Actualités

When a filmmaker reveals that not only was their film deleted by YouTube but that their whole channel was pulled down as a result, you can’t help but be intrigued! So what is it about Priscilla Galvez’s directorial debut A Fermenting Woman which seems to be causing such a stir that it needed to be scrubbed from YouTube’s servers? Not set within boundaries of what’s customarily considered horror, there’s no terrifying killer stalking our heroine, but instead, capitalist suits garishly flaunting their power as they look to excise her from her beloved restaurant. There is no gratuitously gross CGI-generated gore but rather artistically captured bubbling, frothing, and naturally fermenting food inspired by the Danish chefs at Noma. So surely it can’t be the film’s menstruation plotline that caused the platform which happily profited from a suicide forest corpse and alt-right radicalisation rabbit holes to balk?...

Emmy and Tony-nominated actor Arian Moayed has signed on to executive produce Iranian-Canadian director Jasmin Mozaffari’s short film drama Motherland.

Moayed was born in Tehran, Iran, and immigrated with his family to the U.S. when he was 5 years old. He played Stewy Hosseini in HBO’s Succession and also has TV credits in Netflix’s Inventing Anna, HBO Max’s Love Life and Disney’s Ms. Marvel, in addition to a host of theatrical stage credits.

Moayed will help with an Oscar campaign for Motherland, which is set in 1979 and centers on Babak, played by Behtash Fazlali, who travels to meet the parents of his fiancé (Oriana Leman), only to discover the realities of an Iranian immigrant in post-Vietnam America.

“For many Iranians, living outside our motherland has become increasingly difficult as we continue to confront misinformation, racism and hatred,” Moayed said in a statement. “Motherland offers an...

Paris-based Totem Films has acquired world sales rights, excluding Canada, to Canadian filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz’s “Measures for a Funeral” in advance of the film’s world premiere in the Toronto Film Festival’s Centrepiece program.

Margot Hervée, Totem’s head of sales and acquisitions, first encountered Bohdanowicz’s work a few years ago. “It immediately resonated with me,” she told Variety. “We’re thrilled to now have her as part of the Totem family and to represent her latest film.”

Vortex Media is the film’s Canadian distributor.

As part of today’s announcement, Totem has shared with Variety a first teaser for “Measures,” which stars Deragh Campbell as Audrey Benac — a “family detective” character she has played in previous Bohdanowicz films, including the feature “Ms Slavic 7,” which premiered in Berlin in 2019 and also screened in Toronto.

Filmed in Canada, the U.K. and Norway, “Measures”— which won the...

“Schitt’s Creek” and “Blood Quantum” were the big winners in the television and film categories, respectively, at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards.

“Schitt’s Creek” led television honors with eight awards for it’s sixth and final season, including best comedy series; best direction, comedy for Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy; and the sixth win in a row for Catherine O’Hara as best lead actress in comedy. “Canada’s Drag Race” follows with five wins, including best reality/competition program or series.

Jeff Barnaby’s “Blood Quantum” topped film honors with seven Canadian Screen Awards, including Michael Greyeyes in the performance by an actor in a leading role category. Tracey Deer’s first feature “Beans” won best motion picture, while Deepa Mehta was awarded best achievement in direction for “Funny Boy.” Michelle Pfeiffer won actress in a leading role for “French Exit.”

Recently departed Canadian thespian Christopher Plummer was the recipient of best...

With most festivals moving full steam ahead, such as the recently wrapped Rotterdam and Sundance, the next two major ones on the calendar are Berlinale, which just unveiled its lineup, and South by Southwest, which has also dropped theirs.

Set to take place March 16-20, the 2021 Film Festival program has 75 features including 57 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 4 North American Premieres, 1 U.S. Premieres, 8 Texas Premieres and 53 films from first-time filmmakers + 84 Short Films including Music Videos, 5 Episodic Premieres, 6 Episodic Pilots, 20 Virtual Cinema projects, 14 Title Design entries, plus 30 Special Events.

“It’s been a year unlike any we’ve experienced, first marked by the cancellation of SXSW 2020,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain and move our attendees. SXSW...

Documentary music films about the careers of singer-songwriter Charli Xcx and late rock legend Tom Petty will headline this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, as the Austin fest has unveiled its full 2021 slate.

Charli Xcx’s “Alone Together” will be the closing night film about how she made an album over the course of 40 days in quarantine, while “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free” will be the centerpiece film that uncovers new 16mm footage of Petty at work on his 1994 album “Wildflowers.” Rounding out the headliners for SXSW is the previously announced opening night film, “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” a YouTube Originals documentary about the aftermath of the actress and singer’s near-fatal overdose in 2018.

This year’s SXSW, now in its 28th year, is virtual and online after 2020’s festival was one of the first major events to be canceled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.