‘The Visitor' Debuts First Clip Ahead of Karlovy Vary Premiere as Totem Films Launches Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

Paris-based Totem Films has shared an exclusive first-look clip of 'The Visitor,' set to world premiere in the main competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Totem Films holds world sales rights to the film, which is directed by Lithuania's Vytautas Katkus.
The film centers on 30-year-old Danielius, who has been living in Norway for over a decade. He has everything he needs — a job, a family, and friends. But when his father passes away, he is forced to return to his hometown in Lithuania to sell his childhood apartment.
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Arriving at the end of summer, the small resort town feels like a temporary retreat. Yet he quickly realizes that everything has changed. As Danielius reconnects with familiar places, old friends, and lingering memories, he is confronted by a quiet sense of loneliness. Instead of resisting, he allows himself to explore it.
Between farewells and fleeting moments, Danielius embraces the present — immersing himself in the town one last time before finally letting go.
' 'The Visitor' asks what it means to revisit the places, people, and emotions we thought were long behind us,' Katkus said. 'Through Danielius's journey, the film becomes a quiet exploration of memory, longing, and the subtle disorientation of returning to a life that no longer feels like your own. I wanted the viewer to feel as though they're being led through a landscape of their own past — familiar, faded, and filled with unexpected emotion. It's about arriving too late, or staying too long, and confronting what still lingers.'
Totem Films, which came on board as the film's world sales agent in 2023, said: 'Vytautas continues to immerse us in his artistic universe built around human relationships and a great attention to the cinematic form. We love how his films are also always infused with humor and believe that 'The Visitor' will resonate with international audiences.'
'The Visitor' is produced by Marija Razgutė and Brigita Beniušytė for Lithuania-based production company M-Films, with co-production by Staer and the Arctic Film Norway Invest in Norway and Garagefilm International in Sweden.
'The Visitor' is co-written with Marija Kavtaradze, writer/director of Sundance award winner 'Slow' in 2023, on which Totem Films and M-Films collaborated. 'Slow' was also screened at the 2023 edition of Karlovy Vary; it has since been sold to more than 20 countries.
Distributors for the production countries are already confirmed, with Kino Pavasaris for Lithuania, Staer for Norway and Folkets Bio for Sweden. The film is supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Eurimages – Council of Europe, Swedish Film Institute, Creative Europe MEDIA and Lithuanian National Radio and Television.
Katkus' 'Places' was at Venice in 2020 as a nominee for the Horizons' best short film award, and 'Cherries' was in Cannes' short film competition in 2022.
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'F1' Onscreen: Critics Weigh In on Brad Pitt's Racing Blockbuster

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He said: "As a sports movie following some pretty tried and true tactics, F1 ups its game at every stage of things. This won't win it any awards for originality, but it still adds up to a real win." Brad Pitt, star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, and Damson Idris, co-star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, walk on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain... Brad Pitt, star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, and Damson Idris, co-star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, walk on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 09, 2023 in Northampton, England. MoreAddressing the work of Director Joseph Kosinski, he added: "On a technical level, F1 is impeccably put together. Kosinski and his frequent collaborator, Academy Award winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda, put cameras in just... all the places. 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Travel Weekly

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Rediscovering Notre Dame with Finding France

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Chicago Tribune

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Pet hotel dubbed Ritz-Carlton for dogs to open in Deerfield

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Located in a former Mexican restaurant on a Home Depot outlot by the Metra station along Lake Cook Road, the Deerfield K9 Resorts underwent a four-month, multimillion dollar buildout to transform into a luxury pet hotel. Out went the kitchens and in went high-end accommodations for hounds that at first glance, might beckon their human companions to check in as well. It has a glitzy lobby adorned with chandeliers, ornate columns, tasteful artwork and a regal front desk. The inviting hotel rooms are numbered, set off by wall sconces, giving the ambience of a high-end resort for people, who of course, are paying the tab for their furry family members. 'I think that the attention to detail that we put into each resort is so obvious that it makes the customer, the two-legged customer, feel good,' said Jason Parker, 38, co-founder and co-CEO of New Jersey-based K9 Resorts. 'The dogs are very happy customers, because they're in a five-star hotel.' Started as teenagers in 2005 by brothers Steven and Jason Parker, K9 Resorts has grown to 45 locations in 28 states, including the new Deerfield pet hotel. Five locations are corporate-owned with the rest franchised. The dog hotel magnates have certainly elevated the traditional boarding experience, from cage-free lodging options and air purification systems to prevent kennel cough to offering individual or group play sessions coordinated by a trained staff of dog concierges and attendants. K9 Resorts doesn't offer potentially stressful activities such as grooming, focusing on amenities that dogs enjoy during their staycations. Allowing them to wind down at the end of the day with a TV in their own rooms is part of the luxury treatment. 'When they're relaxing after a day of doggy day care, and there's nothing better to have them on a very premium dog mattress, relaxing, having their own private space and watching some television,' Parker said. While the privately held K9 Resorts doesn't disclose systemwide revenue, each location generates between $2 million to $3 million per year, Parker told the Tribune. Meanwhile, the chain is poised for significant growth through franchising, driven in large part by Luxury Pet Hotel Investments, a group with extensive human hospitality experience. Last year, Luxury Pet Hotel Investments invested $10 million in K9 Resorts and secured exclusive regional development rights in Illinois and beyond. The investment group is headed by longtime hospitality executive Alan Leibman, former CEO of Kerzner International, which developed the Atlantis resorts. LPHI has raised $53 million in equity and currently operates eight pet hotels, with plans to build 50 more, including up to 11 in Southern California, 13 in Florida and eight in the Chicago area by 2029. Most recently, LPHI opened a K9 Resort near the Los Angeles International Airport in March. Choosing Deerfield for the first Illinois location, the investment group obtained a 10-year lease on the former El Tradicional Mexican Restaurant in July 2024, converting the 6,200-square-foot building to a luxury pet hotel after getting special use approval from the village. The location has housed a succession of restaurants, starting with a Bennigan's at the dawn of the new millennium. Other buildings on the sprawling Home Depot outlot include a Curaleaf cannabis dispensary and an empty McAlister's Deli, which closed its Deerfield location in April. Accommodations at the pet hotel run from $59 a night in the compartment wing of the hotel, bilevel crates with memory foam beds. The executive rooms run $89 per night for 4-by-6-foot enclosures and the top-of-the-line luxury suites are $109 per night. The 8-by-8-foot luxury suites include a premium couch or Kuranda bed. There is no mini-fridge or Wi-Fi, but each of the six luxury suites has its own 32-inch TV for the dog's viewing pleasure. 'We do put on DogTV and Animal Planet for a calming presence,' said Zack Nisbet, executive vice president in charge of the Chicago region for the investment group. In addition to extensive work within the building, the Deerfield K9 Resorts features a walled-in, 2,300-square-foot outdoor play area with artificial antimicrobial grass where diners once sipped margaritas on the restaurant's patio as trains rumbled by on the nearby tracks. While the Home Depot outlot has not necessarily proved fertile ground for restaurants, Nisbet said the high-traffic location should help drive business to the pet hotel. The pet hotel offers both day care and overnight stays, and can accommodate up to 150 dogs, with family multidog stays. It's located just west of a competing facility, The Dog Stop, which is on the other side of the tracks from K9 Resorts. 'The Dog Stop being across the street, actually excited us,' Nisbet said. 'That's proof of demand, proof that there's a lot of dogs in the area. We knew we could provide an upgrade to the region.' Chicago is a key expansion market for K9 Resorts and the investment group, which is currently scouting out potential locations in a number of areas, including Palatine, Libertyville and the city itself, Nisbet said. Nationwide, the luxury pet hotels have opened up in everything from a former Wells Fargo bank branch to a converted CVS pharmacy. One is even housed in a former Old County Buffet, the now defunct all-you-can-eat restaurant chain which closed its last Illinois restaurant five years ago. While most dogs probably would have been very content to stay at an Old Country Buffet without the renovation, after a lengthy multimillion dollar redevelopment in Deerfield, Nisbet said turning a restaurant into a luxury pet hotel would not be his first choice for the second Chicago-area location. 'This definitely was a fixer-upper,' Nisbet said. 'We had to auction off all the old restaurant equipment. I don't know what our best former use would be, but I wouldn't say it's a restaurant.'