Opening the 11th edition of the International Classic Film Market which runs alongside the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, the floor was given to Hella Wenders and Claire Brunel, the managing directors of the Foundation set up by Wim Wenders, the recipient of this year’s lifetime achievement Lumière Award.
Thanks to public and private funding, the non-profit foundation was able to buy back the rights to the German filmmaker’s entire body of work in 2012, which includes 52 films both long and short, with a very clear objective: To preserve, maintain and disseminate Wenders’ works, and make it permanently accessible to the public worldwide.
In a conversation earlier this year with Gianluca Farinelli, who heads the Bologna Film Archives and its film restoration lab, a world leader in film preservation, Wenders explained it simply.
“Movies are only living because there’s an audience that sees them. […] If anyone wants to...
Thanks to public and private funding, the non-profit foundation was able to buy back the rights to the German filmmaker’s entire body of work in 2012, which includes 52 films both long and short, with a very clear objective: To preserve, maintain and disseminate Wenders’ works, and make it permanently accessible to the public worldwide.
In a conversation earlier this year with Gianluca Farinelli, who heads the Bologna Film Archives and its film restoration lab, a world leader in film preservation, Wenders explained it simply.
“Movies are only living because there’s an audience that sees them. […] If anyone wants to...
- 10/18/2023
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Both public action and private initiatives will ensure heritage film is preserved and distributed, said key players gathered for the 10th edition of the Classic Film Market in Lyon.
The round table brought together Sophie Seydoux, president of the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé; Olivier Snanoudj, senior VP cinema distribution at Warner Bros. France; the BFI’s Executive Director of Knowledge and Collections, Arike Oke; Elodie Drouard, film program advisor at France Télévisions, and the Cineteca di Bologna head, Gian Luca Farinelli.
On film restoration funding, all agreed it cannot happen without public aid.
“Public funding represents about 22 of our restoration costs. Economic profitability is impossible on restorations, we couldn’t do it without the Cnc [the national film fund],” said Seydoux, whose foundation – a separate entity from Pathé, dedicated to the preservation, restoration and promotion of film heritage belonging to the historical French company – restores around 15 films a year.
The same goes for the British Film Institute’s archives,...
The round table brought together Sophie Seydoux, president of the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé; Olivier Snanoudj, senior VP cinema distribution at Warner Bros. France; the BFI’s Executive Director of Knowledge and Collections, Arike Oke; Elodie Drouard, film program advisor at France Télévisions, and the Cineteca di Bologna head, Gian Luca Farinelli.
On film restoration funding, all agreed it cannot happen without public aid.
“Public funding represents about 22 of our restoration costs. Economic profitability is impossible on restorations, we couldn’t do it without the Cnc [the national film fund],” said Seydoux, whose foundation – a separate entity from Pathé, dedicated to the preservation, restoration and promotion of film heritage belonging to the historical French company – restores around 15 films a year.
The same goes for the British Film Institute’s archives,...
- 10/21/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
The head of the venerable Il Cinema Ritrovato festival and new president of the Rome Film Fest, Gianluca Farinelli, has opened the 10th edition of the Lumière Festival’s Classic Film Market.
Kicking off the keynote, Farinelli was asked how he reconciles his love of classic cinema with his new role as head of the Rome Film Fest, which runs Oct. 13–23.
“Fundamentally, what touches me with heritage films, my passion and love for that cinema, is that sometimes it can speak to you as if the creator was contemporary,” Farinelli said. “I’ve never considered contemporary and classic cinema separately – I have always seen them as a whole. I love cinema of all eras,” added the man who co-founded Il Cinema Ritrovato in 1986, one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals dedicated to the history and preservation of cinema.
The Cineteca is a foundation made up of two entities: the world-renowned restoration lab,...
Kicking off the keynote, Farinelli was asked how he reconciles his love of classic cinema with his new role as head of the Rome Film Fest, which runs Oct. 13–23.
“Fundamentally, what touches me with heritage films, my passion and love for that cinema, is that sometimes it can speak to you as if the creator was contemporary,” Farinelli said. “I’ve never considered contemporary and classic cinema separately – I have always seen them as a whole. I love cinema of all eras,” added the man who co-founded Il Cinema Ritrovato in 1986, one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals dedicated to the history and preservation of cinema.
The Cineteca is a foundation made up of two entities: the world-renowned restoration lab,...
- 10/19/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
The late Govindan Aravindan’s 1978 masterpiece “Thamp̄” (“The Circus Tent”) is one of two Indian films at this year’s Cannes Classics selection, alongside Satyajit Ray’s “Pratidwandi” (“The Adversary”) from 1970.
“Thamp̄” was painstakingly restored by India’s Film Heritage Foundation (Fhf), an organization founded by filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in 2014. Dungarpur facilitated the restoration of Uday Shankar’s landmark film “Kalpana” (1948) by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, the restored version of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. He also collaborated with the World Cinema Foundation again for the restoration of the 1972 Sinhalese film “Nidhanaya” directed by eminent Sri Lankan filmmaker Lester James Peries. The restoration premiered at Venice in 2013.
The restoration of “Thamp̄” was a process that took eight months to achieve. Fhf, as a member of the International Federation of Film Archives, also put out a call to all the 171 member institutions around the world...
“Thamp̄” was painstakingly restored by India’s Film Heritage Foundation (Fhf), an organization founded by filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in 2014. Dungarpur facilitated the restoration of Uday Shankar’s landmark film “Kalpana” (1948) by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, the restored version of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. He also collaborated with the World Cinema Foundation again for the restoration of the 1972 Sinhalese film “Nidhanaya” directed by eminent Sri Lankan filmmaker Lester James Peries. The restoration premiered at Venice in 2013.
The restoration of “Thamp̄” was a process that took eight months to achieve. Fhf, as a member of the International Federation of Film Archives, also put out a call to all the 171 member institutions around the world...
- 5/25/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
When Charlie Chaplin passed away on Christmas Day in 1977, aged 88, he left the screenplay for a last unfinished film titled “The Freak,” a passion project about a young woman with wings named Serapha who is exploited in all kinds of ways.
Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna archives, which have long been in charge of the preservation and restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s oeuvre, has just published a book that for the first time unearths the final version of Chaplin’s complete “The Freak” script. The book also comprises previously unseen materials, such as preparatory notes, drawings, photos and stills from filmed rehearsals of the film that Bologna archives chief Gianluca Farinelli calls Chaplin’s “artistic testament.”
Born to a couple of British missionaries, Serapha winds up in Patagonia, where she becomes an angel-like figure at a pilgrimage site for invalids seeking to be cured; she is then kidnapped and brought...
Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna archives, which have long been in charge of the preservation and restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s oeuvre, has just published a book that for the first time unearths the final version of Chaplin’s complete “The Freak” script. The book also comprises previously unseen materials, such as preparatory notes, drawings, photos and stills from filmed rehearsals of the film that Bologna archives chief Gianluca Farinelli calls Chaplin’s “artistic testament.”
Born to a couple of British missionaries, Serapha winds up in Patagonia, where she becomes an angel-like figure at a pilgrimage site for invalids seeking to be cured; she is then kidnapped and brought...
- 12/25/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Classic cinephiles are in for a treat with two new projects coming to screens. The life of legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky is getting the limited series treatment, as revealed with the announcement of a new project out of the ongoing Cannes virtual marketplace. Meanwhile, Pulse Films has partnered with the Sergio Leone estate to mount a documentary in tribute to the late, great pioneer of Spaghetti Westerns.
As first reported by Variety, Kirill Serebrennikov will write and direct the series about Tarkovsky, and it will be produced by Ilya Stewart, Murad Osmann, and Pavel Burya of the Moscow-based company Hype Film. Tarkovsky’s film career in the Soviet Union yielded seven features, all considered masterpieces by most, including “Ivan’s Childhood,” “Andrei Rublev,” “Solaris,” “The Mirror,” “Stalker,” “Nostalghia,” and “The Sacrifice.” Tarkovsky died in 1986. Hype Film previously repped Kirill Serebrennikov’s films “Leto,” a 2018 Cannes competition title about an underground rock music scene,...
As first reported by Variety, Kirill Serebrennikov will write and direct the series about Tarkovsky, and it will be produced by Ilya Stewart, Murad Osmann, and Pavel Burya of the Moscow-based company Hype Film. Tarkovsky’s film career in the Soviet Union yielded seven features, all considered masterpieces by most, including “Ivan’s Childhood,” “Andrei Rublev,” “Solaris,” “The Mirror,” “Stalker,” “Nostalghia,” and “The Sacrifice.” Tarkovsky died in 1986. Hype Film previously repped Kirill Serebrennikov’s films “Leto,” a 2018 Cannes competition title about an underground rock music scene,...
- 6/18/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Classic cinephiles are in for a treat with two new projects coming to screens. The life of legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky is getting the limited series treatment, as revealed with the announcement of a new project out of the ongoing Cannes virtual marketplace. Meanwhile, Pulse Films has partnered with the Sergio Leone estate to mount a documentary in tribute to the late, great pioneer of Spaghetti Westerns.
As first reported by Variety, Kirill Serebrennikov will write and direct the series about Tarkovsky, and it will be produced by Ilya Stewart, Murad Osmann, and Pavel Burya of the Moscow-based company Hype Film. Tarkovsky’s film career in the Soviet Union yielded seven features, all considered masterpieces by most, including “Ivan’s Childhood,” “Andrei Rublev,” “Solaris,” “The Mirror,” “Stalker,” “Nostalghia,” and “The Sacrifice.” Tarkovsky died in 1986. Hype Film previously repped Kirill Serebrennikov’s films “Leto,” a 2018 Cannes competition title about an underground rock music scene,...
As first reported by Variety, Kirill Serebrennikov will write and direct the series about Tarkovsky, and it will be produced by Ilya Stewart, Murad Osmann, and Pavel Burya of the Moscow-based company Hype Film. Tarkovsky’s film career in the Soviet Union yielded seven features, all considered masterpieces by most, including “Ivan’s Childhood,” “Andrei Rublev,” “Solaris,” “The Mirror,” “Stalker,” “Nostalghia,” and “The Sacrifice.” Tarkovsky died in 1986. Hype Film previously repped Kirill Serebrennikov’s films “Leto,” a 2018 Cannes competition title about an underground rock music scene,...
- 6/18/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Exclusive: London-based production studio Pulse Films is expanding its global footprint with the addition of an office in Milan, Italy.
The move is part of a larger partnership with local indie Indiana Production, which has recent credits including Liam Neeson pic Made In Italy and The Burnt Orange Heresy. The endeavor will see Pulse produce Italian content across film, docs, TV, music and commercials under the banner Pulse Films Italia.
Kicking off the venture is a feature documentary about legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, which will be made in co-production with the Leone Film Group. Francesco Zippel is directing and writing the pic, which will chronicle how Leone became one of the most influential directors of his era. In particular, Leone is noted for his pioneering Spaghetti Western movies A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,...
The move is part of a larger partnership with local indie Indiana Production, which has recent credits including Liam Neeson pic Made In Italy and The Burnt Orange Heresy. The endeavor will see Pulse produce Italian content across film, docs, TV, music and commercials under the banner Pulse Films Italia.
Kicking off the venture is a feature documentary about legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, which will be made in co-production with the Leone Film Group. Francesco Zippel is directing and writing the pic, which will chronicle how Leone became one of the most influential directors of his era. In particular, Leone is noted for his pioneering Spaghetti Western movies A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,...
- 6/18/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte over the weekend said Italian movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on June 15 as coronavirus lockdown restrictions lift. However, it remains to be seen how many cinemas will actually be operational by then.
While it’s unlikely many of Italy’s roughly 4,000 screens will be active next month, the country’s distributors and exhibitors are busy gearing up for summer releases and finding creative solutions for moviegoing to resume.
“In order to open movie theaters, audiences need to feel safe and relaxed” says Andrea Occhipinti, who heads Italian distributor-producer Lucky Red and is also chief of national arthouse theater chain Circuito Cinema.
“As exhibitors, we need to understand how many people will actually go (to the movies),” Occhipinti adds, pointing out that if theaters operate under 30% capacity “it will be a bit complicated economically.”
The other crucial challenge for Italy’s arthouse circuit in...
While it’s unlikely many of Italy’s roughly 4,000 screens will be active next month, the country’s distributors and exhibitors are busy gearing up for summer releases and finding creative solutions for moviegoing to resume.
“In order to open movie theaters, audiences need to feel safe and relaxed” says Andrea Occhipinti, who heads Italian distributor-producer Lucky Red and is also chief of national arthouse theater chain Circuito Cinema.
“As exhibitors, we need to understand how many people will actually go (to the movies),” Occhipinti adds, pointing out that if theaters operate under 30% capacity “it will be a bit complicated economically.”
The other crucial challenge for Italy’s arthouse circuit in...
- 5/18/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, which is dedicated to cinematic treasures of the past, last week wrapped its 33rd edition with a record-breaking turnout. Long a summer fixture for vintage film geeks and distributors it also draws prominent contemporary cinema personalities. This year these included Academy president John Bailey, Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jane Campion, Thierry Fremaux, and Philippe Le Guay. The fest is the brainchild of Gianluca Farinelli, also chief of the Bologna Film Archives and its film restoration lab known globally as a prime film preservation entity. Farinelli spoke to Variety about the fest’s easy co-existence with his friend Thierry Fremaux’s similar but younger Lumière Festival in Lyon, how they both drive this market segment, and singled out some gems of this edition starting from the world’s first film with a gay narrative. Excerpts.
What makes Il Cinema Ritrovato different from the Lumière fest in Lyon?...
What makes Il Cinema Ritrovato different from the Lumière fest in Lyon?...
- 7/3/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Piera Detassis recently became the first woman to head the David di Donatello Awards, Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars. Since then she’s been busy overhauling the inner workings of the prizes that will be awarded on Wednesday. Detassis, also the editor of Italian film publication Ciak, spoke exclusively to Variety about the challenges she’s faced in getting “rid of some cobwebs” and improving the gender balance among voters. (The following are excerpts from the conversation.)
Rethinking the Davids radically after decades must have been a big task on several fronts. Can you talk to me about the main changes?
Change was necessary; it was inevitable. The call for it came from the entire Italian film industry. People forget that [just like the Oscars] behind the Davids there is the Italian Film Academy, comprising all industry organizations, from actors and directors to sound men. They all had demands that we tried to accommodate,...
Rethinking the Davids radically after decades must have been a big task on several fronts. Can you talk to me about the main changes?
Change was necessary; it was inevitable. The call for it came from the entire Italian film industry. People forget that [just like the Oscars] behind the Davids there is the Italian Film Academy, comprising all industry organizations, from actors and directors to sound men. They all had demands that we tried to accommodate,...
- 3/25/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.