Gianfranco Rosi: Celebs Rumors

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA will host the international premieres of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” and Barbara Kopple’s “Gumbo Coalition” as part of its Masters program, as well as the world premiere of Coco Schrijber’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” The selection includes the work of several renowned directors who have reinvented their cinematic language. Patricio Guzmán breaks from his poetic approach to adopt a more direct, political form of filmmaking with “My Imaginary Country,” centering on the October 2019 protests in Santiago. Gianfranco Rosi directs his first archive-based film “In viaggio,” which sees Pope Francis’ journeys as a map of the human condition. Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed co-direct a film together for the first time with “Music for Black Pigeons,” a reflection on aging through jazz music, and Ruth Beckermann’s “Mutzenbacher” takes a look at a controversial erotic novel through an elaborate casting call.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent German director Volker Schlöndorff, who won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or and an Oscar for his 1979 drama “The Tin Drum,” is set to direct a film about how Antonio Vivaldi — the 18th-century Italian composer of “The Four Seasons” — formed what is touted as the world’s first all-female orchestra. Schlöndorff’s still-untitled depiction of this lesser-known aspect of Vivaldi’s career is based on a book by German writer Peter Schneider, which has been adapted for the big screen by Italian scribe Francesco Piccolo (“My Brilliant Friend”) along with the director.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Though it’s become a convenient catch-all term for journalists covering the subject, the phrase “European migrant crisis” can’t help but leave a sour taste in the mouth — implying as it does that Europe, the destination for so many hard-up voyagers from variously ailing or hostile countries, is the disadvantaged party in all this. That bias carries through to the bulk of well-intended films on the matter, which tend to pick up migrants’ stories, however sympathetically, on European turf.

Pope Francis, only a few days after leaving the hospital, is presiding over religious observances during the holiest week in the Roman Catholic faith. As part of Good Friday services today, he took part in a celebration of the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. 

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has teased 100 films that will be showcased in its 35th edition, running November 9–20

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself.  In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war. Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’ trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fire at Sea” (2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi decided to delve into hundreds of hours of footage of papal travels with the intention of providing through them a “map of the human condition,” he says.

A powerful meditation on recent history, In Viaggio premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by previous Golden Lion winner Gianfranco Rosi, it follows the travels of Pope Francis, using mostly archival footage to paint not just a picture of the man, but of the modern world.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself. Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip (above) from the film, which premieres in Venice on Sept. 5. In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war. Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’s trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fuocoammare” (Fire At Sea, 2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi follows the Pope’s Stations of the Cross. “He sees what he sees, hears what he says,” the press notes point out, and interweaves archival footage of Francis’ travels with images taken by Rosi himself and recent historical events.

The film was acclaimed for its rich visual style of sensual cinematography that never feels vulgar or exploitative of the couple in question. It can be seen plainly in the trailer, which shows Hermes and Betta passionately kissing inside a pink bathroom filled with balloons, a parade of bodies in lingerie on a runway and one man even trying on a black g-string.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director Roberta Torre, known for campy Mafia musical “Tano to Die For” and other anarchic pics, is making “Le Favolose,” about a group of transgender women who reunite after 20 years to commemorate a dead friend and do right by her after her identity has been violated.“Le Favolose,” which translates as “The Fabulous Ones,” is being produced by Donatella Palermo, who is at the Berlinale with auteur Paolo Taviani’s competition entry “Leonora Addio.”Palermo, who has a longstanding rapport with Torre, is the Italian producer behind two Berlin Golden Bear winners: the Taviani brothers’ “Caesar Must Die” and Gianfranco Rosi’s “Fire at Sea.” “When a person decides to face the [gender] transition from man to woman it can be a very painful process in several different ways: social, physical, etc.,” said Palermo, who notes that “when a trans dies, most of the time their body is returned to their families.” Torre’s new pic is based on a real-life story of Antonia, one of the “Fabulous Ones,” who is buried by her family dressed as a man under her original name, Giampaolo, amid the indifference of most.

Christopher Vourlias Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon is launching a dedicated documentary feature label and will unveil its first slate of titles at this year’s European Film Market, including Constantin Wulff’s Berlinale Forum selection “For the Many – The Vienna Chamber of Labor.”The company plans to handle 8 to 10 documentaries per year across all markets, with former Doc & Film International and Mediawan Rights exec Suzanne Nodale tapped to oversee all acquisitions and sales of the slate.A specialist in documentary sales, Nodale has worked on titles such as Gianfranco Rosi’s Oscar-nominated “Fire at Sea,” Gregory Monro’s International Emmy Award winner “Kubrick by Kubrick” and “Banksy Most Wanted,” a Tribeca Film Festival selection from directors Aurelia Rouvier and Seamus Haley. “I am thrilled to have Suzanne joining the team to expand the reach of Cercamon,” said the company’s CEO, Sebastien Chesneau.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCopenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, better known as CPH:DOX, has unveiled its full program, which includes the screenings of 180 films, interactive art, and 40 live debates and talks with artists, experts and opinion-makers.The festival offers new films from a number of leading directors.

Also Read: Neon Acquires Celine Sciamma's Berlinale Contender 'Petite Maman'The 71st Annual Berlinale ran from March 1-5, and the Grand Jury prize was voted on by a jury that included Ildikó Enyedi, Nadav Lapid, Adina Pintilie, Mohammad Rasoulof, Gianfranco Rosi and Jasmila Zbanic.Second prize went to Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” a drama and romance told in three parts about an unexpected love triangle and failed seduction trap.“At first it looks almost minor: a man and a woman, sometimes two women, stand in a room with white walls.

Naman Ramachandran The Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film has been won by “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” (Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc), directed by Radu Jude and produced by Ada Solomon.The international jury, made up of former Golden Bear winners, includes Mohammad Rasoulof from Iran, Nadav Lapid from Israel, Adina Pintilie from Romania, Ildikó Enyedi from Hungary, Gianfranco Rosi from Italy and Jasmila Žbanić from Jasmila Zbanic from Bosnia and Herzegovina.More to follow

Of the many types of documentary films, Oscar-nominated director Gianfranco Rosi has identified one genre he describes as “complaining and explaining.”

Berlin this year, at least the first leg of the film festival in March, will be online only, with everyone — critics, reporters and the international film industry — watching the lineup of the 2021 Berlinale from home on their laptops. Everyone, that is, except for this year's competition jury.

One of the darkest contenders for this year’s Best International Film Oscar is “Notturno,” a documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, who sets the audience down in the Middle East chaos by watching it unfold through the terrified eyes of those who have suffered the most.For Rosi, who spoke with TheWrap for its Awards Screening Series, “” is his follow-up to the acclaimed “Fire at Sea,” which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature and won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016 for its unflinching look at the unfolding migrant crisis in Europe.

Gianfranco Rosi waited three years to get the shot. It's a short scene in Notturno, Rosi's new documentary, which is Italy's submission for the 93rd Academy Awards in the best international feature category, as well as a best documentary feature contender.

Six former winners of the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear for best film will make up the jury for this year's event. Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year's winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary's Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin's top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams in 2006.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the International Jury for its 71st edition.The jury will comprise Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, Israeli director Nadav Lapid, Romania director Adina Pintilie, Hungary director Ildikó Enyedi, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi and Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić.As previously announced, the festival will take place in two stages this year, due to the pandemic. Its industry events – under the European Film Market banner – will run in a virtual format from March 1-5.

For his documentary Notturno, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi did the unthinkable—spend most of his time in the field without a camera.

There have been countless documentaries about the Middle East and the people that are living during the perpetual war. “Notturno” aims to be a little different than most of the docs.

Romania: “Collective” Alexander Nanau’s sobering doc is the first nonfiction film ever submitted to the Oscars by Romania, which has the most vital film industry of any country that has never been nominated in this category.

Naman Ramachandran In today’s Global Bulletin, Italy’s Oscar contender “Notturno” named European Movie of the Year; U.K.

Also Read: 'Notturno' Film Review: Middle East Doc Finds Poetry in 'Rubble and Darkness'Rosi’s “Notturno” was filmed along the rattled borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon. The impressionistic film captures people who have long been contending with the ravages of war and terror, most recently inflicted by ISIS.Super LTD previously distributed “Honeyland,” which last year became the first film to ever be nominated for both Best Documentary and Best International Film in the same year at the Oscars.

Neon’s boutique label Super Ltd has acquired North American distribution rights to Notturno, the feature documentary from Gianfranco Rosi that recently was submitted by Italy to be that country’s submission to the 2021 International Oscar race. No word yet on a release plan for the pic, which bowed at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Italy has picked Notturno, an observational documentary by director Gianfranco Rosi (Fire at Sea) to be its 2021 Oscar contender in the best international feature category. Rosi shot Notturno over three years across Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Syria.

Italy is putting forward Gianfranco Rosi’s latest documentary Notturno as its candidate for the 2021 International Oscar race.

Damon Wise Taking to the stage of the eerily quiet Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam—just after the sad news of the death of Italian documentary filmmaker Valentina Pedicini, at the age of 42, had been made public—Gianfranco Rosi, Guest of Honor at documentary festival IDFA, put on a brave face as he settled down for his masterclass with the festival’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia.Rosi’s latest film “Notturno,” a mosaic of war stories from the Middle East, was lucky to premiere to a live and present audience at the Venice Film Festival in September, before Italy returned to lock down.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Match Factory has announced a slew of sales on Italian director Gianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno,” which has been making the rounds at top fests such as Venice, Toronto and New York.The deals were announced as Rome’s Oct.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has unveiled the first docu films selected for its 33rd edition, including 30 titles heading from Berlin, Sundance and Cannes, among other festivals. The lineup also comprises 10 titles selected by Gianfranco Rosi for the Top 10 program.

Composed of a series of striking tableaux, Gianfranco Rosi’s contemplative documentary, “Notturno,” mines the intergenerational conflict on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon. Cross-cutting between a number of disparate individuals, including the military, political dissidents, and ordinary citizens, Rosi’s film eschews any type of narrative cohesion, instead, presenting a series of unnamed individuals, going about their lives surrounded by the rubble and omnipresent gunfire that still plagues the region.

After winning the Berlinale 2016 Golden Bear — and later an Oscar nomination — for Fire at Sea, a moving and deeply empathetic examination of Europe’s migrant crisis shot on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italian documentary maker Gianfranco Rosi has turned his deeply artistic lens to the original starting point for many of those boarding small boats seeking refuge.

Jessica Kiang Applying a minute and painterly eye to ordinary lives encircled by much larger circumstance — be it a motorway as in 2013’s Golden Lion-winning “Sacro Gra,” or the seaborne migrant crisis as in 2016’s Golden Bear-winning “Fire at Sea” — has led to Italian-American director Gianfranco Rosi’s most celebrated documentaries.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno” was shot over three years along the rattled borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon in the director’s signature observational – but also empathetic – style. The impressionistic doc captures people who have long been contending with the ravages of war and terror, most recently inflicted by ISIS.

With a compassionate eye for the downtrodden that has characterized all Gianfranco Rosi’s work, Notturno brings three years of shooting in Middle East war zones to the screen in an impressionistic collage of ordinary people caught up in conflict. Though very much in the luminous style of his award-winning docs Sacro GRA about the eccentric residents of Rome’s ring road (Golden Lion in Venice 2013) and Fire at Sea (Golden Bear in Berlin 2016) about the migrant crisis on the island of Lampedusa, it lacks those films’ idiosyncratic premises — and, in consequence, feels less revealing than many Arab films made on the same topic.