• Big Foot Horror Film EXISTS from ‘The Blair Witch Project’ Director Eduardo Sánchez Acquired by Lionsgate for US Release

    Big Foot Horror Film EXISTS

    EXISTS, a new horror film from THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT director Eduardo Sánchez has been acquired by Lionsgate for release in the US.  The film premiered at SXSW in Austin, where it played to a sold-out midnight screening. In Bigfoot’s bold return to the big screen, five friends on a camping weekend in the remote woods of East Texas struggle to survive against a legendary predator that is stronger, smarter, and more terrifying than anything they would have ever believed exists.

    The film stars Chris Osborn, Dora Madison Burge, Roger Edwards, Samuel Davis, Denise Williamson and Brian Steele and is produced by Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky, Robin Cowie and J. Andrew Jenkins. EXISTS is executive produced by George Waud, D. Todd Shepherd, Gregg Hale and Reed Frerichs, and the Sasquatch creature was designed by Spectral Motion.

    “I’m really excited about working with the talented team at Lionsgate. We’ve had great history together and they really understand EXISTS and see the tremendous opportunity to reboot Bigfoot for a new generation,” said director Sanchez.

    Fleming and Ordesky, who developed and produced the film with Haxan Films through their production company Court Five, said, “It is especially gratifying to sell the film at SXSW in Austin so close to Bastrop, Texas where we shot EXISTS with an amazing Texas-based cast and crew. We look forward to working with Lionsgate to bring Ed’s vision to the masses.”

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  • Documentary LAST HIJACK about Somali Pirates to Get a Fall 2014 Release | VIDEO: Watch Trailer

    documentary LAST HIJACK

    The documentary LAST HIJACK, which had its world premiere at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, will be released in theaters and on VOD this summer by FilmBuff.  Directed by Tommy Pallotta (producer of “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly”) and Femke Wolting, the film combines animation and documentary filmmaking to portray the powerful story of a Somali pirate as he hijacks ships off the coast of Africa while also struggling to become the father figure that his family needs.

    LAST HIJACK takes an innovative hybrid approach to explore how one Somali pirate –Mohamed — came to live such a brutal and dangerous existence. Animated re-enactments exploring Mohamed’s memories, dreams and fears from his point of view are juxtaposed with raw footage from his everyday life in an original non-fiction narrative. Mohamed is one of Somalia’s most experienced pirates. But in his homeland, a failed state, Mohamed is just another middle-aged man trying to make ends meet. He must decide whether to risk everything for one last hijack.

    documentary LAST HIJACK

    “Mohamed’s is a journey that needed to be told,” directors Pallotta and Wolting said in a joint statement. “We always wanted to tell the story of piracy from the Somali perspective while also highlighting the realities of survival in a failed state. FilmBuff’s expertise and enthusiasm in the digital space makes them the ideal partner to bring this film to audiences everywhere and expose them to the little known truths behind piracy in the headlines.”

    http://youtu.be/QsecToqvTZk

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  • Crime Action-Drama BRAZILIAN WESTERN from Toronto Intl Film Festival to Get U.S and Canadian Release

     BRAZILIAN WESTERN (FAROESTE CABOCLO)

    Shout! Factory,and Cinevox, have entered a picture deal to distribute BRAZILIAN WESTERN (FAROESTE CABOCLO) in both U.S and Canada. Produced and directed by René Sampaio, this crime action-drama premiered with critical praise at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and recently played at the Miami International Film Festival.

    A film by René Sampaio, BRAZILIAN WESTERN is a film adaptation of the popular song “Faroeste Caboclo” by Brazilian music icon Renato Russo and tells the story of love, blood and revenge. João de Santo Cristo, a young man who leaves his life of poverty in the backlands of the state of Bahia to try his luck in Brasilia. With the help of his cousin Pablo, he becomes a carpenter’s apprentice but also gets involved in drug trafficking. 

    One day, he happens to meet the beautiful Maria Lúcia, the daughter of a senator. They begin a relationship, but João plunges deeper and deeper into a downward spiral of crime and violence. He finally meets his greatest enemy, the playboy drug dealer Jeremias, his rival in business and for the heart of Maria Lúcia.

    Directed by René Sampaio and produced by Bianca De Felippes, Marcello Ludwig Maia and René Sampaio, the film boasts and impressive cast of Fabrício Boliveira, Isis Valverde, Felipe Abib, Antônio Calloni, César Troncoso, Marcos Paulo and Flavio Bauraqui.

     http://youtu.be/426CZGDKLU8

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  • Hot Docs Announced 14 Documentary Features to Screen at 2014 Festival; Incl. Films about Donald Trump, Big Bird, Wrestler Iron Sheik

    I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORYI AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY

    Hot Docs announced 14 documentary features that will be part of the Special Presentations program at the 2014 Hot Docs Festival, taking place April 24 to May 4. Packed full of premieres, festival award winners, works by master filmmakers or featuring star subjects, films on the lineup include the World Premiere of the anti-Donald Trump film, A DANGEROUS GAME; I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY about the creator of Big Bird; and THE SHEIK about Olympic wrestler to American pop culture icon,  Iron Sheik .

    Special Presentation titles appears below, ordered alphabetically:

    CHILDREN 404
    D: Askold Kurov, Pavel Loparev | Russia | 2014 | 70 min | World Premiere
    An intimate firsthand account of how Russian’s LGBT youth are fighting with extreme courage against President Vladimir Putin’s law forbidding “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.”

    A DANGEROUS GAME
    D: Anthony Baxter | UK | 2014 | 90 min | World Premiere
    In this explosive tale, everyday heroes battle against Donald Trump and a cast of greedy Goliaths who want to turn some of the earth’s most precious places into golf courses for the super-rich.

    DEMONSTRATION
    D: Victor Kossakovsky, 32 film students VVAA | Russia, Spain | 2013 | 70 min | Canadian Premiere
    Legendary director Victor Kossakovsky sends 32 film students to document Barcelona’s massive and violent anti-austerity street protest in 2012. Set to an operatic score, his stunning collage transforms into a brilliant crowd-sourced street ballet.

    EVERYDAY REBELLION
    D: Arash T. Riahi, Arman T. Riahi | Austria, Switzerland, Germany | 2013 | 118 min | Canadian Premiere
    What do topless Ukrainian women, Syrian dissidents and Wall Street Occupiers have in common? A colourful new tactic—creative non-violent protest. See why and how modern pacifism is winning in this slick tribute to disobedience.

    THE GREAT INVISIBLE
    D: Margaret Brown | USA | 2014 | 92 min | Canadian Premiere
    With unprecedented access, this comprehensive documentary utilizes an investigative eye and a humanizing touch to examine the causes and impacts of 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

    I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY
    D: Chad Walker, Dave LaMattina | USA | 2014 | 85 min | World Premiere
    With an incredible archive of home videos, the story of Caroll Spinney reveals how a big heart and unstoppable talent created two of the world’s most beloved Sesame Street Muppets, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

    MISSION BLUE
    D: Robert Nixon, Fisher Stevens | USA | 2013 | 95 min | Canadian Premiere
    The trailblazing career of internationally renowned oceanographer and eco-activist Sylvia Earle is celebrated in this beautifully shot testament to her passionate commitment to saving the world’s oceans and its imperiled inhabitants.

    POINT AND SHOOT
    D: Marshall Curry | USA | 2014 | 82 min | International Premiere
    Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke shares extraordinary visual tales of his adventures motorcycling across the Middle East—including when he joins forces with Libyan rebels to oust Muammar Gaddafi, is captured and held in solitary confinement for six months.

    RETURN TO HOMS
    D: Talal Derki | Syria, Germany | 2013 | 87 min | Canadian Premiere
    Filmed over the course of two years, Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize-winner RETURN TO HOMS takes us into the lives of two friends caught in the middle of the raging civil war in Syria.

    RICH HILL
    D: Andrew Droz Palermo, Tracy Droz Tragos | USA | 2014 | 92 min | International Premiere
    In a small rural town, three young residents find themselves dreaming big but living small in this achingly beautiful, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning depiction of adolescence.

    SACRO GRA
    D: Gianfranco Rosi | Italy, France | 2013 | 93 min | Canadian Premiere
    Following the stories and endeavours of citizens living and working along the giant ring road that encircles Rome, this Venice Golden Lion winner paints an enchanting portrait of everyday moments in The Eternal City.

    THE SHEIK
    D: Igal Hecht | Canada | 2014 | 95 min | World Premiere
    Every hero needs a villain. Without the Iron Sheik there could be no Hulkamania. Khosrow Vaziri’s transformation from Olympic wrestler to American pop culture icon is a personal and emotional tale that will “make you humble.”

    UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL
    D: Kitty Green | Australia, Ukraine | 2013 | 80 min | Canadian Premiere
    Ukraine’s gorgeous group of topless feminist activists, FEMEN, take off their shirts to take on their government, exposing gender inequality and government corruption through their provocative public protests.

    WHITEY: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. JAMES J. BULGER
    D: Joe Berlinger | USA | 2014 | 107 min | International Premiere
    Oscar-nominated director Joe Berlinger strips away the myths surrounding infamous Boston gangster and FBI informant James “Whitey” Bulger, exposing the truth behind his criminal empire and revealing shocking new allegations of government corruption and complicity.

     

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  • Oscilloscope Laboratories to Release Offbeat Comedy, BUZZARD that Premiered at SXSW

     Joel Potrykus’ audacious, offbeat comedy, BUZZARD

    Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it has acquired all North American rights to Joel Potrykus’ audacious, offbeat comedy, BUZZARD. The film had its World Premiere on Saturday at South by Southwest; it will then immediately go to NYC’s prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival at Lincoln Center. O-Scope plans further festival play followed by a theatrical release later this year.

    BUZZARD follows a small-time scam artist named Marty, a caustic young man who makes ends meet by drifting from one small con to the next. When paranoia forces him out of a lousy temp job, he gets thrust on a journey that—after a brief stopover in his loser co-worker’s basement—ultimately brings him to Detroit with nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, a not-so-subtlety-modified Nintendo® Power Glove, and a bad temper. It’s like Albert Camus meets Freddy Krueger.

    About the acquisition, O-scope’s Dan Berger and David Laub said, “BUZZARD is an incredible discovery – a contemporary and sophisticated look at the struggles bred from our capitalist society, told in a completely original, bitingly funny way. It also features the sexiest spaghetti-eating scene since Lady and the Tramp.”

    Filmmaker Joel Potrykus said, “We’re all psyched to have Oscilloscope releasing our crazy movie. They get it. We’re out to slash the face of corporate America, one screen at a time. And we’re just looking for justice and a big bag of Doritos®.”

    Potrykus won the Best Emerging Director and Best First Feature awards at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival for his previous film, APE. BUZZARD was produced by Michael Saunders, Ashley Young, Kevin Clancy, and Tim Saunders and represented by BGP Films’ Bill Straus.

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  • RiverRun International Film Festival is Now Qualifying Festival for Oscars in the Documentary Short Subject Award; Announces Opening Films for 2014 Festival

    LE CHEF, directed by Daniel CohenLE CHEF, directed by Daniel Cohen

    Good news for RiverRun Film Festival.  The festival announced that it has been accepted as a qualifying festival for the Oscars® in the Documentary Short Subject award category. Beginning with this year’s Festival, recipients of RiverRun’s Jury Award for Best Documentary Short will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards®.  The Festival also announced it’s two opening night fllms and closing night film for the 2014 festival.  The first opening night film, LE CHEF, is an uproarious comedy in which a famous veteran chef faces off against his restaurant’s new CEO. The second opening night film is TO BE TAKEI, a documentary about 76 year-old George Takei, who has become more popular than his Sulu days on “Star Trek” through his active social media presence in the movements for marriage equality and for reparations for the victims of Japanese internment camps.  The Festival will close on April 13 with BICYCLING WITH MOLIÈRE, in which a retired actor Serge (Fabrice Luchini) is approached by Gauthier to star in a revival of Molière’s The Misanthrope, but he plays hard to get.

    In the uproarious comedy, LE CHEF, a famous veteran chef (Jean Reno) faces off against his restaurant’s new CEO, who wants the establishment to lose a star from its rating in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.  

    http://youtu.be/cf2Nk3Ld8Og

     TO BE TAKEI. Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei boldly journeyed from a WWII internment camp to the helm of the starship Enterprise to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans.  Join George and his husband Brad on this star’s playful and profound trek for life, liberty and love. 

    http://youtu.be/yZpN8KLM0S4

    BICYCLING WITH MOLIERE. Retired actor Serge (Fabrice Luchini) is approached by Gauthier to star in a revival of Molière’s The Misanthrope, but he plays hard to get. Serge’s new lover, the play’s producer and his agent arrive on the same weekend to pressure him to make up his mind.

    http://youtu.be/rlJgzcEzYT4

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  • HORSES OF GOD, Morocco’s Foreign-Language Oscar Entry to Be Released in the U.S.

     HORSES OF GOD directed by Nabil Ayouch

    Nabil Ayouch’s HORSES OF GOD, Morocco’s Submission for the 2014 Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, will be released in the U.S. by Kino Lorber, with a planned release in May, 2014.  “HORSES OF GOD” had its World Premiere in’ Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win multiple awards including Best Director at the Seattle International Film Festival.  The film, inspired by the terrorist attacks of May 16th, 2003 in Casablanca, follows two young men living in the slum of Sidi Moumen in Casablanca, caught up in Islamic fundamentalism and become martyrs.

    In HORSES OF GOD, 10-year-old Yachine lives with his family in the Sidi Moumen slum in Casablanca. His mother leads the family as best as she can. His father suffers from depression, one of his brothers is in the army, another is almost autistic and the third, Hamid (13), is the neighbourhood boss and Yachine’s protector.

    When Hamid is sent to jail, Yachine takes job after job, however hopeless, to try and lift himself up from the violence, misery and drugs that surround him. Released from prison, now an Islamic fundamentalist, Hamid persuades Yachine and his friends to join their “brothers”.

    The Imam – their spiritual leader – starts to direct their arduous physical and mental preparation. One day, he tells them they have been chosen to become martyrs.

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  • 2014 Dallas International Film Festival Unveils First 10 Films; Incl. World Premiere of BELIEVE ME, North American Premiere of FIRESTORM

    FIRESTORMFIRESTORM

    The 8th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival, taking place April 3 to 13, 2014 unveiled the first 10 films to screen at the festival.  “Approximately 150 films from all over the world will be screened during the 11-day Festival and selecting the first ten films is like completing the first mile in a marathon,” said James Faust, artistic director, Dallas Film Society. It’s exhilarating and exhausting selecting the best among the thousands of outstanding entries we receive and announcing the entire line-up is the moment I reach the finish line and the fun of the festival begins!”

    The first 10 films announced include:

    WORDS AND PICTURES (USA)
    DIRECTOR: Fred Schepisi
    CAST: Keegan Connor Tracy, Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche
    SYNOPSIS: An art instructor and an English teacher form a rivalry that ends up with a competition at their school in which students decide whether words or pictures are more important.

    JOE (USA)
    DIRECTOR: David Gordon Green
    CAST: Nicholas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Ronnie Gene Blevins
    SYNOPSIS: An ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.

    HELLION (USA)
    DIRECTOR: Kat Candler
    CAST: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins
    SYNOPSIS: When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, thirteen-year-old, Jacob’s increasing delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother, Wes, with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father, Hollis, must finally take responsibility for their actions and for each other in order to bring Wes home.

    QUEENS & COWBOYS: A STRAIGHT YEAR ON THE GAY RODEO (USA)
    DIRECTOR: Matt Livadary
    SYNOPSIS: QUEENS & COWBOYS: A STRAIGHT YEAR ON THE GAY RODEO chronicles a complete season of the International Gay Rodeo Association. Roping and riding across North America for the past 30 years, the IGRA’s courageous cowboys and cowgirls brave challenges both in and out of the arena on their quest to qualify for the World Finals at the end of the season. And along the way, they’ll bust every stereotype in the book.

    RICH HILL (USA)
    DIRECTOR: Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo
    SYNOPSIS: RICH HILL intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in an impoverished Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.

    ABOVE ALL ELSE (USA)
    DIRECTOR: John Feige
    SYNOPSIS: One man will risk it all to stop the tar sands of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from crossing his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, ABOVE ALL ELSE follows David Daniel as he rallies neighbors and environmental activists to join him in a final act of brinkmanship: a tree-top blockade of the controversial pipeline. What begins as a stand against corporate bullying becomes a rallying cry for climate protesters nationwide.

    IDA (Poland)
    DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
    SYNOPSIS: Anna, a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the Nazi occupation.

    FIRESTORM (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) (China/Hong Kong)
    DIRECTOR: Alan Yuen
    CAST: Andy Lau
    SYNOPSIS: A storm is heading to the city of Hong Kong, and with it comes another occurrence so destructive, it vows to bring down everything it touches. A crew of seasoned criminals led by the notorious Nam (Hu Jun), armed with high-powered weapons, pulls off another smooth and violent armored car heist in broad daylight in a crowded street. Whoever tries to get in their way, they will show no mercy. This puts the police force to shame and humiliation.

    BELIEVE ME (WORLD PREMIERE) (USA)
    DIRECTOR: Will Bakke
    CAST: Nick Offerman, Johanna Braddy, Christopher McDonald
    SYNOPSIS: Desperate, broke, and out of ideas, four college seniors start a fake Christian charity to embezzle money for tuition

    PARIS, TEXAS (1984) 30th Anniversary Screening reuniting cast and crew at the Historic Texas Theatre. (West Germany/USA/France/UK)
    DIRECTOR: Wim Wenders  
    CAST: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell
    SYNOPSIS: A man wanders out of the desert after a four year absence. His brother finds him, and together they return to L.A. to reunite the man with his young son. Soon after, he and the boy set out to locate the mother of the child, who left shortly after the man disappeared.

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  • WHEN MY SORROW DIED Leads Winners of 2014 Byron Bay International Film Festival

    Byron Bay Film Festival Director, J’aimee Skippon-Volke (centre), Producer, Matt Huffman (left) and Master Thereminist Armen Ra of WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN. (right)

    This weekend, the 8th Byron Bay International Film Festival in Byron Bay, Australia, came to a close, and announced the awarding winning films and filmmakers. Opening Night’s film, WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN, took two of the most coveted awards, Best Film and Best Documentary. It’s subject, master theremin player Armen Ra, attending from Los Angeles said, “I was honestly really surprised and grateful and humbled to win these awards. This town has shown us so much love that it’s going to be very hard to leave; however, I will return!”

     “I think we won these awards because the people of Byron Bay resonated with the message we’re trying to get across in their own ways: embracing and celebrating individuality”.

    The 8th Byron Bay international Film Festival awards were announced as follows:

    BBFF Best Film: When My Sorrow Died: The Legend Of Armen Ra & The Theremin (USA), Director, Robert Nazar Arjoyan

    BBFF Best Dramatic Feature: The Deflowering Of Eva Van End (Netherlands), Director, Michiel ten Horn

    BBFF Best Documentary: When My Sorrow Died: The Legend Of Armen Ra & The Theremin (USA), Director, Robert Nazar Arjoyan

    Screenzone International Documentary Prize: Gore Vidal: The United States Of Amnesia (USA), Director Nicholas D. Wrathall

    BBFF Best Surf Film: OUT In The Line-up (Australia), Director Ian W. Thompson

    BBFF Young Australian Filmmaker Of The Year: Director former Tropfest Winner, Genevieve Clay-Smith for The Interviewer (Australia)

    The Echo Best Byron Film: Tied between 2 Degrees (Australia) Director Jeff Canin and Burra Jurra (Australia) Director Juliet Carrington.

    The Byron At Byron Best Environmental Film: Gasland Part II (USA),Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Director, Josh Fox.

    Fox Creek Wines Best Short Film: The Audition (USA), Director Michael Haussman

    BBFF Best Music Video: Tales Of Us by Goldfrapp (UK) Director Lisa Gunning

    BBFF Best Cinematography: God’s Got His Head In The Clouds (Italy),Director: Gianluca Sodaro

    BBFF Best Experimental Film: Leviathan Ages (UK), Director Jon Yeo

    Greenhouse FX Best Animation: Shave It (Argentina), Director Fernando Maldonado & Jorge Tereso

    BBFF Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Northern Rivers: IMAX pioneer, John Wylie

    On Saturday evening the festival officially wrapped with the Closing Red Carpet Gala Event for the world premiere of award-winning director, Cathy Henkel’s film, RISE OF THE ECO WARRIORS. The film is about an international group of young people chosen to take a 100-day challenge to save rain forests and orangutans in a region of Borneo devastated by palm oil production. It received a standing ovation.

    INXS’s Kirk Pengilly and World Champion Surfer Layne Beachley with Head Coach of the Burra Jurra surf charity Steve Foreman and friends at BBFF 2014, Saturday 8th March for the world premiere of Burra Jurra. Credit: Montana Wambach

    The festival also screened the world premiere of BURRA JURRA, attended by surfers Layne Beachley, Kirk Pengilly, Dave Rastovich, surf legend Brad Farmer.  BURRA JURRA is a documentary about a local surf charity changing the lives of local indigenous kids attended by of which Beachley is a patron and supporter.

    image 1: Byron Bay Film Festival Director, J’aimee Skippon-Volke (centre), Producer, Matt Huffman (left) and Master Thereminist Armen Ra of WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN. (right) arrive on the red carpet.

     Image 2: INXS’s Kirk Pengilly and World Champion Surfer Layne Beachley with Head Coach of the Burra Jurra surf charity Steve Foreman and friends at BBFF 2014, Saturday 8th March for the world premiere of BURRA JURRA. Credit: Montana Wambach

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  • RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE to Screen at American Documentary Film Festival

     RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE

    RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE will screen at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, California,  on March 28, 2014.  This cinematic adventure explores the compelling life of a modern day renaissance man and true hero to the earth. Hyde is an old style cowboy and steadfast conservationist who dedicated his life to protecting the wild horses, land, and water of the American West.  RUNNING WILD is a captivating story of determination and accomplishment, featuring wild mustangs running free on Hyde’s breathtaking 13,000-acre Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota, and scenes shot at his beautiful Yamsi Ranch in Oregon and boyhood lake house in Michigan. RUNNING WILD is directed by Emmy Award winner Suzanne Mitchell and is executive produced by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple. The film garnered awards for best documentary at several festivals where it received standing ovations, as audiences were awed and inspired by Hyde’s passion. 

    Suzanne Mitchell is thrilled to share her film with an audience from Palm Springs. The soundtrack was composed by Palm Springs native Steve Poltz, an award-winning singer-songwriter known for Jewel’s megahit hit “You Were Meant For Me.” Music critic Jon Kanis reports, “The soundtrack does what a great score is supposed to do: give the images and the words onscreen a deeper resonance. And in that marriage of image and sound, Running Wild is a complete bulls-eye.” 

    RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE

    RUNNING WILD is a testament to perseverance and achievement despite challenges, and one’s responsibility to protect nature. At age 13, Hyde headed West and began a life journey to defend a fragile and changing natural world, a path that ultimately led him to South Dakota. Here, he successfully created one of the largest wild horse sanctuaries, giving freedom to thousands of mustangs rescued from the controversial BLM wild horse roundups and simultaneously saved an historic tract of land. Hyde’s storied past experience includes cowboy, WWII veteran, rodeo clown, champion to sandhill cranes, wolves and coyotes, Life Magazine photographer, award-winning author, and environmental educator and activist. RUNNING WILD shares rare footage of a Lakota Naming Ceremony, honoring Hyde as protector of sacred land. Hyde continues his efforts to preserve the environment in his fight against a proposed uranium mining project located near famed Mount Rushmore that has the potential to contaminate the ecosystem and deplete the aquifer that supports all life in the Black Hills, a gamble Hyde and his fellow opponents are not willing to take. At 88, Hyde says, “It’s going to be my last great battle, but I’m going to win this one.” 

    The American Documentary Film Festival opens on Thursday, March 27th and continues through Monday, March 31st. Running Wild is distributed by Screen Media Films. 

     

    via: americandocumentaryfilmfestival

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  • DISRUPTED to Kick Off 14th Annual aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival in Toronto Canada

     DISRUPTED by Roberto FiescoDISRUPTED by Roberto Fiesco

    aluCine celebrates the launch of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month with the 14th Annual aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival, taking place in Toronto for 10 days, from from April 3 to12, 2014. Award-winning Mexican Director, Roberto Fiesco will kick off the festival with his critically acclaimed film, DISRUPTED, which has been celebrated at various international festivals including Raindance Film Festival (Best Documentary), Guadalajara International Film Festival (Best Film) and Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián (Sebastian Award).

    DISRUPTED, is the memory and testimony of two characters: Fernando García, known as Pinolito, who was a child actor in the seventies, and Doña Lilia Ortega, his mother, an actress. Fernando came out as a transsexual some years ago, and now calls herself Coral Bonelli. They live together in Garibaldi yearning for their past in the movies, while Coral bravely comes to terms with her gender identity. They both still perform.

    The festival will also feature gallery installations, short and feature film programs, performances, artists’ talks, panel discussions and workshops. aluCine is a Latin, Canadian and International festival showcasing the world’s best in short film, video and media art with a strong focus on works made by Latino/a artists living in Canada and abroad.

    http://youtu.be/xHvh-E5XZJ0

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  • New Leadership at Film Society of Lincoln Center; Lesli Klainberg appointed Executive Director, Eugene Hernandez Deputy Director

    Film Society of Lincoln Center

    The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the appointment of Lesli Klainberg as Executive Director and Eugene Hernandez as Deputy Director, a newly created post at the organization. Klainberg has been in place as the Film Society’s Interim Executive Director since December, and will now officially take the helm. Both will also assume the role of Co-Publisher for Film Comment magazine.

    Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman said, “It is especially gratifying to us to select the Film Society’s new leadership team from within our own ranks. Lesli has a deep appreciation of our mission and we are confident that, together with Eugene, she will build on the success we have realized in recent years.”

    Lesli Klainberg was Managing Director of the Film Society for almost two years and produced the last three New York Film Festivals, prior to her appointment as Interim Executive Director in December. Before joining the Film Society, Lesli was the Executive Director of NewFest, New York’s LGBT Film Festival, and also worked as a Consulting Producer for the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and as the Producer of IFP’s Independent Film Week Forum. In 2009, she was named Co-Leader of IFP’s weeklong Documentary Finishing Lab, and held this post for three years. Klainberg is a Founding National Board member of GLAAD and a former Board member of both Outfest and NewFest.

    Klainberg is also an award-winning producer and director of independent documentaries through her production company, Orchard Films. Her film credits include the acclaimed Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer’s End, Miss America, In the Company of Women, Indie Sex, and the 2013 PGA Award–nominatedA Place at the Table, as well as other documentaries for IFC, AMC, PBS, and A&E. 

    In his new role as Deputy Director, Eugene Hernandez will oversee all strategy and operations for the organization, including partner relations, community and industry initiatives, educational outreach, and overall administrative duties for year-round programs and theater operations. He will also work closely with the Film Comment team on expanding their digital platforms and content offerings.   

    Hernandez joined the organization in 2010 as the Director of Digital Strategy, where he oversaw numerous new initiatives, including the re-launch of the organization’s website, FilmLinc.com; the creation of the digital publication FilmLinc Daily; the management and growth of all social media platforms; and the introduction of integrating streaming video content for the organization. He also worked closely with Associate Director of Operations and Programmer for Convergence, Matt Bolish, on a year-round Convergence program, launched at the New York Film Festival, the new home for immersive media and transmedia in New York.

    Prior to joining the Film Society, Hernandez co-founded Indiewire in 1996. In his 12 years as Editor in Chief, he built the company into the leading online community and editorial publication for independent and international film. Winner of two Webby Awards for Best Film Website, Indiewire was lauded as a “must read” by Variety, branded the “online heartbeat of the world’s independent film community” by Forbes, and dubbed the “best indie crossroads” by Roger Ebert. SnagFilms acquired the company in 2008.

    Michael Gibbons, Manager of Digital Strategy, has been promoted and will step into the role of Director of Digital Platforms, to oversee the Film Society’s Web and mobile initiatives, with the continued mission to support the organizations programming, and to reach a broad and diverse audience. He will continue to evolve and enhance the experience on multiple screens and platforms, providing seamless access to content and programming through FilmLinc.com and FilmComment.com, and to develop long-term strategy for the future on existing and emerging digital platforms.

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