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Straits Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Film picks: John Lui recommended the Italian Film Festival, The Wedding Banquet and Walking With Dinosaurs
23rd Italian Film Festival The 2025 slate of films marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Singapore, and covers the genres of fiction, documentary and animation. The Italian Film Festival is organised by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore in collaboration with The Projector and the Singapore Film Society. The historical drama Vermiglio (2024, NC16, 119 minutes, screens on June 15, 4.30pm) is set in 1944. With the war drawing to a close, a stranger appears in the mountain village of the film's title, located high in the Italian Alps. He is Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), a deserter from the south of the coun try. He and Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), the eldest daughter of a local teacher, fall in love. Their relationship will transform the lives of those around them as more of Pietro's past comes to light. Film-maker Maura Delpero drew on her family's history to shape the story by returning to her family home to interview aunts and other villagers. The film won the Grand Jury Prize of the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, and was selected as Italy's entry to the Best International Feature Film section of the 2025 Academy Awards. Where: The Projector at Cineleisure Orchard, 8 Grange Road MRT: Somerset When: June 7 to 22, various times Admission: $16.50 standard, with concessions for students, seniors, Singapore Film Society members and others Info: The Wedding Banquet (R21) 103 minutes, limited screenings at The Projector at Cineleisure from May 30 (From left) Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-chan and Bowen Yang in The Wedding Banquet. PHOTO: UNIVERSAL PICTURES This remake of Lee Ang's 1993 film of the same name kicks off The Projector's Pink Screen season of films with an LGBTQ+ theme. The story follows Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), who lives with her partner Lee (Lily Gladstone) in Seattle. They are trying for a baby through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), but are running short of funds. Angela's best friend Chris (Bowen Yang) is worried that his partner Min (Han Gi-chan), a student from South Korea and the scion of a wealthy family, will be forced to leave once his visa expires. Angela's mother May (Joan Chen) is an ally, but Min's grandmother Ja-young (Youn Yuh-jung) is unlikely to support her grandson's relationship. A plan is born: Min and Angela will marry for the sake of his residency in the US. In return, Min will pay for Lee's IVF treatments. Chaos and comedy follow when Ja-young announces a visit. A review in The New Yorker magazine asks: 'In an era of wider LGBTQ+ acceptance, how do you fashion a romantic comedy predicated on the deceptions of the closet? Korean-American director and co-writer Andrew Ahn answers that question with the knowledge that acceptance brings pointed complications of its own. It's the warmth of Gladstone's presence that endows this remake with a whisper of something new.' The May 30 premiere is a fund-raiser for Proud Spaces, a community centre dedicated to building belonging for queer folks and allies in Singapore. Among the post-show events are fake weddings and a festival opening party at the No Spoilers lounge from 10.30pm to 12.30am. Walking With Dinosaurs A close-up of a Tyrannosaurus rex as it emerges from the forest in the BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs. PHOTO: BBC When the original series was released in 1999, its realistic computer-generated creatures caused a sensation. Narrated by actor and film-maker Kenneth Branagh, it spawned a new genre of documentary that used digital images to recreate animals from Earth's past. The six-part reboot from BBC Studios updates the science with more recent findings about the way the creatures lived, hunted, fought and died using state-of-the-art visual effects, with narration provided by Olivier and Tony award-winning actor Bertie Carvel. The series is available to stream on BBC Player. It will also be on the BBC Earth channel ( StarHub TV Channel 407 and Singtel TV Channel 203 ), Sundays at 8pm, from June 1. On July 5, from 5pm, families are invited to take along their picnic mats to the BBC Earth Screening Festival at Gardens by the Bay, with this series as the featured title. Entry is free at the event, held at the Supertree Grove. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sthal, Sabar Bonda: Marathi cinema finds global spotlight at festivals
India's first ever feature film - Raja Harishchandra - in 1913, was made in the Marathi language. Over the past few decades, though, Marathi cinema lost its way, overshadowed by Hindi films from Bollywood. But could a revival be in sight?The critically acclaimed Marathi language drama Sthal (A Match) opens with a striking role reversal: instead of the bride, it's the prospective groom who endures the dehumanising ritual of being scrutinised for an arranged we soon learn it's Savita, the film's protagonist, waking from an impossible dream - her real life, like that of many Indian women caught in the tradition of arranged marriage, is the exact offers an unsparing look at the grim side of arranged marriage in India—often romanticised on screen with song and dance. It's also part of a wave of Marathi films earning global acclaim this Bonda, a semi-personal rural romance between two men, made history as the first Marathi film to screen at Sundance—and won a Grand Jury Prize. Meenakshi Shedde, a senior programme advisor for South Asian films at the Toronto International Film Festival, called it "a daring, exquisite rural gay romance", and its bold, tender storytelling "historic". Once pioneers of Indian cinema, Marathi films have long been hurt by Bollywood's dominating influence in the state of Maharashtra - where the language is spoken - and elsewhere in the country. But in the past decade, they've been quietly making a global mark, with diverse, acclaimed titles lighting up international Manjule's romantic-tragedy Sairat was picked up for Berlinale in 2016. Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple won the best screenplay award at Venice a few years later - Oscar-winner Afonso Cuaron came on-board as its executive least a dozen other independent and experimental Marathi films have since found a spot at global festivals, handling an impressive diversity of Nalawade's Follower, which was selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release for instance, dives into the radicalisation of India's youth, exploring the life of a small-town troll with Second Chance, a black-and-white debut by Subhadra Mahajan, a woman's post-trauma journey leads her to the Himalayas. Premiered at Busan, it hits Indian theatres this June. With strong roots in Marathi literature and theatre, including experimental theatre, Marathi cinema has always produced strong films, Shedde of the independent films offer "quiet spaces for reflection" she adds, unlike the bombastic commercial appeal of aesthetics of this cinema reflect the often marginal backgrounds of its makers - many are self-taught and outside traditional power Sabar Bonda director Rohan Kanawade, for instance - he grew up in Mumbai's slums but dared to dream of making films."This brings a rich, unschooled, rawness and lived experience to their cinema. They are very different from the smooth universal polish of films that tend to come out of international script labs and international co-productions," Shedde says. But unlike the steady stream of content from other regional cinema - such as Malayalam films from Kerala - Marathi films still emerge in bursts. That's partly because there's no institutional support, says Shefali Bhushan, Sthal's producer, who, along with three other partners, put their own money to finance the big studios don't pick-up Marathi projects without an "obvious commercial appeal", which means an ecosystem supportive of experimental artistic voices is sorely lacking, she Kerala, Maharashtra also offers little state support for regional cinema and lacks a strong movie-going centred mainly around the cities of Mumbai and Pune, Marathi films "feel the full, suffocating weight of Bollywood, that other regional cinemas don't", says Maharashtra does not have Kerala's highly "cine-literate audience" where "rice farmers discuss [legendary filmmaker Sergei] Eisenstein and his legacy", giving those filmmakers confidence that their small indie film can recover costs and make money, she adds. The makers are also to be partially blamed, says veteran film critic Ashok Rane, who was tasked by the state government to market the region's films at Cannes in the last done little to explore subjects that "speak a universal language" and would appeal to the global audience, Rane told the says the industry's growth has also been stymied by the "lack of aggressive ambition" and the absence of a film distribution system meant that, for decades, India was the "graveyard of good cinema".However, she believes international recognition at festivals such as Sundance and Cannes will help to address this – especially for Indie filmmakers wanting to expand to non-traditional markets. Bhushan agrees - the chance to show her film at Cannes, facilitated by the Maharashtra government, has opened new says the festivals are "a chance to learn how to make sales to different territories, mount new projects as co-productions with people [from around the globle]". "There's a whole world waiting to be tapped."Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tickets remain for ‘Eye on Ohio' short film program
Video: DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Local filmmakers will see their work hit the big screen in Yellow Springs tomorrow. It's fair to say that excitement is high for this year's Yellow Springs Film Festival Mini-Fest (an extension of the larger film festival scheduled in October). Tonight's screening of John Waters' 'Cecil B. Demented,' is already sold out, as is tomorrow night's showing of 'Seeds,' the Grand Jury Prize winning documentary from Wright State University alum Brittany Shyne. That said, there are still tickets remaining for the event's short film program, 'Eye on Ohio.' The slate of short films will screen tomorrow, at the Little Art Theater, beginning at 5 p.m. and will include (although not limited to): 'Chasers,' by Erin Brown Thomas (which premiered at Sundance 2025). 'Terpsichore,' by Kaeley Beam and Abigail Cunningham. 'Wilis,' by Matthew Johns. 'I Like That Too,' by Eric Rothman. 'Love And Service,' (animated music video) by Justin 'unJUST' Herman. 'Golden Hour,' by Maureen McEly. The screenings will be followed by panel discussions featuring the filmmaking teams. Tickets are $15 and still available as of this writing. Click here for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Belmont World Film's 23rd International Film Series examines ‘Freedom on Film'
'Normally, we have to look at the films and say, 'What connects them all?' but as I was watching [this year's] films, it's freedom, just coming back,' Gitelman explained in an interview with the Globe. 'I know people are very concerned about freedom and freedom of speech.' Advertisement According to an email from Gitelman, 'the lineup 'explores the many dimensions of freedom — from personal liberation to political resistance — showcasing compelling stories from around the globe … shedding light on the struggles and triumphs of those who dare to break barriers.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The series invites audiences to engage with diverse perspectives on what it truly means to be free,' she said in an interview. A scene from director Georgi Unkovski's "DJ Ahmet," the opening film for Belmont World Film's 23rd International Film Series. Handout Coming-of-age drama 'DJ Ahmet' will kick off the festival on March 31 at Apple Cinemas in Cambridge. Set in a rural community in North Macedonia, writer-director Georgi M. Unkovski's film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sonoma International Film Festival and both 'It's a really sweet coming-of-age film, but also shows another side of culture that maybe we're not so familiar with. There are other ways of living in the world,' Gitelman said. The film follows 15-year-old electronic music lover Ahmet as he navigates familial and social expectations and first love. The story explores the theme of generational divides, Unkovski said in Following the screening, Boston University professor Dr. Irena Vodenska, who is from North Macedonia, will host a discussion about the film. Advertisement 'The Good Teacher,' a film exploring sexuality, homophobia, and violence, and 'Waves,' a story of censorship, will also screen at Apple Cinemas as part of the festival. Librarian Benoit Landon of Boston-based French cultural nonprofit the The remaining films will be presented at West Newton Cinema in Newton, with 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' and 'Manas' screening in April. On April 21, 'Reading Lolita in Tehran,' an adaptation of Iranian-American writer Azar Nafisi's 2003 memoir, details her experience hosting a secret literary club with seven female students in post-revolutionary Iran in the mid 1980s and early-'90s. In 'Manas,' 13-year-old Marcielle must grapple with the systemic exploitation and violence experienced by the women and girls in her small Brazilian village, and attempt to break the cycle for her young sister. Laura Ottoni of Grupo Mulher Brasileira (Brazilian Women's Group) and Belmont World Film board member and social worker Maria Carvalho will host a discussion of the film on April 28. Roya Sadat's "Sima's Song," which follows the long-time friendship of two women with opposing political views, will have its North American premiere during the film series in May. Handout May's programming opens with the North American premiere of 'Sima's Song.' In the film, set in 1970s Afghanistan, Suraya, a wealthy communist activist, and Sima, a conservative Muslim, navigate their friendship amid the civil unrest and war. Berklee College of Music history professor James Bradford will speak following the film on May 5. On May 12, writer Mathyas Lefebure will appear at the festival for the US premiere of 'Shepherds,' a film based on his memoir about his decision to trade an advertising career for life in the French Alps to become a sheep herder. Advertisement 'Four Mothers,' screening May 19, is a lighthearted Irish comedy about the unlikely friendship that forms between a novelist, his unwell mother, and her three elderly friends. As serious as the festival lineup can be, 'sometimes they're just purely funny,' Gitelman said. A scene from Irish comedy "Four Mothers," which screens on May 19 as part of the Belmont series. The film follows a novelist who goes on an existential journey to find himself with the help of his ailing mother and her three friends. Handout Pride and Refugee Awareness Month programming in June will include Romanian drama 'Three Kilometers to the End of the World' on June 2 and an award-winning French film, 'Souleymane's Story,' on June 9. The closing film, 'Under the Volcano,' originally premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024. It follows a vacationing Ukrainian family stuck in Tenerife, Spain after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Gitelman says the festival has made her 'so much more compassionate, and that her hope for these screenings is to 'create understanding.' The festival's aim is to help viewers 'be understanding and appreciative of another culture, like things that we have in common, things that we have [that are] different.' Single screening tickets start at $14 and can be purchased in advance or at the theater. Packages are also available. Additional information, screening times, and a full program can be found at . Haley Clough can be reached at
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Utah's Hopes Of Keeping Sundance Threatened By Anti-Pride Flag Bill On Governor's Desk
EXCLUSIVE: By the end of April, the new home of the Sundance Film Festival should be public knowledge with the Salt Lake City/Park City combo, Boulder, Colorado or Cincinnati bid picked as the host for the next decade. However, a bill heading toward Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's desk that would ban the Pride flag in schools and other state government buildings might be an eleventh-hour obstacle to the Beehive State's hopes of keeping the Robert Redford-founded shindig past 2026. 'What are they thinking?' a Sundance insider said late Tuesday of the bill to ban the LGBTQ+ flag after a virtual meeting between united Utah leaders and the festival's relocation committee. 'Utah is Utah, but this goes to the heart of the community Sundance has worked years and years to develop.' More from Deadline Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winners Through The Years Final Word On Sundance 2025: Fest Director Eugene Hernandez Dispels Naysayer But Addresses Challenges In Park City Postmortem New Distribution Venture Cartuna X Dweck Takes North American Rights For Sundance & SXSW Thriller 'Dead Lover' 'It is a terrible law, a terrible look for the state,' the insider added of the Republican legislation that was passed the state Senate on a 21-8 vote last week. 'No matter what they say, we all know who it's aimed at — the LGBTQ+ community, and that's unacceptable.' Having put forward a pitch to shift the focus of Sundance from its longtime base of Park City to Salt Lake City starting in 2027, the Utah bid is lead by Gov. Cox, with SLC and Park City mayors onboard along with regional business and civic leaders. The festival's current decade-long contract with Park City expires after Sundance 2026. Even before Sundance made it public in April that it would take bids for a new home, almost everyone acknowledged something had to change after 40 years in the once-sleepy resort town. While broad questions of Sundance's future in a fast-changing media environment and the finances of the festival certainly loom large in the search for a new home, Utah has been a homecourt front-runner in the drawn-out selection process since it was announced almost a year ago. In recent weeks, knowing that nothing says 'I love you' like cold, hard cash, Cox has shifted tactics and moved to ensure $3 million for Sundance in this year's state budget. Despite that, the likelihood that Cox will sign the anti-Pride flag bill soon has caused red-state Utah to find itself at deep odds with Sundance's expressed values of a 'vibrant, inviting and inclusive festival.' RELATED: With blue-state Boulder emerging in the past three months as the one to beat among the three finalists, part of the raison d'être of the March 11 virtual meeting between Utah and Sundance principals was to increase a comeback momentum for the state. At one point, according to those participating at the meeting, a rainbow Pride flag was unfurled by a local politician. That aside, the recent passage of the anti-Pride bill, which several Utah and SLC sources contend is aimed to punish the relatively progressive and most-populous city in the state, has caused 'concern' and 'slowed' that momentum, I'm told. Passed in the last days of the current Utah legislative session, the bill sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee and Sen. Daniel McCay — HB77, or the Flag Display Amendments — would allow only 'the display of certain flags on government property.' At one point seeming to allow the Nazi flag and the Confederate flag in history class until that loophole was closed, the bill now permits, with a few exceptions, just the U.S. flag, the Utah state flag, Olympic flags, military flags and the flags of universities and colleges to be flown or put up. While not preventing individuals from waving the multi-colored Pride flag at parades, protests and more or wearing the symbol, HB77, if it becomes law, would stop the Pride flag and all other non-sanctioned flags from flying from and inside city, state and other public buildings during such parades and celebrations or any other time. Blasted by the ACLU and Equality Utah, who termed the measure a 'blatantly unconstitutional bill,' the success of HB77 comes now after two previous attempts failed. 'What's the difference?' the festival insider asks rhetorically of the bill's passage this time. 'Trump's back in the White House, attacking trans rights, LGBTQ+ rights, erasing them.' RELATED: Along with Park City Mayor Nann Worel, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall was one of the participants in that remote meeting between Sundance and Utah officials Tuesday. 'There is not a state in this nation where inclusivity, diversity and empathy aren't under attack, and everyone has a role in standing up for those values,' the Mayor said to Deadline on Wednesday. 'Salt Lake City will never stop supporting our neighbors, including the LGBTQIA community, and Sundance is an incredible partner in that support. The power of amplifying voices and creating change through art is needed now more than ever in this ongoing work.' Neither the governor's office nor Sundance itself responded Deadline's request for comment on HB77 and Utah's multi-pronged bid for the festival. However, Rep. Lee, one of the sponsors of the bill, told Deadline on Wednesday that with HB77, 'We are making sure that flags being displayed on government property are politically neutral' with HB77. Asked if he thought the bill could hurt Utah's chances of keeping Sundance, the first-term representative from the state's 16th District added, 'Not at all.' Lee, who was a big backer of the successful effort to ban fluoride from the drinking water in Utah, on March 6 reposted a tweet that was full of praise for him on the flag legislation. Nothing new there for anyone online, conservative politician and otherwise, to do. However, the tweet also claimed that the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags are 'Marxist' and part of the 'religion' of 'wokeism' being forced on kids in the state. With millions in support, tax breaks and more being offered by the trio of Sundance finalists to snag the festival, Utah could take a significant hit if it lost the annual event and its various year-round labs. RELATED: The most recent data prepared for the festival by Y2 Analytics says that along with the prestige and two weeks in the international media spotlight, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival brought in $132 million for Utah in what is called 'total economic impact.' Part of that so-called impact is out of the 11-day 2024 fest was around 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $13.8 million in local and state taxes. Breaking the downward pattern that a number of domestic and international festivals have suffered over the past five years or so, Sundance 2024's total economic impact was up from the $118 million that the 2023 festival brought in. Coming off the 2021 and 2022 Sundance Film Festivals being shuttered for in-person attendance and screenings due to the Covid pandemic, the 2023 festival raised $12.3 million taxes for the state and municipalities and created 1,608 jobs. As for where Sundance will end up next, festival director Eugene Hernandez told Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. late last month: 'We're still working through that process. The folks from the finalist cities were at the festival. We hope to have a decision in place by end of March or early April.' Mark your calendars. Best of Deadline 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 Cast: Who Plays Who? The Best 8 New Movies On Netflix In March 2025 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
