Welcome To Mercy[/caption]
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival today unveiled the remainder of the massive line-up for the third edition, with highly anticipated TIFF Midnight Madness premieres IN FABRIC and THE WIND, World Premiere of brand new Vinegar Syndrome restoration of clown slasher BLOOD HARVEST and first-ever Secret Screening.
The films also completed the brand new Head Trip program lineup of films that push the boundaries of horror with Starfish and The Clovehitch Killer, and introduces the expansion of six shorts blocks, including the return of the showcase of locally made chills Home Invasion (previously Local’s Only) and new LGBT block Slayed: LGBT Horror Shorts, co-presented by NewFest.
The festival will return to Nitehawk Cinema, Syndicated, LIU Kumble Theatre, Videology, and the Wythe Hotel Cinema; and this year the IFP’s Made in NY Media Center.
STARFISH (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 101 Min | Dir. A.T. White
Presented by Brooklyn Fireproof Stages
Stricken with grief, Aubrey is having a difficult time coping with the death of her best friend, Grace. To combat the overwhelming sadness, she breaks into Grace’s apartment and quietly picks up where her late friend left off, caring for her pets and using her possessions, not to mention sleeping in her bed. The next morning, though, everything’s changed. The streets outside are desolate, fires engulf the city, and people are being attacked by something inhuman. There’s only one person who can potentially save the world: Aubrey, thanks to clues found on mixtapes left by Grace.
An endlessly creative gambit that fuses multiple genres, including cosmic horror, director A.T. White’s STARFISH is one of the most ambitious feature debuts in years. It’s also one of the year’s best films, an emotionally potent, frequently terrifying, and wholly disorienting mash-up of a film that plays like ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND as remixed by H.P. Lovecraft.
WELCOME TO MERCY (World Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 104 Min | Dir. Tommy Bertelsen
After returning to her family’s native Latvia to mourn her father’s death, American single mother Madaline begins suffering from inexplicable visions and physical scars, all of which point to the gift—or curse, rather—the Holy Stigmata. To seek help, Madaline travels to an island convent and ingratiates herself within the sisterhood of nuns. But much to her detriment, Madaline’s new acquaintances pray to something far more sinister than the Holy Spirit, leading her to realize that those newfound afflictions come from anywhere but Heaven.
Providing an effectively retro spin on modern religious horror, WELCOME TO MERCY utilizes the best sacrilegious genre tropes, everything from evil nuns to weaponized crosses, to weave a powerful story of tested faith and hard-earned redemption. Anchored by a fierce performance from lead actress Kristen Ruhlin, who also wrote the screenplay, WELCOME TO MERCY packs a serious punch.
IN FABRIC (East Coast Premiere)
UK | 2018 | 118 Min | Dir. Peter Strickland
There’s something off about the vintage department store in which single mother Sheila finds herself looking for a fancy new dress. The store’s employees are nearly robotic in their stone-faced dedication to sales, the mannequins seem to be whispering to one another, women nearly trample each other to enter as its doors, and its television commercials are hypnotically sinister. Nevertheless, Sheila buys a lavish red dress. Little does she know, her life will soon be overcome by a series of random misfortunes, supernatural phenomena, and living nightmares. And, it seems, the dress is to blame.
Having already proven his singular merits with the giallo-minded brain-scrambler BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO and the gorgeously erotic DUKE OF BURGUNDY, British filmmaker Peter Strickland ups the ante with IN FABRIC, his most awe-inspiring film to date. Combining the aesthetics and influences of his two previous films into a barrage of visually dazzling surrealism, IN FABRIC is an inventive, unsettling and mesmerizing ghost story about the doomed pursuit of happiness. Cynicism has rarely been this stunning.
THE WIND (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 87 Min | Dir. Emma Tammi
A devastating scene sets the stage for a haunting account of demonic terror on the American frontier in the 1800’s. Lizzy and Isaac welcome a couple, Emma and Gideon from Illinois, who take up residence in a nearby abandoned cabin. Not long after, Emma fears she is being hunted down by an evil spirit who wants her unborn baby and violently succumbs to her mania. This event reawakens Lizzy’s buried memories of her encounters with the demons on the land and when Isaac leaves to accompany Gideon back to Illinois, Lizzy is left alone to wage battle against the evil on the land.
Emma Tammi’s narrative feature debut makes astoundingly affective use of the American Western frontier. The wide open, barren and desolate wastelands combined with the atmospheric sounds of the elements and unrelenting gusts of wind (or are they whispers from the dead?) create a sense of helplessness unmatched by the claustrophobia of a haunted house and makes a strong case that we need more western horror films in our lives.
POSSUM (US Premiere)
UK | 2018 | 85 Min | Dir. Matthew Holness
Following an undisclosed shame, former puppeteer Philip returns to his shabby Norfolk childhood home and only surviving family member, gratingly unpleasant stepfather Maurice. Hanging off the edge of his own sanity, Philip tries to destroy his horrid memories which are encapsulated in the form of Possum, a large and hideous spider puppet. But Possum only pretends to be dead.
Under-appreciated character actor Sean Harris (recently recognizable as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE antagonist Solomon Lane) stars with an insanely nuanced and chilling portrayal of isolation and trauma. Shot on 35mm with a fittingly yellow-and-brown-rotted palette and a puppet that delivers some seriously disturbing imagery, writer-director Matthew Holness’ first feature is a twisted psychological thriller that deep-dives into a bleak surrealist nightmare.
PARTY HARD, DIE YOUNG (North American Premiere)
Austria | 2018 | 93 Min | Dir. Dominik Hartl
To celebrate graduating from high school, Julia and her classmates take off for a party-resort in Croatia to experience the banger to end all bangers. As the epic party rages on, Julia’s best friend Jessica mysteriously disappears leaving nothing but a suspicious text and a Snapchat photo with her face scratched out. Then another friend slips off a roof to her death—and Julia receives another Snapchat photo. Uh oh.
Energetic and aesthetically gorgeous (mostly shot at the actual X-Jam Festival), Austrian director Dominic Hartl’s glossy homage to ‘90s teen slasher films is high on style while choosing to embrace new age connectivity when so many recent genre films would rather run from it, updating the slasher for the iPhone and EDM generation.
THE CLOVEHITCH KILLER (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 109 Min | Dir. Duncan Skiles
Young churchgoing boy scout Tyler’s reputation takes a hit when his crush finds a pornographic bondage picture in his dad’s truck, believing it to be his. Ostracized from his group of friends, he falls in with Kassi, a teenage orphan obsessed with the Clovehitch Killer, a serial killer with a penchant for the clove hitch knot who once terrorized their town and was never found. After discovering more photos hidden in his dad’s work shed he’s left to fear the worst.
Rising talent Charlie Plummer is excellent as the innocent Tyler, but it’s Dylan McDermott playing his father, Don, who really owns the film with his paternal suburban transformation that’s every bit as campy and creepy as you would hope it to be. Directed by newcomer Duncan Skiles and written by Christopher Ford, frequent collaborator of Jon Watts on films such as CLOWN and COP CAR, this small town thriller has a sinister edge and sports an exciting narrative device that flips the story on its head.
GHOST MASK: SCAR (US Premiere)
South Korea | 2018 | 81 Min | Dir. Takeshi Sone
Miyu travels from Japan to Seoul, Korea trying to track down her older sister who has been missing for two years. Shortly after she arrives she meets plastic surgeon Hana, who invites her home to meet her lover Hyoshin. The three women cohabitate as Miyu’s search for her sister intensifies meanwhile Hyoshin, haunted by disturbing nightmares, becomes suspicious of Hana and Miyu’s relationship.
A tragic story of two Japanese sisters separated at childhood and plagued by jealousy, negligence and abandonment, GHOST MASK: SCAR is directed and shot by prolific cinematographer Takeshi Sone (he also shot recent festival hit ONE CUT OF THE DEAD) and features a ricocheting narrative that comes together beautifully in a bloody, gonzo final act.
BLOOD HARVEST (World Premiere of New Restoration)
USA | 2018 | 88 Min | Dir. Bill Rebane
Within the slasher movie canon, there are the indisputable giants: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers. But what about Marvelous Mervo? Sure, he’s not the omnipresent icon that those other homicidal maniacs are, but there’s something to be said about a madman who’s played by eccentric ’80s music star Tiny Tim dressed like a clown and who leaves victims’ bodies hanging upside down in a barn like cattle.
If that sounds weird enough on its own, just wait until you experience the entirety of BLOOD HARVEST, one of the strangest ’80s slasher movies you’ll ever see. BHFF is thrilled to host the world premiere of a newly restored print of director Bill Rebane’s unnerving and often uncomfortably hilarious oddity, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome. Full of gnarly kills, Tiny Tim’s signature brand of weirdness, and relentless unpredictability, BLOOD HARVEST is ripe for watch-it-with-a-rowdy-crowd rediscovery.
SECRET SCREENING
??? | ??? | ?? Min | Dir. ???
For the first time ever, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is excited to present a mystery film, and, sorry, we won’t give any easy-to-solve hints for all of you proud cinema sleuths out there! Okay, fine, we’ll give you a little something: Our inaugural “Secret Screening” film will either be a can’t-miss new horror gem that everyone, both genre folks and general film lovers alike, will be talking about for years to come or an unexpected yet prescient genre classic from deep in the vaults. Sorry, that’s all you’re going to get. Now let the speculation begin!
Home Invasion 2018 – annual showcase of local NYC films featuring the popular shorts block and a spotlight screening of Yedidya Gorsetman’s dark indie sci-fi EMPATHY, INC.
EMPATHY, INC. (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 96 Min | Dir. Yedidya Gorsetman
In the “high risk, high reward” world of venture capitalists, rising star Joel lets it all ride on a deal that, sadly for he and his actress wife, painfully falls apart, leaving him with no other choice than to move in with his wife’s parents for financial reasons. Feeling like a huge failure, Joel unexpectedly finds some hope via a run-in with an old friend, whose business partner asks Joel to invest in a new experiential technology called XVR, or Xtreme Virtual Reality, the latest product of which allows wealthy folks to see life through the eyes of the less fortunate. Unfortunately for Joel, XVR’s makers’ intentions aren’t what they seem.
Shot in stark black-and-white and going into exceedingly dark narrative places, NYC-bred director Yedidya Gorsetman’s EMPATHY, INC. is the best kind of lo-fi sci-fi, an intimate character piece rooted in big ideas and blending doses of brutal horror into its cerebral tapestry. Comparable to an extended and decidedly bleak BLACK MIRROR episode, EMPATHY, INC. is a homegrown slice of pure genre-mashing ambition.
Film Festivals
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2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Unveils Full Line-up, STARFISH, WELCOME TO MERCY, and More
[caption id="attachment_31701" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Welcome To Mercy[/caption]
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival today unveiled the remainder of the massive line-up for the third edition, with highly anticipated TIFF Midnight Madness premieres IN FABRIC and THE WIND, World Premiere of brand new Vinegar Syndrome restoration of clown slasher BLOOD HARVEST and first-ever Secret Screening.
The films also completed the brand new Head Trip program lineup of films that push the boundaries of horror with Starfish and The Clovehitch Killer, and introduces the expansion of six shorts blocks, including the return of the showcase of locally made chills Home Invasion (previously Local’s Only) and new LGBT block Slayed: LGBT Horror Shorts, co-presented by NewFest.
The festival will return to Nitehawk Cinema, Syndicated, LIU Kumble Theatre, Videology, and the Wythe Hotel Cinema; and this year the IFP’s Made in NY Media Center.
STARFISH (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 101 Min | Dir. A.T. White
Presented by Brooklyn Fireproof Stages
Stricken with grief, Aubrey is having a difficult time coping with the death of her best friend, Grace. To combat the overwhelming sadness, she breaks into Grace’s apartment and quietly picks up where her late friend left off, caring for her pets and using her possessions, not to mention sleeping in her bed. The next morning, though, everything’s changed. The streets outside are desolate, fires engulf the city, and people are being attacked by something inhuman. There’s only one person who can potentially save the world: Aubrey, thanks to clues found on mixtapes left by Grace.
An endlessly creative gambit that fuses multiple genres, including cosmic horror, director A.T. White’s STARFISH is one of the most ambitious feature debuts in years. It’s also one of the year’s best films, an emotionally potent, frequently terrifying, and wholly disorienting mash-up of a film that plays like ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND as remixed by H.P. Lovecraft.
WELCOME TO MERCY (World Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 104 Min | Dir. Tommy Bertelsen
After returning to her family’s native Latvia to mourn her father’s death, American single mother Madaline begins suffering from inexplicable visions and physical scars, all of which point to the gift—or curse, rather—the Holy Stigmata. To seek help, Madaline travels to an island convent and ingratiates herself within the sisterhood of nuns. But much to her detriment, Madaline’s new acquaintances pray to something far more sinister than the Holy Spirit, leading her to realize that those newfound afflictions come from anywhere but Heaven.
Providing an effectively retro spin on modern religious horror, WELCOME TO MERCY utilizes the best sacrilegious genre tropes, everything from evil nuns to weaponized crosses, to weave a powerful story of tested faith and hard-earned redemption. Anchored by a fierce performance from lead actress Kristen Ruhlin, who also wrote the screenplay, WELCOME TO MERCY packs a serious punch.
IN FABRIC (East Coast Premiere)
UK | 2018 | 118 Min | Dir. Peter Strickland
There’s something off about the vintage department store in which single mother Sheila finds herself looking for a fancy new dress. The store’s employees are nearly robotic in their stone-faced dedication to sales, the mannequins seem to be whispering to one another, women nearly trample each other to enter as its doors, and its television commercials are hypnotically sinister. Nevertheless, Sheila buys a lavish red dress. Little does she know, her life will soon be overcome by a series of random misfortunes, supernatural phenomena, and living nightmares. And, it seems, the dress is to blame.
Having already proven his singular merits with the giallo-minded brain-scrambler BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO and the gorgeously erotic DUKE OF BURGUNDY, British filmmaker Peter Strickland ups the ante with IN FABRIC, his most awe-inspiring film to date. Combining the aesthetics and influences of his two previous films into a barrage of visually dazzling surrealism, IN FABRIC is an inventive, unsettling and mesmerizing ghost story about the doomed pursuit of happiness. Cynicism has rarely been this stunning.
THE WIND (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 87 Min | Dir. Emma Tammi
A devastating scene sets the stage for a haunting account of demonic terror on the American frontier in the 1800’s. Lizzy and Isaac welcome a couple, Emma and Gideon from Illinois, who take up residence in a nearby abandoned cabin. Not long after, Emma fears she is being hunted down by an evil spirit who wants her unborn baby and violently succumbs to her mania. This event reawakens Lizzy’s buried memories of her encounters with the demons on the land and when Isaac leaves to accompany Gideon back to Illinois, Lizzy is left alone to wage battle against the evil on the land.
Emma Tammi’s narrative feature debut makes astoundingly affective use of the American Western frontier. The wide open, barren and desolate wastelands combined with the atmospheric sounds of the elements and unrelenting gusts of wind (or are they whispers from the dead?) create a sense of helplessness unmatched by the claustrophobia of a haunted house and makes a strong case that we need more western horror films in our lives.
POSSUM (US Premiere)
UK | 2018 | 85 Min | Dir. Matthew Holness
Following an undisclosed shame, former puppeteer Philip returns to his shabby Norfolk childhood home and only surviving family member, gratingly unpleasant stepfather Maurice. Hanging off the edge of his own sanity, Philip tries to destroy his horrid memories which are encapsulated in the form of Possum, a large and hideous spider puppet. But Possum only pretends to be dead.
Under-appreciated character actor Sean Harris (recently recognizable as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE antagonist Solomon Lane) stars with an insanely nuanced and chilling portrayal of isolation and trauma. Shot on 35mm with a fittingly yellow-and-brown-rotted palette and a puppet that delivers some seriously disturbing imagery, writer-director Matthew Holness’ first feature is a twisted psychological thriller that deep-dives into a bleak surrealist nightmare.
PARTY HARD, DIE YOUNG (North American Premiere)
Austria | 2018 | 93 Min | Dir. Dominik Hartl
To celebrate graduating from high school, Julia and her classmates take off for a party-resort in Croatia to experience the banger to end all bangers. As the epic party rages on, Julia’s best friend Jessica mysteriously disappears leaving nothing but a suspicious text and a Snapchat photo with her face scratched out. Then another friend slips off a roof to her death—and Julia receives another Snapchat photo. Uh oh.
Energetic and aesthetically gorgeous (mostly shot at the actual X-Jam Festival), Austrian director Dominic Hartl’s glossy homage to ‘90s teen slasher films is high on style while choosing to embrace new age connectivity when so many recent genre films would rather run from it, updating the slasher for the iPhone and EDM generation.
THE CLOVEHITCH KILLER (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 109 Min | Dir. Duncan Skiles
Young churchgoing boy scout Tyler’s reputation takes a hit when his crush finds a pornographic bondage picture in his dad’s truck, believing it to be his. Ostracized from his group of friends, he falls in with Kassi, a teenage orphan obsessed with the Clovehitch Killer, a serial killer with a penchant for the clove hitch knot who once terrorized their town and was never found. After discovering more photos hidden in his dad’s work shed he’s left to fear the worst.
Rising talent Charlie Plummer is excellent as the innocent Tyler, but it’s Dylan McDermott playing his father, Don, who really owns the film with his paternal suburban transformation that’s every bit as campy and creepy as you would hope it to be. Directed by newcomer Duncan Skiles and written by Christopher Ford, frequent collaborator of Jon Watts on films such as CLOWN and COP CAR, this small town thriller has a sinister edge and sports an exciting narrative device that flips the story on its head.
GHOST MASK: SCAR (US Premiere)
South Korea | 2018 | 81 Min | Dir. Takeshi Sone
Miyu travels from Japan to Seoul, Korea trying to track down her older sister who has been missing for two years. Shortly after she arrives she meets plastic surgeon Hana, who invites her home to meet her lover Hyoshin. The three women cohabitate as Miyu’s search for her sister intensifies meanwhile Hyoshin, haunted by disturbing nightmares, becomes suspicious of Hana and Miyu’s relationship.
A tragic story of two Japanese sisters separated at childhood and plagued by jealousy, negligence and abandonment, GHOST MASK: SCAR is directed and shot by prolific cinematographer Takeshi Sone (he also shot recent festival hit ONE CUT OF THE DEAD) and features a ricocheting narrative that comes together beautifully in a bloody, gonzo final act.
BLOOD HARVEST (World Premiere of New Restoration)
USA | 2018 | 88 Min | Dir. Bill Rebane
Within the slasher movie canon, there are the indisputable giants: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers. But what about Marvelous Mervo? Sure, he’s not the omnipresent icon that those other homicidal maniacs are, but there’s something to be said about a madman who’s played by eccentric ’80s music star Tiny Tim dressed like a clown and who leaves victims’ bodies hanging upside down in a barn like cattle.
If that sounds weird enough on its own, just wait until you experience the entirety of BLOOD HARVEST, one of the strangest ’80s slasher movies you’ll ever see. BHFF is thrilled to host the world premiere of a newly restored print of director Bill Rebane’s unnerving and often uncomfortably hilarious oddity, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome. Full of gnarly kills, Tiny Tim’s signature brand of weirdness, and relentless unpredictability, BLOOD HARVEST is ripe for watch-it-with-a-rowdy-crowd rediscovery.
SECRET SCREENING
??? | ??? | ?? Min | Dir. ???
For the first time ever, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is excited to present a mystery film, and, sorry, we won’t give any easy-to-solve hints for all of you proud cinema sleuths out there! Okay, fine, we’ll give you a little something: Our inaugural “Secret Screening” film will either be a can’t-miss new horror gem that everyone, both genre folks and general film lovers alike, will be talking about for years to come or an unexpected yet prescient genre classic from deep in the vaults. Sorry, that’s all you’re going to get. Now let the speculation begin!
Home Invasion 2018 – annual showcase of local NYC films featuring the popular shorts block and a spotlight screening of Yedidya Gorsetman’s dark indie sci-fi EMPATHY, INC.
EMPATHY, INC. (East Coast Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 96 Min | Dir. Yedidya Gorsetman
In the “high risk, high reward” world of venture capitalists, rising star Joel lets it all ride on a deal that, sadly for he and his actress wife, painfully falls apart, leaving him with no other choice than to move in with his wife’s parents for financial reasons. Feeling like a huge failure, Joel unexpectedly finds some hope via a run-in with an old friend, whose business partner asks Joel to invest in a new experiential technology called XVR, or Xtreme Virtual Reality, the latest product of which allows wealthy folks to see life through the eyes of the less fortunate. Unfortunately for Joel, XVR’s makers’ intentions aren’t what they seem.
Shot in stark black-and-white and going into exceedingly dark narrative places, NYC-bred director Yedidya Gorsetman’s EMPATHY, INC. is the best kind of lo-fi sci-fi, an intimate character piece rooted in big ideas and blending doses of brutal horror into its cerebral tapestry. Comparable to an extended and decidedly bleak BLACK MIRROR episode, EMPATHY, INC. is a homegrown slice of pure genre-mashing ambition.
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Toronto International Film Festival Cancels Canadian Premiere of GALVESTON
[caption id="attachment_31148" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Galveston[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival has pulled the Canadian premiere Galveston from the lineup and replaced it with the World Premiere of A Private War.
The Festival issued the following statement regarding their decision to withdraw Galveston from the 2018 Festival lineup:
“We have recently learned director and cast for Galveston are no longer available to attend the Canadian Premiere in Toronto due to work commitments. Our Gala Presentations require filmmaker and key cast to be present at the premiere screening at Roy Thomson Hall, and unfortunately we cannot move forward with Galveston in this selection. At this time, all our other programming slots are in place so we have regretfully withdrawn the film. We wish Mélanie Laurent and the film’s production team the very best, and hope Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see Galveston in the near future.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFKu8UNi7I
TIFF announced that A Private War will replace Galveston in the Gala selection.
Pre-purchased tickets for the cancelled screenings of Galveston will be valid for the added screenings of A Private War.
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A PRIVATE WAR Starring Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan to World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_31587" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
A PRIVATE WAR[/caption]
Matthew Heineman’s A Private War will make its world premiere at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival, joining the Festival’s Gala Presentations lineup. The film marks the feature narrative debut of critically acclaimed director Matthew Heineman ( Cartel Land, City of Ghosts) whose previous work in documentary filmmaking has earned him an Academy Award nomination, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two DGA wins for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award.
A Private War, a biopic based on the true story of award-winning war correspondent Marie Colvin, stars Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl, Hostiles) in one of her most intense roles to date. Based on a blistering 2012 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, the drama follows Colvin to the front lines of conflicts around the globe as she risks everything to reveal the truth. Pike is joined by supporting cast which includes Jamie Dornan ( The Fall, Fifty Shades of Grey ), Stanley Tucci ( The Lovely Bones, Spotlight), and Tom Hollander ( The Night Manager).
“It has been a deeply personal journey sharing the extraordinary story of Marie Colvin in A Private War,” stated filmmaker Matthew Heineman. “We are so thrilled to be able to finish the film in time to premiere at TIFF and honored to share with the audiences there.”
At a time when journalism itself is under attack, Marie Colvin is one of the world’s most celebrated war correspondents. She is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts around the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limit between bravery and bravado. After being wounded by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she has witnessed takes its toll. Yet her mission to show the true cost of war leads her to embark — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Dornan) — on the most dangerous assignment of her life, in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4mHCilwdk0
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2018 Devour! The Food Film Fest to Present 74 Culinary Films Under Theme “The Power of Food and Film to Transform”
[caption id="attachment_31694" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Jiro Dreams of Sushi[/caption]
The world’s largest culinary film festival, Devour! The Food Film Fest (Devour!) will present 74 food-and beverage-focused films from 21 countries, running the gamut from eye-opening feature length documentaries to quirky and engaging short flicks at the eighth edition. Devour’s 2018 programming centers around this year’s overall theme of “The Power of Food and Film to Transform”.
“Film is a powerful medium that can help shine a spotlight on important issues, spark conversations, inspire others and promote meaningful change,” said Devour! Managing Director Lia Rinaldo. “We are experiencing a cultural shift where many of us are rejecting the status quo and looking to transform our lives. As a result, the culinary industry, among others, is going through this period of upheaval and transition, which we strived to reflect in this year’s slate of inspiring and impactful films that explore topics from food waste, sustainability, food security, environmental impact, gender equality, discrimination and politics, to name a few.”
The 2018 lineup includes 28 thought-provoking feature films including eOne’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi about 85-year-old sushi chef Jiro Ono, the proprietor of a three-star Michelin sushi restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. The film will open the festival on Wednesday, October 24 and was personally selected by 2018 Festival Guest Curator Sam Kass, the former White House Chef for the Obama family and a healthy food activist. Each year, the festival’s opening guest presents their favorite food film of all time; the only retro title in the program.
Film highlights include the Thursday night gala film André – The Voice of Wine about André Tchelistchef, the godfather of California winemaking, directed by his nephew Mark Tchelistchef who will be in attendance; the Canadian premiere of returning filmmaker Gab Taraboulsy’s feature length biopic Funke, chronicling Chef Evan Funke as he sets up one of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles, Felix Trattoria; the world premiere of the Canadian documentary Six Primrose, which chronicles the dramatic impact of accessing healthy food on the community of Dartmouth, NS; and the inspiring documentary Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, chronicling Chef Eduardo’s recovery following a freak accident. Chef Eduardo Garcia is attending the Festival as a featured chef and will participate in the Celebrity Chef Dinner on Friday, October 26, alongside other top chefs still to be announced.
Devour! will screen several films that document the success of women and the challenges they face in the male-dominated culinary industry. A Fine Line, directed by Joanna James, explores why only six per cent of head chefs and restaurant owners are women and documents the rise of some of the most celebrated women in the industry including the World’s Best Female Chef and Devour! alumna Dominique Crenn and Emmy Award-winning TV Host Lidia Bastianich. Canadian Director Maya Gallus’ The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution profiles seven female chefs facing daunting professional obstacles, harassment and toxic environments. Thirty-six per cent of this year’s film program is directed by women.
The Festival will close with a feature drama from prominent Nova Scotia director Thom Fitzgerald. Splinters is an intimate drama about sexual identity, family and life in small-town Nova Scotia, filmed on an apple farm in the Annapolis Valley, mere minutes from the film fest’s location. This year’s program marks the festival’s largest program of Canadian content on screen at 32 percent of the films, including 17 per cent from Atlantic Canada.
Devour! will showcase 45 short films, including David Ma’s Hollywood-inspired recipe video series filmed in the aesthetic style of famous filmmakers: What if Alfonso Cuaron Made Pancakes?, What if Michael Bay Made Waffles?, What If Quentin Tarantino Made Spaghetti & Meatballs and What If Wes Anderson Made S’mores?. Additional programming includes six visually stunning films about Nova Scotia from the award-winning team behind the The Perennial Plate, and selections from returning filmmaker Kevin Kossowan’s James Beard Award Nominated Canadian series, From the Wild: Bay of Fundy and From the Wild: Devour! Edition.
A highlight of the festival program is the return of the Devour Road Show Celebrity Chef Dinner on Saturday, October 27, where a special program of five short films will be screened right in the barrel cellar of Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery, with chefs pulling their inspiration for their dishes right from the films.
All films are eligible for the Devour! Golden Tine Awards in five categories–Best Short Documentary, Best Short Drama, Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Drama and Best Animation–chosen by an esteemed jury: Anita Stewart (Founder of Food Day Canada), Greg Rubidge (Syndicado Film Sales) and Dan Clapson (Eat North). The Awards Brunch will take place on Sunday, October 28 at Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery.
The 2018 Festival film screenings are:
FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS
All the Time in the World Suzanne Crocker | Canada THURSDAY NIGHT GALA SCREENING: André – The Voice of Wine Mark Tchelistcheff | USA/Germany As Needed (Quanto Basta) Francesco Falaschi | Italy/Brazil The BBQ Stephen Amis | Australia FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT GALA SCREENING: Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story Phillip Baribeau | USA Chef Flynn Cameron Yates | USA Constructing Albert Laura Collado & Jim Loomis | Spain/Estonia The Devil We Know Stephanie Soechtig & Jeremy Seifert | USA The Empire of Red Gold Xavier Deleu & Jean-Baptiste Malet | France A Fine Line Joanna James | USA From Seed to Seed Katharina Stieffenhofer | Canada Funke Gab Taraboulsy | USA/Italy The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution Maya Gallus | Canada OPENING NIGHT GALA SCREENING: Jiro Dreams of Sushi David Gelb | USA Knife Skills Thomas Lennon | USA Once Again Kanwal Sethi | Germany/India/Austria Our Blood is Wine Emily Railsback | USA A Polar Year (Une année polaire) Samuel Collardy | France Scotch: A Golden Dream Andrew Peat | Taiwan/Scotland Secret Ingredient Gjorce Stavreski | Macedonia The Silver Branch Katrina Costello | Ireland Six Primrose True Faux Films | Canada Soufra Thomas Morgan | USA CLOSING NIGHT GALA SCREENING: Splinters Thom Fitzgerald | Canada The Superfood Chain Ann Shin | Canada Tazzeka Jean-Phillipe Gaud | France There is No Place Like Home (A Casa Tutti Bene) Gabriele Muccino | Italy ULAM: Main Dish Alexandra Cuerdo | USASHORT FILMS
America: The Ice Cream Truck The Perennial Plate | USA Bao Domee Shi | USA The Best Place to Tell Stories Kevin Kossowan | Canada The Birth of Bread Matthew Pendergast | UK The Bite House The Perennial Plate | Canada Borscht & Fresh Bread Sarah Gignac | Canada A Brief History of Acadians in Nova Scotia (and their food) The Perennial Plate | Canada A Butcher’s Heart Wouter Jansen | Netherlands Café de Temporada Maria Luisa Santos | USA Chapters of Food: Mole is Mexico Barbara Anastacio | Mexico Conad Compilation Stef Viaene | Italy The Common Chameleon Tomer Eshed | Germany Corky Ty Primosch | USA Cosmic Connection James Boo | USA Cups & Robbers Jim Simone | USA Embrace the Blue Douglas Keir Blackmore | Canada The Foolish Side of Food Luca Goudon | Italy From the Wild: Bay of Fundy Kevin Kossowan | Canada From the Wild: Devour! Edition Kevin Kossowan | Canada Gefilte Rachel Fleit | USA The Grey Zone Brian Gersten | USA How Mr and Mrs Gock Saved the Kumara Felicity Morgan-Rhind | New Zealand Is You Is My Baby Kelly Perine & Bry Sanders | Canada/USA John Bil Shane Pendergast | Canada Lightfoot & Wolfville The Perennial Plate | Canada Make Love: Bar Ape James Reid | Canada Mitsuharu Tsumura of Maido Jim Kane | Peru Nova Scotia The Perennial Plate | Canada On the Shores of This Bay The Perennial Plate | Canada Proud to be Prairie James Reid | Canada Pulled Strings Vicki Chau | Canada Red Velvet Mahmoud Samir & Youssef Mahmoud | Egypt A Rising Tide The Perennial Plate | Canada Soul of a Nosh James Boo | USA Style Points James Boo | USA Thin Skinned Aaron Tilley | UK Tibor Petra O’Toole | Canada Tungrus Rishi Chandna | India Virgilio and Malena Martinez Jim Kane | Peru What If Alfonso Cuaron Made Pancakes? David Ma | USA What If Michael Bay Made Waffles? David Ma | USA What If Quentin Tarantino Made Spaghetti & Meatballs? David Ma | USA What If Wes Anderson Made S’mores? David Ma | USA Wild Mushroom and Venison with Jon Parry Jamie Orlando Smith | UK
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LA Film Festival to Feature First Ever VR and Immersive Story Telling Showcase
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Age of Sail, John Kahrs[/caption]
The LA Film Festival announced the lineup of The Portal, the Festival’s inaugural VR and Immersive Story Telling showcase to be held at Loyola Marymount University’s new Playa Vista Campus. The Portal is a two-year partnership with Loyola Marymount University’s School Film and Television.
“It’s exciting, and a testament to the storytelling, that virtual reality is now attracting talent like Rosario Dawson, Brie Larson, Diego Luna, Ian McShane, Alicia Vikander and Oprah Winfrey,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Guest Director VR & Immersive Storytelling. “Immersive storytelling is venturing into exciting new territory with adventurous mixed reality, social interactivity, guided motion and haptics, all of which LA audiences will be able to experience for free at The Portal this fall as part of LA Film Festival.”
“It’s fitting that, as we open the doors to our new Playa Vista campus, we also welcome Film Independent’s first-ever VR and Immersive storytelling showcase,” said Peggy Rajski, new Dean of LMU’s School of Film and Television. “Jacqueline’s thoughtful program provides audiences with ample opportunities to immerse themselves into the experiences and stories of others, including many whose voices are typically unheard. At LMU SFTV we deeply value storytelling that shines a light into the places we rarely traverse, but which enrich us when given the opportunity to do so.”
The Portal features some of the most exciting new animated, documentary and fictional narratives from virtual reality exhibitions at film festivals around the world, including Cannes, Rotterdam, Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca and Venice.
The Portal will be located at the new LMU Playa Vista Campus 12105 W. Waterfront Drive, in the heart of Silicon Beach and is free to the public.
The Portal
LA Film Festival’s inaugural showcase of immersive storytelling from visionary creators working in Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) featuring, 360, room-scale VR and interactive works and installations utilizing haptic technology that bring touch and motion to the immersive experience. 1000 Cut Journey, dirs. Courtney Cogburn and Elise Ogle, USA, LA Premiere In this immersive virtual reality experience, in order to foster a greater understanding of the social realities of racism, you become Michael Sterling, a Black male, and encounter racism as a young child, an adolescent, and a young adult. Age of Sail, dir. John Kahrs, USA, North American Premiere Set on the open ocean in 1900, this animated film tells the story of William Avery (voiced by Ian McShane), an old sailor adrift and alone in the North Atlantic who finds redemption and hope in his darkest hours. Arden’s Wake: Expanded, dir. Eugene Chung, USA, US Premiere The animated story of young woman who lives in a post-apocalyptic world with her father in a lighthouse perched atop an endless sea. Academy Award-winner Alicia Vikander stars as the voice of Meena. Awavena, dir. Lynette Wallworth, USA/Brazil/Australia, LA Premiere This mixed-reality work is a tale of metamorphosis, and a collaboration between the Amazonian Yawanawa community and an artist that tells the story of a people ascending from the edge of extinction and the ascendance of their first female shaman. BattleScar, dir. Martín Allais and Nico Casavecchia, USA/France, LA Premiere An animated coming of age story that follows a year in the life of Lupe, played by Rosario Dawson, living in late 1970’s New York City as she discovers the Punk scene of the Bowery and the secret underworld of the Lower East Side. Biidaaban: First Light, dir. Lisa Jackson, Canada, LA Premiere Set in a highly realistic future Toronto reclaimed by nature, where people commute by canoe, users engage with the written text of the Wendat, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and Anishinaabe (Ojibway) and gain insight into the complex thought systems of this land’s first peoples. Crow: The Legend, dir. Eric Darnell, USA, North American Premiere This animated story of a bird with a beautiful voice is inspired by Native American legend is executive produced by John Legend, and features the voices of Sarah Eagle Heart, Diego Luna Tye Sheridan, Oprah Winfrey and Constance Wu. Dinner Party, dir. Angel Manuel Soto, USA, LA Premiere Dinner Party is a short virtual reality thriller that dramatizes the incredible story of Betty and Barney Hill, who in the 1960s reported the first nationally known UFO abduction case in the United States. Geomancer, dir. Lawrence Lek, UK, North American Premiere A computer-generated animation about the creative awakening of artificial intelligence set in Singapore 2065, that tells the story of an environmental satellite that wishes to become an artist. Queerskins, dirs. Illya Szilak and Cyril Tsiboulski, USA, LA Premiere A diary and a box of belongings offers a devoutly Catholic mother living in rural Missouri, USA in 1990 a second chance to know Sebastian, the estranged son she has lost to AIDS as they take a magic realist journey down a country road. Space Explorers: A New Dawn (Ep.1) and Taking Flight (Ep. 2), dirs. Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, Canada, USA A cinematic VR series narrated by Brie Larson about the new age of space exploration. Witness the lives of NASA astronauts as they navigate the trials and sacrifices of their training and missions. Terminal 3, dir. Asad J. Malik, USA, LA Premiere An interactive, augmented-reality documentary that explores contemporary Muslim identities in the U.S. through the lens of an airport interrogation using Microsoft’s Hololens technology to interrogate the holograms of passengers. Vestige, dir. Aaron Bradbury, USA/UK/France, LA Premiere Journey into the mind of Lisa as she remembers her lost love, Erik, through a series of fragmented memories that become entangled with a haunting vision triggering new memories and pathways as we navigate through the story. Zikr: A Sufi Revival, dir. Gabo Arora, USA, LA Premiere Zikr: A Sufi Revival takes four participants on an interactive, virtual reality journey into a world of ritual, music and dance by opening up an experience to the Sufi practice of inclusion, acceptance, art, joy and understanding360 DOCUMENTARY CINEMA
Free Solo, dirs. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, USA, World Premiere Experience Alex Honnold’s free solo climb up Yosemite’s 3,000-foot high El Capitan wall with no ropes or safety gear in 360 VR. The full-length documentary film version of FREE SOLO is playing in LA Film Festival’s Gala section. Into the Now, dir. Michael Muller, USA, LA Premiere An exploration of marine life and ocean conservation that follows director Michael Muller as he tackles his lifelong fear of sharks by learning to dive without protection and cage-free with great white sharks. Sun Ladies, dirs. Christian Stephen and Celine Tricart, USA, LA Premiere The story of a group of Yazidi women in Sinjar, Iraq who started a female-only fighting unit called the Sun Ladies to protect the honor and dignity of their people. This documentary features animation created by artist Wesley Allsbrook (Dear Angelica) and was produced and narrated by Maria Bello. This is Climate Change: Fire, dirs. Danfung Dennis and Eric Strauss, USA In just the last three decades, changes in climate have doubled the amount of land burned by wildfires in the western United States. Follow the dedicated fighters – by air and on the ground – whose jobs have turned into year-round battles against these catastrophic blazes.Panels at The Portal
The showcase will also feature panels about Women’s Voices in VR, Animation and immersive Documentary on Saturday September 22 and Sunday September 23.
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DESTROYER Starring Nicole Kidman, BIRDS OF PASSAGE Among 10 Films in Official Competition at 62nd BFI London Film Festival
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DESTROYER Starring Nicole Kidman[/caption]
Encompassing a mixture of oddball comedies, genre-bending kaleidoscopic dramas, entertaining crime capers, haunting ghost stories and nail-biting thrillers, the 62nd BFI London Film Festival revealed the ten contenders for the Official Competition, with 50% of the films from a female director or co-director.
The Festival will welcome as Jury President Academy Award-nominated director of ROOM (LFF Official Competition 2015), Lenny Abrahamson, whose long-awaited film adaptation of Sarah Waters’ horror novel THE LITTLE STRANGER will be released this September. For the first time, the winner of the Best Film will receive their Award in front of a public audience at a special screening on Saturday October 20th at Vue Leicester Square.
The 10 films in Official Competition are:
BIRDS OF PASSAGE sees co-directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent, LFF 2015) return to the Festival with their latest offering – a sprawling, spiritual exploration of family conflict and tribal warfare, laced with heady symbolism and surrealist flashes. Set during the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia bear witness to the thrilling rise and fall of the indigenous Wayuu clan in remote Colombia. A mystical meditation on colonialism, tribalism and modernism.
Nicole Kidman is astonishing, and almost unrecognizable, in Karyn Kusama’s (The Invitation, LFF 2015) brooding thriller DESTROYER. Kidman plays Erin, a jaded police detective haunted by her past and still reeling from the trauma of her experience years later, who is forced to confront her demons in order to close the case that almost destroyed her. The film also stars Sebastian Stan, Tatiana Maslany and Toby Kebbell.
Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders, LFF 2014) returns to the Festival with HAPPY AS LAZZARO. A delightfully singular time and genre-bending rumination on the fate of innocence when faced with corruption and greed. Set in rural Italy, this is the tale of Lazzaro, a beautiful peasant so sweet natured he is often mistaken for simple-minded. A magnificent blend of Italian class struggle, folk tales, biblical allegory and pop culture reference, Rohrwacher deservedly shared the Best Screenplay award at Cannes for this kaleidoscopic work.
The World Premiere of HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD. is Ben Wheatley’s triumphant return to the Festival after Free Fire (LFF 2016). A poignantly funny and razor-sharp observation of English family dysfunction. Colin has rented a stately country home for his extended family’s New Year celebrations. He’s the centre of attention until his estranged brother David unexpectedly arrives, throwing the family dynamic far off orbit. Starring Joe Cole, Charles Dance, Mark Monero, Hayley Squires, Asim Chaudhry, Doon Mackichan, Bill Paterson, Neil Maskell and Sam Riley.
Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy, LFF 2014) returns to the Festival with IN FABRIC, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Gwendoline Christie. A haunting ghost story, laced with lashings of oddball humour and set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a strange department store, it follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.
JOY, directed by Sudabeh Mortezai (whose debut feature Macondo competed for the LFF’s Sutherland Award in 2014), presents a vital and hugely affecting drama that tackles the vicious cycle of sex trafficking in modern Europe. It follows the life of Joy, a young Nigerian woman, who works the streets to pay off debts to her exploiter Madame, while supporting her family in Nigeria and hoping for a better life for her young daughter in Vienna.
Iconic director Zhang Yimou presents SHADOW, set during China’s Three Kingdom’s era (AD 220-280). Blood spills in this visually stunning feature, as a great king and his people will be expelled from their homeland, with jaw-dropping combat scenes. Director Zhang presents mind-blowing visual design that revolutionises the colour palette, using water, calligraphy and graphic interpretations of yin and yang.
Academy Award© winner László Nemes follows up his critically acclaimed debut Son of Saul (Official Competition nominee LFF 2015) with his feverishly ambitious second feature, SUNSET. Set in 1913, nearing the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and on the eve of the First World War. Írisz Leiter is a hat maker who returns to Budapest years after her parents, respected milliners, sent her to be fostered under mysterious circumstances. A fugue-like meditation on the end of an empire; the brilliantly willful Írisz is our witness to the flickering innocence of a Europe about to be plunged into hell.
THE OLD MAN & THE GUN, directed by David Lowery, stars Robert Redford, in what will be his final big screen performance after recently announcing retirement. A brilliantly entertaining crime caper, based on the true story of Forrest Tucker, the self-styled ‘Houdini’ whose many audacious prison breaks included an Alcatraz flight in a homemade kayak, and whose last robbery was committed when he was 79. Offering bittersweet reflections on time and age, THE OLD MAN & THE GUN is a testament to a free-spirit who steadfastly refused to go quietly. The film also stars Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck
TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG is a woozily gorgeous evocation of life on the fringe of society. Set during the summer of 1990, after Pinochet’s fall, democracy has returned to Chile. Three youngsters drive up to a woodland commune below the Andes, where they idle the summer away while their parents debate the future. In their isolated community, Sofia, Lucas and Clara face their first loves and fears while building up for New Year’s Eve. Youthful desire, ennui and mischief have rarely felt so tangible. The film is directed by Dominga Sotomayor.
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Miami Film Festival Unveils 2019 Poster + First GEMS 2018 Titles
Miami Film Festival unveiled the official poster for the 36th edition of the Festival taking place March 1 to 10, 2019, designed by renowned Spanish artist, illustrator and painter Ana Juan.
“Ana Juan’s delightful creation to represent Miami Film Festival’s 36th season evokes the color and playfulness of Miami, with a beautiful femininity that captures our moment,” said Miami Film Festival’s executive director Jaie Laplante.
Juan, a frequent contributor of cover art to The New Yorker magazine, has had numerous solo exhibitions of her work over the past 30 years and received a multitude of international awards and prizes, including the National Illustration Award from Spain’s Ministry of Culture in 2010.
Of her creation for this year’s Miami Film Festival poster, Juan stated: “A flower is color, color is life, life is passion and passion makes a dream become true: The dream of cinema.”
The Festival also announced the first four titles for its fall season festival extension, MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL GEMS 2018, scheduled for Oct. 11 – 14. The four films are further distinguished as the first nominees announced for the Festival’s Jordan Ressler First Feature Award competition, which presents a jury-selected $10,000 cash prize to the best film by a filmmaker making their feature narrative debut. The Award is courtesy of the South Florida family of the late Jordan Ressler, an aspiring screenwriter whose life was tragically cut short before he could realize his dream. The Ressler family recently renewed their commitment to the Award through 2023.
The four announced nominees are:
DIAMANTINO (Portugal, directed by Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt). A delirious off-beat comedy about the world’s premiere soccer star and underwear model who tumbles from grace due to an evildoer’s plot. Winner of the 2018 Grand Prix NESPRESSO at La Semaine de la Critique, Cannes.
THE HEIRESSES (LAS HEREDERAS) (Paraguay, directed by Marcelo Martinessi). Two upper-class women who have discreetly been a couple for more than 30 years go through a crisis when their worsening financial situation forces them to begin selling off their family heirlooms, and one partner goes to jail for fraud. Winner of numerous international prizes, including the Alfred Bauer Prize and Best Actress for Ana Brun at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival.
HOPELESSLY DEVOUT (MI QUERIDA COFRADÍA) (Spain, directed by Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz). Winner of Audience Award at 2018 Malaga Film Festival, an uproarious screwball comedy in the spirit of early Almodóvar films. When the devout Carmen is passed over for leadership of her local religious guild in southern Spain in favor of a man, her initial despair turns into determination to turn the tables on this sexist situation.
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BOYS CRY directed by Damiano D’Innocenzo[/caption]
BOYS CRY (Italy, directed by Damiano D’Innocenzo & Fabio D’Innocenzo). Two teenage boys living in the suburbs of Rome fall into service of the local mafia, but their loss of innocence takes them to unexpected places. Winner of the prestigious Nastro d’Argento (Silver Ribbon), Italy’s National Syndicate of Film Journalists Award, for Best First Feature Film of the Year.
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Matteo Garrone’s DOGMAN to UK Premiere at London Film Festival on European Art Cinema Day [Trailer]
Award-winning director Matteo Garrone’s critically acclaimed DOGMAN, will receive its UK Premiere on European Art Cinema Day, October 14th, at 62nd BFI London Film Festival. Curzon Artificial Eye and BFI LFF will host simultaneous live previews taking place across approximately 40 cinemas UK-wide, including the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN).
Matteo Garrone, director of the Golden Globe-nominated Gomorrah (winner of the Cannes Jury Prize) presents the true story of one of Italy’s most notorious crimes. Dubbed an ‘urban Western’, DOGMAN takes place in an Italian suburb somewhere between metropolis and wild nature. Marcello (Marcello Fonte; Best Actor, 2018 Cannes Film Festival), a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.
The BFI London Film Festival premiere of DOGMAN, and UK wide previews, are taking place on European Art Cinema Day on 1October 14th, ahead of the theatrical and On Demand release on October 19th, 2018. Growing year-on-year, the third European Art Cinema Day is a global initiative, with events taking place all over the world, across more than 600 venues. It is organized by CICAE in partnership with Europa Cinemas.
The 62nd BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday October 10 – Sunday October 21, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI2JE_xjAaY
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FALLS AROUND HER to Open, EDGE OF THE KNIFE to Close imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
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Tantoo Cardinal in Falls Around Her[/caption]
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival selected two Canadian features as the Opening and Closing Night Galas for the 19th Annual Festival, running October 17 to 21, 2018 in Toronto. imagineNATIVE’s Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, October 17 will be Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her, and on Sunday, October 21, the Closing Night Gala will be Sgaawaay K’uuna (Edge of the Knife).
Filled with drama and humour, Falls Around Her commemorates the first starring role in a feature length movie for the legendary Tantoo Cardinal whose remarkable performance is shared with a fantastic supporting cast including Tina Keeper, Gail Maurice and Johnny Issaluk. Legendary singer, Mary Birchbark (Cardinal), abandons a life of fame and fortune to follow the instinctual pull that calls her home. Desiring to reconnect with land and her community, she returns to the beautiful woods of her territory to seek solitude in an isolated cabin. But as the slow change of seasons marks her thirst for transformation, she begins to have the unsettling feeling that she is being watched, and quickly she finds that doors to the past are not so easily shut.
Sgaawaay K’uuna – directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown – makes history as the first Haida language feature film. On the islands of Haida Gwaii, two extended families reunite at their annual summer fishing camp. Conflict between a charismatic young man, Adiits’ii, and his best friend Kwa, begins to tear their interwoven families apart. When Adiits’ii’s recklessness and arrogance result in a tragic incident, he flees into the rainforest abandoning his family and way of life. Wracked with grief and shame, Adiits’ii descends into madness and transforms into a Gaagiixid, a ravenous “wildman” caught between worlds and consumed by insatiable hunger. When the families return the following summer, they realize Adiits’ii has survived the winter. Now while the community hopes to restore Adiits’ii’s humanity, Kwa wrestles with his deepest desire…revenge.
Sgaawaay K’uuna will be preceded by the short film dukʷibəɫ swatixʷtəd (Changer’s Land). Directed by Tracy Rector dukʷibəɫ swatixʷtəd is a tribute to the Salish country and a celebration of how land endures despite foreign incursions of power plants and highways.
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THE SISTERS BROTHERS Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix to Open Calgary International Film Festival [Trailer]
The western Canadian premiere for a tale of the Wild West, The Sisters Brothers, directed by Jacques Audiard, with an all-star cast of John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal, will open the Calgary International Film Festival on Wednesday, September 19.
Set during the Gold Rush of 1851, a pair of notorious, deadly assassins hunt an idealistic prospector who has discovered a chemical formula that reveals hidden gold. The Sisters Brothers bicker, fight and drink their way through a series of peculiar and perilous misadventures, while wrestling with their violent calling and dark past.
“Based on the bestselling, award-winning novel by Canadian author Patrick deWitt, and directed by the winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or for 2015’s Dheepan, The Sisters Brothers is an instant Western classic,” said Stephen Schroeder, Executive Director of the Calgary International Film Festival. “It’s a darkly comic odyssey through the absurdity, grit and melancholy of the American frontier, rich with dreamlike visions, human tenderness and inevitable bursts of violence.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OwvqKwTKmE
The 19th Annual Calgary International Film Festival has 178 films in its full lineup, including all shorts, features, and collaboration screenings. This year the festival enjoyed a record-breaking 1912 paid submissions, compared with 1598 last year. 32 films have a first-time feature director. Approximately 30% of all booked features are Canadian (32 out of 103 total features). 56 films at the festival have a female director.
Here are some more films (not yet previously announced):
OF FATHERS AND SONS directed by Tala Derki
I’LL TAKE YOUR DEAD directed by Chad Archibald
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT directed by Bi Gan
THE SISTERS BROTHERS directed by Jacques Audiard
WE, THE DEAD (AQÉRAT) directed by Edmund Yeo
THE WOMAN WHO LOVES GIRAFFES directed by Alison Reid
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New York Film Festival Shorts Lineup + Talks with Alfonso Cuarón, Claire Denis
The lineup for Shorts and Talks during the 56th New York Film Festival will feature films from nine countries as well as from burgeoning talent here in New York, the shorts section presents 21 films in four different programs. NYFF Talks will bring wide-ranging conversations with directors featured in NYFF56 to the public.
HBO® is the presenting sponsor of NYFF Talks, which includes Directors Dialogues and On Cinema. This year’s Directors Dialogues feature conversations with Centerpiece filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, Main Slate filmmakers Jia Zhangke and Alice Rohrwacher (NYFF54 Filmmaker in Residence), and Spotlight on Documentary director Errol Morris. High Life director Claire Denis is this year’s On Cinema talk, an in-depth discussion with NYFF Director Kent Jones. HBO® also sponsors NYFF Live, which will be announced in September.
The Shorts selection includes two International Programs, featuring a mix of narrative, animation, and documentary work by established and emerging directors; annual thriller program Genre Stories; and New York Stories, featuring some of the most exciting filmmakers living and working in New York today.
Highlights include the world premieres of To the Unknown and The North Wind’s Gift, directed by Michael Almereyda (Experimenter, NYFF53); The Chore, directed by Ashley Connor and Joe Stankus (The Layover, NYFF55); Quarterbacks, directed by Jason Giampietro (Unpresidented, NYFF55), and Eleanore Pienta’s Ada.
SHORT FILM
International Shorts I
Anteu João Vladimiro, Portugal/France, 29m Portuguese with English subtitles North American Premiere This vividly stylized and formally audacious work from Portuguese director João Vladimiro follows the life of a young man as he gradually becomes the last living person of his village. Here There Is No Earth Martin Diccico, USA/Turkey, 2018, 6m Turkish with English subtitles North American Premiere A testimony about a shepherd’s fatal encounter at the Turkish-Armenian border provides a haunting perspective on the countries’ physical and invisible lines of separation. jeny303 Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia/France, 2018, 7m Spanish with English subtitles North American Premiere Footage of an abandoned Bauhaus-style building accompanies confessionals from Jeny, a self-described living work of art, in this fleeting meditation on architecture and biography. Man in the Well / Jing li of ren Hu Bo, China, 2017, 16m Mandarin with English subtitles U.S. Premiere Desperation and ruin pervade this unsettling short from the late novelist-turned-filmmaker Hu Bo (An Elephant Sitting Still), in which two starving children encounter a dead body. Tourneur Yalda Afsah, Germany, 2018, 15m U.S. Premiere Yalda Afsah’s nonverbal documentary beholds the strange, subtly tense proceedings of a bullfight in the south of France, in which young men confront the animal inside the arena.International Shorts II
Black Dog Joshua Tuthill, USA, 2017, 15m New York Premiere Through its uncanny blend of archival footage and stop-motion animation, Black Dog evokes a nightmarish conception of an American family during the 1960s Space Race. Down There Zhengfan Yang, China, 2018, 11m U.S. Premiere A single long take observes the collective psychology of an apartment building after a quiet night is interrupted by an off-screen sound. Glorious Acceptance of Nicolas Chauvin / Le Discours d’acceptation glorieux de Nicolas Chauvin Benjamin Crotty, France, 2018, 27m North American Premiere Benjamin Crotty’s latest is this hilarious and unpredictable portrait of Nicolas Chauvin—a possibly apocryphal Napoleonic soldier whose name is the basis for the word chauvinism—as he recounts his travails via a lifetime achievement award speech. Let Us Now Praise Movies / Y ahora elogiemos las películas Nicolás Zukerfeld, Argentina, 2017, 15m Spanish with English subtitles North American Premiere A young critic balances his time between a day job at a stationary store and managing a film magazine in this amusingly intelligent homage to the small yet boundless moments so many films leave out. Veslemøy’s Song Sofia Bohdanowicz, Canada, 2018, 9m U.S. Premiere Shot on hand-processed black-and-white film, Sofia Bohdanowicz’s wry, wistful narrative-doc follows a young woman (Deragh Campbell) as she investigates the legacy of the once celebrated Canadian musician Kathleen Parlow.Genre Stories
Acid Just Philippot, France, 2017, 18m NY Premiere As contaminated rain threatens to wipe out humanity, a married couple desperately battle to keep their young son safe. Child of the Sky Phillip Montgomery, USA, 2018, 15m NY Premiere Lost in the desert, a woman gets lured into a nightmarish world of cult violence in this deeply chilling Mesopotamian myth–infused tale told through ferocious dance movements. Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre Ilja Rautsi, Finland, 2018, 15m NY Premiere A female car-crash survivor offers a very definitive response to the incessant “educating” by the infantile male chauvinists of the household that’s taken her in. The Slows Nicole Perlman, USA, 2018, 20m NY Premiere In a regenerating post-apocalyptic world, the only remaining traces of naturally reproduced life face extinction. Toto Danny Lee, USA, 2018, 17m NY Premiere The career of an embittered former horror star (M. Emmet Walsh) who longs for his glory days comes gruesomely full circle. New York Stories TRT: 63m Ada Eleanore Pienta, USA, 2018, 11m World Premiere In her funny, expressive, and dialogue-free directorial debut, actress Eleanore Pienta plays an eccentric woman trying to get from point A to point B and, in the process, finding New York City an obstacle course of casual hostility and bizarre behaviors. The Chore Ashley Connor & Joe Stankus, USA, 2018, 8m World Premiere Ashley Connor and Joe Stankus’s latest quotidian miniature follows two brothers going grocery shopping together, musing on the products they come across, reminiscing about the past, and, finally, comparing notes on snickerdoodle recipes. God Never Dies / Dios Nunca Muere Barbara Cigarroa, USA/Ireland, 2018, 14m Spanish with English subtitles Filmed in New York’s Hudson Valley, Barbara Cigarroa’s captivating work of docu-fiction offers a rare, real glimpse into the secluded life of a migrant farmworker as she struggles to raise two children on her own. The North Wind’s Gift Michael Almereyda, USA, 2018, 19m World Premiere Michael Almereyda’s contemporary riff on an Italian folktale (shot in black-and-white 16mm by Sean Price Williams), in which a magic microwave ensnares a starving family and their landlord, is a delightfully peculiar moral tale of greed, trickery, and the elemental forces of nature. Quarterbacks Jason Giampietro, USA, 2018, 6m World Premiere In Giampietro’s comic latest, some friends’ dinner conversation about the impending NFL Draft becomes a frank discussion of the state of race relations within the league and amongst its fans. To the Unknown Michael Almereyda, USA, 2018, 6m World Premiere Almereyda’s reading of Kenneth Koch’s “To the Unknown” transforms footage of the everyday into a moving tribute to one of the New York School’s most treasured and inventive poets.
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METEORITES and BREEZE Complete New Directors Lineup of 2018 San Sebastian Film Festival
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QING FENG DE WEI DAO / BREEZE[/caption]
The French film, Les Météorites / Meteorites and the Chinese film, Qing Feng De Wei Dao / Breeze, complete the New Directors selection at the 66th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
A graduate from La Fémis, Romain Laguna (Montpellier, France) has directed the short films À trois sur Marianne (2012), Run (2013), Bye Bye mélancolie (2014) and J’mange froid (2015). His first feature film, Les météorites / Meteorites, focusses on a 16 year-old girl who is spending the summer in a town in the South of France and works in a theme park.
Kun Yang, from a small city in the South-West of China’s Yunnan province, studied film directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Qing Feng De Wei Dao / Breeze, his first feature film, revolves around a man’s homecoming journey from Yunnan to the town of his birth.
These two productions join the New Directors selection, which also includes the following titles: Oreina (The Deer, Koldo Almandoz), La camarista (The Chambermaid, Lila Avilés), Apuntes para una película de atracos (Notes for a Heist Film, Elías León Siminiani), Serdtse Mira / Core of the World (Nataliia Meshchaninova), Ama Doren / Hold my hand (Ismet Sijarina), Un om la locul lui / A Decent Man (Hadrian Marcu), Para la guerra (To War, Francisco Marise), Boku wa Iesu-sama ga kirai / Jesus (Hiroshi Okuyama), Julia y el zorro (Julia and the Fox, Ines María Barrionuevo), Der läufer / Midnight Runner (Hannes Baumgartner), Neon Heart (Laurits Flensted-Jensen), The Third Wife (Ash Mayfair) and Viaje al cuarto de una madre (Journey to a Mother’s Room, Celia Rico Clavellino).
This section, forming part of the Festival’s commitment to upcoming film talents, is a platform that lends visibility to their films. The last three winners of the Kutxabank-New Directors Award have been released in Spain: Le nouveau / The New Kid (2015), Park (2016) and Le semeur / The Sower (2017).
LES MÉTÉORITES / METEORITES
ROMAIN LAGUNA (FRANCE)
Nina, a 16-year-old girl, dreams of adventure. Meanwhile, she spends the summer between her village in the south of France and the theme park where she works. Just before meeting Morad, a teenage boy from an Algerian family living in the nearby council houses, Nina sees a meteorite falling from the sky which it seems only she can see… like an omen.
QING FENG DE WEI DAO / BREEZE
KUN YANG (CHINA)
Having left Yunnan, his native city, Yu Zhao moved to Beijing, where he has lived for more than thirty years. Since his retirement, his only occupation has been helping his son in the house and looking after his grandson. When Yu Zhao returns to Yunnan with the intention of starting a new life, he finds that things, his relatives, friends and loves of the past are no longer the way he remembered them. Everything has become colder and more routine. The people he knew now have their own lives and the dream of a new love disappears too. Gradually Yu Zhao realises that Yunnan is no longer his true home, and he decides to return to Beijing.