• Rapper 50 Cent Documentary HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS Gets A Release Date

    Matthew Cooke’s documentary, HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS has a release date. The film produced by Bert Marcus and Adrian Grenier. Adrian, Matthew, Bert, Neil Franklin and Barry Cooper; and featuring Russell Simmons, Susan Sarandon, David Simon (creator of “The Wire”), Bobby Carlton, Brian O’Dea, Freeway Rick Ross, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will open in NYC at the IFC CENTER on June 26, with other cities to follow.

    HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS is described as a shockingly candid examination of how a street dealer can rise to cartel lord with relative ease; an insider’s guide to the violent but extremely lucrative drug industry. Told from the perspective of former drug dealers, and featuring interviews with rights advocates Russell Simmons, Susan Sarandon, and David Simon (creator of “The Wire”), the film gives you the lessons you need to start your own drug empire while exposing the corruption behind the “war on drugs.”

    http://youtu.be/ZSz8emdfYOE

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  • FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan Coogler Wins Un Certain Regard AVENIR PRIZE at Cannes Film Festival

    FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan Coogler won the AVENIR PRIZE in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.  FRUITVALE STATION originally named FRUITVALE won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award earlier this year at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film will be released July 26 by The Weinstein Company.

    FRUITVALE STATION, is the true story of Oscar (Michael B. Jordan) , a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother, whose birthday falls on New Year’s Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend, who he hasn’t been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to T, their beautiful 4 year old daughter. He starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easy. He crosses paths with friends, family, and strangers, each exchange showing us that there is much more to Oscar than meets the eye. But it would be his final encounter of the day, with police officers at the Fruitvale BART station that would shake the Bay Area to its very core, and cause the entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant. 

    Trailer below…

    http://youtu.be/CxUG-FjefDk

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  • Coen Brothers “INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS” Wins the Grand Prix Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

    The Coen brothers – Ethan COEN and Joel COEN newest film, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS won the Grand Prix Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is at a crossroads. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles-some of them of his own making.

    Trailer below.

    http://youtu.be/R4GGOXkY5CI 

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  • BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR Wins the Palme d’or of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3983" align="alignnone" width="550"]BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR[/caption]

    BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (La Vie d’Adèle – Chapitre 1 & 2) by Abdellatif Kechiche won the biggest prize – Palme d’or of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

    After receiving his award from American actress Uma Thurman, Abdellatif Kechiche,  accompanied by his two actresses, declared: “I want to remind everyone of a man who helped me find my way, who I love and who I miss: Claude Berri. I want to dedicate this prize and this film to the wonderful young people of France who I met while making this film and who taught me so much about the hope for freedom and of living in harmony together. And to the young people who, not so long ago, lived through the Tunisian revolution, so as to inspire them to live in freedom, express themselves in freedom and love in freedom.”

    BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR tells the story of Adele (Adèle EXARCHOPOULOS) who at 15, doesn’t question it: a girl goes out with boys. Her life is turned upside down the night she meets Emma (Léa SEYDOUX), a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

    The complete list of winners include

    Palme d’Or
    LA VIE D’ADÈLE – CHAPITRE 1 & 2 (Blue Is The Warmest Color) by Abdellatif KECHICHE with Adèle EXARCHOPOULOS & Léa SEYDOUX

    Grand Prix
    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS by Ethan COEN and Joel COEN 

    Award for Best Director
    Amat ESCALANTE for HELI  

    Jury Prize
    SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (Like Father, Like Son / Tel Père, Tel Fils) by KORE-EDA Hirokazu 

    Award for Best Screenplay
    JIA Zhangke for TIAN ZHU DING (A Touch Of Sin)

    Award for Best Actress
    Bérénice BEJO in LE PASSÉ (The Past) by Asghar FARHADI 

    Award for Best Actor
    Bruce DERN in NEBRASKA by Alexander PAYNE 

    SHORT FILMS 

    Palme d’Or
    SAFE by MOON Byoung-gon 

    Special Mention – tie
    HVALFJORDUR (Whale Valley / Le Fjord des Baleines) by Gudmundur Arnar GUDMUNDSSON
    37°4 S by Adriano VALERIO

    CAMERA D’OR 
    ILO ILO by Anthony CHEN presented in the Directors’ Fortnight

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  • Short Film: Forget Your Cares and Go, “DOWNTOWN” at Cannes Film Festival

    by Jaclyn Gramigna

    My newest film, “Downtown,” is a registered film in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival! At a running time of just under 3 minutes, this super short film poses the question, “what if a girl has a very private moment, in a very public place?” Despite its length, “Downtown,” takes its audience on a roller coaster of feelings. Beginning with a touch of confusion (which quickly turns into heated desire) the film challenges its audience’s comfort zone and makes even the most self assured blush.

    The film features up-and-coming starlet, Aurora Heimbach, who’s openness and commitment is much of what makes the project successful. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Aurora moved to NYC just over a year ago and has already graced the stages of more than a few of its theaters. Viewers of the film have said that she is a sure star in the making; don’t be surprised if you find her lingering in your thoughts. Another up-and-comer, Benjamin Frankenberg (also a graduate of SCAD), plays an enthralling counterpart to Aurora’s spark.

    I’m delighted to say, that the film was shot, on location, in Brooklyn, NY. My cinematographer, Caitlin Machak, and I made the decision to shoot on 35mm film and, though it increased our budget (between processing, telecine and professional color correction) it was well worth it. This was my first opportunity to work with 35, and as film stock is disappearing from the film industry, it might be one of the only chances I get; needless to say, I went for it. The shots, themselves, give a beautiful, floating, view of the action and these days, short films are rarely shot on film, so the look definitely sets it apart from the crowd.

    It has been a great journey, making this film, and to see it garner such a wonderful response, thus far, is fantastic and incredibly humbling. I have begun submitting it to festivals around the world and am very much looking forward to representing it at Cannes this May! Look out for “Downtown,” at a film festival near you! 

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  • Cambodian Film THE MISSING PICTURE by Rithy Panh Wins UN CERTAIN REGARD Prize at Cannes Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3978" align="alignnone" width="550"](L’IMAGE MANQUANTE) The Missing Picture[/caption]

    THE MISSING PICTURE (L’IMAGE MANQUANTE) by Rithy Panh won the top prize, PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD, in the Un Certain Regard section at 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The auto-biographical film is set during the Khmer Rouge dictatorial rule of Cambodia in the late 1970’s and Panh’s failure to find “missing pictures” to document the proof of mass murders and other atrocities against his family. Since there is no proof, hence the “missing pictures,” the director tells the story using using hundreds of artfully carved clay figures to represent his family.

    Complete list of winners:

    PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD
    THE MISSING PICTURE by Rithy PANH
     
    JURY PRIZE
    OMAR by Hany ABU-ASSAD
         
    DIRECTING PRIZE
    Alain GUIRAUDIE for STRANGER BY THE LAKE
     
    A CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE
    For the ensemble cast of LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ
     
    AVENIR PRIZE
    FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan COOGLER 

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  • Chicago Student Anahita Ghazvinizadeh’s NEEDLE Wins Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation Selection

    Needle

    NEEDLE directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, won First Prize of The Cinéfondation Selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The Cinéfondation Selection consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of nearly 1 550 entries coming from 277 film schools around the world. As part of the winning prizes, the First Prize winner, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, is also guaranteed that his first feature film will be presented at the Cannes Film Festival.

    In NEEDLE, Young Lilly played by Florence Winners is going to get her ears pierced. A quarrel between her parents overwhelms the situation and directs it differently.

    The complete list of winners of The Cinéfondation Selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

    First Prize:
    NEEDLE directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
    The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

    Second Prize:
    WAITING FOR THE THAW (En attendant le dégel) directed by Sarah Hirtt
    INSAS, Belgium

    Third Prize ex-aequo: 
    ÎN ACVARIU (In the Fishbowl) directed by Tudor Cristian JURGIU 
    UNATC, Romania

    Joint Third Prize: 
    PANDY (Pandas) directed by Matúš VIZÁR
    FAMU, Czech Republic

     

    Needle – Trailer from Anahita Ghazvinizadeh on Vimeo.

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  • Vampire Flick “ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE” Starring Tilda Swinton and Premiering at Cannes Film Festival to Get U.S. Release

    Jim Jarmusch’s “ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE,” which had its world premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in the In Competition section is headed to U.S. theaters, via Sony Pictures Classics.

    Starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin and Jeffrey Wright, “ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE” takes place against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier and follows an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, who reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister.

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  • Filipino Crime Thriller “ON THE JOB” to Get a Fall 2013 Release Date in U.S.

    The Filipino crime thriller, “ON THE JOB” directed by Erik Matti, will be released in the U.S. in Fall 2013 by Well Go USA. “ON THE JOB” had its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

    On The Job was inspired by a real-life corruption scandal involving the temporary release of inmates so they could work as contract killers for crooked politicians. It stars many of the Philippines’ mainstream actors including Piolo Pascual, Gerald Anderson, Rayver Cruz, Shaina Magdayao, Empress Schuck, alongside vets such as Joel Torre, Angel Aquino, Vivian Velez, Joey Marquez, Leo Martinez, Michael de Mesa, Al Tantay and Niño Muhlach.

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  • Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’Or Winner “THE LUNCHBOX” to Get U.S. Release

     

    The award winning film, THE LUNCHBOX, written and directed by Ritesh Batra, and starring Irrfan Khan (LIFE OF PI), Nimrat Kaur and Nakul Vaid will be released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics. THE LUNCHBOX was the winner of the Viewer’s Choice Award, Grand Rail d’Or, winner at the 2013 Critics’ Week at Cannes Film Festival.

    In THE LUNCHBOX, a mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality. 

    “I am thrilled Sony Pictures Classics is on board with THE LUNCHBOX. The film is a delicate story with lots of humour and pathos, and Sony Pictures Classics is a good home for our film and a great team,” says Director Ritesh Batra.

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  • “THE SELFISH GIANT” from 2013 Cannes Film Festival to Get U.S. Release

    Clio Barnard’s THE SELFISH GIANT which made its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at this year’s 2013 Cannes Film Festival will be released in the US by Sundance Selects.

    THE SELFISH GIANT, written and directed by Barnard (THE ARBOR), stars Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Sean Gilder, and is described as a contemporary fable about a thirteen-year-old boy named Arbor (Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood, the two boys meet Kitten (Gilder), a local scrapdealer.  They begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart.  Swifty has a natural gift with horses while Arbor emulates Kitten – keen to impress him and make some money.  However, Kitten begins to favor Swifty, leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded, driving a wedge between the boys.  Tensions build, leading to a tragic event, which transforms them all.

    This marks the third film from Cannes Film Festival that Sundance Selects will release in the U.S., including writer-director François Ozon’s Competition title YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL with a star-making turn from actress Marine Vacth and Abdellatif Kechiche’s BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, also playing in the Competition section

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  • SEE the Trailer for Bollywood bromantic comedy FUKREY, Release Date Set For June 14

    See the the trailer for the wild and hilarious Bollywood bromantic comedy FUKREY that hits the big screen on June 14. This new film about four slackers in Delhi comes from the blockbuster producing duo of Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar whose recent hits include Talaash starring Aamir Khan, Don 2 with Shah Rukh Khan, and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara starring Hrithik Roshan.

    College. Three of the most important years of your life. Three years of studies (at times) and sheer indulgence. Indulgence in all the little pleasures that a carefree life has to offer. But it isn’t always about ragging, fuchcha parties, college fests, raves and churning out ways to whack some extra pocket money from your parents. It’s sometimes hard, ugly and complicated. More so, when you really need to get admission in the coolest college in town and you know you don’t deserve it. And to top that, you get yourself involved in the most bizarre situations that could crack you into pieces before you could crack it.

    FUKREY is one such crazy story of four restless and hapless souls, running after their individual desires, brought together by one dream, which turns their not so simple life upside down. From breaking school walls, to cross dressing dancers at the Ram Lila; from a Jugaad Baaz college watchman to leaking examination papers; from a female pimp, who runs her drug cartel through Nigerian henchmen to visionary dreams. Can the four ‘Fukrey’, the four nobodies, twist their fate and dreams into reality or will they forever be lost in the obscurity that they come from?

    FUKREY stars Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Priya Anand, Vishakha Singh, Pankaj Tripathi, and Richa Chadda.

    http://youtu.be/0A6gpPuw9ak

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