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ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE Kicks Off 25th Midnight Madness Lineup at Toronto International Film Festival

ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE

ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE directed by Lucky McKee will kick off 25 years of Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Since its 1988 launch, the Midnight Madness program emerged as a touchstone of cinematic shock, satiating the adventurous palate of bloodthirsty cinephiles from all over the world,” said Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “When the witching hour strikes and the human brain starts slipping into dream mode, the Ryerson Theatre will once again serve up a feast of phantasmagorical characters and jaw-dropping scenes, playing host to bizarre biological monstrosities, ruthless dominatrix gangs, paranormal mirrors, and the hijinks of supernatural cheerleaders.”

The 38th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5 to 15, 2013.

AFFLICTED Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, Canada/USA World Premiere
Best friends Derek and Clif set out on a trip of a lifetime. Their plan: travel to the ends of the earth, see the world, and live life to the fullest. But the trip soon takes a dark and bloody turn. Just days in, one of the men shows signs of a mysterious affliction which gradually takes over his entire body and being. Now, thousands of miles from home, in a foreign land, they must race to uncover the source of his illness before it consumes him completely. Footage of their travels meant to document pleasant memories may now become evidence of one of the most shocking discoveries ever captured on film…and may be their only postcard home.

.Midnight Madness Opening Night Film.
ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson, USA World Premiere
When tragedy rocks Blackfoot High, rebellious outsider Mäddy Killian shocks the student body by joining the cheerleading squad. This decision drives a rift between Mäddy and her ex-girlfriend Leena Miller — a loner who claims to practice the dark arts. After a confrontation with the football team, Mäddy and her new cheerleader friends are sent on a supernatural roller coaster ride which leaves a path of destruction none of them may be able to escape.

ALMOST HUMAN Joe Begos, USA World Premiere
Mark Fisher disappeared from his home in a brilliant flash of blue light almost two years ago. His friend Seth Hampton was the last to see him alive. Now a string of grisly, violent murders leads Seth to believe that Mark is back, and something evil is living inside of him.

THE GREEN INFERNO Eli Roth, USA World Premiere
How far would you go for a cause you believe in? In horror master Eli Roth’s terrifying new film, a group of college students take their humanitarian protest from New York to the Amazon jungle, only to get kidnapped by the native tribe they came to save: a tribe that still practices the ancient rite of cannibalism, and has a healthy appetite for intruders.

OCULUS Mike Flanagan, USA World Premiere
Oculus is a spine-chilling supernatural tale of two damaged siblings (Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites) who, as children, witnessed their parents’ harrowing descent into madness and murder. At long last, brother and sister reunite as adults to expose and destroy the paranormal entity they believe is responsible: the Lasser Glass — a legendary mirror their family once owned.

R100 Hitoshi Matsumoto, Japan World Premiere
An ordinary man with an ordinary life joins a mysterious club. The membership lasts for one year only and there is one rule: no cancellation under any circumstance. The man enters into an entirely new and exciting world which he has never before experienced.

RIGOR MORTIS Juno Mak, Hong Kong North American Premiere
Juno Mak’s debut feature Rigor Mortis is an eerie and chilling, contemporary action- and special effects-laden homage to the classic Chinese vampire movies of the 1980s. Starring Chin Siu-Ho, Kara Hui, Anthony Chan, Lo Hoi Pang and Richard Ng.

THE STATION (Blutgletscher) Marvin Kren, Austria World Premiere
At a climate research station in the Alps, the scientists are stunned as the nearby melting glacier is leaking a red liquid. It quickly turns to be very special juice — with unexpected genetic effects on the local wildlife.

WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? (Jigoku de Naze Warui) Sion Sono, Japan North American Premiere
Two men, Muto and Ikegami, hate each other. Muto desperately wants to help his daughter Mitsuko star in a movie. Meanwhile, Ikegami falls in love with Mitsuko, knowing that she’s the daughter of his foe. Hirata, a filmmaker, and Koji, a young movie-lover, get dragged into this complicated situation that heads into an unexpected direction.
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Documentary “I AM BREATHING” Life-affirming film about man with ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease in Theaters This Fall 2013

The documentary “I AM BREATHING” which played at many prestigious international film festivals will make its U.S. theatrical premiere in New York Sept. 6-12 at IFC Center and in Los Angeles Sept. 13-19 at Laemmle Music Hall with additional national screenings to follow. In I AM BREATHING, filmmakers Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon craft a life-affirming portrait of the last months of Neil Platt, a 34-year-old architect and father from England diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in the UK.

I AM BREATHING is a film about a man, when faced with the unimaginable, shares his own story in what he called, “a tale of fun and laughs with a smattering of upset and devastation.” Within a year, Neil Platt goes from being a healthy 30-something British bloke, with a great sense of humor, to becoming completely paralyzed from the neck down, due to the devastating illness he has inherited, ALS. As his body gets weaker, his perspective on life changes. His humor remains, but a new wisdom emerges:

“It’s amazing how adaptable we are when we have to be. It’s what separates us and defines us as human beings.”

Knowing he only has a few months left to live, and while he still has the ability to speak, Neil puts together a letter and memory box for his baby son Oscar and communicates his experience and thoughts about life in a blog (The Plattitude) – and in this film, which he was determined to make. The directness of his communication mingles with images of the sensory details of a life well lived, and makes us revalue the ordinary.

His blog posts form the film’s narration as he tells his own story through memories and impressions of his life – the sheer joy of falling in love, of partying with his mates, of fast motorbike rides. Through his determination to share his final journey, Neil makes us ask questions about our own lives.

Neil Platt was diagnosed with ALS in February 2008 by Professor Chris Shaw. Sadly, Neil lost his own personal battle with the disease a year later, but through his family, friends and this documentary he wanted to continue to raise awareness around this devastating illness. ALS/MND has been described as the last truly incurable disease of the modern day. ALS/MND is a rapidly progressive and fatal disease. It can affect any adult at any time and attacks the motor neurons that send messages from the brain to the muscles, leaving people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves. Ten days after Neil died, Shaw made a very significant breakthrough in MND research by identifying one of the genes that causes it, and more discoveries are being made every day. Neil Platt was among the small proportion (5-10%) of people with MND who have a family history of the disease, caused by genetic mistakes that can be passed from one generation to the next.

Since Neil’s death, his widow Louise Oswald continues to fulfill her final promise to Neil by continuing to raise awareness of ALS/MND. Louise is working closely with the filmmaking team on the outreach campaign, providing interviews for national press and making many personal appearances to speak at screenings.

Since 2009 Louise has been writing a book about her experience of caring for her family in the eighteen months between the birth of her son and the death of her husband. Neil’s words join her in the latter part of the book as she adds comment to each entry of The Plattitude. Louise now lives in a small village near St. Andrews in Scotland with Oscar and her new husband Robin. Oscar is now in his first year of school.

According to the ALS Association, every day, an average of 15 people are newly diagnosed with ALS — more than 5,600 people per year. As many as 30,000 Americans may currently be affected by ALS. Annually, ALS is responsible for two deaths per 100,000 people. More information at: www.alsa.org/news/media/

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Michael Moore Announces Lineup of 150+ Films for 2013 Traverse City Film Festival

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore announced the lineup of 150 plus films for his ninth annual Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF), to be held July 30 to August 4 in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival kicks off with Woody Allen’s latest film “BLUE JASMINE”. After a stretch of films set abroad, his latest work brings us back to American soil, where a wealthy New York socialite, played by Cate Blanchett, moves to San Francisco to escape her faltering marriage to a wealthy Wall Street executive, played by Alec Baldwin.

TCFF will close the ninth annual Film Festival with “AUSTENLAND,” starring Keri Russell as a thirty-something with an unhealthy obsession with all things Jane Austen. Lucky for her, there’s Austenland, the ultimate getaway for literary devotees. The directorial debut from “Napoleon Dynamite” screenwriter Jerusha Hess is a rollicking rom-com featuring a supporting cast including Bret Mackenzie and Jennifer Coolidge.
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7 Films Selected to Compete in 28th Venice International Film Critics’ Week

L’Armée du salut (SALVATION ARMY) by Abdellah Taïa

Nine films, including seven in competition, have been selected for the 28th Venice International Film Critics’ Week, August 28 through Sept. 7, 2013. The seven films in competition are eligible for two awards – RaroVideo Audience Award and the USD$100,000 Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award for a Debut Film. The week of screenings will open with world premiere of the Italian film L’arte della felicità (THE ART OF HAPPINESS) by Alessandro Rak and close with International Premiere of the Chilean film Las analfabetas (ILLITERATE) by Moisés Sepúlveda.

The seven films in competition:

L’Armée du salut (SALVATION ARMY)
by Abdellah Taïa
France-Morocco, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Said Mrini (young Abdellah), Karim Ait M’hand (adult Abdellah), Amine Ennaji (Slimane).

In Casablanca, the young Abdellah spends his days at home, living a relationship of conflicts and complicity with his father. In the city streets, he has occasional sexual intercourse with men. During a holiday, his older and venerated brother Slimane abandons him. Ten years later Abdellah lives with his Swiss lover, Jean. He leaves Morocco and goes to Geneva, where he decides to break up and to start a new life alone. He takes shelter in a house of the Salvation Army, where a Moroccan man sings a song of his idol Abdel Halim Hafez for him.

Återträffen (THE REUNION)
by Anna Odell
Sweden, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Anna Odell.

Swedish artist Anna Odell invites us to a grim class reunion with a twist. What happens when old hierarchies and truths are questioned from an unexpected voice? This film investigates how far, too far reality is. It traverses the border between fiction and reality with Odell playing the main character, using her own identity and life story to go into unspoken and invisible hierarchical structure. By processing the story in multiple layers, the complexity of power and exclusion is revealed and the dynamics of the group is exposed.

Las Niñas Quispe (THE QUISPE GIRLS)
by Sebastián Sepúlveda
France-Argentina, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Digna Quispe (Justa), Catalina Saavedra (Lucía), Francisca Gavilán (Luciana), Alfredo Castro (Fernando).

Based on a true story occurred in 1974, this is the tale of sisters Justa, Lucia, and Luciana Quispe, sheperds in the Chilean altiplano who lead a solitary life. A visitor brings news about a law that might change their way of living. This event forces the women to question their existence and relentlessly brings them to a tragic end.

Razredni sovražnik (CLASS ENEMY)
by Rok Biček
Slovenia, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Igor Samobor (Robert), Nataša Barbara Gračner (Zdenka), Tjaša Železnik (Saša), Maša Derganc (Nuša), Robert Prebil (Matiaž), Voranc Boh (Luka), Jan Zupančič (Tadej), Daša Cupevski (Sabina).

Due to a huge difference in the way they perceive life, the relationship between the students and their new German language teacher becomes critically tense. When one of the students commits suicide, her classmates accuse the teacher of being responsible for her death. The realisation that things are not so black and white comes too late.

WHITE SHADOW
by Noaz Deshe
Germany-Tanzania, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Hamis Bazili (Alias), James Gayo (Kosmos), Glory Madgalena Cyril Mbaywayu (Antoinette), Salum Abdallah (Salum), Tito David Ntanga (Father), Riziki Ally (Mother), James D. Salala (Adin), John Samuel Makipunda (Anulla).

Since 2008, albinos in Tanzania have become human targets. Witch doctors offer huge sums of cash for their body parts to be used in magic potions. From 2008 to 2010, more than 200 witch-doctor inspired murders occurred. As a local saying goes: “Albinos do not die, they just disappear.” This is the story of Alias, an albino boy on the run. After his father’s murder, his mother sends him to the city. His uncle Kosmos, a truck driver, takes care of him. Alias learns fast in the city, selling sunglasses, DVDs, and mobile phones. He is attracted to Antoinette, his uncle’s daughter, but her father totally disapproves. However, Alias will soon be noticed for the color of his skin.

Zoran, il mio nipote scemo (ZORAN, MY NEPHEW THE IDIOT)
by Matteo Oleotto
Italy-Slovenia, 2013 – World Premiere

Cast: Giuseppe Battiston (Paolo), Teco Celio (Gustino), Rok Presnikar (Zoran), Marjuta Slamic (Stefania), Roberto Citran (Alfio), Riccardo Maranzana (Ernesto), Jan Cvitokovic (Jure), Ariella Reggio (Clara).

Paolo, 40 years old, lives in a small Friulian town close to the north-eastern border. Unreliable and with a passion for good wine, he spends his days at the local tavern and stubbornly stalks his ex-wife. One day, unexpectedly, he meets his nephew Zoran, an awkward 16-year-old boy grown up in the Slovenian mountains. Reluctantly, Paolo has to take care of him, but he soon discovers Zoran’s bizarre gift: he is phenomenal master of darts. Paolo thinks this is the right chance to take revenge on the world. But will everything be so easy?

Surprise Film

Opening Film – Special Event Out of Competition
L’arte della felicità (THE ART OF HAPPINESS)
by Alessandro Rak
Italy, 2013 – World Premiere

Two brothers. Two continents. Two lives. One single soul. Under a gloomy sky, between apocalyptic premonitions in a Naples at its utmost decay, Sergio, a taxi driver, receives a shocking news. Nothing will be the same as before. Now Sergio looks himself in the mirror and what he sees is a forty-year-old man who has turned his back on music and got lost in the limbo of his city. While a storm is raging outside, a crowd of memories, hopes, regrets and presences begins to populate his cab. Sooner or later the rain will stop and the sky will open up again. And the end will come. Or the music will be back.

Closing Film – Special Event Out of Competition
Las analfabetas (ILLITERATE)
by Moisés Sepúlveda
Chile, 2013 – International Premiere

Cast: Paulina García (Ximena), Valentina Muhr (Jackeline).

50-year-old Ximena has learned to live on her own to keep her illiteracy as a secret. 26-year-old Jackeline, an unemployed teacher, offers to read the news for her. The young woman soon tries to teach her reading, but this new task looks quite complicated. One day, Jackeline finds a letter that Ximena has been keeping as her only treasure: a message her father had left before abandoning her many years before. Due to this mystery, the two women embarks in a learning process in which the role of the teacher and that of the student will continuously reverse.
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Paul Schrader, Shekhar Kapur Among 70 Filmmakers to Make Short Films to Celebrate 70th Venice International Film Festival

Director Paul Schrader at 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Paul Schrader, Shekhar Kapur, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are amont 70 movie directors from all over the world invited to make a short film lasting between 60 and 90 seconds, for a special project, Venezia 70 – Future Reloaded, in celebration of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7, 2013).

The invitation has been accepted by what the festival describes as “great maestros, well-known directors, and young filmmakers of recognized talent.” All have participated at the Venice Film Festival at least once over the past twenty years. All the shorts will be given a first public screening at the Lido during the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

Bernardo Bertolucci, Paul Schrader, Shekhar Kapur, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Abbas Kiarostami, Monte Hellman and Walter Salles are just a few of the great filmmakers who have agreed to contribute to Future Reloaded.
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INSIDIOUS to Make TV Debut on FEARnet Cable Channel in Fall 2013 | Trailers

The ‘original” supernatural chiller INSIDIOUS which had its world premiere in the Midnight Madness program at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival will make its debut on the cable channel FEARnet on Sunday, September 8, and on VOD starting Wednesday, September 11 before the theatrical release of the film’s sequel INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 on Friday, September 13.

INSIDIOUS – directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the famed horror team behind SAW – stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne as Josh and Renai Lambert, parents whose son has fallen into a coma, following a mysterious incident in the attic. Things get much worse for the family, as their son’s illness leads to a terrifying encounter with malevolent ghouls, and a journey into the realm of the dead known as “The Further.” The film was released theatrically in the U.S. by FilmDistrict on April 1, 2011, and has grossed $97 million worldwide. With the picture’s reported $1.5 million budget, it has led to the film being called the most profitable film of 2011.

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins will reprise their roles in FilmDistrict’s INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 which James Wan, who directed INSIDIOUS, directed from a script written by Leigh Whannell who also wrote the first film.

INSIDIOUS 1

http://youtu.be/E1YbOMDI59k

INSIDIOUS 2

http://youtu.be/q8B9hisNcuw

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RIP: “Law & Order” Actor Dennis Farina, Dies at 69

Actor Dennis Farina, a onetime Chicago police officer who played Detective Joe Fontana on the television show “Law & Order,” died on Monday. He was 69.

After getting his break in 1981, starring in “Thief,” directed by Michael Mann, Farina went on to appear in other films including “Get Shorty,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Midnight Run” and “Out Of Sight.”

He is survived by three sons, six grandchildren and his longtime partner, Marianne Cahill.
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Actress Rita Moreno to be Honored with SAG Life Achievement Award

Rita Moreno Arriving for the Red Carpet at the West Side Story 50th Annivesary Celebration

Actress Rita Moreno has been named the 50th recipient of SAG-AFTRA‘s highest tribute – the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. The SAG Life Achievement Award will join Moreno’s other industry and public honors, which includes an Oscar, two Emmys, a Tony, a Grammy, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of the Arts. Moreno will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014

At 81, Rita Moreno’s over nearly 70-year diverse career include film appearances in The Night of the Following Day, with Marlon Brando; Marlowe, with James Garner; Popi, in which she played Alan Arkin’s girlfriend; and in Mike Nichol’s production of Carnal Knowledge. She reprised the role of Googie Gomez in the film version of The Ritz, followed by Alan Alda’s The Four Seasons, the award-winning independent film I Like it Like That and the comedy-drama Angus, with George C. Scott and Kathy Bates. She starred opposite Ben Gazzara inBlue Moon and as an Italian widow in the indie feature Carlo’s Wake, with Christopher Meloni. She also appeared in the highly acclaimed movie Pinero, starring Benjamin Bratt, and in John Sayles’ Casa de los Babys. Still one of industry’s busiest stars, Moreno will next be seen in the film version of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.
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“IT’S ALL SO QUIET” “BORN THIS WAY” “REACHING FOR THE MOON” “BRIDEGROOM” Among 2013 Outfest LA Winners

IT’S ALL SO QUIET, directed by Nanouk Leopold

Outfest Los Angeles wrapped its 31st festival and awarded IT’S ALL SO QUIET, directed by Nanouk Leopold the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature Film, and BORN THIS WAY, directed by Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman won the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film. The Audience on the other hand picked REACHING FOR THE MOON, directed by Bruno Barreto with the Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Feature Film and BRIDEGROOM, directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film.

Nanouk Leopold’s IT’S ALL SO QUIET takes place on an isolated Dutch farm overseen by a lonely man named Helmer. Forced to look after the land and to tend to his ailing father, Helmer has long accepted pain and solitude as inevitable aspects of life. But his weary soul gets a lift when a farmhand arrives one afternoon looking for work. The young man awakens feelings in Helmer that prompt him, for the first time in years, to reconsider his self-inflicted isolation.

BORN THIS WAY, directed by Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman

The documentary BORN THIS WAY had its premiere at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. Shot in Cameroon, where homosexuality is punishable with a five-year prison sentence, the film observes Gertrude, a young lesbian, as she hesitantly comes out to the nun who raised her in a convent. Meanwhile, Cedric, a young gay man, is determined to stay in his home even as his neighbors escalate their violent threats. From their base in an HIV treatment center, these two brave souls risk life and liberty to create positive momentum for LGBT rights, even as they face overwhelming personal struggles.

REACHING FOR THE MOON, winner of Best Feature Film at 2013 Frameline, is described as a steamy tale of an unlikely romance between two extraordinary lesbian artists, set against the backdrop of political upheaval and a clash of cultures. Grappling with writer’s block, legendary American poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto) travels to 1950s Rio de Janeiro to visit her college friend, Mary (Tracy Middendorf). Hoping to find inspiration on Mary’s sprawling estate, Elizabeth winds up with much more — a tempestuous relationship with Mary’s bohemian partner, architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Glória Pires), that rocks the staid writer to her foundation. Alcoholism, geographical distance and a military coup come between the lovers, but their intimate connection would span decades and forever impact the life and work of these two extraordinary artists. The attraction of two polar-opposite women has rarely been so volatile and so erotically charged on the big screen.

In BRIDEGROOM, which won the Heineken Audience Award at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, director Linda Bloodworth Thomason (“Designing Women”) navigates the romantic highs of Tom and Shane’s relationship – until tragedy strikes. Immediately after, Tom’s conservative parents block Shane off from all contact, refusing to let Shane attend Tom’s funeral. But instead of conceding, Shane vows to tell his and Tom’s love story to the world. First on Youtube, his video “It Could Happen to You” attracted 3.4 million views. Now, as a remarkable, heart-felt feature about love, loss and the courage to stand up for same-sex equality, Shane’s story has taken the nation by storm.

The complete list of awards for 2013 Outfest

Special Programming Awards

Special Programming Award for Freedom
DEEPSOUTH, Directed by Lisa Biagiotti

Special Programming Award for Artistic Achievement
ANIMALS, Directed by Marçal Forés

Special Programming Award for Emerging Talent
Diego Ruiz, Writer/Director/Actor, IGLOO

Audience Awards

Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Short Film
FACING FEAR, Directed by Jason Cohen

Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film
WINI + GEORGE, Directed by Benjamin Monie

Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film
BRIDEGROOM, Directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Feature Film
REACHING FOR THE MOON, Directed by Bruno Barreto

Audience Award for Outstanding First U.S. Dramatic Feature Film
GEOGRAPHY CLUB, Directed by Gary Entin

Jury Awards

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Experimental Short Film
SHE GONE ROGUE, Directed by Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary Short Film
PERFORMING GIRL, Directed by Crescent Diamond

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film
GOING SOUTH, Directed Leesong Hee-il

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film
BORN THIS WAY, Directed by Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature Film
IT’S ALL SO QUIET, Directed by Nanouk Leopold

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film
Guinevere Turner, WHO’S AFRAID OF VAGINA WOLF?

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film
Bill Heck and Marcus DeAnda, PIT STOP (tie)

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Screenwriting
Chris Mason Johnson, TEST

Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature Film
TEST, Directed by Chris Mason Johnson

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Actress Jessica Chastain Honored at 2013 Giffoni Film Festival

Actress Jessica Chastain was honored at the 2013 Giffoni Film Festival with ‘Giffoni Experience Award’ dedicated to international guest stars. The Giffoni Film Festival located in Giffoni Valle Piana in Campania, Southern Italy, is considered the largest children’s film festival in Europe.

Jessica Chastain was nominated for an Academy® Award for her performance in the 2011 critically-acclaimed drama The Help and stars opposite Golden Globe®-nominee James McAvoy in Myriad Pictures’ double-feature film project, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY: HIM and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY: HER. Ned Benson (In Defiance of Gravity) wrote the two scripts and will direct both films.

The love story explores how a married couple in New York City deals with an emotional, life-altering experience, from the two different perspectives of the husband, Conor, (McAvoy), a restaurant owner, and of the wife, Eleanor, (Chastain), who goes back to college. Cassandra Kulukundis (A Late Quartet, In Defiance of Gravity) is producing. Kulukundis is also casting director (There Will Be Blood, Shattered Glass)

The film will be released on September 13, 2013.
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UK’s Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Returns for 2013 with a ‘Swiss Focus’

Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, the longest running competitive short film and animation festival in the UK returns to Bristol from September 17-22, 2013. This year the festival has announced a Swiss Focus in partnership with Swiss Films and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, highlighting today’s hottest Swiss film and animation exports. The showcase includes ‘God You’re So Square’, curated by Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, which breaks down the conventional image of the Swiss psyche (efficient, boring, predictable) by exploring dysfunctional males who are struggling to find their place in society and the film THE LIVING ALSO CRY by Basil da Cunha, who recently presented his first feature at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The gala event of the Focus invites Franz Treichler, founder of legendary Swiss band The Young Gods, to perform a specially designed soundtrack for an overview of experimental films of the 20th century. Based on the instigators of the Dada Movement (Hans Richter, Man Ray), its self-proclaimed heirs of the 1960s and more recent experimental films, this will be the UK premiere performance of ‘Franz Treichler Plays Dada’. Treichler, who is also confirmed for the Brief Encounters International Jury, draws on rich experimentation from the music he has created over 20 years for cinema.

Franz Treichler explains; “This soundtrack takes us from Man Ray to Fluxus, to Jean Painlevé, Stan Brackage and Martin Arnold. A soundtrack for a selection of pioneers of the genre movies, focused on originality since a large part of creation is left to improvisation.”

Also at the Arnolfini, Swiss artist Yves Netzhammer will be creating an installation of his short film trilogy. Meanwhile, the Encounters Filmmaker Focus will be on Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, whose short fiction film You Can’t Do Everything At Once, But You Can Leave Everything At Once, inspired by the work of Spanish filmmaker José-Luis Guerin, also screened at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

A free-entry Pop-Up Cine Chalet will be open for the whole week in The Parlour Showrooms. Far from a nostalgic trip through idyllic mountain pastures, it will screen works such as the feature documentary Image Problem, which pokes fun at perceptions of the Swiss national identity, and The Lonely Pioneers, which traces The Young Gods’ history from the beginnings in 1985 up until today.

Encounters Managing Director Liz Harkman says; “We’re delighted to be working with our international partners for this programme, which will delve into the current artistic and cultural output of Switzerland in order to show the many contemporary faces of this nation”.

Marcel Müller, Project Leader for Swiss Films says; “It is a great privilege for us to be guest of honour at the festival this year. Preparing the Swiss attendance in collaboration with the Encounters team has been very exciting. And it will be even more exciting to see the results live, introducing the audience to the variety of creation in Swiss shorts, ranging from fictional works to sound and visual installation, from animation to filmic essays.”
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“Dungeons & Dragons” Culture-Inspired Indie-Dramedy “ZERO CHARISMA” Gets an October 2013 Release Date

Sam Eidson as Scott in ZERO CHARISMA directed by Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews. Photo credit courtesy of Zero Charisma

From the San Diego Comic-con comes the announcement that Nerdist Industries in partnership with Tribeca Film will co release Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews’s directorial debut “ZERO CHARISMA”. The “Dungeons & Dragons” culture-inspired indie-dramedy, which world premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival – taking home the audience award in the Narrative Spotlight category, stars Sam Eidson (Natural Selection, My Sucky Teen Romance), Garrett Graham, and Brock England. The film was written by Matthews and produced by Shark Films and Magic Stone.

Tribeca Film and Nerdist Industries will co-release the film this fall beginning October 8, 2013 on cable/telco and satellite video-on-demand platforms, as well as iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly, VUDU, Playstation, and Google Play, followed by a theatrical release on October 11, 2013.

As the strict Game Master of a fantasy role-playing game, Scott (Sam Eidson) leads his friends in a weekly quest through mysterious lands from the safety of his grandmother’s kitchen. But his mastery of his own domain starts to slip — along with everything else in his life — when neo-nerd hipster Miles (Garrett Graham) joins the game, winning over the group with his confident charm and dethroning Scott with an unexpected coup. Caught in delusions of grandeur, Scott must roll the dice and risk everything to expose Miles as the fraud he believes him to be. A darkly comedic fable of epic proportions,Zero Charisma is an ode to nerds from every realm.

http://youtu.be/vRRCt0tbQvw
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