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☆ Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof flees to Europe after prison and flogging sentence
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Artemis Moshtaghian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof says he has fled his home country to an undisclosed location in Europe after a court in Iran sentenced him to prison on national security charges. In a separate statement dated May 12, Rasoulof said he had decided to escape Iran after his lawyers told him his prison sentence would be implemented on short notice. Rasoulof didn’t specify how he escaped Iran, saying only that he did it secretly with the help of friends and acquaintances. In 2022, an Iranian court sentenced Rasoulof to one year in prison and banned him from making films for two years on the charge of “propaganda against the system,” according to Human Rights Watch. Iranian authorities have previously arrested him multiple times and confiscated his passport because of his work, HRW said.

Persons: Mohammad Rasoulof, Rasoulof, ”, “, Babak Paknia, Mahsa Amini, Mohammad, Jean, Christophe Simon, ” Rasoulof, HRW, Michael Rios Organizations: CNN, Cannes Film, Cannes, Human Rights Watch Locations: Europe, Iran, Abadan, France

☆ Mohammad Rasoulof: Iran sentences renowned director to 8 years in prison and flogging, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Hande Atay Alam | Artemis Moshtaghian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A court in Iran has sentenced acclaimed movie director Mohammad Rasoulof to eight years in prison and flogging for national security crimes, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The writer-director’s latest work, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is due to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France next week. According to Paknia, some also alleged they were asked by officials to tell Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival. “Once again, the judiciary’s verdict against Mohammad Rasoulof proved that the law is only a playground for stubbornness and revenge in the legal system contaminated by government jurisprudence,” it said. “Independent and freedom-loving cinematographers condemn the invalid judgment of the judiciary against Mohammad Rasoulof and stand by him and all the artists who make fun of government censorship.”

Persons: CNN —, Mohammad Rasoulof, Babak Paknia, Paknia, Rasoulof, ”, HRW, “ Organizations: CNN, Cannes, Cannes Film, Human Rights Watch, Association Locations: Iran, France, Cannes

☆ Netflix's 'Supersex': Where Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi is now
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Ayomikun Adekaiyero | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewNetflix's latest biopic "Supersex" is a fictional re-telling of the life of Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi. Siffredi, whose real name is Rocco Antonio Tano, told The Independent that the new series is roughly 70% accurate. AdvertisementAlthough Siffredi is still alive, the series ends with his first retirement from the porn industry in 2004. Lorenzo Tano, Rocco Siffredi, Rosa Caracciolo and Leonardo Tano attend the red carpet for the screening of "Supersex" at Berlinale 2024 on February 22, 2024 in Berlin. Rocco Siffredi attends the Premiere of "Rocco."

Persons: —, Rocco Siffredi, Siffredi, Rocco Antonio Tano, Rosa Caracciolo, Ernesto Ruscio, Alessandro Borghi, Rosza Tassi, Tassi, Rosza, Lorenzo, Leonardo, Leonardo Tano, Lorenzo Tano, Andreas Rentz, I've, XBiz, Natale, Rocco, Pierre Suu Organizations: Service, Independent, Business, Cannes, Netflix, AVN, Academy, Venice Film, Daily Locations: Ortona, Italy, Paris, Hungarian, Cannes, France, Spanish, El, Budapest, Hungary, Berlin, Venice

☆ Opinion: Why a line of dialogue truly can define a film
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Opinion Arash Azizi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Frankly, I hate dialogue,” Villeneuve told The Times of London. I don’t remember movies because of a good line, I remember movies because of a strong image. This supposed truism is heard everywhere in the film world and even taught to film writers. Cinema has never been a language of “pure image and sound.”Even in the age of silent films, dialogue rendered as inter-titles was critical to cinema. Charlie Chaplin stars in his 1931 silent film, "City Lights."

Persons: Arash Azizi, ”, CNN — Denis Villeneuve, It’s, Zoe Prinds, ” Villeneuve, I’m, Rolling Stone, Federico Fellini, Villeneuve, Fellini, Alexander Steele, ” Josh Brolin, Gurney Halleck, Paul Atreides, Carla Simón’s “, Gorgeously, Ethan Hawke, ” Hawke, “, they’ve, Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Adenoid Hynkler, Adolf Hitler, Institute’s, Quentin Tarantino’s, Jackie Brown ”, Pam Grier, Marlon Brando’s, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, Merve, Greta Gerwig’s, Bird ”, wouldn’t, Palme d’Or, Jane Campion, David Lynch’s, Golden, Martin Scorsese glowed, ” Scorsese Organizations: Oneworld, CNN, Warner Bros, Times, Gotham Writers, Chalet, Warner Bros ., Sundance, Film Society of Lincoln Center, United, Getty, New York Times, Villeneuve, Janus, Atlanta ”, Derry Girls ”, Cannes Locations: French, Canadian, London, Italian, Cannes, Berlin, Catalonia, Jewish, Iran, cinema’s, “

☆ Yuval Abraham receives death threats after calling for Gaza ceasefire at Berlin film festival
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Amy Cassidy | Chris Stern | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Israeli journalist and film director Yuval Abraham said he is receiving death threats and has canceled his flight home from the Berlin International Film Festival amid backlash to an acceptance speech in which he decried the “situation of apartheid” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Abraham and his Palestinian co-director Basel Adra accepted the Best Documentary award for their film “No Other Land,” which chronicles evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities, on Saturday. Their speeches were met with accusations of antisemitism by high-level German and Israeli officials, including the mayor of Berlin and Israel’s Ambassador to Germany. “I am still getting death threats and had to cancel my flight home. I’m free to move where I want in this land; Basel is, like millions of Palestinians, locked in the occupied West Bank.”He continued: “We need to call for a ceasefire.

Persons: Yuval Abraham, Abraham, Basel Adra, “, ” Abraham, John Macdougall, Adra, ”, Kai Wegner, ” “, ” Ron Prosor, — Organizations: CNN, Berlin, West Bank, Israeli, Potsdamer, Getty, Abraham’s, Bank, Basel, ” Locations: Gaza, Berlin, Germany, Israel, Basel, ” “ Berlin

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the jury at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival pushed back on political questions as the festival kicked off on Thursday, seeking instead to shift the focus to the tough selection ahead for the best movie. ... We are having robust conversations.”Nyong'o is the Berlinale’s first Black jury president and said she felt greatly honored to lead this year’s jury. One question she could not avoid was about the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, which the organizers last week uninvited to the opening gala. Five AfD politicians had been expected to attend since members of all parties in Berlin’s state legislature are invited to events supported with public money. German director Christian Petzold appeared critical about the decision to uninvite the AfD politicians.

Persons: ”, Cillian Murphy, “ It’s, Lupita Nyong'o, ” Nyong'o, Nyong'o, Christian Petzold, Berlinale, Jasmine Trinca, Petzold, Mati Diop, Abderrahmane Sissako, emigrates, Trinca, Brady Corbet, Ann Hui, Albert Serra, Oksana Zabuzhko Organizations: BERLIN, Berlin, Kenyan, Germany Locations: Mexican, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Berlin’s, Germany, Italian, French, Senegalese, Dahomey, Benin, West Africa, Mauritian, Ivorian, China, Africa, Berlin

BERLIN (AP) — The 74th Berlin International Film Festival opens Thursday with the world premiere of “Small Things Like These” starring man of the moment Cillian Murphy. Festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, who will step down after this year, expressed their aim for “open dialogue” surrounding the war. The duo’s previous film, “Ballad of a White Cow,” premiered in competition in Berlin in 2021. Kenyan-Mexican actor Lupita Nyong’o will serve as the Berlinale’s first black jury president at this year’s festival. Isabelle Huppert will return to Berlin to collect her unclaimed lifetime achievement from 2022, when the French acting icon could not attend.

Persons: Cillian Murphy, Murphy, “ Oppenheimer, ”, “, Blinders, Tim Mielants, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Emily Watson, Magdalene laundries, Mariette Rissenbeek, Carlo Chatrian, ” It’s, haven’t, Ayo Tsalithaba, Suneil Sanzgiri, Maryam Moghaddam, Sanaeeha, Berlinale, AfD’s, Kristin Brinker, Lupita Nyong’o, Brady Corbet, Jasmine Trinca, Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Oksana Zabuzhko, Kristen Stewart, Adam Sandler, Stephen Fry, Lena Dunham, Marvel’s Sebastian Stan, Martin Scorsese, Golden Bear, Isabelle Huppert, Hong Sang Organizations: BERLIN, Berlin, West Bank, Palestinian, Germany, Kenyan Locations: Ireland, Gaza, Germany, Israeli, American, Israel, Tehran, Berlin, Berlin’s, AfD’s Berlin, Mexican, Ukrainian, Czech, Poland, French, South Korean

☆ Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer of 'The Last Emperor' film score, dies aged 71
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and member of the jury for the upcoming 68th Berlinale International Film Festival attends a news conference in Berlin, Germany, February 15, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File PhotoTOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning Japanese composer famed for his scores for "The Last Emperor", "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and other films, has died aged 71, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Sunday. Sakamoto was also known for his work with the pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) which he co-founded. Embracing electronic music, he and fellow studio musicians Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi formed YMO in 1978. His most celebrated work was 1987's "The Last Emperor" - a film in which he also acted.

☆ Documentary 'On the Adamant' wins Berlin Film Festival's top award
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Nicolas Philibert poses for a photo with the Golden Bear for Best Film for "On the Adamant" at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 25, 2023. Jorg Carstensen/Pool via REUTERSBERLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - "On the Adamant," a documentary about a floating daycare centre in Paris for adults with mental disorders, won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear award on Saturday. Accepting the Berlinale's top prize, director Nicolas Philibert said he was deeply touched by the jury's decision to award it to a documentary rather than a work of fiction. "That documentary can be considered cinema in its own right touches me deeply," he said. The festival's Silver Bear for best leading actor went to Sofia Otero, who plays an 8-year-old transgender child in "20,000 Species of Bees."

It's big what happens to Jules," Freeman told Reuters of the film, which premiered at the Berlinale film festival last Sunday. For George MacKay, playing the role of Preston was a chance to tap into currents in his own personality. While the film will especially appeal to LGBTQ+ viewers, its moving human story and racy plot has something for everyone, Freeman said. "This is a film that is for queer audiences, but it's also a film for all audiences," he said. "The queer is a label that we proudly attach to it, but it's not all that it is."

☆ Remember the 2011 quake: Berlinale film's message to Japan's young
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Hanna Rantala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Director Makoto Shinkai attends a news conference during the promotion of 'Suzume' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2023. The result was "Suzume", an animated feature that has been a blockbuster in Japan and which held its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday. In touring sites of recent trauma and wreckage, the film has triggered painful memories, and not all in Japan have welcomed this, Shinkai said. "I personally think a Japanese society which is able to accept this kind of a movie is a better society," Shinkai said. Additional reporting and writing by Thomas Escritt, editing by Emma-Victoria Farr and Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Berlinale film unearths traumas of Australian indigenous communities
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Zuzanna Szymanska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/8] Director Ivan Sen and cast members Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen and Simon Baker attend the screening of 'Limbo' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2023. "Almost every indigenous family in Australia has had this kind of experience." The black-and-white film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday, casts "L.A. Confidential" star Simon Baker as a detective sent to the opal-mining town of Limbo to review a 20-year-old unsolved murder. The film, one of 19 competing for the top Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, often lingers over a scarred landscape, seen from far above in lengthy drone shots that highlight the terrain's inhuman scale.

☆ Berlinale film marks Chinese star Fan Bingbing's return to cinema
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Cast member Fan Bingbing attends a news conference during the promotion of 'Green Night' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2023. Her reappearance also spotlighted the return of Chinese-language film to the international stage, as mainland China and Hong Kong have eased zero-COVID policies, allowing for international travel. Featuring both Mandarin and Korean dialogue, the film is one of several from China and Hong Kong receiving world premieres at the Berlinale. In "Green Night", Fan plays the role of Jin Xia, a Chinese immigrant working as a security guard at Seoul airport. Chinese cinema is showing signs of thriving in Berlin, Fan said.

☆ Film offers close-up of Ukraine's bloody Eastern Front
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Directors Vitaly Mansky and Yehven Titarenko speak about the movie 'Eastern Front' during a Reuters interview during the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2023. "I think people usually get some romantic ideas about war from the books, from movies," Yevhen Titarenko, a Ukrainian filmmaker who co-directed the film, told Reuters. The film premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday, the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, celebrating the resilience of the Ukrainian people while providing a grisly portrait of the devastation of war. Lviv-born filmmaker Vitaly Mansky co-directed the film with Titarenko, providing additional scenes recorded in Western Ukraine. "The message is not to give anybody the chance to think they can hide from this war," Mansky said.

☆ Still filming, Spielberg, 76, wins Berlin lifetime award
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Hanna Rantala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Director Steven Spielberg gestures during a news conference ahead of receiving the Honorary Golden Bear Award for Lifetime Achievement, at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret HilseBERLIN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Director Steven Spielberg, picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival, said the prospect of making new films continued to excite him at 76, and unveiled new details of his planned HBO series. "We're mounting a large production for HBO based on Stanley's original script 'Napoleon'," he said. Reflecting on the past two years of frenetic film-making, Spielberg said the pandemic prompted him to revisit his childhood in "The Fabelmans". "If you want to be a movie director, first of all write," he said.

[1/4] Cast member John Malkovich attends a photocall to promote the movie 'Seneca' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 20, 2023. "Seneca - On the Creation of Earthquakes" seeks an answer to this question, both very contemporary and eternal, in the last night of the first-century Roman philosopher's life, after he learns the Emperor Nero has ordered his death. "He talks a lot," said Malkovich. "And sometimes it was hard not to think, OK, but die and, you know, be quiet." He asks his young wife, played by an ethereal Lilith Stangenberg, to die with him to lend theatrical weight to his death and his dictums.

☆ Helen Mirren: Starring in 'Golda' like playing British monarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Miranda Murray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 20 (Reuters) - For Helen Mirren, playing Israel's only female prime minister, Golda Meir, was not unlike a role as a British monarch. "Golda," which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday, focuses on Meir's leadership during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states in October 1973. "It's not a biopic, it's not her whole life, it's just a little section where she's most challenged," said Mirren. Mirren is nearly unrecognizable as Meir thanks to prosthetics and a make-up regimen that took hours, re-creating the Israeli leader's nicotine-stained fingers and swollen ankles. Nattiv also explained his decision to cast Mirren even though she is not Jewish, saying that besides being an excellent actor, she felt like a family member.

☆ 'Reality' recreates fateful day for U.S. whistleblower in Berlinale premiere
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Cast members Marchant Davis, Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton and Director Tina Satter attend a photo call to promote the movie 'Reality' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 18, 2023. Director Tina Satter aims to change that with the movie "Reality," a 85-minute re-enactment of the day FBI agents came to Winner's house based off the transcript of the audio they recorded which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. Winner's sister and mother also attended the premiere, prompting a burst of applause from the crowded theatre. "After spending time speaking with her, I wanted to make sure that I captured her as much as possible," said Sweeney. "I hope that they see this moment in a woman's life, that it was a really hard decision to make, and to not reduce Reality to just a headline," she added.

[1/5] Former tennis player Boris Becker attends a news conference to promote documentary 'Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 19, 2023. "You have to be a bit crazy to cross the line and do things nobody else has ever achieved before." "You expect world champions in a sport to be like everyone else but we aren't," he told a news conference. "What I liked about Boris is that unlike many athletes he is a great storyteller," Gibney said.

☆ Virginia Woolf´s 'Orlando' inspires transgender film at Berlinale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Orlando: My Political Biography", Preciado's playful debut film, explores the struggles of trans and binary people through Woolf's novel "Orlando". In its opening scene, two young non-binary people sit reading a book in the woods. I didn't want to go into that tradition, but I didn't want to go into the victim setting either," Preciado said of his film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. Woolf's 1928 novel tells the story of Orlando, a young Elizabethan-era nobleman, who one night turns into a woman living three-hundred years later. Preciado says Woolf's vision resonates in the contemporary West, where people are only now beginning to accept the notion of non-binary categories.

"We started making a film on the last war in Europe and then a new war broke out," Sicin-Sain told reporters. "It's about the resilience of all of us and that's a wonderful thing to put out into the world, particularly now," Damon told Reuters. His production company is in the early stages of researching a film about the war in Ukraine, he added. Footage of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic - now serving a life sentence for genocide - denying war crimes makes the parallels with today's war inescapable. Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Austrian poet seeks solace from gender roles in Berlinale biopic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Miranda Murray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Michele TantussiBERLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - For German director Margarethe von Trotta, "Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey into the Desert," chronicling six years of the titular Austrian poet's life, is part of a dialogue with the past about how life for women has changed and how much they have achieved. "Bachmann's search for liberty and freedom - she said 'I cannot be subjugated by men' - what she was searching for, we have achieved now," said von Trotta of the poet and author, who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. "She arrives in the desert very weak ... and in the end she says it's her salvation, I'm liberated," said von Trotta. Born in Berlin, she began working as an actor in the late 1960s before moving into directing, making her first solo debut in 1977. Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Assassin and mother: Korean thriller explores extreme work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Hanna Rantala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jeon plays Boksoon, a highly skilled contract assassin in the Netflix movie. "As a mother and raising a whole person, a human being, it's very tough because you yourself are unstable, insecure, and there's so much that you just don't know," she said. "Being a mother really makes you see your shortcomings," Do-yeon added. "Kill Boksoon", which is screening in the sidebar Berlinale Special section at the Berlin Film Festival, is due to be released by Netflix on March 31. Reporting by Hanna Rantala Editing by Thomas Escritt and Helen PopperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Berlinale film 'Manodrome' explores misogynistic world of incel culture
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Miranda Murray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Cast members Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Jesse Eisenberg and director John Trengove attend a photo call to promote the movie 'Manodrome'' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 18, 2023. The film, which premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday, explores the "manosphere" of online toxic masculinity that bubbled up into the mainstream after a series of mass killings by "incels" - the self-described "involuntary celibates" - in the 2010s. They eventually win Ralphie as a new adherent to their cult and initiate him by branding him with their symbol. "It really became this idea of a character who just immerses himself in a world of men. And it all kind of leads to a sort of madness, a kind of a fever dream," Trengove told the premiere's audience.

[1/2] Director Sean Penn attends a photo call on the red carpet to promote the documentary 'Superpower' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Nadja WohllebenBERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Late in the evening of Feb. 24, 2022, just some 15 hours after Russia triggered its invasion of his country, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy found time to receive American actor Sean Penn. Sitting in a bare, apparently windowless room, Zelenskiy speculated on Vladimir Putin's motives for the invasion. In fighting against the Russian invasion, Ukraine is "fighting a fight on all of our behalf," Penn told the audience at the premiere. "You're Sean Penn.

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