News

Making its online premiere on Dn today, Gregory Shell’s Fire is a stark and evocative exploration of trauma, possessive desire, and the detrimental lingering effects of violence. An early student project at the Moscow School of New Cinema, Shell felt compelled to radically rework the short when war broke out in Europe despite it being well on its way through the finishing touches of post production. What followed were reshoots of parts of the film and a tricky re-editing in order to better capture the shifted realities of the world as it now stood. Central to the film’s power is the performance of non-professional actor Ignat Dvoinikov, whose raw and unfiltered portrayal of Vasya, a young man struggling to reintegrate into civilian life after returning from military service to discover the girl he loves is now with someone else, brings an unsettling authenticity to the story. We invited...

Activist filmmaker Kirill Nenashev follows events leading to the war in Ukraine.

Sales agent Antipode, previously based in Russia but whose main offices are now in Israel, has picked up fiery new political documentary Ice Under His Feet.

Directed by activist filmmaker Kirill Nenashev (also behind 2016 film Putin Forever), the film is about Masha and Ilya, young Russians who were born around the time Vladimir Putin came to power and who have become protesters and freedom fighters.

Nenashev started filming in 2019 and follows events leading to the war in Ukraine.

Antipode is representing many films dealing with the Russian opposition movement.

Activist filmmaker Kirill Nenashev follows events leading to the war in Ukraine.

Sales agent Antipode, previously based in Russia but whose main offices are now in Israel, has picked up fiery new Russian political documentary Ice Under His Feet.

Directed by activist filmmaker Kirill Nenashev (also behind 2016 film Putin Forever), the film is about Masha and Ilya, young Russians who were born around the time Vladimir Putin came to power and who have become protesters and freedom fighters.

Nenashev started filming in 2019 and follows events leading to the war in Ukraine.

Antipode is representing many films dealing with the Russian opposition movement.

As Russia-Ukraine tensions rise, dominating international headlines, director Maria Ignatenko talks about the hell of war in her Rotterdam Film Festival title “Achrome.” But her oneiric film, lensed by Anton Gromov, is not exactly a comment on the current situation in Europe. “This particular topic is becoming more and more timely these days, but my film is poetry,” she says.

“It’s more related to the world of art and I would like to keep it that way, so I am not ready to make that connection just yet. However, when we were working, I realized that people might ask me about it. There is a sense of responsibility that comes with making a film like that, so I guess I will be slowly putting myself in the position of being able to answer their questions.”

Born in 1986, Ignatenko debuted with 2020’s “In Deep Sleep,” shown at the Berlinale’s Forum.

Loco Films has taken world sales rights on Alexander Zolotukhin’s “Brother in Every Inch” ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s competitive Encounters section. The Paris-based sales agent has also acquired “The Land of Sasha,” the feature debut of Julia Trofimova, which plays in the festival’s Generation 14plus strand.

Zolotukhin’s sophomore feature is the story of twin brothers whose inseparable bond complicates their efforts to fulfill their shared dream of becoming military pilots. The film is produced by Andrey Sigle and Mary Nazari for Proline Film.

The son of a pilot, Zolotukhin was granted rare access to a working military base to shoot “Brother in Every Inch.” Acclaimed cinematographer Andrey Naydenov (“Dear Comrades!”) worked with military engineers to construct special camera cases that would allow him to capture high-octane flight scenes.

“I wanted to show the process of being a pilot as realistically as possible,...

Filmmakers Maria Ignatenko, Gao Linyang, Mara Polgovsky and Morgane Dziurla-Petit were speaking at the festival’s live online daily press conference.

Four directors with features selected for the Tiger competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) discussed the many facets of death as a theme underpinning their feature films on Sunday (January 30.)

Filmmakers Maria Ignatenko, Gao Linyang and Mara Polgovsky spotlighted the Holocaust, pain and dealing with loss as they discussed differing aspects of death in the second of the festival’s live online daily press conferences for this edition.

Morgane Dziurla-Petit meanwhile addressed social entrapment and its complex...

Answering the SunInternational Film Festival Rotterdam have announced the full lineup for their "scaled-down" 51st edition, which will take place online between January 26 — February 6. As part of a full, nationwide lockdown, cinemas will remain closed in the Netherlands until at least 14 January. Tiger COMPETITIONAchrome (Maria Ignatenko)The Cloud Messenger (Rahat Mahajan)The Child (Marguerite de Hillerin/Félix Dutilloy-Liégeois)Eami (Paz Encina)Excess Will Save Us (Morgane Dziurla-Petit)Kafka for Kids (Roee Rosen)Malintzin 17 (Mara Polgovsky/Eugenio Polgovsky)Met mes (Sam de Jong)The Plains (David Easteal)Proyecto Fantasma (Roberto Doveris)Le rêve et la radio (Renaud Després-Larose/Ana Tapia Rousiouk)Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish (Lei Lei)To Love Again (Gao Linyang)Yamabuki (Juichiro Yamasaki)Big Screen COMPETITIONAssault (Adilkhan Yerzhanov)Broadway (Christos Massalas)Third Grade (Jacques Doillon)Daryn’s Gym (Brett Michael Innes)Drifting Petals (Clara Law)The Harbour (Rajeev Ravi)The Island (Anca Damian)Kung Fu Zohra (Mabrouk El Mechri...

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the 14 films selected for its flagship Tiger Competition. Scroll down for the full list.

The selection is typically globe-trotting, with features ranging from Chile to China, Sweden to Israel, and Mexico to India. A jury will grant three prizes: the Tiger Award, plus two special jury awards. On the jury are: Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Gust Van den Berghe, Tatiana Leite, Thekla Reuten and Farid Tabarki.

Last year’s winner of IFFR’s Tiger competition was Indian filmmaker Vinothraj P.S.’s Pebbles, which was the country’s contender for this year’s International Oscar race, though didn’t make the shortlist.

Today, the festival also confirmed the line-ups for its Big Screen Competition, which aims to bridge the gap between popular and arthouse cinema. Titles selected range from Romania to France and South Africa. The Tiger Short Competition was also unveiled.

Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s “Assault” and “Kung Fu Zohra” from Mabrouk El Mechri are among the lineup at International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) 51st edition.

The films were among 10 features selected for the Big Screen competition, which aims to bridge the gap between popular, classic and arthouse cinema.

IFFR also boasts the Tiger Competition for emerging talent and Ammodo Tiger Short competition for shorts.

Among the 14 titles selected for the Tiger Competition, Roberto Doveris will present “Proyecto Fantasma,” Morgane Dziurla-Petit will deliver “Excess Will Save Us” and David Easteal will show “The Plains.”

The festival, whose full lineup was announced on Friday, will run as a virtual festival on IFFR.com from Jan 26-Feb. 6 for the second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic revealed that the lockdown in the Netherlands had enforced some changes in previously announced elements of the program. For example,...

Russian Film Week USA, which runs Jan. 23-29, is expanding its reach as it pivots to an online format, allowing audiences across the U.S. to sample Russia’s latest cinematic output. The event opens with Alexey Uchitel’s surreal road trip movie “Tsoy,” which imagines the aftermath of the fateful 1990 car accident that killed Soviet rock idol Victor Tsoy.

The first batch of 10 titles to be announced by the event, formerly called Russian Film Week New York, are all international or North American premieres, with the rest of the program, including documentaries and children’s films, to be announced later this month.

“The Whaler Boy,” which won Venice Days’ award for best director, is the closing night film. It follows an indigenous teenager as he discovers a world far beyond his whaling community. Other films in the lineup include Ivan Tverdovskiy’s “The Conference,” which also played at Venice Days,...

Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.

New films by Russia’s Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina, whose credits include Waterdrop, are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus (coco).

The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in...

Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.

New films by Roman Bondarchuk (The Editorial Office) and Robert Budina (Waterdrop) are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus.

The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in 2018.

Among the other...

If you consider running-time alone, Russian content fills a considerable chunk of space in the official sections of the 2020 Berlinale.

This is primarily because of Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s mind-boggling large-scale simulation of the totalitarian Soviet system, the “Dau” project, which comprises 14 features — two are unspooling at Berlin, accounting for more than eight hours of screen time. “Dau. Natasha,” clocking in at two hours and 19 minutes, premieres in competition.

Described by the Dau website as “a tale of violence that is as radical as it is provocative,” it follows two waitresses in a top-secret Soviet scientific institute who strike up a cautious friendship when one is seduced by a foreign visitor, until the ministry of state security intervenes.

Meanwhile, the Berlinale Special title “Dau. Degeneratsia” has a running time of just over six hours. The story unfolds at the same institute shown in “Natasha,” where scientific and occult experiments aimed at...

In addition, Nigina Sayfullaeva’s explicit drama Fidelity that is handled in the market by M-Appeal has been sold to France’s Arp Selection.

London-based sales agent Reason8 is to handle world rights on Berlinale Forum title In Deep Sleep by writer-director Maria Ignatenko.

It marks first film backed through Roman Abramovich’s private film fund Kinoprime to screen in official selection in Berlin. A drama about a man grieving for his wife in a world in a deep slumber, the film has an almost entirely female crew. It was produced by Katerina Mikhaylova through Vega Film.

In addition, Russian director Nigina Sayfullaeva’s Fidelity,...

The Berlinale continues to unveil its lineup, today announcing films selected for its Forum category: an independent section of the festival, organized by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, celebrating its 50th anniversary.

This intermeshing of old and new runs throughout the selection. The category offers challenging and thought-provoking films that bring together cinema with the visual arts, theatre and literature. Many of the 35 films in this year’s program — 28 of which are world premieres — are distinguished by how they navigate between past and present.

Included in the selection is late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and his widow Valeria Sarmientos’ “The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror,” which opens this year’s Forum. Ruiz, who died in 2011, shot the material in Chile in 1967, but was unable to complete it before going into exile in 1973. His widow Sarmiento has now transformed the footage into a finished film.

The...

The strand’s 50th anniversary to open with a previously unfinished film by late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-March 1) has revealed the 35 films in this year’s Forum line-up, including 28 world premieres.

Scroll down for full list of titles

The strand aims to highlight challenging and thought-provoking filmmaking that brings together film with visual art, theatre and literature.

This year’s Forum will open with The Tango Of The Widower And Its Distorting Mirror from late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and his widow Valeria Sarmiento.

Ruiz – a four-time Palme d’Or nominee who won...