film festival Archives

Nov52024 by cineverseNo Comments

Why These Political Documentaries About the Insurrection and Abortion Rights Could Be Even More Relevant After Election Day

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By Addie Morfoot According To The variety his year, documentaries that tackle pressing political issues including immigration, abortion and the Jan. 6 insurrection were meant to make an impact on the 2024 presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. While some, like Errol Morris’ immigration control documentary “Separated” and Matt Tyrnauer’s “Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid” both found distribution deals prior to Election Day with MSNBC and CNN respectively, there are many more docus that have been or will be self distributed that American voters on both sides would benefit from watching — even after the election. As both Democrats and Republicans gear up for potential unrest and protracted legal battles followi...

Nov52024 by cineverseNo Comments

Hollywood Bets on Thanksgiving Rebound: Will ‘Wicked,’ ‘Gladiator II’ and ‘Moana 2’ Revive the Sluggish Fall Box Office?

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By Rebecca Rubin According To The variety To paraphrase Wesley Snipes as Blade in this summer’s blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine”: There’s only one “Barbenheimer.” There’s only ever gonna be one “Barbenheimer.” Hollywood might never replicate the je ne sais quoi that prompted the explosion of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” double features, turning the box office battle between two very different films into a once-in-a-generation cinematic event. But multiplex owners are hoping that “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” achieve something close as the pink-and-green musical and the Colosseum-set action epic land in theaters on Nov. 22. “It won’t happen in the same way, but the conversation around ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ is reminiscent of ‘Barbenheimer,’” says Shawn Robbins, Fandan...

Nov42024 by cineverseNo Comments

All We Imagine as Light,’ ‘Pooja, Sir’ to Bookend as India’s Dharamshala Film Festival Sets Robust Slate With Female Directors in Focus

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By Naman Ramachandran According To The variety India’s Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) has unveiled its lineup for its 13th edition, with female filmmakers helming more than half of the feature selections. The festival, running Nov. 7-10, will screen over 80 films from 28 countries. Opening the festival is Payal Kapadia‘s “All We Imagine as Light,” which nabbed the Grand Prix at Cannes and marked India’s first Palme d’Or competition entry in three decades. Deepak Rauniyar’s “Pooja, Sir,” fresh from its Venice premiere, will serve as the closing night feature. The international slate includes Venice titles “Separated” from Errol Morris and Pedro Almodóvar’s Golden Lion winner “The Room Next Door.” The festival secured Busan New Currents Award recipient...

Nov32024 by cineverseNo Comments

Box Office: ‘Here’ Not Moving Much With $1.9 Million Opening Day, ‘Venom 3’ Stays Ahead

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By J. Kim Murphy According To The variety As Americans prepare to watch the election next week, they seem less inclined to watch the movies. Theaters are seeing a somewhat muted weekend to start November, with the widest new release, Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks‘ time-warping drama “Here,” now coming in behind the already slim projections it had going into the weekend. The Miramax-financed production grossed $1.94 million from 2,647 locations across Friday and preview screenings, now on pace for an opening weekend around $5.1 million. It’s a disappointing sum for “Here,” which carries a production budget around $45 million. Sony’s TriStar is handling distribution after acquiring rights to the film. The hope for “Here” is that the reunion between Zemeckis, Hanks and...

Nov32024 by cineverseNo Comments

Papa’ Review: A Moving Study in Grief and Redemption Based on a Shocking Hong Kong Crime Case

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By Richard Kuipers According To The variety The almost unimaginable grief of a husband and father is chronicled in “Papa,” an affecting drama based on the true story of a 15-year-old boy whose murder of his mother and sister shocked Hong Kong in 2010. Featuring an outstanding lead performance by Sean Lau, “Papa” is played in a low key that produces high emotional impact — giving great depth and complexity to its protagonist’s unwavering determination to still love his son and understand what caused this tragedy. With expert tonal control over a non-linear screenplay that follows the aftermath of the crime and examines the love story that brought this family into being, writer-director Philip Yung’s delicately crafted film should find a large and appreciative audience when it o...

Nov32024 by cineverseNo Comments

A Nice Indian Boy’ Review: Bollywood Dreams Come True In an Appealing Indian American Romcom

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By Guy Lodge According To The variety The prize catch of the title isn’t exactly who you might expect in “A Nice Indian Boy,” a romantic comedy that brings a welcome queer angle to that substantial subgenre of love stories tangled up in Indian social mores and cross-generational family politics. In many such films, Naveen (Karan Soni) would be the most desirable of matches for a female protagonist: good-looking, well-spoken and a working doctor. That he’s gay puts him in the less traditionally masculine role of the one seeking a suitor; that his “nice Indian boy” is in fact Jay (Jonathan Groff), a white man raised in Naveen’s culture, is the more complicating factor in director Roshan Sethi‘s bright, big-hearted if overly tidy third feature. Still, Sethi and screenwriters Eric Rand...

Oct302024 by cineverseNo Comments

Paz Vega Thriller ‘Death Has No Master’ Lands at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market – TIFFCOM

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By Naman Ramachandran According To The variety Paz Vega-starrer “Death Has No Master,” a Venezuela-set thriller from director Jorge Thielen Armand, is participating in TIFFCOM’s Tokyo Gap-Financing Market, as the producers seek to secure the final 30% of the film’s $1.2 million budget. The film, which previously participated in the Venice Production Bridge’s Gap-Financing Market, stars Vega as a woman who returns to Venezuela after two decades to sell her family’s cacao plantation, has recently shifted its shooting location to Colombia. The story follows her character Carolina’s confrontation with former workers who have occupied the land, leading to a dangerous power struggle that forces her to face both past trauma from a kidnapping and her own violent impulses. The pr...