Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.

Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006, causing a sensation in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide.

Kampusch had always refused to respond to claims that she had had sex with Priklopil, but in a German television interview on her 25th birthday last week said she had decided to reveal the truth because it had leaked out from police files.

The film, “3,096 Days” – based on Kampusch’s autobiography of the same name – soberly portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar less than 6 square metres (65 square feet) in area, often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Kampusch – who weighed just 38 kg (84 pounds) at one point in 2004 – keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: “At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear.”

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift – but then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

GREY AREAS

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Kampusch, said she had tried to portray “the strength of someone’s soul, the ability of people to survive… but also the grey areas within a relationship that people don’t necessarily understand.”

The British actress said she had not met Kampusch during the making of the film or since. “It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused,” she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere.

Kampusch herself attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures but declining to give interviews.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild Zeitung last week, she said: “Yes, I did recognize myself, although the reality was even worse. But one can’t really show that in the cinema, since it wasn’t supposed to be a horror film.”

The movie, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

“I focused mainly on playing the human being because… we have to remember it was a human being. Monsters do not exist, they’re only in cartoons,” Lindhart said.

“It became clear to me that it’s a story about survival, and it’s a story about surviving eight years of hell. If that story can be told then I can also play the bad guy.”

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move “Desert Flower”, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

“I’m a mother and I wonder at the strength of this child, and it was important for me to tell this story from a different perspective, to tell how this child using her own strength could survive this atrocious martyrdom,” Hormann said.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The crimes prompted soul-searching about the Austrian psyche, and questions as to how the authorities and neighbors could have let such crimes go undetected for so long.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

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U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee drops bin Laden film probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One day after “Zero Dark Thirty” failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers‘ contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, said it was in touch with the filmmakers but had no immediate comment. Screenwriter Mark Boal said he had no comment. But attacks by Washington politicians may have damaged its prospects at the Academy Awards. “Zero Dark Thirty” was nominated for a best picture award, which it did not win. Also, in what industry watchers considered a snub, director Kathryn Bigelow did not receive a best director nomination.

The Senate committee launched its review of the film, a dramatization of how the U.S. government located and killed Osama bin Laden, after its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, expressed outrage over scenes that implied that “enhanced interrogations” of CIA detainees produced an breakthrough that helped lead to the al Qaeda leader.

In December, as “Zero Dark Thirty” was about to premiere nationwide, Feinstein joined fellow Democrat Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator John McCain in condemning “particularly graphic scenes of CIA officers torturing detainees” in the film.

A source familiar with contacts between the filmmakers and intelligence officials said the CIA did not tell the filmmakers “enhanced interrogations” led to bin Laden. Instead, the agency helped develop characters in the film, said the source.

The political fallout prompted Bigelow to write in an op-ed piece: “Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time.”

The government cooperated as much, if not more, on “Argo,” the film about the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Iran that won the best picture Oscar. Actor-director Ben Affleck and his team were allowed to film scenes in the lobby of the CIA building in Langley, Virginia; the “Zero Dark Thirty” crew did no such filming.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

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Shia LaBeouf and Alec Baldwin “Incompatible”? Actor tweets about exit From “Orphans”

(Please note that this story contains strong language in paragraphs 10 and 21.)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Shia LaBeouf is taking a cue from his former co-star Alec Baldwin and using Twitter to defend his actions – in this case his split from “Orphans” on Broadway.

The show, which begins previews in less than a month, was to be the “Transformers” star’s Great White Way debut. In a brief statement Wednesday, the actor’s departure was attributed to those pesky “creative differences.”

But LaBeouf, whose propensity to over-share has gotten him in trouble in the past, took to Twitter within hours of the announcement to post private emails from the show’s director Daniel Sullivan and co-stars Baldwin and Tom Sturridge.

He also mused about the role of theater in society and posted his audition video for the show (he’s twitchy, intense and, it must be said, pretty convincing as a criminal with a short fuse).

The correspondence does little to clarify the reasons for his abrupt exit, though his exchange with Sullivan hints at chemistry issues with Baldwin.

“I’m too old for disagreeable situations,” Sullivan writes. “You’re one hell of a great actor. Alec is who he is. You are who you are. You two are incompatible. I should have known it. This one will haunt me. You tried to warn me. You said you were a different breed. I didn’t get it.”

But an individual close to the production told TheWrap that the split had nothing to do with Baldwin; it was due to conflicts between the star and the show’s producers, Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole.

Spokespeople for the production did not respond to requests for comment.

In his emails, LaBeouf also demonstrates a flair for the dramatic that New York theater critics will be denied an opportunity to see in the flesh.

“My dad was a drug dealer,” LaBeouf writes. “He was a shit human. But he was a man. He taught me how to be a man. What I know of men Alec is.”

“A man owns up,” he adds. “That’s why Mark McGuire is not a man.”

If the message from Baldwin is to be believed, LaBeouf’s former cast-mate wishes him well.

After LaBeouf apologizes for creating a “disagreeable situation,” Baldwin assures him he doesn’t have an “unkind word to say about you.”

“I’ve been through this before,” Baldwin writes. “It’s been a while. And perhaps some of the particulars are different. But it comes down to the fact that what we all do now is critical. Perhaps especially for you. When the change comes, how do we handle it, whether it be good or bad? What do we learn?”

A spokesman for Baldwin declined to comment and a spokeswoman for LaBeouf did not respond to requests for comment.

Sturridge also is complimentary in his note to LaBeouf.

“I was stunned by the work you were doing, the performance you were giving,” he writes.”I think you lifted the play to a place higher than maybe it even deserved to be.”

This is not the first time that LaBeouf has gotten in trouble for running his mouth off in public. In the past he irritated Steven Spielberg by speaking ill of their collaboration on “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”; said Oliver Stone played too nice when they teamed up on “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” and once revealed that he hooked up with “Transformers” co-star Megan Fox when she was on a break from her husband Brian Austin Green.

His frank talk and propensity to criticize former collaborators has inspired at least one high-profile rebuke.

Harrison Ford told Details Magazine that he was displeased by his co-stars comments about the Indiana Jones sequel.

“I think I told him he was a f—ing idiot,” Ford said. “As an actor, I think it’s my obligation to support the film without making a complete ass of myself.”

On Wednesday and Thursday, LaBeouf also took the opportunity to share some colorful thoughts about acting, as well as some historical lessons of questionable veracity.

“Actors used to be buried with a stake through the heart,” he tweeted. “Those peoples performances so troubled on-lookers that they feared their ghosts.”

Oh, and based on his messages with Rick Sordelet, the show’s fight director and a faculty member at Yale University’s drama school, an MFA may be in LaBeouf’s future…possibly one from a certain New Haven-based institute of higher learning.

In a message, Sordelet hails LaBeouf’s work ethic and says he has been in touch with the head of the school’s acting program about having him matriculate.

“It must have been difficult for others in the room to be schooled by someone who’s raw talent and enthusiasm out matched theirs,” Sordelet writes.

Sounds like somebody might be passing James Franco on the quad some day soon.

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“Scary Spice” Mel B joins “America’s Got Talent” panel

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former Spice Girl Mel B will join the judging panel on summer TV talent show “America‘s Got Talent,” broadcaster NBC said on Thursday.

The 37-year-old Briton, known by the nickname Scary Spice when she was part of the chart-topping 1990s British girl band, will replace Sharon Osbourne who quit the series in a dispute with NBC over their decision to drop her son Jack from another reality show.

Mel B, whose full name is Melanie Brown, will join “shock jock” Howard Stern, who has agreed to return for his second season, and comedian Howie Mandel.

“This exciting addition of the dynamic Mel B to our lineup of judges promises that fans will see a strong, talented and opinionated woman match up against our equally outspoken judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel,” NBC president of alternative programming Paul Telegdy said in a statement.

Mel B said she was thrilled to join the talent show, adding in a statement, “It’s so exciting to be bringing some Girl Power to the panel!”

The singer recently finished a two-season stint as a judge on singing contest “The X Factor,” which like “America’s Got Talent” was created by British entrepreneur Simon Cowell.

NBC said nationwide auditions for the new season of “America’s Got Talent” will start on March 4 in New Orleans.

The network is seeking to turn around a fall in audiences last year when the finale in September was watched by a record low of under 11 million viewers, according to ratings data.

The show remained the top-rated summer series among adults aged 18-49, the demographic most coveted by advertisers.

NBC attributed the overall 2012 audience decline partly to an earlier start that pitted “Got Talent” against end-of-season original programming in May and the start of new TV shows in September.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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“Zero Dark Thirty”: too cool, or too controversial for Oscars?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Just three months ago, “Zero Dark Thirty” looked like a strong contender for the movie industry’s biggest prize.

But when the Oscar for Best Picture is handed out on Sunday, the thriller about the decade-long U.S. hunt for, and 2011 killing of, Osama bin Laden is unlikely to get its name engraved on the coveted gold statuette.

After a fierce campaign over the movie’s depiction of torture that started in Washington and extended to human rights groups, “Zero Dark Thirty” went from front-runner to also-ran at the Academy Awards.

Despite winning early honors from influential critics in New York, Washington, Boston and Chicago, pundits say the failure of “Zero Dark Thirty” to win traction in Hollywood may have as much to do with its style as the heated debate it has provoked.

“It’s a little cool,” said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for Fandango.com.

“Usually you need some kind of crowd-pleasing element to have a shot at winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and that is what (Iran hostage drama) ‘Argo’ has. It has a great rousing emotional aspect to it which ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ by design, does not have,” Karger told Reuters.

‘GROSSLY INACCURATE’?

Early signs of trouble for “Zero Dark Thirty” came in mid-December when U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, John McCain and Carl Levin sent a letter to movie studio Sony Pictures.

They called the film “grossly inaccurate and misleading” for suggesting torture helped the United States track the al Qaeda leader to a Pakistan compound.

The senators cited intelligence records released in April 2012 that showed this was not the case and said the movie “has the potential to shape American public opinion in a disturbing and misleading manner.”

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal said repeatedly that the film shows a variety of intelligence methods, not all of which produced results.

Three weeks later, Bigelow was omitted from the Oscar’s Best Director shortlist, chosen by about 5,800 movie industry professionals who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Bigelow was only one of four big directors to be snubbed, and “Zero Dark Thirty” received five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. But Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan was among those who pointed the finger at Washington.

“Chalk up this year’s (Oscar) nominations as a victory for the bullying power of the United States Senate and an undeserved loss for Kathryn Bigelow,” Turan wrote in January.

In a column in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, deputy editor Daniel Henninger agreed.

“Had Senators Feinstein, Levin and McCain not saddled up their high horses in a December 19 letter to Sony Pictures denouncing the movie, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ would not now be out of the running for Best Picture at the Oscars,” Henninger wrote.

Pete Hammond, awards columnist at entertainment industry website Deadline.com, said the political attacks on the film certainly had an impact before “Zero Dark Thirty” was released in U.S. movie theaters nationwide in late January.

“But when it opened wide, it actually helped by bringing so much publicity, and now there has been a backlash against the backlash,” Hammond told Reuters.

FIGHTING BACK

By late January, Bigelow and Boal were making speeches, getting magazine profiles, and writing opinion pieces in which they directed critics to the U.S. officials who sanctioned, or turned a blind eye, to harsh interrogation techniques.

Victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks ordered by bin Laden voiced their support, as did departing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who called it a “great movie.”

Steve Elzer, spokesman for Columbia Pictures, the Sony Pictures unit behind the film, said the studio was very proud of the movie, saying it had generated “an amazing national conversation.”

“‘Zero Dark Thirty’ has been a huge critical and commercial success that has also been praised by a large number of experts, historians and academics outside of the political arena.

“No matter how we do at the Oscars on Sunday, we know this will be a motion picture that will be remembered many years from now. We couldn’t be more proud to have been associated with this film,” Elzer told Reuters.

Despite the furor and small protests by human rights activists at some awards ceremonies, “Zero Dark Thirty” has won stellar reviews and reaped more than $ 100 million at the worldwide box office, most of it in North America.

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 94 percent positive rating. Oscar Best Picture favorites “Lincoln” and “Argo” score 89 percent and 96 percent respectively.

Yet “Zero Dark Thirty” has picked up just one major prize in the Hollywood guild awards for directors, actors, producers and writers that are considered a predictor of Oscar success.

Boal won the Writers Guild of America trophy for Best Original Screenplay last weekend, and is a strong contender for the Oscar in that category on Sunday.

Jessica Chastain is thought to have a good chance at taking home the Best Actress prize for her performance as the feisty young CIA agent credited with tracking down bin Laden in the face of skepticism from her bosses.

“Jessica Chastain is a good place to put your ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ vote if you are wounded by the backlash against the film and want to express your support some place,” said Tom O’Neil, of awards website Goldderby.com.

However, the film, which is being promoted as the “most-talked about movie of the year,” is seen as a long shot.

“Controversial movies suffer with Academy voters. I think ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ will have a tough time winning Best Picture because I think the Academy is going to go with less controversial choices,” Rotten Tomatoes editor in chief Matt Atchity said.

(Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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“The Americans” renewed by FX for second season

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “The Americans” has been picked up by FX for a 13-episode second season, network president John Landgraf said on Thursday.

The renewal comes just four episodes into the first season of the series, which premiered in January with 5.11 million total viewers to become the most-watched debut of any FX series.

FX’s newest hit drama to join the roster of original programming stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as two KGB spies posing as an American married couple in suburban Washington D.C.

“‘The Americans’ has quickly established itself as a key part FX’s acclaimed drama line-up,” Landgraf said. “Executive Producers Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Graham Yost and their collaborators are telling riveting and deeply emotional stories and the performances of Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich and the entire cast are simply outstanding. The show is truly worthy of its widespread critical acclaim and we are confident that its quality will continue to yield a robust and passionate audience.”

“We’re very grateful to John Landgraf, Nick Grad, Eric Schrier and everyone at FX for their unwavering support of our show,” Weisberg, the show’s creator, said. “We’re thrilled to be able to continue writing stories for such an incredibly talented cast led by Keri, Matthew and Noah. We appreciate the support of the audience and we believe they have a lot to look forward to the rest of this season.”

“Working with Joe Weisberg, Graham Yost, Josh Brand, Adam Arkin, our writing staff, and the brilliant cast and crew has been a blast and I’m delighted we get to keep doing it,” co-executive producer Fields added. “We couldn’t have made it happen without the constant support of Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank at Amblin TV, David Madden at Fox Television Studios and Eric Schrier at FX Productions and their wonderful teams as well.”

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Afghan teens of ‘Buzkashi Boys’ stargazing in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The teenage stars of an Oscar-nominated short film from Afghanistan arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday for the Academy Awards after an Internet campaign raised enough money to pay for their trip.

“Buzkashi Boys” actors Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz will walk the red carpet and rub shoulders with Hollywood‘s biggest stars at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

The film focuses on two children growing up in Kabul who dream of becoming Buzkashi riders, horsemen who compete in the dangerous Afghan national sport similar to polo in which riders try to carry a headless goat across a goal line.

The film garnered U.S. director Sam French an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.

Its producers launched the campaign because, they said, they lacked a travel budget for the 14-year-old actors.

“I’m so happy and excited,” Mohammadi told Reuters at Los Angeles International Airport after flying more than 18 hours from the Afghan capital. “I can’t say my feelings.”

Some 237 people donated money to the travel fund, which raised $ 11,751, eclipsing its $ 10,000 goal, fundraising website Rally.org said. Donations were received from 13 countries, including the United States, Afghanistan, India and Germany.

Turkish Airlines donated the tickets for Mohammadi, Paiz and a chaperone.

Mohammadi, an amateur actor with piercing green eyes, gained international attention following the film’s release last year for his personal story as a fatherless youth who grew up selling maps of Kabul to tourists in its Chicken Street market.

Both teens said they wanted to see all the actors during their week in Hollywood in which they also plan to visit amusement parks Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Speaking of famous actors, Mohammadi said: “I can’t say ‘This one’ or ‘That one,’ (but) I want to see Rambo, Sylvester Stallone.”

One of the boys in the film is a street kid like Mohammadi, the other the son of a blacksmith forced to spend long hours in his father’s dark workshop sharpening ax heads.

French said the goal is to make the week-long trip culturally relevant for the teens.

“Just the fact that we’re talking about something other than the war, other than bombs and bullets, I think is a huge step forward,” French said. “And hopefully we can show that these kids are like normal kids everywhere.”

Mohammadi and Paiz will fly to Washington for screenings of the film on February 27 and begin their journey back to Kabul on March 1.

“Buzkashi Boys,” which runs for just 28 minutes, is the first film to be produced by the Afghan Film Project, a non-profit group that aims to train filmmakers in Afghanistan.

(Writing by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip barbara)

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‘Good Day to Die Hard’ debuts with $28.6M take

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bruce Willis’ action sequel “A Good Day to Die Hard” hauled in $ 28.6 million to lead the box office over the long President’s Day weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. “A Good Day to Die Hard,” Fox, $ 28,640,657, 3,553 locations, $ 8,061 average, $ 36,879,773, one week.

2. “Identity Thief,” Universal, $ 27,456,470, 3,165 locations, $ 8,675 average, $ 74,744,255, two weeks.

3. “Safe Haven,” Relativity Media, $ 24,469,155, 3,223 locations, $ 7,592 average, $ 33,298,073, one week.

4. “Escape from Planet Earth,” Weinstein Co., $ 21,101,976, 3,288 locations, $ 6,418 average, $ 21,101,976, one week.

5. “Warm Bodies,” Lionsgate, $ 10,550,103, 2,897 locations, $ 3,642 average, $ 51,770,634, three weeks.

6. “Beautiful Creatures,” Warner Bros., $ 8,945,261, 2,950 locations, $ 3,032 average, $ 11,487,578, one week.

7. “Silver Linings Playbook,” Weinstein Co., $ 7,413,756, 2,202 locations, $ 3,367 average, $ 99,788,228, 14 weeks.

8. “Side Effects,” Open Road Films, $ 7,299,145, 2,605 locations, $ 2,802 average, $ 20,119,981, two weeks.

9. “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” Paramount, $ 4,176,456, 2,103 locations, $ 1,986 average, $ 50,405,251, four weeks.

10. “Zero Dark Thirty,” Sony, $ 3,602,315, 1,522 locations, $ 2,367 average, $ 88,530,983, nine weeks.

11. “Mama,” Universal, $ 3,081,765, 1,648 locations, $ 1,870 average, $ 68,561,940, five weeks.

12. “Argo,” Warner Bros., $ 2,625,357, 903 locations, $ 2,907 average, $ 127,288,409, 19 weeks.

13. “Life of Pi,” Fox, $ 2,074,617, 647 locations, $ 3,207 average, $ 111,376,518, 13 weeks.

14. “Lincoln,” Disney, $ 2,063,120, 1,007 locations, $ 2,049 average, $ 176,651,047, 15 weeks.

15. “Django Unchained,” Weinstein Co., $ 1,857,164, 1,017 locations, $ 1,826 average, $ 157,350,147, eight weeks.

16. “Quartet,” Weinstein Co., $ 1,624,647, 333 locations, $ 4,879 average, $ 7,200,664, six weeks.

17. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” Warner Bros., $ 1,276,940, 605 locations, $ 2,111 average, $ 300,161,285, 10 weeks.

18. “Wreck-It Ralph,” Disney, $ 1,102,070, 506 locations, $ 2,178 average, $ 185,835,929, 16 weeks.

19. “Les Miserables,” Universal, $ 1,098,445, 676 locations, $ 1,625 average, $ 145,764,425, eight weeks.

20. “Amour,” Sony Pictures Classics, $ 858,412, 306 locations, $ 2,805 average, $ 4,081,541, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Tony Sheridan, early Beatles supporter, dies aged 72: media

BERLIN (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Tony Sheridan, an early supporter of the Beatles, has died in Hamburg aged 72 following a long illness, German media reported.

Sheridan used the Beatles, then known as the Silver Beatles, as his back-up band when they played in seedy nightclubs in Hamburg’s red light district in the 1960s well before numerous No. 1 hits made the British band famous.

Sheridan died on Saturday, Feb 16, Hamburg-based magazine Der Spiegel reported on its website, citing a post by the musician’s family on social media website facebook. A search by Reuters found no such post.

The Beatles, then playing as “The Beat Brothers” also backed Sheridan on his song “My Bonnie” and Sheridan last year played at the 50th anniversary of the legendary Hamburg Star club, Der Spiegel reported.

A 1962 performance including Ringo Starr on the drums at the Star Club with songs such as “Roll Over Beethoven” was a watershed performance that helped catapult the Beatles to fame. They were Sheridan’s warm-up act that night.

“Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with from the early days in Hamburg,” former Beatle Paul McCartney said in a statement on his website on Monday.

“We regularly watched his late night performances and admired his style. He will be missed.”

(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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“Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” win top Writers Guild Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. film and television writers gave their top two movie awards on Sunday to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” in the final Hollywood guild awards show before next week’s Oscars.

Writer Mark Boal won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Original Screenplay for “Zero Dark Thirty,” which chronicles the intense U.S. manhunt and daring raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Asked backstage what message he hoped to send to audiences with the film, Boal said: “I think (director Kathryn Bigelow) said it best when she said she wanted to shine a light on a dark decade. I don’t know that I could put it any better than that.”

“Argo,” about the Hollywood-assisted rescue of American hostages in Iran during the 1979 revolution, earned writer Chris Terrio WGA‘s trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay.

“I’ve never actually won a call-your-name award before,” an overwhelmed Terrio said backstage at the awards.

The WGA awards gave the winning films a last boost in the race for the Oscars, the world’s top film honors, because many guild members also belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that hands out the Oscars on February 24.

The guild gave a special nod to “Lincoln,” honoring screen writer Tony Kushner with a special award recognizing work that embodies the spirit of civil rights and liberties. “Lincoln,” a drama about President Abraham Lincoln‘s fight to abolish slavery, was up against “Argo” for WGA’s Best Adapted Screenplay.

“Argo” and “Lincoln” are considered front-runners for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, although “Argo” recently has taken a slight edge after also nabbing the top prize from both the director and producer guilds, which each have strong records of predicting Oscar winners.

“Searching for Sugar Man” writer-director Malik Bendjelloul nabbed the WGA award for documentary screenwriting.

“Breaking Bad” won for Best TV Drama Series and the writers of “Louie” claimed the prize for TV Comedy Series. “Girls” was named for Best New TV Series.

(Reporting By Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Romanian movie ‘Child’s Pose’ wins at Berlin fest

BERLIN (AP) — A Romanian drama that centers on a woman’s effort to cover up her son’s responsibility for an accident in which a boy is fatally injured won the Berlin film festival‘s top Golden Bear award on Saturday.

“Child’s Pose,” directed by Calin Peter Netzer, emerged as the winner from a field of 19 films that included a strong eastern European contingent this year — the 63rd edition of the event, the first of the year’s major European film festivals. Netzer said he was “a little bit speechless” at the award.

The tale of corruption and guilt depicts the efforts of an upper-class mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, to bribe witnesses to give false statements and keep her son — the driver, who was speeding at the time of the accident — out of prison.

“This is about a … pathological relationship between mother and son,” he told reporters later. “The rest is really just a backdrop,” Netzer told reporters, stressing that it is “a very universal story” and that “corruption is not something which is only taking place in Romania.”

A runner-up Silver Bear went to “An Episode In the Life of an Iron Picker,” in which a Bosnian Roma, or gypsy, couple re-enact their own struggle to get treatment after their baby died in the womb. The movie was made on a tiny budget by Danis Tanovic, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2002.

Nazif Mujic, the husband, was voted best actor by the festival jury.

“Of course, I’m not an actor — I simply played my own story. I played myself in my family. I don’t know what I should say,” Mujic, who says that he still has no regular job and collects scrap metal as he did at the time the drama played out, told 3sat television.

Best actress was Paulina Garcia for the title role in Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s “Gloria.” Garcia plays a divorcee at the end of her 50s trying to stave off loneliness, rushing into singles’ parties but struggling to overcome disappointment.

American filmmaker David Gordon Green was honored as best director for “Prince Avalanche,” a movie about two road workers whiling their way through a long, monotonous summer with little more than each other for company. It’s a remake of an Icelandic film, “Either Way.”

The best script award went to dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for “Closed Curtain,” a movie he co-directed with longtime friend Kamboziya Partovi in defiance of a ban on filmmaking.

The film, in which the two directors play the main roles, reflects Panahi’s frustration at being unable to work officially — it’s set inside an isolated seaside villa, much of the time with the curtains drawn.

Partovi accepted the award on behalf of Panahi, who wasn’t allowed to leave Iran, telling the audience that “it’s never been possible to stop a thinker and a poet.”

The prize for outstanding artistic achievement went to Aziz Zhambakiyev for his camerawork in Kazakh director Emir Baigazin’s “Harmony Lessons,” which centers on a teenager tormented by his schoolmates.

The festival’s Alfred Bauer prize for innovation went to Canadian director Denis Cote’s “Vic+Flo Saw a Bear.”

A seven-member jury led by filmmaker Wong Kar-wai chose the winners.

Wong said the jury gave “special mentions” to two more films that didn’t win awards, acknowledging “the integrity of their vision and their conviction that cinema can make a difference.”

Those were Matt Damon’s Gus Van Sant-directed drama on shale gas drilling, “Promised Land,” and South African director Pia Marais’ “Layla Fourie.”

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Dylan McDermott cast in CBS’s “Hostages” pilot

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Dylan McDermott will join Toni Collette in “Hostages,” a CBS drama pilot about a family caught in a vast political conspiracy.

The star of FX’s “American Horror Story” will play Duncan, a righteous FBI agent at the center of it.

Collette, the star of Showtime’s “United States of Tara,” was cast last month as Ellen, a surgeon chosen to operate on the President. When her family is swept into the conspiracy, she has to save her husband and children.

McDermott has previously starred on shows including “The Practice,” “Big Shots” and “Dark Blue.” He also appeared recently in the film “The Campaign.”

“Traitor” director Jeffrey Nachmanoff is writing, directing and executive producing the pilot, which is based on an Israeli format created from Alon Aranya, Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir.

Shamir and Givon are also executive producing, along with Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and Chayim Sharir. The series comes from Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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Obama State of Union speech watched by 33.5 million on TV

(Reuters) – Some 33.5 million Americans tuned in for President Barack Obama‘s economy-focused State of the Union speech live on television, just a slight drop from the TV audience for his 2012 address.

According to ratings data from Nielsen on Wednesday, Obama’s speech on Tuesday night was carried live on 15 U.S. broadcast and cable networks and was tape-delayed on Spanish-language channel Univision.

In an assertive start to his second term, Obama urged the sharply divided U.S. Congress to raise the minimum wage and strive for economic fairness for Americans hit by unemployment and four years of recession.

The TV audience for Obama’s annual State of the Union addresses has dropped off sharply since he was first elected, from 52.4 million in 2009 to 37.7 million in 2012.

The most-watched television event in the United States is the annual Super Bowl, which drew some 108.7 million viewers earlier in February.

The Nielsen figures do not take into account viewers watching online or on mobile devices.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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“Endless Love” leads Billboard’s top love songs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – When it comes to love, sometimes old songs say it best.

The 1981 Motown ballad “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie topped Billboard magazine’s “Top 50 ‘Love’ Songs of All Time” list on Wednesday, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The duet, written by Richie and used as the theme song for Franco Zeffirelli‘s film of the same name, earned Richie an Academy Award nomination for best original song.

The list is based on the rankings on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from its start in 1958 until today. As might be expected, every song has the word “love” in the title.

Boyz II Men’s 1994 hit “I’ll Make Love to You,” 2011 pop dance track “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Calvin Harris, 1977′s “How Deep Is Your Love,” from the Bee Gees and 1976′s “Silly Love Songs” by Wings round out the top five.

The oldest song dates from 1958, “To Know Him Is to Love Him” by The Teddy Bears. Rihanna‘s “We Found Love” is the most recent entry on the list.

Whitney Houston‘s 1992 version of “I Will Always Love You,” Mario’s 2004 “Let Me Love You,” 1990′s “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” by Stevie B., 1977′s “Best of My Love” from The Emotions and the Ray Charles 1962 classic “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” complete the top 10.

This is the fourth year that Billboard has issued a list for Valentine’s Day, although in 2011 its “Love Stinks” compilation took the opposite approach with the 30 biggest heartbreak hits.

Two real-life couples appear this year, Captain & Tennille with 1975′s “Love Will Keep Us Together” and Jay-Z and Beyonce with 2003′s “Crazy in Love.”

Diana Ross, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey have three entries each on the list, along with Paul McCartney with The Beatles and his own band Wings, for “Silly Love Songs,” 1973′s “My Love” and “She Loves You” from 1963.

The complete list can be seen at http://billboard.com/lovesongs

(Reporting By Noreen O’Donnell; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)

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Helena Bonham follows Lindsay Lohan into Liz Taylor’s shoes with BBC biopic

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Move over, Lindsay Lohan – another actress is taking a crack at playing Elizabeth Taylor, and just might have the chops to one-up you.

Helena Bonham Carter will play Taylor in an upcoming biopic “Burton and Taylor.” “The Wire” actor Dominic West will play Taylor’s on-again, off-again husband, Richard Burton, in the production, which will air on BBC Four.

“Burton and Taylor” will tell the story of the pair’s ” ill-fated appearance in a 1983 revival of Noel Coward‘s stage play, ‘Private Lives,’” according to the BBC.

William Ivory (“Women in Love”) is writing the BBC Drama Productions project, with Richard Laxton (“Effie”) directing.

Fans of guilty-pleasure television will recall that “Mean Girls” star Lohan tackled the role of Taylor last year in the Lifetime film “Liz & Dick,” with Grant Bowler playing Burton.

While “Liz & Dick” racked up a respectable 3.5 million total viewers with its November premiere, the film drew rancorous reaction across the Twitterverse.

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New Polish film tackles homosexuality in Catholic Church

BERLIN (Reuters) – Polish director Malgoska Szumowska tackles the controversial topic of homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood in her film “In the Name of” that had its world premiere on Friday but she said her aim was not to deliver a political message.

“In the Name of”, the first of 19 competition entries to screen at this year’s Berlin film festival, focuses on a priest’s struggle with his sexuality while working with troubled youths in a deprived corner of rural Poland where drug and alcohol abuse are commonplace.

The film takes a swipe at the Catholic Church, which still wields huge influence in Poland, and Szumowska said she expects Polish conservatives to react negatively, but she said her main concern was to depict the loneliness of a priest’s life.

“They (the Catholic Church) don’t want to change anything. The church does not fit in with modern society,” Szumowska told a news conference after the screening.

“Out of this conflict only bad things happen. I think they are extremely closed and intolerant… But I am not a politician or an intellectual,” she added.

“We did not want to make a movie about an oppressive church… We wanted to make a movie about love.”

The priest Adam, played by Andrzej Chyra, has a good rapport with the dope-smoking, hard-talking young men in his care, playing soccer and swimming in a lake with them. He wards off his growing sexual frustration with long runs in the forest.

After rejecting the advances of a young woman parishioner Ewa, Adam strikes up a friendship with the taciturn son of a simple local family who returns his affection.

In one of the more memorable scenes in a film characterized by furtive glances, whispered confessions and a tense mood that swings swiftly from joy to despair, Adam dances with a portrait of the Pope to loud music after downing a bottle of vodka.

“It is hard to imagine a more lonely person than a priest… I spoke to many priests and they told me that it is very hard,” said Szumowska.

“I wanted to understand my character (Adam), not judge him,” she told the news conference where she was joined by Chyra and Mateusz Kosciukiewicz who played his young lover.

CHANGING TIMES

“We have very strong discussions now in Poland, about the church, about homosexuality. We now have priests leaving the church,” she said.

The film’s premiere comes just weeks after the Polish parliament rejected draft laws that would have given limited legal rights to homosexual couples in a move that disappointed many younger, urban Poles with liberal views about sex.

And yet Poland – whose parliament includes its first transsexual lawmaker – is changing.

“It was not hard getting money to make the film. The Polish Film Institute is not afraid of controversial issues. Poland is a democracy and you can say whatever you want,” she said.

Szumowska, 39, is a graduate of the famous Lodz film school where some of Poland’s greatest directors including Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski also studied.

Asked why she thought there were so many films from former communist central and eastern Europe screening at this year’s Berlin festival, Szumowska said it may be because of the rapid pace of change in a region that has had to embrace capitalism and democracy in a short period of time.

“Everything is still fresh… There are so many things going on, always we have strong discussions. We are always talking about who we are,” she said.

Though somber in tone – one of the boys hangs himself after a homosexual affair with another boy – “In the Name of” ends on a disconcertingly ambiguous note, showing the object of Adam’s love joining a seminary to train as a priest.

“The ending is ironic and kind of confusing but realistic,” said Szumowska.

(Reporting by Gareth Jones, editing by Paul Casciato)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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