Former Über Content co-owner/executive producer Preston Lee has launched Culver City-based production company Sanctuary. Lee enjoyed a 10-year run at Über Content which he co-ran with partner Phyllis Koenig. He serves as EP/owner of Sanctuary which opens with a roster that includes former Über Content directors Fred Savage, Cole Webley, Lucia Aniello, and Scott Pickett. Also part of the Sanctuary directorial lineup are MTV alum and Girl Code director Laura Murphy, and Canadian filmmaker Natalie Rae Robison. Lee plans to eventually open a NY office to make Sanctuary bicoastal. The company is represented by Pamala Buzick and Kamila Prokop of Maven Label on the East Coast, Katy Richter and Heather Guillen of The Standard Society in the Midwest and will announce West Coast representation shortly….
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More