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The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled a promising lineup combining edgy new works by established auteurs such as Abel Ferrara alongside plenty of potential discoveries by emerging helmers and global newcomers for its upcoming 74th edition.

It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.

“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films,” he added.

As usual the bulk of Locarno’s crowdpleasers will launch from the Swiss lakeside town’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande square which is Europe’s largest outdoor venue and this year has been approved...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Kinuyo Tanaka. Courtesy of Nikkatsu / Carlotta. The Cannes Film Festival has announced the titles of its Cannes Classics section, which includes restored films by Kinuyo Tanaka, Bill Duke, Peter Wollen, and Oscar Micheaux. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner, Mylene Farmer, Tahar Rahim, Song Kang-ho and Kleber Mendonça Filho will join director Spike Lee on the Cannes 2021 Competition jury.The Toronto International Film Festival is starting to announce its lineup for this year's edition, from an Alanis Morissette documentary and Kenneth Branagh's Belfast to Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho and Denis Villeneuve's Dune.In a special episode of New Beverly's Pure Cinema Podcast, Quentin Tarantino has announced he will work with Sony on a new, boutique Blu-Ray label "Tarantino Archives," taking inspiration from Twilight Time and reissuing films from their catalogue.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This biweekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

This week’s new release guide is especially stuffed (even by our normal standards), thanks to a trio of 2021’s best; new titles from Criterion, Arrow, and Vinegar Syndrome, and more; three new essential box sets; one of the best thrillers of the ‘90s in 4K; and an array of Blu-ray debuts for one of the greatest comedians of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Nobody,’ ‘Shiva Baby,’ ‘Siberia’ & More at The Playlist.

There’s a nice quote in Abel Ferrara’s 2014 film Pasolini: “The meaning of this parable is precisely the relationship of an author to the form he creates.” It’s an idea I’ve been quite taken with in the years since, and unsurprisingly Ferrara has only expanded upon it in his most recent two feature films, Tommaso and Siberia. I’ve been lucky enough to ask Mr. Ferrara about this, and while the films themselves offer a clarity that only art can provide, there are still things—not loose ends, but rather tangents and streams—one can gain a little perspective on through the nature of correspondence itself. Mr. Ferrara—a congenial, gentle, and kindly man—gives us a little insight on this relationship between art and the artist, how it’s informed what he’s doing now as opposed to what he used to do, and where he’s going next.

Abel Ferrara’s latest film, “Siberia,” finds his constant muse, Willem Dafoe, in an icy, isolated wasteland not explicitly meant to be the Russian tundra but rather an abstract plane of solitude. His character Clint, an English-speaking bartender out of place in this far-off land populated by indigenous peoples, follows the ambient energy of the area on a metaphysical journey through his own past.

Read More: Willem Dafoe: The Essential Films & Performances

Haunted by the apparitions of his father, brother, ex-wife, and son, he reflects on his mistakes and regrets in a last-ditch effort to find some salvation of the soul.

Continue reading Abel Ferrara Talks ‘Siberia,’ Working With Dennis Hopper, Staying Sober & Much More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

A year ago, while much of the world remained on lockdown, Willem Dafoe got to work. As film productions gradually started back up, the veteran actor was ready for them. The result is that the ever-versatile performer has a wide range of projects in the pipeline, from “The Northman” (Robert Eggers’ follow-up to “The Lighthouse”) to Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley.” But one movie just released in theaters has been waiting for its moment since the early days of the pandemic: “Siberia,” his latest collaboration with cinematic provocateur Abel Ferrara, premiered in competition at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival shortly before lockdowns spread throughout the globe.

Now, Lionsgate has released the movie in theaters and VOD, marking one of the bigger U.S. companies to get behind the legendary New York filmmaker in some time. That’s an especially notable outcome because “Siberia” is one of the most ambitious and...

The company has also secured deals on Berlin titles ‘Bad Tales’ and ‘Father’.

German sales firm The Match Factory has racked up sales on several Berlinale films, led by Christian Petzold’s competition title Undine.

The film, which won the Fipresci prize and Silver Bear for actress Paula Beer, has been sold to Spain (Golem), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Italy (Europictures), Scandinavia (Future Film), Portugal (Leopardo), Austria (Polyfilm), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), ex-Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Greece (Ama), Hungary (Vertigo), Poland (Aurora), Romania (Independenta) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi).

IFC Films acquired Us rights to the film during the festival.

The drama, in...

It’s been a banner week or so for North Carolina indie-rock. First, on February 20th, the Archers of Loaf — one of the Nineties’ finest bands in any genre — released their first new song in 22 years, “Raleigh Days.” It’s a loving evocation of their local scene back in its heyday, set to the kind of sweet, searing guitar clamor the Archers always did so well. Welcome back, Loaf.

A few days later, two excellent artifacts from the bygone era the Archers sing about got cool vinyl reissues: 1992’s Cor-Crane...

Less than a year after premiering “Tommaso” at Cannes — maybe the most grounded of movies that renegade auteur Abel Ferrara has made with long-time muse Willem Dafoe — the Bronxiest of filmmakers pivots in the exact opposite direction for . Set at the snowy end of the universe (and inspired by one of the latter writer’s manuscripts), “Siberia” is, in essence, a baffling attempt to project the human subconscious on screen.

“I want to see if we can really film dreams,” Ferrara has said of his ambitions for the project. “Our fears, our regrets, our nostalgia.” Putting aside the hundreds of other films that have previously tried to accomplish the same or similar (to varying degrees of success), the evidence here would suggest that we cannot. Then again, if Ferrara’s nostalgia involves lots of sex, his regrets include attending a death metal concert of some kind, and his fears hinge...

“Siberia” is the sixth film Abel Ferrara has made with Willem Dafoe, and by the end of it, were it not for vivid memories of past collaborations with Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken, it would be hard to conceive of him ever having cast anyone else. Ferrara and Dafoe were always an obvious fit — both toughened, wily eccentrics happy to sit outside the system — though their previous pairings, including the surprisingly restrained quasi-biopic “Pasolini” and last year’s navel-gazing doodle “Tommaso,” never made the most of that kinship. You can’t say that about “Siberia,” a beautiful, unhinged, sometimes hilarious trek into geographical and psychological wilderness that will delight some and mystify many others. As a study of a rugged individualist looking back on long-withered connections — to others, to the mainstream world, and indeed to himself — it feels personally invested both as a star vehicle and an auteur piece. If it isn’t,...

Dream team Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe, who most recently collaborated on “Tommaso” and “Pasolini,” have done it again with the upcoming Berlinale premiere, “Siberia.” IndieWire shares the stunning first trailer for the film, which is currently seeking U.S. distribution, below. The film premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on February 24.

Throughout, star Dafoe (who recently won an Indie Spirit award for his supporting turn in “The Lighthouse”) wanders the nightmares and dreamscapes of the mind. “You’ve destroyed my life,” a woman laughingly tells him, launching Dafoe, whose character is called Clint, on a dark night of the soul across haunting set pieces. The film boasts cinematography from Stefano Falivene, who worked on Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic” and also shot Ferrara’s “Pasolini.”

Here’s the official synopsis of the film, courtesy of the Berlin Film Festival. In short, we’re firmly in Ferrara country here,...

Mexico’s Piano, which is the producer of Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia” and upcoming films from Leos Carax, Mia Hansen-Love and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is expanding into Germany and Colombia, incorporating Diana Bustamante and Ingmar Trost as producer partners.

Julio Chavezmontes heads Piano.

Piano’s initial focus will be to establish itself as a creator of premium television content for international audiences, and as a provider of top-level production services in all three countries, said Chavezmontes. It was also continue to make high-profile, auteur-driven, festival-winning movies.

Both Bustamante and Trost are well-known figures on the international production scene. Bustamante — whose credits include “The Wind Journeys,” “Crab Trap” and Cannes Camera d’Or and Critics’ Week winner “Land and Shade” — will head up Piano Colombia.

Trost, producer of Ilian Metev’s Locarno Golden Leopard winner “3/4,” Benjamin Naishtat’s San Sebastian-prized “Rojo” and Kristi Jacobson’s News & Documentary Emmy-winning “Solitary,” will run Piano’s German office in Cologne,...

Vivo Film, the Italian shingle at Berlin with Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia,” has a robust slate in various stages including the next drama by Laura Bispuri, whose “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine” both launched from the Berlinale.

Bispuri later this year will shoot her third feature, which is currently titled “Di Lotta e D’Amore” (“Of Battle and Love”), a love story between two teen girls set against the backdrop of squatters’ houses and other spaces occupied by both Italians and immigrants on Rome’s outskirts. She is working with her regular writer Laura Manieri.

The Rome-based indie headed by Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa — which has the distinction of being the Italian company that landed the most Berlin lineup slots in recent years — has several other new pics by emerging Italian directors in the pipeline.

They include:

“Miss Marx” — Susanna Nicchiarelli, whose “Nico, 1988,” about the late German chanteuse...

Nicolas Cage fans in Austin, Texas got what can only be described as a gift from the movie gods over the weekend when Cage made a surprise appearance to C4GED, the fourth annual marathon of Nicolas Cage movies screened in celebration of the month of his birth.

Read More: Isabelle Huppert, Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe Star in Abel Ferrara’s New Film ‘Siberia’

While a packed theater was singing the happy birthday song, Cage walked out on stage and immediately launched into a reading of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. The next 12 hours were spent watching Cage films that the actor personally programmed. Cage also presided over an in-theater marriage proposal.

C4GED was first programmed by the Alamo Drafthouse’s Greg MacLennan four years ago, and the annual marathon has become one of the most popular events at the Alamo Drafthouse. This year’s marathon...

Siberia

Director: Abel Ferrara

Writer: Abel Ferrara

After a prolific return to form in 2014 with his Willem Dafoe starring Pasolini and one of the best films of his career with Welcome to New York (which was unfortunately shut out of Cannes 2014 for obvious political considerations), Ferrara has been attempting to mount a new feature, Siberia, for the past two years.

Continue reading...

This year, actress Isabelle Huppert starred in two of the most acclaimed films of the year: Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” and Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Things to Come.” For her dual performances, she won Best Actress from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics, and she just topped the IndieWire’s Critics Poll for “Elle.” Now, The Film Stage reports from the Italian publication La Stampa that Huppert has been “certainly cast” in Abel Ferrara’s upcoming film “Siberia” alongside Willem Dafoe (“The Last Temptation of Christ”) and Nicolas Cage (“Raising Arizona”).

Read More: Why ‘Elle’ Star Isabelle Huppert Is the Actress Whose Oscar Time Has Come

Ferrara initially tried to launch the film via Kickstarter last year, but failed to raise enough money to meet his $50,000 goal. On the Kickstarter page, Ferrera says that “Siberia” was conceived by him and Chris Zois,...

Abel Ferrara is hardly the most bankable filmmaker and this project has yet to be financially secured, so let’s just hope extra-hard that the pieces fall together here. From the Italian publication La Stampa comes word that he’s moving ever closer to Siberia, a drama the director had tried (and failed) to launch via Kickstarter last year, with the previously attached Willem Dafoe now joined by the “certainly cast” Isabelle Huppert and Nicolas Cage.

Siberia‘s initial reveal was almost hilariously vague, the crowdfunding campaign labeling this endeavor “a subjective and objective journey into the subconscious” that will use Carl Jung’s Red Book as a launch pad for “[exploring] the language of dreams, myth and the natural world.” The longer synopsis sounded just as peculiar:

“We begin in an outpost far north of Jack London country where Clint holds out with his partner Mitchell, (Willem Dafoe in both roles) serving coffee,...

Ryan Lambie Nov 24, 2016

Maverick director Abel Ferrara talks to us about his career in movies, from Driller Killer to Bad Lieutenant and Body Snatchers...

When British distributor Vipco put out full-age ads depicting a particularly bloody scene from Driller Killer, the movie became an unwitting part of the 'video nasty' moral flap of the early 80s. Suddenly, director Abel Ferrara's low-budget, quick-and-dirty horror-arthouse-drama about a young artist going crazy in Manhattan was lumped in with such films as Cannibal Holocaust, Last House On The Left and the tawdry SS Experiment Camp.

See related  Yonderland: saluting a brilliant fantasy comedy Yonderland series 3 episode 6 review: Swapsies Yonderland series 3 episode 5 review: The Negatus Redemption Yonderland series 3 episode 4 review: Boo

Banned from 1984 until 1999 (when it was released with nearly a minute of cuts), Driller Killer is about to get a restored, 4K edition courtesy of Arrow Films, which presents the original theatrical version...

Siberia

Director: Abel Ferrara

Writers: Abel Ferrara, Chris Zois

This may be a bit of wishful thinking for Ferrara to have his latest endeavor ready in time. Following a lucrative 2014, which saw premieres of his excellent Welcome to New York and the biopic Pasolini, Ferarra announced another collaboration with actor Willem Dafoe, titled Siberia. The project has been described as “a subjective and objective journey into the subconscious,” inspired by Carl Jung’s The Red Book. However, Ferrara went to Kickstarter to raise 500K for the film back in June, but the project didn’t reach it’s goal. We’re not sure how this affected Ferrara’s announcement of filming commencing on October, 2015, as he had mentioned other avenues of possible funding. The controversial filmmaker hasn’t confirmed any update on the project, so with a bit of wishful thinking, perhaps no news is good news.

Cast: Willem Dafoe

Production Co.

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.The New York Film Festival has revealed that Robert Zemeckis's much-anticipated 3D quasi-heist film The Walk will open the 2015 event. The newly released full trailer can be watched above.Famed writer Jean Gruault has died at the age of 90. Gruault had written scripts for François Truffaut (Jules and Jim), Jacques Rivette (The Nun), Alain Resnais (Mon oncle d'Amérique), and others, including writing the novel on which Valérie Donzelli's Cannes competitor this year, Marguerite & Julien, was based.We're crossing our fingers that Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight will make 50+ cinemas in the U.S. equipped to project 70mm.This week is a trailer bonanza, including Mistress America, the new Noah Baumbach collaboration with actress Greta Gerwig after Frances Ha.This Long Century has published several new pieces, including...

Abel Ferrara’s longstanding status as an outsider in the American independent film scene finds a way of being reaffirmed just about every time he makes a movie. Whether it’s trouble with releases, hustling for financing, legal problems, producing and shooting in Europe (he lives in Rome), controversies over censorship or, now with his next potential project, Siberia, this singular rebel has turned to Kickstarter to raise $500,000. Following in the footsteps of Spike Lee, crowdfunding makes sense for a director of Ferrara’s generation. He’s a well-established auteur, with a difficult production history that’s just as well documented. His fan base is largely dedicated and cinephilic. Somehow, the man never compromises his vision, no matter what the context of his films’ making is—and some of his boldest work has come in the last couple years with Welcome to New York and Pasolini.>> - Adam Cook...

Abel Ferrara’s longstanding status as an outsider in the American independent film scene finds a way of being reaffirmed just about every time he makes a movie. Whether it’s trouble with releases, hustling for financing, legal problems, producing and shooting in Europe (he lives in Rome), controversies over censorship or, now with his next potential project, Siberia, this singular rebel has turned to Kickstarter to raise $500,000. Following in the footsteps of Spike Lee, crowdfunding makes sense for a director of Ferrara’s generation. He’s a well-established auteur, with a difficult production history that’s just as well documented. His fan base is largely dedicated and cinephilic. Somehow, the man never compromises his vision, no matter what the context of his films’ making is—and some of his boldest work has come in the last couple years with Welcome to New York and Pasolini.>> - Adam Cook...

He's directed movies such as "BloodRayne," "Alone in the Dark," "Postal" and "Far Cry," but at this point, German director Uwe Boll will be best known for his latest productions: YouTube videos in which he slams Hollywood and freaks out about his failed crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for "Rampage 3," the third in the "Rampage" series. Read More: Determined to Get Final Cut, Abel Ferrara Turns to Kickstarter to Fund 'Siberia' With three days left to go, Boll's campaign has raised just over $26,000 of its $55,794 goal. Frustrated with the tepid response, the filmmaker told movie fans to "fuck yourselves." He also lashed out at Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey, Jr. who, he said, are "laughing" at low-income families who shell out money to see "Marvels Avengers bullshit dirt." This campaign is Boll's third failed attempt to reach his target goal for the.

After lashing out against distributor IFC Films for its plans to release a director-unapproved version of "Welcome to New York" earlier this year, Abel Ferrara is turning to Kickstarter in what seems to be an effort to gain editorial control and funding. Read More: Abel Ferrara Battles for Director's Cut of 'Welcome to New York,' But Here's the Real Story Ferrara announced at Cannes that he's aiming to raise $500,000 on Kickstarter for "Siberia," his fifth collaboration with Willem Dafoe, which is described as "a subjective and objective journey into the subconscious." Chris Zois co-wrote the script with Ferrara, and his longtime collaborator Diana Phillips will produce the film inspired by Carl Jung's "The Red Book." "There's nothing more horrific than your own dreams and nightmares. I'm going back to that kind of filmmaking, to my horror film roots," Ferrara announced at Cannes. "We’re filming our...

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.It's Nice That is featuring the design work of George Douglas, including the above poster for David Lynch's Inland Empire. The New York Times is changing its review policy, which may have industry-wide effects. Also at the Times, Manohla Dargis talks to Todd Haynes about his new film Carol, which garnered rave reviews and a Best Actress award in Cannes last week. Dargis also talked to Hou Hsiao-hsien, photographed above by Frédéric Stucin for Libération. Hou went on to win the Best Director award at the festival for this film The Assassin.Speaking of Cannes, Film Comment has posted the first part in its essential critics' roundtables recorded during the festival. Accompanying a new summer issue of Cineaste is a freshly re-designed website, where you can find several online exclusives,...

We're rounding up news on some of the more projects in the works announced during the Cannes Film Festival: Lucrecia Martel's Zama, Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper with Kristen Stewart, Abel Ferrara's Siberia with Willem Dafoe, Carlos Reygadas's "cowboy story," Todd Haynes's Wonderstruck, Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete, Bertrand Bonello's Paris Is Happening and Stéphane Brizé's Une Vie. Plus: Nicolas Cage is re-teaming with Paul Schrader and Mike Figgis and more on forthcoming films from Marjane Satrapi, Wim Wenders, Paolo Sorrentino, Pablo Larraín, Nicole Holofcener, Mike Mills, Per Fly, Shinji Aoyama, Taika Waititi, Jared Hess, Peter Ho-sun Chan, Yoji Yamada and more. » - David Hudson...

We're rounding up news on some of the more projects in the works announced during the Cannes Film Festival: Lucrecia Martel's Zama, Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper with Kristen Stewart, Abel Ferrara's Siberia with Willem Dafoe, Carlos Reygadas's "cowboy story," Todd Haynes's Wonderstruck, Andrew Haigh's Lean on Pete, Bertrand Bonello's Paris Is Happening and Stéphane Brizé's Une Vie. Plus: Nicolas Cage is re-teaming with Paul Schrader and Mike Figgis and more on forthcoming films from Marjane Satrapi, Wim Wenders, Paolo Sorrentino, Pablo Larraín, Nicole Holofcener, Mike Mills, Per Fly, Shinji Aoyama, Taika Waititi, Jared Hess, Peter Ho-sun Chan, Yoji Yamada and more. » - David Hudson...

The biggest deals of this year’s Cannes Marché du Film and how the Competition titles sold throughout the festival.

Behind the glamour of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, business was booming at the Marché du Film (May 13-22), with representatives from 120 countries in attendance - up four on 2014.

A total 3,300 films were on offer this year, around 1,000 at the project stage, with an estimated 11,000 film professionals in attendance, in line with last year.

In the opening days, Marché chief Jérôme Paillard told Screen: “Acquisition agents are telling me that it’s the first time in a number of years that there are so many big projects. I’ve been told there are around 50 high profile projects on offer.”

North AmericaHOT Projects

Universal Pictures and Focus Features took worldwide rights to Tom Ford’s upcoming thriller Nocturnal Animals, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, in a deal reportedly worth $20m. [Story]

Open Road paid...

Indie maestro Abel Ferrara launched his latest film project in Cannes this week with his first ever foray into Kickstarter. Siberia, a new film with Willem Dafoe, explores the language of dreams, using the subconscious as a form of language. “There’s nothing more horrific than your own dreams and nightmares,” Ferrara promised the crowd of assembled journalists gathered on the top of the Silencio club in Cannes. “I’m going back to that kind of filmmaking, to my horror film roots.” He’s hoping to raise half a million dollars to begin financing for the new film. “This is Willem being Willem,” […]...

Indie maestro Abel Ferrara launched his latest film project in Cannes this week with his first ever foray into Kickstarter. Siberia, a new film with Willem Dafoe, explores the language of dreams, using the subconscious as a form of language. “There’s nothing more horrific than your own dreams and nightmares,” Ferrara promised the crowd of assembled journalists gathered on the top of the Silencio club in Cannes. “I’m going back to that kind of filmmaking, to my horror film roots.” He’s hoping to raise half a million dollars to begin financing for the new film. “This is Willem being Willem,” […]...

Before Cards Against Humanity, we played Apples to Apples, and if you wanted to make that game any fun at all for someone over 10, you had to have an inside joke wild card. And of course the only good wild card that could win every time no matter what was Helen Keller. Her name has become more synonymous with a meme than with her actual life. And Pro Tip: Helen Keller and Anne Frank are two different people.

But Helen Keller remains so awesome, that this latest movie that you should absolutely give all your money to is so epic that the crazy wild Wtf name Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves cannot even do it justice.

Currently Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves has 16 days left in a $1 million Indiegogo campaign to complete post-production on the film. Directed by Ross Patterson, who wrote the tongue-in-cheek Western novel At Night She Cries While He Rides His Steed,...