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24 years ago, Isabelle Huppert starred in an erotic psychological drama called The Piano Teacher, which won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival, where Huppert also earned a Best Actress award (and her co-star Benoît Magimel won Best Actor). The Piano Teacher was based on a novel by Elfriede Jelinek – and now, Huppert and Jelinek have reteamed for a vampire movie called The Blood Countess, where Huppert takes on the role of the title character, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian serial killer! Magnify sales recently acquired U.S. and global sales rights to the film, and today they have unveiled the first image of Huppert’s character. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger directed The Blood Countess and wrote the screenplay with Jelinek. Huppert plays Báthory as she awakens from her long beauty sleep and emerges from the underworld.

Isabelle Huppert stars as the infamous Countess Elizabeth Báthory in the twisted new vampire mystery film The Blood Countess, and a first look image arrives today giving us a closer look at Huppert in character as the titular vampire.

The Blood Countess is directed by Ulrike Ottinger, who co-wrote the screenplay with the Nobel Prize in Literature winner Elfriede Jelinek (The Piano Teacher).

The feature is inspired by Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman who purportedly tortured and murdered hundreds of young women in the 16th and 17th centuries, the crimes so heinous that her serial killing ways evolved into folkloric tales of vampirism.

Tom Neuwirth (aka Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst ), Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eidinger, Thomas Schubert (Afire), and André Jung (The Forger) also star.

As for the plot, “After ‘The Blood Countess’ (Isabelle Huppert) awakens from her long beauty sleep and emerges from the underworld, she and...

Tom Neuwirth aka Conchita Wurst, the bold Austrian bearded diva who won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, will make her acting debut in a twisted vampire mystery, “The Blood Countess,” starring opposite Isabelle Huppert.

Magnify handles global and U.S. sales rights on the hot title and has unveiled a striking first-look image (pictured) from the film ahead of the Cannes film market where Austin Kennedy, head of global sales, and Phoebe Liebling, manager of global sales, will be pursuing deals.

Directed by renowned German New Wave filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, “The Blood Countess” draws inspiration from the life and legend of Countess Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman which is played by Huppert. The screenplay was penned by Ottinger and Elfriede Jelinek, the Nobel Prize in Literature winner and acclaimed author of “The Piano Teacher.” The film is currently in post-production.

The cast is completed by Birgit Minichmayr (“Daughters”), Lars Eidinger,...

24 years ago, Isabelle Huppert starred in an erotic psychological drama called The Piano Teacher, which won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival, where Huppert also earned a Best Actress award (and her co-star Benoît Magimel won Best Actor). The Piano Teacher was based on a novel by Elfriede Jelinek – and now, Huppert and Jelinek are set to reteam for a vampire movie called The Blood Countess, where Huppert will be taking on the role of the title character, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian serial killer!

Variety reports that German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger will be directing The Blood Countess and wrote the screenplay with Jelinek. Huppert will be playing Báthory as she awakens from her long beauty sleep and emerges from the underworld. She and her devoted maid (Birgit Minichmayr) embark on a baroque quest through Vienna to recover the red elixir of life.

Isabelle Huppert is starring as the notorious Countess Elizabeth Báthory in the upcoming vampire mystery feature The Blood Countess, which is set to launch sales next week at EFM, Variety reports today.

The Blood Countess is directed by Ulrike Ottinger, who co-wrote the screenplay with the Nobel Prize in Literature winner Elfriede Jelinek.

The film follows Elizabeth Báthory as “She and her devoted maid (Birgit Minichmayr) embark on a baroque quest through Vienna to recover the red elixir of life. The book, if found and read by the vampire’s enemies, threatens their vampire realm. Hot on their heels are a vegetarian nephew (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector, and more lively characters in this twisted and humorous vampire tale.”

For the uninitiated, Countess Elizabeth Báthory was a Hungarian noblewoman who purportedly tortured and murdered hundreds of young women in the 16th and 17th centuries,...

Magnify has boarded “The Blood Countess,” a vampire mystery movie starring Isabelle Huppert as Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian serial killer.

Directed by renowned German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, the movie is inspired by the life and legend of Countess Elizabeth Báthory. The screenplay was penned by Ottinger and Elfriede Jelinek, the Nobel Prize in Literature winner and acclaimed author of “The Piano Teacher.”

Huppert stars in the film opposite Birgit Minichmayr (“Daughters”), Lars Eidinger (“Dying”), Thomas Schubert (“Afire”) and André Jung (“The Forger”).

“The Blood Countess” is one of the hottest European projects to head to the EFM next week where Magnify’s sales team, led by Lorna Lee Torres, will be introducing the movie to buyers.

Huppert plays the Countess Elizabeth Báthory (aka ‘The Blood Countess’), as she awakens from her long beauty sleep and emerges from the underworld. “She and her devoted maid...

"Good forgeries are tiny works of art." Kino Lorber has revealed an official US trailer for an indie German film titled The Forger, based on the true story of Cioma Schönhaus. This initially premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and it opens in Germany soon with no US date set yet - expected in the next few months. Set in 1940 in Berlin, the film is about a young Jewish man who pretends to be a marine to escape being identified and arrested by the Nazis. He then joins a network of underground rescuers and becomes infamous for his masterfully forged IDs – created with just a brush, some ink, and a steady hand – that save the lives of hundreds of Jews by allowing them to escape. Louis Hofmann stars as Cioma, with Luna Wedler as his lover, Jonathan Berlin, Nina Gummich, André Jung, Marc Limpach, Yotam Ishay, Luc Feit,...

Wanda (Agnieszka Grochowska) returns to Switzerland on a bus. It's full of similarly dressed, similarly laden Polish women, probably on their way to do similar work for wealthy Swiss families whilst - as she has done - leaving their own at home. 70-year-old Josef (André Jung) is relieved to have her back. He complains about insulting treatment received from his interim carer. Wanda is considerate and efficient, respecting that despite his disability he's still a human being and because of it he actually needs the help she's giving. His wife Elsa (Marthe Keller) really doesn't need the help around the house for which she offers an insultingly low additional sum, but she's lost her Portuguese housekeeper and it doesn't occur to her to ask another Swiss person, so Wanda can bargain.

Outside the periphery of these arrangements lies another service which Josef sometimes finds himself wanting in the middle of he.

Money can buy outside help, opportunity and material possessions, but not happiness in “My Wonderful Wanda,” a punchy satire from Swiss auteur Bettina Oberli (“Late Bloomers”). Taking a wry but empathetic approach to the phenomenon of care migration, Oberli and her co-writer Cooky Ziesche focus on the changing relationship between one privileged Swiss family and their financially fragile Polish home-care worker over nine months. Naturalistically shot and structured as three chapters and an epilogue, it’s an engaging, mostly well-acted tale, full of surprising twists, even if some seem a bit too on the nose. Opening in theaters and virtual cinemas on April 23, this Zeitgeist Films release should segue from international film festival favorite to modest art-house hit.

Attractive, capable, 30-something single mother Wanda arrives in Switzerland on a bus packed with Polish women who work for rich families eager to outsource the mundane tasks of everyday life. Like Wanda,...

"It's a proof of love." Zeitgeist Films has released a new official US trailer for a Swiss indie drama titled My Wonderful Wanda, which was initially part of the Tribeca Film Festival line-up earlier this year (before it was cancelled). The film is the latest from Swiss filmmaker Bettina Oberli, and is still seeking international distribution. Agnieszka Grochowska stars as the titular Wanda, a Polish immigrant working as a carer in Switzerland. She works as a nurse for the aging patriarch of the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloor family. When she surprisingly becomes pregnant, family secrets come to light and arrangements are soon made to try and appease everyone in this biting family drama. Sounds like a more serious Swiss version of Knives Out. Also starring Gottfried Breitfuss, André Jung, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Bruno Rajski, Iwo Rajski, & Anatole Taubman. This looks like a very complex, poignant drama about family and honesty. Here's...

Passion River Films and 8 Above are teaming on the U.S. release of The Disrupted, the feature documentary debut of Sarah Colt, the Emmy-winning director of PBS’ American Experience docs about Walt Disney and Henry Ford, as well as The Polio Crusade and the Native American series We Shall Remain.

The Disrupted, a look at rising income inequality in the U.S. that follows a farmer, a factory worker and an Uber driver, is now set to hit 20 virtual cinemas on September 25, followed by a digital bow October 13.

“No matter what race, ethnicity, sex, or creed you come from, the subjects from The Disrupted represent all of us who have ever needed to make our own living in America,” Passion River’s Mat Levy said. “There has never been a more crucial and timely film about the compound struggles we are all facing to achieve the ‘American Dream.’ We are...

In today’s Global Bulletin, the Zurich festival opens with “My Wonderful Wanda,” Philip Garrel, Tsai Ming-liang and Hong Sang-soo are contenders at San Sebastian, a new talent agency launches with “The Crown” actor Emma Corrin, WaZabi picks up Toronto title “Beans,” and the U.K. celebrates returning to cinemas.

Bettina Oberli’s “My Wonderful Wanda” will open the 16th Zurich film festival on Sept. 24, the first time the event is opening with a film by a female director.

The film was supposed to bow at Tribeca, until the coronavirus pandemic forced its postponement to 2021. Consequently, it will have its world premiere at Zurich.

“My Wonderful Wanda” tells the story of Polish-born Wanda who looks after patriarch and post-stroke patient Josef at his lakeside family villa. The work is poorly paid, but Wanda needs the money to support her own family back in Poland. As a live-in caregiver, she gains...

Bettina Oberli’s film would have played at Tribeca, which was cancelled in April.

The Zurich Film Festival is to open with the world premiere of Bettina Oberli’s My Wonderful Wanda, marking the first time a female-directed feature has opened the event.

The Swiss tragi-comedy was originally set to debut at Tribeca in April but those plans were abandoned when the festival was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has subsequently been cancelled.

It will now open the 16th Zff, which is pressing ahead as a physical event and due to run September 24 to October 4.

The film centres on Wanda,...

"Don't leave me to those lunatics." The Match Factory has released an official promo trailer for a Swiss indie drama titled My Wonderful Wanda, which was part of the Tribeca Film Festival line-up earlier this year. The film is the latest from Swiss filmmaker Bettina Oberli, and is still seeking international distribution. Agnieszka Grochowska stars as the titular Wanda, a Polish immigrant working as a carer in Switzerland. She nurses the aging patriarch of the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloor family. When an unexpected complication arises, family secrets come to light and arrangements are made to try and appease everyone in this biting family drama. Sounds like a more serious Swiss version of Knives Out. Also starring Gottfried Breitfuss, André Jung, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Bruno Rajski, Iwo Rajski, & Anatole Taubman. This looks like an emotionally resonant drama about how money warps minds, especially family members. Here's the first promo trailer (+ poster) for Bettina Oberli's My Wonderful Wanda,...

My Wonderful Wanda The Match Box Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Bettina Oberli Screenwriter: Cooky Ziesche, Bettina Oberli Cast: Agnieszka Grochowska, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Jacob Matschenz, André Jung, Anatole Taubman Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/15/20 Opens: Tbd at Tribeca Film Festival in […]

The post My Wonderful Wanda Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Of all the ways to begin a movie, few are more cruel than presenting a character such as Lara Jenkins and, before the audience has even gotten the chance to know her, showing her wearily open the window to her depressing German flat, position a chair and prepare to jump. It is Lara’s 60th birthday and, judging from the way it starts, she does not see it as a special occasion. Director Jan-Ole Gerster makes quite the gamble opening “Lara” in such a way, but as the film unfolds, he demonstrates that his intention was never to shock, but to identify with this conflicted character, proceeding to create a portrait of remarkable depth over the span of the day that follows.

A filmmaker once told me that, in his opinion, all movies are mysteries. Audiences go in knowing little or nothing, and they participate as the storyteller slowly reveals...

Blind Spot, Luxembourg's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : None Yet. Production Company: Samsa Film

Probably because of the thin line between righteousness and immorality that characters in Police Dramas are forced to walk, the subgenre is still attractive to audiences even if the premises are for the most part, constantly replicated. The lone ambivalent anti-hero is usually a devoted cop, often with a family to protect or an unlikely love interest and his convictions clash with a corrupted higher-up or organized crime from within his same institution. Been there done than time and time again. Luckily, and pleasantly surprising, Luxembourgish filmmaker Christophe Wagner’s Blind Spot is undoubtedly an incredibly inventive fresh take on the established conventions.

Flowing with a carefully arranged tension the film stands out because of its originality in a realm often plagued with predicable plots and far fetched twists. Suspended from duty after a brawl with a fellow officer, Oliver Faber (Jules Werner) secretly indulges in sexual pleasures with another man. That very same night, leaving no fingerprints at the scene, an astute killer apparently murders his brother, Tom Faber (Mickey Hardt), also a policeman. In spite of obvious concerns of his emotional involvement with the case, Oliver is asked to take part in the investigation. As if the sudden death of his sibling were not enough, his personal life is also in distress as his mother questions his tumultuous behavior and inquires on his relationship with his estranged wife Marie (Gintare Parulyte).

His boss, Inspector Hastert (André Jung), thinks he has possible leads that involve a Bosnian man, the wealthy and corrupt businessman, Mr. Beaulieue (Patrick Descamps). The exposé of his illicit activities outside Luxembourg by Tom. Blindly, Oliver and his teammates put their lives at risk but do not she any light on the truth. As he deals with his own identity crisis, Oliver begins to peel off the layers of ulterior motives behind one singular crime. Someone’s calibrated personal vendetta, a suicide, and a stunning revelation that will change his perception of his loved one, are all in store for him to discover.

Unlike the one-note performances from the Stathams, the Wahlbergs and other cookie-cutter action heroes to which American viewers are accustomed, the protagonist here is intelligently multifaceted. Oliver’s motivations are fueled by the secret lives he lives in order to fulfill his family's and his own career expectations. The hyper-masculinity that comes with these super-heroes serves mostly to give simple reasons for the recklessness of their actions. They are committed by man’s men who will stop at nothing to uphold what is right, while also pursuing the clichéd hot sexual encounter that is always placed before the final face-off. Not here. Oliver’s façade as a tough machismo-driven guy is a defense mechanism to hide his sexual orientation which is seen as a weakness and would be used against him by his fellow officers. Unafraid and bold, Wagner’s leading man is one of a kind thanks to a astonishing performance by Jules Werner. He is flesh, bone, anguish, anger and all the nuances in between that conform a closeted homosexual man seeking not only to solve his brother’s death and protect his honor but also to prove his value to himself.

Formidably written and perfectly acted, Blind Spot innovatively elevates the genre and ventures into truly daring territory with a less than unlikely lead full of complexities. Christophe Wagner’s direction is not only proficient in creating the uneasy enticing atmosphere needed, his puzzling narrative is also edgy. There is no room for the overkill of the commonplace storylines indigenous to Hollywood. Instead, toying with those very predispositions, the film turns out to be something less fabricated and more grounded in reality which is definitely an achievement in such a crowded field. Placing Luxembourg in the spotlight of the cinematic landscape, the director takes advantage of the surprise factor that a film coming from the tiny nation contains and by doing so, he delivers a real success.

Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...

Following up the initial announcement of titles, the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival revealed it will open with the period drama Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell My Queen) today. From director Benoît Jacquot, the drama stars Inglourious Basterds lead Diane Kruger, as well as Léa Seydoux who broke-out in Midnight in Paris and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol this year. Based on, Chantal Thomas’ novel we have the first stills of the film (from Lumiere via The Playlist) that follows the “first few days of the French Revolution from the perspective of the servants at Versailles.”

Kruger, who plays Marie Antoinette here, has only appeared in one big film following her post-Basterds role with Unknown, but I look forward to her future work, especially with this film. I thought Seydoux was great as an action villain in Ghotocol and excited to see her career rise. Check out the stills below,...

The Berlinale's announced today that 20 films are now lined up for its Panorama program. All in all, around 50 titles will make up the main program, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumente.

10+10 by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan — see a full report from the Taipei Film Commission: "Funded by the Golden Horse Film Festival and the Republic of China Centenary Foundation, 10+10 [is] a movie comprised of 20 short films by 10 renowned and 10 emerging Taiwanese filmmakers."

Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, France

With Fehd Benchemsi, Fouad Labiad, Mouhcine Malzi, Imane Elmechrafi, Faouzi Bensaïdi

Die Wand (The Wall) by Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria/Germany

With Martina Gedeck — Synopsis from The Match Factory: "(1.) The wall is a highly unusual exploration of solitude and survival. (2.) It is the story of a woman who is separated from the...