The documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, will debut on Friday, October 9, 2015 exclusively on Netflix, after making its world premiere at the 72nd Venice Film Festival in September.
Chronicling events that unfolded over 93 days in 2013 and 2014, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom witnesses the formation of a new civil rights movement in Ukraine. What started as peaceful student demonstrations supporting European integration morphed into a full-fledged violent revolution calling for the resignation of the nation’s president. The film captures the remarkable mobilization of nearly a million citizens from across the country protesting the corrupt political regime that utilized extreme force against its own people to suppress their demands and freedom of expression.
“While we were filming unfathomably brutal attacks by the police on unarmed citizens, we weren’t thinking about how to get the best shots, only the importance of showing the ways in which the movement would forever change the country and the lives of its participants,” said director Evgeny Afineevsky.
The Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom filmmakers investigated the escalating political crisis in Ukraine from directly within the conflict zone. At the onset of demonstrations, they were there to record the special forces who were deployed to disperse the crowds, beating and seriously injuring hundreds of protesters. It was this moment that ultimately gave rise to mass protests and large-scale civil unrest in the country. In response, millions of Ukrainians rallied together to fight against the police state. Through interviews with protesters, activists, journalists, medical workers, artists and clergy representing multiple generations, social classes, nationalities and faiths, including a twelve-year old volunteer, the film tells the story of a diverse movement that self-organized towards one common goal, that stood their ground in the midst of extreme bloodshed, despair and the harshest of conditions.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom is Evgeny Afineevsky’s third feature documentary. He has produced over ten feature and short films, including the 2002 adaptation of Crime & Punishment, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Crispin Glover, John Hurt and Margot Kidder. He also produced and directed numerous TV projects. His feature directorial debut, Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! has garnered numerous awards at film festivals globally.Terry P.
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Documentary WINTER ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM to Debut on Netflix After Premiere at Venice Film Fest
The documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, will debut on Friday, October 9, 2015 exclusively on Netflix, after making its world premiere at the 72nd Venice Film Festival in September.
Chronicling events that unfolded over 93 days in 2013 and 2014, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom witnesses the formation of a new civil rights movement in Ukraine. What started as peaceful student demonstrations supporting European integration morphed into a full-fledged violent revolution calling for the resignation of the nation’s president. The film captures the remarkable mobilization of nearly a million citizens from across the country protesting the corrupt political regime that utilized extreme force against its own people to suppress their demands and freedom of expression.
“While we were filming unfathomably brutal attacks by the police on unarmed citizens, we weren’t thinking about how to get the best shots, only the importance of showing the ways in which the movement would forever change the country and the lives of its participants,” said director Evgeny Afineevsky.
The Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom filmmakers investigated the escalating political crisis in Ukraine from directly within the conflict zone. At the onset of demonstrations, they were there to record the special forces who were deployed to disperse the crowds, beating and seriously injuring hundreds of protesters. It was this moment that ultimately gave rise to mass protests and large-scale civil unrest in the country. In response, millions of Ukrainians rallied together to fight against the police state. Through interviews with protesters, activists, journalists, medical workers, artists and clergy representing multiple generations, social classes, nationalities and faiths, including a twelve-year old volunteer, the film tells the story of a diverse movement that self-organized towards one common goal, that stood their ground in the midst of extreme bloodshed, despair and the harshest of conditions.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom is Evgeny Afineevsky’s third feature documentary. He has produced over ten feature and short films, including the 2002 adaptation of Crime & Punishment, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Crispin Glover, John Hurt and Margot Kidder. He also produced and directed numerous TV projects. His feature directorial debut, Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! has garnered numerous awards at film festivals globally.
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Eight Films Added to Official Selection of 2015 San Sebastian Festival
Eight films have been added to the competition for the Golden Shell at the upcoming 2015 San Sebastian Festival, running from September 18 to 26. Films include French directors Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu’s new film 21 NUITS AVEC PATTIE / 21 NIGHTS WITH PATTIE, which tells the story of Caroline, a woman who cuts her vacation short to organize the funeral of her mother, Isabelle, who has died suddenly at her house in the Pyrenees.
21 NUITS AVEC PATTIE / 21 NIGHTS WITH PATTIE
JEAN-MARIE LARRIEU, ARNAUD LARRIEU (FRANCE) (pictured above)
French directors Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu’s new film tells the story of Caroline, a woman who cuts her vacation short to organise the funeral of her mother, Isabelle, who has died suddenly at her house in the Pyrenees. She befriends Pattie who looks after her mother’s house. But her funeral preparations take an unexpected twist when her mother’s body mysteriously disappears.
BAKEMONO NO KO / THE BOY AND THE BEAST
MAMORU HOSODA (JAPAN)
The latest film from the master of anime, Mamoru Hosoda is the first animatied film to compete at the San Sebastian Film Festival Official Selection. Kyuta is a solitary boy who lives in Tokyo, and Kumatetsu is a supernatural creature isolated in an imaginary world. One day the boy crosses the border into the imaginary world and makes friends with Kumatetsu, who becomes his friend and spiritual guide. The encounter opens the way to all sorts of adventures.
LES DÉMONS / THE DEMONS
PHILIPPE LESAGE (CANADA)
While a series of kidnappings of young boys is raging in Montreal, Felix, 10, finished school in Old Longueuil, an ordinary suburb of peaceful appearance. Imaginative and sensitive, Felix, like many children, is afraid of everything. Little by little, the childhood imaginary demons mix with demons of a disturbing reality.
EVOLUTION
LUCILE HADZIHALILOVIC (FRANCE – BELGIUM – SPAIN)
After winning the New Directors award in 2004 with Innocence, Lucile Hadzihalilovic returns to the San Sebastian Festival with her new film. On a remote island inhabited solely by women and young boys, Nicolas and the other boys are subjected to mysterious and sinister medical treatments.
HIGH-RISE
BEN WHEATLEY (UK)
British director Ben Wheatley presents his last work, based on J.G. Ballard’s novel of the same name. Dr. Robert Laing moves into his new apartment seeking soulless anonymity, only to find that the building’s residents have no intention of leaving him alone. As he struggles to establish his position, Laing’s good manners and sanity disintegrate along with the building.
MOIRA
LEVAN TUTBERIDZE (GEORGIA)
This is a dramatic story of the family living in the seaside city. After Mamuka is released from prison, he tries to rescue his family from poverty. His mother is working abroad, his father is wheelchair-ridden, and his unemployed younger brother appears to be attracted by criminals. Mamuka takes a loan and buys a small fishing boat. But fate is often blind and merciless
SPARROWS
RÚNAR RÚNARSSON (ICELAND – DENMARK – CROATIA)
A coming-of-age story about the 16-year old boy Ari, who has been living with his mother in Reykjavik and is suddenly sent back to the remote Westfjords to live with his father Gunnar. There, he has to navigate a difficult relationship with his father, and he finds his childhood friends changed. In these hopeless and declining surroundings, Ari has to step up and find his way.
SUNSET SONG
TERENCE DAVIES (UK – LUXEMBOURG)
An intimate epic of hope, tragedy and love at the dawning of the Great War, adapted from the Scottish novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon and directed by Terence Davies.
These titles join the Official Selection to the Spanish productions already announced:
AMAMA (Amama: When a tree falls) – Asier Altuna
EL APÓSTATA (The Apostate) – Federico Veiroj
UN DIA PERFECTE PER VOLAR – Marc Recha
EVA NO DUERME (Eva doesn´t sleep) – Pablo Agüero
EL REY DE LA HABANA (The king of Havana) – Agustí Villaronga
TRUMAN – Cesc Gay
MI GRAN NOCHE – Álex de la Iglesia (Not in competition)
LEJOS DEL MAR (Far from the sea) – Imanol Uribe (Special screenings)
NO ESTAMOS SOLOS – Pere Joan Ventura (Special screenings)
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European Premiere of STEVE JOBS to Close 59th BFI London Film Festival | TRAILER
STEVE JOBS directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle will be the Closing Night film of the 59th BFI London Film Festival.
Working from Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography, STEVE JOBS is directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle and written by Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin. The film takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to create a revealing portrait of the man at its epicenter.
STEVE JOBS stars Michael Fassbender in the title role, Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Katherine Waterston. Boyle, Fassbender and Winslet will attend the Closing Night Gala, which marks the film’s European Premiere, on Sunday October 18 at the Odeon Leicester Square. STEVE JOBS is the third film directed by Boyle to close the BFI London Film Festival, following SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008) and 127 HOURS (2010).
Spanning a period of 14 years between 1984 and 1998 the story is built around three seminal product launches — of the Macintosh in 1984, the NeXT ‘Cube’ in 1988 and the iMac in 1998 — and it uses this innovative structure to create a cross-hatched portrait of Jobs’ life and to tell the story of the new mass-market technologies that have revolutionized how we communicate with one another.
Director Danny Boyle, says: If London was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution then San Francisco is the Bethlehem of the digital one. We had a brilliant time making this movie in Silicon Valley and I hope Londoners will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the modern world. It’s always special to bring work home so thanks to BFI London Film Festival for their continued support.
In addition to Fassbender and Winslet, the film stars Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, and Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, the former Apple CEO. The principal cast also includes Katherine Waterston as Chrisann Brennan, Jobs’ ex-girlfriend, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original members of the Apple Macintosh development team.
The 59th BFI London Film Festival runs from Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 18 October 2015. The full program for the Festival will be announced on Tuesday 1 September 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEr6K1bwIVs
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Guy Édoin’s “Ville-Marie” to World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
Canadian filmmaker Guy Édoin’s second feature film Ville-Marie will World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as a “Special Presentation”. “It is a great honour that Ville-Marie will have its world premiere at TIFF, a festival that has seen me grow and evolve as a filmmaker over the course of my five films” declared the director.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB2WPgCyKlQ
The film stars Monica Bellucci (Spectre), Pascale Bussières (When Night Is Falling), Patrick Hivon (À l’origine d’un cri) and Aliocha Schneider (Le journal d’Aurélie Laflamme), who has also been selected as one of four TIFF RISING STARS 2015. Designed to find the next generation of Canadian actors poised for international careers, TIFF Rising Stars draws homegrown talent into the bright spotlight provided by the annual September Festival.
An actress (Monica Bellucci) in town shooting a film, hopes to reconcile with her son (Aliocha Schneider). A paramedic (Patrick Hivon), haunted by his past struggles, is under the watchful eye of a nurse (Pascale Bussière) who is trying to keep the emergency room running at Ville Marie Hospital, where these four lives will come together and take an unexpected turn.
Written by Guy Édoin, in collaboration with Jean-Simon DesRochers, Ville-Marie was the very first Canadian script to be officially selected for L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. Guy Édoin’s creative team includes Director of photography Serge Desrosiers; Artistic Director David Pelletier; Costume Designer Julia Patkos; Editor Yvann Thibaudeau; and Music Composer Olivier Alary who worked in collaboration with Johannes Malfatti.
The film received financial support from SODEC, Téléfilm, provincial and federal tax credits as well as the Harold Greenberg Fund. Ville-Marie is produced by Félize Frappier of Max Films Media, distributed in Canada by Filmoption International, and sold worldwide by Films Boutique. Ville-Marie will be released in theaters on October 9th, in Quebec, Canada.
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French Coming of Age Film BREATHE Gets US Release Date
BREATHE, described as a taut coming-of-age tale of the depths and escalating passions in female friendships, and starring talented newcomers Joséphine Japy and Lou De Laâge as two young girls whose all-consuming friendship takes a dark and dangerous turn, will open at the IFC Center in New York on September 11th, and at the Laemmle Royal in LA on September 18th. A national release will follow.
BREATHE is the second feature by actress-turned-director Mélanie Laurent ( Inglorious Basterds, Beginnings ), and her assured adaptation of the French young-adult novel of the same name.
Charlie (Joséphine Japy) is seventeen and bored. Her estranged parents are too caught up in their own drama to pay much attention to her. School holds no surprises either and Charlie grows tired of her staid friends. Enter Sarah (Lou De Laâge), a hip new transfer student who brings with her an alluring air of boldness and danger. The two girls form an instant connection. Sarah brings the excitement Charlie so desperately seeks, and Charlie is a stable influence on the wild child. Through shared secrets, love interests and holiday getaways, their relationship deepens to levels of unspoken intimacy, which eventually leads to jealousy and unrealistic expectations, and the teens soon find themselves on a trajectory toward a jarring outcome.
Already well-known as an actress in her native France, Mélanie Laurent ’s international breakthrough was her portrayal of Shosanna Dreyfus in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, for which she shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast with her co-stars. Her numerous credits include Beginners in which she played Ewan McGregor’s girlfriend, the Golden Globe-nominated film The Concert, and Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Ms. Laurent will next be seen in the Angelina Jolie-directed film By the Sea, co-starring Ms. Jolie and Brad Pitt, as well as in French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung’s Eternité. Her next directorial effort is Demain, a documentary about the environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXncAEif-zY
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THE DEMONS Directed by Philippe Lesage to World Premiere at San Sebastian International Film Festival
The Demons, directed by Quebec director Philippe Lesage, will get its world premiere in official competition at the 63rd San Sebastian International Film Festival (Donostia Zinemaldia) in Spain, which runs Sept. 18 to 26. The Demons will be competing for the Concha de Oro, the festival’s top prize, awarded in the past to such luminaries as Francis Ford Coppola, Claude Chabrol, Bahman Ghobadi, François Ozon, Peter Mullan and Arturo Ripstein. “I’m very honoured and happy to see my first feature selected in official competition at the prestigious San Sebastian festival,” said Lesage. “Bravo to our entire team!”
The film’s exceptional cast is mostly made up of children and teenagers, some making their first appearance on screen. The young actors include Édouard Tremblay-Grenier, Yannick Gobeil-Dugas, Vassili Schneider, Sarah Mottet, Mathis Thomas, Théodore Pellerin and Rose-Marie Perreault. They play alongside such seasoned professionals as Laurent Lucas, Pascale Bussières, Bénédicte Décary and younger talents including Victoria Diamond and Pier-Luc Funk.
With the city of Montreal shaken by a series of kidnappings of young boys, a sensitive 10-year-old named Félix lets his imagination run wild as he comes to the end of his school year. Nothing much ever seems to happen in the quiet suburbs where he lives, but Félix is afraid of everything: his parents’ impending divorce, the maniacs who target little boys, his weird neighbours, even the AIDS epidemic. Slowly but surely, the child’s imaginary demons begin to resemble those of the real, disturbing world around him.
Before venturing into fiction, Philippe Lesage made four feature-length documentaries: Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble ? (2007), Comment savoir si les petits poissons sont heureux ? (2009), Ce cœur qui bat (2010) andLaylou (2011). Centred on life in a Montreal hospital, Ce cœur qui bat won the prize for best Canadian film and most promising Canadian film at the 2010 Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), as well as the prize for best feature documentary at the 2012 Jutras. In 2011, Lepage was honoured with a retrospective of his works at the Cinémathèque Québécoise called Découvrir Lesage, giving the public a chance to see his early films. Between his many projects, Lesage also taught filmmaking at the European Film College in Denmark. His first two feature dramas – Copenhague A Love Story and The Demons – have been selected at a number of festivals and will open in cinemas in 2015 and 2016. His next feature, Genèse, is now in pre-production, with shooting slated to begin in the summer of 2016.
Produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin and Philippe Lesage for Les Films de l’Autre in collaboration with Unité Centrale, The Demons is written and directed by Philippe Lesage (2012 Jutra for best documentary, Ce cœur qui bat). The crew includes Dominique Noujeim, associate producer; Nicolas Canniccioni, director of photography; Marjorie Rhéaume, artistic director; Marcel Chouinard and Pascal Van Strydonck, sound (with overall design by Olivier Calvert); and Mathieu Bouchard Malo, editing. The Demons received funding from the SODEC, Téléfilm Canada, the CALQ, Super Écran and La Société Radio-Canada , as well as federal and Quebec tax credits.
The film is distributed in Canada by Funfilm Distribution and will open in Quebec cinemas on Oct. 30.
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Mexican Documentary, Café, Wins Grand Prize at 25th First Peoples Festival

The Mexican documentary, Café, by Hatuey Viveros Lavielle (pictured above), is the big winner of the 25th First Peoples Festival, winning both the Teueikan Grand Prize and the Best Sequences documentary Prize. In Café, a family struggles after the death of the father and primary provider. Tere, the mother must now sell crafts to earn money. Jorge, her son is nearly finished with law school and must now decide to continue with his plans of leaving and starting a professional career, or to stay home and help out with the family.When his 16-year-old sister reveals that she is pregnant, she too must face new challenges.
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Sundance Fest Documentary FINDERS KEEPERS Directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel Sets September Release Date
The documentary FINDERS KEEPERS directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel, and an Official Selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival will open in select theaters on September 25th. The documentary film follows the story that took place in 2007, when a severed human foot was discovered in a grill bought at a North Carolina auction. It only gets stranger from there.
A few years back, tabloids across the world were thrilled to report how the mummified leg of amputee John Wood was found in a barbecue grill purchased at an auction by flea marketer Shannon Whisnant. Naturally they were ecstatic to then report how Shannon subsequently sued John in a bizarre custody battle over the leg.
But a few things never made the papers: like how John had been keeping the leg as a painful memorial to his late father — or how Shannon had simply viewed the now-famous leg as a way out of a life of hardship.
Nor did the news mention how the ever-intensifying media frenzy, and an inexplicable chain of events sparked by the leg’s discovery, pushed John past the brink of addiction and very nearly to the grave, before ultimately offering him a second chance at life… and it was never known how the story really ended.
Set in rural North Carolina, Finders Keepers is an oftentimes hilarious, at turns tragic narrative that delves into the very real lives that created – and were forever changed by – the fantastical headlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexyqstg4-E
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11th HollyShorts Film Festival Star-Studded Opening Night Lineup to Feature Films Starring Rose McGowan, Jason Patric | TRAILERS
The 11th HollyShorts Film Festival (August 13-22) unveiled it’s star-studded opening night lineup today that features films starring Rose McGowan, Jason Patric, Sharon Lawrence, Rose McIver, Beth Grant, Robert Forster, Jennifer Morrison, Josh Lawson, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, and many more. The festival will also open with a new clip from 2009 HollyShorts Visionary Award recipient Eli Roth’s highly anticipated new feature film THE GREEN INFERNO from Blumhouse Productions, Universal and Focus Features. The film is being released in theaters on September 25.
Commented festival director Daniel Sol: “We are thrilled to open HollyShorts with such a star-studded and great lineup of short movies, it’s going to be quite a night and an epic week of incredible content! This year marks the biggest HollyShorts ever and we look forward to helping create opportunities for our filmmakers August 13-22 in Hollywood!”
The 11th HollyShorts Film Festival opening night takes place Thursday August 13, which is taking place at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and OHM nightclub at Hollywood & Highland.
HollyShorts opening night celebration will feature the following short films:
Weight of Blood and Bones (pictured above)
https://vimeo.com/129056788
Chris Ekstein’s western short Weight of Blood and Bones starring Jason Patric, Danny Trejo, Rose McGowan, Mark Boone Junior, Noah Hardin, Marissa Coughlan and Jeff Daniel Phillips. The Weight of Blood and Bones was inspired by characters from Zane Grey’s Novels and tells the story of how the past of a legendary bounty hunter catches up with him and haunts the memories of his young son. The film is Produced by Stacy Ekstein, p.g.a. and Kevin Ragsdale.
The Bridge Partner
https://vimeo.com/113459769
Gabriel Olson’s The Bridge Partner, written by acclaimed author Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) starring Beth Grant (Mindy Project), Emmy nominee Sharon Lawrence, Rebecca Brooks, Catherine Carlen and Robert Forster. The Bridge Partner tells the story of a timid housewife who is jolted into a fight for her survival when she thinks she hears her new parter at a weekly bridge game whisper a shocking threat.
Warning Labels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz2z_HQY0Gs
Warning Labels Directed by Jennifer Morrison (Once Upon A Time, Warrior, Star Trek), starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), Josh Lawson (House of Lies), and Rose McIver (iZombie). Warning Labels is centered on 2 workers for the Center For Disease Control who meet for drinks, only to discover that love is the most hazardous thing of all.
THE GREEN INFERNO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcpYPu9M3bw
Eli Roth’s THE GREEN INFERNO centers on a group of student activists traveling to the Amazon to save the rain forest. They soon discover they are not alone after crash-landing on a remote location, and are held hostage by a native tribe they set out to help save.
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