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Uranium Drive-In[/caption]
The 35th Mountainfilm in Telluride festival will run Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 to May 27, 2013 in Telluride, Colorado OA and according to Festival Director David Holbrooke, “This is one of the strongest years for documentaries that we’ve ever seen.” “From films we scouted at the earlier festivals in the year — Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca — to our own submissions, there just seemed to be an unusual number of really fine films for consideration.”
The films range from shorts of just a few minutes to feature-length films, and they cover a spectrum of topics that ranges from adventure and action sports to pressing environmental and social issues.
Highlighted films include:
The Crash Reel – Directed by Lucy Walker whose past Mountainfilm screenings include Waste Land and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, the film profiles professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce, one of the very few competitors to ever stand above Shaun White on a podium, and his recovery from a traumatic brain injury suffered in half-pipe training. With Walker and Pearce, in person.
Maidentrip – Directed by Jillian Schlesinger and winner of the SXSW Audience Choice award, the film portrays teenage sailor Laura Dekker and her record-setting solo trip around the world.
Manhunt – Directed by Greg Barker, Manhunt traces with meticulous detail the two-decade hunt for Osama bin Laden. With Barker and a CIA analyst and a CIA operative, in person.
Dirty Wars – Directed by Richard Rowley who followed investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of international bestseller Blackwater, to shed light on America’s murky covert wars in Afghanistan, the Arabian peninsula, Somalia and beyond. With NY Times and International Herald Tribune columnist Roger Cohen, in person.
Rising From Ashes – Directed by T. G. Johnstone and produced and narrated by Forest Whitaker. Rwandan genocide survivors struggle to realize their dream of forming a national cycling team.
God Loves Uganda – Directed by Roger Ross Williams whose Academy Award-winning short Music by Prudence and star Prudence Mathena, so moved Mountainfilm audiences in 2010, this film focuses on American Christians who go to Uganda to proselytize while also bringing an anti-gay message. With Williams, in person.
Life According to Sam – Directed by Sean and Andrea Nix Fine, this film tells the story of Sam Berns who suffers from progeria, an extremely rare and fatal disease, and of the courageous fight by his parents to save his life. With the Fines, in person, and Berns, by skype.
Keeper of the Mountains – Directed by Allison Otto, this short documentary profiles Elizabeth Hawley who has tracked, recorded and archived every Himalayan expedition of the past half-century. With Otto, in person.
Uranium Drive-In – Directed by Suzan Beraza, whose film Bag It galvanized Mountainfilm audiences in 2010 and won that year’s Audience Choice award, this is a world premiere about a controversial uranium processing facility planned just upwind of Telluride. With Beraza, in person.
Film info via Mountainfilm in Telluride
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Frameline37: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival will take place this year from June 20 – 30, 2013. Frameline37 will open with director Stacie Passon’s CONCUSSION, described as “a sexy and daring breakthrough drama about a wealthy lesbian housewife whose straight-laced lifestyle takes a drastic and rebellious turn following a head injury.”
Frameline37 will present this year’s Frameline Award to Jamie Babbit, along with the Bay Area premiere of Babbit’s latest film, BREAKING THE GIRLS, and a special retrospective screening of her 1999 cult classic romantic comedy, BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER.
The Centerpiece Documentary film will be VALENTINE ROAD, a compelling exposé of the 2008 California hate crime that resulted in the school shooting death of 15-year-old Lawrence King. The Centerpiece Narrative film will be a Polish film titled IN THE NAME OF, a visually striking examination of repression and taboo, and winner of the prestigious Teddy Award at Berlinale 2013.
The Closing Night film for Frameline37 will be director Darren Stein’s G.B.F., a timely feel-good comedy about a recently outed gay teen navigating tokenization and high school social structures. G.B.F. stars Michael J. Willett and includes hilarious, memorable appearances from Megan Mullally, and Natasha Lyonne.
The Festival will also present a selection of five films finished with assistance from the Frameline Completion Fund. The recipients of the Frameline Completion Fund that will be premiering at Frameline37 are: BIG JOY: THE ADVENTURES OF JAMES BROUGHTON, VALENCIA, THE HAPPY SAD, THE BATTLE OF AMFAR, and THE INFAMOUS T.
Frameline37 will also feature a variety of special screenings and programs. This year’s Festival will shine a spotlight on Asian Queer Cinema, highlighting works from emerging and established filmmakers from countries such as China, Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Other highly anticipated screenings at Frameline37 include Travis Mathews and James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., a film within a film that re-imagines the lost 40 minutes of CRUISING while exploring the politics of portraying gay sex in cinema; Christie Herring’s documentary THE CAMPAIGN, chronicling California’s Proposition 8 during the 2008 election and the historical battle for marriage equality; and Jeffrey Schwarz’s I AM DIVINE, a documentary about Divine, the legendary drag performer and star of numerous John Waters films.
Music takes center stage in Neil Drumming’s BIG WORDS as three members of a New York hip-hop group from the ’90s unwittingly reunite on the eve of President Obama’s election in 2008. Queer alternative-music icon Antony Hegarty (of and Antony and the Johnsons) is joined by 13 beguiling transsexual and gender variant women on stage and behind the scenes in TURNING, a revealing documentary directed by pioneering video artist Charles Atlas.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra[/caption]
