Film Festivals

Irish Film Festival London Announces Biggest Ever Line-up, Opens with Romantic SMITHY & DICKIE

[caption id="attachment_32513" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Smithy and Dickie[/caption] Back for its 8th year, the Irish Film Festival London with Colin Farrell as its latest patron, presents Ireland’s latest mainstream and independent films over 5 days across London. IFFL 2018 opens on a romantic note with Smithy & Dickie, Hannah Quinn’s delightful short about Irish 1940’s love letters, followed by Under the Clock, directed by Colm Nicell, which tells the enchanting stories of a generation of people whose relationships began under one of Ireland’s most iconic landmarks, Clerys clock. The closing film is We Ourselves starring Aidan Gillen, Catherine Walker, Declan Conlon, Paul Reid, Seána Kerslake, Gavin Drea, and Caitríona Ennis. Paul Mercier’s second feature is an intimate and intense journey into the minds and hearts of a group of idealists and careerists as they go their separate paths in life, though are still bound together through a shared experience, a shared culture and a shared nation. Irish Film London Patron and Academy Award-winning director Lenny Abrahamson returns to London for the festival, providing a pre-festival teaser with an appearance on Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI (MK3D) on Monday 19th November. He then joins his long-term musical collaborator Stephen Rennicks for a talk on music and sound in their films (Sounds Guys, Thurs 22nd November), which will be followed by a screening of his latest film The Little Stranger, starring Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson. IFFL 2018 has plenty for the curious mind, with documentaries including Poc na Gael, in which Irish sporting legend Ger Loughnane traces the origins of Canadian ice-hockey all the way back to the Irish emigrant hurlers, and celebrates their legacy across the country today, and The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid, (screening at Bertha Dochouse), in which a small Irish farmer goes head to head with US microchip Manufacturer Intel in a land battle. Part of Irish Film London’s mission is to support Irish filmmakers from the beginning of their careers, and this year’s line-up includes two programmes of Irish Short Films (Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd November), full of up and coming Irish filmmaking talent. There will also be a panel discussion aimed at shorts filmmakers at The Union Soho as part of the festival, which reflects on the challenges and rewards of developing from shorts to feature films. For family audiences, the heart-waring Grace and Goliath, from Cinemagic and Tony Mitchell, screens on Saturday 24th November at 2pm, in which an arrogant Hollywood big shot, Josh Jenkins sweeps into Belfast to make a movie, but before long he finds he needs the help of the very people he’s been overlooking. As always, the festival’s Friday night film will be a special preview screening, from one of Ireland’s rising star directors, with details available only via the festival brochure or newsletter. A duo of films highlighting the current Irish homelessness crisis screen on Saturday 24th November. Shelter Me: Apollo House, produced by Jim Sheridan, follows the world-renowned director, and a motley crew of inadvertent activists including Glen Hansard, Hozier, Damien Dempsey and Dean Scurry who were involved in the takeover of NAMA building Apollo House over the Christmas of 2016 to house Dublin’s homeless. It is followed by Rosie, a poignant moment in the life of a family displaced, with a show stopping performance by Sarah Greene. The creation of Roddy Doyle and Paddy Breathnach, two of Ireland’s leading storytellers, Rosie is ‘inspired by too many true stories.’ In keeping with the political times, IFFL 2018’s Sunday 25th November includes an afternoon focused on Northern Ireland, and the tensions arising around the border. Brexit: The Border Issue comprises a collection of short films on the topic, including the Financial Times’ recently commissioned Hard Border from Juliet Riddell and Clare Dwyer-Hogg which opens with Stephen Rea’s “Jacob Rees-Mogg you’re right. You don’t need to visit the border… you need to have lived here.” Later that day Tom Collins’ bi-lingual drama Penance reveals just what living in Derry felt like through the twentieth century, as a 1916 firebrand preacher priest later faces his demons during the 1960s era of The Troubles. In the first collaboration of its kind, IFFL 2018 includes a joint event with the UK Jewish Film Festival, the Irish Film Institute, and the Barbican, with The Cohens and the Kellys, an uproariously funny 1926 silent film based in New York’s poorer quarters, accompanied by a live quartet of award-winning Irish and Jewish musicians.
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Over 100 Films to Screen at 2018 London International Animation Festival

The London International Animation Festival (LIAF 2018) returns to the Barbican for its fifteenth year with over 100 films selected to screen in ten International Competition Programs, including the British Showcase, Into the Dark (scary shorts), From Absurd to Zany (comedy shorts), Animated Documentaries and the Abstract Showcase. The LIAF will also present two programs of animation specifically for children – Amazing Animations for three to seven-year-olds and Marvelous Animations for eight to fifteen-year-olds. There’ll be talking animals, seriously fun adventures and tales that spark young imaginations. The opening night gala celebrates the work of the dynamic Scottish duo Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson. Graduates from Edinburgh College of Art’s animation degree course in 2012, Will and Ainslie’s worldwide reputation is a testament to their talent, including two BAFTAs, two McLaren Awards, a British Academy Award, a nomination for the Cartoon D’Or and almost 50 awards at festivals around the world. London based animation director Jonathan Hodgson has been making award winning animated films since the early 1980s. An established director of commercials, Hodgson has explored almost every animation technique and in recent years has specialized in documentary animation. The LIAF is pleased to present an evening with him focusing specifically on his documentary work where he will present highlights from his early sketchbook-based animation, to his documentary feature work, which will be followed by an onstage Q&A. Female Figures returns to LIAF for a second year, championing female animation talent in a program of extraordinary works exploring female desire by contemporary animators and their predecessors. These films present a range of perspectives on the female body and female sexuality, reveling in fantasy, desire and intimacy, as well as sharing experiences of abuse and trauma. Abigail Addison at Animate Projects will lead a post-screening conversation with animators Kate Jessop, Jenny Jokela and Thalma Goldman Cohen and with BFI National Archive Curator (Animation) Jez Stewart. A further special screening and panel discussion is Aftermath, a program of 13 short films inspired by I’m OK, a new film by Elizabeth Hobbs about the expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka and his experiences as a soldier in the First World War. These films explore the Great War at its centenary, including themes of conflict and loss and date from the early 1970’s to present day. The festival ends with the Best of the Festival on Sunday December 9 featuring the best films of LIAF 2018 as chosen by the panel of industry judges and audience votes. Image: Mogu and Perol Two friends live on Yummy Island, where delicious food can be found everywhere! Japan 2018 Dir Tsuneo Goda 8min
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Documentary NORTH POLE, NY Chronicles Story of the Historic Christmas Theme Park [Trailer]

[caption id="attachment_32505" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] North Pole, NY[/caption] North Pole, NY, a documentary film directed by Ali Cotterill, chronicles the story of a historic Christmas theme park and the dreamers who fight to keep it open against all odds. North Pole, NY will premiere at DOC NYC on Friday, November 9th and Monday, Nov. 12th. North Pole, NY is a revealing look at the battle for survival of one of the first theme parks in the U.S., Santa’s Workshop, located in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The film examines the park’s legacy, the dedicated staff and loyal residents, and its current struggles to survive, despite technological shifts and economic realities, while placing it in the larger context of the history and decline of the American roadside attraction. The film follows the development of Santa’s Workshop, founded in 1949 by visionary entrepreneur Julian Reiss, who was inspired by the beauty of the Adirondacks to build “Santa’s summer home.” In the 1950’s, following national media attention, Santa’s Workshop becomes a cultural fixture with families and tourists who flock from all over the U.S. to the Adirondack Mountains. From the immersive, village-like setting and interactive holiday attractions, complete with song and dance, Santa’s Workshop created an enchanted land of make-believe for both adults and children alike. As area development and cultural shifts alter the landscape of the Adirondacks, Santa’s Workshop struggles to remain relevant. When a would-be businessman proposes what looks like a life-saving deal to save Santa’s Workshop, the heritage and the spirit of the historic theme park is jeopardized. Santa’s Workshop becomes a casualty of a power struggle between an opportunistic businessman and the owner. With help from local residents and town council, the community rallies around Santa’s Workshop to restore the park to its greatness. Through it all, Santa’s Workshop remains a place where past and current staff, and generations of families remember simpler times, irony-free kitsch, and the celebration of imagination. Santa’s Workshop links us to an important time and place in history– a time of innocence. For over 65 years, Santa’s Workshop, which has its own zip code as North Pole, NY, has served as the economic driver of the small community of Wilmington, New York. North Pole, NY is a portrait of small town America. It shows both the beauty and struggle of the Adirondacks. Director Ali Cotterill says, “My vision in creating North Pole, NY documentary was to investigate the rise and decline of theme parks and roadside attractions, which were central to my childhood development and creativity. I discovered that Santa’s Workshop was part of larger story about economic dislocation in small town America, and the ceding of childhood imagination to corporatized and digitized fun. Theme parks, and Santa Claus himself, are fueled by the magic of believing, North Pole, NY asks the question, “What will we lose as a culture if we let places like Santa’s Workshop disappear? “ North Pole, NY had its World Premiere at IFF Boston 2018, where it opened to critical acclaim. It was the Official Selection at SF DocFest 2018 and NH DOCS 2018. North Pole, NY recently won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at Indie Street Film Festival 2018. North Pole, NY will premiere at DOC NYC during the following dates/times: Fri. November 9, 2018 at 5:15pm at IFC Center Mon. November 12, 2018 at 12:15pm at Cinepolis Chelsea
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CUFF.Docs to Showcase 13 Groundbreaking Documentaries – MR FISH, WOLVES UNLEASHED

[caption id="attachment_32501" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End[/caption] CUFF.Docs, Calgary’s Documentary Film Festival presented by the Calgary Underground Film Festival has released its lineup of 13 groundbreaking feature documentaries, covering everything from medical cannabis to slam poetry and swamp rats. The five-day festival, running November 28 to December 2 at Globe Cinema, will open on Wednesday, November 28 with MR FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END, about the political cartoonist known for his subversive and often controversial art. Director Pablo Bryant and documentary subject Dwayne Booth (Mr Fish himself) will be in attendance and are available for media interviews prior to the screening. On the final day of the festival, the local film WOLVES UNLEASHED: AGAINST ALL ODDS from director and world-renowned wolf trainer Andrew Simpson will play with Simpson in attendance. Simpson has worked with wolves on Alberta productions including THE REVENANT, GAME OF THRONES, WYNONNA EARP, and this film documents his time in China raising and training wild Mongolian wolves for a Chinese blockbuster. Andrew Simpson is available for media interviews prior to the screening. “At CUFF.Docs we always we look for a mix of festival favorites and award-winning films,” said Festival Director and Lead Programmer Brenda Lieberman. “This is a collection of documentaries that will entertain or educate regardless of whether you’ve heard of the story or subject before.” Other guests coming to CUFF.Docs are: Nikhil Melnechuk, slam poet and producer of DON’T BE NICE about a team of young New York City slam poets competing for the National Championship, and Scott Christopherson, director of THE INSUFFERABLE GROO, which tells the story of prolific and eccentric filmmaker Stephen Groo as he tries to recruit Jack Black for his latest project. Documentary highlights include a new film about the Sri Lanka pop star and political activist M.I.A (MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.), the Sundance award-winning skateboarding film MINDING THE GAP, RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE: an environmental study of nutria – giant swamp rats in Louisiana – from CUFF alumni Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer and Quinn Costello, and WEED THE PEOPLE, a timely look at the medical benefits of cannabis. CARMINE STREET GUITARS (a day-in-the-life story of the acclaimed guitar shop), HAL (a bio about the acclaimed 1970s Hollywood director Hal Ashby), PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF DESIRE (a look at the Chinese online streaming platform YY) THE CLEANERS (an expose about the hidden shadow industry of digital cleaning) and THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (an exploration of the systemic sexism in Hollywood) round out the 13 film lineup.
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MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS to Open, MOMENTUM GENERATION to Close 2018 Whistler Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_31897" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] (l-r) Grace Molony stars as Dorothy Stafford, Margot Robbie stars as Queen Elizabeth I and Georgia Burnell as Kate Carey in MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, a Focus Features release.[/caption] Festival goers attending the 18th annual Whistler Film Festival (WFF), taking place from November 28 to December 2, can look forward to 85 fresh films including 50 features and 35 shorts representing 12 countries. WFF is set to open this year with Josie Rourke’s MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, starring two of last year’s Oscar nominated best actresses, Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. Rourke’s breathtakingly beautiful directorial debut explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Ronan), and her struggle to reclaim her rightful throne as Queen of Scotland, then under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Robbie). Closing the festival is the Canadian Premiere of groundbreaking surf documentary MOMENTUM GENERATION. Directed by Academy Award-shortlisted and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmakers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, the documentary follows the biggest names in surfing, including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Kalani Robb and the late Todd Chesser. Executive produced by Sundance founder Robert Redford with stunning archival footage from the godfather of surf films Taylor Steele, MOMENTUM GENERATION gives audiences an inside look at the lives of these teenagers as they rose to super stardom as the first competitive surfers. WFF will screen six award season contenders including hosting the Canadian premieres of ON THE BASIS OF SEX, Mimi Leder’s topical biography of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg played by Felicity Jones, and Robert Budreau’s STOCKHOLM with Ethan Hawke and Noomi Rapace. The festival will also feature Western Canadian Premieres of AT ETERNITY’S GATE, director Julian Schnabel’s take on the life on Vincent Van Gogh played by Willem Dafoe; IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, the first film from director Barry Jenkins since winning the Academy Award for Best Picture with MOONLIGHT; Alfonso Cuarón’s masterful ROMA, which – for the first time ever at WFF – will be shown in 4k projection and 7.2 sound; and FAMILY FIRST (CHIEN DE GARDE) directed by Sophie Dupuis, Canada’s entry in this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar category. Other highlights include the World Premiere of Borsos Jury member Bruce McDonald’s CLAIRE’S HAT, an unprecedented filmic mea culpa about the making of the 2001 fiasco PICTURE CLAIRE. This funny, insightful and brilliantly reconstructed exploration documents what went wrong during the shooting of McDonald’s biggest budget movie to date. Direct from its premiere at Telluride, Brigitte Berman’s HUGH HEFNER’S AFTER DARK: SPEAKING OUT IN AMERICA, features a treasure trove of archival footage with everyone from Lenny Bruce to Moms Mabley. Programming strands include American Indies, Canadian Vanguard, Contenders, Doc Bloc, First Features, From Overseas, From The Vault, Mountain Culture, ShortWork, and World Premieres. WFF boasts that four of its five films in its American Indies strand will grace Canadian screens for the first time in Whistler. Titles include Wendy McColm’s funny and bittersweet BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS; Adisa’s horrifying look at sex trafficking in SKIN IN THE GAME; Alex Harvey’s brilliant WALDEN: LIFE IN THE WOODS with Oscar nominee Demián Bichir; and Emma Forrest’s moving UNTOGETHER, with Jamie Dornan (50 SHADES OF GREY), Jemima Kirke, Lola Kirke, Ben Mendelsohn and Jennifer Grey. Finally, Sebastián Silva’s TYREL features Michael Cera in a story about a lone black man on otherwise all-white weekend of drunken bro debauchery on a birthday trip to a cabin in the Catskills. This year, 18 Canadian films will compete for Canada’s second largest festival prize in the 15th annual Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature. Borsos titles feature seven World Premieres including Jon Silverberg’s haunting WOODLAND (shot in BC); Métis director Shane Belcourt’s mission to Mars comedy RED ROVER starring Cara Gee; Jesse Zigelstein’s restaurant owner drama for foodies NOSE TO TAIL, Carolyn Combs’ ode to multiculturalism in Vancouver BELLA CIAO!; Natty Zavitz’s moving forbidden romance drama ACQUAINTED; Maja Zdanowski’s ambitious multi-character drama IN GOD I TRUST; Zack Bernbaum’s hilariously deadpan road movie about two Toronto Jews on a trek into Poland THE DANCING DOGS OF DOMBROVA; and Rama Rau’s HONEY BEE, which features another unforgettable performance by Julia Sarah Stone (WFF 2017 Star to Watch Alumni) as an underage truckstop hooker. Western Canadian premieres in the Borsos Competition include Deanne Foley’s poignant exploration of mental illness and maternal yearnings, AN AUDIENCE OF CHAIRS; Kristina Wagenbauer’s moving story of mother/daughter conflict SASHINKA; Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ A COLONY (UNE COLONIE), a memorable small-town coming of age story; Roz Owen’s study of a disenfranchised First Nations woman TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN featuring Cara Gee; Renée Beaulieu’s shockingly honest THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN (LES SALOPES); Darlene Naponse’s FALLS AROUND HER featuring a career-best performance by Tantoo Cardinal; Lenin M. Sivam’s ROOBHA, a moving and empathetic look at transgender romance within the Canadian Tamil community; Sébastien Pilote’s award-winning coming of age story THE FIREFLIES ARE GONE; Sophie Dupuis’ first feature FAMILY FIRST (CHIEN DE GARDE), Canada’s entry in this year’s Foreign language Oscar category; and the Canadian Premiere of Robert Budreau’s STOCKHOLM with Ethan Hawke and Noomi Rapace. In addition to the Canadian Premiere of the definitive surfing documentary MOMENTUM GENERATION which will close the festival, this year’s Mountain Culture films include premieres of Whistler-based directors Brian Hockenstein and Tamo Campos’ THE RADICALS which follows a group of snowboarders and surfers who drift from the mountains and oceans into the world of activism; Patagonia’s stunning winter film TREELINE which explores the diverse forests of British Columbia, Nevada, and Japan, directed by Vancouver-based Jordan Manley; and winner of the Best Documentary award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, FREE SOLO, directed by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold’s preparations to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock – the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park – without a rope. This year’s Doc Bloc competition features a refreshingly diverse line-up. Two BC-based productions will grace our screens, including NEVER BE DONE: THE RICHARD GLEN LETT STORY directed by Roy Tighe about a self-sabotaging Vancouver based stand-up comic, and the World Premiere of FUCK YOU ALL: THE UWE BOLL STORY directed by Sean Patrick Shaul. Canadian premieres include Brian Bellinkoff’s PSYCHONAUTICS: A COMIC’S EXPLORATION OF PSYCHEDELICS with comedian Shane Mauss, and Brigitte Berman’s HUGH HEFNER’S AFTER DARK: SPEAKING OUT IN AMERICA. In addition, WFF will screen the World Premiere of Jaren Hayman’s eye-opening exploration of Canada’s largest black community in THIS IS NORTH PRESTON. Western Canadian premieres include THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, Tom Donahue’s timely reminder of gender inequality in the film and television industries being shown as part of WFF’s Women on Top Series, and our British Columbia premiere selection includes Laura Marie Wayne’s LOVE, SCOTT, about the lasting impact of a horrific incident of homophobic violence, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Other films of note in this year’s lineup include the family-friendly first feature from the Northwest Territories’ Jennifer Walden, ELIJAH AND THE ROCK CREATURE; musical Christmas zombie movie ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE that simply must be seen to be believed; Gillian McKercher’s realistic look at working in the Alberta oil sands CIRCLE OF STEEL; Collin Friesen’s hilarious comedy about burying a deceased father’s ashes featuring a stand-out performance from Bruce Greenwood, SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS; and Eva Husson’s rousing film detailing a Kurdish all-female battalion, GIRLS OF THE SUN. Borsos award winner Maxime Giroux (FELIX AND MEIRA 2014) returns with his newest THE GREAT DARKENED DAYS, and Gary Burns honors the festival with his Mountain Culture entry MAN RUNNING, about a doctor running a marathon in the Rockies.
WFF 2018 COMPLETE FEATURE FILM LISTING BY STRAND

American Indies
BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS (United States) Dir. Wendy McColm SKIN IN THE GAME (United States) Dir. Adisa TYREL (United States) Dir. Sebastián Silva UNTOGETHER (United States) Dir. Emma Forrest WALDEN: LIFE IN THE WOODS (United States) Dir. Alex Harvey
Canadian Vanguard
AN AUDIENCE OF CHAIRS (Canada) Dir. Deanne Foley FALLS AROUND HER (Canada) Dir. Darlene Naponse THE FIREFLIES ARE GONE (Canada) Dir. Sébastien Pilote THE GREAT DARKENED DAYS (Canada) Dir. Maxime Giroux MAN RUNNING (Canada) Dir. Gary Burns THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN (Canada) Dir. Renée Beaulieu
Contenders
AT ETERNITY’S GATE (United States) Dir. Julian Schnabel FAMILY FIRST (CHIEN DE GARDE) (Canada) Dir. Sophie Dupuis IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (United States) Dir. Barry Jenkins ON THE BASIS OF SEX (United States) Dir. Mimi Leder ROMA (United States, Mexico) Dir. Alfonso Cuarón STOCKHOLM (Canada) Dir. Robert Budreau
Discoveries
A COLONY (Canada) Dir. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles ACQUAINTED (Canada) Dir. Natty Zavitz THE DANCING DOGS OF DOMBROVA (Canada) Dir. Zack Bernbaum HONEY BEE (Canada) Dir. Rama Rau ROOBHA (Canada) Dir. Lenin M. Sivam
Doc Bloc
FUCK YOU ALL: THE UWE BOLL STORY (Canada) Dir. Sean Patrick Shaul HUGH HEFNER’S AFTER DARK: SPEAKING OUT IN AMERICA (Canada) Dir. Brigitte Berman LOVE, SCOTT (Canada) Dir. Laura Marie Wayne NEVER BE DONE: THE RICHARD GLEN LETT STORY (Canada) Dir. Roy Tighe PSYCHONAUTICS: A COMIC’S EXPLORATION OF PSYCHEDELICS (United States) Dir. Brian Bellinkoff THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (United States) Dir. Tom Donahue THIS IS NORTH PRESTON (Canada) Dir. Jaren Hayman
First Features
CIRCLE OF STEEL (Canada) Dir. Gillian McKercher ELIJAH AND THE ROCK CREATURE (Canada) Dir. Jen Walden SASHINKA (Canada) Dir. Kristina Wagenbauer SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS (Canada) Dir. Collin Friesen TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN (Canada) Dir. Roz Owen
From Overseas
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (United Kingdom) Dir. John McPhail GIRLS OF THE SUN (France) Dir. Eva Husson KARMA (China) Dir. Lutao Wang THE QUAKE (Norway) Dir. John Andreas Andersen
From The Vault
CLAIRE’S HAT (Canada) Dir. Bruce McDonald
Galas
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (United Kingdom) Dir. Josie Rourke [caption id="attachment_31845" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Momentum Generation[/caption] MOMENTUM GENERATION (United States) Dir. Jeff & Michael Zimbalist
Mountain Culture
FREE SOLO (United States) Dir. E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin MAN RUNNING (Canada) Dir. Gary Burns MOMENTUM GENERATION (United States) Dir. Jeff & Michael Zimbalist THE RADICALS (Canada) Dir. Brian Hockenstein & Tamo Campos TREELINE (Canada) Dir. Jordan Manley
World Premieres
BELLA CIAO! (Canada) Dir. Carolyn Combs IN GOD I TRUST (Canada) Dir. Maja Zdanowski INTO INVISIBLE LIGHT (Canada) Dir. Shelagh Carter NOSE TO TAIL (Canada) Dir. Jesse Zigelstein RED ROVER (Canada) Dir. Shane Belcourt WOODLAND (Canada) Dir. Jon Silverberg
WFF 2018 Feature Films Eligible for the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature:

A COLONY ACQUAINTED AN AUDIENCE OF CHAIRS BELLA CIAO! THE DANCING DOGS OF DOMBROVA FALLS AROUND HER FAMILY FIRST THE FIREFLIES ARE GONE HONEY BEE IN GOD I TRUST THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN NOSE TO TAIL RED ROVER ROOBHA TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN SASHINKA STOCKHOLM WOODLAND
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2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase to Feature 49 Foreign Films, Opens with COLD WAR

[caption id="attachment_29874" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski[/caption] Now in its 31st year, the 2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase, taking place November 30 to December 19 at the American Film Institute’s historic theater in Silver Spring, MD, will feature 49 foreign films representing 25 EU member states, plus 12 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film and eight U.S. premieres. Films on the lineup include Oscar®-winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s highly anticipated Berlusconi biopic LORO (Italy) and Benoît Jacquot’s Berlin-premiered psychological thriller EVA (France), starring Isabelle Huppert and Gaspard Ulliel. This year’s AFI European Union Film Showcase opens on November 30 with COLD WAR (Poland), the stunning, black-and-white, 1950s-set romance from Oscar®-winning director Paweł Pawlikowski (IDA). The Closing Night selection is Scottish director Jon S. Baird’s Laurel and Hardy biopic STAN & OLLIE (UK), starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as the beloved comedy duo. Special presentations include two-time Oscar®-winning director Asghar Farhadi’s Spain-set thriller EVERYBODY KNOWS (Spain), starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem; off-the-wall critical hit DIAMANTINO (Portugal), winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize (and Palm Dog Jury Prize) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; and the U.S. premiere of actress-director Paprika Steen’s Toronto-debuted family dramedy THAT TIME OF YEAR (Denmark). Among the 12 official Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® submissions showcased this year are multi-award-winning coming-of-age drama GIRL (Belgium), winner of the Camera d’Or, FIPRESCI, Best Actor and Queer Palm awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Ruth Beckermann’s engrossing documentary THE WALDHEIM WALTZ (Austria), winner of the Glashütte Original Documentary Award at this year’s Berlinale; NEVER LOOK AWAY (Germany), Oscar®-winning director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s first German-language film since 2007’s THE LIVES OF OTHERS; and Rada Jude’s powerful political satire I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (Romania), winner of the Crystal Globe for Best Film at the 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This year’s Showcase also presents an abundance of new works from some of Europe’s best-known filmmakers, including Olivier Assayas’ whip smart dramedy NON-FICTION (France), starring Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet; Christian Petzold’s stirring refugee drama TRANSIT; EUPHORIA, the sophomore feature from Italian actress-turned-director Valeria Golino; Christophe Honoré’s powerful ’90s-set gay romance SORRY ANGEL (France); Małgorzata Szumowska’s dark comedy MUG (Poland), winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale; and Matteo Garrone’s powerful Cannes-debuted drama DOGMAN, Italy’s official Oscar® submission.
2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase Lineup

Austria
2018 Oscar® Selection, Austria THE WALDHEIM WALTZ After serving as U.N. Secretary General from 1972 to 1981, Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria in 1986. But it was a controversial election, as new details about Waldheim’s service in the Nazi Wehrmacht in Greece and Yugoslavia during WWII came to light — including grave allegations as to his complicity in war crimes — and for many around the world, Waldheim’s explanations failed to convince. Ruth Beckermann’s gripping documentary combines the long view of historical perspective with the immediacy of someone who lived through the era — Beckermann shot much of the footage from the ’70s and ’80s herself, when she was an active protester of Waldheim’s candidacy. DIR/SCR/PROD Ruth Beckermann. Austria, 2018, color, 93 min. In German and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere ANGELO (2018) Markus Schleinzer’s audaciously stylized film is based on the life of Angelo Soliman, who was kidnapped from sub-Saharan Africa as a child in the 1720s, purchased from the slave market by a wealthy Austrian countess (Alba Rohrwacher) and raised and educated to be a “court Moor,” a courtier/entertainer/exotic status symbol for the household. Over time, Angelo is passed from one royal house to another, eventually marrying and gaining a measure of freedom. But the same society that Angelo navigated so skillfully in life finds one last way to cruelly exploit his personhood in death. DIR/SCR/PROD Markus Schleinzer; SCR Alexander Brom; PROD Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Alexander Glehr, Bady Minck, Franz Novotny. Austria/Luxembourg, 2018, color, 111 min. In German and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED JOY (2018) Joy is a Nigerian immigrant working as a prostitute in Vienna, who reluctantly has taken the newest arrival at the brothel, Precious, under her wing. Already stressed by having to support her family back home and paying off her debt to the madame, Joy now has to look out for the new teenage recruit. In her sophomore effort, director Sudabeh Mortezai gives a powerful and personal look at the immigrant experience through the lives of sex workers only recently arrived in Europe, often employing documentary techniques for an intimate portrait of this grim world. Featuring many former sex workers, the non-professional cast gives uniformly strong performances that anchor the story in reality. DIR/SCR Sudabeh Mortezai; PROD Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann. Austria, 2018, color, 99 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Belgium
Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Belgium GIRL (2018) Lara (Victor Polster) is a 15-year-old ballet dancer doing her best to fit in while standing out. Among her peers, family and friends, her trans identity is rarely an issue. We follow her internal struggle as she transitions both from her assigned gender and into adulthood. This refreshingly nuanced portrait of adolescence turns an empathetic eye toward growing up trans with a raw naturalism that recalls the Dardenne brothers. This multi-award-winning debut feature is at once warm and real, with standout performances by first-time actor Polster and a wonderful turn from Arieh Worthalter (THE ATTACK) as the loving father. DIR/SCR Lukas Dhont; SCR Angelo Tijssens; PROD Dirk Impens. Belgium/Netherlands, 2018, color, 109 min. In French and Flemish with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere ANGEL (2018) [UN ANGE] After a drug scandal calls his reputation into question, world-famous Belgian cyclist Thierry goes on holiday with his brother to Dakar. There he meets Fae, a headstrong Senegalese sex worker who eschews the labels given to her profession and works to unite her colleagues against social stigmas. The two instantly fall for one another and indulge their passions and vices in a night that will change their lives forever. This vividly hued love story combines dreamy romance with more ominous undertones. DIR/SCR/PROD Koen Mortier, from the novel by Dimitri Verhulst; PROD Eurydice Gysel. Belgium/Netherlands/Senegal, 2018, color, 105 min. In French and Wolof with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Bulgaria
ÁGA Bulgarian director/writer Milko Lazarov (ALIENATION) sets his sublimely shot sophomore feature in the barely populated snowy wilderness of northeastern Siberia, where an elderly Yakut couple, Nanook and Sedna, live in a yurt with their sled dog, continuing to practice centuries-old ancestral traditions in the face of climate change and increasing scarcity. As the pair go about the precarious daily business of survival, their one constant is the dream of reuniting with their only daughter, Ága, who left their slowly vanishing way of life to work at a diamond mine in a distant town. When Sedna’s health deteriorates, Nanook is determined to reach Ága and fulfill the couple’s wish. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Sydney and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Milko Lazarov; SCR Simeon Ventsislavov; PROD Veselka Kiryakova. Bulgaria/Germany/France, 2018, color, 96 min. In Yakut with English subtitles. NOT RATED 2018 Oscar® Selection, Bulgaria OMNIPRESENT (2017) [VEZDESUSHTIYAT] Emil has it all. He is a successful writer and owner of a small ad agency, with a wife and teenage son. But when his ailing father asks him to install a hidden camera after a few antiques go missing from the older man’s apartment, Emil is hooked. With cameras now in his home, office, bathroom and even his wife’s therapy practice, Emil knows more than he should. The constant surveillance has gotten out of hand, and it’s only a matter of time before it comes back to bite him in this probing and darkly comic examination of technology. DIR/SCR/PROD Ilian Djevelekov; SCR/PROD Matey Konstantinov; PROD Georgi Dimitrov. Bulgaria, 2017, color, 120 min. In Bulgarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Croatia
2018 Oscar® Selection, Croatia THE EIGHTH COMMISSIONER [OSMI POVJERENIK] In this comedy from director/writer Ivan Salaj, an ambitious politician embroiled in a front-page scandal must lay low with a gubernatorial election looming. At the behest of the prime minister, Siniša Mesjak is shipped off to the remote island of Trećić. There, as its newly appointed state commissioner, he must organize the local elections and whip the government into shape on an island without internet or phone service. To make matters worse, Siniša doesn’t speak the local dialect. Seven commissioners in ten years have tried and failed. Will the eighth time be the charm? DIR/SCR Ivan Salaj, from the novel by Renato Baretić; PROD Jozo Patljak. Croatia, 2018, color, 139 min. In Croatian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Cyprus
[caption id="attachment_28552" align="aligncenter" width="1392"] Smuggling Hendrix[/caption] SMUGGLING HENDRIX This charming feature debut from Marios Piperides takes a wry and comic look at Cypriot border politics, with the aid of an adorable dog named Jimi. Loafing man-child Yiannis (Adam Bousdoukos, SOUL KITCHEN) is about to leave his fading music career and broken relationship on the Greek Cypriot side of Nicosia for a new life in Holland. But his dog, Jimi, has other plans. When the pup wanders across the UN buffer zone and into the Turkish side of the divided city — the capital of northern Cyprus, a country recognized only by Turkey — Yiannis is forced to enlist a trans-border band of misfits (including his ex-girlfriend) to skirt EU law and get the pooch back home before it’s too late. Winner, Best International Narrative Feature, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Marios Piperides; PROD Martin Hampel, Thanassis Karathanos, Kostas Lambropoulos, Janine Teerling. Cyprus, 2018, color, 93 min. In Greek and Turkish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Czech Republic
U.S. Premiere 2018 Oscar® Selection, Czech Republic WINTER FLIES [VSECHNO BUDE] In the dead of winter, the naïve and energetic Heduš runs into his stoic pal Mára and convinces him to go on a road trip to nowhere in a stolen Audi. Told from an interrogation room where Mára is recounting their misadventures, this coming-of-age, comedic road movie sees two first-time actors knock it out of the park. Combining first loves, light drinking and even a thrilling dog rescue, this lively romp revels in irresponsibility and gentle mayhem with an energetic camera and a playful score. DIR Olmo Omerzu; SCR Petr Pýcha; PROD Jiri Konecny. Czech Republic/Slovenia/Poland/Slovakia/France, 2018, color, 85 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Denmark
Special Presentation U.S. Premiere THAT TIME OF YEAR (2018) [DEN TID PÅ ÅRET] Katrine (Paprika Steen) prepares to host her annual Christmas Eve family dinner, but this year is shaping up to be the most stressful yet: her teenage daughter is giving her more attitude than usual; her divorced parents (Karen-Lise Mynster and Lars Knutzon) start bickering immediately; her sister Barbara (Sofie Gråbøl) brings her badly prepared cabbage, her badly behaved son (Sofus Sondergaard Mikkelsen) and her pretentious author husband Torben (Lars Brygmann); while her other sister Patricia (Patricia Schumann), just out of rehab, surprises everyone by showing up with a brand-new husband and stepdaughter. Director and star Steen’s winning family dramedy rings true for anyone who’s ever had to laugh to keep from crying during the holiday season. DIR Paprika Steen; SCR Jakob Weis; PROD Mikael Chr. Rieks. Denmark, 2018, color, 101 min. In Danish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Estonia
2018 Oscar® Selection, Estonia TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT (2018) [VÕTA VÕI JÄTA] Thirtysomething construction worker Erik hasn’t seen his ex-girlfriend Moonika in six months when he gets the news that she is going into labor with his child, but has decided she is not ready for motherhood. With the cards on the table, Erik is determined to be a single father to a daughter he never knew existed lest she be given up for adoption. Based on a true story, this quietly comic social drama explores contemporary gender roles in Estonia and what it really means to be a man. DIR/SCR Liina Trishkina; PROD Ivo Felt. Estonia, 2018, color, 102 min. In Estonian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Finland
2018 Oscar® Selection, Finland EUTHANIZER [ARMOMURHAAJA] Pitch-black humor meets Nordic noir and animal rights advocacy in what filmmaker Teemu Nikki (LOVEMILLA) has called “DIRTY HARRY with pets.” Veijo Haukka (Matti Onnismaa) is a reclusive mechanic with a second job as a black-market pet euthanizer and a side project doling out vigilante justice to neglectful animal owners. When a local neo-Nazi gang member asks him to euthanize his dog and Veijo secretly adopts it instead, a spiral of vengeance unfolds. Winner, Best Screenplay, 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival; FIPRESCI Prize, 2018 Norwegian International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Teemu Nikki; PROD Jani Pösö. Finland, 2017, color, 85 min. In Finnish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
France
SORRY ANGEL [PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE] In this intimate, disarming romance set against the vibrant backdrop of gay life in early 1990s France, Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps) is a worldly-wise HIV-positive writer living in Paris — and not expecting to find love any time soon, if ever again. When he meets Arthur (Vincent Lacoste), a curious, self-assured university student from Brittany, sparks fly. But as their fling gradually and unexpectedly evolves into a deep and tender bond, both men find their worlds transformed. What emerges is a complex, unconventional and utterly human love story, touched by humor, loss and hope. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes, New York and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Christophe Honoré; PROD Philippe Martin, David Thion. France, 2018, color, 132 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED A FAITHFUL MAN French heartthrob Louis Garrel (THE DREAMERS, GODARD MON AMOUR) moves behind the camera once more for his charming sophomore feature — a French New Wave-inspired rom-com starring Laetitia Casta (THE BLUE BICYCLE, GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE) and Lily-Rose Depp (YOGA HOSERS) and co-written by legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING). When Abel (Garrel) is abandoned by his girlfriend Marianne (Casta) for his best friend Paul (also, she reveals, the father of her unborn child), the hapless young man accepts the devasting news and moves on. Years later, Paul unexpectedly dies, and the two meet again. As they begin to rekindle their romance, however, Paul’s alluring younger sister (Depp) and Marianne’s highly suspicious young son throw things off course, making matters delightfully complicated. Winner, Best Screenplay (Carrière, Garrel), 2018 San Sebastián International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Toronto, New York and Tokyo film festivals. DIR/SCR Louis Garrel; SCR Jean-Claude Carrière; PROD Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat. France, 2018, color, 75 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation NON-FICTION [DOUBLES VIES] Olivier Assayas’ smart dramedy set in the publishing world deftly balances a serious, informed debate about the future of publishing in the digital age against the romantic foibles, workaday stresses and crazymaking tendencies of the characters’ messy lives. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Guillaume Canet as a veteran publishing exec; Juliette Binoche as his TV actress wife; Vincent Macaigne as a mid-list literary author whose work’s worsening reception has him slated to be dropped; and former standup comedian Nora Hamzawi as Macaigne’s devoted but distracted partner, a hard-working political staffer. “Only actors of the caliber and intelligence of Canet and Binoche can toss off their sparring lines with the ease and conviction of stimulating dinner-party conversations, conveying warmth, brains and fallibility in equal measure: You want to join in the discussion around the table, hoping you can keep up.” – Jay Weissberg, Variety. DIR/SCR Olivier Assayas; PROD; Charles Gillibert. France, 2018, color, 108 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED KNIFE + HEART [UN COUTEAU DANS LE CŒUR] This campy erotic thriller from Yann Gonzalez (YOU AND THE NIGHT) is set in the seedy milieu of the gay porn demimonde of Paris in the 1970s, where director/producer Anne (a fiercely committed Vanessa Paradis) aspires to be an underground auteur, working closely with her stock company of carefully selected “real men” actors and ace editor Loïs (Kate Moran), Anne’s former lover with whom she’s still self-destructively obsessed. But someone is preying upon the cast and crew of Anne’s latest production, a twisted killer with a sick vendetta. “Picture CRUISING as directed by Brian De Palma, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this frisky parody-homage, which is equal parts kinky and kitsch, rendered with the kind of meticulous attention to lighting, composition and sound (including a reunion with M83, who also scored Gonzalez’s first film) that all but guarantees a cult following.” – Peter Debruge, Variety. DIR/SCR Yann Gonzalez; SCR Cristiano Mangione; PROD Charles Gillibert. France/Mexico/Switzerland, 2018, color, 110 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation U.S. Premiere EVA (2018) Benoît Jacquot adapts the lurid 1945 James Hadley Chase novel previously brought to the screen by Joseph Losey in 1962, with Jeanne Moreau and Stanley Baker. Gaspard Ulliel is a hot young playwright with a potentially career-destroying skeleton in his closet, if his appetite for risk-taking doesn’t do the job first. Isabelle Huppert is the mysterious call-girl with whom he begins a series of meetings, initially for “research” purposes but increasingly for more dangerous games of cat and mouse. DIR/SCR Benoît Jacquot; SCR Gilles Taurand, from the novel “Eve” by James Hadley Chase; PROD Mélita Toscan du Plantier, Marie-Jeanne Pascal. France/Belgium, 2018, color, 100 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Germany
IN MY ROOM (2018) Armin (Hans Löw, TONI ERDMANN) is a fortysomething cameraman slacking his way through life in Berlin, still clinging to the days of his youth. But the club nights are starting to take their toll. After going back home to help with his ailing grandfather at the insistence of his father, he gets a chance to reinvent himself when he wakes up to find that he is inexplicably the last human alive on Earth. The absence of humanity provides an eerie calm in this smart and meticulous end-of-the-world tale. DIR/SCR Ulrich Köhler; PROD Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen. Germany/Italy, 2018, color, 119 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED THE SILENT REVOLUTION [DAS SCHWEIGENDE KLASSENZIMMER] Based on a true story, Lars Kraume (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER) directs an excellent young cast in this gripping historical drama. 1956 East Berlin: a classroom of high school students stages two minutes of silence during lessons, in solidarity with the Hungarian Uprising recently crushed by the Soviet army — which is simultaneously an amusing prank to pull on their uptight teacher. But things escalate as the students are referred first to the principal, then to the school superintendent and ultimately to the GDR’s Education Minister, who is intent on throwing the book at these would-be counter-revolutionaries for dabbling in dangerous ideas from the West (and admittedly, that’s where the students learned about the events in Hungary, from a newsreel preceding the sex farce film they traveled into West Berlin to watch). DIR/SCR Lars Kraume; SCR from the book by Dietrich Garstka; PROD Miriam Düssel, Susanne Freyer, Kalle Friz, Isabel Hund, Thomas Kufus. Germany, 2018, color, 111 min. In German and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED STYX In this taut and timely nautical thriller, a German doctor (Susanne Wolff) encounters a wrecked trawler filled with refugees while on a solo sailing trip to Ascension Island. Alone, save for an SSB radio, she is given conflicting information by the coast guard and quickly becomes torn between maritime law and her own moral compass. As the stakes continue to rise, she is forced to reckon with the limits of her compassion. Winner, Heiner Carow Prize, Label Europa Cinemas Awards and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, 2018 Berlinale; Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Toronto, London and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Wolfgang Fischer; SCR Ika Künzel; PROD Marcos Kantis, Martin Lehwald. Germany/Austria, 2018, color, 94 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation TRANSIT (2018) This exquisite adaptation of Anna Seghers’ 1942 novel about German refugees trying to escape Nazi-occupied France gains additional resonance from director Christian Petzold’s (BARBARA, PHOENIX) daring decision to eschew any ’40s period trappings, instead telling the tale in contemporary settings and dress. Modern-day Marseille becomes a compelling stage for history: 75 years ago, against a backdrop of apartment buildings and commercial centers, a refugee crisis was taking place, one with eerie reverberations in today’s resurgent ethno-nationalism. The excellent cast includes Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Barbara Auer and Alex Brendemühl. DIR/SCR Christian Petzold, from the novel by Anna Seghers; PROD Antonin Dedet, Florian Koerner von Gustorf. Germany/France, 2018, color, 101 min. In German, French and French Sign Language with English subtitles. NOT RATED ICEMAN (2017) [DER MANN AUS DEM EIS] Filmed amid the stunning Alpine beauty of Bavaria (Germany), south Tyrol (Italy) and Carinthia (Austria) and based on the imagined final days of Ötzi the Iceman, the oldest natural mummy of the Copper Age, ICEMAN may be the first Neolithic revenge Western. More than 5,300 years ago, Kelab (Jürgen Vogel) returns from a hunting trip to find his family murdered, his home burned and his holy amulet stolen. He sets out through the freezing mountains to wreak vengeance on the killers, and the result is mankind’s first unsolved murder case. The dialogue is entirely in an early version of Rhaetian, a now-extinct language spoken in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. No translation is required to grasp the essence of this ancient tale. Official Selection, 2017 Locarno and Hamburg film festivals. DIR/SCR Felix Randau; PROD Jan Krüger, Andreas Pichler. Germany/Italy/Austria, 2017, color, 97 min. In Rhaetian. NOT RATED 2018 Oscar® Selection, Germany NEVER LOOK AWAY [WERK OHNE AUTOR] Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s first German film since 2007’s Oscar®-winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS is another exercise in Vergangenheitsbewältigung — “coming to terms with the past” — this time, a bildungsroman about Kurt (Tom Schilling), a talented young artist from Dresden who finds the GDR and its totalitarian state machinery stifling to his art and a mere substitution for the recently discarded fascist state he grew up in. Emigrating to Düsseldorf in the West, Kurt makes a new life for himself, but finds that events, and people, from his past will always have a grip on him. Closely based on the life and art of Gerhard Richter, NEVER LOOK AWAY is an epic of mid-century modernism spanning the worlds of art and politics, with characters doing their best to survive in rapidly changing times. With Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer and Saskia Rosendahl. DIR/SCR/PROD Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; PROD Quirin Berg, Jan Mojto, Christiane Henckel von Donnersmarck, Max Wiedemann. Germany/Italy, 2018, 188 min. In German and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Greece
Special Presentation PITY With his wife in a coma and his life in a rut, a sullen, nameless everyman soon finds himself addicted to his own sadness — with those around him continually throwing pity his way. As his kind neighbor brings yet another bundt cake, the man becomes more and more content with his sorrow, even going so far as to forbid his son from playing upbeat tunes on the piano. But what will he do if his wife wakes up? This pitch-black comedy is a riotous affair, with comedian Yannis Drakopoulos in the lead role and a script co-written by Efthymis Filippou (DOGTOOTH, THE LOBSTER). DIR/SCR Babis Makridis; SCR Efthymis Filippou; PROD Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Amanda Livanou, Beata Rzezniczek, Klaudia Smieja. Greece/Poland, 2018, color, 97 min. In Greek with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Hungary
THE WHISKEY BANDIT [A VISZKIS] Nimród Antal made a name for himself with 2003’s KONTROLL; now, following a string of Hollywood genre films (ARMORED, PREDATORS, VACANCY) and music-related features (METALLICA: THROUGH THE NEVER), he returns to Hungary with this stylish and action-packed true crime tale. In the 1990s, an unknown bandit pulled off a string of daring, daylight bank robberies in and around Budapest, eluding the befuddled police, who had no leads save for one identifying trait: the faint aroma of whiskey the tellers noticed on the thief. Drawing comparisons to Sandor Rozsa, a Robin Hood type-character from Hungarian legend, the so-called “Whiskey Bandit” became something of a modern-day folk hero for Hungary’s chaotic, post-communist era. DIR/SCR Nimród Antal; PROD Barnabás Hutlassa, Tamás Hutlassa. Hungary, 2017, color, 126 min. In Hungarian and Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED THE BUTCHER, THE WHORE AND THE ONE-EYED MAN [A HENTES, A KURVA ÉS A FÉLSZEMÜ] János Szász (2013’s THE NOTEBOOK) directs this moody and noirish true crime story from 1920s Budapest. Local meat-packing magnate Ferenc Kudelka falls madly in love with Mici, a former prostitute married to disabled former gendarme Gusztáv Léderer, who now toils in Kudelka’s plant. For a while, the Léderer couple extract a fee from Kudlelka for Mici’s services, but then attempt and fail to kill him. The trio’s bizarre and murderous love triangle descends into further madness as ever more desperate measures and subsequent murder attempts ensue. DIR/SCR János Szász; SCR Márk Bodzsár; PROD István Bodzsár. Hungary, 2017, color, 105 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED JUPITER’S MOON [JUPITER HOLDJA] Syrian refugee Aryan is crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary with his father when he’s suddenly gunned down by a trigger-happy border guard. In his wounded state, he discovers he can now mysteriously levitate at will. How should he use these new powers? Will he be able to live freely in his new country, or be exploited? Will he become a superhero, or a circus freak? Kornél Mundruczó’s (WHITE GOD) quirky tale combines genre spectacle and gritty realism to tackle the refugee crisis in a fresh and unexpected way. DIR/SCR Kornél Mundruczó; SCR Kata Wéber; PROD Viola Fügen, Michel Merkt, Viktória Petrányi, Michael Weber. Hungary/Germany/France, 2017, color, 129 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Ireland
Special Presentation BLACK ’47 Lance Daly (KISSES) pulls off the unthinkable with this brutal revenge Western — set in 1847 Ireland during the worst year of the Great Famine — creating an insightful thriller which melds genre conventions with gritty realism and historical critique. Deserting the British army to return home to Ireland, battle-weary soldier Feeney (James Frecheville, ANIMAL KINGDOM) finds his country — and family — devastated by the famine sweeping the land. With nothing more to lose, Feeney embarks on a relentless quest to get even with the criminally negligent British government and to track down landowner Lord Kilmichael (Jim Broadbent). Pursued by disgraced soldier-turned-policeman Hannah (Hugo Weaving), Feeney will stop at nothing to avenge his family and his country. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Toronto and Busan film festivals. DIR/SCR Lance Daly; SCR P.J. Dillon, Pierce Ryan; PROD Arcadiy Golubovich, Macdara Kelleher, Jonathan Loughran, Tim O’Hair. Ireland/Luxembourg, 2018, color, 100 min. In English and Irish with English subtitles. RATED R
Italy
Special Presentation EUPHORIA (2018) [EUFORIA] Celebrated Italian actress and director Valeria Golino’s (HONEY) Cannes-premiered sophomore feature is a riveting drama about two very different brothers forced back into each other’s lives when one is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Wealthy, flamboyant and successful, Matteo (Riccardo Scamarcio, LORO) is the polar opposite of his melancholy middle-school teacher brother Ettore (Valerio Mastandrea, PERFECT STRANGERS), who still lives in the small provincial town where the two grew up. Ordered by his brother to move to Rome while he undergoes therapy, Ettore is reticent, but as the men reconnect with one another, they also reassess themselves in the process. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals. DIR/SCR Valeria Golino; SCR Francesca Marciano, Valia Santella; PROD Viola Prestieri. Italy, 2018, color, 115 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere LUCIA’S GRACE [TROPPA GRAZIA] Pressed to rush things through so that an ambitious architect’s new building can break ground, single-mom land surveyor Lucia (Alba Rohrwacher, HUNGRY HEARTS, I AM LOVE) grinds things to a halt first when she discovers that the old maps are inaccurate and need redoing, then again after the Virgin Mary (FILL THE VOID’s Hadas Yaron) appears to her in the field and commands her to build a church instead. Gianni Zanasi’s quirky comedy won the Europa Cinema Label prize at the 2018 Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. DIR/SCR Gianni Zanasi; SCR Giacomo Ciarrapico, Michele Pellegrini, Federica Pontremoli; PROD Beppe Caschetto, Rita Rognoni. Italy, 2018, color, 110 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED BOYS CRY (2018) [LA TERRA DELL’ABBASTANZA] GOMORRAH meets Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Ragazzi di vita” in the D’Innocenzo brothers’ stunning first feature, which is both a gripping crime drama and an astute study of toxic masculinity. Manolo (Andrea Carpenzano) and Mirko (Matteo Olivetti) are pizza delivery boys on the outskirts of Rome, bored out of their minds and itching for something to happen. And then it does. When the pair are involved in a hit and run and learn that they have killed a marked man, inadvertently doing the local mafiosi a great service, Manolo’s wannabe-mobster father jumps at the chance to get his son in with the crime bosses. As the two boys enter an enticing world of sex, money and guns, there seems to be no turning back. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo; PROD Agostino Saccà, Giuseppe Saccà, Maria Grazia Saccá. Italy, 2018, color, 95 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Italy DOGMAN (2018) Set in a picturesquely dilapidated seaside town outside of Naples, Matteo Garrone’s (GOMORRAH, TALE OF TALES) latest is a Neapolitan noir with the DNA of a revenge Western and a darkly humorous bite. The eponymous “Dogman” is Marcello (Marcello Fonte, who won the Best Actor award at Cannes for the role), a gentle dog groomer who deals cocaine on the side in order to make ends meet and raise his young daughter. Bullied by one of his regular customers (Edoardo Pesce), a puffed-up petty criminal who terrorizes the tight-knit community, Marcello becomes implicated in a criminal plan and pushed to the limits of his sanity. Winner, Best Actor (Marcello Fonte), 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Telluride, Toronto and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Matteo Garrone; SCR Ugo Chiti, Massimo Gaudioso; PROD Paolo Del Brocco, Jean Labadie, Alessio Lazzareschi, Jeremy Thomas. Italy/France, 2018, color, 103 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere LORO Having dramatized the demise of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in 2009’s IL DIVO, Academy Award® winner Paolo Sorrentino (THE GREAT BEAUTY, THE YOUNG POPE, YOUTH) turns his caustic eye to another titan of Italian politics: media tycoon, billionaire and scandal-plagued ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Toni Servillo, IL DIVO). The result is an eye-popping, candy-colored and surreal skewering of early 21st-century Italy and Berlusconi’s milieu of unfettered wealth, raucous “bunga bunga” parties and cutthroat political power games — a tale told in counterpoint to that of provincial arriviste Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio, EUPHORIA), an ambitious wannabe from the Southern town of Taranto, desperate to impress Berlusconi and enter the big time. Originally spilt into two parts for its Italian release, LORO will be presented in its single, epic theatrical form. Official Selection, 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Paolo Sorrentino; SCR Umberto Contarello; PROD Carlotta Calori, Francesca Cima, Nicola Giuliano, Viola Prestieri. Italy/France, 2018, color, 150 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Latvia
HOMO NOVUS (2018) In 1930s Riga, if you aren’t part of the in-crowd of the bohemian art scene, you might as well put away your brushes. Juris Upenājs, a poor young artist from the rural outskirts, is determined to break into the scene, and finds the love his life at a party on his very first night in town. From there, he’s off to the races, bumping up against the established elites and a rival artist just back from Paris in this hilarious and touching historical tale. Anna Viduleja’s award-winning feature debut is a romantic comedy of errors and intrigues. DIR/SCR Anna Viduleja; SCR Maureen Thomas; PROD Ivo Ceplevičs, Jānis Kalējs. Latvia, 2018, color, 123 min. In Latvian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Lithuania
ACID FOREST [RŪGŠTUS MIŠKAS] This observational documentary experiment takes place in one of the strangest tourist attractions in the world: a dying forest full of cormorants actively killing off the trees with their acid-fortified droppings along the border of Lithuania and Russia. Drone shots give a literal bird’s eye view of the beautiful ruin that draws in sightseers from throughout Europe and beyond. We listen in on the observers from afar as the hypnotic sounds of the black birds surround them in the woods. Official Selection, 2018, Locarno and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė. Lithuania, 2018, color, 63 min. In Lithuanian, English, German, French and Finnish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Netherlands
LOVE REVISITED [OUDE LIEFDE] In this highly untraditional tale of forbidden romance, sixtysomethings Fer and Fransje are long-divorced when the sudden death of their forty-year-old son unexpectedly brings them back together. United in their shared grief, they console one another over the tragedy— and soon find themselves falling in love all over again. Worried about upsetting their family’s delicate balance, the pair try to keep their affair a secret, but this is easier said than done and when both their children and their current partners find out, things get complicated. Nicole Van Kilsdonk crafts a tender romantic dramedy about the endurance of love, the complexity of family life and the hope of second chances. DIR Nicole Van Kilsdonk; SCR Peer Wittenbols, Joris Oonk; PROD Ineke Kanters, Jan Van Der Zanden. Netherlands/Belgium, 2017, color, 99 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Poland
Opening Night: 2018 Oscar® Selection, Poland COLD WAR (2018) [ZIMNA WOJNA] Fans of Paweł Pawlikowski’s Oscar®-winning 2013 hit IDA will not be disappointed by his follow-up, a stunningly shot, music-drenched love story for the ages, which won the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War in Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia and France — and loosely based on the story of Pawlikowski’s own parents — COLD WAR follows a pair of star-crossed lovers from their first fateful meeting in post-World War II Poland. Wiktor (Tomasz Kot, SPOOR) is a jazz-loving musicologist tasked with recruiting traditional folk musicians to tour the Eastern Bloc as part of a state-sponsored showcase. When Zula (Joanna Kulig, IDA, THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH) poses as a villager to infiltrate auditions for the troupe and escape her troubled home life, she quickly becomes the star of the show, captivating Wiktor and sparking a 15-year love affair that spans borders, political regimes and musical genres. Winner, Best Director, 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Karlovy Vary, Telluride, Toronto, New York, Busan and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Paweł Pawlikowski; SCR Janusz Glowacki; PROD Ewa Puszczynska, Tanya Seghatchian. Poland/France/UK, 2018, color, 88 min. In Polish, French, German, Croatian, Italian and Russian with English subtitles. RATED R ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE [JESZCZE DZIEŃ ŻYCIA] Based on the eponymous memoir by famed Polish war correspondent Ryszard Kapuściński, this stunningly crafted, graphic-novel-style biopic traces the journalist’s experiences of the 1975 Angolan civil war during a three-month period in which he travelled from the capital of Luanda across the war-torn country in search of a renowned rebel. Animation is interspersed with live-action testimony from survivors of the period, as writer-directors Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow paint a vivid picture of Kapuściński’s harrowing journey and how it shaped the writer he became. Winner, Audience Award, 2018 San Sebastián International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Cannes, Annecy Animation and CPH PIX film festivals. DIR/SCR Raúl de la Fuente, Damian Nenow; SCR/PROD Amaia Remirez; SCR Niall Johnson, David Weber, from the memoir by Ryszard Kapuściński; PROD Jaroslaw Sawko. Poland/Spain/Germany/Belgium/Hungary, 2018, color, 85 min. In English, Portuguese, Polish and Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED MUG [TWARZ] Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale, Malgorzata Szumowska’s (BODY, IN THE NAME OF) deadpan dark comedy takes a critical look at politics, identity, media and religion in contemporary Poland. Jacek (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz) is a carefree, heavy-metal-loving laborer working on the construction site of what is to be the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. When a terrible fall disfigures him, the media and everyone around him are whipped into a frenzy as he undergoes Poland’s first ever facial transplant. The operation is a success, but as Jacek is painted as a national hero by the press, receiving star treatment and lucrative endorsement deals, his family and friends find it hard to cope with his new appearance. As Jacek’s celebrity grows, so too does his ostracization from those who once claimed to be closest to him. Winner, Silver Berlin Bear, Grand Jury Prize, 2018 Berlinale; Official Selection, 2018 Edinburgh, Busan and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Malgorzata Szumowska; SCR/PROD Michal Englert; PROD Jacek Drosio. Poland, 2018, color, 91 min. In Polish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Portugal
Special Presentation DIAMANTINO (2018) To sum up this brilliantly nutty, outrageously funny Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner as an astute political sci-fi satire with giant puppies, soccer, genetic engineering, neo-fascists and a fiercely pro-European Union agenda doesn’t really do it justice. But it’s a start. Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) is a Cristiano Ronaldo-like hero of Portuguese soccer — until he makes an unforgivable error at the 2018 World Cup, letting down his country and ending his career. As the guileless former icon starts to look for a new purpose in life — much to the dismay of his scheming twin sisters, who have other plans — a truly bizarre and wonderful odyssey unfolds, touching on the refugee crisis, the rise of nationalism and, of course, a delightfully unconventional romance. Winner, Critics’ Week Grand Prize, Palm Dog Jury Prize, 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Karlovy Vary, Toronto, Vancouver and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR Gabriel Abrantes; DIR/SCR Daniel Schmidt; PROD Maria João Mayer, Justin Taurand, Daniel van Hoogstraten. Portugal/France/Brazil, 2018, color, 92 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Romania
Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Romania I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS [ÎMI ESTE INDIFERENT DACA ÎN ISTORIE VOM INTRA CA BARBARI] Mariana is a young theater director working to stage a production about the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front of 1941, in which Romanian soldiers executed 10,000 Jews. As tempers flare in rehearsals and city officials ramp up the pressure to tone down the portrayal of the massacre, Mariana must ask herself if she is willing to compromise her art in order for the show to go on. As slyly humorous as it is politically layered, Radu Jude’s (AFERIM!) powerful story evokes the old adage of not forgetting one’s past lest it be tragically repeated. Winner, Crystal Globe for Best Film, 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Radu Jude; PROD Ada Solomon. Romania/Germany/Bulgaria/France/Czech Republic, 2018, color, 140 min. In Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED LEMONADE (2018) Produced by Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; GRADUATION), Ioana Uricaru’s potent and timely debut feature follows Mara (Mãlina Manovici, GRADUATION), a young Romanian woman working in the U.S. as a physical therapist while awaiting her green card. Having recently married, Mara brings her nine-year-old son from Romania to live in their new home, but when she is accused by an immigration officer of falsifying paperwork and suffers an inexcusable abuse of power, a spiral of injustice unfolds. An unflinching look at one woman’s experience of the gender and power imbalances baked into the U.S. immigration system, and her determination to survive despite the odds, LEMONADE heralds a courageous new voice in Romanian cinema. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Tribeca, Seattle, Mill Valley and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR/SCR Ioana Uricaru; SCR Tatiana Ionascu; PROD Eike Goreczka, Christoph Kukula, Yanick Létourneau, Cristian Mungiu, Sean Wheelan. Romania/Canada/Germany/Sweden, 2018, color, 88 min. In English and Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Slovakia
2018 Oscar® Selection, Slovakia THE INTERPRETER (2018) Octogenarian translator Ali Ungár (Jirí Menzel, CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS) is on a quest for vengeance after stumbling across the identity of the former SS officer he believes murdered his parents. Instead of finding the man who pulled the trigger, he meets Georg Graubner (Peter Simonischek, TONI ERDMANN), the officer’s son. Despite a rocky start, the gregarious Georg hires Ali as his translator, and the two set out on the open road to discover what really happened to Ali’s parents in this funny and poignant odd-couple dramedy. DIR/SCR/PROD Martin Sulík; SCR Marek Lescák; PROD Rudolf Biermann, Bruno Wagner. Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria, 2018, color, 113 min. In German, English, Slovak and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Slovenia
CONSEQUENCES (2018) [POSLEDICE] Teenage angst and toxic masculinity abound in Darko Štante’s powerful debut feature, a Slovenian answer to Alan Clarke’s SCUM set in a youth detention center and inspired by the director’s experience working as teacher in a correctional facility. When Andrej’s (Matej Zemljic) youthful criminal tendencies look set to spiral out of control, he is packed off to a center for troubled young men, where he quickly falls in with Zele (Timon Sturbej), the center’s bordering-on-psychopathic alpha male gang leader. Beginning a deep dive into violence and criminality, Andrej simultaneously grapples with his unsure identity as a young gay man and the potentially disastrous consequences of his developing feelings for Zele. Official Selection, 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Darko Stante; PROD Andraz Jeric, Jerca Jeric. Slovenia, 2018, color, 93 min. In Slovenian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Spain
Special Presentation EVERYBODY KNOWS [TODOS LO SABEN] Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín and Bárbara Lennie star in Oscar®-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s (THE SALESMAN, A SEPARATION) acclaimed thriller set in Spain. When Laura (Cruz) travels from her home in Buenos Aires with her family to her hometown in Spain for her sister’s (Lennie) wedding, a startling crime and some long-buried secrets alter the course of their lives. A visually rich and thrilling emotional rollercoaster, EVERYBODY KNOWS is bursting at the seams with star power and peerless performances. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes and Toronto film festivals. DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; PROD Álvaro Longoria, Alexandre Mallet-Guy. Spain/France/Italy, 2018, color, 132 min. In English, Spanish and Catalan with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation U.S. Premiere DISTANCES (2018) [LAS DISTANCIAS] When longtime friends Olivia, Eloi, Guille and Anna travel to Berlin to surprise their college classmate Comas for his 35th birthday, he is less than pleased to see them. During their weekend together, the group tries to revive the closeness of their student years, but contradictions and tensions emerge as they slowly come to realize that Comas’ life in Berlin is not what he’d made it out to be — and that perhaps they don’t know one another as well as they’d thought. Part twisted buddy comedy, part mystery, part existential crisis drama, Elena Trapé’s subtly powerful examination of friendship explores the fissures caused by time, distance and coming of age. Winner, Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress (Alexandra Jiménez), 2018 Málaga Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Busan International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Elena Trapé; SCR Josan Hatero, Miguel Ibáñez Monroy; PROD Marta Ramírez. Spain, 2018, color, 99 min. In Catalan, English, Spanish and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
UK
[caption id="attachment_31228" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Stan & Ollie[/caption] Closing Night: STAN & OLLIE Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly bring their brilliant comedic chops to bear as legendary comedy duo Stan “Laurel” (Coogan) and Ollie “Hardy” (Reilly) in this hilarious road movie recounting the pair’s famed 1953 “farewell” tour of Britain and Ireland. Initially underwhelming, the tour gradually picks up steam as the duo move toward a big London finale, reigniting their celebrity and causing the world to fall in love with them all over again. But health issues, the stress of being on the road and the arrival of their wives Lucille and Ida (Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda) threaten to upset the delicate balance required for their creative partnership. Director Jon S. Baird (FILTH) and screenwriter Jeff Pope (PHILOMENA) offer a nuanced study of lifelong male friendship and a suitably laugh-inducing tribute to two of cinema’s comedy greats. Official Selection, 2018 London and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR Jon S. Baird; SCR Jeff Pope; PROD Faye Ward. UK/Canada/U.S., 2018, color, 97 min. In English. NOT RATED RAY & LIZ Turner Prize-nominated British photographer Richard Billingham makes his feature film debut with this gritty, 16mm-shot family portrait, based on the 1996 photo series “Ray’s a Laugh,” which put him on the map as a Young British Artist and brought the term “squalid realism” into the lexicon of contemporary art. Inspired by his own upbringing in the Black Country, west of Birmingham, RAY & LIZ is named for Billingham’s highly dysfunctional parents and comprises three episodes in the family’s life, spanning the early 1980s to the late 2000s. Like “Ray’s a Laugh,” the result is grimy, shocking and truthful, yet grounded by a humor and humanity that breathes life and empathy into every frame. Winner, Special Mention Jury Prize, 2018 Locarno Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Toronto, New York, London and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR/SCR Richard Billingham; PROD Jacqui Davies. UK, 2018, color, 108 min. In English. NOT RATED
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Laurence Fishburne, Billy Bob Thornton and Alice Eve to be Honored at Napa Valley Film Festival

Academy Award-winning writer, actor, director and musician Billy Bob Thornton will receive the Caldwell Vineyard Maverick Tribute and actress Alice Eve will receive the Raymond Vineyards Trailblazer Tribute alongside Charles Krug Legendary Actor honoree Laurence Fishburne at this year’s 8th Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) Celebrity Tributes presentation on November 8. Thornton has an extensive and impressive career in motion pictures and television, most recently seen starring in the Amazon series Goliath, for which his performance received raved reviews and garnered him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama. He recently reprised his iconic and Golden Globe nominated performance in the 2003 box-office hit, Bad Santa, in Bad Santa 2. He can also be seen in A Million Little Pieces, the screen adaptation of James Frey’s best-selling book, and is currently preparing to start filming season 3 of Goliath. Eve’s work in film and television has proven her as a versatile and dynamic talent in the entertainment industry. She can be next seen in Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s sci-fi thriller, Replicas, opposite Keanu Reeves. This fall, Eve will play Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt in Jay Roach’s feature, Fair and Balanced, opposite John Lithgow, Charlize Theron, and Margot Robbie. Eve most recently starred in the second season of Netflix’s Iron Fist and her other film credits include Star Trek Into Darkness, Men in Black 3, and Before We Go. “We are thrilled to share our hospitality, food, wine, and our appreciative film-loving audiences with these fantastic actors,” said NVFF Co-Founder & Artistic Director Marc Lhormer. “Billy Bob Thornton has demonstrated in his career the ability to take on dynamic roles that demonstrate remarkable range and Alice Eve impresses us with the risks she takes and in doing so, achieves great success. We look forward to hosting them throughout their stay at the festival.” The Celebrity Tributes program with Laurence Fishburne, Billy Bob Thornton and Alice Eve will take place on Thursday, November 8 at the Lincoln Theater in Yountville and will include highlight reels and an intimate on-stage conversation with Access’ Natalie Morales. Additionally, on Friday, November 9, Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own) will be honored with the Davis Estates Visionary Tribute following a screening of the documentary film This Changes Everything. Earlier in the day on November 9, NVFF will be honoring the esteemed alumni of The Groundlings Theatre and School with the Miner Family Winery Legacy Ensemble award. Accepting on behalf of The Groundlings are Stephanie Courtney (Progressive Insurance’s Flo), Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live, Single Parents), Laraine Newman (Saturday Night Live, Coneheads), Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live, Scary Movie) and Julia Sweeney (Saturday Night Live, It’s Pat). The second annual Rising Star Showcase presented by Materra | Cunat Family Vineyards on Saturday, November 10 will honor a handful of young talent including Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story, The Nun), Billy Magnussen (Maniac, Game Night), Camila Mendes (Riverdale, The New Romantic), Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel, Maze Runner: The Death Cure), Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and Alexandra Shipp (Love, Simon, X-Men: Dark Phoenix).
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LA Film Festival to End After 18 Years

After 18 years of showcasing independent fiction, documentary, and short films the LA Film Festival will end, and Film Independent announced today that its Board of Directors has voted to shift the energy and resources of the organization from the Festival structure to a variety of year-round events aimed at building community and broadening its support of visual storytellers. These programs will include a number of new initiatives to be announced in coming months as well as several that have traditionally taken place during the LA Film Festival—among them, The Portal, a showcase of VR and immersive storytelling, produced in partnership with Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television; a two day event around inclusion in the film industry, launched in 2013 by Stephanie Allain and continued by Hasan Foster; Fast Track, a film financing market supporting both fiction and non-fiction projects; and Future Filmmakers, which features work by L.A. high-school filmmakers. “We took a hard look at the healthy growth of Film Independent’s year-round programs and events over the past six years: the Spirit Awards, our film series curated by Elvis Mitchell, membership, labs, workshops, filmmaker grants and international programs,” said Mary Sweeney, Chair of the Film Independent Board of Directors. “In the end, we concluded that the organization should explore a more nimble, sustainable form of exhibiting and celebrating independent film artists year round.” “While we are very proud of what we’ve accomplished with the LA Film Festival over the past eighteen years, the truth is that it has struggled to thrive, and the time has come for us to try something new,” said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent. “We are all deeply grateful to Jennifer Cochis for her vision, passion, and creativity and we’re enormously proud of the Festival that she oversaw these past two years. We remain committed to serving filmmakers and film audiences across Los Angeles.” As a result of discontinuing the Festival in its present form, the nonprofit arts organization will eliminate three full-time staff positions. Film Independent will continue with its current suite of programs and events, including: The Film Independent Spirit Awards; Film Independent Presents, curated by Elvis Mitchell; Global Media Makers, an innovative mentoring initiative for international visual storytellers; Project Involve, the 25-year-old mentorship program for filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds; as well as its annual suite of Filmmaker Labs and the Film Independent Forum and Directors Close-Up. image via Facebook
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Rammy Park’s “Monitor City” Wins Rhode Island International Film Festival Screenplay Competition

[caption id="attachment_32459" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director (l) with Dr. Nancy Carriuolo and Lukas Hassel, previous Grand Prize Winner for Best Screenplay.[/caption] Rammy Park from Brooklyn, NY is the Best Screenplay Grand Prize Winner for this year’s 2018 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) Screenplay Competition. Rammy’s winning screenplay is entitled “Monitor City.” The “Monitor City” storyline: A Greek tragedy in a futuristic sci-fi setting, “Monitor City” pits reluctant hero Olivia Andressa against a totalitarian system of control and surveillance, as she struggles to accept her role in the City’s resistance movement and to bring her fractured family back together “Rammy Park’s script breathes new life into the dystopian genre. The script is a defining work, that is teeming with social commentary. Rammy has successfully created a tragic futurist tale that serves as a timely parable for today’s ever growing dependence on technology and surveillance,” said Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director. “What an amazing year for storytelling and our screenplay competition. This year’s entries were inventive and re-defining. They were scored on criteria that included character, dialogue, setting, plot, structure and technique,” added Quirk. “We reviewed the largest entry base in competition’s history making for difficult decision-making on the part of our international group of judges. “After extensive and careful deliberation, prize winners were chosen in seven distinct categories: Best Screenplay, Best International, Vortex Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror, Best LGBTQ, Spotlight on New England, Best Short Screenplay and Best Television Pilot,” Quirk noted.
2018Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) Screenplay Competition Prize Winners

BEST SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Monitor City” |Rammy Park, Author | Brooklyn, NY FIRST PLACE: “Hinterland”| S.J. Main Muñoz, Author | Venice, CA
INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Sound of the Somme” | Written by: Alexander Menu & Thomas Besançon, Authors | Belgium FIRST PRIZE: “White Whale”| Rustem Samigullin, Author | Homberg, Germany
VORTEX HORROR/SCI-FI SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Blank Shores” | Alex Kyrou, Author | London, United Kingdom FIRST PRIZE: “Silence” | Collin Kornfeind, Author | Astoria, NY
JAMES L. SEAVOR LGBTQ SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Liza Herself” | Joan Kelly, Author | Somerville, MA FIRST PRIZE: “Chasing The Dragon”| Eduardo Ayres Soares, Author | Porto Alegre, Brazil
RI SPOTLIGHT ON NEW ENGLAND
GRAND PRIZE: “Oil and Water” | Alfred Thomas Catalfo, Author | Dover, NH FIRST PRIZE: “Blood and Plunder” | Adam Olenn, Author | Providence, RI
BEST TELEVISION PILOT SCRIPT
GRAND PRIZE: “The Reservoir” | Dylan Allen, Author | Brooklyn, NY FIRST PRIZE: “Matched”| Tess Allen, Author | Playa Vista, CA
BEST SHORT SCRIPT
GRAND PRIZE: “Red Shirt” | Mary C. Ferrara, Author | Quincy, MA FIRST PRIZE: “Last Day of School”| Gypsy Nelson | Mason, WI Photo by Mike Braca via RIIF
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ASCENSION, KILLER UNICORN Win 2018 Vortex Film Festival Awards

A phantasmagoric symphony of international genre films were given their due with the wrap of the 19th Annual Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival through adjudicated awards. The Festival celebrated and showcased imagination and creativity in filmmaking and included nine (9) World and U.S. Premieres. In all, 61 films were selected from over 3,000 genre submissions, representing 16 countries and presented at 15 locations. This year’s Festival was planned, developed and curated by Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director and creator of the annual genre Festival with Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director. “Over the past several years, we have been expanding our screenings to educational institutions, literally bringing Vortex to our audience. We made a concerted effort this year to include a dynamic mix of the Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi genres,” said Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director. “These films represent the vanguard of genre filmmaking from across the globe, and showcase a rising generation of filmmakers, who are redefining genre films for the next generation of cinephiles. “Vortex filmmakers are leaders of tomorrow’s entertainment industry, and it’s our mission to empower them and help them move forward in their respective careers through showcasing their work.” “We are proud to see that this sidebar to RIIFF has become an important cultural event for the State and an international draw for filmmakers and audiences. This year saw over a dozen filmmakers, cast and crew coming from the United Kingdom, Canada and from throughout the United States,” he added. “From our ongoing educational outreach with area colleges and universities, free library and museum screenings, high school-based programs, to a master class on filmmaking and conversations on the film industry with noted leaders, this year’s Vortex Film Festival laid the foundation for an even more expanded event next year” noted Shawn Quirk, RIIFF’s Program Director.
Winners of Top Prizes of 2018 Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival

BEST SCI-FI SHORT FILM:
GRAND PRIZE: FACE | Directed by: Luke Tierney, Australia, 2017 First Prize: One Way Wolf Blitzer Freaky Friday| Directed by: Jared Neumark, USA, 2017 Tied With: In Her Image | Directed by: Nikoloz Kevkhishvili, Georgia, 2018
BEST FANTASY SHORT FILM
GRAND PRIZE: The Lossen | Directed by: Colin Skevington, United Kingdom, 2018 First Prize: The Whistler | Directed by: Jennifer Nicole Stang, Canada, 2018
BEST HORROR SHORT FILM:
GRAND PRIZE: Zombied | Directed by: Matthew Van Vorst, USA, 2018 First Prize: A Doll Distorted | Directed by: Niall Shukla, United Kingdom, 2018 Tied With: The Son, the Father… | Directed by: Lukas Hassel, USA, 2017
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
GRAND PRIZE: The Legend of Rasputin | Directed by: Jamie Shannon, Canada, 2017 First Prize: Reruns |Directed by: Rosto —-, Belgium, France, Netherlands, 2017 Tied With: Space Between Stars | Directed by: Samuel W. Bradley, Canada, 2018
BEST FEATURE FILM:
GRAND PRIZE: Ascension | Directed by: Ross Wachsman, USA, 2018 FIRST PRIZE: Killer Unicorn | Directed by: Drew Bolton, USA, 2018 DIRECTORIAL DISCOVERY AWARD: Michael Paul, Director of “Strange Clowns,”USA, 2018 H.P. LOVECRAFT AWARD: I Am the Doorway | Directed by: Simon Pearce, United Kingdom, 2018 image via Facebook
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Peter Farrelly’s GREEN BOOK Wins Best Feature Film at 2018 Twin Cities Film Fest

[caption id="attachment_31408" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Green Book[/caption] The Twin Cities Film Fest announced its 2018 award winners Saturday evening and awarded Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” the year’s Best Feature Film. “When Jeff Tried to Save the World,” a lighthearted drama that served as the official 2018 centerpiece, was one of the year’s most honored titles, named as a finalist in three separate categories (Best Feature Film, Indie Vision Breakthrough Performance, Indie Vision Debut Director). Star Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) walked away with the year’s top performance award. The festival’s top non-fiction award went to “Who Will Write Our History?,” Roberta Grossman’s harrowing account of the journalists, scholars and community leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto who risked everything to secretly document the daily atrocities committed against their Jewish neighbors. The film screened in partnership with the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. The 2018 Audience Awards went to Barry Andersson’s “The Lumber Baron,” a period drama about the heir to a failing lumber business and the enduring rumors of a treasure left behind by his grandfather; Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s “United Skates,” a documentary about the art, economics and underground subculture of American roller skating; and “small town ROBOT,” a locally-produced short film about the acclaimed robotics team at Greenbush Middle River High School and their journey to a world championship to compete against 300 other teams from around the world. Director Mark Taylor took home the Indie Vision — Debut Director trophy, for his drama “Saving Flora,” which had its U.S. premiere at the festival last week. Starring Jenna Ortega, David Arquette and Tom Arnold, the film’s story of one girl’s unbreakable bond with an elephant, and her mission to save the kind creature, marked the highlight of this year’s TCFF Changemaker Series. Several of the leading stars were in town to celebrate the debut. “One of this year’s unforgettable highlights was ‘Saving Flora,’” said TCFF Executive Director Jatin Setia. “The passion of that filmmaking, the broader mission behind its story, and the electricity that was on full display that night in the movie theater, between the audience and the advocates and the visiting filmmakers….that’s everything that makes a film festival special. It’s not just watching a movie — it’s being part of a transcendent experience. It changes you as a person.” Minnesota filmmaker C.J. Renner was honored with the Indie Vision — Breakthrough Achievement award for his direction of “American Tender,” a widely praised drama about a robbery, a double-cross and one memorable first date. “C.J. Renner exemplifies the talent, commitment and energy to be found in the Minnesota filmmaking community,” said TCFF Managing Director Bill Cooper. “And ‘American Tender’ is exactly the kind of homegrown independent project that we’re so proud to celebrate and showcase here at TCFF. C.J. always surprises us, he’s going places, and we’re so thrilled that so many smart filmgoers from across the country discovered his talent right here at the festival this year.” The 2018 Fun Is Good Bill Murray Comedic Shorts Award went to Matt Hirst’s hilarious “12 Sips to Glory,” about one man’s epic orange soda taste test.
2018 Twin Cities Film Fest Award Winners
Best Feature Film: “Green Book,” directed by Peter Farrelly Best Documentary: “Who Will Write Our History?” directed by Roberta Grossman Best Short Film: “Claire Means Well,” directed by Aaron Gervich Audience Award, Feature: “The Lumber Baron,” directed by Barry Andersson (Runner-Up: “If Beale Street Could Talk,” directed by Barry Jenkins) Audience Award, Non-Fiction: “United Skates,” directed by Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler (Runner-Up: “93Queen,” directed by Paula Eiselt) Audience Award, Short Film: “small town ROBOT,” directed by Joe Brandmeier (Runner-Up: “Claire Means Well,” directed by Aaron Gervich) Indie Vision — Breakthrough Performance: Jon Heder (“When Jeff Tried to Save the World”) Indie Vision — Debut Director: Mark Taylor (“Saving Flora”) Indie Vision — Breakthrough Achievement: C.J. Renner (director of “American Tender”) Fun Is Good Bill Murray Comedic Shorts Award: “12 Sips to Glory,” directed by Matt Hirst TCFF 2018 Changemaker Award: Rachel Mairose, founder and executive director of Secondhand Hounds
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THE VICE OF HOPE Wins People Choice Award at Rome Film Fest [Trailer]

[caption id="attachment_32431" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Vice of Hope (Il vizio della speranza)[/caption] The Italian drama, The Vice of Hope (Il vizio della speranza) by Edoardo De Angelis was voted the winner of the “BNL People’s Choice Award” at the 13th Rome Film Fest. The film is centered around the hiring of women as surrogate mothers paid to bear children and then hand them over to paying clients. To support her family, Maria works as a trafficker of surrogate mothers, transporting them from place to place along a river — but when one disappears, Maria is left with the task of finding her and must enter deeper into a world she wishes to escape.
SYNOPSIS
Along the river flows Maria’s time, her head hooded and her gait resolute. Her existence streams from day to day, with no dreams or desires, taking care of her mother and working at the service of a bejewelled madam. With her courageous pitbull by her side, Maria ferries pregnant women across the river, in what seems like an endless purgatory. This woman will soon be visited by hope, in its most powerful and ancestral form, as miraculous as life itself. Because to stay human has always been the greatest of revolutions. “No one will ever kill me”
THE DIRECTOR
Edoardo De Angelis, born in Naples in 1978, discovered cinema at the age of 19 and made his first short films. In 2006, he graduated in film direction from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome: his graduating essay was the short film Mistero e passione di Gino Pacino. He directed his first feature-length film, Mozzarella Stories, in 2011. In 2014, he directed his second feature-length film Perez with the O’Groove company, which he founded with Pierpaolo Verga. In 2016 he directed Indivisible, which won 6 Nastro d’Argento awards, 8 Ciak d’oro, a Globo d’oro and 17 nominations for a David di Donatello, 6 of which it won.
TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL6IYrqaH3o
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“In the frame past present and future. No presentation of the characters, no distraction. The story of women and men is written on the body: the past in the scars, the present in the gestures, the future in the eyes. The body is the main instrument of the narration because its mobile material expresses the transformation of the characters; it is a thematic vehicle in that it reveals the injured beauty of human beings as they wait for something or someone, desperate people clinging to one last hope; finally, the body expresses the desire of the soul to subvert the order of desperation, through resistance, and at the right time, rebellion. Think of a cold winter, a time in which everything around us looks dead and we light a fire to find warmth, while we wait for things to change. The earth generates, the earth hosts, the earth lets us prosper then covers our dead body; the wind blows on the fire and pushes the water of the river towards the earth, to revive it. Life stubbornly fights death: the arc of the world is transformed through birth, death and rebirth. Everything that remains unchanged dies. What moves is alive. For those who have the strength to resist, the reward is the miracle of the world as it is born”.
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