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The Naked Emotions are more Raw than the Rampant Sex Scenes in Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac-Vol 1
By Francesca McCaffery With his latest film NYMPHOMANIAC, bad boy and cinematic provocateur Lars von Trier has found a way to communicate through film that is rarely felt, even in literature : Whether you agree with what is being portrayed onscreen, or not, you still have the feeling of being spoken to in the most profound of ways- both cerebrally and viscerally- the sheer ride that only the most dazzling, life-changing novel can offer. NYMPHOMANIAC, VOL 1, is one of two films, (Vol 2 being released in the US in April ) both released in their uncut, European versions. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, who meets lonely bachelor Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) only after he finds her lying, curled up, bloody and beaten, in his courtyard as he goes out to get his daily cup of coffee and rugalach. As Seligman begins to tend to her, much like a kindly Grandma (hot tea, fresh PJs, warm bed) , Joe starts recounting her tales as a sexually voracious young woman, as Seligman patiently listens. Offering both counsel and repartee to her increasingly more self-loathsome stories. In flashback we see the young Joe (waifish newcomer Stacy Martin), colt-like and doe-eyed, just how much power she has over men, “simply by smiling at them.” (It doesn’t hurt, either, that she looks like she just wandered straight out of a Marc Jacobs ad.) Time flips around, and we observe Joe as a little girl- as she learns to masturbate on a wet bathroom floor, hang on ropes “endlessly” in gym, and become fascinated with the way her own body operates, and, as Joe bluntly says, “my cunt.” Her father (Cristian Slater- a fine, simple performance) is a kind doctor who teaches her about the history about the lovely ash trees in the forest on their daily walks, and her mother, a dirty blonde domestic ice queen (Connie Nielsen), is a “cold bitch.” Aside from seeing that her Mother is unsatisfied and distracted by domesticity, it is hard to deduce from Joe’s upbringing that her extreme sexual behavior is the “result” of anything.-except for a truly lousy first time, which she herself orchestrated completely. As Joe hits adolescence, forms an actual “club” of like-minded, self-worshiping teen girls who throw away the concept of love and monogamy (they are allowed to have sex with any individual man only once) like sexy anarchists, and proceed to sleep around with whomever they wish, whenever they want. Joe is always firmly in control of her choices, as are her friends, even after her best friend is the first to go down, fervently whispering to her that the “secret ingredient to sex is love!” (Yes, this phrase is uttered several times throughout the film.) Joe picks her men, randomly decides who to continue seeing as it becomes increasingly harder for her to juggle her myriad stable lovers (fat, tall, leonine, lovely, tender, old, young, ugly, married, single, gorgeous-she has no obvious type or preference.) She is having sex to have sex, and we see Joe is screwing a lot. The action goes back and forth, present to past, and Seligman, kind and non-judging of Joe’s extreme behavior, likens the way Joe and her friend start out their “hunt” of men to fuck on a first train ride outing wearing there “Come Fuck Me” clothes like carefully baiting the lure in fly-fishing. As Joe grows older, and is forced to get a boring job (medical school was too rough for her overly-sensitive self, she tells us in voice-over) she meets and finds herself falling in love with Jerome (Shia La Boeuf) who has also appeared in the beginning of the film (I won’t spoil it for you.) As she chastises herself for feeling this way, sentimental and woozy with actual desire, her number of lovers increases, until, like saying banana over and over and over again, the act seems, even to the viewer, to distinctly and abruptly lose all of its meaning and purpose. As an audience, we are almost bored with the way the sex depicted, which is a fantastic achievement of the director’s. It has been said that von Trier cast actual porn stars to perform the actual live sex scenes in these films, and then digitized the actor’s “heads” onto their bodies, accordingly. As this wasn’t stated in the official press notes, I cannot say for certain, but this, along with the rest of the brilliant, peek-a-boo press campaign, only serves to elevate the pain underneath the action.. As we watch, and cannot be sure who is actually really doing what, the actors themselves become as desexualized as the acts portrayed themselves. We can begin to really focus upon the story…Or…is there one, after all? Did Joe simply make a choice, a careless selection, not to care, destroying hearts, families and feelings along the way as she tears through the lives of her often unnamed lovers? Uma Thurman is simply devastating as “Mrs. H,” a wife of one of Joe’s “lovers” (only known as “H”) who has left his family after Joe, desperate to shake him off, tells him that she can’t be with him unless she all of him. The plan backfires completely as Mr. H returns, suitcase in hand, and Mrs. H, creeps up to Joe’s “bohemian” flat towing her three tiny young boys, beautifully beginning to unravel in the span of five minutes. (Seriously- Thurman is so good in this film.) As Joe begins to realize the devastating internal results of her seemingly unconscious actions, and we are left with a scintillating preview of Volume 2 as the credits role, one is left pondering many questions, barely remembering the actual sex acts and displays of promiscuity. It is almost as if, like the sex acts depicted themselves, von Trier is also asking us to look at our own personal “stories,” and the great, often unnecessary weight we put on them. This director is not a light-hearted guy. Films like Breaking the Waves and Antichrist deal with a world that will dole out random, tragic events like a farmer throwing seeds onto an endless, muddy field. His most recent film, the stunningly gorgeous MELANCHOLIA, (which he made after a bout of severe depression) was far more considered, asking us to question our own personal fate in terms of the majesty and self-containment of the entire universe. As Seligman far too easily and almost primly repackages Joe’s recountings as merely accounts of severe “addiction,” von Trier is not asking us to consider why the need to be so distracted so intently is quietly eating away at our society and culture; he is asking us to consider the ‘addict,’ if you will, and why their own story is any different from choosing to live a life more guided by compassion, kindness and self-esteem. “We are all waiting for permission to die, anyway,” Joe informs Seligman. She has the last and final say, and everyone is going down with her ship-everyone who chooses to be on board, that is. The director is no moralist, here, though: He has made a film about a woman who has elevated her own sickness to a sole and profound Identity, and asks us to question what we live by, how we define ourselves, and where we stand. By the way, Gainsbourg, as you probably can imagine, is simply wonderful , and we hear in her lilting, tarnished voice a woman so purely hating and so desperately hating herself, but looking for no redemption, no resolution, and no forgiveness, either, whatsoever. Sensationalism aside, please forget the actual hysteria and promise of “unheralded,” explicit sex scenes in the film itself, and go for the way it makes you feel, think and analyze your own place in the world. This film makes you work , and von Trier perhaps has almost had to resort to utilizing depictions of graphic sex as the gateway drug to shock us right back into our heads and hearts. Maybe he is saving his moral judgment for us-the audience-as viewers…That we, much like Joe, need to be tricked into seeing and feeling and interpreting something, anything, intimate and profound without being completely and utterly scared.
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Filmmakers Kurtis Hough and Alain LeTourneau are Winners of 2014 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship
The Northwest Film Center and the Oregon Arts Commission announced filmmakers Kurtis Hough and Alain LeTourneau as the winners of the 2014 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship. The public announcement was made on the occasion of the February 6th screening of the work of 2011 Fellow, Elijah Hasan at the Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium.
The Media Arts Fellowship supports Oregon filmmakers who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the media arts. Jurors Enie Vaisburd, an independent filmmaker as well as Media Arts Instructor at Pacific University in Forest Grove and Matt Schulte, indie filmmaker and Digital Strategist with the Metropolitan Group, reviewed 19 submissions from applicants throughout the state, weighing artistic merit, the potential of the proposed activity to advance a given artistʹs work, and the feasibility of the projects proposed. The two 2014 winners will split a $5000 Fellowship which is funded solely by the Oregon Arts Commission. The Film Center continues to seek additional funders for the 2015 Fellowship. In previous years, the Fellowship has awarded as much as $15,000 to Oregon-based makers.
LeTourneau, a photographer and filmmaker is the co-founder of 40frames.org, a 16mm conservation initiative. His work has been exhibited internationally, including showings at Anthology Film Archives, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Film Studies Center at University of Chicago, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, International House Philadelphia, Images Festival (Toronto), Los Angeles Filmforum, Portland Art Museum, San Francisco Cinematheque, Unknown Pleasures (Berlin) and Vancouver International Film Centre.
LeTourneau’s Fellowship project, titled REAL ESTATE, “is a feature-length experimental documentary that explores how current trends in home financing and development have dictated the level of commitment to energy conservation, limited the visual character of urban Portland, and restricted affordable housing. The formal approach of REAL ESTATE employs long takes accompanied by select voice-over excerpts from recorded interviews,” states LeTourneau.
Kurtis Hough has, in the past ten years, completed 20 short films with more than 75 screenings locally and internationally in film festivals, art galleries, television and over a million viewers online. Hough’s Fellowship project, titled TO SEE MORE LIGHT, is a fifteen-minute film capturing live action footage of lava combined with computer-generated imagery. “My goal is to explore the movements and forms that flowing lava produce, and creatively illustrate how that structure relates to the flow of life on earth,” Hough explains. “This project is the next step in my experiments with varying visual techniques, including 3D computer animation and aerial video photography. I am always looking for fresh, new ways to create compelling cinematic experiences and the creation of this film will build on all the skills I’ve learned from each film I’ve made and shape the possibilities of future works.”
Jurors Schulte and Vaisburd were astonished by the field of applicants and wished they could help fund many more of the projects presented.
“Oregon filmmakers are percolating some ambitious ideas out there in both form and content. I was struck by how many applicants were tying their filmmaking to the very real world the films are created in, whether that be through a lens of social justice, contemplative space, or our historical roots.”—Matt Schulte
“It was inspiring to see so many worthwhile projects by Oregon media makers. There is breadth and depth both formally and in subject matter. I hope all applicants will keep working toward getting their projects realized. It was great to see so much thoughtfulness, creativity and vision!”—Enie Vaisburd
The application deadline for the 2015 Oregon Media Arts Fellowships is October 1, 2014. Application information is available from the Northwest Film Center, www.nwfilm.org; or by contacting Thomas Phillipson, thomas@nwfilm.org, or the Oregon Arts Commission, www.oregonartscommission.org.
The Northwest Film Center is a regional media arts organization offering a variety of exhibition, education programs, and artist services throughout the region. The Center presents a program of foreign, classic, experimental, and independent works year-round at the Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum. For more information, visit www.nwfilm.org.
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Oscilloscope Laboratories to Release Offbeat Comedy, BUZZARD that Premiered at SXSW
Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it has acquired all North American rights to Joel Potrykus’ audacious, offbeat comedy, BUZZARD. The film had its World Premiere on Saturday at South by Southwest; it will then immediately go to NYC’s prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival at Lincoln Center. O-Scope plans further festival play followed by a theatrical release later this year.
BUZZARD follows a small-time scam artist named Marty, a caustic young man who makes ends meet by drifting from one small con to the next. When paranoia forces him out of a lousy temp job, he gets thrust on a journey that—after a brief stopover in his loser co-worker’s basement—ultimately brings him to Detroit with nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, a not-so-subtlety-modified Nintendo® Power Glove, and a bad temper. It’s like Albert Camus meets Freddy Krueger.
About the acquisition, O-scope’s Dan Berger and David Laub said, “BUZZARD is an incredible discovery – a contemporary and sophisticated look at the struggles bred from our capitalist society, told in a completely original, bitingly funny way. It also features the sexiest spaghetti-eating scene since Lady and the Tramp.”
Filmmaker Joel Potrykus said, “We’re all psyched to have Oscilloscope releasing our crazy movie. They get it. We’re out to slash the face of corporate America, one screen at a time. And we’re just looking for justice and a big bag of Doritos®.”
Potrykus won the Best Emerging Director and Best First Feature awards at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival for his previous film, APE. BUZZARD was produced by Michael Saunders, Ashley Young, Kevin Clancy, and Tim Saunders and represented by BGP Films’ Bill Straus.
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New Leadership at Film Society of Lincoln Center; Lesli Klainberg appointed Executive Director, Eugene Hernandez Deputy Director
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the appointment of Lesli Klainberg as Executive Director and Eugene Hernandez as Deputy Director, a newly created post at the organization. Klainberg has been in place as the Film Society’s Interim Executive Director since December, and will now officially take the helm. Both will also assume the role of Co-Publisher for Film Comment magazine.
Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman said, “It is especially gratifying to us to select the Film Society’s new leadership team from within our own ranks. Lesli has a deep appreciation of our mission and we are confident that, together with Eugene, she will build on the success we have realized in recent years.”
Lesli Klainberg was Managing Director of the Film Society for almost two years and produced the last three New York Film Festivals, prior to her appointment as Interim Executive Director in December. Before joining the Film Society, Lesli was the Executive Director of NewFest, New York’s LGBT Film Festival, and also worked as a Consulting Producer for the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and as the Producer of IFP’s Independent Film Week Forum. In 2009, she was named Co-Leader of IFP’s weeklong Documentary Finishing Lab, and held this post for three years. Klainberg is a Founding National Board member of GLAAD and a former Board member of both Outfest and NewFest.
Klainberg is also an award-winning producer and director of independent documentaries through her production company, Orchard Films. Her film credits include the acclaimed Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer’s End, Miss America, In the Company of Women, Indie Sex, and the 2013 PGA Award–nominatedA Place at the Table, as well as other documentaries for IFC, AMC, PBS, and A&E.
In his new role as Deputy Director, Eugene Hernandez will oversee all strategy and operations for the organization, including partner relations, community and industry initiatives, educational outreach, and overall administrative duties for year-round programs and theater operations. He will also work closely with the Film Comment team on expanding their digital platforms and content offerings.
Hernandez joined the organization in 2010 as the Director of Digital Strategy, where he oversaw numerous new initiatives, including the re-launch of the organization’s website, FilmLinc.com; the creation of the digital publication FilmLinc Daily; the management and growth of all social media platforms; and the introduction of integrating streaming video content for the organization. He also worked closely with Associate Director of Operations and Programmer for Convergence, Matt Bolish, on a year-round Convergence program, launched at the New York Film Festival, the new home for immersive media and transmedia in New York.
Prior to joining the Film Society, Hernandez co-founded Indiewire in 1996. In his 12 years as Editor in Chief, he built the company into the leading online community and editorial publication for independent and international film. Winner of two Webby Awards for Best Film Website, Indiewire was lauded as a “must read” by Variety, branded the “online heartbeat of the world’s independent film community” by Forbes, and dubbed the “best indie crossroads” by Roger Ebert. SnagFilms acquired the company in 2008.
Michael Gibbons, Manager of Digital Strategy, has been promoted and will step into the role of Director of Digital Platforms, to oversee the Film Society’s Web and mobile initiatives, with the continued mission to support the organizations programming, and to reach a broad and diverse audience. He will continue to evolve and enhance the experience on multiple screens and platforms, providing seamless access to content and programming through FilmLinc.com and FilmComment.com, and to develop long-term strategy for the future on existing and emerging digital platforms.
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Finalists Announced for Spring 2014 San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) and Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) Filmmaking Grants
San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) and Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) have selected 15 finalists for the latest round of SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants; more than $300,000 will be awarded to one or more narrative feature film projects at any stage of production. SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to narrative films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. More than $2 million has been awarded since the launch of the Film Society’s flagship grant program in 2009. Winners of the spring 2014 SFFS / KRF Grants will be announced in late April.
Past SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winners include Kat Candler’s Hellion and Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange, both of which premiered to strong reviews at Sundance 2014; Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 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 Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012 and earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture).
“This is always an exciting time of year, when we get an early look at so many impressive projects at every stage of production,” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “The talent on display here is inspiring, and it’s great to see so many new faces in the mix among the filmmakers we’ve worked with before. I’m particularly struck by the breadth of range in the subjects of these finalist projects, and it is immensely satisfying to see the increasingly international reach of our flagship grant program.”
SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are made possible by the vision and generosity of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. In addition to the cash grant, recipients will receive various benefits through Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society’s comprehensive and dynamic filmmaker services program. These benefits, customized to every individual production, can include one-on-one project consultations and project feedback, additional fundraising assistance, resource and service recommendations, and networking opportunities, among many others. For more information visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/Grants.
SPRING 2014 SFFS / KRF FILMMAKING GRANT FINALISTS
Ad Inexplorata
Mark Elijah Rosenberg, director; Josh Penn, producer — postproduction
Captain Stanaforth is a NASA pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown.Afronauts
Frances Bodomo, writer/director — screenwriting
In March 1965, the U.S. and the USSR rush to get the first man on the moon. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to enter the race with their “spacegirl” Matha Mwamba. Based on true events. For more information visit afronautsfilm.com.Betamax
Terrie Samundra, writer/director; Xandra Castleton, producer — packaging
With the release of the first home video camcorder, a teenage Sikh boy and a squatter punk girl become unlikely friends and filmmaking collaborators. It’s complicated, but so is London, which is at the brink of race riots and a punk youth uprising in the summer of 1976. For more information visit terriesamundra.com.Black Metal
Kat Candler, writer/director — screenwriting
After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, the lead singer of a metal band and his family experience a chain reaction of turmoil following the murderous actions of a teenage fan. For more information visit candlerproductions.com.Chickenshit
Jessica dela Merced, writer/director — screenwriting
In struggling Detroit, a lonely middle-school girl befriends a daring group of boys who adventure through the ruins of the once majestic city. With their help, she devises a plan to track down and capture the arsonists responsible for a recent string of fires, including the one that claimed the life of her father. For more information visit jessdelamerced.com.Clash
Mohamed Diab, writer/director — screenwriting
In the wake of the recent Egyptian military coup, Hayman — a jaded, claustrophobic revolutionary — is stuck in an overcrowded truck with clashing brotherhood and military supporters. Engulfed in hatred and violence, he must learn to reconcile his love for Egypt in order to survive.Five Nights in Maine
Maris Curran, writer/director/producer; Carly Hugo, producer — production
A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death.The Fixer
Ian Olds, cowriter/director; Paul Felten, cowriter; Caroline von Kuhn and Lily Whitsitt, producers — preproduction
An Afghan journalist is exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime, he gets drawn into the underworld of this small town — a shadow Northern California where sex is casual, true friendship is hard to come by, and an unfamiliar form of violence burbles up all around him. For more information visit fixerthefilm.com.IO
Clay Jeter, writer/director; Jason Berman, producer — production
One of the last survivors on a post-cataclysmic Earth, the idealistic daughter of a famous scientist races to find a cure for her poisoned world before the final Exodus shuttle abandons the planet forever.Mobile Homes
Vladimir de Fontenay, cowriter/director; Danielle Lessovitz, cowriter — screenwriting
A young runaway must decide between defending the life she knows with the man she loves and protecting her young son from them both. For more information visit vladimirdefontenay.com.Oscillate Wildly
Travis Matthews, cowriter/director; Keith Wilson, cowriter/producer — packaging
When his disability check arrives much reduced, a hot-headed young gay man with cerebral palsy is forced to confront the disability he has let define his whole being. For more information visit travisdmathews.com.The Other Kids
Chris Brown, director/producer — postproduction
The Other Kids takes a raw, intimate look into the struggles of six small-town teenagers as they push through their final days of high school.Our Lady of the Snow
Tom Gilroy, writer/director — Screenwriting
When the Bishop decides to sell a gothic convent isolated in the snowy woods, the elderly nuns living there begin to have ecstatic visions, which he dismisses as faked. But as the visions spread to the convent’s teenaged atheist cook, inexplicable supernatural events follow, with no one sure of their cause.Patti Cake$
Geremy Jasper, writer/director/composer; Dan Janvey, producer — packaging
Patricia Baccio, aka Patti Cake$, is a big girl with a big mouth and big dreams of rap superstardom. Stuck in Lodi, New Jersey, Patti battles an army of haters as she strives to break the mold and take over the rap game. For more information visit welcometolegs.com.Snow the Jones
Alistair Banks Griffin, writer/director/producer — production
When teenage vagabond Lexi joins a traveling door-to-door sales crew, she discovers a world much darker than the one from which she was trying to escape. For more information visit twogatesofsleep.com.
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20 FEET FROM STARDOM, THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE Among 2014 Academy Award Oscar Winners
At the 86th Academy Awards held on Sunday night, he best documentary award went to 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, and Italy picked up it’s 11th best foreign film Oscar for THE GREAT BEAUTY. The documentary short Oscar went to THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE, about 110-year-old Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz Sommer, who died just days before the ceremony.
The complete list of winners of 86th Academy Awards.
Best picture
12 YEARS A SLAVE – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers (WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE – Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS – Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB – Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers
GRAVITY – Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman, Producers
HER – Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers
NEBRASKA – Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers
PHILOMENA – Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET – Nominees to be determinedBest performance by an actor in a leading role
Matthew McConaughey, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (Focus Features) (WINNER)
Christian Bale, AMERICAN HUSTLE (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bruce Dern, NEBRASKA (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 YEARS A SLAVE (Fox Searchlight)Best performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett, BLUE JASMINE (Sony Pictures Classics) (WINNER)
Amy Adams, AMERICAN HUSTLE (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Sandra Bullock, GRAVITY (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench, PHILOMENA (The Weinstein Company)
Meryl Streep, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (The Weinstein Company)Achievement in directing
GRAVITY, Alfonso Cuaron (WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE, David O. Russell
NEBRASKA, Alexander Payne
12 YEARS A SLAVE, Steve McQueen
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Martin ScorseseOriginal screenplay
HER, Spike Jonze (WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE, Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
BLUE JASMINE, Woody Allen
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
NEBRASKA, Bob NelsonAdapted screenplay
12 YEARS A SLAVE, John Ridley (WINNER)
BEFORE MIDNIGHT, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, Billy Ray
PHILOMENA, Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Terence WinterAchievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Let It Go” from FROZEN; Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (WINNER)
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from ALONE YET NOT ALONE; Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyrics by Dennis Spiegel
“Happy” from DESPICABLE ME 2; Music and Lyrics by Pharrell Williams
“The Moon Song” from HER; Music by Karen O; Lyrics by Karen O and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love” from MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM; Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyrics by Paul HewsonAchievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
GRAVITY, Steven Price (WINNER)
THE BOOK THIEF, John Williams
HER, William Butler and Owen Pallett
PHILOMENA, Alexandre Desplat
SAVING MR. BANKS, Thomas NewmanAchievement in production design
THE GREAT GATSBY, Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn(WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE, Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
GRAVITY, Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
HER, Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
12 YEARS A SLAVE, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice BakerAchievement in film editing
GRAVITY, Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger (WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
CAPTAIN Phillips, Christopher Rouse
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
12 YEARS A SLAVE, Joe WalkerAchievement in cinematography
GRAVITY, Emmanuel Lubezki (WINNER)
THE GRANDMASTER, Philippe Le Sourd
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA, Phedon Papamichael
PRISONERS, Roger A. DeakinsBest performance by an actress in a supporting role
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 YEARS A SLAVE (WINNER)
Jennifer Lawrence, AMERICAN HUSTLE
June Squibb, NEBRASKA
Julia Roberts, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Sally Hawkins, BLUE JASMINEAchievement in sound editing
GRAVITY, Glenn Freemantle (WINNER)
ALL IS LOST, Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, Oliver Tarney
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, Brent Burge
LONE SURVIVOR, Wylie StatemanAchievement in sound mixing
GRAVITY, Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro (WINNER)
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
LONE SURVIVOR, Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David BrownlowBest foreign-language film
THE GREAT BEAUTY, Italy (WINNER)
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN, Belgium
THE HUNT, Denmark
THE MISSING PICTURE Cambodia
OMAR, PalestineBest documentary feature
20 FEET FROM STARDOM,, Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers (WINNER)
THE ACT OF KILLING, Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
CUTIE AND THE BOXER, Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
DIRTY WARS,Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
THE SQUARE, Jehane Noujaim and Karim AmerBest documentary short subject
THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE, Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed (WINNER)
CAVEDIGGER, Jeffrey Karoff
FACING FEAR, Jason Cohen
KARAMA HAS NO WALLS, Sara Ishaq
PRISON TERMINAL: THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVATE JACK HALL, Edgar BarensBest live-action short film
HELIUM, Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson (WINNER)
AQUEL NO ERA YO (THAT WASN’T ME), Esteban Crespo
AVANT QUE DE TOUT PERDRE (JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING), Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
PITAAKO MUN KAIKKI HOITAA? (DO I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING?), Selma Vilhunen and KirsikkaSaari
THE VOORMAN PROBLEM, Mark Gill and Baldwin LiAchievement in visual effects
GRAVITY, Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould (WINNER)
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
IRON MAN 3, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
THE LONE RANGER, Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt DaltonBest animated feature
FROZEN (WINNER)
THE CROODS
THE WIND RISES
DESPICABLE ME 2
ERNEST & CELESTINEBest animated short film
MR. HUBLOT, Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares (WINNER)
FERAL, Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
GET A HORSE!, Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
POSSESSIONS, Shuhei Morita
ROOM ON THE BROOM, Max Lang and Jan LachauerAchievement in makeup and hairstyling
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews (WINNER)
JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA, Stephen Prouty
THE LONE RANGER, Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-CasnyAchievement in costume design
THE GREAT GATSBY, Catherine Martin (WINNER)
AMERICAN HUSTLE, Michael Wilkinson
THE GRANDMASTER, William Chang Suk Ping
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, Michael O’Connor
12 YEARS A SLAVE, Patricia NorrisBest performance by an actor in a supporting role
Jared Leto, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (WINNER)
Barkhad Abdi, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Bradley Cooper, AMERICAN HUSTLE
Michael Fassbender, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Jonah Hill, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
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Guillaume Gallienne’s ME, MYSELF AND MUM is Big Winner at 39th César Awards
Guillaume Gallienne’s ME, MYSELF AND MUM Guillaume Gallienne’s ME, MYSELF AND MUM was the big winner at the 39th César Awards in Paris, taking home five awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adaptation, Best First Film and Best Editing. Adapted from his one-man stage show, Guillaume Gallienne shows what it’s like to grow up as a boy when everyone is convinced that you’re really a girl – or should have been. Playing both himself and his frosty grande dame mother, Gallienne traces his life from childhood in an aristocratic family through adventures in Spain, ill-fated stints at boarding school and a hair-raising spa visit to the present, when he comes out as… well, simply as his own uncategorisable self.
The complete list of winners of the 39th Cesar Awards:
Best Picture: Me, Myself and Mum
Honorary Cesar: Scarlett Johansson
Best Director: Roman Polanski for La Vénus à la fourrure
Best Actor: Guillaume Gallienne for Me, Myself and Mum
Best Actress: Sandrine Kiberlain for 9 Month Stretch
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup for Quai d’Orsay
Best Supporting Actress: Adèle Haenel for Suzanne
Most Promising Actress (Newcomer): Adèle Exarchopoulos for Blue Is The Warmest Color
Most Promising Actor (Newcomer): Pierre Deladonchamps for Stranger by the Lake
Best Original Screenplay: Albert Dupontel for 9 Month Stretch
Best Foreign Film: The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix van Groeningen
Best First Film: Me, Myself and Mum by Guillaume Gallienne
Best Costume: Pascaline Chavanne for Renoir
Best Original Score: Martin Wheeler for Michael Kohlhaas
Best Production Design: Stephane Rozenbaum for L’Ecume des Jours
Best Sound: Jean-Pierre Duret, Jean Mallet and Melissa Petitjean for Michael Kohlhaas
Best Documentary: Sur le Chemin de l’Ecole by Pascal Plisson
Best Adapted Screenplay: Me, Myself and Mum by Guillaume Gallienne
Best Animated Feature Film: Loulou l’Incroyable Secret by Eric Omond
Best Animated Short Film: Mademoiselle Kiki et les Montparnos by Amelie Harrault
Best Editing: Valerie Deseine for Me, Myself and Mum
Best Cinematography: Thomas Hardmeier for The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Best Short Film: Avant Que de Tout Perdre by Xavier Legrand
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Zach Braff’s WISH I WAS HERE Sets Release Date
WISH I WAS HERE, directed by Zach Braff, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival to lukewarm reviews, will open in theaters July 18, 2014, in Los Angeles and New York, and then expanding to more markets on July 25 and August 1. WISH I WAS HERE, a followup to Braff’s indie breakout hit Garden State, is a comedy about a 30-something man (Braff) arriving a major crossroads that push him to examine his life, career, and his family.
Following his celebrated debut feature, GARDEN STATE, Zach Braff delivers a new postcard from the edge of existential crisis, this time playing a thirtysomething family man wrestling with a few minor hindrances—like his disapproving father, an elusive God, and yes, adult responsibility. Aidan Bloom is a pot-smoking actor whose last job, a dandruff commercial, was longer ago than he cares to admit. Pursuing his thespian dream has landed him and his wife in tough financial straits, so when his grumpy father can no longer pay for the kids to attend Jewish Yeshiva, Aidan opts for homeschooling. To the chagrin of his hyperdisciplined, religious daughter and the delight of his less-than-studious son, Aidan takes matters into his own imaginative hands, rather than sticking to the boring old traditional curriculum. | Sundance Film Festival
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Winners Announced for 2014 Spirit Awards; FRUITVALE STATION, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, 12 YEARS A SLAVE Among Winners
The 29th Spirit Awards ceremony was held this afternoon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, with top honors going to 12 YEARS A SLAVE, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and NEBRASKA. BLUE JASMINE, FRUITVALE STATION, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, SHORT TERM 12, THIS IS MARTIN BONNER and 20 FEET FROM STARDOM also received awards at the ceremony.
This year’s major category winners were 12 YEARS A SLAVE, which won Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Female and Best Cinematography and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, which won Best Supporting Male and Best Male Lead; FRUITVALE STATION which won Best First Feature and NEBRASKA, which won Best First Screenplay; BLUE JASMINE, which won Best Female Lead, SHORT TERM 12 which won Best Editing; THIS IS MARTIN BONNER, which won the John Cassavetes Award; BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, which won Best International Film and 20 FEET FROM STARDOM which won Best Documentary.
The following is the complete list of the winners:
Best Feature: 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Brad Pitt, Bill PohladBest Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best First Feature: Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Company)
Director: Ryan Coogler, Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest WhitakerBest First Screenplay: Bob Nelson, Nebraska (Paramount Pictures)
John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000):
This is Martin Bonner (Monterey Media inc)
Writer/Director: Chad Hartigan, Producer: Cherie SaulterBest Supporting Female: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Supporting Male: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Best Female Lead: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Male Lead: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club, (Focus Features)
Robert Altman Award: Mud (Roadside Attractions / Lionsgate)
Director: Jeff Nichols, Casting Director: Francine Maisler, Ensemble Cast: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese WitherspoonBest Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Editing: Nat Sanders, Short Term 12 (Cinedigm)
Best International Film: Blue is the Warmest Color (France- IFC Films)
Director: Abdellatif KechicheBest Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom (Radius-TWC)
Director/Producer: Morgan Neville, Producers: Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers
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Kat Candler’s HELLION from Sundance Film Festival to Get a U.S. Release
Kat Candler’s HELLION which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, will be released in the U.S. by Sundance Selects. HELLION is written by Candler, based on her short film that screened at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and stars Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, and newcomer Josh Wiggins. Sundance Selects will release the film in theaters and on VOD later this year.
Writer/director Kat Candler’s HELLION paints the powerful portrait of a family on the brink of dissolution set against the haunting backdrop of the refineries of Southeast Texas.
Obsessed with heavy metal, dirt bike racing and partaking in the occasional act of vandalism with his band of delinquents, the behavior of 13-year-old Jacob Wilson (Josh Wiggins in his feature film debut) has begun to raise concerns around town, especially when it starts to involve his younger brother Wes (newcomer Deke Garner). While the boys’ father Hollis (two-time Emmy Award-winner Aaron Paul) loves his sons, he is still reeling from the loss of their mother, spending more time drowning his sorrows at the local bar and working on his damaged beach house than being an active parent.
When the local authorities catch wind of the increasingly volatile situation, Wes is taken into custody by his Aunt Pam (Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis), leaving Jacob and Hollis to fend for themselves. In Wes’ absence, Jacob becomes increasingly obsessed with two things: winning a local motocross championship and getting his brother back. via Facebook
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FRUITVALE STATION, WAR WITCH Among Winners of the 45th NAACP Image Awards
FRUITVALE STATIONThe winners of the 45th NAACP Image Awards were announced this weekend, and “FRUITVALE STATION” won the award for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, and “WAR WITCH” won the Outstanding International Motion Picture award. “FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS” received the award for Outstanding Documentary – (Theatrical), and RICHARD PRYOR: OMIT THE LOGIC won the award for Outstanding Documentary – (Television).
Motion Picture Categories
Outstanding Motion Picture
“12 YEARS A SLAVE” (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
Forest Whitaker – “LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER” (The Weinstein Company/Lee Daniels Entertainment,
Laura Ziskin Productions, Windy Hill Pictures, Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Pam Williams Productions)Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Angela Bassett – “BLACK NATIVITY” (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Mavin Pictures/Wonderful Films)Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
David Oyelowo – “LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER” (The Weinstein Company/Lee Daniels Entertainment,
Laura Ziskin Productions, Windy Hill Pictures, Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Pam Williams Productions)Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Lupita Nyong’o – “12 YEARS A SLAVE” (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)Entertainer of the Year
Kevin HartMotion Picture Categories
Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
“FRUITVALE STATION” (The Weinstein Company/Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions, OG Project)Outstanding International Motion Picture
“WAR WITCH” (Item 7)Documentary Categories
Outstanding Documentary – (Theatrical)
“FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS” (Codeblack Films/Lionsgate)Outstanding Documentary – (Television)
RICHARD PRYOR: OMIT THE LOGIC (Showtime)Writing Categories
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Vincent Brown – “A.N.T. Farm” – InfluANTces (Disney Channel)Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series
Janine Sherman Barrois – “Criminal Minds” – Strange Fruit (CBS)Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture – (Theatrical or Television)
John Ridley – “12 YEARS A SLAVE” (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)Directing Categories
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Millicent Shelton – “The Hustle” – Rule 4080 (FUSE)Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series
Regina King – “SouthLAnd” – Off Duty (TNT)Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture – (Theatrical or Television)
Steve McQueen – “12 YEARS A SLAVE” (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)
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Noah Cowan Appointed Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society
Noah Cowan has been appointed Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), effective March 3. Cowan joins SFFS after five years as Artistic Director of TIFF Bell Lightbox, the landmark cinema museum space in Toronto and home of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
“The board and staff of the San Francisco Film Society are thrilled to have Noah Cowan join us to lead this organization into the future,” said David Winton, SFFS board president. “His intimate knowledge of the international film scene and his many achievements in Toronto make him the perfect person to continue building on the Film Society’s mission of showcasing the best in world cinema, promoting media literacy in our schools and supporting exceptional independent filmmakers.”
“I am grateful to the Board of Directors of the Film Society for providing this remarkable opportunity,” said Cowan. “The Bay Area has a storied relationship to cinema’s century-plus history and is currently home to the technology companies that will decisively influence the medium’s future. SFFS is uniquely positioned to work with filmmakers, educators and enthusiastic local audiences to embrace the dynamic and exciting changes taking place within the industry and continue to ensure that great cinema is made, seen and appreciated.”