UK sales outfit Bankside Films has unveiled a first look image of Mala Emde in the role of Vera Brandes in Ido Fluk’s The Girl From Köln, as well as a slew of key deals on the film as the company heads into the European Film Market (EFM).
The feature, currently in post-production, tells the little-known story of one of the best-selling jazz records of all time, US pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert, and how one formidable German teenager, Vera Brandes, was instrumental in its creation. Bankside will be showing a sales promo to buyers at the EFM.
The feature, currently in post-production, tells the little-known story of one of the best-selling jazz records of all time, US pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert, and how one formidable German teenager, Vera Brandes, was instrumental in its creation. Bankside will be showing a sales promo to buyers at the EFM.
- 2/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Tuttle revealed she will move to Berlin, learn to speak German and is excited by the state of German-language cinema.
Initial reactions from the German film industry to the appointment of Tricia Tuttle as the first female director of the Berlinale have been overwhelmingly positive.
“I truly welcome a female artistic director of the Berlinale. I think it was time that one of the big festivals has a woman as the leading person. So cheers to that!” said producer Janine Jackowski, co-founder of Komplizen Film whose production of Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms won the Golden Bear in 2019.
This sentiment was shared by Christine Berg,...
Initial reactions from the German film industry to the appointment of Tricia Tuttle as the first female director of the Berlinale have been overwhelmingly positive.
“I truly welcome a female artistic director of the Berlinale. I think it was time that one of the big festivals has a woman as the leading person. So cheers to that!” said producer Janine Jackowski, co-founder of Komplizen Film whose production of Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms won the Golden Bear in 2019.
This sentiment was shared by Christine Berg,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Karan Tejpal’s Indian action thriller has played at Venice, Zurich and London film festivals.
Charades has sold Karan Tejpal’s Indian action thriller Stolen to Blue Finch Films for the UK and Ireland and to ASC Distribution in France following film’s world premiere in Venice Horizons Extra.
The debut feature about two brothers drawn into the kidnapping of a baby in a rural Indian town was the only Indian film in Venice’s 2023 selection before going on to screen at BFI London Film Festival and earning a special mention in the Feature Film Competition at the Zurich Film Festival.
Charades has sold Karan Tejpal’s Indian action thriller Stolen to Blue Finch Films for the UK and Ireland and to ASC Distribution in France following film’s world premiere in Venice Horizons Extra.
The debut feature about two brothers drawn into the kidnapping of a baby in a rural Indian town was the only Indian film in Venice’s 2023 selection before going on to screen at BFI London Film Festival and earning a special mention in the Feature Film Competition at the Zurich Film Festival.
- 10/25/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Final five nominations to be announced on November 2.
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
- 10/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Israeli actor David Cunio is believed to have been abducted by Hamas alongside his wife, 3-year-old daughters, sister-in-law and niece during Saturday’s massacre.
Cunio, who made his debut in Berlinale-premiering feature film “Youth” in 2013 alongside his twin brother Eitan Cunio, was a resident of Nir Oz, a kibbutz in Southern Israel that was the scene of some of the worst atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.
Cunio’s brother-in-law, Aharon Aloni, told CNN that the actor woke up to the sound of bombs on Saturday morning and sought refuge in his home’s bomb shelter alongside his wife Sharon, the couple’s 3-year-old twin daughters, Sharon’s sister Danielle and her 5-year-old daughter Amelia. But after terrorists set fire to their home the family were forced to flee and have not been seen or heard from since, leading officials to believe they are among the 150 people who have been abducted into Gaza.
Cunio, who made his debut in Berlinale-premiering feature film “Youth” in 2013 alongside his twin brother Eitan Cunio, was a resident of Nir Oz, a kibbutz in Southern Israel that was the scene of some of the worst atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.
Cunio’s brother-in-law, Aharon Aloni, told CNN that the actor woke up to the sound of bombs on Saturday morning and sought refuge in his home’s bomb shelter alongside his wife Sharon, the couple’s 3-year-old twin daughters, Sharon’s sister Danielle and her 5-year-old daughter Amelia. But after terrorists set fire to their home the family were forced to flee and have not been seen or heard from since, leading officials to believe they are among the 150 people who have been abducted into Gaza.
- 10/12/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Director Karan Tejpal’s feature film debut “Stolen” is a nail-biting thriller about two privileged, big-city boys who unwittingly embark on a harrowing adventure as they help an impoverished young woman find her kidnapped baby in rural India.
The film, which is produced by Gaurav Dhingra’s Jungle Book Studio (Toronto titles “Angry Indian Goddesses” and “Faith Connections”), is also a commentary on the alarming number of child abductions in India in recent years, and the explosion of often misguided vigilantism that accompanied the widespread adoption of instant messaging apps, particularly in rural areas.
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, earned a special mention in the Feature Film Competition at the Zurich Film Festival this week, and heads next to the BFI London fest.
The film follows brothers Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham), who try to help the desperate Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer) find her five-month-old child...
The film, which is produced by Gaurav Dhingra’s Jungle Book Studio (Toronto titles “Angry Indian Goddesses” and “Faith Connections”), is also a commentary on the alarming number of child abductions in India in recent years, and the explosion of often misguided vigilantism that accompanied the widespread adoption of instant messaging apps, particularly in rural areas.
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, earned a special mention in the Feature Film Competition at the Zurich Film Festival this week, and heads next to the BFI London fest.
The film follows brothers Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham), who try to help the desperate Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer) find her five-month-old child...
- 10/8/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded international sales on “Stolen,” the only Indian feature selected at the Venice Film Festival.
The film, which will bow within the festival’s Horizons Extra strand, tells the story of the havoc that ensues when opposite worlds collide after two urban young men become embroiled in an impoverished mother’s desperate journey to be reunited with her child. It is described as a “breathtaking action thriller” and the “hidden gem in world cinema” by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera.
“Stolen” marks the feature debut of Karan Tejpal who started his career working in large-scale Bollywood films including “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” and “3 Idiots” and directed short “No Anaesthesia.” It is produced by Gaurav Dhingra under his banner Jungle Book Studio. Sol Bondy, founder of Berlin-based One Two Films, serves as executive producer.
The film is written by Tejpal, Agadbumb and Dhingra. The cast...
The film, which will bow within the festival’s Horizons Extra strand, tells the story of the havoc that ensues when opposite worlds collide after two urban young men become embroiled in an impoverished mother’s desperate journey to be reunited with her child. It is described as a “breathtaking action thriller” and the “hidden gem in world cinema” by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera.
“Stolen” marks the feature debut of Karan Tejpal who started his career working in large-scale Bollywood films including “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” and “3 Idiots” and directed short “No Anaesthesia.” It is produced by Gaurav Dhingra under his banner Jungle Book Studio. Sol Bondy, founder of Berlin-based One Two Films, serves as executive producer.
The film is written by Tejpal, Agadbumb and Dhingra. The cast...
- 8/30/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: New indie film financier Mizzel Media is launching in Cannes with what we understand to be a healthy six-figure investment in feature The Girl From Köln, the next film from Holy Spider and The Tale outfit One Two Films.
The movie, which is due to shoot later this year, will star Mala Emde (And Tomorrow The Entire World) and John Magaro (Past Lives) in the lead roles.
Bankside is handling world sales in Cannes on the project, which will tell the little-known backstory of how a maverick German teenager named Vera Brandes was instrumental in the creation of the best-selling solo piano record of all time, U.S. pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert. Ido Fluk (The Ticket) directs from his own script.
The investment is U.S. outfit Mizzel’s first to date. The New York-based company is run by producer and veteran manager Lillian Lasalle, whose clients...
The movie, which is due to shoot later this year, will star Mala Emde (And Tomorrow The Entire World) and John Magaro (Past Lives) in the lead roles.
Bankside is handling world sales in Cannes on the project, which will tell the little-known backstory of how a maverick German teenager named Vera Brandes was instrumental in the creation of the best-selling solo piano record of all time, U.S. pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert. Ido Fluk (The Ticket) directs from his own script.
The investment is U.S. outfit Mizzel’s first to date. The New York-based company is run by producer and veteran manager Lillian Lasalle, whose clients...
- 5/19/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Iranian director Ali Abbasi has responded to Russia’s unexplained ban of his serial killer thriller Holy Spider just days after its theatrical release.
The move comes amid growing military and economic ties between Russia and Iran with both its ruling regimes currently isolated on the world stage.
“By banning Holy Spider, the Russian government is returning favors to their ally Islamic Republic who has been arming Russian military to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine,” the director told Deadline.
“I don’t know what kind of law prohibits Holy Spider in Russia but judging the way independent press and dissidents are being treated there, it sure feels like a compliment for us to be banned by Putin’s servants.”
“We the makers of Holy Spider sincerely thank both governments for their tireless effort of promoting Holy Spider free of charge. Please keep up the good work.”
Abbasi’s Cannes 2022 Palme...
The move comes amid growing military and economic ties between Russia and Iran with both its ruling regimes currently isolated on the world stage.
“By banning Holy Spider, the Russian government is returning favors to their ally Islamic Republic who has been arming Russian military to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine,” the director told Deadline.
“I don’t know what kind of law prohibits Holy Spider in Russia but judging the way independent press and dissidents are being treated there, it sure feels like a compliment for us to be banned by Putin’s servants.”
“We the makers of Holy Spider sincerely thank both governments for their tireless effort of promoting Holy Spider free of charge. Please keep up the good work.”
Abbasi’s Cannes 2022 Palme...
- 5/17/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
It also won the prizes for best director, screenwiting, lead actress and editing.
Ilker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge was the surprise winner of the German Film Awards’ top prize of the Golden Lola for best film, ahead of the Silver Lola for Edward Berger’s All Quiet On The Western Front and the Bronze Lola for Ali Abbasi’s thriller Holy Spider.
The fourth feature from Çatak stars Benesch as a teacher struggling to keep a situation under control in a secondary school also won best director for Çatak, best screenplay for Çatak and Johannes Duncker, best lead actress...
Ilker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge was the surprise winner of the German Film Awards’ top prize of the Golden Lola for best film, ahead of the Silver Lola for Edward Berger’s All Quiet On The Western Front and the Bronze Lola for Ali Abbasi’s thriller Holy Spider.
The fourth feature from Çatak stars Benesch as a teacher struggling to keep a situation under control in a secondary school also won best director for Çatak, best screenplay for Çatak and Johannes Duncker, best lead actress...
- 5/13/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The Teachers’ Lounge, İlker Çatak’s unsettling look at a teacher at the end of her rope, beat our multi-Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front to win the top prize for best film at the 2023 German Film Awards, known as the Lolas.
Çatak won the best director Lola and his drama also picked up prizes for best screenplay and best editing, as well as the best actress nod for star Leonie Benesch.
But All Quiet did not go home empty-handed. The first German-language adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque classic 1929 anti-war novel won nine Lolas, including the runner-up silver Lola for best film.
Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi’s Iranian serial killer movie, which premiered in Cannes last year and was largely financed out of Germany, won the third prize Lola in bronze.
This year’s Lolas were held amid an atmosphere of turbulence and soul-searching. Recent revelations about the behavior of Till Schweiger,...
Çatak won the best director Lola and his drama also picked up prizes for best screenplay and best editing, as well as the best actress nod for star Leonie Benesch.
But All Quiet did not go home empty-handed. The first German-language adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque classic 1929 anti-war novel won nine Lolas, including the runner-up silver Lola for best film.
Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi’s Iranian serial killer movie, which premiered in Cannes last year and was largely financed out of Germany, won the third prize Lola in bronze.
This year’s Lolas were held amid an atmosphere of turbulence and soul-searching. Recent revelations about the behavior of Till Schweiger,...
- 5/12/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Paris-based sales company Charades has finalized a raft of deals with international buyers for its upcoming comedy Northern Comfort, which debuted at SXSW in March.
The pic, directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, has sold to Rezo (France), September Films (Benelux), Kismet (Australia & Nz), Vertigo (Spain), I Wonder (Italy), Pris Audiovisual (Portugal), M2 (Poland), Cirko Films (Hungary), Aerofilms, Transilvania (Romania), Megacom (ex-Yugoslavia), Volga (Cis & Baltics), New Cinema (Israel), Falcon (Lebanon & Gulf), Avjet (Taiwan), and Pictureworks (India).
Elsewhere, Scanbox has rights in Scandinavia, Sena has rights in Iceland, Weltkino in Germany and Switzerland, with Netflix taking SVOD rights in the UK.
Co-written by Sigurdsson with Halldor Laxness Halldorsson and Tobias Munthe, the pic is billed as a “dark comedy” and stars Lydia Leonard, Timothy Spall, Sverrir Gudnason, Ella Rumpf, Simon Manyonda and Rob Delaney.
Synopsis reads: A special forces veteran, an uptight property developer, an influencer with half a million followers,...
The pic, directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, has sold to Rezo (France), September Films (Benelux), Kismet (Australia & Nz), Vertigo (Spain), I Wonder (Italy), Pris Audiovisual (Portugal), M2 (Poland), Cirko Films (Hungary), Aerofilms, Transilvania (Romania), Megacom (ex-Yugoslavia), Volga (Cis & Baltics), New Cinema (Israel), Falcon (Lebanon & Gulf), Avjet (Taiwan), and Pictureworks (India).
Elsewhere, Scanbox has rights in Scandinavia, Sena has rights in Iceland, Weltkino in Germany and Switzerland, with Netflix taking SVOD rights in the UK.
Co-written by Sigurdsson with Halldor Laxness Halldorsson and Tobias Munthe, the pic is billed as a “dark comedy” and stars Lydia Leonard, Timothy Spall, Sverrir Gudnason, Ella Rumpf, Simon Manyonda and Rob Delaney.
Synopsis reads: A special forces veteran, an uptight property developer, an influencer with half a million followers,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Charades has boarded “Northern Comfort,” an Icelandic black comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (“Under the Tree”) which is world premiering at SXSW.
The well-established sales company has unveiled an exclusive clip for the film ahead of its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section.
“Northern Comfort” follows a bunch of phobic flyers, including a middle-aged property developer, a couple of twenty-something influencers and a former Sas-serviceman turned crime-novelist in his 60’s. Seeking to overcome their fear of flying, they embark on a high-end therapeutic course on a flight whose final destination is Iceland. But the experience ends up being a complete nightmare. When the group finally steps onto solid ground, their anxiety levels are off the charts and the idea of taking a flight back home to London becomes an unbearable prospect. As their intended flight is repeatedly delayed, they end up in a remote luxury ‘wellness’ hotel somewhere in the bleak,...
The well-established sales company has unveiled an exclusive clip for the film ahead of its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section.
“Northern Comfort” follows a bunch of phobic flyers, including a middle-aged property developer, a couple of twenty-something influencers and a former Sas-serviceman turned crime-novelist in his 60’s. Seeking to overcome their fear of flying, they embark on a high-end therapeutic course on a flight whose final destination is Iceland. But the experience ends up being a complete nightmare. When the group finally steps onto solid ground, their anxiety levels are off the charts and the idea of taking a flight back home to London becomes an unbearable prospect. As their intended flight is repeatedly delayed, they end up in a remote luxury ‘wellness’ hotel somewhere in the bleak,...
- 3/9/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
I have been tracking producer Sol Bondy since 2016 when co-production The Happiest Day in the Life of Ölli Mäki won the Un Certain Regard Grand Prize and the European Film Award for Best Debut. He and Fred Burle have been developing The Girl from Köln (aka Köln 75) with writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection The Ticket since 2019. "This project has been very close to our hearts in the last few years and we're very excited with the way it's been shaped so far," said Bondy, a Variety Producer to Watch in 2018. "It's been such a joy working with Ido on this exciting story and we're thrilled to have put an amazing team together," added Burle, Brazilian born producer who was just made a partner in One Two Films, alongside co-founders Sol Bondy and Christoph Lange. Burle joined One Two in January 2017, having graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) the previous year. He has previously worked as a film critic, at The Match Factory, and as curator of the inaugural dffb film festival. One Two Films has produced and co-produced award-winning films such as Holy Spider (Read my blog about it here), Vadim Perelman's Persian Lessons (Read my blog about it here), Jennifer Fox's Sundance breakout The Tale, Isabel Coixet's The Bookshop and Juho Kuosmanen's The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki.Other titles in the pipeline include Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson's dark comedy Northern Comfort, which premieres in SXSW later this month, Annemarie Jacir's survival drama The Oblivion Theory, Sarah Arnold's debut feature Wild Encounters and Michiel ten Horn's romantic comedy Any Other Night. In Berlin this year it was announced that Bankside would be The Girl from Köln's international sales agent and was launching sales. Alamode Film already has German-speaking territories and is a coproducer, who have very recently secured funding through the Fff, the local fund in Bavaria. It is in early pre-production and will shoot this year in Poland and Germany. The Girl from Köln tells the little-known story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975, at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. With Polish Film Institute backing, Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska (Ida, Cold War) of Extreme Emotions is co-producing along with Annegret Weitkämper-Krug of Germany's Gretchenfilm (Seneca). Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman (Love & Mercy, Bad Education) serves as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk's previous feature, The Ticket. The Tale writer-director Jennifer Fox also serves as executive producer. Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green executive produce for Bankside. It stars Mala Emde (Skin Deep, And Tomorrow the Entire World) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (Past Lives) as Jarrett. Magaro was also in Cannes last year with Kelly Reichardt's competition title Showing Up.Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush), Ulrich Tukur (The Life of Others), Susanne Wolff (Sisi & I, Styx), Jördis Triebel (Dark), Jan Bülow (Lindenberg) and Marie-Lou Sellem (Tar, Exit Marrakesh). The NYU-graduate Fluk was dubbed "a talent to watch" by Variety following his feature debut Never Too Late, the first crowd-sourced Israeli film ever made. His American debut, the Tribeca competition selection, The Ticket, starred Dan Stevens and Malin Akerman. Upcoming projects include 24 Hours in June, a retelling of the final day in the life of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, to be produced by Academy Award winner James Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) and Joe Pirro (Driveways). Fluk is repped by Amotz Zakai, Amy Schiffman, and Kegan Schell at Echo Lake Entertainment. He is also created the recently-announced HBO series Empty Mansions for Fremantle with director Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) attached to direct the pilot. "From the moment I heard Vera's story, about how as a high school teenager she organized one of the greatest concerts in history, I knew her story had to be told," said Fluk. "We were immediately exhilarated by Vera Brandes' remarkable female empowerment story. Her strength, courage and sheer belief in herself and the music of Keith Jarrett will entertain and inspire audiences around the world," added Kelliher.
- 3/5/2023
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Burle also spearheads Annemarie Jacir’s ‘The Oblivion Theory’.
One Two Films, the Berlin-based production company behind Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, has promoted Fred Burle to partner in the company, alongside co-founders Sol Bondy and Christoph Lange.
Brazilian producer Burle will realise his own projects and continue to work alongside One Two managing director Bondy.
Burle joined One Two in January 2017, having graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (Dffb) the previous year.
He has previously worked as a film critic, in sales at The Match Factory, and as curator of the inaugural Dffb film festival.
One Two...
One Two Films, the Berlin-based production company behind Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, has promoted Fred Burle to partner in the company, alongside co-founders Sol Bondy and Christoph Lange.
Brazilian producer Burle will realise his own projects and continue to work alongside One Two managing director Bondy.
Burle joined One Two in January 2017, having graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (Dffb) the previous year.
He has previously worked as a film critic, in sales at The Match Factory, and as curator of the inaugural Dffb film festival.
One Two...
- 2/16/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Germany’s Mala Emde and US actor John Magaro are set to star.
UK sales outfit Bankside Films has boarded worldwide sales on director Ido Fluk’s feature Köln 75, that tells the little-known story of one of the best-selling jazz records of all time, US pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert, and how one maverick German teenager was instrumental in its creation.
The film meets teenager Vera Brandes while she is still in high school and starts producing and promoting music concerts in Cologne, and risks everything to put on what will become Jarrett’s legendary show.
German star of...
UK sales outfit Bankside Films has boarded worldwide sales on director Ido Fluk’s feature Köln 75, that tells the little-known story of one of the best-selling jazz records of all time, US pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert, and how one maverick German teenager was instrumental in its creation.
The film meets teenager Vera Brandes while she is still in high school and starts producing and promoting music concerts in Cologne, and risks everything to put on what will become Jarrett’s legendary show.
German star of...
- 2/8/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: HBO is developing a series adaptation of nonfiction book Empty Mansions, about a wealthy recluse.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned premium network is working on the project with The Ticket filmmaker Ido Fluk, Atonement and Darkest Hour director Joe Wright and The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle.
The story follows Huguette Clark, an elderly, fabulously wealthy recluse who is hospitalized for a number of seemingly minor ailments and a series of events is set into motion regarding her fortune and an unsigned will.
Fluk will write and exec produce, Wright will direct the potential pilot and exec produce alongside Fremantle.
At the Rtl-owned producer and distributor, the project comes from Dante Di Loreto, President of Scripted Programming in the U.S. Di Loreto, in fact, previously worked closely with Ryan Murphy, exec producing series including Glee and American Horror Story. Murphy had optioned the book back in 2014, a year after it was published.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned premium network is working on the project with The Ticket filmmaker Ido Fluk, Atonement and Darkest Hour director Joe Wright and The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle.
The story follows Huguette Clark, an elderly, fabulously wealthy recluse who is hospitalized for a number of seemingly minor ailments and a series of events is set into motion regarding her fortune and an unsigned will.
Fluk will write and exec produce, Wright will direct the potential pilot and exec produce alongside Fremantle.
At the Rtl-owned producer and distributor, the project comes from Dante Di Loreto, President of Scripted Programming in the U.S. Di Loreto, in fact, previously worked closely with Ryan Murphy, exec producing series including Glee and American Horror Story. Murphy had optioned the book back in 2014, a year after it was published.
- 2/7/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking with German indie producer Sol Bondy of One Two Films. Bondy, whose credits include Angry Indian Goddesses and The Tale, most recently produced Iranian crime thriller Holy Spider which is Denmark’s submission to the 2023 Academy Awards and he tells us how challenging it was to get this impactful project off the ground.
A few days after Ali Abbasi’s second directorial effort Border premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, Danish producer Jacob Jarek approached Sol Bondy to co-produce the Iranian helmer’s next project Holy Spider. Jarek, who had produced Abbasi’s debut feature Shelley, had previously worked with Bondy on Icelandic titles Under the Tree and The County and with beguiling body horror...
A few days after Ali Abbasi’s second directorial effort Border premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, Danish producer Jacob Jarek approached Sol Bondy to co-produce the Iranian helmer’s next project Holy Spider. Jarek, who had produced Abbasi’s debut feature Shelley, had previously worked with Bondy on Icelandic titles Under the Tree and The County and with beguiling body horror...
- 1/12/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Denmark’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Holy Spider’ directed by Ali AbbasiThis crime genre drama labeled “Persian Noir” is based on a 20 year old case but is shockingly relevant, as is noted in this interview with producer Sol Bondy conducted by Marina Dallarosa.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Ruben Östlund’s latest satire, Triangle of Sadness, dominated the European Film Awards with four wins, including Best Film, the evening’s top prize.
Östlund also picked up the Best Screenplay and Best Director Awards for his work on the film, and Zlatko Burić nabbed Best Actor for his leading role.
The film, which picked up this year’s Palme d’Or, follows Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a celebrity model couple who are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting to stay alive.
In other top prizes, Vicky Krieps won the Best Actress award for the well-received period drama Corsage, and the Javier Bardem starrer, The Good Boss, won Best Comedy.
The awards ceremony, overseen by the European Film Academy, took place...
Östlund also picked up the Best Screenplay and Best Director Awards for his work on the film, and Zlatko Burić nabbed Best Actor for his leading role.
The film, which picked up this year’s Palme d’Or, follows Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a celebrity model couple who are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting to stay alive.
In other top prizes, Vicky Krieps won the Best Actress award for the well-received period drama Corsage, and the Javier Bardem starrer, The Good Boss, won Best Comedy.
The awards ceremony, overseen by the European Film Academy, took place...
- 12/10/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Vicky Krieps was also a winner as best European actress for Corsage.
Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness was the big winner at the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), which took place today (December 10) in Reykjavík.
Scroll down for winners
The class warfare comedy won best European film, director, screenwriter and actor, for Zlatko Burić.
Vicky Krieps was also a winner as best European actress for Corsage.
Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Mariupolis 2 won the European documentary prize, whilst Alain Ughetto’s No Dogs Or Italians Allowed picked up the animated feature award.
Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss,...
Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness was the big winner at the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), which took place today (December 10) in Reykjavík.
Scroll down for winners
The class warfare comedy won best European film, director, screenwriter and actor, for Zlatko Burić.
Vicky Krieps was also a winner as best European actress for Corsage.
Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Mariupolis 2 won the European documentary prize, whilst Alain Ughetto’s No Dogs Or Italians Allowed picked up the animated feature award.
Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss,...
- 12/10/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
The Efa ceremony is taking place December 10 at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík.
The 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs) ceremony is taking place today (December 10) at 19.15 GMT in Reykjavík.
Scroll down for winners
Screen will be posting the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates). The ceremony kicks off at 19.15 GMT.
Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness is among the five titles up for the European film award, and is also competing in the director, actor (for Zlatko Burić) and screenwriter (Ostlund) categories.
Lukas Dhont’s...
The 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs) ceremony is taking place today (December 10) at 19.15 GMT in Reykjavík.
Scroll down for winners
Screen will be posting the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates). The ceremony kicks off at 19.15 GMT.
Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness is among the five titles up for the European film award, and is also competing in the director, actor (for Zlatko Burić) and screenwriter (Ostlund) categories.
Lukas Dhont’s...
- 12/10/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
The 35th European Film Awards have officially unveiled this year’s nominations.
Lukas Dhont’s queer coming-of-age drama “Close,” Ali Abbasi’s serial-killer thriller “Holy Spider,” and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness” lead the 2022 nominations, with each film garnering nods in top categories: Best European Film, Best Director, and Screenwriter.
Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” lands three nominations, including Best Actress for Vicky Krieps. “Alcarràs” has two nominations, while Venice Golden Lion winner “Saint Omer” picked up one nod for Best European Director for Alice Diop.
The European Film Academy hosts the award ceremony on December 10 in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík.
German director Margarethe von Trotta will be honored with the European Lifetime Achievement award, and Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman is set to be celebrated with the European Achievement in World Cinema Award. Italian director Marco Bellocchio will receive the Award for European Innovative Storytelling for the limited series “Exterior Night.
Lukas Dhont’s queer coming-of-age drama “Close,” Ali Abbasi’s serial-killer thriller “Holy Spider,” and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness” lead the 2022 nominations, with each film garnering nods in top categories: Best European Film, Best Director, and Screenwriter.
Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” lands three nominations, including Best Actress for Vicky Krieps. “Alcarràs” has two nominations, while Venice Golden Lion winner “Saint Omer” picked up one nod for Best European Director for Alice Diop.
The European Film Academy hosts the award ceremony on December 10 in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík.
German director Margarethe von Trotta will be honored with the European Lifetime Achievement award, and Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman is set to be celebrated with the European Achievement in World Cinema Award. Italian director Marco Bellocchio will receive the Award for European Innovative Storytelling for the limited series “Exterior Night.
- 11/8/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“Triangle of Sadness,” directed by Ruben Östlund, and “Holy Spider,” directed by Ali Abbasi, lead the European Film Awards nominations in major categories, alongside “Close,” directed by Lukas Dhont.
“Triangle of Sadness,” “Holy Spider,” “Alcarràs,” “Close” and “Corsage” vie for best European film.
Those contesting for best director are Dhont for “Close,” Marie Kreutzer for “Corsage,” Jerzy Skolimowski for “Eo,” Abbasi for “Holy Spider,” Alice Diop for “Saint Omer” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”
Nominated for European Screenwriter are “Alcarràs” scribes Carla Simón and Arnau Vilaró, Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast,” Dhont and Angelo Tijssens for “Close,” Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami for “Holy Spider,” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”
European Actress nominees are Vicky Krieps in “Corsage,” Zar Amir Ebrahimi in “Holy Spider,” Léa Seydoux in “One Fine Morning,” Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers” and Meltem Kaptan in “Rabiye Kurnaz Vs.
“Triangle of Sadness,” “Holy Spider,” “Alcarràs,” “Close” and “Corsage” vie for best European film.
Those contesting for best director are Dhont for “Close,” Marie Kreutzer for “Corsage,” Jerzy Skolimowski for “Eo,” Abbasi for “Holy Spider,” Alice Diop for “Saint Omer” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”
Nominated for European Screenwriter are “Alcarràs” scribes Carla Simón and Arnau Vilaró, Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast,” Dhont and Angelo Tijssens for “Close,” Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami for “Holy Spider,” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”
European Actress nominees are Vicky Krieps in “Corsage,” Zar Amir Ebrahimi in “Holy Spider,” Léa Seydoux in “One Fine Morning,” Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers” and Meltem Kaptan in “Rabiye Kurnaz Vs.
- 11/8/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Lukas Dhont’s Belgian coming-of-age drama Close, Ali Abbasi’s Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, are topping the nominations for the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), unveiled Tuesday.
Each of the acclaimed titles, which also happen to be Oscar contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards in the best international feature category, received Efa nominations for best European film, best director, best screenwriter and an acting category apiece.
Also in the running for the Efa for best European film are Alcarràs from Spain’s Carla Simón and Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s period drama Corsage.
The European honors are often viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars. Although last year’s Efa’s weren’t a particularly strong Oscars predictor, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World...
Lukas Dhont’s Belgian coming-of-age drama Close, Ali Abbasi’s Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, are topping the nominations for the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), unveiled Tuesday.
Each of the acclaimed titles, which also happen to be Oscar contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards in the best international feature category, received Efa nominations for best European film, best director, best screenwriter and an acting category apiece.
Also in the running for the Efa for best European film are Alcarràs from Spain’s Carla Simón and Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s period drama Corsage.
The European honors are often viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars. Although last year’s Efa’s weren’t a particularly strong Oscars predictor, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World...
- 11/8/2022
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont’s Close, Danish director Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Ôstlund’s Triangle Of Sadness lead the nominations for the 35th European Film Awards, which were unveiled today.
The films have each made it into four categories including best European Film, Best Director and Screenwriter.
All three films debuted at Cannes this year, where Triangle Of Sadness clinched the Palme d’Or; Close, the Grand Prize (in ex-aequo with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon); and Holy Spider, best actress for Zar Amir-Ebrahimi.
Close and Holy Spider are also the entries for their respective countries of Belgium and Denmark in the Academy Awards Best International Film category this year.
Further hot contenders include Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, with three nominations, including best actress for Vicky Krieps, and Berlinale Berlinale Golden Lion Alcarràs with two nominations. Venice 2022 Grand Jury and best first...
The films have each made it into four categories including best European Film, Best Director and Screenwriter.
All three films debuted at Cannes this year, where Triangle Of Sadness clinched the Palme d’Or; Close, the Grand Prize (in ex-aequo with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon); and Holy Spider, best actress for Zar Amir-Ebrahimi.
Close and Holy Spider are also the entries for their respective countries of Belgium and Denmark in the Academy Awards Best International Film category this year.
Further hot contenders include Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, with three nominations, including best actress for Vicky Krieps, and Berlinale Berlinale Golden Lion Alcarràs with two nominations. Venice 2022 Grand Jury and best first...
- 11/8/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
’Alcarràs,’ ’Close,’ ’Corsage,’ ‘Holy Spider’ and ‘Triangle of Sadness’ shortlisted for European Film prize.
The European Film Academy has announced the nominees for the main categories of the European Film Awards, which takes place on December 10 in Reykjavík and will celebrate the best of European Film culture.
The five shortlisted films for the European Film award all have festival pedigree.
Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle of Sadness, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, is shortlisted, and is also nominated in three other categories: European director, European actor (for Zlatko Burić) and European...
The European Film Academy has announced the nominees for the main categories of the European Film Awards, which takes place on December 10 in Reykjavík and will celebrate the best of European Film culture.
The five shortlisted films for the European Film award all have festival pedigree.
Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle of Sadness, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, is shortlisted, and is also nominated in three other categories: European director, European actor (for Zlatko Burić) and European...
- 11/8/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Alamode to co-produce Ido Fluk’s jazz feature ’Köln 75’
Munich-based distributor Alamode Film is set to make its first foray into production as a co-producer of Köln 75 with Holy Spider’s German producer One Two Films.
The feature by New-York-based Israeli filmmaker Ido Fluk centres on Vera Brandes who staged jazz musician Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert in 1975 at the tender age of 17.
She has subsequently run her own record label and become an award-winning music producer as well as one of the world’s leading authorities on music medicine research.
Speaking exclusively to Screen Daily at Holy Spider...
Munich-based distributor Alamode Film is set to make its first foray into production as a co-producer of Köln 75 with Holy Spider’s German producer One Two Films.
The feature by New-York-based Israeli filmmaker Ido Fluk centres on Vera Brandes who staged jazz musician Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert in 1975 at the tender age of 17.
She has subsequently run her own record label and become an award-winning music producer as well as one of the world’s leading authorities on music medicine research.
Speaking exclusively to Screen Daily at Holy Spider...
- 10/10/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Alamode to co-produce Ido Fluk’s jazz feature ’Köln 75’
Munich-based distributor Alamode Film is set to make its first foray into production as a co-producer of Köln 75 with Holy Spider’s German producer One Two Films.
The feature, by New-York-based Israeli filmmaker Ido Fluk, centres on Vera Brandes who staged jazz musician Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert in 1975 at the tender age of 17.
Since then, she has subsequently run her own record label and become an award-winning music producer as well as one of the world’s leading authorities on music medicine research.
Speaking exclusively to Screen Daily at...
Munich-based distributor Alamode Film is set to make its first foray into production as a co-producer of Köln 75 with Holy Spider’s German producer One Two Films.
The feature, by New-York-based Israeli filmmaker Ido Fluk, centres on Vera Brandes who staged jazz musician Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert in 1975 at the tender age of 17.
Since then, she has subsequently run her own record label and become an award-winning music producer as well as one of the world’s leading authorities on music medicine research.
Speaking exclusively to Screen Daily at...
- 10/9/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
German festival held awards ceremony on Friday (October 7)
Slovak director Michal Blasko’s debut feature Victim has won the Hamburg Producers Prize for International Cinema Co-Productions at Filmfest Hamburg.
The €25,000 prize sponsored by Hamburg’s Senate for Culture and Media was presented to the film’s German co-producers, Michael Reuter and Yogev Saar of Berlin-based Electric Sheep.
Victim debuted in Horizons at Venice Film Festival earlier this month, going on to play in Contemporary World Cinema at Toronto.
The film follows a Ukrainian immigrant living with her son in a small Czech border town. She is devastated when he is...
Slovak director Michal Blasko’s debut feature Victim has won the Hamburg Producers Prize for International Cinema Co-Productions at Filmfest Hamburg.
The €25,000 prize sponsored by Hamburg’s Senate for Culture and Media was presented to the film’s German co-producers, Michael Reuter and Yogev Saar of Berlin-based Electric Sheep.
Victim debuted in Horizons at Venice Film Festival earlier this month, going on to play in Contemporary World Cinema at Toronto.
The film follows a Ukrainian immigrant living with her son in a small Czech border town. She is devastated when he is...
- 10/9/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
German festival held awards ceremony on Friday (October 7)
Slovak director Michal Blasko’s debut feature Victim has won the Hamburg Producers Prize for International Cinema Co-Productions at Filmfest Hamburg.
The €25,000 prize sponsored by Hamburg’s Senate for Culture and Media was presented to the film’s German co-producers, Michael Reuter and Yogev Saar of Berlin-based Electric Sheep.
Victim debuted in Horizons at Venice Film Festival earlier this month, going on to play in Contemporary World Cinema at Toronto.
The film follows a Ukrainian immigrant living with her son in a small Czech border town. She is devastated when he is...
Slovak director Michal Blasko’s debut feature Victim has won the Hamburg Producers Prize for International Cinema Co-Productions at Filmfest Hamburg.
The €25,000 prize sponsored by Hamburg’s Senate for Culture and Media was presented to the film’s German co-producers, Michael Reuter and Yogev Saar of Berlin-based Electric Sheep.
Victim debuted in Horizons at Venice Film Festival earlier this month, going on to play in Contemporary World Cinema at Toronto.
The film follows a Ukrainian immigrant living with her son in a small Czech border town. She is devastated when he is...
- 10/9/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Festival hosts three initiatives to promote links between young filmmakers.
Filmfest Hamburg is hosting three new initiatives to promote closer links between young European filmmakers at the beginning of their careers.
The first initiative sees the festival join forces with Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the Institut Francais and the Association of German Film School Students to launch the #Atelier22 initiative.
16 film students - two each from eight German film schools such as Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Munich’s University for Television and Film (Hff), Berlin’s German Film & Television Academy and Hamburg Media School - will be in Hamburg from...
Filmfest Hamburg is hosting three new initiatives to promote closer links between young European filmmakers at the beginning of their careers.
The first initiative sees the festival join forces with Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the Institut Francais and the Association of German Film School Students to launch the #Atelier22 initiative.
16 film students - two each from eight German film schools such as Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Munich’s University for Television and Film (Hff), Berlin’s German Film & Television Academy and Hamburg Media School - will be in Hamburg from...
- 10/4/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Denmark has selected Ali Abbasi’s Cannes-winning title Holy Spider as its official submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race.
Written by Afshin Kamran Bahrami, the film follows Rahimi, a young female journalist, who travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer targeting sex workers. As she draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain when the murderer is embraced by many as a hero.
Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
The story is based on the real-life case of the ‘Spider Killer’ Saeed Hanaei, who claimed he was on a mission from God as he killed 16 women between 2000 and 2001.
Claus Ladegaard, CEO of the Danish Film Institute who chairs the selection committee, said: “Holy Spider shows a director with a strong artistic ambition who manages to tell an important story of misogyny while simultaneously keeping his audience in suspense.
Written by Afshin Kamran Bahrami, the film follows Rahimi, a young female journalist, who travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer targeting sex workers. As she draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain when the murderer is embraced by many as a hero.
Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
The story is based on the real-life case of the ‘Spider Killer’ Saeed Hanaei, who claimed he was on a mission from God as he killed 16 women between 2000 and 2001.
Claus Ladegaard, CEO of the Danish Film Institute who chairs the selection committee, said: “Holy Spider shows a director with a strong artistic ambition who manages to tell an important story of misogyny while simultaneously keeping his audience in suspense.
- 9/27/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Iran-set serial killer drama draws buyers worldwide following buzzy world premiere in Competition at Cannes.
Wild Bunch International has unveiled a raft of sales for Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s hard-hitting, Iran-set serial killer drama Holy Spider following its buzzy world premiere in Competition in Cannes last weekend.
For Europe, it has sold to France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Switzerland (Xenix), Benelux (Cinéart), Germany (Alamode), Spain (BTeam Pictures/Karma Films), Greece (Cinobo), Italy (Academy Two), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), ex-Yugoslavia (Fivia), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Romania (Independenta Film), Poland (Gutek) and the Baltics (A-One Films).
In Asia, it has been...
Wild Bunch International has unveiled a raft of sales for Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s hard-hitting, Iran-set serial killer drama Holy Spider following its buzzy world premiere in Competition in Cannes last weekend.
For Europe, it has sold to France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Switzerland (Xenix), Benelux (Cinéart), Germany (Alamode), Spain (BTeam Pictures/Karma Films), Greece (Cinobo), Italy (Academy Two), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), ex-Yugoslavia (Fivia), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Romania (Independenta Film), Poland (Gutek) and the Baltics (A-One Films).
In Asia, it has been...
- 5/28/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Streamer and distributor Mubi has acquired Ali Abbasi’s Cannes Film Festival competition title “Holy Spider” for the U.K., Ireland, Latin America (excluding Mexico) and Malaysia.
The film will be released theatrically followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release.
The film follows family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest — to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.
It stars Mehdi Bajestani, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Alice Rahimi, Sara Fazilat and Sina Parvaneh.
The Variety review of the film praised it for its “laudable instinct for humanizing and dimensionalizing the victims and their families, who are poignantly depicted despite the brevity of their screen time.”
The film has been generating plenty of heat at Cannes. Feminist protestors stormed...
The film will be released theatrically followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release.
The film follows family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest — to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.
It stars Mehdi Bajestani, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Alice Rahimi, Sara Fazilat and Sina Parvaneh.
The Variety review of the film praised it for its “laudable instinct for humanizing and dimensionalizing the victims and their families, who are poignantly depicted despite the brevity of their screen time.”
The film has been generating plenty of heat at Cannes. Feminist protestors stormed...
- 5/27/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Mubi has acquired rights to Cannes hit Holy Spider for the UK, Ireland, LatAm and Malaysia.
Danish-Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s feature, which had its World Premiere in the Main Competition and has been one of the fest’s buzziest titles, follows the true story of family man Saeed, who embarked on a religious quest to “cleanse” the Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral prostitutes.
He is tracked down by a spiky young journalist, desperate to get to the truth.
Director Abbasi is a well respected auteur and his previous feature, Border, won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes 2018.
Mubi will take rights to the key territories of the UK, Ireland, LatAm and Malaysia, with Utopia having taken U.S. rights several days ago. Wild Bunch International is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with Mubi, which has also picked up Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave and...
Danish-Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s feature, which had its World Premiere in the Main Competition and has been one of the fest’s buzziest titles, follows the true story of family man Saeed, who embarked on a religious quest to “cleanse” the Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral prostitutes.
He is tracked down by a spiky young journalist, desperate to get to the truth.
Director Abbasi is a well respected auteur and his previous feature, Border, won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes 2018.
Mubi will take rights to the key territories of the UK, Ireland, LatAm and Malaysia, with Utopia having taken U.S. rights several days ago. Wild Bunch International is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with Mubi, which has also picked up Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave and...
- 5/27/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
On Saturday, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg celebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival.
These were Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” in Competition, Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider,” in Competition, Emily Atef’s “More Than Ever,” in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Un beau matin,” in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s “The Natural History of Destruction,” in Special Screening, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ “Mariupolis 2,” in Special Screening.
Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding the films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
Speaking about the type of films Medienboard likes to fund, she said: “Not very original but true – we prefer films that bring something original to an audience.
These were Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” in Competition, Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider,” in Competition, Emily Atef’s “More Than Ever,” in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Un beau matin,” in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s “The Natural History of Destruction,” in Special Screening, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ “Mariupolis 2,” in Special Screening.
Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding the films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
Speaking about the type of films Medienboard likes to fund, she said: “Not very original but true – we prefer films that bring something original to an audience.
- 5/25/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“Holy Spider,” Ali Abbasi’s Iranian thriller that has earned rave reviews after premiering at Cannes in the main competition on Sunday, has had its North American rights acquired by Utopia, the U.S. distributor and sales company owned by Robert Schwartzman and Cole Harper.
The film stars actors Mehdi Bajestani and Zar Amir Ebrahimi. And Abbasi, who is an Iranian-Swedish director known for the troll movie and Un Certain Regard winner “Border,” has described “Holy Spider” as a “Persian Noir.” The movie shocked Cannes audiences for its frank discussions about gender in Iran but also its graphic violence and male and female nudity. At the same time, it has emerged as an early frontrunner for the Palme d’Or.
In “Holy Spider,” female journalist Rahimi (Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer (Bajestani) who believes he is doing the work of God,...
The film stars actors Mehdi Bajestani and Zar Amir Ebrahimi. And Abbasi, who is an Iranian-Swedish director known for the troll movie and Un Certain Regard winner “Border,” has described “Holy Spider” as a “Persian Noir.” The movie shocked Cannes audiences for its frank discussions about gender in Iran but also its graphic violence and male and female nudity. At the same time, it has emerged as an early frontrunner for the Palme d’Or.
In “Holy Spider,” female journalist Rahimi (Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer (Bajestani) who believes he is doing the work of God,...
- 5/25/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Danish-Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s boundary-pushing serial killer thriller “Holy Spider has been acquired by U.S. sales and distribution company Utopia for North America.
Based on a real Iranian crime case, “Holy Spider” – which made a major splash when it premiered in the Cannes competition on Sunday – is about a family man named Saeed (Mehdi Bajestani) who becomes a serial killer as he embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of street prostitutes.
Pic chronicles a killing spree in the streets of Mashhad, where 16 prostitutes were found dead from 2000 to 2001. A local journalist, Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi), is trying to crack the case as she grows frustrated by the police’s apathy toward finding the murderer. But in one of many twists in this drama, the identity of the serial killer is revealed early on — he’s a war veteran, a seemingly normal...
Based on a real Iranian crime case, “Holy Spider” – which made a major splash when it premiered in the Cannes competition on Sunday – is about a family man named Saeed (Mehdi Bajestani) who becomes a serial killer as he embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of street prostitutes.
Pic chronicles a killing spree in the streets of Mashhad, where 16 prostitutes were found dead from 2000 to 2001. A local journalist, Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi), is trying to crack the case as she grows frustrated by the police’s apathy toward finding the murderer. But in one of many twists in this drama, the identity of the serial killer is revealed early on — he’s a war veteran, a seemingly normal...
- 5/25/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Holy Spider, the Ali Abbasi-directed Iranian serial killer thriller, is in talks for a deal for U.S. rights with Utopia, the U.S. sales and distribution firm owned by Robert Schwartzman and Cole Harper. The provocative Cannes Competition film premiered today on the Croisette to strong applause and positive notices.
CAA Media Finance is brokering the domestic deal while Wild Bunch is handling sales on the film about a serial killer who is killing sex workers in the holy city of Mashhad, a pilgrimage destination (and the second largest city in Iran). Based on a true story, the film centers on a female journalist from Tehran who is trying to track the killer down – and who faces a lot of opposition from the authorities, as many secretly support the “spider killer” for removing a scandalous element.
Pic is written by Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami, and stars...
CAA Media Finance is brokering the domestic deal while Wild Bunch is handling sales on the film about a serial killer who is killing sex workers in the holy city of Mashhad, a pilgrimage destination (and the second largest city in Iran). Based on a true story, the film centers on a female journalist from Tehran who is trying to track the killer down – and who faces a lot of opposition from the authorities, as many secretly support the “spider killer” for removing a scandalous element.
Pic is written by Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami, and stars...
- 5/22/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Berlin-based One Two Films, in Cannes this week with Ali Abbasi’s competition title “Holy Spider,” is prepping a new feature from writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection “The Ticket.”
“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”
Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”
Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...
“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”
Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”
Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...
- 5/20/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Berlinale Talents Alumni Prepare to Shine in Cannes
It’s slowly edging towards summer here in Berlin and that means one thing: Cannes is close! And as the sun gets ever brighter, many of Berlinale’s former Talents are also preparing to dazzle on the Croisette!
Three alumni are starring in films in Competition; Sherwan Haji in Tarik Saleh’s Boy from Heaven, Sara Fazilat in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, which was produced by Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek, and finally Nadia Litz joins the glittering cast of David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future. Also in Competition is Lukas Dhont’s Close, co-written by Angelo Tijssens. Un Certain Regard provides a stage for more Talents to shine, with 17 alumni involved in 9 films, including Ariel Escalante’s Domingo y la niebla, to name one example. The film was edited by Lorenzo Mora Salazar, music composed by Alberto Torres, with Nicolás Wong Díaz acting as both producer & cinematographer. Abinash Bikram Shah’s Lori screens in the Short Films Competition, alongside two films with Zuolong Shan as executive producer, Bi Gan’s A Short Story and Story Chen’s The Water Murmurs.
Critic’s Week features 11 former Talents who have contributed their creativity to 8 films in the selection. The Woodcutter Story was in fact developed at our Script Station by writer and director Mikko Myllylahti, edited by Jussi Rautaniemi and produced by Jussi Rantamäki, the short Cuerdas was shot by Lara Vilanova and there will also be a special screeing of Goutte d’Or, produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond.
Excitingly, the Director’s Fortnight will show the debut feature films of three Talents alumni: Manuela Martelli’s 1976, edited by Camila Mercadal and produced by Dominga Sotomayor, Elena López Riera’s El agua and Pamfir by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. Included in the selection is Un Varón by Fabian Hernández, which Louise Bellicaud produced.
To see the complete picture of all Berlinale Talents alumni at Cannes, including those selected for the Cinéfondation’s Atelier, Les cinémas du monde’s La Fabrique and the Acid programme, click here.
Reconnect in Cannes — Register now!
Building lasting relationships across all disciplines and editions is a crucial part of what we do. And since Cannes offers plenty of opportunities for long awaited informal encounters over a coffee or rosé, we’d love to build up the group again. If you are a Berlinale Talents alumni please register your attendance at the festival, market (or just on the beach) by clicking here. Who else is in Cannes? Find out here.
Dedicated to Discovery
The 17th edition of Talents Buenos Aires took place from April 19–23. Borrowing from Luis López Carrasco’s film of the same name, this year’s theme was ‘The Year of Discovery’. Drawing inspiration from the film’s exploration of Spain’s political and social crisis in the early 1990s, the programme’s aim was to promote critical and aesthetic thinking regarding recent world events and their influence on the film world. It was an engaging 5 days of events for the 55 Talents from all over South America, from workshops on non-traditional distribution with Maui Alena or on acting with Maria Laura Berch, to a dialogue on cinema as discovery with Darío Aguirre, and plenty of networking sessions. Welcome to the skilled film professionals who are now part of the Talents family, and congratulations to the team of Talents Buenos Aires on another great edition.
The preparations for Talents Guadalajara in June, Talents Durban in July and Talents Sarajevo in August are currently in full swing, and further out on the horizon, the 13th Talents Tokyo will be held from October 31 to November 5 within the Tokyo FILMeX Festival 2022.
Thanks for staying tuned and catching up!
The Berlinale Talents team
Upcoming Dates
May 6, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Guadalajara
May 31, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Sarajevo
May 31, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Tokyo
June 11–15, 2022: Talents Guadalajara takes place
Early July, 2022: Call for entries for Berlinale Talents 2023
July 22–26, 2022: Talents Durban Takes place
August 13–18, 2022: Talents Sarajevo takes place
October 31 — November 5, 2022: Talents Tokyo takes place
Photo credits:
1) Still from Close, co-written by Angelo Tijssens © Lukas Dhont / Diaphana Distribution
2) Talents Buenos Aires key visual 2022Berlinale Talents
Berlin International Film Festival
Potsdamer Platz 11, 10785 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 25920–515
www.berlinale-talents.de...
It’s slowly edging towards summer here in Berlin and that means one thing: Cannes is close! And as the sun gets ever brighter, many of Berlinale’s former Talents are also preparing to dazzle on the Croisette!
Three alumni are starring in films in Competition; Sherwan Haji in Tarik Saleh’s Boy from Heaven, Sara Fazilat in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, which was produced by Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek, and finally Nadia Litz joins the glittering cast of David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future. Also in Competition is Lukas Dhont’s Close, co-written by Angelo Tijssens. Un Certain Regard provides a stage for more Talents to shine, with 17 alumni involved in 9 films, including Ariel Escalante’s Domingo y la niebla, to name one example. The film was edited by Lorenzo Mora Salazar, music composed by Alberto Torres, with Nicolás Wong Díaz acting as both producer & cinematographer. Abinash Bikram Shah’s Lori screens in the Short Films Competition, alongside two films with Zuolong Shan as executive producer, Bi Gan’s A Short Story and Story Chen’s The Water Murmurs.
Critic’s Week features 11 former Talents who have contributed their creativity to 8 films in the selection. The Woodcutter Story was in fact developed at our Script Station by writer and director Mikko Myllylahti, edited by Jussi Rautaniemi and produced by Jussi Rantamäki, the short Cuerdas was shot by Lara Vilanova and there will also be a special screeing of Goutte d’Or, produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond.
Excitingly, the Director’s Fortnight will show the debut feature films of three Talents alumni: Manuela Martelli’s 1976, edited by Camila Mercadal and produced by Dominga Sotomayor, Elena López Riera’s El agua and Pamfir by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. Included in the selection is Un Varón by Fabian Hernández, which Louise Bellicaud produced.
To see the complete picture of all Berlinale Talents alumni at Cannes, including those selected for the Cinéfondation’s Atelier, Les cinémas du monde’s La Fabrique and the Acid programme, click here.
Reconnect in Cannes — Register now!
Building lasting relationships across all disciplines and editions is a crucial part of what we do. And since Cannes offers plenty of opportunities for long awaited informal encounters over a coffee or rosé, we’d love to build up the group again. If you are a Berlinale Talents alumni please register your attendance at the festival, market (or just on the beach) by clicking here. Who else is in Cannes? Find out here.
Dedicated to Discovery
The 17th edition of Talents Buenos Aires took place from April 19–23. Borrowing from Luis López Carrasco’s film of the same name, this year’s theme was ‘The Year of Discovery’. Drawing inspiration from the film’s exploration of Spain’s political and social crisis in the early 1990s, the programme’s aim was to promote critical and aesthetic thinking regarding recent world events and their influence on the film world. It was an engaging 5 days of events for the 55 Talents from all over South America, from workshops on non-traditional distribution with Maui Alena or on acting with Maria Laura Berch, to a dialogue on cinema as discovery with Darío Aguirre, and plenty of networking sessions. Welcome to the skilled film professionals who are now part of the Talents family, and congratulations to the team of Talents Buenos Aires on another great edition.
The preparations for Talents Guadalajara in June, Talents Durban in July and Talents Sarajevo in August are currently in full swing, and further out on the horizon, the 13th Talents Tokyo will be held from October 31 to November 5 within the Tokyo FILMeX Festival 2022.
Thanks for staying tuned and catching up!
The Berlinale Talents team
Upcoming Dates
May 6, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Guadalajara
May 31, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Sarajevo
May 31, 2022: Application deadline for Talents Tokyo
June 11–15, 2022: Talents Guadalajara takes place
Early July, 2022: Call for entries for Berlinale Talents 2023
July 22–26, 2022: Talents Durban Takes place
August 13–18, 2022: Talents Sarajevo takes place
October 31 — November 5, 2022: Talents Tokyo takes place
Photo credits:
1) Still from Close, co-written by Angelo Tijssens © Lukas Dhont / Diaphana Distribution
2) Talents Buenos Aires key visual 2022Berlinale Talents
Berlin International Film Festival
Potsdamer Platz 11, 10785 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 25920–515
www.berlinale-talents.de...
- 5/10/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
The 23rd edition of European Film Promotion's (Efp) long-established Producers on the Move networking program, held during Festival de Cannes is again inviting 20 up-and-coming young producers from all over Europe as participants in 2022. Germany will be represented by Alexander Wadouh (Chromosom Film) who was nominated by Efp member German Films.
Alexander Wadouh has been working in the film industry since 1999. A graduate of the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb), he worked for the production company Essential Film (Women Without Men, You the Living, Dau) as well as for the French sales company Coproduction Office. In 2006, he founded his Berlin-based company Chromosom Film to develop and produce national and international feature films in the field of fiction and documentary with a political ethos and zeitgeist, and has since expanded into the production of high-end series. He has received numerous awards for his films. Wadouh is a graduate of Ace and Eave as well as being a member of the German Film Academy and European Film Academy. He has also been active as a distributor with Across Nations since 2020.
Alexander Wadouh on his nomination: "I am very happy to be able to be part of this year’s edition of Producers on the Move, the more so because Europe must grow even closer together so as to guarantee peace and freedom in the long term. That also includes being able to say and show everything in the spirit of cultural freedom without facing the danger of state repression. We can really achieve this through constant exchange and collaboration across national borders. I’m pleased that I can become part of a larger network of people who are moved and driven by similar things, who see their surroundings in a critical light and tell stories about the world."
Selected films of Alexander Wadouth include
Time of the Monsters
in financing, 2024
by Florian Hoffmann
Germany, France, Switzerland, Ghana
What YouCall Love
in financing, 2023
by Luzie Loose
Germany, France, Japan
The Wolves Always Come at Night
in financing, 2022
by Gabrielle Brady
Germany, Australia, Mongolia
Borga 2021
by York-Fabian Raabe
Germany, Ghana
trailer
Whispers of War 2021
by Florian Hoffmann
Germany
trailer
A Coffee in Berlin 2012
by Jan-Ole Gerster
Germany
Germany is also represented in the festival with one solo production and seven coproductions:
Cannes Ff Special Screenings will show The Vagabonds (eligible for Camera d’Or)directed by Doroteya Droumeva of Germany.
Berlin based producer Sol Bondy has Cannes Competition title Holy Spider directed by Iranian born Ali Abbasi, a coproductio of France, Germany, Sweden, snd Denmark. In Holy Spider, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest — to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.
Ace producer Janine Jakowski is among the producers of Austria, France, Germany, and Luxembourg responsible Corsage directed by Marie Kreutzer which is showing in Un Certain Regard. This story of Sisi (Elizabeth) Empress of Austsria, wife of Franz Joseph who tries to keep her cult of beauty alive after she turns 40 (and old) is being sold by MK2. Already in place as distributors are Austria: Panda Lichtspiele, Germany: Alamode, Hungary: Circo, and Italy: Bim.
More Than Ever/ Plus que jamais directed by German director Emily Atef is a coproduciton of Germany, France, Luxembourg, and Norway. The story is about Hélène and Mathieu who have been happy together for many years. The bond between them is deep. Faced with an existential decision, Hélène travels alone to Norway to seek peace and test the strength of their love. The Match Factory has already placed the film in France with Jour2Fête, Germany with Pandora, and in Norway with Mer.
Directors’ Fortnight film Scarlet/ L’Envol directed by Pietro Marcello is a copro of France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.
Directors’ Fortnight film A Male/ Un varón directed by Fabian Hernández of Colombia is a copro of France, Germany, Netherlands and Colombia.
Critics’ Week Competition film The Woodcutter Story/ Metsurin tarina directed by Mikko Myllylahti is a coproduction of Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany.
Directors’ Fortnight One Fine Morning/ Un beau matin directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, produced by Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Germany, Arte France Cinéma, Mubi. Internationa sales by Les Films du Losange to Weltkino Filmverleih (Germany), Alambique Filmes (Portugal), Andrews Film (Taiwan), Challan (Korea), Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie (Belgium), Elastica (Spain), Palace Films (Australia and New Zealand) (all media), Weird Wave (Greece).
Directors’ Fortnight The Dam/ السد directed by Ali Cherri of Sudan is a copro of Germany, France, Serbia, and Sudan being sold by Indie Sales. The drama is set against the backdrop of the 2018 Sudanese revolution, near the Merowe Dam in the north of the country and revolves around a man who works in a traditional brickyard fed by the waters of the Nile. Every evening, he secretly wanders off into the desert to build a mysterious construction made of mud. While the Sudanese people rise to claim their freedom, his creation slowly starts to take on a life of its own.Cherri’s short films The Disquiet (2013) and The Digger (2015) played at a number of festivals including Berlinale, Toronto, and Rotterdam. He is also a celebrated artist. He is currently an artist in residence at the UK’s National Gallery in London, where his show If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? is running until June 12. He is also participating in the Venice Biennale this year and his work has been shown at the Guggenheim, British Museum and Centre Pompidou.
To return to Producers on the Move:
This year will again see the Producers on the Move platform offering its participants a tailor-made program to support the exchange among European producers and give them the opportunity to create new networks and thus foster international co-productions. Online 1:1 speed dating as well as roundtables and pitching sessions will be held ahead of the festival until 5 May, 2022. Producers from 20 different countries will then meet in person at the Festival de Cannes from 19 to 23 May, 2022 to take part in an exclusive programme which will include case studies of successful projects, social events, an extensive publicity campaign by the international trade magazines, and various opportunities for transnational discussions. Each year sees the programme resulting in a number of international co-productions between the participants or with partners they have come into contact with during the project.
Producers on the Move is supported by the Creative Europe - Media Programme of the European Union, as well as the Efp member organizations, including German Films.
Please click here for more information about Producers on the Move 2022.
Alexander Wadouh has been working in the film industry since 1999. A graduate of the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb), he worked for the production company Essential Film (Women Without Men, You the Living, Dau) as well as for the French sales company Coproduction Office. In 2006, he founded his Berlin-based company Chromosom Film to develop and produce national and international feature films in the field of fiction and documentary with a political ethos and zeitgeist, and has since expanded into the production of high-end series. He has received numerous awards for his films. Wadouh is a graduate of Ace and Eave as well as being a member of the German Film Academy and European Film Academy. He has also been active as a distributor with Across Nations since 2020.
Alexander Wadouh on his nomination: "I am very happy to be able to be part of this year’s edition of Producers on the Move, the more so because Europe must grow even closer together so as to guarantee peace and freedom in the long term. That also includes being able to say and show everything in the spirit of cultural freedom without facing the danger of state repression. We can really achieve this through constant exchange and collaboration across national borders. I’m pleased that I can become part of a larger network of people who are moved and driven by similar things, who see their surroundings in a critical light and tell stories about the world."
Selected films of Alexander Wadouth include
Time of the Monsters
in financing, 2024
by Florian Hoffmann
Germany, France, Switzerland, Ghana
What YouCall Love
in financing, 2023
by Luzie Loose
Germany, France, Japan
The Wolves Always Come at Night
in financing, 2022
by Gabrielle Brady
Germany, Australia, Mongolia
Borga 2021
by York-Fabian Raabe
Germany, Ghana
trailer
Whispers of War 2021
by Florian Hoffmann
Germany
trailer
A Coffee in Berlin 2012
by Jan-Ole Gerster
Germany
Germany is also represented in the festival with one solo production and seven coproductions:
Cannes Ff Special Screenings will show The Vagabonds (eligible for Camera d’Or)directed by Doroteya Droumeva of Germany.
Berlin based producer Sol Bondy has Cannes Competition title Holy Spider directed by Iranian born Ali Abbasi, a coproductio of France, Germany, Sweden, snd Denmark. In Holy Spider, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest — to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.
Ace producer Janine Jakowski is among the producers of Austria, France, Germany, and Luxembourg responsible Corsage directed by Marie Kreutzer which is showing in Un Certain Regard. This story of Sisi (Elizabeth) Empress of Austsria, wife of Franz Joseph who tries to keep her cult of beauty alive after she turns 40 (and old) is being sold by MK2. Already in place as distributors are Austria: Panda Lichtspiele, Germany: Alamode, Hungary: Circo, and Italy: Bim.
More Than Ever/ Plus que jamais directed by German director Emily Atef is a coproduciton of Germany, France, Luxembourg, and Norway. The story is about Hélène and Mathieu who have been happy together for many years. The bond between them is deep. Faced with an existential decision, Hélène travels alone to Norway to seek peace and test the strength of their love. The Match Factory has already placed the film in France with Jour2Fête, Germany with Pandora, and in Norway with Mer.
Directors’ Fortnight film Scarlet/ L’Envol directed by Pietro Marcello is a copro of France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.
Directors’ Fortnight film A Male/ Un varón directed by Fabian Hernández of Colombia is a copro of France, Germany, Netherlands and Colombia.
Critics’ Week Competition film The Woodcutter Story/ Metsurin tarina directed by Mikko Myllylahti is a coproduction of Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany.
Directors’ Fortnight One Fine Morning/ Un beau matin directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, produced by Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Germany, Arte France Cinéma, Mubi. Internationa sales by Les Films du Losange to Weltkino Filmverleih (Germany), Alambique Filmes (Portugal), Andrews Film (Taiwan), Challan (Korea), Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie (Belgium), Elastica (Spain), Palace Films (Australia and New Zealand) (all media), Weird Wave (Greece).
Directors’ Fortnight The Dam/ السد directed by Ali Cherri of Sudan is a copro of Germany, France, Serbia, and Sudan being sold by Indie Sales. The drama is set against the backdrop of the 2018 Sudanese revolution, near the Merowe Dam in the north of the country and revolves around a man who works in a traditional brickyard fed by the waters of the Nile. Every evening, he secretly wanders off into the desert to build a mysterious construction made of mud. While the Sudanese people rise to claim their freedom, his creation slowly starts to take on a life of its own.Cherri’s short films The Disquiet (2013) and The Digger (2015) played at a number of festivals including Berlinale, Toronto, and Rotterdam. He is also a celebrated artist. He is currently an artist in residence at the UK’s National Gallery in London, where his show If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? is running until June 12. He is also participating in the Venice Biennale this year and his work has been shown at the Guggenheim, British Museum and Centre Pompidou.
To return to Producers on the Move:
This year will again see the Producers on the Move platform offering its participants a tailor-made program to support the exchange among European producers and give them the opportunity to create new networks and thus foster international co-productions. Online 1:1 speed dating as well as roundtables and pitching sessions will be held ahead of the festival until 5 May, 2022. Producers from 20 different countries will then meet in person at the Festival de Cannes from 19 to 23 May, 2022 to take part in an exclusive programme which will include case studies of successful projects, social events, an extensive publicity campaign by the international trade magazines, and various opportunities for transnational discussions. Each year sees the programme resulting in a number of international co-productions between the participants or with partners they have come into contact with during the project.
Producers on the Move is supported by the Creative Europe - Media Programme of the European Union, as well as the Efp member organizations, including German Films.
Please click here for more information about Producers on the Move 2022.
- 5/8/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Lydia Leonard (the English Call My Agent remake), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner) and Sverrir Gudnason (Borg Vs. McEnroe) are leading the cast of Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson’s first English language feature Northern Comfort.
The project is getting principal photography underway now in Iceland, beginning in lake Mývatn before moving to Reykjavik and eventually the UK and France. Above is a first-look at the cast in action.
Also starring are Ella Rumpf, Simon Manyonda and Rob Delaney. The film is a comedy in which a motley group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north.
Paris-based Charades is handling world sales on the project. Film4 has taken UK free TV rights, Scanbox has pre-bought Nordic rights, Weltkino has rights in Germany and Sena will handle distribution in Iceland.
Director Sigurdsson’s previous work includes Under The Tree, which debuted at Venice Film Festival in...
The project is getting principal photography underway now in Iceland, beginning in lake Mývatn before moving to Reykjavik and eventually the UK and France. Above is a first-look at the cast in action.
Also starring are Ella Rumpf, Simon Manyonda and Rob Delaney. The film is a comedy in which a motley group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north.
Paris-based Charades is handling world sales on the project. Film4 has taken UK free TV rights, Scanbox has pre-bought Nordic rights, Weltkino has rights in Germany and Sena will handle distribution in Iceland.
Director Sigurdsson’s previous work includes Under The Tree, which debuted at Venice Film Festival in...
- 2/9/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
“Community” and “Love” star Gillian Jacobs and “Aladdin” break-out Marwan Kenzari are set to lead Berlin-set romantic comedy “Any Other Night.”
Written by Patrick Whistler and directed by Michiel Ten Horn, the comedy follows two strangers thrown together as their lives are falling apart. Freshly dumped Maggie (Jacobs) and flailing cab driver Max (Kenzari) meet the night of a crippling transit strike, with the latter loading all of Maggie’s worldly possessions into the back of his decrepit van-cab. What should have been a simple fare becomes a wild, late-night odyssey.
“Any Other Night” is produced by Mike MacMillan of Lithium Studios, the outfit behind Cannes Director’s Fortnight selection “Mobile Homes,” alongside Sol Bondy of One Two Films (“The Tale”). Todd Brown of XYZ Films executive produces the film with XYZ handling sales.
The film marks the first English-language effort from acclaimed Dutch helmer Michiel Ten Horn (one of...
Written by Patrick Whistler and directed by Michiel Ten Horn, the comedy follows two strangers thrown together as their lives are falling apart. Freshly dumped Maggie (Jacobs) and flailing cab driver Max (Kenzari) meet the night of a crippling transit strike, with the latter loading all of Maggie’s worldly possessions into the back of his decrepit van-cab. What should have been a simple fare becomes a wild, late-night odyssey.
“Any Other Night” is produced by Mike MacMillan of Lithium Studios, the outfit behind Cannes Director’s Fortnight selection “Mobile Homes,” alongside Sol Bondy of One Two Films (“The Tale”). Todd Brown of XYZ Films executive produces the film with XYZ handling sales.
The film marks the first English-language effort from acclaimed Dutch helmer Michiel Ten Horn (one of...
- 5/6/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Vadim Perelman’s “Persian Lessons” will represent Belarus in the best international feature film race at the 2021 Oscars, Variety has learned.
The WWII drama, which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year, stars Nahuel Perez Biscayart (“Beats Per Minute”) as a Belgian Jew who narrowly avoids execution by a Nazi firing squad when he claims to be Persian. Desperate to save himself, he offers to teach Farsi — a language he does not know — to the head of the camp, played by German star Lars Eidinger (“Clouds of Sils Maria”).
Perelman (“House of Sand and Fog”) directed from a script by Ilya Zofin, based on the story “Erfindung Einer Sprache” by Wolfgang Kohlhaase. “Persian Lessons” is produced by Moscow-based Hype Film (“Leto”) and co-produced by Berlin-based Lm Media and One Two Films in association with Belarusfilm. Memento Films International is handling world sales.
“The film is especially important and relevant in our time,...
The WWII drama, which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year, stars Nahuel Perez Biscayart (“Beats Per Minute”) as a Belgian Jew who narrowly avoids execution by a Nazi firing squad when he claims to be Persian. Desperate to save himself, he offers to teach Farsi — a language he does not know — to the head of the camp, played by German star Lars Eidinger (“Clouds of Sils Maria”).
Perelman (“House of Sand and Fog”) directed from a script by Ilya Zofin, based on the story “Erfindung Einer Sprache” by Wolfgang Kohlhaase. “Persian Lessons” is produced by Moscow-based Hype Film (“Leto”) and co-produced by Berlin-based Lm Media and One Two Films in association with Belarusfilm. Memento Films International is handling world sales.
“The film is especially important and relevant in our time,...
- 12/1/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Project awarded “White Mirror Award” at the 2019 Torino Script Lab.
French production company 5a7 Films is joining forces with Berlin-based One Two Films to co-produce Swiss writer/director Sarah Arnold’s debut feature Wild Encounters.
The project just received $33,300 development funding from the German-French co-production fund Mini-Traite backed by Ffa and Cnc.
The team is aiming to shoot in 2021.
The project had already received funding from the Region Grand Est and Grand Region and was awarded the new White Mirror Award at the 2019 Torino Script Lab. The project also participated in the Full Circle Lab – Upper Rhine, where Arnold and...
French production company 5a7 Films is joining forces with Berlin-based One Two Films to co-produce Swiss writer/director Sarah Arnold’s debut feature Wild Encounters.
The project just received $33,300 development funding from the German-French co-production fund Mini-Traite backed by Ffa and Cnc.
The team is aiming to shoot in 2021.
The project had already received funding from the Region Grand Est and Grand Region and was awarded the new White Mirror Award at the 2019 Torino Script Lab. The project also participated in the Full Circle Lab – Upper Rhine, where Arnold and...
- 6/26/2020
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The Berlinale usually offers fertile ground for the Jewish Film Festival programmers. At the informal gathering around Nicola Galliner, the founder and director of the Jewish Film Festival of Berlin Brandenburg, programmers trade information and impressions as they meet with old and new friends. This year seems rather slim in programming although the good was great.
This was very best film with Jewish content at the Berlinale 2020 !!!
Persian Lessons by Vadim Perelman was a Special Gala. Why it was not in Competition I do not know but it could have won…It can still win next year’s Academy Award for Best International Film. It brought raves from everyone. “A fantastic performance by Lars Eidinger — best Nazi ever !!!” said one fan.
Persian Lessons’ world premiere came days after the racially motivated, right-wing extremist mass shooting in the German city of Hanau which left nine dead.
This Russian-German-Belarus feature, set in...
This was very best film with Jewish content at the Berlinale 2020 !!!
Persian Lessons by Vadim Perelman was a Special Gala. Why it was not in Competition I do not know but it could have won…It can still win next year’s Academy Award for Best International Film. It brought raves from everyone. “A fantastic performance by Lars Eidinger — best Nazi ever !!!” said one fan.
Persian Lessons’ world premiere came days after the racially motivated, right-wing extremist mass shooting in the German city of Hanau which left nine dead.
This Russian-German-Belarus feature, set in...
- 4/30/2020
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Cohen Media Group has acquired North American rights to the Holocaust drama “Persian Lessons,” following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, where it has become a buzz title. The film was produced after the lead producers met at a Variety “10 Producers to Watch” event in Cannes in 2018, and decided to work together on the project.
Cmg plans to release the film in late 2020. “Persian Lessons” is directed by “House of Sand and Fog” director Vadim Perelman from a script by Ilya Zofin, based on the story “Erfindung Einer Sprache” by Wolfgang Kohlhaase.
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (“If You Saw His Heart”) plays a Belgian Jew who claims to be Persian when he is rounded up and about to face the firing squad. The terrified prisoner desperately tries to save himself by agreeing to teach Farsi – a language he does not know and thus makes up – to an eager-to-learn Nazi transit camp commandant,...
Cmg plans to release the film in late 2020. “Persian Lessons” is directed by “House of Sand and Fog” director Vadim Perelman from a script by Ilya Zofin, based on the story “Erfindung Einer Sprache” by Wolfgang Kohlhaase.
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (“If You Saw His Heart”) plays a Belgian Jew who claims to be Persian when he is rounded up and about to face the firing squad. The terrified prisoner desperately tries to save himself by agreeing to teach Farsi – a language he does not know and thus makes up – to an eager-to-learn Nazi transit camp commandant,...
- 2/26/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” were feted Saturday night at a party held by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg at Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Co-hosting the evening were Kirsten Niehuus and Helge Jürgens, managing directors of Medienboard, the regional film, TV and digital-media funding body.
Pictured above are U.K. filmmaker and rapper Andrew Onwubolu, known by his alias Rapman, Irish producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Italian director Carlo Sironi (“Sole”), German director Leonie Krippendorff (“Cocoon”), Estonian director Tanel Toom, Germany-based Kosovan director Visar Morina (“Exile”), and Hungarian actor Abigél Szõke (“Those Who Remained”).
Before welcoming to the stage some of Europe’s most promising stars of tomorrow, Variety executive VP of content Steven Gaydos noted: “Variety is celebrating our 115th year covering international entertainment, before people were watching movies.”
He also shared the story of local producer Sol Bondy, who met Russian producers Ilya Stewart and Murad Osmann at Variety’s “10 Producers to...
Pictured above are U.K. filmmaker and rapper Andrew Onwubolu, known by his alias Rapman, Irish producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Italian director Carlo Sironi (“Sole”), German director Leonie Krippendorff (“Cocoon”), Estonian director Tanel Toom, Germany-based Kosovan director Visar Morina (“Exile”), and Hungarian actor Abigél Szõke (“Those Who Remained”).
Before welcoming to the stage some of Europe’s most promising stars of tomorrow, Variety executive VP of content Steven Gaydos noted: “Variety is celebrating our 115th year covering international entertainment, before people were watching movies.”
He also shared the story of local producer Sol Bondy, who met Russian producers Ilya Stewart and Murad Osmann at Variety’s “10 Producers to...
- 2/23/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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