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Produced byNaomi Kawasewith the help of Nara International Film Festival, “Beyond the Fog” is the second feature by Daichi Murase, and has already had a successful festival run, premiering in San Sebastian and now finding its place at Busan.

Beyond the Fog is screening at Five Flavours

The slow-burn, almost tiptoeing-around-its-characters story takes place in a remote mountain village, in Japan. The village was once popular, but as tourism declined so did the area and the inn that the story revolves around. Currently, it is run by Shige andSaki,his daughter-in-law, since her husband has moved away from the area, as much as from her and their 12-year-old daughter, Ihika. Ihika is quite close to her grandfather, which makes her life even more difficult when the signs of senility become more intense. One day, Shige disappears, and the family, and particularly Saki, are forced to make a...

Four filmmakers have been selected for the initial round ofJapan’s Film Frontier Global Networking Program, aimed at supporting young filmmakers aiming for overseas festivals.

The initiative, which is sponsored by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, will help creators refine their pitches, learn how to give presentations at overseas film markets and provide opportunities for networking.

The filmmakers and their projects were selected for their viability as well as their potential appeal to co-producers from outside Japan.

The four selected filmmakers areShingo Ota,whose documentary feature The End Of The Special Time We Were Allowed was selected...

Oscar-winning Danish directorThomas Vinterberghas been announced as president of the jury at the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival, running from November 29 to December 7.

The jury awards the Étoile d’Or to one of the 14 first and second films in the international competition, recent winners of which have included Asmae El Moudir’s Mother of all the Lies (2023) andEmad Aleebrahim-Dehkordi’s A Tale Of Shemroon (2022),

“In this rapidly changing and increasingly divided world, festivals such as Marrakech provide a much-needed window into a wide variety of cultures,” said Vinterberg. “Films can describe what cannot be explained. Make us understand the unacceptable. And there is indeed a lot to understand right now.”

Marrakech has strong connections with the Danish cinema world. Last year it celebrated longtime Vinterberg collaboratorMads Mikkelsenwith an honorary career achievement award. He spoke fondly of his connection with the director in his masterclass.

Vinterberg...

Japanese filmmakerKiyoshi Kurosawa,this year’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year at Busan International Film Festival, talked about the two films he has playing here, as well as the recent wave of young talent emerging in Japan, during a press event on the second day of the festival.

Mentioning that he turns 69 years old this year, Kurosawa said he decided to churn out two films in a short space of time –Cloud,starringMasaki Sudaas a factory worker with a dubious online side hustle, andSerpent’s Path 2024,a French-language remake of his 1998 Japanese film of the same name. Both films are screening as Galas in Busan afterCloudpremiered at Venice film festival andSerpent’s Pathin San Sebastian.

“It wasn’t my intention, but when I received an invitation from a French producer to remake one of my films in France, I choseSerpent’s Pathwithout hesitation,...

Kazuya Shiraishi’s 11 Rebels is set to world premiere as the opening film of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also setChristophe Honoré’s Marcello Mio as its closing feature.

Based on a previously-unproduced script by late screenwriterKazuo Kasahara,11 Rebels is a thriller set in the 19th century and centres on 11 prisoners who are ordered to defend a fortress from the government’s army so their past crimes will be forgiven.

Starring Takayuki Yamada and Taiga Nakano, the screenplay was written by Junya Ikegami based on an original story by Kasahara, known for writing 1970s yakuza...

Kazuya Shiraichi’s 11 Rebels is set to world premiere as the opening film of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also setChristophe Honoré’s Marcello Mio as its closing feature.

Based on a previously-unproduced script by late screenwriterKazuo Kasahara,11 Rebels is a thriller set in the 19th century and centres on 11 prisoners who are ordered to defend a fortress from the government’s army so their past crimes will be forgiven.

Starring Yamada Takayuki andNakano Taiga,the screenplay was written by Ikegami Junya based on an original story by Kasahara, known for writing 1970s yakuza...

The Nara International Film Festival (Niff) has selected six films from around the world to compete in its main competition this year. Organized by renowned Japanese filmmakerNaomi Kawase,the biennial festival will take place from September 20-23 in the historic city of Nara, Japan.

The competition lineup showcases emerging talents alongside established directors. It features films from the United Kingdom, China, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Spain, and France. These movies have screened at prestigious festivals worldwide and tackle diverse themes.

British directorJoshua Trigg’s “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” makes its Asian premiere. The film debuted at the Raindance Film Festival. Chinese director Choy Ji’s directorial debut “Borrowed Time” first showed at last year’s Busan International Film Festival. Swedish directorErnst De Geer’s “The Hypnosis,”which won three awards at the 2023 Karlovy Vary Festival, also competes.

The other competition films are Malika Musaeva’s “The Cage Is...

Nara International Film Festival, the biennial event founded by acclaimed Japanese filmmakerNaomi Kawase,has revealed the international competition line-up for its 2024 edition.

Titles include Satu - Year of the Rabbit by UK filmmakerJoshua Trigg,which premiered at Raindance in June; Chinese director Choy Ji’s feature debut Borrowed Time, first seen at last year’sBusan;andThe Hypnosisby Sweden’sErnst De Geer,which picked up three prizes at Karlovy Vary in 2023.

Further features are Malika Musaeva’s The Cage Is Looking For A Bird, Laura Ferres’ The Permanent Picture andHeartlessbyNara Normandeand Tiao,...

Leading Dutch independent production companyLemming Filmhas restructured, promoting producersErik GlijnisandTom van Blommesteinto the new positions of head of film and head of TV series respectively.

The restructure comes as Lemming manages a busy development and production slate (see below for more details).

Glijnis has worked at Lemming since 2016 and has producing credits includingSweet Dreams,which premiered in Locarno in 2023 and was the Dutch Oscar candidate,Do Not Hesitate,Milk and Dead And Beautiful.

Van Blommestein joined Lemming in 2020 having formerly worked atNl FilmandEndemol Shine.His credits include Zenith season 2, Floor Rules,...

Rising Norwegian writer-directorAnders Emblemwhose “A Human Position” bowed at the Tromsø, Rotterdam and San Sebastian festivals in 2022 before landing a global deal withMubi,has teamed up again with up-and-coming actorAmalie Ibsen Jensenfor his third pic, “Also a Life.”

The Norwegian feature in development to be pitched at the Nordic Co-Production Market Aug. 21, in Haugesund, Norway, is being produced by the talent-drivenElisa Fernanda Pirir(Stær Film), associated to award-winning international helmers includingLuis Alejandro Yero( “Calls from Moscow” ),Laura Mora( “The Kings of the World”),Nabil Ayouch( “Everybody Loves Touda”), andErnst de Geer( “The Hypnosis”).

The Guatemala-born Norwegian producer said she first set eyes on Emblem’s work when his sophomore pic “A Human Position” opened the Tromsø International Film Festival 2022.

Pirir said: “I was amazed by such a refreshing new Nordic voice; “A Human Position” was both moving, funny and cleverly constructed. Since...

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week, we head to Thailand and take a peak at a stirring, emotional film.How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dieshas broken box office records around Southeast Asia, with audiences lapping up the soulful tear-jerker andTikTokplaying quite the role.

Name:How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

Country: Thailand

Producer:Gdh

International sales:WME Independent

Distribution: Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Anz

For fans of:The Farewell,Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films

When Thai filmmakerPat Boonnitipat...

As the Cannes Film Festival and the Marché du Film are both set to open on the 14th of May, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) is making a big splash with films and projects it has supported selected in multiple sections. It will also be making its presence felt with several projects pitching at the market. Six films supported by Taicca co-production initiatives or investment will premiere at the festival. These are Rendez-Vous Avec PolPotin Cannes Premiere,The Shamelessin Un Certain Regard,Locustin Critics Week,Mongrelin Directors' Fortnight, Colored in the Immersive Competition, and Missing Pictures:Naomi Kawasein the Immersive Selection. Further Taiwanese talent will be on show as Traversing the Mist byTung-Yen Chouis also selected for the Immersive Competition; actorEddie Pengis headlining Black Dog in Un Certain Regard; and actors Lee Kang-Sheng and Wu Ke-Xi feature in Blue Sun...

The Cannes Film Festival has revealed the lineup for its new strand dedicated to immersive works. Among the eight projects in competition are the French premiere ofEvolver,which will featureCate Blanchettin voiceover, and the European premiere of Maya: The Birth of a Superhero withIndira Varmaand Bridgerton’sCharithra Chandranas English voices. Meanwhile, the non-competitive works boast a stellar cast includingColin Farrellas the English voice in Gloomy Eyes,Jessica Chastain,Millie Bobby Brown,andPatti Smithin Spheres.

Earlier this month, the Cannes Film Festival and its Marché du Film had announced the launch of a new competition dedicated to immersive works. The statement revealed that the competition will feature immersive, collective, and interactive works that utilize virtual reality, augmented reality, and other cutting-edge technologies to transcend conventional storytelling and transport audiences to other worlds, and narratives.

Other projects in competition include En Amour,...

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival lineup is expanding thanks to the newly unveiled Immersive competition.

The inaugural offering includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works. Actors such asColin Farrell( “Gloomy Eyes” ),Olivia Cooke( “Emperor”),Jessica Chastain,Millie Bobby Brown,andPatti Smith( “Spheres” ) lend their respective voices to the projects created with cutting-edge technology.

The festival will host eight projects as part of the Immersive Competition, ushering in a new era of storytelling while “challenging convention, embracing new technologies, and above all celebrating new artists as well as old,” per the official press statement.

Outside of the competition, six non-competitive works will be featured at the exhibition exploring the evolution of the medium and drawing parallels between virtual reality, virtual production, cinema, and collective storytelling.

The Best Immersive Work Award will be presented by the President of the Jury at the Closing Ceremony on...

Cannes Film Festival (May 15-24) has unveiled the eight titles for its inaugural immersive competition, including projects featuringCate Blanchett,Millie Bobby Brown,Patti Smith,Colin FarrellandJessica Chastain.

The competition includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, as well as projection mapping and holographic works.

Evolver is voiced by Blanchett, and has previously played at Tribeca and Geneva International Film Festiva. It is helmed byBarnaby Steel,Ersin Han ErsinandRobin McNicholasof London-based art collectiveMarshmallow Laser Feast.Dirty Filmsis also a production company, andCoco Francini,Blanchett, andAndrew Uptonare executive producers on the virtual reality project,...

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the inaugural lineup for its Immersive Competition section, the first-ever selection of augmented and virtual reality works to screen at the austere French film fest.

The 8 competition titles and 6 out-of-competition screenings include works featuring such talents asJessica Chastain,Colin Farrell,Millie Bobby Brown,andTahar Rahim.The lineup highlights cutting-edge VR and Ar techniques and includes location-based virtual reality, mixed reality experiences, projection mapping, and holographic works.

Introducing the new immersive section, Cannes said it hoped to “spotlight the next generation of international artists who are redefining storytelling and inventing new narrative-driven experiences that move beyond the traditional two-dimensional cinema screen.” The section is being organized with support from the French national film board, the Cnc. The immersive works will be presented at an exhibition space in the Cannes Cineum complex on the outskirts of the city and at the campus of Cannes’s Georges Méliès film school.

The Cannes Film Festival has announced the selections for its Immersive lineup, including projects voiced by stars likeCate Blanchett,Colin FarrellandJessica Chastain.

According to a press release, the Immersive competition includes “collective location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, and projection mapping and holographic works. These carefully selected immersive works showcase the cutting edge of this new era in storytelling, challenging convention, embracing new technologies, and above all celebrating new artists as well as old.”

The eight projects in competition include the French premiere of “Evolver,” voiced by Blanchett, and the European premiere of “Maya: The Birth of a Superhero,” which counts “Bridgerton”starCharithra Chandranamong its voice cast.

The out-of-competition lineup comprises six projects, including “Emperor”with “House of the Dragon”starOlivia Cooke;“Gloomy Eyes,” the English version of which is voiced byFarrell;andEliza McNitt’s “Spheres” with Chastain,Millie Bobby BrownandPatti Smith.

BalojiandEmmanuelle Béartwill oversee this year’s Golden Camera jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, organizers said on Tuesday.

Organizers said French actress Béart and director and songwriter Baloji will serve as president of the jury that selects the best first film from across the official selections of the film festival.

“Being a self-taught filmmaker and a filmmaker from the Congolese diaspora, it’s a great honor to be able to witness the vitality of first-time directors, to discover their strong singularities and their inaugural work, which will have a lasting impact on the identity of their filmography,” Baloji said in a statement.

Béart added in her own statement: “A first film is about the impossibility of doing anything other than delving into the depths of one’s being to find out what we can’t keep quiet about. A deeply moving and terribly free birth:...

Charades has taken international sales rights toHiroshi Okuyama’s featureMy Sunshineand will kick off sales for the Un Certain Regard 2024-selected feature in Cannes.

Set on a small Japanese island centred on the changing seasons,My Sunshinefollows two children who are complete opposites who decide to train together to form a figure-skating duo as their feelings for each other grow throughout the winter.

The film is the director’s follow-up to his debut feature Jesus about a young boy who leaves Tokyo to attend a Christian school in the countryside, which earned Okuyama the new directors...

UK filmmakerAndrea Arnoldwill be honoured with the Directors’ Fortnight’s Carrosse d’Or award at the 56h edition of the Cannes parallel section running May 15-25.

She will receive the prize from French directors guild La Société des Réalisateurs (Srf) during the opening ceremony.

Launched in 2002, the Carosse d’Or - or “Golden Coach” in French - recognises “innovative” directors for their storied careers behind the camera.

Last year, Souleyman Cissé received the honour that has also previously been given toFrederick Wiseman,John Carpenter,Martin Scorsese,Werner Herzog,Aki Kaurismaki,Jia Zhangke,Naomi KawaseandNanni Moretti.

The French Directors’ Guild (Srf) will fete UK directorAndrea Arnoldwith its honorary Carrosse d’Or (Golden Carriage) award at the upcoming edition of its Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Arnoldwill receive the prize at the opening ceremony of the parallel section, running alongside the main Cannes Film Festival from May 15 to 25.

She is the first UK director to be honored with the award and follows in the wake of the likes ofKelly Reichardt,John Carpenter,Martin Scorsese,Jia Zhangke,Jane Campion,Agnès Varda,Naomi KawaseandJim Jarmusch.

Arnold has been a regular in the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection since her debut featureRed Road,which won the Jury Prize in 2006.

She went on to win the Jury Prize again forFishTankin 2009 andAmerican Honeyin 2016. Her last filmCowplayed in the Cannes Premiere section in 2021.

The announcement of the Directors’ Fortnight honor...

The question of who will continue the legacy of the 4Ks and particularly their successes on the international movie scene is one of the most dominant in the discussions among critics and scholars of Japanese cinema. Following the 2016 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for “Harmonium”,one of the names that provides an answer to the aforementioned question is that ofKoji Fukada.In the following text, we will take a closer and more thorough look at all the elements that make the 1980 born filmmaker a worthy successor of the aforementioned masters, starting from the very beginning of his life.

Born in Tokyo in Tokyo on January 5, 1980, Koji Fukada had a father who was a film buff, which resulted in him growing up in an environment surrounded with hundreds of VHS tapes, and subsequently, to become a cineaste, just like his old man. He watched the movies that inspired him to...

Mexican directorsAstrid RonderoandFernanda Valadez’s Sujo won the Grand Prix at this year’s Sofia International Film Festival (March 13-24).

The Mexican-French-us co-production about a boy who must fight against the temptation of local gangs premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and is being handled internationally byAlpha Violet.

The festival’s top prize has gone to a film from Mexico for the second year running afterCarlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes won last year.

The international jury, presided over by Hungarian actor-writer-director Szabolcs Hadju and including outgoingEFMdirectorDennis Ruh,...

Australian Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and producerToni Collette(Knives Out) has been announced as a Master at the 10th edition of theDoha Film Institute’s Qumra talent incubator, running from March 1 to 6.

She joinsLeos Carax,Claire Denis,Atom Egoyan,Martín Hernández,andJim Sheridanwho were previously announced as Masters for the 2024 edition of the meeting dedicated to supporting new voices from Arab and world cinema.

They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in Qumra since its launch in 2014, which has includedJames Schamus,Naomi Kawase,Asghar Farhadi,Gael Garcia BernalandTilda Swinton.

Additionally, theDfihas also announced the 40 projects by emerging filmmakers from more than 20 countries, that will participate in the event. (scroll down for full details).

Under the Qumra format, the Masters give a masterclass and provide one-on-one mentorship the talents attached to the projects, alongside a...

Exclusive: Cannes Marché du Film has unveiled the four film industry professionals who will select the projects for the second edition of its Investors Circle initiative.

The one-day event – taking place within the framework of this year’s market, running from May 14 to 22 – is aimed at connecting elevated, international feature film projects with film financiers and high-net worth individuals with a desire to invest in cinema.

This year’s selection committee comprisesArte France CinémaCEORemi Burah;French film and TV biz entrepreneurSerge Hayat;Georgian cinema professionalTamara Tatishvili,who is currently head of the International Film Festival Rotterdam’sHubert Bals Fund,and Korean co-production expert Wonsun Shin.

The projects are gathered through a combination of networking and scouting as well as direct submissions to the Cannes Marché du Film up until February 29. The Selection Committee will meet throughout March to decide the final line-up.

Aleksandra Zakharchenko,...

Qatar’sDoha Film Institute(Dfi) has announced thatLeos Carax,Claire Denis,Atom Egoyan,Martín HernándezandJim Sheridanwill serve as Qumra Masters at the 10th edition of its respected talent incubator event, running from March 1 to 6.

They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in the Qumra meeting since its launch in 2014, which has includedJames Schamus,Naomi Kawase,Asghar Farhadi,Gael Garcia BernalandTilda Swinton.

Under the Qumra format, a select group of Mena and international filmmakers and producers of projects supported by the Dfi’s grants program attend the six-day talent and project incubator meeting in Doha.

The Qumra Masters give a masterclass and then provide one-on-one mentorship to the partipants alongside a host of other industry professionals in attendance.

French director Carax is currently working on post-production for his personal work It’s Not Me, which follows his award-winning pop-rock melodramaAnnette,...

At first sight, the film the French chose to represent them at the Oscars next year couldn’t be any more French. A chaste romantic drama starringJuliette BinocheasEugénie,an unsung, genius-level private chef,The Taste of Thingstakes place in the kitchen at the sprawling rustic home of the famous restauranteur Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel), and features every culinary delight known to mankind. Food is braised, broiled, blanched, poached and sautéed, in carefully curated banquets that can take anything up to a waistline-busting 24 hours. Needless to say, audiences at the Cannes film festival savored every bite.

Binoche says she got the script simply because she knew the producer. But the reason she decided to make it was the director,Trần Anh Hùng,the Vietnamese-born auteur who first made his name withThe Scent of Green Papayain 1993.

“I knew Hùng a little bit because he came on...

It was kind of an unspoken (probably) agreement among artists from Japan, to not deal extensively with the events of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, for ten years, probably as a sign for respect for the ones lost and the ones who suffered due to the events. Since 2021 though, the local industry has started focusing on the events intently, with a number of movies and dramas being released since then. “Last Shadow at First Light”also moves in the same path, in an international co-production involving people from Singapore, Japan, Slovenia, Philippines and Indonesia, which premiered at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival in September.

Last Shadow at First Lightscreened at Qcinema

16-year-old Ami is a girl living with her father in Singapore, after her mother's death when she was little. Both of them miss her intensely, with him having embarked in a kind of solemn silence in...

Tilda Swintonfamously cut her acting teeth on the experimental films of late directorDerek Jarmansuch asCaravaggioandThe Gardenas well as life-long friendJoanna Hogg’s debut shortCapriceand Sally Potter’sOrlando.

Nearly 50 years later, she has continued to work with Hogg as well as in the experimental cinema arena, finding a newJarman-esque kindred spirit in Thai artist and filmmakerApichatpong Weerasethakul.

Speaking in an in-conversation event at the Marrakech Film Festival on Monday, the actress revealed how some of the big commercial studio pictures she has worked on across her career have felt personally more experimental to her than her avant-garde work.

“I’ve been really fortunate to have some adventures in worlds of filmmaking that I never thought I would be able to go into,” she said.

“When Derek died [in 1994], I was a bit high and dry… slowly… invitations came...

The pioneering French-Iranian producer and sales agent leaves behind a long-lasting legacy

Pioneering producer and celebratedCelluloid DreamsfounderHengameh Panahidied on November 5 following a long illness, sending shockwaves of sadness throughout the international film community and leaving a long-lasting legacy of both championing auteur cinema and shaking up the status quo in her wake.

The revered French-Iranian industry executive was known for finding and following emerging directors and accompanying their films to festival glory and international acclaim. Her career spanned four decades and more than 800 films.

She worked alongside iconic directors from across the globe includingJacques Audiard,...

News of the death ofCelluloid DreamsCEOHengameh Panahihas sparked an outpouring of admiration and tributes from the independent film community.

Panahi, a pivotal figure in the global art house scene, died Nov. 5, aged 67. In her decades in the business — as a producer, co-financier and sales agent — Panahi introduced the world to international auteurs from Iran (Jafar Panahi,Marjane Satrapi), Europe (Jacques Audiard,François Ozon,Gaspar Noé,Marco Bellocchio,Aleksandr Sokurov,the Dardenne brothers) and across Asia (Takeshi Kitano,Naomi Kawase,Jia Zanghke,Hirokazu Kore-eda).

“She took films that were challenging, that were difficult to make, to sell, to promote, and she fought for them,” says Oscar-winning producerJeremy Thomas(The Last Emperor) who knew and worked with Panahi for more than 30 years. “She was a unique part of the film ecosystem. She was really inspirational, with the films that she enabled to be made, and seen.”

Celluloid Dreams,...

Hengameh Panahi,the French-Iranian producer and sales agent who foundedCelluloid Dreamsand was a pivotal figure in bringing works from such auteurs asJacques Audiard,Jafar Panahi(no relation),François Ozon,Marjane SatrapiandTodd Haynesto the world, has died. She was 67.

Viviana Andriani,a press attaché who had worked with Panahi for many years, confirmed Thursday that Panahi died on November 5 after battling a long illness.

Celluloid Dreams, which Panahi launched in 1985, was a groundbreaking sales and production company that helped build the global market for international arthouse films. Over the course of three decades, Paris-basedCelluloidhelped package and sell more than 800 films, including the first works from François Ozon (See The Sea),Gaspar Noé(I Stand Alone), Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) andBruno Dumont(The Life of Jesus), among many others.

Alongside many European talents, Panahi, who was born in Iran but moved to Europe aged...

Panahi founded international sales companyCelluloid Dreamsin 1993.

Hengameh Panahi,a leading light of the international film sales industry over the past three decades, has died aged 67.

French-Iranian Panahi died on November 5 after a long illness, according to press agentViviana Andriani,who handled campaigns for several films sold by Panahi.

Iranian-born executive Panahi attended the Jeanne D’Arc French School in Tehran prior to the 1979 revolution. She moved to Belgium aged 12, where she studied journalism, and foundedCelluloid Dealersin 1985.

The company was relaunched as Celluloid Dreams upon Panahi’s move to Paris in 1993. Over the following three decades...

Groundbreaking French-Iranian sales agent and producerHengameh Panahi,who represented a myriad of renowned Cannes and Venice prize-winning auteur directors, has died at the age of 67.

Paris-based press attachéViviana Andriani,who handled press campaigns for a number of Panahi’s films, announced the news in a short communiqué.

She said Panahi had died on November 5 after bravely battling a long illness.

Panahi was a force to be reckoned with on the international film industry circuit, who launched dozens of renowned arthouse directors at the beginning of their careers and accompanied them as they won awards and fame.

Born in Iran, Panahi was sent to Belgium to complete her education as teenager.

She got her first big break in the film industry as head of international at Brussels-based animation studioGraphoui.

In an early sign of her flare for scouting promising talent, Panahi connected withJohn LasseterandTim Burton...

The Marrakech International Film Festival runs November 24 – December 2.

The Marrakech International Film Festival (November 24 – December 2) will honour Danish actorMads Mikkelsenand Moroccan filmmakerFaouzi Bensaïdiwith its Etoile d’Or (Golden Star) for their contributions to cinema.

Bensaïdi will also be in town to present a Gala screening of his latest film Deserts, a Casablanca-set friendship drama that premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. Mikkelsen stars inNikolaj Arcel’s historical epicThe Promised Landthat will get a special screening at the festival after debuting in Venice.

The festival cited Mikkelsen’s “audacity, his magnetism, and his ability to...

“Casino Royale”Bond villainMads Mikkelsenand Moroccan actor-directorFaouzi Bensaïdiwill be celebrated with career achievement awards at the upcoming 20th Marrakech International Film Festival that will run Nov. 24- Dec. 2.

The fest, which is forging ahead despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September, has also recruited an impressive lineup of international talents to hold onstage conversations, includingTilda Swinton,Viggo MortensenandWillem Dafoe.

Mikkelsen, who in tandem with his Hollywood career has recently returned to making films in his native Denmark such asThomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round”andNikolaj Arcel’s “The Promised Land,”which is Denmark’s current Oscar hopeful, said in a statement that he is “proud, honoured and so fortunate, that in a short while I will meet friends and colleagues and some of...

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 10 cinema figures who will participate in its In Conversation With program at its 20th edition running from November 24 to December 2.

They comprise Australian actorSimon Baker,French directorBertrand Bonello,U.S. actorWillem Dafoe,Indian filmmaker and producerAnurag Kashyap;Japanese directorNaomi Kawase;Danish-u.S. actor and directorViggo Mortensen;U.K. actorTilda Swinton;and Russian director and screenwriterAndrey Zvyagintsev.

Danish actorMads Mikkelsenand Moroccan directorFaouzi Bensaïdi,who will receive the festival’s honorary Étoile d’or prize this year, will also participate in the program.

Baker’s was seen most recently in Toronto title Limbo and Tribeca 2022 selection Blaze, with early features including L.A. Confidential (1997),David Frankel’sThe Devil Wears Prada(2006), andJ. C. Chandor’sMargin Call(2011), followed by hit seriesThe Mentalist(2008–2015).

Bensaïdi’s first feature A Thousand Months world premiered...

Launching an ambitious program of compelling global and Czech work, the 27th edition of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival opened on Tuesday, kicking off six days of more than 350 film screenings by veteran and new filmmakers.

Fest head and founderMarek Hovorka,who launched the event in his hometown in 1997, introduced what is now Central and Eastern Europe’s main event for docs, defining the fest mission as “a celebration of films, image, sound, gestures and diversity.”

The films selected this year are “all very original,” he told the opening gala audience, and show filmmakers “perceive the world very differently.”

The fest, raising its curtain in the location that remains its home, the communist-era Dko “house of culture,” as the pre-1989 regime dubbed such multi-purpose spaces, attracts for its launch hundreds of guests seated at white-decked tables, sipping local wine.

Opening night moderators embraced an ironic take on AI,...

Produced byNaomi Kawasewith the help of Nara International Film Festival, “Beyond the Fog” is the second feature by Daichi Murase, and has already had a successful festival run, premiering in San Sebastian and now finding its place at Busan.

Beyond the Fog is screening at Busan International Film Festival

The slow-burn, almost tiptoeing-around-its-characters story takes place in a remote mountain village, in Japan. The village was once popular, but as tourism declined so did the area and the inn that the story revolves around. Currently, it is run byShigeandSaki,his daughter-in-law, since her husband has moved away from the area, as much as from her and their 12-year-old daughter, Ihika. Ihika is quite close to her grandfather, which makes her life even more difficult when the signs of senility become more intense. One day, Shige disappears, and the family, and particularly Saki, are forced to...

Special is the opportunity to speak with one of our great living filmmakers; doubly rare is a chance to do so as their latest project premieres onYouTube.Participating with the murderer’s row Film Fest Gent compiled for their 50th-anniversary series––Paul Schrader,Bi Gan,Jia Zhangke,Radu Jude,Helena Wittmann,Naomi Kawase,andJoão Pedro Rodrigues,to note a handful––Terence Davies has directed Passing Time, a three-minute view of Essex scored byFlorencia Di Concilio’s stirring composition and anchored by his reading of a self-penned poem.

Speaking over email, Davies and I had an exchange on the project that, however brief, proves a skeleton-key-of-sorts to his modus operandi: how actors should work, what poetry conveys on-paper and read-aloud, why Essex of all places to capture this music. Therein is also an unfortunate detail about a long-developing project but embers of hope for something new.

Special thanks...

Marking perhaps the greatest coup any festival’s managed these last ten years, the Film Fest Gent––recently in our sights for their addition ofRyusuke Hamaguchi’s new(er) feature Gift––are celebrating their 50th anniversary with 25 new shorts by an absolute murderer’s row of filmmakers, among them:Paul Schrader,Terence Davies,Bi Gan,Jia Zhangke,Radu Jude,Helena Wittmann,Naomi Kawase,andJoão Pedro Rodrigues.Ff Gent’s unusual method was to first hire composers for a short, one- or two-minute piece, then asking this range of filmmakers––” who engage in more “traditional narrative cinema, as well as experimental work and documentary, to ensure diversity––letting sound inspire image. The majority of them (Schrader being a notable exception) are showing completely free.

Find the available films below:

The post Film Fest Gent Are Now Streaming New Shorts from Terence Davies, Bi Gan, Jia Zhangke, and More first appeared on The Film Stage.

Great Absence,the second feature film from Japanese directorKei Chika-ura,is receiving its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section.

Inspired byKei’s real-life experiences, the film tells the story of an actor living in Tokyo who is forced to travel home when the police call to say his father is suffering from dementia and has lost touch with reality. Making matters worse, his father’s second wife appears to be missing.

The actor makes the trip home with his own wife, full of conflicted emotions over a man who left the family when he was still a child, and starts an exploration into the mysteries of his father’s life. Along the way, the film touches on themes including time and memory, familial obligation and the role that women play in male-dominated Japanese society.

Veteran actorTatsuya Fuji(InThe Realm Of The Senses) plays the father,...

The Japanese selection of Skip City International D-Cinema 2023, despite the fact that the diversity in terms of selection was significant, proved, essentially, the obvious. When Japanese filmmakers try to follow the recipes of the festival-favorite local directors the result is films that are either repetitive, or dull, or both, and most of the times much worse than the works of the aforementioned, with the lack of tension in particular bordering on the rather annoying. However, when they let their imagination free, both in terms of context and cinematic techniques, the result is surprisingly good, definitely in terms of the former, but frequently also of the latter. In that fashion, and considering the fact that I did not manage to watch every film, the ones that stood out where “My Mother's Eyes”, “Alien's Daydream”, and “Don't Go”

Click on the titles for the full articles

1. Film Review: My Mother's Eyes (2023) by...

Starring “Bonesand All’s”Taylor Russell,Ewan McGregorandEllen Burstyn,“Mother, Couch!” the feature debut of Sweden’sNiclas Larsson,features in a currently 11-title lineup of San Sebastian’s 2023 New Directors section, the most important sidebar at the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world.

Notable in Trey Edward Shults’ raved-reviewed debut “Waves,”Russell stars in “Mother, Couch,”billed as dark dramedy that, produced byLyrical Mediaand Suris/Bishop Films, has largely flown under the radar. Though “Mother, Couch!” Is his feature debut, Larsson is a high-profile short filmmaker, his Vatten (2013) earned the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Göteborg, and 2015’s “The Magic Dinner” starredAlicia VikanderandAnna Wintour.

Section’s other highest-profile title is supernatural art house drama “Last Shadow at First Light,” shot between Singapore and Japan and directed by Nicole Midori and described by Variety as examining “the intangible nature...

Exclusive: Deadline spoke to leading international sales firmPlaytimeabout why it made sense to join new European film and TV studio Vuelta Group, which we revealed earlier this morning.

Paris-based Playtime, founded in 1997, is well known for handling leading European projects including Oscar winnerSon Of Saul,Cannes winner 120 Bpm and horror hitGoodnight Mommy.The firm, which handles the international rights to a library of more than 600 titles, has collaborated with filmmakers includingCéline Sciamma,Jacques Audiard,François Ozon,Claire Denis,Olivier Assayas,Naomi KawaseandNanni Moretti.

It was most recently at the Cannes Film Festival with Competition titlesAbout Dry GrassesbyNuri Bilge CeylanandHomecomingbyCatherine Corsini.It is currently financing and pre-sellingMonsieur AznavourwithTahar Rahim.

In addition to its Paris office, the Playtime Group includes sales and financing companiesFilms Boutiquein Berlin,Be For Filmsin Brussels andFilm Constellationin London.

‘Japan is known for having very beautiful seasons. Every day, as we live, we are influenced so much by them – the change of the season, the air, the temperature, the wind, or the smell of the wind. Those are things that inspires us.’

It’s clear that nature is something that is very much at the heart ofAkira Kosemura,both the man and the music that he makes. His is a natural talent, born of a fascination with film music, storytelling and a curiosity about the sounds of the world around us. That all shines through in Seasons, but the seeds have been sewn by the musician and composer over the last 15 years and a blossoming career that seemingly grew out of nowhere. Or should that be somewhere?

Tokyo is home for Kosemura, it’s where he was born, and it continues to play an important role in shaping his identity as a composer.

Love shines like a light in the dark as a romance blossoms between a photographer losing his vision and a translator of films for the visually impaired inNaomi Kawase’sRadiance.Misako(Misaki Ayame) is a writer of audio descriptions of films for the visually impaired. At a screening, she meets Nakamori (Nagase Masatoshi), an older photographer who is slowly losing his eyesight following an illness. Misako soon discovers Nakamori’s photographs, which will strangely bring her back to her past. Though hesitant to start a relationship, feelings soon arise between a man who has lost the light and a woman who pursues it.

Radianceis available on DVD and Digital on June 13.

Enter for your chance to win a DVD ofRadiance,courtesy of Film Movement. Five (5) winners will be selected at random.

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In writer-directorNaomi Kawase’sStill the Water,set on the subtropical Japanese island of Amami, traditions about nature remain eternal. Following a typhoon and during the full-moon night of traditional dances in August, 16-year-oldKaito(Murakami Nijirô) discovers a dead body floating in the sea. His girlfriend,Kyoko(Abe Junko), will attempt to help him understand this mysterious discovery. Together, Kaito and Kyoko will learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.

Still the Wateris available on DVD and Digital on June 13.

Enter for your chance to win a DVD ofStill the Water,courtesy of Film Movement. Five (5) winners will be selected at random.

Here’s how to enter:

Step 1: Follow us onFacebook,Twitter,andInstagram.

Step 2: Tweet this message:

I want to win a DVD of #StillTheWater (@Film_Movement) from @Slant_Magazine. https:// slantmagazine /giveaways...

Independent titles ‘War Pony’, ‘Medusa Deluxe’ also starting in cinemas.

Paramount’s action blockbusterTransformers: Rise Of The Beastswill look to dominate the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as the seventh film in the successful franchise.

Directed bySteven Caple Jr.,Rise Of The Beasts is set during the 1990s, when a new faction ofTransformers– cars that can turn into robots and back again – join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth.

Rise Of The Beasts is the firstTransformersfilm for four-and-a-half years, sinceTravis Knight’sBumblebeein December 2018. Starting in 595 cinemas, the new...

Composers includingHoward Shore,Patrick DoyleandDaniel Pembertonhave taken part.

The World Soundtrack Awards (Wsa), taking place annually at Film Fest Gent, is pairing 25 composers with 25 filmmakers for a short film project called 25 x 2 to celebrate the festival’s 50th anniversary.

Composers including Howard Shore, Patrick Doyle and Daniel Pemberton have composed a short piece of music (1-2 minutes) with many recorded by theBrussels Philharmonic orchestra.Filmmakers IncludingTerence Davies,Radu Jude,Paul Schrader,Naomi KawaseandIldikó Enyediare now creating shorts based on the scores.

The shorts will be presented at this year’s Film Fest Gent,...