“Survivor testimonial projected on the burned out walls of the Hiroshima Dome.” From The Day the World Changed. Photo credit: Tomorrow Never Knows.[/caption]
The virtual reality experience, The Day the World Changed, co-created by award-winning filmmakers and virtual reality pioneers, Gabo Arora and Saschka Unseld, will premiere in the Virtual Arcade that runs April 20 to 29, at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Produced by Jennifer Tiexiera, the social, interactive experience pairs ground-breaking technologies with rare survivor testimonies from Hiroshima to bring the terror of nuclear war to vivid life.
“Over the years, we have been desensitized to the consequences of nuclear war,” said Arora. “We are living in a time when our Commander-in-Chief and leaders of other nations are openly calling for more nuclear weapons, taunting each other over their capabilities. Our intention with this work is to give voice to those victims of nuclear war asking the world to face this shared history and to recognize the true horror of these weapons.”
Added Saschka Unseld, “We want this to be an unwavering, uncomfortable experience for people. We want to turn on its head our obsessions and fetishizing of nuclear superiority as a symbol of pride in one’s country, but also to recognize the power of the virtual reality medium. By placing the general public inside the ruins of a tragic event like Hiroshima, we hope to activate a groundswell of support for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to help ICAN generate momentum in their mission towards elimination.”
The Day the World Changed began as an original commission by Nobel Media to showcase the work of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization ICAN, a campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
“We find ourselves at one of the most dangerous moments since the dawn of the Atomic Age. It’s at moments like this that we must collectively look back and understand that nuclear weapons are quite simply indiscriminate weapons of mass murder,” said ICAN executive director, Beatrice Fihn. “The Day the World Changed isn’t just a story about the past, it is also about our future—it reminds us that these weapons are still here, threatening us, but we can do something about it.”
With that goal in mind, the experience presents a powerful historical record reimagined through new technology via three interactive chapters.
The first explores what led the United States government to develop and drop the world’s first atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, a catastrophic event that ultimately killed more than 90,000 people. The second chapter examines the aftermath of the bombing as users walk through the ruins of Hiroshima’s only remaining building, and view authentic artifacts left over from that day.
The third chapter advances to the present day as viewers delve into the madness that ensued as the world raced to develop ever-more nuclear weapons.
The experience seeks to pay tribute to the victims of Hiroshima, while recognizing those currently affected by nuclear weapons testing in today’s fraught geo-political climate, proving that change is possible with the right tools and information.
“The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund prides itself on elevating and empowering voices that have been ignored, voices that aren’t afraid to push the envelope and explore the complexities of what drives us as a society and as individual beings,” said executive producer and director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University Annette Porter. “We are honored to support and participate in this monumental project.”
Tomorrow Never Knows CEO and Executive Producer on the project, Nathan Brown, is quick to note the impact The Day the World Changed will have in bridging the gap between art, education and location-based distribution. “This project goes far beyond mere technology or storytelling,” he says. “It is important experiences like this that have the potential to open up new markets and audiences to the power of immersive storytelling around the world.”
The Day the World Changed was made in partnership with International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Nobel Media, Sisu Films and Ntropic+Tactic and produced by Tomorrow Never Knows, Jennifer Tiexiera, Tom Lofthouse and Fifer Garbesi, and executive produced by Nathan Brown, Executive Director of ICAN and current Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Laureate, Beatrice Fihn, Mattias Fryenius, Karen Lorenzo, Annette Porter and features original sound design by AntFood.
Tomorrow Never Knows’ inaugural feature, the critically-acclaimed ZIKR: A Sufi Revival, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was later acquired by UK-based distribution company, Dogwoof, becoming the first ever VR documentary to be acquired at a major film festival.Film Festivals
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VR “The Day the World Changed” on Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to World Premiere at 2018 Tribeca Film Fest
[caption id="attachment_28057" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] “Survivor testimonial projected on the burned out walls of the Hiroshima Dome.” From The Day the World Changed. Photo credit: Tomorrow Never Knows.[/caption]
The virtual reality experience, The Day the World Changed, co-created by award-winning filmmakers and virtual reality pioneers, Gabo Arora and Saschka Unseld, will premiere in the Virtual Arcade that runs April 20 to 29, at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Produced by Jennifer Tiexiera, the social, interactive experience pairs ground-breaking technologies with rare survivor testimonies from Hiroshima to bring the terror of nuclear war to vivid life.
“Over the years, we have been desensitized to the consequences of nuclear war,” said Arora. “We are living in a time when our Commander-in-Chief and leaders of other nations are openly calling for more nuclear weapons, taunting each other over their capabilities. Our intention with this work is to give voice to those victims of nuclear war asking the world to face this shared history and to recognize the true horror of these weapons.”
Added Saschka Unseld, “We want this to be an unwavering, uncomfortable experience for people. We want to turn on its head our obsessions and fetishizing of nuclear superiority as a symbol of pride in one’s country, but also to recognize the power of the virtual reality medium. By placing the general public inside the ruins of a tragic event like Hiroshima, we hope to activate a groundswell of support for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to help ICAN generate momentum in their mission towards elimination.”
The Day the World Changed began as an original commission by Nobel Media to showcase the work of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization ICAN, a campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
“We find ourselves at one of the most dangerous moments since the dawn of the Atomic Age. It’s at moments like this that we must collectively look back and understand that nuclear weapons are quite simply indiscriminate weapons of mass murder,” said ICAN executive director, Beatrice Fihn. “The Day the World Changed isn’t just a story about the past, it is also about our future—it reminds us that these weapons are still here, threatening us, but we can do something about it.”
With that goal in mind, the experience presents a powerful historical record reimagined through new technology via three interactive chapters.
The first explores what led the United States government to develop and drop the world’s first atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, a catastrophic event that ultimately killed more than 90,000 people. The second chapter examines the aftermath of the bombing as users walk through the ruins of Hiroshima’s only remaining building, and view authentic artifacts left over from that day.
The third chapter advances to the present day as viewers delve into the madness that ensued as the world raced to develop ever-more nuclear weapons.
The experience seeks to pay tribute to the victims of Hiroshima, while recognizing those currently affected by nuclear weapons testing in today’s fraught geo-political climate, proving that change is possible with the right tools and information.
“The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund prides itself on elevating and empowering voices that have been ignored, voices that aren’t afraid to push the envelope and explore the complexities of what drives us as a society and as individual beings,” said executive producer and director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University Annette Porter. “We are honored to support and participate in this monumental project.”
Tomorrow Never Knows CEO and Executive Producer on the project, Nathan Brown, is quick to note the impact The Day the World Changed will have in bridging the gap between art, education and location-based distribution. “This project goes far beyond mere technology or storytelling,” he says. “It is important experiences like this that have the potential to open up new markets and audiences to the power of immersive storytelling around the world.”
The Day the World Changed was made in partnership with International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Nobel Media, Sisu Films and Ntropic+Tactic and produced by Tomorrow Never Knows, Jennifer Tiexiera, Tom Lofthouse and Fifer Garbesi, and executive produced by Nathan Brown, Executive Director of ICAN and current Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Laureate, Beatrice Fihn, Mattias Fryenius, Karen Lorenzo, Annette Porter and features original sound design by AntFood.
Tomorrow Never Knows’ inaugural feature, the critically-acclaimed ZIKR: A Sufi Revival, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was later acquired by UK-based distribution company, Dogwoof, becoming the first ever VR documentary to be acquired at a major film festival.
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GENERAL MAGIC, Documentary on Most Influential Silicon Valley Company You’ve Never Heard Of to Premiere, at Tribeca Film Fest
The documentary film General Magic, looks at the rise and fall of the most influential Silicon Valley company you have never heard of, General Magic.
In the early 1990’s, a team of former Apple employees formed the company and took Silicon Valley by storm with their new project, the first handheld, wireless personal computer – the first smartphone. The company and the product were so ahead of their time, that it ultimately failed, and the company closed down. However, General Magic’s former employees have gone on to found eBay, Linkedin and Android, develop the technology that has lead to the iPhone and have become the tech innovators that now lead companies like Samsung, Apple and Facebook. Matthew Maude and Sarah Kerruish’s film show how this team has created a lasting impact of the on the world around us.
[caption id="attachment_28051" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
In 1992, Marc Porat holds up the design of what is now the IPhone in a scene from GENERAL MAGIC[/caption]
General Magic, directed by Matthew Maude and Sarah Kerruish, will World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Documentary section.
In 1990, a new company called General Magic, a spinoff from Apple, took Silicon Valley by storm. Rumors spread of its innovative new prototype destined to be the “next big thing.” Four years later, the company shipped its first product: a handheld, personal computer—which was essentially a smartphone, even down to the emojis, all the way back in 1994. However, the mid-’90s tech landscape wasn’t ready for an innovation so far ahead of its time—after all, the average consumer didn’t even have email and certainly was not prepared for 21st-century, anytime-anywhere communication. The product flopped, and General Magic shuttered.
General Magic – the documentary feature directed by Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude tells the story about how great vision and epic failure changed the world as we now know it – from the smartphones that sit in our pockets to an array of technologies we now take for granted today.
Executive produced by Michael Stern, Reynold D’Silva and John Giannandrea, General Magic features members of the original Mac team and the creators of the iPhone, Android and eBay; designers, engineers and entrepreneurs who saw the future twenty years before it happened and help create the future we use today.
Described by Forbes as “the most important dead company in Silicon Valley” and combining rare archive footage with contemporary stories of the General Magicians today, this documentary tracks the progress of anytime, anywhere communication from a thing of sci-fi fiction to our modern day reality.
General Magic TRIBECA SCREENINGS
Fri. 4/20, 5:45 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 7- World Premiere
Sat. 4/21, 4 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 9
Sun. 4/22, 4 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 9
Thurs. 4/26, 5:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-3
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MEN DON’T CRY, THE FROG, TO BE FAR Win at 2018 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival [Complete List of Winners]
[caption id="attachment_25619" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Men Don’t Cry[/caption]
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (BHFF) in New York City announced the winners of the Golden Apple Awards for the 15th edition of the festival, and presented the BHFF 2018 Jury Special Mention, as well as the BHFF 2018 Golden Apple Audience Award for Best Picture to MEN DON’T CRY by director Alen Drljević. In MEN DON’T CRY, twenty years after the conclusion of the Bosnian War, a group of Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian men meet to discuss their experiences and process the events that shaped their lives decades ago. MEN DON’T CRY embraces moral uncertainty and examines the effects of time on painful memories. It explores themes of ethnic conflict and the impact, both physical and emotional, that war leaves on its participants.
BHFF 2018 jury statement: “There is a part of social life around us that we have to make visible and which is difficult to make visible. The crisis of masculinity in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina is a topic that has only begun to be addressed and discussed, especially concerning veterans’ trauma and its war implications. MEN DON’T CRY makes a giant step in this direction.”
THE FROG, directed by Elmir Jukić, produced by Ademir Kenović, and starring Emir Hadžihafizbegović, won the BHFF 2018 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Feature. In THE FROG, Zeko, a barber and a war veteran, attempts to reassemble the pieces of his life by reaching out to his brother Braco, who has been grappling with addiction, and his friend Švabo, a cab driver who spent the war years in Germany and is struggling with his own demons.
BHFF 2018 Jury statement: “The energy this film exudes and enthralls us with is masterfully nuanced in the rhythm of its narration, as well as in the subtle unfolding of characters that capture the spectator and trasfigure her through their life drama. Watching THE FROG engages the audience in a way that has a redemptive effect and results in deep affective bonds with the story and its protagonists.”
Emir Hadžihafizbegović won the BHFF 2018 Jury Award for Best Acting Performance for his role as Zeko in Elmir Jukić’s THE FROG.
BHFF 2018 jury statement: “The unanimously reached decision by the jury on this award is certainly a telltale sign of the force of Emir Hadžihafizbegović’s acting talent and his mastery of the acting craft. Emir Hadžihafizbegović in the role of Zeko in the film THE FROG brings us a luminously moving, darkly troubling and truly loveable character who makes us empathize with his life-story, predicaments, and uncompromising, even if unsettling, humanity.”
Samira Kameli and Sajra Subašić’s TO BE FAR won the BHFF 2018 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Documentary. In TO BE FAR, the filmmakers attempt to document a refugee center in Bosnia. Denied entry, they instead film the center from afar, reflecting upon the lives of its residents, the services provided to them, and the painful circumstances that brought them to this place.
BHFF 2018 Jury statement: “Through an intriguing and novel anti-documentary perspective, TO BE FAR leaves us thinking ethically and politically about the lines of exclusion and segregation of refugees. It also poses the question of the brutalization of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian society that, despite its recent history of war and mass exile, no longer identifies with the plight of those who lost everything.”
Aleksandra Odić’s GREAT WALL OF CHINA won the BHFF 2018 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Short Film. In GREAT WALL OF CHINA, the legacy of the conflicts of the 1990s lurks in the background of a family gathering in the Bosnian countryside, as experienced by Maja, a young girl. Maja’s life is upended by the arrival of Aunt Lilija, an impassioned young woman with artistic ambitions.
BHFF 2018 Jury statement: “GREAT WALL OF CHINA makes a deep impression with its poetry of the everyday, and its lyrical images of the lives of women of different generations. The gazes between the main protagonists reveal their complex, untold feelings in a way that is truly remarkable in a cinematic language.”
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THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER Wins Top Award at 2018 Cleveland International Film Festival [ Complete List of Winners]
[caption id="attachment_27286" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER[/caption]
After hosting crowds topping 100,000, the 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) announced the winners of the competitions and awards at the Closing Night Ceremony on Sunday, April 15, 2018. The Drummer and the Keeper, directed by Nick Kelly was awarded the top prize – the Audience Choice Award for Best Film.
The Drummer and the Keeper begins with a pantless man dragging a couch onto a beach. He douses it with gasoline and casually sets it on fire. His name is Gabriel, and he is a drummer for an up-and-coming rock band. His bandmates have had enough of his out-of-control antics, though. He’s constantly drunk, and the couch incident is just one of many. When Gabriel agrees to get help, it’s revealed he’s bipolar. His therapist prescribes medicine and enrolls him in treatment, which includes joining a soccer team with other mental health patients. He reluctantly shows up to practice, where the coach pushes him to befriend Christopher, a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome. Soon Gabriel can’t seem to get rid of Christopher. But as time goes by, Gabriel will discover Christopher is not just the only friend he really has, but also exactly the kind he needs. This funny, moving film examines an anomalous union that seems doomed from the start. However, their unlikely but beautiful friendship will give them both the pieces they’ve been missing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ExhyLIdEHs
The 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival will take place March 27 to April 7, 2019 at Tower City Cinemas.
Winners of 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival
Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award for Best Film Sponsored by the Callahan Foundation THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER, directed by Nick Kelly (Ireland) $15,000 cash prize ReelWomenDirect Award for Excellence in Directing by a Woman Presented with generous support from Deborah Bachman Ratner Dana Nachman (for PICK OF THE LITTER; USA) $10,000 cash prize George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition Presented with generous support from The George Gund Foundation MEN DON’T CRY, directed by Alen Drljević (Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany) $10,000 cash prize Nesnadny + Schwartz Portrait Documentary Competition MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU Director’s Award Presented with generous support from Nesnadny + Schwartz LOVE MEANS ZERO, directed by Jason Kohn (USA) $10,000 cash prize New Direction Competition Presented with generous support from CoverMyMeds QUALITY TIME, directed by Daan Bakker (Netherlands, Norway) $10,000 cash prize Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Competition Presented with generous support from The George Gund Foundation 6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY, directed by Marvin Blunte (USA, Thailand) $7,500 cash prize Global Health Competition Presented by: Cleveland Clinic Global Patient Services Cleveland Clinic Mikati Center for Liver Diseases Cleveland Clinic R.J. Fasenmyer Center for Clinical Immunology BURDEN OF GENIUS, directed by Tjardus Greidanus (USA) $7,500 cash prize American Independents Competition Presented with generous support from Mike and Nicki Cancelliere LIFE HACK, directed by Sloan Copeland (USA) $7,500 cash prize Local Heroes Competition Presented with generous support from Lauren Rich Fine and Gries Financial MANRY AT SEA ~ IN THE WAKE OF A DREAM, directed by Steve Wystrach (USA) $7,500 cash prize Music Movies Competition Presented with generous support from Jules and Fran Belkin IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW: A FILM ABOUT LYNYRD SKYNYRD, directed by Stephen Kijak (USA) $7,500 cash prize Ad Hoc Docs Competition Presented with generous support from Anne E. Bloomberg BREAKING THE BEE, directed by Sam Rega (USA) $7,500 cash prize International Narrative Competition Presented with generous support from Tom Piraino and Barbara McWilliams EDIE, directed by Simon Hunter (United Kingdom) $7,500 cash prize FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Feature Film Presented with generous support from OverDrive SCIENCE FAIR, directed by Cristina Maria Costantini and Darren Foster (USA) $2,000 Cash Prize Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film Overall Sponsored by Jive City Recordings BAGHEERA, directed by Christopher Watson (India, United Kingdom) $1,000 Cash Prize Best Animated Short Award* Sponsored by Reminger Co., L.P.A. THE DRIVER IS RED, directed by Randall Christopher (USA) $1,000 cash prize Best Documentary Short Award* Sponsored by Jules and Fran Belkin PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE., directed by Rayka Zehtabchi (USA) $1,000 cash prize Best Live Action Short Award* Sponsored by Anne Bloomberg and Alan Gordon Lipson & Judy Harris SACRED HAIR, directed by Mario Morin (Canada) $1,000 cash prize FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Short Film Presented with generous support from OverDrive JOINT CUSTODY, directed by Carlus Fábrega (Spain) $1,000 Cash Prize *These award winners will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards®.
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SCARY MOTHER Wins Top Golden Gate Prize at 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival | Complete List of Winners
[caption id="attachment_24318" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Scary Mother[/caption]
This afternoon the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Award (GGA) competitions and awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers. The jury awarded the Golden Gate prize and $10,000 cash prize to Ana Urushadze for Scary Mother “for its confident tone and unquestioning commitment to its fearless protagonist, a complicated artist caught between motherhood and the wilds of her own imagination.”
The SFFILM Golden Gate Awards have honored deserving filmmakers and their projects for over 60 years, bringing recognition for unique and innovative filmmaking to the Bay Area’s local and international audiences. Among the most significant awards for emerging global film artists in the United States, the Golden Gate Awards embody SFFILM’s commitment to global storytelling and independent filmmaking.
GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS AWARD (FICTION FEATURE)
The New Directors award is given to a debut feature by an international filmmaker whose work exhibits unique artistic sensibility or vision.
GGA New Directors Award winner: Scary Mother, Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia)
MCBAINE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARD
Special Jury Mention, McBaine Documentary Feature: City of the Sun, Rati Oneli (Georgia/USA/Qatar/Netherlands)
The jury granted this mention to Oneli’s film “for its stunning use of cinematography and sound design that immerses us in a place that is at once stark and stirring.”
McBaine Documentary Feature Award Winner: The Distant Barking of Dogs, Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/Sweden/Finland) – Receives $10,000 cash prize
The jury described the Feature Award winner as “Remarkable, exquisite and unforgettable.”
McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature Award: The Judge, Erika Cohn (USA/Palestine) – Receives $5,000 cash prize
The jury applauded The Judge for “turning a lens on a charismatic and influential woman who is fighting for equality against all odds, and for its nuanced portrayal of a culture that is often misunderstood.”
GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS
Special Jury Mention, Narrative Short: Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month, Carlo Francisco Manatad (Philippines)
The jury noted: “Carlo Francisco Manatad’s impressive and rebellious movie, from the opening credits until the very end, explodes with the energy of a Molotov.”
Narrative Short Winner: Shadow Animals, Jerry Carlsson (Sweden) – Receives $2,000 cash prize
In a statement, the jury applauded Shadow Animals for “its masterful control of tone and pacing. Shot from the perspective of a young girl at a dinner party, Jerry Carlsson’s short strikes a delicate balance of dread and intrigue, delightfully incorporating surreal, beautiful dance while exploring group mentality anxieties and the potential of one outsider.”
Documentary Short Winner: Crisanto Street, Paloma Martinez (USA) – Receives $2,000 cash prize
The jury awarded this prize to Paloma Martinez’s film with a statement: “So often overlooked and avoided, the issue of the affordable home crisis gets a front row seat from an unexpected view. With a bold choice to arm an 8-year-old boy with a camera, Crisanto Street skillfully renders a touching and powerful portrait of a family trying to survive on the edges. Never sentimental, Martinez captures the family’s struggle with dignity and the ephemeral possibility of hope.”
Special Jury Mention, New Visions Short: Fair Grounds, Ameer Kazmi (USA/France/Germany)
The jury recognized the film for its “tenacious yet elegant abstract critique and exploration of youthful masculinity.”
New Visions Short Winner: .TV, G. Anthony Svatek (USA/Tuvalu/New Zealand/France) – Receives $2,000 cash prize
The Best New Visions Short Prize was awarded to G. Anthony Svatek’s consideration of Tuvalu’s highly desired national domain suffix. .TV for being “an illuminating and surprising account of the hidden economies of technology and the island nation’s eminent risk of extinction due to climate-change.”
Animated Short Winner: Icebergs, Elrini Vianelli (USA/Greece) – Receives $2,000 cash prize
The jury found Icebergs to be “like looking through the windows of a high-rise—Elrini Vianelli’s short weaves together the small, funny, mundane, and most important moments of its characters’ lives, presenting only snippets of what are full, complex people: the human condition in 10 minutes.”
Bay Area Short First Prize Winner: Weekends, Trevor Jimenez (USA) – Receives $2,000 cash prize
The jury acknowledged that “It is rare that a short film, let alone an animated short with no dialogue, has the depth and narrative arc of a feature. The back and forth travels of a young child between his divorced parents’ dwellings reminds us all of what constitutes family, and what makes a place, something we call home. Perhaps it is somewhere in between.”
Bay Area Short Second Prize Winner: 49 Mile Scenic Drive, Bradley Smith, Tyler McPherron (USA) – Receives $1,500 cash prize
In a statement, the jury noted that “Through thoughtful and captivating use of archival footage and humor, this charming short film tells the history of San Francisco’s iconic 49 Mile Scenic Drive signs and the journey to restore them to their perfectly designed glory.”
GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR YOUTH WORK
Special Jury Mention: Elle, Florence Winter Hill (UK)
The jury granted this special mention to Florence Winter Hill’s short for “striking an emotional chord for all of us who had to face growing up and letting go of childhood dreams.”
Youth Works Prize: Goodbye Sam, Theo Taplitz (USA) – Receives $1,000 cash prize
The jury lauded “the playful quirkiness of Goodbye Sam for emotionally embracing the power of friendship, making us laugh and cry and wanting to see more of the oddball story of a boy and his pet bird.”
GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR FAMILY FILM
Special Jury Mention: Bird Karma, William Salazar (USA)
The jury praised Bird Karma for “taking on astonishing depth with playfulness, simplicity, humor, and beauty.”
Family Film Prize Winner: Crisanto Street, Paloma Martinez (USA) – Receives $1,500 cash prize
The jury noted: “One of the rare films that truly shows us the world through a child’s eyes, this multilayered short doesn’t shy away from life’s struggles, but it demonstrates that joy and home can be found everywhere.”
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ROLL RED ROLL, Nancy Scwartzman’s Docu on Stubenville Sexual Assault Case, to World Premiere at 2018 Tribeca Film Fest [Trailer]
Nancy Schwartzman’s debut documentary feature Roll Red Roll, following a notorious high school sexual assault case in Steubenville, Ohio, will world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
Roll Red Roll unpacks toxic masculinity, gender-based violence, sports culture, and the larger systems of complicity at play. With a fast-paced narrative, the storytelling unfolds like a true-crime mystery.
Go behind the headlines of notorious high school sexual assault to witness the social media-fueled “boys will be boys” culture that let it happen. In small-town Ohio, at a pre-season football party, a horrible incident took place. What transpired would garner national attention and result in the sentencing of two key offenders. As amateur crime blogger Alex Goddard uncovers disturbing evidence on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, documenting the assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team, questions linger around the collusion of teen and adult bystanders. Roll Red Roll explores the complex motivations of both perpetrators and bystanders in this story, to unearth the attitudes at the core of their behavior. It is a cautionary tale of what can happen when adults look the other way and deny that rape culture exists. With unprecedented access to police documents, exhibits and evidence, the documentary feature unflinchingly asks: “why didn’t anyone stop it?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJze9-ZNIeU
TRIBECA SCREENINGS
Sun. 4/22, 8 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 7 – World Premiere Mon. 4/23, 8:30 p.m., Cinepolis Chelsea 3 Tues. 4/24, 6:15 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-1 Sat. 4/28, 5:30 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-4 Sun. 4/29, 5:30 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-4
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2nd SPECTRUM (LGBTQ+)Film Festival Returns to Martha’s Vineyard, Opens with Documentary THE LAVENDER SCARE | Complete Lineup
[caption id="attachment_28028" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
THE LAVENDER SCARE[/caption]
The SPECTRUM (LGBTQ+) Film Festival returns for the 2nd year at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, from Thursday April 26 through Sunday, April 29, 2018. This year’s Opening Night Event features the new documentary THE LAVENDER SCARE which describes the federal witch hunt for gays and lesbians within all branches of the U.S. government during the McCarthy Era of the 1950s and 1960s. With little regard for its impact on people’s lives, the finger-pointing at gays and lesbians led to ruined careers, shattered families and even death by suicide. Producer/director Josh Howard is scheduled to appear and conduct a post-screening discussion about his film, followed in the Film Center lobby by a wine and dessert reception (sponsored by Tilton Rental).
In a major coup, this year’s festival will conclude on Sunday, April 29 with the full-day event, ANGELS IN AMERICA, The National Theatre’s production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama recorded last summer in London. Running over seven hours in two parts, this production is the same currently running on Broadway, starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane. Scheduled with a dinner break, patrons from the Cape will have the ability to watch the entire production and still make the last ferry to Woods Hole.
New this year are All-Access Passes as well as SPECTRUM festival t-shirts (for which all proceeds benefit MVRHS’s Gay-Straight Alliance to help fund the students’ trip to the Boston Youth Pride Event held at Boston City Hall on May 19). Also, this year, any student age 13 to 21 will receive free admission to any SPECTRUM event.
Live music will also be added to this year’s offering as part of the post-show reception following the Friday, April 27 screening of the feature BECKS. Local musicians Siren Mayhew and Sean McMahon will play original music while filmgoers participate in the beer and wine reception (sponsored by MVY Radio).
In an effort to help establish a new memorial scholarship for the late Tony Lombardi (who championed the first SPECTRUM Film Festival in 2017), all ticket purchases (both at the door and online) will include an additional one-dollar surcharge per ticket.
On Saturday, April 28 at 4:30pm, past and present members of the U.S. Military will receive free admission to TRANSMILITARY at the door (pending availability).
This year’s full schedule of events:
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
A MILLION HAPPY NOWS (2017) * PG-13
Making its Massachusetts premiere, A MILLION HAPPY NOWS, winner of multiple film festival awards for “Best First Narrative Feature,” tells the story of a veteran soap opera star who retires early in her career to a beach house with her partner/publicist. Her soon-revealed Early Onset Alzheimer’s strains her ability to interact with the public as well as the couple’s relationship – until they find the strength to redefine what they mean to each other.
BELIEVER (2018) * not rated
In one of its first screenings since this year’s Sundance Film Festival, BELIEVER, a new film by Don Argott, follows Dan Reynolds, lead singer of the American rock band Imagine Dragons, who grew up in the Mormon Church. When he noticed the suicide rate spiking amongst teens in his home state of Utah, Reynolds decided to take on the mission to explore how the Church treated its LGBTQ members.
THE LAVENDER SCARE (2017) * not rated
In its Massachusetts premiere, THE LAVENDER SCARE, narrated by Glenn Close, details the fear of gays and lesbians in the government during the time of the Cold War, delving into the careers ruined, the families torn apart and the brave few who rose to create the first Gay Rights movement in America.
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
LOVE, SIMON (2018) * PG-13
In the first Hollywood studio film centered on a gay teen protagonist, LOVE, SIMON is based on a best-selling YA novel, in which a high school boy keeps a huge secret from his family, his friends, and all of his classmates: he’s gay. When that secret is threatened, Simon must face everyone and come to terms with his identity.
BECKS (2017) * PG-13
After a breakup with her girlfriend, a Brooklyn musician (Tony Award-winner Lena Hall) moves back with her Midwestern mother (Oscar-winner Christine Lahti). As she navigates her hometown, playing for tips in a friend’s bar, an unexpected relationship begins to take shape.
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
TRANSMILITARY (2018) * not rated
Currently, over active 15,000 service members in the U.S Armed Forces identify themselves as transgendered. In one of its first screenings since its premiere at last month’s SXSW Festival, the award-winning documentary TRANSMILITARY follows the story of four outstanding soldiers as they contend with a bureaucracy of ignorance and rules that defy their understanding of Self.
DISOBEDIENCE (2018) * R
Directed by Sebastián Lelio (director of the Oscar-winning A FANTASTIC WOMAN) and based on the best-selling novel, DISOBEDIENCE follows a rabbi’s non-practicing, lesbian daughter (Rachel Weisz) as she returns to the world of the Orthodox Jewish community in London, only to find her former lover (Rachel McAdams) married to her cousin.
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
ANGELS IN AMERICA (2017) * not rated
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and considered to be one of the most important plays of the last hundred years, ANGELS IN AMERICA was captured live in performance on the London stage last summer.
Starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, ANGELS IN AMERICA is a complex, symbolic look at homosexuality and AIDS in America in the 1980s.
Over seven-hours long, this epic event is performed in two parts and is the same production that is simultaneously playing on Broadway:
Part One: Millennium Approaches has a running time of 3 hours and 30 minutes (including two intermissions) and begins at 12:30pm.
There will be a 75-minute break for dinner from 4:00pm to 5:15pm.
Part Two: Perestroika has a running time of four hours (including two intermissions) and begins at 5:15pm, ending at 9:15pm – in time to allow Cape patrons to take the 9:30pm ferry from Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole.
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Films by Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard, Nandita Das Among 2018 Cannes Film Festival Official Selection Lineup | Complete List [ VIDEO ]
The Cannes Film Festival yesterday announced the Official Selections of the 71st edition of the festival. The titles include the feature films in Competition, at Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, in Midnight Screenings and in Special Screenings.
The 71st Cannes Film Festival will take place May 8 to 19, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0swRBkl11rI
In Competition
Opening Film Asghar FARHADI TODOS LO SABEN (EVERYBODY KNOWS)
Stéphane BRIZÉ AT WAR Matteo GARRONE DOGMAN Jean-Luc GODARD THE IMAGE BOOK (LE LIVRE D’IMAGE) Ryusuke HAMAGUCHI NETEMO SAMETEMO (ASAKO I & II) (ASAKO I & II) Christophe HONORÉ SORRY ANGEL Eva HUSSON GIRLS OF THE SUN JIA Zhang-Ke ASH IS PUREST WHITE KORE-EDA Hirokazu SHOPLIFTERS Nadine LABAKI CAPERNAUM LEE Chang-Dong BUH-NING (BURNING) Spike LEE BLACKKKLANSMAN David Robert MITCHELL UNDER THE SILVER LAKE Jafar PANAHI THREE FACES Pawel PAWLIKOWSKI ZIMNA WOJNA (COLD WAR) Alice ROHRWACHER LAZZARO FELICE Kirill SEREBRENNIKOV LETO A.B SHAWKY YOMEDDINEUn Certain Regard
Ali ABBASI GRÄNS (BORDER) Meryem BENM’BAREK SOFIA Andréa BESCOND, Eric METAYER LITTLE TICKLES BI Gan LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Nandita DAS MANTO Antoine DESROSIÈRES SEXTAPE Lukas DHONT GIRL Vanessa FILHO ANGEL FACE Valeria GOLINO EUPHORIA Gaya JIJI MY FAVORITE FABRIC Wanuri KAHIU RAFIKI (FRIEND) Etienne KALLOS DIE STROPERS (THE HARVESTERS) Ulrich KÖHLER IN MY ROOM Luis ORTEGA EL ANGEL Adilkhan YERZHANOV THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLDOut of Competition
Ron HOWARD SOLO A STAR WARS STORY Gilles LELLOUCHE LE GRAND BAINMidnight Screenings
Joe PENNA ARCTIC YOON Jong-Bin GONGJAK (THE SPY GONE NORTH)Special Screenings
Aditya ASSARAT, Wisit SASANATIENG, Chulayarnon SRIPHOL, Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL 10 YEARS IN THAILAND Nicolas CHAMPEAUX, Gilles PORTE THE STATE AGAINST MANDELA AND THE OTHERS Carlos DIEGUES O GRANDE CIRCO MÍSTICO (THE GREAT MYSTICAL CIRCUS) Romain GOUPIL LA TRAVERSÉE Michel TOESCA TO THE FOUR WINDS WANG Bing DEAD SOULS Wim WENDERS POPE FRANCIS – A MAN OF HIS WORD
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Films by Boots Riley and Gus Van Sant Selected as Closing Night and Centerpiece Films of Seattle International Film Festival
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Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot[/caption]
Sorry to Bother You, the new film from debut director and musician Boots Riley that pulls no punches in its portrayal of racial dynamics in the workplace, has been selected as the Centerpiece film of the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival. Closing Night sees the return of Seattle favorite Gus Van Sant with his latest film Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, a bitingly sharp yet tender portrait of Portland-based cartoonist John Callahan, starring Joaquin Phoenix.
“We are constantly looking for dynamic, diverse stories, and we certainly found them with these two unforgettable films,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “With these two Galas we’re thrilled to spotlight both an established filmmaker and a bold new voice, each with vision and strong storytelling powers.”
Centerpiece Film & Gala
Saturday, June 2
Sorry to Bother You | Director Boots Riley
Screening at SIFF Cinema Egyptian | Centerpiece Party at DAR Rainier Chapter House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XthLQZWIshQ
Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and Armie Hammer star in the exhilarating directorial debut of musician Boots Riley, a biting and bonkers satire that follows a black telemarketer who discovers an unknown skill which gives him magical selling powers that shoot him up the corporate ladder. An Annapurna Pictures release.
Closing Night Film & Gala
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot | Director Gus Van Sant
Screening at SIFF Cinema Egyptian | Closing Party at MOHAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjYJ-YI5AXU
Joaquin Phoenix gives a transformative performance in Gus Van Sant’s sensitive and caustically funny portrait of Portland cartoonist John Callahan who, after a car accident leaves him confined to a wheelchair, uses his sardonic humor and brutal honesty to battle with a lifetime of addiction. The outstanding supporting cast includes Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, and musician Beth Ditto in her impressive film debut. An Amazon Studios release.
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Cannes Film Festival Reveals 2018 Short Films Competition and Cinéfondation Selection
Following the release of the official poster, Cannes Film Festival announced the Official Selection of the Short Films in Competition and the Cinéfondation Selection 2018.
This year, the selection committee received 3,943 short films.The 2018 Short Films Competition comprises eight films (7 works of fictions and 1 animation), from Australia, China, France, Iran, Japan, Philippines, Poland and USA. These films are all in the running for the 2018 Short Film Palme d’or, to be awarded by Bertrand Bonello, President of the Jury, at the official award ceremony of the 71st Festival de Cannes on May 19th.
The Cinéfondation Selection has chosen 17 films this year (14 live-action and 3 animated films), from among the 2,426 submitted by film schools all over the world. Fourteen countries on four continents will be represented. Twelve of the twenty-two directors selected for this program are women.
Following their deliberations, the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury, presided by Bertrand Bonello, will decide on the best films both from the Short Films Competition and the Cinéfondation.
The jury will hand over the three Cinéfondation prizes at a ceremony preceding the screening of the awarded films on Thursday 17th May, in the Buñuel Theatre.
THE 2018 SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
GABRIEL Oren Gerner – France 15′ JUDGEMENT Raymund Ribay Gutierrez -Philippines 15’ CAROLINE Celine Held, Logan George -USA 12’ TARIKI (Umbra) Saeed Jafarian – Iran 14’ III animation movie Marta Pajek – Poland 12’ DUALITY Masahiko Sato, Genki Kawamura, Yutaro Seki, Masayuki Toyota, Kentaro Hirase – Japan 14’ ON THE BORDER Wei Shujun – China 15′ ALL THESE CREATURES Charles William – Australia 13’THE CINÉFONDATION SELECTION 2018
DOLFIN MEGUMI (Rubber Dolphin) Ori AHARON Steve Tisch School of Film & Television,Tel Aviv University, Israël 28’ END OF SEASON Zhannat ALSHANOVA The London Film School, UK 23’ SAILOR’S DELIGHT Louise AUBERTIN, Éloïse GIRARD, Marine MENEYROL, Jonas RITTER, Loucas RONGEART, Amandine THOMOUX ESMA, France 6’ INANIMATE Lucia BULGHERONI NFTS, UK 8’ EL VERANO DEL LEÓN ELÉCTRICO (The Summer of the Electric Lion) Diego CÉSPEDES Universidad de Chile – ICEI, Chile 22’ PALM TREES AND POWER LINES Jamie DACK NYU Tisch School of the Arts, USA 15’ DONG WU XIONG MENG (The Storms in Our Blood) DI Shen Shanghai Theater Academy, China 31’ FRAGMENT DE DRAME (A Piece of Tragedy) Laura GARCIA La Fémis, France 24’ CINCO MINUTOS AFUERA (Five Minutes Outside) Constanza GATTI Universidad del Cine (FUC), Argentina 10’ LOS TIEMPOS DE HÉCTOR (Hector’s Nightfall) Ariel GUTIÉRREZ CCC, Mexico 29’ DOTS Eryk LENARTOWICZ AFTRS, Australia 23’ INNY (The Other) Marta MAGNUSKA PWSFTviT, Poland 5’ ALBASTRU SI ROSU, IN PROPORTII EGALE (Equally Red and Blue) Georgiana MOLDOVEANU UNATC I.L. CARAGIALE, Romania 21’ COSÌ IN TERRA (As It Is on Earth) Pier Lorenzo PISANO Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy 13’ KALENDAR (Calendar) Igor POPLAUHIN Moscow School of New Cinema, Russia 28’ MESLE BACHE ADAM (Like a Good Kid) Arian VAZIRDAFTARI Tehran University of Dramatic Arts, Iran 20’ I AM MY OWN MOTHER Andrew ZOX San Francisco State University, USA 23’
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Cannes Film Festival Unveils Official 2018 Poster Featuring Jean-Luc Godard’s Film ‘Pierrot le fou’
Cannes Film Festival today released the official poster of the 71st Festival – featuring a woman and a man engaged in a passionate kiss – taken from Pierrot le Fou, a 1965 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and inspired by the work of Georges Pierre (1927-2003).
This immense still photographer immortalized the shooting of over a hundred films in a 30-year career that began in 1960 with Jacques Rivette, Alain Resnais and Louis Malle. He then worked in partnership with Robert Enrico, Yves Robert, Claude Sautet, Bertrand Tavernier, Andrzej Zulawski, Andrzej Wajda, and of course Jean-Luc Godard. Committed to achieving recognition for stills photographers as artists in their own right, Georges Pierre founded the Association des Photographes de Films, tasked with defending the material and moral interests of cinema photographers.
The poster itself is the work of graphic designer Flore Maquin. Inspired by pop culture, this 27-year-old illustrator blends drawing, painting and digital art in a vibrant and colourful world. A passionate film buff, she works with Universal Pictures, Paramount Channel, Europacorp, Wild Side, and Arte, revisiting or creating alternatives for film posters.
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First 12 Films Revealed for 12th Dallas International Film Festival
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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?[/caption]
In honor of its 12th anniversary, Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) released a preview of 12 features and shorts screening up the upcoming festival in Dallas taking place from Thursday, May 3 to Thursday, May 10, 2018.
This year, for the first time ever, all competition feature and short film screenings at the Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) will take place at The Magnolia in Uptown’s West Village shopping center.
The 2018 Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) will screen over 110 films from 25 countries and will include the 12 films listed below and a series of Special Events including a 25th anniversary event for Steven Spielberg’s three-time Academy Award®-winning blockbuster Jurassic Park.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor – A film focused on the legacy of Mister Rogers by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom)
McQueen – The fashion motion picture, directed by Ian Bonhôte, offers a personal look at the extraordinary life, career and artistry of fashion designer Alexander McQueen
First Reformed – A film directed by Paul Schrader following Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke), a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary
Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me – Directed by Samuel D. Pollard, the film is the first major film documentary to examine Davis’ vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America
1985 – Inspired by the award-winning short film of the same name by director Yen Tan, the film follows a young man during the wave of the AIDS crisis
Eighth Grade –Bo Burnham directs this film about 13-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school
Loud Crazy Love (Texas Premiere) – Trey Hill and Scott Mayo direct this music documentary focused on Brian Welch’s (Korn) vicious battle with crystal meth, ultimately finding solace in one place he never thought he could belong: church
The Iron Orchard (World Premiere) – The story of Jim McNeely, a young man thrust into the vibrant and brutal West Texas oil fields circa 1939 who works his way through the ranks to ultimately become a formidable wildcatter, directed by Ty Roberts
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (Texas Premiere) – A reimagining of the Charles Band classic, from Dallas-Based, Cinestate. This Horror Comedy will headline DIFF’s “Almost Midnight” category.
Sons of St. Clair – A music documentary directed by Tim Newfang following Krayzie and Bizzy of iconic R&B group Bone Thugs N Harmony into the recording studio as the duo sets out to prove to the younger generation that they can still create relevant music today
Tejano (World Premiere) - Desperate for cash to pay his grandfather’s medical bills, a young man resorts to smuggling drugs across the Texas – Mexico border in this film directed by David Garcia