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Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey and Steve McQueen to be Honored at 2014 Palm Springs International Film Festival

Palm Springs International Film Festival

The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will honor Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey and Steve McQueen at its annual Awards Gala to be held Saturday, January 4, 2014, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 3 to 13, 2014.

Academy Award winning actress Julia Roberts will be presented with the Spotlight Award for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. The Weinstein Company presents August: Osage County which tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre. It continued with a successful international run and won five 2008 Tony Awards including Best Play. August: Osage County is directed by John Wells and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.

Steve McQueen with receive the Director of the Year Award for 12 YEARS A SLAVE. 12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) forever alters his life. The Fox Searchlight Pictures film is directed and produced by Steve McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard, Chris Chalk, Taran Killam and Bill Camp.

Bruce Dern currently seen in NEBRASKA, will be presented with the Career Achievement Award. Paramount Vantage presents Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne and starring Bruce Dern (who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year), Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach and Bob Odenkirk. In the film, a father and son steer the American road comedy into a vanishing Midwest on the trail of a dubious fortune – and in search of an understanding of each other that once seemed impossible. After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Dern) thinks he’s struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Dern won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his role.

Academy Award®-winning actress Sandra Bullock now starring in GRAVITY, in theaters, will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress. Gravity stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in a Warner Bros. Pictures film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) in command. But on a seemingly routine mission, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed by space debris, leaving Stone and Kowalski completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth…and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. The only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Palm Springs International Film Festival will present Matthew McConaughey now seen in the new movie DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor. Inspired by true events, Dallas Buyers Club is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée from an original screenplay by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack, and also stars Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto.
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Emma Thompson, Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Forest Whitaker to be Honored at 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor actor, screenwriter and producer Emma Thompson, Oprah Winfrey, Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett, and Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, at the 29th edition of the Fest, which runs January 30 thru February 9, 2014.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor actor, screenwriter and producer Emma Thompson with the Modern Master Award. The Modern Master Award is the highest honor presented by SBIFF. Emma Thompson will be honored for her ‘illustrious versatile career, which includes her captivating portrayal of P.L. Travers, author of the universally beloved Mary Poppins novels, in the upcoming Saving Mr. Banks, directed by John Lee Hancock.’

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Oprah Winfrey with the prestigious Montecito Award. The Montecito Award was created in recognition of a performer who has given a series of classic and standout performances throughout his/her career and whose style has been a contribution to film. Oprah Winfrey’s most recent work includes her moving portrayal of supportive wife Gloria Gaines in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. This historical drama stars Forest Whitaker as an African American butler working at the White House through multiple administrations, set against the arc of the civil rights movement.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will present the 2014 Outstanding Performer of the Year Award to Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett. Blanchett will be honored for what the festival describes as her stellar performance in this year’s Blue Jasmine, in which she portrays Jasmine French, a deeply conflicted and complex woman in the throes of her world unraveling. The imploding of her life has far-reaching effects on those around her, leaving the audience to wonder if everyone can heal and move forward. Jasmine is tragically flawed and with Blanchett at the helm, we feel Jasmine’s pain and experience her journey.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s eighth annual Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence In Film will be presented to Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker. According to the festival, Whitaker brings an authentic realism to each of his performances. Often referred to as a ‘gentle giant,’ Whitaker has the ability to get under our skin, guiding the audience through every character he embodies, making him one of the most versatile performers of all time. This promises to be an exciting year for Whitaker. He most recently portrayed Cecil Gaines, a butler at the White House serving eight presidents during his tenure in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, opposite Oprah Winfrey; he will grace the screen in Out of the Furnace, opposite Christian Bale; and he will also be seen in his first musical, Black Nativity, opposite Jennifer Hudson and Angela Bassett. In addition, Forest is the founder of LA-based Significant Productions, where he served as a producer on Fruitvale Station, which won the 2013 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
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“Cutie and the Boxer” “The Act of Killing” Lead Nominees for 2013 Cinema Eye Honors Awards

Awards

Cutie and the Boxer

Forty feature films and six shorts are among the nominees for the 7th Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking. Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer led all films with six nominations, while The Act of Killing received five. Heinzerling and the directing duos from two films nominated for Outstanding Feature –Leviathan‘s Castaing-Taylor & Paravel and After Tiller‘s Shane and Wilson – all led individual nominees with four nominations apiece. Making Cinema Eye history with his nomination in the feature film category, Lucien Castaing-Taylor becomes the first person to be nominated for Outstanding Feature after having been previously nominated for Outstanding Debut (he was nominated in 2011 for Sweetgrass).

Five films are in the running for Cinema Eye’s top award, Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s After Tiller, Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel’s Leviathan and Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell.

Nominees for Outstanding Achievement in Direction included Alan Berliner for First Cousin Once Removed, Tinatin Gurchiani for The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear, Oppenheimer for The Act of Killing, Shane and Wilson for After Tiller, Castaing-Taylor and Paravel for Leviathan and Polley for Stories We Tell. This marks the first time in Cinema Eye history that more women were nominated for the Directing Award than their male counterparts. In addition, of the 11 individuals nominated for Cinema Eye’s top Feature Film award, 7 are women.

Cinema Eye also announced nominees for their inaugural award for Nonfiction Films Made for Television. Four of the six nominees came from HBO Documentary Films, including Lucy Walker’s The Crash Reel, Dawn Porter’s Gideon’s Army, Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Sebastian Junger’s Which Way to the Front Line From Here: The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington. PBS nabbed the other two nominations, one for Susan Lacy’s Inventing David Geffen (American Masters) and Christine Turner’s Homegoings (POV). As the new television award recognizes the key producers from the network, the nominations for HBO Documentary Films’ Sheila Nevins (with four nods) and Sara Bernstein (with three) mark a first in Cinema Eye history – multiple nominations within the same category (but for different films).

The nomination for Sebastian Junger’s film about Tim Hetherington is notable. Junger and Hetherington were both nominated for two Cinema Eye awards in 2011 for their film Restrepo, and Hetherington posthumously won the Cinema Eye Honor for Nonfiction Short in 2012 for his film, Diary.

In the short film category, six films have been nominated, including the notable inclusion of Laura Poitras’Death of a Prisoner, which first appeared as a New York Times Op-Doc. Poitras won the Cinema Eye Honor for Direction in 2011 for her film, The Oath. She’s been at the center of one of the biggest global news stories of 2013 – the revelation of Edward Snowden’s identity and the secret spying by the United States government on American citizens and international allies.

Ten contenders were named for Cinema Eye’s Audience Choice Prize, which includes many of the most talked about and beloved documentaries of the year, including Morgan Neville’s 20 Feet From Stardom, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish, Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s Muscle Shoals, Mona Eldaeif and Jehane Noujaim’s Rafea: Solar Mama, Dave Grohl’s Sound City and Jehane Noujaim’s The Square. The double nomination for Noujaim in the category was another first – a director with two films nominated in the same category in the same year.

Winners of the 7th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be announced on January 8, 2014 as Cinema Eye returns, for the fourth straight year, to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York.
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TRAILER and First Look at Tony Jopia’s British comedy horror ‘CRYING WOLF’

Horror + Scifi

The British comedy horror ‘CRYING WOLF’ from director Tony Jopia and starring Caroline Munro, Gary Martin, Joe Egan, Kristofer Dayne and Ian Donnelly, has released its official trailer and first look images from the upcoming film. Due for release in the U.K. in 2014, the comedy horror movie, ‘Crying Wolf’ starts its tale in the small village of Deddington where prankster Andy is bitten by a werewolf that kills his friend Charlotte. Andy tries to warn his friends, but winds up turning them into a pack of werewolves. Enter a pair of hapless journalists doomed to a grizzly end, then add a pair of hard boiled vigilantes hot on the heels of the werewolf pack and before you know it, everyone’s ‘Crying Wolf! during a bloody camping holiday in the Cotswolds’

http://youtu.be/uKY7ehVyowI
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Romania’s Oscar Entry CHILD’S POSE Sets U.S. 2014 Release Date | WATCH Trailer

Foreign Language Films

CHILD’S POSE by Calin Peter Netzer and Romania’s Official Entry for the Best Foreign Language Film – 86th Academy Awards, will open at Film Forum in NYC on February 19, 2014, and at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles on February 21, 2014. A national release will follow. CHILD’S POSE (Poziţia Copilului), winner of the Golden Bear for the Best Film at 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, pivots on a riveting performance by Luminita Gheorghiu (Best Supporting Actress, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Los Angeles Film Critics) as a steely, well-to-do Bucharest architect determined to keep her 30-something deadbeat son out of jail after a deadly car crash. How far will she go to convince the police, eyewitnesses and even the victim’s family that her son was not recklessly speeding?

One cold evening in March, Barbu is tearing down the streets 50 kilometres per hour over the speed limit when he knocks down a child. The boy dies shortly after the accident. A prison sentence of between three and fifteen years awaits. High time for his mother, Cornelia, to intervene. A trained architect and member of Romania’s upper class, who graces her bookshelves with unread Herta Müller novels and is fond of flashing her purse full of credit cards, she commences her campaign to save her lethargic, languishing son. Bribes, she hopes, will persuade the witnesses to give false statements. Even the parents of the dead child might be appeased by some cash.

Călin Peter Netzer portrays a mother consumed by self-love in her struggle to save her lost son and her own, long since riven family. In quasi-documentary style, the film meticulously reconstructs the events of one night and the days that follow, providing insights into the moral malaise of Romania’s bourgeoisie and throwing into sharp relief the state of societal institutions such as the police and the judiciary. [via Berlin International Film Festival]

http://youtu.be/fTr7qiVKWcM
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10 Live Action Shorts Advance in 2013 Oscar Race

Awards

“AQUEL NO ERA YO (THAT WASN’T ME),” Esteban Crespo, director

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 10 live action short films that will advance in the voting process for the 86th Academy Awards®. One hundred twenty pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

“AQUEL NO ERA YO (THAT WASN’T ME),” Esteban Crespo, director (Producciones Africanauan)

“AVANT QUE DE TOUT PERDRE (JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING),” Xavier Legrand, director, and Alexandre Gavras, producer (KG Productions)

“DVA (TWO),” Mickey Nedimovic, director, and Henner Besuch, director of photography (Filoufilm Dani Barsch)

“HELIUM,” Anders Walter, director, and Kim Magnusson, producer (M & M Productions)

“KUSH,” Shubhashish Bhutiani, director (Red Carpet Moving Pictures)

“PITÄÄKÖ MUN KAIKKI HOITAA? (DO I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING?),” Selma Vilhunen, director, and Kirsikka Saari, screenwriter (Tuffi Films)

“RECORD/PLAY,” Jesse Atlas, director, and Thom Fennessey, executive producer (Collaboration Factory)

“THROAT SONG,” Miranda de Pencier, director (Northwood Productions)

“TIGER BOY,” Gabriele Mainetti, director (Goon Films)

“THE VOORMAN PROBLEM,” Mark Gill, director, and Baldwin Li, producer (Honlodge Productions)

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in December.

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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British Romance SUMMER IN FEBRUARY Sets US Release Date | SEE UK Trailer

News

Director Christopher Menaul’s SUMMER IN FEBRUARY, starring Dominic Cooper (The Devil’s Double), Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), and Emily Browning (Sleeping Beauty) will be released in the US beginning January 7, 2014 on cable/telco and satellite video-on-demand and digital platforms followed by a theatrical release beginning on January 17, 2014 by Tribeca Film.

A sweeping romance set at a bohemian artist colony on the picturesque coasts of pre-war England, Summer in February is based on the true story of painter Sir Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper) and his blue-blood best friend Gilbert (Dan Stevens). Born into a working-class family, Munnings rises to become one of the premiere British artists of his time, winning the affection of aristocratic beauty Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning). But when Gilbert falls for Florence as well, a love triangle emerges with tragic consequences.

http://youtu.be/dtkNxnS6rGs
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THE ROCKET Tops 2013 Leeds International Film Festival, Wins Audience Award

Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF)

THE ROCKET was voted by 27th Leeds International Film Festival audiences as overall favorite from 139 feature films. Set against the lush backdrop of rural Laos, The Rocket is described as a spirited, fable-like family drama from Australia that tells the story of ten-year-old Ahlo, who yearns to break free from his ill-fated destiny. After his village is displaced to make way for a massive dam, Ahlo escapes with his father and grandmother through the Laotian outback in search of a new home. Along the way, they come across a rocket festival with a competition that offers a lucrative, but dangerous, chance for a new beginning.The two feature films that were closest in the voting to The Rocket are both music documentaries, FILMAGE: THE STORY OF DESCENDENTS / ALL and REVENGE OF THE MEKONS. The top ten winners in the LIFF27 Audience Award for Best Film are: 1) The Rocket 2) Filmage: The Story of Descendents / ALL 3) Revenge of the Mekons 4) Final Cut, Ladies & Gentlemen 5) Ghost Graduation 6) Mistaken for Strangers 7) Brothers Hypnotic 8) We are the Best! 9) Gravity 10) Sign Painters.

27th Leeds International Film Festival announced its winning short films

Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING (Avant que de tout perdre) (Dir. Xavier Legrand, France)
Special Mentions: Room 606 (Zimmer 606) (Dir. Peter Volkart, Switzerland) + We’re Flying (Wir Fliegen)(Dir. Ulrike Kofler, Austria/ Germany) Jury statement on Just Before Losing Everything:
‘The Jury was impressed by the tense and immediately affecting atmosphere of this film. Though seen on the first day this film remained with the jury. It maintains a momentum portraying a real life family drama that projects the terrifying reality of domestic violence.’

World Animation Award 2013

Winner: Guilt (Kalte) (Dir. Reda Bartkute, Lithuania)
Special Mention: Rabbit and Deer (Nyuszi és Őz) (Dir. Péter Vácz, Hungary)
+ In the air is Christopher Gray (Dir. Felix Massie, UK)
Jury statement on Guilt (Kalte):
‘The Jury was mesmerised by the surreal imagery and clear artistic vision of the Director. With a clear independent spirit the film told a story that could only be portrayed through the medium of animation.

‘British Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: Sea View (Dir. Jane Linfoot)
Special Mentions: L’Assenza (Dir. Jonathan Romney) + Getting On (Dir. Ninian Doff)
Jury statement on Sea View:
‘Elevated by an impressive central performance that suggests a talent beyond her years. The Jury felt that Sea View is accomplished in its atmosphere, sense of place and treatment of aesthetics. It sits well in the contemporary British cinema landscape.’

Yorkshire Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: OH MESSY LIFE (Dir. Jonathan Harrold)
Special Mention: Ratzilla (Dir. Rad Miller)
Jury statement on Oh Messy Life:
‘It was driven by a very clear and visual sense of storytelling. The Jury felt it captures the essence of what it is to be in love, and the fears and uncertainties that such feelings provoke.

‘The Silver Méliès Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: DEATH OF A SHADOW (Dood van een Schaduw) (Dir. Tom van Avermaet, Belgium / France, 2012)
Special Mentions: Shell Shocked (Dir. Dominic Brunt, UK, 2013) + Raw Meat (La Carne Cruda) (Samuel Lema, Spain, 2013)
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Official Poster for FREE RIDE Starring Anna Paquin

News

The official poster is released for FREE RIDE, written and directed by Shana Betz, and based on her true life story. FREE RIDE stars Anna Paquin, Drea de Matteo, Cam Gigandet and Liana Liberato. FREE RIDE will be released in NY, LA and on Video On Demand on January 10, 2014 by Phase 4 Films.

In search of a better life for her family and desperate to escape her tumultuous relationship, Christina (Anna Paquin) hastily moves to Florida and enters the dangerous world of the high-stakes underground drug scene. She quickly learns that dealing drugs at the height of South Florida’s smuggling heyday has its price. As law enforcement closes in on Christina and her drug operation, she must find a way to salvage the life she has desperately worked to repair before it all comes crashing down.

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Bahamas International Film Festival Unveils Jury for 2013 Festival

Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), celebrating its 10th anniversary, announced the members of the jury that will preside over the competition categories at the Festival, which takes place December 5th to13th, 2013. The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Visions; and Short Film.

Jury members are:

New Visions: First Look

Dr. Nathaniel Kohn – Professor at the University of Georgia/ Associate Director of the George Foster Peabody Awards/ Producer (“Zulu Dawn,” “Rain,” “Somebodies”)

Attila Feszt – Visual Artist and Designer

Toni Silveri – Actress/Voice Actor/Singer

Spirit of Freedom: Narrative & Documentary

Kelly Amber Moore – Writer and former Creative Executive at Nicholas Cage’s Saturn Films (“National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” “Ghost Rider,” “Knowing”)

Patty Roker – Writer and Broadcaster

Dan Shannon – Director/Producer (“Haiti Untold,” “Sweet 16”)

Short Film

Tatiana Siegal – Journalist/Film Reporter at The Hollywood Reporter

Theodore Elyett – Fashion Designer

Leslie Tynes – Actress/Voice Actor/Radio and TV personality (“Crazy Love,” “James Catalyn & Friends”)

Non-competition categories at BIFF include Panorama Narrative; Panorama Documentary and Short Films out of competition. Special sections include the signature Youth Film Workshop films made by five local Bahamian schools, as well as a World Cinema showcase spotlighting Chinese films provided by the Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas.

The Festival will be hosting a variety of panels covering a number of topics including Acting, Films, Festivals and Fundraising and Filmmaking in The Bahamas, sponsored by RBC Royal Bank. Among the participating panelists are:

Acting

Rob Adler – Director/Writer/Producer (“iVOTE”)

Films, Festivals and Fundraising

Ivan Clements – Producer (“Little Deaths,” “January 2nd”)

Lisa Cortes – Producer (“Precious,” “The Woodsman,” “Shadowboxer”)

Dr. Nathaniel Kohn – Professor at the University of Georgia/ Associate Director of the George Foster Peabody Awards/ Producer (“Zulu Dawn,” “Rain,” “Somebodies”)

Filmmaking in The Bahamas

Lance Knowles – Cinematographer/Owner of Sky High Media

Travon Patton – Producer

Vijay Subramanian – Doctor/Photographer/Independent Filmmaker

The 10th anniversary of BIFF will kick off on December 5th with a gala screening of Andrew Melby and Reggie Henderson’s drama “Bahamian Son,” at the Atlantis Theater.

The following night, Festival guests will be treated to a Career Achievement Tribute ceremony at the Atlantis honoring Danny Glover, who will be in attendance.

The festival will close with Travolta Cooper’s documentary “THE BLACK MOSES,” on December 8th in Nassau at the Atlantis Theater.

image via Facebook
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Edoardo Leo’s OUT OF THE BLUE Wins 2013 New Italian Cinema | TRAILER

New Italian Cinema (San Francisco Film Society)

Edoardo Leo’s OUT OF THE BLUE (Buongiorno papa) received the NICE City of Florence Award at the 17th New Italian Cinema, presented by the San Francisco Film Society. The NICE City of Florence Award was decided by audience ballots from San Francisco screenings of films in competition.

A slick ladies’ man learns new responsibilities in this warm crowd-pleaser from the director of 18 Years Later (NIC 2010). Andrea (Raoul Bova) is an ad executive whose best pal Paolo (cowriter/director Leo) is crashing on his couch. When Layla (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers from Balancing Act), a pull-no-punches teen, arrives with her sleepwalking grandfather Enzo and announces that she’s Andrea’s daughter, the unapologetic playboy is forced to determine whether he wants to give up his carefree life for the demands of fatherhood. Out of the Blue offers an expert cast of characters who impact one another in unexpected ways and a touching script that avoids easy sentimentality.

Written by Herbert Simone Paragnani, Massimiliano Bruno, Edoardo Leo. Cinematography by Arnaldo Catinari. With Raoul Bova, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Nicole Grimaudo, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers. 106 min. In Italian with subtitles. IntraMovies.

http://youtu.be/LknGgiGUDCw
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2014 Dance on Camera Film Festival in NYC Unveils Lineup; MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER to Open, PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN to Close

Dance on Camera Film Festival

Greg Vander Veer’s Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter.

The 42nd edition of the dance-centric film festival Dance on Camera returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for the 18th consecutive year from January 31 to February 4, 2014. This year’s lineup includes world premieres of opening night’s selection of Greg Vander Veer’s MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER, a film about influential dance pioneer and administrator Martha Hill and closing night’s selection of Kate Geis’s PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN, a privileged look at the choreographer’s process as he makes his 133rd dance.

This year’s diverse lineup also includes a Spotlight on Ice with the New York premiere of Keri Pickett’s lively documentary THE FABULOUS ICE AGE about the glamorous age of big-scale ice spectaculars and a return engagement of ICE THEATRE OF NY with a brand new program featuring appearances by ice skating legends JoJo Starbuck and Dorothy Hamill, as well as ballet maestro Edward Villella with a premiere of his new ice dance “Reveries.” The festival is also hosting the official NY premiere of Fabrice Herrault’s poetic homage to ballet idol Rudolf Nureyev on the 20th anniversary of his death, and a world premiere of Mary Jane Doherty’s SECUNDARIA, an in-depth look at ballet training from the vantage point of one high school class at the famous National Ballet School in Cuba – known for churning out international stars in the dance world. Kersti Grunditz’ THE MAN BEHIND THE THRONE puts the spotlight on the dance world’s best-kept secret, Vincent Paterson who has worked largely behind-the-scenes for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bjork and more.

Public Screenings and panels will be held at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street) and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 West 65thStreet).

FILM DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE

OPENING NIGHT
WORLD PREMIERE
MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER (2014) 80m
Director: Greg Vander Veer
Country: USA
Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter tells the inspiring and largely unknown story of a woman whose life was defined by her love for dance. Martha Hill emerges as dance’s secret weapon, someone who fought against great odds to establish dance as a legitimate art form in America. Through archival footage, lively interviews with friends and intimates, and rare footage of the spirited subject, the film explores Hills’s arduous path from a Bible Belt childhood in Ohio to the halls of academe at NYU and Bennington College to a position of power and influence as Juilliard’s founding director of dance (1952-1985). Peppered with anecdotal material delivered by dance notables who knew her, this revelatory story depicts her struggles and successes, including the battle royal that accompanied her move to the Lincoln Center campus.
DIRECTOR GREG VANDER VEER AND ADDITIONAL PANELISTS WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
HOMEGOINGS: A DANCE (2013) 5m
Director: Christine Turner
Country: USA
Inspired by the award-winning documentary HOMEGOINGS, this original dance piece finds meaning and beauty in the life cycle.
Friday, January 31, 8:00pm

CLOSING NIGHT
WORLD PREMIERE
PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN (2013) 82m
Director: Kate Geis
Country: USA
Paul Taylor is one of the dance world’s most elusive and admired choreographers. For over 50 years, he has only given glimpses into his creative process, but for his 133rd dance, THREE DUBIOUS MEMORIES, he opens the door and allows the filmmaker into his creative process. The dance he is choreographing is a Rashomon-like exploration of memory, three characters entangled in a relationship, each believing only in his own dark memory of it. The dominant voice in the documentary is Taylor’s, and it is alternately soothing, demanding and amused. Between the guarded and unguarded moments, the viewer is witness to a mysterious work ethic that has created some of the most iconic modern dances of our time.
DIIRECTOR KATE GEIS AND DANCERS FEATURED IN THE FILM WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Tuesday, February 4, 9:00pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
ALL THIS CAN HAPPEN (2012) 50m
Director: Siobhan Davies and David Hinton
Country: UK
A flickering dance of intriguing imagery brings to light the possibilities of ordinary movements from the everyday which appear, evolve and freeze before your eyes. Made entirely from archive photographs and footage from the earliest days of moving image, “All This Can Happen” follows the footsteps of the protagonist from the short story ‘The Walk’ by Robert Walser. Juxtapositions, different speeds and split frame techniques convey the walker’s state of mind as he encounters a world of hilarity, despair and ceaseless variety. Hinton is an award winning director who has worked with some of the best known names in contemporary dance, including DV8 Physical Theatre, Siobhan Davies, and Russell Maliphant.
Screening with
CROSSWALK (2013) 4m
Director: RJ Muna
Country: USA
A crosswalk is a unique place and this short film explores what can happen in it and how it is navigated second by second. An experimental delight that captures both the routine and the unexpected.
Screening with
DERVISHES (2013) 4m
Diector: RJ Muna
Country: USA
A perfectly calibrated study of movement and physical architecture based on the characteristics of circular movement.
Friday, January 31, 6:15pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
GISELLE (2013) 105m
Director: Toa Fraser
Country: New Zealand
Director Toa Fraser brings The Royal New Zealand Ballet to the big screen, capturing their acclaimed production of the ballet classic GISELLE. Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobberg have re-staged the production (after Petipa) with an eye toward the inherent drama of the tragic romance. The two-act ballet has been reimagined by Fraser who interweaves the filmed stage performance with behind the scenes moments that hint at a romance between the dancers. ABT principal Gillian Murphy and RNZ’s Qi Huan perform the doomed lovers with impressive conviction and the second act captures the haunting essence of this enduring masterpiece.
Sunday, February 2, 8:00pm

WORLD PREMIERE
HÄSTDANS på HOVDALA (2013) 60m
Director: David Fishel
Country: USA
Imagine a life devoted to blending the artistry of dance with the physicality of horsemanship! That is exactly what the unconventional choreographer JoAnna Mendl Shaw has done with Equus Projects. Her previous large-scale works for dancers and horses have been produced throughout the United States. Now, she takes her company to Sweden to work with new elements and new friends in the rural countryside. Ulrike Michels Nord, director of Klinten Kultur, a company of young adults with autism, opens the way for the American choreographer to create a magical piece that expresses the joys and challenges of bringing together unfamiliar beasts (the new horses), trainers, professional dancers and autistic individuals to make a work of art in a mystical setting—the Hovdala castle and library ruin deep in a forest. The challenge is to accomplish this feat in just 12 days!
SUBJECT MENDL SHAW AND DANCERS WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
CARRY IT ON…  (2103) 19m
Director: Sharon Leahy
Country: USA
CARRY IT ON… explores the power and potential of place and our relationship to it. A cast of dancers and musicians explore the human need to gather and connect with their environment.
Saturday, February 1, 1:00pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
HOW LIKE AN ANGEL (2012) 46m
Director: Yaron Lifschitz
Country: UK
This bold collaboration of music and movement blends Circa’s exhilarating brand of contemporary circus with the exquisite sound of I Fagiolini’s choral singing. HOW LIKE AN ANGEL, commissioned by the London 2012 Festival, celebrates the beauty and grandeur of three stunning English cathedrals while displaying the artistry of the circus performers. Polyphonic Films captures the live performance brilliantly, catching the essence of this ground-breaking collaboration. Film commissioned by The Space in association with BBC.
Screening with
WIDOW  (2013) 13m
Director: Jil Guyon
Country: USA
Features an iconic, enigmatic woman encapsulated in a stark, futuristic environment. Gradually she reveals the evolving mystery of her psychological condition, a shifting tableau of personal loss and the struggle for transcendence.
Tuesday, February 4, 3:00pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
LA PASSION NOUREEV (2013) 56m
Director: Fabrice Herrault
Country: USA
From the moment of his dramatic leap to freedom at Paris’ Bourget Airport in 1961, Rudolf Nureyev was embraced as a ballet idol. On the 20th anniversary of his death, Fabrice Herrault, a notable NY ballet teacher and film collector trained at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Conservatoire, has assembled an impressionistic tribute film that showcases this Byronic artist in some of his peerless early performances through archival footage, much of it previously unseen, revealing “Rudi” at the peak of his powers. As director of the Paris Opera Ballet, Nureyev guided the careers or rising stars, among them Sylvie Guillem and Isabelle Guérin. Former Paris Opera Ballet star, Isabelle Guérin, will join the filmmaker and French dance historian Helene Ciolkovitch, to share memories of her mentor.
Screening with
OUBLIER LE TEMPS (2012) 5m
Director: Boroka Nagy
Country: USA
A young woman notices her shadow, which triggers memories of her past love.
Screening with
LOST IN MOTION 2 (2013) 4m
Director: Ben Shirinian
Country: Canada
Framed on a highly stylized environment, the film lures the viewer into the world of the performer, brought to life by dancer Heather Ogden, with choreography by Guillaume Coté of the National Ballet of Canada.
Sunday, February 2, 6:00pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
PRIMA (2013) 57m
Director: Tatyana Bronstein
Country: USA
Prima is moving portrait of Larissa Ponomarenko, prima ballerina of the Boston Ballet, who has recently hung up her pointe shoes to pursue new avenues of self-expression. Through flashbacks to her journey from a difficult childhood and rigorous ballet training in Russia to her emergence as the prima ballerina of a leading American ballet company, the film captures Larissa’s uniqueness as an artist of many emotional colors. Now, as she transitions from prima ballerina to mentor to aspiring dancers, she also magically re-invents herself as a dancer, showing a new expressivity and a more modern approach to her art in filmed improvisations in unexpected settings– a field, a forest, even a subway station!
DIRECTOR TATYANA BRONSTEIN WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
ME – STORY OF A PERFORMANCE  (2013) 8m
Director: Jopsu Ramu
Country: Finland
ME: Story of a Performance is an intriguing collaboration between Finland and Japan. Choreographer/dancer Johanna Nuutinen performs a solo piece, which is photographed from different points of view to a haunting score by Jukka Backlund.
Monday, February 3, 3:30pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
SECUNDARIA (2013) 96m
Director: Mary Jane Doherty
Country: USA
Why are so many world-class ballet companies relying on Cuban dancers? What is special about their training in a society that offers rare opportunities but with with strings attached? With curiosity and admirable patience, Mary Jo Doherty follows one high school class for three years through Cuba’s famous National Ballet School, focusing principally on two teenagers – Mayara, shy but accomplished, and Gabriele, the equally talented extrovert. The quietly riveting film offers a privileged in-depth look at the training and home life of these students, culminating in a dramatic crisis when one dancer decides to take charge of her destiny.
DIRECTOR MARY JONE DOHERTY WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
TIZZY (2013) 3m
Director: Ysaye McKeever
Country: USA
A playful duet between a man and dodge ball, inspired by the form of a 12-bar blues.
Monday, February 3, 6:00pm

TAP OR DIE (2013) 62m
Director: Jackie Paré
Country: USA
For decades tap was a hugely popular performance dance form. But is it in crisis? This film tells the story of a genre through the prism of Derick Grant, an African American choreographer struggling to bring his hip, rousing show to Broadway. Mentored by the genre’s giants, Grant says tap has given him a voice. Indeed, his feet have something to say. A gallery of talented tappers raise their voices and make their moves, expressing their love for a dance form that may be in need of re-invention through role models and community support. Footage of legendary tappers–Bill Robinson, Honi Coles, Gregory Hines and more, adds pizzazz and interviews with hoofers and experts illuminate.
DIRECTOR JACKIE PARE WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
TAP TAP TAP (2013) 8m
Director: Kenneth Sherman
County: Canada
A dance parody of the infamous Republican Senator Larry Craig’s airport washroom sex scandal styled as a 1930’s Busby Berkeley film.
Friday, January 31, 3:30pm

NEW YORK PREMIERE
THE FABULOUS ICE AGE (2013) 73m
Director: Keri Pickett
Country: USA
The exciting journey begins in 1915 when a young German skater ignites America’s love with dancing on ice. “The Fabulous Ice Age” chronicles a century of theatrical skating, from Berlin’s Charlotte, to America’s Ice Follies, Ice Capades, Holiday on Ice, and the Sonja Henie shows, illustrating how these big spectaculars dominated live entertainment for decades while, simultaneously depicting one particular skater’s quest to share this history. Never before seen footage, photos and rare archival material introduce us to a handful of skaters, producers and entrepreneurs who helped change their world.
DIRECTOR KERI PICKETT, FIGURE SKATER/PHOTOGRAPHER/ARCHIVIST ROY BLAKEY (“UNCLE ROY”), FIGURE SKATER RICHARD “MR. DEBONAIR” DWYER WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Sunday, February 2, 1:00

THE MAN BEHIND THE THRONE (2012) 58m
Director: Kersti Grunditz
Country: Sweden
Until now, Vincent Paterson has remained the dance world’s best kept secret, avoiding the spotlight and concentrating on the work itself. So it may come as a surprise to learn that he is, as the film’s title suggests, the Man behind the careers of superstars Michael Jackson and Madonna, in fact, the inventor of some of their defining dance moves, as well as the choreographer who created the ensemble dance numbers for Bjork and dancers in Lars von Trier’s cult classic, Dancer in the Dark. Through previously unseen rehearsal footage from Paterson’s own private collection and iconic films clips that made history (Smooth Criminal, Blonde Ambition and more), the film looks at the private Vincent. From his family oriented Catholic boyhood in suburban Pennsylvania to the glamor factory of Hollywood and the heady experience of choreographing for Cirque de Soleil’s Viva Elvis!, this is a personal and professional journey to be savored.
DIRECTOR KERSTI GRUNDITZ WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
IT’S A FEELING: DANCING WITH JEFF SELBY (2013) 9m
Director: Diana Quinones Rivera
Country: USA
Jeff Selby has found his niche: As a dancer and teacher he inspires others but it could have been different. This engaging short establishes how family support and the love of dance have kept him on track through hard times growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood. Connecting to the sound of House Music he is moved to create his dynamic trademark New Style Hustle.
Monday, February 3, 8:30pm

US PREMIERE
THE UNSEEN SEQUENCE (2013) 69m
Director: Sumantra Ghosal
Country: India
THE UNSEEN SEQUENCE finds new meanings and renewed vigor in India’s classical dance tradition through one dedicated disciple. Malavika Sarukkai is a celebrated Bharatanatyam dancer rooted in that tradition but imbued with a uniquely contemporary sensibility that she exerts on this prescribed form, turning each performance into a new, revelatory experience.   As a superb interpreter of Bharatanatyam’s rhythmic and expressive aspects, she is the perfect guide for this investigation of an ancient art that has evolved from temple dance to court entertainment to a new, more universal model. Beautifully shot in temples and sacred sites, the film blends interviews, historic footage, and performance to create a truly mind enhancing experience.
INTRODUCTION and Q&A with HARI KRISHNAN, A BESSIE NOMIMATED CHOREOGRAPHER AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF DANCE AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
Screening with
PAS (2013)            4m
Director: Charli Brissey & Courtney Harris
Country: USA
This delightful parody draws upon ballet’s codified steps to embody animal qualities. Pas de chat and pas de cheval are ballet staples but take a look at this!
Friday, January 31, 1:00pm

SHORTS PROGRAMS

The short form is gaining ground as the ideal platform for exploring the relationship between dance and film. Whatever the mood, explosive (Carly’s Exit) or provocative (2412); bizarre (Magma) or lyrical (No More Worry, No More Blue); exuberant (Momentum) or whimsical (Drawing Blank), these filmmakers dare to push the envelope in original ways. The selection includes the concrete and the abstract and reveals that filmmakers and choreographers are partnering in exciting new ways.
Saturday, February 1, 3:30pm

2412  (2013) 8m
Director: John T. Williams
Country: USA
A highly controversial and thought-provoking film based on the 1984 G. Edward Griffin interview with EX-KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov discussing ideological subversion in the United States.

CARLY’S EXIT (2013) 7m
Director: Harry Amies
Country: UK
A dramatic and passionate film about one of life’s darkest subjects: A friend is in trouble, bent on self-destructing, but can one save her from herself?

DRAWING BLANK (2012) 6m
Director: Stefan Verna
Country: Canada
An artist discovers a magical property inside a discarded ink sketch. A miniature dance partner comes to life through the world of paper and ink.

HEALAH DANCING (2013) 5m
Director: Eve McConnachie
Country: Scotland
A study in motion as two Scottish Ballet dancers connect and disconnect. Erik Cavallari and Eve Mutso are the intense couple performing a duet of sensuous contact and electric fury.

MAGMA (2010) 6m
Director: Rannvá Káradóttir & Marianna Mørkøre
Country: Faroe Islands
Shot in the extreme landscapes of the remote Faroe Islands far up in the North Atlantic Ocean, free of dialogue or narrative, this film creates a bizarrely hypnotic atmosphere that recalls images from Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

MOMENTUM (2012) 7m
Director: Boris Seewald
Country: Germany
For some it is just an ordinary party snack, but for Patrick a tortilla chip started his moment of self-discovery. Through exuberant dancing he shares his inspiration and invites everyone to participate. Even his mother….”

NATURAL SELECTION (2013) 6m
Director: David Fishel
Country: USA
WORLD PREMIERE
This amusing film explores one woman’s battle against rigid forms. Created for Dances Made to Order.

NO MORE WORRY, NO MORE BLUE (2013) 4m
Director: Kathy Rose
Country: USA
Kathy Rose makes magic with her hand-made art. In this music video, she offers various visual interpretations of a poetic ballad by Greg Boyer. Here, images of water scenes, paper flying, mysterious figures in a surreal fantasy all combine to create a special universe.

ROOMS (2013) 6m
Director: Paul Sarvis
Country: USA
Two lives, a youthful one and an elderly one, are juxtaposed in separate yet interlocking images to suggest a relationship between the two even though one may not exist.

RULES OF THE GAME (2013) 9m
Director: Jeff & Rick Kuperman
Country: USA
Trust between four factory workers is severely tested when management turns a watchful eye on them.

THE PERFECT DANCE (2013) 9m
Director: Anne Elvedal
Country: Norway
A woman tries to find a rhythm with different men, but fails again and again until she finds her own. A comic yet moving narrative about finding true love.

DANCE AND COMMUNITY SHORTS PROGRAM

This program is dedicated to those artists who find their inspiration in community. These five short films share some common traits and demonstrate a youthful optimism, as well as a rebellious spirit that once ruled, sadly waned and seems, now, to be springing up in near and distant parts of the globe. From the rolling hills of West Virginia (Dan’s House) to the rough streets of Dublin’s inner city (The Area), these performers gather to tell their stories or simply express the desire to understand one another despite their differences.
Sunday, February 2, 3:30pm

DAN’S HOUSE (2012) 20m
Director: Michelle Fletcher
Country: USA
Inspired by Dan Wagoner, a choreographer with a unique vision, this film is a valentine to a beloved mentor and the choreographic aesthetic he cultivated during the 25 years he directed his company, Dan Wagoner and Dancers. Filmed on location at his 18th century farm house (no electricity!) in rural West Virginia, dancers, family and friends gather and a trio of performers unite to perform a playful, rambunctious series of dances in beautiful outdoor locations, with Wagoner himself as guiding spirit.

GIMP – THE DOCUMENTARY (2011) 14m
Director: Richard Move
Country: USA
Challenging the prevalent societal precepts about the nature of beauty, the dancer and the dance, this powerful film also makes visible an often invisible demographic, as it captures the creative process, performance and public response to the theatrical dance work “The GIMP Project” by Heidi Latsky Dance.

JE NE SAIS PLUS QUI A FAIT QUOI  (2013) 9m
Director: Antoine Renouard
Country: France
This intense movement piece with its seemingly unrelated, disparate characters, all expressing a different state of being, grows more compelling in its arc, reflecting both the absurdity and the necessity of attempted unity in a time of global disorder.

ONDEK  (2013) 6m
Director: Louis-Martin Charest
Country: Canada
A merchant sailor decides to leave behind a life at sea. As he orchestrates what is to be his last night in the company of his crewmates, dancing becomes the means to imprint this momentous time forever.

THE AREA (2013) 25m
Director: Ríonach Ní Néill & Joe Lee
Country: Ireland
The Macushla Dance Club for ages 50 and up is a motley group of people from Dublin’s rough and tough north inner city, who share a common love of dancing. Their lives are written on this city’s streets. Buildings may have gone up and got torn down, but they’ve excavated their memories from under car-parks, tenements and half-built ruins to share their lives, loves, losses, and most of all, their irrepressible joy for life.
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