News

Kill your darlings” is a phrase attributed to William Faulkner, advising writers to resist overuse of their favorite expressions, tropes, characters, etc. This is true for any writing, wherein emotional proximity to the work might manifest into myopic creations in the grander scheme of things. However canonized this belief is, the hypothesis falls apart for Nicolas Winding Refn.

Armed with a style that has only grown more distinctive with every new film, Refn explores fundamental themes and deploys the camera to shift between fluidity and limbo. With sensibilities similar to a master architect, Refn uses frames to create moments that let the viewer internalize, and experience on a physio-psychological level, a creation that does not confine itself to a two-dimensional rectangle, but reminds you of what was felt while watching it. This is the moment the Nicolas Winding Refn effect kicks in, and this is when cinema affects one on a deeply personal level.

Unspooling in Cadiz over Oct. 25-31, the South International Series Festival is a bellwether on trends and highlights for the current season. What could be some of its star performers? Following, 10 titles to track, which also often say something about the way the market is going.

“The Big Jump” (Atresmedia International Sales)

One of Atresmedia’s biggest bets at Mipcom, a biopic series about the rise to Olympic Gold Medals at Sydney and Athens of Spanish gymnast Gervasio Deferr and, in a second timeline, his descent into drugs and alcohol, incapable of accepting failure in competition and lost when retired. Oscar Casas plays Deferr, with “Gangs of Galicia” helmer Roger Gual directs. An Atresplayer Original Series, bowing on Nov. 17.

“La Favorita 1922” (Mediterraneo)

From “Grand Hotel” through “Velvet” and “Cable Girls,” Ramon Campos’ Studiocanal j.v. Bambu Producciones has carved out its international reputation, creating modern gender-agenda melodramas that make...

Toledo, Spain — Less than a decade ago, the number of international premium series, beyond its telenovelas, coming out of Portugal each year could be counted on one hand. Following, 20 titles from Portugal being moved at this week’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment where Portugal is one of its Focus Countries. Wide raging and ambitious, the titles confirm Portugal’s TV revolution.

“Aquarium,” (West Coast, Portugal)

From the Azores-based doc producer West Coast, driving into fiction from 2023, a social dramedy inspired by the 2003 best-seller “Tomorrow at the Same Time, Diary of a Portuguese Stripper).” Leila, 30, abandons days as a marine biologist for nights as the first Portuguese stripper at the prestigious Medusa Club. Written by Brazil’s Marina Schneider, “‘Aquarium’ questions what it is to be a woman today, through the critical and oneiric eyes of two young Brazilian authors,” say directors Stella Carneiro, writer of comedy “Golden Shower,” and Portugal’s Saul Neves and Virgílio Ferreira.

There is no place better for a horror fan than the ever-growing film library of Shudder. It was already one of the most niche streaming services in the market, it is also perfect for giving the fans what they want by giving them new and exciting horror films every month. So, if you love Shudder and are wondering what are best movies coming to the Scream Queen of streaming services in June 2024, here are our best picks for you.

A Lonely Place to Die (June 3)

A Lonely Place to Die is a British action thriller film directed by Julian Gilbey from a screenplay co-written by Julian and Will Gilbey. The 2011 film follows the story of five hikers as they hear cries of pain in the wilderness and to their horror it’s a little girl buried in the ground. When they decide to get her to safety they are chased by the kidnappers.

Traditionally, movie theater walkouts are usually associated with the horror genre, with infamous cases ranging from 1973’s The Exorcist (particularly during the crucifix masturbation scene) and even Lars Von Trier’s controversial serial killer memoir, The House That Jack Built.

That being said, there are exceptions to this rule, as some movies manage to terrorize audiences into leaving the theater regardless of genre. One memorable example of this is Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2013 revenge thriller Only God Forgives, a film so brutal and inaccessible that quite a few critics ended up treating it like a snuff film from hell back when it was first released. However, I’ve come to learn that horror fans have a knack for seeing beyond the blood and guts when judging the value of a story, and that’s why I’d like to make a case for Winding’s near-impenetrable experiment as an excellent horror-adjacent experience.

As a recent new grandfather, Mads Mikkelsen couldn’t be happier, but he doesn’t smile much in his new movie. An earthy 18th-century period piece, The Promised Land sees the Dane play a hard-up veteran, Ludvig Kahlen, who is determined to turn the blasted heaths of Jutland into a thriving farmland. It’s a Western of sorts, which becomes noticeably clearer when Kahlen starts to cross swords with a competing local landowner, but, for Mikkelsen, it’s a subversive alpha male story of the kind he does so well, from the brutal Viking fantasy Valhalla Rising to the white-cold survival drama Arctic.

In his homeland, the film has a much more blunt title, Bastarden, which drills much further down into the essence of the character. “The literal meaning in English is being the illegitimate son of someone,” the actor explains, “but it also means, obviously, to be an asshole.

There’s Violent Mads.. And Quiet Mads..

And now there’s Very Quiet Mads.

In his fifth Danish Oscar entry, “The Promised Land,” a Nordic pioneer Western from Nicolaj Arcel (Mikkelsen’s director from a decade ago on the nominated “A Royal Affair”), Mikkelsen delivers an almost silent, stoic, physical performance as captain-turned-potato-farmer Ludvig von Kahlen as he tries to tame the 18th-century Danish heath.

As the bastard son of a nobleman and his maid, making something of a piece of turf is the only way for the veteran to move up into the upper class. “He so desperately wants to become part of something that he hates, nobility,” Mikkelsen told IndieWire during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “They don’t deserve it. They haven’t worked for anything. He decides that he wants to be part of it.”

Back then people didn’t talk about their feelings. “His range of emotions is limited,...

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 10 cinema figures who will participate in its In Conversation With program at its 20th edition running from November 24 to December 2.

They comprise Australian actor Simon Baker, French director Bertrand Bonello, U.S. actor Willem Dafoe, Indian filmmaker and producer Anurag Kashyap; Japanese director Naomi Kawase; Danish-u.S. actor and director Viggo Mortensen; U.K. actor Tilda Swinton; and Russian director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev.

Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, who will receive the festival’s honorary Étoile d’or prize this year, will also participate in the program.

Baker’s was seen most recently in Toronto title Limbo and Tribeca 2022 selection Blaze, with early features including L.A. Confidential (1997), David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call (2011), followed by hit series The Mentalist (2008–2015).

Bensaïdi’s first feature A Thousand Months world premiered...

Exclusive: There is a little-discussed Hollywood rumor, explains Nicolas Winding Refn and his long-time collaborator Matthew Read, that Scooby Doo only came to be because Warners failed to land the rights to adapt The Famous Five.

And when you look at the two properties and their uncanny similarities, this argument does begin to hold some weight. Both have daring female characters from a bygone era, ridiculous story-of-the-week capers that always end neatly, and, of course, those lovable pooches — in the former case Scooby and in the latter, Timmy.

If the rumor is true, Winding Refn is thankful for how things played out, as he credits both generation-traversing works with influencing his career and driving his love for the screen. Now, more than 50 years on from when Warner Bros. allegedly failed to land the rights, the Denmark-born director has become the latest to take on best-selling English children’s writer Enid Blyton’s iconic novel series,...

Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn is infamous for being one of the most provocative filmmakers working today, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that several of his favorite films are some of the most disturbing movies ever made. Over the years, Refn has given wide-ranging interviews that don’t hide the influences that have driven his feature films, from “Pusher” to “Bronson,” “Drive” to “Only God Forgives,” “The Neon Demon” and more.

Born in 1970, Refn made his directorial debut at 26 years old with “Pusher,” a violent crime thriller that introduced the cinematic world to the talents of Mads Mikkelsen. Two sequels followed in 2004 and 2005, and 1999’s “Bleeder” was another Copenhagen-set crime drama starring Mikkelsen. His initial excursions into English-language filmmaking, including the John Turturro-led “Fear X,” the Tom Hardy vehicle “Bronson,” and another Mikkelsen film “Valhalla Rising,” were all moderately well received, although most failed to entirely take...

Are you ready for a taste of ... Netflix Winding Refn?

Yes, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn has returned to his native Denmark for his newest project, "Copenhagen Cowboy." His second venture into the world of streaming after the 2019 crime drama "Too Old to Die Young" but his first with Netflix, "Copenhagen Cowboy" is a six-part tale centered on a mostly-silent, enigmatic lead prone to shocking outbursts of violence as they undertake a dangerous odyssey across a neon-soaked criminal underworld. It is, in other words, a Nicolas Winding Refn creation through and through.

In this case, however, "Copenhagen Cowboy" was actually cooked up during the pandemic lockdowns by Refn, his wife Liv Corfixen (who's also a producer on the series), and their daughter Lola Corfixen, the latter of whom co-stars as the character Rakel. Speaking at a press conference at the 2022 Venice Film Festival (via Deadline), where the show made its debut,...

Netflix has announced that Copenhagen Cowboy, a new series from creator / director Nicolas Winding Refn, will be available to watch through the streaming service as of January 5th, 2023 – and along with that announcement comes the unveiling of a new trailer for the show! You can check it out in the embed above.

Described as a “neon-drenched noir series”, Copenhagen Cowboy follows enigmatic young heroine, Miu. After a lifetime of servitude and on the verge of a new beginning, she traverses the ominous landscape of Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld. Searching for justice and enacting vengeance, she encounters her nemesis, Rakel, as they embark on an odyssey through the natural and the supernatural. The past ultimately transforms and defines their future, as the two women discover they are not alone, they are many.

The series stars Angela Bundalovic, Lola Corfixen, Zlatko Buric, Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Jason Hendil-Forssell, LiIi Zhang, and Dragana Milutinovic.

Nicolas Winding Refn is bringing his signature stylized violence to Netflix. The “Drive” director’s upcoming miniseries “Copenhagen Cowboy” is set to release January 5. In addition, a trailer for the series dropped on Wednesday, and you can watch it below.

The six-episode series stars Angela Bundalovic as Miu, an enigmatic young woman who has devoted her life to serving a shadowy criminal organization. Returning to her hometown of Copenhagen, Miu goes on a surreal, supernatural odyssey through the seedy underbelly of the city, in an attempt to track down and defeat her archenemy Rakel (Lola Corfixen). Based on the trailer, Miu’s journey carries all the hallmarks of Winding Refn’s filmmaking, with neon lighting, a synthwave soundtrack, and tons of bloodshed.

“I don’t know who you are, or know what you’re capable of, but people around you die,” a character narrates about Miu in the trailer. “Either that,...

Nicolas Winding Refn is winding down on the debate over Marvel shows and indie streaming series, and instead showing just how intertwined they both are.

The “Copenhagen Cowboy” creator and director revealed that the upcoming six-episode Netflix series is his own take on a “superhero show,” building out the cinematic universe created by previous films “Only God Forgives,” “Drive,” and “Valhalla Rising.”

“I’ve done films in the past with a certain type of character that was first played by Mads Mikkelsen in ‘Valhalla Rising’ on one hand and then Ryan Gosling played him as a driver in ‘Drive’ and then Vithaya [Pansringarm] played him as a lieutenant in ‘Only God Forgives,'” Refn explained during the Venice Film Festival premiere of the series, via Deadline.

He continued, “So, I was working with Robert Wade and Neal Purvis, or Purvis and Wade as they are called, on a larger female evolution...

Nicolas Winding Refn says that the characters in his upcoming Netflix series Copenhagen Cowboy, are a “female evolution” of characters from previous projects such as Valhalla Rising, Drive and Only God Forgives.

Speaking at a press conference at the Venice Film Festival today, the Danish helmer said, “I’ve done films in the past with a certain type of character that was first played by Mads Mikkelsen in Valhalla Rising on one hand and then Ryan Gosling played him as a driver in Drive and then Vithaya [Pansringarm] played him as a lieutenant in Only God Forgives.

“So, I was working with Robert Wade and Neal Purvis, or Purvis and Wade as they are called, on a larger female evolution of that character and then suddenly one night, I was like, ‘maybe I should try to do a version of it as female and not just one but many.’ So, I said,...

Nicolas Winding Refn has brought his neon-soaked, egotistical self back to his native Denmark for the first time in over a decade. The man behind "Drive" has not directed a project there since 2009's "Valhalla Rising," and it has been even longer since he made something in Danish. Now, we have "Copenhagen Cowboy," his latest venture into the world of episodic television after his Miles Teller starring Prime Video miniseries "Too Old to Die Young."

Refn cooked up "Copenhagen Cowboy" with his wife Liv Corfixen while his family were trapped at home during lockdown. This is a family affair, also starring their daughters Lola and Lizzielou Corfixen, and Refn could not be more pleased about that, telling Variety:

"It became a wonderful creative process where I was no longer living in two separate worlds as a creator by day and a family man by night. It's a new chapter in...

Click here to read the full article.

For all the will-they-won’t-they over Netflix’s tumultuous relationship with Cannes, when it comes to Venice things seems much more straightforward.

After bowing three films on the Lido in 2021 with The Power of the Dog, The Hand of God and The Lost Daughter, the streamer has now reaffirmed its commitment to the festival as a major launchpad for its awards-targeted prestige releases.

For the 2022 edition, Netflix lands in Venice with four high-profile titles, and this year has also won itself the opening-night slot for the very first time with Noah Baumbach’s White Noise. Based on Don DeLillo’s breakout novel, the film packs an impressive red carpet ensemble likely to keep the paparazzi happy, including Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Andre Benjamin, Raffey Cassidy, Alessandro Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith and Don Cheadle.

White Noise was unveiled as the curtain raiser on Monday, a...

Thriller marks director’s first project in native Denmark in 15 years.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn has wrapped filming on a six-part noir series Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix.

Angela Bundalovic stars as a young woman who travels through Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld.

Copenhagen Cowboy marks Winding Refn’s first production in his native Denmark in 15 years. He is best known for the Pusher trilogy (1996–2005), Bronson (2008), Valhalla Rising (2009), Drive (2011), Only God Forgives (2013), The Neon Demon (2016), and the series Too Old to Die Young (2019).

“With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an...

Thriller marks director’s first project in native Denmark in 15 years.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn has wrapped filming on a six-part noir series Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix.

Angela Bundalovic stars as a young woman who travels through Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld.

Copenhagen Cowboy marks Winding Refn’s first production in his native Denmark in 15 years. He is best known for the Pusher trilogy (1996–2005), Bronson (2008), Valhalla Rising (2009), Drive (2011), Only God Forgives (2013), The Neon Demon (2016), and the series Too Old to Die Young (2019).

“With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an...

Vikings don’t lack for precedent in the movies, yet the Old Norse boatmen have never quite taken hold in the collective filmgoer unconscious the same way as cowboys, pirates or mafiosi. The explanation may well be their inherent associations with paganism, cannibalism, rape and pillaging, traits understandably sanitized (if acknowledged at all) in late studio-era Viking narratives like Richard Fleischer’s The Vikings or Jack Cardiff’s The Long Ships. In 1984, Hrafn Gunnlaugsson—the supposed “bad boy” of Icelandic cinema—brought a pop-traditionalist sensibility to When The Raven Flies, which revisits Nordic mythology under the influence of spaghetti westerns, Kurosawa films and Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest. Gunnlaugsson’s stated aim was to make “the ultimate Viking movie”, and his trilogy deserves to be far better known; they are miniature epics, and the few outside of Scandinavia who know them probably have also heard them termed as “cod westerns.

The trailer for Robert Eggers' The Northman is out and the historical revenge drama looks pretty amazing.

In the film, Alexander Skarsgard is "The Northman" and the film is an epic revenge thriller that explores how far a Viking prince will go to seek justice for his murdered father.

The movie sees release April 22, 2022, and here are five films you can watch in the meantime to get amped for the primeval, primordial and primitive storytelling to come.

1. Valhalla Rising

Acclaimed Danish director Nichol...

"Your strength breaks men's bones." Yes! Unleash the Vikings! Focus Features has revealed the first official trailer for The Northman, the latest epic thriller from filmmaker Robert Eggers - of The Witch and The Lighthouse previously. For this one, they built a gigantic, authentic Viking town up in Northern Ireland to film the feature. The Northman is an epic historical thriller, co-written by Eggers with Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón. Set at the turn of the 10th century in Iceland, it stars Alexander Skarsgård as Viking prince Amleth, who sets out on a mission of revenge after his father is murdered. Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Björk, Ralph Ineson, Ethan Hawke, & Willem Dafoe also star. We've been waiting to see footage from this! An epic cast for an epic story. This looks super gnarly, holy shit! Even more intense than I was expecting. Eggers always rocks! Looks like Vikings we haven't...

AMC Networks genre streamer Shudder has dropped a first trailer for U.K.’s writer-director Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane.” A tragic ghost story, the feature world premieres today at Canada’s Fantasia Festival before being released on Shudder on Sept. 9.

One day after its Fantasia bow, “Martyrs Lane” receives its U.K. premiere on Aug. 20 at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

A ghost story, yes – but one built on the pain of a child whose bedrock parental relation fails her – “Martyrs Lane” turns on Leah, 10, left to her own devices in a rambling vicarage.

Her mother’s too busy by day and distraught at night to attend much to her. Something is clearly wrong. Investigating why her mother sleeps clasping a golden locket, Leah begins to be visited by a cherubic-looking little girl wearing tawdry angel’s wings.

Drawing deep on a humanistic tradition of family relationship-driven films led by...

“Martyrs Lane,” the third feature from Ruth Platt (“The Lesson”), hits Fantasia with a double momentum: Bullish word of mouth, and a recent sale to AMC Networks genre streamer Shudder for North America, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Produced by London’s Ipso Facto Productions, whose credits take in “Irina Palm” and Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Valhalla Rising,” the LevelK sales title is a ghost story but, like the best of that kind, much more.

Leah, 10, lives in a rambling vicarage with her parents and haughty older sister. But something’s very wrong. Her mother, who sleeps clasping a golden locket, hardly has any time for her. One morning, Leah spots the locket left on the bathroom shelf. She opens it, and steals what she finds inside, sparking the nightly visits of a cherubic looking little girl, sporting shabby angel wings.

“Martyr’s Lane” is described as an...

Fantasy saga shooting in UK.

Warner Bros on Wednesday (November 25) confirmed that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen has been cast as Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, replacing Johnny Depp in the third Fantastic Beasts film.

The latest instalment in the Harry Potter spin-off is currently in production at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden outside London. It is scheduled to open on July 15, 2022.

Mikkelsen currently stars in Danish Oscar contender Another Round, and his credits include Casino Royale, Hannibal, The Hunt, and Valhalla Rising.

The cast includes Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Callum Turner, William Nadylam, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Jessica Williams,...

Fantasy saga shooting in UK.

Warner Bros on Wednesday (November 25) confirmed that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen has been cast as Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, replacing Johnny Depp in the third Fantastic Beasts film.

The latest instalment in the Harry Potter spin-off is currently in production at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden outside London. It is scheduled to open on July 15, 2022.

Mikkelsen currently stars in Danish Oscar contender Another Round, and his credits include Casino Royale, Hannibal, The Hunt, and Valhalla Rising.

The cast includes Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Callum Turner, William Nadylam, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Jessica Williams,...

The competition line-ups of the 26th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival have also been revealed. The Sarajevo Film Festival, taking place online this year from 14 to 21 August, has announced that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen will be awarded the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo. The star of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher, Pusher 2 and Valhalla Rising, Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt and Another Round, Susanne Bier's After the Wedding, Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair, the James Bond title Casino Royale which restarted the franchise in 2006, plus an assortment of Hollywood movies such as Clash of the Titans, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Arctic, as well as the NBC show Hannibal, will hold a masterclass for Sarajevo's online audience. The Danish star joins Michel Franco (whose works will also play in the festival’s “Tribute to” programme) as a recipient of Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, as previously announced (read.

A good amount of us Screen Anarchists are Nicolas Winding Refn fans. If you were reading this site a decade ago, you saw an insane amount of news and festival reviews for Valhalla Rising, including Todd's brilliant, original review here. (Todd also interviewed Refn about the film back in 2009 here.) A recap: Mads Mikkelsen plays mute Viking "One Eye," a moniker given to him by the child who follows him around because everyone else is dead. Why is everyone else dead? One Eye has dispatched them to Valhalla (or otherwise), of course! Stabbing, beheading, disembowling --- you name it, One Eye kills pretty effectively. That's...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“Mad Men” Seasons 1-7 (no longer available on June 9)

Why Should I Watch? At this point, there are fewer reasons not to watch AMC’s landmark drama than to give in to one of the greatest television series ever made. Hailed in its era with a boatload of Emmys and hearty praise from critics, “Mad Men” earned a resurgence of late as stay-at-home orders invited re-watches and, of course, thinkpieces on its sustained timeliness. The truth is there’s always a reason to write about “Mad Men” and never a bad time to watch it, again or for the first time, which brings us to our next point…

Bonus Reason: “Mad Men” is leaving Netflix on June 9. Yes, the reports are true, and no, Lionsgate has yet to announce a new streaming home for its coveted 92 hours of content. But fear not: “Mad Men,” in both its stark reality outlined...

When totally preventable tragedy strikes anywhere in the world, it’s the fashion among Americans to respond with a three-word bromide: “Thoughts and prayers.” Notre Dame’s burning? Thoughts and prayers. Tsunami causing a nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan? Thoughts and prayers. Active shooter slaughtering children at school? Thoughts and prayers. Wildfires raging across California? Thoughts and prayers. Highly transmissible virus ravaging the economy, incurring a death toll of 100,000 Americans and rising, and straining the medical system like belt buckles after Thanksgiving dinner?

Continue reading ‘Valhalla Rising’: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Oft-Forgotten Gem Scoffs At Your “Thoughts & Prayers” at The Playlist.

In an aim to help now-shuttered independent theaters, IFC Films will allow cinemas to screen 200 of its library titles for free once they open back up. The distributor hopes that favorites like “Frances Ha,” “Y Tu Mamá También,” and even “The Human Centipede” will help drive audiences back to theaters in the coming months, a time when fewer and fewer new releases are being scheduled.

The Indie Theater Revival Project‘s offerings will be available to theaters beginning May 29, with traditional rental fees for library titles waived for theaters in the first 30 days that they’re open, starting from whatever date they reopen their doors. That means more money in the pockets in the form of ticket sales for local theater owners who have been faced with a near-zero revenue stream after closing their doors last month.

More from IndieWireHow France Is Supporting Its Film Industry During a Global CrisisWhy...

Curated retrospectives include Cannes winners, genre, family documentaries.

IFC Films has launched The Indie Theater Revival Project and curated 20 retrospective programmes for Us theatres when they emerge from lockdown, offering library titles for free during the first month they open.

The selections comprise approximately 200 films spanning IFC Films’ 20-year history – the company celebrates its anniversary this year – and IFC Films said on Tuesday (21) it will make them available to cinemas starting on May 29.

Theatres will be able to book any number of the retrospective programmes, in part or in total, any time through the first month after they reopen. No...

Curated retrospectives to be made available for participating theatres.

IFC Films announced on Tuesday (21) The Indie Theater Revival Project and has curated 20 retrospective programmes for Us theatres to screen when they reopen in the weeks and months ahead.

The selections comprise approximately 200 films spanning IFC Films’ 20-year history – the company celebrates its anniversary this year – and will make them available to cinemas starting on May 29.

Theatres will be able to book any number of the retrospective programmes, in part or in total, any time through the first month after they reopen. No film rental will be due for any of...

In an effort to help independently-owned movie theaters recover from the coronavirus pandemic, IFC Films announced on Tuesday that it will offer over 200 of its films to those theaters without any rental fees. This will help give those theaters some classic films to screen when they reopen while they wait for new films to be released.

“Independent theaters across the country have been essential partners for us at IFC Films, and we would not be where we are today without their support,” the distributor announced in a statement. “We wanted to take the first step and let theaters know that we are committed to helping them reopen their doors by providing a selection of films to program while the new release landscape gets back to normal.”

Dubbed “The Indie Revival Project,” the program will offer selections from IFC’s catalog in various curated packs, including a “Yes We Cannes!” program...

IFC Films is offering embattled indie theaters hundreds of films from its library to screen when they re-open from their mass Covid-19 related shutdown.

The movies, which include such IFC classics as “Y Tu Mama Tambien” and “Boyhood,” will be made available to cinemas without any rental fees. The retrospective program boasts roughly 200 films. Theaters will not be charged any film rental.

“We are honoring the partnership we’ve had with theaters over the last 20 years and we’re sending them a message of solidarity and gratefulness,” said Lisa Schwartz, co-president of IFC Films. “They’ve been with us since beginning and when they come back, we want to be there with them.”

The indie studio is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary and had been putting together programming to honor the occasion. After coronavirus closed most theaters in March, IFC began to rethink its plans.

“This was a positive way...

Kød & Blod

Denmark’s Jeannette Nordahl makes her debut with crime thriller Kød & Blod (Wildland), headlined by esteemed actress Sidse Babett Knudsen. She’s joined by Elliott Crosset Hove (Best Actor from Locarno 2017 for Winter Brothers) and Carla Philip Roder. Nordahl’s debut (which sort of looks like an Animal Kingdom-esque package) is produced by Eva Jakobsen (Thelma; Valhalla Rising), Mikkel Jersin (Thelma; The Untamed) and Katrin Pors (Thelma; Godless; Birds of Passage; The Untamed). The project is lensed by David Gallego (Embrace of the Serpent; Birds of Passage).…...

Joseph Baxter Oct 11, 2019

Classic campy horror film franchise Maniac Cop is getting a remake series at HBO with Nicolas Winding Refn in the driver’s seat.

Maniac Cop, the 1988-1993 slasher film franchise, has been eyed for a remake treatment of some kind for several years, with its last attempt, a feature film, having come to a screeching halt a few years back. However, like the films' homicidal zombified flatfoot himself, the remake endeavor has been reanimated, this time in the form of a television project at HBO!

In a fascinating resurrection and repurposing of the formerly-mooted remake film project, Nicolas Winding Refn will head a Maniac Cop remake event television series for HBO, reports Variety. Refn steps in a showrunner, and will also direct the entirety of the series alongside John Hyams, essentially reviving the would-be lineup for the 2016 remake movie attempt. Refn brings a CV of sullen thrillers...

Nicolas Winding Refn is set to take on a series adaptation of the cult film franchise “Maniac Cop,” Variety has learned.

The series will be the first production of Refn’s byNWR Originals, a part of his cultural site byNWR.com, and is created in partnership with HBO and Canal Plus. HBO will air the series in North America while Canal Plus will carry it in France.

Refn will serve as showrunner and will direct the entire series with John Hyams.

Set in Los Angeles, “Maniac Cop” is said to be told through a kaleidoscope of characters, from cop to common criminal. A killer in uniform has uncaged mayhem upon the streets. Paranoia leads to social disorder as a city wrestles with the mystery of the exterminator in blue. Is he mere mortal, or a supernatural force?

“I’ve always been a devoted admirer of John Hyams,” said Refn. “We...

The Niff Extended programme of the Swiss festival is attracting high-level international guests.

Nifff Extended, the section of Swiss festival Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff) probing the future of cinema, launches today with a wide-ranging programme exploring how games, transmedia and VFX are helping to change storytelling in feature filmmaking.

The programme is becoming the main industry focus of the festival, attracting high-level guests and featuring premieres and cutting- edge debates.

“The Neuchâtel festival has the name ‘film festival’ because it is a historical brand but we really have broadened our vision of what we show and what we discuss,...

The Niff Extended programme of the Swiss festival is attracting high-level international guests.

Nifff Extended, the section of Swiss festival Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff) probing the future of cinema, launches today with a wide-ranging programme exploring how games, transmedia and VFX are helping to change storytelling in feature filmmaking.

The programme is becoming the main industry focus of the festival, attracting high-level guests and featuring premieres and cutting- edge debates.

“The Neuchâtel festival has the name ‘film festival’ because it is a historical brand but we really have broadened our vision of what we show and what we discuss,...

The Niff Extended programme of the Swiss festival is attracting high-level international guests.

Niff Extended, the section of Swiss festival Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival probing the future of cinema, launches today with a wide-ranging programme exploring how games, transmedia and VFX are helping to change storytelling in feature filmmaking.

The programme is ecoming the main industry focus of the festival, attracting high- level guests and featuring premieres and cutting- edge debates.

“The Neuchâtel festival has the name ‘film festival’ because it is a historical brand but we really have broadened our vision of what we show and what we discuss,...

Feature comes from Oscar-nominated shorts director Bartosz Konopka.

The Mute, the Polish historical drama from Bartosz Konopka, has been boarded for world sales by Paris-based Reel Suspects.

Writer-director Konopka’s previous credits include Fear Of Falling, he was also Oscar-nominated in 2010 for his documentary short Rabbit à la Berlin.

His latest feature follows two knights, the experienced Willibrord and the young, mysterious Unnamed, who set off to christen a small pagan village hidden deep in the mountains. Despite the differences in their views and perspectives on religion, the two men become travel companions and create a father-son relationship. When they reach the village,...

CBS Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “At Eternity’s Gate,” the new film from fine artist and director Julian Schnabel that was for sale at this year’s Cannes.

The deal was for $1.75 million and the picture will star Willem Dafoe, fresh off an Oscar-nominated turn in “The Florida Project,” as Vincent Van Gogh. Oscar Isaacs (“Ex Machina”), Rupert Friend (“Homeland”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Valhalla Rising”) round out the cast. A 2018 release is planned, with CBS Films positioning “At Eternity’s Gate” as an awards contender.

Schnabel hasn’t made a film since 2010’s “Miral,” a coming of age drama about a Palestinian girl that received a tepid critical response and withering box office returns. He fared much better with 2007’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and 2000’s “Before Night Falls,” both of which scored Oscar nominations and rave reviews.

Schnabel is an eccentric figure, often pajama clad,...

One reason why “Too Old to Die Young” creator Nicolas Winding Refn is live-streaming the production of his TV show is that he thinks television is dead. “The whole concept of television itself is so ancient,” he told IndieWire. “I mean, we don’t have television at home anymore, we have a screen, but we don’t have television. Because why would you want it?”

The “Drive” and “Neon Demon” director said this just a day before heading off on location to continue shooting his upcoming Amazon series “Too Old to Die Young,” which is currently described as tracking an ensemble’s “existential journeys from being killers to becoming samurais in the city of angels.”

While that description may sound vague, Refn has no interest in secrecy when it comes to his set. The show has been in production since last November, largely in Los Angeles, and on a semi-regular basis,...

Director Nicolas Winding Refn’s newly announced crime series has been kept extremely under wraps — until recently. Refn has been sharing behind-the-scenes photos and videos on his personal Twitter account since before production officially started. He’s announced the high-profile talent making up most of the cast, hyping fans and critics for another wild crime drama to take the small screen. As the genre heightens in popularity for TV audiences, the “Drive” director’s pairing with Amazon derives eager speculation as to what this grisly new drama will look like.

The series has been greenlit with a 10-episode straight-to-series order residing at Amazon. “Too Old To Die Young” takes place in the criminal underbelly of Los Angeles, exploring various characters’ “existential journeys from being killers to becoming samurais in the city of angels.” With shooting having just begun, start getting acquainted with the details surrounding this star-studded series.

Shooting Will...

Exclusive: Switzerland-Germany-uk co-pro’s cast includes Zahraa Ghandour [pictured].

Baghdad-born, Swiss-based director Samir’s latest feature Baghdad In My Shadow, a thriller about Iraqi exiles living in north London, starts shooting on June 8.

Written and directed by Samir, the film will shoot over eight weeks in Baghdad, Zurich, London and Cologne, Germany.

The film is produced by Joël Jent, who also produced Samir’s Iraqi Odyssey.

The film is a Switzerland-Germany-uk co-production produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion with Coin Film and Ipso Facto Productions. The latter’s credits include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising.

The cast includes Haytham A. Ali Al Jadah (also a professor at the University of Baghdad), Iraqi newcomer Zahraa Ghandour, Kerry Fox, Meriam Abbas, Daniel Adegboyega and Felix Scott.

Tony Sokol Kayti Burt Apr 3, 2019

Nicolas Winding Refn directs all ten episodes of Too Old to Die Young, Amazon's new assassin series. Here's the first trailer...

Assassins aren’t known for their longevity, but Amazon is betting Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn's upcoming series, Too Old to Die Young, might stick around for a while. They ordered ten episodes and cast Fantastic Four star Miles Teller as Martin, a grieving cop who goes bad.

The Too Old to Die Young series is set in the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, where a society of assassins holds court. It was written by Refn and comic book writer Ed Brubaker, with Refn directing every episode himself. Refn wrote and directed Valhalla Rising, directed Drive, and worked on the films The Neon Demon and Only God Forgives.

Here's everything else you need to know about the series:

Too Old to Die Young...

After years of directing films like “The Neon Demon,” “Drive” and “Valhalla Rising,” Nicolas Winding Refn is ready to make his first venture into American television. The Danish filmmaker is now set to reunite with Amazon on the crime series “Too Old To Die Young.”

According to Variety, the thriller will be directed, produced and co-written by Refn, and has been greenlit with a straight-to-series order with 10 episodes.

Co-written by Ed Brubaker, who also serves as executive producer, “Too Old To Die Young” explores the criminal underbelly of Los Angeles and is described as “being in a similar vein to Refn’s ‘Pusher’ trilogy, which looked at Danish criminals caught up in the drug trade. It explores various characters’ existential journeys from being killers to becoming samurai’s in the city of angels.”

Read More: Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘The Avenging Silence’: Read the Epic & Violent Crime Saga’s...

Here's two new TV spots for "Star Wars : Rogue One". Joining Felicity Jones ("The Theory Of Everything") is Diego Luna ("Milk", "Killing Them Softly"), Ben Mendelsohn ("Bloodline", "Mississippi Grind"), Donnie Yen ("IP Man", "Blade II"), Jiang Wen ("Let The Bullets Fly", "Devils On The Doorstep"), Forest Whitaker ("The Last King Of Scotland"), Mads Mikkelsen ("Valhalla Rising", "Casino Royale"), Alan Tudyk ("Firefly") who plays a performance-capture character in the film, and Riz Ahmed ("Nightcrawler", "Four Lions"). John Knoll, the Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor who currently serves as chief creative officer at Industrial Light Magic, is executive producing the film along with Simon Emanuel and Jason McGatlin. Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To are on board to produce...

Here's two new TV spots for "Star Wars : Rogue One". Joining Felicity Jones ("The Theory Of Everything") is Diego Luna ("Milk", "Killing Them Softly"), Ben Mendelsohn ("Bloodline", "Mississippi Grind"), Donnie Yen ("IP Man", "Blade II"), Jiang Wen ("Let The Bullets Fly", "Devils On The Doorstep"), Forest Whitaker ("The Last King Of Scotland"), Mads Mikkelsen ("Valhalla Rising", "Casino Royale"), Alan Tudyk ("Firefly") who plays a performance-capture character in the film, and Riz Ahmed ("Nightcrawler", "Four Lions"). John Knoll, the Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor who currently serves as chief creative officer at Industrial Light Magic, is executive producing the film along with Simon Emanuel and Jason McGatlin. Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To are on board to produce...