• BEFORE I DISAPPEAR, VESSEL Lead Audience Award Winners of 2014 SXSW Film Festival

     sxsw 2014 audience awards BEFORE I DISAPPEAR directed by Shawn Christensen, VESSEL directed by Diana Whitten, DAMNATION directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel , CESAR CHAVEZ directed by Diego Luna

    The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival Audience Award-winners today from the Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Episodic, SXGlobal, Festival Favorites and Design Award categories.  BEFORE I DISAPPEAR directed by Shawn Christensen was awarded to the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and VESSEL directed by Diana Whitten was voted the winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.  In the Spotlight section, DAMNATION directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film and CESAR CHAVEZ directed by Diego Luna won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film.

    BEFORE I DISAPPEAR directed by Shawn Christensen and winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature is based on the 2013 Academy Award® winning short film “Curfew.” At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his eleven-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.

    In VESSEL, directed by Diana Whitten, and winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts sails a ship around the world, providing abortions at sea for women with no legal alternative. Her idea begins as flawed spectacle, faced with governmental, religious, and military blockade. But with each roadblock comes a more refined mission, until Rebecca realizes she can use new technologies to bypass law – and train women to give themselves abortions using WHO-researched protocols with pills. From there we witness her create an underground network of emboldened, informed activists who trust women to handle abortion themselves. “Vessel” is Rebecca’s story: one of a woman who hears and answers a calling, and transforms a wildly improbable idea into a global movement.

    DAMNATION directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel and winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film, explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the Monkey Wrench Gang. When obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other wild fish the right of return to primeval spawning grounds, after decades without access. “DamNation”’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move us through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.

    Directed by Diego Luna, CESAR CHÁVEZ winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film, chronicles the birth of a modern American movement led by famed civil rights leader and labor organizer, Cesar Chavez. Torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to bringing dignity and justice to others, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle for the rights of farm workers. His triumphant journey is a remarkable testament to the power of one individual’s ability to change the system.

    The Audience Awards follow the previously announced 2014 Jury Awards, which included Grand Jury Winners Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers’ FORT TILDEN for Narrative Feature, and Margaret Brown’s THE GREAT INVISIBLE for Documentary Feature. 

    2014 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award Winners:

    NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
    Audience Award Winner: BEFORE I DISAPPEAR
    Director: Shawn Christensen

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
    Audience Award Winner: VESSEL
    Director: Diana Whitten

    DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
    Audience Award Winner: DAMNATION
    Directors: Ben Knight & Travis Rummel

    NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
    Audience Award Winner: CESAR CHAVEZ
    Director: Diego Luna 

    VISIONS
    Audience Award Winner: YAKONA
    Directors: Anlo Sepulveda & Paul Collins

    MIDNIGHTERS
    Audience Award Winner: EXISTS
    Director: Eduardo Sánchez

    EPISODIC
    Audience Award Winner: SILICON VALLEY
    Director: Mike Judge

    SXGLOBAL
    Audience Award Winner: THE SPECIAL NEED
    Director: Carlo Zoratti

    FESTIVAL FAVORITES
    Audience Award Winner: THE CASE AGAINST 8
    Director: Ben Cotner & Ryan White

    SXSW Film Design Awards

    EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
    Audience Award Winner: BIG SIGNIFICANT THINGS
    Designer: Corey Holmes

    EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
    Audience Award Winner: TRUE DETECTIVE
    Designer: Patrick Clair for Elastic 

    Image: (top l. to r.) BEFORE I DISAPPEAR directed by Shawn Christensen, VESSEL directed by Diana Whitten, DAMNATION directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel , CESAR CHAVEZ directed by Diego Luna

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  • TEENAGE: Matt Wolf’s Documentary Brings the History of Growing Up to Life

    teenage matt-wolf

     TEENAGE, the new documentary film written and directed by Matt Wolf (Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell) is based on the book Teenager, by Jon Savage, and uses both found footage and lush, fake Super 8 recreations to illustrate how adolescents came into being, as both a social and actualized concept, in the early-to-mid twentieth century.

    Opening in 1904, when children of very young ages were used as literal slave laborers during as the capitalist tidal wave of the Industrial Revolution slammed American shores. (72 hours per week!) Wolf has gotten his hands his hands on some truly amazing footage, but Savage’s thesis is a global one- and we learn how the world’s children literally, WWI and, more broadly and concretely, after WWII, began to get their artistic, creative, expressionistic, intellectual and Dionysian groove on as they blossom into teenagers. It is obvious that free time, the ability to lead healthier, longer lives, and standardized education was the catalyst for this new-found freedom, as young teens began to individuate from their parents and families-forming their own tribes, flocks and groups for the very first time. From Flappers to the “Freak Parties” of London, and later, post-war, as teenagers really began to question their place in the world, after the great tragedies they witnessed as children in WW II.

     Wolf has made a truly enjoyable, visually delightful and informative film- casting actors as the real-life teens- whose diary-like entries guide us through the various narrative jumps from country-to-country, time-period to time-period.  The approach is novel, and again, the film is very carefully wrought and informative: It’s a great start to Wolf’s emerging and engaging style, though, and it will be exciting to see which subject he tackles next. Actors such as Jena Malone and Ben Whipshaw participate, and Jason Schwartzman is an Executive Producer.

    Opens March 14th in select cities.

    http://youtu.be/n8bNqD9YhkM

     

     

     

     

     

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  • The Naked Emotions are more Raw than the Rampant Sex Scenes in Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac-Vol 1

    By Francesca McCaffery With his latest film NYMPHOMANIAC, bad boy and cinematic provocateur Lars von Trier has found a way to communicate through film that is rarely felt, even in literature : Whether you agree with what is being portrayed onscreen, or not, you still have the feeling of being spoken to in the most profound of ways- both cerebrally and viscerally- the sheer ride that only  the most dazzling, life-changing novel can offer. NYMPHOMANIAC, VOL 1, is one of two films, (Vol 2 being released in the US in April ) both released in their uncut, European versions. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, who meets lonely bachelor Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) only after he finds her lying, curled up, bloody and beaten, in his courtyard as he goes out to get his daily cup of coffee and rugalach. As Seligman begins to tend to her, much like a kindly Grandma (hot tea, fresh PJs, warm bed) , Joe starts recounting her tales as a sexually voracious young woman, as Seligman patiently listens. Offering both counsel and repartee to her increasingly more self-loathsome stories. In flashback we see the young Joe (waifish newcomer Stacy Martin), colt-like and doe-eyed, just how much power she has over men, “simply by smiling at them.” (It doesn’t hurt, either, that she looks like she just wandered straight out of a Marc Jacobs ad.)  Time flips around, and we observe Joe as a little girl- as she learns to masturbate on a wet bathroom floor, hang on ropes “endlessly” in gym, and become fascinated with the way her own body operates, and, as Joe bluntly says, “my cunt.” Her father (Cristian Slater- a fine, simple performance) is a kind doctor who teaches her about the history about the lovely ash trees in the forest on their daily walks,  and  her mother, a dirty blonde domestic ice queen (Connie Nielsen), is a “cold bitch.” Aside from seeing that her Mother is unsatisfied and distracted by domesticity, it  is hard to deduce from Joe’s upbringing that her extreme sexual behavior is the “result” of anything.-except for a truly lousy first time, which she herself orchestrated completely. As Joe hits adolescence, forms an actual “club” of like-minded, self-worshiping teen girls who throw away the concept of love and monogamy (they are allowed to have sex with any individual man only once) like sexy anarchists, and proceed to sleep around with whomever they wish, whenever they want. Joe is always firmly in control of her choices, as are her friends, even after her best friend is the first to go down, fervently whispering to her that the “secret ingredient to sex is love!” (Yes, this phrase is uttered several times throughout the film.) Joe picks her men, randomly decides who to continue seeing as it becomes increasingly harder for her to juggle her myriad stable lovers (fat, tall, leonine, lovely, tender, old, young, ugly, married, single, gorgeous-she has no obvious type or  preference.) She is having sex to have sex, and we see Joe is screwing a lot. The action goes back and forth, present to past, and Seligman, kind and non-judging of Joe’s extreme behavior,  likens the way Joe and her friend start out their “hunt” of men to fuck on a  first train ride outing wearing there “Come Fuck Me” clothes  like carefully baiting the lure in fly-fishing. As Joe grows older, and is forced to get a boring job (medical school was too rough for her overly-sensitive self, she tells us in voice-over) she meets and finds herself falling in love with Jerome (Shia La Boeuf) who has also appeared in the beginning of the film (I won’t spoil it for you.) As she chastises herself for feeling this way, sentimental and woozy with actual desire, her number of lovers increases, until, like saying banana over and over and over again, the act seems, even to the viewer, to distinctly and abruptly lose all of its meaning and purpose. As an audience, we are almost bored with the way the sex depicted, which is a fantastic achievement of the director’s. It has been said that von Trier cast actual porn stars to perform the actual live sex scenes in these films, and then digitized the actor’s “heads” onto their bodies, accordingly. As this wasn’t stated in the official press notes, I cannot say for certain, but this, along with the rest of the brilliant, peek-a-boo press campaign,  only serves to elevate the pain underneath the action.. As we watch, and cannot be sure who is actually really doing what,  the actors themselves become as desexualized as the acts portrayed themselves. We can begin to really focus upon the story…Or…is there one, after all? Did Joe simply make a choice, a careless selection, not to care, destroying hearts, families and feelings along the way as she tears through the lives of her often unnamed lovers? Uma Thurman is simply devastating as “Mrs. H,” a wife of one of Joe’s “lovers” (only known as “H”) who has left his family after Joe, desperate to shake him off, tells him that she can’t be with him unless she all of him. The plan backfires completely as Mr. H returns, suitcase in hand, and Mrs. H, creeps up to Joe’s “bohemian” flat towing her three tiny young boys, beautifully beginning to unravel in the span of five minutes. (Seriously- Thurman is so good in this film.) As Joe begins to realize the devastating internal results of her seemingly unconscious actions, and we are left with a scintillating preview of Volume 2 as the credits role, one is left pondering many questions, barely remembering the actual sex acts and displays of promiscuity. It is almost as if, like the sex acts depicted themselves, von Trier is also asking us to look at our own personal “stories,” and the great, often unnecessary weight we put on them. This director is not a light-hearted guy. Films like Breaking the Waves and Antichrist deal with a world that will dole out random, tragic events like a farmer throwing seeds onto an endless, muddy field. His most recent film, the stunningly gorgeous  MELANCHOLIA, (which he made after a bout of severe depression) was far more considered, asking us to question our own personal fate in terms of the majesty and self-containment of the entire universe. As Seligman far too easily and almost primly  repackages Joe’s recountings as merely  accounts of  severe “addiction,” von Trier is not asking us to consider why the need to be so distracted so intently is quietly eating away at our society and culture; he is asking us to consider the ‘addict,’ if you will,  and why their own story is any different from choosing to live a life more guided by compassion, kindness and self-esteem. “We are all waiting for permission to die, anyway,” Joe informs Seligman. She has the last and final say, and everyone is going down with her ship-everyone who chooses to be on board, that is. The director is no moralist, here, though: He has made a film about a woman who has elevated her own sickness to a sole and profound Identity, and asks us to question what we live by, how we define ourselves, and where we stand. By the way, Gainsbourg, as you probably can imagine, is simply wonderful , and we hear in her lilting, tarnished voice a woman so purely hating and so desperately hating herself, but looking for no redemption, no resolution, and no forgiveness, either, whatsoever. Sensationalism aside, please forget the actual hysteria and promise of “unheralded,” explicit sex scenes in the film itself, and go for the way it makes you feel, think and analyze your own place in the world.  This film makes you work , and von Trier perhaps has almost had to  resort to utilizing depictions of graphic sex as the gateway drug to shock us right back into our heads and hearts.  Maybe he is saving his moral judgment for  us-the audience-as viewers…That we, much like Joe, need to be tricked into seeing and feeling and interpreting something, anything,  intimate and profound without being completely and utterly scared.

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  • 2014 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Reveals Additional Programming; THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL is the Free Closing Night Film

    THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL by Chapman Way and Maclain WayTHE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL by Chapman Way and Maclain Way

    The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced additional programming for the 2014 festival: 4 Center Frame programs, 5 Free Screenings, this year’s Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant recipients, and the Southern Documentary Fund: In-the-Works program. THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL by Chapman Way and Maclain Way will screen as the Free Closing Night Film on Sunday, April 6.

    Four films previously announced in the Invited Program will exhibit as Center Frame screenings in the Fletcher Hall of the Carolina Theatre: “Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq” by Nancy Buirski, “The Case Against 8” by Ben Cotner and Ryan White, “E-Team” by Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, and “Ivory Tower” by Andrew Rossi. 

    Filmmakers and subjects from the films will participate in extended conversations after the Center Frame screenings. Special guests include legendary classical dancer Jacques d’Amboise of “Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq;” Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, two of the plaintiffs featured in “The Case Against 8;” and Carroll Bogert of Human Rights Watch, who appears in “E-Team.”

    The 2014 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant, now in its eighth year, has been awarded to James Demo for “The Peacemaker” and RaMell Ross for “Hale County.” Grant organizers will join the filmmakers in presenting short excerpts from their works-in-progress prior to the World Premiere screening of “In Country” by 2013 recipients Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara. The grant is awarded in honor of filmmaker Garrett Scott, who made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. It recognizes first-time filmmakers who, like Scott, bring a unique vision to the content and style of their documentary films. 

    The Southern Documentary Fund is screening in-the-works excerpts from “Old South” by Danielle Beverly and “Trapped” by Dawn Porter. The screenings will be followed by a moderated conversation with the filmmakers. SDF: In-the-Works provides Southern filmmakers the opportunity to receive feedback from a dedicated assembly of their peers and serious documentary enthusiasts. 

    In addition to the Closing Night Film, Full Frame 2014 will feature 4 Free Screenings. The festival will continue its tradition of showing free films Friday and Saturday nights. Two fan favorites from last year’s festival will each screen twice, once indoors at the Full Frame Theater in the Power Plant at American Tobacco and once outdoors at Durham Central Park: Ryan White’s “Good Ol’ Freda” and Patrick Creadon’s “If You Build It.” Food Truck Roundups will precede the Durham Central Park showings on Friday and Saturday nights. All Free Screenings at the festival are presented by PNC.

    The complete schedule of events, along with film descriptions, can be viewed online at www.fullframefest.org.

    2014 Center Frame Screenings at Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall

    CENTER FRAME – Friday, April 4 at 4:40pm
    Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq     (Director: Nancy Buirski)
    Tanaquil Le Clercq inspired choreographers unlike any ballerina before her, but in 1956, at the height of her fame, she was stricken with polio. A mesmerizing film of love, loss, and surprising grace.

    CENTER FRAME – Friday, April 4 at 7:40pm
    E-Team     (Directors: Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman)
    Four fearless activists from Human Rights Watch’s Emergency Team take us to the frontlines of Syria and Libya as they investigate and document war crimes.

    CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 5 at 4:40pm
    Ivory Tower     (Director: Andrew Rossi)
    Is a college degree worth the price? This sweeping examination of higher education questions the value of college in an era of rising tuition costs and staggering student debt.

    CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 5 at 7:40pm
    The Case Against 8     (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White)
    This behind-the-scenes film, shot over five years, follows the unlikely team who fought to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

    2014 Free Screenings Presented by PNC

    FREE CLOSING NIGHT FILM
    Sunday, April 8 at 8:00pm – Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall (Ticket Required)
    The Battered Bastards of Baseball     (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way)
    A celebratory portrait of the Portland Mavericks, who joined the minor leagues in 1973 as the lone single-A team without a major-league affiliation.

    FREE SCREENINGS
    Friday, April 4 at 6:30pm – Full Frame Theater (Ticket Required)
    Saturday, April 5 at 8:30pm – Durham Central Park
    If You Build It (Director: Patrick Creadon)
    Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year.

    FREE SCREENINGS
    Friday, April 5 at 8:30pm – Durham Central Park
    Saturday, April 6 at 6:30pm – Full Frame Theater (Ticket Required)
    Good Ol’ Freda (Director: Ryan White)
    Liverpudlian teenager Freda Kelly was the Beatles secretary and tells “one of the last true stories of the Beatles you’ll ever hear.”   

    2014 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant
    Saturday, April 5 at 4:10pm – Cinema 4

    The Peacemaker (Director: James Demo)
    The Peacemaker follows Padraig O’Malley into conflict zones as he works a peacemaking model based on his recovery from addiction.

    Hale Country (Director: RaMell Ross)
    Immersive moments and ambling montages investigate the lives of two young Black men on the cusp of adulthood in the historic South.

    SDF: In-the-Works
    Sunday, April 6 at 2:30pm – Durham Arts Council

    Old South (Director: Danielle Beverly)
    Two Southern communities steeped in history—one black, one white—collide as they strive to keep their respective legacies alive in a changing America.

    Trapped (Director: Dawn Porter)
    Dr. Willie Parker is one of the only physicians willing to provide abortion care at clinics in Alabama and Mississippi. But when new state laws effectively ban him from practice, these clinics must fight to stay open.

    The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 3-6, 2014, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. The NEW DOCS, Invited, Tribute, and Thematic Program lineups were previously announced.

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  • Calgary Underground Film Festival Announces 2014 Festival Lineup; Opens with Canadian Premiere of FRANK

    FRANKFRANK 

    The Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) announced the 2014 festival line up today. CUFF will bring 31 feature films from all over world to Calgary from April 7-13 at Globe Cinema. The festival opens on April 7, 2014 with the Canadian premiere of FRANK.  In the film, an amateur musician,Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) who finds himself mixed up with some seriously strange bandmates, led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender). Based on the memoir by Jon Ronson (THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS) and his experiences playing with ultimate outsider musician Chris Sievey. 

    Some highlights in the 2014 festival lineup include: 

    OPENING GALA – FRANK (Ireland/UK, 2014, 95 Min, Canadian premiere) April 7, 2014 
    An amateur musician,Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) who finds himself mixed up with some seriously strange bandmates, led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender). Based on the memoir by Jon Ronson (THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS) and his experiences playing with ultimate outsider musician Chris Sievey. 

    THE RAID 2 (Indonesia, 2013, 148 min, Canadian premiere) April 9, 2014
    Only a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.

    WETLANDS (Germany, 2013, 109 min, Canadian premiere) April 10, 2014 
    Helen (Carla Juri) is wild, brash and uncompromising, and a huge pain for her divorced parents. Based on author Charlotte Roche’s 2008 controversial and mega bestselling cult novel, WETLANDS pushes the boundaries of eroticism with an unabashedly sexual and intimate portrait of one young woman’s loves, longings and penetrating fantasies.

    THE FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL (USA, 2014, 90 min)  Tuesday April 8, 2014
    A one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. Curators Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (Late Show with David Letterman) take audiences on a guided tour of their latest and greatest VHS finds, providing live commentary and where-are-they-now updates on the people in these videotaped obscurities. 

    AS PLACES BURN (USA, 2013, 121 min) Thursday April 10, 2014
    Hard touring, thrash metal supergroup Lamb of God are a force to be reckoned with. Vocalist Randy Blythe credits the band with saving his life, and after the group wraps up a global tour, he finds himself fighting for it. Charged with the death of a fan at one of the group’s shows, Blythe finds himself facing a lengthy sentence in a Czech prison. What started as a band portrait quickly becomes a nail-biting legal thriller.

    ASPHALT WATCHES (Canada, 2013, 94 MIN) Friday April 11, 2014
    This autobiographical psychedelic animated road movie-and TIFF award winner. Visual artists Seth Scriver and Shayne Ehman spent seven years turning their real-life adventures hitchhiking along the Trans-Canada Highway into this hilarious, grotesque, and utterly original adult animated feature.

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  • 2014 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival Lineup; World Premiere of Michael Rapaport’s NY Knicks Documentary WHEN THE GARDEN WAS EDEN to Kick Off Program

      WHEN THE GARDEN WAS EDEN

    The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), today announced the lineup for the eighth annual Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. The Sports Festival was founded to broaden the audience for independent film through stories about sports and competition. The program includes feature and short films, an outdoor screening, special conversations, and an ESPN Films 30 for 30 program on soccer. The 2014 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will run during the 13th edition of TFF, taking place April 16 – April 27 at locations around New York City.

    The world premiere of the 30 for 30 documentary WHEN THE GARDEN WAS EDEN will serve as the gala premiere of the program on Thursday, April 17.  In the film, Rapaport focuses on the glory days of the Knicks championship teams of the early 70’s and their larger impact through a series of interviews with storied figures such as Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Phil Jackson.

    “The best sports stories have the mythology, complexity and stakes that extend beyond extraordinary athleticism, making for great films. These stories have fueled the huge success of the Tribeca/ESPN sports film festival by bringing sports fans and moviegoers together over the last eight years,” said Genna Terranova, Tribeca Film Festival Director of Programming. “Rappaport’s When the Garden was Eden is a perfect example of a winning start to this year’s inspiring slate.”

    “When The Garden Was Eden gives us an inside look at the captivating era when the New York Knicks were in their prime,” said ESPN Films Director of Development Libby Geist. “Premiering the film at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival in the heart of New York City, with Michael Rapaport directing, couldn’t be more perfect.”

    Says Rapaport, “As a native New Yorker and lifelong Knicks fan it was an honor to explore the Championship New York Knick teams. Those players have been a part of my vocabulary since I was a child…Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Willis Reed are ICONs of New York city and it’s been a privilege to be a part of re-telling the Knicks story.  I also have at times been in awe and tears with the 30 for 30 series and being a filmmaker who has gotten a chance to tell a story for such a great body of films is a great honor…I could not be more excited for our film to premiere right in the center of New York City at the Tribeca Film Festival.”

    Since its inception, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival has become the premier showcase for independent films about sports and competition. The titles that will screen as part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival includes not only the film on the championship Knicks of the early 70’s but also documentaries that explore stories of a champion’s quest to regain a title that was unjustly stripped from him; the worst soccer team in the world’s drive to succeed; an underdog flag football team that riffs on classic sports movies with a cartoonish comedic sensibility; the creation of a revolutionary, independent professional baseball team; the premier American cyclist’s attempts to overcome his top competitor; how some of the all-time greatest fighters used boxing to pull themselves out of poverty; a soccer superstar at the peak of his powers on the world stage; and Chile’s controversial qualification for the 1974 World Cup. 

    All of this year’s Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival films will screen at Tribeca Cinemas on Saturday, April 26. The films will also screen prior to April 26, throughout the Festival. 

    In addition to the film series, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will present Sports Day as part of the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair on Saturday, April 26. Sports Day offers fans an opportunity to engage in a variety of free, sports-related games and activities. In addition, some of New York’s most popular athletes, mascots and sports personalities will make guest appearances throughout the day. Sports Day is free and open to the public and will take place on North Moore Street, between Greenwich and West Streets, in Manhattan. 

    The following films are featured in the 2014 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. 

    TRIBECA/ESPN SPORTS FILM FESTIVAL

    Gala

    When the Garden was Eden, directed by Michael Rapaport. (USA) – World Premiere. Actor Michael Rapaport delivers an unabashed love note to the Knicks with this fast-moving tribute to the team’s glory days. Featuring interviews with Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson and others connected to the team’s championship years, When the Garden was Eden is a snapshot of a colorful and volatile era in New York history and a testament to the breathless energy that defines the city and its sporting heroes.

    The following Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival titles have been announced in their respective sections as part of the 2014 TFF film program:

    Intramural, directed by Andrew Disney, written by Bradley Jackson. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. There comes a time in every fifth-year senior’s life where they must either accept the impending ‘real world’ of jobs, marriage, and payment plans or shirk that responsibility in favor of playing the most glorious intramural football game your school probably doesn’t really care to see. In this full throttle and hilarious send-up of inspirational sports movies, director Andrew Disney harnesses every cliché and overused trope to tell the greatest (and only) intramural sports movie of all time. Featuring an ensemble cast including Kate McKinnon, Jay Pharoah, Jake Lacy, Beck Bennett, and Nikki Reed.

    Maravilla, directed and written by Juan Pablo Cadaveira. (Argentina) – International Premiere. A true underdog story, Maravilla follows Argentinian boxer Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez, as he sets out to reclaim the title of Middleweight champion that was unfairly snatched from him in 2011 by Julio Chavez, Jr. Focusing on the rise of Martinez from penniless amateur to world champion and sporting celebrity, director Juan Pablo Cadaveira offers a fascinating glimpse into today’s boxing landscape, revealing the politics of the sporting profession that often places entertainment value over the sport itself. In English and Spanish with subtitles

    Slaying the Badger, directed and written by John Dower. (UK) – World Premiere. Before Lance Armstrong, there was Greg LeMond, who was the first and only American to officially win the Tour de France. In this engrossing documentary, LeMond looks back at the pivotal 1986 Tour, and his increasingly vicious rivalry with friend, teammate, and mentor Bernard Hinault. The reigning Tour champion and brutal competitor known as “The Badger,” Hinault ‘promised’ to help LeMond to his first victory in return for LeMond supporting him in the previous year. But in a sport that purports to reward teamwork, it’s really every man for himself.

    Tribeca Talks: After the Movie and Conversations

    Tribeca Talks: After the Movie

    Champs, directed by Bert Marcus. (USA) – World Premiere. This insightful and provocative documentary charts the lives of some of America’s heaviest hitters—including Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Bernard Hopkins—as they seek to break out of poverty via one of the few outlets available. Bert Marcus skillfully weaves their personal histories and gripping footage from their biggest bouts to explore the meaning of the American dream in a society increasingly fragmented between rich and poor.

    After the movie: Stay for a conversation with former boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and boxing promoter Lou DiBella, about life, rivalry, and conflict both inside and out of the ring.

    Special Conversation

    Shooting and Scoring

    A conversation about the particular art in creating authentic sports stories – from non-fiction material to heart stopping hits that satisfy hardcore fans while also connecting with broader audiences. Featuring director Peter Berg, best known for his hit TV series and film Friday Night Lights and for the recent sports doc series State of Play which illuminates the intersection of sports and sports culture with wider society in 2014 America.

    Tribeca Drive-In

    Next Goal Wins will screen as part of the Tribeca Drive-In series on April 19.  The full Tribeca Drive-In schedule will be announced in the coming days.

               Next Goal Wins, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. (UK) – World Premiere . When the American Samoan national soccer team suffered the world’s worst defeat, losing to Australia 31-0, these tiny islands crash-landed into last place in FIFA world rankings, and became known as “the worst team in the world.” More than a decade later, they have not yet won an official match. Next Goal Wins follows their miraculous efforts as they train for the next World Cup. Led by an eccentric new coach, they have a chance to redefine their international reputation.

               The Battered Bastards of Baseball, directed and written by Chapman Way and Maclain Way. (USA) – New York Premiere. Bing Russell is best known for his role as Deputy Clem on Bonanza, but he left Hollywood in 1973 to pursue his first love: baseball. Creating the independent Portland Mavericks, his ragtag roster of players that major franchises rejected were baseball’s biggest joke. Then they shattered expectations and turned Major League Baseball on its heels in an unheralded story of spirit and rebellion.

    Special Screening

    30 for 30: Soccer Stories

    Followed by a special conversation with filmmakers Ezra Edelman, Daniel Battsek and ESPN about the films and the upcoming World Cup

    The Opposition, directed by Ezra Edelman and Jeffrey Plunkett (USA/Chile) – World Premiere.   In the wake of the 1973 military coup in Chile, American-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet transformed Santiago’s National Stadium into a concentration camp where political opponents were tortured and assassinated.  Only two months later, that same stadium was scheduled to host a decisive World Cup qualifier between Chile and the Soviet Union.  Despite protests, FIFA’s own investigation, and the Soviets’ eventual boycott, the Chilean team still played the game as planned, qualifying for the 1974 World Cup on a goal scored against no one.

    Maradona ’86 (TBC), directed by Sam Blair, Executive Produced by John Battsek (USA) – World Premiere. In the 1986 World Cup, Diego Armando Maradona redefined what is possible for one man to accomplish on the soccer field. Already a figure of notoriety, but with one failed World Cup behind him, Argentinian Maradona took possession of the international stage in Mexico, the spotlight rarely drifting from him as he wrote an indelible history with his feet and, of course, with a “hand from God.” Maradona ’86 is a fascinating, evocative, and operatic portrait, revealing Maradona’s inner complexity and contradictions while basking in the joy and passion of his performance on the pitch, as he wrote his name into soccer history forever.           

    Short Film

    True Gladiators, directed by Kevin Donovan (USA) – World Premiere.  Follows the career of three former American Gladiators and how they deal with the demands of the show, the injuries, and their personal lives. 

    Jim Kalafat was a tough kid from a small town in Montana who dreamed of playing for the NFL.  His prodigious skills as a linebacker led him all the way to the Los Angeles Rams, where he met fellow teammate Dan Clark.  After suffering career-ending injuries, the two best friends used their athleticism, broad smiles and gift for gab to become the muscular, ass-kicking, heartthrob stars “Laser” and “Nitro” on the hit ‘90s television show American Gladiators.  Joined by Mr. America 1989, Steve Henneberry, a.k.a. “Tower”, the three battle-scarred gladiators reveal what went on behind the scenes of one of the most popular syndicated “sports” shows in history.

    image: Caption: From left to right: Jerry Lucas, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Phil Jackson & Bill Bradley celebrate after winning the 1973 NBA Title in five games against the Los Angeles Lakers Credit and Copyright: Please make sure for every use of the photos there is a copyright (© George Kalinsky) as well as a credit saying “From the Lens of George Kalinsky” 

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  • Philadelphia Film Festival to Present PFF Spring Showcase, April 11 to 17

     Philadelphia Film Society Theater at the RoxyPhiladelphia Film Society Theater at the Roxy

    The Philadelphia Film Society will produce the Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF): Spring Showcase, a 7-day film event scheduled to take place from Friday, April 11 to Thursday, April 17, exclusively at the PFS Theater at the Roxy. According to the PFS, the Spring Showcase offers a preview of the kind of diverse programming that audiences can expect from the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, October 16 – 26, 2014.  A small collection of exciting new films including summer releases and other hits from the festival circuit, it is a great sampler of the kinds of films that will be presented in the line-up this fall.

    “I’m thrilled to add this exciting new event to the PFS 2014 calendar, allowing us to spotlight some of our favorite upcoming films from the Spring and Summer while also showcasing the newly renovated PFS Theater at the Roxy,” said Andrew Greenblatt, Executive Director.  “With the event scheduled to take place principally at the PFS Theater at the Roxy, I certainly recommend getting tickets early, as I hope and expect a full sell-out.”

    “We’re extremely thrilled with this exciting selection of films. We hope to have built a fun weekend as a great mid-year reminder of the big cinematic things to come, ” said Michael Lerman, Artistic Director and head of the PFS programming team.   

    The full list and schedule of films will be announced later this month, with priority tickets available for Philadelphia Film Society members. 

     

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  • San Francisco International Film Festival to Honor Richard Linklater with Founder’s Directing Award

    Richard LinklaterRichard Linklater

    Filmmaker Richard Linklater will be the recipient of the 2014 Founder’s Directing Award at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24 – May 8), honoring the quintessentially American director’s expansive body of work and celebrating the upcoming release BOYHOOD, his groundbreaking new film. The award will be presented to Linklater at Film Society Awards Night, Thursday May 1. 

    Linklater will also be publicly honored at An Evening with Richard Linklater at the Castro Theatre, Friday May 2, 7:00 pm. An onstage interview and a selection of clips from his notable directing career will be followed by a screening of BOYHOOD. Filming over the course of 12 years, Linklater and his cast depict a young man’s journey from a 6-year-old boy to 18-year-old college freshman. The resulting film “has no precedent” according to the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy. “Never has the long arc of the journey from childhood to college been portrayed as cohesively and convincingly as Richard Linklater has done.”

    “Richard Linklater is one of our country’s great creative minds,” said San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan. “His curiosity about cinema’s endless possibilities and his landmark collaborations with many of the world’s most interesting actors mark him as a profound and important force in our medium. It is our great honor to welcome him here to accept the 2014 Founder’s Directing Award.”  

    BOYHOOD directed by Richard LinklaterBOYHOOD directed by Richard Linklater

    One of the most profound and prolific American independent filmmakers of the last 20 years, Richard Linklater first burst onto the scene with his scrappy time capsule of Austin weirdness, Slacker (SFIFF, 1991). Since then Linklater’s work has graced international film festival lineups, helped launch the careers of a number of prominent movie stars (Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey) and garnered multiple Oscar nominations. BOYHOOD is his 18th feature film.

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  • Florida Film Festival Announces Films for 2014 Festival; Opens With Florida Premiere of THE TRIP TO ITALY

     THE TRIP TO ITALY directed by Michael Winterbottom.THE TRIP TO ITALY directed by Michael Winterbottom.

    The program lineup was unveiled today for the 23rd Annual Florida Film Festival, taking place April 4 to 13, 2014, in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. FFF will screen more than 170 feature and short films representing 26 countries, along with celebrity guest appearances, forums and parties. The festival opens with Florida Premiere of THE TRIP TO ITALY directed by Michael Winterbottom.

    Michael Winterbottom’s largely improvised 2010 British TV series-turned-feature-film, The Trip, had comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing variations on their own public personas as they went on a restaurant tour of northern England. In this hilarious and incisive follow-up, the director has reunited the pair for a new culinary road trip, retracing the steps of the Romantic poets’ grand tour of Italy and indulging in some sparkling banter and, thankfully, more impersonation battle-royales. On assignment by The Observer to write about some high-end restaurants and historical sites along the Italian peninsula, Rob enlists the on-hiatus-from-Hollywood Steve to join him on this new journey. So off they go in a rented Mini-Cooper, enjoying mouthwatering meals in gorgeous settings from Liguria to Capri while riffing on subjects as varied as the latestBatman flick, the artistic merits of Alanis Morissette, and of course, the virtue of sequels. As the camera captures the idyllic Italian landscape and the gastronomic treasures being prepared and consumed, THE TRIP TO ITALY effortlessly mines the chemistry and brilliant comic interplay between Coogan and Brydon. Thankfully, we’re all along for the ride. 

    Festival films feature familiar talent, both in front and behind the camera, including Steve Coogan, Bill Plympton, Jude Law, Demian Bichir, Richard E. Grant, Emilia Clarke, Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Cathy Moriarty, Johnny Depp, Ralph Steadman, Nicolas Cage, David Gordon Green, Jenny Slate, David Cross, Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, Mercedes Ruehl, Alan Cumming, Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Alia Shawkat, Michael Cera, Martin Starr, Andrew Wilson, Rachel Korine, Paul Sorvino, Michael Rapaport, Chazz Palminteri, David Morse, Michael O’Keefe, Annie Potts, Richard Kind, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Sienna Miller , Nick Cassavetes, Emmy Rossum, and Ron Perlman.

    FESTIVAL FILMS:

    Opening Night Film
    THE TRIP TO ITALY (UK/ITALY, 2014, 107 MIN, DIRECTED BY MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM, FLORIDA PREMIERE)

    Spotlight Films
    BEFORE I DISAPPEAR (USA, 2014, 95 MIN, DIRECTED BY SHAWN CHRISTENSEN, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    CHEATIN’ (USA, 2013, 76 MIN, DIRECTED BY BILL PLYMPTON, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    DOM HEMINGWAY (UK, 2013, 93 MIN, DIRECTED BY RICHARD SHEPARD, RATED R)
    THE DOUBLE (UK, 2013, 93 MIN, DIRECTED BY RICHARD AYOADE)
    FOR NO GOOD REASON (UK/USA, 2012, 89 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHARLIE PAUL, EAST COAST PREMIERE, RATED R)
    GABRIELLE (CANADA, 2013, 104 MIN, DIRECTED BY LOUISE ARCHAMBAULT)
    JOE (USA, 2013, 117 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID GORDON GREEN)
    OBVIOUS CHILD (USA, 2013, 83 MIN, DIRECTED BY GILLIAN ROBESPIERRE)
    WORDS AND PICTURES (USA, 2013, 111 MIN, DIRECTED BY FRED SCHEPISI, RATED PG-13)
    YELLOW (USA, 2013, 108 MIN, DIRECTED BY NICK CASSAVETES, EAST COAST PREMIERE)

    Narrative Features Competition
    COPENHAGEN (USA/CANADA, 2013, 98 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARK RASO, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (USA, 2013, 77 MINS, DIRECTED BY JERZY ROSE, FLORIDA PREMIERE) 
    DOOMSDAYS (USA, 2013, 91 MIN, DIRECTED BY EDDIE MULLINS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    DRUID PEAK (USA, 2013, 111 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARNI ZELNICK, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    FINDING NEIGHBORS (USA, 2013, 96 MINS, DIRECTED BY RON JUDKINS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    FOREV (USA, 2013, 88 MIN, DIRECTED BY MOLLY GREEN AND JAMES LEFFLER, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS (USA, 2014, 80 MINS, DIRECTED BY LEAH MEYERHOFF, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    LAST I HEARD (USA, 2013, 100 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID RODRIGUEZ, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    MEDEAS (USA, 2013, 98 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANDREA PALLAORO, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    WINTER IN THE BLOOD (USA, 2013, 98 MIN, DIRECTED BY ALEX SMITH AND ANDREW SMITH, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)

    Documentary Features Competition
    AMERICAN JESUS (USA, 2013, 80 MIN, DIRECTED BY ARAM GARRIGA, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (USA, 2013, 109 MIN, DIRECTED BY PJ RAVAL)
    THE FRONT MAN (USA, 2013, 72 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAUL DEVLIN, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    THE KILL TEAM (USA, 2013, 79 MINS, DIRECTED BY DAN KRAUSS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    LEVITATED MASS (USA, 2013, 89 MIN, DIRECTED BY DOUG PRAY, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    LOVE ME (USA, 2013, 94 MIN, DIRECTED BY JONATHON NARDUCCI, WORLD PREMIERE)
    MISSION CONGO (USA, 2013, 65 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID TURNER AND LARA ZIZIC, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    NO NO: A DOCKUMENTARY (USA, 2014, 100 MIN, DIRECTED BY JEFFREY RADICE, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    POWERLESS (USA/INDIA, 2013, 82 MIN, DIRECTED BY DEEPTI KAKKAR AND FAHAD MUSTAFA, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    SLINGSHOT (USA, 2013, 90 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAUL LAZARUS, FLORIDA PREMIERE)

    Documentary Shorts Competition
    A Night At The Jai Alai (USA, 2013, 9 MIN, DIRECTED BY DREW BLATMAN, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Ambien & Aaron (USA, 2013, 30 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHRIS BRANDT, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Fantasy Land (USA, 2013, 9 MIN, DIRECTED BY GABRIELLE TILLENBURG)
    Fishhooks (USA, 2013, 4 MINS, DIRECTED BY RYAN COCKRELL, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Grand Central Diary (USA, 2013, 5 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANDY AND CAROLYN LONDON, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution (USA/SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC/TURKEY, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY MATTHEW VANDYKE)
    Scattered (USA, 2013, 26 MIN, DIRECTED BY LINDSAY LINDENBAUM, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    The Silly Bastard Next To The Bed (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY SCOTT CALONICO, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE) 
    STRIKE: The Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told (USA, 2013, 13 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOEY DAOUD)
    Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns (USA, 2013, 2 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOE CALLANDER, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Token Exchange (USA, 2013, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY AARON MATTHEWS, WORLD PREMIERE)
    We Will Live Again (USA, 2013, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY MYLES KANE AND JOSH KOURY)
    What I Hate About Myself (USA, 2013, 28 MIN, DIRECTED BY BOBBY MOSER AND BEN MULLINKOSSON, EAST COAST PREMIERE)

    Narrative Shorts Competition
    A Long Walk (USA, 2014, 14 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHINONYE CHUKWU, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Aftermath (USA, 2013, 20 MIN, DIRECTED BY JEREMY ROBBINS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Another Time, Maybe (USA, 2013, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY SPENCER CHANDLER, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    The Bravest, The Boldest (USA, 2014, 17 MIN, DIRECTED BY MOON MOLSON, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Cash For Gold (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY ROBERT ENRIQUEZ, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    The Cyclist (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER BRYAN, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Delicious Ambiguity (USA, 2013, 17 MIN, DIRECTED BY JUSTIN CANEL, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Dog Meet Goose (USA, 2012, 21 MIN, DIRECTED BY JON BRYANT CRAWFORD, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    First Prize (USA, 2013, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY KEVIN MCMULLIN, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Fool’s Day (USA, 2013, 19 MIN, DIRECTED BY CODY BLUE SNIDER, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Fortune House (USA, 2013, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY MATTHEW BONIFACIO, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Gregory Go Boom (USA, 2013, 18 MIN, DIRECTED BY JANICZA BRAVO, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    I Love You So Much (USA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY LEAH SHORE, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    The Immaculate Reception (USA, 2013, 16 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHARLOTTE GLYNN, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    Keep A Tidy Soul (USA, 2013, 11 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOSHUA MOORE, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Kush (USA/INDIA, 2013, 25 MIN, DIRECTED BY SHUBHASHISH BHUTIANI, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Leonard in Slow Motion (USA, 2013, 8 MIN, DIRECTED BY PETER LIVOLSI, WORLD PREMIERE)
    The Lipstick Stain (USA, 2013, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAGNY LOOPER, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Me+Her (USA, 2013, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOSEPH OXFORD, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Meet My Rapist (USA, 2013, 7 MIN 25 SEC, DIRECTED BY JESSIE KAHNWEILER, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Milk and Blood (USA/ICELAND, 2013, 11 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARKUS ENGLMAIR, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    nasty hardcoreXXX amateur couple (USA, 2013, 16 MIN, DIRECTED BY REED VAN DYK, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Oi, Meu Amor (USA, 2013, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY ROBERT G. PUTKA, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    One Please (USA, 2013, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY JESSE BURKS, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Penny Dreadful (USA, 2013, 18 MIN, DIRECTED BY SHANE ATKINSON)
    Rat Pack Rat (USA, 2014, 19 MIN, DIRECTED BY TODD ROHAL)
    Setup, Punch. (USA, 2013, 19 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID SCHLUSSEL, FLORIDA PREMEIRE)
    Salvatore (USA, 2013, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY WILLIAM SHERMER, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Trauma (USA, 2013, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY ETHAN YOUNG, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Verbatim (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY BRETT WEINER, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    ZZZZZZZ (USA, 2013, 5 MIN, DIRECTED BY TARIK KARAM, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)

    Animated Shorts Competition
    Baby, I Love You (USA, 2012, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY FAIYAZ JAFRI, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    CRIME: The Animated Series (USA/CANADA, 2013, 21 MIN, DIRECTED BY SAM CHOU AND ALIX LAMBERT, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Danger Dan (USA, 2013, 2 MIN, DIRECTED BY AARON AUGENBLICK, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Drifters (USA, 2012, 8 MIN, DIRECTED BY ETHAN CLARKE, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    El Delirio Del Pez Leon (USA, 2012, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY QUIQUE RIVERA, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    The Last Orange Grove of Middle Florida (USA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY CARL KNICKERBOCKER)
    Passer Passer (USA, 2013, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY LOUIS MORTON, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Raw Data (USA, 2013, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY JAKE FRIED, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Roadkill Redemption (USA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY KARL HADRIKA)
    Salmon Deadly Sins (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY STEVEN VANDER MEER, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Shelter (USA, 2012, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY CARL BURTON, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Sidewalk (USA, 2013, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY CELIA BULLWINKEL, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Spy Fox (USA, 2013, 5 MIN, DIRECTED BY TAYLOR CLUTTER, KENDRA PHILLIPS, AND YOAV SHTIBELMAN, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Tome of The Unknown (USA, 2013, 8 MIN, DIRECTED BY PATRICK McHALE, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Twiller Parkour (USA, 2013, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY MORGAN MILLER, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Twiller Parkour #2 (USA, 2013, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY MORGAN MILLER, NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
    Yearbook (USA, 2013, 5 MIN, DIRECTED BY BERNARDO BRITTO, EAST COAST PREMIERE)

    International Showcase Features
    THE FINAL MEMBER (CANADA, 2012, 76 MIN, DIRECTED BY JONAH BEKHOR AND ZACH MATH)
    I FEEL LIKE DISCO (GERMANY, 2013, 95 MIN, DIRECTED BY AXEL RANISH, NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
    IDA (POLAND, 2013, 80 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI)
    ILO ILO (SINGAPORE, 2013, 99 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANTHONY CHEN)

    International Shorts
    B-Class Cultural Heritage (JAPAN, 2013, 8 MIN, DIRECTED BY YUJI HARIU, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Cargo (AUSTRALIA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY BEN HOWLING AND YOLANDA RAMKE, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    The Fall (NORWAY, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANDREAS THAULOW, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Inertial Love (SPAIN, 2013, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY CÉSAR ESTEBAN ALENDA AND JOSÉ ESTEBAN ALENDA, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Memorable Moi (CANADA, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS ASSELIN, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    More Than Two Hours (Bishtar Az Do Saat) (IRAN, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY ALI ASGARI, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    The Parachutist (UK, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY TOM TAGHOLM, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Requiem for a Robot (AUSTRIA/USA, 2013, 5 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPH RAINER, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Uproot (UK, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY DEBJITA DHAR, NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)

    International Animated Shorts

    Bless You (CANADA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID BARLOW-KRELINA, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Faces from Places—Ivory Coast: Wax (FRANCE, 2012, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY BASTIEN DUBOIS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Faces from Places–Japan: Hôjô Jutsu (FRANCE, 2012, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY BASTIEN DUBOIS, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    In the Air is Christopher Gray (UK, 2013, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY FELIX MASSIE, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    La Ravaudeuse (FRANCE, 2012, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY SIMON FILLIOT, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Lonely Bones (FRANCE/THE NETHERLANDS, 2013, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY ROSTO, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Oh Sheep! (GERMANY, 2012, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY GOTTFRIED MENTOR, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Noodle Fish (SOUTH KOREA, 2012, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY JIN-MAN KIM, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Sleep Clinic (NEW ZEALAND, 2013, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY FRANCES HASZARD, LOUIS OLSEN, AND LUKE SCOTT, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Subconscious Password (CANADA, 2013, 11 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHRIS LANDRETH, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Tap to Retry (ISRAEL, 2012, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY NETA COHEN)
    What is Dead May Never Die (THE NETHERLANDS, 2012, 2 MIN, DIRECTED BY KADAVRE EXQUIS, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    White Morning (UK, 2013, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAUL BARRITT, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)

    SOS: Short Order Swedish
    ABC (SWEDEN, 2013, 17 MIN, DIRECTED BY NANNA HUOLMAN, NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
    Coffee Time (SWEDEN, 2013, 14 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARIA FREDRIKSSON, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven (SWEDEN, 2013, 14 MIN, DIRECTED BY ÅSA BLANCK AND JOHAN PALMGREN, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Kilimanjaro (SWEDEN, 2013, 15 MIN, DIRECTED BY NIMA YOUSEFI, NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
    Reset (SWEDEN, 2012, 16 MIN, DIRECTED BY FREDRIK ÅKERSTRÖM AND MARCUS KRYLER, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Syndromeda (SWEDEN, 2013, 22 MIN, DIRECTED BY PATRIK EKLUND, EAST COAST PREMIERE)

    Midnight Features
    THE BABADOOK  (AUSTRALIA, 2014, 95 MIN, DIRECTED BY JENNIFER KENT)
    MOEBIUS (SOUTH KOREA, 2013, 89 MIN, DIRECTED BY KIM KI-DUK, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    THE SACRAMENT (USA, 2013, 100 MIN, DIRECTED BY TI WEST)
    WETLANDS (GERMANY, 2013, 109 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID WNENDT)

    Midnight Shorts
    Baskin (TURKEY, 2013, 11 MIN, DIRECTED BY CAN EVRENOL, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Eczemus (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY GARRETT BROWN, WORLD PREMIERE)
    Jack Attack (USA, 2013, 9 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANTONIO PADOVAN AND BRYAN NORTON, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Liebe (Love) (CANADA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY CAMERON MACGOWAN, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Perfect Drug (BELGIUM, 2012, 14 MIN, DIRECTED BY TOON AERTS, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Pineal Warriors (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY EGON VON SCHIRACH AND OTTO VON SCHIRACH, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Unicorn Blood (SPAIN, 2013, 9 MIN, DIRECTED BY ALBERTO VAZQUEZ, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    The Voice Thief (FRANCE/CHILE/USA, 2013, 26 MIN, DIRECTED BY ADAN JODOROWSKY, EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING)
    Wawd Ahp (USA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOSH CHERTOFF AND STEVE GIRARD, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Welcome to Dignity Pastures (USA, 2013, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY BRIAN LONANO, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Whispers (USA, 2013, 7 MIN, DIRECTED BY MAX ISAACSON, EAST COAST PREMIERE)
    Woman Who Hates Plants (USA, 2013, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY MORGAN MILLER, FLORIDA PREMIERE)
    Yield (USA, 2013, 2 MIN, DIRECTED BY CALEB WOOD, FLORIDA PREMIERE)

    Special Screenings:

    Family Films
    ANNIE: IT’S THE HARD KNOCK LIFE (USA, 2013, 55 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOSHUA SEFTEL, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    ERNEST & CELESTINE (FRANCE/LUXEMBOURG/BELGIUM, 2013, 80 MIN, DIRECTED BY STÉPHANE AUBIER, VINCENT PATAR, AND BENJAMIN RENNER)
    The Numberlys (USA, 2013, 11 MIN, DIRECTED BY BRANDON OLDENBURG AND WILLIAM JOYCE, FLORIDA PREMIERE)

    Music Films
    DEEP CITY (USA, 2013, 55 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARLON JOHNSON, DENNIS SCHOLL, AND CHAD TINGLE)
    LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE (USA, 2013, 80 MIN, DIRECTED BY JEFF KRULIK, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    THE OTHERSIDE (USA, 2013, 51 MIN, DIRECTED BY DANIEL TOROK, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)

    Florida Films

    Best of Brouhaha:
    BYE HYUNGJIK (directed by Hyungjik Lee, FSU)
    CHICKEN OR THE EGG (directed by Elaine Wu & Christine Kim, Ringling College of Art and Design)
    DEAD TO RIGHTS (directed by Daniel Neil, Ringling College of Art and Design)
    THE FEAR OF BEING UNINTERESTING (directed by McKenzi Vanderberg, Rollins College)
    FINAL STRAW (directed by Riccardo Renna, Ringling College of Art and Design)
    THE FLY (directed by Jarelis Cabrera, Trinity Preparatory School)
    LITTLE AFRICA (directed by Curtis Adair, FSU)
    MOONBOUNCE (directed by Michael Kefeyalew, FSU)
    THE PAST (directed by Sean Sida & Garrett Callahan, Full Sail University)
    SMALL WORLDS (directed by Steven Sobel, Daytona State College)
    TECHSQUAD (directed by TL Westgate, October FilmSlam winner)
    RUNAWAY RENN (directed by Zachary Johnson, FSU) Jury Selection & Audience Award Winner!
    RUNAWAY (directed by Susan Yung, Emily Buchanan & Esther Parobek, Ringling College of Art and Design)
    WHERE IS ALICE? (directed by Zachary Beckler, UCF)

    Florida Narrative Feature:
    CHU AND BLOSSOM (USA, 2014, 103 MIN, DIRECTED BY CHARLES CHU AND GAVIN KELLY)

    Florida Documentary Feature:
    15 TO LIFE KENNETH’S STORY (USA, 2013, 83 MIN, DIRECTED BY NADINE PEQUENEZA, FLORIDA PREMIERE)

    Food Films
    AFTER WINTER, SPRING (USA/FRANCE, 2013, 74 MIN, DIRECTED BY JUDITH LIT, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    Faces from Places—Louisiana: La Boucherie (FRANCE, 2012, 3 MIN, DIRECTED BY BASTIEN DUBOIS, SOUTHEAST PREMIERE)
    LE CHEF (FRANCE/SPAIN, 2012, 84 MIN, DIRECTED BY DANIEL COHEN, RATED PG-13)

    Retro Films
    Wednesday Night Pitcher Show: THE BIG LEBOWSKI (USA, 1998, 119 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOEL COEN AND ETHAN COEN, RATED R)
    GOLDFINGER (UK, 1964, 110 MIN, DIRECTED BY GUY HAMILTON, RATED PG)
    INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION (ITALY, 1970, 112 MIN, DIRECTED BY ELIO PETRI, RATED R)
    Popcorn Flick in the Park: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (UK, 1974, 128 MIN, DIRECTED BY SIDNEY LUMET, RATED PG)

    Read more

  • Sarasota Film Festival Unveils 2014 Film Lineup; Opens With Rory Kennedy’s LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM

    LAST DAYS IN VIETNAMLAST DAYS IN VIETNAM 

    The Sarasota Film Festival, taking place April 4-13, 2014, announced today that Rory Kennedy’s new film LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM will open the 2014 Festival on Friday, April 4th, 2014. Charlie McDowell’s THE ONE I LOVE will screen as the Closing Night film on Saturday, April 12th, while John Slattery’s GOD’S POCKET and Andrew Rossi’s IVORY TOWER will serve as the festival’s Centerpiece Films. The Opening Night Film LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM will launch the festival’s ACTS OF VALOR program, examining the experience of American veterans from WW I to today. 

    Sarasota Film Festival’s list of feature film premieres include BFE by Shawn Telford (World Premiere), BLOODY BEANS by Narimane Mari (US Premiere), IF YOU TAKE THIS by Craig Butta (World Premiere), JOY KEVIN by Caleb Johnson (World Premiere), ROAD TO PALMOA by Jason Momoa (World Premiere), SOMETHING, ANYTHING by Paul Harrill (World Premiere), SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY by Mary Dore (World Premiere), A STREET IN PALERMO (US Premiere), THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY by Josephine Decker (North American Premiere), and WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE by James Clauer (World Premiere).

     The Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) also announced their Spotlight program, showcasing Richard Shepard’s DOM HEMINGWAY, Lenny Abrahamson’s FRANK, Margaret Brown’s THE GREAT INVISIBLE, Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland’s THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD, Gillian Robespierre’s OBVIOUS CHILD, Jason Momoa’s ROAD TO PALMOA (World Premiere), and Fred Schepisi’s WORDS AND PICTURES.

    The festival’s three juried competition lineups feature several premieres and internationally acclaimed films.

    The Narrative Feature Competition showcases the festival’s finest international films and includes BLUE RUIN by Jeremy Saulnier, CANNIBAL by Manuel Martín Cuneca, IDA by Pawel Pawlikowski, IF YOU DON’T, I WILL by Sophie Fillières, LOCKE by Steven Knight, STRAY DOGS by Tsai Ming-liang, WE ARE THE BEST! by Lukas Moodysson and YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL by François Ozon.

    The Documentary Feature Competition will showcase ACTRESS by Robert Greene, APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT by Amanda Rose Wilder, BLOODY BEANS by Narimane Mari (US Premiere), HAPPY VALLEY by Amir Bar-Lev, MANAKAMANA by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, RICH HILL by Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo, SUPERMENSCH: THE LEGEND OF SHEP GORDON by Mike Myers, and THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA by Jessica Oreck.

    The Independent Visions Competition, an established platform for the discovery of new American filmmaking talent, features BFE by Shawn Telford (World Premiere), BIG IN JAPAN by John Jeffcoat, I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS by Leah Meyerehoff, JOY KEVIN by Caleb Johnson (World Premiere), MEMPHIS by Tim Sutton, SOMETHING, ANYTHING by Paul Harrill (World Premiere), THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY by Josephine Decker (North American Premiere), and WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE by James Clauer (World Premiere). The festival’s Factory 25 will present Independent Visions Award, with the winner of this award presented with a first look distribution offer from Factory 25.

    The festival also continues its youthFEST program, with FREE films and programs for kids and families, serving over 5,000 students in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Films include advance screenings of Disneynature’s BEARS, the Oscar® nominated ERNEST & CELESTINE (including a sensory friendly screening) and a screening of the family classic THE LITTLE MERMAID on Siesta Beach.

     The Independent Visions Competition, an established platform for the discovery of new American filmmaking talent, features BFE by Shawn Telford (World Premiere), BIG IN JAPAN by John Jeffcoat, I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS by Leah Meyerehoff, JOY KEVIN by Caleb Johnson (World Premiere), MEMPHIS by Tim Sutton, SOMETHING, ANYTHING by Paul Harrill (World Premiere), THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY by Josephine Decker (North American Premiere), and WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE by James Clauer (World Premiere). The festival’s Factory 25 will present Independent Visions Award, with the winner of this award presented with a first look distribution offer from Factory 25.

    2014 FEATURE FILMS 

    A IS FOR ALEX
    Director: Alex Orr

    ABOVE ALL ELSE
    Director: John Fiege

    ACTRESS
    Director: Robert Greene

    AMERICAN VAGABOND
    Director: Susanna Helke

    THE ANIMAL PROJECT
    Director: Ingrid Veninger

    APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT
    Director: Amanda Rose Wilder

    THE AUCTION
    Director: Sébastien Pilote

    BEARS
    Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Keith Scholey

    BFE
    Director: Shawn Telford

    BICYCLING WITH MOLIERE
    Director: Philippe le Guay

    BIG IN JAPAN
    Director: John Jeffcoat

    BLOODY BEANS
    Director: Narimane Mari

    BLUE RUIN
    Director: Jeremy Saulnier

    BOB BIRDNOW’S REMARKABLE TALE OF HUMAN SURVIVAL AND THE TRANSCENDENCE OF SELF
    Director: Eric Steele

    BORGMAN
    Director: Alex van Warmerdam

    BOY MEETS GIRL (1984) 
    Director: Leos Carax

    BRONX OBAMA
    Director: Ryan Murdock

    BUZZARD
    Director: Joel Potrykus

    CANNIBAL
    Director: Manuel Martín Cuenca

    CAPTIVATED: THE TRIALS OF PAMELA SMART
    Director: Jeremiah Zagar

    THE CASE AGAINST 8
    Director: Ben Cotner, Ryan White

    CHU AND BLOSSOM
    Director: Charles Chu, Gavin Kelly

    THE CLUB
    Directors: Carlye Rubin, Katie Green

    COHERENCE
    Director: James Byrkit

    THE CONGRESS
    Director: Ari Folman
    Producers: Ari Folman, Reinhard Brundig, Robin Wright

    DAMNATION
    Directors: Ben Knight, Travis Rummel

    DANGEROUS ACTS STARRING THE UNSTABLE ELEMENTS OF BELARUS
    Director: Madele

    DEEP CITY: THE BIRTH OF THE MIAMI SOUND
    Directors: Dennis Scholl, Marlon Johnson, Chad Tingle

    DOM HEMINGWAY
    Director: Richard Shepard

    DOMESTIC LIFE
    Director: Isabelle Czajka

    THE DOUBLE
    Director: Richard Ayoade

    ELLIOT
    Directors: Jaret Belliveau, Matthew Bauckman

    THE EMPTY HOURS
    Director: Aarón Fernández

    EMPTYING THE SKIES
    Director: Douglas Kass, Roger Kass

    THE ENDURING BEAUTY OF MEMORY
    Director: Durand Adams, Charles Clapsaddle, Charles Williams

    ERNEST & CELESTINE
    Director: Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier

    EVAPORATING BORDERS
    Director: Iva Radivojevic

    FOR NO GOOD REASON
    Director: Charlie Paul

    FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY
    Directors: Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, Robert Machoian

    A FRAGILE TRUST: PLAGIARISM, POWER, AND JAYSON BLAIR AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
    Director: Samantha Grant

    FRANK
    Director: Lenny Abrahamson

    GLENA
    Director: Allan Luebke

    GOD’S POCKET
    Director: John Slattery

    GREASEPAINT
    Director: Daniel Espeut

    THE GREAT INVISIBLE
    Director: Margaret Brown

    THE GREEN PRINCE
    Director: Nadav Schirman

    HAPPY VALLEY
    Director: Amir Bar-Lev

    THE HEART MACHINE
    Director: Zachary Wigon

    HELI
    Director: Amat Escalante

    HELLION
    Director: Kat Candler

    I AM A GIRL
    Director: Rebecca Barry

    I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS
    Director: Leah Meyerhoff

    IDA
    Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

    IF YOU DONT, I WILL
    Director: Sophie Fillières

    IF YOU TAKE THIS
    Director: Craig Butta

    IN COUNTRY
    Director: Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara

    IVORY TOWER
    Director: Andrew Rossi

    JOY KEVIN
    Director: Caleb Johnson

    KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER
    Director: David Zellner

    THE LADIES OF THE HOUSE
    Director: John Stuart Wildman

    LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM
    Director: Rory Kennedy

    THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD
    Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

    LET THERE BE LIGHT (1947)
    Director: John Huston

    LIES I TOLD MY LITTLE SISTER
    Director: William J. Stribling

    LIGHT FLY, FLY HIGH
    Directors: Susann Ostigaard, Beathe Hofseth

    THE LITTLE MERMAID
    Director: Ron Clements, John Musker

    LOCKE
    Director: Steven Knight

    THE LUCKY 6
    Director: Brad Battersby

    MANAKAMANA
    Director: Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez

    MAUVAIS SANG (1986)
    Director: Leos Carax

    MEMPHIS
    Director: Tim Sutton

    MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER
    Director: Greg Vander Veer

    MISSION CONGO
    Director: Lara Zizic, David Turner

    MOOD INDIGO
    Director: Michel Gondry

    THE ONE I LOVE
    Director: Charlie McDowell

    NO PROBLEM! SIX MONTHS WITH THE BAREFOOT GRANDMAMAS
    Director: Yasmin Kidwai

    OBVIOUS CHILD
    Directors: Gillian Robespierre

    PING PONG SUMMER
    Director: Michael Tully

    RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT
    Directors: Michelle Block, Jared Block

    RETURN TO HOMS
    Director: Talal Derki

    REVENGE OF THE MEKONS
    Director: Joe Angio

    RICH HILL
    Director: Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo

    ROAD TO PALMOA
    Director: Jason Momoa

    SEPIDEH
    Director: Berit Madsen

    SEWING HOPE
    Director: Derek Watson

    SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY
    Directors: Mary Dore

    SOMETHING, ANYTHING
    Director: Paul Harrill

    STALAG 17 (1953)
    Director: Billy Wilder

    STRAY DOGS
    Director: Tsai Ming-Liang

    A STREET IN PALERMO
    Director: Emma Dante

    SUKKAH CITY
    Director: Jason Hutt

    SUPERMENSCH: THE LEGEND OF SHEP GORDON
    Director: Mike Myers

    SUZANNE
    Director: Katell Quillévéré

    TERRA FIRMA
    Director: Christine Anthony, Owen Masterson

    THOU WAS MILD AND LOVELY
    Director: Josephine Decker

    TO KILL A MAN
    Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras

    THE TRIP TO ITALY
    Director: Michael Winterbottom

    UNCLAIMED
    Director: Michael Jorgensen

    THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA
    Director: Jessica Oreck

    VESSEL
    Director: Diana Whitten

    WATERMARK
    Director: Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky

    WE ARE THE BEST!
    Director: Lukas Moodysson

    WETLANDS
    Director: David Wnendt

    WHEN EVENING FALLS ON BUCHAREST OR METABOLISM
    Director: Corneliu Porumboiu

    WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY
    Director: Alan Zweig

    WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE
    Director: James Clauer

    WHERE THE WAR STILL ECHOES
    Directors: Severine Vanel, Pierre Julien Quiers

    WHITEY: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. JAMES J. BULGER
    Director: Joe Berlinger

    WILD CANARIES
    Director: Lawrence Michael Levine

    WINGS (1927)
    Director: William A. Wellman

    WORDS AND PICTURES
    Director: Fred Schepisi

    YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL
    Director: François Ozon

     

    2014 SHORT FILMS
    SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL

    101 CUPCAKES
    Director: Jane Eakin

    7 DAY GIG
    Director: Kate Marks

    ADVENTURES OF AN * (1956)
    Director: John Hubley

    AFRONAUTS
    Director: Frances Bodomo

    ALINA HATSON
    Director: Venetia Evripiotou

    THE APOTHECARY
    Director: Helen Hood Scheer

    AT THE OPERA
    Director: Juan Pablo Zaramella

    BABY MARY
    Director: Kris Swanberg

    THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (1942)
    Director: John Ford

    BALLKONI
    Director: Lendita Zeqiraj

    BELIEF
    Director: Shaun Greenspan

    BLUE:
    Directors: Rena Cheng, Katelyn Bianchini, Asia Lancaster

    BROKEN TONGUE
    Director: Mónica Savirón

    CAP OR KIPPAH
    Director: Susanne Engels

    CHINA “THE DRAGON” SMITH
    Directors: Lori Collins, Ray Rodriguez, Ron Klineschmidt

    CHOCOLATE HEART
    Director: Harrison Atkins 

    CHUB
    Director: Samuel Albis

    CODA
    Director: Alan Holly

    THE COLLECTOR’S GIFT
    Director: Ryan Kravetz

    CONFUSION THROUGH SAND
    Director: Danny Madden

    CRUISING ELECTRIC (1980)
    Director: Brumby Boylston

    CRUMBS
    Director: Cyrus Trafford

    EAGER
    Director: Allison Schulnik

    EASY
    Director: Daniel Laabs

    EGGS (1970)
    Director: Faith Hubley, John Hubley

    EMMELINE
    Director: Daniela Pasquini

    EPHERMERAL (EFÍMERA)
    Director: Diego Modino

    FE-MALE
    Director: Anka Schmid

    THE FIGHTING LADY (1945)
    Director: Commander J. Edward Steichen, USNR

    FLAMINGO
    Director: Carl Zitelmann

    FORTUNE HOUSE
    Director: Matthew Bonifacio

    THE FOX AND THE CHICKADEE
    Director: Evan DeRushie

    FRESH GUACAMOLE
    Director: PES

    FUNNEL
    Director: Andre Hyland

    GEAR UP
    Director: Justin Owensby

    GLOBE TROT
    Director: Mitchell Rose

    GRANNY BABY
    Director: Eva Colmers

    THE GREAT ZOMBINI
    Director: Andrew Halley

    THE GREGGS
    Directors: Bruce Bundy, Nigel DeFriez, Kira Pearson, Rob Malone, Jessie Levandov, Alex
    Mechanik, Jonathan Rosenblit

    GYPSY (CIGANO)
    Director: David Bonneville

    HANNAH AND THE MOON
    Director: Kate Charter

    THE HAT (1964)
    Directors: Faith Hubley, John Hubley

    HIS NEW HANDS
    Director: Sudhanshu Saria

    A HOLE IN THE SKY (GODKA CIRKA)
    Directors: Antonio Tibaldi, Àlex Lora

    THE HOME TEAM
    Director: Joshua Sefte

    HOP FROG
    Director: Leonid Shmelkov

    THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE GALAXY
    Director: Gleb Osatinski

    HYPOTHETICALLY
    Director: Peter Zinn

    I THINK THIS IS THE CLOSEST TO HOW THE FOOTAGE LOOKED
    Directors: Yuval Hameiri, Michal Vaknin

    I’M A MITZVAH
    Director: Benjamin Berman

    I’M GOING TO MUM’S
    Director: Lauren Jackson

    ICE QUEEN
    Director: Rohan Khublall

    INTO THE SILENT SEA
    Director: Andrej Landin

    IT’S UP TO YOU
    Director: Kajsa Næss

    IT’S YOUR WAR TOO! (1944)
    JONATHAN’S CHEST
    Director: Christopher Radcliff

    JUICE OF MY HEART
    Director: Carol Rhyu

    KARA WOMEN SPEAK
    Director: Jane Baldwin

    KILLER KART
    Director: James Feeney

    L’AMI
    Directors: Christophe Defaye, Olivier Defaye

    THE LANDING
    Director: Josh Tanner

    THE LAST ORANGE GROVE OF MIDDLE FLORIDA
    Director: Carl Knickerbocker

    THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF TOM SMITH (1943)
    Director: Harold S. Bucquet

    LET GO
    Director: Daniel Ruczko

    LET THE BAND PLAY ON
    Director: Naomi S. Boak

    LETTER FOR HOPE
    Director: Raquel Roderick

    LIEBE
    Director: Cameron Macgowan

    LIGHT IN ME
    Director: Ora Dekornfeld

    LOVE POPS
    Director: Wes Roberts

    LUCKY DOG
    Director: Terence Connors

    MAESTRA
    Director: Catherine Murphy

    MANUFACTURED FORTUNES
    Director: Kevin Gordon

    MARILYN MYLLER
    Director: Mikey Please

    ME + HER
    Director: Joseph Oxford

    MISS TODD
    Director: Kristina Yee

    THE MISSING SCARF
    Director: Eoin Duffy

    THE MOLE AT THE SEA
    Director: Anna Kadykova

    MOONBIRD (1959)
    Director: John Hubley

    MOUNTAINS WILL MOVE
    Director: Douglas A. McCann

    MUNGGE, NOT AGAIN
    Director: Adrian Flückiger, Claudia Rothlin, Irmgard Walthert

    MY DEAR AMERICANS
    Director: Arpita Kumar

    MY LITTLE FRIENDS
    Director: Megan Mylan

    MY SUPER VALENTINE
    Director: Jing Yang

    THE NECKLACE
    Director: Joan Stein-Schimke

    NO REAL THAN YOU ARE
    Director: Vincent Dale

    NOTES ON BLINDNESS
    Director: Peter Middleton, James Spinney

    OF MEN AND DEMONS (1968)
    Director: John Hubley

     

    THE OLD MAN
    Director: Ryan LeBoeuf, Cody LeBoeuf

    OLD MONSTER
    Director: Kevin Clark-Ryan

    THE ORPHAN AND THE POLAR BEAR
    Director: Neil Christopher

    OVO
    Director: Mihai Wilson

    PARADISAEA APODA
    Director: Luxi Jin

    PASSER PASSER
    Director: Louis Morton

    PEDRO PAN
    Director: Andrea Puente

    PERSON TO PERSON
    Director: Dustin Guy Defa

    PHANTOM LIMB
    Director: Alex Grigg

    PIECE, PEACE
    Director: Park Jae-In

    PIERROT
    Director: Stephen Reeves

    PISHTO GOES AWAY
    Director: Sonya Kendel

    A PLACE CALLED PLUTO
    Director: Steve James

    RABBIT AND DEER
    Directors: Péter Vácz, Attila Bertóti

    RAT PACK RAT
    Director: Todd Rohal

    THE REMEMBRANCE (DE’MEM’UNCE)
    Director: Roger Ross Williams

    REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT
    Director: Christoph Rainer

    RHYTHMS OF RESISTANCE
    Director: Jason O’Hara

    ROE AT RISK: FIGHTING FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
    Director: Susan Koch

    THE RUNAWAY
    Director: Victor Carrey

    SHAME AND GLASSES
    Director: Alessandro Riconda

    SHE
    Director: Kriti Dhawan

    SHIP OF FOOLS
    Director: Mike McGuirk

    THE SIDEKICK
    Director: Michael J. Weithorn

    A SPRING HAS PASSED BY
    Director: Eva Daoud

    THE SQUEAKIEST ROAR
    Director: Maggie Rogers

    SUPER SLEUTHS
    Director: Benjamin Dickinson

    TALL EVIL
    Director: Wally Chung

    TENDER GAME (1958)
    Director: John Hubley

    THE PIANO. THE BALLERINA. THE RAIN.
    Director: Samuel Curtis

    TITS
    Director: Louisa Bertman

    TOBACCO BURN
    Director: Justin Liberman

    TOWARD INDEPENDENCE (1947)
    Director: George L. George

    TRANSIDENTITY
    Director: Jenny Phillips, Grace Powell

    TWO ALTARS & A CAVE
    Director: Alexandra Aron

    UNCLE FLOYD
    Director: Charles Poekel

    UPON THE ROCK
    Director: James Bascara

    URBANISSMO (1967)
    Director: John Hubley

    THE VISION QUEST™
    Director: Andrea Sisson, Pete Ohs

    WAITING FOR MAMU
    Director: Thomas Morgan, Francois Caillaud, Dan Chen

    WAWD AHP
    Director: Steve Girard, Josh Chertoff

    A WEDDING DAY
    Director: Anthony Nicolau

    WHILE YOU WEREN’T LOOKING
    Director: Jeremy Mackie

    WHITE EARTH
    Director: J. Christian Jensen

    WHY WE FIGHT: PRELUDE TO WAR (1942)
    Director: Frank Capra

    WINDY DAY (1968)
    Director: John Hubley

    WITH THE MARINES AT TARAWA (1944)
    Director: Louis Hayward

    WOMBO
    Director: Daniel Acht

    WOODLAND DANCE
    Director: Jeffrey Boos

    WOODY
    Director: Stuart Bowen

    WRITE BACK
    Director: Emily Hubley

    YEARBOOK
    Director: Bernardo Britto

    YELLOW STICKY NOTES: CANADIAN ANIJAM
    Director: Jeff Chiba Stearns

    Read more

  • Full Frame Announces Lineups for 2014 Thematic Program “Approaches to Character” and Tribute to HOOP DREAMS Director Steve James

    Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters,” “Stevie”)Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters,” “Stevie”)

    The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its full list of Full Frame Tribute and Thematic Program films. The festival will present the Full Frame Tribute to esteemed filmmaker Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters,” “Stevie”). Full Frame will screen a collection of his highly regarded films over the course of the four-day event, and will welcome a variety of subjects featured in these works for Q&As. Arthur Agee, Jr. (“Hoop Dreams”), Ameena Matthews (“The Interrupters”), and Reverend Carroll Pickett (“At the Death House Door”) are expected to attend, along with many of James’s collaborators from Kartemquin Films. Full Frame will also feature “Hoop Dreams at 20,” a panel conversation in celebration of the landmark documentary’s 20th anniversary that will feature outtakes, insider commentary, and special guests.

    “I’m excited to have so many of my films play again in front of the appreciative audiences at Full Frame. It will give me a rare opportunity to reflect on where my career has led me, and maybe make connections between the films that have eluded me before. And I’m determined to resist the impulse to go re-edit them all again,” said Steve James.

    “What’s really at the heart of honoring filmmakers with this Tribute is having the opportunity to look back at the course of a particular artist’s work. I deeply admire Steve’s approach as a filmmaker—the commitment to his subjects, and the way he handles even difficult exchanges with candor, honesty, and respect. Being able to welcome the people who have collaborated on his films is such an amazing opportunity,” said director of programming Sadie Tillery.

    The Thematic Program “Approaches to Character,” curated by filmmaker Lucy Walker (“Waste Land,” “The Crash Reel”), reveals a series of memorable subjects through a diverse array of filmmaking techniques. The lineup features titles from many accomplished filmmakers, including Werner Herzog, Shirley Clarke, and Joe Berlinger, as well as three of Walker’s own films: her two most recent shorts, “The Lion’s Mouth Opens” and “David Hockney IN THE NOW (in six minutes),” and her first feature film, “Devil’s Playground.”

    “In each of the brilliant titles I’ve selected, the filmmaker has found a different access point to their subjects. Through these diverse techniques we learn something profound about human beings and how they construct their identities, often revealing the individual in more powerful and fascinating ways than meeting a person in real life,” said Lucy Walker. “This is a fantastic opportunity to show films that we rarely get to see on a big screen to an extraordinarily knowledgeable and engaged audience. This is what I love about Full Frame—filmmakers come to watch films, be inspired, talk shop and exchange notes with our colleagues and heroes.”

    Tillery added, “Showing older works alongside brand new films gets right to the core of my vision for Full Frame. I want this lineup to start conversation, spark connections, and make filmgoers really think about the form.”

    Specific screening times and venues will be announced with the release of the full schedule on March 13th.   

    FULL FRAME TRIBUTE
    Full Frame honors the work of Steve James. The Full Frame Tribute will be presented at the Awards Barbecue on Sunday.

    At the Death House Door (Directors: Steve James, Peter Gilbert)
    An unflinching account of the work of Reverend Carroll Pickett, who presided over 95 executions during his 15-year tenure as a death house chaplain in a Texas prison.

    Hoop Dreams (Director: Steve James)
    This deeply moving film follows Arthur Agee, Jr., and William Gates as they strive to achieve professional basketball stardom and escape poverty in Chicago.

    Hoop Dreams at 20
    In celebration of the landmark documentary’s 20th anniversary, this panel conversation features insider commentary, rarely seen footage, and special guests.

    The Interrupters (Director: Steve James)
    Three brave “interrupters” from Chicago’s CeaseFire organization take on inner-city violence with a dangerous form of intervention.

    A Place Called Pluto (Director: Steve James)
    When a reporter is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, he boldly faces his prognosis by putting his experiences into words.

    Reel Paradise (Director: Steve James)
    The final month of an American family’s yearlong stay in Fiji, where they screened movies in one of the most remote cinemas in the world.

    Stevie (Director: Steve James)
    Ten years later, Steve James visits a young man to whom he was a Big Brother and finds him at a turbulent crossroads in his life.
     

    FULL FRAME THEMATIC PROGRAM: APPROACHES TO CHARACTER
    Filmmaker Lucy Walker presents a series of documentaries featuring memorable subjects revealed through a diverse array of filmmaking techniques.

    The Arbor (Director: Clio Barnard)
    This unconventional portrait of the late British playwright Andrea Dunbar features actors lip-synching audio interviews with her family, friends, and neighbors.

    Creature Comforts (Director: Nick Park)
    In this short film, claymation zoo animals reveal how they feel about their living conditions, and living perpetually on display.

    David Hockney IN THE NOW (in six minutes) (Director: Lucy Walker)
    A tribute to the evolving work of the iconic British painter and photographer, an artist who insists on living in the present.

    Devil’s Playground (Director: Lucy Walker)
    Amish teenagers choose between their faith and the temptations of the modern world following a period of experimentation known as rumspringa.

    The Five Obstructions (Directors: Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth)
    Lars von Trier challenges fellow filmmaker Jørgen Leth to create five new iterations of his film The Perfect Human, placing a new restriction on each production.

    Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Director: Marcel Ophüls)
    This epic examination of the life of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyons,” doggedly explores questions of evil, complicity, memory, responsibility, and evasion.

    The Kid Stays in the Picture (Directors: Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen)
    Robert Evans, the first actor to become head of a major film studio, narrates this Hollywood insider tell-all detailing his rise, his fall, and his rise again.

    Land of Silence and Darkness (Director: Werner Herzog)
    Fini Straubinger, deaf and blind since her teens, attempts to help those who are similarly afflicted overcome their isolation.

    The Lion’s Mouth Opens (Director: Lucy Walker)
    With the support of family and friends, a young woman takes the daring step of determining whether she carries the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease.

    Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Directors: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)
    At work on their album St. Anger, the members of the legendary band find themselves embroiled in bitter disputes, so they bring in their therapist to help.

    On the Bowery (Director: Lionel Rogosin)
    Part-time railroad worker Ray Salyer spends three days drinking on drifting on Manhattan’s Skid Row in this seminal postwar work of docufiction.

    Portrait of Jason (Director: Shirley Clarke)
    Drink in hand, Jason Holiday, a gay African American hustler and aspiring nightclub performer, regales us with stories of his life.

    The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 3-6, 2014, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. The Invited Program and NEW DOCS films were announced last week. The complete schedule of films will be announced March 13th. Individual tickets go on sale March 27th.

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  • SXSW Film Awards; FORT TILDEN, THE GREAT INVISIBLE Win Top Awards

    SXSW 2014 Jury Awards. Clockwise from Top Left - Fort Tilden, The Great Invisible, Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace, Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire.

    Envelope please! The Jury Awards were announced last night for SXSW Film 2014, and FORT TILDEN, debut feature film of directors Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, won the top award for Best Narrative Film, and THE GREAT INVISIBLE directed by Margaret Brown won the award for Best Documentary.  

    FORT TILDEN explores quarter life crisis, as two friends, Allie struggles to prepare for the Peace Corps, while Harper awaits checks from her father to fund her artistic dreams. But the two friends quickly shun responsibilities for the day when a pair of good-looking guys invites them along for a carefree Fort Tilden afternoon. As the two young women board their bikes and embark on a lengthy journey to the beach, they quickly realize that, akin to their confusing, transitioning lives, they neither know where they’re going nor how they plan to get there.  On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. It killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in American history. THE GREAT INVISIBLE goes beyond the media coverage to examine the crisis in depth.

    The complete list of Jury Award winners of 2014 SXSW Film

    Feature Film Jury Awards

    NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

    Grand Jury Winner: Fort Tilden
    Director: Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers

    Special Jury Recognition for Courage in Storytelling: Animals
    Actor & Screenwriter: David Dastmalchian

    Special Jury Recognition for Best Acting Duo: 10,000KM (Long Distance)
    Natalie Tena
    David Verdaguer

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

    Grand Jury Winner: The Great Invisible
    Director: Margaret Brown

    Special Jury Recognition for Political Courage: Vessel
    Director: Diana Whitten

    Special Jury Recognition for Editing & Storytelling: Print the Legend
    Directors: Luis Lopez & Clay Tweel

    Short Film Jury Awards

    NARRATIVE SHORTS
    Winner: Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire
    Director: Monia Chokri

    Special Jury Recognition: Person to Person
    Director: Dustin Guy Defa

    Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography: Krisha
    Director: Trey Edward Shultz

    DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
    Winner: Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace
    Director: Jeff Dupre

    MIDNIGHT SHORTS
    Winner: Wawd Ahp
    Directors: Steve Girard & Josh Chertoff

    ANIMATED SHORTS
    Winner: Coda
    Director: Alan Holly

    Special Jury Recognition. Eager
    Director: Allison Schulnik

    MUSIC VIDEOS
    Winner: Joel Compass, “Back to Me”
    Director: Ian and Cooper

    TEXAS SHORTS
    Winner: Some vacation.
    Director: Anne S. Lewis

    TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
    Winner: Seawolf
    Director: Caila Pickett & Max Montoya

    SXSW Film Design Awards

    EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
    Winner: Starry Eyes
    Designer: Jay Shaw

    EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
    Winner: True Detective
    Designer: Patrick Clair for Elastic

    Special Jury Recognition: The Lego Movie
    Designer: Brian Mah for Alma Matter

    SXSW Special Awards

    SXSW GAMECHANGER AWARD
    Winner: Jen McGowan, Kelly & Cal

    Special Mention: Kat Candler. Hellion

    LOUIS BLACK “LONE STAR” AWARD
    Winner: Boyhood
    Director: Richard Linklater

    KAREN SCHMEER FILM EDITING FELLOWSHIP
    Presented to: Colin Nusbaum

     image via: SXSW.  Clockwise from Top Left – FORT TILDEN, THE GREAT INVISIBLE, KEHINDE WILEY: AN ECONOMY OF GRACE, QUELQU’UN D’EXTRAORDINAIRE.

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