Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has come on board as representative of “Mongrel,” the debut feature of Taiwan-based Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang. The film will have its world premiere next month at Cannes in the Directors Fortnight section.
Set in the mountains of Taiwan, “Mongrel” stars Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad as Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.
Rungkumjad is joined by newcomer Kuo Shu-wei, who plays Hui, a patient with whom Oom develops a bond. On hearing of the film’s Cannes selection, Kuo said, “I never thought this film would have the opportunity to be seen by so many people. As I live with athetoid cerebral palsy, we worked hard to achieve this. Hui is a character whose abilities are weaker than mine, so I thought of the friends I...
Set in the mountains of Taiwan, “Mongrel” stars Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad as Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.
Rungkumjad is joined by newcomer Kuo Shu-wei, who plays Hui, a patient with whom Oom develops a bond. On hearing of the film’s Cannes selection, Kuo said, “I never thought this film would have the opportunity to be seen by so many people. As I live with athetoid cerebral palsy, we worked hard to achieve this. Hui is a character whose abilities are weaker than mine, so I thought of the friends I...
- 4/16/2024
- by Patrick Frater and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Premiering in January to a Sundance Dramatic World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, “Sujo” from “Identifying Features” filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez has expanded its global reach, closing multiple distribution deals forged by Paris-based Alpha Violet, who heads international distribution.
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
- 3/20/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Alpha Violet has acquired world sales rights for Uruguayan filmmaking duo Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s new drama Don’t You Let Me Go, exploring themes of friendship and death.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
A still from In ‘The Summers’ by Alessandra Lacorazza (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
While there’s still a few days left of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Ferrari, Sundance 2024, Once Within a Time, Four Daughters & More”>including the opportunity to watch many titles from the comfort of your own home, the juries have now handed out their awards. Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to: In The Summers (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Porcelain War (U.S. Documentary Competition), Sujo (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and A New Kind of Wilderness (World Cinema Documentary Competition).
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Ahead of its international bow in World Cinema Dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, Beverly Hills-based United Talent Agency’s Independent Film Group has pounced on domestic sales representation for the unconventional narco narrative “Sujo,” from “Identifying Features” creators Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez.
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
- 1/18/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
They claim the Flemish cultural sector will now suffer without De Schutter’s expertise and international contacts.
Over 150 leading figures from the European and international industry have signed an open letter in support of Christian De Schutter, former managing director of Flanders Image, whose sudden removal from his role was announced in a short email sent by Koen Van Bockstal, CEO of Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf), on December 20.
“We’re all flummoxed by the situation and as his longtime colleagues we think we deserve some sort of explanation. We know that many people in Belgium, including your leading filmmakers, are also confused and angered,...
Over 150 leading figures from the European and international industry have signed an open letter in support of Christian De Schutter, former managing director of Flanders Image, whose sudden removal from his role was announced in a short email sent by Koen Van Bockstal, CEO of Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf), on December 20.
“We’re all flummoxed by the situation and as his longtime colleagues we think we deserve some sort of explanation. We know that many people in Belgium, including your leading filmmakers, are also confused and angered,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Girls Will Be Girls To Premiere At Sundance Film Festival 2024: Here’s Everything You Should Know About Chadha & Ali Fazal’s Debut Production! ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Shivani Negi
- KoiMoi
Carmoon, producers Loran Dunn and Helen Simmons, and star Joseph Quinn all former Stars of Tomorrow.
Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has acquired worldwide sales rights to Hoard, the UK debut feature from Luna Carmoon, that will debut in Venice Critics’ Week this month.
Hoard is about a seven year-old girl and her mother in 1984 whose world suddenly falls apart. Ten years later, and the girl is living with her foster mother, when an older stranger enters their home bringing past trauma, magic and madness.
Saura Lightfoot Leon, Hayley Squires, Joseph Quinn, Lily-Beau Leach and Samantha Spiro star. It is...
Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has acquired worldwide sales rights to Hoard, the UK debut feature from Luna Carmoon, that will debut in Venice Critics’ Week this month.
Hoard is about a seven year-old girl and her mother in 1984 whose world suddenly falls apart. Ten years later, and the girl is living with her foster mother, when an older stranger enters their home bringing past trauma, magic and madness.
Saura Lightfoot Leon, Hayley Squires, Joseph Quinn, Lily-Beau Leach and Samantha Spiro star. It is...
- 7/27/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Alpha Violet founding co-heads Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato are at the Venice Film Festival this year with Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak’s first film Autobiography, which plays in Horizons ahead of trips to Toronto and London among other festivals.
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
- 9/2/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Debut feature for Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak.
Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has boarded worldwide sales rights to Autobiography, the debut feature of Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak, which has today been selected for Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand.
Alpha Violet acquired the rights from Indonesian producers KawanKawan Media.
The film centres on a young man working as a housekeeper in an empty mansion. When its owner returns to start his mayoral election campaign, the young man bonds with him and defends him when his campaign is vandalised, setting off a chain of violence.
Autobiography has participated in multiple prestigious international labs,...
Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has boarded worldwide sales rights to Autobiography, the debut feature of Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak, which has today been selected for Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand.
Alpha Violet acquired the rights from Indonesian producers KawanKawan Media.
The film centres on a young man working as a housekeeper in an empty mansion. When its owner returns to start his mayoral election campaign, the young man bonds with him and defends him when his campaign is vandalised, setting off a chain of violence.
Autobiography has participated in multiple prestigious international labs,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Dekanalog has picked up Streetwise, Anatolian Leopard and Fugue, three buzzy international films.
The outfit, which launched in 2020 to focus on shopping international films to U.S. audiences, has taken global rights to the trio and plans to launch them within the calendar year.
Cannes favourite Streetwise is a Chinese film from Jiazuo Na and follows Dongzi, a small-town debt collector trying to pay off his sick father’s hospital bill.
Anatolian Leopard charts the relationship between a lonely manager and neglected female officer who form an unlikely bond at Turkey’s oldest zoo, involving themselves in an absurd charade that spins out of control, while Agnieszka Smoczynska’s Fugue tells of a mother who suffers memory loss and returns to her family looking familiar but behaving like a stranger.
The trio have all performed well with critics.
The Streetwise deal was negotiated by Sebastien Chesneau on behalf of...
The outfit, which launched in 2020 to focus on shopping international films to U.S. audiences, has taken global rights to the trio and plans to launch them within the calendar year.
Cannes favourite Streetwise is a Chinese film from Jiazuo Na and follows Dongzi, a small-town debt collector trying to pay off his sick father’s hospital bill.
Anatolian Leopard charts the relationship between a lonely manager and neglected female officer who form an unlikely bond at Turkey’s oldest zoo, involving themselves in an absurd charade that spins out of control, while Agnieszka Smoczynska’s Fugue tells of a mother who suffers memory loss and returns to her family looking familiar but behaving like a stranger.
The trio have all performed well with critics.
The Streetwise deal was negotiated by Sebastien Chesneau on behalf of...
- 6/7/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Alpha Violet represents international sales.
Kino Lorber has acquired all US rights from Alpha Violet and CAA Media Finance to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s Bolivian eco-drama and Sundance grand jury prize winner Utama.
‘Utama (Our Home)’: Sundance Review
The distributor plans a theatrical release later this year on the story about an elderly Quechua couple in the highlands, Virginio and Sisa, who must come to terms with environmental change amid a harsh drought.
While Virginio insists on sticking to tradition and a time-honoured way of life, a visit from their grandson Clever brings the couple’s lives and future choices into sharp focus.
Kino Lorber has acquired all US rights from Alpha Violet and CAA Media Finance to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s Bolivian eco-drama and Sundance grand jury prize winner Utama.
‘Utama (Our Home)’: Sundance Review
The distributor plans a theatrical release later this year on the story about an elderly Quechua couple in the highlands, Virginio and Sisa, who must come to terms with environmental change amid a harsh drought.
While Virginio insists on sticking to tradition and a time-honoured way of life, a visit from their grandson Clever brings the couple’s lives and future choices into sharp focus.
- 4/12/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Alpha Violet represents international sales.
Kino Lorber has acquired all US rights from Alpha Violet and CAA Media Finance to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s Bolivian eco-drama and Sundance grand jury prize winner Utama.
‘Utama (Our Home)’: Sundance Review
The distributor plans a theatrical release later this year on the story about an elderly Quechua couple in the highlands, Virginio and Sisa, who must come to terms with environmental change amid a harsh drought.
While Virginio insists on sticking to tradition and a time-honoured way of life, a visit from their grandson Clever brings the couple’s lives and future choices into sharp focus.
Kino Lorber has acquired all US rights from Alpha Violet and CAA Media Finance to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s Bolivian eco-drama and Sundance grand jury prize winner Utama.
‘Utama (Our Home)’: Sundance Review
The distributor plans a theatrical release later this year on the story about an elderly Quechua couple in the highlands, Virginio and Sisa, who must come to terms with environmental change amid a harsh drought.
While Virginio insists on sticking to tradition and a time-honoured way of life, a visit from their grandson Clever brings the couple’s lives and future choices into sharp focus.
- 4/12/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Samuel Theis’ “Softie” won the top prize at the 62nd Thessaloniki Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday night with a ceremony in Greece’s second city.
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week section, was awarded the Golden Alexander and a €10,000 cash prize by a jury comprised of writer-director Nanouk Leopold, sound designer Roland Vajs and actor Michelle Valley.
The Special Jury Award was given to “Clara Sola,” by Natalie Álvarez Mesén, while the Special Jury Award for best director went to Lorenzo Vigas for “The Box.”
The award for best actress went to Sofia Kokkali for her performance in “Moon, 66 Questions,” by director Jacqueline Lentzou. Aliocha Reinert won the prize for best actor for his role in Golden Alexander winner “Softie.” The award for best screenplay went to Laurynas Bareiša for his film “Pilgrims,” while a special mention was given to Alexandre Koberidze for “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?...
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week section, was awarded the Golden Alexander and a €10,000 cash prize by a jury comprised of writer-director Nanouk Leopold, sound designer Roland Vajs and actor Michelle Valley.
The Special Jury Award was given to “Clara Sola,” by Natalie Álvarez Mesén, while the Special Jury Award for best director went to Lorenzo Vigas for “The Box.”
The award for best actress went to Sofia Kokkali for her performance in “Moon, 66 Questions,” by director Jacqueline Lentzou. Aliocha Reinert won the prize for best actor for his role in Golden Alexander winner “Softie.” The award for best screenplay went to Laurynas Bareiša for his film “Pilgrims,” while a special mention was given to Alexandre Koberidze for “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?...
- 11/14/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Transilvania Pitch Stop is now on to its eighth edition this year.
The Transilvania International Film Festival industry platform is expanding this year with three new initiatives - the Drama Room workshop, the Full Moon Script Contest and the First Cut Lab Cluj. They will complement the existing programme of the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps), Transilvania Talent Lab (Ttl) and InfiniTIFF Incubator.
Drama Room’s three-day programme (July 26 – 28) is aimed at directors, producers and screenwriters from the Central and Eastern Europe interested in developing and producing series and mini-series.
Fifteen participants have been selected to take part in the hybrid...
The Transilvania International Film Festival industry platform is expanding this year with three new initiatives - the Drama Room workshop, the Full Moon Script Contest and the First Cut Lab Cluj. They will complement the existing programme of the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps), Transilvania Talent Lab (Ttl) and InfiniTIFF Incubator.
Drama Room’s three-day programme (July 26 – 28) is aimed at directors, producers and screenwriters from the Central and Eastern Europe interested in developing and producing series and mini-series.
Fifteen participants have been selected to take part in the hybrid...
- 7/23/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The TIFF industry platform has added three new initiatives this year.
The Transilvania International Film Festival industry platform has expanded this year with three new initiatives - the Drama Room workshop, the Full Moon Script Contest and the First Cut Lab Cluj - to complement the existing programme of the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps), Transilvania Talent Lab (Ttl) and InfiniTIFF Incubator.
Drama Room’s three-day programme (July 26 – 28) is aimed at directors, producers and screenwriters from the Central and Eastern Europe interested in developing and producing series and mini-series.
15 participants were selected to take part in the hybrid event which will...
The Transilvania International Film Festival industry platform has expanded this year with three new initiatives - the Drama Room workshop, the Full Moon Script Contest and the First Cut Lab Cluj - to complement the existing programme of the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps), Transilvania Talent Lab (Ttl) and InfiniTIFF Incubator.
Drama Room’s three-day programme (July 26 – 28) is aimed at directors, producers and screenwriters from the Central and Eastern Europe interested in developing and producing series and mini-series.
15 participants were selected to take part in the hybrid event which will...
- 7/23/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cate Blanchett and her team at Dirty Films are coming on board as executive producers on the Christos Nikou-directed Apples, the film which opened Venice Orizzonti section to strong reviews and was also a selection of Telluride and TIFF and is a potential for the Greece’s choice for Best International Feature Film.
Blanchett, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini of Dirty Films are now exec producers of the pandemic-set film, which is now playing all the festivals. While most of those festivals were virtual, Venice was the exception and Blanchett discovered the film while she presided over the jury of the Golden Lion section, and took time to see the film in the Orizzonti section. She formed a new creative collaboration with the film and Nikou, who made his debut as director after working as Ad for filmmakers including Richard Linklater and Yorgot Lanthimos.
“Apples is an unforgettable,...
Blanchett, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini of Dirty Films are now exec producers of the pandemic-set film, which is now playing all the festivals. While most of those festivals were virtual, Venice was the exception and Blanchett discovered the film while she presided over the jury of the Golden Lion section, and took time to see the film in the Orizzonti section. She formed a new creative collaboration with the film and Nikou, who made his debut as director after working as Ad for filmmakers including Richard Linklater and Yorgot Lanthimos.
“Apples is an unforgettable,...
- 10/12/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Parisian outfit has notably closed sales on Uncle and Motherland, and is now preparing the ground for Apples, The Cemil Show and Abu Omar. Somewhat uncertain before embarking upon the unprecedented experience of the Cannes Film Festival’s Online Marché du Film, the French international sales agency Alpha Violet - a dedicated discoverer of young, international and high-potential film auteurs - has swiftly found its feet in this virtual environment and has already struck a number of high notes, closing sales in the opening days of the Market. Indeed, the team led by Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato has sold Uncle by Danish director Frelle Petersen (an 88 Miles production) to HBO Eastern Europe, and to Alfhaville Cinema for Mexico; Motherland by the American of Lithuanian origin Tomas Vengris, for Japan (Uzumasa); Identifying Features by Fernanda Valadez (awarded Sundance’s Audience Award with its screenplay scooping a Special Prize from the.
Feature is lead produced by Israeli The Cakemaker producer Itai Tamir.
Paris-based Alpha Violet has acquired sales rights to Israeli director Roy Krispel’s debut feature Abu Omar, starring Palestinian actor Kais Nashif as a man attempting to smuggle the body of his dead son back into Palestine from Israel.
Nashif won best actor in Venice’s Horizons competition in 2018 for his performance in Sameh Zoabi’s Tel Aviv On Fire and is soon to be seen in Ben Sharrock’s Cannes 2020 selection Limbo. He originally broke out internationally in Hany Abu Assad’s 2005 Oscar-nominated drama Paradise Now.
In Abu Omar,...
Paris-based Alpha Violet has acquired sales rights to Israeli director Roy Krispel’s debut feature Abu Omar, starring Palestinian actor Kais Nashif as a man attempting to smuggle the body of his dead son back into Palestine from Israel.
Nashif won best actor in Venice’s Horizons competition in 2018 for his performance in Sameh Zoabi’s Tel Aviv On Fire and is soon to be seen in Ben Sharrock’s Cannes 2020 selection Limbo. He originally broke out internationally in Hany Abu Assad’s 2005 Oscar-nominated drama Paradise Now.
In Abu Omar,...
- 6/18/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
Kino Lorber has acquired the North American rights to Fernanda Valadez’s timely Mexican migrant drama Identifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares), which made its World Premiere on Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Dramatic Competition. The film is set to roll out in theaters this summer followed by a VOD release on KinoNow.com and home video release.
Identifying Features marks the feature debut of Valadez, which tells the story of Magdalena, a mother who embarks on a journey in search of her son who disappeared en route to the Us border. Traveling through the foreboding towns and landscapes of northern Mexico, she meets Miguel, a young man recently deported from the United States who is making his way home. The two accompany one another: Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel eager to see his mother again in a territory where victims and aggressors ramble together.
Identifying Features marks the feature debut of Valadez, which tells the story of Magdalena, a mother who embarks on a journey in search of her son who disappeared en route to the Us border. Traveling through the foreboding towns and landscapes of northern Mexico, she meets Miguel, a young man recently deported from the United States who is making his way home. The two accompany one another: Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel eager to see his mother again in a territory where victims and aggressors ramble together.
- 1/29/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Buenos Aires — Paris-based Alpha Violet has acquired international rights to Fernanda Valadez’s feature debut, “Identifying Features,” which world premieres in World Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Announced this week, the Sundance selection comes on top of a Films in Progress Prize at this September’s San Sebastian Festival.
Studying at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, (Ccc), Valadez directed the short film “400 Maletas,” that earned nominations for the Student Academy Awards and Mexico’s Ariel Awards.
“Identifying Features” follows a mother searching desperately for her son, who has gone missing en route to the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, she meets the young Miguel, recently deported from the U.S., who is eager to be reunited with his mother in Mexico, a country he hardly recognizes.
The two strike up a sense of companionship as they wander through a desolate, violence-ravaged townships and landscapes of today’s Mexico,...
Announced this week, the Sundance selection comes on top of a Films in Progress Prize at this September’s San Sebastian Festival.
Studying at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, (Ccc), Valadez directed the short film “400 Maletas,” that earned nominations for the Student Academy Awards and Mexico’s Ariel Awards.
“Identifying Features” follows a mother searching desperately for her son, who has gone missing en route to the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, she meets the young Miguel, recently deported from the U.S., who is eager to be reunited with his mother in Mexico, a country he hardly recognizes.
The two strike up a sense of companionship as they wander through a desolate, violence-ravaged townships and landscapes of today’s Mexico,...
- 12/6/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Mexico’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival (Ficm) and Locarno Academy are hosting the fifth edition of their joint academy for young professionals at this year’s festival, supported by the Mexican Film Institute (Imcine) and the Ibermedia program.
The Morelia/Imcine-Locarno Intl. Industry Academy – it’s official name . counts as one of a series of Academies hosted by the Locarno Film Festival, which takes in Brazil, at the Sao Paulo Iff; in Santiago, Chile– previously in Valdivia; Iff Panama; in Greece at the Thessaloniki Festival; at the Lincoln Center in New York; and in Beirut, Lebanon.
The workshop’s main objective is to support young professionals in the areas of sales, marketing, online and traditional distribution, and exhibition and programming.
With only four days to fit in everything, the Locarno Academy at Morelia is always more sprint than marathon. Attendees arrived Monday and meet from 9am – 6:30pm each day this week.
The Morelia/Imcine-Locarno Intl. Industry Academy – it’s official name . counts as one of a series of Academies hosted by the Locarno Film Festival, which takes in Brazil, at the Sao Paulo Iff; in Santiago, Chile– previously in Valdivia; Iff Panama; in Greece at the Thessaloniki Festival; at the Lincoln Center in New York; and in Beirut, Lebanon.
The workshop’s main objective is to support young professionals in the areas of sales, marketing, online and traditional distribution, and exhibition and programming.
With only four days to fit in everything, the Locarno Academy at Morelia is always more sprint than marathon. Attendees arrived Monday and meet from 9am – 6:30pm each day this week.
- 10/22/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has acquired world rights for “Apples,” the feature directorial debut of Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou. The company and the director will present a teaser of the offbeat dramedy this week at the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (Mia) in Rome.
“Apples” is the story of Aris, a solitary man in his late thirties, who becomes a victim of an unexplained surge of amnesia in his city and is forced to confront his condition through an experimental new treatment that creates new memories for patients. During treatment he meets a woman undergoing similar memory loss therapy, and their budding relationship makes Aris reconsider his actions and embark on a new direction in his life.
“‘Apples,’ an allegorical and somehow funny story, is in its core an effort to explore how our memory functions and how this affects us. How emotions affect our memory, and especially how our memory is affected by technology,...
“Apples” is the story of Aris, a solitary man in his late thirties, who becomes a victim of an unexplained surge of amnesia in his city and is forced to confront his condition through an experimental new treatment that creates new memories for patients. During treatment he meets a woman undergoing similar memory loss therapy, and their budding relationship makes Aris reconsider his actions and embark on a new direction in his life.
“‘Apples,’ an allegorical and somehow funny story, is in its core an effort to explore how our memory functions and how this affects us. How emotions affect our memory, and especially how our memory is affected by technology,...
- 10/15/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The 2019 installment of the sprawling Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 – July 6), held for more than 50 years at the sunny resort hub of the Czech Republic, boasted 12,521 accredited attendees, including 395 filmmakers, 1158 global industry professionals, and 605 journalists. They watched a selection of 177 films at 497 screenings.
Karlovy Vary, run by president Jiří Bartoška and artistic director Karel Och, runs three competitive categories. “The Father,” from Bulgaria and Greece, took home the Grand Prix, and “Lara,” from Germany, won three awards. The full list of winners is below.
Official Selection – Competition
Jury: Štěpán Hulík (Czech Republic), Annemarie Jacir (State of Palestine),Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine), Angeliki Papoulia (Greece), Charles Tesson (France)
Grand Prix – Crystal Globe
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s “The Father”
Special Jury Prize
Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Director Award
Tim Mielants for “Patrick” (Belgium)
Best Actress Award
Corinna Harfouch, star of Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Actor Award
Milan Ondrík,...
Karlovy Vary, run by president Jiří Bartoška and artistic director Karel Och, runs three competitive categories. “The Father,” from Bulgaria and Greece, took home the Grand Prix, and “Lara,” from Germany, won three awards. The full list of winners is below.
Official Selection – Competition
Jury: Štěpán Hulík (Czech Republic), Annemarie Jacir (State of Palestine),Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine), Angeliki Papoulia (Greece), Charles Tesson (France)
Grand Prix – Crystal Globe
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s “The Father”
Special Jury Prize
Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Director Award
Tim Mielants for “Patrick” (Belgium)
Best Actress Award
Corinna Harfouch, star of Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Actor Award
Milan Ondrík,...
- 7/6/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 2019 installment of the sprawling Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 – July 6), held for more than 50 years at the sunny resort hub of the Czech Republic, boasted 12,521 accredited attendees, including 395 filmmakers, 1158 global industry professionals, and 605 journalists. They watched a selection of 177 films at 497 screenings.
Karlovy Vary, run by president Jiří Bartoška and artistic director Karel Och, runs three competitive categories. “The Father,” from Bulgaria and Greece, took home the Grand Prix, and “Lara,” from Germany, won three awards. The full list of winners is below.
Official Selection – Competition
Jury: Štěpán Hulík (Czech Republic), Annemarie Jacir (State of Palestine),Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine), Angeliki Papoulia (Greece), Charles Tesson (France)
Grand Prix – Crystal Globe
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s “The Father”
Special Jury Prize
Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Director Award
Tim Mielants for “Patrick” (Belgium)
Best Actress Award
Corinna Harfouch, star of Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Actor Award
Milan Ondrík,...
Karlovy Vary, run by president Jiří Bartoška and artistic director Karel Och, runs three competitive categories. “The Father,” from Bulgaria and Greece, took home the Grand Prix, and “Lara,” from Germany, won three awards. The full list of winners is below.
Official Selection – Competition
Jury: Štěpán Hulík (Czech Republic), Annemarie Jacir (State of Palestine),Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine), Angeliki Papoulia (Greece), Charles Tesson (France)
Grand Prix – Crystal Globe
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s “The Father”
Special Jury Prize
Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Director Award
Tim Mielants for “Patrick” (Belgium)
Best Actress Award
Corinna Harfouch, star of Jan-Ole Gerster’s “Lara” (Germany)
Best Actor Award
Milan Ondrík,...
- 7/6/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
‘Pigeon’s Milk’ won the top €100,000 prize.
Pigeon’s Milk, a Russia-Moldovia co-production directed by debut Moldovan filmmaker Eugen Maryan, won the Works in Progress award of the Eastern Promises industry section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year.
The award is worth €100,000 in post-production services, including a cash prize of €10,000 from Germany’s Barrandov Studios.
“The film tells the story of a 16 year- old boy who lives in the unique location of Transnistria,” explained the film’s co-producer Anna Shalashina of Russia’s Rock Films. “The area claimed its independence from Moldova in 1992 but it’s not...
Pigeon’s Milk, a Russia-Moldovia co-production directed by debut Moldovan filmmaker Eugen Maryan, won the Works in Progress award of the Eastern Promises industry section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year.
The award is worth €100,000 in post-production services, including a cash prize of €10,000 from Germany’s Barrandov Studios.
“The film tells the story of a 16 year- old boy who lives in the unique location of Transnistria,” explained the film’s co-producer Anna Shalashina of Russia’s Rock Films. “The area claimed its independence from Moldova in 1992 but it’s not...
- 7/3/2019
- by Laurence Boyce
- ScreenDaily
The second film of The Love Trilogy, Chained, premieres in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.
Alpha Violet has taken over sales on Israeli filmmaker Yaron Shani’s The Love Trilogy, the second film of which Chained premieres in Panorama tomorrow (Feb 9).
The film, revolving around an Israeli police officer who is suspended after he is falsely accused of abusing a minor, was previously handled by Celluloid Dreams. Under the deal, the Paris-based company is also handling the third film in the trilogy Reborn. The first film Stripped premiered at Venice.
“It’s generating strong interest and we’re also already...
Alpha Violet has taken over sales on Israeli filmmaker Yaron Shani’s The Love Trilogy, the second film of which Chained premieres in Panorama tomorrow (Feb 9).
The film, revolving around an Israeli police officer who is suspended after he is falsely accused of abusing a minor, was previously handled by Celluloid Dreams. Under the deal, the Paris-based company is also handling the third film in the trilogy Reborn. The first film Stripped premiered at Venice.
“It’s generating strong interest and we’re also already...
- 2/8/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Ten leading European sales agents attended the first edition of Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops. In interviews with Variety the executives emphasized the importance of this new industry event, which will help leverage the importance of Marrakech as a key industry hub for Arab and African filmmakers.
Films Boutique’s Gabor Greiner said that the workshops provided an excellent opportunity to meet filmmakers and producers from the region, some of whom don’t travel very often to festivals in Europe.
“African cinema has tremendous potential and we’re keen to learn more about cinema from the region. As sales agents we’re on the lookout for something that stands out, and it can be easier to find unusual new voices in a region where cinema production is less common.”
Greiner cited examples of recent films that have raised visibility for Africa-related issues – such as Aalam-Warqe Davidian’s tragic romance “Fig Tree,...
Films Boutique’s Gabor Greiner said that the workshops provided an excellent opportunity to meet filmmakers and producers from the region, some of whom don’t travel very often to festivals in Europe.
“African cinema has tremendous potential and we’re keen to learn more about cinema from the region. As sales agents we’re on the lookout for something that stands out, and it can be easier to find unusual new voices in a region where cinema production is less common.”
Greiner cited examples of recent films that have raised visibility for Africa-related issues – such as Aalam-Warqe Davidian’s tragic romance “Fig Tree,...
- 12/6/2018
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
France, China, Mexico sell ahead of Sunday world premiere.
Paris-based Alpha Violet has closed a raft of deals ahead of Sunday’s (9) Tiff Discovery world premiere on Mexican actor Lila Avilés’ feature directorial debut The Chambermaid (La Camarista).
Rights have gone in France (Bodega Films), China (Beijing Hualu), and Mexico (Cine Caníbal).
Alpha Violet’s Virginie Devesa brokered the deals with Jean Pierre Gardelli of Bodega Films, Zhuang Zhuang of Beijing Hualu, and Geminiano Pineda of Ciné Canibal.
The Chambermaid stars Gabriela Cartol as a young maid working at a luxury hotel in Mexico City where the opulence is in...
Paris-based Alpha Violet has closed a raft of deals ahead of Sunday’s (9) Tiff Discovery world premiere on Mexican actor Lila Avilés’ feature directorial debut The Chambermaid (La Camarista).
Rights have gone in France (Bodega Films), China (Beijing Hualu), and Mexico (Cine Caníbal).
Alpha Violet’s Virginie Devesa brokered the deals with Jean Pierre Gardelli of Bodega Films, Zhuang Zhuang of Beijing Hualu, and Geminiano Pineda of Ciné Canibal.
The Chambermaid stars Gabriela Cartol as a young maid working at a luxury hotel in Mexico City where the opulence is in...
- 9/9/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird starring Matthias Schoenaerts will be among the line-up.
Flanders Image – a division of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund — is hosting the first NeXT event from Oct 9-12 in Ghent, Belgium.
The event will include a showcase of new films and pitches of future projects, alongside works in progress presentations from both established names and new talents of Belgian cinema made in Flanders. There will also be a day of talks, workshops and panel discussions that bring together local filmmakers and international experts.
Among the high profile Flemish films to be discussed will be Michael R Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird, described as a dark romantic drama and starring his Bullhead star Matthias Schoenaerts alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos; and Loft director Erik Van Looy’s new thriller The Prime Minister, which is being sold by The Works. Those are both part of short works in progress presentations...
Flanders Image – a division of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund — is hosting the first NeXT event from Oct 9-12 in Ghent, Belgium.
The event will include a showcase of new films and pitches of future projects, alongside works in progress presentations from both established names and new talents of Belgian cinema made in Flanders. There will also be a day of talks, workshops and panel discussions that bring together local filmmakers and international experts.
Among the high profile Flemish films to be discussed will be Michael R Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird, described as a dark romantic drama and starring his Bullhead star Matthias Schoenaerts alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos; and Loft director Erik Van Looy’s new thriller The Prime Minister, which is being sold by The Works. Those are both part of short works in progress presentations...
- 9/30/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Directors Chanya Button, Adrian Sitaru, Xavier Seron scoop prizes; festival reveals works in progress winners.
UK filmmaker Chanya Button’s debut feature as director and producer, Burn Burn Burn, was voted by the audience at the Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff) as the winner of this year’s Grand Prix.
Producer Daniel-Konrad Cooper accepted the Golden Duke statuette on behalf of the production team from Oiff’s festival president Victoria Tigipko during the gala closing ceremony in the Black Sea city’s historic National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.
Button’s melancholic comedy had premiered at last year’s London Film Festival and is being handled internationally by Urban Distribution International.
International Competition
Meanwhile, the International Competition jury - headed by the UK writer Christopher Hampton and also including Oiff 2015 winner Eva Neymann, Us writer-director-actor Alex Ross Perry, producer Rebecca O’Brien and producer-director Uberto Pasolini - gave the Golden Duke statuette for Best Film to...
UK filmmaker Chanya Button’s debut feature as director and producer, Burn Burn Burn, was voted by the audience at the Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff) as the winner of this year’s Grand Prix.
Producer Daniel-Konrad Cooper accepted the Golden Duke statuette on behalf of the production team from Oiff’s festival president Victoria Tigipko during the gala closing ceremony in the Black Sea city’s historic National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.
Button’s melancholic comedy had premiered at last year’s London Film Festival and is being handled internationally by Urban Distribution International.
International Competition
Meanwhile, the International Competition jury - headed by the UK writer Christopher Hampton and also including Oiff 2015 winner Eva Neymann, Us writer-director-actor Alex Ross Perry, producer Rebecca O’Brien and producer-director Uberto Pasolini - gave the Golden Duke statuette for Best Film to...
- 7/25/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Ukraine film industry set to receive fivefold cash injection and first rebate scheme.
Ukraine’s new Cinema Law could see a massive cash injection for the State Film Agency and the introduction of a cash rebate scheme from 2017.
Speaking at the fifth edition of the Odessa International Film Festival’s Film Industry Office this week, Philip Illienko, head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, explained that the Cinema Law had already passed its first reading in the national parliament and is expected to be finally adopted in a second reading this autumn.
¨The provisions [of the new Law] will be revolutionary for our industry and we will say goodbye to many Soviet elements which have still existed [in the flm funding legislation],¨ Illienko said.
According to the draft law going through parliament, the Film Agency would expect to receive financial support equal to 0.2% of Ukraine’s state budget from 2017, which would be equivalent to $55.2m (€50m), a substantial increase on the Film Agency’s current...
Ukraine’s new Cinema Law could see a massive cash injection for the State Film Agency and the introduction of a cash rebate scheme from 2017.
Speaking at the fifth edition of the Odessa International Film Festival’s Film Industry Office this week, Philip Illienko, head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, explained that the Cinema Law had already passed its first reading in the national parliament and is expected to be finally adopted in a second reading this autumn.
¨The provisions [of the new Law] will be revolutionary for our industry and we will say goodbye to many Soviet elements which have still existed [in the flm funding legislation],¨ Illienko said.
According to the draft law going through parliament, the Film Agency would expect to receive financial support equal to 0.2% of Ukraine’s state budget from 2017, which would be equivalent to $55.2m (€50m), a substantial increase on the Film Agency’s current...
- 7/22/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Halfway through the Cannes Film Festival, buzz is hearing about “Jackie”, now in post-production, an account of the days of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, directed by Pablo Larraín whose Directors’ Fortnight contender “Neruda” is receiving raves here. Another hot Directors’ Fortnight film “Mean Dreams” with Bill Paxton is praised by one important film buyer as “Mud” meets “Cold in July” in a tense coming-of-age drama about a 15-year-old boy. And Sony Pictures Classics has snatched U.S. rights to the German Competition comedy, “Toni Erdmann”.
This year in the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Competition Section, there are no first time film directors, only established masters, some praised and some panned. However, Cannes Official Un Certain Regard specifically shows emerging filmmakers who are considered to be the next generation of master auteurs of cinema. Out of its 17 films, seven were first features from Romania, France, Israel, USA, Argentina, Finland and the Netherlands. Three of the seven are by women: Stéphanie Di Giusto’s “La Danseuse” (“The Dancer”) is about Loïe Fuller, the toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers.
Maha Haj From Israel debuted on the first day with “Personal Affairs”, about an old couple in Nazareth and their son and daughter who live on the other side of the border. Other first films are the much-anticipated “The Red Turtle”, a dialogue-free animated feature from Studio Ghibli but made in France and directed by Dutch-born, London-based animator Michael Dudok de Wit, the Finnish-German-Swedish “The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki” and Bogdan Mirica’s “Dogs”. The debut So. Korean film, “Train to Busan”, showed in the Official Midnight Screening section and featured a zombie-virus breaking out in South Korea, and a couple of passengers struggling to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan – enough to make me want to stop traveling.
“Fool Moon” by France’s Gregoire Leprinr-Foret had a Special Screening within the Official selection and received mixed reviews. In Critics Week, three of ten films selected and judged bycritics as the best films of the year thus far are first features: K. Rajapal’s drama “A Yellow Bird” from Singapore and France about a Singaporean Indian man trying to reconnect with his estranged family after he is released from prison, Mehmet Can Mertoglu’s “Albüm” from Turkey, France and Romania (See the trailer here) and Alessandro Comidin’s “Happy Times Will Come Soon” from Italy. The Acid sidebar of eight very independent features has two first films.
Also noticeable this year is the high number of films co-financed by the Doha Film Institute. Asgaard Farhadi's " The Salesman" will have its world premiere in the Festival’s Official Competition where it competes for the coveted Palme d’Or. “The Salesman” is about a couple who is forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building. It is one of two Iranian films this year. The other, “Inversion” will play in Un Certain Regard.” Newly established Doha Film Institute lent financial support to two films showing in Un Certain Regard section – “Apprentice” (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar) written and directed by Boo Junfeng; and debut feature “Dogs” (Romania, France, Bulgaria, Qatar). Directors’ Fortnight is screens “Divines” (Morocco, France, Qatar) and three Dfi grantee films compete for top honors in the Critics Week: “Mimosas” (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar) by Oliver Laxe; “Tramontane” (Lebanon, France, UAE, Qatar) by Vatche Boulghourjian; and “Diamond Island” (Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Davy Chou touted as poetic and beautiful, a part of what might be a Cambodian New Wave. This New Wave from Cambodia is being helped along by the Doha Film Institute whose CEO, Fatma Al Remaihi says:
“At the very core of Dfi’s film funding mandate is to contribute to World Cinema and ensure that great stories continue to be told. These projects will also inspire the young Qatari film professionals to create compelling content that will gain international acclaim.”
Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature “Wolf and Sheep”, in Directors’ Fortnight, is about Sadat herself, who lives in Kabul and Denmark. It takes place in the isolated village in Central Afghanistan where she grew up and where young boys and girls are shepherds. International coproductions are the engine driving the film business today and this one, a Denmark-France-Sweden-Afghanistan coproduction is a prime example. Sadat was spotted previously when her 2011 short “Vice Versa One” screened at Directors’ Fortnight and was invited to develop “Wolf And Sheep” at Cannes Cinefondation Residency in 2010, which mentors emerging talent. Virginie Devesa of the international sales company Alpha Violet picked up the film here in Cannes. Alpha Violet is also selling ”A Yellow Bird” in Critics’ Week and is representing “Luxembourg”, the newest film by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, whose first film “The Tribe” played in Sundance and other top fests.
This year in the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Competition Section, there are no first time film directors, only established masters, some praised and some panned. However, Cannes Official Un Certain Regard specifically shows emerging filmmakers who are considered to be the next generation of master auteurs of cinema. Out of its 17 films, seven were first features from Romania, France, Israel, USA, Argentina, Finland and the Netherlands. Three of the seven are by women: Stéphanie Di Giusto’s “La Danseuse” (“The Dancer”) is about Loïe Fuller, the toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers.
Maha Haj From Israel debuted on the first day with “Personal Affairs”, about an old couple in Nazareth and their son and daughter who live on the other side of the border. Other first films are the much-anticipated “The Red Turtle”, a dialogue-free animated feature from Studio Ghibli but made in France and directed by Dutch-born, London-based animator Michael Dudok de Wit, the Finnish-German-Swedish “The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki” and Bogdan Mirica’s “Dogs”. The debut So. Korean film, “Train to Busan”, showed in the Official Midnight Screening section and featured a zombie-virus breaking out in South Korea, and a couple of passengers struggling to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan – enough to make me want to stop traveling.
“Fool Moon” by France’s Gregoire Leprinr-Foret had a Special Screening within the Official selection and received mixed reviews. In Critics Week, three of ten films selected and judged bycritics as the best films of the year thus far are first features: K. Rajapal’s drama “A Yellow Bird” from Singapore and France about a Singaporean Indian man trying to reconnect with his estranged family after he is released from prison, Mehmet Can Mertoglu’s “Albüm” from Turkey, France and Romania (See the trailer here) and Alessandro Comidin’s “Happy Times Will Come Soon” from Italy. The Acid sidebar of eight very independent features has two first films.
Also noticeable this year is the high number of films co-financed by the Doha Film Institute. Asgaard Farhadi's " The Salesman" will have its world premiere in the Festival’s Official Competition where it competes for the coveted Palme d’Or. “The Salesman” is about a couple who is forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building. It is one of two Iranian films this year. The other, “Inversion” will play in Un Certain Regard.” Newly established Doha Film Institute lent financial support to two films showing in Un Certain Regard section – “Apprentice” (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar) written and directed by Boo Junfeng; and debut feature “Dogs” (Romania, France, Bulgaria, Qatar). Directors’ Fortnight is screens “Divines” (Morocco, France, Qatar) and three Dfi grantee films compete for top honors in the Critics Week: “Mimosas” (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar) by Oliver Laxe; “Tramontane” (Lebanon, France, UAE, Qatar) by Vatche Boulghourjian; and “Diamond Island” (Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Davy Chou touted as poetic and beautiful, a part of what might be a Cambodian New Wave. This New Wave from Cambodia is being helped along by the Doha Film Institute whose CEO, Fatma Al Remaihi says:
“At the very core of Dfi’s film funding mandate is to contribute to World Cinema and ensure that great stories continue to be told. These projects will also inspire the young Qatari film professionals to create compelling content that will gain international acclaim.”
Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature “Wolf and Sheep”, in Directors’ Fortnight, is about Sadat herself, who lives in Kabul and Denmark. It takes place in the isolated village in Central Afghanistan where she grew up and where young boys and girls are shepherds. International coproductions are the engine driving the film business today and this one, a Denmark-France-Sweden-Afghanistan coproduction is a prime example. Sadat was spotted previously when her 2011 short “Vice Versa One” screened at Directors’ Fortnight and was invited to develop “Wolf And Sheep” at Cannes Cinefondation Residency in 2010, which mentors emerging talent. Virginie Devesa of the international sales company Alpha Violet picked up the film here in Cannes. Alpha Violet is also selling ”A Yellow Bird” in Critics’ Week and is representing “Luxembourg”, the newest film by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, whose first film “The Tribe” played in Sundance and other top fests.
- 5/27/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature, set in Afghanistan, will play in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has boarded Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature Wolf And Sheep, which is selected for Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Sadat, who lives in Kabul and Denmark, based the story on the isolated village in Central Afghanistan where she grew up.
The plot follows young boys and girls acting as shepherds in rural Afghanistan, where one 11-year-old girl is an outsider. The folktales of the community add touches of magical realism.
The film is a Denmark-France-Sweden-Afghanistan production produced by Copenhagen-based Katja Adomeit of Adomeit Film, who was a co-producer on Force Majeure and also a former Screen International Future Leader.
Co-producers are La Fabrica Nocturna Productions (France), Wolf Pictures (Afghanistan) and Zentropa Sweden.
Sadat previously showed her 2011 short Vice Versa One at Directors’ Fortnight. She developed Wolf And Sheep at Cannes Cinefondation Residency in 2010.
Virginie Devesa of Alpha Violet said [link=tt...
Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has boarded Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature Wolf And Sheep, which is selected for Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Sadat, who lives in Kabul and Denmark, based the story on the isolated village in Central Afghanistan where she grew up.
The plot follows young boys and girls acting as shepherds in rural Afghanistan, where one 11-year-old girl is an outsider. The folktales of the community add touches of magical realism.
The film is a Denmark-France-Sweden-Afghanistan production produced by Copenhagen-based Katja Adomeit of Adomeit Film, who was a co-producer on Force Majeure and also a former Screen International Future Leader.
Co-producers are La Fabrica Nocturna Productions (France), Wolf Pictures (Afghanistan) and Zentropa Sweden.
Sadat previously showed her 2011 short Vice Versa One at Directors’ Fortnight. She developed Wolf And Sheep at Cannes Cinefondation Residency in 2010.
Virginie Devesa of Alpha Violet said [link=tt...
- 5/4/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: UK deal for acclaimed Cannes Critics’ Week drama.
Metrodome has inked a UK deal with Alpha Violet for acclaimed Ukrainian drama The Tribe, which won four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Critics’ Week Grand Prize.
Writer-director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s film charts the story of a deaf mute teenager who enters a specialized boarding school where, to survive, he becomes part of a wild organization – the tribe.
His love for one of the concubines will unwillingly lead him to break all the unwritten rules within the Tribe’s hierarchy.
The story is told purely through sign language without the use of subtitles or voiceover and features a cast comprised entirely of non-professional, deaf actors including leads Grigory Fesenko as Sergey and Yana Novikova as Anna.
The film, produced by Valentyn Vasyanovych and Iya Myslytska from Garmata Film Production, recently won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the London Film Festival.
The deal was...
Metrodome has inked a UK deal with Alpha Violet for acclaimed Ukrainian drama The Tribe, which won four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Critics’ Week Grand Prize.
Writer-director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s film charts the story of a deaf mute teenager who enters a specialized boarding school where, to survive, he becomes part of a wild organization – the tribe.
His love for one of the concubines will unwillingly lead him to break all the unwritten rules within the Tribe’s hierarchy.
The story is told purely through sign language without the use of subtitles or voiceover and features a cast comprised entirely of non-professional, deaf actors including leads Grigory Fesenko as Sergey and Yana Novikova as Anna.
The film, produced by Valentyn Vasyanovych and Iya Myslytska from Garmata Film Production, recently won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the London Film Festival.
The deal was...
- 10/28/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Drafthouse Films has acquired North American rights to recent Cannes premiere The Tribe, winner of three sidebar prizes in Critics’ Week.
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s story takes place at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf and unfolds purely through sign language.
Paris-based Alpha Violet scored a number of key sales on the Croisette including UFO for France, Mimosa Films for Japan and Ost For Paradis for Denmark.
“When working with a film like The Tribe, we immediately became more sensitive to signs and language: passion speaks first,” said Alpha Violet co-CEOs Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato.
“We received an amazing response after our first market screening in Cannes and Drafthouse Films showed from the very beginning all the right signs – and the strongest passion – to distribute our film in North America,” noted
The Tribe will screen in select theatres across North America and will be released on a variety of VOD platforms and digital, DVD and Blu-ray...
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s story takes place at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf and unfolds purely through sign language.
Paris-based Alpha Violet scored a number of key sales on the Croisette including UFO for France, Mimosa Films for Japan and Ost For Paradis for Denmark.
“When working with a film like The Tribe, we immediately became more sensitive to signs and language: passion speaks first,” said Alpha Violet co-CEOs Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato.
“We received an amazing response after our first market screening in Cannes and Drafthouse Films showed from the very beginning all the right signs – and the strongest passion – to distribute our film in North America,” noted
The Tribe will screen in select theatres across North America and will be released on a variety of VOD platforms and digital, DVD and Blu-ray...
- 7/2/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Drafthouse Films has acquired North American rights to recent Cannes premiere The Tribe, winner of three sidebar prizes in Critics’ Week.
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s story takes place at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf and unfolds purely through sign language.
Paris-based Alpha Violet scored a number of key sales on the Croisette including UFO for France, Mimosa Films for Japan and Ost For Paradis for Denmark.
“When working with a film like The Tribe, we immediately became more sensitive to signs and language: passion speaks first,” said Alpha Violet co-CEOs Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato.
“We received an amazing response after our first market screening in Cannes and Drafthouse Films showed from the very beginning all the right signs – and the strongest passion – to distribute our film in North America,” noted
The Tribe will screen in select theatres across North America and will be released on a variety of VOD platforms and digital, DVD and Blu-ray...
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s story takes place at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf and unfolds purely through sign language.
Paris-based Alpha Violet scored a number of key sales on the Croisette including UFO for France, Mimosa Films for Japan and Ost For Paradis for Denmark.
“When working with a film like The Tribe, we immediately became more sensitive to signs and language: passion speaks first,” said Alpha Violet co-CEOs Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato.
“We received an amazing response after our first market screening in Cannes and Drafthouse Films showed from the very beginning all the right signs – and the strongest passion – to distribute our film in North America,” noted
The Tribe will screen in select theatres across North America and will be released on a variety of VOD platforms and digital, DVD and Blu-ray...
- 7/2/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Alpha Violet is a unique sales company based in Paris and was started by Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato. These experienced and passionate women focus on refined films--stories that are works of art that they are inspired to share.
There's something to be said about the power and magic of good working relationships; the two have worked incredibly well together for years and the first film they ever brought to Cannes (2012), Here and There, won the Grand Prix of Critics' Week. They started at Celluloid Dreams and then joined Urban Distribution International where Devesa setup the company's international arm and where Funato used her legal expertise. Beyond the marriage of their legal and sales strengths, it was their strong connection, teamwork and passion for sharing the films they love on screens around the world that ignited the creation of Alpha Violet three years ago.
Devesa explains more about their success and background:
We have very intense communications with all of our producers. I want them to feel comfortable with every move we make. This is the way we work. Sharing these films is our life. We're totally passionate and this is why we started our company.
We've got a few titles that were distributed in the United States. We have a French film called 2 Autumns 3 Winters, which will be distributed by Film Movement in the USA in June of this year. The main actor is Vincent Macaigne, and he totally cracks us up. He was the only actor on the Croisette with three films in selection last year.
We have a total 18 films. The first film we launched was in Berlin called Off White Lies (from Israel), which was also distributed by Film Movement. Then we were lucky with one film shot entirely in Mexico called Here and There by Spanish filmmaker Antonio Mendez who won many awards internationally.
Titles at Cannes
Last year, we had a first feature film directed by Marcela Said called The Summer of Flying Fish that screened at Directors' Fortnight, (also a part of the official selection of Cannes). Every year since we've started, we've always had a first feature in Cannes. We love first features because the director is really driven to get his energy out there.
We're very excited about our film in competition. It's called The Tribe, a Ukrainian feature film by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. It's his first feature. It's actually a very special film because it's only in sign language. There is no translation, no voiceover, but it was shot entirely with deaf people in a school. It's a love/hate revenge story. It's very strange, because it's very easy to understand what's happening. There's no need for translation or dialog. The idea started with a short film called Deafness; this is when he realized that sign language has nice choreography.
Who are your buyers?
We have a wide range of buyers. We worked with many good distributors through Celluloid Dreams back in 2000, and we've grown with them throughout the years. Many were buying lots of art house feature films, and now they're with the more established companies.
What are your backgrounds?
I studied foreign languages in France and business communications in the United States. My business partner is 100% Japanese. She worked in distribution for an art house company called Uplink in Japan, and she decided to come to France and work in cinema. She always wanted to have her own company to be able to represent the films that she chooses.
What types of films are you looking for?
We have many films directed by women, because we are women and we feel like we have different perspectives--especially about intimacy, love, and the father daughter relationship. We have six women directors, and we're always looking for more. I guess films with emotions...films that make us understand, dream, and share.
See Alpha Violet's Cannes lineup here
More About Alpha Violet:
Alpha Violet is a new independent sales company based in Paris. Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato met together while working for Celluloid Dreams.
They share the same passion for working with filmmakers and producers. They have also worked together for UMedia (Urban Media) and their combined experiences have led them to work together again today with the creation of their sales company, Alpha Violet.
They wish to offer with their new label a transparent way to promote their films worldwide thanks to a special database. They have received the support of the French Chamber of Commerce of Paris for their project and they have established their offices in one of the prestigious “pépinière” in Ménilmontant, Paris.
There's something to be said about the power and magic of good working relationships; the two have worked incredibly well together for years and the first film they ever brought to Cannes (2012), Here and There, won the Grand Prix of Critics' Week. They started at Celluloid Dreams and then joined Urban Distribution International where Devesa setup the company's international arm and where Funato used her legal expertise. Beyond the marriage of their legal and sales strengths, it was their strong connection, teamwork and passion for sharing the films they love on screens around the world that ignited the creation of Alpha Violet three years ago.
Devesa explains more about their success and background:
We have very intense communications with all of our producers. I want them to feel comfortable with every move we make. This is the way we work. Sharing these films is our life. We're totally passionate and this is why we started our company.
We've got a few titles that were distributed in the United States. We have a French film called 2 Autumns 3 Winters, which will be distributed by Film Movement in the USA in June of this year. The main actor is Vincent Macaigne, and he totally cracks us up. He was the only actor on the Croisette with three films in selection last year.
We have a total 18 films. The first film we launched was in Berlin called Off White Lies (from Israel), which was also distributed by Film Movement. Then we were lucky with one film shot entirely in Mexico called Here and There by Spanish filmmaker Antonio Mendez who won many awards internationally.
Titles at Cannes
Last year, we had a first feature film directed by Marcela Said called The Summer of Flying Fish that screened at Directors' Fortnight, (also a part of the official selection of Cannes). Every year since we've started, we've always had a first feature in Cannes. We love first features because the director is really driven to get his energy out there.
We're very excited about our film in competition. It's called The Tribe, a Ukrainian feature film by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. It's his first feature. It's actually a very special film because it's only in sign language. There is no translation, no voiceover, but it was shot entirely with deaf people in a school. It's a love/hate revenge story. It's very strange, because it's very easy to understand what's happening. There's no need for translation or dialog. The idea started with a short film called Deafness; this is when he realized that sign language has nice choreography.
Who are your buyers?
We have a wide range of buyers. We worked with many good distributors through Celluloid Dreams back in 2000, and we've grown with them throughout the years. Many were buying lots of art house feature films, and now they're with the more established companies.
What are your backgrounds?
I studied foreign languages in France and business communications in the United States. My business partner is 100% Japanese. She worked in distribution for an art house company called Uplink in Japan, and she decided to come to France and work in cinema. She always wanted to have her own company to be able to represent the films that she chooses.
What types of films are you looking for?
We have many films directed by women, because we are women and we feel like we have different perspectives--especially about intimacy, love, and the father daughter relationship. We have six women directors, and we're always looking for more. I guess films with emotions...films that make us understand, dream, and share.
See Alpha Violet's Cannes lineup here
More About Alpha Violet:
Alpha Violet is a new independent sales company based in Paris. Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato met together while working for Celluloid Dreams.
They share the same passion for working with filmmakers and producers. They have also worked together for UMedia (Urban Media) and their combined experiences have led them to work together again today with the creation of their sales company, Alpha Violet.
They wish to offer with their new label a transparent way to promote their films worldwide thanks to a special database. They have received the support of the French Chamber of Commerce of Paris for their project and they have established their offices in one of the prestigious “pépinière” in Ménilmontant, Paris.
- 5/14/2014
- by Erin Grover
- Sydney's Buzz
Georgia was the big winner at the 18th edition of the Sofia International Film Festival (Siff) which closed at the weekend with the Grand Prix for Best Film and Best Director award going to Levan Koguashvili’s second feature Blind Dates.
The melancholic comedy, which premiered at the Berlinale’s Forum last month, also received the Fipresci International Film Critics’ Prize. Handled internationally by Films Boutique, it is already booked to screen at the April festivals in Wiesbaden (goEast) and Lecce and in Odessa in July.
Presenting the Grand Prix to Koguashvili, the International Jury’s president producer Alexander Rodnyansky said that the jury’s discussion on the top prize had ¨lasted only about 10 minutes and was unanimous. This film has become the absolute winner of this festival!¨
In addition, Vladimer Katcharava of Tbilisi-based 20 Steps Production received the Sofia Meetings’ €10,000 Digimage - Lvt Postproduction Award for Miriam Khachvani’s Dede which he pitched in the Plus Minus...
The melancholic comedy, which premiered at the Berlinale’s Forum last month, also received the Fipresci International Film Critics’ Prize. Handled internationally by Films Boutique, it is already booked to screen at the April festivals in Wiesbaden (goEast) and Lecce and in Odessa in July.
Presenting the Grand Prix to Koguashvili, the International Jury’s president producer Alexander Rodnyansky said that the jury’s discussion on the top prize had ¨lasted only about 10 minutes and was unanimous. This film has become the absolute winner of this festival!¨
In addition, Vladimer Katcharava of Tbilisi-based 20 Steps Production received the Sofia Meetings’ €10,000 Digimage - Lvt Postproduction Award for Miriam Khachvani’s Dede which he pitched in the Plus Minus...
- 3/17/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Summer Of Flying Fish screened in the Discovery Section at Tiff after premiering in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes this past May. Two films from Chile at Tiff out of 16 Latin American films gives it an extra luster.
Read the review for the film Here
Also notable is the production company behind the film, Jirafa, which was founded in 2001 by one of Chile’s great minds of cinema, Bruno Betatti, whose book, Why Not, about the political policy for the film industry in Chile articulates today’s international film business issues of distribution and exhibition not just in Chile but throughout the world as it explores solutions to the problems most indie filmmakers face today. Betatti also is the Director of the Valdivia Film Festival, Chile’s top festival which I attended in 2005 and 2006 as a guest working with the then-young-now-mature generation of filmmakers whose films are now showing worldwide.
Director Marcela Said, however, was someone I never met. I had the feeling she was younger than the Sebastian Lelio/ Sebastian Silva/ Pablo Larrain/ Matias Bizes set, but on looking at her filmography, I see she is in fact in the same generation. However, she came to filmmaking from a different direction.
Filmmaking came out of Marcela’s love of politics. Born in Chile, she studied philosophy and moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. There she discovered that documentaries offered a way to discuss political issues, a favorite pastime of the French and a crucial one for Chileans.
Her first documentary, which she made in 1999 with the prestigious French production company Les Films d’ici was Valparaiso (the most beautiful city in Chile). In 2001, the 52 minute I Love Pinochet, began as an exploration of human rights. I Love Pinochet was a dialogue with Pinochet supporters, accompanied by images which lifted the film onto a metaphysical plane. The fact that it sold everywhere enabled her to make her next film in 2006, another 54 minute documentary, Opus Dei, which she co-directed with her French film editor husband, Jean de Certeau.
When I was in Chile, I was surprised at the visible marks left by Pinochet on society and by the continued fear of Opus Dei, the most influential and secretive organization of the Catholic Church, whose members many Chileans equate with Pinochet today. I heard people speak of this documentary, an unprecedented journey into the world of Christian fundamentalism in which the will to plant "the cross in the middle of the world" would remove all boundaries between religious and secular life.
Her next film, also codirected with her husband, The Young Butler (El Mocito in Spanish), focuses on the story of Jorgelino Vergara, a man who, from the age of 16, worked in a torture center during the Chilean military regime.
Making these films moved her from the spoken word to images, and as she began to appreciate cinematographic storytelling, and she moved into making her first fiction feature, The Summer of Flying Fish.
This film retains her concerns which are expressed by an atmosphere of fear and tension between the Mapuche people and a particularly incursive white landowner. The film was inspired by a trip she took to the south of Chile where she found a house whose inhabitants lived in an unspoken fear the Mapuche, the native people of the land who were setting fires on trains. The constant silent threat of violence grew as their acts became worse. The invisible threat of violence plays a part in this drama of a determined sixteen year old on a family vacation who is the darling daughter of a rich Chilean landowner who devotes his vacations to a single obsession: the extermination of carp fish that invade his lake. As he resorts to ever more extreme methods over the course of the summer, Manena experiences her first deception in love and discovers a world that silently co-exists alongside her own: that of the Mapuche Indian workers who claim access to these lands… and who stand up to her father.
She co-wrote this script with Julio Rojas, another member of the pivotal generation who also wrote La vida de los peces (2010),Habitación en Roma (2010) and En la cama (2005). She shot it in 24 days in Chile and did sound and post in Paris. It was in the Berlin Co-Production Market where Jirafa found its French co-producer, Cinéma de facto. It screened in Toulouse as a work in progress and won the Ciné+ Special Prize at Cinéma en Construction at the end of March, which enabled the movie to finalize its post-production. ( Read more at Cineuropa). It was finished 2 days before its premiere in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2013 where it was very warmly received. Here at Tiff it was also very well received; “no one left the room” as Marcela put it.
Its international sales agent, Alpha Violet has entered it into many festivals, including Biarritz, Open Doors in Locarno.
It received funds initially from Corfo, Ffa and Cnca of Chile. Fons Sud also supported it and it received finishing funds from the Region Ile de France and Arte’s Cofinova.
Marcela’s next film is a politically incorrect story about the friendship of a woman with a master teacher of dressage. She discovered this true story while working on El Mocito. She herself loves horses and took lessons from The Master until he went to prison for human rights violations during the time he served in Pinochet’s government. He becomes her mentor and she becomes his confidante as he promises to teach her to jump before he goes to prison. It all takes place in the Horse Club. There is much more in the emotional side of the story.
I asked Marcela how with a husband and a 9 year old son she finds time to write.
“I write three hours minimum every day. I also work on other projects.”
Is it hard to be a female director?
“Gender was never a problem. I was raised knowing I could do whatever I wanted. However, a woman always has to prove herself.”
“I must travel and shoot, like for 2 months in Paris and that takes some negotiating with my husband. It helps that I put my son in the films.”
The Summer Of Flying Fish
Chile – 88min – In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Marcela Said
Producers Jirafa and Cinema Defacto
Sales Contact: Alpha Violet – Virginie Devesa
http://www.alphaviolet.com/the-summer-of-flying-fish/
http://www.alphaviolet.com/toronto/...
Read the review for the film Here
Also notable is the production company behind the film, Jirafa, which was founded in 2001 by one of Chile’s great minds of cinema, Bruno Betatti, whose book, Why Not, about the political policy for the film industry in Chile articulates today’s international film business issues of distribution and exhibition not just in Chile but throughout the world as it explores solutions to the problems most indie filmmakers face today. Betatti also is the Director of the Valdivia Film Festival, Chile’s top festival which I attended in 2005 and 2006 as a guest working with the then-young-now-mature generation of filmmakers whose films are now showing worldwide.
Director Marcela Said, however, was someone I never met. I had the feeling she was younger than the Sebastian Lelio/ Sebastian Silva/ Pablo Larrain/ Matias Bizes set, but on looking at her filmography, I see she is in fact in the same generation. However, she came to filmmaking from a different direction.
Filmmaking came out of Marcela’s love of politics. Born in Chile, she studied philosophy and moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. There she discovered that documentaries offered a way to discuss political issues, a favorite pastime of the French and a crucial one for Chileans.
Her first documentary, which she made in 1999 with the prestigious French production company Les Films d’ici was Valparaiso (the most beautiful city in Chile). In 2001, the 52 minute I Love Pinochet, began as an exploration of human rights. I Love Pinochet was a dialogue with Pinochet supporters, accompanied by images which lifted the film onto a metaphysical plane. The fact that it sold everywhere enabled her to make her next film in 2006, another 54 minute documentary, Opus Dei, which she co-directed with her French film editor husband, Jean de Certeau.
When I was in Chile, I was surprised at the visible marks left by Pinochet on society and by the continued fear of Opus Dei, the most influential and secretive organization of the Catholic Church, whose members many Chileans equate with Pinochet today. I heard people speak of this documentary, an unprecedented journey into the world of Christian fundamentalism in which the will to plant "the cross in the middle of the world" would remove all boundaries between religious and secular life.
Her next film, also codirected with her husband, The Young Butler (El Mocito in Spanish), focuses on the story of Jorgelino Vergara, a man who, from the age of 16, worked in a torture center during the Chilean military regime.
Making these films moved her from the spoken word to images, and as she began to appreciate cinematographic storytelling, and she moved into making her first fiction feature, The Summer of Flying Fish.
This film retains her concerns which are expressed by an atmosphere of fear and tension between the Mapuche people and a particularly incursive white landowner. The film was inspired by a trip she took to the south of Chile where she found a house whose inhabitants lived in an unspoken fear the Mapuche, the native people of the land who were setting fires on trains. The constant silent threat of violence grew as their acts became worse. The invisible threat of violence plays a part in this drama of a determined sixteen year old on a family vacation who is the darling daughter of a rich Chilean landowner who devotes his vacations to a single obsession: the extermination of carp fish that invade his lake. As he resorts to ever more extreme methods over the course of the summer, Manena experiences her first deception in love and discovers a world that silently co-exists alongside her own: that of the Mapuche Indian workers who claim access to these lands… and who stand up to her father.
She co-wrote this script with Julio Rojas, another member of the pivotal generation who also wrote La vida de los peces (2010),Habitación en Roma (2010) and En la cama (2005). She shot it in 24 days in Chile and did sound and post in Paris. It was in the Berlin Co-Production Market where Jirafa found its French co-producer, Cinéma de facto. It screened in Toulouse as a work in progress and won the Ciné+ Special Prize at Cinéma en Construction at the end of March, which enabled the movie to finalize its post-production. ( Read more at Cineuropa). It was finished 2 days before its premiere in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2013 where it was very warmly received. Here at Tiff it was also very well received; “no one left the room” as Marcela put it.
Its international sales agent, Alpha Violet has entered it into many festivals, including Biarritz, Open Doors in Locarno.
It received funds initially from Corfo, Ffa and Cnca of Chile. Fons Sud also supported it and it received finishing funds from the Region Ile de France and Arte’s Cofinova.
Marcela’s next film is a politically incorrect story about the friendship of a woman with a master teacher of dressage. She discovered this true story while working on El Mocito. She herself loves horses and took lessons from The Master until he went to prison for human rights violations during the time he served in Pinochet’s government. He becomes her mentor and she becomes his confidante as he promises to teach her to jump before he goes to prison. It all takes place in the Horse Club. There is much more in the emotional side of the story.
I asked Marcela how with a husband and a 9 year old son she finds time to write.
“I write three hours minimum every day. I also work on other projects.”
Is it hard to be a female director?
“Gender was never a problem. I was raised knowing I could do whatever I wanted. However, a woman always has to prove herself.”
“I must travel and shoot, like for 2 months in Paris and that takes some negotiating with my husband. It helps that I put my son in the films.”
The Summer Of Flying Fish
Chile – 88min – In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Marcela Said
Producers Jirafa and Cinema Defacto
Sales Contact: Alpha Violet – Virginie Devesa
http://www.alphaviolet.com/the-summer-of-flying-fish/
http://www.alphaviolet.com/toronto/...
- 9/17/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Once again the European Film Promotion’s (Efp) Film Sales Support (Fss) initiative will come to Toronto to link sales companies from all over Europe to a great array of buyers from across the globe. Supported by the Media Programme of the European Union, Fss has now been aiding the European film industry fro the last 10 years.
"Toronto has and is an important informal market and an important festival for European films, the distributors see the films in a different mood, more quietly, the public screenings are working well. It is a key place to launch a film or to complete previous sales on films that were in Cannes, Venice, Locarno...” (Loïc Magneron, Wide)
“Tiff is a major pillar of the annual festival calendar. Aside from a proliferation of North American buyers, it also attracts top tier international distributors so a favorable reception at Tiff can significantly increase a film's commercial prospects”. (Andrew Orr, Independent)
Due to the limited amount of resources, only 52 out of the 60 films submitted to the Efp will receive financial support to be marketed during the Tiff, which runs from September 5 to 15. This year alone, 372 films total, over 150 from Europe, will screen at the festival many of which will see their world or international premiers there.
Supported films and companies at Tiff 2013
Alpha Violet (France), rep. Virginie Devesa The Summer of Flying Fish (El Verano de los Peces Voladores) by Marcela Said, France, Chile, 2013
Arri Worldsales (Germany), rep. Moritz Hemminger Exit Marrakech by Caroline Link, Germany, 2013 Home from Home (Die Andere Heimat) by Edgar Reitz, Germany, France, 2013
Athens Filmmakers' Co-Operative (Greece), rep. Venia Vergou Wild Duck by Yannis Sakaridis, Greece, 2013
Bac Films Distribution (France), rep. Clémentine Hugot The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (L'Entrange Couleur Ded Larmes De Ton Corps) by Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, 2013
Beta Cinema (Germany), rep. Tassilo Hallbauer Le Grand-Cahier by János Szász, Germany, Hungary, Austria, France, 2013
Blonde S. A. (Greece), rep. Fenia Cossovitsa Standing Aside, Watching (Na Kathese Kai Na Kitas) by Yorgos Servetas, Greece, 2013
Capricci Films (France), rep. Julien Rejl Story of My Death (Historia De La Meva Mort) by Albert Serra, Spain, France, 2013 The Battle of Tabato (A Batalha De Tabato) by João Viana, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, 2013
Celluloid Dreams (France), rep. Hengameh Panahi Those Happy Years (Anni Felici) by Daniele Luchetti, Italy, 2013
Cité Films (France), rep. Raphaël Berdugo Faith Connections (Faith Connections) by Pan Nalin, France, India, 2013
Doc & Film International (France), rep. Daniela Elstner, Alice Damiani Violette by Martin Provost, France, Belgium, 2013 South is Nothing (Il Sud E'Niente by Fabio Mollo, Italy, France, 2013
Dogwoof (United Kingdom), rep. Ana Vincente Inreallife by Beeban Kidron, UK, 2013
Ealing Metro International (United Kingdom), rep. Natalie Brenner, Will Machin Half of a Yellow Sun by Biyi Bandele, UK, 2013 The Stag by John Butler, Ireland, 2013
Embankment Films (United Kingdom), rep. Tim Haslam Le Week-End by Roger Michell, UK, 2013
Eyeworks Film & TV Drama (The Netherlands), rep. Maarten Swart The Dinner (Het Diner) by Menno Meyjes, The Netherlands, 2013
Fantasia Ltd (Greece), rep. Nicoletta Romeo The Daughter (I Kori) by Thanos Anastopoulos, Greece, Italy, 2013
Film Factory Entertainment (Spain), rep. Vicente Canales Cannibal (Canibal) by Manuel Martín Cuenca, Spain, 2013 Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang (Zipi & Zape y el Club de la Canica) by Oskar Santos, Spain, 2013
Films Boutique (Germany), rep. Jean-Christophe Simon Walesa. Man of Hope (Walesa) by Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2013
Films Distribution (France), rep. Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, François Yon Eastern Boys by Robin Campillo, France, 2013 Under the Starry Sky (Des Etoiles) by Dyana Gaye, France, Senegal, 2013
Heretic (Greece), rep. Giorgos Karnavas The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (I Aionia Epistrofi Tou Antoni Paraskeva) by Elina Psykou, Greece, 2013
Independent Film Sales (United Kingdom), rep. Karina Gechtman, Abigail Walsh The Sea by Stephen Brown, UK, Ireland, 2013 Starred Up by David Mackenzie, UK, 2013
Latido Films (Spain), rep. Miren Zamora Honeymoon (Libanky) by Jan Hrebejk, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2013
LevelK (Denmark), rep. Tine Klint Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Spies Og Glistrup) by Christoffer Boe, Denmark, 2013
Linel Films (United Kingdom), rep. Aran Hughes To The Wolf (Sto Lyko) by Aran Hughes & Christina Koutsospyrou, Greece, UK, France, 2013
Minds Meet (Belgium), rep. Tomas Leyers I'm The Same I'm An Other by Caroline Strubbe, Belgium, The Netherlands, 2013
MK2 (France), rep. Victoire Thevenin Hotel (Hotell) by Lisa Langseth, Sweden, Denmark, 2012
Mpm Film (France), rep. Pierre Menahem For Those Who Can Tell No Tales by Jasmila Žbanić, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, 2013
Negativ s.r.o. (Czech Republic), rep. Zuzana Bielikova Miracle (Zazrak) by Juraj Lehotský, Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2013
Pathé Distribution (France), rep. Muriel Sauzay The Finishers by Nils Tavernier, France, 2013 Quai d'Orsay by Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2013
Pausilypon Films (Greece), rep. Menelaos Karamaghiolis J.A.C.E. - Just Another Confused Elephant by Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Greece, Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, 2012
Picture Tree International (Germany), rep. Andreas Rothbauer Mary Queen of Scots by Thomas Imbach, Switzerland, 2013 Metalhead (Malmhaus) by Ragnar Bragason, Iceland, Norway, 2013
PPProductions (Greece), rep. Thanassis Karathanos Septmeber by Penny Panayotopoulou, Greece, Germany, 2013
Pyramide International (France), rep. Agathe Mauruc Giraffada by Rani Massalha, France, Germany, Italy, 2013
Rezo (France), rep. Laurent Danielou, Sebastien Chesneau The Station (Blutgletscher) by Marvin Kren, Austria, 2013 Abuse of Weakness (Abus De Faibless) by Catherine Breillat, France, Belgium, Germany, 2013
The Match Factory (Germany), rep. Michael Weber, Thania Dimitrakopoulou The Police Officer's Wife (Die Frau Des Polizisten) by Philip Gröning, Germany, 2013 Qissa (Quissa) by Anup Singh, Germany, India, The Netherlands, France, 2013
The Yellow Affair (Sweden), rep. Miira Paasilinna Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydan) by Dome Karukoski, Finland, 2013
TrustNordisk (Denmark), rep. Susan Wendt, Nicolai Korsgaard Pioneer (Pioner) by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, Norway, 2013 We Are The Best (Vi Ar Bast!) by Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2013
Wide (France), rep. Loic Magneron Bobo by Ines Oliveira, Portugal, 2013
Wide House (France), rep. Garreau Geoffrey Ain't Misbehavin, A Marcel Ophuls Journey (Un Voyageur) by Marcel Ophuls, France, 2013
Wild Bunch (France), rep. Vicent Maraval, Gary Farkas Going Away (Un Beau Dimanche) by Nicole Garcia, France, 2013 A Promise (Une Promesse) by Patrice Leconte, France, Belgium, 2013...
"Toronto has and is an important informal market and an important festival for European films, the distributors see the films in a different mood, more quietly, the public screenings are working well. It is a key place to launch a film or to complete previous sales on films that were in Cannes, Venice, Locarno...” (Loïc Magneron, Wide)
“Tiff is a major pillar of the annual festival calendar. Aside from a proliferation of North American buyers, it also attracts top tier international distributors so a favorable reception at Tiff can significantly increase a film's commercial prospects”. (Andrew Orr, Independent)
Due to the limited amount of resources, only 52 out of the 60 films submitted to the Efp will receive financial support to be marketed during the Tiff, which runs from September 5 to 15. This year alone, 372 films total, over 150 from Europe, will screen at the festival many of which will see their world or international premiers there.
Supported films and companies at Tiff 2013
Alpha Violet (France), rep. Virginie Devesa The Summer of Flying Fish (El Verano de los Peces Voladores) by Marcela Said, France, Chile, 2013
Arri Worldsales (Germany), rep. Moritz Hemminger Exit Marrakech by Caroline Link, Germany, 2013 Home from Home (Die Andere Heimat) by Edgar Reitz, Germany, France, 2013
Athens Filmmakers' Co-Operative (Greece), rep. Venia Vergou Wild Duck by Yannis Sakaridis, Greece, 2013
Bac Films Distribution (France), rep. Clémentine Hugot The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (L'Entrange Couleur Ded Larmes De Ton Corps) by Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, 2013
Beta Cinema (Germany), rep. Tassilo Hallbauer Le Grand-Cahier by János Szász, Germany, Hungary, Austria, France, 2013
Blonde S. A. (Greece), rep. Fenia Cossovitsa Standing Aside, Watching (Na Kathese Kai Na Kitas) by Yorgos Servetas, Greece, 2013
Capricci Films (France), rep. Julien Rejl Story of My Death (Historia De La Meva Mort) by Albert Serra, Spain, France, 2013 The Battle of Tabato (A Batalha De Tabato) by João Viana, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, 2013
Celluloid Dreams (France), rep. Hengameh Panahi Those Happy Years (Anni Felici) by Daniele Luchetti, Italy, 2013
Cité Films (France), rep. Raphaël Berdugo Faith Connections (Faith Connections) by Pan Nalin, France, India, 2013
Doc & Film International (France), rep. Daniela Elstner, Alice Damiani Violette by Martin Provost, France, Belgium, 2013 South is Nothing (Il Sud E'Niente by Fabio Mollo, Italy, France, 2013
Dogwoof (United Kingdom), rep. Ana Vincente Inreallife by Beeban Kidron, UK, 2013
Ealing Metro International (United Kingdom), rep. Natalie Brenner, Will Machin Half of a Yellow Sun by Biyi Bandele, UK, 2013 The Stag by John Butler, Ireland, 2013
Embankment Films (United Kingdom), rep. Tim Haslam Le Week-End by Roger Michell, UK, 2013
Eyeworks Film & TV Drama (The Netherlands), rep. Maarten Swart The Dinner (Het Diner) by Menno Meyjes, The Netherlands, 2013
Fantasia Ltd (Greece), rep. Nicoletta Romeo The Daughter (I Kori) by Thanos Anastopoulos, Greece, Italy, 2013
Film Factory Entertainment (Spain), rep. Vicente Canales Cannibal (Canibal) by Manuel Martín Cuenca, Spain, 2013 Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang (Zipi & Zape y el Club de la Canica) by Oskar Santos, Spain, 2013
Films Boutique (Germany), rep. Jean-Christophe Simon Walesa. Man of Hope (Walesa) by Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2013
Films Distribution (France), rep. Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, François Yon Eastern Boys by Robin Campillo, France, 2013 Under the Starry Sky (Des Etoiles) by Dyana Gaye, France, Senegal, 2013
Heretic (Greece), rep. Giorgos Karnavas The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (I Aionia Epistrofi Tou Antoni Paraskeva) by Elina Psykou, Greece, 2013
Independent Film Sales (United Kingdom), rep. Karina Gechtman, Abigail Walsh The Sea by Stephen Brown, UK, Ireland, 2013 Starred Up by David Mackenzie, UK, 2013
Latido Films (Spain), rep. Miren Zamora Honeymoon (Libanky) by Jan Hrebejk, Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2013
LevelK (Denmark), rep. Tine Klint Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Spies Og Glistrup) by Christoffer Boe, Denmark, 2013
Linel Films (United Kingdom), rep. Aran Hughes To The Wolf (Sto Lyko) by Aran Hughes & Christina Koutsospyrou, Greece, UK, France, 2013
Minds Meet (Belgium), rep. Tomas Leyers I'm The Same I'm An Other by Caroline Strubbe, Belgium, The Netherlands, 2013
MK2 (France), rep. Victoire Thevenin Hotel (Hotell) by Lisa Langseth, Sweden, Denmark, 2012
Mpm Film (France), rep. Pierre Menahem For Those Who Can Tell No Tales by Jasmila Žbanić, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, 2013
Negativ s.r.o. (Czech Republic), rep. Zuzana Bielikova Miracle (Zazrak) by Juraj Lehotský, Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2013
Pathé Distribution (France), rep. Muriel Sauzay The Finishers by Nils Tavernier, France, 2013 Quai d'Orsay by Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2013
Pausilypon Films (Greece), rep. Menelaos Karamaghiolis J.A.C.E. - Just Another Confused Elephant by Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Greece, Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, 2012
Picture Tree International (Germany), rep. Andreas Rothbauer Mary Queen of Scots by Thomas Imbach, Switzerland, 2013 Metalhead (Malmhaus) by Ragnar Bragason, Iceland, Norway, 2013
PPProductions (Greece), rep. Thanassis Karathanos Septmeber by Penny Panayotopoulou, Greece, Germany, 2013
Pyramide International (France), rep. Agathe Mauruc Giraffada by Rani Massalha, France, Germany, Italy, 2013
Rezo (France), rep. Laurent Danielou, Sebastien Chesneau The Station (Blutgletscher) by Marvin Kren, Austria, 2013 Abuse of Weakness (Abus De Faibless) by Catherine Breillat, France, Belgium, Germany, 2013
The Match Factory (Germany), rep. Michael Weber, Thania Dimitrakopoulou The Police Officer's Wife (Die Frau Des Polizisten) by Philip Gröning, Germany, 2013 Qissa (Quissa) by Anup Singh, Germany, India, The Netherlands, France, 2013
The Yellow Affair (Sweden), rep. Miira Paasilinna Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydan) by Dome Karukoski, Finland, 2013
TrustNordisk (Denmark), rep. Susan Wendt, Nicolai Korsgaard Pioneer (Pioner) by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, Norway, 2013 We Are The Best (Vi Ar Bast!) by Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2013
Wide (France), rep. Loic Magneron Bobo by Ines Oliveira, Portugal, 2013
Wide House (France), rep. Garreau Geoffrey Ain't Misbehavin, A Marcel Ophuls Journey (Un Voyageur) by Marcel Ophuls, France, 2013
Wild Bunch (France), rep. Vicent Maraval, Gary Farkas Going Away (Un Beau Dimanche) by Nicole Garcia, France, 2013 A Promise (Une Promesse) by Patrice Leconte, France, Belgium, 2013...
- 9/7/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
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