Aissa Maiga, Isabelle Simeoni Discuss Docu Regard Noir About Discrimination in French, Brazilian Film & TV Industry
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Popular actor-turned-filmmaker Aissa Maiga and co-director Isabelle Simeoni discussed with
Variety about their searing documentary feature examining the lack of representation of Black actors in films and series across France, Brazil and the U.S.
The documentary follows Maiga on a road-movie from Paris to Los Angeles and San Paolo to explore the historical roots of systemic racism and the impact of discrimination and stereotypes in films and series on societies and their respective popular culture. Through this journey, Maiga interviewed a wide range of inspiring figures, including Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”), Ava DuVernay (“Selma”), Brazilian actor Tais Araujo and French actors Sonia Rolland, Firmine Richard, Nadège Beausson Diagne, as well as journalists and activists such as Rokhaya Diallo and Alexa
Little Girl Review: A Trans Girl Grows Into Herself in a Lovely, Light-Filled Documentary Little Girl Review: A Trans Girl Grows Into Herself in a Lovely, Light-Filled Documentary
Veteran French docmaker Sébastien Lifshitz is in top form in a transgender character study that pitches familial strength against community resistance.
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MK2 Films
Near the beginning of “Little Girl,” the camera sits quietly in on a ballet class for second-grade girls. Among them is seven-year-old Sasha Kovac, in a dark T-shirt and tights that contrast starkly with the other girls’ papery white dresses. She moves gracefully but warily, her eyes more on her fellow dancers’ movements than her own, her arms threatening to break expressively free but not quite achieving liftoff. An instructor brusquely tells Sasha to stop watching the others, but it’s easy to see why she can’t: She seems to be palpably outside this class, looking for a way in.
Annemarie Jacir s Gaza Drama Wins Top Berlinale Co-Production Market Award
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Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s Gaza-set drama “The Oblivion Theory” has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Presented by Paris-based Incognito Films and Berlin’s One Two Films, the film is based on José Eduardo Agualusa’s novel “A General Theory of Oblivion,” although the book’s story has been moved from Angola to Palestine during the First Intifada, the sustained protests by Palestinians against Israel occupation that lasted from 1987 to 1993.
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The film centers on an American woman who accidentally gets stuck in an apartment in Gaza at the outbreak of the protests, becoming an unlikely witness and survivor in a country in the midst of massive upheaval.
Rise Pictures, Simonsays Team Up on Dark Supernatural Comedy Grim Inc. (EXCLUSIVE)
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Berlin-based Rise Pictures and Simonsays Pictures in Stuttgart are partnering on a new dark supernatural comedy series about a secretive, multinational corporation established by the Grim Reaper in an effort to more efficiently collect the souls of the dearly departed.
“Grim Inc.” revolves around the mysterious enterprise founded by Death some 70 years ago. At his limits following two world wars and facing the exponential population growth that reached unimaginable proportions in the 1950s, the industrious Grim Reaper decides to start the company and outsource his work.
Emily Atef Readies Shoot of More Than Ever With Vicky Krieps, Gaspard Ulliel (EXCLUSIVE)
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Emily Atef, whose latest film “3 Days in Quiberon” competed at the Berlinale in 2018, is getting ready to shoot “More Than Ever,” a melodrama headlined by Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) and Gaspard Ulliel (“It’s Only the End of the World”). Jesper Christensen (“Before the Frost”) and Liv Ullmann will also star.
The Match Factory is representing the project in international markets.
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“More Than Ever” (formerly known as “Mister”) was penned by Atef and German scribe Lars Hubrich, whose screenwriting credits include Fatih Akin’s 2016 film “Goodbye Berlin.” The movie is produced by Xénia Maingot at Eaux Vives Productions, and co-produced by Nicole Gerhards at Niko Film, Jani Thiltges at Samsa Film and Maria Ekerhovd at Mer Film.