• Maryland Film Festival Adds Twelve More Films to 2013 Lineup

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    Maryland Film Festival unveiled twelve more feature films in the festival’s 2013 lineup.  The list includes two highly anticipated documentaries with Baltimore subjects, Jeffrey Schwarz’s loving and definitive portrait I Am Divine (photo above), and Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk’s Catonsville Nine documentary Hit & Stay.   

    Also featured are a wide range of international films including Augustine (France), Berberian Sound Studio (UK), Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico), and Watchtower (Turkey); Sundance 2013 breakthrough dramas A Teacher and This Is Martin Bonner; and the latest from David Gordon Green, Prince Avalanche.

    MFF 2013 will take place May 8-12 in downtown Baltimore.

    The latest announced titles for MFF 2013 are:

    Augustine (Alice Winocour) Set in Belle Epoque France, Alice Winocour’s provocative period piece chronicles the sexual awakening of a female patient in a mental hospital for women suffering from “hysteria.”

    Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland) In the 1970s, a gifted but reclusive British sound engineer begins having ever-escalating strange experiences the mirror that Italian horror film on which he’s working.

    Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg) Kate and Luke form a close bond working together at a Chicago craft brewery-but as the line between friendship and romance gets blurry, cracks begin to show, both in the workplace and their personal lives. Starring Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston.

    Hit & Stay (Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk) This Baltimore-made documentary tells the story of the radical priests, nuns, and everyday people who comprised the Baltimore Four and the Catonsville Nine, risking prison to challenge U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

    I Am Divine (Jeffrey Schwarz) From the director of Vito comes the definitive documentary look at actor, singer, and drag icon Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine; featuring extensive interviews with John Waters and many others who knew, loved, and worked with Divine.

    Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) Functioning as both an immersive experiential documentary about modern commercial fishing and a feature-length experimental film, Leviathan offers an explosive and chaotic sensory experience like no other.

    Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas) The director of challenging art-house favorites Battle in Heaven and Silent Light returns with his most personal and transgressive film yet, a masterful meditation on natural wonder, sudden violence, and the human condition.

    Prince Avalanche (David Gordon Green) Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch star as highway workers with a bumpy history paired for a project in a remote location in this charming blend of comedy and drama from the director of George Washington and Pineapple Express.

    Swim Little Fish Swim (Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar) In this offbeat French/U.S. co-production with notes of deadpan comedy and romance, hardworking Mary’s frustration with her idealistic husband Leeward mounts when a vivacious young French woman enters their life.

    A Teacher (Hannah Fidell) Diana, a young suburban high-school teacher, seems to be leading a pleasant, if placid, life-but behind closed doors, she’s risking it all for an affair with one of her students.

    This Is Martin Bonner (Chad Hartigan) Fifty-something Martin Bonner looks for a new beginning in Reno, working with released prisoners for a faith-based organization. This subtle and moving character study won the Sundance 2013 Best of Next Audience Award.

    Watchtower (Pelin Esmer) Plagued by tragedy and guilt, a man takes a job in a remote corner of Turkey-but the solitary new life he builds for himself is challenged by the arrival of a young woman, also running from her past.

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  • REVIEW: Nor’easter

    by Christopher McKittrick 

    Father Erik (David Call) is a young priest on an island off the coast of Maine who is new to the island after the previous priest left under less-than-holy circumstances.  Along with the problem of a dwindled congregation, he is confronted by a family torn apart by the disappearance of their son.  Josh went missing when he was eleven years old and his father, Richard (Richard Berkins) is adamant that his son is still alive, but his long-suffering wife Ellen (Haviland Morris) enlists Erik’s help in convincing Richard to have a funeral for Josh.  After Richard finally agrees to finally “bury” his son, Josh (Liam Aiken), now sixteen, reappears.  When asked where he has been the only response he offers his parents and the police is, “I heard I was dead. I didn’t like that.”  However, he reveals the truth to Erik before disappearing again, and Erik, bound by his vows, is unable to reveal Josh’s whereabouts.  However, Erik will not let that prevent him from returning Josh home again.

    Nor’easter features some remarkable performances.  Call’s Erik plays hockey on the mainland as an escape and joined the priesthood to find answers for problems in his own life, though there are indications that he questions his decision.  Call conveys Erik’s doubt without making Nor’easter overdramatic or melodramatic, and though he has been acting for years it’s clear he is only a lucky role away from a major breakthrough.  On the same level, veteran actor Danny Burstein turns in an extraordinary performance in a role that I don’t want to spoil.  His character is a major part of the film despite his limited screen time, and it was an extraordinarily brave decision on his part to take on the role of such a manipulatively heinous character.  However, a majority of the praise is due to writer/director Andrew Brotzman, who has created a refreshing thriller that pits the sacred rules of the clergy versus the rule of law and the moral obligation to save a boy’s life.  In particular, the staging of the climax is particularly clever.



    However, there were a few bits that confused me.  After being a key character in the beginning of the film, Ellen is hardly present after the funeral.  Likewise Josh’s sister, Abby (Rachel Brosnahan) is a vastly underdeveloped character.  Her relationship to Josh is ambiguous, but again she only seems to exist to move a single scene along.  Instead of complete characters, they seem to be dashed “offstage” as soon as they serve their purpose.  I was also taken aback by the editing.  Nor’easter contains some beautiful scenery of snowy Maine that are rapidly cut, and I’m not sure why the pace was so quick in some parts because this 85 minute film mostly has an otherwise effectively slow pace.  Were these cuts a technical issue?

    Still, Nor’easter is a rookie winner for Brotzman.  Although some might be turned off by the subject matter, there is so much potential here that it’s definitely worth a look.

    RATING: A slow-paced, slow-burning thriller that reveals a lot of fresh talent (4 : See it ……. It’s Very Good / 5).

     

    Nor’easter Trailer from David Lowery on Vimeo.

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  • Zulu Starring Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom to Close 2013 Cannes Film Festival

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    The 66th Festival de Cannes aka Cannes Film Festival, has chosen the thriller Zulu starring  Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom and Tanya van Graan to close the festival on May 26, 2013. The film which shot entirely on location in South Africa by Jérôme Salle is adapted from the novel of the same name by Caryl Férey.

    The action takes place in Cape Town, in a South Africa still overshadowed by apartheid, where destitute townships rubs shoulders with affluent neighborhoods  Two cops on the beat, Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean by Gore Verbinski, Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland by Kevin McDonald, Ghost Dog, La Voie du Samouraï by Jim Jarmush) are caught up in a suspenseful search which combines elements of political film noir and social study.

    Interesting tid bit: In 1988, Forest Whitaker won Best Male Actor at Cannes for his role in Clint Eastwood’s Bird.

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  • Opening Night Red Carpet Photos of 2013 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

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    The 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles kicked-off Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles with a red carpet and the Los Angeles premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s GANGS OF WASSEYPUR, followed by a gala. 

    Celebrities in attendance included Actress Freida Pinto and director Anurag Kashyap (pictured above).

    The film festival, which runs through April 14, is showcasing 30 plus narrative and documentary features and short films.

     

    From left – Actress Freida Pinto, director Anurag Kashyap and Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on the Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. Kashyap’s film GANGS OF WASSEYPUR opened the film fest that runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     From left – Guneet Monga, CEO and Producer AKFPL and Sikhya Entertainment who is also an honoree of IFFLA’s Industry Leadership Award 2013, Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), and director Vasan Bala whose film PEDDLERS is part of the film fest line-up on the Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. The film fest runs through April 14
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     Actors Parvesh Cheena and Ben Rappaport with Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on the Opening Night Red Carpet of the film fest Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles.The film fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     Director Anurag Kasyap whose film GANGS OF WASSEYPUR opened the 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles addresses the audience prior to the screening while Christina Marouda, IFFLA Founder and Chair of the Board, looks on. The fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

    Director Wendy J.N. Lee whose award-winning documentary PAD YATRA: A GREEN ODYSSEY is screening at the 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) poses on the  film fest’s Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. The fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

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  • Marijuana Documentary California 90420 Headed to Netflix for 420 Day

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    Feature documentary CALIFORNIA, 90420 that focuses on the rapidly growing marijuana trade in California and profiles leaders of California’s marijuana legalization efforts, will expand to meet the anticipated increased demand prior to National Weed Day, April 20, 2013, aka 420 day.

    Recently available on DVD, Amazon VOD, iTunes and Free on Hulu, CALIFORNIA 90420 will be released on Netflix around 4/20/2013, a date celebrated as a holiday each year in the marijuana community.

    California’s Proposition 19 campaign to legalize recreational marijuana was narrowly defeated, but is widely regarded as paving the way for the passage of Washington and Colorado’s recreational marijuana laws.  Dale Sky Jones, the current president of Oaksterdam University and newly elected chair of California’s 2016 legalization campaign, is prominently featured in the film.

    Directed by Dean Shull, CALIFORNIA, 90420 offers viewers an in-depth look into Oaksterdam University, the nation’s first college preparing students for careers in the medical marijuana industry and the epicenter of California’s legalization efforts.

     

    http://youtu.be/eIYShFZcWuc

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  • I Used to Be Darker from 2013 Sundance Film Festival To Be Released in the Fall

    Matt Porterfield’s “I Used to Be Darker,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. will be released this Fall by Strand Releasing. 

    Starring Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Ned Oldham and Kim Taylor, the film tells the story of when Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, finds herself in trouble in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. But Kim and Bill have problems of their own: they’re trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter Abby, just home from her first year of college.

    A story of family revelations, people finding each other and letting each other go, looking for love where they’ve found it before and, when that doesn’t work, figuring out where they might find it next.

    Interesting tid bit, director Matt Porterfield lives in Baltimore and teaches at Johns Hopkins University, and has directed two previous films, 2006’s Hamilton and 2011’s Putty Hill, also set in Baltimore.

    http://youtu.be/AOaTQIFGWt4

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  • Pedro Almodóvar’s Kinky Comedy Film I’m So Excited! to Open 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival

    The North American Premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s I’m So Excited! will double as the opening night film for the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival on Thursday, June 13. 

    Starring Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas and Raúl Arévalo, and featuring cameos from Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz,  I’m So Excited! follows a very mixed group of travelers in a life-threatening situation on board a plane flying to Mexico City.  They let off steam, attempt to seduce and be seduced, lie to themselves and each other, and battle with fear, loneliness and the prospect of death.

    The film’s release is set for June 28, 2013 from Sony Pictures Classics.

    Now in its nineteenth year, the festival will return to downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. LIVE, and will run from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 23, 2013.

    http://youtu.be/KAwsgR5MhjI

     

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  • NOR’EASTER to Screen at the 2013 Sarasota International Film Festival

    NOR’EASTER is screening this upcoming weekend at the 2013 Sarasota International Film Festival in Sarasota, Florida. NOR’EASTER was written and directed by Andrew Brotzman.

    A young priest, Erik (David Call, TINY FURNITURE, Gossip Girl) serves as the lone Catholic authority on a small island off the coast of Maine. After a poorly attended mass, Erik is visited by Ellen Greene, the mother of Joshua, a child who has been missing for five years. Josh’s absence has pushed Ellen’s marriage to the breaking point, and though her husband strenuously objects, she and the priest decide to hold a symbolic funeral in an effort to move on.

    When the family’s decision becomes public, Josh inexplicably returns to the island, alive and well. Now sixteen years old, Josh appears unharmed, but refuses to answer questions about where he has been.

    Erik interprets Josh’s return as a divine event and involves himself in the family’s affairs in an effort to both help them and affirm his own faith. He proves to be the only one able to uncover Josh’s past whereabouts, but in doing so, causes more problems than he could have ever anticipated, threatening his relationship to the family, the church, and the law.

    NOR’EASTER was written and directed by Andrew Brotzman. It has a running time of 85 minutes and is not yet rated by the MPAA.

    The 2013 Sarasota International Film Festival runs April 5 – 14, 2013 in Sarasota, Florida.

    Nor’easter Trailer from David Lowery on Vimeo.

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  • Juries Announced For 2013 Tribeca Film Festival incl. Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Haggis

     

    Bryce Dallas-Howard, Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Haggis, Taraji P. Henson, Riley Keough, Kenny Lonergan, Eva Longoria, Sheila Nevins, Josh Radnor and Evan Rachel Wood are among the diverse group of 42 industry leaders, including award-winning filmmakers, writers, producers, acclaimed actors, respected journalists and entrepreneurs, who will serve as the jurors of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF).

    The jury will be divided among the seven competitive Festival categories. The winning films, filmmakers and actors in each category will be announced at the TFF Awards Night ceremony, streamed live on TribecaFilm.com on April 25. The 2013 Festival runs from April 17 –28.

    Following is a list of all 2013 Festival and Tribeca Film Institute jurors and their respective categories.

    World Competition Categories


    The jurors for the 2013 World Narrative Competition are:

    Kenny Lonergan:  Academy Award®-nominated playwright, filmmaker and screenwriter. Credits include You Can Count On Me, Gangs of New York, and Margaret. His stage credits include Lobby Hero, The Waverly Gallery and This is Our Youth. He is a member of the Naked Angels Theater Company in New York.

    Bryce Dallas-Howard: Multi-award nominated actress, director, writer and producer. Acting credits include The Help, 50/50, The Twilight Saga, Hereafter, Restless, Lady in the Water, The Village and the HBO adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. She directed the short film When You Find Me as part of Canon’s innovative and inaugural “Project Imagin8ion” campaign and directed one of five short films included in The Lifetime Original Movie event “Call Me Crazy: A Five Film.”

    Paul Haggis:  Academy Award®-winning filmmaker whose credits include Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima, Casino Royale, In the Valley of Elah and television including Thirtysomething and The Tracey Ullman Show.

    Blythe Danner: Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress. Stage credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Betrayal, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, The Miser and The Seagull. Film work includes The Great Santini, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge and Meet the Parents. 

    Jessica Winter: Senior editor at Time magazine, directing coverage of the arts and culture. Her writing has appeared in Time, The New York Times, Slate, The Guardian and many others. Previously served as a juror at the London and Vancouver International Film Festivals.

     

    The jurors for the 2013 World Documentary Competition are:

    Whoopi Goldberg: Makes her directorial debut at in the 2013 TFF with the documentary I Got Somethin’ To Tell You. One of an elite group of artists who have won an Academy, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards.

    Sandi Dubowski: Director and producer whose award-winning work has screened at Tribeca, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals; BBC, PBS, and ZDF-Arte; and in cinema release globally. Credits include Trembling Before G-d, A Jihad For Love and Budrus.

    Joe Berlinger: Academy Award® nominated filmmaker and two-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and director. Films include Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and Crude.

    Evan Rachel Wood: Critically acclaimed actress who has garnered Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominations. Credits include The Wrestler and HBO’s Mildred Pierce. Stars in the 2013 TFF selection A Case of You.

    Mira Sorvino: Academy Award®-winning actress best known for Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Replacement Killers, Mimic and Norma Jean and Marilyn.

     

    Emerging Competition Categories

     

    The jurors for the 2013 Best New Narrative Director are:

    Stu Zicherman: New York-based screenwriter, producer and director. Co-created the ABC’s Six Degrees and wrote and produced ABC’sWhat About Brian and FX’s Lights Out. Has written feature scripts for several major studios and made his feature directorial debut at the 2013 Sundance Film festival with the comedy A.C.O.D.

    Ari Graynor: Film, stage and television actress and producer. Credits include the films For a Good Time Call, Celeste and Jesse Forever,10 Years, Holy Rollers, Conviction and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and the television series The Sopranos and Fringe. Broadway credits include The Performers, Relatively Speaking and The Little Dog Laughed.

    Naomi Foner: Academy Award®-nominated and Golden Globe-winning screenwriter, producer and director. Writing credits includeRunning on Empty, Losing Isaiah and Very Good Girls.

    Radha Mitchell: Australian actress, Radha Mitchell who currently stars on the ABC series Red Widow is best known for her work in past feature films such as High Art, Man on Fire, Finding Neverland and Woody Allen’s Melinda & Melinda.

    Tony Gilroy: Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter and director whose credits include Dolores Claiborne, Michael Clayton and the Jason Bourne series.

     

    The jurors for the 2013 Best New Documentary Director are:

    Taraji P. Henson: Academy Award® nominee for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Hustle & Flow, Date Night,Karate Kid, and Think Like a Man. Currently stars in the CBS hit Person of Interest.

    Josh Radnor: Actor, writer and director best known for the Emmy Award-winning television series How I Met Your Mother. He wrote, directed and starred in Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts and next appears in Jill Soloway’sAfternoon Delight.

    Jared Cohen: Founder and director of Google Ideas, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an author. His books include: The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business; Children of Jihad; andOne Hundred Days of Silence. Previously served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and a close advisor to Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton.

    Riley Keough: Actress whose film credits include The Runaways, The Good Doctor, Jack and Diane and Magic Mike.

     

    Short Film Competition Categories

     

    The jurors for the 2013 Narrative Short Film Competition are:

    Sheila Nevins: President of HBO Documentary Films, is responsible for overseeing the development and production of all documentaries for HBO, HBO2 and Cinemax. She has overseen the creation of more than 500 documentaries and has earned dozens of awards, including, Primetime Emmys, News and Documentary Emmys, and Peabody Awards.

    Kassem Garaibeh: Actor, comedian, and co-founding talent of Maker Studios, a network that includes over 10,000 channels on YouTube. Credits include his award-winning YouTube series California On and Going Deep.

    Jessica Hecht: Stage and screen actress known for roles on Breaking Bad, Bored to Death, Friends and Law and Order. She appears in 2012 selections The English Teacher and Space Cadet, and is starring on Broadway in The Assembled Parties.

    Chris Milk: Artist, music video director and photographer. Credits include Wilderness Downtown, Last Day Dream, The Johnny Cash Project and videos for Kanye West, U2, Arcade Fire and Gnarls Barkley. Co-creator of the 2013 TFF Storyscapes selection This Exquisite Forest.

    Christine Baranski: Tony, Emmy, SAG and American Comedy Award-winning actress. Stage credits include The Real Thing, Rumors, Lips Together Teeth Apart, Boeing-Boeing, Hurlyburly and The House of Blue Leaves. Screen and television credits include The Good Wife, Cybill, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Chicago, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cruel Intentions, The Ref, Reversal of Fortune and Mamma Mia!

     

    The jurors for the 2013 Documentary and Student Short Film Competitions are:

    John Skipper: President of ESPN Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. Frequently appears on “most influential” lists in such outlets as Sports Business Journal, CableFAX Magazine, Business Week and The Sporting News. 

    Eva Longoria: Golden Globe-nominated and SAG and ALMA Award-winning actress, producer, businesswoman and philanthropist best known for ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

    Bobby Flay: Acclaimed chef, restaurateur, Food Network star and cookbook author. Hosted and produced 3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay, The Next Food Network Star and is an Iron Chef on Iron Chef America.

    Jason Silva: Television personality, media artist, filmmaker and techno-philosopher who has presented at TED Global, Google, The Economist Ideas Festival and at keynote events for Microsoft and IBM on the evolution of technology and its effect on humanity.

    Danny Strong: Emmy Award-winning writer of HBO’s Game Change and is currently writing the two-part finale of The Hunger Games. Also an actor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls and Mad Men.

    Abigail Breslin: Academy Award®-nominated actress best known for Little Miss Sunshine. . Other credits include M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, New Year’s Eve, My Sister’s Keeper,  Zombieland, Rango and The Call. Forthcoming films include Haunter, Ender’s Game, Final Girl and August: Osage County.

     

    Storyscapes

     

    The jurors for the 2013 BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Award for Transmedia:

    Jeff Gomez: CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, the world’s leading expert at expanding entertainment properties, premium brands and socio-political themes into highly successful transmedia franchises and international campaigns.

    Frank Rose: Bestselling author, speaker and digital anthropologist known for his books The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories and Into the Heart of the Mind. Contributing editor to Wired magazine.

    Thomas Allen Harris: Filmmaker whose videos and installations have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney, Corcoran Gallery and the London Institute of the Arts.

     

    TAA Creative Promise Awards

    The jurors for the 2013 TAA Creative Promise Award—Narrative are:

    Rubén Blades:  Panamanian-born musician, recorded over 20 albums, won eleven Grammys, acted in over 30 films. Ran for the Panamanian presidency in 1994. Was Minister of tourism there from 2004 through 2009. Holds degrees from Panama’s Universidad Nacional, Harvard Graduate Law School and received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

    John Forte: Grammy-nominated recording artist, composer, music producer, educator and activist. Former Fugees. Co-producer of the 2013 TFF selection The Project.

    Tea Leoni: New York-native and actress whose credits include Flirting with Disaster, Spanglish, You Kill Me, Bad Boys, Family Man and Tower Heist.

     

    The jurors for the 2013 TAA Creative Promise Award—Documentary are:

    Shola Lynch: Director, Producer and Writer whose documentary credits include Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed, and the recently released in theaters, Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. 

    Sol Guy: Culture ninja and social entrepreneur who has worked with Lauryn Hill, Outkast and P. Diddy. Co-creator and host of the series 4REAL and currently developing a new TV series, The Talent Show.

    Rachel Dratch: Funny-lady best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, creating the characters Boston Teen Denise, Debbie Downer, Denise and Sheldon. Credits include Down with Love, Click and 30 Rock.

     

    TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund

    The jurors for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, including the Heineken VOCES awards are:

    Julia Bacha: Brazilian media strategist and award-winning documentary filmmaker who highlights under-documented stories from the Middle East. Most recently directed and produced the short My Neighborhood, winner of a 2013 Peabody Award.

    Carlos Gutierrez: Co-founder and executive director of Cinema Tropical.

    Leonardo Zimbron: Latin producer best known for his films Efectos Secundarios, Bajo la Sal, Viento en Contra and Nosotros los Nobles. 

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  • San Francisco International Film Festival to Honor Oscar Winning Screenwriter Eric Roth

    Academy Award winning screenwriter (Forrest Gump) Eric Roth will receive the 2013 Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival running April 25 – May 9, 2013. 

    Over the past four decades, Eric Roth has been a major screenwriting presence in Hollywood. Roth won an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for his screenplay for the Best Picture-winning Forrest Gump (1994), directed by Robert Zemeckis. He received his second Oscar, Golden Globe and WGA Award nominations for the screenplay for Michael Mann’s The Insider (1999), for which Roth also won the WGA’s honorary Paul Selvin Award and a Humanitas Prize. He garnered both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for the screenplay of Steven Spielberg’s drama Munich(2005), and for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which also brought Roth a BAFTA nod. Roth’s other writing credits include Robert Redford’s The Horse Whisperer (1998), Michael Mann’s Ali (2001), Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd (2006) and a contribution to one of the last films by legendary film director Akira Kurosawa, Rhapsody in August(1991). More recently, he wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated filmExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close, based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.

    The Award is named in honor of Maurice Kanbar, a longtime member of the board of directors of the San Francisco Film Society, film commissioner and philanthropist with a particular interest in supporting independent filmmakers. Kanbar is the creator of New York’s first multiplex theater and, most recently, Blue Angel Vodka.

    Previous recipients of the Kanbar Award are David Webb Peoples (2012), Frank Pierson (2011), James Schamus (2010), James Toback (2009), Robert Towne (2008), Peter Morgan (2007), Jean-Claude Carrière (2006) and Paul Haggis (2005).

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  • Cinematographer Bill Butler to Receive Charleston International Film Festival Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award

     

    Bill Butler, the respected and innovative cinematographer, who has worked on films including Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Grease, Rocky II – IV, Flipper, Stripes, Anaconda and many, many more will be honored at the 2013 Charleston International Film Festival.

    To celebrate Butler and his contributions to the industry, Charleston International Film Festival (CIFF), is presenting him with the festival’s inaugural lifetime achievement award. The award will be presented during the Awards Gala and festival finale on Sunday, April 28.

    In the film industry, Butler is recognized as an innovator in television and motion pictures. He says the most gratifying aspects of his career have been the technical (camera and light) advances he made, collaborations with other gifted directors and actors, the caliber of his final work and, above all, his interactions with crewmembers. He was an Oscar nominee for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and a two-time Emmy Award winner, among many other awards and accolades.

    At 91, Butler is living in Montana and still hard at work. “All I know is filmmaking,” said the Colorado-native. “I’m reading a script I just got today from someone who wants to know if I want to do it. And sure I’ll do it. I still work very well out there on the set.” He added, “There’s no retirement for me… I’m trying to get all out of life I can. I’m out there giving it hell.”

    It will be Butler’s first visit to the Holy City since filming the independent feature Deceiver in 1997.

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  • Civil War Drama ‘The Retrieval’ Takes Top Award at 2013 Phoenix Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3505" align="alignnone" width="550"]The Retrieval[/caption]

    The 13th Phoenix Film Festival, which ran from April 4-11, 2013, and screened more than 150 films, wrapped on Sunday night with the announcement of this year’s Copper Wing Award winners.

    The Retrieval, a civil war drama, scored three awards including the Cox Audience Award. Best Picture, went to Putzel, a heartwarming and hilarious tale of a man who realizes that sometimes you have to leave home to find yourself and to find true love. Best Documentary went to Los Wild Ones, a music documentary about LA based indie record label, Wild Records, directed by Phoenix’s own, Elise Salomon.

    2013 Phoenix Film Festival

    Copper Wing Award Winners

    International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Fest Awards

    Best Sci-Fi Short: White Room: 02B3
    Best Sci-Fi Feature: Channeling
    Best Horror Short: Killer Kart
    Best Horror Feature: Found.

    Short Film Awards

    Best Grade/HS: Alone Together
    Best College Short: If You’re Serious
    Best Arizona Short: Say What You Want
    Best Documentary: Short:Ivan and Arnold: Day Laborers From Both Sides of the Border
    Best Live Action Short: 6 Years, 4 Months & 23 Days
    Best Animated Short: Head Over Heels

    World Cinema Awards

    Best World Cinema Short: Half Good Killer
    World Cinema Best Documentary: Occupy The Movie
    World Cinema Best Director: David Ondricek, In the Shadow
    World Cinema Best Picture: Inch’Allah
    World Cinema Audience Award Winner: Ninah’s Dowry

    Foundation Awards

    Arizona Filmmaker of the Year: Bob Marquis
    Volunteer of the Year: Bill Mondy
    Board Member of the Year: Chris LaMont

    Feature Film Awards

    Dan Harkins Breakthrough Filmmaker Award: Fredrik Stanton, Uprising
    Special Jury Prize: Lou Taylor Pucci, The Story of Luke
    Best Ensemble: The Retrieval
    Best Director: Chris Eska, The Retrieval
    Best Screenplay:Paul Osborne, Favor
    Best Documentary: Los Wild Ones
    Best Picture presented by FX Movie Channel: Putzel

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