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Agnieszka Holland has never shied away from difficult subjects. The Polish filmmaker, a three-time Oscar nominee (Angry Harvest, Europa Europa, In Darkness) and winner of Venice’s jury prize for Green Border, has built her career on stories of outsiders confronting oppressive systems.

Her latest, Franz, takes on one of the ultimate outsiders: Czech writer Franz Kafka. Far from a conventional biopic, the film mirrors the disjointed nature of Kafka’s life and his cryptic prose. Holland constructs a fragmented, kaleidoscopic portrait that blends real episodes with Kafka’s fiction and his strange afterlife as both cultural prophet and commercial brand.

For Holland, the project is personal. She first encountered Kafka as a teenager and later adapted The Trial for Polish television in 1981. Decades later, she still sees him as a “fragile younger brother,” a writer whose vision of dehumanization feels more urgent now than ever. With Idan Weiss as...

Guillermo del Toro isn’t the only celebrated international filmmaker who managed to realize a decades-long passion project this year. Where Del Toro had “Frankenstein,” Agnieszka Holland has “Franz,” in which the Polish director pays homage to the literary hero she discovered as a teen, resulting in an unconventional biopic that’s more puzzle than portrait.

“Kafka has been a part of my life since I was 14, which was the first time I read his short stories, and then ‘The Trial,’” remembers the “Europa Europa” helmer, who describes the popular Czech writer as a man of many paradoxes. “He was very open, but at the same time inaccessible. I had the impression that I understood him, that he was like a part of my family somehow. I even had the fantasy that I was taking care of him.”

According to Holland, Kafka was one of the reasons she went to Prague to study.

Berlin and Lyon-based sales outfit Films Boutique has announced sales for Agnieszka Holland’s Kafka biopic “Franz” to additional territories following its world premiere Friday at the Toronto Film Festival.

At Cannes, Variety reported exclusively that the film had already secured distribution in numerous countries (see story here), including major territories such as Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Latest territory deals are for Sweden (Triart), Taiwan (Andrews Film), Turkey (Filmarti), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), Denmark and Norway (Another Art), Finland (Future Film), Austria (Filmladen), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), Greece (Cinobo), Iceland (Bio Paradis), Romania (Independenta), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), and Slovenia (Fivia).

The deals announced already are for Benelux (September Film), Spain (Filmin), Hungary (Vertigo), the former Yugoslavia (McF Megacom) and Italy (Movies Inspired).

The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Kino Świat in Poland.

The film,...

Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” which will have its world premiere in Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentation section, has debuted its trailer.

In an exclusive interview with Variety, Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” explained how the film took shape, and her take on Kafka, best known for “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle.” Read the interview here.

German actor Idan Weiss plays Kafka, Czech actor Jenovéfa Boková is Milena Jesenská, German actor Peter Kurth (“Babylon Berlin”) portrays the author’s father Hermann, Poland’s Sandra Korzeniak takes the role of his mother, Czech thespian Ivan Trojan is his uncle, and Czech actor Josef Trojan plays Kafka’s alter ego.

The screenplay was written by Marek Epstein (one of the screenwriters on Holland’s “Charlatan”) in collaboration with Holland; cinematography is by Tomasz Naumiuk, who was Dop...

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival added several world premieres by prolific filmmakers including Netflix’s Rian Johnson threequel Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Sony Pictures Classics’ Nicholas Hytner title The Choral, Miramax/Paramount’s Derek Cianfrance caper The Roofman, Paul Greengrass’ AppleTV+ movie The Lost Bus, Searchlight’s The Rental Family from Beef episodic director Hikari as well as the Canadian premiere of Hament from Oscar winning Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao.

In total TIFF unveils today 11 more Official Selections in the Gala and Special Presentations programmes. The fest, presented by Rogers, runs from Sept. 4-14.

“Since its inception, TIFF has championed global cinema that opens our eyes and brings us together,” said Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, TIFF. “We are delighted to share 11 more titles from our Gala and Special Presentations programmes that showcase the remarkable originality and excellence of today’s most exciting and acclaimed directors.

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” has completed post on her latest film, Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” which will make its world premiere in Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentation section.

Speaking exclusively to Variety in her suite at the baroque Grandhotel Pupp in Czech spa town Karlovy Vary – an establishment reminiscent of the hotel in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and a key location in James Bond movie “Casino Royale” – Holland explains how the film took shape, and her take on Kafka, best known for “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle.”

Idan Weiss stars as Franz Kafka in “Franz” Courtesy of Marlene Film Production

The Polish filmmaker, whose varied career has included directing multiple episodes of prestigious U.S. shows like “The Wire,” “The Killing,” “Cold Case,” “Treme,” “The Affair” and “House of Cards,” says that Kafka’s work...

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” has a new project.

Holland, who latest film “Franz” will world premiere this fall, is working on a film about Polish novelist and Holocaust survivor Jerzy Kosiński, whose works include “The Painted Bird” and “Being There.”

The film, “Rabbit Garden,” is based on a script by Jamie Dawson, and is being produced by David Permut and Fred Bernstein, who was a producer on Holland’s “Green Border.”

The film centers on Kosiński at a time when his life and literary career unravelled after having the authenticity of his work called into question by two reporters from The Village Voice. He died by suicide in 1991 in New York City.

The son of Jewish parents in Poland, Kosiński had survived the Nazi occupation and Holocaust.

“At some point, the American journalists found out that he had...

Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili will serve as the mentor for Future Frames, a program that boosts 10 up-and-coming European filmmakers at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland will deliver a keynote speech during the program, which is organized by European Film Promotion and the festival.

In a private masterclass, Kulumbegashvili will give the filmmakers an insight into her professional journey from making two successful short films to her recent second feature film, “April.” The drama about female independence competed at the 2024 Venice Film Festival where it received the Special Jury Prize.

Kulumbegashvili, who was born and raised in Georgia, studied directing at Columbia University. Following two acclaimed and award-winning short films, her feature debut, “Beginning” (2020), premiered in Toronto, winning the Fipresci Prize. The film also took home the Silver Seashell Jury Prize and the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián Film Festival.

Another highlight of the program is the keynote speech by Holland,...

Even the best directors can end up with a clunker now and then. Maybe they had a grand vision that was destroyed by studio interference, maybe their actors weren't up to snuff, or maybe things just didn't coalesce on screen the way they had imagined. There's no shame in swinging for the fences and missing. But there are a storied few directors out there who defy the odds and simply don't have a single bad film to their name. "Failure?" they ask. "Never heard of her."

Now, this isn't to say that all of their movies are on the same level of excellence -- that's just plain impossible. Even amongst these elite filmmakers, the quality of their efforts vary. But what we can say, in our humble opinion and with Rotten Tomatoes receipts to back us up, is that each and every director on this list may have made films...

Cate Blanchett, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for refugee agency Unhcr, and Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund have launched a refugee-focused short film grant program called the Displacement Film Fund.

The fund, which will give up to five production grants of €100,000 each in its pilot phase, aims to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a track record of creating “authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people.”

The selection committee for the fund will be chaired by Blanchett and includes actor and musician Cynthia Erivo, Oscar-nominated for “Wicked” and “Harriet”; Oscar-nominated “For Sama” director Waad Al-Kateab; “Green Border” director Agnieszka Holland, an Oscar nominee with “Europa Europa”; IFFR festival director Vanja Kaludjercic; educator, activist and refugee Aisha Khurram; Oscar-nominated “Flee” filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen; and Amin Nawabi, which is an alias for the LGBTQ+ asylum seeker who was Poher Rasmussen’s inspiration for the story of “Flee.

The Honorary Dragon Award will be given to the famous French-American actor, writer, and director Julie Delpy at the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival. Her important contributions to world cinema are honored at this event, Scandinavia’s biggest film and television festival.

It’s planned that Delpy will attend the event to show her newest movie, “Meet the Barbarians.” In this movie, we follow a Syrian family as they try to find safety in Northern France. In Göteborg on January 29, at the same time as the film’s premiere, the awards ceremony will occur at Cinema Draken. Delpy will take part in a Q&a session after the showing.

The festival’s artistic head, Pia Lundberg, praised Delpy for her unique voice in making movies. “Her work blends humor, depth, and sensitivity in a way that resonates with audiences worldwide,” he said. She breaks new ground and inspires us.” We are very...

French multi-hyphenate Julie Delpy will be honored with the Honorary Dragon Award at the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.

The veteran filmmaker and actor will attend the Swedish festival to present her latest directorial effort, the satire Meet the Barbarians, and participate in an on-stage conversation about her four-decade career spanning both sides of the camera.

“Julie Delpy is a unique voice in the world of film. Her work blends humor, depth, and sensitivity in a way that resonates with audiences worldwide. She is a trailblazer and an inspiration — we are truly proud to honor her with this year’s Honorary Dragon Award,” said the Göteborg Film Festival’s artistic director, Pia Lundberg.

The festival will present a four-film retrospective showcasing Delpy’s evolution from acclaimed actor to writer-director. The program includes Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours: White (1994), Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995), and two films she directed: 2 Days in Paris...

So far, 2024 hasn’t comparatively been a fantastic year for gaming in general, with very few truly notable releases. There were no standout titles in the first few months of the year, and the most intriguing releases came in the second half. Fortunately, indie games have come to dominate what’s left of the year with several exciting surprises.

Titles like Europa or The Plucky Squire have made their mark, offering completely original gameplay experiences that transport players to other worlds. These nine indie games are most anticipated for the rest of the year.

9 – Die by the Blade Die by the Blade is a new 3D fighting title. Image via Grindstone.

Grindstone developed this game, offering a unique scenario where players must kill their opponent with a single blow. The idea is to create a duel-style setting where players can choose their preferred weapon to try to land the decisive strike.

Margaret Menegoz, the producer of world-famous auteurs such as Michael Haneke and Wim Wenders, has died at the age of 83.

Menegoz was celebrated for her leadership of Les Films du Losange, an acclaimed production and distribution company which she ran for 46 years with an iron fist, guided by her passion for independent filmmaking and new voices.

Born in Hungary in 1941, during WW2, Menegoz grew up in Germany and ventured into the film industry after meeting her husband, Robert Menegoz, and traveled the world with him to shoot documentaries. She joined Les Films du Losange in 1975 and started as an assistant for revered directors Eric Rohmer and Barbet Schroeder who had co-founded the company in 1962. She quickly rose through the ranks and became manager of the company.

Under her helm, Les Films du Losange won an Oscar, three Palmes d’Or at Cannes. The company built a library of about 100 prestige films,...

Margaret Menegoz, the head of French production company Les Films du Losange, who produced the movies of Michael Hanke, Wim Wenders and Éric Rohmer, among others, has died. She was 83.

The company issued a statement confirming that Menegoz died in Montpellier on August 7. They cited her “love of films and work, and her loyalty to her filmmakers that have become the hallmarks of Les Films du Losange,” describing Menegoz as “open-minded towards Europe and the international scene, which she particularly cherished.”

Menegoz led Les Films du Losange for close to 50 years, taking over at the company in 1973. She produced more than 60 films, including Haneke’s Amour, The White Ribbon and Cache, Wenders’ 1977 feature The American Friend, Volker Schlöndorff’s Swann in Love (1984), Agnieszka Holland’s Europa Europa (1990), Rohmer’s A Tale of Springtime (1990) and A Tale of Winter (1992), among many others.

Amour received 5 Oscar nominations in 2013, including a nomination for Menegoz for best feature.

Margaret Menegoz, the pioneering producer who was a central figure in France’s film industry during a career spanning decades, has died. She was 83.

The Hungarian-born German-French producer served as president of Les Films du Losange from 1975 until 2021, and was president of Unifrance from 2003 to 2008.

During a career that included a key role at the Cesar Academy, Menegoz produced films for directors such as Eric Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, Wim Wenders, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland and Michael Haneke, including the latter’s Palme d’Or-and Oscar-winning Amour in 2012.

After her tenure at Les Films du Losange ended, Menegoz handed over the...

Margaret Menegoz, the pioneering producer who was a central figure in France’s film industry during a career spanning decades, has died. She was 83.

The Hungarian-born German-French producer served as president of Les Films du Losange from 1975 until 2021, and was president of Unifrance from 2003 to 2008.

During a career that included a key role at the Cesar Academy, Menegoz produced films for directors such as Eric Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, Wim Wenders, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland, and Michael Haneke, including the latter’s Palme d’or-and Oscar-winning Amour in 2012.

After her tenure at Les Films du Losange ended, Menegoz handed over the...

The International Jury for this year’s Venice International Film Festival has been finalized after the previous confirmation of French actress Isabelle Huppert as its chair.

Now, American director and screenwriter James Gray, British director and screenwriter Andrew Haigh, Polish director, screenwriter, and producer Agnieszka Holland, and Brazilian director-screenwriter Kleber Mendonça Filho are the latest additions to the jury. They will join Mauritanian director, screenwriter and producer Abderrahmane Sissako, Italian director-screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore, German director-screenwriter Julia von Heinz and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

The prestigious Golden Lion for best film and other awards will be revealed during the festival’s closing ceremony on Sept. 7.

Gray made his directorial debut in 1994 with Little Odessa, which received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. His other projects include The Yards (2000), starring Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers (2008) and The Immigrant (2013). The Lost City of Z had its world premiere at the New York...

Filmmakers James Gray, Andrew Haigh and Agnieszka Holland have joined the main competition jury of the 81st Venice Film Festival (August 28-September 7).

They are joined by Brazilian director and screenwriter Kleber Mendonça Filho; Mauritanian director, screenwriter and producer Abderrahmane Sissako; Italian director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore; German director and screenwriter Julia von Heinz; and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

As previously announced, the jury will be chaired by Isabelle Huppert, and award the Golden Lion for best film and the other official awards.

Gray’s Ad Astra screened in competition at Venice in 2019, and his directorial debut Little Odessa received the...

Green Border.Agnieszka Holland begs to differ with Claude Lanzmann. The director of Shoah (1985) had attacked the idea of depicting the Holocaust in a fiction film, claiming that its unfathomable horrors would inevitably be trivialized. In a 2013 National Gallery of Art lecture, “Viewing History through the Filmmaker’s Lens,” Holland made two counter-arguments: that feature films are a tool to educate as many people as possible about the Holocaust, and that “taking on issues that are impossible to explain or grasp rationally is one of the most important challenges of an artist.” Holland had made a number of provocative Holocaust dramas, including Angry Harvest (1985), Europa Europa (1990), and In Darkness (2011), all of which involve the plight of Jews who have improbably escaped capture and death. With these films, Holland looked back at events from decades in the past. In her latest film, she is dramatizing history while it is unfolding.Urgent without sacrificing artistry,...

Green BorderImage: Kino Lorber

Green Border, the latest from master Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, is nothing short of a call to direct action. The film provides a nuanced, if at times frankly brutal, account of the treacherous conditions migrants face on the Polish-Belarusian border, which are either exacerbated or assuaged...

Quick Links Green Border Is a Crisis Divided Into Chapters Players Involved: From Jan to Julia Green Border offers a gritty, documentary-like aesthetic that immerses you in the border crisis without sugarcoating the harsh reality. The film weaves together multiple storylines, including a family from Belarus, a pregnant guard, and a therapist-turned-activist, creating a thought-provoking narrative. With a balance of suspense, occasional humor, and dynamite performances, Green Border challenges viewers to confront the refugee crisis with empathy and action.

It's not called the "green" border for monetary reasons. Nope, there are no fiscal promises here. Rather, false promises of guaranteed freedom. For her latest crowning achievement, director and co-writer Agnieszka Holland who has been nominated for multiple Oscars uses her platform of expertise to explore the swampy forests between Belarus and Poland. More specifically, Green Border follows a series of refugees who dare to approach the territory with hopes of...

Agnieszka Holland, who won the special jury prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival for her film Green Border about refugees on the Polish-Belarussian border, believes it serves as “collective psychotherapy” for those affected by the situation.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival, the thrice Oscar-nominated director said she was “a storyteller” and hopes the film touched people’s hearts, but when asked if it could change the world, she replied: “I don’t think so.”

Holland said she feels destined to make films about the political situation on her nation’s doorstep and had been tackling difficult topics since she was a teenager in communist Poland, and later as a student in communist Czechoslovakia:

“I am also a person of border identity. My mother is from a Polish Catholic family, she was a member of the Polish army during the Second World War and a member of the Warsaw Uprising.

Exclusive: Io Capitano, the latest feature from Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone, and Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border have joined the lineup of this year’s Refugee Week arts and culture festival, running June 17 to 23.

The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is “Our Home”, which organizers have said will focus on thinking about our bodies as our homes, how we can make whole neighborhoods more welcoming, and how to care for our collective home, planet Earth.

Mubi has joined the festival this year and will launch Garrone’s Io Capitano on its platform during the festival. BFI Player has compiled a Refugee Week collection of free films and rental films. Other major events during the week include:

Key Screenings (London):

● Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone: This Oscar-nominated film follows two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou and Moussa, as they journey from Dakar to Italy, facing deserts, detention centers, and perilous seas in pursuit of a better life.

"Helping is not illegal." Kino Lorber has revealed an official US trailer for an urgent, acclaimed Polish film titled Green Border, the latest from the masterful Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. This premiered at last year's 2023 Venice Film Festival in the fall, where it won a Special Jury Prize at the end. Thirty years after Europa Europa, three-time Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland brings a masterful eye for realism and deep compassion to this blistering critique of a humanitarian calamity that continues to unfold. The B&w film follows family of refugees from Syria, an English teacher from Afghanistan, and a border guard, who all meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis in Belarus. Green Border is a poignant and essential work of cinema that opens our eyes and speaks to the heart, challenging viewers to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day. Yes it's harrowing and unforgettable.

Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland is one of the greats. A three-time Academy Award nominee—1990’s “Europa Europa,” 1993’s “Angry Harvest” and the Holocaust drama “In Darkness”— Holland is also known for her celebrated prestige TV work, particularly on the David Simon series’ “The Wire,” and “Treme” and shows like “The Killing,” and “House Of Cards.” But her best-known feature work has always leaned towards social justice and socially-conscious dramas, which brings us to her latest, “Green Border,” an bracing portrait of Europe’s refugee crisis that has been hailed as a “humanitarian masterpiece.”

Read More: ‘Green Border’ Review: Agnieszka Holland Won’t Let You Turn A Blind Eye To Suffering In Devastating Refugee Drama [TIFF]

Our review of the film described “Green Border” as “devastating” and “nightmarish.” “Holland has made a righteous, masterful work, arguably her best since ‘Europa Europa,’ but it’s not for the faint of heart or those...

Agnieszka Holland’s refugee drama The Green Border has taken the top prize for best film at the Polish Film Awards. The black-and-white feature, which looks at the inhumane treatment of refugees trying to cross the natural border between Belarus and Poland, premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival last year but came under attack from Poland’s far-right government, which called the movie “Nazi propaganda” for its supposedly negative depiction of Polish police and border guards. The political attacks are thought to have influenced the Polish Oscar committee’s decision not to put Green Border forward as Poland’s best international film contender this year, instead selecting Dk and Hugh Welchman’s Hugh animated literary adaptation The Peasants (which did not get nominated).

But a lot has changed in Poland since. Parliamentary elections last October ousted the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had ruled for 8 years,...

Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” won the audience award at the 53rd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam in a strong year for the event, which recorded 253,500 visits across its programs.

Holland’s Venice Jury Prize-winner derives its name from the swampy forests found at the border between Poland and Belarus, a perilous place where hundreds of migrants — mostly from the Middle East and Africa — try to make their way into the European Union. “Green Border” chronicles the intertwined lives of people caught in the geopolitical webs of the crossing and joins several of Holland’s films to have played at IFFR, including “Europa Europa” and “Burning Bush.”

This year’s edition of the festival, which took place between Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, featured 424 films, 183 of which were world premieres, plus accompanying programs including Art Directions and IFFR Talks. As part of the Talks program, the festival welcomed names such as Sandra Hüller,...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association is revealing its 2023 awards today, and Deadline is updating the winners list live as they are announced. See the latest tally below.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron took the Best Animation prize, just as it posted a record North American debut with $12.8 million. Laurent Sénéchal took Best Editing for Anatomy of a Fall, and the Production Design prize went to Barbie’s Sarah Greenwood.

Mica Levi won Best Music/Score for The Zone of Interest, and awards-season favorite Poor Things picked up the day’s first award, Best Cinematography for Robbie Ryan. Barbie was the group’s runner-up in both of those categories.

Awards will be presented at the group’s banquet on January 13.

Oscar-nominated Europa Europa screenwriter and Emmy-nominated Treme director Agnieszka Holland will receive this year’s Lafca Career Achievement Award.

“Few directors have been as fearlessly confrontational with...

“Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama, has been acquired by Kino Lorber in the U.S. (“Scrapper”) and Modern Films in the U.K. (“Drive My Car”).

An empathetic tale of migrants caught in Europe’s refugee crisis, “Green Border” has earned widespread critical acclaim, winning several prizes at Venice and playing at key North American festivals such as Toronto, New York Film Festival and AFI Fest. Most recently, “Green Border” was nominated for three European Film Awards, including best film.

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights and is planning a theatrical release in 2024, followed by a home video, educational and digital rollout on all major platforms. Modern Films, meanwhile, has snapped up U.K. rights and will also back “Green Border” for the European Film Awards and the BAFTAs.

The film explores the injustice and terror perpetrated at the Polish-Belarusian border from the perspective of refugees,...

Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland needed bodyguards following the “Green Border” backlash in her native Poland.

“I planned to be there during the election, so the Polish Filmmakers Association arranged bodyguards for me. I was traveling with two, both wonderful and very kind. But it’s quite costly, so I just rearranged my schedule,” she said at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, answering Variety’s question during her masterclass.

“I think I can be safe now, going back, but of course you never know if some crazy man won’t attack you on the street, believing you are the enemy of the nation.”

Criticized by rightwing politicians for her Venice-winning film about the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, the acclaimed director decided to “limit her presence” in the country.

“It wasn’t just the Minister of Justice [who compared her film to ‘Nazi propaganda’]. It was the president, [Deputy Prime Minister] Mr. Kaczyński and others. It created a hysteria and...

Gkids has announced the acquisition of the North American rights for the upcoming French sci-fi animation film “Mars Express,” directed by Jérémie Perin in his feature debut.

The film’s synopsis reads: “In 2200, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet’s capital city where they uncover a darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threatens to change the face of the universe.”

Perin’s debut was part of the official selection at the Cannes and Annecy film festivals this year.

“Mars Express’ is a film we have been excited about for years, since we saw the very first footage,” said Gkids president David Jesteadt. “This is a timely and provocative story set in...

Before the New York Film Festival premiere of her latest opus, Green Border, legendary director Agnieszka Holland wished everyone a good screening: “I would tell you to enjoy the film, but that would not be appropriate.”

It was an apt warning for the harrowing, exquisite film that unfolded. Green Border focuses on the treatment of migrants trying to cross from Belarus to Poland so they can find asylum in the European Union. As a result, Holland is now on the shit list of nearly every high-ranking Polish politician, from the president to the Minister of Science and Higher Education. What a shame they’re so blinded by their station that they can’t even appreciate magnificent works of art. Green Border is a riveting, finely crafted, deeply human accounting of the atrocities we make permissible in the name of nationalism.

The film is told in several parts that focus on...

It’s a strange time for Agnieszka Holland. Green Border, the new film from the acclaimed Polish director — a three-time Oscar nominee — just celebrated the best opening for a Polish movie in cinemas this year with 137,000 admissions over its first weekend, according to local distributor Kino Świat. It’s particularly impressive given that the film, a black-and-white drama depicting the real-life plight of refugees stranded on the natural border between Poland and Belarus, can be a rough watch.

In late 2021, thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa were lured to the Polish border by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who cynically engineered a geopolitical crisis, promising migrants easy passage over the Polish border into the European Union. But the Polish government refused to let them in, leaving families stranded and starving in the swampy, treacherous forests between the two countries. Holland’s film intertwines the perspectives of the stranded refugees,...

Poland’s Oscar committee has selected The Peasants, a sumptuous animated literary adaptation from Loving Vincent directors Dk and Hugh Welchman, as the country’s submission for the best international feature category at the 2024 Oscars, over The Green Border, a critically-acclaimed film from two-time Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, In Darkness).

The decision, announced by the committee in Warsaw Monday afternoon, comes after a concerted attack on The Green Border by Poland’s far-right government, with the justice minister and the country’s president condemning the film and comparing it to “Nazi propaganda” for its depiction of the refugee crisis on Poland’s border with Belarus.

The head of Poland’s Oscar committee, producer Ewa Puszczyńska, whose credits include the Oscar-winner Ida, the Oscar-nominated Quo vadis, Aida? and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, the U.K. entry for the 2024 best international feature race, said deliberations were “tough...

Closing ceremony of festival in Gdynia sees Polish film community speak up against “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks.

Pawel Maslona’s second feature Scarborn (Kos) won the Grand Prix - Golden Lion at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia whose closing ceremony saw the Polish film community express their solidarity with Agnieszka Holland in the light of the vociferous political campaign against her and her film The Green Border.

In his acceptance speech, Maslona spoke out against the “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks and noted that, despite Poland being a country with a strong Christian faith,...

The Directors’ Guild of America has released a statement in support of DGA member Agnieszka Holland. The Polish Minister of Justice criticized the film and the filmmaker, “The Green Border.” She has since received hundreds of threats. The controversy came about due to the film’s depiction of the negative treatment of immigrants in Poland.

“The Directors Guild of America champions creative expression through the art of filmmaking and decries the recent attacks by the Polish Justice Minister and extremists on our member director Agnieszka Holland for her depictions of the brutality faced by refugees to Poland in her film ‘The Green Border’,” the statement read.

“We firmly believe directors like Agnieszka have a vital role to play in fostering discussion and reflecting societal problems through their work. We echo the statements by the Federation of European Screen Directors (Fera) and the European Film Academy in support of Agnieska and...

Veteran Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama Green Border will release as planned in Poland on September 22 in defiance of a political backlash and wave of online hate talk.

Inspired by real-life events along Poland’s border with Belarus, the film has touched a raw nerve with the ruling right-wing, anti-migrant coalition led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party for its depictions of Polish border guards pushing back and abusing newly arrived refugees.

Public criticism of the film by coalition politicians has been accompanied by a wave of extreme online hate talk against Holland, some of it antisemitic, calling on her to be tried for treason or expelled from Poland.

Sales agent Jean-Christophe Simon at Films Boutique announced on Wednesday (September 13) that the company been forced to disable the comments on social media pages promoting the film, after they were targeted by right-wing groups.

Film had its world premiere in competition at Venice this week.

Filmmakers have stepped in to defend Agnieszka Holland after her Venice competition film The Green Border was strongly criticised by a leading member of Poland’s conservative government for its depiction of the treatment of migrants along the Poland-Belarus border.

Comparing the film to Nazi propaganda, Poland’s hard-right justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that.”

The Green Border tells the story of refugees,...

Venice film festival: Agnieszka Holland’s brutal and timely drama shines a dark spotlight on the horrors faced by refugees in the exclusion zone between Poland and Belarus

At 74, Polish film-maker Agnieszka Holland has lost none of her passion – or compassion – and this brutal, angry, gruelling drama, in sombre black and white, is recognisably the work of that director who made Europa Europa in 1990. It is about the “green border” exclusion zone between Poland and Belarus, now the location for an apparently unending ordeal for refugees.

With sly malice, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko has in recent years permitted the admission of refugees, cynically encouraging their hope of getting easily from there on foot across the border into Poland and the EU via the Białowieża Forest – but only as a way of punishing and undermining the European Union for its anti-Belarus sanctions. He has effectively weaponised these desperate souls and the...

Editor’s Note: This review was published during the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Kino Lorber releases “Green Border” in select theaters Friday, June 21, 2024.

If you’ve seen “Europa Europa,” the real-life story of a Jewish boy who escapes a Nazi concentration camp and joins the German army, you’ll know that the Polish director Agnieszka Holland knows how to make films about people wriggling their way through life. Her latest film, which is in competition at Venice, tells several interlinked stories in and around the swampy forest border region between Poland and Belarus. We meet border guards, activists, and refugees themselves. Despite biting off a bit more than it can chew, it’s an affecting introduction to a little-known crisis and the latest case of a master filmmaker showing us they can still do it.

Six weeks out of a national election in which Poland’s hard-right government is expected to extend its grip on power,...

The Cannes Docs sidebar of the Cannes Film Market has announced the lineup of its annual Doc Day, which takes place on May 24.

The day will open with a morning session dedicated to Acid Cannes 2022 title “Polaris,” described by organizers as “a creative and human journey interwoven with uncompromising, gentle and bold filmmaking by a woman filmmaker, set against the backdrop of the Arctic.” Entitled “A Producing Journey,” the session will bring together Marion Schmidt, the co-founder of Cannes Docs partner Dae (Documentary Association of Europe), director Ainara Vera and producers Clara Vuillermoz (Point du Jour – Les Films du Balibari) and Emile Hertling Péronard (Ánorâk Film).

The first half of the day will also feature a discussion between Polish director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland, president of the 2022 l’Œil d’or Jury and president of the European Film Academy, and Pauline Durand-Vialle, CEO of the Federation of European Film Directors.

The fight for women to be recognized for their directorial achievements stretches back for decades, but, too often, the screenwriters aren’t given that same spotlight. However, this year presents a unique situation where female filmmakers have also penned the top awards contenders for adapted screenplay. These leading contenders include Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”), Rebecca Hall (“Passing”) and Siân Heder (“Coda”).

If three of the writer-directors are nominated for best adapted screenplay, it’ll be the most female-written films recognized since 1991, which included “Europa Europa” (Agnieszka Holland), “Fried Green Tomatoes” (Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski) and “The Prince of Tides”. If all four manage to receive noms, it would be the most in Academy history, as well as the most that have been directed by women.

Three of the women were recognized by the USC Scripter Awards, whose previous nominees have a solid translation to Academy attention.

Charles Gillibert, the thriving French producer behind Leos Carax’s Cannes prizewinning “Annette,” spoke to Variety about his recent acquisition of Les Films du Losange, one of France’s oldest and most revered auteur-driven production and distribution companies.

Gillibert teamed up with French financier Alexis Dantec, former managing director of the film financing group Cofinova, to complete the acquisition deal for Les Films du Losange, which is at Venice with Kavich Neang’s “White Building” playing in the Horizons section.

Les Films du Losange was founded by Barbet Schroeder and Eric Rohmer in 1962 and was under the leadership of Margaret Menegoz since 1975. The award-winning banner, which is also involved in international sales, has been producing cult movies by some of Europe’s best known filmmakers, notably Rohmer, Schroeder, Roger Planchon, Jacques Rivette, Michael Haneke, Jacques Doillon, Mia Hansen-Love.

In total, the company has a library of about 100 prestige films many...

When she was a student at the prestigious Lodz Film School in Poland, Jagoda Szelc was offered the chance to shoot a feature film. It was an unexpected opportunity for the aspiring filmmaker, who was then in her third year. But after it was produced on a shoestring budget, “Tower. A Bright Day” would go on to play the Berlin Film Festival and win a host of awards in Poland, unexpectedly catapulting Szelc into the limelight.

It was not an easy place for a first-time filmmaker to be. “I was very lost,” Szelc admits. Critics compared “Tower” to the works of male directors and seemed flummoxed that a young woman could helm such an auspicious debut. In one TV segment that left a lasting mark, two male presenters argued that Szelc was too young to understand what she was doing behind the camera. “There was a lot of patronizing [behavior toward] me,...

If a handful of people who all saw The Velvet Underground in the ’60s went out and started bands, how many of the people who watched Todd Haynes documentary at Cannes will go out and make their own movies?

It turns out that Haynes film “rips,” as Indiewire critic David Ehrlich put it in a tweet, with critics praising the film’s unconventional approach to the rock doc, working around how little footage of the Velvets actually exists, not to mention even archival interviews with members of the band while they were still alive. But the film also avoids being a strict portrait of the band or needing to convince us The Velvet Underground were important.

“It’s a dark, disturbing and glorious film about a dark, disturbing and glorious band, and another sign that Haynes knows how to put music on screen in a way that few other directors do,...

If you’re searching for a filmmaker who has seen every part of the industry for over forty years, look no further than Agnieszka Holland. She shot films and TV movies in her native Poland during the Cold War. She directed a classic Oscar-nominated drama, “Europa Europa.” She worked on studio films in the ’90s and ’00s.

Continue reading Agnieszka Holland On Her “Urine” Oscar Movie ‘Charlatan,’ ‘The Wire’ & More [Podcast] at The Playlist.

“I wanted to tell this story because it asks so many questions on so many levels,” admits acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland about why she wanted to direct her latest film, the Czech/Polish/Irish/Slovak co-production “Charlatan.” “It’s an intimate story with an epic scope,” she says. Watch our exclusive video interview with Holland above.

“Charlatan” is based on the true story of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek, who dedicated his life to treat the sick using medicinal plants. Throughout the war and turmoil of the 20th century he has to choose between his calling and his conscience. The film stars acclaimed Czech actor Ivan Trojan in a stunning performance as Mikolášek, alongside his real-life son Josef Trojan as the younger Mikolášek. The film co-stars Czech matinee idol Juraj Loj as the healer’s devoted assistant František Palko.

See 2021 Oscars shortlists in 9 categories: International Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Original Song,...

by Nathaniel R

Though it's easy to lose track of great cinema, especially in this strange time of virtual festivals and very little traditional moviegoing, you won't want to miss Never Gonna Snow Again, when it arrives this Spring. The Polish hopeful in this year's Oscar's International Feature Film race is a hard-to-describe elusive wonder about a Ukranian massage therapist (Stranger Thing's Alec Utgoff) who a suburban community becomes obsessed with. We were thrilled to jump on the phone with its talented 47 year-old director Malgorzata Szumowska. She's forged a long and international career for herself with award winning films like Elles (with Juliette Binoche), Body, the LGBT drama In the Name of, and her first English language picture last year, the cult drama The Other Lamb. 

She goes by 'Malgo'. "It's easier," she offers quickly, surely having heard her name mangled before. The director lives up to our expectations with...

A version of this story about “Charlatan” first appeared in the International Film Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Agnieszka Holland is one of Europe’s busiest directors, and a constant presence in the Oscar race. Her film “Angry Harvest” was nominated as West Germany’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 1985; her 1990 drama “Europa Europa” landed her a screenwriting nomination; and her films “In Darkness” and “Spoor” represented Poland at the Oscars, with the former receiving a nomination in 2011.

In 2020, Holland released two features, both of them dealing with real-life figures in Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century. “Mr. Jones” tells the story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who broke the news of a Soviet-engineered famine in the 1930s, and “Charlatan” deals with Czech healer Jan Mikolásek, who used plant-based remedies successfully for years but was accused of being a fraud and eventually jailed.