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THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, SPOTLIGHT and TANGERINE Lead 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

The nominees for the 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced today, signaling the kick-off to the film awards season. For 2015, the eight competitive film awards include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress (presenting sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein), Breakthrough Actor, Best Screenplay, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director award, and the Gotham Audience Award. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Helen Mirren and Robert Redford, director Todd Haynes, and Industry Tribute recipient producer Steve Golin. Twenty-five films received nominations this year. THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (pictured above) lead with 4 nominations for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Breakthrough Director. CAROL, SPOTLIGHT and TANGERINE closely followed with 3 nominations each. Carol received nods for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Actress; Spotlight received nods for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Special Jury Award – Ensemble Performance; and Tangerine also nominated for Best Feature in addition to Breakthrough Actors for Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor. As noted, the nominating committee for the Best Actor and Best Actress categories category voted to award a Special Jury Award jointly to cast members Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. Beyond these individual actors, the committee cited the Spotlight cast as “an outstanding ensemble in which every performance, in every role, of every size, is beautifully realized.” In recognition of the strong work by female actors this year, the jury also chose to include six nominees for Best Actress. The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 30th at Cipriani Wall Street. The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are: Best Feature Carol Todd Haynes, director; Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley, producers (The Weinstein Company) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4z7Px68ywk The Diary of a Teenage Girl Marielle Heller, director; Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit, Miranda Bailey, producers (Sony Pictures Classics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2M9kqb5wVw Heaven Knows What Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear-McClard, producers (RADiUS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBThfoOQI04 Spotlight Tom McCarthy, director; Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagan Faust, producers (Open Road Films) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXymzwz0V2g Tangerine Sean Baker, director; Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox & Karrie Cox, producers (Magnolia Pictures) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU Best Documentary Approaching the Elephant Amanda Rose Wilder, director; Jay Craven, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, producers (Kingdom County Productions) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdGIkBSkEdc Cartel Land Matthew Heineman, director; Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin, producers (The Orchard and A&E IndieFilms) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JD7hPM_yxg Heart of a Dog Laurie Anderson, director; Dan Janvey, Laurie Anderson, producers (Abramorama and HBO Documentary Films) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ClaELWDqHU Listen to Me Marlon Stevan Riley, director; John Battsek, RJ Cutler, George Chignell, producers (Showtime Documentary Films) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZlWjE_NJfI The Look of Silence Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer (Drafthouse Films) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbPN8-juZUI Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award Desiree Akhavan for Appropriate Behavior (Gravitas Ventures) Jonas Carpignano for Mediterranea (Sundance Selects) Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics) John Magary for The Mend (Cinelicious Pics) Josh Mond for James White (The Film Arcade) Best Screenplay Carol, Phyllis Nagy (The Weinstein Company) The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Marielle Heller (Sony Pictures Classics) Love & Mercy, Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment) Spotlight, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Open Road Films) While We’re Young, Noah Baumbach (A24) Best Actor* Christopher Abbott in James White (The Film Arcade) Kevin Corrigan in Results (Magnolia Pictures) Paul Dano in Love & Mercy (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment) Peter Sarsgaard in Experimenter (Magnolia Pictures) Michael Shannon in 99 Homes (Broad Green Pictures) Best Actress* Cate Blanchett in Carol (The Weinstein Company) Blythe Danner in I’ll See You in My Dreams (Bleecker Street) Brie Larson in Room (A24 Films) Bel Powley in The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics) Lily Tomlin in Grandma (Sony Pictures Classics) Kristen Wiig in Welcome to Me (Alchemy) Breakthrough Actor Rory Culkin in Gabriel (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Arielle Holmes in Heaven Knows What (RADiUS) Lola Kirke in Mistress America (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures) Mya Taylor in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures) * The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. (Open Road Films). Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ Grant For the sixth consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. In 2015, Screen Forward Lab directors have been included in this opportunity for the first time. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are: Claire Carré, director, Embers Deb Shoval, director, AWOL Chanelle Aponte Pearson, director, 195 Lewis Gotham Appreciation Award A Gothams Appreciation Award will be given to Ellen Cotter for her contribution to theatrical distribution, including leadership of the Angelika Film Centers.
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Chris Rock is Back …. to Host 2016 Oscars

Chris Rock who hosted the 77th Oscars telecast in 2005 will return to host the Oscars® for a second time, producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin announced today. Rock will host the 88th Academy Awards® scheduled to be broadcast live on Oscar® Sunday, February 28, 2016, on the ABC Television Network. . “Chris Rock is truly the MVP of the entertainment industry,” said Hill and Hudlin. “Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, documentarian – he’s done it all. He’s going to be a phenomenal Oscar host!” “I’m so glad to be hosting the Oscars,” said Rock. “It’s great to be back.” “We share David and Reggie’s excitement in welcoming Chris, whose comedic voice has really defined a generation,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “He is certain to bring his amazing array of talents to this year’s show.” “Chris may be best known as a stand-up comic, but we think of him as a creative innovator in many other ways. He is unafraid in his artistry,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “We couldn’t be happier to welcome him back to the Oscars.” “Chris Rock is a comedic powerhouse who will bring tremendous energy to the event, and we’re honored to have him,” said Paul Lee, President ABC Entertainment Group. With a career spanning more than three decades, Rock most recently directed the comedy special “Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo,” which premiered this month on HBO. In 2014 he wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed feature “Top Five,” and in 2009 ventured into the documentary world as a writer, producer and star of “Good Hair.” Rock has enjoyed ongoing success in both film and television as a comedian, actor, writer, producer and director. His feature acting credits include “I Think I Love My Wife,” which he also wrote and directed, “Head of State” (writer, producer and director), “Death at a Funeral” (also producer), and the first three films in the blockbuster “Madagascar” series, as the voice of Marty. His other acting credits include “The Longest Yard,” “Nurse Betty,” “2 Days in New York” and “Lethal Weapon 4.” In 2011 Rock made his Broadway debut starring in “The Motherfucker with the Hat,” which was nominated for six Tony Awards®, including Best Play. In television, Rock created, executive produced and narrated the series “Everybody Hates Chris,” which ran from 2005 to 2009 and was inspired by Rock’s childhood. He was a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 1990 to 1993. Known internationally for his groundbreaking stand-up comedy, Rock has won four Emmy® Awards for his comedy series and specials, including “Chris Rock – Kill the Messenger,” “The Chris Rock Show” and “Chris Rock: Bring the Pain,” and has achieved record audience numbers around the world. He also has earned three Grammy® Awards for his comedy albums Never Scared, Bigger and Blacker and Roll with the New. The 88th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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Date Revealed for 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards

The 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast exclusively on IFC on February 27, 2016, LIVE at 2:00 pm PT / 5:00 pm ET. This year marks the 31st edition of the awards show that celebrates the best of independent film. This year’s nominees will be announced at a press conference on Tuesday, November 24 at the W Hollywood and online at spiritawards.com. Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions returns for his second year as executive producer of the show held in its usual tent on the beach in Santa Monica, in a new location this year just north of the Santa Monica Pier. Producer Shawn Davis returns for his 14th show and Rick Austin returns for his second year as producer. “After last year’s great show we are thrilled to have Joel Gallen back as our EP,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “We are excited to be back on IFC, I can’t imagine better partners than Jen Caserta and her entire team.” “We are pleased to continue to partner with Film Independent as the irreverent and informal approach of the Spirit Awards is a seamless fit with our ‘always on, slightly off’ brand,” said Jennifer Caserta, IFC’s president. “We are excited to celebrate the best independent films and provide an exclusive platform for what has become Hollywood’s kick off to awards season.” Joel Gallen’s credits include the Emmy nominated specials Stand Up To Cancer (2014, 2012), the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert (2009), Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief (2010) and the Emmy and Peabody Award winning America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001). He produced the MTV Movie Awards for 12 consecutive years from 1995 to 2006. He has also produced the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony since 2003 and the Comedy Central Roasts for the last 11 years including the most recent roast featuring Justin Bieber. Gallen executive produced and directed the Concert for Valor for HBO. About his return to the Film Independent Spirit Awards, executive producer Joel Gallen had this to say, “I love producing the Spirit Awards, not just because of how much it means to the independent film community, but because it’s such a fun and relaxed vibe in the tent. Last year all the speeches were so spontaneous and ‘in the moment’, not one acceptance speech was read from a folded up piece of paper. That may have been the first time in award show history that happened!”
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Meryl Streep will be Jury President of 66th Berlin International Film Festival

Three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will be the Jury President of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival taking place February 11 to 21, 2016. ”Meryl Streep is one of the most creative and multifaceted film artists. To mark our enthusiasm for her extraordinary talent we awarded her the Honorary Golden Bear in 2012 for her lifetime achievement. I am very happy that she is returning to Berlin and with her artistic experience will take on the chairmanship of the International Jury”, says Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick. Meryl Streep has appeared in over 40 films and is considered one of the world’s most talented and versatile actresses. She has been a guest at the Berlin International Film Festival on a number of occasions: in 1999, she was awarded the Berlinale Camera, and in 2003, together with Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman she shared the Silver Bear award for their performances in The Hours. In 2006, she could again be seen in the Berlinale Competition in Robert Altman’s ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion. In 2012, the Berlinale dedicated a homage to Meryl Streep and awarded her the Honorary Golden Bear for her lifetime achievement. “It is a thrill to return to the festival under any circumstances, but it is with great relish and anticipation I look forward to jury duty. The responsibility is somewhat daunting, as I have never been President of anything before, and I hope I can come up to the precedent set by the distinguished juries of preceding years. Grateful for the honor”, says Meryl Streep with regard to her jury presidency.
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Complete List of Films + Trailers for 81 Countries in Competition for 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar

Eighty-one countries have submitted films for consideration in the 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar category for the 88th Academy Awards.

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Composer John Williams to Receive 44th AFI Life Achievement Award

Composer John Williams will be the recipient of the 44th AFI Life Achievement Award, America’s highest honor for a career in film. For the first time in American Film Institute (AFI) history, the award will be bestowed upon a composer. Williams will be honored at a gala Tribute on June 9, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute special will return for its fourth year with Turner Broadcasting to air on TNT in late June 2016, followed by an encore presentation on its sister network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “John Williams has written the soundtrack to our lives,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chair, AFI Board of Trustees. “Note by note, through chord and chorus, his genius for marrying music with movies has elevated the art form to symphonic levels and inspired generations of audiences to be enriched by the magic of the movies. AFI is proud to present him with its 44th Life Achievement Award.” John Williams’ storied career as the composer behind many of the greatest American films and television series of all time boasts over 150 credits across seven decades. Perhaps best known for his enduring collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, his scores are among the most iconic and recognizable in film history, from the edge-of-your-seat JAWS (1975) motif to the emotional swell of E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) and the haunting elegies of SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993). Always epic in scale, his music has helped define over half a century of the motion picture medium. Three of Williams’ scores landed on AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores — a list of the 25 greatest American film scores of all time — including the unforgettable STAR WARS (1977) soundtrack, at number one. With five Academy Award® wins and 49 nominations in total, Williams holds the record for the most Oscar® nominations of any living person. Other career touchstones include CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) and the INDIANA JONES series (1984–2008), JURASSIC PARK (1993), SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998), the first three films of the HARRY POTTER series (2001–2004), MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005), THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (2011), LINCOLN (2012) and THE BOOK THIEF (2013). He will soon transport audiences back to a galaxy far, far away with STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS, opening December 2015, and he is set to reteam with Spielberg for THE BFG in 2016. Watch Williams at the AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to George Lucas in 2005. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBbudefAzFw More About John Williams Born and raised in New York, Williams moved to Los Angeles in 1948, where he studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After service in the Air Force, he returned to New York and studied piano with Madame Rosina Lhévinne at The Juilliard School, and also worked as a jazz pianist both in nightclubs and on recordings. He returned to Los Angeles and began his career in the film industry, working with many accomplished film composers including Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television films for the groundbreaking anthology series ALCOA THEATRE and KRAFT TELEVISION THEATRE. His more recent contributions to television music include the well-known theme for NBC NIGHTLY NEWS (“The Mission”), the theme for what has become network television’s longest-running series, NBC’s MEET THE PRESS and the theme for the prestigious PBS arts showcase GREAT PERFORMANCES. Williams went on to compose the music and serve as music director for more than 150 films, including some of the most successful films of all time. His 40-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg began in 1972 with the film THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS. The five Academy Awards^® Williams has received are for: his adaptation of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971), STAR WARS (1977) and hree of his scores with Spielberg: JAWS (1975), E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) and SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993). He is also the recipient of 22 Grammy Awards^®. Williams served as Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 14 seasons and remains their Conductor Laureate. He has composed numerous works for the concert hall, and maintains vibrant relationships with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras. He has composed music for many important cultural and commemorative events, including the theme for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986 and themes for four Olympic Games. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order, the International Olympic Committee’s highest honor, for his contributions to the Olympic movement. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in December of 2004 and the National Medal of Arts in 2009. Williams was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2009 and in January of that same year, he composed and arranged “Air and Simple Gifts” especially for the first inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama.
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European Film Academy to Honor Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz

The European Film Academy will present Charlotte Rampling with the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, and the European Achievement In World Cinema will go to two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Both Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz will be honorary guests at the 28th European Film Awards Ceremony on December 12th, 2015, in Berlin. Born in England, Charlotte Rampling grew up in Gibraltar, France, Italy and Spain to become a truly European multi-language actress. Throughout her career, Charlotte Rampling has worked with great European directors from Luchino Visconti, Liliana Cavani and Patrice Chéreau to François Ozon, Laurent Cantet, Claude Lelouch, Gianni Amelio, Bille August and Lars von Trier. Charlotte Rampling is a five-time EFA Nominee and won European Actress 2003 for SWIMMING POOL. She has received an Honorary César and has been nominated four times in France, as the murder suspect Barbara in HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN, the lonely wife in UNDER THE SAND, a famous mystery author in SWIMMING POOL and the deranged Alice Pollock in LEMMING. She recently received a Silver Berlin Bear for her role in 45 YEARS which is also part of this year’s EFA Selection. Among some of Charlotte Rampling’s most interesting films are THE NIGHT PORTER by Liliana Cavani, HEADING SOUTH by Laurent Cantet, STARDUST MEMORIES by Woody Allen, THE VERDICT by Sidney Lumet, UNDER THE SAND by François Ozon, MAX MY LOVE by Nagisa Oshima and MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier. Born in Austria, Christoph Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and in New York. He started out as a theatre actor and quickly became a popular TV star. In 2009 Christoph Waltz shot to international fame with Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for which he received the Best Actor Award in Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and his first Oscar. He acted in THE GREEN HORNET by Michel Gondry, in CARNAGE by Roman Polanski and in 2012 he again collaborated with Quentin Tarantino, playing Dr. King Schultz in DJANGO UNCHAINED which won him another Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and ultimately a second Oscar. And he plays a leading part in the new James Bond film SPECTRE.
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Civil Rights Icon Grace Lee Boggs, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, Dies at 100

Grace Lee Boggs, civil rights icon, and subject of the 2013 documentary American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, has died at the age of 100. According to the a statement on the Boggs Center website, Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit on Monday night, October 5, 2015. Philosopher-Activist Grace Lee Boggs Dies in Detroit: A Champion for the People October 5, 2015–Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit this morning. She had recently celebrated her 100th birthday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Grace was an internationally known philosopher activist for justice. She had been politically active since the 1930’s working with A. Phillip Randolph’s first march on Washington and later C.L.R. James. For more than 40 years she worked closely with her late husband James Boggs in advancing ideas of revolution and evolution for the 20th and 21st Centuries. She helped organize the 1963 March down Woodward Avenue with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Grassroots Leadership Conference with Malcolm X. Grace Lee Boggs was active in Labor, Civil Rights, Black Power, women and environmental justice movements. Later, with her husband James, she helped organize SOSAD, WePros, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Gardening Angels and Detroit Summer. Grace was a founding member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership and was a strong advocate for place based education and supported the James and Grace Lee Boggs School. “Grace died as she lived surrounded by books, politics, people and ideas,” said Alice Jennings and Shea Howell, two of her Trustees. A memorial celebrating her life will be announced later. President Barack Obama, issued a statement, saying “Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others – from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the civil rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. As the child of Chinese immigrants and as a woman, Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core – the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny. Grace’s passion for helping others, and her work to rejuvenate communities that had fallen on hard times spanned her remarkable 100 years of life, and will continue to inspire generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family and friends, and all those who loved her dearly.” The filmmakers of the documentary also issued a statement saying, “Grace Lee Boggs passed away peacefully this morning. We are so grateful for the vision of justice and human connection that she gave us and feel incredibly privileged to have been able to share her story with others.” The documentary film, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, plunges us into Boggs’s lifetime of vital thinking and action, traversing the major U.S. social movements of the last century; from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, the Asian American and environmental justice movements and beyond. Boggs’s constantly evolving strategy—her willingness to re-evaluate and change tactics in relation to the world shifting around her—drives the story forward. Angela Davis, Bill Moyers, Bill Ayers, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Boggs’s late husband James and a host of Detroit comrades across three generations help shape this uniquely American story. As she wrestles with a Detroit in ongoing transition, contradictions of violence and non-violence, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, the 1967 rebellions, and non-linear notions of time and history, Boggs emerges with an approach that is radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression or merely a protest. Revolution, Boggs says, is about something deeper within the human experience — the ability to transform oneself to transform the world. POV is streaming the film for free until November 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JvyZtNA4CU
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Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez Win Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellowships in Film

Queer/Art/Mentorship, the multi-disciplinary, inter-generational arts program that pairs and supports mentorship between emerging and established LGBTQI artists in NYC, has announced the eleven Fellows accepted for its 2015-2016 annual mentorship cycle. The Fellows chosen in five artistic disciplines are Monstah Black, Eva Peskin and Justine Williams in Performance; Jacob Matkov and Brendan Williams-Childs in Literary; Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez in Film; Caroline Wells Chandler and Doron Langberg in Visual Arts; and Hugh Ryan in Curatorial. The 2015-2016 Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellows in Film are Rodrigo Bellott was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His breakout film, Sexual Dependency won over 15 awards in over 65 film festivals around the world and was also Bolivia’s first film competing for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 2004 Academy Awards. VARIETY magazine named Bellott as one of the “TOP TEN Latin American Talents to Watch”. Bellott will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Silas Howard on the film adaptation of his play Tu Me Manques, that explores contemporary queer identity in the moment of historical change in contrast with the current situations in other parts of the world. Erin Greenwell wrote and directed the feature film My Best Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her other directing endeavors include Oh Come On, a punk DIY performance video for Kathleen Hanna’s band The Julie Ruin and The Golden Age of Hustlers, featuring Justin Vivian Bond’s remake of the iconic song written by legendary punk chanteuse Bambi Lake. In 2006, Greenwell formed Smithy Productions, a production company, with the aim of cultivating talents from the queer/independent art community under the umbrella of narrative and documentary storytelling. Greenwell will be working with Mentor, director and screenwriter Stacie Passon to develop her narrative feature length script, The Flight Deck, based on the butch/femme lesbian bar scene in Buffalo, NY during the 1950s. Mylo Mendez is a Texas-born video artist currently based in Brooklyn. Hir work uses humor, narrative, and characters with aberrant bodies to navigate identity, social and geographical borders, and history. Mendez has been featured in group shows in New York City and Austin. Ze received hir MFA from Parsons The New School for Design. Mendez will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris on a film about the intersection of trans and punk identities and communities in New York City.
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Swiss directors Michael Steiner and Jan Gassmann Win 1st Filmmaker Award at 11th Zurich Film Festival

Oscar winner Christoph Waltz presented the first-ever ‘Filmmaker Award’ on Saturday Evening to the two Swiss directors Michael Steiner and Jan Gassmann. Michael Steiner’s project “Und morgen seid ihr tot” (“Tomorrow You’ll Be Dead”) received CHF 75’000 and Jan Gassmann’s project “Europe, She Loves” received CHF 25’000. The two winners were chosen from a total of four nominated projects. The presentation took place at the IWC gala dinner‚ For the Love of Cinema held as part of the 11th Zurich Film Festival. Said the delighted film actor Christoph Waltz: “I am proud to be here in person to present this award, which is very important for the Swiss film industry”. He continued: “Providing sponsorship for filmmakers is a necessary and relevant task, one which makes a significant contribution to the diversity of Swiss film.” Christoph Waltz shot to fame with roles in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED by the American cult director Quentin Tarantino. The project UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT from producers Bernhard Burgener and Norbert Preuss tells the true story of two Swiss citizens, Daniela Widmer and David Och, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan in July 2011 and succeeded in making a spectacular escape after eight months spent in captivity. Shooting is planned to start in February 2016. The film will be directed by Michael Steiner, known for his works MEIN NAME IST EUGEN and GROUNDING. Now in post-production, the project EUROPE, SHE LOVES from producer Lisa Blatter portrays five couples forced to draw deep on their reserves of wit and love as they struggle for everyday survival in a Europe shaken by the economic crisis. “The scripts of both these films stood out for their compelling storytelling and the exceptional sensitivity with which these two very different stories were told. Hopefully we’ll be able to see both of them on the big screen soon,” said IWC CEO Georges Kern during the award ceremony. For director Marc Forster, who was also a member of the jury, the Filmmaker Award represents a real milestone for the domestic film industry: “By specifically backing projects in the pre- or post-production stages, we are plugging a gap in the existing funding available for films,” he explained. image credit: IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN FOR THE LOVE OF CINEMA GALA DINNER 26 SEPTEMBER, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND Bernhard Burgener, Norbert Preuss and Michael Steiner (Und morgen seid ihr tot) and Lisa Blatter and Jan Gassmann (Europe, She Loves) receive the Filmmaker Award. The award was set up by the Association for the Promotion of Film in Switzerland (Verein zur Filmfoerderung in der Schweiz), a non-profit organization founded by Marc Forster, IWC CEO Georges Kern, the co-directors of the Zurich Film Festival Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri, and the CEO of Ringier, Marc Walder. (Photo by Lennart Preiss/Getty Images for IWC)
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Activist Malala Yousafzai, HE NAMED ME MALALA, at 2015 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park NYC

Activist Malala Yousafzai (C) speaks on stage at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival to end extreme poverty by 2030 in Central Park on September 26, 2015 in New York City. Malala is the subject of the documentary HE NAMED ME MALALA from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman). HE NAMED ME MALALA opens in select theaters on Friday, October 2nd 2015.
HE NAMED ME MALALA is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old (she turned 18 this July) was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ghiYve6k68
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2016 Cinema Eye Shorts List Revealed for 9th Cinema Eye Honors Awards

Ten nonfiction short films were announced today as finalists for the 2016 Cinema Eye Honors, the 9th edition of the largest annual celebration for and recognition of the nonfiction film artform and the creators of those films. The announcement of the 2016 Cinema Eye Shorts List was made on the opening day of the 2015 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), a key festival partner of the Cinema Eye Honors. For the second year in a row, all ten films, which are among the most acclaimed short documentaries of the year, will screen this weekend at the 11th Annual Camden International Film Festival. This is the first time that all the filmmakers on the list have never been on the Shorts List before or a previous Cinema Eye nominee. This marks the fourth year that the CEH Shorts List has been announced in Camden. This January will mark the seventh year that CIFF hosts their annual reception on the eve of Cinema Eye’s award ceremony. A key part of Cinema Eye Week, a multi-day event held from January 10-13 in New York City in January 2016, the CIFF reception has become the largest single event for nonfiction film in the city and an important kickoff for the new year in the documentary community. From the ten finalists on this year’s Shorts List, five films will be named as nominees for the Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking Award. Nominees in that category and nearly a dozen feature film categories will be announced on Wednesday, November 11 in Copenhagen, Denmark at CPH:DOX. Awards will be presented during Cinema Eye Honors on January 13, 2016, in New York City. This year’s ten finalists are: Body Team 12 (Liberia/USA) (pictured above) Directed by David Darg Born to Be Mild (UK) Directed by Andy Oxley The Breath (Switzerland) Directed by Fabian Kaiser Buffalo Juggalos (USA) Directed by Scott Cummings Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (Canada) Directed by Adam Benzine The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul (Australia) Directed by Kitty Green Hotel 22 (USA) Directed by Elizabeth Lo {The And} Marcela & Rock (USA) Directed by Topaz Adizes The Solitude of Memory (Mexico/USA) Directed by Juan Pablo González Super-Unit (Poland) Directed by Teresa Czepiec
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