• William And The Windmill Leads Award-winners of the 2013 South by Southwest Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3337" align="alignnone" width="550"]William And The Windmill[/caption]

    William And The Windmill directed by Ben Nabors took the top prize when the Jury and Special Award-winners of the 2013 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking and winners of the SXSW Film Design Awards, as well as Special Awards, including the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award and the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award.

    SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2013 JURY & SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS

    The 2013 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:

    Feature Film Jury Awards

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

    Grand Jury Winner: WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL
    Director: Ben Nabors

    Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography: Touba
    Director of Photography: Scott Duncan

    Special Jury Recognition for Directing: We Always Lie To Strangers
    Directors: AJ Schnack & David Wilson

    NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

    Grand Jury Winner: Short Term 12
    Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

    Special Jury Recognition for Ensemble Cast: Burma
    Christopher Abbott, Gaby Hoffmann, Christopher McCann, Dan Bittner, Emily Fleischer, Jacinta Puga, Matt McCarthy, Kelly Aucoin

    Short Film Jury Awards

    NARRATIVE SHORTS

    Winner: Ellen is Leaving
    Director: Michelle Savill

    Honorable Mention: Sequin Raze
    Director: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro

    Honorable Mention: SKIN
    Director: Jordana Spiro

    DOCUMENTARY SHORTS 

    Winner: SLOMO
    Director: Josh Izenberg

    Special Jury Recognition for Acting: Tishuan Scott, The Retrieval

    MIDNIGHT SHORTS

    Winner: The Apocalypse
    Directors: Andrew Zuchero

    ANIMATED SHORTS 

    Winner: Oh Willy…
    Director: Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels

    MUSIC VIDEOS

    Winner: Vitalic, “Stamina”
    Director: Saman Keshavarz

    TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS

    Winner: The Benfactress
    Director: Alina Vega

    SXSW Film Design Awards

    EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN

    Winner: Kiss of the Damned
    Designer: Akiko Stehrenberger, Gravillis Inc

    Special Jury Recognition: We Always Lie To Strangers
    Designer: Erik Buckham, PALACEWORKS

    EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN 

    Winner: Joven & Alocada
    Designer: Pablo González, Fabula

    Special Jury Recognition: Crave
    Designer: Raleigh Stewart, Iron Helmet

    SXSW Special Awards

    SXSW CHICKEN & EGG EMERGENT NARRATIVE WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD
    Winner: Hannah Fidell, A Teacher
    Special Mention: Katie Graham. Zero Charisma

    LOUIS BLACK “LONE STAR” AWARD
    Winner: Loves Her Gun
    Director: Geoff Marslett

    KAREN SCHMEER FILM EDITING FELLOWSHIP
    Presented to: Jim Hession

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  • Documentary “American Meat” Premieres in New York City

    [caption id="attachment_3333" align="alignnone" width="550"]Farmer Joel Salatin in American Meat[/caption]

    The pro-farmer documentary American Meat will open on Friday, April 12, 2013 at New York City’s Cinema Village for its first theatrical screening. The Friday, April 12th opening of American Meat will include a grass carpet entrance, and one of the farmers featured in the film, Joel Salatin, will be dropped off on a tractor.

    American Meat is described as a solutions-oriented, macroscopic, “pro-farmer” documentary surveying the current state of the U.S. meat industry. Featuring Fred Kirschenmann, Joel Salatin, Steve Ells, Chuck Wirtz, Paul Willis, and other farmers across America, the film takes an even-handed look at the past and future of animal husbandry and meat production in America. The film explains how America arrived at its current industrial system and introduces the charismatic industry leaders who are working hard to create practical and tangible solutions to change it for the better.

    “The ‘celebrities’ featured in American Meat are the hard-working farmers that feed America and the ones that are doing so in a way that’s better for the planet and the animals,” said Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat. “This premiere isn’t about glitz and glamour; it’s about paying tribute to these small-town heroes and educating the public about these important issues.”

    The film’s New York City premiere concludes a 10-state tour of the film at universities and high schools as part of the film’s yearlong Young Farmer Screening Series.

    http://youtu.be/knNLZvphhfs

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  • DVD Indie: Cult Horror Indie Film “Skew”

    Independent horror feature film SKEW is now available on DVD on Redbox in the U.S.A. and will be available on iTunes April 2nd, 2013. SKEW will be released on DVD in Japan on April 5th, 2013.

    SKEW follows three close friends who head out on an eagerly anticipated road trip with video camera in hand to record their journey.  What starts out as a carefree adventure slowly becomes a descent into the ominous as unexplained events threaten to disrupt the balance between them.  One by one they must struggle with personal demons and paranoia as friendships are tested and gruesome realities are revealed…and recorded.

    Within the same vein as The Blair Witch Project, writer/director Sevé Schelenz creates a first-person account in psychological horror that will keep audiences on edge until its revealing conclusion. 

    The filmmakers announced that SKEW has been accepted in over 50 festivals, won several awards including “Best Feature” (Nevada Film Festival), “Best Director” (Late Night Horror Film Festival) and “Indy Spirit Award” (Horrorfest).  The film has received great reviews and found distribution in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Russia and Japan.

    http://youtu.be/IjwBwuKD8mI

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  • Unmasking The Takeover of Brooklyn in New Documentary “My Brooklyn”

    [caption id="attachment_3328" align="alignnone" width="550"]Fulton Mall in the 1980′s, photo by Jamel Shabazz[/caption]

    by Cecily Witcher

    My Brooklyn is a documentary by Kelly Anderson and Allison Lirish Dean that touches on the gentrification of the Brooklyn borough and how it affects the local Brooklyn residents. A large portion of My Brooklyn explores the downtown area know as Fulton Street that was once home to the famous Albee Square Mall which had a major influence on the community as well as the hip hop world internationally. The Fulton Mall was once the 3rd most profitable shopping district in New York but now that local experience that drew people from all over the world to the Fulton Mall has been stripped with the closing of the Albe Square Mall as well as the local owned stores have been replaced with major chains.

    [caption id="attachment_3329" align="alignnone" width="550"]Arnold cuts hair at Jack’s Barbershop in Downtown Brooklyn[/caption]

    The documentary also touches on the high rises that have been built-in the downtown Brooklyn area that provide enormous tax breaks for the already healthy. The film My Brooklyn is an eye opener with facts that explain why the “gentrification” of Brooklyn is happening with little regards to the community residents that have built up the Fulton Mall area. 

    Cecily Witcher Interviews Kelly Anderson

    http://youtu.be/t3s-DjjA3LI

    Trailer – My Brooklyn

    http://youtu.be/rD_t-OMy3dM

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  • The Best Bike Movies from Around the World at 2013 Filmed by Bike in Portland, Oregon

    The 11th Annual Filmed by Bike is a film festival that features the best bicycle movies from around the world. The festival takes place at the Clinton Street Theater, 2516 SE Clinton Street, Portland, Oregon, on April 20-23, 2013. Love is born, victories are achieved and fantastic feats are accomplished as stories of two-wheeled adventures cycle across the silver screen in eight minutes or less.

    [caption id="attachment_3326" align="alignnone" width="550"]Sandy On Bikes[/caption]

    * Filmed by Bike was started in 2003.

    * 40% of the submissions come form Portland, the rest come from around the world.

    * The festival features an array of film genres including documentary, animation, drama and comedy.

    * The festival is only shown in Portland, Oregon

    * Festival attendees come from all over the region. In 2008, Amtrak reportedly sold out of space for bicycles on the Cascades line because of the number of bike-enthusiasts traveling from Seattle to Portland for the festival.

    * 120 movies are submitted. 40 movies are shown.

    The opening day is Saturday, April 20 and features the New Belgium Street Fest in the middle of Clinton Street. The event is all ages and features a Speed Raffle presented by Sock Dreams, live entertainment, a beer garden, a video storytelling booth, a photo booth and a gigantic bike parking arena.

    source: Filmed by Bike

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  • DVD Indie: Bizarre Modern Noir Dark Comedy “Dark Arc”

    Dan Zukovic’s Dark Arc, described as “a bizarre modern noir dark comedy” was recently released on DVD and Netflix through Vanguard Cinema, and is currently debuting on Cable Video On Demand. The film which had it’s World Premiere at the Montreal Festival, and it’s US Premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival stars Sarah Strange (“White Noise”), Kurt Max Runte (“X-Men”, “Battlestar Gallactica”,) and Dan Zukovic (director and star of the cult comedy “The Last Big Thing”). Featuring the glam/punk tunes “Dark Fruition”, “Ire and Angst” and “F.ByronFitzBaudelaire”, and a dark orchestral score by Neil Burnett.

    The synopsis describes the film … “From the director of the 90’s cult hit “The Last Big Thing” a modern comedy noir about love, lust, art and the power of the image in today’s culture. “Dark Arc” tells the story of Viscount Laris, an eccentric modern-day dandy obsessed by the power of art and visual imagery to mold the behavior and psychology of the individual. With his complicit female muse Juxta, he orchestrates an elaborate series of staged visual events for the sole purpose of subliminally influencing the life of a harmless, down-to-earth graphic designer. As Viscount’s visual manipulations escalate his experiments begin to take on the cruel and sinister overtones that will lead the film to its shocking conclusion.”

    http://youtu.be/mPeG4EFZ4ZM

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  • Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children to Help Kick Off 2013 New York Indian Film Festival

    The 13th Annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) announced an exclusive kick-off screening of MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN followed by a special Q&A on April 10, 2013. In attendance will be the film’s acclaimed director Deepa Mehta, award-winning writer of the novel Salman Rushdie who also adapted the screenplay, producer David Hamilton, cast members Sarita Choudhury and Samrat Chakrabarti, plus other special guests. Paladin and 108 Media will be officially releasing MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN in major U.S. cities starting in New York City on April 26. 

    [caption id="attachment_3321" align="alignnone" width="550"](L-R) Author and Screenwriter Salman Rushdie and Director Deepa Mehta[/caption]

    Deepa Mehta returns to NYIFF after her Oscar-nominated film WATER opened the film festival in 2005. “We have had a very long and creatively fruitful relationship with NYIFF. FIRE, the very first film in the elemental Trilogy was shown there and almost every film I have made since,” says Mehta. “Aroon Shivdasani was in fact responsible for the creation of MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN. She brought Salman to the premiere screening of WATER in New York and that began a close relationship with Salman, which culminated in the very first film adaptation of any of his novels. It is enormously pleasing for me to be once again collaborating with NYIFF and bringing to their extremely discerning audience MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, a film that I have been dreaming of doing since I first read the book over 30 years ago.”

    With this latest masterpiece, MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, Mehta tantalizes audiences with lush visuals and a magical, wide-spanning story. Two babies, born within moments of India proclaiming Independence from Britain, are switched at birth and are forever marked by history.

    Long-time supporter of NYIFF, Salman Rushdie also narrates the film. “I’m delighted the film of MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN is to be given this preview screening in New York by my old friends at NYIFF,” says Rushdie. “I look forward to a great evening with you all!”

    MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN has played at festivals worldwide to much critical acclaim. This star-studded event is open only to press and members of the film festival’s presenting organization, the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC). Widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally, IAAC’s NYIFF will announce the full line-up of screenings and events for the festival by March 22.

    Celebrating its 13th year, NYIFF will run April 30 to May 4.

    About the film:

     

    Paladin and 108 Media present

    MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN

    148 minutes

    Director: Deepa Mehta

    Writer: Salman Rushdie

    Executive Producers: Deepa Mehta, Dilip Mehta, Salman Rushdie, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding, Steven Silver, Neil Tabatznik, Elizabeth Karlsen, David Hamilton, Stephen Woolley

    Producer: David Hamilton

    Cast: Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy, Rahul Bose, Anita Majumdar, Zaib Shaikh, Anupam Kher

    Logline: Born in the hour of India’s freedom. Handcuffed to history. 

    Release Date: April 26 in NY, additional cities in May

    English and Urdu with English subtitles

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXgx6C8PHd4

    source: New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF)

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  • HollyShorts takes over NYC and LA March 29th

    HollyShorts, considered “the premier festival showcasing the top short films” is coming to New York City on Friday March 29th. 

    For the first time in the festival’s history, HollyShorts will be have a New York City screening series at the Showbiz store located at 19 W 21st St. New York, NY 10010 and on the same night there will be a separate program screening celebration at the Showbiz store LA located at 500 S Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90049.

    Audiences at each screening get to choose their favorite film and the film with the most votes gets entered into the prestigious august festival held at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, August 15th-25th.

    HollyShorts New York March Screening

    Movies Screening Include

    Rockaway – Directed by  Melanie Schiele
    Periods – Directed by Victor Quinaz and Anna Martemucci
    The Man at the Counter – Directed by Brian McAllister
    Tu & Eu – Directed by Edward Shieh
    Truth About Lies – Directed by Shalako Gordon
    Harry Grows Up – Directed by Mark Nickelsburg
    5 Second Films

    HollyShorts Los Angeles March Screening

    Movies Screening Include:

    Drunk History – Directed by Derek Waters
    Mantle – Directed by Luke Dejoras
    Real Girls Guide – Directed by Heather De Michele
    Butterfly – Directed by J.R. Curry
    Loop Holes – Directed by Erin Granat 
    Goodbye, Simon – Directed by Dylan Stern 
    5 Second Films

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  • Sydney’s Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festivals are less than 1 month away!

    Australia’s two leading fantastic genre film festivals are screening simultaneously at Dendy Cinema Newtown from April 11 – 21, 2013. 

    The 7th annual A Night of Horror Film Festival will be taking place in conjunction with the 4thedition of Fantastic Planet Film Festival. Combined, the festivals will screen over 125 films: 25 features, and 100 plus shorts, animations, and music videos. In the weeks to come, the festivals will be announcing their complete schedules (which are loaded with World, Australian, and Sydney premieres), international filmmaker guests, and exciting new components of each festival.

    A Night of Horror and Fantastic Planet retain their own separate and independent programs. Together the festivals are dedicated to presenting Sydney audiences with a stunning showcase of the latest in horror, sci-fi, fantasy and cult cinema.

    More details are available on the festivals’ official websites:

    www.anightofhorror.com

    www.fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com

    SOURCE: A Night of Horror and Fantastic Planet

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  • Sydney’s Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival less than 1 month away

    Australia’s two leading fantastic genre film festivals are screening simultaneously at Dendy Cinema Newtown from April 11 – 21, 2013. 

    The 7th annual A Night of Horror Film Festival will be taking place in conjunction with the 4thedition of Fantastic Planet Film Festival. Combined, the festivals will screen over 125 films: 25 features, and 100 plus shorts, animations, and music videos. In the weeks to come, the festivals will be announcing their complete schedules (which are loaded with World, Australian, and Sydney premieres), international filmmaker guests, and exciting new components of each festival.

    A Night of Horror and Fantastic Planet retain their own separate and independent programs. Together the festivals are dedicated to presenting Sydney audiences with a stunning showcase of the latest in horror, sci-fi, fantasy and cult cinema.

    More details are available on the festivals’ official websites:

    www.anightofhorror.com

    www.fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com

    SOURCE: A Night of Horror and Fantastic Planet

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  • REVIEW: Somebody Up There Likes Me

    somebody up there likes me

    by Lauren McBride

    Bob Byington’s Somebody Up There Likes Me covers about 20 years in the life of Max Youngman (Keith Poulson). Through marriages, divorces, the loss of parents and birth of children, Max doesn’t seem to mature — physically or mentally. He is eternally in his late-twenties, gawky, awkward and much like the film itself, meandering without a destination.

    We meet Max peering into a mysterious blue suitcase and driving toward the end of his first marriage. Wives and mistresses come and go; even his best friend Sal (Nick Offerman) matures and greys. But Max and his suitcase go on. The suitcase, which contains far more than the music and floating animations the audience sees each time it is opened, is the only constant thing in Max’s life. Its origins are unknown, as is its meaning to Max. He keeps it stuffed in trunks and closets, but it is undoubtedly magical — perhaps the secret to his eternal youth.

    Max’s suitcase and its mysterious contents bring an air of whimsy to the film. The film’s bright colors and intermittent animations sharply contrast its characters’ darkness. Their selfishness and meanness seems absurd in the pretty world that Byington creates. That the story unfolds in a nameless American town makes it even more fantastical. Less film than fable.

    The film has winning moments, often thanks to Offerman’s comedic timing and Jess Weixler’s masterful ability to be adorably awkward. As a whole, however, it lacks meaning and direction. And for such a brief film (with a runtime of only 76 minutes), it feels tedious and unending. Of course this could be intentional; Byington’s attempt to mirror that experience we all have in common: life.

    http://youtu.be/BCsMykvQG3A

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  • 2013 Full Frame Announces Center Frames, Free Screenings, Garrett Scott Grant and SDF

    [caption id="attachment_3304" align="alignnone" width="550"]Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me[/caption]

    The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced additional programming for the 2013 festival: 3 Center Frame programs, 5 Free Screenings, the Southern Documentary Fund: In-the-Works program, and this year’s Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant recipients.

    Three films previously announced in the Invited Program will exhibit as Center Frame screenings in Fletcher Hall of the Carolina Theatre: the World Premiere of Patrick Creadon’s “If You Build It,” the North American Premiere of Patrick Reed’s “Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children,” and Greg Barker’s acclaimed documentary “Manhunt.”

    Subjects from the films will participate in extended conversations with the filmmakers after each Center Frame screening. The following special guests and newsmakers will all be in attendance:Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller, the designers from “If You Build It,” Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire featured in “Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children,” and Cindy Storer andSusan Hasler from “Manhunt,” members of the original CIA ‘Sisterhood’ involved in tracking Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

    Now in its seventh year, the 2013 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant has been awarded to Lyric R. Cabral for “(T)ERROR”and to Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara for “In Country.” The Grant’s organizers will join the filmmakers in presenting short excerpts from their works-in-progress prior to the screening of 2011 recipient Lotfy Nathan’s film, “12 O’Clock Boys.” The Grant is awarded in honor of filmmaker Garrett Scott, who made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. It recognizes first-time filmmakers who, like Scott, bring a unique vision to the content and style of their documentary films.

    The Southern Documentary Fund is screening in-the-works excerpts from “Occupy the Imagination” by Rodrigo Dorfman and “So Help You God” by Ashley York. The showings will be followed by panel discussions and Q & A sessions with the filmmakers.

    SDF: In-the-Works provides southern filmmakers the opportunity to receive feedback from a dedicated assembly of their peers and serious documentary enthusiasts.

    Full Frame 2013 will feature 5 Free Screenings. The festival will continue its tradition of showcasing films outdoors in Durham Central Park on Friday and Saturday night. Two award winners from last year’s festival will each screen twice, once indoors and once outside: 2012 Full Frame Audience Award Winner “Trash Dance” and “Chasing Ice,” which received the Nicholas School Environmental Award.

    Food Truck Roundups will precede both outdoor showings on Friday and Saturday evening. These films will also each be shown again in the new Full Frame Theatre in the Power Plant at American Tobacco. Lastly, Full Frame will host a free Closing Night Film Sunday night. Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s “Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me” will close the festival at 8:00pm on April 7th.

    The complete schedule of events, along with full film descriptions can be viewed at:http://www.fullframefest.org/filmsevents/film-schedule/

    2013 Center Frame Screenings @ Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall

    CENTER FRAME – Friday, April 5 @ 5:00pm
    Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children (Director: Patrick Reed)
    If you’ve been to hell and back, how do you exorcise the memories? Former U.N. commander Roméo Dallaire’s new mission: end the use of child soldiers. North American Premiere

    CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 6 @ 1:50pm
    Manhunt (Director: Greg Barker)
    This spellbinding film dissects the painstaking search for Osama bin Laden, which originated with the “Sisterhood,” a remarkable team of CIA analysts.

    CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 6 @ 5:00pm
    If You Build It (Director: Patrick Creadon)
    Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year. World Premiere


    2013 Free Screenings – No Ticket Required

    FREE SCREENING – Friday, April 5 @ 6:30pm – Full Frame Theatre
    Trash Dance (Director: Andrew Garrison)
    An unusual partnership between a dancer and Austin’s Department of Solid Waste Services results in a public performance starring man, music, and machine.

    FREE SCREENING – Saturday, April 6 @ 6:30pm – Full Frame Theatre
    Chasing Ice (Director: Jeff Orlowski)
    Scientific fact and aesthetic beauty merge in monumental and dramatic time-lapse photos illustrating global warming’s chilling ravages.

    CLOSING NIGHT FILM – Sunday, April 7 @ 8:00pm – Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall
    Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Directors: Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori)
    Myth and music collide in this story of the influence and impact of revered power-pop band Big Star, featuring never-before-seen footage, photos, and interviews.


    2013 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant – Saturday, April 6 @ 1:00pm – Cinema 3 (Ticket Required)

    (T)ERROR (Director: Lyric R. Cabral)
    An active FBI counterterrorism sting operation unravels when a terror suspect realizes an informant is setting him up.

    In Country (Directors: Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara)
    Blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy, this film follows a “platoon” of dedicated Vietnam War reenactors.

    SDF: In-the-Works – Sunday, April 7 @ 1:40pm – Durham Arts Council (Ticket Required)

    Occupy the Imagination (Director: Rodrigo Dorfman)
    As filmmaker Rodrigo Dorfman explores his revolutionary roots in 1970s Chile, a wave of resistance explodes during Occupy Wall Street.

    So Help You God (Director: Ashley York)
    Filmmaker Ashley York returns to her Kentucky hometown to unravel the story of six teenagers imprisoned for a gruesome murder. 

    The 16th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 4-7, 2013, in Durham, NC, with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. 

    source: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 

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