Sophia Lamar in I Hate New York[/caption]
Made in Spain, the showcase of the Spanish films at the 2018 San Sebastian International Film Festival will spotlight eleven productions, including films by directors Daniel Calparsoro, Isabel Coixet, Álex de la Iglesia, Ramón Salazar and David Trueba. The Festival will also serve as the framework for presentation of the documentary Querido Fotogramas, directed by the Brazilian filmmaker Sergio Oksman.
Among the first works are Mi querida cofradía, by Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz (Ronda, Málaga, 1988), winner at the Malaga Festival of both the Silver Biznaga for Best Supporting Actress (Carmen Flores) and the Audience Award; and I Hate New York, by the journalist and filmmaker Gustavo Sánchez (Úbeda, Jaén, 1978), produced by the Bayona brothers.
Also part of the selection are Diana Toucedo (Pontevedra, 1982) who, having worked on sixteen feature films as an editor and having directed the non-fiction feature En todas as mans, debuted in feature films with Trinta lumes / Thirty Souls, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale; and Les distàncies (Distances) by Elena Trapé (Barcelona, 1976), recipient of the Golden Biznaga for Best Spanish Film and of the Silver Biznagas for Best Director and Best Actress (Alexandra Jiménez) in Malaga. Trapé’s first film, Blog, was selected for Zabaltegi-New Directors eight years ago at the Festival, landing a special mention from the RTVE-Otra Mirada Award.
Having worked on eight feature films as an editor, works which have coexisted with her involvement in the film pedagogy project Cinema en curs – which has its corresponding event in San Sebastian through Tabakalera and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (Zinema (h)abian) – Meritxell Colell (Barcelona, 1983) has now directed her first feature film, Con el viento / Amb el vent. Having been selected as a project by the Cinéfondation, the work premiered in the Forum section of the Berlinale. Colell will participate with her second feature film project, Dúo, in the Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
Among the films by long-standing directors are El aviso (The Warning), the latest work from Daniel Calparsoro (Barcelona, 1968), whose films have been presented in Cannes, Berlin and Venice, as well as at the Festival; The Bookshop, by Isabel Coixet (Barcelona, 1960), winner this year of the Goyas for Best Film, Director and Adapted Screenplay; Perfectos desconocidos (Perfect Strangers), latest proposal from the filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia (Bilbao, 1965), a frequent participant in San Sebastian Festival’s Official Selection with several films including La comunidad (Common Wealth, Silver Shell for Carmen Maura), Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (Witching & Bitching) and Mi gran noche (My Big Night); La enfermedad del domingo (Sunday’s Illness) by Ramón Salazar (Málaga, 1973), participant in the Panorama section of the Berlinale; and Casi 40 (Almost 40) by David Trueba (Madrid, 1969), the sequel of his first work, La buena vida (The Good Life), winner of the Jury Special Prize in Malaga. Trueba’s previous feature, Vivir con los ojos cerrados (Living is Easy with Eyes Closed), competed in San Sebastian’s Official Selection and won six Goya awards, including Best Film.
CASI 40 (ALMOST FORTY)
DAVID TRUEBA (SPAIN)
Lucía was a successful singer until separation of the duo that had made her a sensation and earned her fame drove her to a somewhat marginal position in the industry. Now she lives a more stable life, married and with two children, retired from the world of show business. But the plans of an old boyfriend from the days of her youth to make a small concert tour of several Spanish cities give her the excuse to get back onto the road. About to turn 40, the two will have to bear the intimate price of giving up on their life ideals.
CON EL VIENTO – AMB EL VENT (FACING THE WIND)
MERITXELL COLELL (SPAIN – ARGENTINA – FRANCE)
Mónica, a 47 year-old dancer, receives a phone call from Spain: her father is seriously ill. Twenty years down the line, she must return to the remote Burgos town of her birth. By the time she gets there, her father is dead. Her mother, to whom she has hardly spoken in all these years, asks her for help to sell the family house. Winter arrives. The perpetual silence, the extreme cold, and having to deal with her family will be harsh trials for Mónica, who will take refuge in the place she knows best: dancing. The film combines dance, documentary and independent film to construct a singular tale of family ties and relations in a universe of women.
EL AVISO (THE WARNING)
DANIEL CALPARSORO (SPAIN)
We are in 2008. Young Jon is a mathematical whiz kid obsessed with numerical reasoning. He’s a genius whose schizophrenia has deprived him of a promising scientific career, so that he has to make do with a job in a photocopying shop. One night like many others, on leaving work, Jon and his best friend, David, head for a petrol station to buy drinks for a dinner with Andrea, a childhood friend of both and the girlfriend David is about to propose to. David goes into the shop while Jon waits for him in the car. Just then there is a robbery and David is hit by a bullet that leaves him in an irreversible coma. From then on Jon will stop taking his medication and, crippled by guilt, start looking for meaning in his friend’s murder. He investigates past robberies until finally finding a common mathematical pattern to them. Continuing with this logic, he comes to the conclusion that Nico, a 10 year-old boy, will be murdered in the same place.
I HATE NEW YORK
GUSTAVO SÁNCHEZ (SPAIN)
New York, 2007-2017. Over a decade, and filming only with a home video camera and no script, the director delves into the private world of Amanda Lepore, Chloe Dzubilo, Sophia Lamar and T De Long; four artists and transgender activists from the city’s underground scene. Little by little, their testimonies reveal fragments of a past –sometimes dramatic, always fascinating and simply extraordinary– that formed their identities and transformed their lives. Their words, fears and hopes take the audience from an outsider’s point of view to being emotionally invested in their destiny.
LA ENFERMEDAD DEL DOMINGO (SUNDAY’S ILLNESS)
RAMÓN SALAZAR (SPAIN)
Driven by her husband’s diplomatic career, Anabel dedicates her life to philanthropy. Her selfless devotion to helping others has increased her popularity, and she is the go-to person in her exclusive circle when it comes to obtaining donations for humanitarian organisations. It is precisely at one of these charity dinners that she runs back into her past on recognising one of the waitresses providing the catering service as being her daughter Chiara, the girl she had abandoned at the age of eight and whom she hasn’t seen for thirty-five years. It’s no chance she’s there; Chiara has been looking for her. Mother and daughter embark on a journey into the past, alone, with a hard road before them in the attempt to recover thirty-five years in barely ten days. Or that’s what Anabel believes. The thing is that this journey has a hidden purpose for Chiara. And when Anabel discovers it she will have to make the most difficult decision of her life, after which she will never be the same again.
LES DISTÀNCIES (DISTANCES)
ELENA TRAPÉ (SPAIN)
Olivia, Eloy, Guille and Anna travel to Berlin to surprise their friend Comas with a visit for his 35th birthday. He doesn’t give them the welcome they expected and during the weekend their contradictions grow and their friendship is put to the test. Together they will discover that time and distance can change everything.
MI QUERIDA COFRADÍA (HOPELESSLY DEVOUT)
MARTA DÍAZ DE LOPE DÍAZ (SPAIN)
Carmen, a middle-aged woman from Malaga, Catholic and apostolic, is about to see her lifelong dream come true: to be president of her brotherhood. It will be the first time that a woman will have achieved such an honour. But finally her fellow members decide to choose her biggest rival, a man named Ignacio. Everything becomes even more complicated for Carmen on the day of the Easter procession, when she is involved in a situation she can only get out of with the help of the women around her.
PERFECTOS DESCONOCIDOS (PERFECT STRANGERS)
ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA (SPAIN)
Four couples meet for dinner on the night of a lunar eclipse. A night of friendship and laughs, until suddenly the idea emerges: Why not do something different? What would happen if we left the mobile phones on the table within reach of everybody? Entire lives shared by everyone as they happen… An innocent game or a dangerous suggestion? Will the group of friends be able to withstand such a degree of sincerity, even if it is only for a time?
QUERIDO FOTOGRAMAS
SERGIO OKSMAN (SPAIN)
The 70th anniversary of the Fotogramas magazine comes in the shape of a sentimental voyage through the history of Spanish cinema thanks to a mosaic of voices represented by people who make films, those who write them and those who consume them. The documentary pays tribute to the readers of Fotogramas helped by the leading figures of Spanish cinema, who will read to the camera the most representative letters received at its offices in the history of the magazine.
THE BOOKSHOP
ISABEL COIXET (SPAIN – UK)
In the late ‘50s, Florence Green decides to make one of her greatest dreams come true: to leave London and open a small bookshop on the British coast. But to her surprise, the decision will trigger all sorts of reactions among the locals.
TRINTA LUMES / THIRTY SOULS
DIANA TOUCEDO (SPAIN)
Alba is 12 years old and eager to discover the unknown, mysterious and fascinating side of death. With her best friend Samuel they enter abandoned houses, wander around rundown villages and make their way into the mountains with their hidden parallel world. A voyage starting from innocence to discover the mystery of the struggle between life and death.Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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ALMOST FORTY, I HATE NEW YORK Among Made in Spain Showcase at 2018 San Sebastian International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_31594" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Sophia Lamar in I Hate New York[/caption]
Made in Spain, the showcase of the Spanish films at the 2018 San Sebastian International Film Festival will spotlight eleven productions, including films by directors Daniel Calparsoro, Isabel Coixet, Álex de la Iglesia, Ramón Salazar and David Trueba. The Festival will also serve as the framework for presentation of the documentary Querido Fotogramas, directed by the Brazilian filmmaker Sergio Oksman.
Among the first works are Mi querida cofradía, by Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz (Ronda, Málaga, 1988), winner at the Malaga Festival of both the Silver Biznaga for Best Supporting Actress (Carmen Flores) and the Audience Award; and I Hate New York, by the journalist and filmmaker Gustavo Sánchez (Úbeda, Jaén, 1978), produced by the Bayona brothers.
Also part of the selection are Diana Toucedo (Pontevedra, 1982) who, having worked on sixteen feature films as an editor and having directed the non-fiction feature En todas as mans, debuted in feature films with Trinta lumes / Thirty Souls, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale; and Les distàncies (Distances) by Elena Trapé (Barcelona, 1976), recipient of the Golden Biznaga for Best Spanish Film and of the Silver Biznagas for Best Director and Best Actress (Alexandra Jiménez) in Malaga. Trapé’s first film, Blog, was selected for Zabaltegi-New Directors eight years ago at the Festival, landing a special mention from the RTVE-Otra Mirada Award.
Having worked on eight feature films as an editor, works which have coexisted with her involvement in the film pedagogy project Cinema en curs – which has its corresponding event in San Sebastian through Tabakalera and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (Zinema (h)abian) – Meritxell Colell (Barcelona, 1983) has now directed her first feature film, Con el viento / Amb el vent. Having been selected as a project by the Cinéfondation, the work premiered in the Forum section of the Berlinale. Colell will participate with her second feature film project, Dúo, in the Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
Among the films by long-standing directors are El aviso (The Warning), the latest work from Daniel Calparsoro (Barcelona, 1968), whose films have been presented in Cannes, Berlin and Venice, as well as at the Festival; The Bookshop, by Isabel Coixet (Barcelona, 1960), winner this year of the Goyas for Best Film, Director and Adapted Screenplay; Perfectos desconocidos (Perfect Strangers), latest proposal from the filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia (Bilbao, 1965), a frequent participant in San Sebastian Festival’s Official Selection with several films including La comunidad (Common Wealth, Silver Shell for Carmen Maura), Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (Witching & Bitching) and Mi gran noche (My Big Night); La enfermedad del domingo (Sunday’s Illness) by Ramón Salazar (Málaga, 1973), participant in the Panorama section of the Berlinale; and Casi 40 (Almost 40) by David Trueba (Madrid, 1969), the sequel of his first work, La buena vida (The Good Life), winner of the Jury Special Prize in Malaga. Trueba’s previous feature, Vivir con los ojos cerrados (Living is Easy with Eyes Closed), competed in San Sebastian’s Official Selection and won six Goya awards, including Best Film.
CASI 40 (ALMOST FORTY)
DAVID TRUEBA (SPAIN)
Lucía was a successful singer until separation of the duo that had made her a sensation and earned her fame drove her to a somewhat marginal position in the industry. Now she lives a more stable life, married and with two children, retired from the world of show business. But the plans of an old boyfriend from the days of her youth to make a small concert tour of several Spanish cities give her the excuse to get back onto the road. About to turn 40, the two will have to bear the intimate price of giving up on their life ideals.
CON EL VIENTO – AMB EL VENT (FACING THE WIND)
MERITXELL COLELL (SPAIN – ARGENTINA – FRANCE)
Mónica, a 47 year-old dancer, receives a phone call from Spain: her father is seriously ill. Twenty years down the line, she must return to the remote Burgos town of her birth. By the time she gets there, her father is dead. Her mother, to whom she has hardly spoken in all these years, asks her for help to sell the family house. Winter arrives. The perpetual silence, the extreme cold, and having to deal with her family will be harsh trials for Mónica, who will take refuge in the place she knows best: dancing. The film combines dance, documentary and independent film to construct a singular tale of family ties and relations in a universe of women.
EL AVISO (THE WARNING)
DANIEL CALPARSORO (SPAIN)
We are in 2008. Young Jon is a mathematical whiz kid obsessed with numerical reasoning. He’s a genius whose schizophrenia has deprived him of a promising scientific career, so that he has to make do with a job in a photocopying shop. One night like many others, on leaving work, Jon and his best friend, David, head for a petrol station to buy drinks for a dinner with Andrea, a childhood friend of both and the girlfriend David is about to propose to. David goes into the shop while Jon waits for him in the car. Just then there is a robbery and David is hit by a bullet that leaves him in an irreversible coma. From then on Jon will stop taking his medication and, crippled by guilt, start looking for meaning in his friend’s murder. He investigates past robberies until finally finding a common mathematical pattern to them. Continuing with this logic, he comes to the conclusion that Nico, a 10 year-old boy, will be murdered in the same place.
I HATE NEW YORK
GUSTAVO SÁNCHEZ (SPAIN)
New York, 2007-2017. Over a decade, and filming only with a home video camera and no script, the director delves into the private world of Amanda Lepore, Chloe Dzubilo, Sophia Lamar and T De Long; four artists and transgender activists from the city’s underground scene. Little by little, their testimonies reveal fragments of a past –sometimes dramatic, always fascinating and simply extraordinary– that formed their identities and transformed their lives. Their words, fears and hopes take the audience from an outsider’s point of view to being emotionally invested in their destiny.
LA ENFERMEDAD DEL DOMINGO (SUNDAY’S ILLNESS)
RAMÓN SALAZAR (SPAIN)
Driven by her husband’s diplomatic career, Anabel dedicates her life to philanthropy. Her selfless devotion to helping others has increased her popularity, and she is the go-to person in her exclusive circle when it comes to obtaining donations for humanitarian organisations. It is precisely at one of these charity dinners that she runs back into her past on recognising one of the waitresses providing the catering service as being her daughter Chiara, the girl she had abandoned at the age of eight and whom she hasn’t seen for thirty-five years. It’s no chance she’s there; Chiara has been looking for her. Mother and daughter embark on a journey into the past, alone, with a hard road before them in the attempt to recover thirty-five years in barely ten days. Or that’s what Anabel believes. The thing is that this journey has a hidden purpose for Chiara. And when Anabel discovers it she will have to make the most difficult decision of her life, after which she will never be the same again.
LES DISTÀNCIES (DISTANCES)
ELENA TRAPÉ (SPAIN)
Olivia, Eloy, Guille and Anna travel to Berlin to surprise their friend Comas with a visit for his 35th birthday. He doesn’t give them the welcome they expected and during the weekend their contradictions grow and their friendship is put to the test. Together they will discover that time and distance can change everything.
MI QUERIDA COFRADÍA (HOPELESSLY DEVOUT)
MARTA DÍAZ DE LOPE DÍAZ (SPAIN)
Carmen, a middle-aged woman from Malaga, Catholic and apostolic, is about to see her lifelong dream come true: to be president of her brotherhood. It will be the first time that a woman will have achieved such an honour. But finally her fellow members decide to choose her biggest rival, a man named Ignacio. Everything becomes even more complicated for Carmen on the day of the Easter procession, when she is involved in a situation she can only get out of with the help of the women around her.
PERFECTOS DESCONOCIDOS (PERFECT STRANGERS)
ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA (SPAIN)
Four couples meet for dinner on the night of a lunar eclipse. A night of friendship and laughs, until suddenly the idea emerges: Why not do something different? What would happen if we left the mobile phones on the table within reach of everybody? Entire lives shared by everyone as they happen… An innocent game or a dangerous suggestion? Will the group of friends be able to withstand such a degree of sincerity, even if it is only for a time?
QUERIDO FOTOGRAMAS
SERGIO OKSMAN (SPAIN)
The 70th anniversary of the Fotogramas magazine comes in the shape of a sentimental voyage through the history of Spanish cinema thanks to a mosaic of voices represented by people who make films, those who write them and those who consume them. The documentary pays tribute to the readers of Fotogramas helped by the leading figures of Spanish cinema, who will read to the camera the most representative letters received at its offices in the history of the magazine.
THE BOOKSHOP
ISABEL COIXET (SPAIN – UK)
In the late ‘50s, Florence Green decides to make one of her greatest dreams come true: to leave London and open a small bookshop on the British coast. But to her surprise, the decision will trigger all sorts of reactions among the locals.
TRINTA LUMES / THIRTY SOULS
DIANA TOUCEDO (SPAIN)
Alba is 12 years old and eager to discover the unknown, mysterious and fascinating side of death. With her best friend Samuel they enter abandoned houses, wander around rundown villages and make their way into the mountains with their hidden parallel world. A voyage starting from innocence to discover the mystery of the struggle between life and death.
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Boy Erased, Shoplifters, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Among First Wave of Films for 2018 Austin Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_31589" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Melissa McCarthy in the film CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved[/caption]
Austin Film Festival revealed the first wave of films in their 25th-anniversary program, taking place October 25 to November 1. Included in this first announcement is Boy Erased, written and directed by Joel Edgerton and based on Garrard Conley’s memoir about a gay teenager forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion program. The film stars Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe, and Nicole Kidman. AFF will also host the regional premiere of Can You Ever Forgive Me?, directed by Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and starring Melissa McCarthy as real-life controversial celebrity biographer Lee Israel.
Also playing AFF this year is Little Woods, Nia DaCosta’s directorial debut starring Tessa Thompson and Lily James as estranged sisters in a North Dakota fracking boomtown and The Long Dumb Road, Hannah Fidell’s new road trip comedy starring Tony Revolori and Jason Mantzoukas. This year’s Cannes Palme D’or winner Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, will also join the fest’s slate.
AFF will host a variety of World Premieres, including horror/thriller The Black String, which stars Frankie Muniz as a lonely store clerk who is plagued by illness and nightmarish visions and believes he is the target of a sinister plot. Other world premieres so far announced include family cult drama Fishbowl, faith-grappling drama Speaking in Tongues, and high school football documentary Fathers of Football, directed by Austin local Bradley Beesley.
As part of its continuing retrospective series, AFF will host a screening of Roger Corman’s 1957 cult classic Rock All Night, presented by Robert Rodriguez and Corman himself, already announced as AFF’s Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking honoree this year.
2018 Austin Film Festival FIRST WAVE
The Black String World Premiere Writers: Brian Hanson, Richard Handley Director: Brian Hanson Starring: Frankie Muniz, Cullen Douglas, Chelsea Edmundson After a lonely convenience store clerk goes on a blind date with a mysterious woman, his world begins to unravel in horrifying fashion. Plagued by illness and nightmarish visions, the clerk desperately searches the suburbs for this mysterious woman. His friends and family believe he’s losing his mind, but he believes he’s the target of a sinister occult plot. Boy Erased Writer/Director: Joel Edgerton Starring: Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Can You Ever Forgive Me? Writers: Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty Director: Marielle Heller Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Julie Ann Emery In CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer (and cat lover) who made her living in the 1970’s and 80’s profiling the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant). Fathers of Football World Premiere Director: Bradley Beesley Fathers of Football follows the triumphs and struggles of life in a small Oklahoma town, where high school football is not only the brightest stage, but also the best ticket out. Fishbowl World Premiere Writers: Stephen Kinigopoulos, Piero Iberti Directors: Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Kinigopoulos Starring: Rick Kain, Belle Shickle, Emily Peachey, Caroline Coleman In a small town filled with secrets, a struggling family prepares for the Rapture. Little Woods Writer/Director: Nia DaCosta Starring: Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Lance Reddick A modern Western that tells the story of two sisters, Ollie and Deb, who are driven to work outside the law to better their lives. The Long Dumb Road Writers: Hannah Fidell, Carson Mell Director: Hannah Fidell Starring: Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas, Taissa Farmiga, Ron Livingston, College-bound teenager Nat offers itinerant 30-something mechanic Richard a ride during a stop-over in small-town Texas Rock All Night (1957) presented by Roger Corman and Robert Rodriguez Writer: Charles B. Griffith Director: Roger Corman Cloud Nine, the local teen hangout, has been taken over by a pair of escaped killers, who hold the local teens hostage. The bartender realizes it’s up to him to save the kids. Shoplifters Writer/Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Starring: Lily Franky, Ando Sakura, Matsuoka Mayu After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them Speaking in Tongues World Premiere Writers: Nathan Deming, Lawrie Doran Director: Nathan Deming A lonely college student grieving the loss of his mother finds purpose at a local mega church’s summer internship evangelizing the ‘lost.’ As the summer continues, his new faith is put to the test.
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Watch Ramaa Mosley’s Gripping PTSD Thriller LOST CHILD Trailer + Poster
Lost Child by Ramaa Mosley stars Hunger Games and True Detective alum Leven Rambin and follows an army veteran, Fern, who returns home in order to look for her brother, only to discover an abandoned boy lurking in the woods behind her childhood home. After taking in the boy, she searches for clues to his identity, and discovers the local folklore about a malevolent, life-draining spirit that comes in the form of a child. The film opens in theaters on September 14, 2018.
Ramaa Mosley is a Director/Writer who made her first film at the age of 16 years old winning the prestigious United Nation’s Global 500 Award. Over the past twenty years, Mosley has directed feature films and hundreds of of award winning commercials building a career directing action and genuine human stories. Mosley directed her debut feature film, based on the original comic book she co-wrote, titled The Brass Teapot starring Juno Temple which premiered at TIFF and was distributed by Magnolia pictures in 2013. It was nominated for the International Critics’ Award (FIPRESCI) and a Saturn Award.
Lost Child is written/directed by Ramaa Mosley (The Brass Teapot) along with producer/writer Tim Macy.
Mosley was recently named as part of NBC’s inaugural class for its new “Female Forward” directors initiative which will provide female directors a pipeline into scripted television. She has been paired with the hit show “Blindspot”.
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PHANTON THREAD Voted FIPRESCI 2018 Grand Prix for Best Film of the Year [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_25911" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Phantom Thread[/caption]
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day-Lewis has been voted Best Film of 2018 by the members of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. The vote was decided by 473 critics from all over the world, who chose this production from among all of the films premiered after 1 July 2017. The other three finalists were Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri by Martin McDonagh (City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award 2017), Zimna wojna / Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski, Best Director Award in Cannes, and Zama, by Lucrecia Martel.
This is the third time that Paul Thomas Anderson will have received the award in San Sebastian. In 2008 he received the accolade for his film There Will Be Blood and in 2000, for Magnolia. The North American filmmaker has received the Golden Bear in Berlin for Magnolia, the Best Director Award in Cannes for Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and the Silver Bear for Best Director and two Academy Awards with There Will Be Blood.
Since its creation in 1999, the Fipresci Grand Prix has gone to highly-acclaimed filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Michael Haneke, Cristian Mungiu, Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Linklater, Roman Polanski, George Miller, Maren Ade and Aki Kaurismäki.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNsiQMeSvMk
PHANTOM THREAD
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (USA)
Renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock is at the centre of British fashion. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, until he comes across the young Alma, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. With his latest film, Paul Thomas Anderson paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running.
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NY Film Festival Announces Special Events + Premiere of Barry Jenkins’s IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
[caption id="attachment_31277" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
If Beale Street Could Talk[/caption]
The Special Events section for the 56th New York Film will feature the U.S. premiere of If Beale Street Could Talk will at the world famous Apollo Theater, the first time that the festival will present a screening at the historic theater. The film was largely shot in New York City, including many Harlem locations. In celebration of the vibrant community and their support of the film, Annapurna, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the Apollo Theater will work together to present a host of outreach programs. Local students as well as Harlem residents will be among the first audiences invited to see the James Baldwin adaptation, in the neighborhood that is home to its characters. The film will also screen on the Lincoln Center campus during the festival.
Writer-director Barry Jenkins said, “It’s been an honor working with the estate to bring this piece of James Baldwin’s legacy to the screen. From the birthplace of Baldwin to the streets and homes within which we made this film, the honor is doubly felt in the NYFF’s generous offer to widen its borders for our U.S. premiere: up on 125th Street, in the community Jimmy forever knew as HOME.”
The Festival will screen Orson Welles’s long-awaited The Other Side of the Wind, finally completed by his collaborators this year, which follows the last night in the life of a legendary Hollywood filmmaker as he completes his final film. Wind will screen alongside Morgan Neville’s in-depth documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, which uncovers the fascinating story behind Welles’s last completed film, 50 years in the making.
Rex Ingram’s World War I epic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), the breakout film for iconic silent actor Rudolph Valentino, will screen on a beautiful 35mm print from Martin Scorsese’s collection, accompanied by the North American premiere of a new live score written and performed by a five-piece orchestra led by Matthew Nolan.
The sixth annual Film Comment Presents selections are Ali Abbasi’s genre-friendly fantasy-drama Border, which won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard award, and The Wild Pear Tree, an intimate portrait of a promising but adrift young literary graduate from Turkish Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, NYFF49). In previous years, Film Comment has championed films such as Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, Terence Davies’s A Quiet Passion, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, and László Nemes’s Son of Saul. The magazine will also host three live events: a roundtable discussion with a trio of NYFF filmmakers about their experiences as movie lovers and creators, a dialogue on representation in cinema, and a critical wrap report of the festival’s highs and lows. All three will also be recorded for the weekly Film Comment Podcast.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Dir. Rex Ingram, USA, 1921, 132m, 35mm
Rex Ingram’s adaptation of the famous novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez gave us one of cinema’s greatest antiwar films and catapulted actor Rudolph Valentino into history as one of the first screen idols. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a devastating epic centered around a divided Argentine family fighting on opposite sides during World War I. Famously remembered for the cool, sensual, and powerful tango sequence lead by Valentino, the film endures for Ingram’s meticulous attention to mise en scène—beautiful and macabre compositions alike—and the nuanced performances from a cast including Alice Terry and Josef Swickard. The Film Society is pleased to present the North American premiere of a live score written and performed by Matthew Nolan (electric guitar/electronics), Seán Mac Erlaine (reeds/electronics/vocal), Adrian Crowley (Mellotron/vocal), Kevin Murphy (cello/vocal), and Barry Adamson (bass guitar/percussion/synths/vocal). The score was commissioned by and premiered at the St. Patrick’s Festival Dublin in March 2018. Supported by Culture Ireland. Special 35mm print courtesy of Martin Scorsese from the M.S. Collection at the George Eastman Museum. The Other Side of the Wind Dir. Orson Welles, USA, 2018, 122m Cinema lovers around the world have been waiting to see this legendary movie for more than 40 years. Orson Welles started shooting in 1970 with a precarious funding scheme, an ever-mutating script, and the lead role of Jake Hannaford, an old-guard macho Hollywood director at the end of his tether, yet to be cast. When he died fifteen years later, the film was not only unfinished but in legal limbo. Almost 50 years after Welles started shooting, The Other Side of the Wind has finally been completed by Welles’s collaborators. The film features a collection of actors as eclectic as the cast of Touch of Evil, including John Huston as Hannaford, Peter Bogdanovich, Oja Kodar, Edmund O’Brien, Susan Strasberg, Lilli Palmer, Paul Stewart, Mercedes McCambridge, Cameron Mitchell, Paul Mazursky, Henry Jaglom, Claude Chabrol, and, in a movie-stealing performance as Hannaford’s right-hand man, Welles’s old collaborator Norman Foster. A Netflix release. They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead Dir. Morgan Neville, USA, 2018, 98m The story of the making of The Other Side of the Wind is as engrossing and rich in character and incident, and perhaps even more epic in scale, than the film itself. Morgan Neville’s documentary complements and deepens the experience of Welles’s film by placing it within the context of his life and career, setting the scene and the particular mood of Hollywood in the early 1970s, and chronicling every last creative, legal, financial, and behavioral twist and turn on the circuitous road from the first set-up to the first official screening almost 50 years later. The title, of course, comes from none other than Welles himself. A Netflix release. FILM COMMENT AT NYFF
Film Comment Presents:
Border Dir. Ali Abbasi, Sweden/Denmark, 2018, 108m Scandinavian mythology makes for a visceral fantastical drama on the mystery of identity in this adaptation of a story by Let the Right One In writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. Ali Abbasi’s twisty Cannes award-winner (Un Certain Regard, 2018) centers on a customs inspector, Tina, who possesses the ability to sniff out contraband and moral corruption. Her findings lead her into a criminal investigation, but the heart of Border lies with Tina, who tires of her deadbeat roommate and experiences a full-bodied awakening like little else seen on screen. Grounding it all is Eva Melander’s outstanding, minutely sensitive performance, the true north for Abbasi’s genre-driven momentum. A NEON release. The Wild Pear Tree Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey, 2018, 188m The gorgeous backdrop of rolling country and idyllic farmland are cold comfort to the frustrated hero of The Wild Pear Tree. Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) captures the wrenching struggles of a bright literary graduate, Sinan (Aydın Doğu Demirko), who is trying to take flight in a world he can’t entirely accept. Ceylan revives a deeply humanist cinema of ideas in tracking Sinan’s path through the more urgent questions of youth, romance, religious orthodoxy, and shaking off the burdens of your family—without ennobling the all-too-human Sinan. Often shooting in unbroken takes, Ceylan compellingly “renders the frustrations of this young man as so much misplaced passion” (Kent Jones, Film Comment). A Cinema Guild release.Film Comment Live:
The Cinema of Experience At this year’s NYFF, filmmakers are rising to the challenge of representing diverse experiences at a pivotal time in our nation’s history. Our guests will discuss how cinematic technique is used to reflect such experiences and what is different about the latest generation of storytelling. Filmmakers Chat For the third year, Film Comment gives you the rare chance to see some of today’s most important filmmakers in dialogue with each other. A selection of directors whose films are screening at this edition of NYFF will talk together in a discussion moderated by Film Comment editor-in-chief Nicolas Rapold. Festival Wrap In what is becoming an annual tradition, Film Comment contributing critics and editors gather for the festival’s last weekend and talk about the films they’ve seen, discussing—or arguing about—the selections in the lineup, from Main Slate and beyond.
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49 Feature Films Eligible for European Film Awards 2018
BORG/McENROE 49 films have been named by the European Film Academy for this year’s EFA Feature Film Selection,
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SingularDTV Sets Release Date for Alex Winter’s Documentary TRUST MACHINE: THE STORY OF BLOCKCHAIN [Trailer]
Blockchain entertainment studio SingularDTV is releasing its first feature-length documentary, Alex Winter’s Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain in New York on October 26, and Los Angeles on November 16.
Always one step ahead in signaling technology’s seismic shifts, Alex Winter has built up a body of work that documents how innovation changes the way people live their daily lives. DOWNLOADED (2013, SXSW) explored the downloading revolution and how Napster and file-sharing took on the music industry, leaving musicians wondering about royalty payments and copyrights. DEEP WEB (2015, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival) revealed a new kind of internet: decentralized, encrypted and dangerous; with particular focus on the FBI capture of the Tor hidden service Silk Road, and the judicial aftermath.
In his newest documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, Alex Winter drills down on blockchain, the decentralized technology that supports cryptocurrencies. Why are banks terrified while UNICEF Ventures embraces it to help refugee children? Winter follows tech innovators striking a raw nerve as banks and network pundits rush to condemn volatile cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. British hacktivist Lauri Love fights extradition—his computer skills perceived a threat to the US government. Through the film, Winter reveals that the proponents of the blockchain—a verified digital ledger—are already using the technology to change the world; fighting income inequality, the refugee crisis and world hunger. Narrated by Rosario Dawson.
Alex Winter on his inspiration for Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain:“The idea of a verifiable ledger is a problem that’s been in search of a solution for a really long time. I got into this working on DOWNLOADED (2013). When I was making my film DEEP WEB (2015), funnily enough, I still had very little interest in bitcoin. Then the world got really confusing with blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and decentralization.
Bitcoin matters, but blockchain is really where the changes are going to come. There are huge changes happening in human culture right now. Never has something like this happened before, ever. And it is fascinating to me. That’s why I really wanted to make this documentary.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMlqIoUVnLo
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Watch Trailer + Poster for Salsa Music/Dance Drama SHINE Set in New York’s Spanish Harlem
The new trailer and poster is here for the salsa music/dance drama Shine set in New York’s Spanish Harlem, directed by Anthony Nardolillo, and starring Jorge Burgos, Gilbert Saldivar, Kimberli Flores, Jadi Collado, Musetta Vander, with Alysia Reiner, and David Zayas. The film will be released in theaters on October 5, 2018.
Two Puerto Rican brothers, Ralphi Matas (Jorge Burgos) and Junior (Gilbert Saldivar), from New York’s Spanish Harlem and the street’s best Salsa dancers, are separated after a tragedy only to reunite years later on opposing sides of gentrification.
After 7 years of absence from New York City, Ralphi is back to develop commercial real estate in his old neighborhood. However, upon his return, Ralphi encounters his estranged brother, Junior, who followedin his father’s footsteps, Ramon Matas (David Zayas), and is now an elite salsa dancer and an unwavering activist AGAINST gentrification in the neighborhood.
While having to face his past in order to succeed in the present, Ralphi must confront his boss Linda (Alysia Reiner) who is aggressively pursuing the lucrative development deal that brought him back to the city he was born, and thus is driving the wedge even further between him and his brother.
On the other side, when Josie (Kimberli Flores), the new owner of their father’s dance studio, reveals she is behind on the mortgage payments. Junior rallies the local dance community to raise funds against all odds to save the dance studio, DESPITE the gentrification efforts of his brother.
While the brothers have chosen opposite paths thus far, they are brought back together when Tio Julio (Nelson Gonzales) reminds them of the power of family and the importance of their community.
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2018 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave Films for Young Audience
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The Elephant Queen[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival did not forget the kids with the TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave selections, guaranteeing something for film lovers of all ages. This year’s selection includes The Elephant Queen, a fascinating documentary following the elephant Athena and her herd, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor; Icebox, based on an award-winning short of the same name that follows a twelve-year-old Honduran, Oscar, who faces the harsh reality of navigating immigration after fleeing gang violence in his hometown; Minuscule – Mandibles From Far Away, a story of a young ladybug who works to save the rainforest after being swept away on a grand adventure; and the stunningly animated Tito and the Birds, which follows ten-year-old Tito on his quest to learn more about birds as his town faces a strange new affliction that makes people sick when they get scared.
This year’s TIFF Next Wave lineup features 11 titles selected by the TIFF Next Wave committee, a group of young film aficionados responsible for picking the films they believe their peers would most enjoy. From the Ethiopian civil war ( Fig Tree) to the Closing Night Film of Midnight Madness ( Diamantino), Next Wave champions new and diverse voices. This year’s lineup boasts five films helmed by women and eight feature filmmaking debuts, including the world premieres of Jonah Hill’s nostalgic coming of age film, Mid90s, and Jasmin Mozaffari’s skillfully tenacious Firecrackers, made by an almost entirely female key crew.
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.
TIFF Kids
The Elephant Queen Victoria Stone, Mark Deeble | United Kingdom/Kenya World Premiere (TIFF Docs) Recommended for ages 7+ Icebox Daniel Sawka | USA World Premiere (Discovery) Recommended for ages 11+ Minuscule – Mandibles From Far Away ( Minuscule – Les Mandibules du Bout du Monde) Thomas Szabo, Hélène Giraud | France World Premiere (Contemporary World Cinema) Recommended for ages 6+ Tito and the Birds ( Tito e os Pássaros) Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar, André Catoto | Brazil North American Premiere (Discovery) Recommended for ages 8+TIFF Next Wave selection
Diamantino Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt | Portugal/France/Brazil North American Premiere (Midnight Madness) Fig Tree Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian | Israel/Germany/France/Ethiopia World Premiere (Discovery) Firecrackers Jasmin Mozaffari | Canada World Premiere (Discovery) Giant Little Ones Keith Behrman | Canada World Premiere (Special Presentations) Girl Lukas Dhont | Belgium Canadian Premiere (Discovery) The Grizzlies Miranda de Pencier | Canada World Premiere (Special Presentations) The Hate U Give George Tillman, Jr. | USA World Premiere (Gala Presentations) Mid90s Jonah Hill | USA World Premiere (Special Presentations) Phoenix ( Føniks) Camilla Strøm Henriksen | Norway/Sweden World Premiere (Discovery) Rafiki Wanuri Kahiu | Kenya/South Africa/France/Lebanon/Norway/Netherlands/Germany/USA North American Premiere (Discovery) Teen Spirit Max Minghella | United Kingdom World Premiere (Special Presentations)
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Peter Jackson’s WWI Documentary THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD to World Premiere at London Film Festival
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They Shall Not Grow Old[/caption]
Peter Jackson’s First World War film They Shall Not Grow Old, will be given its World Premiere as the Documentary Special Presentation at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival on October 16th. The film will be simultaneously screened, in 2D and 3D to cinemas and special venues across the UK by Trafalgar Releasing and BFI LFF.
Co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts program for the First World War centenary, and Imperial War Museums, They Shall Not Grow Old has been created exclusively with original footage from Imperial War Museums’ film archive and audio from BBC archives. Presenting his new work to mark the centenary of the First World War, the internationally renowned director Peter Jackson (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings) combined his personal fascination with the period and his Academy Award winning directorial skills to bring the First World War to life in a way never seen before. They Shall Not Grow Old uses the voices of the veterans combined with original archival footage to bring to life the reality of war on the front line for a whole new generation. Footage has been colorised, converted to 3D and transformed with modern production techniques to present never before seen detail.
Peter Jackson, Director of They Shall Not Grow Old comments: “I wanted to reach through the fog of time and pull these men into the modern world, so they can regain their humanity once more – rather than be seen only as Charlie Chaplin-type figures in the vintage archive film. By using our computing power to erase the technical limitations of 100 year cinema, we can see and hear the Great War as they experienced it.”
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2018 Chicago International Film Festival Announces First Films – Boy Erased, Mr. Soul!, Shoplifters
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Boy Erased[/caption]
The Chicago International Film Festival announced the first 25 films that will be shown at the 54th edition running October 10 to 21, 2018. The Festival will feature more than 150 films from across the globe and bring legendary actors, master filmmakers, and exciting, emerging talents from around the world to Chicago.
Initial lineup includes highly anticipated titles including Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased starring Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe; Elizabeth Chomko’s Chicago set feature debut What They Had starring Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank; Mike Leigh’s epic drama Peterloo and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters.
“We are very excited to be showcasing new films from some of the most impressive directors in the world, whether returning veterans, such as past Gold Hugo-winners Mike Leigh and Hirokazu Kore-eda, or up-and-coming filmmakers with distinctive visions,” said Plauché. “For the last several years, the Festival has been proud to present Best Picture winners The Shape of Water (2017), Moonlight (2016), and Spotlight (2015), and we look forward to sharing this year’s incredible slate of movies with our audiences.”
Birds of Passage
Pájaros de verano
Directors: Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
Colombia, Mexico, Denmark
A Colombian Mean Streets, this gripping drama chronicles the rise of the drug trade and its cataclysmic impact on the local indigenous community. The Wayuu people had long held tight onto their traditions, living in close-knit tribes. When two friends begin selling marijuana to visiting Americans, however, their actions set in motion a series of events that pit factions against each other, inciting a cycle of avarice-inspired vengeance. Wayuunaiki, Spanish, and English with subtitles.
Border
Gräns
Director: Ali Abbasi
Sweden
Fantastic in every sense of the word, this idiosyncratic thriller centers on a Swedish customs officer with a special talent for detecting contraband who must ultimately choose between good and evil. This exciting, intelligent mix of romance, Nordic noir, social realism, and supernatural horror defies and subverts genre conventions and is destined to be a cult classic. Winner, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival. Swedish with subtitles.
Boy Erased
Director: Joel Edgerton
U.S.
Boy Erased tells the story of Jared (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program—or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.
Cold War
Zimna wojna
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Poland
A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatefully mismatched and yet condemned to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, the film depicts an impossible love story in impossible times. Polish with subtitles.
Dogman
Director: Matteo Garrone
Italy
In a run-down Italian coastal town, Marcello, a gentle dog groomer, sees his life turned upside down when Simone, a brutish former boxer and ex-con, bullies him into becoming his criminal accomplice. But for how long can the “dogman” be subservient to his master before he bites back? From the acclaimed director of Gomorrah comes another unflinching urban western treading the fine line between civility and savagery. Italian with subtitles.
Friedkin Uncut
Director: Francesco Zippel
Italy
Oscar®-winning, Chicago-born director William Friedkin achieved fame with his 1973 horror blockbuster The Exorcist. But this illuminating documentary shows the director’s unwavering commitment to rawness and realism across his entire career, from The French Connection (1972) to Killer Joe (2011). Featuring interviews with Ellen Burstyn, Willem Dafoe, and Quentin Tarantino, among others, Friedkin Uncut reveals a savvy craftsman who is unapologetic about his no-nonsense approach to moviemaking.
Jumpman
Podbrosy
Director: Ivan I. Tverdovskiy
Russia, Ireland, Lithuania, France
An abandoned infant grows into a likeable lad with a rare disorder—he can feel no physical pain. When he becomes a teen, his feckless mother returns to his life to exploit his condition by enlisting him in an insurance fraud scam. A taut thriller, Jumpman puts an outsider at the center of a harsh indictment of corruption and hypocrisy in contemporary Russia. Russian with subtitles.
Mr. Soul!
Director: Melissa Haizlip
U.S.
The brainchild of pioneering producer Ellis Haizlip, SOUL! was the first ever national TV series made by and for African-Americans. The groundbreaking program aired from 1968 to 1973 and featured a dazzling array of guests from Stevie Wonder to Maya Angelou. Mr. Soul! takes viewers behind the scenes of the show, chronicling its inception and its struggles to stay on the air. It turns out the revolution really was televised.
Olympia
Director: Gregory Dixon
U.S.
Chicago writer-actor McKenzie Chinn stars as a struggling artist, navigating work and romance in the Windy City. When her boyfriend asks her to drop everything and move cross-country, she soon discovers that she might be the biggest obstacle to her own happiness. Featuring quirky animation and a revelatory central performance, Olympia is a sensitive and humorous look at the challenges of embracing adulthood.
The Other Story
Director: Avi Nesher
Israel
Family disputes and conspiracies take center stage in this lively drama, which even-handedly explores the divide between Israel’s secular Jews and the ultra-Orthodox from director Avi Nesher (The Matchmaker). Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit) plays a renowned psychologist and rationalist who falls out with his strong-willed granddaughter when she enters a Haredi community and plans to marry a musician previously known for his wild ways. Hebrew with subtitles.
Peterloo
Director: Mike Leigh
U.K.
An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, which saw British forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to protest rising levels of poverty and demand reform. Many were killed and hundreds more injured, sparking a nationwide outcry but also further government suppression. A defining moment in British democracy, the massacre also played a significant role in the founding of The Guardian newspaper.
Piercing
Director: Nicolas Pesce
U.S.
Pesce’s gleefully wicked S&M black comedy centers on Reed (Christopher Abbot), a new fatherlooking to channel his homicidal impulses away from his infant daughter. He heads to a hotel, hires an escort (Mia Wasikowska), then begins to rehearse her murder. But once she arrives, the balance of power shifts. Based on the novel by Ryu Murukami, Piercing’s incredibly dark premise constantly surprises—it might just be taken for a wildly subversive love story.
A Private War
Director: Matthew Heineman
U.S.
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. Her mission to show the true cost of conflict leads her—along with renowned photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan)—to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
Rafiki
Director: Wanuri Kahiu
Kenya
A tender tale of forbidden first love told in an electric, colorful Afropop style, Rafiki tells the story of the tender but illegal and taboo romance between Kena, a skateboarding tomboy blessed with great grades and soccer skills, and Ziki, the charismatic daughter of a conservative local politician. When rumors begin to swirl about the nature of their relationship, the young lovers find themselves in great jeopardy. Swahili, English with subtitles.
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Ruben Brandt, a gyüjtö
Director: Milorad Krstic
Hungary
“Possess your problems to conquer them,” is the credo that psychotherapist Ruben Brandt preaches to his criminally-inclined clients in this stylish, animated thriller for adults. But when Brandt’s patients help him to apply his own advice, he becomes “Ruben Brandt, Collector,” ringleader of a gang responsible for the theft of 13 of the world’s most famous paintings. This entertaining romp literally puts the “art” into “arthouse.”
Shoplifters
Manbiki kazoku
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Japan
The winner of Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or, centers on an eccentric troupe of miscreants who take in a neglected five-year-old. Despite their strained circumstances, the tight-knit unit of petty thieves and social outcasts comes together to raise the girl. But how long can this unconventional family survive against the normalizing forces around them? From the Japanese master of humanism comes another affecting and astute film about people living on the margins. Japanese with subtitles.
Sorry Angel
Plaire, aimer et courir vite
Director: Christophe Honoré
France
It’s 1993. Jacques is a successful, novelist from Paris living with what was still a terminal diagnosis of HIV positive. Arthur is an open-minded student ready to embrace life. They meet in Rennes and fall in love, but navigating an intergenerational romance has its challenges. Honoré (Love Songs) chronicles their lives, together and apart, with nuance and subtlety, allowing their love story to unfold in patient, novelistic fashion. French with subtitles.
Transit
Director: Christian Petzold
Germany
In this Kafkaesque cinematic puzzle, a man is trapped in limbo as he tries to flee fascistoccupied France. Hoping to escape to Mexico, Georg poses as a dead author but becomes stuck in Marseilles. There, he encounters a woman searching for her missing husband—the
man whose identity he has assumed. Petzold’s surreal film merges past, present and future in its trenchant exploration of the plight of refugees. German with subtitles.
United Skates
Directors: Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown
U.S.
A rousing chronicle of roller-skating’s pivotal role in African-American communities, United Skates careens around the country, offering an intimate look at a lively subculture that’s under threat. Facing discriminatory policies and building closures, committed skaters from around the country—including Chicago’s own Buddy Love—fight to preserve a space for people to come together and express themselves in sliding, bouncing, snapping glory.
What They Had
Director: Elizabeth Chomko
U.S.
From first-time writer/director Elizabeth Chomko, What They Had centers on a family in crisis. Bridget (Hilary Swank) returns home to Chicago at her brother’s (Michael Shannon) urging to deal with her ailing mother (Blythe Danner) and her father’s (Robert Forster) reluctance to let go of their life together.
SHORTS
Accidence Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Canada A grisly murder on an apartment balcony becomes a small piece in a frenzied puzzle of strange occurrences. Accident, MD Director: Dan Rybicky U.S. A survey of attitudes about America’s healthcare crisis filmed in the small town of Accident, Maryland. Optimism Director: Deborah Stratman U.S. A portrait of Dawson City Canada’s far North that reveals a rich history of a town looking for gold while enveloped in shadow. Solar Walk Director: Réka Bucsi Denmark A sumptuously animated cosmic journey through space, time, and creation. Tourneur Director: Yalda Afsah Germany A foam-filled ring in the south of France becomes the site of an absurd spectacle as young men face off against a bull.
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Keira Knightley’s COLLETTE, Hilary Swank’s WHAT THEY HAD Added to Calgary International Film Festival
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Colette[/caption]
Fourteen more films, including Keira Knightley in COLETTE, Salma Hayek in THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT, and Hilary Swank in WHAT THEY HAD, have added to this year’s Calgary International Film Festival.
The Festival also announced Alberta Music Seen for this year’s Showcase Alberta, a celebration of the power of the music video as an art form featuring 10 music videos produced in Alberta, screening at Studio Bell, Home of the National Music Centre on September 26, followed by more music at the King Eddy. Showcase Alberta is a three-year tradition at the festival. Past screening events have included HEARTLAND and WYNONNA EARP.
3 FACES directed by Jafar Panahi
A popular Iranian actress Behnaz Jafari (playing herself) is upset when she sees a video made by a provincial girl asking for her help. In the video, the young girl claims her family is not letting her pursue an acting dream. She’s distraught that Jafari has ignored her previous pleas. Jafari asks director Jafar Panahi (playing himself as well) to accompany her to the girl’s village. The two take a road journey to a northwestern part of Iran and encounter some surprises along the way.
ALL THESE CREATURES directed by Charles Williams
An adolescent boy attempts to untangle his memories of a mysterious infestation, the unravelling of his father, and the little creatures inside us all. A short from Australia.
ASH IS THE PUREST WHITE directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
Qiao (an outstanding Zhao Tao) and her gangster boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan) are a formidable duo who oversee the local criminal network in Datong. When a fight with a rival gang places Bin in danger, Qiao fires a gun to protect him resulting in five years of prison time. After she is released, Qiao goes to look for Bin hoping to continue their relationship. A perceptive depiction of the Chinese landscape, both social and economical, over the course of two decades.
CLIMAX directed by Gaspar Noé
A troupe of young dancers gathers in a remote and empty school building to rehearse. Shot by Noé himself, the troupe begins an all-night celebration that turns nightmarish as the dancers discover they’ve been pounding cups of sangria laced with potent LSD. Tracking their journey from jubilation to chaos and full-fledged anarchy, Noé observes crushes, rivalries, and violence amid a collective psychedelic meltdown. Starring Sofia Boutella (ATOMIC BLONDE) and a cast of professional dancers, CLIMAX is Noé’s most brazen and visionary statement yet.
COLLETTE directed by Wash Westmoreland
Based on the real life story about the famous French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the film depicts her bold attempt to get her voice heard. Colette (Keira Knightley) is transported from the French countryside to Paris after she marries Willy (Dominic West), a successful Parisian writer. Colette quickly finds her footing while Willy is losing his. When Willy is struggling to pay his bills, he convinces Colette to ghostwrite a novel for him. Her novel about a country girl named Claudine becomes an instant hit, resulting in multiple subsequent Claudine novels. Willy gets all the acclaim yet the real author Colette remains in the shadows, forcing her to fight for creative ownership of her works.
THE DRIVER IS RED directed by Randall Christopher
Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest-ranking Nazi war criminals on the run. This will be the Canadian Premiere for this American short film.
THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT directed by Kim Nguyen
In this epic tale of humanity versus corporate greed, director of Academy Award nominated WAR WITCH, Kim Nguyen exposes the ruthless edge of our increasingly digital world. Cousins from New York, Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) are players in the high- stakes game of High Frequency Trading, where winning is measured in milliseconds. Their dream? To build a bre-optic cable in a straight line between Kansas and New Jersey, making them millions. But nothing is straightforward for this awed pair, and together they push each other and everyone around them to the breaking point on their quixotic adventure.
SHARKWATER: EXTINCTION directed by Rob Stewart
Director Rob Stewart was dedicated to sharing his love and admiration for a misunderstood animal, and died in a scuba incident while filming. Criss-crossing the oceans, his third and final film is a thrilling expose of a multi-billion dollar industry tied to black markets and criminal activity. This inspiring posthumous follow-up to the award-winning SHARKWATER is a passionate plea about the dire need to address our relationship with nature and change our consumer habits before it’s too late.
SHOPLIFTERS directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda
Winner of this year’s prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes. During one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a young girl Yuri freezing in the cold. Although Osamu’s wife Nobuyo is reluctant to add another member to a struggling household, she agrees after learning of Yuri’s hardships. When Yuri’s family report her as missing, Osamu and his family’s bonds are tested.
THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE directed by Don McKellar
The disappearance of a young Cree woman named Suzanne Bird triggers events in two worlds: the remote Northern Ontario town she fled years ago, and the big city where she became a successful model. Up north, her uncle Will clashes with a local drug dealer who’s looking for Suzanne, and believes Will knows her whereabouts. Meanwhile, her fiercely independent twin sister Annie travels to Toronto to retrace her sibling’s footsteps… and finds herself drawn into the seductively glamorous life Suzanne left behind. Starring Tantoo Cardinal, Brandon Oakes, Graham Greene and Tanaya Beatty, THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE is the story of a family fractured by tragedy, and held together by love.
TRANSIT directed by Christian Petzold
Georg, a German refugee, evades the German troops in Paris and escapes to Marseille. At the port city, he awaits to secure a life saving spot on a ship to North America. Georg doesn’t have a visa, but through a case of mistaken identity he can leave for Mexico by using papers belonging to a writer named Weidel. Things get complicated when Weidel’s mysterious wife Marie shows up. Georg falls for Marie and is forced to make a tough decision.
UNDER THE SILVER LAKE directed by David Robert Mitchell
Sam (Andrew Garfield) finds a mysterious woman swimming in his apartment’s pool one night. The next morning, she disappears. Sam sets off across LA to find her, and along the way he uncovers a conspiracy far more bizarre. A dream cast populates this dream-like thriller, including Andrew Garfield (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, THE SOCIAL NETWORK), Topher Grace (BLACKKKLANSMAN, “That 70’s Show”), Sydney Sweeney (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Sharp Objects”), Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld,” “Black Mirror”) and Riley Keough (LOGAN LUCKY, IT COMES AT NIGHT).
WHAT THEY HAD directed by Elizabeth Chomko
When her Alzheimer’s-suffering mother, Ruth, wanders into a blizzard on Christmas Eve, Bridget Ertz travels back to her hometown to help her brother convince their father to put Ruth in a nursing home and face the end of their life-long love affair. Starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster, Blythe Danner, Taissa Farmiga and Josh Lucas.
THE WILD PEAR TREE directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
After completing university, Sinan needs to write an additional exam to become a teacher like his father Idris, but Sinan’s dream is to publish his novel. It doesn’t take long for him to have some run-ins with locals who want their debts paid, a by-product of his father’s gambling habits that almost sank the family. The irony is that Sinan may have to take on a debt himself in order to get his novel published.