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Yura Borisov, who landed a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his critically acclaimed turn alongside Mikey Madison in Sean Baker’s “Anora,” has been officially cast in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming feature “Artificial.”

The film, which is set up at Amazon MGM, is described as a “comedic drama set in the world of artificial intelligence.” Simon Rich wrote the script and will produce alongside Heyday Films’ David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford as well as Jennifer Fox.

Borisov is one of the biggest stars in his native Russia with more than 50 credits to his name, including “Captain Volkonogov Escaped” and Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Petrov’s Flu.” He first rose to prominence to Western audiences as one of the leads in the Cannes-bowing Grand Prix winner “Compartment Number 6,” which saw him earn a nomination for best actor at the European Film Awards.

But it was his quiet performance (and his first English speaking role) as Igor,...

The notoriously unpredictable and always confusing Gotham Awards revealed their nominations for the upcoming 34th gala, with Sean Baker’s Anora leading the pack. Anora earned four nominations: Best Feature, Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, and—perhaps most exciting for the team—Outstanding Supporting Performance for Yura Borisov, who has been on a strong streak this decade with roles in Compartment Number 6, Petrov’s Flu, and Captain Volkonogov Escaped. The Palme d’Or winning film clean up in all three major categories while All We Imagine as Light, Nickel Boys and I Saw the TV Glow are also in the mix with multiple nominations.…...

Screen is tracking the key packages launched before and during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival’s market, which runs May 14-22.

Refresh the page for latest updates.

April 30

Megalopolis

Goodfellas has boarded international sales on Francis Ford Coppola’s epic saga and Cannes Competition selection starring Adam Driver as a visionary architect who locks horns with the mayor of New York. Barry Hirsch represents US sales.

International sales: Goodfellas

April 29

Nuremberg

WME Independent has boarded the previously announced historical thriller starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, and Michael Shannon, and will launch worldwide sales in Cannes. Nick Meyer’s Sierra Pictures is consulting on sales and distribution.

Exclusive: ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Gangs of London’ star Joe Cole and ‘True Spirit’ and ‘Titans’ actor Teagan Croft have both just wrapped contemporary neo-noir thriller Override, the fourth feature from directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov. It marks the English-language debut for the Russian helmers, whose Captain Volkonogov Escaped played in Venice’s Competition strand in 2021.

Paris-based sales and production outfit Charades has boarded international sales for title, which was shot in L.A. in March, while AC Independent and WME Independent will co-represent North American rights for the film. The project will be launched to buyers in Cannes next month.

Override, which is currently in post-production, follows Ron Camp (Cole), a 31-year-old taxi driver in L.A. and Becca (Croft), his 16-year-old passenger, as they are plunged into a modern-day nightmare. Unaware of Ron’s identity as a spree killer, Becca becomes entangled in a series of terrifying events.

Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Scream VI) leads the cast of the upcoming Azrael from writer Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next), and we’ve got the latest this afternoon.

Republic Pictures has acquired North American rights to C2 Motion Picture Group’s Azrael, for distribution by Paramount Global Distribution, in a high seven figure deal.

The high concept action-horror film stars Samara Weaving and was directed by E.L. Katz from an original script by Simon Barrett.

“In a world in which no one speaks, a devout female-led community hunts down a young woman (Weaving) who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil that resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – yet she will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival. From the seeds of this gritty, relentless parable of sacrifice and salvation, comes an immersive,...

Powerhouse producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov, the creative duo behind Netflix’s first Russian original series, “Anna K,” quietly left 1-2-3 Production in early March and are now focused on their Moscow-based shingle MC2.

Though the announcement was formally made just days removed from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Fedorovich said the plan to leave the Gazprom-Media-backed production outfit had been set in motion long ago.

“When we set up our own company, it was clear that we [would] have to say goodbye to 1-2-3 Production,” Fedorovich told Variety. “We used to work for others; now we want to work for ourselves.”

As the co-heads of the Moscow-based outfit which they launched in 2018, Fedorovich and Nikishov were the creative force behind the plague thriller “To the Lake,” a series that made top 10 lists across the globe after it was acquired by Netflix, and wrapped production last year on...

Peter Kerekes’s “107 Mothers,” a Slovak drama about women living and working in a Ukrainian prison, won the Crystal Arrow Award at the 13th edition of Les Arcs European Film Festival.

The festival, which wrapped on Dec. 18, took place as an-person event with “The Artist” director Michel Hazanavicius presiding over the jury which also included actors Laetitia Dosch and Sidse Babett Knudsen, author Tania de Montaigne and actor-director Éric Judor. The selection was curated by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of both Les Arcs and Tribeca.

Represented in international markets by Films Boutique, “107 Mothers” world premiered at Venice in the horizons section and revolves around the relationship between Leysa (Maryna Klimova), a new inmate who gives birth in prison, and Iryna (Iryna Kiryazeva), the prison’s ward.

The Grand Jury Price was awarded to “Kapitan Volkonogov,” a Russian historical thriller directed by Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov. The movie,...

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Stalin-era stylish thriller “Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” which world premiered in competition at Venice and earned stellar reviews.

Sold by Memento International, the film will have its North American premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Penned and directed by Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov, the film stars rising Russian actor Yuri Borisov as Captain Volkonogov, a well-respected law enforcer in the former Soviet Union who witnesses his colleagues being suspiciously questioned. Sensing that his turn will soon come, he plans to escape, only to find his former colleagues hot on his tail. When the vulnerable Volkonogov gets a message from hell that he’ll be sentenced to eternal torment, he must find a way to repent. But time is running out and the manhunt is closing in on him.

Memento International has now sold “Captain Volkonogov Escaped” in most major markets,...

Event running in French ski resort of Les Arcs will showcase more than 120 films.

France’s Les Arcs Film Festival (December 11-18) has announced the programme for its first physical edition in two years, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020, while its industry events took place online.

Unfolding in the French Alps, the convivial, European cinema-focused festival was unable to take place after the government ordered ski resorts to remain closed due to a fresh wave of the virus.

It returns this year with a packed programme that will showcase more than 120 European works.

“We’re all eager...

Teemu Nikki’s Venice and Antalya winner “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic” won the Golden star for best film at the 5th El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, which wrapped Friday. The award carries a cash prize of $50,000.

The film’s lead Petri Poikolainen won best actor, while Maya Vanderbeque, the young star of “Playground,” won best actress.

Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy’s Cannes winner “Feathers,” which also won the Variety award at El Gouna earlier, won best Arab narrative film.

Directors Aleksey Chupov and Natasha Merkulova’s “Captain Volkonogov Escaped” won the Netpac award and bronze in the narrative category.

Michel Franco’s “Sundown” won silver in the narrative competition, while Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s “Once Upon a Time in Calcutta” scored a special mention from Netpac.

Mounia Akl’s “Costa Brava, Lebanon” won the Fipresci award and the Green Star award for tackling environmental issues.

Facebook Fined £50m By UK Competition Authority

Facebook has been fined £50.5m ($69.6m) by the UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) for breaching an order imposed during an investigation into the purchase of Giphy. The penalty should be a warning that no company is above the law, said the CMA, which claimed Facebook had failed to provide full updates about competition compliance relating to the acquisition of the gif platform. Separately, the CMA fined Facebook £500,000 for changing its Chief Compliance Officer on two separate occasions without seeking consent.

‘Salisbury Poisonings’ Producer Launches Bursary

Salisbury Poisonings producer Dancing Ledge Productions has launched a bursary for UK creatives in memory of the woman who came into contact with the nerve agent Novichok following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. The Dawn Sturgess Bursary will provide one budding drama school acting student from Wiltshire, England with funding of up to £30,000 towards their living costs while studying.

Documentary Exposure from The Babushkas Of Chernobyl director Morris gets its world premiere.

The 57th Chicago International Film Festival has unveiled its international competitions line-up, a roster that includes Venice Silver Lion winner The Power Of The Dog, Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers For The Stolen, and the world premiere of Holly Morris’s documentary Exposure.

The programme includes the international premiere of Franziska Stünkel’s The Last Execution. The festival runs October 13-24 and is the longest running competitive festival in North America.

The International Feature Competition line-up comprises: Péter Kerekes’s 107 Mothers (Slo-Czech-Ukr); Mohammed Diab’s Amira (Egy-Jor-uae-Saud...

Propulsive and tightly constructed, Captain Volkonogov Escaped is a Russian period-set drama about a Soviet secret policeman who suddenly sprouts a soul, played by the always watchable, recently much in-demand Yuriy Borisov (Petrov’s Flu). Flecks of jet-black humor add a wicked sparkle to an essentially tragic narrative. Aficionados of Russian literature will note the film’s thematic similarity to works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, with the emphasis on redemption, as well as the absurdism of Nikolai Gogol and — perhaps more aptly given the 1930s setting — the proto-magical realism of Mikhail Bulgakov.

In the end, however, the film’s ...

Propulsive and tightly constructed, Captain Volkonogov Escaped is a Russian period-set drama about a Soviet secret policeman who suddenly sprouts a soul, played by the always watchable, recently much in-demand Yuriy Borisov (Petrov’s Flu). Flecks of jet-black humor add a wicked sparkle to an essentially tragic narrative. Aficionados of Russian literature will note the film’s thematic similarity to works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, with the emphasis on redemption, as well as the absurdism of Nikolai Gogol and — perhaps more aptly given the 1930s setting — the proto-magical realism of Mikhail Bulgakov.

In the end, however, the film’s ...

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Chupov & Merkulova Explore Redemption in Scathing, Dramatic Thriller

For their third feature, Captain Volkonogov Escaped, directors Aleksey Chupov and Natasha Merkulova deliver another daring, subversive fable critiquing Russian totalitarianism. Set specifically in 1938 Leningrad, it’s a fast-paced thriller exploring the notion of an escape more spiritual than physical, as a soldier’s panicked change of heart inspires a mad dash for last minute expiation.

Featuring the enigmatic Yuri Borisov, the newly minted poster boy of the Russian arthouse, Chupov & Merkulova concoct something of a dark comedy of despair.…...

“Bodies are heavier after death, my pop told me.” So says a child at the beginning of Mama I’m Home, setting the scene for Vladimir Bitokov’s compelling second feature which premiered in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival.

This is Kabardino-Balkaria, a world where some children grow up to have a choice between unemployment, and fighting for a Russian private military contractor. Tonya (Kseniya Rappoport) has persuaded her son to take the latter option, but bitterly regrets it when she is told that he has been killed in action. Refusing to believe it, she storms into everywhere from army offices to police stations, demanding the truth. When the authorities realize that she won’t give up, a young man arrives at her home, claiming to be her long lost son, alive and well. But he’s a stranger to Tonya, and the conspiracy unfolds as she continues to battle for answers.

Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov, directorial duo behind the Venice title “Captain Volkonogov Escaped” – vying for a Golden Lion – thought about Jean-Paul Belmondo when creating their main character, a Ussr law enforcer who suddenly goes on the run and finds himself pursued by his former colleagues. The legendary French actor, known for “Breathless” and “Pierrot le Fou,” died on Sept. 6.

“In one of the earlier versions of the script, we even had a similar ending to ‘Breathless’. Then we changed it, but its spirit remained,” Chupov tells Variety in Venice after the film’s world premiere. “We grew up on his movies.”

The Russian-Estonian-French co-production, though set in 1938, is not a faithful take on the politically charged period, with the directors opting for a “retro-utopia” instead and, as they say, reinventing the past.

“Making a typical historical drama just wasn’t interesting to us. I know people who like making them,...

In a politically loaded gesture, the Venice Film Festival programmed the premieres of Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection and Captain Volkonogov Escaped by Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov on consecutive days. The former Ukrainian and the latter Russian, both these competition entries contain significant scenes of torture by Russian officers and there’s no misreading the films’ implied message. Actually, in the case of Reflection, you can hardly speak of implying – films don’t get much blunter. There’s little room for subtlety in the tableau aesthetic that Vasyanovych has now used, with minimal variation, in at least three successive features. Always working as […]

The post Venice Film Festival 2021 Critic’s Notebook: Reflection and Captain Volkonogov Escaped first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

An executioner has 24 hours to atone for his sins in Captain Volkonogov Escaped, an inventive and disturbing Venice Film Festival competition entry from Russian writer-directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov. This married couple finished their screenplay in lockdown, and the result is both nightmarish and dreamlike.

Set in 1938, it presents a stylized version of St Petersburg that feels more like a movie dystopia than a historical drama. But the events it draws from are terrifyingly real. Volkonogov (Yuri Borisov) is a faithful Ussr enforcer who goes on the run, fearing for his life, after his colleagues are questioned by their superiors. Appearing in a vision, his dead friend tells him to seek forgiveness from the families of all the people he had a part in killing — innocents who were tortured to extract fake confessions.

Stealing the relevant files, Volkonogov tracks down each relative and demands to be forgiven. Initially, he...

To get a sense of the frantic energy driving Russia’s booming film and TV industry these days, one need look no further than powerhouse producing duo Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov, who this week will take time off from shooting Netflix’s first original Russian drama series in Moscow to bow their latest feature film on the Lido.

It’s a reversal of fortune that the veteran producers couldn’t have scripted themselves even a decade ago. “For many years, Russia’s film industry existed in isolation from the global market – what chance did North American viewers, for example, have of screening a Russian TV show or film a few years ago?” says Nikishov. “The situation is radically different now. With the development of global platforms, we’ve been given a unique opportunity to become fully-fledged participants in the global film industry.”

That opportunity has been a long time coming for Russian filmmakers,...

The programme for the 2021 Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michelangelo Frammartino, Pablo Larraín, Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, and more.Parallel MothersCOMPETITIONParallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Ana Lily Amirpour)Un Autre Monde (Stephane Brize)The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)America LatinaL’Evenement (Audrey Diwan)Official CompetitionThe Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino)Sundown (Michel Franco)Lost Illusions (Xavier Giannoli)The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)Spencer (Pablo Larrain)Freaks Out (Gabriele Mainetti)Qui Rido Io (Mario Martone)On The Job: The Missing 8 (Erik Matti)Leave No Traces (Jan P. Matuszyński)Captain Volkonogov EscapedThe Card Counter (Paul Schrader)The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino)Reflection (Valentyn Vasyanovych)The Box (Lorenzo Vigas)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesDune (Denis Villeneuve)Il Bambino Nascosto (Roberto Andò)Les Choses Humaines (Yvan Attal)Ariaferma (Leonardo Di Costanzo)Halloween Kills (David Gordon Green...

Memento International has acquired the international sales rights to “Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” from Russian writing and directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov, which will world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Variety can reveal.

The film tells the story of the titular Captain Volkonogov, a well-respected and obedient law enforcer in the former Soviet Union, who witnesses his colleagues being suspiciously questioned. Sensing that his turn will soon come, he plans to escape, only to find his former colleagues hot on his tail. When the vulnerable and hopeless Volkonogov gets a message from hell that he’ll be sentenced to eternal torments, he must find a way to repent. But time is running out and the manhunt is closing in on him.

“Captain Volkonogov Escaped” features an all-star cast that includes Yuriy Borisov, who appeared in the Cannes competition titles “Compartment No. 6” and “Petrov’s Flu,” Timofey Tribuntsev...