Moviebreak Interviews und Festivals

First, Visar Morina's harsh drama of a family's social decline and the false promises of economic advancement won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, where it premiered in February in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Then, as a little add-on just a few weeks ago, Shame and Money won Best International Feature in Munich's CineMasters Competition. Now his third feature is screening at Karlovy Va...

With his first feature film, Ramzi Bashour landed a spot right in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance's final Park City edition. In Hot Water, the director, screenwriter, and musician born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Lebanon and the US explores the complicated relationship between a young adult son from Indiana and his Lebanese mother. On site at Karlovy Vary where his humorous drama scree...

William Friedkin, George A. Romero, Tobe Hooper: For the dark side of cinema, Alexandre O. Philippe always had his own fascination. In his canon of film favorites, Vertigo has its own special place, just like the legendary actress who played its mysterious main character. In Kim Novak's Vertigo, which premiered last year at Venice and is now at Karlovy Vary, the Swiss-American filmmaker lets Kim N...

Partly inspired by the personal experiences of both himself and co-screenwriter Christian Bengtson, Mads Mengel conceived a cinematic feature film debut that secured him Trine Dyrholm for the titular role. So it seems only fitting that the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival invited the Danish director into the renowned Crystal Globe Competition with "The Guest". The intimate drama touches up...

Die doppel- und dreibödigen Ideen aus Sven Amtsbergs zeitgenössischem Schelmenroman "Superbuhei" inspirierten Josef Brandl bereits zu einem gleichnamigen Kurzfilm. Doch dessen sieben Minuten Laufzeit waren nicht genug für die wilde Story um den Langenhagemer Kneipenbesitzer und maximal unzuverlässigen Erzähler Jesse Bronske. Der Ortsnachbar von Scorpions-Frontman Klaus Meine kriegt nun seinen eige...

As professor of philosophy Louis Godbout is no stranger to the theme of existentialist dread that becomes an unsetteling untercurrent of his third feature. The Parking Spot examines how a small disturbance in everyday life can errode a person's sense of social and self. On site at the Shanghai Internationl Film Festival where his surreal psychological drama has its world premiere in the main compe...

After numerous short films at renowned international festivals, Yassine El Idrissi takes his first feature straight to the competition of the Shanghai International Film Festival. Inspired by his background as a journalist, Halima combines nuanced character drama and social study into a powerful story of female resilience and structural marginalization. On site in Shanghai, the Moroccan director-w...

The audience knows him mostly as an actor in films like the mystery drama Quo Vadis, Baby? and popular Italian TV series like Don Matteo and Inspector Ricciardi. But for the International Gastronomy Film Festival, born in 2025 from festival founder Gülper Ergün’s wish to bridge different cultures, cities, and countries via food and stories, Ferdinando Maddaloni stepped up as Artistic Director. Inf...

In der finalen Episode aus Cannes sprechen Lida, Jakob und Patrick über Valeska Grisebachs mit dem Preis der Jury ausgezeichneten "Das geträumte Abenteuer". Sie kommen überdies noch auf ein paar Favoriten zu sprechen, darunter Marine Atlans "La Gradiva" etwa, der den Preis der Semaine de la Critique mit nach Hause nahm, Bruno Dumonts "Red Rocks", Quentin Dupieux' skurriler "Le Vertige" sowie den n...

His multidimensional works centering on the experience of the African diaspora established Alain Gomis as a leading voice of contemporary independent cinema. After winning the Berlinale Silver Bear for his sensitive drama Félicité, the French-Senegalese director has returned to the festival’s competition with his 2012 existentialist study Today, and his latest feature Dao. Moving between documenta...

In der siebten Episode von Cannes geht es für Lida, Jakob und Patrick allmählich in den Endspurt. Darin spricht das Trio über Her Private Hell, Nicolas Winding Refns' langersehnte Rückkehr auf die große Leinwand. Für viel Begeisterung sorgt die Österreicherin Sandra Wollner mit ihrem dritten Spielfilm Everytime, der nach der Aufnahme der Episode zurecht den Hauptpreis der Un Certain Regard"-Nebens...

In der sechsten Episode sprechen Lida, Jakob und Patrick über James Grays Paper Tiger, mit dem der Amerikaner zum sechsten Mal im Wettbewerb von Cannes vertreten ist. Darüber hinaus spricht das Trio, noch im Unwissen, über Christian Mungius Palme-d'Or-Gewinner Fjord und über Arthur Hararis Body-Switch-Film The Unknown.

After screening his films at Karlovy Vary, Raindance, and Visions du Réel, Viesturs Kairišs now arrives at Cannes with his daring portrait of an iconic figure, both of his Latvian home country and the history of sport. Ulya tells of the youth and professional ascent of basketball player Uljana Semjonova, whose records remain unmatched. At the Palais des Festivals, where his feature just premiered...

Cannes is for her a well-acquainted sphere where she has presented more than half a dozen films. Most prominently, Portrait of a Lady on Fire drew international attention to her subtlety and depth. Now, Noémie Merlant is back with a work as fierce and fabulous as it is funny. Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica, screening in the Midnight Movies slate, follows a fading star and her affectionate assist...

From big budget productions like Pixar's WALL-E and the mainstream animation success Asterix Louis Clichy went on his own artistic journey. It lead the French filmmaker to the 79th Cannes Film Festival where his feature film debut holds a prominent place as the only animated film in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section. In dreamy watercolors, Iron Boy imagines the coming-of-age of 10-year-old...

From her early writing collaborations for the Oscar-nominated drama Mustang over her acclaimed directing debut Augustine to her last feature film Couture - an empathic look at intersecting lives in the fashion world - Alice Winocour proved once more her creative range as both a screenwriter and director. From daring independent films to star-studded productions, from empathic look at intersecting...

After showing his decisive films at Locarno, the Berlinale, and Toronto, Radu Jude has now made the leap to Cannes. Here the Romanian director once again proves his knack for scathing social satire with The Diary of a Chambermaid. Loosely based on Octave Mirbeau’s famed novel, the biting comedy screening in the Directors’ Fortnight highlights the struggles of a Romanian domestic help and the explo...

Am sechsten Tag kehrt Jakob wieder in die gewohnte Runde mit Lida und Patrick zurück. Zunächst diskutiert das Trio über die problematischen Aspekte rund um Marie Kreutzers Gentle Monster, der sich unter anderem mit der Aufdeckung von Pädokriminalität auseinanderzusetzen sucht. Mit Ryūsuke Hamaguchis All of a Sudden wartet das Festival zudem mit einem der meisterwarteten Titel des Festivaljahres au...

Am fünften Tag der Cannes-Filmfestspiele stehen Lida und Patrick unter massiven Zeitdruck und rasen förmlich durch die Filme. Im Schnelldurchlauf kommen die beiden zunächst auf Patricks Geheimtipp Virages aus der Schweiz zu sprechen, bevor das Gespräch zu Steven Soderberghs neuer Dokumentation über das letzte Interview mit John Lennon und Yoko Ono übergeht. Patrick empfiehlt überdies Reed Van Dyks...

Adapting comedic conventions to an equally profitable and popular form of cinematic entertainment proved a specialty of Pierre Salvadori. This mix of wit and whimsy makes it seem only fitting for the French filmmaker to open the 79th Cannes Film Festival with his newest work, The Electric Kiss. Historic comedy and romance mingle in a chaotic charade where art and amorous confusion collide with met...

Am vierten Tag von Cannes 2026 zeigt sich das Moviebreak-Trio uneins über Jane Schoenbruns neuen Film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Darüber hinaus kommen Lida, Jakob und Patrick auf den neuen Film des Ida-Regisseurs Paweł Pawlikowski zu sprechen, in dem sich Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) und Tochter Erika (Sandra Hüller) auf einen Road-Trip von Frankfurt nach Weimar durch das geteilte Deuts...

Am dritten Tag sprechen Lida und Patrick über Charline Bourgeois-Tacquets Wettbewerbstitel La vie d'une femme, stellen sich die Frage, ob wahre Fußballfans in Juan Cabral and Santiago Francos The Match noch etwas Neues über die legendäre Viertelfinalpartie 1986 zwischen England und Argentinien lernen können, und werfen mit We Are Aliens einen Blick auf einen der traditionell eher rar gesähten Anim...

In der ersten Podcast-Episode von den Filmfestspielen von Cannes sprechen Lida, Jakob und Patrick über Pierre Salvadoris The Electric Kiss, der das Festival eröffnete, sowie Butterfly Jam, das heißersehnte Comeback des im amerikanischen Exil lebenden russischen Wunderkinds Kantemir Balagov, sowie Nagi Notes, mit dem der Japaner Koji Fukada erstmals im Wettbewerb von Cannes vertreten ist.

Since he took over the most prominent parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival three years ago, the Quinzaine des cinéastes, formerly known as Quinzaine des réalisateurs, has both sharpened its profile as aplatform for cinematic discoveries and its status as a forum for prominent artists beyond the mainstream. Under the artistic direction of Julien Rejl, the Directors' Fortnight claims to stri...

It has been two decades since his charming feature debut Waking Ned Devine became an international surprise success. Since then, Kirk Jones has only directed a handful of films, the last one about ten years ago. But I Swear was worth the wait. With empathy and eccentric humor, the biopic of Scottish Tourette activist John Davidson shows his difficult youth with the illness. Back in the '80s where...