Julie Taymor’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will open in select cinemas on June 22 followed by showings at select theaters nationwide . The production is directed by Julie Taymor (Frida, The Magic Flute, Across The Universe, Titus) the visionary director of the smash hit Broadway show The Lion King. Taymor presents a multi-camera film capturing the original 2014 live performance at the Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn and blends the worlds of cinema and theater in the process. The film opened to rave reviews at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and boasts a stellar cast, including David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond), Kathryn Hunter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Tina Benko (The Avengers) and Max Casella (Blue Jasmine).
Of all Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most phantasmagorical, featuring fairies, spells, and hallucinatory lovers. Julie Taymor turns out a production that’s visually breathtaking, funny, sexy and darkly poetic. Produced by Ealing Studios, Londinium Films, in association with Theatre for a New Audience Producers, Lynn Hendee (Ender’s Game, The Tempest) and Ben Latham-Jones (Nina, The D-Train) joined forces with Taymor to create this exclusive filmed production. With cinematography by the Academy Award nominee, Rodrigo Prieto (The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo), and music by Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Frida, Heat ), this immersive, inventive cinematic experience brings Taymor’s acclaimed production to the big screen, giving audiences from around the world the opportunity to see this critically lauded, sell-out show.
https://vimeo.com/103802510VIMOOZ
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Julie Taymor’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM to Open in Theaters June 22 | TRAILER
Julie Taymor’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will open in select cinemas on June 22 followed by showings at select theaters nationwide . The production is directed by Julie Taymor (Frida, The Magic Flute, Across The Universe, Titus) the visionary director of the smash hit Broadway show The Lion King. Taymor presents a multi-camera film capturing the original 2014 live performance at the Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn and blends the worlds of cinema and theater in the process. The film opened to rave reviews at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and boasts a stellar cast, including David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond), Kathryn Hunter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Tina Benko (The Avengers) and Max Casella (Blue Jasmine).
Of all Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most phantasmagorical, featuring fairies, spells, and hallucinatory lovers. Julie Taymor turns out a production that’s visually breathtaking, funny, sexy and darkly poetic. Produced by Ealing Studios, Londinium Films, in association with Theatre for a New Audience Producers, Lynn Hendee (Ender’s Game, The Tempest) and Ben Latham-Jones (Nina, The D-Train) joined forces with Taymor to create this exclusive filmed production. With cinematography by the Academy Award nominee, Rodrigo Prieto (The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo), and music by Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Frida, Heat ), this immersive, inventive cinematic experience brings Taymor’s acclaimed production to the big screen, giving audiences from around the world the opportunity to see this critically lauded, sell-out show.
https://vimeo.com/103802510
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Strand Releasing Grabs Puerto Rican Transgender Documentary MALA MALA For Release in U.S. | TRAILER
Strand Releasing is acquiring North American rights to Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ critically acclaimed documentary MALA MALA. A celebration of the trans and drag communities in Puerto Rico, the film made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will have its highly anticipated debut in theaters on July 1st at the IFC Center.
Strand has a rich history of distributing a wide array of LGBT films from around the world, including Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Daniel Ribeiro’s THE WAY HE LOOKS, James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., and Hong Khaou’s LILTING. They are also distributing the upcoming Alanté Kavaïté’s THE SUMMER OF SANGAILÉ, Anucha Boonyawatana’s THE BLUE HOUR, and Dean Francis’ DROWN.
MALA MALA is a unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ activists, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, MALA MALA portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows. Filmed over the course of a historic three-year period, MALA MALA records the beginning of a new transliberation movement in Puerto Rico, as trans people came out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Santini and Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctly binary human experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzEy6pJ80nw
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Award-Winning Thriller TWO STEP Sets Release Date, Opens July 31st | TRAILER
Director Alex R. Johnson’s award-winning thriller TWO STEP begins its limited theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles, premiering on July 31st at the Village East Cinema, and opening in LA the following week. TWO STEP will be available across major iVOD/cVOD platforms starting on September 1st.
TWO STEP is a throwback Texas thriller in which the lives of James, a directionless college dropout, and Webb, a career criminal with his back against the wall, violently collide. Kicked out of college, James visits Grams, his only remaining family, who dies shortly after his arrival. He finds consolation in the company of Grams’ neighbor, Dot, a dance teacher, as he figures out his next move. While settling Grams’ affairs, James learns she’s been the victim of the ‘Grandparent Scam’, in which someone posing as James has been slowly bilking her out of thousands. But before James can go looking for the culprit, he shows up at the front door, desperate for money. The culprit, Webb, has his own problems in the form of Duane, who has ordered Webb to pay an old debt or else. And if Webb can’t get it from Grams, James will have to do – no matter who stands in his way.
Jason Tyrrell, Director of Acquisitions and Distribution for Traverse Media said, ‘TWO STEP is one of the most riveting films to come out of the festival circuit in 2014, and every moment of the fantastic imagery and powerful performances stick with you long after the credits roll. We are thrilled to be bringing Alex’s vision to a wider audience this summer’.
After premiering at the 2014 SXSW film festival, TWO STEP went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the New Hampshire International Film Festival and the Best Narrative Feature award at the Flyaway Film Festival. It has also played at the International Film Festival of India, Cucalorus Film Festival, Vancouver International, Reykjavik International and many more.
https://vimeo.com/93220155
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South African film AYANDA to Open 36th Durban International Film Festival
The South African film AYANDA, directed by Sara Blecher has been selected as the opening night film of the 36th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) which takes place from July16 to 26 this year.
Set in the vibrant, Afropolitan community of Johannesburg’s Yeoville, Ayanda is a coming-of-age story of a twenty-one year old Afro-hipster, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery when she has to fight to save her late father’s legacy – a motor repair shop – when it is threatened with closure. She’s thrown into a world of greasy overalls, gender stereotypes and abandoned vintage cars once loved, now in need of a young woman’s re-inventive touch to bring them back to life again.
The film stars Fulu Mugovhani (of Scandal fame) and Nigerian actor OC Ukeje, with a star South African cast including Ntathi Moshesh, Kenneth Nkosi, Jafta Mamabola, Thomas Gumede, Sihle Xaba and veteran star of stage and screen Vanessa Cooke.
“We are pleased that this feel-good film will open this year’s festival,” says Pedro Pimenta, Director of the DIFF. “The opening film of this, the most prestigious international film event in SA, needs to reflect a clear priority established by the festival to reach and develop local audiences.”
This is the second opening night film at DIFF for director Sara Blecher. Her film Otelo Burning opened the 2011 edition of DIFF to critical acclaim. “We are very proud of Ayanda and are thrilled to have it selected as the opening film at this year’s festival. The film had a very successful screening in Cannes last monthwe look forward to screening it to festival-goers in Durban,” says Blecher.
“Ayanda offers an interesting and positive convergence of talents style , resources and distribution potential for the film market.” says Pimenta. “There is a real sense that reaching an audience has been the most important motivation equally shared by the filmmakers and their financiers in its creation.”
“Ayanda celebrates the diversity of our country and revels in the fact that we are a multi-cultural, colourful and exciting melting pot of Africa,” says co-producer Terry Pheto. “With this film we have tried to capture the Afropolitan nature of our country and the energy of its people.”
“What is also particularly encouraging in terms of the South African film industry is that the film, originally titled, Andani and the Mechanic, was a project in the 2013 Durban FilmMart, the co-production and finance forum of the DIFF and the Durban Film Office.” says Pimenta. “The film is one of five titles that have been part of the DFM process over the years that will be screened this year at DIFF.”
The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescapes Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 8th Talents Durban (presented in cooperation with the Berlinale Talents) and the 6th Durban FilmMart co-production market (presented in partnership with the Durban Film Office).
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Cinedigm to Release LIFE Starring Robert Pattinson in Fall 2015 | VIDEO
Following its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, Cinedigm has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Anton Corbijn’s LIFE, starring Dane DeHaan (Life After Beth; Kill Your Darlings; Place Beyond The Pines), Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Cosmopolis, Maps To The Stars), and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Sexy Beast, Schindler’s List ). LIFE will open with a theatrical, digital and television VOD release beginning in Fall 2015.
Corbijn’s follow-up to A Most Wanted Man, LIFE captures the nuances and complexities of the relationship between photographer and subject in a way rarely seen or understood by someone outside the business. In a nod to Corbijn’s own past experience, the film is told from the perspective of the Life photographer Dennis Stock (played by Pattinson) who meets and profiles Dean (DeHaan) for the magazine, turning out some of Dean’s most iconic photographs.
“Life gorgeously chronicles the back story behind the 1955 photo spread that brought moody young heartthrob James Dean to the attention of the American public seven months before his death,” said Yolanda Macias, Cinedigm’s Executive Vice President of Acquisitions. “Beautiful to look at, powerful to experience, Life, using an Eisenhower-era America as prism, brilliantly presages America’s coming celebrity culture.”
The film was produced by Iain Canning’s See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech, Slow West), and is the second project in an ongoing collaboration between Corbijn and Canning, following their work together on Control. The script was written by Luke Davies (Candy, Lion).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-0Zym0vFWw
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World Premiere of The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Open 53rd New York Film Festival | TRAILER
Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will make its World Premiere as the Opening Night selection of the 53rd New York Film Festival taking place September 25 to October 11, 2015, and which will kick off at Alice Tully Hall.
A true story, the film is based on Philippe Petit’s memoir To Reach the Clouds and stars Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit, the French high-wire artist who achieved the feat of walking between the Twin Towers in 1974. The Walk will be the second 3D feature selected for the Opening Night Gala since Ang Lee’s Life of Pi in 2012 and also marks Zemeckis’s return to the Festival after Flight, the 2012 Closing Night Gala selection. The film will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on October 2, 2015.
The film also stars Academy Award® winner Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, Steve Valentine, Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony, Caesar Domboy and Benedict Samuel. Directed by Zemeckis, the screenplay is by Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne, based on the book To Reach the Clouds by Philippe Petit, and produced by Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke.
Robert Zemeckis said: “I am extremely honored and grateful that our film has been selected to open the 53rd New York Film Festival. The Walk is a New York story, so I am delighted to be presenting the film to New York audiences first. My hope is that Festival audiences will be immersed in the spectacle, but also to be enraptured by the celebration of a passionate artist who helped give the wonderful towers a soul.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1EmTKAWIw
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SUFFRAGETTE Starring Meryl Streep to Open 59th BFI London Film Festival| TRAILER
SUFFRAGETTE, starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep, will receive its European premiere on Wednesday October 7, 2015, as the Opening Night film of the 59th BFI London Film Festival. SUFFRAGETTE is the first feature film to tell the story of the ordinary British women at the turn of the last century who risked everything in the fight for equality and the right to vote.
The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. It is directed by Sarah Gavron, who returns to the Festival for a third time, re-teaming with her Brick Lane screenwriter Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady).
SUFFRAGETTE is an intense drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement as they fought for the right to vote, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with an increasingly brutal State. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalized and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality – their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. The character of Maud, played by Carey Mulligan, is one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is both heart-breaking and inspirational.
The 59th BFI London Film Festival runs from Wednesday October 7, to Sunday October 18, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dVtVekGbjE
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2015 deadCENTER Film Festival to Open With ‘Best of Enemies’ and ‘Rolling Papers’
For the first time in its 15-year history, 2015 deadCENTER Film Festival will roll-out two official Opening Night films: “Best of Enemies,” at 6 p.m. and “Rolling Papers” at 8:30 p.m.at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr.
The 15th Annual deadCENTER Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 14 at five locations in downtown Oklahoma City.
“Best of Enemies” is a feature documentary directed by Robert Gordon and Oscar winner Moran Neville that follows William F. Buckley, leader of the new conservative movement, and Gore Vidal, leftist novelist and polemicist, as they battle for the soul of America in a series of debates hosted by ABC during the 1968 Presidential Conventions. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Running time: 87 min.
“Rolling Papers” (pictured above) is a feature documentary directed by Mitch Dickman about the Denver Post’s Ricardo Baca, the world’s first marijuana editor of a major newspaper. Policy news, strain reviews, parenting advice and edible recipes are the new norm on a new beat: pot journalism. Running time: 79 min.
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Oklahoma Film HOLLIS to Premiere at deadCENTER Film Festival
Filmed in rural Oklahoma, the feature film HOLLIS will premiere at Oklahoma City’s deadCENTER Film Festival taking place June 10 through 14, 2015
On Thursday, June 11, “Hollis” will be playing at Harkins Theater (150 East Reno Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73104) at 7 p.m., with an encore showing Saturday, June 13 at noon. Individual tickets will go on sale 20 minutes before the showing.
The film follows a young man, Darryl, who is forced to make the decision of staying in small town Hollis, Okla. to take care of his family versus going of to college to pursue his lifelong dreams.
Should Darryl stay home and protect his brother Hollis, who has cerebral palsy, from his abusive father? Or, should he head of to Duke University to make his dreams come true?
Written and directed by Sonny Priest (of Tall Gardener Motion Pictures), this film showcases a talented cast including Ty Fanning (“Secrets of a Psychopath”, “Home Run”) who plays Darryl, and Matt Altobelli, an OU acting graduate. The film also stars the talented Terry Masters and Cassidee Vandalia (who has acted alongside Javier Bardem in “To the Wonder”).
Produced by Adam Carter of Tall Gardener Motion Pictures, Brian Christopher Cates of Behold Motion Pictures(“Where Was God?”) and Vahid Farzaneh of Freestyle Marketing + Films (“The Posthuman Project,” “No One Knows”) this film is shot entirely in Oklahoma.
“Everything was for Okies by Okies. We shot in Hollis, El Reno, Wellston, near Kingfisher, and all around Oklahoma City. People really opened their doors for us, and we felt the support of the communities as a whole,” said writer and director Sonny Priest.
“We are extremely proud and excited to have Hollis’ world premiere at deadCENTER in Oklahoma City,” said producer Adam Carter. “It’s very cool to think that all of this started here in Oklahoma and is now coming to fruition in Oklahoma. I could not be more proud of our team who worked so hard and long for this dream to be realized. We are so excited for the world to see a bit of Oklahoma filmmaking.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1cY3_r6Azs
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THE SURFACE Starring Australian Model Harry Hains to Premiere at Frameline
THE SURFACE directed by Michael J. Saul (Crush, Adults Only, Go Go Reject) will World Premiere at Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival, at 6:00 pm, June 27, 2015 at the historic Castro Theatre. THE SURFACE follows a lost young man through his struggles to create his own sense of family.
Starring Australian model Harry Hains in his leading role debut, alongside Michael Redford and Nicholas McDonald, The Surface tells the story of Evan Jones, an orphan who was shifted from one foster home to another for years. Now a disaffected college student, he lives with his wealthy boyfriend, Chris. Their social and financial differences have made their relationship increasingly volatile despite their love for one another.
While sifting through relics at an elderly man’s yard sale, Evan finds an 8mm movie camera. The man offers to teach Evan how to use it if he comes back the following week. Upon returning, Evan meets the man’s 43-year-old son, Peter. Peter gives him reels of old 8mm movies that are collecting dust in the garage. The home movies, featuring a young Peter and his boyhood friend touch a nerve with Evan. Their youthful flirtations and tenderness are uncomplicated and pure. Evan begins to live vicariously through the home movies and his friendship with Peter soon turns romantic. Evan’s relationship with Chris splinters as he pushes for greater understanding of himself and the notions of family, love and fulfillment.
https://vimeo.com/110314788
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Watch Trailer for HBO Documentary LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER
HBO has released the trailer for LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER, premiering on Monday, June 29, at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. Directed by Jean Carlomusto, Larry Kramer in Love & Anger is a feature-length documentary about the legendary author, activist and playwright, Larry Kramer. It is an in-depth, “warts and all” portrait of one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired a generation of gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives.
Known simultaneously as egotistic, irrationally angry, self-promoting and rude, to his admirers he is a prophet whose early warnings to the gay community about promiscuity and AIDS now read as eerily prescient. A pioneering activist, Larry co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), where his calls for direct action protest made AIDS a national issue, forever changing public health policy. At the same time, his literary achievements championed the lives of gay people: a Tony Award for The Normal Heart; an Emmy Award for the HBO movie THE NORMAL HEART and an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay for Women in Love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIYPJDaITwU
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Trailer + Release Date for Horror Comedy BURYING THE EX
Check out the trailer for BURYING THE EX, the horror comedy from renowned director Joe Dante which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Written by Alan Trezza (TV’s “Sanctuary”), and starring Anton Yelchin (ODD THOMAS, FRIGHT NIGHT), Ashley Greene (TWILIGHT) and Alexandra Daddario (TV’s “True Detective”), the film will be released in theaters on June 19.
BURYING THE EX follows Max (Anton Yelchin), an all-around nice guy, and his overbearing but incredibly beautiful girlfriend, Evelyn (Ashely Greene). Their relationship takes a nosedive after they decide to move in together and Evelyn turns out to be a controlling, manipulative nightmare. Max realizes it’s time to call it quits, but there’s just one problem: he’s too afraid to break up with her. Fate steps in when Evelyn is involved in a freak accident and dies, leaving Max single and ready to mingle. Several weeks later, he has a chance encounter with Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), a cute and spirited girl who just might be his soul mate. But that same night, Evelyn returns from the grave as a dirt-smeared Zombie and she’s determined to live happily ever after with Max …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3vuRYFCwjo