AFERIM!, Romania’s Official Entry for the 88th Academy Awards (Best Foreign Language Film) will be released in the US in 2016 via Big World Pictures. Directed by an acclaimed Romanian filmmaker, Radu Jude, AFERIM! was the winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, and was the Official Selection at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. AFERIM! will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York, and at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on January 22, 2016. A national release will follow.
The only contemporary Romanian film to address the issue of Gypsy slavery, AFERIM!, with dark humor, touches upon the long history of anti-Roma prejudice in Romania.
Eastern Europe, 1835. Two riders cross a barren landscape in the middle of Wallachia. They are the gendarme Constandin and his son. Together they are searching for a gypsy slave who has run away from his nobleman master and is suspected of having an affair with the noble’s wife. While the unflappable Constadin comments on every situation with a cheery aphorism, his son takes a more contemplative view of the world. On their odyssey they encounter people of different nationalities and beliefs: Turks and Russians, Christians and Jews, Romanians and Hungarians. Each harbors prejudices against the others which have been passed down from generation to generation. And even when the slave Carfin is found, the adventure is far from over…
Radu Jude’s third feature has been aptly compared to films as diverse as THE SEARCHERS, THE LAST DETAIL and PULP FICTION (the latter for its rambling, coarse and endlessly entertaining dialogues), but the film is ultimately a moving parable about late-feudal Europe developed from historical documents and songs: its power structures and hierarchies, people’s ideas of themselves and others, interaction with minorities and the resulting conflicts. A Balkan Western in black-and-white that brings the cacophony of the times strikingly to life and explores the thematic arcs that stretch into the present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmTYOY_jQWc-
Romania’s Oscar Entry, AFERIM! to open in NYC & LA on January 22, 2016
AFERIM!, Romania’s Official Entry for the 88th Academy Awards (Best Foreign Language Film) will be released in the US in 2016 via Big World Pictures. Directed by an acclaimed Romanian filmmaker, Radu Jude, AFERIM! was the winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, and was the Official Selection at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. AFERIM! will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York, and at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on January 22, 2016. A national release will follow.
The only contemporary Romanian film to address the issue of Gypsy slavery, AFERIM!, with dark humor, touches upon the long history of anti-Roma prejudice in Romania.
Eastern Europe, 1835. Two riders cross a barren landscape in the middle of Wallachia. They are the gendarme Constandin and his son. Together they are searching for a gypsy slave who has run away from his nobleman master and is suspected of having an affair with the noble’s wife. While the unflappable Constadin comments on every situation with a cheery aphorism, his son takes a more contemplative view of the world. On their odyssey they encounter people of different nationalities and beliefs: Turks and Russians, Christians and Jews, Romanians and Hungarians. Each harbors prejudices against the others which have been passed down from generation to generation. And even when the slave Carfin is found, the adventure is far from over…
Radu Jude’s third feature has been aptly compared to films as diverse as THE SEARCHERS, THE LAST DETAIL and PULP FICTION (the latter for its rambling, coarse and endlessly entertaining dialogues), but the film is ultimately a moving parable about late-feudal Europe developed from historical documents and songs: its power structures and hierarchies, people’s ideas of themselves and others, interaction with minorities and the resulting conflicts. A Balkan Western in black-and-white that brings the cacophony of the times strikingly to life and explores the thematic arcs that stretch into the present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmTYOY_jQWc
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SPOTLIGHT Starring Michael Keaton is Closing Night Film of Chicago International Film Festival
Spotlight has been added to the 51st Chicago International Film Festival as its Closing Night selection. Spotlight will be shown at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival on Thursday, October 29, 2015.
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James and Stanley Tucci, Spotlight tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, Spotlight is a tense investigative dramatic-thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest cover-ups in modern times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXymzwz0V2g
Spotlight adds to the list of Oscar contenders screening at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival, which also includes Carol, Brooklyn, Where To Invade Next, and 45 Years.
“Spotlight has everything we love about movies -a great cast, an intriguing story, and just the right dose of controversy,” says Founder & Artistic Director Michael Kutza. “Each year, we make a point to bring films to Chicago that aren’t just entertaining, but important and vital works of art. ‘Spotlight’ is one of those movies.”
“We are thrilled to bring the 51st Festival to a close with such a strong film,” added Programming Director Mimi Plauché.
Spotlight opens in select Chicago theaters on November 6, 2015.
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FilmBuff to Release SXSW Comedy Hit A WONDERFUL CLOUD
FilmBuff announced today that it will release A Wonderful Cloud, a feature-length improv comedy written, directed, and starring Eugene Kotlyarenko, with Kate Lyn Sheil (House of Cards, Queen of Earth) in the US. The film, which is inspired by the real life relationship between Kotlyarenko and Sheil, debuted at SXSW, and will open in select theaters nationwide and will be available on all major On Demand platforms starting Friday, October 23rd, 2015.
When Katelyn travels to Los Angeles in hopes of wresting control of a clothing company from her ex, Eugene, she quickly realizes he has more than just business in mind. Unable to deny their emotional past, the pair spend the weekend trying to determine once and for all whether they have a future in store. Set in an LA full of eccentrics, this raw romantic comedy finds a former off-screen couple energetically playing out their real-world baggage in front of the camera, for laughs and tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH63SD1tOj4
“I’m super pumped to be getting A Wonderful Cloud out there through FilmBuff,” says Kotlyarenko. “This movie is extremely personal for me and has turned out to be a lot of fun for audiences so far. I’m really curious to see how people will react to something this confessional, that’s still aiming to entertain.”
A Wonderful Cloud is Eugene Kotlyarenko’s second feature film, with critics admiring his style, and his onscreen rapport with Sheil. Variety praised the film, commenting: “Those seeking a raucous, wholly improvised 21st-century Annie Hall need look no farther…” while Indiewire commented: “Fueled by the creative liberation of improvisation and steered by a real-life shared history,” A Wonderful Cloud is “a good kind of weird.”
“We see a lot of movies every year and it’s rare to find one that feels so funny, intimate and daring,” says FilmBuff’s Jake Hanly. “We knew A Wonderful Cloud was special right away and our team is excited to see audiences connect with it.”
A Wonderful Cloud will be available on all major On Demand platforms, including Amazon Instant Video, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Google Play, iTunes, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Vudu, and Xbox, beginning on Friday, October 23rd, 2015, and will open in Los Angeles at the Laemmle’s Playhouse 7.
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European Film Academy to Honor Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz
The European Film Academy will present Charlotte Rampling with the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, and the European Achievement In World Cinema will go to two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Both Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz will be honorary guests at the 28th European Film Awards Ceremony on December 12th, 2015, in Berlin.
Born in England, Charlotte Rampling grew up in Gibraltar, France, Italy and Spain to become a truly European multi-language actress. Throughout her career, Charlotte Rampling has worked with great European directors from Luchino Visconti, Liliana Cavani and Patrice Chéreau to François Ozon, Laurent Cantet, Claude Lelouch, Gianni Amelio, Bille August and Lars von Trier. Charlotte Rampling is a five-time EFA Nominee and won European Actress 2003 for SWIMMING POOL. She has received an Honorary César and has been nominated four times in France, as the murder suspect Barbara in HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN, the lonely wife in UNDER THE SAND, a famous mystery author in SWIMMING POOL and the deranged Alice Pollock in LEMMING. She recently received a Silver Berlin Bear for her role in 45 YEARS which is also part of this year’s EFA Selection. Among some of Charlotte Rampling’s most interesting films are THE NIGHT PORTER by Liliana Cavani, HEADING SOUTH by Laurent Cantet, STARDUST MEMORIES by Woody Allen, THE VERDICT by Sidney Lumet, UNDER THE SAND by François Ozon, MAX MY LOVE by Nagisa Oshima and MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier.
Born in Austria, Christoph Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and in New York. He started out as a theatre actor and quickly became a popular TV star. In 2009 Christoph Waltz shot to international fame with Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for which he received the Best Actor Award in Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and his first Oscar. He acted in THE GREEN HORNET by Michel Gondry, in CARNAGE by Roman Polanski and in 2012 he again collaborated with Quentin Tarantino, playing Dr. King Schultz in DJANGO UNCHAINED which won him another Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and ultimately a second Oscar. And he plays a leading part in the new James Bond film SPECTRE.
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First Irish Screen America Film Festival is a Hit, Featuring Irish Films and Directors
The inaugural 2015 Irish Screen America Film Festival (ISA) took place recently in Los Angeles and New York, attracting more 3,000 attendees. Launched in 2015, ISA is an organization created to seek out and promote influential and emerging Irish talent to the U.S. and showcase the very best of contemporary Irish film, TV, animation, video games and interactive media.
The festival’s Executive Director and Curator, Kilmacanogue native and Emmy-winning producer/director Niall McKay and Deputy Directors Clodagh Bowyer and Marissa Aroy welcomed guests on both coasts to the festivals which came to a close in New York on Monday, October 5.
Niall McKay said, “This year, we were able to showcase over 13 films to over three thousand people in both New York and Los Angeles and introduce our participating filmmakers to important industry professionals. Of course, none of this could happen if they weren’t making beautiful films that we are able to showcase. It’s really a great time for Irish filmmaking. It was also really gratifying to see that many of the projects from our local Irish program in New York, such as “You Are Beautiful,” “Creativity Requires Courage,” and “On the Lig,” sprung out of the relationships created at the prior editions of the festivals.”
Irish writer/directors Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy were on hand in both Los Angeles and New York to introduce guests to their confident, timely, Opening Night thriller TRADERS. Also attending ISA’s festivities, either presenting their films or participating in programs were breakthrough LA-based Irish directors Fergal Reilly (ANGRY BIRDS), Ruairi Robinson (LAST DAY ON MARS), Gary Shore (DRACULA UNTOLD); actors Peter O’Meara (TRADERS, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION), Kevin J. Ryan (PADDY’S IN THE BOOT, COPPERS), Dónall Ó Héalaí (TRADERS, SÍNTE), Glenn Keogh (LUCKY ME BOLLIX, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION), Wallis Murphy Munn (SANDBOY); and short film directors Vittoria Colonna (SANDBOY), Marcus Fox (LUCKY ME BOLLIX), Kevin Shulman (PADDY’S IN THE BOOT) Andrew Baird (BREAKING THROUGH) Liam Hallihan (MARTIN’S LIFE); and Masterclass Instructors director Cathy Brady (MORNING, WASTED), and Oscar®-nominated screenwriter and director Naomi Sheridan, amongst others.
Other festival guests included Barbara Jones – Consul General of Ireland in New York and Kevin Byrne – Irish Vice Consul of Ireland in San Francisco; producers Jonathan Loughran and Gabrielle Kelly; former Miss Ireland and RTÉ presenter, actress Olivia Tracey; Bernadette O’Neill; Rachel Rath; Kevin Marron; Johnnie A O’Callaghan; Jasmine Jaisinghani (AFI, IFFLA); Catherine Siggins; Siobhan Flynn; Tara Halloran (SVP British Film Commission); Lisa McLaughlin-Strassman; Pascal Ladreyt (ELMA); Joan Burney Keatings (Cinemagic); poet Maureen Grady and Daniel Nyiri.
ISA presented an award at the Los Angeles Opening Night Reception to “outstanding new filmmakers & influential and emerging Irish talent”. Recipients of the 2015 ISA Rising Talent Award were Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Liam Hallihan, Cathy Brady, Laura McGee, Naomi Sheridan and Dónall Ó Héalaí. The awards were presented to the filmmakers by Teresa McGrane, Deputy Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) who said “‘What we have witnessed this weekend is the extraordinary breadth of Irish talent both living and working in the US and Ireland – Irish Screen America is an incredible platform to share stories and at the same time have a lot of fun. Thank you to Niall and the ISA team – we know the hard work they put in and we wish ISA every success in building on an amazing launch.”
Highlights of the combined program included Daisy Asquith’s documentary “After the Dance,” the Sundance Award-winning, IFTA-nominated “Glassland,” Frank Berry’s “I Used to Live Here,” the shorts program including “Wasted” by Cathy Brady, Liam Halihan’s super funny animation “Martin’s Life” and the premiere screening of Niall McKay and Marissa Aroy’s “On the Lig”.
The programs included a highly successful, sold out panel discussion entitled “Stories From the Field” with directors Ruairi Robinson (“Last Day on Mars”), Fergal Reilly (“Angry Birds”) and Gary Shore (“Dracula Untold”) in Los Angeles and packed out master classes from Academy Award® nominated screenwriter, Naomi Sheridan in Los Angeles and IFTA-award-winning director Cathy Brady in New York.
ISA’s film festival roadshow will continue to take place annually in the fall in Los Angeles and New York featuring contemporary and critically-acclaimed Irish feature films and documentaries, New Irish Talent Showcases (shorts, web shows, animation and games), a selection of filmmaker Q&A’s, master classes, industry panel discussions and filmmaker receptions.
Image 1: Los Angeles – Olivia Tracey (fmr Miss Ireland), Niall McKay (ISA), Naomi Sheridan (screenwriter), Teresa McGrane (Irish Film Board)
Image 2: Los Angeles Irish Directors Panel – L-R Fergal Reilly (Director Angry Birds), Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), Niall McKay (IFA), Ruairi Robinson (Last Day on Mars)
Image 3: New York Reception for opening of ISA New York Film Festival – Niall McKay (ISA), Barbara Jones, Consul General of Ireland in New York (1)
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Magnolia Pictures, Duplass Brothers Launch TANGERINE Oscar Campaign for Transgender Stars
Magnolia Pictures and the Duplass Brothers are launching an Oscar campaign for TANGERINE stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, reports Variety. This will reportedly be the first awards season push for transgender actress by a movie distributor in Hollywood history. Rodriguez will be pushed as Lead Actress and Taylor as Supporting. They plan on bids for screenwriting and cinematography for the film as well.
TANGERINE directed by Sean Baker, was released earlier this Summer via Magnolia Pictures, and earned a lot of well deserved attention for not only featuring transgender actresses in prominent roles, but also for its technical feat – it was shot on an iPhone 5s. The film follows a prostitute, who’s just released from prison, and headed to Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
Mark Duplass points out that AMPAS is behind the various TV academies in terms of recognizing trans actors; he tells Variety, “Jay and I are new to the Academy, so we’re just figuring this whole thing out. One thing that has become apparent to us as we look at this stuff, it seems that the TV Academy has embraced what’s happening in the trans movement with ‘Transparent’ and ‘Orange is the New Black.’ We feel that the film Academy is a little behind on that front.”
This TANGERINE campaign offers a vital counterpoint to “Oscar bait” campaigns in which straight, cisgender, white actors portray trans characters. Mark Duplass tells Variety of this counterpoint, “This is the time for it. We’re in the middle of a civil rights movement.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, STARLET, “Generation Kill”) hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity. Director Sean Baker’s prior films (STARLET, PRINCE OF BROADWAY) brought rich texture and intimate detail to worlds seldom seen on film. Shot on an iPhone 5s, TANGERINE follows suit, bursting off the screen with energy and style. A decidedly modern Christmas tale told on the streets of L.A., TANGERINE defies expectation at every turn.
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CAROL, I AM MICHAEL, SWORN VIRGIN Among Films on 2015 Chicago International Film Festival LGBTQ+ Lineup
The 51st Chicago International Film Festival (Oct. 15-29) announced the lineup for OUT-Look, its competitive LGBTQ+ program that showcases new artistic perspectives on sexuality and identity. The international OUT-Look program is inclusive of a variety of LGBTQ+ experiences, ranging from Carol (pictured above), the story of a love affair between a wealthy housewife (Cate Blanchett) and a young shop clerk (Rooney Mara, winner of the Best Actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) to I Am Michael, based on the controversial true story of Michael Glatze, a one-time gay-rights activist turned straight, conservative pastor. I Am Michael features outstanding performances by James Franco and Zachary Quinto.
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2015 Stockholm Film Festival unleashes Twilight Zone Film Lineup, incl. GREEN ROOM
The 2015 Stockholm Film Festival reveals the titles in the film section Twilight Zone. Twilight Zone is the film section that offers the most adrenaline-filled and nerve wrecking cinema experiences. “This year’s Twilight Zone presents more realistic and present dangers without being detached from the dark and the fantastic. Neo-nazis and punks clash in Green Room, a virus outbreak in Denmark triggers military action against middle class suburbia and a giant tsunami hits Norway,” says George Ivanov, program director at Stockholm Film Festival.
A selection of titles:
Baskin (2015) Can Evrenol, Turkey. Nordic premiere.
Crumbs (2015), Miguel Llansó, Ethiopia, Spain. Scandinavian premiere.
Demon (2015), Marcin Wrona, Poland, Israel. Nordic premiere.
Green Room (2015), Jeremy Saulnier, USA. Scandinavian premiere.
I am a Hero (2015) Shinsuke Sato, Japan. Nordic premiere.
Island City (2015) Ruchika Oberoi, India. Nordic premiere.
Office (2015) Won-Chan Hong, South Korea. Nordic premiere.
The Devil’s Candy (2015) Sean Byrne, USA. Swedish premiere.
The Invitation (2015), Karyn Kusama, USA. Nordic premiere.
The Wave (2015) Roar Uthaug, Norway. Swedish premiere.
Violator (2014) Dodo Dayao, Philippines. Nordic premiere.
What We Become (2015) Bo Mikkelsen, Denmark. Nordic premiere.
With The Lips Closed (2015) Carlos Osuna, Colombia. World premiere.
Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (2015), Takashi Miike, Japan. Nordic premiere.
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NO ONE’S CHILD, LEMON, THE LOOK OF SILENCE Among 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival Jury Award Winners
The 7th Milwaukee Film Festival announced its 2015 Jury Award Winners on Sunday, with awards given out in both the Competition and Cream City Cinema programs. No One’s Child directed by Vuk Ršumović is the winner of the Herzfeld Competition Award. No One’s Child, based on a remarkable true story, takes us deep into the mountains of Bosnia, where we’re introduced to a feral child living among the wolves. Upon his discovery in 1988, he is sent to a Belgrade orphanage. There, he struggles to relate to his peers until a friendship allows him to embrace humanity, only for the Balkan War to put pressure on his caretakers to return him to his homeland.
Lemon directed by John Roberts is the winner of the Cream City Cinema, this is the second win for John Roberts, who also won the award in 2009. In Lemon, a girl saves money to buy a bicycle, but is swindled by an old man.
The Look of Silence directed by Joshua Oppenheimer is the winner of the Documentary Jury Award. A critically acclaimed companion piece to the breathtaking look into the heart of darkness that was THE ACT OF KILLING (the sensation of MFF2013), THE LOOK OF SILENCE approaches the 1960s Indonesian genocide not from the perspective of its perpetrators but the survivors.
Brico Forward Fund top honors were awarded for continued production of a feature documentary based on local filmmaker Erik Ljung’s Mothers For Justice, a short film included in the 2015 Cream City Cinema’s Milwaukee Show II. Mothers for Justice follows Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton who was shot by a police officer in 2014 in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park. In 2015, Maria Hamilton founded the organization Mothers for Justice dedicated to uniting mothers who have lost children in police related deaths and demanding further investigation and accountability from law enforcement.
2015 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL JURY AWARDS
Abele Catalyst Award Donna and Donald Baumgartner
Herzfeld Competition Award ($10,000 cash) No One’s Child (dir. Vuk Ršumović)
Cream City Cinema ($5,000 cash) Lemon (dir. John Roberts)
Cream City Cinema Special Jury Prize The Sound Man (dir. Chip Duncan)
Documentary Jury Award ($5,000 cash) The Look of Silence (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer) Shorter Is Better Award ($1,000 cash) Giovanni and the Water Ballet (dir. Astrid Bussink)Shorter Is Better Special Jury Prizes We Can’t Live Without Cosmos (dir. Konstantin Bronzit) De Smet (dirs. Thomas Baerten, Wim Geudens)
Kids Choice Short Film Award ($1,000 cash) A Place in the Middle (dirs. Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson) Kids Choice Special Jury PrizesPapa (dir. Natalie Labarre) Johnny Express (dir. James Woo)
Pitch Us Your Doc! Contest Winner (initially announced October 3) Wingman Dad (Elizabeth Ridley)
Brico Forward Fund Winners Mothers for Justice (working title) (Erik Ljung) $25,000 cash and $10,000 from Independent After her black, unarmed, schizophrenic son, Dontre, is shot 14 times and killed by a Milwaukee Police Officer in a popular downtown park, Maria Hamilton attempts to rally grieving mothers from across the country to join her in a Million Moms March on Washington D.C. The Night Country (Oliver Franklin Anderson) $10,000 cash, $15,000 from North American Camera, $15,000 from the Electric Sun Company and $10,000 from RDI StagesSmoke from an industrial fire brings the residents of a small Midwestern town into communion with spirits preying on their fears and desires on a stormy summer night.
When Claude Got Shot (Brad Lichtenstein) $10,000 cash, $6,000 from RDI Stages, $5,000 from the Electric Sun Company, $5,000 from Independent When Claude Got Shot’s story of three strangers brought together by gun violence humanizes and disrupts the narrative about so-called “black on black” crime in America. Never Home (working title) (Pang Yang Her) $5,000 from Independent Why do cities continue to struggle in treating those with Sexual Assault within minority communities? Through the journey of Joua Yang, a Hmong American women sexually assaulted at the age of nine, Never Home examines a survivor’s strength to both unravel cultural confusion and use her story to help other heals from their past. Just Eat (Laura Dyan Kezman) $5,000 from North American Camera Just Eat opens up the guarded world of the estimated 30 million people affected by eating disorders in our country. We follow the stories of prominent researchers, grieving parents fighting for recognition, and the diagnosed sufferers, crying out for help. Lunar Man (Kyle V. James) $5,000 cash for script development After stealing a time-travel suit on a desert planet, a lawless miner must seek help from a beautiful young hunter to help him escape from a dangerous group of bandits called The Sharks.
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Civil Rights Icon Grace Lee Boggs, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, Dies at 100
Grace Lee Boggs, civil rights icon, and subject of the 2013 documentary American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, has died at the age of 100.
According to the a statement on the Boggs Center website, Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit on Monday night, October 5, 2015.
Philosopher-Activist Grace Lee Boggs Dies in Detroit: A Champion for the People October 5, 2015–Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit this morning. She had recently celebrated her 100th birthday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Grace was an internationally known philosopher activist for justice. She had been politically active since the 1930’s working with A. Phillip Randolph’s first march on Washington and later C.L.R. James. For more than 40 years she worked closely with her late husband James Boggs in advancing ideas of revolution and evolution for the 20th and 21st Centuries. She helped organize the 1963 March down Woodward Avenue with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Grassroots Leadership Conference with Malcolm X. Grace Lee Boggs was active in Labor, Civil Rights, Black Power, women and environmental justice movements. Later, with her husband James, she helped organize SOSAD, WePros, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Gardening Angels and Detroit Summer. Grace was a founding member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership and was a strong advocate for place based education and supported the James and Grace Lee Boggs School. “Grace died as she lived surrounded by books, politics, people and ideas,” said Alice Jennings and Shea Howell, two of her Trustees. A memorial celebrating her life will be announced later.
President Barack Obama, issued a statement, saying “Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others – from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the civil rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. As the child of Chinese immigrants and as a woman, Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core – the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny. Grace’s passion for helping others, and her work to rejuvenate communities that had fallen on hard times spanned her remarkable 100 years of life, and will continue to inspire generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family and friends, and all those who loved her dearly.”
The filmmakers of the documentary also issued a statement saying, “Grace Lee Boggs passed away peacefully this morning. We are so grateful for the vision of justice and human connection that she gave us and feel incredibly privileged to have been able to share her story with others.”
The documentary film, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, plunges us into Boggs’s lifetime of vital thinking and action, traversing the major U.S. social movements of the last century; from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, the Asian American and environmental justice movements and beyond. Boggs’s constantly evolving strategy—her willingness to re-evaluate and change tactics in relation to the world shifting around her—drives the story forward. Angela Davis, Bill Moyers, Bill Ayers, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Boggs’s late husband James and a host of Detroit comrades across three generations help shape this uniquely American story. As she wrestles with a Detroit in ongoing transition, contradictions of violence and non-violence, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, the 1967 rebellions, and non-linear notions of time and history, Boggs emerges with an approach that is radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression or merely a protest. Revolution, Boggs says, is about something deeper within the human experience — the ability to transform oneself to transform the world.
POV is streaming the film for free until November 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JvyZtNA4CU
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Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez Win Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellowships in Film
Queer/Art/Mentorship, the multi-disciplinary, inter-generational arts program that pairs and supports mentorship between emerging and established LGBTQI artists in NYC, has announced the eleven Fellows accepted for its 2015-2016 annual mentorship cycle.
The Fellows chosen in five artistic disciplines are Monstah Black, Eva Peskin and Justine Williams in Performance; Jacob Matkov and Brendan Williams-Childs in Literary; Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez in Film; Caroline Wells Chandler and Doron Langberg in Visual Arts; and Hugh Ryan in Curatorial.
The 2015-2016 Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellows in Film are
Rodrigo Bellott was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His breakout film, Sexual Dependency won over 15 awards in over 65 film festivals around the world and was also Bolivia’s first film competing for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 2004 Academy Awards. VARIETY magazine named Bellott as one of the “TOP TEN Latin American Talents to Watch”.
Bellott will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Silas Howard on the film adaptation of his play Tu Me Manques, that explores contemporary queer identity in the moment of historical change in contrast with the current situations in other parts of the world.
Erin Greenwell wrote and directed the feature film My Best Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her other directing endeavors include Oh Come On, a punk DIY performance video for Kathleen Hanna’s band The Julie Ruin and The Golden Age of Hustlers, featuring Justin Vivian Bond’s remake of the iconic song written by legendary punk chanteuse Bambi Lake. In 2006, Greenwell formed Smithy Productions, a production company, with the aim of cultivating talents from the queer/independent art community under the umbrella of narrative and documentary storytelling.
Greenwell will be working with Mentor, director and screenwriter Stacie Passon to develop her narrative feature length script, The Flight Deck, based on the butch/femme lesbian bar scene in Buffalo, NY during the 1950s.
Mylo Mendez is a Texas-born video artist currently based in Brooklyn. Hir work uses humor, narrative, and characters with aberrant bodies to navigate identity, social and geographical borders, and history. Mendez has been featured in group shows in New York City and Austin. Ze received hir MFA from Parsons The New School for Design.
Mendez will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris on a film about the intersection of trans and punk identities and communities in New York City.
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IMPERIAL DREAMS, 3 1/2 MINUTES, TEN BULLETS, TIME TO GO, Win Top Honors at 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival
The 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival held from September 29 to October 4, 2015, announced its prize winners at the Festival’s closing ceremonies on Sunday. Malik Vital’s Imperial Dreams won the award for Best Narrative Feature, Marc Silver’s 31/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets won the award for Best Documentary Feature, and Loîc Barché’s Le Commencement won the award for Best Narrative Short.
Winners of 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE: Malik Vital’s Imperial Dreams (USA)
In Imperial Dreams, a 21-year-old reformed gangster’s devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Honorable mentions to: Ernest Nkosi’s Thina Sobabili (South Africa)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA)
3 1⁄2 MINUTES, TEN BULLETS dissects the shooting death of 17-year old Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn in Jacksonville, Florida on Black Friday 2012. The film examines the aftermath of this systemic tragedy, the contradictions within the American criminal justice system—particularly the implications of the “Stand Your Ground” self-defence law— and the racial prejudices that ensued. With intimate access, the film follows the trial of Dunn and its deep impact on Jordan’s family and friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKbCoRA__UI
Honorable mention to: Michiel Thomas’ Game Face (USA) and Stanley Nelson’s Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (USA)
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT: Loîc Barché’s Le Commencement (Time To Go) (France)
Ever since he was a child, the Musician has had only one goal: becoming a great guitar player. Now thirty, he’s living with a young welder, Elsa, who wants to build a life with him. But the Musician knows that for as long as he hasn’t achieved his goal he will never be able to commit to anything or anyone else. One night, however, Elsa convinces him to take a job in a music shop in a nearby city. But on the way there, the Musician meets a strange man who promises to make his dreams come true in exchange for his soul…
Honorable mention to: Anna Muso’s Ran Fast (USA)