A TAXI DRIVER[/caption]
Fantasia will close its 2017 edition with the International Premiere of A TAXI DRIVER, by director Jang Hoon. On May 18th, 1980, one of the darkest chapters in South Korea’s recent history began. Protesting against Chun Doo-hwan’s dictatorship, hundreds of citizens of Gwangju, particularly students, were beaten, arrested or killed by the army who was hiding behind a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign blinding the entire nation. So when struggling single-father Man-seob decides to take a German journalist from Seoul to Gwangju in his taxi to clear off his debts, he has no idea how dangerous their journey will be. Director Jang Hoon has established himself as one of the most talented and versatile Korean filmmakers with award winning films like ROUGH CUT and THE FRONT LINE. Reteaming with Hoon after the action thriller THE SECRET REUNION, legendary actor Song Kang-ho (THE HOST, SNOWPIERCER) delivers one of the strongest performances of his career in this unforgettable historical drama.
The Fantasia Film Festival announced the remainder of its mammoth 2017 film lineup, in addition to its juries and special events.
A tense, nocturnal odyssey of poor decision-making that escalates to a nearly unbearable pitch, the Safdie brothers’ Cannes Competition sensation GOOD TIME is a high-wire exercise in intensity, starring Robert Pattinson in a career-best performance. Tipping their hats to ’70s thrillers, the Safdies’ new film also builds beautifully on their previous effort, HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT – here’s another maddeningly bleak vision of New York City’s underbelly, nonetheless beaming with humanity and authenticity. North American Premiere. Directors in Attendance.
Directed by David Leitch (JOHN WICK, the upcoming DEADPOOL 2), ATOMIC BLONDE, screening in the Action! section, is a blistering blend of sleek action, gritty sexuality, and dazzling neon-drenched style with a cast that includes Charlize Theron, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, and Sofia Boutella. The film boasts one thrilling fight sequence in particular – set in a stairwell and with no cuts – that has already entered the annals of action film history. Official Selection: SXSW 2017. Special Screening.
Fantasia’s Camera Lucida section is back! Dedicated to the most original and singular visions, at the outer edges of genre cinema, it will close this year’s selection with the World Premiere of Robert Morin’s LE PROBLÈME D’INFILTRATION (INFILTRATION), also screening during the festival’s closing night on August 2, 2017. An experimental film and formal experiment only Morin could have made, LE PROBLÈME D’INFILTRATION (INFILTRATION) is a unique, angst-ridden portrait composed of a series of distinctive, surrealistic long takes, that brilliantly convey the existential crisis and downward spiral of Dr. Louis Richard (Christian Bégin), a plastic surgeon specializing in burn victims. A bold film that simultaneously evokes German Expressionist art and avant-garde video. See below for the rest of the Camera Lucida line-up. Director, Cast, and Crew in Attendance.
The big-screen return of one of Polish Cinema’s national treasures, Agnieszka Holland (EUROPA EUROPA, THE SECRET GARDEN), still such a vibrant filmmaker at nearly 70 years of age, SPOOR took home a richly deserved award at the Berlinale earlier this year. Unconventional, poetic and beguiling, it is a genuinely radical film – some have even called it dangerous – that is one part fantastical murder mystery, one part eco-thriller. A retired teacher who speaks truth to power to protect the region’s wildlife finds herself at the center of a surreal series of happenings, with hunters and authority figures found murdered, various animal tracks near the bodies. Could the animals be having their revenge? One of the most subversive genre works we’ve seen in years. North American Premiere.
Following the 2015 International Premiere of Sion Sono’s Red Light District-set yakuza/talent agency action-drama film SHINJUKU SWAN, Fantasia will unveil the International Premiere of its sequel, SHINJUKU SWAN II! Reuniting maverick filmmaker Sion Sono (TAG, LOVE EXPOSURE, the upcoming Amazon series TOKYO VAMPIRE HOTEL) with superstar Go Ayano (RAGE, LUPIN THE THIRD), this sequel adapts the arc “Yokohama Kingdom” from Ken Wakui’s popular seinen manga series of the same name, and finds the titular, energetic talent scout going head-to-head with a rival Yokohama agency, led by boss Taki (the one and only Tadanobu Asano of SURVIVE STYLE 5+, JOURNEY TO THE SHORE, and ICHI THE KILLER)! International Premiere.
Fantasia audiences may best remember him from THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD (aka TURKISH STAR WARS), but to international audiences, Cüneyt Arkın is a legendary icon whose career spanned 50 glorious years and nearly 300 films. He’s done every conceivable genre from grand historical epics and martial arts to romantic comedies, westerns, and hard-boiled crime flicks. He’s played an Ottoman warrior, cop, heartbreaker, pirate, and even a Turkish Davy Crockett. Over his five decades in cinema, the incredible Arkın was his country’s Jackie Chan – acting, writing, directing, and performing his own stunts!
Fantasia will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Arkın, and will celebrate his extraordinary career with special repertory screenings of THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD, Çetin İnanç’s WILD BLOOD (aka the Turkish FIRST BLOOD!), and the ninjasploitation head-exploder DEATH WARRIOR.
These events, in addition to the World Premiere screening of Emir Mavitan’s NOMAD and a free outdoor projection of Ceyda Torun’s documentary sensation KEDI are presented with the support of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Luchador films hold a special place in Fantasia-goers hearts. In the early editions of the festival, screenings of numerous luchador films were held in front of sold out crowds at the 900-seat Imperial Theater. This year marks a very special occasion, as the fest will be graced by one of lucha libre’s most famous heroes, the legendary Mil Máscaras. With Blue Demon and El Santo, this legendary masked wrestler was part of a trio of athletes who, in the 60’s and early 70’s, turned this unique brand of Mexican superhero film into a worldwide phenomenon.
Mil Máscaras will be awarded a Fantasia Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary career as a Mexican film icon and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. The award will be presented before the presentation of a double bill of two features starring Mil Máscaras: 1972’s LAS MOMIAS DE GUANAJUATO, arguably the most famous luchador film of all time (co-starring El Santo and Blue Demon), and AZTEC REVENGE, Aaron Crozier’s recently-produced American feature from writer Jeffrey Uhlmann, who will be in attendance.
A sensation on the 2017 festival circuit – first unveiled at Sundance, then swerving by SXSW, and recently closing the prestigious Director’s Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) section of the Cannes Film Festival – PATTI CAKE$ now stops at Fantasia for its Canadian Premiere! Starring the amazing newcomer Danielle Macdonald in the lead role of Patricia Dumbrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, this is a first feature film from acclaimed music video director Geremy Jasper. Reminiscent of films like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, 8 MILE, and 2016 Fantasia discovery SOME FREAKS, PATTI CAKE$ is a brilliant cult classic in the making; an empowering outsider story told with unparalleled heart and conviction. Canadian Premiere.
Following a mysterious car crash, a man with no memory of his past becomes inexplicably lethal to anyone in his path. His bizarre death force only appears to be neutralized when in the very close vicinity of Jane, a woman who suffers a similarly clouded memory. Together, they’ll try to recall their past and understand the tie that that seems to bind them. But they can’t ever be more than 50 feet apart or people will die. Directed by SANS DESSEIN filmmakers Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard, RADIUS is the latest project seeing the light because of Frontières, Fantasia’s international co-production market. It’s our pleasure to present the World Premiere of this unique Quebec-made genre work. Directors in Attendance.
Beloved director Takashi Miike (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER) may have received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s edition of Fantasia, but he won’t stop delivering over the top crowd pleasers! Reteaming with screenwriter Kankuro Kudo, who also directed last year’s Audience Award winner TOO YOUNG TO DIE!, Miike delivers a crazier and funnier sequel to THE MOLE SONG: SECRET AGENT REIJI loaded with unambiguous sex jokes, strange action scenes, crotch injuries and gorgeous set pieces. Actor Toma Ikuta (THE TOP SECRET: MURDER IN MIND) delivers an incredible physical performance in the role of the libidinous mole Reiji who is now tracked down by the police, the yakuza boss he work for, and a lethal Chinese gang. Miike is back in all his mischievous glory with the Canadian Premiere of THE MOLE SONG: HONG KONG CAPRICCIO!
During one of his many Asian adventures, Patrick (François Arnaud), a visual artist who specializes in Chinese art, encounters a mysterious man who makes him discover his latent gift for time travel. Stunningly directed and compellingly intimate, ORIGAMI is a UFO on the landscape of Quebec cinema that succeeds in applying sci-fi genre markers to a primarily human story. World Premiere. Directors in Attendance.
Fantasia will be presenting the World Premieres of Jenna Cavelle’s BLOOD HEIST – about DIY filmmakers who simultaneously commit a star-crossed armed robbery and shoot a vérité film of it – and Melanie Aitkenhead’s BLOOD RIDE – which depicts the violence and avenging of a ferocious female biker gang lead by Pollyanna McIntosh – as a special rip-roaring indie double bill. Both femme-made, revivalist – nay, revisionist – exploitation films were spearheaded by producer/co-star James Franco and producers Vince Jolivette (SPRING BREAKERS) and Jay Davis. Get ready for blood… and more blood! World Premieres.
After slaying Sundance at its debut and knocking out Cannes (where it had its European Premiere in Director’s Fortnight), BUSHWICK will be making its first Canadian stand at Fantasia 2017! The couldn’t-be-more-timely sophomore feature from directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (Fantasia 2015’s COOTIES) sees Bushwick, New York erupt into a war zone as Southern nationalist militia forces attack the city. Starring Dave Bautista and Brittany Snow, BUSHWICK almost never stops moving, as Murnion and Milott employ long, fluid takes (shot on real Brooklyn locations) that follow its characters from one hoped-for sanctuary to the next, punctuated by bursts of startling, caught-on-the-fly violence. Canadian Premiere.
To reward himself for his new teaching gig in Sapporo, 29-year-old Manabu decides to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a little treat at a local sex club. On the verge of… climaxing, he’s struck by a brain hemorrhage and ends up buck naked at the hospital surrounded by his worried family who want to know how this happened. Based on the autobiographical manga from Manabu Nakagawa, ALMOST COMING, ALMOST DYING is a funny and endearing independent film from first time filmmaker Toshimasa Kobayashi. With its witty dialogues delivering family interactions worthy of WHAT A WONDERFUL FAMILY! and its creepy bat-wielding giant teddy bear (?!?), Kobayashi perfectly transposes the blend of everyday life situations and weird creativity that made Nakagawa’s manga so popular. International Premiere.
As part of the closing night events, Fantasia will be showcasing the first public screening of Synapse Films’ long anticipated 4K restoration of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA, just in time for its 40th anniversary. A Grand Guignol fairy tale from the darkest recesses of creative brilliance, SUSPIRIA remains one of the most visually and sonically breathtaking genre works in the history of film, its complex aesthetics all but impossible to reproduce with accuracy on any non-Technicolor – let alone non-photochemical – medium to date. For the past three years, Synapse Films have been working on the definitive restoration of Argento’s masterpiece, with the full cooperation, supervision and approval of its celebrated cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, who spared no effort to accurately reproduce the film’s original IB Technicolor visuals. With all the love and obsession that this extraordinary film commands, SUSPIRIA has been restored from the fully uncut, original 35mm Italian camera negative and will be presented with the legendary 4.0 discrete sound mix not heard since its 1977 theatrical release.
Film Festivals
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Fantasia Film Festival Announces Final Lineup, Closes with Jang Hoon’s A TAXI DRIVER
[caption id="attachment_22990" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A TAXI DRIVER[/caption]
Fantasia will close its 2017 edition with the International Premiere of A TAXI DRIVER, by director Jang Hoon. On May 18th, 1980, one of the darkest chapters in South Korea’s recent history began. Protesting against Chun Doo-hwan’s dictatorship, hundreds of citizens of Gwangju, particularly students, were beaten, arrested or killed by the army who was hiding behind a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign blinding the entire nation. So when struggling single-father Man-seob decides to take a German journalist from Seoul to Gwangju in his taxi to clear off his debts, he has no idea how dangerous their journey will be. Director Jang Hoon has established himself as one of the most talented and versatile Korean filmmakers with award winning films like ROUGH CUT and THE FRONT LINE. Reteaming with Hoon after the action thriller THE SECRET REUNION, legendary actor Song Kang-ho (THE HOST, SNOWPIERCER) delivers one of the strongest performances of his career in this unforgettable historical drama.
The Fantasia Film Festival announced the remainder of its mammoth 2017 film lineup, in addition to its juries and special events.
A tense, nocturnal odyssey of poor decision-making that escalates to a nearly unbearable pitch, the Safdie brothers’ Cannes Competition sensation GOOD TIME is a high-wire exercise in intensity, starring Robert Pattinson in a career-best performance. Tipping their hats to ’70s thrillers, the Safdies’ new film also builds beautifully on their previous effort, HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT – here’s another maddeningly bleak vision of New York City’s underbelly, nonetheless beaming with humanity and authenticity. North American Premiere. Directors in Attendance.
Directed by David Leitch (JOHN WICK, the upcoming DEADPOOL 2), ATOMIC BLONDE, screening in the Action! section, is a blistering blend of sleek action, gritty sexuality, and dazzling neon-drenched style with a cast that includes Charlize Theron, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, and Sofia Boutella. The film boasts one thrilling fight sequence in particular – set in a stairwell and with no cuts – that has already entered the annals of action film history. Official Selection: SXSW 2017. Special Screening.
Fantasia’s Camera Lucida section is back! Dedicated to the most original and singular visions, at the outer edges of genre cinema, it will close this year’s selection with the World Premiere of Robert Morin’s LE PROBLÈME D’INFILTRATION (INFILTRATION), also screening during the festival’s closing night on August 2, 2017. An experimental film and formal experiment only Morin could have made, LE PROBLÈME D’INFILTRATION (INFILTRATION) is a unique, angst-ridden portrait composed of a series of distinctive, surrealistic long takes, that brilliantly convey the existential crisis and downward spiral of Dr. Louis Richard (Christian Bégin), a plastic surgeon specializing in burn victims. A bold film that simultaneously evokes German Expressionist art and avant-garde video. See below for the rest of the Camera Lucida line-up. Director, Cast, and Crew in Attendance.
The big-screen return of one of Polish Cinema’s national treasures, Agnieszka Holland (EUROPA EUROPA, THE SECRET GARDEN), still such a vibrant filmmaker at nearly 70 years of age, SPOOR took home a richly deserved award at the Berlinale earlier this year. Unconventional, poetic and beguiling, it is a genuinely radical film – some have even called it dangerous – that is one part fantastical murder mystery, one part eco-thriller. A retired teacher who speaks truth to power to protect the region’s wildlife finds herself at the center of a surreal series of happenings, with hunters and authority figures found murdered, various animal tracks near the bodies. Could the animals be having their revenge? One of the most subversive genre works we’ve seen in years. North American Premiere.
Following the 2015 International Premiere of Sion Sono’s Red Light District-set yakuza/talent agency action-drama film SHINJUKU SWAN, Fantasia will unveil the International Premiere of its sequel, SHINJUKU SWAN II! Reuniting maverick filmmaker Sion Sono (TAG, LOVE EXPOSURE, the upcoming Amazon series TOKYO VAMPIRE HOTEL) with superstar Go Ayano (RAGE, LUPIN THE THIRD), this sequel adapts the arc “Yokohama Kingdom” from Ken Wakui’s popular seinen manga series of the same name, and finds the titular, energetic talent scout going head-to-head with a rival Yokohama agency, led by boss Taki (the one and only Tadanobu Asano of SURVIVE STYLE 5+, JOURNEY TO THE SHORE, and ICHI THE KILLER)! International Premiere.
Fantasia audiences may best remember him from THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD (aka TURKISH STAR WARS), but to international audiences, Cüneyt Arkın is a legendary icon whose career spanned 50 glorious years and nearly 300 films. He’s done every conceivable genre from grand historical epics and martial arts to romantic comedies, westerns, and hard-boiled crime flicks. He’s played an Ottoman warrior, cop, heartbreaker, pirate, and even a Turkish Davy Crockett. Over his five decades in cinema, the incredible Arkın was his country’s Jackie Chan – acting, writing, directing, and performing his own stunts!
Fantasia will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Arkın, and will celebrate his extraordinary career with special repertory screenings of THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD, Çetin İnanç’s WILD BLOOD (aka the Turkish FIRST BLOOD!), and the ninjasploitation head-exploder DEATH WARRIOR.
These events, in addition to the World Premiere screening of Emir Mavitan’s NOMAD and a free outdoor projection of Ceyda Torun’s documentary sensation KEDI are presented with the support of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Luchador films hold a special place in Fantasia-goers hearts. In the early editions of the festival, screenings of numerous luchador films were held in front of sold out crowds at the 900-seat Imperial Theater. This year marks a very special occasion, as the fest will be graced by one of lucha libre’s most famous heroes, the legendary Mil Máscaras. With Blue Demon and El Santo, this legendary masked wrestler was part of a trio of athletes who, in the 60’s and early 70’s, turned this unique brand of Mexican superhero film into a worldwide phenomenon.
Mil Máscaras will be awarded a Fantasia Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary career as a Mexican film icon and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. The award will be presented before the presentation of a double bill of two features starring Mil Máscaras: 1972’s LAS MOMIAS DE GUANAJUATO, arguably the most famous luchador film of all time (co-starring El Santo and Blue Demon), and AZTEC REVENGE, Aaron Crozier’s recently-produced American feature from writer Jeffrey Uhlmann, who will be in attendance.
A sensation on the 2017 festival circuit – first unveiled at Sundance, then swerving by SXSW, and recently closing the prestigious Director’s Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) section of the Cannes Film Festival – PATTI CAKE$ now stops at Fantasia for its Canadian Premiere! Starring the amazing newcomer Danielle Macdonald in the lead role of Patricia Dumbrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, this is a first feature film from acclaimed music video director Geremy Jasper. Reminiscent of films like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, 8 MILE, and 2016 Fantasia discovery SOME FREAKS, PATTI CAKE$ is a brilliant cult classic in the making; an empowering outsider story told with unparalleled heart and conviction. Canadian Premiere.
Following a mysterious car crash, a man with no memory of his past becomes inexplicably lethal to anyone in his path. His bizarre death force only appears to be neutralized when in the very close vicinity of Jane, a woman who suffers a similarly clouded memory. Together, they’ll try to recall their past and understand the tie that that seems to bind them. But they can’t ever be more than 50 feet apart or people will die. Directed by SANS DESSEIN filmmakers Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard, RADIUS is the latest project seeing the light because of Frontières, Fantasia’s international co-production market. It’s our pleasure to present the World Premiere of this unique Quebec-made genre work. Directors in Attendance.
Beloved director Takashi Miike (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER) may have received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s edition of Fantasia, but he won’t stop delivering over the top crowd pleasers! Reteaming with screenwriter Kankuro Kudo, who also directed last year’s Audience Award winner TOO YOUNG TO DIE!, Miike delivers a crazier and funnier sequel to THE MOLE SONG: SECRET AGENT REIJI loaded with unambiguous sex jokes, strange action scenes, crotch injuries and gorgeous set pieces. Actor Toma Ikuta (THE TOP SECRET: MURDER IN MIND) delivers an incredible physical performance in the role of the libidinous mole Reiji who is now tracked down by the police, the yakuza boss he work for, and a lethal Chinese gang. Miike is back in all his mischievous glory with the Canadian Premiere of THE MOLE SONG: HONG KONG CAPRICCIO!
During one of his many Asian adventures, Patrick (François Arnaud), a visual artist who specializes in Chinese art, encounters a mysterious man who makes him discover his latent gift for time travel. Stunningly directed and compellingly intimate, ORIGAMI is a UFO on the landscape of Quebec cinema that succeeds in applying sci-fi genre markers to a primarily human story. World Premiere. Directors in Attendance.
Fantasia will be presenting the World Premieres of Jenna Cavelle’s BLOOD HEIST – about DIY filmmakers who simultaneously commit a star-crossed armed robbery and shoot a vérité film of it – and Melanie Aitkenhead’s BLOOD RIDE – which depicts the violence and avenging of a ferocious female biker gang lead by Pollyanna McIntosh – as a special rip-roaring indie double bill. Both femme-made, revivalist – nay, revisionist – exploitation films were spearheaded by producer/co-star James Franco and producers Vince Jolivette (SPRING BREAKERS) and Jay Davis. Get ready for blood… and more blood! World Premieres.
After slaying Sundance at its debut and knocking out Cannes (where it had its European Premiere in Director’s Fortnight), BUSHWICK will be making its first Canadian stand at Fantasia 2017! The couldn’t-be-more-timely sophomore feature from directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (Fantasia 2015’s COOTIES) sees Bushwick, New York erupt into a war zone as Southern nationalist militia forces attack the city. Starring Dave Bautista and Brittany Snow, BUSHWICK almost never stops moving, as Murnion and Milott employ long, fluid takes (shot on real Brooklyn locations) that follow its characters from one hoped-for sanctuary to the next, punctuated by bursts of startling, caught-on-the-fly violence. Canadian Premiere.
To reward himself for his new teaching gig in Sapporo, 29-year-old Manabu decides to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a little treat at a local sex club. On the verge of… climaxing, he’s struck by a brain hemorrhage and ends up buck naked at the hospital surrounded by his worried family who want to know how this happened. Based on the autobiographical manga from Manabu Nakagawa, ALMOST COMING, ALMOST DYING is a funny and endearing independent film from first time filmmaker Toshimasa Kobayashi. With its witty dialogues delivering family interactions worthy of WHAT A WONDERFUL FAMILY! and its creepy bat-wielding giant teddy bear (?!?), Kobayashi perfectly transposes the blend of everyday life situations and weird creativity that made Nakagawa’s manga so popular. International Premiere.
As part of the closing night events, Fantasia will be showcasing the first public screening of Synapse Films’ long anticipated 4K restoration of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA, just in time for its 40th anniversary. A Grand Guignol fairy tale from the darkest recesses of creative brilliance, SUSPIRIA remains one of the most visually and sonically breathtaking genre works in the history of film, its complex aesthetics all but impossible to reproduce with accuracy on any non-Technicolor – let alone non-photochemical – medium to date. For the past three years, Synapse Films have been working on the definitive restoration of Argento’s masterpiece, with the full cooperation, supervision and approval of its celebrated cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, who spared no effort to accurately reproduce the film’s original IB Technicolor visuals. With all the love and obsession that this extraordinary film commands, SUSPIRIA has been restored from the fully uncut, original 35mm Italian camera negative and will be presented with the legendary 4.0 discrete sound mix not heard since its 1977 theatrical release.
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UK Premiere of TASTE OF CEMENT to open London’s Open City Documentary Festival
Taste Of Cement, Ziad Kalthoum’s highly-acclaimed portrait of exiled Syrian construction workers building a skyscraper in Beirut while at the same time their own homes are being shelled, will open London’s Open City Documentary Festival. The film will receive its UK Premiere on Tuesday September 5, 2017, at Picturehouse Central.
Open City Documentary Festival champions new voices in non-fiction storytelling and the program offers a chance to see the best in contemporary, international documentary as well as filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, workshops, networking and parties. The 7th Open City Documentary Festival takes place over six days in venues across London from 5 September to 10 September 2017.
Michael Stewart, Founder of Open City Docs, said: “We are delighted to open this year’s festival with the beautiful, poignant Taste Of Cement. At Open City our aim is to create an open space to nurture and champion the most innovative and creative documentary filmmakers from across the globe and Ziad Kalthoum’s mesmerizing film epitomizes this perfectly.”
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Actress Annette Bening Named Jury President of Venice International Film Festival
Annette Bening (photo Jon Rou/Loyola Marymount University) Actress Annette Bening will be the president of the International Jury of the Competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival taking place August 30 to September 9, 2017, which will assign the Golden Lion for best film, as well as other official awards.
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Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Announces 2017 Winners of Works in Progress and Eurimages Lab Project Awards
[caption id="attachment_22978" align="aligncenter" width="824"]
Censor (Cenzorka)[/caption]
The Slovakian film Censor (Cenzorka), directed by Peter Kerekes and written by Ivan Ostrochovský, is the winner of the Works in Progress Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film received the award for “its original and vivid human portrait of a lonely woman.”
In the film, Irina Alexandrovna works as a censor in an Odessa prison. The inspection of letters is required by law in order to prevent the continuation of criminal activity. But the real criminals use smartphones, and old-fashioned letters are only used for declarations of love. So Irina spends eight hours a day in her office reading love letters. Through her, we follow various love affairs that only she can observe. Although she sees how women being used, and how the relationships end in disaster for them, she cannot take any action. Our heroine is a single woman and after twelve years of reading love letters full of the lies men tell, she is not capable of any relationship. If a guy on a date says “You are special,” she feels sick. But of course even she dreams of love.
The film, also produced by Peter Kerekes, is based on real situations and real characters and involved in-depth research conducted by the filmmakers at numerous prisons. The script was distilled from these materials, stories and characters. The plot follows the tragicomic micro-love stories between jailed men and women on the outside, as seen through the main protagonist. The film was shot with actors and non-actors (prisoners and ex-prisoners), mostly in a real setting, a real prison. The film’s expected premiere is in 2018.
The Stand-In (La Controfigura), directed and written by Rä di Martino was awarded the Eurimages Lab Project Award for its “ironic visual experimental approach to innovative narrative and for being an intersection of art and film.”
In The Stand-In, a small crew has been traveling around Marrakech and its surroundings looking for swimming pool locations for the remake of an American movie in which a man crosses the county, pool by pool, to reach his home. The filmmakers rehearse the shots to find the path through the city and the pools that the main actor will run and swim through. As we watch his struggles to become more than just a stand-in figure, the real actors and film crew burst onto the scene on a set where nobody seems to be in the right place. A film in search of itself, looking for where the real film is.
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Adrien Brody to Receive Locarno Festival’s 2017 Leopard Club Award
Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody will receive the 2017 Leopard Club Award at the 70th Locarno Festival.
Locarno’s salute to Adrien Brody will include a screening of the film The Pianist and a meeting of the actor with the Festival public. Brody will receive the tribute of the Piazza Grande audience and the Festival on Friday August 4th.
Named after the Association which supports the Festival, the Leopard Club Award pays homage to a major film personality whose work has made a lasting impact on the collective imagination. Recipients from previous editions include Faye Dunaway (2013), Mia Farrow (2014), Andy Garcia (2015) and Stefania Sandrelli (2016).
Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the Locarno Festival: “With a richly varied and still flourishing career, Adrien Brody has worked with some of the great American directors, from Coppola to Wes Anderson, from Malick to Soderbergh, always displaying the adaptability and technical skills that put him at ease in a remarkable spectrum of performing registers. All the same, this is also a classic case of a single performance which won him a lasting place in movie-lovers’ hearts, not so much for the Academy Award it brought him, as for the way he brought to life a character who is both a man like all of us and the symbol of a tragedy which we must constantly recall.”
In bestowing the Leopard Club Award on Adrien Brody, the Locarno Festival will recognize one of the most brilliant figures in American film, an Academy Award winner at the age of only 29. Brody gained a lasting place in the collective imagination of the movie-going public when he played composer Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist (2002), and has since demonstrated his status as one of the most versatile of actors, appreciated by filmmakers in Hollywood and beyond.
Born in New York City and son of Sylvia Plachy, an artist and acclaimed photographer, and Elliot Brody, a retired history professor, Brody was still a teenager when he made his acting debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s New York Stories (1989), before working with Steven Soderbergh (King of the Hill, 1993) and Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers, 1994). Shortly after, in two unforgettable pictures, Adrien Brody became the pain-stricken human face in the most dehumanized of all settings: war. His performances in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line (1998) and The Pianist by Roman Polanski won over audiences by the sheer power of expression, often wordless, with which he conveyed the sufferings of being a man amid the darkness of conflict.
In a career of nearly 30 years, Brody has been both popular and critically admired by his ability to interpret a remarkable variety of roles, always capturing the gaze and appreciation of audiences. He struck intimate, psychological and social notes in Ken Loach’s U.S. debut Bread and Roses (2000) and Detachment (2011) by Tony Kaye, and went brilliantly over the top for Spike Lee in Summer of Sam (1999). Undaunted by the pace and spectacular scale of King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005) and Predators (Nimród Antal, 2010), he also found a sophisticated, carefree register for director Wes Anderson, with whom he played Peter Whitman in The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and Dmitri in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Other filmmakers with whom Brody has worked include Barry Levinson (Liberty Heights, 1999), Paul Haggis (Third Person, 2013) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris, 2011).
The 70th Locarno Festival will be held from August 2nd to 12th, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAWhVP9YHYU
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2017 Marrakech International Film Festival CANCELLED, Festival to Resume in 2018
The Foundation of the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) that organizes the Marrakech International Film Festival has decided to cancel 2017 edition of the festival, and resume in 2018.
In a statement, Sarim Fassi Fihri, vice president of the Marrakech International Film Festival said “The reflection on the future of the festival began a year ago, and our goal is to make it evolve and to better respond to the Moroccan and world audience with the digital tools and means of the 21st century, but also to meet expectations Of Moroccan professionals ”
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CONTACT DANCE EVERY BODY Wins Gold Jury Award at Contact Dance International Film Festival
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Contact Dance Every Body by Olya Glotka[/caption]
Contact Dance Every Body by Olya Glotka danced away with the Gold Jury Award at the Contact Dance International Film Festival (CDIFF). The film features StopGap Foundation founder Luke Anderson as he dances using his wheelchair to gracefully lift his dance partner Laura Storey as they intertwine tenderly in the galleries of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Olya Glotka is a young, self-made filmmaker who is in search of ways to empower people and make the world a better place through the power of filmmaking and dance.
Parcon NYC #1: Subway Stops won the Silver Jury Award, filmed by Satoko Sugiyama, Martin Henson, and Parcon NYC. Capturing the story of an everyday subway ride home for a Latinx girl from the Bronx, the environment around her comes alive with dancers performing a genre that fuses parkour with contact dance improvisation called parcon.
Martin Henson and Satoko Sugiyama are independent filmmakers with hundreds of films and television commercials to their name. Parcon NYC is a collective of artists, movers and healers dedicated to inclusion and investigating human connection with others and place through weight sharing, balance and touch.
The Bronze Jury Award was awarded to Wake Me Up, a short film by Celine Poon. The film started as a school project at the International Baccalaureate school, Fairview International School in Kuala Lumpur after two young girls, Sonia and Leila, discovered contact dance improvisation. The result is a delightful and honest portrayal of friendship that is the epitome of contact dance improvisation all levels approach.
The CDIFF finishes up its third season today with a post-festival film workshop with Gold Jury award-winning filmmaker Olya Glotka and guests making dance films in various locations in High Park.
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Russian Film LOVELESS Wins Best International Film at Munich Film Festival
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Loveless[/caption]
The Russian film “Loveless” by Andrey Zvyagintsev won the ARRI / OSRAM Award for best international film, at the Munich Film Festival. “Loveless” tells the story of Boris and Zhenya, going through a cruel divorce full of hatred and mutual accusations. Both have already have found new partners and both want as quickly as possible to leave the past behind. The past includes their son Alyosha, who suddenly disappears without a trace. “Loveless” won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. A special mention was given to the Belgian film “Home” directed by Fien Troch.
The CineVision Award for the best international junior film was won by The Nothing Factory (A Fábrica de Nada) directed by Pedro Pinho. The jury commented “The film tells the story of a group factory workers who lose their jobs, but refuse to give up. The story is told in a very emphatic way, played and filmed, but to want without arousing cheap pity. The film provides no easy answers, but forces us thinking itself. It is a startling and highly entertaining form of agitprop for the 21st century.” A special mention was awarded to “Los Perros” by the Chilean director Marcela Said.
“Blind & Ugly” by Tom Lass won the FIPRESCI Prize 2017. The jury praised the balanced mix of drama, comedy and romance, as well as the successful occupation.
The audience prize went to the film “Still Young” by David Schlichter and Fabian Halbig. The film portrays the story of four boys from Dillingen who met each other at school and wanted to play German rock: the band Killerpilze.
The Children’s Film Festival Audience Award this year went to the team of directors Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer and Bin Han To for their animated film “Once Upon a Time … by Roald Dahl” ( “Revolting Rhymes“), co-produced by BBC and ZDF.
ONE FUTURE PRIZE is awarded to the Italian film Pure Hearts (Cuori Puri) . The jury justified its decision by saying, “. Roberto de Paolis complex debut film opened an intelligent and very touching look at the socio-political problems of contemporary Italy First seemingly only a love story about two young people from very different social backgrounds, taking the 1980 in Rome born director refugee issues increasingly into focus. “
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A BILLION COLOUR STORY Wins London Indian Film Festival | Trailer
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A Billion Colour Story[/caption]
A Billion Colour Story directed by Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy, won the coveted top prize, the Audience Award, at the 8th London Indian Film Festival.
In the film, Hari’s father Imran is Muslim, but is untethered by religion, as is his Hindu mother Parvati. They’re inspirational parents who are struggling to make their first feature film. Imran firmly believes that India is an incredible country that will always overcome its differences, but as mum and dad run into financial problems, the family has to downsize to rented apartments and come face-to-face with an onslaught of religious prejudices and corruption. As his disillusioned parents discuss whether to stay in the country they love or leave, Hari hatches his own secret plan to save the day.
Siddarth Chauhan’s PAPA is the winner of the Satyajit Ray Short Film Award that recognizes the best short in the short film competition category, and ANJALI PATIL is the winner the Outstanding Achievement Award for her role in black comedy NEWTON.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1nKB8k2Um8
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25 Independent Short Films in 2017 PBS Online Film Festival
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Black Hills Canyon Skating[/caption]
The Webby Award-nominated PBS Online Film Festival will return for a sixth year July 17 – July 28, 2017, featuring 25 short-form independent films.
Viewers are encouraged to vote for their favorite film to win the “Most Popular” award. And, for the first time ever, a panel of eight jury members will select their favorite film of the festival for the “Juried Prize”.
Short films featured in the PBS Online Film Festival include:
CAAM
“It Is What It Is”
Digging deep into family history for answers to questions about his identity, Cyrus finds some things might be better off left in the past.
Detroit Public TV WTVS
“Periphery”
A woman gets a new lease on life when she meets someone less fortunate.
ITVS
“Guns on Campus”
Fifty years after the first recorded mass shooting in U.S. history took place at the University of Texas in Austin, a new “campus carry” law allows people to carry concealed handguns on all public university campuses in Texas.
KLRU
“The Secession”
A story about two Texas boys, a secession, and egg rolls.
“U R a Dial Tone”
A sign language interpreter is emotionally and physically sucked into her clients’ lives.
KTTZ
“Lockbox”
A girl receives a mysterious gift that will unravel secrets from the past.
Latino Public Broadcasting
“Amigas with Benefits”
Amigas with Benefits is a short dramedy about an elderly bride-to-be who nearly has her wedding day ruined by an uninvited guest.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting
“Last Light”
On the verge of her mother’s death, Addie returns home to shed light on her dark past.
“Si”
Si, a temperamental six-year-old, gets a goldfish after begging for a puppy.
NALIP
“Dad”
In the course of a difficult day, Maria, a creative young girl, and her hardworking father must discover a way to mend love and memories while confronting loss.
NBPC
“Kojo”
A short profile piece that showcases the charismatic and talented drummer Kojo Odu Roney. In this exclusive interview Kojo offers his thoughts on Jazz, being home-schooled, traveling and his biggest influence, his father Antoine Roney.
“You Can Go”
A high school administrator talks down a troubled student.
PIC
“Maria”
When a family crisis strikes, an ailing Polynesian matriarch must find the strength to lead her family one last time.
POV
“Our Voices Are Rarely Heard”
A visceral snapshot of how inmates survive solitary confinement.
Reel South
“A Thousand Midnights”
Chronicles the contemporary manifestation of the economic and social histories of Black Americans who came to the north during the Great Migration in search of economic opportunities. The implications of their migration, and the lack of economic opportunity they encountered, has far reaching consequences for Black America today.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
“Black Hills Canyon Skating”
While the Black Hills of South Dakota may lack the elevation and snow that makes for skiing, they make up for it with ice-providing intrepid winter explorers with miles of canyon streams on which to ice skate.
South Florida PBS
“SunGhosts”
A mini-documentary about SunGhosts, an up and coming indie rock band from Miami.
Twin Cities PBS
“Rogue Taxidermy Artist Sarina Brewer”
From goats with fishtails to cats with wings, Sarina Brewer celebrates animals in her art.
“Syrian Photographer Osama Esid”
Photographer Osama Esid seeks connection from his American neighbors to Syrian Refugees.
Vermont PBS
“The Collinwood Fire”
A news reporter and a filmmaker turn a 1908 elementary school fire into a media sensation.
“State Trooper”
A prisoner acts out his guilt, anger, and fear through dance.
Vision Makers Media
“Legacy”
Nikki Lowe’s journey of being a mother, daughter, sister, and Native warrior.
WHRO
“Our Nation”
An African-American boy in Norfolk, VA in 1915 confronts racism in The Birth of a Nation.
Wisconsin Public Television
“Little Man”
An animated spoken-word piece that tells Steven Rodriguez’s experiences of being an elder brother, son of a drug addicted mother and struggling but dedicated college student.
WORLD Channel
“Finding America: The Fresh Prince of Anacostia”
Kymone Freeman keeps his D.C. neighbors strong by helping them tell their stories.
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REVOLTING RHYMES Wins Children’s Film Festival Munich Audience Award | Trailer
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REVOLTING RHYMES: The babysitter listens to the wolf when he told her his story.[/caption]
Children’s Film Festival Audience Award at this year’s Filmfest Munich went to directors Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer and Bin Han To for their animated film REVOLTING RHYMES (ONCE UPON A TIME … TO ROALD DAHL).
Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and a few other classic fairy tales – tilted once in a big bag, shaken up and fished out again. What comes out are completely new stories. Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White are best friends and take matters into their own hands. Since capitulated even the big bad wolf. It is great fun to watch this confusion that have animated fans loving the Oscar-nominated directors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjOJaiWltYU
Other highlights of the young festival visitors have included Maria Novaros Tesoros ONLY ONE DAY by Martin Baltscheit, AMELIE RUNS by Tobias Wiemann and PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON by Michel Ocelot.
For adults and children, there were nine films, six short films and a meeting with the foley artist Max Bauer. An accompanying seminar for parents and educators about “horror and horror for children” and a technical discussion for filmmakers completed the program.
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SUMMER HOUSES (Sommerhäuser) Wins Top New German Cinema Awards at Munich Film Festival
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Summer Houses[/caption]
German young talents were awarded the coveted prize New German Cinema at the Munich Film Festival with Summer Houses (Sommerhäuser) winning two awards – Sonja Maria Kröner for Best Director; Philipp Worm and Tobias Walker for Best Production. In her debut film Kröner takes a trip back to the 1970s and is characterized in atmospheric images, the portrait of a family. It is 1976, the family community garden to the scene of absurd comic situations in the sweltering summer of the year.
Annika Meier was named Best Actress for her role in Arne Feldhusens techno trip “Magical Mystery or: the return of Karl Schmidt.” “In a wild troop of crazed stars of the DJ and techno scene, the center of grandiose of Charly Hübner is embodied, the actress Annika Meier projects through her tight, direct and serious game out, “said the jury.
Julia Langhof and Thomas Gerhold received the prize for Best Screenplay for “Lomo – The Language of Many Others.” The twins Karl and Anna are nearing graduation: While the ambitious Anna already pretty much know how their lives will pass, Karl devotes all his attention rather his blog “The language of many others”. There, he posts, among other things personal recordings of his own family, which Charles ratio represents to his father a test of endurance.
The winners Award New German Cinema 2017
Award New German Cinema: DIRECTOR (30,000 euros)
Sonja Maria Kröner for “Summer Houses”
Award New German Cinema: SPECTACLE (10,000 euros)
Annika Meier for “Magical Mystery or: the return of Karl Schmidt”
Award New German Cinema: SCRIPT (10,000 euros)
Julia Langhof and Thomas Gerhold for “Lomo – The Language of Many Others”
Award New German Cinema: PRODUCTION (20,000 euros)
Philipp Worm and Tobias Walker for “Summer Houses”