Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov is a Russian-Kazakh film director, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic Night Watch (2004) and action thriller Wanted (2008), as well as for pioneering screenlife films: Unfriended (2015), Searching (2018) and Profile (2021). He founded Baselevs, a production company that earned a spot among the 2021 World's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Video, according to Fast Company.
The cinema of Russia began in the Russian Empire, widely developed in the Soviet Union and in the years following its dissolution. The Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has become known internationally with films such as Hardcore Henry (2015), Leviathan (2014), Night Watch (2004) and Brother (1997). The Moscow International Film Festival began in Moscow in 1935. The Nika Award is the main annual national film award in Russia.
The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of the "Big Three" alongside the Venice Film Festival in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival in France. Tens of thousands of visitors attend each year.
Shazad Latif is a British actor, who starred as Tariq Masood in the BBC TV series Spooks, Clem Fandango on Toast of London, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Penny Dreadful. In 2017, he was cast as Chief of Security Ash Tyler in the CBS All Access television series Star Trek: Discovery. He will portray Captain Nemo in the upcoming live-action series Nautilus.
Valene Kane is a Northern Irish actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in all three series of BBC Two's BAFTA-nominated The Fall, in which she played Jamie Dornan's first lover, Rose Stagg.
Unknown is a 2011 action-thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella. The film, produced by Joel Silver, Leonard Goldberg and Andrew Rona, is based on the 2003 French novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert published in English as Out of My Head which was adapted as the film's screenplay by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell. The narrative centers around a professor who wakes up from a four-day long coma and sets out to prove his identity after no one recognizes him, including his own wife, and another man claims to be him.
The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The first seven films of the festival were announced on 15 December 2014. Isabel Coixet's Nobody Wants the Night was announced as the opening film.
Things to Come is a 2016 French-German drama film written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. It stars Isabelle Huppert as middle-aged philosophy professor Nathalie Chazeaux, whose life is going through a series of separations.
The 66th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2016, with American actress Meryl Streep as the President of the Jury. The Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was presented to German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Hail, Caesar!, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, was selected to open the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian documentary Fire at Sea, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, which also serves as closing night film.
Strike a Pose is a Belgian-Dutch documentary film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the 2016 Berlinale. Directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the film profiles the dancers who performed with Madonna on her Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990.
On Body and Soul is a 2017 Hungarian drama film written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi. The story revolves around a CFO of a slaughterhouse and the newly appointed meat quality inspector who discover they can communicate with each other through their dreams, leading to an unlikely romance. It won the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin it also won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. It was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated at the 90th Academy Awards. Alexandra Borbély won the European Actress award at the European Film Awards for her performance in the film.
Isle of Dogs is a 2018 stop-motion animated comedy film written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson. A U.S.–German co-production, Isle of Dogs was produced by Indian Paintbrush and Anderson's own American Empirical Pictures, in association with Studio Babelsberg. The film is set in the fictional Japanese city of Megasaki, where Mayor Kenji Kobayashi has banished all dogs to Trash Island due to a canine influenza pandemic. Kobayashi’s nephew Atari sets out to find his missing dog Spots with the help of a group of dogs led by stray dog Chief. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum and Scarlett Johansson among many others.
Insyriated, released in some territories as In Syria, is a 2017 Belgian drama film directed by Philippe Van Leeuw. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Panoroma Audience Award. At the 8th Magritte Awards, the film won all six awards it was nominated for, including Best Film and Best Director for Van Leeuw.
Unfriended: Dark Web is a 2018 American screenlife horror film written and directed by Stephen Susco in his directorial debut. Shot as a computer screen film, it stars Colin Woodell, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel, Connor Del Rio, Andrew Lees, Stephanie Nogueras, and Savira Windyani. It is a stand-alone sequel to the 2015 film Unfriended, as none of the previous films' events or characters are mentioned. The plot follows a group of friends who find a laptop that has access to the dark web, only to realize they are being watched by the original owners, a group of cybercriminal hackers.
Screenlife or computer screen film is a genre of visual storytelling where all the events are shown on a computer, tablet or smartphone screen. It became popular in the 2010s with the growing impact of the Internet.
What's Love Got to Do with It? is a 2022 British romantic comedy film directed by Shekhar Kapur, from a screenplay by Jemima Khan. The film stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Sajal Aly, Oliver Chris, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza, Alice Orr-Ewing and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Azor is an Argentine–French–Swiss drama film directed by Andreas Fontana, with a screenplay by Fontana and Mariano Llinás. The film stars Fabrizio Rongione and Stephanie Cléau.
Rogue Agent is a 2022 British mystery drama thriller film directed by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn in their feature length debut, from a screenplay the pair co-wrote with Michael Bronner based on the unpublished article "Chasing Agent Freegard" by Michael Bronner. James Norton portrays Robert Hendy-Freegard, a conman who tricked and convinced several people that he was an MI5 agent. Gemma Arterton also stars as the person who brought him down, with additional cast members including Shazad Latif, Marisa Abela, Edwina Findley and Julian Barratt.
Nautilus is an upcoming British adventure drama television series created by James Dormer for Disney+. The series will consist of ten episodes.
The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 10 to 20 February 2022 in person. On 15 December 2021 the first film of the festival was announced. The festival opened with François Ozon's drama film Peter von Kant. Isabelle Huppert was awarded Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement on 15 February 2022 at the Berlinale Palast award ceremony. Her film by Laurent Larivière, À propos de Joan was also screened.
