Actors Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell make love in the bathroom. Film still from FLAMES. Photo by Ashley Connor.[/caption]
Here are the new trailers – red band and green band – for FLAMES directed by and featuring real-life couple Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell. Filmed over five years, FLAMES follows the couple from the white-hot passion of first love to the heartbreak of the bitter end.
Flames will World Premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, April 20.
High on their intense connection, the pair of artists document their relationship’s every beat, from their adventurous sex life, to their performance art collaborations, to a spur-of-the-moment getaway to the Maldives. But when the romantic vacation doesn’t exactly go as planned, the now-former couple are left to decide what to do with their film-in-progress, and for these two filmmakers, the end of the relationship isn’t the end of the story.
As they continue filming, reconstructing what happened and where it all went wrong, lines begin to blur between what was real and what was “the film”—if there’s even a difference anymore. Equal parts performance piece and penetrating rumination on the way some relationships are never finished even after they end, FLAMES is an extraordinary docu-art hybrid- a raw nerve of a film that finds within its unique idiosyncrasies and eccentricities a universally affecting manifesto of heartbreak.
Terry P.
VIMOOZ is for lovers of independent films + foreign film + documentary + film festivals. We love championing the little films.
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Tribeca 2017: Watch Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell Document Their Relationship in Trailers for FLAMES
[caption id="attachment_21918" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Actors Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell make love in the bathroom. Film still from FLAMES. Photo by Ashley Connor.[/caption]
Here are the new trailers – red band and green band – for FLAMES directed by and featuring real-life couple Josephine Decker and Zefrey Throwell. Filmed over five years, FLAMES follows the couple from the white-hot passion of first love to the heartbreak of the bitter end.
Flames will World Premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, April 20.
High on their intense connection, the pair of artists document their relationship’s every beat, from their adventurous sex life, to their performance art collaborations, to a spur-of-the-moment getaway to the Maldives. But when the romantic vacation doesn’t exactly go as planned, the now-former couple are left to decide what to do with their film-in-progress, and for these two filmmakers, the end of the relationship isn’t the end of the story.
As they continue filming, reconstructing what happened and where it all went wrong, lines begin to blur between what was real and what was “the film”—if there’s even a difference anymore. Equal parts performance piece and penetrating rumination on the way some relationships are never finished even after they end, FLAMES is an extraordinary docu-art hybrid- a raw nerve of a film that finds within its unique idiosyncrasies and eccentricities a universally affecting manifesto of heartbreak.
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Alex Gibney’s NO STONE UNTURNED Pulled from Tribeca Film Festival
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NO STONE UNTURNED – Alex Gibney[/caption]
The producers of Academy Award-winningAlex Gibney’s No Stone Unturned has withdrawn the film from the upcoming 2017 Tribeca Film Festival citing outstanding legal issues. The film was to have its World Premiere on Sunday April 23.
The documentary takes a look back to 1994, in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland where six men were gunned down and five wounded in a pub while watching a World Cup soccer match. With a police investigation that was perfunctory at best, the case remained unsolved. In this film, Gibney reopens the original case to investigate why no culprit was ever brought to justice.
In a statement, the festival said, “We were notified today from the producers of Alex Gibney’s No Stone Unturned that there are outstanding legal issues surrounding the film and they will need to withdraw the documentary from the Festival. We are very disappointed that audiences will not be able to see the film at Tribeca and we know Alex is equally disappointed that his film will not have its world premiere at the Festival.”
The festival has removed the film from the website and refunded the customers who have purchased tickets.
The producer Trevor Birney, Fine Point Films said in a statement, “We are bitterly disappointed that as a result of ongoing legal issues relating to the subject matter of the film, No Stone Unturned (Director: Alex Gibney) is not yet ready to be screened at Tribeca 2017. No one will feel this disappointment more than the families at the centre of the film, whose quest for justice has been both inspiring and unstinting these last 23 years. It is our deepest hope that these sensitive issues can be resolved as soon as possible so that we can share this important film with the world.”
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2nd China Stars Showcase Series Returns to 2017 Seattle International Film Festival
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The Knife In The Clear Water / WANG Xuebo[/caption]
The China Stars Showcase series returned to the 43rd annual Seattle International Film Festival for the second year, presenting twelve feature films along with five short films from students of the Beijing Film Academy.
With support from WASA North America Group and Hainan Airlines to foster cross-cultural exchange and artistic vision, the China Stars Showcase features stories that range from thriller (Evil Minds) to family friendly comedy (Tea Pets), familial obligations (Knife in the Clear Water) to a fantastic discovery of an inter-dimensional portal (The Door). The twelve films in the selection reflect the breadth of independent films in China today.
Curated by SIFF film programmers Beth Barrett, Dustin Kaspar, and Mr. Eugene Zhang of WASA North America Group, the China Stars Showcase will also include an archival presentation of Love and Duty presented alongside a live accompaniment by Donald Sosin as well as the newest film by legendary actress YI Qin, The Beautiful Kokonor Lake. The full China Stars Showcase can be found below.
The Beautiful Kokonor Lake
d. XING-HAO Shen | China 2017 | 98 min
Inspired by the true stories of the difficult construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, 95-year-old Chinese film icon YI Qin wrote, produced, and stars in this romantic drama about a pair of courageous meteorological engineers who fall in love with the region.
The Door | North American Premiere
d. DONG Liang | China 2017 | 104 min
A working-class auto mechanic discovers a magical door to an alternate world in which his life choices made him a wealthy playboy who seemingly has it all. Fantastical comic moments lead to self-reflection as he discovers that cross-dimensional existence has its problems.
Evil Minds d. XIE Dongshen | China 2017 | ~100 minIn this suspenseful, action-packed thriller, criminal profiler Fang Mu (Li Yifeng) is renowned for his gifted insights, but when a police detective brings him in to solve a bizarre campus murder, it proves to be a case that may be too much even for his skills.
Father and Son d. YUAN Weidong | China 2017 | ~100 minA young businessman fakes his own father’s death in order to collect condolence money to repay some menacing gangsters, but the plan goes from crafty to farcical when his ex-military father returns “from the dead” to help.
Free and Easy d. JUN Geng | China 2016 | 99 minA soap-peddling shyster lands in a desolate northern China factory town filled with idiosyncratic con artists in Jen Geng’s deadpan Jarmusch-style satire, winner of the Special Jury Award for Cinematic Vision at the Sundance Film Festival.
God of War d. Gordon Chan | China 2017 | 130 min A period war action film about how Chinese general Qi Jiguang defeated Japanese pirates that proliferated along the Chinese coastline during 16th century. Have a Nice Day d. LIU Jian | China 2017 | 77 min Driver Xiao Zhang robs one million dollars from his boss in order to fix his girlfriend’s failed plastic surgery, but he is soon faced with a bigger predicament when a hitman, a gangster and a robber go after him and the money. Knife in the Clear Water | US Premiere d. WANG Xuebo | China 2016 | 93 minThe hauntingly beautiful fable of an elderly farmer in China’s primarily Muslim Ningxia province who finds that affection for his beloved bull makes it impossible to sacrifice the animal in a religious ceremony―until the bull inexplicably stops eating.
Love and Duty d. WANCANG Bu | China 1931 | 153 minChinese silent film icon Ruan Lingyu, frequently called the Greta Garbo of Shanghai, stars in this newly restored edition of one of the biggest films of early Chinese cinema, a decades-spanning romantic drama about a woman who pays dearly for following her heart. With live accompaniment by Donald Sosin.
The Song of Cotton d. ZHU Yuancheng | China 2016 | 90 minAfter accepting the job as a full time caretaker for an ex-boxer who suffers from senile dementia, a young woman develops a close bond with her patient. A heartfelt drama based on a short story by National Book Award-winning author Ha Jin.
Soul on a String d. ZHANG Yang | China 2016 | 142 minA compassionate Buddhist embarks on a mystical quest through Tibet, pursued by black-market traders and a man hell-bent on vengeance. Along the way they encounter mysterious travelers, among them a loyal elf, a lovestruck woman, and a mute psychic.
Tea Pets d. Gary Wang | China 2017 | 93 minPopping off the screen with vivacious colors and beautifully composed action sequences, a group of tea pets―cute clay figurines that are good-luck charms for tea drinkers―embark on a magical animated adventure to find a fabled mystic.
Short Films from Beijing Film Academy Students
Bloom d. SUN Yiran and XU Jiyao | China 2017 | 8 min Elephant King d. FU Yan and FU Chao | China 2017 | 11 min Free Throw Line d. ZHANG Yixin | China 2017 | 7 min I Come From Prairie d. Nuhan Arisbek | China 2017 | 8 min The Sea d. LI Yifan | China 2017 | 7 min Seattle International Film Festival is pleased to present the following awards at the China Stars Award Ceremony on Friday, June 9th at the Seattle Pan Pacific Hotel. Lifetime Achievement YI Qin Emergent Talent DONG Liang Film Award Wanda Films
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San Francisco International Film Festival Announces 2017 Golden Gate Award Winners
[caption id="attachment_19896" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Everything Else, Natalia Almada (Todo lo demás
Doña Flor (Adriana Barraza))[/caption] The San Francisco International Film Festival announced the winners of the juried 2017 Golden Gate Award (GGA) competitions, with the Golden Gate Awards New Directors going to Everything Else, directed by Natalia Almada; and the McBaine Documentary Feature Award going to Brimstone & Glory directed by Viktor Jakovleski. This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers.GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS (NARRATIVE FEATURE) PRIZE
GGA New Directors Prize winner: Everything Else, Natalia Almada (Mexico/USA/France) Receives $10,000 cash prize In a statement, the jury noted: “For its humanism, its consistency of vision, its formal rigor, and its remarkable blend of fiction and non-fiction, we give the New Directors award to Natalia Almada and her film Everything Else.”MCBAINE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARDS
McBaine Documentary Feature Award Winner: Brimstone & Glory, Viktor Jakovleski (USA) Receives $10,000 cash prize The jury noted in a statement: “Spectacular and visceral, dangerous and spiritual, this high-flying documentary transports us into the ecstatic rituals of a Mexican town.” McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature Award: The Force, Peter Nicks (USA) Receives $5,000 cash prize The jury noted: “For it’s timely and in-depth examination of the relationship between the police and the community, unafraid to show the complex humanity of all sides of this fraught subject, we give this award to Peter Nicks’ gripping and finely crafted documentary.” Special Jury Prize: School Life (formerly In Loco Parentis), Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane (Ireland/Spain) The jury noted: “The jury would like to give a special jury prize to a movie that take us into an eccentric and idyllic world with intuitive grace and a richly empathetic vision.”GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS
Best Narrative Short winner: Univitellin, Terence Nance (France) Receives $2,000 cash prize Special Jury Prize for Narrative Short: A Brief History of Princess X, Gabriel Abrantes (Portugal/France/UK) Best Documentary Short winner: The Rabbit Hunt, Patrick X Bresnan (USA) Receives $2,000 cash prize Best Animated Short winner: Hot Dog Hands, Matt Reynolds, (USA) Receives $2,000 cash prize Best New Visions Short winner: Turtles Are Always Home, Rawane Nassif (Qatar/Lebanon/Canada) Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short First Prize winner: In the Wake of Ghost Ship, Jason Blalock (USA) Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short Second Prize winner: American Paradise, Joe Talbot, USA. Receives $1,000 cash prizeGOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR FAMILY FILM
Best Family Film winner: Valley of a Thousand Hills, Jess Colquhoun (South Africa/UK) Receives $1,000 cash prize The jury noted: “This film is a moving, refreshing, and unexpected portrait of a section of the culture of South Africa, feeling so far away geographically but so easy to relate to emotionally. We were drawn into the ease and dynamics of the kids’ friendships. The authenticity of the storytelling from its young subjects helped create a deeper connection to the audience. It was hopeful, inspiring, reassuring, and visually stunning. We feel audience members of a wide range of ages can walk away with a lasting impression that captures the simplicity of childhood layered with life lessons on focus, respect, and friendship.” Special Jury Prize: Summer Camp Island, Julia Pott (USA) The jury noted: “We want to see more of this and wish it could be turned into a series. We love the quirky originality of the story, animation, and characters.”GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR YOUTH WORK
Best Youth Work winner: Cycle, Caleb Wild (USA) Receives $1,000 cash prize The jury noted: “Cycle presented an honest portrait of a young man coming-of-age that examined his character beyond the typical tropes of masculinity, offering viewers an engaging journey that felt personal and surprising with strong cinematography.”GOOGLE BREAKTHROUGH IN TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Google presents the Breakthrough in Technology Award for the best use or display of technology and innovation. The award honors filmmakers who go the extra mile to highlight the use of computer science and technology to solve a problem and make the world a better place, and aspires to promote diversity in tech while disrupting negative stereotypes in STEM fields. Google Breakthrough in Technology Award winner: N.O.VI.S., Arthur Rodger ‘Harley’ Maranan (Phillipines) Receives $500 cash prize donated by Google Inc.
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A GOOD WIFE, NO SMOKING IN SARAJEVO Win at 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in NYC
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A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović, 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival[/caption]
A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović’s story of a woman whose life is shaken when she discovers a video that implicates her husband Vlada in war crimes, won the Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Feature at 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (BHFF) in New York City. Mirjana Karanović also won the BHFF’s first ever Jury Award for Best Acting Performance for her role inA Good Wife.
A Good Wife is a powerful film that was awarded for relevant, timely and brave script, an important theme and skillfully executed storytelling and cinematography.
[caption id="attachment_21901" align="aligncenter" width="1100"]
NO SMOKING IN SARAJEVO, Gianluca Loffredo – 14th Annual Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival Awards Presentation[/caption]
No Smoking In Sarajevo, Gianluca Loffredo’s retrospective on iconic Bosnian rock band No Smoking, and the unique period that ushered in the region’s comic and sharp-edged New Primitivism movement, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Documentary.
No Smoking In Sarajevo was awarded for a perceptive storytelling and weaving of a complex and subtle narrative, from an outsider looking into a tragic story that is symbolic of so many breakups of the last 25 years.
Goran Kapetanović’s Refugee 532, in which twelve-year-old refugee Sevko must adapt to his new life in Sweden while overcoming adversity and waiting for news from home, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Short Film.
Refugee 532 is wonderfully cast and with satisfying script and emotional performances, a story that not only speaks of our recent past but also of our global present.
Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, a biting satire mirroring the precariousness of modern Europe, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Audience Award for Best Picture.
Films receiving Jury Awards were selected by the official BHFF 2017 Jury, an expert panel, comprised of renowned photojournalist Ron Haviv; filmmaker and author Zlata Filipović, and acclaimed costume designer Amela Bakšić.
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TRIBECA 2017: Kino Lorber to Release TOM OF FINLAND Biopic in the US
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Tom of Finland[/caption]
TOM OF FINLAND, Dome Karukoski’s biopic about the life and work of Finnish artist and gay icon Touko Laaksonen, best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, has been acquired by Kino Lorber for release in the US.
Dome Karukoski’s Tom Of Finland is set to have its North American premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, after a world premiere at the Goteborg Film Festival in February. It’s also in high demand among LGBTQ U.S. festivals. The film’s world premiere was followed by a release in its home territory, whereTom Of Finland has taken close to $1m at the local box office.
A trailblazing figure in post-World War II erotic art, Touko Laaksonen drew thousands of fantasy-filled, homoerotic images of intensely masculine (and muscular) men, often liberated from the moral codes of their times. Quickly spreading throughout the world, these images went on to play a significant role in the transnational gay liberation movement that continues to make strides to this day, also becoming iconic symbols for generations of LGBT people worldwide.
Director Dome Karukoski is an acclaimed Finnish filmmaker with six features to his credit including The Grump (2014), Heart Of A Lion (2013) and Lapland Odyssey (2010).
The film was produced by Finnish production outfit Helsinki Film, with a screenplay by Aleksi Bardy. The cast includes Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Taisto Oksanen, Seumas Sargent, Jakob Oftebro and Niklas Hogner.
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A DATE FOR MARY, MOONLIGHT, LOVING Win at Irish Film and Television Academy Awards
[caption id="attachment_21876" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
A Date for Mad Mary[/caption]
A Date for Mad Mary was crowned the Best Film, and Charleigh Bailey took home the award for Best Supporting Actress Film for her performance, at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Film & Drama Awards in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgAkhspus8A
Colm Meaney received the IFTA for Best Lead Actor Film for his portrayal of the late Martin McGuinness in Nick Hamm’s The Journey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ZN_lZvL7A
Three Awards went to Richie Smyth’s debut feature The Siege of Jadotville, with Smyth accepting the award for Best Director Film and Jason O’Mara receiving Best Supporting Actor Film. The film also won for VFX (Windmill Lane VFX). Peter Foott Picked up the IFTA for best Script for The Young Offenders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JHsiQTTmg
Best Lead Actress in Film was awarded to Loving star Ruth Negga. Best International Film was Moonlight; Best International Actor Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, Best International Actress was Emma Stone for La La Land.
The prestigious George Morrison Feature Documentary Award went to Dave Clarke and Ciarán Deeney, the team behind Colm Quinn’s Mattress Men.
Best Short Film went to Dave Tynan for viral project Heartbreak while Animated Short went to IADT graduate Vincent Gallagher for stop motion project Second to None.
The Rising Star award sponsored by the Irish Film Board went to The OA and Property of the State actor Patrick Gibson, who accepted his award from Bleed for This actor Ciarán Hinds.
Highlights for drama categories are led by Vikings team Morgan O’Sullivan & James Flynn accepting the coveted title of Best Drama, with an additional award for Best Make-Up & Hair for Dee Corcoran & Tom McInerney on the History Channel series shot in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Best Lead Actor in Drama this year goes to Cillian Murphy for Peaky Blinders with Amy Huberman taking the Best Lead Actress in Drama for new homegrown series Striking Out which was presented by Stephen Rea.
Another flagship achievement in original Irish drama is James Phelan’s award for Best Script Drama for Centenary comedy Wrecking the Rising.
Supporting acting talent in drama sees Charlie Murphy honoured for Happy Valley and Ned Dennehy for Irish language western series An Klondike.
Consolata Boyle of Florence Foster Jenkins achieved the award for Best Costume Design for this, her sixth award of a total nine Irish Academy nominations to date.
Seamus McGarvey came out on top of the Director of Photography category for his work on Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, and Nick Emerson for Best Editing on Billy O’Brien’s I Am Not A Serial Killer.
The Secret Scripture took double craft awards with Derek Wallace awarded the IFTA for Best Production Design and Brian Byrne taking the award for Best Original Music.
The Siege of Jadotville took home its third award for Best VFX, which went to Tim Chauncey of Windmill Lane VFX. Juanita Wilson’s second feature Tomato Red earned the award for Best Sound tonight, for the work of Niall Brady, Ken Galvin & Steve Fanagan.
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Thessaloniki Takes 5 Greek “Works In Progress” Films to Marché du Film of Cannes Film Festival
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VIRUS – Angelos Frantzis)[/caption]
5 Greek “works in progress” films have been selected by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival to participate in the “Thessaloniki Goes to Cannes” event which will take place on Tuesday, May 23rd, during the Marché du Film of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (May 17 – 28, 2017).
The participation of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s Agora Industry in the “Goes to Cannes” of this year’s edition of Cannes’ Marché du Film, one of the world’s largest film markets discovering up-and-coming directors from all over the world, is collaboration between the TIFF and the Greek Film Centre with the Festival de Cannes. Greece is the only country in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans that participates in the event.
The 5 Works in Progress (both fiction and documentary) that will be presented to the sales agents, distributors and programmers who attend this year’s Cannes’ Marché du Film are the following:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Fiction, 85’, 2017 – Greece, France, Cyprus, Germany)
Director-Writer: Christos Georgiou
Production Company: View Master Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH, Manny Films, Lychnari Productions Limited, Pallas Film, Producer: Costas Lambropoulos, Thanassis Karathanos, Co-producers: Birgit Kemner, Christos Georgiou, Martin Hampel, Language: Greek, Key partners: Greek Film Center, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animeé, Cultural Services – Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus (Advisory Film Committee), Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, FFA – German Federal Film Board, ERT and Eurimages – Council of Europe
Stage: Almost completed
Looking for: Sales agent, distributors, festivals
Synopsis: When George runs out of the police riot bus and sees his daughter among the demonstrators facing him, he and his wife decide that father and daughter should go to their country home for a few days, to keep her safe and see if they can salvage their relationship.
2. POLYXENI (Fiction, 100’, 2017 – Greece)
Director-Writer: Dora Masklavanou
Production Company: Blonde S.A., Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa, Languages: Greek, Turkish, Key partners: Greek Film Centre, ERT S.A., Nova
Stage: Post-production
Looking for: Sales agent, festivals
Synopsis: In 1955 a couple of prominent Greek Istanbulites adopt an orphan Greek girl from the town of their origin. They offer her a powerful family name and ensure her devotion. Twelve-year-old Polyxeni is separated from her younger brother. She embarks on a new life and a future that looks bright. She receives an education, comes of age and falls in love. She has a lust for life, while unsuspicious of the devious plan of annihilation that others are weaving behind her back, targeting her large inheritance.
3. VIRUS (Fiction, 120’, 2017 – Greece, France, Latvia)
Director: Angelos Frantzis, Writers: Angelos Frantzis, Spyros Krimbalis
The film won the 2|35 award for post-production services at the Agora Industry’s Crossroads
Co-production Forum of the 52nd Thessaloniki IFF.
Production Company: Heretic, Producers: Giorgos Karnavas, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Co-producer: Mathieu Bompoint (Mezzanine Films), Languages: Greek, English, Russian, Key partners: Greek Film Centre, ERT S.A., CNC, Latvian National Film Centre, Blonde S.A., Alatas Films, 235
Stage: Post-production
Looking for: Gap financing, sales agent, distributors, festivals
Synopsis: Anna and Petros are a young Greek couple that moved recently to a remote Siberian town for Petros’ new job. Their lives are disrupted by Anna’s pregnancy that seems to have no explanation, as they haven’t had sex since they moved to Russia. The questions raised by the mysterious event are relentless; was she cheating? Is she the victim of a conspiracy? Or maybe a Saint? As Petros is desperately looking for a rational answer and Anna resorts to religion to make sense of her situation, two opposing worlds, faith and reason, come to a violent clash.
4. DOLPHIN MAN (Documentary, 87’, 2017 – Greece, France, Canada, Japan, Italy)
Director: Lefteris Charitos, Writers: Yuri Averof, Lefteris Charitos
Production Company: Anemon Productions, Les Films Du Balibari, Storyline Entertainment, Impleo, Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Estelle Robin, Ed Barreveld, Seiko Kato, Languages: English, Greek, French, Japanese, Italian, Key partners: Arte, CNC, Greek Film Centre, WOWOW, ERT, Knowledge, TVO, Canal Z, SVT, Region Pays de la Loire, World Sales: Films Transit
Stage: Post-production
Looking for: Final funding, theatrical distribution partners
Synopsis: Dolphin Man tells the life story of Jacques Mayol, the greatest free-diver in recorded history, whose life became the inspiration for Luc Besson’s cult-movie Le Grand Bleu. It draws us into Mayol’s world, capturing his compelling journey from Japan to Europe, North America and India, while immersing viewers into the sensory and transformative experience of free-diving. Mayol was the first diver to reach 100 meters below the sea and revolutionized free-diving by introducing yoga and Zen techniques. He traveled across the world, promoting an urgent vision of our need to reconnect with nature. The film weaves together stunning contemporary underwater photography of the world’s leading free-divers with intimate testimonies of Mayol’s closest friends and family and rare film archive.
5. LP (ΛΠ) (Documentary, 70’, 2017 – Greece)
Director-Writer: Cristo Petrou
Production Company: Heretic, Producer: Giorgos Karnavas, Languages: Greek, English, Key partners: Greek Film Center, ERT S.A., World Sales: Heretic Outreach
Stage: Editing
Looking for: Finishing funding, festival premiere
Synopsis: ΛΠ is a documentary about Lena Platonos, one of Greece’s most idiosyncratic musicians and one of the world’s forerunners in electronic music. Born on 10.21.1951 under the sign of Libra, she was trained as a classical pianist in Vienna and Berlin but eventually got involved with electronic music when synthesizers became accessible to musicians. However, Lena didn’t receive the international recognition she deserved. 30 years later, the release of her works by the American label Dark Entries in 2015 under critical acclaim gave us the perfect excuse to ask musicians from a wide range of contemporary music to experiment with her music, while interviewing her and all the people who were involved in the making of her records in the ’80s.
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Watch Trailer for RISK, Laura Poitras Newest Documentary on Julian Assange and Wikileaks
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Julian Assange in a scene from Laura Poitras’ Risk,[/caption]
RISK, the latest documentary from Academy Award winner Laura Poitras (CITIZENFOUR) on the controversial Julian Assange and the Wikileaks organization, premiered last night on Showtime during the season finale of Homeland. The documentary, filmed over six years including through the 2016 presidential election and up to the present moment, takes viewers closer than they have ever been before to Julian Assange and those who surround him.
With unprecedented access, Poitras give us the WikiLeaks story from the inside, allowing viewers to understand our current era of massive leaks, headline-grabbing news, and the revolutionary impact of the internet on global politics. RISK is a portrait of power, principles, betrayal, and sacrifice when the stakes could not be any higher. It is a first-person geopolitical thriller told from the perspective of a filmmaker immersed in the worlds of state surveillance and the cypherpunk movement. RISK confirms Poitras’ directorial ability to record history as it unfolds on camera, and craft narratives at the highest level.
Showtime Networks has partnered with NEON to release RISK theatrically nationwide, with a television premiere on SHOWTIME this summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx6l4gPVeNE
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VIDEO: Watch 4 New Clips from Environmental Documentary TOMORROW by Mélanie Laurent and Cyril Dion
Watch four new clips from the environmental documentary TOMORROW co-directed by Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) and activist Cyril Dion.
The clips represent 4 chapters in the film including AGRICULTURE, ECONOMY, DEMOCRACY and EDUCATION. TOMORROW opens in theaters on April 21 in NYC, LA, and major cities.
Popular French actress Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) and activist Cyril Dion’s César Award-winning environmentally-themed documentary Tomorrow (Demain) will open theatrically in San Francisco on April 14 and then in New York, Los Angeles and other markets on April 21 – to coincide with Earth Day celebrations on April 22.
In 2012, “Nature” published a study led by more than 20 researchers from the top scientific institutions in the world predicting that humankind could disappear between 2040 and 2100. It also said that it could be avoided by drastically changing our way of life and take appropriate measures.
Shortly after giving birth to her first child, French actress and director Mélanie Laurent became increasingly aware of the dangers and the state of urgency that her son will face in the future. Along with friend and activist Cyril Dion and their crew, she decided to travel the world in search of solutions that can help save the next generations. The result is Tomorrow, an inspiring documentary that presents concrete solutions implemented throughout the world by hundred of communities.
From the US to the UK and through Finland and India, together they traveled to 10 countries to visit permaculture farms, urban agriculture projects and community-owned renewable initiatives to highlight people making a difference in the fields of food, energy, finance, democracy, and education. Their common ideas and examples make Tomorrow one of the most essential and unexpectedly inspirational viewing experiences of our time.
AGRICULTURE
ECONOMY DEMOCRACY EDUCATION
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Watch the Final Trailer + New Poster for BUSTER’S MAL HEART Starring Rami Malek
Buster’s Mal Heart, directed by Sarah Adina Smith and starring Rami Malek of the USA Network television series Mr. Robot, has released the final trailer and new poster. Buster’s Mal Heart opens theatrically in New York and LA on April 28th.
In this bold thriller peppered with dark humor and interlocking mystery, an eccentric mountain man is on the run from the authorities, surviving the winter by breaking into empty vacation homes in a remote community. Regularly calling into radio talk shows — where he has acquired the nickname “Buster” — to rant about the impending Inversion at the turn of the millennium, he is haunted by visions of being lost at sea, and memories of his former life as a family man.
Buster (Rami Malek) was once Jonah, a hard-working husband and father whose job as the night-shift concierge at a hotel took its toll on his psyche and, consequently, his marriage to the sensitive Marty (Kate Lyn Sheil) — until a chance encounter with a conspiracy-obsessed drifter (DJ Qualls) changed the course of their lives forever. As the solitary present-day Buster drifts from house to house, eluding the local sheriff at every turn, we gradually piece together the events that fractured his life and left him alone on top of a snowy mountain, or perhaps in a small rowboat in the middle of a vast ocean — or both, in this visceral mind bender that will provoke discussion long after it turns your world upside-down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxKOMAfZjgM
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Tribeca 2017: Watch Trailer for TAKE ME Starring Taylor Schilling and Pat Healy
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Pat Healy as Ray Moody and Taylor Schilling as Anna St. Blair in TAKE ME. Photographer: Nathan M. Miller.[/caption]
Take Me directed by Pat Healy, and an official selection of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival has released the official trailer.
The film starring Taylor Schilling and Pat Healy will world premiere at the festival on Tuesday, April 25, 2017; and will be released in theaters on May 5th in NY/LA and on digital platforms nationwide.
Ray Moody (Pat Healy) is a fledgling entrepreneur, trying to get his company off the ground in Los Angeles. His business: the niche Kidnap Solutions, LLC, specializing in abductions that provide alternative therapy for his clients. When a mysterious call contracts him for a weekend kidnapping with a handsome payday at the end, Ray jumps at the opportunity. But the job, and his target – business consultant Anna St. Blair (Orange Is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling) – may not be all that they seem.
TAKE ME, which threads the needle between crime thriller and slapstick farce, is the feature directorial debut of Healy, who’s appeared in more than 40 films including Compliance, Cheap Thrills, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Magnolia.