Maybe it doesn’t matter that the Oscar-nominated Women Talking won’t win Best Picture, even though it should. Nor, perhaps, does it matter that people will say that this film, about the rape of more than 100 women and girls, sounds depressing. Because even if Sarah Polley’s superlative work doesn’t get the plaudits or the audience it deserves, it should stand to have a far greater legacy. This is the kind of cinema that endures – not just as a great work of art (although it is that), but as something that moves us all forward.
For the past few years, the women in this isolated religious community have been drugged and assaulted in their sleep, and told the culprits were ghosts. Unbearably bleak, yes, and it actually happened – Miriam Toews wrote a novel about it in 2018, on which this film is based. The men have been imprisoned in a nearby town,...
For the past few years, the women in this isolated religious community have been drugged and assaulted in their sleep, and told the culprits were ghosts. Unbearably bleak, yes, and it actually happened – Miriam Toews wrote a novel about it in 2018, on which this film is based. The men have been imprisoned in a nearby town,...
- 2/9/2023
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - Film
Two of this season’s most powerful and talked-about awards contenders, “Women Talking” and “Emancipation,” have generated discussion not only for their powerful subject matter but for the bold and unusual approach each film took to its color palette. Their subject matter and scale might be different — “Women Talking” is an ensemble piece representing a wide variety of points of view that takes place largely in one location, while “Emancipation” is the inverse, an individual character study set against the backdrop of the Civil War — but they share a desaturated look in which the filmmakers drained so much of the color from the imagery that they could almost be in black-and-white. In both cases, there were carefully thought out reasons behind the decision to bring color in in highly targeted, limited ways; IndieWire talked with the cinematographers behind both films to get two different perspectives on how and why the choice of desaturation was made.
- 1/12/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
This story about “Women Talking” first appeared in the Below-the-Line issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
On the surface, Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” is one of the ultimate examples of a 2022 film that largely takes place in a single location. Polley adapted the novel by Miriam Toews, which was itself based on the true story of a Mennonite clan in Bolivia that was rampant with sexual abuse, and the action rarely leaves the hayloft of a barn in an isolated community.
In that loft, a group of women has been deputized to decide for all of the community’s female members, who must choose whether they should flee the men who have been systematically drugging and raping them or stay in the only place many of them have known.
Also Read:
‘Women Talking’ Film Review: Sarah Polley’s Searing Drama Contemplates Revenge and Forgiveness
“It was a really fun challenge,...
On the surface, Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” is one of the ultimate examples of a 2022 film that largely takes place in a single location. Polley adapted the novel by Miriam Toews, which was itself based on the true story of a Mennonite clan in Bolivia that was rampant with sexual abuse, and the action rarely leaves the hayloft of a barn in an isolated community.
In that loft, a group of women has been deputized to decide for all of the community’s female members, who must choose whether they should flee the men who have been systematically drugging and raping them or stay in the only place many of them have known.
Also Read:
‘Women Talking’ Film Review: Sarah Polley’s Searing Drama Contemplates Revenge and Forgiveness
“It was a really fun challenge,...
- 12/28/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
At the core of Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” are the titular women, who, as cinematographer Luc Montpellier says, are “in the process of dismantling an old world that has been part of their lives their entire life.”
In the film, an ensemble of actors led by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, discuss the sexual
and physical trauma inflicted upon all the women of their isolated religious community and the difficult decisions and choices it would take to build a new life outside that community. It all unfolds while their husbands are away in town. It unfolds mostly in a barn loft. “It was important for the imagery in the film to mirror the weight of this seemingly impossible decision, all the decisions that we made, needed to mirror that,” Montpellier says.
Visually, Polley and Montpellier decided to present scenes that were nonjudgmental, but, he adds, “we weren...
In the film, an ensemble of actors led by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, discuss the sexual
and physical trauma inflicted upon all the women of their isolated religious community and the difficult decisions and choices it would take to build a new life outside that community. It all unfolds while their husbands are away in town. It unfolds mostly in a barn loft. “It was important for the imagery in the film to mirror the weight of this seemingly impossible decision, all the decisions that we made, needed to mirror that,” Montpellier says.
Visually, Polley and Montpellier decided to present scenes that were nonjudgmental, but, he adds, “we weren...
- 12/2/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
When “Nanny” cinematographer Rina Yang shoots TV shows “I think we framed differently … We might go a little tighter” for a project that’s going to end up on the small screen. That’s the question these days when it comes to shooting projects. Your film or TV show could be seen on a giant movie screen, on a 4K television set, on a 10-inch tablet, right down to a pocket-sized smartphone. Does that affect one’s approach to the photography? We asked Yang as well as James Friend (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), Bobby Bukowski (“Till”) and Luc Montpellier (“Women Talking”) as part of our “Meet the Experts” Film Cinematographers panel. Watch our roundtable discussion above. Click on each name above to watch that individual person’s solo chat.
Bukowski agrees with Yang about the differences of television photography where “people could fill up the screen more,” but...
Bukowski agrees with Yang about the differences of television photography where “people could fill up the screen more,” but...
- 11/19/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
For “Women Talking,” screenwriter-director Sarah Polley told cinematographer Luc Montpellier, “‘I want the imagery in this film to feel as epic and weighted as the decision that these women need to make based on their unwavering faith and them trying to figure out their future.” So “that’s what I was hoping the imagery would do is that it would give you this sense of weight that they have on their shoulders based on tradition, but that you’d still find a bit of hope.” We talked to Montpellier as part of our “Meet the Experts” film cinematographers panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, “Women Talking” tells the story of a Mennonite community whose women discover that they have been the victims of systemic abuse and gaslighting by the men of their colony. Eight women are chosen as representatives to decide how...
Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, “Women Talking” tells the story of a Mennonite community whose women discover that they have been the victims of systemic abuse and gaslighting by the men of their colony. Eight women are chosen as representatives to decide how...
- 11/19/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Four top film cinematographers will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Wednesday, November 16, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.
RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following Oscar and guild contenders:
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Synopsis: A young German soldier’s terrifying experiences and distress on the western front during World War I.
Bio: James Friend was a BAFTA winner for “Rillington Place” and a nominee for “Your Honor.
RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following Oscar and guild contenders:
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Synopsis: A young German soldier’s terrifying experiences and distress on the western front during World War I.
Bio: James Friend was a BAFTA winner for “Rillington Place” and a nominee for “Your Honor.
- 11/9/2022
- by Chris Beachum and Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” is based on a 2018 Miriam Toews novel inspired by a Bolivian religious colony’s epidemic of sexual violence. It primarily takes place inside a hayloft, where three generations of Mennonite women convene to discuss their future in the colony. True to its title, the film has a dense script. It also boasts a number of incredible performances that are sure to be recognized by awards bodies all season long.
“Women Talking” is Gold Derby’s projected Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner and is currently ranked third in the odds for Best Film Ensemble at the SAG Awards. Both Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley appear to be locks for Best Supporting Actress nominations, and Ben Whishaw has recently risen in Best Supporting Supporting Actor. As of now, he occupies third place. Furthermore, Polley is behind only Steven Spielberg in Best Director. While the movie also deserves top-five status in Best Cinematography,...
“Women Talking” is Gold Derby’s projected Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner and is currently ranked third in the odds for Best Film Ensemble at the SAG Awards. Both Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley appear to be locks for Best Supporting Actress nominations, and Ben Whishaw has recently risen in Best Supporting Supporting Actor. As of now, he occupies third place. Furthermore, Polley is behind only Steven Spielberg in Best Director. While the movie also deserves top-five status in Best Cinematography,...
- 11/8/2022
- by Ronald Meyer
- Gold Derby
It’s rare for sequels to make a big splash on the awards circuit; only two have ever won best picture — “The Godfather: Part II” and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” But director Rian Johnson’s star-studded feature “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is proving to be an exception, with the filmmaker taking home the Visionary Award for his work on the upcoming whodunnit movie at this year’s 12th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards.
“I’m very lucky that I have the family around me that I’ve worked with for years and years,” Johnson said during his acceptance speech, crediting his co-collaborators with helping him to achieve his cinematic vision. “My producer Ram Bergman — we’ve been working together since my first film ‘Brick,’ my cinematographer Steve Yedlin — we met freshman year in the dorms at USC, my composer Nathan Johnson — he’s my cousin,...
“I’m very lucky that I have the family around me that I’ve worked with for years and years,” Johnson said during his acceptance speech, crediting his co-collaborators with helping him to achieve his cinematic vision. “My producer Ram Bergman — we’ve been working together since my first film ‘Brick,’ my cinematographer Steve Yedlin — we met freshman year in the dorms at USC, my composer Nathan Johnson — he’s my cousin,...
- 11/7/2022
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – Writer/Director Sarah Polley is back with her new film “Women Talking,” and attended a screening at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) on October 20th, 2022. After making her name as a in-demand actor, Polley has since directed films like “Away From Her” and “Stories We Tell.”
Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews – with the screenplay adapted and direction by Polley – “Women Talking” follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men. Featuring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey and Frances McDormand.
Director Sarah Polley of ‘Women Talking’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Sarah Polley îs an actor, director, producer and political activist. Born in Toronto, Canada, and after a series of film and stage roles as a child...
Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews – with the screenplay adapted and direction by Polley – “Women Talking” follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men. Featuring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey and Frances McDormand.
Director Sarah Polley of ‘Women Talking’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Sarah Polley îs an actor, director, producer and political activist. Born in Toronto, Canada, and after a series of film and stage roles as a child...
- 10/25/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Viola Davis and Rian Johnson are among those being honored at the 12th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards.
The awards will be held on Nov. 5 at Avalon Hollywood on Vine and writer, actor and comedian Fortune Feimster will host the ceremony, which pays tribute to the brilliant behind-the-camera talent of the year’s most acclaimed films.
Honorees and presenters are selected from films released during the year and/or that qualified and presented at the Cannes, Toronto or Venice film festivals.
Films and creatives to be awarded this year include writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz for “She Said,” presented by Carey Mulligan; “The Woman King ” producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will receive their honors from the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and actor Thuso Mbedu; Taylor Russell will present the award to director Luca Guadagnino for “Bones and All;” set decorator Karen O’Hara for “The Fabelmans,” presented by...
The awards will be held on Nov. 5 at Avalon Hollywood on Vine and writer, actor and comedian Fortune Feimster will host the ceremony, which pays tribute to the brilliant behind-the-camera talent of the year’s most acclaimed films.
Honorees and presenters are selected from films released during the year and/or that qualified and presented at the Cannes, Toronto or Venice film festivals.
Films and creatives to be awarded this year include writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz for “She Said,” presented by Carey Mulligan; “The Woman King ” producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will receive their honors from the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and actor Thuso Mbedu; Taylor Russell will present the award to director Luca Guadagnino for “Bones and All;” set decorator Karen O’Hara for “The Fabelmans,” presented by...
- 10/24/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
The Hamilton watches team is finalizing the honorees and presenters program for the upcoming 12th Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards presented by Los Angeles Confidential magazine.
Set for Nov. 5 at the Avalon Hollywood and hosted by comedian Fortune Feimster, the ceremony will honor creatives and talent from such films as The Woman King, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said and Women Talking, among others.
The roster of honorees and presenters includes She Said writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz who will be feted by the film’s star Carey Mulligan; The Woman King producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will be singled out for their work by the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Thuso Mbedu; Bones and All helmer Luca Guadagnino will be given an award by star Taylor Russell; The Fabelmans set decorator Karen O’Hara...
The Hamilton watches team is finalizing the honorees and presenters program for the upcoming 12th Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards presented by Los Angeles Confidential magazine.
Set for Nov. 5 at the Avalon Hollywood and hosted by comedian Fortune Feimster, the ceremony will honor creatives and talent from such films as The Woman King, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said and Women Talking, among others.
The roster of honorees and presenters includes She Said writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz who will be feted by the film’s star Carey Mulligan; The Woman King producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will be singled out for their work by the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Thuso Mbedu; Bones and All helmer Luca Guadagnino will be given an award by star Taylor Russell; The Fabelmans set decorator Karen O’Hara...
- 10/24/2022
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Could Sarah Polley join the ranks of Jane Campion, Chloe Zhao and Kathryn Bigelow by becoming only the fourth female filmmaker to win an Oscar for directing? Based on the rapturous reception that “Women Talking” received at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday, it certainly seems possible.
Even if that doesn’t happen, the ambitious film, a drama about a group of women in a tight-knit religious community grappling with a legacy of abuse, has put a stake in the ground as the festival’s first slam dunk best picture candidate. In fact, I think it’s going to be a contender across the board.
In a Telluride lineup that is heavy on documentaries and Cannes titles, Polley’s film is one of only four World Premieres for narrative features. But what a launching pad Telluride is shaping up to be for the film and its director, a critical favorite...
Even if that doesn’t happen, the ambitious film, a drama about a group of women in a tight-knit religious community grappling with a legacy of abuse, has put a stake in the ground as the festival’s first slam dunk best picture candidate. In fact, I think it’s going to be a contender across the board.
In a Telluride lineup that is heavy on documentaries and Cannes titles, Polley’s film is one of only four World Premieres for narrative features. But what a launching pad Telluride is shaping up to be for the film and its director, a critical favorite...
- 9/4/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“Women Talking” premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday immediately after a warm tribute to director Sarah Polley, and the response confirmed its Oscar bonafides. However, Polley’s riveting look at a group of Mennonite women who mobilize against the rapists in their community presents a challenge for distributor UA/MGM as its busy ensemble could end up competing with itself.
From the moment that nine actresses from “Women Talking” crowded the stage before the movie’s premiere, it was clear that the movie offered up a wide array of performances. Polley’s absorbing, stripped-down adaptation of Miriam Toews’ novel almost exclusively unfolds in the confines of a barn, where the women in question gather to discuss their options. Having discovered that men in their community have been drugging and raping them in their sleep, they’ve already managed to get a few of them arrested — while the rest...
From the moment that nine actresses from “Women Talking” crowded the stage before the movie’s premiere, it was clear that the movie offered up a wide array of performances. Polley’s absorbing, stripped-down adaptation of Miriam Toews’ novel almost exclusively unfolds in the confines of a barn, where the women in question gather to discuss their options. Having discovered that men in their community have been drugging and raping them in their sleep, they’ve already managed to get a few of them arrested — while the rest...
- 9/3/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
“What follows is an act of female imagination,” declares a tile card at the beginning of Women Talking. It’s an accurate description — the feature is writer-director Sarah Polley’s adaptation of a novel by Miriam Toews, centered on the female members of a Mennonite colony. But those opening words are also a taunt and a challenge: The women are sorting out their response to years of calculated sexual abuse, years in which the male leaders of their sect silenced their complaints by insisting that the horrors they experienced belonged to the realm of demons or the “wild female imagination.”
At the core of Polley’s smart, compassionate film is the belief that in movies and in life, words can be action — and for people who have been denied a voice, they can be revolutionary. The philosophical and sometimes faith-steeped bent of the...
“What follows is an act of female imagination,” declares a tile card at the beginning of Women Talking. It’s an accurate description — the feature is writer-director Sarah Polley’s adaptation of a novel by Miriam Toews, centered on the female members of a Mennonite colony. But those opening words are also a taunt and a challenge: The women are sorting out their response to years of calculated sexual abuse, years in which the male leaders of their sect silenced their complaints by insisting that the horrors they experienced belonged to the realm of demons or the “wild female imagination.”
At the core of Polley’s smart, compassionate film is the belief that in movies and in life, words can be action — and for people who have been denied a voice, they can be revolutionary. The philosophical and sometimes faith-steeped bent of the...
- 9/3/2022
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cinematographer Luc Montpellier is no stranger to complicated television dramas. “Counterpart,” though, posed a new challenge for the camera department vet, as the Starz series featured parallel worlds that each had their own looks and rules, as well as inhabitants that were doubles of each other and therefore required the same actors to play opposite themselves in a scene. Because of how complicated the story already was, Montpellier says that the show’s production tried to “keep it as simple as possible.”
How did you decide on which color schemes to use to differentiate between the worlds?
On the other side … things are a lot more clinical and slightly cooler — and more medical and sterile. As opposed to our side, which is a lot warmer and familiar. It became earth versus cooler tones in a very subtle way when it came to wardrobe, lights, everything.
How hard is that to light without getting repetitive?...
How did you decide on which color schemes to use to differentiate between the worlds?
On the other side … things are a lot more clinical and slightly cooler — and more medical and sterile. As opposed to our side, which is a lot warmer and familiar. It became earth versus cooler tones in a very subtle way when it came to wardrobe, lights, everything.
How hard is that to light without getting repetitive?...
- 6/4/2018
- by Whitney Friedlander
- Variety Film + TV
Inexorable Void: Nada’s Latest an Ineffectively Staged Political Thriller
Following a quietly effective 2009 romantic drama, Cairo Time, which featured a touching and gently handled love affair between a luminous Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig, director Ruba Nadda returns to a setting of Middle Eastern intrigue, this time for a politically tinged thriller with maybe even a hint of espionage. Unfortunately, what begins as a promisingly rich thriller focusing on the prickly dynamics of Syria’s governmental and historical baggage, quickly reduces itself to a joyless exercise in prevailing generality, which the film’s banal tagline even prophesies for us with its warning that “You can’t escape your past.”
Opening nearly immediately with a tizzy inducing scenario, we briefly get a glimpse of Adib Abdul-Kareem’s (Alexander Siddig) comfortable life as an operations manager at a Toronto bank before he discovers that his elder daughter, Muna (Jan Anstey), a...
Following a quietly effective 2009 romantic drama, Cairo Time, which featured a touching and gently handled love affair between a luminous Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig, director Ruba Nadda returns to a setting of Middle Eastern intrigue, this time for a politically tinged thriller with maybe even a hint of espionage. Unfortunately, what begins as a promisingly rich thriller focusing on the prickly dynamics of Syria’s governmental and historical baggage, quickly reduces itself to a joyless exercise in prevailing generality, which the film’s banal tagline even prophesies for us with its warning that “You can’t escape your past.”
Opening nearly immediately with a tizzy inducing scenario, we briefly get a glimpse of Adib Abdul-Kareem’s (Alexander Siddig) comfortable life as an operations manager at a Toronto bank before he discovers that his elder daughter, Muna (Jan Anstey), a...
- 2/23/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Despite a reasonably active acting career, Sarah Polley has put together quite an elegant little list of writing/directing credits for her already lengthy resume. Last year, her film Take This Waltz debuted at Tiff and continued on the festival circuit garnering rave reviews all along its travels. A vibrant romantic drama, Polley’s picture employs Seth Rogan, Luke Kirby and Michelle Williams to explore what it means to be in a long term relationship and our inherent human attraction to newness and the things we can not have. And though chock-full of red hot chemistry and openhearted connection, the film is one of warning. Sometimes relationships need time to evolve, as giving in to temptation won’t always make you a happier person.
At the onset of Polley’s plot, Margot (Williams) has yet to learn this lesson. She’s become bored in her 5 year marriage to Lou (Rogan), a stay-at-home cook book writer.
At the onset of Polley’s plot, Margot (Williams) has yet to learn this lesson. She’s become bored in her 5 year marriage to Lou (Rogan), a stay-at-home cook book writer.
- 11/1/2012
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Take This Waltz
Directed by Sarah Polley
Written by Sarah Polley
Canada, 2011
Take This Waltz is an excellent example of a movie with actors talented enough to make its flaws seem less vexing than they might have been otherwise. Sarah Polley, the writer-director of this mildly quirky domestic drama, is a surer hand behind the camera than she is with the script, which attempts constant realism despite being frequently frustrating. Luckily, she’s boosted by a superlative cast including Michelle Williams, Luke Kirby, Seth Rogen, and Sarah Silverman, of all people. Take This Waltz is compelling at times, but it’s too enervating to make an impact.
Williams is Margot, a freelance writer stuck working on a travel blog. One day, while on location, she meets Daniel (Kirby), with whom she has an immediate, flirtatious connection. The trouble is, she’s married. The (slightly implausible) double trouble is, Daniel turns...
Directed by Sarah Polley
Written by Sarah Polley
Canada, 2011
Take This Waltz is an excellent example of a movie with actors talented enough to make its flaws seem less vexing than they might have been otherwise. Sarah Polley, the writer-director of this mildly quirky domestic drama, is a surer hand behind the camera than she is with the script, which attempts constant realism despite being frequently frustrating. Luckily, she’s boosted by a superlative cast including Michelle Williams, Luke Kirby, Seth Rogen, and Sarah Silverman, of all people. Take This Waltz is compelling at times, but it’s too enervating to make an impact.
Williams is Margot, a freelance writer stuck working on a travel blog. One day, while on location, she meets Daniel (Kirby), with whom she has an immediate, flirtatious connection. The trouble is, she’s married. The (slightly implausible) double trouble is, Daniel turns...
- 7/13/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Today, audiences have the ability to check out all the latest releases from the comfort of their own home. The world of indie film has especially benefited, giving viewers the chance to watch buzzed-about movies that can only afford to play in a handful of theaters. This week, Moviefone offers a special look at the world of indie cinema, with the release of "Take This Waltz." "Take This Waltz" Starring: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Luke Kirby Directed By: Sarah Polley What's It About? Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen play Margot and Lou, a happily married young couple living a hip life in Toronto, Canada. For Lou, everything seems to be going perfectly, but during a weekend business trip, Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), a handsome and witty artist, who just happens to be their next-door neighbor. "Take This Waltz" explores the complicated relationship that develops between the three...
- 6/28/2012
- by Eric Larnick
- Moviefone
Following our looks at actors, actresses, screenwriters and directors to watch in recent months, when the time came to put together a list of cinematographers (as we did two years ago), we went in with an open mind. But what was interesting is realizing, after the fact, that in an era where 35mm film is allegedly being phased out, that all five have done perhaps their most distinctive work on old-fashioned celluloid, rather than digital.
All have worked in digital of course, at least in the commercial world, and some have done hugely impressive work on new formats. But most of our five are fierce advocates for good 'ol 35mm, and it's another sign that the death knell shouldn't be rung for the old ways just yet. As long as there are talented DoPs like the ones below, and on the following pages, working closely with filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson,...
All have worked in digital of course, at least in the commercial world, and some have done hugely impressive work on new formats. But most of our five are fierce advocates for good 'ol 35mm, and it's another sign that the death knell shouldn't be rung for the old ways just yet. As long as there are talented DoPs like the ones below, and on the following pages, working closely with filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson,...
- 6/26/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
The Toronto International Film Festival's new Tiff New Wave Film Festival -- running May 10-12, 2012 -- announced the films selected for the Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase, as well as the programming for the Jump Cuts Talent Lab, a new addition to the festival designed to "foster the creativity and industry acumen of the next generation of filmmakers." Taking place on May 12th and open to youth in grades 9 through 12, the Jump Cuts Talent Lab will offer participants "the unparalleled opportunity to engage and learn from Jump Cuts Alumni and industry professionals," including Genie-nominated producer Anneli Ekborn; cinematographer Luc Montpellier (Take This Waltz, Saddest Music in the World); and Slater Jewell-Kemker, 2011 Jump Cuts winner. As noted, also announced were the finalists for the Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase, which will award prizes in animation, fiction, experimental, and documentary genres. Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers...
- 4/17/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
One film that is quietly winning over the members of the Playlist as we all catch up with it is Sarah Polley's romantic drama "Take This Waltz." It already won over our man at Tiff James Rocchi who called it "a modernist version of a late '60s or early '70s relationship film" that delivers "a knockout punch." And now, a new trailer has arrived offering another strong and compelling look at the film.
The film stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen as a young couple who struggle with monogamy and fidelity, as the former is torn between her husband and a new man played by Luke Kirby. Shot and set in Polley's native Toronto, you can feel her familiarity on her home turf which gives the film a particularly personalized feel. And while we have a few minor quibbles overall, the gorgeous lensing by cinematographer Luc Montpellier...
The film stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen as a young couple who struggle with monogamy and fidelity, as the former is torn between her husband and a new man played by Luke Kirby. Shot and set in Polley's native Toronto, you can feel her familiarity on her home turf which gives the film a particularly personalized feel. And while we have a few minor quibbles overall, the gorgeous lensing by cinematographer Luc Montpellier...
- 4/4/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
We’ve learned two more casting details for Ruba Nadda‘s Inescapable, as THR reports Saad Siddiqui and Oded Fehr have joined Maria Tomei, Joshua Jackson and Alexander Siddig for the romance drama.
Siddig is set to portray a “Syrian expatriate whose journalist daughter goes missing in Damascus.” He enlists his former love (Tomei) as well as an embassy official (Jackson), who may end up having his own agenda. Nadda recently directed the 2009 film Cairo Time, which also starred Siddig. Daniel Iron and Lance Samuels are set to produce the thriller, with Luc Montpellier leading as cinematographer.
Aside from having some small roles in various TV shows over the past few years, Siddiqui hasn’t really had much exposure for bigger projects, which means that this could be a decent break for him if he ends up playing a relatively big character. And you may remember Fehr as the vindictive...
Siddig is set to portray a “Syrian expatriate whose journalist daughter goes missing in Damascus.” He enlists his former love (Tomei) as well as an embassy official (Jackson), who may end up having his own agenda. Nadda recently directed the 2009 film Cairo Time, which also starred Siddig. Daniel Iron and Lance Samuels are set to produce the thriller, with Luc Montpellier leading as cinematographer.
Aside from having some small roles in various TV shows over the past few years, Siddiqui hasn’t really had much exposure for bigger projects, which means that this could be a decent break for him if he ends up playing a relatively big character. And you may remember Fehr as the vindictive...
- 2/20/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Chicago – “Cairo Time” may be a serene and intricately nuanced romance between an American woman (Patricia Clarkson) and an Arab man (Alexander Siddig) in Cairo. But behind the cameras, the atmosphere felt more like an action movie, as filmmakers outwitted government censors by finding endless creative ways to capture their desired footage, in the midst of a bustling city that was largely out of their control.
HollywoodChicago.com spoke with “Cairo Time” writer/director Ruba Nadda about her passion for exploring her Arab heritage, her mind-boggling production hurdles, and why filmmaking has become a family affair for her.
HollywoodChicago.com: Your first feature, “Sabah,” was about an Arab immigrant in Toronto, whereas “Cairo Time” is about an American in Cairo. What draws you to exploring these cultural juxtapositions?
Ruba Nadda: It’s funny because it only dawned on me afterwards when I was like, “Oh this is kind of...
HollywoodChicago.com spoke with “Cairo Time” writer/director Ruba Nadda about her passion for exploring her Arab heritage, her mind-boggling production hurdles, and why filmmaking has become a family affair for her.
HollywoodChicago.com: Your first feature, “Sabah,” was about an Arab immigrant in Toronto, whereas “Cairo Time” is about an American in Cairo. What draws you to exploring these cultural juxtapositions?
Ruba Nadda: It’s funny because it only dawned on me afterwards when I was like, “Oh this is kind of...
- 12/3/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – While “Sex and the City 2” and “Eat Pray Love” failed to impress their female target audience this summer, a small art house treasure flew under practically everyone’s radar. It brilliantly delivered precisely what moviegoers expected from those mainstream turkeys, without a trace of cultural insensitivity or superficial excess. That film was “Cairo Time,” and it deserves to be discovered on the small screen.
Though I was careful not to overpraise this lovely morsel of a film during its initial release, it’s clear that “Cairo” is one of the year’s most under-appreciated gems. Arab Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda specializes in small-scale, intricately nuanced dramas, often featuring a romance between characters with different religious backgrounds, one of them being Islamic. Yet Nadda isn’t interested in pushing any incendiary buttons. If anything, her films break down cultural barriers by allowing their characters to connect on a human...
Though I was careful not to overpraise this lovely morsel of a film during its initial release, it’s clear that “Cairo” is one of the year’s most under-appreciated gems. Arab Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda specializes in small-scale, intricately nuanced dramas, often featuring a romance between characters with different religious backgrounds, one of them being Islamic. Yet Nadda isn’t interested in pushing any incendiary buttons. If anything, her films break down cultural barriers by allowing their characters to connect on a human...
- 12/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Toronto -- Sarah Polley's heart just isn't in it. The Canadian actress-turned-director on Tuesday withdrew her name from "The Heart," a two-minute film she shot on female cardiac health to air this Sunday on Canadian broadcaster CTV's nationwide telecast of the Academy Awards.
Polley said she pulled her credit from the Oscar short after she learned that the project from Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation might indirectly market the Unilever brand margarine Becel.
"In December 2009, I made a film to be aired during the Academy Awards that I believed was to promote the Heart and Stroke Foundation," Polley said in a statement Tuesday.
Polley said she was initially thrilled to be associated with a film for the medical research charity. But her anti-corporate radar was raised when Polley learned that Becel commissioned the short.
"I have since learned that my film is also being used to promote a product.
Polley said she pulled her credit from the Oscar short after she learned that the project from Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation might indirectly market the Unilever brand margarine Becel.
"In December 2009, I made a film to be aired during the Academy Awards that I believed was to promote the Heart and Stroke Foundation," Polley said in a statement Tuesday.
Polley said she was initially thrilled to be associated with a film for the medical research charity. But her anti-corporate radar was raised when Polley learned that Becel commissioned the short.
"I have since learned that my film is also being used to promote a product.
- 3/2/2010
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- I guess you couldn't ask for anything more than a quality cast and the backing from competent producers if you are in the shoes of Canadian-born filmmaker Ruba Nadda. Screen Daily reports that Patricia Clarkson (Elegy) has boarded the project with co-stars Alexander Siddig (Un homme perdu), Elena Anaya (Savage Grace) and Tom McCamus set for filming. Cairo Time sees Clarkson play a woman (really?) who arrives in Cairo to meet her husband (McCamus) only to be told he is unavoidably delayed in Gaza and has in turn sent his friend (Siddig), a retired Egyptian police officer, to pick her up. The brief love affair that follows catches them both completely off guard. Executive produced by indie vets Christina Vachon and Charles Pugliese of Killer Films, and produced by Ireland's David Collins of Samson Films (Once) and the personable Daniel Iron of Foundry Films (Away From Her, Manufactured Landscapes
- 6/18/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
IFC Films
Rhombus Media, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Ego Film Arts
PARK CITY -- "The Saddest Music in the World" operates on the margins of cinema. This exercise in style and tongue-in-cheek melodrama from Canada's iconoclastic Guy Maddin will be lionized by admirers for its audacity, but will wear thin for many audience members, who will find it tedious and repetitive.
There is, however, no denying the talent on display: A surrealist whirl of crackpot, Depression-era characters, expressionistic sets, glimmering cinematography and musical numbers satirizing old Hollywood musicals, "The Saddest Music" is the work of a filmmaker in total control of his craft.
Set in Winnipeg in 1933, the film is designed to look like a movie made in that year but now in desperate need of restoration. Maddin and cinematographer Luc Montpellier shoot in a filtered, grainy black-and-white where the whites shine and the blacks grow increasingly unstable. Rickety construction of the obviously fake sets of a snow-bound town nicely mimic the B-movies of that era.
The story is a madcap tale of a double-amputee beer baroness (Isabella Rossellini), who finances a global competition to select the saddest music in the world. Pouring into town to compete for a gargantuan $25,000 prize are mariachi bands and Scottish bagpipers and the three male members of the local, downtrodden Kent clan, all of whom are secretly connected to the baroness.
Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) returns from the United States where his career as a theatrical impresario has come to a dead end. His eternal optimism is buoyed by a lover (Maria de Medeiros), who suffers from amnesia and nymphomania. His brooding estranged brother Roderick Ross McMillan) claims to represent Serbia, while spending most of his time mourning his long-lost wife and son. Their father Fyodor (David Fox), an alcoholic ex-surgeon, is determined to sing "Red Maple Leaves" for Canada.
When Roderick realizes his brother's lover is actually his wife, all hell breaks loose as the various bands play on, the winner of each round getting dumped into a huge vat of beer.
Rossellini, McKinney and the rest of the cast give spirited performances that are often over the top but that is what's required. The screenplay by Maddin and George Toles, based oddly enough on an old script by acclaimed novelist Kazujo Ishiguro, falls somewhere between spoof and satire but it's never entirely clear what is being mocked. Old movies? Winnipeg?
A viewer takes in this circus of bizarre characters and absurdist images -- the baroness at one point is given a pair of beer-filled glass legs -- with an appreciation for the inventiveness, but a wish that one might be more involved or at least entertained by the stylistic workout.
Rhombus Media, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Ego Film Arts
PARK CITY -- "The Saddest Music in the World" operates on the margins of cinema. This exercise in style and tongue-in-cheek melodrama from Canada's iconoclastic Guy Maddin will be lionized by admirers for its audacity, but will wear thin for many audience members, who will find it tedious and repetitive.
There is, however, no denying the talent on display: A surrealist whirl of crackpot, Depression-era characters, expressionistic sets, glimmering cinematography and musical numbers satirizing old Hollywood musicals, "The Saddest Music" is the work of a filmmaker in total control of his craft.
Set in Winnipeg in 1933, the film is designed to look like a movie made in that year but now in desperate need of restoration. Maddin and cinematographer Luc Montpellier shoot in a filtered, grainy black-and-white where the whites shine and the blacks grow increasingly unstable. Rickety construction of the obviously fake sets of a snow-bound town nicely mimic the B-movies of that era.
The story is a madcap tale of a double-amputee beer baroness (Isabella Rossellini), who finances a global competition to select the saddest music in the world. Pouring into town to compete for a gargantuan $25,000 prize are mariachi bands and Scottish bagpipers and the three male members of the local, downtrodden Kent clan, all of whom are secretly connected to the baroness.
Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) returns from the United States where his career as a theatrical impresario has come to a dead end. His eternal optimism is buoyed by a lover (Maria de Medeiros), who suffers from amnesia and nymphomania. His brooding estranged brother Roderick Ross McMillan) claims to represent Serbia, while spending most of his time mourning his long-lost wife and son. Their father Fyodor (David Fox), an alcoholic ex-surgeon, is determined to sing "Red Maple Leaves" for Canada.
When Roderick realizes his brother's lover is actually his wife, all hell breaks loose as the various bands play on, the winner of each round getting dumped into a huge vat of beer.
Rossellini, McKinney and the rest of the cast give spirited performances that are often over the top but that is what's required. The screenplay by Maddin and George Toles, based oddly enough on an old script by acclaimed novelist Kazujo Ishiguro, falls somewhere between spoof and satire but it's never entirely clear what is being mocked. Old movies? Winnipeg?
A viewer takes in this circus of bizarre characters and absurdist images -- the baroness at one point is given a pair of beer-filled glass legs -- with an appreciation for the inventiveness, but a wish that one might be more involved or at least entertained by the stylistic workout.
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