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Tom Waits Stars in First Teaser Trailer for Jim Jarmusch’s New Film Father Mother Sister Brother: Watch
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Tom Waits Stars in First Teaser Trailer for Jim Jarmusch’s New Film Father Mother Sister Brother: Watch

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Mubi has unveiled the first teaser trailer for the new Jim Jarmusch film Father Mother Sister Brother. The clip features a lot of Tom Waits, who stars alongside Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Luka Sabbat, and others. Watch the video below.

Father Mother Sister Brother opens in U.S. theaters on Wednesday, December 24. It premieres this Sunday, August 31, at the Venice Film Festival.

Father Mother Sister Brother is writer and director Jim Jarmusch’s feature film since 2019’s The Dead Don’t Die. The new movie, according to a press release, is “carefully constructed in the form of a triptych. The three stories all concern the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other. Each of the three chapters takes place in the present, and each in a different country.”

Tom Waits has a long collaborative history with Jim Jarmusch, dating back to 1986’s Down by Law. He’s since appeared in 2003’s Coffee and Cigarettes and The Dead Don’t Die, while also doing the soundtrack for 1991’s Night on Earth.

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Producer Alain Goldman on His Venice Film 'At Work' and Next Projects
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Producer Alain Goldman on His Venice Film ‘At Work’ and Next Projects

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Alain Goldman, who produced “La Vie en Rose,” which earned Marion Cotillard an Oscar, and most recently produced ”An Offer and a Spy,” is having a milestone 2025.

After delivering Alain Chabat’s hit Netflix series “Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight,” Goldman is at the Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of Valerie Donzelli‘s “At Work,” one of the three French movies in competition. He’s also about to kick off filming on two massive projects, Laszlo Nemes‘ (“Son of Saul”) period project “Moulin” and prestige TV series “The Lost Paradise” in Eastern Europe. He’s the doing the latter two with Patrick Wachsberger’s 193 Legendary.

“At Work,” an adaptation of Franck Courtès’s 2023 novel “A Pied d’oeuvre,” marks Goldman’s first collaboration with Donzelli, an acclaimed French filmmaker best known for the Cesar award-winning “Declaration of War” and “Just the Two of Us.” The film tells the true story of a successful photographer (Bastien Bouillon, recently seen in Cannes’ opening movie “Leave One Day”), who gives up everything to devote himself to writing, and ultimately faces financial hardships and poverty.

“I read this book and was recently struck with it because it says something profound about our vulnerability and the violence of capitalism,” said Goldman, adding that the book’s themes are even more palpable now “for artists and authors who are seeing the value of their work downgraded or threatened by technology.”

“Valerie Donzelli was equally moved by this novel and she gave the story an immense sincerity, but also some fantasy and unpredictability,” said Goldman. “The film could have been a depressing drama but that’s not the case; it’s uplifting, intellectual and cinematic because [Donzelli] directed it.”

The film, co-written by Donzelli and Gilles Marchand, received support from France’s National Film Board (CNC) and the Ile de France region, but Goldman said it’s “likely the smallest budget of the Venice competition.” While he’s best known for producing epic, big-sized movies and TV shows such as “La Vie en Rose,” “HHhH” with Jason Clarke, “An Officer and a Spy” with Jean Dujardin, Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” (as a co-producer), “Babylon AD” with Vin Diesel and “The Spy” with Sacha Baron Cohen, Goldman says he’s always been drawn to social themes due to his own upbringing as the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. “Social justice has always been important to me,” he says.

Goldman pointed out he’s always had the ambition to work with auteurs who have a vision, but is also conscious of audiences. “I’ve never understood filmmakers who make movies only for themselves, like two-million-euros-therapies,” he quipped.

On working with Donzelli, he said he found her understanding of the book compelling and universal because “she didn’t want to focus too much on the pure economic hardship of the story since ‘Souleymane’s Journey’ [Boris Lojkine’s film that won four Cesar awards this year] has just done it, but rather zoom in on the experience of an artist who sacrifices everything for his craft,” Goldman said.

“At Work” is being represented internationally by Kinology, who is on the ground in Venice, alongside Goldman, Donzelli and the film’s cast.

Next up, Goldman’s companies Pitchipoï Productions and Montmartre Films, which are part of Banijay Group, will be filming Nemes’ “Moulin,” starting on Sept. 15. The movie will mark Nemes’ French-language debut and will star Gilles Lellouche as the French Resistance hero who is captured and tortured by Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (Lars Eidinger).

Penned by Olivier Demangel (“November”), “Moulin” will be distributed in France by Studio TF1 and has been pre-bought by TF1, Disney+ and HBO. Wachsberger’s 193 Legendary is repping global sales. The project will be Nemes’ follow up to “Orphan” which competes at this year’s Venice.

Goldman says he had long wanted to work with Nemes whose Oscar-winning « Son of Saul » is « one of the films about the Holocaust that gets the closest to the hell that it was, » the producer says. 

“Moulin” is an “immense project that resonates strongly today because it will remind everyone what it means to resist,” Goldman argues. After having shed light on Alfred Dreyfus in “A Soldier and a Spy,” Moulin will also celebrate “one of greatest French heroes,” he says, describing the tone of the film as “very intense.” Rather than a biopic of Moulin, the film revolves around the relationship between Barbie and Moulin.

TF1 Studio came on board and brought a “massive support” to the film whose budget is €14 million, the producer points out.

Goldman is also about to start shooting “Lost Paradise,” an ambitious and highly personal eight-part thriller series written by Yehonatan Indursky (“Shtisel,” “Autonomies”). Directed by Alon Zingman (“Shtisel”), the saga, which will shoot in Yiddish, Hebrew and English, starts off in Lithuania in 1860, charting the lives of Ashkenazi Jews. It stars “Shtisel’s” Michael Aloni.

Darren Aronofsky serves as executive producer on the series while Goldman is producing with Wachsberger. The latter is also handling sales via 193 Legendary. “Lost Paradise” is backed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Alcon Media Group and the Gesher Film Fund. It has been commissioned by Canal+ in France.

“Lost Paradise” has been in development for five years, says Goldman, who is a co-author on the series which starts shooting in September in Bucarest in Romania. 

“It aims to tell the story of the Ashkenazi people from the mid-19th century to, I hope, the present day. The first season ends in 1880, just before a pogrom that led to the exodus of a large part of the community, but unfortunately not everyone,” Goldman says, adding that “If everyone had left, they would still be alive today, either in America or Israel.” His hope, he explains, is that the series will become the benchmark fictional work in the history of the Ashkenazi people, like “Fiddler on the Roof” has been for more than half a century. 

The title of the series, “Lost Paradise” is “a little ironic,” he says, “because life was so hard where they lived, but they didn’t lose their desire to remain Jewish in almost an esoteric sense.”

Goldman says the series will also hopefully allow audiences to “visualise what these communities were like and how they threatened no one, and that they became the target of all kinds of violence, as they are today, because suddenly, when the world is not doing very well, we become the answer to the world’s problems.”

Reflecting on the difficulties to finance the series, Goldman says the “very fact that this series exists is a miracle, because it goes so much against the current state of mind, which is quite hostile to Jews in general, and I am very, very happy to have succeeded, with everyone’s help, in making this project a reality.” 

Goldman is also about to see his film “The Incredible Shrinking Man” which he produced with Patrick Wachsberger get released in France by Universal Pictures on Oct. 29. The movie, starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” is a modern adaption of Richard Matheson’s science fiction novel.

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Bong Joon Ho To Serve As Marrakech Film Festival Jury President
TV & Streaming

Bong Joon Ho To Serve As Marrakech Film Festival Jury President

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Bong Joon Ho will serve as the jury president of this year’s Marrakech Film Festival. 

This year’s event runs from November 28 to December 6. The jury awards the Étoile d’Or to one of the 14 first and second feature-length films in the international competition. 

“For many years, Marrakech has been a champion of fresh, beautiful films. I’m delighted and honored to be part of that tradition,” Bong said in a statement. “I look forward to sharing a powerful cinematic experience with the festival audience and reflecting on the true value of ‘cinema.’  Our anticipation and excitement will be palpable in front of the big screens of Marrakech.” 

Director Bong is coming off the release of his eighth feature, Mickey 17. Adapted from Edward Ashton’s 2022 sci-fi novel of ‘Mickey 7’, Mickey 17 revolves around a directionless man living in a near future who signs up for a job as an “expendable”, or disposable employee sent on dangerous missions who is automatically regenerated if he perishes on the job. Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo star in the film. 

Bong’s other credits include Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Mother (2009), Snowpiercer (2013), Okja (2017), and the history-making Parasite (2019).

In March, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles opened the exhibition Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho. It is the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the Oscar-winning director and traces his creative development through his films and the films that most influenced him. The exhibition will run until January 10th, 2027.

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Here’s What Netizens Are Saying About Sidharth Malhotra & Janhvi Kapoor’s Param Sundari!
Bollywood

Sidharth Malhotra & Janhvi Kapoor’s Film Is “The Next Super Hit After Saiyaara,” Confirm Netizens!

by jummy84
written by jummy84

What Are Netizens Saying About Sidharth Malhotra & Janhvi Kapoor’s Param Sundari? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor starrer Param Sundari has finally been released in theaters. The movie is a mix of romance, comedy, and family sentiments, and has opened to mostly positive reviews from netizens. After watching the first day’s show, moviegoers are actively sharing their experience on X (formerly Twitter).

Param Sundari X Review: What Are Netizens Saying About The Film?

One user who watched the movie on day one wrote, “Watched – #ParamSundari. Beautiful comedy romantic drama. Rating 4 (Stars) Janhvi Kapoor best performance.”

Another cinegoer said the film reminded them of Bollywood entertainers from the past, “#ParamSundari Seeing #SidharthMalhotra back in the movies after so long feels so good. #JanhviKapoor is not bad. She wins my heart in #Danger song. I liked the movie. If u enjoyed #ChennaiExpress #2States watch this. Rating 3 1/2.”

A different review highlighted the film’s structure, praising both halves while noting their distinct tones. The user wrote, “Just watched #ParamSundari starring #SidharthMalhotra & #JanhviKapoor Rating: 4/5 First Half – Stylish entry, Sid-Janhvi chemistry, catchy songs & a gripping interval hook! Second Half / Climax – Power-packed family drama + massy action showdown.”

Some were convinced this could be the next big hit. One fan shared, “Manifesting #ParamSundari to be next super hit after Saiyaara.”

Another kept it simple and direct: “#ParamSundariReview 4/5 stars. A fun rollercoaster of comedy & laughter! #SidharthMalhotra & #JanhaviKapoor nailed their roles. #JanhaviKapoor is absolute ‘Sundari’ as the title suggests. Make your weekend fun – don’t miss #ParamSundari.”

However, not every viewer was completely sold. One penned, “‘Param Sundari’ is an enjoyable watch for fans of Punjabi cinema and cultural drama. It’s heartfelt and entertaining, but could’ve been more impactful with tighter writing and more nuanced direction. Rating 3 stars.”

Check out the more X reactions below:

Param Sundari X Review: Final Verdict

From the chatter on X, Param Sundari has turned out to be a lively entertainer that works largely because of its lead stars. Fans cannot stop praising Sidharth Malhotra’s charm and Janhvi Kapoor’s confident act, with many even calling it her best performance to date. The first half, interval hook, and songs have been the crowd-pullers, while the climax has delivered the emotional kick. On the downside, a few viewers felt the writing dipped in parts and could have been sharper. Otherwise, the film is perceived as a fun family drama with romance and action mixed in.

For more such stories, check out Bollywood News

Must Read: Param Sundari Music Review: Hey Maddock, Kab Se Thi Main Ummeed Mein For This Suroorifying Ishq By Sonu Nigam, Adnan Sami & Shreya Ghoshal!

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First Teaser for Brazilian Film 'The Secret Agent' with Wagner Moura
Hollywood

First Teaser for Brazilian Film ‘The Secret Agent’ with Wagner Moura

by jummy84
written by jummy84

First Teaser for Brazilian Film ‘The Secret Agent’ with Wagner Moura

by Alex Billington
August 28, 2025
Source: YouTube

“I am under a death threat.” Neon has revealed the first look teaser trailer for the acclaimed Brazilian film titled The Secret Agent, the latest from Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho. This originally premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival a few months ago to many positive reviews, and it went on to win both Best Actor and Best Director awards at the fest. Next playing at Telluride & NYFF. In 1977, a tech researcher flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in North Brazil in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the safe refuge he seeks. Wagner Moura stars as the “secret agent” Marcelo. Master filmmaker Kleber Mendonca Filho teams up with renowned Brazilian actor Wagner Moura – giving an extraordinary, career-defining performance – to craft a thrillingly unpredictable, playfully shape-shifting epic steeped in history even as it feels contemporary, paying affectionate tribute to the movies of Filho’s youth while unfolding against the backdrop of political turmoil and palpable danger. Neon has this set to open in theaters in November, hoping it’ll be a major player during the awards season.

Here’s the first teaser trailer for Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film The Secret Agent, direct from YouTube:

The Secret Agent Teaser

The Secret Agent Teaser

Amid the raucous revelry of Carnival week, a widower named Marcelo (Wagner Moura) arrives in 1977 in Recife, Brazil, a city as vibrant as it is violent. A researcher who finds himself an unwitting target in the heart of the dictatorship’s political maelstrom, Marcelo is a man on the run from mercenary killers, from ghosts of the past & from the ruthless, mischievously militant spirit of Brazil in 1977. In the midst of these mounting threats, Marcelo, with the help of a mysterious woman named Elza and her compatriots in the country’s growing underground resistance, remains primarily focused on escaping Brazil with his young son. The Secret Agent, also known as O Agente Secreto in Portuguese, is written and directed by acclaimed Brazilian writer / director Kleber Mendonça Filho, director of the films Neighboring Sounds, Aquarius, Bacurau, Crítico, Pictures of Ghosts, and many other short films. It’s produced by Emilie Lesclaux, Wagner Moura, Kleber Mendonça Filho. This initially premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Neon debuts The Secret Agent in select US theaters starting on November 26th, 2025 this fall. Intrigued?

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George Clooney ‘forced to scale back commitments at Venice Film Festival after falling ill on opening day’
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George Clooney ‘forced to scale back commitments at Venice Film Festival after falling ill on opening day’

by jummy84
written by jummy84

George Clooney is said to have been forced to scale back his commitments at the Venice Film Festival after falling ill on the opening day.

George Clooney is said to have been forced to scale back his commitments at the Venice Film Festival after falling ill on the opening day

The Oscar-winning actor, 64, who is starring in Noah Baumbach’s competition film Jay Kelly, ended his Wednesday (27.08.25) press junket early and did not attend a private dinner with cast, crew and Netflix executives, it has now emerged,

Insiders told The Hollywood Reporter George began to feel unwell in the afternoon and was advised to return to his accommodation to rest ahead of Thursday’s press conference and world premiere.

The actor was photographed leaving the Hotel Excelsior by boat at around 4pm.

His absence meant he missed a dinner with director Noah Baumbach, 55, and co-stars Adam Sandler, 58, and Laura Dern, also 58.

The nature of his illness has not been disclosed, but sources have stressed it was “nothing to worry about”.

Hours earlier, George had been seen arriving at the Lido with Laura, dressed in a navy suit, striped shirt and tinted sunglasses.

George’s health scare comes after he recently discussed his future plans in acting.

In March, he told CBS News programme 60 Minutes he would no longer appear in romantic comedies.

He said: “Look, I’m 63 years old. I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men. That’s not my job. I’m not doing romantic films anymore.”

He was speaking ahead of his Broadway debut in Good Night, And Good Luck, an adaptation of his 2005 Oscar-nominated film of the same name.

George plays journalist Edward R Murrow in the stage production, which recounts Murrow’s televised confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the “Second Red Scare” of the 1950s.

He said: “It’s exciting to be (on Broadway.) Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s nerve-wracking. And there’s a million reasons why it’s dumb to do.

“It’s dumb to do because you’re coming out and saying, ‘Well, let’s try to get an audience to take this ride with you back to 1954’.”

Reflecting on the relationship between government and the press, George said: “We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine, or use corporations to make journalists smaller.

“Governments don’t like the freedom of the press, they never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on. They don’t like the press.”

The lifelong Democrat also spoke about his decision to call on Joe Biden, 82, to step aside from the last U.S. presidential race after his debate with Donald Trump, 79.

George said: “I was raised to tell the truth. I had seen the president up close for this fundraiser, and I was surprised. And so, I feel as if there was a lot of… cowardice in my party, through all of that, and I was not proud of that, and I also believed I had to tell the truth.”




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Coolie box office collection day 15: Rajinikanth film shows sharp decline again, makes ₹270 crore
Bollywood

Coolie box office collection day 15: Rajinikanth film shows sharp decline again, makes ₹270 crore

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Coolie box office collection day 12: Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie was released in theatres on 14 August along with Ayan Mukerji’s Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR-starrer War 2. Despite competition, the film continued to maintain its momentum and crossed the ₹500 crore mark worldwide in 2 weeks. According to Sacnilk, the film earned an estimated ₹270.52 crore net in India in 15 days.

Coolie box office collection day 15: Rajinikanth in a still from the Lokesh Kanagaraj film.

Coolie box office collection

According to the trade website, Coolie made an estimated ₹1.42 crore net in India on its third Thursday, taking its total collection to ₹270.52 crore net. After registering a ₹65 crore opening, the film made ₹229.65 crore in eight days.

The film’s collections increased by 79% on its second Saturday, but they dipped again on Monday. On Ganesh Chaturthi, 27 August, Coolie saw a 33% increase in collections, bringing in ₹4.85 crore net in India. With the weekend approaching, it remains to be seen if the film’s collections will increase further.

Coolie has crossed the ₹500 crore mark”> ₹500 crore mark worldwide in two weeks, becoming Rajinikanth’s third film to do so after 2.0 (2018) and Jailer (2023). 2.0 is his highest-grossing film, with a collection of ₹691 crore worldwide, while Jailer has a collection of ₹604.5 crore. Coolie has beaten the lifetime collection of films like Ponniyin Selvan I, The GOAT, Enthiran, and Kabali.

About Coolie

Coolie is an action drama which tells the story of a former coolie union leader, Deva (Rajinikanth), who runs subsidised housing for students. He is forced to deal with his turbulent past when a close friend, Rajasekhar (Sathyaraj), dies under mysterious circumstances, leaving his three daughters, including Preethi (Shruti Haasan), orphans. While looking to solve his death, Deva confronts cartel leader Simon (Nagarjuna) and Dayal (Soubin Shahir), who’s harbouring a secret of his own.

Upendra and Aamir Khan appear in special cameos in the film. Coolie is not part of Lokesh’s cinematic universe, which includes the films Kaithi, Vikram, and Leo. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film has done well at the box office.

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Fun Full Trailer for Spanish Animation 'The Treasure of Barracuda' Film
Hollywood

Fun Full Trailer for Spanish Animation ‘The Treasure of Barracuda’ Film

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Fun Full Trailer for Spanish Animation ‘The Treasure of Barracuda’ Film

by Alex Billington
August 27, 2025
Source: YouTube

Off on another adventure! Filmax in Spain has debuted the full official trailer for an animated comedy kids movie titled El Tesoro de Barracuda, or The Treasure of Barracuda in English, from the book series of the same name. This opens first in Spain in September after premiering at the 2025 San Sebastian Film Festival. This thrilling new pirate adventure has all the usual ingredients: secret maps, chases, naval battles, and unforgettable characters. On board the dreaded The Southern Cross, she’s the only hope for an illiterate crew to find the legendary treasure of Phineas Krane. With Captain Barracuda & John La Ballena, protector of Sparks, they will form a trio of treasure hunters. The big twist: the pirates can’t read. But Sparks will teach them! From director Adrià García, the Spanish production is animated by Hampa Animation Studio in Valencia, produced by Inicia Films and Belvision. With the voices of Ángel del Río, Laia Vidal, & Mark Ullod. This looks like so much fun! I’m delighted by this animation style and recommend this film for kids.

Here’s the main official trailer for Adrià García’s animated movie El Tesoro de Barracuda, via YouTube:

El Tesoro de Barracuda Trailer

El Tesoro de Barracuda Trailer

El Tesoro de Barracuda Trailer

You can view the teaser trailer for Adrià García’s El Tesoro de Barracuda right here for the first look again.

While trying to find her parents, Chispas ends up by accident on Captain Barracuda’s pirate ship, manned by fearsome sailors armed to the teeth and with a serious problem: they can’t read. Only she can help them find the treasure of Phineas Crane, the most valuable and coveted by all the pirates of the Caribbean. Thus begins an adventure that will change their lives forever. El Tesoro de Barracuda, which translates to The Treasure of Barracuda in English, is directed by Spanish animation filmmaker Adrià García, director of the film Nocturna and My Family and the Wolf previously. The screenplay is written by Amèlia Mora, adapted from the Spanish children’s book of the same name written by Llanos Campos. Produced by Valérie Delpierre. Made by Inicia Films & Hampa Studio. Filmax will debut García’s The Treasure of Barracuda in Spanish cinemas first starting on September 26th, 2025 in the fall. No US release date is set – stay tuned.

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Mihai Mincan Talks Venice Film 'Milk Teeth' Inspired by Daughter
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Mihai Mincan Talks Venice Film ‘Milk Teeth’ Inspired by Daughter

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Romanian filmmaker Mihai Mincan is back at the Venice Film Festival‘s Horizons competition with “Milk Teeth,” a deeply personal drama set during the final days of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship.

The film marks Mincan’s second Venice selection after his 2022 debut feature “To the North.” It will next play at the Toronto International Film Festival. Variety is exclusively debuting the film’s trailer.

Set in Romania in 1989, “Milk Teeth” follows 10-year-old Maria as she becomes the last witness to her sister’s mysterious disappearance in a small, isolated town. The story explores how a child processes trauma and loss against the backdrop of a collapsing political system.

For Mincan, the project represents both a departure from and continuation of his cinematic journey. “I wanted this really free approach,” the director tells Variety, describing how he abandoned his meticulously planned shooting style from “To the North.” “We had a list of shots, but we basically gave it up pretty soon after a few days of shooting.”

The shift in approach was partly practical and partly philosophical. Working with child actors, Mincan knew he “didn’t want to rehearse with that child a lot.” Instead, he wanted “the girl would have, like, a lot of freedom to act and to move the way she wanted, and the camera must follow her, not the other way around.”

The story draws heavily from Mincan’s own childhood experiences. “I was the same age as… I mean, I was nine, she’s 10, actually in the film. So I know that world. I know I know the way it looked, I know the way it smelled, I know how it sounded,” he says. The film was also inspired by a police dossier about a missing girl from 1989, though Mincan discarded most elements except for one haunting image: “a girl disappearing with a bucket going to the garbage.”

That image resonates personally. “It’s such a familiar image to myself. My parents used to send me the same way, you know, with the bucket through the blocks of flats down to the garbage.”

But the film’s deeper inspiration comes from Mincan’s own daughter, who “had two or three years in which she found it really difficult to connect with the world.” This personal experience led him to create “a story of a girl who is like living in a box all the time. So the world is always out there in the background, but the connection of her with that world is very difficult at times.”

The narrative approach deliberately maintains a child’s perspective throughout, creating what Mincan calls “a fragmented narrative.” He explains: “If you go into a child’s perspective, you stay there. And that means, creatively, it’s almost shocking, because it basically needs it means that all the narrative process kind of becomes very fragmented.”

The film, featuring Emma Ioana Mogos, Marina Palii, Igor Babiac, and Istvan Teglas, is structured in two distinct parts. The first half follows the immediate aftermath of the disappearance, while the second “would be like going down inside the mind, completely inside the mind of a child.” Mincan notes this latter section is “the part that I’m most proud of in the film.”

Despite the perid setting, Mincan believes the themes remain relevant. “Romania hasn’t changed a lot since that time,” he observes. “There’s one thing in the film and also in real life today that hasn’t changed is the silence of the system… This country was built wrong.”

When editing began, Mincan and his editor worked under a simple but powerful directive written on a large piece of paper: “This is a film about loneliness.”

The production itself was an international collaboration, involving partners from Romania, France, Denmark, Greece, and Bulgaria. “Milk Teeth” is produced by deFilm (Romania), in coproduction with Remora Films (France), Ström Pictures (Denmark), StudioBauhaus (Greece), and Screening Emotions (Bulgaria). The project participated in TorinoFilmLab 2023, where it received both a Production Award and Green Filming Award.

Cercamon is handling world sales on “Milk Teeth.”

Watch the trailer here:

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Fall Film Festival Season 2025 Begins - 10 Films I'm Excited to Watch
Hollywood

Fall Film Festival Season 2025 Begins – 10 Films I’m Excited to Watch

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Fall Film Festival Season 2025 Begins – 10 Films I’m Excited to Watch

by Alex Billington
August 27, 2025

Off we go back into the lands of cinema and storytelling. Hoping to encounter some of the best films of the year. The fall film festival season is upon us once again, and we’re ready to start watching. Kicking things off with the 82nd Venice Film Festival which is now under this week in sunny Italy, along with the 52nd Telluride Film Festival in Colorado – two of the most beloved and iconic festivals in the world. Then the Toronto Film Festival will take over in mid-September celebrating 50 years (!!), before Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX (starting on Sept. 18) and the 63rd New York Film Festival in NYC (starting on Sept. 26), continuing with the London Film Festival (starting on Oct. 8) & Sitges Film Festival (also on Oct. 9). This is when all the big new movies and surprise projects they’ve been saving for the end of the year finally make their first appearance. Which of them will win us over? It’s an exciting time for cinephiles who make the voyages to these cities to discover the latest that the gods of cinema have provided. We’ve been covering these festivals all over the world for the last 19 years in a row – it’s part of who we are. Below is my list of my most anticipated from the line-ups across all of the festivals. I’ll be back in Venice to watch films at this annual cinema celebration in Italy – though this list includes many films from each of the various fall fests.

The challenge with film festivals nowadays is that it’s impossible to see everything at every festival, and it’s unaffordable to go to every festival all over the world (as much as I wish I could). Each of these fests has its own set of world premieres & special presentations – I decided to pick my own Top 10 Most Anticipated from among the entire set of films debuting this fall. Not just the ones at Venice or at TIFF or otherwise. Alas, I won’t be able to watch all of these listed as I won’t be able to attend the Toronto and New York Film Fests. But I still think these are some of the most interesting premieres. Choosing only 10 films is always a daunting task – I could name 50 films I want to see right now. However, this is always what’s so enticing and exhilarating about festivals, and why I always go back year after year. Let’s go watch and discover something new and discuss cinema! Let’s celebrate all of these achievements – and make sure writers and actors and the entire film crew are paid fairly & treated with respect. Anyway, enough of my rambling, onto the films…

No Other Choice – directed by Park Chan-wook – Venice & TIFF & NYFF

No Other Choice - Park Chan-wook

As a huge fan of Park Chan-wook’s last film Decision to Leave (read my full review), I am excited to see him continue on in his tender era with this dark comedy about a man doing what he must. I’ve already read the synopsis and know what it’s about, which actually makes it even more exciting knowing that Park Chan-wook is handling this story about capitalism’s darker sides, right next to his colleague Bong Joon-ho, focusing on criticizing the financial woes of modern Korean society. Unless you prefer to watch this without any idea of what’s happening, don’t read on. Which is the best way to watch the film anyway – either way I’ve got a feeling this is going to be another knock out from Park Chan-wook. Lee Byung-hun stars as Man-soo, a father and family man who, after being unemployed for years, decides to start taking out the competition to hopefully give him a better chance at getting a job. Ha… Adapted from the book “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake. There’s already an official trailer out if you want to see more footage from this one. Premiering in the Main Competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival – this one is a strong contender for the Golden Lion.

Jay Kelly – directed by Noah Baumbach – Venice & NYFF & London

Jay Kelly - Noah Baumbach

Yet another beloved filmmaker who is a regular at the Venice Film Festival returning with his new movie. I also watched Noah Baumbach’s last two films, Marriage Story (2019) and White Noise (2022), in Venice in the years prior. He’s back with a personal story of a famous actor struggling with his own fame & glory as he gets older. Baumbach was lucky to get the one-and-only George Clooney as the titular Jay in his new film titled Jay Kelly (made for Netflix). It’s a very meta story – famous movie actor Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron embark on a whirlwind & profound journey across Europe to a (fictional) European film fest. Both are forced to confront choices they’ve made, their relationships with loved ones and the legacies they’ll leave behind. Baumbach’s cast also includes Adam Sandler as his manager, and Laura Dern as his publicist, along with his usually terrific ensemble: Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Isla Fisher, Greta Gerwig, and Emily Mortimer. While Baumbach has said the film is inspired by White Noise doing poorly, the script is co-written by fellow actor Emily Mortimer and feels very much like it’s meant for someone like Clooney to work through his own film industry woes and depression.

Silent Friend – directed by Ildikó Enyedi – Venice & TIFF

Silent Friend - Ildikó Enyedi

I love trees and nature and spending time in the forest and saying hello to trees. No really, it’s true, I adore trees (I love to photograph them all the time). Silent Friend is the new film from acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, who won the Golden Bear top prize at Berlinale 2017 for her film On Body and Soul (it’s very good). The film is about a giant, old ginkgo tree located inside a garden in a medieval German town (yes this town and garden and tree really exist in Marburg, Germany). Spanning three periods in time – from 1908 to 1972 to 2020. 🌳 “In the heart of a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany stands a majestic ginkgo tree. This silent witness has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives.” The intro goes on explaining: ” We follow their clumsy, awkward attempts to connect — each one of them deeply rooted in their own present — as they are transformed by the quiet, enduring, and mysterious power of nature. The ancient ginkgo tree brings us closer to what it means to be human — to our longing to belong.” Yep I really cannot wait to watch this – it honestly sounds like it’ll be this year’s Perfect Days. The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux, and also Luna Wedler.

Bugonia – directed by Yorgos Lanthimos – Venice

Bugonia - Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos is back! Let the Lanthimos Chaos reign! I was there in 2023 when Greek filmmaker extraordinaire Yorgos Lanthimos rocked everyone in Venice with Poor Things (here’s my full review) – which went on to win the Golden Lion and four Academy Awards. This time he’s going to surprise us all and take us another wild journey into madness. I’ve got a feeling the story and the way it all plays out in this film will be just as upsetting & divisive as Poor Things, though in a completely different way. Bugonia is a Lanthimos remake of the 2003 Korean sci-fi tilm titled Save the Green Planet, about a beekeeper who kidnaps a corporate exec because he believes he’s an alien controlling humans. Or something like that… This time around it’s Emma Stone starring as the corporate CEO + Jesse Plemons as the beekeeper guy who kidnaps her. Everything else, well, we’ll have to watch and find out where it goes and what happens and how wacky and weird and fun it gets. Or not! I’m so excited to watch this and argue about it with everyone at the festival and beyond…

Frankenstein – directed by Guillermo del Toro – Venice & TIFF

Frankenstein - Guillermo del Toro

Only need to say: Guillermo del Toro! The maestro is back! I was also in Venice in 2017 when The Shape of Water (here’s my full review) premiered at at all of the fall festivals, then went on to win the Golden Lion as well as Best Picture at the Oscars. Happy he’s back with his latest creation – an epic, stylish, grandiose new take on the classic tale of Frankenstein from the story by Mary Shelley. Though it is a Netflix movie, it still sounds like it’ll be a fascinating new version of this classic tale: “A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.” Featuring Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as The Monster, with Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Ineson, Charles Dance, Christian Convery, and Burn Gorman. It was filmed with real sets, shot on location around the world, with lavish costumes and limited CGI. Even though everyone expects horror, apparently it’s more of a “deeply personal & intimate” character study than anything horrifying. I’m not even a big fan of the Frankenstein story, but I’m ready to watch this.

Rose of Nevada – directed by Mark Jenkin – Venice & TIFF & NYFF & London

Rose of Nevada - Mark Jenkin

What do we have here? A new project from clever Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin? I’m intrigued. Jenkin has been earning his marks on the film festival circuit with two other films before which cinephiles have been raving about: Bait and Enys Men. Rose of Nevada is his latest and it’s a mysterious new project. This time he was able to cast two major actors: George MacKay and Callum Turner star in the film as young men who try to join a fishing boat crew. In a forgotten fishing village, a boat mysteriously appears in the old harbour. The Rose of Nevada, lost at sea with all hands 30 years ago, reappears. After this lost ship returns to a village 30 years after vanishing, two men join its crew hoping for better fortune. After one voyage, they find themselves transported back in time, mistaken for the original crew. That’s the only intro that anyone should be reading before watching this – the rest will be a discovery when it’s playing on the screen in front of us. I’ve been following Jenkin’s work over the years and it seems like his most exciting creation yet. Keep an eye out for it playing at festivals this fall and hopefully in your local art house theater sooner than later…

After the Hunt – directed by Luca Guadagnino – Venice & NYFF

After the Hunt - Luca Guadagnino

This one is going to be major. Early word is that After the Hunt is 2025’s Anatomy of a Fall – it’s the kind of “what do you believe?” movie that will have everyone talking and debating and arguing. The trailer hints at an upsetting incident with a young woman, played by Ayo Edebiri, at a prestigious university. She files an accusation against another professor then it becomes a controversy, etc. The rest of it is a mystery – we’ll have to wait to find out what really happened and why everyone is so defensive in here. From what I’ve heard, it’s possible Julia Roberts will end up winning the Academy Award next year for this movie. The main cast also features Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg (still beloved for his great performance in Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name), and Chloë Sevigny. Venice Fest regular Luca Guadagnino also specifically requested to not have the film premiere in the Main Competition, which I believe is because he’d rather everyone focus on what the movie is actually talking about and not whether it should win any awards.

Rental Family – directed by Hikari – TIFF & London

Rental Family - Hikari

Rental Family was a surprise addition to the fall line-up of new releases (now set to open in theaters in November). While it won’t be premiering in Venice, it will show up at TIFF (and probably Telluride) instead. Brendan Fraser stars in the lead role in a story quite obviously inspired by Werner Herzog’s film Family Romance, LLC (which premiered at Cannes 2019) as a struggling American actor who moves to Tokyo and starts working for a “person rental” company. He is given various jobs to play various people – father, friend, etc. This seems like it’s the perfect post-Oscar role for Fraser – playing a man working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, “starring” in stand-in roles for strangers. He rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection. The charming Japanse cast features Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto. It’s also the second feature film made by the filmmaker known as Hikari, aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki, her next big project after directing episodes of the hit TV series “Beef” for A24 & Netflix. This is definitely one to watch, even if it is a bit too cheesy & sentimental that’s fine with me.

Straight Circle – directed by Oscar Hudson – Venice

Straight Circle - Oscar Hudson

My wildcard pick for 2025 is this intriguing indie film creation – premiering in the Critics Week sidebar at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Straight Circle is the first feature from British director Oscar Hudson, best known for directing many commercials & music videos. He’s finally making his leap into feature films and this one sounds like a fascinating psychological thriller similar to The Lighthouse or Foxtrot. Here’s the intro: “A pair of enemy soldiers stationed on a remote border in a vast featureless desert descend into a state of profound disorientation after forgetting which side of the border is which. As they grapple with identities, loyalties, and the absurdity of their situation, their isolation slowly gives way to an unfathomable nightmare that will blur the line between friend & foe.” The film stars Luke Tittensor & Elliot Tittensor – actual brothers in real life playing characters on opposite sides of the border. I am always interested in discovering new films that attempt to show how alike we are by revealing the truth about borders & nationality & wars: we’re all pretty much the same and we’re fighting over nothing aside from the hubris of greedy politicians.

A House of Dynamite – directed by Kathryn Bigelow – Venice & NYFF

A House of Dynamite - Kathryn Bigelow

As a reminder, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, which went on to win Best Picture, initially premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in 2008. Her next movie is much more ominous: When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond. I thought this might take place entirely in the White House in underground rooms focused on a few people, but apparently it’s a full-on dramatic thriller following many different people involved in deciding what to do in this situation. The return of nuclear fear! Netflix hasn’t really revealed any marketing yet other than a basic poster with the tagline: “Not if. When.” The full cast includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke. I’m especially intrigued to find out what happens in this fictional (or not?) story. Will they make the right call? Bigelow’s director’s statement also explains: ” I wanted to make a film that confronts this paradox — to explore the madness of a world that lives under the constant shadow of annihilation, yet rarely speaks of it.”

Aside from these 10 films listed above, there are also a handful of films that I want to watch but fall into the category of “I just really hope they’re good.” I’m not as excited about them as I should be right now, I just want them to be very good films. These include: Werner Herzog’s new doc Ghost Elephants about African elephants; Chloe Zhao’s new film Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare & Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare; Derek Cianfrance’s crime comedy Roofman with Channing Tatum; Mona Fastvold’s follow-up to The Brutalist, which she also co-wrote with Brady Corbet, a new film titled The Testament of Ann Lee starring Amanda Seyfried as as Ann Lee – the founding leader of the Shakers religious sect in the 18th century; the next Daniel Day-Lewis project titled Anemone (which looks quite good); and of course Rian Johnson’s latest whodunit with Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – which is premiering at TIFF. There are plenty of other discoveries and surprises that I am sure we’ll encounter over the next few months as they premiere at upcoming film festivals around the world.

A few others that are also on my watchlist: Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers (TIFF), Claire Denis’ The Fence (TIFF & NYFF), Ulrich Köhler’s Gavagai (NYFF), Kent Jones’ Late Fame (Venice & NYFF), Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice (TIFF), Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin (Venice & TIFF), Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny (TIFF), Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious (TIFF), and Ben Wheatley’s Normal (TIFF) with Odenkirk. You can find more preview lists for the fall festival season here: Metro UK’s I can’t wait for these 10 movies; The Film Stage’s 15 Most-Anticipated Films, Indiewire’s Fall Festival Preview: 42 Must-See Films, and THR’s Venice Top 10 Must-See Titles. Keep following for reviews / updates on all these & more.

With the Venice Film Festival beginning soon, I’ll be dedicated entirely to this festival and catching films for the next two weeks and writing about them. Venice 2025 runs from August 27th until September 6th, ending Saturday night with the awards (the Golden Lion). Follow my daily coverage and instant reactions on Twitter/X as usual @firstshowing, follow my photography posts as always on Instagram @abillington, follow my reviews on Letterboxd, and check the site for daily updates on films + reviews. Back in 2016, I wrote an essay about Why I Can’t Stop Going to Film Festivals. What I said then is still true. It always is. I’m still totally addicted film festivals, and they still fill me with so much joy and inspiration. Let’s hope some of these films turn out to be all-timers – like Dune and Tar and First Man in the years before. I’m always ready to start watching, hoping for some real discoveries and unforgettable works of cinema that will fascinate us.

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