Palm Springs International Film Festival

BELLE directed by Amma Asante

The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) unveiled its complete line-up including Galas, Premieres and New Voices/New Visions. The Festival will open on Friday, January 3 with the U.S. Premiere of opening night film BELLE directed by Amma Asante, and will wrap on Sunday, January 12 with LE WEEK-END directed by Roger Michell. 187 films from 60 countries, including 77 premieres (8 world, 22 North American and 47 U.S.), will unspool at the Festival, running from January 3-13, 2014 in Palm Springs, California.

GALAS

The Festival will open with the US premiere screening of Belle (UK), followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Directed by Amma Asante, Belle is a period drama inspired by the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a Captain in the Royal Navy, stationed in the Caribbean. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sarah Gadon, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Sam Reid, Tom Felton, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton and Miranda Richardson. Director Asante is expected to attend the film screening.

Closing the Festival is Le Week-End (UK), directed by Roger Michell. The film stars Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as an old married couple looking to rekindle their love affair with Paris and with one another in this spiky, self-lacerating comedy.

NEW VOICES/NEW VISIONS
The New Voices/New Visions Award will honor one of 12 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 glass sculpture designed for the Festival by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Films selected for this year include:

Above Dark Waters (Finland) – Told through the eyes of a sensitive young boy, this tragicomedy tells a touching story about growing up in southwestern Lapland in the 1970s with authenticity and hilarity. Director: Peter Franzén. Cast: Olavi Angervo, Samuli Edelmann, Matleena Kuusniemi, Ismo Kallio, Marja Packalén. Peter Franzen. US Premiere.

Bristel Goodman (USA) – This uniquely stylish thriller traces the story of a traumatized Iraq War veteran who meets his dream girl in an internet chat room, only to have his dream turn into a nightmare when he witnesses what appears to be her murder live online. Director: Dan Harnden. Cast: John Golaszewski, Natalia Volkodaeva, Kate Gorney, Ezra Saint James, Lucas Van Engen, Jessica Myhr, Joe Varca. World Premiere.

Class Enemy (Slovenia) – In this compelling Slovenian drama, a group of teens blame their demanding new German teacher and his demeaning methods when one of their classmates commits suicide, and a colossal battle of wills ensues. Director: Rok Bicek. Cast: Igor Samobor, Nataša Barbara Gracner, Tjaša Železnik, Maša Derganc, Robert Prebil, Voranc Boh, Jan Zupancic, Daša Cupevski. North American Premiere.

Everything We Loved (New Zealand) – Charlie once made a living as a traveling magician. His picture-perfect marriage and family, though, has been torn asunder by a crippling loss. What will Charlie do to save the family he loves? Behold, a grand illusion…Director: Max Currie. Cast: Brett Stewart, Sia Trokenheim, Ben Clarkson. World Premiere.

Han Gong-ju (South Korea) – A teenager is abruptly transferred to a new school and placed in a stranger’s care – for reasons too terrible to guess. An amazing first feature, it won two awards at the Busan International Film Festival. Director: Lee Su-jin. Cast: Chun Woo-hee, Jeong In-sun, Lee Young-ran, Kim So-young. North America Premiere.

Left Foot Right Foot (Switzerland) – A pair of young hard-partying lovers are forced to grow up fast in photographer Germinal Roux’s first feature, a beautiful elegy on the loss of innocence elevated by stunning black-and-white cinematography and mesmerizing music. Director: Germinal Roaux. Cast: Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Agathe Schlencker, Mathilde Bisson, Dimitri Stapfer, Stanislas Merhar. US Premiere.

Medeas (USA) – An archetypal tale of adultery is rendered with exquisite strokes in this slow burning rural psychodrama, the first feature from an Italian-born filmmaker working in the US. “A rare piece of pure cinema.” Twitch Director: Andrea Pallaoro. Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Brian F. O’Byrne, Kevin Alejandro, Ian Nelson, Mary Mouser. North America Premiere.

The Magnetic Tree (Spain) – A young man returns to Chile from Germany after many years. In a series of probing, freeform conversations, his colorful, multigenerational family explores the safety and connectedness and the feelings of confinement that come from family relationships. Director: Isabel de Ayguavives. Cast: Andrés Gertrúdix, Catalina Saavedra, Manuela Martelli, Gonzalo Robles, Juan Pablo Larenas, Daniel Alcaíno, Edgardo Bruna. North America Premiere.

Of Horses and Men (Iceland) – This very dry, very Icelandic comedy is a north country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Director: Benedikt Erlingsson. Cast: Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Steinn Armann Magnusson, Helgi Björnsson, Charlotte Bøving, Atli Rafn Sigurdarson, Halldora Geirhardsdottir, Kjartan Ragnarsson. US Premiere.

Paris or Perish (France) -Brightly colored and vivacious, actress Reem Kherici’s fast-paced, fish-out-of-water comedy sees Parisian fashion designer Maya deported back to her Moroccan home, stiletto heels in hand. Cultures clash and the jokes, many at Maya’s expense, alternate with moments of genuine feeling. Director: Reem Kherici. Cast: Reem Kherici, Cécile Cassel, Shirley Bousquet, Tarek Boudali, Phillipe Lacheau, Salim Kechiouche, Stéphane Rousseau. US Premiere.

Patch Town (Canada) – Inspired by his award-winning short film (ShortFest ’12), Craig Goodwill’s wildly creative feature debut is a wacky, satirical musical fantasy about a grown-up toy who must battle a villainous corporation to reunite with his long-lost mother, protect his newfound family, and finally find freedom. Director: Craig Goodwill. Cast: Rob Ramsay, Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Suresh John, Scott Thompson, Ken Hall. US Premiere.

Root (Chile) – A Chilean woman defies her domineering mother and drives the nine-year-old son of the deceased family maid into the country to find his long-lost father. An assured debut which applies a naturalist style to create a powerful dramatic impact. Director: Matías Rojas Valencia. Cast: Mercedes Mujica, Elsa Poblete, Cristóbal Ruiz, Celia Uribe, Eugenio Morales. North America Premiere.

PREMIERES
The Festival will offer a selection of 77 premieres of highly anticipated films, showcasing the diversity of international cinema:

World premieres include: 3 Nights in the Desert (USA) starring Amber Tamblyn, Wes Bentley and Vincent Piazza, Bristel Goodman (USA), Burkholder (USA), Days and Nights (USA) starring Katie Holmes, William Hurt, Jean Reno, Allison Janney, Ben Wishaw, Everything We Loved (New Zealand), Hidden Hills (USA), Lakshmi (India) and Party Central (USA) starring John Goodman, Charlie Day, Bill Crystal, Sean Hayes and David Foley.

North American premieres include: Catch the Dream (Denmark), Class Enemy(Slovenia), Grazing the Sky (Spain), Han Gong-ju (South Korea), Horses of God(Morocco), King Ordinary (Germany), Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Spain), Magic Men (Israel), The Magnetic Tree (Spain), Medeas (USA), The Mercury Factor (Italy),Monk with a Camera (USA), Montage (South Korea), The Old Man (Kazakhstan),Open Up to Me (Finland), Rabbit Woman (Argentina), Root (Chile), The Searches(Mexico), Stalngrad (Russia), Tattoo (Brazil), Traffic Department (Poland) andTransit (Philippines).

U.S. premieres include: 15 Years and One Day (Spain), Above Dark Waters (Finland),Another House (Canada), The Auction (Canada), Bastardo (Tunisia), Belle (UK), Blind Dates (Georgia), The Butterfly’s Dream (Turkey), Cupcakes (Israel), Empire of Dirt(Canada), Enemy (Canada) directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Isabella Rossellini, Faith Connections (India), For No Good Reason(UK) featuring Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam, Richard E. Grant, Gaming Instinct(Germany), Gerontophilia (Canada) directed by Bruce LaBruce, The Grand Seduction(Canada) starring Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch, Heart of a Lion (Finland), Hotell(Sweden), Hunting Elephants (Israel), I Am Yours (Norway), Ignasi M. (Spain), In Secret (USA) starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Jessica Lange, The Italian Character (Germany), Left Foot Right Foot (Switzerland), Longwave (France), Love and Lemons (Sweden), Lovers (France), Marina (Belgium), The Mute (Peru),Nightingale (France), Of Horses and Men (Iceland), One of a Kind (France), Paris or Perish (France), Patch Town (Canada), A Place in Heaven (Israel), Roa (Colombia),Salvation Army (France), Standing Aside, Watching (Greece), Stay (Canada) starring Taylor Schilling, Aidan Quinn and Brian Gleeson, The Summer of Flying Fish (Chile),Tangerines (Estonia), Those Happy Years (Italy), The Venice Syndrome (Germany),White Lies (New Zealand), Words and Pictures (USA) directed by Fred Schepisi starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, Young & Beautiful (France) directed by François Ozon and Yozgat Blues (Turkey).

DÉJA VIEW: PAST PSIFF FAVORITES
A 25th Anniversary tribute which features a selection of films that have won the Audience Award at Palm Springs and gone on to win the Foreign Language Oscar® combined with first films featured at PSIFF whose directors have gone on to enjoy Award Winning careers.

Cinema Paradiso (Italy) – The Festival’s first Audience Award and Foreign Oscar® winner traces the tale of a man looking back at his lifelong romance with the cinema, working as an apprentice to a projectionist in his small town’s cherished movie palace. Free 25th Anniversary outdoor screening at Forever Marilyn. Director: Giuseppe Tornatore.

Departures (Japan) – This gentle comedy, which took PSIFF audiences by storm as it won the Audience Award at the 2009 Festival (and went on to win that year’s Oscar for Foreign Language Film), concerns a man who, desperate to support his family when he loses his job as an orchestra cellist, takes a new job preparing bodies for funerals, learning much about life… and death… in the process. Director: Yôjirô Takita

Life is Beautiful (Italy) – Winner of the Festival’s 1998 Audience Award (and seven subsequent Oscar nominations, winning for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor and Best Score) this acclaimed tragicomedy tells the tale of an endlessly inventive man who uses humor to spare his son the horrors of a concentration camp in the late stages of WWII. Director: Roberto Benigni

No Man’s Land (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – Featured in the Festival’s 2002 New Director’s Showcase and winning that year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this brilliant black comedy about the futility of war, a first film by writer/director Danis Tanovic remains one of the most stunning directorial debuts of the last half century. Director: Danis Tanovic

Strictly Ballroom (Australia) – This deliriously enjoyable musical comedy, set in the world of ballroom dancing competitions, introduced Palm Springs filmgoers – and the world – to an audaciously talented director in the form of Baz Luhrman when it was featured in our New Directors’ Showcase at the 1993 PSIFF. Director: Baz Luhrmann

The Lives of Others (Germany) – Winner of the Festival’s 2007 Audience Award, and the subsequent Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Film, this is a riveting, flawless German thriller about an East German Stasi captain drawn into the lives of his downstairs neighbors when assigned to spy on them, and his own dawning realization of the immorality of his actions. Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

The Sea Inside (Spain) – Winner of the Festival’s 2005 Audience Award and that year’s Oscar for best Foreign Language Film, this gorgeously evocative tale of a man who fought a 30-year battle for his right to end his own life brought equal acclaim for its magnificent central performance by Javier Bardem. Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Other titles to be announced prior to the festival.

Other Festival films with notable talent and directors include: Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (France) starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (UK) starring Steve Coogan and Colm Meaney, Le Chef (France) starring Jean Reno, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (USA) featuring Elaine Stritch, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Nathan Lane, The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (USA) featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Diana Kruger and Josh Radnor, The Invisible Woman (UK) directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, Mystery Road (Australia) starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten, Reaching for the Moon (Brazil) starring Miranda Otto,Tim’s Vermeer (USA) directed by Teller and featuring Penn Jilette, Two Lives(Germany) starring Liv Ullman, Unforgiven  (Japan) starring Ken Watanabe, Walking with the Enemy (USA) starring Ben Kingsley.

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THE AUCTION directed by SÉBASTIEN PILOTE

The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), scheduled January 3-13, 2014, announced a new program focusing on Canadian Cinema, as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award in the Awards Buzz section, and Modern Masters.  The Festival will screen 45 of the 76 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. 

 AWARDS BUZZ
The Awards Buzz section is selected by Festival programmers as the strongest entries in this year’s Academy Awards® 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 45 films are selected to screen (in alphabetical order by country):

The German Doctor (Argentina), Director Lucía Puenzo
The Rocket (Australia), Director Kim Mordaunt
The Wall (Austria), Director Julian Pölsler
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium/Netherlands), Director Felix van Groeningen
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Bosnia), Director Danis Tanovic
The Missing Picture (Cambodia/France), Director Rithy Panh
Gabrielle (Canada), Director Louise Archambault
Gloria (Chile/Spain), Director Sebastián Lelio
Back to 1942 (China), Director Feng Xiaogang
Halima’s Path (Croatia/Slovenia/Bosnia-Herzegovina), Director Arsen Anton Ostojic
The Hunt (Denmark), Director Thomas Vinterberg
Winter of Discontent (Egypt), Director Ibrahim El Batout
Disciple (Finland), Director Ulrika Bengts
Renoir (France), Director Gilles Bourdos
In Bloom (Georgia/Germany/France), Directors Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon Gross
Two Lives (Germany/Norway), Director Georg Maas
Le Grand Cahier (Hungary/Germany/Austria/France), Director János Szász
Of Horses and Men (Iceland), Director Benedikt Erlingsson
The Good Road (India), Director Gyan Correa
The Past (Iran/Italy/France), Director Asghar Farhadi
Bethlehem (Israel), Director Yuval Adler
The Great Beauty (Italy/France), Director Paolo Sorrentino
The Great Passage (Japan), Director Yûya Ishii
The Old Man (Shal) (Kazakhstan), Director Yermek Tursunov
Mother, I Love You (Latvia), Director Janis Nords
Heli (Mexico/Germany/Netherlands/France), Director Amat Escalante
Horses of God (Morocco/France/Belgium), Director Nabil Ayouch
Borgman (Netherlands), Director Alex van Warmerdam
White Lies (New Zealand), Director Dana Rotberg
I Am Yours (Norway), Director Iram Haq
Omar (Palestinian Territory), Director Hany Abu-Assad
Transit (Philippines), Director Hannah Espia
Walesa. Man of Hope (Poland), Director Andrzej Wajda
Child’s Pose (Romania), Director Calin Peter Netzer
Stalingrad (Russia), Director Fedor Bondarchuk
Wadjda (Saudi Arabia/Germany), Director Haifaa Al Mansour
Circles (Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia), Director Srdan Golubovic
Ilo Ilo (Singapore), Director Anthony Chen
Class Enemy (Slovenia), Director Rok Bicek
Juvenile Offender (South Korea), Director Kang Yi-kwan
15 Years and One Day (Spain), Director Gracia Querejeta
More Than Honey (Switzerland), Director Markus Imhoof
The Butterfly’s Dream (Turkey), Director Yilmaz Erdogan
Metro Manila (United Kingdom/Philippines), Director Sean Ellis
Anina (Uruguay/Colombia), Director Alfredo Soderguit

SPOTLIGHT ON CANADIAN CINEMA
Canada receives the spotlight for this year’s special focus on a country or region of the world making extraordinary strides in cinema. Included in the showcase will be an opening weekend reception and ‘Canadian Film Day’ highlighting Canadian filmmaking guests, sponsored by Telefilm Canada.  Films in this program feature actors Brendan Gleeson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Kitsch, Mélanie Laurent, Aidan Quinn, Isabella Rossellini and Taylor Schilling.  The 12 films selected in the program include:

The Auction(Canada) – In this honest portrait of a family in the midst of change, Sébastien Pilote gives us a pastoral tale of love and quiet sacrifice in rural Quebec, featuring a powerful performance by Gabriel Arcand.  Director: Sébastien Pilote.  Cast: Gabriel Arcand, Gilles Renaud, Lucie Laurier, Sophie Desmarais, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Gabriel Tremblay.

Empire of Dirt(Canada) – An affecting portrait of three generations of Cree women caught up in a cycle of teenage pregnancy and mistrust finally beginning to put their past behind them and figure out a way forward together.  Director: Peter Stebbings.  Cast: Cara Gee, Shay Eyre, Jennifer Podemski, Luke Kirby, Jordan Prentice, Lawrence Bayne, Michael Cram.

Enemy(Canada) – In a dual role, Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a professor who frantically seeks out his doppelganger, a struggling actor he spots in a film. The Oscar®-nominated director of Incendies andPrisoners puts a masterful spin on this mind-bending Kafkaesque mystery.  Director: Denis Villeneuve.  Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini.

Gabrielle(Canada) – Gabrielle Marion-Rivard gives an extraordinarily expressive, moving performance as a developmentally challenged young woman who falls in love with a boy she sings with in the choir – to the dismay of the young man’s overly protective mother.  Director: Louise Archambault.  Cast: Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, Alexandre Landry, Melissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Vincent-Guillaume Otis, Benoit Gouin, Sébastien Ricard, Isabelle Vincent, Marie Gignac.

Gerontophilia(Canada) – An 18-year-old lad with a penchant for pensioners takes a job in a care home and falls for an 81-year-old man.  Shocking?  The big shock here is that director LaBruce eschews his usual hardcore style for a film that is positively gentle and pleasing.  Director: Bruce LaBruce.  Cast: Pier-Gabriel Lajoie, Walter Border, Katie Boland, Marie-Hélène Thibault.

The Grand Seduction(Canada) – Rollicking humor and quiet moments of whimsy anchor this droll comedy about some Newfoundland villagers, led by the great Brendan Gleeson’s wily fisherman, who use any means necessary to convince a big-city doctor (Taylor Kitsch) to save their community by settling in it.  Director: Don McKellar.  Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch, Liane Balaban, Gordon Pinsent, Mark Critch, Mary Walsh.

The Manor(Canada) – A documentary about your typical Jewish suburban family: mom, dad, two kids and the family business – a strip club in a place called Guelph.  Director: Shawney Cohen.

Patch Town(Canada) – Inspired by his award-winning short film that screened at Palm Springs ShortFest in 2012.  Craig Goodwill’s wildly creative feature debut is a wacky, satirical musical fantasy about a grown-up toy who must battle a villainous corporation to reunite with his long-lost mother, protect his newfound family, and finally find freedom.  Director: Craig Goodwill.  Cast: Rob Ramsay, Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Suresh John, Scott Thompson, Ken Hall.

Sarah Prefers to Run(Canada) – Chloé Robichaud’s debut feature is a highly assured, subtle, observational film about a young middle-distance runner making the leap to a big city university team, but stumbling in the adult world of relationships and responsibilities.  Director: Chloé Robichaud.  Cast: Sophie Desmarais, Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Geneviève Boivin-Roussy, Helene Florent, Eve Duranceau, Micheline Lanctot, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, Benoit Gouin. 

Siddharth(Canada) – A street merchant regrets sending away his 12-year-old son to work in a factory when the boy fails to return home for Diwali. Thus begins a desperate search, hindered by the man’s poverty, illiteracy, and the challenge of locating anyone in a country of a billion souls.  Director: Richie Mehta.  Cast: Mahendra Saini, Suman Saini, Ranjit Gahlot, Meena Gahlot, Roshni.

Stay(Canada) – An appealing romantic drama, about a young woman ¬– living in Ireland with an ex-professor – whose unplanned pregnancy causes her to question her future.  Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld.  Cast: Taylor Schilling, Aidan Quinn, Barry Keoghan, Nika McGuigan, Chris McHallem, Brian Gleeson, Michael Ironside.

Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (Canada) – Victoria, an ex-convict in her sixties, wants to start a new life in a remote sugar shack.  Under the supervision of Guillaume, a young, sympathetic parole officer, she tries to get her life back on track along with Florence, her former cellmate with whom she shared years of intimacy in prison.  Stalked by ghosts of the past, their new life together is unexpectedly jeopardized.  Director: Denis Côté.  Cast: Pierrette Robitaille, Romane Bohringer, Marc-André Grondin.

 MODERN MASTERS
The Modern Masters section features 10 films from some of the true auteurs of contemporary cinema including from the Canadian Cinema program Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy along with films from directors Vinko Bresan, François Dupeyron, Agnieszka Holland, Hirokazu  Kore-eda, Claude Lanzmann, Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Avi Nesher, and  François Ozon.

Burning Bush (Czech Republic) – An epic docudrama examining the emotional, political and societal fallout from Czech student Jan Palach’s 1969 self-immolation.  Director: Agnieszka Holland.  Cast: Tatiana Pauhofovå, Jaroslava Pokomå, Petr Stach, Jan Budar, Martin Huba, Ivan Trojan.

The Last of the Unjust (France) – Claude Lanzmann, whose epic, landmark film Shoah is certainly the definitive film about the Holocaust – returns to one of the interview subjects from that film to unravel the tale of the ‘model’ concentration camp, Theresienstadt, and the ambiguous leader of its Jewish Council, Benjamin Murmelstein, a former rabbi who spent the war years negotiating on a day-to-day basis with Adolf Eichmann. Director: Claude Lanzmann. Cast: Benjamin Murmelstein and Claude Lanzmann.

Like Father, Like Son (Japan) – Two couples are devastated to learn that their children were swapped at birth six years ago.  This masterly, very moving drama won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda. Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Maki, Lily Franky, Keita Ninomiya, Hwang Sho-gen.

One of a Kind (France) – This soul-stirring tale – about a depressed middle-aged man who hesitatingly embraces his gift for healing – features a riveting turn from Grégory Gadebois (so effective in the cult TV fave The Returned) in the lead. A deeply satisfying chronicle of personal redemption. Director: François Dupeyron. Cast: Grégory Gadebois, Céline Sallette, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Marie Payen, Philippe Rebbot.

The Priest’s Children (Croatia) – In this acerbic satire, a naïve Catholic clergyman tries to boost the birth rate among his Dalmatian island flock, but his plan sparks a host of unintended consequences.  Director: Vinko Bresan.  Cast: Kresimir Mikic, Niksa Butijer, Marija Skaricic, Drazen Kuhn, Jadranka Dokic, Lazar Ristovski.

The Unknown Known (USA) – In his new documentary, Errol Morris takes on the enigma that is Donald Rumsfeld.  Or is it Rumsfeld taking on the enigma that is Errol Morris?  Either way, it is a fascinating pas de deux not to be missed.  Director: Errol Morris.  Cast: Donald Rumfeld and Errol Morris.

The Wind Rises (Japan) Anime sensei Hayao Miyazaki has always been fascinated by flight. In what he says will be his swansong, he has conjured an extraordinarily lyrical biopic of sorts, inspired by the experiences of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the famous Japanese Zero fighter plane. Director: Hayao Miyazaki. Cast: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Jun Kunimura, Mirai Shida.

The Wonders (Israel) – A genial slacker, a private investigator and a femme fatale join forces to rescue a kidnapped holy man in this unusual dramedy. Director: Avi Nesher.  Cast: Ori Hizkiah, Efrat Gosh, Adir Miller, Yehuda Levi, Yuval Scharf.

Young & Beautiful (France) – Model-turned-actor Marine Vacth is uncanny as a well-bred 17-year-old Parisienne who chooses to work as an expensive call girl.  A controversial provocation from Ozon, with a visual finesse and a nonjudgmental tone that makes it genuinely disturbing.  Director: François Ozon.  Cast: Martine Vacth, Géraldine Pailhas, Frédéric Pierrot, Johan Leysen, Charlotte Rampling.

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The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will honor Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey and Steve McQueen at its annual Awards Gala to be held Saturday, January 4, 2014, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.  The Festival runs January 3 to 13, 2014.

Academy Award winning actress Julia Roberts will be presented with the Spotlight Award for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. The Weinstein Company presents August: Osage County which tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.  Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre. It continued with a successful international run and won five 2008 Tony Awards including Best Play. August: Osage County is directed by John Wells and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.

 Steve McQueen with receive the Director of the Year Award for 12 YEARS A SLAVE. 12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom.  In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.  Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) forever alters his life.  The Fox Searchlight Pictures film is directed and produced by Steve McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard, Chris Chalk, Taran Killam and Bill Camp.

Bruce Dern currently seen in NEBRASKA, will be presented with the Career Achievement Award. Paramount Vantage presents Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne and starring Bruce Dern (who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year), Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach and Bob Odenkirk.  In the film, a father and son steer the American road comedy into a vanishing Midwest on the trail of a dubious fortune – and in search of an understanding of each other that once seemed impossible.  After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Dern) thinks he’s struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune.  Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America.  Dern won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his role.

Academy Award®-winning actress Sandra Bullock now starring in GRAVITY, in theaters, will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress. Gravity stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in a Warner Bros. Pictures film directed by Alfonso Cuarón.  Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) in command.  But on a seemingly routine mission, disaster strikes.  The shuttle is destroyed by space debris, leaving Stone and Kowalski completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.  The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth…and any chance for rescue.  As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left.  The only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Palm Springs International Film Festival will present Matthew McConaughey now seen in the new movie DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor. Inspired by true events, Dallas Buyers Club is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée from an original screenplay by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack, and also stars Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. 

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[caption id="attachment_3102" align="alignnone" width="550"]The Sapphires[/caption]

The Sapphires (Australia) directed by Wayne Blair, and based on the real-life story of an all-female Aboriginal singing group in 1960’s Australia that went from folk to soul with unexpected success, received the Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 24th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (USA) directed by Ramona Diaz received the Audience Award Best for Documentary Feature.  This documentary is about the dilemma the rock band Journey faces to replace their lead singer Steve Perry after he quits the band. They eventually find the perfect solution via YouTube: a street kid who fronted a Filipino cover band.

The FIPRESCI Prize for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year jury selected Fill the Void (Israel), directed by Rama Burshtein, “for portraying a culture usually depicted in stereotypical terms, with subtlety, sympathy and sensuality and employing a style that is intimate, but not intrusive.”  In the film, an 18-year-old in Tel Aviv’s Hassidic community must choose between her heart’s desire and familial duty in a drama that make the conventions of the marriage plot feel brand new.

The New Voices/New Visions selected The Cleaner (Peru) directed by Adrian Saba.   The film tells the story of a mysterious and deadly epidemic in Lima, Perù, where 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.

The Cine Latino Award was presented to Blancanieves(Spain), directed by Pablo Berger, which was the Opening Night film of the Festival.   This silent movie is an 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.

Stolen Seas (Somalia/Kenya/UK/Italy), directed by Thymaya Payne, received The John Schlesinger Award, which is presented to a first-time documentary filmmaker.  Stolen Seas presents the inside story of Somali piracy.  The filmmakers spent three years in some of the world’s most dangerous places, talking to pirates, hostages, hostages’ relatives, and the shipping company executives caught up in this deadly culture clash. 

Jump (Ireland/UK), directed by Kieron J. Walsh, received the HP Bridging the Borders Award presented by Cinema Without Borders and Hewlett Packard, which honors the film that is most successful in exemplifying art that promotes bringing the people of our world closer together.  In the film, a fateful New Year’s Eve throws half a dozen characters into cross-purposes in this complex, wildly inventive and occasionally giddy mix of crime caper, romance and moral tale from Northern Ireland. 

The Palm Springs International Film Festival, held from January 3-14, 2013, screened 182 films from 68 countries.

The complete list of award winners are:

Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
The Sapphires (Australia)

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature 
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (USA)

FIPRESCI Prize for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Fill the Void (Israel)

FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor of the Year in a Foreign Language Film 
Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano and Giovanni Arcuri from Caesar Must Die (Italy)

FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress of the Year in a Foreign Language Film 
Emilie Dequenne from Our Children (Belgium)

New Voices/New Visions Award
The Cleaner (Peru) – Winner
7 Boxes (Paraguay) – Honorable Mention

Cine Latino Award
Blancanieves(Spain) – Winner
Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina) – Honorable Mention

The John Schlesinger Award
Stolen Seas (Somalia/Kenya/UK/Italy) – Winner
Far Out Isn’t Fair Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (USA) – Honorable Mention

HP Bridging the Borders Award
Jump (Ireland/UK) – Winner
When Day Breaks (Serbia/Croatia/France) – Honorable Mention

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[caption id="attachment_3053" align="alignnone" width="550"]La Playa D. C.[/caption]

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival(PSIFF) announced the new Cine Latino Award, which will be presented to the best Iberoamerican film screening at the Festival scheduled to run January 3-14, 2013.  Sponsored by the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA, the winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize.  

This year’s eligible films are:

7 Boxes (Paraguay), Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori

After Lucia (Mexico), Director: Michel Franco

Beauty (Argentina), Director: Daniela Seggiaro

Blancanieves (Spain/France), Director: Pablo Berger

Checkmate (Dominican Republic), Director: José María Cabral

Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/Brazil/Spain), Director: Benjamín Ávila

The Cleaner (Peru), Director: Adrian Saba

The Clown (Brazil), Director: Selton Mello

The Dead Man and Being Happy (Spain), Director: Javier Rebollo

Drought (Mexico), Director: Everardo González

The Girl (USA/Mexico), Director: David Riker

Here and There (Spain/USA/Mexico), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza

La Playa D. C. (Colombia/Brazil/France), Director: Juan Andrés Arango García

Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain), Director: Emilio Maillé

The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France), Director: Esteban Larraín

Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina), Director: Darío Nardi

The Sleeping Voice (Spain), Director: Benito Zambrano

The Snitch Cartel (Colombia), Director: Carlos Moreno

Tabu (Portugal/Brazil/France/Germany), Director: Miguel Gomes

The End (Spain), Director: Jorge Torregrossa

Una Noche (Cuba/UK/USA), Director: Lucy Mulloy

White Elephant (Argentina/Spain/France), Director: Pablo Trapero

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[caption id="attachment_3043" align="alignnone" width="550"]War Witch[/caption]

The 24th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will screen eight of the nine films selected to advance in the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards® and in partnership with Telefilm Canada will screen 12 Canadian features.  The 24th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is scheduled from January 3-14, 2013.

The foreign language films on the Oscar shortlist, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Amour (Austria), Director Michael Haneke
War Witch (Canada), Director Kim Nguyen
A Royal Affair (Denmark), Director Nikolaj Arcel
The Intouchables (France),Director Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache
The Deep (Iceland), Director Baltasar Kormákur
Kon-Tiki (Norway), Director Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
Beyond the Hills (Romania), Director Christian Mungiu
Sister (Switzerland), Director Ursula Meier

The Canadian film line-up includes: 

Camion (Canada) – Refreshingly honest and precisely observed, this Quebecois drama examines the lives of a trucker and his two estranged sons after the former is involved in a terrible crash.  Director: Rafaël Ouellet. Cast: Julien Poulin, Patrice Dubois, Stéphane Breton, Jacob Tierney, Noemie Godin-Vigneau.

The End of Time (Canada/Switzerland) – A meditative, free-associative but entirely engrossing contemplation of the nature of time by the innovative non-fiction filmmaker Peter Mettler. Director: Peter Mettler. Cast: George Mikenberg, Jack Thompson, Richie Hawtin, Rajeev Agrawal, Julia Mettler.

The Final Member (Canada/Iceland/Italy/USA) – Forget Hollywood, the funniest comedy of the year may be this documentary about the Icelandic Phallological Museum.  That’s right, a penis museum.  Join “Siggi” Hjartarson on his quest to find the one thing that will make his museum complete – a human penis. Director: Jonah Bekhor, Zach Math.

The Fruit Hunters (Canada) – Environmental docs come in all shapes and sizes, but you won’t have seen any as appetizing as this sensual, seductive tribute to nature’s sweetest bounty.  Join Bill Pullman and the fruit detectives in their quest for a wider world of taste sensation. Director: Yung Chang. Cast: Bill Pullman.  US Ppremiere.

Inch’Allah (Canada) – Every day young Canadian obstetrician Chloe crosses the checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah, fraternizing with locals on both sides of the border but increasingly pushed towards taking a stand of her own.  A thoughtful, humane take on the Israel/Palestine divide. Director: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.Cast: Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Sivan Levy, Yousef Sweid. International Premiere.

Inescapable (Canada/South Africa) – Rubba Nadda follows her hit Cairo Time with this timely thriller about a father returning to Syria to try to find his missing daughter. Director: Ruba Nadda. Cast: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson, Oded Fehr, Saad Siddiqui. International Premiere.

Laurence Anyways (Canada/France) – Xavier Dolan’s terrifically stylish love story is set in 1990s Montreal and stars Melvil Poupaud as a transgender man whose decade-long relationship with his lover Frédérique makes for a dazzling and entertaining mini-epic. Director: Xavier Dolan. Cast: Melvil Poupaud, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye, Monia Chokri.

Margarita (Canada) – A cash-strapped middle-class Toronto family reluctantly fires their Mexican-born nanny Margarita, only to discover just how indispensable she really is.  Unfortunately she is also illegal, which makes everything that much stickier in this quirky lesbian-themed comedy-drama. Director: Laurie Colbert, Dominique Cardona. Cast: Nicola Correia Damude, Patrick McKenna, Christine Horne, Claire Lautier, Maya Ritter, Marco Grazzini.

Midnight’s Children (Canada/UK) – 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: Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Rahul Bose, Ronit Roy, Shabana Azmi, Irrfan Khan, Charles Dance.

Molly Maxwell (Canada) – Molly Maxwell is a precocious 16-year-old who attends an alternative school where every student is perceived to be a prodigy. Molly develops a close relationship with a young teacher who opens her world but the relationship potentially threatens her future. Director: Sara St. Onge. Cast: Lola Tash, Charlie Carrick, Krista Bridges, Rob Stewart. World Premiere.

Still (Canada) – An exquisite love story wrapped in a classic tale of modernity versus tradition. James Cromwell plays a farmer who is determined to provide a comfortable home for his ailing wife and is confronted by the realities of their situation. Director: Michael McGowan. Cast: James Cromwell, Genevieve Bujold, Campbell Scott, Julie Stewart. US Premiere.

War Witch (Canada) – Canada’s Foreign Language Oscar submission, this award-winning, harrowing tale of a young African girl’s kidnap by rebel soldiers features an astonishing performance by its non-professional lead.  Punctuated with moments of magic and wonder, this is a powerful testament to human resilience in the darkest of times. Director: Kim Nguyen. Cast: Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga.

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 [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).

 

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[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.

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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.

 

 

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[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

 

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[caption id="attachment_2973" align="alignnone" width="550"]Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook[/caption]

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will honor actor Bradley Cooper, actress Sally Field and the cast of Argo.  The Festival runs January 3-14, 2012.

Bradley Cooper will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for acting, Academy Award® winning actress Sally Field with its Career Achievement Award, and the film Argo with its Ensemble Performance Award.  

Bradley Cooper is currently starring in the Weinstein Company’s Silver Linings Playbook, a family drama, comedy and love story based on the bestselling novel by Matthew Quick, written and directed by David O. Russell.  Pat Solution has lost everything — his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and after spending 8 months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation.  All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet – and to share their family’s obsession with their favorite Philadelphia football team.  When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.  Cooper served as an executive producer on the film and stars in it along with Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Demuro, Jackie Weaver, Anuran Khmer and Chris Tucker.

Cooper received Best Actor from the National Board of Review and is nominated for a Best Male Lead Independent Spirit Award.  Past honorees of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Jeff Bridges, Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Firth, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and John Travolta.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will honor Sally Field with the 2013 Career Achievement Award. Steven Spielberg recently directed the two-time Academy Award® winner in Lincoln, described as a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President’s tumultuous final months in office. Past Career Achievement Award honorees include Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will present the entire cast of Argo with the 2013 Ensemble Performance Award. Cast members from the film, including Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston will attend to accept the award. Warner Bros. Pictures’ dramatic thriller Argo chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis.  The drama focuses on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood played—information that was not declassified until many years after the event. Ben Affleck directs and stars in the film, which also stars Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler and Chris Messina.  

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[caption id="attachment_2935" align="alignnone" width="550"]Helen Hunt and John Hawkes in ‘The Sessions’.[/caption]

Director Robert Zemeckis, along with actresses Naomi Watts and Helen Hunt at the Awards Gala will be honored at the 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festivalwhich runs January 3-14, 2013.

PSIFF will present Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis with the Director of the Year Award for Flight, Naomi Watts with the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award and Academy Award winner Helen Hunt with the Spotlight Award.

Zemeckis directed Paramount Pictures’ dramatic thriller Flight, starring Denzel Washington currently in theaters.

Watts stars in the Summit Entertainment film The Impossible, based on the true story of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.  Directed by J.A. Bayona, The Impossible also stars Ewan McGregor and newcomer Tom Holland, with a screenplay by Sergio G. Sánchez adapted from the story by María Belon based on her experiences.

Hunt co-stars in Fox Searchlight Pictures’ The Sessions, based on the poignantly optimistic autobiographical writings of California–based journalist and poet Mark O’Brien.  The Sessions tells the story of a man who lived most of his life in an iron lung who is determined – at age 38 – to lose his virginity.  With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he sets out to make his dream a reality.  John Hawkes and William H. Macy also star in a film written for the screen and directed by Ben Levin.  The Sessions will be released wide on Friday, November 16.

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