First They Killed My Father – Angelina Jolie[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled the first round of titles premiering in the Gala and Special Presentations programs of the 42nd edition of the festival, taking place from September 7 to 17, 2017.
Of the 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations, this first announcement includes 25 World Premieres, eight International Premieres, six North American Premieres and eight Canadian Premieres.
“Festival-goers from around the world can anticipate a remarkable lineup of extraordinary stories, voices and cinematic visions from emerging talent and some of our favorite masters,” said Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF. “Today’s announcement offers audiences a glimpse at this year’s rich and robust selection of films, including works from Canada, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, Chile, Egypt and Cambodia.”
“Every year we set the stage for film lovers of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come together and embrace the universal power of cinema,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “As the Festival enters its fifth decade, we’ve challenged ourselves to adapt and build on our strengths, and we look forward to championing a new selection of films that will captivate and inspire global film audiences.”
Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
-
Films by Angelina Jolie, George Clooney Among Gala + Special Presentation Films for Toronto Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_23266" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
First They Killed My Father – Angelina Jolie[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled the first round of titles premiering in the Gala and Special Presentations programs of the 42nd edition of the festival, taking place from September 7 to 17, 2017.
Of the 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations, this first announcement includes 25 World Premieres, eight International Premieres, six North American Premieres and eight Canadian Premieres.
“Festival-goers from around the world can anticipate a remarkable lineup of extraordinary stories, voices and cinematic visions from emerging talent and some of our favorite masters,” said Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF. “Today’s announcement offers audiences a glimpse at this year’s rich and robust selection of films, including works from Canada, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, Chile, Egypt and Cambodia.”
“Every year we set the stage for film lovers of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come together and embrace the universal power of cinema,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “As the Festival enters its fifth decade, we’ve challenged ourselves to adapt and build on our strengths, and we look forward to championing a new selection of films that will captivate and inspire global film audiences.”
-
7 Feature Films to Compete at 2017 Venice International Film Critics’ Week
[caption id="attachment_23259" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Pin Cushion[/caption]
The 2017 Venice International Film Critics’ Week will screen a selection of seven debut films in competition and two special events out of competition, all presented in world premiere screenings. The Venice International Film Critics’ Week is an independent and parallel section organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics (SNCCI) during the 74th Venice International Film Festival running August 30th to September 9th, 2017. The selection is curated by the General Delegate of the Venice Critics’ Week Giona A. Nazzaro together with the members of the selection committee Luigi Abiusi, Alberto Anile, Beatrice Fiorentino and Massimo Tria.
The DC Comics and Marvel Comics illustrator Carmine Di Giandomenico designed the futuristic cinematic muse for the 32nd edition of the independent sidebar dedicated to debut feature films.
The 2017 Venice International Film Critics’ Week official selection includes:
COMPETITION
IL CRATERE | CRATER by Luca Bellino, Silvia Luzi (Italy) DRIFT by Helena Wittmann (Germany) LES GARÇONS SAUVAGES| THE WILD BOYS by Bertrand Mandico (France) KÖRFEZ | THE GULF by Emre Yeksan (Turkey, Germany, Greece) SARAH JOUE UN LOUP GAROU | SARAH PLAYS A WEREWOLF by Katharina Wyss (Switzerland, Germany) TEAM HURRICANE by Annika Berg (Denmark) TEMPORADA DE CAZA | HUNTING SEASON by Natalia Garagiola (Argentina, USA, Germany, France, Qatar)SPECIAL EVENTS – OUT OF COMPETITION
Opening Film PIN CUSHION by Deborah Haywood (United Kingdom) Closing Film VELENO | POISON – THE LAND OF FIRES by Diego Olivares (Italy)
-
VIDEO: Watch The First 3 Minutes of Flying Lotus’ ‘Weird’ ‘Gross’ KUSO
Check out the first 3 minutes of Kuso, the ‘weird’ ‘gross’ movie that reportedly had audience members walking out of the theater, when it premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, KUSO depicts the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare. Viewers travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, experiencing a hallucination that is half-Cronenberg, half-Ren & Stimpy.
The debut film from acclaimed producer and rapper Flying Lotus, KUSO is a blistering, fever dream of filmmaking that uses music, special effects and animation to take a unique look at the dark history of America.
KUSO marks the feature directorial debut from Steve, the filmmaking alter-ego of Steve Ellison, better known as music producer, DJ and rapper Flying Lotus. Ellison’s name has become synonymous with creative innovation, having released five seminal studio albums, a slew of audio-visual marvels and, in the process, gaining two Grammy nominations including one for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”.
Produced by Eddie Alcazar, and featuring Hannibal Buress (NEIGHBORS, Broad City), Anders Holm (Workaholics, The Mindy Project), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Eastbound and Down), and iconic Funk musician George Clinton, the film also includes an original score and musical collaborations with Aphex Twin and Akira Yamaoka.
The film is now playing in theaters in Los Angeles and on SHUDDER.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yodbDPX0DO0
-
Mickey Lemle’s THE LAST DALAI LAMA? Takes a Fresh Look at the 14th Dalai Lama at 80 | Trailer
THE LAST DALAI LAMA? from filmmaker Mickey Lemle grants viewers intimate access to the Dalai Lama and those who have been touched by his vast influence from George W. Bush to the film’s accomplished composer, Philip Glass. The film will open at IFC Center in New York City on Friday, July 28.
THE LAST DALAI LAMA? takes a fresh look at what is truly important for the 14th Dalai Lama at 80: The ongoing confrontation between Tibetans and China; His Holiness’s influence in political and spiritual spheres; his work with educators and neuropsychologists; and his personal feelings on aging, dying and the question: Will there be a fifteenth Dalai Lama, or will he be the last Dalai Lama?
The film artfully weaves sequences from director Mickey Lemle’s groundbreaking film COMPASSION IN EXILE: The Story of The 14th Dalai Lama (1992), with contemporary footage including intimate interviews with His Holiness and follow up questions shot decades apart; accounts from The Dalai Lama’s family and close friends; and conversations with those he’s inspired since his exile from Tibet in 1959.
The Dalai Lama’s impact on the West has grown over the 25 years since Lemle’s earlier film. In THE LAST DALAI LAMA? we see teachers in British Columbia incorporating “Emotional Intelligence” and non-violent conflict resolution in grade school classes, and neuropsychologists and behavioral therapists who have begun using cutting edge technology to research how to overcome negative afflictive emotions like anger and hatred.
Original music score composed and performed by Philip Glass and Tibetan music phenom, Tenzin Choegyal.
-
CHAVELA, THE WOUND, SIGNATURE MOVE Among Winners of Outfest LA LGBT Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_23198" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Chavela[/caption]
The 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival, which ran from July 6th to July 16th, announced the award winners. Chavela won both the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award; and Best US Narrative Feature Film prize went to Jennifer Reeder for Signature Move. The 2017 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival closed with Trudie Styler’s comedic Freak Show, starring Bette Midler, Alex Lawther, AnnaSophia Robb, Abigail Breslin, Ian Nelson, Larry Pine and featuring a cameo from Laverne Cox.
Outfest Los Angeles 2017 Award Winners
Audience Awards
Best Documentary Short Audience Award Little Potato, Directed by Wes Hurley and Nate Miller Best Documentary Feature Audience Award Chavela, Directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi Best Narrative Short Audience Award The Real Thing, Directed by Brandon Kelley Best Narrative Audience Award The Chances, Created by Shoshanna Stern and Josh Feldman, Directed by Anna Kerrigan Best Experimental Short Audience Award Pussy, Directed by Renata Gasiorowska Audience Award for Best First U.S. Narrative Feature A Million Happy Nows, Directed by Albert AlarrGrand Jury Awards
Documentary Grand Jury Prize “We award Best Documentary Feature to Chavela, for its artistic style that elegantly and poetically brings together raw archival footage, animation, editing, and sound design.” Documentary Special Mention “For Excellence in Filmmaking we award a Special Jury mention to Girl Unbound: The War to Be Her, for its brave, humorous, and inspired depiction of Maria, a world class SQUASH player and her rock star family who live on their own terms and challenge misconceptions of feminism and Islam in the Muslim and Western worlds. This film illustrates Maria’s nonbinary journey, her quest for athletic excellence and her desire to show all girls everywhere that, “Fear is taught. That you are born free and you are born brave.”” U.S. Narrative Jury Prize Best Actor For his quiet intensity in a fresh and non-traditional coming of age role and his on-screen transformation both physically and emotionally, the US Narrative Jury honors Luka Kain for his outstanding performance in Saturday Church. U.S. Narrative Jury Prize Best Actress In a cast of strong female performances, she not only supported the ensemble cast but stood out with her comic timing and effortlessly hilarious presence. The US Jury Prize for Best Actress goes to Ever Mainard in The Feels. Best Screenwriting in a U.S. Feature For its naturalistic yet spare and unforced dialogue, even in the most harrowing of situations the award for Best Screenwriting in a U.S. Narrative goes to Eliza Hittman for Beach Rats. U.S. Grand Jury Prize For a delightful, well-acted and incisive romp into Chicago’s multi-cultural neighborhoods and a moving exploration of the unique bonds between mothers and daughters. Its inspiring message of love and acceptance explodes with humor and heart. We award the Best US Narrative Feature Film prize to Jennifer Reeder for Signature Move. U.S. Narrative Special Mention The US Narrative Jury would like to present a Special Mention for amplifying unheard voices with authenticity, highlighting the contemporary life of queer black woman with flair, vibrancy and substance to 195 Lewis. International Grand Jury Prize This film breaks new ground through skillful storytelling and stunning cinematography and an unflinching focus on masculinities – toxic or otherwise. The Jury Award for Best International Narrative Feature goes to the South African film The Wound, directed by John Trengove. International Special Mention For authentic, grounded storytelling that successfully captures a universal tale of youth, the International Narrative Feature Special Mention for Directing goes to Marcelo Caetano for his work on Body Electric. Best Documentary Short For its elegant storytelling, its economical sweep of history, and its sensitivity to lovers together in the struggle, whose intimate point of view enlightens and moves us to see the intricacies of the personal & political victories we can achieve together. The Best Documentary short prize goes to: Bayard & Me by Matt Wolf. Creatively employing the few surviving archival interviews to illuminate a forthright, outspoken, dynamic and sexy old school butch who was unstoppable in her quest for equality & fairness for lesbians, women and the queer community. The Best Documentary short prize goes to Jeanne Cordova: Butches, Lies & Feminism by Gregorio Davila. Documentary Short Special Mention The Special Mention goes to Al Otro Lado (The Other Side), directed by Rodrigo Alvarez Flores and Pedazos, directed by Alejandro Pena. Best Narrative Short Demonstrating restraint in both dialogue and narrative while also presenting a rich visual tapestry in a claustrophobic household, the film portrays an intense, simmering passion between two women yearning to break free from the norms of sexuality and caste (class) in a matriarchal Indian household. The Best Narrative Short Film Award goes to Goddess (Devi), directed by Karishma Dube.Special Programming Awards
Emerging Talent This assured debut feature film combines dreamy cinematography, honest and energetic performances, and snappy, contemporary dialogue, heralding the arrival of a fresh new voice in queer Asian cinema, the 2017 Programming Award for Emerging Talent goes to Samantha Lee for Maybe Tomorrow. Freedom This long overdue BIOGRAPHY of a civil rights icon merges empathetic documentary filmmaking with the tenacity of investigative journalism to highlight the injustices that trans people still face today, the 2017 Programming Award for Freedom goes to David France and Victoria Cruz for The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. Artistic Vision For a chilling tale that blends Hitchcockian suspense filtered through the eerie Icelandic countryside with a rumination on the lingering effects of past trauma, the 2017 Programming Award for Artistic Achievement goes to Erlingur Thoroddsen for Rift. Fox Inclusion Feature Film Award Boys For Sale, Directed by Itako Fox Inclusion Short Film Award Ma, Directed by Vera Miao
-
Singer Morrissey Biopic ENGLAND IS MINE to Be Released in The US | Trailer
England Is Mine, the biopic about the early life of singer Morrissey, the outspoken former lead singer of seminal British band The Smiths, will be released in the US via Cleopatra Entertainment. The film will open August 25 at the IFC Center in New York, then expand nationwide throughout the fall. This was first exclusively reportedly by Deadline.
England Is Mine is directed by Academy Award® and BAFTA Award nominee Mark Gill (The Voorman Problem), and stars Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey).
Set in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain of the 1970s and ’80s, a time when working-class Manchester was beset by unemployment and riots, the film tells the story of 17-year-old Steven (Lowden), a painfully shy, intellectually precocious loner who lives for, and writes about, the burgeoning local music scene — a surprisingly vibrant subculture in an otherwise drab industrial city. Too intimidated to join that scene, he writes reviews from the sidelines, imagining what he would do if he were onstage. When one of his write-ups is noticed by kindred spirit Sterling, an aspiring painter, the two become fast friends, and she pushes him to form a band and take to the stage. Steven finally works up the courage to book a club date and performs a dazzling cover of an old girl-group standard. This is the first time the world gets to hear the distinctive, emotion-filled voice that eventually would propel him to stardom.
That very night, a manager reaches out with an offer. Unfortunately, it’s only for the musicians, not the lead singer, meaning Steven will be left behind. His dreams of a musical career vanishes, and he’s left with nothing but wasted days at a soul-crushing civil servant job and lonely nights holed up in the same bedroom he’s slept in his whole life. Only his mother’s unwavering belief in his talent, and Linder’s constant reminder — “Be yourself, everyone else is taken” — give him the strength to keep trying to become the artist he was always meant to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A_orGeFFhk
-
7 African Films Win Durban FilmMart Awards 2017
The Durban FilmMart (DFM), the industry development program of the Durban Film Office and Durban International Film Festival ended on a high note with the awards ceremony at the Tsogo Maharani Hotel in Durban, South Africa on Monday, July 17.
“The DFM is one of the most important film finance platforms and industry events on the African continent, and this year’s eighth edition has certainly been our biggest.” said Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office. “We hosted over 600 delegates with over 30 countries participating in this year’s market; 17 of which were from Africa. We are thrilled that we have had a record number of 70 projects presenting at this year’s finance forum.”
Central to the Durban FilmMart have been the networking sessions and meetings held over four days between delegates comprising filmmakers, producers, distributors, agents, broadcasters and film funders and government agencies.
This year 22 official DFM film projects in development were presented at the Finance Forum through the partnership with Cinemart and IDFA, Netherlands.
The 2017 Durban FilmMartAwards/Grants:
The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) awarded the most promising documentary project at the DFM, Lobola: A Bride’s True Price (South Africa, Producer: Sarah Basyouny, Director: Sihle Hlophe) with an opportunity to attend the IDFA Forum, one of the top gatherings for documentary filmmakers, producers, commissioning editors, funds, private financiers and other documentary filmmakers in Europe, in November. The broadcast stream, Afridocs, that flights African and other international documentaries across 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa on a weekly basis, gave a €3000 grant to Uasi (Kenya), Producers: Matrid Nyagah, Linda Ogeda, Director: Sam Soko. The CineMart Award, sponsored by the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, went to the fiction project, Miles from Nowhere (South Africa), Producer: Bongiwe Selane, Director: Samantha Nell. The project is given an opportunity to attend the Rotterdam Lab, is a five-day training and networking event for producers from all over the world. Produire au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes), awarded the fiction film Miles from Nowhere (South Africa), Producer: Bongiwe Selane, Director: Samantha Nell an opportunity to attend its developmental workshop program, PAS, where they will be given tools, expertise, and opportunities to develop European networks. Videovision Entertainment awarded the “Best South African Film Project” to the Dabulaphu (The Short Cut), Producers Zikethiwe Ngcobo, David Max Brown, Director Norman Maake. They receive a prize valued at R75 000, which guarantees its release once it is completed. The prize also includes marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment. Versfeld & Associates, publicity consultants will develop publicity material and advise on publicity profiling through the development two projects: Womxn: Working (South Africa), Producer Tiny Mungwe and Director Shanelle Jewnarain, and Richard Was Here (South Africa), Producer: Akona Matyila and Director: Jack Chiang. Sørfond awarded the project Uasi (Kenya), Producers: Matrid Nyagah, Linda Ogeda, Director: Soko Sam with an opportunity to pitch at the Sørfond Pitching Forum in Oslo later this year. CineFAM-Africa Incubator Accelerator Programme award to pitch at the Caribbean Tales Film Festival in Toronto, went to Mary Ann Mandishona for Mamba Kazi – African Warrior Queens.
-
BRILLO BOX (3 CENTS OFF) on Journey of Andy Warhol Sculpture Makes HBO Debut | Trailer
Brillo Box (3 Cents Off), tracks the remarkable journey of an Iconic Andy Warhol sculpture from one family’s living room through the global art market.
In 1969, Lisanne Skyler’s parents bought an Andy Warhol “Brillo Box (3 Cents Off)” sculpture for $1,000. An exact replica of a shipping carton for Brillo soap pads, Warhol’s Brillo Boxes were at first dismissed by the art world. But 40 years later, with Warhol’s reputation as a contemporary-art visionary long secured, the same piece sold for more than $3 million at a record-breaking Christie’s auction.
Blending a humorous family narrative with Pop Art history, and debuting the week of Warhol’s 89th birthday, Brillo Box (3 Cents OFF) follows this iconic work as it makes its way from a New York family’s living room to the contemporary global art market, exploring the ephemeral nature of art and value, and the decisions that shape a family’s history. An official selection of the 54th New York Film Festival, the documentary debuts Monday, August 7 (10:00-10:40 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
In 1964, Andy Warhol shocked the art world by making hundreds of replicas of supermarket shipping cartons and presenting them as art. His most notorious were the Brillo Boxes, which he created by silk-screening the original Brillo packaging art, designed by abstract impressionist James Harvey, onto wooden boxes that were the exact same sizes as the supermarket originals. It is believed Warhol made 93 large white boxes and 17 smaller yellow ones.
Originally selling for $200, a yellow Brillo Box emblazoned with a “3 Cents OFF” burst was purchased for $1,000 from the OK Harris Gallery in New York in 1969 by Martin and Rita Skyler. Looking to add value to his acquisition, Martin Skyler persuaded gallery owner Ivan Karp to get Warhol to sign the bottom of the piece, which was not Warhol’s customary practice at the time.
Parents of an infant daughter, Lisanne, the Skylers spent two years with the Brillo Box, which Martin placed inside Plexiglas to prevent damage. Looking for fresh art to augment their collection, he decided to trade the Brillo Box for a drawing by abstract artist Peter Young in 1971. Forty years after the Skylers sold their Brillo Box, Lisanne Skyler, now a filmmaker, learned it was going to be auctioned in New York at Christie’s. She filmed the auction, and, combining that footage with archival video, reenactments and interviews with her parents and contemporary art world figures, began to reconstruct her family’s Brillo Box history.
After Warhol’s death in 1987, interest in his work started to build; starting in 1995, prices for his art doubled annually for more than a decade. In 1988, London advertising magnate Charles Saatchi bought the Skylers’ Brillo Box for $35,200; five years later, the piece was sold to a private collector for $43,700 and returned to New York. Two years later, in a soft art market, Robert Shapazian, one of the world’s foremost collectors of modern art and the founding director of the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles, bought the piece for the same price, and kept it until his death in 2010.
When the Brillo Box went on sale again that year, Christie’s estimated it would fetch between $600,000 to $800,000, its value enhanced by the condition and provenance, including Warhol’s signature and the ownership of Saatchi and Shapazian. Following an international bidding war, however, the Skylers’ Brillo Box sold to a private collector for $2,650,000. The addition of a $400,500 buyer’s premium brought the final price tag to a staggering $3,050,500. While Martin maintains a stoic front about the loss of such a treasure, a more regretful Rita recalls the personal memories it evokes.
In addition to interviews with Martin and Rita Skyler, BRILLO BOX (3 Cents OFF) includes insights from several high-profile names in the contemporary art world, including: Laura Paulson, chairman, Americas at Christie’s; Jessica Todd Smith, the Susan Gray Detweiler Curator of American Art and Manager of the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; art critic and historian Irving Sandler; Eric Shiner, former director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; writer, curator and dealer Kenny Schachter; artist Nancy Mozur; artist and teacher Phung Huynh; Daniel Wolf, producer of “Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film”; John Armaly, president and CEO of Armaly Brands, owner of the Brillo brand; and Peter Young, the artist whose work replaced the Brillo Box in the Skyler home.
-
Photos: Julianne Moore Honored at Giffoni Film Festival
Julianne Moore attended the Giffoni Film Festival where she received the Truffaut Award. Before receiving the Truffaut Award – the Giffoni Film Festival most prestigious prize – and say goodbye to the youth audience, Julianne Moore left them a valuable message “Don’t ever let anybody say that you can’t do something. Find what you are really fond of and keep doing it: soon you’ll understand where it will take you. My juvenile love for reading made me want to convey emotions through the staging of a well written text”.
A Pakistani boy told her about his grandfather suffering from Alzheimer’s, the same disease covered in “Still Alice”, which earned her and Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. “First of all – she commenced in a broken voice – I’m very sorry that a relative of yours has been suffering from such disease. I decided to explore this subject with deep attention, as a sign of respect for all the people who have to face such a sorrow. I phoned some people affected by the disease and met some others, because I wanted to portray their personal experiences in the most accurate and realistic way possible. Those who think that the audience don’t notice if you’ve been portraying something you don’t know really know are wrong”.
A South Korean juror who’s been studying film direction in Los Angeles asked her for some professional advice. In this field – replied Moore – mentors are essential and I let myself be guided by Robert Altman: I got to know his work when I was about your age and he made me realize that I would want to tell stories, that is acting, for a living”.
-
CHAVELA, Award-Winning Documentary about Legendary Lesbian Singer Sets Fall Release Date | Trailer
Chavela, directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi, is the captivating portrait of barrier-breaking Mexican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas whose international fame peaked after a triumphant return to the stage at the age of 71. The film will open at Film Forum in New York on Wednesday October 4th and at the Nuart in Los Angeles on October 6. A national release will follow.
Born in Costa Rica in 1919, Chavela Vargas ran away to Mexico City as a teenager to sing in the streets. By the 1950s she had become a darling of the city’s thriving bohemian club scene, delivering her performances with a raw passion and unique voice. Challenging mainstream Mexican morals by dressing in pants, drinking tequila, and smoking cigars while singing love songs intended for men to woo women and refusing to change the pronouns, Chavela was a bold, rebellious, sexual pioneer who defied gender and sexuality stereotypes at a time when being “out” was often dangerous.
Chavela, winner of the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and the Best Documentary Feature Audience Award at Outfest, and winner of the Audience Award at Frameline (San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival), and Official Selection at 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, HotDocs and Seattle International Film Festival, centers around a 1991 interview–the singer’s first public appearance after 12 hard years lost to alcoholism and heartbreak. Her amazing comeback began when Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who had featured her music in many of his films, played an instrumental role in elevating her career to international acclaim. Whenever he introduced her to the public, he would kneel down to kiss the stage before she performed at renowned venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall, Paris’ L’Olympia Theatre, and Madrid’s Plaza de España.
In her lifetime, Chavela was credited with recording 80 albums, received a Latin Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, and was the second woman to win Spain’s most prestigious artistic award, the Grand Cross of Isabel, the Catholic. She was close to many prominent artists and intellectuals including Juan Rulfo, Agustín Lara, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Dolores Olmedo, José Alfredo Jiménez, Lila Downs, and Joaquin Sabina. Chavela also appeared in the 1967 movie La Soldadera, Werner Herzog’s Scream of the Stone and Julie Taymor’s Frida, and sang “Tú Me Acostumbraste” (“Because of You, I Got Accustomed”) in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel. Chavela passed away in 2012 at the age of 93.
-
RIP: “Ed Wood” Actor Martin Landau Dead at 89
Academy Award-wining actor Martin Landau, who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in the movie “Ed Wood,” died Saturday. He was 89.
Landau died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles following “unexpected complications during a short hospitalization,” his publicist Dick Guttman said in a statement.
Landau recently starred opposite Paul Sorvino in The Last Poker Game, which premiered at this year’s 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
“The Last Poker Game’ follows Dr. Abe Mandelbaum (Martin Landau), who has just moved into a new manor with his ailing wife. After forming an unlikely friendship with a womanizing gambler (Paul Sorvino), their relationship is tested when they each try to convince a mysterious nurse (Maria Dizzia) that they are her long-lost father.”
A documentary about his life, An Actor’s Actor: The Life of Martin Landau, is reportedly in the works.
-
Official Poster for MARSHALL Starring Chadwick Boseman
Before MLK and Malcom X, there was Thurgood Marshall. Check out the brand new OFFICIAL POSTER for MARSHALL, starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, Sterling K. Brown, and James Cromwell. MARSHALL hits theaters October 13th.
Long before he sat on the United States Supreme Court or claimed victory in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that desegregated schools, Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) was a young rabble-rousing attorney for the NAACP. The new motion picture, MARSHALL, is the true story of his greatest challenge in those early days – a fight he fought alongside attorney Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), a young lawyer with no experience in criminal law: the case of black chauffeur Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), accused by his white employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), of sexual assault and attempted murder.
