Film Festivals

UK’s Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Returns for 2013 with a ‘Swiss Focus’

Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, the longest running competitive short film and animation festival in the UK returns to Bristol from September 17-22, 2013. This year the festival has announced a Swiss Focus in partnership with Swiss Films and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, highlighting today’s hottest Swiss film and animation exports. The showcase includes ‘God You’re So Square’, curated by Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, which breaks down the conventional image of the Swiss psyche (efficient, boring, predictable) by exploring dysfunctional males who are struggling to find their place in society and the film THE LIVING ALSO CRY by Basil da Cunha, who recently presented his first feature at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The gala event of the Focus invites Franz Treichler, founder of legendary Swiss band The Young Gods, to perform a specially designed soundtrack for an overview of experimental films of the 20th century. Based on the instigators of the Dada Movement (Hans Richter, Man Ray), its self-proclaimed heirs of the 1960s and more recent experimental films, this will be the UK premiere performance of ‘Franz Treichler Plays Dada’. Treichler, who is also confirmed for the Brief Encounters International Jury, draws on rich experimentation from the music he has created over 20 years for cinema.

Franz Treichler explains; “This soundtrack takes us from Man Ray to Fluxus, to Jean Painlevé, Stan Brackage and Martin Arnold. A soundtrack for a selection of pioneers of the genre movies, focused on originality since a large part of creation is left to improvisation.”

Also at the Arnolfini, Swiss artist Yves Netzhammer will be creating an installation of his short film trilogy. Meanwhile, the Encounters Filmmaker Focus will be on Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, whose short fiction film You Can’t Do Everything At Once, But You Can Leave Everything At Once, inspired by the work of Spanish filmmaker José-Luis Guerin, also screened at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

A free-entry Pop-Up Cine Chalet will be open for the whole week in The Parlour Showrooms. Far from a nostalgic trip through idyllic mountain pastures, it will screen works such as the feature documentary Image Problem, which pokes fun at perceptions of the Swiss national identity, and The Lonely Pioneers, which traces The Young Gods’ history from the beginnings in 1985 up until today.

Encounters Managing Director Liz Harkman says; “We’re delighted to be working with our international partners for this programme, which will delve into the current artistic and cultural output of Switzerland in order to show the many contemporary faces of this nation”.

Marcel Müller, Project Leader for Swiss Films says; “It is a great privilege for us to be guest of honour at the festival this year. Preparing the Swiss attendance in collaboration with the Encounters team has been very exciting. And it will be even more exciting to see the results live, introducing the audience to the variety of creation in Swiss shorts, ranging from fictional works to sound and visual installation, from animation to filmic essays.”
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Durban International Film Festival Opening Night Film Screening of “OF GOOD REPORT” Canceled; Government Refuses to Allow Sreening

As we reported earlier, the World Premiere “OF GOOD REPORT” from South African director Jahmil XT Qubeka was scheduled to open the 34th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday, July 18, 2013. However, just before the festival was scheduled to begin, the filmmakers tweeted that the opening night film screening had to be canceled at the last minute after the South African government Film and Publication Board effectively censored the film. Instead an image was displayed on the screen that read, “This film has been refused classification by the Film and Publication Board, in terms of the Film and Publications Act of 1996. Unfortunately we may not legally screen the film, Of Good Report, as doing so would constitute a criminal offense.”

This didn’t go over too well with the filmmakers, who tweeted

@diffest opening film @ofgoodreportogr has been cancelled by the South African Film and Publications board. Full press release to follow.
— Of Good Report (@OfGoodReportOGR) July 18, 2013

“Unfortunately, the film and publication board has refused to allow the release of OF GOOD REPORT. According to their communication to the festival, the film contains a scene, which constitutes child pornography, and we are unable to legally show the film. I am very sorry about this,” said Durban International Film Festival manager Peter Machen.

Some more twitter feedback

“This is unconstitutional and we will fight it! On Mandela’s birthday we’ve returned to the dark days of apartheid censorship” – Producer
— Of Good Report (@OfGoodReportOGR) July 18, 2013

I’ve seen #OfGoodReport. There was nothing that hasn’t been shown before. Can’t believe it was censored for child pornography @DIFFest
— Dylan Bosman (@DylanBosman) July 18, 2013

DAMN! The whole cast and crew in the brink of tears. Emotions running rampant right now. #DIFF #OfGoodReport
— Khetha Mkhize (@Khetha) July 18, 2013

“This is unconstitutional and we will fight it! On Mandela’s birthday we’ve returned to the dark days of apartheid censorship” – Producer
— Of Good Report (@OfGoodReportOGR) July 18, 2013

OF GOOD REPORT is described as “a passionate homage to classic film noir”, tells the somber tale of a small-town high-school teacher with a penchant for young girls.”

The trouble for Parker Sithole (Mothusi Magano) begins when he accepts an invitation to a drinking session at the local tavern. Here, he meets the undeniably gorgeous Nolitha Ngubane (Petronella Tshuma). Captivated by her beauty, Parker experiences an ecstasy he’s never known before and truly feels like a man reborn. From this mutual attraction, an illicit affair ensues. However, there ’s just one problem: the beautiful Nolitha is one of Parker’s pupils and just sixteen years old. Parker quickly spirals into a deep obsession that ultimately turns to a tragedy.

Six months later, the sociopathic Parker has moved on from his previous job. Trudging along the barren landscape, he stumbles upon an opportunity for a fresh start. According to a caption on an old strewn newspaper, there is a shortage of teachers in Zimbabwe. A qualified educator like him shouldn’t struggle to find a post; after all, he does come ‘of good report’.

In Qubeka’s words, Of Good Report, “is a serial killer origins story about how a social misfit turns into an inadequate man hell-bent on satisfying his shameful lust. It is Little Red Riding Hood, told from the wolf’s perspective.”

DIFF manager, Peter Machen said the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as the organizing body of the Durban International Film Festival would appeal and he hoped it could still be screened before the festival ends on July 28.

image via instagram.com/makhulu_
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Woodstock Film Festival Unveils Official 2013 Poster

Woodstock Film Festival unveiled its official 2013 poster art, painted by artist Scott Michael Ackerman. This year’s festival will be held October 2-6 in the arts colony of Woodstock, NY and across the Hudson Valley region, including the historic towns of Kingston, Rhinebeck, Rosendale, and Saugerties.

“I’ve had the pleasure of having my work exhibited in the filmmaker lounge at the Colony Café during the past two Woodstock Film Festivals,” said artist Scott Michael Ackerman. ” Last year, Timothy Hutton bought two of my pieces. That was a real thrill, but it doesn’t top being asked to do the 2013 WFF poster. The painting symbolizes the blossoming of life and reawakening. It’s my hope that it’s an appropriate metaphor for the blossoming that results from all the amazing filmmakers and talent who manifest the creative, fiercely independent spirit that has come to symbolize the Woodstock Film Festival.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Scott onto our roster of artists” said Meira Blaustein, co-founder & executive director of the Woodstock Film Festival. “The vibrancy, boldness, raw talent and passion that flow from each of his paintings are emblematic of the fiercely independent spirit of the Woodstock Film Festival and of the innovative, passionate and thought provoking filmmakers it supports.”
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“I HATE MYSELF :)” to World Premiere at NYC’s Rooftop Films

I HATE MYSELF 🙂 directed by Brooklyn, New York filmmaker Joanna Arnow will World Premiere this weekend – Friday July 19, 2013, as part of the Rooftop Films summer screening series in Brooklyn, NY. “Sex, offensive slam poets, and a naked film editor add to the director’s journey for egoless self-identity in this home movie-style portrait of lilting self-loathing.”

In I HATE MYSELF :), the 20-something filmmaker Joanna Arnow, here documents her first relationship through the reactions of those around her: her parents, who are blunt yet loving; her friends, disembodied voices on the phone, adamantly giving advice; the editor of her film, a pushy, nude Freud with a ‘fro; and the film’s co-antagonist, Arnow’s boyfriend, a “performance artist” out to offend, drinking heavily and hovering just above derelict. Through her associates’ viewpoints, she reveals a raw and honest portrait of twenty-something Brooklyn malaise and the pathos that fuels it.

http://youtu.be/eST4qrq6iBY
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Locarno Film Festival Unveils Lineup and Jury, Opens with 2 GUNS starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg

2 GUNS directed by Baltasar Kormákur and starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg

The Locarno Film Festival unveiled the official jury and film lineup for 2013 including a competition lineup up of 20 films, 18 of which are world premieres. The festival will open on August 7 with the action film 2 GUNS directed by Baltasar Kormákur and starring Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

The Jury of the Concorso internazionale
President: Lav Diaz, Director (Philippines)
Matthias Brunner, Cinema Expert (Switzerland)
Juan de Dios Larraín, Producer (Chile)
Valérie Donzelli, Director, Actress (France)
Yorgos Lanthimos, Director, Producer (Greece)

The Jury of the Concorso Cineasti del presente
President: Hartmut Bitomsky, Director, Producer (Germany)
Tine Fischer, Festival Director (Denmark)
Daniele Gaglianone, Director (Italy)
Peaches, Musician, Director (Canada)
Nicolás Pereda, Director (Mexico)

The Jury of the Pardi di domani
President: Adriano Aprà, Director, Film Critic (Italy)
Marta Andreu, Producer (Spain)
Emir Baigazin, Director (Kazakhstan)
Grégoire Colin, Actor, Director (France)
Basil Da Cunha, Director (Switzerland)

The Jury of the Opera prima – Best First Feature
Luciano Barisone, Film Critic, Festival Director (Italy/Switzerland)
Scott Foundas, Film Critic (United States)
Shelly Kraicer, Film Critic (Canada)

I film delle giurie presents films featuring or made by members of the official juries,
Lav Diaz
NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN (Norte, the End of History) – Philippines – 2013

Juan de Dios Larraín
GLORIA by Sebastián Lelio – Chile – 2012 (Piazza Grande)

Valérie Donzelli
QUE D’AMOUR – France – 2013 (Fuori concorso)

Yorgos Lanthimos
ALPIS – Greece – 2011

Hartmut Bitomsky
B-52 – Germany/United States/Switzerland – 2001

Daniele Gaglianone
L’ORECCHIO FERITO DEL PICCOLO COMANDANTE – Italy – 1993
I NOSTRI ANNI (Our Years) – Italy – 2000

Peaches
PEACHES DOES HERSELF – Germany – 2012

Nicolás Pereda
PERPETUUM MOBILE – Mexico – 2009

Adriano Aprà
ROSSO CENERE (Red Ashes) by Adriano Aprà and Augusto Contento – France/Italy – 2013
(Histoire(s) du cinéma)

Marta Andreu
108 – CUCHILLO DE PALO by Renate Costa – Spain – 2010

Emir Baigazin
HARMONY LESSONS – Germany/France/Kazakhstan – 2013

Grégoire Colin
LA BAIE DU RENARD (Fox Bay) – France – 2009
LISIÈRES (On the Edge) – France – 2009

Basil da Cunha
ATÉ VER A LUZ – Switzerland – 2013

Piazza Grande
2 GUNS by Baltasar Kormákur – United States
VIJAY AND I by Sam Garbarski – Belgium/Luxembourg/Germany
LA VARIABILE UMANA by Bruno Oliviero – Italy
WRONG COPS by Quentin Dupieux – United States
WE’RE THE MILLERS by Rawson Marshall Thurber – United States
THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES by Mikkel Nørgaard – Denmark/Germany/Sweden
LES GRANDES ONDES (À L’OUEST) by Lionel Baier – Switzerland/France/Portugal
RICH AND FAMOUS by George Cukor – United States
GABRIELLE by Louise Archambault – Canada
L’EXPÉRIENCE BLOCHER by Jean-Stéphane Bron – Switzerland/France
GLORIA by Sebastián Lelio – Chile
MR. MORGAN’S LAST LOVE by Sandra Nettelbeck – Germany/Belgium
BLUE RUIN by Jeremy Saulnier – United States
ABOUT TIME by Richard Curtis – United Kingdom
FITZCARRALDO by Werner Herzog – Germany/Peru
SUR LE CHEMIN DE L’ÉCOLE by Pascal Plisson – France

Concorso internazionale
CÂND SE LASA SEARA PESTE BUCURESTI SAU METABOLISM by Corneliu Porumboiu – Romania
E AGORA? LEMBRA-ME by Joaquim Pinto – Portugal
EDUCAÇÃO SENTIMENTAL by Júlio Bressane – Brazil
EL MUDO by Daniel and Diego Vega – Peru/France/Mexico
EXHIBITION by Joanna Hogg – United Kingdom
FEUCHTGEBIETE by David Wnendt – Germany
GARE DU NORD by Claire Simon – France/Canada
HISTORIA DE LA MEVA MORT by Albert Serra – Spain/France
L’ÉTRANGE COULEUR DES LARMES DE TON CORPS
by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani – Belgium/France/Luxembourg
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS by Thomas Imbach – Switzerland/France
PAYS BARBARE by Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi – France
REAL by Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Japan
SANGUE by Pippo Delbono – Italy/Switzerland
SHORT TERM 12 by Destin Cretton – United States
SHU JIA ZUO YE by Tso chi Chang – Taiwan
TABLEAU NOIR by Yves Yersin – Switzerland
TOMOGUI by Shinji Aoyama – Japan
TONNERRE by Guillaume Brac – France
U RI SUNHI by Sangsoo Hong – South Korea
UNE AUTRE VIE by Emmanuel Mouret – France

Concorso Cineast
BUQLMUN by Elvin Adigozel and Ru Hasanov – Azerbaijan/France/Russia
COSTA DA MORTE by Lois Patiño– Spain
FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY by Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck –United States
L’HARMONIE by Blaise Harrison –France/Switzerland
LE SENS DE L’HUMOUR by Marilyne Canto –France
LOS INSÓLITOS PECES GATO by Claudia Sainte-Luce – Mexico
MANAKAMANA by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez –Nepal
MOUTON by Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone –France
ROXANNE by Valentin Hotea – Romania/Hungary
SAI NAM TID SHOER by Nontawat Numbenchapol –Thailand
THE DIRTIES by Matt Johnson –Canada/United States
THE SPECIAL NEED by Carlo Zoratti – Germany/Italy
THE STONE by Se-rae CHO –South Korea
THE UGLY ONE by Eric Baudelaire –France/Lebanon/Japan
THE UNITY OF ALL THINGS 團結一切事物by Alex Carver and Daniel Schmidt –United States
YUAN FANG by Zhengfan Yang – China
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“TOOMELAH” “THE ABOMINABLE CRIME” Win Top Awards at 2013 Belize International Film Festival

Toomelah

The Australian film TOOMELAH directed by Ivan Sen won the Best Feature Length Narrative, and THE ABOMINABLE CRIME directed by Micah Fink won the award for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2013 Belize International Film Festival held in Belize, Central America, from July 11th – 15th, 2013. MAROONS: AFRICANS ON THE MOVE directed by Michael Flores won the prize for Most Notable Belizean Film (in the Festival).

Starring Dean Daley-Jones, Daniel Conners, Michael Conners, Danieka Connors, Christopher Edwards, TOOMELAH is set in a remote Aboriginal community, 10-year-old Daniel yearns to be a “gangster” like the male role models in his life. Skipping school, getting into fights and running drugs for Linden, the main drug dealer in town, Daniel is well on his way to accomplishing his goal. When a rival drug dealer returns from prison, a violent showdown ensues. After Linden and his gang are taken off to jail, Daniel is suddenly alone and vulnerable. Can he make a choice for the better?

THE ABOMINABLE CRIME, is described as a story about a mother’s love for her child and an activist’s troubled love for his country. It also gives voice to gay Jamaicans who, in the face of endemic anti-gay violence, are forced to flee their homeland. Told first hand as they unfold, these personal accounts take the audience on an emotionally gripping journey traversing four years and five countries. Their stories expose the roots of homophobia in Jamaican society, reveal the deep psychological and social impacts of discrimination on the lives of gays and lesbians, and offer an intimate first-person perspective on the risks and challenges of seeking asylum abroad.

The Belizean film MAROONS: AFRICANS ON THE MOVE takes a look at African cultural similarities and African cultural continuity among the people known as the Maroons and the Garifuna, and others in the African Diaspora, featuring accompanying town Jamaica – home to Jamaican Maroons, established under Kudjo, and Nanny, his sister.

The complete list of winners of the 2013 Belize International Film Festival CONCHSHELL AWARD

Best Feature Length Narrative
Winner
TOOMELAH (Australia, 2011) Dir: Ivan Sen

Special Jury Mention:
HOME AGAIN (Canada, 2012) Dir. Sudz Sutherland

Best Feature Length Documentary
Winner:
THE ABOMINABLE CRIME (Jamaica, Holland, UK, Canada, 2013) Dir. Micah Fink

Special Jury Mention:
SEPARATED (Australia, Spain, 2012) Dir. Natalie Halla

Best Short Film
CEBU (Cuba, 2012) Dir. Pablo Belaubre

Best Short Documentary Film
AGAPE: Story of a Dream (Spain, Thailand 2012) Dir. Carlos Quiles

Most Notable Belizean Film (in the Festival)
MAROONS: Africans on the Move (Belize 2013) Dir: Michael Flores

Best Music Video
Winner #1: COME AWAY by Dir. Ben Hudson
Artist: Melonie Gillett / Label: Metamorph Creatives, Starbase Films

Winner #2: EX-BOYFRIEND by Dir. Carlo Habet
Artist: Tanya Carter / Label: I Am Music / BiG Pikcha Films
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Lineup Announced for Sundance’s First Ever NEXT WEEKEND film festival

BLUE CAPRICE directed by Alexandre Moors

The lineup of 10 feature films, 10 short films and related programming was announced today for the first-ever NEXT WEEKEND film festival, August 8-11, 2013 in Los Angeles. NEXT WEEKEND described as – an extension of the popular NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – is a summer film festival presenting four days of screenings, parties and artist programs that celebrate the renegade spirit of independent filmmaking. As announced last week, NEXT WEEKEND will kick off with an outdoor screening of Chris Smith’s documentary American Movie and Mark Borchardt’s horror film Coven on August 8.

FEATIURE FILMS

12 O’CLOCK BOYS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lotfy Nathan) — Pug, a bright 13-year-old boy living on a dangerous, west-side block in Baltimore, dreams of joining the 12 O’Clock Boys – a notorious Urban dirt bike pack who invade the streets, popping wheelies and cruising at high speeds through traffic while clashing with police. (Documentary) LA PREMIERE

BLUE CAPRICE / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R. F. I. Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real-life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks.Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick. LA PREMIERE

CUTIE AND THE BOXER / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — Over the course of the chaotic 40-year marriage between New York-based Japanese artists Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, their headstrong, yet complementary personalities form a graceful rumination on companionship, sacrifice and the creative spirit. (Documentary) LA PREMIERE

THE FOXY MERKINS / U.S.A. (Director: Madeleine Olnek, Screenwriters: Madeleine Olnek, Jackie Monahan, Lisa Haas) — Two lesbian hookers work the streets of New York. One is a down-on-her-luck newbie; the other is a beautiful – and straight – grifter who is an expert on picking up women. Together they face bargain-hunting housewives and double-dealing conservative women in this subversive buddy comedy.Cast: Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan, Alex Karpovsky, Susan Ziegler, Sally Sockwell, Deb Margolin. WORLD PREMIERE

HOW TO BE A MAN / U.S.A. (Director: Chadd Harbold, Screenwriters: Bryan Gaynor, Chadd Harbold, Gavin McInnes) — When former comedian Mark is faced with a rare form of cancer, he hires an impressionable cameraman to document his crude and comical lessons on what it means to be a man for his unborn son. But when Mark nearly loses everything, he realizes he has the most to learn. Cast: Gavin McInnes, Liam Aiken, Paulo Costanzo, Megan Neuringer, Nigel DeFriez, Nicole Balsam. WORLD PREMIERE

IT FELT LIKE LOVE / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime. LA PREMIERE

NEWLYWEEDS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo-man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark ballad of chemical dependency — part coming of age romance, part hallucinatory adventure. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez. LA PREMIERE

STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS/ U.S.A. (Director: Sam Fleischner, Screenwriters: Rose Lichter-Marck, Micah Bloomberg) — When a young, autistic Mexican boy runs away from his undocumented family on the outskirts of New York City, he embarks on an 11-day odyssey in the city’s subway system, forcing his splintered family to reconcile their differences in order to bring him home. Cast: Andrea Suarez Paz, Jesus Sanchez-Velez, Azul Zorrilla, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Marsha Stephanie Blake. LA PREMIERE

A TEACHER / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young high school teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end.Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Doubek. LA PREMIERE

THIS IS MARTIN BONNER / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — In this 2013 Sundance Film Festival award-winning film we discover two men, each searching in their quiet solitude to begin a new life amidst an unspoken need for encouragement and support. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. LA PREMIERE

SHORT FILMS

THE APOCALYPSE / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Zuchero) — Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon. Cast: Martin Starr, Ella Rae Peck, Kate Lyn Shiel, Benjamin Pike, Chanel Michaels, Duke Dlouhy.

THE CUB / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Riley Stearns) — Wolves make the best parents. Cast: Davey Johnson, Savannah Lathem, Mandy Olsen, Alexis McGraw. LA PREMIERE

THE EVENT / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Julia Pott, Screenwriter: Tom Chivers) — Love and a severed foot at the end of the world. Cast: Alex Britton, Laura Free.

K.I.T. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michelle Morgan) — A guilt-ridden, but well-intentioned yuppie goes to great lengths to prove she is a decent person. Cast: Michelle Morgan, Stephanie Allynne, John F. Beach, Ryan Harrison, Jeff Grace. LA PREMIERE

#POSTMODEM / U.S.A. (Directors: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva, Screenwriters: Lucas Leyva, Jillian Mayer) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop-musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, this is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets. Cast: Jillian Mayer, Kayla De La Cerda, Arly Montes, Zoom Zoom, Jesse Miller, Shivers Thedog. LA PREMIERE

SERAPH / U.S.A. (Director: Dash Shaw, Screenwriters: John Cameron Mitchell, Dash Shaw) — Seraph is an animated short film about how a boy’s childhood scars his later life. LA PREMIERE

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY / France, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lauren Wolkstein) — When a 30-year-old American woman attends a teenage party in the South of France, guests wonder who she is and what she is doing there. Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Camille Claris, Ulysse Grosjean.

A STORY FOR THE MODLINS / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriters: Carlos Muguiro, Emilio Tomé, Sergio Oksman) — The tale of Elmer Modlin who, after appearing inRosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years. LA PREMIERE

UNTIL THE QUIET COMES / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes such as violence, camaraderie and spirituality, through the lens of magic-realism. Cast: Solomon Gibbs, Storyboard P.

WHAT DO WE HAVE IN OUR POCKETS? / U.S.A., Israel (Director: Goran Dukic, Screenwriters: Goran Dukic, based on a short story by Etgar Keret) — A most unusual love story unravels when the objects in a young man’s pockets come to life. Cast: Azazel Jacobs, Diaz Jacobs.
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Director Giuseppe Tornatore and Actor Geoffrey Rush Among Lineup of Guests for 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival

Academy Award winning Italian film director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore and actor Geoffrey Rush are among the lineup of international and local guests expected to attend the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). Giuseppe Tornatore and Geoffrey Rush are set to visit Melbourne with the Italian film THE BEST OFFER. which stars MIFF Patron Geoffrey Rush, Donald Sutherland, Jim Sturgess and newcomer Sylvie Hoeks in a mystery drama set in a high-society world of art deals and closed doors.

The 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival(MIFF) will host a stellar lineup of international and local guests, spanning established auteurs, sporting idols, new faces in international cinema and a whole lot more.

Academy Award winning Italian film director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore(Cinema Paradiso) is set to visit Melbourne with the Italian box office smash, The Best Offer. Part of MIFF’s International Panorama program, The Best Offer, stars MIFF Patron Geoffrey Rush, Donald Sutherland, Jim Sturgess and newcomer Sylvie Hoeks in a mystery drama set in a high-society world of art deals and closed doors. Geoffrey Rush will join Giuseppe Tornatore at the Australian Premiere on Wednesday 31 July.

Melbourne will also play host to American rock band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, including acclaimed actor and front man of the band, Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream). Under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins, Leto directs Artifact, which follows the band as they record their third album, providing an often Spinal Tap-esque insight into the realities of modern music. Also part of the Backbeat program are guests Maureen Gosling, director of This Ain’t No Mouse Music!, which traces one man’s obsession with the American South’s music, and Nathaniel Kohn, producer of Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker, an exploration of the life and music of the New Orleans piano legend.

Cannes Best Screenplay winner, director Jia Zhang-ke and actress Zhao Tao, will be in town to present A Touch of Sin, a confronting character-driven tale of modern China and the domestic conflict its newfound wealth has wrought. Accelerator alumnusAnthony Chen will return to Melbourne with this year’s Camera d’Or winner, Ilo Ilo, the stirring tale of a Singaporean family who take in a Filipino woman as a live-in maid. Also fresh from Cannes is the winner of the Un Certain Regard Directing Prize, Alain Guiraudie, with his steamy thriller Stranger by the Lake; and hot on the heels of Cannes, young German filmmaker Katrin Gebbe will be presenting her film Nothing Bad Can Happen, a harrowing tale of a vulnerable young Christian man.

The American contingent is strongly represented this year. Champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce will be in Melbourne to present the SXSW Audience Award-winning film The Crash Reel, which documents the rise and literal fall of his career, which was cut short at age 22 in a near-fatal crash. Also from the This Sporting Life section and jetting in from the US is Michelle Major who will present her directorial debut, Venus and Serena – a fascinating insight into the legendary athletes and sisters, Venus and Serena Williams. From the Next Gen program first-time filmmaker Marta Cunningham will be presenting her affecting documentary Valentine Road, about 14-year-old Brandon McInerney from Oxnard, California, who shot and killed his cross-dressing classmate, Lawrence King. Meanwhile indie filmmaker Matt Porterfield, will be in town to present I Used to be Darker – a striking picture of quotidian family dynamics and revelations which will screen in MIFF’s new spotlight, States of Play: American Independents.

Mark Albiston will be crossing the Tasman with his debut feature Shopping – a coming-of-age drama set in 1981 New Zealand and winner of the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury for Best Feature Film at this year’s Berlinale. Also set in New Zealand is Denmark-based director Daniel Joseph Borgman’s debut feature, The Weight of Elephants – a captivating exploration of childhood fragility. Daniel Joseph Borgman will be a guest of the festival and both films will screen in MIFF’s International Panorama program.

Other international guests include: Chilean actress Paulina García, whose standout performance in Gloria won her the prestigious Silver Bear for Best Actress at this year’s Berlinale; Nicholas Bonner, co-director of Comrade Kim Goes Flying – a vivacious romantic comedy and extremely rare Western–North Korean co-production, screening in MIFF’s new spotlight, Juche Days: North Korea on Film; João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata, who co-direct the audacious documentary hybrid The Last Time I Saw Macau, which screens in MIFF’s TeleScope: Visions from the EU program; and Axel Straschnoy, director of Kilpisjärvellä, which presents the Northern Lights as they are experienced by someone watching them from the ground. Kilpisjärvellä will screen as part of the Planetarium Fulldown Showcase, a special program of jaw-dropping fulldome screenings at the Melbourne Planetarium.

Former British Film Institute and London Film Festival Director Adrian Wootton returns exclusively to Melbourne for another series of his acclaimed Illustrated Film Talks, this year celebrating major icons of screen culture. The Adrian Wootton Talks Icons series runs from Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 August. Celebrated LA-based developer, writer and lecturer Wendall Thomas is also returning exclusively to Melbourne for more of her popular series unlocking the secrets of films’ script structure with a series of four standalone all-day seminars, running from Monday 29 July – Thursday 1 August.

MIFF will also host an array of leading Australian talent featured in this year’s festival program. Walking the red carpet on Saturday 3 August for the world premiere of this year’s Centrepiece Gala Tim Winton’s The Turning will be Tim Winton, Robert Connolly, Mia Wasikowska, Tony Ayres, Warwick Thornton, Rhys Graham, Hugo Weaving and producer Maggie Miles. Tim Winton’s The Turning is part of the 2013 MIFF Premiere Fund slate.

Australian thriller Patrick is another film from this year’s MIFF Premiere Fund that will have its world premiere on Saturday 27 July. Director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood, MIFF ‘08) reinterprets the classic Aussie horror flick and will be attending alongside cast including Rachel Griffiths, Peta Sergeant, Damon Gameau, Jackson Gallagher, Simone Buchanan and producer Antony I. Ginnane. Other Premiere Fund guests include: writer/director Anna Broinowski (Forbidden Lie$, MIFF ‘07) and producer Lizzette Atkins, with the revolutionary film within a film, Aim High in Creation!, based on the creative manifesto by North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-il; writer/director Rhys Graham (Words from the City, MIFF ‘07), who tells the story of four teens whose lives are forever scarred by tragedy in Galore, will be joined by cast members Lily Sullivan and Maya Stange and producer Philippa Campey; writer/director Lynn-Maree Milburn (Autoluminescent: Roland S Howard, MIFF ‘11), who shines the spotlight on local Catholic provocateur Father Bob Maguire in the documentary In Bob We Trust, will be joined by Father Bob Maguire, producerRichard Lowenstein and cinematographer Andrew de Groot; and writer/director Zak Hilditch, actor Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek), rising star Angourie Rice and producerLiz Kearney will be in town to present the apocalyptic thriller These Final Hours.

Music lovers are in for a treat with a number of Australian talent attending this year’s festival including local punk rock band Cosmic Psychos and Matt Weston, the director of Cosmic Psychos: Blokes you can Trust, which charts the colourful three-decade history of the group; director Kaye Harrison with The Sunnyboy, a film about rock, redemption and the healing power of getting the band back together one last time; and director Juliet Lamont and documentary subject Nikki May with Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls, the insightful documentary of Burma’s first girl band.

MIFF’s home-grown contingent of guests continues with legendary surfer Wayne Lynch, the documentary subject of Uncharted Waters by director Craig Griffin, which follows Wayne’s career and the evolutionary influence he had on the sport. Director Kim Mordaunt will be in town to present the multi-award-winning feature, The Rocket, a heart-warming coming of age story set in war-ravaged Laos. Other Australian guests include Lawrence Johnston, director of Fallout about the untold story of Nevil Shute’s famed novel On The Beach and the film of the same name; Award-winning director Ivan Sen (Toomelah, MIFF 11), director of Australian thriller Mystery Road and cast members Aaron Pedersen, Jack Charles and Damian Walshe-Howling; Steve Ostrow, documentary subject of Continental, which explores the notorious venue that sparked a revolution and cemented its place in legend; Haydn Keenan, director of the extraordinary TV series Persons of Interest; Warwick Ross and David Roach, co-directors of Red Obsession which charts the modern fortunes of Bordeaux’s most famous export; Shannon Swan and Angelo Pricolo, co-directors of Lygon Street – Si Parla Italiano, the true story of Melbourne’s most iconic street, as told by the men and women who made it; and from the made-for-ABC-TV Nowhere Boys, by the prolific Matchbox Pictures, director Daina Reid and cast will attend the screening.

Melbourne International Film Festival runs 25 July – 11 August 2013.

via press release
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Keith Carradine Honored at Maine International Film Festival with Mid-Life Achievement Award

Award-winning actor, songwriter, and producer Keith Carradine was honored at this year’s Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) with the 2013 Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) Mid-Life Achievement Award. Carradine was presented with his award at the Monday, July 15 screening of Nashville. Carradine’s song for the film, “I’m Easy,” garnered both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Carradine can currently be seen, starring in AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS, which received the award for best cinematography at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and is featured at MIFF this year. “AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS” will be released on August 16, 2013.

Each year MIFF honors an individual who has made significant contributions to the art of cinema. Past winners include: Thelma Schoonmaker (Raging Bull, The Departed), Lili Taylor (I Shot Andy Warhol, Mystic Pizza), Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde), Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, Badlands), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), John Turturro (Miller’s Crossing, The Big Lebowski) , Ed Harris (Empire Falls, Pollack), Peter Fonda (Easy Rider), Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom), Jos Stelling (Duska), Walter Hill (The Warriors), and Bud Cort (Harold and Maude).
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African Diaspora International Film Festival – Washington D.C. to Feature 7 Films; Opens with D.C. Premiere of African Independence

AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE written, directed and produced by scholar, filmmaker and PBS History Detectives host, Professor Tukufu Zuberi.

The African Diaspora International Film Festival – Washington D.C. (ADIFF- DC) will celebrate its 7th anniversary in Washington D.C. from August 16 to 18, 2013 with a lineup of 7 films. The African Diaspora International Film Festival – D.C. will open with the Washington D.C. Premiere of AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE, an award-winning, feature-length documentary written, directed and produced by scholar, filmmaker and PBS History Detectives host, Professor Tukufu Zuberi.

AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE retraces the history of the independence movement throughout Africa using archival footage as well as interviews with such personalities as President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia,Hon. SamiaYaaba Nkrumah, daughter of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah- Ghana’s first President, President F.W. de Klerk of South Africa and many others.

ADIFF-D.C. will also present the Washington D.C. Premiere of award winning film from Senegal THE PIROGUE by Moussa Toure, official selection in the Un Certain Regard section of 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This powerful drama in which a group of 30 men and a woman sail to Europe in a pirogue, facing the sea and the possibility of never reaching their destination in exchange for the myth of a better life in Europe, was called by A.O. Scott of The New York Times “a remarkably clear-eyed, quietly ambitious film [that] deals with emotionally charged events matter-of-factly, rather than melodramatically.”

In collaboration with the Swiss Embassy, ADIFF will screen the Senegal/Switzerland/Luxembourg musical documentary RETURN TO GORÉE by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud which follows Senegalese musician and current Culture Minister of Senegal, Youssou N’Dour, as he recruits musicians to prepare for a concert on the Gorée Island that today symbolizes the slave trade and stands to honor its victims.

Also in the program is the Washington D.C. premiere screening of NISHAN, a new thriller set in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia about a young businesswoman who dreams of leaving Ethiopia to seek her fortune abroad. When her father mortgages the house to support her emigration, an unsigned document creates a disastrous domino effect in this thrilling feature debut by Ethiopian filmmaker Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn.

Other films on the program include the Washington D.C. premiere showing of award-winning dance film from South Africa THE AFRICAN CYPHER and the presentation of German film OTOMO by Frieder Schlaich starring award-winning actor Isaach de Bankolé (Miami Vice, Casino Royal, Ghost Dog, The Way of the Samourai; Otomo; Chocolat) about the last 24 hours in the life of an African immigrant in Germany.

ADIFF Washington D.C. will close with the premiere screening of the Shakespeare play TANGO MCBETH by Philadelphia based independent filmmaker Nadine M. Patterson.
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Central Florida Film Festival Returns to Ocoee, Florida August 30 thru September 1

This year’s Central Florida Film Festival returns over the Labor Day weekend in Ocoee, Florida, running from Friday, August 30th thru Sunday, September 1st at the West Orange Cinemas. Horror ‘scream queen’ Felissa Rose and “Supernatural’s” Richard Speight Jr., are two of the Hollywood Celebrities expected to be in attendance.

CENFLO will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the horror cult classic, “SLEEPWAWAY CAMP,” which will screen on Saturday evening at 7:45 pm followed by a Question and Answer by the film’s star, Felissa Rose who will also pose for photos after the screening. Felissa played young Angela in the film that has also brought four sequels over the years.

Earlier on Saturday (1:00 pm) “Supernatural’s” Richard Speight Jr., will highlight a short series of films with his movie “America 101.” Richard will also perform a Question and Answer with two other filmmakers during the program.

image via Facebook
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WATCH Official Trailers for 2013 Rural Route Film Festival

BAIKONUR

Rural Route will screen what the festival describes as “4 of the BEST new independent films to the beautiful big screen” at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York City on August 3 and 4, 2013. The 4 films are TALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE directed by Jeremy Teicher, SALT directed by Diego Rougier, THE MOSUO SISTERS directed by Marlo Poras and BAIKONUR directed by Veit Helmer.

Festivial Official Trailer

http://youtu.be/6NAUxFILLdo

TALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE

http://youtu.be/og05DpepTi0

SALT

http://youtu.be/3GGtGu4DZuM

THE MOSUO SISTERS

http://youtu.be/1QT-e9e5siQ

BAIKONUR

http://youtu.be/_-90Pfde1rM
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