Film Festivals

Jada Pinkett Smith, Octavia Spencer, Ruben Östlund and More Among Jury for 2018 Sundance Film Festival

24 “experts in film, art, culture and science” will adjudicate the award feature-length work shown at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with 28 prizes, handed out at the Awards ceremony on January 27. Hosting the Awards ceremony is Jason Mantzoukas, actor, comedian and star of Hannah Fidell’s The Long Dumb Road (Premieres section). The awards, which recognize standout artistic and story elements, are voted on by each of seven section juries, including, in the case of the new-this-year NEXT Innovator’s Award, a jury of one. As in years past, Festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2018 Audience Awards, which will recognize five films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT categories; new this year, audiences will vote on a Festival Favorite film across categories, which will be announced the week following the Festival. Search, which premiered in the NEXT section, won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, announced previously. The 2018 Sundance Film Festival Jury members are:
U.S. Documentary Jury
Barbara Chai Barbara Chai is head of arts and culture coverage at Dow Jones Media Group, a suite of publications including Barron’s, Penta, MarketWatch and the U.K.’s Financial News. She is also the editor of MarketWatch Entertainment. She was previously a longtime arts and news editor at The Wall Street Journal and was the managing editor of Speakeasy, the WSJ’s pop culture and entertainment site. In 2012, Chai traveled to Dharamsala, India, to blog about Buddhism and conduct the first of two video interviews with the Dalai Lama. She has lived and worked overseas for a decade, in Brussels and Hong Kong as an international news editor, and in Taiwan as a volunteer English teacher. Chai received her M.F.A. in fiction and poetry from Hollins University, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing as a fellow. Simon Chinn Simon Chinn conceived and produced Man on Wire, which won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win an Academy Award and 40 other international awards. He followed that up with a string of award-winning feature documentaries including The Imposter, Project Nim, and Searching for Sugar Man, which also won an Academy Award and two prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2014 Simon launched Lightbox with his LA-based cousin, Jonathan Chinn. Focused on producing high-end nonfiction for multiple platforms, Lightbox has produced major projects for big and small screen alike, including LA 92 for National Geographic and the only authorized documentary about Whitney Houston, directed by Kevin Macdonald, which will be released theatrically around the world in 2018. Chaz Ebert Chaz Ebert is the CEO of the movie review site RogerEbert.com, heads the TV and movie production company Ebert Productions LLC, and is the co-founder of Ebertfest (Roger Ebert’s Film Festival), now entering its 20th year. As president of the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, her civic interests include endowing programs to help break the glass ceiling for women and people of color, providing education and arts for women, children, and families, and encouraging empathy, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Through these programs she also supports emerging writers, filmmakers, and technologists at various film festivals and universities. Ebert’s affiliation with Sundance Institute includes supporting a program for Ebert Fellowship recipients at the Sundance Film Festival and participating as a creative investor in both the Catalyst Forum and Catalyst Women. She has also provided grants to many documentary films, among them Radical Grace, Strong Island, and They Call Us Monsters. Ezra Edelman Ezra Edelman is an award-winning filmmaker. He directed O.J.: Made in America, which won the 2016 Academy Award for best documentary feature and is the third film Edelman has made for ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. Edelman has also produced and directed three films for HBO, including the Peabody Award–winning Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals and the Emmy-winning Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush. In 2013, Edelman co-produced the Academy Award–nominated documentary Cutie and the Boxer. A native of Washington, DC, Edelman graduated from Yale University and currently lives in Brooklyn. Matt Holzman Matt Holzman is host and producer of The Document, a new mash-up of radio and documentaries from NPR’s Southern California flagship station, KCRW. A veteran public radio producer and reporter for film, culture, and the arts, Holzman previously created The Business, KCRW’s weekly radio show about the entertainment industry, and has appeared regularly on PRI’s Studio 360 and The World. On his new program, Holzman works with documentary filmmakers to tell riveting stories—with no pictures. Holzman is also the creator and host of KCRW’s documentary screening series.
U.S. Dramatic Jury
Rachel Morrison, A.S.C. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison has emerged as a refreshing talent in contemporary cinema. She has shot several features that have played at the Sundance Film Festival in recent years, including Fruitvale Station (which won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award); indie breakout Dope; What Happened, Miss Simone? (an Academy Award nominee for best documentary feature); and most recently, the period drama Mudbound. Morrison has a background in photojournalism and completed a master’s degree in cinematography at the American Film Institute. She has also been nominated for two Emmys and received the Kodak Vision Award. Morrison’s next film, Black Panther, reunited her with Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler and made her the first woman to be director of photography on a blockbuster superhero film. Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Pinkett Smith was born in Baltimore and has starred in many successful films. Her most recent film, Girls Trip, became the first film that starred and was produced, directed, and written by African Americans to break $100 million at the U.S. box office. Smith has also produced several films, including The Secret Life of Bees, The Karate Kid, and Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Other films she has starred in include The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Nutty Professor, as well as voicing Gloria in the Madagascar films. The Will and Jada Smith Foundation launched Careers in Entertainment—an initiative to help underrepresented voices enter the entertainment industry—in 2016, and then in 2017 the Foundation partnered with Sundance Institute to support diverse independent filmmakers through the Screenwriters Intensive. Octavia Spencer As a veteran character actress and one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents, Octavia Spencer has become a familiar fixture on both television and the silver screen. Her critically acclaimed performance as Minny in the DreamWorks film The Help won her an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award, among numerous other accolades. Earlier this year, Spencer portrayed real-life mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the Academy Award-nominated drama Hidden Figures, for which she also received her second individual Academy Award nomination. She can currently be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy drama, The Shape of Water, which won the coveted Golden Lion Award at this year’s Venice Film Festival and has since been awarded a wide range of accolades including individual Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Spencer. Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stuhlbarg can currently be seen in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and Steven Spielberg’s The Post. His other film credits include Doctor Strange, Arrival, Miles Ahead, Trumbo, Lincoln, Hugo, and A Serious Man, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Stuhlbarg received his BFA from The Juilliard School; he also studied at UCLA, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the British American Drama Academy, Balliol College and Keble College (both of the University of Oxford), and with Marcel Marceau. Stuhlbarg is also known for his acting on the stage, having worked numerous times with Shakespeare in the Park and earning a Tony nomination for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Joe Swanberg Joe Swanberg has directed several films, including Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas, and Win It All. He contributed to the anthology horror film V/H/S and has acted in Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, Ti West’s The Sacrament, and Annie Clark’s segment of XX. He is the creator of the Netflix original series Easy, which he produces, writes, and directs, and his directing work in television includes episodes of HBO’s Looking and Netflix’s Love. In addition to his own work, Swanberg finances and produces films through his Forager Films production company, including Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth and Golden Exits, Zach Clark’s Little Sister, and Dustin Guy Defa’s Person to Person. Swanberg works in Chicago, where he lives with his wife – filmmaker Kris Swanberg – and their two children.
World Cinema Dramatic Jury
Hanaa Issa Hanaa Issa has held several senior responsibilities through the founding and establishment of the Doha Film Institute in Qatar. Currently, as director of strategy and development, she oversees initiatives for film funding, training, and development, as well as the institute’s programming, and she ensures that DFI’s core programs deliver on their mission of nurturing and strengthening local and regional film industries. Some of the films supported by the institute include the Academy Award nominees Timbuktu (by Abderrahmane Sissako) and Mustang (by Deniz Gamze Ergüven), Loving Vincent (by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman), and the Academy Award–winning The Salesman (by Asghar Farhadi). Issa is also the deputy director of Qumra, DFI’s annual industry event that provides mentorship, hands-on development, and international market access to emerging filmmakers from around the world. Ruben Östlund As an avid skier, Ruben Östlund directed ski films for five years, solidifying his taste for long sequence shots. In his mid 20s he went on to study film at the University of Gothenburg, where he developed his skill in constructing well-thought-out sequence shots, and this knowledge has continued to evolve through all his films. His works are best described as both humorous and accurate observations of human social behavior—film blended with sociology. His last four feature films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; Force Majeure won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2014, and his latest film, The Square, won the Palme d’Or, was distributed in over 75 territories, and became a box-office success. Östlund is also a professor of film at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Michael J. Werner Michael J. Werner is an American-born, Hong Kong–based producer, strategic consultant, and producer’s representative. He has been credited as a producer or executive producer on nearly 30 high-profile independent films, including Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster, Tran Anh Hung’s Norwegian Wood, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, and Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin. Werner was a partner in the pioneering foreign-sales company Fortissimo Films. He has served as a consultant or advisor to numerous industry and festival events in Asia, including the Hong Kong’s HAF, the Asian Film Awards, Screen Singapore, the Busan International Film Festival, and the International Film Festival and Awards of Macao. He most recently was a consultant to Fox International Productions and was an executive producer on 212 Warriors, their new Indonesian-language co-production. Currently he is producing a new film (Suk Suk) from Hong Kong director Ray Yeung.
World Cinema Documentary Jury
Joslyn Barnes Among the films Joslyn Barnes has been involved with producing since co-founding Louverture Films are Bamako (directed by Abderrahmane Sissako), Trouble the Water (Carl Deal and Tia Lessin), The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 and Concerning Violence (both directed by Göran Hugo Olsson), The House I Live In (Eugene Jarecki), The Time that Remains (Elia Suleiman), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Cemetery of Splendour (both directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul), House in the Fields (Tala Hadid), White Sun (Deepak Rauniyar), Zama (Lucrecia Martel), and Strong Island (Yance Ford). Forthcoming films include Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross); Angels Are Made of Light (James Longley); and Aquarela (Victor Kossakovsky). In 2017, Barnes received both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Amazon Studios Producers Award. Billy Luther Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo) is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary Miss Navajo, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS’s Independent Lens. He studied film at Hampshire College and worked on various projects for the National Museum of the American Indian’s film and video center. His second documentary feature, Grab, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on public television. His latest short documentary film, Red Lake, premiered at the 2016 LA Film Festival and was nominated for best short at the 2016 International Documentary Association Awards. He is currently in production on alter-NATIVE, a docuseries exploring the world of Native American fashion designers. Paulina Suárez Paulina Suárez is director of Ambulante, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes documentary cinema culture across Mexico. She holds a BA from UNAM (Mexico’s national university), an MA from the University of Chicago, and is completing her PhD at NYU. Her research and writing have focused on Mexican cinematic modernity, fictional and nonfictional melodramas, and expanded documentary cultures. Since 2016, Suárez has directed Ambulante’s film training program and its annual traveling festival, which screens nonfiction works at over 140 venues across Mexico. Suárez is committed to cinema’s vocation as a public art and to exploring its potential as a catalyst for social change.
Short Film Jury
Cherien Dabis Cherien Dabis is an award-winning filmmaker and television writer/director who made her feature debut with Amreeka, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the coveted FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It went on to win several more international awards (including the Humanitas Prize), was nominated for the IFP Gotham Award for best feature, and was named one of the top 10 independent films of the year by the National Board of Review. Dabis made her onscreen debut in her second feature, May in the Summer, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Dabis has also written and directed for several television series, such as Showtime’s groundbreaking The L Word, Fox’s hit Empire, and USA Network’s critically acclaimed crime thriller The Sinner. Shirley Manson Shirley Manson is best known as the lead vocalist of the critically acclaimed alternative rock band Garbage and has been an active recording artist for more than 30 years. Garbage has sold over 12 million records during the course of an award-winning career that includes the recording of the James Bond movie theme “The World Is Not Enough” and the formation of their own independent record label, STUNVOLUME. Last year they released an autobiographical coffee-table book titled This Is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake and embarked upon a co-headline tour across North America with the legendary post-punk band Blondie. They are currently in the studio working on their seventh record, and they expect to be hitting the road later in 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Grammy-nominated record, Version 2.0. Chris Ware Chris Ware is the author of Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth and Building Stories, which was named a top 10 book of the year by the New York Times and a top 10 fiction book of the year by Time. A regular contributor of comic strips and over two dozen covers to the New Yorker, his work has been exhibited at MOCA Los Angeles, the MCA Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and he was a focus of the “Chicago” episode of the PBS program Art in the 21st Century in late 2016. His book Monograph by Chris Ware was released by Rizzoli in October 2017.
NEXT
RuPaul Charles RuPaul Charles is an actor, singer, songwriter, and the two-time Emmy-winning host and executive producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race. RuPaul studied theatre before moving to New York City in the mid-eighties, where he was crowned the Queen of Manhattan in 1989. RuPaul shot to international fame with the 1992 hit song “Supermodel (You Better Work),” followed by a seven-year contract as the first face of MAC Cosmetics. In addition to Drag Race, RuPaul has appeared in more than 50 films and television sitcoms, released 13 solo albums, published 2 books, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2017. RuPaul currently hosts the weekly podcast What’s the Tee? with Michelle Visage as well as the bi-annual drag convention RuPaul’s DragCon.
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Jury
Robert Benezra Dr. Robert Benezra is a member of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor of biological sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University. He received his doctoral degree in biological sciences at Columbia University and completed his postdoctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Heather Berlin Dr. Heather Berlin is a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Passionate about science communication, Berlin is a committee member of the National Academy of Science’s Science & Entertainment Exchange and the New York Times series TimesTalks. She hosts StarTalk All-Stars with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and she hosted the CUNY TV series Science Goes to the Movies and the Discovery Channel series Superhuman Showdown. Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an actor and writer for theatre, film, and television. Her work can be seen in movies including Argo, Red State, and Blue Highway. She played computer engineer Donna Clark on AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire. Kerry is an ardent science enthusiast who works to expand access to computer science education and help scientists articulate their message for a broad audience. Nancy Buirski Nancy Buirski is the director/producer/writer of The Rape of Recy Taylor, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Human Rights Nights Award. It is also a nominee for the NAACP Image Award for outstanding documentary. Buirski is also the director/producer of By Sidney Lumet (2015), Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (2013), and the Peabody Award–winning and Emmy-winning The Loving Story (2012). Buirski is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
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Sundance 2018: Watch Trailer for Gloria Allred Documentary SEEING ALLRED

As sexual-violence allegations grip the nation, the revealing Gloria Allred documentary “Seeing Allred” provides a candid look at one of the most public crusaders against the war on women. Seeing Allred will World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and debut on Netflix February 9, 2018. Through rare archival footage and revealing interviews with both her supporters and critics, this fascinating biographical portrait examines Gloria Allred’s personal trauma and assesses both her wins and setbacks on high-profile cases against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. Featuring interviews with Gloria Steinem, Don Lemon, Alan Dershowitz, Allred’s daughter Lisa Bloom and others, Seeing Allred is a portrait of a woman everyone thinks they know, at a time when women need her the most. Seeing Allred is directed by Sophie Sartain (Mimi and Dona, 2015) and Roberta Grossman (Above and Beyond, 2014); and produced by Grossman, Sartain, Marta Kauffman (co-creator of Friends and Grace & Frankie), Robbie Rowe Tollin (The Zookeeper’s Wife), and Hannah KS Canter (Grace & Frankie). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC8Eg0odTfY
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Women Directed + Horror Themed 3rd Final Girls Berlin Film Festival Announces Lineup, Opens with THE BOOK OF BIRDIE

[caption id="attachment_24277" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Book of Birdie[/caption] The 3rd edition of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival will take place in Berlin, Germany from February1st to the 3rd, 2018, showcasing horror films that were directed, written, and/or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers. The 2018 Final Girls Berlin Film Festival lineup consists of 5 feature films, six curated short blocks, a horror storyboarding workshop, a talk on vampires and women, and a filmmaker panel. Festival co-director Eli Lewy says “this year we have selected a range of unnerving feature films – most of which are also exclusive German premieres!” Fellow co-director Sara Neidorf adds “we’re excited for another three days of communal fear and challenging discussions with filmmakers and spectators. Underground horror cinema is alive and well with the works of women who are steadily reshaping the landscape of the genre.” The opening night feature is Anami Tara Shucart and Elizabeth E. Schuch’s offering THE BOOK OF BIRDIE. When a fragile, imaginative teenager is placed in a remote convent, will her unusual obsessions and hallucinations become a mark of sainthood or dark heresy? Reserved teen Birdie is sequestered to a life of religious servitude by her grandmother, in the hope that it will suppress the young girl‘s dark thoughts. Now far from home, her interests remain far from pious, as she develops a fascination with blood and sparks a romance with the groundkeeper’s daughter. This haunting and aesthetically arresting directorial debut of Elizabeth E. Schuch features an all-woman cast. UK, dir. Elizabeth E. Schuch (2017, German Premiere) A mother’s grief turns to paranoia when she begins to suspect her eccentric neighbors are involved in a satanic pact. Starring Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Girls) and Ingrid Jungermann (WOMEN WHO KILL), and paying homage to ROSEMARY’S BABY, this queer psychological horror LYLE, brings the viewer through a nightmarish journey of gaslighting, loss, loneliness, and mistrust. USA, dir. Stewart Thorndike (2014, Berlin Premiere) Iona and her mother are new in town and excited about starting a new chapter in their lives, but things don’t go as they hoped in this off-kilter, heart-wrenching film about two generations of outcasts. This ‘social horror’ film PIN CUSHION world premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. UK, dir. Deborah Haywood (2017, German Premiere) A pitch black, wryly British comedy, PREVENGE follows Ruth, a pregnant woman on a killing spree that’s as funny as it is vicious. It’s her misanthropic unborn baby dictating Ruth’s actions, holding society responsible for the absence of a father. The child speaks to Ruth from the womb, coaching her to lure and ultimately kill her unsuspecting victims. Struggling with her conscience, loneliness, and a strange strain of prepartum madness, Ruth must ultimately choose between redemption and destruction at the moment of motherhood. UK, dir. Alice Lowe (2016) MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND is a psychological thriller set in the world of undocumented female immigrants hoping to make a life in New York City. Shot on Super 16mm with an intimate, voyeuristic sensibility, MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND chronicles one harrowing day in the life of Luciana, a young woman struggling to make ends meet while striving to escape her past. As Luciana’s day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome and unforeseeable extremes. USA, Dir. Ana Asensio (2017, German Premiere)
Short Film Programs

Obsession
PLEASE LOVE ME FOREVER (Dir. Holy Fatma, France, 2016) FRY DAY (Dir. Laura Moss, USA, 2017) NOTHING A LITTLE SOAP AND WATER CAN’T FIX (Dir. Jennifer Proctor, USA, 2017) 🙁 (Dir. Sydney Clara Brafman, USA, 2017) WASTE (Dir. Justine Raczkiewicz, USA, 2016) DON’T EVER CHANGE (Dir. Don Swaynos, US, 2017) DEAD. TISSUE. LOVE (Dir. Tasha Austin-Green, UK, 2017)
Mind Games
BBROWN WRECK-LOOSE (Dir. Tristian Montgomery, USA, 2017) LIZ DRIVES (Dir. Mia’kate Russell, Australia, 2017) THE HEAVY ATOMS (Dir. Alice Evermore, Germany, 2017) THE CLIP (Dir. Maria Forslin, Sweden, 2016) TONE DEATH (Dir. Sinnead Stoddart, UK, 2017) HIGHWAY (Dir. Vanessa Gazy, Australia, 2016) BLACK COAT (Dir. Tatiana Vyshegorodseva, Russia, 2017) DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES (Dirs. Adrián García Bogliano & Andrea Quiroz, Sweden, 2017)
Dark Gatherings
WHAT METAL GIRLS ARE INTO (Dir. Laurel Veil, USA, 2017) BLOOD SISTERS (Dir. Caitlin Koller, Australia, 2017) SPOTLIGHT (Dir. Joe Savage, UK, 2017) MADDER ISLE (Dir. Laura Spark, UK, 2017) THE PENNY DROPPED (Dir. A D Cooper, UK, 2016) MAB (Dir. Katie Bonham, UK, 2017) PRAYERS (Dir. Edda Manriquez, USA, 2016) THE CONTEST (Dir. Aimee Morgan, USA, 2017) DEVIL IS ON HIS WAY (Dir. Ophelie Neve, Belgium, 2017)
Metamorphosis
TALKING HEADS (Dir. Alyx Melone, Canada, 2017) THE DAY MUM BECAME A MONSTER (Dir. Joséphine Hopkins, France, 2017) APOCALYPSE BABIES (Dir. Anabelle Berkani, Canada, 2017) BEAUTIFUL INJURIES (Dir. Judith Beauvallet, France, 2017) NANA (Dir. Yunxuan Wang, China 2017) LE PEAU SAUVAGE (Dir. Ariane Louis-Seize, Canada, 2016)
Family Dysfunction
UNBEARING (Dir. Aidan Weaver, USA, 2016) MADAME MACABRE TELLS A TERRIBLE TALE ABOUT RONGUES (Dir. Tracy Rosenblum, USA, 2017) METAMORPHOSIS (Dir. Elaine Xia, USA/China, 2017) HOME EDUCATION (Dir. Andrea Niada, UK, 2017) CRESWICK (Dir. Natalie Erika James, Australia, 2016)
Serial Killers
STRANGE AS ANGELS (Dir. Austin Elston, USA, 2017) HOBBY SHOP (Dirs. Stephanie Liquorish & Isabel Stanfield, Australia, 2017) MARTA (Dir. Lucia Forner Segarra, Spain, 2017) DON’T EVER CHANGE (Dir. Don Swaynos, USA, 2017) SHOES (Dir. Ray Kermani, Belgium, 2017) FRY DAY (Dir. Laura Moss, USA, 2017)
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DAMSEL Starring Robert Pattinson + More Films Added to 2018 Berlin Film Festival Competition and Berlinale Special Lineup

[caption id="attachment_26511" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson in Damsel.[/caption] Another ten films including Damsel starring Robert Pattinson, have been added to the Competition of the 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Three more have also been selected for the program of the Berlinale Special. Joining the eight Competition films and two Berlinale Special titles are 13 productions from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong – China, Iran, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA. Further films of the Competition and Berlinale Special programme will be revealed soon.
Competition
The following films will be celebrating world or international premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2018. 3 Tage in Quiberon (3 Days in Quiberon) Germany / Austria / France By Emily Atef (Molly’s Way, The Stranger In Me) With Marie Bäumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hübner, Robert Gwisdek, Denis Lavant World premiere Black 47 Ireland / Luxembourg By Lance Daly (Kisses, The Good Doctor) With Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Stephen Rea, Freddie Fox, Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, Sarah Greene, Jim Broadbent World premiere – Out of competition Damsel USA By David Zellner, Nathan Zellner (Kid-Thing, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter) With Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Robert Forster, Joe Billingiere International premiere Eldorado – Documentary Switzerland / Germany By Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full, More Than Honey) World premiere – Out of competition Las herederas (The Heiresses) Paraguay / Germany / Uruguay / Norway / Brazil / France By Marcelo Martinessi With Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova World premiere – First Feature Khook (Pig) Iran By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, A Dragon Arrives!) With Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Ali Bagheri World premiere La prière (The Prayer) France By Cédric Kahn (Red Lights, Wild Life) With Anthony Bajon, Damien Chapelle, Alex Brendemühl, Louise Grinberg, Hanna Schygulla World premiere Toppen av ingenting (The Real Estate) Sweden / United Kingdom By Måns Månsson (The Yard, Mr Governor), Axel Petersén (Avalon) With Léonore Ekstrand, Christer Levin, Christian Saldert, Olof Rhodin, Carl Johan Merner, Don Bennechi World premiere Touch Me Not Romania / Germany / Czech Republic / Bulgaria / France By Adina Pintilie (Don’t Get Me Wrong) With Laura Benson, Tómas Lemarquis, Christian Bayerlein, Grit Uhlemann, Hanna Hofmann, Seani Love, Irmena Chichikova World premiere – First Feature Transit Germany / France By Christian Petzold (Yella, Barbara, Phoenix) With Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, Sebastian Hülk, Emilie de Preissac, Antoine Oppenheim World premiere
Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast
Monster Hunt 2 People’s Republic of China / Hong Kong, China By Raman Hui (Monster Hunt) With Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Baihe Bai, Boran Jing European premiere
Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Gurrumul – Documentary Australia By Paul Williams International premiere – Debut film In Cooperation with NATIVe Viaje a los Pueblos Fumigados – Documentary Argentina By Fernando Solanas (The Hour Of The Furnaces, Tangos, The Exile Of Gardel, Memoria del saqueo – A Social Genocide) World premiere
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“Finding Your Feet” and “Skid Row Marathon” Win Audience Awards at Palm Springs International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_26505" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Finding Your Feet[/caption] Finding Your Feet and Skid Row Marathon have been voted the winners of the Audience Awards at the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) held from January 2 to 15, 2018. Finding Your Feet (UK), directed by Richard Loncraine received the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. When snooty “Lady” Sandra Abbott discovers that her husband of 40 years has been having an affair, she packs her designer bags and flees to the shabby council flat of her estranged older sister. A sterling British cast give their all in this heartwarming romantic comedy. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Skid Row Marathon (US) directed by Mark Hayes. Judge Craig Mitchell believes in second chances. This inspiring documentary tracks the running club Mitchell founded for the homeless on L.A.’s Skid Row, hoping that through the discipline of running, these men and women who had lost everything, could reclaim a sense of dignity.
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LADY BIRD Saoirse Ronan to Receive Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Saoirse Ronan will receive the prestigious Santa Barbara Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for her critically acclaimed role in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Given to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film, the award will be presented to her at a ceremony on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at the historic Arlington Theatre. “In Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan has once again proven that she is a force of nature and one of her generation’s most exciting young talents,” stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “She embodies her characters with a poignant accuracy and ease every time she appears on screen.” Ronan’s numerous film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hanna, The Lovely Bones, and The Way Back. She has received Academy Award nominations for her performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, and recently was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in Lady Bird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo Past recipients of the award include Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon, and Naomi Watts. The 33rd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, January 31st through Saturday, February 10th, 2018. The festival honored Judi Dench with its Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. The festival will also honor Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) with its Maltin Modern Master Award, Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) with its Cinema Vanguard Award, and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Hong Chau (Downsizing), John Boyega (Detroit), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) with the Virtuosos Award.
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Palm Springs International Film Festival Announces 2018 Award Winners, “Félicité” Wins FIPRESCI Prize

[caption id="attachment_26480" align="aligncenter" width="1400"] Félicité (Senegal), directed by Alain Gomis[/caption] This year’s juried award winners of the 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) were announced today at a luncheon at the Hilton Palm Springs on Saturday, January 13, 2018. The FIPRESCI Prize for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year went to Félicité (Senegal), directed by Alain Gomis. Bursting at the seams with energy, Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis’s Berlin festival prizewinner immerses us in the sights and sounds of Kinshasa while loosely chronicling the day-to-day travails of the eponymous single-mom and nightclub-chanteuse (Congolese singer Véro Tshanda Beya, in an unforgettable performance) at the heart of the film. The film is on the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award. FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor in a Foreign Language Film went to Nakhane Touré from The Wound (South Africa). South African co-writer/director John Trengove’s balanced docudrama explores a clandestine relationship between two Xhosa men, set against the backdrop of a traditional coming-of-age ceremony. The FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film went to Daniela Vega from A Fantastic Woman (Chile). Making a living waiting tables in downtown Santiago while pursuing her dream of becoming an nightclub singer, young transgender woman Marina (Daniela Vega in a stunning debut) finds safety and solace from an often cruel world in her relationship with older divorcee Orlando (Francisco Reyes, Neruda). But when Orlando suffers a violent fall and massive injuries in the last moments of a fatal aneurysm, suspicion falls on Marina, causing her to flee the hospital and the eye of a judgmental city. A special jury of international film critics reviewed 45 of the 92 official submissions for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category screened at this year’s Festival, and all three films that received prizes are on the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award. The New Voices New Visions focuses on films that represent the most distinctive new directors to have emerged in the last year. Each of the twelve films in competition represents the filmmakers debut or second feature. This year’s New Voices New Visions Award went to The Charmer (Denmark), directed by Milad Alami. A searing and topical exploration of the immigrant experience shot through with elements of psychological thriller and erotic drama, Milad Alami’s striking feature debut follows an Iranian man’s increasingly desperate attempts to secure citizenship by seducing a string of Danish women. Léa Mysius for Ava (France) received the Honorable Mention for Exceptional Direction. Thirteen-year-old Ava’s summer vacation gains a new urgency when she learns she is rapidly going blind. In the face of creeping darkness, she squeezes in all the life she can, rebelling against her mother, stealing a dog, and becoming romantically entangled with a mysterious beach rat, sending her on an unpredictable journey of self-realization. The John Schlesinger Award, named after the director, writer, producer and festival supporter, is presented to the director of a debut feature documentary, and this year’s award went to Brimstone and Glory (US/Mexico), directed by Viktor Jakovleski. Equal parts awe-inspiring and anxiety-inducing, Brimstone and Glory’s chronicle of an annual fireworks extravaganza in Tultepec, Mexico, is a visual, jaw-dropping spectacle like no other documentary before it. The Cine Latino Award is presented to the best Ibero-American film screening at the festival. The award aims to highlight the creativity seen in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films. The Cine Latino Award went to Killing Jesús (Colombia/Argentina), directed by Laura Mora. When university student Paula witnesses her social activist father’s assassination, the inept, uncaring police force drives her to seek justice on her own. But when she finds herself immersed in the killer’s poverty-stricken world she discovers that they might both be victims of the same broken system. Honorable Mention was given to A Fantastic Woman (Chile), directed by Sebastián Lelio. The HP Bridging the Borders Award that honors the film that is most successful in bringing the people of our world closer together, went to The Insult (Lebanon), directed by Ziad Doueiri. What should have been a trivial altercation, quickly settled and forgotten, instead propels two men (one a local Christian, the other a Palestinian refugee) to the center of a very public scandal in Lebanon, reopening historical and political wounds on both sides.
The complete list of 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival Award Winners:
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature TBA on Sunday, January 14 Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature TBA on Sunday, January 14 FIPRESCI Prize for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Félicité (Senegal), directed by Alain Gomis FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor in a Foreign Language Film Nakhane Touré from The Wound (South Africa) FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film Daniela Vega from A Fantastic Woman (Chile) New Voices New Visions Award The Charmer (Denmark), directed by Milad Alami. Honorable Mention for Exceptional Direction: Léa Mysius for Ava (France) The John Schlesinger Award Brimstone and Glory (US/Mexico), directed by Viktor Jakovleski Cine Latino Award Killing Jesús (Colombia/Argentina), directed by Laura Mora Honorable Mention: A Fantastic Woman (Chile), directed by Sebastián Lelio HP Bridging the Borders Award Winner: The Insult (Lebanon), directed by Ziad Doueiri
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2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival Reveals Opening Lineup + VR Mini Fest

[caption id="attachment_26446" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Clockwise: Lu Over the Wall, White Fang, Wolves in the Walls, A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 2[/caption] This year’s 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival opens on Friday, February 23rd, with the East Coast premiere of anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa’s Lu Over the Wall. Boasting a distinctive, off-kilter animation style, eye-popping color palette, and outrageous music, Yuasa’s latest gem is, at its core, a captivating coming of age story. The eponymous Lu is a manic mermaid with a show-stopping voice who helps Kai, a gifted teenager unfulfilled by small-town life, discover his own. Winner of the Grand Prize Cristal Award at Annecy 2017, Lu evokes charming hints of Miyazaki, but claims a frenetic energy and surreal, freewheeling structure all its own. Rounding out Opening Weekend is the Saturday, February 24th, Opening Spotlight screening of Academy Award®-winning director and NYICFF alum Alexandre Espigares’ debut feature, White Fang. An ambitious animated retelling of the classic Jack London novel, White Fang employs the voice work of Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Eddie Spears, and Paul Giamatti to tell the epic journey of White Fang’s life from pup to sled-dog to abused prizefighter and beyond, set in the gorgeously rendered landscape of the Pacific Northwest frontier. On Saturday, March 10, NYICFF presents a special sneak peek Centerpiece screening of The Austere Academy: Parts 1 & 2, the highly-anticipated first episodes of Netflix’s original program A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 2. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and based on the Lemony Snicket series by Daniel Handler, this lauded adaptation is hailed as having “a respect for the ability of young minds to perceive offbeat, incongruous humor, the very quality that made the books so successful in the first place” (The New York Times). The new season returns with an all-star cast, including the brilliant Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf, and plenty of nefarious schemes to catch the Baudelaire orphans. Season 2 releases March 30 only on Netflix. The 2018 Festival will also showcase the inaugural edition of VR JR., a full weekend of Virtual Reality experiences, a special VR creators’ talk, and demos uniquely curated to provide a thoughtful point of entry for children and families to explore this new medium. Taking place Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4, the pioneering program showcases the latest VR projects that place kids at the helm of their own immersive story world. Projects include the East Coast premiere of the Neil Gaiman picture book adaptation Wolves in the Walls, directed by Pete Billington, and Golden Globe-nominated director Jorge Gutiérrez’s Son of Jaguar, a new Google Spotlight Story placing viewers into the story of a family of Mexican wrestlers. The 21st anniversary of the Oscar qualifying Festival will run from February 23rd to March 18th, 2018
OPENING NIGHT:
LU OVER THE WALL, dir. Masaaki Yuasa (Japan) – 2018, East Coast premiere, Animation, 107 minutes Though obedient to his family, Kai’s quiet life in a traditional Japanese seaside town starts to rock and roil when he secretly joins a band with his classmates. His true interest is where they practice —on the foreboding Merfolk Island—a place that turns out to be even wilder than the town lore suggests. Enter Lu: a mermaid girl with the soul and voice of a pop star, who steals the show in this shape-shifting, musical/anime hybrid.
OPENING SPOTLIGHT:
WHITE FANG, dir. Alexandre Espigares (France/Luxembourg/USA) – 2018, East Coast premiere, Animation, 85 minutes NYICFF alum and Oscar®-winning short film director Alexandre Espigares returns with his feature debut, a thrilling and thought-provoking adaptation of Jack London’s classic tale. White Fang and his fellow canines call the rugged beauty of the Yukon territory home, but with the Gold Rush of the 1890s they are thrust against the harsh life of profit-seeking prospectors. Will the tribal leader or a new peacekeeping couple offer White Fang another path?
CENTERPIECE:
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: SEASON 2, THE AUSTERE ACADEMY, dirs. Barry Sonnenfeld and Daniel Handler (USA) – 2018, Special Preview Screening, Live Action, 98 minutes (Parts 1 & 2)
VIRTUAL REALITY:
VR JR., Interactive VR Experiences and VR JR. Talk High-quality, innovative programming into new digital realms, offering the first dedicated Virtual Reality mini-fest for kids and families.
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FrightFest Announces Glasgow Film Festival 2018 Line-up, Kicks off with GHOST STORIES

[caption id="attachment_26416" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Ghost Stories[/caption] FrightFest, the horror fantasy event returns to Glasgow Film Festival for its 13th year, from Thursday March 1, to Saturday March 3, 2018. This year’s bold line-up, once again housed at the iconic Glasgow Film Theatre, embraces the latest horror, fantasy and sci-fi discoveries from ten countries, spanning four continents, reflecting the world-wide popularity of the genre. Ghost Stories remains one of the scariest stage shows ever seen and on Thursday night FrightFest kicks off with a special screening of Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s smash hit phenomenon. Starring Martin Freedman, Paul Whitehouse, as well as Nyman, this unforgettable screen adaptation terrifies in a whole new thrilling and chilling dimension. Jeremy and Andy will be attending. This is followed by the Scottish premiere of Brian O’Malley’s supernatural romance The Lodgers, a masterful Irish set Gothic ghost story, starring Charlotte Vega and David Bradley. Friday’s line-up lunges into vampiric action with the UK premiere of Dragos Buliga’s The Wanderers: Quest of the Demon Hunter, an inspired modern twist on Transylvanian mythology. This is followed by the world premiere of writer/director Kelly Greene’s pastiche gem Attack of the Bat Monsters. If you liked The Love Witch, this is your new retro-perfect jam and Kelly will be in attendance. Next up is the UK premiere of The Ravenous, writer/director Robin Aubert’s surreal and wickedly humorous addition to the Living Dead canon. The 8.45pm presentation is the UK premiere of the powerfully gripping Cold Skin. At the vanguard of French extreme cinema, director Xavier Gens made his name with Frontiere(s) and The Divide. Now he brings us a stunning adaptation of Albert Sánchez Piñol’s acclaimed novel that’s part H.P. Lovecraft, part Joseph Conrad and Xavier will be at the festival to discuss his film. Rounding off the evening is the European premiere of Primal Rage, a creature feature that blows the lid off traditional Bigfoot mythology. Special effects guru/director Patrick Magee has created an intelligent, cunning primitive warrior being guaranteed to terrify. Getting the Saturday program off to a demonically hellish start is the UK premiere of Paul Urkijo’s visually breath-taking fantasy The Blacksmith and the Devil a vivid Basque fairy-tale, produced by Spanish legend Alex de la Iglesia, This is followed by the European premiere of supernatural chiller Pyewacket, a beautifully paced, dread-filled study of occult belief by writer/director Adam MacDonald. Next up is the UK premiere of Friendly Beast, Gabriela Amaral Almeida’s intense shocker, which explores the latent evil within us all. Climb on board for a fiendishly tense slay-ride as the evening programme kicks off with the UK premiere of director Adam Marcus’ savvy seasonal shocker Secret Santa. Marcus will be joined onstage by some of the cast and producers. Following this is the much anticipated UK premiere of Tigers Are Not Afraid, an unflinching South of the Border cautionary fable, an audacious mix of Pan’s Labyrinth and Narcos, which firmly announces director Issa López as a rising star of Mexico’s New Wave cinema. This year’s global celebration of the genre ends on an adrenalin-fuelled high with the European premiere of Neil Mackay’s ultra-violent, action-packed thriller Sixty Minutes to Midnight. Actor Arnold Sydney Junior and producer Frank Leraci will be in Glasgow to introduce the movie. Alan Jones, FrightFest co-director, said today: “With our bold choices and the quality of programming, FrightFest is once again positioned to deliver at our beloved second home in Glasgow. It’s no surprise to us that the genre has just had its biggest and most successful year. If you’ve ever attended one of our events, you’ll know exactly why. For FrightFest will always create a communal space where the pure enjoyment of the occasion is paramount and a vital shared experience. Welcome to our Pleasure Dome, FrightFest- Glasgow-style”.
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14 Films to Compete in Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2018 at Berlin International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_26432" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Whatever Happens Next[/caption] 14 films, including six full-length fiction and four documentary films, will compete for the Kompass-Perspektive-Preis, endowed with 5,000 euros, at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival. In addition, a neighborhood film project that focuses on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin will be a guest at Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2018. Sure, you can always take off. Soon. Right now. Or later. You could just be gone, just steal away from a fully furnished life. But then what happens? Everyone has thought about it but very few actually do it: leave their intended path. It’s risky, it’s exciting, it’s brave and whimsical. Paul Zeise (Sebastian Rudolph) goes for it in the debut film Whatever Happens Next (produced by The StoryBay, Salzwedel) by director Julian Pörksen. Paul travels across the country crashing funerals and parties, moves in with off-the-wall Nele (Lilith Stangenberg) for a while, and generally floats around in the wonderland we call life. A short film by director Julian Pörksen was presented at Perspektive Deutsches Kino in 2012. Whatever Happens Next is his first feature-length fiction work. Director Susan Gordanshekan is also returning to Perspektive Deutsches Kino with her debut feature Die defekte Katze (A Dysfunctional Cat, produced by Glory Film, Munich). The film tells the story of an Iranian couple who only begin to get to know each other after entering traditional marriage, and then fall short of success when faced with the challenges of life together in Germany. The story is about liberating oneself from different lifestyle ideals and giving love a second chance. The debut film Verlorene (Lost Ones, produced by VIAFILM, Munich) by Felix Hassenfratz takes us deep into provincial Baden, where everyone knows everybody and the siblings Maria (Maria Dragus) and Hannah (Anna Bachmann) live alone with their father (Clemens Schick) following the death of their mother. Director Felix Hassenfratz is well acquainted with the environment and tells a small town story where fear of the unknown is just as strong as a yearning for it. The horror/love story Luz is the graduation film by director Tilman Singer and production designer Dario Méndez Acosta from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Luz, a young taxi driver from Latin America, stumbles into a police headquarters with the last of her strength. She’s being pursued by a demon, who is determined to finally be close to his beloved. Tilman Singer describes the work as an erotic 16mm thriller that plays with audience perception. Three more documentary films have also been selected for the Perspektive program. In The Best Thing You Can Do With Your Life (produced by Zita Erffa, Petruvski Films, in Tegernsee, with co-production by the HFF Munich), director Zita Erffa asks her brother László about his motivation for entering a Legion of Christ monastery. Eight years after his departure, she can finally visit him and ask why he left her alone in her family. For both, the camera functions as a catalyst to find harmony. The political documentary Impreza – Das Fest (Impreza – The Celebration, produced by DREIFILM, Munich) also takes a highly personal approach. Her aunt’s 50th wedding anniversary is an opportunity for director Alexandra Wesolowski to visit her family in Poland. But instead of being about the party, the conversations she documents soon focus completely on politics. In Überall wo wir sind (Everywhere We Are, produced by Veronika Kaserer) director Veronika Kaserer follows a family after the death of one of its members – the parents who lost a son and a sister who lost a brother. In the organisation of daily activities and the narratives of the protagonists, battling or grieving, we see the “pact with death” become a “pact with life”. The 22-minute fiction film Kein sicherer Ort (No Safe Place, produced by Filmmagnet, Munich, with co-production by the HFF Munich) by director Antje Beine supplements the mostly mid-length program with one more young protagonist. Through the eyes of 10-year-old Marie (Lucia Stickel), we see what it means when you’re not allowed to be a child in the place you call home. The series Film Wanderungen (Film Walks) completes the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program. The project was invited to Perspektive 2018 as a guest. What does “neighborhood” mean? And what is “home”? In the summer of 2017, 140 residents of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz area in the Mitte district of Berlin were interviewed. On the second Berlinale weekend, audiences are invited to take a trip through the living rooms of those residents to watch films together, and engage in conversation. On Berlinale Publikumstag, February 25, 2018, Perspektive Deutsches Kino will present the winning work in the fiction film competition “Max-Ophüls-Preis 2018”, and the winner of the documentary film competition First Steps Award 2017 (Ohne diese Welt, directed by Nora Fingscheidt).
The Best Thing You Can Do With Your Life By Zita Erffa Documentary World premiere

Die defekte Katze (A Dysfunctional Cat) By Susann Gordanshekan With Pegah Ferydoni, Hadi Khanjanpour, Henrike von Kuick, Constantin von Jascheroff, Arash Marandi Feature film World premiere

Impreza – Das Fest (Impreza – The Celebration) By Alexandra Wesolowski Documentary German premiere

Kein sicherer Ort (No Safe Place) By Antje Beine With Lucia Stickel, Kristina Pauls, Robin Sondermann Medium-long feature films World premiere

Luz By Tilman Singer With Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler, Nadja Stübiger, Johannes Benecke Feature film World premiere

Verlorene (Lost Ones) By Felix Hassenfratz With Maria Dragus, Anna Bachmann, Clemens Schick, Enno Trebs, Meira Durand Feature film World premiere

Whatever Happens Next By Julian Pörksen With Sebastian Rudolph, Lilith Stangenberg, Peter René Lüdicke, Christine Hoppe, Eike Weinreich Feature film World premiere

Überall wo wir sind (Everywhere We Are) By Veronika Kaserer Documentary World premiere

Films announced so far:

draußen (outside) By Johanna Sunder-Plassmann, Tama Tobias-Macht Documentary World premiere

Feierabendbier (After-Work Beer) By Ben Brummer With Tilman Strauß, Julia Dietze, Johann Jürgens, Christian Tramitz Feature film World premiere

Kineski zid (Great Wall of China) By Aleksandra Odić With Elena Matić, Tina Keserović, Faketa Salihbegović-Avdagić, Anja Stanić, Mugdim Avdagić Medium-long feature film German premiere

Rå By Sophia Bösch With Sofia Aspholm, Lennart Jähkel, Lars T. Johansson, Ingmar Virta, Ivan Mathias Petersson Medium-long feature film World premiere

Rückenwind von vorn (Away You Go) By Philipp Eichholtz With Victoria Schulz, Aleksandar Radenković, Daniel Zillmann, Angelika Waller Feature film World premiere

Storkow Kalifornia By Kolja Malik With Daniel Roth, Lana Cooper, Franziska Ponitz Medium-long feature film World premiere

Guest Projects:

Film Wanderungen (Film Walks) 27 participants Doc-series

Ohne diese Welt (Without This World) By Nora Fingscheidt Documentary

Award winner “Max-Ophüls-Preis 2018” for Best Feature Film
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2018 Boulder International Film Festival will Open with BORG VS. MCENROE, Starring Shia LaBeouf

Borg/McEnroe, starring Shia LaBeouf as John McEnroe and Sverrir Gudnason as Bjorn Borg will kick off the 2018 Boulder International Film Festival. The 14th edition of the festival runs February 22 through 25, 2018 and brings films, filmmakers and fans together from around the world to beautiful downtown Boulder for a four-day celebration of the fine art of filmmaking. “We’re very excited to present this year’s opening night film Borg/McEnroe,” says Robin Beeck, Executive Director. “The film is electrifying and full of energy, and Shia LaBeouf and Sverrir Gudnason are superb as John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. The film offers a fascinating look at the personalities of one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all time, and features a thrilling final. We’re proud to showcase this incredible film in Boulder!” Borg/McEnroe received notable accolades as the Opening Night Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and was the People’s Choice Award Winner at the Rome Film Festival. The film tells the ‘true’ story of the epic rivalry between Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg and his greatest adversary, the brash American John McEnroe. At the 1980 Wimbledon Championships, both men bring their immense talents – and inner demons – to the court as they finally face off in one of the most suspenseful events in tennis history. As the fierce matchup between these legends in tennis is finally settled on the court, Borg/McEnroe recounts the thrilling game that had the world at the edge of its seat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdIGOV9IR5k
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Offscreen Panels and Events Featuring Ava DuVernay, Kevin Smith and More, at 2018 Sundance Film Festival

Dozens of offscreen events, including diverse and intersectional conversations on representation and bias in media, behind-the-scenes panels on the art of filmmaking and musical performances that range from intimate to raucous will all take place at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival held in Park City, Utah, January 18 to 28, 2018. The first 2018 installment of the longstanding Power of Story series, Power of Story: Culture Shift, will convene Ava DuVernay (A Wrinkle in Time), Patrick Gaspard (president of the Open Society Foundations), Issa Rae (Insecure), Megan Smith (3rd U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Former Assistant to President Barack Obama), and Christine Vachon (An Evening with Todd Haynes) will discuss their work, the power of media, and the role creative choices play in shifting culture in a conversation with Washington Post journalist Sarah Ellison on Friday, January 19. As the Festival’s Art of Film Weekend (January 26-28) celebrates the art and craft of creative storytelling, Power of Story: Indies Go Hollywood will gather Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight), Justin Lin (Star Trek: Beyond) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) to talk about the advantages and myriad challenges of moving from independent filmmaking to bigger-budget endeavors with moderator John Horn (host of KPCC’s “The Frame”) on Friday, January 26. Other noteworthy conversations at the Festival include the Cinema Café daily series of informal chats, which this year will include conversations between will.i.am and Kevin Smith; Danny Elfman and Gus Van Sant; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Nina Totenberg; Ira Glass and Miranda July; and Ethan Hawke and Rupert Everett, among others; more Cinema Café conversations will appear on sundance.org/program shortly. A Celebration of Music and Film, hosted annually by the Sundance Institute Film Music Program as the centerpiece of its music programming at the Festival, returns this year to present an evening with Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Joan Jett, taking the stage with The Blackhearts for one night only on January 20, in celebration of the documentary premiere Bad Reputation. Other live music at the Festival includes performances at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café (free and open to all Festival credential holders 21 and older) by Michael Franti, Brett Dennen, Mr. Hudson, Ruelle, Ethan Gruska and Striking Matches. A special “CMA Songwriter Series” lineup will include Jillian Jacqueline, Steven Lee Olsen and Tenille Townes. The annual BMI Snowball (open to all Festival credential holders) will feature Rita Wilson, Morgan Saint, Skyler Day and Craig Wedren. This year’s panelists for BMI’s composer/director roundtable includes Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program Peter Golub, composer Jeff Beal and director Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth), composer Paul Cantelon and director Susan Lacy (Jane Fonda in Five Acts), composer Miriam Cutler and director Kimberly Reed (Dark Money), composer Craig Wedren (A Futile and Stupid Gesture), composer Laura Karpman (Half The Picture & Inventing Tomorrow), composer Heather McIntosh and director Amy Scott (Hal), composer Jongnic Bontemps and director Mel Jones (Leimert Park), composer Kris Bowers (Monsters and Men), composer Dustin O’Halloran (Puzzle), composer Sam Bisbee and director Rudy Faldez (The Sentence). Day One Press Conference Thursday, January 18, 12 p.m. PT / 1 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. ET Join Sundance Institute Founder and President Robert Redford, Executive Director Keri Putnam and Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper in conversation with Barbara Chai, head of arts and culture coverage at Dow Jones Media Group and the editor of MarketWatch Entertainment, followed by a Q&A with press in attendance. Power of Story: Culture Shift Friday, January 19, 11:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. MT / 2:00 p.m. ET At a watershed moment in which America grapples with gender, race, and the complex nature of systemic change, an illustrious group of artists: Ava DuVernay (A Wrinkle in Time), Patrick Gaspard (president of the Open Society Foundations), Issa Rae (Insecure), Megan Smith (3rd U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Former Assistant to President Barack Obama), and Christine Vachon (An Evening with Todd Haynes) talk with Washington Post journalist Sarah Ellison about their work, the power of media, and the role creative choices play in shifting culture and crystallizing the national conversation. How do storytellers transform not only the arts media fields but society at large? What’s at stake in terms of the stories we tell and who tells them, and how will these decisions shape our future? Cinema Cafe with will.i.am and Kevin Smith Friday, January 19, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Adaptation Friday, January 19, 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT / 4:30 p.m. ET Whether it be a beloved novel, a work of nonfiction, or even a story from somebody’s life, the adaptation from original source material to a feature film is a huge undertaking, with many creative decisions lying in the hands of the adaptor. In a conversation with Eugene Hernandez (Deputy Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center & Co-Publisher, Film Comment Magazine), writers and directors Debra Granik (Leave No Trace), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Paul Dano (Wildlife) and Zoe Kazan (Wildlife) discuss this process and how they’ve transformed an original work into a new creative piece. Cinema Cafe with Danny Elfman and Gus Van Sant (Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot) Saturday, January 20, 11:30 a.m. PT / 12:30 p.m. MT / 2:30 p.m. ET . Brave New Story Saturday, January 20, 1:15 p.m. PT / 2:15 p.m. MT / 4:15 p.m. ET As our society finds itself in increasingly entrenched positions, the relevance of radical storytelling can’t be overstated. Recognizing the power of art to reveal, artists are searching for new stories and new ways of telling them. They’re demanding more of the form, questioning how it’s used to describe the world, looking at images and representation, subverting dominant narratives and traditional ways of seeing, and discovering a new political cinema. Join Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), RaMell Ross (Hale County This Morning,This Evening), Brett Story (The Prison in Twelve Landscapes), Lynette Wallworth (Awavena), and others. A Celebration of Music and Film Saturday, January 20, 6:00-9:00 p.m. PT / 7:00-10:00 p.m. MT / 9:00 p.m.-midnight ET This year’s rendition of the Festival’s premier music event presents an evening with Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Joan Jett. In celebration of the documentary premiere for Bad Reputation, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will take the stage at The Shop in Park City for one night only. Jett has been a trailblazer for women in the music industry, from her glam rock anthems with The Runaways to her pioneering punk performances with the Blackhearts. A beacon for multiple generations of rock musicians, Jett is not to be missed in concert. Cinema Cafe with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Nina Totenberg (NPR) Sunday, January 21, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Reflect: Portrait of AI as a Young Man (New Frontier) Sunday, January 21, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PT / 12:00-1:30 p.m. MT / 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET Is the age of AI filmmaking upon us? Moderator Sandra Rodriguez (Chomsky vs. Chomsky, Do Not Track), musician and tech entrepreneur will.i.am (Omega, Masters of the Sun), writer-director Samantha Gorman (TendAR, PRY), and strategist Rachel Ginsberg (Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made by Many) look under the hood of this frequently misunderstood technology to see how storytellers can use artificial intelligence to enhance or reinvent their creative process. Fresh Faces Sunday, January 21, 1:15 p.m. PT / 2:15 p.m. MT / 4:15 p.m. ET This year’s Festival films feature a number of genuinely exciting young talents—fresh faces who have already begun to receive attention and acclaim for their remarkable work. They represent a new generation of actors, fulfilling a longtime promise of independent film: to bring rich, complex characters to life through stories. Join Dominique Fishback (Night Comes On), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Monsters and Men), Hari Nef (Assassination Nation), and Rachelle Vinberg (Skate Kitchen). Cinema Cafe with Ira Glass (Come Sunday) and Miranda July (Madeline’s Madeline) Monday, January 22, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Build: The Architecture of VR Narrative (New Frontier) Monday, Jan. 22, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PT / 12:00-2:00 p.m. MT / 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET How does virtual reality technology affect the three-act structure? Moderator Maureen Fan (Invasion!, Asteroids!) will ask writer Charlotte Stoudt (Dinner Party, Homeland), writer-director Edward Robles (Dispatch, Clouds Over Sidra), animator Bruna Berford (Arden’s Wake, Henry), director Pete Billington (Wolves in the Walls, Henry), and content strategist Diana Williams (Star Wars Universe, Carne y Arena) to share their strategies for telling narratives in 360-degree spaces. Cinema Cafe with Ethan Hawke (Blaze) and Rupert Everett (The Happy Prince) Tuesday, January 23, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Wonder: Re-imagining Our Relationship to Space (New Frontier) Tuesday, January 23, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT / 12:00-1:30 p.m. MT / 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET Cory McAbee’s one-man show, Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences, interrogates our love affair with space. Eliza McNitt’s VR piece, SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime, ponders the beauty of colliding black holes. Elastic Time, by Mark Boulos, transports a hologram of the viewer to visit Harvard astronomer Anthony Stark. Johann Lurf’s film, called ★, chronicles images of the night sky throughout film history. Designer David Delgado, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, will moderate. Ways of Seeing Tuesday, January 23, 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET) How we see science and its place in our world has a lot to do with who we see doing it and what’s being done. The images and representations we engage with through popular culture spark our imagination, inform our values and shape our understanding of scientists, their work, technology, the natural world and the cosmos. So it bodes well that storytellers are exploring different ways of seeing, bending those perceptions through fresh stories and innovative approaches to narrative, style and performance. Join Darren Aronofsky (SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime), Octavia Spencer (A Kid Like Jake) and Shonte Tucker (Mars 2020 Payload Verification and Validation Lead at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in a conversation moderated by Kerry Bishé (Halt and Catch Fire). Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The New Climate Tuesday, January 23, 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT / 4:30 p.m. ET The impact of climate change has been felt dramatically by Native communities in the U.S. and around the world. Despite poisoned resources, corporatism, and an existential threat to their homelands, these vulnerable communities rarely fall under the spotlight, and their stories go untold. This special New Climate discussion welcomes Bartholemew Powaukee, Environmental and Water Quality Director for Utah’s Ute Tribe; Anote Tong, former president of the disappearing island of Kiribati; Tashka Yawanawá, chief of the Yawanawá; moderator Janaya Khan of Black Lives Matter, Canada and others to deconstruct histories and mythologies around climate change, discuss how story and technology can share a hidden point of view, and reveal creative initiatives to combat current trends by changing minds. Cinema Cafe with Diablo Cody Wednesday, January 24, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET The Future of Indie TV Wednesday, January 24, 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET As the world of serialized content widens from traditional broadcast and cable television to streaming platforms, the way we consume content is changing rapidly. Where do independent voices fit into this increasingly competitive industry? There is more demand than ever for different forms of episodic content, but how do artists and investors find their audience and make a return on their investment? Join Stephanie Allain (Leimert Park), Steven Soderbergh (THE KING), Bernie Su (Chief Creative Officer, Canvas Media Studio), David Wain (A Futile and Stupid Gesture) in a conversation moderated by Michelle Satter, Founding Director of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, about the current state of independent television and what the opportunities are for the future. Cinema Cafe with Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth) and Steve James (America To Me) Thursday, January 25, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET This is Not a Panel Thursday, January 25, 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET In what has become a tradition at the Festival, this year’s non-panel panel features Josephine Decker (Madeline’s Madeline), Jim Hosking (An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, Tropical Cop Tales), Crystal Moselle (Skate Kitchen), and Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You). Each filmmaker on this non panel panel was tasked with the following mission: to share objects, stories, or any sensory representation that has influenced their work and helped shape their vision as artists. Needless to say, unpredictable inspiration and surprises can be expected. Play: A World-building Workshop (New Frontier) Thursday, January 25, 12:00-1:00 p.m. PT / 1:00-3:00 p.m. MT / 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET If you could design a city from scratch, what would you include? Writer-director Lance Weiler (Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made by Many), director John Hsu (Your Spiritual Temple Sucks), and experience designer Mk Haley, of Walt Disney Imagineering, will collaborate with the audience to create a city. Afterward, panelists will discuss this feat of group stagecraft, plus share their own methods for inventing believable storyworlds. Creative Tensions: IDENTITY Friday, January 26, 10:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. MT / 1:00 p.m ET This is not your typical panel. Join us for Creative Tensions: IDENTITY with Effie Brown (Dear White People) and moderator Christopher Hibma (Sundance Institute) as we explore what we may be afraid to talk about. In a world where polemics are the norm and binaries form our views of others, how do we talk about the shades of gray? From our politics to the stories we create (or are allowed to create), what do we lose or gain by becoming a tribe of tribes? An innovative event concept created by Sundance Institute’s Theatre Program, Creative Tensions is a collective conversation expressed in movement, wherein participants reveal where they stand on an issue by virtue of where they stand in the room. A continental breakfast will be served at 11:00 a.m. This event is presented by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program and Sundance Ignite in partnership with IDEO, a global design company creating positive impact through design. Power of Story: Indies Go Hollywood Friday, January 26, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 a.m. ET Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Thor: Ragnarok. Twilight. Fast & Furious. A Wrinkle in Time. Pete’s Dragon. The directors of many prominent studio films got their start at the Sundance Film Festival. From having shoestring-budget movies on the fest circuit and DIY outlooks to being handed big-budget, big-responsibility franchises, working with A-list actors, and garnering mainstream exposure—what does taking this kind of career leap mean to them creatively, professionally, and personally? A contingent of filmmakers including Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight), Justin Lin (Star Trek: Beyond) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) who straddle both worlds discuss with moderator John Horn (host of KPCC’s The Frame) what motivates them to work at this new level and how they view both the advantages and myriad challenges. Cinema Cafe / participants TBA Friday, January 26, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Producer’s Confidential — ART OF FILM WEEKEND Friday, January 26, 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m MT / 4:00 p.m. ET In today’s challenging marketplace, creative producers are well served by an expansive knowledge of audience building, marketing, and distribution strategy. With Columbus and Unrest, recipients of Sundance Institute’s inaugural Creative Distribution Fellowship, we examine two films that emerged from the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and chose to bypass all-rights distributors. Danielle Renfrew Behrens (Columbus), Jennifer Brea (Unrest), Giulia Caruso (Columbus), Lindsey Dryden (Unrest), Alysa Nahmias (Unrest), and moderator Chris Horton (Sundance Institute) present case studies on getting your work seen. Cinema Cafe / participants TBA Saturday, January 27, 10:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 1:30 p.m. ET Unearthing the Past — ART OF FILM WEEKEND Saturday, January 27, 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET Nonfiction filmmakers are employing increasingly innovative approaches in order to visually and artfully engage with the past. Through creative uses of archival footage, personal- and biographical-storytelling filmmakers are excavating the past in order to re-contextualize the present and interrogate notions of truth. Join Joe Bini (A Thousand Thoughts), Elan Bogarin (306 Hollywood), Jonathan Bogarin (306 Hollywood), Robert Greene (Bisbee ’17), Sierra Pettengil (Our New President), Marina Zenovich (Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind) and moderator Alissa Wilkinson (Vox.com). Film Church Sunday, January 28, 9:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. MT / 12:30 p.m. ET What could be more divine than 10 days of film watching? Finish off your Sundance Film Festival experience by sharing a near-spiritual moment with Festival director John Cooper and director of programming Trevor Groth, who will offer non-denominational talks of the Festival that was. Come confess your likes and dislikes. Joining us for the sermon will be a variety of special guests, including a few filmmakers who took home awards the night before (if they can be found the morning after!). All will be forgiven.
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