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MAIN COMPETITION

TRIDENS FIRST FEATURES COMPETITION

28:94 Local Time - David Safarian, Armenia


Bride - Paula Ortiz, Spain
Dawn - Laila Pakalnina, Latvia
Epitaph - Ruben Imaz, Yulene Olaizola, Mexico
Insight - Aleksandr Kott, Russia
Let Her Cry - Asoka Handagama, Sri Lanka
Orizonti - Marian Crisan, Romania
The Prosecutor, the Defender, the Father
and His Son - Iglinka Triffonova, Bulgaria-Sweden
The Summer of Frozen Fountains Vano Burduli, Gerogia-Russia
Under the Sun - Vitaliy Manskiy,
Russia-Germany-North Korea-Latvia

Anna - Jacques Toulemonde Vidal, France-Colombia


Don't Look at Me That Way - Uisenma Borchu,
Germany-Mongolia
Ghost Mountaineer - Urmas E. Liiv, Estonia
Guarani - Luis Zorraquin, Paraguay-Argentina
Loev - Sudhanshu Saria, India
Lost in the White City - Gil Kofman,
Tanner King Barklow, USA
Delivery - Martin Mejira Rugeles, Colombia
A.K.A. Nadia - Tova Ascher, Israel-UK
Road-Movie - Martin Jelinek, Czech Republic
Food and Shelter - Juan Miguel del Castillo, Spain
Pawno - Paul Ireland, Australia
Staying Alive - Charlotte Blom, Norway
The Find - Viktor Dement, Russia
Two - Soheila Golestani, Iran

11/8/15 3:49 PM

COMPLETE
AN EXCEPTIONAL MOVIE / COMPLETE
CAST: Adil Hussain DIRECTOR: Rajan Kumar Patel
GENRE: Crime/ Thriller
ADIL
HUSSAIN

A visual feast and a gripping cat-and-mouse English-language contemporary


thriller set in the labyrinthine alleys of the ancient Hindu city of Varanasi on the
shores of the sacred Ganges River. A cerebral yet visceral thriller in a lush and
exotic setting with an international cast.

IN PRODUCTION

MISCHA
BARTON

PAZ DE LA
HUERTA

CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (2015)


CAST: Mischa Barton
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Paranormal horror. "Sometimes Evil Has A Pretty Face"
CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (2015)
CAST: Paz de la Huerta
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Thriller. "Shes Not Alone"

PREPRODUCTION

TARA REID

ANA COTO

NATASHA
HENSTRIDGE

CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)


CAST: Tara Reid
DIRECTOR: Robert reed Altman
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Horror (Ghosts) "Hunger Is Not Solely For The Living"
CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)
CAST: Ana Coto
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Thriller. "Down There, No One Can Hear You Scream"
CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)
CAST: Rachel Leigh Cook , Natasha Henstridge
GENRE: Sci-Fi Erotic Drama
There Are No Limits To What We Can Experience

RACHEL LEIGH
COOK

REBEL MOVIES AFM Office #323 AFM Telephone: 310.458.6700 xt 323


rebelmovies@rebelmovies.eu - www.rebelmovies.eu
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10/30/15 2:50 PM

NOVEMBER 09, 2015


THR.COM/AFM

AFM
WEATHER
AND HIGH
TEMPS

TODAY

67 F
19 C

A F M 6

TOMORROW

66 F
18 C

Arnolds 478
Sells Wide
By Pamela McClintock

he unusual pairing of
Darren Aronofsky and
Arnold Schwarzenegger
proved too potent for foreign
buyers to ignore at this years
American Film Market.
Their newly announced
revenge thriller, 478, has
closed a raft of major
territory deals for the
Highland Film Group,
Schwarzenegger which is handling international sales.
Aronofsky is producing
478 via his Protozoa Pictures
alongside Randall Emmet
and George Furla of Emmet/
Furla/Oasis.
Since stepping down as
governor of California,
Schwarzenegger has had trouble reviving his acting career,
with movies including Escape
Plan and Maggie disappointing

Exclusive
First Look

In Search of Fellini

Against her mothers (Maria Bello) wishes, a small-town girl (Ksenia Solo) journeys to Italy in search of legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.
Nancy Cartwright (known as the voice of Bart Simpson) co-wrote (with Peter Kjenaas) the period coming-of-age drama and will executive produce.

C O N T I N U ED O N PA G E 2

Invincible Bites
on Iggy Pops
Blood Orange

Indies Feel the Big Studio Squeeze

ith the annual bashing of Loews somewhat


retro carpeting easing up for another year,
many AFM attendees returning to more
contemporary interiors spoke of a market still in an
awkward state of transition.
Quentin Tarantinos The Hateful Eight dominated much
of the chatter in 2014, but 2015s edition struggled
to offer a prestige title with anywhere near the same
amount of buzz.
Buyers are looking for the perfectly formed script,
the perfect filmmaker, the perfect cast and, of course,
the perfect budget, said Mister Smiths David Garrett.
And thats getting harder for us to find and bring to
the market.
German buyer Rudiger Boss, acquisitions head for
broadcast giant ProSiebenSat.1, complained that there
were few gold-plated projects available for presale
(the packages are not ideal) and put part of the
blame on talent agencies playing too big a role.

By Alex Ritman

he Iggy Pop-starring
thriller Blood Orange
has found itself a spot
in U.S. distributor Invincibles
AFM shopping cart.
The film was on the slate
being offered by Carnaby, and
also secured a deal in New
Zealand with pay TV operator
Sky Television Network, who
picked up a slew of other titles
from the London-based banner, including North vs. South,
Four, The Truth Commissioner,
Winter and Casual Encounters.
Elsewhere for Carnaby, the
Scott Eastwood-starring thriller
C O N T I N U ED O N PA G E 2

Pushy agents and too much competition from the majors have made dealmakers nervous. Says one:
Its very difficult to sell a project thats not properly packaged By Scott Roxborough and Alex Ritman

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_news1_2A.indd 1

The agencies are getting too mixed up in the process and its not making the projects better. I doubt it
will help the films, he said.
Decreased risk-taking from indie buyers, who are
now facing a swollen emphasis on theatrical success as
ancillary revenue-generators dry up, saw the studios
step in to make the big money market bets.
Michael Manns Christian Bale-starring Enzo Ferrari
biopic was arguably one of this years bigger AFM
projects, but with Wild Bunchs U.S. arm Insiders
reportedly looking for sizeable checks from international indie distributors, Paramount, who will bow the
film stateside, could come in to snap up global rights as
well. Studios muscling out the indies for global rights
has been a recurring theme at this years AFM. The
Weinstein Co.s Six Billion Dollar Man action reboot
with Mark Wahlberg, also is expected to go through the
international arm of a studio major the reason many
C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2

11/8/15 8:44 PM

theREPORT

HEAT INDEX

RYA N G O S L I N G
Gosling hasnt been seen on the big screen
since the 2013 bomb Only God Forgives,
but he has two of the biggest projects at
AFM: the upcoming Blade Runner reboot
and Nice Guys co-starring Russell Crowe.

JAY R OAC H
DIRECTOR

The filmmakers latest outing, Trumbo,


stumbled in its limited U.S. debut over the
Nov. 6-8 weekend, grossing $77,229 from
five theaters for a tepid location average
of $15,445. Thats not good news for
the foreign distributors who bought
rights to the biopic from
Entertainment One International.

KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER

V I N C E N T M A R AVA L

CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, WILD BUNCH

The shrewd executive negotiated a deal


for Amazon Studios to acquire U.S. rights
to Nicolas Winding Refns female-fueled
The Neon Demon, starring Elle Fanning
as a model who moves to L.A. and meets
a group of women hungry to feed off her
youth. Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone,
Abbey Lee, Bela Heathcoat and
Keanu Reeves also star.

MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD


Gunnar Hansen, who portrayed
villain Leatherface in 1974s Texas
Chain Saw Massacre, died Nov. 7
of pancreatic cancer at age 68.
Spectre grossed $73 million in its
U.S. opening weekend, falling
short of Skyfalls $88.4 million.
Donald Trumps appearance on
Saturday Night Live gave the show
its highest ratings since 2012.

Im seriously
considering doing
your movie. Or not.

Indies
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

suspect it wasnt on TWCs slate for


this market and Warner Bros. is
expected to take the red-hot Blade
Runner 2 project out of global
indie hands. But several prestige
titles did fly out of the stalls. The
Arnold Schwarzenegger starrer 478
virtually sold out globally, while
the Liam Neeson-actioner The
Commuter did brisk business for
StudioCanal, finding a U.S. home
with Lionsgate.
It goes to show that the market
will respond to a strong project
with the right creative elements,
said Anna Marsh, head of international sales at StudioCanal, which
also screened the first footage from
James Marshs untitled Colin Firth
project, a title THR learned had
attracted an offer of $6 million for
the U.S. Fortitude International
also saw brisk business for its
slates, with multiple territory deals
for Ben Kingsley/Josh Hutcherson
starrer Backstabbing for Beginners
and The Bachelors, starring
J.K. Simmons.
We have had a very good
market, but we are one of the few
companies that have real projects
here, said Fortitude co-founder
Nadine de Barros. Its very difficult
to sell a project that isnt properly
packaged. But if you have projects
to sell, the buyers are there.

AFMs Top Five Market Cliches

AFM market speak is its own distinct lingo, a dealmaking dialect designed
to obfuscate and obscure as much as it explains and reveals. In its purest
form, it can be a Kabuki theater of spin. As a customer service, The
Hollywood Reporter has translated five classic AFM cliches into normal
speak. Youre welcome. SCOTT ROXBOROUGH
MARKET CLICHE
Its not about quantity, its
about quality.

Were lucky to have one project


to sell here.

Everybody wants the film and


they know it.

Dont worry, Nicolas Cage REALLY


is attached to our movie.

As long as he doesnt get a better


offer.

Hes a really hot first-time


director.

We couldnt get anyone whos


actually made a movie before.

Were expecting Berlin to be huge.

We sold nada here.

The asking price is too high.

Orange

Arnold

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Mercury Plains also secured multiple territory


deals. The project first announced in Cannes and
directed by Charles Burmeister was picked up in
Germany (Lighthouse), Latin America (California
Films), Australia (Eagle) and the Middle East
(International Film Distribution).
Kids in Love the Cara Delevingne-starring coming
of age drama having its market bow landed a home
in France (Factoris).
We have a ton
more,
which are in
Pop
final negotiations,
said Carnaby CEO
Sean OKelly, who
added that there had
been three sold-out
screenings of the
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
spy thriller Damascus
Cover, which was first
announced at the
Berlin film fest.

both in North America and overseas.


Still, 478 sparked strong interest at AFM. We
had very healthy responses from our buyers, who
reacted very quickly and aggressively to the project
at the start of the market. With Darren Aronofsky
on board, it was inevitable that the film was going
to draw in great interest and were delighted to
see such a positive reaction at this early stage, said
Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier of Highland.
The film, now in preproduction, will see
Schwarzenegger play a man whose wife and daughter
are killed in a tragic midair collision. His life takes
an unexpected turn when he seeks revenge on the
person responsible. Elliott Lester will direct from a
script by Javier Gullon.
Among the territory deals secured for 478 are
France (Metropolitan), Italy (Leone), Spain
(Inopia), CIS (Luxor), Australia and New Zealand
(Defiant), Indonesia (Prima), Vietnam (Skyline),
Indonesia (Prima), the Philippines (Viva), Poland
(Polsat Group), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Middle East,
Greece, India and Turkey (Italia).

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_news1_2A.indd 2

REALLY MEANS

11/8/15 8:45 PM

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11/8/15 3:44 PM

theREPORT

Pacific
Northwest
Serves Up
Break Point

A Company Submits
Insolvency Plan By Scott Roxborough

By Rebecca Ford

acific Northwest Pictures is ready


to serve up Break Point, acquiring
Canadian rights to the tennis comedy.
Directed by Jay Karas, Break Point
stars Jeremy Sisto and David Walton as two
estranged brothers who reunite to take on
the California amateur tennis circuit with
hopes of winning a grand slam tournament.
Also starring J.K. Simmons, Amy Smart,
Adam DeVine and Chris Parnell, the film first
premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and
was released in U.S. theaters by Broad
Green Pictures in the fall.
Produced by Gabriel Hammond, Sisto and
Devin Zimmerman with a script by Gene Hong,
Break Point will be released in Canada by
Pacific Northwest Pictures in January on
all platforms. Myriad Pictures is handling
international sales.

Sisto (left) and


Walton in
Break Point.

Broad Green and Pacific Northwest are


reuniting after previously working on Broad
Greens Learning to Drive, starring Patricia
Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

of the Russian ruble,


erlin-based
and was forced to file
film licenser A
for insolvency proCompany has
tection earlier this
submitted its insolvency
year. The insolvency
plan to a German court,
plan would see the
beginning what could
bulk of the firms film
be the last phase in the
library (some 440
firms emergence from
titles) remain with A
the German version of
Company. But AR
Chapter 11.
Films has submitFounded and
ted a competing
run by Alexander
insolvency plan
van Dulmen
that
likely
and controlled
Rodnyensky
would have seen A
by Alexander
Company heavily conRodnyenskys AR Films,
solidated. The court
A Company was one
will rule on the plans
of the largest rights
in the coming days,
buyers for Russia and
likely within the week.
Eastern Europe, and
A Companys creditors
Van Dulmen and his
will then vote on the
team are AFM regulars.
court-accepted plan.
But the company was
A vote could come as
hit hard by the Ukraine
early as Dec. 2.
crisis and the collapse

PROMOT ION

SEE & BE SEEN


AT T H E

CANNES

I N T E R N AT I O N A L
FILM FESTIVAL

CANNES PREVIEW ISSUE 5/6 | CLOSE: 4/27 | MATERIALS: 4/29


FESTIVAL AND MARKET DAILIES | 5/11 5/18
THR.COM/CANNES | LIVE MAY 2016

CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com


EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com | Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz

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11/6/15 6:21 PM

11/8/15 7:15 PM

The Last King

THE 2015 AFM POSTER AWARDS


THR PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MOST AMUSING AND OVER-THE-TOP
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS AT THE AMERICAN FILM MARKET

Magnolia
Anoints
King for

North
America

By Scott Roxborough

agnolia Pictures
has acquired North
American rights for
Norwegian action-adventure
epic The Last King from
TrustNordisk. The medieval
epic is set in 1205, when Norway
was in the midst of a brutal civil
war between the Norwegian
king and the church.
Nils Gaup, whose credits
include the Oscar-nominated
Pathfinder (1987) and local
box-office hit The Kautokeino
Rebellion (2008) directed The
Last King with a star Scandi cast
that includes Game of Thrones
actor Kristofer Hivju, Nikolaj Lie
Kaas (The Keeper of Lost Causes)
and Jakob Oftebro (Kon-Tiki).
The film is currently in post with
a Scandinavian release planned
for Feb. 12.
TrustNordisk already has
presold The Last King across
much of Europe, with Koch
Media taking German-language
territories, Minerva Pictures
nabbing Italy, Film Europe
acquiring rights for the Czech
Republic and Gulf Film taking
the Middle East.
The Magnolia deal was
negotiated by Dori Begley and
John Von Thaden of Magnolia and
TrustNordisks Susan Wendt.

BEST WAY TO BE PATRIOTIC

LEAST LIKELY TO MAKE ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER

WORST WAY TO FIND OUT YOU WERE ADOPTED

WORST REMINDER OF REALITY (OR REALTY)

Terrordactyl
Not seeing this movie is
letting the Terrordactyls win.

Monster Dad
Based on the appearances of both father
and son, an extremely awkward conversation awaits
both of them in the very near future.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_new3_4B.indd 5

The Fits
At one time or another, all teenagers will
fall victim to an outbreak of the fits. But what exactly
causes the fits? Neon tank tops. Obvs.

Foreclosure
The nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thriller
about the subprime mortgage crisis everyone
has been waiting for. Or not.

11/8/15 7:16 PM

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11/8/15 3:24 PM

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11/8/15 3:24 PM

SPECIAL FEATURE

Alejandro
Amenabar

Sabine
Gisiger

AFM INDIE DIRECTOR


ROUNDTABLE

What do four helmers from four different countries have in common? A passion to tell their stories
their way whatever the cost BY SCOTT ROXBOROUGH PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANOUSH ABRAR

What is the hardest thing about being a director?


AMENABAR The shooting itself. You are running against
time. A lot of money is being spent. You have to deal with
actors, with all the crew. You have problems everywhere.
So it is really the shooting itself where I prepare myself
the most for.
WHEATLEY For me its the presenting of the first cut.
Everyone wants to see the cut as soon as possible, and no
one can really understand what the film is going to be like
because they cant see beyond the bad sound or the lack of
effects work or the lack of music. Ive found that and I
dont know if the others think this but I think you have
to learn to love your own film first and once you love it, you
can protect it. Theres no perfect film.
GALLENBERGER For me the hardest thing is that you never
know that you are doing the right thing. Because for every
decision you make, you have zillions of opportunities to
go like this or like that. And you never know whether it is
right. And you only find out in the end, and even then you
dont know if it is right.

H IS Y E A RS A F M I N DIE F I L M M A K ER S

Roundtable includes two Oscar winners, a


low-budget darling with his first $10 million
project and a fearless helmer of experimental
documentaries. British director Ben Wheatley, 43, recreated a 1970s dystopia in his adaptation of J.G. Ballards
unfilmable novel High-Rise with Tom Hiddleston,
Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller; Germanys Florian
Gallenberger, 43, sent Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl
to a real-life cult compound in Chile for 1970s-set Colonia;
Spanish genre master Alejandro Amenabar, 43, delves
into the dark recesses of memory for his mystery thriller
Regression, starring Watson and Ethan Hawke; and Swiss
documentarian Sabine Gisiger, 56, directed Durrenmatt:
A Love Story, about the life and work of legendary Swiss
playwright and philosopher Friedrich Durrenmatt. In a
frank, open discussion during the Zurich Film Festival in
September, the four spoke about their fears, the career
bump an Oscar provides and why you should ignore the
advice given in screenwriting textbooks.

High-Rise
Ben Wheatley
Long thought to be unfilmable,
J.G. Ballards dystopian novel
is set in the 1970s in a high-rise
apartment building where the
thin veneer of civilization quickly
tears and the residents played
by Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller
and Jeremy Irons descend into
violence. Only journalists think its
an unfilmable book. The narrative
is simple and straight-forward,
says Wheatley. Now Naked Lunch
thats a tricky book to adapt.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_fea_RTdirectorsD.indd 1

11/8/15 2:07 PM

Florian
Gallenberger

Colonia is your first genre film. Its about a real-life


subject: the Colonia Dignidad cult, which worked
with Augusto Pinochets regime in Chile. Why did you
choose to tell that story as a thriller?
GALLENBERGER I really cared about the subject of Colonia
Dignidad and I wanted to tell that story because it is too
little known. But I wanted to tell it in a mainstream way.
Its not a typical subject for a genre film, but the plan was
always that the people who just want a thriller will get a
thriller, and those who go deeper will get informed on a
subject they didnt know about before.
What are your cinematic touchstones, the films that
had a particular influence on you?
AMENABAR For me it was very clear. I learned what directing meant through Steven Spielberg, who is one of the
greatest filmmakers. Spielbergs movies just emotionally meant a lot to me. Im talking about E.T. or Close
Encounters of the Third Kind. And then when I was a
teenager, I started to move toward Hitchcock movies and
analyze them and then Stanley Kubrick.
Was Kubrick a big influence on you, Ben? Watching
High-Rise, I kept thinking of A Clockwork Orange.
WHEATLEY Yeah. The thing Kubrick said about nonsubmersible units, where he liked to make a film with
incredibly strong images that basically told the story
about five of them and then the rest of the stuff was
strung together and joined them together. Narratively
they dont stand up to any of those standards that they

Ben
Wheatley

Colonia
Florian Gallenberger
Gallenberger spent years
researching the true story that
inspired his escape thriller
Colonia, in which Emma Watson
plays a Lufthansa stewardess
who goes undercover to find and
rescue her boyfriend (Daniel
Bruhl) after he is arrested by the
Chilean secret police and given
over to a Christian cult for torture.
I wanted to tell the story as a
thriller to make it as accessible
as possible, says Gallenberger.
The story of [the cult] Colonia
Dignidad is so important and
so little known. The film was
designed to reach the largest
amount of people possible,
because the subject deserves it.

Ben, why did you pick J.G. Ballards High-Rise to be


your first adaptation?
WHEATLEY Basically I was sitting at home, and I saw it on
the shelf and I thought, This is one of the big books of the
20th century, and its not been done. Why? And I wanted
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_fea_RTdirectorsD.indd 2

tell about in these screenwriting books. They are all


completely different and broken and weird, with tiny acts
and big acts. But at the same time, they are big signature
genre movies. But also for me, its the way he dealt with
the industry he stepped back and was in control of
everything. He was a producer and writer and director,
and he played by his own rules, and that is, I think, pretty
amazing.
GISIGER I could not say there is one film or one documentary film that influenced me. It is more literature. I liked
a lot of the 20th century American novelists and the way
they tell true stories and move that into fiction. Like Tom
Wolfes The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I think that was my
biggest influence: to realize you can turn true facts into
fiction, and they become even more true.
GALLENBERGER I think it went in phases for me. When the
idea or wish came up to be a director, I had a big Fellini
phase. And after the Fellini phase, there was a Jarmusch
phase and then a Fassbinder phase. One filmmaker I
really admire is Ang Lee for having made such a round
body of work with such different films. I think that is the
beauty of the job you can venture into such different
films. You can try to do a drama or a thriller or an action
movie or war film or whatever.

11/8/15 2:07 PM

SPECIAL FEATURE

to write a horror film, and I thought, What is the thing


that scares me the most? And I realized it was the 1970s.
Fing terrifying period. Probably because I was a child
during it. So many details of the 70s scared the living shit
out of me. Not to sound like an old man, but I think it was
much scarier in the 1970s than it is now. I think this whole
idea of international terrorism is small potatoes compared
to utter nuclear destruction, which was almost taught in
schools in Britain.
Alejandro and Florian and Ben have all worked with
major A-list actors. Does it change your approach
when working with a huge star like Emma Watson?
AMENABAR For me it doesnt change at the moment of
being in the scene or shooting. Of course it is different,
because when you are working with Emma Watson, you
are going to have fans on the set trying to sneak a picture.
But the experience of shooting is much the same.
GALLENBERGER Of course there is a technical side to it
the fans and security issues. But for the process, it is about
the character. You are not making the film with the star
side of this person; you are making the film with the artist
side of this person.
WHEATLEY The person who is going to f you up is the guy
whos got two lines. Its the receptionist who has to say,
Yes sir. Booking you in. Thats the troublemaker. Or the
extra in the background whos staring down the lens that
you dont see until you get the rushes back. Thats when
the directing skills have to be at their best to get a performance out of someone whos totally bad. The big actors
are all great. Thats why theyre big actors. You barely have

to do anything with them. If you cast them right, theyre


fine. But its the smaller bits where you can come unstuck.
Have any of you ever shot a scene where, in the middle
of it, you thought it was a complete disaster?
AMENABAR I remember when we did The Others, I thought
we had made a piece of shit. But I think when Im shooting, Im one of those optimistic guys who thinks they are
doing great. It is a different thing when you edit the film
and have to watch it and you realize you didnt achieve
what you wanted to.
GISIGER Never. Never a disaster. There is always a way. I
think what I learned is to lose my fears over the years.
In the beginning, when I was young, I thought I had to
do everything right. I was more obsessed with fears. And
I have the experience often that scenes I thought went
under the table, were very bad, turned out to be very good,
but they told something else than what I thought they
would tell. When you can leave your fears behind, there is
no more disaster.

Regression
Alejandro Amenabar
When The Weinstein Co. picked
up U.S. rights to Regression a
psychological drama starring
Ethan Hawke as a father accused
of a crime he has no memory of
and Emma Watson as his troubled
wife Amenabar worried the
Weinsteins would take out the
editing scissors. They obviously
have that reputation, he says.
But they have been quite
respectful of this one.

Florian, both you and Alejandro are Oscar winners.


How did winning the Oscar change your career?
GALLENBERGER Just to prove my vanity: I have two. I won a
student Oscar and then a real Oscar.
GISIGER Just to get that right!
GALLENBERGER Luckily it changed my career a lot and
luckily it didnt change my life much. I couldnt have made
any of the films I made without my Oscars because they
are unusual shooting abroad, in different languages
so I owe a lot to that. But I still have the same friends; I
still live in the same place.
WHEATLEY How often do you drop the anecdote: When I
won the Oscar or It was just around the time I won
the Oscar ?
AMENABAR Obviously the Oscar has such power in it. You
realize it really is an icon. When anyone comes to your
home, the first thing they want to have is a picture with
the Oscar. It changes maybe the perception, for a while,
that people in Hollywood have about you. But it didnt
really change my life.
How does a bigger budget change things? Ben, HighRise is your biggest film. You did your first one (2009s
Down Terrace) for $30,000, right?
WHEATLEY Actually much less than that. Having a bigger
budget hasnt changed anything in terms of control; I still
have total control. High-Rise was the first film where we
were allowed to have a dolly, so thats pretty cool. I think
as soon as a budget is bigger than the cost of your house or
as soon as its as much as you wouldnt like to lose in a card
game, it is a massive responsibility. It just gets ridiculously
abstract as it gets bigger and bigger. I wouldnt want to
have to pay 300,000 pounds back to the financiers, so I
fing wouldnt want to pay fing 10 million pounds back
to the fing financiers.
AMENABAR I think that if you tend to have more money
and you are on one of these $100 million projects, you
have less freedom. But I have been very spoiled. When I
did my biggest budget movie (the $60 million Agora in
2009), I had total freedom. And my main concern was
technical. We had scenes with masses of people, and my
legs were trembling.
The Weinsteins released Regression in the U.S. They
have a reputation for re-editing the films they buy.
AMENABAR Obviously they have that reputation. But no,
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10

11/8/15 2:14 PM

Gisiger (opposite, bottom left)


with (from left) Amenabar, Wheatley
and Gallenberger, who were
photographed Sept. 26 at the George
Bar and Grill in Zurich, Switzerland.

they have been quite respectful of this one. But anyway,


I like the process. I think its useful having to deal with
people who have something to say about the movie.
WHEATLEY Ive always been totally open to notes. But I
wont do them if theyre wrong.
AMENABAR I have a rule: When more than three of my
friends tell me to get rid of that, I will get rid of it. I
remember my first movie, my producer was a director as
well, and I had final cut, but there was this particular shot
he was against. He wanted to cut it out. And in every single
version, I just kept it. One day he banged his hand on the
table, almost broke the computer, and he stormed out of
the room and said: OK, just keep your stupid shot! And
now when I see the movie, I think, He was right.
WHEATLEY Have you ever told him?
AMENABAR Oh no. Never.
GISIGER Ive been working with the same editor for many
years, and in the first years, we were fighting on scenes
and, of course, I am the intellectual person and I can talk
and argue and blah blah blah. She would listen to me and
say: Maybe, but nobody wants to see that jacket. And I
learned to trust her on that because she can see the movie
really from her stomach. And after 10 to 20 years of working together now, we dont lose time. When she says [its
an] ugly jacket, I just cut it out.

sure the window in the room is open and the sound is


turned up. So its cold and loud and people dont nod off.
AMENABAR We have the opposite in Spain; we have to close
the window and turn up the AC.
GISIGER I think the most important thing for me to
understand was to trust in very radical things. in radical subjectivity. A documentary filmmaker once told me
when I was young: You cannot ask anyone a question you
wouldnt give an answer to. Any question you ask other
people, you should ask yourself, too.
GALLENBERGER Wim Wenders was one of my professors
at film school, and we did a film with him. One day we
cleaned a street of cars because the film was set in the
19th century, and we couldnt have cars. And Wim looked
and said: That street over there would be better. Why
dont you go there and ring all the doorbells and ask them
to move their cars away? It took us a couple of hours, but
finally we shot in that street. Wim always tried to get the
best possible for his film. If it is not possible, you cant
have it, but at least try. Dont give in too easily.
AMENABAR When I visited a set where Steven Spielberg
was shooting, I remember he was doing a shot and after
the third take, he said: OK I got it. I was watching and
I thought, This is totally wrong. He needs to fix that
and that. And when I saw the movie, it worked so well. I
realized you dont have to get obsessed with the number
of takes. You need to realize what you really need in the
take and fix it for the next one. Just going for what you are
looking for. Leave the perfect take to Stanley Kubrick.

Durrenmatt:
A Love Story
Sabine Gisiger
Gisiger sifted through 80 hours
of archive footage to sculpt this
in-his-own-words portrait of
iconic Swiss writer and playwright
Friedrich Durrenmatt, whose
works have been adapted for such
films as Sean Penns The Pledge
(2001) and 1964s The Visit with
Ingrid Bergman and Anthony
Quinn. He was brilliant, brilliant,
says Gisiger. It is incredible
because what he said in the 20th
century is even more true now.
Even more relevant.

Whats the best piece of advice you have ever received


about directing?
WHEATLEY When you are showing stuff to people, make
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11

11/8/15 2:11 PM

SPECIAL FEATURE

A FAIRY-TALE FEST
WITH STARTUP VIBE

Yes, its cold, but the Tallinn Black Nights Festival on the scenic northern coast of Estonia has plenty
to offer including a peek at the future of Europes digital single market BY SCOTT ROXBOROUGH
Korean box-office blockbuster The Throne
(also the countrys official foreign-language
Oscar submission); Justin Lerners SXSW hit
The Automatic Hate; and Mamoru Hosodas
Japanese anime The Boy and the Beast, which
will close Tallinn Nov. 30.
This years festival also sees the inaugural
Tridens First Features competition, which will
highlight 14 directorial debuts. Among the most
talked-about premieres are Two, helmed by
Iranian actress Soheila Golestani; Colombian
feature Delivery, from Martin Mejia Rugeles;
and Pawno, the Melbourne-set debut of
Australian director Paul Ireland.
For sales execs in the know, the festival has
become a key part of the industry calendar, a
place to hook up with buyers who didnt make it
to AFM and to set up the deals that will eventually be signed in Berlin.
While the festival attracts films and sales
agents from around the world, its particular
industry focus is Northern Europe and the CIS
territories, regions with major upside potential

Despite its Old


World appearance,
Tallinn is considered
one of the most
tech-savvy cities
in the world.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_TallinnH.indd 1

12

that have proven tough for indies to crack.


Speaking with sales agents and distributors, I know that CIS and Northern European
countries are becoming challenging for distribution, says Tallinn festival director and program
manager Tiina Lokk-Tramberg. Tallinn is the
place where you can come to find new partners
and find out how to deal with these fast-changing territories.
But Tallinns killer app is its industry section, Industry@Tallinn, which, uniquely, brings
together creative and industry talent with hightech companies and venture capitalists. The
addition of tech and VC gives Tallinn an edge in
a film industry where digital disruption of traditional business models has become the rule.
Tech is in our DNA; its where we come
from, says Sten-Kristian Saluveer, head of
the Tallinn festivals industry office, noting the
citys reputation as a European startup hotspot.
Famously, the tech team behind Skype was (and
still is) based in Estonia, and the tiny country
(population: 1.3 million) has more startups per

JORDAN MANSFIELD/GETTY IMAGES

ICELY SANDWICHED BETWEEN

the hard-nosed dealmaking of the


American Film Market in early
November and the crazed activity
of Berlin in February, Estonias Tallinn Black
Nights Film Festival (Nov. 14-30) offers a quiet
respite for filmmakers and film executives looking to reboot and recharge.
The festival itself offers an impressive endof-year roundup featuring a best-of selection
of the top titles from Berlin, Cannes, Venice
and Toronto, along with an ample supply of
world premieres from overlooked territories
particularly Northern and Eastern Europe,
Southeast Asia and Latin America. Last year
Tallinn received A festival status from the
International Federation of Film Producers
Associations, putting the event on the same tier
as premium fests such as Venice and Cannes.
The lineup for the 2015 edition of Black
Nights includes Dutch Oscar contender The
Paradise Suite from director Joost van Ginkel,
which premiered in Toronto; Lee Joon-iks

11/8/15 1:01 PM

MTU FP D6 110915.indd 1

11/8/15 3:30 PM

SPECIAL FEATURE

Tech is in our DNA;


its where we come from.
STEN-KRISTIAN SALUVEER,
head of the Tallinn festivals industry office

streaming services.
Tallinn, says Saluveer, isnt taking sides in
the debate. We are completely neutral; we just
want to establish a dialogue, he says. I think
theres been a lot of noise and a lot of misunderstanding about the digital single market.
Our goal is to help the filmmaking community,
governments, tech companies and venture capitalists come together to find common solutions.
The big question, he insists, is why Europe is
lagging behind the U.S. in the tech race. Why
isnt there a pan-European Amazon or Netflix
or Google? Thats the question. We have the
technological know-how in Europe, we have
the creative talent, but I think Europe needs a
reboot, both on the political and industry side.
Tallinn is hoping this years festival, with its
combination of Old Europe fairy-tale setting
and New Europe tech savvy, will provide just
the sort of reboot Europes film industry so
desperately needs.

Must Puudel

Where to Eat, Sleep


and Party in Tallinn
UROPEAN OLD

World charm
meets high-tech
hipster paradise
in the Estonian capital, a
city that regularly wins the
prize for Europes prettiest.
The picture book setting is
matched by Tallinns 21st century sophistication when it
comes to hotels, restaurants
and bars, which offer just the
right mix of class and nostalgia
without tipping over into tourist kitsch. Here are five spots
not to miss during the Black
Nights Film Fest.
HOTEL TELEGRAAF
Vene 9, Tallinn
A 19th century telegraph
station converted into a
five-star luxury hotel with
one of the best spas in town
and a Russian-French fusion
restaurant (Tchaikovsky)
that has to be sampled to be
believed.

craft beer pub. Vintage


Soviet-era design combines
seamlessly with hip music,
good food (also vegan!) and a
laid-back vibe.
VEGAN RESTORAN V
Rataskaevu 10, Tallinn
And speaking of vegan, this
cute, easy-to-find eatery is
the perfect spot for a cozy
business dinner or get-awayfrom-it lunch. But be sure to

reserve a table: Theyre usually


booked solid.
VON KRAHL
Rataskaevu 8, Tallinn
For something a bit different
in late-night entertainment,
check out this theater/
nightclub/bar, which offers live
music; original, self-produced
plays; and a lot more for locals
and anyone else outside the
mainstream. S.R.

Hotel Telegraaf

LOUNGE 24
Rvala puiestee 3, Tallinn
For the best view of the city,
head to the Radisson Blu Hotel
and take the elevator to the
24th floor. The club itself is
perfectly serviceable, but its
the panoramic city views that
sell it.
MUST PUUDEL
Mrivahe 20, Tallinn
Estonias first and
according to many best

Lounge 24

The Boy and the Beast will close the fest on Nov. 30.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_TallinnH.indd 2

14

BEAST: COURTESY OF SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. PUUDEL: VALDEK LAUR/COURTESY OF SUBJECT. TELEGRAAF, LOUNGE: COURTESY OF SUBJECT.

capita than anywhere else on the continent.


Many of those new tech hopefuls will be
center stage in Tallinn as part of the festivals
Digitech Corner, in which members of the local
tech, gaming and venture capital community
present their products and business models and
explain how they can fit in with the traditional
film business.
But the highlight of this years Industry@
Tallinn session, which runs Nov. 18-19, is the
fireside chat with Andrus Ansip, a member
of the European Commission and the man
at the center of the push to erase the barriers between European territories and create a
digital single market across the EU. Opponents
of the so-called DSM see it as a mortal threat
to copyright protection that will undermine the
financial basis of the independent film industry.
Supporters see opportunity in creating a unified
market of more than 500 million people, potential customers for new digital cinema, VOD and

11/8/15 1:02 PM

PROMOTION

THE

FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
RACE

The Hollywood Reporter chronicles the foreign language race


from start to finish with dedicated coverage in print and online
on THR.coms AWARDS channel and THE RACE blog.

11/11

12/9

12/18

1/4

2/12

AD CLOSE 11-5

AD CLOSE 12-2

AD CLOSE 12-14

AD CLOSE 12-28

AD CLOSE 2-8

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT

AWARDS SPECIAL

THR WEEKLY

ESSENTIAL AWARDS PLAYBOOK

AWARDS SPECIAL

AWARDS SPECIAL

PLUS BONUS DISTRIBUTION TO THE VOTERS WHO MATTER MOST:


AMPAS, BAFTA-LA, BAFTA-UK, HFPA, SAG NOM COM AND BFCA

CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com


EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com

Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814


ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz

thr_fp_foreign_language_award_race_2015.indd 1

11/2/15 3:11 PM

AFM SCREENING GUIDE


2015
NOV. 9

9:00 AM Bolshoi Babylon, Altitude Film


Sales, 83 Mins., AMC 2
Departure, Mongrel International,
110 Mins., AMC 6
Lost in the Pacific, Arclight Films,
Fairmont 2
Sundown, Green Films Inc., 100 Mins.,
Fairmont 1
Wild for the Night, Highland Film
Group, AMC 1
11:00 AM Belle and Sebastian, The
Adventure Continues, Gaumont, AMC 4
Black, Films Distribution, 95 Mins.,
AMC 7
Dragon, Mirsand Ltd., 100 Mins.,
Loews 3
Larry Gaye, Renegade Male Flight
Attendant, Other Angle Pictures,
90 Mins., AMC 1
Lounge Act, Arclight Films, Olympia 1
Operator, Cinema Management Group
Llc, 88 Mins., Ocean Scr #
Synchronicity, Magnolia Pictures &
Magnet Releasing, 101 Mins., AMC 6
The Clan, Film Factory Entertainment,
107 Mins., AMC 2
The Debt, 6 Sales, 100 Mins., AMC 5
The Ones Below, Protagonist Pictures,
Broadway 2
The Squeeze, American Cinema
International, 95 Mins., Doubletree #1
Unreported, Princ Films, 90 Mins.,
Loews 2
1:00 PM 31, Protagonist Pictures, AMC 7
Boonies Bears A Mystical Winter,
All Rights Entertainment Limited,
96 Mins., AMC 2
Its Now or Never, Film Factory
Entertainment, 90 mins., AMC 1

SEE & BE
SEEN

Kill Your Friends, Altitude Film Sales,


100 Mins., AMC 6
Schneider vs. Bax, Fortissimo Films,
96 Mins., AMC 5
Star Leaf, Leomark Studios, 78 Mins.,
Olympia 1
Summer of 92, Hanway Films,
Broadway 2
Water & Power, California Pictures,
90 Mins., Loews 2
Wedding Doll, 6 Sales, 82 Mins.,
Broadway 4

Daily, breaking news and


reviews from the front lines
at all major international
film festivals & markets

3:00 PM, Bitter Harvest, Spotlight


Pictures, AMC 3
Day Out of Days, Other Angle Pictures,
93 Mins., AMC 2
Despite the Falling Snow, 6 Sales,
113 Mins., AMC 5
Front Cover, Fortissimo Films, 87 Mins.,
AMC 7
Motherland, Russian Cinema Fund,
124 Mins., Fairmont 2
Raven the Little Rascal, Sola Media
Gmbh, 72 Mins., Broadway 2
Real Blood: The True
Beginning, Little Books Little
Films LLC, Loews 3
The Bodyguard, All Rights
Entertainment Limited, 92 Mins.,
Broadway 4
The Burning of Wildgoose Lodge,
Leomark Studios, 105 Mins., Loews 2
The Childhood of a Leader, Protagonist
Pictures, Broadway 1
The Memory of Water, Global Screen
Gmbh, 88 Mins., AMC 1
The Violin Teacher, Films Distribution,
100 Mins., AMC 4
They Want Dick Dickster,
Deinstitutionalized, Llc, 90 Mins.,
Fairmont 1

BUSAN
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

O c to b er 1-10, 2016

AFM
AMERICAN FILM MARKET

N ovem b er 4 -1 1, 2015

BERLIN
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Feb r uar y 1 1-2 1, 2016

CANNES
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

May 1 1-2 2, 2016

Other Angle Pictures


Larry Gaye, Renegade
Male Flight Attendant

THR covers film festivals around the globe.


From previews in the print weekly issue
to festival and market dailies*, plus digital
content on THR.com and events, THR covers
the festival circuit from start to finish.

Contact: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com


EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com //

Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com


ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com // AUSTRALIA/
NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz
*Excluding Busan International Film Festival

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

16

Untitled-76 1

D6_SGA.indd 1

11/6/15 6:47 PM

11/8/15 2:27 PM

An open letter to:

eman
is
W
n
e
L
,
ra
tu
n
e
v
a
n
o
B
i
d
o
Bruce Willis, Lorenz d the makers of
an

DIE HARD

savings to reach out


y I dont really have from my
ne
mo
rew
hd
wit
I
s.
vie
mo
of independent
. I am a producer and writer
I LOVE DIE HARD.
My name is Eric D. Wilkinson
Hard. Let me say that again
Die
vie
back because I
mo
the
e
lov
I
t
tha
crazy addict, I keep coming
a
e
Lik
to you today to tell you
ls.
ue
seq
the
of
e
ry on
somewhat
uels, each one has left me
there on opening day for eve
seq
en
be
the
Ive
like
I
e.
ile
tim
wh
all
t
of
Bu
.
vie
Its my favorite mo
the one key ingredient
a teenager back in 1988
ce that first high I got as
them is that theyre missing
en
h
eri
wit
m
exp
ble
to
nt
pro
wa
the
t
ely
tha
rat
t
spe
tha
so de
s when I say
ak for a number of other fan
stances.
unsatisfied. I know that I spe
rao
man in ext rdinary circum
ry
ina
ord
vie, hes become
an
at:
gre
so
al
gin
e you get through the fifth mo
tim
which made the ori
the
by
t
Bu
.
kill
to
n
ma
o, an unstophard
uber he wasnt: John Ramb
s an easy guy to like, but a
Gr
He
ns
s,
Ha
ast
bo
told
he
iler
n
tra
ma
rd
Ha
the
e
. He
The original Die
A pain in the ass. Hes flawed
the way, John McClane becam
t.
ng
en
tm
alo
oin
ere
the
wh
in
me
fly
So
A
.
kill
us.
to
of
completely impossible
s a regular guy. Hes one
Clane precisely because he
Mc
e
lov
We
.
ne
chi
ma
ing
pable kill
to inevitably reboot the
thats okay.
gets hurt. Hes ordinary and
While I understand the desire
.
79
19
in
set
ry
sto
gin
ori
concept did work
e an
Year One that would includ
origin story? Admittedly, this
rd:
an
is
Ha
rd
Die
Ha
ing
Die
op
al
vel
gin
de
ori
re
ride, but
the
So now you
y tell an origin story when
Im willing to go along for the
wh
y
d:
wa
ne
this
cer
it
con
do
to
are
I
ve
d
ha
an
s
you
franchise, many fan
ize sport utility vehicles
to The Godfather) so if
. No car chases with supers
s, I just compared Die Hard
jets
(ye
r
II
rrie
rt
ha
Pa
of
r:
gs
the
win
dfa
Go
the
e
off
for Th
No jumping
back. No surfing on trucks.
I want the old John McClane
umstances.
Clane and brings
dinary man. Extraordinary circ
orates both a young John Mc
orp
inc
driving ON TOP of traffic. Or
t
tha
n
utio
sol
a
you
er
off
ve. Like The
henkman and I would like to
t both he and the fans deser
Sc
tha
rd
ff
ha
do
Ric
sen
er
r
rtn
pe
pa
pro
g
cin
the
du
ne
d that
Cla
My writing & pro
a jaw dropping twist at the en
basics and gives John Mc
h
to
wit
ck
s,
ba
rie

sto
lity
two
rea
ing
to
tell
ck
t
ba
the present day story
ise that will clearly
d forth from past to presen
wing you to continue a franch
Year One story cuts back an
allo
rd:
l
Ha
stil
ile
Die
r
wh
,
ou
II,
film
rt
ct
Pa
rfe
r:
pe
Godfathe
and the original,
staying true to the character
brings the series full circle,
for Die Hard: Year One:
never Die Hard.
Richard Schenkmans pitch
d
an
son
lkin
Wi
c
Eri
you
to
May I present
Why?
rted off to Federal prison.
ca
ing
be
,
on
fel
ed
ict
nv
co
at to shit, is a
signed to investigate
Clane, 60 years old and be
part of a team of cops as
is
Former hero cop John Mc
ne
Cla
Mc
hn
Jo
er
fic
Of
g police work
old New York City Patrol
tive Stan Winshaw. Stron
artec
-ye
De
24
ing
ere
om
wh
,
d-c
79
-an
19
up
to
ke
an
of
Flashback
nts before McClane can ma
rking under the direction
me
wo
r,
mo
s
lle
he
Pe
nis
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va
Eth
ly
ld
us
r-o
rio
ea
the murder of 6-y
Sutton, who myste
r solved. When
ible sex trafficker Clarence
cold and the case is neve
ss
es
po
go
t
il
ec
tra
sp
e
su
Th
to
s.
ne
ad
he
Cla
tt
leads Mc
r Winshaw bu
est division.
g McClane and his superio
nsferred to the citys bleak
tra
is
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he
w
ha
ns
Wi
t
ou
ab
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accusations
his estranged son, who is
lp
he
to
ow
McClane makes unprovable
sc
Mo
to
s
ad
nce
d he
, not only with DNA evide
takes a personal leave an
red
ve
ne
co
Cla
dis
Mc
are
hn
n
Jo
tto
e
Su
tiv
ce
tec
remains of Claren
34 years later, De
ttons killing.
is out of the country, the
ne
Cla
Mc
ile
Wh
.
urt
t ties John McClane to Su
co
tha
e
ian
nc
ide
ev
al
in a Russ
ion
dit
ad
t
en a 30 year prison
r of the Ethan Peller, bu
Clarence Sutton. He is giv
of
r
linking Sutton to the murde
rde
mu
the
for
ed
ict
minals in
nv
of the most dangerous cri
he is arrested, tried and co
me
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urn
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Upon McCla
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Saeed,
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ar Al-Maqdisi and Abdul bin
th his wife Holly. Now, wh
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the country, including Om
d
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ily
sfully reunited his fam
nce surfaces which
especially once new evide
venture, John had succes

ad
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Eric Wilkinson D6 110915.indd 1

11/3/15 1:43 PM
11/8/15 3:34 PM

PRO MOT IO N

SEE & BE SEEN


Daily, breaking news and reviews from the front lines
at all major international film festivals & markets

AFM
AMERICAN FILM MARKET

November 4-1 1, 2015

BERLIN
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Februar y 1 1-21, 2016

CANNES
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

May 1 1-2 2, 2016

TORONTO
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

September 8-18, 2016

THR covers film festivals around the globe.


From previews in the print weekly issue to festival and
market dailies*, plus digital content on THR.com and events,
THR covers the festival circuit from start to finish.

CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com


EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz
*Excluding Busan International Film Festival

thrhaff_FP_festival_overview_afm_2015.indd 1

10/20/15 12:22 PM

R E V I E WS
AFI FEST

initial danger of their sex-free


encounters shifts into more unsettling and increasingly obscure
territory that at times recalls the
dynamics of a Harold Pinter play.
After Elder is severely beaten by
fellow thugs, Armando takes him
home to care for him. But each
step toward respect and friendship
is followed by another reason for
the older man to regret his kindness, prompting Armando to harm
himself in a symbolic display of his
superior strength. Having crossed
the line, Elder finds himself shut
out and having to earn back
Armandos trust.
The infinitesimal degrees by
which Vigas reveals the shift in
Elder make this a mesmerizing
story, particularly when the youth
starts opening up while the older
man remains secretive. Without
Captions are
national medium
sentimentality or inauthentic
7/7 tracked -20
hyphens off
romantic conventions, a nuanced
portrait emerges of a kid who has
never known what it is to be cared
for; the film provides a transfixing
account of how those unfamiliar
sensations can nourish fluidity of
Alfredo Castro plays a closed-off middle-aged gay man who cruises the Caracas
affection, desire and sexuality.
streets for young rough trade in Lorenzo Vigas riveting debut BY DAVID ROONEY
Desde Alla smartly avoids explicit
psychological
analysis
of
either
of
its
principal
characters, and yet theres
B SEN T FAT H ER S CA ST A L ONG SH A DOW I N W H ICH A N
layer upon layer of complexity to them both. This is especially remarkunexpected connection deepens in Desde Alla (From Afar),
able in the case of the ghostly Armando, given the unfaltering restraint
which marks an assured first feature from Venezuelan
of Castros performance, which imbues the character with an almost
writer-director Lorenzo Vigas. Deliberately detached in its
observational style, yet as probing, subtle and affecting as any unnerving stillness. Silva, a 21-year-old making his screen debut, is
equally compelling. Elder is edgy and impulsive, revealing a well-hidden
psychological drama could wish to be, this is an elliptical film that trusts
vulnerability only gradually as he starts seeking Armandos approval.
its audience enough to peel away exposition and unnecessary dialogue,
uncovering rich layers of ambiguity. The intimate chamber piece nonethe- The way he sheds his inhibitions and relaxes into an unfamiliar sense of
security makes what follows in the films conclusion quite shattering.
less has a stinging clarity thats amplified in very fine performances from
In a small role, Jerico Montilla makes an impression as Elders mother.
Chilean veteran Alfredo Castro (No) and promising newcomer Luis Silva.
Shes sharp enough to see theres something going on when her son
Castro plays single, middle-aged Armando, whose behavior on the
brings the older man as a friend to a birthday party, but shes too much a
streets in poor neighborhoods of Caracas could less accurately be called
product of a homophobic society to be accepting. The same goes for the
cruising than watching. He trains his calm, cat-like gaze on tough young
cold-shouldering of Elder by his street friends. However, this is neither a
men, acting with decisiveness when he sees an attractive candidate,
coming-out film nor a commentary on discrimination. Rather, its a study
without even first ascertaining whether the youth might welcome his
of one relationship with its own indefinable, constantly changing rules.
advances. In the arresting opening scenes, Armando approaches a young
Vigas and cinematographer Sergio Armstrong (who shoots Pablo
guy (Geralt Jimenez) at a bus stop, making his physical presence felt as
Larrains films) capture the grit and poverty of the Caracas settings
he follows him onto the bus and then flashes a wad of cash to lure him
without overstatement, but those aspects register so strongly that a brief
home. The sex is a terse exchange with zero physical contact.
interlude by the sea brings an invigorating jolt, creating an airy space in
We learn that Armando makes dentures for a living in a small workwhich Armando and Elder can inch closer to communication. Picking
shop, and via a handful of loaded words spoken with his sister (Catherina
up every small signal of body language, Armstrong frequently shoots his
Cardozo) regarding their estranged fathers return to the area, we can
subjects from behind or in searching closeups that isolate them within
guess their damaged history.
their busy surroundings.
When Armando first approaches the surly Elder (Silva) for sex, he gets
a hostile response and an earful of anti-gay abuse. But the macho youth
AFI (New Auteurs)
eventually follows him home, only to assault and rob him. Undeterred by
Cast Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva, Jerico Montilla, Catherina Cardozo
his injuries or losses, Armando starts stalking Elder on the street, even
Director-screenwriter Lorenzo Vigas // 94 minutes.
finding out where he lives in a grungy low-income housing project. The
Silva is a young Caracas
thug who enters into an
ambiguous relationship
with an older man.

Desde Alla

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_rev1B.indd 1

19

11/8/15 2:39 PM

AFI FEST

REVIEWS

Larrains corrupt priests


are anything but holy.

The Club

Clothes do not make the monk in Pablo Larrains grippingly sinister portrait of four very bad Chilean priests

BY JORDAN MINTZER
N H IS L A ST T H R EE F I L MS, CH I L E A N

writer-director Pablo Larrain explored


the Pinochet regimes shattering effect
on his homeland in ways bizarre (Tony
Manero), bleak (Post Mortem) and hopeful
(No), yet always with a true touch of originality. Turning his sights this time on the Catholic
church, he offers up a morosely comic and
deeply sacrilegious portrait of four priests
exiled to the outskirts of their faith, where they
lead an existence thats closer to the exploits
of the Soprano family than to anything authorized by the Vatican. Its a surprising and often
thought-provoking effort from a filmmaker
who has never chosen to take the simple path,
confirming Larrain as one of the more genuine
talents working in cinema today.
Premiering in competition at the Berlin Film
Festival, The Club (El Club) definitely is not as
mainstream as No, which was nominated for a
foreign-language Oscar in 2013. But it should
find sufficient takers on the international art
house circuit, while drawing further attention to
a growing crop of Chilean auteurs that includes
Sebastian Lelio (Gloria), Sebastian Silva (Nasty
Baby) and fellow Golden Bear contender
Patricio Guzman (Nostalgia for the Light).
Set in a dreary seaside town, the story (by
Larrain, Guillermo Calderon and Daniel
Villalobos) introduces us to four middle- to
old-aged men whose main activities seem to
be sitting, eating, watching reality TV and
betting on a greyhound they train for the local
dog races. Its only after a few scenes that we
realize they are all in fact priests, though they
never pray, confess, go to church or do anything
remotely religious beyond drinking red wine.
Under the care of the tolerant Mother

Monica (Antonia Zegers), Fathers Vidal


(Alfredo Castro), Silva (Jaime Vadell), Ortega
(Alejandro Goic) and Ramirez (Alejandro
Sieveking) live together in what appears to be
one extremely chill monastery, but that changes
when a new priest, Father Lazcano (Jose Soza),
joins them, bringing some troubling baggage: a
raving drifter, Sandokan (Roberto Farias), who
accuses the Father of sexually molesting him.
No sooner does Sandokan make a spectacle
of Lazcanos exploits, shouting profanities filled
with disturbingly graphic details, then the
priest takes a gun and blows his brains out. The
incident causes the church to send in Father
Garcia (Marcel Alonso), a young do-gooder
hired to flush these men from their immoral
hiding places and close the house of worship
if you can call it that for good.
But like the fifth wheel on an already
misaligned jalopy, Garcia fails to steer his fellow
priests in the right direction, even if he coerces
them into confessing to an array of sins that
range from pedophilia to political corruption.
These men are about as holy as Linda Blair in
The Exorcist, and they couldnt care less about
God or the Pope, profiting from their priestly
status so they can engage in petty rackets.
Its a damning portrait of a religious order
that exiles its more offensive elements in order
to save face, yet does nothing for its many
victims of abuse, including the crazy but truthtalking Sandokan, who represents a sort of holy
fool. Indeed, Larrain soon reveals that only
the rape victim and Father Garcia retain any
semblance of belief, while the others have given
up the ghost long ago, lounging around their
beachfront home like Tony, Silvio, Paulie and
Christopher in front of Satriales Pork Store.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_rev2B.indd 1

Filled with snippets of pitch-black humor


early on, the narrative heads to even bleaker
places when it becomes clear that neither
Sandokan nor Garcia will give up their quests
for the truth, forcing the priests to take action.
Yet, as in his previous works, Larrain builds
to a conclusion thats far from predictable,
bringing notions of faith back into the picture
while asking us to question what being a good
Catholic really means: going to church or
helping your fellow man.
With several Larrain regulars comprising
the cast, the performances are nuanced
and constantly shifting, and we never quite
know what kind of people were dealing with.
Everyone seems to have something up his or her
sleeve, especially the dog-loving Father Vidal,
whom Castro plays as a quiet man brimming
with pride and self-loathing, delivering one of
the films more powerful lines when he calmly
calls Mother Monica a motherfer and
doesnt follow it up with a few Hail Marys.
Capturing the antics in washed-out,
backlit images that add to the hopelessness,
DP Sergio Armstrong reveals a grim world
bathed in shadow and fog something like a
Chilean version of the bitter town in Ingmar
Bergmans Winter Light, and one with a much
less breathtaking coast than the village in John
Michael McDonaghs Calvary. The soundtrack
includes haunting pieces by minimalist
composer Arvo Part perfect club music for
such unholy rituals.
AFI (World Cinema)
Cast Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farias, Antonia
Zegers, Jaime Vadell, Alejandro Goic
Director Pablo Larrain // 98 minutes

20

11/8/15 3:02 PM

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CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com


EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz

thrhaff_FP_AFM_online_FP_2015.indd 1

11/2/15 3:08 PM

AFI FEST

REVIEWS

Tarasuk is a farmer trying to make


ends meet under tough economic
and environmental circumstances.

Bob and the Trees

The realities of a hardscrabble existence make for telling drama


in Diego Ongaros feature-length debut BY JUSTIN LOWE

U R A L SU B SIST ENCE

activities and the residents who rely on them


get sympathetic treatment from
accomplished first-time feature
director Diego Ongaro in Bob
and the Trees, a verite drama that
mines a rich vein of humanism shot
through with characteristically dry

New England humor.


How young French filmmaker
Ongaro ended up in the Berkshires
of Western Massachusetts and
convinced some of the locals to
play key parts in his feature might
warrant its own film, but the
outcome appears advantageous
regardless. Perceptively scripted,

nimbly shot and efficiently


produced, Ongaros debut is
well-suited for a broad regional
audience, and with the right
handling, could break through on
the national art house circuit.
Initially the film focuses on the
complicated economics facing
many small-family farmers. Like
his peers, Bob (Bob Tarasuk),
whos in his 50s, pursues a plethora
of strategies to keep his operation
afloat with the help of his wife,
Polly (Polly MacIntyre). With 30
head of hog, a herd of sheep and
about a dozen cattle, he has a
potentially profitable investment
in livestock. Those animals arent
paying any dividends in the middle
of winter while theyre consuming
hay and feed, however, so Bob
switches his efforts to logging
the surrounding foothills of the
Berkshires. He makes an offer on a
parcel of timber owned by wealthy
neighbor Nat Leiland (Nathaniel
Gregory) and begins cutting the
acreage with his mid-20s son
Matt (Matt Gallagher), just as the
brutal polar vortex of 2014 sets in.
What Bob doesnt mention to
either Matt or Polly is that hes
drained his bank account to pay
Leiland cash for the contract
up front. With rented logging

The Memory of Water

This emotionally rich Chilean drama centers on a pair of grieving parents

BY BOYD VAN HOEIJ


H E PA R EN TS OF A R ECEN T LY

deceased 4-year-old struggle to make


sense of their lives together in The
Memory of Water (La memoria del agua), the
fifth feature from Chilean director Matias Bize
(The Life of Fish). Though abandoning his trademark stories told in real-time for a narrative
that unfolds over several months, Water is still
a reflective and a deeply affecting feature that
again benefits from Bize and co-screenwriter
Julio Rojas emotionally limpid dialogue,
brought to stirring, even heartbreaking life by
Spanish actress Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In)
and local star Benjamin Vicuna.
Its horrible but I cant look at you,
says Amanda (Anaya) to her partner, Javier
(Vicuna). She has decided she needs to leave
and tells him he should cry. A chilling
upward tilt of one of their indoor walls explains
everything: The height of a child is marked in
different colors up until the age of four, with
the camera mercilessly panning further up

D6_rev3_4B.indd 1

after that, showing just a white wall.


Bize keeps not only the fatal pool accident
that killed their 4-year-old son, Pedro,
off-screen but never shows any kind of
representation of Pedro. And because he has
no face, his absence is transformed into a kind
of spectral presence, which is clearly driving a
wedge between Amanda and Javier.
Though the film is an intimate character
drama, Bize uses interactions with a small
cast of supporting characters to explore ideas
such as the home as a place of memories or
Anaya and Vicuna share a
rare moment of happiness.

equipment and fuel to cover as


well, Bobs feeling pretty heavily
leveraged as he and Matt struggle
through knee-deep snow lugging
heavy chainsaws to try and cut
enough oak, poplar and fir to get
ahead of his substantial expenses.
In between long days of laboring
in the woods, he tends to the
farm and his favorite cow, Ginger,
who has a mysterious laceration
developing on her neck. Bobs
starting to suspect that somebody
may be trying to sabotage his
farming and logging operations,
either out of spite or motivated
by cutthroat competition, so he
takes to toting his pump-action
shotgun around the property as a
precaution.
The filmmakers adopt a
documentary-hybrid style, and
the cast offers the advantage
of freshness and spontaneity.
Ongaros perceptive take on the
struggles that rural communities
confront reveals an unsentimental
empathy too often missing from
outsider perspectives.
AFI (American Independents)
Cast Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher,
Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett
Director Diego Ongaro
92 minutes

the notion that even a parent can never know


everything about his or her child. But the focus
is squarely on Javier, an architect, and, to a
lesser extent, Amanda. Thankfully, Anaya and
Vicuna, both also credited as co-producers,
deliver emotionally potent performances that
help overcome the films few weaknesses.
Their final confrontation, in a wintry
forest, is one of the films highlights and feels
like vintage Bize: The couples minutes-long
conversation which touches on Pedros
innocence, everyones guilt and the potential
consequences of being together again
unspools in a sequence of tight shots and
reverse shots that underlines the couples
separate points of view before cutting to a
medium two-shot in which the parents face
each other, their wiry figures in black coats
almost blending into the background of leafless
trees, as if they too had become spectral
presences.
AFM (Global Screen)
Cast Elena Anaya, Benjamin Vicuna, Nestor
Cantillana, Sergio Hernandez, Silvia Marty
Director Matias Bize
86 minutes

11/8/15 4:02 PM

Van Warmerdam (right) is a


novelist with a violent past.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Chloe Zhaos intimate drama about a fatherless Native American


teenage brother and sister has a quiet, unhurried power

C
Schneider vs. Bax

Dutch director Alex van Warmerdams latest is a darkly


absurd cat-and-mouse thriller BY BOYD VAN HOEIJ

T H I RT YSOM ET H I NG CON T R ACT K I L L ER IS H IR ED TO OF F

a retirement-age writer who lives in a secluded lakeside cabin


in Schneider vs. Bax. This may sound like an easy task but since
Dutch iconoclast filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam is at the helm, its
an understatement to say things dont quite go as planned. Putting
the dead back in deadpan, van Warmerdams ninth feature is his
most Coen brothers-like film yet, a western in the Dutch wetlands
thats as unpredictable as it is darkly funny. Conspicuously lacking
any kind of moralizing, as is the directors wont, this precisely choreographed story unfolds in a beautiful but clearly indifferent world, in
which bad decisions are just as likely to wreak havoc as bad luck.
Schneider (Flemish actor Tom Dewispelaere, not hiding his
Belgian accent) is the seemingly perfect dad of a perfect family
somewhere in the suburban Netherlands. His wife (Loes Haverkort)
and two beautiful preteen daughters are excited as can be the morning the film opens, since its Dads birthday and theyre ready with
breakfast and presents. But then Schneider gets a call from work
about a job that should be done before noon. Its here that things
already take an unexpected turn, as it becomes clear from the
conversation on the phone that this beloved family man is actually a
contract killer, though his loved ones dont seem to know a point
hammered home by a running gag involving the chirpy phone calls
from his wife at increasingly inopportune moments.
Schneiders target that morning is novelist Ramon Bax (van
Warmerdam), a child murderer or so Schneider is told by his
boss, Mertens (Gene Bervoets) who lives in a cottage on the water.
Baxs family activities that morning include throwing out his much
younger lover (Eva van de Wijdeven) because his adult daughter,
Francesca (Maria Kraakman) is about to arrive for a visit.
To ensure the two men are pretty much equals, instead of hunter
and prey, another revelation is thrown into the proceedings: Bax
turns out to also be a hit man who takes orders from Mertens, and
that morning, hes to kill Schneider.
Like van Warmerdams Borgman, the film is less interested in
character psychology or backstory than in springing narrative surprises on the viewer. Theres a lot of pleasure to be had from simply
enjoying the serpentine plotting, absurdist humor and stunningly
cinematic imagery. Indeed, the filmmakers regular cinematographer, Tom Erisman, makes the most out of every shot. Meanwhile,
the ending is both perplexing and entirely fitting.
AFM (Fortissimo Films)
Cast Tom Dewispelaere, Alex van Warmerdam, Maria Kraakman
Director Alex van Warmerdam
107 minutes

BY DAVID ROONEY
H L OE ZH AOS PL A I N-

tive first feature, Songs My


Brothers Taught Me, is a
heartfelt contemplation of life on
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota, experienced
partly through the eyes of a
13-year-old girl steeling herself for
the planned departure of her older
sibling. The project clearly was
made with profound respect for
its subjects, from families ravaged
by alcoholism to daredevil young
bull-riders to those who cling even
through tough times to their belief
in community.
The film begins with wiry
Lakota high school senior Johnny
(John Reddy) on horseback.
Writer-director Zhaos approach
is restrained and observational,
particularly in her delicate depiction of the bond between Johnny
and his younger sister Jashaun
(Jashuan St. John). The soulful
naturalness of these two young
screen-acting novices is what fuels
the movie, even through long,
ambling stretches.
The other major character is
the stark landscape, shot with an
evocative sense of desolate beauty
and solitude by Joshua James
Richards, and complemented by
Peter Golubs melancholy score.
The frequent intrusion of sirens
wailing as police cars speed across
the plains points to the rate of
domestic disturbances and other
crime on the reservation, where
the purchase and consumption of
alcohol is banned. Johnnys older
brother is in prison, along with
many other brothers, fathers and
uncles in a community where fractured family life is the norm.
Johnny earns cash by buying
booze from Whiteclay across the
Nebraska border to sell on the
local market. A cloud hangs over
these transactions, at one point
showing kids running around a
shabby living room while their
mother lies in a stupor on the
couch. Johnnys sideline also puts
him on the radar of another blackmarket distribution crew, who warn
him to stay off their turf.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_rev3_4B.indd 2

AFI FEST

St. John plays a


Native American
teenager facing
family changes.

Zhao balances the somber realities of her portrait with signs of


spiritual resilience and minor-key
humor, such as a scene at school
with a down-to-earth counselor
encouraging the students to consider all their options while they
casually handle a variety of live
critters, from snakes to spiders.
News reaches Johnny and
Jashaun of the death of their
estranged dad, a rodeo cowboy who
fathered 25 kids with nine different so-called wives. Their mother
(Irene Bedard) remains a taciturn
figure on the sidelines, mindful of
her own past parenting mistakes.
Theres an interesting subplot
built around Travis (Travis Lone
Hill), a tattoo-covered ex-con
who hawks his handmade Rez
Life 7 clothing and artwork off
the front of his car. An unlikely
friendship springs up between
him and Jashaun, whose skill with
math means she can keep track of
purchases and inventory. The other
significant plot thread involves
Johnnys romance with Aurelia
(Taysha Fuller), a beautiful high
school classmate scheduled to
attend college in Los Angeles.
It would be dishonest not to
admit that the movie has its dull
patches of monotonousness. But
the balance of humanistic and
ethnographic filmmaking with poignant, often seemingly unscripted
drama has many rewards.
AFI (American Independents)
Cast John Reddy, Jashaun St. John,
Taysha Fuller, Eleonore Hendricks
Director Chloe Zhao
101 minutes

23

11/8/15 3:58 PM

8 Decades of The Hollywood Reporter


The most glamorous and memorable moments from a storied history

From left: Bob


Weinstein, Tarantino,
Robert Rodriguez and
Harvey Weinstein
attend The Weinstein
Co.s AFM party on
Nov. 4, 2005.

U EN T I N TA R A N T I NO

is no stranger to the hot


seat. Nearly a decade
before the controversial
director would draw the ire of cop
unions nationwide for publicly
protesting police brutality (I
have to call a murder a murder
and I have to call the murderers
the murderers, he told the crowd
at an Oct. 24 rally in New York
City), Tarantino faced a cultural
backlash for the extreme violence
depicted in his Kill Bill films.
When Kill Bill Vol. 1 was released
in 2003 (its sequel opened one year
later), the film earned $181 million
worldwide for distributor Miramax
Films and fared especially well
among younger moviegoers. THR
described it as ultraviolent yet

ultrahip in its review, but many


critics questioned whether the popular film was really in societys best
interest. Tarantino insisted that it
was appropriate viewing for both
adults and children, and maintained that the violence depicted
in his films could never be linked
to real-world violence. Kids go
to the movie theater and they can
tell the difference, he told a radio
interviewer at the time, leading to a
heated argument about the movies
violent and vicious agenda.
Innocent people die along the way
because, unfortunately, thats the
story of revenge. Revenge is messy.
It never works out the way you
want it to, was his response.
Tarantino has not shied away
from violence in subsequent

projects, including 2009s


Inglourious Basterds and 2012s
Django Unchained (both financed
with the support of The Weinstein
Co.s Harvey and Bob Weinstein,
Tarantinos longtime business partners). His next project, following a
three-year hiatus, promises to be
similarly brutal. The Hateful Eight
is a Western set in post-Civil War
Wyoming, with much of the action
taking place in a single location
a restaurant, bar and trading post
called Minnies Haberdashery

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D6_Endpage_weinsteinA.indd 1

24

during a blizzard. Despite multiple police-union boycotts of the


director, the TWC-produced project, which was the most coveted
title at last years American Film
Market, is scheduled to hit theaters
Christmas Day and remains an
awards contender. The Weinstein
Co. has a longstanding relationship
and friendship with Quentin, a
rep for the company tells THR.
We dont speak for Quentin. He
can and should be allowed to speak
for himself. MEENA JANG

MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES

In 2005, Quentin Tarantino


Supported Pretend Violence

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