“White Lies,” a murder mystery series starring Natalie Dormer, has been acquired by Sundance Now for North America.
A collaboration between production company Quizzical Pictures and Pan-African broadcaster M-Net in partnership with Fremantle, “White Lies” is set in the wealthy Bishopscourt neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa. Dormer (“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”) stars as an investigative journalist called Edie Hansen alongside Brendon Daniels (“Four Corners”), who plays detective Forty Bell.
“Following her estranged brother’s murder in his luxury home, Edie’s world plunges deeper into chaos when her brother’s teenage children become prime suspects for the crime,” reads the logline. “As Edie investigates, she finds herself at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell, and grapples with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system and the secretive world of extreme Cape wealth.”
The eight-part series is written by Darrel Bristow-Bovey with John Trengove (“The Wound”) as lead director,...
A collaboration between production company Quizzical Pictures and Pan-African broadcaster M-Net in partnership with Fremantle, “White Lies” is set in the wealthy Bishopscourt neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa. Dormer (“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”) stars as an investigative journalist called Edie Hansen alongside Brendon Daniels (“Four Corners”), who plays detective Forty Bell.
“Following her estranged brother’s murder in his luxury home, Edie’s world plunges deeper into chaos when her brother’s teenage children become prime suspects for the crime,” reads the logline. “As Edie investigates, she finds herself at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell, and grapples with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system and the secretive world of extreme Cape wealth.”
The eight-part series is written by Darrel Bristow-Bovey with John Trengove (“The Wound”) as lead director,...
- 5/20/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Sallieu Sesay is a Sierra Leonean-American actor who has had recurring roles on CBS’ Seal Team and HBO’s Barry, and, in his latest, delivers an incredible supporting performance in John Trengove’s nihilistic thriller Manodrome alongside Jesse Eisenberg. On this episode he talks about doing tons of research before taking on that part, having so little in common with the character and facing the pressure of being at the center of a movie’s most pivotal scene. He gives us a glimpse at his dedication to this craft, his continuous training with some of the best acting teachers around such as Ivana […]
The post “There’s a Lot in This Heart”: Sallieu Sesay, Back To One, Episode 276 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “There’s a Lot in This Heart”: Sallieu Sesay, Back To One, Episode 276 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2024
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Sallieu Sesay is a Sierra Leonean-American actor who has had recurring roles on CBS’ Seal Team and HBO’s Barry, and, in his latest, delivers an incredible supporting performance in John Trengove’s nihilistic thriller Manodrome alongside Jesse Eisenberg. On this episode he talks about doing tons of research before taking on that part, having so little in common with the character and facing the pressure of being at the center of a movie’s most pivotal scene. He gives us a glimpse at his dedication to this craft, his continuous training with some of the best acting teachers around such as Ivana […]
The post “There’s a Lot in This Heart”: Sallieu Sesay, Back To One, Episode 276 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “There’s a Lot in This Heart”: Sallieu Sesay, Back To One, Episode 276 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2024
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
John Trengove‘s drama thriller Manodrome received a theatrical and digital release on November 10, 2023. Trengove may not have been a popular name for film audiences, but the film’s lead cast, Jesse Eisenberg, was more than enough to entice viewers to see the film. However, Manodrome has received low to average reviews from critics and audiences. Manodrome (2023) follows a young man’s struggle to provide for his pregnant girlfriend and the pressures of being an expectant father. With a lot weighing on him, he reluctantly joins an incel men’s cult, which helps him expose his demons. Manodrome comes off like...
- 11/26/2023
- by Onyinye Izundu
- TVovermind.com
Jesse Eisenberg discusses Manodrome
Intently focused on the interior journey of a troubled character, Manodrome, which is currently in cinemas in the US, is an actor’s dream. I interviewed director John Trengove two weeks ago but subsequently got the chance to follow that up by talking to star Jesse Eisenberg, free to discuss his work after the end of the actors’ strike, and always, he tells me, happy to do publicity because “everybody’s so nice.”
In the film, Jesse plays Ralphie, a man who has recently lost his job, is in a rocky relationship with his girlfriend and is about to become a father, who makes a frantic effort to reclaim his masculinity by joining a cult. It’s not so long since he explored similar themes in Riley Stearns’ The Art Of Self-Defense, and many actors hesitate to take on similar material like that for fear of being typecast,...
Intently focused on the interior journey of a troubled character, Manodrome, which is currently in cinemas in the US, is an actor’s dream. I interviewed director John Trengove two weeks ago but subsequently got the chance to follow that up by talking to star Jesse Eisenberg, free to discuss his work after the end of the actors’ strike, and always, he tells me, happy to do publicity because “everybody’s so nice.”
In the film, Jesse plays Ralphie, a man who has recently lost his job, is in a rocky relationship with his girlfriend and is about to become a father, who makes a frantic effort to reclaim his masculinity by joining a cult. It’s not so long since he explored similar themes in Riley Stearns’ The Art Of Self-Defense, and many actors hesitate to take on similar material like that for fear of being typecast,...
- 11/20/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Manodrome is a thriller-drama film written and directed by John Trengove. The drama film revolves around Ralphie, an Uber driver who aspires to be a bodybuilder gets inducted into a libertarian masculinity cult, and loses his grip on reality because of all the pressures in his life. Manodrome stars Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role with Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, and Philip Ettinger starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved Manodrome here are some similar movies you could watch next.
The Art of Self-Defense (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Bleecker Street
Synopsis: A dark comedy set in the world of karate. The film centers on Casey (Jesse Eisenberg), who is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity,...
The Art of Self-Defense (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Bleecker Street
Synopsis: A dark comedy set in the world of karate. The film centers on Casey (Jesse Eisenberg), who is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity,...
- 11/20/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
What if Travis Bickle was an Uber driver and was expecting a baby with his girlfriend? South African director John Trengove’s first English-language film, titled Manodrome, asks that very question. But while the iconic Scorsese film worked more as a social commentary and looked at the psyche of the man through a lens, Trengove’s film kind of ends up sympathizing with this guy by offering a botched-up explanation behind his problematic actions. The film also channels its inner Fight Club, but does not quite manage to reach the heights of the David Fincher classic, thanks to a lack of proper vision. That’s why, in spite of having a fairly relevant topic at its core and genuinely talented actors Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody at the helm of it, Manodrome feels like a bit of a hack job. It wouldn’t be unfair to call this thing a “Midsommar,...
- 11/19/2023
- by Rohitavra Majumdar
- Film Fugitives
Wrecked Ralph: Trengove Gazes into the Weaponization of Masculinity in Unsettling Character Study
Playwright and activist Eve Ensler commented on a 2017 panel regarding how “the tyranny of masculinity and the tyranny of patriarchy…has been much more deadly to men than it has to women. It hasn’t killed our hearts. It’s killed men’s hearts.” Ralphie, the troubled protagonist of John Trengove’s sophomore feature, Manodrome, is at this very precipice, on the verge of losing his heart. Like his 2017 debut, The Wound (read review), in which a tribal ritual unleashes sexual repressions with dire consequences, he focuses on a similar homosocial sphere in the US, creating a fictional libertarian masculinity cult utilizing a now commonplace rhetoric amongst several groups vocalizing a desire to reclaim something they believe they’ve lost, which is undaunted dominion.…...
Playwright and activist Eve Ensler commented on a 2017 panel regarding how “the tyranny of masculinity and the tyranny of patriarchy…has been much more deadly to men than it has to women. It hasn’t killed our hearts. It’s killed men’s hearts.” Ralphie, the troubled protagonist of John Trengove’s sophomore feature, Manodrome, is at this very precipice, on the verge of losing his heart. Like his 2017 debut, The Wound (read review), in which a tribal ritual unleashes sexual repressions with dire consequences, he focuses on a similar homosocial sphere in the US, creating a fictional libertarian masculinity cult utilizing a now commonplace rhetoric amongst several groups vocalizing a desire to reclaim something they believe they’ve lost, which is undaunted dominion.…...
- 11/11/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"Manodrome" is a new dramatic thriller written and directed by John Trengove, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, Philip Ettinger, Ethan Suplee, Evan Jonigkeit and Caleb Eberhardt, releasing November 10, 2023 in theaters:
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 11/11/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 11/10/2023
- by Screen staff¬Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Manodrome
The tale of a father-to-be who finds himself losing his grip after losing his job on a construction site, Manodrome explores toxic masculinity from the inside out. A floundering relationship with a woman, a desperately repressed attraction to a man and an inability to cope with society at large sees Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg) fall under the sway of a male isolationist cult led by the self-styled ‘Dad Dan’ (Adrien Brody), but nothing ever really seems to make the pain go away. It’s South African writer/director John Trengove’s follow-up to 2017’s The Wound, and we found time for a chat about it just ahead of its US cinematic release.
Opening the discussion, I tell him that my favourite scene in the film is one where Ralphie is driving an Uber and takes it upon himself to give manly advice to a boy (Matthew Lamb) who is travelling in the.
The tale of a father-to-be who finds himself losing his grip after losing his job on a construction site, Manodrome explores toxic masculinity from the inside out. A floundering relationship with a woman, a desperately repressed attraction to a man and an inability to cope with society at large sees Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg) fall under the sway of a male isolationist cult led by the self-styled ‘Dad Dan’ (Adrien Brody), but nothing ever really seems to make the pain go away. It’s South African writer/director John Trengove’s follow-up to 2017’s The Wound, and we found time for a chat about it just ahead of its US cinematic release.
Opening the discussion, I tell him that my favourite scene in the film is one where Ralphie is driving an Uber and takes it upon himself to give manly advice to a boy (Matthew Lamb) who is travelling in the.
- 11/9/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There’s a scene about halfway through John Trengove’s latest musing on damaged masculinity when Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg) decides to give some manly advice to a boy who is riding in the back of his Uber. The boy has been having an honest conversation over the phone, expressing his fears about wetting himself. That’s not something he should ever talk about with anyone, Ralphie tells him. He should hide those emotions. He should push those negative feelings deep down inside.
There is his car, Ralphie feels safest of all. It’s a traditionally masculine space, though Trengove emphasises its armouring, enclosing, uterine or cocoon-like qualities. Within it, Ralphie strives to find new form, to be fully born into the world. It’s the only space where he has any real control, and that small measure of power he hungrily abuses, and we see something of what he might...
There is his car, Ralphie feels safest of all. It’s a traditionally masculine space, though Trengove emphasises its armouring, enclosing, uterine or cocoon-like qualities. Within it, Ralphie strives to find new form, to be fully born into the world. It’s the only space where he has any real control, and that small measure of power he hungrily abuses, and we see something of what he might...
- 11/9/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"Manodrome" is a new dramatic thriller written and directed by John Trengove, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, Philip Ettinger, Ethan Suplee, Evan Jonigkeit and Caleb Eberhardt, releasing November 10, 2023 in theaters:
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 11/7/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 11/2/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Lionsgate has debuted the trailer for John Trengove’s English-language debut centring on toxic masculinity, ‘Manodrome.’
The story follows Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg), a New York Uber driver struggling to make ends meet and anxiously awaiting the birth of his child with Sal (Odessa Young).
Feeling overstressed and lost, his search for greater fulfilment finds him becoming involved with an intense all-male self-help group led by the guru-like Dan (Adrien Brody).
As Ralph falls deeper into dependence on the group and its increasingly aggressive and dominance-driven members, his relationship and his life crumble until he suffers a breakdown and descends into madness.
Ethan Suplee, Evan Jonigkeit and Philip Ettinger also star in the film which Riley Keough, Ryan Zacarias, Ben Giladi, and Gina Gammell produce.
Also in trailers – “This is Janet…” Trailer drops for comic thriller series ‘Boat Story’
The post Jesse Eisenberg & Adrien Brody star in trailer for dark comedy ‘Manodrome’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The story follows Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg), a New York Uber driver struggling to make ends meet and anxiously awaiting the birth of his child with Sal (Odessa Young).
Feeling overstressed and lost, his search for greater fulfilment finds him becoming involved with an intense all-male self-help group led by the guru-like Dan (Adrien Brody).
As Ralph falls deeper into dependence on the group and its increasingly aggressive and dominance-driven members, his relationship and his life crumble until he suffers a breakdown and descends into madness.
Ethan Suplee, Evan Jonigkeit and Philip Ettinger also star in the film which Riley Keough, Ryan Zacarias, Ben Giladi, and Gina Gammell produce.
Also in trailers – “This is Janet…” Trailer drops for comic thriller series ‘Boat Story’
The post Jesse Eisenberg & Adrien Brody star in trailer for dark comedy ‘Manodrome’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 10/31/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"Manodrome" is a new dramatic thriller written and directed by John Trengove, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, Philip Ettinger, Ethan Suplee, Evan Jonigkeit and Caleb Eberhardt, releasing November 10, 2023 in theaters:
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...'Ralphie' (Eisenberg), a New York 'Uber' driver, is struggling to make ends meet with his pregnant partner 'Sal'.
"Then he is introduced to an intense all-male 'self-help' cult by a friend.
He suffers a breakdown and descends into madness..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 10/31/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
It’s not quite “Fight Club,” and it’s not quite “Toxic Masculinity: The Movie” or “Incels R Us,” but the new trailer for the film, “Manodrome” definitely seems like it’s trying to tap into the world of white men struggling emotionally and psychologically, coupled with issues of insecurity and powerlessness, who take the wrong lessons from their troubles and perhaps mental health worries.
In “Manodrome,” by South African filmmaker John Trengove, known for “The Wound” and the TV series “Swartwater,” Academy Award-acclaimed actors Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) and Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”), star in a thriller about one man’s desperate quest to reinvent himself, and his chilling descent into a world of destruction.
Continue reading ‘Manodrome’ Trailer: Jesse Eisenberg & Adrien Brody Are Giving ‘Fight Club’ Vibes In New Toxic Masculinity Thriller at The Playlist.
In “Manodrome,” by South African filmmaker John Trengove, known for “The Wound” and the TV series “Swartwater,” Academy Award-acclaimed actors Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) and Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”), star in a thriller about one man’s desperate quest to reinvent himself, and his chilling descent into a world of destruction.
Continue reading ‘Manodrome’ Trailer: Jesse Eisenberg & Adrien Brody Are Giving ‘Fight Club’ Vibes In New Toxic Masculinity Thriller at The Playlist.
- 10/30/2023
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Premiering earlier this year at Berlinale, John Trengove’s The Wound follow-up Manodrome sets Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody in a Fight Club-esque tale following a man wrestling with his own demons who gets welcomed into a mysterious family of men. Ahead of a November release from Lionsgate, the first trailer has now arrived.
Rory O’Connor said in his Berlinale review, “In Manodrome, cinema’s enduring love for frustrated male loners is brought, kicking and screaming, into the cold light of the present day. Set in an unnamed, crumbling city in the Northeast, it stars an against-type Jesse Eisenberg as a jacked-up, emotionally stunted gym bro who joins a cult of voluntarily and involuntarily celibate men. The director is John Trengrove, whose previous feature The Wound used a very real Xhosa rite of passage as a way to examine the ever-knotted rituals of male bonding. The subcultures in Manodrome...
Rory O’Connor said in his Berlinale review, “In Manodrome, cinema’s enduring love for frustrated male loners is brought, kicking and screaming, into the cold light of the present day. Set in an unnamed, crumbling city in the Northeast, it stars an against-type Jesse Eisenberg as a jacked-up, emotionally stunted gym bro who joins a cult of voluntarily and involuntarily celibate men. The director is John Trengrove, whose previous feature The Wound used a very real Xhosa rite of passage as a way to examine the ever-knotted rituals of male bonding. The subcultures in Manodrome...
- 10/30/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
"Take back your power, Ralph!!" Lionsgate has revealed an official trailer for a film called Manodrome, an indie creation from South African filmmaker John Trengove (director of The Wound previously). This premiered at the Berlin Film Festival to mostly mixed to positive reviews - its a very slick film, although it doesn't particularly stand out much. Conflicted about his girlfriend's pregnancy, Ralphie's life spirals out of control when he meets a mysterious family of men. Manodrome is a clever criticism of toxic masculinity and fragile men who are obsessed with being men (you know the ones). Jesse Eisenberg stars as one of these guys who falls into this kind of cult for men, run by Adrien Brody. Then it gets really crazy... The cast also features Odessa Young, Philip Ettinger, Sallieu Sesay, Ethan Suplee, Evan Joningkeit, and Caleb Eberhardt. I saw this at Berlinale earlier in the year - it's a good film,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Shane Atkinson’s “Laroy,” a crime thriller laced with dark comedy, swept three major prizes at the 49th edition of the Deauville American Film Festival.
The movie, which marks Atkinson’s feature debut and showcases Coen brothers influences, won the Grand Prize, the Audience Award and the Critics Award. It stars John Magaro as Ray, who decides to kill himself after discovering his wife has been cheating on him. But just before he pulls a trigger, a stranger takes him for a low-rent hitman. The movie was produced by the Cannes-based company Adastra Films and was acquired by a French distributor, Arp Selection, during the Deauville Film Festival. It previously opened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The Jury Prize, meanwhile was shared by two films, Sean Price Williams’ “The Sweet East” and Iranian-born director Babak Jalali’s “Fremont.” “The Sweet East” marks the feature debut of Price, a well-established cinematographer whose credits include “Good Time.
The movie, which marks Atkinson’s feature debut and showcases Coen brothers influences, won the Grand Prize, the Audience Award and the Critics Award. It stars John Magaro as Ray, who decides to kill himself after discovering his wife has been cheating on him. But just before he pulls a trigger, a stranger takes him for a low-rent hitman. The movie was produced by the Cannes-based company Adastra Films and was acquired by a French distributor, Arp Selection, during the Deauville Film Festival. It previously opened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The Jury Prize, meanwhile was shared by two films, Sean Price Williams’ “The Sweet East” and Iranian-born director Babak Jalali’s “Fremont.” “The Sweet East” marks the feature debut of Price, a well-established cinematographer whose credits include “Good Time.
- 9/9/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Deauville American Film Festival will forge ahead with its honorary tributes to stars such as Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Peter Dinklage and Joseph Gordon-Levitt despite the fact that they won’t be in attendance due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The festival’s artistic director, Bruno Barde, told Variety ahead of the event’s press conference on Thursday that he empathized with actors and writers who are on strike to “protect themselves against the dangers of artificial intelligence.”
“AI has always existed in cinema and it’s now posing a threat to screenwriters, set designers, dubbers and, of course, to actors whom we’re using the image of. Cinema is an art that elevates humankind, and artificial intelligence does the exact opposite. It’s a danger,” Barde said.
And while he stands in solidarity with the strike, he has opted “to maintain all the tributes which will pay homage to careers...
The festival’s artistic director, Bruno Barde, told Variety ahead of the event’s press conference on Thursday that he empathized with actors and writers who are on strike to “protect themselves against the dangers of artificial intelligence.”
“AI has always existed in cinema and it’s now posing a threat to screenwriters, set designers, dubbers and, of course, to actors whom we’re using the image of. Cinema is an art that elevates humankind, and artificial intelligence does the exact opposite. It’s a danger,” Barde said.
And while he stands in solidarity with the strike, he has opted “to maintain all the tributes which will pay homage to careers...
- 8/17/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
One of the top three strictly American indie film festivals outside of the US, France’s Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the fourteen titles in the competition section with films dating back to Marian Mathias‘ Runner (Venice 2022) passing through (Sundance) in heavyweight contender Celine Song‘s Past Lives and Babak Jalali‘s Fremont to Berlinale with John Trengove‘s Manodrome and to the Tribeca with Hannah Peterson‘s The Graduate plus some Directors’ Fortnight titles for good measure.
The 49th edition takes place between September 1st and the 10th and they’ll likely throw in a trio of French title world premieres in the mix.…...
The 49th edition takes place between September 1st and the 10th and they’ll likely throw in a trio of French title world premieres in the mix.…...
- 7/28/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
France’s Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the 14 U.S. indie titles selected for competition in its 49th edition running from September 1 to 10.
They include Celine Song’s Sundance hit Past Lives; Jesse Eisenberg-starring Berlin Golden Bear Contender Manodrome by John Trengove as well as Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East and Joanna Arnow’s micro-budget debut The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, which both debuted in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May.
“Always in search of the talent of tomorrow, which is already enjoying success today, the strong competition of nine first films and eight films by female directors gives hope for the future of independent cinema,” said festival director Bruno Barde.
This year’s main competition jury will be presided over by actor-director-producer Guillaume Canet, with other members including filmmakers Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Alexandre Aja and Léa Mysius as well as actress Rebecca Marder.
They include Celine Song’s Sundance hit Past Lives; Jesse Eisenberg-starring Berlin Golden Bear Contender Manodrome by John Trengove as well as Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East and Joanna Arnow’s micro-budget debut The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, which both debuted in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May.
“Always in search of the talent of tomorrow, which is already enjoying success today, the strong competition of nine first films and eight films by female directors gives hope for the future of independent cinema,” said festival director Bruno Barde.
This year’s main competition jury will be presided over by actor-director-producer Guillaume Canet, with other members including filmmakers Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Alexandre Aja and Léa Mysius as well as actress Rebecca Marder.
- 7/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer is leading a thriller for South African network M-Net.
Filming will commence next month on White Lies, which will star Dormer alongside Brendon Daniels (Four Corners) as investigative journalist Edie Hansen and detective Forty Bell respectively. Set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, Hansen gets caught up in the ugly underbelly that lies beneath the picturesque beauty of the city, dragging her back to a turbulent past. Following her estranged brother’s murder in his luxury home, her world plunges deeper into chaos when her brother’s teenage children become prime suspects for the crime, as she finds herself at loggerheads with Bell.
Having previously combined on International Emmy Award-nominated M-Net drama Reyka, South African indie Quizzical Pictures is producing with Fremantle.
Dormer is a great get. She is best known for her role as Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones and...
Filming will commence next month on White Lies, which will star Dormer alongside Brendon Daniels (Four Corners) as investigative journalist Edie Hansen and detective Forty Bell respectively. Set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, Hansen gets caught up in the ugly underbelly that lies beneath the picturesque beauty of the city, dragging her back to a turbulent past. Following her estranged brother’s murder in his luxury home, her world plunges deeper into chaos when her brother’s teenage children become prime suspects for the crime, as she finds herself at loggerheads with Bell.
Having previously combined on International Emmy Award-nominated M-Net drama Reyka, South African indie Quizzical Pictures is producing with Fremantle.
Dormer is a great get. She is best known for her role as Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones and...
- 2/28/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games star Natalie Dormer is set to lead the cast of White Lies, a South African crime thriller from M-Net, Quizzical Pictures and Fremantle.
The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that the British actress — who became a fan favorite for playing Margaery Tyrell across 26 episodes of Game of Thrones — is now in Cape Town, where shooting is due to start on March 6. Dormer also had major roles in Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Tudors, and moved into producing and writer with 2018 thriller In Darkness.
Joining Dormer is award-winning South African actor Brendon Daniels, whose credits include the acclaimed film Four Corners, Skemerdans and Trackers, another M-Net international co-production.
Created by Sean Steinberg and written by award-winning scriptwriter Darrel Bristow-Bovey, White Lies is described as an “urgent exploration of race and privilege, inequality and identity.”
Set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, the...
The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that the British actress — who became a fan favorite for playing Margaery Tyrell across 26 episodes of Game of Thrones — is now in Cape Town, where shooting is due to start on March 6. Dormer also had major roles in Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Tudors, and moved into producing and writer with 2018 thriller In Darkness.
Joining Dormer is award-winning South African actor Brendon Daniels, whose credits include the acclaimed film Four Corners, Skemerdans and Trackers, another M-Net international co-production.
Created by Sean Steinberg and written by award-winning scriptwriter Darrel Bristow-Bovey, White Lies is described as an “urgent exploration of race and privilege, inequality and identity.”
Set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, the...
- 2/28/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eight films have screened with 11 more to come.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
- 2/20/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Based on the synopsis alone, one would think John Trengove’s “Manodrome” to have two feet in satire: Jesse Eisenberg is Ralphie, a father-to-be lulled into a libertarian masculinity cult led by Adrien Brody. It is odd, then, to see the South African director mindlessly bypass the clever beats of parody in favor of a dreary mishmash of classics such as Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and David Fincher’s “The Fight Club.”
With a kid on the way, losing his job was not on Ralphie’s plans.
Continue reading ‘Manodrome’ Review: Frustrating Incel Satire Sees Jesse Eisenberg’s Best Turn in a Decade at The Playlist.
With a kid on the way, losing his job was not on Ralphie’s plans.
Continue reading ‘Manodrome’ Review: Frustrating Incel Satire Sees Jesse Eisenberg’s Best Turn in a Decade at The Playlist.
- 2/18/2023
- by Rafaela Sales Ross
- The Playlist
John Trengove’s searing 2017 debut, The Wound, explored the complex world of Xhosa masculinity via adolescent initiation rites that exposed thorny conflicts of sexuality and personal identity. The protagonist of the South African writer-director’s first English-language feature, Manodrome — played by a febrile Jesse Eisenberg in an eye-opening performance simmering with rage — is already fully inducted into the uneasy halls of manhood and finding it an uncomfortable fit. Barely scraping by financially and staring ahead at an unpromising future, the damaged Ralphie reaches for a lifeline with a shadowy cult of male separatists, which only makes his hold on reality unravel faster.
What Ralphie goes through over the course of this absorbing enough but bludgeoning portrait of corrosive masculinity makes him both victim and monster. Recently laid off from a corporate maintenance job, he’s struggling to make ends meet as an Uber driver and wondering how he’s going...
What Ralphie goes through over the course of this absorbing enough but bludgeoning portrait of corrosive masculinity makes him both victim and monster. Recently laid off from a corporate maintenance job, he’s struggling to make ends meet as an Uber driver and wondering how he’s going...
- 2/18/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
’Manodrome’ plays in competition at the Berlinale.
South African director John Trengove’s Berlinale competition title doesn’t seem like an obvious choice to set during the festive period.
Manodrome sees Jesse Eisenberg playing a troubled taxi driver who finds himself becoming lured into a mysterious and cult-like ‘family’ of men.
“It’s a strange kind of Christmas movie, in a way,” said Trengove, while discussing the film with cast members including Eisenberg and Adrien Brody at the Berlinale.
“That was very much intentional. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay over Christmas. There was something about the perversity...
South African director John Trengove’s Berlinale competition title doesn’t seem like an obvious choice to set during the festive period.
Manodrome sees Jesse Eisenberg playing a troubled taxi driver who finds himself becoming lured into a mysterious and cult-like ‘family’ of men.
“It’s a strange kind of Christmas movie, in a way,” said Trengove, while discussing the film with cast members including Eisenberg and Adrien Brody at the Berlinale.
“That was very much intentional. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay over Christmas. There was something about the perversity...
- 2/18/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Given recent news about self-described misogynist and TikTok star Andrew Tate — currently being detained in Romania and being investigated over allegations of human trafficking, rape and organized crime offenses — many might assume that Manodrome, the Berlinale competition entry starring Jesse Eisenberg that dives into toxic masculinity and incel culture, was a creative reaction to such figures.
Not so, claimed writer and director John Trengove in making his return to the festival six years after his well-received 2017 debut The Wound.
“I actually only found out about Andrew Tate very recently,” he explained at the press conference for the film ahead of its world premiere on Saturday night. “The kernel for the idea precedes him.”
Trengove said he set out not to make a commentary or documentary-style film about the so-called online “manosphere” of misogynistic, anti-female websites, but instead draw on ideas from this world and create something more mythical and imagined for his story,...
Not so, claimed writer and director John Trengove in making his return to the festival six years after his well-received 2017 debut The Wound.
“I actually only found out about Andrew Tate very recently,” he explained at the press conference for the film ahead of its world premiere on Saturday night. “The kernel for the idea precedes him.”
Trengove said he set out not to make a commentary or documentary-style film about the so-called online “manosphere” of misogynistic, anti-female websites, but instead draw on ideas from this world and create something more mythical and imagined for his story,...
- 2/18/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Five years ago, South African director John Trengove’s feature debut, “The Wound,” scored coveted berths at Sundance and Berlin before being short-listed for an Academy Award — even as the powerful gay drama set in the secretive world of Xhosa initiation ceremonies faced angry protests in his home country.
His sophomore effort, “Manodrome,” which plays in competition in Berlin, stars Jesse Eisenberg as a down-at-the-heels Uber driver and expecting father who begins to lose his grip on reality. He’s taken under the wing of a charismatic, self-styled father figure (Adrien Brody), who inducts him into a libertarian masculinity cult, even as his repressed desires — suddenly awakened — push him toward a terrifying descent into violence.
It’s a zeitgeisty exploration of toxic masculinity with a tour-de-force performance by Eisenberg, playing opposite a gripping Odessa Young as his pregnant girlfriend. Trengove spoke to Variety ahead of the film’s Feb. 18 premiere.
His sophomore effort, “Manodrome,” which plays in competition in Berlin, stars Jesse Eisenberg as a down-at-the-heels Uber driver and expecting father who begins to lose his grip on reality. He’s taken under the wing of a charismatic, self-styled father figure (Adrien Brody), who inducts him into a libertarian masculinity cult, even as his repressed desires — suddenly awakened — push him toward a terrifying descent into violence.
It’s a zeitgeisty exploration of toxic masculinity with a tour-de-force performance by Eisenberg, playing opposite a gripping Odessa Young as his pregnant girlfriend. Trengove spoke to Variety ahead of the film’s Feb. 18 premiere.
- 2/18/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Adrien Brody is not interested in the culture wars. It’s fascinating, he admits, “but it’s really tragic.”
“We see how fractured our world is. Look around: It’s not hard to see,” says the Oscar-winning actor from his home in New York. Brody had to dive into these dark corners when preparing for “Manodrome,” in which he plays a masculinity cult leader, and was quick to dive right out. “I tried to put this stuff down,” he admits.
But his character, “Dad Dan,” isn’t the super-serious, nefarious figurehead one summons when envisioning a libertarian masculinity cult. Rather, his is a friendly, hoodie-wearing man of leisure who opens his house to all who need sanctuary. Sanctuary, that is, from the evil, entrapping ways of women and modern society.
“It was important for me to not be a superficially manipulative villain,” the 49-year-old star tells Variety of the part.
“We see how fractured our world is. Look around: It’s not hard to see,” says the Oscar-winning actor from his home in New York. Brody had to dive into these dark corners when preparing for “Manodrome,” in which he plays a masculinity cult leader, and was quick to dive right out. “I tried to put this stuff down,” he admits.
But his character, “Dad Dan,” isn’t the super-serious, nefarious figurehead one summons when envisioning a libertarian masculinity cult. Rather, his is a friendly, hoodie-wearing man of leisure who opens his house to all who need sanctuary. Sanctuary, that is, from the evil, entrapping ways of women and modern society.
“It was important for me to not be a superficially manipulative villain,” the 49-year-old star tells Variety of the part.
- 2/18/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
’Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything’, ’The Survival Of Kindness’ and ’BlackBerry’ land with middling scores.
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
- 2/18/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
In what feels like all-too poignant timing given the recent headlines about Andrew Tate, the world of toxic masculinity heads to the Berlinale this year with John Trengove’s competition entry Manodrome. Described as a “nihilist thriller,” this tense and troubling dive into incel culture and male fragility is led by a perhaps unlikely guide, Jesse Eisenberg.
Often seen playing insecure men with a more jittery, nervous disposition, Eisenberg’s Manodrome character Ralphie — a gym-obsessed Uber driver and soon-to-be father struggling under personal and economic burdens — sees such anxieties manifest themselves into pure anger, anger which violently erupts after he’s inducted into a libertarian masculinity cult (led by a typically charismatic Adrien Brody).
While Ralphie — a beefed-up young man who appears constantly on the verge of starting a fight — might not seem a typical Eisenberg role, the Oscar-nominated star of The Social Network, Zombieland, Now You See Me, as...
Often seen playing insecure men with a more jittery, nervous disposition, Eisenberg’s Manodrome character Ralphie — a gym-obsessed Uber driver and soon-to-be father struggling under personal and economic burdens — sees such anxieties manifest themselves into pure anger, anger which violently erupts after he’s inducted into a libertarian masculinity cult (led by a typically charismatic Adrien Brody).
While Ralphie — a beefed-up young man who appears constantly on the verge of starting a fight — might not seem a typical Eisenberg role, the Oscar-nominated star of The Social Network, Zombieland, Now You See Me, as...
- 2/18/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: South African director John Trengove’s crisis of masculinity drama Mandrome, which world premieres in Competition at the Berlinale this weekend, is one of the most topical Golden Bear contenders this year.
Jesse Eisenberg stars as Ralphie, a disenfranchised young man whose life spirals out of control when he falls under the spell of a cultish ‘family of men’.
Money pressures and his own difficult childhood have left Ralphie conflicted about impending fatherhood with his girlfriend (Odessa Young) as he struggles to find his place in society.
When he is embraced by a group of supportive older men, led by a charismatic father figure (Adrien Brody), he is hooked but an initiation ceremony unleashes dangerous emotions within him
Deadline unveiled a first teaser ahead of the world premiere which you can watch here.
The film is Trengove’s second film after his award-winning debut The Wound, about a closeted...
Jesse Eisenberg stars as Ralphie, a disenfranchised young man whose life spirals out of control when he falls under the spell of a cultish ‘family of men’.
Money pressures and his own difficult childhood have left Ralphie conflicted about impending fatherhood with his girlfriend (Odessa Young) as he struggles to find his place in society.
When he is embraced by a group of supportive older men, led by a charismatic father figure (Adrien Brody), he is hooked but an initiation ceremony unleashes dangerous emotions within him
Deadline unveiled a first teaser ahead of the world premiere which you can watch here.
The film is Trengove’s second film after his award-winning debut The Wound, about a closeted...
- 2/17/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Berlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeck unveiled the International Competition and Encounters lineups on Monday for the festival’s 73rd edition, running February 16-26.
“It’s quite an eclectic selection,” Chatrian told the press conference in Berlin this morning. “You will see we tried to include as many genres and cinematic forms as possible.”
Related Story Berlin Film Festival Lineup: Sean Penn, Philippe Garrel, Margarethe Von Trotta & Christian Petzold In Competition — Full List Related Story Sean Penn Documentary On Ukraine And Volodymyr Zelenskyy To Debut At Berlin Film Festival Related Story Berlin Film Festival: Watch Competition Lineup Revealed Live
The International Competition features 18 titles, 15 of them world premieres, involving 19 different territories. Encounters, the Berlinale’s equivalent of Un Certain Regard which was launched in 2020, will showcase 16 films.
Chatrian has stuck with his love of mixing established names, including Philippe Garrel (The Plough), Margarethe von Trotta...
“It’s quite an eclectic selection,” Chatrian told the press conference in Berlin this morning. “You will see we tried to include as many genres and cinematic forms as possible.”
Related Story Berlin Film Festival Lineup: Sean Penn, Philippe Garrel, Margarethe Von Trotta & Christian Petzold In Competition — Full List Related Story Sean Penn Documentary On Ukraine And Volodymyr Zelenskyy To Debut At Berlin Film Festival Related Story Berlin Film Festival: Watch Competition Lineup Revealed Live
The International Competition features 18 titles, 15 of them world premieres, involving 19 different territories. Encounters, the Berlinale’s equivalent of Un Certain Regard which was launched in 2020, will showcase 16 films.
Chatrian has stuck with his love of mixing established names, including Philippe Garrel (The Plough), Margarethe von Trotta...
- 1/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival, held every year in February, the cruelest month of the German winter, has never been able to match the Mediterranean flair of Cannes or Venice, or the laid-back indie cool of Sundance. But when it comes to serious movies, few festivals, big or small, can match the Berlinale.
In place of the big blockbuster movies, Berlin has doubled down on political dramas and documentaries that focus on the real troubles of the world. The war in Ukraine — launched by Russia’s invasion a year ago — will be on screens everywhere this Berlinale. Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufmann’s documentary Superpower, shot just before and after Russia’s invasion, and featuring several interviews with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s Special Screening section and there are three more Ukraine documentaries — Roman Liubyi’s Iron Butterflies, Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko’s doc Eastern Front,...
In place of the big blockbuster movies, Berlin has doubled down on political dramas and documentaries that focus on the real troubles of the world. The war in Ukraine — launched by Russia’s invasion a year ago — will be on screens everywhere this Berlinale. Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufmann’s documentary Superpower, shot just before and after Russia’s invasion, and featuring several interviews with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s Special Screening section and there are three more Ukraine documentaries — Roman Liubyi’s Iron Butterflies, Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko’s doc Eastern Front,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
2023 truly begins taking shape with next month’s Berlinale, which will run from February 16 to February 26 and feature more than a few of our most-anticipated films this year. Among them are Christian Petzold’s Afire (Roter Himmel), starring new muse Paula Beer; Hong Sangsoo’s In Water, which will appear in the Encounters section; and Philippe Garrel’s The Plough, once known as La lune crevée starring his three children Louis, Esther, and Lena, and (judging from the still) his first color feature since 2011’s A Burning Hot Summer. Meanwhile: Angela Schanelec will return with Music, and––six years after the wonderful Person to Person––it’s nice spotting a new feature from Dustin Guy Defa, The Adults.
Find the lineup below and head back next month for our coverage of the festival headed by Kristen Stewart’s jury.
Competition
20,000 Species of Bees (Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren)
The Shadowless Tower (Zhang...
Find the lineup below and head back next month for our coverage of the festival headed by Kristen Stewart’s jury.
Competition
20,000 Species of Bees (Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren)
The Shadowless Tower (Zhang...
- 1/23/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
18 titles selected for competition, including films by Christian Petzold, Emily Atef, Margarethe Von Trotta and Philippe Garrel.
The 18-strong Competition line-up for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival has been announced by festival heads Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek.
Scroll down for full list
New films from Christian Petzold, Margarethe Von Trotte, Emily Atef and Lila Avilés are among those selected. Some 15 of the 18 titles are world premieres, with international premieres for Celine Song’s Past Lives after debuting to strong reviews at Sundance; Makoto Shinkai’s animation Suzume, released in Japan last November; and Australia’s The Survival Of Kindness by Rolf de Heer,...
The 18-strong Competition line-up for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival has been announced by festival heads Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek.
Scroll down for full list
New films from Christian Petzold, Margarethe Von Trotte, Emily Atef and Lila Avilés are among those selected. Some 15 of the 18 titles are world premieres, with international premieres for Celine Song’s Past Lives after debuting to strong reviews at Sundance; Makoto Shinkai’s animation Suzume, released in Japan last November; and Australia’s The Survival Of Kindness by Rolf de Heer,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition as well as its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold’s latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directing Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.
Scroll down for the full lineup.
This morning the festival also revealed an extra special screening: Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower, a film shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 16-26.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. The festival had initially done a good job of increasing...
A total of 18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold’s latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directing Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.
Scroll down for the full lineup.
This morning the festival also revealed an extra special screening: Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower, a film shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 16-26.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. The festival had initially done a good job of increasing...
- 1/23/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the competition lineup for its 2023 edition on Monday morning, naming the 18 movies that will compete for the coveted Gold and Silver Bears at the 73rd Berlinale.
Berlinale executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented a very international and arthouse-heavy lineup, with a strong focus on politically-charged cinema.
In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section. The doc, made for Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment and Fifth Season, is being sold internationally by Fifth Season.
Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow.
In competition, German auteur...
Berlinale executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented a very international and arthouse-heavy lineup, with a strong focus on politically-charged cinema.
In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section. The doc, made for Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment and Fifth Season, is being sold internationally by Fifth Season.
Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow.
In competition, German auteur...
- 1/23/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sean Penn, Jesse Eisenberg, Canadian actor-director Matt Johnson, South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo, and Korean-Canadian director Celine Song are headed to the upcoming Berlin Film Festival.
Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeck on Monday unveiled the main Competition and Encounters selections for the fest’s 73rd edition, which will feature a rich mix of known names and newcomers, as well as a strong political emphasis.
Penn will be in Berlin with “Superpower,” the doc he co-directed with Aaron Kaufman that depicts the struggle between Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor and comedian who became president of Ukraine, and Russian president Vladimir Putin, as Russia deploys a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Penn was in Kiev shooting a film with Zelensky when the war in Ukraine burst,” Chatrian said at a press conference in Berlin. “Reality made the film change into something less comfortable and more meaningful,” he added. “We...
Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeck on Monday unveiled the main Competition and Encounters selections for the fest’s 73rd edition, which will feature a rich mix of known names and newcomers, as well as a strong political emphasis.
Penn will be in Berlin with “Superpower,” the doc he co-directed with Aaron Kaufman that depicts the struggle between Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor and comedian who became president of Ukraine, and Russian president Vladimir Putin, as Russia deploys a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Penn was in Kiev shooting a film with Zelensky when the war in Ukraine burst,” Chatrian said at a press conference in Berlin. “Reality made the film change into something less comfortable and more meaningful,” he added. “We...
- 1/23/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Updated: South African filmmakers are shocked, angry and disappointed after the country failed to submit a film for the international feature Oscar race for the first time in 15 years, with one producer slamming the selection committee for what he says are unfounded concerns about his film’s depiction of marginalized groups, and comparing the opaque selection process to the dark days of apartheid.
Nine films were submitted to South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation (Nfvf) for consideration for the 95th Academy Awards, which will be held March 12 at the Dolby Theatre. Ultimately, none were put forward.
In a letter sent to the snubbed filmmakers, a copy of which was obtained by Variety, the Nfvf said that the nine films were rejected by the selection committee “due to either non-compliance with the [Academy’s] selection criteria and/or a concern regarding the representation of marginalized communities.” The controversy was first reported by the Afrikaans-language website Maroela Media.
Nine films were submitted to South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation (Nfvf) for consideration for the 95th Academy Awards, which will be held March 12 at the Dolby Theatre. Ultimately, none were put forward.
In a letter sent to the snubbed filmmakers, a copy of which was obtained by Variety, the Nfvf said that the nine films were rejected by the selection committee “due to either non-compliance with the [Academy’s] selection criteria and/or a concern regarding the representation of marginalized communities.” The controversy was first reported by the Afrikaans-language website Maroela Media.
- 12/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Licorice Pizza and If Beale Street Could Talk producer Sara Murphy and War Pony producer Ryan Zacarias have launched their own TV and film production company and have struck a deal with Anonymous Content.
The pair have launched Fat City, which has a first-look deal with Anonymous Content’s AC Studios.
Begho Ukueberuwa, formerly of CAA, will head up Fat City’s development across film and television.
In addition to producing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, Oscar-nominated producer Murphy has produced films including Eliza Hittman’s Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Anima, starring Thom Yorke.
Zacarias’s most recent film was Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s debut feature War Pony and has also produced Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara. His next project is John Trengove’s Manodrome, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, and Odessa Young,...
The pair have launched Fat City, which has a first-look deal with Anonymous Content’s AC Studios.
Begho Ukueberuwa, formerly of CAA, will head up Fat City’s development across film and television.
In addition to producing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, Oscar-nominated producer Murphy has produced films including Eliza Hittman’s Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Anima, starring Thom Yorke.
Zacarias’s most recent film was Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s debut feature War Pony and has also produced Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara. His next project is John Trengove’s Manodrome, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, and Odessa Young,...
- 10/6/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Adrien Brody did not want to hear the curtain call on his “Peaky Blinders” stint.
The Oscar winner joined Season 4 of the hit Netflix series as New York mobster Luca Changretta in 2017, starring in six episodes. But Brody was left wanting more, and even tried to persuade the showrunners to keep him on for another season.
“I desperately tried to persuade them to find a way to keep Luca alive to come back for revenge,” Brody told Entertainment Weekly. “I really wanted to stay. I did not want to go home.”
The “Blonde” actor continued, “A character like that was something that I’d been wanting to play for many years. It had room for all of this fun stuff to honor a style in filmmaking and acting that I loved, and a style and character and lore within the foundations of family, mafia, honor and all these things.”
Now,...
The Oscar winner joined Season 4 of the hit Netflix series as New York mobster Luca Changretta in 2017, starring in six episodes. But Brody was left wanting more, and even tried to persuade the showrunners to keep him on for another season.
“I desperately tried to persuade them to find a way to keep Luca alive to come back for revenge,” Brody told Entertainment Weekly. “I really wanted to stay. I did not want to go home.”
The “Blonde” actor continued, “A character like that was something that I’d been wanting to play for many years. It had room for all of this fun stuff to honor a style in filmmaking and acting that I loved, and a style and character and lore within the foundations of family, mafia, honor and all these things.”
Now,...
- 9/30/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Jesse Eisenberg won’t be using a social network for his next role.
The “Social Network” alum revealed that he will be playing Sasquatch in an upcoming project helmed by directing duo David and Nathan Zellner. Eisenberg previously starred opposite David Zellner in Riley Stearns’ “The Art of Self-Defense,” which was produced by Nathan Zellner.
“The next movie I’m doing is the Zellner Brothers’,” Eisenberg confirmed to Variety. “They’re just these brilliant directors that I’ve wanted to work with for a long time, and I’m playing a Sasquatch.”
He added, “In full makeup. In full body hair. No lines — I grunt, but no lines — and I’m so looking forward to this.”
The Zellner Brothers have long been fascinated with Bigfoot, releasing Sundance award-winning short film “Sasquatch Birth Journal 2” in 2010. Eisenberg also recently made his feature directorial debut with the drama “When You Finish Saving the World...
The “Social Network” alum revealed that he will be playing Sasquatch in an upcoming project helmed by directing duo David and Nathan Zellner. Eisenberg previously starred opposite David Zellner in Riley Stearns’ “The Art of Self-Defense,” which was produced by Nathan Zellner.
“The next movie I’m doing is the Zellner Brothers’,” Eisenberg confirmed to Variety. “They’re just these brilliant directors that I’ve wanted to work with for a long time, and I’m playing a Sasquatch.”
He added, “In full makeup. In full body hair. No lines — I grunt, but no lines — and I’m so looking forward to this.”
The Zellner Brothers have long been fascinated with Bigfoot, releasing Sundance award-winning short film “Sasquatch Birth Journal 2” in 2010. Eisenberg also recently made his feature directorial debut with the drama “When You Finish Saving the World...
- 8/22/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Riverside Entertainment is expanding into scripted content with the coming-of-age LGBTQ+ drama Remy & Arletta, written by and starring Micaela Wittman (Clairevoyant), and the nihilistic thriller Manodrome, starring Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist).
The Los Angeles and Nashville-based production company, known for its unscripted success with the SXSW music doc Bluebird and the Magnolia Network series Making Modern with Brooke and Brice, came aboard both projects after production wrapped to assist with finishing funds and creative in post, also signing Wittman and her fellow multi-hyphenate Arthur De Larroche (Clairevoyant) to a first-look deal. Brian Loschiavo, Jeff Molyneaux and Pastor Alvarado will exec produce both Remy & Arletta and Manodrome on behalf of Riverside, which they lead as partners.
Adapted from Wittman’s bestselling novel of the same name, Remy & Arletta is based on a true story about two teens struggling to define their co-dependent relationship.
The Los Angeles and Nashville-based production company, known for its unscripted success with the SXSW music doc Bluebird and the Magnolia Network series Making Modern with Brooke and Brice, came aboard both projects after production wrapped to assist with finishing funds and creative in post, also signing Wittman and her fellow multi-hyphenate Arthur De Larroche (Clairevoyant) to a first-look deal. Brian Loschiavo, Jeff Molyneaux and Pastor Alvarado will exec produce both Remy & Arletta and Manodrome on behalf of Riverside, which they lead as partners.
Adapted from Wittman’s bestselling novel of the same name, Remy & Arletta is based on a true story about two teens struggling to define their co-dependent relationship.
- 6/21/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Keshet International has boarded Darrel Bristow-Bovey and Anton Visser’s South African series “Paradys,” selected as a finalist for next month’s Series Mania Co-Pro Pitching Sessions. Keshet international joins Quizzical Pictures as a production partner and will handle global distribution of the finished series.
Described as a “tense, character-driven murder mystery,” the series is based on Orania, a real city in South Africa where, 25 years after apartheid, segregation still holds strong. In the fictional series, the town of Paradys shirks the favored “Rainbow Nation” vision shared by the majority of South Africans, and instead embraces an outdated vision of white superiority which its leaders argue is simply an attempt at protecting Afrikaner heritage.
Tensions mount when a horrific murder is committed within the community’s white walls and two Black police officers are sent to investigate. Twisting on the good-cop-bad-cop archetype, one is a by-the-book cop focused on executing her sworn duty,...
Described as a “tense, character-driven murder mystery,” the series is based on Orania, a real city in South Africa where, 25 years after apartheid, segregation still holds strong. In the fictional series, the town of Paradys shirks the favored “Rainbow Nation” vision shared by the majority of South Africans, and instead embraces an outdated vision of white superiority which its leaders argue is simply an attempt at protecting Afrikaner heritage.
Tensions mount when a horrific murder is committed within the community’s white walls and two Black police officers are sent to investigate. Twisting on the good-cop-bad-cop archetype, one is a by-the-book cop focused on executing her sworn duty,...
- 2/17/2022
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Odessa Young has stepped in for Riley Keough in John Trengove’s thriller, Manodrome. She will join Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Ethan Suplee, Phil Ettinger and Georghe Murressean. Keough remains in the project as a producer under her Felix Culpa banner.
Joining Keough as producers are Gina Gammell and Ryan Zacarias under Felix Culpa, as well as Ben Giladi who will produce under Rainmaker Entertainment. Capstone Media Group and CAA are selling the film domestically.
“Odessa is my favorite actor and I am so happy she’s playing Sal. She’s brought so much life to the character and we are honored to have had the opportunity to work with her,” said Keough.
Recent credits for Young include Mothering Sunday and Shiley and can be seen next in the highly-anticipated HBO series The Staircase. She is repped by CAA, Echo Lake Entertainment and attorney Jim Gilio at Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
Joining Keough as producers are Gina Gammell and Ryan Zacarias under Felix Culpa, as well as Ben Giladi who will produce under Rainmaker Entertainment. Capstone Media Group and CAA are selling the film domestically.
“Odessa is my favorite actor and I am so happy she’s playing Sal. She’s brought so much life to the character and we are honored to have had the opportunity to work with her,” said Keough.
Recent credits for Young include Mothering Sunday and Shiley and can be seen next in the highly-anticipated HBO series The Staircase. She is repped by CAA, Echo Lake Entertainment and attorney Jim Gilio at Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
- 1/19/2022
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
After deciding to shine the spotlight on digital disruption as the focus of this year’s Durban FilmMart, the leading industry confab on the African continent, there was an unsettling irony to the riots that swept across South Africa this July, prompting the organizers to postpone its 12th edition.
“We ourselves were disrupted,” says Magdalene Reddy, acting general manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute.
One month later, the Dfm has finally raised the curtain on this year’s event, taking place online from Aug. 13-22. A packed program of in-depth conversations, panel discussions and masterclasses has been tailor made to showcase established and emerging talent from around the continent while looking ahead to what the future has in store for African filmmaking.
The theme of this year’s edition is “Disrupt! The shape of stories to come,” which Reddy says highlights the opportunities and challenges facing filmmakers at a time of unprecedented flux,...
“We ourselves were disrupted,” says Magdalene Reddy, acting general manager of the Durban FilmMart Institute.
One month later, the Dfm has finally raised the curtain on this year’s event, taking place online from Aug. 13-22. A packed program of in-depth conversations, panel discussions and masterclasses has been tailor made to showcase established and emerging talent from around the continent while looking ahead to what the future has in store for African filmmaking.
The theme of this year’s edition is “Disrupt! The shape of stories to come,” which Reddy says highlights the opportunities and challenges facing filmmakers at a time of unprecedented flux,...
- 8/13/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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