• THE TALE Starring Laura Dern to have South African Premiere at Durban International Film Festival [Trailer]

    The Tale The Tale, starring Laura Dern will have its South African Premiere at this year’s Durban International Film Festival. The director Jennifer Fox will be in attendance at the DIFF to present her film, and at the Durban FilmMart where she will be participating in a panel session entitled The Medium is the Message, where she will be discussing the transition from documentary film-making to narrative film-making. The Tale will screen on Saturday, July 21 at 14:15 at Suncoast CineCentre followed by a screening on July 23 at 16:00 at Musgrave Ster Kinekor. The Tale chronicles one woman’s powerful investigation into her own childhood memories, as she is forced to reexamine her first sexual experience – and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. The film is written and directed by Sundance Grand Prize winner and Emmy® nominee Jennifer Fox, who based it on her own true story. Starring Laura Dern (Oscar® nominee for “Wild” and “Rambling Rose”; Emmy® winner for HBO’s “Big Little Lies”; Emmy® nominee for HBO’s “Enlightened,” “Recount” and “Afterburn”), together with Isabelle Nélisse (“Mama”), Elizabeth Debicki (“The Night Manager”), Jason Ritter (“Kevin (Probably) Saves the World”), Frances Conroy (Emmy® nominee for HBO’s “Six Feet Under”) and John Heard (Emmy® nominee for HBO’s “The Sopranos”), with Common (Oscar® winner for “Selma”) and Ellen Burstyn (Academy Award® winner for “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”). An accomplished documentarian working in New York, Jennifer (Laura Dern) is completing her latest project about the lives of women around the world. She receives a series of phone calls from her mother, Nettie (Ellen Burstyn), who has found a short story Jennifer wrote at age 13, in which she describes various encounters with her riding instructor, Mrs. G (Elizabeth Debicki), and her running coach, Bill (Jason Ritter), while at summer camp. Nettie is unnerved by the implications of her daughter’s writing, but Jennifer is nonplussed. She has always looked back with fondness on the time she spent with these two charismatic adults. The Tale Egged on by Nettie and encouraged by her supportive fiancé (Common), Jennifer yearns to know more and sets out on a journey, 30 years later, to find those people from her past – the children, now adults, who also attended the camp back then – and eventually the coaches themselves. But the more she learns, the more her memories shift and the more questions she unearths. As Jennifer’s frustration mounts, she finds herself turning inward to get to the truth, imagining conversations with her 13-year-old self (Isabelle Nélisse) and even Mrs. G and Bill in an effort to understand how and why events occurred so long ago. An unforgettable meditation on the elusive nature of memory, The Tale is the first narrative feature from Jennifer Fox, whose documentary films have earned international acclaim for their groundbreaking artistry and unflinching honesty. Based on Fox’s own life story, THE TALE sees the filmmaker bravely pushing forward the boundaries of conventional storytelling, creating a dialogue between past and present to illustrate the interplay between memory and trauma. “My goal was not to ask, ‘Did this happen?,’ because I always remembered it,” explains writer and director Fox. “It was, ‘How and why did it happen, and how and why did I spin it as a positive story?’ There was a lightbulb moment when I was making another film about women all around the world, and it seemed that every other woman – regardless of class, culture or color – had an abuse story to tell. Their stories just floored me, because they had a system or a paradigm that looked like my story. Suddenly, I couldn’t see it as my own private little narrative and knew that it was time to investigate what happened in the open space of a fictional film.” [caption id="attachment_30723" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Tale Director Jennifer Fox The Tale Director Jennifer Fox[/caption] The Tale is produced by Jennifer Fox, Oren Moverman, Laura Rister, Mynette Louie, Simone Pero, Lawrence Inglee, Sol Bondy, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman and Reka Posta. Julie Parker Benello, Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous, Wendy Ettinger, Abigail E. Disney, Robert & Penny Fox, Jayme Lemons, Amy Rodrigue, Ali Jazayeri, Jason Van Eman, David Van Eman, Ross Marroso and Ben McConley are executive producers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXpYsr3AL4U

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  • MIDNIGHT RUNNER – First FOCUS Competition Film Confirmed for 14th Zurich Film Festival

    Based on a real-life crime that took place in Berne, Midnight Runner (2018) will screen at the 14th Zurich Film Festival. The Swiss production is one of twelve films to compete for the Golden Eye in the festival’s FOCUS competition section. Director Hannes Baumgartner and the producers Stefan Eichenberger and Ivan Madeo from Contrast Film will be in Zurich to present their film. Midnight Runner tells the story of successful long-distance runner Jonas Widmer, who, in addition to training for the Olympic marathon, is a hard-working chef and forms one half of a stable relationship. Jonas becomes increasingly haunted by memories of his dead brother after failing to defend a home-race title. Unable to express his inner suffering in words, the protagonist’s growing despair leads him to live a tragic double life. Zurich-born director Hannes Baumgartner based his feature film on a real-life Swiss crime. Transposed to the present day, Baumgartner’s interpretation of the actual case is subjective. He presents an ambivalent on-screen character, the actions of whom he attempts to understand as a result of a densely woven network comprising formative experiences, repressive processes and inner turmoil. Midnight Runner is Hannes Baumgartner’s debut feature film. Baumgartner worked on the screenplay together with author Stefan Staub. Actor Max Hubacher, recent winner of the Swiss Film Award for Best Actor for his role in MARIO (2018), plays the lead. Luna Wedler can be seen in a supporting role. This up-and-coming Swiss actress was a guest at last year’s Zurich Film Festival with the winning film BLUE MY MIND (2017). Midnight Runner celebrates its world premiere screening at San Sebastian Film Festival, the Zurich Film Festival’s partner festival. The film hits Swiss cinemas on October 4, 2018, distributed by Filmcoopi Zürich.

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  • MEMOIR OF WAR Based on Marguerite Duras’ Novel “The War: A Memoir” Sets August Release Date

    MEMOIR OF WAR MEMOIR OF WAR, Emmanuel Finkiel’s haunting adaptation of seminal author Marguerite Duras’ semi-autobiographical novel “The War: A Memoir” starring Mélanie Thierry (THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER) in a riveting performance as Duras will be released via Music Box Films. An emotionally complex story of love, loss, and perseverance against the backdrop of war, MEMOIR OF WAR will open in New York on August 17 at Film Forum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, and in Los Angeles on August 24 at the Laemmle Royal. Other cities will follow. It’s 1944, and Duras is an active Resistance member along with her husband, writer Robert Antelme, and a band of fellow subversives in Nazi-occupied Paris. When Antelme is deported to Dachau by the Gestapo, she becomes friendly with French collaborator Rabier (Benoît Magimel) to gain information at considerable risk to her underground cell. But as the months wear on without news of her husband, she must begin the process of confronting the unimaginable. Through subtly expressionistic images and voiceover passages of Duras’ writing, Finkiel evokes the inner world of one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary writers. Marguerite Duras was a highly successful novelist, memoirist, screenwriter, essayist and experimental filmmaker. Her script for Alain Resnais’ seminal film HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. She went on to write over 30 novels and direct 19 films. Duras won the Prix Goncourt (France’s most distinguished literary prize) for “The Lover.” “The War: A Memoir” (“La Douleur”) was written in 1944 and first published in 1985. The book has been translated and released in over 20 countries. Award-winning writer-director Emmanuel Finkiel began his career as an assistant director to Bertrand Tavernier, Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Jean-Luc Godard. His first outing as a filmmaker, MADAME JACQUES ON THE CROISETTE, won a César Award for Best Short Film. His first feature length film, VOYAGES, which follows the travels of three elderly Jewish women whose lives were touched by the Holocaust, earned him two César Awards (Best First Film and Best Editing) and the Youth Award in Cannes. In 2008, he won the prestigious Jean Vigo Award for NOWHERE PROMISED LAND which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival. He has also directed documentaries including CASTING (2001) and JE SUIS (2012).

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  • Sarajevo Film Festival Announces 2018 Feature Film Competition Program Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_30801" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]LEMONADE LEMONADE[/caption] The Sarajevo Film Festival announced the lineup of its 2018 Feature Film Competition Program.  The lineup includes the World Premieres of ALL ALONE, LOVE 1. DOG, ONE AND A HALF PRINCE and THE PIGEON THIEVES.

    WORLD PREMIERES

    ALL ALONE / SAM SAMCAT Croatia, Netherlands, Serbia, Montenegro, B&H, 2018, 88 min. Director: Bobo Jelčić LOVE 1. DOG / DRAGOSTE 1. CÂINE Romania, Poland, 2018, 103 min. Director: Florin Șerban ONE AND A HALF PRINCE / UN PRINȚ ȘI JUMĂTATE Romania, 2018, 103 min. Director: Ana Lungu THE PIGEON THIEVES / GÜVERCIN HIRSIZLARI Turkey, 2018, 82 min. Director: Osman Doğan

    INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

    MALI Croatia, 2018, 90 min. Director: Antonio Nuić

    REGIONAL PREMIERES

    ÁGA Bulgaria, Germany, France, 2018, 96 min. Director: Milko Lazarov HORIZON / HORIZONTI Georgia, Sweden, 2018, 105 min. Director: Tinatin Kajrishvili LEMONADE Romania, Canada, Germany, Sweden, 2018, 88 min. Director: Ioana Uricaru ONE DAY / EGY NAP Hungary, 2018, 99 min. Director: Zsófia Szilágyi THE LOAD / TERET Serbia, France, Croatia, Iran, Qatar, 2018, 98 min. Director: Ognjen Glavonić

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  • Documentary 40 YEARS IN THE MAKING: THE MAGIC MUSIC MOVIE Opens in Theaters on August 3 [Trailer]

    [caption id="attachment_30705" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie[/caption] Magic Music is one of the most fondly remembered bands of the Boulder Revolution of the late 60s and early 70s. Living in a makeshift camp up in the mountains, they would delight local residents and university students with their original songs, acoustic instruments, and light harmonies; their growing popularity brought them to the brink of success more than once. Unfortunately, they never signed a record deal and eventually broke up in 1975. 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie chronicles how one of their greatest fans, acclaimed director (and UC Boulder alumnus) Lee Aronsohn, tracked down the original band members four decades later to tell their story. More importantly, he makes a dream come true for himself, fellow fans, and the band, by bringing them all back to Boulder for a sold-out reunion concert that preserves their legacy for posterity. 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie opens in theaters on August 3 with additional markets to follow. The Orchard will release the film digitally on September 4. The film is written and directed by Emmy-nominated writer-producer Lee Aronsohn (Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory) and produced by Fleur Saville. Executive Producers are Aronsohn and Lisa Haisha and Producer is Jeff Jampol. Cinematography is by Dean Cornish with editing by Kyle Vorbach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N87NMTsr4So

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  • Teemu Nikki’s Acclaimed Horror Film EUTHANIZER Injects into Theaters this July [Trailer]

    Euthanizer Writer/director Teemu Nikki’s Euthanizer injects into theaters this July, and August on VOD, via Uncork’d Entertainment. Veijo runs a black-market operation euthanizing people’s ailing pets to make extra money. It is clear he has dark secrets, but only after meeting a young nurse and a seedy mechanic (who’s mixed up with a vicious gang of neo-Nazis) that Veijo’s carefully balanced, albeit deranged, life begins to show cracks. Things turn to the extreme when Veijo does not finish a job he was paid to and his client finds out…in this grungy exploitation throwback. Euthanizer will play in L.A theaters (other cities to be announced) from July 20, with a VOD release set for August 7.

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  • Icelandic Coming-of-age Drama THE SWAN Sets Release Date [Trailer]

      Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir The Swan Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir’s first feature film The Swan, based on the acclaimed novel by Guðbergur Bergsson, is an elegant coming-of-age story that beautifully captures the stunning Icelandic countryside. The film which world premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival will open in theaters on August 10th in New York at Village East, and on August 17th in Los Angeles at Laemmle Royal. In contemporary rural Iceland, a wayward 9-year old girl, Sól, is sent to distant countryside relatives for a summer to work and to mature. Nature seems endless there, the animals soulful but the people harsh. All except the mysterious farmhand Jón, who – as herself – likes words better than people. But the farmers’ daughter Ásta has a claim on Jón as well, and soon Sól becomes entangled in a drama she hardly can grasp. This summer marks Sól’s rite of passage into the murky waters of adulthood, and the wild nature in us all.

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  • Watch New Trailer for Sundance Award Wining THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST Starring Chloë Grace Moretz

    [caption id="attachment_26747" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desiree Akhavan, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2018 Sundance FIlm Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeong Park. Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desiree Akhavan.
    Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeong Park.[/caption] The new trailer debuted for the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winning film The Miseducation of Cameron Post directed by Desiree Akhavan, and starring Chloë Grace Moretz, John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck and Jennifer Ehle. FilmRise will release The Miseducation of Cameron Post in New York on August 3rd and Los Angeles on August 10th Based on the celebrated novel by Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post follows the titular character (Chloë Grace Moretz) as she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after getting caught having sex with the prom queen. Run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and her brother, Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) — himself an example of how those in the program can be “cured” — the center is populated by teens “struggling with same-sex attraction.” In the face of outlandish discipline, dubious methods, and earnest Christian rock songs, Cameron forms an unlikely gay community, including the amputee stoner Jane (Sasha Lane) and the Lakota Two-Spirit, Adam (Forrest Goodluck). In creating a family on her own terms, she learns what it means to empower herself and have confidence in her identity.

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  • Documentary THE FUN’S NOT OVER on South African Musician James Phillips to Premiere at Durban International Film Festival

    The Fun's Not Over - The James Phillips Story Durban filmmaker Michael Cross’ award-winning documentary film, “The Fun’s Not Over – The James Phillips Story” will have its local premiere at the Durban International Film Festival on Saturday July 21, 2018. The film, which recently won the Audience Award when it premiered at this years 20th Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival, tells the story of the life and untimely death of James Phillips who died aged 36 in July 1995. The Fun's Not Over - The James Phillips Story He was a composer, musician, bandleader and the voice and conscience of a generation of white South Africans. Cross’ film examines his extraordinary journey and his multiple musical incarnations. Phillips’ Afrikaans alter ego Bernoldus Niemand’s 1983 single, “Hou My Vas Korporaal” (“Hold Me Tightly, Corporal”) became an anthem of the End Conscription Campaign and spawned “alternative” Afrikaans rock music and the Voëlvry movement. In 1985, with his beloved Cherry Faced Lurchers, he recorded the gut-wrenching “Shot Down” that addressed both white privilege and the violence of the apartheid state. James Phillips’ legacy is that of one of this country’s most aware, articulate and passionate artists. He was a genius, a satirist, a poet and probably one of the most accomplished songwriters that South Africa has ever produced. “The Fun’s Not Over” tells James’ story in his own words and through the voices of journalists like Max du Preez, satirists Zapiro and Pieter Dirk Uys, his musical collaborators and label-mates like Koos Kombuis and Vusi Mahlasela, contemporary artists like Jack Parow and his friends and family. [caption id="attachment_30690" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Filmmaker Michael Cross of "The Fun's Not Over - The James Phillips Story" Filmmaker Michael Cross of “The Fun’s Not Over – The James Phillips Story”[/caption] “The Fun’s Not Over – The James Phillips Story” will screen in competition, for Best South African Documentary Feature at the 39th Durban International Film Festival on Saturday July 21, 2018 at Musgrave 3 at 20:00 and Wednesday July 25, 2018 at Musgrave 3 at 18:00.

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  • 71st Locarno Festival Announces Complete Film Program Lineup, Jury + Tributes

    [caption id="attachment_30681" align="aligncenter" width="1023"]I FEEL GOOD by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern I FEEL GOOD by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern[/caption] The official program of the 71st edition of the Locarno Festival was announced at a press conference today, Wednesday July 11, 2018. The line-up for the official juries was also announced as were tributes to Wolf-Eckart Bühler, Pierre Rissient, Francis Reusser and Claude Lanzmann. The 71st Locarno Festival will take place from August 1 to 11, 2018. In the program introduction, Carlo Chatrian, Artistic director, notes “This year’s program also includes films that, instead of portraying the conflicts raging around the world, concentrate on private stories, while allowing the present to resonate like the echoes of a thunderstorm. Examples are Yara by Abbas Fahdel, who following his epic Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) has left the war zone to plunge into the Lebanese countryside; or the portrait which Ethan Hawke – Excellence Award 2018 – dedicates in the eponymous film to the musician BLAZE, conflicted but charming hero, a rebel against the system and a profoundly free spirit, fated for a tragic end. These are just two films that create a bond between the self and the world, between the details of an individual life and the universal truths revealed by their story. Another of their common traits is also found in many other titles: the courage shown by their protagonists when faced with an insurmountable obstacle. Perhaps that’s why these and so many other films this year simply take a name for their title (Diane, Alice T., M., Menocchio, Sibel, Ray & Liz, Siyabonga). It may well be a sign of renewed trust in film as an art form capable of telling the stories of men and women without filtering them through symbolism, proof that the human face may be back as the be-all and end-all of a film. If so, I should like to present this year’s program as a single, magnificent and very long portrait gallery of unique faces, disarming even when well aware of the artfulness of their fiction. From Stan Laurel to the young Israeli Menahem and his disturbing statements in M.; from Mae West’s opulence to the sublime beauty of Julio Bressane’s muse in Sedução da Carne; from the discreet charm of Ingrid Bergman to the appeal of Noée Abita in Genèse; from the madcap elegance of Irene Dunne to the disenchanted appeal of Mary Kay Place in Diane.”

    Official Juries

    The Jury of the Concorso internazionale

    President: Jia Zhang-ke, Filmmaker (China) Emmanuel Carrère, Writer (France) Sean Baker, Filmmaker (United States of America) Tizza Covi, Filmmaker (Italy/Austria) Isabella Ragonese, Actress (Italy)

    The Jury of the Concorso Cineasti del presente

    President: Andrei Ujică, Filmmaker (Romania) Ben Rivers, Filmmaker (United Kingdom) Lætitia Dosch, Actress (Switzerland/France)

    The Jury of the Pardi di domani

    President: Yann Gonzalez, Filmmaker (France) Deepak Rauniyar, Filmmaker (Nepal) Marta Mateus, Filmmaker (Portugal)

    The Jury of Signs of Life

    Emilie Bujès, Festival Director (Switzerland) Josh Siegel, Curator (United States of America) Tiziana Finzi, Curator (Italy)

    The Jury of the First Feature

    Funa Maduka, Creative and Acquisitions Executive (United States of America) Susan Vahabzadeh, Film Critic (Germany) Kieron Corless, Film Critic (United Kingdom)

    Piazza Grande

    BLACKKKLANSMAN by Spike Lee USA – 2018 – 135’ with John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Corey Hawkins, Laura Harrier, Ryan Eggold, Jaspar Pääkkönen, Ashlie Atkinson Production: Focus Features Swiss distributor: Universal Pictures International Switzerland BLAZE by Ethan Hawke USA – 2017 – 128’ with Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Josh Hamilton, Charlie Sexton Production: Under the Influence Productions, Ansgar Media/Village Studios, Cinetic Media Swiss distributor: Look Now! Film Distribution International Premiere COINCOIN ET LES Z’INHUMAINS by Bruno Dumont France – 2018 – 4×52’ with Alane Delhaye, Bernard Pruvost, Philippe Jore, Julien Bodart, Christophe Verheeck, Alexia Depret, Lucy Caron, Marie-Josée Wlodarczack, Jason Cirot, Nicolas Leclaire, Priscilla Benoist Production: Taos Films Co-production: ARTE France Cinéma World Sales: Doc & Film International Swiss distributor: Praesens-Film World Premiere Closing Film I FEEL GOOD by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern France – 2018 – 103’ with Jean Dujardin, Yolande Moreau Production: JD PROD, No Money Productions Co-production: ARTE France Cinéma, Hugar Prod World Sales: Wild Bunch Swiss distributor: Praesens-Film World Premiere LE VENT TOURNE by Bettina Oberli Switzerland/France – 2018 – 86’ with Mélanie Thierry, Pierre Deladonchamps, Nuno Lopes, Anastasia Shevtsova Production: Rita Productions Co-production: Silex Films World Sales: Be for Films Swiss distributor: Filmcoopi Zürich World Premiere Opening Film LES BEAUX ESPRITS by Vianney Lebasque France – 2017 – 93’ with Ahmed Sylla, Olivier Barthelemey, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Camélia Jordana Production: Monkey Pack Films, M.E.S Productions World Sales: SND Distribution Swiss distributor: Impuls Pictures World Premiere LIBERTY by Leo McCarey USA – 1929 – 23’ – Intertitles English with Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Tom Kennedy, Sam Lufkin, James Finlayson Production: Hal Roach Studios L’ORDRE DES MÉDECINS by David Roux France – 2018 – 93’ with Jérémie Renier, Marthe Keller, Zita Hanrot Production: ElianeAntoinette, Reboot Films World Sales: Pyramide International World Premiere, First Feature L’OSPITE by Duccio Chiarini Italy/Switzerland/France – 2018 – 94’ with Daniele Parisi, Silvia D’Amico, Anna Bellato, Thony ., Sergio Pierattini, Milvia Marigliano, Daniele Natali, Guglielmo Favilla Production: Mood Film Co-production: House on Fire, Cinédokké, Relief World Sales: Urban Distribution International Swiss distributor: First Hand Films World Premiere MAYNILA SA MGA KUKO NG LIWANAG (Manila in the Claws of Light) by Lino Brocka Philippines – 1975 – 126’ with Hilda Koronel, Bembol Roco, Lou Salvador Jr., Joonee Gamboa Production: Cinema Artists PÁJAROS DE VERANO (Birds of Passage) by Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra Colombia – 2018 – 125’ with Carmina Martinez, José Acosta, John Narváez, José Vicente Cotes, Juan Martinez, Natalia Reyes Production: Ciudad Lunar Bogota World Sales: Films Boutique Swiss distributor: trigon-film RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR by Milorad Krstic Hungary – 2018 – 94’ with Gabriella Hámori Hámori, Iván Kamarás, Csaba “Kor” Márton Production: Ruben Brandt LLC. World Premiere, First Feature SE7EN by David Fincher USA – 1995 – 127’ with Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. McGinley Production: Cecchi Gori Pictures, Juno Pix, New Line Cinema World Sales: Park Circus SEARCHING by Aneesh Chaganty USA – 2018 – 101’ with John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michelle La, Sara Sohn Swiss distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Switzerland First Feature THE EQUALIZER 2 by Antoine Fuqua USA – 2018 – 121’ Swiss distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Switzerland with Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Jonathan Scarfe UN NEMICO CHE TI VUOLE BENE by Denis Rabaglia Italy/Switzerland – 2018 – 97’ with Denis Rabaglia, Diego Abatantuono, Antonio Folletto, Mirko Trovato, Sandra Milo, Roberto Ciufoli, Annabella Calabrese, Gisella Donadoni Production: Falkor Production Co-production: Turnus Film Swiss distributor: Filmcoopi Zürich World Premiere WAS UNS NICHT UMBRINGT by Sandra Nettelbeck Germany – 2018 – 110’ with August Zirner, Johanna Ter Steege, Barbara Auer, Oliver Broumis, Jenny Schily, Christian Berkel Production: Sommerhaus filmproduktion Co-production: Zdf, Cine Plus Filmpoduktion, RuhrsoundStudios World Sales: Beta Cinema World Premiere

    Concorso internazionale

    A FAMILY TOUR by YING Liang Taiwan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia – 2018 – 107’ with An Nai, Zhe Gong, Pete Teo, Xin Yue Tham Production: Taiwan Public Television Service, 90 Minutes Film Studio, Potocol, Shine Pictures World Sales: Golden Scene World Premiere A LAND IMAGINED by YEO Siew Hua Singapore/France/Netherlands – 2018 – 95’ with Peter Yu, Xiaoyi Liu, Luna Kwok, Jack Tan, Ishtiaque Zico Production: Akanga Film Asia, mm2 Entertainment, Films de Force Majeure, Volya Films World Premiere ALICE T. by Radu Muntean Romania/France/Sweden – 2018 – 105’ with Andra Guti, Mihaela Sîrbu, Cristine Hămbăşanu, Ela Ionescu, Bogdan Dumitrache Production: Multi Media Est Co-production: Les Film de l’apres-Midi, Chimney, Film i Väst World Sales: Films Boutique World Premiere DIANE by Kent Jones USA – 2018 – 94’ with Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacy, Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, Deirdre O’Connell, Joyce van Patten, Phyllis Somerville, Glynnis O’Connor Production: AgX, Sight Unseen Pictures World Sales: Visit Films International Premiere GANGBYUN HOTEL (Hotel by the River) by HONG Sangsoo South Korea – 2018 – 96’ with KI Joobong, KIM Minhee, SONG Seonmi, KWON Haehyo, YU Junsang Production: Jeonwonsa Film World Sales: Finecut World Premiere GENÈSE by Philippe Lesage Canada – 2018 – 130’ with Noée Abita, Théodore Pellerin, Édouard Tremblay-Grenier, Pier-Luc Funk, Émilie Bierre, Maxime Dumontier, Paul Ahmarani, Jules Roy Sicotte, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon Production: Productions l’unité centrale World Sales: Be For Films World Premiere GLAUBENBERG by Thomas Imbach Switzerland – 2018 – 115’ with Zsofia Körös, Francis Meier, Milan Peschel, Bettina Stucky, Morgane Ferru, Nikola Šošić, Ilayda Akdoğan, Gonca De Haas, Erol Afşin Production: Okofilm Productions World Premiere LA FLOR by Mariano Llinás Argentina – 2018 – 815’ with Elisa Carricajo, Pilar Gamboa, Valeria Correa, Laura Paredes Production: El Pampero Cine International Premiere M by Yolande Zauberman France – 2018 – 106’ with Menahem Lang Production: CG Cinema, Phobics World Premiere MENOCCHIO by Alberto Fasulo Italy/Romania – 2018 – 103’ with Marcello Martini Production: Nefertiti Film Co-production: RAI Cinema, Hai Hui Entertainment World Premiere RAY & LIZ by Richard Billingham United Kingdom – 2018 – 108’ with Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Patrick Romer, Deirdre Kelly, Sam Gittins, Joshua Millard-Lloyd Production: Primitive Film World Sales: Luxbox World Premiere, First Feature SIBEL by Çağla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti Turkey/France/Germany/Luxembourg – 2018 – 95’ Production: Les Films du Tambour Co-production: Riva Filmproduktion, Bidibul Productions, Mars Production, Reborn Production World Sales: Pyramide International World Premiere TARDE PARA MORIR JOVEN by Dominga Sotomayor Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar – 2018 – 110’ with Demian Hernández, Antar Machado, Magdalena Tótoro, Matías Oviedo, Antonia Zegers, Alejandro Goic, Mercedes Mujica, Eyal Meyer, Gabriel Cañas, Andrés Aliaga Production: Cinestación, RT Features Co-production: Ruda Cine, Circe Films World Premiere WINTERMÄRCHEN by Jan Bonny Germany – 2018 – 125’ with Thomas Schubert, Ricarda Seifried, Jean-Luc Bubert Production: Heimatfilm World Premiere YARA by Abbas Fahdel Lebanon/Iraq/France – 2018 – 101’ with Michelle Wehbe, Elias Freifer, Mary Alkady, Elias Alkady, Charbel Alkady Production: Stalker Production World Premier

    Concorso Cineasti del presente

    ALLES IST GUT by Eva Trobisch Germany – 2018 – 93’ with Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lisa Hagmeister, Lina Wendel Production: TRIMAFILM Co-production: Starhaus FilmproduktionInternational International Premiere, First Feature CEUX QUI TRAVAILLENT by Antoine Russbach Switzerland/Belgium – 2018 – 102’ with Olivier Gourmet, Adèle Bochatay, Delphine Bibet, Michel Voïta, Pauline Schneider Production: Box Productions Co-production: Novak Prod World Sales: Be For Films Swiss distributor: Outside the Box World Premiere, First Feature CHAOS by Sara Fattahi Austria/Syria/Lebanon/Qatar – 2018 – 100’ Production: Little Magnet Films World Premiere CLOSING TIME by Nicole Vögele Switzerland/Germany – 2018 – 116’ with KUO Chung-Shu, LIN Li-Jiao Production: Beauvoir Films Co-production: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg World Sales: Taskovski Films Swiss distributor: Xenix Filmdistribution World Premiere FAMILIA SUMERGIDA by María Alché Argentina/Brazil/Germany/Norway – 2018 – 91’ with Mercedes Morán, Marcelo Subiotto, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Velazquez, Laila Maltz Production: Pasto Cine Co-production: Bubbles Project, Pandora Film Produktion, 4 1/2 World Premiere, First Feature FAUSTO by Andrea Bussmann Mexico/Canada – 2018 – 70’ with Victor Pueyo, Fernando Renjifo, Ziad Chakaroun, Alberto Núñez, Gabino Rodríguez World Premiere, First Feature HATZLILA (The Dive) by Yona Rozenkier Israel – 2018 – 90’ with Yoel Rozenkier, Micha Rozenkier, Yona Rozenkier, Claudia Dulitchi, Miki Marmor, Daniel Sabag, Shmuel Edelman Production: Gaudeamus Productions World Sales: Stray Dogs International Premiere, First Feature JIAO QU DE NIAO (Suburban Birds) by QIU Sheng China – 2018 – 118’ with LEE Mason, HUANG Lu Production: Chan Films Co-production: Flash Forward Entertainment World Sales: Luxbox, Flash Forward Entertainment International Premiere, First Feature L’ÉPOQUE by Matthieu Bareyre France – 2018 – 94’ Production: Artisans du Film Co-production: Alter Ego, ADF L’Atelier World Sales: BAC Films World Premiere, First Feature LIKEMEBACK by Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli Italy/Croatia – 2018 – 80’ with Angela Fontana, Denise Tantucci, Blu Yoshimi, Goran Marković Production: Nightswim, Essentia, RAI Cinema, Indiana Production Co-production: Antitalent World Sales: Media Luna World Premiere NEBULA (DEAD HORSE NEBULA) by Tarık Aktaş Turkey – 2018 – 73’ with Barış Bilgi, Ali Beyazit, Ömer Bora, Serkan Aydın, Dilara Topuklular, Hasan Türker, Mümin Süren Production: Hay Film World Premiere, First Feature SIYABONGA (We are thankul) by Joshua Magor SouthAfrica/United Kingdom – 2018 – 93’ with Siyabonga Majola, Sabelo Khoza, Xolani Malinga, Percy Zulu, Amanda Ncube, Ntokozo Mkhize, Sibusiso Nzama, Luthando Ngcobo, Mancane Dlomo, Nkanyiso Ndumiso, Nonduh Zuma, Mondli Ndlovu, Joshua Magor Production: Other People World Sales: Other People World Premiere, First Feature SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS by Virgil Vernier France – 2018 – 98’ with Dewi Kunetz, Sandra Poitoux, Hugues Njiba-Mukuna, Bruck , Lilith Grasmug Production: Kazak Productions World Sales: mk2 Films World Premiere TEGNAP (Hier) by Bálint Kenyeres Hungary/Germany/France/Netherlands/Morocco/Sweden – 2018 – 119’ with Vlad Ivanov, Feodor Atkine, Jo Prestia, Rainer Kühn, Djemel Barek, Nadia Niazi, Amine Ennaji, Salah Bensalah, Gamil Ratib, Oussama Oussous, Mohamed Rabiaa, Abdelhamid Ait Abbou Ali, Milhoudia Nassih, Toulou Kiki, Johanna Ter Steege, Issaka Sawadogo, Jacques Weber Production: Mirage Film Co-production: One Two Films, Les Films de l’Après-Midi, Film i Väst, Chimney, La Prod, Saarländischer Rundfunk, Eye-Lite, Travissss Film, Rotterdam Films World Premiere, First Feature TEMPORADA (Long way Home) by André Novais Oliveira Brazil – 2018 – 112’ with Grace Passô, Russo APR, Rejane Faria, Renato Novaes, Juliana Abreu, Hélio Ricardo Production: Filmes de Plástico World Sales: FiGa Films World Premiere TROTE by Xacio Baño Spain/Lithuania – 2018 – 83’ with María Vázquez, Celso Bugallo, Diego Anido, Tamara Canosa Production: Frida Films Co-production: M-Films World Premiere, First Feature

    Pardi di domani

    Concorso internazionale

    3 ANOS DEPOIS by Marco Amaral – Portugal – 2018 – 13’ A COLD SUMMER NIGHT by Yash Sawant – India – 2018 – 21’ D’UN CHÂTEAU L’AUTRE by Emmanuel Marre – Belgium/France – 2018 – 40’ EL LABERINTO by Laura Huertas Millán – France/Colombia/USA – 2018 – 21’ FRASE D’ARME by Federico Di Corato – Italy/France – 2018 – 30’ FUCK YOU by Anette Sidor – Sweden – 2018 – 15’ GRBAVICA by Manel Raga Raga – Portugal/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Spain – 19’ HEART OF HUNGER by Bernardo Zanotta – Netherlands – 2018 – 29’ HI I NEED TO BE LOVED by Marnie Ellen Hertzler – USA – 2018 – 11’ JE SORS ACHETER DES CIGARETTES by Osman Cerfon – France – 2018 – 13’ KAUKAZAS (Caucasus) by Laurynas Bareisa – Lithuania – 2018 – 14’ LA CARTOGRAPHE by Nathan Douglas – Canada – 2018 – 34’ LA MÁXIMA LONGITUD DE UN PUENTE by Simón Vélez – Colombia/Argentina – 2018 – 13’ LAST YEAR WHEN THE TRAIN PASSED BY by HUANG Pang-Chuan – France – 2018 – 17’ LUNAR-ORBIT RENDEZVOUS by Mélanie Charbonneau – Canada – 2018 – 15’ MALO SE SJEĆAM TOG DANA (I Can Barely Remember the Day) by Leon Lučev – Croatia – 2018 – 21’ MY EXPANDED VIEW by Corey Hughes – USA – 2018 – 8’ OUT by Alon Sahar – Israel – 2018 – 27’ PATUL LUI PROCUST (Bed of Procustes) by Andrian Împărățel – Romania – 2018 – 17’ REKONSTRUKCE (Reconstruction) by Jiří Havlíček, Ondřej Novák – Czech Republic – 2017 – 16’ RENEEPOPTOSIS by Renee Zhan – USA/Japan – 2018 – 9’ SARAS INTIME BETROELSER (Sara’s Intimate Confessions) by Emilie Blichfeldt – Norway – 2018 – 22’ SASHLELI (Eraser) by Davit Pirtskhalava – Georgia – 2018 – 18’ SMERT MENYA (The Death of Father Men) by Mikhail Maksimov – Russia – 2018 – 12’ THE SILENCE OF THE DYING FISH by Vasilis Kekatos – Greece/France – 2018 – 19’ TOURNEUR by Yalda Afsah – Germany – 2018 – 14’ VIOLETA + GUILLERMO by Óscar Vincentelli – Spain/Venezuela – 2018 – 6’ WORDS, PLANETS by Laida Lertxundi – USA/Spain – 2018 – 11’ ZHI SHUO YI CI (Dream Speaking) by CHAN Paine – China – 2018 – 19’

    Concorso nazionale

    ABIGAÏL by Magdalena Froger – Switzerland – 2018 – 20’ CIRCUIT by Delia Hess – Switzerland – 2018 – 8’ EVA by Xheni Alushi – Switzerland – 2018 – 15’ FAIT DIVERS by Léon Yersin – Switzerland – 2018 – 17’ HIER by Loïc Kreyden – Switzerland – 2018 – 4’ ICI LE CHEMIN DES ÂNES by Lou Rambert Preiss – Switzerland – 2018 – 22’ IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE FUTURE by Laurence Favre – Switzerland/Germany – 2018 – 8’ LA SOURCE by Yatoni Roy Cantù – Switzerland – 2018 – 16’ LE SENS DE LA MARCHE by Jela Hasler – Switzerland – 2018 – 9’ LES ÎLES DE BRISSOGNE by Juliette Riccaboni – Switzerland – 2018 – 23’ LOS QUE DESEAN by Elena López Riera – Spain/Switzerland – 2018 – 24’ MONTE AMIATA by Tommaso Donati – Switzerland – 2018 – 22’ SELFIES by Claudius Gentinetta – Switzerland – 2018 – 4′

    Signs of Life

    Awards The Jury awards the following prizes: Signs of Life Award ELECTRONIC-ART FOUNDATION to the Best Film 5,ooo CHF to the director. Casa Wabi-Mantarraya Award Fundación Casa Wabi and Mantarraya Productions, in partnership with Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia, will support the Fundación Casa Wabi – Mantarraya Award, consisting in a residence at Casa Wabi – Puerto Escondido (Mexico) lasting between 1 to 1.5 months. These prizes can not be awarded ex aequo. A ROOM WITH A COCONUT VIEW by Tulapop Saenjaroen Thailand – 2018 – 28’ Production: Electric Eel Films World Premiere COMMUNION LOS ANGELES by Adam R. Levine, Peter Bo Rappmund USA – 2018 – 68’ World Premiere COMO FERNANDO PESSOA SALVOU PORTUGAL by Eugène Green Portugal/France/Belgium – 2018 – 27’ with Eugène Green, Carloto Cotta, Manuel Mozos, Diogo Dória, Alexandre Pieroni Calado, Ricardo Gross, Mia Tomé Production: Les Films du Fleuve, Noodles Production, O Som E A Fúria World Sales: Agencia – Portuguese Short Film Agency International Premiere DULCINEA by Luca Ferri Italy – 2018 – 66’ with Vincenzo Turca, Naomi Morello, Dario Bacis Production: ENECE FILM World Premiere GULYABANI by Gürcan Keltek Netherlands/Turkey – 2018 – 32’ with Zeynep Kumral Production: 29P Films BV World Premiere HAI SHANG CHENG SHI (The Fragile House) by LIN Zi China – 2018 – 81’ with ZENG Xiaolian, WOO Hye Kyung, XIAO Jie, SANG Guosheng, REN Yue World Premiere, First Feature JING LI DE REN (Man in the Well) by Hu Bo China – 2017 – 16’ with ZHANG Xiaoqian, QU Yiyi, GAO Tieguang Production: FIRST International Film Festival World Sales: Rediance World Premiere LA CASA DE JULIO IGLESIAS by Natalia Marín Spain – 2018 – 12’ World Premiere LE DISCOURS D’ACCEPTATION GLORIEUX DE NICOLAS CHAUVIN by Benjamin Crotty France – 2018 – 26’ with Ragnar Arni Agustsson, Alexis Manenti, Pauline Jacquard, Caroline Deruas, Antoine Cholet, Rei Yazaki Production: Les Films du Bal World Premiere SEDUÇÃO DA CARNE by Júlio Bressane Brazil – 2018 – 70’ with Mariana Lima Production: TB Produções World Premiere SOBRE TUDO SOBRE NADA by Dídio Pestana Portugal – 2018 – 90’ Production: Kintop World Sales: Kintop World Premiere, First Feature THE GRAND BIZARRE by Jodie Mack USA – 2018 – 60’ World Premiere, First Feature TIRSS, RIHLAT ALSOO’OUD ILA ALMAR’I (Erased, Ascent of the Invisible) by Ghassan Halwani Lebanon – 2018 – 74’ World Sales: mec film World Premiere, First Feature VESLEMØY’S SONG by Sofia Bohdanowicz Canada – 2018 – 9’ with Deragh Campbell, Joan Benac, Steve Benac World Premiere

    Fuori concorso

    AMUR SENZA FIN by Christoph Schaub Switzerland – 2018 – 91’ with Rebecca Indermaur, Bruno Cathomas, Tonia Maria Zindel, Beat Marti, Murali Perumal, Marietta Jemmi, René Schnoz Production: Zodiac Pictures, SRG SSR World Premiere DE CHAQUE INSTANT by Nicolas Philibert France/Japan – 2018 – 105’ Production: France 3 Cinéma, Longride, Archipel 35 World Sales: Doc & Film International World Premiere INSULAIRE by Stéphane Goël Switzerland – 2018 – 92’ Production: Climage World Premiere MUDAR LA PIEL by Ana Schulz, Cristóbal Fernández Spain – 2018 – 89’ with Juan Gutierrez, Frauke Schulz Utermöhl, Ana Schulz, Mingo Rafols Production: Sr. y Sra. Co-production: Labyrinth Films World Premiere, First Feature MY HOME, IN LYBIA by Martina Melilli Italy – 2018 – 66’ with Mahmoud , Antonio Melilli, Narcisa Bertipaglia Production: Stefilm World Sales: Deckert Distribution World Premiere, First Feature NARCISSISTER ORGAN PLAYER by Narcissister USA – 2017 – 92’ with Narcissister , Sarah Lumpkin, Oscar Lumpkin, Bernard Lumpkin, Carmine Boccuzzi Production: Narcissister International Premiere, First Feature ORA E SEMPRE RIPRENDIAMOCI LA VITA by Silvano Agosti Italy – 2018 – 94’ with Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Fo, Franca Rame, Nuto Revelli, Massimo Cacciari Production: Edizioni l’Immagine World Sales: Edizioni l’Immagine, Istituto Luce Cinecittà World Premiere RŪGŠTUS MIŠKAS (Acid Forest) by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė Lithuania – 2018 – 63’ Production: neon realism World Sales: neon realism World Premiere, First Feature SEMBRA MIO FIGLIO by Costanza Quatriglio Italy/Croatia/Belgium – 2018 – 103’ with Basir Ahang, Tihana Lazovic, Dawood Yousefi Production: Ascent Film Co-production: Caviar Films, Antitalent World Sales: True Colours World Premiere THE SENTENCE by Rudy Valdez USA – 2018 – 87’ Production: Park Pictures World Sales: Cinetic Media International Premiere, First Feature WALKING ON WATER by Andrey Paounov USA/Italy – 2018 – 100’ with Christo, Vladimir Yavachev Production company: Kotva Films C-production company: Ring Film World Sales: CAA (Creative Artists Agency) World Premiere

    Shorts

    SHORT POLAR COLLECTION CANAL+ / SO FILM 4 “thriller” short films from the Canal+ / So Film genre À NOUS DEUX ! by Marie Loustalot – France – 2018 – 20’ DIVERSION by Mathieu Mégemont – France – 2018 – 23’ LA BELLE AFFAIRE by Constance Meyer – France – 2018 – 23’ TOMATIC by Christophe Saber – France/Switzerland – 2018 – 20

    Open Doors Screenings

    The Open Doors Screenings (1 – 11 August 2018) will present to the Locarno audience a selection of shorts and feature films that are particularly representative of the world of contemporary cinema in a particular area of the South and East world. This year, the section will end its three-year cycle on South Asia, bringing to Locarno films from the contemporary scene of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

    Full-length features

    DEMONS IN PARADISE by Jude Ratnam – Sri Lanka/France – 2017 – 93’ LAILA AT THE BRIDGE by Gulistan Mirzaei, Elizabeth Mirzaei – Canada/Afghanistan – 2018 – 97’ LIVE FROM DHAKA by Abdullah Mohammad Saad – Bangladesh – 2016 – 91’ MUNMO TASHI KHYIDRON (Honeygiver Among the Dogs) by Dechen Roder – Bhutan – 2016 – 132’ SETO SURYA (White Sun) by Deepak Rauniyar – Nepal/USA/Qatar/Netherlands – 2016 – 89’ THE ROAD TO MANDALAY by Midi Z – Taiwan/Myanmar/France/Germany – 2016 – 108’ THUNDENEK (Her. Him. The other) by Asoka Handagama, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Prasanna Vithanage – Sri Lanka – 2018 – 153’ ZINDA BHAAG (Run for your Life) by Meenu Gaur, Farjad Nabi – Pakistan/India – 2013 – 115’

    Short films

    298-C by Nida Mehboob – Pakistan – 2018 – 15’ – World Première A SONG OF SILENCE by Kelzang Dorjee – Bhutan – 2016 – 16’ DADYAA: THE WOODPECKERS OF ROTHA by Pooja Gurung, Bibhusan Basnet – Nepal/France – 2016 – 17’ DEATH OF A READER by Mahde Hasan – Bangladesh – 2017 – 9’ DIA by Hamza Bangash – Pakistan/United Kingdom – 2018 – 24’ – World Première SILVER BANGLES by Roshan Bikram Thakuri – Nepal – 2017 – 15’ SORKHE TIRAH (Dark Red) by Diana Saqeb – Afghanistan – 2017 – 19’ – World Première SUPERMONK by Shenang Gyamjo Tamang – Nepal/Taiwan – 2018 – 19’ – World Première THE LAST POST OFFICE by Aung Rakhine – Bangladesh – 2018 – 20’ – World Première THE OPEN DOOR by Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk – Bhutan/United Kingdom – 2018 – 15’ – World Première TRADITION by Lanka Bandaranayake – Sri Lanka – 2016 – 11’ WITT YONE (The Robe) by WeRa – Myanmar – 2016 – 19’ YAR-THI MOE (Seasonal Rain) by Aung Phyoe – Myanmar – 2016 – 30’

    Read more

  • 1st North Bend Film Festival Is Ready, Unveils Lineup, SHIRKERS is Centerpiece Film

    [caption id="attachment_27266" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Shirkers Shirkers[/caption] The North Bend Film Festival is right around the corner and yesterday announced the full line-up for its inaugural edition, including Cinema Vista and Something Strange feature and short film programs. In addition to the films, the weekend of August 23rd to the 26th will be rich with events that embrace the town of North Bend, once the original shooting location for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, such as a special Twin Peaks Tour, a scenic mountainside hike (offering attendees a rare chance for excursion!), and ‘Damn Fine Coffee’ mixers to kick off the mornings just right. Cinema Vista offers a spectrum of vanguard cinema with centerpiece screening SHIRKERS  and retro screening of the iconic Pacific Northwest queer feature MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO. Centerpiece Film Shirkers (Washington Premiere) USA | 2018 | 96 Min | Dir. Sandi Tan Cinema-loving teenager Sandi Tan and two friends had a big idea in 1992: They’d shoot their own super-low-budget assassin thriller on their native streets of Singapore, along with help from an American mentor named Georges. Then, one day, Georges disappeared along with all of their work. Twenty-five years later, Tan has turned her investigation into Georges’ motives, using newly recovered footage and firsthand accounts, into one of 2018’s best documentaries, an autobiography turned love letter to filmmaking dreams, especially those that have gone unfulfilled. My Name is Myeisha USA | 2018 | 84 Min | Dir. Gus Krieger A bold and visionary musical unlike anything on screen today, Gus Krieger’s MY NAME IS MYEISHA blends hip-hop, beat-boxing, dance and spoken word lyricism to tell the heartbreaking story of a teenage girl killed by police while she sat unconscious in a locked car. It’s essential filmmaking in a dynamic and energetic combination of storytelling methods precisely executed from beginning to end. Sarah Plays A Werewolf (West Coast Premiere) Switzerland/Germany | 2017 | 86 Min | Dir. Katharina Wyss Off the stage, 17-year-old Sarah drifts through her community in anonymity. But on her high school’s theater’s stage? The shy girl unleashes torrents of fiery passion, stemming from personal secrets mostly involving her unpleasant home life. As Sarah falls deeper into her performances, though, her loneliness intensifies, causing the troubled teenager to lose herself in multiple ways. Drenched in an overriding sense of despair, Swiss filmmaker Katharina Wyss’ devastating feature-length debut is a coming-of-age stunner. My Own Private Idaho (1991) USA | 1991 | 104 Min | Dir. Gus Van Sant Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminal film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanu Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother. Film presented in collaboration with Three Dollar Bill Cinema Closing Night Film Anna and the Apocalypse (West Coast Premiere) United Kingdom | 2018 | 92 Min | Dir. John McPhail For Anna and her friends, high school graduation can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately for them, they must face a horde of yuletide undead creatures before passing on to adulthood. A zombie apocalypse-Christmas-comedy-musical (yes, you read that right), “Anna” is a salute to a genre you didn’t think you needed, while keeping you on the edge of your seat with its hilarity and heart. Piercing (Pacific Northwest Premiere) USA | 2018 | 81 Min | Dir. Nicolas Pesce After kissing his wife and baby goodbye for a seemingly normal business trip, Reed (Christopher Abbott) checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish something he’s always dreamed of: the perfect murder. As his sinister plans unfold, he soon realizes he might be in over his head with a mysteriously unhinged call girl named Jackie (Mia Wasikowska). Relaxer (Washington Premiere) USA | 2018 | 91 Minutes | Dir. Joel Potrykus Joel Potrykus’ latest film follows an obsessive couch potato slacker taking on his most epic challenge yet: to beat the impossible final level of PAC-MAN without ever leaving the couch. His desperate quest is fraught with gross-out humor and darkly comedic perils as all sense of time is lost and takes a turn towards downright mania in a satisfyingly exhilarating conclusion. Don’t Leave Home (Pacific Northwest Premiere) USA | 2018 | 86 Min | Dir. Michael Tully For her latest exhibition, American artist Melanie Thomas is focused on an old Irish myth surrounding Father Alistair Burke, whose portrait of an 8-year-old Siobhan led to the little girl’s unexplained disappearance. After receiving an invite from the enigmatic Burke to visit him in Ireland, Melanie finds that reality and myth aren’t mutually exclusive. Drenched in classical Euro-horror dread and other strange flourishes, writer-director Michael Tully’s genre hybrid is a delightfully unnerving head trip. Director Michael Tully in attendance. Screening presented by Snoqualmie Valley Real Estate. Time Share (Washington Premiere) Mexico/Netherlands | 2018 | 96 Minutes | Dir. Sebastian Hoffman A father’s holiday from Hell begins when a clerical mix-up forces his family to share their vacation home with another family. But lurking beneath the paradise resort is a shady organization with designs far worse than double bookings. Director Sebastian Hoffman’s psychological thriller expertly juxtaposes terror and surrealist comedy through weaving stories of the family man and a beaten down employee setting out for revenge from within. Screening presented by Snoqualmie Valley Real Estate. Billy (North American Premiere) Netherlands | 2018 | 90 Min | Dir. Theo Maassen Ventriloquist Gerard de Groot and his puppet Billy have been inseparable for the last ten years. Until the moment they fall in love with different women and Gerard decides to take a break from his wild dummy. Easier said than done. Theo Maassen’s promising debut is a sharp tragic comedy mixing raunchy humor and deep thoughts about a career as an artist.

    CINEMA VISTA SHORTS BLOCK

    Boundaries are made to be pushed. This visionary group of shorts showcases the work of some of today’s most innovative and forward-thinking filmmakers. Across all genres, these films represent the vanguard of cinema with stories of life, death, justice and injustice, monsters both real and imagined, and the horror and beauty that reside inside the human heart. At times tragic, fantastical, terrifying, rousing, but always exhilarating, these shorts are at the forefront of filmmaking. MOBIUS, dir. Sam Kuhn In the wake of her lover’s death, a high school student comes to terms with her suburban malaise in this dreamlike and TWIN-PEAKS-esque dose of small-town oddness. BIOPHILIA, dir. Marina Michelson Rachel and her boyfriend, a pair of Brooklynites, decide to try their hand at farming. But when a sheep dies on their watch, Rachel must make a tough decision. EUPHORIA, dir. Wynter Rhys Too focused on his adoring followers and eager paparazzi, a famous artist constantly neglects his 6-year-old daughter. His rabid fan base is ready to change that. JOUSKA, dir. Wynter Rhys A man’s dark past and guilt-ridden thoughts come to a head as he navigates a nightmare land that’s like ALICE IN WONDERLAND laced with PCP. BAILAORA, dir. Rubin Stein Clearing out bodies on the streets of a war-torn Spain, a group of soldiers encounter a young dancer whose moves have an effect beyond explanation. THE DAY MUM BECAME A MONSTER, dir. Joséphine Hopkins Divorces are extremely tough on all children, but especially for young Candice. As if being abandoned by her father isn’t hard enough, her mother begins exhibiting some very troubling new behavior.

    SOMETHING STRANGE SHORTS BLOCK

    Sometimes stories are told to make sense of a nonsensical world, to impose logic on life’s confusion. Sometimes stories celebrate this bewilderment, utilizing the strange and unexpected instead of explaining it. These surreal short films feature superheroes, tampon monsters, vengeful robots, hungry forests, ghastly futures and purgatorial loops. Collected together, this block captivates as much as it challenges convention. END TIMES, dir. Bobby Miller After randomly stumbling across a dying squirrel in a public park, a man’s day goes from odd to WTF in this delightfully morbid comedy from the director of THE CLEANSE. LOVELY LEGS, dir. Abby Thompson In an isolated forest, a young man is ready to finally part ways with his female sex robot. As they say, though, it’s always hard to say goodbye. OVUM, dir. Cidney Hue Undergoing a mind-altering medical procedure, a woman is forced to make the toughest decision of her life. A FOREST, dir. Thomas Geffrier Ready to keep the good times going, Marie leaves a party with a couple en route to a hot threesome. She’ll soon wish that she’d have just gone home alone. CIRCLE, dir. Martin Melnick Loosely based on the myth of Eurydice, this off-kilter, genre-bending allegory follows a woman whose past traumas send on a fateful and dangerous trip through Purgatory. ALLEN ANDERS: LIVE AT THE COMEDY CASTLE – CIRCA 1987, dir. Laura Moss During an infamous on-stage performance in 1987 at New York City’s Comedy Castle, stand-up comic Allen Anders lost his mind. This is the uncovered footage. BFF GIRLS, dir. Brian Lonano A trio of nerdy American girls transform into powerful and fearless Japanese superheroes in order to take down a villainous tampon monster. A coming-of-age tale like none other.

    JURY

    FEATURES JURY: Cinema Vista Program

    Haleigh Foutch Horror Editor, Collider Matt Ralston Producer, LOVE AND SAUCERS Vanessa Meyer Programming Manager, Frontières

    FEATURES JURY: Something Strange Program

    Shannon McGrew Owner, Nightmarish Conjurings Nick Bruno, Programmer, Portland Int’l Film Festival

    SHORTS JURY

    William Day Frank Producer, PSYCHOPATHS, MODEL HOME Ryan Oliver Journalist, The Playlist Emily Von Seele Journalist, Bloody Disgusting

    VR JURY:

    Dumeetha Luthra Founder, Take Pause VR Jesse Damiani Journalist, VR Scout, Forbes

    Previously announced titles for 2018 include:

    Profile (West Coast Premiere) Cyprus, Russian Federation, UK, USA | 2018 | 103 Min | Dir. Timur Bekmambetov Amy, a struggling freelance journalist looking for her next big story, pitches her editor on investigating the recruitment of European women by ISIS. Pretending to be recently converted to Islam and using an alias, she creates an incriminating Facebook profile where she begins to like and share posts themed around Islamic extremism. It doesn’t take long for Bilel, a Jihad fighter in Syria, to set his eyes on this seemingly vulnerable prey. Black Mother (Pacific Northwest Premiere) USA | 2018 | 77 Min | Dir. Khalik Allah Powerfully hypnotic and formally singular, filmmaker/photographer Khalik Allah’s second feature is documentary storytelling at its boldest. Fueled by reflective voiceovers and dreamlike visuals, presented in digital, Super 8mm and black-and-white Bolex, BLACK MOTHER transports the viewer into a Jamaica populated by clergymen and prostitutes. The result is an examination of religion, sex, and national identity that’s one truly unforgettable cinematic meditation. Braid (West Coast Premiere) USA | 2018 | 82 Min | Dir. Mitzi Peirone Two fugitive women elude capture and seek refuge at the estate of their rich and very much psychotic childhood friend where they enter a terror fueled game of make believe. A candy color, hallucinogen-fueled lunacy binge, writer-director Mitzi Peirone’s feature debut takes you on an entrancing journey of insanity through its gorgeously framed imagery, vibrant palette and cryptic narrative riddles. Model Home (World Premiere) USA | 2018 | 82 Minutes | Dir. Patrick Cunningham For a Latina single mother and her imaginative young son, being allowed to live in a dream house rent free seems too good to be true. As the mother’s obsessive and unstable mental state emerges, so too does living the American Dream devolve into a waking nightmare. Director Patrick Cunningham’s fascinating debut is a horrifying singular vision that speaks to Hispanic American identity.

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  • Melbourne International Film Festival Unveils 2018 Program Lineup of 374 Films

    [caption id="attachment_30671" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Merger The Merger[/caption] The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) today unveiled its 2018 program featuring 254 feature films, 120 shorts and 19 virtual reality experiences over 18 action-packed days of cinema. In addition to Paul Dano’s highly anticipated Wildlife, as the Opening Night Gala film, for its middle weekend Centrepiece Gala, the festival revealed that uproarious Australian comedy The Merger would have its world premiere. Based on comedian Damian Callinan’s acclaimed stage show of the same name, The Merger is the tale of a struggling small town footy team that recruits refugees to survive. Starring John Howard, Josh McConville, Fayzaal Bazzi, Kate Mulvany and Callinan himself, The Merger is a film with big laughs, a big heart and lashings of sweet and sour chicken kiev. MIFF will screen The Coming Back Out Ball Movie to bring the festival to a close. Directed by Sue Thomson and supported through the MIFF Premiere Fund, The Coming Back Out Ball Movie is a triumphant and life-affirming love letter to Australia’s original fighters for queer equality – a film that will have audiences laughing, crying and ready to dance, darling. Reflecting an extraordinary year of filmmaking, this year’s 15 Headliners represent the most buzzed about international cinema: After receiving a 15-minute standing ovation, Nadine Labaki – one of 90 female directors in this year’s program – offers Capharnaüm, winner of this year’s Jury Prize at Cannes. Centred on a 12-year-old child attempting to divorce himself from his parents, Labaki’s neorealist fable is notable for the astonishing performances she draws out from her cast of non-professional actors. In Burning, South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong adapts author Haruki Murakami’s short story of romantic longing into a riveting and dramatic thriller. Wildly praised at Cannes, Burning set a new record for the highest-ever score in Screen International’s poll of critics at the festival. Doubling down on the sensory experience of their past works, Colombian-born filmmakers Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego bring a distinct perspective to the time-honoured rags-to-riches drug saga. Mythical in its storytelling, Birds of Passage combines eye-popping traditional costumes and culture, an immersive atmosphere of surreal imagery and glorious widescreen cinematography. Equally intense in its visceral qualities, Climax is an ecstatic and nightmarish orgy of sex, drugs and 90s club music from legendary provocateur Gaspar Noé. Winner of the Art Cinema Award at Cannes, Climax reaffirms Noé as modern cinema’s most incisive and inventive observer of humanity’s animal darkness. Oscar nominated Debra Granik – a guest of this year’s festival – returns to feature filmmaking with Leave No Trace, a humane depiction of the bond between father and daughter and the universal desire to live by your own rules. Recipient of the Cannes Best Director prize, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War is a love story that wends its way through a partitioned Europe. Inspired by Pawlikowski’s own parents’ story, Cold War offers audiences a lyrical and emotional work replete with virtuosic black-and-white visuals and a keen sense of music. Decades in the making, director Terry Gilliam’s near-mythical riff on Cervantes’ fantastic tale, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, finally makes its way to Melbourne. Starring Adam Driver alongside Gilliam stalwart Jonathan Pryce, it’s the story of a cynical ad man trapped in the delusions of an old shoemaker who believes himself to be Don Quixote. The 2018 festival program highlights the rise of Australia’s next generation of filmmakers.  Alena Lodkina’s visually stunning feature debut Strange Colours is a story of family and estrangement set amid the alien landscape of Australia’s opal miners. With most of the characters played by actual opal miners, it’s a hypnotic dusky reverie, filled with quiet grace and power. Fellow Lab alumnus Ted Wilson however, delivers a feel-good film of family, cricket and one man’s hunt for David Boon, in his delicately poised Under the Cover of Cloud. The MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Acute Misfortune is the debut feature from renowned independent theatre director, Thomas M. Wright. A lyrical adaptation of journalist Erik Jensen’s acclaimed biography of infamous Archibald Prize-winning artist Adam Cullen played by Daniel Henshall, who will return from New York for the film’s world premiere. Also supported through the Fund, director Miranda Nation’s Undertow is a psychological thriller of grief, abuse and obsession set against the backdrop of local footy culture. From rising filmmaker Ben Hackworth comes Celeste, a literally operatic character study of loss and power and the things that tear us apart. A sumptuously shot psychological thriller starring Radha Mitchell and Nadine Garner, Celeste is a riveting statement of intent from one of Australia’s boldest cinematic voices. The stories of Australia’s Indigenous population will be brought to life in one of the most dynamic showcases of Indigenous content in the festival’s history. An exhilarating and immersive film that will be shown at Melbourne’s Planetarium, Carriberrie tells the expansive story of Indigenous Australian song and dance. Featuring Aboriginal dance theatre group Bangarra and actors Jack Charles and David Gulpilil, Carriberrie is an intimate and breathtaking showcase of Aboriginal performance and Australian landscape. A starkly different documentary and a powerful call to action, the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley, from award-winning director Nicholas Wrathall (Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia), unearths the true cost of doing business in Australia’s world-famous Kimberley region; a place where mega-mining and pastoral developments threaten not just the environment but more than 200 Indigenous communities and their peoples’ sacred links to Country. In a ground-breaking work of interactive filmmaking, Thalu: Dreamtime is Now takes audiences on a journey into the modern Dreamtime stories of the western Pilbara-based Ngarluma. Directed by award-winning Ngarluma man Tyson Morwarin, this is a rare opportunity for audiences to hear these stories and to experience them through the medium of virtual reality. A tribute to an outcast musical genius; the astonishing story of three identical triplets separated at birth; the tale of a motorcycling legend; an unrestrained insight into one of music’s most provocative stars; and the story of Australia’s original working class man, all mark out this year’s documentary selection. In a coup for Melbourne audiences, MIFF will screen the world premiere of Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy – Mark Joffe’s captivating and compassionate portrait of one of Australia’s most well-known musical figures. Based on the best-selling memoir of the same name, the film joins Jimmy as he retraces his earliest steps through the hard streets of Glasgow and revisits childhood ghosts in South Australia. It’s a raw, yet darkly funny story set against a backdrop of never-seen-before archival footage and interviews along with captivating musical moments. Equally unflinching and honest, MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. presents outspoken musician M.I.A at her most candid. Winner of the Special Jury Award (World Cinema Documentary) at Sundance, this film is as dynamic, eclectic and electrifying as the artist herself. In his feature documentary debut, director Jeremy Sims turns his lens on Australia’s greatest ever professional motorcyclist – Wayne “The Wollongong Whiz” Gardner. In a film that’s as free-spirited, introspective, honest and cheeky as the man himself, Wayne offers a revealing portrait of a man who, during his career, was certainly hard to miss. Like something out of The Twilight Zone, Three Identical Strangers tells the incredible true story of triplets separated at birth…but that’s just the beginning of an even more astonishing saga. Having taken Sundance by storm, Three Identical Strangers is both a remarkable real-life tale and bona fide thriller, which will leave audiences gobsmacked. Inspired by former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s searing eulogy for Geoffrey Tozer, the Premiere Fund-supported The Eulogy explores the remarkable and tragic story of Australia’s greatest-ever, and perhaps most overlooked, pianist. Directed by Janine Hosking, the film includes Keating re-staging his famous funeral oration, as celebrated conductor Richard Gill AO embarks on a journey to restore Tozer’s legacy. From Givenchy to Gaultier, Armani to Alpha60, fashion design and style have long been influenced by cinema. In 2018, MIFF brings some of the most iconic style films to the big screen; films that launched style icons and influenced style for decades to come. In a program specially curated by Artistic Director Michelle Carey, Fashion x Cinema covers multiple genres, with each film unified by a sense of timelessness and jaw-dropping beauty. [caption id="attachment_28266" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Alexander McQueen in MCQUEEN. McQueen[/caption] This programming strand features: McQueen, director Ian Bonhôte’s ode to one of fashion’s most storied designers; Yellow is Forbidden, where veteran documentarian Pietra Brettkelly tells the haute couture Cinderella story of China’s Guo Pei – the designer behind the famed yellow dress worn by Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala; and Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist – an observational look at the orange-haired punk icon who rewrote the rules for the generation of designers who followed in her footsteps. Retrospective titles include: Funny Face, the film that saw Audrey Hepburn join forces with Givenchy; Berry Gordy’s rarely screened Mahogany, where Diana Ross plays an aspiring fashion designer torn between activism and a career of luxury; and Peter Weir’s inimitable Australian classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock. African Film Rediscovered is a retrospective program of recently restored and newly recovered classic African films, showcasing films from three decades and ten countries to celebrate the diversity and unique perspective of African cinema. Featuring Chronicle of the Years of Embers, the stirring, 1975 Palme d’Or winner by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina (Algeria); Selma Baccar’s pioneering feminist essay-film, Fatma 75 (Tunisia); and Shadi Abdel Salam’s haunting classic The Night of Counting the Years (Egypt). African Film Rediscovered is an in-depth look at the continent’s most seminal filmmaking. The Italo-Crime retrospective takes a focused look at Eurocrime and poliziotteschi – a genre of Italian crime thrillers from the 60s and 70s. Considered a defining moment in the poliziotteschi genre, the retrospective kicks off with The Violent Four, a down and dirty cinema vérité-inspired thriller set in the seedy Milan underworld. Other films include: Confessions of a Police Captain, an anti-buddy cop classic that quite literally cuts the red tape and leaves it full of bullet holes; Milan Caliber 9, one of Quentin Tarantino’s greatest inspirations; and the Oscar-winning Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – a Kafkaesque collision of fascist noir and absurdist satire that trails the powerful police chief hunting down a vicious killer: himself. Spearheaded by this year’s Palme d’Or winning Australian film, All These Creatures, MIFF Shorts will feature 90 films, as well as a specially curated (by the Harvard Film Archive) program of the intimate diary films of Bostonian artist, Anne Charlotte Robertson. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance, director Álvaro Gago delivers Matria; Israel’s Miki Polonski offers Shmama, the story of a mother and her daughter trapped in their own relationship; Australian Kerinne Jenkins brings the festival Cattle, a narrative of unspoken fears and inexplicable occurrences; and Iranian director Mojtaba Mousavi presents Mr. Deer – the tale of a deer attempting to rekindle the humanity of his fellow train passengers. In its largest iteration to date, the 2018 program has left no stone unturned. Presenting its core international and local selections alongside their regular programming strands – Experimentations, Music on Film, Night Shift, Retrospectives, Special Events and Talks – MIFF 2018 will beckon audiences everywhere to come and see another side of film.

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