• The Motorcycle Diaries Director, Walter Salles, to be Honored at Rome Film Festival

    Walter Salles

    Walter Salles, award-winning Brazilian director, screenwriter, and producer; Berlinale Golden Bear and Golden Globe-winner for Central do Brasil (1998) will be honored with the Marc’Aurelio Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 9th Rome Film Festival taking place October 16 to 25, 2014.  Director of one of the most beloved films in recent years, The Motorcycle Diaries, awarded in Cannes and Oscar®-winner for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures. On the occasion of the award ceremony, Walter Salles will present the world premiere screening of his new film Jia Zhangke, un gars de Fenyang. Salles considers Jia Zhangke “the most important contemporary filmmaker”. Marie-Pierre Duhamel and Marco Müller will moderate the on stage conversation with Walter Salles and Jia Zhangke.

    “Jia Zhangke reminds us that film is still a place that can help us improve our understanding of the world that surrounds us”, Walter Salles stated. “He has become the most important film director of his generation for an increasing number of cinephiles. By way of his films, cinema can still be the quintessential ground for discovery and revelation. According to Jia Zhangke, film is a means of recording mutating memory while keeping track of something that won’t be there any longer. His films portray ordinary people that he defines as ‘power non-holders’. In the last scene of Sanxia Haoren (Still Life), a man is walking on a tightrope between two buildings scheduled to be demolished. Man in an unstable balance, obliged to relate to something bigger than himself, may well be the character in common among Jia Zhangke’s films. In moments like this, you become aware that his films are made of stuff transcending specific physical or human geography. His characters come from the Shanxi region. But the existential problems of his films don’t have borders. They involve all of us.”

    Walter Salles, director, writer and producer, was born on the 12th April 1956. After A grande arte (High Art) and two splendid films codirected with Daniela Thomas, won international acclaim in 1998 for Central do Brasil (Central Station), winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and two Oscar® nominations. He next directed Abril despedaçado (Behind the Sun, 2001) and Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries, 2004). In 2005 he made his Hollywood debut with the horror film Dark Water. His 2008 film Linha de passe earned Sandra Corveloni the Best Actress award at Cannes. He directed On the Road in 2012, a very successful adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s book deemed “unfilmable”. As an executive producer he’s currently working on La patota directed by Santiago Mitre and Celestina by José Rivera, featuring Bill Pullman.

    FILMOGRAPHY

    1991 A grande arte (High Art) | 1996 Terra estrangeira (Foreign Land) | 1998 Central do Brasil (Central Station) | 1998 O primeiro dia (Midnight) | 2001 Abril despedaçado (Behind the Sun) | 2004 Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) | 2005 Dark Water | 2008 Linha de Passe | 2012 On the Road

    JIA ZHANGKE, UN GARS DE FENYANG / A GUY FROM FENYANG: JIA ZHANGKE
    by Walter Salles, Brazil, France, 2014, 100’

    With this film Jia Zhangke goes back to the location of all his films. He explores the genesis of his projects. He meets his leading actors, main collaborators, friends and “non-actors” who are the focus of his work. This is an affectionate portrait of Jia Zhangke’s memory that also originates a peculiar outlook on the role of cinema. The version presented in Rome is a work in progress.

    image via Flickr

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  • The Hacker Wars Documentary opens Friday, October 17th

    the hacker wars

    Director Vivien Lesnik Weisman’s THE HACKER WARS opens Friday, October 17, 2014 at the Village East Cinema in New York.  Ripped from international headlines, The Hacker Wars takes you to the front lines of the high-stakes battle over the fate of the Internet, freedom and privacy. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Vivien Lesnik Weisman melds her distinctive, subversively bent style with the real-life stories of the cyberpunk vanguards who blur the line between hacking and activism. Locked in a murky conflict against world governments, these so-called hacktivists are waging a life-or-death struggle for the freedom of public information and the defense of privacy under siege.

    The Hacker Wars tells the tales of the anarchic troll provocateur Andrew “weev” Aurenheimer, prodigy hacker hero Jeremy Hammond, and incendiary watchdog journalist Barrett Brown — three larger than life characters whose separate quests to expose the secrets of empire hurled them into a fateful collision course with shadowy corporations, the FBI, and ultimate betrayal by one of their own.

    Featuring interviews with NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, The Hacker Wars traces the steps that led from the Internet’s murkiest corners to the heavy shadow of censorship and a century’s worth of prison time.

    http://youtu.be/dm-eYgtxh8Y

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  • THE INVISIBLE FRONT a doc about Lithuania’s resistance against Soviet occupation to Be Released in US

    THE INVISIBLE FRONT. A documentary by Vincas Sruoginis, Jonas Ohman and Mark Johnston

     THE INVISIBLE FRONT, a documentary directed by Vincas Sruoginis and Jonas Ohman, and winner of the Audience Award at the international film festival “Kino Pavasaris” in Vilnius 2014, will open at the Cinema Village in New York on November 7, at the Music Box in Chicago on November 14, and at the Music Hall in Los Angeles on November 21. A national release will follow.

    THE INVISIBLE FRONT is the story of one of the twentieth centuries most significant anti-Soviet resistance movements, told through the words and experiences of Juozas Luksa and his fellow Forest Brothers. Their war was completely unknown to the public in the West. The Soviet Security forces, fighting against them, dubbed the conflict “The Invisible Front”.

    In 1944, Soviet forces occupied Lithuania for the second time. At the first occupation. 1940‐41, the government offered no resistance and the Lithuanians had quickly learned the brutal lessons of Communism. This time, they decided to resist. Tens of thousands of young Lithuanian men and women from the villages, schools and universities took to the forests and formed a guerrilla movement, the so­‐called Forest Brothers. One of their most charismatic leaders was Juozas Luksa, an architecture student. Along with his three brothers he joined the underground resistance, challenging the Soviets for years to come. In 1947 Luksa broke out from the Soviet Union to seek support and to tell the tale of Lithuanians desperate resistance to the West.

    When in Paris he met the love of his life, Nijole Brazenaite, and married her. He wrote a touching memoir about the origins of the resistance, which was later published by his wife. Shortly after their wedding, Luksa returned to Lithuania, air dropped by the CIA, for intelligence gathering. Panicking, Moscow launched vast resources to hunt him down, once for all ending the threat from the resistance to Communist rule in Lithuania.

    http://youtu.be/pUWST7fNkqo

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  • Vermont International Film Festival Announces 2014 Vermont Filmmakers’ Showcase Selections + Opening & Closing Night Films

    We Are The Best! We Are The Best!

    The 2014 Vermont International Film Festival, taking place for 10 days, October 24 to November 2 in downtown Burlington starts with a bang, Friday, October 24th with a screening of the Swedish film We Are The Best! Director Lukas Moodysson creates an invigorating portrait of teenage punk—that boisterous, rambunctious energy that’s re-fueled anew by each generation’s sense of righteous passion, impatient desire for independence and uneasy brew of angst, anger and ambition. We Are the Best! is a delightfully vivacious experience, brimming with infectious humanism, which perfectly captures the irrepressible spirit of youthful rebellion.

    20,000 Days on Earth20,000 Days on Earth

    The festival will wrap up with the closing night film, 20,000 Days on Earth on Saturday, November 1. 20,000 Days on Earth is a bold vision of one of music’s most mysterious and charismatic figures: Nick Cave. In their debut feature, directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard fuse drama and documentary by weaving a cinematically staged day in Cave’s life with never-before-seen cinéma vérité observations of his full creative cycle.

    The festival will celebrate Vermont filmmaking with the annual Vermont Filmmakers’ Showcase™.  The selected films will be screened at the Vermont International Film Festival and will be eligible for a range of awards.

    2014 Vermont Filmmakers’ Showcase Selected Films:

    Threshold
    Experimental Documentary/2014/21 min
    Director: Angus McCullough
    We are often lulled into ignorance about the forces at work all around us. Banal environments are dominated by philosophies and conventions, whether man-made or “natural.” Threshold exists exactly between the cultural and the natural to bring either side of that gateway into sharper focus.

    Green Mountain Dreamers
    Documentary/2014/29 min
    Director: Mt. Mansfield Media
    A heartwarming documentary about Boston Red Sox fans; these Vermonters redefine what it means to ‘B Strong’. Enjoy their stories of passion, perseverance, and pride, inspired by a team that never gives up.

    Loser’s Crown
    Fiction/2014/105 min
    Director: Colin Thompson
    A 30-year-old man in crisis goes home to Vermont (from Los Angeles) for Christmas and finally realizes that trying to be cool is an exhausting waste of time.

    Loser’s Crown
    Fiction/2014/105 min
    Director: Colin Thompson
    A 30-year-old man in crisis goes home to Vermont (from Los Angeles) for Christmas and finally realizes that trying to be cool is an exhausting waste of time.

    United We Ski
    Documentary/2013/35 min
    Director: Tyler Wilkinson-Ray
    United We Ski examines the importance of small ski areas to the sport of skiing and New England life. The film looks at the rise and decline of the region’s small ski areas and tells the story of three surviving areas in Vermont–Hardack, Cochran’s, and Northeast Slopes– which rely on community support, volunteerism, and Yankee ingenuity to provide affordable skiing to local families.

    We Are Small
    Fiction/2014/11 min
    Director: Jeremy MacKenzie
    When a little girl is shunned for being “too small” by other kids in the neighborhood who are making a snowman, she is inspired by her doll collection to prove that smallness has its strengths, too.

    All the Wonders
    Fiction/2013/8 min
    Director: Tim Joy
    A man who is on the brink of suicide is visited by a magical being who gives him a new perspective on life.

    Dark Legacy
    Fiction/ 2014/8 min
    Director: Daniel Sparling
    A young boy is pulled into a fight for his life with a dark spirit who transforms her victims into pigs before she eats them.

    11 Paper Place
    Animation/ 2014/ 7 min
    Director: Daniel Houghton
    11 Paper Place is a love story about two 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper that magically transform into paper people as they are spit out of a malfunctioning printer into a recycling bin.

    Do Not Disturb
    Fiction/2014/11 MIN
    Director: Matt Lennon
    A man spends the last night of his life alone in a hotel room. Things don’t go as smoothly as expected.

    Thaw
    Fiction/2014/10 min
    Director: Sheryl Glubok
    On a winter weekend getaway, a woman picks up a musician who ignites her creative passion.

    The North Star
    Fiction/2013/5 min
    Director: Rob Koier
    Based on actual texts from fugitive slave memoirs transcribed in the 1830s, The North Star is a haunting recreation of a slave escaping from the South to New England.

    Give In
    Fiction/2014/10 min
    Director: Benjamin Savard
    A young woman struggling with anxiety sits down with a therapist after her self-destructive actions reach a boiling point.

    Past Tense
    Fiction/2013/91 min
    Director: Robert Fritz
    Elizabeth’s parents died in a car crash when she was 11 years old, and her visits to the cemetery, where she begins to do grave rubbings, open her eyes to the other gravestones and other past lives, and she starts to write their stories. Two important women in Elizabeth’s life, her therapist and her writing teacher, pull her in vastly different directions, especially when a spirit from one of her grave rubbings appears, asking for help.

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  • Woodstock Film Festival 2014 Film Lineup

    Two Men in Town Two Men in Town

    The 15th Annual “fiercely independent” Woodstock Film Festival runs Wednesday, October 15, through Sunday, October 19, with more than 150 films, panels, performances and special events. Screenings and events take place in the historic arts colony of Woodstock, NY, and the neighboring towns of Rhinebeck, Rosendale, Saugerties and Kingston, just two hours from New York City in the Hudson Valley Catskills. The festival was founded by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto.

    OPENING NIGHT FILM
    After a troubled youth and 18 years in prison, William Garnett is being released. With the help of an idealistic parole agent and his new-found Islamic faith, Garnett struggles to rebuild his life and overcome the violent impulses which possess him. However, Bill Agati, the Sheriff of the small New Mexico border county where Garnett is released, has other ideas. Convinced that Garnett is unredeemable and is a threat to the security of his county, Agati launches a campaign to return Garnett to prison for life.

    Two Men in Town stars Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Harvey Keitel, Brenda Blethyn, Luis Guzman, Dolores Héredia, Ellen Burstyn, Tim Guinee, Reg E. Cathey, and is directed by Rachid Bouchareb (Indigènes (Days of Glory)) and produced by Allen Bain (The Cake Eaters, Room, and Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story), both of whom have shown films at the Woodstock Film Festival in previous years.

    CLOSING NIGHT FILM
    The Better Angels, which takes its name from a line in Abraham Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address, tells the story of Lincoln’s childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana, the hardships that shaped him and the tragedy that marked him forever. Using black and white cinematography to conjure an America where the land was raw, this film sheds new light on the formative years of the future president and the two women who molded him into one of the most revered men in American history.

    The film stars Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby), Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Brit Marling (I Origins, Another Earth), and Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games, American Beauty), and was produced by Academy Award® Nominee Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven, Tree of Life), Nicolas Gonda, Jake DeVito and Charley Beil

    CENTERPIECE FILM
    Directed by Caryn Waechter, The Sisterhood of Night is a story of friendship and loyalty set against the backdrop of a modern-day Salem witch trial. Shot on location in Kingston, NY, the film chronicles a group of girls who have slipped out of the world of social media into a mysterious world deep in the woods. 

    The Sisterhood of Night stars Georgie Henley, Kara Hayward, Kal Penn, Laura Fraser, Willa Cuthrell, Olivia De Jonge, Jessica Hecht, and Neal Huff. 

    SPECIAL SCREENINGS
    Creep, directed by Patrick Brice, is a two-man story set in a remote mountain cabin in the woods. Joseph, expecting to die soon of an unstated illness, hires Aaron through an ad on Craigslist to document the end of his life as a legacy to his unborn son. Creep will be presented by actor, co-writer and co-producer Mark Duplass, who will lead a discussion following the screening.

    Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles, directed by Chuck Workman, looks at the remarkable genius of Orson Welles on the eve of his centenary – the enigma of his career as a Hollywood star, a Hollywood director, and a crucially important independent filmmaker. Director Workman will be on hand for Q&A following the screening.

    The Fly Room, directed by Alexis Gambis, is a wondrous story that captures the mysterious inner world of a child’s imagination at the brink of scientific discovery. The film will be introduced by Paul Hoffman, President and CEO of Liberty Science Center and the Creative Director of Beyond Rubik’s Cube.

    Antarctica 3D: On the Edge, directed by Jon Bowermaster, witnesses the National Geographic explorer and his adventurous team travel along the frozen coastline by sea kayak, ice-worthy sailboat, and on foot to gain an up-close look and attempt to better understand just how the seventh continent is changing. Staying for a Q&A following the screening, filmmaker and WFF guest Jon Bowermaster will also be featured on the “Impact Filmmaking” panel.

    Just Before I Go, directed by Courteney Cox, follows Ted as he decides to end his mediocre life. Before doing so, he returns to his hometown to revisit the demons of his past: the cruel school teacher; the relentless bully; the girl who got away. Courteney Cox will take part in a Q&A following the screening, as well as being featured on the “Women in the Director’s Chair” panel to discuss her feature-length directorial debut.

    2014 NARRATIVE FEATURES

    Feature narratives include: All Relative, The American Side, Amira & Sam, Arwad, Before I Disappear, Bread and Butter, Creep, Eat with Me, The Fly Room, Friends and Romans, I Believe in Unicorns, Just Before I Go, The Last Time You Had Fun, Late Phases, Listening, Little Accidents, Mahjong and the West, The Man Who Saved the World, Patrick’s Day, The Red Robin, Runoff, Sacrifice, The Sisterhood of Night, Uncertain Terms, White Rabbit, WildLike, The Young Kieslowski

    2014 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

    Documentaries include: A Small Section of the World, A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake, Angel Azul, Antarctica 3D: On the Edge, Down in Shadowland, East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem, Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the Man Behind the National Enquirer, The Hand That Feeds, How I Got Over, Killswitch, Limited Partnership, Little White Lie, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles, Mentor, Pauly Shore Stands Alone, Playing With Parkinson’s, Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year On The Gay Rodeo, Red Lines, SlingShot, Stray Dog, Two Raging Grannies, Untitled Film On “World Citizen #1” Garry Davis, Why I’m Not on Facebook

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  • Julianne Moore in “Maps to the Stars” and John Lithgow in “Love is Strange” Bookends Lineup for Australia’s Canberra International Film Festival

    Maps to the StarsMaps to the Stars

    The Canberra International Film Festival opens on October 23 and goes until November 9, featuring 21 Australian Premieres and 20 documentaries. Opening Night film is Maps to the Stars starring Julianne Moore, and Closing Night’s Love is Strange is an ensemble romantic comedy about the fall out after a same sex marriage reveals society’s continued prejudices.

    The Dead LandsThe Dead Lands

    The Australian Premiere action epic Centerpiece film is The Dead Lands, the first film to showcase the ancient Maori martial art Mau rakau and comes to Canberra direct from its Toronto International Film Festival Premiere together with Producer Matthew Metcalfe who will participate in a CIFF Conversation about the film after its screening.

    David Cronenberg takes on the Hollywood he has been side-stepping throughout his career in Map To The Stars, this spooky, satirical indictment of the fame game.

    http://youtu.be/fwxmnyoofPs

    Julianne Moore serves a signature stunner of a performance as Havana Segrand, an insecure middleaged Hollywood actress becoming increasingly desperate and ruthless in her schemes to land the lead role in a remake of a film her mother had starred in. Her therapist, Dr. Weiss [John Cusack] is a TV psychologist and self-help guru who makes a mint off celebrity clients and his megastar teenage son whose career is booming as much as his ego and drug problems. Into the mix walks Agatha [Canberra’s own, Mia Wasikowska], a recovering pyromaniac who Havana has hired as an assistant based on a Twitter recommendation from Carrie Fisher, and her friend Jerome [Robert Pattinson] a struggling actor getting by as a limo driver. It’s a vacuous world of celebrity self-indulgence into which Cronenberg lets rip with biting satire and social commentary, and then twists it all with some supernatural thrills and mystery. It’s a Kardashian’s worst nightmare: outrageous, witty, unapologetically smart and seriously unsettling.

    Love Is StrangeLove Is Strange

    Uplifting with a slight sting in the laughter, the warm ensemble “Love Is Strange” is a timely reminder of how far we’ve come and the prejudices we still need to put to rest.

    http://youtu.be/XdfA5Ff5e78

    With the introduction of same sex marriage legislation, Ben and George [Lithgow and Molina], after 40 years together, have finally been able to tie the knot. But immediately after, George is fired from his teaching post in a religious school, forcing the couple to live separately, dossing in with friends, while they search for a more affordable home. Their unplanned separation and new living arrangements bring both calamity and camaraderie to their respective hosts, and both comedy and pathos to this delicately handled tale of togetherness. A fantastic ensemble cast offers charming insights to all sides of this scenario and Sachs’ expert direction of his own script allows them all to shine in a memorable madcap for the modern family.

    Click here for full lineup

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  • Gary International Black Film Festival to Open This Weekend with African American Western “THEY DIE BY DAWN”

    they die by dawn

    The Fourth Annual Gary International Black Film Festival (GIBFF) taking place this weekend, October 17, 18 and 19, 2014, at Indiana University Northwest Bergland Auditorium, Savannah Hall, in Gary, Indiana, will offer what the festival calls “a powerful lineup of drama, documentary and short films.” The festival opens tonight with THEY DIE BY DAWN, a star-studded film based on the true life African American Cowboys of the old west.

    http://youtu.be/d7UXL8D7XSw

    Directed by Jeymes Samuel (aka The Bullits), THEY DIE BY DAWN features an all-star cast including Giancarlo Esposito, Michael K Williams, Nate Parker, Jesse Williams, Rosario Dawson, Isaiah Washington, Erykah Badu, Bokeem Woodbine and Harry Lennix, the film sets out to tell the story of a showdown between the real life characters in the Wild Black West.

     MY NAME IS GARYMY NAME IS GARY

    The festival will also feature the World Premiere of MY NAME IS GARY. This documentary is described by the festival as a loving and well balanced tribute to the people of Gary, IN produced and directed by French filmmakers Frederic Cousseau and Blandine Huk. The film features reflections and interviews with current and former Gary residents on the rise, decline and hope for the future of this once-proud steel town. Interviews with former Gary Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, and others provide unique history of the city where black people rose to power.

    Christmas Wedding BabyChristmas Wedding Baby

    Saturday Night Spotlight film is the Midwest Premiere of Christmas Wedding Baby directed by Kiara Jones along with the stunning drama, Stay Cold: Stay Hungry, directed by award winning cinematographer Eric Branco. As part of the festival’s annual celebration that shines a light on the hometown, Gary Wirt alumni Antwon Tanner will be on hand to discuss and share his work in the provocative drama, CRU. A youth film showcase with films by young people and for young people will open the Saturday menu of films.

     http://youtu.be/kuPGZ-kjiks

     

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  • “INHERENT VICE” and “THE GAMBLER” Added to the Lineup for 2014 AFI FEST

    INHERENT VICEINHERENT VICE

    Warner Bros. Pictures’ INHERENT VICE and Paramount Pictures’ THE GAMBLER have been added to the lineup for the 2014 AFI FEST which will take place November 6 through 13 in Hollywood, California. THE GAMBLER directed by Rupert Wyatt will have its World Premiere on Monday, November 10, 2014, and INHERENT VICE written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Thomas Anderson, based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon will play on Saturday, November 8.

    In THE GAMBLER, Jim Bennett (Academy Award® nominee Mark Wahlberg) is a risk taker.  Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral.  Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Academy Award® winner Jessica Lange) in his wake.  He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future.  As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance. Produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff and David Winkler. Based upon the film written by James Toback with a screenplay by William Monahan. Directed by Rupert Wyatt.

    INHERENT VICE is the seventh feature from Academy Award® nominee Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel; and stars Academy Award® nominees Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin and Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Academy Award® winners Reese Witherspoon and Benicio Del Toro, Martin Short, Jena Malone and Joanna Newsom, 

    When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him a loony bin…well, easy for her to say.

    It’s the tail end of the psychedelic ‘60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused—except that this one usually leads to trouble.

    With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity knows as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentist…Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp – all Thomas Pynchon.

    The film is produced by Anderson, together with Academy Award® nominees JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi. 

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  • Neil Patrick Harris to Host 2015 Oscars

    neil patrick harris

    Actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th Oscars®, scheduled to air live on ABC on Oscar® Sunday, February 22, 2015. “It is truly an honor and a thrill to be asked to host this year’s Academy Awards.  I grew up watching the Oscars and was always in such awe of some of the greats who hosted the show,” said Harris. “To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true.” 

    “We share Craig and Neil’s excitement in welcoming the incredibly talented Neil Patrick Harris,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President.  “He is the consummate entertainer.  Neil’s distinctive charm and showmanship make him the ideal host to honor the Oscar legacy and ensure we all enjoy another unforgettable celebration.”

    “Neil is a terrific actor, singer, risk-taker and collaborator,” said Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO. “We can’t wait to see the show that he and Craig and Neil create together.” 

    A triple-threat performer, Harris has enjoyed a successful career in entertainment.  He can currently be seen starring opposite Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed feature film, “Gone Girl.”  Harris garnered multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe award nominations for his role as Barney Stinson on the hit television series, “How I Met Your Mother,” and he won an Emmy for his guest-starring role on “Glee” in 2010.  He also recently starred in the title role of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway, earning the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.  Harris served as host of the 61st and 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as the 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th Tony Awards, for which he won four Emmys.  Most recently, Harris added the title of author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his autobiography from Crown Publishing, “Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.”   

    The last two Oscars telecasts, which were produced by Zadan and Meron, received a major spike in the ratings.  The 86th Oscars was TV’s most-watched entertainment event in 10 years and attracted the biggest viewership since 2000, with more than 45 million viewers.  The show resulted in dramatic gains in younger demos and social media conversation, with more than one billion impressions generated on Twitter and 25 million interactions happening on Facebook on Oscar Sunday.  Additionally, the star-studded “selfie” became the most retweeted photo of all time with 32.8 million views.

    The Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 4 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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  • Watch TRAILER for The Blind Chess Players of India in ALGORITHMS

    Algorithms

    Check out the trailer for The Blind Chess Players of India in ALGORITHMS, a First Run Features film which opens in Los Angeles on October 17 and in New York City on October 24.  In India, a group of boys dream of becoming Chess Grandmasters. But this is no ordinary chess and these are no ordinary players.  Algorithms, the debut feature documentary from filmmaker Ian McDonald, is a film that transports us into the little known world of Blind Chess.  Chess is an ancient and universal game with origins in India. 

    Filmed over three years in different parts of India, Algorithms follows three boys and an adult champion who not only aspires to bring global recognition to India’s blind chess players, but also wants to encourage all blind children to play chess. The filmmakers travel with the players to competitive tournaments, including the World Junior Blind Chess Championship. They also film them in their home milieu where they reveal their struggles, anxieties and hopes. Moving through the algorithms of the blind chess world, the film is a tactile and mindful journey that challenges the notion of what it means to “see.”

    The Chess Players



    Charudatta Jadhav from Mumbai is a champion player turned pioneer. He discovered the game of chess soon after he went blind in his teenage years. It gave him confidence and a purpose in life. Convinced of the power of this game, he has dedicated his life to develop chess for the blind. A highly successful IT professional, Charu is a man of great drive and ambition, and he aims to situate India in the top five countries for Blind Chess.



    Darpan Inani from Baroda is the most talented and highest ranked totally blind player in India. This idiosyncratic, confident and highly intelligent teenager is focussed on what he wants to achieve in chess, and in life. Darpan possesses a wisdom that belies his young age. He is a topper in his sighted school and  wants to be the first blind entrepreneur of India.



    SaiKrishna S.T. from Chennai is the ambitious rising star of blind chess in India. He is fun-loving, gregarious and makes friends easily. But as a partially sighted boy faced with the possibility of going totally blind, there is a lot more steel to Sai’s character than at first appears. Sai studies in a blind school and is again a topper. He wants to be the first blind journalist of India.



    Anant Kumar Nayak from Bhubaneshwar is a promising new talent. He is a gentle boy with an endearing if slightly eccentric personality. With a strong sense of moral duty and responsibility, the totally blind Anant struggles to balance his commitment to chess and studies. Anant has come second in training exams for IAS and hopes to be a rare blind IAS officer of India.

    http://youtu.be/vkDse3PJguU

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  • Robert Redford to be Honored with 42nd Annual Chaplin Award

    Robert Redford

    Robert Redford, Academy Award–winning director, actor, producer, environmentalist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival and Institute, will be honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the 42nd Annual Chaplin Award Gala held at Lincoln Center on Monday, April 27, 2015. 

    “The Board is thrilled to have Robert Redford as the next recipient of the Chaplin Award,” said Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman. “Not only is he an internationally known and loved actor, director, and producer, but perhaps no other single artist has done more to champion the work of independent filmmakers. This makes him a truly distinguished honoree—the Film Society, the New York Film Festival, and the film world in general are immensely richer because of his contributions.”

    Born in 1936 in Santa Monica, Redford began his career in New York in 1959 appearing as a guest star on several TV shows, including The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and that year also marked his Broadway debut in Tall Story (1959), followed by roles in The Highest Tree (1959), Sunday in New York (1961), and his biggest Broadway success as the newlywed husband in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park (1963). He also earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont in 1963, followed by one of his last television appearances on Breaking Point.

    Redford made his screen debut in War Hunt (1962), which also marked the directorial debut of Sydney Pollack, and the first of several collaborations between the two. He won his first Golden Globe award for Inside Daisy Clover (1965), in which he played a bisexual movie star who weds Natalie Wood. He worked with the actress again in Pollack’s This Property Is Condemned(1966), and that same year, he starred in Arthur Penn’s The Chase opposite Jane Fonda, with whom he would later reteam with for the movie version of Barefoot in the Park (1967) and Pollack’s The Electric Horseman (1979).

    Playing alongside Paul Newman in 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Redford launched to superstardom, and throughout the following two decades he further cemented his role within film history playing iconic characters in such films asJeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Way We Were (1973), the Oscar-nominated The Sting (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), All the President’s Men (1976), The Natural (1984) and Out of Africa (1985), winner of seven Academy Awards.     

    Redford’s impressive career also extends behind the camera. He made his directorial debut with the Academy Award–winningOrdinary People, followed by The Milagro Beanfield War (1987), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and The Company You Keep (2012), among others. 

    He was the recipient of the 1997 National Medal for the Arts by President Clinton. In 2001 he was honored with the Freedom in Film Award presented by the First Amendment Center, and in 2002 received the Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts: Lifetime Achievement Award. In December 2005, Redford accepted the Kennedy Center Honors for his “distinguished achievement in the performing arts and in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the life of our country.” Most recently, Redford received the Legion d’Honneur medal, France’s highest recognition, from President Nicolas Sarkozy on October 14, 2010.

    Redford starred in last year’s New York Film Festival selection All Is Lost, and just completed production on A Walk in the Woods, based on Bill Bryson’s memoir and co-starring Nick Nolte. It is scheduled for release in 2015. He is now shooting Truthwith Cate Blanchett. The film is based on the book Truth and Duty by Mary Mapes.

    The Film Society’s Annual Gala began in 1972 and honored Charlie Chaplin, who returned to the U.S. from exile to accept the commendation. Since then, the award has been renamed for Chaplin, and has honored many of the film industry’s most notable talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Michael Douglas, Sidney Poitier, Catherine Deneuve, Barbra Streisand and, last year, Rob Reiner.

    image via flickr

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