Directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, will be the two Presidents of the Jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival. They will be joined by Rossy de Palma (Actress – Spain), Sophie Marceau (Actress, Director – France), Sienna Miller (pictured above) (Actress – United Kingdom), Rokia Traoré (Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali), Guillermo del Toro (Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico), Xavier Dolan (Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada), and Jake Gyllenhaal (Actor – United States).
Their task will be to decide among the films in Competition and select the prize winners, culminating in the Palme d’or, which will be announced on stage during the Festival Closing Ceremony on Sunday May 24th, 2015.
Rossy de Palma
Actress – Spain
She is an icon of Spanish cinema and Pedro Almodóvar’s muse: she inspired his 1986 film Law of Desire, performed in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Kika and The Flower of my Secret (nominated for two Goya Awards), and Broken Embraces (Official Selection: 2009 Festival de Cannes). She rose to international acclaim in the early 1990s with directors like Robert Altman, Mike Figgis, Patrice Leconte and Mehdi Charef. She is set to appear in Pedro Almodóvar’s next film.
Sophie Marceau
Actress, Director – France
After winning a Cesar for Best “Espoir” at the age of 16 for Claude Pinoteau’s La Boum 2, her career grows with success in both mainstream and author cinema. Films include Police by Maurice Pialat, and L’Amour braque by Andrzej Żuławski. She achieved international acclaim for Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995) and Bond movie – The World Is Not Enough (1999). Other notable credits include Don’t Look Back directed by Marina de Van – presented at the Festival de Cannes in 2009. With a career of over 40 films, she has also written and directed two feature films, Parlez-moi d’amour (2002) et La Disparue de Deauville (2007).
Sienna Miller
Actress – United Kingdom
Experienced in both theater and cinema, she first gained recognition with her role in Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake (2004). She performed on Broadway in “Cabaret” by Sam Mendes. She starred in Foxcatcher by Bennett Miller which debuted at the 2014 Festival de Cannes and American Sniper by Clint Eastwood. She recently finished filming High Rise by Ben Wheatley.
Rokia Traoré
Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali
The inimitable Mali-born musician and singer Rokia Traoré has charted a distinctive course between tradition and modernity. Influenced by a nomadic childhood spent between Europe, the Middle East and Mali, the first CD by this singer songwriter with the captivating voice, Mouneïssa (1998), was highly acclaimed. In Wanita (2000), Bowmboï (2003), Tchamantché (2008) and Beautiful Africa (2013), Rokia Traoré drew on unprecedented combinations of instruments such as the balafon, the n’goni, the electric guitar and drums. Her openness to wide-ranging artistic collaborations is ample proof that music is her only continent.
Guillermo del Toro
Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico
Guillermo del Toro is one of the most inventive among the new generation of Mexican directors, alongside Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Del Toro, who started out as a make-up artist and special effects specialist, now lives in the United States. His filmography boasts a rich array of distinctive and flamboyant works shot through with fantasy and imagination, from Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone and Blade II to Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro presented Cronos, his first feature film, in a parallel section at Cannes. Pan’s Labyrinth was selected in Competition in 2006.
Xavier Dolan
Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada
After shooting his first feature film, I Killed My Mother, at 20, he directed Heartbeats and Laurence Anyways, both of which received an enthusiastic reception when selected for Un Certain Regard at the Festival de Cannes.Tom at the Farm was shown at the Venice Film Festival, where he was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize. His latest film Mommy has garnered the Jury Prize at last year’s Festival de Cannes and the César for Best Foreign Feature. Xavier Dolan is now working on his next feature, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor, United States
Jake Gyllenhaal was raised in a family of artists and made his cinema debut aged 11. He came to public attention in 2001 in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko and built a career composed of both independent films and blockbusters. Considered one of Hollywood’s increasingly bankable stars, he appeared in Jarhead by Sam Mendes, then Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (Golden Lion in Venice) and in Zodiac by David Fincher, selected at the Festival de Cannes in 2007. He has recently appeared in two thrillers directed by Denis Villeneuve:Prisoners and Enemy along with Dan Gilroy’s Night Call.
image via wikimediaFilm Festivals
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Coen Brothers, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna Miller Among Jury for 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, will be the two Presidents of the Jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival. They will be joined by Rossy de Palma (Actress – Spain), Sophie Marceau (Actress, Director – France), Sienna Miller (pictured above) (Actress – United Kingdom), Rokia Traoré (Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali), Guillermo del Toro (Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico), Xavier Dolan (Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada), and Jake Gyllenhaal (Actor – United States).
Their task will be to decide among the films in Competition and select the prize winners, culminating in the Palme d’or, which will be announced on stage during the Festival Closing Ceremony on Sunday May 24th, 2015.
Rossy de Palma
Actress – Spain
She is an icon of Spanish cinema and Pedro Almodóvar’s muse: she inspired his 1986 film Law of Desire, performed in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Kika and The Flower of my Secret (nominated for two Goya Awards), and Broken Embraces (Official Selection: 2009 Festival de Cannes). She rose to international acclaim in the early 1990s with directors like Robert Altman, Mike Figgis, Patrice Leconte and Mehdi Charef. She is set to appear in Pedro Almodóvar’s next film.
Sophie Marceau
Actress, Director – France
After winning a Cesar for Best “Espoir” at the age of 16 for Claude Pinoteau’s La Boum 2, her career grows with success in both mainstream and author cinema. Films include Police by Maurice Pialat, and L’Amour braque by Andrzej Żuławski. She achieved international acclaim for Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995) and Bond movie – The World Is Not Enough (1999). Other notable credits include Don’t Look Back directed by Marina de Van – presented at the Festival de Cannes in 2009. With a career of over 40 films, she has also written and directed two feature films, Parlez-moi d’amour (2002) et La Disparue de Deauville (2007).
Sienna Miller
Actress – United Kingdom
Experienced in both theater and cinema, she first gained recognition with her role in Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake (2004). She performed on Broadway in “Cabaret” by Sam Mendes. She starred in Foxcatcher by Bennett Miller which debuted at the 2014 Festival de Cannes and American Sniper by Clint Eastwood. She recently finished filming High Rise by Ben Wheatley.
Rokia Traoré
Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali
The inimitable Mali-born musician and singer Rokia Traoré has charted a distinctive course between tradition and modernity. Influenced by a nomadic childhood spent between Europe, the Middle East and Mali, the first CD by this singer songwriter with the captivating voice, Mouneïssa (1998), was highly acclaimed. In Wanita (2000), Bowmboï (2003), Tchamantché (2008) and Beautiful Africa (2013), Rokia Traoré drew on unprecedented combinations of instruments such as the balafon, the n’goni, the electric guitar and drums. Her openness to wide-ranging artistic collaborations is ample proof that music is her only continent.
Guillermo del Toro
Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico
Guillermo del Toro is one of the most inventive among the new generation of Mexican directors, alongside Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Del Toro, who started out as a make-up artist and special effects specialist, now lives in the United States. His filmography boasts a rich array of distinctive and flamboyant works shot through with fantasy and imagination, from Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone and Blade II to Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro presented Cronos, his first feature film, in a parallel section at Cannes. Pan’s Labyrinth was selected in Competition in 2006.
Xavier Dolan
Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada
After shooting his first feature film, I Killed My Mother, at 20, he directed Heartbeats and Laurence Anyways, both of which received an enthusiastic reception when selected for Un Certain Regard at the Festival de Cannes.Tom at the Farm was shown at the Venice Film Festival, where he was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize. His latest film Mommy has garnered the Jury Prize at last year’s Festival de Cannes and the César for Best Foreign Feature. Xavier Dolan is now working on his next feature, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor, United States
Jake Gyllenhaal was raised in a family of artists and made his cinema debut aged 11. He came to public attention in 2001 in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko and built a career composed of both independent films and blockbusters. Considered one of Hollywood’s increasingly bankable stars, he appeared in Jarhead by Sam Mendes, then Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (Golden Lion in Venice) and in Zodiac by David Fincher, selected at the Festival de Cannes in 2007. He has recently appeared in two thrillers directed by Denis Villeneuve:Prisoners and Enemy along with Dan Gilroy’s Night Call.
image via wikimedia
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Films on African Pictures Program is First Announced for 2015 Seattle International Film Festival
The 41st Seattle International Film Festival to be held May 14 to June 7, 2015, unveiled the 14 feature films of its third annual African Pictures program. Since 2013, African Pictures has presented documentaries, narrative features, and short films from 25 African countries. With something for everyone — from ethereal and experimental to gritty and provocative — African Pictures showcases a microcosm of world cinema available only at SIFF.
Topping the 2015 program is The Boda Boda Thieves (pictured above), an absorbing urban narrative from SIFF sophomore Donald Mugisha (The Kampala Story, 2012), who will be in attendance for the North American premiere of his new film. Fans of U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005) will be glad to see the North American premiere of director Mark Dornford-May’s striking modern South African opera,Breathe Umphefumlo, adapted with deftness and compassion from Puccini’s “La Bohème.”
Also traveling to Seattle, up-and-coming director Cheick Fantamady Camara will appear at screenings of his expansive drama Morbayassa in its North American premiere, representing Guinean film in African Pictures at SIFF for the first time. This story of inter-generational and inter-continental culture clash is anchored by a masterful performance from Fatoumata Diawara (Timbuktu, 2014). SIFF 2015 will also feature the North American premiere of Sugarcane Shadows, the first film from the island nation of Mauritius ever to play in a US festival.
Making its North American premiere among four short films in African Pictures 2015 is I’m Not Hereby 15-year-old South African Jack Markovitz, presented as part of SIFF’s youth-centered FutureWave program.
The African Pictures Film & Party will feature Excuse My French, a coming-of-age comedy from Egyptian director Amr Salama (Asma’a, 2011; Tahrir, 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician, 2011). A lively celebration will follow at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.
The following African Pictures titles are the first films to be announced among official selections of the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival.
Alyam, Alyam
d: Ahmed El Maanouni, Morocco 1978, 80 min
Following his father’s death, Abdelwahad is expected to provide for his mother and his seven brothers. But faced with the cycle of poverty that rural farmers seem doomed to repeat, he dares to hope for something better. Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project at Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.
Beats of the Antonov
d: Hajooj Kuka, Sudan/South Africa 2014, 65 min
Set in the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions of Sudan, Beats of the Antonov celebrates South Sudan’s vibrant musical culture surviving by any means necessary in the face of their prolonged civil war.
Beti and Amare
d: Andy Siege, Ethiopia/Germany 2014, 94 min
In this dreamy sci-fi fantasy, teenage Beti is forced to hide away in her uncle’s isolated hut to avoid Mussolini’s troops. Her strange dreams lead her to fall in love with a man who emerges from a glowing egg and may be a vampire.
Black Girl (La Noire de…)
d: Ousmane Sembène, Senegal/France 1966, 65 min
This 1966 film explores the complex dynamics and larger post-colonial implications that arise between a young Senegalese maid and the French family that employs her. This quiet, observational drama was esteemed African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène’s first feature film. Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Sembène Estate, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, INA and Centre National de Cinématographie, CNC.Restoration carried out at Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory; 4k scan performed at Eclair laboratories.
The Boda Boda Thieves (Abaabi ba boda boda)
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: Donald Mugisha, Uganda/Kenya 2015, 85 min
On teenage boy Abel’s first day of work as a boda boda (moto-taxi) driver to support his poor family, his bike is stolen, leaving him in pursuit of the ruthless thief who stole their livelihood. A Bicycle Thieves for urban Africa.
Breathe Umphefumlo
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: Mark Dornford-May, South Africa/United Kingdom 2015, 89 min
Combining “La Boheme” with the tuberculosis epidemic in South Africa, Breathe Umphefumloprovides a dynamic twist on the classic opera through a uniquely African context and emotional urgency that’s not to be missed.
Challat of Tunis (Le Challat de Tunis)
d: Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia/France 2014, 90 min
A masked assailant rides through the Tunisian capital on a motor scooter slashing the backsides of women in jeans and short skirts in Kaouther Ben Hania’s genre-bending mockumentary about sexist attitudes in Arab culture.
Décor
d: Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt 2014, 116 min
An overworked film production designer begins to lose her grip on reality, slipping into the life she is creating on her latest movie set. This meta-movie playfully comments on the conventions of the classic “women’s picture.”
Excuse My French (Lamoakhzaa)
AFRICAN PICTURES FILM & PARTY
d: Amr Salama, Egypt 2014, 99 min
In this family comedy and Egyptian box office smash, 12-year-old Hany, a precocious kid from a privileged Coptic Christian family, must adjust when a change in circumstances sends him to the local majority-Muslim public school.
I Am the People (Je Suis le Peuple)
d: Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 111 min
I Am the People chronicles the 2011 revolution in Egypt and subsequent events from the perspective of a poor farming family in the country’s south, a depiction of world events refreshing in its warmth, wit, and humanity.
The Malagasy Way (Ady Gasy)
d: Lova Nantenaina, Madagascar/France 2014, 84 min
Filmed with a fascinated lens, this documentary explores the way of the Malagasy people and a third-world community portrait that is anything but bleak, as it celebrates a culture where wealth isn’t needed to find happiness and joy in the things you do.
Morbayassa
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: Cheick Fantamady Camara, Guinea 2015, 122 min
Bella befriends a UN worker who promises to help her escape her domineering pimp and find the daughter she gave up for adoption 15 year ago in this tense, female-centered drama.
Run
d: Philippe Lacôte, Ivory Coast/France 2014, 97 min
After assassinating the Prime Minister, Run looks back on the varied mentors in his life, from a village rainmaker to a professional eater to the imperious revolutionary who’s living the gangster life, in this striking feature debut which reflects Ivory Coast’s recent, tumultuous history.
Sugarcane Shadows (Lonbraz Kann)
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: David Constantin, Mauritius/France 2014, 88 min
Residents of Mauritius fight to maintain their culture despite a pervasive tourism economy and increased globalization. Gorgeous cinematography and non-actor authenticity ground David Constantin’s first feature.
The following short films will screen during SIFF 2015 as part of African Pictures.
The Call
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: Zamo Mkhwanazi, South Africa 2014, 11 min
An emotionally disconnected taxi driver realizes that he does not want his prostitute girlfriend to abort the child that could be his.
I’m Not Here
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
d: Jack Markovitz, South Africa 2014, 9 min
After his calls are repeatedly ignored, a young man turns to Facebook to tell a girl what he thinks
A Quiet Memory (Uma Memória Quieta)
US PREMIERE
d: Inadelso Cossa, Mozambique 2014, 14 min
Langa dramatically details his history as a political prisoner in 1970s Mozambique.
Treat (Zawadi)
d: Richard Card, Kenya 2014, 12 min
In the Kenyan slums of Kibera, a ten-year-old boy hustles to provide for his family, taking him away from his crush on her birthday.
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The Film Arcade to Release Sundance Hit, JAMES WHITE
The Film Arcade has acquired U.S. distribution rights to JAMES WHITE, the first feature film from Borderline Films writer/director Josh Mond, for Fall 2015 release. A coming-of-age story about a young New Yorker struggling to take control of his self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family changes, JAMES WHITE stars Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it was one of the most critically acclaimed films of the entire festival and was the recipient of the “Best of Next” Audience Award.
JAMES WHITE is a high profile acquisition for The Film Arcade and the distributor is planning a traditional theatrical release for the film this fall followed by an awards campaign highlighting the career-best performances by Christopher Abbott and Cynthia Nixon.
A confident and closely observed directorial debut by MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE producer Josh Mond, JAMES WHITE explores loss and the deep relationship between a mother and son. James White (Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a hedonistic lifestyle, but his mother’s battle with a serious illness forces James to take control of his life. As the pressure mounts, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely. Shot on location in New York City with an intimate visual style, the film follows its lead into deep, affecting places while still maintaining its fragile humanity.
The film marks the first lead film role for stage and screen actor Christopher Abbott, whose previous film and TV credits include HELLO, I MUST BE GOING, THE SLEEPWALKER and “Girls.” Best known for her role in “Sex and the City,” JAMES WHITE provides Cynthia Nixon with one of the most significant film roles of her career. Both actors topped Indiewire’s Sundance Criticwire poll for Best Lead Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.
JAMES WHITE is the latest feature film from Borderline Films, a New York City based production company which was formed in 2003 by Tisch film school alums Mond, Antonio Campos and Sean Durkin. Their notable film credits to date include AFTERSCHOOL, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE and SIMON KILLER.
JAMES WHITE was produced by Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin and Melody C. Roscher. Starring alongside Abbott, Nixon and Mescudi are Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston and David Call.
Josh Mond said “On behalf of the incredible cast and crew of JAMES WHITE, I’m heartened by the response and proud to team up with The Film Arcade on the theatrical release. The response at Sundance has been humbling and we look forward to continuing the journey with our distributor.”
“Josh Mond has crafted a personal and powerful drama in his tour-de-force directorial debut,” said The Film Arcade’s Andy Bohn. “The brilliant performances by Christopher Abbott and Cynthia Nixon will be among the year’s best and help make Josh’s film an extraordinary achievement that needs to be seen.”
The Film Arcade negotiated the deal with UTA Independent Film Group.
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THE GRAND SEDUCTION and THE LUNCHBOX Win Toronto Intl FIlm Fest’s Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards
Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction and Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox are winners of the 11th annual Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards. The Grand Seduction (pictured above) was named Best Canadian Film and The Lunchbox was selected as the Best International Film.
Now in its 11th year, the annual Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards are decided by audiences across the country who vote for their favorite film shown at a Film Circuit screening. Film Circuit is Toronto International Film Festival’s national film outreach program.
In 2014, guests travelled to communities across Canada to introduce their films and participate in 95 Q&A sessions. Guests included Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club), Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), Sturla Gunnarsson (Monsoon), Jody Shapiro (Burt’s Buzz), Elizabeth Klinck (Arctic Defenders), Richie Mehta (Siddharth), Maxime Giroux (Felix and Meira), Katie Boland (Gerontophilia), Daniel Perlmutter (Big News From Grand Rock), and Peter Keleghan and Leah Pinsent (Big News From Grand Rock).
The Grand Seduction follows the residents of a small Newfoundland fishing village who, in order to secure a vital factory contract, conspire to charm a big-city doctor into becoming the town’s full-time physician. This sparkling comedy from director Don McKellar (Last Night) and screenwriter Michael Dowse (Goon, The F Word) has screened in 63 Film Circuit communities and was seen by over 10,700 people.
In The Lunchbox, a misdelivered lunchbox brings together two very different people — a neglected housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and a grumpy, solitary widower on the verge of retirement (Bollywood star Irrfan Khan) — in this funny and touching comedy-drama from first-time writer-director Ritesh Batra. The Lunchbox has screened in 80 Film Circuit communities and was seen by over 14,300 people.
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WHITE GOD and WALKING UNDER WATER Win Top Awards at 2015 Sarasota Film Festival
Kornel Mundruczo’s Cannes award-winning White God (pictured above) took home the Narrative Feature Jury prize at the 2015 Sarasota Film Festival.
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Charleston International Film Festival Moves to the Fall and to Charleston Music Hall
In its eighth year, Charleston International Film Festival (Charleston IFF) is moving its five-day celebration of film—typically held in April—to the fall with the 2015 Festival taking place November 4–8. The Festival is also changing venues, moving exclusively to Charleston Music Hall this year for its intimate feel and superior acoustics for film.
Summer Peacher, Charleston IFF Co-Founder and President said, “We’re excited to build on the momentum created from last year’s Festival; these changes will help us do that. We couldn’t ask for a better venue and partner than Charleston Music Hall, and we plan on taking full advantage of everything fall in Charleston has to offer our local and out-of-area attendees.”
The 2014 Festival showcased filmmakers representing 11 different countries. The 75 shorts, animations, features, and documentaries shown covered a diverse range of emotionally charged and socially important themes. As the Festival continues to grow in strength and popularity, 2015 is positioned to be Charleston IFF’s strongest event yet.
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Call for Entries for 2015 Telluride Film Festival
Telluride Film Festival, to be held September 4-7, 2015, announces its Call for Entries in all categories including student, short and feature length films.
Submission period begins April 15, 2015. Film Entry Form is available for download at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.
Shorts and student film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 1, 2015. Feature film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, July 15, 2015. All submissions must have been completed after July 15, 2014 and no works in progress will be accepted. Feature-length films (60 minutes or longer) will only be considered if they are to have their first North American screening at Telluride Film Festival. Final program determinations will be made by August 1, 2015. No early or late entries will be accepted.
Professional and amateur filmmakers working in all aesthetic disciplines and genres including narrative, documentary, animation and experimental are welcome.
Each year Telluride Film Festival plays host to an average of 25 feature films and 25 shorts and student films. Films selected to screen at Telluride Film Festival will be shown out-of-competition. TFF is not a competitive festival.
For more information visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org
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Call for Entries for 2015 Cucalorus Film Festival
Cucalorus announces its call for entries!! Cucalorus seeks submissions for features, documentaries, shorts, music videos, media installations and performances ranging from slam poetry to dance for the 21st annual Cucalorus Film Festival, to be held November 11-15, 2015. The festival takes place in a walkable nine-block radius of historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.
During the five-day celebration, film freaks and community members choose from a diverse lineup buoyed by cleverly crafted special programs, including the opening night live performance Dance-a-lorus and an interactive installation inspired by David Lynch’s Blue Velvet called “The Bus to Lumberton”.
Cucalorus is organized into a slate of thematic programs dedicated to social justice, emerging artists, works-in-progress, shorts, dance, festival hits, international cinema, music videos, and North Carolina. New programmatic focuses specifically support American female directors (the Vanguard program), directors from the US South (Southern Voices), and African American directors (Works-in-Progress). CIO Dan Brawley notes, “I’m on the circuit all year and I continue to notice that festivals are trying to embrace diverse voices, but the aesthetic is always the same. So we have to push aesthetic boundaries and create a strong space for exploring new cultures and new stories.”
Cucalorus’ general call for entries extends through late July, with separate deadlines for Dance-a-lorus performance pieces and Works-in-Progress.
All film submissions must include an entry form, submission fee and a poetic recipe for the perfect 21st birthday (drawings encouraged). Filmmakers living in the City of Wilmington are FREE and do not have to pay entry fees. www.cucalorus.org/submit_a_film.asp Cucalorus is also currently accepting applications for the Artist Residency program’s fall session, Surfalorus and 10×10.Submission Deadline Date Fee Early June 3 $25 Regular June 24 $35 Late July 15 $45 Extended July 29 $55
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Comedy “SPY” Starring Melissa McCarthy to Open 2015 Seattle International Film Festival
Spy, “the side-splitting, action-packed, globetrotting comedy from the mind of Paul Feig,” and starring Emmy-winning and Oscar®-nominated Melissa McCarthy, will be the Opening Night Film for the 41st annual Seattle International Film Festival on Thursday, May 14, 2015.
A hilariously incisive send-up of the spy genre, Spy stars McCarthy as Susan Cooper, an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst who is the unsung hero behind the Agency’s most dangerous missions. When her partner (Jude Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham, spoofing the gritty roles that have made him famous) is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer and prevent a global disaster.
The ensemble cast also features Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) as Cooper’s agency chief and Rose Byrne (The Neighbors) as a Bulgarian assassin. Bobby Cannavale (Adult Beginners), Morena Baccarin (“Homeland”), Miranda Hart (“Call the Midwife”), and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson round out the incredible lineup. The film, which is from 20th Century Fox, will open nationwide on June 5, 2015.
Director Paul Feig is scheduled to attend the evening’s festivities. He will participate in a Q&A following the screening moderated by SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence. Notes Carl, “Paul Feig has done the impossible and catapulted Melissa McCarthy to even funnier heights than her previous roles in The Heat and Bridesmaids. I actually need to see this hilarious film again – the first time I saw it, the audience was laughing so loud, I missed some of the lines! Witty, smart, and thrilling,Spy is destined to be one of the biggest hits of the summer – it’s the perfect movie to open the largest and best attended film festival in the country.”
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Maryland Film Festival Reveals Names of 10 More Films on 2015 Lineup
Maryland Film Festival revealed the names of ten more films on the the lineup for the upcoming 17th annual festival, which will take place May 6–10, 2015 in downtown Baltimore. Films include Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again; Todd Rohal’s comedy Uncle Kent 2; and new documentary work from Bobcat Goldthwait, Amy Berg, and Alex Winter.
The films include:
THE AMINA PROFILE (Sophie Deraspe) Two women, Sandra in Montreal and Amina in Syria, meet online, and begin a flirtatious relationship that quickly turns serious. When Amina begins to blog as “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” she garners international attention as an outspoken representative of a marginalized community. Then Sandra hears that Amina has been kidnapped—and, in this fascinating documentary fueled by mystery, politics, and sexuality, she must examine how much about Amina she truly knows.
BEATS OF THE ANTONOV (Hajooj Kuka) War reporter and documentary filmmaker Hajooj Kuka takes viewers into the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions of South Sudan, where we meet displaced South Sudanese who live under the constant threat of bombardment from the Sudanese military via Antonov cargo planes. But defying familiar victim narratives, Kuka’s camera finds resilient people that summon strength and positivity from music, laughter, and a determination to maintain their culture against any odds.
CALL ME LUCKY (Bobcat Goldthwait) Since the 1980s, Barry Crimmins has established himself as a comedian’s comedian, armed with a rapid-fire technique and a scathing political perspective aimed at shocking American audiences out of their complacency—even as he never quite gets the respect he deserves. Peers like Margaret Cho and Marc Maron join documentarian Bobcat Goldthwait in paying tribute to Crimmins’ many contributions to the comedy community and political activism over the decades.
CHRISTMAS, AGAIN (Charles Poekel) Noel (Kentucker Audley) sells Christmas trees off a lot in New York, living a quiet and solitary life in the camper that anchors the site. As Christmas nears, a mysterious woman lands in Noel’s life, and tries to find a way into the closed-off, emotionally blocked world he’s constructed. Beautiful Super 16mm cinematography and unforgettable performances from Audley and Hannah Gross yield a moving character study of quiet, gentle humanism.
DEEP WEB (Alex Winter) With Downloaded (MFF 2013), Alex Winter established himself as an expert at illuminating complex issues at the intersection of the internet and legality—and giving audiences intimate access to the personalities at the center of his story. Deep Web excitingly confirms that status, turning its lens on the online black market Silk Road, and digging deep into the still-unfolding story of Ross Ulbricht, the man accused of being the site’s creator and moderator, “Dread Pirate Roberts.”
GOD BLESS THE CHILD (Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck) Four brothers spend a day on their own in Davis, California, with their thirteen year-old sister forced to look after them as best she can in the absence of their troubled and unreliable mother. This visually stunning experimental drama, which premiered at SXSW, turns an unflinching eye on the behavior of children in the absence of adults, with results at turns hilarious, awkward, poignant, and unnerving.
PROPHET’S PREY (Amy Berg) The director of Deliver Us From Evil and West of Memphis takes us deep into another explosive story, that of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Exploring allegations of sexual abuse, family expulsions, forced marriages, and other horrors, this Sundance-premiered documentary paints an unforgettable portrait of conformity, fear, and oppression.
TWO SHOTS FIRED (Martin Rejtman) Veteran Argentine filmmaker Martin Rejtman brings his unique deadpan sensibility to the story of a sixteen-year-old who finds a gun in his house. He shoots himself out of boredom—but, after a near-miss with death, finds that the major change in his life is an annoying whistle in his chest, sabotaging the music he makes with an amateur recorder quartet. A disloyal dog, a strange vacation, and a bizarre cast of characters add up to a quietly anarchic comedy that channels Aki Kaurismäki and Roy Andersson’s A Swedish Love Story as it refuses to play by conventional narrative rules.
UNCLE KENT 2 (pictured above) (Todd Rohal) Kent Osborne, the mild-mannered animator whose mundane daily routines and love life fueled Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent, is desperate to make a sequel—an idea that excites precisely no one else. But when Swanberg gives Osborne his blessing to take the idea elsewhere, things takes a decidedly warped turn, as MFF favorite Todd Rohal takes over at the helm, steering the film deep into the realm of psychotronic dark comedy.
WESTERN (Bill and Turner Ross) In the neighboring towns of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Mexico, a rugged cattleman and a populist mayor navigate changing times as the specters of cartel violence and xenophobia threaten harmonious cultural and economic exchanges between the U.S. and Mexico. Marked by muggy days and thunderous nights, this evocative and immersive documentary from the directors of 45365 and Tchoupitoulas delivers a thrilling mix of fascinating characters, riveting narrative, and extraordinary sensory detail.
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“La Tête haute” to Open 2015 Cannes Film Festival
La Tête haute, a film by French female director, Emmanuelle Bercot, will open the 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday May 13, 2015.
La Tête haute tells the story of Malony, and his upbringing from six to eighteen years, as a children’s judge and social worker try to save him. It was filmed in the Nord-Pas de Calais, Rhône-Alpes and Paris area regions, with the participation of Catherine Deneuve, Benoît Magimel, Sara Forestier and Rod Paradot, who plays the main character.
“The choice of this film may seem surprising, given the rules generally applied to the Festival de Cannes Opening Ceremony,” explains Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Event. “It is a clear reflection of our desire to see the Festival start with a different piece, which is both bold and moving. Emmanuelle Bercot’s film makes important statements about contemporary society, in keeping with modern cinema. It focusses on universal social issues, making it a perfect fit for the global audience at Cannes.”
Emmanuelle Bercot is a film director, screenwriter and actress. She studied dance at Cours Florent before attending La Fémis film school. Her talent was discovered at the 1997 Festival de Cannes, where her short film, Les Vacances, received the Jury Prize. This was confirmed two years later with a second Cinéfondation Prize for La Puce, her final-year student film. In 2001, her first feature film, Clement (Clément), in which she plays the main character, made the Un Certain Regard Official Selection. Since then, she has directed several films, including On my Way (Elle s’en va) in 2014, in which Catherine Deneuve gave one of her best performances. Emmanuelle Bercot also co-wrote the script for Maïwenn’s Polis (Polisse), which earned her the main role in her latest film, Mon Roi.
La Tête haute was written by Emmanuelle Bercot and Marcia Romano, with Guillaume Schiffman as director of photography. It is produced by Les Films du Kiosque, and co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, Wild Bunch, Rhône-Alpes Cinema and Pictanovo with the participation of Nord-Pas de Calais Region. It is sold by Elle Driver and distributed in France by Wild Bunch.
The 68th edition of the Festival de Cannes will take place from 13 to 24 May 2015. The Jury of the Competition will be chaired by American directors Joel and Ethan Coen, the Un Certain Regard Jury by the Italian-American actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, and the Cinéfondation and Short Film Jury by Mauritian Film Director Abderrahmane Sissako
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Paul Schrader to Receive Kanbar Award at 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival
Screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Schrader will be the recipient of the 2015 Kanbar Award for excellence in storytelling at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 23 to May 7, 2015, honoring his contributions to cinema. The award will be presented to Schrader at Film Society Awards Night, Monday April 27 at The Armory (1799 Mission Street).
Paul Schrader will also be honored at An Evening with Paul Schrader at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Tuesday April 28, 6:30 pm. An onstage interview and a selection of clips from his notable screenwriting and directing career will be followed by a screening of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985).“This year we are altering the Kanbar Screenwriting Award to the Kanbar Storytelling Award to acknowledge that great writers now control a far more expansive part of the creative process,” said Noah Cowan, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society. “No person better embodies how creativity flourishes from the base of the written word than Paul Schrader. Accomplished in multiple creative fields, not least as the director of the incomparable Mishima, he has demonstrated for more than forty years how great writing translates into great cinema.”Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters: Paul Schrader captures the many layers of Japanese author and right-wing political activist Yukio Mishima’s short, tumultuous life in this mesmerizing, unconventional biopic that blends, to stunning effect, a recreation of the writer’s final day, snippets of biography that explore his psychology and beautifully staged, luridly colored scenes of three key novels that further explicate his psyche.Raised in a Calvinist household, Paul Schrader never watched a movie until he was in college, but made up for lost time by earning his M.A. at UCLA, becoming an American Film Institute Conservatory fellow in its inaugural 1969 class and becoming first a film critic and then screenwriter. Though the action thriller The Yakuza (1974), co-written with his brother Leonard, was his first produced screenplay, it was the script for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver(1976), written when he was 26 and inspired by his sense of isolation at a low point in his life, that was his breakthrough. The film won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and was the first of several collaborations between Schrader and Scorsese, a list that includes Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader made his directing debut in 1978 with Blue Collar, also co-written with his brother Leonard. As a writer/director, his films include Hardcore (1979),Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light of Day (1987), Light Sleeper(1992), Touch (1997), Affliction (1997), Forever Mine (1999), The Walker(2007) and Dying of the Light (2014). His screenplays include Obsession(1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), American Gigolo (1980), The Mosquito Coast(1976), City Hall (1996) and The Jesuit (2015). Among his directing projects are Cat People (1982), Patty Hearst (1988), The Comfort of Strangers (1990),Auto Focus (2002), Adam Resurrected (2008) and The Canyons (2013).Acknowledging the crucial role that storytelling plays in the creation of great art, the Kanbar Award for excellence in storytelling is made possible through the generosity of Maurice Kanbar, longtime member of the SFFS board of directors, film commissioner and philanthropist with a particular interest in supporting independent filmmakers. Kanbar is the creator of New York’s first multiplex theater and, most recently, Blue Angel Vodka.Previous recipients of the Kanbar Award are Stephen Gaghan (2014), Eric Roth (2013), David Webb Peoples (2012), Frank Pierson (2011), James Schamus (2010), James Toback (2009), Robert Towne (2008), Peter Morgan (2007), Jean-Claude Carrière (2006) and Paul Haggis (2005).