Film Festivals

Rosie O’Donnell Doc to World Premiere at Athena Film Fest

HBO Documentary Films’ ROSIE O’DONNELL: A HEARTFELT STAND UP will premiere at the Athena Film Festival on Saturday February 7th, 2015.

Multiple Emmy Award-winning comedian, host, and actor Rosie O’Donnell will attend the premiere to introduce the film and participate on a panel on women’s heart disease after the screening. On the same evening, Ms. O’Donnell will present HBO’s President of Documentary Films Sheila Nevins with The President’s Visionary Award during the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College.

ROSIE O’DONNELL: A HEARTFELT STAND UP features Rosie O’Donnell in a hybrid form of standup comedy, inspired by her recent near-fatal heart attack. In a comic and touching performance, she shares her experience with heart disease, the leading cause of death among American women, and explores topics ranging from the challenges of raising five children to her obsession with Barbara Streisand. O’Donnell’s return to the stage is an honest, hilarious and intimate take on life. The documentary will premiere at Miller Theater, 2960 Broadway (at 116th St.) on Saturday February 7 at 4:30PM. Tickets are available for purchase on the Athena Film Festival website. The film will premiere on HBO on Saturday, February 14 at 10:00PM ET.

Ms. O’Donnell will also present multi-award winning, innovative producer Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films, with The President’s Visionary Award at the Athena Film Festival Awards ceremony later that evening. The 2015 Athena Awards are also set to honor Academy Award®-winning actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster, groundbreaking director, writer and producer Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Academy Award®-winning producer, President of Mandalay Pictures, and President of Women in Film, Cathy Schulman.

“This film is such an important project to me, and I’m so happy to debut it at the Athena Film Festival,” said Rosie O’Donnell. “My hope is to tell a very personal story that will help demystify symptoms of hearts attacks in women which are so different from men. I hope to share what I learned through my very personal experience. HBO has made this project possible, so to also present Sheila Nevins with The President’s Visionary Award is a true honor.”

“Rosie O’Donnell has forged a career which embodies the strength and creativity of women in the entertainment industry,” said Kathryn Kolbert, co-founder of the Athena Film Festival and Constance Hess Williams Director of the Athena Center. “As an Emmy®-winning TV personality and groundbreaking comedienne, Rosie has parlayed her success into acclaimed philanthropic efforts. We are thrilled to premiere her latest project.”

“The Athena Film Festival is honored to host the world premiere of Rosie O’Donnell’s HBO documentary as part of our stellar 2015 line-up,” said Melissa Silverstein, co-founder and Artistic Director of the Athena Film Festival and founder of Women and Hollywood. “Her leadership and visibility on this issue will help save women’s lives.”

ROSIE O’DONNELL: A HEARTFELT STAND UP will premiere on HBO on Saturday, February 14th at 10PM ET.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCzSYvBMuQ
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Richmond Intl Film Fest Announces 2015 Official Line-Up

Wish You Well

The Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), will kick off on Thursday, February 26 with Wish You Well, a coming-of-age drama set in 1940s Virginia written by best-selling author David Baldacci and starring Josh Lucas and Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn.

The festival will continue over the next three days with screenings at the Byrd, the Virginia Historical Society, and Bow Tie Criterion Cinemas.

New this year, RIFF is teaming up with producing sponsor, Swedish Match, a Sweden-based tobacco company with U.S. headquarters in Richmond, to bring patrons a Swedish film spotlight and community outreach during the festival. Through the spotlight, patrons will experience a taste of Swedish lifestyle, arts and culture.

Swedish films included in the spotlight are this year’s Golden Globe nominated Force Majeure, which is also Sweden’s official Oscar entry for consideration of Best Foreign Language Film of the year. The film is directed by Ruben Ostlund and stars Johannes Kuhnke. Force Majeure debuts opening night at Movieland with a Swedish mixer to take place prior to the screening. The second Swedish spotlight film is the best-selling adaptation, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared directed by Felix Herngren and starring Sweden’s funniest man, Robert Gustafsson, which plays at the Byrd Theatre on Sunday afternoon.

Closing out Sunday afternoon is the world premiere of Living in a Food Desert, a feature documentary directed by Jesse Vaughan that takes an inside look at the food desert crisis affecting hundreds of thousands in Virginia. The film features Mount Olive Baptist Church, FeedMore, Tricycle Gardens, Lynchburg Grows, Shalom Farms and Renew Richmond with interviews that include Leslie Van Horn, First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, Delegate Delores McQuinn, Dr. Jewel Hairston, Douglas Pick, John Lewis, Sally Schwitters, Daron Chavis, and others. Produced by Jesse Vaughan and Cedric Owens for Virginia State University’s College of Agriculture.

A sample of other features and shorts in festival competition are:  Sewing Hope, a feature documentary narrated by Forest Whitaker that follows a Ugandan Nun who has dedicated her life to helping women terrorized by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army  Salgan & Salgan, a feature documentary, which profiles legendary tango pianist, Horatio Salgan  Wildlike, directed and written by Frank Hall Green and starring Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, I Robot, Déjà vu), Ann Dowd (Compliance, Side Effects, Marley & Me, Garden State), Ella Purnell (Maleficient, Never Let Me Go, Kick-Ass 2), Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker, Flight, Jarhead, Bobby), Nolan Gerard Funk (House at the End of the Street, X-Men 2), and Diane Farr (Numb3rs, About Cherry)  The Japanese Dog, Romania’s official Oscar entry for consideration of Best Foreign Language Film of the year, directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu.  Des Eclats de Verre, Sundance Grand Prize Jury and Audience Award winner and this year’s Best Short Winner at the Toronto International Film and Video Festival  Audience of One directed by KARP and starring Taylor Gray (Star Wars Rebels, Thunderstruck) and Spencer Daniels (Star Trek, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)  Imagine, directed by Jonathan Steven Green and Jahanara Saleh and starring Scott Wolfe (Party of Five, White Squall)  Love They Nature, narrated by Liam Neeson  Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic, narrated by Vanessa Williams  Blood and Circumstance, a film recently shot in Virginia.
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Portland Intl Film Fest Reveals Dates and Opening Night Film

WILD TALES

The 38th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF 38) begins on Thursday, February 5th and will run through the 21st; and opens with Argentinean director Damián Szofrón’s Oscar-nominated film WILD TALES.

Produced by Pedro Almodóvar, WILD TALES is an anthology of six blackly-comic short stories sharing a common theme of frustration, bestial revenge, and the past coming back to haunt in an escalating fashion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnXv6R2HI8

In addition to opening with Damián Szofrón’s WILD TALES, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Festival will host Abderrahmane Sissako’s TIMBUKTU, also nominated in that category. As in past years, the Festival features an abundance of short films. This year’s lineup boasts eight discrete short film programs, including one devoted entirely to films made in Oregon, another built entirely of Spanish-produced content, and an animated shorts program curated by LAIKA’s Mark Shapiro. Among the multitude of shorts on offer, the festival is proud to host Daisy Jacobs’ THE BIGGER PICTURE, nominated for the Short Film – Animated Academy Award, and Matt Kirby’s THE PHONE CALL, nominated in the Short Film – Live Action category.

This year’s Festival includes the return of the popular PIFF After Dark program, showcasing late night movies like Adam MacDonald’s BACKCOUNTRY, Mark Hartley’s (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS, and Hitoshi Matsumoto’s (BIG MAN JAPAN) R100 for adventurous festival attendees.

Other highlights of PIFF 38 include screenings of Lisandro Alonso’s (LOS MUERTOS) JAUJA, Joshua Oppenheimer’s (THE ACT OF KILLING) THE LOOK OF SILENCE, Pedro Costa’s (COLOSSAL YOUTH) HORSE MONEY, Gabe Polsky’s (THE MOTEL LIFE) , Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s (EAGLE VS. SHARK) WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, Najwa Najjar’s (POMEGRANATES AND MYRRH) EYES OF A THIEF, Albert Maysles’ (GIMME SHELTER) IRIS, Olivier Assayas’ (CARLOS) CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker’s I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY, Kornél Mundruczó WHITE GOD, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s THE TRIBE, Chuck Workman’s (EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL) MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES, Sergei Loznitsa’s (MY JOY) MAIDAN, Maria Gamboa’s MATEO, Yȏji Yamada’s (THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI) THE LITTLE HOUSE and Christian Petzold’s (JERICHOW) PHOENIX.
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Showtime to Debut 2 Documentaries at Sundance Film Festival

SHOWTIME will debut the world premieres of LISTEN TO ME MARLON, and PROPHET’S PREY, two highly-anticipated films at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Competing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and available for theatrical release, LISTEN TO ME MARLON, directed by Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon), unlocks Marlon Brando’s extensive never-before-heard personal audio archive. Also debuting at Sundance is the compelling Warren Jeffs documentary PROPHET’S PREY, directed by Amy Berg (Deliver us from Evil, An Open Secret), which provides a unique look inside one of the largest cults currently operating in the United States, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).

PROPHET’S PREY is a unique and intricate look inside the world and mind of Warren Jeffs and the FLDS. The FLDS is one of the largest cults in the United States today. They are shrouded in secrecy and are far reaching. The film examines at how one man monopolizes tens of thousands of followers despite being imprisoned for life, after being publicly admonished and convicted for unspeakable acts. The people trying to stop this cult are fighting to avoid another Waco or Jonestown while Jeffs is calling for the end of the world, regularly. The film asks important questions about the future of the FLDS and the safety of the communities who are living amongst its members. PROPHET’S PREY is written and directed by Amy Berg (West of Memphis) who also serves as an executive producer. Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Dustin Lance Black also serve as executive producers. Erica Huggins serves as the documentary’s producer.

With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, LISTEN TO ME MARLON is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen; the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in Brando’s own voice. LISTEN TO ME MARLON is written, edited and directed by Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon) and produced by John Battsek (Searching for Sugar Man, Restrepo, The Tillman Story, One Day In September). RJ Cutler (THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DICK CHENEY) and George Chignell (Ali) serve as producers. Simon Chinn serves as the executive producer. LISTEN TO ME MARLON is a Passion Pictures production in association with Red Box Films and co-produced by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group. Additionally, the documentary will be competing in the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary Competition.
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18 Documentaries Complete Lineup for 2015 Berlinale Panorama

Une jeunesse allemande (A German Youth)

Panorama Dokumente of the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Une jeunesse allemande (A German Youth) by Jean-Gabriel Périot.

Using archive material, the film traces without bias or commentary the developments leading up to the “German Autumn” in late 1977. The gradual radicalisation of leaders of the Red Army Faction (RAF) is made palpable in excerpts from, e.g., Holger Mein’s film Freiheit für Teufel (Freedom for Teufel) and Ulrike Meinhof’s Bambule (Rampage). The film examines the expulsion of a large number of undergraduate students from the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) for their radicalism, as well as the independent student workers’ cinema, ROSTA Kino, and the directors’ revolt at the “EXPRMTL (Knokke Experimental Film Festival)” in Belgium.

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year by Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy addresses the fatal situation in Afghanistan now that all international troops have left the country. And Censored Voices by Mor Loushy traces the bitter taste of triumph. Young Israeli soldiers return home after the Six-Day War and immediately talk on tape about their experiences: the country is in a flush of victory. Now the director shows these same men listening to what they once said.
A statement by Katrin Seybold, who died in 2012, opens her final work: “The films I make need to be made. When people are dead, then they’re dead, and all we have left are Gestapo reports, the reports of the perpetrators.” Die Widerständigen „also machen wir das weiter …” (The Resistors “their spirit prevails …”) consists of interviews about the resistance movement against the Nazis. The film was finished by Seybold’s friend and colleague Ula Stöckl, whose legendary 1968 film, Neun Leben hat die Katze (The Cat Has Nine Lives), is screening in this year’s Berlinale Classics.

Music films and special artist portraits have a tradition in the Panorama. Nina Simone went from being a talented jazz and classical pianist to a highly political human rights activist. In the film What Happened, Miss Simone?, Liz Garbus weaves together film documents, interviews and, of course, the music of this inimitable singer to create an atmospheric portrait. Brett Morgen also includes a great deal of music in Cobain: Montage of Heck, an intimate glimpse into the life and work of the founder of the grunge band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain.

Inuk Silis Høegh’s Sume – Mumisitsinerup Nipaa (Sumé – The Sound of a Revolution) shows how the rock musicians of this band from Greenland devoted themselves in the mid 1970s to opposing Danish colonisers and brought about the revival of Greenlandic, their native tongue. And, as already announced (Press Release from December 16, 2014), in around 1980 one of the most creative musical chapters in West Berlin took place, as documented in B-Movie: Lust and Sound in West-Berlin by Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck and Heiko Lange.

Two extraordinary artists, both filmmakers whose world careers began in Berlin, are Jia Zhang-ke and Walter Salles: the latter is presenting an affectionate portrait of his colleague Jia Zhang-ke, Um homem de Fenyang (Jia Zhang-ke, a Guy from Fenyang), which includes many excerpts from his films that make recent upheavals in Chinese society more tangible. Besides the previously announced portrait ofFassbinder – Lieben ohne zu fordern (Fassbinder – To Love without Demands) by Danish filmmaker Christian Braad Thomsen, the Panorama is presenting two rediscoveries: one about Yvonne Rainer, the incredibly inspirational but also, by nature, modest dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose filmMURDER and murder won the TEDDY Award in 1997 (Feelings Are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer by Jack Walsh). The other is about Annemarie Schwarzenbach, whose modern European attitudes, writings on travelling the world, and stunning, highly androgynous look in the 1920s are still fascinating today not only to the queer and gender community (Je suis Annemarie Schwarzenbach / My Name is Annemarie Schwarzenbach by Véronique Aubouy).

Two more works have joined the line-up of films that focus on self-determination and sexuality: Danish director Jannik Splidsboel’s Misfits shows how there are several thousand churches in the Bible Belt of the USA but only one gay-lesbian youth centre. For many it is the only safe haven from a socialisation based on religious fundamentalism. Splidsboel presented How Are You about the artists Elmgreen&Dragset in the Panorama 2011. In Haftanlage 4614 (Prison System 4614), Jan Soldat, who showed his short film Zucht und Ordnung (Law and Order) in the Panorama 2012, explores the longings and desires revealed by “prison fetishists”: these inmates are voluntarily behind bars.

The following titles complete the list of Panorama films.

Panorama Dokumente

Censored Voices – Israel / Germany
By Mor Loushy
European premiere

Cobain: Montage of Heck – USA
By Brett Morgen
International premiere

Die Widerständigen „also machen wir das weiter …” (The Resistors “their spirit prevails …”) – Germany
By Ula Stöckl, Katrin Seybold
World premiere

Feelings Are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer – USA
By Jack Walsh
World premiere

Haftanlage 4614 (Prison System 4614) – Germany
By Jan Soldat
World premiere

Je suis Annemarie Schwarzenbach (My Name is Annemarie Schwarzenbach) – France
By Véronique Aubouy
World premiere

Jia Zhang-ke, um homem de Fenyang (Jia Zhang-ke, a Guy from Fenyang) – Brazil
By Walter Salles
European Premiere

Misfits – Denmark / Sweden
By Jannik Splidsboel
World premiere

Sume – Mumisitsinerup Nipaa (Sumé – The Sound of a Revolution) – Greenland / Denmark / Norway
By Inuk Silis Høegh
European premiere

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year – Great Britain
By Saeed Taji Farouky, Michael McEvoy
World premiere

Une jeunesse allemande (A German Youth) – France / Switzerland / Germany
By Jean-Gabriel Périot
World premiere

What Happened, Miss Simone? – USA
By Liz Garbus
International premiere

Previously announced Panorama Dokumente films:

B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin by Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck, Heiko Lange, Germany (WP)
Danielův Svět (Daniel’s World) by Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic (IP)
El hombre nuevo (The New Man) by Aldo Garay, Uruguay / Chile (WP)
Fassbinder – Lieben ohne zu fordern (Fassbinder – To Love without Demands) by Christian Braad Thomsen, Denmark (WP)
Iraqi Odyssey by Samir, Switzerland / Germany / Iraq / United Arab Emirates (EP)
The Yes Men Are Revolting by Laura Nix, Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, USA (EP)

(WP= World premiere, IP= International premiere, EP = European premiere)
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Alex Gibney’s Scientology Doc to Open Big Sky Film Festival

GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has released the lineup of 40 films, plus opening night film Alex Gibney’s GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF.

The 12th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) opens February 6th with a free screening, fresh from its Sundance premiere, of Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney’s GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF.

The film, which is controversial in its own right, is based on the controversial book of the same title by Pulitzer-winning journalist Lawrence Wright, who is featured in the film along with eight former members of the Church of Scientology. The book drew significant litigation from the Church, and HBO expects the same for the film. The film will enjoy a limited theatrical and festival run before its broadcast premiere on HBO in March.

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has also released the list of 40 films vying to win one of four juried competitions.

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Competitions –

Mini-Doc Award –

BREAK KIDS, Emily Kassie, 8 minutes
BROKEN LANDSCAPES, Michael T. Miller, 13 minutes
CAILLEACH, Rosie Reed Hillman, 14 minutes
THE LAST SMALLHOLDER, Francis Lee, 9 minutes
LITTLE HERO, Marcus A. McDouglad & Jennifer Medvin, 10 minutes
LUCHADORA, River Finlay, 12 minutes
OMID, Jawad Wahabzada, 9 minutes
SLOW SEASON, John Fiege, 6 minutes
TREASURE ISLAND, Elizabeth Lo & Melissa Langer, 7 minutes
UNDER THE BED, Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley, 11 minutes

MINI-DOC JURY –

John Cohen, Filmmaker
Yarrow Kramer, Filmmaker
Adam Singer, Filmmaker

Short Documentary Award –

BROKEN CITY POETS, Ariane Wu, 29 minutes
CONTROVERSIES, Ryan Mckenna, 22 minutes
FIGHTER BY NATURE, JP Keenan & Aryelle Cormier, 28 minutes
GROWING HOME, Faisal Attrache, 21 minutes
HINOKI FARM, Akiro Hellgardt, 29 minutes
LA REINA, Manuel Abramovich, 19 minutes
MIE NISHI, Bruno Caticha, 19 minutes
POUTERS, Paul Fegan, 17 minutes
SANTA CRUZ DEL ISLOTE 19 minutes
THE VOW, Cameron Zohoori, 40 minutes

SHORT DOCUMENTARY JURY –

Christoph Green, Filmmaker
Alexandra Hanibal, Tribecca DocFund
Noland Walker, ITVS

Feature Documentary Award –

1971, Johanna Hamilton, 80 minutes
BOYS WITH BROKEN EARS, Nima Shayeghi, 80 minutes
HIP HOP-ERATION, Bryn Evans, 93 minutes
MEET THE HITLERS, Matt Ogens, 83 minutes
NOW EN ESPANOL, Andrea Meller, 67 minutes
PERSONAL GOLD, Tamara Christopherson, 89 minutes
SIBLINGS ARE FOREVER, Frode Fimland, 85 minutes
THERE WILL BE NO STAY, Patty Dillon, 71 minutes
TOP SPIN, Sara Newens & Mina T. Son, 76 minutes
TRUE SON, Kevin Gordon, 72 minutes

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY JURY

Erik Augustin Palm, Journalist
Desroches Mia, National Film Board of Canada
Tracy Rector, Filmmaker
Brian Newman, Producer

Big Sky Award –

BILLY MIZE AND THE BAKERSFIELD SOUND, William J. Saunders, 95 minutes
BY BLOOD, Sam Russell & Marcos Barbery, 63 minutes
CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC, Nick Brandestini, 94 minutes
DAUGHTERS OF EMMONAK, Graeme Aegerter, Bobby Moser, & Samantha Andre, 17 minutes
DESERT HAZE, Sofie Benoot, 109 minutes
FISHTAIL, Andrew Renzi, 61 minutes
FLORENCE, ARIZONA, Andrea B. Scott, 77 minutes
GAUCHO DEL NORTE, Sofian Khan & Andres Caballero, 58 minutes
LOVE AND TERROR: ON THE HOWLING PLAINS OF NOWHERE, Dave Jannetta, 100 minutes
THE LAST SEASON, Sara Dosa, 80 minutes

BIG SKY AWARD JURY

Sandra Itkoff, Producer
Julie Campfield, RocoFilms
Nikki Heyman, POV
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Milwaukee Film Festival Announces 2015 Dates

The 7th annual Milwaukee Film Festival will take place from September 24 to October 8, 2015.

The 15-day festival includes feature films, shorts programs, education screenings, post-film conversations, and panel discussions.

Bud and Sue Selig have renewed their support of the Milwaukee Film Festival for another three consecutive years, pledging $150,000 annually for 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Selig family was one of the first major supporters when the festival began in 2009, committing $100,000 for each of the 2009, 2010, and 2011 festivals. They continued their generous support in 2012, 2013, and 2014 with an increased gift of $150,000 per year.

“Sue and I are thrilled to continue our support of the Milwaukee Film Festival. In six short years, Milwaukee Film has grown to become a vital cultural institution for Milwaukee, bringing a dynamic energy to our beloved city” says Bud Selig. “We can’t wait for this fall to celebrate its 7th year.”

Jonathan Jackson, Artistic and Executive Director for Milwaukee Film, adds: “We are humbled by the philanthropic leadership of Bud and Sue. They had the vision to take a chance on a fledgling non-profit in 2009 during the financial crisis. Their continued generosity–$1,200,000 in support to date–inspires our staff and board to produce a better festival every single year.”

In recognition of the Selig family’s charitable contribution, The Allan H. (Bud) and Suzanne L. Selig Audience Award for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film are presented each year to the overall audience favorites in both the feature film and short film categories. The 2014 winners included Alive Inside (feature; director Michael Rossato-Bennett) and The Numberlys (short; directors William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg).*

Last year’s festival presented 275 films from 63 countries at four venues and on five screens. With the support of 82 Sponsors and 262 Community Partners, the festival saw continued growth in overall event attendance–64,187 in 2014, compared to 55,194 in 2013. In addition, the 2014 festival boasted 72 sold-out screenings (compared to 64 in 2013). A record 108 visiting guests participated in more than 431 individual festival events over the course of 15 days.
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Joel & Ethan Coen to Preside Over Cannes Film Festival Jury

Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen will preside over the jury of the 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen have accepted the invitation from President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux to become the Presidents of the 68th edition of the Festival.

“We look forward to returning to Cannes this year”, Joel and Ethan Coen said from the Hail Caesar! film shoot with George Clooney, Christophe Lambert, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Josh Brolin and Channing Tatum.“We welcome as always the opportunity to watch movies there from all over the world. Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career. Presiding over the Jury is a special honor, since we have never heretofore been president of anything. We will issue further proclamations at the appropriate time.”

The Festival de Cannes will take place from Wednesday 13 until Sunday 24 May, 2015.
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Black Panthers Film to Open Pan African Film Festival

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Director Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the Opening Night film of the 23rd Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF)

Triangle-Going to America will be highlighted as the Centerpiece selection and closing the Festival is The Man in 3B. All films will screen at RAVE Cinemas 15, located within the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 4200 Marlton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90008. The 23rd Annual Pan African Film Festival will take place in Los Angeles February 5-16, 2015.

Veteran documentarian Stanley Nelson brings his newest film to PAFF straight from Sundance Film Festival for its West Coast premiere. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution takes a look at the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, but also how it influenced how African-Americans look at themselves today. Whether they were right or wrong, whether they were good or bad, more than 40 years after the Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California, the group and its leadership remain powerful and enduring figures in our popular imagination. The Black Panthers is the first feature-length documentary to showcase the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for Black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. The film includes riveting eyewitness accounts from the first members who joined the organization when its founder, Huey P. Newton, was still alive as a young, brash upstart who confronted local police and American tradition with a loaded gun and a law book. This film weaves voices from varied perspectives who lived this story” police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters, and detractors, those who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Because the participants from all sides were so young in the 60s and 70s, they are still around to share firsthand accounts.

“PAFF is excited about hosting award-winning director Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. This film is right on time. The issues that the Black Panther Party and other Black Power organizations dealt with in the 1960s continue to be the major issues confronting the black community today. The film offers a striking and compelling look at the personalities, the drama, the wit that come hurtling down to us in the present day. The film is an entertaining must-see for all who are looking to better understand where we are at this historical moment and where we might go in the future,” says PAFF Founder and Executive Director, Ayuko Babu.

Immigration has been the topic of many recent news reports and headlines, including President Obama taking bold new steps to fix America’s broken immigration system. Triangle-Going to America addresses this very issue. Each year, hundreds of Africans from Ethiopia, Eritrea and and throughout the African continent leave their countries to make the journey across the world with hope and dreams of coming to America. The film’s characters Kaleab and Jemal are willing to endure any danger to reach America and the promise of a better life. Along the way Kaleab meets Winta, an Eritrean beauty who is also making the journey. Together, they travel an arduous and illegal path wrought with danger, exploitation and death from East and North Africa through Italy, Mexico and finally to the United States. Triangle stars Solomon Bogale and Mahder Assefa, two of the most famous actors in Ethiopia.

“At PAFF, we always want to stay current with today’s domestic and international issues and be entertaining at the same time. Triangle fits into this vision. Immigration is not just an issue in the Latino community, but also affects the Black communities in the U.S. and Europe,” adds Babu.

The Man in 3B includes a star-studded cast, including Lamman Rucker, Billie D. Williams, Jackee Harry, Marla Gibbs, Brely Evans and more. Daryl Graham (Lamman Rucker) has just moved into a Jamaica, Queens, apartment building and his neighbors, male and female alike, can’t stop talking about him. From his extreme attractiveness to his undeniable swag, Daryl is the man every woman wants and every man wants to be.

PAFF Executive Director Ayuko Babu says, “PAFF loves to showcase films like The Man in 3B. There is an interesting twist in the storyline which is not usually found in romantic comedies. This film is entertaining and gives us insight into ourselves and encourages attitudes that are important to our development, which makes this the perfect closing night film at PAFF.”
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Portland International Film Festival Unveils 2015 Poster

The Portland International Film Festival released the poster, designed by Sandstrom Partners, for its 38th annual edition taking place February 5 to 21, 2015.
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Wild Tales to Open 2015 Miami International Film Festival

Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes), directed by Damián Szifron, is the opening night film of the 32nd Miami International Film Festival taking place March 6 – 15, 2015.

The black comedy, featuring an all-star cast made up of the who’s who of Argentina cinema (including perennial Miami International Film Festival audience favorite Ricardo Darín), makes its Florida premiere and marks the third directorial achievement for Miami International Film Festival alumnus Szifron, a deftly talented filmmaker hailing from Buenos Aires. Wild Tales is currently shortlisted for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominations, one of just nine titles whittled down from a record 83 films submitted worldwide. The final list of nominees will be revealed tomorrow, January 15th, from Los Angeles, home of the Oscars.

Says Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival executive director Jaie Laplante, “A Ricardo Darín-starring, Damián Szifron-directed, Pedro Almodóvar-produced, Cannes Official Competition, Oscar-shortlisted film? Yes, please. The Festival is absolutely delighted to choose Wild Tales as our CINEDWNTWN Galas’ Opening Night Film, because it combines the talents of so many of our audience’s favorite artists, all of whom are working at the absolute top of their game.”

Szifron’s debut feature film, The Bottom of the Sea (2003) played at 21st Miami International Film Festival in 2004, while his equally celebrated second film, On Probation, was released in 2005. Wild Tales marks Szifron’s first collaboration with legendary Spanish filmmaker and producer Pedro Almodóvar, who along with his brother Augustin, helm El Deseo, the film’s co-producers with Kramer & Sigman Films of Argentina.

Wild Tales is a wickedly funny roundabout of six standalone but related shorts featuring dozens of characters, reaching operatic heights of subversive humor in tales of conflicts between the classes under common themes of violence and vengeance. Simon (Darín) is pushed to the breaking point by Buenos Aires civic bureaucrats who have towed his car on the day of his daughter’s birthday; whereas white-collar businessman Diego (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is enraged by blue-collar righteousness on a dusty, deserted highway. By chance, a roadside diner waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) meets the pompous jerk who destroyed her family; and wealthy patriarch Mauricio (Oscar Martinez) is determined to be the pompous jerk who won’t let anyone destroy his family.

Actor Ricardo Darín is no stranger to Miami Dade College’s Miami International Film Festival, having starred in numerous Official Selection films for many years, and attending the Festival in 2012 withChinese Take-Away at the 29th Miami International Film Festival at that year’s Closing Awards Night Gala. Erica Rivas, Diego Gentile, Dario Grandinetti, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, German de Silva and many more complete the outstanding ensemble.
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New Downtown Creative Hub for 2015 Tribeca Film Festival

The Creative Hub for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studios

The Tribeca Film Festival will launch a downtown creative hub for festivalgoers, during its 14th edition, April 15–April 26, 2015.

The hub will provide a destination for festivalgoers to gather, collaborate and share stories in New York City. A residency at Spring Studios—a 150,000 square foot state-of-the-art creative, production & event center located at 50 Varick Street—will bring filmmakers, artists, audiences, partners and VIPs together in one place. Collective spaces for filmmakers, industry, press, will supplement venues for the majority of the Festival’s special events including Tribeca Talks, innovation events, Awards Night, and parties. The Festival has created a new Resident Pass that will provide access to the creative hub for the duration of the Festival and a Resident Day Pass that will provide day-to-day access. Both passes go on sale January 20th.

“Since the beginning, we envisioned a space where the Festival community could interact and explore ideas, and where we could celebrate storytellers, artists and their work,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, TFF. “Our residency at Spring will provide the perfect environment for filmmakers, industry, press and Festival-goers.”

TFF also announced its return to Regal Cinemas Battery Park Stadium 11, which will present press, industry and public screenings on all 11 screens. These new venues anchor the Festival downtown, where they are joined by longtime Festival venues including BMCC’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center—home to many of the Festival’s gala red carpet premieres, Tribeca Cinemas, and Brookfield Place, which hosts the annual Tribeca Drive-In^® movies on the Hudson River. Additional venues include SVA Theater and Bow Tie Cinemas’ renovated Chelsea Cinemas.

“Spring is excited to collaborate with the Tribeca Film Festival. Within our mission to be the home of groundbreaking creative ideas in New York and the vibrant TriBeCa neighborhood in particular, TFF is a natural partner in our efforts to connect thought-leaders, artists and the community in delivering leading-edge innovations, ideas and experiences,” said Mark Loy, CEO and Founder of Spring Studios. “We are honored to be the new hub for TFF and look forward to a future filled with groundbreaking cultural experiences that this partnership inspires.”
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