Author: World Cinema Reports' Editors

At the 42nd Montreal World Film Festival, the prize for best film was awarded to Tamás Yvan Topolánszky’s Curtiz, while Attila Szász received the best director’s prize for Eternal Winter, both films are Hungarian productions. The festival was held between August 23 and September 3, with 23 films from all over the world competing. Curtiz is a biopic on Mihály Kertész, who directed the Oscar-winning Casablanca, one of the best-known films of Hollywood’s Golden Era. Kertész changed his name to Michael Curtiz when he moved to the US. https://youtu.be/VrYasMO_fEw The film shows the difficulties of production, while Curtiz also fears the…

It is a proud moment for the local film fraternity that Pakistan is the focus country for the upcoming Tasveer South Asian Film Festival (TSAFF) 2018 that will commence from September 28. Now in its 13th year, it is the largest South Asian film festival in the United States. Each year, TSAFF selects a focus country that comprises at least 30 per cent of the festival programming and this year the spotlight is on Pakistan, with no entry fee for Pakistani filmmakers. The theme, #KnowMe, asks filmmakers and audience members alike to challenge narratives and assumptions about South Asia. Academy…

Three Spanish are pre-representatives in the race for the Oscars. Handia (also known as Aundiya) directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño, Todos lo Saben (Everybody Knows) by Asghar Farhadi and Campeones (Champions) by Javier Fesser are the three movies that were selected among a list of 43 films that were released between October 1st 2017 and September 30th 2018. Next month, specifically September 6th, we will know which one will represent Spain during the 91st Academy Awards. The president of the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish for ‘Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and…

Sweden has selected Ali Abbasi’s Cannes winner “Border” as its entry for best foreign-language film at this year’s 91st Academy Awards. The Swedish Film Institute announced the choice Tuesday. Abbasi said he was “overwhelmed” that his film had been selected. “I thought it was impossible to even get to Cannes, but as the film has grown and now is being screened at festivals all over the world, the Oscars [don’t] seem so far away all of a sudden,” said Abbasi, who was born in Iran and educated in Denmark. The film was chosen by the seven members of the Swedish Oscar Committee, which was…

MUBI is will stream the exclusive digital premiere of Stephen Nomura Schible’s Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, an intimate documentary about the renowned Japanese composer, tracing the evolution of his music throughout his career and offering stunning insight into the artist’s creative process. MUBI released Coda in theaters this summer beginning on July 6 in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and North American debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. In addition to an extended six week run in New York, the film has continued to roll out nationally in cinemas, screening in more than…

The official revealed the information during a press conference in Hanoi on August 23. Themed “Cinema: Integration and Sustainable Development”, the festival is slated for October 27-31. It looks to honour outstanding cinematographic works with high artistic and humanitarian value and creativity, while also encouraging new movie talents. It is also hoping to expand the Vietnamese cinema market, thus promoting the country’s image to international friends. Films for the competition are selected from many countries and territories around the world, some of which have never competed in international film festivals in Asia. Meanwhile, non-competition film screenings will be held, introducing…

If you thought daring, genre-bending Iranian filmmaking peaked with Ana Lily Amirpour’s vampire spaghetti western, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night or Asghar Farhadi‘s Oscar-winning The Salesman, think again. Iranian-born Danish writer-director Milad Alami’s The Charmer reinvents the classic, stranger-in-a-strange-land immigrant tale as a sexy, slow-burn erotic thriller with a heartbreaking twist. Co-written by Alami and Danish screenwriter Ingeborg Topsøe, Charmer’s title, like many of the events taking place in the film itself, grossly oversimplifies the depth and complexity of this hugely compelling drama. For while the lead character, Esmail, played by handsome newcomer Ardalan Esmaili, is indeed charming, the soulful sadness in his eyes belies…

Spike Lee’s Cannes grand prix winner is the director’s best work since his Oscar-nominated 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls. Combining the stylistic slickness of 25th Hour with the controversial potential of Bamboozled, it’s a stranger-than-fiction tale (“based upon some fo’ real, fo’ real shit”) of an African American cop infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1970s. Produced by the team behind Get Out (it was Jordan Peelewho brought the story to Lee), BlacKkKlansman slips seamlessly from borderline-absurdist humour to all-too-real horror, conjuring an urgent blend of sociopolitical period satire and contemporary wake-up call. John David Washington gives a wonderfully wry and nuanced central performance as Ron Stallworth,…

Three Iranian movies will be screened in the various categories of the 75th Venice International Film Festival, which will open in the Lido on Wednesday. “As I Lay Dying” by Mostafa Sayyari will be screened in the Orizzonti Competition, which is dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema, the organizers have announced. Eighteen other films from across the world will be competing in the section. In the Orizzonti Short Films category, “Staircase” by Mohsen Banihashemi will be competing with 13 other movies. “Brick and Mirror”, UK-based Iranian filmmaker Ebrahim Golestan’s 1964 drama is…

The African American Film Critics Association and TCM have collaborated for a month long programme titled The Black Experience on Film. The event is scheduled to screen 32 films which deals with depictions of African Americans throughout cinematic history. It begins on 4 September and airs every Tuesday and Thursday in prime time slots. The president of AAFCA mentioned that such an opportunity was a matter of honour as it gives an opportunity for “impactful programming”. Emphasising the fact that several African American narratives often go unheard, and more dangerously untold, the president mentioned that this historical trend has been a…