SAUDI FILM COMMISSION FETES FILM CRITICISM AT MAJOR KINGDOM CONFAB

The Saudi Film Commission has held the second edition of the International Film Criticism Conference in Riyadh, over five days from November 6 to 10. The conference is distinguished by a vast presence of international filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles and provides a global platform for artistic and academic exchange with regards to the moving image, from film and video to new media, artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual reality, and video games.

The second edition of the Film Criticism Conference was held in the Saudi Arabian capital as the final stop after a series of mini-forums across the Kingdom, notably Hail on September 27 and Al-Ahsa on October 25. The gathering embraced the theme "Sound in Cinema", welcoming an exploration of sound as part of the film experience and its influence on the sector. Panel discussions covered such diverse elements as film scores, sound effects, and nature sounds and included workshops, film screenings, and interactive exhibits.

At the opening ceremony, a compelling introductory video set the tone for the event, outlining its objectives and highlighting past milestones in the Saudi film industry. It was followed by a speech by the CEO of the Saudi Film Commission, Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Qahtani, expressing the idea behind this year’s theme. 

"The Saudi Film Commission is dedicated to establishing, developing, and sustaining a strong and vibrant film industry, in line with Saudi Vision 2030.” Al-Qahtani said. “The Film Commission focuses on empowering criticism as an intellectual and artistic tool that illuminates the path of cinema and opens new prospects for it." 

He points out that the conference was created as a platform to bring together critics and cinematic innovators. “[It has] provided them with the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences, ultimately leading to the formation of a deeper Arabic cinematic awareness that elevates our film sector to international levels, while staying true our authentic culture and identity," said Al-Qahtani.

The ceremony included a speech by prominent Saudi director, Mr. Abdullah Al-Muheisen (Dhilal al sammt, 2006; pictured, left) In his opening remarks, he declared, "Film criticism relies on sentient, honest, and purposeful criticism. It is the dynamic driver of development and creativity for the director. Cinema is and will always be a message before being anything else." 

Al-Mohaisen’s speech was followed by a screening of his 1977 film Assassination of a City, a pioneering Saudi documentary that screened at the Cairo Film Festival where it won the Golden Nefertiti Award for best short movie. A follow-up discussion was held between the director and moderated by film critics Ahmad Shawqi and Ahmad Alayyad (pictured, top).

Prior to this conference, two other film criticism events were held this year, Hail on September 27 and Al-Ahsa on October 25. It was the second major film event to be held in Riyadh in as many months, with the the second edition of the three-day Saudi Film Confex wrapping up on October 12.

IFFR UNVEILS FIRST SELECTIONS FOR 2025 EDITION’S FILM PROGRAMME

The 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first wave programming selections for its upcoming event, taking place from 30 January – 9 February, 2025. These 13 titles span the Bright Future and Harbour programming strands and will each have their world premiere at IFFR.

Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR Festival Director (pictured, below), said: “One of the biggest joys of curating IFFR is working with our team of programmers to create a line-up that showcases the breadth of cinematic experiences and a multitude of perspectives – and our first selection of titles demonstrates our commitment to this ambition.”

IFFR’s Bright Future selection of feature-length debuts is characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking: The 2025 Bright Future selected titles are:

1 GIRL INFINITE - Dir: Lilly Hu (United States, Latvia, Singapore) Two teenage girls, Yin Jia and Tong Tong, live together in this colour-drenched vision of Changsha, China. When Tong Tong drifts away and falls in with a drug dealer, Yin Jia’s love for her means she’ll risk everything to keep Tong Tong by her side.

CAMP D'ÉTÉ - Dir: Mateo Ybarra (Switzerland, France) In Switzerland, the Scout Movement is not a nostalgic fantasy but a vibrant social reality. This bubbly documentary captures the communal cycle of activities during a 14-day camp for youth. No reality TV-style contrived scenes here, this is a moving, joyful glimpse into life-changing experiences.

LATER IN THE CLEARING - Dir: Márton Tarkövi (Hungary, Spain; pictured, left) In a small Hungarian town painter Péter Molnár leads filmmaker Márton Tarkövi on a journey through meadows, clearings and Molnár’s drawings. The viewer joins them, as they discuss art, time and life itself. 

INVISIBLE FLAME - Dir: Oskar Weimar (Kenya) When fish begin to vanish, community members are quick to blame Dani, the elderly woman rumoured to be a witch. Daisy, a fisherman’s daughter, must decide whether to stand by her friend or heed the warnings of those around her.

YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE - Dir: Rajee Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka, United States) As many as 100,000 people, predominantly members of the minority Tamil community, are estimated to have disappeared during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan Civil War. Through a unique synthesis of interviews, news clips and re-enactments this docufiction feature reflects on this harrowing history as families search for loved ones that disappeared without a trace.

Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, Harbour offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions. The Harbour strand’s first wave of selected titles digs into themes of self-discovery, societal norms and the human condition:

AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW - Dir: Pelin Esmer (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania; pictured, left) Dreamy housekeeper Aliye spends her days between hotel rooms, escaping into the lives of the guests. But after a brief encounter with a famous filmmaker, Aliye decides that she has a story to tell, which leads to an entanglement of lives and fictions. 

DEAD DOG - Dir: Sarah Francis (Lebanon) Walid and Aida, husband and wife, are reunited after Walid’s many years spent living abroad. Answers to long-hidden secrets are sought in Sarah Francis’ dissection of an estranged marriage.

FINDING RAMLEE - Dir: Megat Sharizal (Malaysia) An endearing retro dramedy set in swinging seventies Kuala Lumpur. Destitute and deep in debt, Zakaria is offered a lifeline by his loan shark: impersonate the Malaysian screen icon P. Ramlee in order to entertain his homebound, time-warped sister.

NO DEJES A LOS NIÑOS SOLOS - Dir: Emilio Portes (Mexico) A mother moves into a new house with her two children. One night she must leave the siblings home alone. What begins as a blast of carefree play soon turns into a claustrophobic horror story. 

PRIMITIVE DIVERSITY - Dir: Alexander Kluge (Germany; pictured right) Filmmaker Alexander Kluge loves to use the expression ‘primitive diversity’ in relation to the origins of his art: the first films that were made, their genres, motives and moods. With the development of AI, Kluge asks, what could its primitive diversity look like?

THANK YOU SATAN - Dir: Hicham Lasri (Morocco, France) In this dark comedy set in the early 1990s, all Serge wants to do is write his Fucking Best Seller! When his publisher nags him to shake things up and bring out his ‘mainstream potential’, he gives it all he has and, with a killer edge.

THE NIGHT IS DARK AND BRIGHTER THAN THE DAY - Dir: Christina Friedrich (Germany) Filmmaker Christina Friedrich asks 33 primary school children about their fears, taking us on a long night-journey through a magic world of their creation. What can the ‘real world’ learn from the games and rituals of children? 

UN GRAN CASINO - Dir: Daniel Hoesl (Austria; pictured, left) The largest casino in Europe but is it just a big mess? Daniel Hoesl presents Un gran casino as an angry musing on a building, an Italian village and all that is done in the name of the unfettered creation of wealth. 

The complete programme for IFFR’s 54th edition will be launched on the 17th December 2024.

AUSTRALIA’S MEMOIR OF A SNAIL, MAGIC BEACH NOMINATED AT 17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

The Asia Pacific Screen Academy has announced the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) with Australian films Magic Beach (pictured, below) and Memoir of a Snail among 31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas represented in the 2024 nominations roster. 

Leading the field for the 17th annual event, with nominations in five categories, are two powerful, cinematic stories by and about women. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg), described as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (Georgia, Italy, France), the story of an ob-gyn, are both nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performance. 

SEE THE FULL LIST OF 2024 APSA NOMINATED FILMS HERE

“Congratulations to all the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, who we welcome into the esteemed group of the region’s filmmakers, The Asia Pacific Screen Academy,” said Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Tracey Vieira. “In 2024, two thirds of our nominated films are debut or second films, representing the cinematic excellence of the next generation of Asia Pacific voices, and the unique and compelling stories they are choosing to tell.” 

Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail (Australia; pictured, right) has received a nomination for Best Animated Film, one of five outstanding works that represent a broad range of animation styles from classic hand-drawn to rotoscoping, motion capture and claymation. Elliot’s previous feature Mary and Max won the APSA in the same category in 2008 at the 2nd annual event.

Memoir of a Snail is up against Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu (Japan, France), Hur Bum-wook’s Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Republic of Korea), Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within (Kimi no Iro, Japan) and Carl Joseph Papa’s The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines).

APSA has, since its inception, celebrated films made for and about young people, and as a collection they provide insight into the unique and the universal issues facing young people across the region. Magic Beach (Australia), the live action and animated omnibus adaptation of Alison Lester’s classic children’s book, is nominated for Best Youth Film and was previously a recipient of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in its early script development stages.

Magic Beach will be competing alongside Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong (India), Qu Youjia’s She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (Kai Shi De Qiang, People’s Republic of China; pictured, right), Antoinette Jadaone’s Sunshine (Philippines), and Rachel House’s The Mountain (New Zealand). 

Three further feature film awards will be announced and in 2024 are supported by the Top 51 World Filmmakers Club as a Major Partner. These categories are Best New Performer, in recognition of an exceptional debut or sophomore performance in a feature film; The Cultural Diversity Award, for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film; and, the Young Cinema Award (in partnership with NETPAC) is awarded to an impressive first or second time feature director in recognition of the abundant emerging talent of the Asia Pacific.

The FIAPF AWARD is determined by APSA founding partner FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region. Also to be announced during the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony are the four recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants of US$25,000 wholly supported by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) Asia Pacific. 

APSA’s theme in 2024, Land, holds profound significance across the Asia Pacific, encompassing traditional, cultural, and historical meanings, and serves as a powerful lens through which we can explore the relationship between identity, sovereignty, and the stories we tell through film.

In 2024, an unprecedented number of nominated films are set for Australian theatrical release across the peak summer box office period, allowing local audiences the opportunity to connect with the best cinema of the region. These include APSA frontrunner All We Imagine as Light (Rialto, 30 Jan), Magic Beach (Madman, Jan 16), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Sharmill, 23 Jan), No Other Land (Hi Gloss, 21 Nov), Ghost Cat Anzu (Kismet, Dec 5; pictured, right), The Colors Within (Kismet), Hesitation Wound (Arcadia), the recently released The Mountain (Madman) and Memoir of a Snail, which opens this week (Madman). 

The 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Saturday 30 November and the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, 27-30 November, will be held at The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region.

FIVE MUST-SEE MOVIES AT THE 35th FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

As the first week of the 35th Alliance Française French Film Festival’s national rollout draws to a close, the vast landscape of great French film that still lay before us is taking shape. In the mix are retro classics (Les Enfants du Paradis; The Intouchables); family viewing joys (Kina & Yuk; Princes of the Desert); and, sumptuous period dramas (Part of Fools; Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe). Starpower shines, with new films by Johnny Depp, in Maiween’s Jeanne du Barry; Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos in A Silence; and La Grande Dame Catherine Deneuve in The President’s Wife.

To focus your movie-choosing even further, here are five films that are particularly high on our French film radar in the weeks ahead…    

LAST SUMMER 
Directed by  CATHERINE BREILLAT
Starring LÉA DRUCKER, SAMUEL KIRCHER, OLIVIER RABOURDIN, CLOTILDE COURAU / 104 mins / MA 15+) Always the boundary-pushing provocateur, filmmaker Catherine Breillat returns with a new taboo-breaking film that examines the relationship between a woman and her teenage stepson. This fearless erotic drama stars Léa Drucker as a well-respected child protection lawyer and a happily married woman. Her world is turned upside down when her husband’s 17-year-old son from a previous marriage moves in with them, stirring attraction and desire as well as the legal and moral barriers it threatens. Breillat’s fearless command of social critique, dark humour and uncomfortable detail has established her as one of the world’s most confronting and essential contemporary filmmakers.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
Directed by THOMAS CAILLEY
Starring ROMAIN DURIS, PAUL KIRCHER, ADÈLE EXARCHOPOULOS, TOM MERCIER / 128 mins / M ) This wild and inventive genre mash-up combines the warmth of a family drama with the disturbing visuals of a Cronenbergian body horror. Romain Duris and Paul Kircher play François and Émile, a father and son living in the not-so-distant-future when the planet is afflicted with a new crisis - people are mutating into animals. Amid the growing mystery, paranoia and fear emerges Émile's tender coming of age story. He discovers what it means to be human and how the next generation will adapt to a world where the forces of nature are changing forever. Filmmaker Thomas Cailley delivers a compelling, rule-breaking and convention-defying film.

TONI

TONI
Directed by NATHAN AMBROSIONI
Starring CAMILLE COTTIN, LÉA LOPEZ, THOMAS GIORIA / 96 MINS / M ) For Antonia 'Toni' Livesi, being the sole parent of five teenagers while earning a living as a bar singer is nearly impossible. Despite a brief taste of fame twenty years ago, Toni's life is very much an ordinary one. At 43, is there still time to try something new? With a winning blend of empathy and humour, Camille Cottin continues to impress with her versatility in the lead role of Toni, in a film that explores the dynamics of parenthood, family, and the delicate art of balancing work and life. Touching sincerity is offset by awkward humour in this tender and good-natured drama, one certain to resonate with audiences of all ages.

 
IRIS AND THE MEN
Directed by CAROLINE VIGNAL
Starring LAURE CALAMY, VINCENT ELBAZ / 104 MINS / M ) After the international success of Antoinette in the Cévennes, writer/director Caroline Vignal and the fabulous Laure Calamy reunite for provocative comedy about reignited desire in the modern age. “They’re not”, says Iris (Calamy) when her chiropractor asks how things are going with her husband (Vincent Elbaz). How long has it been since they last made love? Soon, Iris will be turning 50, and the seed of an idea has been planted - “Take a lover”. So begins this cheeky, joyous and conversation-starting delight, in which the leading lady completes her transformation from quirky character actress into unadulterated comedic star.

MARGUERITE’S THEOREM
Directed by ANNA NOVION
Starring ELLA RUMPF, JEAN-PIERRE DARROUSSIN, CLOTILDE COURAU / 103 MINS / M) Set within the world of elite academia at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Ella Rumpf is Marguerite, a brilliant young mathematician who refuses to let her status as the lone woman in her class hinder her pursuit of excellence. However, her world crumbles when a new student discovers a flaw in her thesis, plunging Marguerite into the real world, unearthing new insights and gaining a fresh lease on life, in this crowd-pleasing and life-affirming film.

For all session and ticket information, visit the official website of the 35th Alliance Française French Film Festival.

HEAD SOUTH BOUND FOR ROTTERDAM AS IFFR 2024 OPENER

Jonathan Ogilvie’s spirited post-punk coming-of-age comedy Head South will open the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) on Thursday 25 January 2024, with the festival running until Sunday 4 February.

“With Head South, Jonathan Ogilvie returns to the festival with an unpredictable coming-of-age story that delights in its shifting tone,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR Festival Director. “Quirkiness and nostalgia become sober and thoughtful, only to turn exuberant and then something else again, in a fitting tribute to post-punk subculture. Ogilvie is the kind of filmmaker we cherish at IFFR: those for whom the art is, above all, an adventure of discovery.”

"I am honoured to have IFFR select Head South as their opening film,” Ogilvie told Screen-Space. “I admire and appreciate the festival's consistent commitment to adventurous filmmakers and the art of cinema." The dramatic comedy, about a private schoolboy who becomes desperately enamoured with all things post-punk in 1979 Christchurch, is a semi-autobiographical work. Ogilvie’s slot in the 2024 edition is his first since his speculative hi-tech thriller Lone Wolf screened in the festival’s Big Screen Competition in 2021.

In her first year as Managing Director of IFFR, Clare Stewart has embraced the role just as the city and the festival team have embraced her. “We are buoyed by the enormous goodwill of [this] vibrant, film-loving city, and hugely grateful to the funders and partners who enable IFFR to remain a fierce defender and champion of independent filmmakers and artists at a time when the world needs diverse stories more than ever.”

“The strength and courage of the Tiger have prevailed as we work to shape the 2024 edition of IFFR. Like film festivals everywhere, we face significant challenges and our focus is on continuing to rebuild resources, consolidate partnerships and diversify audiences,” says Stewart.

In addition to Head South, first-wave titles also announced include the World Premiere of Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla’s dystopian sci-fi animation Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust (pictured, above), featuring the voices of Golshifteh Farahani and Asia Argento, as well as filmmakers Gaspar Noé, Anurag Kashyap and Lav Diaz; Mário by US auteur Billy Woodberry, a biographical documentary of writer and nationalist leader Mário de Andrade, a central figure in the struggle for pan-African independence; So Unreal, the latest film from genre-expanding U.S. filmmaker Amanda Kramer; Elegies, from Hong Kong cinema legend Ann Hui; and, Egypt’s 2024 Oscars submission Voy! Voy! Voy! (pictured, below) by Omar Hilal.

Other news out of Rotterdam highlights the launch on Friday 26 January of IFFR Pro, the festival’s industry program, which this year will include the opening of the Pro Hub. This meeting space will allow filmmakers and industry professionals to gather for mentoring, meetings, as well as host the IFFR Pro Dialogues programme of panel discussions, covering urgent and enlightening issues facing the industry.  

Also, the 41st edition of IFFR’s co-production market CineMart begins on Sunday 28 January, with Spotlight presentations by project teams returning this year on Monday 29 January. On Tuesday 30, the second edition of the Pro Darkroom presents a curated selection of work-in-progress screenings, and is followed by the IFFR Pro Awards in the evening.

ALL NEWS REGARDING IFFR 2024 WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA THE OFFICIAL 'TIGER ALERT' NEWSLETTER. SUBSCRIBE HERE.