Film Festivals

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival Announces 2014 Film Festival Lineup; Opens with “Lucky Stiff” Starring Jason Alexander

Actor Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame, will be honored with the Career Achievement Award on Friday, November 7 at the 29th annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) Opening Night film, the East Coast Premiere of Lucky Stiff, in which he stars with Pamela Shaw (also attending). Lucky Stiff marks the first time the festival debuts with a musical comedy. Directed by Christopher Ashley, the zany and fast-paced Lucky Stiff follows a down and out British shoe salesman who, in order to receive his inheritance of $6 million, must fulfill his deceased Uncle’s request of taking him for the best time of his “life” in Monte Carlo for a week of fun, sun, dancing, and gambling. Book writer/lyricist, Lynn Ahrens adapted her clever 1988 New York stage hit for the screen with additional songs written by her and composer Stephen Flaherty.

Selected as the Centerpiece Film, is the Southeast premiere of Frank vs God, a light-hearted, uplifting story of a former lawyer, David Frank. Unable to move past the loss of his wife, he had all but given up…that is until a tornado not only destroys his house but, takes his beloved dog Brutus. When the insurance company deems the loss an “act of God,” David becomes desperate and decides to serve God…with a lawsuit. In attendance are stars Henry Ian Cusick (TV hit series LOST) and director Stewart Schill.

FLiFF closes on Sunday, November 23, with the Southeast Premiere of dark comedy, Just Before I Go, the feature film directorial debut of actress Courteney Cox (Friends, Cougar Town). Seann William Scott (American Pie franchise) stars as Ted Morgan, who’s on the verge of giving up on life. Before he does, he decides to return to his hometown one last time to confront some old demons.

FLiFF line-up for the 2014 event will feature over 175 American Independent and World Cinema features, shorts and documentaries will premiere. The Sunshine Celluloid segment will highlight film by Florida talent. There are 34 World Premieres, 12 U.S Premieres, 27 East Coast and 16 Southeast.

Feature films on the lineup include the World premieres of Oro Verde (Switzerland) directed by Mohammed Soudani, Foreign Land (USA-Mexico) directed byRafi Girgis, Love Thy Nature ( USA-Brazil-Namibia-British Virgin Islands) directed by Sylvie Rokab , Every Child Counts ( Bahamas-Canada), directed by Wendy Loten.

U.S Premieres include Arabani (Israel) directed by Adi Adwan, Lost in Karastan (Georgia) directed by Ben Hopkins, La Casa Ausente (The Absent House), (Puerto Rico-USA-Switzerland) directed by Rubén Abruña, Non Present Time (Lithuania) directed by Mykolas Vildziunas and Papita, Mani & Toston (Venzuela) directed by Luis Carlos Hueck.

East Coast Premieres include Gone Doggy Gone (USA) directed by Kasi Brown & Brandon Walter, Healing (Australia) directed by Craig Monahan, FLiFF’s opener Lucky Stiff (USA) directed by Christopher Ashley, Sombras de Azul (Cuba-Mexico-USA) directed by Kelly Daniela Norris.

Southeast Premieres include: Centerpiece Film Frank vs God (USA) directed by Stewart Schill, Amka and the Three Golden Rules (Mongolia) directed by Babar Ahmed, Human Capital (Italy) directed by Paola Virzi, Charlie’s Country (Australia) directed by Rolf de Heer, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, (France-Israel-Abu Dhabi-USA) directed by Alastair Siddons, Jersey Shore Massacre (USA) directed by Paul Tarnpool, FLiFF’s closer Just Before I Go (USA) directed by Courtney Cox, Manos Sucias (Colombia) / directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka. Shunned (Philippines/USA) directed by Janice Villarosa, Two Bit Waltz (USA) directed by Clara Mamet, and Traitors (Morroco) directed by Sean Gullette.

The Southeast Premiere of director Paulo Virzi’s Human Capital, the Italian Candidate for the Foreign Language Oscar 2015, is a slick, stylish drama about the destinies of two families irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit by a jeep the night before Christmas Eve.

The Florida premiere of The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley in the a historical thriller about Alan Turing, a genius who pioneered modern-day computing and is credited with cracking the German Enigma code. However, Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts which The U.K deemed illegal in 1952.

Big In Japan, from director John Jeffcoat, a semi-fictionalized rock ‘n roll road movie, featuring the band Tennis Pro, is based loosely on actual events and told with rollicking humor with a fresh narrative approach and guerrilla production style.

Director Sean Gullette attends the Southeast Premiere of his film, Traitors. Tangiers is the launching pad for this intoxicating, slick suspense ride into desperation and ambition.

The Salvation, a Florida Premiere directed by Kristian Levring, stars Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt) as a peaceful American settler who revenges his family’s murder in this Danish western which is just as compelling as Eastwood’s Unforgiven.

Under The Same Sun, is the story of two businessmen – one Palestinian and one Israeli – who struggle to set up a solar energy company to communities in the Palestinian territories. The film was produced by Amir Harel, an Oscar nominated Israeli producer for Paradise Now, and directed by Sameh Zoabi, a leading Palestinian film-maker.

Directed by Alexandre Coffre, The Volcano, is a fun, fast moving comedy starring Danny Boon and Valerie Bonneton as two divorcees who must swallow their pathological hatred for each other and hit the road together if they are to make it in time to their daughter’s wedding. The Southeast premiere is an extension of French Week.

Winter Sleep took the 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s coveted Palme d’Or. The richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful Turkish drama, directed by Nuri Bilge, is about three people with marital issues whose animosities are fueled when they are inescapably isolated in a small mountain hotel as the snow begins to fall.

Fascinating Documentaries include: An Honest Liar, directed by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, is about deception and the life of world-famous magician, escape artist and master skeptic, James ‘The Amazing’ Randi.

The South Florida Premiere of Shunned, from Filipino-American director Janice Villarosa, is a no holds barred look into the lives of transsexuals (male to female), in the Philippines. The film documents the rejection and attacks of violence within the society and transition to what it takes to be a woman.

FLiFF hosts the Florida Premieres of two documentaries with a focus on remarkable women.The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things is the incredible journey of 5 female filmmakers driving across America to encourage, empower, and inspire the next generation of strong women to go after their career ambitions. Director Sarah Moshman and executive producer will attend. I know a Woman Like That, directed by Elaine Madsen and produced by daughter/actress Virginia Madsen, features interviews with extraordinary women over the age of sixty-five.

Sammy: The Journey is the incredible story of child Holocaust survivor, Sam Harris, the instrumental force behind the building of the 65,000 square foot Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center, of which he is President Emeritus.

FLiFF premieres several ambitious Florida films. Among them are: Short film, Tom In America, directed by Flavio Alves stars Oscar nominees, Burt Young and Sally Kirkland. The foundation of a 50 year marriage is rocked when the husband confesses to being gay. The film marks the first time Burt Young, from the Rocky franchise, has played a gay man in his career.

City of Memory by local filmmaker, director Robert Adanto and producer Gabriel Tyner, explores the ways in which the cataclysmic events in the wake of Hurricane Katrina became imprinted on the memory of the visual artists who lived through them. Adanto and Tyner head the Film & TV program at University School of Nova Southeastern University.

The Art of Community, directed by Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale film professor, Tas Salini, looks at a unique initiative led by the Community Foundation of Broward in bringing people together through civic engagements and by utilizing the arts in solving issues and problems important to the communities.

The first of two shorts in FLiFF’s Salute To Veteran’s special program is Rudy +Neil Go Fishing, directed by Abigail Tannebaum Sharon, and filmed in the Everglades, Aventura and Davie. The short doc is a touching story about Neil – a hairdresser and tournament fisherman, and Rudy, a U.S. soldier with PTSD who go fishing for therapy. The second short doc, And Great Showers of Tears Came Down, by Miami filmmaker, Dalton Narine, underscores themes about spirituality, suffering and fate, as a Marine’s tough slog in Vietnam attests to horrific experiences.

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4th Napa Valley Film Festival Announces Film Lineup; Opens with “The Imitation Game”

The Imitation Game

The fourth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) returns with a five-day festival showcasing the year’s best new independent films in the four postcard-perfect towns of Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, November 12 to 16, 2014. The Festival kicks off Opening Night, Wednesday, November 12, with a Red Carpet screening of The Imitation Game. Fresh off winning the audience award at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, The Imitation Game, stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Director Morten Tyldum is expected to attend.

Film highlights include:

Alex of Venice – – In actor Chris Messina’s directorial debut feature, Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a workaholic environmental attorney is forced to reinvent herself after her husband (Messina) suddenly leaves the family.

Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – An intimate, devastating, and inspiring look at the final tour of musical legend Glen Campbell as he faces the end of his career due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon – Mike Myers will attend the festival with Shep Gordon, the original mega talent manager and subject of Mike’s hilarious, touching and award-winning documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her & Him – A special presentation of a unique cinematic achievement: back-to-back screenings of Ned Benson’s two versions of a film about a marriage falling apart, one from the wife’s perspective and one from the husband’s, starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy.

Additional sneak previews include:

The Better Angels – Director A.J. Edwards’ debut feature tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the wilderness of Indiana. Starring Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling and Wes Bently

The Last 5 Years – Based on the 2002 off-Broadway musical, and adapted by writer/director Richard LaGravenese, The Last 5 Years is the story of a couple’s tumultuous relationship, from entanglement to denouement starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

Match – A Seattle couple (Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard) travels to New York to interview an acclaimed former ballet star (Patrick Stewart) for a research project on the dance scene in the 1960’s.

Escobar: Paradise Lost – The debut feature from writer/director Andrea Di Stephano traces the journey of a young Canadian surfer (Josh Hutcherson) who falls under the spell of a beautiful young woman in Columbia. Unfortunately she also who happens to be the niece of international drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro). An edgy crime drama and a soul-searching love story about family ties and loyalty, the film is a look at a dark chapter in the war on drugs and the casualties.

Documentary Competition:
#chicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes On A Dictator, Director Joe Piscatella (California Premiere)
American Native, Director Steven Oritt (World Premiere)
An Honest Liar, Directors Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom (California Premiere)
Botso, Director Tom Walters (Bay Area Premiere)
Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, Directors Sheila
Canavan and Michael Chandler (West Coast Premiere)
Flying The Feathered Edge; The Bob Hoover Project, Director Kim Furst (World Premiere)
Havana Curveball, Directors Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel
States of Grace, Directors Helen S. Cohen and Mark Lipman
Underwater Dreams, Director Mary Mazzio
What the F@#- is Cancer and Why Does Everybody Have It?, Director A.W. Gryphon

Narrative Competition:
Amira & Sam, Director Sean Mullin (California Premiere)
East Side Sushi, Director Anthony Lucero (World Premiere)
Fall To Rise, Director Jayce Bartok (California Premiere)
Kinderwald, Director Lise Raven
Like Sunday, Like Rain, Director Frank Whaley
Little Accidents, Director Sara Colangelo
Song One, Director Kate Barker-Froyland (West Coast Premiere)
Sun Belt Express, Director Evan Buxbaum (California Premiere)
Teacher of the Year, Director Jason Strouse
Thank You A Lot, Director Matt Muir (California Premiere)
The Road Within, Director Gren Wells
WildLike, Director Frank Hall Green (West Coast Premiere)

Lounge Features:
All Stars, Director Lance Kinsey (West Coast Premiere)
Bar America, Director Matthew Jacobs
Big In Japan, Director John Jeffcoat (California Premiere)
Cheatin’, Director Bill Plympton
Gone Doggy Gone, Directors Brandon Walter and Kasi Brown
Goodbye To All That, Director Angus MacLachlan (West Coast Premiere)
Growing Up and Other Lies, Directors Danny Jacobs and Darren Grodsky
Mudbloods, Director Farzad Nikbakht (Bay Area Premiere)
Time Lapse, Director Bradley King (Northern California Premiere)
We’ll Never Have Paris, Directors Jocelyn Towne and Simon Helberg (California Premiere)

Special Presentations:
#standwithme, Directors Patrick Moreau and Grant Peelle (World Premiere)
Big Dream, Director Kelly Cox (Special Sneak Preview)
Buscando A Gaston (Finding Gaston), Director Julia Patricia Perez (US Premiere)
Food Chains, Director Sanjay Rawal (West Coast Premiere)
Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists, Director Leslie Buchbinder (West Coast Premiere)
Half The Road: The Passion, Pitfalls & Power of Women’s Professional Cycling, Director Kathryn Bertine
Harlem Street Singer, Directors Trevor Laurence and Simeon Hutner (West Coast Premiere)
Harmontown, Director Neil Berkeley
Last Days In Vietnam, Director Rory Kennedy
Stretch, Director Joe Carnahan (World Premiere)
True Son, Director Kevin Gordon
Impossible Light, Director Jeremy Ambers

2014 Festival Sidebar – Architecture (sponsored by Blue Homes):
Henry Hornbostel in Architecture and Legacy, Director Mark Fallone (California Premiere)
Lutah, Director Kum-Kum Bhavnani (Northern California Premiere)
Paolo Soleri: Beyond Form, Director Aimee Madsen (Northern California Premiere)
Robin Boyd: Australian Beauty, Director Kerry Gardner

Documentary Short Programs:
A Stroll the Park: An Asbury Symphony, Albie (World Premiere), Cab City (World Premiere),Crooked Candy (California Premiere), David Hockney in the Now: In Six Minutes, Slomo, The Bulletproof Stockings, The Lion’s Mouth Opens, The Ox, White Earth (Bay Area Premiere), The Invisible Peak

World Cinema Shorts:
5 Tropoina Pethaneis (5 Ways 2 Die), Bis Gleich, Chronophobe (California Premiere), Into the Silent Sea, Lan Yen, Rez Carz

Narrative Shorts:
His Keeper, Horrible Parents (World Premiere), Last Shot (Nor Cal Premiere), Mediation, My New Apartment, Pin It (Nor Cal Premiere), Snail (Nor Cal Premiere), Team Work (World Premiere), The Gunfighter, An Honorable Man (California Premiere), Care, Gift, Immaculate Reception, Looms, Be My Unfinished (World Premiere), New, One Foot In (World Premiere), Plain Clothes, Salvatore (Nor Cal Premiere), Selling Rosario (World Premiere), The Inheritance, Undercover, Bunion, Humpty (California Premiere), Leonard in Slow Motion, Neighbors, Sure Thing (Nor Cal Premiere), The Motion Picture Co. 1914 (Nor Cal Premiere),The Oven

Animated Shorts:
Collectors, Silent, Humanexus, John Doe, Prelude, Sticky, The Box, The Duck, The Missing Scarf, The Umbrella Factory
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Cairo International Film Festival Features Six Foreign Language Films Submitted for the 2015 Academy Awards

Charlie’s Country

The 36th Cairo International Film Festival taking place November 9 -18, 2014, will feature 6 international films, submitted for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2015 Oscars, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The films include Charlie’s Country (Australia), Eyes of a Thief (Palestine), The Light that Shines Only There (Japan), Rocks in My Pocket (Latvia), Timbuktu (Mauritania) and Little England (Greece).

Charlie’s Country (Australia – 2013) International Competition: Directed by Rold de Heer, the film tells the story of a warrior named Charlie, who lives in a remote indigenous community within the northern region of Australia. As the government increases its stranglehold over the community’s traditional way of life, Charlie becomes lost between two cultures. The film’s leading star, David Gulpilil, earned the Best Actor Award at Un Certain Regard within Cannes Film Festival in 2014.

Eyes of a Thief (Palestine, 2014)| International Competition: Directed by Najwa Najjar, the film stars Khaled Abol Naga and Souad Massi. Filmed in the heart of the occupied territories of Palestine over the course of 25 days, Eyes of a Thief is based on a true story during the upheavals of the Palestinian Uprising in 2002, offering a glimpse into the Palestinian society and their options of survival and resistance.

The Light that Shines Only There (Japan, 2014)| Festival of Festivals: Directed by Mipo Oh, the film follows a young man called Tatsuo, who becomes head over heels with his friend’s sister, who is clearly older than him and strives to make a living to save her poor family. The film was showcased at the closing of Osaka Asian Film Festival and received the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Rocks in My Pocket (USA – Latvia, 2014) | Festival of Festivals: Written, produced and directed by Signe Baumane, the animated picture is set in the late 1920s Latvia, where a pretty young lady, Anna, falls in love with an adventurous entrepreneur. Following their marriage, the husband’s jealousy drives him to hide Anna away in the forest far from other men, where she bears 8 children. The film earned the FIPRESCI award and a Special Jury Mention from Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Timbuktu (Mauritania, 2014)|Prospects of Arab Cinema: Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, the film traces the vivid transformation of the city of Timbuktu, which lies on the Mauritanian borders with Mali. A popular city recognized for its illustrious culture and openness to the world; it’s even said to be the place where African and Arab heritage and civilization were born. Timbuktu has turned into a bloodbath by extremist groups, which banned everything – starting from music to football and cigarettes. Sissako garnered two awards from Cannes Film Festival namely; the Francois Chalais Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. He also won the Best Feature Film Award at Jerusalem Film Festival.

Little England (Greece)|Festival Closer: Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris, the film is set during the interwar period in the Greek island of Andros, where two sisters living in the same house fall in love with the same man. The film has also earned the Golden Goblet Award for Best Feature Film at the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival in June, 2014, in addition to Best Actress and Best Director awards.
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Cucalorus Film Festival Announces Final 2014 Schedule of 241 Films

The Cucalorus Film Festival announced the final film and event line-up for its 20th annual showcase, scheduled for November 12-16, 2014 in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. The five-day event will include 43 narrative features, 21 documentary features, 145 shorts, 34 music videos and 7 works-in-progress along with a deep schedule of multi-disciplinary performances ranging from dance to spoken word and beyond. Among the 241 films being shown at Cucalorus, some notable selections include:

World Premieres

Uncensored – a documentary by DC-based director Stephanie Martinez featuring three Colombian journalists recounting the terrifying reality of living through the Escobar cartel and the ongoing struggle to maintain freedom of the press.

A Better You – From one of the founders of The Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Walsh from HBO’s “Veep”) comes the story of Dr. Ron (Brian Huskey), a revolutionary Los Angeles hypnotherapist, who could solve everyone’s problems but his own.

Times Like Dying – a thrilling Western set in the Post-Civil War South involving four brothers facing the loss of their family farm; features actorBill Cody. Shot and produced in Wilmington.

U.S./Eastern/Southeastern Premieres

Labyrinthus – an edge of your seat thriller about a 14-year-old boy who must complete a sinister computer game that uses real children from his neighborhood as players; part of the newly launched Kids-a-lorus program and recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014.

Hide and Seek – director Joanna Coates’ provocative drama about a group of young, unmoored adults who retreat to the countryside to test intimate boundaries; winner of the Michael Powell award at EdinburghFilm Festival 2014.

Felix and Meira – a young married woman from Montreal’s Orthodox Jewish community escapes the bonds of her faith when she meets an artist in her neighborhood who is mourning the loss of his father; won best Canadian feature at Toronto International Film Festival 2014.

Spring – Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s intriguing indie drama blends romance and horror together in this ultimately uplifting film about a young man who flees California to find himself working on a farm in Italy and falling in love with a woman who carries a dark secret.

The Tribe – a smashing hit at this year’s Cannes film festival, this outstanding Ukranian feature follows a gang of deaf-mute students who spend their nights running a prostitution ring at the local truck stop.

The Age of Love – a charming documentary that follows the humorous adventures of thirty seniors in Rochester, NY who sign up for a Speed Dating event exclusively for 70- to 90-year-olds.

Other Noteworthy Films

Force Majeure – directed by Ruben Ostlund, this award-winning, brilliantly funny psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family on a skiing holiday in the French Alps when an avalanche strikes;Sweden’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for Oscars 2014; winner of Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2014.

Wildlike – an unsettling drama about a young girl who tries to make her way back to Seattle after fleeing her uncle’s home in Alaska; recently premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The Hip-Hop Fellow – a documentary following Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder’s tenure at Harvard University where he explores 40 years of hip-hop history and lays out the case for hip-hop as part of the larger evolution of the universal language of music.
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Virginia Film Festival Unveils Lineup; Opens with World Premiere of Virginia-Themed and Made “Big Stone Gap”

Big Stone Gap

The 2014 Virginia Film Festival lineup will return to Charlottesville from November 6-9, and officially kick off with the World Premiere of Big Stone Gap, filmed on location in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and based on the popular series of books by noted author and Big Stone Gap native Adriana Trigiani. The film stars Ashley Judd as the small town’s self-appointed middle-age spinster who keeps countless secrets before discovering one of her own that will change her life forever. 5 to 7, the tale of a “cinq-a-sept” romance, and love’s power to conquer even the most insurmountable of obstacles, has been selected as the Centerpiece Film, and for the closing film, the festival will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Dead Poets Society.

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“An Honest Liar” “Evolution of a Criminal” “Waiting for August” Win Top Awards at 23rd Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Filmmakers and special guests attended Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival held from October 10 – 19, 2014, to celebrate the best in documentary film from around the world, including visits by actor George Takei, the musical family of Arkansas icon Glen Campbell, actress/director/producer Joey Lauren Adams, former Olympic Diving Champion Greg Louganis, producer/director Harry Thomason, Arthur Agee of Hoop Dreams, illusionist James Randi and many more. Former President Bill Clinton made a stop at this year’s festival. Mr. Clinton has been a long-time supporter of HSDFF from its beginnings in 1991 as the first all-documentary film festival in North America.

Glen Campbell…I’ll be Me opened the festival on October 10, 2014. Directed and produced by James Keach (Walk The Line) and produced by Trevor Albert (Because of Winn Dixie, Groundhog Day), this powerful portrait of the life and career of great American music icon opened to the viewer the world of the singular talent who created hits like Rhinestone Cowboy, Wichita Lineman and Gentle on My Mind.

Hot Springs audiences joined actor and activist George Takei on his playful and profound trek for life, liberty, and love as Jennifer Kroot’s To Be Takei closed the festival on Saturday, October 18. Special guest Takei took part in an exclusive Q&A at the conclusion of the film and mingled with guests following the screening event.

Over seven decades, George Takei boldly journeyed from a WWII internment camp, to the helm of the starship Enterprise, to the daily news feeds of hordes of social media fans. Now a new documentary, To be Takei, takes a closer look at the many roles played by this eclectic 77-year-old actor/activist, whose wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7-million Facebook fans and counting.

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is an Academy Award®-qualifying festival in the category of Documentary Short Subject. Recipients of the festival’s Spa City Best Documentary Short Award will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Award winners at the 2014 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival:

Spa City Best U.S. Documentary Feature (Tie):
An Honest Liar, dir. Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Evolution of a Criminal, dir. Clark Monroe

Spa City Best International Documentary Feature:
Waiting for August, dir. Teodora Ana Mahai

Spa City Best Documentary Short (Academy Award®-qualifying short film category):
Buffalo Dreams, dir. Maurice O’Brien

Spa City Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction:
White Earth, dir. J. Christian Jensen

Spa City Clyde Scott Best Sports Documentary:
Happy Valley, dir. Amir Bar-Lev

Spa City Audience Award:
Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me, dir. James Keach

Recipient of the HSDFF 2014 Career Achievement Award:
Gordon Quinn
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Opening Night of 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival with Film “From A to B” by Ali Mostafa | PHOTOS

From A To B Fadi Rifaai, Fahad Albutairi, Ali Mostafa And Shadi Alfons

The 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicked off on October 23rd with the movie “From A to B” directed by Ali Mostafa. The film is the story of three childhood friends who grew apart, travel on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of their lost one. If what happens on route does not make them crazy, it just might make them closer.

Abderrahmane Sissako, Director ‘Timbuktu’

Ali Mostafa, Director ‘From A To B’

Cheryl Boone Issacs, AMPAS President

Marcell Gero, Director ‘Cain’s Children’

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“KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON” “THE DAVID DANCE” Win Tallgrass Film Festival Audience Top Awards

KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON, directed by Al Hicks is the winner of the Vimeo Audience Award Documentary Feature, and THE DAVID DANCE, directed by Aprill Winney is the winner of Vimeo Audience Award Narrative Feature at the12th annual Tallgrass Film Festival. Shot over the course of five years by first time filmmaker Al Hicks, KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON depicts a 23-year-old, blind piano prodigy, Justin Kauflin, and music legend and teacher Clark Terry, 89. A winter drama set in Buffalo, NY, THE DAVID DANCE tells the story of David, who is soft spoken, shy and unsure of himself. However, as his on-air alias ‘Danger Dave,’ the host of “Gay Talk,” he’s poised, witty, and every listener’s best friend! Then life one day throws him a lemon. Past and present intertwine to tell the story of a man learning to love and accept himself.

Vimeo Audience Awards

Vimeo Audience Award Short ($500): FOOLS DAY, Dir. Cody Blue Snider
Runner Up: THE PHONE CALL, Dir. Matt Kirby

Vimeo Audience Award Documentary Feature ($1,000): KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON, Dir. Al Hicks
Runner Up: THE LIFE AND MIND OF MARK DEFRIEST, Dir. Gabriel London

Vimeo Audience Award Narrative Feature:($1,000): THE DAVID DANCE, Dir. Aprill Winney
Runner Up: A IS FOR ALEX, Dir. Alex Orr

Programming Awards

Best Emerging Filmmaker Short: LAUNDRY DAY, Dir. Michael Stevantoni

Best Kansas Short: COUNTER PARTS, Dir. Patrick Rea

Golden Strands Documentary Awards

Outstanding Documentary for Cinematic Legacy: A LIFE IN DIRTY MOVIES, Dir. Wiktor Ericsson

Outstanding Documentary in Recognition of Social Action: SILENCED, Dir. James Spione

Outstanding Documentary: THE OVERNIGHTERS, Dir. Jesse Moss

Golden Strands Narrative Awards

Outstanding New Talent: John Diaz, FIVE STAR

Outstanding Ensemble Cast: The Cast of LOVE LAND, Dir. Joshua Tate

Outstanding Cinematography: Sean Porter, KUMIKO: THE TREASURE HUNTER

Outstanding Narrative: MAN FROM RENO, Dir. David Boyle
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New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center Announces Lineup for Mountainfilm 2014; Opens with “Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo”

Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo

For its fifth year, Mountainfilm returns to New York City, November 21 to 23, for a weekend of documentaries about adventure, environment, and culture. But mainly adventure. The Opening Night film will be Matt Livadary’s Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo, which covers a year in the lives of extraordinary cowboys and cowgirls as they follow their dreams, no matter how wild or daunting. And the series will close with Valley Uprising, narrated by Peter Sarsgaard. The highly anticipated doc about the epic history of climbing in Yosemite National Park and the countercultural roots of outdoor sports features digitally animated archival photography, spectacular climbing footage, and interviews with Yosemite greats—from pioneers like Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins, Lynn Hill, and John Long to cutting-edge modern athletes like Dean Potter and Alex Honnold.

This year’s lineup also includes three shorts programs: Crossing Boundaries, a trio of films featuring protagonists who cross different kinds of boundaries, real or imagined; Risk & Reward, a series of shorts, culminating in the featurette Walled In, about people who live on the line between risk and reward; and Water, three films broadly about finding joy in and above water.

FILMS, DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE
All screenings will take place at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th Street

Emptying the Skies
Douglas & Roger Kass, USA, 2014, HDCAM, 78m
Just as The Cove (Mountainfilm 2009) exposed the tragic slaughtering of the dolphins of Taiji, Emptying the Skies serves European migratory songbirds with a similar purpose. Fighting the good fight against the poachers who slaughter the birds to sell to chefs are fearless activists and the novelist Jonathan Franzen, a devoted amateur ornithologist whose story in The New Yorker inspired this documentary.

Screening with:
Fear of Flying
Conor Finnegan, Ireland, 2012, digital projection, 9m
In this lovely animated short, a bird tries to overcome his greatest fear.
Saturday, November 22, 6:00pm (Emptying the Skies director Roger Kass in person)

The Grand Rescue
William A. Kerig, Meredith Lavitt & Jenny Wilson, USA, 2013, HDCAM, 53m
Mountain rescue is always a risky proposition, so those who are attracted to the job tend to be strapping, young, and full of verve (and nerve). This was definitely the case in 1967, when a group of seven national park rangers in the Grand Tetons risked their lives to save an injured climber. On August 22, Gaylord Campbell was climbing the north face of the Grand Teton with a friend when a boulder broke free and showered them with rocks, leaving Campbell with compound fractures. During the rescue attempt, which took three days, Campbell was critical of the methods and decisions made by his saviors every turn of the way. The Grand Rescue tells this legendary story for the first time on film.

Screening with:
Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine
Cedar Wright, USA, 2014, digital projection, 27m
When Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright undertook the adventure they called “Sufferfest” in the summer of 2013, they meant for the name to be tongue-in-cheek. The goal of the trip was to string together climbing mountain peaks in California by road biking, and indeed proved to be full of suffering. But also fun. But mostly suffering. They swore they would never attempt anything like it again. Yet, in Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine, they once again endeavor to bike and climb, this time in the desert Southwest. Climbing 45 desert towers, using hybrid road/mountain bikes as their only transportation, Honnold and Wright set out for another adventure worthy of the name.
Saturday, November 22, 8:30pm (The Grand Rescue director Meredith Lavitt in person)

Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo
Matt Livadary, USA, 2014, DCP, 93m
During his first—and last—college rodeo practice, Chris Sherman’s collegiate roping team discovered his sexual orientation. After that, he couldn’t find a roping partner, lost his scholarship, and dropped out of school. Sherman’s story is just one of many. Some gay cowboys have endured intolerance that has led to suicide attempts. At the International Gay Rodeo Association, however, the old West meets the new, providing everyone an opportunity to compete in the challenging sport and do so in a supportive, courageous community. Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo follows a year in the lives of extraordinary cowboys and cowgirls as they follow their dreams, no matter how wild or daunting.
Friday, November 21, 6:00pm (Director Matt Livadary and producer Erin Krozek in person)

Valley Uprising
Peter Mortimer & Nick Rosen, USA, 2014, digital projection, 95m
Valley Uprising is the much-anticipated documentary from Sender Films about the epic history of climbing in Yosemite National Park and the countercultural roots of outdoor sports. Narrated by Peter Sarsgaard, this film features digitally animated archival photography, spectacular climbing footage, and interviews with Yosemite greats—from pioneers like Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins, Lynn Hill, and John Long to cutting-edge modern athletes like Dean Potter and Alex Honnold.Valley Uprising tells the story of the bold men and women who broke with convention and redefined the limits of human possibility in America’s legendary national park.
Sunday, November 23, 8:00pm

Crossing Boundaries Shorts
Whether a boundary is real or imagined, crossing over is usually left to mavericks, visionaries, and the exceptionally brave. The lead characters in these three documentaries all cross different kinds of boundaries. In 14.c, a young black athlete excels in a sport that normally has little diversity: climbing. Duke from Duke and the Buffalo is a rancher who has made an alliance with a large conservation group. Frank Moore envisioned returning to fly-fish in France 60 years after landing on the beaches of Normandy, and his dream became a reality in Mending the Line.
Sunday, November 23, 3:30pm (14.c subjects Kai & Connie Lightner + Duke and the Buffalo director Alfredo Alcantara in person)

14.c
George Knowles, USA, 2014, digital projection, 9m
Climbers all have a story about how they got started, and 14-year-old Kai Lightner’s introduction is particularly striking—and not only because he’s a brilliant climber. Much like Tiger Woods in golf or the Williams sisters in tennis, he could change the demographics of climbing. This film isn’t about race so much as it’s about family. His single mother has become his regular belay partner, one who also makes sure he maintains straight A’s in school. It’s clear that she wants what’s best for her son, and if that means spending hours with her hands on a belay device and her neck craned upward, so be it.

Duke and the Buffalo
Alfredo Alcantara & Josh Chertoff, USA, 2013, digital projection, 16m
Duke is a cowboy. The buffalo are part of the largest conservation herd of bison in the United States. Every year, Duke organizes a roundup of theses buffalo to inspect the health of the herd and yield income to sustain the Nature Conservancy–owned ranch where the buffalo roam. It turns out that bison aren’t as easily herded as cattle, and each year the roundup tests a lot of cowboy mettle.

Mending the Line
Steve Engman & John Waller, USA, 2014, digital projection, 48m
In 1944, 20-year-old Frank Moore landed on the beaches of Normandy. Crossing through the occupied French countryside, the young soldier daydreamed about coming back in peacetime to fish the bucolic streams. After the war, he returned to the States, married, started a family, and built a life centered around fly-fishing—but he never made it back to those streams in France. Until 2014. Now 90 but with the energy of a far younger man, Moore completes his dream with his wife and son by his side. This extraordinary story of a dream deferred, and ultimately fulfilled, proves that the scars of the past can be healed. Mending the Line was a 2013 Mountainfilm Commitment Grant recipient.

Risk & Reward Shorts
All great adventures potentially have an equally great price. For those who make adventure sports a career, the rewards can be great as well. The protagonists in this group of short films, culminating in the featurette Walled In, live on the line between risk and reward.
Friday, November 21, 8:30pm (Off-Width Outlaw subject Pamela Shanti Pack + Likebomb Skiing director Erik Henriksson in person)

El Sendero Luminoso
Renan Ozturk, USA, 2014, digital projection, 7m
World-renowned free solo climber Alex Honnold went to Mexico in January with the talented Camp4 film crew in hopes of capturing what many regard as the most difficult ropeless climb ever attempted.

Wedge
Brecht Vanhof, USA, 2013, digital projection, 4m
There’s a highly anticipated beast of a winter wave in Newport Beach, California, that rolls in heavy and attracts hordes of brave souls who attempt to drop into its steep face.

64 mph
Brett Schreckengost, USA, 2014, digital projection, 3m
The San Joaquin Couloir is one of Telluride’s most iconic backcountry lines. Greg Hope is one of the town’s best-known rippers. In 64 mph, the two meet for one slough-dodging, high-velocity descent.

Off-Width Outlaw
Celin Cerbo, USA, 2013, digital projection, 6m
In a sport that is not for the weak or easily discouraged, Pamela Shanti Pack excels. One of the most accomplished off-width climbers in the world, Pack seeks out North America’s most challenging inverted and vertical cracks with what she describes as “masochistic fervor.” Off-Width Outlaw follows her quest to establish new routes in the desert climbing mecca of Indian Creek in southeastern Utah.

The Balloon Highline
Sébastien Montaz-Rosset, France, 2014, digital projection, 5m
Slacklining no longer seems to need the expanse of trees, crevasses, or other earthbound objects––only some kind helium and a cool buzz.

SuperMom
Mike Douglas, Canada, 2013, digital projection, 10m
With a graceful style and aggressive lines, Wendy Fisher ruled the women’s big mountain freeskiing scene from 1996 to 2004. She skied Alaskan spines, hucked cliffs, starred in movie segments, won many championships, kept up with male cohorts, and inspired a new generation of female badasses. Then she had kids and traded in the life of a professional skier for being a mom to two red-headed boys. This film checks in with Fisher, who gets the opportunity to see if she’s still got it on the steeps of B.C. and Chile.

Walled In
Ben Stookesberry, USA, 2013, digital projection, 35m
Ostensibly, Walled In is the story of a first descent of the rowdy Marble Fork of the Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park by kayakers Ben Stookesbury and Chris Korbulic, but this film poses bigger questions than whether the pair can send a river that flows from above 12,000 feet in elevation to near sea level in less than 30 miles. It asks why they choose to engage in a sport that carries the threat of death, which they witnessed when their partner Hendri Coetzee was eaten by a crocodile in the Congo in 2010 (Kadoma, Mountainfilm 2011).

Likebomb Skiing
Erik Henriksson, Sweden, 2014, digital projection, 5m
Lacking snow, but clearly not courage or poise, Johan Jonsson skis lines that any sane person would avoid.

Water Shorts
They say whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting, but we would respectfully add that water is also for playing. Who Owns Water highlights the conflicts that can arise when water becomes scarce, but all three films in this program are broadly about finding joy in and above water.
Sunday, November 23, 5:45pm (Who Owns the Water directors David Hanson, Michael Hanson & Andrew Kornylak in person)

Begin Again
John John Florence & Blake Vincent Kueny, USA, 2013, digital projection, 5m
Surfer John John Florence continues to reinvent surfing with his extremely powerful, almost inhuman ability to push the boundaries on a wave.

The Fortune Wild
Ben Gulliver, Canada, 2014, digital projection, 22m
If Wes Anderson were inspired to make a surf film, it might look like The Fortune Wild. Director Ben Gulliver creates a witty and lighthearted film about a beautiful wild area—Haida Gwaii, a chain of wave-swept, lushly forested islands off the mainland of British Columbia. Surfing, camping, and foraging for food on the unspoiled beaches, three surfers step away from the modern world and into a quieter (and quirkier) existence that is both more attuned and self-sufficient.

Who Owns Water
David Hanson, Michael Hanson & Andrew Kornylak, USA, 2014, digital projection, 48m
Water wars in the American Southwest desert have always been heated, where water is scarce and droughts are frequent, but the same quarrels are unthinkable in lusher areas of the country. However, that is changing as Georgia, Alabama, and Florida are locked in a battle over water sourced from their once-bountiful rivers. Two young brothers decide to paddle the three rivers in the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin to tell the story of a system that still flows despite being threatened from all sides. Who Owns Water received a Mountainfilm Commitment Grant in 2013.
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Richard Gere at Rome Film Festival for European Premiere of “Time Out Of Mind”

Richard Gere is at the 2014 Rome Film Festival where he presented the European premiere of Time Out Of Mind directed by Oren Moverman, in which he plays George, a homeless man who lives on the streets of New York. Described as “A demanding, intense film, greeted with great interest by the audience of the Rome Film Festival as one of the most interesting directorial experiments of the festival; and yet another great performance by the actor.”
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Big Apple Film Festival Unveils 2014 Lineup; Opens with MANHATTAN ROMANCE, Katherine Waterson and Jerry Stiller To Receive Awards

MANHATTAN ROMANCE

The 11th annual Big Apple Film Festival (BAFF) running November 5 to 9 at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York City, announced its lineup of 129 feature-length and short films. The Big Apple Film Festival will commence on November 5th with the opening night film MANHATTAN ROMANCE, written and directed by Tom O’Brien (Fairhaven), who also stars in the film opposite Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice), Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent), and Caitlin Fitzgerald (Masters of Sex). Following the screening Katherine Waterston, who recently appeared as the lead actress in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, will accept the festival’s prestigious “Emerging Talent” award. Previous winners include Mike Vogel, Jesse Eisenberg, Louisa Krause and Aaron Stanford.

The festival will present its “Golden Apple Award” to actor/comedian Jerry Stiller. Best known for his role as Frank Constanza on Seinfeld, Jerry Stiller stars in SIMPLER TIMES, premiering at BAFF on November 8th. Previous “Golden Apple Award” winners include Cuba Gooding Jr, Morgan Spurlock, Anthony Bregman and Alan Cumming. Other highlights of this year’s festival will include Q & A’s with filmmakers and actors, as well as networking events, filmmaker receptions and a closing night award ceremony.

Additional highlights of the 2014 Big Apple Film Festival include:

BREAD AND BUTTER directed by Liz Manishil and starring Lauren Lapkus (Jurassic World, Are You Here, Orange is the New Black, Blended), Eric Lange, Harry Groener and Bobby Moynihan(Saturday Night Live, Monsters University).

FLOATING SUNFLOWERS directed by Francisco Solorzano and starring Anna Chlumsky (Veep), and Lynn Cohen (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire).

SIMPLER TIMES directed by Steve Monarque and starring Jerry Stiller (King of Queens), Amy Stiller (Tropic Thunder) and Anne Meara (Rhoda).

AUSTIN TO BOSTON directed by Marcus Haney and produced by Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons.

THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE directed by and starring Daniel Baldwin (Vampires), along with Lou Diamond Phillips (Courage Under Fire).
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U.S. Premiere of Desert Dancer to Open Santa Barbara International Film Festival + Festival to Honor the Cousteau Family and Michael Keaton

Desert Dancer The 30th Anniversary edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will kick off Opening Night with the U.S. Premiere of Desert Dancer at the historic Arlington Theatre on Tuesday, January 27, 2015. Directed by Richard Raymond and starring Freida Pinto, Reece Ritchie, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Cullen and Marmama Corlett, Desert Dancer tells the true story of a self-taught dancer pursuing a dream in a suppressed society. Desert Dancer is a powerful and unbelievable true story set in Iran that follows the brave ambition of Afshin Ghaffarian. During the volatile climate of the 2009 presidential election, where many cultural freedoms were threatened, Afshin and some friends (including Elaheh played by Freida Pinto) risk their lives and form an underground dance company. Through banned online videos, they learn from timeless legends who cross all cultural divides, such as Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev. Afshin and Elaheh also learn much from each other, most importantly how to embrace their passion for dance and for one another. Richard Raymond directs the film, which was written by Jon Croker, based on the life story of Afshin Ghaffarian. The film stars Freida Pinto, Reece Ritchie, Tom Cullen, Nazanin Boniadi and Makram J. Khoury. For the first time in 5 years, the SBIFF will present the Attenborough Award For Excellence in Nature Filmmaking to the Cousteau Family – Jean-Michel and his son and daughter Fabien and Celine — for their decades-long commitment to educating the public and discovering the mysteries of the ocean. The award will be presented on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at the Arlington Theatre. Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Michael Keaton with the Modern Master Award, The highest honor presented by the festival. Michael Keaton will be honored for his distinguished career, including his most compelling performance to date in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Keaton) — famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself.
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