The European Film Academy will present Charlotte Rampling with the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, and the European Achievement In World Cinema will go to two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Both Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz will be honorary guests at the 28th European Film Awards Ceremony on December 12th, 2015, in Berlin.
Born in England, Charlotte Rampling grew up in Gibraltar, France, Italy and Spain to become a truly European multi-language actress. Throughout her career, Charlotte Rampling has worked with great European directors from Luchino Visconti, Liliana Cavani and Patrice Chéreau to François Ozon, Laurent Cantet, Claude Lelouch, Gianni Amelio, Bille August and Lars von Trier. Charlotte Rampling is a five-time EFA Nominee and won European Actress 2003 for SWIMMING POOL. She has received an Honorary César and has been nominated four times in France, as the murder suspect Barbara in HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN, the lonely wife in UNDER THE SAND, a famous mystery author in SWIMMING POOL and the deranged Alice Pollock in LEMMING. She recently received a Silver Berlin Bear for her role in 45 YEARS which is also part of this year’s EFA Selection. Among some of Charlotte Rampling’s most interesting films are THE NIGHT PORTER by Liliana Cavani, HEADING SOUTH by Laurent Cantet, STARDUST MEMORIES by Woody Allen, THE VERDICT by Sidney Lumet, UNDER THE SAND by François Ozon, MAX MY LOVE by Nagisa Oshima and MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier.
Born in Austria, Christoph Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and in New York. He started out as a theatre actor and quickly became a popular TV star. In 2009 Christoph Waltz shot to international fame with Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for which he received the Best Actor Award in Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and his first Oscar. He acted in THE GREEN HORNET by Michel Gondry, in CARNAGE by Roman Polanski and in 2012 he again collaborated with Quentin Tarantino, playing Dr. King Schultz in DJANGO UNCHAINED which won him another Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and ultimately a second Oscar. And he plays a leading part in the new James Bond film SPECTRE.-
European Film Academy to Honor Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz
The European Film Academy will present Charlotte Rampling with the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, and the European Achievement In World Cinema will go to two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Both Charlotte Rampling and Christoph Waltz will be honorary guests at the 28th European Film Awards Ceremony on December 12th, 2015, in Berlin.
Born in England, Charlotte Rampling grew up in Gibraltar, France, Italy and Spain to become a truly European multi-language actress. Throughout her career, Charlotte Rampling has worked with great European directors from Luchino Visconti, Liliana Cavani and Patrice Chéreau to François Ozon, Laurent Cantet, Claude Lelouch, Gianni Amelio, Bille August and Lars von Trier. Charlotte Rampling is a five-time EFA Nominee and won European Actress 2003 for SWIMMING POOL. She has received an Honorary César and has been nominated four times in France, as the murder suspect Barbara in HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN, the lonely wife in UNDER THE SAND, a famous mystery author in SWIMMING POOL and the deranged Alice Pollock in LEMMING. She recently received a Silver Berlin Bear for her role in 45 YEARS which is also part of this year’s EFA Selection. Among some of Charlotte Rampling’s most interesting films are THE NIGHT PORTER by Liliana Cavani, HEADING SOUTH by Laurent Cantet, STARDUST MEMORIES by Woody Allen, THE VERDICT by Sidney Lumet, UNDER THE SAND by François Ozon, MAX MY LOVE by Nagisa Oshima and MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier.
Born in Austria, Christoph Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and in New York. He started out as a theatre actor and quickly became a popular TV star. In 2009 Christoph Waltz shot to international fame with Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for which he received the Best Actor Award in Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and his first Oscar. He acted in THE GREEN HORNET by Michel Gondry, in CARNAGE by Roman Polanski and in 2012 he again collaborated with Quentin Tarantino, playing Dr. King Schultz in DJANGO UNCHAINED which won him another Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and ultimately a second Oscar. And he plays a leading part in the new James Bond film SPECTRE.
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First Irish Screen America Film Festival is a Hit, Featuring Irish Films and Directors
The inaugural 2015 Irish Screen America Film Festival (ISA) took place recently in Los Angeles and New York, attracting more 3,000 attendees. Launched in 2015, ISA is an organization created to seek out and promote influential and emerging Irish talent to the U.S. and showcase the very best of contemporary Irish film, TV, animation, video games and interactive media.
The festival’s Executive Director and Curator, Kilmacanogue native and Emmy-winning producer/director Niall McKay and Deputy Directors Clodagh Bowyer and Marissa Aroy welcomed guests on both coasts to the festivals which came to a close in New York on Monday, October 5.
Niall McKay said, “This year, we were able to showcase over 13 films to over three thousand people in both New York and Los Angeles and introduce our participating filmmakers to important industry professionals. Of course, none of this could happen if they weren’t making beautiful films that we are able to showcase. It’s really a great time for Irish filmmaking. It was also really gratifying to see that many of the projects from our local Irish program in New York, such as “You Are Beautiful,” “Creativity Requires Courage,” and “On the Lig,” sprung out of the relationships created at the prior editions of the festivals.”
Irish writer/directors Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy were on hand in both Los Angeles and New York to introduce guests to their confident, timely, Opening Night thriller TRADERS. Also attending ISA’s festivities, either presenting their films or participating in programs were breakthrough LA-based Irish directors Fergal Reilly (ANGRY BIRDS), Ruairi Robinson (LAST DAY ON MARS), Gary Shore (DRACULA UNTOLD); actors Peter O’Meara (TRADERS, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION), Kevin J. Ryan (PADDY’S IN THE BOOT, COPPERS), Dónall Ó Héalaí (TRADERS, SÍNTE), Glenn Keogh (LUCKY ME BOLLIX, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION), Wallis Murphy Munn (SANDBOY); and short film directors Vittoria Colonna (SANDBOY), Marcus Fox (LUCKY ME BOLLIX), Kevin Shulman (PADDY’S IN THE BOOT) Andrew Baird (BREAKING THROUGH) Liam Hallihan (MARTIN’S LIFE); and Masterclass Instructors director Cathy Brady (MORNING, WASTED), and Oscar®-nominated screenwriter and director Naomi Sheridan, amongst others.
Other festival guests included Barbara Jones – Consul General of Ireland in New York and Kevin Byrne – Irish Vice Consul of Ireland in San Francisco; producers Jonathan Loughran and Gabrielle Kelly; former Miss Ireland and RTÉ presenter, actress Olivia Tracey; Bernadette O’Neill; Rachel Rath; Kevin Marron; Johnnie A O’Callaghan; Jasmine Jaisinghani (AFI, IFFLA); Catherine Siggins; Siobhan Flynn; Tara Halloran (SVP British Film Commission); Lisa McLaughlin-Strassman; Pascal Ladreyt (ELMA); Joan Burney Keatings (Cinemagic); poet Maureen Grady and Daniel Nyiri.
ISA presented an award at the Los Angeles Opening Night Reception to “outstanding new filmmakers & influential and emerging Irish talent”. Recipients of the 2015 ISA Rising Talent Award were Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Liam Hallihan, Cathy Brady, Laura McGee, Naomi Sheridan and Dónall Ó Héalaí. The awards were presented to the filmmakers by Teresa McGrane, Deputy Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) who said “‘What we have witnessed this weekend is the extraordinary breadth of Irish talent both living and working in the US and Ireland – Irish Screen America is an incredible platform to share stories and at the same time have a lot of fun. Thank you to Niall and the ISA team – we know the hard work they put in and we wish ISA every success in building on an amazing launch.”
Highlights of the combined program included Daisy Asquith’s documentary “After the Dance,” the Sundance Award-winning, IFTA-nominated “Glassland,” Frank Berry’s “I Used to Live Here,” the shorts program including “Wasted” by Cathy Brady, Liam Halihan’s super funny animation “Martin’s Life” and the premiere screening of Niall McKay and Marissa Aroy’s “On the Lig”.
The programs included a highly successful, sold out panel discussion entitled “Stories From the Field” with directors Ruairi Robinson (“Last Day on Mars”), Fergal Reilly (“Angry Birds”) and Gary Shore (“Dracula Untold”) in Los Angeles and packed out master classes from Academy Award® nominated screenwriter, Naomi Sheridan in Los Angeles and IFTA-award-winning director Cathy Brady in New York.
ISA’s film festival roadshow will continue to take place annually in the fall in Los Angeles and New York featuring contemporary and critically-acclaimed Irish feature films and documentaries, New Irish Talent Showcases (shorts, web shows, animation and games), a selection of filmmaker Q&A’s, master classes, industry panel discussions and filmmaker receptions.
Image 1: Los Angeles – Olivia Tracey (fmr Miss Ireland), Niall McKay (ISA), Naomi Sheridan (screenwriter), Teresa McGrane (Irish Film Board)
Image 2: Los Angeles Irish Directors Panel – L-R Fergal Reilly (Director Angry Birds), Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), Niall McKay (IFA), Ruairi Robinson (Last Day on Mars)
Image 3: New York Reception for opening of ISA New York Film Festival – Niall McKay (ISA), Barbara Jones, Consul General of Ireland in New York (1)
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Magnolia Pictures, Duplass Brothers Launch TANGERINE Oscar Campaign for Transgender Stars
Magnolia Pictures and the Duplass Brothers are launching an Oscar campaign for TANGERINE stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, reports Variety. This will reportedly be the first awards season push for transgender actress by a movie distributor in Hollywood history. Rodriguez will be pushed as Lead Actress and Taylor as Supporting. They plan on bids for screenwriting and cinematography for the film as well.
TANGERINE directed by Sean Baker, was released earlier this Summer via Magnolia Pictures, and earned a lot of well deserved attention for not only featuring transgender actresses in prominent roles, but also for its technical feat – it was shot on an iPhone 5s. The film follows a prostitute, who’s just released from prison, and headed to Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
Mark Duplass points out that AMPAS is behind the various TV academies in terms of recognizing trans actors; he tells Variety, “Jay and I are new to the Academy, so we’re just figuring this whole thing out. One thing that has become apparent to us as we look at this stuff, it seems that the TV Academy has embraced what’s happening in the trans movement with ‘Transparent’ and ‘Orange is the New Black.’ We feel that the film Academy is a little behind on that front.”
This TANGERINE campaign offers a vital counterpoint to “Oscar bait” campaigns in which straight, cisgender, white actors portray trans characters. Mark Duplass tells Variety of this counterpoint, “This is the time for it. We’re in the middle of a civil rights movement.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, STARLET, “Generation Kill”) hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity. Director Sean Baker’s prior films (STARLET, PRINCE OF BROADWAY) brought rich texture and intimate detail to worlds seldom seen on film. Shot on an iPhone 5s, TANGERINE follows suit, bursting off the screen with energy and style. A decidedly modern Christmas tale told on the streets of L.A., TANGERINE defies expectation at every turn.
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CAROL, I AM MICHAEL, SWORN VIRGIN Among Films on 2015 Chicago International Film Festival LGBTQ+ Lineup
The 51st Chicago International Film Festival (Oct. 15-29) announced the lineup for OUT-Look, its competitive LGBTQ+ program that showcases new artistic perspectives on sexuality and identity. The international OUT-Look program is inclusive of a variety of LGBTQ+ experiences, ranging from Carol (pictured above), the story of a love affair between a wealthy housewife (Cate Blanchett) and a young shop clerk (Rooney Mara, winner of the Best Actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) to I Am Michael, based on the controversial true story of Michael Glatze, a one-time gay-rights activist turned straight, conservative pastor. I Am Michael features outstanding performances by James Franco and Zachary Quinto.
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2015 Stockholm Film Festival unleashes Twilight Zone Film Lineup, incl. GREEN ROOM
The 2015 Stockholm Film Festival reveals the titles in the film section Twilight Zone. Twilight Zone is the film section that offers the most adrenaline-filled and nerve wrecking cinema experiences. “This year’s Twilight Zone presents more realistic and present dangers without being detached from the dark and the fantastic. Neo-nazis and punks clash in Green Room, a virus outbreak in Denmark triggers military action against middle class suburbia and a giant tsunami hits Norway,” says George Ivanov, program director at Stockholm Film Festival.
A selection of titles:
Baskin (2015) Can Evrenol, Turkey. Nordic premiere.
Crumbs (2015), Miguel Llansó, Ethiopia, Spain. Scandinavian premiere.
Demon (2015), Marcin Wrona, Poland, Israel. Nordic premiere.
Green Room (2015), Jeremy Saulnier, USA. Scandinavian premiere.
I am a Hero (2015) Shinsuke Sato, Japan. Nordic premiere.
Island City (2015) Ruchika Oberoi, India. Nordic premiere.
Office (2015) Won-Chan Hong, South Korea. Nordic premiere.
The Devil’s Candy (2015) Sean Byrne, USA. Swedish premiere.
The Invitation (2015), Karyn Kusama, USA. Nordic premiere.
The Wave (2015) Roar Uthaug, Norway. Swedish premiere.
Violator (2014) Dodo Dayao, Philippines. Nordic premiere.
What We Become (2015) Bo Mikkelsen, Denmark. Nordic premiere.
With The Lips Closed (2015) Carlos Osuna, Colombia. World premiere.
Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (2015), Takashi Miike, Japan. Nordic premiere.
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NO ONE’S CHILD, LEMON, THE LOOK OF SILENCE Among 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival Jury Award Winners
The 7th Milwaukee Film Festival announced its 2015 Jury Award Winners on Sunday, with awards given out in both the Competition and Cream City Cinema programs. No One’s Child directed by Vuk Ršumović is the winner of the Herzfeld Competition Award. No One’s Child, based on a remarkable true story, takes us deep into the mountains of Bosnia, where we’re introduced to a feral child living among the wolves. Upon his discovery in 1988, he is sent to a Belgrade orphanage. There, he struggles to relate to his peers until a friendship allows him to embrace humanity, only for the Balkan War to put pressure on his caretakers to return him to his homeland.
Lemon directed by John Roberts is the winner of the Cream City Cinema, this is the second win for John Roberts, who also won the award in 2009. In Lemon, a girl saves money to buy a bicycle, but is swindled by an old man.
The Look of Silence directed by Joshua Oppenheimer is the winner of the Documentary Jury Award. A critically acclaimed companion piece to the breathtaking look into the heart of darkness that was THE ACT OF KILLING (the sensation of MFF2013), THE LOOK OF SILENCE approaches the 1960s Indonesian genocide not from the perspective of its perpetrators but the survivors.
Brico Forward Fund top honors were awarded for continued production of a feature documentary based on local filmmaker Erik Ljung’s Mothers For Justice, a short film included in the 2015 Cream City Cinema’s Milwaukee Show II. Mothers for Justice follows Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton who was shot by a police officer in 2014 in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park. In 2015, Maria Hamilton founded the organization Mothers for Justice dedicated to uniting mothers who have lost children in police related deaths and demanding further investigation and accountability from law enforcement.
2015 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL JURY AWARDS
Abele Catalyst Award Donna and Donald Baumgartner
Herzfeld Competition Award ($10,000 cash) No One’s Child (dir. Vuk Ršumović)
Cream City Cinema ($5,000 cash) Lemon (dir. John Roberts)
Cream City Cinema Special Jury Prize The Sound Man (dir. Chip Duncan)
Documentary Jury Award ($5,000 cash) The Look of Silence (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer) Shorter Is Better Award ($1,000 cash) Giovanni and the Water Ballet (dir. Astrid Bussink)Shorter Is Better Special Jury Prizes We Can’t Live Without Cosmos (dir. Konstantin Bronzit) De Smet (dirs. Thomas Baerten, Wim Geudens)
Kids Choice Short Film Award ($1,000 cash) A Place in the Middle (dirs. Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson) Kids Choice Special Jury PrizesPapa (dir. Natalie Labarre) Johnny Express (dir. James Woo)
Pitch Us Your Doc! Contest Winner (initially announced October 3) Wingman Dad (Elizabeth Ridley)
Brico Forward Fund Winners Mothers for Justice (working title) (Erik Ljung) $25,000 cash and $10,000 from Independent After her black, unarmed, schizophrenic son, Dontre, is shot 14 times and killed by a Milwaukee Police Officer in a popular downtown park, Maria Hamilton attempts to rally grieving mothers from across the country to join her in a Million Moms March on Washington D.C. The Night Country (Oliver Franklin Anderson) $10,000 cash, $15,000 from North American Camera, $15,000 from the Electric Sun Company and $10,000 from RDI StagesSmoke from an industrial fire brings the residents of a small Midwestern town into communion with spirits preying on their fears and desires on a stormy summer night.
When Claude Got Shot (Brad Lichtenstein) $10,000 cash, $6,000 from RDI Stages, $5,000 from the Electric Sun Company, $5,000 from Independent When Claude Got Shot’s story of three strangers brought together by gun violence humanizes and disrupts the narrative about so-called “black on black” crime in America. Never Home (working title) (Pang Yang Her) $5,000 from Independent Why do cities continue to struggle in treating those with Sexual Assault within minority communities? Through the journey of Joua Yang, a Hmong American women sexually assaulted at the age of nine, Never Home examines a survivor’s strength to both unravel cultural confusion and use her story to help other heals from their past. Just Eat (Laura Dyan Kezman) $5,000 from North American Camera Just Eat opens up the guarded world of the estimated 30 million people affected by eating disorders in our country. We follow the stories of prominent researchers, grieving parents fighting for recognition, and the diagnosed sufferers, crying out for help. Lunar Man (Kyle V. James) $5,000 cash for script development After stealing a time-travel suit on a desert planet, a lawless miner must seek help from a beautiful young hunter to help him escape from a dangerous group of bandits called The Sharks.
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Civil Rights Icon Grace Lee Boggs, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, Dies at 100
Grace Lee Boggs, civil rights icon, and subject of the 2013 documentary American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, has died at the age of 100.
According to the a statement on the Boggs Center website, Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit on Monday night, October 5, 2015.
Philosopher-Activist Grace Lee Boggs Dies in Detroit: A Champion for the People October 5, 2015–Grace Lee Boggs died peacefully in her sleep at her home on Field Street in Detroit this morning. She had recently celebrated her 100th birthday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Grace was an internationally known philosopher activist for justice. She had been politically active since the 1930’s working with A. Phillip Randolph’s first march on Washington and later C.L.R. James. For more than 40 years she worked closely with her late husband James Boggs in advancing ideas of revolution and evolution for the 20th and 21st Centuries. She helped organize the 1963 March down Woodward Avenue with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Grassroots Leadership Conference with Malcolm X. Grace Lee Boggs was active in Labor, Civil Rights, Black Power, women and environmental justice movements. Later, with her husband James, she helped organize SOSAD, WePros, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Gardening Angels and Detroit Summer. Grace was a founding member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership and was a strong advocate for place based education and supported the James and Grace Lee Boggs School. “Grace died as she lived surrounded by books, politics, people and ideas,” said Alice Jennings and Shea Howell, two of her Trustees. A memorial celebrating her life will be announced later.
President Barack Obama, issued a statement, saying “Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of author, philosopher, and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace dedicated her life to serving and advocating for the rights of others – from her community activism in Detroit, to her leadership in the civil rights movement, to her ideas that challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. As the child of Chinese immigrants and as a woman, Grace learned early on that the world needed changing, and she overcame barriers to do just that. She understood the power of community organizing at its core – the importance of bringing about change and getting people involved to shape their own destiny. Grace’s passion for helping others, and her work to rejuvenate communities that had fallen on hard times spanned her remarkable 100 years of life, and will continue to inspire generations to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family and friends, and all those who loved her dearly.”
The filmmakers of the documentary also issued a statement saying, “Grace Lee Boggs passed away peacefully this morning. We are so grateful for the vision of justice and human connection that she gave us and feel incredibly privileged to have been able to share her story with others.”
The documentary film, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, plunges us into Boggs’s lifetime of vital thinking and action, traversing the major U.S. social movements of the last century; from labor to civil rights, to Black Power, feminism, the Asian American and environmental justice movements and beyond. Boggs’s constantly evolving strategy—her willingness to re-evaluate and change tactics in relation to the world shifting around her—drives the story forward. Angela Davis, Bill Moyers, Bill Ayers, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Boggs’s late husband James and a host of Detroit comrades across three generations help shape this uniquely American story. As she wrestles with a Detroit in ongoing transition, contradictions of violence and non-violence, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, the 1967 rebellions, and non-linear notions of time and history, Boggs emerges with an approach that is radical in its simplicity and clarity: revolution is not an act of aggression or merely a protest. Revolution, Boggs says, is about something deeper within the human experience — the ability to transform oneself to transform the world.
POV is streaming the film for free until November 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JvyZtNA4CU
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Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez Win Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellowships in Film
Queer/Art/Mentorship, the multi-disciplinary, inter-generational arts program that pairs and supports mentorship between emerging and established LGBTQI artists in NYC, has announced the eleven Fellows accepted for its 2015-2016 annual mentorship cycle.
The Fellows chosen in five artistic disciplines are Monstah Black, Eva Peskin and Justine Williams in Performance; Jacob Matkov and Brendan Williams-Childs in Literary; Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez in Film; Caroline Wells Chandler and Doron Langberg in Visual Arts; and Hugh Ryan in Curatorial.
The 2015-2016 Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellows in Film are
Rodrigo Bellott was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His breakout film, Sexual Dependency won over 15 awards in over 65 film festivals around the world and was also Bolivia’s first film competing for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 2004 Academy Awards. VARIETY magazine named Bellott as one of the “TOP TEN Latin American Talents to Watch”.
Bellott will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Silas Howard on the film adaptation of his play Tu Me Manques, that explores contemporary queer identity in the moment of historical change in contrast with the current situations in other parts of the world.
Erin Greenwell wrote and directed the feature film My Best Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her other directing endeavors include Oh Come On, a punk DIY performance video for Kathleen Hanna’s band The Julie Ruin and The Golden Age of Hustlers, featuring Justin Vivian Bond’s remake of the iconic song written by legendary punk chanteuse Bambi Lake. In 2006, Greenwell formed Smithy Productions, a production company, with the aim of cultivating talents from the queer/independent art community under the umbrella of narrative and documentary storytelling.
Greenwell will be working with Mentor, director and screenwriter Stacie Passon to develop her narrative feature length script, The Flight Deck, based on the butch/femme lesbian bar scene in Buffalo, NY during the 1950s.
Mylo Mendez is a Texas-born video artist currently based in Brooklyn. Hir work uses humor, narrative, and characters with aberrant bodies to navigate identity, social and geographical borders, and history. Mendez has been featured in group shows in New York City and Austin. Ze received hir MFA from Parsons The New School for Design.
Mendez will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris on a film about the intersection of trans and punk identities and communities in New York City.
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IMPERIAL DREAMS, 3 1/2 MINUTES, TEN BULLETS, TIME TO GO, Win Top Honors at 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival
The 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival held from September 29 to October 4, 2015, announced its prize winners at the Festival’s closing ceremonies on Sunday. Malik Vital’s Imperial Dreams won the award for Best Narrative Feature, Marc Silver’s 31/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets won the award for Best Documentary Feature, and Loîc Barché’s Le Commencement won the award for Best Narrative Short.
Winners of 2015 Montreal International Black Film Festival
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE: Malik Vital’s Imperial Dreams (USA)
In Imperial Dreams, a 21-year-old reformed gangster’s devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Honorable mentions to: Ernest Nkosi’s Thina Sobabili (South Africa)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA)
3 1⁄2 MINUTES, TEN BULLETS dissects the shooting death of 17-year old Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn in Jacksonville, Florida on Black Friday 2012. The film examines the aftermath of this systemic tragedy, the contradictions within the American criminal justice system—particularly the implications of the “Stand Your Ground” self-defence law— and the racial prejudices that ensued. With intimate access, the film follows the trial of Dunn and its deep impact on Jordan’s family and friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKbCoRA__UI
Honorable mention to: Michiel Thomas’ Game Face (USA) and Stanley Nelson’s Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (USA)
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT: Loîc Barché’s Le Commencement (Time To Go) (France)
Ever since he was a child, the Musician has had only one goal: becoming a great guitar player. Now thirty, he’s living with a young welder, Elsa, who wants to build a life with him. But the Musician knows that for as long as he hasn’t achieved his goal he will never be able to commit to anything or anyone else. One night, however, Elsa convinces him to take a job in a music shop in a nearby city. But on the way there, the Musician meets a strange man who promises to make his dreams come true in exchange for his soul…
Honorable mention to: Anna Muso’s Ran Fast (USA)
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2015 Chicago International Film Festival Unveils Spotlight: Architecture+Space+Design Program
The 2015 Chicago International Film Festival (Oct 15-29, 2015), in conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, revealed the Festival’s Spotlight: Architecture+Space+Design program.
The international selection showcases 11 new feature films, including notable portraits of architects, designers and buildings (Concrete Love – The Bohm Family, Why A Film About Michele De Lucchi?, The Infinite Happiness) and beautifully photographed depictions of contemporary and futuristic cities (Obra, Invention, Under Electric Clouds).
In addition to the program of shorts, Chicago Film Archives program and feature-length films (all listed below), the Spotlight features a discussion with architect Helmut Jahn on Sat, Oct 17 at 6:00pm at the AMC River East 21.
Rounding out the Spotlight: Architecture+Space+Design program, on Wednesdays throughout the Chicago Architecture Biennial (Oct-Dec 2015), local and visiting architects and designers will present Architects on Film.
2015 Chicago International Film Festival SPOTLIGHT: ARCHITECTURE+SPACE+DESIGN
Concrete Love – The Bohm Family (pictured above)
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Country: Germany, Switzerland
Director: Maurizius Staerkle Drux
Synopsis: Prominent German architect Gottfried Böhm is celebrated for his buildings of concrete, steel, and glass. His three sons are also highly acclaimed. When the family matriarch, an architect herself and source of inspiration for all Böhm men, dies, their emotional foundation is shattered. Sensitive to form and emotion, Concrete Love lays bare the blueprint of a family.
Double Happiness
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Country: Austria, China
Director: Ella Raidel
Synopsis: This surreal, exquisitely framed documentary looks at the construction of a near-exact replica of a scenic Austrian town-cobblestone by cobblestone-in an undeveloped Chinese tract of land. In a style both entrancing and playful, the film questions the difference between real and imagined, model and reality, raising thought-provoking questions about the nature of authenticity and happiness. Features insightful interviews with urban planners, designers, and trailblazing Beijing architect Ma Yansong.
Greater Things
USA PREMIERE
Country: UK, Japan
Director: Vahid Hakimzadeh
Synopsis: In this stunningly composed meditation on space and human relationships, an adrift Iranian architect, a disengaged Japanese couple, and a Lithuanian mixed martial arts fighter search for connection in modern Japan. From the stylishly designed shops of Tokyo to a minimalist glass suburban home to a mysterious tree house in the woods, Greater Things reveals the strange places we inhabit, and how they can both unite and divide us.
Helmut Jahn: An Architect’s Life
Country: N/A
Director: N/A
Synopsis: World-renowned for his progressive architecture and constant innovation, Helmut Jahn has designed 16 buildings in Illinois, including Chicago’s own United Airlines Terminal. He has also designed skyscrapers in major cities around the world, from Brussels and Rotterdam to Bangkok, Shanghai, and Berlin, which boasts his celebrated Sony Center. Jahn will discuss his remarkable 49-year career in architecture and his unique vision, using clips from modern and classic films that showcase his designs and reflect his philosophy.
Illegal Portraits (Ritratti Abusivi)
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Country: Italy
Director: Romano Montesarchio
Synopsis: Welcome to Parco Saraceno, a derelict neighborhood in southeast Italy. Built in the 1960s, its run-down houses once held the promise of suburban coastal bliss. Now home to a community of squatters, the development is a portrait of both poverty and resilience. Without power or resources, the residents persevere, finding new ways to live among the ruins and maintain their way of life-and their dignity.
The Infinite Happiness
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Country: France, Denmark
Director: Ila Beka, Louise Lemoine
Synopsis: Copenhagen’s “8 House,” an ultramodern loop of apartments created by architect Bjarke Ingels, reinvents the concept of “home.” Its 500 residents can traverse all nine floors by bike while their kids attend kindergarten on the ground floor. This exuberant documentary profiles the (mostly) happy residents, including a group of children who experience the best scavenger hunt ever, offering a hopeful, inspired picture of communal living by design.
Invention
USA PREMIERE
Country: Canada, France
Director: Mark Lewis
Synopsis: A meditative sensory experience from Canadian avant-garde artist Mark Lewis, Invention intimately explores our relationship to the physical space around us. Long, luxurious tracking shots take the viewer through museum works and modern cityscapes in Toronto, São Paolo, and Paris, panning and tilting at improbable angles to give a fresh perspective on the everyday. Echoes of Koyaanisqatsi and Man With a Movie Camera infuse this poem of modern life.
Milano 2015
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Country: Italy
Director: various
Synopsis: From subways to skyscrapers, from antique monasteries to ornate mansions, from shuttered old theaters to the inimitable La Scala, this stunning omnibus feature captures the soul and majesty of the northern Italian city. Six Italian directors explore different facets of contemporary Milan. The result is a rich and eclectic portrait of urban life and spaces-both rooted in history and bursting with a diversity of architecture and humanity.
Modern Metropolis: Mid-Century Chicago On Film
Note: This is a FREE event at the Chicago Cultural Center
Country: N/A
Director: various directors
Synopsis: Chicago’s rich architectural tradition has long been a hallmark of the Windy City. In this evocative collection of shorts culled from the Chicago Film Archives dating from 1962 to 1976, go back in time to witness its urban glories. The films include dynamic “city-symphonies,” an ode to stainless steel, and an admiring portrait of Louis Sullivan’s Stock Exchange building and its woeful demolition.
Obra
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Country: Brazil
Director: Gregorio Graziosi
Synopsis: When a complacent young architect in São Paulo discovers a burial ground at the site of his first construction project, he must reckon with hidden secrets that make him question the very foundation of his heritage. An entrancing meditation on urban alienation and repressed national memory filmed in stark, exquisitely composed black-and-white, Obra is a haunting portrait of contemporary Brazil in flux.
Shorts 8: The Tower Above The Earth – Architecture
Countries: France, Iran, Israel, Poland, Switzerland, US
Directors: Teresa Czepiec, Sandy Pitetti, Miki Polonski, Chuck Przybyl, Matthieu Landour, Arash Nassiri
Description: The shorts takes a bright new view of space and design in cinema from claustrophobic urban spaces to hypnotic skylines and historic architecture coalesce, courtesy of Program Partner Jeanne Randall Malkin Family Foundation.
Under Electric Clouds (Pod elektricheskimi oblakami)
USA PREMIERE
Country: Russia, Ukraine
Director: Aleksey German Jr.
Synopsis: In 2017 Russia, exactly 100 years after the Bolshevik Revolution, the world is on the verge of a new great war. An unfinished skyscraper looms on the horizon, casting an emblematic shadow over a society about to collapse. With breathtaking sci-fi imagery, this wildly strange magical realistic film interweaves the stories of seven individuals, from an architect to a Kyrgyz laborer, as it explores a dystopian dreamscape.
Underground Fragrance (Di Xia Xiang)
USA PREMIERE
Country: China, France
Director: Di Xia Xiang
Synopsis: On the rapidly urbanizing outskirts of Beijing, Yong Le spends his days scouring homes scheduled for demolition for furniture to pawn and his nights in the sub-basement of a high-rise apartment building. After an accident blinds him, a nightclub dancer, hoping to secure a day job with a real estate developer, nurses him back to health. Produced by Tsai Ming-Liang, the film adapts his signature meditative social realism, revealing a world in which everyone, literally and figuratively, is looking to move up.
Why a Film About Michele De Lucchi? (Perché un film su Michele De Lucchi)
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Country: Italy
Director: Alessio Bozzer
Synopsis: A portrait of the famous radical Italian designer and progenitor of the Maker Movement, this informative, playful documentary traces Michele De Lucchi’s personal experiments and provocations. With De Lucchi serving as his own narrator, the film examines his pioneering achievements with the design movement Memphis, including the stripped-down “First Chair,” the Oceanic Lamp, and a spectacular LED-lit bridge in Tbilisi, Georgia.
ARCHITECTS ON FILM
The Hawks and the Sparrows
Country: Italy (1966)
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Featured Architect: Xavier Wrona, founder of the architecture office Est-ce ainsi, a structure working to refocus the architectural practice on its political consequences and its possible participation in the reform of “vivre ensemble.”
Synopsis: In this whimsical fable from the legendary Italian director, an old man (played by the famous Keaton-esque clown Toto) walks along the dusty road of life with his empty-headed son. Joined by a philosophical crow, who asks probing questions about existence, father and son witness the complex contradictions of Italian life, from Christianity vs. Marxism, Church vs. State.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
Country: USA (1991)
Directors: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper
Featured Architect: Eric Ellingsen is currently teaching at the School of the Art Institute (SAIC) and has a practice called species of space.
Synopsis: This eye-opening documentary examines the outrageous behind-the-scenes making of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 classic Apocalypse Now. With rarely seen archival footage shot by Coppola’s wife, the film recounts how events on the Philippines-set production soon resembled the madness recounted in the story. Over-budget, with cast and crew bordering on the edge of insanity, the film is a revealing look at the extraordinary lengths that some will go to make their art.
Waste Land
Country: USA (2010)
Director: Lucy Walker
Featured Architect: Emmanuel Pratt, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Sweet Water Foundation and founding member of axilL3C. He is also Director of Aquaponics for Chicago State University and teaches courses within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Synopsis: This Oscar-nominated documentary follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to the world’s largest garbage dump in his native Brazil. There, he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”-people who scrounge for recyclable materials. As he collaborates with these inspiring characters to recreate photographs of themselves, Waste Land offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.
Screening 1: Wed, Nov 18; 6:00pm
Note: This is a FREE event held at the Chicago Cultural Center
My Winnipeg
Country: USA (2007)
Director: Guy Madden
Featured Architect: Design With Company’s co-founders Stewart Hicks and Allison Newmeyer, who are also assistant professors at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Synopsis: A self-described “docu-fantasia,” this rollicking cinematic poem charts the not-exactly-true goings-on in the birthplace of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World). Brazenly blurring the borders of nonfiction and dream, Maddin recounts his return to his childhood home, revisiting key moments from his adolescence and his city’s history (from a semi-nude civic pride event to a jazz-age séance ballet!) My Winnipeg is a wild ride of remembrance, place, and imagination.
Screening 1: Wed, Nov 4; 6:00pm
Note: This is a FREE event held at the Chicago Cultural Center
The Wiz
Country: USA (1978)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Featured Architect: Amanda Williams whose work centers on color, race, and space. She uses vivid, culturally derived colors to paint abandoned houses on Chicago’s South Side, marking the pervasiveness of undervalued Black space. Accolades include a 3Arts Award, a Joyce Foundation scholarship, and a Robert James Eidlitz Fellowship in Ethiopia.
Synopsis: The film version of the popular Broadway musical retells the events of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” through the eyes of Dorothy, a young African-American kindergarten teacher (Diana Ross) who’s “never been below 125th Street.” On her journey down the yellow brick road of ’70s Manhattan, she encounters a garbage-stuffed scarecrow (Michael Jackson), a broken-down tin man (Nipsey Russell), and a cowardly lion (Ted Ross) posing as a stone statue outside a museum. Together, they seek out the Wiz (Richard Pryor), a powerful wizard living in Emerald City who may be able to help Dorothy get home.
Screening 1: Wed, Dec 9; 6:00pm
Note: This is a FREE event held at the Chicago Cultural Center; featuring a conversation with Jacqueline Stewart, Professor in the University of Chicago’s Department of Cinema and Media Studies. Stewart’s research and teaching explore African American film cultures from the origins of the medium to the present, as well as the archiving and preservation of moving images, and “orphan” media histories, including nontheatrical, amateur, and activist film and video. She directs the South Side Home Movie Project and is co-curator of the L.A. Rebellion Preservation Project at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. She also serves as an appointee to the National Film Preservation Board. She is currently researching the racial politics of moving image preservation and is also completing a study of the life and work of African American actor/writer/director Spencer Williams.
Voices of Cabrini
Country: USA (1999)
Director: Ronit Bezalel
Featured Architect: Andres Hernandez, an artist-designer-educator who works with youth and adults to interpret, critique, and re-imagine the physical, social and cultural environments we inhabit.
Synopsis: Shot over a four-year period, this gripping documentary chronicles the demolition of Cabrini Green, Chicago’s most infamous housing development. Told sympathetically from the perspectives of the people being uprooted, the film shows the startling evictions of longtime residents from the city’s mid-city ghetto. A sobering look at “city planning” at work, Voices of Cabrini is a valuable historical look at a city in transition-and those left behind.
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JAMES WHITE to Chicago Premiere at Chicago International Film Festival, James Mond, Christopher Abbott to Receive Emerging Artist Award
The 51st Chicago International Film Festival Junior Board will present the U.S. independent feature film James White as their Junior Board Night at the Festival on Saturday, October 17, 2015; and will present the Festival’s Emerging Artist Award to both director Josh Mond and actor Christopher Abbott.
In this Sundance-winning drama directed by Josh Mond (producer of Martha Marcy May Marlene and Simon Killer), James White is an emotionally unstable young New Yorker processing the recent death of his long-absent father. His mother, a cancer survivor who raised him from a young age, falls terminally ill. With an immersive filmmaking style putting us inside James’s head, the raw, affecting film features a revelatory lead performance from Christopher Abbott (Girls), with Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) as his ailing mother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1aVC6LJ3uc
“We are very excited that the Junior Board has selected these amazing young talents for their Emerging Artist Award,” said Anthony Kaufman, Programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival. “In his first feature as a director, Josh Mond has crafted a remarkably assured dramatic film, which is made all the more visceral and moving by Christopher Abbott’s riveting performance.”
The Chicago International Film Festival’s Junior Board is a diverse group of young, working professionals dedicated to fundraising and volunteering to support the Festival’s year-round Education Program. Along with year-round screenings and special events, Junior Board Night reflects the Board’s passion and enthusiasm for the Festival and its mission. Previous Junior Board Night films have included The Sessions (Ben Lewin) and Low Down (Jeff Preiss).
“The Junior Board works throughout the year as ambassadors of the Festival, and Junior Board Night is one of our most highly anticipated events. We look forward to welcoming Josh and Christopher to Chicago, sharing their film with our audiences and celebrating them for their work,” says Hanna Soltys, Junior Board President.
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OLIVER’S DEAL, INCORRUPTIBLE Win Top Awards at 2015 Woodstock Film Festival
OLIVER’S DEAL, directed by Barney Elliott (pictured above) won the Maverick Award for Best Feature Narrative, and INCORRUPTIBLE, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi won the Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary at the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival which ran Wednesday, September 30, through Sunday, October 4, 2015.
The Awards Ceremony was held Saturday night, with Academy Award® winning actress Melissa Leo on hand to help celebrate the talent at this year’s festival, including honorary award recipients Atom Egoyan and Guy Maddin, two of Canada’s most celebrated filmmakers. Guy Maddin presented Atom Egoyan with the Honorary Maverick Award, and Atom Egoyan then presented Guy Maddin with the second annual Fiercely Independent Award.
This year’s ceremony also featured the introduction of two inaugural awards, the Carpe Diem Andretta Award, presented to Waffle Street, and the World Cinema Competition, presented to Meet Me In Venice.
2015 Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards
The Maverick Award for BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE was presented by jurors Themla Adams, Stephen Lang, and Joana Vincente to:
OLIVER’S DEAL, directed by Barney Elliott
Honorable Mention was presented to: IT HAD TO BE YOU, directed by Sasha Gordon
The Maverick Award for BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY was presented by jurors Simon Kilmurry, Alan Berliner, and Sara Bernstein to:
INCORRUPTIBLE, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“This remarkable film traces a journey from idealism to corruption in one of Africa’s oldest democracies, asking the question – is power an inherently corrupting influence? What the leaders of the country do not count on is that — in the end — it is the people of Senegal who turn out to be incorruptible. Through unprecedented access to all the players, filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi weaves a complex and thrilling picture of a country at the precipice.” – 2015 Woodstock Film Festival Jury
Honorable Mention was presented to THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, directed by Holly Morris, Co-directed by Anne Bogart
“A lyrical, poetic portrait of an unknown group of women in a forgotten land. The Babushkas of Chernobyl live mostly alone, in the shadow of the world’s largest nuclear meltdown, surrounded by huge amounts of invisible radiation contamination. Strong and independent, their indelible ties to their homes trumps any health risk to which they might be exposed. A beautifully crafted documentary, this film does what documentaries do best – transport us to an unknown world and introduce us to extraordinary people we might never meet.” – 2015 Woodstock Film Festival Jury
The Maverick Award for BEST ANIMATION was presented by jurors Signe Baumane and Linda Beck to:
THE FIVE MINUTE MUSUEM, directed by Paul Bush
Honorable Mention was presented to RELIGATIO, directed by Jaime Giraldo
The Markertek Award for BEST SHORT NARRATIVE was presented by Benjamin Scott, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Nancy Collet to:
STANHOPE, directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim
Honorable Mention was presented to WELCOME (BIENVENIDOS), directed by Javier Fesser
The Markertek Award for BEST STUDENT SHORT FILM was presented by jurors David F. Schwartz, Isil Bagdadi, and Marjoe Aquilling to:
AGAINST NIGHT, directed by Stefan Kubicki
The Markertek Award for BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY was presented by jurors Hugo Perez, Cynthia Kane, and Jedd Wider to:
ALL ABOUT AMY, directed by Samuel Centore
Honorable Mention was presented to NANEEK, directed by Neal Steeno
The Haskell Wexler Award for BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY was presented with a special introduction by Haskell Wexler to:
BOB AND THE TREES, directed by Diego Ongaro, with cinematography by Chris Teague and Danny Vecchione
James Lyons Award for BEST EDITING of a FEATURE NARRATIVE was presented by jurors Meg Reticker and Sabine Hoffman to:
OLIVER’S DEAL, directed by Barney Elliott and edited by J.L. Romeu & Roberto Benavides
Honorable Mention was presented to TOUCHED WITH FIRE, directed by Paul Dalio and edited by Paul Dalio & Lee Percy
James Lyons Award for BEST EDITING of a FEATURE DOCUMENTARY was presented by jurors Sabine Hoffman, Katherine Barnier, and Michael Berenbaum to:
THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, directed by Holly Morris and edited by Michael Taylor, Richard Howard, and Mary Manhardt
Honorable Mention was presented to I WILL NOT BE SILENCED, directed by Judy Rymer and edited by Paul Hamilton
ULTRA INDIE AWARD was presented by jurors Lori Singer and Leah Meyerhoff to:
LAMB, directed by Ross Partridge
Honorable Mention was presented to BOB AND THE TREES, directed by Diego Ongaro
TANGERINE ENTERTAINMENT JUICE AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE FEATURE DIRECTOR was presented by jurors Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell to:
Linda-Maria Birbeck, director of THERE SHOULD BE RULES
CARPE DIEM AWARD ANDRETTA AWARD FOR BEST FILM was presented by Lauri and Jim Andretta to: WAFFLE STREET, directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms
WORLD CINEMA AWARD was presented by jurors Claude Dal Farra and Lucy Barzun Donnelly to: MEET ME IN VENICE, directed by Eddy Terstall
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE was presented to Roberta Petzoldt (Meet Me in Venice)
FIERCELY INDEPENDENT AWARD was presented by Atom Egoyan to: GUY MADDIN
HONORARY MAVERICK AWARD was presented by Guy Maddin to: ATOM EGOYAN