• THE ACT OF KILLING, BLACKFISH Among Films Nominated for EE British Academy Film Awards in 2014

    THE ACT OF KILLING THE ACT OF KILLING

    The nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2014 were announced this morning in London and THE ACT OF KILLING received two nominations for Film Not in the English Language and Documentary. Also nominated in the Documentary category are: THE ARMSTRONG LIE, BLACKFISH, TIM’S VERMEER, and WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS.  BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, THE GREAT BEAUTY, METRO MANILA and WADJDA are nominated alongside THE ACT OF KILLINg to complete for Film Not in the English Language. The EE British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 16 February at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

    BEST FILM
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Anthony Katagas, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen
    AMERICAN HUSTLE Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca
    GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman
    PHILOMENA Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward

    OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
    GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman, Jonás Cuarón
    MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Justin Chadwick, Anant Singh, David M. Thompson, William Nicholson
    PHILOMENA Stephen Frears, Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward, Jeff Pope
    RUSH Ron Howard, Andrew Eaton, Peter Morgan
    SAVING MR. BANKS John Lee Hancock, Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer, Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith
    THE SELFISH GIANT: Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan

    OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
    COLIN CARBERRY (Writer), GLENN PATTERSON (Writer) Good Vibrations
    KELLY MARCEL (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
    KIERAN EVANS (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
    PAUL WRIGHT (Director/Writer), POLLY STOKES (Producer) For Those in Peril
    SCOTT GRAHAM (Director/Writer) Shell

    FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
    THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
    BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR Abdellatif Kechiche, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval
    THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
    METRO MANILA Sean Ellis, Mathilde Charpentier
    WADJDA Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

    DOCUMENTARY
    THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer
    THE ARMSTRONG LIE Alex Gibney
    BLACKFISH Gabriela Cowperthwaite
    TIM’S VERMEER Teller, Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler
    WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS Alex Gibney

    ANIMATED FILM
    DESPICABLE ME 2 Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
    FROZEN Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
    MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Dan Scanlon

    DIRECTOR
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen
    AMERICAN HUSTLE David O. Russell
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Paul Greengrass
    GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón
    THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
    AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
    BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen
    GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
    NEBRASKA Bob Nelson

    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
    12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley
    BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Richard LaGravenese
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray
    PHILOMENA Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
    THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter

    LEADING ACTOR
    BRUCE DERN Nebraska
    CHIWETEL EJIOFOR 12 Years a Slave
    CHRISTIAN BALE American Hustle
    LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Wolf of Wall Street
    TOM HANKS Captain Phillips

    LEADING ACTRESS
    AMY ADAMS American Hustle
    CATE BLANCHETT Blue Jasmine
    EMMA THOMPSON Saving Mr. Banks
    JUDI DENCH Philomena
    SANDRA BULLOCK Gravity

    SUPPORTING ACTOR
    BARKHAD ABDI Captain Phillips
    BRADLEY COOPER American Hustle
    DANIEL BRÜHL Rush
    MATT DAMON Behind the Candelabra
    MICHAEL FASSBENDER 12 Years a Slave

    SUPPORTING ACTRESS
    JENNIFER LAWRENCE American Hustle
    JULIA ROBERTS August: Osage County
    LUPITA NYONG’O 12 Years a Slave
    OPRAH WINFREY The Butler
    SALLY HAWKINS Blue Jasmine

    ORIGINAL MUSIC
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Hans Zimmer
    THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Henry Jackman
    GRAVITY Steven Price
    SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman

    CINEMATOGRAPHY
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Barry Ackroyd
    GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
    NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael

    EDITING
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
    GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
    RUSH Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
    THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Thelma Schoonmaker

    PRODUCTION DESIGN
    12 YEARS A SLAVE Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
    AMERICAN HUSTLE Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
    BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Howard Cummings
    GRAVITY Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard
    THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

    COSTUME DESIGN
    AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson
    BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Ellen Mirojnick
    THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin
    THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O’Connor
    SAVING MR. BANKS Daniel Orlandi

    MAKE UP & HAIR
    AMERICAN HUSTLE Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
    BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
    THE BUTLER Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
    THE GREAT GATSBY Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
    THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater

    SOUND
    ALL IS LOST Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
    CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney
    GRAVITY Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
    RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

    SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
    GRAVITY Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
    THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
    IRON MAN 3 Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
    PACIFIC RIM Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner
    STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyett

    BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
    EVERYTHING I CAN SEE FROM HERE Bjorn-Erik Aschim, Friederike Nicolaus, Sam Taylor
    I AM TOM MOODY Ainslie Henderson
    SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa

    BRITISH SHORT FILM
    ISLAND QUEEN Ben Mallaby, Nat Luurtsema
    KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Megan Rubens, Michael Pearce, Selina Lim
    ORBIT EVER AFTER Chee-Lan Chan, Jamie Stone, Len Rowles
    ROOM 8 James W. Griffiths, Sophie Ven

    THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
    DANE DEHAAN
    GEORGE MACKAY
    LUPITA NYONG’O
    WILL POULTER
    LÉA SEYDOUX

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  • REMOTE AREA MEDICAL Doc Gets a Spring 2014 Release | VIDEO: Watch a Clip

    REMOTE AREA MEDICAL

    The documentary REMOTE AREA MEDICAL, directed by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman, has set a Spring 2014 release date courtesy of Cinedigm. Remote Area Medical documents three days in April 2012, nearly 2000 Americans waited in the parking lot of Bristol, Tennessee’s massive NASCAR speedway to receive free medical, dental, and vision care provided by the volunteer organization Remote Area Medical, the pioneer of no-cost pop-up health care clinics. 

    By many estimates, more than 45 million Americans are without health insurance, which means they don’t get access to basic preventative medical care, much less coverage for catastrophic health events. Problems that should be easily rectified under regular care go untreated for years and become chronic, affecting quality of life and sometimes leading to serious illness.

    Remote Area Medical follows a group of volunteer healthcare providers who organize a pop-up clinic of the same name at a NASCAR speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Over three long days in April of 2012, the dedicated staff attempts to give treatment to 2,000 folks from the surrounding communities who cannot otherwise afford it, for conditions ranging in magnitude from new dentures to diabetes and cancer. Throughout the film, it remains clear that while the Remote Area Medical team is making a big difference, many of the treatments rendered are just scratching the surface. While some folks receive life-changing new prescriptions for eyeglasses and crucial diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses, others are forced to triage the most immediately painful of their ailments and hope they can hold out until the next free clinic, or until they can scrape together some kind of coverage. However, without this effort, these working poor Americans would be left to completely slip through the cracks, helpless in the face of outrageous and ever-escalating healthcare costs.

    Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman’s film forces us to confront a crisis in our own backyard, but eschews the politics of greed behind the crisis for a moving portrait of those affected. This heartfelt and carefully crafted film immerses us in this weekend-long struggle to make a difference for those who need it, and take a small step towards rectifying a tragic injustice. (J. Scott Braid) [ via Maryland Film Festival ]

    http://youtu.be/fP4bQ7U0BW8

    via Indiewire

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  • Athena Film Festival Unveils 2014 Film Lineup; NY Premiere of BELLE to Open, GERALDINE FERRARO Doc to Close Fest

    GERALDINE FERRARO: PAVING THE WAYGERALDINE FERRARO: PAVING THE WAY

    The 2014 Athena Film Festival which honors “extraordinary women in the film industry and showcases films that address women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world” announced its lineup of narrative, documentary and short films.  Now in its fourth year, the festival runs from Thursday, February 6 through Sunday, February 9 on the Barnard College campus in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City.  The New York Premiere of BELLE, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and directed by Amma Asante, is the Athena Film Festival’s Opening Film, DECODING ANNIE PARKER, starring Helen Hunt and Samantha Morton and directed by Steven Bernstein, is the festival’s Centerpiece Film, and GERALDINE FERRARO: PAVING THE WAY, directed by her daughter, Donna Zaccaro, is the festival’s Closing Film.

    Among the feature films included in this year’s slate are: SHORT TERM 12, starring Brie Larsen and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, THE BOOK THIEF, starring Sophie Nelisse and Emily Watson and directed by Brian Percival, and IN A WORLD…, written and directed by Lake Bell.  The documentary category includes ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH, directed by Pratibha Parmar, REGINA, directed by Diana Groo, WHOOPI GOLDBERG PRESENTS MOMS MABLEY, directed by Whoopi Goldberg, THE OTHER SHORE, directed by Timothy Wheeler, and THE 99ERS, directed by Erin Leyden.   A wide variety of shorts will be featured including: THE RED PILL, directed by Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker, THE WORLDS OF BERNICE BING, directed by Madeleine Lim, MISS TODD, directed by Kristina Yee, and TINA FOR PRESIDENT, directed by Carmen Emmi.

    FEATURES

    Belle –  New York Premiere- Opening Film
    Director: Amma Asante
    Run Time: 105 minutes
    Language: English
    Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay, an 18th Century British naval officer. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, but her color prevents her from the traditions of noble social standing. Yet, Belle uses her presence and intelligence to help inform the thinking of her father figure, Lord Mansfield, as he deliberates the most pressing issue of the time – the abolition of slavery.

    The Book Thief
    Director: Brian Percival
    Run Time: 131 minutes
    Language: English
    Based on the beloved bestselling book, The Book Thief tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a foster family in World War II Germany.

    Decoding Annie Parker – Centerpiece Film
    Director: Steven Bernstein
    Run Time: 91 minutes
    Language: English 
    Decoding Annie Parker tells the true story of two very different women on seemingly similar paths towards ground-breaking discoveries.  Annie Parker a cancer survivor who was convinced that her illness and the illness of all the women in her family were connected and Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist, who bucked the conventional wisdom about cancer research and discovered the genetic link in breast cancer and the BRCA1 gene.

    Farah Goes Bang
    Director: Meera Menon
    Run Time: 90 minutes
    Language: English
    Awkward twenty-something Farah Mahtab hits the road with her buddies K.J. and Roopa to stump for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, hoping the trip will also be her opportunity to lose her virginity. Crisscrossing the culturally divided nation at this decisive post-9/11 moment, these multicultural girls find themselves and their politics unwelcome in many parts of the country. They take inspiration from their friendship and press on in their campaign, even as Farah’s efforts on both political and sexual fronts are continuously thwarted. 

    Filly Brown
    Directors: Youssef Delara & Michael D. Olmos
    Run Time: 80 minutes
    Language: English/Spanish
    Filly Brown is an inspiring portrait of a young artist striving to seize her dreams without compromise.  Majo Tonorio, aka, “Filly Brown” is a young, raw hip-hop artist from Los Angeles who spits rhymes from the heart. With a mother in prison and a father struggling to provide for his daughters, Majo knows that a record contract could be her family’s ticket out. But when a record producer offers her a shot at stardom, she is suddenly faced with the prospect of losing who she is as an artist, as well as the friends who helped her reach the cusp of success. 

    The Hot Flashes
    Director: Susan Seidelman
    Run Time: 99 minutes
    Language: English
    An unlikely basketball team of unappreciated middle-aged Texas women, all former high school basketball champions, challenge the current high school state champs to a series of games to raise money for breast cancer prevention. Sparks fly as these marginalized women go to comic extremes to prove themselves on and off the court, and in the process, become a national media sensation.

    In A World…
    Director: Lake Bell
    Run Time: 93 minutes
    Language: English
    Carol Solomon is a struggling vocal coach. Propelled by the hubris of her father, Sam Sotto, the reigning king of movie-trailer voice-over artists, Carol musters the courage to pursue her secret aspiration to be a voice-over star. After landing her first voice-over gig, nabbing the job from industry bad boy Gustav Warner, the real trouble begins as Carol becomes entangled in a web of dysfunction, sexism, unmitigated ego, and pride. In A World. . . brings its viewer into an idiosyncratic world where one woman fights the odds and finally finds her voice. 

    Reaching For The Moon
    Director: Bruno Barreto
    Run Time: 118 minutes
    Language: English & Portuguese
    Based on a true story, Pulitzer Prize winning-poet Elizabeth Bishop travels to Brazil and encounters the beguiling architect Lota de Macedo Soares. Initial hostilities make way for a complicated yet long-lasting love affair that dramatically alters Bishop’s relationship to the world around her.

    Short Term 12
    Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
    Run Time: 96 minutes
    Language: English
    Short Term 12 is told through the eyes of Grace, a twenty-something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge. But her own difficult past — and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself — throws her life into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new arrival at the facility: a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection. 

    Tall as the Baobab Tree
    Director: Jeremy Teicher
    Run Time: 82 minutes
    Language: Pulaar, French
    Tall as the Baobab Tree poignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing on the edge of the modern world. Coumba and her little sister Debo are the first to leave their family’s remote African village, where meals are prepared over open fires and water is drawn from wells, to attend school in the bustling city. But when an accident suddenly threatens their family’s survival, their father decides to sell 11-year-old Debo into an arranged marriage. Torn between loyalty to her family and her dreams for her and her sister’s future, Coumba hatches a secret plan to rescue her younger sister from a future she did not choose.

    DOCUMENTARIES

    The 99ers
    Director: Erin Leyden
    Run Time: 50 minutes
    Language: English
    The U.S. women’s soccer team’s thrilling penalty-kick shootout victory against China that won the 1999 World Cup turned the world of women’s sports upside down.  Using candid footage shot by the players throughout the tournament, The 99ers presents a unique portrait of the team that irrevocably changed women’s athletics. 

    Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth
    Director: Pratibha Parmar
    Run Time: 81 minutes
    Language: English
    Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth offers a penetrating look at the life and art of the celebrated writer, a self-confessed renegade, and human rights activist. It is a compelling story of an extraordinary woman’s journey from her birth in a paper-thin shack in the cotton fields of Putnam County, Georgia to her recognition as an award-winning writer.  Walker’s inspiring journey is also a story of a country and a people at the fault line of historical change.

    American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
    (Sponsored by Whitewater Films)
    Director: Grace Lee
    Run Time: 82 minutes
    Language: English
    Grace Lee Boggs (BC ’35) is a 98-year-old Chinese American woman living in Detroit. A writer, activist, and philosopher rooted for more than 70 years in the civil rights movement, she has devoted her life to an evolving revolution that encompasses the contradictions of America’s past and its potentially radical future.

    Eufrosina’s Revolution
    Director: Luciana Kaplan
    Run Time: 96 minutes
    Language: Spanish
    From an indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico,  Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza is denied the right to become president of her community, because she is a woman. Eufrosina’s Revolution follows her fight for gender equality as she questions traditions and defies the chiefs.  

    Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way – Closing Film
    Director: Donna Zaccaro
    Run Time: 86 minutes
    Language: English
    Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way tells the story of this extraordinary trailblazer who is a role model for both women and men around the world. Filmmaker Donna Zaccaro creates a moving, powerful and oftentimes surprising portrait of her mother, whose run for Vice President changed the face of American politics forever.

    Maidentrip
    Director: Jillian Schlesinger
    Run Time: 82 minutes
    Language: English, Dutch with subtitles
    15-year-old Laura Dekker sets out — camera in hand — in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person  to sail around the world alone. In the wake of a year-long battle with Dutch authorities that sparked a global storm of media scrutiny, Laura finds herself far from land, family and unwanted attention, in search of freedom, adventure, and distant dreams.

    Miss You Can Do It
    (In partnership with The Loreen Arbus Foundation)
    Director: Ron Davis
    Run Time: 80 minutes
    Language: English
    One weekend a year, the Illinois town of Kewanee turns into a place of celebration and delight, as the annual Miss You Can Do It pageant spotlights young girls with disabilities from around the country. The first Miss USA contestant to compete with a disability, Abbey Curran started the pageant in 2004 to offer girls the opportunity to be celebrated for their inner beauty and spirit.

    The Other Shore
    Director: Timothy Wheeler
    Run Time: 100 minutes
    Language: English
    Follow world record holder and legendary swimmer Diana Nyad, as she comes out of a thirty-year retirement to re-attempt an elusive dream: swimming 103 miles non-stop from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage.  Tropical storms, sharks, venomous jellyfish, and one of the strongest ocean currents in the world, all prove to be life-threatening realities in this epic journey.

    Rebel
    Director: Maria Agui Carter
    Run Time: 75 minutes
    Language: English
    Shrouded in mystery and long the subject of debate, the amazing story of Loreta Velazquez, Confederate soldier turned Union spy, is one of the Civil War’s most gripping, yet forgotten narratives. Who was she?  Why did she fight?  And what made her so dangerous that she has been virtually erased from history?

    Regina
    Director: Diana Groo
    Run Time: 64 minutes
    Language: Hungarian/English
    Diana Groo’s poetic documentary tells the story of Regina Jonas (1902-1944), the first properly ordained female rabbi in the world. The daughter of an Orthodox Jewish peddler, she was ordained in 1935. Jonas’ sermons and unparalleled dedication brought encouragement to the persecuted German Jews during the Nazi era. She was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. Narrated by Rachel Weisz.

    Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
    (Sponsored by the Harnisch Foundation)
    Director: Whoopi Goldberg
    Run Time: 71 minutes
    Language: English
    Breaking racial and gender stereotypes, the African-American stand-up comedienne Jackie “Moms” Mabley has long been an icon in the comedy world. Once billed as “the funniest woman in the world,” she performed on stage and in television and film until her death in 1975. The film explores Mabley’s legacy through recently unearthed photography and rediscovered performance footage.

    SHORTS

    #SlutWalkNYC
    Director: Therese Shechter
    Run Time: 5 minutes
    Language: English
    The 2011 SlutWalk march was one of the most unique feminist actions in New York history — one piece of a grassroots global movement that is both empowering and controversial.

    30% (Women and Politics in Sierra Leone)
    Director: Anna Cady
    Director of Animation: Em Cooper
    Run Time: 11 minutes
    Language: English
    Amid a violent war that has seen over 50,000 people killed, three women wage a battle for women’s representation in Sierra Leone  in this unique oil-painted animated film. From diverse religious, ethnic and political backgrounds, they share stories of secret societies, corruption, violence and sexual harassment within the world of politics.

    A Kiss For Gabriela
    Director: Laura Murray
    Run Time: 29 minutes
    Language: Portuguese with English subtitles
    This film tells the compelling story of Gabriela Leite, the first sex worker to run for Congress in Brazil as she faces 822 opponents and challenges a male dominated political system. Can a sex worker, activist, and cultural icon beat the odds and win the election? 

    Assembly
    Director: Jenn Strom
    Run Time: 5 minutes
    Language: English
    Created by painting and drawing on sheets of glass, which were photographed and digitally composed, this film’s experimental animations contain fragments of archival footage: women walking in chains, protesting with placards, speaking at podiums. We hear bursts of words and a percussive hum — until a message is finally revealed.

    Frost
    Director: Jeremy Ball
    Run Time: 14 minutes
    Language: English
    A young arctic hunter embarks on a perilous search for food for her family. Crossing the sacred boundary of her people’s ancestral hunting grounds, she discovers an incomprehensible world and a dangerous predator that challenges her ability to survive. 

    Haleema
    Director: Boris Schaarschmidt
    Run Time: 17 minutes
    Language: Arabic with English subtitles
    In the blistering desert of Sudan, a pregnant mother and her two young children search for water and safety from the ruthless Janjaweed militia. When her brother is too weak to continue, Haleema is sent alone to find water. A dangerous journey full of hope and despair ensues.

    Invisible Bicycle Helmet
    Director: Fredrik Gertten
    Run Time: 4 minutes
    Language: Swedish
    Two female entrepreneurs create a revolutionary bicycle helmet everyone told them would be impossible to engineer.

    Laal Pari (The Red Fairy)
    Director: Sadia Halima
    Run Time: 20 minutes
    Language: Hindi/Bhojpuri with English subtitles
    When Laal Pari, an illiterate woman, ran for the village council in Bihar, India, she never dreamed she would be re-elected for a second term, and be able to work for the cause closest to her heart — safety and equal rights for women in her village.

    Miss Todd
    Director: Kristina Yee
    Run Time: 13 minutes
    Language: English
    It’s 1909, as the world is waking to the possibilities of flight, Miss Todd dreams of flying but she’s got more than gravity holding her down. This is the story of her determination, perseverance, and passion.

    Out of Step
    Director: Lynn Estomin
    Run Time: 6 minutes
    Language: English
    Featuring four female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are dealing with PTSD and the aftermath of war, these dance solos and music highlight the women’s unique voices.

    The Red Pill
    Director: Lucy Walker
    Run Time: 15 minutes
    Language: English
    Paralympian Anjali Forber-Pratt was adopted from India as an infant and became paralyzed shortly after arriving in the US. Despite daunting obstacles, Anjali is now a PhD student and world record holder in 200m wheelchair racing.

    Tina For President
    Director: Carmen Emmi
    Run Time: 14 minutes
    Language: English
    A shy 8th grader, Tina runs for class president against the school bully in order to stand up for her friend and herself.

    Wild Horses
    Director: Stephanie Martin
    Run Time: 20 minutes
    Language: English
    Cruelty, courage, love and memory collide as two generations of women bear witness to the brutality common to wild horse roundups in the American West. 

    The Worlds of Bernice Bing
    Director: Madeleine Lim
    Run Time: 34 minutes
    Language: English
    Chinese American lesbian artist Bernice Bing is known for creating art on her own terms. The film illuminates her life — from her art studio in the epicenter of San Francisco’s beat scene to her groundbreaking community work in rural northern California.

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  • Pan Nalin Documentary FAITH CONNECTIONS Set for U.S. Release; VIDEO – Watch a Clip

    Pan Nalin’s feature documentary FAITH CONNECTIONS

    Pan Nalin’s feature documentary FAITH CONNECTIONS which had its World Premiere at the 2014 Toronto FIlm Festival, and the U.S. Premiere scheduled for this week at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, will be released in the U.S. by Kino Lorber. In Faith Connections, filmmaker Pan Nalin travels to Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s most extraordinary religious events. There, he encounters remarkable men of mind and meditation, some facing an inextricable dilemma; to embrace the world or to renounce it. FAITH CONNECTIONS explores such diverse and deeply moving stories as a young runaway kid, a Sadhu, a mother desperately looking for her lost son, a yogi who is raising an abandoned baby, and an ascetic who keeps his calm by smoking cannabis – all connected by one faith against the spectacular display of devotion.

    Pan Nalin’s feature documentary FAITH CONNECTIONS

    A spectacular exploration of varied paths of devotion that converge at one of the world’s most extraordinary religious events — the Kumbh Mela — Pan Nalin’s thoughtful documentary is a genuinely spiritual journey.Precious few films bring genuine curiosity and reverence to the subject of spirituality. Fewer still approach the subject with anything like the diligence of Faith Connections, a spectacular, openhearted documentary that explores the frontiers of devotion.

    Kumbh Mela is a sprawling religious event that occurs once every three years at one of four rotating locations. It is the world’s largest gathering, a destination for some 100 million Hindu pilgrims. Indian director Pan Nalin visited Kumbh Mela and found within that impossible throng of travellers the stories that make up Faith Connections. Nalin’s many subjects include naked holy men, taciturn policemen, desperate pilgrims in search of missing family members, a yogi ascetic who took it upon himself to raise an abandoned baby, and another who explains the usefulness of pot-smoking as a method of renouncing the world. But no single subject is more compelling — and heart-rending — than nine-year-old Kishan Tiwari, a tobacco chewing runaway who sometimes half jokingly claims he wants to grow up to be a Mafia Don. In more serious moments, Kishan says his real ambition is to be a sadhu, or wandering monk.

    Nalin complements his collection of personal narratives with images rife with mystery and beauty: portraits of hands and faces, vistas of busy footbridges receding into the hazy distance, and bodies performing seemingly impossible contortions. Faith Connections gives us glimpses of lives lived in pursuit of closer proximity to God — and each of those glimpses is itself a startling vision to behold.  [ via Toronto International Film Festival ]

    http://youtu.be/eGKOLvyPl1U

    via Screen Daily

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  • 10 Films to Compete for The Big Screen Award at 43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam

    JACKY IN WOMEN'S KINGDOM – Riad SattoufJACKY IN WOMEN’S KINGDOM – Riad Sattouf

    The 43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) which runs 22 January to 2 February 2014, unveiled the ten nominees in The Big Screen Award Competition. In The Big Screen Award Competition, ten fresh discoveries from the festival’s main sections Spectrum and Bright Future compete for two prizes.

    ANOTHER YEAR – Oxana Bychkova
    He’s an unemployed guy who earns some money by giving lifts to strangers. She’s a graphic designer who just got her first job. The film tracks their relationship – and the way it gradually melts away – throughout a year. A subtle, moving portrait of an immature love that breaks down easily.

    THE DISTANCE – Sergio Caballero 
    A performance artist is being held in a deserted Siberian power station following the unexpected death of his oligarch patron. Dryly comic surrealism (with an attractive soundtrack and three telepathic dwarves) from Tiger Award winner Caballero.

    IT’S US – Nick Reding
    Convincing proof that an educational, political film made in Africa (Kenya) can also be good fun. Even comical. A nonchalant mix of film and theatre, inspired by the election riots of 2007: on mistrust in a fragile community. 

    JACKY IN WOMEN’S KINGDOM – Riad Sattouf
    In the Kingdom of the ‘Bubunnes’, women are in power while men wear veils and do domestic tasks. Jacky, a lovely young man who dreams of marrying the colonel (Charlotte Gainsbourg) has to struggle like a Cinderella to realize his dreams. Delightful satire on gender, power and veggies.

    THE MILITANT – Manolo Nieto 
    Endearing second film from Uruguayan Tiger Award winner Nieto. During a strike at the university, Ariel (uniquely played by Felipe Dieste) hears that his father has died. He is forced to return to the provinces to put financial affairs at his father’s ranch in order. 

    OBVIOUS CHILD – Gillian Robespierre
    Stand-up comedian Donna is dumped by her cheating boyfriend, loses her job, gets blind drunk and becomes pregnant from a one-night stand. She considers an abortion, and then gets to know the father. Romance, quirky humour and irresistible characters.

    R100 – Matsumoto Hitoshi 
    Games can be dangerous. Director Matsumoto (Dainipponjin/Symbol) has certainly proven he can go further with Japanese absurdism, but can he stay unflappable when the game gets out of control? Find out that SM involves more than latex and whips. 

    REIMON – Rodrigo Moreno
    Her days consist of commuting and cleaning all over Buenos Aires. While Reimon vacuums, her wealthy clients read to each other, fascinated, from Marx’s Capital. The latest film from the maker of The Minder is sober and socially committed. 

    SEE NO EVIL – Jos de Putter
    Poetic, painful documentary about three retired apes: a film star, a scientist and a cripple. They look back at their lives and the intriguing relationship between humans and apes. Who watches whom, and who learns from this?

    TO KILL A MAN – Alejandro Fernández Almendras 
    In their poor neighbourhood, hardworking, well-intentioned Jorge and his family are terrorised by local criminal Kalule’s clan. Exciting, disturbing film confronts viewers with universal questions of vigilantism and the value of a life. 

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  • Slamdance Film Festival Announces 2014 Jury

    slamdance film festival

    The Slamdance Film Festival, which will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, January 17 to 23, 2014 in Park City, Utah, announced their Jury members for the 20th Anniversary. The jury will determine the Slamdance Grand Jury Awards for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Short Film categories. These awards will be presented on January 23rd during the Awards Ceremony.

    JURORS FOR THE 2014 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL:

    Tom Hall is the Director of The Sarasota Film Festival in Sarasota, FL. Previously, Hall held the position of Artistic Director and Director of Programming at the Sarasota Film Festival (2005 – 2010) and Programming Director at newportFILM in Newport, RI (2009-present). In addition, Hall was Programmer for The Nantucket Film Festival in Nantucket, MA (2002-2005), as well as a former Director of New Media for Bravo/The Independent Film Channel (1997-2000). He has also worked in the Industry and Guest Services Offices at The Hamptons International Film Festival (2002-2003). In January of 2010, Tom was named one of Spring Board Media’s 20 under 40 in Film. Tom has directed short films for Bob Mould’s Carnival of Light and Sound Tour and was an inaugural member of the indieWIRE blogging community with his blog, The Back Row Manifesto, which is now a standalone website. A graduate of the University of Michigan (’94), Hall resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two sons.

    Matt Harrison’s feature film Kicked In The Head was Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese, released theatrically by Universal and premiered as an official selection at Cannes. His network and cable television directing credits include Sex And The City for HBO. Matt’s feature film Rhythm Thief won a Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He recently completed his new comedy My Little Hollywood and is now preparing his sixth feature film. The production division of Harrison’s company Film Crash produced the feature film Big Heart City starring Seymour Cassel (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) and Shawn Andrews (Dazed And Confused). Matt currently teaches film at UCLA Extension and has taught graduate film at CalArts. He has lectured at New York University Tisch, AFI, São Paulo School of Film in Brazil, Syracuse University, and The New School For Social Research.

    Katie Mustard has overseen the production of 32 feature films, 20 short films, three feature documentaries, and dozens of commercials. In 2013, Katie produced the documentary The Console Wars, and the narrative features We’ll Never Have Paris by Simon Helberg; Paul Bettany’s directorial debut Shelter, andThe World Made Straight. Katie has her ninth film premiere at Sundance this year with Appropriate Behavior. Other Sundance premieres include Restless City, The Missing Person, The Greatest, Special, The Son of No One, and Night Catches Uswhich went onto be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Katie also produced Made In China (winner Best Feature at SXSW Film Festival 2009), Natalie Portman’s short film Eve, A Case of You, and In The Morning, which screened at over 50 film festivals and before the US Congress on Human Rights.

    Tim League is the Alamo Drafthouse CEO and Founder. League graduated from Rice University in 1992 with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Art/Art History. After a two-year stint at Shell Oil, Tim left engineering to enter the theater business. In 1997, Tim and his wife Karrie founded the Alamo Drafthouse where Tim remains CEO today. League also co-founded Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the United States, and recently launched Drafthouse Films, a distribution label committed to releasing provocative, visionary, and artfully unusual films from around the world. The Alamo is expanding nationwide to New York, San Francisco, and Dallas, with many more locations on the horizon.

    Herb Stratford is the Programming Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. He also serves as a film critic in Tucson, Arizona with a weekly presence in print, on radio, and on television. Additionally, he is a Criticwire critic on IndieWire and a freelance writer and artist. Prior to all this, he restored a 1,200-seat 1929 art deco movie palace in Tucson – The Fox Tucson Theatre. He lives in Tucson, Arizona and Napa, CA when not in Park City.

    Monteith McCollum is an inter-media artist working in film, sound, and sculpture.  His films have screened at festivals and museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, Hirshhorn, Wexner Center for the Arts, and various festivals, including SXSW, Slamdance, Hot Docs, and Amsterdam & Osnabruck European Media Arts Festival. His films have garnered dozens of festival awards, including an IFP Truer Than Fiction Spirit Award. His first feature Hybridpremiered at Slamdance in 2001 and was broadcast on PBS’s series P.O.V. and ARTE France. His short Lawn also aired on P.O.V as well, and received top prizes at the Los Angeles Film Festival among others. His recent feature A Different Pathpremiered at South by Southwest in 2010 and was an International Documentary Association Nominee for the Pare Lorentz Award.

    Andrew Edison (Writer/Actor/Director) is a young Austin-based filmmaker. His first feature, Bindlestiffs won the Audience Award at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival and went on to be picked up by Kevin Smith as the first acquisition under his Smodcast distribution label. You can check out the film on Netflix Instant Watch, iTunes, and Amazon. Edison is currently working on his sophomore effort, as well as developing studio comedies. He lives in the Slackerwood Hills with his French bulldog, Pee Wee. 

    David Greenspan is an editor and director for ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. David has a BA from Harvard and an MFA from the University of Southern California. His USC graduate film, Bean Cake, won the 2001 Cannes Palme d’Or for shorts. His featureMall Cop premiered at Slamdance 2005 and will be released this March.
     
    Lise Raven is a Writer/Director/Producer. Raven’s first feature film, Low, was one of the founding Slamdance Film Festival films, after which she wrote and directed three films for the Showtime Cable network. In 2000, Raven moved to Berlin, Germany after being awarded the DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm Artist Residency in Film. Raven’s feature film project Snipe received development funding from the Irish Film Board. Lise was selected to develop Snipe at the prestigious Moonstone Director’s Lab in Drymen, Scotland. Raven is also an Assistant Professor at Drexel University Department of Cinema and Television. Raven’s feature film Kinderwald is playing out of competition as the Closing Night Film of the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.
     
    Jacques Thelemaque is a writer-director, who, in 1993, co-founded Filmmakers Alliance, and in 2004, FA Productions, of which he is co-president. He is the former Chief Community Officer at Withoutabox.com. Jacques has written and directed numerous short films, including Transaction, which played at the Sundance Film Festival, and won the Grand Prix du Jury Award in the Labo Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. Thelemaque wrote, directed and produced the feature film The Dogwalker, as well as producing five other feature films. He has been a juror, guest lecturer, or invited speaker for many film schools, film festivals, film organizations, workshops, and other film-related events. He has been a programming associate for the Los Angeles Film Festival since 2011.

    Kendall Shanks (formally Kendall Music) is a self-taught artist and filmmaker out of Chapel Hill, NC. Kendall specializes in art and set design. In 2012, Kendall created the characters for the stop motion film Wiggle Room. Wiggle Room would go on to win the 42nd annual USA Film Festival and be one of 56 animated shorts films in contention for an Oscar nomination in 2012. She currently is the production designer for the Shanks FX web series and is in-charge of developing the content for each episode. “If you’re making an experimental film, the Shanks FX series is essentially the bible.” NoFilmSchool (Nov 2013).

    Joey Shanks had his short film Sci-Fly screen at Slamdance in 2013, where he also proposed to his now wife Kendall Shanks during the Q&A’s at their last screening. Shanks is a filmmaker who optimizes the DIY approach to making movies. His web series Shanks FX is produced by PBS Digital Studios and gives an in-depth look at how his signature visual effects are achieved. Shanks FX has been featured by IndieWire, NoFilmSchool, USA Today, Colossal, Gizmodo, Geek Magazine, and has received two Vimeo Staff picks.

    Skizz Cyzyk has held positions at MicroCineFest, Maryland Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, and has served on juries and advisory boards at many other festivals. This is his 18th year as a Slamdance projectionist, 11th year on the Slamdance advisory board, and 7th non-consecutive year on the Slamdance jury. A filmmaker since 1983, his films include Hit & Stay, Freaks In Love, Little Castles, Managers Corner, and music videos for Beach House and Young Fresh Fellows. He also performs music with Go Pills, The Jennifers, Garage Sale, Half Japanese, and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.

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  • Santa Barbara International Film Festival Unveils 2014 Film Lineup; Fest to Open with World Premiere of MISSION BLUE

    2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

    The 29th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), taking place Thursday, January 30 through Sunday, February 9, 2014, announced its line-up for 2014. SBIFF 2014 will kick off at the historic Arlington Theatre with the World Premiere of MISSION BLUE, directed by Robert Nixon and Fisher Stevens. On Closing Night, SBIFF will present the critically acclaimed BEFORE TRILOGY: BEFORE SUNRISE, BEFORE SUNSET and BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

    OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT GALAS

    In MISSION BLUE, directed by Robert Nixon and Fisher Stevens, Legendary oceanographer Sylvia Earle is on a personal mission to save the Ocean. Shot over a three-year period in numerous locations around the world, Mission Blue traces Sylvia’s remarkable personal journey, from her earliest memories exploring the Ocean as a young girl, to her days leading a daring undersea mission in the Virgin Islands to her experience as the chief scientist at NOAA and beyond. The film is part oceanic road trip; part biography; part action adventure story. Guiding us through the film is Fisher Stevens, whose own lifelong passion for the Ocean inspired him to produce the Academy award winning film, The Cove. In many ways, Mission Blue is an extension of that earlier film. But rather than explore a single issue, Mission Blue tackles the daunting challenge of how to protect a once vibrant system that is now under attack like never before. As a witness to change over the past 60 years, Sylvia is a steadfast warrior, leading the charge to restore it to health before it’s too late. The film also features James Cameron and the late Mike deGruy. 

    On Closing Night, SBIFF proudly presents the critically acclaimed Before Trilogy: BEFORE SUNRISE, BEFORE SUNSET and BEFORE MIDNIGHT. The first two films will screen back-to-back at the Lobero Theatre in the afternoon. After a short break, Before Midnight will close the fest at the Arlington Theatre and will include an in-depth Conversation moderated by IndieWIRE’s Anne Thompson with co-screenwriters Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater, who also directed the film. The Before trilogy has been a critical darling since Before Sunrise was released in 1995. The film, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, portrayed a young couple meeting for the first time on a train who decide to spend the whole day together in Vienna with the chance of never seeing one another again. The sequel, Before Sunset, was released nine years later in 2004, with Hawke’s Jesse and Delpy’s Celine meeting each other again by chance in Paris. The beloved characters were most recently together in this year’s Before Midnight, where we find Jesse and Celine nine years later into their relationship and vacationing in Greece. 

    WORLD PREMIERES

    A Life Outside, USA
    Directed by Catherine Brabec
    Featuring: Greg Mesanko, Chris Mesanko, Kevin Casey, Jim Purpuri, Richard Luthringer, and Bucky Walters
    A documentary following the six surfers who pioneered the 1960’s surf break at the New Jersey Casino Pier.

    A Year in Champagne, USA
    Directed by David Kennard
    A detailed portrait of winemakers and their families reveals some of the most intimate secrets behind creating the legendary bubbly beverage.

    Barefoot, USA
    Directed by Andrew Fleming
    Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Scott Speedman, Brittany Alger
    An upper-class, hard-luck gambler invites a shoeless eccentric to his brother’s lavish southern style wedding to prove he’s changed his ways.

    BFFs, USA
    Directed by Andrew Putschoegl
    Cast: Andrea Grano, Tara Karsian
    Looking for a few days of vacation and amusement, two best friends pretend to be lovers while attending a couple’s weekend workshop.

    Bottled Up: The Battle Over Dublin Dr. Pepper, USA
    Directed by Drew Rist
    This documentary details the events and history leading up to the demise of Dublin Dr. Pepper, as well as the public outcry that continues to this day.

    Chu and Blossom, USA
    Directed by Charles Chu, Gavin Kelly
    Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Caitlin Stasey, Alan Cumming
    A coming of age comedy centers on an unlikely brotherhood between a pensive, 6-foot-8 Korean exchange student, and a performance artist, both trapped together in small Southern town.

    Driven, USA
    Directed by Ben Pitterie, Brian Hall
    Explore the fascinating and obscure world of marathon swimming as three swimmers put everything on the line chasing a dream to swim up to 20 miles across the Santa Barbara Channel.

    Falcon Song, USA
    Directed by Jason Brown
    Cast: Gabriel Sunday, James Storm, Martin Kove, Rainey Qualley
    A whimsical portrait of a guitar-playing drifter who helps a rancher’s granddaughter find her true calling

    Gurukulam, Canada/USA
    Directed by Jillian Elizabeth & Neil Dalal
    A group of students and their teacher confront fundamental questions about the nature of reality and self-identity at a remote forest ashram in southern India.

    Invitation to Dance, USA
    Directed by Simi Linton and Christian von Tippelskirch
    An activist, an avant-garde of disabled dancers, and a quest: equality, justice, and a place on the dance floor.

    The Last One, USA
    Directed by Nadine C. Licostie
    This feature-length documentary traces the history of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and the role it continues to play as a response to the disease itself.

    Lutah Maria Riggs, USA
    Directed by Kum-Kum Bhavnani
    A documentary about Lutah Maria Riggs, an American architect who worked for several decades in the Southern California region

    Menthol, USA
    Directed by Micah Van Hove
    Cast: Jacob King, James Wilson, Johnny Wactor, Luke Eberl
    When four friends reunite for a night of fun in their hometown, a crisis forces them to confront the consequences of their lifestyles.

    Mission Blue, USA
    Directed by Robert Nixon and Fisher Stevens
    Cast: Sylvia Earle, James Cameron, Mike deGruy,
    Legendary oceanographer and TED prize winner Dr. Sylvia Earle is on a mission to save our oceans. The documentary Mission Blue is the story of Sylvia’s life as witness to the changes to the sea that threaten our planet, and how we still have a chance to repair much of the damage – if we act now.

    Mount Joy, USA
    Directed by Jack Lewars
    Cast: Katie Hyde, Jay Della Valle, Brandon Harris and Timothy Hoobler
    A lead singer places his band’s national bar tour on hold until he gets answers from the girl who broke his heart, but soon discovers she harbors a secret that could change everything.

    Night Has Settled, USA
    Directed by Steve Clark
    Cast: Spencer List, Pilar López de Ayala, Adriana Barraza
    In 1983 New York City, a thirteen-year-old boy well-poised to enter the precocious teenage world of sex, vodka, and the possibilities of love, is traumatized by an encounter with his housekeeper.

    Noble, United Kingdom
    Directed by Stephen Bradley
    Cast: Dierdre O’Kane, Sarah Greene, Brendan Coyle, Liam Cunningham, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Ruth Negga
    In 1989 Vietnam, a funny, feisty and courageous woman overcomes the difficulties of her childhood in Ireland to discover her destiny on the streets of Saigon.

    Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo, USA
    Directed by Matt Livadary
    Roping and riding and busting stereotypes, the dauntless members of the International Gay Rodeo Association face constant obstacles in their quest to qualify for the World Gay Rodeo Finals.

    Roaming Wild, USA
    Directed by Sylvia Johnson
    Featuring: Samantha Layne (voice)
    An activist, a cowboy and a mountain man search for solutions to protect life and land in this modern day Western about America’s wild horses and the federal government’s controversial roundups.

    Sam, Switzerland
    Directed by Elena Hazanov
    Cast: Frédéric Landenberg, Sacha Guerreiro, Séverine Bujard, Anna Pieri
    After living with his mother since his parents’ divorce, seven-year-old Sam is forced to move in with his father, a struggling writer with no source of inspiration.

    The Village of Peace, Israel/USA
    Directed by Nicholas Philipides, Ben Schuder
    The stories of four African Hebrew Israelites illuminate a community whose daily lifestyle includes polygamy, health, nutrition, education and spiritual enlightenment.

    Warren, USA
    Directed by Alex Beh
    Cast: John Heard, Jean Smart, Austin Stowell, Sarah Habel, Joe Nunez
    After giving up on making it in the Chicago improv scene, a young comedian fatefully reconnects with the former love of his life one fall night while working at a coffee shop in his hometown.

    U.S. PREMIERES

    African Metropolis, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya
    A complication of short films directed by Jim Chuchu, Ahmed Ghoneimy, Folasakin Iwajomo, Marie KA, Philippe Lacôte, Vincent Moloi
    A compilation of six short fiction films, set in six major African cities.

    A la Bizkaina, Spain
    Directed by Aritz Galarza
    The mystery of the sauce carrying the name of Bizkaia gives us a hint of its origin and ingredients.

    Adria Blues, Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia/Herzegovina
    Directed by Miroslav Mandič
    Cast: Senad Bašić, Mojca Funkl, Peter Musevski
    Paralyzed by depression, an aging former rock star from Bosnia is pushed by his wife to reengage with life.

    Algunas Chicas, Argentina
    Directed by Santiago Palavecino
    Cast: Cecilia Rainero, Agostina López, Agustina Muñoz
    A woman traveling to a friend’s house to escape her marital crisis is soon consumed by the secrets of those around her.

    The Amazing Catfish, Mexico
    Directed by Claudia Sainte-Luce
    Cast: Ximena Ayala, Lisa Owen, Sonia Franco, Wendy Guillén
    A lonely young woman becomes a live-in caregiver for an ailing but indomitable matriarch and her brood of kids.

    Bauyr (Little Brother), Kazakhstan
    Directed by Serik Aprymov
    Cast: Almat Galym, Alisher Aprymov, Murat Omarov, Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev
    A nine year old living on his own is revisited by his brother, and believes his life will change with his arrival.

    Bella Vita, USA/Italy
    Directed by Jason Baffa
    Cast: Chris Del Moro, Dave Rastovich, Lauren Lyndsey Hill, Conner Coffin, Parker Coffin
    The surf of the Italian coast carries surfer, artist, and environmentalist Chris Del Moro on a pilgrimage back to his ancestral homeland of Italy.

    Cannibal (Caníbal), Spain/Romania/Russia/France
    Directed by Manuel Martín Cuenca
    Cast: Antonio de la Torre, Olimpia Melinte
    A mild-mannered tailor, who is a secret cannibal, unexpectedly finds himself falling in love with his latest prospective victim.

    César’s Grill, Ecuador/Germany/Switzerland
    Directed by Dario Aguirre
    Cast: Dario Aguirre, César Aguirre
    German resident, filmmaker, and vegetarian, Dario Aguirre is called home to Ecuador to help save his meat-loving father’s grill from bankruptcy.

    Clownwise, Czech Republic/Luxembourg/Finland
    Directed by Viktor Taus
    Cast: Julie Ferrier, Kati Outinen, Didier Flamand
    After thirty years of separation, three clowns reunite to restage the famous act that launched their careers — while also attempting to forgive one another for the fight that tore them apart.

    Do You Believe in Love?, Israel
    Directed by Dani Wasserman
    Tova, a unique matchmaker with muscular dystrophy, tirelessly strives to find love for everyone around her.

    Found & Lost, China
    Directed by Xiao Wei Zhu
    Cast: Guo Zhu Zhang, Yu Meng Jia
    Chronicles the pilgrimage of an orphaned woman in China between 1949 to 1984.

    The Gambler (Losejas), Lithuania/Latvia
    Directed by Ignas Jonynas
    Cast: Vytautas Kaniusonis, Oona Mekas, Rimas Blockis
    A paramedic, passionate about gambling, is struck by an idea to create an illegal game related to his profession.

    God’s Slave (Esclavo de Dios), Uruguay/Venezuela/Argentina
    Directed by Joel Novoa
    Cast: Mohammed Alkhaldi, Daniela Alvarado, Devorah Lynne Dishington
    Inspired by true events, this is the story of two extremists, one Islamic and the other Jewish, who cross paths while on opposing sides of the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA bombings.

    Eastern Boys, France
    Directed by Robin Campillo
    Cast: Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov, Daniil Vorobyov
    A middle-aged Frenchman solicits a young foreigner and finds himself entangled with a group of young Eastern European hustlers.

    If I Close My Eyes I’m Not Here (Se chiudo gli occhi non sono più qui), Italy
    Directed by Vittorio Moroni
    Cast: Mark Manaloto, Elena Arvigo, Beppe Fiorello, Giorgio Colangeli
    A teenage boy, tormented into a submissive life, is visited and mentored by a mysterious old friend of his deceased father.

    The Japanese Dog, Romania
    Directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
    Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Serban Pavlu, Laurentiu Lazar, Kana Hashimoto, Toma Hashimoto
    When a flood kills his wife and destroys his house, a man attempts to reconnect with his son who arrives from Japan with his wife and child.

    Metalhead, Iceland
    Directed by Ragnar Bragason
    Cast: Þorbjörg Helga Þorgilsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir
    A grief-stricken young woman adopts the persona and decibel-blasting predilections of her deceased brother

    October November (Oktober November), Austria
    Directed by Götz Spielmann
    Cast: Nora von Waldstätten, Ursula Strauss, Peter Simonischek, Sebastian Koch, Johannes Zeiler, Andreas Ressl
    A family reunion at a mountainside inn lays bare old wounds and reveals long-held secrets.

    The Old, the Young and the Sea, Austria/Spain
    Directed by Mario Hainzl
    A documentary portrait about the incredible individuals who inhabit, surf, travel and protect the European shores.

    One Way Ticket to the Moon (Bilet na księżyc), Poland
    Directed by Jacek Bromski
    Cast: Anna Przybylska, Filip Pawlak, Mateusz Kościukiewicz
    Two brothers travel across Poland, a adventure sparked by the older to prepare his younger brother to serve in the Polish army.

    Paulette, France
    Directed by Jérôme Enrico
    Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Carmen Maura, Dominique Lavanant
    Paulette lives alone in a housing project in the Paris suburbs. With her meager pension, she can no longer make ends meet and becomes and resorts to selling drugs.

    Revival, Czech Republic
    Directed by Alice Nellis
    Cast: Bolek Polivka, Miroslav Krobot, Karel Hermanek, Marian Geisberg, Zuzana Budovska
    Forty years after separating, four friends decide to reunite their rock band through a revival that takes an unexpected turn.

    Saudade, Uruguay
    Directed by Juan Carlos Donoso Gomez
    Cast: Francisco Baquerizo Racines, Jessica Barahona de Prada, Joaquin Davila Romoleroux
    Set amidst the backdrop of the Ecuadorian economic crisis of 1999, ‘Saudade’ tackles notions of economic dislocation, friendship, family and young love.

    Shadow in Baghdad, Israel
    Directed by Duki Dror
    Featuring: Linda Abdul Aziz
    A young journalist from Baghdad connects with a Jewish woman who escaped to Iraq to discover what happened to her missing father.

    Solo, Venezuela
    Directed by José Ramón Novoa
    Cast: Samantha Dagnino, Laureano Olivares
    A story of one man’s quest for redemption

    Triptych (Triptyque), Canada
    Directed by Robert Lepage, Pedro Pires
    Cast: Frédérike Bédard, Lise Castonguay, Hans Piesbergen
    The lives of three characters intersect in the sublime narrative geometry of this haunting adaptation of Robert Lepage’s celebrated theatre work Lipsynch.

    Under the Starry Sky, France/Senegal
    Directed by Dyana Gaye
    Cast: Marème Demba Ly, Ralph Amoussou, Souleymane Seye N’Diaye, Maya Sansa, Babacar M’Baye Fall, Sokhna Niang, Mata Gabin
    Delving into the shadowy world of undocumented travel, this transcontinental drama charts the interconnected destinies of three far-flung sojourners.

    uwantme2killhim?, United Kingdom
    Directed by Andrew Douglas
    Cast: Jamie Blackley, Toby Regbo, Jaime Winstone, Mark Womack, Joanne Froggatt
    A teenage boy descends into the dangerous world of the internet and the harrowing consequences of his actions.

    Violet, Spain
    Directed by Luiso Berdejo
    Cast: Junio Valverde, Leticia Dolera, Miriam Giovanelli, Ricardo Darín, Carlos Bardem
    A Spanish boy living in Santa Monica falls for a girl he sees in an old Polaroid. He decides to look for her, despite having no clue of who she is or how long ago the photo was taken.

    Wounded (La herida), Spain
    Directed by Fernando Franco
    Cast: Marian Alvarez, Rosana Pastor, Manolo Solo, Andres Gertrudix, Ramon Agirre, Ramon Barea
    An ambulance driver struggles with outbreaks of self-destructive behavior, incapable of finding stability and happiness.

    COMPETITION CATEGORIES

    INDEPENDENT FEATURES
    Competition

    1982, USA
    Directed by Tommy Oliver

    Cast: Wayne Brady, Hill Harper, Sharon Leal, Ruby Dee, Bokeem Woodbine, Troi Zee, Lala Anthony, Quinton Aaron

    BFFs, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Andrew Putschoegl
    Cast: Andrea Grano, Tara Karsian

    Barefoot, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Andrew Flemming
    Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Scott Speedman, Brittany Alger

    Chu and Blossom, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Charles Chu, Gavin Kelly
    Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Caitlin Stasey, Alan Cumming

    Mount Joy, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Jack Lewars
    Cast: Katie Hyde, Jay Della Valle, Brandon Harris and Timothy Hoobler

    Night Has Settled, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Steve Clark
    Cast: Spencer List, Pilar López de Ayala, Adriana Barraza

    Noble, United Kingdom – World Premiere
    Directed by Stephen Bradley
    Cast: Dierdre O’Kane, Sarah Greene, Brendan Coyle, Liam Cunningham, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Ruth Negga

    Warren, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Alex Beh
    Cast: John Heard, Jean Smart, Austin Stowell, Sarah Habel, Joe Nunez

    INTERNATIONAL FEATURES
    Competition

    Eastern Boys, France – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Robin Campillo
    Cast: Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov, Daniil Vorobyov

    Found & Lost, China – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Xiao Wei Zhu
    Cast: Guo Zhu Zhang, Yu Meng Jia

    For A Woman (Pour une femme), France
    Directed by Diane Kurys
    Cast: Benoit Magimel, Melanie Thierry, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Sylvie Testud, Denis Podalydes, Julie Ferrier, Clotilde Hesme, Clement Sibony

    If I Close My Eyes I’m Not Here (Se chiudo gli occhi non sono più qui), Italy – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Vittorio Moroni
    Cast: Mark Manaloto, Elena Arvigo, Beppe Fiorello, Giorgio Colangeli

    The Major, Russia
    Directed by Yuri Bykov
    Cast: Yuri Bykov, Denis Shvedov, Irina Nizina, Ilya Isaev

    Metalhead, Iceland – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Ragnar Bragason
    Cast: Þorbjörg Helga Þorgilsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir

    October November (Oktober November), Austria – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Götz Spielmann
    Cast: Nora von Waldstätten, Ursula Strauss, Peter Simonischek, Sebastian Koch, Johannes Zeiler, Andreas Ressl

    Sam, Switzerland – World Premiere
    Directed by Elena Hazanov
    Cast: Frédéric Landenberg, Sacha Guerreiro, Séverine Bujard, Anna Pieri

    Triptych (Triptyque), Canada – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Robert Lepage, Pedro Pires
    Cast: Frédérike Bédard, Lise Castonguay, Hans Piesbergen

    Under the Starry Sky, France/Senegal – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Dyana Gaye
    Cast: Marème Demba Ly, Ralph Amoussou, Souleymane Seye N’Diaye, Maya Sansa, Babacar M’Baye Fall, Sokhna Niang, Mata Gabin

    Victor Young Perez, France/Israel/Bulgaria
    Directed by Jacques Ouaniche
    Cast: Brahim Asloum, Steve Suissa, Isabelle Orsini, Patrick Bouchitey

    EASTERN BLOC FEATURES
    Competition

    Adria Blues, Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia/Herzegovina – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Miroslav Mandic
    Cast: Senad Bašić, Mojca Funkl, Peter Musevski

    Bauyr (Little Brother), Kazakhstan – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Serik Aprymov
    Cast: Almat Galym, Alisher Aprymov, Murat Omarov, Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev

    Clownwise, Czech Republic/Luxembourg/Finland – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Viktor Taus
    Cast: Julie Ferrier, Kati Outinen, Didier Flamand

    The Gambler (Losejas), Lithuania/Latvia – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Ignas Jonynas
    Cast: Vytautas Kaniusonis, Oona Mekas, Rimas Blockis

    The Japanese Dog, Romania – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
    Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Serban Pavlu, Laurentiu Lazar, Kana Hashimoto, Toma Hashimoto

    One Way Ticket to the Moon (Bilet na księżyc), Poland – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jacek Bromski
    Cast: Fillip Pawlak, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Anna Przybylska

    Revival, Czech Republic – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Alice Nellis
    Cast: Bolek Polivka, Miroslav Krobot, Karel Hermanek, Marian Geisberg, Zuzana Budovska

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
    Competition

    A la Bizkaina, Spain – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Aritz Galarza

    Bella Vita, USA/Italy – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jason Baffa
    Cast: Chris Del Moro, Dave Rastovich, Lauren Lyndsey Hill, Conner Coffin, Parker Coffin

    Burt’s Buzz, Canada – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jody Shapiro
    Cast: Burt Shavitz, Trevor Folsom

    César’s Grill, Ecuador/Germany/Switzerland – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Dario Aguirre
    Cast: Dario Aguirre, César Aguirre

    Do You Believe in Love?, Israel – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Daniel Wasserman

    Gurukulam, Canada/USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Jillian Elizabeth and Neil Dalal

    The Last Black Sea Pirates, Bulgaria
    Directed by Svetoslav Stoyanov

    On A River in Ireland, Ireland
    Directed by Colin Stafford-Johnson
    Cast: Colin Stafford-Johnson

    Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Matt Livadary

    The Village of Peace, Israel/USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Nicholas Philipides, Ben Schuder

    SPANISH/LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA
    Competition

    Algunas chicas (Some Girls), Argentina – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Santiago Palavecino
    Cast: Cecilia Rainero, Agostina López, Agustina Muñoz

    The Amazing Catfish (Los insólitos peces gato), Mexico – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Claudia Sainte-Luce
    Cast: Ximena Ayala, Lisa Owen, Sonia Franco, Wendy Guillén

    Cannibal (Caníbal), Spain/Romania/Russia/France – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Manuel Martín Cuenca
    Cast: Antonio de la Torre, Olimpia Melinte

    God’s Slave (Esclavo de dios), Uruguay/Venezuela/Argentina – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Joel Novoa
    Cast: Mohammed Alkhaldi, Daniela Alvarado, Devorah Lynne Dishington

    Saudade, Uruguay – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Juan Carlos Donoso Gomez
    Cast: Francisco Baquerizo Racines, Jessica Barahona de Prada, Joaquin Davila Romoleroux

    Solo, Venezuela – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by José Ramón Novoa
    Cast: Samantha Dagnino, Laureano Olivares

    Sombras de azul (Shades of Blue), Cuba
    Directed by Kelly Daniela Norris
    Cast: Seedne Bujaidar, Yasmani Guerrero, Charlotta Mohlin, Lieter Ledesma

    Violet, Spain – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Luiso Berdejo
    Cast: Junio Valverde, Leticia Dolera, Miriam Giovanelli, Ricardo Darín, Carlos Bardem

    Wounded (La herida), Spain – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Fernando Franco
    Cast: Marian Alvarez, Rosana Pastor, Manolo Solo, Andres Gertrudix, Ramon Agirre, Ramon Barea

    FUND FOR SANTA BARBARA SOCIAL JUSTICE
    Competition

    Bottled Up: The Battle Over Dublin Dr. Pepper, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Drew Rist

    Hue: A Matter of Colour, Canada – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Vic Sarin

    Invitation to Dance, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Christian von Tippelskirch

    The Last One, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Nadine C. Licostie

    The Passage, Panama
    Directed by Alexander Douglas

    Roaming Wild, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Sylvia Johnson
    Featuring: Samantha Layne (voice)

    Shadow in Baghdad, Israel/France/UK/Jordan/Iraq – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Duki Dror

    Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, USA Directed by Thomas Allen Harris

    NON–COMPETITION FILMS

    SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

    15 Years + 1 Day (15 años y un dia), Spain
    Directed by Gracia Querejeta
    Cast: Maribel Verdú, Tito Valverde, Arón Piper, Belén López

    African Metropolis, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya – U.S. Premiere
    A complication of short films directed by Jim Chuchu, Ahmed Ghoneimy, Folasakin Iwajomo, Marie KA, Philippe Lacôte, Vincent Moloi

    Child’s Pose (Pozitia copilului), Romania
    Directed by Calin Peter Netzer
    Cast: Luminita Gheorghiu, Bogdan Dumitrache, Natasa Raab

    Code Black, USA
    Directed by Ryan McGarry
    Cast: Ryan McGarry, Danny Cheng, Jamie Eng, Dave Pomeranz, Andrew Eads

    Gabrielle, Canada
    Directed by Louise Archambault
    Cast: Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, Alexandre Landry, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin

    Heart of a Lion, Finland/Sweden
    Directed by Dome Karukoski
    Cast: Peter Franzén, Laura Birn, Jasper Pääkkönen, Yusufa Sidibeh

    La Juala de Oro (The Golden Dream), Guatemala/Spain/Mexico
    Directed by Diego Quemada-Díez
    Cast: Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez, Karen Martínez

    My Sweet Pepper Land, Kurdistan/France/Germany
    Directed by Hinder Saleem
    Cast: Korkmaz Arslan, Golshifteh Farahani, Suat Usta

    The Notebook, Hungary/Germany/Austria/France
    Directed by János Szász
    Cast: András Gyémánt, László Gyémánt, Piroska Molnár, Ulrich Thomsen, Ulrich Matthes

    Of Horses and Men (Hross í oss), Iceland/Germany
    Directed by Benedikt Erlingsson
    Cast: Ingvar Eggert Sigurõsson

    One Chance, United Kingdom
    Directed by David Frankel
    Cast: James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Julie Walters, Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney

    We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!). Sweden/Denmark
    Directed by Lukas Moodysson
    Cast: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne

    PAN ASIA

    Cold Eyes, South Korea
    Directed by Cho Ui-seok, Kim Byung-seo
    Cast: Seol Kyung-gu, Jung Woo-sung, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Jun-ho, Jin Gyeong

    Found & Lost, China – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Xiao Wei Zhu
    Cast: Guo Zhu Zhang, Yu Meng Jia

    Ilo ilo, Singapore
    Directed by Anthony Chen
    Cast: Koh Jia Ler, Angeli Bayani, Tian Wen Chen, Yann Yann Yeo

    The Missing Picture (L’image manquante), Cambodia/France
    Directed by Rithy Panh
    Cast: Randal Douc (voice)

    Siddharth, Canada/India
    Directed by Richie Mehta
    Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Anurag Arora, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah

    Transit, Philippines
    Directed by Hannah Espia
    Cast: Jasmine Curtis Smith, Ping Medina, Irma Adlawan, Mercedes Cabral, and Marc Justine Alvarez

    Unforgiven (Yurusarezaru mono), Japan
    Directed by Lee Sang-il
    Cast: Ken Watanabe, Akira Emoto, Koichi Sato

    KOLNOA

    Bethlehem, Israel
    Directed by Yuval Adler
    Cast: Shadi Mar’I, Tsahi Halevy, Hitham Omari, Tarek Copti, Michal Shtemler, Hisham Suliman, George Iskandar, Yossi Eini, Efrat Shnap, Karem Shakur, Ibrahim Sakala

    Cupcakes, Israel
    Directed by Eytan Fox
    Cast: Anat Waxman, Keren Berger, Ofer Shechter, Efrat Dor

    Do You Believe in Love?, Israel – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Daniel Wasserman

    Shadow in Baghdad, Israel/France/UK/Jordan/Iraq – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Duki Dror

    Transit, Philippines
    Directed by Hannah Espia
    Cast: Jasmine Curtis Smith, Ping Medina, Irma Adlawan, Mercedes Cabral, and Marc Justine Alvarez

    A Universal Language, Canada
    Directed by Igal Hecht

    The Village of Peace, Israel/USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Nicholas Philipides, Ben Schuder

    SCREEN CUISINE

    A la Bizkaina, Spain – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Aritz Galarza

    A Year in Champagne, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by David Kennard

    Bottled Up: The Battle Over Dublin Dr Pepper, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Drew Rist
    Cast: Josh Gobin (voice)

    César’s Grill, Ecuador/Germany/Switzerland – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Dario Aguirre
    Cast: Dario Aguirre, César Aguirre

    Dog Days, Canada/USA
    Directed by Laura Waters Hinson, Kasey Kirby
    Cast: Coite Manuel, Siyone, Deane

    Le Chef (Comme un chef), France/Spain
    Directed by Daniel Cohen
    Cast: Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaelle Agogue, James Gerard

    Make Hummus Not War, Australia
    Directed by Trevor Graham

    Paulette, France – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jérôme Enrico
    Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Carmen Maura, Dominique Lavanant

    THE WORLD LAUGHS

    The Grand Seduction, Canada
    Directed by Don McKeller
    Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch, Liane Balaban

    Le Chef (Comme un chef), France/Spain
    Directed by Daniel Cohen
    Cast: Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaelle Agogue, James Gerard

    Paulette, France – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jérôme Enrico
    Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Carmen Maura, Dominique Lavanant

    The Priest’s Children (Svećenikova djeca), Croatia
    Directed by Vinko Brešan
    Cast: Kresimir Mikic, Niksa Butijer, Marija Skaricic, Drazen Kühn, Jadranka Dokic

    Revival, Czech Republic – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Alice Nellis
    Cast: Bolek Polivka, Miroslav Krobot, Karel Hermanek, Marian Geisberg, Zuzana Budovska

    A Universal Language, Canada
    Directed by Igal Hecht

    When Jews Were Funny, Canada
    Directed by Alan Zweig
    Cast: Howie Mandel, Shelley Berman, Norm Crosby, Shecky Greene, Jack Carter, David Steinberg, Andy Kindler, Elon Gold, Gilbert Gottfreid, David Brenner, Bob Einstein, Judy Gold, Marc Maron

    TO THE MAXXX

    Bella Vita, Italy/USA – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Jason Baffa
    Cast: Chris Del Moro, Dave Rastovich, Lauren Lyndsey Hill, Conner Coffin, Parker Coffin

    Driven, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Ben Pitterie, Brian Hall

    The Old, the Young and the Sea, Austria/Spain/Portugal/France – U.S. Premiere
    Directed by Mario Hainzl

    A Life Outside, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Catherine Brabec
    Cast: Greg Mesanko, Chris Mesanko, Kevin Casey, Jim Purpuri, Richard Luthringer, and Bucky Walters

    APPLEBOX

    Frozen, USA
    Directed by Chuck Buck, Jennifer Lee
    Cast: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff

    Despicable Me 2, USA
    Directed by Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
    Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand

    Monsters University, USA
    Directed by Dan Scanlon
    Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi

    SANTA BARBARA FEATURES

    Lutah Maria Riggs, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Kum-Kum Bhavnani

    BridgeWalkers, USA
    Directed by Kara Rhodes
    Cast: Irene Bedard (voice)

    Falcon Song, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Jason Brown
    Cast: Gabriel Sunday, James Storm, Martin Kove, Rainey Qualley

    Menthol, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Micah Van Hove
    Cast: Jacob King, Luke Eberl

    Orenthal: The Musical, USA
    Directed by Jeff Rosenberg
    Cast: Jordan Kenneth Kamp, Larisa Oleynik, Malcolm Barrett

    Selma Rubin and Community of Life, USA
    Directed by Beezhan Tulu
    Featuring: Selma Rubin

    Tough Bond, USA
    Directed by Austin Peck

    SHORTS PROGRAMS

    ANIMATED SHORTS

    Bakerman & The Bunnymen, USA
    Directed by Scout Raskin
    Cast: Andrew Racho, Scout Raskin

    Drunker Than a Skunk, USA
    Directed by Bill Plympton
    Cast: Walt Curtis

    Flamingo, Venezuela
    Directed by Carl Zitelmann

    The Gravedigger’s Tale, United Kingdom
    Directed by Min Young Oh
    Cast: Duncan Roberts

    The House with No Doors, United Kingdom
    Directed by Oana Nechifor

    Me + Her, USA
    Directed by Joseph Oxford

    Sebastian, Russian Federation/USA
    Directed by Vlad Marsavin
    Cast: Alex Kharlamov, Arina Yagovkina, Elena Yagovkina, Milana Albakova

    Tome of the Unknown, USA
    Directed by Patrick McHale
    Cast: Elijah Wood, Warren Burton, Natasha Leggero, C.W. Stoneking

    Woody, Australia
    Directed by Stuart Bowen

    DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

    Cowtown Keeylocko, USA
    Directed by Ira Chute
    Cast: Edward Keeylocko

    Do Not Duplicate, USA
    Directed by Mary Anne Rothberg

    The Kids of 5114, USA
    Directed by Scott Brown

    Real Change, USA
    Directed by Adam Becker

    Running Blind, USA
    Directed by Ryan Suffern
    Featuring: E.J. Scott

    DRAMATIC SHORTS

    H.O.G.’s Tooth, USA
    Directed by Loren F. Gilley
    Cast: Grant Alan Ouzts, Jordan Butcher, Kendra Thomas

    Little Secret, Czech Republic
    Directed by Martin Krejci
    Cast: Adam Misik, Klara Cibulkova, Jenovefa Bokova

    Looms, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Funk Brothers
    Cast: Timothy Murphy, Ellen Soderberg (voice)

    My Father’s Truck, Germany
    Directed by Mauricio Osaki
    Cast: Trung Anh, Ly Phan, Mai Vy

    They Came at Night, Congo/USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Andrew Ellis
    Cast: Godefroid Maka, Innocent Mbula, Pascal Kunbawo

    SCREEN CUISINE SHORTS

    Mabel, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Pia Clemente
    Featuring Mabel Sawhill

    People & Plates, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Miguel Calayan
    Cast: Christian Navarro

    Sausage, United Kingdom
    Directed by Robert Grieves

    Sikh Formaggio, Italy/USA
    Directed by Devyn Bisson, Katie Wise, Dan Duran

    The Story of an Egg, USA
    Directed by Douglas Gayeton
    Cast: Alexis Koefoed, David Evans, Nancy Gleason

    The Trouble with Bread, USA
    Directed by Maggie Beidelman

    SHORT FICTION

    Across Grace Ally, USA
    Directed by Ralph Macchio
    Cast: Ben Hyland, Karina Smirnoff, Marsha Mason

    Bunion, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Jessica Sanders
    Cast: Avi Rothman, Alia Shawkat, Michaela Watkins, Misty Thomas, Steve Ireland

    A Letter Home, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Markus Walter
    Cast: Adelaid Kane, Peter Vack

    Mr. Polman Wants to Fit In, USA
    Directed by Carla Dauden
    Cast: William Knight, Ann Benson, Ruben Vernier

    The Pamplemousse, Canada
    Directed by Jonathan Watton
    Cast: Emmanuel Bilodeau, Mika Collins

    Satellite Beach, USA
    Directed by Andrew Wilson, Luke Wilson
    Cast: Luke Wilson

    Sinceridad (Sincerity), Spain – World Premiere
    Directed by Andrea Casaseca Ferrer
    Cast: Kiti Mánver, Javier Laorden, Gerald B. Fillmore

    SOCIAL JUSTICE DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

    Alfredo’s Fire, Italy/USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Andy Abrahams Wilson
    Featuring: Alfredo Ormando

    Life on the Line, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Sally Rubin, Jen Gilomen
    Featuring: Kimberly Torrez

    Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution, USA
    Directed by Matthew VanDyke
    Featuring: Nour Keize, Omar Hattab

    SHORTS PRECEDING FEATURES

    Ahco On the Road, South Korea/USA
    Directed by Soyeon Kim

    Mr. Hublot, France/Luxembourg
    Directed by Laurent Witz

    Mia, Belgium/Netherlands
    Directed by Wouter Bongaerts

    Mirage, USA
    Directed by Iker Maidagan
    Cast: Veronica Taylor, Marc Diralson, Jack Schram

    SANTA BARBARA DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

    The Alchemistress, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Andrew Schoneberger
    Cast: Lindsey Ross (voice)

    A Life in Pictures, USA
    Directed by Scott Erickson

    Mabon “Teenie” Hodges – A Portrait of a Memphis Soul, USA
    Directed by Susanna Vapnek
    Cast: Mabon Teenie Hodges, Leroy Hodges, Charles Hodges, Archie Turner

    Tar Wars, USA
    Directed by Emily de Moor

    Where the Wonder Went, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Bryan Latchford
    Cast: Amir Abo-Shaeer, David Tilman, Julia Bowen, Zachary King

    SANTA BARBARA SHORTS

    Break Dreams, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Paul Mathieu
    Cast: Garrett Swann, Susan Isaaks, Mary Jo Eustace

    Chrysalis, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Carissa Stutzman
    Cast: Amber Bela Muse, Ashley Katz, Erin Buckley

    Greetings from Seaward, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Ryan Murphy and Nate Ptacek
    Cast: Billy Smith (voice)

    Long Way Down, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Sam Benenati
    Cast: Peter Dach

    Martha Cook, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Tony Estrada
    Cast: Ben Zisk, Karina Bustillos

    Other People, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Joakim Svensson
    Cast: Maria Oliveira, Ryan Denman

    The Plastic Pest, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Jessica Hokanson

    Present Trauma, USA
    Directed by Mark Manalo
    Cast: Patrick John Flueger, Alimi Ballard, Bre Blair

    ReMoved, USA
    Directed by Nathanael Matanick
    Cast: Abby White

    Teddy, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Ali Lassoued
    Cast: Al Keys, Andre Battle, Carter Battle,

    Trespass, USA – World Premiere
    Directed by Keith Schwalenberg
    Cast: Manny Jimenez, Lance Irwin, Oliviah Crawford

    YOUTH CINEMEDIA 2014 SHORT DOCUMENTARIES

    Anaheim Uprising: The Police Killing of Manuel Angel Diaz, USA

    Tesuque Grandmother Speaks, USA

    Killer Cops Off Our Streets, USA

    Dissent is Not a Crime, USA

    No Letters Allowed Behind Bars, USA

    Behind the Music of Los Bandits, USA
    Hideous Hair, USA

    Old Town Orange, USA

    Gang Injunctions Under the Microscope, USA

    In the Studio with Navajo Artist Clifford Brycelea, USA

    Hospital Horror, USA

    Aztlan Unplugged, USA

    Innocent Bystander, USA

    Stop Killing Our Sons, USA

    Read more

  • Directors Guild of America Announces 2013 Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

    Directors Guild of America Announces 2013 Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

    Directors Guild of America announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2013. The winner will be named at the 66th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

    ALFONSO CUARÓN
    Gravity

    PAUL GREENGRASS
    Captain Phillips

    STEVE McQUEEN
    12 Years A Slave

    DAVID O. RUSSELL
    American Hustle

    MARTIN SCORSESE
    The Wolf of Wall Street

    Read more

  • Jane Campion to Head 2014 Cannes Film Festival Jury

    New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion

    New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion and the only woman to win the coveted Palme d’Or, will head the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the organizers announced Tuesday. “I am truly honored to join with the Cannes Film Festival as President of the ‘in Competition’ features for 2014,” said Campion in a statement. “To tell the truth I can’t wait,” added Campion who succeeds last year’s jury head Steven Spielberg. Campion who won the Palme d’Or for “The Piano” in 1993 also holds the distinction as the only double winner, her short “Peel” having picked up the top prize in that category in 1986.

    The 67th Cannes film festival will run from May 14 to 25, 2014.

    Read more

  • THE ACT OF KILLING, AT BERKELEY, LEVIATHAN Among Winning Films of National Society of Film Critics

    Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang) and Hide Your Smiling Faces (Daniel Patrick Carbone)Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang) and Hide Your Smiling Faces (Daniel Patrick Carbone)

    The National Society of Film Critics, made up of many of the country’s most distinguished movie critics, on Saturday, January 4th, 2014, chose INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS as Best Picture of the Year 2013. The film also won awards for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR won the award for Best Foreign-Language Film, and THE ACT OF KILLING and AT BERKELEY (Frederick Wiseman) tied for Best Non-Fiction Film. In an amazing nod to independent films, LEVIATHAN won the award for Experimental Film;  STRAY DOGS and HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES won the award for Best Film Still Awaiting American Distribution.

    Here is a list of the winners and runners-up, with vote counts from the final round.

    BEST PICTURE
    *1. Inside Llewyn Davis – 23
    2. American Hustle – 17
    3. 12 Years a Slave – 16

    BEST DIRECTOR
    *1. Joel and Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 25
    2. Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) – 18
    3. Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) – 15

    BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
    *1. Blue Is the Warmest Color – 27
    2. A Touch of Sin – 21
    3. The Great Beauty – 15

    BEST NON-FICTION FILM
    *1. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer) – 20
    *1. At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman) – 20
    3. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) – 18

    BEST SCREENPLAY
    *1. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke) – 29
    2. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen) – 26
    3. American Hustle (Eric Singer and David O. Russell) – 18

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
    *1. Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) -28
    2.Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki) – 26
    3. Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) – 19

    BEST ACTOR
    *1. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 28
    2. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) – 19
    3. Robert Redford (All Is Lost) – 12

    BEST ACTRESS
    *1. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) – 57
    2. Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 36
    3. Julie Delpy (Before Midnight) – 26

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
    *1. James Franco (Spring Breakers) – 24
    2. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) – 20
    3. Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) – 14

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
    *1. Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) – 54
    2. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) – 38
    3. Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) – 18
    3. Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 18

    EXPERIMENTAL FILM
    Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel), a nonfiction film about

    FILM HERITAGE AWARD
    • To the Museum of Modern Art, for its wide-ranging retrospective of the films of Allan Dwan.
    • “Too Much Johnson”: the surviving reels from Orson Welles’s first professional film. Discovered by Cinemazero (Pordenone) and Cineteca del Friuli; funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation; and restored by the George Eastman House.
    • British Film Institute for restorations of Alfred Hitchcock’s nine silent features.
    • To the DVD “American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive.”

    BEST FILM STILL AWAITING AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION
    • Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang)
    • Hide Your Smiling Faces (Daniel Patrick Carbone)

    DEDICATION: The meeting was dedicated to the memory of two distinguished members of the Society who died in 2013: Roger Ebert and Stanley Kauffmann.

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  • James Avery, Uncle Phil from ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ Last Film, Zach Braff’s WISH I WAS HERE to Premiere at Sundance Film Festival

    James Avery

    James Avery, who played “Uncle Phil” on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” died earlier this week at age 68. According to reports, Avery died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital due to complications from open-heart surgery. Avery just recently wrapped the indie film WISH I WAS HERE directed by Zach Braff, set to premiere later this month at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

    Zach Braff tweeted:

    zach-braff-james-avery-tweet

    WISH I WAS HEREWISH I WAS HERE

    WISH I WAS HERE, also starring Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, and Joey King, is about Aidan Bloom, a 35-year-old struggling actor, father, and husband,  still trying to find purpose in his life. In coming to terms with the death of his father, Aidan and his family unite to discover how to turn the page onto the next chapter. 

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  • Writers Guild of America Announces 2014 Documentary and Feature Film Nominations

    No Place on Earth, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin

    No Place on Earth, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin

    Award season continues with the Writers Guild of America announcing nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2013. Winners will be honored at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

    American Hustle, Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; Columbia Pictures

    Blue Jasmine, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

    Dallas Buyers Club, Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack; Focus Features

    Her, Written by Spike Jonze; Warner Bros.

    Nebraska, Written by Bob Nelson; Paramount Pictures

    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

    August: Osage County, Screenplay by Tracy Letts; Based on his play; The Weinstein Company

    Before Midnight, Written by Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; Based on characters created by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan; Sony Classics

    Captain Phillips, Screenplay by Billy Ray; Based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty; Columbia Pictures

    Lone Survivor, Written by Peter Berg; Based on the book by Marcus Lutrell with Patrick Robinson; Universal Pictures

    The Wolf of Wall Street, Screenplay by Terence Winter; Based on the book by Jordan Belfort; Paramount Pictures

    DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY 

    DIRTY WARS, Written by Jeremy Scahill & David Riker; Sundance Selects

    HERBLOCK – THE BLACK & THE WHITE, Written by Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens; The Stevens Company

    NO PLACE ON EARTH, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin; Magnolia Pictures

    STORIES WE TELL, Written by Sarah Polley; Roadside Attractions

    WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS; Written by Alex Gibney; Focus Features

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