Film Festivals

Director Michael Galinsky Talks About ALL THE RAGE ( SAVED BY DR. SARNO)

[caption id="attachment_18275" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] All the Rage ( Saved by Dr. Sarno)[/caption] In a world where instant gratification and quick fixes are king, alternative approaches to healing are commonly dismissed. Director Michael Galinsky explores the world of psychosomatic pain in All the Rage ( Saved by Dr. Sarno) by documenting both the teachings of Dr. Sarno as well as the Galinsky’s own experiences of applying Dr. Sarno’s theories to his immobilizing back pain. The documentary boasts big names whose lives have been changed by Dr. Sarno, like Howard Stern and Larry David, and is a refreshing angle on a medical innovation. Rather than relying on the more clinical approach of talking heads and client confessions, watching the director himself go on this journey gives a point of view that isn’t often shown in medical documentaries and is a key factor in successfully persuading the audience on something that could be a very hard sell. All the Rage ( Saved by Dr. Sarno) is world premiering at the DOC NYC 2016. We interviewed Director Michael Galinsky to give us more insight on All the Rage. Can you briefly tell the readers what All the Rage is about? All The Rage began as a film about Dr. John Sarno and his mind body approach to back pain. We came to the story because of a personal connection to it. Michael’s father read Dr. Sarno’s book “Healing Back Pain” in the 80’s and healed from years of chronic whiplash pain. Later Michael’s brother went to see Dr. Sarno when he had such bad hand problems that he could not type or drive. Michael read the book at that point and banished his own recurrent back pain for a decade. When it came roaring back and he was slammed to the floor in incredible pain, he went to see Dr Sarno as well, and thus began a 12 year odyssey to make this film. Over the course of filming it became an increasingly personal story. What was your main motivation for making the documentary? We at Rumur knew that Dr. Sarno had a powerful story that needed to be told. We have made four other feature docs about characters who are fighting for what they believe in against great odds. We originally tried making this film as a verite documentary, but quickly found it difficult. In fact, it ended up getting put on hold for many years because we couldn’t raise any funding and we weren’t convinced that we knew how to make it. When Michael’s back problems flared up again in 2011, we were more determined than ever to finish the film. The good news was that the culture had shifted dramatically in the time that the project was on hold. People were much more open to the idea that many health problems had a psychosomatic connection. That made it much more exciting to work on it. That process has only ramped up over the last 5 years. Being that psychosomatic pain is so often dismissed, were you at all reluctant to make a film about it? We weren’t reluctant to make, but we did find it hard to fund, and hard to conceptualize. The idea that pain has a psychosomatic basis was widely dismissed as unscientific a dozen years ago. Both doctors and patients found it hard to wrap their minds around the idea that back pain might have an emotional cause. Because of that reality, we needed to be very deliberate about how we told the story. Now the idea is much more accepted and there is a flood of research supporting this idea. How long did it take to shoot? Did you run into any challenges while making it? In our first 3 years of trying to get the film off the ground, we shot only 6 hours of tape. By contrast we shot nearly 300 hours on another doc that we were working on at the same time. The first challenge was funding. We applied for dozens of grants, many of them multiple times, but the ideas at the heart of the film didn’t connect. While Dr. Sarno’s ideas are controversial with the mainstream, he does have a large and dedicated following thanks to the success of his best-selling books on back pain. Hundreds of people have said his books changed their lives. That way, we were able to raise funding via kickstarter once we restarted the film. At that point, the only way we could think of a film was in terms of direct cinema. We had no interest in doing talking head interviews. At the same time, there wasn’t much action we could follow. Dr. Sarno would not introduce us to patients and we couldn’t find anyone to follow, so we were kind of stuck. Eventually, we made it more personal as we went along, using Michael’s story as a way to give the audience a character to relate to. We were thenable to make use of the footage we had shot and we ended up interviewing a number of people because it was a complex story that needed many voices. Can you tell our readers why they should see All the Rage and what you want the audience to take away from the film? All The Rage won’t provide people with an easy answer to their problems, but it will give them a way to view their lives, and their emotions, in a more open way that should put them on a pathway towards healing. We were very conscious of making a film that honors Dr. Sarno’s legacy without making a film that was just for people who are already fans of his work. We also didn’t want to make a film that was essentially his book in a shortened form, but instead a film that would inspire people to do their own work in coming to understand the ideas. Almost everyone we have shown the film to so far has asked, “Can I show this to my brother/father/friend”. Most people have also said, “This will help so many people!” Last week we saw that a well know comedian cancelled a show due to back pain. We sent him a link that night and in the morning we got a message that said, “Fabulous Film!, Finish it! I’ll promote it!” That same day we heard from another comedian who had just read the book and echoed the sentiments above. The goal was to make a film that drove home the idea that our minds and bodies are intimately connected. I think we accomplished that. What would you say to nonbelievers in psychosomatic pain? How can a friend or family member convince a nonbeliever with chronic pain to get this kind of help? As Dr. Sarno points out, you can’t convince anyone of anything. For this reason, we tried to make a film that wouldn’t feel like we were trying to convince them. However we did want to show, to illustrate that connection. By the end of the film it can’t be ignored. Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary filmmakers?What did you learn while making All the Rage? Making films takes time. There’s always a way around no. This morning on the way to NY we ran into a friend who works at the airport. We met her when she inquired about our camera bag last year. Turned out that she was interested in film. A couple of weeks later she started to shoot a documentary about a transgender co-worker who was becoming a major advocate for transgender rights. We started to help her shoot and conceptualize the film. There’s been a learning curve there for sure, but she showed us something she shot earlier this week just before the election. It’s going to be a several year shoot and she is coming to understand what needs to get shot and what she can let go. It was awesome to see how much she’s learned- which leads to you learn by doing! What’s next step for both you and the doc? We hope that the film changes the conversation about health care. We have a half dozen films in the fire- but we know we are going to spend the next year getting this film out. All the Rage World Premiered at DOC NYC 2016 and will screen again on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 9:45 PM at the IFC Center. For tickets and more information click here.
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Director Madeleine Gavin Discusses Her New Film CITY OF JOY Premiering at DOC NYC

[caption id="attachment_18245" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] City of Joy[/caption] In what might be one of the most important and uplifting documentaries premiering at DOC NYC, City of Joy follows a community for women survivors of violence in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The documentary displays how these women triumph over abuse and join forces to revolutionize their community. The doc is equally stirring as it is inspirational, and encourages a catalyst for change at every turn. As a fantastic reassurance of what women can do when the work together, this is one documentary not to be missed. We sat down with the director Madeleine Gavin, to tell us more about this film. Can you tell us what City of joy is all about? City of Joy takes place in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an area often referred to as “the worst place in the world to be a woman.” The film follows the first class of women who enter a leadership center in Bukavu, in Eastern DRC for a 9-month leadership training. It also focuses on the founders of this center, three activists who imagined this revolutionary place where women who have suffered horrific rape and abuse can learn to lead others and work toward changing their country, in spite of all they have endured. What was your motivation for making a documentary about women survivors of violence in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo? When did you first become aware of these women? What motivated me to want to make this film began a few years before this leadership center, City of Joy (from which the film gets its title) opened. At the time, I was creating web pieces that tracked some of the work Eve Ensler (author of The Vagina Monologues) and V-Day (the movement she founded) were doing to end violence against women and girls around the world. I remember the first piece I did about the Democratic Republic of Congo. I had known about the genocide in Rwanda but, at the time had only a vague knowledge of the DRC and the violence occurring there since the mid 1990’s. As I began to learn more about was going on, the torture, the devastation to women’s families, to their communities, their children, their bodies, I was shaken to the core. Having a young daughter myself, it was impossible to imagine how these women could envision a life with meaning after being through what they had or witnessing their children go through such atrocities. And yet there was a resilience and insistence on hope in these women that was palpable. To say that it was awe-inspiring is really an understatement but it was this awe I felt in the face of the incomprehensible strength of these women that initially motivated me to want to make this film. Once City of Joy opened and we began shooting and following the first class of women there, my commitment to this project became even stronger. I knew of Co-Founder Eve Ensler’s work and her dedication to ending violence against women but getting to know Co-Founder Christine Schuler-Deschryver and seeing the work of Co-Founder Dr. Denis Mukwege, left an indelible mark on me. Risking their own personal safety, the founders of City of Joy – as well as many others who teach and work there – have a fierce devotion to the women of Congo and to the country they dearly love. I felt I needed to tell the story of this devotion, this dedication to hope in a world where so much hopelessness surrounded them. How long did it take to film and what did you find to be most challenging part of making it? We shot on and off for a little over four years. There were many challenges in the making of this film. There were times when, because of the logistics of shooting in Congo and issues related to access and security, I had to reimagine what I had wanted to shoot, mid-shoot. This was often difficult because material I dearly wanted might become impossible to shoot. But one of the most challenging things overall I would say was trying to find the balance between the devastation of what these women had suffered and the incredible force of hope and joy that they embodied. I didn’t want audiences to go numb in the watching of this film and to shut down and stop listening. So I grappled a lot with the shifting tones. In the shooting, there was of course wrenching, heart-breaking emotion. But there was also a huge amount of humor, irreverence and joy. It was really important to me that audiences experienced the powerful and often incomprehensible array of emotions I myself experienced in Congo. In a sentence or two, tell our readers why they should see the City of Joy. I think audiences should see City of Joy because there is so much they can learn from the individuals in it and because our worlds are connected and we need to take action to care about others the way these women care about each other. I myself feel like I learned a lot about the meaning of the word “joy” from the women of Congo, a very important word that the graduates of City of Joy are taking along with their courage and strength, into their work in villages all over Congo. It is an incredibly important topic, particularly now. I think people will get a lot out of your message. What specifically do you want the audience to take away from City of Joy? I hope that audiences will be moved by the individuals in this film, by their strength, their courage and their dedication to each other and to changing their country. I also hope people will be outraged by what the women have suffered and that they will begin to understand how connected our world is, that we can’t separate corporate greed from violence in villages that we could never even find on a map. I really hope people will leave the theatre with the belief that change is possible and that we all have a huge role in that. If these women at City of Joy can move beyond experiences that would paralyze many, then I really hope audiences will actively join their fight. Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary film makers? What did you learn while making the film? I learned so much from the people in the film, first and foremost. But in terms of filmmaking itself, I definitely learned to be even more flexible with narrative, sometimes intentionally and sometimes out of necessity. I really wanted this film to have its own particular style of story-telling, to be an experience for an audience rather than information. I grappled a lot with this and, whether I was fully successful or not, I learned an enormous amount about pushing boundaries of narrative. Regarding tips for others, I would only say that trying to be true to the specificity of what you want to explore in a film is so important. Being open to criticism and new ideas is equally important. Doing something that goes against the central core of your film, however, is often worth fighting against. Of course trying to figure out the sweet spot of where that line falls can be difficult but is also key. What’s next step for both you and the doc? City of Joy is the first film I have directed. Before this I have worked primarily as an editor in both documentary and narrative. I love both forms and tend to go back and forth between them. Right now I am working with Rebecca Cammisa (WHICH WAY HOME) on her new film for HBO about radioactive waste that was illegally dumped in downtown St. Louis. I am also developing a new project that I hope to direct. City of Joy premieres tonight at 7:00 PM at SVA Theatre For more information and to buy tickets click here.
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Director Ryan Jones Talks Aboout SCOTT’S PIZZA TOURS, a Documentary You’ll Want To Devour

[caption id="attachment_18236" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Scott’s Pizza Tours[/caption] After what some might call a post-apocalyptic week, Scott’s Pizza Tours might just be the documentary to remind you that you can have fun again. The documentary follows the life of Scott Wiener, pizza enthusiast and New York’s slice-spirit guide, letting you in on the secrets of New York’s unparalleled pies. We interviewed director Ryan Jones to tell us more about the film and why this is the doc you’ll be craving. Scott’s Pizza Tours makes its world premiere at 2016 DOC NYC. This isn’t what one might call a tradition subject for a documentary, when did you first become aware of Scott Wiener and what was your motivation to choose him as your subject? I had known Scott for a few years through my wife, but I hadn’t had the chance to go on his pizza tour. I knew the depth of his knowledge, and his personality, so I had mentioned to my co-director, Shawn Willis, the idea of doing a doc about Scott, but it was kind of on the back-burner. Then I went on a tour and I was blown away. I called Shawn from the tour and said, “We need to do this movie immediately.” He is a true showman on the tour, and I knew that would translate on-screen. Plus, he’s talking about the most popular food in the world! We felt that it was a great combination of food doc and personal profile of this quirky pizza lover who has taken his passion and turned it into a successful business. What do you hope the audience takes away from seeing Scott’s Pizza Tours? We hope that the audience comes away with a better idea of the history and science of this food that everyone loves so much, but more importantly, we hope that Scott’s story inspires people to see what can be created from their own passions. In a brief summary, can you tell our readers why they should see this documentary? This is a movie about pizza, and Scott Weiner, a really lovely human being, who wants to tell you all about it. There are no skeletons in the closet, no dark secret life; it’s just a funny, uplifting story, and it’s the perfect escape from the post-election depression we’re all feeling. That is an excellent sales point! So what’s next for you and the doc? We’ve just re-cut the movie into a short, so we’re re-submitting to some other festivals that passed on the movie before. Next, we’re hoping to do a documentary about the rise and fall of Gawker. Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary filmmakers? The great thing about making a documentary is that you don’t have to have all the best gear, a huge production team, or a bunch of industry connections. All you need is a good story well told. Production quality can be forgiven, and the film will find its way to the public, so long as you tell an engaging story. So my advice is to just go for it. Don’t wait for the stars to align; just start shooting by any means necessary. Did you run into any roadblocks trying to get Scott’s Pizza Tours made? Our only roadblock was trying to hold a camera with one hand and eat a slice of pizza with the other.
Scott’s Pizza Tours makes its world premiere on Friday, November 11 at 5:30pm at IFC Center and screens again on November 14th at 12:45. You can get more information and buy tickets here.
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EXCLUSIVE: Spotlighting THE LURE With Exclusive Clip and Interview with Tomas Leach

[caption id="attachment_18212" align="aligncenter" width="691"] The Lure[/caption] Though stories of treasure hunts are often reserved for the fiction genre, director Tomas Leach is captivating audiences by documenting the hunt for eccentric millionaire Forrest Fenn’s buried treasure in The Lure. Fenn was an art dealer who in 2010 decided to bury his fortune in the Rocky Mountains, leaving only a cryptic poem as a treasure map. The Lure follows dedicated treasure seekers on their expedition to find the fortune as well as documenting the history of the hunt and interviewing Forrest himself about his motivations and the effects the hunt has had on his life. In addition to the sense of adventure so rarely found in real life, the doc’s scenery throughout the tranquil and transcendent Rocky’s make the audience feel that the true reward can be found in your surroundings. The Lure will be making it’s world premiere at DOC NYC. VIMOOZ was fortunate enough to get an exclusive first clip as well as interview Tomas Leach himself. When did you first become aware of Forrest Fenn and the treasure hunt? I read a small article about Forrest and his treasure and it sparked something inside me that got me excited to find out more. There’s something mysterious and magical about a hidden treasure that sets the mind racing. Once I started to research more and spent time with the searchers, I realized the story had a depth and cinematic beauty to it that I really wanted to make a film about. [caption id="attachment_18216" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Tomas Leach Shooting THE LURE[/caption] Now that you’ve done the documentary. Do you know where the treasure is? As soon as I flew out there, I knew that even starting to think of where the treasure is would lead to me lost in the Rockies, with a massive beard and a gleam in my eye. How long did it take to shoot and what was the hardest part about making it? We made several trips to film over 2 years and then took another year to edit and finish the film. Every film has challenges and this was no different. From a practical viewpoint, the Rockies are vast and untamed. And in terms of the story, I wanted to weave together multiple narratives and make it a richer film than just a wacky treasure chase. Can you tell our readers why they should see The Lure and what you want the audience to take away from the film? I think the film taps into something universal and magical about people searching. Whether it’s for gold, happiness, great stories or whatever it may be, we are all on the search for something to make us feel more complete. The Lure is an entertaining and I hope touching tale about that and more, all set in a visually powerful and mysterious part of the world. The feeling of magic definitely looms throughout the film! Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary film makers? What did you learn while making In No Great Hurry? The most important thing for me is always to fall completely into the story. Don’t make something you don’t want to live and breathe for years. Get people around you that you trust and get feedback even on the early idea. And don’t forget that film is a visual medium. If you can’t communicate through images, it’s failing. What’s next step for both you and the doc? I have a few feature doc ideas that I developing at the moment, but I’ve also written a narrative feature that I’d like to make next year. As for The Lure, I’m excited to get it in front of audiences at the world premiere this weekend and stay tuned for next steps!
The Lure will World Premiere at DOC NYC on Sunday, November 13, 2016, at 7:45 PM at Cinepolis Chelsea and screens again on Tuesday November 15, 2016, 3:00 PM at the IFC Center. Click here for tickets and additional information!
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2016 Fantastic Arcade Titles Lineup on 2nd Wave of Programming for Fantastic Fest

The 2016 Fantastic Arcade announced the complete list of titles for its annual free showcase of independent games, now in its seventh year, and held in conjunction with Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the world’s largest genre film festival. Confirmed guest speakers in attendance include artist/animator, Downwell creator Ojiro Fumoto, and Proteus and Forest of Sleep co-creator Ed Key. The 2016 Fantastic Arcade Showcase selection: Armagad (Nathalie Lawhead) Get to know 2016 Spotlight Developer Nathalie Lawhead through Armagad, her ever-mutating suite of minigames. “It’s what the Internet does to people.” Burrito Galaxy 65 (SwackSoft softWorks workShop) The “Cool-talking, Neat Moving, Slap Everything” main-event that was only hinted at with 2014’s Burrito Galaxy 64. This is a fully-polished, playful first-person explorer filled with delicious *swack*. Cryptark (Alientrap) Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter where you take on the role of a heavily-armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks. Daily Motions (Jenny Jiao Hsia) Daily Motions is a collection of lightning-fast games about morning mundanities-turned-slapstick. From Jenny Jiao Hsia, the artist behind last year’s Fantastic Arcade selection Beglitched. DUSKERS (Misfit’s Attic) Pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard. Emerald (Denis Novojilov) Somewhere between a game world and a music-creation tool, Emerald stands on the vanguard of a new wave of interactive art. Far from Noise (George Bachelor) From the creator of Hot Date, Far from Noise is a conversation… on the edge of a cliff. Into (Animal Phase) From the creator of Alone in the Woods, Into is a short surreal journey through yourself. Islands (Carl Burton) A surreal trip through the mundane by artist and animator Carl Burton. Reveal the hidden ecosystems of ten unusual islands. Unlock an atmospheric experience while exploring strange yet familiar scenes. Little Bug (Bela Messex) Little Bug is a story about a little girl lost in a surreal world between life and death. Play as both the girl and her powerful firefly at the same time, harnessing their telekinetic connection to fly and break through obstacles. Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet) A contemplative game experience that combines colorful sandbox toy and experimental treasure hunt. Manipulate abstract tools to modify the topography and colors of an alien landscape. The Norwood Suite (Greg Heffernan) You arrive at the old Norwood Hotel, hoping to drop off a demo to the DJ playing in the hotel basement. Soon you find yourself thrust in the middle of a curious, memorable night of adventure, intrigue, and the surreal. OASES (Armel Gibson, Dziff, Calum Bowen) A final, psychedelic prop-plane ride for a long-lost hero. Oik OS Book I (David Kanaga, E.Wolff) From cult-hit Proteus co-creator David Kanaga, Oik OS Book I is the very first (we’re fairly certain) interactive dog-opera. PIKUNIKU (Arnaud DE BOCK/REMIE FORCADELL) Rebuild a community by helping the Worry People confront their fears in this absurd puzzle-exploration game that takes place in a strange, playful environment. Sacramento (Delphine Fourneau) Sacramento is a game about capturing fleeting memories before they fade. Drift aimlessly across time and space, and enjoy the quiet while it lasts, as life will soon resume its course. Soft Body (Zeke Virant) Soft Body is a meditative action game where you control two beautiful, gooey snakes at the same time, painting the world with their bodies. Star Surveyor (Slimefriend) Star Surveyor is a charming platforming exploration game about discovering a foreign planet and quietly observing its alien flora and fauna. Thoth (Jeppe Carlsen) Thoth is a challenging twin-stick shooter with minimalistic, colorful graphics combined with intense, paranoia-inducing audio that makes for an exciting mix of art and arcade. West of Loathing (Asymmetric) From the creators of classic net sensation Kingdom of Loathing, West of Loathing is a single-player adventure RPG set in the Wild West. As in previous years, Fantastic Arcade will be home to some of the most exciting and unconventional live tournaments of any games festival. This year, the festival will be bringing the following tournament games to you, simultaneously broadcast on the Venus Patrol Twitch channel: Downwell, with creator Ojiro “Moppin” Fumoto in attendance, ARENA GODS, returning by popular demand, NESpectre, head-to-head glitch wars on NES hardware with full audience participation via mobile phone, Multibowl, Bennett Foddy and Alec Thomson’s new classic-game multi-mixer, with its featured tournament culminating in a final showdown at this year’s Starcade closing event, and A secret premiere tournament that may very well go down in Fantastic Arcade history. Every day of Fantastic Arcade will be filled with panels led by the creators of this year’s selected games as well as special guests, with confirmed appearances by Everything’s David OReilly, Forest of Sleep and Proteus’s Ed Key, Downwell’s Ojiro Fumoto, Hollow Ponds- featuring members of the team behind Fantastic Arcade 2013 favorite Hohokum and many more. Fantastic Arcade will also be presenting some of the most exciting VR experiences in development. Come celebrate the opening day of Fantastic Arcade with live DJ sets and games, including an exclusive peek into Kokoromi’s PlayStation VR game Superhypercube at Empire Control Room, September 26th, 9pm-1am. On September 29th in the Highball, check out PlayStation VR titles set to premiere in October as well as a selection of cutting-edge titles for multple VR Platforms curated by Juegos Rancheros and the Austin VR Meetup group.
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Fantastic Fest to Close with COLOSSAL Starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis

[caption id="attachment_16738" align="alignnone" width="1000"] COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis[/caption] Closing out Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest festival is the triumphant return of Fantastic Fest’s Karaoke King Nacho Vigalondo with his kaiju monster mash-up COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. In more final wave of film programming announcements, Fantastic Fest welcomes fellow festival alumni and Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA for his first ever live re-score. Eighteen months in the making, RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN is a mammoth live re-scoring of the Shaw Brothers classic. Featuring over 40+ tracks culled from RZA’s monumental catalog, instrumentals, beats, samples and vocals amplify Lau Kar-leung’s narrative and Gordon Liu’s iconic performance. “I am thrilled to be welcoming so many first-time directors to our weird festival family this year,” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “But as counterpoint, I am equally excited to be closing it down with veterans Nacho and RZA. In 2016, we’re going out with an epic bang.” Fantastic Fest embraces its more physical side with a series of violent smashers that are guaranteed to leave heads spinning and jaws rattled. All 6’ 5” of our favorite chemical engineer will be in attendance as Dolph Lundgren promises to pummel Austin and demons alike with DON’T KILL IT. Paul Schrader will be making a very special appearance in the second half of the festival to share and discuss his wild exploration of the criminal underground, DOG EAT DOG. Indonesia is gloriously represented with HEADSHOT, the latest from the Mo Brothers and THE RAID / THE RAID 2’s Iko Uwais in what is guaranteed to be the most violent film of the year, and Hong Kong comes correct with the legendary Sammo Hung choreographing the action in Benny Chan’s wuxia western, CALL OF HEROES. “There was so much that we loved this year, it’s wonderful to finally be able to share the full slate. We watched over 800 films and getting it down to 80 proved nearly impossible,” said Fantastic Fest Head of Programming, Evrim Ersoy, “But we’re here and we can’t wait to see people watch these brilliant delights with shock and awe in equal measure.” TV takes center stage with two of the season’s most hotly anticipated shows gracing the big screen. The man, the myth, The Bruce Campbell will be in attendance battling the Necronomicon once more and bringing new episodes of ASH VS EVIL DEAD with him. Campbell will also be sitting with critic/film historian Leonard Maltin for an exclusive dialog spanning his entire career. HBO joins the Fantastic Fest fray with an exclusive screening of the first episode of its highly anticipated new drama series, WESTWORLD. Inspired by Michael Crichton’s ‘73 sci fi classic, this supremely contemporary rendering is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. WESTWORLD will be accompanied by a complimentary, classic western meal for all guests courtesy of HBO. Artfully prepared by the Alamo Drafthouse culinary team, the meal will draw its influence and ingredients from the frontier era and its expansive environment. Western meals aren’t the only munchies inspiring programming as three of the festival’s most high profile gross-outs are first timers. Morgan Spurlock marks his Fantastic Fest debut with his uber-disgusting dissection of the most loathsome rodent in his doc RATS. Spurlock will be in attendance to talk about the vicious vermin and their endless conquest to take over the world. Another stomach-churning debut is Puke and Explode, a gala event of competitive eating dedicated to both gastro excess and grotesque edibles as contestants devour the most mortifying morsels imaginable. And in the grand tradition of festival favorite 100 BEST KILLS, Fantastic Fest vets Zack Carlson and Laird Jimenez deliver 100 BEST KILLS: 100 WORST BIRTHS, a dazzling array of the most nauseating, disturbing, inhuman and downright vomitous births in cinematic history. From sci-fi cesareans to martial arts miscarriages to horror hysterectomies, they will permanently sterilize viewers with 80 minutes of no-holes-barred babyrage. Mondo will be driving movie fans crazy with a creative cornucopia of limited-edition collectibles at Fantastic Fest for the first time. The roll call of film tie-ins include super-exclusives for RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, and product signing sessions with Don Coscarelli and the cast of PHANTASM: REMASTERED and André Øvredal with THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. During Fantastic Fest, Mondo is also hosting Italian composer extraordinaire Fabio Frizzi as he performs THE BEYOND: COMPOSER’S CUT, his all-new live re-score of Lucio Fulci’s shocker in a supremely gothic church with jaw-dropping acoustics. The full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2016. A MONSTER CALLS United States, 2016 Texas Premiere, 108 min Director – J. A. Bayona Twelve year old Conor, dealing with his mother’s illness, unexpectedly summons a most unlikely ally – a 40-foot-high Monster. AGE OF SHADOWS South Korea, 2016 US Premiere, 140 min Director – KIM Jee-woon Korea, during the Japanese occupation. Police Chief Lee Jung-Chool is hunting members of the resistance under strict orders from the Japanese overlords. However, a chance encounter with Jung Chae-San will have him questioning his loyalties… ANOTHER WOLFCOP Canada, 2016 World Premiere, 82 min Director – Lowell Dean Alcoholic werewolf cop Lou Garou springs into action when an eccentric businessman with evil intentions seduces Woodhaven’s residents with a new brewery and hockey team in this outrageous horror-comedy sequel. ASH VS EVIL DEAD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director – Rick Jacobson, episode 1 Director – Tony Tilse, episode 2 “Ash vs Evil Dead,” a 10-episode half-hour series, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film The Evil Dead. ASURA US Premiere, 136 min South Korea, 2016 Director – Sung-soo KIM Corrupt police detective Han protects Mayor Park’s interests while he saves up to pay for his wife’s terminal cancer treatment. When intimidation of a witness goes wrong, they’re all thrown into a violent storm. [caption id="attachment_16127" align="alignnone" width="1000"] THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE[/caption] THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE United Kingdom, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 99 min Director – André Øvredal When a mysterious body turns up at a crime scene, the local sheriff turns to the coroner and his son to find the cause of death. BAD BLACK Uganda, 2016 World Premiere, 65 min Director – Nabwana IGG A mild-mannered doctor is trained in the art of ass-kicking commando vengeance by a no-nonsense ghetto kid named Wesley Snipes (!). This is only one of the many delirious action-packed stories that converge in this exuberant DIY extravaganza from the home of “da best of da best movies”: WAKALIWOOD, UGANDA!!! BOYKA:UNDISPUTED United States, 2016 World Premiere, 90 min Director – Todor Chapkanov Escaped from prison and longing for a legitimate life, Yuri Boyka must choose between a shot at the glory he has trained for and the demands of his conscience after tragedy strikes in the ring. BUGS Denmark, 2016 Regional Premiere, 74 min Director – Andreas Johnsen Two researchers search the globe for the best flavors the insect world has to offer in an attempt to make this inevitable future food source more palatable to wimpy Westerners. CALL OF HEROES Hong Kong, 2016 North American Premiere, 120 min Director – Benny Chan During China’s Warlord era, in the village of Pucheng, a sheriff and his ragtag band of men must make sure the cruel general Cal’s son Shaolin faces justice in this brilliant blend of wuxia and westerns! CHINYUKI Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 100 min Director – Yudai Yamaguchi Yudai Yamaguchi’s Chinyuki is one of those rare films where its own subtitle tells you everything you need to know about the movie: A journey to the West with farts. COLOSSAL Canada, 2016 US Premiere, 110 min Director – Nacho Vigalondo Fantastic Fest favorite Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES) wrings an extraordinarily potent allegory for personal responsibility and emotional toxicity in this witty and absorbing drama about an alcoholic (Anne Hathaway) who discovers an improbable connection between herself and a giant monster ravaging South Korea. DON’T KILL IT United States, 2016 North American Premiere , 93 min Director – Mike Mendez An ancient demon is unleashed in a Mississippi town and the only people who can stop it are FBI agent Evelyn Pierce and grizzled, cynical demon hunter Jebediah Woodley. FASHIONISTA United States, 2016 World Premiere, 108 min Director – Simon Rumley April and Eric own a clothing store together and are happily in love. April will have to rely on her fashion obsession for survival when everything unexpectedly crumbles after Eric makes a single destructive mistake. HEADSHOT Indonesia, 2016 US Premiere, 117 min Director – Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto The bone-crunching, soul-crushing, face-breaking story of an amnesiac young man named Ishmael, the doctor named Rika who cares for him and the bad men who all need to die in a maelstrom of sweet violence. HENTAI KAMEN 2: The Abnormal Crisis Japan, 2016 Texas Premiere, 118 min Director – Yuichi Fukuda At the request of his girlfriend Aiko, Kyosuke Shikijo agrees to retire Hentai Kamen. But when a new threat starts stealing panties, who will the people of Tokyo call on? THE INVISIBLE GUEST Spain, 2017 US Premiere, 106 min Director – Oriol Paulo A wealthy businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room with the body of his dead lover next to him in Orio Paulo’ latest. THE LURE Poland, 2015 Texas Premiere, 93 min Director – Agnieszka Smocynska Two young mermaids get caught up in the world of a Warsaw nightclub as they navigate human life and love in this Polish musical. [caption id="attachment_16739" align="alignnone" width="1000"] MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA[/caption] MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA United States, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 74 min Director – Dash Shaw Jason Schwartzman voices a young, hopeful writer who jumps into action during a disaster in this dazzling and hilarious animated adventure from famed graphic novelist Dash Shaw. RATS United States, 2016 Austin Premiere, 84 min Director – Morgan Spurlock Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary shows us the world of the rat, from the garbage of NYC to the dining plates of Vietnam to a Karni Mata Temple of worship in India. RE: BORN Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 115 min Director – Yûji Shimomura Tak Sakaguchi is a seemingly untouchable super soldier who must return to the life he left behind when a former colleague threatens his fragile world. RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN Hong Kong, 1978 Special Screening, 115 min Director – Chia-Liang Liu What happens when one of the most influential hip hop artists descends on one of the most influential martial arts movies? There’s only one way to find out. SCIENCE FICTION VOLUME ONE : THE OSIRIS CHILD Australia, 2017 World Premiere, 95 min Director – Shane Abbess A far-future military contractor – and moderately shitty father – must race to save his daughter when his employer’s negligence puts her in the path of a rampaging alien race. THE TRUTH BENEATH South Korea, 2016 International Premiere, 108 min Director – LEE Kyoung-mi When a politician’s teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate mother takes it upon herself to uncover the truth in this startling Korean thriller. WESTWORLD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director – Jonathan Nolan A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
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Watch TRAILER for Basketball Doc MANCHILD: THE SCHEA COTTON STORY

[caption id="attachment_14133" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Manchild: The Schea Cotton Story[/caption] Check out the trailer for the documentary film Manchild: The Schea Cotton Story, about a Los Angeles basketball legend by the name of Schea Cotton, described as “the Lebron before Lebron”. Manchild will World Premiere at the upcoming 2016 LA Film Festival. In Manchild, directed by Eric “Ptah” Herbert, Baron Davis, Tyson Chandler, Elton Brand, Paul Pierce, Randy Moss and others share their tales about Cotton. Schea Cotton is the subject of one of the biggest mysteries in basketball’s history. Described as “the Lebron before Lebron,” Inglewood-native Cotton dominated the likes of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and was one of the most highly touted high school athletes of a pre-social media era. Yet he never made it to the NBA. What happened? NBA players, journalists, coaches and Cotton’s family recount with an almost pained nostalgia Cotton’s unmatched prowess as a player and the out-of-bounds emotions behind his story. First-time director Eric “Ptah” Herbert delivers a cautionary tale about the harsh reality of unfulfilled expectations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S05f_MF2Dx0
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13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI is Closing Night Film of GI Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_14126" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI[/caption] The gripping true story 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI will be honored as the closing night film at this year’s GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, May 29th. Three of the real-life heroes upon whose story the film is based-John “Tig” Tiegen, Mark “Oz” Geist and Kris “Tanto” Paronto- will attend the red carpet screening, along with one of the stars of the film, actor Dominic Fumusa (“Nurse Jackie”). 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI tells the incredible true story of six elite ex-military operators who saved the lives of more than 25 Americans against overwhelming odds at a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya. Directed by Michael Bay, the film stars John Krasinski (TV’s “The Office”), James Badge Dale (World War Z), Dominic Fumusa (TV’s “Nurse Jackie”) and Pablo Schreiber (TV’s “Orange is the New Black”), and is based on the book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by New York Times best-selling author Mitchell Zuckoff with the members of the Annex Security Team. 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI is available now on Digital HD and arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on June 7th. Described as “Sundance for the Troops,” the GI Film Festival preserves the stories of veterans through film, television, training and special events. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CJBuUwd0Os
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2016 Rooftop Films FREE Lineup Incl. GIRL ASLEEP, THE FITS, SONITA

[caption id="attachment_13852" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Girl Asleep[/caption] Rooftop Films will show over 30 FREE outdoor screenings, many of which are new, independent films that will screen as part of the 20th Annual Summer Series. Highlights include a sneak preview of Anna Rose Holmer’s Sundance Film Festival hit and Rooftop Films/Brigade Marketing Grantee THE FITS, a danceathon screening of Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat’s Living Stars, a special silent screening of Patrick Shen’s In Pursuit of Silence, during which the audience will listen to the film on headphones, and a Cinema Ramble at Storm King Art Center with multiple screens set up across the park. 2016 ROOFTOP FILMS FREE SUMMER PROGRAM: Rooftop Films and lululemon athletica Various Locations May 31 Elevated Acre, Financial District, Manhattan THE FITS (Anna Rose Holmer) A tomboy’s desire for a dance team’s acceptance warps when its members fall prey to mysterious spasms. Presented in Partnership with: Oscilloscope Laboratories. In theaters June 3rd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNZc3Vr1Oy4 June 25 Solar One, Kips Bay, Manhattan LIVING STARS (Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat) Free screening. Free Dance Party! No script, no plot, just music and gyrating bodies. Living Stars is a sixty-minute dance party and everyone’s invited! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhEP_bVDD0k July 30 Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place, Financial District, Manhattan IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE (Patrick Shen) A meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound, and the impact of noise on our lives. August 13 Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY CINEMA RAMBLE AT STORM KING ART CENTER A special night of short films sited among the sculptures and meadows of the Storm King Art Center. Rooftop Films and The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership All Screenings take place at Metrotech Commons, Downtown Brooklyn June 10 SUNDANCE SHORT FILMS Highlights from Sundance 2016 include these wild, weird and wonderful short films. June 15 TIES THAT BIND: SHORT FILMS ABOUT FAMILIES Family, for better and for worse: the protagonists of these films are the people we wish our family would be and sometimes are. June 24 DANGEROUS DOCS: SHORT DOCUMENTARIES Thrilling and unsettling and frighteningly true. Rooftop Films and Roosevelt Island All Screenings take place at Firefighters’ Field, Roosevelt Island, Manhattan June 11 TERRITORY: SHORT FILMS ABOUT TURF WARS Stories of the (sometimes) shared (sometimes) human space. Rooftop Films and the River to River Festival All Screenings take place at Liberty Plaza, Manhattan June 22 RIVER TO RIVER PRESENTS: OLGA BELL’S KRAI Olga Bell’s Krai is an audio‐visual performance concerned with the rest of the map: the wilderness, the towns, the inhabitants and their stories. Presented by: The River to River Festival Rooftop Films and Arts Brookfield All Screenings take place at Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place, Financial District, Manhattan July 28 ANIMATION BLOCK PARTY Experience some of the year’s best animated short films at the incomparable Animation Block Party! July 30 IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE (Patrick Shen) A meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound, and the impact of noise on our lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64c_1MtQUlM Rooftop Films and Outdoor Cinema at Socrates Sculpture Park All Screenings take place at Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, Queens July 20 SONITA (Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami) 18-year-old rapper Sonita looks for a better life outside Iran in this complex and layered doc. Presented in partnership with Women Make Movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B47MbpPuz7A August 3 GIRL ASLEEP (Rosemary Meyers) Greta’s bubble of obscure loserdom is burst when her parents throw a surprise 15th birthday party with her whole school! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meN61FD9Wak Presented in partnership with Oscilloscope Laboratories Rooftop Films and Coney Island Flicks on the Beach All Screenings take place Mondays on the beach at West 10th Street. Dates TBA JURASSIC WORLD (Colin Trevorrow) STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (J.J. Abrams) INSIDE OUT (Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen) AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Joss Whedon) LABYRINTH (Jim Henson) CREED (Ryan Coogler)
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Sundance Award-Winning Film MORRIS FROM AMERICA Gets A Summer Release

[caption id="attachment_14117" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] MORRIS FROM AMERICA[/caption] The Sundance Film Festival Award-winning film MORRIS FROM AMERICA will be available exclusively on DirecTV beginning July 7th. It will open theatrically in select cities on August 19th. Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Chad Hartigan (This is Martin Bonner), and starring Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, Lina Keller and Markees Christmas, Morris from America won two prizes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and a Special Jury Award for Robinson. A heartwarming and crowd-pleasing coming-of-age comedy with a unique spin, Morris from America centers on Morris Gentry (Markees Christmas, in an incredible breakout performance) a 13-year-old who has just relocated with his single father, Curtis (Craig Robinson) to Heidelberg, Germany. Morris, who fancies himself the next Notorious B.I.G., is a complete fish-out-of-water—a budding hip-hop star in an EDM world. To complicate matters further, Morris quickly falls hard for his cool, rebellious, 15-year-old classmate Katrin. Morris sets out against all odds to take the hip-hop world by storm and win the girl of his dreams. Morris from America will screen at the upcoming BAMcinemaFest 2016 in Brooklyn, New York.
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South African Doc THE JOURNEYMEN is Opening Night Film of Durban Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_14112" align="aligncenter" width="1788"] The Journeymen[/caption] The World Premiere of the South African documentary, The Journeymen, will be the opening night film of the 37th edition of the Durban International Film Festival. The Durban International Film Festival takes place from June16 to 26, 2016. [caption id="attachment_14111" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Journeymen[/caption] The Journeymen, the latest installment in the Twenty Journey project, is directed by Sean Metelerkamp and produced by filmmaker Jolynn Minnaar whose film, Unearthed, was one of the big hits at DIFF 2014. Filmed as part of the Twenty Journey project in 2014, the year in which South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy and mourned Nelson Mandela’s death, The Journeymen chronicles the journey of three young South African photographers, Wikus de Wet, Sipho Mpongo and Sean Metelerkamp, as they travel 24 000km in a motorhome throughout South Africa, with GoPro cameras strapped to their chests, to explore the mood and feel the pulse of contemporary South Africa. From urban sprawls to dusty rural roads, the trio were driven by the question “Has Mandela’s vision of equality in a rainbow nation been achieved?” [caption id="attachment_14113" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Journeymen[/caption] The film answers this with a kaleidoscopic set of responses that are disturbing, beautiful, thought-provoking and, more than anything, movingly surreal. Said Acting Festival Director, Peter Machen, “It is highly appropriate that this intersectional portrait of our strange and beautiful country will screen on the fortieth anniversary of 16th June, 1976. The film is a portrait of a nation that was forever changed by the actions of the youth of Soweto, and screening it on this day will act as a tribute to the bravery of the tens of thousands of unnamed young people who helped build the road to our liberation.” [caption id="attachment_14093" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Journeymen[/caption] Machen continued, “The film shows the underlying demons of our troubled national soul but also its deep and profound beauty. Made with technology that is widely accessible, the film is also a vibrant call to arms for new modes of filmmaking and fresh approaches to narrative. We are very happy to be screening the world premiere of The Journeymen on the opening night of the 37th Edition of DIFF.” Director, Sean Metelerkamp said, “While we never set out to make a feature length documentary, looking back, through embracing new technology, we were able to capture our promising, contentious and confusing country as we went about exploring our respective photographic themes. We hope that this collaboration – between three guys from different cultural and racial backgrounds, united simply by a duty to set out and discover truly authentic South African stories – kickstarts conversations and interactions. As luck would have it, our film features a chance encounter with Sam Nzima, who photographed Hector Pietersen. We can’t think of a better way to honour Youth Day than to share our film with the country. “
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Palm Springs International Film Festival Announces 2017 Dates

The 2017 Palm Springs International Film Festival dates were announced today; the 28th edition of the festival will open on January 5 and run through January 16, 2017. The festival’s Awards Gala will be held on Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. This past year’s star-studded event, hosted by Mary Hart, honored Cate Blanchett, Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Michael Fassbender, Brie Larson, Rooney Mara, Tom McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander and the cast of The Big Short. The 2017 Palm Springs International Film Festival will begin on Thursday, January 5 with an Opening Night screening followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Closing Night will take place on Sunday, January 15 with the Best of the Fest screenings on Monday, January 16. The festival will begin accepting film submissions on July 1, 2016. Awards gala tickets and screening passes will go on sale August 1, 2016.
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