‘WHAT A FEELING’ (Frameline 48) An age and stage charmer from filmmaker Kat Rohrer.

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WHAT A FEELING

What a Feeling (2024) - www.imdb.comIt is easy to see why Kat Rohrer‘s Frameline 48 feature WHAT A FEELING played to a sold-out crowd last night. This authentic love story is everything you want it to be.  Workplace shenanigans and complicated family dynamics genuinely ground the film. This naturally progressing script has it all.

what a feeling 3Fa is a wildly unpredictable woman who enjoys creating things with her hands and bouncing from woman to woman. Marie is a doctor whose husband demands a divorce on their 20th wedding anniversary. When the two run into each other, almost quite literally, they discover an unexpected spark between them.

what a feeling 2Caroline Peters delivers laughs and heart in the role of Marie Theres. Proschat Madani gives Fa a firecracker spirit. Both offer depth to roles that could easily remain surface-level clichés. Their chemistry is magic, and Rohrer thoughtfully crafts their characters’ journeys.

what a feeling 1The film leans into conversations of identity, both sexual and national, with Fa being Iranian. It tackles inherent bias and standing up for what’s right, no matter the issue. WHAT A FEELING dives into the nuance of relationships and the mistakes we make that either force us to grow or flee. It’s a lovely film.

https://youtu.be/-MRHS5I1umI

DIRECTOR
Kat Rohrer
YEAR
2024
COUNTRY
Austria
RUNNING TIME
110 mins
LANGUAGE
German, English, & Persian
SECTION
Narrative Features

For more LGBTQIA+ films, click here!

‘THE DEVIL’S BATH’ (Tribeca 2024) Horrifying History

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THE DEVIL’S BATH

A FILM BY VERONIKA FRANZ & SEVERIN FIALA
(GOODNIGHT MOMMY, THE LODGE)

STARRING ANJA PLASCHG (Soap&Skin)

*Winner, Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear 2024*

the devil's bath still 2Goodnight Mommy filmmakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz‘s latest film, The Devil’s Bath, opens with a positively gruesome scene. Based on historical research, it is a story that begins with infanticide, tackles mental health and religion, and is a haunting narrative you won’t see coming. Tribeca 2024 audiences are not ready. Anja Plaschg delivers a flawless performance. Her descent into despair is heartbreaking, but it is the eventual madness that devastates the audience. The Devil’s Bath is a deliberately paced, push and pull between tradition and ignorance, cultural expectations, and desperation. It is a deep dive into female depression and the historic gaslighting through our cries for help. Boasting a cyclical finale that will appall you, Shudder has another deeply dark notch in its belt. 

*COMING TO SHUDDER ON FRIDAY, JUNE 28TH FOLLOWING
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE ON JUNE 8TH AT TRIBECA FESTIVAL 2024*
2024 / Austria, Germany / In German with English Subtitles / 121 mins


Remaining Tribeca Screenings of The Devil’s Bath:
Public Screening 3: Thursday, June 13th at 9:15pm – AMC 19th St. East 6
The DEVIL_S_BATHSYNOPSIS – In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon grow heavy as her life becomes a long list of chores and expectations. Day after day, she is increasingly trapped in a murky and lonely path leading to evil thoughts, until the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence seems like the only way out of her inner prison. Giving a voice to the invisible and unheard women of the rural past; THE DEVIL’S BATH is based on historical court records about a shocking, hitherto unexplored chapter of European history.

Filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin FialaVERONICA FRANZ (Writer & Director) studied German and philosophy and worked as a journalist. She has also worked as an artistic collab-orator with Ulrich Seidl since 1997 and co-wrote the screenplays for all of his films including DOG DAYS (2001), IMPORT EXPORT (2007), the PARADISE trilogy (2012/13) and WICKED GAMES – RIMINI SPARTA (2023). In 2003 she also founded the Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH with him.

SEVERIN FIALA (Writer & Director) studied at the Vienna Film Academy. He worked at the Red Cross and celebrated his first success with the award-winning short film ELEPHANT SKIN (2009, co-directed with Ulrike Putzer).

The first collaboration between Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala was the international award-winning documentary KERN (premiere: Locarno Film Festival 2012). This was followed by their first joint feature film GOODNIGHT MOMMY (2014), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, won several awards and was shown at the Oscars as Austria’s entry for Best International Feature Film. A US remake of the film was released internationally by Amazon in 2022 under the same name, starring Naomi Watts. THE LODGE, the directing duo’s first English-language feature film, has a prominent cast including US stars Riley Keough and Jaeden Martell. It celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. The premiere of their period feature film THE DEVIL’S BATH followed in 2024 – an Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion, in coproduction with Heimatfilm and Coop99 Filmproduktion.

For more Tribeca 2024 coverage, click here!

Tribeca 2022 review: ‘FAMILY DINNER’ is a recipe for disaster, and that’s what makes it delicious.

FAMILY DINNER

One of Tribeca 2022 Midnight selections features the sickest fad diet you could ever imagine. When Simi joins her famous nutritionist aunt for the Easter holiday, the tension in the house boils over almost immediately. Simi, an overweight 15-year-old girl, seeks approval and guidance, but things do not go according to plan. Family Dinner is a film that slowly and deliberately crawls under your skin.

Michael Pink creates a lecherous character arc for Stefan. His presence made me shudder with each appearance. Alexander Sladek gives relentless nuance to the role of Filipp. Displaying all the characteristics of a serial killer, what lies beneath the surface is even more disturbing. Sladek is unnerving.

Pia Hierzegger plays Auntie Claudia with an energy that is powerful and scary. The head of the household in every way possible, Hierzegger is astounding. Nina Katlein is spectacular as Simi. Despite every red flag, the bravery in Katliein’s eyes is shocking. Writer-director Peter Hengl’s script allows Simi to be a feminist icon.

The complexity of this script kept me guessing from beginning to end. Just when I thought I’d figured out what was going on, another twist. Much like in the films A Banquet and Honeydew, the preparation and consumption of food become weaponized. The infantilization between mother and son sent shivers down my spine. It is an added layer that compounded my unending distress. If you follow the proverbial breadcrumbs, the finale feels like a natural endpoint to a series of microaggressions that become exponentially more horrendous. Family Dinner had my heart in my throat with bona fide fear. Tribeca audiences are in for a frightful treat.


For more information on Family Dinner and the full Tribeca 2022 experience, click here:

https://tribecafilm.com/films/family-dinner-2022