The Danish podcast company Podster has entered into a distribution agreement with Saxo, the company behind one of the most popular audio and book streaming services in Denmark. The deal encompasses three podcasts from Podster’s catalogue, which are already available on Saxo’s streaming platform.
Podster has succeeded in transforming local podcasts into international formats, releasing shows in the United Kingdom, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.
They also gained acclaim for their Danish true crime show, Forhøret, which was published to the RSS feed through a collaboration with Acast, and strode to the top of the charts. The agreement with Saxo is Podster’s first distribution deal in Denmark.
”Our latest agreement marks three milestones for Podster. It is our first distribution agreement in Denmark, the first collaboration with a book streaming service and the first Podster original show to be released. We are...
Podster has succeeded in transforming local podcasts into international formats, releasing shows in the United Kingdom, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.
They also gained acclaim for their Danish true crime show, Forhøret, which was published to the RSS feed through a collaboration with Acast, and strode to the top of the charts. The agreement with Saxo is Podster’s first distribution deal in Denmark.
”Our latest agreement marks three milestones for Podster. It is our first distribution agreement in Denmark, the first collaboration with a book streaming service and the first Podster original show to be released. We are...
- 3/5/2024
- Podnews.net
Dominic Cooper, Tamsin Greig and Eddie Marsan are among the names joining Anne-Marie Duff on season 2 of Channel 4 and BritBox International drama series Suspect.
Filming on the drama’s second run is underway, with Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, The Lazarus Project), Celine Buckens (Showtrial, The Ex-Wife), Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy, For Life) and Gina McKee (Bodyguard, Our Friends in the North) joining Cooper (Preacher, Mamma Mia!), Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Belgravia) and Marsan.
Duff stars in the series as Dr Susannah Newman. In the eight-part series, she is on a desperate quest to track down a self-confessed serial killer before he kills again that night. When a mysterious new client Jon (Cooper) admits under hypnosis that he is a murderer and intends on killing another young female that evening, Susannah knows he must be stopped at all costs.
Filming on the drama’s second run is underway, with Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, The Lazarus Project), Celine Buckens (Showtrial, The Ex-Wife), Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy, For Life) and Gina McKee (Bodyguard, Our Friends in the North) joining Cooper (Preacher, Mamma Mia!), Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Belgravia) and Marsan.
Duff stars in the series as Dr Susannah Newman. In the eight-part series, she is on a desperate quest to track down a self-confessed serial killer before he kills again that night. When a mysterious new client Jon (Cooper) admits under hypnosis that he is a murderer and intends on killing another young female that evening, Susannah knows he must be stopped at all costs.
- 11/15/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
“Mamma Mia!” star Dominic Cooper has joined the second season of U.K. police drama “Suspect.”
Fronted by Anne-Marie Duff (“Bad Sisters”), “Suspect” tells the story of bereaved psychotherapist Dr Susannah Newman (Duff) as she tries to track down a serial killer before he strikes again. The Channel 4 show is an adaptation of Danish series Forhøret (“Face to Face”) created by Christoffer Boe.
Cooper joins as a mysterious new client, Jon Fallow, who claims under hypnosis to be a murderer. When he reveals his plan to kill again, Susannah knows he must be stopped. Before the police arrive Jon escapes and Susannah sets out on a deadly mission to save his next victim’s life.
“I’m so pleased to be returning to ‘Suspect’ to be able to dig deeper into the character of Dr Susannah Newman,” said Duff. “Expect lots of twists, turns and revelations alongside more questions to be answered.
Fronted by Anne-Marie Duff (“Bad Sisters”), “Suspect” tells the story of bereaved psychotherapist Dr Susannah Newman (Duff) as she tries to track down a serial killer before he strikes again. The Channel 4 show is an adaptation of Danish series Forhøret (“Face to Face”) created by Christoffer Boe.
Cooper joins as a mysterious new client, Jon Fallow, who claims under hypnosis to be a murderer. When he reveals his plan to kill again, Susannah knows he must be stopped. Before the police arrive Jon escapes and Susannah sets out on a deadly mission to save his next victim’s life.
“I’m so pleased to be returning to ‘Suspect’ to be able to dig deeper into the character of Dr Susannah Newman,” said Duff. “Expect lots of twists, turns and revelations alongside more questions to be answered.
- 11/15/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
The Danish startup Podster (founders pictured above) adapts one of the most popular Portuguese true crime shows to German. The original production is called ‘O Insolito’ and has more than half a million subscribers on Youtube. Acast is in charge of distribution and monetisation.
The exclusive partnership between Podster and Acast was established in June 2023. While Podster focusses on adapting great local podcasts into new global formats, Acast supports the Danish startup with marketing efforts. This makes it possible to reach new listeners, which generates a larger audience and revenue.
The two companies have already launched the show Forhøret in Denmark, which originates from Sweden, together. Now, Acast and Podster have chosen to test their collaboration on the German podcast market with the adaptation of the Portuguese show O Insolito, which will be called Ungewöhnliche Kriminalfälle in German.
“It felt great to release our first show with Acast in our home country.
The exclusive partnership between Podster and Acast was established in June 2023. While Podster focusses on adapting great local podcasts into new global formats, Acast supports the Danish startup with marketing efforts. This makes it possible to reach new listeners, which generates a larger audience and revenue.
The two companies have already launched the show Forhøret in Denmark, which originates from Sweden, together. Now, Acast and Podster have chosen to test their collaboration on the German podcast market with the adaptation of the Portuguese show O Insolito, which will be called Ungewöhnliche Kriminalfälle in German.
“It felt great to release our first show with Acast in our home country.
- 9/13/2023
- Podnews.net
Forhøret kommer oprindeligt fra Sverige, og har mere end 150.000 ugentlige lyttere. Nu vil globale podcast gigant Acast and Podster sammen gøre dette særlige show til en dansk succes.
Den danske start-up Podster specialiserer sig i at tilpasse stærke lokale podcasts til globale formater, så de kan nå en langt større lytterskare og omsætning i nye markeder. I dette eksklusive samarbejde med Acast i Danmark, har Podster mulighed for at tilgå alle Acast- markeder med deres shows, mens Acast understøtter med marketingindsatser for at nå nye, danske lyttere.
“Dette partnerskab er en fantastisk mulighed for både os og de lokale creators at nå et nyt marked. Acast forstår også, at skarpe lydformater kan krydse grænser, og med denne aftale bliver det muligt for os at understøtte hinanden globalt”, fortæller Henriette Høj Gharib, Co- founder og CEO af Podster.
Acast nåede for nylig en milepæl med mere end 100.000 podcasts i sit netværk,...
Den danske start-up Podster specialiserer sig i at tilpasse stærke lokale podcasts til globale formater, så de kan nå en langt større lytterskare og omsætning i nye markeder. I dette eksklusive samarbejde med Acast i Danmark, har Podster mulighed for at tilgå alle Acast- markeder med deres shows, mens Acast understøtter med marketingindsatser for at nå nye, danske lyttere.
“Dette partnerskab er en fantastisk mulighed for både os og de lokale creators at nå et nyt marked. Acast forstår også, at skarpe lydformater kan krydse grænser, og med denne aftale bliver det muligt for os at understøtte hinanden globalt”, fortæller Henriette Høj Gharib, Co- founder og CEO af Podster.
Acast nåede for nylig en milepæl med mere end 100.000 podcasts i sit netværk,...
- 6/23/2023
- Podnews.net
Of the 94 filmmakers who have clinched the coveted Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, only 10 have achieved the honor twice. The latest one to follow the dual win precedent established by Alf Sjoberg (1944’s “Torment” and 1951’s “Miss Julie”) is another Swedish director, Ruben Ostlund, whose first and second victories came for 2017’s “The Square” and 2022’s “Triangle of Sadness.” The latter film has, by all accounts, become his most successful yet and is now in the running for three Oscars, including Best Director.
In this year’s directing Oscar race, Ostlund faces Todd Field (“Tar”), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”). The Daniels are also first-time Oscar nominees, while Spielberg stands as the only past directing contender in the group, with a pair of wins for “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Saving Private Ryan...
In this year’s directing Oscar race, Ostlund faces Todd Field (“Tar”), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”). The Daniels are also first-time Oscar nominees, while Spielberg stands as the only past directing contender in the group, with a pair of wins for “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Saving Private Ryan...
- 3/10/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
In the time since Olivia Colman won the 2019 Best Actress Oscar for appearing in 49 minutes and 48 seconds of “The Favourite,” the academy has consistently given the same award to women with much higher amounts of screen time. All of the category’s last three champions delivered performances that are over 80 minutes in length and rank among the 22 longest ever honored here. Since four of the five current Best Actress nominees hit the 93-minute mark, this trend is practically bound to continue.
Reigning Best Actress victor Jessica Chastain earned the prize for her one hour, 36 minutes, and 42 seconds of work as Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which amounts to 76.45% of the film. Hers is the fifth longest of the 97 performances that have won this award, after those of Vivien Leigh (“Gone with the Wind”), Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”), Meryl Streep (“Sophie’s Choice”), and Olivia de Havilland (“To Each His Own...
Reigning Best Actress victor Jessica Chastain earned the prize for her one hour, 36 minutes, and 42 seconds of work as Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which amounts to 76.45% of the film. Hers is the fifth longest of the 97 performances that have won this award, after those of Vivien Leigh (“Gone with the Wind”), Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”), Meryl Streep (“Sophie’s Choice”), and Olivia de Havilland (“To Each His Own...
- 3/8/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Kinks will mark their 60th anniversary as a band with a two-year celebration that kicks off this March with The Journey – Part 1, a two-disc compilation featuring songs handpicked by the surviving members.
Boasting tracks from the Rock Hall-inducted group’s first singles in 1964 to their 1975 concept albums, each side of The Journey – Part 1 — curated by Ray and Dave Davies and Mick Avery — follows a narrative arc, ranging from “Songs about becoming a man, the search for adventure, finding an identity and a girl” to “Days and nights of a lost soul,...
Boasting tracks from the Rock Hall-inducted group’s first singles in 1964 to their 1975 concept albums, each side of The Journey – Part 1 — curated by Ray and Dave Davies and Mick Avery — follows a narrative arc, ranging from “Songs about becoming a man, the search for adventure, finding an identity and a girl” to “Days and nights of a lost soul,...
- 2/15/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Fest focus on films by up-and-coming talent from Geman-speaking world.
Max Gleschinski’s Alaska won the top prize in the feature film competition at this year’s Filmfestival Max Ophüls, which was held in Saarbrücken on the German-French border from January 23-29.
Focusing on works by up-and-coming talent from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, the festival is considered the most important newcomer film festival in the German-speaking world.
Rostock-based Gleschinski’s second feature centres on a 40-something woman who slowly finds her way back into life after nursing her father for 20 years, and falls in love with another woman.
The...
Max Gleschinski’s Alaska won the top prize in the feature film competition at this year’s Filmfestival Max Ophüls, which was held in Saarbrücken on the German-French border from January 23-29.
Focusing on works by up-and-coming talent from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, the festival is considered the most important newcomer film festival in the German-speaking world.
Rostock-based Gleschinski’s second feature centres on a 40-something woman who slowly finds her way back into life after nursing her father for 20 years, and falls in love with another woman.
The...
- 1/31/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The drama between Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock’s daughters is now in the past.
The “Magic Mike” actor recently shared that his nine-year-old daughter Everly and Bullock’s daughter Laila, 11, are now on good terms after the “Miss Congeniality” actress revealed last March that their little girls previously “got into a huge fight” while attending the same preschool.
Read More: Sandra Bullock Doesn’t Know If She’ll Be Comfortable Watching ‘Magic Mike 3’ After Working With Channing Tatum
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Tatum confirmed that there was more than just one “scrap” between their former preschoolers.
“Our daughters got into a couple scraps at school because they’re both very, very, very strong-willed little girls,” he said. “It was a very fun year that year.”
Tatum noted that Laila and Everly “love each other now” and “literally can’t get enough of each other.”
Read More: Sandra Bullock Came ‘Full On,...
The “Magic Mike” actor recently shared that his nine-year-old daughter Everly and Bullock’s daughter Laila, 11, are now on good terms after the “Miss Congeniality” actress revealed last March that their little girls previously “got into a huge fight” while attending the same preschool.
Read More: Sandra Bullock Doesn’t Know If She’ll Be Comfortable Watching ‘Magic Mike 3’ After Working With Channing Tatum
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Tatum confirmed that there was more than just one “scrap” between their former preschoolers.
“Our daughters got into a couple scraps at school because they’re both very, very, very strong-willed little girls,” he said. “It was a very fun year that year.”
Tatum noted that Laila and Everly “love each other now” and “literally can’t get enough of each other.”
Read More: Sandra Bullock Came ‘Full On,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Melissa Romualdi
- ET Canada
Exclusive: German Films, the agency that promotes German cinema globally, has unveiled the seven participants for the eighth edition of its annual Face to Face campaign, which include talents who have worked on projects ranging from Berlin Alexanderplatz to David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future to Amazon Prime Video hit We Children of Bahnhof Zoo.
This year’s edition, which is dubbed Face to Face with German Films – The Filmmakers, will showcase seven filmmakers who have made a lasting impact on the German film industry with their creative and artistic work. The initiative is considered a prominent platform for showcasing German talent to the international film and television worlds.
The participants this year are: screenwriter Sönke Anderson, who has worked on projects such as 2019 Grimme Award winner Familie Lotzmann Auf Den Barrikaden and upcoming opera film Orphea In Love; actor Welket Bungué, who has appeared in Berlin Alexanderplatz, Body...
This year’s edition, which is dubbed Face to Face with German Films – The Filmmakers, will showcase seven filmmakers who have made a lasting impact on the German film industry with their creative and artistic work. The initiative is considered a prominent platform for showcasing German talent to the international film and television worlds.
The participants this year are: screenwriter Sönke Anderson, who has worked on projects such as 2019 Grimme Award winner Familie Lotzmann Auf Den Barrikaden and upcoming opera film Orphea In Love; actor Welket Bungué, who has appeared in Berlin Alexanderplatz, Body...
- 1/19/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Remarkable Places To Eat’ Moves From BBC To Channel 4
Fred Sirieix-hosted Remarkable Places to Eat has moved from the BBC to Channel 4. In a move that has become more commonplace in recent years, Channel 4 has commissioned the third season of Outline Productions’ format, which has been partly funded by Italian beer brand Birrificio Angelo Poretti. In Remarkable Places to Eat, British chefs and restaurateurs take First Dates host Sirieix to a city in the UK or abroad that is home to three of the restaurants where they most love to eat. The likes of Michel Roux Jr, Nisha Katona, Rachel Khoo, Angela Hartnett and Nadiya Hussein have all featured in the past, for the show that has been running on BBC Two and iPlayer since 2019. Past series have now been removed from BBC iPlayer and All3Media International is distributor. “I am delighted that this brilliant show will find...
Fred Sirieix-hosted Remarkable Places to Eat has moved from the BBC to Channel 4. In a move that has become more commonplace in recent years, Channel 4 has commissioned the third season of Outline Productions’ format, which has been partly funded by Italian beer brand Birrificio Angelo Poretti. In Remarkable Places to Eat, British chefs and restaurateurs take First Dates host Sirieix to a city in the UK or abroad that is home to three of the restaurants where they most love to eat. The likes of Michel Roux Jr, Nisha Katona, Rachel Khoo, Angela Hartnett and Nadiya Hussein have all featured in the past, for the show that has been running on BBC Two and iPlayer since 2019. Past series have now been removed from BBC iPlayer and All3Media International is distributor. “I am delighted that this brilliant show will find...
- 1/18/2023
- by Max Goldbart and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
There was a time when Fremantle was shorthand for the American Idol company. ABC’s iconic entertainment brand was undoubtedly a coveted calling card, but it also served to constrain perceptions of a company that harbored a grander vision.
Peter Bose, the preeminent Danish drama producer behind shows including Wallander, knows this better than most. He recalls a conversation he had with CAA in 2013 after telling his agent he wanted to sell his company, Miso Films, to Fremantle.
“Fremantle? Who is Fremantle within scripted?” came the reply. “We couldn’t actually argue, you know,” Bose remembers. A decade on, the acquisition of Miso was a brick in the foundations of Fremantle delivering more than 100 dramas last year.
Fremantle is now firmly established in the scripted game. It was the company that transformed Sir Kenneth Branagh into Boris Johnson for This England. Its Nordic noir hit Face to Face, made by Miso,...
Peter Bose, the preeminent Danish drama producer behind shows including Wallander, knows this better than most. He recalls a conversation he had with CAA in 2013 after telling his agent he wanted to sell his company, Miso Films, to Fremantle.
“Fremantle? Who is Fremantle within scripted?” came the reply. “We couldn’t actually argue, you know,” Bose remembers. A decade on, the acquisition of Miso was a brick in the foundations of Fremantle delivering more than 100 dramas last year.
Fremantle is now firmly established in the scripted game. It was the company that transformed Sir Kenneth Branagh into Boris Johnson for This England. Its Nordic noir hit Face to Face, made by Miso,...
- 1/16/2023
- by Jake Kanter and Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Ten years ago, there were five clear frontrunners for the Oscar for Best Director of 2012: Ben Affleck for “Argo,” Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty,” Tom Hooper for “Les Misérables,” Ang Lee for “Life of Pi” and Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln. But when the nominations were announced, only Lee and Spielberg made the cut. Replacing Affleck, Bigelow and Hooper were Michael Haneke for “Amour,” David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Talk about an Oscar race going wild.
The lesson learned was that the Directors Branch of the Academy can be very unpredictable. They might overlook a big Hollywood star for helming a critical and commercial success, and instead go with an obscure director for their work on a tiny arthouse film. With that said, we should be prepared for some surprises in the directing category when the nominations are...
Talk about an Oscar race going wild.
The lesson learned was that the Directors Branch of the Academy can be very unpredictable. They might overlook a big Hollywood star for helming a critical and commercial success, and instead go with an obscure director for their work on a tiny arthouse film. With that said, we should be prepared for some surprises in the directing category when the nominations are...
- 1/9/2023
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
Global production giant Fremantle has promoted Christian Vesper to CEO Global Drama.
In his newly created role, Vesper will oversee and seek to build on Fremantle’s already vast portfolio of scripted production companies, which include Italy’s Wildside (My Brilliant Friend, Eight Mountains), Lux Vide (Medici, Devils), and The Apartment (Bones and All, The Hand of God), Denmark’s Miso Films (Face to Face, The Investigation), and Ireland’s Element Pictures (The Favourite, Normal People).
Vesper will also oversee Fremantle’s roster of talent partnerships and deals, including with Chernobyl director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s newly launched production company Sinestra, Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, Afua Hirsch’s Born In Me, and Fremantle’s three-year partnership agreement with independent production collective The Creatives.
He will report directly to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle Group COO and CEO Continental Europe.
Based in London, Vesper and his team will continue to...
In his newly created role, Vesper will oversee and seek to build on Fremantle’s already vast portfolio of scripted production companies, which include Italy’s Wildside (My Brilliant Friend, Eight Mountains), Lux Vide (Medici, Devils), and The Apartment (Bones and All, The Hand of God), Denmark’s Miso Films (Face to Face, The Investigation), and Ireland’s Element Pictures (The Favourite, Normal People).
Vesper will also oversee Fremantle’s roster of talent partnerships and deals, including with Chernobyl director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s newly launched production company Sinestra, Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, Afua Hirsch’s Born In Me, and Fremantle’s three-year partnership agreement with independent production collective The Creatives.
He will report directly to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle Group COO and CEO Continental Europe.
Based in London, Vesper and his team will continue to...
- 1/5/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fremantle has promoted Christian Vesper to the newly created role of CEO global drama, reporting into Andrea Scrosati, group COO and CEO continental Europe.
In the new role, Vesper will have direct oversight of some of Fremantle’s scripted labels, including Miso Film (“Face to Face”), Wildside (“My Brilliant Friend”), The Apartment (“Bones and All”), Element Pictures (“Normal People”), Lux Vide (“Medici”), Dancing Ledge Productions (“The Salisbury Poisonings”) and Passenger (“This England”).
He will also oversee Fremantle’s roster of talent partnerships and deals, which includes “Chernobyl” director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s Sinestra, Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, Afua Hirsch’s Born In Me and The Creatives, Fremantle’s three-year partnership agreement with a creative alliance of nine leading independent production companies.
Based in London, Vesper and his team will also work in close partnership with its regional drama heads across all territories in which Fremantle operates, including UFA in Germany,...
In the new role, Vesper will have direct oversight of some of Fremantle’s scripted labels, including Miso Film (“Face to Face”), Wildside (“My Brilliant Friend”), The Apartment (“Bones and All”), Element Pictures (“Normal People”), Lux Vide (“Medici”), Dancing Ledge Productions (“The Salisbury Poisonings”) and Passenger (“This England”).
He will also oversee Fremantle’s roster of talent partnerships and deals, which includes “Chernobyl” director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s Sinestra, Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, Afua Hirsch’s Born In Me and The Creatives, Fremantle’s three-year partnership agreement with a creative alliance of nine leading independent production companies.
Based in London, Vesper and his team will also work in close partnership with its regional drama heads across all territories in which Fremantle operates, including UFA in Germany,...
- 1/5/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Denmark’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Holy Spider’ directed by Ali AbbasiThis crime genre drama labeled “Persian Noir” is based on a 20 year old case but is shockingly relevant, as is noted in this interview with producer Sol Bondy conducted by Marina Dallarosa.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
‘Love Island’ Heads To Israel
Israel has become the latest destination to embrace Love Island, with ITV Studios-backed Armoza Formats set to produce a local version for new Keshet streamer Free TV. Filming will take place in May for a summer air date, as Israel becomes the 26th territory to commission a version following the announcement of Malta and Albania last week. Avi Armoza’s ITV Studios-backed The Four creator Armoza Formats is producing the local version. The company, which was acquired by ITV Studios in 2019, pivoted earlier this year to become ITV Studios’ production arm in Israel and has already produced two local versions of Come Dine with Me for Kan 11 along with the likes of The 1 Club and The Chase. The show will air on Free TV, Keshet and Rge’s streamer that is set to launch early next year. “Since establishing Armoza Productions and producing hits...
Israel has become the latest destination to embrace Love Island, with ITV Studios-backed Armoza Formats set to produce a local version for new Keshet streamer Free TV. Filming will take place in May for a summer air date, as Israel becomes the 26th territory to commission a version following the announcement of Malta and Albania last week. Avi Armoza’s ITV Studios-backed The Four creator Armoza Formats is producing the local version. The company, which was acquired by ITV Studios in 2019, pivoted earlier this year to become ITV Studios’ production arm in Israel and has already produced two local versions of Come Dine with Me for Kan 11 along with the likes of The 1 Club and The Chase. The show will air on Free TV, Keshet and Rge’s streamer that is set to launch early next year. “Since establishing Armoza Productions and producing hits...
- 11/29/2022
- by Max Goldbart and Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Punjabi singer Harnoor says his latest track ‘Chandni Raat’, which has been shot in Vancouver, Canada, is all about the emotions of love and romance. He says: “Chandni Raat is a track which is indeed very close to my heart. This soulful melody is best suited for a night with your loved one. We are celebrating the purity of love and two hearts coming together through this song.”
Harnoor is best known for songs such as ‘Waalian’, ‘Moonlight’, ‘Parshawan’, ‘Chan Vekhya’ and ‘Face to Face’.
Sharing his experience of shooting for the song, Harnoor said: “It was fun and also challenging because of the freezing temperatures, but the team showed their dedication and made the song a perfect package. I just can’t wait to present the song. I hope ‘Chandni Raat’ gets the love and support I have always received from my fans and followers.”
‘Chandni Raat’ has been...
Harnoor is best known for songs such as ‘Waalian’, ‘Moonlight’, ‘Parshawan’, ‘Chan Vekhya’ and ‘Face to Face’.
Sharing his experience of shooting for the song, Harnoor said: “It was fun and also challenging because of the freezing temperatures, but the team showed their dedication and made the song a perfect package. I just can’t wait to present the song. I hope ‘Chandni Raat’ gets the love and support I have always received from my fans and followers.”
‘Chandni Raat’ has been...
- 11/23/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Rising talent initiative includes Ukraine “as a sign of support” during conflict.
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has revealed this year’s Black Nights Stars, showcasing eight rising actors from the Baltic Sea region.
Alongside seven actors from the Baltics, the group includes Ukrainian actress Daria Polunina, whose credits include 2019 family feature Foxter & Max and upcoming Netflix series The Girl And The Astronaut from director Bartek Prokopowicz.
Claudia Landsberger, head of Black Nights Stars, said Polunina had been selected “as a sign of support to the actors community in Ukraine” during the ongoing conflict with Russia. Ukrainian...
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has revealed this year’s Black Nights Stars, showcasing eight rising actors from the Baltic Sea region.
Alongside seven actors from the Baltics, the group includes Ukrainian actress Daria Polunina, whose credits include 2019 family feature Foxter & Max and upcoming Netflix series The Girl And The Astronaut from director Bartek Prokopowicz.
Claudia Landsberger, head of Black Nights Stars, said Polunina had been selected “as a sign of support to the actors community in Ukraine” during the ongoing conflict with Russia. Ukrainian...
- 10/25/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
British singer songwriter Lewis Capaldi has said that he’d like to form a supergroup with Elton John, Ed Sheeran and his friend Niall Horan.
The 26-year-old even suggested potential band names for the foursome which he recalled discussing with his piano player.
Speaking on the The Zach Sang Show Capaldi said: “I would love to do it. Me and my piano player have a massive list of band names. We’ve got hundreds now.
“My favourite is Pleasure Kit. Also, Rock and Roll Los Angeles 1966,” he suggested.
“It would be me, Niall, Ed, Elton. Who else? That’s a good foursome…I wonder who comes out on top in that foursome? Just us four guys, hanging out,” Capaldi added.
The singer also joked that he was waiting for Harry Styles and his main competition, Ed Sheeran to take a break from releasing music before he put anything else out.
The 26-year-old even suggested potential band names for the foursome which he recalled discussing with his piano player.
Speaking on the The Zach Sang Show Capaldi said: “I would love to do it. Me and my piano player have a massive list of band names. We’ve got hundreds now.
“My favourite is Pleasure Kit. Also, Rock and Roll Los Angeles 1966,” he suggested.
“It would be me, Niall, Ed, Elton. Who else? That’s a good foursome…I wonder who comes out on top in that foursome? Just us four guys, hanging out,” Capaldi added.
The singer also joked that he was waiting for Harry Styles and his main competition, Ed Sheeran to take a break from releasing music before he put anything else out.
- 10/10/2022
- by Megan Graye
- The Independent - Music
Stevie Nicks has featured on a new track with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart in aid of Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.
The track, entitled “Face To Face” was released as part of Stewart’s Collaborate For Peace project, which he runs alongside Ukrainian musician Serhii Babkin and Russian musician Boris Grebenshchikov.
The project was set up to raise money for UNITED24, which was founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and describes itself as the “main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine”.
“Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and allocated by assigned ministries to cover the most pressing needs,” states the UNITED24 website.
The song was written by the Collaborate For Peace project founders Stewart, Grebenshchikov and Babkin, from the perspective of an 18-year-old boy going off to war.
“Since the day the war began, I have carried Ukraine...
The track, entitled “Face To Face” was released as part of Stewart’s Collaborate For Peace project, which he runs alongside Ukrainian musician Serhii Babkin and Russian musician Boris Grebenshchikov.
The project was set up to raise money for UNITED24, which was founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and describes itself as the “main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine”.
“Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and allocated by assigned ministries to cover the most pressing needs,” states the UNITED24 website.
The song was written by the Collaborate For Peace project founders Stewart, Grebenshchikov and Babkin, from the perspective of an 18-year-old boy going off to war.
“Since the day the war began, I have carried Ukraine...
- 10/10/2022
- by Megan Graye
- The Independent - Music
You’ll quickly ID one prime suspect in this drama about a veteran detective, Danny Frater (James Nesbitt), investigating the possible murder of his estranged daughter, Christina (Imogen King), and retracing her last days and hours in hopes of discovering the truth. Outlander’s Sam Heughan appears in the fifth of Suspect‘s eight taut 30-minute episodes, each on a potential perp. “Ryan’s got pent-up aggression — he’s quite unstable,” Heughan says of Danny’s corrupt ex-partner and Christina’s godfather. The men meet up in an Mma gym, where Heughan leaned on some old skills: “I did Muay Thai training in Thailand years ago. I enjoyed that breathlessness because Ryan is on the edge.” The British adaptation of Christoffer Boe’s Danish crime thriller Forhøret also stars Joely Richardson, Richard E. Grant, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Miller, Sacha Dhawan, Niamh Algar, and Antonia Thomas. Watch a trailer for the series below: Suspect,...
- 9/4/2022
- TV Insider
Legendary actor-director-writer Liv Ullmann, the first Norwegian to receive an Honorary Oscar, is being celebrated on home turf, as part of the golden jubilee of Haugesund’s Norwegian Film Festival, for which she is honorary president.
The festival which runs Aug. 20-26, is also screening her 2000 Palme d’or entry “Faithless,” penned by Ingmar Bergman, who made her a household name, and Erik Poppe’s “The Emigrants,” a modern version of Jan Troell’s classic which earned her an Oscar nomination in 1973.
The luminary stage and screen actor-director, featured in Viaplay’s upcoming English-language three-part series “Liv Ullmann – The Road Less Travelled,” spoke to Variety ahead of the Liv Ullmann symposium and tribute in Haugesund on Aug. 22.
Haugesund is celebrating its 50th anniversary with you as central keynote. How seriously do you take your role as the festival’s honorary president?
It is lovely that the festival is celebrating 50 years.
The festival which runs Aug. 20-26, is also screening her 2000 Palme d’or entry “Faithless,” penned by Ingmar Bergman, who made her a household name, and Erik Poppe’s “The Emigrants,” a modern version of Jan Troell’s classic which earned her an Oscar nomination in 1973.
The luminary stage and screen actor-director, featured in Viaplay’s upcoming English-language three-part series “Liv Ullmann – The Road Less Travelled,” spoke to Variety ahead of the Liv Ullmann symposium and tribute in Haugesund on Aug. 22.
Haugesund is celebrating its 50th anniversary with you as central keynote. How seriously do you take your role as the festival’s honorary president?
It is lovely that the festival is celebrating 50 years.
- 8/18/2022
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Director Sergio Sollima sets the template for twenty years of violent action cinema for Rough Tough Charles Bronson. Precise stunt scenes and clever direction are at the service of a script that can’t produce a convincing line of dialogue. It’s a mishmosh of sex, bullets and car chases. Bronson is betrayed by his love for Jill Ireland, and Telly Savalas is shoehorned in as a (surprise!) nasty gangster. Much of it does play like gangbusters — the opening and closing especially — and the dynamic title instrumental is one of maestro Ennio Morricone’s best.
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
- 7/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
TrustNordisk has boarded suspense drama Birthday Girl, directed by Michael Noer and led by Danish star Trine Dyrholm. The company will handle international sales rights on the feature about a mother’s persevering quest for justice.
Noer, who co-wrote Birthday Girl (working title) with Jesper Fin, is known for such films as 2018’s Before The Frost, which won the Tokyo Special Jury Prize, and his 2010 debut feature R, a Dragon Award winner for Best Nordic Film in Goteborg. His English-language debut was with the 2017 remake of the classic adventure epic Papillon starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek.
One of Denmark’s best-known and most lauded actresses, Dyrholm won the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Thomas Vinterberg’s 2016 The Commune and boasts such credits as Queen Of Hearts, Love Is All You Need and In A Better World. Recently, she’s been seen in crime series Face To Face (Forhøret...
Noer, who co-wrote Birthday Girl (working title) with Jesper Fin, is known for such films as 2018’s Before The Frost, which won the Tokyo Special Jury Prize, and his 2010 debut feature R, a Dragon Award winner for Best Nordic Film in Goteborg. His English-language debut was with the 2017 remake of the classic adventure epic Papillon starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek.
One of Denmark’s best-known and most lauded actresses, Dyrholm won the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Thomas Vinterberg’s 2016 The Commune and boasts such credits as Queen Of Hearts, Love Is All You Need and In A Better World. Recently, she’s been seen in crime series Face To Face (Forhøret...
- 5/2/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Landscapers’ earned seven nominations, whilst Help and ’Time’ received six.
Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.
The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.
Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.
Jack Thorne’s...
Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.
The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.
Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.
Jack Thorne’s...
- 3/30/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
‘Landscapers’ earned seven nominations, whilst Help and ’Time’ received six.
Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.
The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.
Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.
Jack Thorne’s...
Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.
The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.
Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.
Jack Thorne’s...
- 3/30/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The 2022 Oscar nominees for Best Actress are Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”), and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”). Our current odds indicate that Chastain (17/5) will take the prize, followed in order of probability by Colman (39/10), Kidman (4/1), Stewart (9/2), and Cruz (9/2).
Stewart is the only first-time nominee among the five, as each of her competitors has been involved in at least two past acting contests. Kidman’s resume is the longest, consisting of three previous lead bids for “Moulin Rouge!” (2002), “The Hours” (2003), and “Rabbit Hole” (2011) and a supporting one for “Lion” (2017). She triumphed on her second outing and is now looking to become the 15th woman to win a bookend Best Actress trophy.
Colman also has a shot at achieving a second lead victory, having prevailed here three years ago for “The Favourite.” Her second career nomination came...
Stewart is the only first-time nominee among the five, as each of her competitors has been involved in at least two past acting contests. Kidman’s resume is the longest, consisting of three previous lead bids for “Moulin Rouge!” (2002), “The Hours” (2003), and “Rabbit Hole” (2011) and a supporting one for “Lion” (2017). She triumphed on her second outing and is now looking to become the 15th woman to win a bookend Best Actress trophy.
Colman also has a shot at achieving a second lead victory, having prevailed here three years ago for “The Favourite.” Her second career nomination came...
- 3/26/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
We're celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their career.
by Juan Carlos Ojano
Liv Ullmann garnered her second and final (to date) nomination for her role as Dr. Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face, her seventh collaboration with Ingmar Bergman. Last included in the Oscar conversation in 1974 but was hampered by the eligibility issues of Scenes from a Marriage, Ullmann came back in the awards race roaring, with Best Actress wins from NYFCC, Lafca, and NBR while getting nominations from the BAFTA and the Globes. While Faye Dunaway was the expected winner for Network, Ullmann undoubtedly gave one of her best performances (in a career filled with them) in this film.
Tw: Sexual violence/rape...
by Juan Carlos Ojano
Liv Ullmann garnered her second and final (to date) nomination for her role as Dr. Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face, her seventh collaboration with Ingmar Bergman. Last included in the Oscar conversation in 1974 but was hampered by the eligibility issues of Scenes from a Marriage, Ullmann came back in the awards race roaring, with Best Actress wins from NYFCC, Lafca, and NBR while getting nominations from the BAFTA and the Globes. While Faye Dunaway was the expected winner for Network, Ullmann undoubtedly gave one of her best performances (in a career filled with them) in this film.
Tw: Sexual violence/rape...
- 3/18/2022
- by Juan Carlos Ojano
- FilmExperience
Viaplay has ordered a third and final season of “Face to Face,” the popular Danish psychological crime drama starring Lars Mikkelsen.
“Face to Face” is created and directed by Christoffer Boe and produced by Miso Film. The new season will premiere exclusively on Viaplay later this year.
“Face to Face” takes place following the murder of Christina Rasmussen for which suspects range from Copenhagen’s underworld to the highest echelons of business and the police. Mikkelsen plays Holger Lang, a tycoon who had named Christina his heir and receives a video revealing that she was killed by a contract assassin. Consumed by fury, Lang confronts his colleagues, friends and enemies in a desperate bid to uncover the truth once and for all.
Filming recently started in Copenhagen with all-star Nordic cast, including additional talents to be announced later on. Seasons one and two received eight nominations at the Danish Film Awards.
“Face to Face” is created and directed by Christoffer Boe and produced by Miso Film. The new season will premiere exclusively on Viaplay later this year.
“Face to Face” takes place following the murder of Christina Rasmussen for which suspects range from Copenhagen’s underworld to the highest echelons of business and the police. Mikkelsen plays Holger Lang, a tycoon who had named Christina his heir and receives a video revealing that she was killed by a contract assassin. Consumed by fury, Lang confronts his colleagues, friends and enemies in a desperate bid to uncover the truth once and for all.
Filming recently started in Copenhagen with all-star Nordic cast, including additional talents to be announced later on. Seasons one and two received eight nominations at the Danish Film Awards.
- 3/11/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
ABC’s The Good Doctor will be welcoming back a fan favorite — original cast member Antonia Thomas will reprise her role as Dr. Claire Browne in a couple of episodes this spring.
There are no details about what will bring Claire, who took a job at a Guatemalan clinic at the end of Season 4, to the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and how she will cross paths with her former colleagues, including her close friend Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). Claire had been Shaun’s confidant for the first four years of the show, and she could lend a hand — and a sympathetic ear — as he picks up the pieces from his latest gut-wrenching fight with Lea in this week’s Season 5 midseason premiere.
In her exit interview with Deadline last June Thomas indicated that she would love to reprise her Good Doctor role as a guest star in the future.
There are no details about what will bring Claire, who took a job at a Guatemalan clinic at the end of Season 4, to the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and how she will cross paths with her former colleagues, including her close friend Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). Claire had been Shaun’s confidant for the first four years of the show, and she could lend a hand — and a sympathetic ear — as he picks up the pieces from his latest gut-wrenching fight with Lea in this week’s Season 5 midseason premiere.
In her exit interview with Deadline last June Thomas indicated that she would love to reprise her Good Doctor role as a guest star in the future.
- 3/3/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Nordic production powerhouse Miso Film, which looks to make a splash at the Berlinale Series with its daring HBO Max show “Lust,” is developing high-end international dramas with Scandinavian creatives such as Pilou Asbæk (“Borgen”), Ole Bornedal (“Nightwatch”) and Fenar Ahmad (“Darkland”). The company is part of Fremantle.
Ahead of the Berlinale, Miso founders Peter Bose and Jonas Allen discussed with Variety their ambition to find new voices and original ways to tell stories.
The banner, which just started shooting the third season of “Those Who Kill” and is about to begin filming Season 3 of “Face to Face” with Lars Mikkelsen, recently shot Norwegian sci-fi comedy “Blasted,” for Netflix. “Streamers have opened up new possibilities for genre,” said Allen.
“‘Blasted’ is now in post and is a mix of science fiction and comedy with a lot of CGI,” added Allen. He and Bose said working with streaming series has also...
Ahead of the Berlinale, Miso founders Peter Bose and Jonas Allen discussed with Variety their ambition to find new voices and original ways to tell stories.
The banner, which just started shooting the third season of “Those Who Kill” and is about to begin filming Season 3 of “Face to Face” with Lars Mikkelsen, recently shot Norwegian sci-fi comedy “Blasted,” for Netflix. “Streamers have opened up new possibilities for genre,” said Allen.
“‘Blasted’ is now in post and is a mix of science fiction and comedy with a lot of CGI,” added Allen. He and Bose said working with streaming series has also...
- 2/13/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Fifteen years have passed since Penélope Cruz broke new ground as the first Spanish woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Although her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish-language film “Volver” was passed over in favor of Helen Mirren’s in “The Queen,” she bounced back two years later by triumphing in the supporting category for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Now, based on her work in Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” (their seventh collaboration), she may have another shot at lead glory. If she does land in the lineup, she will join an exclusive club as the fifth leading lady to be recognized for two non-English language performances.
The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...
The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...
- 2/6/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
German Films, an agency that promotes German cinema worldwide, has announced the talent who will feature in its 7th annual Face to Face With German Films campaign. The high-profile platform sets out to bring international visibility to the wealth of ground-breaking talent working in film and TV in Germany, and shaping the future of the industry.
This year’s selected talent are documentary writer-director Sarah Noa Bozenhardt (“Among Us Women”), actor-producer-writer Sara Fazilat (“Nico”), actor-director Jerry Hoffmann (“Shahada”), film editor Julia Kovalenko (“System Crasher”), writer-director Matthias Luthardt (“Pingpong”), cinematographer and director Zamarin Wahdat (“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”) and actor Anne Zander (“For Jojo”).
After spotlighting well-known actors, writers and directors such as Saskia Rosendahl (“Lore”), Alexander Fehling, Burhan Qurbani (“Berlin Alexanderplatz”) and Jonas Nay in its first five years, last year’s Face to Face With German Films – The Filmmakers campaign broadened its...
This year’s selected talent are documentary writer-director Sarah Noa Bozenhardt (“Among Us Women”), actor-producer-writer Sara Fazilat (“Nico”), actor-director Jerry Hoffmann (“Shahada”), film editor Julia Kovalenko (“System Crasher”), writer-director Matthias Luthardt (“Pingpong”), cinematographer and director Zamarin Wahdat (“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”) and actor Anne Zander (“For Jojo”).
After spotlighting well-known actors, writers and directors such as Saskia Rosendahl (“Lore”), Alexander Fehling, Burhan Qurbani (“Berlin Alexanderplatz”) and Jonas Nay in its first five years, last year’s Face to Face With German Films – The Filmmakers campaign broadened its...
- 1/18/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has postponed the 12th annual Governors Awards ceremony as Covid-19 cases surge.
“We have made the difficult decision to change our plans in hosting the Governors Awards in person on January 15,” an Academy spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “Given the uncertainties around the variants, and the impact this could have on our community, we feel this is the best and safest decision for our honorees and guests. Rescheduled plans will come at a later date as we continue to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all those involved.”
A new date has not been announced yet.
The Academy was set to fete Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann with honorary Oscars, and Danny Glover with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at an in-person event on Jan. 15, 2022. The ceremony is the latest event planned for early 2022 to face major...
“We have made the difficult decision to change our plans in hosting the Governors Awards in person on January 15,” an Academy spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “Given the uncertainties around the variants, and the impact this could have on our community, we feel this is the best and safest decision for our honorees and guests. Rescheduled plans will come at a later date as we continue to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all those involved.”
A new date has not been announced yet.
The Academy was set to fete Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann with honorary Oscars, and Danny Glover with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at an in-person event on Jan. 15, 2022. The ceremony is the latest event planned for early 2022 to face major...
- 12/22/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Viaplay has set YA drama Boys as its latest Danish original, a coming-of-age series from 27-year-old Jonas Risvig.
Risvig will create and direct the eight-parter, which has just wrapped filming in the Danish town of Silkeborg and is set to air next year as one of 60 Viaplay originals across Europe.
Based on Risvig’s experience of growing up in a small Danish town, REinvent Studios’ drama follows a group of 10 young men who gather every week in Silkeborg to sing in a church choir. Over the years, the group has formed a close bond, and after the bells fall silent, they meet to push their limits and test the forbidden pleasures of adult life. But when one of the boys drowns under mysterious circumstances, their unity and loyalty are put to the ultimate test.
Risvig is one of Denmark’s brightest talents, having received the Publikum prize and two...
Risvig will create and direct the eight-parter, which has just wrapped filming in the Danish town of Silkeborg and is set to air next year as one of 60 Viaplay originals across Europe.
Based on Risvig’s experience of growing up in a small Danish town, REinvent Studios’ drama follows a group of 10 young men who gather every week in Silkeborg to sing in a church choir. Over the years, the group has formed a close bond, and after the bells fall silent, they meet to push their limits and test the forbidden pleasures of adult life. But when one of the boys drowns under mysterious circumstances, their unity and loyalty are put to the ultimate test.
Risvig is one of Denmark’s brightest talents, having received the Publikum prize and two...
- 12/10/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
For Robert Rabiah, Queensland’s Mission Beach is more than just the location where he is filming fish-out-of-water drama Irreverent – it’s also where he began his career.
The actor’s first professional job was appearing alongside Craig McLachlan, Nadine Garner, and Antonio Sabato Jr. in George Miller’s action/adventure mini-series Tribe, which was also based in the coastal town.
Speaking to If, Rabiah said his role in the Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal International Studios’ series more than two decades later was a case of his journey coming full circle.
“To come back after all these years feels nostalgic and satisfying,” he said.
In Irreverent, Rabiah plays Farah, a menacing hitman sent by the Chicago Mob to settle the ledger with a criminal mediator (Colin Donnell) who has taken refuge in Far North Queensland and assumed the identity of a church reverend.
Created by Paddy Macrae, the 10-part series also...
The actor’s first professional job was appearing alongside Craig McLachlan, Nadine Garner, and Antonio Sabato Jr. in George Miller’s action/adventure mini-series Tribe, which was also based in the coastal town.
Speaking to If, Rabiah said his role in the Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal International Studios’ series more than two decades later was a case of his journey coming full circle.
“To come back after all these years feels nostalgic and satisfying,” he said.
In Irreverent, Rabiah plays Farah, a menacing hitman sent by the Chicago Mob to settle the ledger with a criminal mediator (Colin Donnell) who has taken refuge in Far North Queensland and assumed the identity of a church reverend.
Created by Paddy Macrae, the 10-part series also...
- 12/2/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
A star-studded cast is coming together for a British adaptation of Christoffer Boe’s hit Danish crime thriller Forhøret. Suspect (working title) will star James Nesbitt (Bloodlands), Joely Richardson (The Tudors), Richard E. Grant (Loki), Anne-Marie Duff (Sex Education), Ben Miller (Bridgerton), Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who), Niamh Algar (Deceit), Antonia Thomas (Small Axe), and Imogen King (Clique). The 8-episode series is set to air on the Channel 4 in the U.K., and will be distributed worldwide by Fremantle. It follows veteran detective Danny Frater (Nesbitt) as he investigates the unnatural death of his daughter. Determined to find the truth, Danny sets out on an agonizing mission, retracing his daughter’s last days and hours in a desperate hope of discovering what really happened to his only child. “I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script,...
- 9/29/2021
- TV Insider
U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned “Suspect” (working title), an adaptation of Christoffer Boe’s hit Danish series “Forhøret.”
The 8 x 30’ drama stars James Nesbitt (“Bloodlands”), Joely Richardson (“The Tudors”), Anne-Marie Duff (“Sex Education”), Richard E. Grant (“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”), Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”), Niamh Algar (“Deceit”), Antonia Thomas (“Small Axe”), Sacha Dhawan (“Doctor Who”), Sam Heughan (“Outlander”) and Imogen King (“Clique”).
The series will follow veteran detective Danny Frater as he investigates the unnatural death of his daughter and sets out on a mission for the truth, retracing her last days and hours, in an agonising crusade to discover what really happened to his only child.
“I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script,” Nesbitt said. “Each episode of ‘Suspect’ is an intensely theatrical double-hander, a psychological battle of...
The 8 x 30’ drama stars James Nesbitt (“Bloodlands”), Joely Richardson (“The Tudors”), Anne-Marie Duff (“Sex Education”), Richard E. Grant (“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”), Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”), Niamh Algar (“Deceit”), Antonia Thomas (“Small Axe”), Sacha Dhawan (“Doctor Who”), Sam Heughan (“Outlander”) and Imogen King (“Clique”).
The series will follow veteran detective Danny Frater as he investigates the unnatural death of his daughter and sets out on a mission for the truth, retracing her last days and hours, in an agonising crusade to discover what really happened to his only child.
“I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script,” Nesbitt said. “Each episode of ‘Suspect’ is an intensely theatrical double-hander, a psychological battle of...
- 9/29/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Two-time Academy-award nominated Norwegian actor Liv Ullmann, Ane Dahl Torp and model-turned actor Elsa Brisinger, have been cast in the forthcoming Swedish dark fable “The Nix.”
The eerie pic anchored in Scandinavian mythology was pitched on Wednesday at Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production Market by rising Swedish talent Niclas Gillis, multi-awarded for his US-set short pics “The Cave” and “Hold Me Down,” the latter winning Best Short Film at Harlem Int’l Film Festival.
“The Nix” is being produced by Nordic Factory Film Sweden’s Helene Granqvist (“Granny’s Dancing on the Table”), president of Wift, and executive produced by Michael Huffington, former U.S. congressman, philanthropist and film producer, attached earlier to “Hold Me Down.” Non-Stop Entertainment serves as co-producer and distributor for the Nordics and Baltics.
Set in Dalecarlia, Sweden in 1868, a year of famine, the female-driven pic is an elevated horror about the Nordic ancient spirit of the woods,...
The eerie pic anchored in Scandinavian mythology was pitched on Wednesday at Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production Market by rising Swedish talent Niclas Gillis, multi-awarded for his US-set short pics “The Cave” and “Hold Me Down,” the latter winning Best Short Film at Harlem Int’l Film Festival.
“The Nix” is being produced by Nordic Factory Film Sweden’s Helene Granqvist (“Granny’s Dancing on the Table”), president of Wift, and executive produced by Michael Huffington, former U.S. congressman, philanthropist and film producer, attached earlier to “Hold Me Down.” Non-Stop Entertainment serves as co-producer and distributor for the Nordics and Baltics.
Set in Dalecarlia, Sweden in 1868, a year of famine, the female-driven pic is an elevated horror about the Nordic ancient spirit of the woods,...
- 8/27/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
In 1973, Jan Troell’s “The Emigrants” became the third non-English language film to contend for the Best Picture Oscar, and the first to also earn directing, writing, and acting nominations. Leading lady Liv Ullmann’s bid made her the first person recognized for a Swedish language performance. With this achievement, the Norwegian native brought further pride to the Nordic countries after having already established herself as a singularly talented artist. Half a century later, her reputation as one of the world’s most revered actresses has finally led to Oscar glory in the form of an honorary award.
Along with Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elaine May, Ullmann is set to be recognized at the upcoming 12th annual Governors Awards. The 82-year-old’s tribute comes in honor of her “bravery and emotional transparency,” which “has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals.” She has displayed her range in over...
Along with Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elaine May, Ullmann is set to be recognized at the upcoming 12th annual Governors Awards. The 82-year-old’s tribute comes in honor of her “bravery and emotional transparency,” which “has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals.” She has displayed her range in over...
- 6/30/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, Danny Glover also to be honoured.
Norwegian actor and director Liv Ullmann will receive an Honorary Award from the Academy at the 12th Governors Awards on January 15, 2022.
Ullmann worked with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on The Passion Of Anna, Cries And Whispers, and Autumn Sonata, and earned best actress Oscar nominations for The Emigrants and Face To Face.
She made her directorial debut in 1992 with Sofie and later directed Faithless from a script by Bergman. The actor started her career in theatre in her native Norway, made her New York stage debut in 1975 in A Doll’s House,...
Norwegian actor and director Liv Ullmann will receive an Honorary Award from the Academy at the 12th Governors Awards on January 15, 2022.
Ullmann worked with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on The Passion Of Anna, Cries And Whispers, and Autumn Sonata, and earned best actress Oscar nominations for The Emigrants and Face To Face.
She made her directorial debut in 1992 with Sofie and later directed Faithless from a script by Bergman. The actor started her career in theatre in her native Norway, made her New York stage debut in 1975 in A Doll’s House,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
by Nathaniel R
After a year off from the Honorary Oscars, thanks to Covid-19, we deserved an awesome list this year and the Academy has provided. This is exactly the type of list we need each year wherein the Academy honors people who haven't already won Oscars but contributed indelibly to film culture. At the next Governor's Awards, which will be on January 15th, 2022 (instead of in its usual November spot) the Honorary Oscar will be given to actors Samuel L Jackson and Liv Ullmann, and the actress/director/screenwriter Elaine May (two previous nominations for writing for Primary Colors and Heaven Can Wait). If you count honorary prizes this means 89 year old Elaine May will just be an Emmy short of EGOTing since she's already won a Tony (The Waverly Gallery) and a Grammy (An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May)...
After a year off from the Honorary Oscars, thanks to Covid-19, we deserved an awesome list this year and the Academy has provided. This is exactly the type of list we need each year wherein the Academy honors people who haven't already won Oscars but contributed indelibly to film culture. At the next Governor's Awards, which will be on January 15th, 2022 (instead of in its usual November spot) the Honorary Oscar will be given to actors Samuel L Jackson and Liv Ullmann, and the actress/director/screenwriter Elaine May (two previous nominations for writing for Primary Colors and Heaven Can Wait). If you count honorary prizes this means 89 year old Elaine May will just be an Emmy short of EGOTing since she's already won a Tony (The Waverly Gallery) and a Grammy (An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May)...
- 6/24/2021
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann will receive honorary Oscars this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Danny Glover will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Governors Awards ceremony on Jan. 15, 2022.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication...
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication...
- 6/24/2021
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that its Board of Governors voted to present the annual Honorary Awards to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be given to Danny Glover. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 12th annual Governors Awards on Saturday, January 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.
Academy President David Rubin summed up the recipients’ impact, cinematic and otherwise, in the following statement: “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.”
Rubin added, “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his...
Academy President David Rubin summed up the recipients’ impact, cinematic and otherwise, in the following statement: “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.”
Rubin added, “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his...
- 6/24/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors voted to present Honorary Oscars to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Danny Glover, the Academy announced on Thursday.
The four Honorary Oscars will be presented at the Academy’s 12th Governors Awards on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover...
The four Honorary Oscars will be presented at the Academy’s 12th Governors Awards on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover...
- 6/24/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Car Seat Headrest have released a pair of EPs, Madlo: Remixes and Madlo: Influences, as a follow-up to their 2020 album, Making a Door Less Open.
Madlo: Remixes features remixes of five Making a Door Less Open tracks, with contributions coming from Superorganism (“Martin”), Scuba (“Weightlifters”), Yeule (“Deadlines”), and Dntel (“Life Worth Missing”). 1 Trait Danger, a Car Seat side-project of sorts developed by frontman Will Toledo and drummer Andrew Katz, also turned in a remix of “Martin.”
Meanwhile, the Influences EP finds Car Seat Headrest covering four songs that inspired Making a Door Less Open.
Madlo: Remixes features remixes of five Making a Door Less Open tracks, with contributions coming from Superorganism (“Martin”), Scuba (“Weightlifters”), Yeule (“Deadlines”), and Dntel (“Life Worth Missing”). 1 Trait Danger, a Car Seat side-project of sorts developed by frontman Will Toledo and drummer Andrew Katz, also turned in a remix of “Martin.”
Meanwhile, the Influences EP finds Car Seat Headrest covering four songs that inspired Making a Door Less Open.
- 6/22/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Among the Oscar nominations surprises every year is the Best Director lineup. Remember when Steven Spielberg (“The Color Purple”), Ron Howard (“Apollo 13”) and Ben Affleck (“Argo”) all won at the Directors Guild of America Awards but were snubbed by the directors branch of the academy. This year DGA nominee Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) was likewise left off the list of Oscar contenders. He was replaced by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg for his superb “Another Round,” which also picked up a bid for Best International Feature. He joins a long roster of Best Director nominees for films other than in English.
The academy first embraced international filmmakers in the 1960s. Italian auteur Federico Fellini was nominated for his 1961 classic “La Dolce Vita.” He contended again two years later for “8 1/2.” He reaped two more bids for “Fellini Satyricon” (1970) and “Amarcord’ (1975).
Predict the 2021 Oscars winners through...
The academy first embraced international filmmakers in the 1960s. Italian auteur Federico Fellini was nominated for his 1961 classic “La Dolce Vita.” He contended again two years later for “8 1/2.” He reaped two more bids for “Fellini Satyricon” (1970) and “Amarcord’ (1975).
Predict the 2021 Oscars winners through...
- 3/18/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Murphy is back as the Zamundan prince seeking his son in the US, in this tired sequel to the 80s comedy hit
Did we need a sequel to Eddie Murphy’s fish-out-of-water 1980s romp Coming to America – with the word “to” transformed into a “2”? Will this trigger wacky sequel ideas for Bergman’s Face to Face, or Kurosawa’s To Live?
The original movie, directed by John Landis, had Murphy as the discontented Prince Akeem of the fictional African state Zamunda, obedient to his sonorous father the king (James Earl Jones), but yearning for a modern, independent-minded bride. So he travels to Queens, New York with his pal Semmi (whose name doesn’t get the obvious gag despite the nonstop sexual innuendo), played by Arsenio Hall. Posing as students, they encounter various latexed comedy characters – barbers, barbershop customers, etc, played by Murphy and Hall themselves – and Akeem finally finds happiness with Lisa,...
Did we need a sequel to Eddie Murphy’s fish-out-of-water 1980s romp Coming to America – with the word “to” transformed into a “2”? Will this trigger wacky sequel ideas for Bergman’s Face to Face, or Kurosawa’s To Live?
The original movie, directed by John Landis, had Murphy as the discontented Prince Akeem of the fictional African state Zamunda, obedient to his sonorous father the king (James Earl Jones), but yearning for a modern, independent-minded bride. So he travels to Queens, New York with his pal Semmi (whose name doesn’t get the obvious gag despite the nonstop sexual innuendo), played by Arsenio Hall. Posing as students, they encounter various latexed comedy characters – barbers, barbershop customers, etc, played by Murphy and Hall themselves – and Akeem finally finds happiness with Lisa,...
- 3/4/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.