Seven indie narrative films will receive a total of $240,000 in funding in the latest round of SFFILM Rainin Grants to support the next stage of their creative process, from screenwriting to post-production. SFFILM Rainin Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers whose narrative feature films will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community and/or meaningfully explore pressing social issues.
SFFILM, in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the United States. The SFFILM Rainin Grant program has awarded over $5 million to more than 100 projects since its inception, including Boots Riley’s indie phenomenon Sorry to Bother You, which was released in theaters nationwide this summer; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year; Geremy Jasper’s Sundance breakthrough Patti Cake$, which closed the 2017 Cannes Director’s Fortnight program; Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which screened at Sundance and Cannes in 2015; Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at SXSW 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; and Ben Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012 and earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture).
The jury noted in a statement: “We are thrilled to support these seven ambitious projects and the voices—both lyrical and incisive—of these talented filmmakers. This cohort of SFFILM Rainin grantees are grappling beautifully with questions of how we define ourselves and our homes in a world that is constantly changing. We very much look forward to playing a part in elevating their visions in the months ahead.”
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7 Indie Films Awarded $240,000 in Fall 2018 SFFILM Rainin Grants
Seven indie narrative films will receive a total of $240,000 in funding in the latest round of SFFILM Rainin Grants to support the next stage of their creative process, from screenwriting to post-production. SFFILM Rainin Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers whose narrative feature films will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community and/or meaningfully explore pressing social issues.
SFFILM, in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the United States. The SFFILM Rainin Grant program has awarded over $5 million to more than 100 projects since its inception, including Boots Riley’s indie phenomenon Sorry to Bother You, which was released in theaters nationwide this summer; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year; Geremy Jasper’s Sundance breakthrough Patti Cake$, which closed the 2017 Cannes Director’s Fortnight program; Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which screened at Sundance and Cannes in 2015; Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at SXSW 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; and Ben Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012 and earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture).
The jury noted in a statement: “We are thrilled to support these seven ambitious projects and the voices—both lyrical and incisive—of these talented filmmakers. This cohort of SFFILM Rainin grantees are grappling beautifully with questions of how we define ourselves and our homes in a world that is constantly changing. We very much look forward to playing a part in elevating their visions in the months ahead.”
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EIGHTH GRADE, THE RIDER, TRANSMILITARY Among Finalists for 44th HUMANITAS Prize
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EIGHTH GRADE[/caption]
The HUMANITAS Prize which honors film and television writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family, has named fifty-eight film and television writers as finalists for the 44th Annual HUMANITAS Prize. All Prize winners will be announced at The 44th Annual HUMANITAS Prize event on Friday, February 8, 2019 at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
Six college students have also been named as finalists for The David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Fellowship and The Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Fellowship. The winning writers in each category will be awarded $20,000 in prize money.
HUMANITAS will also honor Marta Kauffman with The Kieser Award and Kenya Barris with the VOICE FOR CHANGE Award.
Marta Kauffman is a critically acclaimed writer/director/producer. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Friends, a series she co-created. She also co-created HBO’s Dream On, was the co-producer for NBC’s Veronica’s Closet, and is the co-creator of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.
Kenya Barris is also a critically acclaimed writer/producer and the creator of ABC’s Black-ish and Grown-ish. He won The HUMANITAS Prize for Black-Ish: “Hope” in 2017. He won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 2016/17. He has received three nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Since its inception in 1974, The HUMANITAS Prize has awarded over $3.5 million to more than 360 deserving television and motion picture writers whose work examines what it means to be a fully realized human being in a world struggling with racism, terrorism, sexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, political polarization, religious fanaticism, extreme poverty, violence, and unemployment. By deeply exploring the cultures, lifestyles, sexual orientations, political views, and religious beliefs of people who are very different from ourselves, we can dissolve the walls of ignorance and fear that separate us from one another.
All winners, except for those in the Independent Feature Film and College Fellowship categories, designate a non-profit focused on nurturing the next generation of writers to receive their earnings. Past recipients have included Young Storytellers, Film2Future, P.S. Arts, The Heidelberg Project, Rosie’s Theatre Kids, International Documentary Association, and Inside Out Writers.
“HUMANITAS enjoyed an embarrassment of riches this year,” said HUMANITAS President Ali LeRoi, “There were so many incredible submissions from such gifted writers.”
44th Annual HUMANITAS Prize Finalists
Drama Feature Film Category
BLACK PANTHER Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby BOY ERASED Screenplay by Joel Edgerton, Based on the memoir Boy Erased by Garrard Conley ON THE BASIS OF SEX Written by Daniel Stiepleman WHAT THEY HAD Written and Directed by Elizabeth ChomkoComedy Feature Film Category
BOUNDARIES Written and Directed by Shana Feste CRAZY RICH ASIANS Screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, Based on the Novel Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan EIGHTH GRADE Written and Directed by Bo Burnham LOVE, SIMON Screenplay by Elizabeth Berger & Isaac Aptaker, Based on the Novel Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky AlbertalliFamily Feature Film Category
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN Screenplay by Alex Ross Perry and Tom McCarthy and Allison Schroeder, Story by Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson, Based on the characters created by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard INCREDIBLES 2 Written and Directed by Brad Bird ISLE OF DOGS Screenplay by Wes Anderson, Story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura MARY POPPINS RETURNS Screenplay by David Magee, Screen Story by David Magee & Rob Marshall & John DeLuca, Based upon the Mary Poppins stories by P.L. TraversIndependent Feature Film Category
BRIAN BANKS Written by Doug Atchison LAUGH OR DIE Screenplay by Heikki Kujanpää and Mikko Reitala SORRY TO BOTHER YOU Written and Directed by Boots Riley THE GRIZZLIES Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and Graham Yost THE RIDER Written and Directed by Chloé ZhaoDocumentary Category
TRANSMILITARY Concept by Fiona Dawson, Written by Jamie Coughlin and Gabriel Silverman, Directed by Gabriel Silverman, Co-Directed by Fiona Dawson STOLEN DAUGHTERS: KIDNAPPED BY BOKO HARAM Written and Produced by Karen Edwards, Directed by Gemma Atwal THE FOURTH ESTATE, “Part 3: American Carnage” Directed by Liz Garbus and Jenny Carchman, Produced by Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman, Justin Wilkes THE PRICE OF FREE Story by Davis Guggenheim, Derek Doneen, Sarah Anthony, Directed by Derek Doneen, Produced by Davis Guggenheim and Sarah Anthony60-minute Drama Category
GOD FRIENDED ME, “Pilot” Written by Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, “Be Free” Written by Brian Chamberlayne THE GOOD DOCTOR, “More” Written by David Shore & Lloyd Gilyard Jr. THIS IS US, “This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life” Written by Kay Oyegun30-minute Comedy Category
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, “Volume 2: Chapter VIII” Written by Jack Moore ONE DAY AT A TIME, “Hello, Penelope” Written by Michelle Badillo & Caroline Levich THE GOOD PLACE, “Jeremy Bearimy” Written by Megan Amram THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, “Mid-way to Mid-town” Written and Directed by Amy Sherman-PalladinoChildren’s Teleplay Category
ALEXA & KATIE, “Winter Formal, Part 2” Written by Matthew Carlson MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, “Surf and/or Turf” Written by Brian Hohlfeld MUPPET BABIES, “You Say Potato, I Say Best Friend” Written by Laura Sreebny Z-O-M-B-I-E-S Written by David Light & Joseph Raso, Based on Zombies & Cheerleaders Written by David Light & Joseph RasoThe David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Fellowship
BAND OF MOTHERS – Sabrina Brennan (USC) FERNANDO – Adam Lujan (NYU) HEAD CASE – Ellie Goodman (Northwestern University)The Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Fellowship
RUE PIGALLE – Jessica Shields (Columbia University) THE BARGEMAN – Joe Hemphill (Boston University) WILCOX PARK – Omar Willis (USC)
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ROMA Named Best Film, EIGHTH GRADE, FIRST REFORMED Win 2018 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
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ROMA[/caption]
The New York Film Critics Circle announced its 2018 award winners live on Twitter this morning, naming Roma the Best Film of 2018, along with awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography for Alfonso Cuarón. First Reformed won awards for Best Screenplay: Paul Schrader and Best Actor for Ethan Hawke. Minding the Gap directed by Bing Liu won for Best Documentary, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War won for Best Foreign Language Film, and Eighth Grade director Bo Burnham won the award for Best First Film.
2018 New York Film Critics Award Winners
Best Picture: Roma
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, RomaBest Film: Roma #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Screenplay: Paul Schrader, “First Reformed”Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón / Roma #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Actress: Regina Hall, Support the GirlsBest Screenplay: First Reformed (Paul Schrader) #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First ReformedBest Actress: Regina Hall / Support the Girls #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could TalkBest Actor: Ethan Hawke / First Reformed #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?Best Supporting Actress: Regina King / If Beale Street Could Talk #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Cinematography: Roma, Alfonso CuaronBest Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant / Can You Ever Forgive Me? #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Non-fiction Film: Minding the Gap, director Bing Liu Best Foreign Language Film: “Cold War,” director Pawel PawlikowskiBest Cinematography: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón) #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Best First Film: Eighth Grade, director Bo BurnhamBest Non-Fiction Film: Minding the Gap (Bing Liu) #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Special Award For Career Achievement: David Schwartz, Chief Film Curator at Museum of the Moving Image for 33 yearsBest First Film: Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
Special Award: Kino Classics Box Set Pioneers: First Women FilmmakersSpecial Award: David Schwartz, stepping down as Chief Film Curator at Museum of the Moving Image after 33 years #NYFCC
— New York Film Critics Circle (@nyfcc) November 29, 2018
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Director Costa-Gavras to Receive Honorary Award at European Film Awards
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Costa-Gavras[/caption]
Legendary director Costa-Gavras will be presented with the Honorary Award of the EFA President and Board at the 31st European Film Awards on December 15, 2018. Costa-Gavras is the fifth filmmaker to receive this recognition, earlier recipients were Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Sir Michael Caine, and Andrzej Wajda.
Born in Greece, Costa-Gavras emigrated in 1955 to France at the age of 22 and made his first film in 1965: THE SLEEPING CAR MURDERS, made possible with the support of Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, both of whom also starred in this adaptation of Sébastien Japrisot’s novel. He continued with Z (1969) which he also co-wrote with Jorge Semprún, adapted from Vassilis Vassilikos’ book. The film received two awards at the Cannes Film Festival as well as two Oscars. Another collaboration with co-screenwriter Semprún followed with THE CONFESSION (1971), an adaptation from Arthur and Lise London’s book.
Among his various other award-winning films are STATE OF SIEGE (1973), MISSING (1981) which received the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Screenplay, HANNA K. (1983) about an Israeli lawyer defending a Palestinian in the occupied territories, and BETRAYED (1988), starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger.
Costa-Gavras also directed MUSIC BOX (1989) which won the Golden Bear at the 1990 Berlin Film Festival, MAD CITY (1997) with John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman, AMEN (2002) which was awarded Best Screenplay at the Césars, THE AXE (2004), EDEN IS WEST (2009) and, most recently, CAPITAL, starring Gad Elmaleh and Gabriel Byrne, which premiered in San Sebastian in 2012. Costa-Gavras also directs opera and musical shows and he was President of the Société des réalisateurs de films (Film directors’ Society, 1971-1973). He is President of La Cinémathèque Française.
Costa-Gavras will be a guest of honor at the awards ceremony on December 15 in Seville to accept his award.
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National Board of Review Announces 2018 Film Honorees, GREEN BOOK Named Best Film of the Year
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“Green Book” directed by Peter Farrelly[/caption]
The National Board of Review named Green Book as Best Film of the Year, Bradley Cooper as Best Director of the Year for A Star is Born, Viggo Mortensen as Best Actor of the Year for his performance in Green Book, and Lady Gaga as Best Actress of the Year for her performance in A Star is Born.
NBR President Annie Schulhof said, “We are proud to honor Green Book as our best film – it is a warm and heartfelt look at a remarkable friendship, brought to the screen at a moment where its story of love, compassion, and shared humanity deeply resonates. We are also thrilled to award Bradley Cooper as our best director – he is an extraordinary talent behind the camera, bringing a fresh and modern perspective, as well as superb craftsmanship and tremendous heart, to the classic story of A Star is Born.”
The 2018 awards continue the NBR’s tradition of recognizing excellence in filmmaking, going back 109 years. This year 261 films were viewed by this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters.
The National Board of Review’s awards celebrate the art of cinema, with categories that include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Original and Adapted Screenplay, Breakthrough Performance, and Directorial Debut, as well as signature honors such as Freedom of Expression and the William K. Everson Film History Award.
The honorees will be feted at the NBR Awards Gala, hosted by Willie Geist, on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at Cipriani 42nd Street.
2018 National Board of Review Award WInners
Best Film: GREEN BOOK Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2 Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR Best Documentary: RBG Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY NBR NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS Top Films (in alphabetical order) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther Can You Ever Forgive Me? Eighth Grade First Reformed If Beale Street Could Talk Mary Poppins Returns A Quiet Place Roma A Star Is Born Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order) Burning Custody The Guilty Happy as Lazzaro Shoplifters Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order) Crime + Punishment Free Solo Minding the Gap Three Identical Strangers Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order) The Death of Stalin Lean on Pete Leave No Trace Mid90s The Old Man & the Gun The Rider Searching Sorry to Bother You We the Animals You Were Never Really Here
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EIGHTH GRADE, THE RIDER, FIRST REFORMED Win 2018 Gotham Independent Film Awards
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The Rider by Chloe Zhao[/caption]
Chloe Zhao’s The Rider snagged the top award for Best Feature at 2018 Gotham Independent Film Awards, but the night really belonged to Eighth Grade and First Reformed, who each won two awards, the most of the night. Eighth Grade won the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award for director Bo Burnham and Breakthrough Actor for Elsie Fisher; and First Reformed won the awards for Best Screenplay for Paul Schrader, along with Best Actor for Ethan Hawke.
Documentary films were well represented this year with Hale County This Morning, This Evening directed by RaMell Ross taking home the award for Best Documentary; and another documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? directed by Morgan Neville, won the IFP Gotham Audience Award.
The Favourite continued to dominate the early awards circuit winning the Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance for Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz
Winners of 2018 Gotham Independent Film Awards
Best Feature The Rider Chloe Zhao, Director; Bert Hamelinck, Chloé Zhao, Mollye Asher, Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers (Sony Pictures Classics) Best Documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening RaMell Ross, Director; Joslyn Barnes, RaMell Ross, Su Kim, Producers (The Cinema Guild) Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade Best Screenplay Paul Schrader, First Reformed Best Actor Ethan Hawke, First Reformed Best Actress Toni Collette, Hereditary Breakthrough Actor Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade Breakthrough Series – Long Form Killing Eve Breakthrough Series – Short Form 195 Lewis Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance The Favourite: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz IFP Gotham Audience Award: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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5 Filmmakers Selected for 5th Ikusmira Berriak Development Program
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ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT, Raven Jackson[/caption]
Out of 174 submissions, five film makers from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland and the USA have been selected for the fifth edition of the Ikusmira Berriak development and residency program for audiovisual projects. The selection committee – comprising representatives from the International Centre for Contemporary Culture Tabakalera, the San Sebastián Film Festival and Elías Querejeta Film School selected Jo ta ke by Aitziber Olaskoaga, a film maker from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country; Antier noche (The Night Before Yesterday) by Alberto Martín, in the Spanish film makers section; Sin dolor (Painless) by Michael Wahrmann, in the international category, and; two from among the participants in the most recent editions of Nest Film Students – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt by Raven Jackson, and Un personaje volador (A Flying Character) by Martina Juncadella.
In Jo ta ke (Rise up to win), the visual artist Aitziber Olaskoaga (Bilbao, 1980) – director of the medium-length film La sonrisa telefónica (The Telephonic Smile) and collaborator on the films Faux Guide and Al Nervión (To The Nervión ) – brings us a video essay on nationalism and the construction of national identity in the Basque Country. The short film starts out with the Negu Gorriak concert in 1990 outside Herrera de la Mancha prison and gives a first-hand account of the director’s awakening and personal search. It examines images from memory and thoughts on the political discourse of the Abertzale Left and discusses her father, from whom she has ‘inherited’ her political activism.
Alberto Martín (Madrid, 1986), director of Mi amado, las montañas (My Beloved, the Mountains) (Best Short Film at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival), uses Antier noche to depict youth in today’s Southern Europe. The world of hunting meets mobile applications in this documentary feature film.
Michael Wahrmann (Montevideo, 1979) has already taken his first feature film (Avanti Popolo, 2012) to festivals such as Rotterdam and Marseilles, and premiered his short film The Beast (2016) at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. In Ikusmira Berriak he will develop the fictional feature film Sin dolor (Painless), co-written with Diego Lerman -Best Script in San Sebastián for Una especie de familia (A Sort of Family)-, about a retired French diplomat and his Brazilian wife who purchase an abandoned farm on an idyllic island in north-east Brazil, only to discover that it is inhabited by the descendants of an old German colony. The director describes the film as a social terror thriller which poses questions about limits, borders and the class war.
In All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, the poet, photographer and film maker Raven Jackson (Tennessee) takes a poetic look at the nature of memory and at how events from one woman’s youth are reflected in her adult life, since she is 3 until she is 60, in Mississippi. Jackson’s short film Nettles premiered in the Nest Film Students section of the last San Sebastián Film Festival.
The short film Fiora by Martina Juncadella (Buenos Aires, 1992) was selected in the International Film Students Meeting at the 2017 San Sebastián Film Festival and won Best Short Film at BAFICI. In Un personaje volador, a writer attempts to work on his new book in the Ritz – a legendary hotel in central Buenos Aires – after separating from his partner and still grieving over the death of his mother.
Four projects selected from previous editions of Ikusmira Berriak have been completed and screened in San Sebastián: the short films El extraño (The Stranger) by Pablo Álvarez, Calipatria by Leo Calice and Gerhard Treml, and Gwendolyn Green by Tamyka Smith were screened at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera in 2016 and 2017, and the feature film Trote directed by Xacio Baño was shown at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera following its screening at the Locarno Festival. Maider Oleaga from Bilbao, another resident from the first edition, has just premiered Muga deitzen da pausoa (The Step Is Called Limit) at the Gijón International Film Festival.
RAVEN JACKSON
ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT RAVEN JACKSON (USA) In lyrical, non-linear portraits evoking the texture of memories, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt viscerally and experientially explores the life of a Black woman in the American South – from youth to her older years. Director’s bio/filmography A native of Tennessee, Raven Jackson is an award-winning filmmaker, poet, & photographer currently attending New York University’s Graduate Film Program. In her work, gray areas of life are often explored. She is particularly interested in stories which add texture to the pivotal experience of coming-of-age and/or into one’s sexuality – as well as the body’s relationship to nature. A 2018 IFP Marcie Bloom Fellow, her short film, Nettles, recently had its International Premiere at the 66th edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, TriQuarterly, Kweli, PANK, and elsewhere. Director’s note All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt is, in essence, a lyrical conversation between all of the protagonist’s selves at different ages and experiences in her life. The film is told non-linearly to speak to the nature of memory and how events from youth are often mirrored in adulthood. With All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt , I’m exploring the significant shifts and sparks in the protagonist’s life and how the ripple of them spills out across years.ALBERTO MARTÍN
ANTIER NOCHE ALBERTO MARTÍN (SWITZERLAND – SPAIN) Hunting takes place in the countryside of southern Extremadura during the cold winter months. Ana (20) and Juan Luis (25) are a young couple in charge of leading the dogs in this ritual event. For some time, Ana has been thinking about leaving her town for the capital. The two must negotiate the terms of their relationship and whether or not they want to stay together. Martín (11), Ana’s younger brother, is growing up in a rural environment alongside the violence of nature. A rupture in the present may evoke the memory of a fracture between an old world on its way out and an emerging modern one. Director’s bio/filmography (Madrid, 1986) Alberto grew up in Alcalá de Henares and now lives and works in Geneva. He is a film editor and director who studied Visual Arts at Geneva University of Art and Design. His work has been exhibited in arts centers, museums and international film festivals, including Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Filmmuseum München, Entrevues Belfort and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. His film Mi amado, las montañas (My Beloved, the Mountains) won Best Short Film at the Las Palmas International Film Festival and the Peninsulas Prize at the Curtocircuíto International Film Festival in Santiago de Compostela. Director’s note Antier noche is something I’ve always heard my grandmother say. It refers to something that took place the night before yesterday. The past is narrated from the present. The piece stems from my wish to make a film in a forgotten corner of the world, with a group of young people I know and who I’ve already worked with. I wanted to rebuild their story with them, the same story that starts with my family in the 1960s, a time when emigration was one way that people adapted to a time of constant progress. It still is.MICHAEL WAHRMANN
SIN DOLOR MICHAEL WAHRMANN (BRAZIL) A retired French couple buy an abandoned house on a paradisiac island in the northeast of Brazil. The island is more isolated than what they had imagined. To their surprise, upon arriving on the land they acquired, they find a small fishing village inhabited by descendants of an old German colony; strange scars on the villager’s bodies hide a secret kept for decades. A class struggle over land and borders is established raising questions about the limits and different kinds of pain in a social horror thriller. Director’s bio/filmography Michael is a director and producer. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, lives in Brazil since 2004, he graduated in cinema at FAAP in Sao Paulo in 2007. His short films Avós (2009), Oma (2011), The Beast (2016) and his feature film Avanti Popolo (2012) were shown in many international and national festivals, as the Directors´ Fortnight in Cannes, Berlinale, Rotterdam and Brasília and received more than 60 awards over the years. As producer, he funded Sancho&Punta and produced feature films such as Los territorios by Ivan Granovsky; Invisible, by Pablo Giorgelli; Elon Não Acredita na Morte by Ricardo Alves Jr and others. Director’s note From the very beginning, this film came to me as a horror narrative. I’m not particularly fond of genre movies, and I never explored genre in my films before. Nevertheless, I thought this initial concept should be used for the basic dramatic structure of the film. At the same time, what seems at first to be a clear genre construction should find a way to transcend the obvious into a more abstract audiovisual form. It should detach from the genre system and rules and turn into a personal expression on the fervent social and political issues of current brazil.AITZIBER OLASKOAGA
JO TA KE AITZIBER OLASKOAGA (SPAIN) In 1990, Negu Gorriak played their first concert outside Herrera de la Mancha prison and later sold a VHS recording of the event. The tape became a symbol for followers of the Abertzale left. Jo ta ke is a video essay which uses images from the video and the director’s own memories as its starting point. It opens up reflections on the construction of national identity and the links between fatherland, father and patriotism. The project relates the author’s political awakening in the politicized and polarized context of the Basque Country. Director’s bio/filmography Work-in-progress – Jo ta ke, director, co-writer and co-producer. 2017 – Una alegría loca (Crazy Joy), direction, editing, sound and cinematography. 2017 – Top bill for the LA OLA film showcase, direction, cinematography and editing. 2016 – La sonrisa telefónica (The Telephonic Smile), direction, editing, screenplay and cinematography. 2011 – Faux guide, workshop together with Red Caballo. Director’s note In 1992 -the only year in which Negu Gorriak did not release a record- my mother ended an unhappy marriage. Though I’d never heard the word feminism, I began standing up to an authoritarian and misogynistic father figure. Years later, I asked myself why the followers of a leftist ideology could organize themselves to fight against certain forms of oppression and yet was incapable of doing the same against others, such as the patriarchy. These memories would pave the way for reflections on the links between father, fatherland and nationalist ideologies. Can images be tools for imagining other possibilities of past and future?MARTINA JUNCADELLA
UN PERSONAJE VOLADOR MARTINA JUNCADELLA (ARGENTINA) A writer moves to a mythical hotel in central Buenos Aires while in the depths of grief following the death of his mother. While tackling his next novel, he wanders the city with a roll of paintings that he can’t open. His life grows complicated following a series of chance and enlightening encounters with strangers. One long night, he finally manages to unfurl the works his mother left behind. From now on, he won’t be just him: he’ll be Pablo, a lawless yet gentle beast, and Ursula, a bitter and melancholic woman. Three identities, three lives, all forged around one experience. Director’s bio/filmography Martina Juncadella (Buenos Aires, 1992) acts, films, writes poetry and co-directs the Argentine publishing house Socios Fundadores. In 2016 she took part in the Proyecto Documental film workshop coordinated by Andrés di Tella. During that time she worked on two short films: Mensajes (Messages) (2016), and Fiora (2017), the latter co-directed with Martín Vilela. Fiora was selected for EIECINE 2017 (International Film Students Meeting, part of the San Sebastián Film Festival). In 2018, she directed No me imagino siendo vieja (I Can’t Imagine Being Old), a short film written in collaboration with Jacqueline Golbert, who also stars in the movie. The film had its international premiere at the 2018 Biarritz Latin Film Festival, where it won the Liziéres Prize. She has published the poetry collections 8 poemas (8 poems) (2015) and Prendan el horno (Turn on the oven) (Socios Fundadores, 2018). Director’s note How many identities fit into one life? How many do we know about? How many are we ignorant of? At the origin of each one, and throughout its exploration, is the excitement of the possibilities that influence and define them. Un personaje volador sets this constellation in motion. Inspired by a writer (Iosi Havilio) who goes through a crisis after losing his mother, the Argentinian painter Mónica Rossi, the character sets out to meet other lives which are as fictional and real as his own, inhabiting and embodying each one throughout its unique evolution. These other identities talk, think and act – in parallel and solo – each with their own color, rhythm, language, music and silence. Original idea and development: Iosi Havilio and Martina Juncadella
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7 Documentaries Nominated for 2019 Producers Guild of America Award
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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?[/caption]
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) revealed today the 7 documentary films selected as 2019 Documentary Motion Pictures nominees that will advance in the final voting process for the 30th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The Producers Guild Awards honor excellence in motion picture and television productions, as well as some of the living legends who shape the profession.
The ceremony for the 2019 Producers Guild Awards presented by General Motors takes place on January 19, 2019 at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles where the final winners will be announced.
The films nominated for the Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures are listed below in alphabetical order:
The Dawn Wall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfw9ip9sCQ
Free Solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRVZ4SW7WU
Hal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGfKan2qAg
Into the Okavango
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXVohy5eAP8
RBG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biIRlcQqmOc&t=2s
Three Identical Strangers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5TQ4f7ycw
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhwktRDG_aQ&t=4s
During the awards show, the Producers Guild also will present special honors to individual producers, including recognizing President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige with its David O. Selznick Achievement Award. The 2019 Producers Guild Awards Event Chairs are Donald De Line and Amy Pascal.
In 1990, the Producers Guild held the first-ever Golden Laurel Awards, which were renamed the Producers Guild Awards in 2002. Richard Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck took home the award for Best Produced Motion Picture for “Driving Miss Daisy,” establishing the Guild’s awards as a bellwether for the Oscars.
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Yance Ford, Alexandria Bombach Among Inaugural Class of Sundance Institute’s Momentum Fellows
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Alexandria Bombach[/caption]
Sundance Institute announced today the eight members of the inaugural class of the Momentum Fellowship, a full-year program of deep, customized creative and professional support for writers, directors, and producers from underrepresented communities working across documentary and feature filmmaking, episodic content, and virtual reality, who are poised to take the next step in their careers.
The Momentum Fellowship evolved from the former Women at Sundance Fellowship, a highly successful model that merited evolution and expansion for impact across a greater cohort of underrepresented communities. Those eligible for this larger, more intersectional program now include artists identifying as women, non-binary, and/or transgender, artists of color, and artists with disabilities.
The 2019 Momentum Fellows are Alexandria Bombach, Amber Fares, Josh Feldman, Yance Ford, Ro Haber, Megha Kadakia, Alysa Nahmias, and Eva Vives.
“Our inaugural class of fellows bring such an array of unique talents and experiences to the creative table, and we are beyond excited for this year of collaboration and development,” said Karim Ahmad, Director of Outreach & Inclusion. “We also hope that this intersectional approach will be a model for increasingly vital conversations about allyship across demographic silos in the artist and industry communities at large.”
“After supporting six classes of Women at Sundance fellows, we are thrilled to expand the fellowship to include voices from underrepresented communities. The Momentum Fellowship offers critical support so that artists can fulfill their potential, create sustainable careers, and form a close-knit cohort that will develop into an invaluable alliance,” said Caroline Libresco, Director of Women at Sundance.
The robust, year-long Momentum Fellowship is made possible thanks to the generous support and strategic partnership of The Harnisch Foundation and Warner Bros. Pictures. The Fellowship includes professional mentorship; coaching through the Harnisch Coaching Program offered by Renee Freedman and Company; an artist sustainability grant; travel grants to the Sundance Film Festival to participate in curated activities; introductions to branded and episodic content; and bespoke year-round support.
Additionally, Sundance Institute has partnered with Warner Bros. Pictures to establish the Sundance Institute | Warner Bros. Feature Film Directors Track. In keeping with the company’s greater goals of inclusion and commitment to diversity in front of and behind the camera, Warner Bros. is dedicated to helping nurture and grow this new class of Fellows, which includes access to executives and workshops hosted on the studio’s Burbank lot. The Momentum Fellowship Program is meant to allow for customized activities and sub-groups where necessary, while still organized under the banner of an intersectional fellowship. Sundance Institute gratefully acknowledges each of the contributors to its Outreach and Inclusion Department and Women at Sundance, whose partnership has enabled the Institute to support dozens of bold and underrepresented voices in independent storytelling throughout the evolution of its programming.
2019 Momentum Fellows
Alexandria Bombach
Alexandria Bombach is an award-winning cinematographer, editor, and director from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her feature-length documentary On Her Shoulders follows Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to politicians and media, Nadia was thrust onto the world stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame, and people’s good intentions. On Her Shoulders premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival where Alexandria won Best Directing in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Her first feature-length documentary, Frame By Frame, follows the lives of four Afghan photojournalists who are facing the realities of building Afghanistan’s first free press. The film had its world premiere at SXSW 2015, went on to win more than 25 film festival awards and screened in front of the president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. Alexandria continued her work in Afghanistan in 2016, directing the Pulitzer Center-supported New York Times Op-Doc, Afghanistan By Choice – an intertwining portrait of five Afghans who must weigh the costs of leaving or staying as the country’s security deteriorates. In addition to her feature documentary work, Alexandria’s production company RED REEL has been producing award-winning, character-driven stories since 2009. Her 2013 film Common Ground unearths the emotion behind a proposed wilderness-area addition for a community in Montana – as heritage and tradition are seemingly defended on both sides. Her Emmy Award-winning 2012 series MoveShake captured the internal conflicts of people dedicating their lives to a cause. Alexandria is currently working on her next feature documentary, writing her first narrative script, and freelancing as a cinematographer and an editing consultant. If time allows, you can also find her weaving blankets on her loom or making ceramics on her wheel.Amber Fares
Amber Fares is an award-winning documentary director, producer and cinematographer. Her recent projects include Senior Producer/Cinematographer on America Inside Out with Katie Couric (2018), which aired on National Geographic, and cinematographer and co-producer on the feature length documentary The Judge (2017), which premiered at TIFF and will air on PBS this fall. Amber was also brought on as an Associate Producer on Transparent Season 4 (2017), where she consulted specifically on storylines that took place in Palestine. Amber’s debut film, Speed Sisters (2015), premiered at HotDocs and is currently playing on Netflix globally. The Saudi Gazette named it one of the top 10 films to watch on Netflix and The New York Times called it “subtly rebellious and defiantly optimistic.” Amber is currently working with Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia on the feature length documentary called And She Could Be Next about women of color running for political office across America. Amber’s films have won numerous awards and have played in film festivals around the world, including TIFF, Sheffield, Hot Docs, IDFA, CPH:Dox and Doc NYC. Her work has been featured on CNN, Al Jazeera, ALLURE, Amazon, PBS, VICE and National Geographic. Amber was a 2015 Sundance Catalyst Fellow, 2014 Sundance Institute Edit and Story Lab Fellow and spoke at TedXWomen Barcelona 2013.Josh Feldman
Josh Feldman is a lifelong writer, whose first recognition came in the form of a Young Playwrights Award from Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. He is currently in production on the second season of an original television series he co-created and wrote for SundanceNow, This Close, on which he also stars. The show had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018, where he premiered the webseries the show is based on the year before.Yance Ford
Yance Ford is an Oscar and Emmy nominated director based in New York City. His debut film Strong Island was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards when Ford made history as the first trans director nominated for an Oscar. Strong Island won the Gotham Award for Best Documentary, the Sheffield DocFest Tim Hetherington Award, the Full Frame Filmmaker & Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award and the Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Documentary. Strong Island premiered at the Sundance Film Festival winning a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Storytelling. Strong Island launched globally on Netflix in September 2017. A graduate of Hamilton College and the Production Workshop at Third World Newsreel, Ford is a Sundance Institute Fellow, a MacDowell Colony Fellow and a Creative Capital Grantee and the 2017 IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award. During his tenure as Series Producer at POV his curatorial work garnered over five Emmy Awards and 16 Emmy nominations. Strong Island was nominated for a George Foster Peabody Award and at the 11th Annual Cinema Eye Honors became the first nominee ever to win for Best Direction and Best Debut and Best Feature. The film was recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. The Root named Yance Ford among the 100 most influential African Americans of 2017 and in September he became a Sundance Institute Art of Non-Fiction grantee for a nonfiction project in development. Yance is represented by Jessica Lacy, ICM Partners and Nina Shaw, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano.Ro Haber
Ro Haber is an aesthetically minded writer and director whose work spans the Narrative, Documentary and VR spaces. They are a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and have been a fellow of Film Independent’s Episodic Lab, Outfest’s Screenwriting lab, AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, and Universal’s inaugural Directing Program. They were listed on The Alice Initiative’s 2018 list of directors ready to helm studio films and most recently was a 2018 Ryan Murphy TV HALF Program fellow, shadowing on FX’s new show, Pose. They won the Audience Award at LA Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival, a Webby Award, the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest, and was nominated for a 2017 GLAAD award for their digital documentary series New Deep South, which premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Their doc series, Braddock, PA (on Topic) garnered praise from The New York Times and The New Yorker. Their most recent branded projects are with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Stink Studios x LBGT Center x Google, and Tribeca x Bulgari. Obsessed with young, digital culture, Haber has recently ventured into the world of Virtual Reality. They were a 2017 Sundance New Frontiers Lab Fellow for Belle of the Ball, a VR project they are co-directing with Silas Howard and Pussykrew. They were a speaker at the Engadget Alternative Realities conference, which showcases the latest thinkers in Virtual and Augmented Reality. Their next project is called Chingonas, a young adult television show with conceptual horror elements.Megha Kadakia
Megha Kadakia brings a unique blend of business experience and artistic vision to the world of independent filmmaking through her production company Blue Velocity Pictures. Kadakia has produced: Miss India America, starring Tiya Sircar and Hannah Simone, currently on Netflix worldwide; Raspberry Magic, starring Alison Brie and Bella Thorne, distributed to STARZ; and The Tiger Hunter, starring Danny Pudi, Jon Heder, Rizwan Manji, Karen David and Kevin Pollak, released nationwide Fall of 2017 through Shout Factory! and Regal Cinemas and currently on Netflix. Kadakia’s latest feature Hummingbird, with writer/director Tanuj Chopra and actress Sheetal Sheth, was filmed August 2018. Kadakia recently co-founded the global media entertainment brand for young girls, Super Amazing Princess Heroes, and works with filmmakers and activists to create social impact entertainment as Head of Media Production at Creative Visions. Kadakia worked at Disney | ABC, Deloitte Consulting and several film production organizations in the capacity of Business Development and Finance. She received an MBA from Columbia University, Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in BioChemistry and Specialization in Business from UCLA.Alysa Nahmias
Alysa Nahmias is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of the Los Angeles-based production company Ajna Films. Alysa’s directorial debut feature, Unfinished Spaces, co-directed with Benjamin Murray, won a 2012 Spirit Award, numerous festival prizes, and was selected for Sundance Film Forward. Unfinished Spaces is in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. As a creative producer, Alysa’s most recent film is the Sundance award-winning Unrest (2017) directed by Jennifer Brea. Her producing credits also include: the Los Angeles Film Festival award-winning fiction feature No Light and No Land Anywhere (2016) by director Amber Sealey with executive producer Miranda July; Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq directed by Nancy Buirski with creative advisor Martin Scorsese (2013); and Shield and Spear directed by Petter Ringbom (2014). As a consulting producer, Nahmias frequently advises on films such as Academy Award-nominated director Jennifer Redfearn’s Tocando La Luz (2015) and Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake’s Weed the People (2018). Alysa’s work has been shown at festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, HotDocs, Sheffield Doc/Fest, CPH:DOX, Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Sound + Vision, and has been released theatrically in the US and UK, exhibited at MoMA and the Venice Biennale, and broadcast on Netflix, PBS, and HBO. Alysa is a 2017 Sundance Creative Distribution Fellow, 2016 Sundance Catalyst Fellow, and 2013 Film Independent Fellow. She holds a B.A. from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and an M.Arch with a Certificate in Media + Modernity from Princeton University. Currently, Alysa is directing two films about influential artists, producing a documentary about mobile home parks and the affordable housing crisis, executive producing another documentary about Afghan cinema during the communist era, and developing a limited series.Eva Vives
Eva Vives is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2000, she won the Best Short Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival with Five Feet High and Rising, a short she cast, edited and produced. She followed that up with the feature Raising Victor Vargas, which she co-wrote. Vives wrote and directed her short film Join the Club, which was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016, and played in many other festivals. She was also a finalist for the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival Filmmaker to Watch. Her auto-biographical directorial debut All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common, opened in theaters September 2018.
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5 Indie Films Win $100,000 in Fall 2018 SFFILM Westridge Grants
Five filmmaking teams were granted funding in the Fall 2018 round of SFFILM Westridge Grants, to help support the screenwriting and project development stages of their narrative feature films. SFFILM Westridge Grants, which are awarded twice annually, are designed for US-based filmmakers whose stories take place primarily in the United States and focus on the significant social issues and questions of our time. The next application period will open later this month.
SFFILM Westridge Grants provide support to film projects in their critical early stages, safeguarding filmmakers’ creative processes and allowing artists to concentrate on thoughtfully developing their stories while building the right strategy and infrastructure to guide them through financing and production. In addition to cash grants, recipients will benefit from SFFILM’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development program, SFFILM Makers, as well as support and counsel from SFFILM and Westridge Foundation staff.
The panelists who reviewed the finalists’ submissions were Lauren Kushner, SFFILM Senior Manager of Artist Development; Alana Mayo, Head of Production at Outlier Society; Shelby Rachleff, Westridge Foundation Program Manager; Shira Rockowitz, Associate Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance; Jenny Slattery, SFFILM Associate Director of Artist Development and Foundations; and Caroline von Kühn, SFFILM Director of Artist Development.
In a statement, the panelists said, “We are delighted to support these five outstanding projects—each of the filmmakers has the boldness and originality to make a world visceral and vivid, whether it’s a freezing village in northern Alaska or a megachurch hell house in Texas. But they also have the sensitivity to lay bare the deeply personal experiences of the characters who move through those worlds, shouldering their burdens and reaching out for each other despite them.”
FALL 2018 SFFILM WESTRIDGE GRANT WINNERS
Captain C! John Paul Su, writer/director – screenwriting – $20,000 Caleb Diaz is an eleven-year-old Filipino-American queer comic book fanboy who lives in a diverse working-class neighborhood in American suburbia. After saving his classmate from a group of bullies, he is wrongfully accused of stabbing that same classmate. With the impending threat of expulsion, he struggles to prove his innocence, and fulfill his dream of becoming his family’s ultimate superhero. Invoking Juan Angel Daniel Eduvijes Carrera, writer/director – screenwriting – $20,000 Mexican immigrant Magdalena Cruz is hired as the live-in caretaker for Ian, a severely ill child whose forced isolation has created budding psychic abilities and a fascination for the paranormal. But unbeknownst to Ian’s overprotective father, the distressed Magdalena has a child of her own hidden in the basement bedroom. After the two boys share an unexpected encounter, Ian is convinced the mysterious child must be a ghost and seeks to unravel his tragic story. Placas Paul S. Flores, writer; Tashana Landray, producer – screenwriting – $20,000 Sixteen-year-old Edgar wants nothing to do with his father, former gang member Fausto (known as “Placas” for his many tattoos). Placas wants what every father wants: to provide a better life for his son. As Placas strives to put his past behind him, going through tattoo removal and therapy, Edgar is recruited by a rival gang. As Placas’ past and Edgar’s future collide, they both face choices that will change the course of their lives. Qimmit Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, writer/director; Cara Marcous, producer – screenwriting – $20,000 Inspired by true events, Qimmit tells the story of Suvlu, an Iñupiaq hunter who is forced to make a monstrous decision for the survival of his family. Righteous Acts Alicia D. Ortega, writer – screenwriting – $20,000 Homeschooled teenager Judith thinks she’s finally found her people when she joins the cast of a megachurch “hell house,” where evangelical teens aim to scare people into salvation. But when she doesn’t land the coveted role of the Abortion Girl, she convinces herself she’s the only player doing God’s work and that it’s her holy duty to expose the true wages of sin.
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Dame Judi Dench will be Honored at 21st British Independent Film Awards
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Judi Dench[/caption]
Dame Judi Dench will receive the 2018 Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards for her outstanding contribution by an actor to British film, in recognition of her distinguished career in the UK and advocacy of the British film industry across the globe. The award will be presented to her at the 2018 awards ceremony to be held at Old Billingsgate Market on Sunday December 2nd marking the 21st anniversary of BIFA.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Richard Harris Award has previously been bestowed upon Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman, Bob Hoskins and, in 2017, Vanessa Redgrave. The award honors an actor or actress who has contributed significantly to British films throughout their career.
Jared Harris, in whose father’s memory the award is granted, commented: “Dangerous on stage, on screen and apparently behind the wheel of a car, Dame Judi Dench and Richard Harris have a lot in common! We are delighted that she has agreed to accept this award. Dame Judi has stolen every scene she has ever been in, and stolen our hearts along the way. Although she hates being called a national treasure and prefers to be thought of as a jobbing actor, she is undeniably both the standard bearer and the gold standard for British Actors.”
“It has been my absolute privilege to spend almost 60 years working in the British film industry, one of the most vibrant and creative homes for filmmakers in the world. To be recognized with this award, which bears the name of the great Richard Harris and counts some of my favorite actors and actresses amongst its past recipients is a source of deep pride and a very special honor.” – Dame Judi Dench
Following last year’s roles in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express and Victoria & Abdul, directed by Stephen Frears, Dame Judi recently wrapped production on Disney’s Artemis Fowl, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and will soon be seen in feature film Red Joan, directed by Trevor Nunn.
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DOGMAN, COLD WAR, THE CAPTAIN Among First Winners of 2018 European Film Awards
[caption id="attachment_31629" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
DOGMAN[/caption]
DOGMAN is the top film in the first wave of winners who will be honored at this year’s 2018 European Film Awards, grabbing the early awards for European Production Designer 2018 and European Hair & Make-up Artist 2018. The winners were announced for the categories cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, hair & make-up, composer, sound design and, for the first time, visual effects based on the EFA Feature Film Selection. The award recipients will be guests at the 31st European Film Awards on December 15, in Seville.
EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 2018 – PRIX CARLO DI PALMA:
Martin Otterbeck for U – JULY 22 (UTØYA 22. JULI)
Martin Otterbeckʼs cinematography masterfully balances an aesthetic concern with the political meaning of the tragedy of Utøya. With very concentrated one-shot hand-held camera work, the cinematographer had to decide what to follow and what not to follow, thus creating an intense viewing experience as you find yourself on the island with the youngsters. Right-wing extremism is dangerously rising again: Cinema, in each of its parts, has the overwhelming responsibility to bring light into our dark times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpUZGmHJB8
EUROPEAN EDITOR 2018:
Jarosław Kamiński for COLD WAR (ZIMNA WOJNA)
The cuts in COLD WAR are meaningful and emotional, almost like poetry. This poetic way of editing supports and enhances the sensuality of the story. The editor sensitively leads the heroes through time, emphasizing their isolation from each other in space, the fragmentarity of their relationship and the impossibility of being together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvPkDdFeTk8
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2018:
Andrey Ponkratov for THE SUMMER (LETO)
The production design of Andrey Ponkratov makes us really believe and feel like we are in the middle of an early 80s Leningrad summer at the very beginning of major political changes.
The film sets include large open nature locations like a beach, closed flats stuffed with people and things and an almost claustrophobic concert hall. The well-researched work of the whole art department team supports and underlines the authentic atmosphere of that period in a subtle way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlHwIRZLFdc
EUROPEAN COSTUME DESIGNER 2018:
Massimo Cantini Parrini for DOGMAN
Massimo Cantini Parrini’s costumes use the style of Italian neo-realism in a very effective and creative manner, applying it to contemporary times, succeeding to create credible characters in this aesthetic convention. The costumes serve the film very well by skillfully merging with photography and production design, creating, altogether, this particular aesthetics. The color palette was carefully chosen and well balanced, adding a sense of rough poetry to the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI2JE_xjAaY
EUROPEAN HAIR & MAKE-UP ARTIST 2018:
Dalia Colli, Lorenzo Tamburini & Daniela Tartari for DOGMAN
Rather than putting the art on display, the hair & make-up always remains realistic and connected to the story. There are a lot of violent scenes, a lot of fights, and the make-up always is spot on, never overdone and never too much, it is credible right through the movie.
EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2018:
Christoph M. Kaiser & Julian Maas for 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON (3 TAGE IN QUIBERON)
The beautiful score for 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON fulfills the brief of effective film music, both technically and artistically. It serves the film well, working perfectly as a counterpoint to its narrative, and imparts a poetry to the black and white Nouvelle-Vague aesthetic. The main theme is not only touching, but wholly engaging. Nostalgic, romantic, sensual and melancholic, it captures the soul of Romy Schneider. It is rare in contemporary cinema to hear a melodically and harmonically distinguished score of this kind which has also been afforded the space on screen it requires to make a genuine impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY0oaSgWJVQ
EUROPEAN SOUND DESIGNER 2018:
André Bendocchi-Alves & Martin Steyer for THE CAPTAIN (DER HAUPTMANN)
Following the story and the visuals at a perfect pace, the sound designers have created a soundtrack which truly lifts the film to another level. With its technically perfect, fine-tuned, poetic, atmospheric & dynamic approach, the composition adds another layer to the viewing experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cp0Jpz4VAs
EUROPEAN VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR 2018:
Peter Hjorth for BORDER (GRÄNS)
The visual effects in BORDER are subtle and invisible. They support the narrative without ever imposing themselves upon the film or taking the viewer out of the story. At the emotional high point of the film, visual effects are instrumental in telling the story and making us believe the world that we have been drawn into. As such, the visual effects fulfill the number one goal of artists and artisans in filmmaking; to be in service of the story. In addition to this, they elevate the film and take us to a place that would not be possible without the help of world-class, seamless visual effects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cp0Jpz4VAs