CANNES-DO
The imminently upcoming Sydney Film Festival has added eight titles that premiered at Cannes to its lineup. They are: Guan Hu’s “Black Dog”; Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project “Megalopolis”; Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen Johnson’s “Rumours,” starring Australia’s Cate Blanchett; documentary “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” Jia Zhangke’s “Caught by the Tides”; “The Girl with the Needle”; and revenge thriller “Ghost Trail.”
Due to demand, the SFF organizers have also added additional screenings of “The Substance,” the Demi Moore-starring film already set as the festival’s closing night title. The festival runs June 5-16.
FILMMAKER ON THE MOVE
Nishikawa Miwa, the Japanese director behind “The Long Excuse” (2016) and “Under the Open Sky” (2021), has been set as the mentor to the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Teens Meet Cinema, film production workshop for teenagers. Selected students will gather in Ota City to participate in the workshop in August. With Nishikawa overseeing them, they will develop a script, shoot and edit a film assisted by a professional crew. The completed film will have its world premiere at the Tokyo festival, to be held from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6.
Nishikawa is also part of the recently launched K2 film initiative.
NEPAL-MARYLAND
“Butterfly on the Windowpane,” Nepal’s official selection for the Oscars, will open the Nepal America International Film Festival of Maryland, organized by the Nepal America Film Society. Running June 20-23 in Silver Spring and Greenbelt, Maryland, the festival has a selection that comprises thirty-five films from 11 countries, including shorts and features.
The selection also includes Nepal’s “The Riyalists,” by Kesang Tseten, Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” and Nancy Svendsen’s “Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest” as its closing title.
“NAIFF is the only Nepali international film festival outside of Nepal that not only highlights Nepali films for opening and closing, but also bridges the gap between international films with the Nepal supporting audience,” organizers told Variety.