Actor, director, writer and icon Diane Keaton was honored with the American Film Institute’s 45th AFI Life Achievement Award – America’s highest honor for a career in film – on Thursday, June 8, in an evening filled with laughter, stories, song and surprises at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The televised special, AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO DIANE KEATON, will air on TNT June 15 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by an encore presentation on sister network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on July 31 during a night of programming dedicated to her career.
Keaton’s Tribute brought to the stage seven previous AFI Life Achievement Award honorees as performers and presenters for this historic event: Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Steve Martin, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Sidney Poitier. Additional presenters who paid tribute to Keaton included Lisa Kudrow, Rachel McAdams, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon and surprise guest Woody Allen.
Among the artists who gathered to celebrate Keaton were Candice Bergen, James L. Brooks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Richard Donner, Illeana Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Diane English, Andy Garcia, Vince Gilligan, Patty Jenkins (AFI Class of 2000), Carol Kane, Andie MacDowell, Nancy Meyers, Meg Ryan, Carole Bayer Sager, Jane Seymour, Steve Tyrell, Jacki Weaver and Dianne Wiest.
The evening began with a special onstage commemoration of AFI’s 50th Anniversary by AFI Founding Director George Stevens, Jr., and AFI founding Board of Trustees Vice Chair and Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier. “‘Film, without the American contribution, is unimaginable,'” said Stevens, quoting the words of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., founding AFI Board of Trustees member. “That truth, and the belief of the founding Trustees and the importance of the motion picture, inspired an American Film Institute that would advance and elevate the art of film in the United States.”
Acclaimed cinematographer and AFI Conservatory Class of 1972 alumnus Frederick Elmes (BLUE VELVET, THE NIGHT OF) was awarded the 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal for his commitment to excellence in film and television.
Steve Martin and Martin Short opened the Tribute to Diane Keaton with a hilarious musical roast of the actress and her body of work. The evening’s additional highlights included clips spanning her career and touching remarks and anecdotes from guests and presenters, with an emphasis on feminist spirit and empowerment.
The evening concluded with a surprise and rare appearance by Woody Allen, who presented the AFI Life Achievement Award to Keaton.
“The minute I met her, she was a great, great inspiration to me. Much of what I’ve accomplished in my life, I owe for sure to her,” Allen said. “This is a woman who is great at everything she does — actress, writer, photographer, director.”
Accepting the prestigious honor, Keaton concluded the evening by singing a rendition of “Seems Like Old Times,” the love theme from Annie Hall.
Building upon the evening’s theme of celebrating female artistry, the inaugural Audi Fellowship for Women, which will support the entire two-year AFI Conservatory enrollment for one promising female director, was spotlighted earlier at the event. Audi, an enduring supporter of the motion picture arts, and of AFI for over 14 years, is now investing in the future of our dynamic community by expanding opportunities for female storytellers. Natalie Camou, in attendance at the event, received the first-ever Fellowship, and will begin her journey as a Directing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory in August 2017.
A special moment was also taken to recognize AFI Conservatory alumna Patty Jenkins, whose Wonder Woman this past weekend garnered the biggest box-office opening ever for a female director.
Image: HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 08: Honoree Diane Keaton arrives at American Film Institute’s 45th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton at Dolby Theatre on June 8, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Turner)News
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Diane Keaton Honored with American Film Institute’s 45th AFI Life Achievement Award
Actor, director, writer and icon Diane Keaton was honored with the American Film Institute’s 45th AFI Life Achievement Award – America’s highest honor for a career in film – on Thursday, June 8, in an evening filled with laughter, stories, song and surprises at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The televised special, AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO DIANE KEATON, will air on TNT June 15 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by an encore presentation on sister network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on July 31 during a night of programming dedicated to her career.
Keaton’s Tribute brought to the stage seven previous AFI Life Achievement Award honorees as performers and presenters for this historic event: Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Steve Martin, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Sidney Poitier. Additional presenters who paid tribute to Keaton included Lisa Kudrow, Rachel McAdams, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon and surprise guest Woody Allen.
Among the artists who gathered to celebrate Keaton were Candice Bergen, James L. Brooks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Richard Donner, Illeana Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Diane English, Andy Garcia, Vince Gilligan, Patty Jenkins (AFI Class of 2000), Carol Kane, Andie MacDowell, Nancy Meyers, Meg Ryan, Carole Bayer Sager, Jane Seymour, Steve Tyrell, Jacki Weaver and Dianne Wiest.
The evening began with a special onstage commemoration of AFI’s 50th Anniversary by AFI Founding Director George Stevens, Jr., and AFI founding Board of Trustees Vice Chair and Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier. “‘Film, without the American contribution, is unimaginable,'” said Stevens, quoting the words of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., founding AFI Board of Trustees member. “That truth, and the belief of the founding Trustees and the importance of the motion picture, inspired an American Film Institute that would advance and elevate the art of film in the United States.”
Acclaimed cinematographer and AFI Conservatory Class of 1972 alumnus Frederick Elmes (BLUE VELVET, THE NIGHT OF) was awarded the 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal for his commitment to excellence in film and television.
Steve Martin and Martin Short opened the Tribute to Diane Keaton with a hilarious musical roast of the actress and her body of work. The evening’s additional highlights included clips spanning her career and touching remarks and anecdotes from guests and presenters, with an emphasis on feminist spirit and empowerment.
The evening concluded with a surprise and rare appearance by Woody Allen, who presented the AFI Life Achievement Award to Keaton.
“The minute I met her, she was a great, great inspiration to me. Much of what I’ve accomplished in my life, I owe for sure to her,” Allen said. “This is a woman who is great at everything she does — actress, writer, photographer, director.”
Accepting the prestigious honor, Keaton concluded the evening by singing a rendition of “Seems Like Old Times,” the love theme from Annie Hall.
Building upon the evening’s theme of celebrating female artistry, the inaugural Audi Fellowship for Women, which will support the entire two-year AFI Conservatory enrollment for one promising female director, was spotlighted earlier at the event. Audi, an enduring supporter of the motion picture arts, and of AFI for over 14 years, is now investing in the future of our dynamic community by expanding opportunities for female storytellers. Natalie Camou, in attendance at the event, received the first-ever Fellowship, and will begin her journey as a Directing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory in August 2017.
A special moment was also taken to recognize AFI Conservatory alumna Patty Jenkins, whose Wonder Woman this past weekend garnered the biggest box-office opening ever for a female director.
Image: HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 08: Honoree Diane Keaton arrives at American Film Institute’s 45th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton at Dolby Theatre on June 8, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Turner)
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Film Independent Selects 10 Projects and 24 Filmmakers for 14th Fast Track + RADIANT Awarded Grant
10 projects and 24 filmmakers have been selected for the Film Independent’s 14th annual Fast Track film finance market. Held during the LA Film Festival, Fast Track helps producer-director teams advance their projects through meetings with top industry executives – financiers, agents, managers, distributors, production companies, and granting organizations. During three days of intensive meetings, participants build vital industry relationships and gain valuable exposure for their projects as they fast track their films towards completion.
Film Independent will present the ninth annual Alfred P. Sloan Fast Track Grant, a $20,000 production grant to support a film that explores science and technology themes or that depicts scientists, engineers and mathematicians in engaging and innovative ways, to writer/director Annika Glac and producer Robyn Kershaw for their fiction feature film Radiant.
A select list of Industry participants include: Bunim-Murray, CAA, Color Force, Electric City Entertainment, Fox Searchlight, Imperative Entertainment, June Pictures, LA Media Fund, Mandalay Pictures, Participant Media, Pilgrim Media Group, Preferred Content, ShivHans Pictures, Sight Unseen Pictures, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Sycamore Pictures, Symbolic Exchange and UTA.
Recent Fast Track projects completed include Lana Wilson’s The Departure, which premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival; Lou Pepe and Keith Fulton’s Bad Kids, which premiered at Sundance 2016; Maris Curran’s Five Nights in Maine which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival; Chloe Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered in U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and Directors’ Fortnight at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards.
The following filmmakers have been selected to participate Film Independent’s 2017 Fast Track program:
2017 Fast Track Projects and Fellows
Blow the Man Down, fiction feature, Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy – co-writers/co-directors, Drew Houpt, Producer An accidental murder. An established Madam who does her dirtiest business while the town willingly looks the other way. Fifty grand of cash up for grabs and the local men out to sea… enter two sisters with nothing and everything to lose. Cantering, fiction feature, HIKARI – writer/director/producer, Peter Maestrey – producer In order to escape her oppressive home life, a naïve paraplegic artist begins to illustrate for an erotic manga, putting her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. Farewell Tour, fiction feature, Sean Hackett – writer/director, Frederick Thornton – producer When three Christian fundamentalist teenagers with the dynamic of The Golden Girls help a local agnostic search Kansas City for his AWOL, terminally ill mother, they are forced to re-evaluate their true intentions and discover what truly binds their friendship. Followers, fiction feature, Tim Marshall – writer/director, Christina Radburn – producer A lonely woman who has lost all faith in God, becomes obsessed with her aqua-aerobics instructor after seeing the face of Jesus on his swimming shorts. Maybe Tomorrow, fiction feature, Eliza Lee – writer/director, Michelle Sy – producer, Sophia Chang – executive producer In 1978 London, with only 24 hours left on her visa, a young American musician, Chrissie Hynde, takes one last stab at keeping her rock ‘n roll dream alive. Radiant, fiction feature, Annika Glac – writer/director, Robyn Kershaw – producer Paris 1900, a physics prodigy glimpses a future world of unseen energy. Now she must battle the male scientific academy. The closer she gets to recognition, the more she realizes the battle is not with the male establishment but with the unleashed power of her own radioactive discovery. Son of A Very Important Man, fiction feature, Najwa Najjar – writer/director, Hani Kort – producer A Palestinian couple must travel to Israel in order to get a divorce and discover that sometimes the most unexpected roads in life are in the detours you didn’t mean to take. In response to a growing community of nonfiction filmmakers, the Fast Track finance market will also feature a new Documentary Fast Track session where selected projects will connect with industry executives dedicated to working in the nonfiction space: Minding the Gap, documentary feature, Bing Liu – producer/director, Diane Quon – producer A group of skateboarders confront domestic violence as they come of age in a rust-belt Midwestern town. Missing in Brooks Country, documentary feature, Jeff Bemiss and Lisa Molomot – producers/co-directors/cinematographers, Jacob Bricca – producer/editor In a small town in Texas, the border wall has already arrived. Untitled Claudia Sparrow Documentary, documentary feature, Claudia Sparrow – director, Steven J. Berger and Ryan Schwartz – producers A woman farmer from the beautiful highlands of South America stands up to a massive international mining conglomerate, defending the land, water, and people from devastating corporate greed. Film Independent Artist Development has also selected two additional filmmakers and their projects to receive support that will include participation in select Fast Track meetings and mentorship: Experience Designer, documentary feature, Mackenzie Fegan – producer On an apocalyptic commune in the Alaskan wilderness, a young man returns to confront his past in this unconventional non-fiction film. Selene, fiction feature, Maris Curran – writer/director Selene fears she has laryngitis again. On a routine doctor visit to get antibiotics, she is diagnosed with a rare condition that leaves her permanently voiceless. As her world turns upside down and she struggles to communicate and adapt, she discovers that this limitation leads to the opening of a new world.
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AFI Celebrates 50th Anniversary Commencement with Honorees Carol Burnett, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick
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AFI 2017 Honorary Degree recipients Marshall Herskovitz, Carol Burnett and Edward Zwick[/caption]
The American Film Institute (AFI) held a historic AFI Conservatory Commencement at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Monday, June 5, 2017. The date of the event marked the 50th Anniversary of the Institute’s formation in 1967, with its honorees – the AFI Class of 2017, as well as Honorary Degree recipients Carol Burnett, Marshall Herskovitz (AFI Class of 1975) and Edward Zwick (AFI Class of 1975) – spanning the past, present and future of the art form.
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AFI Board of Directors Chair Robert A. Daly; President & CEO Bob Gazzale; President Emerita Jean Picker Firstenberg; Founding Director George Stevens, Jr.; Board of Trustees Chair Sir Howard Stringer[/caption]
In celebration of the Anniversary, AFI Founding Director George Stevens, Jr., joined AFI President Emerita Jean Picker Firstenberg and current AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale — bringing together all three presidents from AFI’s history. Joining them and the AFI Class of 2017 were Sir Howard Stringer, AFI Board of Trustees Chair, and Robert A. Daly, AFI Board of Directors Chair.
“Fifty years ago, Gregory Peck and I announced the creation of the American Film Institute, with high aspiration and great hopes,” said Stevens. “Its mission was to advance and elevate the art of film, and one central idea was to create a Center for Advanced Film Studies [known today as the AFI Conservatory], a bridge for young people from learning to make films to becoming professional filmmakers. You, the graduates of 2017, are a fulfillment of that dream.”
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AFI Class of 2017[/caption]
The Commencement honorees — including this year’s AFI Conservatory graduates, the world’s newest filmmakers — underscored the spirit of the Anniversary, as 2017 also marks the 50th birthday of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, and Herskovitz and Zwick are both prominent alumni of the Conservatory. A Doctorate of Fine Arts honoris causa was conferred upon Burnett by special guest Kristin Chenoweth, and Doctorates of Communication Arts honoris causa were conferred upon Herskovitz and Zwick by Firstenberg. All three Honorary Degree recipients shared words of wisdom with the Class of 2017. Chenoweth sang a refrain from Burnett’s trademark closing song, “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.”
Burnett began her comments with her trademark “Tarzan yell” and urged Fellows to “make great art,” while adding, “Nothing is impossible if you believe hard enough, and you work hard enough.”
Herskovitz and Zwick shared anecdotes from their longtime creative collaboration, which began at the AFI Conservatory, and which Herskovitz described as “an extraordinary partnership — and the longest living partnership in Hollywood today.”
“Leaving here you are not alone,” said Zwick, stressing the uniquely collaborative nature of the Conservatory program. “Your classmates will be there to serve as a living reminder of who you are and what you dream of.”
As heard in remarks throughout the event, the AFI Conservatory program has a deep history of propelling alumni to success and acclaim — including, most recently, Patty Jenkins (AFI Class of 2000), whose WONDER WOMAN had the biggest box-office opening for a female director ever.
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RIP: James Bond Actor Sir Roger Moore Dead at 89
James Bond actor Sir Roger George Moore died today in Switzerland after a battle with cancer. He was 89.
Roger Moore played the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985.
His family issued a statement, “With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”
With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated. pic.twitter.com/6dhiA6dnVg
— Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) May 23, 2017
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RIP: Kim Ji-seok, Deputy Director of Busan International Film Festival, Dies of Heart Attack at Cannes
Kim Ji-seok, the Deputy Director and the Executive Programmer of Busan International Film Festival, died at age 57 on Thursday evening, May 18th (French local time), following a heart attack while attending the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, France, the Busan International Film Festival confirmed in a statement.
Born in 1960, Kim was a founding member of Busan International Film Festival from 1996 and was currently the Deputy Director and the Executive Programmer of the Festival.
In its statement, the Busan International Film Festival said, “In undying efforts, contribution and devotion in discovery of Asian films, Kim led Busan International Film Festival to be the center of Asian cinema and one of world-class film festivals.”
Kim Ji-seok
1960 Born in Busan, Korea
1983 Graduated from Busan National University
1990 M.A. in Film and Theater at Joong Ang University
1996-2017 Working in Busan International Film Festival
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Jimmy Kimmel Will Return to Host the 90th Academy Awards
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JIMMY KIMMEL[/caption]
Late-night talk show favorite Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Oscars(R) for a second consecutive year, and Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd will produce, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced today. The 90th Academy Awards(R) will air live on the ABC Television Network and broadcast outlets worldwide on Oscar(R) Sunday, March 4, 2018.
“Our Oscars team this year delivered a show that hit every high note,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “Jimmy brought back the essence and light touch of the greatest hosts of Oscars’ past. Mike and Jennifer’s love of movies is infectious and touched every aspect of the show. This is the perfect team to lead us into the ninth decade.”
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13 Indie Films Selected for 2017 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs
Thirteen new independent feature projects from Cuba, Chile, Kenya, the UK and the U.S. have been selected for the 2017 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs
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Sundance Institute Selects 11 Artists with VR and Emerging Media Storytelling Projects for New Frontier Story Lab
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Sundance Institute[/caption]
Sundance Institute has selected six projects for the annual New Frontier Story Lab, which supports independent artists working at the cutting-edge convergence of film, art, media, live performance and technology.
The New Frontier Story Lab is a week-long intensive that empowers creatives with individualized story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues and case study presentations from experts in diverse related disciplines. Past participants include Roger Ross Williams, Yung Jake, Chris Milk, Hasan Minhaj, Tommy Pallotta, Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari, Karim Ben Khelifa, Tracy Fullerton and Yasmin Elayat. The Lab takes place May 17-22 at the Sundance Resort in Utah, under the guidance of Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Kamal Sinclair, Director of New Frontier Lab Programs.
Sinclair said, “Our New Frontier Story Lab brings accomplished Fellows together to experiment with their projects as they continue to break new ground and challenge the ever-evolving medium. Interactions at the Lab empower these emerging new media creators, explore different styles of storytelling and new ways of engaging audiences through experiential art.”
Meet the creative teams and projects selected for the 2017 Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab:
Belle of the Ball Rosie Haber and Silas Howard Belle of the Ball is an interactive VR experience, blurring the lines between documentary and fiction. Collaboratively created with queer and trans houseless youth in New York City, take the journey they face every day as they turn to the streets for resources, survival, and friendship. As day turns into night, you fall into the arms of your chosen family at an underground drag ball. 3D glitter never looked so good. Silas Howard is an award-winning director and writer for feature and documentary film, music video, web series and television. Howard’s career took off in 2001, when his first feature film, By Hook or By Crook premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, ultimately winning five Best Feature awards across the festival circuit. Recent television credits include Transparent, This Is Us, The Fosters, Faking It and Hudson Valley Ballers. This summer he’ll direct his third feature, A Kid Like Jake, starring Claire Danes, Jim Parsons and Octavia Spencer. On June 21, 2017 Showtime will release his latest feature documentary on six trans and gender nonconforming activists, titled More Than T. Rosie Haber is an aesthetically minded writer and director. They took home the audience award at LA Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival and were nominated for a 2017 GLAAD award for their digital doc series New Deep South—the third episode of which premiered at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Haber has also been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and a fellow at both Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies. They are a writer on the upcoming film adaptation of the classic transgender novel Stone Butch Blues. The Incident VR Series (Dinner Party, Eps 1) Charlotte Stoudt and Laura Wexler The Incident is a VR anthology series that immersively dramatizes true-life unexplained mysteries. Inspired by Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, each 10-15 minute episode provides a thrill ride into the supernatural; a gripping emotional story; and an exploration of the often unacknowledged social, psychological, or political tensions that inform the Incident’s central mystery. Episode One, “Dinner Party,” is based on the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who reported America’s first nationally known UFO abduction incident in 1961. Laura Wexler is a writer and producer whose writing credits include Pandora’s Box, in development at Amazon Studios; the nonfiction book, Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America (Scribner); and journalism pieces published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Producing credits include The Stoop Storytelling Series, a live show and podcast featuring “ordinary” people telling the extraordinary true tales of their lives. Charlotte Stoudt is a writer-producer currently on Showtime’s Homeland. She has worked extensively as a dramaturg, developing new plays at venues including The Kennedy Center, Baltimore’s Center Stage, the Ojai Playwrights Festival and BAM. Holding a doctorate from Oxford University, she has written on the arts for the Village Voice, Variety, Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio. T3511 Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Toshiaki Ozawa T3511 is a post-genomic true love story of a biohacker’s growing relationship to an anonymous donor. Told through an immersive living sculptural installation, T3511 draws the viewer into an emerging world of ubiquitous genomic sequencing, biobanking, and commodification of human biological materials. Heather Dewey-Hagborg is a transdisciplinary artist and educator who is interested in art as research and critical practice. She has shown work internationally at events and venues including the World Economic Forum, Shenzhen Urbanism and Architecture Bienniale, the New Museum, and PS1 MOMA. Her work has been widely discussed in the media, from the New York Times and the BBC to TED and Wired. She is an Assistant Professor of Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a 2016 Creative Capital award grantee in the area of Emerging Fields. Toshiaki Ozawa’s history at Sundance includes lighting and cinematography for films Angela (1995), I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), Buffalo 66 (1998), America Psycho (2000), Closer (2001), On_Line (2002), Personal Velocity (2002), Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2006), Patti Smith: Dream of Life (2008). A 2004 effort with Vincent Gallo and Chloe Sevigny, The Brown Bunny, simultaneously made Cahiers du Cinema’s yearly top 10 and was named worst film in Cannes’s history by Roger Ebert. Ozawa’s 2015 collaboration with Laurie Anderson, Heart of a Dog, was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. Past artist and photographer collaborators include: Matthew Barney, Mike and Doug Starn, Richard Avedon, Albert Watson, Bruce Weber, Mario Testino, Leandro Katz, Isaac Julien, Mario Sorrenti, Terry Richardson, Enrique Badulescu, Anthony Cotsifas, Rankin, Santiago & Mauricio, Barnaby Roper, Toni Dove, Luke DuBois, and Marina Zurkow. Counterpoint Griffin Frazen In a time when technology is creating extraordinary extensions of human capabilities, the boundaries of private space have never been more vulnerable to penetration. Counterpoint is a narrative virtual reality film about a military drone operator who develops a perversely intimate relationship with his target. Griffin Frazen is a designer and director. He holds a master’s degree in architectural design from Princeton University. He won an Emmy in 2015 for outstanding main title design for Manhattan. Over the last three years, Frazen has worked as an independent director and designer for a range of mediums, at a variety of scales, including music videos, concerts, web and interactive projects. Currently, he is working with Here Be Dragons and SITU Research. A Ritual of Exile: Blood Speaks Poulomi Basu and Debra Anderson A Ritual of Exile: Blood Speaks is a transmedia activism and WebVR project that investigates the causes and consequences of normalized violence against women perpetrated under the guise of tradition. Focused on the ritual of Chaupadi in Nepal, viewers experience the brutal exile of women forced to live in isolation during their menstrual periods and following childbirth. Poulomi Basu is a storyteller, transmedia artist and women’s rights activist, whose work documents the role of women in isolated communities and conflict zones. Poulomi’s ongoing work, A Ritual Of Exile, won the FotoEvidence Book Award 2017, Magnum Emergency Fund 2016, and was a W.Eugene Smith Finalist 2016. Her book, Centralia, is currently shortlisted for the MACK First Book Award and will be displayed in Photo London 2017. Additionally the Magnum Foundation also awarded her the What Works 2016 Human Right Fellow grant and she was nominee for the FOAM Paul Huff award in 2017 and 2015. She won the Firecracker 2nd place in 2015 for Mothers of ISIS Fighters which is due for an exhibition on Poetics of War and Secrecy in Oxford 2017. Debra Anderson is a VR producer, director and entrepreneur who made her Cinematic VR debut in 2015 with In\Formation, a documentary in VR about VR featuring pioneers in the medium. She is currently co-creating and producing A Ritual of Exile: Blood Speaks, a WebVR storyworld that investigates normalized violence against women through the lens of Chaupadi, an illegal religious practice in Nepal. Debra is Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Datavized, a software company building a 3D publishing platform for collaborative creation and distribution of immersive content on the web. Anderson founded and organizes the Women in VR Meetup in New York, designed and instructs the first Digital Development: WebVR course at Parsons School of Design, and has produced WebVR works for The National Film Board of Canada and Mozilla Corporation. Inside a Mind at War Sutu and Charles Henden “When you sign up for the military you know that you might witness death, but you never receive any training to learn how to cope with it,” explained American-Iraq War Veteran Scott England. This immersive virtual reality project explores the banality and horrors of war and England’s battle with mental illness through hand-drawn illustrations of places based on his memories. Sutu is an Australian artist exploring the intersection of creativity, technological innovation and social justice. Over the last decade, he pioneered new technologies for telling stories in new ways. Through his work with Big hART, Australia’s leading arts and social Justice organization, he has directed community development projects including Neomad – the Gold Ledger, an award-winning comic book that is currently optioned to become animated series. He is the founder of EyeJack, an Augmented Reality art publishing company. Sutu has been commissioned to create immersive VR experiences for Doctor Strange and Google. His work has won Webby, FWA, ATOM, Ledger and JMAF awards and he was a nominee for the 2015 Eisner and Future of Storytelling Awards. Charles Henden is a creative engineer with a passion for bringing interactive worlds to life. With a career stretching from licensed movie titles on the Nintendo Wii to real-time sports simulations on the PlayStation 4, nothing has excited Charles more than his current work with the emerging potential of VR, AR and Mixed Reality platforms. Amelia Winger-Bearskin (Creative Observer) Amelia Winger-Bearskin will attend this year’s Lab as Creative Observer; she’ll reflect on the learnings generated over the week and share those reflections through Sundance Institute’s website, newsletter and social platforms. Winger-Bearskin is an artist, creative director and organizer who develops cultural communities at the intersection of art, technology and advocacy. She founded and directed the DBRS Innovation Labs, co-founded VRSalon.org and the Stupid Hackathon, and her project credits include Imagination Codes and #Drowning.
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Native American Filmmakers, Erin Lau and Shaandiin Tome Selected for 2017 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab
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Two Native American filmmakers, Erin Lau (Native Hawaiian) and Shaandiin Tome (Diné), have been selected to participate in the 2017 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
The Lab takes place May 14 to 19 in Santa Fe, NM. During the Lab, Fellows work with a cast, crew, and supervising producer to shoot workshop versions of scenes from their short films under the expert creative mentorship of Program alumni and other established industry professionals and Program staff. The Lab encourages Fellows to hone their storytelling and technical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment. After the Lab they will receive targeted support from supervising producers, grants to fund the production of their short films and will attend the annual Native Forum at the January 2018 Sundance Film Festival for ongoing support on their projects.
N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “We welcome Erin and Shaandiin to the Sundance Institute family and look forward to watching them create and collaborate with the advisors in this unique space. Supporting Native and Indigenous storytellers is crucial to the Institute’s mission and has helped launch the careers of some of the most innovative Native storytellers working today.”
Three generations of Native artists have been supported since the founding of the Institute, with the goal of identifying and further uplifting Indigenous voices of the fourth generation within film and culture. The Native Program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, fellowships, the platform of Sundance Film Festival, and screenings in Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. The Institute has established a rich legacy of commitment to Native filmmaking, supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers over the years, including Taika Waititi (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho), Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muskogee), Billy Luther (Diné/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo), Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Iñupiaq), Aurora Guerrero (Xicana), Sydney Freeland (Diné), Blake Pickens (Chickasaw), Ciara Lacy (Kanaka Maoli),Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota/Dine) and Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe).
The filmmakers serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Native Lab include: Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), Bernardo Britto (Yearbook), Sydney Freeland (Diné) (Drunktown’s Finest; Deidra & Laney Rob a Train) and Blackhorse Lowe (Diné) (Shimasani; 5th World; Chasing the Light).
Artists and projects selected for the 2017 Native Filmmakers Lab:
The Moon and the Night
Erin Lau (Native Hawaiian)
Set in rural Hawai’i, a teen is forced to confront her ex-convict father after he enters her beloved pet in a dogfight.
Native Hawaiian Filmmaker Erin Lau received her bachelor’s degree in film production from the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) in 2014. During her time there, she wrote and directed several shorts, including Little Girl’s War Cry. The script, which focused on domestic violence against women and children, was selected out of a 1,000+ submissions by the Film Raro Competition to be one of six fully funded and produced films in the Cook Islands. Once completed, the film went on to win the 2013 Eurocinema Student Film Award and has screened around the world including festivals located in New Zealand, France, Guam, Fiji and Canada. Erin also crafted a short documentary titled, Ka Pua (The Flower), which focused on the life of her great grandmother who, until her death at the age of 94, cared for her mentally handicapped granddaughter. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Film Directing at Chapman University’s Dodge College of the Arts and will graduate in Spring of 2018.
Mud (Hastl’ishnii)
Shaandiin Tome (Diné)
On the last day of her life, a woman struggles to accept the extent to which her life has been affected by addiction.
Shandiin Tome graduated cum laude from the University of New Mexico with a BFA in Film and Digital Media Production. She is an alumna of the 2016 Sundance Full Circle Fellowship. As an aspiring new filmmaker, her experience ranges working in small roles to key positions in major motion pictures, documentaries and independent films. In the past year, Tome resided in Los Angeles, working on several productions and learning more about independent film by interning with Sundance Institute. She currently lives in Albuquerque, aiming to bring resonating imagery in convergence with story while illustrating her perspective as a Diné woman.
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RIP: ‘SILENCE OF THE LAMB’ ‘RACHEL GETTING MARRIED’ Director Jonathan Demme Dead at 73
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Jonathan Demme[/caption]
Academy Award wining director Jonathan Demme died in New York on Wednesday morning after reportedly battling esophageal cancer and suffering complications from heart disease. He was 73 years old.
Demme directed blockbusters such as The Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia, but he never strayed too far from the indie world, directing the indie comedy Something Wild starring Melanie Griffith, and introducing Ray Liotta; and Rachel Getting Married, starring Anne Hathaway.
In addition to indie films, Demme directed documentaries on high profile subjects including the Pretenders, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela, along with two documentaries about Haiti, 1988’s Haiti Dreams of Democracy and 2003’s The Agronomist. Recently, Demme directed the 2016 music documentary Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids.
Demme is survived by second wife Joanne Howard and their three children: Ramona, Brooklyn and Jos.
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Cinematographer Frederick Elmes to Receive AFI 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal
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Frederick Elmes[/caption]
Cinematographer Frederick Elmes (AFI Class of 1972) will receive the American Film Institute (AFI) 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal.
This honor recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of an AFI alumnus or alumna who embodies the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television. Applauding the ongoing career of the influential artist who has lensed such films as ERASERHEAD (1977), RIVER’S EDGE (1986), BLUE VELVET (1986), WILD AT HEART (1990) and THE ICE STORM (1997), as well as TV’s OLIVE KITTERIDGE and THE NIGHT OF, the presentation of the Schaffner Medal will take place at the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton in Hollywood on June 8, 2017.
Over the past five decades, Elmes has brought to life stories from cinema’s most fearless iconoclasts — including John Cassavetes, David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, Ang Lee and AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Diane Keaton, with whom he collaborated on her directorial debut HEAVEN (1987). He has received a Primetime Emmy® nomination, two Film Independent Spirit Awards and a New York Film Critics Circle Award, among other accolades, and is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
From among an elite community of nearly 5,000 AFI graduates, Elmes joins an esteemed group of past recipients that includes Darren Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN), Lesli Link Glatter (HOMELAND), Patty Jenkins (WONDER WOMAN), Janusz Kamiński (SCHINDLER’S LIST), David Lynch (BLUE VELVET), Terrence Malick (THE TREE OF LIFE) and Wally Pfister (THE DARK KNIGHT).
The Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of a graduate of the AFI Conservatory or the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women who symbolizes the legacy of Franklin J. Schaffner. The distinguished recipients of the Schaffner Alumni Medal are: David Lynch (1991), Edward Zwick (1992), Randa Haines (1993), Martin Brest (1994), Jon Avnet (1995), Carl Franklin (1996), John McTiernan (1997), Amy Heckerling (1998), Mimi Leder (1999), Terrence Malick (2000), Darren Aronofsky (2001), Todd Field (2002), John Dahl (2003), Patty Jenkins (2004), Paul Schrader (2005), Marshall Herskovitz (2006), Gary Winick (2007), Mark Waters (2008), Steve Golin (2009), Janusz Kamiński (2010), Steven Rosenblum (2011), Wally Pfister (2012), Stuart Cornfeld (2013), Anne Garefino (2014), Caleb Deschanel (2015) and Lesli Linka Glatter (2016).
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A DATE FOR MARY, MOONLIGHT, LOVING Win at Irish Film and Television Academy Awards
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A Date for Mad Mary[/caption]
A Date for Mad Mary was crowned the Best Film, and Charleigh Bailey took home the award for Best Supporting Actress Film for her performance, at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Film & Drama Awards in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgAkhspus8A
Colm Meaney received the IFTA for Best Lead Actor Film for his portrayal of the late Martin McGuinness in Nick Hamm’s The Journey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ZN_lZvL7A
Three Awards went to Richie Smyth’s debut feature The Siege of Jadotville, with Smyth accepting the award for Best Director Film and Jason O’Mara receiving Best Supporting Actor Film. The film also won for VFX (Windmill Lane VFX). Peter Foott Picked up the IFTA for best Script for The Young Offenders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JHsiQTTmg
Best Lead Actress in Film was awarded to Loving star Ruth Negga. Best International Film was Moonlight; Best International Actor Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, Best International Actress was Emma Stone for La La Land.
The prestigious George Morrison Feature Documentary Award went to Dave Clarke and Ciarán Deeney, the team behind Colm Quinn’s Mattress Men.
Best Short Film went to Dave Tynan for viral project Heartbreak while Animated Short went to IADT graduate Vincent Gallagher for stop motion project Second to None.
The Rising Star award sponsored by the Irish Film Board went to The OA and Property of the State actor Patrick Gibson, who accepted his award from Bleed for This actor Ciarán Hinds.
Highlights for drama categories are led by Vikings team Morgan O’Sullivan & James Flynn accepting the coveted title of Best Drama, with an additional award for Best Make-Up & Hair for Dee Corcoran & Tom McInerney on the History Channel series shot in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Best Lead Actor in Drama this year goes to Cillian Murphy for Peaky Blinders with Amy Huberman taking the Best Lead Actress in Drama for new homegrown series Striking Out which was presented by Stephen Rea.
Another flagship achievement in original Irish drama is James Phelan’s award for Best Script Drama for Centenary comedy Wrecking the Rising.
Supporting acting talent in drama sees Charlie Murphy honoured for Happy Valley and Ned Dennehy for Irish language western series An Klondike.
Consolata Boyle of Florence Foster Jenkins achieved the award for Best Costume Design for this, her sixth award of a total nine Irish Academy nominations to date.
Seamus McGarvey came out on top of the Director of Photography category for his work on Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, and Nick Emerson for Best Editing on Billy O’Brien’s I Am Not A Serial Killer.
The Secret Scripture took double craft awards with Derek Wallace awarded the IFTA for Best Production Design and Brian Byrne taking the award for Best Original Music.
The Siege of Jadotville took home its third award for Best VFX, which went to Tim Chauncey of Windmill Lane VFX. Juanita Wilson’s second feature Tomato Red earned the award for Best Sound tonight, for the work of Niall Brady, Ken Galvin & Steve Fanagan.