IFC Midnight will release Egor Abramenko’s directorial debut Sputnik based on his short film The Passenger which played in the 2017 Fantastic Film Festival in Austin. Sputnik was set to have its world premiere in the Midnight Section at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. IFC Midnight will release the film on August 14th, 2020.
Breaking Glass Pictures will release the Italian LGBTQ comedy-drama Fairytale on DVD/VOD on May 12. Fairytale (Favola) follows Mrs. Fairytale, a perfect housewife in 1950s America who becomes aware of her own unhappiness and embarks on a process of personal liberation. Amongst stuffed poodles, whiskey-infused teas, sinful mambo lessons, and threats of alien invasion, Mr(s). Fairytale will begin to explore a world where anyone can finally be who they want to be, but behind which hides another upsetting reality.
The Mexican production “50 o Dos Ballenas se Encuentran en la Playa” directed by Jorge Cuchí was awarded the Films in Progress Toulouse Award and the Special Ciné+ in Progress Award at the 2020 Films in Progress Toulouse organized by the San Sebastian Festival and Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse.
The Italian Virtual Reality film Vajont from director Iolanda Di Bonaventura and producer Saverio Trapasso was selected at the close of the fourth edition of the Biennale College Cinema – VR to receive support from La Biennale to cover its production costs.
With more than 200+ theaters across North America supporting it’s new Virtual Cinema, Film Movement will offer its very first US theatrical premiere this April with A White, White Day, a thriller that was Iceland’s Official Oscar Submission.
Cinema Tropical launched The Cinema Tropical Collection, a new initiative that makes select Latin American films available digitally.
The debut documentary film Makongo by Elvis Sabin Ngaibino (Central African Republic / Argentina / Italy), which participated in the Final Cut in Venice workshop at the Venice International Film Festival 2019, won the Prix International de la Scam (the second award of the Festival) at the 42nd Cinéma du réel in Paris. The Festival was cancelled because of the current health emergency, but the Jury decided to view the selected films online anyway, and to award the prizes.
Kino Lorber’s virtual theatrical exhibition initiative called Kino Marquee has now expanded to 150 arthouse theaters to screen Cannes-prize winning Brazilian thriller Bacurau. Alamo Drafthouse and Laemmle Theaters have just signed on to screen through many of their locations.
Major international film industry organizations today released statements expressing concern about “the imminent incarceration” of Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof who recently won the Golden Bear at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival for his latest film, There Is No Evil.
Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman who Ran which made its world premiere last week in competition at the 70th Berlinale, where it won the Silver Bear for Best Director has been acquired by Cinema Guild for release in the U.S. It will mark the seventh film directed by Hong that Cinema Guild has released.
IFC released the official trailer for The Painted Bird, the black-and-white holocaust drama directed by Václav Marhoul set during World War II. The film is an adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński’s novel of the same name and was selected to represent the Czech Republic in the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film. The Painted Bird starring Petr Kotlár, Udo Kier, Lech Dyblik, Jitka Čvančarová, Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Aleksey Kravchenko, and Barry Pepper, opens in New York and Los Angeles on April 17, 2020
The Chilean film The Wolf House (La casa lobo) by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, winner of the Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Cinema Tropical Award for Best First Film, opens on Friday, March 20 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City and on Friday, March 27 at the Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles.