Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” starring voice work by George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and many others will have its North American premiere at the annual AFI Fest in Los Angeles on October 30.
Newmarket Films has acquired the U.S. rights to Jon Amiel’s Charles Darwin biopic, “Creation” starring Paul Bettany and my wife, sorry, his wife, Jennifer Connelly. Maybe it’s because it was the opening night TIFF film which traditionally stinks, or because the trailers and photos make it seem bland as hell, but we’re not terrifically interested. Sure, we’ll see it if given the chance, but we’ll wait til then.
32 Countries have named their Oscar nominee choices and IndieWire has done a great job of rounding them all up. The full submission list isn’t released until October. Here’s hoping Greece names, “Dogtooth” as their pick. Germany’s obviously going with this year’s Palme d’Or winner, “The White Ribbon.” We just found this German poster for it which is awesome and creepy. We’re also glad Korea went with Bong Jong-ho’s “Mother” over Park Chan-Wook’s “Thirst” because the former is clearly the better film and one of our faves of the year.
Armenia – “Autumn of the Magician,” directed by Ruben & Vahe Gevorkyants
Austria – “Ein Augenblick Freiheit” (For a Moment, Freedom), directed by Arash T. Riahi
Belgium – “The Misfortunates,” directed by Felix Van Groeningen
Brazil – “Salve Geral,” directed by Sergio Rezende
Bulgaria – “The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner,” directed by Stephan Komandarev
Canada – “I Killed My Mother,” directed by Xavier Dolan
Chile – “Dawson, Isla 10,” directed by Miguel Littín
Denmark – “Terribly Happy,” directed by Henrik Rubin Genz
Finland – “Postia Pappi Jaakobille (Letters to Father Jacob),” directed by Klaus Haro
France – “A Prophet,” directed by Jacques Audiard
Germany – “The White Ribbon,” directed by Michael Haneke
Hong Kong – “Prince of Tears,” directed by Yonfan
Hungary – “Kaméleon (Chameleon),” directed by Kristzina Goda
India – “Harishchandrachi Factory,” directed by Paresh Mokashi
Japan – “Dare Mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody To Watch Over Me),” directed by Ryôichi Kimizuka
Kazakhstan – “Kelin,” directed by Ermek Tursunov
Korea – “Mother,” directed by Bong Jong-ho
Lithuania – “Duburys (Waterhole),” directed by Gytis Luksas
Mexico – “Backyard,” directed by Carlos Carrera
Morocco – “Casanegra,” directed by Nour Eddine Lakhmari
The Netherlands – “Wit Licht (Silent Army),” directed by Jean van der Velde
Philippines – “Ded Na Si Lolo (Grandfather is Dead),” directed by Soxie Topacio
Poland – “Rewers (The Reverse),” directed by Borys Lankosz
Portugal – “Um Amor de Perdição (Doomed Love),” directed by Mário Barroso
Romania – “Police, Adjective,” directed by Corneliu Prumboiu
Serbia – “St. George Shoots the Dragon,” directed by Srdjan Dragojevic
Slovenia – “Pokrajina St. 2 (Landscape No 2),” directed by Vinko Moderndorfer
South Africa – “White Wedding,” directed by Jann Turner
Sri Lanka – “Akasa Kusum (Flowers in the Sky),” directed by Prasanna Vithanage
Sweden – “De Ofrivilliga (Involuntary),” directed by Ruben Ostlunds
Taiwan – “No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (I Can’t Live Without You),” directed by Leon Dai
Venezula – “Libertador Morales, El Justiciero,” directed by Efterpi Charalambidis