Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski, whose sixty-year career in cinema has included the highest honors of the Berlin, Venice and Cannes film festivals, received an invitation to attend China’s Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this year while he was in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards, where his latest movie, Eo, was nominated for an Oscar. Skolimowski says he accepted the surprise invite — which included serving as Shanghai’s jury president for the festival’s 30th-anniversary edition — for reasons both “very private and a little sentimental.”
Skolimowski, 85, revealed those reasons on stage Friday at the Shanghai Grand Theater, during the festival’s opening ceremony.
“My father was born in North East China over 100 years ago, where my grandfather, the famous Polish architect, Kazimierz Skolimowski, devoted himself to designing the urban plan for one of the great cities 1,000 kilometers from here,” Skolimowski said during his brief remarks before the mostly Chinese crowd.
Skolimowski, 85, revealed those reasons on stage Friday at the Shanghai Grand Theater, during the festival’s opening ceremony.
“My father was born in North East China over 100 years ago, where my grandfather, the famous Polish architect, Kazimierz Skolimowski, devoted himself to designing the urban plan for one of the great cities 1,000 kilometers from here,” Skolimowski said during his brief remarks before the mostly Chinese crowd.
- 6/13/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off on a triumphant note Friday night in China’s commercial capital as the country’s film industry threw open its doors to the global film community.
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic.
The festival’s Golden Goblet Awards comprises five sections – Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film and Short Film. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.
Siff’s main competition will screen 12 films, including Mom, Is That You?!, from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yoji Yamada; European titles including Muyeres, from Spanish director Marta Lallana, and The Chapel, from Belgium’s Dominique Deruddere; Indian director Haobam Paban Kumar’s Joseph’s Son; and three Chinese titles – Liu Jiayin’s All Ears, Johnathan Li’s Dust To Dust and Chen Shizhong’s Good Autumn, Mommy.
Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski is heading the jury for the main competition,...
The festival’s Golden Goblet Awards comprises five sections – Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film and Short Film. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.
Siff’s main competition will screen 12 films, including Mom, Is That You?!, from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yoji Yamada; European titles including Muyeres, from Spanish director Marta Lallana, and The Chapel, from Belgium’s Dominique Deruddere; Indian director Haobam Paban Kumar’s Joseph’s Son; and three Chinese titles – Liu Jiayin’s All Ears, Johnathan Li’s Dust To Dust and Chen Shizhong’s Good Autumn, Mommy.
Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski is heading the jury for the main competition,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Returning as an in-person event after cancelation last year, the Shanghai International Film Festival has set out an agenda with a clear focus on China.
The festival (June 9-16) will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s economic outreach and development program. With a series of press conferences and film culture roundtables, the Siff’s Belt and Road Film Week will “bring together old friends of the alliance from previous years and new friends made this year [..] and announce an action plan for the future.”
The festival’s most prestigious section, the Golden Goblet Awards will operate in five parts: main competition, Asian new talent, documentary features, animated features and short films. The jury for the competition section is to be headed by Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski, accompanied by India’s Nandita Das, Indonesia’s Garin Nugroho, German cinematographer Lutz Reitemeier, China’s Song Jia,...
The festival (June 9-16) will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s economic outreach and development program. With a series of press conferences and film culture roundtables, the Siff’s Belt and Road Film Week will “bring together old friends of the alliance from previous years and new friends made this year [..] and announce an action plan for the future.”
The festival’s most prestigious section, the Golden Goblet Awards will operate in five parts: main competition, Asian new talent, documentary features, animated features and short films. The jury for the competition section is to be headed by Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski, accompanied by India’s Nandita Das, Indonesia’s Garin Nugroho, German cinematographer Lutz Reitemeier, China’s Song Jia,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2022, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
Three years after the pandemic broke out, things––including moviegoing––are finally starting to feel normal again. It would have been an even more joyous occasion if only 2022 has yielded a stronger crop of films to offer those rushing back to theaters.
Of course many, many good films came out in the last twelve months; great ones too––entertaining, informative, artistic works that anyone would be doing themselves a favor by checking out. But films that make you go for the M(asterpiece) word, that you know right away would be top 10 material? Not that many by my count. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, for example, is super fun and features awards-worthy performances from Zlatko Buric and Dolly De Leon, although I’m not sure if...
Three years after the pandemic broke out, things––including moviegoing––are finally starting to feel normal again. It would have been an even more joyous occasion if only 2022 has yielded a stronger crop of films to offer those rushing back to theaters.
Of course many, many good films came out in the last twelve months; great ones too––entertaining, informative, artistic works that anyone would be doing themselves a favor by checking out. But films that make you go for the M(asterpiece) word, that you know right away would be top 10 material? Not that many by my count. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, for example, is super fun and features awards-worthy performances from Zlatko Buric and Dolly De Leon, although I’m not sure if...
- 1/2/2023
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
As 2021 mercifully winds down, the Criterion Channel have a (November) lineup that marks one of their most diverse selections in some time—films by the new masters Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Garrett Bradley, Dan Sallitt’s Fourteen (one of 2020’s best films) couched in a fantastic retrospective, and Criterion editions of old favorites.
Fourteen is featured in “Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women,” which also includes Céline and Julie, The Virgin Suicides, and Yvonne Rainer’s Privilege. Of equal note are Criterion editions for Ghost World, Night of the Hunter, and (just in time for del Toro’s spin) Nightmare Alley—all stacked releases in their own right.
See the full list of October titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
300 Nassau, Marina Lameiro, 2015
5 Card Stud, Henry Hathaway, 1968
Alone, Garrett Bradley, 2017
Álvaro, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Lazarowich, and Chloe Zimmerman, 2015
America, Garrett Bradley, 2019
Angel Face, Otto Preminger, 1953
Angels Wear White,...
Fourteen is featured in “Between Us Girls: Bonds Between Women,” which also includes Céline and Julie, The Virgin Suicides, and Yvonne Rainer’s Privilege. Of equal note are Criterion editions for Ghost World, Night of the Hunter, and (just in time for del Toro’s spin) Nightmare Alley—all stacked releases in their own right.
See the full list of October titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
300 Nassau, Marina Lameiro, 2015
5 Card Stud, Henry Hathaway, 1968
Alone, Garrett Bradley, 2017
Álvaro, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandra Lazarowich, and Chloe Zimmerman, 2015
America, Garrett Bradley, 2019
Angel Face, Otto Preminger, 1953
Angels Wear White,...
- 10/25/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Ten top Chinese directors have signed on to give a joint donation of RMB1 million to support new Chinese works and directors at the Pingyao International Film Festival, marking a vote of confidence in the festival’s future as its leadership changes hands.
The helmers contributing to the fund are a who’s who list of leading Chinese directing talent, including: Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye, Diao Yinan, Ning Hao, Feng Xiaogang, Guan Hu, Chen Sicheng, Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yibai (“The Longest Night in Shanghai”), and Cheng Er (“The Wasted Times”).
It will be awarded to one of the shortlisted works in the festival’s “Hidden Dragons” section, which is devoted to second or third films from new directors in the Chinese language. The prize is intended to be put toward Chinese distribution for the film and the development of the director’s next work.
In the past, the “Hidden Dragons...
The helmers contributing to the fund are a who’s who list of leading Chinese directing talent, including: Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye, Diao Yinan, Ning Hao, Feng Xiaogang, Guan Hu, Chen Sicheng, Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yibai (“The Longest Night in Shanghai”), and Cheng Er (“The Wasted Times”).
It will be awarded to one of the shortlisted works in the festival’s “Hidden Dragons” section, which is devoted to second or third films from new directors in the Chinese language. The prize is intended to be put toward Chinese distribution for the film and the development of the director’s next work.
In the past, the “Hidden Dragons...
- 7/15/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
China’s Midnight Blur Films has sold the rights to Chinese arthouse title “Wisdom Tooth” to French firm Asc Distribution, which will release it theatrically in France later this year.
The deal also includes theatrical, video and TV rights for Belgium, Switzerland and the French overseas departments and territories.
The debut feature from director Liang Ming premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in October, where it received the jury prize and best director award. Its European premiere was at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, where it took part in the Bright Future Competition.
Set during a freezing winter in a hardscrabble fishing town in China’s industrial northeast, the film tells the story of a shifting web of relationships between a young girl, her beloved brother and his new, charismatic girlfriend. The three become embroiled in shady dealings in their town after an oil spill grounds the local fishing...
The deal also includes theatrical, video and TV rights for Belgium, Switzerland and the French overseas departments and territories.
The debut feature from director Liang Ming premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in October, where it received the jury prize and best director award. Its European premiere was at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, where it took part in the Bright Future Competition.
Set during a freezing winter in a hardscrabble fishing town in China’s industrial northeast, the film tells the story of a shifting web of relationships between a young girl, her beloved brother and his new, charismatic girlfriend. The three become embroiled in shady dealings in their town after an oil spill grounds the local fishing...
- 3/6/2020
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
On March 29th 2018 the London Society for Chinese Studies (Lscs) organised the screening of Felix Greene’s documentary “One Man’s China”, followed by a discussion with the Senior Lecturer in Film Studies (Kcl), Dr. Victor Fan. The London Society for Chinese Studies (Lscs) is an independent student society affiliated with the Lau China Institute, King’s College London and intended to encourage and promote research on China and Chinese Studies. The choice of this controversial and widely criticised documentary was indeed – in its oddity – a discussion-sparkler and a good starting point for a reflection on the perception of the Cultural Revolution in the West.
Director and documentarist Felix Greene was born in England and first visited China for the BBC. He travelled the country widely for over 20 years, in areas where no Westerner filmmaker had been before and he put together exhaustive professional film coverage of China. “One Man’s...
Director and documentarist Felix Greene was born in England and first visited China for the BBC. He travelled the country widely for over 20 years, in areas where no Westerner filmmaker had been before and he put together exhaustive professional film coverage of China. “One Man’s...
- 1/13/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
China has had a roller-coaster year so far at festivals worldwide, with high-profile wins and accolades but also more instances of highly disruptive censorship than ever before. In 2019, five international film festivals around have so far ended up tangling with China’s content overlords, who are on unusually high alert ahead of a particularly sensitive political anniversary for the ruling Communist Party in October — the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
The year kicked off with a bang in February at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival, which became a showcase of both the country’s highs and lows. China was the best-represented non-European country at the festival, with three entries in the main competition; two in the Panorama section (Lou Ye’s “The Shadow Play” and Xiang Zi’s “A Dog Barking at the Moon”); and Chinese film producer, director and screenwriter Vivian Qu on the jury for First Feature Film.
The year kicked off with a bang in February at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival, which became a showcase of both the country’s highs and lows. China was the best-represented non-European country at the festival, with three entries in the main competition; two in the Panorama section (Lou Ye’s “The Shadow Play” and Xiang Zi’s “A Dog Barking at the Moon”); and Chinese film producer, director and screenwriter Vivian Qu on the jury for First Feature Film.
- 9/12/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
There are a multitude of reasons why any film may get unfairly overlooked. It could be a lack of marketing resources to provide a substantial push, or, due to a minuscule roll-out, not enough critics and audiences to be the champions it might require. It could simply be the timing of the picture itself; even in the world of studio filmmaking, some features take time to get their due. With an increasingly crowded marketplace, there are more reasons than ever that something might not find an audience and we’ve rounded up the releases that deserved more attention.
Note that all of the below films made less than $500K at the domestic box office at the time of posting–Netflix/VOD figures are not accounted for, as they normally aren’t made public–and are, for the most part, left out of most year-end conversations. Sadly, many documentaries would qualify for this list,...
Note that all of the below films made less than $500K at the domestic box office at the time of posting–Netflix/VOD figures are not accounted for, as they normally aren’t made public–and are, for the most part, left out of most year-end conversations. Sadly, many documentaries would qualify for this list,...
- 12/20/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics a question pertaining to the contemporary movie landscape.
This week’s question: What’s a criminally under-appreciated 2018 movie that people should be sure to watch before the end of the year?
Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly), Freelance
I would like to draw everyone’s attention to Yen Tan’s exquisite AIDS crisis drama “1985”–a compassionate and gorgeously shot black & white film that follows a young, closeted man as he visits his conservative parents in a small Texan town and harbors heartbreaking secrets. It’s a true tearjerker, delicately small-scaled and features some of the most fully-realized character journeys I’ve seen on screen this year. I believe it comes out on DVD/Blu mid-December; hopefully it will be available for digital rental at that point as well.
Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM), Solzy at the Movies/Freelance
Even though it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...
This week’s question: What’s a criminally under-appreciated 2018 movie that people should be sure to watch before the end of the year?
Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly), Freelance
I would like to draw everyone’s attention to Yen Tan’s exquisite AIDS crisis drama “1985”–a compassionate and gorgeously shot black & white film that follows a young, closeted man as he visits his conservative parents in a small Texan town and harbors heartbreaking secrets. It’s a true tearjerker, delicately small-scaled and features some of the most fully-realized character journeys I’ve seen on screen this year. I believe it comes out on DVD/Blu mid-December; hopefully it will be available for digital rental at that point as well.
Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM), Solzy at the Movies/Freelance
Even though it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...
- 12/3/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
After an interlude producing the successful noir “Black Coal, Thin Ice”, awarded in Berlin, Vivian Qu is back on the director chair with her sophomore film “Angels Wear White”. The movie premiered at the last edition of Venice International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Best Film Award and went on collecting several nominations and awards, one for all the prestigious Taiwanese Golden Horse Award. Nevertheless, the film has encountered some problems with Chinese censorship because of its controversial topic and social commentary.
In a provincial seaside town on the Hainan Island, Mia (Wen Qi) works as a cleaner for an upmarket motel. She hasn’t got documents and tries to maintain a low profile, taking any job she finds without questioning too much, as – like many migrants – her goal is to save enough money to buy her way through bureaucracy. A hard-working, cheeky and friendly 15-year-old,...
In a provincial seaside town on the Hainan Island, Mia (Wen Qi) works as a cleaner for an upmarket motel. She hasn’t got documents and tries to maintain a low profile, taking any job she finds without questioning too much, as – like many migrants – her goal is to save enough money to buy her way through bureaucracy. A hard-working, cheeky and friendly 15-year-old,...
- 10/20/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Other winners included Derek Doneen’s The Price Of Free and Samal Yeslyamova for her performance in Ayka.
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s drama 3 Faces scooped the top prize at the 55th edition of International Antalya Film Festival (Sept 29-Oct 5) last weekend.
The feature, which premiered in competition at Cannes where it won the prize for best screenplay, was feted with Antalya’s Golden Orange award and $53,000 cash prize for best film.
The director, who is currently under house arrest in Iran, participated in the awards ceremony via a video-link.
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the $25,000 Golden Orange prize for...
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s drama 3 Faces scooped the top prize at the 55th edition of International Antalya Film Festival (Sept 29-Oct 5) last weekend.
The feature, which premiered in competition at Cannes where it won the prize for best screenplay, was feted with Antalya’s Golden Orange award and $53,000 cash prize for best film.
The director, who is currently under house arrest in Iran, participated in the awards ceremony via a video-link.
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the $25,000 Golden Orange prize for...
- 10/11/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Open letter calls for 50/50 gender parity pledge and training in unconscious bias.
The European Women’s Audiovsiual Network (Ewa) has published a strongly-worded open letter to Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice film festival, decrying the lack of female directors selected for the main competition this year and calling him out on his claim of “quality not gender”.
It calls on Barbera to commit to 50/50 gender equity for female dirctors and to educate his programming team in how to avoid the pitfalls of unconscious bias.
The letter was co-signed by Women in Film and Television International (Wifti), Wift Nordic,...
The European Women’s Audiovsiual Network (Ewa) has published a strongly-worded open letter to Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice film festival, decrying the lack of female directors selected for the main competition this year and calling him out on his claim of “quality not gender”.
It calls on Barbera to commit to 50/50 gender equity for female dirctors and to educate his programming team in how to avoid the pitfalls of unconscious bias.
The letter was co-signed by Women in Film and Television International (Wifti), Wift Nordic,...
- 8/13/2018
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
The Sarajevo Film Festival kicked off Friday with Polish drama “Cold War,” marking a return to the city for Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Pawlikowski, who won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his film about star-crossed lovers in 1950s Europe, said he was especially delighted to have his film open the festival. “I have been in love with Sarajevo for a long time – haunted by it,” he said, adding that he became enamored of the city after seeing Emir Kusturica’s 1981 film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?”
During the opening ceremony, festival director Mirsad Purivata presented Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan with an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for his “extraordinary contribution to the art of film.” “This is great honor for me, really, and I accept it with my heart,” Ceylan said.
The festival is showcasing his cinematic and photographic works, including his 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,...
Pawlikowski, who won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his film about star-crossed lovers in 1950s Europe, said he was especially delighted to have his film open the festival. “I have been in love with Sarajevo for a long time – haunted by it,” he said, adding that he became enamored of the city after seeing Emir Kusturica’s 1981 film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?”
During the opening ceremony, festival director Mirsad Purivata presented Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan with an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for his “extraordinary contribution to the art of film.” “This is great honor for me, really, and I accept it with my heart,” Ceylan said.
The festival is showcasing his cinematic and photographic works, including his 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,...
- 8/11/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival is under fire from the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and other advocacy groups due to the lack of women directors in its lineup.
In a forthright open letter, the Ewa and signatories including Women in Film & TV International, Wift Nordic, Wift Sweden, and the Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network, call on Venice to follow the lead of Cannes and Locarno by introducing a diversity pledge and to train staff in detecting “unconscious bias.”
Venice’s main competition lineup only features one female director, Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale. The numbers are getting worse, not better. While women directors made up 22% of the competition in 2012, that percentage has decreased or stayed the same each year since. It has dropped to 4.5% the last two years.
In the letter, which is published in full below, the group says, “Venice, we have seen this film before…these festivals indicate their priorities and values.
In a forthright open letter, the Ewa and signatories including Women in Film & TV International, Wift Nordic, Wift Sweden, and the Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network, call on Venice to follow the lead of Cannes and Locarno by introducing a diversity pledge and to train staff in detecting “unconscious bias.”
Venice’s main competition lineup only features one female director, Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale. The numbers are getting worse, not better. While women directors made up 22% of the competition in 2012, that percentage has decreased or stayed the same each year since. It has dropped to 4.5% the last two years.
In the letter, which is published in full below, the group says, “Venice, we have seen this film before…these festivals indicate their priorities and values.
- 8/10/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival has come under fire from the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and several other advocacy groups for virtually shutting out female directors from its competition section. In an open letter, the Ewa has also demanded that Venice join the Cannes and Locarno fests in signing a gender-parity pledge.
“We have seen this film before,” the letter said, referring to the fact that, for the second year in a row, only one out of the 21 competition titles at Venice is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale.” “Angels Wear White,” by Chinese director Vivian Qu, was last year’s lone competition title directed by a woman.
The Ewa took issue with Venice artistic chief Alberto Barbera, who, while pledging to try to do more to boost female representation, said recently that he would quit “if we impose quotas or gender-equality needs.”
“When Alberto Barbera threatens to quit,...
“We have seen this film before,” the letter said, referring to the fact that, for the second year in a row, only one out of the 21 competition titles at Venice is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale.” “Angels Wear White,” by Chinese director Vivian Qu, was last year’s lone competition title directed by a woman.
The Ewa took issue with Venice artistic chief Alberto Barbera, who, while pledging to try to do more to boost female representation, said recently that he would quit “if we impose quotas or gender-equality needs.”
“When Alberto Barbera threatens to quit,...
- 8/10/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A group of global women's organizations have written an open letter to the president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta, which specifically calls out Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera for the lack of female representation in the official lineup each year.
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
- 8/10/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A group of global women's organizations have written an open letter to the president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta, which specifically calls out Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera for the lack of female representation in the official lineup each year.
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
- 8/10/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
This year’s Venice Film Festival lineup has some world class auteurs on display — from Alfonso Cuaron to the Coen brothers — but once again, female filmmakers didn’t fare so well. Among the 21 films announced as part of this year’s competition lineup, only one is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale,” the Australian filmmaker’s followup to her lauded “The Babadook.” Moreover, among the 60 films picked as part of the festival’s “Official Selection”, just eight were directed by women. Other female filmmakers represented on the slate include Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Mary Harron, Sarah Marx, and Margherita Ferri.
In recent years, the annual festival has similarly fallen short when it comes to women-directed films, averaging just one in a field of 18 to 22 selections over the past six years. It wasn’t always this way: in 2012, 2011, 2009, the festival hosted four competition titles from women, but their representation has seriously dipped.
In recent years, the annual festival has similarly fallen short when it comes to women-directed films, averaging just one in a field of 18 to 22 selections over the past six years. It wasn’t always this way: in 2012, 2011, 2009, the festival hosted four competition titles from women, but their representation has seriously dipped.
- 7/25/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Contemporary Chinese Cinema is a column devoted to exploring contemporary Chinese-language cinema primarily as it is revealed to us at North American multiplexes.Dead PigsWith the exception of the fine time-travel romantic comedy How Long Will I Love U, which has been doing very well at the box office in China and can still be found in select cities over here, there haven’t been many Chinese films of note recently on North American screens. There will be more to look forward to this summer, starting with Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee and the Four Heavenly Kings, which is set for a late July release. And recently New York audiences have been blessed by retrospectives on Sylvia Chang and Chang Cheh. For the rest of us, however, pickings have been slim. While current distribution patterns see a decent number of Chinese films make it to select mainstream multiplexes, those films...
- 6/19/2018
- MUBI
As the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements press for gender equity in the U.S., women in China’s film industry also suffer from a lack of opportunity and sexist treatment, director Vivian Qu said in Cannes on Sunday.
“The differences in remuneration between men and women in China are less obvious [than in the West], but they are well understood,” said Qu, whose child abuse and conspiracy drama “Angels Wear White” was the biggest breakout indie film from China last year.
“Any women-centric film proposal cannot get beyond a certain budget level. But if you take a male assistant to a meeting, then you can get more money. There is an assumption that women filmmakers cannot handle a big budget.”
Qu spoke at a seminar organized by global fashion giant Kering on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. Other speakers at the event included singer-actress Chris Lee and actor Z. Tao.
“The differences in remuneration between men and women in China are less obvious [than in the West], but they are well understood,” said Qu, whose child abuse and conspiracy drama “Angels Wear White” was the biggest breakout indie film from China last year.
“Any women-centric film proposal cannot get beyond a certain budget level. But if you take a male assistant to a meeting, then you can get more money. There is an assumption that women filmmakers cannot handle a big budget.”
Qu spoke at a seminar organized by global fashion giant Kering on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. Other speakers at the event included singer-actress Chris Lee and actor Z. Tao.
- 5/13/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
If there’s a common theme weaved throughout the 2018 Nashville Film Festival, it’s a strong sense of diversity. With submissions from more than 135 countries and female filmmakers making up more than 40% of the film bracket, in addition to several films led by African-Americans and those who defy gender norms, filmmakers from wide-ranging backgrounds are turning to the Nashville Film Festival as an outlet to share their voices.
“The storytelling has gotten deeper,” artistic director Brian Owens says of the 2018 festival, which runs May 10-19 at Regal Hollywood Stadium 27. “These films really address the now, all the way through the program. There really seems to be an urgency that wasn’t there before. It’s a reflection of the times.”
This sense of urgency is mirrored in the festival’s numerous documentaries, a category in which the presence of women is prominent across a variety of socially conscious films. “Dark Money” is one example,...
“The storytelling has gotten deeper,” artistic director Brian Owens says of the 2018 festival, which runs May 10-19 at Regal Hollywood Stadium 27. “These films really address the now, all the way through the program. There really seems to be an urgency that wasn’t there before. It’s a reflection of the times.”
This sense of urgency is mirrored in the festival’s numerous documentaries, a category in which the presence of women is prominent across a variety of socially conscious films. “Dark Money” is one example,...
- 5/10/2018
- by Cillea Houghton
- Variety Film + TV
“I’m a supporter of positive discrimination in everyday life, but not in the selection process of Cannes. Filmmakers want to be considered as artists,” said Thierry Frémaux after the Cannes lineup was announced.
Fremaux, director of the fest, is expected to announce further measures in support of anti-harassment initiatives at a Monday press conference in advance of the fest’s opening.
His earlier remarks came in defense of the world’s most high-profile festival selecting only three female-helmed films for its 2018 competition. While observers had hoped that in the wake of #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, gender pay parity and inclusion riders, Cannes would reconsider its attitude toward women directors, Fremaux’s answer is both honest and disingenous.
Honest because women helmers will tell you that it’s true — they are artists and should be considered as such, just as their male counterparts are — but disingenuous because what...
Fremaux, director of the fest, is expected to announce further measures in support of anti-harassment initiatives at a Monday press conference in advance of the fest’s opening.
His earlier remarks came in defense of the world’s most high-profile festival selecting only three female-helmed films for its 2018 competition. While observers had hoped that in the wake of #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, gender pay parity and inclusion riders, Cannes would reconsider its attitude toward women directors, Fremaux’s answer is both honest and disingenous.
Honest because women helmers will tell you that it’s true — they are artists and should be considered as such, just as their male counterparts are — but disingenuous because what...
- 5/7/2018
- by Simran Hans
- Variety Film + TV
wide
Tully
Charlize Theron stars as a new mother overwhelmed by baby care who bonds with her night nanny (Mackenzie Davis). Written by Diablo Cody. (male director)
my review | find cinemas
limited
Angels Wear White [pictured]
Vivian Qu writes and directs this drama about how a teenaged girl (Vicky Chen) and a tween (Meijun Zhou) react when one of them suffers a sexual assault.
find cinemas
Rbg
Julie Cohen and Betsy West direct this documentary biography of pioneering judicial activist and Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
my review | find cinemas
Everything Else
Natalia Almada writes and directs this drama about a woman (Adriana Barraza) who reawakens herself to life in her 60s.
find cinemas
The Desert Bride
Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato direct and cowrite this adventure drama about a woman (Paulina García) whose life is upended when her job is threatened.
find cinemas
Altered Perception
Kate Rees Davies directs...
Tully
Charlize Theron stars as a new mother overwhelmed by baby care who bonds with her night nanny (Mackenzie Davis). Written by Diablo Cody. (male director)
my review | find cinemas
limited
Angels Wear White [pictured]
Vivian Qu writes and directs this drama about how a teenaged girl (Vicky Chen) and a tween (Meijun Zhou) react when one of them suffers a sexual assault.
find cinemas
Rbg
Julie Cohen and Betsy West direct this documentary biography of pioneering judicial activist and Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
my review | find cinemas
Everything Else
Natalia Almada writes and directs this drama about a woman (Adriana Barraza) who reawakens herself to life in her 60s.
find cinemas
The Desert Bride
Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato direct and cowrite this adventure drama about a woman (Paulina García) whose life is upended when her job is threatened.
find cinemas
Altered Perception
Kate Rees Davies directs...
- 5/4/2018
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The Magnolia Pictures-Participant Media documentary Rbg already has lured crowds with targeted buyout screenings and looks ready for a strong debut as it begins its regular run in theaters this weekend. Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Sundance premiere about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is opening Friday in nearly three dozen locations, ready to peel off some audiences looking for an alternative to the second weekend of Avengers: Infinity War and other big holdovers. New limited releases this weekend also include foreign-language fare. Music Box Films is opening The Guardians, a drama starring Nathalie Baye from French filmmaker Xavier Beauvois that begins its stateside run with an exclusive showing in New York this weekend before heading to select markets. And KimStim is opening Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White at New York’s Metrograph before heading to other cities. The film was the only feature...
- 5/4/2018
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
At last year’s Venice Film Festival, just one film from a female filmmaker — Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White” — was counted amongst the starry competition titles, and while Qu’s film didn’t win the big prize, it walked away with its own timely distinction: it’s a #MeToo film made before #MeToo swept Hollywood. Just weeks after Venice wrapped, disgraced producer Harvey Weintsein was accused of multiple acts of sexual assault and harassment, setting loose a new era in the industry.
Qu’s film proved to be a prescient piece of #MeToo cinema during its premiere, and its power has only increased during the subsequent months between its Venice debut and its domestic release.
Half-noir, half-human drama, the film follows young hotel clerk Mia (Vicky Chen), who witnesses a horrific sexual assault perpetrated against a pair of young schoolgirls by a middle-aged man during a night shift. Terrified of losing her job,...
Qu’s film proved to be a prescient piece of #MeToo cinema during its premiere, and its power has only increased during the subsequent months between its Venice debut and its domestic release.
Half-noir, half-human drama, the film follows young hotel clerk Mia (Vicky Chen), who witnesses a horrific sexual assault perpetrated against a pair of young schoolgirls by a middle-aged man during a night shift. Terrified of losing her job,...
- 4/18/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Angels may wear white, but Xioawen and Mia aren’t angels. The two girls, played with vigor by Zhou Meijun and Wen Qu, respectively, don’t enjoy the kind of hashtag-blessed reality they might dream about. Mia, the older of the two, cleans up at a low-rent love motel that Wen and a friend are brought to by a man who turns out to be the local police commissioner; he’s there for exactly the reason you’d queasily suspect and, we soon learn, does exactly that.
If you weren’t aware that “Angels Wear White” premiered a month before the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, you’d be forgiven for thinking Vivian Qu’s nuanced drama was made to show the #MeToo movement from a Chinese perspective. The actual assault is never shown, with Qu focusing entirely on the aftermath — a long, drawn-out process that’s no less traumatic than...
If you weren’t aware that “Angels Wear White” premiered a month before the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, you’d be forgiven for thinking Vivian Qu’s nuanced drama was made to show the #MeToo movement from a Chinese perspective. The actual assault is never shown, with Qu focusing entirely on the aftermath — a long, drawn-out process that’s no less traumatic than...
- 2/9/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Angels Wear White, Youth and The Third Murder also score multiple nods.
Source: 21st Century Shengkai Film
‘Legend Of The Demon Cat’
Chen Kaige’s lavish period drama Legend Of The Demon Cat racked up the most nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards, with six nods in all, including best director.
The co-production between Hong Kong, China and Japan was also nominated for best supporting actress (Kitty Zhang Yuqi), cinematography, costume design, production design and visual effects. However, the film wasn’t nominated in the best film category.
Three films scored five nods apiece and were all nominated for best film – Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White and Feng Xiaogang’s Youth, both from mainland China, and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder.
Rounding out the best film category are Newton from Indian filmmaker Amit V. Masurkar and The Day After from South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, which both racked...
Source: 21st Century Shengkai Film
‘Legend Of The Demon Cat’
Chen Kaige’s lavish period drama Legend Of The Demon Cat racked up the most nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards, with six nods in all, including best director.
The co-production between Hong Kong, China and Japan was also nominated for best supporting actress (Kitty Zhang Yuqi), cinematography, costume design, production design and visual effects. However, the film wasn’t nominated in the best film category.
Three films scored five nods apiece and were all nominated for best film – Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White and Feng Xiaogang’s Youth, both from mainland China, and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder.
Rounding out the best film category are Newton from Indian filmmaker Amit V. Masurkar and The Day After from South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, which both racked...
- 1/11/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Every year, new films premiere at festivals around the world with the hopes of obtaining distribution so they can be seen by general audiences. Of course, not every film ends up with that fate: some don’t get accepted to festivals, others screen at smaller festivals with less publicity, and even the ones that do end up premiering at a major fest aren’t guaranteed a deal. This results in great films falling through the cracks, ignored and/or forgotten because of their perceived profitability rather than their quality.
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
- 12/31/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
After The Conformist's Tokyo FilmEx screening, a viewer asked director Cai Shangjun whether film noir is a genre on the rise in Chinese cinema. It's not hard to see why. Cai's third and latest feature, which bowed at FilmEx alongside Vivian Qu's noir-inflected Angels Wear White, is a finely crafted tale in which a hard-boiled hoodlum contends with myriad criminals, multiple conspiracies and an icy femme fatale in bleak border outposts in China and Russia.
Though The Conformist's story and visual style bear scant resemblance to Bernando Bertolucci's thriller of the same name, Cai has acquitted himself with many...
Though The Conformist's story and visual style bear scant resemblance to Bernando Bertolucci's thriller of the same name, Cai has acquitted himself with many...
- 11/29/2017
- by Clarence Tsui
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Let’s think about the title to Vivian Qu’s sophomore effort Angels Wear White because the meaning goes far beyond the words themselves. On the surface it’s simply describing religious iconography and the idea that angels wear flowing white linens with halos on heads and harps in hands. But we’ve taken this concept and brought it into real life too. “White” has become synonymous with purity, trust, and expertise. We see a white lab coat on a doctor and automatically provide him/her a reverence built on nothing but an article of clothing. We don’t know them. We merely assume they have our best interests in mind. That white sheen doesn’t mean they’re incorruptible, though. Anyone can be bought or sold despite appearances. Everyone has a price.
Perhaps the cost is paid with money or maybe silence. For the young women at the center...
Perhaps the cost is paid with money or maybe silence. For the young women at the center...
- 10/15/2017
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Vivian Qu’s new film, “Angels Wear White,” couldn’t come to us at a better or worse time, depending on your point of view. In last week and a half or so, torrents of reports about the deserved fall of movie mogul and sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein have spilled across the web; the mounting accusations against him forced The Weinstein Company to save face by firing him last Sunday.
Continue reading Blistering, Bleak ‘Angels Wear White’ Takes On Patriarchal Cultures [BFI London Film Fest Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Blistering, Bleak ‘Angels Wear White’ Takes On Patriarchal Cultures [BFI London Film Fest Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/13/2017
- by Andrew Crump
- The Playlist
Although hailed by many as the only feature by a female (and Chinese) director to compete in the main competition at this year's Venice Film Festival, to minimize producer-writer-director Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White to its surrounding accomplishments would be to undersell what is achieved through the incisive blows that materialize from its skeletal framework. On a hot day in a seaside town running on tourism, two girls in pristine school uniforms—Xiaowen (Zhou Meijun) and Xinxin (Zhang Xinyue)—are sexually assaulted in a hotel. The perpetrator is the town's district commissioner, who they, their parents, and the lawyers and local police officers know. But to issue an arrest warrant for a man in power requires far more evidence than these claims, and this evidence belongs to the assault's only witness: Mia (Wen Qi), an underage migrant worker without a proper ID, whose coming forward could jeopardize her only source of income.
- 9/20/2017
- MUBI
Below you will find our favorite films of the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Top Picksfernando F. CROCE1. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)2. Zama (Lucrecia Martel)3. Western (Valeska Grisebach)4. Ex Libris (Frederick Wiseman)5. Faces Places (Agnès Varda, Jr)6. Manhunt (John Woo)7. Jeanette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (Bruno Dumont)8. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (S. Craig Zahler)9. The Day After (Hong Sang-soo)10. Let the Corpses Tan (Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani)Kelley DONG1. Rose Gold (Sarah Cwynar), Strangely Ordinary This Devotion (Dani Restack, Sheilah Wilson Restack)3. Good Luck (Ben Russell)4. Manhunt (John Woo)5. The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda), Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)Daniel KASMAN1. Ex Libris (Frederick Wiseman)2. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)3. Zama (Lucrecia Martel)4. Strangely Ordinary This Devotion (Dani Restack, Sheilah Wilson Restack)5. I Love You, Daddy (Louis C.K.)6. Rose Gold (Sarah Cwynar)7. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (S. Craig Zahler)8. below-above (André...
- 9/19/2017
- MUBI
This is the second time Vivian Qu has brought a film to the Toronto Film Festival. She was last here in 2014 with Trap Bear, her feature film directorial debut. This...
- 9/15/2017
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
Dear Danny and Kelley,The Rider sounds lovely, and I’m happy to hear Chloé Zhao has built on the melancholy promise of her first film, Songs My Brother Taught Me. Artists with a gift for empathy create anticipation for new works. Artists whose single stylistic tool is shock, on the other hand, cause only dread. So it goes with mother!, Darren Aronofsky’s latest suite of seizures and my noisiest, least rewarding experience at Tiff so far. Genius is like fire in that it is born from what it burns, says Malraux, so this allegory on the malefic artistic process opens with the subtlety and maidenly restraint expected from the maker of Requiem for a Dream: a full frontal glimpse of an incinerated woman, her blistering skin suggesting a melting gold effigy. The drama proper belongs to another wax dummy, an unnamed young wife played by Jennifer Lawrence...
- 9/11/2017
- MUBI
While the Venice film festival’s main competition lineup this year has just one female director out of 21 films, the program outside of the main spotlight has more diverse lineups.
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them directed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"Film festivals...
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them directed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"Film festivals...
- 9/8/2017
- by Ariston Anderson
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While the Venice Film Festival’s main competition lineup this year has just one female director out of 21 films, the program outside of the main spotlight has more diverse lineups.
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them helmed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"...
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them helmed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"...
While the Venice Film Festival’s main competition lineup this year has just one female director out of 21 films, the program outside of the main spotlight has more diverse lineups.
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them helmed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"...
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them helmed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"...
One of the most anticipated movies in Venice, Angels Wear White is not only the one film set completely in China, but also the only one from a female director in competition this year at the festival.
Helmer Vivian Qu returns after premiering her 2013 film Trap Street at the fest and returning the following year to serve on the jury.
In Qu's new film Angels Wear White, two schoolgirls are brutally assaulted by a middle-aged man in a seaside motel. A teenage receptionist who witnessed the abuse says nothing over fear of losing her job. The young girls fall...
Helmer Vivian Qu returns after premiering her 2013 film Trap Street at the fest and returning the following year to serve on the jury.
In Qu's new film Angels Wear White, two schoolgirls are brutally assaulted by a middle-aged man in a seaside motel. A teenage receptionist who witnessed the abuse says nothing over fear of losing her job. The young girls fall...
- 9/6/2017
- by Ariston Anderson
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With her second feature, Angels Wear White (Jia Nian Hua), Chinese director Vivian Qu graduates from the Venice Critics’ Week, where her 2013 debut Trap Street premiered, to the main competition of the festival. But this tale, which follows one of two girls of about 12 who was assaulted at a seaside hotel, and the teenage girl who was working the reception there that night, demonstrates many of the same weaknesses of her first feature — though its final shot does pack an impressive punch.
Dramatically exceptionally subdued, this story of rape and corruption leaves all the violence and histrionics...
Dramatically exceptionally subdued, this story of rape and corruption leaves all the violence and histrionics...
- 9/6/2017
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As this year’s Venice Film Festival bows, the starry annual festival continues to draw fire for a lineup that leans heavily towards the side of male-directed offerings. At this year’s festival, only one film screening in a competition section that includes 21 films is directed by a woman, Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White.”
Just yesterday, festival director Alberto Barbera spoke out on the demographics of this year’s lineup, making it clear that he doesn’t blame the fest for furthering an environment rife with sexism and a lack of opportunities for female filmmakers. “I don’t think it’s our fault…I don’t like to think in terms of a quota when you make a selection process,” he said. “I’m sorry that there are very few films from women this year, but we are not producing films.”
Read More:Venice Film Festival Director Alberto Barbera...
Just yesterday, festival director Alberto Barbera spoke out on the demographics of this year’s lineup, making it clear that he doesn’t blame the fest for furthering an environment rife with sexism and a lack of opportunities for female filmmakers. “I don’t think it’s our fault…I don’t like to think in terms of a quota when you make a selection process,” he said. “I’m sorry that there are very few films from women this year, but we are not producing films.”
Read More:Venice Film Festival Director Alberto Barbera...
- 8/30/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The fall festival season officially kicks into high gear when the Venice Film Festival launches later this week (followed in short succession by Telluride, Tiff, and Nyff), but moviegoers eager to get a first peek at the year’s most exciting new selections will likely notice one distressing trend: a lack of female filmmakers hitting the Lido to bow their latest works. At this year’s festival, only one film screening in a competition section that includes 21 films is directed by a woman, Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White.”
It’s hardly the first time the festival has unveiled a male-dominated lineup, and it certainly seems like it won’t be the last.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, the outlet has caught up with festival director Alberto Barbera, who seems unpreturbed about the gender disparity in his lineup, and even less driven to correct it.
Read More:20 Female Directors Who...
It’s hardly the first time the festival has unveiled a male-dominated lineup, and it certainly seems like it won’t be the last.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, the outlet has caught up with festival director Alberto Barbera, who seems unpreturbed about the gender disparity in his lineup, and even less driven to correct it.
Read More:20 Female Directors Who...
- 8/29/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Alberto Barbera discusses the stellar line-up for the 74th edition of the festival.
As the world’s oldest film festival gears up for its 74th edition, Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera is excited about kicking off this year’s awards season in earnest.
In the last four years the festival has launched major Oscar runs for four Us movies: Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land.
This year, Venice’s world premieres include Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly fairy tale The Shape of Water, George Clooney’s crime-caper Suburbicon, Darren Aronofsky’s drama-horror mother! and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
In 2016, the festival chief knew he had a diamond in the shape of Damien Chazelle’s musical and while he may not have a slam dunk as obvious as that, he is sanguine about this crop’s awards potential.
”Downsizing has good chances, of course...
As the world’s oldest film festival gears up for its 74th edition, Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera is excited about kicking off this year’s awards season in earnest.
In the last four years the festival has launched major Oscar runs for four Us movies: Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land.
This year, Venice’s world premieres include Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly fairy tale The Shape of Water, George Clooney’s crime-caper Suburbicon, Darren Aronofsky’s drama-horror mother! and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
In 2016, the festival chief knew he had a diamond in the shape of Damien Chazelle’s musical and while he may not have a slam dunk as obvious as that, he is sanguine about this crop’s awards potential.
”Downsizing has good chances, of course...
- 7/31/2017
- ScreenDaily
Alberto Barbera discusses the stellar line-up for the 74th edition of the festival.
As the world’s oldest film festival gears up for its 74th edition, Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera is excited about kicking off this year’s awards season in earnest.
Venice will give world premieres to Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly fairy tale The Shape of Water, George Clooney’s crime-caper Suburbicon, Darren Aronofsky’s drama-horror mother! and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
In the last four years Venice has kickstarted major Oscar runs for four Us films - Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land.
Last year, the festival chief knew he had a diamond in the shape of Damien Chazelle’s musical and while he may not have a slam dunk as obvious as that, he is sanguine about this crop’s awards potential.
”Downsizing has good chances, of course...
As the world’s oldest film festival gears up for its 74th edition, Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera is excited about kicking off this year’s awards season in earnest.
Venice will give world premieres to Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly fairy tale The Shape of Water, George Clooney’s crime-caper Suburbicon, Darren Aronofsky’s drama-horror mother! and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
In the last four years Venice has kickstarted major Oscar runs for four Us films - Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land.
Last year, the festival chief knew he had a diamond in the shape of Damien Chazelle’s musical and while he may not have a slam dunk as obvious as that, he is sanguine about this crop’s awards potential.
”Downsizing has good chances, of course...
- 7/31/2017
- ScreenDaily
Aronofsky, Clooney and del Toro are heading to the Lido; Alberto Barbera reveals the ones that got away.
Ahead of the world’s oldest festival, the buzz is palpable once again.
However, the flavour to this year’s Venice line-up is noticeably different from recent editions with an emphasis on internationalism, discoveries and innovation over large canvas studio fare.
If last year’s Venice lineup was a veritable treasure trove of big name Us and international filmmakers, this year’s lineup has a slightly more tempered feel to it, which nonetheless remains full of intrigue.
In the last four years Venice has kickstarted major Oscar runs for four Us movies [Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land], however last year, for the first time in three years, it missed out on hosting the best picture winner [Moonlight, which went to Telluride].
Buzzed-about early awards contenders in this year’s 21-strong competition include Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly...
Ahead of the world’s oldest festival, the buzz is palpable once again.
However, the flavour to this year’s Venice line-up is noticeably different from recent editions with an emphasis on internationalism, discoveries and innovation over large canvas studio fare.
If last year’s Venice lineup was a veritable treasure trove of big name Us and international filmmakers, this year’s lineup has a slightly more tempered feel to it, which nonetheless remains full of intrigue.
In the last four years Venice has kickstarted major Oscar runs for four Us movies [Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land], however last year, for the first time in three years, it missed out on hosting the best picture winner [Moonlight, which went to Telluride].
Buzzed-about early awards contenders in this year’s 21-strong competition include Alexander Payne’s social satire Downsizing, starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, Guillermo del Toro’s other-worldly...
- 7/27/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Moments ago, the Venice Film Festival announced their lineup for this year, and it again seems to suggest a strong brewing Oscar race. Coming hot on the heels of the initial Toronto International Film Festival slate, there’s a lot of overlap between the two. Auteurs like Darren Aronofsky, George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Martin McDonagh, and Alexander Payne will be in Italy this time around. Each is hoping to make an Academy Award case for their latest work. Time will tell if that happens, but there’s definitely potential here. Read on to see some of what will be playing in Venice at the end of August/the beginning of September… Among the 2017 entrants of note for this fest, we have Downsizing from Alexander Payne, First Reformed from Paul Schrader, Lean on Pete from Andrew Haigh, mother! from Darren Aronofsky, The Shape of Water from Guillermo del Toro, Suburbicon from George Clooney,...
- 7/27/2017
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
ZamaThe programme for the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Darren Aronofsky, Lucrecia Martel, Frederick Wiseman, Alexander Payne, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takeshi Kitano and many more.COMPETITIONmother! (Darren Aronofsky)First Reformed (Paul Schrader)Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton)The Leisure Seeker (Paolo Virzi)Una Famiglia (Sebastiano Riso)Ex Libris - The New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)The Whale (Andrea Pallaoro)Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)Foxtrot (Samuel Maoz)Ammore e malavita (Manetti Brothers)Jusqu'a la garde (Xavier Legrand)The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (Abdellatif Kechiche)Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)L'insulte (Ziad Doueiri)La Villa (Robert Guediguian)The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)Suburbicon (George Clooney)Human Flow (Ai Weiwei)Downsizing (Alexander Payne)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesOur Souls at Night (Ritesh Batra)Il Signor Rotpeter (Antonietta de Lillo)Victoria...
- 7/27/2017
- MUBI
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