Rodney Evan’s latest film, THE HAPPY SAD, that follows two couples, one black and one white, whose lives collide as they navigate open relationships and sexual identity, opens in NYC on August 16, 2013.
“FRUITVALE STATION” Opens Big at the Box Office
“FRUITVALE STATION” opened big in limited release in its first weekend with $377,285 from just 7 theaters for a $53,898 per-theater-average. Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, director Ryan Coogler’s FRUITVALE STATION follows the true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident .. whose life takes a tragic turn, however, when BART officers shoot him in cold blood at the Fruitvale subway stop on New Year’s Day.
“AMOROUS PANCHO VILLA” “A COMMON MAN” Win Top Awards at 2013 Madrid International Film Festival
AMOROUS PANCHO VILLA
AMOROUS PANCHO VILLA won the big prize at the 2013 Madrid International Film Festival, the Best Film of the Festival along with the award for Best Foreign Language Feature. Other winners include A COMMON MAN which won the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director for Chandran Rutnam, and Best Lead Actor for Sir Ben Kingsley,
29 Documentary Films to Receive Grants from Sundance Institute
29 feature-length documentary films have been selected to receive more than $550,000 in grants from the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund (DFP). Grantees were selected from 772 submissions from 88 countries and include filmmakers working in Chile, Libya, Cuba, Cambodia and Pakistan as well as a broad range of experience, from first-time feature documentary filmmakers to Academy Award nominee Arthur Dong and veteran filmmaker Ed Pincus working with Lucia Small.
WATCH 3 Official Clips from Fruitvale Station
The award winning indie drama FRUITVALE STATION opens in theaters on Friday July 12, 2013 and the film is receiving lots of early buzz. The film is the true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother, whose birthday falls on New Year’s Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend, who he hasn’t been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to T, their beautiful 4 year old daughter. He starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easy. He crosses paths with friends, family, and strangers, each exchange showing us that there is much more to Oscar than meets the eye. But it would be his final encounter of the day, with police officers at the Fruitvale Bart station that would shake the Bay Area to its very core, and cause the entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant.Watch 4 clips from the film, read the review, read about the film, and let us know what you think.
REVIEW: Fruitvale Station
FRUITVALE STATION is based on one of those horrific, real-life stories of when a police officer makes a heinous, unjustifiable decision.
The film opens with amateur footage shot on a cell phone of the actual frantic, fatal moments in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009 recreated in Frutivale Station’s harrowing climax. The recreation begins a little over twenty-four hours before, with Oscar (Michael B. Jordan), a twenty-two year old small-time dope dealer and ex-con, arguing with Sopina (Melanie Diaz), his girlfriend and the mother of his four year-old child, Tatiana (the adorable Ariana Neal) about Oscar recently cheating on her. The movie then follows Oscar throughout the rest of his New Year’s Eve – which also happens to be his mother’s birthday – as he tries to follow through on his resolution to give up dealing dope and get his job back at the supermarket, which he was recently fired from for constantly being late. However, it’s New Year’s Eve and Sopina wants to go out to San Francisco to party. Though Oscar’s mother (the wonderful Octavia Spencer) begs him to take the train to avoid driving drunk, it turns out to be the wrong decision when Oscar is confronted by someone from his past and is later detained by the police in a frightening, chaotic scene.
Indie Comedy AWFUL NICE to Get a Spring 2014 Release Date
Todd Sklar’s comedy AWFUL NICE, which had its world premiere at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival is expected to get a Spring 2014 release by Screen Media.
Documentary ZIPPER Gets A Release Date
ZIPPER a documentary about “greed, politics, land use and public policy’ and the battle over the Coney Island amusement district in New York City will be in theaters this Summer. The film will open at the IFC Center in New York City on August 9th, 2013.
THE ROMEOWS (Retired Old Men Eating Out Wednesdays) Documentary Gets A Release Date
THE ROMEOWS (Retired Old Men Eating Out Wednesdays), a feature documentary directed by Kevin Raman and Robert Sarnoff about a “Band of Brooklyn Buddies” who break bread, and each other’s chops, every Wednesday evening, will open in theaters on July 19, 2013.
2013 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival Announces Finalist Films
The popular Philippine indie festival Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival will be held on July 26 to August 4, 2013. 15 full length finalists/ filmmakers (10 new breed and 5 directors showcase) and 10 short films have been selected to be featured at the festival. The films in the New Breed Full Length Category will compete for the coveted Balanghai Award. Awards are also given in the Short Feature Category and the Directors Showcase.
Documentary LEWD & LASCIVIOUS World Premiere to Sold Out Audience at 2013 Frameline
The documentary LEWD & LASCIVIOUS had its sold out World Premiere at the 2013 FRAMELINE LGBT Film Festival in San Francisco. LEWD & LASCIVIOUS directed by Dr. Jallen Rix documents police harassment and public abuse on New Year’s Day 1965 of a gay and lesbian Mardi Gras Costume Ball attendees and how it changed the Gay civil rights landscape in San Francisco.
Documentary “AMERICAN MOVIE” and Horror Film “COVEN” to Kick Off First Ever NEXT WEEKEND Film Festival in LA
AMERICAN MOVIE
The first-ever NEXT WEEKEND film festival (an extension of the popular NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah) will be held August 8-11, 2013 at venues throughout Los Angeles. The festival will kick off with an outdoor screening of Chris Smith’s cult documentary AMERICAN MOVIE and Mark Borchardt’s horror film COVEN on August 8.