Los Angeles, Sep. 18 (IANS): Woody Allen has announced his retirement from filmmaking. in Europe to work on his 50th film, the maestro told Spanish newspaper 'La Vanguardia' that he intended to retire from making movies and to dedicate more time to writing during his twilight years, reports 'Variety'.
His final film is set in Paris and will be shot entirely in French in a couple of weeks. Allen described the film to be similar to 'Match Point'. It would be "exciting, dramatic and also very sinister."
Allen recently wrote his fifth collection of humour pieces, 'Zero Gravity', which will be published on September 27 by Alianza in Spain. In the US, it was published by Arcade and distributed by Simon & Schuster, notes 'Variety'.
Allen has been shooting more often in Europe as his support in the US has plunged given the abuse accusations against him. In 2020, he opened the San Sebastian Film Festival with 'Rifkin's Festival', shot in and around the tony city of San Sebastian. His relationship with the Basque provincial capital's festival goes back to 2004 when he premiered 'Melinda & Melinda' and in 2008 with the premiere of 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'.
Starring Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel and Gina Gershon, 'Rifkin's Festival' takes place during the fest, the most important in the Spanish-speaking world.
Curiously, adds 'Variety', Allen announced at the press conference marking the start of production on the film that he "never thought of retiring".
'Rifkin's Festival' was backed by Spanish media giant Mediapro, which also supported two of Allen's more successful films: 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', which garnered Penelope Cruz her first Oscar, and 'Midnight in Paris'.
Amazon Studios shelved Allen's previous film 'A Rainy Day in New York' after accusing him of "sabotaging" the future of the film by his comments on the abuse accusations of his daughter Dylan Farrow. He sued them for $68 million, alleging a breach of contract. The dispute was later settled out of court. Allen has had trouble with publishing houses as well. Hachette canceled the publication of his memoir 'Apropos of Nothing' after staff protests, but it was picked up by another publisher, Arcade.