All the News.
All the News.
Film Independent has launched a new Documentary Lab with 14 filmmakers and 9 projects participating. Taking place in Los Angeles, the Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program, with a main focus of assisting documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and providing creative feedback.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, will air the world television premiere of the Chaz Bono documentary “Becoming Chaz,”at 8 p.m. May 10, 2011
The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the 12 projects selected for Tribeca All Access (TAA) program. Now in its eighth year, TAA was created to help foster and nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities. TAA will present the 12 projects throughout a five-day program taking place during the annual Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by American Express, held from April 20 – May 1, 2011. This year, the program will introduce $10,000 grants for each project along with tailored mentorships to maximize its impact.
The awards this year was anything but boring. Stars from all over attended the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television 31st Annual Genie Awards that took place in Ottawa this year. Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies was the night’s biggest winner, taking home eight awards, including Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Direction (Denis Villeneuve), Adapted Screenplay (Denis Villeneuve), and Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Lubna Azabal). Barney’s Version followed closely behind, winning seven Genie Awards including Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Giamatti), Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Dustin Hoffman) and Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Minnie Driver). The Golden Reel Award went to Resident Evil: Afterlife as it collected $7,026,559 in Canadian box office receipts last year.
Queen To Play (Joueuse) is the first feature from filmmaker Caroline Bottaro, which stars Kevin Kline and the incandescent Sandrine Bonnaire.
IFC Midnight announced that the company is acquiring North American distribution rights to director Todd Rohal’s comedy THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. The company also acquired television and digital rights for the picture in France, Benelux, Spain, Portugal, East-Central Europe, Turkey, and Greece. The film, which was also written by Rohal, stars Steve Little (EASTBOUND & DOWN), Robert Longstreet (SEPTIEN), and Wally Dalton (THE OFF HOURS). Longstreet also executive produced the project, and David Gordon Green, Megan Griffiths, Jody Hill, Lacey Leavitt, Danny McBride, and Matt Reilly additionally served as producers. The film world premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and is also scheduled to play at the upcoming 2011 SXSW Film Festival in the Emerging Visions section.
The Desert of Forbidden Art is a fascinating documentary by Tchavdar Georgiev and Amanda Pope, exploring an unknown art world made up of amazing artists whose work was condemned in their lifetimes largely because of Stalin’s regime, and consequently not recognized until recently. The film centers on the story of how one man, Igor Savitsky (whose narration is voiced by Sir Ben Kinglsey), made it his life’s goal to collect the work of Russian artists who had worked during the 1920s and 30s. He collected 44,000 paintings and drawings by these artists and created a museum in the middle of rural Uzbekistan. It is a straightforward documentary, with conventional techniques, but the subject makes it somewhat extraordinary, as it is story that has never been told on film before.
Sherry Hormann’s film Desert Flower is the true story of the life of supermodel Waris Dirie, and a very important one to be told. The film is based on her autobiography and brings us through the amazing journey from her life in Somalia as a child to her shift into modeling stardom in London and eventual women’s rights activism. The execution of this story, however, is less than impressive. It follows pretty conventional modes of narrative, with some obvious and sentimental scenes and plot devices. But it is saved from being a predictable made-for-TV type of film by a very strong cast and moments of poignancy.
Gary Winick, a pioneering producer and director of independent digital films who found mainstream success with such movies as “13 Going on 30” and “Letters to Juliet,” has died. He was 49.
Tribeca Enterprises announced that Tribeca Film will expand to commercially release 26 films over the next year, more than double the number of titles released in 2010. The comprehensive distribution label for independent film also announced that it acquired U.S. rights to nine new titles to be released across multiple platforms. The curated selection of films includes many genres and features stars including Zach Braff, Vincent Gallo and Zoe Kravitz and filmmakers such as Peter Mullan, Jerzy Skolimowski and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Dirty mouth. Actress Melissa Leo dropped the F-bomb while accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night.
