A PRIVATE WAR[/caption]
Aviron Pictures released six new video clips from A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike as legendary war correspondent Marie Colvin and Jamie Dornan as photojournalist Paul Conroy. A Private War opens in Los Angeles and New York on Friday, November 2, 2018, and everywhere on November 16th, 2018.
In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin (Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado. After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) — to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin, A PRIVATE WAR is brought to the screen by Academy Award nominee and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman in his pulse-pounding narrative feature debut.
Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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Watch 6 Video Clips from A PRIVATE WAR starring Rosamund Pike as War Correspondent Marie Colvin [Videos]
[caption id="attachment_31587" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] A PRIVATE WAR[/caption]
Aviron Pictures released six new video clips from A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike as legendary war correspondent Marie Colvin and Jamie Dornan as photojournalist Paul Conroy. A Private War opens in Los Angeles and New York on Friday, November 2, 2018, and everywhere on November 16th, 2018.
In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin (Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado. After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) — to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin, A PRIVATE WAR is brought to the screen by Academy Award nominee and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman in his pulse-pounding narrative feature debut.
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THE VICE OF HOPE Wins People Choice Award at Rome Film Fest [Trailer]
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The Vice of Hope (Il vizio della speranza)[/caption]
The Italian drama, The Vice of Hope (Il vizio della speranza) by Edoardo De Angelis was voted the winner of the “BNL People’s Choice Award” at the 13th Rome Film Fest. The film is centered around the hiring of women as surrogate mothers paid to bear children and then hand them over to paying clients. To support her family, Maria works as a trafficker of surrogate mothers, transporting them from place to place along a river — but when one disappears, Maria is left with the task of finding her and must enter deeper into a world she wishes to escape.
SYNOPSIS
Along the river flows Maria’s time, her head hooded and her gait resolute. Her existence streams from day to day, with no dreams or desires, taking care of her mother and working at the service of a bejewelled madam. With her courageous pitbull by her side, Maria ferries pregnant women across the river, in what seems like an endless purgatory. This woman will soon be visited by hope, in its most powerful and ancestral form, as miraculous as life itself. Because to stay human has always been the greatest of revolutions. “No one will ever kill me”THE DIRECTOR
Edoardo De Angelis, born in Naples in 1978, discovered cinema at the age of 19 and made his first short films. In 2006, he graduated in film direction from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome: his graduating essay was the short film Mistero e passione di Gino Pacino. He directed his first feature-length film, Mozzarella Stories, in 2011. In 2014, he directed his second feature-length film Perez with the O’Groove company, which he founded with Pierpaolo Verga. In 2016 he directed Indivisible, which won 6 Nastro d’Argento awards, 8 Ciak d’oro, a Globo d’oro and 17 nominations for a David di Donatello, 6 of which it won.TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL6IYrqaH3oDIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“In the frame past present and future. No presentation of the characters, no distraction. The story of women and men is written on the body: the past in the scars, the present in the gestures, the future in the eyes. The body is the main instrument of the narration because its mobile material expresses the transformation of the characters; it is a thematic vehicle in that it reveals the injured beauty of human beings as they wait for something or someone, desperate people clinging to one last hope; finally, the body expresses the desire of the soul to subvert the order of desperation, through resistance, and at the right time, rebellion. Think of a cold winter, a time in which everything around us looks dead and we light a fire to find warmth, while we wait for things to change. The earth generates, the earth hosts, the earth lets us prosper then covers our dead body; the wind blows on the fire and pushes the water of the river towards the earth, to revive it. Life stubbornly fights death: the arc of the world is transformed through birth, death and rebirth. Everything that remains unchanged dies. What moves is alive. For those who have the strength to resist, the reward is the miracle of the world as it is born”.
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AVICII: TRUE STORIES, Powerful Documentary on Late Producer/Artist, Sets Release Date [Trailer]
Levan Tsikurishvili’s powerful documentary Avicii: True Stories, reveals the unvarnished truth behind the success of Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter and artist Avicii (A.K.A. Tim Bergling). The film which follows Avicii over four years, and features Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, David Guetta, Tiësto and Wyclef Jean, will open on December 14th in Los Angeles and December 21st in New York.
Avicii: True Stories follows Avicii, one of the world’s highest grossing live music artists, whose seemingly sudden decision last year to quit doing live shows came as a complete chock to his fans and the industry.
The film traces the artist/DJ’s life from his beginnings, all the way to the joy of his success, from his chart-topping global radio hits and subsequent struggles with his physical and mental health. Tsikurishvili followed Bergling for over four years, and captured fly-on-the-wall footage of his experiences and thinking. Featuring appearances by colleagues such as Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, David Guetta, Tiësto, and Wyclef Jean, Avicii: True Stories is a cautionary tale that explores the taxing nature and intensity of fame from the artist’s point of view as much as it is a film for Avicii’s die-hard fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZFK3VKzQIs
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Mahaliyah Ayla O’s MASKS and Kevin David Lin’s MONDAY Sweep Major Awards at 13th NBCUniversal SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
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“Masks” by Mahaliyah Ayla O[/caption]
The six finalist films and filmmakers of this year’s 13th Annual NBCUniversal SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, were honored with a finale screening and awards ceremony at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood.
Comedian-actor Zainab Johnson (“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” HBO’s “All Def Comedy”) kicked off the evening with screenings of the six finalist shorts, “B.U.T.S: Spanish Class,” “Kyenvu,” “Masks,” “Monday,” “Rani” and “We Know Where You Live,” before an audience of industry professionals including network, cable and film executives as well as managers, producers and agents.
“I’m proud that over the past 13 years, our short film festival has not only celebrated those voices, but advocated for them beyond the festival to provide them with opportunities in the industry,” said Karen Horne, SVP of Programming Talent Development & Inclusion, NBC Entertainment and Universal Television.
13th Annual NBCUniversal SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Awards
HARNESS Social Impact Award: “Kyenvu” “Kyenvu” writer-director Kemiyondo Coutinho was awarded a $10,000 cash grant for her short film about a young Ugandan woman who struggles to find her footing in a patriarchal society that entitles men to women’s bodies . https://vimeo.com/250220907 Outstanding Comedy: “B.U.T.S: Spanish Class” “B.U.T.S: Spanish Class” co-creators Irene Lucio and Emma Ramos were presented with a $5,000 cash grant and a DJI OSMO+ Handheld Gimbal 4K camera with full accessory kit for an episode from their sketch comedy web series that parodies and satirizes the many ‘afflictions’ of the modern-day woman told through a Latina lens. In “Spanish Class,” a couple gets way more than they bargained for when they set out to learn Spanish in a week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC_7xSn5vIw Outstanding Drama: “Masks” “Masks” writer-director Mahaliyah Ayla O was presented with a $5,000 grant and a DJI OSMO+ Handheld Gimbal 4K camera with full accessory kit for her film about a closeted Persian woman’s experience after surviving a mass shooting. https://vimeo.com/264696824 Outstanding Writer: Hammad Rizvi, “Rani” Writer-director Hammad Rizvi was awarded a $5,000 cash grant in addition to final round placement in NBC’s Writers on the Verge program that prepares talented writers for staff writing positions on scripted series. He also received the newly released Final Draft 11 software on all platforms and a Fire TV Cube, the latest hands-free streaming media player with Alexa voice command. Rizvi’s short film “Rani” centers on a socially outcast transgender Pakistani woman who sets out to take care of an abandoned child. The short stars trans activist Kami Sid as the titular character in her first acting role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wTh9Ifw_c Outstanding Actor: Kevin David Lin, “Monday” Actor Kevin David Lin from the short film “Monday” was awarded a talent holding deal with NBC, a premiere headshot package with JeanPaul SanPedro, a fund for unlimited private audition coaching and advanced acting classes and a $1,000 wardrobe allowance. Lin starred as the central character in “Monday” about a conflicted young hustler who’s forced to confront the immorality of his occupation. Outstanding Director: Dinh Thai, “Monday” “Monday” writer-director Dinh Thai received a studio production services package courtesy of Universal Operations, including one day of shooting on the Universal Studios back lot and an $8,500 valued package including lighting, grip, props and costumes as well as one day of sound mixing. He was also awarded a $60,000 camera package from Panavision’s New Filmmaker Program, a longtime festival sponsor, and final round placement in NBCUniversal’s Emerging Directors Program that provides a pipeline for ethnically diverse directors to break into television by offering shadowing opportunities and an in-season commitment to direct an episode of an NBCUniversal scripted series. Next Generation Filmmaker Award: Dinh Thai, “Monday” Writer-director Dinh Thai won the festival’s inaugural Next Generation Filmmaker Award for his short film “Monday” about a conflicted young hustler who’s forced to confront the immorality of his occupation as he ‘code-switches’ through various cliques in his daily dealings throughout Los Angeles . https://vimeo.com/280413643 Critics’ Choice Award: “Masks” “Masks” was chosen as the most impactful short by a jury of 25 film and television critics and entertainment writers. This year’s jury included journalists from The Advocate, Brown Girl Magazine, Essence, CNN, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Her Campus, The Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, Kore Asian Media, Latina, the Los Angeles Times, Moviemaker Magazine, NewNowNext, Screen International, Slate, The Teal Mango, TVGuide, USA Today, and Vanity Fair, among others. Los Angeles Film Critics Association President Claudia Puig presented the award to “Masks” writer-director Mahaliyah Ayla O. She received a DJI Phantom 4Series Quadcopter Drone with 4K Digital Camera and corresponding accessories. Audience Award: “Masks” The audience at the finale screening voted “Masks” as its favorite film amongst the six finalists. Writer-director Mahaliyah Ayla O received a $1,000 cash grant and a 4 TB external hard drive for her next project. The festival’s finalists and semifinalists also received an array of prizes including a limited run on COMCAST’S XFINITY to 29 million viewers across the world starting December 1 as well as the opportunity to stream their film on the NBCU SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Hulu Channel and EVERYBODY DIGITAL, a mobile app exclusively for short film content created by actor-writer Allen Maldonado (“The Last O.G.”). They also all received a copy of newly released Final Draft 11 on all platforms from the festival’s returning sponsor.
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IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, GREEN BOOK Among 2018 Award Finalists for Twin Cities Film Fest
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If Beale Street Could Talk[/caption]
More than 30 finalists will compete for the top awards at the 2018 Twin Cities Film Fest, including among the top contenders for Best Feature Film are the new Barry Jenkins drama “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book,” which recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and two lauded Minnesota productions: Barry Andersson’s “The Lumber Baron” and David Buchanan’s “Black.”
Other notable 2018 finalists include Joel Edgerton’s harrowing drama “Boy Erased” and Marielle Heller’s thriller “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, both nominated for this year’s Indie Vision Award for breakthrough performance, recognizing Lucas Hedges and Melissa McCarthy respectively. Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s documentary “United Skates,” selected as this year’s closing night film, received two nominations — for Best Documentary and Indie Vision Special Achievement, recognizing Tina Brown, Matthew Peterson and Dyana Winkler’s electrifying cinematography.
Rounding out this year’s Best Feature Film nominees were Kendall Goldberg’s comedy “When Jeff Tried to Save the World,” which also received nods for director Kendall Goldberg and lead actor Jon Heder, and Ben Zuckert’s drama “Noah Wise,” which received a second nomination for musical score.
Actor Bill Murray is serving as a special guest judge for this year’s Comedy Shorts Award. Murray will be choosing his favorite comedic short from the three finalists listed below.
This year’s TCFF slate, which continues to screen in St. Louis Park through Saturday evening, is comprised of more than 130 short and feature films. In addition to staff and audience awards, this year’s Changemaker Award is being bestowed to Rachel Mairose, founder and executive director of the animal rescue nonprofit Secondhand Hounds.
2018 Twin Cities Film Fest FINALISTS
Best Feature Film: “If Beale Street Could Talk,” directed by Barry Jenkins; “Black,” directed by David Buchanan; “Green Book,” directed by Peter Farrelly; “The Lumber Baron,” directed by Barry Andersson; “Noah Wise,” directed by Ben Zuckert; “When Jeff Tried to Save the World,” directed by Kendall Goldberg. Best Documentary: “93Queen,” directed by Paula Eiselt; “Finding Hygge,” directed by Rocky Walls; “Fire on the Hill,” directed by Brett Fallentine; “Time for Ilhan,” directed by Norah Shapiro; “United Skates,” directed by Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler; “Who Will Write Our History?” directed by Roberta Grossman. Best Short Film: “The American Wake,” directed by Kevin Quinn; “12 Sips to Glory,” directed by Matt Hirst; “Claire Means Well,” directed by Aaron Gervich; “Lunch Ladies,” directed by J.M. Logan; “Two Black Coffees,” directed by Michael Discoll; “Sexpert Franzen,” directed by Kaitlyn Busbee. Indie Vision — Breakthrough Performance: Adam Christian Clark (“Newly Single”); Jon Heder (“When Jeff Tried to Save the World”); Lucas Hedges (“Boy Erased”); Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”); Toussaint Morrison (“Black”); Sophia Mitri Schloss (“Sadie”). Indie Vision — Debut Director: Erik Bloomquist (“Long Lost”); Kendall Goldberg (“When Jeff Tried to Save the World”); Jenna Laurenzo (“Lez Bomb”); James Ojala (“Strange Nature”); Mark Taylor (“Saving Flora”); Kulap Vilaysack (“Origin Story”). Indie Vision — Breakthrough Achievement: Sam Boyd (screenplay for “In a Relationship”); Tina Brown, Matthew Peterson and Dyana Winkler (cinematography for “United Skates”); Roxanne Paukner (art direction for “The Lumber Baron”); Vanessa Powers (animation for “Witch”); C.J. Renner (director of “American Tender”); Ben Zuckert (composer of “Noah Wise”). Comedic Shorts Award: “12 Sips to Glory;” “Deep Dish Apocalypse;” “Lunch Ladies.” 2018 TCFF Changemaker Award: Rachel Mairose, founder and executive director of Secondhand Hounds.
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Daniel Sawka’s Immigration Drama ICEBOX to Debut on HBO in December
Director-writer Daniel Sawka’s feature debut Icebox tells the story of Óscar, played by Anthony Gonzalez (“Coco”), a 12-year-old Honduran boy who is forced to flee his home and seek asylum in the United States, only to find himself trapped in the U.S. immigration system. HBO Films has acquired the worldwide rights to the film, which will debut Friday, December 7 on HBO.
Icebox which also stars Omar Leyva, Johnny Ortiz, Matthew Moreno, Jessica Juarez and Genesis Rodriguez, premiered in the Discovery section at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
As Óscar attempts to reach his uncle, Manuel (Leyva), in Arizona, he is apprehended by Border Patrol and placed in “the Icebox,” a detention facility where he joins scores of other migrant children being held without their families. Faced with a seemingly impenetrable immigration system, Óscar struggles to navigate a path to freedom, with a journalist (Rodriguez) and his uncle, himself a recent immigrant, as his only lifelines.
“The narrative and characters in Icebox are inspired by so many personal stories that were told to me through years of research and outreach – stories that unfortunately have become all too prevalent in today’s world,” says Daniel Sawka. “I can’t think of a better partner than HBO Films with which to present this incredibly timely issue.”
Filmed on location in New Mexico, the film was shot primarily in Spanish with English subtitles. Sawka originally wrote and directed Icebox as a short film for his 2016 American Film Institute MFA thesis project. This short was subsequently shortlisted for the 2018 Academy Awards(R), won the Grand Jury Award at AFI fest, and screened at Telluride Film Festival.
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Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2018 Audience Choice, Heterodox, Broadcast, Unforgettables and Nonfiction “Shorts List”
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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?[/caption]
The Cinema Eye Honors unveiled the first awards announcements for their 12th Annual awards, including The Unforgettables, their annual list of notable and significant nonfiction film subjects; The Shorts List, an annual list of the year’s ten top Nonfiction Short Films; and nominees in four categories: Broadcast Film; Broadcast Series; the Heterodox Award, which recognizes fiction films that actively blur the line between fiction and documentary; and the annual Audience Choice Prize. The full list of nonfiction film and craft nominees, including the five nominees for Outstanding Nonfiction Short Film, will be revealed on Thursday, November 8.
Eight films – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo, Stephen Loveridge’s Mantangi/Maya/M.I.A., Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap, Alexandria Bombach’s On Her Shoulders, Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s RBG, Sandi Tan’s Shirkers, Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers and Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – were nominated for the Audience Choice Prize and also saw their subjects recognized amongst this year’s Unforgettables. Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks’ Quincy and Dava Whisenant’s Bathtubs Over Broadway round out this year’s Audience Choice nominees.
This is the first year that Cinema Eye will have an award to recognize Outstanding Nonfiction Series for Broadcast. Inaugural nominees in the Series category are Steve James’ America to Me (STARZ), Trey Borzilleri & Barbara Schroeder’s Evil Genius (Netflix), Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper & Jessica Dimmock’s Flint Town (Netflix) Liz Garbus’ The Fourth Estate (Showtime) Matthew Heineman’s The Trade (Showtime) and Chapman Way & Maclain Way’s Wild Wild Country (Netflix).
The 12th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be presented on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
AUDIENCE CHOICE PRIZE NOMINEES
Bathtubs Over Broadway Directed by Dava Whisenant Free Solo Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Directed by Stephen Loveridge Minding the Gap Directed by Bing Liu On Her Shoulders Directed by Alexandria Bombach Quincy Directed by Rashida Jones and Al Hicks RBG Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West Shirkers Directed by Sandi Tan Three Identical Strangers Directed by Tim Wardle Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan NevilleNONFICTION SHORTS LIST
(Five nominees in this category will be announced on Thursday, November 8) Baby Brother Directed by Kamau Bilal Concussion Protocol Directed by Josh Begley The Earth is Humming Directed by Garrett Bradley My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes Directed by Charlie Tyrell A Night at the Garden Directed by Marshall Curry Las Nubes Directed by Juan Pablo González Sister Hearts Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani Skip Day Directed by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas Volte Directed by Monika Kotecka and Karolina Poryzala Zhalanash – Empty Shore Directed by Marcin SauterHETERODOX AWARD NOMINEES
American Animals Directed by Bart Layton Obscuro Barrocco Directed by Evangelia Kranioti Skate Kitchen Directed by Crystal Moselle The Tale Directed by Jennifer Fox We the Animals Directed by Jeremiah ZagarBROADCAST FILM NOMINEES
Baltimore Rising Directed by Sonja Sohn HBO Believer Directed by Don Argott HBO The Final Year Directed by Greg Barker HBO I Am Evidence Directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir HBO Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press Directed by Brian Knappenberger Netflix This is Home: A Refugee Story Directed by Alexandra Shiva EpixBROADCAST SERIES NOMINEES
America to Me Directed by Steve James Starz Evil Genius Directed by Trey Borzilleri and Barbara Schroeder Netflix Flint Town Directed by Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper and Jessica Dimmock Netflix The Fourth Estate Directed by Liz Garbus Showtime The Trade Directed by Matthew Heineman Showtime Wild Wild Country Directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way NetflixUNFORGETTABLES NONFICTION SUBJECTS OF 2018
Annette Ontell 306 Hollywood América América Issei Sagawa Caniba Alex Honnold Free Solo Julita Salmerón Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Nick Bollettieri Love Means Zero M.I.A. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Kiere Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan Minding the Gap Abu Osama Of Fathers and Sons Nadia Murad On Her Shoulders Ruth Bader Ginsburg RBG Scotty Bowers Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan Shirkers Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran Three Identical Strangers Fred Rogers Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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WOMAN AT WAR Wins Best Film at 2018 Byron Bay Film Festival
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Woman at War[/caption]
Woman at War, the Cannes award-winning follow-up to Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men, took both Best Dramatic Feature and Best Film at the 12th Byron Bay Film Festival. The film follows a 50-year-old independent woman and passionate environmental activist who secretly wages a one-woman war on the local aluminum industry. Woman at War was selected as Iceland’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFxz4oNfBV0
Jirga, a redemption tale set in Afghanistan, won the Best Byron Film – the Locals Award, for its director, Bangalow-based Benjamin Gilmour.
The film which was in the spotlight at the Festival’s closing gala, Sharkwater: Extinction, won BBFF2018’s Best Environmental Film Award. The film was the last work by the late shark conservationist Rob Stewart, who was well known and widely loved in Byron Shire and along the North Coast.
In honor of the work that Rob Stewart achieved, Ms Skippon-Volke announced that from 2019 the award would be known as the Rob Stewart Best Environmental Film Award – giving further gravitas to the importance of recognizing Environmental Films and the strong impact they have in changing minds and behavior.
An audience favorite, Backtrack Boys, set in Armidale, won the festival’s Best Documentary Award, beating four international nominees and the Taree-based autobiographical doco Teach A Man to Fish, made by Grant Leigh Saunders.
The award for Best Music Documentary went to Michael Franti’s Stay Human, which opened the festival and set its informal theme of nurturing hope over cynicism. Best Surf Film went to Big Wata, set in Sierra Leone; Best Animation went to the French short Bavure; and the Best Cinematography Award went to Cielo for its entrancing photography of the sky above Chile’s Atacama desert.
The Best Young Australian Filmmaker Award went to Melbourne-based Greta Nash for her film The Locker Room.
The festival had another trophy added to its 2018 awards list – an Encouragement Prize sponsored by Canon, gifting a professional camera to a deserving Young Australian filmmaker. This year’s prize went to brothers Jay and Shaun Perry, for their work creating their short film The Intentions of F Scott Fitzgerald.
Byron Shire band Parcels took home the Best Music Video Award for their film, Tied Up Right Now, and the coveted InteractiveVR award was awarded to a unique Virtual Reality Music Video Experience – Chorus.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Drama ON THE BASIS OF SEX to Receive SF Honors Award
Ruth Bader Ginsburg biographical drama On the Basis of Sex, directed by Mimi Leder will be presented with the third annual SF Honors award from SFFILM, along with a public screening event Saturday, November 10, 6:30 pm at the Castro Theatre. Lead actors Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer and screenwriter (and nephew of Ruth Bader Ginsburg) Daniel Stiepleman will attend in person and participate in a special pre-screening award presentation followed by an in-depth post-screening conversation about their work.
“Nothing could represent Bay Area values better than the remarkable early career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how she and her husband collaborated to remove gender bias from the laws of our country,” said SFFILM’s Executive Director Noah Cowan. “Mimi Leder has told this story beautifully with a magnificent lift from two of our finest young actors, Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer, and we are proud to name it this year’s SF Honors recipient. This award, a major event in the San Francisco cultural season, would not be possible without the support of Todd Traina and Diane B. Wilsey, significant long-time supporters of the cultural infrastructure of the Bay Area and of SFFILM.”
On the Basis of Sex tells an inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the US Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination. The feature will premiere later this year, in line with Justice Ginsburg’s 25th anniversary on the Supreme Court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28dHbIR_NB4
Now in its third edition, SF Honors adds a Bay Area voice to the end-of-year awards conversation with an annual award and tribute designed to bring particular attention to innovation and audacity in current cinema, featuring a screening and onstage conversation with the creators and cast of one of the best films of the year.
The inaugural SF Honors award was presented in 2016 to Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, with a public screening event and onstage conversation featuring writer/director Damien Chazelle, stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and composer Justin Hurwitz at the Castro Theatre. In 2017, SFFILM honored Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, with Wright, lead actor (and eventual Academy Award winner) Gary Oldman, co-star Ben Mendelsohn, writer/producer Anthony McCarten, and supervising sound editor Craig Berkey taking the stage to discuss their critical and popular hit film. SF Honors is made possible by a $1 million, ten-year gift from SFFILM’s Board Vice President Todd Traina and philanthropist Diane B. Wilsey.
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DOCNYC 2018: Syrian Women Find Strength Through Theater in WE ARE NOT PRINCESSES [Trailer]
With intimate footage and stunning animation, We Are Not Princesses follows how a theater workshop group of Syrian refugee women, living in a Beirut refugee camp, find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone. This film focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. We Are Not Princesses directed by Bridgette Auger and Itab Azzam will World Premiere at DOC NYC on November 14, 2018.
In 2014, the Open Art Foundation put together a theater workshop with Syrian women refugees in Beirut to create a space for community and to provide tools to help the women process their trauma as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
We Are Not Princesses focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. With intimate footage and stunning animation, the film follows how this group of women find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone.
Whether they are gossiping at a seaside café or engaging in long-forgotten pleasures at a night-time fairground, these poignant scenes are where intense discussion and transformation take place. Smoking cigarettes and wearing makeup become acts of rebellion against societal and patriarchal authority. And never far from the surface are the horrifying backstories which brought the women to Beirut.
Mona tells of the death of her child; Fedwa hyperventilates as she attempts to rehearse the story of her son whom she was unable to bury; Heba remembers her starving brother’s last wish for noodles and yogurt.
These stories provide context for the Syrian war, and also establish the women’s point of access into the story of Antigone, a story through which the women begin the work of processing their personal and national traumas.
We Are Not Princesses focuses strong Syrian women picking up the pieces of their broken society and moving forward.
WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING AT DOC NYC
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:45 PM – Cinepolis Chelsea
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A71 Entertainment to Release Punk Rock Slasher THE RANGER on DVD
Following the film’s Toronto premier at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, the genre festival favorite punk rock slasher THE RANGER has been acquired by A71 Entertainment for a release in Canada on Bluray and DVD in early January 2019.
In the spirit of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and CLASS OF 1984, THE RANGER follows a group of young punks who are forced to flee the city to lay low, only to run into a park ranger who shares a mysterious past with one of their own. The film has been lauded for its standout performances from Chloë Levine (THE TRANSFIGURATION, THE OA) as the pink-haired punk with a secret, and Jeremy Holm (HOUSE OF CARDS, MR. ROBOT) as the maniacal ranger, ready to get his hands bloody in defense of the woods. Granit Lahu (THE SINNER), Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler (PUZZLE), Amanda Grace Benitez (SCHOOL OF ROCK), Jeté Laurence (PET SEMATARY) and horror icon Larry Fessenden (HABIT, WE ARE STILL HERE) round out the cast.
THE RANGER marks the directorial debut of Jenn Wexler, a past Shudder Labs master and producer of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize-winner, MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND. A co-production of Glass Eye Pix and Hood River Entertainment, THE RANGER was written by Wexler and Giaco Furino, and produced by Andrew van den Houten (BREAKING & EXITING, THE WOMAN), Larry Fessenden (MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL), Ashleigh Snead (THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND), Heather Buckley and Wexler (LIKE ME, DARLING),
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have A71 distribute THE RANGER on home video in Canada,” says Wexler. “The film was born in Montreal’s Frontieres Co-Production Market so it means so much to us that horror fans in Canada will be able to add the film to their collections.”
The Ranger came out swinging at 2018 SXSW Film Festival, where it world-premiered in the Midnighters section. The film was selected as opening night feature of this year’s FrightFest UK and has been an official selection at festivals around the world, including Fantasia International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival and Toronto After Dark, among many others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ0BG3-fxzA
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Specials Program of 60th Nordische Filmtage Lübeck to Feature Provocative Cinema + Ingmar Bergman Retrospective
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Bergman – a Year in a Life[/caption]
Provocative cinema, historical film epics, and an homage to Swedish master director Ingmar Bergman are the hallmarks of the Specials section of the 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck, which runs from October 30 to November 4. In honor of the centenary of Bergman’s birth, the festival, which showed the maestro’s classic “Sawdust and Tinsel” at the very first NFL in 1956, will this year screen two relatively unknown Bergman gems – “From the Life of the Marionettes” (GER/SWE 1980), and “The Touch” (SWE/US 1970), in some cases newly digitized. In addition, the documentaries “Bergman – a Year in a Life” (SWE/NOR 2018), “Ingmar Bergman” (SWE 1971), and “The Memory of Ingmar Bergman” (FIN 2018) use personal remembrances, or special times in the director’s life, to take a look back at his life and work. Another film takes a very different approach to Bergman’s oeuvre. “Bergman revisited” (SWE 2018) is a compilation of short films – some irreverent, some experimental, some classic – by six Swedish filmmakers that completely reinterpret motifs from Bergman’s life and art.
The Specials section also has a showcase for another world-renowned Swede. Pernille Fischer Christensen’s film “Becoming Astrid” is a complex portrait of beloved children’s and young adult author Astrid Lindgren, with Alba August giving an outstanding performance in the title role. The film focusses on the author’s early writing years, which were formative in her later life and work. The Specials section is also screening “Border”(SWE/DEN 2018), directed by Ali Abbasi, which won the main prize in the “Un Certain Regard” section at Cannes, and Sweden’s submission for the 2018 Oscar “U – July 22” (NOR 2018), Erik Poppe’s controversion treatment of the massacre at a Norwegian youth camp.
Two period dramas from Denmark will take audiences back to the past: Bille August’s “A Fortunate Man” (DEN 2018), an adaptation of the eponymous Danish book classic, and the German-Danish co-production “In Love and War” (DEN/GER/CZE 2018), which was the first production to benefit from the new German-Danish Coproduction Development Initiative. The Specials section is rounded out with the newest film adaptation of a Jussi Adler Olsen book – “The Purity of Vengeance” (DEN/GER 2018), directed by Christoffer Boe, was shot partially in Hamburg. It’s another thrilling case for Detective Carl Mørck and his Department Q team.
60th Nordische Filmtage Lübeck Specials
A Fortunate Man / Lykke-Per / Per im Glück Dänemark / Österreich / 2018 / 167 Min. Director(s): Bille August Bille August’s brilliant film adaptation of the classic Danish novel “A Fortunate Man” features young star Esben Smed Jensen in the title role. Becoming Astrid / Unga Astrid / Astrid Schweden / Dänemark / Deutschland / 2017 / 123 Min. Director(s): Pernille Fischer Christensen It’s the kind of life you’d expect to find in an Astrid Lindgren story – her life story, in fact. This biopic covers her early years and first stabs at writing. Bergman – A Year in a Life / Bergman – ett år, ett liv / Bergman – ein Jahr, ein Leben Schweden / Norwegen / 2018 / 116 Min. Director(s): Jane Magnusson Based on the fateful year of 1957, documentary film maker Jane Magnusson unfurls master director Ingmar Bergman’s fascinating work and life. Bergman Revisited / Bergman Revisited / Bergman Revisited Schweden / 2018 / 84 Min. Director(s): Pernilla August, Tomas Alfredson, Jane Magnusson, Linus Tunström, Lisa Aschan, Patrik Eklund Six contemporary short films that present surprising new interpretations of Ingmar Bergman’s life and work – some lyrical, some surreal, some uproariously funny. Border / Gräns / Border Schweden / Dänemark / 2018 / 101 Min. Director(s): Ali Abbasi Sweden’s entry for the 2019 Foreign Language Oscar. Customs officer Tina has a unique sense of human emotions – until she has an encounter that changes her life. From the Life of the Marionettes / Ur Marionetternas Liv / Aus dem Leben der Marionetten Deutschland / Österreich / 1980 / 104 Min. Director(s): Ingmar Bergman A galvanizing trip into the evil within humanity, filmed by Ingmar Bergman with Robert Atzorn and Gaby Dohm for German television in 1980. In Love and War / I krig og kærlighed / In Love and War Dänemark / Deutschland / Tschechien / 2018 / 135 Min. Director(s): Kasper Torsting An injured soldier returns from the frontline and becomes a deserter for the sake of love. Epic tale about the fragility of emotions in World War One. Ingmar Bergman / Ingmar Bergman / Ingmar Bergman Schweden / 1971 / 55 Min. Director(s): Stig Björkman This fascinating and restored Ingmar Bergman portrait was shot during the American coproduction of “The Touch” in 1971. The Memory of Ingmar Bergman / Minnet av Ingmar Bergman / Erinnerung an Ingmar Bergman Finnland / 2018 / 57 Min. Director(s): Jörn Donner Producer and documentary filmmaker Jörn Donner takes a highly personal look back at his friend Ingmar Bergman. The film includes rare archive material. The Purity of Vengeance / Journal 64 / Verachtung Dänemark / Deutschland / 2018 / 119 Min. Director(s): Christoffer Boe Chief inspector Carl Mørck is back. “The Purity of Vengeance” is the thrilling film adaptation of the bestseller by acclaimed Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. The Touch / Beröringen / Die Berührung Schweden / USA / 1970 / 115 Min. Director(s): Ingmar Bergman Ingmar Bergman’s restored love story from 1971 with Elliot Gould, Max von Sydow and Bibi Anderson hadn’t seen a public screening for over 40 years. U – July 22 / Utøya 22. juli / Utøya 22. Juli Norwegen / 2018 / 95 Min. Director(s): Erik Poppe Controversial drama about an 18-year-old girl during the July 22, 2011 mass murder on the Norwegian island of Utøya. The film was shot in real time in one take.