The Big Sick[/caption]
This year’s 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will open with director Michael Showalter’s unconventional romantic comedy The Big Sick, and close with director Denis Villeneuve’s mysterious sci-fi Arrival, in which one of the main roles was played by Jeremy Renner, one of the festival’s guests this year and a recipient of the President’s Award.
The Big Sick
Like many other comedians, Kumail wants to escape the small stages of out-of-the-way clubs and perform before a large audience. Yet he fails to impress the man capable of arranging an appealing engagement for him, and, what’s more, his new show on his Pakistani origins slips into a boring monologue. Kumail also struggles with his parents, who would rather see their son as a lawyer married to one of the Pakistani girls they keep trying to fix him up with. Things get even more complicated when he meets Emily and falls for her quirkiness and sense of humour. The question of whether to tell his parents about his girlfriend, who meets none of their basic criteria, seriously complicates Kumail’s life. The film’s husband-and-wife co-writers, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, based their film on their own life story, thus reinforcing its authenticity. Add to this the sense of lightness and immediacy typifying the film’s direction, and we get a fun and candid comedy that avoids the usual rom-com clichés.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX3Regj6nAg
Arrival
When several giant ships of unknown origin appear at over a dozen locations on Earth, top teams of scientists set out to study them. The American team is headed by physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who join forces in order to show that the extraterrestrial visitors are a threat to mankind only if we fail to communicate with them. One of the most original science fiction movies of recent years, Arrival cemented director Denis Villeneuve’s position as one the most closely watched directors working today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLO4X6UI8OYTerry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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THE BIG SICK to Open, ARRIVAL to Close Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Trailers
[caption id="attachment_20114" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Big Sick[/caption]
This year’s 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will open with director Michael Showalter’s unconventional romantic comedy The Big Sick, and close with director Denis Villeneuve’s mysterious sci-fi Arrival, in which one of the main roles was played by Jeremy Renner, one of the festival’s guests this year and a recipient of the President’s Award.
The Big Sick
Like many other comedians, Kumail wants to escape the small stages of out-of-the-way clubs and perform before a large audience. Yet he fails to impress the man capable of arranging an appealing engagement for him, and, what’s more, his new show on his Pakistani origins slips into a boring monologue. Kumail also struggles with his parents, who would rather see their son as a lawyer married to one of the Pakistani girls they keep trying to fix him up with. Things get even more complicated when he meets Emily and falls for her quirkiness and sense of humour. The question of whether to tell his parents about his girlfriend, who meets none of their basic criteria, seriously complicates Kumail’s life. The film’s husband-and-wife co-writers, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, based their film on their own life story, thus reinforcing its authenticity. Add to this the sense of lightness and immediacy typifying the film’s direction, and we get a fun and candid comedy that avoids the usual rom-com clichés.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX3Regj6nAg
Arrival
When several giant ships of unknown origin appear at over a dozen locations on Earth, top teams of scientists set out to study them. The American team is headed by physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who join forces in order to show that the extraterrestrial visitors are a threat to mankind only if we fail to communicate with them. One of the most original science fiction movies of recent years, Arrival cemented director Denis Villeneuve’s position as one the most closely watched directors working today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLO4X6UI8OY
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Uma Thurman and Jeremy Renner to Receive Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s President’s Award
Uma Thurman (Asatur, dp) Actor Jeremy Renner, and actress Uma Thurman will be presented with the President’s Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
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Milwaukee Film Announces Expansion, Leases Oriental Theatre for 31 Years
Milwaukee Film has signed a 31-year lease to operate the Oriental Theatre beginning July 1, 2018, signaling tremendous future growth for the organization and ensuring that the Milwaukee Film Festival will be a part of the community for years to come.
“The Oriental Theatre is a treasure. I have visited hundreds of cinemas worldwide and the Oriental Theatre is my favorite. It is magical to see 1,000 of our members fill the main house at our monthly screenings,” says Jonathan Jackson, Artistic & Executive Director of the nonprofit Milwaukee Film. “Our nine-year-old organization securing long-term control of this cinema is a momentous occasion. We have cemented our permanence in Milwaukee and intend to greatly expand our cultural, economic, and educational impact on our community.”
Opened in 1927 as a “movie palace,” the Oriental Theatre is not only a beloved local landmark, but has also been recognized nationally as a top ten movie theater by Entertainment Weekly and USA Today. Milwaukee Film seeks to revitalize the space through investments in the infrastructure and upgrades to the projection and sound, creating a superior customer experience and making the Oriental Theatre a state of the art historic cinema. While designs have yet to be completed, the organization is committed to maintaining the existing aesthetics and character of this iconic Milwaukee building.
In order to support the growth of the organization and successfully meet the demands of running a world class film institution, a fundraising initiative has already begun. A total of $3 million of a $10 million goal has been raised so far, with Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Executive and Milwaukee Film Co-Founder and past Board Chair, making a personal contribution of $2 million.
“From day one, every person involved in Milwaukee Film – from staff, to volunteers, to the Board, to our dedicated 3,600 members – has been driven by the goal of not simply creating a film festival, but creating one of the best and biggest film festivals in the world,” states Chris Abele. “This announcement brings us closer to that goal. It isn’t the culmination or an end point, it’s the start of the next chapter.”
In addition to Abele, Milwaukee Film Co-Founders, the Herzfeld Foundation, led by Herzfeld Foundation President and past Milwaukee Film Board Chair Bill Haberman and Herzfeld Foundation Vice President and Milwaukee Film Board Member Carmen Haberman, has committed $1 million to the initiative.
Milwaukee Film deeply appreciates its sustained nine-year relationship with Landmark Theatres, noting that the organization’s remarkable growth could not have happened without renting the Oriental Theatre for its monthly member screenings and the annual film festival.
Beginning with Jackson’s vision of the enormous opportunity that would be provided by Milwaukee Film operating the Oriental Theatre, over the last five years Milwaukee Film’s Board of Directors and staff thoroughly vetted the idea and financials of operating a year-round, non-profit cinema, developing a business plan one year ago that was unanimously approved by its now 32-person Board of Directors.
In 2004, Boris Gohkman, father of Tim Gohkman, Director of New Land Enterprises, purchased the Oriental Theatre building after a several year pursuit. The trust and faith of Tim Gohkman in Milwaukee Film’s vision has been unparalleled.
“We are excited to partner with Milwaukee Film because it presents a truly unique opportunity to fuel Milwaukee’s cultural renaissance,” states Tim Gohkman. “As a key Milwaukee institution, Milwaukee Film is uniquely positioned to energize North Ave., Farwell Ave., and the entire city with year-round programming. For years, I have considered the Milwaukee Film Festival my favorite annual event in Milwaukee, I just can’t wait to see what they do next.”
At the Oriental Theatre, Milwaukee Film intends to program the best of international and American independent fiction and documentary films, including traditional weekly releases mixed with repertory selections, event cinema engagements, programming for families, and various themed film festivals and series throughout the year as well as the annual flagship Milwaukee Film Festival.
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Galway Film Fleadh Announces Short Film Highlights of 2017 Program
[caption id="attachment_22771" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
An Béal Bocht[/caption]
This year the Galway Film Fleadh in Galway, Ireland, will present a total of fourteen short film programs in the festival’s ever growing and increasingly diverse line-up, featuring a rise in short film co-productions from around the globe including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Norway, Lebanon and the United States.
The competitive short film program showcases an exciting mix of drama, documentary and animation, with the winners of the Tiernan MacBride Award for Best Short Drama and the James Horgan Award for Best Short Animation gaining eligibility for Oscar consideration.
This year’s short animation program features an abundance of styles from old school stop-motion to dark comedy. Highlights include an adaptation of the classic Irish Novel An Béal Bocht by Tom Collins and the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders produced Sorry I Drowned, inspired by a letter found on the drowned body of a refugee fleeing from war.
The short documentaries explore a variety of subjects from the therapeutic power of tattoos to Olympic dreams, from urban cowboys to vintage motorcycles, the latter being the focus of Charlie Endean’s directorial debut, Open Road.
All of these and more including the return of Oscar winner Benjamin Cleary co-directing his new film WAVE;, the Irish premiere of A Drowning Man, hot after competing in Cannes; the directing debuts of The Gate Theatre Director Selina Cartmell, for her Filmbase/RTE funded film The Date and the renowned MTV VMA nominated Music-Video director Brendan Canty with his film For You; and Ireland’s own top model Laragh McCann goes behind the camera for her first time for her debut film Day.
In addition to the curated program of over seventy short films in a mix of Irish, English and foreign languages, the festival will premiere two programs of films funded by the Irish Film Board: Short Stories and Frameworks Animations.
As well as screenings, the short film forum will return to the festival after last year’s bumper turnout. This panel discussion is dedicated to emerging and established short filmmakers in all genres, with a focus on strategies and advice from international film festivals and short film programmers. Following the panel there will be an opportunity for discussion, debate and networking.
The Galway Film Fleadh shorts program runs every day from Wednesday July 12th to Sunday July 16th.
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ON BODY AND SOUL Wins Sydney Film Prize at Sydney Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_20704" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről) by Ildikó Enyedi[/caption]
On Body and Soul, directed by Ildikó Enyedi, beat 12 other films to win the prestigious 10th anniversary Sydney Film Prize at the 64th Sydney Film Festival. Winner of the Berlinale Golden Bear, On Body and Soul is Enyedi’s visually ravishing return to filmmaking after an 18-year break. The film is about the unconventional romance between two coworkers who discover that each night they have exactly the same dreams.
Accepting the award, Enyedi said, “It was such an amazingly strong competition. It’s marvelous that such a film can move so many people, it gives me so much hope in cinema and in human communication.”
Sydney filmmakers Sascha Ettinger Epstein and Claire Haywood were awarded the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary’s $10,000 cash prize for The Pink House, about the last brothel in old mining town Kalgoorlie.
The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films saw the $7000 cash prize for the Dendy Live Action Short Award going to Adele, directed by Mirene Igwabi. Sunday Emerson Gullifer was Highly Commended for her short film Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
And Daniel Agdag’s animation Lost Property Office took out both the $7000 Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director and the $5000 Yoram Gross Animation Award.
The Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award, a $5,000 prize for the best short screenwriting, was awarded to Michael Cusack, the writer and director of stop motion animation After All.
And the writers of Screenability short film The Milky Pop Kid, Johanna Garvin and Emily Dash, were Highly Commended.
The $10,000 Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award, bestowed by Create NSW to a trail-blazing NSW based screen practitioner, went to Indigenous Australian actor, director and writer Leah Purcell.
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Watch Trailer for Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine HBO Docu Series THE DEFIANT ONES
Here is the official trailer for The Defiant Ones, the four-part documentary series that tells the stories of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, their improbable partnership and their leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture. The series debut July 9 on HBO.
Set amid many of the defining events of the past four decades, this four-part documentary event tells the stories of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, their improbable partnership and their leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture. Directed by Allen Hughes, who conducted extensive interviews with both men, the show also includes interviews with such music icons as Bono, David Geffen, Eminem, Nas, Stevie Nicks, Ice Cube, Gwen Stefani, Jon Landau, Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen, Diddy and will.i.am. THE DEFIANT ONES also features never-before-seen footage from a multitude of recording and writing sessions with Eazy-E, JJ Fad, Stevie Nicks, N.W.A., Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and U2, among others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT5FeylUWO0
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Watch Hulk Hogan + Gawker + Freedom of the Press in Trailer for NOBODY SPEAKS
[caption id="attachment_19919" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS[/caption]
Here it is, Hulk Hogan + Gawker + Freedom of the Press, all featured in the new trailer for the documentary Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press, premiering June 23 on Netflix.
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press is directed by Brian Knappenberger and premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
When the online tabloid Gawker posted a surreptitiously filmed sex tape of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, it ignited a high stakes legal battle that pit privacy rights against the first amendment. The staggering verdict bankrupted Gawker and its founder Nick Denton, but also exposed a shadowy figure behind the scenes — Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Nine years earlier Gawker had outed Thiel on its site and the furious billionaire had been waiting for his chance to destroy them.
The Florida trial happened against the backdrop of a contentious election. Thiel’s battle with Gawker, along with Sheldon Adelson’s secretive purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and President Trump’s treatment of journalists, portend a sinister trend threatening a free press and has brought to light a potential threat to democracy. Are the very wealthy thwarting the First Amendment to silence critics? In an age of extreme inequality, how vulnerable is a free press that has lost most of its traditional sources of income? Perhaps most frightening, what could a billionaire with the executive branch at his command do to those who have angered him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHow1B32WZw
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See Joan Rivers, Jenny McCarthy in Dr. Pamela Dee’s Menopause Documentary LOVE, SWEAT & TEARS | Trailer
Love, Sweat & Tears, a humorous and inspiring look at menopause – a long-taboo subject that will impact women and men during their lifetimes – will be released on VOD on Friday, June 23, 2017. A DVD release is set for August 22, 2017.
Filled with humor, insight, and important medical information, Love, Sweat & Tears follows Dr. Pamela Dee Gaudry, one of the country’s leading experts on the issue (and “America’s Menopause Romance Doctor”), as she helps women navigate their fears concerning menopause. She also interviews Joan Rivers (in her last screen appearance), Jenny McCarthy, Craig Shoemaker, Lynne Koplitz and Michael Bernard Beckwith, to name a few, about the issue and opens up about her own experiences with menopause.
There are 60 million women in menopause today, and every year, two million women are added to that number in the U.S. alone. Seventy-five percent of women will suffer from the side effects, many severely. And while girls are taught about and prepared for menstruation, the natural biological transition of menopause is shunned, brushed under the rug, and attached with a stigma that leaves both women and men suffering – and at a loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r_9L8zr0po
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Films Featuring Whitney Houston, Hulk Hogan Among Hamptons International Film Festival SummerDocs Series
[caption id="attachment_19919" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS[/caption]
The Hamptons International Film Festival SummerDocs series returns for the ninth year to present new and groundbreaking documentary filmmaking and thought-provoking stories to the East End. The series will kick off with a screening of Netflix’s NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS on Saturday, July 8th at 7:00PM, followed by The Orchard & CNN Films’ TROPHY on Saturday, July 29th at 7:00PM, both at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
In August the series will also screen IFC’s TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON on Friday, August 4th at 8:30PM at Gurney’s in Montauk, Showtime’s WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME” on Thursday, August 17th at 7:00PM at Southampton Arts Center in Southampton, and close with Netflix’s ICARUS on Saturday, August 26th at 7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
Following the screenings HIFF Co-Chairman Alec Baldwin & HIFF Artistic Director David Nugent will lead conversations with filmmakers and subjects including Director Brian Knappenberger and special guests to be announced for NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS, Directors Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz for TROPHY, Director Rory Kennedy and subject Laird Hamilton for TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON, Director Nick Broomfield for WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME”, and Director Bryan Fogel for ICARUS.
Full Lineup of 2017 Summer Docs
NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS
Saturday, July 8th at 7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
When online tabloid Gawker posted a sex tape starring former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, a high-stakes legal battle pitting privacy rights against the First Amendment ensued. Hogan won the case and the staggering settlement he received not only bankrupted Gawker and its founder Nick Denton, but also exposed a controversial, behind-the-scenes benefactor: Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Whether you love or hate Gawker, Brian Knappenberger’s gripping polemic reveals the forces that really brought down the news portal. Taking examples like Sheldon Adelson’s purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this compelling documentary illustrates a growing, sinister trend at odds with our country’s free press. Corporate executives, titans, and billionaires are tipping the balance on the public’s access to news, posing new threats to society’s relationship to the truth. Knappenberger’s knack for capturing timely and provocative shifts in the new digital era is instinctive. Fusing exhaustive interviews with Denton, commentators, and journalists Nobody Speak weaves a disturbing, fascinating tale of power and truth with a moral that runs to the core of democracy.
TROPHY
Saturday, July 29th at 7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
Endangered African species like elephants, rhinos and lions march closer to extinction each year. Their devastating decline is fueled in part by a global desire to consume these majestic animals. Trophy investigates the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation. Through the eyes of impassioned individuals who drive these industries –from a Texas-based trophy hunter to the world’s largest private rhino breeder in South Africa –the film grapples with the consequences of imposing economic value on animals.
What are the implications of treating animals as commodities? Do breeding, farming and hunting offer some of the few remaining options to conserve our endangered animals? Trophy will leave you debating what is right, what is wrong and what is necessary in order to save the great species of the world.
TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON
Friday, August 4th at 8:30PM at Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Spa in Montauk
TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton tracks the remarkable life and legendary career of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. Much admired by the public, though often disdained or ignored by the surf industry itself, Laird is a unique sports icon—an athlete who has refused to compete professionally yet has dominated big wave surfing as no other figure in history ever has.
Laird’s biographical story is told against the backdrop of a winter surf season on Kauai, where El Niño storm systems threaten to bring the biggest surf in decades. Mixing never-before-seen archival footage with contemporary verité scenes shot in Southern California, Bermuda and Kauai, Take Every Wave weaves the past and present into an intimate and compelling portrait of a superstar athlete at the top of his game. Threaded throughout is a revealing, deeply personal interview with Laird, as well as conversations with the family members, friends, collaborators and detractors who know him best.
Take Every Wave provides an intimate, uncompromising look at a lifetime devoted to riding giant surf—and the price an athlete pays for greatness.
WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME”
Thursday, August 17th at 7:00PM at Southampton Arts Center in Southampton
Whitney Houston was a sure thing, or as sure as the music industry had ever seen. A transcendent talent with pedigree and mentorship to match, she was going to be the greatest female vocalist ever. For a time, she was, and then she all-too-publicly fell short.
Documentarian Nick Broomfield and iconic music video director Rudi Dolezal offer a never-before-seen backstage look at the height of Houston’s stardom and trace with penetrating detail the forces that contributed to her shortened career and subsequent death in 2012, at age 48. Whether it be racism, religion, drugs, sexuality, self-doubt, gossip, rivalry, insufficient training, the demands of parents and the industry, a troubled marriage playing out in headlines, or the inevitable toll those stresses take from so muscular and passionate a singer, the directors leave nothing unturned. They create a picture of a remarkable woman who needed more help than she received and provide an unflinching, gripping, and wholly committed exploration of talent given and taken away, in an era obsessed with how that talent lives when the stage lights go down.
ICARUS
Saturday, August 26th at 7:00PM at Guild Hall in East Hampton
The ruthless worlds of international sports and politics rarely collide as spectacularly on screen as they do in Bryan Fogel’s thriller, which is sure to set off convulsions of controversy.
While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, Fogel connects with renegade Russian Scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “antidoping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer, despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program. When the truth is more complex than imagined, and accusations of illegalities run to Russia’s highest chains of command, the two realize they hold the power to reveal the biggest international sports scandal in living memory.
Exemplifying the special bond between filmmaker and subject, this is a vital portrait of the sacrifice some people will make to stand up for truth. Icarus places you at the heart of an international game of cat and mouse, where a miscalculation can cost you your life.
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NY Horror Film Fest “Scary Movies X” Returns to FSLC, to Open with TERRIFIER
Terrifier, Damien Leone Scary Movies X, New York’s top horror festival returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center from July 14 to 20, 2017, opening with the New York Premiere of Damien Leone’s aptly named Terrifier
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Melbourne International Film Festival to Open with World Premiere of JUNGLE Starring Daniel Radcliffe | Trailer
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) will open its 66th edition with the world premiere of Greg McLean’s new film Jungle starring Daniel Radcliffe.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to have Jungle opening this year’s MIFF,” said Artistic Director Michelle Carey. “Greg McLean’s new film is bold, hugely entertaining and a thrilling ride! It’s an impressive showcase of Australian and international talent behind and in front of the camera.”
“I am absolutely thrilled to have Jungle selected as the opening night film at MIFF. Back in 2005 my first film Wolf Creek screened at the festival and it was incredibly exciting to have the movie presented in my home town. Now, some years later, having this amazing story about survival and the power of the human spirit launched in Melbourne is just as much of an honour. I truly can’t wait to share this film with audiences” said director of Jungle, Greg McLean.
The stunningly shot, edge-of-your seat story of survival and self-discovery is supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund. Adapted for the screen by scriptwriter Justin Monjo (INXS: Never Tear Us Apart) from the bestselling novel of real-life story of adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg. The film is produced by McLean, along with Dana Lustig, Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy and Todd Fellman.
In the early 1980s, 22-year-old Israeli backpacker Yossi Ghinsberg (Radcliffe) and two friends – Swiss teacher Marcus Stamm and American photographer Kevin Gale – set off from the Bolivian city of La Paz on what was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Leading the way into the uncharted Amazon was an Austrian expat named Karl Ruprechter, who had met the friends just days before and claimed to be familiar with the region. But their dream trip soon turned into a wilderness nightmare.
Director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, MIFF 05) moves beyond his previous horror fare to take on an altogether different kind of fear in Jungle – all the more potent for being true. Radcliffe continues pushing his post-Potter career to the extreme, ably supported by Alex Russell (Premiere Fund-supported film Cut Snake, MIFF 14), Joel Jackson (Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door) and Thomas Kretschmann (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Dracula).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoBDgJ3ZBw
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Paladin to Release Philip Gelatt’s Genre-Bending Thriller THEY REMAIN
They Remain, a genre-bending experience in terror written and directed by Philip Gelatt, has been acquired by Paladin, for a film festival launch and theatrical release commencing in the Fall.
Based on the 2010 short story, “-30-” by award-winning author Laird Barron, They Remain explores the evolving relationship between Keith and Jessica, two scientists who are employed by a vast, impersonal corporation to investigate an unspeakable horror that took place at the remote encampment of a mysterious cult. Working and living in a state-of-the-art, high tech environment that is completely at odds with their surroundings, they spend their days gathering physical evidence, analyzing it, and reporting on their findings.
The intensity of their work, and their extreme isolation, bring the pair closer. But, when Jessica discovers a mysterious artifact of unknown origin, the dynamic between them changes: secrets are kept, sexual tensions arise, and paranoia sets in. Keith begins to have visions and is unable to distinguish whether they are nightmares or hauntings. Having lost all sense of what is real and what is imagined, all he knows is that the horror he and Jessica have been sent to uncover—a horror that could be biological, psychological, or supernatural— now threatens his very survival.
Barron’s novels, short fiction, and poems have earned him a substantial following among aficionados of fantasy, noir, horror, and sci-fi, and have twice won him the Shirley Jackson Award. Gelatt, similarly, combines multi-disciplinary experience as a graphic novelist and comic book creator for the “Indiana Jones” franchise, and for such companies as Dark Horse Comics and Oni Press, with his background as a video game writer for such companies as Crystal Dynamics and Frictional Games, and on “Rise of The Tomb Raider” (for which he won the WGA Award). With this pedigree, it is unsurprising that They Remain succeeds in splicing these various strains of pop culture DNA into a unique and imaginative cinematic hybrid.
They Remain stars William Jackson Harper (“Paterson,” “True Story”) and Rebecca Henderson (“Mistress America”) as Keith and Jessica. The film’s third “star” is cinematographer Sean Kirby, whose hallucinatory images contribute immeasurably to its disorienting, disturbing mood. Kirby’s credits include the acclaimed documentaries “Racing Extinction,” and “The Tillman Story,” as well as Robinson Devor’s notorious “Zoo,” which created a sensation at both Sundance and Cannes, and which Urman executive produced and released through THINKFilm.