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ALL IS LOST Starring Robert Redford is Opening Night Film for Philadelphia Film Festival | TRAILER

Philadelphia Film Festival

ALL IS LOST by writer/director J. C. Chandor is the Opening Night film of the 22nd Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF), premiering in the new state-of-the-art Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center on Thursday, October 17 . The film is described as “a gripping tale of solitude and survival in the face of disaster” and featuring a “tour-de-force solo performance from Robert Redford.” In ALL IS LOST Robert Redford plays a lone sailor who finds his yacht sinking after a collision with a discarded shipping container in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Also at the festival, Bruce Dern will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Kerry Bishé with the Rising Star Award. The Philadelphia Film Festival will run from Thursday, October 17 through Sunday, October 27

http://youtu.be/Lk_R04LfUQU
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Hollywood Black Film Festival Adds Film Diaspora Program

Hollywood Black Film Festival

MALAGASY MANKANY (LEGENDS OF MADAGASCAR)

The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) taking place October 2 to 6, 2013, in Hollywood, CA, has integrated a new sidebar, Film Diaspora, into its 2013 programming slate. Film Diaspora will showcase independent films and filmmakers from the African Diaspora. The lineup will include 11 films — three features, six shorts, and two documentaries from 8 countries — Nigeria, Haiti, Cameroon, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Madagascar, Burkina Faso and South Africa

FEATURES

FLOWER GIRL (Nigeria)
Writer: Jigi Bello, Director: Michelle Bello

MALAGASY MANKANY (LEGENDS OF MADAGASCAR) (Madagascar)
Writer/Director: Haminiaina Ratovarivony

NINAH’S DOWRY (Cameroon)
Writer/Director: Victor Viyuoh

SHORTS

MIDNIGHT SCORPIAN (Burkina Faso)
Writer/Director: Tony Amara

NHAMO (South Africa)
Writer/Director: Eunice Chiwesha Goldstein

OGONDAH (Nigeria)
Writer/Director: Willis Ikedum

SUNNI MAN (New Zealand)
Writer/Director: Hamish Mortland

TOUCH (London)
Writer/Director: Shola Amoo

UNSPOKEN (Nigeria)
Writers: Edith Nwekenta and Ola Laniyan

DOCUMENTARIES

ADOPTED ID (Haiti)
Writer: Andrew Togobo Director: Sonia Godding

TOGOBO SODIQ (London)
Writer/Director: Adeyemi Michael
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25 Films on Lineup for Narrative and Documentary Feature Competition at 17th Hollywood Film Festival

Hollywood Film Festival

A Star For Rose, directed by Daniel Yost and starring Debbie Allen

25 films have been chosen for Narrative and Documentary Feature Competition at the upcoming 17th Hollywood Film Festival, taking place from October 17 to 21, 2013, at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. Films include LIFE INSIDE OUT, directed by Jill D’Agnenica, which tells the story of a mother who returns to her dream of pursuing music, the passion of her youth, and through this finds a way to connect with her troubled teenage son. All filmmakers and talent in the movie are Hollywood based. The film was shot in and around Hollywood and embodies the festival’s theme of pursuing dreams. Another film is A STAR FOR ROSE, directed by Daniel Yost and starring Debbie Allen which tells the story of three lost souls, homeless on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk Of Fame, who meet in conflict, then slowly bond together to find meaning, humor and joy in their lives. Both of these projects will be presented here as World Premieres.

Hollywood Film Festival 2013 Lineup

NARRATIVE COMPETITION

AUTUMN BLOOD Markus Blunder, Austria
High in the mountains, a widowed mother dies, leaving her two children orphaned. Fearing being split up they keep their mother’s death a secret. They survive until villagers destroy their innocence when they brutally assault the girl. Now the siblings must come of age to protect each other and survive.

AUTUMN WANDERER, Nathan Sutton, USA (US Premiere)
While dealing with his father’s schizophrenia, and the very real possibility of it being passed down, Charlie meets the woman of his dreams. (Celebrating Hollywood)

BURTON & TAYLOR, Richard Laxton, United Kingdom
Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter star as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor – Hollywood’s most volatile on-again-off-again lovers who famously played out every high and low of their love affairs, marriages and divorces in the public eye. They made their last stage appearance together in the 1983 revival of Noel Coward’s, “Private Lives.” This is the story of their ill-fated reunion, on and off stage. (Celebrating Hollywood)

FIRST PERIOD, Charlie Vaughn, USA
Part John Waters, part John Hughes: When new girl Cassie and outcast Maggie team up to win the school talent show the reigning queen bees, the Heathers, make a gnarly plan to stop them. It will take courage, makeovers, and a rap battle for our (girls?) to beat them in true 80’s style.

LIFE INSIDE OUT, Jill D’Agnenica, USA (World Premiere)
A mother, returning to her musical roots, ventures into the world of open mic nights and takes her troubled teenage son, Shane, along for the ride. Despite a rocky entry, her first steps prove to be the catalyst for changing not only her own life, but Shane’s as well, in complex and unpredictable ways. (Celebrating Hollywood)

LOVE’S IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE (EL AMOR NO ES LO QUE ERA) Gabriel Ochoa, Spain
Alex comes into Lucia’s life, two youngsters who start discovering each other. Paz and Jorge see how their relationship is fading and they don’t know what to do. Albert and Irene meet after some decades of separation. “Love’s Not What It Used To Be” explains love using the physical law of divergent trajectories.

LOVELESS ZORITSA (CRNA ZORICA) Christina Hadjicharalambous, Radoslav Pavkovic, Serbia
Zoritsa is cursed! Every man who falls in love with her, dies in strange ways. Hunted by the shotgun-carrying villagers whose sons she has taken to the underworld, she can rely on just one person – the new stubborn police officer. Only that, he doesn’t believe in “mumbo jumbo” and he is tempted to test her “kiss of death”. A dark fairytale comedy about “cursed” love.

MISCHIEF NIGHT, Richard Zelniker, USA (World Premiere)
Troubled 17-year-old Sean Holloway falls in with a group of teenage outcasts called “The Misfits,” known around town for their petty crimes and vicious pranks. But on the eve of Halloween -Mischief-Night- things spiral out of control, culminating into brutal violence, and Sean finds himself deeply in over his head. The terrifying night becomes a fight for survival and freedom. (Celebrating Hollywood)

THE RED ROBIN, Michael Wechsler, USA (US Premiere)
Dr. Nathaniel Shellner, 75, has led an extraordinary life as a psychiatrist working with traumatized patients fleeing war zones in refugee camps and adopting children eventually, earning a Nobel Prize for his work. As Dr. Shellner succumbs to cancer on a frigid, icy day, the family convenes at the house where the couple raised the children for a final, bittersweet farewell. Or, that’s the idea until all hell breaks loose after Tommy arrives and accuses his father of adopting his children not out of concern for their future well-being, but to use them for some warped psychological experiment. Tommy’s accusation explodes the evening, revealing a host of incidents between Nathaniel and the various family members as well as their own interpersonal issues.

THE REPUBLIC OF TWO, Shaun Kosta, USA
A close examination of the high-stakes game of heterosexual cohabitation in Los Angeles. Tim wants to be a doctor and Caroline doesn’t quite know what she wants. They both know their love is real, but can that love endure a town full of possibilities and temptation? (Celebrating Hollywood)

SONGS FOR AMY, Konrad Begg, United Kingdom
After a disastrously debauched stag do, struggling musician Sean tries to redeem himself in the eyes of bride-to-be Amy. With his relationship hanging in the balance, he hatches a plan to win her back by writing the perfect album of songs, with help from his misfit bandmates. (Celebrating Hollywood)

A STAR FOR ROSE, Daniel Yost, USA (World Premiere)
Three lost souls, homeless on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk Of Fame, meet in conflict, then slowly bond together to find meaning, humor and joy in their lives. Rose (Debbie Allen), 50, an African-American woman who lost her child, becomes a surrogate mother to Marcy (Tara Walker), 20, new in town and living out of her car, naively thinking she can make it tap dancing on Search For A Star. Mort (John Savage), 50, a Gulf War vet in a wheelchair, brings chaos and excitement, while certain that the Shadow Government is out to get him. (Celebrating Hollywood)

WIENER DOG NATIONALS, Kevan Peterson, USA
A family adopts a runt of a dachshund from a shelter. Only time will tell if little “Shelly” and her new family are up for the challenges of entering the nation’s greatest wiener dog race, Wienerschnitzel’s “Wiener Dog Nationals.” One Nation, one race, one wiener.

YOU’LL BE A MAN (TU SERAS UN HOMME), Benoit Cohen, France
Leo is 10 and wise beyond his years. A solitary dreamer who seeks refuge in books. When the carefree 20-year-old Theo steps into his life, it forces Leo out of his shell. Despite their age difference, the two become best friends, helping each other face up to their responsibilities.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

BLOOD BROTHER, Steve Hoover, USA
The unmistakable power of love is celebrated in this story of one man’s decision to move to India and restart his life among the dispossessed. “Rocky Anna,” as the children living at an orphanage for those infected with HIV know him, was dissatisfied with his life in America. Having grown up without a close-knit family of his own, he found his calling– living and working with kids in need. Unlike others who simply passed through their lives, Rocky stayed, dedicating himself to their health and well-being. Despite formidable challenges, his playful spirit and determination in the face of despair proves to be an invaluable resource. (CineCause Spotlight)

DREW: THE MAN BEHIND THE POSTER, Erik P. Sharkey, USA (World Premiere)
“Drew: The Man Behind The Poster” is a story of artist Drew Struzan, whose most popular works include the iconic “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future,” and “Star Wars” movie posters. Featuring exclusive interviews with George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Michael J. Fox, Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg and many other filmmakers, artist and critics. (Celebrating Hollywood)

FINDING HILLYWOOD, Chris Towey, Leah Warshawski, USA
A unique and cinematic documentary about the very beginning of Rwanda’s film industry and a real-life example of the power of cinema to heal a man and a nation. (Celebrating Hollywood)

A FRAGILE TRUST: PLAGIARISM, POWER, AND JAYSON BLAIR AT THE NEW YORK TIMES, Samantha Grant, USA
“A Fragile Trust” tells the shocking story of Jayson Blair, the most infamous serial plagiarist of our time, and how he unleashed the massive scandal that rocked the New York Times and the entire world of journalism.

FRIENDS OF MINE, Matthew Palmer, USA (World Premiere)
“Friends of Mine” is a documentary about two young men who do community service work at a summer camp for individuals with developmental disabilities. This is the story of how it changes their lives. Given the chance to be who they truly are, they’ll never be the same again. (CineCause Spotlight)

FUREVER, Amy Finkel, USA
“FUREVER” is a quirky feature-length documentary that explores the human-animal bond and the dimensions of grief people experience over the loss of a pet. It examines our inability to let go of our beloved creatures, and the many processes by which we’re able to preserve more than merely their memories. (Celebrating Hollywood)

LITTLE HOPE WAS ARSON, Theo Love, USA
January 2010: In the buckle of the Bible Belt, 10 churches burn to the ground in just over a month igniting the largest criminal investigation in East Texas history. No stone is left unturned and even Satan himself is considered a suspect in this gripping investigation of a community terrorized from the inside-out. Families are torn apart and communities of faith struggle with forgiveness and justice in this incredible true story.

MILE, MILE & A HALF, Jason Fitzpatrick, Ric Serena
In an epic snow year, five friends leave their daily lives behind to hike the 219 mile John Muir Trail in 25 days while capturing the amazing sights and sounds they encounter along the way. They learn it is about the journey, not the destination. Come walk with us.

THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY, Paul Blackthorne, USA
British actor, Paul Blackthorne, and Australian photographer, Mister Basquali, head out across the United States to discover from everyday people what it means to be an American today. Along the way, our awkward duo finds inspiration and wisdom in unlikely places, and rekindles their love for America.

TINY, Christopher Smith, Merete Mueller
What is home? And how do we find it? One couple’s attempt to build a “Tiny House” from scratch with no building experience raises questions about sustainability, good design, and the changing American Dream. (CineCause Spotlight)

WALKING THE CAMINO, Lydia B. Smith, Spain
“Walking the Camino” follows six determined strangers on a life-changing journey across Spain. Whatever their motivation, no one can predict just how their paths will unfold, what personal demons or angels they will face, or what transformations they will undergo by trail’s end.
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Animal Cruelty Doc THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE To Open in NY Nov 8, LA Nov 15 | TRAILER

Documentary

Director Liz Marshall’s “progressive, consciousness raising” documentary film THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE will open in New York on November 8 at Village East Cinema, followed by Los Angeles on November 15 at Laemmle Music Hall. THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, which tackles the subject of animals used for food, clothing, entertainment and biomedical research, had its world premiere earlier this year at Hot Docs where it was voted a Top 10 Audience Favorite.

Award-winning filmmaker Marshall directs THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE through the heart and lens of acclaimed animal photographer Jo-Anne McArthur. Haunting and heart-warming, audiences experience a diverse cast of animal subjects rescued from and living within the machine of our modern world. Over the course of a year, Marshall shadows McArthur as she photographs several animal stories in parts of the U.S., Canada and Europe, with each photograph and story serving as a window into global animal industries. This visually arresting one-of-a-kind documentary shines a cinematic light on the animals we don’t easily acknowledge, the “ghosts” who are the animals trapped within the cogs of our voracious consumer world. McArthur’s epic photo project We Animals is comprised of thousands of photographs taken around the world, documenting animals with heart-breaking empathic vividness. THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE charts McArthur’s efforts to bring wider attention to a topic most of humankind strives hard to avoid.

The film has attracted the attention of progressives and celebrities alike, with kudos from Woody Harrelson, Bill Maher, James Cromwell, Bob Barker, and international animal and environmental advocates. Radiohead agreed to have their iconic song, “Give Up The Ghost,” in the film.

http://youtu.be/-sTQpZxqHKU
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Korean American Film Festival New York To Run October 24th to 26th

Korean American Film Festival New York

OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

The 2013 Korean American Film Festival New York (KAFFNY), dedicated to the Korean War and North Korea, will celebrate its 7th year in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. KAFFNY runs October 24th to 26th, 2013, and opens with the New York premiere of the feature-length documentary SEEKING HAVEN by Hein S. Seok. Making its East Coast premiere on closing night is the feature film OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, the first U.S. – North Korean co-production by first-time screenwriter and producer Joon Bai, himself a Korean-American Korean War refugee, and directed by In Hak Jang. This film was entirely shot in North Korea, with a North Korean cast and crew.

KAFFNY PROGRAM

OPENING NIGHT:

(Oct 24, 8PM, Village East Cinema)

East Coast premiere: SEEKING HAVEN (China, Laos, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand 2012, 51″) Documentary directed by Hein Seok

23-year-old Youngsoon Kim, a North Korean defector living in South Korea, is trying to reunite with the family members she had left behind. In 2003, Youngsoon escaped from North Korea to China, where she lived in hiding for 5 years. Years later, discovering that her sister had been sentenced to a political prison camp in the North, Youngsoon returns to China. There she hires a smuggler and attempts to broker her sister’s freedom.

MEMORY OF A FORGOTTEN WAR (USA 2012, 37″)

Documentary directed by Deann Borshay Liem and Ramsey Liem.

Conveys the human costs of military conflict through deeply personal accounts of the Korean War (1950-53) by four Korean-American survivors. Their stories take audiences through the trajectory of the war, from extensive bombing campaigns, to day-to-day struggle for survival and separation from family members across the DMZ. Decades later, each person reunites with relatives in North Korea, conveying beyond words the meaning of family loss. These stories belie the notion that war ends when the guns are silenced and foreshadow the future of countless others displaced by ongoing military conflict today.

With Short:

LYNN’S CLEANERS (USA 2013, 5″)

Short animation directed by Phillip Ahn

A portrait of an old dry-cleaners business in the outskirts of Chicago.

CLOSING NIGHT:

East Coast premiere: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (Korea USA 2012, 102″)

Fiction feature directed by In Hak Jang, screenwriter and producer Joon Bai in attendance.

(Oct 26, 9PM, Village East Cinema)

During the Korean War, a young nurse in the small town of Chunamri, North Korea, saves a wounded soldier who has been left behind during battle. Brought together by the unfortunate circumstance of war, theirs is a fateful meeting. His identity is unknown to her until he must return to South Korea. With the promise to return, the nurse waits a lifetime for him. Separated by war and countries between them, the young man tries everything to get back to the North but diplomatic relations between countries made it impossible for their reunion. As the years go by and their youth slips away from them, he finally gets an unexpected opportunity to fulfill his wish and return to her. But reunions are not easy and after years apart, they are met with more tragedy.

With Short:

PEAK (USA 2013, 4″)

Short animation directed by Sonnye Lim

Why do you climb mountains, little dog?

DONG-SIN HAHN TRIBUTE PROGRAM:

(Oct 26, 12PM, Village East Cinema)

One of America’s earlier Korean transnationals, Hahn based herself of out of New York, starting out as a student. As she built her knowledge base and experience, Hahn began to curate film, music and arts programs to introduce Korean culture to America. Whereas many take for granted the popularity of Korean films in America today, Dong Sin Hahn was a pioneer, presenting the first US retrospectives of Kim Ki-Duk (2008), Im Kwon Taek (2004) and Shin Sang Ok (2002) in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art. With her youthful spirit, she touched the lives of many local and international artists, spanning generations, and she became an irreplaceable hub of the artistic community.

KAFFNY pays tribute to Dong Sin Hahn’s groundbreaking curatorial choices with a selection from her programs. This year we present Kim Ki-Duk’s Address Unknown in keeping with the Korean War program to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the armistice. This film screened at MoMA on Monday, April 28 and May 8, 2008.

ADDRESS UNKNOWN (Korea 2001, 117″),

Fiction feature directed by Kim Ki-Duk

One of Kim’s more hot-blooded and extravagantly brutal melodramas imagines a village, Pyongtaek, in the 1970s, where commerce is intricately bound to an American army base. A mother and son live in an abandoned bus, where she writes to the boy’s father, a black G.I., only to have the letters returned marked “address unknown.” Her lover is a man who butchers dogs, and her son is his reluctant assistant; the son’s acquaintances include a young girl blind in one eye, the girl’s beloved pet dog, and a very shy boy. Communication takes place mainly through violent action.

FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS:

World premiere: FADING AWAY (USA 2013, 95″)

Documentary directed by Christopher H.K. Lee, filmmaker in attendance

(Oct 26, 430PM, Village East Cinema)

Never before told stories from a group of Korean War veterans and refugees through a series of insightful interviews and the use of rare historical film footage, photos and other archival material. These veterans and survivors share their stories in their own words with their sons, daughters and grandchildren with memories of catastrophe, fear, and the pains they vividly remember. The film is divided into seven parts, strung together and led by the powerful recollection of the journey of a thirteen year-old Korean War orphan who fled the North to the South as he recalls his memories and emotions of the war.

With short:

ASSUMED IDENTITY: THE ART OF SUSAN SPONSLER (USA 2011, 5″)

Short documentary directed by John Carstarphen

Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen is an internationally recognized artist, working in photography and mixed-media such as encaustic, fabric and other forms. Her work has been in the US Embassy in Panama and has shown in galleries from Seoul to Los Angeles. She currently works and lives in Texas, struggling to create work that challenges our perceptions of women and women-of-color.

This brief look at her life and work explores the influence of being a Korean-American adoptee on her work.

THE GIRL FROM THE SOUTH (Argentina, Korea 2012, 94″)

Documentary directed by Jose Luis Garcia.

(Oct 26, 645PM, Village East Cinema)

In 1989, José Luis García went with the Argentine delegation to a student festival in North Korea. García, who had just turned twenty-four, borrowed a VHS camera that joined him on his days of revolutionary tourism, recording the surrealistic landscape of that summer when North Korea opened its doors for the first time to thousands of young people from all over the world. The focus of his gaze changed when Lim Sukyung, a young activist, had come to Pyongyang representing the students of South Korea. Many years later, the pages of the internet began to toss out information about the fate of the “Flower of Reunification,” about her years in prison and other more banal news that was mixed with the death of her son and her reclusion for years in a Buddhist monastery. Shortly after Lim Sukyung reappeared in public life, the director contacted her by email and traveled to Seoul – with the objective of interviewing her.

With short:

5 PAR JOUR (France 2012, 5″)

Short fiction directed by Jun Cordon

A Korean baby, a hand, one Korean woman and a stewardess… she’s looking for something but what exactly?

OUR SON (USA 2013, 5″)

Short animation directed by Eric Ko

Celestial bodies and the fragility of happiness.

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Camden International Film Festival Engagement Summit to Focus on Aging

Camden International Film Festival, VIMOOZ

THE GENIUS OF MARIAN, directed by Banker White

The Camden International Film Festival announced its first annual Engagement Summit, a unique program developed in partnership with Working Films that will connect documentary filmmakers with Maine-based nonprofit leaders to develop community-based social action campaigns tied to documentary film screenings. The inaugural Engagement Summit will focus on the theme of aging and tie to a year-long thematic program called Aging in Maine.

The Aging in Maine program will continue during the Camden International Film Festival (September 26-29) with a curated series of documentary features and shorts that will help spark a public, inter-generational dialogue around the challenges and opportunities of Maine’s aging demographics. One highlighted film will be THE GENIUS OF MARIAN, directed by Banker White, which chronicles the filmmaker’s family responding to his mother’s diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s. Others include Chilean documentary THE LAST STATION, and a Danish film, LAST DREAMS.

“Camden National Bank is excited to be a sponsor of the Camden International Film Festival and a lead sponsor of Aging in Maine,” said Joanne Campbell, EVP, Camden National Bank. “This is a great way for Camden National to provide a voice around the issue of aging in the State of Maine, and provide sponsorship of a dynamic and growing local event CIFF.”

During the festival, approximately 15 nonprofit leaders and healthcare professionals from across the state will converge in Camden for a daylong strategic summit meeting on Saturday, September 28. A full list of participants is included below. This event will be an opportunity for participating organizations in the field of aging to explore how their work can be supported and enhanced through the use of powerful documentary films focused on the experiences of older adults, their loved ones and caretakers. The summit agenda will be designed and facilitated by Working Films, an organization that specializes in connecting storytelling with community engagement and action. Working Films’ involvement in Aging in Maine is part of their broader Reel Aging initiative, which positions compelling documentary media into the work of leading organizations serving the needs and advancing the rights of older adults across the country.

Following the festival and summit meeting, CIFF and Working Films will collaborate to screen these films in 8-10 communities across the state, allowing participating organizations to implement strategies developed at the summit and use the screenings to further their goals and inform the public of resources available to them within the aging network.

The Aging in Maine program is made possible by support from the Fledgling Fund, Camden National Bank, Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation and The Bingham Program. Additional partnerships include the University of Maine Center on Aging, the Portland Press Herald and The Conversation Project.

“We are thrilled to be presenting the inaugural Engagement Summit at this year’s Camden International Film Festival. This unique program will help us harness the power that nonfiction storytelling has as a conversation starter and a community builder,” said Ben Fowlie, Founder and Executive Director of CIFF. “Aging is an issue that affects each and everyone of us personally, and we believe that this program will be a great addition to the conversations that are already occurring throughout Maine.”

Points North Engagement Summit: Aging in Maine

List of Participants:

Jess Maurer, Executive Director, Maine Association of Area Agencies on Aging

Valeria Sauda, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems

Harriet Warshaw, Executive Director, The Conversation Project

Lenard Kaye, Director, UMaine Center on Aging

Roger Renfrew, American Geriatric Society

Gerard Queally, President/CEO, Spectrum Generations

Dave Brown, Community Liaison, Spectrum Generations

Dr. Ira Mandel, Medical Director, Pen Bay Healthcare’s Hospice and Palliative Care Program

Noelle Merrill, Executive Director, Eastern Area Agency on Aging

Steve Farnam, Executive Director, Aroostook Area Agency on Aging

Sharon Foerster, Program Manager – Geriatrics, MaineHealth

Joanna Rosenthal, Aging Consultation Services

Sheila Leddy, Executive Director, The Fledgling Fund

Judith Tierney, MaineHealth

Romaine Turyn, Director of Policy, Planning & Resource Development, Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Office of Aging and Disability Services)

Brooke Williams, Director, Communications and Grants, Making Community Happen

Banker White, Director/Producer, THE GENIUS OF MARIAN

Joanne Campbell, EVP, Camden National Bank
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Poster Unveiled for 51st New York Film Festival

New York Film Festival, VIMOOZ

The poster for the 51^st New York Film Festival, designed by Tacita Dean, was unveiled today. The festival runs September 27 to October 13, 2103. This Friday, September 27, the poster will be available for purchase at the New York Film Festival.
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OUR DAY WILL COME set for Release in the US on October 22nd | TRAILER

Foreign Language Films, VIMOOZ

OUR DAY WILL COME (“Notre jour viendra”), Romain Gavras’ debut feature starring Vincent Cassel and Olivier Barthélémy, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will be released in the US on October 22nd, 2013 by Oscilloscope Laboratories.

In OUR DAY WILL COME, two outcast redheads – a bullied teen and a psychologist – embark on a journey to Ireland, where they believe the color of their hair will be embraced. What begins as a quest for freedom gradually descends into a rampage of violence and destruction. With an assured filmmaking style previously displayed in his music videos (“No Church in the Wild” – Jay Z & Kanye West; “Bad Girls” – M.I.A., to name just a few), OUR DAY WILL COME marks the emergence of a major new auteur.

http://youtu.be/ejUqIUZ9nmo
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LINSANITY Documentary Slam Dunks in Theaters on October 4th | TRAILER

Documentary

LINSANITY, the documentary film about the rise of Asian American basketball player Jeremy Lin, will have its Florida premiere screening on Thursday, October 3rd, and in theaters the following day October 4th 2013. Directed by Evan Jackson Leong, the film premiered earlier this year at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

LINSANITY traces Lin’s life from his childhood in Palo Alto, California to his rise to prominence in 2012 with the New York Knicks in the NBA. It shows him overcoming discouragement and racism and achieving success through his faith and desire.

Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.

http://youtu.be/q14ooGPJZBs
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Hamptons International Film Festival Awards Alfred P. Sloan Film Prize to “DECODING ANNIE PARKER”; Announces 2013 Competition Lineup

Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF)

Helen Hunt in DECODING ANNIE PARKER

The 21st Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) will take place this year from October 10th to 14th, 2013, and announced its lineup of signature programs which includes “A Conversation With…” Helena Bonham Carter and Bruce Dern, The Alfred P. Sloan film prize awarded to DECODING ANNIE PARKER, the Conflict & Resolution Award winner PLOT FOR PEACE, and the Golden Starfish competition line-up.

Below is the complete list of films.

FILMS OF CONFLICT & RESOLUTION

ANA ARABIA (Israel/France)
US Premiere
Director: Amos Gitai
Beautifully and masterfully shot in one 81-minute take, ANA ARABIA follows Yael, a young journalist, as she meets a family of Jews and Arabs in a forgotten shanty enclave on the “border” between Jaffa and Bat Yam in Israel. Originally sent to interview Yussuf, the Muslim widower of a Jewish woman, Yael becomes engrossed in the man’s personal stories and the endangered, fragile balance of their physical space, orchard included. Renowned filmmaker Amos Gitai captures lyrical moments of connection and revelation while depicting a sublime metaphor of coexistence.

GOD LOVES UGANDA (USA)
Director: Roger Ross Williams
Through vérité interviews and hidden camera footage, GOD LOVES UGANDA takes viewers inside the evangelical movement in Uganda, where American missionaries have been credited with both creating schools and hospitals, and promoting dangerous religious bigotry. The film, deftly directed by Academy Award® winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams (MUSIC BY PRUDENCE), follows evangelical leaders in America and Uganda along with politicians and missionaries as they attempt the task of eliminating “sexual sin” and converting Ugandans to fundamentalist Christianity. Shocking, horrifying, touching, and enlightening, the film raises complex issues about religion, sexuality, and their uneasy intersection.

PLOT FOR PEACE (South Africa)
North American Premiere
Director: Carlos Agullo
A true story of intrigue, PLOT FOR PEACE traces the behind-the-scenes diplomatic maneuverings to release Nelson Mandela from jail in South Africa in the 1980s. For the first time, heads of state, generals, diplomats, master spies and anti-apartheid fighters reveal how Africa’s front line states helped end apartheid. One man stood at the center of the whirlwind, a mysterious French businessman dubbed “Monsieur Jacques.” Jean-Ives Oliver, a native of Algeria, gained the trust of the leaders and diplomats in the region as well as abroad, and Director Carlos Agullo gives us exclusive insight to this fascinating, determined and enigmatic man.

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS (Palestine/Lebanon)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Eliane Raheb
Eliane Raheb’s directorial debut is an incisive look at the psychological aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War. Assaad Shaftari was a high-ranking intelligence officer for an extreme right Christian faction during the war, and Maryam Saiidi is a mother still relentlessly seeking answers as to why her son, a student and Communist Party member, disappeared. Not only does Raheb bring their stories together, she instigates meetings between the two. We witness a soldier’s attempts at atonement and a mother’s rage, and learn that even after 30 years, Lebanon is a country not completely healed from its past.

THE SQUARE (Egypt/USA)
Director: Jehane Noujaim
“As long as there’s a camera, the revolution will continue,” says one of the young subjects of THE SQUARE. It does continue, and two years of struggle (right until the summer of 2013) are shown through the eyes of a group of protesters from all walks of society that first came together in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. The documentary follows these unlikely companions as they face violence, religious oppression, the assumptions of their elders, and the gap between their expectations and the reality of trying to change the country they will inherit.

Below is the complete list of narrative, documentary and short films in competition for the Golden Starfish awards.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: NARRATIVE

2 AUTUMNS, 3 WINTERS (France)
US Premiere
Director: Sébastien Betbeder
Cast: Vincent Macaigne, Maud Wyler
Arman has just turned 33. He longs for change. Maybe he’ll eat healthier? No, he decides to go jogging and, as he turns a corner, he bumps into the beautiful Amélie. The first meeting is a shock; the second will be like a stab in the heart. Benjamin is Arman’s best friend. Unlucky in life, his fortune is destined to change. Over the course of two autumns and three winters, the lives of the three intermingle and are filled with meetings, accidents, love stories, and memories in this stylish, original French romantic comedy.

BLUE RUIN (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Cast: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb, David W. Thompson
A classic American revenge story, BLUE RUIN follows a mysterious outsider whose quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family. Writer/director/D.P. Jeremy Saulnier, lauded for his work as cinematographer on provocative recent indies like PUTTY HILL and SEPTIEN, unspools his second directorial effort with stark economy and unnerving potency, crafting a guttural neo-noir that packs a mean, lean punch.

MISTER JOHN (Ireland/Singapore/UK)
North American Premiere
Director: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
Cast: Aidan Gillen, Zoe Tay, Michael Thomas, Claire Keelan
John was, in many ways, an enigma to his brother Gerry (Aiden Gillen). After John’s sudden and somewhat mysterious death, Gerry travels to Singapore to settle his brother’s shady business affairs and check on the man’s family. It’s also a convenient reason for Gerry to escape in the wake of his crumbling marriage. From its onset, MISTER JOHN dashes our dramatic expectations and––in the sure-footed hands of filmmakers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy and Gillen’s brilliant performance––remains consistently surprising as both a character study and a meditation on identity.

MOTHER, I LOVE YOU (Latvia)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Janis Nords
Cast: Kristofers Konovalovs, Vita V?rpi?a, Mat?ss Liv??ns, Indra Bri?e
Twelve-year old Raimonds lives with his single mom and does what he can to make her proud, like playing the saxophone in the school band. But his mischievous side lands him in trouble at school. He decides to hide a school note from his mom––and the lies escalate from there. He runs away from home with the help of his friend Peteris, who gives him the keys to an unoccupied apartment, an act that has unforeseen consequences. Janis Nords’ second film is a soulful story of friendship and truth set against the cool hues and the nightlights of Riga and featuring a 400 BLOWS-esque performance by newcomer Kristofers Konovalovs.

THE SELFISH GIANT (UK)
US Premiere
Director: Clio Barnard
Cast: Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder, Rebecca Manley, Siobhan Finneran
The arresting sophomore feature from Clio Barnard (THE ARBOR),THE SELFISH GIANT is a contemporary fable about 13-year old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood, the two boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder), a local scrapdealer––the Selfish Giant. Arbor emulates Kitten, keen to impress him and make some money. However, Kitten favors Swifty, leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded and driving a wedge between the boys. Barnard imbues her remarkable film with an unparalleled poetic touch and a keen perspective on adolescent yearning.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: DOCUMENTARY

BEFORE THE REVOLUTION (Israel)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Dan Shadur
For a certain group of Israelis in the 1960s and ’70s, Tehran, Iran was a utopia. Enjoying close relations with Shah’s regime, their paradise was built on construction contracts, weapons sales, and oil. Then the Iranian Revolution arrived. In what begins as a nostalgic quest to understand his family’s glory days, Dan Shadur’s tale becomes a thrilling documentary filled with rare home footage and interviews, revealing a new perspective on the 1979 overthrow. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION reminds us that memory can be deceptive and, in a world of constantly shifting political dynamics, often manipulated.

BEHIND THE REDWOOD CURTAIN (Belgium)
International Premiere
Director: Liesbeth De Ceulaer
Imbued with a mesmerizing, dreamlike quality, Liesbeth De Ceulaer’s confident first feature takes us to the majestic Redwood Forest and introduces us to people who have strong personal connections to this once isolated region of California. Through seamless vignettes and stunningly saturated cinematography, we meet activists, scientists, loggers, tree dwellers, and Native Americans who share their compelling stories and their bond to these impressive ancient woods, which are now being threatened by excessive logging. De Ceulaer’s bold documentary transports us to this unique and fabled land.

CHIMERAS (Finland/Sweden/China)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Mika Mattila
Cast: Liu Gang, Wang Guangyi
At the height of his career as one of China’s most successful contemporary artists, Wang Guangyi is settling into middle age with increasing ambivalence, a frontline witness to his scene’s contradictory commercial impulses. Meanwhile, Liu Gang is a supremely promising new face on the scene, plucked from art school and thrown into the high gloss world of corporate-sponsored gallery openings and fawning from largely Western curators. In CHIMERAS, Finnish director Mika Mattila weaves the lives of these two men in subtle yet enthralling blend of cinéma vérité, art biography, and prescient cultural analysis.

CODE BLACK (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Ryan McGarry
“C-Booth,” the trauma bay at the Los Angeles County Hospital, was the toughest and best training facility for ER doctors in the country. In 2008, the County Hospital moved from its historic structure to a modern facility, catapulting the medical staff into an institutional identity crisis. CODE BLACK follows a group of young doctors as they grapple with the divide between their idealistic expectations and the realities of a heavily bureaucratic system. Director Ryan McGarry––a full-time resident doctor at County while making this film––poses the question: can they change the system?

DESERT RUNNERS (USA)
East Coast Premiere
Director: Jennifer Steinman
Any single race in the 4Desert Ultramarathon Series is a life-threatening challenge. DESERT RUNNERS is a thrilling documentary about ordinary people who endure the 150 mile ultra-marathons through the world’s four most treacherous deserts in one year: the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Gobi Desert in China, the Sahara in Egypt, and Antarctica. Filled with physical and emotional highs and low, the film goes beyond the terrain to reveal their personal obstacles and determination. This captivating story combines stunning scenery with an intimate view into the complex way human beings deal with heartbreak and triumph.

GOLDEN STARFISH AWARD: SHORT FILM

THE RUNAWAY (France)
New York Premiere
Director: Jean-Bernard Marlin

THE HORSE AND THE NIGHTINGALE (Netherlands)
International Premiere
Director: Nazli Elif Durlu

KUSH (India/USA)
North American Premiere
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani

GYPSY (Portugal)
North American Premiere
Director: David Bonneville

WHALE VALLEY (Denmark/Iceland)
US Premiere
Director: Gudmundur A. Gudmundsson
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Rome Film Festival Announces First Four Films in 2013 Competition

Rome Film Festival

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB by Jean-Marc Vallée, with Matthew McConaughey

The Rome Film Festival taking place November 8-17, 2013, announced the first four English-language films in the Competition line up, which are ANOTHER ME written and directed by Isabel Coixet, with Sophie Turner, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Claire Forlani, Gregg Sulkin, Rhys Ifans, Geraldine Chaplin; DALLAS BUYERS CLUB by Jean-Marc Vallée, with Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto; HER written and directed by Spike Jonze, with Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson; and OUT OF THE FURNACE written and directed by Scott Cooper, starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe.

ANOTHER ME
Written and directed by Isabel Coixet
With Sophie Turner, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Claire Forlani, Gregg Sulkin, Rhys Ifans, Geraldine Chaplin, Leonor Watling
U.K. Spain, 2013, 86’
A psychological thriller about a teenage girl, Fay (Sophie Turner), whose once seemingly perfect life slowly begins to unravel when she suspects that she’s being stalked by a mysterious “double”, who is out to steal not just her identity, but her life.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
With Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto
U.S., 2013, 117’
In 1985, the devil-may-care existence of Ron, an electrician and rodeo cowboy from Texas, is suddenly blindsided by an unexpected event; he is diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given thirty days to live. Despite what everyone says, Woodroof refuses to accept this “death sentence” and begins his struggle for survival. He soon discovers that there are no approved treatments in the United States, and so decides to cross the border into Mexico where he learns about alternative medical treatments, and begins to smuggle the new medications into the United States. Ron challenges the American scientific community and even his doctor Eva Saks (Jennifer Garner). An outsider to the gay community, the hero finds an unlikely ally in Rayon (Jared Leto), an H.I.V.-positive transsexual who shares Ron’s lust for life and entrepreneurial spirit. Seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines, together they establish a “Buyers Club,” where AIDS patients pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Ron fights for dignity, for his new friends, and for the acceptance of their rights.

HER
Written and directed by Spike Jonze
With Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson
U.S., 2013, 120’
Set in Los Angeles, in the near future, Her follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet “Samantha,” a bright, female voice (Scarlett Johansson) who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other.

OUT OF THE FURNACE

Directed by Scott Cooper, written by Brad Ingelsby and Scott Cooper
With Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe
U.S. U.K., 2013, 116’
Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell’s brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so – with nothing left to lose – Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother.

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Kevin Cooper’s “THE PAINTER” NYC Premiere at UrbanWorld Film Festival | TRAILER

Urbanworld Film Festival

The anti-violence short film “THE PAINTER,” premiered at the UrbanWorld Film Festival. Written and directed by Kevin Cooper, and starring Ron Caldwell, THE PAINTER tackles the tough subject of how violence is robbing the innocence of our youth. Cooper partnered with non-profit organizations UCAN and Youth Guidance, to include children from high risk areas in the filmmaking process. “It was inspiring working with these children…a film about the violence with the help of victims,” says Cooper.

In THE PAINTER, a boy, barely 12-years-old, lives in a world where violence surrounds him. His sole means of survival is to escape the violence outside by creating art. He is alone – abandoned for as long as he can remember. He begins this day like every other: quietly sipping a cup of coffee in his run-down kitchen, walls covered with newspaper clippings that chronicle the epidemic death toll in the inner city. Amid wailing sirens and a squawking police scanner, he sits uncomfortably…cleaning a paintbrush. An interviewer’s voice, unsure of what he is witnessing, asks the boy to explain his existence…his art. Though the police instruct the boy to “return to work”, the interviewer holds them off until finally the boy agrees to show us his art. Step inside the line…his art – a world at war. Are you ready?

http://youtu.be/h3vkH84Kazw
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