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Fernando Trueba is known for bringing life’s deepest emotions to the big screen. With films like Belle Époque and La niña de tus ojos, he’s captured hearts around the world and earned international acclaim, including an Oscar. So when rumors swirled of an English-language project starring Matt Dillon, expectations were high.

Haunted Heart whisks viewers to a Greek island paradise, where passions ignite between strangers. Dillon plays Max, a myster man running from his past. When young Alex arrives seeking work, her curiosity about Max grows into something more. But as secrets surface, it becomes clear there’s darkness in his history.

Trueba’s mastery shines in the stages of their relationship. Summer burns with new romance’s thrill. Autumn casts longing looks at what once was. And winter’s chills mirror the frost forming between them. Through it all, his lens soaks up the Mediterranean’s beauty...

The third episode of this season of Encuentros features:Víctor Gaviria (Colombia), director and poet internationally recognized for the feature films Rodrigo D: No Future (Rodrigo D: No Futuro) and The Rose Seller (La vendedora de rosas), the first films in the history of his country to compete for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in the 1990s. His work has been characterized by his casting of nonprofessional actors and his persistence in portraying, without prejudice or concessions, the most violent realities of life on the margins of Medellín. This has made him an influential and ubiquitous figure in Latin American cinema and a great influence on the newest generations of Colombian filmmakers.Fernando Trueba (Spain), a director and screenwriter, as well as the winner of multiple Goya Awards, an Oscar Award and Spain's National Film Award. His filmography of almost 20 titles has explored subjects as diverse as music, theater, and...

After Sundance Film Festival concludes in late January, the next big cinematic event on the globe is the Berlin International Film Festival. With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, they’ve now announced their first line-up of titles, including Aki Kaurismäki‘s The Other Side of Hope (pictured above), Oren Moverman‘s Richard Gere-led The Dinner, Sally Potter‘s The Party (pictured below), and Agnieszka Holland‘s Spoor, as well as a restoration of a Rainer Werner Fassbinder TV show.

Check out the first titles below, and return for our coverage from the festival.

Competition

A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul)

Hungary

By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)

With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider

World premiere

Ana, mon amour

Romania/Germany/France

By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)

With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti,...

Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Sally Potter among competition lineup.

The first 14 films have been announced for the Competition and Berlinale Special sections of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.

Among directors with movies in competition are Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Andres Veiel, Sebastián Lelio and Sally Potter.

Moverman’s (The Messenger) mystery-drama The Dinner stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloë Sevigny.

Fernando Trueba’s comedy-drama The Queen of Spain, starring Penelope Cruz, will get its international premiere in the Berlinale Special strand.

More to follow…

Competition

A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul) (Hungary)

By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)

With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider

World premiere

Ana, mon amour (Romania / Germany / France)

By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)

With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti, Carmen Tănase, Adrian Titieni, Vlad Ivanov

World premiere

Beuys - Documentary (Germany)

By Andres Veiel ([link...

Twilight Breaking Dawn’s Robert Pattinson without Kristen Stewart, still surrounded by the ladies

For an actor or actress to appear in a period drama, they would have to have a certain look in order to fit the period. Who can picture Sylvester Stallone or even Angelina Jolie in a period drama? Granted females could probably fit a little easier than males but in the long run you need to have “the look”. Period pieces are not exactly popular at the moment but perhaps Robert Pattinson in Bel Ami can start up the trend again in Hollywood.

Bel Ami was written by French author Guy de Maupassant and published in 1885. The film adaptation is also set in the 1800′s and stars Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy, Uma Thurman as Madeleine Forestier, Kristin Scott Thomas as Virginie Walters and Christina Ricci as Clotilde de Marelle. The story follows Georges as he...

Aki Kaurismäki proves himself a master of deadpan, while André Téchiné turns in a spectacular belly-flop of a film

Some wonderful, big-hearted comedy was provided at the beginning of Cannes's second week by the Finnish film-maker much loved by the festival directors: Aki Kaurismäki. Le Havre had all the master's trademarked deadpan dialogue and delicious nuggets of bone-dry humour, and his compassion for the marginalised and dispossessed, but with something richer and sweeter than I remember from his previous pictures. His sensibility is closer to that of Chaplin, in this film, than anyone else.

Le Havre is shot in the French port town, with French actors and dialogue, though Kaurismäki's repertory stalwart player Kati Outinen has a role. She plays the wife of Marcel (André Wilms), a dignified, stoic man who works as a shoeshiner on the streets. Marcel witnesses an illegal immigrant boy from Gabon, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), escape...