Spoor (Pokot) by Agnieszka Holland has been selected as Poland’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.
The film is based on Olga Tokarczuk’s best-selling novel “Drive Your Plough over the Bones of the Dead”, published in 2009; and stars Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Jakub Gierszał, Borys Szyc, Andrzej Grabowski, Tomasz Kot, Katarzyna Herman, Patricia Volny, Miroslav Krobot, Marcin Bosak, and Andrzej Konopka.
Spoor follows retired engineer Janina Duszejko, living in the Polish Sudeten mountains. One snowy winter night, she stumbles upon the dead body of her neighbor. The man, a poacher, had died a mysterious death. The only visible tracks around his house are roe deer hooves. Seeing the ineptitude of the police, Duszejko begins an unconventional investigation of her own.
Spoor (Pokot) had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where the film won the Silver Bear, the Alfred Bauer award for opening new perspectives in film art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96ZznajP5sFilms
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SPOOR is Poland’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Spoor (Pokot) by Agnieszka Holland has been selected as Poland’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.
The film is based on Olga Tokarczuk’s best-selling novel “Drive Your Plough over the Bones of the Dead”, published in 2009; and stars Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Jakub Gierszał, Borys Szyc, Andrzej Grabowski, Tomasz Kot, Katarzyna Herman, Patricia Volny, Miroslav Krobot, Marcin Bosak, and Andrzej Konopka.
Spoor follows retired engineer Janina Duszejko, living in the Polish Sudeten mountains. One snowy winter night, she stumbles upon the dead body of her neighbor. The man, a poacher, had died a mysterious death. The only visible tracks around his house are roe deer hooves. Seeing the ineptitude of the police, Duszejko begins an unconventional investigation of her own.
Spoor (Pokot) had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where the film won the Silver Bear, the Alfred Bauer award for opening new perspectives in film art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96ZznajP5s
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BARRAGE Starring Isabelle Huppert is Luxembourg’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Barrage directed by Laura Schroeder has been selected to represent Luxembourg in the 90th edition of the Academy Awards in the category “Foreign Language Film Award”.
This film, written by Laura Schroeder and the French novelist Marie Nimier, is a drama about three generations of women, and stars Lolita Chammah, Isabelle Huppert as well as Themis Pauwels. Luxembourg actors Charles Müller, Marja-Leena Juncker and Luc Schiltz complete the cast.
Barrage celebrated its world premiere in February 2017 in the Forum section of the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival – it is the first feature film of a Luxembourg filmmaker hosted in official selection at the Festival. The Luxemburgish premiere took place in March 2017 at the Luxembourg City Film Festival. The film was also presented at the Vilnius Film Festival (Lithuania), the Titanic International Film Festival Budapest (Hungary), the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (Argentina), the Jeonju International Film Festival (South Korea) Jove – Valencia International Film Festival (Spain) and the New Horizons International Film Festival (Wroclaw, Poland). Barrage was released in Luxembourg and French cinemas on July 19, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENJUiV378Aw
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Netflix to Release Chris Smith’s Documentary on Jim Carrey’s Portrayal of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon
Netflix will release director Chris Smith’s deep dive into actor Jim Carrey’s time spent portraying famed and complicated comedian Andy Kaufman. The film titled “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” use approximately 100 hours of footage shot on the set of Man on the Moon documenting Carrey’s transformation into Kaufman for four months.
In 1999 Milos Forman cast Jim Carrey to play cult comedian Andy Kaufman in his biopic Man on the Moon. What followed was an intensely bizarre and emotional film production. Surrounded by Kaufman’s friends and family on set, Carrey thoroughly “became” Andy and, alternately, Tony Clifton, Kaufman’s obnoxious lounge singer alter ego. Much like Kaufman’s comedy, Carrey’s acting took on a performance art quality during the film. He never broke character on set, the cast and the crew referred to him as either ‘Andy’ or ‘Tony’ depending on who he was embodying (he had created complete and separate identities for each).
Jim Carrey earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for the performance, but many of the production’s most Kaufmanesque moments played out behind the scenes, thankfully captured on video by Andy’s former girlfriend, Lynne Margulies and former writing partner, Bob Zmuda. In Jim & Andy, Carrey looks back at the resulting footage 18 years later, reflecting on how he and Andy came up in oddly parallel universes, his experience channelling Andy and Tony and more broadly the spiritual journey of his career.
The VICE Documentary Films production premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and is produced by Academy Award – winner Spike Jonze, and VICE Films’ Danny Gabai and Brendan Fitzgerald.
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FROST is Lithuania’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Frost (Šerkšnas) directed by Sarunas Bartas has been selected as Lithuania’s submission for best foreign-language film at the upcoming 2018 Oscars.
The film that premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes in 2017, stars young Lithuanian newcomers Mantas Jančiauskas and Lyja Maknavičiūtė. The cast also includes the French star Vanessa Paradis and the famous Polish actor Andrzej Chyra.
Filmed during a complicated expedition to the front lines of the Ukraine, Frost tells the story of Inga and Rokas carrying aid from Vilnius to the Ukraine. At the line of engagement in Donetsk, the young couple, raised in the independent Lithuania without the experience of war, quickly realizes the feelings of people in the face of hatred, aggression, violence and ruin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93acrZ2dnqY
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SONG OF GRANITE is Ireland’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Song of Granite has been selected by Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) as Ireland’s submission for the Foreign Language category at the 90th Academy Awards. There were three titles eligible this year, Song of Granite, Rocky Ros Muc and Aithrí (Penance).
Directed by Pat Collins (Silence), ‘Song of Granite’ premiered to critical acclaim at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year.
Acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins brings the dramatic life story of legendary seannós singer Joe Heaney to the screen, an audacious exploration of the man and his music. With an approach that marries traditional narrative episodes with documentary footage, the film celebrates the music Joe Heaney created while painting an unflinching portrait of Heaney, the man. Enigmatic and complex, Joe Heaney was one of the greats of traditional Irish singing. Shaped by the myths, fables and songs of his upbringing in the west of Ireland, his emergence as a gifted artist came at a personal cost. Featuring performances from Lisa O’Neill, Damien Dempsey, Seamus Begley and sean nós singers Micheál O’Confhaola and Pól Ó Ceannabháin, the film is an intense exploration of music and song.
Áine Moriarty – IFTA CEO said: “The Irish Academy is delighted that this hauntingly beautiful and lyrical film from Pat Collins will represent Ireland in the Oscar Foreign Language contest – with Richard Kendrick’s masterful cinematography, Ireland’s picturesque landscape and unique culture of song and story takes centre stage, as the story of legendary singer Joe Heaney is skilfully brought to life – a story that will resonate with many immigrants worldwide from diverse cultural backgrounds.”
Pat Collins – Director and co-writer of ‘Song of Granite’ said: “Joe Heaney, the subject of this film, was a great teacher and advocate for the Irish traditional singing and taught singing to students all over America. He remains one of the great traditional singers. I think he would have liked the notion of a film with sean nós singing at its core representing Ireland in an international competition like the Oscars.”
Alan Maher and Jessie Fisk of Marcie Films “We are so proud that Song of Granite has been selected as the Irish entry for the Foreign Language Oscar. The film’s journey to date has been a real labour of love and it makes us all so happy to receive this very special recognition”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBbfPpWPuoE
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BLACK LIVES MATTER Documentary Tackles South African Miners Working Conditions | Trailer
Black Lives Matter is a documentary on the tens-of-thousands of miners working and living in abysmal conditions across South Africa. The film has been selected to screen at the Montreal International Black Film Festival, and has been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature Category.
The film that screened last year at the Durban International Film Festival puts the Canadian based mining firm Ivanhoe in the spotlight, taking the Marikana Massacre as its starting point, but digging deep into the history of the mining sector as well as the political backstory that led up to the tragedy.
Director Joseph Oesi, a South African filmmaker and TV journalist, was moved to produce the film after witnessing the devastating events of August 16th 2012 play out on TV screens across South Africa and the world. He explains his motivation for making the film, “South Africa has certainly set a course, fueled by a betrayal to the original course set by the original struggle heroes and to the Freedom Charter. Mining, at the heart of the country’s economy, has underpinned the course in the interest of big business. In essence the struggles, sufferings from Colonialism and Apartheid still persist in modern day South Africa to the disappointment of the vast majority.”
Black Lives Matter, powerfully demonstrates that even since this defining moment, nothing has changed for most miners, and mining communities across South Africa. Oesi explains the message of the film further, ““Black Lives Matter explores how the mineral wealth, rightfully belonging to the people of South Africa, has been sold to capitalist interests for the enrichment of a few elite and at the expense of the country. It also shows how traditional communities have been divided by this process. The corruption at all levels of society impacts not only on the moral fabric of our society, but also on the working class poor.”
In South Africa, 22 years ago, the African National Congress came to power. This, many believed, would signify an end to racism and oppression, and our people would prosper. But today inequality and economic disempowerment are still rife. The corruption and power grabbing at all levels of society impacts not only on the moral fabric of our society but, more importantly, on the working class poor.
The massacre of 34 striking mineworkers at a mine called Marikana brought these issues into sharp focus. Now, in an area called Mokopane in South Africa’s Limpopo province, tensions between the community and the mining companies, and communities and their traditional leaders, seem set to explode, with equally dire consequences. Black Lives Matter explores how the mineral wealth, rightfully belonging to the people of South Africa, has been sold to capitalist interests for the enrichment of a few elite and at the expense of the country – and how traditional communities have been divided in this process.
This film takes us on a journey through three rural communities – the Mogales, the Kekanas, and the Mapelas. What they have in common is that the richest platinum bearing reef in the world runs underneath their land – and that international mining companies have made dubious deals with traditional leaders whose very legitimacy is questioned by the communities they supposedly serve.
https://vimeo.com/168244259
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SUMMER 1993 is Spain’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993), the debut feature film of director Carla Simon, has been selected by the Spanish film academy to represent Spain in the best foreign-language film category at the 90th Academy Awards.
The story is inspired by the director Carla Simon’s own experiences as a child. Summer 1993 premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival where it won Best First Feature Award.
In the summer 1993, following the death of her parents, six years old Frida moves from Barcelona to the Catalan province to live with her aunt and uncle, who are now her new legal guardians. The country life is a challenge for Frida – time passes differently in her new home and the nature that surrounds her is mysterious and estranging. She now has a little sister for whom she has to take care of and has to deal with new feelings, such as jealousy. Often, Frida is naively convinced that running away would be the best solution to her problems. Yet, the family does what it can to achieve a fragile new balance and bring normality to their life. Occasional family outings to a local fiesta or a swimming pool, cooking or listening to jazz in the garden bring them moments of happiness. Slowly, Frida realizes that she is there to stay and has to adapt to the new environment. Before the season is over, she has to cope with her emotions and her parents have to learn to love her as their own daughter.
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Rafi Pitts’ Immigration Drama SOY NERO Opens in Theaters on September 29 | Trailer
Director Rafi Pitts makes his English-language debut with Soy Nero, a timely drama about U.S. immigration policy and war in the Middle East. The film will open in theaters on September 29.
Soy Nero features a cast of rising stars including Johnny Ortiz (McFarland, USA, American Crime), Darrell Britt-Gibson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 20th Century Women) and Aml Ameen (The Maze Running, star of Idris Elba’s upcoming directorial debut Yardie) along with veteran actors Rory Cochrane (Hostiles, Argo) and Michael Harney (Orange is the New Black).
After several failed attempts to cross the border without papers, Mexican teenager Nero (Ortiz) finally succeeds in making it back to Los Angeles. He begins to realize the difficulty of leading a regular life as an illegal immigrant so he decides to enlist in the US Army as a “Green Card Soldier”, a short cut to citizenship. Now halfway around the world, Nero guards an Iraqi border for the US Army keeping out those who pose a threat to American interests abroad.
Soy Nero is the first film to take on the story of foreign-born soldiers in the Unite States. The US has provided a path to citizenship through the military since the Vietnam War. The program works, however, some 3,000 foreign-born soldiers have been deported.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB0lgADrBb8
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Watch Benedict Cumberbatch in Electrifying First Trailer for THE CURRENT WAR
The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for The Current War, in which Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) risk everything in a pitched battle to decide who will light America and usher in the new century. The film directed by Alfonso Gomez‐Rejon will open in theaters on November 24, 2017.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse, The Current War is the epic story of the cutthroat competition between the greatest inventors of the industrial age over whose electrical system would power the new century. Backed by J.P. Morgan, Edison dazzles the world by lighting Manhattan. But Westinghouse, aided by Nikola Tesla, has seen fatal flaws in Edison’s direct current design. Igniting a war of currents, Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on risky and dangerous alternating current. Directed by Alfonso Gomez‐Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and written by playwright Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of our Parents), The Current War also stars Katherine Waterston, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Matthew Macfadyen, and Tuppence Middleton.
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Showtime Releases ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS Trailer + Poster, Doc to Debut at Toronto Fest
Ahead of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, Showtime has released the trailer and poster for Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, directed by Oscar-winner Lili Fini Zanuck (Rush, Driving Miss Daisy).
Following the festival, the film will make its world television debut exclusively on Showtime on Saturday, February 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Also making its debut at TIFF this weekend is the new Showtime Documentary Film Love Means Zero, which presents an in-depth look at famed tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and will premiere on Showtime in 2018.
Told through his own words and songs, Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars is a moving and surprising film about one of the great artists of the modern era – a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and the only artist ever inducted three times into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Spanning more than half a century of legendary popular musical innovation, the film contextualizes Eric Clapton’s role in contemporary music and cultural history. This rare and deeply intimate film reflects on Clapton’s traumatic childhood, his long and difficult struggle with drugs and alcohol, the tragic loss of his son and how he always found his inner strength and healing in music.
The documentary features extensive interviews with Clapton himself, along with his family, friends, musical collaborators, contemporaries and heroes – including late music icons B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison. Incorporating exclusive access to Clapton’s extensive personal archive, audiences will see the sheer raw talent and ambition that was blighted by personal tragedy, sacrifice and addiction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrAvDFmE9i4
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THE FIXER is Romania’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Adrian Sitaru’s The Fixer / Fixeur has been selected by Romania to represent the country in the best foreign-language film category at the 90th Academy Awards.
The film starring Tudor Aaron Istodor, Mehdi Nebbou, Nicolas Wanczycki, Diana Spatarescu, Adrian Titieni, world premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
In The Fixer, Romanian-born Radu Patru (Tudor Istodor) is a trainee at a prestigious French news network. Serving as a translator and general problem solver, or “fixer,” for the headlining journalists during his trial period, he’s looking to make his big break. He sees his opportunity when two underage Romanian prostitutes are repatriated from France, creating an international scandal. Taking advantage of his language skills and local connections, Radu is prepared to do whatever it takes to interview one of the young girls. But as he ventures into tricky moral ground, he must stop to ask himself if, as an aspiring journalist, he can live with the consequences of his actions, and if, as a father, he’s setting a good example for his son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTMWK6YsWY8
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AMERIKA SQUARE is Greece’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Amerika Square (Plateia Amerikis) directed by Yannis Sakaridis is Greece’s submission for the Best Foreign-language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The film premiered last year at the Busan International Film Festival, and has won numerous awards including the FIPRESCI Prize at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Best Feature at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.
Filmmaker Yannis Sakaridis presents a clever satirical view of the Greek migrant crisis by exploring both xenophobic and sympathetic sentiments of Greeks towards foreigners escaping the war and hardships that engulfed their native lands. Told from three different points of view, the story follow through to an upbeat, yet realistic and plausible ending.
Nakos is an unemployed inhabitant of the small neighborhood of Amerika Square who grows increasingly disgruntled at the influx of Middle Eastern migrants coming to Athens. Much of Nakos’ frustration stems from his inability to do anything about the new demographics of his neighborhood, a situation he spends most of his time brooding over instead of undertaking measures to address the much bigger problem at hand – his dead-end life. The pathetic Nakos has few close allies – his parents with whom he lives and childhood friend Billy, the selfless tattoo artist next door in whom Nakos confides his hatred of immigrants. What Nakos does not confide in Billy is a sinister plan to eliminate some of the migrants utilizing a desperate measure that accomplishes a chain reaction only resulting in the loss of Nakos’ few remaining friends. Billy, a lost soul himself who has wittingly and unwittingly impacted countless other lost souls through his line of work, seizes upon an opportunity to help two migrants escape from Athens; one of which a beautiful African singer with whom he falls in love and sees that she escapes to France at great cost to himself; the other a weary Syrian doctor escaping the war in Aleppo and trying desperately to reunite with his 9 year old daughter who has been smuggled to Germany ahead of him.
In the end, sympathy and selflessness resonate more brightly than intolerance and Nakos finds his anti-migrant attitude to have cost him his only allies and the shreds of pride and dignity that had been clutching all along.