The 12th Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF) will host thousands of film lovers from February 21 to February 25, 2018, in the historic coastal town of Beaufort, SC.
Film Festivals
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First Music Films Revealed for Scopitone Program of International Film Festival Rotterdam
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The Groove is Not Trivial[/caption]
The Scopitone program of the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam will feature eight documentaries that view music as a social movement. Amidst a lively and inviting atmosphere with talks, bands and an open bar during the screening, visitors and experts alike explore the social significance of music.
Among the confirmed titles are gems from all corners of the (music) world. The international premiere of The Ballad of Shirley Collins by Rob Curry and Tim Plester follows the iconic British folk singer Shirley Collins who tries to regain at a late age the voice she once lost. Bruk Out! A Dance Hall Queen Documentary by Cori McKenna gives a raw and energetic look into the lives of six powerful women striving to become Dance Hall Queens.
Tommie Smith’s The Groove is Not Trivial is a story about cultural revival in which master fiddler Alasdair Fraser digs deep into his Scottish musical roots. And Olancho by Theodore Griswold and Christopher Valdes shows the dangerous world of narco ballads in Honduras. When groups like Los Plebes de Olancho sing for one drug cartel, they get threatened by another. Band member Manuel Chirinos felt forced to flee the country and tells his story.
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2018 Locarno Festival’s Retrospective to Spotlight Genius of Leo McCarey
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“Liberty” with Laurel & Hardy[/caption]
The Locarno Festival’s major Retrospective will be dedicated to three-time Oscar winner Leo McCarey (1898 – 1969), a director who left his indelible mark not only on comedy (with Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers and Harold Lloyd) but also on classic drama (Cary Grant, Charles Laughton, Bing Crosby).
The Retrospective follows on from the Festival’s tributes to other masters of the genre in recent years, such as Lubitsch, Minnelli, and Cukor. In the words of Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian, this event “will be an inspiration and a stimulus for new generations of viewers and filmmakers”.
McCarey learned his trade during the 1920s at the Hal Roach Studios, initially as a gag writer before directing films. Roach and McCarey were key figures in the golden age of silent comedy in America, launching the successful careers of comedians such as Charley Chase and Max Davidson, as well as the insuperable stardom of Laurel & Hardy. Determined to create a more modern style of slapstick, McCarey established his hallmarks of sophisticated writing, innovative gestures, and elegant choreography.
Graduating to full-length features as the sound era dawned, McCarey became a master of the screwball comedy, launching the career of Cary Grant in The Awful Truth (1937) and helming films hailed as milestones of the genre and starring some of its biggest names: Harold Lloyd and Mae West, Charles Laughton and Eddie Cantor, plus the Marx Brothers, who chose him to direct their masterpiece Duck Soup (1933).
In the late Thirties and after the war, McCarey toned down the humorous element in his work and turned increasingly to drama, in movies that ranged in subject from romance to the religious life. Once again, in his late period, McCarey brought out the finest in his stars – Ingrid Bergman and Paul Newman, Bing Crosby and Deborah Kerr – and also rejoined forces with Cary Grant in such memorable pictures as Good Sam (1948) and An Affair to Remember (1957).
Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the Locarno Festival, comments: “Dedicating a Retrospective to Leo McCarey means first and foremost paying homage to a master of a genre that today has become increasingly rare. His films were big hits at the box office but were also well received by the critics and are now recognized, somewhat belatedly, as more complex and multi-layered than simple genre pieces. It is time for McCarey’s name to be awarded the status he deserves: we are fully convinced that his art, elegance, and sense of timing will be an inspiration and a stimulus for new generations of viewers and filmmakers. Lastly, on a more personal note, this Retrospective is also a tribute to a period of our own childhood which we all lived through, but perhaps have sometimes since forgotten: laughing with Laurel & Hardy does not just offer the sweet taste of nostalgia, but will also remind us of the visionary and beneficial power that comedy has always possessed.”
Curated by Roberto Turigliatto, the Retrospective will be organized in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse and the Cinémathèque française, with additional input from the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. It will be accompanied by a volume in English and French to be published by Capricci.
Roberto Turigliatto, the curator of the Locarno Festival Retrospective, describes McCarey as “A man of many talents who began as the assistant to Tod Browning and became a director at the peak of the studio system, but also a secret personality still requiring critical assessment. He remains unparalleled in film history for the sublime alchemy of feelings and refined practice of comedy and melodrama that he brought to his great masterpieces such as Love Affair (1939). Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) was his personal favorite despite its failure with the public and can even be regarded as an astonishing precursor of Tôkyô monogatari (1953) by Yasujirô Ozu.
The project will involve other major institutions in Switzerland and abroad, ensuring that the Retrospective will travel a circuit of prestigious venues worldwide until 2019. Partners already confirmed include: in Switzerland, the Cinémathèque suisse, Filmpodium in Zurich, Kino REX in Berne and Les Cinémas du Grütli in Geneva; in Italy, the National Cinema Museum in Turin and the I Milleocchi Festival in Trieste; in France, the Cinémathèque française.
The 71st Locarno Festival will be held from August 1 to 11, 2018.
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DTLA Film Festival Reveals 2018 Dates
The DTLA Film Festival announced the 2018 dates for its 10th anniversary edition, and will take place October 17 to 21, 2018. The five-day event, scheduled for Regal L.A. LIVE and venues throughout downtown Los Angeles, is expected to screen more than 100 films of all genres from around world.
With this announcement, the festival’s call for entries has officially begun. Submissions are now open, and filmmakers are invited to register their films of all genres online. Details are available on the festival’s website.
Founded in 2008, DTLA Film Festival has become the single largest single film event in the historic center of Los Angeles. Over the past decade the festival has presented more than a thousand features and shorts, including narrative, documentary, experimental films and most recently, web series.
“Over the past 10 years DTLA has become the new creative nexus of the Entertainment Capital of the World, and we’re thrilled to have been a foundational part of its thriving cultural landscape. We take our diversity mission very seriously, and will continue to strive vigorously to reflect this mandate in all aspects of our programming, during this next year and throughout the coming decade,” said festival director Greg Ptacek.
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THE FLORIDA PROJECT Producers Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri to Receive Miami Film Festival’s Precious Gem Award
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The Florida Project[/caption]
Miami-based independent producing partners Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri, producers on Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, will receive the Precious Gem Award at the 2018 Miami Film Festival, to be held March 9 to 18, 2018.
The Florida Project was released by A24 in October and is currently playing in theaters nationwide. The film was recently nominated for two Spirit Awards including Best Feature, winning Best Director and Best Supporting Actor accolades (Willem Dafoe) from New York Film Critics Circle, Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture (Runner-up) from Los Angeles Film Critics Circle and winning Top Ten Film and Best Supporting Actor from National Board of Review. Chinoy and Silvestri also worked on Baker’s previous features Starlet and Tangerine, as well as dozens of other projects, including the directorial debuts of women filmmakers including Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Demi Moore, Courteney Cox, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Biel, Eva Mendes, Alicia Keys, Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rita Wilson, Trudie Styler, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Ashley Judd, Laura Dern, and Eva Longoria.
“Kevin and Francesca’s association with Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival traces back a full decade, from their work to bring Kate Hudson to our 2008 Festival with her film ‘Cutlass’ and Demi Moore in 2009 with her film ‘Streak’”, said Festival director Jaie Laplante. “They are the behind-the-scenes heroes who we wish to put center stage and honor as the Precious Gems that they are – without their commitment and determination to bring original independent visions to realization, many of the films they have worked on might never have been made and enjoyed.”
The Precious Gem Award presentation will be made at the Festival’s Awards Night Gala on March 17, 2018. Leading up to the ceremony, Chinoy and Silvestri will participate in a Producer’s Master Class at the Festival where they will candidly discuss the challenges and lessons from over 20 years of experience in the world of independent film production.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4
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Dee Rees’s MUDBOUND will Close 2017 Bahamas International Film Festival
The highly acclaimed drama Mudbound, directed by Dee Rees, will be the official closing night film at this year’s 2017 Bahamas International Film Festival.
Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks and Jason Mitchell lead the ensemble cast of “Mudbound.”
Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” is an epic story of two families pitted against one another by a ruthless social hierarchy, yet bound together by the shared farmland of the Mississippi Delta.
Mudbound follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry (Jason Clarke), his wife Laura (Carey Mulligan) struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture. Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan and Mary J. Blige), sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations, struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face. The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live.
The official closing night screening of “Mudbound” will take place on Sunday, December 17th at the Baha Mar in Nassau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xucHiOAa8Rs
The 2017 Bahamas International Film Festival takes place from December 10 to 13 in Harbour Island and December 14 to 17 in Nassau.
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Bahamas International Film Festival Opens Today with Sean Baker’s THE FLORIDA PROJECT
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The Florida Project[/caption]
The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), celebrating its 14th edition this year, kicks off today Sunday, December 10th with Sean Baker’s drama “The Florida Project” starring Willem Dafoe. BIFF 2017 will run through Sunday, December 17th.
For the sixth consecutive year, BIFF will be headed to Harbour Island on December 10-13 and concluding in Nassau from December 14-17, showcasing more than 82 films from 28 different countries including twelve world premiere, 4 international premieres, 57 Caribbean premieres, and all are Bahamian premieres.
The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Visions; and Short Film. Additional categories out of competition are World Cinema; Special Screenings; Environmental and Oceans Spotlight and non-Jury Short Films.
2017 Bahamas International Film Festival Lineup:
SPIRIT OF FREEDOM (NARRATIVE)
ALINA / Director: Ben Behernholtz AT EYE LEVEL / Directors: Evi Goldbrunner & Joachim Dollhopf LANE 1974 / Director: Chiro LIYANA / Directors: Aaron Kopp & Amanda Kopp THE DRAWER BOY /Director: Arturo Perez Torres THE HUDSON TRIBES / Director: John Marco Lopez TINKER /Director: Sonny MarlerSPIRIT OF FREEDOM (DOCUMENTARY)
BY ALL MEANS: A ROCK ‘N ROLL STORY / Director: Patrick Hewlett DELICATE BALANCE / Director: Guillermo Garcia Lopez I AM SHAKESPEARE / Director: Stephen Dest MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER / Director: Ann Shin SACRED WATER / Director: Olivier Jourdain SHINGALI, WHERE ARE YOU? / Director: Angelos Rallis THE GOLDEN AGE / Director: Justin ConnorNEW VISIONS – JURY FILMS
7X7 / Director: Liam Hughes ALASKA IS A DRAG / Director: Shaz Bennett BEAUTY MARK / Director: Harris Doran BLANK 13 / Director: Takumi Saito DIM THE FLORESCENTS / Director: Daniel Warth DR. BRINKS & DR. BRINKS / Director: Josh Crockett GREEN DAYS BY THE RIVER / Director: Michael Mooleedhar INTERLUDE / Director: Bernard Tanguy JUGGERNAUT / Director: Daniel DiMarco MILLION LOVES IN ME / Director: Sampson Yuen NOBLE EARTH / Director: Ursula Grisham THE DEFINITES / Directors: Hannah Cheesman & Mackenzie Donaldson THE DUNNING MAN / Director: Michael Clayton THE LINES / Director: Kiku Ohe TISAY / Director: Alfonso Torre TOURNAMENTS OF LOVE / Director: Caroline JulesOCEAN & ENVIRONMENT THEME
AN OCEAN MYSTERY THE MISSING CATCH (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Alison Barrat CUT BAIT (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Robert Walkine EARTHY ENCOUNTERS (UK) / Director: Sam Johnson LA PESCA (Columbia) / Director: Pablo Alvarez LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE (USA) / Director: Cynthia Neal STRAWS (USA) / Director: Linda Booker VIRE (Guadeloupe) / Director: Hugo RousselinSHORT FILM Narrative Short Jury Films
ANOTHER GIRL (USA) / Director: Austin Kase ASLEEP (Canada) / Director: Mak Abdelhai BAD NEWS (Italy) / Director: Matteo Petrelli CASSANDRA (France) / Director: Joffrey Renambatz CATFISH (Iran) / Director: Sourena Bayramloo COMFORT AND JOY (UK) / Directors: Will Jeffs & AJ Simmons COWBOY & INDIAN (USA) / Director: Sujata Day DEVILS LUCK (USA) / Director: Robert C. Eaton EARTHY ENCOUNTERS (UK) / Director: Sam Johnson EAST (USA) / Director: Dana Marisa S Choenfeld FOREVER NOW (Denmark) / Director: Kristin Håskjold JC (USA) / Director: Matt Boatright-Simon LACRIMOSA (Austria) / Director: Tanja Mairitsch LAWMAN (USA) / Director: Matthew Gentile LEO JOHNSON (USA) / Director: Evan Bluestein LIFE IN OTHER WORDS (Bangladesh) / Director: Abrar Athar LIMBO (Greece) / Director: Konstantina Kotzamani MACKENZIE (USA) / Director: Sofia Astrom OUTSIDE THE LINES (USA) / Director: Joshua Jacobs OWEN (USA) / Director: Kelly Pike PRIA (Indonesia) / Director: Yudho Aditya RETOUCH (Iran) / Director: Kaveh Mazaheri ROSARIO (Mexico) / Director: Marlen Ríos-Farjat ROSELYN (Bahamas) / Director: Jason Evans SHORT DROP (Trinidad and Tobago) / Director: Maya Cozier SILENT NIGHTS (Denmark) / Director: Aske Bang THE ADVENTURES OF SELIKA (UK) / Director: Sybil Mair THE ASPEN PROJECT (USA) / Director: Chino Maurice THE DARKNESS OF THE MOOR (USA) / Director: James Everett THE GIRLS WERE DOING NOTHING (UK) / Director: Dekel Berenson THE LIFE OF MARIE (Germany) / Director: Rolf Kasteleiner THE REAL THING (USA) / Director: Brandon Kelley TOFFEE (India) / Director: Tahira Kashyap WHAT REMAINS OF YOU (France) / Director: Kevin Dresse YOURS SINCERELY, LOIS WEBER (USA) / Director: Svetlana CvetkoOUT OF COMPETITION
LOGGERHEAD SEAT TURTLE (USA) / Director: Cynthia Neal STRAWS (USA) / Director: Linda Booker VIRE (Guadeloupe) / Director: Hugo Rousselin LA PESCA (Columbia) / Director: Pablo Alvarez CUT BAIT (USA, Bahamas) / Director: Robert Walkine GUAVA DUFF (Bahamas) / Director: Anaya and Santia DeanWORLD CINEMA (DOCUMENTARY)
BAREFOOT RASTA (Germany, Ethiopia, Canada)) / Director: Andy Siege BETWEEN 2 SHORES (Guadeloupe) / Director: Mariette Monpierre I DO? (USA) / Director: Joe Brandmeier REBELS ON POINTE (Canada) / Director: Bobbi Jo Hart SUSANNE BARTSCH: ON TOP (USA) / Directors: Anthony Caronna & Alexander SmithSPECIAL SCREENING
SLIM AARONS: THE HIGH LIFE (USA) / Director: Fritz Mitchell STUDENT FILM WORKSHOP (Bahamas) / Five Films by Students JUNOD (Japan) / Director: Shinichiro KIMURA JOHN “CHIPPIE” CHIPMAN (Bahamas) / Director: Thriston & Verline EwingOPENING NIGHT FILM
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (USA) / Director: Sean Baker
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South Asian International Film Festival in NYC Unveils Lineup, Opens with LONG LIVE BRIJ MOHAN
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Long Live Brij Mohan[/caption]
The 2017 South Asian International Film Festival in New York City is celebrating its 14th year by showcasing the very best in South Asian independent cinema. The festival throws open its doors with the opening night world premiere of Long Live Brij Mohan, before going on to showcase its centerpiece film Na Maloom Afraad 2 and will close with the New York premiere of Ribbon.
The 14th Annual South Asian International Film Festival presented by HBO runs from Wednesday, December 13, 2017, to Sunday, December 17, 2017, in New York City. All screenings taking place at Landmark Sunshine Theater at 143 East Houston Street in the East Village, New York City.
OPENING NIGHT FILM: Long Live Brij Mohan
Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat / 2017 / India / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 105 mins.
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Brij Mohan, a hosiery shop owner in a busy middle-class market in Delhi, is fed up with his ball-crusher wife and mounting debts. In a desperate attempt to escape his wretched life, he changes his appearance and adopts a new identity as Amar Sethi … but in the process, ends up committing a botched-up murder. He then runs off with his younger girlfriend, hopeful of making a new beginning. But instead, as luck would have it, he finds himself trapped in a web of his own karma.
CENTERPIECE FILM: Na Maloom Afraad 2
Directed by Nabeel Qureshi / 2017 / Pakistan / In Urdu (with English subtitles).
Narrative Feature / North American Premiere / 118 mins.
Saturday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Na Maloom Afraad 2 is an upcoming sequel to the 2014 Pakistani hit thriller film Na Maloom Afraad. The leading cast returning includes Fahad Mustafa, Javed Sheikh, Mohsin Abbas Haider and Urwa Hocane, along with Hania Amir in the lead and Marina Khan in her debut performance. The film is a hysterical comedy of errors when an extravagant Sheikh arrives in Cape Town with his precious and infamous “Gold Pot” – a toilet bowl made of gold! The Pot mistakenly finds its way to the three misfits – who call themselves Na Maloom Afraad – and are clueless about what to do with it. The movie unfolds as the South African police, smugglers and the Sheikh’s entourage start looking for the Gold Pot as the three misfits do their best to escape unscathed.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM: Ribbon
Directed by Rakhee Sandilya / 2017 / India / In Hindi (with English subtitles).
Narrative Feature / New York Premiere / 105 mins.
Sunday, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.
After a sudden pregnancy, a young urban couple is overwhelmed by their baby girl and discover that parenthood comes with its own challenges. And it takes more than just love to stick through all of life’s curveballs.
SAIFF 2017’s Feature Competition line-up:
Mona Darling Directed by Shashi Sudigala / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / International Premiere / 111 mins. In English We Say Directed by Harish Vyas / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 104 mins. Half Widow Directed by Danish Renzu / India / 2017 / In Urdu (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 91 mins. Maacher Jhol Directed by Pratim D. Gupta / India / 2017 / In Bengali and French (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / New York Premiere / 108 mins. Code Name Abdul Directed by Eshwar Gunturu / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / North American Premiere / 114 mins.SAIFF 2017’s Feature Spectrum line-up:
Azad Directed by Rehan Sheikh / Pakistan / 2017 / In Urdu (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 121 mins. Coma Café Directed by Avi Vasu / India / 2017 / In English and Hindi (with English subtitles) Narrative Feature / North America Premiere / 104 mins.SAIFF 2017’s Short Film & HBO Competitors line-up:
Please Don’t Call The Cops Directed by Kartikye Gupta / United States / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles) Narrative Short / World Premiere / 15 mins. Safeword (HBO Competitor) Directed by Mukesh Vidyasagar / United States / 2017 / English Narrative Short / World Premiere / 3 mins. Cobbler’s Dream (HBO Competitor) Directed by Sydney Chandrasekara / Sri Lanka / 2017 / In Sinhalese (with English subtitles) Narrative Short / World Premiere / 15 mins. Diwal’oween (HBO Competitor) Directed by Shilpa Mankikar / United States / 2017 / English Narrative Short / World Premiere / 33 mins. The Pits (HBO Competitor) Directed by Shetu Modi / Canada / 2017 / English Narrative Short / New York Premiere / 6 mins. The Language of the Ball (HBO Competitor) Directed by Ramón Rodríguez / United States / 2017 / English Narrative Short / New York Premiere / 9 mins.
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Grace Jones to Receive Career Achievement Award at Bahamas International Film Festival
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Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami[/caption]
Iconic actress, singer, songwriter, supermodel, and record producer Grace Jones will be honored with the prestigious Career Achievement Award at this year’s Bahamas International Film Festival, taking place December 10 to 17, 2017.
Serving as the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, awarded in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor, BIFF’s Career Achievement Award will be bestowed to Jones on the evening of Friday, December 15th at The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas.
In addition to receiving BIFF’s Career Achievement Award, Jones will present her latest film, “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” – the acclaimed documentary from director Sophie Fiennes.
Said Vanderpool, “Grace’s trademark charisma has fueled memorable performances for decades, but in watching her amazing body of work, the depth of her performances is unmistakable and equally as memorable. Having Grace in The Bahamas to receive the Career Achievement Award and present the highly acclaimed ‘Bloodlight and Bami’ is a huge honor for the festival and the audiences who will share in the experience. Grace is an legend, an icon and we are extremely thrilled to recognize her amazing career at the Bahamas International Film Festival.”
Filmed over the course of a decade, the documentary, “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami”, from director Sophie Fiennes (The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology) offers a stylish and unconventional look at the Jamaican-born model, singer, and New Wave icon.
Grace Jones, the statuesque Jamaican model-turned-singer, actress and icon has made a career performing versions of herself. But who is the real Grace Jones behind the masks and makeup? This film moves between her personae onstage and off. Don’t expect a traditional music biography with sit-down interviews and archival footage. This treatment is as stylish and unconventional as its subject. In the subtitle, “bloodlight” refers to the studio signal for recording and “bami” is a Jamaican flatbread. They stand for art and life.
Filmmaker Sophie Fiennes has previously made films about a philosopher, a dancer, and an artist. Each time, she conjures a fresh style for the material. (One of her early documentaries, Hoover Street Revival, profiled Jones’ brother Noel, the Los Angeles preacher). With Grace Jones, filmed over 10 years, we gain entry to her private spaces: her family in Jamaica, in the studio with long-time collaborators Sly & Robbie, and in Paris with her one-time image maker and lover, Jean-Paul Goude. In negotiations glimpsed on camera, she demonstrates that you wouldn’t want to go against her. “Sometimes you have to be a high-flying bitch.” Yet we also catch her in sweet and vulnerable moments.
Interspersed throughout the film are performances from a 2016 concert staged for Fiennes’ camera. Strutting the stage like an Amazon in heels, Jones performs songs such as “Slave to the Rhythm,” “Love is the Drug” and “Amazing Grace” with multiple costume changes. This might be the first documentary with a credit for Corset Designer. Whatever mysteries she conceals, one thing is for certain: we can’t take our eyes off her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxtZ0ElBss
The Bahamas International Film Festival will showcase more than 82 films from 28 countries, including 12 world premieres, 4 international premieres and 57 Caribbean premieres. All of the films will be Bahamian premieres.
BIFF 2017 takes place from December 10-13 in Harbour Island and December 14-17 in Nassau. The Festival’s opening night in Harbour Island will begin with a screening of Sean Baker’s critically acclaimed drama ‘The Florida Project’ starring Willem Dafoe.
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Saoirse Ronan, Jessica Chastain and Mary J Blige to Receive Awards at Palm Springs International Film Festival
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Saoirse Ronan, Jessica Chastain and Mary J Blige[/caption]
The 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival will present Saoirse Ronan, Jessica Chastain, and Mary J. Blige with awards at its annual Film Awards Gala. They join previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell and The Shape of Water. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2nd at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2 to 15, 2018.
Saoirse Ronan will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress for her performance in Lady Bird. “Saoirse Ronan delivers one of the most outstanding performances of this year as an outspoken high school student growing up in Sacramento in the critically acclaimed film Lady Bird,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Following her exceptional performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, Ronan is sure to receive her third Academy Award nomination. It is our honor to present the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress to Saoirse Ronan.”
Ronan received the PSIFF International Star Award in 2016 for her performance in Brooklyn, going on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the same role. Additional past recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress include Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Sandra Bullock, Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, and Naomi Watts.
In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig proves herself a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated, strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird’s father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amid a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home.
For her role in the film, Ronan has already received Best Actress from the Gotham Independent Film Awards and is nominated for Best Female Lead from the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Jessica Chastain will receive the Chairman’s Award for Molly’s Game. “Jessica Chastain is an incredible actress who has continuously challenged herself with complex roles throughout her career,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest film, Molly’s Game, Chastain brings to life Molly Bloom’s story of a determined woman who goes from being an Olympic skier to making millions running an exclusive high-stakes poker game. It is our honor to present the Chairman’s Award to Jessica Chastain.”
Chastain received the PSIFF Spotlight Award in 2012, going on to receive an Academy Award® nomination for The Help. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), an Olympic-class skier who ran one of the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. The film also stars Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, Chris O’Dowd and Brian d’Arcy James. Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal and Matt Jackson produced. STXfilms and the Mark Gordon Company’s Molly’s Game will open in select theaters nationwide December 25, 2017, and everywhere January 5, 2018.
The Festival will present Mary J. Blige with the Breakthrough Performance Award for her performance in Mudbound.
“Mary J. Blige is a global superstar in the world of music who continues to make her mark as an actress in both television and film,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her current film Mudbound, Blige gives a quiet yet fantastic performance as Florence Jackson, a strong woman supporting her sharecropper family in rural Mississippi. It is our honor to present the 2018 Breakthrough Performance Award to Mary J. Blige.”
Past recipients of the Breakthrough Performance Award include Mahershala Ali, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Felicity Huffman, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike and Jeremy Renner. In the years they were honored, Ali, Cotillard, Hudson, Larson and Nyong’o went on to receive Academy Awards®, while Huffman, Pike and Renner received nominations.
Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees’ Mudbound is an epic story of two families pitted against one another by a ruthless social hierarchy, yet bound together by the shared farmland of the Mississippi Delta. Mudbound follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry (Jason Clarke), his wife Laura (Carey Mulligan) struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture. Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan and Mary J. Blige), sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations, struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face. The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live.
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World Premiere of Emilio Estevez’s THE PUBLIC to Open 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Trailer
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The Public[/caption]
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will open with the worldwide premiere of The Public at the Arlington Theatre on Wednesday, January 31, 2018. The Public, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, stars Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Taylor Schilling, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jacob Vargas, Michael K. Williams, and Jeffrey Wright.
“I’ve long admired Emilio Estevez as an artist – actor – director. With the public – I feel he has done his most personal and fully realized work. the public speaks wonderfully about our current divided country – but it also does not preach – it keeps us cinematically immersed. I can honestly say this is the proudest choice for opening during my tenure at SBIFF. I cherish the friendship with Emilio and admire his accomplishment with the public,” stated Roger Durling, Executive Director of SBIFF.
The Public follows a group of homeless library patrons, who, after learning that emergency shelters are at capacity during a brutal Midwestern cold front, refuse to leave Cincinnati’s downtown public library at closing time.
In what begins as a nonviolent Occupy sit in and ragtag act of civil disobedience, quickly escalates into a stand-off with local riot police, a no-nonsense crisis negotiator, and a savvy DA with lofty political ambitions.
Amidst dropping temperatures and flaring tempers on both sides of the lockdown, uncertainty looms around how the situation can be resolved without resorting to violence, while law enforcement officials and local media spin the facts to serve their own political agendas.
This David versus Goliath story puts the spotlight on some of our nation’s most challenging issues: homelessness, mental illness, and drug addiction, and sets the drama inside one of our last bastions of democracy-in-action: your public library.
“I’m absolutely delighted, thrilled, and humbled to be chosen by Roger Durling for the great honor of kicking off SBIFF 2018 with the public. Roger’s long standing commitment of supporting independent filmmakers makes the Santa Barbara International Film Festival a vital showcase for artists. Once again, the festival will screen a wide and wonderful variety of distinguished films and our picture has indeed, found itself in some lovely company,” says Emilio Estevez.
The 33rd annual festival runs from Wednesday, January 31 through Saturday, February 10, 2018.
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Milwaukee Film Festival Announces 2018 Festival Dates
Celebrating a decade in the community, Milwaukee Film today announced that the 2018 Milwaukee Film Festival will take place from October 18 to November 1, 2018. The annual 15-day festival will include feature films, shorts programs, education screenings, post-film conversations, panels, and parties.
“We couldn’t have reached this incredible milestone without the warm embrace of the Milwaukee community,” states Jonathan Jackson, Executive and Artistic Director of Milwaukee Film. “Over the past ten years, we have strived to bring the best independent and international cinema to the city, and our amazing audience, members, donors, and sponsors have repaid us in kind, allowing for this period of unprecedented growth. We look forward to bringing the best in film to you for decades to come.”
Festival organizers hope the later dates will expand programming opportunities to gain access to premieres from such renowned festivals as the Toronto International Film Festival, Festival de Cannes, and Telluride Film Festival.
The Call for Entries for the 2018 Milwaukee Film Festival will open in January 2018.