For 40 years, the controversial community organizing group ACORN sought to empower marginalized communities. Its critics, though, believed ACORN exemplified everything wrong with liberal ideals, promoting government waste and ineffective activism. These competing perceptions exploded on the national stage in 2009, just as Barack Obama became president. Fueled by a YouTube video made by undercover journalists, ACORN’s very existence would be challenged. Produced and directed by Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard, ACORN and the Firestorm goes beyond the 24-hour news cycle and cuts to the heart of the great political divide. The film premieres on Independent Lens Monday, May 21, 2018, 10:00-11:30 PM (check local listings) on PBS. Online streaming beings May 22.
In 2008, with a 400,000 strong, grassroots membership in 38 states, ACORN stood at the height of its power, having won a lobbying campaign that led to an increase in the national minimum wage, saved thousands of people from foreclosure, and fought against predatory lending. ACORN also operated on a local level, helping clean up parks, put stoplights at dangerous intersections, and working to improve neighborhood schools.
Leading up to the 2008 election, ACORN helped to register 1.3 million voters, mostly low-income minorities in swing states. When some of those registration cards appeared fraudulent, conservative activists and politicians singled out ACORN as a conspiratorial criminal organization and strategists and pundits joined the chorus. Bertha Lewis, who became CEO just before Obama’s election, was confident that they could weather the attacks, and with an ally in the White House, she believed that actual systemic change might be possible. But nothing could have prepared her for what was to come.
When twenty-year-old journalism student Hannah Giles heard about ACORN in the news, she and James O’Keefe, a conservative political activist, orchestrated an investigation into the organization. Using a hidden camera and a fake prostitute, they created a series of YouTube videos which suggested that ACORN staffers were encouraging criminal activity. The videos and Giles became a media sensation.
ACORN and the Firestorm unfolds through the stories of Giles and Lewis, two women on opposite sides of the political spectrum, as well as through the eyes of ACORN staff, including founder Wade Rathke, members Travis Munnerlyn and Maude Hurd, and ACORN’s opposition, including Republican Congressman Steve King.
“Our constant thirst for new news in the age of the 24-hour news cycle leaves no time for the nuanced stories behind the headlines. Reuben and Sam lay out how one video smear campaign can lead to death by media,” said Lois Vossen, Independent Lens executive producer. “This film sheds relevant light on how we got to this age of alternative facts and fake news.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmyiU4_bpw0
Norica P.
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‘ACORN and the Firestorm’ Documentary To Debut on PBS Independent Lens This May [Trailer]
For 40 years, the controversial community organizing group ACORN sought to empower marginalized communities. Its critics, though, believed ACORN exemplified everything wrong with liberal ideals, promoting government waste and ineffective activism. These competing perceptions exploded on the national stage in 2009, just as Barack Obama became president. Fueled by a YouTube video made by undercover journalists, ACORN’s very existence would be challenged. Produced and directed by Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard, ACORN and the Firestorm goes beyond the 24-hour news cycle and cuts to the heart of the great political divide. The film premieres on Independent Lens Monday, May 21, 2018, 10:00-11:30 PM (check local listings) on PBS. Online streaming beings May 22.
In 2008, with a 400,000 strong, grassroots membership in 38 states, ACORN stood at the height of its power, having won a lobbying campaign that led to an increase in the national minimum wage, saved thousands of people from foreclosure, and fought against predatory lending. ACORN also operated on a local level, helping clean up parks, put stoplights at dangerous intersections, and working to improve neighborhood schools.
Leading up to the 2008 election, ACORN helped to register 1.3 million voters, mostly low-income minorities in swing states. When some of those registration cards appeared fraudulent, conservative activists and politicians singled out ACORN as a conspiratorial criminal organization and strategists and pundits joined the chorus. Bertha Lewis, who became CEO just before Obama’s election, was confident that they could weather the attacks, and with an ally in the White House, she believed that actual systemic change might be possible. But nothing could have prepared her for what was to come.
When twenty-year-old journalism student Hannah Giles heard about ACORN in the news, she and James O’Keefe, a conservative political activist, orchestrated an investigation into the organization. Using a hidden camera and a fake prostitute, they created a series of YouTube videos which suggested that ACORN staffers were encouraging criminal activity. The videos and Giles became a media sensation.
ACORN and the Firestorm unfolds through the stories of Giles and Lewis, two women on opposite sides of the political spectrum, as well as through the eyes of ACORN staff, including founder Wade Rathke, members Travis Munnerlyn and Maude Hurd, and ACORN’s opposition, including Republican Congressman Steve King.
“Our constant thirst for new news in the age of the 24-hour news cycle leaves no time for the nuanced stories behind the headlines. Reuben and Sam lay out how one video smear campaign can lead to death by media,” said Lois Vossen, Independent Lens executive producer. “This film sheds relevant light on how we got to this age of alternative facts and fake news.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmyiU4_bpw0
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Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival Announces 2018 Winners + 2019 Fest Dates
The 3rd Annual Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival Presented by the Laugh Factory came to a close this past Sunday to a rousing success held at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters. The festival announced the 2018 Award Winners in a special sold-out ceremony hosted by comedian Allene Quincy.
The night’s big winner was “THE ACCOMPLICE” by Directors Jon Hoeg and John F. Beach who took home Best of Fest Award. Best Short Script went to Alexandra Marshall for her film “TIL DEATH,” and Best Feature script winner was Cedric Shelton for his script “I AM MY BROTHERS KEEPER.”
Best Rom Com went to “REKINDLED” by Erin Brown Thomas, Best Web Series went to “STRUT” by Michelle Cutolo.
The festival run April 20-22 and kicked off with a special panel at the Laugh Factory Featuring executives from YouTube, Warner Bros. Blue Ribbon Ent., Legendary Digital Studios, Ginsberg Daniels, Collab Studios and DigitalLA. Fabric Media Studios hosted the official after party for opening night. Powerhouse held several events for the filmmakers throughout the week. Sponsors included: Bitpix, TCL Chinese Theater, Laugh Factory, Color Space Finishing, Final Draft, Tech Rentals, and TCD The Camera Division.
The next year’s Festival will expand with the dates: April 19-21, 2019. The winners and films can be currently viewed on the streaming channel BITPIX.
HOLLYWOOD COMEDY SHORTS FILM FEST WINNERS
SHORT SCRIPT WINNER- ‘TIL DEATH”-Alexandra Marshall FEATURE SCRIPT WINNER- “I AM MY BROTHERS KEEPER” by Cedric Shelton HONORABLE MENTION- “EVIL WOMAN” by Danny Turkiewicz BEST HORROR- “KELOID” by Brendan Pollecutt BEST DARK COMEDY- “PARENT TEACHER” by Jim Cummings BEST INTERNATIONAL- “ORDEAL” by Sacha Barbin BEST CRINGE- “DICK HEAD” by Brecht Vanthof BEST ALTERNATIVE- “SIX PACK” by Madeline Mack & Michael Lincoln BEST WEB SERIES- “STRUT” by Michelle Cutolo BEST SPOOF- “CLASS DISMISSED” by Edward Marks, Joe Godreault BEST ROM COM- “REKINDLED” by Erin Brown Thomas BEST OF THE FEST- “THE ACCOMPLICE” by Jon Hoeg and John F. Beach
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Mammoth Lakes Film Festival Announces 2018 Line-Up + Opening and Closing Films
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Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson in Damsel.[/caption]
The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) announced their feature film line-up, as well as the Opening and Closing Night films, for the fourth edition of the festival, taking place May 23 through 27 at venues across Mammoth Lakes.
The 2018 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival will open with Damsel on Wednesday, May 23. Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska star in a comedic homage to classic Westerns. Samuel (Pattinson), is a businessman who sets out to rescue his kidnapped fiancée Penelope (Wasikowska). The situation turns out to be more complicated than it first appears, and Penelope is no mere damsel in distress. The film from Magnolia Pictures is directed and written by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner.
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Love, Gilda[/caption]
The festival will close with the documentary film Love, Gilda on Sunday, May 27. In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner reflects on her life and career. Weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with friends (Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Laraine Newman, Paul Shaffer and Martin Short), rare home movies and diaries read by modern-day comedians inspired by Gilda (Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong), Love, Gilda opens up a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story. The film from CNN Films is directed by Lisa D’Apolito.
“We’re excited to bring such a dynamic and diverse lineup to this year’s festival,” said Festival Director Shira Dubrovner. “In four short years, we’ve already begun to establish MLFF as a must-attend festival thanks to our scenic and majestic backdrop of the Eastern Sierra and world-class cinema.”
“MLFF focuses on films that have powerful, innovative artistic voices,” said Director of Programming Paul Sbrizzi. “We look forward to bringing our festival-goers the bold style and thought-provoking stories found in this year’s slate.”
The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival line-up
Core Competitions
Narrative Features:
Birds Without Feathers – In this pitch-black comedy, six broken individuals unable to make a human connection will give everything away in an attempt to receive love. Directed and written by Wendy McColm. West Coast Premiere Fort Maria – A sensitive, lyrical look at an agoraphobic Bulgarian woman and her adopted African-American daughter, as they each evaluate their lives and their relationship after the death of the beloved family dog. Directed and written by S. Cagney Gentry and Thom Southerland. My Name Is Myeisha – A charming, talented teenage girl crosses over into a candy-coated hip-hop-musical dreamscape on the fateful night she crosses paths with police. Directed by Gus Krieger, written by Rickerby Hinds. The Queen of Hollywood Blvd. – On her 60th birthday, the proud owner of a Los Angeles strip club finds herself in hot water, leading her on a downward spiral of violence and revenge. Directed and written by Orson Oblowitz. West Coast Premiere Rock Steady Row – A college freshman’s bike is stolen and he’s compelled to go to battle with the comic-book villain that rules the reigning fraternity using Walkmen and No. 2 pencils as weapons. Directed by Trevor Stevens, written by Bomani J. Story.Documentary Features:
Buddha.mov – Lured by the chance of being the protagonist of a documentary film, Buddha Dev starts authorizing unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life. Directed by Kabir Mehta. West Coast Premiere Crime + Punishment – A group of brave officers risk it all to expose the truth about illegal quota practices in the NYPD. Directed by Steven Maing. Minding the Gap – The lives of three young skateboarding friends grow together and apart as they try to process childhood trauma and escape the cycle of domestic violence in their Rust Belt hometown. Directed by Bing Liu. Tourists – A disturbing and hilarious trip around the world, observed through the amateur cinematography of naïve, outspoken and judgmental middle-class tourists. Directed by Mateusz Romaszkan and Marta Wójtowicz-Wcislo. North American Premiere Vianey – New Jersey and Bronx based underground hip hop artist Vianey Otero (Icey Trap) discusses growing up on the streets, the lure of escorting, everyday life in jail, and being a female artist in the music industry. Directed by Marko Vuorinen. West Coast Premiere White Tide: The Legend of Culebra – There’s an island, there’s a map, there’s buried treasure… $2 million dollars just waiting for someone to dig it up. There’s just one slight problem: it happens to be in cocaine form. Directed by Theo Love. West Coast PremiereForeign Features:
Barren and Empty the Sea (Spain) – Esteban wakes up one morning and everybody accuses him of being a stranger that happens to look just like Esteban.Directed and written by Lucas Parnes Pereira and Jesus Serna. International Premiere Melodrama / Random / Melbourne! (Australia) – A feminist documentarian, a pick up artist and a virgin’s lives collide, and blood will be shed on neon-lit streets of Melbourne. Directed by Matthew Pastor, written by Celina Yuen and Matthew Victor Pastor. North American Premiere Tower. A Bright Day (Poland) Just before her daughter’s First Holy Communion, Mula’s long lost sister Kaja pays them a visit, harboring a secret. The family believes in reconciliation, but Mula has her reasons to be afraid. Directed and written by Jagoda Szelc. North American Premiere Vidar the Vampire (Norway) – The wildly hilarious adventure of a Christian farmer searching for a higher purpose to life, who falls into sin and wakes up as the Prince of Darkness in the city of Stavanger, Norway. Directed and written by Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland.Spotlight Presentations:
Dyna Does Dressage – Documentary about the first mule ever to compete at the national level in the competitive equestrian sport of dressage. Directed by Sarah Crowe. Home + Away – A group of students with family on both sides of the US/Mexico border navigate academics, athletic competition, a school in need of greater funding and familial strife during the their final year at a Texas high school. Directed by Matt Ogens. West Coast Premiere On Her Shoulders – Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi genocide and ISIS sex slave survivor, becomes the voice of her people and their best hope to spur the world to action.Directed by Alexandria Bombach. Pick of the Litter – The story of puppies from the moment they’re born through their quest to become guide dogs for the blind, the ultimate canine career. Directed by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy Jr. A Woman Captured – Director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter’s incredible document of the evolving consciousness of a Hungarian woman who has been held as a domestic slave for 10 years and decides to undertake a daring escape. Directed by Bernadett Tuza-Ritter. West Coast Premiere The festival will also feature Short Film Programs of 26 Narrative Shorts, 10 Documentary Shorts, 11 Animation Shorts and a program of classic animation from East Germany. Over $40,000 in cash and prizes will be given out in nine categories to this year’s films in competition. Winners will be announced on Sunday, May 27 at a Closing Night reception.The 2018 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival Jurors
Allison Amon (EVP Sales & Development, Bullitt) Lindsey Bahr (Associated Press) Peter Baxter (Filmmaker; President/Co-Founder, Slamdance) Shalini Dore (Variety) Alonso Duralde (TheWrap) Tim Rhys (MovieMaker Magazine) Vincent Spano (Actor) Nicole Sperling (Vanity Fair) Rachel Winter (Producer) Ana Souza (Sundance Film Festival) Scenery Samundra (Tru Thoughts, NTS Radio)
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Jonathan Hacker’s Terrorism Documentary PATH OF BLOOD to Open in Theaters on July 13
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jonathan Hacker and based on his book of the same title, Path of Blood depicts Islamist terrorism as it has never been seen before. Drawn from a hoard of jihadi home-movie footage that was captured by Saudi security services, this is the story of Muslim terrorists targeting Muslim civilians and brought to justice by Muslim security agents. It is a stark reminder that all who are touched by terrorism are victimized by it.
Path of Blood will open theatrically on Friday, July 13 at the IFC Center with a national release to follow.
A powerful and sometimes shocking cinematic experience, Path of Blood reveals how brainwashed youths, fueled by idealism and the misguided pursuit of adventure, can descend into madness and carnage. The raw, unvarnished footage, to which the filmmakers negotiated exclusive access, captures young thrill-seekers at a jihadi “boot camp” deep in the Saudi desert, having signed on to overthrow the Saudi government. They plot to detonate car bombs in downtown Riyadh, become embroiled in a game of cat-and-mouse with government forces and, as their plans unravel, resort to ever more brutal tactics.
Adopting a strictly objective approach, the film doesn’t editorialize and contains no interviews or “talking heads” commentary. The home video footage was shot by the terrorists themselves, allowing viewers to see them in all their complexity, while compelling audiences to draw their own conclusions.
Path of Blood director / producer Jonathan Hacker has won more than twenty awards including a BAFTA. His diverse documentary work ranges from high-profile international history series such as Secret Agent and Timewatch for the BBC, to hard-hitting current affairs programs such as Britain’s First Suicide Bombers, which also tackled the subject of Al Qaeda.
View images from Path of Blood
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Coming Soon: Demetrius Shipp Jr., Essence Atkins, Terrence J to Star in Derege Harding’s SAME DIFFERENCE
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Demetrius Shipp Jr., Essence Atkins[/caption]
Demetrius Shipp Jr. (All Eyez On Me), Essence Atkins (NBC’s “Marlon”), Terrence Jenkins (MTV’s “SafeWord”) and Edwina Findley (The CW’s “Black Lightning”) have all signed on to star in the indie mysterious drama titled Same Difference.
Already in production in Los Angeles, the film, produced by Datari Turner for Datari Turner Productions, was written and directed by Derege Harding. Additional co-stars include: Kandi Burruss, Affion Crockett, Kris D. Lofton, Gabby Douglas, Lew Temple, and Page Kennedy.
Same Difference follows a young woman (Atkins) who is told that her death is imminent by a mysterious group of people who all start dying one by one. The woman becomes compelled to let go of the past and reconcile with her estranged twin sister, also played by Atkins, who is suffering from alcohol addiction.
Making his feature film directorial debut, Harding is a Film Independent Project Involve Alum. His short film “First Date, Last Date” won numerous festival awards and was bought and distributed by HBO. He was the Winner of last year’s 2017 Turner (TNT) / ABFF Pilot Screenwriting Competition.
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See New Trailer + Poster Debut for THE ESCAPE Starring Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper
IFC Films has released the brand new trailer and poster for The Escape, writer/director Dominic Savage’s intelligent, empathetic portrait of a stay-at-home mother in suburban England.
The Escape stars Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace; The Girl With All The Gifts; Their Finest) as a wife held prisoner by the monotony and isolation of her seemingly perfect life and Dominic Cooper (“Preacher;” My Week With Marilyn; An Education) as a husband ill-equipped to understand her pain.
The film, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, will be released by IFC Films on Friday, May 11 in New York and Los Angeles, as well as on Digital and On Demand platforms, with a national theatrical rollout to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx05E-99DPA
A woman sets out to reclaim her life in this stirring, emotionally rich look at what it means to start over. Tara (Arterton), a housewife and mother in suburban London, is living a life that is no longer hers: it belongs to her loving but overworked and self-absorbed husband (Cooper), her young son and daughter and the numbing routine of housework and childcare. In desperate need of a change, Tara one day makes a bold decision. Armed with a one-way ticket to Paris, she leaves everything behind to rediscover herself in a new city – but walking out on your life isn’t so simple. Built around a remarkable central performance from Gemma Arterton, The Escape is a perceptive, deeply compassionate portrait of a woman on the rocky road to becoming herself.
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See the New Trailer + Poster for BOOM FOR REAL: THE LATE TEENAGE YEARS OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT [Video]
When you think you have read and seen everything there is to know about Jean-Michel Basquiat, then comes the captivating documentary, Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The film which follows Basquiat’s life pre-fame and how New York City in the 1980’s formed the artist he became, released a new trailer and cool retro-looking poster. Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat which World Premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, will be in theaters on May 11.
Using never-before-seen works, writings and photographs, director Sara Driver, who was part of the New York arts scene herself, worked closely and collaboratively with friends and other artists who emerged from that period: Jim Jarmusch, James Nares, Fab Five Freddy, Glenn O’Brien, Kenny Scharf, Lee Quinones, Patricia Field, Luc Sante and many others. Drawing upon their memories and anecdotes, the film also uses period film footage, music and images to visually re-recreate the era, drawing a portrait of Jean-Michel and Downtown New York City -pre AIDS, President Reagan, the real estate and art booms – before anyone was motivated by money and ambition. The definition of fame, success and power were very different than today – to be a penniless but published poet was the height of success, until everything changed in the early 1980s. This is New York City’s story before that change.
THE BACKGROUND
“If we don’t tell the history, then others will, who weren’t there and don’t know the truth.” – Alexis Adler
Thirty years ago, Alexis Adler, an embryologist and friend of Jean-Michel stored away what’s now considered a treasure trove of his art and writings, along with the more than 150 photographs she took of him at work, goofing around and hanging out. In 1979, she gave him a key to her apartment, a safe place for him to stay and there he began to explore his talents.
BASQUIAT AND NEW YORK CITY
The film explores the movements that touched and inspired Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as the influence a bankrupt, violent city had on this seminal artist. Jean-Michel has become, over the years, the ultimate representation of this period. All the many things that were going on in the city fed through him – politics, hip-hop, punk rock, race issues and the art scene.
In 1978, Jean-Michel was a teenager (18 years old), living on the street and sleeping on friends’ sofas in the East Village. He was shaped and formed by his friendships — those he influenced and those who influenced him. The crumbling city allowed them the freedom to discover and experiment with their work.
THE CITY, THE CRIME, THE ARTS
During a brief time, downtown NYC was the epicenter for a community of young artists: musicians, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, performers, dancers, etc., living among the burned-out buildings that punctuated the city. These artists cross-pollinated each other, experimenting with different mediums. There were no divisions between young and old. The young learned from the older artists and vice versa. At the parties, clubs and in the streets there were minimalist painters, beatniks and jazz heroes. It was cheap to live in NYC. The city was lawless and drugs were everywhere, sold openly on the street.
The origins of hip-hop were floating through everything. The sounds of salsa, disco, punk, hardcore and no wave music wafted in the streets and through the clubs: CBGB, Mudd Club, Max’s Kansas City, Hurrah, Studio 54, Tier 3.
The streets were dangerous and crime rampant. The night’s events spread by word of mouth and handmade posters plastered on building walls, as well as through listings in local art papers: the Village Voice, the East Village Eye and the Soho News. NYC was bankrupt and crumbling, but because it was so cheap it became a fertile breeding ground for so many artists.
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Tribeca 2018: Watch Disney’s ‘Be Our Guest’ Recorded Live with Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach in HOWARD [VIDEO]
Here is a video clip taken featuring legendary actors Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach from the upcoming film Howard, which will have it’s world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The clip shows Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach recording the original track “Be Our Guest” for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast (1991), and how lyricist Howard Ashman was deeply involved with the writing and recording of his song. The clip also features interviews with composer Alan Menken and Beauty and The Beast director Kirk Wise about the magical recording process. Howard Ashman was responsible for the iconic soundtrack to B&TB, along with other Disney classics like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
Howard, directed by Don Hahn (Producer of The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast, director of Waking Sleeping Beauty ), is the untold story of Howard Ashman, the creative mind and brilliant lyricist behind Disney classics Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid and creator of the musical, Little Shop of Horrors, whose unparalleled career and vibrant life were cut short at 39 years of age, when he was felled by the AIDS epidemic.
Howard Ashman a Jewish kid from Baltimore grows up in an average family with a extraordinary love for musical theatre. After college he opens a theatre in a derelict section of New York and struggles to put on shows, until his adaptation of Roger Corman’s film Little Shop of Horrors becomes a huge off off broadway hit and catapults him into the limelight. Finally on Broadway, he collaborates with the Oscar and Tony winner Marvin Hamlisch and together they produce a disappointment, Smile. Embarrassed he flees to Los Angeles and takes up with a struggling gang of artists in a warehouse— Disney animators who have just been kicked off the studio lot until they can prove themselves. Howard with Alan Menken write the Oscar® winning songs for The Little Mermaid. While the film becomes a global phenomenon, Howard is diagnosed with HIV—which he kept a secret in this time when AIDS is a death sentence and gay men are at the margins of society. Howard writes the lyrics to Beauty and the Beast from his hospital bed and dies before he can see the final film. The legacy of his work lives on in Broadway productions and live action remakes of Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Aladdin for a new generation. The writer and screenwriter for this documentary is Don Hahn.
Tribeca Film Festival Screenings
Sunday, April 22 @ 2:30PM – Cinépolis Chelsea 7 Monday, April 23 @ 6:15PM – Cinépolis Chelsea 5 Tuesday, April 24 @ 3:30PM – Regal Cinemas Battery Park 5 Thursday, April 26 @ 7:00PM – Cinépolis Chelsea 5
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First Look at ‘SAY HER NAME: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland’ Documentary Premiering At Tribeca Film Festival [VIDEO]
Ahead of its April 25th World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, HBO Documentary Films shared a first look and official poster for the highly anticipated documentary, SAY HER NAME: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland. The documentary which is directed by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, will premiere on HBO.
In 2015, Sandra Bland, a politically active 28-year-old black woman from Chicago was arrested for a traffic violation in a small Texas town. Three days later, Sandra was found hanging from a noose in her jail cell. Though ruled a suicide, her death sparked allegations of racially-motivated police murder and Sandra became a poster child for activists nationwide, leaving millions to question, “What really happened to Sandra Bland?”
Ten days after Sandra’s death, the filmmakers began working closely with the family’s legal team, tracking the two-year battle between Sandra’s aggrieved family and Texas authorities. With disturbing, never-before-told details about the case, the film is punctuated by Sandra’s own passionate and moving commentary.
Approximately 30 “Sandy Speaks” video blogs, which Sandra created herself, allowed the filmmakers to get to know Sandra Bland in a deeply personal way. Via these videos, Sandy herself emerges as a central voice in SAY HER NAME — an empowered, enlightened woman of color whose sharp, humorous, charismatic remarks address subjects from educating kids about black history to police brutality to the importance of natural hair.
Part legal thriller, part parable about race in America, SAY HER NAME takes viewers deep inside a story that galvanized activists across the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pybBqJNg5ds
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Tribeca 2018: Watch First Trailer for McQUEEN, Documentary on Designer Alexander McQueen [VIDEO]
Bleeker Street has released the first teaser trailer for the documentary “McQueen“, which will have its World Premiere on Sunday, April 22, 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival and released in select theaters on July 13, 2018. The documentary is directed by Ian Bonhôte and co-directed/written by Peter Ettedgui.
McQueen is described as a personal look at the extraordinary life, career and artistry of Alexander McQueen. Through exclusive interviews with his closest friends and family, recovered archives, exquisite visuals and music, McQueen is an authentic celebration and thrilling portrait of an inspired yet tortured fashion visionary.
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Tribeca 2018: Watch Clip from TIME FOR ILHAN , Documentary on Muslim Somali-American Ilhan Omar’s Political Campaign [VIDEO]
Norah Shapiro documentary “Time For Ilhan“, which will have its World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 21, has released the first video clip. Ilhan Omar, a young, hijab-wearing mother of three, takes on two formidable opponents in a highly-contested race for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature. If successful, she will become the first Muslim Somali- American woman lawmaker in the United States. Similar to the classic tale of David and Goliath, Omar, who is up against a 43-year incumbent, is the “outsider”- a Muslim, refugee, woman of color – who seeks to challenge the party’s status quo while simultaneously defying the gender norms within her own Muslim community.
Time For Ilhan shadows Ilhan and her scrappy group of dedicated campaign staffers throughout the entire campaign’s dramatic uphill battle. A fresh take on the old story of the American Dream, the film offers an inspiring, stereotype-busting portrait of a rising political star and a vision of what is truly possible for women and New Americans in politics today.
Norah Shapiro is a Minneapolis-based filmmaker who left a decade-long career as a public defender to pursue documentary filmmaking, and hasn’t looked back since. Her first feature film MISS TIBET: BEAUTY IN EXILE (2014) premiered at the 2014 DOC NYC Film Festival. Additional screenings include the 2015 Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival where it received the “Best Minnesota Made Feature Documentary” award; SF DOCFEST; the Asian American International Film Festival in New York City; and others around the globe. She received a McKnight Filmmaking Fellowship in 2012 and has received numerous production and completion funding awards from funders including the Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota Filmmakers Legacy Fund. She is also currently producing a new documentary about the recently solved 27-year old abduction of Jacob Wetterling, a young Minnesota boy in rural Minnesota and its far reaching impact.
2018 Tribeca Film Festival Screening Schedule:
WORLD PREMIERE: Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 3:30 PM at CIN-08
Cinepolis Chelsea (CIN) 260 West 23 Street, between 7 and 8 Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 8:15PM at REGAL-06
Regal Battery Park Stadium 11 (RGL) 102 North End Ave, New York, NY 10281
Monday, April 23, 2018 at 3:45PM at CIN-02
Cinepolis Chelsea (CIN) 260 West 23 Street, between 7 and 8 Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Friday, April 27, 2018 at 8:15PM at REGAL-06
Regal Battery Park Stadium 11 (RGL) 102 North End Ave, New York, NY 10281
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FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, Documentary on Inspirational Designer and Plantsman, Sets Release Date [ Trailer ]
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Piet Oudolf photographing wildflowers in the Texas Hill Country.[/caption]
After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born – FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf. The documentary immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas.
This award-winning film will open at IFC Center in New York on Wednesday, June 13, and at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on Friday, June 29; Other cities will follow.
Intimate discussions take place through all four seasons in Piet’s own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius, including desert wildflowers in West Texas and post-industrial forests in Pennsylvania.
As a narrative thread, the film also follows Oudolf as he designs and installs a major new garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a gallery and arts center in Southwest England, a garden he considers his best work yet. Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be. As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, “your work teaches us to see what we have been unable to see.” Through poetic cinematography and unique access, FIVE SEASONS will reveal all that Piet sees, and celebrate all that we as viewers have been unable to see.