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Polish writer and director Agnieszka Holland discussed her new biographical film Franz, about author Franz Kafka, at the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Monday, saying the movie tries to uncover the “essence” of the novelist and explores themes that are still topical, including Kafka’s thoughts on the dangers of totalitarianism.

The filmmaker unveiled the trailer for the movie, starring German actor Idan Weiss, before talking about the creative process of the film. The cast also includes the likes of Jenovéfa Boková, Peter Kurth, and Ivan Trojan. Holland wrote the script for the co-production between the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and France, with Marek Epstein (Charlatan), with Mike Downey serving as executive producer.

Holland has in the past described how she feels about Kafka as akin to a brother since reading him for the first time at age 14. “He stayed with me as writer,...

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) wrapped up on Saturday with a celebration of international cinema and notable industry figures. The festival’s top honor, the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, was awarded to Mark Cousins’ documentary “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” narrated by Tilda Swinton, exploring the life of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

Norwegian director Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s marital drama “Loveable” emerged as a major winner, securing five awards including the Special Jury Prize, the Europa Cinemas Label, and the Fipresci Award. The film’s lead actress, Helga Guren, also took home the Best Actress award.

Other significant winners included:

Best Director: Nelicia Low for “Pierce” Best Actors: Ton Kas and Guido Pollemans for “Three Days of Fish” Audience Award: “Waves” by Jirí Mádl Proxima Grand Prix: “Stranger” by Zhengfan Yang

The closing ceremony was highlighted by the presentation of the Kviff President’s Award to British actor Clive Owen,...

Mark Cousins’ unconventional portrait of an artist “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things” took top honors at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, snagging the fest’s iconic Crystal Globe alongside a cash prize of $25K to split by the Scottish-Irish filmmaker and his producing partners.

Featuring the voice work of Tilda Swinton, the award-winning doc follows the life and career of artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a lesser-known master of modern art whose outlook and output underwent a profound spiritual, aesthetic and ideological transformation once the painter had a moment of epiphany atop Switzerland’s Grindelwald glacier in 1949.

The climbing expedition left Barns-Graham with a new set of obsessions and forms of expression – giving her life a new meaning.

Before claiming the Jury Prize, Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s domestic drama “Loveable” also took acting honors for star Helga Guren as well as parallel awards from the Ecumenical Jury, the Europa Cinema Label,...

Mark Cousins’ portrait of a British modernist painter, “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” took the Karlovy Vary Film Festival top prize Saturday, winning over a jury that included Christine Vachon and Geoffrey Rush with its perceptive take on art and seeing.

Cousins said the film’s subject, painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s try to do that.”

Norwegian divorce story “Loveable” won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, ecumenical and Europa Cinemas Label prizes with its nuanced look at a woman morphing into a new life.

Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir scored big with her first feature-length drama with “Loveable,” telling the audience at the Hotel Thermal Grand Hall the story helped her “find barriers we have built against connections.”

The directing prize went to Nelicia Low for the Singapore/Taiwan/Poland production “Pierce,” an intricate account...

A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, Mark Cousins‘ documentary essay about Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and her neurodiversity, including diary passages narrated by Tilda Swinton, won the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, the top award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Saturday. Clive Owen was honored with a Kviff award at the closing ceremony.

A Sudden Glimpse is “exploring the pivotal 1949 experience atop Switzerland’s Grindelwald glacier that reshaped British modernist painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s artistic perspective for decades to come.” The Crystal Globe comes with a $25,000 prize. “I did not expect this in a million years,” Cousins said in accepting the honor. About Barns-Graham, he said: “She didn’t change the world. But she lived completely, fully and utterly. Let’s try to do that.”

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival‘s closing ceremony also honored the Norwegian marital drama Loveable, directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir, with its special jury prize,...

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 – July 6) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that saw Mark Cousins’ essay film A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things win the main prize in the festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Narrated by Tilda Swinton and — in Cousins’ familiar, idiosyncratic style, exploring themes of gender, climate change and creativity — the UK film offers a creative biography of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004). Coming what most have been a close second to take the Jury Prize — and Best Actress Award for its star, Helga Guren — was Norway’s acclaimed divorce drama Loveable, directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir.

Also taking the stage tonight was Czech actor Ivan Trojan, already perhaps the country’s most garlanded performer, who received the Festival President’s Award for Contribution to Czech Cinema. And following hot on the heels of Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Brühl, British actor...

This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh.

This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.

The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced its first wave of program details for its upcoming 58th edition, which is set to take place from June 28 through July 6, 2024. The Czech festival, widely considered to be the most prestigious film festival in Eastern Europe, is set to honor one of the nation’s most famous writers with a new retrospective titled “Franz Kafka and the Cinema.”

The series is set to feature screenings of a wide range of films inspired by the Czech novelist, who famously wove themes of alienation and existential angst into cryptic novels that often flirted with surrealism. Some films, like Orson Welles’ “The Trial” are direct adaptations of Kafka’s writings; but the series also includes movies about Kafka’s life, and films like Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” that were influenced by Kafka’s ideas.

“For decades, Kafka’s oeuvre has functioned as a continuing provocation to filmmakers,...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Variety have teamed up to honor Francine Maisler, one of the world’s most respected casting directors, whose recent credits include “Dune: Part Two,” “The Bikeriders,” “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”

As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...

The Karlovy Vary Festival will pay tribute to one of the Czech Republic’s most famous sons with a retrospective of film adaptations of the work of Franz Kafka from some of the greatest names in cinema. To mark the centenary of Kafka’s death, the festival will screen a series of films directly adapted from, or inspired by, the literary master of angst.

The retrospective will include such classics as Orson Welles’s The Trial (1962), Martin Scorsese’s Kafkaesque New York dramedy After Hours (1985) and Federico Fellini’s Intervista; Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) and its 2021 re-edit Mr. Kneff — both starring Jeremy Irons as a set-upon insurance man and writer — alongside lesser-known adaptations, including Jan Němec’s Metamorphosis, a German TV movie version of Kafka’s famous short story. Other highlights include Ousmane Sembene’s Senegalese feature The Money Order (1968) and Kôji Yamamura’s animated short Franz Kafka’s a Country Doctor (2007).

“For decades,...

Get ready to meet Gump! 4Digital Media has revealed an official trailer for Gump, a Czech dog movie that originally opened in 2021 in Europe. It's now set for release on VOD in the US later this August. A feel-good story that highlights the need for friendship, family, and – of course – dogs in our lives. Even though this trailer is dubbed in English (ugh), it'll be released with subtitles and the original Czech voices - as it should be. It's a story told through the eyes of a stray dog called Gump. On a journey to find his way back home, Gump encounters many challenges, meets a few new people, and makes many canine friends along the way. A story about the devotion of a dog – who without hesitation will give his own life for the life of its beloved owner. Starring Karel Roden, Ivana Chýlková, Eva Holubová, Bolek Polívka, Jana Plodková,...

The program announcements continue for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, with the Series and Generation strands both unveiling today, as well as the line-up for the Co-Production Market. Scroll down for the lists of titles.

The Berlinale Series selection, which is increasingly becoming a more high-profile part of the festival, again boasts several buzzy titles.

Premiering in Berlin will be Amazon Prime Video’s Argentinian series Yosi, The Regretful Spy, the Swedish show Lust from HBO Max, Sky’s UK series The Rising, and Lone Scherfig Danish show The Shift, which comes from local broadcaster TV2.

The Generation strand, which features youth-focused cinema, includes 14 features this year. The selection marks the last of long-time Generation head Maryanne Redpath.

Elsewhere, the European Film Market has confirmed titles for its Co-Production Market, which like the rest of the industry activity will take place virtually this year.

The Berlinale runs February 10-20 this year,...

"Don't ever try to do miracles, my boy. People will never forgive you." Strand Releasing has unveiled an official US trailer for an acclaimed indie drama titled Charlatan, set in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, but directed by an award-winning Polish filmmaker named Agnieszka Holland. It premiered at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival last year before the pandemic hit, and is finally getting a US release in theaters this summer. The film is about the life of Jan Mikolášek, a successful Czech healer, who diagnosed & healed people using his intuition and his familiarity with plants. His remedies, although mostly plant-based, included lifestyle and dietary changes. He healed not only poor people from the villages but also many well-known people. His diagnostic methods and notorious healing got the attention of the Communist regime, and he was eventually arrested. Ivan Trojan stars as Jan, joined by Josef Troja, Juraj Loj, Jaroslava Pokorná, Jirí Cerný,...

Charlatan Strand Releasing Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Agnieszka Holland Writers: Marek Epstein, Martin Sulc, Jaroslav Sedlácek Cast: Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj, Jaroslava Pokorná, Jirí Cerný, Miroslav Hanus, Ladislav Kolár Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 5/25/21 Opens: July 23, 2021 More than sixty percent of […]

The post Charlatan Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"I knew right away he was the one." Totem Films has released the first promo trailer for a Czech animated film titled My Sunny Maad, premiering at the 2021 Annecy Film Festival coming up this month. It's still seeking distribution, but with a premiere soon it should get some extra attention. The story is about a Czech woman who falls in love with an Afghan man and then follows him to post-Taliban Afghanistan, where she has no idea of the life that awaits her or the family she is about to join. A "culture shock" story based around love and how we just need to open our eyes to other cultures to understand them. Featuring the voices of Zuzana Stivínová, Martha Issová, Hynek Čermák, and Ivan Trojan. My goodness, this looks like a really lovely story, and the hand-drawn animation is gorgeous, of course. I'm hoping this finds international distribution soon...

Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan won five Czech Lions, including the top prize for best film, at the Czech Film and Television Academy Awards, held this weekend.

The based-on-a-true-story tale of Jan Mikolasek, a Czech herbalist and healer persecuted by Communist authorities in the late 1950s, also won best director for Holland, best actor for Czech star Ivan Trojan, as well as best cinematography and best sound.

The period drama is on this year’s Oscar shortlist for best international feature for the 2021 Academy Awards.

Charlatan premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival last year and was sold worldwide, including to Strand Releasing ...

Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan won five Czech Lions, including the top prize for best film, at the Czech Film and Television Academy Awards, held this weekend.

The based-on-a-true-story tale of Jan Mikolasek, a Czech herbalist and healer persecuted by Communist authorities in the late 1950s, also won best director for Holland, best actor for Czech star Ivan Trojan, as well as best cinematography and best sound.

The period drama is on this year’s Oscar shortlist for best international feature for the 2021 Academy Awards.

Charlatan premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival last year and was sold worldwide, including to Strand Releasing ...

“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,...

Agnieszka Holland has been hailed as Best Director for the biopic drama Charlatan, the Czech submission for the Oscars race. Czech film critics have been celebrating domestic cinema and audiovisual production from 2020 at the annual ceremony of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards. The critics voted the black-and-white period drama Shadow Country by Bohdan Sláma as the top domestic movie. The story, penned by Ivan Arsenjev, is based on actual events during a massacre in a Czech village, Tušť, shortly after the end of World War II. Magdaléna Borová received the Award for Best Actress for her role as Marie Veberová in Shadow Country, a strong female character who suffers a harsh fate. Another period film based on true events, the biopic Charlatan – the Czech submission for the Oscars race – netted two prizes: Agnieszka Holland received the Award for Best Director, while Ivan Trojan won in the Best...

“Charlatan” seems too harshly definitive a term to apply to the fascinating protagonist of the new film with the self-same title, given that the Middle European physician titularly accused of medical deception successfully plied a busy career treating eager patients across more than three decades under three vastly different political regimes. The venerable veteran director Agnieszka Holland has made a tasty, if not fully-baked, biographical drama about an obstinate man whose life was as difficult as he was. Czech Republic’s entry in this year’s Best International Feature Oscar sweepstakes world premiered at Berlin in 2020 and is being handled domestically by Strand Releasing.

A cranky, egotistical, imperious fellow, Jan Mikolasek, was a man who, as presented here, would never allow a cloud of self-doubt to hover over his head, much less puncture his abundant ego. Opening like Citizen Kane, with an old man’s dying breath (albeit without uttering...

Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan,” the Czech Republic’s official entry in the International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards, has been acquired for distribution in the U.K. and Ireland by AX1 from international sales agency Films Boutique. Variety spoke to the Oscar nominated filmmaker – who was recently elected president of the European Film Academy – about the project, challenges facing independent cinema, and the fall of President Donald Trump.

“Charlatan,” which premiered in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival, and received a best director nomination at the European Film Awards, is based on the true story of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek, who dedicated his life to treating the sick using medicinal plants. Throughout the turmoil of the 20th century, he has to choose between his calling and his conscience.

Speaking to Variety, Holland noted that the same flaw that led to Mikolášek’s downfall...

There's a polished feel to this historic drama from Agnieszka Holland, which is "loosely" inspired by the life of Czech herbalist Jan Mikolásek and which, like many films emerging from the former Soviet states of late, is firmly rooted in the impact of constant regime change on individual citizens. It's soon evident that the film does not subscribe to the label of the film's title being applied to Mikolásek (played with a deliberate stiffness by Ivan Trojan that may turn off some viewers) who, to underscore his 'honest' credentials is seen telling people more than once in the course of the film that he is not a doctor.

But while he may not have been a charlatan in the medical sense, whatever his opponents may have suggested, we will come to see that saving the lives of many stands in positive relief against his flaws in terms of his personal life and interactions.

Coverage from the 56th annual Chicago Film Festival running October 14 - 25.

by Nick Taylor

It takes a while for Charlatan, the newest film by Agnieszka Holland and the Czech Republic’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature this year, to get its feet under itself. The semi-fictionalized story of renowned Czech herbalist and healer Jan Mikolášek, Charlatan opens with the death of president Antonín Zápotocký in 1957. With his biggest political ally and former patient gone, Mikolášek is warned to flee the Czech Republic before he's arrested by the Communist party. He refuses, either because he’s too bullishly stubborn or too self-flagellating, and is soon arraigned with his assistant František Palko (Juraj Loj) on death penalty-level charges that his lawyer proves are a sham with little investigation. The party doesn’t if the case is strong, or even real, as long as he’s executed.

The film jumps between this...

This is the list of the films that have been submitted in the Oscars race for Best International Feature Film. Each country is permitted to enter a single film, as selected by an Academy-approved international board.

A spot on this list does not guarantee that a film will be eligible because entries have to be vetted by the Academy to make sure they qualify.

An asterisk indicates that TheWrap has seen the film. This list will be updated as additional films are submitted. Links to trailers are provided when those trailers are available.

Algeria

“Heliopolis”

Director: Djaafar Gacem

Algeria has a pretty good record at the Oscars, with five nominations and one win (for 1969’s “Z”) in its 21 previous entries. But it hasn’t received a nomination since 2010, a dry spell it’s hoping to end with this drama about a family in northeastern Algeria on Victory in Europe Day,...

The Czech Film and Television Academy has selected Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan” to be its official entry in the International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards.

Its decision follows recent submissions by Singapore, Kosovo and Georgia. Other countries to have selected their entries include Bhutan, Taiwan, Ukraine, Bosnia, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Poland and Switzerland.

“Charlatan,” which premiered in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival, is based on the true story of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek, who dedicated his life to treating the sick using medicinal plants. Throughout the war and turmoil of the 20th century he has to choose between his calling and his conscience.

Holland told Variety: “‘Charlatan’ tells the story of Mikolášek’s rise and fall. Of his moral fall and of his constant fight with the darkness inside him. It is the story of the mystery of a man, of the mystery of his special gift,...

Based on the true story of Czech herbalist Jan Mikolasek, the film has sold across Europe.

At the start of the Marché, Films Boutique has announced multiple sales on Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s latest feature Charlatan, which premiered in February as a special gala presentation at the Berlinale.

The film has sold to France (Kmbo), Spain (Vercine), Italy (Movies Inspired), Australia (Vendetta Films), Israel (Lev Cinema), Turkey (Filmarti), Benelux (Cinemien Film Distribution), Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland (Pro-Fun Media Film Distribution), Baltics (Best Film), Bulgaria (Art Fest), ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Hungary (Mozinet), Iceland (Bio Paradis), Portugal (Leopardo) and Latin...

This year’s Berlin International Film Festival brought a lot of anticipation. The first edition assembled by artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariette Rissenbeek required the team to push back on several years of backlash to lackluster programming while competing with a busy festival circuit.

The Berlinale isn’t Cannes or Sundance, but it turns out it didn’t need to chase either mold: In its 70th year, Berlin provided a range of international offerings large and small, more than enough to make the selection worth following across the 10-day event. Here are 10 highlights.

“The American Sector” (Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez)

Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez’s “The American Sector” may not have time to visit every section of the Berlin Wall that’s been imported to the country (the film runs a breezy 65 minutes without credits), but this light and thoughtful documentary road trip still manages...

At several points in “Charlatan,” the camera looks glossily on as our protagonist holds small bottles of amber liquid to the light, academically scrutinizing their contents as they beam a light golden glow onto his features: an effect both ennobling and almost romantic. The man is Jan Mikolášek, a famous Czech herbalist and healer with almost uncanny powers of intuitive diagnosis; the radiant bottles, meanwhile, contain various samples of human urine. This amusing disconnect between base content and burnished treatment somewhat echoes the conflicted perspective of Agnieszka Holland’s handsome, intelligently questioning but slightly dry biopic. Caught between a respectful tribute to Mikolášek’s medical achievements and a more salacious examination of his moral transgressions — with a tender if speculative gay romance propped somewhere in between — it’s an ambitious portrait of human imperfection that doesn’t strain to arouse much affection for its subject in the audience.

Holland has...

A year after “Mr. Jones,” Polish director Agnieszka Holland has made . “Charlatan” introduces us to the strange case of Jan Mikolášek (played by “In the Shadow” star Ivan Trojan), an herbalist who defiantly refused to nationalize his practice in post-war Czechoslovakia, much to the consternation of the country’s volatile Communist party.

But don’t let the white medical coat fool you: By his own admission, Mikolášek was no doctor. On the contrary, he was a pro bono faith healer on a biblical scale, supposedly capable of fixing people with the mere touch of his hands and diagnosing complex maladies just by eyeballing their urine. He was also a conformist who treated Hitler’s chief of staff, a closeted homosexual at a time when being gay was a criminal offense, and a man who coveted his power above all things because he regarded helplessness as a living hell. His legacy...

Who today has heard of Jan Mikolasek (1887-1973), once revered as a celebrated faith healer who is said to have helped millions (including the Communist president of Czechoslovakia and Nazi bigwig Martin Bormann) with his herbal remedies? A figure of blinding light and darkest shadow, he springs ambiguously to life in director Agnieszka Holland’s fascinating period drama Charlatan, in a dazzling perf by top Czech actor Ivan Trojan. Though shot in the most classic of idioms, the film commands attention with its mesmerizing performances and lively cross-cutting between key moments in the hero’s life. Playing out of competition as ...

Who today has heard of Jan Mikolasek (1887-1973), once revered as a celebrated faith healer who is said to have helped millions (including the Communist president of Czechoslovakia and Nazi bigwig Martin Bormann) with his herbal remedies? A figure of blinding light and darkest shadow, he springs ambiguously to life in director Agnieszka Holland’s fascinating period drama Charlatan, in a dazzling perf by top Czech actor Ivan Trojan. Though shot in the most classic of idioms, the film commands attention with its mesmerizing performances and lively cross-cutting between key moments in the hero’s life. Playing out of competition as ...

When it comes to feature film output in Central and Eastern Europe, it’s all about marshaling indie forces and breaking out of familiar tropes this year, say producers and filmmakers.

It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the

communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.

“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.

Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...

Holland’s historical drama Charlatan is set to screen next week as a Berlinale Special Gala.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland has criticised the “hypocrisy” shown by those within the film industry who have shunned filmmaker Roman Polanski.

Polnaski’s An Officer And A Spy has been boycotted by distributors in several major territories since new rape accusations against the director surfaced last year. These accusations followed on from the Samantha Geimer case, when Polanski fled the Us in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with the then 13-year-old.

Holland, whose historical drama Charlatan is set to screen next week as a Berlinale Special Gala,...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan,” which premieres in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival.

The film 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.

Holland comments: “‘Charlatan’ tells the story of Mikolášek’s rise and fall. Of his moral fall and of his constant fight with the darkness inside him. It is the story of the mystery of a man, of the mystery of his special gift, of the prize he was ready to pay for it; the story of the paradox of strength and weakness, of love and hate.”

Explaining her approach, Holland says: “To tell this story with an epic scope – dozens of years,...

The late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson is set to return posthumously at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival with the world premiere of a project he directed himself, “Last and First Men,” narrated by Tilda Swinton. The movie is one of several titles announced for Berlinale 2020 ahead of the full lineup reveal later this month. Additional titles heading to Berlin in February include Matteo Garrone’s “Pinocchio,” Nanette Burstein’s “Hillary,” Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan,” and Jia Zhang-ke’s “Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue.” Television projects from Jason Segal and Damien Chazelle will also be screened in the Berlinale Series program.

Jóhannsson scored back to back Oscar nominations for Best Original Score in 2015 and 2016 thanks to his music for “The Theory of Everything” and “Sicario.” The latter was one of several collaborations between Jóhannsson and Denis Villeneuve. Jóhannsson’s other score credits include Villeneuve’s “Prisoners” and “Arrival,” plus “Mandy” and “The Mercy.

Other titles include Jia Zhang-ke and Jóhann Jóhannsson documentaries, and Hulu’s Hilary Clinton docuseries.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-Mar 1) has unveiled the first batch of titles for its Berlinale Special strand.

Among the new films is the world premiere of Andrew Levitas’ Minamata, which stars Johnny Depp as Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith. HanWay is handling sales on the project, with Hiroyuki Sanada, Minami and Bill Nighy co-starring.

Another world premiere is Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan, which tells the true story of healer Jan Mikolasek, played by Czech star Ivan Trojan.

The section also includes world...

The Berlin Film Festival has added Johnny Depp-starrer Minamata, Agnieszka Holland feature Charlatan, Nanette Burstein’s docuseries Hillary, Tilda Swinton-narrated sci-fi project Last And First Men from Oscar-nominated Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, and Cannes and Venice regular Jia Zhangke’s doc Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue.

The movies, all of which are world premieres, will screen within the festival’s special screenings sections. Scroll down for more details.

Already announced in this section is Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio. Today the festival also revealed its Berlinale Series lineup. The festival’s main competition lineup will be revealed later this month.

Berlinale Special Gala Screening at Berlinale Palast

Charlatan

Czech Republic / Ireland / Poland / Slovakia

by Agnieszka Holland

with Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj, Jaroslava Pokorná

World Premiere

Berlinale Special Gala Screening at Friedrichstadt-Palast

Minamata

United Kingdom

by Andrew Levitas

with Johnny Depp, Hiroyuki Sanada, Minami, Bill Nighy...

Charlatan

Polish director Agnieszka Holland remains as busy as ever, leaving behind the horrors of the Holodomor in her 2019 biopic Mr. Jones for a different kind of period piece altogether with Charlatan. Produced by Sarka Cimbalova and Kevan Van Thompson, Holland reunites with her Burning Bush (read review) actor Ivan Trojan, as well as her composer Antoni Komasa-Lazarkiewicz. Notably, the project is lensed by Martin Strba (a 14 time Czech Lion nominee), with costume design by his wife Katarina Strbova Bielikova. Having directed numerous features and television shows in her forty plus years as director, Holland is perhaps most notable for her 1990 work Europa Europa (which scored an Oscar nod for Best Writing), while her 2011 title In Darkness was nominated for Best Foreign Language feature.…...

After 38 days of filming, the final clapperboard has been snapped shut on “Charlatan,” Oscar-nominated Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s latest film, and it’s a wrap. The film will premiere on Feb. 20, 2020, which offers the possibility of a launch at the Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 20-March 1).

“Charlatan” was shot in several locations in the Czech Rep. in April and June. Holland, producer Sarka Cimbalova of Czech Rep.’s Marlene Film Production and the Czech screenwriter, Marek Epstein, will attend the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Wednesday to present the project live on Czech Television, which backed the movie.

The film is inspired by the true story of healer Jan Mikolasek, who dedicated himself to caring for the sick, in spite of the huge obstacles he faced in his private and public life.

“From the moment I read the script I thought the story was quite strong, full of a certain mystery,...

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” has begun shooting her latest pic, “Charlatan.” Films Boutique is handling foreign sales.

The Polish director, whose last film “Mr. Jones” premiered in competition at Berlin Film Festival in February, started to lens the pic Monday in Mladá Boleslav prison in the Czech Republic. The crew will spend most of this month on location in the Central Bohemia region of the country.

The pic, about an herbalist who devotes his life to caring for the sick despite many difficulties, is inspired by the real-life figure of Jan Mikolášek, whose story was adapted for the screen by Marek Epstein. Ivan Trojan, six-time winner of the Czech Lion award, plays Mikolášek.

In a statement, Holland said: “I have always been interested in healing… the fact somebody is able to look so deep into the body and soul of another person,...

The story is inspired by the real-life healer Jan Mikolášek.

Agnieszka Holland has signed on to direct Charlatan, a Czech-Ireland-Slovak co-production written by Marek Epstein.

Šárka Cimbalová and Svatka Peschková’s Czech production company Marlene Film leads the project, which will be co-produced by Film & Music Entertainment (F&Me)’s Irish outpost and Slovakia’s Furia Film.

The story is about a man with exceptional abilities – inspired by the real-life healer Jan Mikolášek – living in totalitarian 1950s Czechoslovakia.

Films Boutique will handle international sales, with Falcon on board for Czech distribution (and Czech Television for local TV rights). Itafilm will release in Slovakia.

The film aims for a late 2018 or mid 2019 shoot for a spring 2020 premiere.

Holland’s many credits include films such as Spoor, In Darkness and Europa Europa and TV hits such as House of Cards and Treme; she is also directing Netflix’s first Polish-language original series.

“Charlatan is a fabulous...

Time to Burn: Holland’s Magnificent Mini-Series Event Well Worthy of Big Screen Treatment

Realized as a three part mini-series for television, Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s latest enterprise, Burning Bush, revisits a late 60’s historical moment in Czech history, when the country was occupied by Soviet forces. Holland has a broad wealth of war time period pieces under her belt, and her most championed titles generally deal specifically with the Holocaust, such as the brilliant Angry Harvest (1985), Europa Europa (1990), and even most recently, In Darkness (2011). While this latest endeavor has premiered at film festivals and will receive a limited run in New York on the big screen, Holland specifically formatted this richly observed narrative for television. Obviously, it’s an extensive format that inspired Holland, for she directed an American mini-series revamp of Rosemary’s Baby not long afterwards (and not to mention several episode credits of popular Western...

Seven world premieres and five international premieres include an animated movie for the first time in competition; Us drama Low Down starring John Hawkes and Elle Fanning; and Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson’s follow-up to Either Way.

The 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4-12) has revealed the line-ups for its Official Selection Competition, East of the West Competition, Documentary Films Competition and Forum of Independents Competition.

Kv artistic director Karel Och said: “This year’s selection of competing films offers an exciting mixture of outstanding films whose completion has been eagerly anticipated.

“Many of the filmmakers, who explore less frequently trodden paths of cinematic expression, come from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, which the Kviff has long focused on.”

In the main festival section, renowned Georgian filmmaker George Ovashvili (The Other Bank) will introduce his long-anticipated film Corn Island, a psychological drama that uses captivating imagery and visuals to present a highly topical subject...

The Monte-Carlo Television Festival wrapped in Monaco tonight with the Golden Nymph Awards handed out at the Grimaldi Forum. Hungarian coming-of-age TV movie Aglaja, directed by Krisztina Deák, was the big winner with four prizes. Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Borgen and Fresh Meat were also singled out. The festival has been attracting an increasing number of high-profile talent to the principality with cast members and execs in attendance this year from such shows as The Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, Crossing Lines, Dallas, Grimm, Hatfields & McCoys, Once Upon A Time, Revenge, Revolution and Scandal. Donald Sutherland received a Crystal Nymph Award earlier this week. Below is the full list of tonight’s winners for excellence in international television: TV Movies Best Television Film Aglaja M-rtl Zrt, Hungary Outstanding Director Krisztina Deák, Aglaja M-rtl Zrt, Hungary Outstanding Actor Arsher Ali, Complicit Many Rivers Films, UK Outstanding Actress Eszter Ónodi, Aglaja M-rtl Zrt,...

The "Czech That Film" International Film Festival, the second annual touring program of the best new films out of the Czech Republic, is coming to Los Angeles. The series is organized and curated by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and will be running May 10 - June 3 at the Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater. The fest kicks off with first-time director Zdenek Jirasky's "Flower Buds," winner of four Czech Lions in 2012, centering on the struggles of a small-town family. Closing the series is David Ondricek's brilliant neo-noir and Czech Oscar entry "In the Shadow," starring a top-notch Ivan Trojan as a detective in currency reform-era Prague investigating a mishandled burglary case. (Our Toh! review of the film is here; Ondricek was named by Variety as one of the directors to watch in 2013.) Both Jirasky and Ondricek will be in person at the fest. You can buy tickets via the UCLA Film & Television Archive site.

“In the Shadow,” the Czech Republic’s official Oscar entry, takes place in 1953 Prague, during the currency reform. World War II has been over for the better part of a decade, but the stench of anti-Semitism is still thick in the air, and a tightly controlled police state looms. Detective Jarda Hakl (Ivan Trojan) falls upon a seemingly routine burglary case -- a safe broken into, jewelry missing -- that leads him down a labyrinthine rabbit hole with murder, lies and relentless surveillance in its cavernous depths. The burglary has apparently been committed by a local Jewish man, an arrest that initially feels right to Hakl, until the creeping suspicion of a set-up begins to nag at him. Why are officials from State Security brought in to handle what would otherwise be a local police case? And why is the head official Zenke (Sebastian Koch, “The Lives of Others”), a...

The voyeur is a popular trope in film and for obvious reasons, most notably the simple fact that the act of watching someone while they.re not aware that you're watching them is just down right creepy. In life, this is often innocuous, part thrill and part curious interest but in movies, where everything tends to be heightened, a story that centers on a voyeur usually ends badly form someone involved. There's certainly a sense of dread creeping through the trailer for Peter Kri.túfek's feature film debut Visible World.

The film stars Ivan Trojan as Oliver, an air traffic controller living in a nondescript neighbourhood of Slovakia. He's lonely and finds some solace and a feeling of belonging by spying on his neighbours. He's particularly infatuated with a young family that lives across the street and from the looks of the trailer, he gets a little too close for comfort.