Exclusive: Trailblazing Pakistani movie Joyland has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Oscilloscope.
After becoming the first Pakistani movie to debut at Cannes, where it was awarded the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category, and the Queer Palm, the film made more history by becoming Pakistan’s first film to make the Academy longlist for Best International Feature.
Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, and executive-produced by Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Ramin Bahrani and Jemima Khan, the film charts the story of the youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family who takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque. He quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show. Starring are Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq and Alina Khan.
Oscilloscope is planning a traditional theatrical release for the film later this year. WME Independent handled domestic rights and brokered the...
After becoming the first Pakistani movie to debut at Cannes, where it was awarded the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category, and the Queer Palm, the film made more history by becoming Pakistan’s first film to make the Academy longlist for Best International Feature.
Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, and executive-produced by Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Ramin Bahrani and Jemima Khan, the film charts the story of the youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family who takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque. He quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show. Starring are Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq and Alina Khan.
Oscilloscope is planning a traditional theatrical release for the film later this year. WME Independent handled domestic rights and brokered the...
- 1/6/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Malala Yousafzai, who heads her own film and TV production company, Extracurricular Productions, is joining “Joyland,” Pakistan’s Oscar submission in the international feature category, as an executive producer.
The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year where it won the jury prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand. It subsequently had its North American premiere at Toronto.
It is currently playing at both the BFI London Film Festival, where it is competing for the Sutherland Award, which recognizes the most original and imaginative directorial debut, and the Busan International Film Festival, where it is in the A Window on Asian Cinema strand.
The tale of sexual revolt sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
Yousafzai said: “I...
The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year where it won the jury prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand. It subsequently had its North American premiere at Toronto.
It is currently playing at both the BFI London Film Festival, where it is competing for the Sutherland Award, which recognizes the most original and imaginative directorial debut, and the Busan International Film Festival, where it is in the A Window on Asian Cinema strand.
The tale of sexual revolt sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
Yousafzai said: “I...
- 10/5/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Saim Sadiq’s feature debut, “Joyland,” returns to the world of erotic theater that he explored in his 2019 Venice and SXSW winner “Darling.”
“Joyland” will premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Caméra d’Or.
The tale of sexual revolution sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
Sadiq drew inspiration from his own family and a theater close to his home in Lahore. “I came from a very morally upright, middle-class conservative family, and to find out that this other world exists, literally like a 10-minute drive from my house, that I never knew of. It’s so different, the world of the theater, where sexuality is not...
“Joyland” will premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Caméra d’Or.
The tale of sexual revolution sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
Sadiq drew inspiration from his own family and a theater close to his home in Lahore. “I came from a very morally upright, middle-class conservative family, and to find out that this other world exists, literally like a 10-minute drive from my house, that I never knew of. It’s so different, the world of the theater, where sexuality is not...
- 5/22/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Condor has picked up French rights to Saim Sadiq’s drama “Joyland” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Caméra d’Or.
Film Constellation is representing international sales rights. WME Independent is representing North American rights.
Sadiq’s debut feature centers on the extended patriarchal Ranas family, who yearn for the birth of another boy. Meanwhile, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.
Condor’s slate also includes Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part I & II,” Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow,” Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter,” Kogonada’s “After Yang,” and Sundance 2022 Grand Jury Prize winner “Utama” by Alejandro Loayza Grisi.
Condor’s Alexis Mas said:...
Film Constellation is representing international sales rights. WME Independent is representing North American rights.
Sadiq’s debut feature centers on the extended patriarchal Ranas family, who yearn for the birth of another boy. Meanwhile, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.
Condor’s slate also includes Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part I & II,” Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow,” Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter,” Kogonada’s “After Yang,” and Sundance 2022 Grand Jury Prize winner “Utama” by Alejandro Loayza Grisi.
Condor’s Alexis Mas said:...
- 5/11/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Film Constellation, a U.K- and France-based sales firm, has been appointed to handle international rights for “Joyland,” which is set to be the first Pakistan-made film in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival. Sales duties will be shared with WME Independent, which is is representing North American rights.
The tale of sexual revolution sees a happily patriarchal joint family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
The film is the feature debut of writer and director Saim Sadiq, whose previous short film “Darling” won the Orizzonti Best Short Film award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and was acquired for worldwide distribution by Focus Features.
The film stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed. Cinematography is by Joe Saade.
The tale of sexual revolution sees a happily patriarchal joint family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
The film is the feature debut of writer and director Saim Sadiq, whose previous short film “Darling” won the Orizzonti Best Short Film award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and was acquired for worldwide distribution by Focus Features.
The film stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed. Cinematography is by Joe Saade.
- 4/22/2022
- by Patrick Frater and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
German director Uli Edel (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”) is set to direct “Heisenberg,” an adaptation of Richard von Schirach’s historical book “The Night of the Physicists: Operation Epsilon: Heisenberg, Hahn, Weizsäcker and the German Bomb,” about the team of German physicists who tried to develop the atom bomb for Germany during World War II.
Munich-based companies Kj Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment are teaming up with Film Manufacturers Inc. (Fmi) in New York to co-produce “Heisenberg” from a script by Marco Wiersch (“Der Fall Barschel”).
Published in Germany in 2012, von Schirach’s book traces the efforts of Germany’s top physicists to develop an atomic bomb for the Nazi government during the war. Arrested by the Allies in the spring of 1945, the scientists first hear of the U.S. attack on Hiroshima while detained in a country house near Cambridge.
“The Night of the Physicists” is described as “the story...
Munich-based companies Kj Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment are teaming up with Film Manufacturers Inc. (Fmi) in New York to co-produce “Heisenberg” from a script by Marco Wiersch (“Der Fall Barschel”).
Published in Germany in 2012, von Schirach’s book traces the efforts of Germany’s top physicists to develop an atomic bomb for the Nazi government during the war. Arrested by the Allies in the spring of 1945, the scientists first hear of the U.S. attack on Hiroshima while detained in a country house near Cambridge.
“The Night of the Physicists” is described as “the story...
- 3/6/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
In a 2016 New York Times profile of A-list event wrangler Peggy Siegal, Alex Williams wrote, “On her way to meet an old friend, John Travolta, at her party for his new FX mini-series, ‘The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,’ at Monkey Bar, it seemed clear that Ms. Siegal is in no hurry to leave the social pinnacle she spent a lifetime clawing to reach.” Now, after three decades, her association with accused sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein has pushed the 72-year-old social hostess off that peak: Variety reports that Annapurna, Netflix, and FX have pulled their accounts.
Siegal has singular skills when it comes to mixing and matching the lists of New York’s elite movers and shakers across all social sectors — literary, media, art, finance, and entertainment. She works hard to set up lunches, dinners, screenings, and parties attended by some 800 New York-area Academy members.
However, somehow...
Siegal has singular skills when it comes to mixing and matching the lists of New York’s elite movers and shakers across all social sectors — literary, media, art, finance, and entertainment. She works hard to set up lunches, dinners, screenings, and parties attended by some 800 New York-area Academy members.
However, somehow...
- 7/23/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
In a 2016 New York Times profile of A-list event wrangler Peggy Siegal, Alex Williams wrote, “On her way to meet an old friend, John Travolta, at her party for his new FX mini-series, ‘The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,’ at Monkey Bar, it seemed clear that Ms. Siegal is in no hurry to leave the social pinnacle she spent a lifetime clawing to reach.” Now, after three decades, her association with accused sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein has pushed the 72-year-old social hostess off that peak: Variety reports that Annapurna, Netflix, and FX have pulled their accounts.
Siegal has singular skills when it comes to mixing and matching the lists of New York’s elite movers and shakers across all social sectors — literary, media, art, finance, and entertainment. She works hard to set up lunches, dinners, screenings, and parties attended by some 800 New York-area Academy members.
However, somehow...
Siegal has singular skills when it comes to mixing and matching the lists of New York’s elite movers and shakers across all social sectors — literary, media, art, finance, and entertainment. She works hard to set up lunches, dinners, screenings, and parties attended by some 800 New York-area Academy members.
However, somehow...
- 7/23/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Screen tests no longer mean anything to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. For his German entry for Oscar consideration, “Never Look Away,” he chose the young actor Tom Schilling despite bad auditions. “He’s a sensitive, shy person,” von Donnersmarck explained. “Because he was the ‘it boy’ in Germany everybody was against him. But I knew when I met him he was different.” But the difference wasn’t immediately evident. The young man described by the director as a German “Ryan Gosling with a little bit of James McAvoy” wasn’t getting it across in the screen tests. Yes, that’s plural.
“I did seven days of tests. He was frustrated. On the last day it still wasn’t there.” That would have been the end for any other actor. But after the last test Schilling did something that helped sway the director. “He gave me a letter saying, ‘I know what you’re looking for.
“I did seven days of tests. He was frustrated. On the last day it still wasn’t there.” That would have been the end for any other actor. But after the last test Schilling did something that helped sway the director. “He gave me a letter saying, ‘I know what you’re looking for.
- 11/27/2018
- by Bill McCuddy
- Gold Derby
The Academy will announce its list of Oscar-eligible documentaries this week, a field that counted just 82 entries in 2005; last year, there were 124. And along with this growth comes a new attribute for the much-admired/often ignored genre: Power.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
- 10/24/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Academy will announce its list of Oscar-eligible documentaries this week, a field that counted just 82 entries in 2005; last year, there were 124. And along with this growth comes a new attribute for the much-admired/often ignored genre: Power.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the balliwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the balliwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
- 10/24/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Documentary about renowned photographer has gone to multiple territories.
UK documentary specialist Dogwoof has struck several deals on Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures as the Cannes Marché kicks off.
The documentary about the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe has gone to Germany and Australia (Kool Films), Switzerland (Cineworx), Hong Kong (Edko), South Korea (Aud) and Hungary (Cinefil).
The company previously closed deals at Efm for Scandinavia, Baltics and Iceland (Non Stop Entertainment) and Italy (Wanted).
Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, and produced by Katharina Otto-Bernstein, the film coincides with two landmark retrospectives of Mapplethorpe’s work.
Also on Dogwoof’s Cannes slate are Louise Osmond’s Ken Loach doc Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach, and Alma Har’el’s fever-doc LoveTrue, which is executive produced by Shia Labeouf.
Read Screen’s Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures review.
UK documentary specialist Dogwoof has struck several deals on Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures as the Cannes Marché kicks off.
The documentary about the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe has gone to Germany and Australia (Kool Films), Switzerland (Cineworx), Hong Kong (Edko), South Korea (Aud) and Hungary (Cinefil).
The company previously closed deals at Efm for Scandinavia, Baltics and Iceland (Non Stop Entertainment) and Italy (Wanted).
Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, and produced by Katharina Otto-Bernstein, the film coincides with two landmark retrospectives of Mapplethorpe’s work.
Also on Dogwoof’s Cannes slate are Louise Osmond’s Ken Loach doc Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach, and Alma Har’el’s fever-doc LoveTrue, which is executive produced by Shia Labeouf.
Read Screen’s Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures review.
- 5/11/2016
- ScreenDaily
At January's Sundance Film Festival, many people went to see Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's documentary "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures" freighted with expectations. Now the well-reviewed portrait of the artist is finally airing on HBO, as several major exhibitions of his art are on view at the La County and Getty museums as well as Norway and the U.K. Several questions raised by the documentary—like, where was Patti Smith, who memorably wrote her memoir "Just Kids" for her first big love?— are answered below by New York producer and art expert Katharina Otto-Bernstein ("Absolute Wilson"), whose Film Manufacturers Inc. backs international narrative and documentaries. Still in the works: Matt Smith of Doctor Who fame is set to play Mapplethorpe in Ondi Timoner's feature starring Zosia Mamet ("Girls") as Patti Smith. Watch: Exclusive Clip of HBO Mapplethorpe...
- 4/5/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Meru directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi with Tom Brokaw Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Sundance Audience Award winner and Sheffield Doc/Fest selection Meru was honored with a lunch hosted by Meredith Brokaw, Tom Brokaw, Austin Hearst and Doc NYC 2015's new Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Barbara Kopple at the 21 Club, organised by Peggy Siegal. Meru composer J. Ralph, who also worked on Orlando von Einsiedel's Oscar nominated Virunga, Bob Eisenhardt, who was also the editor of HBO's Everything Is Copy, directed by Jacob Bernstein on his mother Nora Ephron, which had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival , were at the lunch and discussion. Jean Doumanian, a producer of John Wells' wild and furious August: Osage County, documentarian Alexandra Pelosi, director/playwright Israel Horowitz, Absolute Wilson director/producer Katharina Otto-Bernstein and Wendy Ettinger, Chicken & Egg Pictures founder, were among the guests.
Peggy Siegal introduces Tom Brokaw...
Sundance Audience Award winner and Sheffield Doc/Fest selection Meru was honored with a lunch hosted by Meredith Brokaw, Tom Brokaw, Austin Hearst and Doc NYC 2015's new Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Barbara Kopple at the 21 Club, organised by Peggy Siegal. Meru composer J. Ralph, who also worked on Orlando von Einsiedel's Oscar nominated Virunga, Bob Eisenhardt, who was also the editor of HBO's Everything Is Copy, directed by Jacob Bernstein on his mother Nora Ephron, which had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival , were at the lunch and discussion. Jean Doumanian, a producer of John Wells' wild and furious August: Osage County, documentarian Alexandra Pelosi, director/playwright Israel Horowitz, Absolute Wilson director/producer Katharina Otto-Bernstein and Wendy Ettinger, Chicken & Egg Pictures founder, were among the guests.
Peggy Siegal introduces Tom Brokaw...
- 11/2/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Other winners include Venice title Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me and documentary Rabin In His Own Words.
Elad Keidan’s debut feature Afterthought (Hayored Lemaala) was crowned Best Israeli Film at this year’s Haifa Film Festival (Sept 26-Oct 5).
London-based Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf presided over the jury that included Karlovy Vary artistic director Karel Och, MoMA’s former cinema curator Laurence Kardish, Israeli cinematographer-director-actress Yvonne Miklosh and director Julie Schlez.
Screened earlier this year in Cannes’ Special Screenings section, the film is a metaphor of Israel today, focusing on two characters, one going up and the other down the staircases crisscrossing Haifa’s Mount Carmel and was entirely shot on location in the city.
Back from Venice’s Horizons section, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me (Lama Azavtani), a gloomy portrait of a city slum and of a teenager living on the fringes of society who desperately tries to find his own identity, gained director...
Elad Keidan’s debut feature Afterthought (Hayored Lemaala) was crowned Best Israeli Film at this year’s Haifa Film Festival (Sept 26-Oct 5).
London-based Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf presided over the jury that included Karlovy Vary artistic director Karel Och, MoMA’s former cinema curator Laurence Kardish, Israeli cinematographer-director-actress Yvonne Miklosh and director Julie Schlez.
Screened earlier this year in Cannes’ Special Screenings section, the film is a metaphor of Israel today, focusing on two characters, one going up and the other down the staircases crisscrossing Haifa’s Mount Carmel and was entirely shot on location in the city.
Back from Venice’s Horizons section, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me (Lama Azavtani), a gloomy portrait of a city slum and of a teenager living on the fringes of society who desperately tries to find his own identity, gained director...
- 10/5/2015
- by dfainaru@netvision.net.il (Edna Fainaru)
- ScreenDaily
Yes, I am hocking my first book, "The $11 Billion Year: From Sundance to the Oscars, an Inside Look at the Changing Hollywood System," which puts the industry under the microscope as I look at the hits and misses of 2012, laying out the current movie ecosystem. After the Oscars, first stop was New York City, where Peggy Siegal and documentarian Katharina Otto ("Absolute Wilson") threw a fantasy book party hosted by Eamonn Bowles, Bruce Cohen, Alex Gibney and James Schamus, among others. I was delighted that so many of my old friends came, from my Premiere pals James Meigs and Glenn Kenny and EW's Mark Harris and Owen Gleiberman, to recent Lincoln Center Film Society chief Rose Kuo, distributors Bob and Jeanne Berney, Ira Deutchman, and Daniel Battsek, producers Christine Vachon and Ed Pressman, critics Molly Haskell and Annette Insdorf, and MoMA's Rajendra Roy and Dave Kehr. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady...
- 3/14/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
CANNES -- Germany's Kino Welt has acquired worldwide rights, excluding North America, to director Katharina Otto-Bernstein's documentary Absolute Wilson. The film has been picked up in the U.S. by New Yorker Films for theatrical release -- it will open in the fall -- and HBO has acquired the television rights. The docu is a portrait of groundbreaking theater and opera director Robert Wilson. It chronicles his childhood struggle with learning disabilities and his subsequent rise to fame. International publishing house Prestel will release a book based on the docu and authored by the filmmaker.
- 5/22/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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