Wowser!! Check out the trailer for the Iranian film, “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, which just snagged a nomination for Breakthrough Director: 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards. Kino Lorber will release “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” in New York and Los Angeles on November 21st, with national expansion to follow
Angus MacLachlan’s GOODBYE TO ALL THAT starring Paul Schneider in his Tribeca Film Festival “Best Actor” Award-winning performance opens December 17th theatrically in NYC and on VOD.
Otto Wall (Paul Schneider, ALL THE REAL GIRLS) is your typical suburban husband and father, domesticated into a state of placidity. When his wife (Melanie Lynskey, UP IN THE AIR) pulls the rug out from underneath him and announces she is filing for divorce, Otto is thrust into the uncharted territory of single fatherhood and – even more frightening – getting back into the rather unpredictable dating pool.
Schneider shines in his leading role as Otto, supported by the stellar female supporting cast of Lynskey, Heather Graham, Anna Camp, Heather Lawless, Amy Sedaris, Ashley Hinshaw, and Audrey Scott in a breakout role as his young daughter, Edie.
Making his directorial debut, JUNEBUG screenwriter Angus MacLachlan returns to North Carolina with GOODBYE TO ALL THAT, crafting a film that is at once sexy, moving, and sharply comedic.
Actor Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame, will be honored with the Career Achievement Award on Friday, November 7 at the 29th annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) Opening Night film, the East Coast Premiere of Lucky Stiff, in which he stars with Pamela Shaw (also attending). Lucky Stiff marks the first time the festival debuts with a musical comedy. Directed by Christopher Ashley, the zany and fast-paced Lucky Stiff follows a down and out British shoe salesman who, in order to receive his inheritance of $6 million, must fulfill his deceased Uncle’s request of taking him for the best time of his “life” in Monte Carlo for a week of fun, sun, dancing, and gambling. Book writer/lyricist, Lynn Ahrens adapted her clever 1988 New York stage hit for the screen with additional songs written by her and composer Stephen Flaherty.
Selected as the Centerpiece Film, is the Southeast premiere of Frank vs God, a light-hearted, uplifting story of a former lawyer, David Frank. Unable to move past the loss of his wife, he had all but given up…that is until a tornado not only destroys his house but, takes his beloved dog Brutus. When the insurance company deems the loss an “act of God,” David becomes desperate and decides to serve God…with a lawsuit. In attendance are stars Henry Ian Cusick (TV hit series LOST) and director Stewart Schill.
FLiFF closes on Sunday, November 23, with the Southeast Premiere of dark comedy, Just Before I Go, the feature film directorial debut of actress Courteney Cox (Friends, Cougar Town). Seann William Scott (American Pie franchise) stars as Ted Morgan, who’s on the verge of giving up on life. Before he does, he decides to return to his hometown one last time to confront some old demons.
FLiFF line-up for the 2014 event will feature over 175 American Independent and World Cinema features, shorts and documentaries will premiere. The Sunshine Celluloid segment will highlight film by Florida talent. There are 34 World Premieres, 12 U.S Premieres, 27 East Coast and 16 Southeast.
Feature films on the lineup include the World premieres of Oro Verde (Switzerland) directed by Mohammed Soudani, Foreign Land (USA-Mexico) directed byRafi Girgis, Love Thy Nature ( USA-Brazil-Namibia-British Virgin Islands) directed by Sylvie Rokab , Every Child Counts ( Bahamas-Canada), directed by Wendy Loten.
U.S Premieres include Arabani (Israel) directed by Adi Adwan, Lost in Karastan (Georgia) directed by Ben Hopkins, La Casa Ausente (The Absent House), (Puerto Rico-USA-Switzerland) directed by Rubén Abruña, Non Present Time (Lithuania) directed by Mykolas Vildziunas and Papita, Mani & Toston (Venzuela) directed by Luis Carlos Hueck.
East Coast Premieres include Gone Doggy Gone (USA) directed by Kasi Brown & Brandon Walter, Healing (Australia) directed by Craig Monahan, FLiFF’s opener Lucky Stiff (USA) directed by Christopher Ashley, Sombras de Azul (Cuba-Mexico-USA) directed by Kelly Daniela Norris.
Southeast Premieres include: Centerpiece Film Frank vs God (USA) directed by Stewart Schill, Amka and the Three Golden Rules (Mongolia) directed by Babar Ahmed, Human Capital (Italy) directed by Paola Virzi, Charlie’s Country (Australia) directed by Rolf de Heer, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, (France-Israel-Abu Dhabi-USA) directed by Alastair Siddons, Jersey Shore Massacre (USA) directed by Paul Tarnpool, FLiFF’s closer Just Before I Go (USA) directed by Courtney Cox, Manos Sucias (Colombia) / directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka. Shunned (Philippines/USA) directed by Janice Villarosa, Two Bit Waltz (USA) directed by Clara Mamet, and Traitors (Morroco) directed by Sean Gullette.
The Southeast Premiere of director Paulo Virzi’s Human Capital, the Italian Candidate for the Foreign Language Oscar 2015, is a slick, stylish drama about the destinies of two families irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit by a jeep the night before Christmas Eve.
The Florida premiere of The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley in the a historical thriller about Alan Turing, a genius who pioneered modern-day computing and is credited with cracking the German Enigma code. However, Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts which The U.K deemed illegal in 1952.
Big In Japan, from director John Jeffcoat, a semi-fictionalized rock ‘n roll road movie, featuring the band Tennis Pro, is based loosely on actual events and told with rollicking humor with a fresh narrative approach and guerrilla production style.
Director Sean Gullette attends the Southeast Premiere of his film, Traitors. Tangiers is the launching pad for this intoxicating, slick suspense ride into desperation and ambition.
The Salvation, a Florida Premiere directed by Kristian Levring, stars Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt) as a peaceful American settler who revenges his family’s murder in this Danish western which is just as compelling as Eastwood’s Unforgiven.
Under The Same Sun, is the story of two businessmen – one Palestinian and one Israeli – who struggle to set up a solar energy company to communities in the Palestinian territories. The film was produced by Amir Harel, an Oscar nominated Israeli producer for Paradise Now, and directed by Sameh Zoabi, a leading Palestinian film-maker.
Directed by Alexandre Coffre, The Volcano, is a fun, fast moving comedy starring Danny Boon and Valerie Bonneton as two divorcees who must swallow their pathological hatred for each other and hit the road together if they are to make it in time to their daughter’s wedding. The Southeast premiere is an extension of French Week.
Winter Sleep took the 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s coveted Palme d’Or. The richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful Turkish drama, directed by Nuri Bilge, is about three people with marital issues whose animosities are fueled when they are inescapably isolated in a small mountain hotel as the snow begins to fall.
Fascinating Documentaries include: An Honest Liar, directed by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, is about deception and the life of world-famous magician, escape artist and master skeptic, James ‘The Amazing’ Randi.
The South Florida Premiere of Shunned, from Filipino-American director Janice Villarosa, is a no holds barred look into the lives of transsexuals (male to female), in the Philippines. The film documents the rejection and attacks of violence within the society and transition to what it takes to be a woman.
FLiFF hosts the Florida Premieres of two documentaries with a focus on remarkable women.The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things is the incredible journey of 5 female filmmakers driving across America to encourage, empower, and inspire the next generation of strong women to go after their career ambitions. Director Sarah Moshman and executive producer will attend. I know a Woman Like That, directed by Elaine Madsen and produced by daughter/actress Virginia Madsen, features interviews with extraordinary women over the age of sixty-five.
Sammy: The Journey is the incredible story of child Holocaust survivor, Sam Harris, the instrumental force behind the building of the 65,000 square foot Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center, of which he is President Emeritus.
FLiFF premieres several ambitious Florida films. Among them are: Short film, Tom In America, directed by Flavio Alves stars Oscar nominees, Burt Young and Sally Kirkland. The foundation of a 50 year marriage is rocked when the husband confesses to being gay. The film marks the first time Burt Young, from the Rocky franchise, has played a gay man in his career.
City of Memory by local filmmaker, director Robert Adanto and producer Gabriel Tyner, explores the ways in which the cataclysmic events in the wake of Hurricane Katrina became imprinted on the memory of the visual artists who lived through them. Adanto and Tyner head the Film & TV program at University School of Nova Southeastern University.
The Art of Community, directed by Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale film professor, Tas Salini, looks at a unique initiative led by the Community Foundation of Broward in bringing people together through civic engagements and by utilizing the arts in solving issues and problems important to the communities.
The first of two shorts in FLiFF’s Salute To Veteran’s special program is Rudy +Neil Go Fishing, directed by Abigail Tannebaum Sharon, and filmed in the Everglades, Aventura and Davie. The short doc is a touching story about Neil – a hairdresser and tournament fisherman, and Rudy, a U.S. soldier with PTSD who go fishing for therapy. The second short doc, And Great Showers of Tears Came Down, by Miami filmmaker, Dalton Narine, underscores themes about spirituality, suffering and fate, as a Marine’s tough slog in Vietnam attests to horrific experiences.
The Imitation Game
The fourth annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) returns with a five-day festival showcasing the year’s best new independent films in the four postcard-perfect towns of Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, November 12 to 16, 2014. The Festival kicks off Opening Night, Wednesday, November 12, with a Red Carpet screening of The Imitation Game. Fresh off winning the audience award at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, The Imitation Game, stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Director Morten Tyldum is expected to attend.
Film highlights include:
Alex of Venice – – In actor Chris Messina’s directorial debut feature, Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a workaholic environmental attorney is forced to reinvent herself after her husband (Messina) suddenly leaves the family.
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – An intimate, devastating, and inspiring look at the final tour of musical legend Glen Campbell as he faces the end of his career due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon – Mike Myers will attend the festival with Shep Gordon, the original mega talent manager and subject of Mike’s hilarious, touching and award-winning documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her & Him – A special presentation of a unique cinematic achievement: back-to-back screenings of Ned Benson’s two versions of a film about a marriage falling apart, one from the wife’s perspective and one from the husband’s, starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy.
Additional sneak previews include:
The Better Angels – Director A.J. Edwards’ debut feature tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the wilderness of Indiana. Starring Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling and Wes Bently
The Last 5 Years – Based on the 2002 off-Broadway musical, and adapted by writer/director Richard LaGravenese, The Last 5 Years is the story of a couple’s tumultuous relationship, from entanglement to denouement starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.
Match – A Seattle couple (Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard) travels to New York to interview an acclaimed former ballet star (Patrick Stewart) for a research project on the dance scene in the 1960’s.
Escobar: Paradise Lost – The debut feature from writer/director Andrea Di Stephano traces the journey of a young Canadian surfer (Josh Hutcherson) who falls under the spell of a beautiful young woman in Columbia. Unfortunately she also who happens to be the niece of international drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro). An edgy crime drama and a soul-searching love story about family ties and loyalty, the film is a look at a dark chapter in the war on drugs and the casualties.
Documentary Competition:
#chicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes On A Dictator, Director Joe Piscatella (California Premiere)
American Native, Director Steven Oritt (World Premiere)
An Honest Liar, Directors Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom (California Premiere)
Botso, Director Tom Walters (Bay Area Premiere)
Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, Directors Sheila
Canavan and Michael Chandler (West Coast Premiere)
Flying The Feathered Edge; The Bob Hoover Project, Director Kim Furst (World Premiere)
Havana Curveball, Directors Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel
States of Grace, Directors Helen S. Cohen and Mark Lipman
Underwater Dreams, Director Mary Mazzio
What the F@#- is Cancer and Why Does Everybody Have It?, Director A.W. Gryphon
Narrative Competition:
Amira & Sam, Director Sean Mullin (California Premiere)
East Side Sushi, Director Anthony Lucero (World Premiere)
Fall To Rise, Director Jayce Bartok (California Premiere)
Kinderwald, Director Lise Raven
Like Sunday, Like Rain, Director Frank Whaley
Little Accidents, Director Sara Colangelo
Song One, Director Kate Barker-Froyland (West Coast Premiere)
Sun Belt Express, Director Evan Buxbaum (California Premiere)
Teacher of the Year, Director Jason Strouse
Thank You A Lot, Director Matt Muir (California Premiere)
The Road Within, Director Gren Wells
WildLike, Director Frank Hall Green (West Coast Premiere)
Lounge Features:
All Stars, Director Lance Kinsey (West Coast Premiere)
Bar America, Director Matthew Jacobs
Big In Japan, Director John Jeffcoat (California Premiere)
Cheatin’, Director Bill Plympton
Gone Doggy Gone, Directors Brandon Walter and Kasi Brown
Goodbye To All That, Director Angus MacLachlan (West Coast Premiere)
Growing Up and Other Lies, Directors Danny Jacobs and Darren Grodsky
Mudbloods, Director Farzad Nikbakht (Bay Area Premiere)
Time Lapse, Director Bradley King (Northern California Premiere)
We’ll Never Have Paris, Directors Jocelyn Towne and Simon Helberg (California Premiere)
Special Presentations:
#standwithme, Directors Patrick Moreau and Grant Peelle (World Premiere)
Big Dream, Director Kelly Cox (Special Sneak Preview)
Buscando A Gaston (Finding Gaston), Director Julia Patricia Perez (US Premiere)
Food Chains, Director Sanjay Rawal (West Coast Premiere)
Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists, Director Leslie Buchbinder (West Coast Premiere)
Half The Road: The Passion, Pitfalls & Power of Women’s Professional Cycling, Director Kathryn Bertine
Harlem Street Singer, Directors Trevor Laurence and Simeon Hutner (West Coast Premiere)
Harmontown, Director Neil Berkeley
Last Days In Vietnam, Director Rory Kennedy
Stretch, Director Joe Carnahan (World Premiere)
True Son, Director Kevin Gordon
Impossible Light, Director Jeremy Ambers
2014 Festival Sidebar – Architecture (sponsored by Blue Homes):
Henry Hornbostel in Architecture and Legacy, Director Mark Fallone (California Premiere)
Lutah, Director Kum-Kum Bhavnani (Northern California Premiere)
Paolo Soleri: Beyond Form, Director Aimee Madsen (Northern California Premiere)
Robin Boyd: Australian Beauty, Director Kerry Gardner
Documentary Short Programs:
A Stroll the Park: An Asbury Symphony, Albie (World Premiere), Cab City (World Premiere),Crooked Candy (California Premiere), David Hockney in the Now: In Six Minutes, Slomo, The Bulletproof Stockings, The Lion’s Mouth Opens, The Ox, White Earth (Bay Area Premiere), The Invisible Peak
World Cinema Shorts:
5 Tropoina Pethaneis (5 Ways 2 Die), Bis Gleich, Chronophobe (California Premiere), Into the Silent Sea, Lan Yen, Rez Carz
Narrative Shorts:
His Keeper, Horrible Parents (World Premiere), Last Shot (Nor Cal Premiere), Mediation, My New Apartment, Pin It (Nor Cal Premiere), Snail (Nor Cal Premiere), Team Work (World Premiere), The Gunfighter, An Honorable Man (California Premiere), Care, Gift, Immaculate Reception, Looms, Be My Unfinished (World Premiere), New, One Foot In (World Premiere), Plain Clothes, Salvatore (Nor Cal Premiere), Selling Rosario (World Premiere), The Inheritance, Undercover, Bunion, Humpty (California Premiere), Leonard in Slow Motion, Neighbors, Sure Thing (Nor Cal Premiere), The Motion Picture Co. 1914 (Nor Cal Premiere),The Oven
Animated Shorts:
Collectors, Silent, Humanexus, John Doe, Prelude, Sticky, The Box, The Duck, The Missing Scarf, The Umbrella Factory
Charlie’s Country
The 36th Cairo International Film Festival taking place November 9 -18, 2014, will feature 6 international films, submitted for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2015 Oscars, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The films include Charlie’s Country (Australia), Eyes of a Thief (Palestine), The Light that Shines Only There (Japan), Rocks in My Pocket (Latvia), Timbuktu (Mauritania) and Little England (Greece).
Charlie’s Country (Australia – 2013) International Competition: Directed by Rold de Heer, the film tells the story of a warrior named Charlie, who lives in a remote indigenous community within the northern region of Australia. As the government increases its stranglehold over the community’s traditional way of life, Charlie becomes lost between two cultures. The film’s leading star, David Gulpilil, earned the Best Actor Award at Un Certain Regard within Cannes Film Festival in 2014.
Eyes of a Thief (Palestine, 2014)| International Competition: Directed by Najwa Najjar, the film stars Khaled Abol Naga and Souad Massi. Filmed in the heart of the occupied territories of Palestine over the course of 25 days, Eyes of a Thief is based on a true story during the upheavals of the Palestinian Uprising in 2002, offering a glimpse into the Palestinian society and their options of survival and resistance.
The Light that Shines Only There (Japan, 2014)| Festival of Festivals: Directed by Mipo Oh, the film follows a young man called Tatsuo, who becomes head over heels with his friend’s sister, who is clearly older than him and strives to make a living to save her poor family. The film was showcased at the closing of Osaka Asian Film Festival and received the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival.
Rocks in My Pocket (USA – Latvia, 2014) | Festival of Festivals: Written, produced and directed by Signe Baumane, the animated picture is set in the late 1920s Latvia, where a pretty young lady, Anna, falls in love with an adventurous entrepreneur. Following their marriage, the husband’s jealousy drives him to hide Anna away in the forest far from other men, where she bears 8 children. The film earned the FIPRESCI award and a Special Jury Mention from Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Timbuktu (Mauritania, 2014)|Prospects of Arab Cinema: Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, the film traces the vivid transformation of the city of Timbuktu, which lies on the Mauritanian borders with Mali. A popular city recognized for its illustrious culture and openness to the world; it’s even said to be the place where African and Arab heritage and civilization were born. Timbuktu has turned into a bloodbath by extremist groups, which banned everything – starting from music to football and cigarettes. Sissako garnered two awards from Cannes Film Festival namely; the Francois Chalais Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. He also won the Best Feature Film Award at Jerusalem Film Festival.
Little England (Greece)|Festival Closer: Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris, the film is set during the interwar period in the Greek island of Andros, where two sisters living in the same house fall in love with the same man. The film has also earned the Golden Goblet Award for Best Feature Film at the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival in June, 2014, in addition to Best Actress and Best Director awards.
THE LAST PATROL
A few years ago, Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Sebastian Junger (“Restrepo”) planned a walk from Washington, D.C. to New York City along Amtrak railroad lines with his close friend, acclaimed war reporter Tim Hetherington. After Hetherington was killed covering the Libyan civil war in 2011, Junger decided to take the same trip, joined instead by a Spanish photographer who was at Hetherington’s side when he died and two combat vets they’d known in Afghanistan.
Chronicling their journey, the moving documentary THE LAST PATROL debuts MONDAY, NOV. 10 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), the day before Veterans Day, exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: Nov. 10 (5:15 a.m.), 13 (9:15 a.m., 4:00 p.m.), 16 (1:00 p.m.), 18 (3:00 p.m.) and 22 (8:15 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Nov. 19 (8:15 a.m., 8:30 p.m.), 25 (12:30 a.m.) and 30 (8:15 a.m.), and Dec. 5 (3:00 p.m.) and 8 (10:15 a.m.)
Junger was accompanied by combat veterans Brendan O’Byrne (previously seen in “Restrepo”) and Dave Roels, as well as acclaimed Spanish photojournalist Guillermo Cervera. Naming their journey The Last Patrol, they walked from D.C. to Philadelphia and then turned west, away from the cluttered Northeast Corridor, and headed for the Allegheny Mountains and Pittsburgh.
Junger chose railroad lines because, he believes, “they go straight through the middle of everything,” including ghettos, suburbs, farms and woods, and offer the only way to see the country from the inside out. The group decided not to take tents, since brightly-colored nylon attracts too much attention. Instead, they slept under bridges, in abandoned buildings or simply in the woods. This high-speed vagrancy saw them bathing in rivers, getting water out of creeks, cooking over open fires and talking their way past motorcycle gangs, COPS and suspicious homeowners.
After extensive experience in combat and the loss of good friends, all four men declared they never wanted to go to war again. The goal was to get to know America again after a decade of war, and discuss why combat is so incredibly hard to give up. The Last Patrol recreated the hardship, brotherhood and closeness of combat, without getting fired upon – except once in Pennsylvania.
In conjunction with the film’s premiere, Manhattan’s Anastasia Photo will present Guillermo Cervera’s first solo exhibition in New York, scheduled to run from Oct. 24 to Jan. 4. In addition to photos he took during the filming of THE LAST PATROL, the show includes selections from 20 years of documenting armed conflict and social issues around the world.
Sebastian Junger is a New York-based writer, journalist and filmmaker. THE LAST PATROL concludes his trilogy on war, following 2014’s “Korengal” and “Restrepo,” which he co-directed with Tim Hetherington. “Restrepo” won the 2010 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature the following year. Junger’s accompanying book, “War,” was a New York Times bestseller. His other books include “The Perfect Storm,” which was adapted for the hit feature film of the same name, “Fire” and “A Death in Belmont.”
Junger’s other credits include the 2013 HBO documentary “Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington.”
THE LAST PATROL was directed by Sebastian Junger; producers, Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested; editor, Michael Levine; cinematographer, Rudy Valdez. For HBO: supervising producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
http://youtu.be/Ddambdna4JU
The Cucalorus Film Festival announced the final film and event line-up for its 20th annual showcase, scheduled for November 12-16, 2014 in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. The five-day event will include 43 narrative features, 21 documentary features, 145 shorts, 34 music videos and 7 works-in-progress along with a deep schedule of multi-disciplinary performances ranging from dance to spoken word and beyond. Among the 241 films being shown at Cucalorus, some notable selections include:
World Premieres
Uncensored – a documentary by DC-based director Stephanie Martinez featuring three Colombian journalists recounting the terrifying reality of living through the Escobar cartel and the ongoing struggle to maintain freedom of the press.
A Better You – From one of the founders of The Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Walsh from HBO’s “Veep”) comes the story of Dr. Ron (Brian Huskey), a revolutionary Los Angeles hypnotherapist, who could solve everyone’s problems but his own.
Times Like Dying – a thrilling Western set in the Post-Civil War South involving four brothers facing the loss of their family farm; features actorBill Cody. Shot and produced in Wilmington.
U.S./Eastern/Southeastern Premieres
Labyrinthus – an edge of your seat thriller about a 14-year-old boy who must complete a sinister computer game that uses real children from his neighborhood as players; part of the newly launched Kids-a-lorus program and recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014.
Hide and Seek – director Joanna Coates’ provocative drama about a group of young, unmoored adults who retreat to the countryside to test intimate boundaries; winner of the Michael Powell award at EdinburghFilm Festival 2014.
Felix and Meira – a young married woman from Montreal’s Orthodox Jewish community escapes the bonds of her faith when she meets an artist in her neighborhood who is mourning the loss of his father; won best Canadian feature at Toronto International Film Festival 2014.
Spring – Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s intriguing indie drama blends romance and horror together in this ultimately uplifting film about a young man who flees California to find himself working on a farm in Italy and falling in love with a woman who carries a dark secret.
The Tribe – a smashing hit at this year’s Cannes film festival, this outstanding Ukranian feature follows a gang of deaf-mute students who spend their nights running a prostitution ring at the local truck stop.
The Age of Love – a charming documentary that follows the humorous adventures of thirty seniors in Rochester, NY who sign up for a Speed Dating event exclusively for 70- to 90-year-olds.
Other Noteworthy Films
Force Majeure – directed by Ruben Ostlund, this award-winning, brilliantly funny psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family on a skiing holiday in the French Alps when an avalanche strikes;Sweden’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for Oscars 2014; winner of Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2014.
Wildlike – an unsettling drama about a young girl who tries to make her way back to Seattle after fleeing her uncle’s home in Alaska; recently premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
The Hip-Hop Fellow – a documentary following Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder’s tenure at Harvard University where he explores 40 years of hip-hop history and lays out the case for hip-hop as part of the larger evolution of the universal language of music.
Big Stone Gap
The 2014 Virginia Film Festival lineup will return to Charlottesville from November 6-9, and officially kick off with the World Premiere of Big Stone Gap, filmed on location in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and based on the popular series of books by noted author and Big Stone Gap native Adriana Trigiani. The film stars Ashley Judd as the small town’s self-appointed middle-age spinster who keeps countless secrets before discovering one of her own that will change her life forever. 5 to 7, the tale of a “cinq-a-sept” romance, and love’s power to conquer even the most insurmountable of obstacles, has been selected as the Centerpiece Film, and for the closing film, the festival will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Dead Poets Society.
Filmmakers and special guests attended Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival held from October 10 – 19, 2014, to celebrate the best in documentary film from around the world, including visits by actor George Takei, the musical family of Arkansas icon Glen Campbell, actress/director/producer Joey Lauren Adams, former Olympic Diving Champion Greg Louganis, producer/director Harry Thomason, Arthur Agee of Hoop Dreams, illusionist James Randi and many more. Former President Bill Clinton made a stop at this year’s festival. Mr. Clinton has been a long-time supporter of HSDFF from its beginnings in 1991 as the first all-documentary film festival in North America.
Glen Campbell…I’ll be Me opened the festival on October 10, 2014. Directed and produced by James Keach (Walk The Line) and produced by Trevor Albert (Because of Winn Dixie, Groundhog Day), this powerful portrait of the life and career of great American music icon opened to the viewer the world of the singular talent who created hits like Rhinestone Cowboy, Wichita Lineman and Gentle on My Mind.
Hot Springs audiences joined actor and activist George Takei on his playful and profound trek for life, liberty, and love as Jennifer Kroot’s To Be Takei closed the festival on Saturday, October 18. Special guest Takei took part in an exclusive Q&A at the conclusion of the film and mingled with guests following the screening event.
Over seven decades, George Takei boldly journeyed from a WWII internment camp, to the helm of the starship Enterprise, to the daily news feeds of hordes of social media fans. Now a new documentary, To be Takei, takes a closer look at the many roles played by this eclectic 77-year-old actor/activist, whose wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7-million Facebook fans and counting.
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is an Academy Award®-qualifying festival in the category of Documentary Short Subject. Recipients of the festival’s Spa City Best Documentary Short Award will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
Award winners at the 2014 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival:
Spa City Best U.S. Documentary Feature (Tie):
An Honest Liar, dir. Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Evolution of a Criminal, dir. Clark Monroe
Spa City Best International Documentary Feature:
Waiting for August, dir. Teodora Ana Mahai
Spa City Best Documentary Short (Academy Award®-qualifying short film category):
Buffalo Dreams, dir. Maurice O’Brien
Spa City Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction:
White Earth, dir. J. Christian Jensen
Spa City Clyde Scott Best Sports Documentary:
Happy Valley, dir. Amir Bar-Lev
Spa City Audience Award:
Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me, dir. James Keach
Recipient of the HSDFF 2014 Career Achievement Award:
Gordon Quinn
From A To B Fadi Rifaai, Fahad Albutairi, Ali Mostafa And Shadi Alfons
The 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicked off on October 23rd with the movie “From A to B” directed by Ali Mostafa. The film is the story of three childhood friends who grew apart, travel on a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut in memory of their lost one. If what happens on route does not make them crazy, it just might make them closer.
Abderrahmane Sissako, Director ‘Timbuktu’
Ali Mostafa, Director ‘From A To B’
Cheryl Boone Issacs, AMPAS President
Marcell Gero, Director ‘Cain’s Children’
A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer
A. Sayeeda Moreno and Micah Shaffer have been selected to receive this year’s $15,000 San Francisco Film Society / Hearst Screenwriting Grant for development of their script White. The SFFS / Hearst Screenwriting Grant is awarded in the fall of each year to writers residing in the United States who have been practicing for at least five years and who have previously written a minimum of one feature screenplay.
“It’s an honor to receive the Hearst Screenwriting Grant, and we are thrilled to be partnering with the San Francisco Film Society at this stage of making our movie,” said Moreno. “The Filmmaker360 program has a great track record of supporting innovative films that advance our collective dialogue, so we’re excited to be in such good company!”
A. Sayeeda Moreno is a proud native New Yorker, dedicated to the art of directing. Her short film White, funded by ITVS for Futurestates.tv, is also on PBS.org. White screened at SXSW, Tribeca, and BAMcinemaFest, with Precious at the Tri-Continental Film Festival and with Spike Lee’s Crooklyn at the Brooklyn Bridge Film Series. Clarke’s award-winning short Sin Salida aired on HBO/HBOLatino for two years. Her short The Grey Woman premiered at Lincoln Center and won the Hallmark short film competition. Clarke received an MFA in Film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she was a Dean’s Fellow. She is a Film Independent Fellow for her collaborative screenplay I’m Not Down and is currently developing the feature version of White.
Micah Shaffer is a writer, filmmaker, and educator whose work focuses on forging unexpected connections between people and finding humanity in unforeseen places. Shaffer’s first feature documentary Death of Two Sons was awarded the HBO “Life Through Your Lens” Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award and was distributed through Netflix. Shaffer then attended the MFA program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he wrote and directed several short narrative films. Shaffer has written three feature screenplays, including On the Wall, which was a finalist for an Alfred P. Sloan screenwriting award and a selection at Independent Film Week’s Emerging Narrative Forum. He recently completed a fellowship at the Cinema Research Institute, where he is studying the future of the cross-border financing and coproduction of independent film.
White
It’s another sweltering 120-degree winter day with five more days to Christmas and hot is the only season left. The best protection from the sun remains the naturally occurring melanin in one’s skin. Like many valuable natural resources, in this future it is coveted, extracted, bought, sold and stolen. Bato, who is black, enters into a race against time to save his daughter as he is forced to bargain with the new currency of this world.
Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012, earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and became an indie box office smash.
