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NEWS
Carla Simón’s Alcarrás (Courtesy of MK2 Films)
- This year's Berlinale has now concluded, with Carla Simón’s Alcarrás taking home the Golden Bear, and Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis and Natalia Lopez Gallardo taking home prizes as well. Check out the full list of awards winners here.
- Horror filmmaker and production designer Alfred Sole has died at the age of 78. Sole famously directed the cult horror classic Alice, Sweet Alice (1976). However, he first gained notoriety with his X-rated film Deep Sleep (1972), which was pulled from theaters. Sole continued as a prolific production designer for many television films and shows like Veronica Mars and Melrose Place.
- Netflix has officially signed an updated windowing agreement with France's film industry, which will "see the window between theatrical and SVOD release significantly reduced" from 36 months to 15 months. And as Deadline points out, this deal "could move Netflix one step closer to be being present again in Cannes Film Festival’s official selection."
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- The first trailer for Baz Luhrmann's Elvis is a dizzying display of hip-shaking, jumpsuits, and screaming crowds. The film stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, and follows the evolution of their relationship as Presley's fame skyrockets.
- From IFC Films, the trailer for Audrey Diwan's Happening, the Golden Lion winner from last year's Venice International Film Festival. Based on the novel by Annie Ernaux, Happening tells the story of a young woman who experiences an unexpected pregnancy in 1960s France, when abortions were still illegal. Read our review of the film by Leonardo Goi here.
- A new trailer for Mexican-Bolivian filmmaker Natalia López Gallardo's crime drama Robe of Gems, which won the Berlinale's Silver Bear Jury Prize. The film marks Gallardo's feature debut, following a prolific career as an editor for filmmakers Lisandro Alonso, Carlos Reygadas, and Amat Escalante.
- The first trailer for Mitra Farahani's documentary See You Friday, Robinson, a portrait of Jean-Luc Godard and Iranian filmmaker Ebrahim Golestan, and the winner of the Encounters Special Jury Prize at Berlin.
- The trailer for Swiss filmmaker Cyril Schäublin's Unrest, about 19th-century Swiss watchmaking and the spread of anarchist and communist ideas among workers' groups. The film recently premiered in the Berlinale's Encounters program, where it won the section's Best Director award. Read our review of Unrest by editor Daniel Kasman here.
- Grasshopper Film's trailer for Romanian director Radu Muntean's Întregalde. The film takes place in the mountains of Transylvania, where a group of volunteers cross paths with an impoverished and lost old man.
- Park Chan-wook's new short film, Life Is but a Dream, is a whimsical and dreamy martial arts fantasy tale, commissioned by Apple and filmed using an iPhone 13 Pro.
RECOMMENDED READING
Claudine (1974)
- The New York Times has a new profile on Black Film Archive founder Maya Cade. Cade selects a film she loves from each decade, from the 1920s to the 1970s, from King Vidor's Hallelujah (1929) to John Berry's Claudine (1974).
- In an investigation by Vanity Fair, today's film composers share how many movie scores are really made: with long hours, low pay, and little credit.
- Francis Ford Coppola sits with GQ for a conversation about the 50-year anniversary of The Godfather ("That film ruined me," Coppola says), his take on the current state of Hollywood, and his $100 million gamble to make the epic film Megalopolis.
- In an interview with IndieWire, screenwriter Eric Roth discusses the writing of Denis Villeneuve's Dune and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, the challenges of adapting a book, and what it means to share a co-writer credit.
- "Later, it occurred to me how odd it was to yearn for a return to the real world, just to better escape it again." For the New York Times, Jessica Kiang reflects on her experience attending the Berlinale.
- Amos Barshad of Vice does a deep dive into conservative media company The Daily Wire's efforts to fund low-budget films, and asks: "What is a right-wing movie?"
RECENTLY ON THE NOTEBOOK
- Maria Speth introduces her film Mr. Bachmann and His Class, which is showing exclusively on MUBI in many countries in the series Viewfinder.
- Caspar Salmon explores how Céline Sciamma's films showcase "women doing, creating, and exerting themselves in ways both quiet and radical." Her films are currently showing as part of the series Young Hearts Run Free: Céline Sciamma, and her latest film Petite Maman is showing exclusively on MUBI in the series Luminaries.
- For their Moviegoing Memories, Strawberry Mansion co-directors Albert Birney & Kentucker Audley share their favorite movie theaters and the most memorable screenings of their lives.
- The latest Movie Poster of the Week entry is a celebration of Monica Vitti, one of the most iconic faces of modern cinema, as seen by the poster artists of the ’60s and ’70s.
- Dana Reinoos provides an essential overview of the post-Emmanuelle career of Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star who brought to cinema a potent mixture of eroticism and intellectualism.
- Our Deuce Notebook series continues with an interview with cult director James Glickenhaus, who discusses his career trajectory from exploitation box-office busters to home video hits.
EXTRAS
Ryusuke Hamaguchi and M. Night Shyamalan (Photo by Saïd Ben Saïd).
- From producer Saïd Ben Saïd, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and M. Night Shyamalan at the Berlinale!
- Khalik Allah took the intimate photographs that accompany this New York magazine article about a father's struggle to regain custody of his son after being separated by the Administration for Children’s Services, New York City’s child-welfare agency.
- From Andy Kelly on Twitter, a selection of vases by Takeshi Kitano, based on his paintings for Hana-bi. The rest of the ceramics can be found on the Fondation Cartier website.
- The NFL evidently took some inspiration from Cinema Guild's poster for Hong Sang-soo's The Woman Who Ran for this year's Super Bowl. Read our interview with designer Brian Hung, who discusses how honesty and repetition—themes that might also be found in a game of football—inspired his puzzle-like poster for the film.