Luxbox boards Maha Haj’s Un Certain Regard title ‘Mediterranean Fever’
Luxbox boards Maha Haj’s Un Certain Regard title ‘Mediterranean Fever’
Paris-based sales company Luxbox has boarded sales on Palestinian director Maha Haj’s second film Mediterranean Fever, which was announced as a fresh addition to Cannes Un Certain Regard section on Thursday (April 21).
At the same time, Dulac Distribution has also announced its acquisition of French rights for the film.
Haj’s debut feature Personal Affairs also world premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2016.
The new drama revolves around an aspiring but depressed writer living in Haifa who befriends his small-time crook neighbour in the hope he will help him with a sinister scheme.
Celebrated Palestinian theatre actor Amer Hlehel, who has performed in productions with the UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court, stars in his first big-screen lead role after supporting parts in Personal Affairs, and more recently Tel Aviv On Fire and The Stranger.
Other cast members include Ashraf Farah, Anat Hadid, Samir Elias, Cynthia Saleem, Shaden Kanboura
The new film is produced by Palestinian producer Baher Agbariya of Haifa-basedMajdal Films; Juliette Lepoutre and Pierre Menahem at France’s Still Moving, Thanassis Karathanos and Martin Hampel at Germany’s Pallas Film; Marios Piperides and Janine Teerling at Cyprus’ AMP Filmworks, in association with Turkey’s Metafora Production.
“Mediterranean Fever is such a subtle piece of work that needs to be handled with special care,” Still Moving’s Juliette Lepoutre and Pierre Menahem said in a joint statement on the choice of Luxbox and Dulac Distribution as partners on the film.
Michel Zana, head of distribution of Dulac Distribution, said the company had been drawn to the film for the way it presents a previously unseen perspective of Palestinian society.
“Mediterranean Fever depicts, with a rejoicing dark humour the existential crisis of a middle-aged father, wannabe writer, and his unexpected friendship with his small-time crook neighbour,” said Zana.
Luxbox, which is co-headed by Fiorella Moretti Hédi Zardi, is gearing up for a busy Cannes with other titles on its slate including Directors’ Fortnight selections Under The Fig Trees and 1976.
”It’s very inspiring to work on a film with such freedom of tone and such personal humour. It’s important to share and spread the voice of this female director who traces a very personal cinematic path,” they said.
Embryo Larva Butterfly - Les Arcs Work in Progress
We are very happy to announce that our film "Embryo Larva Butterfly" written and directed by Kyros Papavassiliou has been selected for this year's Les Arcs Film Festival Work in Progress! See you in The Alps!
Tel Aviv - Beirut
We are very pleased that the shooting of the film Tel Aviv Beirut is completed!
Smuggling Hendrix in Austria!!
After a small break, Smuggling Hendrix journey continues with another theatrical release! In cinemas across Austria from July 10th!
Thank you FILMLADEN!
After a small break, Smuggling Hendrix journey continues with another theatrical release! In cinemas across Austria from July 10th! Thank you FILMLADEN!
Torna a casa, Jimi! Press Releases and Reviews
https://www.zerkalospettacolo.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-recensione/
...una gran bella sorpresa, un film che lancia un messaggio profondo e serissimo attraverso la leggerezza di un’avventura paradossalmente rocambolesca.
… un piccolo e prezioso gioiello che invita ad abbattere i confini attraverso l’unione, la collaborazione e la coesistenza pacifica.
Una deliziosissima commedia, assolutamente da vedere, che mostra le assurdità delle guerre, delle invasioni, della politica degli umani, attraverso la storia di un cane che si perde a Cipro… Piperides, vincitore al Tribeca Film Festival per questa buffa, ingegnosa e arguta commedia, con ritmo, con un linguaggio chiaro e semplice scandito da dialoghi pungenti, è riuscito a catturare l’assurdità e la tragedia di una complicata situazione politica.
https://thespot.news/2019/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-un-allegro-paradosso-sullesistenza-dei-confini/
Decisamente un buon debutto nel mondo del lungometraggio per Marios Piperides... riesce a sfruttare in modo coinvolgente, e senza essere didascalico, la leggerezza della commedia per arrivare a fare della seria critica sociale.
Torna a casa, Jimi!
Reviews:
Cinema e spettacolo
https://www.cinematografo.it/news/torna-casa-jimi-nicosia-divisa/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQvg2hSWPBE
https://www.spettacolo.eu/torna-a-casa-jimi-festival-cinema-lecce/
https://www.kikapress.com/gallery/torna-a-casa-jimi-una-commedia-made-in-cipro-da-non-perdere
http://filmup.leonardo.it/sc_tornaacasajimi.htm
http://www.celluloidportraits.com/film/8056_1_Torna_a_casa,_Jimi!_10_cose_da_non.html
http://it.cinetrailer.tv/movie/Torna-a-casa,-Jimi!/117332
https://spettacolomusicasport.com/2019/04/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-10-cose-da-non-fare-quando-perdi-il-tuo-cane-a-cipro-opera-prima-del-cipriota-marios-piperides-sara-presentata-il-9-aprile-in-anteprima-italiana-al-20-f/ https://www.ilprofumodelladolcevita.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-di-marios-piperides-jimi-hendrix-la-musica-trova-sempre-la-strada-per-entrare/
News
https://stream24.ilsole24ore.com/video/lifestyle/torna-casa-jimi-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-ridere/AB8cnZnB (da Askanews)
https://ilmanifesto.it/la-fuga-di-un-cane-per-raccontare-la-divisione-di-cipro/
http://www.ilfogliettone.it/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-tutta-ridere/ (da Askanews)
Femminili e lifestyle
https://www.vanityfair.it/show/cinema/2019/04/10/torna-casa-jimi
Animali
https://amicidicasa.it/cane/il-18-aprile-film-imperdibile-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Portali
https://spettacoli.tiscali.it/video/articoli/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-a-tutta-ridere-00001/ (da Askanews)
Locali
https://tv.iltempo.it/tv-news/2019/04/11/video/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere-1134874/ (da Askanews)
https://corrieredellumbria.corr.it/video/tv-news/785707/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrieredirieti.corr.it/video/tv-news/785716/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrierediarezzo.corr.it/video/tv-news/785713/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
http://www.today.it/eventi/cinema/programmazione/torna-a-casa-jimi-1hpgsf.film
https://www.vivavox.news/mercoledi-10-aprile-in-anteprima-al-visionario-di-udine-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Menzioni
Variety: “Cyprus Joins the Battle for Foreign Filmmakers”
“Cyprus offers a cash rebate or tax credit of up to 35% on qualifying local spending for feature films, TV series, animation, documentaries and other projects that promote Cyprus and its culture, provided they meet certain financial criteria and pass a cultural test."
Honorable Mention for Smuggling Hendrix at the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival!
“This droll comedy captures the absurdity and tragedy of a complicated political situation”
THE GoE BRIDGING THE BORDERS AWARD
At a time when physical, religious, racial, cultural, and economic borders divide the population of our planet, efforts to bridge those borders should be appreciated. In that spirit, Cinema Without Borders presents the GoE Bridging the Borders Award to a film that is most successful in bridging and connecting the people of our world closer together.
Honorable Mention: Smuggling Hendrix (Cyprus/Germany/Greece), directed by Marios Piperides. A down-on-his-luck Greek Cypriot musician must think creatively when his adorable dog accidentally crosses over to the Turkish side of Nicosia. This droll comedy captures the absurdity and tragedy of a complicated political situation.
SEE Cinema Network: AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map
Cypriot production house AMP Filmworks had a big break-through when its feature film Smuggling Hendrix directed by the company’s founder Marios Piperides had its world premiere and won the Best International Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival and was picked up by German sales agent The Match Factory. Now the 14-year-old company is developing a slate of four feature films to keep the momentum going.
As FNE write, producer Janine Teerling and director Petros Charalambous, who is attached to their next film Patchwork, following their presentation at the pitching forum Connection Cottbus, about the slate of films and the situation for filmmakers in Cyprus, Patchwork is likely to be AMP Filmworks’ next film to go into production, with 60% of the budget already in place.
With the introduction of a 35% cash rebate programme in October 2018, Cyprus is poised to join its EU neighbours on the film production scene. Applications for the rebate programme are now open to both film and TV projects with a minimum spend of 200,000 EUR and a cap of 1.5 m EUR. The rebate will apply to funds spent in Cyprus and is expected to increase domestic production, minority coproductions and production services on the island.
Funding is coming from the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture for production, and development funding from the SEE Cinema Network. The film has a Greek coproducer attached, Boo Productions, and is awaiting funding results from the Greek fund and ERT. The producers have interest from other producers from different countries from the Balkans and Western Europe, and it is likely to be a four countries` coproduction.
The film’s story, set in a patriarchal society, is the drama of a young mother troubled by her ambiguous feelings about motherhood and the broken relationship with her own mother. Patchwork, which will be Charalambous’s second feature, is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2019 or early 2020.
Cypriot writer/director Kyros Papavassiliou is working on the final draft of his second feature film, Embryo, Larva, Pupa, Imago, which is scheduled to shoot in the spring of 2020. The Cypriot/Greek coproduction with a budget of 850,000 EUR is looking for a third coproducer for this surreal drama, a love story of a couple who live in a world where time is arbitrary. Kyros presented his short film in the Official Competition of the Cannes Festival in 2007, while his first film premiered in Rotterdam in 2016.
Writer/director Adonis Florides is working on his third feature film, Africa Star. The film will be a Cypriot production that tells the story of a family stigmatised by crime in the past. The company is also producing Spyros Charalambous`s first feature film Common Good. His latest short film premiered in Clermont Ferrand.
The company has other projects in scriptwriting stages, including Marios Piperides`s second feature film.
Source: Film New Europe
Italy, Repubblica Interview - Smuggling Hendrix
Un cane nella Cipro divisa fra greci e turchi: con 'Torna a casa Jimi' la commedia si fa politica
Variety - Smuggling Hendrix Review
A great review of Smuggling Hendrix by Variety, one of the industry's most respected trade magazines: "a delightful, droll, and intelligent comedy, which captures the absurdity and tragedy of a complicated political situation"
Βραβευμένοι στην Tribeca: “Φυγαδεύοντας τον Χέντριξ”
Η κυπριακή ταινία Smuggling Hendrix απέσπασε το βραβείο Καλύτερης Ταινίας στο διεθνές φεστιβάλ της Tribeca και -ούτε λίγο ούτε πολύ- έδωσε μια ώθηση στο σύνολο της κυπριακής κινηματογραφίας.