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The Dutch film industry, often overshadowed by its European counterparts, finds itself at a potential turning point. Industry insiders are vocal about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, painting a picture of an industry at a crossroads.

In recent months, Dutch titles have impressed on the global stage. Johan Grimonprez’s Netherlands-Belgium-France co-production “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” is currently nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, and two Dutch shorts – Victoria Warmerdam’s live-action sci-fi story “I’m Not a Robot” and Nina Gantz’s stop-motion gem “Wander to Wonder” – also scored nominations. Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl” had a fantastic festival run last year, earning Reijn a Directors to Watch Award at Palm Springs, and is currently in theaters around the world.

‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’

While the cinema landscape in the Netherlands is loaded with promise and potential, the region also faces several significant challenges in developing...

The challenge for IFFR Pro, the industry strand of International Film Festival Rotterdam which runs from January 31-February 5, is always attracting attention in a crammed part of the calendar, close to Sundance, Berlin and Gothenburg.

One figure who has the contacts and the experience to ensure the event is noticed beyond Dutch borders is Marten Rabarts, the former head of Eye International and artistic head of Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam.

Rabarts, recently appointed head of IFFR Pro, already has long links with IFFR. “My connection with Rotterdam is so deep-seated that it is in my own DNA. I have been...

Let the buzz begin as this year’s Glasgow Film Festival will open with Tornado and close with Martin Robertson’s Make it to Munich, in what is another world premiere.

Undoubtedly a highlight each year in the film calendar Gff kicks off on February 26th until March 9th and is bursting with variety. Some highlights include the UK premiere of Long Day’s Journey into Night starring Jessica Lange & Ed Harris, Argentinian crime-caper Kill the Jockey and On Falling from Scottish filmmaker Laura Carreira.

The festival will play host to a number of UK premieres including The Return, Bob Trevino Likes It as well as Luckiest Man in America starring Paul Walter Hauser to name but a few.

In Conversation With returns with a star-studded line-up of Jessica Lange and Glasgow’s own, James McAvoy, who will take a look back on their careers.

As with true Gff tradition is...

The best new movies to watch on streaming this week feature some big-name stars as well as some of the most acclaimed performances of 2024. Movies from all types of genres are available on streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+, with titles that will appeal to audiences of all ages and all tastes. With awards season heating up, this week features a lot of new titles on streaming that fans are likely to see represented at the 2024 Oscars.

Two actors who have been earning big awards attention are Kieran Culkin and Sebastian Stan with both of their respective acclaimed projects, A Real Pain and A Different Man, finding new streaming homes. There are also some big-name stars with big comebacks on the way as Cameron Diaz stars in her first movie in over a decade with Back in Action while Jennifer Lopez is earning some of the...

Tallulah Schwab’s unsettling film Mr. K pulls viewers into its enigmatic world from the very start. We meet Crispin Glover’s character, simply known as Mr. K, a traveling magician drifting between small performances, forever searching for somewhere to lay his head. When he checks into a peculiar hotel one night, he gets more than he bargained for. Strange inhabitants roam the twisting halls, and strangely enough, Mr. K finds he can’t seem to find his way back out.

Drawing inspiration from Kafka’s surreal tales of isolation and absurdism, Schwab crafts a disorienting picture that leaves reality as we know it behind. Within the decaying walls of the hotel, normal logic no longer applies. Marching bands emerge from secret doors, the halls continually fold in on themselves, and other guests like the charming elderly sisters Ruth and Sara are not quite what they seem. Strange mysteries abound...

If you've got a large appetite for the bizarre, then consider this an invitation into the mind-bending world of Mr. K - an upcoming surrealistic drama starring Crispin Glover (Back to the Future) as the titular character. Mr. K made its world premiere at the just concluded Toronto International Film Festival in the competitive Platform Prize section and is set to continue to other festivals. No word yet on when we can expect to see this stateside, but projections point toward early next year at the earliest. While we wait for an update on that front, an official trailer has been released for the international movie introducing us to its many strange elements.

Leading Dutch independent production company Lemming Film has restructured, promoting producers Erik Glijnis and Tom van Blommestein to the new positions of head of film and head of TV series respectively.

The restructure comes as Lemming manages a busy development and production slate (see below for more details).

Glijnis has worked at Lemming since 2016 and has producing credits including Sweet Dreams, which premiered in Locarno in 2023 and was the Dutch Oscar candidate, Do Not Hesitate, Milk and Dead And Beautiful.

Van Blommestein joined Lemming in 2020 having formerly worked at Nl Film and Endemol Shine. His credits include Zenith season 2, Floor Rules,...

A traveling magician waxes poetic about our lonely existence only to be terrorized by the inability to find solitude. Such is the dark comedy “Mr. K” exists in, the latest from director Tallulah H. Schwab (“Confetti Harvest”). Riddled with mounting anxiety as the walls begin to close in, “Mr.K” is half an exercise in dread and half an example of showing one’s hand too soon.

Continue reading ‘Mr. K’ Review: Crispin Glover Is A Traveling Magician In An Enigmatic Dark Comedy [TIFF] at The Playlist.

International sales outfit LevelK has secured deals for “Mr. K,” Tallullah H. Schwab’s surreal drama which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in the competitive Platform section.

The film stars Crispin Glover as a traveling magician who finds himself trapped in a Kafka-esque nightmare and is unable to leave the hotel where he’s staying.

“Mr. K” has been picked up in several territories, including Germany, Austria (Neue Visionen), Poland (Hagi Film), Benelux (Paradiso) and Cis (Silver Box Ltd). LevelK is negotiating more deals.

The film has also just been selected to compete at the Busan International Film Festival in the Flash Forward section.

Glover, who has a large following on social media, has already garnered early buzz around the movie on Reddit and TikTok, among other platforms. Schwab is an Oslo-born Dutch filmmaker who previously directed the short “The First Cut,” the TV series “Pie” and feature film “Confetti Harvest.

Crispin Glover is a man in search of an exit — from a hotel — in the TIFF-bound “Mr. K.” The cult-favorite character actor — known for “Willard,” “River’s Edge,” “Dead Man,” and, who could forget, Cousin “I’m making my lunch!” Del in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” — stars in Tallulah H. Schwab’s surreal tale headed for the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the film ahead of the festival, which runs September 5-15 in the thick of the fall fest season.

Here’s part of the synopsis courtesy of TIFF: “The ordeal for Mr. K’s misfortunate protagonist — a traveling magician played by Crispin Glover in one of the richest performances in his long and continually surprising career — begins when he checks into a once-stately hotel. The following morning, Mr. K is understandably confused by his inability to find the exit. Then again,...

Nacho Vigalondo’s Daniela Forever, starring Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, will open the Toronto Film Festival’s Platform competition program with a world premiere.

The Madrid-set sci-fi romancer has Golding playing Nicolas, a man grieving after the sudden death of his girlfriend (Beatrice Grannò) six months earlier and taking part in a clinical trial for a drug that reunites him with his former lover via lucid dreams, only to leave him obsessed with a fantasy world. XYZ financed the indie from the Spanish filmmaker Vigalondo, who is best known for movies like Timecrimes and Colossal, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis.

Toronto unveiled in all 10 features with world premieres for the festival section where international films outside of the Hollywood studio orbit compete.

There’s selections for Netflix’s Mexican novel-to-screen adaptation Pedro Páramo, which marks the feature directorial debut of Rodrigo Prieto, the celebrated cinematographer behind Greta Gerwig...

The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the 10 films that will comprise its Platform lineup, a section that is intended to highlight emerging filmmakers from around the globe.

The selection includes “Pedro Páramo,” the feature directing debut of acclaimed cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto; “Viktor,” a documentary about the Russian invasion of Ukraine told by war photographer Olivier Sarbil; and “The Wolves Always Come at Night,” Gabrielle Brady’s look at the impact of climate change on Mongolian herders. There’s also Tallulah H. Schwab’s Kafkaesque “Mr. K” featuring the mercurial Crispin Glover as a traveling magician, as well as Goya-winner Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s contemporary dance-musical and ensemble drama “They Will Be Dust.”

Nacho Vigalondo’s “Daniela Forever,” which stars Henry Golding and “The White Lotus” breakout Beatrice Grannò, will be the section’s opening film. The films represent 17 countries including Spain, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Mexico and Ukraine.

This...

The Platform lineup for the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been unveiled, along with its jury.

The festival’s competitive program dedicated to strong, singular visions includes 10 films from 17 countries, with Canadian staple Atom Egoyan serving as the jury head. Hur Jin-ho, whose “A Normal Family” had its world premiere at TIFF 2023, is also on the jury along with “I Saw the TV Glow” writer/director Jane Schoenbrun.

The Platform program has awarded past prizes to films such as Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal,” which received multiple Oscar nominations and won Best Sound and Best Film Editing.

This year, “Colossal” director Nacho Vigalondo will open the program with his latest film, “Daniela Forever,” starring Henry Golding as a grieving man who reunites with his lost love. Highlights include Tallulah H. Schwab’s sophomore film “Mr. K...

Exec has previously headed sales for HanWay, Protagonist and eOne.

Lemming Film, the Netherlands-based producer of festival titles including Sweet Dreams and Milk, has appointed Charlotte van Weede as managing director.

Van Weede was previously sales director for ITV Studios’s global entertainment division whose catalogue includes formats such as The Voice and Love Island.

Before that, she worked at Anton Capital as head of distribution and Global Road as president of international sales. Van Weede has also worked as a feature film consultant at the Dutch Film Fund and spent four years as SVP of eOne Features in London...

Matthew Perry is one of the most well-known and beloved comedic actors. The American and Canadian actor is known around the world because of his role as Chandler Bing in the hit NBC sitcom Friends. Perry began his career as a child actor with a small role in 1979s 240-Robert and then went on to star in shows like Silver Spoons and Growing Pains before landing the role of his lifetime. Sadly, Matthew Perry is no longer with us but he will be remembered through his roles in which he made us laugh. So, if you also loved Perry here are the 10 best movies and TV shows starring Matthew Perry that should be on your watchlist.

Three to Tango (Rent on Prime Video & Tubi) Credit – Warner Bros.

Synopsis: Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell and Dylan McDermott are the entango’d threesome of this hip, gender-bending farce about the shenanigans that result...

“The number of talents and good films is amazing,” says Renata Santoro, head of programming at Giornate Degli Autori.

Connext, Flanders Image’s annual film and TV showcase, taking place from October 9-10 in Antwerp, is fast growing its reputation on the international stage.

Paolo Bertolin, a member of the selection committee of the Venice Film Festival, visited the Antwerp-based showcase for the first time in 2022 with a simple ambition to meet Belgian talent and discover the best up -and- coming projects from the region.

Among the projects he saw was Fien Troch’s Holly, a then work-in-progress about a...

”During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.”

Comcast fired NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell “with cause” after it investigated allegations of sexual harassment from an employee, it has emerged.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday Comcast said it retained outside counsel to look into the allegations and dismissed Shell immediately on Sunday (April 23) after “evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations”.

The brief filing read: “Following a complaint that Jeffrey Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment, Comcast Corporation (the “Company”) retained outside counsel to investigate the allegations.

Hannah Herzsprung reprises her role as piano wunderkind from 2006 film.

Berlin-based Picture Tree International (Pti) has boarded international sales for German director Chris Kraus’ 15 Years, a sequel to the writer and director’s 2006 feature Four Minutes.

15 Years sees Hannah Herzsprung, who went on to star in The Reader and Who Am I, reprising her lead role as the piano wunderkind Jenny von Loeben. It also stars Albrecht Schuch, best known for All Quiet on the Western Front, System Crasher.

Four Minutes launched the acting career of Herzsprung in 2006 and won the best film prize at the Shanghai International Film Festival,...

Crispin Glover, Sunnyi Melles, Fionnula Flanagan star in the film.

LevelK has boarded world sales on Dutch drama Mr. K starring Crispin Glover, which has wrapped filming and is now in post-production.

Back To The Future star Glover plays the eponymous character, a travelling magician who finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of the hotel he just slept in. His attempts to get out only entangle him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.

LevelK has released a first look at the film, above. Paradiso will release the title in Belgium.

Written and directed by Tallulah Schwab,...