Ioncinema

London Has Fallen: McQueen Explores Life During Wartime

Following his extensively researched 2023 documentary Occupied City, which details WWII atrocities waged against the Dutch during Amsterdam’s Nazi occupation, it would seem Steve McQueen has been motivated to continue his exploration of the period with Blitz, reenacting the catastrophic blitzkrieg (aka ‘lightning war) of Britain during the 1940s. While an ensemble cast of characters intertwine in this saga, McQueen focuses on the separation of a mother and her child, each facing their own unique cultural intersections which were difficult even before the onset of the second world war. There are few contemporary examples of films about the London Blitzkrieg, more often than not a backdrop looming over more intimate human struggles, such as Atonement (2007), Their Finest (2016), or even the rehash of Graham Greene’s swooning The End of the Affair (1999).… Read the rest

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There was a brief delay for the start of the production (originally they were circling a 2023 start), but finally French-Canadian filmmaker Philippe Falardeau did get back into the saddle this past September for his latest which translates to Thousand Secrets, Thousand Dangers. The French-language feature, the Montreal-centric Mille secrets mille dangers has one week left to go in production – so the’ll be aiming to position this as a film fest release perhaps Locarno. Toplining the book to film adaptation we find Neil Elias, Hassan Mahbouba and Rose-Marie Perreault and a noteworthy behind the line part of the team is André Turpin.… Read the rest

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The annual Prix Jean Vigo, typically awarded to a rising French director, recently recognized talents like Sophie Letourneur for Énorme, Axelle Ropert for Petite Solange, and Alice Diop for Saint-Omer. This year, the honor goes to another female filmmaker this time — Louise Courvoisier for her debut film Vingt Dieux (aka Holy Cow), a 2024 Cannes Film Festival selection in the Un Certain Regard section, where it also won the Un Certain Regard Youth Prize. Zeitgeist Films landed the distribution rights and have plans to distribute the film in March of next year. In our review, I mentioned “with a blend of playfulness and sincerity, the film captures the complexities of human desperation, inviting audiences to both admire and despise the multiple missteps – you’ll love to hate him, but miss him if he weren’t there type.”… Read the rest

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Fools Russia In: Baker’s Bangin’ Screwball Comedy

At this point in his career, filmmaker Sean Baker seems to have covered all the major facets of sex work experiences. Surprisingly, and quite delightfully, he’s managed to use his favorite motifs to create an exceptional screwball comedy with Anora. An exotic dancer in New York who moonlights as a sex worker, when it’s convenient, is the titular focus, played with exceptional finesse by Mikey Madison. As we’ve become accustomed to in Baker’s filmography, there’s a lot of heart and grit bolstering the experiences of his characters, who are often confronting themselves through the unlikeliest of emotional alliances.… Read the rest

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French-Canadian filmmaker Anne Émond has begun production into her first foray into English-language cinema (we imagine that this will be a bilingual film) with Adam fka Peak Everything – which has Patrick Hivon (Monia Chokri’s Babysitter) and Piper Perabo toplining. Also onboard in terms of supporting players we find Gilles Renaud, Elizabeth Mageren, Éric K. Boulianne, Connor Jessup and Gord Rand. Metafilms’ Sylvain Corbeil and Immina Films are producing. Production will take place in Montreal and in Ontario. Émond exploded onto the scene with Nuit #1 in 2011 and has stuck to mostly drama formats.

This is about Adam (45) owns a kennel.… Read the rest

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Some casting news spread over the past 24 hours, Alana Haim is continuing her progression in cinema and working with choice auteurs climbing aboard the latest by Kelly Reichardt (The Mastermind) and Kristoffer Borgli (The Drama). It’s not that far-fetched to think that she’ll shore up in three major titles in 2025 – namely the new Paul Thomas Anderson film. She joined Josh O’Connor for the set in the 70s portrait by Reichardt, and for Borgli project, she joins Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and the just announced Mamoudou Athie. This third feature for the filmmaker is said to be a romance — a couple, played by Zendaya and Pattinson, who in the days leading up to their wedding, end up in a crisis when unexpected revelations derail what one of them thought they knew of the other.… Read the rest

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Katarina Zhu‘s feature debut Bunnylovr has according to Deadline wrapped up production (they were shotting in NYC) – we learn that the drama heading to next month’s American Film Festival’s 2024 edition of the US in Progress stars Austin Amelio, Perry Yung, Rachel Sennott, Jack Kilmer and Zhu herself. Bunnylovr was produced by Zhu alongside Fair Oaks Entertainment producers Rachel Sennott and Roger Mancusi with Ani Schroeter. Rhianon Jones and Tristan Scott-Behrends also produced for Neon Heart Productions, which financed the film alongside Radish, Phiphen Pictures, and RNA Pictures.

This tells the story of Rebecca (Zhu), a Chinese-American cam girl who struggles to navigate an increasingly toxic relationship with one of her clients while rekindling her relationship with her estranged, dying father.… Read the rest

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Not unlike how a young Athina Rachel Tsangari ended up being part of a Richard Linklater film, Summer Shelton has been part of the fabric of the American indie scene dating back to a bit appearance in a David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls. After cutting her teeth as a producer (with a pair of prominent titles in the cinema of Ramin Bahrani), Shelton would put all of one’s chips on the table with her feature debut You & I. A second chance at romance or a proper visit with the past, Shelton is joined by Clayne Crawford for a drama romance that re-examines a dynamic (was it ever meant to be more?)… Read the rest

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In a double Virginie Efira casting news type of day, we learn that after dropping in Rebecca Zlotowski’s Vie Privée, the actress will move into the arms (or away) of Arieh Worthalter (from career game-changing The Goldman Case) in Thomas Kruithof’s third feature film. The cineuropa folks report that production on Les Braises has started — so this means Efira has a meatier role here. The French filmmaker has a pair of films under his belt with 2016’s The Eavesdropper (La Mécanique de l’Ombre) and Les Promesses – the 2021 film with Isabelle Huppert and premiered in Venice.… Read the rest

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Last week, we got the confirmation that Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil were toplining Rebecca Zlotowski’s Vie Privée and now we have a more complete picture with further casting announcements and a proper logline. Along with new team members in Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste and Luana Bajrami (who directed her feature debut in the Cannes preemed The Hill Where Lionesses Roar in 2021 – read our review), Zlotowski is re-teaming with her Other People’s Children star Virginie Efira. Production began in late September and will run all the way into late November in Paris and Normandy. We’re putting this down as a Venice Film Festival possibility.… Read the rest

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