As various critics groups and awards bodies dole out their top films of the year, it can be hard to parse which ones are actually worth paying attention to. Following our top 50 films of 2023, one such list has arrived today with Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey. Revealed at a special live talk last night, Todd Haynes’s May December, Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon grabbed the top three spots, while Eduardo Williams’s The Human Surge 3, Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka, and Víctor Erice’s Close Your Eyes topped the best undistributed films.
“It speaks to the ongoing vitality of cinema as an art form, as well as the discernment of our critics in the year of ‘Barbenheimer,’ that this year’s top films represent some of the most boundary-pushing, complex movies of recent times—three new classics from contemporary masters,...
“It speaks to the ongoing vitality of cinema as an art form, as well as the discernment of our critics in the year of ‘Barbenheimer,’ that this year’s top films represent some of the most boundary-pushing, complex movies of recent times—three new classics from contemporary masters,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
French film critic and historian Michel Ciment, the long-time publishing director of film magazine Positif, has died Monday, French media reported. He was 85.
Ciment first started writing for the Lyon-based magazine in 1963, when he contributed a piece about the cinema of Orson Welles.
The magazine was launched in 1952 shortly after Les Cahiers du Cinéma by Bernard Chardère, who also died this year.
In a talk at Paris’s Forum Des Images in 2022, marking Positif’s 70th anniversary, Ciment recounted how he started reading the magazine in the 1950s as a teenager, while hanging around the Le Minotaure bookshop in the Paris quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Près.
“It was an amazing place where you’d bump into other cinephiles like Jean-Claude Romer, who went on to create [the cinema magazine] Midi Minuit Fantastique,” recounted Ciment.
“There were a lot of people from Les Cahiers and Positif… You couldn’t find the cinema revues in kiosks then.
Ciment first started writing for the Lyon-based magazine in 1963, when he contributed a piece about the cinema of Orson Welles.
The magazine was launched in 1952 shortly after Les Cahiers du Cinéma by Bernard Chardère, who also died this year.
In a talk at Paris’s Forum Des Images in 2022, marking Positif’s 70th anniversary, Ciment recounted how he started reading the magazine in the 1950s as a teenager, while hanging around the Le Minotaure bookshop in the Paris quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Près.
“It was an amazing place where you’d bump into other cinephiles like Jean-Claude Romer, who went on to create [the cinema magazine] Midi Minuit Fantastique,” recounted Ciment.
“There were a lot of people from Les Cahiers and Positif… You couldn’t find the cinema revues in kiosks then.
- 11/13/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Garrel denies all of the accusations that were published in Mediapart.
French New Wave filmmaker and 2023 Berlin Silver Bear-winning director Philippe Garrel has been accused of sexual assault by several women with whom he has worked in his films.
In an investigation conducted by France’s Mediapart, Anna Mouglalis and Clotilde Hesme are among five actresses who allege the 75 year-old director made unwanted advances or offered roles in exchange for sexual favours, all in a professional context.
Garrel maintains his innocence and no official charges have been filed in French courts
The director told Mediapart he has “never kissed a...
French New Wave filmmaker and 2023 Berlin Silver Bear-winning director Philippe Garrel has been accused of sexual assault by several women with whom he has worked in his films.
In an investigation conducted by France’s Mediapart, Anna Mouglalis and Clotilde Hesme are among five actresses who allege the 75 year-old director made unwanted advances or offered roles in exchange for sexual favours, all in a professional context.
Garrel maintains his innocence and no official charges have been filed in French courts
The director told Mediapart he has “never kissed a...
- 8/30/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Louis Garrel worked under the direction of Greta Gerwig in 2019’s Little Women and shared credits with many great actors, something that the French star was seemingly intimidated by initially.
The film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel starred Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Chris Cooper, among others.
Garrel is recalling his time on the set of the Gerwig film and feeling stressed and telling The Independent, “I am the most anxious French guy you can meet. Believe me, I want to be more brave than I am. I am… what do you say? Effrayé they say in French… a scared guy.”
The actor said that it was his talented co-stars that added to his anxiety saying, “I was super stressed because I knew that all of the actors in it were better than me.
The film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel starred Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Chris Cooper, among others.
Garrel is recalling his time on the set of the Gerwig film and feeling stressed and telling The Independent, “I am the most anxious French guy you can meet. Believe me, I want to be more brave than I am. I am… what do you say? Effrayé they say in French… a scared guy.”
The actor said that it was his talented co-stars that added to his anxiety saying, “I was super stressed because I knew that all of the actors in it were better than me.
- 8/27/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Switzerland has selected Camille Jaquier’s coming-of-age period drama Thunder (Foudre) as its entry for the Best International Film category at the 2024 Oscars.
Set in 1900, the film stars Lilith Grasmug as a 17-year-old girl on the cusp of taking vows to become a nun, whose life is set on another course following the sudden death of her older sister.
She returns to her family after five years in the convent to help on their farm in a mountain village. The mysteries surrounding her sister’s death prompt her to fight for her right to self-determination and to rebel against the strict expectations of the village community.
The drama originally world premiered in Toronto’s Platform line-up in 2022 and then played at a host of other festivals including San Sebastian, Zurich, Busan and Sydney.
“Set in an archaic mountain scenery, liberation and sisterhood are at the center of this timely feminist period film.
Set in 1900, the film stars Lilith Grasmug as a 17-year-old girl on the cusp of taking vows to become a nun, whose life is set on another course following the sudden death of her older sister.
She returns to her family after five years in the convent to help on their farm in a mountain village. The mysteries surrounding her sister’s death prompt her to fight for her right to self-determination and to rebel against the strict expectations of the village community.
The drama originally world premiered in Toronto’s Platform line-up in 2022 and then played at a host of other festivals including San Sebastian, Zurich, Busan and Sydney.
“Set in an archaic mountain scenery, liberation and sisterhood are at the center of this timely feminist period film.
- 8/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2024 Oscars race has officially begun, with “Thunder” marking the official entry for Switzerland in the International Feature Film category.
Directed by Carmen Jaquier, “Thunder” is a coming-of-age story focused on a teenage girl (Lilith Grasmug) who is forced to leave a nunnery after her elder sister dies in mysterious circumstances. Set in 1900, the film marks Jaquier’s first feature. “Thunder” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win Swiss Film Awards, an Emerging Swiss Talent Award at Zurich, a Special Jury Prize in Rome, and a best director prize in Marrakech. Its Oscars recognition was announced during this year’s Locarno Film Festival on August 4.
In a statement about its decision, the selection jury said, “Set in an archaic mountain scenery, liberation and sisterhood are at the center of this timely feminist period film. Carmen Jaquier’s uniquely sensual first feature skillfully explores sexuality and...
Directed by Carmen Jaquier, “Thunder” is a coming-of-age story focused on a teenage girl (Lilith Grasmug) who is forced to leave a nunnery after her elder sister dies in mysterious circumstances. Set in 1900, the film marks Jaquier’s first feature. “Thunder” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win Swiss Film Awards, an Emerging Swiss Talent Award at Zurich, a Special Jury Prize in Rome, and a best director prize in Marrakech. Its Oscars recognition was announced during this year’s Locarno Film Festival on August 4.
In a statement about its decision, the selection jury said, “Set in an archaic mountain scenery, liberation and sisterhood are at the center of this timely feminist period film. Carmen Jaquier’s uniquely sensual first feature skillfully explores sexuality and...
- 8/4/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
One of the most puzzling (non-) happenings in international cinema this year is the lack of U.S. distribution for Philippe Garrel’s stellar new drama The Plough. A family affair starring Louis Garrel, Damien Mongin, Esther Garrel, Lena Garrel, Francine Bergé Aurélien Recoing, Mathilde Weil, and Asma Messaoudene, the film about a company of puppeteers premiered at Berlinale this year and is still looking for a home here. However, it’ll open in France this September, and with it the first trailer has arrived.
Rory O’Connor said in his Berlinale review, “In 1947, ten years before becoming an actor, Philippe Garrel’s father, Maurice, joined a company of puppeteers. That piece of history is like a well of inspiration in The Plough, Garrel’s latest cinematic family affair and a film as effortless as they come. It stars all three of Philippe’s children––Louie, Lena, and Esther––as brother...
Rory O’Connor said in his Berlinale review, “In 1947, ten years before becoming an actor, Philippe Garrel’s father, Maurice, joined a company of puppeteers. That piece of history is like a well of inspiration in The Plough, Garrel’s latest cinematic family affair and a film as effortless as they come. It stars all three of Philippe’s children––Louie, Lena, and Esther––as brother...
- 7/24/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Berlinale has announced that the film festival will make programming changes beginning next year amid budget cuts leading into the 2024 season.
The 74th annual festival is set to run from February 15 to 25 next year, but without signature programming like the episodic section, the German filmmaking spotlight, and more. Berlinale is the largest public film festival in the world and will cut its total number of films to approximately 200, as opposed to the 287 films that screened across all sections in 2023. Each section, except for the main competition, will present fewer films starting in 2024. Potsdamer Platz and the prestigious Berlinale Palast will remain the heart of the festival, serving as the central point for the festival’s city-wide network.
“Like many other areas of society, cultural institutions and festivals are affected by considerable cost increases but unchanged budgets,” the festival executives said in a statement shared with IndieWire. “Keeping this in mind,...
The 74th annual festival is set to run from February 15 to 25 next year, but without signature programming like the episodic section, the German filmmaking spotlight, and more. Berlinale is the largest public film festival in the world and will cut its total number of films to approximately 200, as opposed to the 287 films that screened across all sections in 2023. Each section, except for the main competition, will present fewer films starting in 2024. Potsdamer Platz and the prestigious Berlinale Palast will remain the heart of the festival, serving as the central point for the festival’s city-wide network.
“Like many other areas of society, cultural institutions and festivals are affected by considerable cost increases but unchanged budgets,” the festival executives said in a statement shared with IndieWire. “Keeping this in mind,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
That English-language cinema has no parallel for the Garrel family is equal testament to their legacy and our shallow, piddling culture. While Philippe Garrel’s decades-long filmmaking career––which began with political documentation and silent features, but now represents modern cinema’s best studies of romance and longing––just added to its corpus his excellent The Plough, starring progeny Louis Garrel, Esther Garrel, and Lena Garrel, Louis is about to see the U.S. debut of The Innocent, his fourth feature in writing-directing-starring capacities.
If it barely resembles his father’s films––still attuned to human behavior, but packaging observations inside madcap scenarios Garrel proudly calls “completely unbelievable”––that’s all the better: watching The Innocent suggests less an heir to Philippe Garrel than Dino Risi or Pierre Etaix.
Ahead of a release this Friday beginning at NYC’s IFC Center, I talked to Garrel about the difficulty of constructing an intricate comedy-thriller,...
If it barely resembles his father’s films––still attuned to human behavior, but packaging observations inside madcap scenarios Garrel proudly calls “completely unbelievable”––that’s all the better: watching The Innocent suggests less an heir to Philippe Garrel than Dino Risi or Pierre Etaix.
Ahead of a release this Friday beginning at NYC’s IFC Center, I talked to Garrel about the difficulty of constructing an intricate comedy-thriller,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
European Film Promotion (Efp), an international network of film promotion institutes from 37 countries, is heading back to Hong Kong’s FilMart for its in-person return.
“It wasn’t clear if the reopening of the market [post-pandemic] will immediately lead to business, but people want to reconnect with local companies,” observes deputy managing director Jo Mühlberger.
This year, 28 sales companies from five European countries will be joining Efp’s Europe! Umbrella (22 onsite and six online). Most of them hail from France, as Unifrance won’t have its own stand, explains Mühlberger.
“Some could say it’s naïve to go there so soon, but these professionals know what they are doing. They really have something to offer, including Berlinale winners. In some Asian territories, awards still sell,” he says.
Among the titles presented this year, eight were awarded at the German fest, including “The Plough” by Philippe Garrel (pictured), sold by Wild Bunch,...
“It wasn’t clear if the reopening of the market [post-pandemic] will immediately lead to business, but people want to reconnect with local companies,” observes deputy managing director Jo Mühlberger.
This year, 28 sales companies from five European countries will be joining Efp’s Europe! Umbrella (22 onsite and six online). Most of them hail from France, as Unifrance won’t have its own stand, explains Mühlberger.
“Some could say it’s naïve to go there so soon, but these professionals know what they are doing. They really have something to offer, including Berlinale winners. In some Asian territories, awards still sell,” he says.
Among the titles presented this year, eight were awarded at the German fest, including “The Plough” by Philippe Garrel (pictured), sold by Wild Bunch,...
- 3/12/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
In 1947, ten years before becoming an actor, Philippe Garrel’s father, Maurice, joined a company of puppeteers. That piece of history is like a well of inspiration in The Plough, Garrel’s latest cinematic family affair and a film as effortless as they come. It stars all three of Philippe’s children––Louie, Lena, and Esther––as brother and sisters; the patriarch role is filled by Louie’s godfather, Aurélien Recoing, whose own father worked alongside Maurice all those years ago. The grandmother is played by Francine Bergé––no relation, but maybe the performance of the lot. A briskly charming, bracingly anachronistic, sometimes achingly sensual film, it tracks the company in their late halcyon days as well as the siblings’ strained attempts to keep things going once their father dies.
Curiously, The Plough is Garrel’s first color film since A Burning Hot Summer, a maligned work from 2011 that was,...
Curiously, The Plough is Garrel’s first color film since A Burning Hot Summer, a maligned work from 2011 that was,...
- 3/9/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The 2023 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival has come and gone (we got plenty more to insert here), but here are some of the reviews and future interviews for a huge swath of films from the prestigious film fest.
20,000 Species of Bees (read review)
Afire (Roter Himmel) (read review)
Bad Living (read review)
The Beast in the Jungle (read review)
BlackBerry (read review)
Disco Boy (read review)
Le grand chariot (The Plough) (read review)
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert (read review)
Limbo (read review)
Living Bad (Viver Mal) (read review)
Manodrome (read review)
Music (read review)
Past Lives (read review)
The Shadowless Tower (read review)
She Came to Me (read review)
Silver Haze (read review)
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything (read review)
The Survival of Kindness (read review)
The Teachers’ Lounge (read review)
Till the End of the Night (read review)
Tótem (read review)…
Continue reading.
20,000 Species of Bees (read review)
Afire (Roter Himmel) (read review)
Bad Living (read review)
The Beast in the Jungle (read review)
BlackBerry (read review)
Disco Boy (read review)
Le grand chariot (The Plough) (read review)
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert (read review)
Limbo (read review)
Living Bad (Viver Mal) (read review)
Manodrome (read review)
Music (read review)
Past Lives (read review)
The Shadowless Tower (read review)
She Came to Me (read review)
Silver Haze (read review)
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything (read review)
The Survival of Kindness (read review)
The Teachers’ Lounge (read review)
Till the End of the Night (read review)
Tótem (read review)…
Continue reading.
- 3/1/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival came to a close this past weekend, and despite speculation that Sundance import “Past Lives” or Lila Avilés’ “Tótem” would take the Golden Bear, the jury, led this year by Kristen Stewart, awarded it to the French documentary “On the Adamant.” Directed by Nicolas Philibert, the movie follows operations at the Parisian Centre de jour l’Adamant, a floating medical facility on the Seine that offers its patients innovative forms of art therapy.
Jordan Mintzer (The Hollywood Reporter) writes, “While documenting the daily routine of a small clinic that most Parisians walk by without ever noticing, ‘On the Adamant’ ultimately becomes a moving testament to what people are capable of, if they could just find the right place to do it.” Guy Lodge (Variety) compares the film to Philibert’s “To Be and To Have,” which is set inside a single-room schoolhouse in rural France,...
Jordan Mintzer (The Hollywood Reporter) writes, “While documenting the daily routine of a small clinic that most Parisians walk by without ever noticing, ‘On the Adamant’ ultimately becomes a moving testament to what people are capable of, if they could just find the right place to do it.” Guy Lodge (Variety) compares the film to Philibert’s “To Be and To Have,” which is set inside a single-room schoolhouse in rural France,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Ronald Meyer
- Gold Derby
A tiny visual suture at the very beginning of Philippe Garrel’s The Plough inadvertently attests to two different formats being stitched together. The letters of the production company/financing body credits have slightly serrated edges against a dark grey background and clearly come from a digital file, while the subsequent dedication and title card have smooth-lined lettering against a perceptibly darker black, with a few scratches further confirming their celluloid origin. Somebody output those titles to 35mm, then scanned them back in, which speaks to differing deliverables standards for different parts of the chain, as well as to Garrel’s loyalty to the medium (he’s […]
The post Berlinale 2023: The Plough first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Berlinale 2023: The Plough first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/27/2023
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A tiny visual suture at the very beginning of Philippe Garrel’s The Plough inadvertently attests to two different formats being stitched together. The letters of the production company/financing body credits have slightly serrated edges against a dark grey background and clearly come from a digital file, while the subsequent dedication and title card have smooth-lined lettering against a perceptibly darker black, with a few scratches further confirming their celluloid origin. Somebody output those titles to 35mm, then scanned them back in, which speaks to differing deliverables standards for different parts of the chain, as well as to Garrel’s loyalty to the medium (he’s […]
The post Berlinale 2023: The Plough first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Berlinale 2023: The Plough first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/27/2023
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The gender-neutral acting prize was won by Spain’s Sofía Otero for ’20,000 Species of Bees’.
Nicolas Philibert’s documentary On The Adamant, about a floating care centre in Paris, was awarded Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival tonight (February 25).
The film, which is being handled internationally by Les Films du Losange, is the fourth documentary to take top honours at the Berlinale.
German films found particular favour with the jury, presided over by Kristen Stewart, with no less than three of the Bear statuettes going to local productions: the Silver Bear Grand Jury award for Christian Petzold’s Afire,...
Nicolas Philibert’s documentary On The Adamant, about a floating care centre in Paris, was awarded Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival tonight (February 25).
The film, which is being handled internationally by Les Films du Losange, is the fourth documentary to take top honours at the Berlinale.
German films found particular favour with the jury, presided over by Kristen Stewart, with no less than three of the Bear statuettes going to local productions: the Silver Bear Grand Jury award for Christian Petzold’s Afire,...
- 2/26/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The documentary “On the Adamant” has been named the best film of the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin organizers announced on Saturday.
The film from director Nicolas Philibert follows life in a daycare center located on the Seine in Paris for adults with mental disorders. It is the first documentary to win the festival’s top prize since “Fire at Sea” in 2016.
German director Christian Petzold won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, essentially the runner-up award, for his drama “Afire,” while Philippe Garrel won the directing award for “The Plough.” The gender-neutral acting prizes went to Sofia Otero for “20,000 Species of Bees” in the leading performance category and Thea Ehre for “Till the End of the Night” in the supporting category.
The jury president was actress Kristen Stewart. The other jurors were actress Goldshifteh Farahani, directors Valeska Grisebach, Radu Jude and Carla Simón and Johnnie To and casting director Francine Maisler.
The film from director Nicolas Philibert follows life in a daycare center located on the Seine in Paris for adults with mental disorders. It is the first documentary to win the festival’s top prize since “Fire at Sea” in 2016.
German director Christian Petzold won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, essentially the runner-up award, for his drama “Afire,” while Philippe Garrel won the directing award for “The Plough.” The gender-neutral acting prizes went to Sofia Otero for “20,000 Species of Bees” in the leading performance category and Thea Ehre for “Till the End of the Night” in the supporting category.
The jury president was actress Kristen Stewart. The other jurors were actress Goldshifteh Farahani, directors Valeska Grisebach, Radu Jude and Carla Simón and Johnnie To and casting director Francine Maisler.
- 2/25/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
On The Adamant Photo: Courtesy of Berlinale
Nicolas Philibert’s documentary On The Adamant, about a floating mental healthcare facility on the Seine, has won the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Gerrman director Christian Petzold took the Silver Bear Grand Jury for his tale of a writer struggling to forge connections on a beach retreat Afire. French director Philippe Garrel won the Silver Bear for best director for The Plough, which tells the tale of a family of puppeteers. The Silver Bear Jury Prize went to Portugal’s Joao Canijo for drama Bad Living.
The award for best leading performance - now a gender neutral prize - was won by Spain’s Sofía Otero for 20,000 Species Of Bees, directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren.
Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film - On The Adamant, dir. Nicolas Philibert Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize – Afire,...
Nicolas Philibert’s documentary On The Adamant, about a floating mental healthcare facility on the Seine, has won the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Gerrman director Christian Petzold took the Silver Bear Grand Jury for his tale of a writer struggling to forge connections on a beach retreat Afire. French director Philippe Garrel won the Silver Bear for best director for The Plough, which tells the tale of a family of puppeteers. The Silver Bear Jury Prize went to Portugal’s Joao Canijo for drama Bad Living.
The award for best leading performance - now a gender neutral prize - was won by Spain’s Sofía Otero for 20,000 Species Of Bees, directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren.
Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film - On The Adamant, dir. Nicolas Philibert Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize – Afire,...
- 2/25/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After the misery of the 2022 Berlin Film Festival, held toward the tail-end of the pandemic and with strict social distancing and Covid testing regulations still in place, it was back to normal at this year’s 73rd edition.
Festivalgoers were so pleased to return to a proper, physical event that they were remarkably tolerant toward a competition programme that was very patchy, at least by comparison with those found in rival events like Cannes and Venice.
The Berlinale launched with Rebecca Miller’s quirky new romantic comedy, She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage as an opera composer with writer’s block, Anne Hathaway as his neurotic therapist wife, and the scene-stealing Marisa Tomei as a salty, seafaring but very amorous tugboat captain. This was a film with such oddball charm that it was easy to overlook its self-indulgence. Festivals can take themselves far too seriously. She Came to Me...
Festivalgoers were so pleased to return to a proper, physical event that they were remarkably tolerant toward a competition programme that was very patchy, at least by comparison with those found in rival events like Cannes and Venice.
The Berlinale launched with Rebecca Miller’s quirky new romantic comedy, She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage as an opera composer with writer’s block, Anne Hathaway as his neurotic therapist wife, and the scene-stealing Marisa Tomei as a salty, seafaring but very amorous tugboat captain. This was a film with such oddball charm that it was easy to overlook its self-indulgence. Festivals can take themselves far too seriously. She Came to Me...
- 2/25/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- The Independent - Film
Winners have been announced at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival, with On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Saturday evening at the Berlinale Palast.
The film chronicles a unique day-care center in the heart of Paris that welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders, offering the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them to recover or keep up their spirits.
Introducing the film, jury head Kristen Stewart said the pic is “masterfully crafted” and acts as “cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression.”
Other winners in the International Competition included Philippe Garrel, who picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director for his latest pic Le grand chariot (The Plough). Garrel dedicated the award to the late filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.
The film chronicles a unique day-care center in the heart of Paris that welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders, offering the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them to recover or keep up their spirits.
Introducing the film, jury head Kristen Stewart said the pic is “masterfully crafted” and acts as “cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression.”
Other winners in the International Competition included Philippe Garrel, who picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director for his latest pic Le grand chariot (The Plough). Garrel dedicated the award to the late filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.
- 2/25/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
On the Adamant, a documentary by French director Nicolas Philibert that gives an intimate look at the patients and caregivers in a mental health center located on the Seine River in the heart of Paris, has won the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film.
For his 11th feature, the 72-year-old Philibert spent months aboard a barge anchored on the Seine in Paris, chronicling a mental health care facility that caters specifically to its patients’ creative needs. His documentary explores issues of creativity and art, of sanity and madness, but does so without applying labels or clear-cut distinctions.
“I don’t like partitions or labels,” Philibert said. “In this film on psychiatry, we were always [careful] to not always distinguish very clearly between patients and carers. I tried to reverse the image we always have of mad people [which I see] as discriminating and stigmatizing. I wanted us to be able,...
For his 11th feature, the 72-year-old Philibert spent months aboard a barge anchored on the Seine in Paris, chronicling a mental health care facility that caters specifically to its patients’ creative needs. His documentary explores issues of creativity and art, of sanity and madness, but does so without applying labels or clear-cut distinctions.
“I don’t like partitions or labels,” Philibert said. “In this film on psychiatry, we were always [careful] to not always distinguish very clearly between patients and carers. I tried to reverse the image we always have of mad people [which I see] as discriminating and stigmatizing. I wanted us to be able,...
- 2/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival drew to a close, the first of the three major international film festivals began giving out its awards. This year’s Berlin jury was headed by Kristen Stewart, and the selections promised to reflect the actress’ famously good taste in movies. But a strong lineup featuring a variety of innovative films from the world’s top directors ensured that their job was never going to be easy. From a timely documentary about the war in Ukraine to a variety of dramas about men trapped in small spaces (see: “Inside” and “Manhole”), the eclectic collection of films had something for everyone.
At last year’s festival, Carla Simon’s Spanish Drama “Alcarras” won the coveted Golden Bear. Several of the biggest names in global cinema also walked away with big prizes, as Claire Denis won the Silver Bear for Best Director for “Both Sides of the Blade...
At last year’s festival, Carla Simon’s Spanish Drama “Alcarras” won the coveted Golden Bear. Several of the biggest names in global cinema also walked away with big prizes, as Claire Denis won the Silver Bear for Best Director for “Both Sides of the Blade...
- 2/25/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Veteran French docmaker Nicolas Philibert was the surprise winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, taking the prize for his film “On the Adamant,” a poignant observational study of a Paris mental health care facility.
He received the award from jury president Kristen Stewart, after the star offered an extended and plainly heartfelt ode to the film’s humanity and simplicity: “People have gone in circles for thousands of years trying to pin down what can be deemed art, who’s allowed to do it and what determines its value,” she said, citing the boundary-pushing nature of the festival, and namechecking such opposing philosophers on the matter as Aristotle, Barthes, Sontag and Beavis & Butthead, before concluding, “For all of us, you just know it when you see it.”
It was an apt way to introduce a film that stood out in this year’s Competition...
He received the award from jury president Kristen Stewart, after the star offered an extended and plainly heartfelt ode to the film’s humanity and simplicity: “People have gone in circles for thousands of years trying to pin down what can be deemed art, who’s allowed to do it and what determines its value,” she said, citing the boundary-pushing nature of the festival, and namechecking such opposing philosophers on the matter as Aristotle, Barthes, Sontag and Beavis & Butthead, before concluding, “For all of us, you just know it when you see it.”
It was an apt way to introduce a film that stood out in this year’s Competition...
- 2/25/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Given the reportedly frequent use of puppets as aids to the therapeutic process, one might expect a family of third-generation puppeteers to be among the most well-adjusted people in the world. Or among the least, given the other connotation of puppetry, as a conduit for demonic, psychotic or otherwise malign energies. Sadly, neither is the case with the clan in Philippe Garrel’s “The Plough,” a featherweight folderol even by the director’s uneven recent standards, which seems mainly conceived as a cozy way for the veteran director to spend a little time reminding his real-life family how much they will miss him when he’s gone. It’s all about relationships but for anyone not surnamed Garrel, trying to find anything much to relate to in “The Plough” is a lonely furrow indeed.
Le Grand Chariot is the puppet theater run by Simon (Aurélien Recoing) alongside his aspiring actor...
Le Grand Chariot is the puppet theater run by Simon (Aurélien Recoing) alongside his aspiring actor...
- 2/24/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
‘Music’, ‘The Plough’, ‘20,000 Species Of Bees’ and ‘Bad Living’ have also been scored.
Christian Petzold’s Afire has landed second on Screen’s 2023 Berlin jury grid with a strong 3.4 average.
The German drama received a mix of four-star and three-star ratings from the critics and is just behind Celine Song’s Past Lives which remains leader of the pack on 3.6.
Petzold’s fifth entry at Berlinale’s competition follows a group of friends holidaying by the Baltic Sea.
Next in line for the new titles is Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees which received a 2.6 average from critics.
Christian Petzold’s Afire has landed second on Screen’s 2023 Berlin jury grid with a strong 3.4 average.
The German drama received a mix of four-star and three-star ratings from the critics and is just behind Celine Song’s Past Lives which remains leader of the pack on 3.6.
Petzold’s fifth entry at Berlinale’s competition follows a group of friends holidaying by the Baltic Sea.
Next in line for the new titles is Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees which received a 2.6 average from critics.
- 2/23/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Writer, director and occasional actor Philippe Garrel shot his first full-length movie, Marie pour mémoire, when he was only 19. That was amid the turmoil of May 1968, and since then he has made a new feature every few years, becoming a regular fixture in festivals and arthouses, especially in his native France.
Working with unknown or established actors, including Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Pierre Léaud, his intimate tales of emotional unrest — often the same story told again and again, during different epochs, in color or black-and-white — have turned him into a dependable auteur but also an acquired taste. If you don’t like French movies about love, sex, family, adultery and anguish, then you probably won’t like Garrel.
His work has always had an autobiographical bent to it, and one of his best films, 1970’s La Cicatrice Intérieure, starred his girlfriend at the time, Nico of The Velvet Underground. But his latest feature,...
Working with unknown or established actors, including Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Pierre Léaud, his intimate tales of emotional unrest — often the same story told again and again, during different epochs, in color or black-and-white — have turned him into a dependable auteur but also an acquired taste. If you don’t like French movies about love, sex, family, adultery and anguish, then you probably won’t like Garrel.
His work has always had an autobiographical bent to it, and one of his best films, 1970’s La Cicatrice Intérieure, starred his girlfriend at the time, Nico of The Velvet Underground. But his latest feature,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eight films have screened with 11 more to come.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
- 2/20/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Wild Bunch International (Wbi) has boarded sales on buzzy Portuguese director, artist and producer Gabriel Abrantes’ upcoming English-language feature Amelia’s Children.
The film is among half a dozen new titles being launched by Wbi at the EFM, alongside a raft of previously announced upcoming films, including Cannes hopefuls such as Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster.
The company is also handling Berlinale Competition selections, Philippe Garrel’s The Plough and Makoto Shinkai’s hotly awaited anime Suzume, and the Panorama title Heroic, which world premiered at Sundance.
Abrante’s psychological thriller Amelia’s Children is his solo feature debut and his first feature since his 2018 Cannes Critics’ Week winner Diamantino (co-directed with Daniel Schmidt).
The film reunites him with its star Carloto Cotta. Other key cast members are Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical) and Alba Baptiste (Warrior Nun).
Cotta plays a man whose search for his biological family leads him and his...
The film is among half a dozen new titles being launched by Wbi at the EFM, alongside a raft of previously announced upcoming films, including Cannes hopefuls such as Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster.
The company is also handling Berlinale Competition selections, Philippe Garrel’s The Plough and Makoto Shinkai’s hotly awaited anime Suzume, and the Panorama title Heroic, which world premiered at Sundance.
Abrante’s psychological thriller Amelia’s Children is his solo feature debut and his first feature since his 2018 Cannes Critics’ Week winner Diamantino (co-directed with Daniel Schmidt).
The film reunites him with its star Carloto Cotta. Other key cast members are Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical) and Alba Baptiste (Warrior Nun).
Cotta plays a man whose search for his biological family leads him and his...
- 2/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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