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Rudd, Coogan Say ‘I Do’ for An Ideal Home By Rebecca Ford aul Rudd and Steve Coogan will couple P up for the dramedy An Ideal Home, written and directed by Andrew Fleming. Rudd and Coogan, who worked together on 2011’s Our Idiot Brother , will play a troubled married couple with an extravagant lifestyle, with Coogan a celebrity and Rudd his more hesitant partner and sidekick. But when the CONTINUED ON PAGE
Focus Falls for The Face of Things to Come Nichols’ Loving French art house icon Isabelle Huppert arrives for the premiere of her new drama directed by Mia Hansen-Love. By Rebecca Ford Read THR’s review of the Berlinale competition title on page . he day aer the pre- miere for his latest Tfilm, Midnight Special , Jeff Nichols’ next project, China Warms Up to Indie Titles Loving , was picked up by An emerging niche market for mid-budget releases could be a game-changer for independent Focus for North America and producers hoping to get a slice of the Chinese movie boom By Patrick Brzeski and Scott Roxborough for several other international territories including the U.K., hina’s booming box office — the country films could be emerging. Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke Germany and Latin America. is on pace to pass North America to had his first-ever local release last year with The film, based on a true C become the world’s largest theatrical Mountains May Depart , which grossed a healthy story, stars Joel market sometime next year — has independent $5 million. Diao Yinan’s noir thriller Black Coal, Thin Edgerton (who filmmakers around the globe wondering how Ice, winner of the Berlin Festival’s Silver Bear in also stars in they can get a piece. 2014, grossed a stunning $16.5 million in China.
S E Midnight Special ) Until now, however, the China boom has been “There’s a younger generation growing up in G A I M Y as Richard fueled by, and benefited, Chinese and Hollywood China, and while, right now, they might want big T Nichols T E G Loving, whose blockbusters, with few indie or alternative films blockbusters and broad local comedies, their tastes P F A L L interracial marriage to even getting into the country, much less making are changing. An audience for films outside the A G U O Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga) any money. Hollywood mold is starting to emerge, ” says Rikke D C A M caused them to be sentenced But the Chinese film sector is changing fast, and Ennis of Danish art house specialists Zentropa, N H O J C O N T I N U EDO N PA G E C O N T I N U EDO N PAG E : there are signs that a niche market for art house T R E P P U H
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i i i i ..ii theREPORT
China HEAT INDEX CONTINUED FROM PAGE
home to Lars von Trier, which has set up a Chinese division to develop co-productions with, and for, the Middle Kingdom. “There is no doubt that a strong desire for quality inde- pendent films does exist in the market,” seconds Elizabeth Yang, YES, THERE IS A MARKET FOR INDIE FILM IN CHINA managing director of China MICHAEL SHANNON ↑ MOUNTAINS MAY BLACK COAL, MR. SIX The actor is receiving rave reviews for film sales group DDDream DEPART THIN ICE MILLION his performance as a father trying to International Media, which spe- MILLION . MILLION Although backed by protect his young son with superpowers in After years of foreign festival Director Diao Yinan’s China’s leading studio, Midnight Special, his fourth collaboration cializes in indie productions. acclaim — his Touch of art house thriller achieved Huayi Brothers, Guan Hu’s with director Jeff Nichols. What still doesn’t exist in Sin won the Cannes best the impossible: It won over dramedy was positioned screenplay award in — foreign critics with its noirish more like a festival title China, however, is an art house but zero theatrical exposure take on contemporary after it made its world infrastructure. China has just back home, Chinese auteur China, passed the test at premiere at Venice. A star Jia Zhangke finally scored Beijing’s censorship turn from Feng Xiaogang one dedicated art house cin- a domestic release with bureau and received a helped confer blockbuster ema in the entire country: the this feature, which earned mainstream embrace from status on this thematically an estimated $ million. domestic moviegoers. nuanced movie. Broadway Cinematheque MOMA in Beijing. From the perspective of indie films, China permit to exhibit imported for- make it easier to import smaller is all flyover country. eign titles on this network, with films into China,” Wang says. But a source close to SAPPRFT, an initial 70-30 programming “[Then] we should be able to show China’s state authority that reg- split between Chinese and inter- more foreign arthouse movies — THE WEINSTEIN CO. Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s sales ulates the country’s film sector, national art-house titles. as long as they pass censorship.” team, usually a festival staple, pulled tells THR that there are plans to Wang Yu, whose Ray Production And the sheer size of China out of this year’s Berlin market at the th hour, canceling rooms at the develop just such an indie theater produced Berlin competition title means even incremental change Grand Hyatt days before the start amid network in China’s so-called “first Crosscurrent , is spearheading an can have a major impact on the a lack of big projects to sell. tier” cities — Beijing, Shanghai, even larger art house circuit, with indie market. Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The plans to link up existing college Says Italian director Cristiano project, expected to roll out in movie theaters into an indie Bortone, co-founder of European/ the first half of 2016, would bring exhibition network of 200 screens Chinese film association Bridging together private and public cin- spanning the country. the Dragon, “Even if the niche emas in a network totaling some “The understanding in the market gets a very thin layer [of 50 screens. THR’s sources say that industry is that there will be a total screens], it can still amount SAPPRFT will provide the China huge change to the quota system to substantial box office for inde- Film Archive with a distribution at the start of 2017, which will pendent films.”
Ideal Home Nichols ARIANNE FRASER CONTINUED FROM PAGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUNDING PARTNER & CEO, HIGHLAND FILM GROUP grandson who Coogan’s character never knew he to prison in Virginia in 1958. They were later Fraser unveiled Margot Robbie’s hot new project Terminal, which HFG will had shows up at their home with nowhere else to banished from the state, but the couple took their finance and sell in Berlin, and brought the go, the couple reluctantly decides to take him in. case, Loving v. Virginia, all the way to the Supreme Suicide Squad star to town to meet with buyers. Plus, she’s selling Scott Mann’s Remstar Studios and National Bank of Canada Court, which reaffirmed their right to marry. thriller Final Score, The Trust with are co-financing An Ideal Home, which Fortitude The film, inspired by Nancy Buirski’s documen- Nicolas Cage and Blink with Jamie Foxx. International is selling in Berlin. UTA Independent tary The Loving Story, also stars Nichols’ longtime Film Group is handling domestic rights. collaborator Michael Shannon and Nick Kroll. MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD … Gabriella Tana, Maria Theresa Loving was financed by Big Beach and developed Arida, Maxime Remillard and by Raindog Films.
• Michael B. Jordan, Patricia Aaron Ryder are producing, and CAA repped domestic rights and showed footage Arquette, Eddie Redmayne Clark Peterson and Lisa Wolofsky to buyers Friday. and Common have joined the will executive produce. Loving , now in postproduction, is produced list of presenters at the Oscars “Comedy stalwarts Paul by Buirski, Ged Doherty and Colin Firth, Sarah ceremony on Feb. . Rudd and Steve Coogan are Green and Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf . Brian • NBC picked up Maya and Marty Rudd in Manhattan, a variety show reuniting on the big screen as a Kavanaugh-Jones is executive producing. starring Maya Rudolph and squabbling married couple Loving marks Focus’ first big buy aer the Feb. 4 Martin Short. It will be executive in Andrew’s endearing and hilar- reshuffle that saw Peter Schlessel ousted and Focus produced by Lorne Michaels. ious script about modern merged with Universal International Pictures • Stephen Chow’sMermaid has grossed . million, becoming family, and we are delighted to Productions. The company is undergoing another the fastest film to cross the present this charming film to course correction and once again will concentrate million mark in China. buyers at EFM,” said Fortitude’s on the sort of specialty films that were its Nadine De Barros. Coogan hallmark when it was run by James Schamus.
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Alec Baldwin. Fortitude International has sold the Fred Wolf -helmed film to eOne for Canada and Dutch FilmWorks for Benelux, and more sales have quickly followed. Like Drunk Parents, other hot properties come with notable comedic talent attached, like the just-announced An Ideal Home, By Rebecca Ford which stars Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan as a troubled Hayek here may be plenty of dramas being sold in married couple. Berlin this year, but it’s the slew of buzzy “It’s hard to package independent comedies Tcomedies with A-list talent that have buyers because most big comedies get done at the studios clamoring for lighter, funny fare. where the actors are paid big bucks,” says Fortitude The first big sale of the festival was for a comedy co-founder Nadine de Barros, “but many of these — the George Clooney-helmed Suburbicon, about projects have an edge or are a little darker, so that a quiet neighborhood that gets caught up in a can be fun for actors.” web of betrayal and paranoia, was scooped up by Other buzzy packages with notable talent Paramount in a big $10 million deal for U.S. rights. include The Brits Are Coming with Uma Thurman and With stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore attached, Sofia Vergara, The Clapper with Ed Helms, Tom’s Dad the package is expected to do strong sales interna- with Will Ferrell and The Big Sick , which is written tionally as well, with Bloom already fielding plenty by and will star Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani and is of interest. produced by Judd Apatow. “At a time when this business is getting much Internationally, comedies also have the advantage tougher and we’re all looking for things that will of working well across multiple platforms, including draw an audience to come to the cinema, humor is television and VOD, so buyers can essentially get one of the things that is still a shared experience,” more bang for their buck. says Mister Smith CEO David Garrett, who’s selling “It’s becoming harder and harder for buyers to Broad Green’s dance comedy Ain’t No Half Stepping make money on movies, and TV is one of the few at the market. “If you want to get people to sources of revenue le. Comedies play well on come and watch something, it’s about sharing television, especially in Europe,” adds de Barros, emotions onscreen.” who notes that in countries like France, women are Among the high-profile comedies attracting known as the main audience for VOD and are also buyers is Drunk Parents, starring Salma Hayek and the most interested in comedies. THR
Neeson’s Korean War Pic Sells to Excl usi ve Germany, Taiwan First Look By Patrick Brzeski ig-budget South Korean war film Operation BChromite, in which Liam Neeson stars as Gen. Douglas MacArthur, has notched a few quick sales at the start of the European Film Market in Berlin.
Neeson Seoul-based sales company Finecut closed deals for Germany, Austria, Benelux, Yugoslavia and Taiwan for the title. Directed by John H. Lee (The Third Way of Love), Operation Chromite is produced by Chung Tae-won (The Blob, Three Kingdoms) at Taewon Entertainment. It is aiming for a wide domestic release in July from CJ E&M. The film tells the dramatic story of the unsung heroes who were sacrificed during the The Runaround Incheon Landing Operation led Oscar winner J.K. Simmons plays a workaholic father who, after his daughter (Analeigh Tipton) goes missing, by MacArthur during the Korean begrudgingly teams up with her ex-boyfriend (Emile Hirsch) to find her. The Solution is selling Gavin Wiesen’s comedy in Berlin. War in 1950. THR
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BERLINALE IN BRIEF A Hidden Life Unearthed e n H i d d M S G E Director Aaron Brookner set out to make a doc about his filmmaker uncle and, Cumberbatch to Narrate thanks to William S. Burroughs, discovered a man he never knew By Alex Ritman Naples ’ Documentary Benedict Cumberbatch has signed unraveled that Aaron had no idea on to narrate a documentary detail- his uncle had ever lived. ing the underbelly of life in Naples “As a film student, Howard following the liberation of the Italian worked as an usher at the city from Nazi occu- Metropolitan Opera House, pation after World while at the same time he was War II. Francesco scoring dope on the Lower East Patiernowill write Side, while at the same time he and direct the film Cumberbatch was working for a big Italian based on Norman land-owning family in Little Italy Lewis’ war diary Naples ’. The renting out apartments,” he said. documentary will be a combination Howard Brookner It was through this work that (right) with Burroughs of archive and feature footage from in the s. Howard landed indie filmmaker famous films set in the city. Jim Jarmusch his first apartment, mid a recent surge in his breakout feature Bloodhounds on Elizabeth Street. Sachs’ Little Men docs that emerge from the of Broadway (featuring the fresh “Meanwhile, he was helping out Sells to U.K.’s Altitude Adiscovery of once-thought- faces of Madonna and Matt Dillon). a friend who was writing porno Sundance crowd-pleaser Little lost film footage, few can claim to Worried that the memory of the books, and, actually, he and Men — which Magnolia pounced have a history as eye-catching as man who inspired him to get Burroughs co-authored a porno on for domestic rights this week Aaron Brookner’s touching Uncle into filmmaking was being lost book,” says Aaron, who says his — has been nabbed by Altitude Howard , made possible thanks to and that he might “die a second uncle’s adventures extended Film Distribution for the U.K. The an archive stash buried in William death,” Aaron set out to discover outside the U.S. “I go into a deal marks the second partnership S. Burroughs’ near-mythical more about his uncle. bookstore and start reading the between director Ira Sachs and New York residence, located in a His first route was a “wild memoir of Frederic Mitterrand, the British banner, which released converted YMCA swimming pool goose chase” for anything con- the French culture minister, and Love Is Strange last year. The com- locker room and affectionately nected to Howard’s 1983 film there’s a chapter called ‘Howard ing-of-age drama, starring Greg dubbed “The Bunker.” Burroughs: The Movie, the only Brookner’ about Howard in Paris Kinnear, had its international bow It was in this near-window- doc to be made with full partic- with the Burroughs film. There at the Berlinale on Friday. less Lower East Side apartment ipation of the legendary writer. were all these incredible different — featuring two large marble This eventually led to “stacks and sides to the guy.” Schamus Named urinals in the bathroom, spices stacks and stacks of [film] rolls” The very first discovery Aaron Qatari Qumra ‘Master’ on the spice rack dated 1978 and he uncovered in The Bunker that made before developing the Fresh off the recent Sundance Burroughs’ own handgun in the revealed more about Howard film was a letter to Howard’s par- bow of his directorial debut dresser draw — where Aaron than they did about Burroughs. ents, written when he was ill and Indignation, former Focus Features found five years’ worth of footage “It was like Howard and his exclaiming that he had done more CEO James Schamus has been stored by his uncle, the late film- story had been frozen in ’89 and with his life than most people added to the lineup of “Masters” maker Howard Brookner. suddenly it was reawakened just who lived to be in their 80s. offering their expertise to film- Howard died of AIDS at age by the act of looking for this Says Aaron, “When I started makers at the Qumra Film Festival, 34 in 1989, shortly before the Burroughs film,” says Aaron. to find out what he did, I realized to be held in Qatar in March. The release of what would have been From these stories, a life it was absolutely true.” prolific producer joins Oscar- nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer (The Look of Silence) and previously announced names ... THE DIRECTOR Naomi Kawase, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Aleksandr Sokurov. SUSANNE BIER Place to avoid during way to get away from the The filmmaker is in Berlin the fest festival. Rampling Boards Sci-Fi with The Ink Factory’s TV spy If you want to make it out Valley of the Gods drama The Night Manager. of the hotel where everyone Strangest late-night Best actress Oscar hopeful is staying, don’t cross the experience in Berlin Charlotte Rampling has Only in Berlin moment lobby between 5-7 p.m. One evening I was walking come aboard Lech I was on the competition because everyone you’ve home in uncomfortable jury a couple of years ago ever known in the movie high heels and a gown very Majewski’sValley when Wong Kar-wai was industry will be there and late at night, and we of the Gods. The jury head. The festival you’ll never get to where you decided to get some fresh star of Years will coincided with the Chinese need to go on time. air and walk through the star alongside New Year, so Wong took memorial to World War II, Rampling Josh Hartnett and us all out to a Chinese Best place to get away which is really very restaurant in Berlin. It was from the fest striking. There’s a severe John Rhys-Davies in a really wild evening If you immerse yourself in the juxtaposition between the sci-fi fantasy about three char- and definitely one that could films, you forget about where past and present — it’s sort acters whose supernatural visions only happen in Berlin. you are, and that’s the best of surreal, actually. clash with reality.
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NEXT FILM? Hu nga ry HEAD EAST Incentives, tax rebates, versatile locations and experienced crews — there’s never been a better time to shoot in Eastern Europe (even if your movie is set on Mars) BY NICK HOLDSWORTH
HEN A GROUP OF LITHUANIA N AND POLISH FILM Where once Hollywood and international producers could pick producers set out to sail from one Baltic seaport to low-cost territories to shoot in the region based on currency value, W another in September, it was not simply a nautical location and crew availability, the expansion of the European Union, jaunt. The two-day voyage, aboard the 120-foot-long economic growth and globalization have now combined to create a twin-mast schooner Brabander, brought together a dozen film profes- more level playing field. sionals with a ra of potential joint projects to discuss. Attempts to gain an advantage by introducing tax incentives The voyage from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Gdynia in Poland, the prompted a race to offer 20 percent to 30 percent cash or tax rebates brainchild of Liana Ruokyte-Jonsson, head of film promotion, informa- that rapidly produced near-identical offers. Even tiny Estonia, with a tion and heritage at the Lithuanian Film Center, was designed to population of about 1.3 million, offers rebates worth up to 30 percent. focus attention on a small filmmaking nation that is competing with Now the rivals are emphasizing their unique attractions — as well as others in Eastern Europe to attract international co-productions. financial incentives — as outlined here:
CZECH REPUBLIC
original sites, Productions must satisfy minimum awards in Locarno; his second, Parallel including a church expenditure and cultural tests. The Worlds, was selected for the San where the secret incentives have been in place for five Sebastian New Directors Competition. agents were years, and this year, million is In , Vaclav, who trapped and killed available. The Czechs have rebated has lived in Paris since by the Germans, $ million to more than projects. , saw his The Way still exist, lending “We have the kind of expertise foreign Out screen as the first authenticity to producers look for,” says Ludmila Czech film at Cannes the film. Daria Claussova, the Czech Republic’s film in years. Anthropoid Spackova, man- commissioner. “You can find every- aging director of thing here — crews, set builders and IN BERLIN CASE STUDY: ANTHROPOID local co-producers Lucky Many Films, designers, English-speaking crews, Three Czech films are in selection: Shooting on location in Prague was says the Czech Republic system could great studios and locations. We offer Vaclav’s We Are Never Alone (Forum), a natural choice for the producers not have worked better. “The incen- value for money — the exchange an existential drama set in mod- of Anthropoid, British director Sean tives system is clearly arranged and rate is positive for dollar-denomi- ern-day Europe; Tomas Weinreb Ellis’ new wartime thriller that stars simple,” she says. Lucky Many used nated productions — and we are and Petr Kazda’s I, Olga Hepnarova Jamie Dornan and is based on the the rebates for its previous film, Lost still cheaper than Berlin, London and (Panorama), the story of the last true story of the assassination of in Munich, and plans to apply again other European locations.” Other woman put to death in Czechoslovakia Reinhard Heydrich, the SS general for its next project, Zatopek , both from recent international shoots include (and a co-production with Poland); who was the author of the Nazis’ “Final Czech directors. The Zookeeper’s Wife and Underworld: and Petr Oukropec’s children’s film Solution” meant to eradicate the Jews Next Generation. In Your Dreams (Generation plus). in Europe. The British plan involved INCENTIVES Michal Hogenauer’s Outside is at parachuting Czech agents into the A cash rebate system features per- TALENT TO WATCH the Co-Production Market, and EFM German-occupied country to carry cent available for qualifying Czech A graduate of Prague’s FAMU screenings include Devil’s Mistress, out the killing. The exact location of spending and percent for interna- famous film school, Petr Vaclav has Filip Renc’s drama about Czech actress Heydrich’s assassination has changed tional spending that applies to film and developed a reputation for versatility. Lida Baarova, who was Joseph beyond recognition, but many of the TV, including all postproduction work. His first feature, Marian (), won Goebbels’ mistress.
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E S T O N I
CASE STUDY: THE FENCER Klaus Haro’s Cold War period piece The Fencer — Estonia’s second minority co-production to be submitted for Oscar consider- ation (the first was last year’s Tangerines by Georgian director Zaza Urushadze, which landed a foreign-language nom) — is based on a true story by Finnish writer Anna Heinamaa, penned while she studied screenwriting at Salford University in England. It’s set in Soviet-occupied Estonia in the early s, when a champion fencer with a dark, wartime secret goes on the run from Stalin’s secret police and finds refuge in a remote school. The film, Haro The Martian says, was his most challenging yet, involving “children and two lan- guages [Russian and Estonian] I have not mastered.” While H U N G R Y incentives — which only were introduced this year — were not a factor in attracting the film to the northern Baltic state, a policy of CASE STUDY: THE MARTIAN seeking to support co-productions to boost the small number of Ridley Scott chose Hungary’s Korda Studios to film The Martian because it has some of the features produced in the tiny country should ensure Estonia con- largest and tallest soundstages in Europe. The film’s production team took over the studios, tinues to punch above its weight. Rebates worth , euros located miles west of Budapest, and built the Mars plain — using , tons of local soil (,) this year, and rising to more than million next year, on a massive ,-square-foot soundstage — where Matt Damon’s astronaut character should make it more attractive to foreign shoots. “We have been battles the Red Planet’s elements. Other sets, including a NASA Mission Control Room, were concentrating on minority co-production and quite successfully,” constructed on the studio’s five other stages. Korda boasts a total of nearly , square says Edith Sepp, CEO of the Estonian Film Institute. “Estonia has feet of soundstages, with the tallest reaching feet, and has a -acre empty backlot and all the prerequisites to succeed in the film business: years of acres of ready-built medieval, renaissance and New York City sets. Producer Howard filmmaking experience and international visibility.” Ellis of Budapest-based Mid Atlantic Films, which he runs with co-founder Adam Goodman, notes that Hungary’s long-established and generous incentives system was instrumental The Fencer in bringing yet another Hollywood production to the country. “Right now, Hungary has a rare combination that is not found in any other location outside of the U.S., Canada and the U.K.,” he says. “The talent and maturity of crew, deep infrastructure for film and very reliable and attractive tax incentives create the perfect storm — in a good way — for filmmakers.” Ellis adds that his company in the past year has worked on such Hollywood productions as Universal’s Emerald City , Fox’s Tyrant and NBC/Universal The Last Carnival.
INCENTIVES Hungary is an experienced player in Europe’s movie incentives game. One of the first former Eastern Bloc countries (in ) to introduce generous tax incentives, it has progressively increased the amount available to up to percent or eligible productions. Officially recognized by the European Audiovisual Observatory for the boost its incentives give to film production — between and , movie spending in Hungary accounted INCENTIVES for on average . percent of GDP, double that of the U.K. and France — national film Called “Film Estonia,” the country’s new system of cash rebates — fund managers are expecting million in incoming production spending this year alone. introduced in with the first of four annual submission deadlines A new statutory commitment by the government to maintain a billion forints (about in early February — is designed to “encourage better cooperation million) deposit account to ensure money is available to be paid out for approved between local and foreign film producers to shoot in Estonia.” By tax rebates is the latest tool to keep Hungarian studios, crews and locations busy with providing rebates worth up to percent of in-country production international productions. “There is confidence and trust toward the Hungarian film costs, the incentives, though small, are among Europe’s most gener- industry and its representatives from filmmakers and producers worldwide,” says Agnes ous and cover features, telefilms, documentaries and animation. Havas, CEO of the Hungarian Film Fund.
TALENT TO WATCH TALENT TO WATCH Martti Helde, , has already won international Karoly Uij Meszaros, with a track record as a director and producer of com- recognition for his debut feature, In the Crosswind, mercials, short films and a stage play, has made his feature debut with Liza which screened in competition at Toronto in the Fox-Fairy , a quirky romantic comedy set in Hungary in the late s. The and has won many other awards, including the film, inspired by the work of the Kaurismaki Brothers and Wes Anderson, best director prize in Beijing last year. A graduate has become a box-office hit, with more than , admissions in Hungary. of Tallinn University’s Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, he also is IN BERLIN trained in painting and composition. In the Crosswind, about the Bence Fliegauf returns to Berlinale’s Forum — where his debut feature, Rengeteg, screened harsh choices forced upon young Estonians torn between the Soviet in — with Lily Lane (Liliom osveny), the story of a mother and her young son whose invasion and Nazi support during World War II — reflects Helde’s relationship innovative approach to form and film language. is inextricably Lily Lane linked to stories IN BERLIN and fantasy. And Estonia has no films in official selection, but for the first time, it’s Reka Bucsi’s presenting a project, Comrade Child, directed by Moonika Siimets, animated Love at the Co-Production Market. EFM titles include Family Lies, will screen in the directed by Manfred Vainokivi and Valentin Kuik; The Polar Boy ; festival’s shorts Ghost Mountaineer; and Mother . competition.
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CASE STUDY: WAR AND PEACE The BBC’s six-part adaptation of War and Peace, which premiered in January, used Lithuania as its main base as well as Russia and Latvia. A co-pro- duction among BBC Cymru Wales, The Weinstein Co. and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point, it is the first British TV adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy epic since the BBC’s -part series starring Anthony Hopkins screened in -. The new production, unlike the previous one that was filmed in Yugoslavia, was able to take advantage of genuine locations that War and Peace then were part of the Soviet Union and off-limits to Western filmmakers. Producer Julia Stanndard can quality for a percent tax rebate via a local pro- TALENT TO WATCH said during production that filming had gone duction partner, which may use the rebate to reduce Director Mantas Kvedaravicius “extremely well in Vilnius. Everyone was really local corporate income tax liability. The incentive is brings an intellectualism and helpful and supportive, and we were made to feel so available to feature films, telefilms, documentaries philosophical angle to his newest welcome in this beautiful city.” Added local producer and animated movies. Domestic films, co-produced documentary, Mariupolis, which Lineta Miseikyte of Baltic Film Service, “The scale or commissioned films can take advantage of the examines the stress of living in a and length of the production was challenging, but incentive, which is managed by the Lithuanian Film frontline town during the civil war in Ukraine. An we were able to provide the necessary resources Center. Ruokyte-Jonsson says that in the current academic who teaches visual culture and critical locally and met the demands of the show.” And European environment, standing out from the crowd theory at Vilnius University, he holds a masters from director Tom Harper, speaking when the series is what matters. “It’s a very tough competition to Oxford and a Ph.D. from Cambridge. screened in Vilnius for the Lithuanian cast and crew, attract foreign productions when it comes to tax said “There were a number of reasons [we filmed incentives,” she says. “Twenty percent today maybe IN BERLIN here]. It was the tax credit, it was the [locations]. It is not a sky-high benefit, but combining this with a Mariupolis has its world premiere in the Berlinale’s was the combined effect of it all.”Jurate Pazikaite, super effective, highly professional multilingual local Panorama Documentary section. At the EFM, Wide head of the Vilnius Film Office, says the project was crew makes the whole package attractive and valu- is repping Mikko Kuparinen’s Nights Till Morning, the biggest shot in the capital city last year. able. Everything is possible in Lithuania.” Last year, about a French woman architect and Finnish DJ in addition to the two-day co-production networking who meet while on business trips in Vilnius and end INCENTIVES event on the schooner, Ruokyte-Jonsson promoted up spending the night together. When a volcanic Under a plan introduced in January , productions Lithuanian film by setting up a -seat theater in the ash cloud grounds their flights, their one-night that spend up to one-fifth of their budget in Lithuania departure lounge of Vilnius International Airport. stand is extended.
P O L N D
CASE STUDY: AGNUS DEI expectations, the Polish talent and the Polish Film Institute uses a revolving His debut feature, In a Bedroom, The French-Polish co-production, financial support from the Polish Film door system of grants, rather than about a dishonest but beautiful directed by Frenchwoman Anne Institute were the main factors that tax incentives. Chiefly designed to Warsaw prostitute, had its world Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel), was attracted Agnus Dei to Poland,” says support local productions in one of premiere at Karlovy Vary in and among a range of foreign shoots in Anna Dziedzic of Film Commission the few Eastern European markets toured the festival circuit. Floating Poland in . Shot in the northern Poland. Other recent international with a big enough domestic exhibition Skyscrapers, which province of Warmia, the film, which shoots included True Crimes, which market to offer commercial potential bowed at Tribeca in just premiered at Sundance, addresses stars Jim Carrey, and the French black to local producers, it also is available , won the East of the repercussions of evil when a French comedy Les Affaires Reprennes, a for co-productions. The PISF subsi- the West debut com- doctor comes across a convent where debut feature by Gerard Pautonnier. dizes up to features a year as well petition at Karlovy Vary the nuns are pregnant after being Both shot in the city of Krakow. as documentary and animated the same year.United repeatedly and brutally raped by Red projects. Changes being introduced States of Love, the story of Army stages in the closing days of INCENTIVES this year under new institute head four unhappy women whose decisions World War II. “The suitable loca- The country’s system of film support Magdalena Sroka will ring-fence fund- to change their lives coincide with tions that came up to the producers’ differs from the rest of the region. The ing for minority co-productions. the collapse of communism in Poland “There will be a separate commission in , was presented at Berlin’s Agnus Dei only for minority co-productions, so Co-Production Market last year. they won’t compete with national films,” PFI exec Robert Balinski says. IN BERLIN “We plan to double the number of Official selection titles also include minority co-productions this year I, Olga Hepnarova (Panorama), from three or four to approximately the Czech co-production; Marta eight and spend about million euros Minorowicz’sZud (Generation Kplus); ($. million) for them.” Adrian Sitaru’sIllegitimate (Forum), produced with France and Romania; TALENT TO WATCH and Joaquin del Paso’sPanAmerican Tomasz Wasilewski has taken a well- Machinery (Forum), a co-production trod path to his Berlinale competition with Mexico. Agnus Dei is on offer at screening slot for United States of Love. EFM via Films Distribution.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 12 Your one stop shop from script to screen
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THE SCRAPPY VS. THE SUITS IN KOREA With mid-budget releases becoming virtually nonexistent in the country’s increasingly corporate film sector, independent-minded talents are taking matters into their own hands BY LEE HYOWON
HE SOUTH KOREAN FIL M genre pictures have virtually vacated the field. recent years: 91 titles in 2011, 172 in 2012, 246 industry had another banner “On a given weekend, the top three box- in 2012 and 359 last year. T year in 2015, with the local box office hits take up about three-quarters of the So, even though a record number of films office reaching record heights and screens across Korea. This doesn’t give audi- were released in 2015, only 47 titles — or international sales. Revenue hit $1.42 billion ences much of a choice,” says film critic Jeong 1.37 percent — managed to secure 500 or (1.72 trillion won) last year, up 3.1 percent Ji-ouk. The situation is compounded by the more screens, and those accounted for 81 per- from 2014 and setting a record for the sixth fact that top investor-distributors such as CJ cent of the annual admissions. consecutive year, according to the Korean Entertainment and Lotte Entertainment also “Five to 10 films open every week, which is Film Council. The number of exported own the country’s largest exhibitors. “[Veteran too many considering the size of the domestic domestic films, meanwhile, shot up to and Assassination] were very well-made films market. If films don’t have a big debut, they 650 titles — the most ever. in and of themselves, but we also need to take get pulled immediately, and then cinemas will Last year’s three biggest movies — local this unfair market structure into consider- allot more screens to the bigger blockbust- titles Veteran ($88.7 million) and Assassination ation,” Jeong adds. ers,” says a staff member at a major multiplex ($83.1 million), followed by Avengers: Age of Though more films are being who asked not to be named. Ultron ($74.7 million) — now rank among the made and released than ever before, As polarization within the ILLUSTRATION BY top 15 films of all time at the Korean box office. fewer new titles are actually reach- Rafael industry deepens — between both But industry figures say the large numbers ing viewers. In 2015, a record 1,208 Alvarez big-budget and indie filmmak- belie a more complicated picture of internal movies were released in South ing as well as younger and older strife. Much like in Hollywood, the headline- Korea, of which 538, or 41 percent, audiences — insiders say Korea’s making box-office records have come at the were shown on just one screen ( Age of Ultron, oligarchic entertainment conglomerates cost of intense polarization within the Korean by comparison, opened on 1,843 Korean are only becoming more conservative about theatrical market, with huge-budget block- screens). And half of these single-screen the projects they greenlight. busters dominating screen counts and leaving releases played in the cinema just once before And much like in Hollywood, it’s the stars increasingly low-budget indies to pick up the hitting VOD channels. The number of such who are stepping up and throwing their weight scraps. The result: mid-budget dramas and “single-screen” films has been on the rise in behind inspiring, indie-spirited projects.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 16
SPECIAL FEATURE
Aer Lee Jung-hyun appeared in Roaring Currents, the 2014 maritime epic that is Korea’s highest-grossing film of all time, the singer/actress was expected to follow that up with another high-profile, mainstream pro- duction. Instead, Lee surprised the industry by choosing to star in Gooc-jin Ahn’s dark indie comedy Alice in Earnestland . “My agency wanted me to choose a bigger project, but female characters [in main- stream movies] are extremely limited. I felt very frustrated while choosing pieces aer Roaring Currents, but Alice caught my eye for Operation its novel subject matter, and more impor- Chromite tantly, because I Alice in wanted a meaning- The Five Biggest South Korean Earnestland ful, female-driven story,” says the Releases to Hit Theaters in 2016 36-year-old HE SOUTH production. The action-packed The Tunnel actress. Lee went Korean film period film, set for release in SHOWBOXMEDIAPLEX on to be named industry is boom- the second half of this year, Kim Sung-hoon, the director best actress at the T ing more than marks Kim’s fourth collabora- of ’s hit crime actioner A 2015 Blue Dragon ever, with box-office revenue tion with veteran Korean star Hard Day , helms this story of Film Awards, one and theater admissions in Song Kang-ho (The Throne). a man who is trapped inside of the Korea’s hitting all-time highs for the Set in Japan-occupied Korea a collapsed tunnel and the most prestigious sixth consecutive year. With and China during the s, the dramatic events surrounding film events. a diverse range of big-budget movie features independence his rescue. Highly sought-af- Similarly, actor movies slated for , THR fighters facing off with Japanese ter star Ha Jung-woo Kang Ha-neul also spotlights five titles already police and secret agents while ( Assassination) plays the lead forewent finan- generating buzz. attempting to smuggle explo- role alongside actress Bae cial gain to star sives across the border. Doo-na, who has returned to in Dongju: The Operation Chromite mainstream Korean cinema Portrait of a Poet , CJ ENTERTAINMENT EFM SALES Train to Busan after a stint in Hollywood a biopic about a HANDLED BY FINECUT NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD (Sense, Jupiter Ascending). famous Korean Liam Neeson is sure to gener- Yeon Sang-ho, creator of poet and independence fighter. Lee Joon-ik, ate interest in his role as Gen. the critically acclaimed noir Gosanja, the star director of such pricey blockbusters Douglas MacArthur in this animations for adults The King Daedongyeojido as Korea’s 2016 Oscar submission The Throne, Korean War epic. Director John of Pigs and The Fake, makes CJ ENTERTAINMENT turned to a more independent style of film- H. Lee and writer Lee Man-hee, his live-action film debut with Master filmmaker and producer making for Dongju. who collaborated on another the thriller Train to Busan. Kang Woo-suk tackles a histor- “I did not want to commercially exploit Korean War actioner, : Into The film chronicles the chaos ical epic for the first time for his the life story of Yun Dongju,” says the director. the Fire, reunited for this film. that ensues as a deadly virus th film. Based on the novel of In order to retain full visual control of the Finecut has already closed sweeps through Korea, and the same name by Park Bum- feature, Lee used product placement and deals for the title in Germany, passengers on a bullet train shin, it traces th-century other advertising incentives while operating Austria, Benelux, Yugoslavia from Seoul to the southern port mountaineer, geographer and on a micro budget of about $413,000. and Taiwan at the EFM. city of Busan must fight for their cartographerKim Jeong-ho’s Cho Jae-hyun (Kim Ki-duk’s Moebius), one of survival. The project has gar- extensive efforts to create his South Korea’s most well-established actors, Mil-jeong nered strong early buzz thanks renowned map of the Joseon also insists on appearing in indie films even WARNER BROS. to the fact that there have Kingdom (-). Cha though he has become a household name Director Kim Jee-woon (The |been few local disaster movies Seung-won plays the legend thanks to his appearances in smash-hit Last Stand starring Arnold since the enormous success who is known to have walked the TV soaps and big-budget action movies. A Schwarzenegger) helms of the tsunami block- entire breadth and length of the Korean in Paris, a quirky indie that premiered Warner Bros.’ first local buster Haeundae. Korean Peninsula for the project. last fall at the Busan Film Festival, marks the 50-year-old’s second collaboration with Venice-winning auteur Jeon Soo-il, following announced that he would no longer show his Insiders point out, however, that such El Condor Pasa (2013). films in Korea outside of film festivals. He is a polarization is not limited to the indie- “I take part in smaller projects because my now working on his Chinese film debut, Who versus-mainstream discourse. participation helps budget issues,” Cho says. Is God (working title), aer having releasing “Commercial films are also suffering. “Independent movies must be made, because the Japanese-language project Stop last year. There is an obsession with blockbusters that their unique vision and diverse subject matter “I feel uneasy whenever small films hit hit 10 million admissions, and mid-budget can inspire and provoke mainstream cinema. screens because it is so tough for them to commercial films are being neglected,” adds But sadly, indie filmmaking is dying out.” reach audiences,” says Cho. “It’s true that Cho. Market analysts share this view, and Nevertheless, the actor, who also debuted not all small films have mainstream appeal. a 2015 report compiled by the Korean Film as an indie filmmaker in 2015 with A Break They’re sought out by audiences with a Council states that “genre films have virtually Alone, says he would continue to direct and act particular taste. But it is a problem that such disappeared.” in art films. Cho’s frequent collaborator, art viewers don’t even get the chance to seek Jung Woo Sung, one of Korea’s most pop- house auteur Kim Ki-duk, on the other hand, them out.” ular actors, debuted as a producer for the
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 18
SPECIAL FEATURE
upcoming unconventional mystery romance A Korean in Paris Remember You because established producers seemed unwilling to try something different. The 42-year-old actor attempted to introduce rookie writer-director Lee Yoon-jung to studios, but “older producers kept trying to alter the script,” he said, adding, “I decided to step in because they would have compromised what made the story so unique.” Much like Robert Simonds’ STX Entertainment stateside, Lee believes mid- budget features offer both creative value and a market opportunity. “Not everyone can make big movies on a big budget,” he says. “It’s more important to have a diverse range of mid-budget films that will present lower risks and help build a stronger market.” Jung also plays the lead role in the mystery romance, which cost less than $4 million, a medium-sized project with a break-even point blockbusters,” says Lee Seung-won, head of company JK Films. Though he is best known of roughly 3 million admissions. the CGV Research Center. In the mid-2000s, for such mega-hits as Haeundae and Ode to Bong Joon Ho’s $40 million Snowpiercer quirky sleeper hits such as Scandal Makers My Father , each of which crossed 10 million remains the priciest Korean production of (2008, $41.7 million grossed in Korea) were admissions, his extensive filmography also all time. Films made for more than $10 credited with pulling the Korean film indus- includes smaller comedies and crime dramas. million must target at least 10 million admis- try out of a recession that set in aer studios Says Youn: “The Korean film market is sions, or roughly a fih of Korea’s population invested heavily in big-budget, star-studded severely polarized, and I hope I can help the of 50 million. films that did not live up to expectations. situation by presenting more colorful films “Mid-budget films make up the core of But can that happen again? Director- on a reasonable budget. If we succeed, then the industry, and things look a bit shaky producer JK Youn has vowed to make a more I am sure this will inspire more filmmakers to even though there is growing number of diverse range of mid-budget films via his do the same.”
Studios Find a Place for ‘Interesting Female Personas’
HOUGH LOCAL top talent in a range of roles, new, and this includes stories via CJ Entertainment. The Last Princess, a big- films have from tragic historical figures to featuring interesting female Cannes winnerJeon budget historical drama from T been booming egotistical divas. personas.” Do-yeon (Secret Sunshine) was director Hur Jin-ho. The at the South “It’s been rather tough for Kim Min-hee (Hong one of the few actresses who film follows the true story of Korean box office, there have Korean actresses as their roles Sang-soo’sRight Now, Wrong had a memorable presence in Princess Deokhye, one of been relatively few parts for have been largely limited to Then) will star opposite Korean cinema through the last royals of the Joseon actresses amid the domi- supporting characters, like the budding star Kim Tae-ri inThe The Shameless and the martial Kingdom (-); she was nance of testosterone-fueled lover or mother. But things are Handmaiden, a new lesbian arts epic Memories of the famous for having been forced actioners. Lee Jung-hyun, changing little by little,” said thriller by celebrated director Sword. She will return with A into a marriage with a Japanese for example, turned to indie film critic Youn Sung-eun. Park Chan-wook inspired by Man and a Woman, about a aristocrat and then confined to cinema because she could “The positive reception for the British novel Fingersmith. mother who heads to Finland a mental institution. not find “interesting women Hollywood films centered on Set in the Japanese colonial to send her autistic son to a Popular actress Han to play” after appearing in a women does influence local period (-), the film special camp and becomes Hyo-joo has stood out in two minor role in the box-office filmmakers, and the success follows the plight of an orphan passionately drawn to a fellow unconventional female-driven smash Roaring Currents. of indie films such as Alice in girl who is hired by a con man parent. This is Jeon’s second titles, the crime actioner Cold This year, however, major Earnestland also seems to be to win the trust of a wealthy time working on a melodrama Eyes and the rom-com The studios are spinning out having an effect. Korean audi- heiress, only to end up falling directed by Lee Yoon-gi, fol- Beauty Inside. This year, she female-driven titles featuring ences always want something for her. It is on offer at the EFM lowing ’s One Fine Day . will trade in her sweet, inno- Kim Hye-soo, Korea’s cent image to play a seductive biggest sex symbol, stood courtesan-artist of the Joseon out last year in Coin Locker Kingdom in Haeohwa. Park Girl, a female buddy film that Heung-sik, who directed debuted at Cannes. In the Memories of the Sword, will second quarter of , art will helm the period drama. Kim Hae-soo imitate life as the -year-old Superstar Ha Ji-won, takes on the role of a superstar known for playing everything Han Hyo-joo Ha Ji-won in Familyhood. In this drama from rom-com sweethearts Son Ye-jin directed by Kim Tae-gon, the to action heroines, will actress flirts with the idea of star in Life Risking Romance. becoming a single mother Directed by Song Min-kyu, as she realizes that her star the genre-bending title mixes wattage is fading. romance with thriller elements A-lister Son Ye-jin (The as a couple becomes entangled Pirates) will take the lead in in a serial murder case. H.L.
“We live in a Q&A DIRECTOR world of extraordinary vulnerability,” Gibney says. Alex Gibney The Oscar-winning documentarian on the toll from Going Clear , Tom Cruise’s ‘approval’ of human-rights abuses and the U.S.’ mysterious silence on cyber-war By Scott Roxborough
T’S NOT EASY MAKING A LIVING GORING SACRED COWS, SAYS documentarian Alex Gibney. Still, the 62-year-old filmmaker has kept at it, toppling society’s golden calves with his exposés of cor- Iporate America ( Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), pedophilia in the Catholic Church ( Mea Maxina Culpa: Silence in the House of God ), the U.S. military (Taxi to the Dark Side) and Scientology (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief ). Along the way, he’s collected an Oscar and five Emmys while attracting the ire of the entrenched interests who would rather their secrets be kept hidden. For his latest feature, Zero Days — on the dangers of cyber-espionage revealed by the Stuxnet computer hack of 2010 — Gibney has swapped Scientology’s litigious legal team for the dark hats of government-backed hackers. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter while finishing the mix for Zero Days, Gibney reflected on the hidden “doomsday” threat of cyber-war and Scientology’s ongoing campaign against him and many others involved with Going Clear .
Where you surprised that Going The church has lived up to its Clear wasn’t nominated for an Oscar reputation. after the Church of Scientology actively campaigned against it? Has there been any professional I don’t want to comment on the repercussions for you, working in record about that. There defi- Hollywood? nitely was a campaign against Not really. I can’t say there’s been crossed from the world of cyber there’s been no official recogni- [the film], but I have no evidence any impact there. But in terms to the world of physical — the tion (of the Stuxnet attack). It’s that was responsible for influenc- of the Hollywood element, I Stuxnet worm took control of as if aer 1945 the U.S. govern- ing Academy voters. They didn’t found it somewhat disturbing machines in an Iranian nuclear ment were to have said, “What vote for it and that’s that … I’ve that Tom Cruise continues to plant and made them spin bomb?” This isn’t just a com- been inundated with litigious manage to elude any responsibil- widely out of control. And it was puter story, it’s a story of global letters [from the Church of ity for the ongoing human-rights antonymous. Nobody pressed espionage and war. It’s very much Scientology] threatening law- abuses that are basically con- a button, it attacked on its own in the news now, that espionage suits as has every venue where we ducted in his name. He is the when it felt the time was right, played a role in the recent, exhibited this film, in this country most visible and most vocal pro- a little like the doomsday device controversial nuclear agreement and abroad. They haven’t sued, ponent of the religion. This isn’t in Dr. Strangelove. The Stuxnet with Iran. We are living with the but they threatened a lot. There’s about the creed of the church, it’s story showed the ability of a consequences. been a high cost to releasing about the deed. By not investi- computer program to manipulate the film. I get accosted from gating human-rights abuses in or destroy critical infrastruc- How great a threat does the film time to time — you can see a few the church, he’s tacitly giving his ture: water treatment plants, represent for you and your team? exchanges on YouTube — but the approval to them. electricity grids, transportation Angry hackers can wreak even people who really systems, everything essential to more havoc that Scientologists. took it on the chin You’ve explored an normal life. It shows the potential I took as many precautions as I are the people who BY THE NUMBERS even more clandestine for cyber-war is both terrifying could. I have no idea how effec- spoke to me for the world in Zero Days and comical, and I think it is tive they were. This is very scary movie. They’ve been 22 — the world of something people have not paid terrain. The possibility of an shadowed by private Number of feature cyber-espionage and sufficient attention to at all. attack is ever-present. We live in documentaries Gibney has investigators and directed, including Zero Days malware hacking. a world of extraordinary vul- in ways that are What surprised Did you discover anything in your nerability. The Sony hack made intended to intimi- 8 you most in your research that shocked you? people aware of the possibility of date — woman have Emmy wins for Gibney docs investigation into the Yes. The level of secrecy shocked something like this, but Stuxnet (three each for Going Clear been threatened, and Mea Maxima and two for Stuxnet attack? me. Because this is a big deal — goes way beyond that. We have people have had Taxi to the Dark Side) That this is a much we are talking about a potential to demand more from our their lives destroyed bigger story than global cyber-war — and our lead- government in terms of transpar- economically, 23 most people have ers aren’t even talking about this. ency and protection. This film Number of videos on their houses taken freedommag.org, a realized. It was the The launch of cyber-weapons, in attempts to raise the questions of Scientology site, attacking E away. It’s been thug- first known attack the same way as nuclear weapons, what the government is keeping G Gibney and others who A I M participated in Going Clear E gish intimidation. in which malware need a presidential signoff. But secret — and why. I R W A P S E V F F E THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 22 J WHO SAYS “IT’S A MAN’S WORLD”?
m a m L i l n f o e s n a o / J r o s e l m / z i z F n s e u d r a a m l w k C r r e o E d F r e i e n r e m F T E © © © t o t o t o o o o h h h p p p IN COMPETITION Berlinale Special Panorama Special 24 WEEKS by Anne Zohra Berrached NATIONAL BIRD by Sonia Kennebeck ALL OF A SUDDEN by Aslı Özge Producers: zero one film, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg German Producer: Ten Forward Films (DE/US) German Producer: EEE-Productions (DE/NL/FR) World Sales: Beta Cinema World Sales: Memento Films International
c t i s j e a / M r r o e t h s g o m i n B i l t s F O i a a e t h n i k a y e l r M H U © © © t o t o t o o o o h h h p p p Panorama Special Panorama Dokumente Forum Special FUKUSHIMA, MON AMOUR by Doris Dörrie ZONA NORTE by Monika Treut CHAMISSO’S SHADOW by Ulrike Ottinger Producers: Olga Film, Rolize, Constantin Film Producer: Hyena Films Producer: Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion World Sales: The Match Factory
t i t m h c l m S i e m f z i l e n F n o t a i d s z r o n u e o L z C © © © t o t o t o o o o h h h p p p Forum Special Generation Kplus Generation 14plus RUDOLF THOME – FLOWERS EVERYWHERE ZUD by Marta Minorowicz ZHALEIKA by Eliza Petkova by Serpil Turhan German Producer: zero one film (DE/PL) Producer: DFFB Producer: Luzid Film World Sales: Slingshot Films
g i n l r e k i l W e i c s t r l a r u e v e a r g M a E / K n m a i l s t i f o s : g a o r b d i o e r e G S c © © © t o t o t o o o o h h h p p p Perspektive Deutsches Kino Perspektive Deutsches Kino Perspektive Deutsches Kino/Generation FOUR CORNERS OF A CIRCLE LIEBMANN by Jules Herrmann METEOR STREET by Aline Fischer by Katarina Stanković Co-Producer: Ester.Reglin.Film Producers: credo:film, Film University Babelsberg World Sales: Patra Spanou Film Marketing & Consult ing Producers: ZAK Film/Film University Babelsberg (DE/RS) NEW FILMS r e t u H a n l e a d g a M © t o o h p Perspektive Deutsches Kino FROM GERMANY WHO IS ODA JAUNE? by Kamilla Pfeffer Producer: gebrüder beetz filmproduktion World Sales: Wide House About Ton BERLIN HITS THE RED CARPET
From left: War on Everyone producer Chris Clark with the
film’s stars Michael Pena and Alexander Skarsgard at the film’s premiere on Feb. .
Tilda Swinton and Dieter Kosslick attended a screening of The Man Who Fell to Earth as part of the Berlinale’s tribute to David Bowie on Feb. . Swinton appeared in the video for Bowie’s S E single The Stars G A (Are Out Tonight). I M Y T T E Actors Jaeden G N Lieberher and Kirsten A I L B Dunst (in Gucci) attend S N the photo call for Jeff E M E Nichols’ competition L C , entry Midnight Special E G on Feb. . A I M E I R Jury members W I N Clive Owen and Alba L T O F Rohrwacher (in Miu A I S Miu) share a laugh on , S E stage during the G A Berlinale opening I M Y T ceremony Feb. . T E G I N A Channing Tatum T E (in Dolce & Gabbana) R G E walked the red carpet S E L for the opening-night L A C screening of Hail, S A P Caesar! on Feb. . , S E G From left: Hail, A Caesar! writer-directors I M Y T Ethan and Joel Coen T E G flank the legendary Ben K E Y Barenholtz. Barenholtz, E R who produced several A N of the brothers’ titles, S I A H including their second T T A feature, ’s M , S Raising Arizona, was E G awarded an honorary A I M Y Berlinale Camera Award T T at the Mar tin-Gropius- E G N Bau on Feb. . A N A H C U B D A H THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 24 C a i r ú F a e m o S O : N I O T C U D O R P / a t s o C a d i o r g é S d n a s a o K a y a M : R O T C E I R D / O G R O C I O R
PORTUGAL
8 MOVIES 3 MOVIES IN COMPETITION
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PRESIDENT AND CEO, DOUBLE DUTCH INTERNATIONAL Jason Moring The Toronto-based exec on expanding into producing and financing and why he’s on the lookout for U.S. partners By Etan Vlessing
HEN JASON MORING, PRESIDENT and CEO of Double Dutch International, takes stock of the Wglobal sales market for indepen- dent film, he doesn’t see crisis — he sees opportunity. That’s even aer Canadian “We’re a younger company, we’re growing and emerging rival Entertainment One in January and we’re continually doing invested in Sierra Pictures and closed eOne bigger projects,” says Moring, who was photographed Jan. International, its London-based international at his office in Toronto. sales and distribution arm. Judging cast- driven theatrical releases as safe ground, DDI theatrical, you’re in a big, competitive pool, of their clients. There’s always seemingly a is pushing into production via a deal with where there’s a lot of content out there, and top-20 or a top-30. It’s a supply and demand Awesometown Entertainment (Get Squirrely) that only drives prices down because buyers function. Here, with the way the Canadian to co-produce two or three animated features have options. For us, we made a decision two dollar is going, luckily our business is majority budgeted in the $10 million to $15 million years ago to focus more on theatricals, so we U.S. funds. That will benefit the industry as a range each year. Moring also has made mov- weren’t cluttered up in that competition. whole. You’ll see over the next 12 to 24 months ies that he reps for worldwide sales rights a a huge influx of U.S. and international pro- potentially safer bet for foreign buyers by lin- Besides selling, you have expanded DDI’s portfolio ductions coming to Canada. They not only ing up a $50 million P&A fund from private to include the development and financing of new will get the same quality of work, they’ll get it wealth management firm Fleet-Fairhaven features. Why the push into production? at a significant discount when factoring in (the to ensure a wide U.S. release. Plus, he has The world looks to the U.S. to see what the low Canadian dollar and) film incentives. It’s executive produced such movies as Terence U.S. will do with a film, and that will really like doubling up. Davies’ A Quiet Passion, which stars Cynthia dictate how [foreign buyers] feel about the Nixon and Jennifer Ehle and will receive a marketability and commerciality of a film. You have lined up a $ million P&A fund to help gala screening in Berlin, and A.R.C.H.I.E., a If it gets a wide theatrical release in the U.S., ensure a wider U.S. release for films to give comfort family film voiced by Michael J. Fox. Moring, the world will respond. If the U.S. just does a to foreign buyers. What was the strategy there? 36, sat down with THR in his Toronto office day-and-date release, the world will respond We started talking in early 2015 to Fleet- to discuss the state of the world film sales differently. So, to help keep that control inter- Fairhaven, and we’re evolving to a revolving market, his push into production and his nally, we’re trying to venture more into fund to support P&A. That ties into help- desire to cherry-pick some new executives. a production role and a co-producer role. ing make sure the U.S. was fitting a certain We need to figure out ways to bring certain release model that foreign buyers could There aren’t many Canadian sales companies, pieces to the puzzle early, whether that depend on and be confident in. And the P&A and with Entertainment One closing its be financing or production talent, to give fund allows us to ensure at least 800 screens international sales division, the sector has us an advantage. And with Canada being so and up to 2,000. shrunk. And yet you’re growing? lucrative when it comes to bringing produc- The Sierra acquisition was to help [eOne] tion here, I see a role for us. The falling Canadian dollar also has you eyeing get involved with bigger content. For us, making more movies with U.S. partners, right? that only benefits DDI. We’re definitely Does that mean getting more involved at the During the past six to eight months, trying to take advantage of eOne shutter- script or packaging stages for indie titles that there has been a handful of requests every ing its international division to see whether end up on your international sales slate? week from producers asking if we can help there’s an opportunity to pick up some of Independent producers trying to make a them co-produce out of Canada. So we have their people as well. decent film budgeted in the $8 million to a roster of producers we’ve worked with $15 million range sometimes make wrong before that we are trying to bring into proj- How are film sales? decisions based on cast, and that eventually ects. And we’re looking at setting up our For us, they’re great. We have had a good run makes their film less attractive internation- production shell here domestically so we can since fall 2014, where each market is seem- ally. If we can get involved earlier, we can help help with that. In today’s market, you have ingly better than the last one. We’re a younger guide producers in making casting decisions to be flexible. If you are just a sales company, company, we’re growing and emerging and that will financially benefit their film. that’s one thing. But we’re trying to be a we’re continually doing bigger projects. I little more, to bring financing, to help with know there are people out there saying parts Big names are expensive, especially now with production, to have the P&A financing. of the market are in a downturn. But I really the collapsing Canadian dollar and the fact that These are items that only a handful of sales think you either have theatrical films or you top Hollywood talent is paid in U.S. dollars. companies are doing, and they are usually the have the other pool of films. If you’re not The agents are certainly out for the benefit bigger guys.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 26 PHOTOGRAPHED BY Jennifer Roberts PORTRAIT OF A GARDEN by Rosie Stapel
Screenings: Sun Feb 14 22::00 MGB Wed Feb 17 17::00 MGB
STRIKE A POSE by Ester Gould & Reijer Zwaan
Screenings: Monon Feb 1515 1717::000 IIntnterernanatitionanall Tue Feb 16 12::00 CiineSttarr 7 Wed FFeb 17 17::45 Cubiix 88 Frii Feb 19 14::30 Collosseum 1 Sun Feb 21 17::30 Cubiix 7 Picture Tree EFM International’s SCREENING GUIDE LenaLove
FEB. Voltage Pictures : Dofus — Book I: Julith, Heavenly Nomadic, CinemaxX , mins., CinemaxX , mins., France, Indie Sales Kyrgyzstan, Pluto Film Combativo (rough cut), : One for All, Kino Zoo Palast Club B, mins., Arsenal , mins., Italy, Pakistan, Shah Productions Minerva Pictures Group Bon Bini Holland, CinemaxX You’ll Never Be Alone, , mins., Netherlands, CinemaxX , mins., Dutch Features Global Chile, Wide Entertainment The Snow Queen : Fire and Sand Storm, CineStar , Ice, CinemaxX , mins., mins., Israel, Beta Cinema Russia, China, Wizart The Carer, CinemaxX , Nights, d-Kino, mins., Hungary, United mins., Lebanon, France, Kingdom, The Yellow Affair Intramovies Stranded, CineStar , : Other Girls, Parliament, mins., Spain, Filmax mins., Finland, Eastwest International Filmdistribution Accabadora, MGB-Kino, Blue Bicycle, CinemaxX , Monsieur Chocolat, CineStar mins., Italy, France, Doc & Par accident, CinemaxX , mins., Italy, Rai Com mins., Turkey, Germany, IMAX, mins., France, Film International mins., France, Be for Films Drama Film Production Umit Gaumont :, Food & Shelter, Koreken LenaLove, d-Kino, : Shepherds and : The Inerasable, CinemaxX , mins., Spain, mins., Germany, Picture Butchers, CinemaxX , CineStar , mins., Japan, Latido Films : Am Koelnberg, Zoo Tree International mins., USA, South Africa, Shochiku The Bounce Back, EFM Palast , mins., Germany, Fast Convoy, EFM Cinemobile, WestEnd Films Them Who?, EFM Cinemobile, Cinemobile, mins., USA, Real Fiction Filme mins., France, Indie Sales mins., Italy, True Colours Double Dutch International A Mighty Team, CinemaxX , : London Heist, Agnes, CinemaxX , : Rosalie Blum, Kino mins., France, Other Angle CinemaxX Studio , mins., mins., Germany, Pluto Film : Parisienne, CinemaxX Arsenal , mins., France, Pictures United Kingdom, Cinema Studio , mins., France, SND — Groupe M La vache, CinemaxX , Management Group (CMG) : The Stare, CinemaxX , Films Boutique Don’t Call Me Son, CinemaxX mins., France, Pathé mins., Japan, Kadokawa To Steal From a Thief, , mins., Brazil, Loco Films International : Morris From America, Corp. CinemaxX , mins., Spain, Kino Arsenal , mins., Do Mixers Go to Heaven?, Argentina, Film Factory : Halal Love (and Sex), :, Loev, CinemaxX , Germany, USA, Visit Films CinemaxX , mins., Entertainment Kino Arsenal , mins., mins., India, Wide Germany, Clip Film- und Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Germany, Films Distribution : The Bunker, Zoo Fernsehproduktion CineStar , mins., New : Do You Believe?, Palast , mins., Germany, Heartless, Marriott , Zealand, Protagonist Pictures : Dad Hold My Hand, Parliament, mins., USA, Film Republic mins., Germany, USA, Wind One Kiss, CineStar , Zoo Palast Club B, mins., Pure Flix/Quality Flix Robinson Crusoe, Child Entertainment mins., Italy, True Colours India, Wet Grass Films Highway To Hellas, CinemaxX , mins., Lolo, CinemaxX , mins., The Boss’s Daughter, Scratch, CineStar , CineStar , mins., Germany, Belgium, Studiocanal France, Wild Bunch CinemaxX , mins., France, mins., Canada, Filmoption ARRI Media Parched, CineStar , Wild Bunch International Endorphine, CinemaxX , : Under the Pyramid, mins., USA, India, United My Revolution, CinemaxX , mins., Canada, Seville Zoo Palast Club B, mins., Kingdom, Seville International mins., France, Visit Films : Very Big Shot, International Sweden, Netherlands, Idyll CinemaxX , mins., The Bride, CinemaxX , : Sophie’s Misfortunes, : Olympic Pride, Lebanon, Be for Films mins., Spain, Fortissimo Films : Spanish Affair , MGB- CineStar IMAX, mins., American Prejudice, Viva, MGB-Kino, mins., Gamba, CineStar , mins., Kino, mins., Spain, Film France, Gaumont CinemaxX , mins., USA, Ireland, Mongrel International Japan, SC Films International Factory Entertainment Autlook Filmsales The Kind Words, CinemaxX Chronically Metropolitan — : A Melody to Remember, , mins., Israel, Canada, By Invitation Only, Zoo Palast : Wedding Doll, d- CinemaxX , mins., South : The Sun, CinemaxX Beta Cinema Club A, mins., USA, Films Kino, mins., Israel, Gilady Korea, Contents Panda (Next Studio , mins., Japan, Nitzan Films Entertainment World) Kadokawa Corporation : A Conspiracy of Faith, : A Good Wife, CinemaxX The Crew, CineStar , mins., Worlds Apart, Zoo Palast , WAX: We Are the X, CinemaxX , mins., Studio , mins., Serbia, France, SND — Groupe M mins., Greece, Films Marriott , mins., Italy, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Films Boutique Molly Monster, Ted Sieger’s, Filmexport Group TrustNordisk : A Decent Man, CinemaxX , mins., All of a Sudden, CinemaxX , Between Sea and Land, : These Daughters of CinemaxX , mins., Germany, Switzerland, mins., Germany, France, CinemaxX , mins., Mine, CinemaxX , mins., France, Bac Films Sweden, Global Screen Netherlands, Memento Films Colombia, USA, Global Screen Poland, Media Move Vicky Banjo, CinemaxX , International All These Sleepless Nights, Rara, CinemaxX , mins., mins., France, Gaumont : Kivalina, CinemaxX Sniper: Special Ops, Zoo CinemaxX , mins., Chile, Argentina, Latido Films Arianna, CinemaxX , Studio , mins., USA, Savor Palast , mins., USA, Poland, HanWay Films Fire at Sea, CineStar , mins., Italy, Rai Com Terra Films
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 28 EMIERE EFM PR LINEUP COMEDY F A MILY /
m o c . e i r a n n i o i s i v l t u m . w Family Adventure / USA / 2016 spring delivery Comedy / 90 min. / USA w w i t i s v , p u e n l i l f u r o F
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: Only for the Weekend, Enlightened, CinemaxX , This Summer Feeling, CinemaxX , mins., USA, Cinemobile, mins., Zoo Palast , mins., Italy, mins., Belgium, Ireland, CinemaxX Studio , mins., XVIII Entertainment Slovenia, Slovenian Film Summerside International Germany, Films Boutique France, Pyramide International Centre War on Everyone, CineStar , The Master, CineStar , : A Woman, a Part, : Cheer Up, CinemaxX mins., United Kingdom, mins., Hong Kong, China, Zoo Palast , mins., USA, Studio , mins., Finland, : Jonathan, CinemaxX , Bankside Films Golden Network Asia Infinitum Productions Canada, Wide House mins., Germany, m-appeal A Hundred Streets, Magnus, Kino Arsenal , — Raspberry & Cream Parliament, mins., : Young Wrestlers, mins., Norway, TrustNordisk : A Sunday Kind of United Kingdom, Umedia CinemaxX , mins., Turkey, Love, CinemaxX , mins., : Rosehill, CinemaxX , International Netherlands, Kaliber Film : Requirements to Be a Canada, Princ Films mins., USA, Germany, The Black Hen, CinemaxX The Church of Karadima, Normal Person, Parliament, ManifestoFilm Studio , mins., Nepal, EFM Cinemobile, mins., mins., Spain, Latido Films : Pursuit, Zoo Palast Club Germany, Wide Chile, Ocio Films Song of Lahore, CinemaxX , A, mins., Ireland, An Pointe : From a House on Bang Gang (A Modern mins., USA, Autlook Productions Willow Street , CinemaxX Love Story), Kino Arsenal , : Timeswings — Filmsales Studio , mins., South mins., France, Films Hanne Darboven Revisited, Inside the Chinese Closet, : Suntan, Kino Arsenal , Africa, The Exchange Distribution Marriott , mins., Germany, CinemaxX , mins., mins., Greece, Visit Films Moonlightmovies Netherlands, Films Transit The Childhood of : Humidity, CinemaxX , : Rupture, Zoo Palast While the Women Are International a Leader, CineStar , mins., Serbia, Netherlands, Club B, mins., USA, Sleeping, CinemaxX , mins., United Kingdom, Greece, Soul Food Films Luxembourg, Canada, Ambi mins., Japan, Toei Co. : The Shell Collector, Hungary, France, Protagonist Don’t Be Bad, CinemaxX , Distribution Marriott , mins., USA, Pictures mins., Italy, Rai Com : Mr. Pig, CineStar , Japan, Shell Collector Valley of Knights — Mira’s : Der Nachtmahr, Zoo mins., USA, Mundial The Mine, CinemaxX , Magical Christmas, : Last of the Elephant Palast , mins., Germany, The Ardennes, CinemaxX mins., Finland, The Yellow CinemaxX , mins., Men, CineStar , mins., K Mediagroup , mins., Belgium, Affair Norway, Sola Media Canada, France, Filmoption Netherlands, Attraction California, CinemaxX International : Katabui — In the Distribution : The Lady in the Car Studio , mins., Brazil, After Eden, CinemaxX Studio Heart of Okinawa, d-Kino, Happy Birthday, CinemaxX , With Glasses and a Gun, Films Boutique , mins., Canada, Wide mins., Japan, Switzerland, mins., USA, Arclight Films CinemaxX , mins., France, Welcome to Norway, Team Spirit, CinemaxX , Kukuru Vision Wild Bunch CineStar , mins., Norway, mins., France, Le Pacte : Nick — Off Duty, In Front of Others, MGB-Kino, Sweden, Beta Cinema : Koudelka Shooting CineStar IMAX, mins., mins., Iceland, Truenorth Chasing Niagara, : The Rift, CineStar , Holy Land, CinemaxX , Germany, Global Screen CinemaxX , mins., Austria, mins., South Korea, Serbia, mins., Germany, Czech Agnus Dei, CineStar , : Fire Song, CinemaxX , Red Bull Media House Slovenia, More In Group Republic, Israel, Wide House mins., France, Poland, mins., Canada, MCE Farewell My Teacher, Films Distribution Young Light, Zoo Palast , : Let’s Talk , Marriott , CineStar , mins., France, : Kidnap Capital, MGB- What a Wonderful Family!, mins., Germany, France, mins., Italy, Filmexport Group Studiocanal Kino, mins., Canada, The CineStar , mins., Japan, Weltkino Filmverleih Annex Entertainment Shochiku : Wild, CinemaxX , : On My Mother’s Side, : Scream Week, Josephine, Pregnant & mins., Germany, The Match CinemaxX , mins., CinemaxX , mins., Fabulous, CinemaxX , : Summertime, Factory Canada, Seville International Netherlands, Belgium, mins., France, TF CinemaxX , mins., Italy, The Girl in the Book, Incredible Film International Rai Com : Tickled, EFM CineStar IMAX, mins., USA, Nights Till Morning, Cinemobile, mins., New Myriad Pictures : The End (The CinemaxX , mins., : Kids in Love, Zoo Palast Zealand, Magnolia Pictures Fack Ju Goehte , Parliament, Wandering), CineStar , Finland, Lithuania, Wide , mins., United Kingdom, Fade — The Tales About the mins., Germany, Picture mins., France, Gaumont Carnaby International Last Days, Zoo Palast Club B, Tree International : Land of the Sales & Distribution mins., Italy, New World House for Mermaids, : We Are the Flesh, Cinemas MGB-Kino, mins., Estonia, CinemaxX , mins., Russia, Korela Film Mexico, Reel Suspects : The Fits, CineStar , Things to Come, CinemaxX , Sophie and the Rising mins., USA, Mongrel mins., France, Germany, Sun,, CinemaxX , mins., International Les Films du Losange USA, Seville International Becoming Zlatan, CinemaxX The Greasy Strangler , : Richard Linklater: , mins., Sweden, Autlook CineStar , mins., Dream Is Destiny, CinemaxX Filmsales United Kingdom, Protagonist , mins., USA, Dogwoof If Cats Disappeared Pictures From the World, CineStar , : Man Falling, CinemaxX mins., Japan, Toho : Satanic, Parliament, , mins., Denmark, Wide mins., USA, Magnolia Pictures House : Hedi, CinemaxX , Dragon, EFM Cinemobile, Anna, CinemaxX , mins., mins., Tunisia, Belgium, mins.,Russia,Mirsand Dogwoof’s Richard Linklater: Italy, Rai Com France, Luxbox Kiki, CinemaxX , mins., Dream Is Destiny The Linda Vista Project, : Mother, EFM Sweden, USA, Films Boutique
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 30 MARKET PREMIERE TODAY FEB. 14 MGB CINEMA 14:15
WORLDWIDE SALES, CONTACT THE ANNEX ALEX HUGHES, MGB #145 TEL: +1.416.363.9971 EXT. 241 R E V I E W S
Morrison (left) and Keefe are a Maori farmer and his grandson.
novel by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera, has a bad habit of articulating every trace of The Patriarch subtext. In the final scenes in particular, the Lee Tamahori’s first New Zealand-set film in two decades is a heartfelt on-the-nose dialogue, ripe melodrama and preprogrammed emotional responses will test but often clumsy and heavyhanded Maori family saga all but the most forgiving viewers. INCE BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE like a heartfelt connection to this beautiful Temuera Morrison, the breakout star of in 1994 with the tough Maori drama place and its people. It’s also seasoned with Once Were Warriors, is playing a different Once Were Warriors, Lee Tamahori the flavor of a Western, as signaled first in the kind of Maori patriarch this time around. Shas had mixed fortunes making initial placement of key characters against Tamihana Mahana is a proud man who big-budget thrillers, including Die the majestic landscape, then in a Cinema arrived with nothing decades earlier on the Another Day, the 2002 Bond movie remem- Paradiso-style scene in a movie house play- North Island’s wild East Coast. He worked bered mainly as the last wheeze of Pierce ing the original 3:10 to Yuma, and later with hard to clear the land for grazing and build Brosnan on the MI6 payroll. It’s no surprise a mention of the Don Siegel-directed Elvis the local church, carving a prominent posi- that the director’s first film in his native New Presley vehicle, Flaming Star . tion in the small community, where Maori Zealand in more than 20 years, The Patriarch, If all that sounds like a lumpy stew, it is, and Pakeha, or whites, co-exist at a more or is full of conflicting impulses. It’s a boldly old- though for most of the running time it’s quite less respectful distance. fashioned family saga, set amid spectacular enjoyable as these things go. But the script By the early 1960s, when the story takes pastoral scenery and made with what seems by John Collee ( Happy Feet ), based on a place, Tamihana is a gruff grandfather, a
Questions With Hollywood, that’ll be great, It’s been up and down. But when you get a What’s happening with the Adrian and then I’ll try making Euro chance to play in America and with large Brody-starring Emperor , which was first Lee Tamahori movies and then I’ll go home, budgets and big stories, you sort of take announced in Cannes two years ago? By Alex Ritman and this strange weird model it. But I got classified as an action guy over The interminable long project that will not This is your first New Zealand film since Tamahori is kind of coming to pass. there, especially after the Bond movie, stop! It’s worthy of a film in itself. It’s all about Once Were Warriors. Are you returning and wanted to cut out of that and try some financing, the usual stuff. But it’s a good film home for good? How has your relationship with Hollywood middle ground. So ended up doing The and is in good shape. We’re just waiting on I set myself a sort of strange goal in the — which hit its heights in 2002 with Die Devil’s Double and making Euro films, which the VFX. We’re nearly there, but we’ve got to ’s where I said if I can last years in Another Day — been? is a whole new landscape. get it over the line.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 32 religious man and stern traditionalist. He shows a keen interest in his outspo- ken 14-year-old grandson Simeon (Akuhata Keefe), assigning him endless farm chores yet deeming him not man enough to partici- pate when his parents go off for an extended shearing job on a white sheep farmer’s property. Being le behind with his grand- Huppert is forced to start anew after her father intensifies the friction between them. husband leaves her. Following his parents’ return, Simeon goes too far in challenging the old man, whose violent outburst sparks a clash that ends Things to Come with Simeon’s family being banished from French director Mia Hansen-Love’s slyly humorous and beautifully observed film Tamihana’s property. stars Isabelle Huppert as a woman whose life unravels As in Whale Rider , Ihimaera’s esteem for strong Maori women is evident in the role of OR HER FIFTH FEATURE , FRENCH WRITERDIRECTOR MIA HANSENLOVE Tamihana’s beekeeper wife, Ramona (Nancy follows the quotidian travails of a 60-something philosophy teacher (played effort- Brunning), who dominates the lives of the F lessly by Isabelle Huppert) who’s dumped by her longtime husband, burdened with extended family in much less demonstra- a growingly senile mother and suddenly forced to face the onset of old age by herself. tive ways than her overbearing husband. She If the filmmaker’s previous movies all dealt with the passage of time in one way or goes against Tamihana’s wishes by giving another, this latest effort tackles the subject head-on in a manner both deeply intellectual Simeon’s disowned family a run-down house and compassionately playful, mixing citations by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Blaise Pascal that belongs to her on a neighboring hill. It’s with witty reflections and a surprising number of cat jokes. While the film’s first half is hinted at from early on that Ramona’s past perhaps more potent than its conclusion, this is still another impressive work by an auteur ties to Rupeni Poata (Jim Moriarty), the who manages to transform everyday stories into a singular vision. patriarch of the other dominant local Maori The Franco-German production should see extensive art house distribution thanks to family, are at the heart of the deep-rooted Huppert’s name and Hansen-Love’s reputation as one of France’s most promising direc- hatred between the two clans. tors, especially aer her DJ saga Eden was championed by critics in the U.S. and U.K. When Simeon’s father, Joshua (Regan Married for 25 years and most happy when surrounded by her books and students, Taylor), is injured in an accident, the boy Nathalie (Huppert) approaches life and work with a matter-of-factness that doesn’t steps up to secure his impoverished family’s stop her from asking some serious questions, though perhaps not always of herself. She’s ongoing livelihood, challenging Tamihana’s extremely good at breaking down the thoughts of major 20th-century philosophers, though control over the shearing work. all the treatises in the world can’t prepare one for the messiness of human existence. It’s refreshing to see a New Zealand This comes quickly enough when her husband and fellow philosophy teacher, Heinz drama that tells a Maori story built around (Andre Marcon), decides to leave Nathalie for another woman, moving out of their Parisian neither integration issues nor troubles with apartment. Meanwhile, Nathalie’s aging mother, Yvette (the great Edith Scob), has violence and addiction. Still, a director more become incapable of living alone, harassing her daughter with calls day and night. capable than Tamahori of drawing fine- While these are all transformative events for Nathalie, and not necessarily joyful ones, grained performances from his actors would Hansen-Love approaches them with lightheartedness. In one scene, Nathalie sobs have been needed to elevate this story above alone while riding a city bus but suddenly bursts into laughter when she unexpectedly earnest soap opera. sees Heinz and his mistress out the window. Could it really get any worse? Morrison remains a forceful presence, The film’s shrewd sense of humor, its way of underlining the absurdity of life’s foibles, even in a two-dimensional role, and Brunning is fully carried by Huppert’s disarming performance, which never panders to easy senti- plays up Ramona’s silent fortitude with rea- ments but doesn’t shy away from showcasing raw emotion. Per the press notes, the Nathalie sonable effectiveness. But the acting is oen character was inspired by both the actress herself and, like those in many of Hansen-Love’s stiff, and Keefe’s inexperience shows in the films, by the director’s own family, making for someone who feels incredibly real. uncertainty with which he straddles Simeon’s If Nathalie’s life has clearly been upended, she manages to find some solace in the com- adolescent immaturity with his blossoming pany of the handsome and considerably younger Fabien (Roman Kolinka), a brilliant convictions and backbone. former student who has given up academia to live with a group of anarchists in the coun- Cinematographer Ginny Loane’s crisp, tryside. As she becomes more isolated, Nathalie seems further drawn to her ex-pupil, handsome compositions of the verdant arriving at his picturesque mountain abode with her mom’s cat Pandora in tow, resulting countryside are among the movie’s chief in several gags and a fair amount of animal close-ups. attractions. Overall, though, The Patriarch, The closing reels lack the narrative impact of what came beforehand, with Fabien becomes clunky and predictable, its never turning into a captivating enough character. But anyone hoping to find catharsis in sentimentality amplified by awkward incor- the work of Hansen-Love should look elsewhere. Working again with DP Denis Lenoir, poration of songs into the lush score. she cras a warmly hued portrait of a woman whose life unravels yet flows stubbornly, and even humorously, onward. Out of Competition Cast Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe, Nancy Competition Brunning, Jim Moriarty, Regan Taylor Cast Isabelle Huppert, Andre Marcon, Roman Kolinka, Edith Scob, Sarah Le Picard Director Lee Tamahori // 103 minutes Director Mia Hansen-Love // 100 minutes
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 33 REVIEWS Rosi’s film chronicles the migrant crisis on a Sicilian island. Fire at Sea Life on the Italian island of Lampedusa is shaken by waves of migrants in this quietly powerful doc
ONVEYING THE to the film may find too many immensity of the on- questions le unanswered. C going migrant crisis, Yet Jacopo Quadri’s admi- which is costing thousands rable editing contains its own of lives each year as it puts perfect symmetry, alternating European unity and values sorely adventurous, oen dramatic to the test, has proved far too rescue operations with the quiet great a task for news reporting. life of the fishermen and their Where journalism leaves off, Fire families who inhabit the island. at Sea ( Fuocoammare ) begins. If the film has a main character, It takes a unique documentary it is Samuele, a rambunctious filmmaker like Gianfranco Rosi 12-year-old who spends his time to capture the drama, his cam- outdoors with a pal, practicing personnel scouting the rough Very little is shown in the era focused on the small Sicilian his homemade slingshot on the waters of the Mediterranean. camps where migrants are island of Lampedusa. There, local birds and cacti, trying to get This segues smoothly into some temporarily housed. In a striking wave upon wave of desperate his sea legs aboard his father’s breathtaking footage aboard real scene, Rosi films a group of young boat people bring their dramas, fishing boat. As it gradually cruisers and warships as they men giving “testimony” to tragedies and emergencies becomes apparent, this innocent patrol the sea for boats in peril. their plight: Bombed in Nigeria, to Europe’s shore, with the Italian play has some uneasy under- Their giant radars spin around as they fled through the Sahara, navy and coast guard rescuing tones. Though shown humorously a disembodied Italian voice begs where many died of thirst and as many as they can. in a visit to the doctor, Samuele a sinking ship to give its posi- exhaustion, then to Libya, where The humor and compassion has eye problems and breathing tion. Perhaps because the person many more died or were impris- that Rosi brought to the deni- difficulties linked to anxiety, and calling can’t understand him, or oned, before embarking on their zens of Rome’s ring road in Sacro the way he obsessively shoots an doesn’t know the coordinates, perilous sea journey. GRA, which won the Venice imaginary gun isn’t reassuring. he continues responding with a This horror is mitigated by Golden Lion in 2013, are still Rosi captures the old-world heartbreaking, “God save us!” scenes of gentle humor, like one very much present, but here they atmosphere of Lampedusa not Whereas most filmmakers in which a doctor with limited illuminate a subject of far greater just in images of the barren, would follow a rescue op from English tries to make himself import. Fire at Sea should be scrubby island and its rocky start to finish, Rosi never satisfies understood by a pregnant African able to find larger audiences, at shores, but through generous the audience’s curiosity in this woman. It isn’t laugh-out-loud, least in countries familiar with excerpts of Sicilian tunes heard way. He creates drama instead but it helps put the tragedies into the migrant crisis. on the radio in the kitchen of through a careful choice of some kind of human perspective. No time is wasted on back- an elderly couple and broadcast emotionally resonant details, like In the end, this kind of compas- ground information, nor is there by a delightful local DJ who is the shiny thermal blankets that sion is the film’s main takeaway. any hint of what becomes of the obviously a connoisseur of the look like Christmas wrapping people — mostly Africans, some genre. Bent over his monitors and paper and give a group of Competition Syrians — who survive the fearful mike in a darkened studio, at first immigrants a surreal sci-fi look Director Gianfranco Rosi sea journey. A viewer coming cold he could be mistaken for navy as they file off a boat at night. 108 minutes
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 34
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REVIEWS
The Tenth Man The latest from Argentinian writer-director Daniel Burman is an atmospheric, well-observed family dramedy set in Buenos Aires’ Jewish community
WRYLY AMUSING PEEK is, like Monica, only a voice on into Buenos Aires’ bus- the phone, sending the eager- Atling Jewish quarter, The to-please but somewhat klutzy Tenth Man ( El rey del Once ) sees Ariel on various errands across writer-director Daniel Burman the city. These bring him into content to explore familiar turf in contact with a gangling, Napoleon more ways than one. Drawing on Dynamite-haired hospital patient, his own experiences growing up Marcelito Cohen (oddball scene-
in the Argentinian capital’s heav- stealer Uriel Rubin), and Eva Sabbagh is an ily populated 11th district (“El (Julieta Zylberberg), a demure Argentine ex-pat who finds you can’t Once”), he explicitly harks back foundation worker to whom he go home again. to the films he made between develops a halting romantic 2000 and 2006 ( Lost Embrace, attraction. And of course he’s our point of up in the closing minutes. Indeed, Family Law and others) that Eva’s devoutness semi-inadver- access to the Once itself, an envi- for the bulk of the running time, made his name. tently sees the longtime skeptic ronment captured in loving detail we’re led to believe Usher is The Tenth Man’s protago- Ariel reconnect with his faith, by Daniel Ortega’s hand-held the “tenth man” of the English nist is Ariel, incarnated by the most drolly during a lively visit to camera work, which frequently language title — which refers chubby, balding Alan Sabbagh. the local synagogue, where he’s spies on characters from handy to the quorum of men required Based in New York with his greeted with boisterous delight corners of their cramped, for a Jewish funeral — before a dancer girlfriend Monica (Elisa and finds himself being strapped cluttered, lived-in interior last-reel development concludes Carricajo, heard but not seen), into Tefillin phylacteries. Ariel spaces. Meanwhile, Margarita the bittersweet proceedings on a Ariel returns home to see his endures such shenanigans with Tambornino’s production design productively circular note. father, Usher (Usher Barilka), the plodding, stoic resignation draws heavily from the reality of who runs a charitable foundation that is his character’s main trait; the district. Panorama supplying meat, pharmaceuticals he’s never what one could call The smartest touch of Cast Alan Sabbagh, Julieta and menswear — among other the most dynamic of big-screen Burman’s bouncy, unobtrusively Zylberberg, Usher Barilka, Elvira items — to the neighborhood. But heroes, but spending an hour and informative screenplay is to make Onetto, Adrian Stoppelman Usher is so busy with his various a quarter in his company proves a Usher such a dominant offscreen Director Daniel Burman business negotiations that he gently rewarding experience. presence before he finally shows 81 minutes
though the film does take an interesting turn Meteor Street during the closing reel. If Fischer doesn’t quite convince in the plot department, she Documentary filmmaker Aline Fischer’s first narrative feature is an intensely makes strong use of the bleak outlier settings performed immigrant drama but lacks a strong storyline and of her well-chosen cast, whose intense AMED AF TER A NARROW, DESOLATE to hold down the fort, finding under-the-table turns carry much of the dramatic weight. road adjacent to Berlin’s Tegel airport, employment at a nearby garage. The promising Eliraqui channels N Meteor Street (Meteorstrasse) shows Yet as much as he tries to get ahead, the Mohammed’s ongoing predicament as some- a side of the city seldom seen onscreen: that young man is forever weighed down by one caught between his war-torn origins and a of Arab immigrants scraping by in a country Lakhdar’s behavior as well as by the rac- new world where Muslim customs are not eas- that does not always welcome them. ist attitudes of some of the bikers at the ily accepted. Ozdemir is equally convincing as For her first narrative feature, French garage, who are happy to exploit their Arab the volatile, self-destructive Lakhdar. documentary director Aline Fischer focuses laborer but will never let him join their crew. With lots of handheld camerawork to follow on a pair of Palestinian brothers — 18-year-old Eventually, Mohammed strikes back in an act the action, Fischer’s very Dardennes-style Mohammed (Hussein Eliraqui) and 27-year- of desperation. direction can grow dizzying at times, and one old Lakhdar (Oktay Inanc Ozdemir) — trying It’s a slim storyline that oen feels like wishes she’d step back from all the close-ups to make ends meet aer their parents have a short movie stretched to feature length, to give her characters a bit of air. Production been deported to Lebanon. It’s a power- designer Paola Cordero Yannarella adds a ful subject that could have been developed Brothers Ozdemir strong layer of realism to the industrial zone (left) and Eliraqui further in a film that lacks sufficient narrative have trouble where Mohammed and Lakhdar are stranded making ends drive but gets by with energetic performances meet in Berlin. — a place that sits ironically next to an airfield from its two leads. where people are constantly heading off to Holed up in a ramshackle home with other, perhaps more welcoming, lands. two dogs to feed and not a dime to spare, Mohammed and Lakhdar have few options Perspektive Deutsches Kino in a town where work is already hard to come Cast Hussein Eliraqui, Oktay Inanc Ozdemir, by. Given that his older bro is erratic and Bodo Goldbeck, Sebastian Gunther irresponsible, Mohammed has no choice but Director Aline Fischer // 84 minutes
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 36 DRAMA SERIES DAYS 1516 FEB 2016 Market Screenings | Panel Programme | Networking Events 15 16 MONDAY, 15 FEB TUESDAY, 16 FEB
GROPIUS MIRROR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 10:0010:30 Official Opening* 10:0013:00 CoPro Series Pitching* 10:3011:30 Commissioning Strategies EFM PRODUCERS HUB at MGB – the Trendsetters EFM Panel hosted by HBO 12:4513:00 Presentations and Talks – Series Europe moderated by C21 MGBCINEMA 16:0017:00 Cross-Atlantic Series Success: 13:1014:10 Showcase TV Drama Vision (Re)Making TV for Europe and the World Scandinavia presented by Goteborg Film Festival EFM Industry Debate hosted by IFA and the Film- BERLINALE TALENTS at HAU1 und Medienstiftung NRW in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter 17:0018:30 Take a Long Look: The Cinematography of Game of Thrones HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 10:4511:45 CLEVERMAN Case Study MEET THE DOCS TALKS at MGB International Co-Production of a Series 17:3018:00 Documentary Series BERLINALE TALENTS at HAU2 * by invitation only 17:0018:30 Floating Shapes: How to Give Stories the Right Flow Along with the “Drama Series Days“, the 66th Berlin International Film Festival will again present a curated MONDAY & TUESDAY, 1516 FEB selection of high-quality drama series within the EFM CINEMOBILE & MGB CINEMA framework of the Berlinale Special programme at 10:0019:00 Market Screenings the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
www.efm-berlinale.de REVIEWS
Ezenfis is a teen with serious Short Stay Daddy issues. Ted Fendt’s feature-length debut is an effectively low-key portrait of an outsider
THROWBACK TO THE task, but Fendt manages to trans- early dog days of mum- form Mike into someone we can’t A blecore, Short Stay is help feeling curious about, sorry certainly true to its title. Clocking for and even a bit hopeful for in at only 61 minutes, this debut — this despite the fact that he’s featurette from writer-director incapable of carrying on a normal Ted Fendt follows the wayward conversation with anyone, includ- travails of a thirtyish, possibly ing a girl (Elizabeth Soltan) he on-the-spectrum Jersey boy may indeed be in love with. (Their who decides to try his luck in handful of short-lived date scenes Philadelphia, only to learn that are a pinnacle of failure and life in the big city is not quite silent resignation.) what he was hoping for. Not unlike the antihero of fel- Simple yet effective in its low mumblecore auteur Ronnie portrait of a man who can’t really Brownstein’s Frownland , Mike is fit in anywhere, this understated a guy who simply can’t catch a The Son of Joseph slice of East Coast life will mostly break, though he’s neither caus- please fans of Andrew Bujalski, tic nor critical of those around The latest from France-based American filmmaker Joe Swanberg and other low-fi him — he’s just sort of a major Eugene Green is an arty and amusing meditation on DIY directors when they first schlub. Whether Maccherone is religion, love and fatherhood started out. Aer a premiere in actually playing himself is hard FATHERLESS YOUNG PARISIAN SETS OUT TO M EET HIS Berlin’s Forum sidebar, it should to tell, but Fendt coaxes believ- creator in The Son of Joseph (Le Fils de Joseph), the latest continue playing festivals and able performances out of both Afilm from writer-director Eugene Green. The U.S.-born, could find some short stays on his lead and the rest of the cast in France-based filmmaker ( La Sapienza) tackles ideas of fatherhood VOD outlets, though theatrical the kind of movie where nobody in relation to the Holy Family through the story of Vincent, a surly will pose more of a challenge. seems to be acting yet everyone is teen who blames his mother, not coincidentally called Marie, for Mike (Mike Maccherone) is acting natural. the fact that he doesn’t have a dad. Lighter than most of Green’s the kind of guy you knew in high Shot on 35mm by DP Sage other work, this could very well travel further afield. school but never really talked to. Einarsen, Short Stay has the Freckle-faced Vincent (Victor Ezenfis), who looks like he’s A decade or so later, he still lives grainy, realistic look of a docu- about 15, lives with his single mom (Natacha Regnier) in the in the neighborhood and works mentary from the mid 1970s, center of Paris. She has never told him who his father is. He finally at the local pizza joint, dreaming chronicling the dull as dishwater manages to find out that his old man is an influential publisher, perhaps of another life but not streets of suburban New Jersey Oscar Pormenor (Mathieu Amalric). To get to know him, Vincent doing very much to get there. and the slightly more animated copies the key of Pormenor’s office — which is, bien sur , in a chic When he’s invited to a party in ones of downtown Philadelphia, Parisian hotel — and hides under the divan to eavesdrop. Philly, Mike meets an old friend, where Mike tries to give a tour What becomes clear is that Oscar isn’t a father any boy would Mark (Mark Simmons), who’s or two. When a few passersby want, forgetting how many children he has with his wife and headed to Poland and offers our accept, you almost feel bad for cheating on her with his busty secretary (Julia de Gasquet). hero both an apartment and a job them: Mike is certainly no mati- This discovery, combined with Vincent’s odd obsession with the giving free walking tours of the nee idol, though he may still be a Caravaggio painting The Sacrifice of Isaac, in which Abraham holds city. Mike accepts without much lovable loser. a knife against his son’s throat, results in the boy handcuffing and enthusiasm, though it becomes gagging his father (who still doesn’t know his identity). clear later on that the opportu- Forum The film’s main exchange of ideas and emotions, however, nity means a lot to him. Cast Mike Maccherone, occurs between Vincent and the adult Joseph (Fabrizio Rongione), Basing an entire film around a Elizabeth Soltan, Mark Simmons Oscar’s ne’er-do-well brother, whom he meets by chance and with protagonist as captivating as the Director Ted Fendt whom he frequents the parks, streets and museums of Paris. A Internal Revenue Code is no easy 61 minutes visit to the Louvre acquaints Vincent with two religious master- pieces, which, in turn, unlock the entire meaning of the film. Maccherone (right) is a small-town loner who starts life in the big city. The Son of Joseph might be filled with talk about and visual allu- sions to God, Biblical art, parenthood and relationships, but the way the material is handled is jocular, without betraying the more serious ideas at its core. The combination of highbrow and low- brow is undeniably French but very effective. It all climaxes with a chase sequence that brings together several of the film’s themes, sending audiences out both a little wiser and a little happier.
Forum Cast Victor Ezenfis, Natacha Regnier, Fabrizio Rongione Director Eugene Green // 115 minutes
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 38 SEE & BE SEEN
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sing Flynn and his wif e recei ved a rou the y welcome at Tempelho f Airport as . arrived in Berlin f or the f es t
Errol Flynn’s Last Hurrah Came at the Berlinale Y 1957 , ERROL FLYNN, ONCE THE arm — at that year’s 7th Berlin International action hero of his generation, was Film Festival. Flynn was greeted upon his Bway past his prime. He’d lost the arrival at Tempelhof Airport by sunny skies, bulk of his fortune on bad invest- cheering crowds and a brass band. The good ments, was drinking heavily and spent most times were short-lived, however, as a local of his time floating around the Mediterranean paper reported how Flynn “growled” about on his wooden-hulled schooner, the USS Zaca. the size of his tiny hotel room. But he’d He still acted, but, to paraphrase Norma cheered up again by evening and attempted Flynn, however, went steeply downhill from Desmond, the movies had gotten very small. a “Tanzchen,” a German two-step, with there. Not long aer, he returned to Cuba (He appeared in a trio of B-movies that year, Wymore at the Waldbune, an amphitheater to get a self-produced B-movie,Cuban Rebel including The Big Boodle, which was shot on erected for the 1936 Olympics at Joseph Girls, off the ground. (It was never made, location in pre-revolution Cuba.) There were Goebbels’ bequest. He also strolled with but he met and hit it off with Fidel Castro also those scandalous stories about his sex Wolfgang Lukschy — a German actor best and became a big supporter of the Cuban life: Flynn had an affinity for younger girls, known for Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars Revolution.) By 1959, Flynn was so broke he and in 1942 he stood trial for the statutory (1964) — along the Kurfurstendamm. And, flew to Vancouver to sell his yacht, accompa- rape of two minors, Betty Hansen and Peggy Flynn being Flynn, he made sure to flirt with nied by Beverly Aadland, a chorus girl he’d S E G A allegedly been dating since she was 15. On M Satterlee. (Flynn was acquitted the next year, Izumi Yukimura, a 20-year-old Japanese I Y T T but his reputation was never the same.) pop star in attendance. By all accounts, their drive back to the airport, Flynn, 50, E G I A V But all of that was water under the draw- a good time was had by all at that year’s complained of leg and back pain; he died at D I L B I N bridge by the time he arrived — with his third Berlinale, where Henry Fonda’s 12 Angry Men a hospital that night from a heart attack and E T S L SETH ABRAMOVITCH L and final wife, actress Patrice Wymore, on his took home the Golden Bear. cirrhosis of the liver. U D I L B I N E T S L L THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 40 U PROMOTION
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