Writer/director Aaron Sorkin will be honored by AFI FEST 2017 with a Tribute and his film Molly’s Game will be the new closing night film of the festival. Molly’s Game replaces All the Money in the World which was pulled after allegations of sex misconduct surrounding Kevin Spacey, one of the stars in the film.
The Tribute to Sorkin will celebrate his career with a moderated discussion of his work followed by the Gala premiere screening. Written and directed by Sorkin, Molly’s Game stars Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba.
Oscar® nominee Jessica Chastain stars in Oscar®-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, set in the glamorous world of high-stakes underground poker games. DIR Aaron Sorkin. SCR Aaron Sorkin. CAST Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O’Dowd, Bill Camp.
“Aaron Sorkin is an American master, and we are proud to shine a proper spotlight on his directoral debut, Molly’s Game, on AFI FEST’s Closing Night,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, AFI FEST Director. “As Sorkin embarks on this next chapter of his career, his talents are timely for a tribute as he brings his gift of crafting compelling narratives and complex characters to the story of female impresario Molly Bloom.”
One of our nation’s most acclaimed screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin has been honored with an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay for THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) and four Emmys® for THE WEST WING. Additional film credits include A FEW GOOD MEN (1992), MALICE (1993), THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995), CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (2007), MONEYBALL (2011) and STEVE JOBS (2015). Sorkin has also created and written THE NEWSROOM, SPORTS NIGHT, STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP and THE WEST WING for television.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4UPet8NycFilm Festivals
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MOLLY’S GAME Replaces ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD As Closing Night Film of AFI FEST
Writer/director Aaron Sorkin will be honored by AFI FEST 2017 with a Tribute and his film Molly’s Game will be the new closing night film of the festival. Molly’s Game replaces All the Money in the World which was pulled after allegations of sex misconduct surrounding Kevin Spacey, one of the stars in the film.
The Tribute to Sorkin will celebrate his career with a moderated discussion of his work followed by the Gala premiere screening. Written and directed by Sorkin, Molly’s Game stars Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba.
Oscar® nominee Jessica Chastain stars in Oscar®-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, set in the glamorous world of high-stakes underground poker games. DIR Aaron Sorkin. SCR Aaron Sorkin. CAST Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O’Dowd, Bill Camp.
“Aaron Sorkin is an American master, and we are proud to shine a proper spotlight on his directoral debut, Molly’s Game, on AFI FEST’s Closing Night,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, AFI FEST Director. “As Sorkin embarks on this next chapter of his career, his talents are timely for a tribute as he brings his gift of crafting compelling narratives and complex characters to the story of female impresario Molly Bloom.”
One of our nation’s most acclaimed screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin has been honored with an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay for THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) and four Emmys® for THE WEST WING. Additional film credits include A FEW GOOD MEN (1992), MALICE (1993), THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995), CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (2007), MONEYBALL (2011) and STEVE JOBS (2015). Sorkin has also created and written THE NEWSROOM, SPORTS NIGHT, STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP and THE WEST WING for television.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4UPet8Nyc
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SKID ROW MARATHON and STUCK Win Top Prizes at Napa Valley Film Festival
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Skid Row Marathon[/caption]
The 7th Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) announced this year’s juried and audience award winners at the Uptown Theatre in Napa on Saturday, November 11, 2017. The Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Stuck, and Skid Row Marathon snagged both the Jury and Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature .
“We applaud our award winners and thank all of this year’s filmmakers for sharing their beautiful stories with us,” said Festival Co-Founder and Artistic Director Marc Lhormer. “It has been a tough road getting to this year’s festival, but what a perfect way to celebrate great storytelling in all its forms and to showcase the strength and resilience of our Napa Valley community.”
2017 Napa Valley Film Festival Juried Awards
Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature: Stuck. Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature: Skid Row Marathon. Jury Award for Best Screenplay: The House of Tomorrow. Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast: The Boy Downstairs. Jury Award for Best Narrative Short: The Dam. Jury Award for Best Documentary Short: The Tables. Jury Award for Best Lounge Feature: Quest. Jury Award for Best Lounge Short: The Arrival. Special Jury Award – For Depth and Grace in Documentary Filmmaking: The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin. Special Jury Award – Best Breakout Performance in a Lounge Feature Film: Mackenzie Davis for her work in the film Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town.2017 Napa Valley Film Festival Audience Awards
Audience Award for Favorite Actor: Gregory Kasyan for his work in the film Quest. Audience Award for Favorite Actress: Olivia Holt for her work in the film Class Rank. Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Feature: Skid Row Marathon. Honorable Mention goes to 40 years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Short: Make It Work: The Idea. Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Feature: Quest. Honorable Mention goes to Stuck. Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Short: The Final Show Honorable Mentions go to Life Boat and Brothers. Audience Award for Favorite Short Feature: Taming Wild: A Girl and a Mustang.
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ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. Starring Denzel Washington Added to AFI FEST 2017
The final version of ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. has been added to the AFI FEST 2017 lineup and will screen in the Special Screenings section on Wednesday, November 15, at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The new film from director/writer Dan Gilroy, nominated for the Academy Award® for his screenplay for NIGHTCRAWLER, stars Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo.
The screening will be preceded by Dan Gilroy’s Los Angeles, a conversation with the director/writer of ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. and NIGHTCRAWLER that will explore the extraordinary and personal way in which Gilroy brings Los Angeles to life as a character in his films.
In ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ., Denzel Washington stars as a driven, idealistic defense attorney whose life is upended when his mentor, a civil rights icon, dies. When he is recruited to join a firm led by one of the legendary man’s former students — the ambitious lawyer George Pierce (Colin Farrell) — and begins a friendship with a young champion of equal rights (Carmen Ejogo), a turbulent series of events ensue that will put the activism that has defined Roman’s career to the test. Written and directed by Dan Gilroy, the film is produced by Jennifer Fox, Todd Black and Denzel Washington.
AFI FEST takes place November 9–16, 2017, in the heart of Hollywood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGVIKqbEtdU
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Austin Film Festival Announces 2017 Audience Award Winners . COMING TO MY SENSES Wins Courage Award
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Coming to My Senses[/caption]
The Austin Film Festival announced its 2017 Hiscox Audience and Courage Award Winners. The 2017 Hiscox Courage Award went to Coming to My Senses, directed by Dominic Gill. Coming to My Senses is a documentary feature that follows Aaron Baker, a man who faces insurmountable odds and learns to walk again after breaking his neck in a motocross accident, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. Voted on by the audience, the Hiscox Courage Award is presented to the work that best embodies the virtue of courage and to the filmmaker who best embraced the risk to share the story.
2017 Austin Film Festival Hiscox Audience Award winners
Narrative Feature: Beauty Mark, written by Harris Doran Documentary Feature (tie): Transformer, directed by Michael Del Monte Documentary Feature (tie): Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End, directed by Pablo Bryant Dark Matters Feature: The Landing, written by David Dodson and Mark Dodson Comedy Vanguard Feature: Don’t Talk to Irene, written by Pat Mills Narrative Short: So Much Yellow, written by Erica Milsom Documentary Short: So Damn Glad, directed by Justin Lubke Animated Short: Negative Space, written by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata Narrative Student Short: Towards the Sun, written by Elie Choufany and Monica Santis Scripted Digital Series: Cleaner Daze, created by Tess Sweet and Daniel Gambelin Marquee Feature: Mudbound, written by Dee Rees and Virgil Williams Marquee Television: The Deuce (S1E08: “My Name is Ruby”), written by George Pelecanos and David Simon
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SUN DOGS and RESISTANCE IS LIFE Win Top Awards at Savannah Film Festival
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Sun Dogs[/caption]
Sun Dogs and Resistance is Life won the top prizes at the 20th anniversary SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Eleven awards were handed out to the competition films winners during a celebratory luncheon, held at the historic Olde Pink House.
2017 SCAD Savannah Film Festival Award Winners
Narrative and Documentary Features
Best Narrative Feature: Sun Dogs (USA) – Intellectually limited from an accident at birth, Ned Chipley has failed four times to join the Marines. He teams up with a young runaway and the two surveil a group of young men they mistake as terrorists. The pair’s misadventures lead to the unexpected discovery that sometimes the greatest purpose in life can present itself in the most unlikely of places. Director: Jennifer Morrison Best Director: Ian Hunt Duffy, Gridlock (Ireland) – During a traffic jam on a country road, a little girl goes missing from one of the cars. Her father desperately forms a search party to find her, and soon everyone is a suspect. Director Ian Hunt Duffy Best Documentary Feature: Resistance is Life (Syria/Turkey/USA) – From a refugee camp on the Turkish–Syrian border, 8-year-old Evlin characterizes the resilience of her homeland’s resistance against jihadists. Her heroes, the Kurdish female fighters, are defending the city of Kobane against ISIS militants. Evlin takes us on a journey that introduces many different faces of the resistance, provides a unique look at the spirit behind the first major victory against ISIS and shows us that hope and resilience prevail even in the most tragic circumstances. Director: Apo W. Bazidi Special Jury Award: Best Family Documentary: Through the Windmill (USA)- Explore the history of miniature golf in the U.S., and how these unique, family-friendly roadside attractions have evolved over the last 100 years. Hear from the talented people who design, build and operate them in interviews with top designers, players and historians. Director Amanda Kulkoski Best Editing: Five Minutes (USA) – A progressive elementary school’s parenting class takes an unexpected and dramatic turn. Director Justine BatemanProfessional Shorts
Best Animated Short: Follow Your Heart (USA) – In a world where people’s hearts are detached from their bodies and are like pets, Mary loses “Skip,” only to rediscover herself and learn what it means to follow your heart. Director Rob O’Neill Best Narrative Short: The Silent Child (UK) – In rural England, a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl named Libby lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker teaches her the gift of communication. Director Chris Overton Special Jury Award: Stop Motion Animation Poles Apart (UK) – An unlikely meeting occurs between Nanuk, a tough female polar bear, and Aklak, an enthusiastic male grizzly bear, brought together by their changing habitats. Director Paloma BaezaStudent Awards
Best Student Short: It’s Just a Gun (USA) – When a young boy finds a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, it sets in motion a series of events that will change him forever. Director: Brain Robau Special Jury Award: Poles Apart (USA) – An unlikely meeting occurs between Nanuk, a tough female polar bear, and Aklak, an enthusiastic male grizzly bear, brought together by their changing habitats. Director Paloma Baeza Silver Screen Society Award (Best Short Film by a SCAD Student): I Have Something to Tell You (USA) – Adrain Chesser, a fine-art photographer, uses his work to cope with his HIV/AIDS diagnosis in this acclaimed portrait series. Director Dumaine Babcock and Ben Joyner Best Student Animation: Icky (Iran) – In a world of people with a Rubik’s cube head, there is one kid who is different than the others. Director Parastoo Cardgar
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ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD Starring Kevin Spacey Pulled as Closing Night Film of AFI FEST
After the explosive (still exploding) allegations of sexual harassment and assault involving actor Kevin Spacey, his latest film All the Money in the World has been pulled as the closing night film of AFI FEST.
The festival released a statement: “AFI Fest celebrates film as a collaborative art form. We support Sony’s decision to postpone the premiere in order to ensure the thousands of people who worked together on this film are honored at a proper time and in a proper light.”
Sony’s TriStar Pictures also released a statement, “‘All the Money in the World’ is a superb film and more than worthy of its place of honor in the AFI Fest. But given the current allegations surrounding one of its actors and out of respect for those impacted, it would be inappropriate to celebrate at a gala at this difficult time. Accordingly, the film will be withdrawn. However, a film is not the work of one person. There are over 800 other actors, writers, artists, craftspeople and crew who worked tirelessly and ethically on this film, some for years, including one of cinema’s master directors. It would be a gross injustice to punish all of them for the wrongdoings of one supporting actor in the film. Accordingly, the film will open wide as planned on December 22.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x62O8A8qHw
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A TAXI DRIVER Wins Best Picture + Top Awards at Asian World Film Festival
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A Taxi Driver[/caption]
The 3rd Asian World Film Festival came to a close with George Takei’s Allegiance: The Broadway Musical on the Big Screen. A Taxi Driver was the top film of the 2017 Festival, winning the award for Best Picture, along with a Special Mention to actress Kang-ho Song for her performance in the film. The film was also awarded Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award.
The AWFF Jury Awards
Snow Leopard Best Picture: A Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Joon, Republic of Korea) Snow Leopard Best Actor: Actor and director, Aktan Arym Kubat in Centaur, (Kyrgyzstan) Snow Leopard Best Actress: Anoma Janadari in Burning Birds (Dir: Sanjeewa Pushpaumara, Sri Lanka). A Special Mention was given to Kang-ho Song in A Taxi Driver. Snow Leopard Special Jury Award: Mad World (Dir: Wong Chun, Hong Kong). Snow Leopard Audience Award was given to Ayla: The Daughter of War (Dir: Can Ulkay, Turkey). Snow Leopard Best New Director Award was awarded to two winners: Scary Mother Dir: Ana Urushadze (Georgia); and How Victor “The Garlic” Took Alexey “The Stud” To The Nursing Home Dir: Alexander Hant (Russia).Other awards
Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award, and cash prize of $10,000 was awarded to A Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Hoon,Republic of Korea). The Snow Leopard Rising Star Award was presented to Sreymoch Sareum for her role in First They Killed My Father. The film’s director, producer and co-screenwriter Angelina Jolie and co-screenwriter and executive producer, Loung Ong, accepted the award on Sreymoch’s behalf at a special screening of the film . The Spirit Award for Dedication and Passion was given to Vietnamese actress Ha Phuong; and the Murray Weissman Poster Art Award was given to Little Gandhi (Dir: Sam Kadi, Syria; designer: Brian A. Metcalf). Little Gandhi is Syria’s 2017 Foreign Language Film Oscar contender. George Takei was honored with the Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award for his activism work within the LBGTQ community.
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59th Nordic Film Days Lübeck Award Winners – THE CHARMER Wins NDR Film Prize
The Charmer (Charmøren), the feature debut of director Milad Alami from Denmark is the winner of the NDR Film Prize at the 59th Nordic Film Days Lübeck.
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VIDEO: Watch a Clip from Parenting Documentary FAR FROM THE TREE Featuring Andrew Solomon
Check out a new clip – on discovering the true nature of family featuring Andrew Solomon, from new parenting documentary Far From The Tree, directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Rachel Dretzin. Far From The Tree will World Premiere at the 2017 DOC NYC on Friday, November 10, 2017.
More than a decade ago, acclaimed author Andrew Solomon embarked on a remarkable journey that was at once intensely personal and unmistakably universal. Inspired by his family’s difficulty in accepting his differences from them, Solomon began researching children who fall “Far From The Tree” in a variety of ways. The result was Solomon’s bestselling book Far From The Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity.
Based on Solomon’s award-winning book, the new documentary Far From The Tree explores the difficulties and rewards of raising and being a child whose experience of the world is vastly different from their parents. Directed and produced by Emmy-winning filmmaker Rachel Dretzin, it follows families coping with the challenges presented by Down syndrome, dwarfism, autism and even having a child in prison as they share their intimate stories with touching candor in an illuminating look at a complex bond.
Each family tells a unique story, but Dretzin deftly uncovers parallels that touch on issues of community, understanding and self-acceptance. Deeply compassionate, the film illustrates how families that face extraordinary challenges meet them in the most ordinary ways: with love, empathy, and a desire to understand one another, and encourages us to cherish loved ones for all they are, not who they might have been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI1L-Fwm7NY
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BORG/MCENROE Wins Rome Film Fest People’s Choice Award
Borg McEnroe by Janus Metz Pedersen is the winner of the “BNL People’s Choice Award” at the 12th Rome Film Fest. The film starring starring Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf and Stellan Skarsgård, is about one of the world’s greatest icons Björn Borg and his biggest rival, the young and talented John McEnroe and their legendary duel during the 1980’s Wimbledon tournament.
On one side of the net, the cool and composed Björn Borg; on the other, the hot-headed, quick-tempered John McEnroe. The former anxious to hold on to his title as the top-ranked tennis ace; the latter determined to dethrone him. Revealing their lives on and off the court, Borg McEnroe is an intimate, stirring, and fascinating portrait of two indisputable icons of the history of tennis, with an epic account of the legendary 1980 Wimbledon final.
Janus Metz Pedersen, director of Borg McEnroe rose to international fame with Armadillo, which won the Grand Prix of the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival. In Denmark, he had made a name for himself in 2008, with two films, Love on Delivery and Ticket to Paradise. In 2015, he directed the third episode of the second season of the celebrated HBO series True Detective starring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams. Over the course of his career, he has also directed shorts, commercials, and art and music videos.
In his Director Statement, Pedersen said, “To me, Borg McEnroe is the tennis version of Raging Bull. It’s about two young men, each out to prove he’s number one, to feel important. To be somebody. Trapped in their own rivalry – one of the more spectacular cases in the history of the sport – they eventually had to come to terms with themselves and their own private demons.
To explore Björn and John’s inner turmoil, the film relies on crude camerawork, frequently using handheld cameras and Steadicams to convey a sense of immediacy and realism. A counterpoint to this are the sequences designed to create a rich atmosphere, with almost symbolic images that were meant to suggest the historical significance of the events. The film looks at a clash of titans, and this requires putting things in proportion. We put the audience in Björn and John’s shoes, but then we back out of this saturated and often claustrophobic environment to reclaim a broader perspective that underlines the importance of the match and the existential dimension of the whole story. As a biopic inspired by the two rivals’ lives, particularly the legendary Wimbledon showdown in 1980, Borg McEnroe evokes an age when tennis players were “rock stars” and John and Björn came out on top. This wasn’t just two men playing tennis. This was a clash between two continents. Two ways of behaving, two opposite characters facing off. Two different ways of being men. Borg McEnroe is a marvelous demonstration of all of the above”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgfFdEOGUqE
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Miami Film Festival Unveils 2018 Festival Poster Created by Miami Herald’s Cartoonist Jim Morin
Miami Film Festival unveiled the 2018 Official Festival Poster created by Miami Herald and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Jim Morin.
“Jim Morin’s delightfully barbed creations have skewered contemporary issues over four decades. For the 2018 Miami Film Festival poster, his tongue-in-cheek work is open to a plethora of interpretations, from environmental through escapism and many more on either side of those debates. My favorite? Miamians fondly embrace the often wacky hijinks that come with living in our tropical paradise – and for me, Morin’s 2018 poster encourages us to think of Miami life as if we were living in our own movie. Take 35, coming up!” – Jaie Laplante, Festival Director
Jim Morin’s drawings won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 2017 and l996. He also has shared a Pulitzer in l983 with other members of The Miami Herald editorial board and was a finalist for the prize in l977 and l990. In 2007, he won the Herblock Prize; in 2000, the John Fischetti Award; in l999, the Thomas Nast Society Award; and in the l996 the National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award, among others.
His work has been published in numerous collections including Line Of Fire, AmBUSHED, and Jim Morin’s World, a retrospective of his career. Other books include Jim Morin’s Field Guide To Birds and Famous Cats. He is also a passionate oil and watercolor painter. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums throughout south Florida.
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Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung Accept The ‘Rising Star’ Award at Asian World Film Festival
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung accepted the ‘Rising Star’ Award on behalf of Sreymoch Sareum from First They Killed My Father at the 3rd Asian World Film Festival.
First They Killed My Father director, producer and co-screenwriter Angelina Jolie and co-screenwriter and executive producer Loung Ung, whose memoir the film is based upon, accepted the ‘Rising Star’ Award on behalf of actress Sreymoch Sareum, who plays “Loung,” during a special screening of the film on October 30 at the Arclight Culver City. The film screened to a sold-out enthusiastic audience at the festival, and was followed by a Q&A with Jolie and Ung, moderated by Georges N. Chamchoum, AWFF Executive & Program Director.
Sareum stars as the principle character, Loung Ung, in First They Killed My Father, which is Cambodia’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film. The Netflix film is the adaptation of Cambodian author and human rights activist Ung’s gripping memoir of surviving the deadly Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1978. The story is told through her eyes, from the age of five, when the Khmer Rouge came to power, to nine years old. The film is produced by Angelina Jolie and acclaimed Cambodian director and producer Rithy Panh, director of the Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture.