On A Knife Edge, from director Jeremy Williams, a documentary film five years in the making, follows Guy Dull Knife and his son, George, as George comes of age on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. The film will world premiere June 10 and June 15 at the 16th annual San Francisco Documentary Film Festival.
“On a Knife Edge” is a father-son story about Guy and George Dull Knife that unfolds over the course of George’s coming-of-age journey. Under his father’s guidance, George becomes an activist and organizer, and begins identifying with the role of traditional Lakota warrior, which he views as his family legacy. He commits himself to the fight for social justice, but struggles with adapting the old ways and his father’s expectations to the modern-day realities of growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Told largely through George’s eyes, the film offers a privileged glimpse into the youngest generation of the American Indian Movement, as well as George’s own evolving notions of Native identity, manhood, and duty.
His story is interwoven with animated sequences that depict five generations of family history, narrated by his father and based on paintings he has created to explore the continuum of their fight through the generations.
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ON A KNIFE EDGE Coming of Age and Activism Doc on American Indian Young Man to World Premiere at SF DocFest
On A Knife Edge, from director Jeremy Williams, a documentary film five years in the making, follows Guy Dull Knife and his son, George, as George comes of age on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. The film will world premiere June 10 and June 15 at the 16th annual San Francisco Documentary Film Festival.
“On a Knife Edge” is a father-son story about Guy and George Dull Knife that unfolds over the course of George’s coming-of-age journey. Under his father’s guidance, George becomes an activist and organizer, and begins identifying with the role of traditional Lakota warrior, which he views as his family legacy. He commits himself to the fight for social justice, but struggles with adapting the old ways and his father’s expectations to the modern-day realities of growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Told largely through George’s eyes, the film offers a privileged glimpse into the youngest generation of the American Indian Movement, as well as George’s own evolving notions of Native identity, manhood, and duty.
His story is interwoven with animated sequences that depict five generations of family history, narrated by his father and based on paintings he has created to explore the continuum of their fight through the generations.
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First Round of Films Announced for 2017 Damn These Heels Film Festival
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Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall[/caption]
The 2017 Damn These Heels Film Festival taking place July 14 to 16, 2017 in Utah at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, revealed the first round of films selected for the festival. The festival features independent, documentary, and foreign films from around the world that explore LGBTQ issues, ideas, and art.
The Festival will open with Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall by director Katherine Fairfax Wright. The film follows Todrick Hall as he launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz.
Patrick Hubley, Director of Programming for the Utah Film Center said, “Through Damn These Heels screenings and events we hope to continue to foster the spirit of inclusion, unity, and tenacity in the Utah community. These films from all over the world show that now more than ever we need to celebrate our shared humanity no matter our race or sexual orientation. These stories need to be told and we cannot wait to kick off our 14th year with such a thought-provoking program.”
The first round of films selected to screen in the 2017 Damn These Heels Festival are:
Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall / USA (Director: Katherine Fairfax Wright)
Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz. From a small town in Texas to big-time show business, comes an inspiring documentary of grit, perseverance and the redemptive power of art. We watch him struggle to write songs about growing up gay and black in small-town Texas, his difficult relationship with his mom, and the harsh realities of trying to make it in show business. With limited time and budget the odds are against him, but Todrick’s passion and his team of talented performers overcome all obstacles to bring this story to the world. Utah Premiere
Official Selection: 2017 SXSW Film Festival, 2017 Outfest
*Opening Night Film
**Director Katherine Fairfax Wright will attend the festival for a guided discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d7geWHf1x8
Free Cece / USA (Director: Jacqueline Gares) – CeCe McDonald survived a brutal attack, only to be incarcerated for defending her life. After an international movement to free her, CeCe emerged as a leader to interrogate the prison industrial complex and inspire women to fight back when attacked. Utah Premiere
Cast: CeCe McDonald, Laverne Cox
Audience Award Winner: Feature Documentary – 2016 Blackstar Film Festival
I Dream In Another Language / Mexico/Netherlands (Director: Ernesto Contreras) – A young linguist travels to the jungle of Mexico to research a language on the verge of disappearing. Once there, he discoverers its last two speakers clashed 50 years ago, and have refused to speak to each other since. Attempting to reunite them, the researcher discovers a secret past—and a forbidden gay love story.
Cast: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, Eligio Meléndez, Manuel Poncelis, Fátima Molina, Juan Pablo De Santiago, Hoze Meléndez
Winner: Audience Award World Cinema (Dramatic) – 2017 Sundance Film Festival
Political Animals / USA (Director: John Markowitz, Tracy Wares) – A rousing documentary charting the unstoppable force of four lesbian legislators in California who’ve been fighting for LGBT rights and recognition for decades. Utah Premiere
Cast: Carole Migden, Sheila Kuehl, Jackie Goldberg, Christine Kehoe
Winner: Audience Award – 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival and 8 other awards.
Pushing Dead / USA (Director: Tom E. Brown) – When a struggling writer, HIV-positive for 20+ years, accidentally deposits a $100 birthday check, he is dropped from his health plan for earning too much. In this new era of sort-of universal care, can he take on a helpless bureaucracy or come up with $3000 a month to buy his meds on his own? Utah Premiere
Cast: James Roday, Robin Weigert, Danny Glover, Khandi Alexander, Tom Riley
Winner: Audience Award – Frameline 40; 2016 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival; 2017 Ashland Independent Film Festival; 2016 Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival
Signature Move / USA (Director: Jennifer Reeder ) – A hilarious and heartfelt look at modern families and the complexities of love in its many forms. Utah Premiere
Cast: Fawzia Mirza, Shabana Azmi, Sari Sanchez, Audrey Francis, Charin Alvarez
Official Selection: 2017 SXSW Film Festival
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin / USA (Director: Jennifer M. Kroot) – Celebrates one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels inspired millions to reclaim their lives.
Utah Premiere
Audience Award Winner: Documentary Spotlight – 2017 SXSW Film Festival; Jury Award: Best Documentary – 2017 OUTSHINE Film Festival
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Margaret Byrne’s Award-Winning Documentary RAISING BERTIE Opens June 9
RAISING BERTIE is a six-year portrait of three young African American men coming-of-age in North Carolina’s rural Bertie County. Like MOONLIGHT and BOYHOOD before it, the intimate portrayal of these young men interconnects narratives of family, youthful innocence, and isolation with the will to succeed in the face of formidable odds.
The feature-length documentary RAISING BERTIE, winner of Best Documentary Feature at Atlanta Docufest, is produced by Kartemquin Films and executive produced by Jermaine Cole aka rapper J. Cole.
This powerful vérité film delivers an authentic and tender portrait of the lives of three young boys – Reginald “Junior” Askew, David “Bud” Perry, and Davonte “Dada” Harrell – as they face a precarious coming of age in Bertie County, North Carolina.
Director Margaret Byrne brings audiences deep into the emotional lives of these young men as they try to find room for themselves in a place where life is dictated by a slow pace, opportunities are limited and tenuous family ties simultaneously offer comfort and heartache. Shot over the course of six years, RAISING BERTIE is an experience that asks us to see this world through their eyes: boys navigating between finishing high school and an elusive first job, as millions of young Americans similarly take their next step into an inherited idea of adulthood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1iNY7Fh3PA
Set in Bertie County, a rural African American-led community in Eastern North Carolina, Raising Bertie offers viewers an authentic and tender portrait of the lives of three young boys – Reginald “Junior” Askew, David “Bud” Perry, and Davonte “Dada” Harrell – as they face a precarious coming of age.
Rural minorities like the youth in Bertie represent some of the nation’s most vulnerable and least visible. Like many rural areas, Bertie County struggles with a dwindling economy, a declining population and a high school graduation rate below the state average. The Perdue chicken processing plant is Bertie’s last major employer, and the 27 prisons that lay within a 100 miles of Bertie cast a long shadow. Bertie County is predominately African American – its challenges compounded by generations of economic and educational discrimination and exclusion.
Bertie also is the home of Junior, Bud, and Dada, three engaging young men with difficult pasts attending high school at The Hive, an alternative school for at-risk boys. There, we meet Vivian Saunders, a passionate community activist from Bertie County. At The Hive a combination of respect, socio-emotional learning, and mentorship helps to put these young men’s lives on track. The Hive is a beautiful model of effective, supportive, and innovative interventions that help to improve opportunities and the quality of life for African-American boys and young men in Bertie.
But, when budget shorgalls lead the Board of Education to close The Hive, Junior, Bud, and Dada must return to Bertie High School and a system that once failed them.
This raw and starkly poetic Kartemquin vérité documentary weaves the young men’s stories together as they navigate school, unemployment, violence, first love, fatherhood, and estrangement from family members and mentors, all while trying to define their identities.
Intimate access depicts an honest portrayal of the boys’ perspectives and the caring adults in the community who understand what it means to take care of their own. The film is an in-depth look at issues facing many of rural America’s youth of color and what happens in the everyday lives of young people caught in the complex interplay of generational poverty, economic isolation, and educational inequity. Raising Bertie is an experience that asks us to see this world through their eyes and incites recognition and understanding of lives and communities too often ignored.
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ELLE Producer Michel Merkt to Receive Locarno’s 2017 Best Independent Producer Award
Swiss producer Michel Merkt will receive the 2017 The Best Independent Producer Award “Raimondo Rezzonico” at the Locarno Film Festival.
Proof of Michel Merkt’s instincts was offered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, which screened no less than 8 feature films in which he was involved, including: Elle by Paul Verhoeven, twofold César winner in 2017 for Best Film and for Isabelle Huppert as Best Female Lead, as well as an Academy Awards 2017 nomination for Best Actress; the Franco-Swiss cartoon Ma vie de Courgette by Claude Barras from Sion (Canton Valais), co-produced with Pauline Gygax’s and Max Karli’s production company Rita, another recent Oscar nominee and winner of a César for Best Animated Film; and Juste la fin du monde, directed by Xavier Dolan, winner of the Jury Grand Prix and Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes 2016, with an impressive line-up of stars such as Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux. He also collaborated with director Walter Hill, to produce The Assignment, starring Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez.
The 70th Locarno Festival will be held from August 2 to 12, 2017.
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Nastassja Kinski to be Guest of Honor at Locarno Film Festival
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Nastassja Kinski[/caption]
Nastassja Kinski will be guest of honor at the 70th Locarno Film Festival. She will be presenting Cat People, Paul Schrader’s remake of the horror classic by French director Jacques Tourneur, dedicatee of this year’s Retrospective at Locarno.
From the outset of her career, Nastassja Kinski has appeared in films that have become part of cinema history. She was a muse for directors such as Wim Wenders, in Falsche Bewegung (1975) and Paris, Texas (1982), or for Roman Polanski in Tess (1979), and played opposite great actors like Marcello Mastroianni, Gérard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Robert Mitchum and Al Pacino.
In Paul Schrader’s take on Cat People (1982), adapted from the 1942 masterpiece by Jacques Tourneur, Kinski’s remarkable performance captures the ambiguous, mutant nature of the character originally played by Simone Simon.
The venue for the Locarno Retrospective on French iconic filmmaker Jacques Tourneur (1904 – 1977) will be the city’s historic Rex theater, now fully refurbished and ready to re-open for the 70th Festival under its new name, GranRex.
The 70th Locarno Festival will be held from August 2nd to 12th, 2017.
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Sheffield Doc/Fest Unveils Music Films in Doc/Rythm Film Lineup
[caption id="attachment_22354" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Bruk Out![/caption]
This year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest will feature energetic portraits of dance, music and contemporary culture in the Doc/Rhythm film strand, plus at the Festival’s parties and talks, special guests and live appearances will celebrate resistance, subculture and 50 Years of the Sexual Offences Act.
A number of world premieres in the film program feature stories from the music scene – Roy Gurwitz will attend for Sofia Ollins’ Lost In Vagueness; the raw, energetic world of Jamaican Dancehall culture is explored in Bruk Out!, followed by a Dancehall Dance Class with one of the film participants in Tudor Square; and director Yony Leyser will attend for Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution about the 1980s queer fanzine scene and features the stories of Kim Gordon, Peaches, Kathleen Hanna and more. This year a celebration of queer and subculture runs throughout the Festival from opening night Queerama by Daisy Asquith followed by a short performance from John Grant and parties with DJs Cate Le Bon, Jonny Slut and performance by Skinny Girl Diet.
Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander will also appear at the Festival to talk about his BBC 3 documentary: Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay (working title) which explores why the gay community can be vulnerable to mental health issues and talks about his own long-term battle with depression.
Also ahead of the World Premiere at Sadler’s Wells later in June, the Festival will present a Special Work-in-Progress Preview of 8 Minutes by Alexander Whitley Dance Company featuring a stunning installation of high-definition imagery from BAFTA award-winning visual artist Tal Rosner, and a specially created score by the electroacoustic music innovator Daniel Wohl.
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THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE Wins Top Award at 2017 Archaeology Channel International Film Festival
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The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille[/caption]
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille directed by Peter L. Brosnan won the top award – Best Film award at the 2017 Archaeology Channel International Film Festival which took place in Eugene, Oregon, at the Shedd Institute. The Festival featured many of the world’s best films on archaeology and cultural heritage
The top jury award (Best Film by Jury) went to The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA), about a thirty-year battle to prove the existence of a “Lost City,” the monumental movie set built by Cecil B. DeMille for his 1923 silent film, The Ten Commandments, culminating in the world’s first archaeological excavation of a movie set. Representatives of this film described the movie-making process for this film and conducted Q&A for the audience.
The Festival jury awarded three Special Mention awards. The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France) won special mention for promoting awareness of Paleolithic cave art. Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France) was noted for furthering awareness of architectural history. Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France) impressed the jury with its excellent use of image and imagination in the interpretation of Paleolithic cave art.
The Festival audience picked Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) as its favorite film. This NOVA film updates the curious story of Oetzi the “Iceman,” Europe’s oldest known natural mummy, murdered more than 5,000 years ago.
The following is a complete list of TAC Festival 2017 awards:
Best Film (by Jury)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA)Honorable Mention for Best Film Category (in order):
The Destruction of Memory (Produced and directed by Tim Slade; distributed by Autlook Filmsales; USA) Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions, Jean-Pierre Bailly; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France) The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France)Best Narration (by Jury)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA)Honorable Mention for Narration (in order):
Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) Vikings Unearthed (Produced by Eamon Hardy for WGBH NOVA; directed by Harvey Lilley; distributed by BBC Worldwide; UK) Prayers Long Silent (Produced and directed by Dan Frodsham; distributed by Nanyang Technological University Singapore; UK) Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France)Best Animation & Effects (by Jury)
Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA)Honorable Mention for Animation & Special Effects (in order):
Naachtun: The Forgotten Mayan City (Produced by Les Films a Cinq; directed by Stephanie Begoin; distributed by Les Films a Cinq; France) Mia (Produced by Spotted Fawn Productions, Inc; directed by Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett; distributed by Winnipeg Film Group; Canada) Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France) Fatal Alchemy (Produced and directed by Martin Freeth; distributed by British Medical Journal; UK)Best Public Education Value (by Jury)
The Destruction of Memory (Produced and directed by Tim Slade; distributed by Autlook Filmsales; USA)Honorable Mention for Public Education Value (in order):
The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France) Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France) The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA) Honey Hunters (Produced by Ira Rakiz Tuffile; directed by Abdul Hamid Abdullah; distributed by National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS); Malaysia)Best Script (by Jury)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA)Honorable Mention for Script (in order):
Fatal Alchemy (Produced and directed by Martin Freeth; distributed by British Medical Journal; UK) Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France) Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) Honey Hunters (Produced by Ira Rakiz Tuffile; directed by Abdul Hamid Abdullah; distributed by National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS); Malaysia)Best Cinematography (by Jury)
My Name is Salt (Produced and directed by Farida Pacha; distributed by Documentary Educational Resources; India)Honorable Mention for Cinematography (in order):
Fatal Alchemy (Produced and directed by Martin Freeth; distributed by British Medical Journal; UK) The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France) Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) Naachtun: The Forgotten Mayan City (Produced by Les Films a Cinq; directed by Stephanie Begoin; distributed by Les Films a Cinq; France)Best Music (by Jury)
Nowruz in Tajikistan (Produced by Documentary and Experimental Film Center; directed by Mehdi Bemani; distributed by Documentary and Experimental Film Center; Iran)Honorable Mention for Music (in order):
Fatal Alchemy (Produced and directed by Martin Freeth; distributed by British Medical Journal; UK) Mia (Produced by Spotted Fawn Productions Inc; directed by Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett; distributed by Winnipeg Film Group; Canada) Prayers Long Silent (Produced and directed by Dan Frodsham; distributed by Nanyang Technological University Singapore; UK) Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France)Most Inspirational (by Jury)
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA)Honorable Mention for Inspiration (in order):
The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France) Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France) Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA) Gyptis: A Greco-Massalian Boat Dating Back to the 6th Century BC (Produced and directed by Antoine Chene; distributed by Antoine Chene; France)Audience Favorite Competition (by Festival audience)
Iceman Reborn (Produced by Bonnie Brennan, Paula Apsell, Julia Cort, and Chris Schmidt; directed by Bonnie Brennan; distributed by PBS; USA)Honorable Mention in Audience Favorite Competition (in order):
My Name is Salt (Produced and directed by Farida Pacha; distributed by Documentary Educational Resources; India) The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France) The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (Produced by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; directed by Peter L. Brosnan; distributed by Peter L. Brosnan and Daniel J. Coplan; USA) Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France)Special Mention (by Jury)
The Grand Masters of the Chauvet Cave (Produced by Andana Films; directed by Christian Tran; distributed by Andana Films; France); for Promoting Awareness of Paleolithic Cave Art Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect (Produced by Stéphane Milliere, Gedeon Programmes; directed by Marc Jampolsky; distributed by Terranoa; France); for Furthering Awareness of Architectural History Stone Age Cinema (Produced by MC4 Productions; directed by Pascal Cuissot and Marc Azema; distributed by ZED; France); for Excellent Use of Image and Imagination in the Interpretation of Paleolithic Cave Art
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Coming Soon: The Orchard to Release Archie Borders’ UNDER THE EIFFEL TOWER Starring Matt Walsh, Judith Godrèche
Director Archie Borders’ forthcoming film Under The Eiffel Tower has quickly been acquired by The Orchard for release. Written by Borders and David Henry, the film stars Emmy-nominee Matt Walsh (Veep), Cesar Award-winner Judith Godrèche (L’auberge espagnole), Ary Abittan (Qu’est-ce qu-on a fait au bon Dieu), David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), Gary Cole (Talladega Nights), Ryan Eggold (The Blacklist) and Michaela Watkins (Casual). Godrèche is producing, along with Michael Fitzer, Stacey Parks and Erin Roark. Executive producers are Paul Davidson, Danielle DiGIacomo and Brad Navin. Currently prepping for a July production start in France, The Orchard is targeting a 2018 release for the film.
A bourbon salesman (Walsh) fighting off 50, unexpectedly proposes and is rejected by his best friend’s 24-year-old daughter under the Eiffel Tower. The soul crushing event sparks a wine-fueled ‘coming of middle age’ jaunt across the French countryside, a surprising friendship with a local footballer (Eggold) and sparks romantic possibilities with a beautiful and independent French woman (Godrèche).
“Under The Eiffel Tower represents the perfect combination of France, wine and a stellar ensemble cast,” said Paul Davidson, The Orchard’s EVP, Film and Television. “We are thrilled to be working with Archie, Judith, Matt, Stacey and the rest of the team to bring this endearing comedy to audiences.”
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RIP: Kim Ji-seok, Deputy Director of Busan International Film Festival, Dies of Heart Attack at Cannes
Kim Ji-seok, the Deputy Director and the Executive Programmer of Busan International Film Festival, died at age 57 on Thursday evening, May 18th (French local time), following a heart attack while attending the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, France, the Busan International Film Festival confirmed in a statement.
Born in 1960, Kim was a founding member of Busan International Film Festival from 1996 and was currently the Deputy Director and the Executive Programmer of the Festival.
In its statement, the Busan International Film Festival said, “In undying efforts, contribution and devotion in discovery of Asian films, Kim led Busan International Film Festival to be the center of Asian cinema and one of world-class film festivals.”
Kim Ji-seok
1960 Born in Busan, Korea
1983 Graduated from Busan National University
1990 M.A. in Film and Theater at Joong Ang University
1996-2017 Working in Busan International Film Festival
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Singer Morrissey Biopic ENGLAND IS MINE to Close Edinburgh International Film Festival
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England is Mine[/caption]
England is Mine, about the early life of singer Morrissey, will close the 71st edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Sunday July 2nd, 2017 at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.
England is Mine takes audiences back to 1970s Manchester, where Steven Morrissey (Jack Lowden – Dunkirk, A United Kingdom, ’71), an introverted, uncompromising teenager, finds himself frustrated with his working-class existence.
With dreams of a successful music career being dampened by his run-of-the-mill job at the local tax office, Steven finds solace in the city’s underground gig scene where he meets Linder Sterling ( Jessica Brown Findlay – Downton Abbey, The Riot Club) – an intelligent, self-assured artist – who encourages him to make his ideas of superstardom a reality.
Culminating in his first meeting with Johnny Marr, England is Mine, is a feature length biopic based on the early life of Morrissey, the outspoken former lead singer of seminal British band The Smiths. The film is directed by Academy Award® and BAFTA Award nominee Mark Gill (The Voorman Problem).
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Francis Lee’s GOD OWN COUNTRY to Open Edinburgh International Film Festival
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God’s Own Country[/caption]
Francis Lee’s debut feature God’s Own Country will open the 71st edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 21, 2017.
Shot entirely on location in West Yorkshire, God’s Own Country is a contemporary tale of self-discovery and emotional-awakening set on the sheep farming hills of rural Northern England.
Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor) works long hours on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. But when a handsome Romanian migrant worker (Alec Secareanu) arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself having to deal with emotions he has never felt before. As they begin working closely together during lambing season, an intense relationship starts to form which could change Johnny’s life forever.
Yorkshire-born director Francis Lee commented: “It’s a great privilege that God’s Own Country has been selected as the Opening Night film of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. After the incredible critical and audience responses to the film in both Sundance and Berlin earlier in the year, I’m thrilled to bring God’s Own Country to the UK for the first time.”
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2017 Lighthouse International Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens with KING OF PEKING
[caption id="attachment_22330" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
KING OF PEKING[/caption]
The 2017 Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) will open with Sam Voutas’ acclaimed KING OF PEKING, a rousing Beijing-set love letter to cinema that brought cheering audiences to their feet at Tribeca 2017.
“From the opening frames of KING OF PEKING, I knew that it was special and a film that the LIFF audience will love,” says Lighthouse International Film Festival’s Eric Johnson. “Sam Voutas has made a film that speaks to cinephiles in a unique way, filled with moments that show film’s ability to act as a universal bond, while also telling a terrific story with a ton of heart and laughs. It is punctuated by pitch-perfect turns from his actors and it all comes together to form a sublime way to kick off the 2017 festival. We are thrilled to champion the emergence of one of the most exciting young directors working today by opening with KING OF PEKING.”
In addition, the festival announced the complete lineup for its ninth annual event, which will take place June 8 to 11, 2017 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
LIFF will again present both Documentary and Narrative Centerpiece Films, including Jonathan Olshefski’s QUEST as Documentary Centerpiece. A vérité portrait of a North Philadelphia family that was shot over the course of a decade, it tells the tale of Christopher “Quest” Rainey, along with his wife Christine (aka “Ma Quest”). They open the door to their home music studio, which serves as a creative sanctuary from the strife that grips their neighborhood. Over the years, the family evolves as everyday life brings a mix of joy and unexpected crisis. Set against the backdrop of a country now in turmoil, the film is a tender depiction of an American family whose journey is a profound testament to love, healing and hope. QUEST will screen at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences on June 10th.
The Festival’s Narrative Centerpiece film is FITS AND STARTS, the feature directorial debut of Laura Terruso. The acclaimed comedy stars The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac as a struggling writer who has been toiling away at the same novel for years. His wife (Jennifer Greta Lee) is a hot young literary figure, who has just released a new masterpiece. When her publisher invites the couple to an artists’ salon at his home in Connecticut, the pair embark on a twisted journey, and David must face his demons and try to “not be weird” among the waspy salon guests and competitive art set in attendance. He encounters a dentist with publishing aspirations, a book critic full of condescending advice, a fellow writer who may know his wife a little too well, an old “friend” and a high powered bipolar literary agent who just might be able to help him… for a price. FITS AND STARTS will screen on June 9th at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, with Laura Terruso in attendance for a Q&A after the film.
Closing the 2017 Festival will be MISSING IN EUROPE, director Tamar Halpern’s tense new thriller about a cyber security expert visiting Serbia under the guise of attending a conference for work, but is really there to check in on her daughter, Karissa, who has been studying abroad. Their happy reunion is cut short when Karissa and her classmate Lara go clubbing and seemingly disappear into thin air. Sara is certain that her daughter has been abducted. Utilizing a host of hacking skills and following the clues Karissa is leaving behind, she starts to uncover a major sex trafficking ring. Even worse, it seems the local police force is in on it. With nobody to trust but herself, Sara uses every tool at her disposal to locate her daughter before she’s sold to the highest bidder and disappears forever. MISSING IN EUROPE will screen at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences on June 11th, with director Tamar Halpern on hand for a Q&A afterward.
OPENING NIGHT FILM
King of Peking, Sam Voutas, China
NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE FILM
Fits and Starts, Laura Terruso, USA
DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE FILM
Quest, Jonathan Olshefski, USA
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
Missing in Europe, Tamar Halopern, USA
SPOTLIGHT FILMS
Bad Black, Nabwana I.G.G., Uganda
Dina, Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, USA
Gaza Surf Club, Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine, Germany
Infinity Baby, Bob Byington, USA
The Journey, Nick Hamm, UK
Person to Person, Dustin Guy Defa, USA
The Road Movie, Dimitrii Kalashnikov, Belarus/Russia/Serbia/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Croatia
NARRATIVE COMPETITION FILMS
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong, Jason Headley, USA
Brave New Jersey, Jody Lambert, USA
The Dunning Man, Michael Clayton, USA
Gold Star, Victoria Negri, USA
Man Underground, Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine, USA
Memories of Summer, Adam Guzinski, Poland
Our Father, Meni Yaish, Israel
Woven, Nagwa Ibrahim and Salome Mulugeta. USA
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FILMS
The Crest, Mark Covino, USA
One October, Rachel Shuman, USA
The Oyster Farmers, Angela Anderson and Corinne Gray Ruff, USA
Santoalla, Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer, USA/Spain
Swim Team, Lara Stolman, USA
That Way Madness Lies, Sandra Luckow, USA
EPISODIC CONTENT
Black Magic for White Boys, Onur Tukel, USA
SHORT FILMS
The Accord, R.C. Cone, USA/Iceland
Another Girl, Austin Kase, USA
The Bake Sale, Susan Skoog, USA
The Best and the Loneliest Days, Qianzhu Luo, USA
Break-In, Christopher Cox, USA
Bruce Loves You, Darin Quan, USA
C.I.T., Cara Consilvio, USA
Candice and Peter’s Smokin’ Hot Date, Leanne Bishop and Michael Mason, Canada
Catherine, Britt Raes, Belgium
The Collection, Adam Roffman, USA
Commercial Crabberman (A Livelyhood On The Barengat Bay), Andrew DiAngelis, USA
Le Creuset, Don Downie, USA
Deadbeat, Jesse R. Tendler, USA
Demonoid (1971), Alaric Rocha, USA
Do No Harm, Roseanne Liang, New Zealand
Dogs and Tacos, Steven Bachrach, USA
Don’t Think About It, Niv Klainer, USA
Election Night, Ryan Scafuro, USA/England
Epiphany V, Kevin Newbury, USA
La Folia, Adam Grannick, USA
For Marta, Isabel Ellison, USA
Fresh Blood, Richa Rudola, USA
Fry Day, Laura Moss, USA
Good Luck (in Farsi), Jessica Cummings, USA
Hilda, Kiira Benzing, USA
The Hobbyist, George Vatistas, USA
I’m Sticking With You, Eric Shahinian, USA
Innocent or Otherwise, Alex Forstenhausler, USA
Juliet Remembered, Tamzin Merchant, UK
Life and Sand, Simon Mendes, USA
Lone Signal, Jessi Erian Colon, USA
Nanny, Kathy Meng, USA
Night Shift, Marshall Tyler, USA
The Other End, Sudeep Kanwal, USA/India
The Other Side, Griselda San Martin, Spain
The Poet and the Professor, Ariel Kavoussi, USA
Prerequesite, Geoffrey Guerrero, USA
Refugee, Joyce Chen, Emily Chen, and Emily Moore, USA
Rikishi, Julien Menanteau, Germany
Rose’s Children, Josh Adwar and Jamie Dolan, USA
Says, David C. Lynch, Ireland
The Scarecrow, Phillip Rhys, USA
The Seven Men of Hanukkah, Daryl Lathon, USA
Shapers, Graham Willoughby, USA
Silver Lining, Joe Kolbow, USA
Siren Song: Women Singers of Pakistan, Fawzia Afzal-Khan, India/Pakistan
The Skull, Graceann Dorse, USA
The Spectrum, Sean MacLaughlin and Quinn MacLaughlin, USA
Spell Claire, Greg Emetaz, USA
Static, Kevin Hoyer, USA
Stitched, Heather Taylor, USA
Sure-Fire, Michael Goldburg, USA
Test of Courage, Rena Dumont, Germany
Twin Days, Alex Markman, USA
Wake, Kristen Kress Parness, USA