French director, Claude Miller, whose films won many awards, including the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the French version of the Oscar, the César, died on April 4 in Paris. He was 70. Miller wrote and directed, “The Little Thief” about a troubled family and its offspring, other films include “Class Trip,” “A Secret,” “I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive,” and “Alias Betty.” His last film, “Thérèse Desqueyroux,” which was just selected […]
Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up Mary Mazzio’s documentary The Apple Pushers for distribution in the US. Narrated by Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton, The Apple Pushers follows immigrant street vendors who are rolling fresh fruits and vegetables into poor neighborhoods of New York City, where finding a fresh red ripe apple can be a serious challenge. These pushcart vendors, who have immigrated from all parts of the world and have sacrificed so much to come […]
by Francesca McCaffery Goodbye, First Love, the beautiful, new film by Mia Hansen-Love (Father of My Children) tells the tale of two young lovers, Camille (Lola Creton) and Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky), and their hard serious and young, first romance. Sullivan is a charismatic, sweet and sensual free spirit, darting in and out of Camille’s life, although he appears to completely adore her when they are together. Camille is very earnest and quite dramatic about her […]
Filmmaker Adam Christian Clark with Caroline and Jackie actresses Bitsie Tulloch (left) and Marguerite Moreau (right)
by Francesca McCaffery
One of the best narrative films I’ve seen screening at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival so far is the extraordinary debut feature written and directed by Adam Christian Clark- Carloline and Jackie.
The film centers around two sisters with an unexplained but hinted to have been very tough shared childhood. As Caroline (the wonderful Marguerite Moreau) flies in to see her younger sister Jackie (an amazing Bitsie Tulloch), we see her glancing at an “Anorexics Anonymous” brochure.Jackie has cooked a huge, thoughtful meal, (“Nana’s pot roast!”)and she and her new boyfriend Ryan (David Giuntoli- nicely understated) show Caroline their beautifully appointed, new craftsman home. Jackie is a designer, and it’s clear she has worked quite hard to achieve this still modest, but still, quite lovely lifestyle.
by Francesca McCaffery Juliette Binoche stars in Elles, a film that is strangely more sensual than sexual, considering one of its serious subject matters: Student prostitution in Paris. In Elles, (directed by Małgorzata Szumowska) Binoche plays an extraordinarily well-heeled journalist (one of her subjects even asks if her gorgeous shoes are “expensive”) for Elle Magazine. She is interviewing young female college students who become escorts to pay for their tuition and rent. Binoche’s character Anne […]
by Francesca McCaffery
The Tribeca Film Festival has some wonderful, new films this year- check out all listings and times here. Vimooz has a few great picks for you to check out. The Tribeca Film Festival runs through April 29th, 2012.
Rooftop Films announce the feature film lineup for the 16th Annual Summer Series presented by AT&T, featuring over 45 outdoor screenings with huge crowds, live music, spectacular venues and the best in new, independent, and foreign films. This year’s edition kicks off with some of the greatest new short films from all around the world on Friday, May 11th at Open Road Rooftop at New Design High School in the Lower East Side, and a special preview screening of Think of Me, starring Lauren Ambrose, on Saturday, May 12th also at Open Road Rooftop.
Rooftop Films has continued to experience remarkable growth since their initial single screening on the roof of founder Mark Elijah Rosenberg’s tenement building in 1997 and the focus remains on leveraging their grassroots popularity to bring out big crowds and shine a spotlight on new independent films that might otherwise never get the attention they deserve.
Acting as innovators and leading an event-based film marketing revolution, Rooftop Films has helped enable the success of many alumni, including Wasteland, Trouble the Water, Holy Rollers, Winnebago Man, and numerous others. In addition, through their Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund, they help more powerful, understated films not only be seen, but made; films such as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Patron Saints, Nancy, Please, and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom have received production or post-production support via the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund and gone on to have tremendous success at festivals and reaching wide, appreciative audiences.
However, the popularity and longevity of Rooftop Films comes primarily from the fact that their events take audiences beyond the average multi-plex movie going experience. This year is no different.
“Our aim at Rooftop Films,” says Founder and Artistic Director Mark Elijah Rosenberg, “is to immerse our audiences in new worlds, to bring them places they wouldn’t otherwise go, to provide intimate looks into unique lives. I’m excited about our feature film programming in 2012 because it includes daring and personal films on a wide range of subjects, from a diverse collection of filmmakers, and with every film we’ll be providing a unique cinematic experience.”
During the weekend of June 6-8, Rooftop Films will be presenting three films from the SXSW Film Festival to New York City: Caveh Zahedi’s (I am a Sex Addict) political documentary The Sheik and I, Matthew Lillard’s (Scream, SLC Punk) comic feature debut Fat Kid Rules the World, and Amy Seimetz’s dramatic thriller Sun Don’t Shine, about a road-trip gone bad.
Please find below the full line-up for the 2012 Summer Series listing of feature films. All shows include live-music before the screenings and most include filmmaker Q&As and after parties with complementary open bars. The Summer Series will also include over 20 programs of short films. The full schedule including locations and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Rooftop Films 16th Annual Summer Series Opening Weekend
Friday, May 11, 2012
This is What We Mean by Short Films
Opening Night of Rooftop Films 16th Annual Summer Series will feature grand stories in little packages, with some of the greatest new short films from all around the world.
Venue: Open Road Rooftop (350 Grand Street, LES)
Tickets, films and more info at: www.rooftopfilms.com
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Think of Me (Bryan Wizemann)
http://www.thinkofmemovie.com/
“Trembling with vulnerability, Lauren Ambrose is positively devastating” (The New York Observer) as a young single mother doing her best not to fall apart.
Venue: Open Road Rooftop (350 Grand Street, LES)
Tickets, films and more info at: www.rooftopfilms.com
Additional 2012 Feature Selections will include: (in alphabetical order)
Thérèse Desqueyroux directed by Claude Miller who died earlier this month, and starring Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier, will close the 65th Cannes Film Festival on 27 May. Claude Miller’s final film is described by the festival as an adaptation of François Mauriac’s novel “Thérèse Desqueyroux”. On the 4th of April of this year, Miller passed away, and this film is the final piece in his immense body of work, to which the […]
Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Ice (USA 2012), Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End (USA 2012) and Daryl Wein’s Lola Versus (USA 2012) have been added to the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19 – May 3) schedule. Featuring breathtaking displays of remote and beautiful landscapes that may never be seen again by human — or any — eyes, Chasing Ice chronicles the quest of photographer James Balog to create his project the Extreme […]
The Official Selection for short films to screen at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival was unveiled yesterday. The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury, presided over by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, will reward the best films from the Short Film Competition and the Cinéfondation Selection. Ten films have been selected from among the 4,500 films that were submitted to the selection committee to compete for the 2012 Short Film Palme d’or . For the first time, both a […]
William Friedkin’s “shockingly cool and blackly comic noir thriller” KILLER JOE will be the Opening Gala at the 66th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on Wednesday, 20 June. The EIFF runs from 20 June to 1 July 2012. KILLER JOE is directed by William Friedkin (THE FRENCH CONNECTION; THE EXORCIST) and stars Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church. KILLER JOE director William Friedkin said: “KILLER JOE […]
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced the 2012 Festival award recipients with “Special Flight” receiving two awards, the Full Frame Grand Jury Award and the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award.. The 57 documentaries screened in the NEW DOCS Program were eligible. Twelve awards were presented, including a Special Jury Award and two Honorable Mentions, to eleven different titles. 2012 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Award Winners The Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award was […]