ASTHMA the directorial debut of Dustin Hofman’s son, Jake Hoffman, will be released in theaters on October 23 via IFC Films. Asthma which World Premiere at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, stars Benedict Samuel and Krysten Ritter alongside Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Goran Visnjic, Dov Tiefenbach, Rene Ricard and Iggy Pop.
Gus is suffocating in life (and not just figuratively speaking), and finding a meaningful existence is an almost impossible task. His asthma attacks come at the most inopportune times, and are a constant reminder of his attempts to resolve his uncertain situation in a radical manner. Somewhere between the drugs, the lack of money, and his ongoing sense of alienation, Gus sees a shimmer of light in the form of Ruby, a charming and self-confident rocker whose life is much more certain than his. In his endeavor to escape from himself, the young outsider – who bears a striking resemblance to Mick Jagger – sets out on an unpredictable trip in a stolen convertible. Jake Hoffman’s feature debut is a vibrant and authentic look at New York’s bohemian scene, whose members try to find out who they are to a soundtrack of rock hits. The young acting duo Benedict Samuel and Krysten Ritter are supported in smaller roles by their more experienced colleagues Rosanna Arquette, Iggy Pop and Nick Nolte.
Jake Hoffman (b. 1981, Los Angeles County, California) studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has been active in the film industry since childhood, appearing in Rain Man (1988) at age seven. His acting career then continued with Hook (1991),Liberty Heights (1999), Click (2006) and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Besides acting, he also directs music videos and has written and directed several short films, including Walk into the Bar(2004), Pancho’s Pizza (2005) and Please, Alfonso(2012). asthma (2014) is his feature film debut.Films
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ASTHMA, Directorial Debut of Jake Hoffman, Dustin Hofman’s Son, Sets Release Date
ASTHMA the directorial debut of Dustin Hofman’s son, Jake Hoffman, will be released in theaters on October 23 via IFC Films. Asthma which World Premiere at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, stars Benedict Samuel and Krysten Ritter alongside Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Goran Visnjic, Dov Tiefenbach, Rene Ricard and Iggy Pop.
Gus is suffocating in life (and not just figuratively speaking), and finding a meaningful existence is an almost impossible task. His asthma attacks come at the most inopportune times, and are a constant reminder of his attempts to resolve his uncertain situation in a radical manner. Somewhere between the drugs, the lack of money, and his ongoing sense of alienation, Gus sees a shimmer of light in the form of Ruby, a charming and self-confident rocker whose life is much more certain than his. In his endeavor to escape from himself, the young outsider – who bears a striking resemblance to Mick Jagger – sets out on an unpredictable trip in a stolen convertible. Jake Hoffman’s feature debut is a vibrant and authentic look at New York’s bohemian scene, whose members try to find out who they are to a soundtrack of rock hits. The young acting duo Benedict Samuel and Krysten Ritter are supported in smaller roles by their more experienced colleagues Rosanna Arquette, Iggy Pop and Nick Nolte.
Jake Hoffman (b. 1981, Los Angeles County, California) studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has been active in the film industry since childhood, appearing in Rain Man (1988) at age seven. His acting career then continued with Hook (1991),Liberty Heights (1999), Click (2006) and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Besides acting, he also directs music videos and has written and directed several short films, including Walk into the Bar(2004), Pancho’s Pizza (2005) and Please, Alfonso(2012). asthma (2014) is his feature film debut.
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2015 Woodstock Film Festival Unveils “NEW” World Cinema Competition + Focus on Dutch Cinema Lineup
The Woodstock Film Festival announced its New for 2015 World Cinema Competition, including a special Focus on Dutch Cinema in partnership with the Netherlands Consulate General in New York. The Woodstock Film Festival has programmed three Dutch narratives to showcase the vast range Dutch cinema has to offer: RENDEZ-VOUS, MEET ME IN VENICE, and SUMMER. All Dutch filmmakers will be in attendance.
Sparked by this joint venture with the Netherlands Consulate and the superb selection of other international films at the festival, the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival has launched its inaugural World Cinema Competition Award. Joining the three Dutch films are two additional World Cinema highlights, MOSCOW NEVER SLEEPS (Irish-Russian) and THERE SHOULD BE RULES (Swedish), to forge a strong line-up of international competition.
WORLD CINEMA COMPETITION FILMS:
FOCUS ON DUTCH CINEMA- THE NETHERLANDS
RENDEZ-VOUS, DIRECTED BY ANTIONETTE BEUMER (pictured in main image above)
US PREMIERE
Simone needs a change. Together with her husband Eric and their two children, she buys a decrepit mansion in the south of France, to turn it into a home and B&B. While the chaos of the renovation grows, Simone flees into a thrilling affair with one of the French construction workers, the gorgeous twenty-year-old Michel. She slowly loses control of her life and the French dream turns into her worst nightmare.
MEET ME IN VENICE, DIRECTED BY EDDY TERSTALL
US PREMIERE
Recounted by Lisa through a video she makes for her son, this Dutch father-daughter story of reconciliation unfolds between a woman and the father she first meets in adulthood. When the absentee Mauro invites Lisa to join him in Venice, she decides to go. But the journey doesn’t stop there, and the father-daughter road trip takes them from Italy to Istanbul along the Orient Express route, with breathtaking imagery of the Balkans and heartwarming musical interludes. In getting to know her father, Lisa gets to know herself.
SUMMER (ZOMER), DIRECTED BY COLETTE BOTHOF
NEW YORK PREMIERE
“Zomer” (“Summer”) is sweltering in a Dutch village where everyday life is dominated by the continually droning power plant. Anne, a quiet girl who longs to escape the confines of her small town, often feels like an outsider — until she meets Lena, a new girl in town who rides a motorbike, wears leather and is different from everybody else. With the awkward tenderness of youth and innocence, the two girls quickly form a bond and the audience gets to watch as young love unfolds. Authentic performances and cinematography that captures the languor and heat of summertime create a beautiful story of sexual awakening and a girl daring to be different. For those who have traveled beyond the teenage years, it is a reminder of the possibilities life holds.
MOSCOW NEVER SLEEPS, DIRECTED BY JOHNNY O’REILLY
RUSSIA – US PREMIERE
Moscow Never Sleeps is a multi-narrative drama about the hidden bonds that connects us all. The film dives headlong into the volatile intersections of contemporary Moscow and the intimate lives of five people.
O’Reilly’s short The Terms screened at the 2001 Woodstock Film Fest, winning for Best Short Film.
THERE SHOULD BE RULES, DIRECTED BY LINDA-MARIE BIRBECK
SWEDEN – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Mia and Mirjam, two passionate, free-spirited 14-year-olds, along with Karl, who is inventive and wise beyond his years, are a close knit threesome in a small town in Sweden where nothing ever happens. Mia wishes there were no rules and tempts life again and again. Mirjam, seeking love, finds her road to adulthood in a steamy romance with an older man who claims he loves her. Karl, supporting Mia’s sense of loss as her best friend is pulled away by new love, helps concoct ways to bring Mirjam back to them. While friendship and family bonds are tested and facades eventually crumble, the teens declare, “we are never becoming ordinary.”
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2015 Milwaukee Film Festival Announces Cinema Hooligante Films + Anniversary Screenings of JAWS & THE SHINING
The 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival, revealed the lineup for Cinema Hooligante. Several of this year’s films take viewers beyond the trappings of traditional “horror,” bringing to the screen a wide range of styles and genres from science fiction and fantasy to comedy and animation.
Highlighting the range of styles and films on display are the rare 35mm presentations of Jaws, on its 40th anniversary, and The Shining, on its 35th anniversary.
“I’m incredibly proud and excited to present films of this caliber in what is certainly the coolest program of the festival,” explains Jaclyn O’Grady, Programming Manager and Cinema Hooligante Co-Programmer. “One highlight for me is They Have Escaped (pictured in main image above), a shocking Finnish thriller about a road trip gone awry, which will leave you absolutely reeling when the credits roll.
This year also brings Canadian director Jeffrey St. Jules’ film Bang Bang Baby. With a dreamy allure akin to Little Shop of Horrors, Bang Bang Baby bends the genre toward musical oddity. Beginning with a love story of a teenage singer and a famous popstar, St. Jules’ imagination runs wild and the cinematography magical as a chemical plant leak descends to turn dreams into nightmares. St. Jules is scheduled to appear at the festival.
The series also represents the classics of horror storytelling, as Edgar Allan Poe comes to life in Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology featuring five of Poe’s greatest works. The film features “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Bang Bang Baby
(Canada / 2014 / Director: Jeffrey St. Jules)
A demented blend of 1950s sci-fi and musicals, Bang Bang Baby is a brazenly original, genre-twisting fever dream of a film. Stepphy (Jane Levy) is a high school girl with dreams of breaking out of her sleepy hometown, and her acceptance into the American Ingénue Singing Competition seems to be the ticket. But her alcoholic father (Peter Stormare) refuses to let her go, and it’s only the arrival of heartthrob singer Bobby Shore into town that gives her a chance — that is, if she can keep Bobby from noticing the freakish mutations and hallucinations being brought forth by a factory leak in the town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPeVHaOm4AA
Extraordinary Tales
(Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, USA / 2015 / Director: Raul Garcia)
This ghoulish anthology film celebrating the macabre works of Edgar Allan Poe is broken into five distinct animated segments (including classic works such as “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum”). Aided by narration from some of horror’s most beloved luminaries (Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi and Guillermo del Toro, to name a few), Poe’s psychological adventures are brought to startling life, each story receiving its own particular animation style uniquely suited to its creepy tone. If your spine is in the market for shivers, this is the choice for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amniFA0UEKc
Jaws
(USA / 1975 / Director: Steven Spielberg)
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water, Jaws comes to the Milwaukee Film Festival. Often imitated but never replicated, Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning cultural phenomenon remains the apex predator of summer blockbuster filmmaking. A story of the small town of Amity (which, as you know, means “friendship”), the great white shark that’s terrorizing it, and the trio of dudes tasked with putting a stop to it hasn’t lost a step over 40 years later. If you’ve only ever seen this classic from the comfort of home, you’re going to need a bigger screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fu_sA7XhE
Nina Forever
(United Kingdom / 2015 / Directors: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine)
We all have baggage; it just so happens that Rob’s returns from the dead, gorily erupting through the bed sheets any time he attempts to sleep with his new girlfriend. Left physically and emotionally wounded after a car accident that robbed him of his beloved Nina, Rob is finally taking timid steps toward re-entering the world with the help of his supermarket co-worker Holly, only to find that Nina has a penchant for violently reappearing with sarcastic words of support mid-coitus. This sly horror-comedy-romance provides a fresh take on the genre, a sexy, blood-drenched ode to the ways our past continues to haunt us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IokJt_05co
The Shining
(USA, United Kingdom / 1980 / Director: Stanley Kubrick)
All digital and no 35 mm screenings make Jack a dull boy, so feast your eyes on this special 35 mm screening of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary horror tale. Snugly nestled away in the mountains, the Overlook Hotel offers plenty of vacancies. And when the Torrance family gets snowed in for the winter, recovering alcoholic father Jack (Jack Nicholson at his most iconic) gets a little stir-crazy. Take a shot of red rum, avoid all elevators and twins, and, whatever you do, don’t go into Room 237. This tale of conspiracy and insanity will lead you into a mental hedge maze you won’t soon escape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S014oGZiSdI
They Have Escaped (He ovat paenneet)
(Finland, Netherlands / 2014 / Director: J-P Valkeapää)
What begins as a tale of two teenage outcasts finding one another at a halfway house and subsequently running away together slowly morphs into a primal fairy tale that will challenge your senses and expand your mind. Joni and Raisa have run out of chances when they meet and see in one another a kindred chaotic spirit, so of course their intense bond leads to them leaving civilization altogether and embarking on a wild, nightmarish journey of drug use and feral living. Intimate and intense, They Have Escaped defies expectations, a movie that will uproot your sense of reality and leave you reeling.
https://vimeo.com/97110474
Turbo Kid
(Canada, New Zealand / 2015 / Directors: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell)
In the post-apocalyptic future of 1997, acid rain beats down on the barren landscape while evil warlord Zeus kidnaps people in order to harvest them for their precious water. In steps reluctant hero The Kid, a youngster content to tool around on his BMX bike and read old Turbo Man comic books all day. But when his only friend is taken hostage, he must embrace his destiny and become the hero he’s only ever read about. The retro-futuristic Turbo Kid is a cult classic in the making, combining ’80s movie nostalgia with geysers of blood to make something you’ve never seen before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh23-rQUi5U
White God
(Hungary / 2014 / Director: Kornél Mundruczó)
Imagine The Birds told from the animal’s perspective and you’re only scratching the surface of this remarkable Hungarian thriller, a morally challenging cautionary tale tackling cultural and political tension amid an all-out dog revolt. Lili is forced to abandon her beloved mutt, Hagen, due to the state’s strict breeding protocols, but she refuses to give up hope that they will be reunited. As Lili searches, Hagen is subjected to the cruelties of man and so slowly amasses an army of the unwanted to exact revenge. A remarkable feat of filmmaking, White God suggests instead of going to heaven, all dogs might unleash hell on Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGz2kyo26U
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Scary Trailer and Poster for THE WITCH, to be Released in 2016
A24 has debuted the scary new trailer and poster for THE WITCH, directed and written by Robert Eggers,
and starring Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson. The Witch is scheduled to be released in theaters in 2016.
In this exquisitely-made and terrifying new horror film, the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic and possession are innovatively brought together to tell the intimate and riveting story of one family’s frightful unraveling.
Set in New England circa 1630, The Witch follows a farmer who get cast out of his colonial plantation and is forced to move his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest rumored to be controlled by witches. Almost immediately, strange and unsettling things begin to happen-the animals turn violent, the crops fail, and one of the children disappears, only to return seemingly possessed by an evil spirit. As suspicion and paranoia mount, everyone begins to point the finger at teenage daughter Thomasin. They accuse her of witchcraft, which she adamantly denies…but as circumstances become more and more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty, and love will be tested in shocking and unforgettable ways.
Writer/director Robert Eggers’ debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival (and won the Best Director Prize in the U.S. Narrative Competition), painstakingly recreates a God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which religious convictions and pagan folklore famously clashed. Told through the eyes of the adolescent Thomasin – in a star-making turn by newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy – and supported by mesmerizing camera work and a powerful musical score, THE WITCH is a chilling and groundbreaking new take on the genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXmlf3Sefg
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Elle Fanning is Transgender Teen in ABOUT RAY to World Premiere at Toronto Film Fest | TRAILER
The Weinsten Company has released the official trailer for ABOUT RAY directed by Gaby Dellal and World Premiere as a Special Presentation at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film which features an all star cast including Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon, Sam Trammel, Linda Emond and Tate Donovan will open in theaters on Friday, September 18th.
ABOUT RAY tells the stirring and touching story of a family of three generations living under one roof in New York as they must deal with a life-changing transformation by one that ultimately effects them all. Ray (Elle Fanning) is a teenager who has come to the realization that she isn’t meant to be a girl and has decided to transition from female to male. His single mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must track down Ray’s biological father (Tate Donovan) to get his legal consent to allow Ray’s transition. Dolly (Susan Sarandon), Ray’s lesbian grandmother is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson. They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_86baBTbNtU
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Toronto International Film Festival to Hold Live Script Read of Rob Reiner’s Classic “The Princess Bride”
The Princess Bride script is the subject of the Jason Reitman Live Read at the upcoming 40th Toronto International Film Festival. Jason Reitman Live Read is a unique event in which classic movie scripts are read by contemporary actors. The script of Rob Reiner’s “beloved classic” will be presented to audiences in a one-take read-through with Reitman narrating stage direction.
“The Princess Bride premiered at the Festival in 1987 and has captured audiences’ imaginations ever since,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “To have this title return on the occasion of our 40th Festival, and be re-explored by a contemporary cast, is pure magic.”
Who will avenge Inigo Montoya’s father? Who will fill the inimitable Fezzik’s enormous shoes? Who will breathe new life into the part of Miracle Max? The cast for the Live Read will be announced by Jason Reitman on Twitter (@JasonReitman) in the days leading up to the event.
The Festival previously welcomed Reitman and all-star casts for live table reads of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights and Alan Ball’s American Beauty.
Jason Reitman created Live Read in October 2011, in collaboration with Elvis Mitchell, for the film society of Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA). The six-month hit series featured Breakfast Club (Jennifer Garner and Aaron Paul), The Apartment (Steve Carell and Natalie Portman), The Princess Bride (Paul Rudd), Shampoo (Bradley Cooper and Kate Hudson), The Big Lebowski (Seth Rogen), and Reservoir Dogs, which featured an all-African American cast including actors Laurence Fishburne and Terrence Howard.
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYgcrny2hRs
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CMT to Premiere Original Documentary JOHNNY CASH: AMERICAN REBEL on September 12
CMT will air the original documentary, Johnny Cash: American Rebel that celebrates the life and artistry of the late Man in Black as captured through the unique perspective of his greatest songs. The film combines original interviews with his family and friends featuring John Carter Cash,Rosanne Cash, Carlene Carter, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Clive Davis, Merle Haggard,Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, Rick Rubin,Willie Nelson and more. For the first time, Cash’s children, John Carter Cash and Rosanne Cash, along with June Carter’s daughter Carlene Carter, will appear together in a film about Johnny Cash. “Johnny Cash: American Rebel” premieres on the 12th anniversary of his passing on Saturday, September 12 at 9 pm ET/PT.
Johnny Cash: American Rebel is built around 12 essential Johnny Cash tracks spanning four decades that each deliver the passion, musicality and messages against war, injustice, racism and prejudice, including “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Jackson,” “San Quentin,” “Man In Black,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Ring of Fire,” “Hurt” and more. Each song illustrates a chapter in his life, as well the story of an ever-changing America from the 1950s to modern day, as told through interviews, archival concert footage, photographs and personal artifacts from the Cash family.
“Country music to me is not beer drinking, you done me wrong, darling, I’m going to bust your head kinda songs. It does have a social conscience. My songs do. It’s the music of the people, so it’s got to point out from time to time some of the problems of the people.”
– Johnny Cash
“The way he related to an audience and who he was on stage, was his best self. He had an intimate relationship with his audience and he worked out a lot of his problems under the spotlight.” – Rosanne Cash
“There were so many different facets to him, such an undefinable depth to his character. You could see it in his eyes and it brought on mystery, and it brought on a need for, perhaps, understanding him in a deeper way and this is part of the appeal of who the man was.” – John Carter Cash
“All he had to say, ‘Hello I’m Johnny Cash’ and you knew there was no one else in the world. You don’t have any question if you heard him on radio, if you heard him on television. You don’t say ‘Who is that?’ It’s not that kind of artist that can be duplicated, fungible. You knew it was Johnny Cash.” – Clive Davis
“I’ve always felt like Johnny Cash was such a great influencer on my life. He is the one who changed my life. If I hadn’t shook hands with him backstage at the Opry, back when I was still in the army, I’d have never got out of the army.” – Kris Kristofferson
“He was a poet, he was an activist, he was an American, he was a Patriot, he was a military man, he was an outlaw. He was a voice I think for the collective.” – Sheryl Crow
To see a sneak peek of “Johnny Cash: American Rebel,” click on the trailer here.
Derik Murray and Paul Gertz from Network Entertainment executive produce. Jordan Tappis directs and Derik Murray co-directs. Jayson Dinsmore, Lewis Bogach and John Miller-Monzon executive produce for CMT.
Johnny Cash: American Rebel marks the latest in a series of original documentaries from CMT. The first, “Urban Cowboy: The Rise and Fall of Gilley’s” premiered to critical acclaim has been seen by more than 9 million viewers. Over 5 million viewers tuned in for “Morgan Spurlock’s Freedom: The Movie, which premiered last month.
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Colombian Film EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT Looking at 2016 Release Date in US | TRAILER
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (El abrazo de la serpiente) by Colombian director Ciro Guerra, and winner of the Art Cinema award in Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival will be released in the US via Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film is scheduled for an early 2016 theatrical release.
Filmed in black and white, and starring Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres Antonio Bolivar, Yauenkü Migue, EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT tells the epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-trascending friendship, between Karamakate, an amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people, and two scientists that, over the course of 40 years, travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that can heal them. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.
Ciro Guerra (b. 1981, Río de Oro, Colombia) studied film and television at the National University of Colombia. He made several award-winning shorts and, aged 21, debuted with the feature film The Wandering Shadows (La sombra del caminante, 2004), which won an award at the San Sebastián IFF. He followed this up with The Wind Journeys (Los viajes del viento), which was premiered at Cannes in 2009 in the Directors’ Fortnight section. Both films were subsequently screened at numerous IFFs (including Cannes, Toronto, Rotterdam, Tribeca and Locarno), winning 40 international awards; they were also chosen as Colombia’s Academy Award submissions and have been distributed in twenty countries. The Wind Journeys was selected by critics as one of the top ten most important works in Colombian film history. Embrace of the Serpent is the director’s third film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ff7TcnqHUc
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Horror Film THE HALLOW from Sundance Sets November 6th Release Date | TRAILER
Horror film, THE HALLOW directed by Corin Hardy, and an Official Selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, will be released in theaters on November 6th via IFC Midnight. THE HALLOW stars Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, and Michael Smiley.
Deep within the darkness of secluded forest land in rural Ireland dwells an ancient evil. Feared by the nearby superstitious villagers as cursed creatures who prey upon the lost, their secrets have been kept from civilization and remain on their hallowed ground. But when a conservationist from London moves in with his wife and infant child in order to survey the land for future construction, his actions unwittingly disturb the horde of demonic forces. Alone in a remote wilderness, he must now ensure his family’s survival from their relentless attacks. With his feature debut, acclaimed visual stylist Corin Hardy displays an innate talent for the macabre, approaching the medium with a cocksure confidence in his construction of the modern horror fable. Relying upon a precise and layered technical elegance, The Hallow seethes with an uncommonly sophisticated terror that uncoils effortlessly into an atmosphere of disquieting intensity and primal dread. Corin Hardy is an award-winning filmmaker, whose live action and animated work mixes the macabre, the beautiful and the epic to visually dazzling results. Corin studied Special Effects at Wimbledon School of Art before making his award-winning stop-motion short film Butterfly in 2003. This led into directing music videos, beginning with Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ and ‘Bedshaped’ and continuing with films for a mix of mainstream acts including The Prodigy, Biffy Clyro, Olly Murs, Paolo Nutini and The Rizzle Kicks as well as underground indies The Horrors, Dry The River, The Horrible Crowes – and recently the 9 minute crime epic for Devlin and Ed Sheeran’s Watchtower, all produced with Academy Films. For the past 10 years Corin has been writing and developing four of his own horror-based feature film projects with production companies in UK & US these include: The Hallow with Occupant Films, Refuge with Big Talk Films, Frogz Legz with Brilliant Films and F E S T with Pari Passu. Corin is also attached to direct Element Pictures teen thriller Where There’s Darkness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL5WfklIB-o
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Mexican Director Arturo Ripstein to Be Honored at 2015 Venice International Film Festival
Mexican director Arturo Ripstein will be honored at the upcoming 72nd Venice International Film Festival as celebration of his fiftieth year as a filmmaker. The ceremony will take place on the night of the presentation of his latest film, La calle de la amargura.
The Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera stated: “Arturo Ripstein is the most vital, tenacious and original director of the generation that made its debut in the mid-Sixties, the heir of the golden age of Mexican studio films and the forerunner of the new generation of contemporary authors such as Carlos Reygadas, Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Pereda, each of whom in their own way, recognizes the profound debt that they owe to his work. In his so many unforgettable films, most of them co-written with Paz Alicia Garciadiego, Ripstein has brought to life a restless and afflicted universe, populated with characters pathetically on the verge of the abyss into which they are destined to fall. The strange blend of beauty and brutality, compassion and violence, irony and sadness, adds a wholly personal dimension to his cinema, which delves its roots into popular tragedy and the atmospheres of melodrama, which he cleverly re-elaborates. These elements are also to be found, their power and beauty intact, in his latest film, which the Venice Film Festival has the pleasure of presenting in its world premiere screening”.
The awards ceremony for this honor will take place before the screening of the film, which is scheduled for Thursday September 10th, in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande.
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World Premiere of Mika Kaurismäki’s THE GIRL KING Added to 2015 Montreal World Film Festival | TRAILER
The Montreal World Film Festival has added the world premiere of The Girl King, directed by Mika Kaurismäki to its official competition. “I was seduced by Michel-Marc Bouchard’s script,” says producer Arnie Gelbart. “It’s an unusual story of an extraordinary woman. The characters are very contemporary, young, ambitious and full of passion, torn between duty and desire, and it’s all been brought to the screen by a great director.” The international cast features Swedish stars Malin Buska and Michael Nyqvist, Canadians Sarah Gadon and Lucas Bryant, Finnish actress Laura Birn, French actor Hippolyte Girardot, veteran Belgian actor Patrick Bauchau and German actors Peter Lohmayer and Martina Gedeck. The Quebecer François Arnaud is also part of the cast and Guy Dufaux was the director of photography. The English version of the script has been written by awarded Linda Gaboriau.
The Girl King was scripted by Quebec playwright Michel-Marc Bouchard who had great success in 2012 with his play on the life of Queen Christina of Sweden when it was staged in Montreal TNM and later at the Stratford Festival.
It’s the 1600s and Queen Christina is set on making Sweden the most sophisticated country in Europe. Having been raised as a prince under strict Lutheran control, the enigmatic, flamboyant, and unpredictable queen faces powerful resistance in her quest to educate her subjects and end the bloody Thirty Years War between the Protestants and Catholics. Amidst all this, Christina struggles to come to terms with an irresistible passion for her lady in waiting, the stunning Countess Ebba Sparre. Her quest to understand love runs parallel with her quest to understand humanity and the violent and restrictive forces conspiring against her. Torn between the conflict of political and personal aspirations, Christina chooses to make one of the most controversial decisions in history.
Born in Orimattila, Finland in 1955, Mika Kaurismäki studied film in Germany and his first film, his graduation production, THE LIAR (1980), was an overnight sensation; it marked the beginning of the cinema of the Kaurismäki brothers and started a new era in the Finnish cinema. Eventually, Mika established a base and second home in Brazil and concentrated on international co-productions, among them, CONDITION RED (1995), L.A. WITHOUT A MAP (1998), HONEY BABY (2004), BRASILEIRINHO (2005, shown at the MWFF), THREE WISE MEN (2008), BROTHERS (2011) and ROAD NORTH (2012).
The MWFF runs from August 27 to September 7, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ags39i275ro
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Archive Gala of 59th BFI London Film Festival to World Premiere of New Restoration of Anthony Asquith’s SHOOTING STARS
The Archive gala screening at the 59th BFI London Film Festival will be the world premiere of a new restoration of Anthony Asquith’s Shooting Stars (1928). Asquith’s first film as co-director and scriptwriter, Shooting Stars is a fascinating drama set behind the scenes at a contemporary film studio. Newly restored by the BFI National Archive, Shooting Stars will be presented with a new live score by John Altman, BAFTA and Emmy award-winning composer whose work includes Titanic and Goldeneye.
Shooting Stars is a dazzling debut which boasts a boldly expressionist shooting style, dramatic lighting and great performances from its leads. Annette Benson (Mae Feather) and Brian Aherne (Julian Gordon) play two mis-matched, married stars and Donald Calthrop (Andy Wilkes) a Chaplin-esque star at the same studio, with whom Mae becomes romantically involved. Chili Bouchier, Britain’s first sex symbol of the silent era, plays a key role as an actress/bathing beauty, an attractive foil to the comic antics of the comedian. The film manages to operate as a sophisticated, modern morality tale, while it’s also both an affectionate critique of the film industry and a celebration of its possibilities. It teases the audience with its revelations of how the illusions of the world of film-making conceal ironic and hidden truths.
Asquith (son of the former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith) had privileged access to see Chaplin making The Circus on a trip to Hollywood and he had also been behind the scenes at German film studios. Both influences are clearly seen in the film. Asquith went on to have a hugely successful international career in the sound era with films such as Pygmalion, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Browning Version and The VIPs.
The film has been meticulously restored by a team of BFI experts from materials held in the BFI National Archive, making this the definitive restoration to stand alongside those of previous BFI restorations of Asquith’s Underground (1928) and A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929).
Robin Baker, Head Curator, BFI National Archive said, “We are delighted to be showcasing this remarkable film in a brilliant new restoration achieved after months of work from our dedicated teams at the BFI. Shooting Stars is a fascinating debut from one of Britain’s greatest film-makers and to see it with a newly commissioned score performed live in the Art Deco splendor of the Odeon Leicester Square promises to be a very special experience.”
The new score by composer, John Altman, has been written for a twelve piece ensemble playing multiple instruments. It is full of a lively jazz influence, inspired by some of the sheet music for the popular song “Ain’t She Sweet” which is seen on screen in the film. Altman is both an authentic and accomplished jazz musician as well as a BAFTA and Emmy award winning composer of music for the big screen. He has composed, orchestrated and conducted for many films including the period music for James Cameron’s Titanic, and he composed the tank chase sequence in the James Bond film GoldenEye and won the Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music for Hear My Song.
John Altman said, “For the new score I have been inspired by dance band sounds and Duke Ellington in 1927. It’s not a slavish period recreation but I have tried to find an appropriate way of reflecting some of the plot twists and ironic deceptions through a series of interlinked musical themes. The score will be played by a very versatile group of musicians and we will end up using almost as many instruments as a complete orchestra through the whole film. I hope that the music will carry audiences effortlessly through the emotional highs and lows of this brilliant film.”
There were famously two opposing reviews published in Variety, one British, one American, with the British review disparaging the film and the American giving it a strong thumbs-up. The film is now however fully appreciated as one of the few undisputed masterpieces of British silent cinema. Only Alfred Hitchcock has a higher critical reputation than Asquith in this period of late silent British cinema.
Credits:
SHOOTING STARS (UK 1928)
Director, AV Bramble, co-directed by Anthony Asquith.
Producer: H. Bruce Woolfe.
Screenplay: Anthony Asquith and J. Orton
Shooting Stars is a dazzling debut from first-time filmmaker Anthony Asquith, audaciously taking the
film industry itself as the theme.
Despite the director credit going to veteran director A.V. Bramble, this is demonstrably the original work of rising talent Anthony Asquith, exhibiting all the attention-grabbing bravado of a young filmmaker with everything to prove. His original story offers sardonic insight into the shallowness of film stardom and Hollywood formulas by use of ironic counterpoint. He flaunts his dynamic cinematographic style and upgrades design and lighting by bringing in professionals.
Synopsis
A love triangle develops on set in a British movie studio filmed at Cricklewood in NW London, where a western and a slapstick comedy are being filmed back-to-back. Mae Feather (Annette Benson), a spoiled star jilts her husband, played by Brian Aherne for the comedian played by Donald Calthrop. In one of the best opening scenes of British silent cinema the handsome Brian Aherne appears as a cowboy, with his ‘gal’ in a calico frock in a classic ‘western’ rural romantic scene. The dove she cradles in her hands pecks at her viciously and the illusion is suddenly dispelled as the camera tracks back to reveal a studio’s wooden sets. She becomes the screeching prima donna while her co-star husband remains calm, slightly amused and dignified as the entire studio staff tries to catch the offending bird. He is, in other words the real thing – he is his star persona. She on the other hand is entirely unlike her nice-girl character and is unwilling to give up the romance of the movies for the real thing. The situation spins rapidly out of control.
Shooting Stars marked the fiction feature debut of British Instructional Films which went on to produce a short-lived but significant run of very good late silent features including several which have been restored and released by the BFI in recent years: Walter Summers’ The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands(1928), Asquith’s Underground (1928), A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929).