Film Festivals

2012 Tribeca Film Festival Tribeca Talks Series to Feature Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, and Premiere of Six New Films

[caption id="attachment_2657" align="alignnone"]Freaky Deaky[/caption]

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) unveiled six new titles world premiering at the Festival. Narrative films Freaky Deaky and Future Weather and documentaries Portrait of Wally and Once in a Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story will screen as part of the “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” series, the documentary Wagner’s Dream will premiere as part of the new “Beyond the Screens: Globalize Your Thinking” series, and the narrative Knife Fight will have a special screening with an extended Q&A. Finally, TFF celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Avant-Garde Masters grants, created by the National Film Preservation Foundation and The Film Foundation to help preserve American avant-garde cinema, with a special screening and “Tribeca Talks” panel.

The lineup for the 2012 Tribeca Talks® panel series include the “Tribeca Talks: Directors Series,” “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie,” “Tribeca Talks: Industry,” “Tribeca Talks: Pen to Paper, hosted by Barnes & Noble” and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival panel. New to the Festival is the “Beyond the Screens: Globalize Your Thinking” program.

“Tribeca Talks: Directors Series” will include one-on-one conversations with:

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and activist Michael Moore, interviewed by Academy Award®-winning actor Susan Sarandon.
Academy Award®-nominated director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father), interviewed by his daughter, Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Naomi Sheridan (In America).

“Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” will include:

Academy Award®-nominated film WarGames from director John Badham, which uses advances in national security and the vulnerabilities of new technology as the backdrop for a coming-of-age thriller; followed by a conversation with director John Badham, actress Ally Sheedy, Bitcoin Technical Lead Gavin Andresen, William D. Casebeer, PhD, Program Manager, Defense Sciences Office at DARPA (USAF, retired), and others about the historical relationship between military strategy and technical innovation, storytelling with gaming and simulation tools, and the challenges of depicting cutting-edge technology on the big screen.

The world premiere of Freaky Deaky, a throwback to the decadent Los Angeles of the 1970s, where a disgraced cop gets a shot at a comeback when a young actress needs help taking down a powerful movie producer; followed by a conversation with novelist Elmore Leonard, director/ screenwriter Charles Matthau, and Freaky Deaky stars Christian Slater, Crispin Glover, Michael Jai White, and Andy Dick.

The documentary The Virgin, the Copts and Me, where filmmaker Namir Abdel Messeeh sets out to investigate the phenomenon of supposedly miraculous Virgin Mary apparitions in Egypt’s Coptic Christian community. Facing opposition from producers and his family, he reimagines his film as a touching, hilarious portrait of family and heritage; followed by a discussion with director Namir Abdel Messeeh and other notable guests on cultural identity and the prevalence of contemporary international filmmakers who delve into what it truly means to go “home.” Hosted by the Doha Film Institute.

The world premiere of Portrait of Wally, a documentary that follows Lea Bondi’s ancestors as they take on the Austrian government, billionaire art collectors, MoMA and NPR in their attempt to reclaim Bondi’s Egon Schiele painting “Portrait of Wally,” which was seized by Nazis in 1939; followed by a conversation with director Andrew Shea, critic and journalist David D’Arcy, Jane Kallir of Galerie St. Etienne, historian and attorney Willi Korte, and Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York Sharon Cohen Levin about the issues of provenance and the global sharing of art in museums.

[caption id="attachment_2658" align="alignnone"]Once in a Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story[/caption]

The world premiere of Once in a Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story, a documentary that follows the now world-famous YouTube sensation elementary school chorus as they travel to perform the closing number of the 2011 Academy Awards®; followed by a conversation with director Jonathan Kalafer, PS22 chorus teacher Gregg Breinberg, Executive Director of the Office of the Arts and Special Projects at the New York City Department of Education Paul King, and more on how new media and technology in the classroom can breathe new life into students’ curricula, capture their attention, and spark eagerness to learn. Moderated by Tribeca Film Institute Education Program Developer Caitlin Meisner.

The world premiere of Future Weather, inspired by a New Yorker article on global warming, which follows a teenage loner who becomes obsessed with ecological disaster, forcing her alcoholic grandmother to rethink their futures; followed by a discussion with writer/director Jenny Deller, producer Kristin Fairweather, Future Weather actress Lili Taylor, and more on how an article about a scientific and environmental issue planted the seed for an intimate fiction film and inspired an environmentally sensitive production.

A collection of American avant-garde classics by Abigail Child, Larry Gottheim, George Kuchar, Carolee Schneemann, and more—specially curated with TFF to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Avant-Garde Masters grants, which were created in 2003 by the National Film Preservation Foundation and The Film Foundation; followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers Carolee Schneemann, Abigail Child, Larry Gottheim, and TFF experimental film programmer Jon Gartenberg. Moderated by Assistant Director of the National Film Preservation Foundation Jeff Lambert

“Beyond the Screens: Globalize Your Thinking” will feature:

The world premiere of Wagner’s Dream, a documentary that follows perhaps the most ambitious project in the Metropolitan Opera’s famed history, the new staged production of opera’s most formidable masterpiece: Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring Cycle; followed by a conversation about this incredible artistic journey with filmmakers Susan Froemke and Bob Eisenhardt, the Met’s General Manager Peter Gelb, opera soprano Deborah Voigt and tenor Jay Hunter Morris. Moderated by “the Voice of the Met” Margaret Juntwait.

Let Fury Have the Hour, a documentary that brings together more than 50 big-name artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers who used their creativity as a response to the reactionary politics that came to define our culture in the 1980s, tracing a momentous social history from the 1980s to the present and imparting a message of hope; followed by a conversation with director Antonino D’Ambrosio, film collaborator and artist Shepard Fairey, the MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, playwright and activist Eve Ensler, and more as they discuss the power of artistic expression.

The List, a documentary that follows Kirk Johnson, who recently returned from rebuilding teams in war-torn cities in Iraq as he advocates for a growing number of Iraqi citizens now targeted by radical militias because they aided the U.S. in the reconstruction effort; followed by a conversation with director Beth Murphy, film subject Kirk Johnson, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Paul Rieckhoff, and others about the current state of Iraqis seeking asylum and issues surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers and refugees. Moderated by The New Yorker’s George Packer.
“Tribeca Talks: Industry” will feature:

Film and Brands, a conversation with filmmakers and strategic communications professionals about how brands and filmmakers are increasingly collaborating on film projects to achieve a range of objectives, from marketing and public relations to corporate storytelling and philanthropy. As the number of projects as well as the platforms for distribution increase, the bar has been raised for how to make these projects effective corporate storytelling pieces as well as quality filmmaking. Panelists include producer and director Brett Ratner, American Express’ Vice President of Global Media, Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing Rich Lehrfeld, GE’s Global Executive Director of Advertising and Branding Judy Hu, the Norman Lear Center’s Managing Director and Director of Research Johanna Blakley, Chief Marketing Officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill Mark Crumpacker and select filmmakers for a conversation about how they are collaborating and where this increasingly complex and sophisticated world is heading. Moderated by Jon Patricof, President and Chief Operating Officer of Tribeca Enterprises.

Imagine More, sponsored by Canon, after a screening of Ron Howard’s production when you find me—the first Hollywood film inspired by a photo contest—Canon representatives and filmmakers will discuss the versatility of shooting with Canon cameras and creating films through collaborative storytelling. Panelists include Canon USA Technical’s Chuck Westfall, The Russian Winter director Petter Ringbom, CatCam director Seth Keal, and others.

The Business of Entertainment, sponsored by Bloomberg, focusing on the recent rise of international co-production, exploring the benefits and obstacles of this often complex but rewarding strategy. Bloomberg convenes major producers, financiers, and other key industry decision-makers who play leading roles in financing today’s film and entertainment industries. Panelists include co-producer of The Girl and CEO of Bonita Films Tania Zarak, Chairman and CEO of Endgame Entertainment James D. Stern, and Director of European Film and TV Group, Exclusive Media, Ben Holden. Moderated by Bloomberg News entertainment reporter Michael White.

The Future is Short: Storytelling in the Digital Age, sponsored by GE / FOCUS FORWARD – Short Films, Big Ideas, a conversation with CINELAN, filmmakers and distributors on the power, art and business of short film storytelling at a time when platforms like Hulu, Netflix, Yahoo!, and the New York Times become commercially viable distribution outlets. Panelists include CINELAN co-founder and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, filmmaker Annie Sundberg, Jason Spingarn-Koff of the New York Times Op-Docs series, and others. Moderated by the Director of Film and Video at TED, Jason Wishnow.

Does the Cloud have a Silver (Screen) Lining, sponsored by SAP, a conversation examining the best model for independent films to reach audiences and make money out of new distribution opportunities in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Panelists include Executive Vice President and CMO at Time Warner Cable Jeffrey A. Hirsch and filmmakers for a discussion about navigating today’s digital marketplace. Moderated by Senior Vice President of Media and Entertainment at SAP Richard Whittington.

New Filmmakers on Film, sponsored by Panavision, a discussion about Panavision’s New Filmmaker Program, which provides grants to artists that gives them the opportunity to shoot on film, instead of turning to digital technology. Panelists include Una Noche director Lucy Mulloy, Kodak’s US Account Manager of Features and Post-Production Bob Mastronardi, cinematographer Guy Godfree, and other film artists as they discuss the program and new opportunities for emerging talent. Moderated by Panavision’s New Filmmaker Program Manager, Mike Dallatorre.

“Tribeca Talks: Pen to Paper hosted by Barnes & Noble” will include:

Biography on Film, a discussion with writers and filmmakers who create biographical documentaries and must transform life events into film. Panelists include TFF filmmakers Ramona S. Diaz (Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey), Petter Ringbom (The Russian Winter), Andreas Koefoed (Ballroom Dancer), and Daniel A. Miller (Eìvocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie).

The Pen Versus the Sword, a conversation examining how creative methods can cause social change. Panelists include TFF filmmakers Antonino D’Ambrosio (Let Fury Have the Hour), Raymond De Felitta (Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story), and Stephen Maing (High Tech, Low Life). Moderated by film and culture critic Caryn James.

Based on the Book, a conversation exploring adapting a book into a film that will examine the elements that best translate from the page to the screen and whether it is possible to create a version of the story that is better than the book. Panelists include TFF filmmakers Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Headshot), Charles Matthau (Freaky Deaky), Donald Rice (Cheerful Weather for the Wedding), and others.

In addition, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will include:

Beyond the Playing Field, sponsored by Time Warner Cable, a conversation exploring the evolution of women’s sports inspired by the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Panelists include director Amy Berg, ESPN Films’ Libby Geist, producer and TFF co-founder Jane Rosenthal, and filmmakers from upcoming ESPN Films. Moderated by ESPN’s Chris Connelly.

Special Tribeca Talks events:

100 Years of Universal, available exclusively for American Express Cardmembers, a conversation celebrating 100 years of Universal Pictures. Panelists include Academy Award®-winning actor and TFF co-founder Robert De Niro, Academy Award®-winning actor Meryl Streep, and writer-director-producer Judd Apatow. Moderated by Film Editor for Deadline Hollywood Mike Fleming.

The world premiere of Knife Fight, a political satire that follows a campaign strategist who struggles to keep his wayward clients in office and out of the press; followed by an extended Q&A about presidential campaigns and how politics are spun with writer/director Bill Guttentag, writer and co-producer Chris Lehane, actor Rob Lowe, and campaign strategist Steve Schmidt. Moderated by MSNBC senior political analyst and co-author of Game Change Mark Halperin.

With Illicit Networks: Portrayals through Film, Tribeca Enterprises and Google Ideas team up for a conversation addressing Hollywood’s portrayals of illicit networks that traffic everything from narcotics and weapons to body parts and human beings. Experts, law enforcement participants, and survivors will use what we learn from film to examine the mysterious and misunderstood world of illicit trafficking. Moderated by Director of Google Ideas Jared Cohen.
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Whole Foods Market annual Do Something Reel Film Festival returns online for 2012, Opens With Edward Norton’s The Apple Pushers

[caption id="attachment_2652" align="alignnone"]The Apple Pushers[/caption]

Whole Foods Market annual Do Something Reel Film Festival returns online this year with its usual collection of films about food and environmental issues.

The festival opens April 22, with a live screening of “The Apple Pushers,” narrated by Academy Award nominee Edward Norton, and follows five immigrant street-cart vendors who are offering fruits and vegetables in New York neighborhoods where fresh produce isn’t widely available. The vendors, who take part in a unique urban experiment called The NYC Green Cart Initiative, personify what it means to be an American entrepreneur, and their stories shed new light on the nation’s food crisis and skyrocketing obesity rates.

“The film chronicles first-generation immigrant micro-entrepreneurs who are infusing low income communities with fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Mazzio. “Whole Foods Market’s emphasis on providing access to healthy and nutritious foods makes them an ideal partner in helping us to expand the message of the film.”

Each month the festival will showcase a different film online that will be available for purchase. The films slated through August are:

“Watershed” – Directed by Mark Decena, executive produced by Robert Redford and produced by his son, James Redford, the film follows Rocky Mountain National Park fly fishing guide, Jeff Ehlert, and six others living and working in the Colorado River basin. The film illustrates the river’s struggle to support thirty million people across the western U.S. and Mexico as the peace-keeping agreement known as the Colorado River Pact is reaching its limits. (May)

“Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?”– A profound, alternative look at the bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, award-winning director of “The Real Dirt on Farmer John.” On a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, the film weaves together a story of the heart-felt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world and uncovers the long-term causes that could create one of our most urgent food crises. (June)

Ian Cheney Retrospective: “King Corn” and “Truck Farm” – Each of the films Cheney has created or co-created spotlights an important environmental or food issue, from mobile gardens to the subsidized crops fueling our fast-food nation. Cheney was last year’s Whole Foods Market and AFI-Silverdocs grant recipient for his new work-in-progress, “Bluespace.” (July)

[caption id="attachment_2653" align="alignnone"]Lunch Line[/caption]

“Lunch Line” – Co-directed by Ernie Park and Michael Graziano, this film offers a fresh perspective on the politics of food and child-nutrition through an examination of the surprising past, uncertain present, and possible future of the National School Lunch Program. The film reframes the school lunch debate through archival footage, expert interviews, and the uplifting story of six kids from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago who set out to fix school lunches — and end up at the White House. (August)

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2012 Vail Film Festival to Honor Director Fred Schepisi and Actress Krysten Ritter

[caption id="attachment_2649" align="alignnone" width="549"]Fred Schepisi | The Eye of the Storm[/caption]

The 2012 Vail Film Festival taking place from March 29 through April 1 will honor Golden Globe winning Writer/Director Fred Schepisi with the 2012 Vanguard Award and Krysten Ritter with the Excellence in Acting Award.

[caption id="attachment_2650" align="alignnone" width="550"]Fred Schepisi[/caption]

With a career in the industry spanning more than 36 years, Mr. Schepisi’s credits include Six Degrees of Separation, Last Orders, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Roxanne, Evil Angels and mini-series ‘Empire Falls’ for which he gained an Emmy nomination for best director and won a Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series. Past Vail Film Festival Vanguard award recipients include Josh Lucas, Harold Ramis, and Edward Pressman.

Mr. Schepisi’s latest film, The Eye of the Storm starring Academy Award-winner® Geoffrey Rush, Charlotte Rampling and Judy Davis will make its U.S. Premiere as the 2012 Vail Film Festival’s Opening Night Film.

Krysten Ritter will receive this year’s Excellence in Acting Award, joining past winners Kate Bosworth, Michelle Monaghan, and Jane Seymour.
[caption id="attachment_2521" align="alignnone" width="552"]Krysten Ritter and Kate Bosworth in L!fe Happens[/caption]

Ritter’s most recent film, L!fe Happens, in which she stars and co-wrote alongside talented new filmmaker and Vail Film Festival Alum, Kat Coiro, will be screened as the 2012 Vail Film Festival’s Official Closing Night Film.

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Marcia Gay Harden to Receive Tribute Award at 2012 Phoenix Film Festival, and Premiere film If I Were You

[caption id="attachment_2647" align="alignnone" width="550"]Leonor Watling and Marcia Gay Harden (right) in a scene from If I Were You[/caption]

Academy Award® and Tony Award ® winning actress Marcia Gay Harden will be in Phoenix Arizona on Saturday, March 31 to receive the coveted Copper Wing Tribute Award at the 12th Annual Phoenix Film Festival.

“Searing,” “heartbreaking,” “inventive,” “pure and profane simultaneously,” “astonishing,” “authentic,” and “sensuous;” as a chameleon changes from role to role, so has Marcia Gay Harden in her body of work. Known for her signature style of “becoming the character, she has forged a remarkable resumé that has touched fans and critics alike. Starring in roles ranging from the glamorous Ava Gardner in Sinatra, to the artist Lee Krasner in Pollock (for which she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar®), to the down and out Celeste in Mystic River (another Academy Award® nomination), Harden has truly created a unique identity based largely in character transformation. Her roles in films Millers Crossing, The First Wives Club, Meet Joe Black, Mona Lisa Smile, The Hoax, and Used People have all been praised for their versatility and wide-range on-screen.

Harden will also attend the Arizona premiere of her new film, If I Were You, at the festival; in which she plays Madelyn, a successful, self-possessed, middle-aged businesswoman who discovers her husband is having an affair. Her attempts to stalk his young mistress take a surprising turn and the two wind up forming a rather unconventional pact. If I Were You is described as a charming, very funny look at the unexpected places life can take us. It co-stars Leonor Watling and Aidan Quinn.

Previous winners of the Copper Wing Tribute Award, considered the Festival’s most prestigious award, include Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Bacon, Peter Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert Forster, and Virginia Madsen.

The 12th Annual Phoenix film Festival takes place at Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theaters located at 7000 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix, AZ 85054.

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Concert Documentary Andrew Bird: Fever Year to have its Arizona Premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival

The multi-award winning concert documentary, Andrew Bird: Fever Year, which had its World Premiere at Lincoln Center last October as part of the prestigious New York Film Festival will screen its Arizona Premiere with the Phoenix Film Festival on Friday, March 30, with an encore on Saturday, March 31.

Filmed during culminating months of the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s most rigorous year of touring, Andrew Bird crosses the December finish line in his hometown of Chicago – feverish and on crutches from an onstage injury. Is he suffering hazards from chasing the ghost of inspiration? Or merely transforming into a different kind of animal “perfectly adapted to the music hall?”

Fever Year is described as the first to capture Mr. Bird’s precarious multi-instrumental looping technique and features live performances at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater with collaborators Martin Dosh, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Michael Lewis, and Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

Andrew Bird: Fever Year recently received the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Omaha Film Festival and the Audience Award from San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary Noise Pop Film Festival, as well as strong reviews from Variety, RogerEbert.com, indieWIRE, and others.

Fever Year will only be released in festivals – by choice of Andrew Bird, who owns and commissioned the film.

This 80-minute film is the directorial debut from Xan Aranda, a long-time Bird collaborator and producer with Chicago’s acclaimed documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams.)

Ms. Aranda is directing her newest project, Mormons Make Movies, inspired by religious educational films her mother starred in while a student at Brigham Young University during the 1960s.

Andrew Bird: Fever Year screens Friday, March 30, 2012 at 4:35 PM and Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 7:25 PM.

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Tribeca Film Festival Brings Back its Free Community Events for 2012, Knuckleball to Premiere at FREE Tribeca Drive-In

[caption id="attachment_2643" align="alignnone" width="550"]Kuckleball[/caption]

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) will bring back its signature free community events: the Tribeca Drive-In (April 19-21), Family Festival Street Fair (April 28), Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day (April 28) and the second annual Tribeca/NYFEST Soccer Day (April 21).

The ‘classic summer thriller” Jaws, the “swashbuckling adventure-comedy” The Goonies, and the premiere of the baseball documentary Knuckleball! have all been selected to screen at Tribeca Drive-In.

“Since its inception, the Tribeca Film Festival has strived to give back to the neighborhood and the city with free community events for New Yorkers and visitors of all ages,” said Nancy Schafer, Tribeca Film Festival Executive Director. “We are thrilled to continue the tradition with Festival favorites like the Drive-In, Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, and to challenge our industry colleagues, young athletes and soccer fans with the Tribeca/NYFEST Soccer Day tournament.”

The following films will be featured at the Tribeca Drive-In, TFF’s outdoor screening series for film enthusiasts of all ages. The free evening of cinema under the stars is open to the public, and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6 p.m. The programs will also begin at 6 p.m., with live music at 7 p.m., and screenings starting at dusk (approximately 8:15 p.m.).

Jaws—Thursday, April 19 Steven Spielberg’s classic returns to the big screen! See the movie that thrilled a generation, launched the summer blockbuster and has become one of the most enduring action-suspense films of all time. Come early to celebrate Universal Studios’ 100th Anniversary with trivia contests, live music from local artists and surprise special guests, courtesy of the upcoming New York Downtown Jazz Festival. Later this year, fans can own Jaws for the first time ever on Blu-rayTM featuring an all-new, fully restored and digitally remastered picture from original 35MM film elements. Fans of John Williams’ iconic score will also love the Blu-ray’sTM Dolby surround 7.1 sound which optimizes the film for the home screening environment.

With the summer beach season in full swing, a bloodthirsty great white shark begins terrorizing the small island community of Amity. A police chief, a marine biologist, and a grizzled sailor set out to hunt it down… but they’re going to need a bigger boat. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw lead the cast of this groundbreaking Academy Award®-winning thriller. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Goonies—Friday, April 20 Relive the adventure with Mikey, Mouth, Stef, Data, Chunk, and all the unforgettable characters in this beloved classic. Come early to take part in the “truffle shuffle” contest and win prizes in the first-ever Tribeca Treasure Hunt. Live music from afro-jazz pioneers NOMO, courtesy of the upcoming New York Downtown Jazz Festival.

When their Oregon neighborhood—affectionately dubbed “the Goon Docks”—is threatened by real estate developers, a group of pre-teen friends needs to find enough money to halt the demolition. Lucky for them, they’ve discovered an old treasure map, sparking an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of 17th-century pirate One-Eyed Willie. Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, Josh Brolin, and Joe Pantoliano star in the movie that captured a generation’s imagination. Directed by Richard Donner.

Knuckleball!—Saturday, April 21 Take me out to the ball game! Bring the kids early for live music, giveaways, baseball trivia contests and pitching clinics with pro knuckleballers R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets, Tim Wakefield formerly of the Boston Red Sox, and former New York Yankee Jim Bouton, then see the world premiere of this action-packed TFF documentary about their controversial pitching style.

This classic sports story recounts the trials and triumphs of two of the best known knuckleball pitchers in the MLB: Tim Wakefield, a Red Sox veteran who recently announced his retirement after 19 years, and R.A. Dickey, an up-and-comer with the Mets looking to make a name for himself. This energetic documentary from Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, the directors of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, deconstructs the controversial and erratic knuckleball style. – World Premiere, Documentary.

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Pierre Rissient to be honored with 2012 Mel Novikoff Award at 55th San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_2641" align="alignnone" width="550"]Pierre Rissient, recipient of the Mel Novikoff Award at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival April 19 – May 3, 2012, alongside filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. [/caption]

The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19 – May 3) will present the 2012 Mel Novikoff Award to “the little known yet enormously influential Pierre Rissient for his tireless work behind the scenes on behalf of international cinema.”

Rissient is described as being revered by filmmakers of all ages around the world, from Clint Eastwood, who frequently shows him the rough cut of his work, to Werner Herzog, who calls him “the yeast in the dough,” to Quentin Tarantino, who dubs him “a samurai warrior” because he has devoted his life to supporting filmmakers from around the globe.

In the early 1950s Rissient began his film career as a programmer at the Cinéma Mac-Mahon in Paris. He and his fellow programmers, including Bertrand Tavernier, introduced American film noir and other genre films, by Fritz Lang, Joseph Losey, Otto Preminger, Raoul Walsh and others, to the new French directors including Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. He worked as assistant director for Chabrol and Godard, directed several short films, and eventually two features. In the 1960s he again partnered with Tavernier to promote the films of John Ford, Sam Fuller, Abraham Polonsky and Jacques Tourneur in French theaters. Over nearly five decades his most significant contribution to international cinema has been as a consultant and scout — official and clandestine — for the Cannes Film Festival, with a focus on discovering new talent in Asia and North America. The careers of directors Jane Campion, Clint Eastwood, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, King Hu, Abbas Kiarostami, Im Kwon-Taek, Sydney Pollack, Jerry Schatzberg and Quentin Tarantino have all benefited from his advocacy.

The award, named for the pioneering San Francisco art and repertory film exhibitor Mel Novikoff (1922 – 1987), acknowledges an individual or institution whose work has enhanced the filmgoing public’s knowledge and appreciation of world cinema.

Previous recipients of the Mel Novikoff Award are Serge Bromberg (2011), Roger Ebert (2010), Bruce Goldstein (2009), Jim Hoberman (2008), Kevin Brownlow (2007), Anita Monga (2005), Paolo Cherchi Usai (2004), Manny Farber (2003), David Francis (2002), Cahiers du Cinéma (2001), San Francisco Cinematheque (2001), Donald Krim (2000), David Shepard (2000), Enno Patalas (1999), Adrienne Mancia (1998), Judy Stone (1997), Film Arts Foundation (1997), David Robinson (1996), Institut Lumière (1995), Naum Kleiman (1994), Andrew Sarris (1993), Jonas Mekas (1992), Pauline Kael (1991), Donald Richie (1990), USSR Filmmakers Association (1989) and Dan Talbot (1988).

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Palm Beach International Film Festival 2012 Film Lineup Is Complete

[caption id="attachment_2632" align="alignnone" width="550"]Sassy Pants[/caption]

The Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) film line-up for the 17th edition, April 12-19, 2012, featuring 25 World Premieres, 14 U.S. Premieres and 2 North American Premieres, is complete.

Opening Night kicks off with Robot & Frank, directed by Jake Schreier. Set in the near future, Frank, a retired cat burglar, has two grown kids who are concerned he can no longer live alone. They are tempted to place him in a nursing home until Frank’s son chooses a different option: against the old man’s wishes, he buys Frank a walking, talking humanoid robot programmed to improve his physical and mental health. What follows is an often hilarious and somewhat heartbreaking story about finding friends and family in the most unexpected places. Robot & Frank features an award-winning cast including Academy Award® nominee Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon.

The fest will close with “Sassy Pants,” directed by Coley Sohn and starring Anna Gunn, Ashley Rickards, Diedrich Bader and Haley Joel Osment. Bethany Pruitt (Ashley Rickards) is valedictorian of her one-student home-school class. Stuck with younger brother Shayne (Martin Spanjers) under their perky but oppressive mother June’s (Anna Gunn) thumb, Bethany’s only escape is a teen fashion ‘zine courtesy of her absentee gay dad. Life at dad Dale’s (Diedrich Bader) mobile home is no picnic either. Despite the close bond she forms with his fun, younger boyfriend, Chip (Haley Joel Osment), Dad’s self-loathing, alcoholic outbursts weigh heavy on Bethany. She finds solace selling clothes at a cheap, trendy retail chain Jail Bait, but her petty, cutthroat coworkers cause a new set of “real world” navigation problems. When Bethany learns about Fashion Art Technology Institute, aka F.A.T.I., she sees a chance to break free once and for all and forge her own brighter future. How she gets there will redefine her and her family and maybe even update her wardrobe.

Screenings of this year’s films will be held at Muvico Parisian 20 at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Cobb Theatres in Downtown At The Gardens, Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth, Debilzan Gallery in Delray Beach and Mizner Park Cultural Arts Centre in Boca Raton.

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Hot Docs 2012 Lineup Features 189 Documentary to Open With AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY

[caption id="attachment_2480" align="alignnone"]AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY[/caption]

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival announced its full film line-up for the upcoming 19th edition, April 26-May 6, 2012.

In addition to the opening night Canadian premiere of Alison Klayman’s AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, an up-close portrait at of the renowned Chinese activist and artist, other notable films in the Special Presentations program include: Bart Layton’s THE IMPOSTER, which depicts a lost and found boy who may not be who he claims; James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot’s INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE, a look into the lives of video game developers; Lauren Greenfield’s THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, a portrait of an eccentric billionaire family facing the economic crisis; Kevin Macdonald’s MARLEY, the definitive biography of reggae artist Bob Marley; Christian Bonke and Andreas Koefoed’s BALLROOM DANCER, a look at a Latin ballroom champion’s ambitious comeback plans; and Yung Chang’s CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT, an intimate portrayal of a boxing coach training poor teens in rural China.

In the competitive Canadian Spectrum program, notable films include: Christy Garland’s THE BASTARD SINGS THE SWEETEST SONG, the story of a tumultuous mother-son relationship in Guyana; Omar Majeed and Ryan Mullins’ THE FROG PRINCES, the story of a developmentally challenged theatre group’s struggle to mount an ambitious production; Angad Singh Bhalla’s HERMAN’S HOUSE, a trip through the years with jailed Black Panther activist Herman Wallace; and Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math’s THE FINAL MEMBER, which looks at Iceland’s penis museum’s search for a critical artifact.

In the competitive International Spectrum program, notable films include: Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ TCHOUPITOULAS, the adventures of three teenagers exploring the heart of New Orleans at night; Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE LAW IN THESE PARTS, a candid glimpse into the legal minds behind the rules and regulations governing the Occupied Territories; Elizabeth Mims and Jason Tippet’s ONLY THE YOUNG, a look at a last stolen summer of first loves; and Sean McAllister’s THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY, a portrait of a tour guide caught in the 2011 uprising in Yemen’s capital.

In the World Showcase program, notable films include: Tiffany Sudela-Junker’s MY NAME IS FAITH, the story of a 12-year-old girl’s struggle to overcome trauma and accept her adopted family; Beth Murphy’s THE LIST, which reveals an American’s crusade for refuge for his Iraqi colleagues; Alessandro Comodin’s SUMMER OF GIACOMO, a 19-year-old deaf boy spends a summer day with a childhood friend; and Peter Gerdehag’s WOMEN WITH COWS, the story of two sisters and their complicated relationship with a dozen cows.

The Made In Southeastern Europe program includes: Lena Müller and Dragan von Petrovic’s DRAGAN WENDE – WEST BERLIN, about West Berlin in 1970s and now as seen through a working-class Serbian émigré; Ed Moschitz’s MAMA ILLEGAL, a glimpse into the lives of Moldovan women who struggle to support their families; and András Kollmann’s STRONG – A RECOVERY STORY, about a mountaineer whose desire to climb does not fade following a catastrophic injury.

The Next program includes: Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS, where LCD Soundsystem front-man James Murphy’s bids farewell to his fans; Poull Brien’s CHARLES BRADLEY: SOUL OF AMERICA, a heart-warming story of a 62-year-old illiterate James Brown impersonator from Brooklyn; Maya Gallus’ THE MYSTERY OF MAZO DE LA ROCHE, a look at the mysterious life of the Canadian author; and Sylvia Caminer’s AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART, a peek into the world of devoted Rick Springfield fans.

The Rise Against program includes: Brian Knappenberger’s WE ARE LEGION: THE STORY OF THE HACKTIVISTS, a radical collective’s fight that redefined civil disobedience; Guy Davidi and Emad Burnat’s 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, a portrait of a West Bank village threatened by an encroaching Israeli settlement; and Petr Lom’s BACK TO THE SQUARE, a look at citizens in post-revolution Egypt.

The Nightvision program includes: Chris James Thompson’s JEFF, a biography of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer; Mary Kerr’s RADIOMAN, the story of Radioman, a fixture in the NYC film scene; and James Franco and Ian Olds’ FRANCOPHRENIA (OR: DON’T KILL ME, I KNOW WHERE THE BABY IS, a wild behind-the-scenes doc with James Franco on General Hospital.

The Documentary Plays Itself program includes: Phie Ambo’s GAMBLER, which follows director Nicholas Winding Refn as he shoots sequels of his cult classic; Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton’s LOST IN LA MANCHA, which captures Terry Gilliam’s ill-fated attempt to film the Don Quixote story; and Thom Andersen’s LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF, a look at how Los Angeles is depicted on film.

Additionally, Hot Docs will present two retrospective programs: Focus On John Kastner, a mid-career retrospective of the Emmy Award-winning director’s work; and the Outstanding Achievement Award Retrospective, honouring the influential work of masterful Québécois filmmaker Michel Brault.

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More Film Program Updates For 2012 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_2622" align="alignnone" width="550"]2012 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant Winner , Let the Fire Burn (Director: Jason Osder)[/caption]

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced additional programming news for the 2012 festival: The Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant, the Southern Documentary Fund: In-the-Works program, and a celebration of 40 years of New Day Films. The festival will also feature a retrospective of short films in honor of its fifteenth anniversary, featuring one title from each previous year of the festival.

The 2012 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant has been awarded to Jason Osder for “Let the Fire Burn” and Ben Powell for “Barge.”

The Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) will once again present their In-the-Works presentation at this year’s festival. The program will include the short film “Café Sense” directed by D.L. Anderson and Brooke Shuman, along with excerpts from “Can’t Stop the Water” directed by Rebecca Marshall Ferris and Jason Ferris and “untitled LUCY film” directed by Elisabeth Haviland James.

Full Frame will honor the 40th anniversary of New Day Films and exhibit New Day Film’s very first titles. The four films will screen as one program: Liane Brandon’s “Anything You Want to Be” and “Betty Tells Her Story,” Jim Klein and Julia Reichert’s “Growing Up Female,” and Amalie R. Rothschild’s “It Happens to Us.” A separate panel conversation around New Day Film’s history and legacy will also take place at the festival.

Full Frame has curated a selection of short films from the Full Frame vault. The fourteen shorts will, representing each year of the festival, will be screened in three separate programs over the course of the weekend. Vault One features “A Thousand Words,” “Caretaker for the Lord,” “For a Miracle,” and “Salt.” Vault Two features “Picture Day,” “Crow Film,” “The Intimacy of Strangers,” and “Lost Book Found.” Vault Three features “Metacarpus,” “Bitter and Sweet,” “A Love Supreme,” “Seltzer Works,” “Breadmakers,” and “Leche.” Directors and festival years are included below.

The 2012 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 12-15, in Durham, N.C.

2012 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant

Barge (Director: Ben Powell)
This film examines the impact of one of America’s great rivers, documenting the next chapter of life on the Mississippi. Fascinating riverboat workers—notorious captains and seasoned first mates—expose both the decidedly colorful and highly specialized aspects of their profession.

Let the Fire Burn (Director: Jason Osder)
In 1985, police closed in on the Philadelphia row home headquarters of MOVE, a radical group some considered terrorists. Through archival footage, this film reveals a remarkable example of how intolerance, and incompetence, can lead to unthinkable acts of violence.

2012 SDF: In-the-Works

Café Sense (Directors: D.L. Anderson, Brooke Shuman)
In the last few decades, specialty roasting companies have tried to make the connection between the small farms that grow the plant to what we find at gas stations and in whipped drinks. Durham’s Counter Culture Coffee hosts a weekly tasting where drinkers learn to distinguish the flavors associated with different countries.

Can’t Stop the Water (Directors: Rebecca Marshall Ferris, Jason Ferris)
Over the last fifty years, Isle de Jean Charles has been gradually shrinking, and is now almost gone. Four months into filming the lives of the families that call this place home, one of the greatest environmental disasters in history left the people of this tiny island in south Louisiana with an even more uncertain future.

untitled LUCY film (Director: Elisabeth Haviland James)
Lucy Daniels believes a family secret radically impacted the trajectory of her life. Despite early promise, she endured brutal treatment in mental institutions only to pen a bestseller and win a Guggenheim fellowship, all before the age of twenty-two. Re-creations, animated dream sequences, and intimate interviews tell her story.

40th Anniversary of New Day Films

Anything I Want to Be (Director: Liane Brandon)
A teenager’s parents tell her time and again that she can grow up to be anything she wants to be. Through playful, yet troubling, reenactments, “anything” is discovered to be what exists within the realm of certain limitations.

Betty Tells Her Story (Director: Liane Brandon)
A woman sits in a chair before the camera. At the urging of the filmmaker, she describes a past event. She finishes her story, but then the filmmaker asks her to recount it. The distinctions between the first and second telling are restrained yet perceptible, raising ideas about femininity and self-worth.

Growing Up Female (Directors: Jim Klein, Julia Reichert)
This documentary captures six women, from ages four to twenty-six, as they experience coming of age in America. Touchingly revelatory, this pioneering feminist film acknowledges the countless pressures applied to young women and the many forms these influences can take.

It Happens to Us (Director: Amalie R. Rothschild)
Women of different ages, races, and economic backgrounds boldly speak to having had an abortion. This diverse collection of stories articulate and connect the viewer to powerful, sometimes graphic, recollections of the physical and emotional experience.

2012 Vault

Bitter and Sweet (Director: Johanna Lee) – 2001 Festival
Witness a day at an acupuncture shop in New York’s Chinatown, with Mom, Pop, and the family cat. A delightful, affectionate portrait of both a business and a marriage.

Breadmakers (Director: Yasmin Fedda) – 008 Festival
At the Garvald Bakery, a team of workers with mental disabilities prepare bread for all of Edinburgh. The participants, each in their own way, contribute to the rhythm of this choreographed effort.

Caretaker for the Lord (Director: Jane McAllister) – 2011 Festival
The maintenance man of a church in Glasgow’s East End muses about its future as he mops the floors and changes the light bulbs. The run-down church ministers to more members of its vulnerable community than those in charge realize.

Crow Film (Director: Edward P. Davee) – 2003 Festival
Ubiquitous and much-maligned crows are transformed into stately, mysterious objects of beauty. This film captures the intricate rhythms and textures of the birds flying and pecking their way through their world and ours.

For a Miracle (Po Cud) (Director: Jarek Sztandera) – 2005 Festival
This astonishing film of the national pilgrimage of disabled people and their caregivers from Poland to Lourdes by train—under the auspices of Catholic clergy—is a surreal passage that inspires faith and mercy, anxiety and despair.

The Intimacy of Strangers (Director: Eva Weber) – 2006 Festival
Cellphone conversations have the ability to collapse the distinctions between public and private space. Capturing intimate moments obliviously performed for strangers, this film is a love story of the modern age, transmitted for all to hear.

Leche (Director: Naomi Uman) – 1999 Festival
A dreamlike evocation of a dairy farm in Mexico through a textured film surface—the filmmaker develops her film in buckets. A document of a timeless place and the magic of crafting things by hand.

Lost Book Found (Director: Jem Cohen) – 1998 Festival
This film updates the venerable city symphony, but without the genre’s grandiose claims. Instead, this is more of a chamber piece; it starts as a personal documentary but then shifts from the private to the enigmatic.

A Love Supreme (Director: Nilesh Patel) – 2002 Festival
In this stunning and elegant tribute, Nilesh Patel pays homage to his aging mother as he captures the beauty and artistry of her life’s work: making samosas. A delicacy.

Metacarpus (Director: Nicole Triche) – 2007 Festival
Magicians, musicians, doctors, and others sing the praises of their hands. A collage of insight and image portrays this special limb’s beauty and diverse utility, its development and distinctive form.

Picture Day (Director: Steven Bognar) – 2000 Festival
One school. 601 kids. 12 frames per kid. What do you get? This playful, funny parade of images reveals the range of possibilities contained in half a second’s worth of pictures.

Salt (Directors: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks) – 2009 Festival
Every year a photographer ventures to the middle of Lake Eyre, a desolate salt flat in South Australia, pitching camp at its very core. With neither land nor water in sight, he looks into the abyss and finds that, in the midst of nothingness, there is everything.

Seltzer Works (Director: Jessica Edwards) – 2010 Festival
Regular consumers are a rare breed but the dedicated owner of Gomberg Seltzer Works in Brooklyn takes great pride in his work and the details involved in creating the real throat-tingling spritz.

A Thousand Words (Director: Melba L. Williams) – 2004 Festival
Williams’s lack of communication with her father, especially after a stroke silences his memories, leads her to explore his enthralling home movie footage and accomplished still photos from the Vietnam War, which speak of a fettered artistic soul.

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Benoît Jacquot’s Farewell, My Queen Starring Diane Kruger as Queen Marie Antoinette to Open 2012 San Francisco International Film Festival

The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19 – May 3) will open with Farewell, My Queen (Dans les adieux à la reine, France 2012), Described as Benoît Jacquot’s extraordinarily atmospheric historical drama about the turmoil at Versailles in the early days of the French revolution, starring Diane Kruger as Queen Marie Antoinette and Léa Seydoux as her reader.

Sumptuous and intimate, Benoît Jacquot’s portrayal of court life at Versailles during four crucial days in July 1789 observes at close range the social decay that brought down the monarchy. In this adaptation of Chantal Thomas’s novel, a servant — the queen’s reader and sometime confidante, Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux) — navigates the quietly mounting atmosphere of confusion, denial and panic among the royal family and their cohort following news of the storming of the Bastille. For the tacit but not timid Sidonie, dogged at all times by Jacquot’s camera, the palace’s seemingly endless hallways all lead to one room, the chamber of Marie Antoinette, to whom she is devoted and by whom she is mesmerized. Diane Kruger plays the monarch in a state of charged vulnerability, having lost her head over the otherwise much-despised Gabrielle De Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen); compared to that thrall, the revolution is as nothing to her. She transfers this frisson to Sidonie. Meanwhile, the aristocrats, sycophants and pretenders ensconced at Versailles read the writing on its walls and begin to take their leave. Thus, regime change begins at home.

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Sarasota Film Festival Releases the Full Lineup of Films for 2012

[caption id="attachment_2615" align="alignnone" width="550"] Festival Centerpiece – DARK HORSE[/caption]

The Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) officially announced their complete 2012 Festival program today, featuring over 230 films from 30 nations. The Sarasota Film Festival kicks off on April 13th with the previously announced ROBOT & FRANK on Opening Night, with Todd Solondz’s DARK HORSE serving as the Festival Centerpiece and Joe Berlinger’s UNDER AFRICAN SKIES serving as the festival’s closer.

The Narrative Feature Competition

[caption id="attachment_2616" align="alignnone" width="550"]11 Flowers[/caption]
11 FLOWERS, Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
ALPS, Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
ARCADIA, Director: Olivia Silver – US Premiere
COMPLIANCE, Director: Craig Zobel
ELENA, Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
FRANCINE, Director: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatsky
GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, Director: Mia Hanse-Løve
THE LONELIEST PLANET, Director: Julia Loktev

The Narrative Feature Jury
John Anderson, Chairman, New York Film Critics Circle
Steven Gaydos, Executive Editor VARIETY
Karina Longworth – Film Critic, LA Weekly

The Documentary Feature Competition
THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA, Director: Don Argott, Sheena M. Joyce.
BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!, Director: Fredrik Gertten

[caption id="attachment_2337" align="alignnone"]CHASING ICE[/caption]

CHASING ICE, Director: Jeff Orlowski
DETROPIA, Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
FIRST POSITION, Director: Bess Kargman
JUSTICE FOR SALE, Directors: Femke van Velzen, Ilsa van Velzen
THE PATRON SAINTS, Director: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatsky
RADIO UNNAMEABLE, Director: Paul Lovelace, Jessica Wolfson

Documentary Feature Jury
Joe Neumaier- The NY Daily News
Thelma Adams, Yahoo!
Clemence Taillandier, Zeitgeist Films

The Independent Visions Competition
EMPIRE BUILDER, Director: Kris Swanberg -World Premiere
LEAVE ME LIKE YOU FOUND ME, Director Adele Romanski
GAYBY, Director Jonathan Lisecki
IN OUR NATURE, Director Brian Savelson
RICHARD’S WEDDING, Director Onur Tukel -World Premiere
SEE GIRL RUN, Director Nate Meyer
SUN DON’T SHINE, Director Amy Seimetz
THE UNSPEAKABLE ACT, Director Dan Sallitt -World Premiere

[caption id="attachment_2318" align="alignnone"]WELCOME TO PINE HILL[/caption]
WELCOME TO PINE HILL, Director Keith Miller

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