International
Berlin: Disney+ Mafia Drama ‘The Good Mothers’ Wins Inaugural Berlinale Series Award
Italian Disney+ drama The Good Mothers has won the inaugural Berlinale Series award for best TV drama at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. The U.K.-Italy co-production tells the true story of three women inside the notorious Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate who worked with a female prosecutor to bring down its empire. Produced by House […]
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‘EO’ Director and Screenwriter on Their Donkey Lead: “Like Tom Cruise, He Does His Own Stunts”
Before making EO, their dreamy tale of a donkey traveling across Europe, director Jerzy Skolimowski and his partner/co-screenwriter Ewa Piaskowska had been playing with the idea of making an animal the protagonist of their next film, following their 2010 award-winning drama Essential Killing. But they couldn’t decide on the species. “We eliminated cats and dogs. […]
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Vivendi’s Canal Plus to Buy French Telecom Giant Orange’s Film and TV Unit
French media and entertainment conglomerate Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group has agreed to acquire production arm Orange Studio and full ownership of TV channels unit OCS from French telecom company Orange. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The content division Orange Studio co-produces films and distributes them in France, while selling them abroad. “Orange Studio has more than […]
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Standing Ovations Are Getting Ridiculous. Who’s to Blame? (Okay, It’s Us).
When is a standing ovation actually over? Does it come down to the last person clapping or some vague tipping point when most of the crowd seems to have returned to their seats? Such questions took on bizarre urgency in 2022 thanks to the growing prevalence of a niche reporting practice increasingly loathed throughout the […]
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Mission Aborted: Why China’s ‘Top Gun’ Never Took Off
The country’s most daring and promising young fighter pilot takes part in a top-secret testing program for the military’s most advanced fighter jets. Logline sound familiar? With hot young Chinese test pilots and heart-stopping aerial acrobatics, Born to Fly was supposed to be China’s answer to Top Gun: Maverick. The wildly anticipated action flick stars […]
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‘Klondike’ Director Maryna Er Gorbach on Ukrainian Oscar Submission: “Like a Mirage of a Film”
By Nov. 18, when a Dutch court found three men, two of them Russian and one Ukrainian, guilty of murder in absentia for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the event had almost vanished from public memory. The court found that on July 17, 2014, a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an […]
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‘Joyland’ Director Saim Sadiq on Pushing Back Against Censorship in Pakistan: “There’s No Room for a Quiet Person”
Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq assumed that when he completed his debut feature, Joyland — which took him more than six years to develop, write, shoot and edit — his work on the project would essentially be done. He was, unfortunately, mistaken. Joyland tells the story of the Ranas, a large family living in the heart […]
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‘World War III’ Director Houman Seyyedi on Balancing Absurdity and Tragedy: “It Is Still Hope That Keeps People Alive”
Anyone whose experience of Iranian cinema is limited to the social realism and lyrical fables of Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi might be shocked by Houman Seyyedi’s World War III, Iran’s official entry for this year’s best international feature Oscar. The movie, which premiered in Venice, where it won the prize for best film in […]
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A Trio of Farsi-Language Features Are in the International Feature Oscar Race
For the first time in Oscar history, three Persian-language films are up for the Academy Award for best international feature. Alongside Iran’s official entry, Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic World War III, Denmark has submitted serial killer drama Holy Spider from Iran-born, Copenhagen-based Ali Abbasi. Britain’s hopes, meanwhile, lie with Winners, a tragicomic tale about (of […]
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Making of ‘Decision to Leave’: How Park Chan-wook Sublimated His Explosive Style to Create a Masterful “Movie for Adults”
Park Chan-wook, the world-renowned South Korean auteur best known for the floridly violent films referred to as his “Vengeance Trilogy,” wanted to tell a gentler story. It was 2019 and Park was ruminating on ideas for what would become Decision to Leave, his 11th film and first feature in six years, following a period of […]
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The European Film Awards Offer Art House Titles a Key Support System
The five best film nominees for this year’s European Film Awards give a feel for the breadth and diversity of the 2022 lineup, one of the most impressive ever for the event. To illustrate: An intimate drama of two pre-pubescent boys turns deeply tragic in Lukas Dhont’s Close; Ali Abbasi’s Iran-set crime thriller Holy Spider […]
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Oscars 2022: Denmark’s ‘Holy Spider,’ Mexico’s ‘Bardo,’ South Korea’s ‘Decision to Leave’ Among Top International Feature Contenders
An Academy Award-winning auteur’s return to his homeland, a thriller that has caused boundary-crossing controversy and the tale of a wandering donkey are among this season’s top players in the field.
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Why Singapore-Korea TV and Film Collabs Had a Milestone Year
Given South Korea’s booming content industry, there is no shortage of eager collaborators from Asia and beyond. One regional partner that has seen a standout year in production tie-ups is Singapore. In addition to He Shuming’s debut feature, Ajoomma, becoming the first-ever Singapore-Korea co-production (it was selected as Singapore’s entry for the Oscars), on the […]
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Imax Boss on Why His Big Screens Will Emerge From the Pandemic Stronger Than Ever
The Asia-Pacific region has proved a vital bright spot for Hollywood’s streaming platforms in 2022, reliably delivering subscriber growth to services like Netflix and Disney+ while major markets of the West either slow or plateau. This bullishness in the East also happens to be shared by the brand that most clearly represents the polar opposite […]
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Red Sea Film Fest CEO on Fighting Misconceptions About Saudi Arabia
Anyone in the industry who attended Cannes, Venice or Toronto this year is likely aware of the Red Sea Film Festival. Thanks to a marketing campaign that has included billboards in airports, advertisements across the trades and sponsorship of star-studded events, the event in the coastal Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah has been generating noise […]
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International Emmys: ‘Sex Education,’ Dougray Scott and Lou de Laage Among Winners
Sex Education, Dougray Scott and Lou de Laâge were among the winners at the 2022 International Emmy Awards. The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners during Monday’s ceremony in New York City at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. Sex Education took home the award for best comedy. Other shows awarded include Vigil for […]
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