January, the deeply moving short by Jetske Lieber, premieres in the Future Frames section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, a program spotlighting the next generation of European filmmakers. A raw and tender portrait of post-breakup identity and quiet emotional repair, “January” follows Willem, a young man navigating heartbreak, friendship, and selfhood in the coldest month of the year. Lieber’s film is a celebration of subtlety, queerness, and the small relationships that carry us when romantic love fails.

“January is the worst month to break up,” Lieber admits, reflecting on the inspiration behind the film. Originally intended to be a summer story, Januarywas forced to embrace the cold, both literally and metaphorically, after production requirements led to a winter shoot. “It’s also a feeling — cold, blue, still.”

The film follows Willem, freshly out of a relationship, trying to make sense of his life by reconnecting with friends, housemates, and his parents. “We really see him being like an extra in his own life, trying to get the main character role back,” says Lieber.

Willem is portrayed with aching vulnerability by Bram Flick, an actor Lieber directed with incredible sensitivity. “He doesn’t say a lot in the film. All the people around him talk, so he had to express everything physically — with his body and face,” she explains.

At its core, “January” is about more than heartbreak. It’s about how we rebuild ourselves through non-romantic relationships. “When I broke up, I realized I’d been focusing on just one relationship. And then I saw how many different kinds of love can save you,” Lieber says. Whether it’s friendship, family, or simply sharing space with others, the film shows how healing is communal.

“Romantic love can be intense and overanalyzed, but friendships can be light and humbling,” she adds. This quiet embrace of platonic intimacy is what gives January its emotional gravity.

Lieber’s past experience as an actor shaped the approach on set. “It’s very vulnerable to act, especially with a crew watching. I never forget that,” she says. “I give my actors long takes. I want them to own the scene.” Her direction is deeply actor-centered, prioritizing authenticity over technical perfection.

“Even the smallest steps can keep you walking,” Lieber says. January doesn’t offer a neatly tied resolution, but something better: hope. “It’s okay not to know who you are in a couple of weeks or months or even years.”

She hopes viewers will recognise something of themselves in Willem — and feel understood.

Being selected for Future Frames is a dream come true for “Lieber“. “It can be quite intense to be a young director, but this platform lets us be real directors for the first time,” she says. Meeting peers from across Europe and sharing her work with new audiences marks an exciting chapter in her filmmaking journey.

With “January“, Jetske Lieber delivers a deeply personal and understated story of heartbreak, identity, and quiet connection. It’s a film that lingers — not because it shouts, but because it listens. As she puts it, “If Willem can handle January, maybe we all can.”

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At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, director Terézia Halamová premieres her short film, “Dog and Wolf“, in the Future Frames: Generation NEXT of European Cinema section. Supported by European Film Promotion and Allwyn, the program highlights promising new voices in European filmmaking. With “Dog and Wolf“, Halamová offers more than a film — she delivers a visceral meditation on identity, silence, and the unstable boundaries between reality and performance.

“The film follows the different stages of his sleep deprivation and takes us through his chaotic life,” Halamová says of Rudo, her 25-year-old protagonist. This male stripper has abandoned sleep and stability in favor of a spiraling, nocturnal existence. But beneath the neon lights and club rhythms lies something far more fragile: a young man dissolving under the weight of his own disorientation.

Rudo’s story is told not in the language of exposition, but through image, rhythm, and absence. “Dog and Wolf” refuses to frame identity as fixed or knowable. Instead, Halamová suggests it is a mask worn in the service of others — and often, worn so long we forget what’s underneath. “Their daily routine is to change costumes and pretend, and to fulfill other people’s fantasies,” she notes. In Rudo’s world, the act of stripping becomes a metaphor for something far deeper — the emotional exposure of a man who no longer knows who he is when the lights go down.

The film’s title, “Dog and Wolf“, draws from a twilight idiom that exists in French, Slovak, and Czech — “the hour between dog and wolf”, a time when darkness distorts perception and friend becomes foe, safety turns to threat, and clarity fades into confusion. For Halamová, the metaphor is deeply personal and generational.

“It’s this stage of life for many people in their 20s when everything feels chaotic… and the search for identity gets very messy,” she explains.

“Silence… is one of the most powerful tools in cinema. It can say so much more than any dialogue,” says Halamová. In Dog and Wolf, silence becomes a weapon, a refuge, and a mirror. The film builds emotional tension not through exposition, but by contrasting scenes of chaotic movement with moments of near-absolute stillness, inviting the viewer to project their own emotional interpretation into the gaps.

Being part of Future Frames is more than a career milestone for Halamová — it’s a moment of shared visibility. “I’m 100% so honored and happy to get this platform,” she says. It’s not just about showcasing “Dog and Wolf” but about connecting with audiences and fellow filmmakers who recognize the emotional undercurrents running through her work.

Her hope for viewers? “Hopefully, they feel lighter about life,” she says. “If you leave the cinema somehow feeling lighter or seen or understood, that’s the most I could ask for.”

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“I’m very excited to go back again and to revisit that world with my film-making friends, who I’ve known now for so many years. So, I’ll be going back in a couple of months and we start preparation and then we start shooting. The film will be released in December 27”. Andy Serkis is ready to come back to the Middle-earth of “The Lord of the Rings” saga for playing the role of Gollum and directing the movie dedicated to this character. Doing both it will not be a problem for him: “I know Gollum so well, you know. He’s a creature he owns me”, says Serkis to FredFilmRadio during the 8th edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival.

The British actor talks about how he started directing: “I was about to direct a small independent film when Peter Jackson asked me to come and direct the second unit on The Hobbit. So, we were just starting a company The Imaginarium. It was like, wow, this is a huge challenge to suddenly work with an enormous crew, shooting in 3D, 48 frames a second, in complicated fight sequences”.

“Artificial Intelligence was used in the day on Lord of the Rings – Serkis says about how technologies change in these last years, using also AI – There was a programme called Massive which enabled all of the battle sequences, for instance, in Helm’s Deep, to have each individual character of thousands and thousands of orcs have their own minds, you know, walking around and doing different things to each other. So, that kind of technology has been used for some time. I mean, we, with every film of this scale, new technologies are being evolved constantly”.

We’ll see Serkis playing again the role of Alfred Pennyworth in “The Batman 2” directed by Matt Reeves: “I worked with Matt in two of the Apes movies and we became very close friends. He said he wanted to write a character for me where we see my face. So he wrote the relationship between Alfred and Bruce Wayne as a very emotional relationship. The father that he could never be. He does not possess a parental bone in his body. He just doesn’t know how to do that. He can only teach skills. But he feels he ought to be the father for Bruce, but he just can’t be. So it’s a lovely dynamic and quite a painful dynamic between them”.

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Jane Seymour is one of the protagonist of the 8th edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival. The British actress, know for the tv-series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman“, about her character says: “She was an emancipated woman. In American television we did not have one-hour programs with a female protagonist. She has the awareness of others. And the story was situated in 1876”.

About changing of female storytelling, Seymour explains: “Nowadays there are more different female directors and writers. We want to know our stories. We want to talk about our humanity”. The advice she gives to a young who wants to become an actor is “studying and reading, but also living the life and creating your own material”.

Seymour has her say on artificial intelligence: “People want touching emotions and human reactions. But we need to find a way to use AI intelligently”.

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We speak with Jacob Cordery, a student filmmaker, and Valeria Moreno and Nicole Ruf, directors of the 2025 Durham Film Festival, about the history of this student-led short film festival, which is supported by Durham University and the BFI (British Film Institute).

Valeria Moreno and Nicole Ruf discuss the history of this short-film festival, which aims to showcase new talent and emerging student filmmakers from across the world. They highlight the vital role of the British Film Institute in supporting the festival, providing advice and serving on the jury annually.

Jacob Cordery, a Durham-based student filmmaker who directed one of the films up for competition, ‘Tippy Toes” (UK, 2025), shares with us the process of making this film, inspired by a trip to Girona in Spain, but set in Durham. This 18-minute film is a nonlinear and complex love story between two students.

The interview was recorded minutes before the award ceremony, where Aleks Dimitrijevic, representing the BFI, announced the winning film, “The Field’, directed by Davis Homenuck (Canada, 2025). The runner-up was “Before You Leave”, directed by Louise Thomas (UK, 2024). The popular vote award went to “On Strings”, directed by Tom Lee (UK, 2025).

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Almost two years after premiering at the Rome International Film Fest, the 2023 edition, “Firebrand – L’Ultima regina is out in italian cinemas with Vertice 360.

Directed by Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz and starring Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, and Jude Law as the king , the film is based on the novel Queen’s Gambit (now “Firebrand“) by Elizabeth Fremantle.

“Firebrand“ explores Katherine Parr’s life, her role as queen, and her attempt to navigate the dangerous court of Henry VIII. She is portrayed as a passionate advocate for religious change and a loving stepmother to Henry’s children.

As also Wikipedia quotes, if it hadn’t been for Katherine Parr, there would be no Queen Elizabeth in the history of the world so the question of why we’ve almost never heard of her is consistent.

The answer to this question is simple for Karim Aïnouz: “Stories like Katherine Parr’s were always there and we just didn’t know because people with the power, the ones that write history, chose to not tell them”.

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“Aimer Perde” le nouveau films des frères Lenny et Harpo Guit est en compétition au Milano Film Fest. On a rencontré les actrices Maria Cavalier Bazan et Gladys Lefeuvre avant la première du film, pour parler de cette petite et joyeuse perle de film, frais, génial et amusant,  qui a surpris le Jury du festival. Le film à gagné le prix comme Meilleur Film, mais on le savait pas encore au moment de l’interview.

Maria Cavalier Bazan décrit de cette façon le monde de son personnage Armande, qui en “Aimer Perdre” est sans abri et lutte pour trouver de l’argent à travers sa fixation de parier sur tout. Le film est très amusant mais le monde raconté est difficile et lourd. Jouer Armande a été complexe, car le personnage a beaucoup de niveaux et de intensités, aussi pas toujours agréables.

Maria Cavalier Bazan et Gladys Lefeuvre confirment que le set de “Aimer Perdre” a été magnifique. la troupe travaillait dans un climat de joie continuelle et de collaboration aussi créative que tout était possible. Les deux actrices ne se connaissaient pas avant et maintenant sont meilleures amies, car c’est ce que le tournage du film et l’atmosphère crée par les frères Guit a produit. Et ça n’arrive pas si souvent.

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Claudio Santamaria è il direttore artistico della prima edizione del Milano Film Fest, la kermesse cinematografica milanese che si è svolta dal 3 all’8 giugno. Festival molto intenso, con un calendario fitto di film, eventi ed incontri, il direttore artistico ci racconta come è stato coinvolto e quale erano le basi sulle quali lui e il gruppo di lavoro che ha fatto nascere il festival hanno lavorato, costruendo una serie di appuntamenti e di sezioni tutte complementari all’idea ampia di evento cinematografico che è alla base del progetto.

Claudio Santamaria confessa che l’idea di dirigere un festival di cinema lo ha sempre stuzzicato, e quindi quando il gruppo di lavoro gli ha presentato  l’idea per questo festival, chiedendogli se avrebbe voluto farne parte, ha subito detto si. La comunione di intenti e di idee che si è creata ha portato ad un calendario che sposa film ( lungometraggi e cortometraggi) incontri per l’industry e per il pubblico, spazio per gli studenti di cinema e per la musica, con un collaboratore di eccezione, Manuel Agnelli.

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Dopo l’anteprima mondiale alla Festa del Cinema di Roma, l’opera seconda di Mauro Mancini, “Mani Nude“, sarà presentato alla prima edizione del Milano Film Fest.

In sala con Medusa Film dal 5 giugno, il film, una produzione Eagle Original Content, Pepito Produzioni e Movimento Film con Rai Cinema, ritrova Alessandro Gassman, già protagonista dell’opera prima di Mancini, “Non odiare“, presentato alla Settimana della Critica di Venezia.

Con Gassman, Mancini prosegue un percorso di indagine sulla disumanizzazione della società e sulla capacità dell’essere umano di perdonare.

“Mani Nude” non testimonia solo il ritrovarsi tra Mancini e Gassman ma anche quello tra quest’ultimo e Francesco Gheghi, fresco di candidatura ai David di Donatello per “Familia“, con cui l’attore e regista aveva lavorato a “Mio fratello rincorre i dinosauri” di Stefano Cipani (2019).

Mancini che ha adattato per il grande schermo, insieme a Davide Lisino alla sceneggiatura, il romanzo di Paola Barbato, racconta come abbia utilizzato il genere, il noir e il thriller, come mezzo per portare avanti il suo discorso sulla violenza e il “mors tua, vita mea” che ormai è portato agli estremi nella società di oggi.

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German director Christian Petzold is in Cannes 78, premiering his new film, “Mirrors No.3” in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes.

With Paula Beer as his protagonist in the role of a woman surviving a car accident where her boyfriend dies and finding confort in a stranger’s motherly devotion, the film, because of the wind surrounding it, closes, unexpectedly, the element trilogy.

Petzold indeed started the trilogy in 2020 with Undine and continued it with “Afire“. Both the films had Paula Beer as their muse and it was her to notice the “wind” as essential in “Mirrors No.3“.

With a mix of tension, horror like tones and at the same time, feelings of acceptance and care, Mirrors n. 3 balance them all to tell a story of life and death, emotionally dying and coming back to life.

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