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“Boyhood” Leads with 6 Nominations for 2014 Online Film Critics Society Awards

Awards

Boyhood

The Online Film Critics Society announced the nominees for the 18th annual OFCS awards for excellence in film. “Boyhood” lead the field with 6 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Richard Linklater. Other nominees for Best Picture include “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Ida,” “The Lego Movie,” “Mommy,” “Nightcrawler,” “Selma,” “Two Days, One Night,” “Whiplash,” and “Under the Skin.” The 2014 OFCS award winners will be announced on Monday, December 15th.

Founded in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society is the largest and oldest organization of its kind, and a key catalyst in the expansion of Internet-based film journalism. The OFCS represents over 275 members worldwide.

Past OFCS Awards winners that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture include “12 Years a Slave,” “Argo,” “The Hurt Locker,” “American Beauty,” and “No Country for Old Men.”

Best Picture

Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
The Lego Movie
Mommy
Nightcrawler
Selma
Two Days, One Night
Whiplash
Under the Skin

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best Film Not in the English Language

Ida
The Missing Picture
Mommy
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Two Days, One Night

Best Documentary

Citizenfour
Life Itself
The Missing Picture
National Gallery
The Overnighters

Best Director

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne – Two Days, One Night
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor

Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Brendan Gleeson – Calvary
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Timothy Spall – Mr. Turner

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Essie Davis – The Babadook
Anne Dorval – Mommy
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Suzanne Clément – Mommy
Agata Kulesza – Ida
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Best Original Screenplay

Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
Two Days, One Night
Whiplash

Best Adapted Screenplay

Gone Girl
Inherent Vice
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin
We Are the Best!

Best Editing

Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash

Best Cinematography

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Under the Skin

Best Non-U.S. Release (non-competitive category)

’71
10,000 km
Entre Nós
Han Gong-ju
Hard to Be a God
The Look of Silence
The Salt of the Earth
What We Do in the Shadows
Timbuktu
The Tribe
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Palm Springs International Film Festival to Honor David Oyelowo, Richard Linklater, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, J.K. Simmons, Reese Witherspoon

Palm Springs International Film Festival

The 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) which runs January 2 to 12, 2015, will present awards to David Oyelowo, Richard Linklater, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, J.K. Simmons, Reese Witherspoon and the cast of The Imitation Game. Hosted by Mary Hart, the Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 3, 2015, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo will be presented with the Breakthrough Performance Award, for his critically acclaimed performance as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Selma is described as the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history. The Paramount Pictures film is directed by Ava DuVernay and stars Oyelowo, Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, with Tim Roth and Oprah Winfrey, who also serves as a producer.

In addition to Selma, David Oyelowo appeared in several other films this year including A Most Violent Year, Interstellar, and Default. His other credits include Lee Daniel’s The Butler, Lincoln, The Middle of Nowhere, Jack Reacher, The Paperboy, Complicit, Red Tails, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Help, 96 Minutes, The Last King of Scotland, among many others. His upcoming film projects are Captive, Nightingale, Nina and Five Nights in Maine.

The Imitation Game

The Festival will present its Ensemble Performance Award to the film The Imitation Game. The award will honor the film’s cast, which includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance and Mark Strong.

During the winter of 1952, British authorities entered the home of mathematician, cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to investigate a reported burglary. They instead ended up arresting Turing himself on charges of ‘gross indecency’, an accusation that would lead to his devastating conviction for the criminal offense of homosexuality – little did officials know, they were actually incriminating the pioneer of modern-day computing. Famously leading a motley group of scholars, linguists, chess champions and intelligence officers, he was credited with cracking the so-called unbreakable codes of Germany’s World War II Enigma machine. An intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant, complicated man, The Imitation Game follows a genius who under nail-biting pressure helped to shorten the war and, in turn, save thousands of lives. The Weinstein Company film is directed by Morten Tyldum with a screenplay by Graham Moore.

Reese Witherspoon

Academy Award® winning actress Reese Witherspoon will be presented with the Chairman’s Award for Wild. In Wild, director Jean-Marc Vallée, Witherspoon and Academy Award nominated screenwriter Nick Hornby bring bestselling author Cheryl Strayed’s extraordinary adventure to the screen. After years of reckless behavior, a heroin addiction and the destruction of her marriage, Strayed makes a rash decision. Haunted by memories of her mother Bobbi (Academy Award nominee Laura Dern) and with absolutely no experience, she sets out to hike more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail all on her own. Wildpowerfully reveals her terrors and pleasures –as she forges ahead on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her. Fox Searchlight Pictures presents, a Pacific Standard production,Wild starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, Kevin Rankin, W. Earl Brown, Mo McRae, Keene McRae. In addition to starring in Wild, Witherspoon also produced the film through her Pacific Standard Films banner, optioning the rights to Strayed’s memoir prior to its release.

This year, in addition to Wild, Reese Witherspoon appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice and Philippe Falardeau’s The Good Lie, and through her production banner Pacific Standard Films, set up the adaptation of the bestselling novel Gone Girl. Her other film credits include Mud, Water for Elephants,Election, Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, Vanity Fair, Pleasantville and The Man in the Moon. In 2006, her performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, earned her the Academy Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role,’ as well as the BAFTA Award, Golden Globe® Award, Screen Actors Guild Award™, New York Film Critics Award, Broadcast Film Critics Award, People’s Choice Award, along with eleven other awards.

Richard Linklater

Two-time Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater will be presented with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award. Linklater wrote, produced and directed Boyhood, a film about growing up as seen through the eyes of a boy named Mason (in a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents, and Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, Boyhood charts the rocky terrain of childhood, parenting and growing up. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners, to birthdays and graduations, and all the moments in between are set to a soundtrack spanning the years with music from Coldplay, Paul McCartney and Arcade Fire. The film, which was produced by Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring and John Sloss, was released by IFC Films.

Linklater’s list of film credits include Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Waking Life, Tape,School of Rock, Before Sunset (which earned him an Academy Award® nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay), A Scanner Darkly, Bernie, and Before Midnight (which earned him a second Academy Award® nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay). Linklater also serves as the Artistic Director for the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985.

Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike will be presented with the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actress. From the tour de force thriller that became a bestselling must-read comes David Fincher’s screen version of Gone Girl, a wild ride through our modern media culture and down into the deep, dark fault lines of an American marriage – in all its unreliable promises, inescapable deceits and pitch-black comedy. The screenplay is by Gillian Flynn based upon her novel. The Twentieth Century Fox film stars Ben Affleck with Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry.

Rosamund Pike was nominated for a 2011 London Critics’ Circle Award for “British Actress in a Supporting Role” for her role in Made in Dagenham. For Barney’s Version Pike earned a 2011 London Critics’ Circle Award for “British Actress of the Year” and a Genie Award nomination for best actress. Pike’s other film credits include An Education, The World’s End, Jack Reacher, Wrath of the Titans,Johnny English Reborn, The Big Year, Women in Love, The Libertine, Pride and Prejudice, Fracture, Fugitive Pieces, Surrogates, Burning Palms, What We Did on Our Holiday, Hector and the Search for Happiness, A Long Way Down and Die Another Day.

J.K. Simmons

J.K. Simmons will be presented with the Spotlight Award, Actor. In Whiplash, Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band, forever changing the young man’s life. Andrew’s passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability—and his sanity. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, the Sony Pictures Classics film stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.

J.K. Simmons has appeared in diverse projects spanning motion pictures, television and the stage on and off Broadway. His motion picture credits include Sam Raimi’s Spider Man trilogy, Hidalgo, The Ladykillers, The Mexican, Off the Map, For Love of the Game, The Gift, Thank You for Smoking,Rendition, Burn After Reading, Juno, The Words, The Music Never Stopped, Jennifer’s Body, Extract, The Vicious Kind, I Love You Man, Beginner’s Guide to Endings, Contraband, Up in the Air, Jobs, Labor Day. His upcoming projects include The Reluctant Professor opposite Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei, Gillian Raimi’s next feature Murder of a Cat and Jeremy Sisto’s feature Breakpoint.

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress. In her latest film Still Alice, Moore plays Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, and is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she received diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Alice and her family find their bonds thoroughly tested. Her struggle to stay connected to who she once was is frightening, heartbreaking and inspiring. The Sony Pictures Classics film stars Moore, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Alec Baldwin, Hunter Parrish and is directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. The film is being released in New York and Los Angeles for a one-week qualifying run on December 5, 2014 and opens on January 16, 2015

Moore’s notable films include the remake of Carrie; Non-Stop; Crazy, Stupid, Love; The Kids Are All Right; A Single Man; The Forgotten; What Maisie Knew; The English Teacher; Laws Of Attraction; Chloe; 6 Souls; Blindness; Savage Grace; I’m Not There; Children Of Men; Hannibal; Jurassic Park: The Lost World; The Fugitive; Nine Months; Benny & Joon; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle; The End Of The Affair; Boogie Nights; Magnolia; Cookie’s Fortune; Short Cuts; Don Jon; Gus Van Sant’s re-make ofPsycho; Safe; Vanya On 42nd Street; Surviving Picasso; and The Big Lebowski. Moore will next be seen as President Alma Coin in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Next year she will star in The Seventh Sondue out on February 6, 2015 and Maps To The Stars. She is currently in production on the indie drama Freeheld.

Eddie Redmayne

Eddie Redmayne will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, currently seen in In The Theory of Everything. The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary and uplifting story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, and of two people defying the steepest of odds through love. The Focus Features release, based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking, is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (Man on Wire). The film stars Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, and David Thewlis.

Eddie Redmayne’s film credits include Les Misérables, My Week with Marilyn, Savage Grace, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Like Minds, The Yellow Handkerchief, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Good Shepherd. His stage work includes Red – for which he won a Tony Award – Richard II, Now or Later, and The Goat or Who is Sylvia. His notable television credits include starring in the miniseries Birdsong, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Pillars of the Earth, and Elizabeth I. Redmayne was nominated for BAFTA’s Rising Star Award and he shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with his fellow actors from Les Misérablesfor Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

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Sundance Reveals Premieres and Documentary Premieres Films + Special Events for Upcoming Festival

Sundance Film Festival

Brooklyn

Sundance Film Festival today announced the films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections, as well as the selections for a new Special Events section and participants for two panels, at the 2015 Festival taking place, January 22 to February 1 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Filmmakers in the Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections, many of whom are returning to the Festival, do not shy away from controversial, challenging and provocative subject matter. Their work enrages, engages and entertains audiences, shining a light on issues and people we thought we knew.”

In addition to those announced today, films in the U.S. and World Competitions, NEXT <=>, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier and Sundance Kids sections have been announced. An announcement of the selections for the Short Film section are forthcoming.

PREMIERES
A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.

Brooklyn / United Kingdom (Director: John Crowley, Screenwriter: Nick Hornby, based on the book by Colm Tóibín) — 1950s Ireland: Eilis must confront a terrible dilemma — a heartbreaking choice between two men and two countries, between duty and true love. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent.

Digging for Fire / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Swanberg, Screenwriters: Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg) — The discovery of a bone and a gun sends a husband and wife on separate adventures over the course of a weekend. Cast: Jake Johnson, Rosemarie Dewitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick.

Don Verdean / U.S.A. (Director: Jared Hess, Screenwriters: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess) — Biblical archaeologist Don Verdean is hired by a local church pastor to find faith-promoting relics in the Holy Land. But after a fruitless expedition he is forced to get creative in this comedy of faith and fraud. Cast: Sam Rockwell, Jemaine Clement, Amy Ryan, Danny McBride, Leslie Bibb, Will Forte.

End of the Tour / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriter: Donald Margulies) — This story of the five-day 1996 interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace explores the tenuous yet intense relationship that develops between journalist and subject. The two men bob and weave, sharing laughs and also concealing and revealing their hidden vulnerabilities. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel, Anna Chlumsky, Joan Cusack, Mamie Gummer, Ron Livingston.

Experimenter

Experimenter / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Almereyda) — Experimenter is based on the true story of famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series of radical behavior experiments that tested ordinary humans’ willingness to obey authority by using electric shock. We follow Milgram from meeting his wife through his controversial experiments that sparked public outcry. Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Kellan Lutz, Taryn Manning, John Leguizamo.

Grandma / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Paul Weitz) — Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future. Cast: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Sam Elliott.

I Am Michael / U.S.A. (Director: Justin Kelly, Screenwriters: Justin Kelly, Stacey Miller) — The controversial true story of a gay activist who rejects his homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor. Cast: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts.

I’ll See You in My Dreams / U.S.A. (Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch) — A sudden loss disrupts Carol’s orderly life, propelling her into the dating world for the first time in 20 years. Finally living in the present tense, she finds herself swept up in not one, but two unexpected relationships that challenge her assumptions about what it means to grow old.Cast: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott, Malin Akerman, June Squibb, Rhea Perlman.

Last Days in the Desert / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia) — Ewan McGregor is Jesus — and the Devil — in an imagined chapter from his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting himself up for a dramatic test. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer, Tye Sheridan.

Lila & Eve / U.S.A. (Director: Charles Stone III, Screenwriter: Patrick Gilfillan) — Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers. They soon embark on a journey of revenge, but also recovery. Cast: Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Shea Whigham, Julius Tennon, Ron Caldwell, Aml Ameen.

Mississippi Grind / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden) — Gerry is a talented poker player whose habit is getting the best of him. He convinces younger player Curtis to join him on a road trip, and they begin gambling their way towards a high-stakes game in New Orleans. During their journey, true motivations are revealed, and the two bond. Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Alfre Woodard, Robin Weigert.

Mistress America / U.S.A. (Director: Noah Baumbach, Screenwriters: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig) — Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is rescued from her solitude by her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke, an adventurous gal about town who entangles her in alluringly mad schemes. Mistress America is a comedy about dream-chasing, score-settling, makeshift families, and cat-stealing. Cast: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke.

Seoul Searching / U.S.A., Korea (Director and screenwriter: Benson Lee) — Seoul Searching is a comedy set in the ’80s about a group of foreign-born Korean teenagers who meet at a Seoul summer camp to learn what it means to be Korean. The three boys, from the U.S., Mexico, and Germany, then meet three girls who rock their world. Cast: Justin Chon, Jessika Van, In-pyo Cha, Teo Yoo, Esteban Ahn, Byul Kang.

Sleeping With Other People / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Leslye Headland) — Jake and Lainey impulsively lose their virginity to each other in college. When their paths cross twelve years later in NYC, they realize they both have become serial cheaters. Bonding over their chronic infidelity, they form a platonic friendship to support each other in their quests for healthy romantic relationships. Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Jason Mantzoukas, Natasha Lyonne.

Ten Thousand Saints / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman, Screenwriters: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini) — Based on the acclaimed novel, Ten Thousand Saints follows three lost kids and their equally lost parents as they come of age in New York’s East Village in the era of CBGB, yuppies, and the tinderbox of gentrification that exploded into the Tompkins Square Park Riot of 1988. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch.

Zipper / U.S.A. (Director: Mora Stephens, Screenwriters: Mora Stephens, Joel Viertel) — Sam Ellis is a man on the rise — a hot-shot federal prosecutor on the cusp of a bright political future. But what was meant to be a one-time experience with an escort turns into a growing addiction — a new demon threatening to destroy his life, family, and career. Cast: Patrick Wilson, Lena Headey, Richar Dreyfuss, Ray Winstone, John Cho, Dianna Agron.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
Renowned filmmakers and films about far-reaching subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries. Each is a world premiere.

Beaver Trilogy Part IV / U.S.A. (Director: Brad Besser) — A chance meeting in a parking lot in 1979 between filmmaker Trent Harris and a young man from Beaver, Utah, inspired the creation of an underground film that is now known as Beaver Trilogy. But the film itself is only part of the story.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution / U.S.A. (Director: Stanley Nelson) — This feature-length documentary tells of the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century’s most alluring and controversial organizations that captivated the world’s attention for nearly 50 years.

DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: The Story of the National Lampoon / U.S.A. (Director: Douglas Tirola) — Three Harvard graduates start the first national humor magazine for adults, launching the careers of some of Hollywood’s most legendary talent. But success and excess among its brilliant and subversive contributors begins to challenge its existence.

Fresh Dressed / U.S.A. (Director: Sacha Jenkins) — The history of hip-hop fashion from its birth in the South Bronx to its rise as a billion-dollar global industry, Fresh Dressed is supported by rich archival materials, in-depth interviews with individuals crucial to the evolution, and the outsiders who study and admire them.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) — Going Clear intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.

In Football We Trust / U.S.A. (Directors: Tony Vainuku, Erika Cohn) — Four young Polynesian football players struggle to overcome gang violence and poverty as they enter the high-stakes world of recruiting, competitive athletics and family pressures.

The Hunting Ground / U.S.A. (Director: Kirby Dick) — From the makers of The Invisible War comes a startling exposé of rape crimes on U.S. campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and brutal social toll. Weaving together verite footage and first-person testimonies, the film follows survivors as they pursue their education and justice — despite harsh retaliation, harassment, and pushback.

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Brett Morgen) — Kurt Cobain, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Nirvana, remains an icon 20 years after his death. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is a raw and visceral journey through Cobain’s life and his career with Nirvana through the lens of his home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, and journals.

The Mask You Live In / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Siebel Newsom) — Is there a “boy crisis” in America? Is our male population suffering due to our emphasis on power, dominance, and aggression? The Mask You Live In explores how our narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys, men, and society at large and unveils what we can do about it.

Most Likely to Succeed / U.S.A. (Director: Greg Whiteley) — Our current education system is attempting to teach and test skills, that even when mastered, leaves graduates woefully unprepared for the 21st century. This feature-length documentary examines what sort of educational environment is most likely to prepare students for a world changing exponentially.

Prophet’s Prey / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Berg) — When Warren Jeffs rose to prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he bridged the gap between sister wives and ecclesiastically justified rape, befuddling the moral compass of his entire congregation.

Tig / U.S.A. (Directors: Kristina Goolsby, Ashley York, Screenwriter: Jennifer Arnold) — This documentary explores comedian Tig Notaro’s extraordinary journey as her life unfolds in grand and unexpected ways, all while she is battling a life-threatening illness and falling in love.

What Happened, Miss Simone? / U.S.A. (Director: Liz Garbus) — Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon, and legendary recording artist Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius, and tortured melancholy. This astonishing epic interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare footage, creating an unforgettable portrait of one of our least understood, most beloved artists. DAY ONE FILM

SPECIAL EVENTS
One-of-a-kind moments highlighting new independent works that add to the unique Festival experience. An evolving section, this year includes episodic work, short films and live performance.

Animals. / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Phil Matarese, Mike Luciano) — Animals. is an independently produced animated series that focuses on the downtrodden creatures native to Earth’s least habitable environment: New York City. Whether it’s lovelorn rats, gender-questioning pigeons, or aging bed bugs in the midst of a mid-life crisis, the awkward small talk, moral ambiguity, and existential woes of non-human urbanites prove startlingly similar to our own. Cast: Phil Matarese, Mike Luciano, Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton, Nick Kroll, Rob Corddry. World Premiere. FOLLOWED BY A CONVERSATION with the creative team of Animals.: Mark Duplass, Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano. They will discuss how their unique project came to light as well as the changing landscape of episodic storytelling in the digital era.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Jarecki, Screenwriters: Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Zac Stuart-Pontier) — Robert Durst, scion of New York’s billionaire real estate family, has been accused of three murders but never convicted. Brilliant, reclusive, and the subject of relentless media scrutiny, he’s never spoken publicly–until now. During interviews with Andrew Jarecki, Durst reveals secrets that have baffled authorities for 30 years. Cast: Robert Durst, Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Zac Stuart-Pontier, Dick DeGuerin, Cody Cazalas. World Premiere

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Misery Loves Comedy / U.S.A. (Director: Kevin Pollak, Screenwriters: Kevin Pollak, John Varhous) — Do you have to be miserable to be funny? Children cry, “Hey, look at me,” but who turns that into a profession? Over 50 funny people, like Tom Hanks, Larry David, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, and Amy Schumer share pain-filled insights from a life in pursuit of laughter.Cast: Tom Hanks, Larry David, Amy Schumer, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Jim Gaffigan. World Premiere

The Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge — An international shorts program designed to spark global conversation highlighting human ingenuity and imaginative solutions real people are creating to overcome challenges like extreme hunger and poverty. Filmmakers include Sundance Institute alumni Gael Garcia Bernal, Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Diego Luna, Marialy Rivas, and six storytellers from around the world. Presented with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Way of the Rain / U.S.A. (Creative Director: Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Collaborators: Will Calhoun, Dave Eggar, Chuck Palmer, Desmond Richardson, Ron Saint Germain, Steve Cohen, Floyd Thomas McBee III) — A live multidisciplinary performance art inspired by the annual monsoon rains that sustain life on the fragile high desert plateaus of the southwest. Conceived by environmental artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford and world-renowned artistic collaborators, this unique work comes to life through paintings, music, dance, film, light and spoken word. Special Guest Appearances: Sussan Deyhim, Marc Roberge, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Robert Redford. LIVE PERFORMANCE

“POWER OF STORY” PANELS
The Festival’s “Power of Story” panel series deepens public engagement with storytelling, explores cinema culture and celebrates artists whose work pushes the form. These events will be live streamed on sundance.org.

Power of Story: Serious Ladies — The range of three-dimensional female characters on film and television suggest a sea change in the cultural zeitgeist. Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling, Jenji Kohan, Kristen Wiig and New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum discuss anti-heroes and archetypes, using humor to push boundaries and how far art can go in exploring truths.

Power of Story: Visions of Independence — Kicking off “Art of Film,” a new program celebrating the craft of filmmaking, join Robert Redford and George Lucas — two iconic filmmakers who epitomize the spirit of independence in American cinema — in conversation with critic Leonard Maltin.

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Netflix to Release Nina Simone Documentary

Documentary

Netflix will release a documentary on singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone, titled, “What Happened, Miss Simone?,” directed by Academy Award(R) nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA and Bobby Fischer Against the World). The film was produced in cooperation with the Estate of Nina Simone, and will premiere exclusively in all territories where Netflix is available in 2015.

“In What Happened, Miss Simone?, Liz Garbus paints a brave and provocative picture of Nina Simone – artist, civil rights activist and heroine – in a film that we’ve loved from day one and are proud to bring to our viewers around the world.” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of Original Documentary Programming.”

“I’m thrilled that Netflix has embraced the incredible story of Nina Simone and partnered with RadicalMedia on this film,” said director Liz Garbus. “For each of her millions of fans, Nina feels like a treasured secret. With What Happened, Miss Simone?, I’m excited to help bring her passion, her music, and her story to the world.”

http://youtu.be/7jgHOcXTr50

Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon and legendary recording artist, Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius, and tortured melancholy. In this epic documentary, director Liz Garbus interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare archival footage together with Nina’s most memorable songs, to create an unforgettable portrait of one of the least understood, yet most beloved, artists of our time.

The film uses never-before-heard audio tapes, recorded over the course of three decades, of Nina telling her life story to various interviewers and would-be biographers. From over 100 hours of these recordings, What Happened, Miss Simone? weaves together Nina’s narrative, told largely in her own words. Rare concert footage and archival interviews, along with diaries, letters, interviews with Nina’s daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, friends and collaborators, along with other exclusive materials, make this the most authentic, personal, and unflinching telling of the extraordinary life of one of the 20th Century’s greatest recording artists.

“Throughout her life, Nina used her powerful voice to entertain, effect change and inspire anyone who’s ever listened to one of her songs,” said Justin Wilkes, President of Media + Entertainment at RadicalMedia and a producer of the film. “It’s only fitting that Nina will once again use her voice to enchant a new generation of fans by taking center stage in the telling of her own story.”

Academy Award(R)-nominated director Liz Garbus is a leading US documentary filmmaker and cofounder of Moxie Firecracker Films, under which she has produced over 15 films. Recent works include Love, Marilyn; the Emmy(R)-nominated Bobby Fischer Against the World; There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane and Girlhood. Her first film, The Farm: Angola, USA, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Oscar(R), and won two Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Whistler Film Festival Announces 2014 Winners; FÉLIX AND MEIRA Wins Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature

Whistler Film Festival

FÉLIX AND MEIRA

Whistler Film Festival announced the winners of the 14th annual Festival, and FÉLIX AND MEIRA, by Canadian director Maxime Giroux, won the 11th edition of the prestigious Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature Film. This unusual love story, between a lonely francophone man in Montreal and the married Hasidic Jewish mother to whom he feels a connection, uncover themes of tradition, loneliness and desire, making for strange bedfellows in this contemporary Canadian tale of longing. FÉLIX AND MEIRA had its Western Canadian premiere at the festival and stars Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron and Luzer Twersky.

The Borsos Jury commented, “It was a very eclectic and diverse group of films this year, which made for a deep and interesting deliberation. After thoughtful consideration, we came to a unanimous decision to award FÉLIX AND MEIRA with the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature.” Now in its 11th year, the Borsos Competition is the second largest festival prize for a Canadian film in the country. The competition is named after the legendary Canadian filmmaker Phillip Borsos, and is presented by the Directors Guild of Canada, BC, and supported by Telefilm Canada and Encore Vancouver.

http://youtu.be/P8CeBCNrwvU

FÉLIX AND MEIRA adds to its WFF accolades, receiving Best Screenplay, and awarding Maxime Giroux with Best Borsos Director. Hadas Yaron, the lead in FÉLIX AND MEIRA, also won WFF’s Best Performance in a Borsos Competition Film Award this year.

The other 2014 Borsos Competition finalists were: AFTER THE BALL, dir: Sean Garrity (World Premiere); BANG BANG BABY, dir: Jeffrey St. Jules (Western Canadian Premiere); MOUNTAIN MEN, dir: Cameron Labine (World Premiere); RELATIVE HAPPINESS, dir: Deanne Foley (Western Canadian Premiere); and THE WOLVES (Les Loups), dir: Sophie Deraspe (World Premiere).

THE BACKWARD CLASS directed by Madeleine Grant

The World Documentary Award presented by Tribute.ca was awarded to THE BACKWARD CLASS directed by Madeleine Grant. The thoughtful documentary examines the first graduating class of a special private school for promising low-caste children in India. After thirteen years of living away from their impoverished families, they nervously prepare to write national ISC high school graduation exams in competition with all the other students in India. The documentary unveils the consequences if few or none of them pass, where it will leave them, and how it will reflect on the future of the financially challenged private institution. The Jury recognized Grant for “making an inspiring and uplifting film with a purposeful message and strong artistic viewpoint.” The Jury would also like to give a honourable mention to A LIFE IN DIRTY MOVIES, a beautiful film about the art of cinema.

The Canadian ShortWork Award went to RUNNING SEASON, directed by Grayson Moore. The Jury commented: “The Running Season is a darkly comic film that captures the deadpan wit of the Cohen brothers while remaining uniquely, and proudly Canadian. Full of uncomfortable laughs and slow burning tension, the stylish and wonderfully acted film is extremely deserving of this recognition.” The jury also gave honourable mention to THE ORPHAN AND THE POLAR BEAR.

The International ShortWork Award went to THE TIDE KEEPER directed by Alyx Duncan. “Gripping, poetic, beautiful, and visually stunning, this is a lyrical allegory of someone who literally gave his life to the sea. A great example of a filmmaker who is relentlessly dedicated to a strong theme,” commented the Jury.

The ShortWork Student Award presented by Capilano University Film Centre went to GODHEAD by University of Victoria’s Connor Gaston. The Jury praised the film for “smart direction, strong visuals, framing, and great performances. This story reminded us that the people with the most special minds often go unnoticed or are dismissed the easiest. But we certainly noticed Gaston as a British Columbian filmmaker with a strong, clear voice.

The Best Mountain Culture Film Award presented by Whistler Blackcomb went to SNOWMAN, directed by the local and emerging director Mike Douglas. “Beautifully shot, with real personal issues, the decisions we make, the sacrifices, triumphs and what it means to follow our hearts. For its commitment to the mountains, the community and the snow, we have selected SNOWMAN for this award,” said the Jury.

The MPPIA Short Film Award, presented by MPPIA and Creative BC, was won by Andrew Rowe for VEHICULAR ROMANTICIDE. The completed project will have its world premiere screening at the 2015 Whistler Film Festival.

Variety’s Vice President and Executive Editor Steven Gaydos acknowledged the Variety 10 Screenwriters to Watch, six of whom were present: Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer (LOOMIS FARGO); Chris Sparling (THE SEA OF TREES); Melissa Stack (THE OTHER WOMAN); Phyllis Nagy (CAROL); Suha Arraf (VILLAGE TOUMA); Ben Schwartz (MAJOR!); Graham Moore (THE IMITATION GAME); Matt Charman (SUITE FRANCAISE); Michael Starrbury (THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE); and Taylor Sheridan (SICARIO).

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Boston Online Film Critics Association Picks “Snowpiercer” as Best Picture of 2014

Awards

Snowpiercer

The Boston Online Film Critics Association picked Snowpiercer, directed by Bong Joon-ho, and starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, and Ed Harris, as Best Picture of 2014. In this sci-fi epic from director Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Mother), a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet. The final survivors board the SNOWPIERCER, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine. When cryptic messages incite the passengers to revolt, the train thrusts full-throttle towards disaster.

Boston Online Film Critics Association

http://youtu.be/Lg01IpHg0Qo

Best Picture: Snowpiercer
Best Director: Alejandro González Iñårritu for Birdman
Best Actor: Brendan Gleeson for Calvary
Best Actor: Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton for Birdman
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton for Snowpiercer
Best Screenplay: Calvary
Best Foreign Language Film: Two Days, One Night
Best Documentary: Life Itself
Best Animated Film: The LEGO Movie
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Editing: Edge of Tomorrow
Best Original Score: Under the Skin
Best Ensemble: Birdman

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. SNOWPIERCER
2. UNDER THE SKIN
3. BOYHOOD
4. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
5. THE BABADOOK
6. TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT
7. BIRDMAN
8. CALVARY
9. INHERENT VICE
10. SELMA
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New York Film Critics Online Pick “Boyhood” as Best Film of 2014, “Life Itself” Wins Best Documentary

Awards

“Life Itself” won Best Documentary

Again, another group of film critics, pick “Boyhood” as Best Film of 2014; this time, the New York Film Critics Online picked “Boyhood” as Best Film of 2014, and Richard Linklater as Best Director. Patricia Arquette snagged the award for Best Supporting Actress, for her amazing performance in “Boyhood.” “Birdman” the other favorite film of the award season, received the awards for Best Screenplay, Best Ensemble and Best Cinematography. And in a bit of a surprise, the Roger Eberts film “Life Itself” won Best Documentary beating the perennial favorite documentary, “Citizenfour.”

New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO)

Best Picture – Boyhood
Best Director – Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Actress – Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Best Actor – Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor – J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Screenplay – Birdman
Best Ensemble – Birdman
Best Documentary – Life Itself
Best Foreign Film – Two Days, One Nights
Best Animated Feature – The LEGO Movie
Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Best Use of Music – Get on Up
Best Debut Director winner – Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Breakthrough Performance – Jack O’Connell, Unbroken and Starred Up

New York Film Critics Online Top 10:

Birdman
Boyhood
Guardians of the Galaxy
Imitation Game
Most Violent Year
Mr. Turner
Selma
Theory of Everything
Under the Skin
Whiplash
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Los Angeles Film Critics Pick “Boyhood” as Best Film of 2014, “Citizenfour” as Best Doc, “Ida” as Best Foreign Film

Awards

Boyhood

The Los Angeles Film Critics picked “Boyhood” as Best Picture of 2014 for their 40th Annual LAFCA Awards. “Boyhood” also received the awards for Best Director for Richard Linklater, Best Actress for Patricia Arquette, and Film editing for Sandra Adair. The Grand Budapest Hotel snagged the Runner-up honors for Best Picture and Best Director, plus the awards for Screenplay for Wes Anderson, and Best Production design for Adam Stockhausen. And in what is becoming a consistent trend, “Citizenfour” won the award for Best Documentary/nonfiction film, and “Ida” won for award for Best Foreign-language film.

The complete list of winners:

Picture: “Boyhood”
Runner-up: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,”

Director: Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Runner-up: Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,”

Actor: Tom Hardy, “Locke”
Runner-up: Michael Keaton, “Birdman“

Actress: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Runner-up: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice“

Supporting actor: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Runner-up: Edward Norton, “Birdman“

Supporting actress: Agata Kulesza, “Ida”
Runner-up: Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler“

Screenplay: Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,”
Runner-up: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, “Birdman“

Foreign-language film: “Ida”
Runner-up: “Winter Sleep“

Documentary/nonfiction film: “Citizenfour”
Runner-up: “Life Itself“

Animation: “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
Runner-up: “The Lego Movie“

Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Runner-up: Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner“

Production design: Adam Stockhausen, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Runner-up: Ondrej Nekvasil, “Snowpiercer“

Music/score: Jonny Greenwood, “Inherent Vice,” and Mica Levi, “Under the Skin” (tie)

Film editing: Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Runner-up: Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel“

New Generation: Ava DuVernay, “Selma“

Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video: Walter Reuben, “The David Whiting Story“

Career achievement: Gena Rowlands

Special citation: Leonard Maltin
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Boston Society of Film Critics Pick “Boyhood” as Best Film of 2014, “Citizenfour” as Best Documentary

Awards

Boyhood

The Boston Society of Film Critics has selected Boyhood as Best Film of 2014, in addition the film also snagged the honors for Best Director for Richard Linklater, Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer), Best Screenplay, and Best Ensemble Cast. Citizenfour, the Edward Snowden documentary, snagged the award for Best Documentary. Last year’s winner for Best Film, 12 Years a Slave, went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards.

Complete list of 2014 winners

http://youtu.be/Y0oX0xiwOv8

Best Picture – Boyhood

http://youtu.be/xIxMMv_LD5Q

Best Actor – Michael Keaton for Birdman

http://youtu.be/qxLqaEGZiDY

Best Actress – Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

http://youtu.be/8J6JH-R-TN0

Best Supporting Actor – J. K. Simmons for Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress – Emma Stone for Birdman

Best Director – Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Screenplay – (tie) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo for Birdman & Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman

http://youtu.be/GiU2zinfotI

Best Documentary – Citizenfour

Best Foreign-Language Film (awarded in memory of Jay Carr) – Two Days, One Night

http://youtu.be/tM6hcHp0_kU

Best Animated Film – The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) – Sandra Adair for Boyhood

http://youtu.be/X8kYDQan8bw

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) – Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler

Best Ensemble Cast – Boyhood

http://youtu.be/VtgO0W3aTdQ

Best Use of Music in a Film – Inherent Vice
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CITIZENFOUR Wins Best Feature at 30th IDA Documentary Awards

Awards

CITIZENFOUR

“CITIZENFOUR,” the Edward Snowden documentary, won the International Documentary Association 2014 top award, Best Feature Award. CITIZENFOUR is described as a real life thriller, unfolding by the minute, giving audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA).

http://youtu.be/GiU2zinfotI

Poitras had already been working on a film about surveillance for two years when Snowden contacted her, using the name “CITIZENFOUR,” in January 2013. He reached out to her because he knew she had long been a target of government surveillance, stopped at airports numerous times, and had refused to be intimidated. When Snowden revealed he was a high-level analyst driven to expose the massive surveillance of Americans by the NSA, Poitras persuaded him to let her film.

Best Feature Award

Citizenfour (WINNER)
Director: Laura Poitras
RADiUS-TWC, Participant Media, and
HBO Documentary Films

Best Short Award

Tashi and the Monk (WINNER)
Directors: Andrew Hinton, Johnny Burke
HBO Documentary Films

Best Curated Series Award

Independent Lens (WINNER)
Executive Producer: Sally Jo Fifer
Deputy Executive Producer: Lois Vossen
Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with PBS

Best Limited Series Award

Time of Death (WINNER)
Executive Producers: Cynthia Childs, Dan Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Alexandra Lipsitz
Co-Executive Producer: Miggi Hood, Sandy Shapiro
Showtime

Best Episodic Series Award

Our America with Lisa Ling (WINNER)
Executive Producers: Amy Bucher, Gregory Henry, Lisa Ling, David Shadrack Smith
OWN

Best Short Form Series Award

Planet Money Makes a T-shirt (WINNER)
Executive Producer: Alex Blumberg
NPR

David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award

This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field.

My Dad’s a Rocker (WINNER)
Director: Zuxin Hou
University of Southern California

Humanitas Award

This award is given to a film that explores the hopes and fears of human beings who are very different in culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs in order to break down the walls of ignorance which separate us.

Limited Partnership (WINNER)
Director: Thomas G. Miller
PBS / Independent Lens

Pare Lorentz Award

The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.

Tashi and the Monk (WINNER)
Directors: Andrew Hinton, Johnny Burke
HBO Documentary Films

ABCNews VideoSource Award

This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.

1971 (WINNER)
Director: Johanna Hamilton
Independent Lens/ PBS

Creative Recognition Award Winners

The Creative Recognition category recognizes special achievement in cinematography, editing, music and writing in films entered in the Feature Category.

Best Cinematography presented by Canon

Elevator
Cinematography By: Hatuey Viveros Lavielle

Best Editing

Last Days in Vietnam
Editing By: Don Kleszy

Best Music

Alfred and Jakobine
Music By: Nick Urata

Best Writing

Finding Vivian Maier
Written By: John Maloof & Charlie Siskel

2014 IDA Awards Honorees

Career Achievement Award

Robert Redford
The IDA presents its prestigious Career Achievement Award to Robert Redford, the acclaimed filmmaker and actor, ardent conservationist and environmentalist, and founder of the world-renowned Sundance Institute, dedicated to the support and development of independent film and theatre artists, and its Documentary Film Program, a leading creative and financial resource for contemporary-issue nonfiction filmmakers worldwide.

Pioneer Award

Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato
The Pioneer Award is presented to acknowledge extraordinary contributions to advancing the nonfiction form and providing exceptional vision and leadership to the documentary community. This year, the Pioneer Award will be presented to Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, founders of World of Wonder Productions.

Preservation and Scholarship Award

Rithy Panh
Rithy Panh receives IDA’s Preservation and Scholarship award, which recognizes individuals or organizations that have made notable contributions to preserving significant motion picture archives and educating the public and industry about the role nonfiction filmmaking plays in society.

Emerging Documentary Award sponsored by Red Fire Films and Modern VideoFilm

Darius Clark Monroe
Houston native, Darius Clark Monroe is an award-winning filmmaker and MFA graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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“37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff Wins Best Film at 2014 Arpa International Film Festival

Arpa International Film Festival

“37: A Final Promise” 17th Annual Arpa International Film Festival Winner

The 17th Annual Arpa International Film Festival wrapped with the annual Awards Ceremony, and “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff was the big winner, taking home the Best Feature Film Award, along with the Best Director Award for Randall Batinkoff. In the film, haunted rock star, Adam Webb, plans to fulfill a vow to kill himself on his 37th birthday to atone for a horrible crime he committed as a child. With only 12 weeks to go before his expiration date (and release of his final album) he meets and falls in love with Jemma Johnstone, who has a dark secret of her own.

“When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan won the Best Documentary Film Award

“When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan won the Best Documentary Film Award. Glamorously eccentric and enigmatic Theremin master Armen Ra recounts his dynamic journey in this life-spanning, award winning, documentary that mixes rare concert performances, candid interviews, and archive material with the magical power of music that can alchemize ancient sorrow into timeless beauty.

Winners

http://youtu.be/X0B8Ib-x0OU

Best Feature Film Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).

Best Director Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).

Best Documentary Film Award: “When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan (USA).

Best Short Film Award: “Arena” by Martin Rath (Armenia/Poland).

Best Screenplay Award: “Tevanik” by Jivan Avetisyan (Armenia).

Best Music Video Award: “Rich Husband” (Shohare Pooldar) by Shervin Youssefian (USA).

Best Feature Audience Choice Award: “Toastmaster” by Eric Boadella and Martin Yernazian (Spain/USA).

Best Documentary Audience Choice Award: “Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey” Marta Gyorgy Kessler and Adam Penn (UK).

Best Short Film Audience Choice Award: “Return of the Tyke” by Garo Berberian (UK).

via asbarez
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Lineup Announced for 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival

New York Jewish Film Festival

The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer

The 24th annual New York Jewish Film Festival scheduled to be held at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, from January 14 to 29, 2015 will screen 47 features and shorts from 11 countries. The festival opens on Wednesday, January 14 with the U.S. premiere of Asaf Galay and Shaul Betser’s The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer was a charming enchanter both on the page and in his romantic life. This surprising and unflinching documentary explores, through poignant interviews and exclusive archival footage, the unknown history of one of his most vital sources of creative inspiration: his translators. Dozens of women throughout Singer’s life worked with him to open the doors to his singular Yiddish prose for the rest of the world to enjoy, and his relationships with many of them blurred the lines between the professional and the intimate.

Closing Night on January 29 will feature the U.S. premiere of Maxime Giroux’s Felix and Meira. In the Mile End neighborhood of Montréal, hipsters and Hasidim coexist amicably but independently. When Meira, an Orthodox Jewish wife and mother with an undercurrent of rebelliousness, meets Felix, a middle-aged atheist adrift without family ties, a slow-blooming affair takes shape that will present Meira with a difficult fork in the road.

Three films in the festival touch on Israel, past and present. Israel’s 2014 Foreign Language Oscar submission and a New York City premiere, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem is adapted from a true story of an Orthodox woman who has spent five years in a legal stalemate fighting for a divorce that, according to religious law, requires her husband’s consent. Ronit Elkabetz (who co-directed with her brother Shlomi Elkabetz) delivers an unforgettable performance in the lead role. The Zionist Idea, receiving its world premiere, is a feature-length exploration of one of the most influential, controversial, and urgently relevant political ideologies of the modern era. Directed by Joseph Dorman (Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness) and Oren Rudavsky (A Life Apart: Hasidism in America), the film examines the meaning, history and future of Zionism at this crucial time. A panel discussion will take place in conjunction with the film on January 25. Roberta Grossman’s Above and Beyond, produced by Nancy Spielberg, presents the story of a group of Jewish American fighter pilots who returned to the battlefield during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. This documentary combines interviews with stunning footage taken from their planes.

Five films focus on various aspects of the Holocaust and its repercussions. Let’s Go!, directed by Michael Verhoeven (The Nasty Girl) and a U.S. premiere, artfully presents a biting commentary on post-World War II German society in an adaptation of Laura Waco’s autobiographical novel. Overcome with grief at her father’s funeral in 1968, Laura looks back with fresh eyes at her parents’ decision to settle in Germany after surviving the Holocaust. In Forbidden Films, receiving its New York premiere, Felix Moeller brings viewers into a vaulted, explosive-resistant compound where 40 incendiary Nazi propaganda films are kept, banned from public viewing; and interviews renowned film historians and filmmakers who debate the importance of these “Nazi movies of the poison cabinet” asking: Are they worth keeping? Do we need to show them? How do we approach this dark legacy? Acclaimed director Amos Gitai’s Tsili, receiving its U.S. premiere, adapts Aharon Appelfeld’s novel about a young Jewish woman hiding in the forests south of Czernowicz, her world and family having been ripped away, and her subsequent wandering and search for meaning following the war. Dieter Reifarth’s The Tugendhat House, also a U.S. premiere, examines the history of one of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s earliest prototypes of modernist architecture in Europe. Built for a Jewish family by the name of Tugendhat in 1930, it was abandoned during the Nazi occupation, only to resurface in the ensuing decades as a therapy center, a ballet school, and a school for children with scoliosis. In Natan, investigative documentarians David Cairns and Paul Duane reveal the forgotten life of Bernard Natan, a Romanian Jew who fought for France in World War I and became the head of the innovative and influential Pathé studios, only to die forgotten during the Holocaust and almost erased from the history of French film.

Three films examine Jews and the world of entertainment. The Outrageous Sophie Tucker, directed by William Gazecki and receiving its New York premiere, looks at the life of the so-called “Queen of Vaudeville,” theater, radio, and television icon Sophie Tucker. Born in Russia into a poor Jewish family in 1887, her campaign to capture Hollywood’s heart is a marvelous rags-to-riches story. In How to Break Into Yiddish Vaudeville, a world premiere short, animator Jack Feldstein uses his trademark style of “neonizing” (manipulating video into a kaleidoscopic color palette that resembles classic American neon signs) to whimsically document the cutthroat world of New York City burlesque theater. Hilla Medalia’s The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films, a New York premiere, revisits the lives and careers of Israeli cousins Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus, who took over the failing Cannon Films studio and forged a new business model by producing films with shlocky scripts, ranging from action thrillers like Death Wish II to musicals such as Breakin’, and even collaborations with auteur filmmakers like Andrei Konchalovsky and Jean-Luc Godard. The film features interviews with Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and other B-movie talent, as well as Golan and Globus. The festival will present a Saturday midnight screening of Breakin’ on January 17.

The festival also includes three features receiving New York premieres. In Yossi Aviram’s The Dune, a 65-year-old Parisian police officer, weary of his long career, meets a mysterious and spiritually motivated younger man, triggering a bizarre sequence of events that shapes both of their futures. The cast includes noted French actor Mathieu Amalric (The Grand Budapest Hotel). In Susan Korda’s slice-of-life drama Salomea’s Nose, the title character remembers the day her beloved brothers disfigured her and themselves for life with one clumsy act. At just under 23 minutes, the film, featuring Barbara Sukowa (Hannah Arendt) as the voice of Salomea, offers a delightfully ambiguous thesis about fate and family dynamics. In Hugo Gelin’s Like Brothers, a successful entrepreneur in his forties, a cynical screenwriter in his thirties, and a young man on the cusp of adulthood are brought together by the untimely death of the woman they all love. Reeling with grief after her funeral, they embark on a spontaneous trip together to a summer cabin in Corsica—a trip she originally planned for all of them—which becomes a journey of both tribute and discovery.

Two additional features will be screened. Director Daniel Burman’s wistful comedy The Mystery of Happiness is part buddy movie, part detective story, and part romance. Life-long business partners Santiago and Eugenio understand each other without words, care for each other, and need each other. When Eugenio vanishes without a clue, Santiago and Eugenio’s wife Laura join forces to solve the mystery of his disappearance. Alexey Fedorchenko’s colorful Angels of Revolution, receiving its U.S. premiere, tells the story of five cosmopolitan artists, led by a famed Communist revolutionary, searching for answers during a clash of cultures now known as the Great Samoyedic War in 1930s Siberia.

Three documentaries round out the main slate. Guy Natanel and Annie Sulzberger’s The King of Nerac, receiving its world premiere, is a thoughtful portrait of David Breuer Weil, a modern day Gauguin who gave up a career as one of the world’s leading art dealers to embark on a life of creativity and contemplation as an artist known for his vast, apocalyptic canvases and his colossal, dynamic sculptures that dominate public spaces around the world from London to Jerusalem. Yossi Aviram’s documentary The Polgar Variant (U.S. premiere) follows the travels of the Polgár sisters, groomed by their father Lázló to become chess champions. From their childhood in 1970s Communist Budapest to today, the family’s tale continues to make shock waves in the press. Erik Greenberg Anjou’s Deli Man, a New York premiere, is a portrait of the effusive and charming Ziggy Gruber, a Texan and third-generation delicatessen man who currently operates one of the country’s most acclaimed delis, Kenny and Ziggy’s in Houston. The documentary sheds light on the larger story of Jews in America—immigration, upward mobility, and food—and features interviews with Larry King, Jerry Stiller, and foodies sharing memories of pastrami.
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