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Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE FAVOURITE Dominates Early 2018 British Independent Film Awards

[caption id="attachment_30991" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Favourite[/caption] Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite topped the first wave of awards for the 2018 British Independent Film Awards, winning five awards in the Craft category including Best Casting for Dixie Chassay, Best Cinematography for Robbie Ryan, Best Costume Design for Sandy Powell, Best Make Up & Hair Design for Nadia Stacey and Best Production Design for Fiona Crombie. You Were Never Really Here won Best Music for Jonny Greenwood and Best Sound for Paul Davies; Nick Fenton, Julian Hart and Chris Gill won the award for Best Editing for American Animals; and Early Man Visual Effects Supervisor Howard Jones was the winner of Best Effects. To better recognize the wealth of exceptional talent working on British independent films, BIFA introduced these nine award categories in 2017. The nominations and winners have been chosen by BIFA voters over the course of three rounds of viewing, discussion and voting. BIFA comments: “We are proud to celebrate the achievements of such a diverse group of Individuals who represent their craft at such a high level.”
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Felicity Jones to Receive Variety Award at British Independent Film Awards

[caption id="attachment_32649" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Felicity Jones in On the Basis of Sex[/caption] Actress Felicity Jones, who is earning raves for her portrayal of Ruth Bader Ginsberg in On the Basis of Sex, will receive this year’s Variety Award at the British Independent Film Awards ceremony on Sunday December 2. The award recognizes a director, actor, writer or producer who has made a global impact and helps to focus the international spotlight on the UK. Previous recipients of the award include Benedict Cumberbatch, Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Paul Greengrass, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Gary Oldman who was last year’s honouree. “When actress Felicity Jones first appeared on your radar, you probably knew she was destined for greatness but you probably didn’t know she would impact so forcefully on all sizes of screens in all kinds of projects,” says Steven Gaydos, Variety’s Vice President and Executive Editor. “She has infused the Star Wars juggernaut with feminine soul as well as womanly grit and she brought gravity and tenderness to the Oscar-winning Theory of Everything. Now she plays a brave woman whose life and achievements loom larger every day. On the Basis of Sex is a rallying cry for women’s rights in a time of political crisis, but in the hands of Felicity Jones, Ruth Bader Ginsberg becomes a woman we don’t simply admire, but we come to deeply understand her drives and relish the soul that sustains her commitment to justice and equality.” Felicity Jones: “It’s an incredible honor to receive this Award and, in doing so, to join such an illustrious and inspiring group of filmmakers and actors. To support the British film industry on the global stage is a huge privilege and something I feel very proud and lucky to be a part of.” BIFA comments: “BIFA and Variety have been honoring British talent on the world stage for 18 years; the award recipients have all had exceptional careers spanning award-winning independent films and the biggest of Hollywood blockbusters. Felicity Jones is no exception: she is a remarkable actress and we’re delighted to be able to celebrate her spectacular international achievements on home turf.” Felicity Jones has been performing on stage and screen since the age of 11. She has twice been nominated for British Independent Film Awards for her performances in Albatross and Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman. Felicity became a household name for her critically acclaimed performance in James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything which garnered her a Best Actress Nomination at the 87th Academy Awards. She then went on to star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which has grossed over one billion dollars worldwide. Jones’ most recent role is portraying the formidable Ruth Bader Ginsberg in Mimi Leder’s On the Basis of Sex. The biopic, which follows a young Ruth’s struggle for equal rights, will release in UK cinemas on February 22, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28dHbIR_NB4
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Amy Adams, Steve McQueen and Boots Riley to Receive Awards at 2018 SFFILM Awards

Amy Adams, Steve McQueen and Boots Riley will attend and accept honors at the 2018 SFFILM Awards Night (formerly Film Society Awards Night), its annual fundraising celebration honoring achievement in filmmaking craft. This year’s edition of the dinner and awards presentation event—leveraging its new position in the fall after a wildly successful move in 2017—takes place Monday, December 3 at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Exhibition Center. SFFILM Awards Night supports the organization’s various year-round initiatives, especially SFFILM Education, which will utilize funds raised to increase the number of Bay Area youth served by film screenings that promote media literacy and inspire meaningful social dialogue; gather student, family, and teacher feedback to build a national platform for sharing lesson plans for current films; and expand the organization’s family-oriented public programming. The guests of honor at SFFILM Awards Night will be the recipients of the organization’s prestigious awards for film craft: Amy Adams (Vice, Annapurna Pictures) will receive the Peter J. Owens Award for Acting; Steve McQueen (Widows, 20th Century Fox) will receive the Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction; and emerging breakthrough talent Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You, Annapurna Pictures) will receive the Kanbar Award for Storytelling. Celebrity presenters and additional awards will be announced in the coming weeks. “We are thrilled that Awards Night’s position in December has once again inspired such exceptional talent to join us,” said SFFILM Executive Director Noah Cowan. “These artists were selected because their work embodies the values of the Bay Area—in particular their role in championing innovative cinema, making the industry more diverse and inclusive, and actively participating in the social dialogue that is so desperately needed today. We hope that, by championing these artists and these values, SFFILM can have a positive effect on the awards conversations that dominate media this time of year.” One of San Francisco’s most highly anticipated film events and social gatherings, SFFILM Awards Night is taking place for the second time in December, further solidifying its new position in the city’s fall calendar after decades as part of April’s San Francisco International Film Festival and better leveraging the Bay Area’s increasing awards season relevance. Public screenings and onstage talks will accompany SFFILM Awards Night, with announcements to follow in the coming weeks.
Peter J. Owens Award for Acting: Amy Adams
The Peter J. Owens Award, named after the late local cultural benefactor and longtime SFFILM board member, honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity. Past recipients include Kate Winslet (2017), Ellen Burstyn (2016), Richard Gere (2015), Jeremy Irons (2014), Harrison Ford (2013), Judy Davis (2012), Terence Stamp (2011), Robert Duvall (2010), Robert Redford (2009), Maria Bello (2008), and Robin Williams (2007). Five-time Academy Award nominated and two-time Golden Globe winning actress Amy Adams has built an impressive body of work, challenging herself with each new role. Adams can most recently be seen in HBO’s high-profile drama series Sharp Objects, in which she starred and executive produced with Jean-Marc Vallée at the helm as director; and in Adam McKay’s upcoming film Vice, starring as Lynne Cheney alongside Christian Bale and Steve Carell. She recently wrapped production on Woman in the Window, alongside Gary Oldman and Julianne Moore. Adams’ additional film credits include Denis Villenueve’s Arrival, for which she was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review; Zack Snyder’s Justice League Part One and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals; Tim Burton’s Big Eyes and David O. Russell’s American Hustle, both of which earned her Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy; Spike Jonze’s Her; Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master; Nora Ephron’s Julie and Julia; John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt; Kevin Lima’s Enchanted; and Phil Morrison’s Junebug, among many others.
Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction: Steve McQueen
The Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction is presented each year to one of the masters of world cinema and is given in memory the founder of the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957. Past recipients include Kathryn Bigelow (2017), Mira Nair (2016), Guillermo del Toro (2015), Richard Linklater (2014) Philip Kaufman (2013), Kenneth Branagh (2012), Oliver Stone (2011), Walter Salles (2010), Francis Ford Coppola (2009), Mike Leigh (2008), Spike Lee (2007), and Werner Herzog (2006). Steve McQueen is a British artist and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, and the recipient of an OBE (2002) and a CBE (2011) from Queen Elizabeth II. In 2013, McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, adapted from Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir of the same name, dominated awards season, winning the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, PGA (joint winner), Independent Spirit, African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and the Black Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Picture. McQueen won the Independent Spirit, African-American Film Critics Association and Black Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director and received Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and DGA nominations for directing. His second feature, Shame (2011), starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, received numerous awards and nominations. Shame ranks as one of the highest grossing NC-17-rated movies in US box office history. In 2008, McQueen’s critically-acclaimed first feature, Hunger, won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. McQueen received BAFTA’s Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer in addition to numerous other international awards and nominations. Hunger is one of the most awarded debut movies with 45 wins and 33 nominations. His latest film Widows, being released November 16, is a blistering, modern-day thriller about four women (Oscar® winner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo) who take their fate into their own hands after being left in debt from their dead husbands’ criminal activities. McQueen resides in Amsterdam and London.
Kanbar Award for Storytelling: Boots Riley
The Kanbar Award acknowledges the critical importance that storytelling plays in the creation of outstanding films. The award is named in honor of Maurice Kanbar, a longtime member of the board of directors of SFFILM, a San Francisco film commissioner and a philanthropist with a particular interest in supporting independent filmmakers. Past recipients include Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (2017), Tom McCarthy (2016), Paul Schrader (2015), Stephen Gaghan (2014), Eric Roth (2013), David Webb Peoples (2012), Frank Pierson (2011), and James Schamus (2010). Activist, filmmaker, and musician, former FilmHouse resident and SFFILM grantee Boots Riley studied film at San Francisco State University before rising to prominence as the front man of hip-hop groups The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. His debut feature film Sorry to Bother You premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, was acquired by Annapurna Pictures, and was released in July to resounding box office success and widespread critical acclaim. The New York Post says, “Boots Riley ranks as some kind of genius.” Jeff Chang said, “he is one of the most influential poets and thinkers of this generation.” Stereogum says, “Boots Riley is a national treasure.” While Slavoj Zizek says “The very existence of a person like Boots Riley is a miracle.” His book of lyrics and anecdotes, Tell Homeland Security- We Are The Bomb, is out on Haymarket Press.
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15 Rising Filmmakers Win 2019 Sundance Ignite Fellowships

From a broad global pool of more than 1,200 applicants, Sundance Institute and Adobe selected fifteen 18-to-24-year-old filmmakers from three continents for the one-year 2019 Sundance Ignite Fellowship. For the fourth year, fellows were selected based on their one- to eight-minute original films, submitted through Adobe Project 1324, Adobe’s platform for young creators, along with their written applications. The finalists were selected based on their original voice, diverse storytelling and rigor in their filmmaking pursuits. In addition to their trip to the Festival, Sundance Ignite fellows are paired with a Sundance Institute alumni professional for a full year of guidance and development, gaining industry exposure and meaningful mentorship. This year’s new Sundance Ignite mentors include Heather Rae (Tallulah), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Andrew Ahn (Spa Night). In addition to a personalized Festival experience and mentorship track, Sundance Ignite fellows gain unique access to workshops, internships, and work opportunities at Sundance Institute’s renowned Labs and artists programs supported by Adobe Project 1324. With Sundance Ignite as their launchpad, past fellows have springboarded into opportunities on the festival circuit, graduate film programs and beyond. Past Sundance Ignite Fellows include Sindha Agha, whose Sundance Ignite Short Film Challenge submission Birth Control Your Own Adventure was picked up by the New York Times’ Op-Docs and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; Charlotte Regan, who premiered her film Fry Up at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival; Emily Ann Hoffmann who also premiered her film Nevada at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and Gerardo Coello who participated in the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Summit in 2018.
2019 Sundance Ignite Fellows
Daniel Antebi Daniel Antebi began art doing magic at the age of five. Yes, ‘Is this your card?’ kind of magic. He’s racialized as white and categorized as a cisgender-heterosexual male. However, he’s a Queer-Mexican-Jew whose normative appearance is deceiving. In his work, he hopes to reconcile opposing realities. Daniel makes films, dabbles in poetry and sculpture, but if you ask him, he’s still a magician. Naëmi Buchtemann Naëmi is studying Film Directing at the German Film and Television Academy of Berlin and working as an assistant director. She holds a Bachelors of Performing Arts from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, United Kingdom. Luna Carmoon Luna Carmoon is an SE, London-based filmmaker whose first short film “NOSEBLEED” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival this year also selected to be part of the LFF Network programme this year too. A self-taught writer-director, Luna was one of six filmmakers selected to make a film as part of the “ShortFLIX” initiative searching for underrepresented talent in the UK run by “Creative England” in partnership with “NYT” and “Sky Arts”. Her work is strange and surreal at times. Maya Cueva Maya Cueva is an award-winning multimedia producer, specializing in directing and audio producing for documentary films and radio. Her work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, Latino USA, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Cosmopolitan, and NBC’s Nightly News. Maya was awarded an Emmy from the College Television Awards and her films have screened internationally and across the U.S. She is also a Valentine & Clark Emerging Artist Fellow at the Jacob Burns Film Center. Kira Dane Kira Dane is a half-Japanese filmmaker, painter, and native New Yorker. She graduated New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in filmmaking. After graduating from NYU, Kira worked as an associate producer on Humans of New York: The Series, which was nominated for an Emmy award. She is currently an active member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective. Embracing sincerity over irony, Kira sets out to tell unexpected and nuanced stories. Aaron Dunleavy Aaron Dunleavy is a filmmaker from Blackburn. His debut student short, Throw Me to the Dogs, won 10 awards on the festival circuit, screening at some of the most prestigious BAFTA and Oscar® qualifying festivals around the world. Aaron’s films explore stories of working class youth; with unscripted and improvised performances, street casting and non-professional young actors at the core of his filmmaking approach. Emily Gularte Emily Gularte is a Guatemalan writer and director. She is a film student at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala. She has been the director and screenwriter of many short films, educational films, as well as commercials and music videos. She was a head writer on a children’s animated web series and was the director of the show’s voice-actors. Additionally, she has produced several videos for the Oslo Freedom Forum run by the Human Rights Foundation. Yusuf Kapadia A recent NYU Tisch graduate, Yusuf Kapadia is a skilled filmmaker forging a career in documentary. He is currently an Assistant Editor on Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (w.t.), and in post-production on his own film, a portrait of a family supporting their child on the autism spectrum. An avid cyclist, Yusuf spent his college years racing with the NYU cycling team. He enjoys riding mountain or road whenever he can. Kerry LeVielle Kerry LeVielle is a Hudson Valley based filmmaker. Her work explores the experience of women and the nuanced intimacy of their impassioned journeys to “come of age.” Kerry graduated from SUNY Purchase College in 2017. After graduating, she was a recipient of the Fall 2017 Valentine and Clark Emerging Artist Fellowship in the Creative Culture Fellowship Program at the Jacob Burns Film Center where she directed two short films, Niskyland and Playhouse. Rachael Moton Rachael Moton is a Philadelphia based writer and director. She attended Temple University where she graduated with a degree in Film and Media Arts. She is passionate about telling stories that center on women and people of color and wants to create work that promotes empathy. She currently works at a non-profit, The Creative Mind Group, as an administrative manager and program director. Lance Oppenheim Lance is a filmmaker whose work has been screened at over 65 film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, and featured by The New York Times (as three Op-Docs), the Smithsonian, The Atlantic, Vimeo (as five Staff Picks), Short of the Week, and PBS national broadcast. He received two nominations at the 2017 Cannes Young Director’s Award and is the youngest contributor to the New York Times Op-Docs. Lance attends Harvard University and is currently in post-production on his first feature-length documentary. Frida Perez Frida Pérez is a Dominican-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She’s a recent graduate of Brown University with an Honors Degree in Modern Culture and Media (Production Track) and Political Science. Frida currently works as an assistant at Point Grey Pictures. She previously worked at UTA and has held internships at Comedy Central, Women Make Movies, William Morris Endeavor, Pretty Matches Productions, in addition to working as an AC, AD, and PA on several independent shorts. Eli Salameh Eli Salameh is a film director born in Lebanon. He graduated with Honors from the Lebanese University Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture II in 2018 with a Master’s degree in Film Directing. He is now a Masters student in cinematography. His short academic films are “FLY MY LOVE,” “ARYAN” and “THE BOY WHO WORE THE SUN.” “EXIT BEIRUT” is his recent short film submitted to the Sundance Ignite Film Challenge. Cai Thomas Cai Thomas is a Liberty City native whose curiosity was born and nurtured in the “Moonlight” neighborhood. She’s a Chicago based filmmaker interested in stories at the intersection of identity, self-determination and location. She is a NextDoc 2018 Fellow and was a Berlin Capital Fulbright awardee in 2017. She spent two seasons as a production associate on CBS Sunday Morning. A graduate of Boston College, she was a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar. Aziz Zoromba Aziz Zoromba is a Canadian filmmaker of Egyptian descent. He is currently finishing his BFA at the Mel Hoppenheim Film School. His first short film, Leila (2017), which he wrote and directed, was selected and presented at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of Canada’s Top 10. His most recent short film, Amal (2018), premiered at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in October. Image: Top, L-R: Daniel Antebi, Naëmi Buchtemann, Luna Carmoon, Maya Cueva, Kira Dane. Middle, L-R: Aaron Dunleavy, Emily Gularte, Yusuf Kapadia, Kerry LeVielle, Rachael Moton. Bottom, L-R: Lance Oppenheim, Frida Perez, Eli Salameh, Cai Thomas, Aziz Zoromba.
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Polish Drama COLD WAR Leads Nominations for 31st European Film Awards

[caption id="attachment_29874" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski[/caption] The Polish drama Cold War (Zimna wojna) directed by Ali Abbasi leads the nominations for the 31st European Film Awards with 5 nods including Best European Film, Best Director, European Screenwriter along with Best Actress for Joanna Kulig as Zula, and Best Actor for Tomasz Kot as Wiktor. The more than 3,500 EFA Members will now vote for the winners who will be presented during the awards ceremony on December 15 in Seville.
31st European Film Awards Nominations

EUROPEAN FILM 2018
BORDER GRÄNS Sweden, Denmark DIRECTED BY Ali Abbasi WRITTEN BY Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf & John Ajvide Lindqvist PRODUCED BY Nina Bisgaard, Piodor Gustafsson & Petra Jönsson COLD WAR ZIMNA WOJNA Poland, UK, France WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Pawel Pawlikowski PRODUCED BY Ewa Puszczynska & Tanya Seghatchian DOGMAN Italy, France DIRECTED BY Matteo Garrone WRITTEN BY Matteo Garrone, Ugo Chiti & Massimo Gaudioso PRODUCED BY Matteo Garrone, Jean Labadie, Jeremy Thomas & Paolo Del Brocco GIRL Belgium, Netherlands DIRECTED BY Lukas Dhont WRITTEN BY Lukas Dhont & Angelo Tijssens PRODUCED BY Dirk Impens [caption id="attachment_30997" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] HAPPY AS LAZARRO[/caption] HAPPY AS LAZZARO LAZZARO FELICE Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Alice Rohrwacher PRODUCED BY Carlo Cresto-Dina, Tiziana Soudani, Alexandra Henochsberg, Grégory Gajos, Arthur Hallereau, Pierre-François Piet, Michel Merkt, Michael Weber & Viola Fügen
EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY 2018
A WOMAN CAPTURED Hungary, Germany DIRECTED BY Bernadett Tuza-Ritter PRODUCED BY Julianna Ugrin & Viki Réka Kiss BERGMAN – A YEAR IN A LIFE BERGMAN – ETT ÅR, ETT LIV Sweden, Germany DIRECTED BY Jane Magnusson PRODUCED BY Cecilia Nessen, Fredrik Heinig & Mattias Nohrborg OF FATHERS AND SONS Germany, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar DIRECTED BY Talal Derki PRODUCED BY Tobias Siebert, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme & Hans Robert Eisenhauer THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS Denmark, Finland, Sweden DIRECTED BY Simon Lereng Wilmont PRODUCED BY Monica Hellström, Tobias Janson & Sami Jahnukainen THE SILENCE OF OTHERS Spain, USA DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY Almudena Carracedo & Robert Bahar
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2018
Ali Abbasi for BORDER Matteo Garrone for DOGMAN Samuel Maoz for FOXTROT Pawel Pawlikowski for COLD WAR Alice Rohrwacher for HAPPY AS LAZZARO
EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2018
Marie Bäumer as Romy Schneider in 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir as Halla / Ása in WOMAN AT WAR Joanna Kulig as Zula in COLD WAR Bárbara Lennie as Petra in PETRA Eva Melander as Tina in BORDER Alba Rohrwacher as Antonia old in HAPPY AS LAZZARO
EUROPEAN ACTOR 2018
Jakob Cedergren as Asger in THE GUILTY Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde in THE HAPPY PRINCE Marcello Fonte as Marcello in DOGMAN Sverrir Gudnason as Björn Borg in BORG/MCENROE Tomasz Kot as Wiktor in COLD WAR Victor Polster as Lara in GIRL
EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2018
[caption id="attachment_29152" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] GRÄNS (BORDER) by Ali Abbasi[/caption] Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf & John Ajvide Lindqvist for BORDER Matteo Garrone, Ugo Chiti & Massimo Gaudioso for DOGMAN Gustav Möller & Emil Nygaard Albertsen for THE GUILTY Pawel Pawlikowski for COLD WAR Alice Rohrwacher for HAPPY AS LAZZARO
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165 Films Documentary Feature Films Submitted for 2018 Oscar Race

[caption id="attachment_28784" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind[/caption] One hundred sixty-six features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards®. Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. This year, for the first time, films that have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival or have been submitted in the Foreign Language Film category as their country’s official selection, are also eligible in the category. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 17. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The 91st Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: “Above and Beyond: NASA’S Journey to Tomorrow” “Active Measures” “Amazing Grace” “American Chaos” “Andy Irons: Kissed by God” [caption id="attachment_25696" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco[/caption] “Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco” “Avicii: True Stories” “Bali: Beats of Paradise” “Bathtubs over Broadway” “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” “Believer” “Better Angels” “Bill Coors: The Will to Live” “Bisbee ’17” “The Bleeding Edge” “Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat” “Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine” “Call Her Ganda” “Charm City” “Chef Flynn” “The China Hustle” “Christian Audigier The Vif” “The Cleaners” “Communion” “Crime + Punishment” “Dark Money” “Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” “The Dawn Wall” “The Distant Barking of Dogs” “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” “Drug$” “Eating Animals” “Eldorado” “Fahrenheit 11/9” “Fail State” “Family in Transition” “Far from the Tree” “Filmworker” “The First Patient” “Foreign Land” “40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie” “Free Solo” “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable” “Generation Wealth” “Ghost Hunting” “Ghosthunter” “The Gilligan Manifesto” “The Gospel According to André” “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” “Graves without a Name” “The Great Buster: A Celebration” “Hal” “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” “Half the Picture” “The Heart of Nuba” “Hillbilly” “The Homeless Chorus Speaks” “Hondros” “Howard” “In Search of Greatness” “In the Land of Pomegranates” “Inventing Tomorrow” “Invisible Hands” “Itzhak” “Jane Fonda in Five Acts” “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” “The Judge” “Kangaroo: A Love Hate Story” “Killer Bees” “The King” “King in the Wilderness” “Kusama – Infinity” “The Last Race” “Leaning into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy” “Letter from Masanjia” “Licu, a Romanian Story” “Living in the Future’s Past” “Liyana” “Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle” “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story” “Love, Cecil” “Love, Gilda” “Love Is Tolerance – Tolerance Is Love – Make Tolerance Great Again!” “Making The Five Heartbeats” “Maria by Callas” “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” “McQueen” “Minding the Gap” “Monrovia, Indiana” “The Most Unknown” “New Moon” “93Queen” “Nossa Chape” “Of Fathers and Sons” “Of Love & Law” “On Her Shoulders” “Opera about Poland” “The Opera House” “The Oslo Diaries” “The Other Side of Everything” “The Panama Papers” “Path of Blood” “People’s Republic of Desire” “Philosopher King – Lee Teng-hui’s Dialogue” “Pick of the Litter” “Piripkura” “Police Killing” “Pope Francis – A Man of His Word” “The Price of Everything” “The Price of Free” “Qiu (Inmates)” “Quincy” “RBG” “The Rachel Divide” “The Raft” “Recovery Boys” “Restoring Tomorrow” “Reversing Roe” “The Road Movie” “Robin Williams: Come inside My Mind” “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name” “Samouni Road” “Saving Brinton” “Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland” “Science Fair” “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” “Searching for Ingmar Bergman” “Seeing Allred” “The Sentence” “Shirkers” “Shot in the Dark” “The Silence of Others” “Sisters of the Wilderness” “A Son of Man” “Songwriter” “Stan” “Studio 54” “Summer in the Forest” “Tea with the Dames” “That Summer” “That Way Madness Lies…” “They Fight” “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” “This Is Congo” “This Is Home: A Refugee Story” “Three Identical Strangers” “To Be Continued” “Transformer” “Travel Ban” “The Trial” “Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace” “Trust Machine” “Under the Wire” “United Skates” “Unknown Distance” “Up Down and Sideways” “The Waldheim Waltz” “We Could Be Heroes” “Weed the People” “What Haunts Us” “What Lies Upstream” “Whitney” “Wonderful Losers: A Different World” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” “Yellow Is Forbidden” “Yellowing”
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33 Documentaries Win Sundance Institute Documentary Fund and Stories of Change Grant

Thirty-three nonfiction works from seventeen countries comprise the latest Sundance Institute Documentary Fund and Stories of Change Grantees. 81% of the supported projects have at least one woman producer or director; 48% originate from outside the US. That support takes the form of grants to films in the development, production, post-production and audience engagement stages, and includes custom grants from The Kendeda Fund, which provides specific support for projects addressing environmental themes or the challenges of gun violence; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which provides specific support for journalistic projects, prioritizing diverse, Native and Indigenous voices; and the Stories of Change Fund, a creative partnership with the Skoll Foundation, which supports social entrepreneurs and independent storytellers. This slate of Institute grantees join those supported by Science Sandbox, a collaboration with the Simons Foundation, and the Art of Nonfiction Fellowship and Fund, announced last month. “From renowned Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel addressing the legacy of 500 years of colonial history in her first feature documentary, to first-time Chinese director Runze Yu exploring a profoundly intimate domestic space, these are the vivid individual threads that form the narrative tapestry of our culture and we are proud to support them.” said Tabitha Jackson, the Documentary Film Program’s Director. “These wildly diverse projects from around the globe encompass a staggering scope of subjects,” said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, the Documentary Fund’s Director. “We are thrilled that our grants and tailored support opportunities can play a catalytic role across the lives of these projects, from developing creative languages to securing additional funding and finally launching the films on the world stage.” Sundance Institute has a long history and firm commitment to championing the most distinctive nonfiction films from around the world. Recently-supported films include Shirkers, Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Minding the Gap; The Silence of Others; I Am Not Your Negro; Last Men in Aleppo; Casting JonBenet; Strong Island; Hooligan Sparrow.
Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Grantees

DEVELOPMENT
Chocobar (Argentina / US) Dir. Lucrecia Martel Prod. Benjamin Domenech, Joslyn Barnes, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda Javier Chocobar was shot dead fighting the removal of his indigenous community from their ancestral land in Argentina. His death appeared in a video on YouTube. This film unravels the 500 years of “reason” that led to this shooting, both with a gun and a camera, and contextualizes it in the system of land tenure that emerged across Latin America. Cowboy Love (Argentina / Mexico) Dir. Manuel Abramovich Prod. Manuel Abramovich A gay cowboy community in Mexico reinvents the classical heteronormative cowboy figure. Like a documentary remake of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ with the tone of Mexican telenovela, ‘Amor vaquero’ is the movie these cowboys always wanted but never had: the one about their own love stories. Democrats II (Denmark) Dir. Camilla Nielsson Prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The new leader of the opposition party, MDC, Nelson Chamisa, challenges the old guard, ZANU-PF, represented by the acting president Emmerson Mnangagwa, also known as ‘the crocodile’. The election is the ultimate test for both the party in power and of the opposition. How do they interpret the principles of democracy in a post-Mugabe era – in discourse and in practice? Untitled Dystopia Film (US / UK) Dir. Malika Zouhali-Worrall Caught in a modern day dystopia, a novelist uses fiction to examine the very real brutality and absurdity of authoritarian rule. Gabi (Sweden) Dir. Engeli Broberg Prod. Anna J. Ljungmark and Jacob Eklund Gabi just wants to be Gabi. A simple wish one would think, but as it turns out, it is not. Showing the perspective of a child that refuses to be put in a box, we follow Gabi from age eight to thirteen, struggling to find a place in a society dictated by adult rules and gender categorizations. Mayor (US) Dir. David Osit Prod. David Osit With startling and unprecedented access, Mayor follows a charismatic leader’s quixotic quest to build the city of the future in a land paralyzed by its past. My Mom and My Little Secret (China) Dir. Runze Yu Prod. Runze Yu This film is an intimate portrait of the relationship between the closeted filmmaker himself and his estranged mother. In a fast-changing society like China, where traditional values collide with the new ones. Will revealing the secret bring the family together or rip it apart? Until I Find You (Mexico / France) Dir. Ludovic Bonleux Prod. Ludovic Bonleux and Sonia Paramo Until I Find You tells the story of Ana, a Honduran mother in search of her son, who disappeared in Mexico on his way to the United States.
PRODUCTION
Alabamaland (US) Dir. April Dobbins Prod. April Dobbins, Moira Griffin, Trevite Willis Jones Farm is a lush, 688-acre farm situated in the heart of western Alabama. Three generations of black women explore their very different ties to this place that shaped them and continues to exert a strange hold on their identities. This is the same plot of land that their ancestors once worked as slaves—a history that is important to their identities and to how they navigate the world. Aleph (US / Croatia) Dir. Iva Radivojevic Prod. Madeleine Molyneaux, Vilka Alfier, Iva Radivojevic Aleph is a mysterious portal that contains the entire universe. The portal is hidden in a splintered labyrinth of magic and meaning and encompasses the thoughts, ideas and dreams of ten protagonists in ten countries, spanning five continents. These collective stories serve as pieces of a puzzle that lead to what the writer Jorge Luis Borges called “the unimaginable universe.” The Fight (Bolivia & Australia) Dir. Violeta Ayala Prod. Redelia Shaw, Daniel Fallshaw, Fernando Barbosa, Andrea Monasterios People with disabilities are amongst the most discriminated in Bolivia, with the majority living in dire poverty. Fed up with being ignored, a group of them decide to take their fight to the streets; Feliza and her husband Marcelo lead the way, as the protest grows into a movement. They embark on an unimaginable journey, marching 260 miles over the Andean mountains in their wheelchairs to go toe-to-toe with the Bolivian government. Heaven Through the Backdoor (US) Dir. Anna Fitch and Banker White Prod. Sara Dosa Heaven Through the Backdoor is a multi-platform documentary that explores identity, judgement and family bonds through the experience of Swiss émigré Yo (Yolanda Shae), a fiercely independent 88-year old woman who we meet as she prepares for her next great adventure: death. The project juxtaposes cinematic interpretations of Yo’s stories using intricately built sets and miniatures,with raw, intimate documentary footage her present life. Just a Band (Kenya / Canada) Dir. Anjali Nayar, Wanuri Kahiu Prod. Katie Doering, Senain Kheshgi Just a Band is a story about four nerdy Nairobians, who drop out of university and form an Afro-electric pop band, a counter narrative to the lives expected of them by their middle-class families. Playing on popular band movie tropes (the story of every great band that’s ever broken up), while borrowing from a post-modern cultural mishmash of Sun Ra, Kung Fu Movies, Hip Hop and a thousand other bits of detritus, the film Just a Band presents a fresh coming-of-age story in the midst of the post-dictatorship art renaissance in Kenya. Outta The Muck (US) Dir. Ira McKinley & Bhawin Suchak Prod. Tracy Rector, Bhawin Suchak, Ira McKinley, Sam Pollard Family, football, and the forgotten history of the Deep South come to life in this intimate portrait of generational struggle and resilience in Pahokee, Florida. Outta The Muck tells a story about the power of community, the echoes of trauma, and the strength of Black families in rural America. Softie (Kenya) Dir. Sam Soko Prd. Toni Kamau and Sam Soko A young idealistic Kenyan challenges the status quo, facing questions on the cost of sacrifices made, past and present. Through the Night (US) Dir. Loira Limbal Prod. Loira Limbal To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a vérité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories two working mothers and a childcare provider – whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center.
POST-PRODUCTION
Advocate (Israel / Canada / Switzerland) Dir. Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche Prod. Philippe Bellaiche, Rachel Leah Jones, Paul Cadieux, Joelle Bertossa Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for nearly 50 years, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits. Born in China (US / China) Directors: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang Prod. Julie Goldman, Chris Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, Christoph Jorg First-time mother and filmmaker Nanfu Wang uncovers the untold history of China’s One-Child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment. The Last Out (US) Dir. Sami Khan and Michael Gassert Prod. Michael Gassert, Jonathan Miller, Sami Khan Three young Cuban baseball players are pushed to their limits as they flee their homeland, leaving their families and everything they’ve ever known behind, to chase their dreams of playing in the Major Leagues. The Letter (Kenya) Dir. Maia Lekow and Chris King Prod. Maia Lekow and Chris King In coastal Kenya, a frenzied mix of consumerism & christianity is turning hundreds of families against their elders, branding them as witches as a means to steal their land. Filmed with a gentle pace and incredible closeness, The Letter is an intimate family portrait that weaves a complex story of shakespearean proportions. The Kendeda Fund Provides specific support for projects addressing environmental themes or the challenges of gun violence
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
Charm City (US) Dir. Marilyn Ness Prod. Katy Chevigny Charm City delivers a candid portrait of citizens, police, community advocates, and government officials on the frontlines during three years of unparalleled, escalating violence in Baltimore. The film highlights the positive actions undertaken by groups and individuals, optimistically offering humanity as common ground. Harvest Season (US) Dir. Bernardo Ruiz Prod. Bernardo Ruiz and Lauren Capps Rosenfeld Like studio musicians or backup singers, the behind-the-scenes players in the premium California wine industry are essential, yet rarely recognized for their efforts or contributions. Following three people whose lives and livelihoods are intimately tied to winemaking in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Harvest Season delves into the “backstage” action over the course of one dramatic grape harvest and during a period of of rapid change for the California wine industry. Inventing Tomorrow (US) Dir. Laura Nix Prod. Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Laura Nix Meet passionate teenage innovators from around the globe who are creating cutting-edge solutions to confront the world’s environmental threats – found right in their own backyards – while navigating the doubts and insecurities that mark adolescence. Take a journey with these inspiring teens as they prepare their projects for the largest convening of high school scientists in the world, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a program of the Society for Science & the Public.
PRODUCTION
As Goes Parkland… (US) Dir. Kim A Snyder Prod. Lori Cheatle, Maria Cuomo Cole, Kim A. Snyder In the wake of the February 14, 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida–the worst school shooting since Newtown–Parkland students ignite the largest student movement since the 1960s to address gun violence in America and demand change. Hollow Tree (US) Dir. Kira Akerman Prod. Monique Walton Three teenagers come of age in Southeast Louisiana’s fragile delta; a parable for climate adaptation. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Provides support for journalistic projects, prioritizing diverse, Native and Indigenous voices
PRODUCTION
And She Could Be Next (US) Dir. Grace Lee, Marjan Safinia, Yoruba Richen, Amber Fares, Deb Esquenazi, Geeta Gandbhir. Anayansi Prado, Ramona Emerson Prod. Grace Lee, Marjan Safinia, Jyoti Sarda In a polarized America, where the dual forces of white supremacy and patriarchy threaten to further erode democracy, women of color are claiming power by running for political office. And She Could be Next, made by a team of women filmmakers of color, asks whether democracy itself can be preserved — and made stronger — by those most marginalized. Untitled Puerto Rico Documentary (US) Dir. Cecilia Aldarondo Prod. Cecilia Aldarondo, Ines Hofmann Kanna A kaleidoscopic portrait of the aftermath of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico. Untitled Race & Criminal Justice Project (US) Dir. Ursula Liang Prod. Rajal Pitroda & Chanelle Aponte Pearson A nuanced look at how two communities of color navigate an uneven criminal justice system, anchored by one polarizing New York City case. Stories of Change Fund A creative partnership with the Skoll Foundation, which supports social entrepreneurs and independent storytellers. Untitled Water Inequality in Kenya Project (Kenya), scripted short Dir. Judy Kibinge Prod. Emily Wanja A young women working as a house help in a middle class home in Kenya discovers that her affluent employers are paying less for water than she and her community do. She soon discovers the source of the problem is far closer to home. First Time Stories (India), feature documentary Directors: Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya Deep inside the Amazon, rainforests flourish untouched from horizon to horizon, guarded by mountains never climbed, and cut by rivers unmapped. And yet, they have all been claimed by stories told by elders around a fire. Keepers of the oral storytelling tradition in Suriname for 300 years, frail Matawai elders seek to pass them to the young, who are lured away by gold mining, far from the secrets of the forest. Mystery of Epilogue (Denmark/Syria), feature documentary Dir. Feras Fayyad Prod. Kirstine Barfod In the chaotic war-torn world of Syria, three lawyers and judges attempt to re-establish the rule of law amid the collapse of the justice in the ongoing civil war. Untitled Government Technology Project (US) Prod. Kate Osborn, Josh Penn, Elizabeth Lodge Stepp A comprehensive look at our nation’s contemporary infrastructure that matters most: technology. Examining how government works in this digital age, largely at the expense of the American people. The Widow Champion (US), short documentary Dir. Heather Courtney Evicted from their land and homes by their in-laws, widows in Kenya are forced to live destitute with their children in empty market stalls, or even under trees out in the open. But now these women are coming together to fight for what is rightfully theirs — their land, their homes and their lives.
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THE FAVOURITE Starring Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz Leads 2018 British Independent Film Awards Nominations

[caption id="attachment_30988" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Favourite[/caption] The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos’s black comedy about the 18th century court of Queen Anne, leads the list of nominations for the 2018 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) with 13 noms including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The Favourite also sweeps the technical categories, newly introduced for the 2017 awards, with nominations for seven of the nine awards, including Best Production Design, Best Cinematography supported by Blackmagic Design, Best Make-up & Hair Design and Best Costume Design. The Best British Independent Film nominees are American Animals – with 11 nominations, Beast – with 10 nominations, Disobedience – with 5 nominations, You Were Never Really Here – with 8 nominations, and The Favourite. The nominations list demonstrates a record year for female representation, with over 40% of the individual nominations recognizing women in the industry across directing, writing, producing, performance and craft. Female nominees make up over 50% of the talent nominated for Best British Independent Film and dominate both Most Promising Newcomer and Breakthrough Producer supported by Creativity Media, with four out of five nominations for each award. Over 140 British films were submitted for consideration and 37 different British feature films have been nominated across the BIFA categories.
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
AMERICAN ANIMALS BART LAYTON / KATHERINE BUTLER / DIMITRI DOGANIS / DERRIN SCHLESINGER / MARY JANE SKALSKI BEAST MICHAEL PEARCE / KRISTIAN BRODIE / LAUREN DARK / IVANA MACKINNON DISOBEDIENCE SEBASTIÁN LELIO / REBECCA LENKIEWICZ / ED GUINEY / FRIDA TORRESBLANCO / RACHEL WEISZ THE FAVOURITE YORGOS LANTHIMOS / DEBORAH DAVIS / TONY MCNAMARA / CECI DEMPSEY / ED GUINEY / LEE MAGIDAY YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE LYNNE RAMSAY / PASCAL CAUCHETEUX / ROSA ATTAB / JAMES WILSON / REBECCA O’BRIEN
BEST SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN ANIMALS BART LAYTON BEAST MICHAEL PEARCE DISOBEDIENCE SEBASTIÁN LELIO / REBECCA LENKIEWICZ THE FAVOURITE DEBORAH DAVIS / TONY MCNAMARA YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE LYNNE RAMSAY
BEST DIRECTOR
AMERICAN ANIMALS BART LAYTON BEAST MICHAEL PEARCE THE FAVOURITE YORGOS LANTHIMOS LEAN ON PETE ANDREW HAIGH YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE LYNNE RAMSAY
BEST BRITISH SHORT
THE BIG DAY DAWN SHADFORTH / KELLIE SMITH / MICHELLE STEIN BITTER SEA FATEME AHMADI / EMMA PARSONS THE FIELD SANDHYA SURI / BALTHAZAR DE GANAY / THOMAS BIDEGAIN POMMEL PARIS ZARCILLA / SEBASTIAN BROWN / IVAN KELAVA TO KNOW HIM TED EVANS / KELLIE SMITH / JENNIFER MONKS / MICHELLE STEIN
BEST ACTOR
THE HAPPY PRINCE RUPERT EVERETT LEAN ON PETE CHARLIE PLUMMER A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN JOE COLE STAN & OLLIE STEVE COOGAN YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE JOAQUIN PHOENIX
BEST ACTRESS
BEAST JESSIE BUCKLEY DISOBEDIENCE RACHEL WEISZ THE ESCAPE GEMMA ARTERTON THE FAVOURITE OLIVIA COLMAN FUNNY COW MAXINE PEAKE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
AMERICAN ANIMALS EVAN PETERS AMERICAN ANIMALS BARRY KEOGHAN COLETTE DOMINIC WEST DISOBEDIENCE ALESSANDRO NIVOLA LEAN ON PETE STEVE BUSCEMI
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
APOSTASY MOLLY WRIGHT DISOBEDIENCE RACHEL MCADAMS THE FAVOURITE EMMA STONE THE FAVOURITE RACHEL WEISZ STAN & OLLIE NINA ARIANDA
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
APOSTASY MOLLY WRIGHT BEAST JESSIE BUCKLEY BEEN SO LONG MICHAELA COEL JELLYFISH LIV HILL OBEY MARCUS RUTHERFORD
THE DISCOVERY AWARD
THE DIG ANDY TOHILL / RYAN TOHILL / STUART DRENNAN / BRIAN J. FALCONER IRENE’S GHOST IAIN CUNNINGHAM / REBECCA MARK-LAWSON / DAVID ARTHUR / ELLIE LAND A MOMENT IN THE REEDS MIKKO MAKELA / JAMES WATSON SUPER NOVEMBER DOUGLAS KING / JOSIE LONG VOYAGEUSE MAY MILES THOMAS
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (DEBUT DIRECTOR)
APOSTASY DANIEL KOKOTAJLO BEAST MICHAEL PEARCE CALIBRE MATT PALMER PILI LEANNE WELHAM RAY & LIZ RICHARD BILLINGHAM
DEBUT SCREENWRITER
AMERICAN ANIMALS BART LAYTON APOSTASY DANIEL KOKOTAJLO BEAST MICHAEL PEARCE CALIBRE MATT PALMER THE PARTY’S JUST BEGINNING KAREN GILLAN
BEST DOCUMENTARY
BEING FRANK: THE CHRIS SIEVEY STORY STEVE SULLIVAN EVELYN ORLANDO VON EINSIEDEL / JOANNA NATASEGARA ISLAND STEVEN EASTWOOD / ELHUM SHAKERIFAR NAE PASARAN FELIPE BUSTOS SIERRA UNDER THE WIRE CHRIS MARTIN / TOM BRISLEY
BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCER
APOSTASY MARCIE MACLELLAN BEAST KRISTIAN BRODIE CALIBRE ANNA GRIFFIN RAY & LIZ JACQUI DAVIES STAN & OLLIE FAYE WARD
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
CAPERNAUM NADINE LABAKI / JIHAD HOJEILY / MICHELLE KESERWANI / KHALED MOUZANAR / MICHEL MERKT COLD WAR PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI / JANUSZ GLOWACKI / EWA PUSZCZYNSKA / TANYA SEGHATCHIAN THE RIDER CHLOÉ ZHAO / MOLLYE ASHER / SACHA BEN HARROCHE / BERT HAMELINCK ROMA ALFONSO CUARÓN / GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ / NICOLÁS CELIS SHOPLIFTERS HIROKAZU KOREEDA
BEST CASTING
AMERICAN ANIMALS AVY KAUFMAN APOSTASY MICHELLE SMITH BEAST JULIE HARKIN THE FAVOURITE DIXIE CHASSAY STAN & OLLIE ANDY PRYOR
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
AMERICAN ANIMALS OLE BRATT BIRKELAND THE FAVOURITE ROBBIE RYAN LEAN ON PETE MAGNUS NORDENHOF JØNCK A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN DAVID UNGARO YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE TOM TOWNEND
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
COLETTE ANDREA FLESCH AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN ALYSSA TULL THE FAVOURITE SANDY POWELL PETERLOO JACQUELINE DURRAN STAN & OLLIE GUY SPERANZA
BEST EDITING
AMERICAN ANIMALS NICK FENTON / JULIAN HART / CHRIS GILL THE FAVOURITE YORGOS MAVROPSARIDIS HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD BEN WHEATLEY A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN MARC BOUCROT YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE JOE BINI
BEST MAKE-UP & HAIR DESIGN
COLETTE IVANA PRIMORAC THE FAVOURITE NADIA STACEY PETERLOO CHRISTINE BLUNDELL A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN STACEY LOUISE HOLMAN STAN & OLLIE MARK COULIER / JEREMY WOODHEAD
BEST MUSIC
AMERICAN ANIMALS ANNE NIKITIN BEAST JIM WILLIAMS FUNNY COW RICHARD HAWLEY ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS AARON CUPPLES YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE JONNY GREENWOOD
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
COLETTE MICHAEL CARLIN THE FAVOURITE FIONA CROMBIE PETERLOO SUZIE DAVIES RAY & LIZ BECK RAINFORD STAN & OLLIE JOHN PAUL KELLY
BEST SOUND
AMERICAN ANIMALS ANDREW STIRK THE FAVOURITE JOHNNIE BURN A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN SÉVERIN FAVRIAU TIME TRIAL CJ MIRRA YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE PAUL DAVIES
BEST EFFECTS
DEAD IN A WEEK (OR YOUR MONEY BACK) MATTHEW STRANGE / MARK WELLBAND EARLY MAN HOWARD JONES PETERLOO GEORGE ZWIER / PAUL DRIVER
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Rammy Park’s “Monitor City” Wins Rhode Island International Film Festival Screenplay Competition

[caption id="attachment_32459" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director (l) with Dr. Nancy Carriuolo and Lukas Hassel, previous Grand Prize Winner for Best Screenplay.[/caption] Rammy Park from Brooklyn, NY is the Best Screenplay Grand Prize Winner for this year’s 2018 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) Screenplay Competition. Rammy’s winning screenplay is entitled “Monitor City.” The “Monitor City” storyline: A Greek tragedy in a futuristic sci-fi setting, “Monitor City” pits reluctant hero Olivia Andressa against a totalitarian system of control and surveillance, as she struggles to accept her role in the City’s resistance movement and to bring her fractured family back together “Rammy Park’s script breathes new life into the dystopian genre. The script is a defining work, that is teeming with social commentary. Rammy has successfully created a tragic futurist tale that serves as a timely parable for today’s ever growing dependence on technology and surveillance,” said Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director. “What an amazing year for storytelling and our screenplay competition. This year’s entries were inventive and re-defining. They were scored on criteria that included character, dialogue, setting, plot, structure and technique,” added Quirk. “We reviewed the largest entry base in competition’s history making for difficult decision-making on the part of our international group of judges. “After extensive and careful deliberation, prize winners were chosen in seven distinct categories: Best Screenplay, Best International, Vortex Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror, Best LGBTQ, Spotlight on New England, Best Short Screenplay and Best Television Pilot,” Quirk noted.
2018Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) Screenplay Competition Prize Winners

BEST SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Monitor City” |Rammy Park, Author | Brooklyn, NY FIRST PLACE: “Hinterland”| S.J. Main Muñoz, Author | Venice, CA
INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Sound of the Somme” | Written by: Alexander Menu & Thomas Besançon, Authors | Belgium FIRST PRIZE: “White Whale”| Rustem Samigullin, Author | Homberg, Germany
VORTEX HORROR/SCI-FI SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Blank Shores” | Alex Kyrou, Author | London, United Kingdom FIRST PRIZE: “Silence” | Collin Kornfeind, Author | Astoria, NY
JAMES L. SEAVOR LGBTQ SCREENPLAY
GRAND PRIZE: “Liza Herself” | Joan Kelly, Author | Somerville, MA FIRST PRIZE: “Chasing The Dragon”| Eduardo Ayres Soares, Author | Porto Alegre, Brazil
RI SPOTLIGHT ON NEW ENGLAND
GRAND PRIZE: “Oil and Water” | Alfred Thomas Catalfo, Author | Dover, NH FIRST PRIZE: “Blood and Plunder” | Adam Olenn, Author | Providence, RI
BEST TELEVISION PILOT SCRIPT
GRAND PRIZE: “The Reservoir” | Dylan Allen, Author | Brooklyn, NY FIRST PRIZE: “Matched”| Tess Allen, Author | Playa Vista, CA
BEST SHORT SCRIPT
GRAND PRIZE: “Red Shirt” | Mary C. Ferrara, Author | Quincy, MA FIRST PRIZE: “Last Day of School”| Gypsy Nelson | Mason, WI Photo by Mike Braca via RIIF
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Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2018 Audience Choice, Heterodox, Broadcast, Unforgettables and Nonfiction “Shorts List”

[caption id="attachment_32398" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Won’t You Be My Neighbor?[/caption] The Cinema Eye Honors unveiled the first awards announcements for their 12th Annual awards, including The Unforgettables, their annual list of notable and significant nonfiction film subjects; The Shorts List, an annual list of the year’s ten top Nonfiction Short Films; and nominees in four categories: Broadcast Film; Broadcast Series; the Heterodox Award, which recognizes fiction films that actively blur the line between fiction and documentary; and the annual Audience Choice Prize. The full list of nonfiction film and craft nominees, including the five nominees for Outstanding Nonfiction Short Film, will be revealed on Thursday, November 8. Eight films – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo, Stephen Loveridge’s Mantangi/Maya/M.I.A., Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap, Alexandria Bombach’s On Her Shoulders, Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s RBG, Sandi Tan’s Shirkers, Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers and Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – were nominated for the Audience Choice Prize and also saw their subjects recognized amongst this year’s Unforgettables. Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks’ Quincy and Dava Whisenant’s Bathtubs Over Broadway round out this year’s Audience Choice nominees. This is the first year that Cinema Eye will have an award to recognize Outstanding Nonfiction Series for Broadcast. Inaugural nominees in the Series category are Steve James’ America to Me (STARZ), Trey Borzilleri & Barbara Schroeder’s Evil Genius (Netflix), Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper & Jessica Dimmock’s Flint Town (Netflix) Liz Garbus’ The Fourth Estate (Showtime) Matthew Heineman’s The Trade (Showtime) and Chapman Way & Maclain Way’s Wild Wild Country (Netflix). The 12th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be presented on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
AUDIENCE CHOICE PRIZE NOMINEES
Bathtubs Over Broadway Directed by Dava Whisenant Free Solo Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Directed by Stephen Loveridge Minding the Gap Directed by Bing Liu On Her Shoulders Directed by Alexandria Bombach Quincy Directed by Rashida Jones and Al Hicks RBG Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West Shirkers Directed by Sandi Tan Three Identical Strangers Directed by Tim Wardle Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan Neville
NONFICTION SHORTS LIST
(Five nominees in this category will be announced on Thursday, November 8) Baby Brother Directed by Kamau Bilal Concussion Protocol Directed by Josh Begley The Earth is Humming Directed by Garrett Bradley My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes Directed by Charlie Tyrell A Night at the Garden Directed by Marshall Curry Las Nubes Directed by Juan Pablo González Sister Hearts Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani Skip Day Directed by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas Volte Directed by Monika Kotecka and Karolina Poryzala Zhalanash – Empty Shore Directed by Marcin Sauter
HETERODOX AWARD NOMINEES
American Animals Directed by Bart Layton Obscuro Barrocco Directed by Evangelia Kranioti Skate Kitchen Directed by Crystal Moselle The Tale Directed by Jennifer Fox We the Animals Directed by Jeremiah Zagar
BROADCAST FILM NOMINEES
Baltimore Rising Directed by Sonja Sohn HBO Believer Directed by Don Argott HBO The Final Year Directed by Greg Barker HBO I Am Evidence Directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir HBO Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press Directed by Brian Knappenberger Netflix This is Home: A Refugee Story Directed by Alexandra Shiva Epix
BROADCAST SERIES NOMINEES
America to Me Directed by Steve James Starz Evil Genius Directed by Trey Borzilleri and Barbara Schroeder Netflix Flint Town Directed by Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper and Jessica Dimmock Netflix The Fourth Estate Directed by Liz Garbus Showtime The Trade Directed by Matthew Heineman Showtime Wild Wild Country Directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way Netflix
UNFORGETTABLES NONFICTION SUBJECTS OF 2018
Annette Ontell 306 Hollywood América América Issei Sagawa Caniba Alex Honnold Free Solo Julita Salmerón Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Nick Bollettieri Love Means Zero M.I.A. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Kiere Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan Minding the Gap Abu Osama Of Fathers and Sons Nadia Murad On Her Shoulders Ruth Bader Ginsburg RBG Scotty Bowers Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan Shirkers Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran Three Identical Strangers Fred Rogers Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Drama ON THE BASIS OF SEX to Receive SF Honors Award

Ruth Bader Ginsburg biographical drama On the Basis of Sex, directed by Mimi Leder will be presented with the third annual SF Honors award from SFFILM, along with a public screening event Saturday, November 10, 6:30 pm at the Castro Theatre. Lead actors Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer and screenwriter (and nephew of Ruth Bader Ginsburg) Daniel Stiepleman will attend in person and participate in a special pre-screening award presentation followed by an in-depth post-screening conversation about their work. “Nothing could represent Bay Area values better than the remarkable early career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how she and her husband collaborated to remove gender bias from the laws of our country,” said SFFILM’s Executive Director Noah Cowan. “Mimi Leder has told this story beautifully with a magnificent lift from two of our finest young actors, Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer, and we are proud to name it this year’s SF Honors recipient. This award, a major event in the San Francisco cultural season, would not be possible without the support of Todd Traina and Diane B. Wilsey, significant long-time supporters of the cultural infrastructure of the Bay Area and of SFFILM.” On the Basis of Sex tells an inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the US Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination. The feature will premiere later this year, in line with Justice Ginsburg’s 25th anniversary on the Supreme Court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28dHbIR_NB4 Now in its third edition, SF Honors adds a Bay Area voice to the end-of-year awards conversation with an annual award and tribute designed to bring particular attention to innovation and audacity in current cinema, featuring a screening and onstage conversation with the creators and cast of one of the best films of the year. The inaugural SF Honors award was presented in 2016 to Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, with a public screening event and onstage conversation featuring writer/director Damien Chazelle, stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and composer Justin Hurwitz at the Castro Theatre. In 2017, SFFILM honored Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, with Wright, lead actor (and eventual Academy Award winner) Gary Oldman, co-star Ben Mendelsohn, writer/producer Anthony McCarten, and supervising sound editor Craig Berkey taking the stage to discuss their critical and popular hit film. SF Honors is made possible by a $1 million, ten-year gift from SFFILM’s Board Vice President Todd Traina and philanthropist Diane B. Wilsey.
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25 Animated Feature Films Submitted for 2018 Oscar Competition

[caption id="attachment_32260" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Tito and the Birds / Tito e os Pássaros[/caption] Twenty-five features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 91st Academy Awards®. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. Sixteen or more films must qualify for the maximum of five nominees to be voted. Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The 91st Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: “Ana y Bruno” “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” “Early Man” “Fireworks” “Have a Nice Day” “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” “Incredibles 2” “Isle of Dogs” “The Laws of the Universe – Part I” “Liz and the Blue Bird” “Lu over the Wall” “MFKZ” “Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms” “Mirai” “The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl” “On Happiness Road” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” “Ruben Brandt, Collector” “Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero” “Sherlock Gnomes” “Smallfoot” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” “Tall Tales” “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” “Tito and the Birds”
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