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Now in its 28th edition, the European Shooting Stars platform run by European Film Promotion brings another 10 promising European acting talents to the Berlin Film Festival, with the goal to help them build their careers internationally. From Feb. 14-17, the selected performers will participate in workshops and panels, as well as meetings with international journalists, producers and casting directors. The program culminates in a ceremony at the Berlinale Palast where they will each receive the European Shooting Stars Award.

This year’s Shooting Stars were selected by a jury comprised of Romanian director and screenwriter Radu Muntean, Swedish casting director Pauline Hansson, Swiss producer Amel Soudani, French actress and former Shooting Star Ludivine Sagnier and Montenegrin journalist and curator Vuk Perović. They were selected from candidates nominated by their national film promotion institutes and film centers.

What this year’s group of Shooting Stars has in common besides the potential...

Latvian director Viesturs Kairiss, who won the international narrative competition at the Tribeca Film Festival last year with his coming-of-age drama “January,” is prepping his next feature film.

“Ulya” is based on the real-life story of Ulyana Semjonova, a girl raised in the Latvian countryside who reaches a height of seven feet and would go on to become a famous professional basketball player.

Set in the 1970s in Latvia, which was then part of the Soviet Union, the film follows its titular heroine from the time she leaves the countryside at the age of 14 and travels to Riga to play basketball. Kairiss described that as a “crucial stage” in Semjonova’s life, as her body was undergoing dramatic — and traumatic — changes for a teenage girl, while she also began to learn how to overcome adversity and, through basketball, find her place in life.

Kairiss said the film was an homage...

This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations. It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe.

Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin:

Blue Blood

Director: Juris Kursietis

Producers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*

The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.

Sales: N/A

Soviet Milk

Director: Ināra Kolmane

Producers: Jānis Juhņēvičs, Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone...

Global sales shingle The Yellow Affair has acquired world rights to the modern love story “Power of Love” by German helmer Jonas Rothlaender, whose breakthrough movie “Fado” nabbed a Silver Hugo at Chicago and a German Film Critics’ for best feature debut.

Julia M. Müller and Luisa Leopold are producing for Germany’s StickUp Filmproduktion, in co-production with Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff of Finland’s Bufo (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”).

The director’s sophomore feature film turns on power dynamics in a couple and the social norms expected of a male/female relationship.

Toplining the feature are Saara Kotkaniemi and Nicola Perot as Saara and Robert, both in their 30s, who set off on an extensive summer holiday in the Finnish archipelago.

Their love is a constant play with gender role clichés, yet behind the unconventional façade, they struggle with their own insecurities. Stuck on the island and influenced by its rough nature,...

Exclusive: Hulu has picked up exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the second season of New Zealand transgender drama Rūrangi, which recently won an International Emmy for best short-form series.

The second season is in post-production and estimated to be finalised for Q1-2023.

The first season, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, charted the story of transgender activist Caz Davis who returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rūrangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn’t heard from him since before Caz transitioned. In the second season, Rūrangi’s culture war intensifies between the transgender activists, farmers, and local Māori, while ancestors from the past reach out to the living with unfinished business.

Returning cast are Elz Carrad, Āwhina Rose Henare Ashby, Ramon Te Wake, Aroha Rawson, Renee Lyons, Renée Sheridan and new cast members include Cohen Holloway and Liam Coleman recasting...

The awards aim to promote European films to Arab audiences.

Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo and Mikko Myllylahti’s The Woodcutter Story are among the nominees for the 4th Arab Critics’ Awards for European Film.

The 23-strong list, which will be shortlisted to three and an eventual winner, includes 11 entries for best international feature at the Oscars.

Alongside Eo, which follows a donkey travelling from the Polish circus to an Italian slaughterhouse, other Oscar hopefuls on the list include Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Beautiful Beings from Iceland and Juraj Lerotic’s Locarno winner Safe Place from Croatia.

A joint venture between...

Programme reconfigured to include non-Baltic directors heading Baltic co-productions.

The world premiere of Lithuanian feature The Poet will open the Baltic Competition at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which will screen 15 features from the region.

Directed by Giedrius Tamosevicius and Vytautas V. Landsbergis, The Poet is the one world premiere in the selection, alongside four international premieres.

Scroll down for the full list of Baltic Competition titles

It is a historical drama in which the titular writer becomes an intermediary between Soviet authorities and rebels, and must choose his allies and words carefully in order to survive.

Date

Netflix has revealed the launch date of its Elena Ferrante adaptation “The Lying Life of Adults” and released a provocative poster and teaser art for the show based on the “My Brilliant Friend” author’s latest novel.

“Lying Life,” which will drop debut on Netflix globally on Jan. 4, 2023, is directed by Neapolitan helmer Edoardo De Angelis (“Indivisible”) and stars Valeria Golino in the role of Neapolitan aunt of the story’s young protagonist named Giovanna, played by newcomer Giordana Marengo.

Alessandro Preziosi (“Medici”) plays Giovanna’s father, Andrea, while Pina Turco plays her mother, Nella.

The Ferrante book depicts Giovanna’s transition from childhood to adolescence during the 1990s in a Naples that is actually two kindred cities that fear and loathe one another: the upper crust Naples of the high-quarters, where a mask of refinement is worn, and the Naples of its more vulgar and exciting low quarters...

January Tribeca Festival International Narrative Competition Reviewed for Shockya.com by Abe Friedtanzer Director: Viesturs Kairiss Writer: Viesturs Kairiss, Co-writers Andris Feldmanis, Livia Ulman Cast: K?rlis Arnolds Avots, Alise Dzene, Sandis Runge, Baiba Broka, Aleksas Kazanavi?ius, Juhan Ulfsak Screened at: Critics’ link, NY, 4/18/22 Opens: June 10th, 2022 Circumstances often don’t allow for the pursuit of […]

The post Tribeca 2022: January Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

New York – The 2022 in-person 21st Tribeca Film Festival ends today (June 19th). But the highly successful hybrid (click link) TRIBECAatHOME goes on through June 26th, for an extra week to catch up with the films of Tribeca.

The 2022 Tribeca Festival is presented by Crypto Platform Okx, bringing artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. More film reviews by Patrick McDonald are below.

Babysitter

Photo credit: TribecaFilm.com

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff and actor Robert De Niro as a reactive strike back at the September 11th attack in 2001, on New York City and the nearby Tribeca neighborhood.The 2022 edition will have exhibited 110 feature films from 150 filmmakers across 40 countries, and gave jury awards for U.

New York – The 21st Tribeca Film Festival announced their Jury Prizes for 2022 on June 16th. Best U.S. Narrative was rewarded to “Good Girl Jane,” an adolescent story of young love, written/directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz. Best International Narrative goes to “January” and Best Documentary is “The Cave of Adullam.”

“January” is a Lativian/Lithuanian/Polish production concerning an aspiring filmmaker searching for “sides” in the backdrop of Latvian independence, directed by Viesturs Kairiss. “The Cave of Adullam” (USA) regards raising boys under the auspice of martial arts, and it’s directed by Laura Checkoway.

Best U.S. Narrative Feature for 2022 is ‘Good Girl Jane,’ directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz

Photo credit: Tribeca Film Festival

Awards were distributed in the following feature film competition categories – U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, New Narrative Director, and the Nora Ephron Prize, honoring a woman writer or director. Awards were also given...

Coming-of-age drama Good Girl Jane, written and directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz, took the Tribeca Festival Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature on Thursday while its star Rain Spencer won for Best Performance at the fest, which announced its winners ahead of wrapping this weekend.

The film follows lonely teenager Jane, bullied out of private school and at odds with her divorced parents, who spirals out of control after falling in with a hard-partying crowd and becoming smitten with a dangerously charismatic bad boy, played by Patrick Gibson. Andie MacDowell is Jane’s beleaguered mom. It’s produced by Fred Bernstein, Dominique Telson, Lauren Pratt, Mintz and Simone Williams.

January (Janvaris) by Viesturs Kairiss, from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, about an aspiring filmmaker searching for identity against the backdrop of Latvian independence, was named Best International Narrative Feature.

Best Documentary Feature and Editing awards went Laura Checkoway’s The Cave of Adullam.

The 2022 Tribeca Festival has officially announced the slate of award-winning films, marking the end of the 21st annual event.

Presented by Okx, the Tribeca Festival unveiled the winning storytellers in its competition categories on June 16 at the awards ceremony at New York City restaurant Thalassa. Awards were given in the following competition categories: Feature Film, Short Film, Audio Storytelling, Immersive, Games, Human/Nature, and Tribeca X.

“Good Girl Jane” took home the top prize, the Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature. Written and directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz, the film marked its World Premiere at the festival. “Good Girl Jane” follows a private school dropout teen who falls in love with a charismatic drug dealer. Lead star Rain Spencer also won Best Performance for her turn as Jane.

Latvian drama “January (Janvaris)” won Best International Narrative Feature. Written and directed by Viesturs Kairiss it’s about an aspiring...

Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its competition Thursday by announcing awards for “Good Girl Jane,” “January (Janvaris)” and “The Cave of Adullam,” among other films.

Sarah Elizabeth Mintz’ “Good Girl Jane,” about a lonely, bullied high schooler lured into the hard-partying scene by a charming bad boy, took home the Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature. Its star, Rain Spencer (“The Summer I Turned Pretty) also picked up the award for Best Performance in a U.S. narrative film.

The top prize for international narrative feature went to Latvian coming-of-age drama “January (Janvaris),” written and directed by Viesturs Kairiss. The film follows an aspiring filmmaker who tries to figure out who he is amidst the struggle for Latvian independence.

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Best Documentary Feature was awarded to “The Cave of Adullam,” Laura Checkoway’s portrait of sensei Jason Wilson,...

“January,” Viesturs Kairiss’s autobiographical film set in the former Soviet Union, has been acquired for world sales by The Yellow Affair. The movie will have its world premiere at Tribeca in the international narrative competition.

The coming-of-age film sheds light on the political upheaval in the early 1990’s. It follows a Jazis, a 19 year-old aspiring cinematographer who, along with his friends, is trying to pursue his dreams of making movies and enjoy the freedom of young adulthood. His world is thrown into chaos as he is dragged into the people’s peaceful protests against the Soviet Army’s attempted takeover of power in his country.

Kairiss, who co-wrote “January” with Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman, said it was a highly personal film for him.

“I was 19 in January 1991, so I am very familiar with the protagonists and events of the film. At that age, I was fighting for my...

Latvian director Viesturs Kairiss takes a literally and figuratively off-kilter view of his country's turbulent history in his latest feature, that considers the rise and fall of the various dictatorships from the perspective of small town sign painter Ansis (newcomer Davis Suharevskis). Ansis is torn less by politics than the affairs of the heart as he falls for local girl Zisla (Brigita Cmuntova), much to the horror of her Jewish shopkeeper father, at the same time as being tempted by new girl in town Naiga (Agnese C?rule).

In terms of that literal off-kilter view, cinematographer Gints Berzins shoots almost nothing square on, the Dutch angles adding to a sense of the skewed viewpoint of Ansis and, more generally, a world that is not quite on the level for anyone. Kairiss, who has a background in theatre, takes an episodic approach to his narrative - adapted from the novel by Gunars Janovskis - dipping in.

Iran’s Narges Abyar takes best director for Breath, Kadri Kõusaar’s Mother scoops best Estonian film.

Israeli feature A Quiet Heart has been awarded the grand prix for best film at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 11-27).

The drama receives a prize of €10,000, which is shared between director Eitan Anner (Love & Dance) and producer Gal Greenspan, who made the film under his banner Green Productions.

The Jerusalem-set film follows a secular young woman who seeks refuge from her life as a concert pianist. Star Ania Bukstein took the best actress prize.

A jury comprised of Uberto Pasolini, Steen Bille, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Laura Birn, Kang Soo–Youn and William Goldstein issued a statement saying that the film was “an inspiring journey towards hope and courage”.

The event’s best director prize went to Iran’s Narges Abyar for her feature Breath, which tells the story of a family living in Iran in...