Ioncinema

His niche and common threads to his cinema has been the human cost of capitalism, the fallacy of the American dream, and a bit of visibility for those often ignored. Since his modest beginnings with 2005’s Man Push Cart, for two decades now North Carolinian-Iranian filmmaker has been working with increasingly bigger budgets and mostly premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Ramin Bahrani‘s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selected Chop Shop (2007) was followed by Lido selected 2008’s Goodbye Solo, 2012’s At Any Price, 2014’s 99 Homes with 2021’s The White Tiger (read review) and docu 2nd Chance (2024 – Sundance Film Festival) as his latest oeuvres.… Read the rest

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Exactly tow decades ago, Jasmila Žbanić burst onto the international stage in spectacular fashion, announcing herself as a major new cinematic voice when her debut feature Grbavica captured the ultimate prize—the Golden Bear—at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. The Bosnian filmmaker would follow that up with 2010’s On the Path (Berlinale Competition), 2013’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (TIFF – Special Presentation), 2014’s Love Island (Locarno Film Festival) and her in 2020’s Quo Vadis, Aida? (read ★★★★ review) competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She has produced two feature docs, and more recently directed an episode of the series “The Last of Us.”… Read the rest

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The Venice Production Bridge have unveiled the projects lining up the Venice Gap-Financing Market and we find auteurs such as Mexican filmmaker Lila Avilés, Damian Kocur, Asmae El Moudir and a slew of great auteurs are among the 38 feature-length fiction and documentary projects showcased this upcoming September. The 13th edition (September 4th – 6th, 2026) will offer selected projects from Europe and around the world the opportunity to close their international financing, through one-to-one meetings with international decision-makers. The earliest we might see these projects next year in 2027, more than likely 2028. After The Chambermaid (2018) and Totem (2023), Avilés will be getting her third feature film ready in Cábula.… Read the rest

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The ARTE France Cinéma committee got behind a trio of works (we expect all these these to be featured in Cannes next year) — two that were on our radar and a first fiction oeuvre by China-Chicago filmmaker already versed in the docu-sphere. After receiving Eurimages coin support last month, Unclenching the Fists‘ Kira Kovalenko is prepping for a fall shoot for Heavens Don’t Care. To be filmed in Yerevan, Armenia, this follows a family whose life unfolds between celebrations and work, moments of joy and melancholy, and a series of quiet disasters, as everyday existence reveals its tenderness, resilience and fragility.… Read the rest

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Yorgos Lanthimos was rumored to be circling the project, but we now learn that Rose Glass will be directing My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel on emotional numbness, privilege and self-destruction set just before 9/11 in the Upper East Side. This would be Rose Glass’s third feature film after 2019’s Saint Maud (preemed at TIFF) and 2024’s Love Lies Bleeding (preemed at Sundance Film Festival). No word yet on the producers or casting but we imagine we’ll be hearing more shortly.

… Read the rest

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If the movie-going month where we are seeking refuge in an air-conditioned multiplex this July, beyond the usual mix of film festival duds and major event films like The Odyssey, there are also a handful of genuinely offbeat independent gems. Three particularly strange, singular and worthwhile titles stand out from the crowd. Barrio Triste from Stillz announces a whole other kind of found footage fiction auteurism, The Kidnapping of Arabella by Carolina Cavalli offers an offbeat and absurd recipe for nations of identity while firs time filmmaker Georgia Bernstein assures we’ll come close to unexpected climaxing with her kooky Night Nurse.… Read the rest

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Costa Brava, Lebanon‘s Mounia Akl, Everybody Loves Jeanne‘s Celine Devaux and The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo‘s Diego Céspedes are among the baker’s dozen projects selected for the upcoming Oxbelly writers’ lab retreat. From a whopping 2000 plus submissions, and a Greece backdrop, this year’s retreat will include advisors Richard Linklater, Barry Jenkins, Lulu Wang, Annemarie Jacir, Charlie Kaufman, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Radu Jude. Mounia Akl will be there with Hold Me (If You Want) — we discussed the project with here at the Atlas Labs at the Marrakech Film Festival. Diego Céspedes just completed jury duty in Cannes and is now set to develop what will certainly be a queer friendly project in The Case Of The Boy Who Lost His Heart.… Read the rest

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Qatar’s Doha Film Institute has announced the recipients of its 2026 Spring Grants — as usual we focus on fiction feature film projects in three groupings – MENA – Feature Narrative – Development, MENA – Feature Narrative – Production and Non-MENA – Feature Narrative – Post-Production which awards several Cannes Film Festival offerings. Of the projects that have caught our attention we find that Jessy Moussallem‘s short to feature project Faux Bijoux is picking up steam, while Àlex Lora Cercós with The Rift and Seemab Gul with Haven of Hope are likely being readied for autumn prestige film fest circuit.… Read the rest

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With a trio of shorts under her belt in Bea, Seriously (2021), Merci, Poppy (2024) and F*ck That Guy (2024) tri-state area now NYC based filmmaker Hanna Gray Organschi continues working with themes surrounding stubborn female protagonists with a feature film debut — a rare project that was invited to three major Sundance Institute labs. Here is everything we know so far (American Indie Edition) for … Hanna Gray Organschi’s Rubber Hut.

2024 was a massive lift-off moment for the project with early development support from Sundance participating at the Screenwriters, Directors and Producers Labs, with additional aid from Gotham Week and being selected for The Gotham/Rotterdam Producing Lab.… Read the rest

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In his three film filmography, Hungarian filmmaker Gábor Reisz has offered a social commentary mostly irony over deadpan, to explore folks who are often adrift in a confusing world, where social tensions mount and auds are offered insight thru different perspectives. 2014’s For Some Inexplicable Reason (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival selection) was followed by 2018’s Bad Poems and his 2023 breakout Explanation for Everything – the top prize winner from the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival. His highly anticipated fourth feature just wrapped up this year. Here is everything we know so far for … Gabor Reisz’s Ember végez.… Read the rest

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