Film Festivals

12 Latino Films to Screen in 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival Horizontes Latinos Program

[caption id="attachment_23830" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] TO THE DESERT[/caption] Twelve films produced in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela, make up the Horizontes Latinos section of the 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival. The Horizontes Latinos section is a selection of feature films not yet screened in Spain, produced totally or partially in Latin America, directed by filmmakers of Latin origin or which have as their setting or subject matter Latino communities in the rest of the world. Half of the titles in the section are first or second works. Among the films is premiere of the winner of the two Films in Progress 30 awards in San Sebastian, La educación del Rey (Rey’s Education), first feature film from Santiago Esteves (Mendoza, Argentina, 1983), who has written and directed short films including Los crímenes (Best Iberoamerican Short Film and Critics’ Award at Huesca 2011) and has worked as an editor for Pablo Trapero, Mariano Llinás or Juan Villegas. Another of the selected first films is La novia del desierto (The Desert Bride) by directors Cecilia Atán (Buenos Aires, 1978) and Valeria Pivato (Buenos Aires, 1973), which, having landed the Films in Progress Toulouse Award, was premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Festival and has just won the Jury Award for Best Debut Feature at the Lima Film Festival. The documentary by Atán, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, la historia (2016), was nominated for the Emmy Awards, and Pivato, who has worked with directors including Juan José Campanella, Walter Salles or Pablo Trapero, won the Patagonik International Screenwriters Competition with his Project Antes y después… y después otra vez. Temporada de caza (Hunting Season, Films in Progress 31) is the first feature film by Natalia Garagiola (Buenos Aires, 1982), who will compete in Venice at the International Critics’ Week, an independent section organised by the Italian Union of Film Critics. One of Garagiola’s shorts, Yeguas y Cotorras (2012), was selected for the Critic’s Week at Cannes. Gustavo Rondón (Caracas, 1977) has written, helmed and produced numerous shorts later screened at festivals such as Tribeca, Biarritz, Toulouse and Havana. The most recent, Nostalgia (2012) was selected to compete in Berlin. La familia (Films in Progress 30), which was screened at the Cannes Critics’ Week and has just won Jury Award for Best Film at Lima Film Festival, brings his feature directorial debut. The filmography of Alexandra Latishev (San José, Costa Rica) contains the prizewinning short Irene (2014) and the documentary Los volátiles, winner of the Best Documentary Feature Film and Audience Awards at the Costa Rica Festival. Medea (Films in Progress 30), which competed at the BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival), marks her debut in feature films. After numerous experiences in the non-fictional field, in 2013 Marcela Said (Santiago de Chile, 1972) directed her first feature-length fiction, El verano de los peces voladores, Films in Progress Toulouse Award in 2013 which had its premiere at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Horizontes Latinos will see the screening of her second film, Los perros (Films in Progress 31), after its presentation at the Cannes Critics’ Week. Las olas (The Waves, Films in Progress, 30) is the third feature film from the director, screenwriter, actor and singer Adrián Biniez (Remedios de Escalada, Argentina, 1974), whose debut, Gigante (2009) won the Grand Jury Prize, the Alfred Bauer Award – in recognition of a film that “opens new perspectives on cinematic art” – and the Best First Feature Award at the Berlinale, as well as the Horizontes Award in San Sebastian. Michel Franco (Mexico City, 1979) landed a special mention in San Sebastian with Después de Lucía (After Lucía, 2012), Best Feature Film in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. As a moviemaker he also won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes for Chronic (2015). He also has a long and outstanding background as a producer: in 2015 he won the Best First Feature Award in Berlin for 600 millas (600 Miles,Gabriel Ripstein) plus the Golden Lion in Venice and a Special Mention in San Sebastian for Desde allá (From Afar, Lorenzo Vigas), both selected for Horizontes Latinos. Now he returns to the Festival as a director with Las hijas de Abril (April’s Daughters), having won the Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard. Sebastián Lelio (Mendoza, Argentina, 1974) has a trajectory closely related to San Sebastian. His first film, La Sagrada Familia, competed in Horizontes Latinos in 2005 after its screening in Films in Progress. His fourth feature, Gloria, won the Films in Progress Award in San Sebastian in 2012. His latest film, Una mujer fantástica (A Fantastic Woman), Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale, will open the section. Affonso Uchôa (Contagem, Brazil) and João Dumans (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) jointly wrote A vizinhança do tigre / The Hidden Tiger (2014). Here they repeat their collaboration as the directors of Arábia /Araby, selected for the Rotterdam Festival official competition and winner of a special mention at the BAFICI. Uchôa is the director of Mulher à tarde / Afternoon Woman (2010) and wrote with Marília Rocha A cidade onde envelheço / Where I Grow Old (2016), selected for Films in Progress Toulouse in 2015 and for Zabaltegi-Tabakalera last year. Al desierto (To the Desert) is the new feature film by Ulises Rosell (Buenos Aires, 1970), after the award-winning Sofacama / Sofabed (2006) and El etnógrafo / The Ethnographer (2012). Rosell wrote and directed this story of a kidnapping and hike across the Patagonia desert to premier in San Sebastian. Lastly, Cocote, which has just won the Signs of Life section Award at the Locarno Festival, is the third film from the Dominican director Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias (Santo Domingo, 1985), who in 2015 shot Santa Teresa y otras historias,a radical adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s novel 2666, screened in Toronto and winner of awards in Marseille and Mar del Plata. All twelve feature films compete for the Horizontes Award and its 35,000 euros. The six first and second films in the selection (La educación de Rey, La familia, Medea, Arábia, La novia del desierto and Temporada de caza) are also contenders for the EROSKI Youth Award.
2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival Horizontes Latinos Program
UNA MUJER FANTÁSTICA (A FANTASTIC WOMAN) SEBASTIÁN LELIO (CHILE- GERMANY – SPAIN – USA) Cast: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Paulina García, Néstor Cantillana, Alonso Torres, Cristián Chaparro, Senén Arancibia OPENING FILM (IN COMPETITION) Marina is a young waitress and wannabe singer; Orlando owns a printing company. Together they plan their future. When Orlando dies suddenly, Marina has to stand up to his family and society to show them what she truly is: a complex, strong, forthright and… fantastic woman. Teddy Award and Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale 2017. AL DESIERTO (TO THE DESERT) ULISES ROSELL (ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Valentina Bassi, Jorge Sesán, José María Marcos, Germán De Silva, Gastón Salgado Driven by the insecurity of her working situation, Julia, an employee at the Comodoro Rivadavia (Argentina) casino, gives in to the temptations of Gwynfor, a laconic man of Welsh descent, who promises her an administrative job with the oil company he works for. By the time she realises her mistake they are already well into the desert as they set out on an arduous hike across the Patagonia plain. Hunting, sheltering in caves and abandoned buildings, with no way out in the middle of infinite distances, the difficult coexistence will change as the days pass. In a pickup truck, on horseback, guided by trackers, superintendent Hermes Prieto is hot on their heels, convinced of finding some kind of trace in the midst of the desert. ARÁBIA / ARABY AFFONSO UCHÔA, JOÃO DUMANS (BRAZIL) Cast: Aristides de Sousa, Murilo Caliari, Glaucia Vandeveld, Renato Novaes, Adriano Araújo, Renan Rovida, Wederson Neguinho, Renata Cabral Young André lives in an industrial neighbourhood in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, near an old aluminium factory. Once a week, his aunt Márcia, a voluntary nurse at the community hospital, visits himself and his younger brother to help them with the household chores while their mother is away. One day, one of the factory workers, Cristiano, a foreigner with a stormy background in the neighbourhood, suffers an accident at the factory. Márcia gives him first aid right in front of the factory, and asks André to go to Cristiano’s house to get his documents and some clothes. Entering the house, André comes across a mysterious notebook… COCOTE NELSON CARLO DE LOS SANTOS ARIAS (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – ARGENTINA – GERMANY – QATAR) Cast: Vicente Santos, Judith Rodríguez, Yuberbi de la Rosa, Pedro Sierra, Isabel Spencer, José Miguel Fernander Alberto, an evangelical gardener, returns to his hometown for the funeral of his father, murdered by an influential man. To mourn the dead man, he is forced to participate in religious celebrations that go against both his will and his beliefs. LA EDUCACIÓN DEL REY (REY’S EDUCATION) SANTIAGO ESTEVES (ARGENTINA – SPAIN) Cast: Germán De Silva, Matías Encinas, Jorge Prado, Mario Jara, Martín Arrojo, Elena Schnell, Marcelo Lacerna, Esteban Lamothe Films in Progress 30 Bolting from his first ever heist, Reynaldo Galíndez, alias ‘Rey’, lands in the patio of the house inhabited by Carlos Vargas, a retired security guard. Vargas offers a deal: the young boy will repair the damage to his home in return for not being handed over to the police. The lessons given to the teenager by the former guard develop into a relationship not unlike the old legends of educating a king (for the “Rey” of his name, meaning “king”). But the agreement will start to fall apart when the loose ends of the robbery Reynaldo had been involved in start closing in around them. Films in Progress Industry Award and CAACI / Ibermedia TV Films in Progress Award in 2016. LA FAMILIA GUSTAVO RONDÓN CÓRDOVA (VENEZUELA – CHILE – NORWAY) Cast: Giovanny Garcia, Reggie Reyes Films in Progress 30 Twelve year-old Pedro roams the streets with his friends in the violent urban atmosphere of a working-class district of Caracas. When Pedro seriously injures another boy in a fight, his single father, Andrés, decides that they must make a run for it and hide. Although Andrés will realise that as a father he is incapable of controlling his son, the situation will bring them closer than they have ever been. LA NOVIA DEL DESIERTO ( THE DESERT BRIDE) CECILIA ATÁN, VALERIA PIVATO (ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Paulina García, Claudio Rissi Films in Progress 31 Teresa (54) has worked for decades as a live-in maid in Buenos Aires. When the family sells the house, she is forced to take a job in a distant town. Though not particularly comfortable with the idea, she embarks on a journey through the desert. During her first stop in the land of the miracle-producing ‘Difunta Correa’ saint, she loses her bag with all her belongings. This incident leads her to cross paths with a travelling salesman, the only person who can help her. What seemed like the end of her world will prove to be her salvation. LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL (APRIL’S DAUGHTERS) MICHEL FRANCO (MEXICO) Cast: Emma Suárez, Ana Valeria Becerril, Hernán Mendoza, Joanna Larequi, Enrique Arrizon, Iván Cortés, Giovanna Zacarías, José Ángel García, Tony Dalton Valeria is 17 and pregnant. She lives in Puerto Vallarta with her step-sister Clara. Valeria doesn’t want April – the mother they haven’t seen for some time – to find out about her pregnancy. However Clara, compelled by financial difficulties and the responsibilities of having a baby in the house, decides to call her. Abril arrives with the intention of helping her daughters, but we soon understand why Valeria would have preferred her to stay away. LAS OLAS (THE WAVES) ADRIÁN BINIEZ (URUGUAY – ARGENTINA) Cast: Alfonso Tort, Julieta Zylberberg, Fabiana Charlo, Victoria Jorge, Ilana Hojman Films in Progress 30 Alfonso leaves work and heads for the beach. He dives into the sea and starts swimming. He surfaces on a beach where he and his family had been on holiday five years earlier. This is the start of a fantastic voyage through the different holidays and resorts he has visited during his lifetime: as a boy with his parents, on a mysterious island with his ex-wife, as a teenager with his friends, with Malaysian pirates and when camping in the same place with two different girlfriends in two consecutive years. LOS PERROS MARCELA SAID (CHILE – FRANCE) Cast: Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro, Rafael Spregelburd, Alejandro Sieveking Films in Progress 31 Mariana (42) belongs to the Chilean upper class; she spends her days managing an art gallery and learning how to ride a horse. Her riding instructor, Juan, 20 years her senior, is an ex-cavalry officer known as El Coronel, under investigation for human rights abuses committed during the Chilean dictatorship. When Mariana embarks on a romance with her mysterious teacher, she finds herself caught up in a complex situation from which she is loathe to escape on discovering her father’s close relationship with the man being investigated. MEDEA ALEXANDRA LATISHEV (COSTA RICA – ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Liliana Biamonte, Javier Montenegro, Eric Calderón Films in Progress 30 María José’s life swings back and forth between the monotony of classes at the university, her eternally distant parents, rugby training and dares with her gay friend. Emotionally disconnected from her environment, when she meets Javier she tries to start a relationship with him. But none of her efforts to live a ‘normal’ life succeed. She harbours a secret that nobody notices: she’s a few months into her pregnancy. TEMPORADA DE CAZA (HUNTING SEASON ) NATALIA GARAGIOLA (ARGENTINA) Cast: Lautaro Bettoni, Germán Palacios, Boy Olmi, Rita Pauls Films in Progress 31 Nahuel is a teenager with an innate violent conduct. After his mother dies, he travels to Patagonia in Southern Argentina, where he encounters his biological father, who he hasn’t seen for more than a decade. Ernesto is a respected hunting guide who lives in the mountains with his second wife and daughters. The reunion is not an easy one, pride and resentment prevail in both father and son. They stubbornly resist any possible contact with one another. However, as the weeks go by and winter settles in, Nahuel starts giving in. Initial hostility gives place to curiosity, both towards his father’s universe of hunting and the life of a group of teenagers that he meets in the area. On his side, Ernesto’s roughness gives in to the undeniable love he has for his son…
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6 Films in Films in Progress 32 at 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_23805" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] FERRUGEM / HUST[/caption] Six films have been selected for Films in Progress 32 at 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival: Agosto by Armando Capó (Costa Rica – Cuba – France); Ferrugem / Hust by Aly Muritiba (Brazil), Kairos, by Nicolás Buenaventura (France – Colombia), Familia sumergida (Immersed Family) by María Alche (Argentina – Brazil – Germany), Niña errante (Wandering Girl) by Rubén Mendoza (Colombia – France) and Rodantes (Wanderers) by Leandro Lara (Brazil – USA). Some of the directors presenting their works in Films in Progress have already participated in San Sebastian, such as Armando Capó, whose project Agosto (August) was selected for the III Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum where it won the EGEDA Award for Best Project, and Aly Muritiba, selected for the I Co-Production Forum with his project Para minha amada morta / To my Beloved (formerly O homen que matou a minha amada morta / To my Beloved Dead), which went on to participate in Films in Progress 26 and later in Horizontes Latinos 2015. Muritiba also revisited the Forum in 2016 with his project Barba ensopada de sangue / Blood-Drenched Beard. Films in Progress is the program of subsidies to Latin American cinema which, held twice yearly, is organized jointly by the San Sebastian Festival and Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse. Created in 2002, the event has become a platform for the international launch of new talents and a mandatory meeting place for the Latin American audiovisual industry. In total, eight of the films presented at past editions in San Sebastian and Toulouse will be screened in New Directors and Horizontes Latinos. Two of the films which participated in Films in Progress 31 in Toulouse, La novia del desierto (The Desert Bride), by first-time directors Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato, and Los Perros, second feature from Marcela Said, were selected respectively for Un Certain Regard and the Critics’ Week at the last Festival de Cannes. Furthermore, La familia, first work by Gustavo Rondón, screened at Films in Progress 30, also participated in this last section. As well as those already mentioned, Medea by Alexandra Latishev, Las olas (The Waves) by Adrián Biniez and La Educación del Rey (Rey’s Education) by Santiago Esteves, winner of the Industry Award, participated in the last edition of Films in Progress at San Sebastian; and Temporada de caza (Hunting Season) by Natalia Garagiola – Films in Progress Toulouse 2017 – will participate in Horizontes Latinos. Princesita (Princess) by Marialy Rivas, selected for Films in Progress in 2015, will compete in the New Directors section.
2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival Films in Progress 32
AGOSTO (AUGUST) ARMANDO CAPÓ RAMOS (COSTA RICA – CUBA – FRANCE) August, 1994, Cuba. Carlos (aged 14) was expecting a normal summer, but the country is thrown into chaos: the government policies change and thousands of Cubans take to the sea, hoping to escape. Friends leave, families separate, emotions are experienced for the first time. Nothing will be as it was before. FAMILIA SUMERGIDA (IMMERSED FAMILY) MARÍA ALCHÉ (ARGENTINA – BRAZIL – GERMANY) Marcela’s world becomes strange and fragile when her sister Rina dies. She feels lost in her own home and the connections with her close family circle are disjointed. One day her daughter’s young friend Nacho arrives at the house when his business trip is cancelled, and together they share conversations and strolls. Marcela is summoned to a meeting by a distant relation, while in her home she has discussions with members of her family who are in another dimension. FERRUGEM / HUST ALY MURITIBA (BRAZIL) Tati and Renet were already trading pics, videos and music by their cell phones, and on the last school trip they started making eye contact. However, what could have been the beginning of a love story becomes the end. KAIROS NICOLÁS BUENAVENTURA (FRANCE – COLOMBIA) Cali, Colombia. Amaranto, 60, was made redundant from his job as a cashier in a bank several years ago, yet he continues to come to his former workplace to perform menial tasks. The day an armoured van has to urgently deliver an important amount of cash, Amaranto is presented with the opportunity to commit a robbery as simple as it is extraordinary. NIÑA ERRANTE (WANDERING GIRL) RUBÉN MENDOZA (COLOMBIA – FRANCE) Angela is 12 and has 3 step-sisters approaching their thirties; the four meet for the first time when summoned for the death of a charismatic waster: their daddy. Angela has never lived with anyone other than her daddy and has no recollection of her mummy. Her sisters will leave her on the other side of the country with an aunt to prevent the social services from taking her in. On this voyage of mourning, particularly while sharing a room in a rundown roadside hotel, Angela, whose body is starting to wake up, recognises in each of her sisters their feminity, their sensuality, the mysteries of pleasure and pain, the body, misfortune and the challenge of being a woman on these roads. RODANTES (WANDERERS) LEANDRO LARA (BRAZIL – USA) Rodantes chronicles the lives of three characters: Tatiane, a young woman who leaves São Paulo in an attempt to rebuild her life after an unresolved past; Odair, a young man in the midst of sexual discoveries who takes risks when he leaves his parental home; and Henry, a Haitian immigrant who, after the death of his wife, struggles to survive with his two young children amid the progress and poverty of Brazil. They occasionally meet in the state of Rondônia, in the middle of chaos, with no other involvement than their condition of wanderers.
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2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Unveils First Wave of Films, Can Evrenol’s HOUSEWIFE to Open Fest

[caption id="attachment_23809" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] HOUSEWIFE[/caption] The 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival returns to New York City October 12th till the 15th, announced the first wave of the line-up, which boasts exciting films, dynamic events and more venues, expanding the festival’s activities. “This year we’ve grown to a four-day festival and are very excited to be extending our reach to audiences beyond North Brooklyn, into Downtown Brooklyn and Crown Heights,” says fest director Justin Timms. “Starting with our opening night at the new Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Brooklyn we’ve also added Nitehawk Cinema, LIU Kumble Theater, Film Noir Cinema & Video Revival this year to go along with our key theaters from last year Wythe Hotel Cinema, Videology Bar & Cinema and Spectacle Theater.” Opening the festival is the North American Premiere of HOUSEWIFE, the newest film from director Can Evrenol who showed immense promise with his brutal 2015 breakthrough BASKIN. HOUSEWIFE tells the tale of a woman – haunted by a horrific childhood incident – who struggles with separating her nightmares from reality after she meets a charismatic psychic with a secret agenda. This year BHFF will present the inaugural FEAR IN FOCUS program! Fear in Focus shines a spotlight on various themes or ideas that are important today. With the current political and global climate, the festival is “beyond excited” to launch this with the Mexican horror program. FEAR IN FOCUS: MEXICO will showcase the hotly anticipated North American Premiere of horror anthology follow-up MEXICO BARBARO 2. Segment director Sergio Tello will be in attendance. Also in the block is the US Premiere of VERONICA, the erotically charged mystery with echoes of early Polanski by directors Carlos Algara & Alejandro Martinez Beltran in which a twisted battle for psychological dominance ensues between a retired psychologist and her patient whom she treats in her isolated home in the woods. Not to be missed is the East Coast Premiere of Victor Dryere’s genuinely unnerving found footage film 1974 which reveals the bizarre and terrifying fate of a missing young couple through a collection of 8 mm tapes and home movies. A much-needed shot in the arm for a tired horror style, Dryere’s film deserves mention alongside found-footage gems like [REC] and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. BHFF also announced an additional five competition features, starting with Tyler MacIntyre’s highly acclaimed TRAGEDY GIRLS. Status obsession has a body count when BFFs Sadie (Brianna Hildebrand, DEADPOOL’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead) and McKayla (Alexandra Shipp, X-MEN APOCALYPSE’s Storm) capture a serial murderer whose exploits they’ve been chronicling on their blog. How do they keep the slaughter spree going so they have more to report on? The answers are both giggly and grisly in a film also featuring a fun supporting turn by comedy big-timer (and producer) Craig Robinson. Festival fans may remember Graham Skipper, star of last year’s Audience Award Winning BEYOND THE GATES, who now returns to BHFF to share his directorial debut, SEQUENCE BREAK, a surreal, absorbing homage to the body-horror cinema and video games of the ’80s. Chase Williamson plays an arcade-game repairman who finds love with a customer (Fabianne Therese) and terror from a mysterious game with a lot more powering it than pixels. Director Graham Skipper will be in attendance for the screening. Surrounded by heightened paranoia and superstition, an evil presence threatens a mother and her infant child in the Alps of 15th century Austria in HAGAZUSSA – A HEATHEN’S CURSE. Is this ancient malevolence an outside force or a product of her psychosis? With stunningly gorgeous photography and atmosphere for days, Lukas Fiegelfeld’s gothic horror fever dream illustrates the dangers associated with dark beliefs and the infestation of fear. A young woman traumatized by a savage attack from her husband begins to hear voices in her apartment. CLEMENTINA, Jimena Monteoliva’s solo directorial debut expertly builds tension, maintaining a sense of unease from the start that creeps higher until the frightening and suffocating shocker of a third act. Cecilia Cartasegna delivers with a classically terrifying portrait of a woman on the edge. Lead actress Cecilia Cartasegna and screenwriter Diego Fleischer will be in attendance for the screening. Take a stroll into despair with the East Coast Premiere of José Pedro Lopes THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS, as two suicidal strangers explore the dark woods together, looking for the best spot to commit suicide all the while debating, what’s the best way to kill yourself? It soon becomes clear that one person isn’t who they say they are. This Portuguese black-and-white-shot nightmare is a unique and disturbing modern take on the slasher film. To start off the 2017 STAGE FRIGHTS program the festival announced two of this year’s live events where the panels of experts will be dissecting fear with sharp wit, whether they’re intoxicated or not. Even the best slasher villain has a better half — a final girl. Final girls are a crucial part of the horror ecosystem, but which one is the best? Which is the funniest? And which has the most questionable taste in weapons? Come hear horror experts make the case for everyone from Jamie Lee Curtis in HALLOWEEN to Neve Campbell in SCREAM to Sigourney Weaver in ALIEN. Participants: Aja Romano (Vox), Kristen Kim (GQ/Village Voice/Vice), Hazel Cills (Jezebel), and Teo Bugbee (Daily Beast). Hosted by Eric Thurm (The Guardian/GQ/The A.V. Club), Drunk Education (the show formerly known as Drunk TED Talks) is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: writers/comics/artists make slideshows about stuff they’re really into, get drunk, and deliver them. Whether it’s the horniness of St. Augustine, the history of mansplaining relayed through the plot of Love Actually, or the way teen girl organizers could have prevented the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Drunk Ed has you covered. To celebrate the release of Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical’s new book about French fantastique filmmaker Jean Rollin, the book’s curator and editor Samm Deighan will be on hand to introduce a special screening of Rollin’s 1971 LE FRISSON DES VAMPIRES, recently restored in HD by Kino Lorber. LOST GIRLS is the first book about the director to be written entirely by women critics, scholars, and film historians. This collection of essays covers the wide range of Rollin’s career from 1968’s LE VIOL DU VAMPIRE through his 2010 swansong, LE MASQUE DE LA MÉDUSE, touching upon his horror, fantasy, crime and sex films—including many lesser seen titles. Before the film, Samm will give a brief introduction examining Rollin’s core themes: his focus on overwhelmingly female protagonists, his use of horror genre and exploitation tropes, his reinterpretations of the fairy tale and fantastique, the influence of crime serials, Gothic literature, the occult and more. HOUSEWIFE (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Turkey / Dir. Can Evrenol Sponsored by Birth.Movies.Death Haunted by the bloodstained memories of a horrific childhood incident, Holly’s struggles with separating her nightmares from reality derail after she meets charismatic psychic with a secret agenda. Capitalizing on the immense promise shown by his brutal 2015 breakthrough BASKIN, writer-director Can Evrenol solidifies himself as horror’s future with this hypnotic and gruesome ode to Bava-esque Italian horror. 1974 (EAST COAST PREMIERE) Mexico / Dir. Victor Dryere Sponsored by El Buho Mezcal Shortly after getting married in 1974, the young couple Altair and Manuel disappeared without a trace in Mexico. Through a collection of 8 mm tapes and home movies, the newlyweds’ fates are revealed in all of their bizarre and terrifying glory. A much-needed shot in the arm for a tired horror style, Mexican filmmaker Victor Dryere’s genuinely unnerving 1974 deserves mention alongside found-footage gems like [REC] and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. MEXICO BARBARO II (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Mexico / Dir. Lex Ortega, Sergio Tello, Diego Cohen, Fernando Urdapilleta, Michel Garza, Carlos Melendez, Ricardo Farías, Christian Cueva, Abraham Sanchez Sponsored by El Buho Mezcal In 2014, the truly demented Mexican filmmaker Lex Ortega assembled his country’s best horror filmmakers for the shocking anthology MEXICO BARBARO. But if you thought that film was gnarly, wait until you get a load of this crazier and wonderfully unhinged follow-up, helmed by an all-new lineup of on-the-rise Mexican horror voices and touching on cannibalism, porn, and historical demons. VERONICA (US PREMIERE) Mexico / Dir. Carlos Algara & Alejandro Martinez Beltran Sponsored by El Buho Mezcal A retired psychologist agrees to take on one more patient under the condition that the young lady move into her isolated home in the woods. A game of secrets and lies ensues as the two women battle for psychological dominance. Mexican co-directors Carlos Algara and Alejandro Martinez-Beltran’s feature debut is an erotically charged mystery with echoes of early Polanski. CLEMENTINA (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Argentina / Dir. Jimena Monteoliva A young woman traumatized by a savage attack from her husband begins to hear voices in her apartment. Jimena Monteoliva’s solo directorial debut expertly builds tension, maintaining a sense of unease from the start that creeps higher until the frightening and suffocating shocker of a third act. Cecilia Cartasegna delivers with a classically terrifying portrait of a woman on the edge. THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS (EAST COAST PREMIERE) Portugal / Dir. José Pedro Lopes Two suicidal strangers explore the Forest of Lost Souls together, looking for the best spot to commit suicide all the while debating, what’s the best way to kill yourself? It soon becomes clear that one person isn’t who they say they are. This black-and-white-shot nightmare is a unique and disturbing modern take on the slasher film. HAGAZUSSA – A HEATHEN’S CURSE (EAST COAST PREMIERE) Germany / Dir. Lukas Fiegelfeld Surrounded by heightened paranoia and superstition, an evil presence threatens a mother and her infant child in the Alps of 15th century Austria. But is this ancient malevolence an outside force or a product of her psychosis? With stunningly gorgeous photography and atmosphere for days, Lukas Fiegelfeld’s gothic horror fever dream illustrates the dangers associated with dark beliefs and the infestation of fear. SEQUENCE BREAK (NY PREMIERE) USA / Dir. Graham Skipper Sponsored by Brooklyn Fireproof Stages Busy genre actor Graham Skipper (RE-ANIMATOR: THE MUSICAL, BEYOND THE GATES, THE MIND’S EYE) makes his feature writing/directing debut with a surreal, absorbing homage to the body-horror cinema and video games of the ’80s. Chase Williamson plays an arcade-game repairman who finds love with a customer (Fabienne Theresa) and terror from a mysterious game with a lot more powering it than pixels. TRAGEDY GIRLS (NY PREMIERE) USA / Dir. Tyler Macintyre Co-Presented by Nitehawk Cinema Status obsession has a body count when BFFs Sadie (Brianna Hildebrand, DEADPOOL’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead) and McKayla (Alexandra Shipp) capture a serial murderer whose exploits they’ve been chronicling on their blog. How do they keep the slaughter spree going so they have more to report on? The answers are both giggly and grisly in a film also featuring a fun supporting turn by Craig Robinson (also a producer). THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES (1971) France / Dir. Jean Rollin In conjunction with the launch of Spectacular Optical’s LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN, book editor Samm Deighan will host a special screening of Rollin’s SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES. Originally released in 1971, the French auteur’s psycho-sexual masterwork demonstrates all of Rollin’s cinematic touchstones: erotic scares, drop-dead-gorgeous bloodsuckers, and ornately shot kink. It’ll turn you into a Rollin disciple if you aren’t one already.
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2017 Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema Winners: Zachary Raines’ ACCIDENTS Wins Top Awards

[caption id="attachment_23801" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Left to right: Mia Arfuso, Francesco Calogero, Rankin Hickman, Zachary Raines, John Siciliani, Jermaine Manigault and Erika Citrin. Photo by Patrick Conti.[/caption] The 2017 Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema which ran August 4 to 13 in Kew Gardens, Queens, and at the Queens Museum in nearby Flushing Meadows Corona Park announced this year’s winners. Accidents directed Zachary Raines was the big winner, snagging the awards for Best Feature Narrative, Best Director of Raines, and Best Supporting Actor for John Siciliani. Accidents is a comedy which follows James, a 17 year-old who has never known his father. He lives upstate with his mother Kate and her boyfriend Nick. Hoping to strengthen their bond, Nick takes James to NYC to meet his father. When this ill-conceived scheme goes awry, James flees to wander the city alone, pursued by two flawed father-figures. From a pool of nearly 400 film submissions, the festival presented over 150 remarkable films from 24 countries. Winners for each competitive category were chosen by the festival’s specially selected jury, and received a unique statuette at the Grand Awards Gala on Sunday, Aug. 13 during a dinner ceremony that took place on the rooftop penthouse of the world-famous Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The jurors who selected the winners were: Rodney Ferrer, director of the critically acclaimed web series “City of Mercy”; actress Marlene Forte (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Dallas”); Sam Adelman, assistant editor on “Donnie Brasco,” “Practical Magic” and “Desperately Seeking Susan”; Tassos Rigopoulos, award-winning Forest Hills filmmaker and assistant professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College; Nicole Tsien, associate producer of the PBS multiple Emmy Award-winning documentary series “POV”; and Allan Knee, writer of “Little Women” on Broadway and the film and stage versions of “Finding Neverland.”
2017 Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema Winners
Best Feature Narrative: ACCIDENTS Best Feature Documentary: THE LAST STOP Best Short Narrative: THE IMMACULATE MISCONCEPTION Best Short Documentary: ALL OR NOTHING Best Experimental/Animation: ONE WAY TOWN Audience Choice Award, Best Feature: SECOND SPRING Audience Choice Award, Best Short: LANGUAGE IS DEAD Best Director: Zachary Raines, ACCIDENTS Best Actress: Elaine Partnow, SLIPAWAY Best Actor: Jordi Vilasuso, THIS MODERN MAN IS BEAT Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Center, ALL I WANT Best Supporting Actor: John Siciliani, ACCIDENTS Best Screenplay: GRAND UNIFIED THEORY Best Cinematography: STANLEY A MAN OF VARIETY Best Editing: DARK MERIDIAN Best Sound Editing: STREETWRITE Best Makeup & FX: STANLEY A MAN OF VARIETY
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2017 Milwaukee Film Festival Unveils Cine Sin Fronteras Lineup, WOODPECKERS, CHAVELA and More

The Cine Sin Fronteras program returns to the 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival for the second year, showcasing the rich and vibrant Latinx diaspora from around the world. This year’s program includes seven feature films and the new shorts program CSF Shorts: Menos es Más. The films come from eight different countries and include Carpinteros (Woodpeckers), the first Dominican film to screen at the Sundance Film Festival; Chavela, a portrait documentary chronicling the dramatic career of legendary singer Chavela Vargas; and Dolores, a documentary exploring the extraordinary life of one of America’s most important labor activist. The 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival will take place at the Landmark Oriental Theatre, Landmark Downer Theatre, Fox-Bay Cinema Grill, Times Cinema, and Avalon Theater from September 28th to October 12th.
2017 Milwaukee Film Festival Cine Sin Fronteras
Carpinteros (Woodpeckers) (Dominican Republic / 2017 / Director: José María Cabral) A love story unlike any other – prisoners in the Dominican Republic’s Najayo prison, separated by concrete, barbed wire, and hundreds of yards, falling for one another without ever speaking a word between them. Dubbed ‘woodpeckers’ for the created language of hand signals that allows men and women to bridge this physical divide (100% real, by the way), star-crossed lovers Julian and Yanelly pursue love despite guards, worsening conditions, and a murderous ex that remains on the inside. Verite grit combines with sensual performances to make Carpinteros a pulse-pounding romantic delight. https://vimeo.com/198679519 Chavela (USA / 2017 / Directors: Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi) If you’ve yet to acquaint yourself with the iconoclastic, stereotype-defying career of singer Chavela Vargas, prepare yourself for a documentary that ensures you will never forget her journey from fame to alcohol-fueled obscurity and back again. Taking the masculine world of Mexico’s ranchera music by storm with her unmistakable voice (fiercely passionate and deeply moving) while challenging gender norms with her mode of dress and stage presentation (with partners such as Frida Kahlo), Chavela’s singular personality is given proper tribute by this riveting and soulful portrait. https://vimeo.com/202123182 CSF Shorts: Menos es Más El Buzo (México / 2015 / Director: Esteban Arrangoiz) Hermanas En Ruedas (USA / 2017 / Director: Amberly Alene Ellis) Leche (USA / 2015 / Director: Gabriella A. Moses) La Madre Buena (México / 2016 / Director: Sarah Clift) El Maquinador (Argentina / 2015 / Director: Pablo Latorre) Otro Corto (Puerto Rico / 2016 / Director: Heixan Robles) Undesirables (USA / 2016 / Director: Angela Rosales Challis) Divinas Divas (Brazil / 2016 / Director: Leandra Leal) In 1960’s Brazil, the iconic first generation of drag queens took the stage at the Rival Theatre, one of the only venues that gave shelter to these performers, many of whom became famous the world over. 50 years later, eight of these magnificent drag performers are returning to the Rival for a cabaret curtain call, a celebration of those that helped challenge gender norms and smash gender roles in a repressive society, in this ravishing documentary filled with show-stopping performance and tender insight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDetz7OSTjA Dolores (USA / 2017 / Director: Peter Bratt) Trailer: http://bit.ly/2w3zYRD Dolores Huerta is the most important activist in American history that you’ve never heard of. An equal partner alongside Cesar Chavez in organizing the first farmworkers unions (eventually becoming the UFW), Huerta fought ceaselessly to protect the rights of jornaleros, mujeres, and all whom those in power would seek to exploit. Even at the age of 87, she remains a stridently feminist, uncompromising firebrand. Combining archival footage with unprecedented intimate access, Dolores finally gives this titan of American activism the tribute she so richly deserves.
Esteban (Cuba / 2016 / Director: Jonal Cosculluela) Nine-year-old Esteban ekes out an existence with his single mother on the streets of Havana, but he dreams of a brighter future thanks to his natural affinity for music. When a cantankerous old piano instructor makes his way into the young boy’s life, Esteban looks to seize this opportunity even if it means going against his mother’s wishes. A winning portrait of perseverance with an absurdly charming performance at its center, Esteban is a story for anyone who believes in the power of music to change one’s life. https://youtu.be/cYwCngfWZQ8 Extra Terrestres (Puerto Rico / Venezuela / 2016 / Director: Carla Cavina) Teresa, returning to her Puerto Rican home after seven years away studying astrophysics, has picked the worst possible time to come out by revealing her impending nuptials to her traditional family: Their poultry business is under attack from unscrupulous government officials and rival companies, while her sister struggles to reign in her precocious young son’s constant experimentation around the house. Cosmic interludes combine with intimate family drama to form a winning portrait of life and love that is literally out of this world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-8V4cB-D-k El Sueño de Mara’akame (Mara’akame’s Dream) (México / 2016 / Directors: Federico Cecchetti) While Nieri, a young native Huichol, sees his impending trip to Mexico City with his father as an opportunity to perform alongside friends in their beloved rock band, his dad has other ideas – he’s a Mara’akame, a Huichol shaman, and cultural tradition stipulates Nieri to undergo a spiritual journey in order to follow in his footsteps. Once in the big city, Nieri must settle the struggle between modernity and indigeneity in order to find himself in this eye-opening glimpse into the Huichol traditions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w72f67Zn9U
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Actress Susan Sarandon to Receive Honorary Maverick Award at 2017 Woodstock Film Festival

Susan Sarandon in Blackbird

Actress Susan Sarandon will receive the honorary Maverick Award at this year’s 2017 Woodstock Film Festival.

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BATTLE OF THE SEXES, Starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, to Have its European Premiere at BFI London Film Festival | Trailer

The Battle Of The Sexes, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, will receive its European Premiere as the American Express Gala at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival on Saturday October 7 at London’s Odeon Leicester Square. Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough, Elisabeth Shue, directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, and the legendary Billie Jean King are expected to attend the premiere. In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women’s movement, the 1973 tennis match between women’s world champion Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men’s-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the Battle Of The Sexes and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today. Starring Academy Award® winner Emma Stone and Academy Award® nominee Steve Carell as 1970’s tennis greats Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Battle Of The Sexes is directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton from a screenplay by Academy Award® winner Simon Beaufoy. Battle Of The Sexes also stars Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming and Academy Award® nominee Elisabeth Shue. Twentieth Century Fox will release the film across the UK and Ireland on November 24, 2017. The 61st BFI London Film Festival takes place from Wednesday October 4 to Sunday October 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3NCf0GUwFo
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John Ridley’s ‘Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992’ Among 10 Films on 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival Black Lens Lineup

[caption id="attachment_23765" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992[/caption] The Black Lens program returns to the 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival featuring documentary and fiction films by African American filmmakers that explore a range of topics rooted in the black community and are relevant to all. The lineup includes Academy Award winner and Milwaukee Film Board Member John Ridley’s new documentary Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, a 20th anniversary, 35mm screening of the classic film Love Jones, and two shorts programs titled Black Lens Shorts: Family Matters and Black Lens Shorts: Lost & Found. Geraud Blanks, Black Lens co-programmer states, “Adding additional films, including two shorts programs, means a greater diversity of voices and perspectives. We have more women and mixed-race directors, writers, and producers than ever before, in-large part because of our ability to expand our programming this year. The added room also made honoring Love Jones and bringing Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 back to Milwaukee possible without eliminating deserving films from emerging filmmakers.” “The addition of a second shorts program is exciting, as it helps us to strengthen the mission of Black Lens,” states Donte McFadden, Black Lens co-programmer. “We want to make Black Lens a destination for African American filmmakers to screen their work. The shorts program allows for us to introduce many emerging filmmakers from across the country and allows Milwaukee residents the chance to see films that they wouldn’t see anywhere else.” The 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival will take place at the Landmark Oriental Theatre, Landmark Downer Theatre, Fox-Bay Cinema Grill, Times Cinema, and Avalon Theater from September 28th – October 12th.
2017 Milwaukee Film Festival Black Lens Program
72 Hours: A Brooklyn Love Story? (USA / 2017 / Director: Raafi Rivero) Three short days separate 18-year-old Caesar from leaving Brooklyn for a prestigious upstate university. But between his long-time girlfriend calling it quits and his crew already planning for his imminent exit, Caesar finds himself pulled between the comfort of a world he’s always known and the exciting promise of a bright future. A vibrant, textured work that powerfully captures the dizzying nuance of teen love and the thrum of a rapidly-changing borough, 72 Hours is an exacting portrait of what it means to be young, gifted and black. ACORN and the Firestorm (USA / 2017 / Directors: Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard) It’s a story whose reverberations will be felt across the political landscape for many years to come: ACORN, America’s largest grass-roots community organization (teaching low- and medium-income families across the nation to advocate for themselves), shuttered by a pair of amateur journalists posing as a pimp and prostitute, igniting a media firestorm that helped spawn the Breitbart News empire. This real-life political thriller does much to explain our current divisive state, persuasively drawing a line from ACORN’s bankruptcy to our polarized present and its constant cries of “fake news.” Black Lens Shorts: Family Matters An evening of shorts that tackle the notion of family in all of its complicated glory – whether it’s protecting the ones you love, leaning on them for support, bringing each other together or tearing each other apart, these shorts (alternately funny, thrilling and sad – just like family itself!) have something for everyone! Amelia’s Closet (USA / 2016 / Director: Halima Lucas) Cul-De-Sac (USA / 2016 / Director: Damon Russell) Gema (USA / 2016 / Director: Kendrick Prince) The Homecoming (USA / 2016 / Director: Paulina Bugembe) Night Shift (USA / 2017 / Director: Marshall Tyler) New Neighbors (USA / 2017 / Director: E. G. Bailey) Black Lens Shorts: Lost & Found This second series of Black Lens shorts at this year’s MFF showcase the infinite possibilities in the world of contemporary black filmmaking – watch these characters undergo a journey of discovery (in search of acceptance, love, recognition, and more) while covering a wide array of topics ranging from gun violence and love to classic folklore and the radical art of self-acceptance. A fascinating night at the movies. 90 Days (USA / 2016 / Directors: Jennia Fredrique Aponte, Nathan Hale Williams) Dear Mr. Shakespeare (USA / 2016 / Director: Shola Amoo) The Forever Tree (UK / 2017 / Director: Alrick Brown) Hold On (USA / 2017 / Director: Christine Turner) See You Yesterday (USA / 2017 / Director: Stefon Bristol) #WhereIsBeauty (USA / 2016 / Director: Angela McCrae) You Can Go (USA / 2016 / Director: Christine Turner) Destined (USA / 2016 / Director: Qasim Basir) One unforgettable moment in a young man’s childhood in Detroit creates two startlingly alternate paths: in one, he’s Rasheed, an ambitious architect seeking to ascend the corporate ladder, while in the other he’s Sheed, a drug kingpin who has remained on the streets of his childhood, seeking to exert his will over them. A gripping urban crime thriller with a unique approach to cinematic storytelling, Destined weaves between these two stories, each echoing and diverging from one another in mysterious ways, with both Rasheed and Sheed moving inexorably towards their ultimate fate. Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 (USA / 2017 / Director: John Ridley) 25 years later, the Rodney King verdict and the subsequent riots are still etched in our minds. Culminating a decade of struggle with a justice system unequipped to deal with issues of race and class, the riots seem both entirely preventable and utterly unavoidable. Director John Ridley (Jimi: All Is By My Side, MFF14; Milwaukee Film Board Member) avoids simple moralizing or tidy conclusions as he examines the lead-up to and events of that day, instead letting those who lived through the experience speak for themselves in this heartbreaking portrait whose power is only magnified on the big screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JGY-GjzKp4 Like Cotton Twines (USA / 2016 / Director: Leila Djansi) American volunteer Micah sees his teaching job in Ghana as an opportunity to reconnect with his ancestral roots while also helping young Ghanaians reach their fullest potential. But when 14-year-old Tuigi, one of his brightest students, must abandon her studies in exchange for a life as a sex slave as recompense for her father’s transgressions, Micah finds himself stuck in the middle of a culture clash, desperate to extricate Tuigi from the cycles of history and tradition that threaten to swallow her whole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKgApSQohI Love Jones (USA / 1997 / Director: Theodore Witcher) Nina (Nia Long) is not looking for love when she meets Darius (Larenz Tate) at a poetry slam. Despite the scorching chemistry that instantly ignites, both insist the relationship is purely physical and certainly not a case of the love jones. A witty, sexy portrait of young Black love and romance (set in a middle-class, bohemian milieu that Hollywood still struggles to showcase 20 years on) that is a generational classic, this film will receive a rare 35mm screening at the historic Oriental Theatre! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNMoQ_Cqt4E Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (USA / 2017 / Director: Stanley Nelson) Over the course of 150 years, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have paved the way for Black intellectuals, revolutionaries, and artists alike to pursue higher education and defy stereotypes among their peers in an unapologetically Black environment. Now the remarkable story of their role in African-American history is finally told. Fest alum Stanley Nelson (The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, MFF15) returns with this captivating panorama of HBCUs from their conception to the modern day, a stirring portrait of perseverance in pursuit of knowledge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hmqpAzjRo Unrest (USA / 2017 / Director: Jennifer Brea) 28-year-old Jennifer Brea is in the prime of her life as a PhD student and soon-to-be newlywed, when a sudden fever leaves her perpetually bedridden and desperate for answers. A host of unsatisfactory diagnoses lead her to discover an abandoned online community of those similarly afflicted (with what is commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). A medical mystery nestled in an intensely personal portrait of a husband and wife’s healing journey, Unrest shines a light on a condition that confounds the medical community through its panoply of personal perspectives on suffering.
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Napa Valley Film Festival Announces Narrative and Documentary Feature Films in Competition

[caption id="attachment_23761" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] I Can I Will I Did[/caption] The 7th annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF), scheduled to take place November 8 – 12, today announced its Narrative and Documentary Feature Film lineups in core competition. The 18 films in NVFF’s core competition categories will vie for the titles of Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature, as determined by the juries. The directors of these 18 films will participate in NVFF’s unique Artists-in-Residence (AIR) Program that includes a six-night stay at the luxury resort Meadowood Napa Valley. The residency includes master classes and break out sessions with industry leaders as well as social and networking opportunities at special events throughout the festival. “We’re excited about the creative storytelling, diverse story lines, and inspirational themes represented in the narrative and documentary features in our core competition films this year,” said Marc Lhormer, NVFF Co-Founder and Artistic Director. “We look forward to hosting these talented filmmakers for the seventh installment of our unique Artists-in-Residence Program at Meadowood Napa Valley and introducing them and their films to our appreciative audiences.”
NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION
American Folk – Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, embark on a road trip to New York in the days following 9/11. Starring Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth. Directed by David Heinz. Northern California Premiere. The Boy Downstairs – A young woman is forced to reflect on a past relationship when she inadvertently moves into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment building. Starring Zosia Mamet and Matthew Shear. Directed by Sophie Brooks. Napa Premiere. The House of Tomorrow – The House of Tomorrow conveys the incredible story of futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster through one teen’s quest to join a punk bank and survive high school. Starring Maude Apatow, Ellen Burstyn, Asa Butterfield, Nick Offerman, Alex Wolff. Directed by Peter Livolsi. Napa Premiere. I Can I Will I Did – Ben, a dejected young man in the foster system, finds himself immobilized after a horrible accident. His recovery process is slow until he meets a fellow patient at the hospital who breathes hope into his life and introduces him to her grandfather, Taekwondo Master Kang. Starring Mike Faist, Ik Jo Kang, Ellie Lee. Directed by Nadine Truong. Northern California Premiere People You May Know – People You May Know follows Jed, a 30-something introvert who has managed to abstain from social media, until he realizes that the life he can fake is much more interesting than the life he actually leads. Starring Nicholas Rutherford, Halston Sage, Kaily Smith Westbrook, Nick Thune and Usher. Directed by Sherwin Shilati. Napa Premiere. The Sounding – On a remote island off the coast of Maine, Liv, after years of silence, weaves a unique language out of Shakespeare’s words. A driven neurologist, brought to the island to protect her, commits her to a psychiatric hospital where she fights for her voice and her freedom. Starring Catherine Eaton, Teddy Sears and Harris Yulin. Directed by Catherine Eaton. Napa Premiere. Stuck – A New York City subway train stops in the tunnel beneath the city with six complete strangers stuck inside the rear car. The emotions of the trapped, frustrated passengers explode, as the subway car becomes a kind of magical, musical, conduit cell. Starring Ashanti, Omar Chaparro, Arden Cho, Giancarlo Esposito and Amy Madigan. Directed by Michael Berry. Northern California Premiere. Tater Tot & Patton – A wayward millennial is sent into isolation on a South Dakota ranch, derailing her Uncle’s alcoholic spiral and forcing him to face his consuming grief. Starring Jessica Rothe, Forrest Weber and Bates Wilder. Directed by Andrew Kightlinger. Northern California Premiere Quest – Mills, an abused 12-year-old graffiti addict, and Tim, a humble middle school teacher, form an uneasy friendship when Tim recognizes that Mills poor behavior is merely a cry for help. Tim is willing to sacrifice his job, reputation and relationships in order to win the child’s trust. Starring Betsy Brandt, Dash Mihok, Lou Diamond Phillips and Lakeith Stanfield. Directed by Santiago Rizzo. West Coast Premiere
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
ACORN and the Firestorm – ACORN, America’s largest grassroots community organizing group, became a major player in the 2008 presidential election that resulted in Barack Obama’s victory. Big businesses, Republicans, and Right-wing activists took issue with the group and attempted to strike back. The ensuing political drama has served as a prescient foreshadowing of today’s political climate. Directed by Reuben Atlas and Samuel D. Pollard. California Premiere Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise – Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise investigates themes of female friendship, personal freedom, harassment, rape and empowerment. Our guides on this journey are female and male filmgoers who, in 1991, wrote letters sharing their thoughts and feelings about Thelma & Louise. They revisit their original impressions, comparing them with how they feel today. Directed by Jennifer Townsend. Northern California Premiere Coyote – Coyote documents the inspiring story of legendary American sailor, Mike Plant. Despite all that he accomplishes in sailing, Plant’s heart is never satisfied. His final creation, Coyote, a radically designed vessel built on the edge of speed and safety, symbolizes Plant’s course in life: running before the wind, always with an eye to the sea. Directed by Thomas Simmons. Northern California Premiere A Fine Line – A Fine Line explores why on 6% of head chefs and restaurant owners are women, when traditionally women have always held the central role in the kitchen and influenced many of the greatest male chefs. This opens a dialogue on gender inequality, motherhood and career balance, and how this inequity in the kitchen is representative of industries across the board. Directed by Joanna James. West Coast Premiere The Gateway Bug – Over 2 billion people on earth eat insects for protein. The Gateway Bug explores how changing daily eating habits can feed humanity in an uncertain age, one meal at a time. Directed by Johanna B. Kelly. Napa Premiere. Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies – The undisclosed story of Alan Ladd Jr., producer and former 20th Century Fox chairman, the movie mogul who green lit films such as Star Wars, Blade Runner and Alien. Directed by Amanda Ladd-Jones (Ladd’s daughter). Northern California Premiere Mighty Ground – With the help of unlikely friendships along the way, a homeless songwriter tries to kick a hard-core crack addiction and escape the grisly streets of skid row via his love of music. Directed by Delila Vallot. Northern California Premiere Skid Row Marathon – A criminal court judge starts a running club comprised of homeless drug addicts, a recovering single mom and a paroled murderer on L.A.’s notorious skid row. As they train together to run in international marathons, they learn to dream big as they are re-acquainted with their own dignity. Directed by Mark Hayes. Northern California Premiere The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin – The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin honors beloved storyteller Armistead Maupin, and chronicles his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels inspired millions to re-claim their lives. Directed by Jennifer M. Kroot. Napa Premiere.
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RAINBOW – A PRIVATE AFFAIR plus 10 More Films Among 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Masters Program

[caption id="attachment_23755" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Rainbow – A Private Affair[/caption] The lineup for the Masters program of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival will feature a slate of 11 films, including an outstanding list of prolific filmmakers known for taking stylistic and thematic risks with their work, including Alanis Obomsawin, the first and only First Nations female filmmaker to be featured in the Masters program. “These are some of the greatest and most respected filmmakers working today, and we are excited to bring their latest films to TIFF audiences,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “This year’s Masters programme is a master class in creating bold, groundbreaking films that leave a mark on our cultural landscape.” Paolo and Vittorio Taviani bring the World Premiere of Rainbow – A Private Affair to TIFF. This classical piece of filmmaking tells the story of a young love triangle in Italy during the Second World War. Now in their 80s, the Taviani brothers have written or directed more than 20 films together and have won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Lucrecia Martel, one of the most important filmmakers from Latin America and a reference point for international cinema, is also featured in the lineup. Her latest offering, Zama, is a cinematic masterpiece with a unique language and a particular point of view that reinforce her status as a master of the craft. Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen), is a timely and touching film that follows a young Syrian seeking refuge in Finland as he searches for his sister. The film earned Kaurismäki the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. Veterans of the industry, these filmmakers bring decades of experience as screenwriters, directors, producers, film critics and actors. Collectively, they have produced feature films, documentaries, short films, television series, theatre productions and art installations. Many have received or been nominated for jury prizes at international film festivals, while others have served as members of juries. Known to challenge audiences, these filmmakers are true masters of the craft and are sure to excite and inspire audiences with their latest entries in the 2017 TIFF Masters programme. The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
2017 Toronto International Film Festival Masters Program
The Day After (Geu-hu) Hong Sangsoo, South Korea North American Premiere Faces Places (Visages Villages) Agnès Varda, JR, France Canadian Premiere First Reformed Paul Schrader, USA Canadian Premiere Happy End Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany North American Premiere The House by the Sea (La Villa) Robert Guédiguian, France North American Premiere Loveless (Nelyubov) Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia/France/Belgium/Germany Canadian Premiere The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen) Aki Kaurismäki, Finland/Germany Canadian Premiere Our People Will Be Healed Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World Premiere *Previously announced with the Canadian feature lineup Rainbow – A Private Affair (Una questione privata) Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Italy/France World Premiere The Third Murder (Sandome no Satsujin) Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan North American Premiere Zama Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Brazil/Spain/France/Netherlands/Mexico/Portugal/USA North American Premiere
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2017 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Wavelengths Program of 40 Avant-Garde Films

[caption id="attachment_23758" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Mrs. Fang[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival’s 17th edition of Wavelengths — its uncompromising, carefully curated, avant-garde showcase — will feature 40 films, which unite internationally celebrated and emerging artists with some of today’s most important, influential and risk-taking filmmakers. Wavelengths is comprised of four programs of experimental short films and videos, three resonant pairings, and nine stand-alone features — each displaying its own radical approach to the art of cinema. Some of the highlights include Véréna Paravel and Lucien CastaingTaylor’s gripping and unsettling work of sensory ethnography, Caniba, about the notorious Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa and his remarkable relationship with his brother; Narimane Mari’s category-defying follow-up to her debut feature, Bloody Beans, Le Fort des fous, a scathing, subversive and shape-shifting indictment of European colonialism, past and present; Ben Russell’s exquisite, intercontinental mining documentary Good Luck, shot in Super 16mm in Serbia and Suriname; and Pedro Pinho’s FIPRESCI winning, left-leaning The Nothing Factory, which premiered at this year’s Quinzaine des réalisateurs. Wavelengths will also present the innovative 3D feature PROTOTYPE by Toronto-based Wavelengths alumnus Blake Williams; Occidental, the neo(n)-noir second feature by acclaimed contemporary artist-filmmaker Neïl Beloufa; and Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼), the CCTV-sourced feature debut by leading Chinese artist Xu Bing. Other highlights include the World Premiere of Anna Marziano’s deeply moving and mysterious essay-film Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno), as well as new films by master filmmakers Bruno Dumont and Denis Côté. The programme also features Wang Bing’s powerful, sobering and intimate Mrs. Fang, about a woman with Alzheimer’s dying days in a southern village in China, and Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias’ astonishing Cocote, which follows an evangelical gardener’s eye-opening homecoming as he attends his father’s funeral and grapples with religious belief and ritual. Both were recent winners at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival, where they received the Golden Leopard for Best Film and the Signs of Life Award, respectively. Short-film highlights include terrific new films and videos by Michael Robinson, Rosa Barba, Fern Silva, Wojciech Bąkowski, Jodie Mack, Laura Huertas Millán, Baloise Art Prize–winner Sara Cwynar, local performance artist Francesco Gagliardi, Dan Browne, Yoni Brook and Pacho Velez, Luis López Carrasco, Helga Fanderl, Friedl vom Gröller, Dane Komljen, André Lehmann, Kazik Radwanski and more. As always, Wavelengths will include historical work; this year’s archival selections are Florence (1970), by the late Finnish computer-art maverick and electronic musician Erkki Kurenniemi, and disarming diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson’s Pixillation (1976), which was recently restored by the Harvard Film Archive. A number of filmmakers included in this year’s Whitney Biennial will also present films at Wavelengths, including Dani Leventhal and Sheilah Wilson, Kevin Jerome Everson and Sky Hopinka.
SHORT FILM PROGRAMS

Wavelengths 1: Appetite for Destruction
As pessimistic prognoses flood in during our age of decline, dictatorships and devastation, this sweeping appetite for destruction also fuels rebellious — even mischievous — forms of resistance and necessary counter-investigation. Onward Lossless Follows Michael Robinson, USA some cities Francesco Gagliardi, Canada The Watchmen Fern Silva, USA Wasteland No.1 – Ardent, Verdant Jodie Mack, USA Phantasiesätze (Fantasy Sentences) Dane Komljen, Germany/Denmark Dislocation Blues Sky Hopinka, Ho-Chunk Nation/USA
Wavelengths 2: Fluid Frontiers
A newly restored and astonishing short by film diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson launches this programme of portraits and homages, with links to notions of home and heritage. Pixillation Anne Charlotte Robertson, USA (Restoration courtesy of Harvard Film Archive) Ticino Friedl vom Gröller, Austria/Italy Brown And Clear Kevin Jerome Everson, USA Turtles Are Always Home (Sokun Al Sulhufat) Rawane Nassif, Canada/Lebanon/Qatar Configuration in Black and White Helga Fanderl, Germany Fire Lucy Parker, United Kingdom From Source to Poem Rosa Barba, Germany Fluid Frontiers Ephraim Asili, USA/Canada
Wavelengths 3: Figures in the Landscape
There is much to manoeuvre in the world. When quotidian objects seemingly conspire against and constrict our movement, inevitably slowing us down in an over-accelerated world, attendant shifts in meaning and interventions can propose unforeseen detours. Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt Pacho Velez, Yoni Brook, USA Yeti Wojciech Bąkowski, Poland (100ft) Minjung Kim, South Korea/USA Heart of a Mountain Parastoo Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko, Faraz Anoushahpour, Taiwan/Canada Rose Gold Sara Cwynar, USA Division Movement to Vungtau Benjamin Crotty, Bertrand Dezoteux, France Flores Jorge Jácome, Portugal
Wavelengths 4: As Above, So Below
Four exceedingly different films, each with its own documentary impulse, suggest rich interplay between metaphoric and physical horizon lines and amid shifting scales: of thread, of light and shadow, of environmental elements, of existential contemplation and of memory. La Libertad Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia/France/USA Palmerston Blvd. Dan Browne, Canada below-above André Lehmann, Switzerland Aliens Luis López Carrasco, Spain
PAIRINGS
Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno) Anna Marziano, France/Italy/Germany World Premiere Preceded by Strangely Ordinary this Devotion Dani Leventhal, Sheilah Wilson, USA International Premiere PROTOTYPE Blake Williams, Canada North American Premiere Preceded by Florence (Firenze) Erkki Kurenniemi, Finland North American Premiere Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft) Denis Côté, Canada/Switzerland North American Premiere Preceded by Scaffold Kazik Radwanski, Canada North American Premiere
FEATURES
Caniba Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France North American Premiere Cocote Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic North American Premiere Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼) Xu Bing, China/USA North American Premiere Good Luck Ben Russell, France/Germany North American Premiere Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc Bruno Dumont, France North American Premiere Le fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Switzerland/Germany/Greece/Qatar North American Premiere Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany North American Premiere Occidental Neïl Beloufa, France North American Premiere The Nothing Factory (A Fábrica De Nada) Pedro Pinho, Portugal North American Premiere Previously announced Wavelengths titles at the Festival include Blake Williams’s PROTOTYPE and Denis Côté’s Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft).
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THE DEUCE, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE Among 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Primetime Program Lineup

[caption id="attachment_23752" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Girlfriend Experience[/caption] The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Primetime program, now in its third year, continues to gain traction in episodic programming with five powerful, dramatic and thought-provoking premieres from countries including Canada, Brazil, Germany and the United States. The 2017 lineup showcases works created by Amy Seimetz, Lodge Kerrigan, Sarah Polley, Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese, David Simon, George Pelecanos, Andrucha Waddington and Jorge Furtado. The program includes Q&A sessions with show creators following each of the first screenings. ” As the lines of length and venue for cinema are dissolving, I feel honored to be presenting some of the most cinematic, episodic content that is out in the world today,” said Michael Lerman, Primetime Programmer. “These shows not only represent great entertainment, but also the level of deep thought and research that can go into a long term storytelling project.” This year’s lineup spotlights intense and provocative series such as The Deuce, starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal — a gritty new drama from David Simon and George Pelecanos (The Wire, Treme) that traces the evolution of the porn industry in NYC’s Times Square in the 1970s. The second season of The Girlfriend Experience, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, is a reimagining of his 2009 critically acclaimed movie of the same name and explores the relationships between escorts and their elite clientele, for whom they provide far more than just sex. Season two focuses on entirely new characters and takes on a new format by following two parallel storylines, each written, directed and executive produced by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz. Adding further global appeal to the lineup, Dark, Netflix’s first German production, is a family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a present-day German town where the disappearance of a teenager exposes the double lives and long-hidden secrets of the local families. Under Pressure chronicles the daily routine of a medical team at a under-equipped and understaffed guerrilla hospital in a poverty-stricken community in Rio de Janeiro. Previously announced series in the Canadian lineup include the CBC/Netflix original production Alias Grace, based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood. The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs September 7 to 17, 2017.
2017 Toronto International Film Festival Primetime program
Dark Germany, 2 episodes Showrunners: Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese Director: Baran bo Odar World Premiere The Deuce USA, 2 episodes Showrunners: David Simon, George Pelecanos Directors: Michelle MacLaren, Ernest Dickerson Episode 1, Canadian Premiere Episode 2, World Premiere The Girlfriend Experience Season 2, USA, 4 episodes Showrunners and directors: Amy Seimetz, Lodge Kerrigan World Premiere Under Pressure Brazil, 2 episodes Showrunners: Andrucha Waddington, Jorge Furtado Directors: Andrucha Waddington, Mini Kerti International Premiere Previously announced series in the Canadian lineup: Alias Grace Canada/USA, 2 episodes Showrunner: Sarah Polley Director: Mary Harron World Premiere
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