Films

Award Winning Indie Film YEAR BY THE SEA, Starring Karen Allen Sets Release Date | Trailer

[caption id="attachment_15583" align="aligncenter" width="975"] Year By The Sea (USA) – Alexander Janko, Director[/caption] The award-winning independent film Year By The Sea is based on the New York Times and international best-selling memoir by Joan Anderson and stars highly acclaimed screen and stage actress Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Animal House). Written, directed and composed by Alexander Janko, the film will open at Lincoln Plaza in New York on September 8 and at Laemmle Royal, Town Center and Playhouse 7 in Los Angeles on September 15. A national release will follow. After a season of high-powered female super heroes, Year By The Sea settles the pace with a crowd-pleasing journey of self-discovery and friendship featuring three women of the baby-boomer generation. Winner of 16 festival awards – from Audience Choice to Best Feature/Actress/Music and Screenplay – Year By The Sea chronicles empty-nester Joan Anderson’s (Karen Allen) decision not to follow her relocated husband to Kansas. Instead, she retreats to Cape Cod to rediscover herself and redefine her life. Plagued with guilt, she questions her decision until stumbling upon a spirited mentor, Joan Erikson (Celia Imrie) – author and wife of famed psychologist Erik Erikson, who coined the term “identity crisis.” With a support group that includes her literary agent and a host of locals, Joan learns to embrace the ebb and flow of life – ultimately discovering the balance between self and sacrifice, obligation and desire. It was Joan Anderson’s honesty and courage to embrace change that attracted filmmaker Alexander Janko (composer, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) to her work nearly nine years ago—and a labor of love that propelled his journey to bring it to the big screen as writer, director and composer. Karen Allen (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), and S. Epatha Merkerson (Chicago Med) headline this Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning cast alongside Yannick Bisson (Murdock Mysteries) and Michael Cristofer (Mr. Robot). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAlD3YxZCGw
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VIDEO: Watch Diana Describe Herself as a ‘Rebel’ in First Clip from PBS Docu DIANA – HER STORY

PBS today released a video clip from Diana – Her Story, a new documentary featuring rare video of Diana, Princess of Wales, speaking openly and candidly about her life and troubled marriage, along with new revealing interviews with some of her closest confidants. What emerges is the story of a shy young girl who was swept onto the world stage in 1980 and who died tragically in 1997 as one of the most famous women in the world, an independent, modern “people’s princess.” The film is produced by Kaboom Film & TV and is directed by Kevin Sim (“Once Upon a Time In Iran,” “Beslan”) and executive produced by Charles Furneaux (“Touching The Void,” “The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall,” “Treblinka”). Diana – Her Story premieres on Tuesday, August 22, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on PBS. In 1992, Diana, whose marriage was in trouble, was becoming increasingly isolated from the royal family. Believing that her popular appeal was her greatest strength, she hired speech coach Peter Settelen to help improve her public speaking and reinvent her public persona in the midst of personal strife. In a series of disarmingly frank videos shot by Settelen at Kensington Palace, a private Diana comes into view as she ultimately reveals her version of the events. Playful, charming and unguarded, she tells stories from her life in intimate detail, sharing how she went from shy teenage girl to unhappy newlywed to a young woman searching for her own voice and place in the world. Diana – Her Story places the events of Diana’s life into historical context, revealing a nation hungry for what seemed to be a fairytale marriage between Charles and Diana. Further insight is provided through new in-depth interviews with those closest to Diana, including long-term trusted confidant James Colthurst, ballet teacher Anne Allan, private secretary Patrick Jephson and personal protection officer Ken Wharfe. The multi-layered and nuanced portrait of Diana that emerges is of a naïve teenage girl who ultimately transformed herself into someone the crown would fear as more popular than the monarchy itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3dO2ub626o
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THY FATHER’S CHAIR, Vérité Documentary on Orthodox Jewish Twins Gets Fall Release Date | Trailer

Antonio Tibaldi and Alex Lora’s Thy Father’s Chair, a vérité documentary focused on Orthodox Jewish twins, who are extreme hoarders, is set for release in theaters in the Fall. The film opens Friday, October 13, 2017, at the Village East Cinema in New York City – a week before its Los Angeles theatrical premiere on Friday, October 20, at Laemmle’s Music Hall. Thy Father’s Chair brings audiences into the world of Abraham and Shraga, Orthodox Jewish twins who live a secluded existence in their inherited Brooklyn home. Since the death of their parents, they have stopped throwing away anything, hosting stray cats and accumulating all sorts of stuff. Enraged by the situation, the upstairs tenant threatens to stop paying them rent unless they proceed with a radical cleaning of their apartment, forcing Abraham and Shraga to open their doors to a specialized cleaning company. What ensues seems, at first, a traumatic invasion of privacy, with the twins fighting to preserve their memories. But little by little, the relationship with the head of the cleaning company begins to deepen — and by painfully separating from most of their belongings, Abraham and Shraga discover a path to a new life. By the end of the film, the twins are pushed to find new solutions to many unanswered questions: how free are you within the boundaries of your heritage? How do you begin to let go of the past and live your life in the present? How do you confront the loss of your parents and become responsible for yourself? Thy Father’s Chair is the fourth collaboration between Antonio Tibaldi and Alex Lora. The previous films they made together, [S]comparse, Odysseus Gambit and Godka Cirka, played at Sundance and several top international film festival and won several awards. They are currently developing other nonfiction and fiction projects together.
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Showtime to World Premiere ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS and LOVE MEANS ZERO at Toronto Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_23415" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars[/caption] Showtime will world premiere two riveting films, “Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars” and “Love Means Zero” at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, directed by Oscar(R)-winner Lili Fini Zanuck (Rush, Driving Miss Daisy), is an unflinching and deeply personal journal into the life of legendary 18-time Grammy(R) winner Eric Clapton. Also debuting at TIFF is Love Means Zero, the story of the celebrated yet controversial tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, directed and produced by Jason Kohn (Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)). Following their debuts at TIFF, both documentaries will premiere on Showtime in 2018. These two films join the esteemed Showtime Documentary Films portfolio that focuses on the lives and legacies of culture-defining and at times controversial figures, including Whitney. “Can I Be Me”, The Putin Interviews, Becoming Cary Grant, the Emmy(R)-nominated Listen To Me Marlon, Risk, which takes viewers closer than they have ever been before to Julian Assange and tells the WikiLeaks story from the inside, and an upcoming documentary film on John Belushi’s life and career. 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 and 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. The film is directed by Oscar-winner Lili Fini Zanuck with Passion Pictures’ John Battsek (One Day In September, Searching for Sugar Man) amongst the producers. BAFTA winner Chris King (Amy, Senna) serves as editor. [caption id="attachment_23416" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Love Means Zero[/caption] Love Means Zero presents an in-depth look at famed tennis coach Nick Bollettieri. At 85 years old, Bollettieri is a living legend. At his academy in Florida, he raised a generation of champions. Courier. Seles. Agassi. No other coach has matched his success, his dominance or his fame. His greatness, though, came at a terrible price. Broken marriages, financial ruin and perhaps most devastating, a fractured relationship with his surrogate son and most cherished student, Andre Agassi. When Agassi refused to participate in a documentary about his ex-coach, a simple biographical film turned into an investigation of a relationship lost. Love Means Zero not only tells the story of this celebrated yet controversial coach, but also explores the cost of his all-consuming drive for greatness. The film is directed and produced by Jason Kohn. Amanda Branson Gill, Anne White, Jill Mazursky and David Styne also serve as producers.
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ONE OF US, Documentary Exploring Hasidic Judaism, to World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival

The documentary One of Us, by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, Detropia) will have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will launch on Netflix in the Fall. One of Us explores the opaque world of Hasidic Judaism through a cadre of fascinating characters. Through unique and intimate access over the span of three years, acclaimed observational filmmakers Ewing and Grady delve into the lives of three brave individuals who have recently made the decision to leave the insular ultra-orthodox community at the expense of all else, including relationships with their family members and – in one case – their personal safety. With a sensitive and compassionate eye, One of Us chronicles the achingly cinematic journey of people in search of a personal freedom that comes only at a very high cost. “We have always been drawn to stories that put the nature/nurture debate into stark relief. Are some of us just born with an unshakable need to question the status quo, despite the consequences?” said filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. “The three brave people we chronicle in One of Us buck the exacting rules of their ultra-orthodox community to experience the world for the first time as true individuals. Their journey is a profoundly human one that took us by surprise. We hope audiences are as affected by this story as we are.”
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Toronto International Film Festival Unveils 35 International Titles on 2017 Short Cuts Program

[caption id="attachment_23404" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Death, Dad & Son[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled the 35 exceptional short films that make up the International portion of the 2017 Short Cuts program. A lineup that stands out for its diversity of voices and backgrounds, the International selection for 2017 includes works from over 30 countries in 16 different languages, with a strong presence from the Middle East and South America. Of the 35 selected films, 17 were directed by women. The International lineup also includes seven stunning short animations, including Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s The Burden (Min börda), winner of the Cristal for a Short Film award at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and The Death, Dad & Son by Denis Walgenwitz and Winshluss, the renowned French comic book artist whose film credits include co-writing and co-directing the Oscar-nominated Persepolis (07). Another well-known name featured in the lineup is Justine Bateman; the former Family Ties star’s short film directorial debut, FIVE MINUTES, will be premiering at the Festival. Program highlights also include Ifunanya Maduka’s heartbreaking Waiting for Hassana, which shares a brave teenager’s devastating account of the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping; Mahdi Fleifel’s A Drowning Man, the dramatic story of a young immigrant trying to survive in a new and strange city; and Yang Qiu’s A Gentle Night (Xiao Cheng Er Yue), which will be screening fresh off its Short Film Palme d’Or win at Cannes. Films in the Short Cuts program are eligible for the IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Film. This year’s jury includes Marit van den Elshout, Head of CineMart at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; TIFF 2016 City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film winner Johnny Ma (Old Stone); and Cannes 2017 Art Cinema Award winner Chloé Zhao (The Rider). The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017. International titles screening as part of the Short Cuts program include: Airport Michaela Müller, Switzerland/Croatia North American Premiere Blue Christmas Charlotte Wells, UK/USA World Premiere Bonboné Rakan Mayasi, Palestine/Lebanon World Premiere The Burden (Min börda) Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Sweden North American Premiere Catastrophe Jamille van Wijngaarden, Netherlands International Premiere Damiana Andrés Ramírez Pulido, Colombia/Brazil North American Premiere The Death, Dad & Son (La Mort, Père & Fils) Winshluss, Denis Walgenwitz, France International Premiere Drop by Drop (Água Mole) Xá, Laura Gonçalves, Portugal North American Premiere A Drowning Man Mahdi Fleifel, Denmark/Greece/UK North American Premiere Everlasting MOM (Ima Lanetzah) Elinor Nechemya, Israel International Premiere Fifteen (Khamastashar) Sameh Alaa, Egypt World Premiere FIVE MINUTES Justine Bateman, USA World Premiere A Gentle Night (Xiao Cheng Er Yue) Yang Qiu, China Canadian Premiere I Didn’t Shoot Jesse James (Je n’ai pas tué Jesse James) Sophie Beaulieu, France North American Premiere Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month Carlo Francisco Manatad, Philippines/Singapore North American Premiere Long Distance Relationship (Namoro À Distância) Carolina Markowicz, Brazil World Premiere Lower Heaven Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi, France/Iran International Premiere Magic Moments Martina Buchelová, Slovakia World Premiere Marlon Jessica Palud, France/Belgium North American Premiere Möbius Sam Kuhn, Canada/USA North American Premiere Mon amour mon ami Adriano Valerio, Italy/France International Premiere Mother (Madre) Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain International Premiere Preparation (Proetimasia) Sofia Georgovassili, Greece World Premiere The President’s Visit Cyril Aris, Lebanon/Qatar/USA World Premiere Push It Julia Thelin, Sweden North American Premiere Roadside Attraction Patrick Bresnan, Ivete Lucas, USA World Premiere Shinaab Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr, USA International Premiere SIGNATURE Kei Chikaura, Japan North American Premiere Still Water Runs Deep Abbesi Akhamie, USA/Nigeria World Premiere Together Alone (Nosotros solos) Mateo Bendesky, Argentina International Premiere Treehouse (La casa del árbol) Juan Sebastián Quebrada, Colombia/France World Premiere Waiting Amberley Jo Aumua, New Zealand International Premiere Waiting for Hassana Ifunanya Maduka, Nigeria Canadian Premiere We Love Moses Dionne Edwards, UK Canadian Premiere WICKED GIRL (KÖTÜ KIZ) Ayce Kartal, France/Turkey North American Premiere
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Ai Weiwei’s Refugee Crisis Documentary HUMAN FLOW Sets Fall Release Date

Human Flow, a moving documentary that looks at the global refugee crisis, directed by world-renowned artist Ai Weiwei, will open in theaters on October 13. It will be released concurrent with the Public Art Fund’s thematically linked New York exhibition Ai Weiwei: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. The film will also be featured at the upcoming 2017 Venice International Film Festival. Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film journey led by Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration, elucidating both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. Human Flow is a witness to its subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming refugee camps to perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance and adaptation; from the haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown potential of the future. This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this century: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWgC5pCR1AE
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Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2017 Documentary Program, Opens with GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT & BAMI

[caption id="attachment_23395" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival’s 2017 documentary program presents a distinct collection of works from award-winning directors, and will open with Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami, a film that captures the legendary performer on and off stage. The lineup features celebrated filmmakers, including Morgan Spurlock, who reignites his battle with the food industry in Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!; Brett Morgen, with his portrait of primatologist Jane Goodall in Jane; Greg Barker, who grants viewers unprecedented access into President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team in The Final Year; Frederick Wiseman, who takes us behind the scenes of a New York institution in Ex Libris – The New York Public Library; and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who follow three Hasidic Jews who attempt to enter the secular world in One of Us. The TIFF Docs Program is made possible through the generous sponsorship of A+E IndieFilms. “Resistance is a key theme in this year’s documentaries,” said TIFF Docs Programmer Thom Powers. “We pay witness to rebels challenging the status quo in art, politics, sexuality, religion, fashion, sports and entertainment. They speak powerfully to our times as audiences seek inspirations for battling powerful and corrupt systems.” The theme of resistance plays out in a diverse range of films, including Jed Rothstein’s The China Hustle, executive produced by Alex Gibney and Frank Marshall, which confronts a new era of Wall Street fraud; Matt Tyrnauer’s Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, which profiles the sexual taboo breaker Scotty Bowers; Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman’s Silas, which portrays Liberian activist Silas Siakor; and Erika Cohn’s The Judge, which follows the first female Shari’a judge, Kholoud Al-Faqih, practicing law in the West Bank. We gain insights into high-profile figures in the worlds of entertainment and sports in films such as Chris Smith’s JIM & ANDY: the Great Beyond – the story of Jim Carrey & Andy Kaufman featuring a very special, contractually obligated mention of Tony Clifton, which examines Jim Carrey’s immersion into the role of Andy Kaufman; Lili Fini Zanuck’s Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, which delivers the definitive biography of the rock legend; and Jason Kohn’s Love Means Zero, which investigates the controversial tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and his history with Andre Agassi. Several films deepen our understanding of black cultural figures, including Sam Pollard’s Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me on the complex career of the multi-talented Rat Pack performer; Kate Novack’s The Gospel According to André on the trend-setting fashion writer André Leon Talley; and Sara Driver’s BOOM FOR REAL The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat on the formative years of the acclaimed artist. TIFF Docs upholds its tradition of featuring films and filmmakers from around the world with films such as Violeta Ayala’s Cocaine Prison on the drug trade in Bolivia; Mila Turajlić’s The Other Side of Everything on the dissident activism of her Serbian mother; Hüseyin Tabak’s The Legend of the Ugly King on the Kurdish filmmaker Yilmaz Güney; Sabiha Sumar’s Azmaish: A Journey through the Subcontinent on the politics of India and Pakistan; and Gustavo Salmerón’s Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle on his eccentric family in Spain. The TIFF Docs closing film is Emmanuel Gras’ Makala, which won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes’ Critics Week and portrays the heroic struggles of a subsistence laborer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs September 7 to 17, 2017.
2017 TIFF Docs Program include:
Azmaish: A Journey through the Subcontinent Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan North American Premiere BOOM FOR REAL The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat Sara Driver, USA World Premiere The China Hustle Jed Rothstein, USA World Premiere Cocaine Prison Violeta Ayala, Australia/Bolivia/France/USA World Premiere Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars Lili Fini Zanuck, United Kingdom World Premiere Ex Libris – The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA North American Premiere The Final Year Greg Barker, USA World Premiere The Gospel According to André Kate Novack, USA World Premiere Documentary Program Opening Film. Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami Sophie Fiennes, United Kingdom/Ireland World Premiere JIM & ANDY: the Great Beyond – the story of Jim Carrey & Andy Kaufman featuring a very special, contractually obligated mention of Tony Clifton Chris Smith, USA/Canada North American Premiere Jane Brett Morgen, USA World Premiere The Judge Erika Cohn, Palestine/USA World Premiere The Legend of the Ugly King Hüseyin Tabak, Germany/Austria World Premiere Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Gustavo Salmerón, Spain North American Premiere Love Means Zero Jason Kohn, USA World Premiere Documentary Program Closing Film. Makala Emmanuel Gras, France North American Premiere OF SHEEP AND MEN Karim Sayad, Switzerland/Qatar World Premiere One of Us Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, USA World Premiere The Other Side of Everything Mila Turajlić, Serbia/France/Qatar World Premiere Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me Sam Pollard, USA World Premiere Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Matt Tyrnauer, USA World Premiere Silas Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman, Canada/South Africa/Kenya World Premiere Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! Morgan Spurlock, USA World Premiere
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VIDEOS + PHOTOS: Dominican Republican Film WOODPECKERS Sets Release Date

Watch some video clips and photos from the Dominican film Woodpeckers (Carpinteros) directed by Jose Maria Cabral and set in the Dominican Republic’s Najayo Prison. The film which was an official selection at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival will open in theaters on Friday, September 15, 2017 in New York (AMC Empire 25) with a wider national release to follow. Julián finds love and a reason for living in the last place imaginable: the Dominican Republic’s Najayo Prison. His romance, with fellow prisoner Yanelly, must defeat the distance that separates them by using a sign language created by the inmates in Najayo, called “Woodpecking,” enabling them to effectively communicate and develop personal and even intimate relationships without the knowledge of dozens of guards. Using real prison locations and non-actors throughout, WOODPECKERS is also based on real events.

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VIDEO: Watch New Clip from GOOK Featuring Comedian David So

Check out this brand new clip from GOOK, featuring comedian David So. In the scene, a group of female customers flirt with Daniel, played by David So, and receive the special manager discount. GOOK directed by Justin Chon opens in Los Angeles August 18th and in NY and other cities on August 25th. The film follows Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers that run their late father’s shoe store in a predominantly African American community of Los Angeles. These two brothers strike up a unique and unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African American girl, Kamila. As Daniel dreams of becoming a recording artist and Eli struggles to keep the story afloat, racial tensions build to a breaking point in L.A. as the “infamous” L.A. Riots break out.
Gook Official trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_UxfY-wdaw
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Peter Machen In Conversation with Filmmaker Doris Dörrie, “FUKUSHIMA, MON AMOUR” | Trailer

[caption id="attachment_23366" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Doris Dörrie[/caption] Peter Machen spoke to leading German filmmaker Doris Dörrie about her remarkable film Fukushima, Mon Amour which screened at the Durban International Film Festival as part of the German Focus last week. One of Germany’s leading filmmakers, Doris Dörrie has made several films set in Japan. Her latest film takes place in the evacuated zone of Fukushima where an older geisha has returned to her home in the company of a young German woman who has travelled to the area with a foreign aid organisation. Shot on site, in the aftermath of the nuclear meltdown and the 2011 tsunami that caused it, Fukushima, Mon Amour is remarkable for its fusion of fiction and reality and the way that it tenderly holds the one inside of the other. I spoke to Dörrie’s about this beautifully judged film, beginning with her initial experience of visiting Fukushima after the meltdown. Dörrie, who has visited Japan many times and made several films in the country, felt a strong need to visit Fukushima in the wake of the devastating disaster. “I have so many friends there and I didn’t want to sit around and get all the information from the news. Everybody in Germany thought all of Japan was radioactively polluted and foreigners pretty much left Japan in those times and nobody wanted to go. So I figured, ‘well I should go’. So I did and I was very struck and overwhelmed by the enormity, the devastation, but also by how people tried to cope.” “Back then refugees from Fukushima had just moved into these temporary housings and they were trying to come to grips with the fact that they had lost everything within 20 minutes. Which is a very basic human fear – to just lose everything in a moment.” “And it reminded me so much of the experience my parent’s generation had in World War II. Both my parents lost their place to live and everything in Hanover because of the bombing. I didn’t really know whether I wanted to write about Fukushima or make a documentary about it but I knew that I wanted to talk about it. And then it took a long time to come up with the story. I went back so many times and tried to figure out whether it would be possible to shoot at all in that region because it was still ‘the zone’.” [caption id="attachment_23367" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Fukushima, Mon Amour[/caption] On January 1, 2016, the Japanese government decided to open the zone again because, says Dörrie, they did not want to pay the subsidies for the refugees. “People were being asked to move back, but there was nothing to move back to. So that became the nucleus of the film’s story – this old lady goes back to her destroyed house. And there’s nothing there. Nothing whatsoever. “ And was she concerned about the impact on her own long-term health and that of her crew? “We shot in the former zone for six weeks and I was there for three months. But by then, we had done so much research. I had taken dust samples and I had gotten them analysed by the German Institute for Radioactivity and they had assured me again and again that it would be alright to take a crew there and spend several weeks there. I really tried very hard to be on the safe side because I didn’t want to take on the responsibility for the entire team. I couldn’t do that.” “So we made very, very sure that it was going to be okay. We all wore dosimeters that keep collecting the accumulated radioactivity that you’re exposed to. And we sent them in after we got back to Germany and we were just lucky that the readings turned out to be totally okay. That was, of course, a bit of luck also. It’s of course not safe to dig in the ground, to sit under a tree, to eat berries. All of that is not safe, of course not.” Talking about screenings of the film in Japan, Dörrie says that audiences were extremely emotional. “Everybody has a connection to Fukushima somehow. And people are so grateful to us – which really puts me to shame – but they are, because nobody ever shot a feature film in that region. Nobody. And that’s very, very touching to be thanked for. It is bizarre but sometimes it works that way – that foreigners can come in and they talk about traumas. Because they’re not affected by the trauma, sometimes it’s easier to come in from the outside and talk about these things.” But while cultural distance has its advantages, there are always dangers to telling other people’s stories. Which is why Dörrie says that she always insists on having her perspective in films that deal with other cultures. “Because I wouldn’t dare talk about Japan from a Japanese viewpoint. So that’s why I have the young German in the film, who goes to Japan, who doesn’t know anything about it, who is a fool, the traditional fool, who is very innocent on one hand but also quite ignorant. And I need to have that perspective because that’s, of course, my perspective. As much as I read up and I do research, I’m still ignorant about a lot of things. Because you can never get the inside perspective on a country. So I need to have that perspective from the outside in the story itself.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RJga_xGoSY via press release.
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VIDEO: Watch Trailer for A LIFE IN WAVES, Documentary on Electronic Music Pioneer, Suzanne Ciani

[caption id="attachment_20658" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A LIFE IN WAVES[/caption] A Life in Waves explores the life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer, Suzanne Ciani. Gunpowder & Sky will release the SXSW 2017 documentary on VOD nationwide August 4, 2017. From her earliest days learning the piano, to her multi-million dollar advertising ventures, to her successes in the world of New Age music, to her recent re-connection with her beloved Buchla synthesizer, the film is a journey into Suzanne’s mind, offering a feminine glimpse into the often complicated world of electronic music. Utilizing a wealth of archival footage and Suzanne’s endless catalog of music, A Life in Waves is a nostalgic, visually-compelling look at one woman’s journey, and the trials she overcame to succeed in a traditionally male-dominated art form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLTePqBlQI
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Films

2017 TIFF Docs Program include: