Films

Anita Hill Documentary To Get a Fall 2013 Release

The documentary “ANITA,” which recently screened as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival following its Sundance Film Festival debut earlier this year will be released this Fall by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Directed by Freida Mock, “Anita” reveals a rare glimpse into her private life with friends and family; she speaks openly and intimately for the first time about her experiences that led her to testify before the Senate about sexual harassment she endured while working with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

Hill’s graphic testimony was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and power in the workplace.
Read more
In the Spotlight: Comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto’s “R100” to Premiere at 2013 Toronto International Film Festival

Hitoshi Matsumoto, one of Japan’s leading comedians returns to the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival with R100, following earlier TIFF premieres of his previous films BIG MAN JAPAN (2007) and SYMBOL (2009). The title of R100 is a word play on the Japanese ratings system, suggesting that the viewer should be at least 100 years old to see the film. Mr. Matsumoto thought of the title while doing publicity for his previous film SCABBARD SAMURAI. With R100, he wants to challenge the concept of rating, or any kind of judgment, of films–which he explores in a tongue-in-cheek subplot about the filmmaking process.

The universe that Mr. Matsumoto created for R100 is decidedly kinky. He dives headlong into the world of sexual fantasies, bypassing the usual fetish clichés. In a hilarious performance as a dead-pan, no-nonsense police officer, Matsumoto gets to ask the pivotal question: “What happens if you get what you asked for?”

A very ordinary man (Nao Omori) who takes care of his son while his wife lies in a coma, enters a very ordinary building. Following a seductive ride on a merry-go-round, he signs up with an exclusive club. Membership is one year only and cannot be cancelled under any circumstances.

Happily he endures dominatrix intrusions in his daily life, until they get a little too close to his unsuspecting family. With a courage not displayed in his professional life as a bed salesman, he tries to cancel his membership, evoking the wrath of the American CEO, who descends upon Tokyo to teach him a lesson…

The all-star cast includes Nao Omori of VIBRATOR (2003) and ICHI THE KILLER (2001), Mao Daichi, a renowned stage actress, Shinobu Terajima of CATAPILLAR (2010), Hairi Katagiri of KAMOME DINER (2006), Ai Tominaga, a Japanese supermodel, Eriko Sato of FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS! (2007), and Hitoshi Matsumoto himself. Warner Bros Pictures releases the film in Japan on October 5.
Read more
In the Spotlight: “FELIX” Audience Choice Best Film at Durban International Film Festival | TRAILER

Felix

FELIX described as “the feel-good South African family movie” was the winner of the Audience Choice Best Film award at this year’s 34th Durban International Film Festival. Durban International Film Festival manager Peter Machen called Felix “a South African equivalent of Billy Elliott… a lovely, vibrant, feelgood film about a young township boy intent on following his dreams.”

In FELIX, 14-year-old Felix Xaba dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music. When Felix leaves his township friends to take up a scholarship for grade eight at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father’s old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert.

Felix was created by a predominantly female creative team, with SAFTA Lifetime Achievement winner Roberta Durrant directing; and featured an all-star cast that included Joburg-born Oscar-nominee Dame Janet Suzman in her first South African film; South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) Best Actress winner Linda Sokhulu in her feature debut; and newcomer Hlayani Junior Mabasa, who was cast in the title role from over 400 auditions across the country.

http://youtu.be/4XC2YXTxuhQ
Read more
Comedy Documentary “THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING!” to Get A September Release | TRAILER

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING!, directed by comedians Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah will open in theaters in September, with New York on September 20 at the Quad Cinema. The film follows a band of Muslim-American comedians – “Muzzies” – lead by Farsad and Obeidallah as they visit big cities, small towns, rural villages, and everything in between to combat Islamophobia with the only weapons they have: jokes!

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! is a road movie, that follows a comedy tour of middle America. A traveling band of comedians visit big cities, small towns, liberal enclaves, conservative hotbeds, rural unincorporated villages, and everything in between to explore the issue of Islamophobia! They’ll perform, meet the locals, and take the pulse of real Americans.

Islam has been duly tarnished by the mainstream media and the serious approach to repairing the political wedge hasn’t worked. We are so many years out of 9/11 and Muslim fear-mongering hasn’t dissipated. Whether it’s the mosque at Ground Zero, the perceived threat of Shariah Law, the NYPD surveillance of Muslim groups, or heated discussions of Muslims during presidential elections, the idea that Islam is somehow antithetical to American culture just won’t go away. THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! wants to change the discourse by unleashes the power of punch lines in reaching out to middle America! If all you’ve ever heard about Islam is that it’s a dangerous religion, that women cover themselves, and that those shifty eyed Muslims have evil ulterior motives, this movie wants to give you a new stereotype. Yeah, this movie is going to convince you that Muslims are just a bunch of hilarious people. By the end of this movie, you’re gonna love the pants out of Muslims.

In every town the comedians perform, using the stage as a sounding board not only for punchlines but for social commentary. Oh, and those shows are free – there are no barriers to entry with this gang. Each tour stop asks a particular question and examines an issue. The film is peppered with commentary from pop culture icons like the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Colin Quinn, Lewis Black, Rachel Maddow, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Ali Velshi and the Young Turk’s Cenk Uygur as well as business tycoon Russell Simmons and even US Representative Keith Ellison.

This group of Muzzie comics is dispatched not only to perform standup at each tour stop but to create ridiculous interventions in unsuspecting town squares, like the ol’ classic, Ask a Muslim Booth. Downtown Birmingham was treated to a game of “Name That Religion” where contestants are presented with quotes from major religious texts and asked to “name that religion.” The comedians break bread with locals, invite fine southerners to Bowl With a Muslim, and even shoot guns at the neighborhood range all in the name of bridge-building and communal laughs.

The goal is to interact with people from a wide range of perspectives on the issue of Islam and highlight the various similarities between the major religions. At the end of the day, we all have daddy issues, all have too much credit card debt, and are all captivated by Instagram, Jeremy Lin, and Olympic curling. The only differences are on the margins, like yay or nay to pork. The ultimate goal: present an Americanized face of Islam, create awesomeness between Muslim- and non-Muslim Americans of all stripes, and get these crazy kids to fall in love (the crazy kids being Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere)! Rest assured, you’ve never laughed this hard at a Muslim!

Sept. 12 Chicago – The Gene Siskel Cinema
Sept. 13 Seattle – The Grand Illusion Cinema
Sept. 14 Los Angeles – The Downtown Independent
Sept. 20 New York – The Quad Cinema

Available on iTunes and Cable on Demand Sept. 24

http://youtu.be/1brf79VyF40
Read more
Sundance Selects to Release Photographer Vivian Maier Documentary | TRAILER

Sundance Selects will release John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s feature documentary FINDING VIVIAN MAIER, which will have its world premiere in the Documentary section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER unearths the untold story of one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century, who was a mystery to even those who knew her. A nanny in the wealthy North Shore suburbs of Chicago, Maier’s secret world is unraveled slowly through her photo collections and interviews with those who knew her — parents who hired her, children she cared for, store owners, movie theater operators, and curious neighbors who remember her. The story that emerges goes beyond clichés of the undiscovered artist to offer a portrait of a woman who left a legacy of transformative work.

http://youtu.be/2o2nBhQ67Zc
Read more
Johnny Cash Documentary “MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK” Gets a September 6 Release Date | TRAILER

Jonathan Holiff’s award winning documentary MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK which explores the relationship between Johnny Cash and his longtime manager Saul Holiff (the director’s father who committed suicide after being estranged for 20 years) will open in New York City and Los Angeles on September 6, 2013.

Following his father’s suicide, director Jonathan Holiff discovers hundreds of letters and audio diaries, including recorded phone calls with Johnny Cash during his crazed pill-fueled 1960s jags, triumphs at Folsom and San Quentin, wedding to June Carter, and his conversion in the early 1970s to born-again Christian.

These artifacts are revelatory, for the filmmaker and for us: a behind-the-scenes look at the business of music, the pitfalls of success and the tensions of a friendship that would eventually dissolve. Mixing found footage, creative re-enactments and poignant voice-over narration, the documentary tells a riveting story with creative means as well as an act of catharsis for its maker.

http://youtu.be/jtovAxxPo2Q
Read more
WATCH Trailer for Abortion Documentary “AFTER TILLER”

New trailer was released for Martha Shane’s and Lana Wilson’s directorial debut AFTER TILLER which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film title refers to Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who provided late-term abortions and was assassinated by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder in 2009. AFTER TILLER will be released in theaters September 20, 2013.

Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, only four doctors in the United States continue to perform third-trimester abortions. These physicians, all colleagues of Dr. Tiller, sacrifice their safety and personal lives in the name of their fierce, unwavering conviction to help women. But for some in the pro-life movement, these doctors are “murderers” who must be stopped.

http://youtu.be/4vbqXzxnqzU
Read more
Documentary THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI Gets a Late Summer 2013 Release Date

Bill Siegel’s documentary THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI, that premiered earlier this year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will be released in the US by Kino Lorber. The documentary film opens in New York at the IFC Center on August 23rd with a national rollout planned through the summer and fall.

THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI is not a conventional sports documentary. As befitting its extraordinary and often complex subject, the film examines Ali’s life outside the boxing ring, beginning with the announcement of his deeply held Islamic religious beliefs which were a source of controversy, and his decision to change his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. It explores his refusal to serve in the Vietnam war (after his conscientious objector status was denied) on the grounds of protesting the racial injustice at home, and captures his passion and anger in interviews and TV appearances culled from a rich variety of archival sources.

Passionate and outspoken in his beliefs, Muhammad Ali found himself at the center of America’s controversies over race, religion, and war. THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI gives audiences the chance to experience this remarkable figure who took a strong stance on difficult issues, and transcended his fame as a celebrated sports figure to become a leader of global humanitarian efforts. His remarkable story is told through archival footage of his supporters and spiritual leaders including Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, as well as opponents of his views such as Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. The documentary also features new interviews with those who know and have worked with Ali, including his brother Rahman, his wife Khalilah Camacho-Ali, sports journalist Robert Lipsyte and Louis Farrakhan.

Read more
Sony Pictures Classics to Release Lance Armstrong documentary, “THE ARMSTRONG LIE”

Alex Gibney’s Lance Armstrong documentary, THE ARMSTRONG LIE which tells the unfolding story of Armstrong’s life and career over the last four years.will be released by Sony Pictures Classics. No exact release date was announced.

Lance Armstrong was considered one of the greatest sports figures of all time and put competitive cycling into the global spotlight, by beating cancer and winning the Tour de France seven times. That success earned him an immense fortune and worldwide fame. His was also one of the most influential and inspiring sports stories of recent memory and became a pop culture phenomenon, thanks to his Livestrong initiative. Beginning in 2009, Academy Award winning documentarian Alex Gibney followed Armstrong for four years chronicling his return to cycling after retirement, as he tried to win his eighth title. Unexpectedly, Gibney was also there in 2012 when Armstrong admitted to doping, following a federal criminal investigation, public accusations of doping by his ex-teammates, and an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency, that led USADA’s CEO, Travis Tygart, to conclude that Armstrong’s team had run “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

What began as the chronicle of a comeback became an examination into the anatomy of a lie. This film offers unparalleled access to Armstrong’s former teammates, doctors, and professionals, many of whom have never before spoken to the media about Armstrong and his bombshell doping admission – as well as unprecedented access to Armstrong himself.

Read more
Documentary “I AM BREATHING” Life-affirming film about man with ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease in Theaters This Fall 2013

The documentary “I AM BREATHING” which played at many prestigious international film festivals will make its U.S. theatrical premiere in New York Sept. 6-12 at IFC Center and in Los Angeles Sept. 13-19 at Laemmle Music Hall with additional national screenings to follow. In I AM BREATHING, filmmakers Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon craft a life-affirming portrait of the last months of Neil Platt, a 34-year-old architect and father from England diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in the UK.

I AM BREATHING is a film about a man, when faced with the unimaginable, shares his own story in what he called, “a tale of fun and laughs with a smattering of upset and devastation.” Within a year, Neil Platt goes from being a healthy 30-something British bloke, with a great sense of humor, to becoming completely paralyzed from the neck down, due to the devastating illness he has inherited, ALS. As his body gets weaker, his perspective on life changes. His humor remains, but a new wisdom emerges:

“It’s amazing how adaptable we are when we have to be. It’s what separates us and defines us as human beings.”

Knowing he only has a few months left to live, and while he still has the ability to speak, Neil puts together a letter and memory box for his baby son Oscar and communicates his experience and thoughts about life in a blog (The Plattitude) – and in this film, which he was determined to make. The directness of his communication mingles with images of the sensory details of a life well lived, and makes us revalue the ordinary.

His blog posts form the film’s narration as he tells his own story through memories and impressions of his life – the sheer joy of falling in love, of partying with his mates, of fast motorbike rides. Through his determination to share his final journey, Neil makes us ask questions about our own lives.

Neil Platt was diagnosed with ALS in February 2008 by Professor Chris Shaw. Sadly, Neil lost his own personal battle with the disease a year later, but through his family, friends and this documentary he wanted to continue to raise awareness around this devastating illness. ALS/MND has been described as the last truly incurable disease of the modern day. ALS/MND is a rapidly progressive and fatal disease. It can affect any adult at any time and attacks the motor neurons that send messages from the brain to the muscles, leaving people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves. Ten days after Neil died, Shaw made a very significant breakthrough in MND research by identifying one of the genes that causes it, and more discoveries are being made every day. Neil Platt was among the small proportion (5-10%) of people with MND who have a family history of the disease, caused by genetic mistakes that can be passed from one generation to the next.

Since Neil’s death, his widow Louise Oswald continues to fulfill her final promise to Neil by continuing to raise awareness of ALS/MND. Louise is working closely with the filmmaking team on the outreach campaign, providing interviews for national press and making many personal appearances to speak at screenings.

Since 2009 Louise has been writing a book about her experience of caring for her family in the eighteen months between the birth of her son and the death of her husband. Neil’s words join her in the latter part of the book as she adds comment to each entry of The Plattitude. Louise now lives in a small village near St. Andrews in Scotland with Oscar and her new husband Robin. Oscar is now in his first year of school.

According to the ALS Association, every day, an average of 15 people are newly diagnosed with ALS — more than 5,600 people per year. As many as 30,000 Americans may currently be affected by ALS. Annually, ALS is responsible for two deaths per 100,000 people. More information at: www.alsa.org/news/media/

Read more
Colombian Drama “LA PLAYA DC” Open in New York Theater on Friday July 19

The Colombian film “LA PLAYA DC“, an official selection at 2012 Cannes Film Festival, will open in NY on Friday July 19 for a one week run at reRun Theater in Brooklyn, NY. Directed by Juan Andres Arango, the film tells the story of Tomas (Luis Carlos GUEVARA), an Afro-Colombian teenager who fled the country’s Pacific coast pushed out by the war, faces difficulties of growing up in a city of exclusion and racism. When Jairo (Andrés MURILLO), his younger brother and closer friend disappear, Tomas is forced to leave his home to look for him.

With the help from his older brother Chaco (James SOLIS), Tomas plunges in the streets of the city. His search becomes an initiatory journey that compels him to face his past and to leave aside the influence of his brothers in order to find his own identity. Through this journey, Tomas reveals a unique perspective of a vibrant and unstable city that, like Tomas, stands on the threshold between what once was and what might be.

http://youtu.be/nJWLSGikowU
Read more
The Good, The Bad, and the Horrific: Indie Horror Movies at Film Festivals

The Blair Witch Project

We can probably all recall the first time we ever watched a horror film that truly scared us. There’s something so oddly enjoyable about watching scary movies, and though films in the horror genre are not often critical favorites they have started to turn up more often in a surprising place: film festivals.

Truly, this really isn’t surprising from a business standpoint. First, horror is a genre that has one of the most dedicated fanbases. There aren’t many websites out there solely devoted to Westerns or comedies, but there are hundreds of websites strictly devoted to all things horror.

Horror films are also popular with first time directors because they tend to be cheaper to make than nearly any other genre. Because of dark lightning, limited casts, and other factors, horror films can be made cheaply – and even more cheaply if made using affordable digital cameras to produce the “found footage” effect. While indie dramas might boost one or two perhaps expensive familiar faces to draw audiences, horror filmmakers know that the scares are the true “stars” of the film and have no issue with hiring amateur or rookie actors for little or no money.

Many don’t immediately associate horror films with independent film festivals, but all one has to do to gauge the significant role that horror plays in film festivals is to look at the most well-known U.S. film festival, Sundance. Three of the most successful movies in the U.S. box office to make their U.S. premieres at Sundance were not indie dramas but 28 Days Later, Saw, and The Blair Witch Project. In fact, despite other Sundance films garnering immense critical praise and countless prestigious awards, it’s hard to argue against the nearly $900 million Saw and its six sequels collectively made at the worldwide box office.

As a result, film festivals have recently increased their horror film programming, with an increasing amount hosting midnight screenings for devoted horror film fans. These are certainly a good idea from a festival promotional standpoint, as it draws fans of horror films to festivals who might not normally attend a film festival with more traditional indie dramas and experimental films.

However, one problem with this is the issue of quality. Again, horror films can be made on extremely low budgets (very often less than $100,000), and the popular found footage style keeps costs down even more. While some talented filmmakers can produce brilliant low budget horror films, it’s not something that anyone with a camera can do. In particular, the once-groundbreaking found footage style that The Blair Witch Project helped pioneer in 1999 has been… well, overdone over the last decade and a half. I’ve seen enough bad found footage horror movies at recent film festivals and on DVD to know that few filmmakers are doing anything new with the style. I’m not alone in this assessment – many such films have scored extremely low with even critics who write for websites devoted to horror films, and several haven’t even gotten any sort of release meaning that they haven’t even made back the low budget invested in them.

Obviously I’m a huge supporter of indie filmmaking, but I feel that the increased acceptance of horror films shouldn’t be taken as encouragement for indie filmmakers to ALWAYS go the cheap route when making their first horror feature knowing that their film could be accepted regardless of budget.

Of course filmmaking is expensive – that goes without saying – but just because the “found footage” style means one can shoot a film at low cost doesn’t mean that it’s right for every indie horror film. Filmmakers should take a cue from The Blair Witch directors, who attempted to do something that seemed totally original back in the late 1990s and try to break new ground in horror filmmaking. There’s a reason horror remains so popular with audiences, but it is truly groundbreaking horror films like Psycho, The Exorcist, Halloween, Night of the Living Dead and those mentioned about that remain enduring classics.

After all, I still love seeing good movies that scares me.
Read more