Cuckoo filmmaker Tilman Singer knows what he wants. That confidence was apparent when his film school thesis project, Luz, received distribution in 2018, kicking off the German writer-director’s promising future. The 70-minute supernatural horror film was made with the most modest of resources, but Singer’s talent was so evident that you couldn’t help but imagine what he’d be able to do with a healthy budget. It may have taken six years, but the answer is now here in the form of Cuckoo, which may or may not be connected to Luz. Hunter Schafer’s main character in Singer’s genre-bending horror film is named Gretchen Vanderkurt, while Luz’s Julia Riedler played a character named Nora Vanderkurt.
As of this moment, Singer is choosing to remain tight-lipped about the potential relationship between his first two features.
“I don’t want to answer that too concretely, but it’s a good last name.
As of this moment, Singer is choosing to remain tight-lipped about the potential relationship between his first two features.
“I don’t want to answer that too concretely, but it’s a good last name.
- 8/7/2024
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Decadent, hermetic, and gleefully hostile to realism, French writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s She Is Conann is the cinematic equivalent of a French Symbolist poem. Throughout, the oneiric imagery seeping from every frame takes precedence over narrative linearity. And yet, even as the film embodies the self-indulgent ideal of art for art’s sake, it devours itself from within and drops the viewer back into the arena of politics.
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
- 1/28/2024
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
“She Is Conann” is a new science fiction fantasy thriller feature, directed by Bertrand Mandico, starring Claire Duburcq, Christa Théret, Sandra Parfait, Agata Buzek, Nathalie Richard, Françoise Brion, Julia Riedler and Elina Löwensohn, releasing February 2, 2024 in theaters:
“…traveling through the abyss, underworld dog ‘Rainer’ recounts the six lives of ‘Conann’, perpetually put to death by her own future, across eras, myths and ages.
‘Follow her, from her childhood as a slave of ‘Sanja’ and her barbarian horde…
“…to her accession to the summits of cruelty at the doors of our world…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…traveling through the abyss, underworld dog ‘Rainer’ recounts the six lives of ‘Conann’, perpetually put to death by her own future, across eras, myths and ages.
‘Follow her, from her childhood as a slave of ‘Sanja’ and her barbarian horde…
“…to her accession to the summits of cruelty at the doors of our world…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 1/5/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"Six lives. Six incarnations." Altered Innocence has revealed the US trailer for a wild & crazy experimental French film called She Is Conann, a unique re-imagining of the classic Conan the Barbarian myth through a modern gender-swapped lens. Yes, you read that right! This premireed at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year in Directors' Fortnight, with stops at Fantastic Fest and Sitges. It'll be opening in February in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, and more, with director Bertrand Mandico and the star at opening weekend showings at Anthology Film Archives in NYC. Conan's life at different stages is shown with a different aesthetic and rhythm from the classic Sumerian era to the near future. The film is a barbaric fantasy sci-fi trip that boldly celebrates the influences of Fellini Satyricon, The Night Porter, The Hunger, and Fassbinder’s entire oeuvre to craft a moving portrait of a warrior...
- 1/4/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Experimental French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico isn’t for everyone — i.e. an acquired taste whose visions push boundaries of cinematic expression — but he’s achieved something of a cult fandom over the last three decades. After last pairing with the director on 2022’s “After Blue” and 2017’s uninhibited Venice winner “The Wild Boys” — Cahiers du Cinéma’s top film of 2018 — the distributor Altered Innocence again teams with Mandico on another provocation. His 2023 Cannes premiere “She Is Conann,” nominated for the Queer Palm before going on to play at other festivals including Locarno, is an acid-trip transgressive riff on the Conan the Barbarian myth. IndieWire shares the trailer here.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
- 1/4/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Luz Review — Luz (2018) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Tilman Singer, and starring Luana Velis, Johannes Benecke, Jan Bluthardt, Lilli Lorenz, Julia Riedler, and Nadja Stübiger. It takes some effort to believe that this bold horror feature, Luz, is the first one for German director Tilman Singer, which goes beyond the [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Luz: A Unique Vibe with a Surreal Tenor...
Continue reading: Film Review: Luz: A Unique Vibe with a Surreal Tenor...
- 7/19/2022
- by David McDonald
- Film-Book
From new original series and recent movies to beloved favorites that generations of horror fans grew up with, Shudder is casting a wide net with their January 2020 releases, including Fred Dekker's The Monster Squad, Joe Begos' Bliss, Ti West's The House of the Devil, The Dead Lands, Tilman Singer's Luz, and the uncut version of Tammy and the T-Rex.
Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us in January, and visit Shudder online to learn more about the streaming service.
Press Release: If your New Year’s resolution is to watch more incredible horror, you’ve come to the right place. January serves up an unbeatable lineup featuring The Dead Lands, a Māori supernatural action-adventure series set in a mythical New Zealand past, the exclusive streaming premieres of untamed Australian horror The Marshes and arthouse-meets-grindhouse masterpiece Bliss, and great new...
Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us in January, and visit Shudder online to learn more about the streaming service.
Press Release: If your New Year’s resolution is to watch more incredible horror, you’ve come to the right place. January serves up an unbeatable lineup featuring The Dead Lands, a Māori supernatural action-adventure series set in a mythical New Zealand past, the exclusive streaming premieres of untamed Australian horror The Marshes and arthouse-meets-grindhouse masterpiece Bliss, and great new...
- 12/12/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
A Bread Factory (Patrick Wang)
With a small theatrical release and its runtime of four hours (split across two parts) it’s not particularly surprising that Patrick Wang’s A Bread Factory went overlooked last fall, but one should seek it out–and it’s now finally arriving on streaming. One of the best American indies of the year, it is a Rivettian look at an upstate theater company that takes both an authentic look at the mechanics of survival in the arts and a fanciful approach at showing the joy of performance. I don’t imagine the entire thing will work for everyone, but there...
A Bread Factory (Patrick Wang)
With a small theatrical release and its runtime of four hours (split across two parts) it’s not particularly surprising that Patrick Wang’s A Bread Factory went overlooked last fall, but one should seek it out–and it’s now finally arriving on streaming. One of the best American indies of the year, it is a Rivettian look at an upstate theater company that takes both an authentic look at the mechanics of survival in the arts and a fanciful approach at showing the joy of performance. I don’t imagine the entire thing will work for everyone, but there...
- 9/27/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s been years since a demonic entity has seen the woman it loves—she who conjured it to the surface before being driven out from the place in which she did. Tonight was a chance reunion wherein familiarity was quickly replaced by violence before a yet-unseen escape sees both parties going their separate ways. The woman stumbles towards a virtually deserted police station while the force of evil seeks out someone else who might be able to help it confront her within an environment it can control. So as Luz Carrara (Luana Velis) blasphemes God in Spanish via a distorted prayer to the two German detectives assigned to her, Nora Vanderkurt (Julia Riedler) solicits Dr. Rossini (Jan Bluthardt) at a bar with a tale of her girlfriend’s woe.
Shot on 16mm with its grain and blemishes left intact to augment the diffused clarity of its film stock, first-time...
Shot on 16mm with its grain and blemishes left intact to augment the diffused clarity of its film stock, first-time...
- 7/15/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
"My girlfriend has a very special gift." Screen Media Film has debuted an official Us trailer for the indie German horror thriller titled Luz, opening in select Us theaters this month after playing at film festivals all throughout last year - including Berlinale, Sitges, Fantastic Fest, Fantasia, Morbido, and many more. In this slick and disturbing horror film, Luz is a young cab driver fleeing from the grasp of a possessed woman, whose confession could endanger the lives of everyone who crosses her path. We featured a teaser trailer for this last year after it started picking up rave reviews. Luana Velis stars as Luz, and the full cast includes Johannes Benecke, Jan Bluthardt, Lilli Lorenz, Julia Riedler, and Nadja Stübiger. This is being described as "unapologetically strange and utterly fearless" and looks like a mesmerizing possession thriller. There's also a killer new poster for this film seen below the trailer.
- 7/10/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After world premiering at the 68th Berlin Film Festival, Tilman Singer’s indie hit Luz opens in New York and Los Angles on July 19th, via Screen Media. The film stars Luana Velis as a young cab driver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by a demonic entity. Daniel […]...
- 7/8/2019
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
After world premiering at the 68th Berlin Film Festival, Tilman Singer’s indie hit Luz opens in New York and Los Angles on July 19th, via Screen Media. The film stars Luana Velis as a young cab driver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by […]...
- 7/1/2019
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
After world premiering at the 68th Berlin Film Festival, Tilman Singer’s indie hit Luz opens in New York and Los Angles on July 19th, via Screen Media. The film stars Luana Velis as a young cabdriver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by a demonic […]...
- 6/19/2019
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
The debut feature from writer/director Tilman Singer, Luz is a dreamy thriller shot in the style of a 1970s European horror film. It’s wildly confusing, but there are some interesting things going on.
Luz (Luana Velis), a young taxi driver, arrives dishevelled at a police station. Rossini (Jan Bluthardt), a psychologist, is drinking at a bar and is picked up by a sultry woman (Julia Riedler). He is then called to the station to interview Luz, but appears to have been demonically possessed during his earlier encounter. He places Luz under hypnosis, supervised by police detective Bertillion and her assistant Olarte. What happens next is basically completely bonkers.
Singer shoots in a deliberately stilted, quasi-‘giallo’ style with an emphasis on colour, composition...
Luz (Luana Velis), a young taxi driver, arrives dishevelled at a police station. Rossini (Jan Bluthardt), a psychologist, is drinking at a bar and is picked up by a sultry woman (Julia Riedler). He is then called to the station to interview Luz, but appears to have been demonically possessed during his earlier encounter. He places Luz under hypnosis, supervised by police detective Bertillion and her assistant Olarte. What happens next is basically completely bonkers.
Singer shoots in a deliberately stilted, quasi-‘giallo’ style with an emphasis on colour, composition...
- 4/25/2019
- QuietEarth.us
Screen Media has acquired all North American rights for Tilman Singer’s psychotropic horror film “Luz” and is planning a first quarter 2019 release in theaters across the U.S.
“Luz” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and has screened at the Fantasia Film Festival. It will have its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest this week and will screen as a part of the Sitges Film Festival next month.
“Luz” stars Luana Velis as a young cabdriver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by a demonic entity. Singer also wrote the script. Singer and Dario Mendez Acosta produced.
Seth Needle and Conor McAdam of Screen Media negotiated the deal with Joe Yanick, Hugues Barbier and Justin Timms on behalf of Yellow Veil Pictures.
“Every so often there’s a film that really unnerves, and just flat-out scares us,...
“Luz” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and has screened at the Fantasia Film Festival. It will have its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest this week and will screen as a part of the Sitges Film Festival next month.
“Luz” stars Luana Velis as a young cabdriver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by a demonic entity. Singer also wrote the script. Singer and Dario Mendez Acosta produced.
Seth Needle and Conor McAdam of Screen Media negotiated the deal with Joe Yanick, Hugues Barbier and Justin Timms on behalf of Yellow Veil Pictures.
“Every so often there’s a film that really unnerves, and just flat-out scares us,...
- 9/19/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Luz is a German language film, from director Tilman Singer. Already having appeared at several international film festivals, Luz began as a student film, shot on 16mm. Well received, this title went onto premiere in Berlin, with a North American premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival. The story of Luz begins with a cabdriver, who seeks shelter in a rundown police station. Here, there is only madness. Luz stars Luana Velis as the main character, along with Jan Bluthardt and Julia Riedler. Now, this indie horror thriller is set to show at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival in October. A preview of the film's New York premiere is available here. A longer synopsis mentions an assault. Luz (Velis) barely escapes the encounter. At a nearby bar, a mysterious woman is seducing Dr. Rossini. Nora (Riedler) recounts Dr. Rossini's strange escape from a taxi cab. Now, Luz and Nora realize...
- 8/16/2018
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Luz Trailers Tilman Singer‘s Luz (2018) teaser trailers stars Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler, Johannes Benecke, and Nadja Stubiger. Luz‘s plot synopsis: “A rainy night. A dazed and numb young cabdriver, Luz, drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a rundown police station. Across town in a nightspot, a woman seductively engages a police [...]
Continue reading: Luz (2018) Teaser Trailers: Jan Bluthardt hypnotizes Luana Velis, Spawning a Series Bizarre Flashbacks...
Continue reading: Luz (2018) Teaser Trailers: Jan Bluthardt hypnotizes Luana Velis, Spawning a Series Bizarre Flashbacks...
- 8/2/2018
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Time to meet Luz. Yellow Veil Pictures has released an entrancing new teaser trailer for a hypnotic thriller titled Luz, from German filmmaker Tilman Singer. This already premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year, and played Fantasia in the summer; it will next stop by Fantastic Fest and the Sitges Film Festival later this fall. Luz, a young cabdriver, drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a run-down police station. A demonic entity follows her, determined to finally be close to the woman it loves. Luana Velis stars as Luz, and the full cast includes Johannes Benecke, Jan Bluthardt, Lilli Lorenz, Julia Riedler, and Nadja Stübiger. The film already received some rave reviews at other fests, calling it "unapologetically strange and utterly fearless." It certainly looks strange, with a very nice, old school vibe. Really digging this teaser. Here's the first Us teaser trailer (+ new poster) for Tilman Singer's Luz,...
- 8/1/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Recently acquired by Yellow Veil Pictures, the demonic possession film Luz (shot on 16mm) has been enjoying a well-received run on the festival circuit, and ahead of its Us premiere at Fantastic Fest this September, a new teaser trailer for the movie has been revealed:
"A rainy night. A dazed and numb young cabdriver, Luz, drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a rundown police station. Across town in a nightspot, Nora seductively engages police psychiatrist Dr. Rossini in a conversation. Nora is possessed by a demonic entity, longing for the woman it loves - Luz. She tells the Doctor about her old schoolmate Luz’s rebellious past at a Chilean school for girls. Increasingly drunk on her story, Rossini turns into an easy prey in Nora's hands, but he’s soon called away to the police station to examine Luz. Supervised by his colleagues, the doctor puts Luz...
"A rainy night. A dazed and numb young cabdriver, Luz, drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a rundown police station. Across town in a nightspot, Nora seductively engages police psychiatrist Dr. Rossini in a conversation. Nora is possessed by a demonic entity, longing for the woman it loves - Luz. She tells the Doctor about her old schoolmate Luz’s rebellious past at a Chilean school for girls. Increasingly drunk on her story, Rossini turns into an easy prey in Nora's hands, but he’s soon called away to the police station to examine Luz. Supervised by his colleagues, the doctor puts Luz...
- 8/1/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Comparisons do not come easy with “Luz,” an arresting first feature for German writer-director Tilman Singer that is equal measures demonic-possession thriller, experiment in formalist rigor, and flummoxing narrative puzzle-box. Done, almost incredibly, as a film-studies thesis project, this modestly scaled yet slick and conceptually audacious enterprise commands attention. At the very least, it’s an auspicious debut. Whether it has commercial prospects will depend on the willingness of distributors go to out on a limb for a movie whose genre selling points are more suggested than depicted, and whose aesthetic is as almost abstractly minimalist as its story theme is lurid.
Singer opens matters with a very loooong long-shot, as a young woman in boyish dress shambles into what turns out to be a police station. This is Luz (Luana Velia), who dazedly drops coins in a beverage vending machine before addressing some inexplicable words to the receptionist. Words that,...
Singer opens matters with a very loooong long-shot, as a young woman in boyish dress shambles into what turns out to be a police station. This is Luz (Luana Velia), who dazedly drops coins in a beverage vending machine before addressing some inexplicable words to the receptionist. Words that,...
- 7/27/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Yellow Veil Pictures has bought German horror film “Luz” as part of launching as a new worldwide film sales company focusing exclusively on arthouse genre cinema, Variety has learned exclusively.
The company made the announcement Monday ahead of this week’s opening of the Frontières Co-Production Market at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Yellow Veil has been formed by a trio of horror film vets: Ithaca Fantastik founder and festival manager Hugues Barbier, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival founder Justin Timms, and former festivals and non-theatrical assistant director of Visit Films and co-director of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Joe Yanick. The three have also brought on the Fantasia Festival’s publicist Kaila Sarah Hier.
“Luz” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year and has screened at Bafici, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, and Fantaspoa, where Luana Velis won best actress. It will make its North American...
The company made the announcement Monday ahead of this week’s opening of the Frontières Co-Production Market at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Yellow Veil has been formed by a trio of horror film vets: Ithaca Fantastik founder and festival manager Hugues Barbier, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival founder Justin Timms, and former festivals and non-theatrical assistant director of Visit Films and co-director of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Joe Yanick. The three have also brought on the Fantasia Festival’s publicist Kaila Sarah Hier.
“Luz” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year and has screened at Bafici, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, and Fantaspoa, where Luana Velis won best actress. It will make its North American...
- 7/16/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
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