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Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves is screening exclusively on Mubi in many countries.Fallen Leaves.There’s a moment early in Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, Fallen Leaves (2023), that will surely tug at the heartstrings of shy lovers everywhere. A man, Holappa (played by Jussi Vatanen), and a woman, Ansa (Alma Pöysti), sit across from each other in a bar. Between them, his friend tries vainly to flirt with hers, getting nowhere, but Holappa and Ansa themselves do not speak, and instead merely stare meekly into their drinks, the gap of a few meters opening up like a yawning chasm. Then, for just a moment, Holappa looks up from his beer and their eyes meet. And as they do, the first cascading piano chords of Franz Schubert’s “Serenade” are heard and a besuited man takes the karaoke stage to start singing: “Softly my songs plead / through the night for...

The lineup for the 76th installment of the Cannes Film Festival has finally been announced. Nineteen films will be competing to take home the prestigious Palme d’Or, including a record six films helmed by women. The festival will be taking place in the French Riviera from May 16 to May 27. This year’s jury will be headed by Ruben Östlund, who won his second Palme d’Or last year for “Triangle of Sadness.”

Knowing a filmmaker’s previous track record at Cannes can sometimes help give an idea as to who might be in the best position to claim the Palme. For instance, five of this year’s entries come from directors who have previously won the Palme. Another five are from auteurs who have had previous films win a prize in the main competition other than the Palme. Another five are from directors having their first film screen in the main competition.

Stars: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall | Written by Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields | Directed by Lee Cronin

Director Lee Cronin serves up some pleasingly old-fashioned supernatural scares in creepy Irish horror The Hole in the Ground.

Seána Kerslake (A Date for Mad Mary) stars as single mother Sarah O’Neill, who moves into a dilapidated farmhouse near a remote village in rural Ireland with her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey), after fleeing an abusive relationship with the boy’s father. One night, Chris disappears and Sarah worries that he might have fallen into an enormous sinkhole that has suddenly opened up in the woods, especially when she finds one of his toys near the edge. The next day, Chris turns up safe and sound, but his behaviour is subtly changed and Sarah becomes increasingly worried that the boy is not her son.

Aki Kaurismäki. Photo courtesy of Janus Films.Watching an Aki Kaurismäki film can feel like dropping in on a world just out of step with our own. All the elements are there—the streets, the buildings, the people (and their docile dogs). But something is always off. A man’s desk is taken away while he’s still sitting at it to indicate he’s been laid off. A woman asks a pharmacist what rat poison does. “It kills,” the pharmacist says blankly. It’s as if the Finnish filmmaker is recreating a version of planet Earth with all the nuance removed. These highly orchestrated facsimiles should feel foreign, but their simplicity and dry humor instead allows for a familiarity to sink in. His universe is in fact far more relatable—and far more human—than meets the eye. Although he’s gained a reputation as a comically cynical auteur,...

Stars: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall | Written by Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields | Directed by Lee Cronin

Director Lee Cronin serves up some pleasingly old-fashioned supernatural scares in creepy Irish horror The Hole in the Ground.

Seána Kerslake (A Date for Mad Mary) stars as single mother Sarah O’Neill, who moves into a dilapidated farmhouse near a remote village in rural Ireland with her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey), after fleeing an abusive relationship with the boy’s father. One night, Chris disappears and Sarah worries that he might have fallen into an enormous sinkhole that has suddenly opened up in the woods, especially when she finds one of his toys near the edge. The next day, Chris turns up safe and sound, but his behaviour is subtly changed and Sarah becomes increasingly worried that the boy is not her son.

Mounting weirdness descends as a mother and young son set up home in the middle of a dark and sinister forest

Here’s an Irish folk-horror that clearly drew the right conclusions from the midnight-movie pairing of The Babadook and Under the Shadow: a film operating at a suspenseful, spider-like creep that allows it to skirt your defences and get some distance under the skin.

It opens with a broadly familiar set-up. Recently separated, subtly scarred Sarah (Seána Kerslake) installs herself and young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) in the kind of countryside fixer-upper-type property that conventionally serves as a magnet for trouble. Yet its foundations are undermined in unexpected fashion, first by the discovery of a vast sinkhole in the surrounding forest, then by the neighbourhood crone (Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen) who pauses her catatonic murmuring to insist that Chris isn’t who he seems. As Sarah briefs...

The debut horror feature from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground, trods familiar territory with style.

The Hole in the Ground, like 2014’s now-classic The Babadook, centers on the relationship between a single mother and her young son as they are beset by forces seemingly beyond their control. But while The Babadook kept the nature of the intrusion firmly ambiguous nearly all the way through, co-writer/director Lee Cronin’s feature debut starts off that way but soon takes a more conventional route. That renders The Hole in the Ground more generic in some ways, although Cronin still manages to pull off an atmospheric shocker for much of its running time.

As the film opens we see little Chris (James Quinn Markey) and his mom Sarah (Seana Kerslake) driving in their aging car through a vast swath of Irish forest, the two of them are immediately made...

In the suspense thriller The Hole in the Ground, Sarah (Seána Kerslake) and her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) have newly arrived in the Irish countryside. Their new home is surrounded by a peaceful forest. One day while driving, they encounter Mrs. Brady (Kati Outinen), an older neighbor who has suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. As our exclusive clip reveals, things quickly take a startling turn. Sarah gets out of the car to speak to Mrs. Brady, who is acting very...

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The feature directorial debut from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground follows the ominous goings-on after a couple and their young child move to a new cottage in rural Ireland (where their neighbors include Aki Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen). Next to the cottage is the titular hole in the ground, and that causes all kinds of problems as their child is possibly possessed. Via email, editor Colin Campbell discussed his latest collaboration with longtime friend Lee Cronin. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]...

The feature directorial debut from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground follows the ominous goings-on after a couple and their young child move to a new cottage in rural Ireland (where their neighbors include Aki Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen). Next to the cottage is the titular hole in the ground, and that causes all kinds of problems as their child is possibly possessed. Via email, editor Colin Campbell discussed his latest collaboration with longtime friend Lee Cronin. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]...

The feature directorial debut from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground follows the ominous goings-on after a couple and their young child move to a new cottage in rural Ireland (where their neighbors include Aki Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen). Next to the cottage is the titular hole in the ground, and that causes all kinds of problems as their child is possibly possessed. Via email, Dp Tom Comerford discussed the challenges of creating a visual atmosphere of unease on a budget. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and […]...

The feature directorial debut from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground follows the ominous goings-on after a couple and their young child move to a new cottage in rural Ireland (where their neighbors include Aki Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen). Next to the cottage is the titular hole in the ground, and that causes all kinds of problems as their child is possibly possessed. Via email, Dp Tom Comerford discussed the challenges of creating a visual atmosphere of unease on a budget. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and […]...

This Irish supernatural horror thriller The Hole in The Ground is currently screening at Sundance, and the buzz for this film is big! A lot of people are talking about how good and scary it is. This is apparently the horror movie of the year that you don’t want to miss.

I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m going to try and get into a screening of it before I leave. As a huge horror fan, I’m going to be so disappointed if I miss it while I’m here.

The story centers around a mother and her son, who starts to display some creepy, disturbing behavior after coming across a sinkhole in the middle of a forest. Here’s the synopsis:

Sarah (Seána Kerslake) moves her precocious son, Chris (James Quinn Markey), to a secluded new home in a rural town, trying to ease his...

Following the film's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, A24 has released the official trailer for The Hole in the Ground, the new horror movie about a mother who worries that her son isn't actually her son anymore... or even human, for that matter.

The feature-length directorial debut of Lee Cronin (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen Shields), The Hole in the Ground stars

Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey.

According to Entertainment Weekly (who also unveiled the movie's poster and hosted the exclusive premiere of the film's Us trailer), The Hole in the Ground will be released on DirecTV on January 31st, followed by a March 1st theatrical release from A24.

A horror thriller with a familial focus, The Hole in the Ground has the following synopsis (via Sundance):

"One night, Sarah's young son disappears into the woods behind their rural home.

"You're not my son." A24 has released a new official trailer for the Irish indie horror film The Hole in the Ground, which just premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival over the weekend. We already featured the UK trailer for this a few weeks ago, but this is a whole other look. The film is the feature debut of Irish director Lee Cronin, and is set on the fringes of a backwood rural town. The festival description sets this up quite well: One night, Sarah's young son disappears into the woods behind their rural home. When he returns, he looks the same, but his behavior grows increasingly disturbing. Soon, Sarah realizes that the boy who returned may not be her son at all... The film stars Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey. There's also a creepy new poster for this (ahhh the spider!

A24 has released a new trailer for their latest horror offering, The Hole in the Ground. The indie studio has had a tremendous run over the past few years, producing the Best Picture winner Moonlight, amongst a variety of other hit, acclaimed titles ranging widely in terms of genre. But last year, they delivered one of the most memorable horror movies in recent memory with Hereditary. Could we be looking at that movie's spiritual successor? It's quite possible. Not only just because of this first trailer, but also thanks to some early buzz.

The trailer kicks off as horror movies often do. A family making a big change and trying to settle into a new life. But then something dark and mysterious occurs. In this case, as the title implies, it happens to revolve around a giant, ominous hole in the ground. Naturally, once this hole is discovered, the young...

Try as we might to dissuade vulnerable young parents in the movies from relocating their families to rambling, deserted homes in the countryside, preferably on the edge of a dark, looming forest, sometimes they simply have to learn for themselves. Happily, Lee Cronin’s “The Hole in the Ground” is largely in on the joke, putting the agonized single mom at its center through a veritable spin cycle of familiar horror dilemmas and distractions — a haunted child, a creaking house, a ghostly neighbor, even a mysterious, beckoning sinkhole — and seeing how she comes out of the wash. Thanks to the resourceful Seána Kerslake in the lead, she fares rather well, and so does Cronin: The Irishman’s trim, jumpy debut feature rewrites no genre rules, but abounds in bristly calling-card atmospherics.

Already acquired for the U.S. by A24 — and set for a March 1 release, following a pre-theatrical run on...

The Hole in the Ground Trailer Lee Cronin‘s The Hole in the Ground (2019) movie trailer stars Seana Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, and Simone Kirby. The Hole in the Ground‘s plot synopsis: “Trying to escape her broken past, Sarah O’Neill (Seana Kerslake) is building a new life on the fringes of [...]

Continue reading: The Hole In The Ground (2019) International Movie Trailer: Seana Kerslake’s Son may be an Imposter...

Last year at Sundance Film Festival saw the premiere of A24’s Hereditary, which went on to be the company’s biggest hit worldwide. Do they have another horror hit debuting at the festival this year? Lee Cronin’s directorial debut The Hole in the Ground will premiere in Park City and we now have the first trailer.

Following a single mother and her son moving to a new town, the kid ventures into the woods and discovers a strange hole…in the ground and after his mom finds him, he begins to elicit strange qualities. As we learned with Hereditary (and hundreds of films before it), it wouldn’t be a horror hit if it didn’t have a strange, perhaps possessed child, so it at least has that going for it.

Starring Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey, see the trailer below via Empire.

"It's not your boy." Wildcard Distribution has debuted the first official trailer from UK/Ireland for the indie horror film The Hole in the Ground, which is premiering at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in just a few weeks in the Midnight section. The film is the feature debut of Irish director Lee Cronin, and is set on the fringes of a backwood rural town. The description from Sundance sets this up quite well: One night, Sarah's young son disappears into the woods behind their rural home. When he returns, he looks the same, but his behavior grows increasingly disturbing. Soon, Sarah realizes that the boy who returned may not be her son at all... The film stars Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey. The giant hole in the ground from the title looks gnarly. Looks like a good thriller. Here's the first...

The first trailer for Lee Cronin’s Irish horror, ‘The Hole in the Ground’ has arrived ahead of its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The film has a bit of a ‘Hereditary’ vibe and is directed by Cronin, Seena Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen and James Quinn Markey co-star.

Also in trailers – It’s a fight of survival in Us trailer for ‘Hotel Mumbai’

The film is set for a March 1st release.

The Hold in The Ground Synopsis

Sarah (Seána Kerslake) moves her precocious son, Chris (James Quinn Markey), to a secluded new home in a rural town, trying to ease his apprehensions as they hope for a fresh start after a difficult past. But after a startling encounter with a mysterious new neighbour, Sarah’s nerves are set on edge. Chris disappears in the night into the forest behind their house, and Sarah discovers an ominous,...

If you’re into horror films, you’ve got to check out this new trailer for the upcoming supernatural Irish horror thriller called The Hole In The Ground.

The story puts the focus on a mother and her son, who start to display some creepy disturbing behavior after coming across a sinkhole in the middle of a forest. I love films like this that incorporate ancient lore from different cultures, and this movie looks like it’s going to be great!

Here’s the synopsis:

Sarah (Seána Kerslake) moves her precocious son, Chris (James Quinn Markey), to a secluded new home in a rural town, trying to ease his apprehensions as they hope for a fresh start after a difficult past. But after a startling encounter with a mysterious new neighbour, Sarah’s nerves are set on edge. Chris disappears in the night into the forest behind their house, and Sarah discovers an ominous,...

As evidenced by Heather Wixson's article on the anticipated genre films announced thus far for the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Daily Dead is thrilled to once again cover the annual celluloid celebration in Park City, and ahead of its world premiere at Sundance in January, The Hole in the Ground has already secured distribution.

Variety reports that A24 and DirecTV have acquired North American distribution rights to The Hole in the Ground, with the latter expected to give the film a limited VOD release ahead of its theatrical release from the former.

The feature-length directorial debut of Lee Cronin (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen Shields), The Hole in the Ground stars

Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey.

According to Variety, "leadership at A24" is enthusiastic about the movie, describing it as "a remarkable debut film, weaving suspense, terror, and supernatural...

"We have a suspect - a crime writer..." "I think the book is your confession." Saban Films has released an official trailer for a dark crime thriller titled, of course, Dark Crimes. The title is a variation of the title for the original article this is based on in the New Yorker, called "True Crime", subtitle "A postmodern murder mystery." Dark Crimes stars Jim Carrey as a detective who gets involved in a case where a Polish author killed someone in real life the same way as in one of the fictional crime novels he wrote. Marton Csokas plays the author, and the cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kati Outinen, Vlad Ivanov, Agata Kulesza, Robert Wieckiewicz, and Piotr Glowacki. This loos quite dark and mysterious, but also quite good, I'm intrigued. Especially by Carrey's fierce, bearded performance in this. I really want to check it out. Here's the official trailer (+ new...

UK sales company does strong business on trio of genre titles.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films has sealed a host of deals across three of the titles on its slate.

Rowan Athale’s Strange But True has now sold to Baltic States (Latvian Theatrical Distribution), China (Huanxi Media Group), India (Vista Films), Italy (Notorious Pictures), Latin America (Cdc United Network), Middle East (Front Row Entertainment) and Switzerland (Praesens).

Starring Nick Robinson, Margaret Qualley, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Blythe Danner and Brian Cox, the thriller follows a couple who receive a visit from a pregnant woman claiming their son who died...

In a season filled with expensive, noisy blockbusters and over eager Oscar contenders, a new film by the singular, wonderful Aki Kaurismaki is a soothing balm. “The Other Side Of Hope” is coming soon, and it looks like it’ll be a delightfully different treat from the cinematic treadmill.

Sherwan Haji, Sakari Kuosmanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu, Ilkka Koivula, Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon, Kaija Pakarinen, Kati Outinen, Tommi Korpela and Tuomari Nurmio, star in the award winning movie about a Syrian refugee who crosses paths with a restaurant owner in Helsinski, with the typically comical and surreal results we expect from Kaurismaki.

Continue reading ‘The Other Side Of Hope’ Trailer: Aki Kaurismaki Takes On The Refugee Crisis at The Playlist.

Screen critics recommend the top films at this year’s Berlinale.

Read more:

Berlin Film Festival 2017: winners revealed

A Fantastic Woman

Dir: Sebastián Lelio

Our critic said: “Driven by a powerhouse performance by mesmerising transgender actress Vega, the fifth feature from Sebastián Lelio combines urgent naturalism with occasional flickers of fantasy to impressive, and wrenchingly emotional effect.”

International sales: Funny Balloons contact@funny-balloons.com

Read the full review Here

Have A Nice Day

Dir. Liu Jian

Our critic said: “Liu Jian’s stunning animation is both a visceral thriller and astute political statement about China’s place in the modern world.”

International sales: International sales: Memento Films International sales@memento-films.com

Read the full review Here

Summer 1993

Dir. Carla Simón

Our critic said: “Entered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar but winner of the festival’s overall best first feature award, Catalan director Carla Simon’s debut is both tender and determined as it relates...

Screen critics recommend the top films at this year’s Berlinale.

Read more:

Berlin Film Festival 2017: winners revealed

A Fantastic Woman

Dir: Sebastián Lelio

Our critic said: “Driven by a powerhouse performance by mesmerising transgender actress Vega, the fifth feature from Sebastián Lelio combines urgent naturalism with occasional flickers of fantasy to impressive, and wrenchingly emotional effect.”

International sales: Funny Balloons contact@funny-balloons.com

Read the full review Here

Have A Nice Day

Dir. Liu Jian

Our critic said: “Liu Jian’s stunning animation is both a visceral thriller and astute political statement about China’s place in the modern world.”

International sales: International sales: Memento Films International sales@memento-films.com

Read the full review Here

Summer 1993

Dir. Carla Simón

Our critic said: “Entered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar but winner of the festival’s overall best first feature award, Catalan director Carla Simon’s debut is both tender and determined as it relates...

Screen critics recommend the top films at this year’s Berlinale.

Read more:

Berlin Film Festival 2017: winners revealed

A Fantastic Woman

Dir: Sebastián Lelio

Our critic said: “Driven by a powerhouse performance by mesmerising transgender actress Vega, the fifth feature from Sebastián Lelio combines urgent naturalism with occasional flickers of fantasy to impressive, and wrenchingly emotional effect.”

International sales: Funny Balloons contact@funny-balloons.com

Read the full review Here

Have A Nice Day

Dir. Liu Jian

Our critic said: “Liu Jian’s stunning animation is both a visceral thriller and astute political statement about China’s place in the modern world.”

International sales: International sales: Memento Films International sales@memento-films.com

Read the full review Here

Summer 1993

Dir. Carla Simón

Our critic said: “Entered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar but winner of the festival’s overall best first feature award, Catalan director Carla Simon’s debut is both tender and determined as it relates...

Screen critics recommend the top films at this year’s Berlinale.

Read more:

Berlin Film Festival 2017: winners revealed

A Fantastic Woman

Dir: Sebastián Lelio

Our critic said: “Driven by a powerhouse performance by mesmerising transgender actress Vega, the fifth feature from Sebastián Lelio combines urgent naturalism with occasional flickers of fantasy to impressive, and wrenchingly emotional effect.”

International sales: Funny Balloons contact@funny-balloons.com

Read the full review Here

Have A Nice Day

Dir. Liu Jian

Our critic said: “Liu Jian’s stunning animation is both a visceral thriller and astute political statement about China’s place in the modern world.”

International sales: International sales: Memento Films International sales@memento-films.com

Read the full review Here

Summer 1993

Dir. Carla Simón

Our critic said: “Entered in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar but winner of the festival’s overall best first feature award, Catalan director Carla Simon’s debut is both tender and determined as it relates...

The Other Side of Hope. Malla Hukkanen © Sputnik OyLaughter is a rare gift at film festivals, which so often feel like relentless gloom and doom contests. In this year’s Berlinale Competition, at least thus far, good films have been in even shorter supply than funny ones. I’m really glad to report there’s been improvement on both fronts—after a truly lamentable first few days, laughs as well as quality started trickling into the festival’s main slate.It was a pretty safe bet that Aki Kaurismäki’s new film, The Other Side of Hope, would be a stand-out. The high expectations were surpassed: this may very well be the great Finn’s best outing since his 1996 masterpiece Drifting Clouds. The second part of a planned trilogy addressing the current refugee crisis in Europe, The Other Side of Hope bears strong narrative similarities to its predecessor Le Havre...

First image released from new film about Finnish travelling salesman who meets a Syrian refugee.

Aki Kaurismaki’s new film The Other Side Of Hope (Toivon Tuolla Puolen) has confirmed its Finnish release date of Feb 3. The Match Factory handles international sales.

The 98-minute film, shot in the early autumn in Helsinki, tells the story of a Finnish travelling salesman crossing paths with a Syrian refugee.

The Other Side Of Hope is the second instalment in Kaurismäki’s trilogy focusing on port cities, which began with Le Havre.

The lead actors are Sherwan Haji as Syrian refugee Khaled, and Sakari Kuosmanen as Wikström the salesman.

The cast also includes Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu and Ilkka Koivula as personnel of the “Kultainen tuoppi” restaurant owned by Wikström, and Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon playing Iraqi asylum seeker Mazdak. Other cast includes Kaija Pakarinen, Kati Outinen, Tommi Korpela and Tuomari Nurmio.

Key crew includes DoP Timo Salminen, costume designer...

True Crimes

Director: Alexandros Avranas

Writer: Jeremy Brock

One of the most exciting directorial debuts out of 2013 was Alexandros Avranas‘ Miss Violence, a domestic drama lumped into the growing Greek Weird Wave movement. Initially, Avranas announced another Greek language project with returning cast members of his first film, but instead he’s inherited this Us-Polish co-production, True Crimes, concerning the murder investigation of a slain businessman and based on a 2008 New Yorker article by David Grann. A couple years ago, this was a property announced for Roman Polanski and set to star Christoph Waltz—however, Polanski’s weathered several delays in his other developing project, The Dreyfuss Affair, explaining why it’s navigated elsewhere. We’re curious to see what Avranas does with the thriller, considering it stars Jim Carrey, whose serious minded efforts can be hit or miss. Supporting cast mates like Gainsbourg, Kaurismaki regular Kati Outinen, and character...

“Tracking Shot” is a top of month featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at the projects that are moments away from lensing. This November, we’ve got a fivesome of projects that we feel are worth signaling out, but before we put the focus on those, the previous month was a rather fruitful one for mostly indiewood film productions. Films that we’ll be seeing in 2016 and which are for the most part still filming include: Mark Williams‘ workplace drama The Headhunter’s Calling (with Alison Brie, Gretchen Mol, Gerard Butler, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina), Philippe Falardeau‘s bio boxing drama The Bleeder (with Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Elisabeth Moss), Taron Lexton’s coming-of-ager In Search of Fellini (with Ksenia Solo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Maria Bello), Kevin Tent‘s Black List scripted rom-com (with Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev), Sophie Brooks‘ NYC set Euro-fizzled comedy,...

A couple of years ago, Christoph Waltz was in talks for the lead role in True Crimes, a film inspired by David Grann’s 2008 New Yorker article about the murder of advertising company manager Dariusz Janiszewski, but now Screen International has learned that Jim Carrey has been cast as the lead. Carrey will star alongside Agata Kulesza (Ida), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac), Kati Outinen (Le... Read More...

Can Jim Carrey serve as a replacement for Christoph Waltz? The world at large may have its doubts, but the filmmakers behind True Crimes think he can, as Waltz is no longer being talked about in connection with the murder mystery, but Carrey is now preparing to star alongside Agata Kulesza, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kati Outinen, Zbigniew Zamachowski and Marton Czokas.Jeremy Brock’s script is drawn from David Grann’s 2008 New Yorker article about the slaying of advertising company manager Dariusz Janiszewski, whose body washed up in Poland’s Oder River in December 2000. The crime baffled the authorities until detective Jacek Wroblewski tracked Janiszewski's missing cell phone to an eBay auction. The seller was Krystian Bala, a Polish intellectual whose sado-sexual novel Amok had been published after Janiszewski's death, and featured a plot that seemed eerily similar the real-life killing.Speaking to Screen International, Brock explained that he travelled to...

Exclusive: Principal photography on thriller True Crimes, starring Jim Carrey, will begin in Poland’s Krakow on Nov 7.

Speaking to ScreenDaily, the film’s UK screenwriter Jeremy Brock explained that his screenplay was inspired after reading David Grann’s New Yorker article True Crimes - A Post-Modern Murder Mystery, which centres on a Polish murder investigation turning to clues found in a novelist’s book that bear a bizarre resemblance to the case.

Brock, whose screenwriting credits include Mrs Brown, The Last King Of Scotland and Brideshead Revisited, spent a week in Poland in 2008 “just getting my bearings”.

“I spent the intervening time to find my inspiration for what has become an original screenplay,” he recalled, noting that, in his 30 years as a screenwriter from his beginnings as a co-writer of the BBC TV series Casualty in 1985, “I haven’t worked so long and persistently on one project as I have done on this one”.

“Through working...

[Editor’s Note: Welcome to “Stream This,” our weekly feature where we single out television programs and movies of considerable merit that are available on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, or other streaming services. Look for a new Stream This every week.] At a fleet but by no means flippant 69 minutes, the story being told in Aki Kaurismäki's The Match Factory Girl is short but certainly not sweet. At the center of the purposeful non-action is Iris, played by Kaurismäki axiom Kati Outinen, a young woman who works at the titular day job to support her deadbeat parents. One day, on a whim, she uses part of her paycheck to buy herself a pretty blouse, which is what first attracts the attention of a gentleman suitor, Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), who turns out to be far colder and cruel than she originally thought. I'm leaving out the details of either character's day-to-day activities but the filmmaker certainly does not; in fact, the Finnish master, who most recently helmed the wondrous Le Havre, builds his film around simple processes, from washing the dishes to penning a letter. In this, Kaurismäki crafts a film...

Redmayne lauded for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

Belgian director Gust van den Berghe’s Lucifer was presented with the Grand Prix – including a €10,000 grant from the City of Tallinn - at the 18th edition of the Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 14-30) at the weekend.

This is the first year that Tallinn’s International Competition was held with Black Nights now operating as a Fiapf-designated non-specialised competitive festival.

Van den Berghe’s third feature had its world premiere in Rome’s Cinema d’Oggi competition at the Rome Film Festival in October and is being handled internationally by the Paris/Mexico-based sales company Ndm.

The International Jury including Finnish actress Kati Outinen and film-makers Andrei Proshkin (Russia) and Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland) awarded the prize for Best Cinematographer to Erik Põllumaa for his work on Estonian film-maker Martti Helde’s In The Crosswind and for Best Director to Kyrgyzstan’s Marat Sarulu for Move...

Other prizes included a Best Actor prize for Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

Belgian director Gust van den Berghe’s Lucifer was presented with the Grand Prix – including a €10,000 grant from the City of Tallinn - at the 18th edition of the Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 14-30) at the weekend.

This is the first year that Tallinn’s International Competition was held with Black Nights now operating as a Fiapf-designated non-specialised competitive festival.

Van den Berghe’s third feature had its world premiere in Rome’s Cinema d’Oggi competition at the Rome Film Festival in October and is being handled internationally by the Paris/Mexico-based sales company Ndm.

The International Jury including Finnish actress Kati Outinen and film-makers Andrei Proshkin (Russia) and Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland) awarded the prize for Best Cinematographer to Erik Põllumaa for his work on Estonian film-maker Martti Helde’s In The Crosswind and for...

Industry@Tallinn will feature discussions involving the likes of Jessica Switch of Lionsgate and Jeff Barry & Nigel Meiojas of ICM Partners.

Industry@Tallinn has announced its full programme for its upcoming edition, running Nov 24-28 during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Organised by Black Nights and Baltic Event, the programme is targeted to over 500 regional film industry professionals.

This year’s industry talks will look into the impact of feature-length television on the film industry, business customs and practices for Asian collaboration, strategies of linking small scale talent and post production pools to major players, and rebel release tactics in distribution.

Speakers at this year’s event include Jessica Switch, director of development, Lionsgate; Jeff Barry & Nigel Meiojas, ICM Partners; Judy Ahn, head of international, Showbox/MediaPlex Entertainment; Matteo Solaro, Creative Europe/Media; and Sylvia Wroblewska, business and marketing director, Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The Film Festivals Confab will return in collaboration with Independent Cinema Office, focusing...

Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Andrzej Wajda’s Walesa: A Man Of Hope will open this year’s ¨Febiofest¨.

The Prague International Film Festival (March 20-28) will present 141 films from 60 countries in 18 different sections.

Special tributes are being dedicated to the Finnish actress Kati Outinen, French animator Sylvain Chomet, Slovak actress Barbora Bobulová, Italian director Gianni Amelio and Ivory Coast-born actor Isaach de Bankolé.

De Bankolé, who first came to prominence in the French film industry with his role in Black Mic Mac, will present his two newest films, Mother Of August and Chaos, in Prague and will receive the Kristian Award for his Contribution to World Cinema.

Febiofest’s New Europe Competition open to first and second feature films will have such films as Wolfskinder, My Nephew, The Idiot, Life Feels Good, Puppy Love, The Machine and Rock The Casbah competing for the €10,000 Grand Prix, including a €5,000 premium for a potential Czech distributor...

Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre is a charming and engrossing fable – a sort of Fractured Fairy Tale for adults – that interprets one of today’s most contentious political issues through the director’s distinctly eccentric prism. A strong Palme d’Or contender at Cannes in 2011, Le Havre relocates classic Kaurismäki production elements from Finland to a harbor town in northern France. And, not surprisingly, the veteran director finds this sleepy Britannic burg as rife with idiosyncrasy as any snowbound suburb of Helsinki. Under thick gray clouds, Kaurismäki’s diorama of quirky characters gradually meander their way to moments of epiphany and catharsis, while viewers marvel at the director’s mystical moments of compassionate humanity and playful cinematic homage.

The film takes us through a couple of weeks in the life of Marcel Marx (Andrè Wilms), an unremarkable 60-ish shoe shiner who eeks out a living at the town’s bustling train station.

Chicago – It takes a French village in the sweet, optimistic, good-natured “Le Havre,” a film about a kind man who does something to help another and how the community doesn’t just rally around him but the world produces a miracle for him in the end. It is such a kind-hearted film that suggests without cynicism that doing good not only will bring more good but will essentially be supported by the world around you. Incredibly well-made and memorable, “Le Havre” is a stellar modern addition to The Criterion Collection.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Aki Kaurismaki takes his unique eye to the title city in the North of France for this tale of an immigrant boy who is first protected by a kind gentleman and then essentially guarded by the entire community. Sweet, surprising, smart, and very subtle, “Le Havre” is a gentle film that builds its story through character, setting, and humanity...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 31, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95

Studio: Criterion

André Wilms means business in Le Havre.

Le Havre (2011) is a surprisingly warm-hearted comedy film from the usually deadpan Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (Leningrad Cowboys Go America).

In the French harbor city Le Havre, fate throws the young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms, La vie de bohème), a kindly, aging bohemian who shines shoes for a living. With inborn optimism and the support of most of his tight-knit community, Marcel stands up to the officials doggedly pursuing the African boy for deportation.

Tagged by Criterion as “a political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic French cinema of the past, especially the poetic realist works of Jean Duvivier and Marcel Carné,” the acclaimed Le Havre rang up some $620,000 at the U.S. box office since...

Headhunters (15)

(Morten Tyldum, 2011, Nor/Ger) Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Eivind Sander. 100 mins

It's a Scandinavian crime thriller, but for once, this isn't like The Killing or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It's closer to the Coen brothers, with enough unpredictable plot turns, eccentric touches and morbid laughs to banish the Nordic darkness. There's something of Steve Buscemi about its hero, too: Hennie plays a slimy corporate headhunter/secret art thief who meets his match, loses his grip and literally ends up in the toilet as a result.

Le Havre (PG)

(Aki Kaurismäki, 2011, Fin/Fra/Ger) André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin. 93 mins

Applying his gentle, silent-comical approach to the tale of an illegal immigrant and his French protectors reaps rewards for Kaurismäki in a movie that's whimsical on the surface but built on firm foundations.

This Must Be The Place (15)

(Paolo Sorrentino, 2011, Us) Sean Penn, Frances McDormand,...

Aki Kaurismaki is as offbeat as always, but this immigration-themed film gives him a new heartfelt urgency

The Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki has come to France for his latest film, making explicit his indebtedness to figures like Tati and Vigo. It is seductively funny, offbeat and warm-hearted, like the rest of his films, but with a new heartfelt urgency on the subject of northern Europe's attitude to desperate refugees from the developing world. The movie is set in the port city of Le Havre, maybe summoning a distant ghost of L'Atalante, and it has a solid, old-fashioned look; but for the contemporary theme, it could have been made at any time in the last 50 years. André Wilms is Marcel, a phlegmatic shoe-shine guy who plies his trade around the streets as best he can. He discovers a young boy called Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), an illegal immigrant on the run, and hides him from the authorities,...

From April 6, Cannes favourite Le Havre will be in cinemas. But for those who might prefer (and live in the UK or Ireland), you can stream it here via Curzon on Demand. Either way, be sure to tune in for our Q&A with top evolutionary theorist Mark Pagel next Friday night

Cannes 2011, on reflection, looks an absolutely vintage year. Not only did it introduce us to The Artist and Melancholia, The Tree of Life and Take Shelter, it also gave us The Skin I Live In, Footnote, Drive, The Kid on the Bike and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.

And now we're approaching the release one of the films which Peter Bradshaw wrote about most warmly last May: Le Havre.

Reviewing the latest from Aki Kaurismäki – the deadpan Finnish film-maker behind I Hired A Contract Killer, The Match Factory Girl, Leningrad Cowboys Go America and The Man Without...

Many—maybe too many, looking at this bunch of bone-tired warriors of Av-virtue—were the travels the Ferroni Brigade embarked on all through 2011: oftentimes for festivals all over Europe, sometimes for visits to this archive or that as part of our programming arbeit (to be read with a Japanese drawl). During those months in the dark, we saw a lot—some of which chimed and rhymed with new works we encountered in this multiplex back home or that gallery abroad, on this collector's Steenbeck or in that producer's private projection room (they still exist).

On one of those trips, we were joined by our main Mubi-man, His Kasness a.k.a. the Kasest with whom we plunged one evening into a brainstorming on what The Festival would look and feel like (truth be told: it was more like a communal delirium—but what do you expect from folks sitting...

While many films have explored themes of post-9/11 paranoia and its resulting xenophobia, none have dared do so with the unrepentant joie de vivre of Le Havre. Rather than wallowing in overwrought melodrama or reveling in ghoulish horror, Finnish writer/director Aki Kaurismäki takes on these dark themes with a gentle hand and crafts a heartwarming tale in a world driven cold from fear of terrorism and by extension outsiders.

This buoyant comedy follows Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a bohemian-spirited shoe shiner who has grown old, but never grown up. He is in many ways a scamp as he playfully shoplifts from his local baker, teases the grousing green grocer, and indulges in glasses of wine at the local pub before returning home to his cheerful but secretly ailing wife Arletty (Kati Outinen), who dresses like an octogenarian school girl complete with romper and barrettes. Theirs is a charmed life...