News

Many A-list celebrities have fallen in love with one another after assuming the role of a couple on screen. Sadly, the majority of those love tales end badly as the couple separates for ideological reasons. One such pairing was Diane Keaton and Al Pacino, who fell in love with each other during the filming of the classic 1972 flick, The Godfather, helmed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Keaton was still relatively new to the industry when Paramount Pictures cast her as Kay Adams in one of the biggest movies ever made. It was there that she also got to know Pacino, her former partner. After being paired opposite in the film series, the on-screen couple soon started dating off-screen.

Al Pacino and Diane Keaton | Source: The Godfather

But did you know that, despite the unmistakable chemistry that sizzled through our cinema screens, Keaton and Pacino’s real-life romance had a sad ending?...

French actress Emmanuelle Béart and Belgian-Congolese director/songwriter Baloji will co-preside over the Caméra d’Or jury of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

The Caméra d’Or is awarded to the best first feature film in Cannes’ Official Selection, or in the parallel Critics Week or Directors’ Fortnight sections.

Béart’s long list of credits include 8 Women (2002), Mission: Impossible (1996), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995), Heart In Winter (1992), La Belle Noiseuse (1991) and Manon Des Sources (1986).

Baloji won the New Voice Prize in Un Certain Regard last year for his debut feature Omen.

This year’s Caméra d’Or jury includes director of photography Gilles Porte,...

Belgian rapper and filmmaker Baloji and French film actress Emmanuelle Béart have been announced as co-presidents of the Cannes Film Festival’s Caméra d’Or jury for the upcoming 77th edition, running from May 14 to 25.

The award for the best first film is open to all the debut feature films presented in Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.

The Caméra d’Or Jury has been co-chaired three times before: by actress Françoise Fabian and director Daniel Schmid in 1996, by Marthe Keller and Géraldine Chaplin in 2002, and by brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne in 2006.

Announcing the pair today, the festival described Baloji and Béart as “free spirits with no limits, who rely on their art to achieve creative freedom.” Baloji is best known for his directorial debut Omen, which debuted at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it picked up the New Voice Prize in Un Certain Regard.

Chicago – The 20th Century crisis that was World War II resulted in a bloodbath for virtually all of European and Allied countries … except in “neutral” Switzerland. Veteran writer and director Laurent Négre, a Swiss native, pokes the holes of truth into that overinflated neutrality in the imported feature film “A Forgotten Man.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Set in 1945 at the final days of World War II, the story involves Heinrich Zwygart (Michael Neuenschwander) … the Swiss Ambassador to Germany … returning home to Geneva with wartime Ptsd and a cache of secrets about the relationship of “neutral” Switzerland to the just-defeated Nazi regime. Thinking he would have a cakewalk in his homecoming, especially with the dirt he has on the Swiss leadership, he is greeted with indifference from his government, wife Clara (Manuela Biedermann), daughter Helene (Cléa Eden) and Helene’s boyfriend Nicolas (Yann Philipona), who pursues the truth for the “school paper.” The past...

The juxtaposition at the core of director James Hawes’s frustratingly staid One Life is between the gravity and urgency of Nicholas Winton’s Kindertransport rescue movement, which began almost a year before the start of World War II, and the man’s relative obscurity in 1987 living in Maidenhead, England. Winton helped to save 669 children in Prague from the horrors of the Holocaust, so Hawes’s film constitutes an attempt at immortalizing an unsung hero. But given the profound lack of risk that it takes in depicting Winton’s heroic efforts, One Life seems ironically destined to also fade into obscurity.

Throughout, One Life toggles between two time periods. In one, the young Winton (Johnny Flynn) conceptualizes and then carries out his humanitarian mission to move as many refugee (and mainly Jewish) children as he could out of Czechoslovakia, and in the other, the seventysomething Winton (Antony Hopkins) lives a...

One Life is heading to DVD and Blu-ray in the UK this March in the UK: details of the physical media release are right here.

The first cinema release of the year, and it was a good one: that’d be One Life, the dramatic retelling of the story of the late Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton.

Played by both Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn in the movie, the film earned strong reviews, and solid box office too. Directed by James Hawes – his feature directorial debut too – the movie also featured turns from Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter.

Now, with its cinema run pretty much done, we get news of its home release.

Warner Bros will first of all be making the film available to buy and rent digitally from next week, on 19th February.

Then, for those after the physical media release,...

Anthony Hopkins returns in a trailer for the film based on an extraordinary true story. Bleecker Street has released the new preview for One Life. The film showcases Hopkins as a man who happened upon a tragically developing encounter with refugee Jewish children who are in the path of Nazi occupation in Prague. Amazingly Hopkins’ younger version of the character had taken it upon himself to embark on a mission to save the children from the growing threat.

The official synopsis from Bleecker Street reads,

“Based on the book If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton, One Life tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton (Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue...

Shudder is nothing if not a goldmine of content, with basically something to watch for everyone, and today we are making a list of the best 7 new movies on Shudder in December 2023 that you can watch right now. The movies included in this list are Shudder’s exclusives and resurrected. The titles are ranked according to their availability dates.

It’s A Wonderful Knife (December 1)

Synopsis: A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality. It’S A Wonderful Life by way of Scream.

Black Christmas...

The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences will present Viola Davis with the Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity Honor at the Voice Arts Awards 10th Anniversary Gala. The honor recognizes Davis’ talent, passion for social justice and willingness to tackle social problems through her commitment to the truth.

“This honor was created in furtherance of The Champ’s legacy of embodying resilience and courage in the face of social injustice and adversity. Viola Davis shares those traits,” said Joan Baker, founder and vice President of Sovas, in a statement.

The Voice Arts Awards is an annual celebration for nominees and winners in the world of voice acting and associated craft professionals.

“Her journey from humble beginnings to achieving the highly vaunted Egot status, showcases her unwavering pursuit of excellence,” Baker continued. “And for Sovas, it is especially heartwarming that Viola is also an exceptional voice actor in animation, TV commercials and,...

At least one high-profile TIFF title won’t be going to Netflix. “One Life,” the well-received and well-reviewed Anthony Hopkins vehicle has been acquired by Bleecker Street. The biopic, starring the two-time Oscar winner as the elder version Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, will get a domestic theatrical release in 2024. This would seemingly place it out of the current award-season race.

The James Hawes-directed film also stars Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter. Penned by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the Saw-Saw Films and BBC Films production is based on Barbara Winton’s book “If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton.”

The film features Flynn as a young Winton, a London broker who eventually convinces members of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue children in Prague as the Nazis close the borders in late 1938. Fifty years later,...

Exclusive: Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. rights to TIFF standout One Life, the James Hawes-directed drama that stars Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, with Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter. Scripted by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the film is a production of See-Saw Films, which developed it alongside BBC Film. Bleecker Street is planning a 2024 theatrical release.

Based on the Barbara Winton book If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, One Life tells the true story of Nicholas “Nicky” Winton (Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue as many children as possible before the Nazis close the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Hopkins) is haunted by the...

"Nicky - you must know we cannot save them all. You have to forgive yourself that..." Warner Bros UK has unveiled an official trailer for One Life, based on the true story of a man from the UK. It's premiering this weekend at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, hence the trailer arriving now, and it'll also show at the London Film Festival next month. One Life stars Anthony Hopkins, based on the incredible true story of Sir Nicholas Winton. Many may recall hearing this story or seeing the real video - a man who rescued hundreds of children from the Nazis during WWII is reunited with many of these survivors, now grown into adults, in a surprise appearance on a TV show in 1998. The film tells his story at both times - showing what he did during WWII and how he helped make a huge difference, and decades later when he is an old man,...

Festival

James Hawes‘ Holocaust drama “One Life” will be the American Express Gala at the 67th BFI London Film Festival.

The film tells the true story of Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker who, in the months leading up to WWII, rescued 669 children from the Nazis. Fifty years later, in 1988, Winton is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England. It’s not until a live television show “That’s Life” surprises him with the surviving children – now adults – seated all around him that he can finally make peace with the loss he had carried for five decades.

The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham-Carter.

Hawes said: “This film pretty much begins and ends in London and says so much about the people of this city, its heart and its history.

Film selected as the American Express Gala.

James Hawes’ One Life has been selected as the American Express Gala at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.

It will have its European premiere on October 12 at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, following its world premiere at Toronto.

The feature stars Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter, and tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker played by Hopkins, who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 children from the Nazis.

James Hawes’s drama One Life, starring Anthony Hopkins as Holocaust rescue hero Nicholas Winton, will make its European debut at the London Film Festival in October as part of its gala program, following the film’s TIFF world premiere.

The picture’s starry cast also features Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter.

The film tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, who, as a young London broker, rescued 669 children from the Nazis in the months leading up to World War Two.

Winton visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion.

In a race against time, he acted to get as many children out as possible before the borders closed,...

One Life, starring both Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn as a British humanitarian who helped rescue children from the clutches of the Nazis, will be among the main gala screenings at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.

The film, the feature directorial debut of James Hawes (a noted British TV director who has helmed episodes of Black Mirror, Doctor Who and Slow Horses) and also starring Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter, will get its European premiere on Oct 12., after bowing in Toronto in September. See-Saw Films, the multi-Oscar winning banner behind The Power of the Dog and The King’s Speech, produced the feature, which they developed alongside BBC Film.

One Life tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker (played by Flynn), who, in the months leading up to WWII, rescued 669 children from the Nazis.

Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe on Billy Wilder’s Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes after speaking with Paul Diamond (Ial Diamond’s son): “They shot all the footage but a lot of it was never scored, never dubbed, never graded. So the three-hour-version, which so many of us yearn for, never did exist in fact.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...

Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe on Billy Wilder’s Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes after speaking with Paul Diamond (Ial Diamond’s son): “They shot all the footage but a lot of it was never scored, never dubbed, never graded. So the three-hour-version, which so many of us yearn for, never did exist in fact.”

In the second instalment, Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe and I discuss how key scenes happen while characters are eating and why a dumpling was changed for the German edition of the novel. Also: Marthe Keller with her Bobby Deerfield (directed by Sydney Pollack) co-star Al Pacino and the infamous cheeseburger ordered at Bayerischer Hof in Munich; Billy Wilder’s Fedora, Greece, and brie; Bewitched, overdressing and underdressing; yearning for unattainable movies, Orson Welles and The Other Side Of The Wind (documented in Morgan Neville's They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead...

Volker Schlöndorff, director of the Oscar and Palme d’Or winning The Tin Drum (adapted from Günter Grass’s novel Die Blechtrommel) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Jonathan Coe’s research on a Billy Wilder film for Mr. Wilder And Me: “I told him everything I knew about Fedora and the shooting of Fedora in Munich.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Jonathan Coe’s imaginative and savvy novel, Mr. Wilder & Me, which centres on the making of Billy Wilder’s penultimate movie, Fedora, seen through the lens of a fictional Greek composer named Calista, credits Volker Schlöndorff as an important source.

Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me (Europa Editions), collection Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

I met Volker at the Austrian Cultural Forum’s Hedy Lamarr: Actress. Inventor. Viennese exhibition to discuss his role in the research for the novel, which led us into a wide-ranging conversation that included his documentary series Billy,...

“Marie Antoinette” is the BBC, Canal+ produced historical drama TV series, created by Deborah Davis and directed by Pete Travis, Geoffrey Enthoven, starring Emilia Schüle, Louis Cunningham, Jack Archer, Jasmine Blackborow, Gaia Weiss, James Purefoy, Marthe Keller, Roxane Duran, Nathan Willcocks, Crystal Shepherd-Cross, Caroline Piette, Oscar Lesage, Liah O'Prey, Yoli Fuller, and Martijn Lakemeier, airing in North America on PBS:

“…based on the life of the last queen of France before the ‘French Revolution’, who was 14 years old when she became ‘Dauphine of France’…

“…upon her marriage to the heir apparent, ‘Louis-Auguste’…”

Season Two is currently in production.

Click the images to enlarge…...

Forget “will they or won’t they?” In the PBS import Marie Antoinette, a tongue-in-rouged-cheek take on a period biography, the question is when will the diffident young Dauphin, later King Louis XVI, take his teenage Austrian bride, Marie Antoinette, to bed? Their relationship is shown to be shrug at first sight, but the gossipy 18th-century French court hangs on these political pawns’ every move. After all, as Marie’s mother the Empress Maria Theresa (Marthe Keller) impresses upon her before sending her away, “Your job is to deliver the heir.” Yeah, but first things first. For much of the stylized first season, written by The Favourite’s Deborah Davis and ending well before the fateful Reign of Terror, Louis (gawky Louis Cunningham) flees at the very sight of Marie (a splendidly saucy Emilia Schüle) in a sexual panic. She’s frustrated by his rejection, but he’s just sad and pitiful,...

William Goldman’s international conspiracy thriller provides Dustin Hoffman with an outright ‘action man’ star vehicle. The public applauded supporting star Laurence Olivier, who with just a few gestures creates a terrifying villain: “Is it safe?” William Devane and Marthe Keller co-star. We wish Roy Scheider’s character could have continued in a series of crime thrillers — he brings genuine movie star charisma. The story is by William Goldman, from his own book.

Marathon Man 4K

4K Ultra-hd + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1976 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date February 28, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver, Richard Bright, Marc Lawrence, Lou Gilbert, Fred Stuthman, Jacques Marin, Litti Palfi Andor, Madge Kennedy, Treat Williams.

Cinematography: Conrad Hall

Production Designer: Richard Macdonald

Art Director: Jack De Shields

Film Editor: Jim Clark

Special Makeup Consultant: Dick Smith

Original Music: Michael Small

Written by...

PBS will bring back six series and premiere two period dramas in 2023, which includes the debut of Tom Jones on Masterpiece that’s based on the 1749 novel The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling.

“PBS continues to bring dramas that appeal to the entire family, from mysteries like Miss Scarlet and the Duke on Masterpiece and Vienna Blood to coming-of-age stories like Sanditon on Masterpiece and La Otra Mirada. This season’s lineup of period dramas is our most extensive to date, with hours of captivating storytelling from January to May,” says Maria Bruno Ruiz, Vice President Program Scheduling at PBS. “Not only do we have returning seasons of our most anticipated dramas, but we also have two new premieres that audiences are sure to fall in love with: Tom Jones on Masterpiece and Marie Antoinette. Both bring incredible new talent to PBS. I can’t wait for audiences to watch!

Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger give finely acted performances as they play twins brought back together through illness – but who is saving who?

Fine performances are at the heart of this film from Swiss writer-directors Véronique Reymond and Stéphanie Chuat, which rather resembles a classy television drama that might, in British terrestrial terms, be spread over three successive Sundays.

Nina Hoss plays Lisa, an author and dramatist suffering from an emotional and professional block. Her life is on hold because her beloved twin brother Sven (Lars Eidinger), a celebrated classical stage actor in Berlin, has cancer, though he is now in remission due to the bone marrow transplant which she has been able to give him. Lisa comes to the clinic to bring him back temporarily to the chaotic family apartment in the city where their widowed mother Kathy (Marthe Keller) lives. The film’s original title is Schwesterlein and...

Filming is underway on Marie Antoinette, an eight-part drama created and written by Deborah Davis (The Favourite).

The show will tell the story of the famed queen, who was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. Emilia Schüle is in the lead role of Antoinette. Also starring is Jack Archer in a lead role, with other cast including James Purefoy, Louis Cunningham, Jasmine Blackborow, Gaia Weiss, Marthe Keller and Crystal Sheperd.

Additional writers are Louise Ironside (The Split), Avril E. Russell (All on a Summer’s Day) and Chloë Moss (Run Sister Run). The series is directed by Pete Travis (Bloodlands) and Geoffrey Enthoven (Children of Love).

Producers are Claude Chelli and Aude Albano for Capa Drama, Alban Étienne and Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, and Christophe Toulemonde for Les Gens. The eight-part series will be distributed globally by Banijay Rights.

Filming will take place in historical...

Wanda (Agnieszka Grochowska) returns to Switzerland on a bus. It's full of similarly dressed, similarly laden Polish women, probably on their way to do similar work for wealthy Swiss families whilst - as she has done - leaving their own at home. 70-year-old Josef (André Jung) is relieved to have her back. He complains about insulting treatment received from his interim carer. Wanda is considerate and efficient, respecting that despite his disability he's still a human being and because of it he actually needs the help she's giving. His wife Elsa (Marthe Keller) really doesn't need the help around the house for which she offers an insultingly low additional sum, but she's lost her Portuguese housekeeper and it doesn't occur to her to ask another Swiss person, so Wanda can bargain.

Outside the periphery of these arrangements lies another service which Josef sometimes finds himself wanting in the middle of he.

Money can buy outside help, opportunity and material possessions, but not happiness in “My Wonderful Wanda,” a punchy satire from Swiss auteur Bettina Oberli (“Late Bloomers”). Taking a wry but empathetic approach to the phenomenon of care migration, Oberli and her co-writer Cooky Ziesche focus on the changing relationship between one privileged Swiss family and their financially fragile Polish home-care worker over nine months. Naturalistically shot and structured as three chapters and an epilogue, it’s an engaging, mostly well-acted tale, full of surprising twists, even if some seem a bit too on the nose. Opening in theaters and virtual cinemas on April 23, this Zeitgeist Films release should segue from international film festival favorite to modest art-house hit.

Attractive, capable, 30-something single mother Wanda arrives in Switzerland on a bus packed with Polish women who work for rich families eager to outsource the mundane tasks of everyday life. Like Wanda,...

John Frankenheimer’s biggest production since Grand Prix turns the touchy subject of international terrorism into a frightening, outlandish story of a plot to kill thousands of spectators during one of America’s defining rituals, the Super Bowl. Black September operative Marthe Keller seduces disturbed Viet vet Bruce Dern into perpetrating the crime; Israeli agent Robert Shaw races to stop them. The super-crime is both outrageous and credible — making the show seem very modern, even prophetic. True to form, Frankenheimer filmed much of the movie’s final 40-minute suspense sequence during a real Super Bowl game.

Black Sunday

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 34

1977 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / Available from Viavision / 34.95 au

Starring: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Bekim Fehmiu, Fritz Weaver, Steven Keats, Michael V. Gazzo, William Daniels, Walter Gotell.

Cinematography: John A. Alonzo

Film Editor: Tom Rolf

Original Music: John Williams

Written by Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross, Ivan Moffat...

Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond’s film wins an armful of Quartz awards, while Milo Rau’s work bags Best Documentary. The winners of the 2021 Swiss Film Prize were announced during a ceremony filmed live from the studios of Rts in Geneva. My Little Sister by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond dominated the scene, scooping four awards in addition to the most prestigious prize (Best Fiction Film), namely Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Marthe Keller, Best Photography (Filip Zumbrunn) and Best Editing (Myriam Rachmuth). Following the success of the documentary Ladies (2018), the two Lausanne directors are proving (as if they still needed to), with their new film, just how unique and powerful their artistic world combining realism and poetry truly is. The Quartz for Best Documentary, meanwhile, went to The New Gospel by the (theatre and film) director and writer Milo Rau, who, with the help of Yvan Sagnet,...

“I’m sick of stories about frustrated couples who rip each other apart and explore their sexuality to escape boredom,” says Lisa (Nina Hoss) in My Little Sister. While there is plenty of frustration, and some sex, in Switzerland’s International Feature Film Oscar entry, this is not that story. It’s the tender tale of theatrical German twins brought closer by cancer.

Sven (Lars Eidinger) is a flamboyant stage star in Berlin, suffering from a rare cancer. His playwright sister Lisa lives in Switzerland with her husband, Martin (Jens Albinus) and their children. Lisa returns to Berlin to look after Sven, eventually bringing him to her home, where Martin seems to regard his illness as an irritation that’s interfering with his career.

As we spend more time with Martin and Lisa, the film veers towards troubled-couple territory, and the focus feels as split as Lisa herself. While it may be the intention,...

My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) Film Movement Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Directors: Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond Writers: Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond Cast: Nina Hoss, Lars Eidinger, Marthe Keller, Jens Albinus, Thomas Ostermeier, Linne-Lu Lungershausen, Noah Tscharland Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 12/22/20 Opens: January 5, 2021 The song […]

The post My Little Sister Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

As Academy voters plow through some 90 submissions for Best International Feature, there’s a little-seen entry that’s a must-see: “My Little Sister,” starring award-winning German actress Nina Hoss in an incendiary performance as a woman fighting for her brother’s life.

The film’s low profile was all but inevitable: It debuted at the 2020 Berlinale, the film festival that got in just under the wire before Covid created a global lockdown. “It was a beautiful opening night,” said Hoss. “I didn’t know what would happen to the film. We waited. We brought it out [in October] in Berlin under hygienic regulations. We had a little cinema tour through places in Germany. Then we had lockdown again.” Watching “My Little Sister” during its brief theatrical run, Hoss said she was struck by how many scenes featured hospitals and face masks.

Written and directed by documentary filmmakers Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond,...

As Academy voters plow through some 90 submissions for Best International Feature, there’s a little-seen entry that’s a must-see: “My Little Sister,” starring award-winning German actress Nina Hoss in an incendiary performance as a woman fighting for her brother’s life.

The film’s low profile was all but inevitable: It debuted at the 2020 Berlinale, the film festival that got in just under the wire before Covid created a global lockdown. “It was a beautiful opening night,” said Hoss. “I didn’t know what would happen to the film. We waited. We brought it out [in October] in Berlin under hygienic regulations. We had a little cinema tour through places in Germany. Then we had lockdown again.” Watching “My Little Sister” during its brief theatrical run, Hoss said she was struck by how many scenes featured hospitals and face masks.

Written and directed by documentary filmmakers Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond,...

"It's a proof of love." Zeitgeist Films has released a new official US trailer for a Swiss indie drama titled My Wonderful Wanda, which was initially part of the Tribeca Film Festival line-up earlier this year (before it was cancelled). The film is the latest from Swiss filmmaker Bettina Oberli, and is still seeking international distribution. Agnieszka Grochowska stars as the titular Wanda, a Polish immigrant working as a carer in Switzerland. She works as a nurse for the aging patriarch of the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloor family. When she surprisingly becomes pregnant, family secrets come to light and arrangements are soon made to try and appease everyone in this biting family drama. Sounds like a more serious Swiss version of Knives Out. Also starring Gottfried Breitfuss, André Jung, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Bruno Rajski, Iwo Rajski, & Anatole Taubman. This looks like a very complex, poignant drama about family and honesty. Here's...

"I have to take care of you." Vega Distribution has revealed the official trailer for a Swiss-German indie drama titled My Little Sister, originally known as Schwesterlein in German. This first premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and played at a few other festivals before opening first in Germany in October. Lisa has bid goodbye to her ambitions as a playwright and the Berlin arts scene and now lives in Switzerland with her husband, who runs an international school. When her twin brother Sven falls ill with leukaemia, she returns to Berlin to help him. "Brother and sister, Berlin and Switzerland, life and theatre, sickness and health." An emotional and heartfelt drama about siblings and sickness. Starring Nina Hoss & Lars Eidinger as Lisa & Sven, along with Marthe Keller, Jens Albinus, Thomas Ostermeier, Linne-Lu Lungershausen, and Noah Tscharland. It's a tough film to watch but it's still endearing and sincere.

The American Film Institute (AFI) has today announced the full lineup of this year’s AFI Fest, including the World Cinema, New Auteurs, and Documentary sections. These titles, including buzzy festival features like “I Carry You with Me,” “Shadow in the Cloud,” “Jumbo,” “Farewell Amor,” “Wander Darkly,” “Tragic Jungle,” “Sound of Metal,” “Wolfwalkers,” “New Order,” and “Hopper/Welles,” join previously announced films, including Julia Hart’s “I’m Your Woman,” which will open the festival, and Errol Morris’ “My Psychedelic Love Story,” which will close it.

This year’s complete AFI Fest program includes 124 titles of which 53 percent are directed by women, 39 percent are directed by Bipoc, and 17 percent are directed by Lbgtq+.

“AFI Fest is committed to supporting diverse perspectives and new voices in cinema and this year is no different,” said Sarah Harris, Director of Programming, AFI Festivals, in an official statement. “While we wish we were able to be together in Hollywood,...

Passion River Films and 8 Above are teaming on the U.S. release of The Disrupted, the feature documentary debut of Sarah Colt, the Emmy-winning director of PBS’ American Experience docs about Walt Disney and Henry Ford, as well as The Polio Crusade and the Native American series We Shall Remain.

The Disrupted, a look at rising income inequality in the U.S. that follows a farmer, a factory worker and an Uber driver, is now set to hit 20 virtual cinemas on September 25, followed by a digital bow October 13.

“No matter what race, ethnicity, sex, or creed you come from, the subjects from The Disrupted represent all of us who have ever needed to make our own living in America,” Passion River’s Mat Levy said. “There has never been a more crucial and timely film about the compound struggles we are all facing to achieve the ‘American Dream.’ We are...

Switzerland has selected “My Little Sister,” starring Nina Hoss, Lars Eidinger and Marthe Keller, as its entry in the International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards. Film Movement is distributing the film in North America.

The film, directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond, and produced by Ruth Waldburger at Vega Film, had its world premiere in February in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

Beta Cinema is handling global sales on “My Little Sister,” which has been sold to more than 10 countries. It will receive its theatrical release in Switzerland in early September through Praesens-Film and Vega Distribution, and in Germany and Austria in October through Weltkino.

Hoss and Eidinger play the twins Lisa, once a playwright, and Sven, a well-known stage actor who is seriously ill. Lisa, refusing to accept this stroke of fate, moves heaven and earth to get Sven back on stage, and puts...

In today’s Global Bulletin, the Zurich festival opens with “My Wonderful Wanda,” Philip Garrel, Tsai Ming-liang and Hong Sang-soo are contenders at San Sebastian, a new talent agency launches with “The Crown” actor Emma Corrin, WaZabi picks up Toronto title “Beans,” and the U.K. celebrates returning to cinemas.

Bettina Oberli’s “My Wonderful Wanda” will open the 16th Zurich film festival on Sept. 24, the first time the event is opening with a film by a female director.

The film was supposed to bow at Tribeca, until the coronavirus pandemic forced its postponement to 2021. Consequently, it will have its world premiere at Zurich.

“My Wonderful Wanda” tells the story of Polish-born Wanda who looks after patriarch and post-stroke patient Josef at his lakeside family villa. The work is poorly paid, but Wanda needs the money to support her own family back in Poland. As a live-in caregiver, she gains...

Bettina Oberli’s film would have played at Tribeca, which was cancelled in April.

The Zurich Film Festival is to open with the world premiere of Bettina Oberli’s My Wonderful Wanda, marking the first time a female-directed feature has opened the event.

The Swiss tragi-comedy was originally set to debut at Tribeca in April but those plans were abandoned when the festival was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has subsequently been cancelled.

It will now open the 16th Zff, which is pressing ahead as a physical event and due to run September 24 to October 4.

The film centres on Wanda,...

"Don't leave me to those lunatics." The Match Factory has released an official promo trailer for a Swiss indie drama titled My Wonderful Wanda, which was part of the Tribeca Film Festival line-up earlier this year. The film is the latest from Swiss filmmaker Bettina Oberli, and is still seeking international distribution. Agnieszka Grochowska stars as the titular Wanda, a Polish immigrant working as a carer in Switzerland. She nurses the aging patriarch of the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloor family. When an unexpected complication arises, family secrets come to light and arrangements are made to try and appease everyone in this biting family drama. Sounds like a more serious Swiss version of Knives Out. Also starring Gottfried Breitfuss, André Jung, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Bruno Rajski, Iwo Rajski, & Anatole Taubman. This looks like an emotionally resonant drama about how money warps minds, especially family members. Here's the first promo trailer (+ poster) for Bettina Oberli's My Wonderful Wanda,...

My Wonderful Wanda The Match Box Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Bettina Oberli Screenwriter: Cooky Ziesche, Bettina Oberli Cast: Agnieszka Grochowska, Marthe Keller, Birgit Minichmayr, Jacob Matschenz, André Jung, Anatole Taubman Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/15/20 Opens: Tbd at Tribeca Film Festival in […]

The post My Wonderful Wanda Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Bettina Oberli’s latest film ‘My Wonderful Wanda,’ starring Agnieszka Grochowska and Marthe Keller, world-premiered at Tribeca where it won a special jury mention in the Nora Ephron Award category. It will screening during Cannes’ Marché du Film Online, with The Match Factory handling worldwide sales.

Oberli is one of Switzerland’s leading directors. She has directed an eclectic mix of commercially- and artistically-successful films, including her award-winning debut feature, “North Wind” and her second feature, the comedy “Late Bloomers,” which clocked up almost 1 million admissions in Europe, with 560,000 admissions in Switzerland alone, released by Walt Disney. Her penultimate film, her first French-language pic, “With The Wind,” won the Variety Piazza Grande Award at the Locarno Film Festival.

“Wanda,” – penned by Cooky Ziesche and Oberli and produced by Lukas Hobi and Reto Schaerli for Switzerland’s Zodiac Pictures – is a dramedy about Wanda, who leaves her children in Poland to...

The Match Factory, one of the world’s leading arthouse film sales companies, has revealed its slate for the Cannes Film Market, which runs June 22-26. Its lineup includes three market premieres: one new film, “Ballad for a Pierced Heart,” and two films that won jury awards at the online Tribeca Film Festival recently – “Kokoloko” and “My Wonderful Wanda.”

Following his cutting-edge “Stratos,” which played in Berlinale Competition in 2014, Yannis Economides is back with the gangster black comedy “Ballad for a Pierced Heart.” The story follows Olga, an attractive woman who decides to leave her husband, a businessman, for a nightclub owner and former pop singer. And as if this was not enough, she takes a million euros with her. While her husband becomes paranoid and vows to take revenge, the underworld in the small provincial town is in turmoil over the adulterous couple.

“Kokoloko,” directed by Mexico’s Gerardo Naranjo,...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Billy Wilder's Fedora (1978) is now showing May 3 - June 2, 2020 in most countries in the series Perfect Failures.In the diaries of Charles Brackett (1892-1969), Billy Wilder’s first major Hollywood collaborator, we discover much—even if cryptically notated—about the art and craft of screenwriting. For instance, Brackett frequently refers to how he and Wilder would rework scenes over and over, in a process he calls “three-dimentionalization” [sic]. Above all, Brackett worried over what he enigmatically called the “dissolves” in any filmic storyline. He didn’t mean literal, visual, on-screen dissolves; I suspect he was referring to any unwieldy “hole” or ellipsis in a plot where something needed to be skipped, but still had to be somehow explained, accounted for. The more direct, linear, and un-holey a screenplay could be, the better for Brackett.But Wilder—who parted company...

Sven (Lars Eidinger) is already sick by the time his beloved, if slightly estranged twin sister Lisa (Nina Hoss) comes to take him home. An audacious actor hellbent on getting back to the stage after his leukemia diagnosis, Sven initially scans as the most formidable character in Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond’s moving drama “My Little Sister,” but it’s Lisa who emerges as its fiery heart. Hoss and Eidinger easily slip into the twins’ close bond, with the actors adopting similar mannerisms and inflections, all the better to sell the sense that even the distance that has marked their adulthood is unable to crack what was forged in the womb. But can terminal illness? The answer is no, obviously, but Chuat and Reymond take their time unspooling

While Sven finds both solace and pain in holding tight to his professional dreams, Lisa long ago loosened her grip on hers.

Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, two of Germany’s preeminent acting talents, play twins coming to terms with a diagnosis of terminal illness in My Little Sister, the second narrative film by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond. It’s a film that carries emotional power more in its moments of natural reflexiveness than the weepie genre’s more conventional emotional beats, anchored by two focused lead performances that thankfully don’t succumb to melodrama.

Hoss plays Lisa, a Berlin playwright who’s given up the stage and settled into family life in Switzerland. But her heart remains in the German capital, where her brother Sven (Eidinger) is still a leading figure in the city’s theater scene. Eidinger is basically playing an extension of himself here, as a leading player on the German stage himself, star performer of an adaptation of Hamlet at Berlin’s Schaubühne that’s been playing...

Twin siblings from a German theatrical family get more than their fair share of drama at home in the Berlin competition entry My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) from Swiss directorial duo Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond. As in their feature debut, the Michel Bouquet-starring French-language drama My Little Room — they seem to have a thing for little things — a sterling cast makes up for screenplay weaknesses. The lineup here includes German cinema heavyweights Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, only seven months apart in real life, as the twins and iconic Swiss actress Marthe Keller as their mother....

Twin siblings from a German theatrical family get more than their fair share of drama at home in the Berlin competition entry My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) from Swiss directorial duo Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond. As in their feature debut, the Michel Bouquet-starring French-language drama My Little Room — they seem to have a thing for little things — a sterling cast makes up for screenplay weaknesses. The lineup here includes German cinema heavyweights Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, only seven months apart in real life, as the twins and iconic Swiss actress Marthe Keller as their mother....

For its 70th edition, the Berlinale begins a new era by adding some new categories, while also inviting some new names to the fold (Philippe Garrel!) while also continuing to be a homing beacon for many a returning director. Here’s a glance at our five most anticipated titles of the 2020 edition:

#5. My Little Sister

A decade has passed since Swiss directing duo Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond’s underrated debut The Little Bedroom premiered in 2010—they’ve returned with a drama starring Nina Hoss, Marthe Keller and Lars Eidinger.…...