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#11
New Releases / House of Ninjas (2024) | Netfl...
Last post by FWN Adm - February 03, 2024, 05:39:29 PM
Years after retiring from their formidable ninja lives, a dysfunctional family must return to shadowy missions to counteract a string of looming threats. The Tawara family, the last ninja clan. It had abandoned its roots after an incident in the past, but now the family must take on the greatest crisis in Japanese history, one that threatens to shake the nation to its core.

House of Ninjas is a story about a Ninja family that lives in the shadows. Known as the Tawara family, they're the only Ninjas left in Japan. After their last mission doesn't go as planned, the Tawara family decides to live normal lives and never use their powers again. However, a new threat is about to engulf Japan in its clutches, and these hidden ninjas have no choice but to be out and save humanity.

Even though they keep calling themselves a "normal" family, not everyone can hide their skills entirely. When the Tawara family hears of a toxin that is killing hundreds of Japanese people, they know it is time for them to come out of hiding. The Tawara family decides to reunite to save their people. The impact of the last mission is still on their minds. So, will they let go of the past and be their best and bravest selves to save humanity? We will find out everything once the show releases.

Cast: Kento Kaku, Yosuke Eguchi, Tae Kimura

Release date: 15 Feb 2024

View the Official Trailer

The Official Netflix Page for House of Ninjas

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#12
New Releases / Re: The Last Airbender - 2024 ...
Last post by FWN Adm - February 02, 2024, 08:31:11 PM
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#13
New Releases / The Last Airbender - 2024 Netf...
Last post by FWN Adm - February 02, 2024, 08:22:00 PM
Netflix is releasing a new version live-action series of the popular Nickelodeon series. The approach, according to showrunner Albert Kim and executive producer/director/VFX supervisor Jabbar Raisani? You change it up.

Based on the story created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantasy series set in a world with four clans: the Fire Nation, the Water Tribe, Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom. Aang is an adolescent child who awakens from a deep slumber after 100 years, and must learn who he is as the master avatar. Not only have the Four Nations been at war, but without the avatar, everything is out of balance in the physical and spirit worlds.

Aang feels alone as his tribe, the Air Nomads, have been exterminated. He finds friendship with teenagers Katara, a waterbender, and her brother Sokka, and meets others along the journey who help him understand not only his elemental powers, but how to navigate growing up. Not everyone in the story has bending abilities, but once he masters waterbending, airbending, firebending and earthbending, he can stop his adversary Fire Lord Ozai from taking over the world. The avatar state shows Aang at his most powerful -- which can be helpful or harmful.

The series taps into Asian and Indigenous traditions and folklore, packs in laughs and emotional storylines, and carries the characters through war, dysfunctional family dynamics, loss, love and more. Adventure, growth and relationships are core to the story, and viewers will get to see action-packed martial arts sequences, budding character arcs and special effects that bring bending and fantasy creatures like Appa to life.

The Last Airbender is executive-produced by Albert Kim, who also served as a writer, alongside Jabbar Raisani, Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore and Michael Goi. The cast features Gordon Cormier as Aang, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, Kiawentiio as the water-bending Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh and Elizabeth Yu as Azula. Not to be left out, James Sie is returning as the Cabbage Man.

The show will debut with all eight episodes on Netflix on Thursday, Feb. 22. Rather than stream short episodes like the original, the new series will drop hour-long episodes that are family-friendly. However, the titles are different from what we've seen with the animated show.

Episodes:

1. Aang
2. Warriors
3. Omashu
4. Into the Dark
5. Spirited Away
6. Masks
7. The North
8. Legends

View the Official Trailer

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#14
New Releases / SHOGUN from FX-Hulu 2024 Feb
Last post by FWN Adm - February 02, 2024, 08:00:13 PM
Those who have access to Hulu, this year with a coproduction with FX, Hulu is releasing an adventure-drama TV series called SHOGUN. The series is about when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.

It is an upcoming historical drama television limited series based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell that is set to premiere on Hulu, Disney+ (via the Hulu hub) and FX in the United States, Disney+ (Via Star) internationally, Disney+ and Star+ in Latin America. The novel was previously adapted into a 1980 television miniseries.

Premise
Shōgun follows "the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai; John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance". Clavell's Shōgun is a fictionalized version of real events and history. The character of Blackthorne is loosely based on the historical English navigator William Adams, who in Japan rose to become a samurai under the strongest powerful daimyo, Tokugawa Ieyasu (on whom the character Yoshii Toranaga is based)

Season 1 episodes:

1. Anjin  (Feb 27)

2. Servants of Two Masters  (Feb 27)

3. Tomorrow is Tomorrow  (Mar 5)

4. The Eightfold Fence  (Mar 12)

5. Broken to the Fist  (Mar 19)

6. Ladies of the Willow World (Mar 26)

Cast:

Main
Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616))
Cosmo Jarvis as Pilot Major John Blackthorne (Miura Anjin (William Adams)) (1564–1620))
Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko (Hosokawa Gracia (1563–1600))
Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige (Honda Masanobu (1538–1616))
Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi (Honda Masazumi (1566–1637))
Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari (Ishida Mitsunari (1559–1600))
Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji
Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Buntaro (Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563–1646))
Tokuma Nishioka as Toda "Iron Fist" Hiromatsu (Hosokawa Fujitaka (1534–1610))
Yasunari Takeshima as Muraji
Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado (Matsudaira Tadayoshi (1580-1607))
Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba No Kata (Yodo-dono (1569–1615))
Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito (João Rodrigues Tçuzu (1561–1634))
Yuka Kouri as Kiku
Yoriko Dōguchi as Kiri No Kata (Lady Acha (1555-1637))
Ako as Daiyoin / Lady Iyo (Kōdai-in (1549–1624))

Supporting
Toshi Toda as Sugiyama (Maeda Toshiie (1539-1599))
Hiro Kanagawa as Igurashi
Junichi Tajiri as Uejiro
Néstor Carbonell as Vasco Rodrigues
Nobuya Shimamoto as Nebara Jozen
Yuki Kedoin as Takemaru
Mako Fujimoto as Shizu No Kata
Haruno Niiyama as Natsu No Kata
Hiromoto Ida as Kiyama ukon Sadanaga (Konishi Yukinaga (1555-1600))
Takeshi Kurokawa as Ohno Harunobu (Otani Yoshitsugu (1558-1600))
Yuko Miyamoto as Gin
Yoshi Amao as Sera

View the Official Trailer for the series

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#15
North America / SUPERMAN, the life of Christop...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 22, 2024, 07:42:59 PM
A story dedicated to Christopher Reeve

Sundance Film Institute is having a limited time screening of the new 2024 documentary 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story'. Sundance Film Institute releases the new 2024 documentary 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' created by two documentary filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui and also offers screening times to audiences to view the documenatry.

On this documentary dedicated to the life of Christopher Reeve the filmmakers go to the family and home of the former star and follow him through his career and also his family life. Moving backward and forward in time, filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui expertly weave together a dual narrative exploring the life-changing impact of two pivotal moments in Christopher Reeve's career: being cast in 1978's Superman and becoming paralyzed in 1995.

Decades before superheroes took over the cinemas, Reeve made the world believe a man could fly; his accident brought worldwide awareness of disability. In Super/Man, Reeve's family and close confidantes demonstrate remarkable candor in their reflections on life before and after the accident. The result is a deeply moving film foregrounding the man behind Superman — not a hagiography, but a full-fledged portrait that encompasses both the soaring heights and the dark depths of Reeve's journey.

Screening times and locations:

JAN 21, 9:00 AM MST
Screening
The Ray Theatre
PARK CITY

JAN 24, 3:15 PM MST
Screening
Redstone Cinemas - 7
PARK CITY
OPEN CAPTION

JAN 26, 9:30 AM MST
Screening
Library Center Theatre
PARK CITY

JAN 27, 10:00 PM MST
Screening
Megaplex Theatres at The Gateway - Theater 8/9
SALT LAKE CITY

JAN 28, 12:30 PM MST
Screening
Holiday Village Cinemas - 3
PARK CITY

Visit the Official Page at Sundance Film Festival for additional information

#16
News & Media / Berlinale Film Festival reveal...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 22, 2024, 05:00:48 PM
The 74th Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the 20 titles selected for its official Competition as well as its competitive Encounters strand. All Competition titles are world premieres with the exception of Aaron Shimberg's A Different Man, starring Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson, which recently debuted at Sundance and will receive its international premiere in Berlin.

Six of the films are directed or co-directed by women – the same figure as last year – and two are debut features.

South Korea's Hong returns to Berlin, having had six films in Competition at the festival since 2008. His latest, A Traveler's Needs, was described as a comedy and a "light but piercing take on human relationships" by Chatrian at the press conference. It stars French actress Huppert, who will also receive honorary Golden Bear that should could not accept in-person when it was first bestowed in 2022. Huppert previously starred in Hong's In Another Country (2012) and Claire's Camera (2017), both of which premiered at Cannes.

Competition

Another End, dir. Piero Messina
Architecton, dir. Victor Kossakovsky
Black Tea, dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
La Cocina, dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
Dahomey, dir. Mati Diop
A Different Man, dir. Aaron Schimberg
The Empire, dir. Bruno Dumont
Gloria!, dir. Margherita Vicario
Suspended Time, dir. Olivier Assayas
From Hilde, With Love, dir. Andreas Dresen
My Favourite Cake, dir. Behtash Saneeha, Maryam Moghaddam
Langue Etrangère, dir. Claire Burger
Who Do I Belong To, dir. Meryam Joobeur
Pepe, dir. Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias
Shambhala, dir. Min Bahadur Bham
Sterben, dir. Matthias Glasner
The Devil's Bath, dir. Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Small Things Like These, dir. Tim Mielants (previously announced)
A Traveler's Needs, dir. Hong Sangsoo
Sons, dir. Gustav Möller

Encounters

Arcadia, dir. Yorgos Zois
Cidade; Campo, dir. Juliana Rojas
Demba, dir. Mamadou Dia
Direct Action, dir. Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell
Sleep With Your Eyes Open, dir. Nele Wohlatz
The Fable, dir. Raam Reddy
A Family, dir. Christine Angot
Favoriten, dir. Ruth Beckermann
Ivo, dir. Eva Trobisch
The Great Yawn, dir. Aliyar Rasti
Some Rain Must Fall, dir. Qiu Yang
Hands In The Fire, dir. Margarida Gil
Matt And Mara, dir. Kazik Radwanski
Through The Graves The Wind Is Blowing, dir. Travis Wilkerson
You Burn Me, dir. Matias Pineiro

Please visit the Official Website for more information

#17
News & Media / Busan Film Festival Responds t...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 21, 2024, 12:10:42 AM
Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has made a further apology and is introducing practical changes in response to an investigation into the sexual harassment case involving former festival director Huh Moonyung, which resulted in the resignation of three top executives and one dismissal last year.

Full statement from the Busan International Film Festival on the result of the Sexual Harassment in the Workplace investigation

On May 31, 2023, the Busan International Film Festival was made aware of the [sexual harassment and assault in the workplace incident] through the media report and received the official report from Deun Deun, The Center for Gender Equality in Korean Cinema, on June 5.

The Busan International Film Festival recognised this case as a 'sexual harassment in the workplace' incident that occurred while the Accused was working at the film festival, and entrusted an external specialised organisation, the Busan Counseling Center Against Sexual Violence – Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the Busan Culture and Art Industry (hereinafter referred to as 'Counseling Center'), for an objective and professional investigation.

Following the case investigation and processing procedure, the Counseling Center formed an investigation committee and deliberation committee to conduct the appropriate investigation and deliberation. The investigation committee members included law firm attorneys and labour attorneys from labour corporations. However, the Accused requested the investigation agency be changed to a law firm or labour corporation for guaranteed expertise and objectivity, and did not respond to several recommendations for investigation. Due to such circumstances, the investigation was conducted on the Accuser and the witness[es].

The Accuser expressed their willingness to change the investigation agency and cooperate with the subsequent reinvestigation in response to the Accused's continued refusal to be investigated, but that also did not come to pass due to the Accused's refusal.

The investigation committee of this case concluded that it [constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace] on the basis of the Accuser's specific and consistent statements, and in December 2023, the Busan International Film Festival was notified of the investigation committee's result, a [serious incident of sexual harassment in the workplace].

After the incident, the Busan International Film Festival conducted a thorough investigation on all employees and took preventative measures through gender equality campaigns and in-depth education for gender sensitivity; and will continue to improve the internal organisational culture to ensure that similar cases do not occur in the future.

In order to achieve this:

First, the Busan International Film Festival will revise the Articles of Incorporation and strengthen the responsibilities and qualifications of the executives to ensure that there are no blind spots in the prevention of sexual harassment, and revised the Regulations on Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace to advance the reporting and counselling process for sexual harassment in the workplace.

Second, in the event of such an incident, we will do our best to protect the victims by supplementing regulations that provide a protection network and prevent secondary damage.

Third, in order to ensure an equal organisational culture for all genders and responsible processing of a case, we will designate a specialised organisation and mandate grievance counsellors to receive specialised training.

Fourth, we will strengthen practical education for the prevention of sexual harassment and assault for the secretariat according to executive and rank.

We sincerely apologise to the victim that such an incident has occurred in the workplace, a place that should be safe and where gender equality should be upheld. We would also like to apologise once again for the shortcomings in protecting the victim and conducting the initial investigation procedures.

And we apologise to the employees of the Busan International Film Festival and everybody who has supported the Busan International Film Festival for causing disappointment and concern.

#18
Asia / 48th Hong Kong Int. Film Festi...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 10, 2024, 01:48:28 AM
The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival is going to place in Hong Kong from 28 March through 8 April 2024.

As of this time no other information available but we'll bring new updates as we know more.

 Please also visit the Official Website for more information

#19
News & Media / Italy’s Box Office Returning A...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 09, 2024, 07:39:33 PM
Italy was one of the countries most hit in Europe by the COVID pandemic. The strict lockdowns crippled the economy in many ways, countless businesses closed their stores and naturally their movie theaters were not immune to this. While most survived but were not able to show any films.

2023 started to show a great recovery and box office has surged again. Below are some figures from 2023:

Box office takings rose 62% compared to 2022 to hit €495m, according to figures from Italian box office company Cinetel published by audiovisual body Anica. Admissions grew by 59% to reach 70.5m. However, the Italian theatrical market is still down by approximately 16% in takings and 23% in attendance compared to the pre-pandemic average for the 2017-2019 period. The top grossing film of the year was There's Still Tomorrow, the directorial debut of Italian star Paola Cortellesi, which was released in October through Vision Distribution after world premiering at the Rome Film Festival. The black and white comedy drama, set in Rome in 1946, grossed nearly €33m at the box office – ahead of second placed Barbie (€32.1m) and then Oppenheimer (€27.9m).

Anica highlighted the performance of Italian films in 2023, noting that Italian productions, including co-productions, recorded revenues of over €120m and 18m admissions for a roughly 26% share of total attendance.

Not only was there a higher share for Italian productions than the average for the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2019 (21%) but it was also close to the average for the entire decade 2010-2019 (26.9%).

The top three Italian-produced films, in addition to Paola Cortellesi's There's Still Tomorrow, included comedy adventure Me Contro Te Il Film – Missione Giungla (€4.8m) and Fabio de Luigi's comedy Tre Di Troppo (€4.7m). Anica also underlined the recovery of the summer season in Italy, traditionally considered the weakest period at the local box office.

The May to August period saw higher takings than the three-year period 2017-2019. Overall, the year recorded five months out of 12 with values higher than pre-pandemic data.

Italy mirrors most other European countries whose 2023 box office remains below the pre-pandemic era. France's box office is 13.1% below the pre-Covid 2017-2019 average, while the UK and Ireland is 22.1% down on the three-year pre-pandemic period average. For Germany the figure is 16.9% below and for Spain it is 23.9% below.

#20
Asia / Hong Kong CineFan Spring Progr...
Last post by FWN Adm - January 08, 2024, 07:15:49 PM
Hong Kong CineFan reveals its 2024 winter program featuring female Hungarian film director Márta Mészáros.

'A woman wanting to make films was a joke.' Márta Mészáros can now blithely laugh at the sarcasm and censorship she faced during her trailblazing, six decade career. Being the first woman to direct a feature in Hungary, and the first female filmmaker to win the Golden Bear at Berlinale, she broke barriers in cinema hierarchies and secured herself in the pantheon of auteurs, with an achievement as remarkable as her ex-husband – the legendary filmmaker Miklós Jancsó – yet standing tall in her own distinctive voice in the history of cinema.

Spending a decade making documentaries, Mészáros honed her dynamic visual style, investing delicate nuances and subtle realism into her exploration of women's lives – in her own words, 'to tell their stories honestly.' Skillfully turning ordinary workplace and domestic chores into private, churning dramas, she places her characters under conflicts and dilemmas where they must make a decision on their own. From bearing a child out-of-wedlock to hiring a surrogate mother, and even giving birth on camera, the Hungarian director is fearless in obfuscating the boundaries between fiction and reality, addressing head-on sensitive and controversial subjects that few dare to challenge.

Mészáros looks at her characters through a minimalist yet discerning lens, almost like an innocent child – the visceral emotions across their faces are captured with exquisite close-ups and freeze frames, and their intense struggles are gently laid bare without value judgment but with a sympathetic caress. Yet she never forgets to quietly admire women's stamina and fiercely independent spirit, while piercing through the patriarchal manipulation and moral conservatism that her heroines are striving to resist. Despite being lauded as a pioneering feminist, Mészáros never recognises herself as such: 'I wasn't making films about feminism. I was making films about people.'

Astonishingly prolific, Mészáros' themes range from personal independence, female solidarity to reflection on history. In the electrifying characters played by Marina Vlady, Isabelle Huppert, Lili Monori and Zsuzsa Czinkóczi, some parts of her alter-ego can always be seen, referencing her childhood as an orphan, her formative years as an adopted daughter and her rise to become an acclaimed filmmaker. Her own life embodies women's gender and artistic emancipation, while intricately entwined with Eastern Europe's sociocultural transformation. In its masterful blends of the personal and the political interwoven with dreamlike memories, real and fictionalised newsreels, Mészáros' autobiographical 'Diary Trilogy', her most acclaimed work, displays a refined, sophisticated film language that merges her own suffering with her country's tragic history as it unfolded within her own lifetime, evoking agony and catharsis in equal measure.

Two of a Kind — Auto-Remakes by Master Filmmakers

Remakes have a history nearly as long as Western film culture itself. While some may consider it as proof of filmmakers running out of creative ideas, the master filmmakers do have distinct, strong reasons to revisit their story a second time, and all share one ultimate goal – elevating their own work to absolute perfection.

From silent to talkies, from sheer black and white to vibrant colour, from academy ratio to CinemaScope are among the justified reasons for reprising a film. The reincarnation not only represents technological advances in filmmaking, but also reflects the evolution of time – Ozu Yasujiro's Tokyo, where his rowdy children lived in his films, shifted from pre-war depression to post-war economic recovery; as Europe was sliding to warfare again, Abel Gance reiterated his indictment, taking the anti-war theme to new horizons through two highly stylised films. Julien Duvivier transposed his dance programme from French sensibility to American sensuality, mirroring the cultural difference and his own transformation after fleeing to Hollywood.

As censorship was relaxed alongside the progression of societies, films that were previously banned or forced to be excised can now return to the director's ideal version. Inagaki Hiroshi restored in The Rickshaw Man the heart-wrenching scene of his retrained confession of love; William Wyler created an unflinching adaption that stays true to its original theatrical version in The Children's Hour, without compromise on the homosexual innuendo onscreen. Yet, allusions and subtexts conceived to evade censorship still evoke an enchanting aura and pleasure that is unparalleled.

  Visit the Official Program page on the CineFan website