due to ongoing pandemic disruption. It will now run as a two-stage event, initially with a hybrid showcase of films February 1-7, followed by a physical event June 2-6.
The flagship Tiger Competition has confirmed 16 titles, 14 of which are world premieres. There are a further 15 titles in the Big Screen competition, which looks to bridge the gap between popular and arthouse cinema, while the non-competitive Limelight section will feature 13 titles, most of which have played other festivals, such as Magnus von Horn’s Sweat and Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida?.
Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy Riders Of Justice will be having its international premiere...
You can see the full line-up below. The event has had to change its traditional format for 2021 due to ongoing pandemic disruption. It will now run as a two-stage event, initially with a hybrid showcase of films February 1-7, followed by a physical event June 2-6.
The flagship Tiger Competition has confirmed 16 titles, 14 of which are world premieres. There are a further 15 titles in the Big Screen competition, which looks to bridge the gap between popular and arthouse cinema, while the non-competitive Limelight section will feature 13 titles, most of which have played other festivals, such as Magnus von Horn’s Sweat and Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida?.
Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy Riders Of Justice will be having its international premiere...
- 12/22/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Anders Thomas Jensen’s action comedy “Riders of Justice,” starring Mads Mikkelsen, will open the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam. The festival will be staged in two parts this year: the first, in a hybrid format, running Feb. 1-7, and the second, hopefully a physical event, June 2-6. The awards ceremony will take place on Feb. 7.
In “Riders of Justice,” Mikkelsen plays Markus, a military man who returns home to look after his daughter Mathilde following his wife’s death in a train accident. At first it looks like she was the victim of a tragic piece of bad luck, but then mathematics geek Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a fellow passenger on the train, shows up with his two eccentric colleagues, Lennart (Lars Brygmann) and Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro), and floats the theory of a possible murder conspiracy. The film plays in the Limelight section.
Jensen is Denmark’s top screenwriter,...
In “Riders of Justice,” Mikkelsen plays Markus, a military man who returns home to look after his daughter Mathilde following his wife’s death in a train accident. At first it looks like she was the victim of a tragic piece of bad luck, but then mathematics geek Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a fellow passenger on the train, shows up with his two eccentric colleagues, Lennart (Lars Brygmann) and Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro), and floats the theory of a possible murder conspiracy. The film plays in the Limelight section.
Jensen is Denmark’s top screenwriter,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Ida producer Opus Film and distributors Against Gravity and Next Film were among the winners at the 8th Polish Film Institute Awards.
The awards were presented at a gala ceremony last night during the Gdynia Film Festival (Sept 14-29).
Lodz-based Opus Film and the Acme PR agency won the prize for ¨International Promotion of Polish Cinema¨ for its Oscar campaign for Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, which won Best Foreign-Language Film at the Academy Awards.
Next Film was recognised for its distribution of Jan Komasa’s Warsaw Uprising and Lukasz Palkowski’s Gods, the big winner at last year’s Gdynia Film Festival with admissions topping 2.2 million in Polish cinemas.
Against Gravity received the award for ¨Distribution of a Non-Commercial Foreign Film in Poland¨ for its release of Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated Leviathan.
In addition, the 41st Film Summer in Insk beat off competition from the 5th American Film Festival in Wroclaw and the 21st Nationwide...
The awards were presented at a gala ceremony last night during the Gdynia Film Festival (Sept 14-29).
Lodz-based Opus Film and the Acme PR agency won the prize for ¨International Promotion of Polish Cinema¨ for its Oscar campaign for Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, which won Best Foreign-Language Film at the Academy Awards.
Next Film was recognised for its distribution of Jan Komasa’s Warsaw Uprising and Lukasz Palkowski’s Gods, the big winner at last year’s Gdynia Film Festival with admissions topping 2.2 million in Polish cinemas.
Against Gravity received the award for ¨Distribution of a Non-Commercial Foreign Film in Poland¨ for its release of Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated Leviathan.
In addition, the 41st Film Summer in Insk beat off competition from the 5th American Film Festival in Wroclaw and the 21st Nationwide...
- 9/17/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Two of film's mustiest tropes are stitched together in Jos Stelling's period melodrama The Girl and Death: A man falls in love with a prostitute while she wastes away of tuberculosis. As Baz Luhrmann proved with Moulin Rouge!, such an unoriginal premise need not doom a project to redundancy.
But this staid, insipid Dutch production (in German, French, and Russian) is about as fresh and enticing as Miss Havisham's yellowed nightie.
Medical student Nicolai (Leonid Bichevin) arrives in Paris from Moscow intending to improve his French and learn all he can about the human body. His one-night stop at a hotel with a cathouse petite upstairs turns into an indefinite stay after befriending scarred sex worker Nina (Renata Litvinova), then beholding her abus...
But this staid, insipid Dutch production (in German, French, and Russian) is about as fresh and enticing as Miss Havisham's yellowed nightie.
Medical student Nicolai (Leonid Bichevin) arrives in Paris from Moscow intending to improve his French and learn all he can about the human body. His one-night stop at a hotel with a cathouse petite upstairs turns into an indefinite stay after befriending scarred sex worker Nina (Renata Litvinova), then beholding her abus...
- 4/23/2014
- Village Voice
★★☆☆☆ Rita's Last Fairy Tale (Poslednyaya Skazka Rity, 2011) is a playful Russian fantasy which imbues its harrowing tale of life and death with an enchanting collage of imagery. A surreal and at times beguiling journey, Renata Litvinova's disjointed and far-fetched magical adventure also demands both an open mind and significant patience. The film opens with an elegant lady being driven to an undisclosed location. Her attire is fitting of a pantomime princess, draped in a graceful frock accompanied by an eccentric headdress. We soon discover that this mysterious woman is Tanya (Litvinova herself), a beautiful incarnation of the Grim Reaper.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 11/11/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Few weeks ago I published here teaser of upcoming teaser for Russian 3D fantasy Rorrim Bo and the Magic Goblet 3D and now the first proper and complete teaser trailer is available.
As one can judge from the trailer the flick is going to deliver a huge amount of fantasy creatures in Digital 3D, some of them will be full-cgi like many monsters and the main character (fluffy on the poster).
Even though the movie is yet in post-production and the graphics is not final, it has everything for good family spectacle when completed.
Long-long ago, inhabitants of fantasy country drove evil witch Werghilda out into our world and put her spirit into magical goblet. This happened more than 500 years ago. In our times the goblet was found, and the evil spirit of the witch was released and got into female Pioneer organizer in the pioneer camp. And now she...
As one can judge from the trailer the flick is going to deliver a huge amount of fantasy creatures in Digital 3D, some of them will be full-cgi like many monsters and the main character (fluffy on the poster).
Even though the movie is yet in post-production and the graphics is not final, it has everything for good family spectacle when completed.
Long-long ago, inhabitants of fantasy country drove evil witch Werghilda out into our world and put her spirit into magical goblet. This happened more than 500 years ago. In our times the goblet was found, and the evil spirit of the witch was released and got into female Pioneer organizer in the pioneer camp. And now she...
- 5/28/2010
- Screen Anarchy
AMSTERDAM -- Jake Mahaffy's "Wellness", a low-budget title from the U.S., is one of eight world premieres that Will Grace the 15-strong competition lineup at the 37th annual Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Festival organizers said Wednesday that the event's opener -- the Argentinian movie "Lamb of God", directed by Lucia Cedron -- also will compete for the festival's Tiger Award.
"Lamb" centers on the kidnapping of an elderly man in 2002 during the economic crisis in Argentina.
The festival runs Jan. 23-Feb. 3 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Newly appointed festival director Rutger Wolfson said the competition lineup reflects "the ways of filmmaking and the filmmakers for the future."
"This edition's competition for first or second films reflects the festival's diversity in programming and features what may be a wider range than ever in style, attitude, origin or topic," he said. "Making this selection, we have been moved by the many different stories told in very different ways, taking us to the hearts and minds of characters from all over the world, from Kazakhstan, the U.S., Denmark, Ukraine, China, Greece and Chile, amongst others."
Wolfson said the festival's opener "shows the connections between very personal stories and family histories and the political, historical events of Argentina in an intelligent, controlled and, finally, emotional way."
The Tiger Awards jury is comprised of Iranian filmmaker and jury president Jafar Panahi, Russian actress-filmmaker Renata Litvinova, Locarno Film Festival deputy director Tiziana Finzi, Dutch former Filmmuseum deputy director Rieks Hadders and Singapore filmmaker Royston Tan.
Festival organizers said Wednesday that the event's opener -- the Argentinian movie "Lamb of God", directed by Lucia Cedron -- also will compete for the festival's Tiger Award.
"Lamb" centers on the kidnapping of an elderly man in 2002 during the economic crisis in Argentina.
The festival runs Jan. 23-Feb. 3 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Newly appointed festival director Rutger Wolfson said the competition lineup reflects "the ways of filmmaking and the filmmakers for the future."
"This edition's competition for first or second films reflects the festival's diversity in programming and features what may be a wider range than ever in style, attitude, origin or topic," he said. "Making this selection, we have been moved by the many different stories told in very different ways, taking us to the hearts and minds of characters from all over the world, from Kazakhstan, the U.S., Denmark, Ukraine, China, Greece and Chile, amongst others."
Wolfson said the festival's opener "shows the connections between very personal stories and family histories and the political, historical events of Argentina in an intelligent, controlled and, finally, emotional way."
The Tiger Awards jury is comprised of Iranian filmmaker and jury president Jafar Panahi, Russian actress-filmmaker Renata Litvinova, Locarno Film Festival deputy director Tiziana Finzi, Dutch former Filmmuseum deputy director Rieks Hadders and Singapore filmmaker Royston Tan.
- 1/10/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MOSCOW -- Top Russian sales and production shingle Central Partnership on Monday announced its Cannes market titles, with a slate of 16 features, including domestic boxoffice hit "Wolfhound".
"Wolfhound" -- a fantasy thriller that took in more than $20 million at the home boxoffice and has notched up more than 30 international sales -- will spearhead a wide range of genres and directors old and new.
Veteran director Kira Muratova's latest film, Ukrainian-Russian co-production "Two in One", a stylish two-hour drama about an aging theater actor's search for love and the diabolical trap his daughter sets for him that will either save or damn him, is an art-house highlight among a pack of more commercial features.
The film, which stars Renata Litvinova and Bogdan Stupka, screened in the world narrative feature competition section at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Other festival favorites include Boris Khlebnikov's "Free Floating", voted best Central and Eastern European film last year at the 22nd Warsaw International Film Festival, and Yuri Moroz's "The Spot", which was in competition last year at Karlovy Vary.
"Wolfhound" -- a fantasy thriller that took in more than $20 million at the home boxoffice and has notched up more than 30 international sales -- will spearhead a wide range of genres and directors old and new.
Veteran director Kira Muratova's latest film, Ukrainian-Russian co-production "Two in One", a stylish two-hour drama about an aging theater actor's search for love and the diabolical trap his daughter sets for him that will either save or damn him, is an art-house highlight among a pack of more commercial features.
The film, which stars Renata Litvinova and Bogdan Stupka, screened in the world narrative feature competition section at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Other festival favorites include Boris Khlebnikov's "Free Floating", voted best Central and Eastern European film last year at the 22nd Warsaw International Film Festival, and Yuri Moroz's "The Spot", which was in competition last year at Karlovy Vary.
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