Sundance Selects will release in the U.S., Hilla Medalia’s dance documentary “DANCING IN JAFFA,” which premiered earlier this year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Sundance Selects did not announce a release date, but a Fall 2013 date is expected.
Interview with Director Aaron Douglas Johnston on His New Indie Film “MY SISTER’S QUINCEANERA”
The independent film “MY SISTER’S QUINCEANERA” about a Latino family in Iowa, is playing at the LA Film Festival where it had its North American premiere on Saturday night. Starring Silas Garcia, Samantha Rae Garcia, Becky Garcia, Tanner McCulley, Nicole Streat, Elizabeth Agapito and Josefina Garcia, MY SISTER’S QUINCEANERA follows teenage Silas who is considered the man of the house, but he wears that responsibility lightly, searching for more from his life than the small town mischief he gets into with his best friend., The film is written, produced and directed by Aaron Douglas Johnston who is also from the Midwest but now resides in Netherlands. We got the chance to catch up with Aaron Douglas Johnston at the LA Film Festival to find out more about his new film.
Documentary “MISS YOU CAN DO IT” To Premiere on HBO on June 24th
MISS YOU CAN DO IT directed by award-winning documentary director Ron Davis will premeire on HBO on June 24th. MISS YOU CAN DO IT chronicles Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008 and the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant, and eight girls with various physical and intellectual disabilities as the girls participate in Abbey’s Miss You Can Do It Pageant. Abbey founded the annual Miss You Can Do It Pageant in 2004 and girls and their families travel from all around the country to participate in this one night where their inner beauty and abilities reign.
USTA calls fault against VENUS AND SERENA Documentary
The filmmakers of a documentary about Venus and Serena Williams face a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Tennis Association. In the lawsuit filed Friday, the USTA claims copyright infringement after the filmmakers of VENUS AND SERENA allegedly used unlicensed video footage from the U.S. Open without permission.
ONLY GOD FORGIVES Starring Ryan Gosling Wins Sydney Film Prize at Sydney Film Festival
ONLY GOD FORGIVES
ONLY GOD FORGIVES, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn won the Sydney Film Festival‘s prestigious Sydney Film Prize. Starring Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm, ONLY GOD FORGIVES is described as a brutal and stylish story of betrayal, rage and redemption set in the Thai underworld. This is the second time Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn has won the Sydney Prize, previously winning it in 2009 with the British prison thriller Bronson.
13 Filmmaker Finalists for 2013 San Francisco Film Society Documentary Film Fund
The San Francisco Film Society today announced the 13 finalists for the 2013 SFFS Documentary Film Fund awards totaling $100,000, which support feature-length documentaries in postproduction. The SFFS Documentary Film Fund was created to support singular nonfiction film work that is distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Finalists were selected from more than 200 applications, and winners will be announced in late July.
Previous DFF winners include Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s American Promise, which also premiered at Sundance and won the festival’s Special Jury Prize in the documentary category; and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary, has played at film festivals worldwide and will be distributed theatrically by Radius-TWC.
Documentary “THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE” About Vietnamese Victims of Vietnam War Agent Orange to World Premiere at NYIFF
The documentary film “THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE” which follows the everyday lives of twenty disabled children – third generation victims of the Agent Orange warfare that occurred during the Vietnam War ( 1963-1973), has its World Premiere at the 2013 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF) where it is nominated for NYCIFF’s Best Feature Documentary Film.
WATCH Trailer for Very Funny Indie Comedy “10 RULES FOR SLEEPING AROUND”
10 RULES FOR SLEEPING AROUND, the independent screwball comedy about two couples and their ten rules to a happy, healthy and open relationship, has its World Premiere this weekend at the New York City International Film Festival.
WATCH Trailer for “SALINGER” Documentary
The Weinstein Company released the trailer for the upcoming documentary “SALINGER,” about the notoriously reclusive “Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger.
Top 10 Film Picks of 2013 LA Film Festival
Los Angeles Film Festival opened on Thursday night, June 13, 2013, with Pedro Almodóvar’s I’M SO EXCITED! and runs through Sunday June 23, 2013. The festival will screen nearly 200 feature films, shorts and music videos, and we selected 10 independent narrative films and documentary films from very talented directors, some who might otherwise be overlooked. So here we go 10 films at the 2013 LA Film Festival that definitely deserve a look.
REVIEW: I’M SO EXCITED! (Los Amantes Pasajeros)
by Christopher McKittrick
I’M SO EXCITED! (Los amantes pasajeros) opens with a brief sequence on an airport runaway featuring Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, both familiar faces in this film’s writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s work. However, their brief cameos only set up the main plot of the film, which is about the plane on the runaway that’s about to take off. When the plane is in the air, it becomes clear to the pilot Alex (Antonio de la Torre), the co-pilot Benito (Hugo Silva), the head steward Joserra (Javier Cámara), and stewards Ulloa (Raúl Arévalo) and Fajas (Carlos Areces) – all of whom are either gay or bisexual and have a connecting sexual history – that there is something wrong with the landing gear. Even if they can find a runway to attempt the landing (which proves difficult), there’s no guarantee that they will survive the impact. When this news is revealed to the handful of passengers in first class (the passengers in coach have all been put to sleep via drugs), they began to cast away their inhibitions and reveal their deepest secrets.
US Film “THE SHARK’S FIN’ Take The Top Prize at New Zealand Mountain Film Festival
The New Zealand Mountain Film Festival announced this year’s program and competition winners; “THE SHARK’S FIN” took the Grand Prize of US$1000 and winner of the Best New Zealand film award went to the film Flow Hunters.