49 films have been named by the European Film Academy for this year’s EFA Feature Film Selection,
Films
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SingularDTV Sets Release Date for Alex Winter’s Documentary TRUST MACHINE: THE STORY OF BLOCKCHAIN [Trailer]
Blockchain entertainment studio SingularDTV is releasing its first feature-length documentary, Alex Winter’s Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain in New York on October 26, and Los Angeles on November 16.
Always one step ahead in signaling technology’s seismic shifts, Alex Winter has built up a body of work that documents how innovation changes the way people live their daily lives. DOWNLOADED (2013, SXSW) explored the downloading revolution and how Napster and file-sharing took on the music industry, leaving musicians wondering about royalty payments and copyrights. DEEP WEB (2015, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival) revealed a new kind of internet: decentralized, encrypted and dangerous; with particular focus on the FBI capture of the Tor hidden service Silk Road, and the judicial aftermath.
In his newest documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, Alex Winter drills down on blockchain, the decentralized technology that supports cryptocurrencies. Why are banks terrified while UNICEF Ventures embraces it to help refugee children? Winter follows tech innovators striking a raw nerve as banks and network pundits rush to condemn volatile cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. British hacktivist Lauri Love fights extradition—his computer skills perceived a threat to the US government. Through the film, Winter reveals that the proponents of the blockchain—a verified digital ledger—are already using the technology to change the world; fighting income inequality, the refugee crisis and world hunger. Narrated by Rosario Dawson.
Alex Winter on his inspiration for Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain:“The idea of a verifiable ledger is a problem that’s been in search of a solution for a really long time. I got into this working on DOWNLOADED (2013). When I was making my film DEEP WEB (2015), funnily enough, I still had very little interest in bitcoin. Then the world got really confusing with blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and decentralization.
Bitcoin matters, but blockchain is really where the changes are going to come. There are huge changes happening in human culture right now. Never has something like this happened before, ever. And it is fascinating to me. That’s why I really wanted to make this documentary.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMlqIoUVnLo
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Watch Trailer + Poster for Salsa Music/Dance Drama SHINE Set in New York’s Spanish Harlem
The new trailer and poster is here for the salsa music/dance drama Shine set in New York’s Spanish Harlem, directed by Anthony Nardolillo, and starring Jorge Burgos, Gilbert Saldivar, Kimberli Flores, Jadi Collado, Musetta Vander, with Alysia Reiner, and David Zayas. The film will be released in theaters on October 5, 2018.
Two Puerto Rican brothers, Ralphi Matas (Jorge Burgos) and Junior (Gilbert Saldivar), from New York’s Spanish Harlem and the street’s best Salsa dancers, are separated after a tragedy only to reunite years later on opposing sides of gentrification.
After 7 years of absence from New York City, Ralphi is back to develop commercial real estate in his old neighborhood. However, upon his return, Ralphi encounters his estranged brother, Junior, who followedin his father’s footsteps, Ramon Matas (David Zayas), and is now an elite salsa dancer and an unwavering activist AGAINST gentrification in the neighborhood.
While having to face his past in order to succeed in the present, Ralphi must confront his boss Linda (Alysia Reiner) who is aggressively pursuing the lucrative development deal that brought him back to the city he was born, and thus is driving the wedge even further between him and his brother.
On the other side, when Josie (Kimberli Flores), the new owner of their father’s dance studio, reveals she is behind on the mortgage payments. Junior rallies the local dance community to raise funds against all odds to save the dance studio, DESPITE the gentrification efforts of his brother.
While the brothers have chosen opposite paths thus far, they are brought back together when Tio Julio (Nelson Gonzales) reminds them of the power of family and the importance of their community.
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Patrick Wang’s A BREAD FACTORY (Part One & Part Two) Starring Tyne Daly and Elisabeth Henry, Sets October Release Date
A Bread Factory (Part One & Part Two), an ambitious project comprising two feature films written and directed by Patrick Wang. Starring Tyne Daly and Elisabeth Henry as a couple who are fighting to keep their local arts center open, the film will open at Village East Cinema in New York and at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Los Angeles on October 26. Other cities will follow. After a successful release in France, Patrick Wang’s second film, The Grief of Others, will be released in New York and Los Angeles on November 2.
After his critically acclaimed films In the Family (Independent Spirit Award nominee) and The Grief of Others (presented at SXSW, Cannes), A Bread Factory sees an expansion in form to two feature films, to a cast of over 100, and to include the genres of drama, comedy and musical. This diversity is found in the cast, which ranges from comedienne Janeane Garofalo to opera star Martina Arroyo. The film features the luminous final performance of the late theater legend Brian Murray. “All the other films were practice to be able to pull this off,” say director Patrick Wang of A Bread Factory. Music for the film was composed by Wang alongside four other composers, including the legendary Chip Taylor (Songwriters Hall of Fame, Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning). An album of Chip Taylor’s songs based on the movie will also be released October 26.
A Bread Factory, Part One: For the Sake of Gold (122 min) – Forty years ago, Dorothea (Tyne Daly) and Greta (Elisabeth Henry) moved to the town of Checkford and bought an abandoned bread factory that they transformed into an arts space. Here they host movies, plays, dance, exhibits and artists. It’s where civic groups and immigrant communities can meet, where there are after school programs for children. Now a celebrity couple—performance artists from China—have come to Checkford. They’ve constructed a huge building, the FEEL Institute, down the street. It is a strange sight for a small town. Dorothea and Greta learn about a new proposal to give all the funding from the school system for their children’s arts programs to the FEEL Institute. Without this funding, the Bread Factory would not survive. They quickly rally the community to save their space. The commercial forces behind the FEEL Institute fight also, bringing a young movie star to town to help make their case. The school board meeting turns into a circus where the fate of the Bread Factory hangs in the balance.
A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk with Me a While (120 min) – Checkford hasn’t been the same since the school board meeting. Mysteriously, the reporter who runs the local newspaper disappears. Bizarre tourists start to show up, then come mysterious tech start-up workers. With all the new people, real estate is booming. Amidst all these distractions, Dorothea and Greta try to continue their work. They are rehearsing a production of HECUBA by Euripides. On the day they open the play, Dorothea gets the news that the Bread Factory will lose an essential piece of their funding. The beautiful opening night performance of HECUBA plays to a tiny audience. Brokenhearted, Dorothea and Greta must decide whether to give up their work at the Bread Factory because their community and support has disappeared, or to continue in their struggle to build community through art.
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AN L.A. MINUTE Starring Gabriel Bryne Opens in Theaters on Friday [Trailer]
An L.A. Minute, starring Gabriel Byrne as a mega-rich, mega-famous, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and blockbuster movie producer, opens August 24 in Los Angeles and New York, with a national rollout to follow.
Gabriel Byrne stars as the successful Ted Gould, problem is, overwhelming success has turned him into a mega-hack, and he knows it. His misery and self-loathing makes him treat everyone in his life with disrespect, and when Ted meets performance artist Velocity (Kiersey Clemons), she rocks his 1% world. An L.A. Minute is a satirical look at fame, success, the star-making machinery and the karma that attaches itself to all those who worship at the altar of celebrity. But, as is often the case in real life, what you see is not exactly what you get.
n L.A. Minute was directed by Daniel Adams and co-written by Adams and former editor of National Lampoon Magazine, Larry ‘Ratso’ Sloman. Sloman is best known for his collaboration with radio personality Howard Stern’s two best-selling books, Private Parts and Miss America. Daniel Adams is an award-winning American feature film director best known for directing and writing the popular films “The Lightkeepers,” starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner, and “The Golden Boys,” starring David Carradine, Bruce Dern, Rip Torn, Charles Durning, and Mariel Hemingway.
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WATCH Chance the Rapper in Horror Film SLICE Trailer
Chance the Rapper makes his big-screen debut in the horror film Slice, the story of a ghost, a werewolf, and a pretty shitty pizza place. The film from director Austin Vesely, co-stars Zazie Beets, Paul Scheer, Rae Gray, and Joe Keery.
In a spooky small town, when a slew of pizza delivery boys are slain on the job, two daring survivors (Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz and Chance the Rapper in a wild film debut) set out to catch the culprits behind the cryptic crime spree. Slice is Director Austin Vesely’s first feature film after helming music videos for Chance’s “Sunday Candy” and “Angels.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5LUKX97bNA
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2018 HollyShorts Film Festival Awards – Guy Nattiv’s SKIN Wins Best Short Film
Skin Directed by Guy Nattiv took the top prize for Best Short Film at the 14th edition of the Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival Awards Ceremony last night hosted by Gabrielle Loren. Grand Jury Prize went to Souls of Totality Directed by Richard Raymond. Best Director went to Randall Christopher for The Driver Is Red. Best Short Shot on Film went to Trapeze USA by Mark Anthony Green. The Panavision Future Filmmaker Award went to Daniel Drummond for A Foreman. The HollyShorts 2018 Screenplay Competition Winner Presented by Seattle Film Summit went to Best Seller by Nora Kirkpatrick.
The 15th Anniversary of HollyShorts will take place on August 8-17, 2019 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters. The festival begins taking early bird submissions for next year’s festival on September 23, 2018.
HollyShorts Awards 2018 Full Winners List
Best Action Mascarpone Jonas Riemer Best Animation The Driver Is Red Randall Christopher Best Cinematographer The Other End Of The Earth Aaron Grasso Best Comedy Must Kill Karl Joe Kicak Best Coming Of Age Melody Bernard Kordieh Best Diversity Diwa Aina Dumlao, Bru Muller Best Documentary Hula Girl Amy Hill, Chris Riess Best Drama Phone Duty Lenar Kamalov Best Editing The Sermon Paco Sweetman Best Female Director Magic ’85 Annika Kurnick Best Horror Bite Size Horror Andrew Laurich, Anthony Melton, Ben Franklin, Chris Leone, Jack Bishop, Jerome Sable, John Ross, Justin Nijm, Michael Thelin, Rob Savage, Toby Meakins Best International Matria Alvaro Gago Diaz Best LGBT Pop Rox Nate Trinrud Best Music Video Sea Thor Brenne Best Narrative A Drowning Man Mahdi Fleifel Best Period Piece Cypher Lawrence Le Lam Best Produced Deer Boy Paweł Kosuń, Agnieszka Janowska Best Romance Fill Your Heart With French Fries Tamar Glezerman Best Sci-Fi Paleonaut Eric McEver Best Screenplay 1. Best Seller – Nora Kirkpatrick 2. Melville – Jeremy Storey 3. Conviction – Nino Mancuso Best Student Falling Ewen Wright Best Thriller Baghead Alberto Corredor Best TV Pickup Jeremiah Kipp Best VFX UI Soon We Will All Be One Johannes Mücke, Patrick Sturm Best VR A Yosemite Welcome… Kevin Pontuti Best Web Series Little Italy, LA Adriano Valentini Honorable Mention Magic Alps Andrea Brusa, Marco Scotu Kodak Honorable Mention Always Remember Me Nell Teare Best Panavision Future Filmmaker Award A Foreman Daniel Drummond Best Director The Driver Is Red Randall Christopher Best Grand Jury Souls Of Totality Richard Raymond Best Short Film Prize Skin Guy Nattiv
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Magical Touching Documentary 306 HOLLYWOOD Sets September Release Date [Video]
306 Hollywood is described as a touching and formally audacious film, directed by sister-brother artists and filmmakers Elan and Jonathan Bogarín which was the opening night film of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section (and the first documentary ever to be selected for the program). 306 Hollywood will open in New York on Friday, September 28 at the Quad Cinema with a national rollout to follow.
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306 Hollywood by Elan Bogarín and Jonathan Bogarín[/caption]
When Elan and Jonathan lose their beloved grandmother, Annette, they face a profound question: When a loved one dies, what do we do with the things they leave behind? Turning documentary on its head, the Bogaríns embark on a magical-realist journey to discover who their grandmother really was, transforming her cluttered New Jersey home of 71 years into a visually exquisite ruin where tchotchkes become artifacts, and the siblings become archaeologists. With help from physicists, curators and archivists—and the added inspiration of a decade of interviews with the vivacious octogenarian herself—they excavate the extraordinary universe contained in Annette’s home. 306 Hollywood playfully transforms the dusty fragments of an unassuming life into an epic metaphor for the nature of time, memory and history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-biFuX4td4
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Watch Trailer for Powerful Documentary CITY OF JOY, Premieres September 7 on Netflix
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City of Joy[/caption]
Netflix has released the trailer for City of Joy, directed by first-time director Madeleine Gavin, that follows the first class of women at a revolutionary leadership center in eastern Congo called City of Joy. The documentary will launch globally on Netflix on September 7, 2018.
City of Joy follows the unlikely friendship that develops between Congolese doctor Dr. Denis Mukwege (2016 Nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize), The Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler, and a charismatic Congolese human rights activist who join forces to create a safe haven for women survivors in the middle of violence-torn Eastern Congo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNy0MG_iy0Y
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Watch New Trailer + Poster for Pistol-Packing South African Western FIVE FINGERS OF MARSEILLES
The pistol-packing acclaimed South African western Five Fingers for Marseilles which is set for release in US theaters on Friday, September 7, 2018, has released a new trailer and poster. Five Fingers for Marseilles, from filmmaker Michael Matthews and screenwriter Sean Drummond, is described as a thrilling western set against the backdrop of post-Apartheid South Africa.
The residents of the colonial town of Marseilles are under the thumb of police oppression and only the young rebels known as the Five Fingers are willing to stand up to them. Their battle is just, until Tau kills two policemen and flees the scene. The remaining rebels disband while the banished Tau resorts to a life of crime. Twenty years later, now known as feared outlaw The Lion of Marseilles, he is released from prison. He returns home, desiring only peace and to reconnect with those he left behind. The battle for South Africa’s freedom has been won, and former comrades-in-arms are in prominent positions as mayor, police chief, and pastor. But it quickly becomes clear to Tau that Marseilles is caught in the grip of a vicious new threat — and he must reconstitute the Five Fingers to fight frontier justice. Standing against former allies and new enemies, the re-formed Five Fingers saddle up and ride out, and put their lives at risk to save their beloved Marseilles.
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Watch New Trailer + Poster for Pablo Solarz’s THE LAST SUIT
The new trailer and poster is here for The Last Suit, the award-winning charming, funny film from Argentine director Pablo Solarz about an elderly Holocaust survivor who decides to undertake a trip from Argentina to Poland to tie up some unfinished business. The Last Suit will open in theaters on Friday, September 21 in New York, followed by Los Angeles on Friday, September 28, and wider national release to follow.
At 88, Abraham Bursztein (Miguel Ángel Solá) is seeing his place in the world rapidly disappear. His kids have sold his Buenos Aires residence, set him up to move to a retirement home, and disagree on how to handle his fading health. But Abraham survived the Holocaust, made a successful life in a foreign land, and isn’t about to quietly fade away. Instead, he plots a secret one-way trip to Poland, where he plans to find the Christian friend who saved him from certain death at the end of World War II, and to keep his promise to return one day.
With its klezmer-driven score, evocative cinematography and fleet pacing, THE LAST SUIT approaches its weighty themes with a light touch that illuminates a serious story. And in its mix of Spanish, Yiddish, German and Polish it is a globe-trotting surprise, a late-in-life road movie with planes, trains and heart.
Trailer
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Vivienne Westwood Documentary WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST on DVD on 9/11 [Trailer]
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Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist[/caption]
She helped create the look of British punk rock in the 1970s – then went on to become a global fashion innovator. Now the amazing and unpredictable life story of Vivienne Westwood is told in a must-see new film: WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST. It will be released by Greenwich Entertainment DVD on September 11, 2018.
With exclusive, unprecedented access, director Lorna Tucker’s WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST is the first film to encompass the remarkable story of Vivienne’s life, her fashion, her personality, her activism and her cultural importance.
Since igniting the punk movement with ex-partner and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Dame Vivienne Westwood has been redefining British fashion for over 40 years, and is responsible for creating many of the most distinctive looks of our time.
From the producers of the acclaimed documentaries Searching for Sugar Man, Listen to Me Marlon and Restrepo, WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST blends archive footage, beautifully crafted reconstruction and insightful interviews with Vivienne’s fascinating network of collaborators, guiding us on her journey from a childhood in postwar Derbyshire to the runways of Paris and Milan.
This is an intimate and poignant homage to one of the true cultural icons of our time, as she fights to maintain her brand’s integrity, her principles and her legacy in a business driven by consumerism, profit and global expansion.
Featuring supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, and former Vogue magazine editor-at-large André Leon Talley, the film was an Official Selection at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and its theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment coincided with New York Fashion Week.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST “A fascinating, involving glimpse of both who Westwood was back in the day and who she is at this particular moment in time,” while Anna Smith of Time Out called it “the perfect film to double bill Phantom Thread with.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2oF4wOnTS4