Madonna’s directorial debut in the worldwide press
Here’s a collection of press reports and brief commentaries following yesterday’s official announcement of Madonna’s directorial debut with “Filth and Wisdom” next year at the Berlinale:
• Madonna directing debut set for Berlin
From Reuters:
Her movie career did not amount to much, but Madonna will hope for better luck behind the camera when her directing debut makes its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
“Filth and Wisdom,” which has been described as a low-budget music-based comedy, stars Richard E. Grant, Stephen Graham (“Gangs of New York”) and Eugene Hutz, the Ukrainian frontman for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.
It is among 50 films screening in the Panorama sidebar at the festival, which runs February 7-17, organizers said Thursday.
After a promising starring role in “Desperately Seeking Susan,” Madonna lost her way with such flops as “Shanghai Surprise” and “Swept Away,” which was directed by her husband, Guy Ritchie. On the recording front, she is expected to release a new studio album next year.
• Madonna directorial debut at Berlin fest
From the Associated Press:
Madonna’s debut movie as a director will have its world premiere at the annual Berlin film festival in February.
“Filth and Wisdom,” starring Eugene Hutz, Richard E. Grant and Stephen Graham, will screen in the Panorama section, outside the main competition, a festival statement said Thursday.
Organizers didn’t specify whether the 49-year-old singer will come to Berlin to present the movie.
The event, which runs from Feb. 7-17, is the first of the year’s major European film festivals.
• Berlin debut for Madonna’s movie
From the BBC:
Madonna’s debut movie as a director will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
Filth and Wisdom, which stars Eugene Hutz, Richard E Grant and Stephen Graham, will be shown out of competition, organisers have said.
It is not known whether the 49-year-old singer will go to the German capital to promote the short film.
The event, which runs from 7 to 17 February, is the first of the year’s main European film festivals.
British coming-of-age story Boy A, directed by John Crowley and starring Peter Mulland and Andrew Garfield, will also be screened out of competition.
• Madonna’s directorial debut to unspool at Berlin film fest
From CBC News
Madonna will make her debut as a filmmaker with a short set to premiere at February’s Berlin International Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.
The recording star, actress and children’s book author has added director to her burgeoning list of career credits with the 48-minute short film Filth and Wisdom, which she filmed in and around London this past spring.
Madonna’s film will be presented as part of the festival’s Panorama program, which showcases art-house cinema from around the world.
• ‘Filth’ screens at Berlin’s Panorama
From Variety.ca
Madonna’s directorial debut, “Filth and Wisdom,” starring Stephen Graham and Richard E. Grant, and Brad Anderson’s “Transsiberian,” with Woody Harrelson and Eduardo Noriega, will be among the titles unspooling in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama sidebar.
Berlinale organizers Thursday announced the first 13 titles selected in the popular arthouse section.
Panorama seeks to present the highest-profile films of the coming arthouse season. Docs will again make a strong showing – from a total of 50 films, about a third will be docus.
Taiwanese director Zero Chou, who won the Berlinale’s gay and lesbian Teddy Award in 2007 for “Spider Lilies,” is back with “Drifting Flowers.”
Also unspooling are John Crowley’s “Boy A,” starring Andrew Garfield as a young ex-con released from prison after serving time for a murder he committed as a child; “Chiko,” Ozguer Yildirim’s drama about Turkish teens growing up in Hamburg’s immigrant ghetto; Laetitia Masson’s French entry “Coupable,” starring Helene Fillieres and Jeremie Renier; and, from Spain, Isidro Ortiz’s “Eskalofrio” and “Before Fall” by Javier Gutierrez.
Canada’s Bruce LaBruce returns with his Berlin-set gay zombie movie and upcoming Sundance screener “to or Up With Dead People,” while Teona Strugar Mitevska is repping Macedonia with “I Am From Titov Veles.”
More than 20,000 moviegoers are expected to participate in the Panorama Audience Awards, which are presented February 17.
The full Panorama lineup will be announced in January. he Berlinale runs February 7 to 17.