In their conversations leading up to the making of Rose, star Sandra Hüller and director Markus Schleinzer worked hard at fine-tuning their eponymous 17th-century hero. Hüller was to play a woman disguising herself as a male soldier in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War, ingratiating herself in a small Protestant village. She considered preparation routines like strength training, before setting them aside as anachronistic; she agonized over keeping things as believable as possible. “She was wondering, ‘What should I do with my voice — should I lower it?’” Schleinzer recalls. “Then we started to laugh because then we found out that my voice, as a man, is higher than her voice as a woman. It would be a weird thing for her, to lower her voice to pretend to be a man, for a male director who has a much higher voice than hers.”

The anecdote offers some amusing insight into the dynamic between Schleinzer and Hüller, which remained deeply playful and collaborative over the years it took to get Rose made. Yet it also speaks to the ultimate mastery of Hüller’s portrayal here, which never goes for the easy or obvious choice. In a career full of decorated performances, this ranks among Hüller’s very best, a moving, wondrously strange embodiment of a survivor in constant, subtle hiding. Below, you can watch the exclusive trailer for the film for a first look.

Rose premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where Hüller won the Silver Bear for best lead performance. The star then went on to receive a Tribute Medallion in Telluride earlier this month, where the movie made its North American premiere; now, it’s making the rounds in New York. “Rose is another extraordinary showcase for her gifts and a master class in the art of acting with rigor, honesty, physicality and zero showiness,” wrote THR chief film critic David Rooney of Hüller in his review.

Schleinzer first had the idea for Rose on his birthday, when a friend told him that 250 years ago to the day, a woman had been executed for being caught living her life as a man. The Austrian filmmaker and former casting director, who came up under the legendary Michael Haneke, became obsessed with the story and researched hundreds of other examples, from decades before and after. He saw them speaking to the current climate of fear felt by various marginalized communities. “Every life, every day is a political act — so we cannot hide,” says Schleinzer, who is queer. “We have to change things if we want to have a better life as a community.”

Already at work on the script, Schleinzer then met Hüller on the set of the 2023 German black comedy Sisi & I — as her co-star. “I was really bad in this movie because I was so keen to watch Sandra firsthand — I already had started writing Rose and started stalking her, watching all the things she was ever in, even the tiny television spots she had at the beginning of her career.” He later sent her the script, which was written in prose, more akin to a novel; she jumped at the challenge.

When asked what surprised him about Hüller’s approach to the role, Schleinzer points to a viral red-carpet clip of the star describing her process in straightforward terms — “I really have to disappoint you, it’s not so much: I learned the lines” — in noting that what results from that is anything but simple.

“I was a casting director for 17 years and I always had the feeling that my main job was to get people out of being afraid, of having fear or discomfort — there is this type of actor who loves to talk, because talking means that they do not have to act, they can just talk, talk, talk, talk,” the director says. “Sandra is the complete opposite. She is someone who gets easily bored, so no take is the same: ‘Now I’ll become a little more boyish,’ ‘Now I’m the soldier.’ I had the big problem of choosing how to build up a character for the audience, then — but this was surprising, to see such life come alive in front of your eyes on the set every day.”

Shot on location near the East German border with original sets, scouted by Schleinzer through hours of hiking, the film boasts a handmade quality in Gerald Kerkletz’s black-and-white cinematography, the exacting makeup and costume work and the dry humor that allows the absurdity of certain situations to breathe — even as Rose hurtles toward profound tragedy. “My intention was to make something more about these days we are in than just a museum piece with some nostalgic images,” Schleinzer says.

Rose premiered this past weekend to more raves at the New York Film Festival, and will be released in North American theaters by Mubi on Dec. 11. The project started shooting less than two weeks after the end of Hüller’s campaign for Anatomy of a Fall, which netted her a best-actress Oscar nomination — and shot in small increments over many months from there. This could be the project that brings her back to the Oscars, although her greatest competition may be herself: She’s also terrific as the lead of Cannes-winner Fatherland, also a Mubi release, and plays key supporting roles in Project Hail Mary and Digger.

But within the scope of Hüller’s filmography — really, any actor’s — Rose feels special. “Sandra said I should not threaten people, but I have watched her career for the last 20 years and I’ve seen so many prizes taken away from her,” Schleinzer says with a grin. “If she’s not going to be nominated for this one, I’m going berserk.”

Check out the official poster below.

It was Casey Affleck‘s turn in the Zurich hot seat on Monday as the U.S. star spoke candidly at a masterclass before the Swiss film festival premiere of his third directorial feature, Company.

The conversation with the event’s CEO Christian Jungen was career-spanning and charted the Boston native’s rise to international fame, from his move to L.A. as an aspiring actor and early career decisions to his Oscar-winning turn in Manchester by the Sea (2016) and becoming a director.

Of course, you can’t host an Affleck and not discuss Matt Damon, the childhood best friend of Casey’s older brother, Ben. He humorously played down the rivalry between the men, but praised their shared experience in theater growing up on the East Coast. “We all had the same theater teacher, […] and lots of actors came through this one theater department. We were in a big public school, and we just had this great theater teacher, and he made kids fall in love with theater and acting,” he said, prompting laughter as he continued: “Matt was always a bit of a showoff. [He was] outgoing and would do talent shows and stuff. And there was no doubt where he was headed, but the rest of us were trying to figure it out.”

The Good Will Hunting and Ocean’s Eleven actor said he has seen Damon’s Oscar-buzzy outing in Christopher Nolan‘s box office behemoth The Odyssey, but takes solace in the fact that all three of them have pursued pretty varied paths. “We’re all very different in a weird and very obvious way,” began Affleck. “Matt is a super talented actor. He’s a funny case because he’s a very talented actor who has a kind of movie star persona, a matinee idol appeal, at the same time, which Ben and I don’t really have. Ben seems more like a movie star and has leaned into the leading man thing right from early on,” but Affleck’s favorite performances from the pair are when they’re in character-led roles. “When Matt did The Talented Mr. Ripley, I thought he was just incredible.”

Jungen referenced an old Variety profile in which Affleck was characterized as a Hollywood outsider. Initially, Affleck was “mad” about that. “I saw that and I thought, ‘Man, I’ll forever be thought of as an outsider, no matter what I do.’ You can win an Oscar, or you can do a big giant studio movie, and I think the public just thinks of people one way, and then it takes a lot to change that.” An ensuing epiphany was liberating, and allowed him to reclaim the label. “I was sitting with it for a second, and I thought, ‘Am I crazy? I love that.’ I don’t want to be an insider. I love being an outsider. I would much rather be an outsider in Hollywood than be an insider in Hollywood. I don’t think it’s a great culture. I don’t love the movies that are made by Hollywood. I don’t love the system of Hollywood, and I’m very happy being thought of as an outsider,” he said.

In response, Jungen pointed out to the star that he continues to live in L.A. and, like Damon, has featured in Nolan projects: specifically Interstellar (2014) and Oppenheimer (2023), so he’s no stranger to a commercial hit. Affleck had a particularly amusing — and maybe slightly awkward — anecdote to share when asked about seeking directorial advice from the British Oscar winner. “I did once call him,” said Affleck about Nolan. “I was driving home from school with my son, and we were talking about Tenet, and we were disagreeing about it. And I thought, ‘Let’s settle this.’ And we called Chris, which probably was a mistake. I [actually] called Emma [Thomas], his wife, and I said, ‘I just have a quick question,’ and we got him on the phone and asked him something that we probably could have just looked at [on] Reddit and figured out.”

Affleck wanted it from the source, he confessed, but once Nolan talked them through it, the actor was embarrassed that he even asked. “It sounded so obvious. Then we said, ‘Thank you.’ And that was it. And I haven’t called back, and he hasn’t called me,” he laughed.

The actor-turned-filmmaker lauded Nolan as a director, and though admitting he doesn’t look to anyone in particular as an inspiration, cited both Nolan and Gus Van Sant (who directed Affleck in 2002’s Gerry) as auteurs who “just make stuff that they’re really interested in.” He continued: “Nolan is probably a great example of that. Despite the fact that he makes these gigantic, hugely popular, successful movies, I don’t think that he’s doing things that he thinks will please other people.”

On Affleck’s Oscar win as a grieving janitor in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, he explained it’s all still rather a daze — and “mildly traumatic.” The actor said: “I had all these people in this category that were heroes of mine — Viggo Mortensen and Denzel [Washington], and then peers of mine who are great — Andrew Garfield and Ryan Gosling. It sounds like a cliche, but I was just very happy to be there. I didn’t really expect to win because I thought Denzel was going to win, and that was totally fine.” He admitted to have not planned a single word of his speech, and was mortified after leaving the stage and realizing he forgot to thank “all the people you’re supposed to thank,” including Lonergan and his kids.

Affleck recalled none other than Leo DiCaprio coming to the rescue: “I just mumbled my way through it and got off stage, so it was mildly traumatic. But I remember walking off stage and seeing, for some reason, Leonardo DiCaprio standing there in the wings, and I was stuck in the moment of terror and disorientation, and he was just laughing and gave me a big hug, and then I sort of felt better.”

Company, currently making its way through the festival circuit, is a mystery set on a winter night in 1975, with the filmmaker, Nick Nolte, Ben Mendelsohn, Emily Alyn Lind and Sydney Chandler all co-starring, alongside his two sons, Atticus and Indiana Affleck. His directorial debut, I’m Still Here (2010), “was very experimental, and people mostly just hated it.” His second, Light of My Life (2019) premiered during the pandemic so its reception was difficult for Affleck to get a read on. With the Venice-premiering Company, he was so keen for it to make the rounds at the fall festivals that he’s screened a not-quite-finished version and is using audience reaction as feedback.

“It’s scary as a director to bring a movie that I’m still working on,” he said. “We’re still tightening it and working on the music, and so to show it to an audience full of people and know myself that there are things I want to change is difficult, but once it’s finished, I’ll let it go. I promise.” The movie is dedicated to his parents, both of whom died earlier this year.

Affleck was part of a Zurich masterclass slate that also included John Turturro, Naomi Watts and Anna Kendrick. The 22nd edition runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4.

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) will open its 30th edition on Nov. 6 with a screening of Viesturs Kairišs’ Ulya, a co-production between Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Lithuania that world-premiered in the Un Certain Regard program of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

“The evening will also feature an anniversary performance and film music from across the Baltics,” organizers said.

Inspired by the life of legendary Latvian basketball player Uljana Semjonova, a two-time Olympic champion and three-time world champion, Ulya follows its protagonist from an isolated rural Old Believer community into the fiercely competitive world of professional basketball. There, she must navigate both the attention drawn by her extraordinary height and the demands of elite sport.

The film is directed by Kairišs (The Sign Painter, January) and came from an original idea by star and writer Kārlis Arnolds Avots, who plays the lead role. The movie was produced by Ego Media, Allfilm, Staron Film and Tremora. The film has also been selected as Latvia’s entry for the best international feature film Oscar category at the 99th Academy Awards in 2027.

“Ulya is a very good example of what the Baltic film industries can achieve by working together and with partners beyond our region,” said Triin Tramberg, artistic director of PÖFF. “Our countries may be small, but we have a wealth of stories and creative talent. Co-productions bring those strengths together, help ambitious films reach audiences around the world and give our filmmakers a stronger international presence.”

The opening ceremony will celebrate PÖFF’s three decades alongside this year’s Focus: Baltics, which places cinema from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the heart of the festival. Created for the anniversary edition, a stage production entitled “Round and Round” will look back at PÖFF’s first 30 years. Three pianists, one from each Baltic country, will bring the ceremony’s musical program to life. Hans Matthias Kari from Estonia, Kārlis Gusts Zariņš from Latvia and Gabriele Agile Bajoraite from Lithuania will perform selections of film music from their countries.

PÖFF will also present its Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Bruno O’Ya Young Actor Scholarship during the opening ceremony, followed by the screening of Ulya.

The 30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival takes place Nov. 6–22.