Latvian director Viesturs Kairiss, who won the international narrative competition at the Tribeca Film Festival last year with his coming-of-age drama “January,” is prepping his next feature film.
“Ulya” is based on the real-life story of Ulyana Semjonova, a girl raised in the Latvian countryside who reaches a height of seven feet and would go on to become a famous professional basketball player.
Set in the 1970s in Latvia, which was then part of the Soviet Union, the film follows its titular heroine from the time she leaves the countryside at the age of 14 and travels to Riga to play basketball. Kairiss described that as a “crucial stage” in Semjonova’s life, as her body was undergoing dramatic — and traumatic — changes for a teenage girl, while she also began to learn how to overcome adversity and, through basketball, find her place in life.
Kairiss said the film was an homage...
“Ulya” is based on the real-life story of Ulyana Semjonova, a girl raised in the Latvian countryside who reaches a height of seven feet and would go on to become a famous professional basketball player.
Set in the 1970s in Latvia, which was then part of the Soviet Union, the film follows its titular heroine from the time she leaves the countryside at the age of 14 and travels to Riga to play basketball. Kairiss described that as a “crucial stage” in Semjonova’s life, as her body was undergoing dramatic — and traumatic — changes for a teenage girl, while she also began to learn how to overcome adversity and, through basketball, find her place in life.
Kairiss said the film was an homage...
- 2/17/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
LevelK has boarded “Kalev,” Ove Musting’s political sports drama which represents Estonia in the Oscar race. The banner is international sales on the film.
“Kalev,” which will kick off the Baltic section at Tallinn Black Nights, had its local release in Estonia on Sept. 22 and has so far sold 105,000 tickets.
Inspired by a true story, the film is set during the summer of 1990. The Soviet Union is on the verge of collapsing and Baltic nations are struggling to regain independence. Against this political upheaval, the Soviet Union`s basketball championship is about to begin. The Estonian team, named Kalev, has to make a difficult decision as it faces calls to withdraw from the high profile sports event.
“Kalev” boasts a strong ensemble cast including Mait Malmsten (“Your Honor!”), Priit Võigemast (“Dawn of War”), Reimo Sagor(“Take It or Leave It”) and Mihkel Kuusk(“Maria’s Paradise”).
The film marks...
“Kalev,” which will kick off the Baltic section at Tallinn Black Nights, had its local release in Estonia on Sept. 22 and has so far sold 105,000 tickets.
Inspired by a true story, the film is set during the summer of 1990. The Soviet Union is on the verge of collapsing and Baltic nations are struggling to regain independence. Against this political upheaval, the Soviet Union`s basketball championship is about to begin. The Estonian team, named Kalev, has to make a difficult decision as it faces calls to withdraw from the high profile sports event.
“Kalev” boasts a strong ensemble cast including Mait Malmsten (“Your Honor!”), Priit Võigemast (“Dawn of War”), Reimo Sagor(“Take It or Leave It”) and Mihkel Kuusk(“Maria’s Paradise”).
The film marks...
- 11/14/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Kalev. Pille Rünk: 'The choreography for the basketball sequences was planned very meticulously' Photo: Allfilm In 1991, a few months before the collapse of Soviet Bloc, a small Estonian basketball team became an unlikely champion of the whole Soviet Union. Kalev, directed by Ove Musting, fictionalises more than their ascent to victory. It is just as interested in the aggressive negativity of the public and the press over the team's decision to play in a league dominated by numerous other Soviet teams. Estonia had already declared independence. Instead of focusing on the classic heroes, the film tries to pay attention to all the ways basketball impacted the daily lives of the nation – its social, political, and personal importance. We talked to Musting and the producer Pille Rünk about the personal, political, and practical intricacies of making this enjoyable and technically complex film.
Your film represents real events. What is your personal connection to this story?...
Your film represents real events. What is your personal connection to this story?...
- 10/25/2022
- by Oskar Ban Brejc and Nini Shvelidze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Hong Kong has selected the crime thriller Where the Wind Blows as its official submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race.
Directed by Philip Yung, the film follows four corrupt police officers who rose to power in 1960s Hong Kong played Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Aaron Kwok, Patrick Tam, and Michael Chow.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
With a reported budget of 38m, the crime epic is one of the most expensive Hong Kong films of all time.
The film was set to open the 2021 edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, but it was pulled from the lineup shortly before its world premiere with festival organizers citing “technical reasons.”
Vague technical issues have increasingly become a common euphemism for last-ditch censorship efforts by Chinese film regulators. Similar “technical issues” were cited when the Shanghai film festival yanked the Huayi Brothers’ big-budget Chinese war drama...
Directed by Philip Yung, the film follows four corrupt police officers who rose to power in 1960s Hong Kong played Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Aaron Kwok, Patrick Tam, and Michael Chow.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
With a reported budget of 38m, the crime epic is one of the most expensive Hong Kong films of all time.
The film was set to open the 2021 edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, but it was pulled from the lineup shortly before its world premiere with festival organizers citing “technical reasons.”
Vague technical issues have increasingly become a common euphemism for last-ditch censorship efforts by Chinese film regulators. Similar “technical issues” were cited when the Shanghai film festival yanked the Huayi Brothers’ big-budget Chinese war drama...
- 9/27/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
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