Film Festivals

  • 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Announces Lineup of Opening, Closing Films, Film Premieres and Films From Emerging Directors

     [caption id="attachment_3036" align="alignnone" width="1020"]Blancanieves [/caption]

    The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced its complete line-up including Galas, Premieres and New Voices/New Visions.  The Festival will launch on Thursday, January 3 with a screening of the Foreign Language Oscar submission from Spain Blancanieves directed by Pablo Berger and wraps on Sunday, January 13 with the US premiere of Paul Andrew Williams’ Unfinished Song starring Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave.  180 films from 68 countries, including 61 premieres (3 world, 21 North American and 37 U.S.), will unspool at the Festival, running from January 3-14 in Palm Springs, California.

    GALAS
    The Festival will open with the screening of Blancanieves (Spain/France), the Best Foreign Language Oscar submission from Spain.  Directed by Pablo Berger, Blancanieves is the spectacular silent movie adaptation of Snow White, where the daughter of a famous bullfighter is mistreated by her wicked stepmother.  When she runs away and joins a band of dwarfs, her natural bullfighting talent is discovered, but her stepmother plots to bring her down.  The film stars Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Pere Ponce, Sofía Oria,  Macarena Garcia, Ángela Molina, José María Pou and  Inma Cuesta.  Berger will attend the film screening.

    Closing the Festival is The Weinstein Company’s Unfinished Song (UK), directed by Paul Andrew Williams and starring Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston and Anne Reid.  Marking its US premiere, the film is about a curmudgeonly pensioner who takes his ailing wife’s place in their unconventional local choir, with hilarious results.  Terence Stamp will attend the film’s screening.

    PREMIERES
    The Festival will offer a selection of 61 premieres of highly anticipated films, showcasing the diversity of international cinema (for a list of film descriptions, please see attached):

    World premieres include: Elephants (France), Molly Maxwell (Canada) and Smiling Through the Apocalypse – Esquire in the 60s (USA), a documentary featuring Gore Vidal and Nora Ephron.

    North American premieres include: 900 Days (Netherlands), Breakaway (Philippines), Crawl (France),The Daughter (Russia), Dreamers (France), Filmistaan (India), Goltzius and the Pelican Company (United Kingdom) starring F. Murray Abraham, The Hypnotist (Sweden) directed by Lasse Hallström, I Belong(Norway), Jews of Egypt (Egypt), Mental (Australia/USA) starring Toni Collette, Liev Schreiber and Anthony LaPaglia, Papadopoulos & Sons (UK/Greece), The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France),Playground Chronicles (France), Purge (Finland/Estonia), Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina), The Snitch Cartel (Colombia), The Third Half (Macedonia), Two Lives (Germany/Norway) starring Liv Ullmann, This Life – Some Must Die, So Others Can Live (Denmark), and Yema (Algeria/France)

    U.S. premieres include: 4Some (Czech Republic), 7 Boxes (Paraguay), Allez, Eddy!(Belgium/Luxembuorg/The Netherlands), Call Girl (Sweden), Caught in the Web (China), Children of Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), The Color of the Chameleon (Bulgaria), The Deep (Iceland/Norway),Eagles (Israel), Emperor (Japan/USA) directed by Peter Webber and starring Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones, The Fifth Season (Belgium/Netherlands/France), First Comes Love (USA), Flying Blind (UK), The Fruit Hunters (Canada) featuring Bill Pullman, Great Expectations (UK/USA) directed by Mike Newell and starring Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane and Sally Hawkins, Hannah Arendt (Germany) starring Barbara Sukowa and Janet McTeer, Imagine(Poland/France/Portugal), Inescapable (Canada/South Africa) starring Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson and Oded Fehr, Jump (Ireland/UK), Mold (Turkey), More Than Honey (Germany/Austria/Switzerland), Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain), Mumbai’s King (India), Nuala (Ireland), Our Homeland (Japan), Satellite Boy (Australia), The Shine of Day (Austria), Shores of Hope (Germany),Soongava: Dance of the Orchids (Nepal/France), Still (Canada) starring James Cromwell and Campbell Scott, Suicide Shop (France/Canada/Belgium), Unfinished Song (UK), What is this Film Called Love? (UK),When Day Breaks (Serbia/Croatia/France), When I Saw You (Palestine), White Tiger (Russia) and A World Not Ours (UK/Lebanon/Denmark).

    NEW VOICES/NEW VISIONS
    The New Voices/New Visions Award will honor one of ten films from top emerging international directors marking their feature film debut at the Festival, with the additional criteria that the films selected are currently without US distribution.  The winner is selected by a jury of US distributors and will receive a $60,000 Panavision camera rental package.  Films selected for this year include:

    7 Boxes(Paraguay) – 17-year-old Victor is offered $100 to transport seven boxes across a crowded outdoor marketplace, but the contents are linked to a serious crime and a lot of money and soon he finds himself in an adrenaline-fuelled race to outrun cops and bad guys. Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori. Cast: Celso Franco, Lali González, Víctor Sosa, Nico García.

    Beauty(Argentina) – An intimate and poetic evocation of the experience of a young girl from an indigenous tribe in northern Argentina working as a maid in a middle class home. Director: Daniela Seggiearo. Cast: Rosmeri Segundo, Sasa Sharet, Ximena Banus, Camila Romagnolo, Risabel Mendoza, Victor Hugo Carrizo.

    The Cleaner(Peru) – In the midst of a mysterious and deadly epidemic in Lima, Perù, a depressed and isolated man cleans up after the dying. When he takes in a frightened young boy who has lost his mother, he’s quietly transformed by the experience of caring for another human being. Director: Adrian Saba. Cast: Victor Prada.

    The Daughter(Russia) – A haunting crime drama with Dostoevskian overtones, set in provincial Russia where a serial killer is murdering teenage girls. It’s a beautifully shot, marvelously performed film about faith, hope and love. Director: Alexander  Kasatkin, Natalya Nazarova. Cast: Maria Smolnikova, Yana Osipova, Igor Mazepa, Oleg Tkachev, Vladimir Mishukov.

    I Belong(Norway) – A Norwegian tragicomedy about how people who mean well end up hurting one another, and how acting on integrity and feelings is seen as troublesome in a rationalist society. Director: Dag Johan Haugerud. Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen, Birgitte Larsen, Henriette Steestrup, Laila Goody, Ragnhild Hilt, Trine Wiggen.

    Mumbai’s King(India) – Slumdog Millionaire minus the millions, this unadorned, neo-realist peep into the lives of kids from the Mumbai slums serves as a tribute to their spirit and ability to live life to the fullest. Director: Manjeet Singh. Cast: Rahul Bairagi, Arbaaz Khan, Tejas Parvatkar, Dhanshree Jain, Aftab Khan, Salman Khan.

    Playground Chronicles(France) – Brahim Fritah conveys the magic of childhood through whimsical visuals in this comedic chronicle of 10-year-old Brahim’s adventures in the Parisian suburbs, circa 1980.  With charm to burn, its evocation of those last, best days of youth is warmly infectious. Director: Brahim Fritah. Cast: Yanis Bahloul, Rocco Campochiard, Vincent Rottiers, Anne Azoulay, Philippe Rebbot, Mostefa Djadjam, Dalila Ibnou Ennadre.

    Sadourni’s Butterflies(Argentina) – In this dazzling neo-silent black and white melodrama an ex-circus dwarf convicted of a crime of passion gets out of prison and tries to restart his life.  Falling in love with a fellow porn movie voice over artiste, he dreams of the operation that would make her attainable…  A thrilling, poetic love story like nothing you have seen before. DirectorL Dario Nardi. Cast: Christian Medrano, Antonella Costa, Nicola Costantino, Ale Sergi.

    Satellite Boy(Australia) – Stunningly shot in the Australian Outback, Catriona McKenzie’s deeply felt exploration of Aboriginal folkways focuses on a ten-year-old boy forced to rely on the wisdom imparted by his grandfather when he gets lost in the wilds. Director: Catriona McKenzie. Cast: David Gulpilil, Cameron Wallaby, Joseph Pedley, Rohanna Angus, Dean Daley-Jones.

    This Life – Some Must Die, So Others Can Live(Denmark) – Based on a true story, this authentic, moving tale of Danish resistance to Nazi occupation has rivaled Flame & Citron as a local box office sensation. Director: Anne-Grethe  Bjarup Riis. Cast: Jens Jørn Spottag, Bodil Jørgensen, Thomas Ernst, Marie Bach Hansen, Bjarne Henriksen, Anne Louise Hassing.

    Other Festival films with notable talent and directors include: Michael Haneke’s Amour (Austria); Leslie Zemeckis directs Bound By Flesh (USA); Bebe Neuwirth narrates Defiant Requiem (USA); Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Ashley Judd narrating A Fierce Green Fire (USA); Elle Fanning, Alessandro Nivola and Annette Benning in Ginger & Rosa (UK); Abbie Cornish in The Girl (USA/Mexico); Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne in I, Anna (UK/France/Germany); Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Alicia Witt in I Do(USA); Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (USA) featuring Ice-T, Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg and Quincy Jones;La Source (USA/Haiti) narrated by Don Cheadle; Love, Marilyn (USA) featuring Elizabeth Banks, Lindsay Lohan, Evan Rachel Wood, Ben Foster, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Viola Davis, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Burstyn, Adrien Brody, Marisa Tomei and Glenn Close; Jeff Bridges in A Place at the Table (USA); Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone (France/Belgium); and Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Julianna Marguiles and Alan Arkin in Stand Up Guys (USA).

     

    Read more

  • Ed Burns, Davis Guggenheim Among Jury Members for 2013 Sundance Film Festival

     

    Academy Award® winning director and producer Davis Guggenheim,  Ed Burns and  director Brett Morgen are among the 19 members of five juries awarding prizes at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Short Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony on January 22 at Park City’s Jupiter Bowl, with feature film awards announced at a separate ceremony on January 26.

    Members of the Alfred P. Sloan Jury will be announced in January.

    U.S. DOCUMENTARY JURY

    Liz Garbus
    Academy Award® nominated, Emmy® winning director Liz Garbus’ latest film,Love, Marilyn (Studiocanal), internationally opened as a Gala Premiere at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and was acquired by HBO for a 2013 debut. In 2011, Liz’s Bobby Fischer Against The World premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, earned an Emmy® nomination for Best Non-Fiction Special and won the prestigious UK Grierson Award for Best Cinema Documentary. Liz’s first documentary film, The Farm: Angola, USA, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, was awarded ten other festival and critics’ awards, and was nominated for an Oscar in 1998. Liz is also Executive Producer of the Academy Award® nominated film Street Fight, and Producer of the Academy Award® nominated short, Killing in the Name. Other credits include The Execution of Wanda Jean (Sundance, HBO); The Nazi Officer’s Wife, narrated by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond (A&E); Girlhood (Wellspring/TLC); Yo Soy Boricua!, Pa Que Tu Lo Sepas, directed by Oscar-nominated actress Rosie Perez (IFC); Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Emmy® winner for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special in 2007;  and Shouting Fire: Stores from the Edge of Free Speech(Sundance, HBO). Liz graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University and is a Fellow of the Open Society’s Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture.

    Davis Guggenheim 
    Davis Guggenheim is a critically acclaimed, Academy Award®winning director and producer whose work includes Waiting for “Superman”, It Might Get Loud,the 2009 documentary featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, and An Inconvenient Truth, featuring former Vice President Al Gore, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2007. In 2008, Davis produced and directed President Barack Obama’s biographical film A Mother’s Promise, and most recently, The Road We’ve Travelled, a short film for Obama’s 2012 campaign. Davis has also directed many television series including Deadwood, NYPD Blueand 24.

    Gary Hustwit
    Gary Hustwit is an independent filmmaker based in New York and London. He worked with punk label SST Records in the late-1980s, ran the independent book publishing house Incommunicado Press during the 1990s, and was Vice President of the media website Salon.com in 2000. Hustwit has produced nine documentaries, beginning with I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, the 2002 film about the band Wilco. In 2007 he made his directorial debut with Helvetica, a documentary about graphic design and typography. The film marked the start of a design film trilogy, with Objectified, about product design, following in 2009. Urbanized, about the design of cities, premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Hustwit is a longtime advocate of self-distribution, direct audience engagement, and truly independent filmmaking.

    Brett Morgen
    Brett Morgen is a director and writer. His credits include Crossfire Hurricane(2012), 30 for 30: June 17, 1994 (2010), Chicago 10 (2007), Nimrod Nation(2007), The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002), and On the Ropes (1999). He is the recipient of several awards and honors including an Academy Award®nomination, the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, the IDA Award for Best Feature, and two Peabody® Awards. He is currently working on the first authorized documentary about Kurt Cobain and in pre-production on When the Street Lights Go On, which will mark his feature dramatic debut.

    Diane Weyermann 
    Diane Weyermann is Participant Media’s Executive Vice President, Documentary Films, where she oversees such current projects as A Place At the Table andState 194, and earlier releases such as An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc., andWaiting for “Superman”. In 1996, she launched the Soros Documentary Fund, which later became the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund. Prior to working at Participant Media, Diane was the Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund, where she was responsible for the Fund, two annual documentary film labs and worked closely with the Sundance Film Festival programming team on world documentaries.

    U.S. DRAMATIC JURY

    Ed Burns
    Ed Burns is an award-winning writer, director and actor. His debut film, The Brothers McMullen, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury prize. The film, made on a budget of $25,000, went on to win “Best First Feature” at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. Since then he has helped to expand upon the new model of digital distribution by making his filmPurple Violet the first feature to premiere exclusively on iTunes and successfully releasing his subsequent films, Nice Guy Johnny and Newlyweds,via Video on Demand. He recently premiered his 11th feature film as a writer, director and star, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. In addition to his work as a director, Burns as starred in such films asSaving Private Ryan and 27 Dresses. He was born in Woodside, Queens, and currently lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

    Wesley Morris
    Wesley Morris writes about movies, culture, and style in sports for Grantland. He won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for criticism for his film and culture writing for the Boston Globe. 

    Rodrigo Prieto
    Rodrigo Prieto is a cinematographer who was born in Mexico City. His feature work includes Sobrenatural, which garnered him Mexico’s Ariel Award in 1996 (Mexico’s Academy Award), and Un Embrujo (Under A Spell) which took the Concha de Plata for best cinematography at the San Sebastian Film Festival, in addition to another Ariel Award. Amores perros brought him to the attention of the world film community. His subsequent films as cinematographer have included Frida, for which he was an ASC Award nominee, 8 Mile, 25th Hour; and the award-winning 21 Grams. For his work on Brokeback Mountain, Rodrigo was nominated for an Academy Award®, a BAFTA Award, and an American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award. He also worked on Babel, which earned him his second consecutive BAFTA Award nomination, and Biutiful. After this, he travelled to Hong Kong and Shanghai with Ang Lee to shoot Lust, Caution, which earned a Golden Osella award for Best Cinematography at the Venice Film Festival. This film was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2008. His most recent works include working with director Francis Lawrence on Water for Elephants, Cameron Crowe on We Bought a Zoo, and Ben Affleck on Argo. He is currently working with Martin Scorsese on Wolf of Wall Street.

    Tom Rothman
    Tom is one of the most experienced executives in the modern media business. He recently departed as Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment after eighteen years, second in tenure only to Darryl Zanuck in Fox’s history. Previously, he worked at the Goldwyn Company, Columbia, and as a lawyer and independent producer. In his era, Fox Films earned over $30 billion in box office, more than 150 Oscar nominations, three Best Picture Awards, and include the two highest grossing films ever. He founded Fox Searchlight and has overseen the company throughout its existence. A pioneer in Independent Film, in 1986 he co-produced Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law and Robert Frank’s Candy Mountain. He is an emeritus director of Sundance Institute and was present at its very first film festival.

    Clare Stewart 
    Clare Stewart is Head of Exhibition at the BFI (British Film Institute) where she commenced in October 2011. She is responsible for the cultural and commercial performance of BFI Southbank and BFI Festivals including the BFI London Film Festival of which she is Festival Director. Previously, Clare’s 17-year programming career has encompassed leadership roles as Festival Director, Sydney Film Festival (2006-2011) and the inaugural Head of Film Programs at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne (2002-2006) as well as various roles at the Australian Film Institute (1996-2001), including Exhibition Manager, and programmer and Committee Member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque (1995-2002).

    WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY JURY

    Sean Farnel
    Sean Farnel specializes in festivals and digital distribution, primarily for creative documentary. Prior to working independently, he was Director of Programming at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, market and conference. He started his career at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he became a staff Programmer specializing in documentary and learning programs. Sean is a graduate of Cinema Studies from one of Canada’s most respected film schools, Concordia University. Upon graduation he received the Motion Picture Foundation of Canada Award for Most Outstanding Achievement.

    Robert Hawk
    Robert Hawk is a longtime consultant/advisor to filmmakers and film festivals. He has had his own business, filmhawk.com, for 20 years and been a part of the indie film scene for 30, beginning as a researcher on The Times of Harvey Milkand The Celluloid Closet. He has served on festival juries and panels from Orlando to Oberhausen, curated film programs from the Kennedy Center to the Hanoi Cinematheque, and was on the Sundance Film Festival’s advisory selection committee for its entire existence (1987-1998). He currently serves on advisory boards for Independent Film Week (IFP/NY) and Outfest’s Legacy Project. His producer credits include Ballets Russes, Paul Goodman Changed My Life and Prodigal Sons and his consultant credits (among hundreds) includeCommon Threads, My Architect and The Laramie Project.

    Enat Sidi
    Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Enat Sidi is very active as an editor in the American documentary film world. She is a frequent collaborator with directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, having edited most of their nonfiction feature films including the 2005 Emmy® nominee The Boys of Baraka, the 2006 Academy Award nominee Jesus Camp, the HBO Peabody® winner 12th & Delaware and most recently Detropia, for which Enat won the editing award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Enat recently acted as the consulting editor on Bully, the high profile documentary released in 2012 by the Weinstein Company.

    WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC JURY

    Anurag Kashyap
    Anurag Kashyap was born in Gorakhpur, India, and studied zoology at the University of Delhi. His features as director include Paanch (2003), Black Friday(2004), No Smoking (2007), Dev. D (2009),That Girl in Yellow Boots (2010), and the two-part Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), which will play in the Spotlight Section of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. His screenwriting credits include Deepa Mehta’s Genie Award–winning Water (2005). His films have made him a face representing the new wave of Indian Cinema at various prestigious platforms across the globe.

    Nadine Labaki
    Born in Lebanon, Nadine Labaki is an acclaimed filmmaker and actress. In 2005, she took part in the Cannes Film Festival Residence to write Caramel, her first feature film, which showcases a Beirut that most people are not familiar with. She directed and played a lead role in the film, which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, Variety included her on their 10 Directors to Watch list. In this year she also received the insignia of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. She directed and starred in her second feature film Where Do We Go Now?,which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category and won the Cadillac People’s Choice award at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. Where Do We Go Now? also played at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for best foreign film at the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

    Joana Vicente
    Joana Vicente is an award-winning producer. She has been the Executive Director of the nonprofit IFP- the Independent Filmmaker Project- since December 2009. Prior to this, she produced/executive produced over 40 features by such acclaimed directors as Jim Jarmusch, Brian De Palma, Hal Hartley, Miguel Arteta, Nicole Holofcener, and Todd Solondz. In 2007, she was the recipient of the Made in NY Award for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to New York City’s entertainment industry. Vicente has produced 20 films that have screened at the Sundance Film Festival, including two Grand Jury Prizewinners: Three Seasons in 1999 and Welcome to the Dollhouse in 1996.

    SHORT FILM JURY

    Mike Farah
    Mike Farah is the President of Production for Funny or Die, overseeing the creative day-to-day operations for the premiere comedy site, along with Funny or Die’s television and feature projects. With FOD for nearly five years, Farah produced the award-winning video Prop 8: The Musical, the Ron Howard directed Presidential Reunion, and Marion Cotillard’s Forehead Tittaes, among many others. He is an executive producer of Funny Or Die’s Billy on the Street, airing on Fuse, and also produced the feature film Answer This!, written and directed by his brother, Chris Farah. Mike began his career at UTA, and headed up feature film development for Craig Brewer and Stephanie Allain at their Paramount-based production company. In 2010, The Hollywood Reporter named Farah one of the top 35 Hollywood executives under 35.

    Don Hertzfeldt
    Don Hertzfeldt is an Academy Award®nominated American independent filmmaker whose animated films have screened around the world, collectively receiving over 200 awards. He has had six films play in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, and in 2007 received the Grand Jury Prize for his animated short film, Everything Will Be OK. He has recently completed his first animated feature film, It’s Such a Beautiful Day.

    Magali Simard
    Magali Simard is a short film programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival and works for Film Programmes at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. She has been with the organization since 2006, working on its New Releases, Canada’s Top Ten, the Student Film Showcase, the Open Vault, and Human Rights Watch. She has hosted film discussions for Ryerson University, the National Screen Institute, the Canadian Film Center, the National Film Board, written for various online publications, and frequently hosts screenings at TIFF’s Film Trivia.

     

    Read more

  • Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster to Open the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival

    The international premiere of The Grandmaster by Chinese director and president of this year’s jury, WONG Kar Wai, will open the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.

    The Grandmaster is an epic martial arts drama set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930’s China and inspired by the life and times of the legendary IP Man (Tony LEUNG Chiu Wai), mentor to Bruce LEE. The plot encompasses themes of war, family, revenge, desire, love, and memory. The all-star cast headed by Tony LEUNG Chiu Wai (Days of Being Wild – Berlinale Forum 1991,Chungking Express, Happy Together, In The Mood for Love, 2046, all directed by WONG Kar Wai), also includes Ziyi ZHANG (Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, D: Ang Lee), who was a guest at the 2009 Berlinale Competition with Forever Enthralled (D: CHEN Kaige), CHANG Chen (Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon; Eros, D: WONG Kar Wai), ZHAO Benshan (Happy Times, D: ZHANG Yimou), XIAO Shengyang (A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop, D: ZHANG Yimou – Berlinale Competition2010) and SONG Hye Kyo (A Reason to Live, D: LEE Jeong-hyang), as well as hundreds of Asia’s top martial artists.

    The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival runs February 7-17, 2012.

    Read more

  • First Films Announced for the Panorama Section of 2013 Berlin International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3026" align="alignnone" width="1020"]Frances HaFrances Ha[/caption]

    Films from the US featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julianne Moore, Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Amanda Seyfried, Juno Temple and Noah Baumbach were among the first films announced for the Panorama section of the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. Other films included on the lineup include works by European filmmakers, such as Lars Kraume and Felix van Groeningen.

    Documentary films announced include those tackling explosive international issues, such as Palestine and the Middle East in State 194 and Alam laysa lana (A World Not Ours); or they attempt to come to terms with the past in Indonesia, as in The Act of Killing. The film Gut Renovation focuses on the rapid advance of gentrification in Western countries. And a portrait is dedicated to one of the most inspirational figures of German cinema: Roland Klick. The Panorama Dokumente series will make up about one third of the entire programme.

    Fictional films in the Main Programme and Panorama Special (15)

     

    Baek Ya (White Night) – Republic of Korea
    By Hee-il LeeSong
    With Tae-hee Won, Yi-kyung Yi
    European premiere

    Chemi Sabnis Naketsi (A Fold in My Blanket) – Georgia
    By Zaza Rusadze
    With Tornike Bziava, Tornike Gogrichiani, Zura Kipshidze, Avtandil Makharadze, Giorgi Nakashidze
    World premiere

    Dduit-dam-hwa: Gam-dok-i-mi-cheot-eo-yo (Behind the Camera) – Republic of Korea
    By E J-Yong
    With Yuh-jung Youn, Hee-soon Park, Hye-jung Gang, Jung-se Oh, Min-hee Kim
    International premiere

    Deshora (Belated) – Argentina/Columbia/Norway
    By Barbara Sarasola-Day
    With Luis Ziembrowski, Alejandro Buitrago, Maria Ucedo
    World premiere

    Don Jon’s Addiction – USA
    By Joseph Gordon-Levitt
    With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore
    International premiere

    Frances Ha – USA
    By Noah Baumbach
    With Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Charlotte D’Ambiose, Adam Driver
    European premiere

    Habi, la extranjera (Habi, the Foreigner) – Argentina/Brazil
    By Maria Florencia Alvarez
    With Martina Juncadella, Martin Slipak, Maria Luisa Mendonça, Lucia Alfonsin
    World premiere

    Inch´Allah – Canada
    By Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
    With Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Yousef Sweid, Sivan Levy, Carlo Brandt
    International premiere

    Kashi-ggot (Fatal) – Republic of Korea
    By Don-ku Lee
    With Yeon-woo Nam, Jo-a Yang, Jeong-ho Hong, Ki-doong Kang
    European premiere

    La Piscina (The Swimming Pool) – Cuba/Venezuela
    By Carlos Machado Quintela
    With Raul Capote, Monica Molinet, Felipe Garcia, Carlos Javier Martinez, Marcos Costa
    International premiere

    Lovelace – USA
    With Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
    By Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Juno Temple
    International premiere

    Meine Schwestern (My Sisters) – Germany
    By Lars Kraume
    With Jördis Triebel, Nina Kunzendorf, Lisa Hagmeister, Beatrice Dalle, Angela Winkler
    World premiere

    Rock the Casbah – Israel
    By Yariv Horowitz
    With Yon Tumarkin, Roy Nik, Yotam Ishay, Rave Iftach, Khawla Alhaj Debsi
    International premiere

    Tanta Agua (So Much Water) – Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands/ Germany
    By Ana Guevara Pose, Leticia Jorge Romero
    With Malú Chouza, Néstor Guzzini, Joaquín Castiglioni
    World premiere

    The Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium
    By Felix van Groeningen
    With Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baetens, Nell Cattrysse
    International premiere

    Panorama Dokumente (7)

    Alam laysa lana (A World Not Ours) – Great Britain/Lebanon/Denmark 
    By Mahdi Fleifel
    European premiere

    Gut Renovation – USA
    By Su Friedrich
    International premiere

    Naked Opera – Luxemburg/Germany
    By Angela Christlieb
    World premiere

    Roland Klick – The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter – Germany
    By Sandra Prechtel
    With Roland Klick, Otto Sander, Eva Mattes, David Hess, Hark Bohm
    World premiere

    Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You – A Concert for Kate McGarrigle – USA
    By Lian Lunson
    With Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Anna McGarrigle
    European premiere

    State 194 – USA/Israel
    By Dan Setton
    With Yoram Millo, Daniel J. Chalfen, Ariel Setton, 
    Margaret Yen
    European premiere

    The Act of Killing – Denmark/Norway/Great Britain
    By Joshua Oppenheimer
    With Janus Billekov Jansen, Carlos Mariano Arango de Montis, Mariko Montpetit, Henrik Gugge Garnov, Charlotte Munch Bengtsen
    European premiere


    The Panorama section with its Main Programme, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumenteseries will screen some 50 films in all.

    Read more

  • Academy Award Winning Actor Daniel Day-Lewis to be Honored at 2013 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

     

    [caption id="attachment_3024" align="alignnone" width="550"]Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln[/caption]

    Two-time Academy Award® winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis will be honored with the prestigious Montecito Award at the 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival on behalf of his inspirational performance in the title role of Lincoln, and as a celebration of his overall career. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs January 24 – February 3, 2013.

    “Daniel Day-Lewis continues to inspire the industry and the public by his approach to tackling the most complex of characters and delivering brilliant performances time after time,” said Executive Director Roger Durling. “He is indicative of what the Montecito Award represents and we are thrilled to be presenting this to him this year.”

    Daniel Day-Lewis’s most recent work includes his portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln.

     

    Read more

  • Poster Unveiled for 2013 Berlin International Film Festival

    The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the poster for the 2013 festival which will take place from February 7 to 17, 2013.

    “The poster for the Berlinale 2013 will again add a bright note to the city’s winter landscape and set the mood for the Festival. The Berlinale Bear has no time to sleep in winter,” says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.

    Read more

  • Richard Gere to be Honored at 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3008" align="alignnone" width="550"]Richard Gere in Arbitrage[/caption]

    The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) which runs January 3-14, 2013, will honor Richard Gere with the Chairman’s Award.  

    Richard Gere stars in Arbitrage from Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.  Gere plays New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller, who on the eve of his 60th birthday is desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire and makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.  The film is written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki and stars Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta and Nate Parker.  For Arbitrage, Gere received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

    Read more

  • 15 FIlms Invited to Compete in Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus at 2013 Berlin International Film Festival

     [caption id="attachment_3006" align="alignnone" width="550"]Baby Blues – Poland By Kasia Rosłaniec[/caption]

    Fifteen films have already been invited to compete in Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. The early list includes 3 films from the US including Hide Your Smiling Faces directed by Daniel Patrick Carbone, The Cold Lands directed by Tom Gilroy and Tough Bond by Austin Peck, Anneliese Vandenberg. The complete Generation program will be announced in mid January. The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival will run February 7 – 17, 2013.

    Films include:

    Generation 14plus:

     

    Baby Blues – Poland 
    By Kasia Rosłaniec 
    An extroverted teenage mother’s tour de force through a world of daily chores, nappies fashion and drugs. 
    European premiere

     

    Capturing Dad – Japan 
    By Ryota Nakano
    Two young girls at their father’s funeral service. A laconic, humorous story about saying final goodbyes to a trusted stranger. 
    International premiere

     

    Hide Your Smiling Faces – USA 
    By Daniel Patrick Carbone 
    In a remote rural settlement, two young brothers learn to deal with the loss of a friend and the inevitable forces involved in becoming an adult. Atmospheric US independent cinema. 
    World premiere

     

    Pluto – Republic of Korea
    By SHIN Suwon 
    June just has to belong to the clique of best students at his school, who take brutal measures against their rivals. Dramatic thriller about the destructive powers of a highly ambitious society. 
    International premiere

     

    Shopping – New Zealand
    By Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston 
    The half-Samoan brothers Willie and Solomon are caught between fronts. Willie has fallen under the influence of a gang leader, while Solomon has to assert himself against their father. 
    European premiere

     

    The Cold Lands – USA 
    By Tom Gilroy 
    With Lili Taylor, John Ventimiglia 
    After his mother’s sudden death, Atticus flees from the authorities into the rugged mountains and dense forests of upstate New York.
    World premiere

     

    Touch of the Light – Taiwan / Hong Kong, China 
    By CHANG Jung-Chi 
    Yu-Siang, a young blind man, moves on his own from the provinces to Taipei to study the piano. A film that embraces all the senses – from WONG Kar Wai’s Jet Tone production company. 
    European premiere

     

    Tough Bond – USA 
    By Austin Peck, Anneliese Vandenberg 
    When cultural and family ties no longer exist, homeless children find comfort in sniffing glue. Intimate documentary images and a radically honest look at Kenyan society.
    World premiere

     

    Generation Kplus:

     

    Kopfüber (UPSIDEdown) – Germany
    By Bernd Sahling 
    Sascha is ten, steals things and can hardly read. When the doctor prescribes medicine for ADHD, everyone hopes he’ll calm down and get back on track. 
    World premiere

     

    Mammu, es Tevi mīlu (Mother, I Love You) – Latvia 
    By Jānis Nords 
    His mother has three jobs so Raymond is all on his own. He gets himself into a terrible predicament.
    World premiere

     

    Nono, Het Zigzag Kind (The Zigzag Kid) – Netherlands / Belgium 
    By Vincent Bal 
    With Isabella Rossellini, Burghart Klaussner
    Before his Bar Mitzvah, Nono is supposed to learn how to behave from Uncle Sjmoel. Yet a mysterious man takes him on a trip into his family’s secret past.
    European premiere

     

    ÖDLAND – Damit keiner das so mitbemerkt (WASTELAND – So that No One Becomes Aware of It)– Germany 
    In strikingly beautiful images and told with the words of children, this documentary recounts how it feels to be a refugee caught between worlds. 
    World premiere / Documentary film

     

    Satellite Boy – Australia
    By Catriona McKenzie
    With David Gulpilil
    Pete, an Aboriginal boy, lives with his grandfather in the Australian outback. When their home is threatened with demolition, Pete ventures on a bold journey to save his country 
    European premiere

     

    The Rocket – Australia 
    By Kim Mordaunt 
    Little Ahlo and his family are forced to find a new place to live. Their trek through war-torn Laos leads them to the highly explosive rocket festival. 
    World premiere

     

    Twa Timoun (Three Kids) – Belgium
    By Jonas d’Adesky 
    Three Haitian street children organise what they need to survive in Port au Prince, the capital city that was nearly demolished by the earthquake. A tale of unwavering friendship in documentary style. 
    European premiere

     

    Read more

  • 2013 Arlington International Film Festival Call for Filmmaker Submissions

     

    The Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) has opened submissions for the 3rd Annual Arlington International Film Festival to be held October 23 -27, 2013 at the historic Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA, U.S.A.

    The 2013 Festival will showcase the best of independent films from around the world and welcomes submissions of feature length and short films with an emphasis on multi-culturalism.

    AIFF will once again feature juried awards for the following categories: Best of Festival, Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animation Short.  

    Filmmakers will be notified of the Selection Committee’s decision by August 2013. 

     

    Submission Categories

    Features: Narrative and Documentary

    Shorts: Narrative, Documentary and Animation

    High School Shorts (students must be 18 or under)

           Note: The SUBMISSION FEE for High School students is waived.

    Submission Deadlines & Fees

    The deadlines to submit U.S. & international films for the 2013 Arlington International Film Festival are as follows:

    Early Submission Deadline: Must be postmarked by March 15, 2013

    US $15 for Shorts

    US $35 for Features

    Official Submission Deadline: Must be postmarked by April 15, 2013

    US $30 for Shorts

    US $50 for Features

    Late Submission Deadline: Must be postmarked by May 1st, 2013

    US $45 for Shorts

    US $65 for Features

     

    Read more

  • Shorts and Beyond Section Film Lineup Released for 2013 Slamdance Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3002" align="alignnone" width="550"]Domestic[/caption]

    Slamdance announced their Shorts Programs for the 19th Annual Slamdance Film Festival, as well as the launch of Beyond, a brand new section. Beyond showcases bold and daring films from emerging Narrative and Documentary filmmakers, working just beyond their first features.

    The film lineup includes the World Premiere of Cullen Hoback’s Terms and Conditions May Apply, featuring Margaret Atwood and Mark Zuckerberg among others. The film is described as “A shocking exposé of the basic civil rights we surrender when we agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website we visit, phone call we make, or app we use.” The lineup also includes the Romanian film, Domestic, “A bittersweet comedy about people who eat the animals they love and animals that love people unconditionally.”

    The 2013 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 18 – 24, 2013 in Park City, Utah, at the Treasure Mountain Inn: 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060.

    The film lineup:

    BEYOND SLATE:

     

    Diamond on Vinyl

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    J.R. Hughto

    (USA) World Premiere

    A very singular voyeur finds his engagement in jeopardy after his fiancee discovers his audio recordings of their lovemaking, along with a taped rehearsal of his proposal. Then into both of their lives comes an enigmatic young woman who begins an incredibly strange seduction.

    Cast: Brian McGuire, Sonja Kinski, Nina Millin, Jeff Doucette, Jessica Golden, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Katherine Pawlak

     

    Domestic

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Adrian Sitaru

    (Romania) US Premiere

    A bittersweet comedy about people who eat the animals they love and animals that love people unconditionally.

    Cast: Adrian Titieni, Gheorghe Ifrim, Sergiu Costache, Ioana Flora, Clara Voda, Dan Hurduc, Ariadna Titieni

     

    Musgo

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Gami Orbegoso

    (Spain) World Premiere

    In the rural eastern Pyrenees province of Spain, a wealthy older woman manipulates the sexual/emotional entanglements of her deceased husband’s adult daughter; the tension builds to a climax of terror and violence.

    Cast: Meritxell Ortega, Merçe Espelleta, German Parreño, Joan Manel Chilet

     

    Terms and Conditions May Apply

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Cullen Hoback

    (USA) World Premiere

    A shocking exposé of the basic civil rights we surrender when we agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website we visit, phone call we make, or app we use.

    Cast: Margaret Atwood, Danah Boyd, Orson Scott Card, Ray Kurzweil, Doug Rushkoff, Moby, Sherry Turkle, Mark Zuckerberg

     

     

    LIVE ACTION SHORTS PROGRAM:

     

    37

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Puk Grasten

    (USA) World Premiere

    In March 1964, two bystanders silently watch their neighbor’s murder. They aren’t the only ones. 

    Cast: Lynn Cohen, George S. Irving, Heather Lind, Korey Jackson 

     

    A Time in A Dark Cloud

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Rebecca Sgan-Cohen

    (USA) World Premiere

    A young woman desires intimacy, despite pervasive internal conflict. 

    Cast: Emilie Sabath, Alex Thomas, James Levanas, Travis Young, Christopher Gordon, Lauren White, Joseph Pedi, Harold Hyde

     

    All You Can Eat

    Directors: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik

    Screenwriters: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik

    (USA)

    A food television host tours a hamburger joint and wonders how his life got so crappy. 

    Cast: Matt Warzel, Donna Stamm, Jamie Warzel, Gray Hawks, Marty Siu

     

    Baby Blues

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Pascal Plante

    (Canada) International Premiere

    In order to meet the man she loves, Mel leaves her two young children alone in the apartment. 

    Cast: Chloé Bourgeois, Jessy Gagnon, Félix Brière, Marc Beaupré, Martin Rouette, Dji Haché

     

    Caterwaul

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Ian Samuels

    (USA)

    An aging fisherman develops an intimate relationship with a lobster.

    Cast: George Murdock

     

    Donald Cried

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Kris Avedisian

    (USA)

    Returning to his hometown to retrieve his grandmother’s ashes, Peter must rely on his only local contact, estranged buddy Donald.

    Cast: Jesse Wakeman, Kris Avedisian, Ron Barron, Nick Riess, Jeremy Furtado, Bridget Grenier

     

    Dreemer

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Laura Dawe

    (Canada) International Premiere

    A surreal love story about a 19-year-old girl and her oppressively misguided boyfriend.

    Cast: Jenessa Grant, Vladimir Cubrt, Patrick Stevenson 

     

    Fireworks

    Director: Victor Hugo Duran

    Screenwriter:Kevin James McMullin

    (USA)

    During the Fourth of July in South Los Angeles, a teenage boy and his brother scour the neighborhood for fireworks in order to win the admiration of a girl.

    Cast: Roger Cruz, Alberto Castañeda, Irene Sorto, Azucena Benitez, Edgar Vanegas, Julio Duran

     

    For Dorian

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Rodrigo Barriuso

    Canada (US Premiere)

    A father struggles with the maturation and sexual awakening of his son, a teenager living with Down syndrome. 

    Cast: Ron Lea, Dylan Harman, Tova Smith, Victor Pereira, Jerald Bezener

     

    Gigantic

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Georgia Fu

    (USA/Taiwan) World Premiere

    What happens when two suicidal people meet and fall in love?

    Cast: Grace Chen ???, Kris Ko ???

     

    Glory Days

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Benjamin Rutkowski

    (USA)

    On New Years Eve, Jack, a recovering alcoholic, takes his two children on a road trip to the country.

    Cast: Mike Lubik, Joseph Covino, Paige Smith, Cory Nichols, Vanessa Hollingshead, Janette Martinez, Maren Uecker, Joe Lenihan

     

    Hearts of Napalm

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Andy Irvine

    (USA) World Premiere

    There are 6.8 billion orgasms every night. Ashley is just looking for one.

    Cast: Ashley Spillers, Alex Dobrenko

     

    Indoor

    Directors: Si & AD

    Screenwriters: Si & AD

    (UK) International Premiere

    An 11-year-old boy, unable to fly his kite alone, befriends a peculiar girl who cannot leave her caravan. 

    Cast: Alfie Righelato, Katie Miller

     

    Josephine and the Roach

    Director: Jonathan Langager

    Screenwriters: Jonathan Langager, Joe Swanson

    (USA)

    A violin-playing cockroach falls in love with the woman whose apartment he infests.

    Cast: Jenna Augen, Jerry White Jr., Circus Szalewski, Jeremy Gladen, Olivia Choate, Josh Helmuth, Emelie O’Hara, *Roach by Lino Stavole

     

    Keep the Fire

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Jake Rice

    (USA)

    A behind-the-album-cover story of Kenny Loggins’ classic Keep The Fire.

    Cast: Jake Rice, James Zimmerman, Tiffany Elle, Shaun Paul Gordon, Marco Ragozzino, David Slaughter, Joe Toppe and Bernie Gomez

     

    Lu’bba (Game)

    Director: Saleh Nass

    Screenwriters: Saleh Nass, Laila Al-Beiti

    (Bahrain/UAE) US Premiere

    A school boy is dropped off for yet another weekend football game and faces a recurring reality of life.

    Cast: Omar Mahboob, Mohammed Al-Beiti, Shiva Yogeswaren, Abu Baker Kahtan, Abdullah Shafiq, Haider Islam, Youssof Ahmed, Mahmood

     

    MAELSTRØM

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Tom Geraedts

    (UK/Netherlands) US Premiere

    A young woman experiences an out-of-body trip that transcends everything she has thought or done before.

    Cast: Sabrina Kaici 

     

    Pearl was Here

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Kate Marks

    (USA)World Premiere

    A troublemaking child finds comfort in a sea of stuffed animals.

    Cast: Miana Abramson, Sharon Eisman, Cara Danielle Brown, Brady Allen, Sharon King, Mike McGill, Rachael Caselli, Chris Magorian

     

    Prometheus

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Tannaz Hazemi

    (USA) World Premiere

    A blind man on dialysis plays a drinking game alone.

    Cast: Elijah Hobbes, Dr. Amir Shahid

     

    Resurrection Slope

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Tamara Feldman

    (USA) World Premiere

    An adolescent boy performs a holy ritual to come to terms with his neglectful upbringing.

    Cast: Elliot Moore, Tamara Feldman, John Hawkes, David Yow, Paula Casmaer, Vanessa Campbell, Allie Paul, Nikki McCauley, Maurice Harris

     

    Rotkop

    Directors: Jan Roosens, Raf Roosens

    Screenwriters: Bert Van Dael, Sanne Nuyens

    (Belgium) US Premiere

    When an outcast’s mortally ill mother throws a birthday party for him, he needs to find friends to invite.

    Cast: Enrique De Roeck, Marthe Schneider, Sara De Bosschere

     

    Seed Story

    Director and Screenwriter:

    William D. Caballero

    (USA)World Premiere

    The worst aspects of humanity are evoked as a single dandelion brings big change to a tiny society.

     

    Shale

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Jed Cowley

    (USA) World Premiere

    A shale pit owner and his once dutiful wife confront each other after months of separation.

    Cast: Walter Dalton, Sandra Seacat, Danforth Comins

     

    Spark

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Annie Silverstein

    (USA)

    While a boy waits out his father’s tryst, he is unexpectedly forced to deal with the lady-friend’s daughter.

    Cast: Varun Reddy, Elise Gardner, Conrad Gonzales, Amy Esacove

     

    Start the Engine and Reverse

    Director: Andrey Zagidullin

    Screenwriter: Mikhail Arkhipov

    (Russia) US Premiere

    A young couple faces the consequences of a road accident.

    Cast: Lubov Novikova, Egor Kharlamov

     

    Summer Suit

    Director: Rebecca Peniston-Bird

    Screenwriter: Francesca Sciacca

    (Australia) International Premiere

    10-year-old tomboy Robbie’s discovery of an old suit gives her a new sense of identity, but can it survive the trials of summer? 

    Cast: Damian Walshe-Howling, Diana Glenn, Lucy Tyler, Bethany Whitmore, Jesse Creighton, Zac Soderstrom

     

    Suspended

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Damian Walshe-Howling

    (Australia) US Premiere

    Mother Nature provides a magical alternative to stark realities for 7-year-old Caleb, leading to impossible fulfillment.

    Cast: Finn McLeod Ireland, Ewen Leslie, Leeanna Walsman, Damon Gameau, Clare Bowen

     

    Sweetheart

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Eva Riley

    (UK) US Premiere

    Lou’s frustrations with her controlling sister Ashley come to a head when they become rivals in love.

    Cast: Jo Eastwood, Nicola Jo Cully, Iain Louden, Anthony Bowers

     

    The Devil’s Ballroom

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken

    (Norway)

    Along his strenuous journey to the North Pole, a chance encounter forces a fearless explorer to make an impossible decision.

    Cast: Svein Harry Schöttker Hauge, Batzorig Chinbayar, Narmandakh Erdenee, Melinda Bokeli, Marte Tangen

     

    The Robber

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Felix Schaffert

    (Switzerland) US Premiere

    An 11-year old girl is in turmoil and struggles for words.

    Cast: Ella Huesler, Ursina N. Früh, Simon Grossenbacher

     

    To the Bone

    Director: Erin Li

    Screenwriters: Silka Luisa, Erin Li

    (USA) World Premiere

    A pre-teen migrant farmworker attempts to rebel against the status quo with unintended consequences for herself and her family.

    Cast: Naomie Feliu, Jaime Alvarez, Carlos C. Torres, Maria Elena Laas, Eliezer Ortiz

     

    Turtle

    Director and Screenwriter:

    Ian Wittenber

    (USA) World Premiere

    Sam and Jen have a unique dilemma in their relationship that pulls them closer together even as their time runs out.

    Cast: David Crane, Jennifer Marks

     

     

    DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAM:

     

    April

    Director: Alan Spearman

    (USA)World Premiere

    Faith, 9, created a haven in a hollow magnolia tree. Inside is a portal to the safety of her imagination.

    Cast: Faith Jackson, Hattie Mae Winfield

     

    Chicken & Zoe

    Director: Yael Bridge

    (USA)

    Eating chicken takes on new meaning for 4-year old Zoe as she observes her first slaughter.

     

    Good Karma $1

    Directors:Jason Berger, Amy Laslett

    (USA)

    Advertising guru Alex Bogusky explores the most fundamental, ever-present form of advertising – cardboard signs created by the homeless.

    Cast: Alex Bogusky and Dave Schiff

     

    Lollywood

    Director: Todd Looby

    (Liberia/USA) World Premiere

    Edwin G. Kollie, a 15 year old Liberian War Orphan, always wanted to make a Nollywood movie; so, he wrote a script, built an entire African village, cast the 30 characters needed and shot it all the next day.

    Cast: Edwin G. Kollie, Mulbah J. Kollie, Jerome C. Cabeen, David Barkollah, Aaron JayJay

     

    Rebel, Rebel, Rebel

    Director: Kyle Schneider

    (USA)International Premiere

    Despite peer rejection and total incompetence, DJ Josh Lecash’s fame and fortune expands.

    Cast: Josh Lecash, Katy Perry, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jeremy Scott, Jamie Clayton, Daniel Linton, Yung Skeeter, Annette Lamothe-ramos

     

    Sandwich Nazi

    Director: Lewis Bennett

    (Canada)

    Deli owner Salam Kahil is an art collector, a former male escort, an amateur piano player, and a sandwich maker to the homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but his true passion is talking about blowjobs.

     

    The Birdman

    Director: Jessie Auritt 

    (USA)

    Despite the bad economy, online music sales, and gentrification, The Birdman rules the roost at his unique cluttered used music store.

     

    The Corner Garden

    Director: Duygu Eruçman

    (USA) World Premiere

    Can kale chips replace Cheetos? In this small garden, a group of teenagers learn to think about the food they eat in a different way.

     

    The Mercantile

    Director: Brian Bolster

    (USA) World Premiere

    A glimpse into a young couple’s proprietorship and preservation of an unchanged, century old business enterprise in a modern and ever-changing world.

    Cast: Flannery Coats, Stuart Reiswig

     

    Track by Track

    Track by Track

    Director: Anna Moot-Levin

    (USA) World Premiere

    A young sketch artist with autism journeys from the world of his imagination into adulthood.

     

     

    ANARCHY PROGRAM:

     

    Desert Hopes

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Michael Patten

    (USA) World Premiere

    On New Year’s Eve, an aging man tends to a litter of newborn rabbits.

    Cast: Victor Pagan

     

    FIX

    Director: Benjamin McPherson

    Screenwriters: Benjamin McPherson, Justin Taylor

    (USA) World Premiere

    Deep in the abandoned corridors of a sprawling subway system, a disheveled and broken man struggles to obtain the thing he desires most.

    Cast: Phil Ristaino, Butch Escobar, Zofie Alvarez, Arie Bender, Shawna Nygren, Ed Jackson, Janet Robinson

     

    SCI-FLY

    Director: Joey Shanks

    (USA) World Premiere

    A journey through time & space tells of the fight for existence using exclusively ‘in-camera’ effects.

     

    Shepherds, Have You Seen My Love?

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Benji Kast

    (USA) World Premiere

    A man is transported into the memories of an 18th century aristocrat.

    Cast: Ara Shehigian, Roxanne Kapitsa, Don Arrup, Josh Westfal, Keiichi Kondoh

     

    The Compositor

    Director: John Mattiuzzi

    Screenwriter: John Mattiuzzi, Anney Bonney

    (USA) World Premiere

    Paul Paxton, a New York City film compositor, struggles to decode his mind-body existence.

    Cast: John Mattiuzzi, Len Rella, Thomas Hoyt Godfrey, Rashelle Stocker, Linda Leven, Ana Berry, Marusya Panchenko, Bill Cory

     

    The War Profiteers 

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Benjamin Markus

    (USA)World Premiere

    An instantaneous act of violence immediately restores peace to a war-torn city. 

    Cast: Devin Anderson Wiley, Erik Lehman, Pascal Miller, Alexander Jordonov

     

     

    ANIMATION SHORTS:

     

    An Elegy for Eden

    Director: Jason Guy McLagan

    (USA) World Premiere

    A pixel’s perspective at the moment of its death.

     

    Baboon

    Director:Einar Baldvin

    (USA) US Premiere

    By all accounts, it was a bad day to punch a clown in the head.

     

    Ballpit

    Director: Kyle Mowat

    (Canada)

    Lifeforms struggle to assert and organize themselves within a hostile environment. 

     

    Bermuda

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Calvin Frederick

    (USA)US Premiere

    A hyper-psychedelic tour of a homemade, four-wall kaleidoscope.

     

    Drifters

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Ethan Clarke

    (USA)

    Three strangers acquaint on a train.

    Cast: Gina Napolitan, Flaminia Bonfiglio, Ethan Clarke

     

    El Delirio Del Pez Leon

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Quique Rivera

    (Puerto Rico/USA)

    Inspired by the Lionfish plague, this underwater neo-noir tells a story about greed and hierarchy in the Caribbean reefs.

     

    Gum

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Noam Sussman

    (Canada)

    The consequences of swallowing gum.

     

    Home

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Luiz Stockler

    (UK/Brazil) US Premiere

    A look at the idea of belonging and what that may or may not mean to people.

     

    I Am Tom Moody

    Director and Screenwriter: Ainslie Henderson

    (UK)

    A trip through the subconscious of a stifled musician as he struggles to sing.

    Cast: Mackenzie Crook, Jude Crook

     

    Noodle Fish

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Kim Jin man

    (Republic of Korea)

    Dreaming of another life, a small “noodle fish” begins his journey to the world outside the water to discover the secret of his world.

     

    Royal Issues

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    NOMINT

    (UK)

    To celebrate NOMINT’s brand new office in London, we created a very special Diamond Jubilee gift for Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second.

     

    Shelter

    Director: Carl Burton

    (USA)

    A vast secret world is revealed within an attic during a rainstorm.

     

    Snail Trail

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Philipp Artus

    (Germany) US Premiere

    A snail invents the wheel and goes through a cultural evolution to get back to its origins.

     

    Sugarcoat

    Director: Meejin Hong

    (USA)US Premiere

    As the crayon melts, succumb to temptation.

     

    Tap to Retry

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Neta Cohen

    (Israel) US Premiere

    A surreal collection of disparate abstract sketches and an attempt to tackle some aspects of modern life. 

     

    The Eater

    Director: Wally Chung

    (USA)

    A man has a strange experience that affects the people around him.

     

    The Jennings Account

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Sean Buckelew

    (USA)

    10% of men age 40-60 have an age-related midlife crisis.

     

    Triangle

    Director and Screenwriter: 

    Grace Nayoon Rhee

    (USA)US Premiere

    If a stranger disrupts your daily routine, the choice is to either accept him as a friend or reject him as an outsider.

     

    What is Dead May Never Die

    Director: François Grumelin-Sohn

    (Netherlands) US

    The movie explores and plays with various graphic codes and genres of the past audio-visual world.

    Read more

  • 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Announces Nordic And Award Winning Films on Lineup

     

    The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival(PSIFF), scheduled January 3-14, 2013, has begun to release its film lineup including a new program: Nordic Light, highlighting films from Scandinavia, and the films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award in the Awards Buzz section and Modern Masters.  The Festival will screen 42 of the 71 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film.

    AWARDS BUZZ

    The Awards Buzz section will feature 42 of the 71 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film, selected by Festival programmers as the strongest entries in this year’s race.  A special jury of international film critics will review these films to award the FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Actor and Best Actress.  The following films selected, in alphabetical order by country, are:

    Clandestine Childhood (Argentina), Director Benjamín Ávila

    Lore (Australia), Director Cate Shortland

    Amour (Austria), Director Michael Haneke

    Buta (Azerbaijan), Director Ilgar Najaf

    Our Children (Belgium), Director Joachim Lafosse

    Children of Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

    The Clown (Brazil), Director Selton Mello

    Lost Loves (Cambodia), Director Chhay Bora

    War Witch (Canada), Director Kim Nguyen

    Caught in the Web (China), Director Chen Kaige

    The Snitch Cartel (Colombia), Director Carlos Moreno

    In the Shadow (Czech Republic), Director David Ondricek

    A Royal Affair (Denmark), Director Nikolaj Arcel

    Checkmate (Dominican Republic), Director José María Cabral

    Purge (Finland), Director Antti Jokinen

    Intouchables (France),Director Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache

    Barbara (Germany), Director Christian Petzold

    Unfair World (Greece),Director Filippos Tsitos

    Inuk (Greenland), Director Mike Magidson

    Just the Wind (Hungary), Director Bence Fliegauf

    The Deep (Iceland), Director Baltasar Kormákur

    Fill the Void (Israel), Director Rama Burshtein

    Caesar Must Die (Italy), Director Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani

    Our Homeland (Japan), Director Yang Yonghi

    Nairobi Half Life (Kenya), Director David ‘Tosh’ Gitonga

    The Third Half (Macedonia), Director Darko Mitrevski

    After Lucia (Mexico), Director Michel Franco

    Kauwboy (Netherlands), Director Boudewijn Koole

    Kon-Tiki (Norway), Director Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg

    When I Saw You (Palestine), Director Annemarie Jacir

    Bwakaw (Philippines), Director Jun Robles Lana

    80 Million (Poland), Director Waldemar Krzystek

    Beyond the Hills (Romania), Director Christian Mungiu

    White Tiger (Russia), Director Karen Shakhnazarov

    When Day Breaks (Serbia), Director Goran Paskaljevic

    A Trip (Slovenia), Director Nejc Gazvoda

    Pieta (South Korea), Director Kim Ki-duk

    Blancanieves (Spain), Director Pablo Berger

    The Hypnotist (Sweden), Director Lasse Hallström

    Sister (Switzerland), Director Ursula Meier

    Touch of Light (Taiwan), Director Chang Jung-Chi

    Headshot (Thailand), Director Pen-ek Ratanaruang

     

    NORDIC LIGHT

    This program will premiere 20 striking new films from the Scandinavian and Nordic countries of Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.  The films selected in the program include:

    Call Girl (Sweden) – Inspired by the 1976 prostitution scandal that led straight to the heart of the Swedish government, Call Girl is a meaty, never sensationalistic political thriller reminiscent of American ‘70s classics like All the President’s Men. Director: Mikael Marcimain. Cast: Pernilla August, Sofia Karemyr, Simon J. Berger, Sven Nordin, David Dencik, Ruth Vega Fernandez, Josefin Asplund.

    A Caretaker’s Tale (Denmark) – This provocative parable centers on the bitter custodian of a grim housing complex and the mute, naked woman with healing sexual powers he discovers in an empty apartment. Director: Katrine Wiedemann. Cast:Lars Mikkelsen, Julie Zangenberg, Nicolaj Kopernikus.

    The Deep (Iceland/Norway) – This real-life survival tale offers a powerfully authentic, elemental depiction of an incident that still haunts the Icelandic psyche: the sinking of the fishing trawler Breki in 1984 and the near-miraculous survival of a lone crewman. Director: Baltasar Kormákur. Cast: Olafur Darri Olafsson, Johann G Johannsson, Theodor Juliusson, Maria Siguroardottir.

    Eat Sleep Die (Sweden) – Nermina Lukac shines as a young Muslim who struggles to maintain her self-respect when she’s laid off from work in this starkly impressive first feature from Sweden. Director: Gabriela Pichler. Cast: Nermina Lukac, Milan Dragišic, Jonathan Lampinen, Peter Falit, Ruzica Pichler.

    Either Way (Iceland) – Two highway maintenance men in 1980s Iceland find themselves at a literal and figurative crossroads in this beguiling character-driven dramedy that uses the harshly beautiful landscape as a principal character. Director: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Cast: Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Hilmar Gudjónsson, Thorsteinn Bachmann.

    A Hijacking (Denmark) – A fictional but sweatily plausible account of a Danish cargo ship ambushed by volatile Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, which alternates between tensions onboard and in the Copenhagen negotiation chamber. Director: Tobias Lindholm. Cast: Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling, Dar Salem, Gary Skjoldmose Porter, Abdihakin Asgar.

    The Hunt (Denmark) – The story of Lucas, a mild-mannered kindergarten teacher who suddenly becomes the target of hatred from everyone in his small town when a young child makes false accusations against him.  In the hysteria that follows, Lucas’s life comes crashing down. Director: Thomas Vinterberg. Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrom, Susse Wold, Anne Louise Hassing.

    The Hypnotist (Sweden) – Based on the international bestseller by Lars Kepler, this dose of Nordic noir revolves around a psychiatrist’s reluctant use of hypnotism to glean clues from the survivor of a murder attempt. Director: Lasse Hallström. Cast: Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Olin,Tobias Zilliacus, Jonatan Bokman, Oscar Petterssen.

    I Belong (Norway) – A Norwegian tragicomedy about how people who mean well end up hurting one another, and how acting on integrity and feelings is seen as troublesome in a rationalist society. Director: Dag Johan Haugerud. Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen, Birgitte Larsen, Henriette Steestrup, Laila Goody, Ragnhild Hilt, Trine Wiggen.

    Inuk(Greenland) – An original road movie on the sea-ice, Inuk is both an authentic story of Greenland today, a country torn between tradition and modernity, and a universal story about the quest for identity, transmission and rebirth after the deepest of wounds. Director: Mike Magidson. Cast: Gaba Petersen, Ole Jorgen Hammeken, Rebekka Jorgensen, Sara Lyberth, Elizabeth Skade.

    Jackpot (Norway) – This black comic caper about four dodgy types who must share a multi-million kronor jackpot unspools at a rollicking pace. Based on a story by best-selling Nordic crime writer Jo Nesbo. Director: Magnus Martens. Cast: Kyrre Hellum, Mads Ousdal, Henrik Mestad.

    King Curling (Norway) – A rollicking, boisterous comedy about the high-stakes world of curling, that most glorious of broom-based ice sports. After breaking under the intense pressure of championship competition, former star Truls Paulsen has fallen far from his former exalted station, battling OCD and a reliance on pills.  When he learns that his former coach is in the hospital and in desperate need of an expensive operation, Truls gets himself together for one more, potentially lucrative competition.  Director: Ole Endresen. Cast: Atle Antonsen, Linn Skaber, Ane Dahl Torp, Kare Conradi, Jon Oigarden, Steinar Sagen. Harald Eia, Bard Tufte Johansen

    Kon Tiki (Norway/UK) – A real-life action-adventure, the film follows Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and five fellow scientists on a 1947 voyage of 4,300 nautical miles from South America to Polynesia on a wooden raft.  From the directors of PSIFF audience favorite Max Manus. Director: Espen Sandberg, Joachim Ronning. Cast: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgard, Odd Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro.

    The Last Sentence (Sweden/Norway) – From the director of PSIFF audience favorite Everlasting Moments comes a dramatic and poetic tale – exquisitely filmed in black and white – about crusading Swedish journalist Torgny Segerstedt and his courageous stand against Fascism during WWII. Director: Jan Troell. Cast: Jesper Christensen, Pernilla August,Ulla Skoog, Björn Granath, Amanda Ooms, Peter Andersson.

    Liv & Ingmar (Norway) – The radiant Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann reflects on her relationship with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman in this personal documentary that mixes her candid reminiscences, extracts from her book “Changing” and clips from Bergman’s films. Director: Dheeraj Akolkar. Cast: Liv Ullmann, Samuel Fröler

    Marie Krøyer (Denmark) – An exquisite period romance about the wife of acclaimed Danish painter P.S. Kroyer.  At the peak of their marriage, Kroyer’s mental illness becomes more severe and Marie’s dream of a mutually supportive life as artists turns to frustration and sorrow. Director: Bille August. Cast: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Søren Sætter-Lassen, Sverrir Gudnason, Tommy Kenter, Lene Maria Christensen.

    Purge (Finland/Estonia) – Purge spotlights the legacy of Soviet oppression in Estonia.  Two women from two different eras are linked by separate histories of deceit, desperation and fear in this heartstopping adaptation of Sofi Oksanen’s bestseller. Director: Antti  Jokinen. Cast: Liisi Tandefelt, Laura Birn, Amanda Pike, Krista Kosonen, Peter Franzén, Tommi Korpela, Tomi Salmela.

    Road North (Finland) – A prodigal father returns to Helsinki to reconnect with the son he abandoned 35 years earlier and con him into a journey towards the Arctic Circle in this jaunty comedy, one of Finland’s biggest box office hits of the past year. Director: Mika Kaurismäki. Cast: Vesa-Matti Loiri, Samuli Edelmann, Mari Perankoski, Irina Björklund, Peter Franzen, Elina Knihtilä.

    A Royal Affair (Denmark) – An 18th century historical drama four years in the making, the film is an epic romance about the love triangle between a German doctor, the queen of Denmark, and her deranged king. Director: Nikolaj Arcel. Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Trine Dryholm, David Dencik.

    This Life – Some Must Die, So Others Can Live (Denmark) – Based on a true story, this authentic, moving tale of Danish resistance to Nazi occupation has rivaled Flame & Citron as a local box office sensation. Director: Anne-Grethe  Bjarup Riis. Cast: Jens Jørn Spottag, Bodil Jørgensen, Thomas Ernst, Marie Bach Hansen, Bjarne Henriksen, Anne Louise Hassing.

     

    MODERN MASTERS

    The Modern Masters section features 10 films from some of the true auteurs of contemporary cinema including Bille August, Marco Bellocchio, Peter Greenaway, Patrice LeConte, Ken Loach, Deepa Mehta, Mike Newell, Sally Potter, Jan Troell and Margarethe von Trotta.

    The Angels’ Share (United Kingdom/France/Belgium/Italy) – Ken Loach returns with a funny and affectionate crime caper about friendship, hope and the redemptive power of really expensive whiskey.  Director: Ken Loach. Cast: Paul Brannigan, Siobhan Reilly, John Henshaw, Gary Maitland, William Ruane, Jasmin Riggins, Roger Allam.

    Dormant Beauty (Italy/France) – Isabelle Huppert and Toni Servillo are superb in this caustic political critique and keenly observed social drama centering on the hot-button issue of euthanasia. Director: Marco Bellocchio. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio.

    Ginger and Rosa (United Kingdom) – As the Cold War meets the sexual revolution in 1960s London, the lifelong friendship of two teenage girls is shattered by ideological differences and personal betrayals. Director: Sally Potter. Cast: Timothy Spall, Alice Englert, Oliver Platt, Jodhi May, Alessandro Nivola, Christina Hendricks, Elle Fanning, Annette Bening.

    Great Expectations (UK/USA) – Orphan Pip rises from humble beginnings thanks to a mysterious benefactor in Charles Dickens’ classic tale. Director: Mike Newell. Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Robbie Coltrane, Holliday Grainger, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes

    Goltzius and the Pelican Company (UK/Netherlands/France/Croatia) – Peter Greenaway’s stunningly visual, sexually provocative 16th-century tale focuses on a Dutch engraver who runs afoul of the authorities when his reenactments of lustful scenes from the Old Testament go beyond the pale in their carnality. Director: Peter Greenaway. Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Ramsey Nasr, Kate Moran, Giulio Berruti, Anne Louise Hassing.

    Hannah Arendt (Germany) – In Margarethe von Trotta’s stirring and emotionally rewarding biopic, Barbara Sukowa perfectly embodies the philosopher famous for her concept of “the banality of evil” and her controversial reporting on the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. Director: Margarethe von Trotta. Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Janet McTeer, Axel Milberg, Julia Jensch, Ulrich Noethen.

    The Last Sentence (Sweden/Norway) – From the director of PSIFF audience favorite Everlasting Moments comes a dramatic and poetic tale – exquisitely filmed in black and white – about crusading Swedish journalist Torgny Segerstedt and his courageous stand against Fascism during WWII. Director: Jan Troell. Cast: Jesper Christensen, Pernilla August,Ulla Skoog, Björn Granath, Amanda Ooms, Peter Andersson.

    Marie Krøyer (Denmark) – An exquisite period romance about the wife of acclaimed Danish painter P.S. Kroyer.  At the peak of their marriage, Kroyer’s mental illness becomes more severe and Marie’s dream of a mutually supportive life as artists turns to frustration and sorrow. Director: Bille August. Cast: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Søren Sætter-Lassen, Sverrir Gudnason, Tommy Kenter, Lene Maria Christensen.

    Midnight’s Children (Canada/UK, Bangladesh) – Salman Rushdie adapts his own monumental novel – a picaresque that doubles as a history of modern India – into a rich, sprawling, unruly movie, full of romance, satire, magic and anger. Director: Deepa Mehta. Cast: Shabana Azmi, Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Nandita Das, Chandan Roy Sanyal and Seema Biswas.

    Suicide Shop (France/Canada/Belgium) – In this merrily malignant animated musical from celebrated filmmaker Patrice Leconte, a family in the business of giving the business to people wanting to end it all are faced with a dreadful dilemma: their son and heir is incurably cheerful, optimistic and life-loving.  Director: Patrice LeConte. Cast: Bernard Alane, Isabelle Spade, Kacey Mottet Klein.

     

     

    Read more

  • All 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Acting Honorees Nominated for a SAG Award

    [caption id="attachment_2995" align="alignnone" width="550"]NAOMI WATTS in “The Impossible”[/caption]

    The Palm Springs International Film Festival can really pick them. All of the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival acting honorees have been nominated for a SAG Award. 

    BRADLEY COOPER (PSIFF Desert Palm Achievement Award for Acting) received a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his role in “Silver Linings Playbook”.

    HELEN MIRREN (PSIFF International Star Award) was nominated for a SAG Award as Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Alma Reville in “Hitchcock”.

    NAOMI WATTS (PSIFF Desert Palm Achievement Award for Acting) was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Feale Actor in a Leading Role for her role in “The Impossible”.

    SALLY FIELD (PSIFF Career Achievement Award) received a SAG Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for her performance as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Lincoln”.

    HELEN HUNT (PSIFF Spotlight Award) was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for her performance in “The Sessions”.

    The cast of “ARGO” (PSIFF Ensemble Performance Award) was also recognized with a SAG Award nomination as Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

    The 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival will run January 3 – 14, 2013 in Palm Springs, California

     

    Read more