Brian Oakes’ documentary JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, about the life, death and legacy of journalist James Foley, who was murdered by ISIS in 2014, will have its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition of the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, and will debut Saturday, February 6 on HBO.
On Thanksgiving Day 2012, American photojournalist James “Jim” Foley was kidnapped in Syria and went missing for two years before the infamous video of his public execution sent shockwaves and introduced much of the world to ISIS. JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, by close childhood friend Brian Oakes, tells the story of his life through intimate interviews with his family, friends and fellow journalists – while fellow hostages reveal never-before-heard details of his captivity with a chilling immediacy that builds suspense. Made with unparalleled access, JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY is a harrowing chronicle of bravery, compassion and pain at the dawn of America’s war with ISIS.
“I made this film to carry on the stories that Jim needed us to know,” says director Brian Oakes. “It’s important that we understand the significant role of today’s conflict journalists and why they risk their lives to tell the world how bad it can be.”
The film will include the original song “The Empty Chair,” by Academy Award(R)-nominated artists J. Ralph and Sting.Films
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JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY Documentary to World Premiere at Sundance Film Fest and Debut on HBO
Brian Oakes’ documentary JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, about the life, death and legacy of journalist James Foley, who was murdered by ISIS in 2014, will have its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition of the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, and will debut Saturday, February 6 on HBO.
On Thanksgiving Day 2012, American photojournalist James “Jim” Foley was kidnapped in Syria and went missing for two years before the infamous video of his public execution sent shockwaves and introduced much of the world to ISIS. JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, by close childhood friend Brian Oakes, tells the story of his life through intimate interviews with his family, friends and fellow journalists – while fellow hostages reveal never-before-heard details of his captivity with a chilling immediacy that builds suspense. Made with unparalleled access, JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY is a harrowing chronicle of bravery, compassion and pain at the dawn of America’s war with ISIS.
“I made this film to carry on the stories that Jim needed us to know,” says director Brian Oakes. “It’s important that we understand the significant role of today’s conflict journalists and why they risk their lives to tell the world how bad it can be.”
The film will include the original song “The Empty Chair,” by Academy Award(R)-nominated artists J. Ralph and Sting.
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BASE Jumping Documentary ‘SUNSHINE SUPERMAN’ to Premiere on CNN | TRAILER
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, the immersive love story of Carl and Jean Boenish, the husband and wife team who invented BASE jumping – and their devotion to the freedom and beauty of foot-launched human flight – will make its global television premiere on CNN/U.S. Sunday, Jan. 17 at 9:00pm and 12:00am Eastern. The CNN Films broadcast will be presented with limited commercial interruption by Volkswagen.
Carl Boenish, a trained electrical engineer and experienced skydiver, as well as an innovator of film techniques and film technology, zealously chronicled the pioneering days of BASE in the early 1980’s in exquisitely beautiful 16mm film. Boenish sometimes mounted cameras to his head and the heads of his small band of fellow fliers in order to document a bird’s-eye view of their jumps. Director, writer, and producer Marah Strauch interweaves this archival footage along with new photography and reenacted events (recreated from the Boenishes’ personal audio diary recordings), for a visually stunning feature film debut. Strauch and producer / editor Eric Bruggemann, develop an intimate portrait of the Boenishes as risk-takers who passionately loved both each other and BASE.
BASE, which stands for “building,” “antenna,” “span,” and “earth” was, in its experimental early days, initially opposed by the U.S. Parachute Association. Those first jumps also brought inquisitive fame and attention to the novel sport – along with a risk of arrest. Phil Smith (BASE #1, the first person to ever successfully complete a series of jumps from all four types of objects – in Houston, TX), Phil Mayfield (BASE #2), and the Boenishes (BASE #3 and #4), describe first-person accounts in the film, adding insight into their preparation and collective genius. They also vividly recall their frustrations with the legal obstacles to their adventures, taking viewers on a thrilling emotional ride of beauty and suspense. Cameos of Phil Donahue, Pat Sajak, and Kathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford) yield a glimpse into the excitement of the followers and fans of BASE that some found difficult to understand.
At the pinnacle of Carl’s and Jean’s extraordinary achievements, they together broke the BASE jumping Guinness World Record in 1984 by jumping from Trollveggen, ‘Troll Wall,’ along the western coast of Norway’s Trolltindene mountain range. Incredibly, within hours, that astonishing triumph was followed by heartbreaking disaster.
“We want to feel like we’re astronauts walking on the Moon… .it just gives us a feeling of power, and of joy. And, we want to share it with the world… ,” says Carl Boenish in the film, describing the allure and exhilaration of BASE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TiG1swMbNM
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was produced by Scissor Kick Films, Flimmer Films, and Submarine Entertainment. It was executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and was exhibited nationally by Magnolia Pictures and internationally by Universal Pictures.
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“Heroin: Cape Cod, USA,” An Unvarnished Look at the Heroin Epidemic Sweeping America, to Debut on HBO
HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA described as a cinema-verité look at the heroin epidemic currently sweeping America’s small towns and communities, focusing on eight young heroin addicts in idyllic Cape Cod, Mass. Directed by Academy Award(R) winner Steven Okazaki (HBO’s “White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”), will debuts MONDAY, December 28 (9:00-10:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
There has been an alarming rise in opiate addiction in the U.S. recently. A startling 80% of heroin users started with prescription painkillers following an accident or surgery, and as more states legalize marijuana, Mexican drug cartels are replacing lost profits by pushing cheap, potent heroin into new markets.
Known for its quaint villages, lighthouses and beaches, the picturesque summer vacation destination of Cape Cod has been struck with an epidemic of young people hooked on affordable, easily acquired heroin. This harrowing film takes an unsparing look at the lives of eight heroin addicts in their early 20s, living a seemingly endless existence of getting high while cycling through stages of rehab, recovery and relapse.
Falmouth, Mass. is a typical community in a state that has lately seen an average of nearly four heroin deaths per day. The individuals spotlighted in HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA, all of whom live in the area, talk candidly about their heroin habit and their community, where, according to one of them, “either you work or you do drugs.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxpGYyHOtvc
Subjects featured in HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA:
Jessica, 21 years old, was severely injured when she was hit by a drunk driver at age 18, requiring 250 stitches to her face. Prescribed opiate pain medications, she soon became addicted to heroin, saying that when she gets high, her suicidal and depressed feelings disappear.
Ryan, 25, who prided himself on being anti-drug as an adolescent, was prescribed pain medication after a motorcycle accident. His mother says “everything changed” when he stopped receiving medication from the doctor and started obtaining pills illegally. Living with his parents, Ryan says that if they kicked him out of the house, he would “probably be doing a lot better than I am today,” although he feels they are scared he will die if they do.
Marissa, 22, was 14 years old when she tried her friend’s pain medication, which led to heroin addiction. While many addicts steal valuables to support their habit, Marissa said she was never the type to steal, but made money from prostitution and stripping, because she’d rather hurt herself than others. For years Marissa cheated death, thanks to Narcan, an opiate antidote that paramedics and other emergency workers can use to reverse the life-threatening effects of a heroin overdose, to which she ultimately succumbed.
Nicole (“Colie”), 25, admits herself to a detox center, deciding to get high first, noting, “Everyone gets high before they go to detox. It’s like a freebie.” Director Okazaki catches up with Colie after she has emerged from rehab and finds glimmers of hope in this story of devastation.
Daniel, 28, always had addictive tendencies, and started doing opiates for fun. Depressed about his life, which he finds repetitive, Daniel deals drugs to support his heroin habit, driving 160 miles to Boston every night to see his supplier.
Arianna, 23, was 12 or 13 when she first tried marijuana and alcohol. She lived in a sober house with her two young children, and said she went to many treatment centers. Arianna stopped using heroin when she found out she was pregnant and was clean for three years, but then suffered a fatal overdose.
Benjamin, 21, started doing heroin in high school. His family knew nothing until his brother discovered tracks on his arms after asking why he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt in the summer heat. Now living in a sober house, Benjamin has been clean for 33 days, but has “drug dreams” and thinks about getting high every day.
Cassie, 24, was prescribed opiates after a soccer injury, which led to her heroin addiction. Her boyfriend Daniel, whom she describes as her “running partner,” is also an addict.
HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA visits the Parents Supporting Parents Group of Cape Cod, where parents describe raising their kids in happy homes, only to see everything change when their sons and daughters started abusing pain medication. Receiving invaluable support from other parents in the same situation, they share feelings of co-dependency and discuss the financial burden of having a child cycling in and out of detox.
“There are very few people I met in Massachusetts who didn’t have a connection to this crisis,” says director Steven Okazaki. “It has taken a very real, and wide toll in a way that I did not see 20 years ago. I think this documentary could have been made in many communities around New England and across the country.”
Steven Okazaki is the recipient of numerous honors, including an Academy Award(R) (Best Documentary Short Subject for “Days of Waiting,” 1991); three other Academy Award(R) nominations, for “Unfinished Business,” CINEMAX’s “The Mushroom Club” and HBO’s “The Conscience of Nhem En”; an Emmy(R) (Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking for HBO’s “White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” 2008); and a Peabody Award for “Days of Waiting.” Okazaki has produced and/or directed numerous other projects for HBO, including “Black Tar Heroin” and “Rehab.”
HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA is produced, directed and edited by Steven Okazaki; co-producers, Lise Balk King, Vanessa Carr; camera, Steven Okazaki, Vanessa Carr; additional camera, Greg Knowles, Lise Balk King; music by Thomas Carnacki. For HBO: senior producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
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Sandra Oh, Anne Heche and Alicia Silverstone Star In Indie Film CATFIGHT
MPI Media Group has wrapped production on CATFIGHT, a “blistering” action-comedy written and directed by Onur Tukel (Applesauce, Summer of Blood and Richard’s Wedding), and featuring an all-star cast including Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy and Sideways), Anne Heche (Hung, Psycho and Six Days Seven Nights), and Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, Beauty Shop, The Crush).
CATFIGHT is a jet-black comedy about two bitter rivals whose grudge match spans a lifetime. Struggling outsider artist Ashley Miller (Anne Heche) and wealthy housewife Veronica Salt (Sandra Oh) were close in college, but haven’t seen each other since. When they find themselves attending the same glitzy birthday party, verbal barbs lead to fisticuffs and an all-out brawl that will keep these two locked in combat for years to come. Alicia Silverstone will play Ashley’s love interest, Lisa.
“I expected the lead performances to be brilliant but what they did blew my mind,”says Tukel of Sandra Oh and Anne Heche. “The fight scenes are also insanely intense. We’ve made a very funny comedy here, but it’s also tragically dark. I’m so proud of what the cast and crew accomplished. It was so collaborative that I feel like I didn’t do much work at all. I just sat back and watched a bunch of young, passionate people pull this movie together. It was magical.”
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Spanish Black Comedy MY BIG NIGHT Set for April 2016 Release Date in U.S.
Álex de la Iglesia’s (Witching & Bitching, The Last Circus) ensemble black comedy MY BIG NIGHT (MI GRAN NOCHE) will be released in the U.S. via Breaking Glass.
In MY BIG NIGHT, the backstage preparations for a New Year’s Eve TV spectacular become a FLASHPOINT for comic mayhem. Breaking Glass is planning a theatrical release for April 2016.
MY BIG NIGHT stars Spanish superstar Raphael, Mario Casas (Witching & Bitching, “The Boat”), Blanca Suarez (The Skin I Live In, I’m So Excited) and Hugo Silva (Witching & Bitching). MY BIG NIGHT premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. The film went on to play San Sebastian International Film Festival and Opening Night at Miami International Film Festival.
It’s only October, but the network’s annual black-tie New Year’s Eve spectacular has already been in production for a grueling week and a half, and setbacks continue to accumulate. A falling crane has just taken out an extra, and the show’s hosts are at each other’s throats. Oversexed pop sensation Adán (Mario Casas) discovers he’s been duped by a semen thief, while legendary divo Alphonso (real-life singer Raphael) is stalked by an armed and unstable would-be songwriter (Jaime Ordóñez) who’s disgruntled after years of rejection. Meanwhile, just outside the studio, riot police move in as demonstrators demand the arrest of the shows corrupt producer (Santiago Segura). My Big Night is a frenetic brew of Fellini, Altman and Almodóvar, building steadily toward a finale that’s a grand collapse into utter chaos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBahnqECT7o
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Julie Delpy’s French Romantic Comedy, ‘Lolo’, To Be Released in The U.S. | TRAILER
The French romantic comedy, Lolo, written and directed by and starring two-time Academy Award®-nominee Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise), will be released in the U.S. on March 11, 2016.
In Lolo, Violette (Delpy), a 40-year-old workaholic with a career in the fashion industry, falls for a provincial computer geek, Jean-Rene (acclaimed comedy actor Dany Boon, star of French box-office phenomenon Welcome to the Sticks), while on a spa retreat with her best friend. But Jean-Rene faces a major challenge: he must win the trust and respect of Violette’s teenage son, Lolo (Cesar Award-nominee Vincent Lacoste), who is determined to wreak havoc on the couple’s fledging relationship and remain his mother’s favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxqjG80VM1E
Lolo made its World Premiere at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and North American Premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
“I am beyond ecstatic that Lolo, a film that means so much to me, will be released theatrically in the U.S.,” said writer, director and star Julie Delpy. “As a filmmaker and actress, I have put my heart and soul into this film; I am so happy that I can share Lolo with American audiences.”
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COLLIDING DREAMS, Documentary about the Zionist Idea, Sets Release Date | TRAILER
COLLIDING DREAMS, a film by award-winning filmmakers Joseph Dorman (Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness and Arguing the World) and Oren Rudavsky (A Life Apart: Hasidism in America and Hiding and Seeking) will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinema in New York on February 19 and at Laemmle Royal and Town Center 5 in Los Angeles and at Regal Westpark in Irvine, CA on March 4th. A national release will follow.
COLLIDING DREAMS recounts the dramatic history of one of the most controversial, and urgently relevant political ideologies of the modern era. The century-old conflict in the Middle East continues to play a central role in world politics. And yet, amidst this fierce, often-lethal controversy, the Zionist dream of Jews for a homeland of their own remains little understood and its meanings often distorted. The documentary addresses that void with a gripping exploration of Zionism’s meaning, history and future. Told through the remarkable lives and voices of Jews and Palestinians living in the Middle East today, COLLIDING DREAMS weaves together past and present, ideas and passions, wars and peace talks, brilliant minds with the voices of ordinary citizens to develop a film portrait of unprecedented depth and sensitivity.
Few ideas in the modern era have had as momentous an impact on the world as Zionism. Born in the late 19th century, this seemingly utopian dream was meant to solve the age-old problem of anti-Semitism and to allow a place for Jewish life and culture to thrive in the modern world. Few could have envisioned its remarkable and rapid success: the creation in less than a century of a thriving democratic Jewish state. And yet despite its success, the very legitimacy of the Zionist Idea – and the State of Israel – are questioned more today than ever before. The debate over Israel — triggered by the latest war, or terrorist attack, or national election – is often guided by emotion rather than substance, by fear or anger rather than a thorough understanding of Zionism and its history.
Incorporating interviews with writers, politicians, activists, the young and the old, Israeli and Palestinian, together with rarely seen footage culled from archives all over the world, the film focuses on several critical moments in the history of Zionism: its origins in Europe; the early relations between Jews and Palestinians in turn of the century Palestine; the 1948 war known alternately as the War of Independence and the Nakba; the euphoria of the Jewish People and the devastation felt by Palestinians after Six Day War of 1967; the messianic West Bank Settlement Movement and the idealism of the Peace Movement; and the colliding forces among Jews, and between Jews and Palestinians today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UChvMGkjEg
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Complete List with TRAILERS of 9 Foreign Films Still in Race for Oscar
Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 88th Academy Awards®. Eighty films had originally been considered in the category.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Belgium, “The Brand New Testament,” (pictured above) Jaco Van Dormael, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_FFNL_jPHE
Colombia, “Embrace of the Serpent,” Ciro Guerra, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS73P3hZvPA
Denmark, “A War,” Tobias Lindholm, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qil14JEoPzU
Finland, “The Fencer,” Klaus Härö, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShMAkhyC6bY
France, “Mustang,” Deniz Gamze Ergüven, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5nyY8E6CPg
Germany, “Labyrinth of Lies,” Giulio Ricciarelli, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xU0Ywoww70
Hungary, “Son of Saul,” László Nemes, director;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7YvgRU15M8
Ireland, “Viva,” Paddy Breathnach, director;
Jordan, “Theeb,” Naji Abu Nowar, director.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnEd_WSGtWQ
Foreign Language Film nominations for 2015 are being determined in two phases.
The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 14. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.
The shortlist will be winnowed down to the category’s five nominees by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and London. They will spend Friday, January 8, through Sunday, January 10, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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Film Society of Lincoln Center Announces Lineup for ‘Neighboring Scenes’ Showcasing Contemporary Latin American Film
The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City announces Neighboring Scenes, a new showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema co-presented with Cinema Tropical. Opening the series is Benjamín Naishtat’s El Movimiento (pictured above), a stark, black-and-white snapshot of anarchy in 19th-century Argentina and follow-up to his acclaimed debut, History of Fear.
Other highlights include the 2015 Cannes Caméra d’Or winner, César Augusto Acevedo’s Land and Shade; the U.S. premiere of Arturo Ripstein’s Bleak Street, which has drawn comparisons to Luis Buñuel’s Mexican period; Rodrigo Plá’s Venice Horizons opener A Monster with a Thousand Heads; Pablo Larraín’s Silver Bear–winning The Club, Chile’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar; and more.
“It’s been some years since Latin American cinema ‘reemerged,’” said Programmer at Large Rachael Rakes. “Now, as the output from countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil continues to be some of the most compelling and engaged cinema today, new scenes are establishing themselves all across the map, showcasing fresh talent and ideas, and challenging the notion of an identifiable contemporary Latin American cinema. We’re pleased to highlight a few of the most impressive recent films from the region.”
FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
Opening Night
El Movimiento
Benjamín Naishtat, Argentina, 2015, DCP, 70m
Spanish with English subtitles
Continuing his preoccupation with violence and Argentina’s past, Benjamín Naishtat (History of Fear, a New Directors/New Films 2014 selection) dramatizes a crucial moment in that nation’s history characterized by political zealotry and terrorism. Pablo Cedrón portrays the fiery, unhinged leader of a mysterious militia (modeled on Confederacy-era dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas’s Mazorca) who wantonly roam the pampas in an effort to “purify” and unite society, killing and plundering settlers along the way. Characters emerge from and disappear into dark expanses—the film is masterfully shot in black and white—heightening its intense, chilling atmosphere. Funded by the Jeonju Digital Project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-U8MsPwlPU
Alexfilm
Pablo Chavarria Gutiérrez, Mexico, 2015, DCP, 60m
Spanish with English subtitles
Marked by a light touch and emphasizing openness over conventional, linear narrative, biologist-turned-filmmaker Pablo Chavarria Gutiérrez documents the rhythms of a man awaiting an important event that never comes. As he cooks breakfast, naps, paints, tries on sunglasses, and wanders through different rooms in his home, Chavarria Guitérrez lovingly frames every action in beautiful natural light, allowing each moment to flow to the next while maintaining its own transcendent essence. North American Premiere
Gulliver
María Alché, Argentina, 2015, DCP, 25m
Spanish with English subtitles
Flawlessly transitioning from a highly naturalistic family tale to something overtly surreal and back again, Gulliver captures the circumstances—imagined or not—of one of those evenings when siblings come to a deeper understanding of one another. After hanging out at home with their mom (Martín Rejtman regular Susana Pampin) and older sister Mariela (Agustina Muñoz), Agos and Renzo go to a raging party where Agos ends up drinking too much. Upon stepping outside to recover, the pair wander into a strange but familiar landscape, and begin to ask questions about the world and themselves.
Bleak Street / La calle de la amargura
Arturo Ripstein, Mexico/Spain, 2015, DCP, 99m
Spanish with English subtitles
Based on a true story, the latest feature by Arturo Ripstein is an unflinching look at the mean streets of El Defectuoso. Two prostitutes, Adela (Nora Velázquez) and Dora (Patricia Reyes Spíndola), are burdened by horrible marriages and financial problems stemming from their long-departed youth. In an attempt to make ends meet, they drug and rob dwarf twins (Juan Francisco Longoria and Guillermo López)—who themselves barely scrape by as doubles for professional luchadores. Ripstein masterfully contrasts the grittiness of alleyways and seedy apartments with gliding Steadicam cinematography, siding with neither the victims nor the perpetrators. A Leisure Time Features release. U.S. Premiere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-As8dQh70Xg
The Club / El Club
Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2015, DCP, 98m
Spanish with English subtitles
Pablo Larraín (director of No and Post Mortem) continues to explore the long shadows of Chile’s recent past with this quietly scathing film about the Catholic Church’s concealment of clerical misconduct. Four aging former priests peacefully live out their days together in a dumpy seaside town, focused on training their racing greyhound rather than doing penance for their assorted crimes. Their idyll is shattered when a fifth priest arrives and, confronted by one of his victims, commits suicide. A young priest begins an investigation into the retirees’ pasts, setting off a series of events that call into question faith, piety, and complicity. Winner of the Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlinale and Chile’s Oscar submission. A Music Box Films release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8c2DYoF7lA
The Gold Bug, or Victoria’s Revenge / El escarabajo de oro o Victorias Hamnd
Alejo Moguillansky & Fia-Stina Sandlund, Argentina/Denmark/Sweden, 2014, DCP, 102m
Spanish and Swedish with English and Spanish subtitles
Fusing elements of Edgar Allan Poe’s titular short story and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Alejo Moguillansky and Fia-Stina Sandlund’s meta-film follows an Argentine-Swedish co-production in Buenos Aires shooting a biopic of the 19th-century realist author and proto-feminist Victoria Benedictsson. After a hustling actor finds a treasure map detailing the location of ancient gold hidden near a town in the Misiones province named after the 19th-century politician Leandro N. Alem, he successfully persuades the producers to reframe the project as a portrait of the radical Alem (swapping feminist politics for anti-Eurocentric ones) and move the production there—so he can better search for the treasure. Fast-paced and hilariously self-reflexive, the film takes a playful approach to texts and history that is reminiscent of Borges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF_r02gleHU
Hopefuls / Aspirantes
Ives Rosenfeld, Brazil, 2015, DCP, 71m
Portuguese with English subtitles
Focused on the alluring promise of wealth and fame that professional soccer holds for Brazilian youth, Ives Rosenfeld’s directorial debut features a host of excellent performances from its cast. Junior (Ariclenes Barroso) ekes out a living working nights at a warehouse while playing by day in an amateur league with his talented best friend Bento (Sergio Malheiros). When Bento gets signed to a professional team, Junior struggles with his crippling jealousy—which becomes heightened by his pregnant girlfriend and alcoholic uncle. Artfully lensed and deliberately paced, the film silently builds toward a legitimately shocking climax that provides a grim reality check.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRPKC1yMDq8
It All Started at the End / Todo comenzó por el fin
Luis Ospina, Colombia, 2015, DCP, 208m
Spanish with English subtitles
Luis Ospina (The Vampire of Poverty, Paper Tiger) turns the camera toward his radical roots—and his own intestines—for this documentary about the Cali Group, the Colombian artists’ collective that revolutionized art, cinema, and literature amid drug-related terrorism in the 1970s and ’80s. Boasting a wide array of never-before-seen archival material, Ospina (the group’s only surviving member, who was diagnosed with cancer during the making of the film) focuses on telling the stories of co-founders Andrés Caicedo and Carlos Mayolo. Never maudlin or self-important, this kaleidoscopic inside view of “Caliwood” is essential viewing for anyone looking for darkly comic, anarchic inspiration. U.S. Premiere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlbAXxKDZ9I
Ixcanul
Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala, 2015, DCP, 93m
Kaqchikel and Spanish with English subtitles
Maria (María Mercedes Coroy) is set to marry a much older foreman at the coffee plantation, but she has a crush on Pepe, who has fanciful dreams of getting rich in the U.S. After consummating their flirtation, Pepe leaves for the States—without Maria, who soon learns she is expecting a baby. A difficult pregnancy assisted only by traditional medicine finally leads her to the hectic big city, but on very grim terms. Shot in collaboration with the Kaqchikel Mayans of Guatemala’s coffee-growing highlands, Jayro Bustamante’s exquisitely shot debut feature (winner of a top prize at the Berlinale and Guatemala’s Oscar submission) explores what tradition and modernity mean for women living in marginalized communities. A Kino Lorber release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryOrevgFL2k
Land and Shade / La tierra y la sombra
César Augusto Acevedo, Colombia, 2015, DCP, 94m
Spanish with English subtitles
A poetic and devastating statement on how environmental issues impact every aspect of life, César Augusto Acevedo’s Caméra d’Or–winning directorial debut is not to be missed. The elderly Alfonso (Haimer Leal) returns to the small house in Valle del Cauca he left 17 years earlier in order to care for his bedridden son Geraldo (Edison Raigosa), who suffers from a mysterious ailment related to the harsh farming techniques of the sugar-cane plantations around them. Tensions quietly simmer between Alfonso and his ex-wife (the wonderful Hilda Ruiz), but familial ties and pride keep them tied to the land in Acevedo’s meditative and painterly allegory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFrHbi8cHjY
Mar
Dominga Sotomayor, Chile, 2014, DCP, 70m
Spanish with English subtitles
Reminiscent of the films of Josephine Decker and Joe Swanberg, this low-key drama centers on the problems between Martin, aka Mar (Lisandro Rodríguez), and his girlfriend, Eli (Vanina Montes). On vacation in the Argentine resort town of Villa Gesell, conflicts arise concerning expectations and long-term commitments—having a baby, home ownership—but get pushed aside or elided. A visit from Martin’s gregarious, wine-guzzling mother and a random act of God threaten to push the couple to breaking point. Dominga Sotomayor matches her characters’ frustrations with the film’s expert framing, which often obscures faces and bodies, visually emphasizing their mutual misunderstanding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqiC4M5nNBk
A Monster with a Thousand Heads / Un monstruo de mil cabezas
Rodrigo Plá, Mexico, 2015, DCP, 74m
Spanish with English subtitles
Developed in tandem with his wife’s novel of the same title, Rodrigo Plá (The Delay, The Zone) crafts another airtight thriller, this time taking on a health-insurance system that prefers profit to adequate medical care. Refused treatment that would alleviate her terminally ill husband’s pain—yet not the frustrations of dealing with maddening bureaucracy—Sonia (Jana Raluy) snaps and, gun in hand, single-mindedly goes up the chain of command with a vengeance. The series of increasingly harrowing provocations are interspersed with moments of dark comedy, and coalesce into a final, shocking climax.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug2534juBhA
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17 Year Old Harry Comes to Terms With His Sexuality in HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY | TRAILER
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY, the new film from writer/director Stephen Cone (The Wise Kids), focuses on a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality during his emotionally charged birthday party. Marking his feature film debut, Cole Doman plays Henry; Henry is turning 17, and Henry might be gay. But he’s not telling his pastor father (Pat Healy, Cheap Thrills, Compliance)—not during his pool party, where school and church collide in a sunny, hormonal afternoon.
The film will open in New York at the IFP’s Made in NY Media Center on January 8th, before expanding to additional markets and VOD platforms.
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY spans the 24 hours containing the birthday pool party of 17-year-old preacher’s kid Henry Gamble (Cole Doman).
The night before the party, Henry and his friend Gabe (Joe Keery), have a sleepover. Typical teenage boy chat quickly turns sexual, and it’s silently implied that Henry, on a search for identity, has a crush on Gabe.
As dawn arrives on the day of the party, Henry’s mom Kat (Elizabeth Laidlaw) wakes in a state of limbo, middle-aged, with a secret. A little while later, Pastor Bob (Pat Healy) is making breakfast, and they are joined by Henry’s 19-year-old sister Autumn (Nina Ganet), home from college for the party. Later that afternoon, guests begin to arrive – the assistant pastor, youth minister, husbands and wives; sons and daughters trapped between youth and adulthood, as well as Henry’s own teenaged church and “secular” friends, including the closeted young Logan (Daniel Kyri), who has eyes for Henry.
As day turns to night and clothes come off, Henry & Co. carefully navigate the religious strictures and sexual secrets held within the community, all struggling to tread the public and private, and their longing, despite themselves and their faith, for earthly love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lptlZe5EYDU
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72 Short Films on Lineup for 2016 Sundance Film Festival
The 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place January 21 to 31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Sundance and Ogden, Utah, announced its full lineup of 72 short films. Among the short films the Festival has shown in recent years are World of Tomorrow, Whiplash, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom and Fishing Without Nets. This year’s short film lineup will include both a Midnight and a New Frontier section, tying into the Festival’s other programmatic strands.
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Documentary MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES on Controversial Artist Robert Mapplethorpe to Debut on HBO
“Look at the pictures,” said Senator Jesse Helms, denouncing the controversial art of Robert Mapplethorpe, whose photographs pushed boundaries with frank depictions of nudity, sexuality and fetishism, igniting a culture war that rages to this day.
More than 25 years later, the HBO Documentary Films presentation MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES does just that, taking an unflinching, unprecedented look at his most provocative work. From acclaimed filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (“Inside Deep Throat”; HBO’s “Wishful Drinking” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), and produced by Katharina Otto-Bernstein (“Absolute Wilson”), the first feature-length documentary about the artist since his death, and the most comprehensive film on Mapplethorpe ever, debuts in April 2016 on HBO.
As The J. Paul Getty Museum and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art prepare landmark Mapplethorpe retrospectives (both opening in March), the film goes inside the preparation for the exhibitions as a jumping-off point to tell the complete story of his life and work for the first time, and explore the interplay between his personal and professional lives. MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES reveals a controversial artist who turned contemporary photography into a fine art.
With complete and unprecedented access to The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the documentary draws upon archival materials and features never-before-seen photographs and footage. “Even his most shocking and forbidden images are included without blurs, without snickers – in other words, exactly as the artist intended,” say Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Mapplethorpe himself is a strong presence, telling his story in his own words with complete honesty and often shocking candor through rediscovered audio interviews.
MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES follows his early beginnings as a young artist in New York City through his meteoric rise in the art world to his untimely death. In 1963, he enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he studied drawing, painting and sculpture, and soon met his first girlfriend, Patti Smith, one in a string of profoundly influential lovers. By the late 1960s and early 1970s he was taking Polaroid photographs of friends and acquaintances, and was determined to make it, which meant being recognized as an artist and becoming famous.
Almost all of the people from key relationships in his life are present in the film, including Sam Wagstaff, David Croland, Lisa Lyon, Marcus Leatherdale and Jack Walls. The documentary also features almost 50 original interviews with family, friends, co-workers and colleagues, including Mary Boone, Carolina Herrera, Brooke Shields, Helen and Brice Marden, Fran Lebowitz, Bob Colacello and Debbie Harry.
Rounding out this portrait are the recollections of Mapplethorpe’s older sister, Nancy, and youngest brother, Edward. An artist himself, Edward assisted his brother for many years and was responsible for much of the technical excellence of his photography.
The duality of black-and-white work reverberated in his life. He often mounted two shows simultaneously: An uptown exhibition might include society portraits and delicate flower still-lifes, while his sexually explicit photographs were on view downtown. Mapplethorpe’s most controversial work – which he considered his most important – chronicled the underground BDSM (bondage, dominance and submission, sadomasochism) scene of late 1970s New York City, sparking a national debate over public funding of art some deemed offensive or obscene.
Mapplethorpe was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, when the illness was still a death sentence. He spent the remainder of his life working more feverishly than ever before, not only pursuing perfection, but also striving to secure his legacy after his death. In 1988, a few months before Mapplethorpe’s passing, The Whitney Museum of American Art mounted his first major American museum retrospective.
The man who lived to be famous became even more famous after he died. Before his death, he designed one final show, The Perfect Moment, which bought images of flowers, S&M pictures and male African-American nudes together in a museum setting for the first time. As he himself predicted, the combination proved to be too much. In 1989, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. canceled The Perfect Moment after Senator Helms took aim at Mapplethorpe. Later that year, protests were held when the traveling exhibition arrived at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in Cincinnati, resulting in obscenity charges against the CAC and its director, Dennis Barrie. After a dramatic court battle, both were ultimately found not guilty.
MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES is a revealing look at one of the most important artists of the 20th century, whose name remains a byword for something illicit, dangerous and dark.