The global film festival circuit in 2024 will feature everything from renowned Lithuanian arthouse productions such as Locarno Prize winners Toxic and Drowning Dry to Sean Baker’s Anora and Jacques Audiard’s From the best to the worst, there was something for every taste, including audience favorites such as Emilia Pérez. Of course, it comes with a big serving of star power.
Some film events, such as Poland’s Camerimage, have caused controversy, while others have raised their profile. For example, Locarno in Switzerland has strengthened its role as a leading global film festival, and Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic has once again shown why. Known as Central Europe’s biggest summer movie party.
The Hollywood Reporter highlights the 2024 film festival season.
Cannes female power.
“Anora,” “Emilia Perez,” and the body horror film “Substance,” starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, were among the world premiere releases on the Croisette. Anora won the Palme d’Or after the film, about a young Brooklyn sex worker played by Mikey Madison who impulsively marries the son of an oligarch, captivated festivals.
Stars like Emilia Perez, Carla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez sang and danced to the hearts of viewers, Netflix executives and the French Academy. As a result, the transcrime musical was acquired by the streamer and became an international Oscar contender for France. And Coralie Ferguito’s Substance not only put directors Qualley and Dennis Quaid in the spotlight, but also saw Moore undergo a career resurgence.
Other film highlights from Cannes 2024 include director Payal Kapadia’s melancholy drama All We Imagine as Right, the first Indian film to enter competition on the Croisette since 1994; Films include Brazilian Oscar nominee Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, which won Best Original Screenplay. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival Award: Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kindness of Kindness”; Latvian director Gintz Gilvalodis’ 3D animated survival adventure “Flow”; Magnus von Horn’s post-World War I social drama “The Needle” Girl”, Guy Maddin’s Rumors about Clueless World Leaders at the G7 Summit, Mohammad Rasourov’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
About a family falling apart in Iran.
Karlovy Vary is quirky, fun and full of party atmosphere.
Arrive in the Czech Republic in late June for the annual Karlovy Vary International Festival. The film festival (KVIFF) is coming up. The 2024 edition, the 30th under the leadership of Chairman Jiri Bartoska, once again flaunted its trademark atmosphere that has led people to call it Central Europe’s biggest summer movie party.
First, there’s the Czech film about pig slaughter, the film about the possibility of a demon baby, the rock documentary, and the eventual top prize winner, all of which are edgy, genre-bending, and yes, outlandish. We featured a lineup of movies with great sound. A Sudden Glimpse into Something Deeper is a film directed by Mark Cousins about Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham, a Scottish artist known for her abstract paintings, and narrated by none other than Tilda Swinton.
Music and a party atmosphere provided further entertainment, including an opening night concert by electronic music band Kosheen. And, as per Karlovy Vary tradition, the stars came to the Czech spa town. Some of the bold names in attendance this year included Viggo Mortensen, Daniel Brühl, Clive Owen, and Benicio del Toro starred in this year’s trailer for KVIFF, which annually features big stars.
Shah Rukh Khan and a Lithuanian writer rule Locarno.
‘King Khan’, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, or simply SRK, unveiled an icon at the heart of beautiful Swiss Locarno as he showcased his global star power at the 77th Locarno Film Festival. It dominated Piazza Grande, a large square. He also received a lifetime achievement award, the so-called Career Leopard. Fans shouted “I love you,” cheered, took photos and gave the icon a huge round of applause. SRK entertained them with jokes, shared anecdotes and showed his charm. As a result, people could be heard calling his name in the town center until late at night.
Lithuania was able to celebrate two arthouse entries in Locarno’s main competition, with Saule Briubaite winning the Best Film award for his feature debut Toxic, which explores the human body and a mysterious modeling agency. Laurinas Barreixa’s Drowning Dry won best director and acting awards. Ensemble cast.
The Special Jury Prize went to “Mond (Moon),” the second novel by Iraqi-born Austrian author Kurdwin Ayub. The film follows Sarah, a former martial artist played by Florentina Holzinger, who leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family.
Erotic films enliven Venice, but the stars’ disdain turns the press away.
Sex and passion came to the fore at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, with sizzling reels attracting a lot of attention. On the erotic side, Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson give a steamy, intense performance in Halina Lane’s Babygirl, while Daniel Craig plays an obsessive gay man in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer. Lost in desire. In addition, fans of sex scenes on the beach were fascinated by Alfonso Cuaron’s series “Disclaimer”.
But at the end of Venice, Pedro Almodovar’s English-language feature debut The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, was named one of the festival’s featured films, along with Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. It won the prestigious Golden Lion Award for Best Film. , starring Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, won the Silver Lion.
But a year after Hollywood’s double strike left Lido almost empty of celebs, the refusal to interview stars such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and George Clooney led to some international press Excitement turned to annoyance for those involved. They and other A-listers did not participate in so-called “junkets,” in which movie stars do sit-down interviews with journalists from international news organizations.
Camerimage court controversy.
Poland’s Energa Camera Image in Toruń was held amid controversy amid criticism of controversial comments by festival founder Marek Zidowicz that sparked an industry backlash, with Oscar-winner Steve McQueen and Prominent guests such as Substance director Coralie Falguito were absent due to protest.
He caused an uproar with an editorial published in Cinematography World magazine about a week before the festival began. In it, he seemed to suggest that promoting greater expressiveness by female cinematographers in Camerimage might lead to less artistic works being selected. Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, president of the festival’s main competition jury, released a joint statement with her fellow jurors, saying they “welcome the debate around gender representation” and “welcome the debate on gender representation” and “welcome the debate on true inclusivity”. I wholeheartedly support this necessary transition.”
The tense atmosphere was further heightened by the festival’s decision to screen the world premiere of “The Last,” an indie western starring Alec Baldwin that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins on set. Some members of the Democratic Progressive Party took to social media to claim the decision was a tasteless publicity stunt. The fact that the demand for Rust tickets caused the fest’s ticket sales system to crash seemed like a minor issue compared to all the other arguments. Amidst all the controversy, one may have overlooked the fact that von Horn’s aforementioned Girl with a Needle won a Golden Frog Award for Camerimage.
Stars flock to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.
The 4th Red Sea International Film Festival, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in December, saw a parade of A-listers at the final festival of the year. On the first day’s red carpet, guests included Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh, Emily Blunt, Vin Diesel, head judge Spike Lee, Michael Dougla, Eva Longoria, and Catherine Zeta. = Jones and Will Smith were there. a bit.
In fact, opening night was so packed with talent that Diesel, who received the surprise honor, said on stage, “There may be more familiar faces here than at some awards shows in America.” he joked. The festival has since featured stars such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Viola Davis, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas, and Jeremy Renner.
Davis and Chopra Jonas were recognized at the closing ceremony, along with honorees led by Red Path.
