News

Eli Young Band celebrate the tried and true, Morgan Wallen searches for a love-on-the-run, and singer-songwriter Madison Kozak arrives with a beautiful ode to her father.

Darrin Bradbury, “Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs”

Cult favorite Darrin Bradbury makes his Anti- Records debut with Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs, produced by the Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale and due out this September. The album’s title track dishes up Bradbury’s signature gumbo of countrified talking blues, oddball folk, and black humor, with some stoner-worthy philosophy about the origins of microwaves tossed into the pot.

When Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s East of the West competition opened to submissions from the Middle East two years ago, festival artistic director Karel Och noted it was “about time to abandon the political definition of the ‘East of the West’ countries,” long determined by the geographical boundaries hemming in the former Soviet bloc.

Though not the first time the section rewrote its borders — Greece, Turkey and Cyprus were also invited to compete several years ago — the decision was a clear sign that a competition long known for championing distinctive new cinematic voices was evolving to keep pace with the times.

This year’s selection is no exception, with formal experimentation and provocative storytelling marking many of the 12 films in competition. “We always try to put together a colorful selection, to combine films with different artistic approaches, various genres,” says programmer Lenka Tyrpakova. “We aim to discover distinctive auteur...

Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress wins €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.

Fifteen projects from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey were presented at the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) in Cluj-Napoca in Romania last week.

The €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award went to Hungarian filmmaker Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress. The project had been developed at the Nipkow Programme in Berlin last year.

Turkish director Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns was awarded €25,000 in postproduction services from Chainsaw Europe. The project is being co-produced by Romania’s Oana Giurgiu of...

Films include Queen Of Hearts, Only You and When Tomatoes Met Wagner

Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy’s Sundance hit and local box office sensation Queen Of Hearts, is one of 10 features by European female directors selected to screen as part of the fourth edition of Europe! Voices of Women in Film at the Sydney Film Festival (Sff) in June.

Trine Dyrholm stars in the film about a happily married woman who falls in love with her teenage stepson. Dyrholm also features in the zombie film Endzeit-Ever After by Swedish-born, Berlin-based Carolina Hellsgard which is also screening at Sff as part of the programme.