Films

The trailer is released for the Orson Welles documentary Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles from Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman.  The film which was released at the Telluride Film Festival features interviews with with Richard Linklater, Peter Bogdanovich, Frank Marshall, Anthony Perkins, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg. Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles opens on December 12th.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles looks at the remarkable genius of Orson Welles on the eve of his centenary – the enigma of his career as a Hollywood star, a Hollywood director (for some a Hollywood failure), and a crucially important independent filmmaker. From Oscar-winner Chuck Workman.

http://youtu.be/VN8L7TsjfDk

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THE LAST PATROL  

A few years ago, Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Sebastian Junger (“Restrepo”) planned a walk from Washington, D.C. to New York City along Amtrak railroad lines with his close friend, acclaimed war reporter Tim Hetherington. After Hetherington was killed covering the Libyan civil war in 2011, Junger decided to take the same trip, joined instead by a Spanish photographer who was at Hetherington’s side when he died and two combat vets they’d known in Afghanistan.

Chronicling their journey, the moving documentary THE LAST PATROL debuts MONDAY, NOV. 10 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), the day before Veterans Day, exclusively on HBO.

Other HBO playdates: Nov. 10 (5:15 a.m.), 13 (9:15 a.m., 4:00 p.m.), 16 (1:00 p.m.), 18 (3:00 p.m.) and 22 (8:15 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Nov. 19 (8:15 a.m., 8:30 p.m.), 25 (12:30 a.m.) and 30 (8:15 a.m.), and Dec. 5 (3:00 p.m.) and 8 (10:15 a.m.)

Junger was accompanied by combat veterans Brendan O’Byrne (previously seen in “Restrepo”) and Dave Roels, as well as acclaimed Spanish photojournalist Guillermo Cervera. Naming their journey The Last Patrol, they walked from D.C. to Philadelphia and then turned west, away from the cluttered Northeast Corridor, and headed for the Allegheny Mountains and Pittsburgh.

Junger chose railroad lines because, he believes, “they go straight through the middle of everything,” including ghettos, suburbs, farms and woods, and offer the only way to see the country from the inside out. The group decided not to take tents, since brightly-colored nylon attracts too much attention. Instead, they slept under bridges, in abandoned buildings or simply in the woods. This high-speed vagrancy saw them bathing in rivers, getting water out of creeks, cooking over open fires and talking their way past motorcycle gangs, COPS and suspicious homeowners.

After extensive experience in combat and the loss of good friends, all four men declared they never wanted to go to war again. The goal was to get to know America again after a decade of war, and discuss why combat is so incredibly hard to give up. The Last Patrol recreated the hardship, brotherhood and closeness of combat, without getting fired upon – except once in Pennsylvania.

In conjunction with the film’s premiere, Manhattan’s Anastasia Photo will present Guillermo Cervera’s first solo exhibition in New York, scheduled to run from Oct. 24 to Jan. 4.  In addition to photos he took during the filming of THE LAST PATROL, the show includes selections from 20 years of documenting armed conflict and social issues around the world.

Sebastian Junger is a New York-based writer, journalist and filmmaker. THE LAST PATROL concludes his trilogy on war, following 2014’s “Korengal” and “Restrepo,” which he co-directed with Tim Hetherington. “Restrepo” won the 2010 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature the following year. Junger’s accompanying book, “War,” was a New York Times bestseller. His other books include “The Perfect Storm,” which was adapted for the hit feature film of the same name, “Fire” and “A Death in Belmont.”

Junger’s other credits include the 2013 HBO documentary “Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington.”

THE LAST PATROL was directed by Sebastian Junger; producers, Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested; editor, Michael Levine; cinematographer, Rudy Valdez. For HBO: supervising producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.

http://youtu.be/Ddambdna4JU

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Bitter Honey is a feature-length documentary presenting an intimate and emotionally charged portrait of three polygamous families in Bali, Indonesia.  Following these families over a seven year period, the film portrays the plight of Balinese co-wives, for whom marriage is frequently characterized by psychological manipulation, infidelity, domestic violence and economic hardship. The film opened in Los Angeles on October 3, 2014, San Francisco on October 17, Boston at the Apple Cinemas Freshpond on October 24, New York and Chicago onOctober 31, 2014 and Washington DC on November 7, 2014. More cities to be announced.

http://youtu.be/lEMmp3h8c3E

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SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY

SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY, directed by Mary Dore, an award-winning documentary producer who brings an activist perspective to her films, will open at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in NYC on December 5, and at the Landmark Nuart Theatre in LA on December 12. A national release will follow.

SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL takes us from the founding of NOW, when ladies wore hats and gloves, to the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberation; from intellectuals like Kate Millett to the street theatrics of WITCH (Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!). Remarkably, there has never been a theatrical documentary about the early days of women’s liberation. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL aims not to romanticize the early movement, but to dramatize it in its exhilarating, quarrelsome, sometimes heart-wrenching glory.The film does not shy away from the controversies over race, sexual identity and leadership that arose in the women’s movement.  SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY captures the spirit of the time — thrilling, scandalous, and often hilarious.

http://youtu.be/rizJQ7WOS_0

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Director Vivien Lesnik Weisman’s THE HACKER WARS opens Friday, October 17, 2014 at the Village East Cinema in New York.  Ripped from international headlines, The Hacker Wars takes you to the front lines of the high-stakes battle over the fate of the Internet, freedom and privacy. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Vivien Lesnik Weisman melds her distinctive, subversively bent style with the real-life stories of the cyberpunk vanguards who blur the line between hacking and activism. Locked in a murky conflict against world governments, these so-called hacktivists are waging a life-or-death struggle for the freedom of public information and the defense of privacy under siege.

The Hacker Wars tells the tales of the anarchic troll provocateur Andrew “weev” Aurenheimer, prodigy hacker hero Jeremy Hammond, and incendiary watchdog journalist Barrett Brown — three larger than life characters whose separate quests to expose the secrets of empire hurled them into a fateful collision course with shadowy corporations, the FBI, and ultimate betrayal by one of their own.

Featuring interviews with NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, The Hacker Wars traces the steps that led from the Internet’s murkiest corners to the heavy shadow of censorship and a century’s worth of prison time.

http://youtu.be/dm-eYgtxh8Y

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 THE INVISIBLE FRONT, a documentary directed by Vincas Sruoginis and Jonas Ohman, and winner of the Audience Award at the international film festival “Kino Pavasaris” in Vilnius 2014, will open at the Cinema Village in New York on November 7, at the Music Box in Chicago on November 14, and at the Music Hall in Los Angeles on November 21. A national release will follow.

THE INVISIBLE FRONT is the story of one of the twentieth centuries most significant anti-Soviet resistance movements, told through the words and experiences of Juozas Luksa and his fellow Forest Brothers. Their war was completely unknown to the public in the West. The Soviet Security forces, fighting against them, dubbed the conflict “The Invisible Front”.

In 1944, Soviet forces occupied Lithuania for the second time. At the first occupation. 1940‐41, the government offered no resistance and the Lithuanians had quickly learned the brutal lessons of Communism. This time, they decided to resist. Tens of thousands of young Lithuanian men and women from the villages, schools and universities took to the forests and formed a guerrilla movement, the so­‐called Forest Brothers. One of their most charismatic leaders was Juozas Luksa, an architecture student. Along with his three brothers he joined the underground resistance, challenging the Soviets for years to come. In 1947 Luksa broke out from the Soviet Union to seek support and to tell the tale of Lithuanians desperate resistance to the West.

When in Paris he met the love of his life, Nijole Brazenaite, and married her. He wrote a touching memoir about the origins of the resistance, which was later published by his wife. Shortly after their wedding, Luksa returned to Lithuania, air dropped by the CIA, for intelligence gathering. Panicking, Moscow launched vast resources to hunt him down, once for all ending the threat from the resistance to Communist rule in Lithuania.

http://youtu.be/pUWST7fNkqo

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Check out the trailer for The Blind Chess Players of India in ALGORITHMS, a First Run Features film which opens in Los Angeles on October 17 and in New York City on October 24.  In India, a group of boys dream of becoming Chess Grandmasters. But this is no ordinary chess and these are no ordinary players.  Algorithms, the debut feature documentary from filmmaker Ian McDonald, is a film that transports us into the little known world of Blind Chess.  Chess is an ancient and universal game with origins in India. 

Filmed over three years in different parts of India, Algorithms follows three boys and an adult champion who not only aspires to bring global recognition to India’s blind chess players, but also wants to encourage all blind children to play chess. The filmmakers travel with the players to competitive tournaments, including the World Junior Blind Chess Championship. They also film them in their home milieu where they reveal their struggles, anxieties and hopes. Moving through the algorithms of the blind chess world, the film is a tactile and mindful journey that challenges the notion of what it means to “see.”

The Chess Players



Charudatta Jadhav from Mumbai is a champion player turned pioneer. He discovered the game of chess soon after he went blind in his teenage years. It gave him confidence and a purpose in life. Convinced of the power of this game, he has dedicated his life to develop chess for the blind. A highly successful IT professional, Charu is a man of great drive and ambition, and he aims to situate India in the top five countries for Blind Chess.



Darpan Inani from Baroda is the most talented and highest ranked totally blind player in India. This idiosyncratic, confident and highly intelligent teenager is focussed on what he wants to achieve in chess, and in life. Darpan possesses a wisdom that belies his young age. He is a topper in his sighted school and  wants to be the first blind entrepreneur of India.



SaiKrishna S.T. from Chennai is the ambitious rising star of blind chess in India. He is fun-loving, gregarious and makes friends easily. But as a partially sighted boy faced with the possibility of going totally blind, there is a lot more steel to Sai’s character than at first appears. Sai studies in a blind school and is again a topper. He wants to be the first blind journalist of India.



Anant Kumar Nayak from Bhubaneshwar is a promising new talent. He is a gentle boy with an endearing if slightly eccentric personality. With a strong sense of moral duty and responsibility, the totally blind Anant struggles to balance his commitment to chess and studies. Anant has come second in training exams for IAS and hopes to be a rare blind IAS officer of India.

http://youtu.be/vkDse3PJguU

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Cinedigm has released the trailer for the documentary REMOTE AREA MEDICAL directed by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman which opens in NY on November 28th and nationwide on December 5th. The film was shot during a three-day clinic held at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway where, some of the country’s sickest individuals finally received health care. Their extraordinary stories create a lasting impression about the state of modern health care in America.

During the U.S. debate about healthcare reform, the media—reporters and news crews and filmmakers— failed to put a human face on what it means to not have access to healthcare. REMOTE AREA MEDICAL fills that gap—it is a film about people, not policy. Focusing on a single three-day clinic held in the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, REMOTE AREA MEDICAL affords us an insider’s perspective on the ebb and flow of the event—from the tense 3:30 a.m. ticket distribution that determines who gets seen to the routine check-ups that take dramatic turns for the worse, to the risky means to which some patients resort for pain relief. We meet a doctor who also drives an 18-wheeler, a denture maker who moonlights as a jeweler, and the organization’s founder, Stan Brock, who first imagined Remote Area Medical while living as a cowboy in the Amazon rainforest, hundreds of miles from the nearest doctor. But it is the extraordinary stories of the patients, desperate for medical attention, that create a lasting impression about the state of modern health care in America. 

http://youtu.be/l71S9goU37A

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MONK WITH A CAMERA: The Life and Journey of Nicholas Vreeland, the latest documentary by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara (Chris & Don: A Love Story), will open on November 21 at The Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York City, and the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on December 12, and expanding to other national markets in the following weeks.  

Nicholas (Nicky) Vreeland, the grandson of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, walked away from a worldly life of privilege to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1972.  He moved to India, cut his ties with his pleasure-filled world, and began living in a monastery with no running water or electricity. There, he would spend the next 14 years studying to become a monk.

Featuring up-close conversations with actor Richard Gere, his Holiness the Dalai Llama, and Vreeland’s Buddhist teacher Khylongla Rinpoche, among many others, MONK WITH A CAMERA gracefully chronicles Nicky Vreeland’s cultural and spiritual journey, as well as his lifelong (and often conflicting) relationship with photography.

Trained early on by famed American photographer Irving Penn, Nicky Vreeland developed a sophisticated aesthetic and was on a path to become a world-class photographer himself. But once a monk, he abandoned his cameras to focus on his studies and devote himself to a monastic life.  

Yet, in an ironic twist of fate, Nicky went back to photography in part to help rebuild the monastery after the 2008 economic crisis left them without much-needed financial assistance. Recently, the Dalai Lama appointed Nicky as Abbot of the monastery, making him the first Westerner in Tibetan Buddhist history to attain such a highly regarded position. MONK WITH A CAMERA: The Life and Journey of Nicholas Vreeland chronicles Nicky’s journey from playboy to monk to artist.

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