Casanova hires a new servant to witness the last moments of his life. Leaving a gallant and libertine Swiss castle, he decides to spend his remaining days in the poor and dark lands of eastern Europe. There, his society life and rationality begin to collapse under a romantic and violent force, represented by Dracula and his eternal power.
Golden Leopard at Locarno 2013
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Bekir is in love with Uğur, Uğur is in love with Zagor… Like so many other love stories, this is a simple one-liner. It begins one day in a shop when a man is swept off his feet by a woman. In the course of time, Uğur comes to mean life itself for Bekir. Uğur always comes into the room when Bekir is asleep. For Bekir, sleep and life are akin to an angel or devil, defining on which side of the borderline he stands between sanity and insanity. From that moment on, Bekir finds Uğur beside him whenever he wakes up – which most of the time is in a different town. With Uğur’s presence, Bekir finds life freed of all its absurdity and given instead a single meaning: Uğur. As far as Bekir is concerned, there is no need now to look for any further meaning. His sole form of existence is being with Uğur; it no longer matters which town he is in, which streets he roams, at which tavern he drinks…Read More »
Burning Bush is a three-part mini-series created for HBO by world-renowned Polish director Agnieszka Holland. Based on real characters and events, this haunting drama focuses on the personal sacrifice of a Prague history student, Jan Palach, who set himself on fire in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1969. Dagmar Buresová, a young female lawyer, became part of his legacy by defending Jan’s family in a trial against the communist government, a regime which tried to dishonour Palach’s sacrifice, a heroic action for the freedom of Czechoslovakia.
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Sven lives with his mother Edeltraut, who is suffering from dementia. He shares his entire life, the apartment, even the bed with her. During the day he works at a bank. While he is at work, Daniel comes to the apartment to look after Edeltraut. He takes her to hairdresser’s, goes for walks, shopping, and tidies up the apartment. But one day while Daniel is cleaning the windows, Edeltraut locks him out on the balcony and takes off. The two men go out looking for her. But what they find is not just Edeltraut, but also a tender fondness for one another, one which turns both of their lives upside down. Production note: “HEAVY GIRLS” was completed in just three months, from the original idea to the finished film. The film was shot based on a treatment, which defined the order and content of the scenes, the dialogues were improvised. In order to attain the greatest amount of creative freedom and authenticity, we intentionally shot the film without a crew and film team and with a simple Mini DV camera.Read More »
Fleeing for their lives, a small party abandon their Civil War confederates and escape through an overgrown field. Thinking only of what lay behind, they are ambushed by two dangerous men and made to search the field. Psychedelia, madness and chaotic forces slowly overtake the group as they question what treasure lies within the malignant field.Read More »
Marital fidelity can wear you down, and Ondra (Hynek Čermák) and Vitek (Jiří Langmajer) are certainly suffering from a case of serious fatigue. Working side by side and living next door to each other, it doesn’t take long before these two long-married middle-aged pals start comparing sex notes, and it’s plain to see their latest scores have fallen far below what they would have hoped. Luckily, a surprise holiday on a tropical island rekindles their interest in their wives — only they don’t exactly lust after their designated partners. With no one to divert their attention, their roaming eyes inevitably settle on the wrong spouse, and pretty soon they’ve established their own little Holy Quaternity. The new film from Jan Hřebejk, director of the Academy Award®–nominated Divided We Fall, is an observant and audacious look at the measures some couples will take to revive desire. Ondra and Vitek’s irrepressible joie de vivre makes it impossible to pass judgment, even when the two couples break their own rules by fooling around behind each other’s backs. Parents to two sets of hormonally charged teenagers who endlessly circle each other in a clumsy pre-coital ritual — Vitek has two girls, Ondra two boys — the adults soon put their kids to shame by secretly straddling the fence that divides their communal front yard.Read More »
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.
For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his father’s shadow.
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Alex and Nica are young, in love and engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, they are backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek, and the three set off into a stunning wilderness, a landscape that is both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed. Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes and play games to pass the time, until a momentary misstep, a gesture that takes only two or three seconds, changes everything.
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Focused on a director and his leading actress while they are off the set. They discuss the discrepancies between film and digital cinema, Western and Eastern food, and try to capture an unfiltered (and seemingly impossible) sense of “reality” on film.
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