UGLY
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) celebrating its 14th year will kick off with the Opening Night Gala film: Anurag Kashyap’s UGLY, described as a sensational tale of corruption, indifference, and systemic violence that begins when a 10-year-old daughter of an aspiring actor disappears. The festival will run May 5 to 10, 2014 in New York City.
Gia Coppola’s feature debut – the teen-centered drama Palo Alto, starring Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer and James Franco has been selected as Centerpiece presentation of the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24–May 8). Palo Alto is adapted from Franco’s book Palo Alto Stories. The Festival’s Centerpiece is designed to showcase talented young directors with their latest film. Writer-director Gia Coppola is expected to attend the screening.
Begin Again
John Carney’s Begin Again (USA 2013), John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary (Ireland/UK 2014) and Charlie McDowell’s The One I Love (USA 2014) have been added to the film schedule for the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24–May 8).
The Los Angeles Film Festival announced the North American Premiere of Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer as the opening night film of the 2014 festival, which runs June 11 to June 19, 2014. The film’s release is set for June 27th from RADiUS-TWC.
“Snowpiercer is a wild ride and a spectacular way to open the 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Film Festival which is dedicated to the visionary spirit of L.A. that inspires artists around the world,” said Stephanie Allain, Festival Director.
Belle, directed by Amma Asante
The Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) announced its film line-up for the 19th edition, taking place April 3 to 10, 2014. Opening Night kicks off with Belle, directed by Amma Asante. The film, which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Emily Watson, Tom Felton, Sam Reid and Tom Wilkinson, is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar’s son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield’s role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England.
Chef from Jon Favreau has been selected as the opening night film of the Montclair Film Festival which runs April 28 to May 4, 2014 in Montclair, New Jersey. Chef, which had its World Premiere last month at the SXSW Film Festival, also screens as part of the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival in New York City later this month. Favreau wrote, directed and stars in the comedy film that also features Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo,Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey Jr. Favreau plays Carl, a chef who loses his job and decides to launch a food truck business, while attempting to reunite his estranged family.
Check out the official poster and trailer for the Afghanistan war documentary, The Hornet’s Nest, directed by Christian Tureaud and David Salzberg, and scheduled to be released nationally in theaters on May 23rd, 2014. Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history. Mike and Carlos Boettcher are the only reporters devoted to full time coverage of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. They began their embed with U.S. forces in August 2008.
The film is described as the story of an elite group of U.S. troops sent on a dangerous mission deep inside one of Afghanistan’s most hostile valleys, told through the narrative of Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos attempting to reconnect under unimaginable circumstances, who are assigned to cover the conflict for one of the United States’ major broadcast networks.
Three films, THE CONTEST, directed by Martin Miehe-Renard, REGRET, directed by Dave Schram, and WINDSTORM, directed by Katja von Garnier, have been nominated for the EFA (European Film Academy) Young Audience Award 2014. On Young Audience Film Day on 4 May, the three nominated films will be screened to a audiences of 12 – 14 year-olds in 17 cities across Europe. And it is the young audience that will act as a jury and vote for the winner right after the screenings.
Tony Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated director Julie Taymor will be the FIRST TIME FEST’S 2014 John Huston Award For Achievement In Cinema recipient, announced FTF Co-Founders Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward. Ms. Taymor will also be represented in the Fest’s ‘First Exposure’ Retrospective Program where she will attend to present and discuss with the audience her first feature film, Titus.
by Francesca McCaffery
John Maloof and his brother were raised working at outdoor flea markets and swap meets with their father…From a very early age, John Maloof could spot a deal. When working on a book about the history of Chicago, he attended an Auction at a small auctioneer’s store, sitting quietly in the back, and bidded a mere $780 for a box containing over 25,000 negatives shot by an unknown, female photographer. A savvy veteran of these auctions, and now a real estate agent and local historian, he was looking for photos and negatives of old-time Chicago, he was hoping to get a little lucky. He ended up purchasing, for even less money, tens of thousands of more negs and rolls of film, as well as most of her rmaining personal possessions from storage, from another buyer. All of these images had been taken by a woman named Vivian Maier.
As his life and work on the Chicago book took over, Maloof ended up simply stashing away the old boxes in a closet for a long while. Dusting them off one day, hunting again for some random, still images of Chicago, he began to discover some of the most insightful, gorgeous and timely images of street photography he had ever seen. Entranced by the glorious, black and white stills, and in possession of a sophisticated artistic instinct and taste, he then set about to find out, exactly, just who this Vivian Maeir woman really was.
By Francesca McCaffery
Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol 2, picks right up where Nymphomaniac, Vol 1 left off: the Young Joe (Stacy Martin) is in the midst of her relationship with her once long lost true love, Jerôme (Shia LaBeouf). (Here is my review on Vol 1 here.)
The problem is, the sexually rapacious Joe had, in her own words, “Lost all feeling in my cunt.” Her genuine fillings for Jerome have left her unable to enjoy sexual intercourse with Jerôme. They keep trying unsuccessfully to get Joe off, until finally, an exhausted Jerôme declares that she’s like a wild animal, and well, he needs some “help with the feeding.”
Charleston International Film Festival unveiled its 2014 workshop schedule, which includes a session with esteemed casting directors Laray Mayfield (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Laura Verbeke (Flight of the Conchords), as well as actor and former professional athlete Ed Marinaro (Hill Street Blues, Blue Mountain State).
The four workshops planned for the seventh annual festival this April 9th – 13th feature insight and advice from the best in the business on topics ranging from casting and acting to video editing and virtual cinematography. As always, these valuable sessions are free and open to the public.