Latest news with #BiGan
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
As Nigerian Cinema Goes From Strength To Strength, Ramsey Nouah & Rita Dominic Return For AfroCannes Screener ‘77: The Festac Conspiracy'
Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline's fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it's ever been, but breakout hits are emerging in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. That's why we're doing the hard work for you. This week, we have a film from Nigeria that was shown in Cannes. Set against the backdrop of a huge cultural festival called Festac that took place in Lagos in 1976, it's a period piece and follows on from a successful earlier movie that hit festivals and ultimately landed on Netflix. It's exciting times for Nigerian cinema, with films at big festivals like Cannes and the government putting money behind an effort to boost the sector. More from Deadline What Does The Cannes Film Festival Have Against Documentaries? Doc Talk In Cannes: Deadline Podcast Hosts American Pavilion Panel On Challenged State Of Documentary Industry Janus Films Acquires Bi Gan's Cannes Prize-winner 'Resurrection' For North America Name: '77: The Festac Conspiracy Country: Nigeria Producer: Adonis Productions Distributor: Self distributed Where you can watch: TBC For fans of: Authentically told African stories and fans of the previous movie, '76, which sold to Netflix Nigerian cinema had a moment in Cannes and part of that story was the first-ever screening of '77: The Festac Conspiracy. The follow-up to political thriller '76, which landed global distribution on Netflix and played at the Toronto Film Festival, it screened as part of AfroCannes, the buzzy event focused on African moviemaking and talent. More accurately, Nigerian cinema had several moments at Cannes. Akinola Davis Jr.'s My Father's Shadow played in competition while the country's Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, was at the Festival to unveil ambitious plans to bolster the country's creative sector. The '77: The Festac Conspiracy team were also on the Cote D'Azur to present their latest movie. Izu Ojukwu directed '76 and returned to helm '77: The Festac Conspiracy, reuniting with Tonye Princewill and Adonijah Owiriwa who exec produce. Ojukwu and Princewill were at AfroCannes and anticipation levels are high after the first film was picked up for African pay-TV after a theatrical release. It then played on Netflix. '76 was set after the Nigerian Civil War and followed a young army officer, Joseph Dewa, played by Ramsey Nouah, who is accused of being involved in an unsuccessful military coup. His relationship with Suzy, played by Rita Dominic, is tested by these events as well as her family's disapproval of Joseph as a match for her. Nouah and Dominic are back and reprise their roles in '77: The Festac Conspiracy. The film picks up the story from '76 and is set against the backdrop of Festac, a month-long showcase of African art and culture that took place in Lagos, Nigeria. With half a million attendees, it attracted artists from across the continent and diaspora. The new film sees Joseph and Suzy trying to rebuild their lives after he leaves the army. 'They leave the barracks in Ibadan together to start a new life together in in Lagos,' Princewill explains. 'This is them trying to start over. There's Festac coming and, as you can imagine, that touched literally everyone. So, here they are, and then there's a conspiracy going on behind the scenes of Festac, and it's so deep that it stretches across countries and continents.' For '77: The Festac Conspiracy the filmmakers mix new material with archive footage to create the desired setting and ambience. To get the automobiles of the day right – and to get cars in good enough condition that the exhausts weren't billowing smoke – the team traveled and filmed in the Republic of Lebanon, where the required vehicles are in good condition and available. Before '77 There Was '76 Princewill reveals there is a new doc coming as part of the franchise. 76: The Story Behind The Story is directed by Adeola Osunkojo and sheds light on the real-life events that helped inspire the first film. 'It's made by a wonderful young female director who went behind the scenes. It weaves together the true story and what happened to the lives of the people that were left behind by events in '76.' '76 played at the Toronto international Film Festival and then the London Film Festival. The journey to festivals, movie theaters and streaming was a long one, taking in lengthy filming in Nigeria and post-production in Munich, Germany. The film was released in 2016 having shot in 2012. Princewill says that given it was a period piece, and because the film was privately financed, there was no pressure to rush it into theaters. 'We had our own money, so we didn't have to go to institutions or wait for a fund. We were very intentional about it,' he adds. 'From a funding perspective, we were less pressured, and from a business perspective, we really wanted to get a movie out at the right time, in the right window, with the right people. This took time, and we could spare that time. The average African filmmaker doesn't have that luxury. 'We actually spent more money than we should have because we had cast and crew in hotels for six months. Nobody has principal photography for six months in Nigeria.' After a four-week run in Nigerian movie theaters, the film went to regional pay TV giant's DStv Box Office store before landing on its premium movie channels. African streaming service Showmax wanted the film, but its streaming home ended up being Netflix, which took global rights to the movie, giving it a wide international reach. Princewill and the team also applied their business smarts to distribution. Nigeria is home to many of Africa's richest people as well as large corporates. The team arranged a host of private screenings, effectively bringing a premiere-type experience to wealthy people and organizations, recouping the equivalent of thousands of individual movie admissions each time. The Nigerian Film Biz Nigeria has a bustling film business and the Culture Minister was in Cannes to talk about a government growth plan dubbed 'Destination 2030 Nigeria' to boost the country's cultural sector. The Minister said the plan is to deliver $100M to Nigeria's GDP within the next five years backed by $300M of investment from the federal government. Princewill hopes the efforts bear fruit and will be felt across the value chain of filmmaking. 'As much as you put in, you've got to be able to follow it through,' he says. 'A filmmaker can't just make a movie. They have to take that movie and walk the globe with it. That challenge is going to have to be overcome, and maybe the funders will start to say: 'Okay, you've made the product, but we recognize that there's a need to take that and travel the globe with it'.' Princewill's background is engineering, business and politics but he has applied some of the skills and motivations from previous experience to his forays into film. 'My co-executive producer is from an engineering background as well… so we come from a sort of 'fixing things and business' background, and we've brought that into what we think is an amazing industry in Nigeria,' he says. 'What we think was very important, was to show people like ourselves that investing in film is a good idea and '76 was model for that. It was an opportunity to show people that you can invest in in film and help youth unemployment, creative development, storytelling, history and it was an opportunity for us to talk about Nigeria in a positive light.' He adds: 'It was the first military thriller that you'd find in these parts, and the first movie to be selected by TIFF on merit.' And did the numbers stack up for Princewill and the team? 'We didn't make it for the money. We made it for the message, and the money came as a byproduct of that.' Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More Everything We Know About 'Happy Gilmore 2' So Far
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bi Gan's Cannes Winner ‘Resurrection' Nabbed by Janus Films for North America (EXCLUSIVE)
Janus Films has acquired all North American rights to 'Resurrection,' the Special Award winner at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival from visionary Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan. The film, which premiered in competition at Cannes, marks the third feature from Bi Gan, whose previous credits include 'Kaili Blues' and 'Long Day's Journey Into Night.' More from Variety Jafar Panahi Returns to Cheers in Tehran as Palme d'Or Victory Prompts Diplomatic Spat Between France and Iran 'The Love That Remains' Review: Hlynur Pálmason's Exquisitely Tender, Increasingly Haywire Portrait of a Family in Limbo Inside TikTok's Cannes Film Festival Takeover, From One-on-One Time With Tom Cruise to Reece Feldman's Short Film Premiere Told in six parts spanning a century, 'Resurrection's' framing story takes place in a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream, with one creature remaining entranced by the fading illusions of the dreamworld. The film stars Chinese superstar singer and actor Jackson Yee and veteran actor Shu Qi, known for her collaborations with Hou Hsiao-Hsien. 'Resurrection' was praised by Variety critic Jessica Kiang as 'a marvelously maximalist movie of opulent ambition that is actually five or six movies, each at once playful and peculiar and part of an overarchingly melancholy elegy for the dream of 20th-century cinema and the lives we lived within it.' Speaking with Variety ahead of the film's Cannes premiere, Bi had said: 'Screens are getting smaller and smaller, and I want to evoke that old feeling of watching films in theaters. The first story begins in the early 20th century, and I employed the cinematic language of that era.' The deal was negotiated between Janus Films and Les Films du Losange. 'Resurrection' was produced by China's Huace Pictures and Dangmai Films with France's CG Cinema, and features a score by M83. 'Bi Gan's 'Resurrection' is a kaleidoscopic, time-skipping, genre-mashing odyssey through cinema and dreams that will thrill fans of daring, visionary filmmakers like David Lynch, Andrei Tarkovsky, Leos Carax and Wong Kar-wai,' Janus Films said in a statement. 'We're very proud and excited to bring this surreal, provocative, epic experience to screens across North America and to champion the work of Bi Gan, a director we have long admired.' Les Films du Losange added: ''Resurrection' is a powerful and singular film that has been sparking passionate reactions from festival audiences, international buyers, and the press. It's a film that truly calls for a tailored, original, and ambitious release strategy. With their impeccable taste and exceptional vision, Janus Films are the ideal partners for us.' The acquisition continues Janus Films' recent push into first-run distribution of new international cinema. The company has earned eight Academy Award nominations in partnership with Sideshow Pictures, releasing such titles as Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Oscar winner 'Drive My Car,' Jerzy Skolimowski's Oscar-nominated 'EO,' Payal Kapadia's Cannes Grand Prix winner 'All We Imagine as Light,' and Gints Zibalodis' 'Flow,' which won the Oscar for best animated feature and became Janus' highest-grossing theatrical release. This year's Janus slate has included Alain Guiraudie's 'Misericordia,' David Cronenberg's 'The Shrouds' and Jia Zhangke's 'Caught by the Tides.' Upcoming releases include Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 'Cloud' in July and Ira Sachs' 'Peter Hujar's Day' slated for fall. Founded in 1956, Janus Films was the first U.S. theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international arthouse films to American audiences, building a library that includes classics from Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and contemporary masters like David Lynch and Wong Kar-wai. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Janus Films Acquires Bi Gan's Cannes Prize-winner ‘Resurrection' For North America
Janus Films has acquired North American rights to Bi Gan's Resurrection, with the film winning the Special Jury prize at the recently-concluded Cannes Film Festival. Marking Bi's third feature, Resurrection stars Jackson Yee, Shu Qi, Mark Chao and Li Gengxi. More from Deadline Sergei Loznitsa's 'Two Prosecutors' Scores Fresh Deals For Coproduction Office - Cannes Netflix Buys Richard Linklater's 'Breathless' Homage & Love Letter To Cinema 'Nouvelle Vague' In Record Domestic Deal For A French-Language Movie Breaking Baz @ Cannes: "Even If I'm Fired, I Stay," Declares Defiant Thierry Frémaux; Festival Victors Dance The Night Away After Strongest Selection In Years The deal was negotiated by Janus Films and Losange Films. Resurrection unfolds in six parts spanning a century, set in a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream. However, one creature remains entranced by the fading illusions of the dreamworld. Bi previously directed Kaili Blues and Long Day's Journey into Night — with the latter premiering in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section in 2018. Resurrection was produced by China's Huace Pictures and Dangmai Films with France's CG Cinema, and features a score by French band M83. 'Bi Gan's Resurrection is a kaleidoscopic, time-skipping, genre-mashing odyssey through cinema and dreams that will thrill fans of daring, visionary filmmakers like David Lynch, Andrei Tarkovsky, Leos Carax and Wong Kar-wai,' said Janus Films. 'We're very proud and excited to bring this surreal, provocative, epic experience to screens across North America and to champion the work of Bi Gan, a director we have long admired.' Losange Films added: 'Losange Films is delighted to embark on this new collaboration with the Janus Films team. Resurrection is a powerful and singular film that has been sparking passionate reactions from festival audiences, international buyers, and the press. It's a film that truly calls for a tailored, original, and ambitious release strategy. With their impeccable taste and exceptional vision, Janus Films are the ideal partners for us.' Best of Deadline 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 'The Last Of Us': Differences Between HBO Series & Video Game Across Seasons 1 And 2
Arab News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Iran's Jafar Panahi Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
DUBAI: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi made a triumphant return to the global stage, winning the prestigious Palme d'Or for his latest film 'It Was Just an Accident' at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ Panahi, long a symbol of artistic defiance in Iran, had previously faced imprisonment and a 20-year ban on filmmaking and international travel. His emotional appearance at the festival, where he received the award from jury president Juliette Binoche — a vocal supporter of his work — marked a significant moment for both the director and Cannes. A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes) The political thriller centers on a former prisoner who kidnaps the man he believes tortured him and grapples with fellow dissidents over whether to exact revenge or offer forgiveness. The ceremony also recognized other global talents. Chinese director Bi Gan received a special jury prize for 'Resurrection,' while Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi made history as the first from his country to win the Camera d'Or for debut feature 'The President's Cake.' A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes) Brazil's Wagner Moura took home best actor honors for 'The Secret Agent,' a 1970s-set political drama by Kleber Mendonça Filho, who also won best director. German director Mascha Schilinski and Spain's Oliver Laxe shared the Jury Prize for their respective films 'Sound of Falling' and 'Sirat.' The former is a sweeping multigenerational family saga, while the latter explores an apocalyptic vision of the Moroccan desert through techno-infused storytelling. Actor John C. Reilly surprised audiences with a rendition of 'La Vie en Rose' before presenting best screenplay to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for 'Young Mothers,' the Belgian brothers' latest social drama.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Resurrection' Review: Director Bi Gan's Beguiling, Beautifully Realized Journey Through the Life, Death and Possible Rebirth of Cinema
One of the most audacious young auteurs working today, 35-year-old Chinese director Bi Gan makes movies that don't pull you in as much as they slowly wash over you. Moody, melancholic and filled with daunting technical feats, especially the director's signature logistics-defying long takes, his films are beautifully realized meditations on nostalgia and loss in which the cinema is often a character itself. In his beguiling new feature Resurrection, movies are both subject and object of a story spanning a hundred years of film history, from the silent era to the end of the last century. Reflecting on the seventh art's past, present and possible future at a moment when many believe it to be in its death throes, Bi Gan has crafted a time-tripping, genre-jumping paean to the big screen in which he revives the films he loves and then buries them a second time over — hoping, perhaps, to resurrect cinema in the process. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'A Private Life' Review: A Delightfully Paired Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil Escape Injury in a Messy but Pleasurable Genre Collision Cannes: Hasan Hadi's 'The President's Cake' Wins Directors' Fortnight Audience Award 'Heads or Tails?' Review: John C. Reilly Plays Buffalo Bill in a Wacky Italy-Set Western With Ambition to Burn Tailor-made for those viewers who fantasize about being trapped in the Criterion closet, this dreamy 156-minute behemoth is certainly not for mainstream arthouse fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the next Oscar favorite. But it's a rewarding watch that gives us another idea of what movies can do, even if Bi Gan seems to be mostly mourning their demise. Death and dreams are indeed at the center of a phantasmagorical narrative divided into five long chapters, plus a short epilogue, each told in the specific style of its epoch. Bi loosely connects them through a premise that only a crazy film lover like him could conjure up: In a parallel world that may be our own, people no longer dream and can therefore live forever. The select few who choose to keep dreaming are known as 'Fantasmers,' leading existences that burn brightly but shortly. And then there are 'The Other Ones,' whose job is to awaken the Fantasmers from their illusive slumbers. Does that make sense? Too bad, but anyway plot and plausibility are far less important than the experiential qualities Resurrection offers those willing to accept its fairy tale-like pitch. Bi guides us into his fantasy world during an opening section, set during the silent film era and narrated with intertitles, where The Other One (Shu Qi, star of several classic Hou Hsiao-Hsien movies) pursues a Nosferatu-like Fantasmer (Jackson Yee) across a merry-go-round of studio décors straight out of the German Expressionist period. You don't have to know your movie history to understand what Bi is doing in that sequence, though it certainly helps. His film is packed with nods to other films that trace the evolution of cinematic style and craft, from the jerky hand-cranked illusions of the 1910s and 20s to the roving Steadicam shots of the past era. Early on, the score by French electro group M83 either copies or barely remixes Bernard Herrmann's themes from Vertigo — which, as all good Hitchcock fans know, is another story of death and resurrection. Those themes quite literally bleed into the film's succeeding chapters, which encompass a WWII-era film noir involving a trenchcoated investigator (Mark Chao); a Buddhist temple in the 1960s or 70s whose crumbling ruins give birth to a menacing spirit; a tale of magic and trickery involving a rich mobster (Zhang Zhijian) regretting the loss of his child; and a dazzling thriller set in a red-light district on the eve of the last millennium. The Fantasmer reappears in each section as a different character with a new look, propelled from epoch to epoch by The Other One. (Don't ask how this all happens.) He never ages and can seemingly live forever, just like the F.W. Murnau character of the silent movie part — or the actual vampire we see in the penultimate chapter. When, toward the start of the movie, 35mm film stock is inserted into the Fantasmer's back, Bi seems to be suggesting that vampires and cinema have a lot in common: Both can survive eternally as long as they remain in the dark. For the latter, that means being projected onto a screen in front of an audience, which is why Resurrection begins and ends with scenes inside of a movie theater, one coming to life and the other melting away. This is heady stuff and probably won't interest those who can't recognize many scenes — such as a recreation of the Lumière brothers' pioneering short L'Arroseur Arrosé, which gets projected later on — as metaphors for, or homages to, film itself. And yet Bi's talent for creating transfixing set-pieces, which at times recalls the work of Andrei Tarkovsky, allows you to get submerged by his movie without always knowing what you're watching. You just need to keep your eyes open and go with the flow. And it's worth doing that in order to reach the 1999 chapter, during which the director stages another formidable, seemingly impossible long take that sees the Fantasmer and his elusive love interest (Li Gengxi) wandering through a riverside wasteland, from the closing minutes of the last century until the dawn of a new one. Reteaming with DP Dong Jingsong, who pulled off a similar feat in Long Day's Journey into Night, Bi tries to top himself this time by shifting points of view within the same unending shot, racing down corridors and into rave parties, then into a karaoke scene interrupted by brutal gunfire, until we're suddenly aboard a ship as the sun begins to rise on the year 2000. Such sequence-shots, now known unfortunately as 'oners,' tend to be destined for film lovers as well, who can admire the high level of craft it takes to pull them off. Bi is bold and unabashed when it comes to displaying (some would say showing off) his technique, nor does he hide his many references (in the case of the red-filtered long take, there are hints of Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels and Hou's Millennium Mambo). He also doesn't hide the fact that Resurrection is both a celebration of the art he loves and something like an inhumation. It looks back at its past with longing and regret, while failing to clearly see its future — especially at a time when people go to the movies much less than they used to. And yet there's a hopefulness in Bi's enigmatic concoction, not necessarily in what it's saying but in how it's being said, finding exquisite new forms in old and dead ones so that the cinema can keep on living. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV
