The hotly-anticipated British comedy Swimming with Men will close the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Sunday July 1st . Directed by BAFTA nominated Oliver Parker (Dorian Gray, An Ideal Husband) and starring Rob Brydon, Adeel Akhtar, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Daniel Mays, Charlotte Riley, Thomas Turgoose with Jane Horrocks and Nathaniel Parker, Swimming with Men is set to be a feel-good summer hit.
Faced with a full-blown mid-life crisis, accountant Eric (Brydon) joins an all-male group of synchronised swimmers and discovers that making patterns in a pool can, for a couple of hours at least, give him escapism from the bumps in his work and marriage. Initially keeping their personal lives in the locker, the ramshackle squad and coach Susan slowly begin to reveal their inner lives, as well as their paunches. But can they get their routines, not to mention their lives, in sync as they embark on an unlikely journey to Milan to compete in the World Championship?
Mark Adams, Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival commented: “Swimming with Men is a classic British comedy delight packed with a series of quite wonderful performances. It is the perfect film to wrap up a Festival that prides itself on celebrating all that is great about British filmmaking.”
Director Oliver Parker added: “It’s such an honour and a real pleasure to be having our UK premiere as the closing film at Edinburgh International Film Festival. I can’t think of a better place for our intrepid swimmers to take the plunge.”
Following its UK premiere at the Festival, distributor Vertigo Releasing will be releasing Swimming with Men on July 6th, 2018.
The 72nd edition of EIFF runs from June 20 – July 1, 2018.Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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UK Premiere of British comedy SWIMMING WITH MEN will Close 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival
The hotly-anticipated British comedy Swimming with Men will close the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Sunday July 1st . Directed by BAFTA nominated Oliver Parker (Dorian Gray, An Ideal Husband) and starring Rob Brydon, Adeel Akhtar, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Daniel Mays, Charlotte Riley, Thomas Turgoose with Jane Horrocks and Nathaniel Parker, Swimming with Men is set to be a feel-good summer hit.
Faced with a full-blown mid-life crisis, accountant Eric (Brydon) joins an all-male group of synchronised swimmers and discovers that making patterns in a pool can, for a couple of hours at least, give him escapism from the bumps in his work and marriage. Initially keeping their personal lives in the locker, the ramshackle squad and coach Susan slowly begin to reveal their inner lives, as well as their paunches. But can they get their routines, not to mention their lives, in sync as they embark on an unlikely journey to Milan to compete in the World Championship?
Mark Adams, Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival commented: “Swimming with Men is a classic British comedy delight packed with a series of quite wonderful performances. It is the perfect film to wrap up a Festival that prides itself on celebrating all that is great about British filmmaking.”
Director Oliver Parker added: “It’s such an honour and a real pleasure to be having our UK premiere as the closing film at Edinburgh International Film Festival. I can’t think of a better place for our intrepid swimmers to take the plunge.”
Following its UK premiere at the Festival, distributor Vertigo Releasing will be releasing Swimming with Men on July 6th, 2018.
The 72nd edition of EIFF runs from June 20 – July 1, 2018.
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2nd Overlook Film Festival Closes with Awards Ceremony, WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS: A Documentary Wins Audience Award
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WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS: A Documentary[/caption]
The second edition comes of the Overlook Film Festival has come to a close, with the Festival announcing its second year juried and audience awards. Culled from a stellar lineup of 41 films (23 features and 18 short films from 12 countries), the festival’s features and short film juries deliberated over the course of the event, publicly revealing the winning selections at the festival’s closing night screening presentation of A24’s HEREDITARY.
The features jury consisted of the Los Angeles Times’s Jen Yamato, Toronto Intl. Film Festival Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky, and producer Toby Halbrooks (A GHOST STORY, PETE’S DRAGON). The jurors chose to honor director Joko Anwar’s SATAN’S SLAVES from Indonesia with the Feature Film Jury Prize. Additionally, the jurors highlighted Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s CANIBA, giving it the festival’s scariest feature award.
Actress Barbara Crampton (RE-ANIMATOR, THE PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH), New Orleans Film Society Artistic Director Clint Bowie, and filmmaker Misty Talley (ZOMBIE SHARK) comprised the short film jury. The jury awarded their prize to Anna Roller’s PAN with an honorable mention going to Mariama Diallo for HAIR WOLF, and L. Gustavo Cooper’s AMY receiving the honor of scariest short film.
The Overlook Film Festival’s Audience Award for 2018 went to WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS: A Documentary directed by André Gower.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ROZnlMuuL0
In addition to the film lineup, the Overlook showcased 6 live performances, 5 virtual reality experiences, 4 curated immersive theater productions, 3 panel presentations and 1 weekend long alternate reality game.
Discussing his experience at this year’s fest, The Overlook Film Festival’s 2018 Visionary award recipient Leigh Whannell said, “The Overlook Film Festival is a celebration of horror fandom, and I’ve been a horror fan for so long that to be recognized by the festival with an award is a complete honor. I’m happy just to be at this festival – hanging out with my fellow fans, watching amazing movies and taking part in the immersive games that are a staple of the weekend – that to take home a beautiful, shiny axe with my name engraved on it is merely the bloody cherry on top of it all.”
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PUZZLE Starring Scottish Actress Kelly Macdonald to Open 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival
The highly regarded drama Puzzle, featuring a spellbinding performance by acclaimed Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, will open the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday June 20th.
Puzzle is the closely observed portrait of Agnes, who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, family or the tight-knit immigrant community in which she was raised by her widowed father. That begins to change in a quietly dramatic fashion when Agnes receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences the heady thrill of not only doing something she enjoys, but being very, very good at it.
After years of concerning herself exclusively with the needs and wants of her husband Louie and sons Ziggy and Gabe, Agnes has found something that she wants to do. Stepping out of her domestic bubble to pursue her new hobby, Agnes meets Robert, a wealthy, reclusive inventor who immediately recognizes her talent and recruits her as his partner for an upcoming world jigsaw tournament. Each day she spends out in the world, puzzling and conversing with Robert, takes Agnes further along on the road to a new understanding of herself and her strengths. With that understanding come new insights and an assertiveness that finds her speaking out on her own behalf and pushing back against the assumptions and routines that have until now defined her role in her family. Ultimately, Agnes will decide for herself what comes next.
Friend of EIFF, Kelly Macdonald plays Agnes whilst the legendary Irrfan Khan takes on the role of charismatic puzzle master Robert, both leading a stellar ensemble cast in this life-affirming film directed by Marc Turtletaub. The film is set to be released in the UK by Sony Pictures Releasing this Summer.
Mark Adams, Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival commented: “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate the undeniable talent of Kelly Macdonald in this wonderfully enjoyable and uplifting film. It is a subtle and impressive new film that succeeds on all levels.”
Director Marc Turtletaub added: “It’s a great honor to be invited to have Puzzle open Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018. This world class Festival has been a personal favorite for a long time – and being able to showcase Kelly’s performance here makes it even more rewarding.”
The 72nd edition of EIFF runs from June 20 to July 1, 2018.
View images from Puzzle
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‘Concerto for Two’ Thrilling Documentary about Conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk will Open 58th Krakow Film Festival
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Concerto for Two by Tomasz Drozdowicz[/caption]
The international première of the documentary film “Concerto for Two” by Tomasz Drozdowicz will open the 58th Krakow Film Festival on the May 27th. It is a tale full of vivid episodes, telling us about the eminent conductor, pianist and composer Jerzy Maksymiuk, as well as an intimate depiction of the unique relationship which he forms with his wife Ewa.
The conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk and his wife Eve make up a special relationship. The charismatic maestro, successful in the world of music, seems to be totally helpless and lost in the daily life without the help of his wife, who supports him in the simplest everyday activities and takes many life decisions on his behalf. The camera accompanies the artist during his work with outstanding musicians and orchestras, as well as shows the fascinating world of the genius composer, absorbed in the score to the very boundaries of madness.
The director Tomasz Drozdowicz created a portrait of the artist filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, from which the works of the greatest composers sound out. Above all, however, he showed the story of love, passion and talent.
“It is another Polish film which will open our festival and the next one after “Dream of Warsaw” by Krzysztof Magowski, which portrays an outstanding musician,” explains Krzysztof Gierat, the Director of Krakow Film Festival. “The film about Czesław Niemen was made up of archival materials and memories, this one is a dynamic observation of the creative process clashing against prosaic, often funny everyday life, which is much harder to record as a colorful score.”
Jerzy Maksymiuk was born in Grodno. His music studies were crowned with three diplomas: piano, composition and conducting. He is the founder of the Polish Chamber Orchestra, which was considered one of the best orchestras in the world. He has given concerts in the most prestigious concert halls of the world. He has recorded about 100 albums and has written music for several dozen films, out of which he most values the soundtrack written for “The Hourglass Sanatorium,” directed by Wojciech Has.
Tomasz Drozdowicz is a graduate of Directing at the Faculty of Film and Television at the University of Silesia in Katowice. He is the author of documentary films, among others, “Kolba, na szczęście!”, “Zupa na puentach,” and the feature film “Futro,” as well as numerous music videos, television series and teleplays.
The film “Concerto for Two,” produced by Film Studio Autograf, was shown at the session Docs to Go! within the frames of the project DOC LAB POLAND at the Festival in 2016. This year, it will compete for the highest laurels in two competitions: the international music documentary film competition DocFilmMusic and in the Polish competition.
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I AM NOT A WITCH and MINDING THE GAP Win Top Awards at 20th Sarasota Film Festival [Complete List of Winners]
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I AM NOT A WITCH[/caption]
The 20th Anniversary edition of the Sarasota Film Festival celebrated its Closing Night on Saturday with a screening of Rory Kennedy’s new film from Discovery, ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW, along with the presentation of this year’s jury and audience award winners. I AM NOT A WITCH directed by Rungano Nyoni took home this year’s Narrative Feature Jury prize, and MINDING THE GAP directed by Bing Liu was the Documentary Feature Jury Prize winner. During the Closing Night, actor Steve Guttenberg and Academy Award©-nominated actress Virginia Madsen received Career Achievement Awards.
The festival’s Independent Visions Jury Prize, which includes a distribution deal from FACTORY 25, went to MILFORD GRAVES: FULL MANTIS directed by Jake Meginsky and Neil Young.
The Terry Porter Visionary Award presented by The Huisking Foundation went to THE RIDER directed by Chloé Zhao for its spirit of independence and experimentation.
The jury awarded a special recognition award for Breakthough Performance to Helena Howard in MADELINE’S MADELINE; a special mention for Visionary Storytelling to NOTES ON AN APPEARANCE; and a Special Jury Prize for Social Commentary to THE SENTENCE.
This year’s Animated Shorts Jury Prize winner is THE BURDEN, directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr. The jury awarded LUNCH TIME, directed by Alireza Ghasemi, best Narrative Short and the Documentary Short award winner is SAND MEN, directed by Tal Amiran.
This year’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature was HEARTS BEAT LOUD directed by Brett Haley.
The Audience Award for Best Documentary was presented to RBG, director Betsy West and Julie Cohen.
The Best In World Cinema Audience Award went to MAKTUB, directed by Oded Raz.
MR. CONNOLLY HAS ALS, directed by Dan Habib won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
During the Closing Night, actor Steve Guttenberg and Academy Award-nominated actress Virginia Madsen received Career Achievement Awards.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the 20th Anniversary of the Sarasota Film Festival, which brought together groundbreaking films and important conversations for our audiences,” said President of the Sarasota Film Festival, Mark Famiglio. “Congratulations to this year’s winners, the esteemed Festival Jury and our audiences have thoroughly enjoyed your engaging and inspiring films, and we thank you for letting us showcase them here in Sarasota.”
2018 winners of The Sarasota Film Festival Awards:
Jury Awards
Narrative Feature Competition Winner I Am Not A Witch Director – Rungano Nyoni Documentary Feature Competition Winner Minding the Gap Director – Bing Liu Independent Vision Competition Winner Milford Graves: Full Mantis Director – Jake Meginsky and Neil Young Animated Shorts Competition Winner The Burden Niki Lindroth von Bahr Narrative Short Competition Winner Lunch Time Alireza Ghasemi Documentary Short Competition Winner Sand Men Tal AmiranAudience Awards
Best Narrative Feature Hearts Beat Loud Director – Brett Haley Best Documentary Feature RBG Director – Betsy West and Julie Cohen Best Short Film Mr. Connolly Has ALS Director – Dan Habib Best In World Cinema Maktub Director – Oded Raz
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First Look at Women Commandos Fighting Isis in Documentary ‘Commander Arian – A Story of Women, War and Freedom’ [VIDEO]
Here is a first look at Commander Arian – A Story of Women, War and Freedom, a dangerously intimate documentary directed by Alba Sotorra that follows a woman commando unit as it takes on ISIS. Commander Arian – A Story of Women, War and Freedom will World Premiere at the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival on Sunday April 29.
When we meet Arian, a 30-year-old commander of the YPJ, the Kurdish-Syrian Women’s Protection Unit, she is struggling to recover from multiple ISIS sniper wounds. But her greatest worry is to be sent home. “If I live an ordinary life, I will be scared of death,” she says.
The words reflect the dual motivations that inspired Kurdish women to literally take arms against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as it gobbled territory and slaughtered villagers in their homeland. She and her all-female comrades know the stakes involved in stopping the ultra-fundamentalist insurgency from overrunning them.
“To them, a piece of fabric is worth more than a woman,” Arian says angrily in an earlier interview from the battlefield. “To end their threat to women, we will fight them until there is no one left.”
But Alba Sotorra’s riveting documentary Commander Arian – A Story of Women, War and Freedom, is about more than the threat in front of these women. It’s about their camaraderie. And it’s about what they left behind that they would like to see change in the face of a victory over the Islamic extremists.
The documentary jumps regularly between the post-recovery Arian – who wants nothing more than to get back in battle – and the YPJ fighters as they make village-by-village progress to the occupied Syrian city of Kobane, “the heart of Kurdistan.” We witness Arian in her role as a de facto life coach toward fellow soldiers who have left a life where they were only expected to be wives and mothers. “What kind of woman do you want to be?” she repeatedly asks those under her command.
As a fellow fighter named Nupelda offers in advance of the next fire-fight, “Here, there is a goal, to enrich my thoughts and be free.” There is tragedy along with the high ideals. Some of the women we meet en route to Kobane will be injured and killed. But the push forward continues, along with the dreams for a better life than before.
“When the war in Syria broke out, Kurdish women took arms against Daesh (ISIS),” director Sotorra says. “Having followed the news about the atrocities committed in the region, especially against women, I thought it was incredible that a female force was emerging as the fiercest power against these monsters.”
When the YPJ was taking back Kobane and repelling attacks, Sotorra undertook a risky filmmaking mission via contacts in Turkey, arriving in time to see a city in ruins and without power. “I decided to travel to Kobane and meet the women who had led that battle. I wanted to share their feminist struggle and, as a woman filmmaker, it almost felt like my duty to document it.
“It was an adventure. I had no idea what I was getting into. Sometimes I think if I had been aware of all the things I would experience, I wouldn’t have had the courage to go. But ignorance is bliss and this is a story about courage.”
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2018 San Francisco International Film Festival is a Wrap – ‘Eighth Grade’ and ‘A Thousand Thoughts’ Win Audience Awards
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EIGHTH GRADE[/caption]
After over two weeks of screening 186 films from 45 countries, the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival came to a close on Tuesday, April 17th.
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A Thousand Thoughts – A Live Documentary by Sam Green and Kronos Quartet[/caption]
The 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival Festival Audience Awards gave festival-goers the opportunity to select their favorite narrative and documentary features. The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade (USA), with Un Traductor by Rodrigo Barriuso and Sebastián Barriuso (Canada/Cuba) also scoring highly with Festival audiences. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Sam Green’s A Thousand Thoughts – A Live Documentary by Sam Green and Kronos Quartet, while Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s RBG (USA) was another favorite at the Festival.
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Isabel Coixet’s THE BOOKSHOP to Kick off 2018 Seattle International Film Festival
Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop will kick off the 44th annual Seattle International Film Festival on Thursday, May 17, 2018. The 2018 Festival runs May 17 through June 10 at venues in Seattle and surrounding cities.
Written and directed by the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive, Elegy) and based on the bestselling novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, the film stars Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns, The Newsroom), Bill Nighy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Love Actually) and Patricia Clarkson (House of Cards, The Maze Runner). The film played as a Special Gala selection at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival and was the winner of three Goya Awards in Spain, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Bookshop is Coixet’s follow-up to the indie hit Learning to Drive and is set in a seaside village in England where a grieving widow (Mortimer) pursues her lifelong dream of opening a bookshop. As she introduces the townsfolk to the world’s best literature and stirs a cultural awakening, her efforts are ruthlessly opposed by a powerful local (Clarkson) causing a reclusive resident (Nighy) to join the fight to keep the bookshop open.
“The raw and delicate relationship between tradition and change comes head to head between the two woman characters,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “It’s a gem of a film with incredible performances from the lead actresses, and a celebration of women who persist.”
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VR Experience VESTIGE Acquired by Other Set Ahead of World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival
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“Fractured memories within the black abyss.” From Vestige. Photo credit: Aaron Bradbury.[/caption]
VESTIGE, an emotional, complex, virtual reality documentary, that is set to world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, has been acquired by UK-based VR distributor and sales agent Other Set. The deal marks the second VR acquisition for the company who picked up ZIKR: A SUFI REVIVAL in a historic deal earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. It is the third-ever sale of a virtual reality experience at a major film festival.
Other Set is Andy Whittaker’s latest venture and is a sales and distribution company, specializing in director-driven VR and immersive content from around the world. Other Set is focused on changing how users engage with crucial stories centered on social impact. Prior to Other Set, Andy founded Dogwoof the UK’s documentary powerhouse.
“VESTIGE allows the viewer to experience the healing that can be discovered on the other side of grief and loss. The experience showcases the unique power of the VR medium to connect audiences to Lisa’s very human story on a visceral, emotional level” said Andy Whittaker, founder Other Set.
Antoine Cayrol, producer of the experience and co-founder of AtlasV, said, “As a newly formed company, we’re working to re-focus VR storytelling towards a sustainable indie film production model. With the support of Other Set and our joint mission to share outstanding content we’re thrilled to be able to dive further into the future of distribution and bring the powerful story that is VESTIGE to a wider audience.”
VESTIGE is a 10 minute room-scale VR creative documentary that uses multi-narrative and volumetric live capture to take the viewer on a journey into the mind of Lisa as she remembers her lost love, Erik. Within an empty void, fragments of past memories appear of their life together. As we navigate the space to explore these moments, new memories are triggered revealing new pathways through the story. Over time the memories become entangled with a haunting vision and eventually lead us to the shocking moment of Erik’s death. Every viewing will reveal a different journey towards this moment, revealing the complex world of memory and grief.
Paul Mowbray, producer of the experience and director of NSC Creative, said, “Our studio has been creating immersive experiences across the globe for 18 years but this is our first room-scale VR piece. VESTIGE is really pushing the limits of what can be done with volumetric capture and multi-narrative storytelling right now. Aaron’s success as a leading VR Creator comes from a deep technical knowledge across multiple disciplines combined with a passion to connect with the audience in a profoundly emotional way.”
VESTIGE is directed by Aaron Bradbury and produced by Paul Mowbray, Antoine Cayrol and Jill Klekas Basmajian. The project was created in collaboration with NSC Creative, AtlasV, RYOT and funded through Kaleidoscope’s platform, and was supported by the French CNC. The film also features original music by Starkey.
The film is set for a Spring 2019 release and will be available for the Rift, Vive and Microsoft VR headsets through streaming platforms, Steam, Oculus, VivePort and Microsoft.
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Florida Film Festival Announces 2018 Grand Jury and Audience Award Winners
The Florida Film Festival announced the winners of the 2018 Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, April 14th. My Indiana Muse, directed by Ric and Jen Serena, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, and Prison Logic, directed by Romany Malco Jr. snagged the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The jury awarded the prize for Best Documentary Feature to TransMilitary directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson; and the prize for Best Narrative Feature to Savage Youth directed by Michael Curtis Johnson.
The 27th Annual Florida Film Festival took place April 6 to 15, 2018, in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida, with Primary Sponsor Full Sail University and Primary Public Partners Orange County Government and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
SHORTS
Audience Award for Best Midnight Short – Hair Wolf – Directed by Mariama Diallo Special Jury Award for Directing: Caroline – Directed by Celine Held and Logan George Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short – Shahkboy – Directed by Jake Peckar Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short – Flatbush Misdemeanors – Directed by Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short – The Tables – Directed by Jon Bunning Audience Award for Best Short Film – Let My People Vote – Directed by Gilda Ann BraschDOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Special Jury Award for Artistic Vision – The Last Race – Directed by Michael Dweck Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature – My Indiana Muse – Directed by Ric and Jen Serena Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature – TransMilitary – Directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona DawsonNARRATIVE FEATURES
Special Jury Award for Performance to Christina Parrish and Andrew Dismukes for Call Me Brother – Directed by David Howe Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature – Prison Logic – Directed by Romany Malco Jr. Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature – Savage Youth – Directed by Michael Curtis JohnsonINTERNATIONAL
Audience Award for Best International Feature – Soufra (USA/Lebanon) – Directed by Thomas Morgan Audience Award for Best International Short – The App (Spain) – Directed by Julián Merino Image via Facebook
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‘América’ ‘Minding the Gap’ ‘Fort Maria’ ‘For Izzy’ Win at 17th Ashland Independent Film Festival [ Complete List of Winners]
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Director of América, Chase Whiteside, accepted the Les Blank Award: Best Feature Length Documentary. Photo by Darren Campbell/AIFF[/caption]
The 17th Ashland Independent Film Festival (AIFF) officially came to a close today, and announced the highly anticipated juried and audience award-winning films for work screened at the festival, which ran April 12 to 16, 2018.
“120 films made it into our program this year, and 15 of them are receiving the added recognition of a jury or audience award,” said festival director Richard Herskowitz. “I want to congratulate the makers of all 120 of our films for the delight and excitement they brought to our enthusiastic audiences.”
The festival presented its coveted Rogue Award to actor Chris Cooper and director Lynn Shelton. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Cooper has given several notable performances in feature films, including as a union organizer in Matewan, the first of five films he appeared in directed by John Sayles. His performance as the eccentric plant collector John Laroche earned him an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor in Adaptation (2002). Cooper also served as executive producer and narrator of AIFF2018’s opening night film, Intelligent Lives, which explores how our society’s narrow views of intelligence have led to the segregation of people with intellectual disabilities.
Lynn Shelton, proudly based in Seattle, had her first feature-length film, We Go Way Back, win the Grand Jury Award at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival. After her acclaimed My Effortless Brilliance (AIFF2008) and Humpday, she was honored with the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2010. Your Sister’s Sister (AIFF2012) won Best Ensemble Performance at the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards. In recent years, Shelton has built a successful career as a television series director alongside her feature filmmaking. Her latest film, Outside In (AIFF2018), starring Edie Falco and Jay Duplass, screened at AIFF2018 and is being released by The Orchard.
This year’s Pride Award was presented to Zackary Drucker. Drucker is an independent artist, cultural producer, and trans woman who breaks down the way we think about gender, sexuality, and seeing. She has performed and exhibited her work internationally in museums, galleries, and film festivals including the Whitney Biennial 2014, MoMA PS1, Hammer Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, MCA San Diego, and SF MoMA, among others. Zackary is an Emmy-nominated Producer for the docuseries This Is Me, as well as a producer on the Golden Globe® and Emmy®-winning Amazon series Transparent.
At the conclusion of the Awards Night Ceremony, Herskowitz was joined by Richard Blue, chair of the James Blue Alliance, for an announcement of AIFF’s new James Blue Emerging Filmmaker Award, which will offer a substantial cash award to a social justice filmmaker beginning in 2019. The specifications for this award will be announced in September in advance of the posting of AIFF’s next call for entries.
On the heels of the 17th annual festival, MovieMaker Magazine has named the Ashland Independent Film Festival one of the Top 50 Films Worth the Entry Fee. This is the third time AIFF has been awarded this recognition (2014 and 2015). “We are thrilled and honored to be a part of this prestigious list,” said Herskowitz.
The complete list of award-winning films follows:
JURIED AWARDS
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE América Special Jury Recognition: Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE EDITING Minding the Gap Special Jury Recognition: Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE Fort Maria Special Jury Recognition: Wild Honey BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY Fort Maria Special Jury Recognition: The Last Hot Lick BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT Commodity City Special Jury Recognition: The Last Honey Hunter BEST NARRATIVE SHORT So Much Yellow Special Jury Recognition: GameAUDIENCE AWARDS
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Director Alex Chu received the Varsity Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature for his film For Izzy. Photo by Darren Campbell/AIFF[/caption]
Varsity Audience Award: Narrative Feature:
For Izzy
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Director Aaron Kopptook home the Rogue Creamery Audience Award: Best Documentary Feature for his film Liyana. Photo by Darren Campbell/AIFF[/caption]
Rogue Creamery Audience Award: Feature Length Documentary:
Liyana and Skid Row Marathon (TIE)
Jim Teece Audience Award: Narrative Short:
Game
Audience Award: Documentary Short:
Little Potato
SPECIAL TRIBUTES
Rogue Awards: Chris Cooper and Lynn Shelton Pride Award: Zackary Drucker Indie Institutions: Milestone Films and International Documentary Association
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GENERAL MAGIC, Documentary on Most Influential Silicon Valley Company You’ve Never Heard Of to Premiere, at Tribeca Film Fest
The documentary film General Magic, looks at the rise and fall of the most influential Silicon Valley company you have never heard of, General Magic.
In the early 1990’s, a team of former Apple employees formed the company and took Silicon Valley by storm with their new project, the first handheld, wireless personal computer – the first smartphone. The company and the product were so ahead of their time, that it ultimately failed, and the company closed down. However, General Magic’s former employees have gone on to found eBay, Linkedin and Android, develop the technology that has lead to the iPhone and have become the tech innovators that now lead companies like Samsung, Apple and Facebook. Matthew Maude and Sarah Kerruish’s film show how this team has created a lasting impact of the on the world around us.
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In 1992, Marc Porat holds up the design of what is now the IPhone in a scene from GENERAL MAGIC[/caption]
General Magic, directed by Matthew Maude and Sarah Kerruish, will World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Documentary section.
In 1990, a new company called General Magic, a spinoff from Apple, took Silicon Valley by storm. Rumors spread of its innovative new prototype destined to be the “next big thing.” Four years later, the company shipped its first product: a handheld, personal computer—which was essentially a smartphone, even down to the emojis, all the way back in 1994. However, the mid-’90s tech landscape wasn’t ready for an innovation so far ahead of its time—after all, the average consumer didn’t even have email and certainly was not prepared for 21st-century, anytime-anywhere communication. The product flopped, and General Magic shuttered.
General Magic – the documentary feature directed by Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude tells the story about how great vision and epic failure changed the world as we now know it – from the smartphones that sit in our pockets to an array of technologies we now take for granted today.
Executive produced by Michael Stern, Reynold D’Silva and John Giannandrea, General Magic features members of the original Mac team and the creators of the iPhone, Android and eBay; designers, engineers and entrepreneurs who saw the future twenty years before it happened and help create the future we use today.
Described by Forbes as “the most important dead company in Silicon Valley” and combining rare archive footage with contemporary stories of the General Magicians today, this documentary tracks the progress of anytime, anywhere communication from a thing of sci-fi fiction to our modern day reality.
General Magic TRIBECA SCREENINGS
Fri. 4/20, 5:45 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 7- World Premiere
Sat. 4/21, 4 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 9
Sun. 4/22, 4 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 9
Thurs. 4/26, 5:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-3