Finnish-Syrian LGBT romantic drama A Moment in the Reeds, the feature debut of Finnish writer/director Mikko Makela is a moving gay romance between a young Finnish academic and a struggling Syrian refugee, set against an idyllic Finnish summer.
After world premiering at the 2017 London Film Festival and a year of critical success on the worldwide festival circuit and opening theatrically to critical acclaim in Finland this past summer, A Moment in the Reeds releases on December 4th, 2018 in the U.S. and Canada on DVD & VOD.
Mikko Makela’s stunning debut explores the relationship between two men, set against an idyllic Finnish summer. Whilst visiting his estranged father, Leevi meets Tareq, a handsome Syrian immigrant employed to restore the family lake house. Leevi’s father departs for the city, leaving the two men alone in the beautiful remote countryside and enabling them to act on their impulses and the chemistry that clearly exists between them. Far removed from their everyday lives, the only immediate threat to the men’s relationship is the eventual return of Leevi’s father. But there’s also Tareq’s complex relationship with his family back in Syria. Makela sensitively explores the perspectives of both men, who long for some human connection, acceptance and a place to call home. Locating marginalised characters at the forefront of the story, Makela’s film is a very welcome and refreshingly frank portrait of contemporary Finnish society.
One of the first LGBT-themed films made in Finland, Makela’s intimate drama places at its center the freedom and acceptance of sexual and ethnic minorities, amidst the backdrop of breathtaking Finnish lake country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sld9shloXw4Foreign Language Films
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Finnish-Syrian LGBT Romantic Drama A MOMENT IN THE REEDS Gets Release Date
Finnish-Syrian LGBT romantic drama A Moment in the Reeds, the feature debut of Finnish writer/director Mikko Makela is a moving gay romance between a young Finnish academic and a struggling Syrian refugee, set against an idyllic Finnish summer.
After world premiering at the 2017 London Film Festival and a year of critical success on the worldwide festival circuit and opening theatrically to critical acclaim in Finland this past summer, A Moment in the Reeds releases on December 4th, 2018 in the U.S. and Canada on DVD & VOD.
Mikko Makela’s stunning debut explores the relationship between two men, set against an idyllic Finnish summer. Whilst visiting his estranged father, Leevi meets Tareq, a handsome Syrian immigrant employed to restore the family lake house. Leevi’s father departs for the city, leaving the two men alone in the beautiful remote countryside and enabling them to act on their impulses and the chemistry that clearly exists between them. Far removed from their everyday lives, the only immediate threat to the men’s relationship is the eventual return of Leevi’s father. But there’s also Tareq’s complex relationship with his family back in Syria. Makela sensitively explores the perspectives of both men, who long for some human connection, acceptance and a place to call home. Locating marginalised characters at the forefront of the story, Makela’s film is a very welcome and refreshingly frank portrait of contemporary Finnish society.
One of the first LGBT-themed films made in Finland, Makela’s intimate drama places at its center the freedom and acceptance of sexual and ethnic minorities, amidst the backdrop of breathtaking Finnish lake country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sld9shloXw4
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Award Winning Japanese Family Drama SHOPLIFTERS Sets US Release Date [Trailer]
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s touching new family drama Shoplifters is one of the most buzzed about foreign films of 2018, having won the Palme d’Or at 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and recently selected as Japan’s Official Submission for Foreign Language Film Competition for the 91st Academy Awards. Shoplifters will open on Friday, November 23 in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the IFC Center (and in Los Angeles). A national expansion will follow.
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.
In an recent interview, director Hirokazu Kore-eda was asked, Was your intention to depict a family from a different angle compared to your previous films? The first thing that came to my mind was the tagline: “Only the crimes tied us together”. In Japan, crimes like pension frauds and parents making their children shoplift are criticized severely. Of course, these criminals should be criticized but I am wondering why people get so angry over such minor infractions even though there are many lawbreakers out there committing far more serious crimes without condemnation. Especially after the 2011 earthquakes, I didn’t feel comfortable with people saying repeatedly that a family bond is important. So I wanted to explore it by depicting a family linked by crime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG-mXdOzC4c
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Gustav Möller’s Thriller THE GUILTY is Denmark’s Entry in Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_27745" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
The Guilty[/caption]
Gustav Möller’s minimalist thriller ‘The Guilty‘ has been selected as Denmark’s official entry for the 2019 Foreign Language Oscar category. ‘The Guilty’ is Gustav Möller’s feature debut. The film was selected from a shortlist that included Bille August’s ‘A Fortunate Man’ and Hlynur Pálmason’s ‘Winter Brothers.’
The Guilty’ by Gustav Möller takes place over one single night at an emergency call center, following a policeman’s race against time to save a kidnapped woman, with the phone as his only tool. The film won the Audience Award at its world premiere at Sundance and has since met with a warm critical reception across the board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXeeVRazqFM
In Denmark, 139,000 tickets have been sold since it premiered in June, and in France, so far 260,000 cinema-goers have seen the thriller. The film is to be released in US theaters on 19 October by Magnolia Pictures, which also saw the US launch of the three Danish Oscar nominated films ‘A Royal Affair,’ ‘The Hunt’ and ‘A War.’
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the five nominations for the title as Best Foreign Language Film on 22 January. The 2019 winners will be announced on Oscar Night taking place in Los Angeles on 24 February.
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Filipino Film GOYO: THE BOY GENERAL Sets US Release Date [Trailer]
Following its successful release in its native Philippines, GOYO: The Boy General (Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral), a film written and directed by Jerrold Tarog will open theatrically in New York on September 21, with Los Angeles and other key US cities to follow.
GOYO: The Boy General is a historical biopic that focuses on the last months in the life of Gregorio del Pilar (Paulo Avelino), one of the youngest generals of the Philippine Revolution (against Spain) and the Philippine-American War. He was the most trusted ally of Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine President and Commander-in-Chief during the Revolution and War. GOYO is the next installment, following the surprise 2015 blockbuster hit HENERAL LUNA, a film that chronicled Revolutionary General Antonio Luna’s life (and which also had a US theatrical release in October 2015).
After five months of relative peace, the U.S. Army begins its final push to crush the Philippine army and capture Aguinaldo. Goyo faces the biggest challenge of his life as he oversees the large caravan of officers, soldiers and civilians making their perilous escape through the mountains of the Northern regions.
The hovering presence of death and failure throughout the journey ultimately calls into question Goyo’s accomplishments and public popularity. The boy general is forced to grow up and ask the only question that matters during times of war: What does it really mean to be a hero?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYK_6W_seNg
Director’s Statement – Jarrold Tarog:
For many, Gregorio del Pilar was a true hero of the revolution, but for some, he was nothing more than an arrogant henchman of Revolutionary President Emilio Aguinaldo. Yet his willingness to give up his life reveals a level of determination and perhaps humility that cannot be easily dismissed. For someone so young and popular to face death head on, Goyo, as del Pilar is known to his friends, deserves to be examined using both a wider and a more intimate lens.
As the second part in the envisioned historical trilogy that began with HENERAL LUNA (2015), GOYO: ANG BATANG HENERAL continues an attempt to examine our faults as a people by using the past as a reflection of the present. With multiple points of view and the same characteristic freedom to move between historical fact and fiction as in HENERAL LUNA, GOYO expounds on themes of maturity and responsibility, contrasts the naivete of youth with sobriety of adulthood, and attempts to ask questions about our readiness for a task of nation building. How does one attain honor when facing certain death? What should a man like Goyo hold close to his heart when forced to make the ultimate sacrifice?
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49 Feature Films Eligible for European Film Awards 2018

BORG/McENROE 49 films have been named by the European Film Academy for this year’s EFA Feature Film Selection,
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Watch New Trailer + Poster for Pistol-Packing South African Western FIVE FINGERS OF MARSEILLES
The pistol-packing acclaimed South African western Five Fingers for Marseilles which is set for release in US theaters on Friday, September 7, 2018, has released a new trailer and poster. Five Fingers for Marseilles, from filmmaker Michael Matthews and screenwriter Sean Drummond, is described as a thrilling western set against the backdrop of post-Apartheid South Africa.
The residents of the colonial town of Marseilles are under the thumb of police oppression and only the young rebels known as the Five Fingers are willing to stand up to them. Their battle is just, until Tau kills two policemen and flees the scene. The remaining rebels disband while the banished Tau resorts to a life of crime. Twenty years later, now known as feared outlaw The Lion of Marseilles, he is released from prison. He returns home, desiring only peace and to reconnect with those he left behind. The battle for South Africa’s freedom has been won, and former comrades-in-arms are in prominent positions as mayor, police chief, and pastor. But it quickly becomes clear to Tau that Marseilles is caught in the grip of a vicious new threat — and he must reconstitute the Five Fingers to fight frontier justice. Standing against former allies and new enemies, the re-formed Five Fingers saddle up and ride out, and put their lives at risk to save their beloved Marseilles.
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Watch New Trailer + Poster for Pablo Solarz’s THE LAST SUIT
The new trailer and poster is here for The Last Suit, the award-winning charming, funny film from Argentine director Pablo Solarz about an elderly Holocaust survivor who decides to undertake a trip from Argentina to Poland to tie up some unfinished business. The Last Suit will open in theaters on Friday, September 21 in New York, followed by Los Angeles on Friday, September 28, and wider national release to follow.
At 88, Abraham Bursztein (Miguel Ángel Solá) is seeing his place in the world rapidly disappear. His kids have sold his Buenos Aires residence, set him up to move to a retirement home, and disagree on how to handle his fading health. But Abraham survived the Holocaust, made a successful life in a foreign land, and isn’t about to quietly fade away. Instead, he plots a secret one-way trip to Poland, where he plans to find the Christian friend who saved him from certain death at the end of World War II, and to keep his promise to return one day.
With its klezmer-driven score, evocative cinematography and fleet pacing, THE LAST SUIT approaches its weighty themes with a light touch that illuminates a serious story. And in its mix of Spanish, Yiddish, German and Polish it is a globe-trotting surprise, a late-in-life road movie with planes, trains and heart.
Trailer
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Martin Sulik’s THE INTERPRETER is Slovakia’s Entry in Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film [Trailer]
Martin Sulik’s The Interpreter has been selected by the Slovak Film and Television Academy (SFTA) to represent Slovakia in the category of Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
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Charming, Funny Argentinian Film THE LAST SUIT to Opens in Theaters in September [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_28147" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
EL ÚLTIMO TRAJE (THE LAST SUIT)[/caption]
In The Last Suit (El último traje), the charming, funny and notably poignant new film from Argentine director Pablo Solarz, an elderly Holocaust survivor decides to undertake a trip from Argentina to Poland to tie up some unfinished business. The film which won the Audience Award at the 2018 Miami Film Festival will open in theaters on Friday, September 21 in New York with Los Angeles following on Friday, September 28 and wider national release to follow.
At 88, Abraham Bursztein (Miguel Ángel Solá) is seeing his place in the world rapidly disappear. His kids have sold his Buenos Aires residence, set him up to move to a retirement home, and disagree on how to handle his fading health. But Abraham survived the Holocaust, made a successful life in a foreign land, and isn’t about to quietly fade away. Instead, he plots a secret one-way trip to Poland, where he plans to find the Christian friend who saved him from certain death at the end of World War II, and to keep his promise to return one day.
With its klezmer-driven score, evocative cinematography and fleet pacing, The Last Suit (El último traje) approaches its weighty themes with a light touch that illuminates a serious story. And in its mix of Spanish, Yiddish, German and Polish it is a globe-trotting surprise, a late-in-life road movie with planes, trains and heart.
Pablo Solarz is an Argentine screenwriter and director. He wrote the screenplay for Carlos Sorin’s Intimate Stories (2002) and local Argentine comedy hits A Boyfriend for my Wife (2008) and I Married a Dumbass (2016), who made his feature directorial debut with Together Forever (2010). The Last Suit (El último traje) (2017) is his latest film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZVMgJoo-k
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Argentinian Crime Thriller EL ANGEL Steals November Release Date
The Argentinian film El Angel directed by Luis Ortega that screened earlier this year at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and next at the upcoming 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, will open in theaters in November. The film, starring Lorenzo Ferro, Chino Darin, Mercedes Morán, Daniel Fanego, Luis Gnecco, Peter Lanzani, and Cecilia Roth, is inspired by the true story of Carlos Robledo Puch, known as “the black angel”, a thief who killed eleven people in the early 1970s in Argentina.
The Orchard will release El Angel in Los Angeles at the NuArt on November 9th, as well as in New York in early November and rolling out to other US cities in November and December 2018.
Buenos Aires, 1971. Carlitos (Lorenzo Ferro) is a seventeen-year-old youth with movie star swagger, blond curls and a baby face. As a young boy, he coveted other people’s things, but it wasn’t until his early adolescence that his true calling—to be a thief—manifested itself. When he meets Ramon (Chino Darin) at his new school, Carlitos is immediately drawn to him and starts showing off to get his attention. Together they will embark on a journey of discoveries, love and crime. Killing is just a random offshoot of the violence, which continues to escalate until Carlitos is finally apprehended. Because of his angelic appearance, the press dubs Carlitos “The Angel of Death.” Showered with attention because of his beauty, he becomes an overnight celebrity. Altogether, he is believed to have committed over forty thefts and eleven homicides. Today, after more than forty-five years in jail, Carlos Robledo Puch is the longest-serving prisoner in the history of Argentina.

COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski[/caption]
The Polish drama
HAPPY AS LAZARRO[/caption]
HAPPY AS LAZZARO
LAZZARO FELICE
Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Alice Rohrwacher
PRODUCED BY Carlo Cresto-Dina, Tiziana Soudani, Alexandra Henochsberg, Grégory Gajos, Arthur Hallereau, Pierre-François Piet, Michel Merkt, Michael Weber & Viola Fügen
GRÄNS (BORDER) by Ali Abbasi[/caption]
Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf & John Ajvide Lindqvist for BORDER
Matteo Garrone, Ugo Chiti & Massimo Gaudioso for DOGMAN
Gustav Möller & Emil Nygaard Albertsen for THE GUILTY
Pawel Pawlikowski for COLD WAR
Alice Rohrwacher for HAPPY AS LAZZARO