Noticias

After writing the DVD Obscura column for years at Movies.com, TheWrap’s Film Reviews Editor Alonso Duralde brings it to its new home. In an age where niche and classic movies are harder and harder to find via traditional streaming services, it’s still worth maintaining a collection of physical media that can’t disappear from the internet (or even from your own online library). Each month, Duralde highlights new DVD, Blu-ray and 4K releases in six categories: Indie, Foreign, Documentary, Grindhouse, Classics and TV.

New Indies

Both hilarious and heartbreaking, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) may be one of the best films ever made about the plight of the writer — whether it’s the agony of having to be her own publicist or the realization that she’s most valued for her skill at mimicking the voices of other authors, Lee Israel (the...

Not all projects should be made or released just because they go through film labs, says Bero Beyer.

The new artistic director of International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), Bero Beyer, has questioned the role of talent schemes across the industry, saying there is a need to curate “gems” among a glut of “mediocre” features.

Speaking on the second day of CineMart, Iffr’s long-established co-production market, Beyer said: “It seems as if the R&D department of the film industry has moved to funds and festivals, in particular to specialised talent development programs that have grown into alternate financing models for feature films.”

Beyer, previously an independent producer on films such as Paradise Now and Atlantic., said having the weight of a major festival behind a project provided an advantage to features from young filmmakers and was not typical of the indie film process.

“Several schemes have been initiated to create a space for artistic freedom,” he said...

Exclusive: Paris-based sales outfit adds Rotterdam premieres and sales manager.

Matteo Lovadina’s Paris-based sales outfit Reel Suspects has added two titles to its slate, both set to premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) later this week.

The first is Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito’s debut feature, Out Of Love, screening in Iffr’s Bright Future strand.

The film is the latest production from Dutch outfit Topkapi and is produced by company principals Frans van Gestel, Arnold Heslenfeld and Laurette Schillings.

The psycho-drama, about an intense relationship, is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, Mediafund, CoBO, Ntr (part of De Oversteek), Netherlands Film Production Incentive, Media Programme of the European Union. Pim Hermeling’s September will release in the Netherlands.

Dutch-Chilean writer-director Valdebenito was nominated for best short film at the European Film Awards for her 2009 short Stay Away.

Topkapi are also the Dutch producers on Felix van Groeningen’s Sundance entry Belgica and partnered on van...

Lined up for the International Film Festival Rotterdam's Bright Future program this year are works by Ana Cristina Barragán, Samuele Sestieri, Kaweh Modiri, Lee Seung-won, Jonas Rothlaender, Bernardo Britto, Yi Cui, Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito, Fernanda Romandía, Arun Karthick, Emiliano Rocha Minter, Yosuke Okuda, Pimpaka Towira, Uchida Eiji, Vlado Skafar, Penny Lane, Matt Johnson, Elisa Miller, Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Tsubota Yoshifumi, Lucile Hadžihalilovic, Simon Stone, Pietro Marcello, Bi Gan, João Salaviza, Pascale Breton, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Avishai Sivan, Jony Perel, Alex Santiago Pérez and many others. » - David Hudson...

Lined up for the International Film Festival Rotterdam's Bright Future program this year are works by Ana Cristina Barragán, Samuele Sestieri, Kaweh Modiri, Lee Seung-won, Jonas Rothlaender, Bernardo Britto, Yi Cui, Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito, Fernanda Romandía, Arun Karthick, Emiliano Rocha Minter, Yosuke Okuda, Pimpaka Towira, Uchida Eiji, Vlado Skafar, Penny Lane, Matt Johnson, Elisa Miller, Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Tsubota Yoshifumi, Lucile Hadžihalilovic, Simon Stone, Pietro Marcello, Bi Gan, João Salaviza, Pascale Breton, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Avishai Sivan, Jony Perel, Alex Santiago Pérez and many others. » - David Hudson...

History's FutureScheduled to open later this month (27 January - 7 Febuary 2016), the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam has announced the titles included in its competition, which has scaled back the number of films competing to eight this year.Tiger Award COMPETITIONHistory's Future – Fiona Tan (The Netherlands, world premiere)The Land of the Enlightened – Pieter-Jan De Pue (Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, European premiere)Motel Mist – Prabda Yoon (Thailand, world premiere)Oscuro animal – Felipe Guerrero (Colombia, Argentina, The Netherlands, Germany, Greece, world premiere)Radio Dreams – Babak Jalali (USA, world premiere)La última tierra – Pablo Lamar (Paraguay, The Netherlands, Chile, Qatar, world premiere)Where I Grow Old – Marília Rocha (Brazil, Portugal, world premiere)A Woman, a Part – Elisabeth Subrin (USA, world premiere)

Bright FUTUREAlba – Ana Cristina Barragán (Ecuador, Mexico, Greece, world premiere)Alone – Park Hongmin (South Korea, international premiere)Animal político – Tião (Brazil, world premiere)The Bear Tales – Samuele Sestieri, Olmo Amato (Italy,...

Kidnap thriller The Disappearance Of Alice Creed remade for Dutch audiences.

Producer Frans van Gestel is at the Rotterdam International Film Festival (Iffr) drumming up international interest in Joram Lürsen’s new thriller Reckless (Bloedlink), a Dutch remake of British kidnap thriller The Disappearance Of Alice Creed.

The film, produced by Oscar-nominated Dutch outfit Topkapi Films, is directly based on J Blakeson’s 2009 thriller, which starred Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston

Speaking to ScreenDaily in Rotterdam, van Gestel said that the new film, now in post-production, is aimed primarily at a Dutch audience.

“Obviously, if you make a remake of a British film, it is not meant to travel around the world. It is meant to work really strongly in the domestic market.”

Van Gestel together with screenwriter Frank Ketelaar was looking for genre stories that could be made for a modest budget of around €1m.

At first, they wanted...