• 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grant Winners Announced

    Film Independent announced the winners of its four Spirit Awards filmmaker grants today at its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch hosted by Salma Hayek and Jeremy Renner.

    Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 23, 2013. 

     

    Adam Leon, director of Gimme The Loot, received the Someone to Watch Award. The award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award, which is in its nineteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. The finalists for the award included Rebecca Thomas for Electrick Children and David Fenster for Pincus.

    Peter Nicks, director of The Waiting Room received the Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award. The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition. The award is in its eighteenth year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Stella Artois. Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims for Only The Young and Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel for Leviathan were also finalists for the award.

    Mynette Louie received the Piaget Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its sixteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget. Finalists were Derrick Tseng and Alicia Van Couvering.

    Laura Colella for Breakfast With Curtis, which premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival, received the third annual Jameson® FIND Your Audience Award. The award helps one low-budget independent film find a broader audience. The award included a $50,000 marketing and distribution grant, funded by Jameson® Irish Whiskey. The other finalists were Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan and Zachary Mortensen for Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin And The Farm Midwives and Jeremy Kipp Walker and John Mitchell for History Of Future Folk.

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  • Filmmaker Mary Sweeney Named New Chairman Of Film Independent’s Board Of Directors

    Filmmaker Mary Sweeney (The Straight Story, Baraboo) has been elected as the new sitting Chair of the Board of Directors for Film Independent. She takes over the position from outgoing Chair, filmmaker Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part I and II, Gods & Monsters), who has served as Chairman for the last three years. On the Executive Committee, Sweeney joins current Vice Chair, writer/director Rodrigo García (Mother and Child, In Treatment); Secretary, director/producer Alan Poul (The Backup Plan, The Newsroom, Rome) and newly seated Treasurer, Landmark Theatres C.E.O. Ted Mundorff. Condon will remain on Film Independent’s Executive Committee as a member-at-large.

    “We could not be more thrilled to have Mary leading our board at this time,” said Film Independent Co-President Welsh. “She brings such a wealth of knowledge, energy and commitment to the organization and to independent film.”

    “We are so thankful and appreciative for Bill’s incredible leadership during his tenure,” said Film Independent Co-President Mc Manus. “We know Mary is equally devoted to our mission and look forward to working with her to realize our vision.”

    Film Independent produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA film series.

    Film Independent’s current Board of Directors is comprised of the following industry leaders: Randy Barbato, Adriene Bowles, Effie T. Brown, Bill Condon, Laura Dern, DeVon Franklin, Sid Ganis, Rodrigo García, Vondie Curtis Hall, Michael Helfant, Marcus Hu, Laura Kim, Sue Kroll, Kasi Lemmons, David Linde, Allan Mayer, Ted Mundorff, Gail Mutrux, Tom Ortenberg, Alan Poul, Cathy Schulman, Mary Sweeney, Nancy Utley and Forest Whitaker.

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  • Perspektive Deutsches Kino Program Lineup at 2013 Belinale, to Open with Stephan Lacant’s Freier Fall

    [caption id="attachment_3096" align="alignnone" width="550"]Stephan Lacant’s film Freier Fall[/caption]

    The Perspektive Deutsches Kino program at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival will open with Stephan Lacant’s film Freier Fall. Max Riemelt (Kay), Katharina Schüttler (Bettina) and Hanno Koffler (Marc) are the protagonists in a love triangle, in which Marc and Bettina are expecting a child at the same time as Marc falls in love with his colleague Kay.

    Three of the fictional films – Silvi (directed by Nico Sommer), DeAD (directed by Sven Halfar) andEndzeit (directed by Sebastian Fritzsch) – were self-produced by their respective filmmakers. Silvi is unmistakably set in Berlin. In it the 47-year-old title character (Lina Wendel) starts afresh after separating from her partner. DeAD is exquisite pulp fiction from Hamburg: following his mother’s suicide, cool Patrick (Tilman Strauß) shows up at his unknown father’s 60th birthday party and immediately makes it clear that things are about to escalate. And Endzeit  depicts survival after a catastrophe, when a young woman (Anne von Keller) turns hunter to still her hunger.

    Two fictional film-academy works explore the boundaries between fictional and documentary film. Anne Zohra Berrached’s Zwei Mütter portrays in an almost documentary style a couple’s wish for a child (Sabine Wolf and Karina Plachetka) and their discovery that most sperm banks do not provide services to same-sex couples. In his 60-minute film Die Wiedergänger, director Andreas Bolm avoids presenting the world in documentary form, but instead seeks the point where fiction begins. The outcome is an artistically austere film about loss and eternal return.

    Perspektive Deutsches Kino film lineup

    Chiralia by Santiago Gil

    DeAD by Sven Halfar

    Die mit dem Bauch tanzen (Dancing with Bellies) by Carolin Genreith (documentary)

    Einzelkämpfer (I Will Not Lose) by Sandra Kaudelka (documentary)

    Endzeit (End of Time) by Sebastian Fritzsch

    Freier Fall (Free Fall) by Stephan Lacant

    Kalifornia by Laura Mahlberg

    Metamorphosen by Sebastian Mez (documentary)

    Silvi by Nico Sommer

    Die Wiedergänger (The Revenants) by Andreas Bolm

    Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers) by Anne Zohra Berrached

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  • Nine More Films Added to Competition Program for 2013 Berlin International Film Festival

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    [caption id="attachment_3094" align="alignnone" width="550"]Side Effects[/caption] 

    Another nine films have been selected for the Competition Programme of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. Among the nine films is the International Premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum and the World Premiere of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s Parde (Closed Curtain).

    Camille Claudel 1915
    France
    By Bruno Dumont (The Life of Jesus, Humanity, Flanders)
    With Juliette Binoche, Jean-Luc Vincent 
    World Premiere

     

    Elle s’en va (On my Way)
    France
    By Emmanuelle Bercot (Clément, Backstage, Les infidèles)
    With Catherine Deneuve
    World Premiere

     

    Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker)
    Bosnia and Herzegovina/France/Slovenia
    By Danis Tanovic (No Man’s Land, Hell, Circus Columbia) 
    With Senada Alimanovic, Nazif Mujic, Sandra Mujic, Semsa Mujic
    World Premiere

     

    Gold
    Germany
    By Thomas Arslan (Dealer, Vacation, In the Shadows)
    With Nina Hoss, Marko Mandic, Uwe Bohm, Lars Rudolph, Peter Kurth, Rosa Enskat, Wolfgang Packhäuser
    World Premiere

     

    La Religieuse (The Nun)
    France/Germany/Belgium
    By Guillaume Nicloux (The Flying Children, A Private Affair, That Woman)
    With Pauline Etienne, Isabelle Huppert, Louise Bourgoin, Martina Gedeck 
    World Premiere

     

    Layla Fourie
    Germany/South Africa/France/Netherlands 
    By Pia Marais (The Unpolished, At Ellen’s Age)
    With Rayna Campbell, August Diehl, Rapule Hendricks
    World Premiere

     

    The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman
    USA
    By Fredrik Bond – feature debut
    With Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Til Schweiger, Rupert Grint, James Buckley
    International Premiere

     

    Parde (Closed Curtain)
    Iran
    By Jafar Panahi (The Circle, Offside, This Is Not A Film) and Kambozia Partovi (The Fish, Café Transit)
    With Kambozia Partovi, Maryam Moghadam,Jafar Panahi, Hadi Saeedi, Azadh Torabi, Agha Olia, Zeynab Khanum, Boy
    World Premiere

     

    Side Effects
    USA
    By Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies, and videotape; Erin Brockovich, Haywire)
    With Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum 
    International Premiere

     

     

     

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  • 5 Broken Cameras, Detropia Top 6th Annual Cinema Eye Honors

    [caption id="attachment_2331" align="alignnone" width="553"]5 Broken Cameras[/caption]

    5 Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s documentary about Israeli settlements encroaching upon Burnat’s Palestinian village, was named Outstanding Feature at the 6th Annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens last night.  

    A slate of Oscar shortlisted films won in the other categories.  Dimitri Doganis received Outstanding Production for The Imposter, T. Woody Richman and Tyler H. Walk won for Outstanding Editing for How to Survive a Plague, Jeff Orlowski took Outstanding Cinematography for Chasing Ice and Oskar Gullstrand and Arvid Steen won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation for Searching for Sugar Man.

    Lee Hirsch’s Bully received the Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize.

    Cinema Eye presented honors for Nonfiction Short Filmmaking to Robert-Jan Lacombe’sGood-bye Mandima (Kwa Heri Mandima), the Spotlight Award was presented to Wojciech Staron for Argentinian Lesson and the Heterodox Award for Narrative Filmmaking, went to Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours, that recognizes a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production.

    This year’s Legacy Award was presented to the 1993 verite classic The War Room, which took viewers behind the scenes of the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign.  

    The following is a complete list of Cinema Eye Honors winners for 2012:

    Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

    5 Broken Cameras
    Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
    Produced by Christine Camdessus, Serge Gordey, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

    Outstanding Achievement in Direction

    Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
    Detropia

    Audience Choice Prize

    Bully
    Directed by Lee Hirsch

    Outstanding Achievement in Production

    Dimitri Doganis
    The Imposter

    Outstanding Achievement in Editing

    T. Woody Richman and Tyler H. Walk
    How to Survive a Plague

    Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

    Jeff Orlowski
    Chasing Ice

    Spotlight Award

    Argentinian Lesson
    Directed by Wojciech Staron

    Heterodox Award

    Museum Hours
    Directed by Jem Cohen

    Presented by Marie Therese Guirgis and Eugene Hernandez

    Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking

    Goodbye Mandima (Kwa Heri Mandima)

    Directed by Robert-Jan Lacombe

    Presented by Laura Gabbert and Sam Green

    Outstanding Achievement in an Original Music Score

    Dial.81

    Detropia

    Presented by Laura Gabbert and Sam Green

    Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation

    Oskar Gullstrand and Arvid Steen

    Searching for Sugar Man

    Presented by Jonathan Caouette and Susan Froemke

    Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film

    Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims

    Only the Young

    Presented by Jonathan Caouette and Susan Froemke

    Legacy Award

    The War Room

    Directed by Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker

    Produced by R.J. Cutler, Wendy Ettinger and Frazer Pennebaker

    Presented by Michael Moore

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  • 2013 Oscar Nominations Announced, Beasts of the Southern Wild Surprises With 4 Nominations

    [caption id="attachment_3091" align="alignnone" width="550"]Beasts of the Southern Wild[/caption]

    Beasts of the Southern Wild surprised everyone when the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards® were announced today by this year’s Oscar host, Seth MacFarlane, and actress Emma Stone. The little film received four nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Behn Zeitlin, Best Adapted Screenplay, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin and Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis. At the age of 9, Wallis is the youngest ever nominee of the Academy Award for Best Actress.

    Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

    Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards

     Performance by an actor in a leading role

    • Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook”
    • Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln”
    • Hugh Jackman in “Les Misérables”
    • Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master”
    • Denzel Washington in “Flight”

    Performance by an actor in a supporting role

    • Alan Arkin in “Argo”
    • Robert De Niro in “Silver Linings Playbook”
    • Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Master”
    • Tommy Lee Jones in “Lincoln”
    • Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”

    Performance by an actress in a leading role

    • Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty”
    • Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”
    • Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour”
    • Quvenzhané Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
    • Naomi Watts in “The Impossible”

    Performance by an actress in a supporting role

    • Amy Adams in “The Master”
    • Sally Field in “Lincoln”
    • Anne Hathaway in “Les Misérables”
    • Helen Hunt in “The Sessions”
    • Jacki Weaver in “Silver Linings Playbook”

    Best animated feature film of the year

    • “Brave” Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
    • “Frankenweenie” Tim Burton
    • “ParaNorman” Sam Fell and Chris Butler
    • “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” Peter Lord
    • “Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore

    Achievement in cinematography

    • “Anna Karenina” Seamus McGarvey
    • “Django Unchained” Robert Richardson
    • “Life of Pi” Claudio Miranda
    • “Lincoln” Janusz Kaminski
    • “Skyfall” Roger Deakins

    Achievement in costume design

    • “Anna Karenina” Jacqueline Durran
    • “Les Misérables” Paco Delgado
    • “Lincoln” Joanna Johnston
    • “Mirror Mirror” Eiko Ishioka
    • “Snow White and the Huntsman” Colleen Atwood

    Achievement in directing

    • “Amour” Michael Haneke
    • “Beasts of the Southern Wild” Benh Zeitlin
    • “Life of Pi” Ang Lee
    • “Lincoln” Steven Spielberg
    • “Silver Linings Playbook” David O. Russell

    Best documentary feature

    • “5 Broken Cameras” 
      Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
    • “The Gatekeepers” 
      Nominees to be determined
    • “How to Survive a Plague” 
      Nominees to be determined
    • “The Invisible War” 
      Nominees to be determined
    • “Searching for Sugar Man” 
      Nominees to be determined

    Best documentary short subject

    • “Inocente” 
      Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
    • “Kings Point” 
      Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
    • “Mondays at Racine” 
      Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
    • “Open Heart” 
      Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
    • “Redemption” 
      Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

    Achievement in film editing

    • “Argo” William Goldenberg
    • “Life of Pi” Tim Squyres
    • “Lincoln” Michael Kahn
    • “Silver Linings Playbook” Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
    • “Zero Dark Thirty” Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

    Best foreign language film of the year

    • “Amour” Austria
    • “Kon-Tiki” Norway
    • “No” Chile
    • “A Royal Affair” Denmark
    • “War Witch” Canada

    Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

    • “Hitchcock”
      Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
    • “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” 
      Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
    • “Les Misérables” 
      Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

    Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

    • “Anna Karenina” Dario Marianelli
    • “Argo” Alexandre Desplat
    • “Life of Pi” Mychael Danna
    • “Lincoln” John Williams
    • “Skyfall” Thomas Newman

    Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

    • “Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
      Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
    • “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from “Ted”
      Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
    • “Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
      Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
    • “Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
      Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
    • “Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
      Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

    Best motion picture of the year

    • “Amour” Nominees to be determined
    • “Argo” Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
    • “Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
    • “Django Unchained” Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
    • “Les Misérables” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
    • “Life of Pi” Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
    • “Lincoln” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
    • “Silver Linings Playbook” Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
    • “Zero Dark Thirty” Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

    Achievement in production design

    • “Anna Karenina” 
      Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
    • “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” 
      Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
    • “Les Misérables” 
      Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
    • “Life of Pi” 
      Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
    • “Lincoln” 
      Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson 

    Best animated short film

    • “Adam and Dog” Minkyu Lee
    • “Fresh Guacamole” PES
    • “Head over Heels” Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
    • “Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”” David Silverman
    • “Paperman” John Kahrs

    Best live action short film

    • “Asad” Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
    • “Buzkashi Boys” Sam French and Ariel Nasr
    • “Curfew” Shawn Christensen
    • “Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)” Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
    • “Henry” Yan England

    Achievement in sound editing

    • “Argo” Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
    • “Django Unchained” Wylie Stateman
    • “Life of Pi” Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
    • “Skyfall” Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
    • “Zero Dark Thirty” Paul N.J. Ottosson

    Achievement in sound mixing

    • “Argo” 
      John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
    • “Les Misérables” 
      Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
    • “Life of Pi” 
      Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
    • “Lincoln” 
      Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
    • “Skyfall” 
      Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

    Achievement in visual effects

    • “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” 
      Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
    • “Life of Pi” 
      Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
    • “Marvel’s The Avengers” 
      Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
    • “Prometheus” 
      Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
    • “Snow White and the Huntsman” 
      Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

    Adapted screenplay

    • “Argo” Screenplay by Chris Terrio
    • “Beasts of the Southern Wild” Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
    • “Life of Pi” Screenplay by David Magee
    • “Lincoln” Screenplay by Tony Kushner
    • “Silver Linings Playbook” Screenplay by David O. Russell

    Original screenplay

    • “Amour” Written by Michael Haneke
    • “Django Unchained” Written by Quentin Tarantino
    • “Flight” Written by John Gatins
    • “Moonrise Kingdom” Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
    • “Zero Dark Thirty” Written by Mark Boal

     

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  • Film Independent Announces The 3 Films Nominated for the 2013 Jameson Find Your Audience Award

    [caption id="attachment_3089" align="alignnone" width="550"]Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives[/caption]

    Film Independent announced the nominees of the 2013 Jameson® FIND Your Audience Award, which is one of the four Film Independent Spirit Award filmmaker grants to be handed out at the January 12 nominee brunch. Funded by Jameson® Irish Whiskey, a Premier Sponsor of the awards, the $50,000 crash grant is designed to assist a feature narrative or documentary filmmaker in building the audience for his or her film. The winner will be highlighted at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 23, 2013. 

    The nominees for the 2013 Jameson FIND Your Audience Award are:

     

    Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives
    Sara Lamm, director
    Zachary Mortensen, producer
    Kate Roughan, producer
    Mary Wigmore, director

    Breakfast with Curtis
    Laura Colella, director/producer

    History of Future Folk
    Jeremy Kipp Walker, director/producer
    John Mitchell, director

    Now in its third year, the Jameson® FIND Your Audience Award was established when Film Independent saw the need to meet independent filmmakers’ biggest challenge today: getting their films out into the marketplace. Previous year’s winners were Benjamin Murray and Alysa Nahmias for Unfinished Spaces and Jeff Malmberg for Marwencol. As part of the grant process, Film Independent will provide ongoing consultation regarding distribution, marketing and publicity.

    In order to be considered for the Jameson® FIND Your Audience Award grant, applicants must be the director or producer of a recent American narrative or documentary feature with a production budget of $2.5 million or less that has not yet received significant distribution. The film must have screened at a film festival no earlier than September 1, 2011 and no later than August 31, 2012. In addition, applicants must be a past Spirit Award nominee or winner, Los Angeles Film Festival alumnus or completed one of Film Independent’s Artist Development programs (Labs, Project Involve or Fast Track) or solicited by Film Independent. Films with innovative, alternative marketing or distribution plans were encouraged to apply. Films that have overall North American distribution deals or that have not yet begun a film festival run were ineligible.

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  • Slamdance Film Festival Announces 2013 Jury

    Slamdance announced today the Jury for the 19th Annual Slamdance Film Festival, which includes many of the minds behind SXSW, Woodstock, etc. The Slamdance Awards will be presented on January 24th during the awards ceremony.

    “We are thrilled to have such independent filmmaking revolutionaries judging this years diverse slate of films,” stated Peter Baxter, Slamdance President & Co-Founder.

    The 2013 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 18 — 24, 2013 in Park City, Utah, at the Treasure Mountain Inn: 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060.

    The 2013 Slamdance Competition Jurors:

     

    Nancy Schafer is currently a consultant who works in independent film. Until July 2012 she was Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival and Executive Vice President of Tribeca Enterprises. Prior to joining Tribeca, she created and ran the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas for eight years. Schafer has worked on several films including John Sayles’ Sunshine State and Limbo and Robert Byington’s Olympia and Shameless. She began her film production career on The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Schafer is a graduate of the University of Virginia and currently resides in Manhattan.

    Meira Blaustein is the Co-founder / Executive Director / Programmer of the Woodstock Film Festival, which was launched in 2000 and has quickly become one of the most respected and influential regional film festivals in the US. The Woodstock Film Festival will be entering its 14th year in October 2013. Blaustein has over twenty years of experience in filmmaking, writing, producing and directing numerous projects including her full-length documentary For Love of Julian, narrated by Susan Sarandon and distributed by Wellspring Media. She is currently in development on a number of full length fiction and non- fiction feature length films. Blaustein is a freelance writer and blogger and has served as juror, speaker, mentor and panelist at a variety of film festivals and special events in Norway, England, Texas and New York.

    Dan Schoenbrun is the Communications & Programming Coordinator at the Independent Filmmaker Project, the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit for independent filmmakers. At IFP, Dan works year-round as part of the programming team, where he helps manage the organization’s Emerging Narrative screenplay program, Independent Filmmaker Labs (for filmmakers in post-production on their first feature), Festival Forum (a community-based interest group for film festival professionals), and a new partnership with Brooklyn’s rerun Theater. Dan also oversees IFP member events and screenings, and serves as the Associate Editor of Filmmaker Magazine. In addition to his work at IFP, Dan has served on programming committees for several film festivals, included the Hamptons and Nantucket, and recently was on the jury for the 2012 Brooklyn Film Festival.

    Brian Knappenberger a Director, Writer and Producer has created numerous documentaries and?feature films for the Sundance Channel, PBS FRONTLINE/World, The Travel Channel, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. He is also Executive Producer of the 23 part Bloomberg Television documentary series Bloomberg Game Changers. His films have explored the changing politics and tensions in post- 9/11 southern Afghanistan in Life After War and abuses of power and freedom of speech with the killing of a journalist in Ukraine in A Murder in Kyiv.

    Sheri Candler is a digital marketing strategist who assists filmmakers in building an engaged & robust online community for their work. She directs digital marketing strategy for non profit film distribution & filmmaker education organization The Film Collaborative; she co-authored a book of case studies for filmmakers called Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul, and she regularly speaks about using social media on panels and workshops at industry events including AFM, DGA, NSI Canada, & Danish Film Directors Association. She can be contacted on Twitter: @shericandler, Facebook: Sheri Candler Marketing and Publicity, & Google Plus.

    Daniel J. Harris produced the documentary collective feature I Want to be an ?American for Slamdance Film Festival 2013. He originally trained in animation and worked on shows like The Simpsons and The Ren & Stimpy Show and produced the documentary Kurt and Courtney for Nick Broomfield. He wrote and directed? Slamdance/Locarno jury winner The Bible and Gun Club. He is working on The Fabulous Las Vegas, a feature documentary about a Kaapse Klopse (Cape Town Minstrel) troupe based in Lentegeur, Mitchell’s Plain, as it attempts to beat the competition in this year’s carnival season best-of-show. He’s also working on Meet Julie Wilson, about the legendary cabaret singer, currently shooting in New York. www.danieljharris.com

    Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal are a filmmaking team who use actor centric methods. Their debut feature Stranger Things won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival and at the 2010 Woodstock Film Festival, as well as Best U.K. Feature at the 2011 Rain- dance Film Festival. They are currently developing their second feature, Bright As Day, which was a selection of the 2012 Sundance Creative Producing Lab.

    Chris Gore, is a comedian, writer, and regular on G4TV’s “Attack of the Show”, hosts his own groundbreaking podcast called PodCRASH. He likes Batman, zombies and long walks on my back. The founder and longtime editor-in- chief of the seminal magazine Film Threat, Gore is also a critically acclaimed film director, writer and producer. He is the author of Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, currently in its fourth edition, and has served on countless festival panels and juries. Chris is also a founding co-host of Slamdance’s annual Hot Tub Summit.

    Skizz Cyzyk is a filmmaker/writer/musician/artist who has held positions at MicroCine-Fest, Maryland Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, and has served on juries at many other festivals. This is Skizz’s 17th year as a Slamdance projectionist, tenth year on the Slamdance advisory board, and sixth non-consecutive year on the Slamdance jury. He has been making films since 1983, currently in various stages of production on? documentaries about Rev. Fred Lane, the Catonsville Nine, and a 1981 “music war.” He also writes for music and film magazines, is on the Board of Directors for Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, plays punk rock ukulele with Go Pills, and plays drums for indie-pop sensations The Jennifers, surf/garage band Garage Sale, and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.

    Paul Rachman is a founding filmmaker, programmer and east coast director for the Slamdance Film Festival. From a successful music video career he went on to direct his first feature film Four Dogs Playing Poker and in 2006 American Hardcore is his first documentary feature film premiered at the Sundance film festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. He is currently finish a new feature documentary Lost Rockers.

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  • Mary Bacarella is New Managing Director of Seattle International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_3085" align="alignnone" width="550"]Michelle Quisenberry, Carl Spence and Mary Bacarella Photo: Getty Images [/caption]

    Mary Bacarella, a long-time Space Needle executive, has been named Seattle International Film Festival Managing Director effective February 1, 2013. Ms. Bacarella will lead the organization in tandem with Artistic Director Carl Spence and succeed Deborah Person, who has served as SIFF’s managing director since 2005.

    “Mary is the perfect choice to build on SIFF’s significant accomplishments and lead the organization going forward,” said Michelle Quisenberry, SIFF board president. “Mary has been involved with SIFF for 15 years and has a deep passion for the organization, she is a recognized community leader, savvy business executive, and understands SIFF’s vision for the future.”

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  • International Film Festival Rotterdam Announced The Nominees and Jury for 2013 Hivos Tiger Awards

    [caption id="attachment_3083" align="alignnone" width="550"]It Felt Like Love[/caption]

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam announced the sixteen nominees and the jury of the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition. The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Awards will be chosen by a jury of five, among them artist Ai Weiwei.

    The winning films will be selected by Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamedarya – who has been banned from acting in film, theatre and television for the past two years, by Russian screenwriter and filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa (The Revue, My Joy), Dutch director Kees Hin (Shadowland) and artistic director of the Seville European Film Festival José Luis Cienfuegos. Chinese visual artist and filmmaker Ai Weiwei (Fairytale, One Recluse) will not be able to attend the festival and will join the jury from his home in Beijing. 

    The nominees 

     

    36, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Thailand, European premiere
    Silent Ones, Ricky Rijneke, Netherlands/Hungary, World premiere
    Chunmeng (Longing for the Rain), Yang Lina, Hong Kong, World premiere
    Dummy Jim, Matt Hulse, United Kingdom, World premiere
    Eles voltam (They’ll Come Back), Marcelo Lordello, Brazil, International premiere
    Gozetleme Kulesi (Watchtower), Pelin Esmer, Turkey, European premiere
    Halley, Sebastián Hofmann, Mexico, European premiere
    It Felt Like Love, Eliza Hittman, USA, International premiere
    Larzanandeye charbi (Fat Shaker), Mohammad Shirvani, Iran, European premiere
    Môj pes Killer (My Dog Killer), Mira Fornay, Slovakia/Czech Republic, World premiere
    Noche (Night), Leonardo Brzezicki, Argentina, World premiere
    Penumbra, Eduardo Villanueva Jiménez, Mexico, World premiere
    Sao karaoke (Karaoke Girl), Visra Vichit Vadakan, Thailand, World premiere
    Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane), Daniel Hoesl, Austria, European premiere
    Su Re (The King), Giovanni Columbu, Italy, International premiere
    De wederopstanding van een klootzak (The Resurrection of a Bastard), Guido van Driel, Netherlands, World premiere

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  • Stories We Tell Wins Toronto Film Critics 2012 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award

    Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley’s documentary inquiry into her tangled family history, has won the Toronto Film Critics Association’s 2012 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award and the $100,000 prize. This marks the second time the TFCA has honoured Polley for Best Canadian Film; she won for her first feature, Away From Her (2006). Stories We Tell also received the TFCA’s 2012 Allan King Documentary Award.

    Also nominated for the award were Bestiaire, directed by Denis Côté, and Goon, directed by Michael Dowse.  As runners-up, Côté and Dowse each received $5,000.

    Other award winners include, the 2012 Manulife Financial Best Student Film Award to Ryerson University student Andrew Moir for his short documentary Just As I Remember, which juxtaposes the experience of two men with ALS—a father of three in the early stages of disease and his own dad who is almost completely paralyzed. The award carries a cash prize of $5,000.

    The TFCA’s Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist twas presented to Toronto filmmaker Nicolás Pereda (Greatest Hits). The prize is accompanied by a $5,000 cash award and $5,000 in post production services. 

    Last month, The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson’s drama about a battle of wills between a ravaged war veteran and the cult leader who offers him a place at his right hand, dominated the 2012 awards of the Toronto Film Critics Association. Anderson’s film took Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, with co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman named the year’s Best Supporting Actor.

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  • Amour, Marley Receive Nominations For The EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013

    [caption id="attachment_3079" align="alignnone" width="550"]Marley[/caption]

    Lincoln was the clear leader with ten nods when the nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards were announced today in London. The Master and Amour have four nominations and and Silver Linings Playbook received three nominations. 

    Emmanuelle Riva is nominated in Leading Actress for Amour, which is also nominated in Film Not in the English Language. Director, Michael Haneke received nominations for Director and Original Screenplay.

    Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have Leading Actress and Actor nominations for Silver Linings Playbook, which is also nominated for Adapted Screenplay.

    The Imposter and McCullin are both nominated in Documentary. The filmmakers behind both films are nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: Director Bart Layton and Producer Dimitri Doganis for The Imposter and Director David Morris and Director/Producer Jacqui Morris for McCullin. Also nominated in the Documentary category are: Marley, Searching for Sugar Man and West of Memphis.

    Moonrise Kingdom is nominated for Original Screenplay. Beasts of the Southern Wild is nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category. 

    Headhunters, The Hunt and Untouchable are all nominated in the Film Not in the English Language category, alongside Amour and Rust and Bone.

    The EE British Academy Film Awards, hosted by Stephen Fry, take place on Sunday 10 February at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. 

    Complete list of 2012 NOMINATIONS (presented in 2013)

     

    BEST FILM 

    ARGO Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
    LES MISÉRABLES Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
    LIFE OF PI Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
    LINCOLN Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
    ZERO DARK THIRTY Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

    OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM 

    ANNA KARENINA Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Tom Stoppard
    THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL John Madden, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Ol Parker
    LES MISÉRABLES Tom Hooper, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh, William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer
    SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
    SKYFALL Sam Mendes, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan

    OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER 

    BART LAYTON (Director), DIMITRI DOGANIS (Producer) The Imposter 
    DAVID MORRIS (Director), JACQUI MORRIS (Director/Producer) McCullin 
    DEXTER FLETCHER (Director/Writer), DANNY KING (Writer) Wild Bill
    JAMES BOBIN (Director) The Muppets 
    TINA GHARAVI (Director/Writer) I Am Nasrine 

    FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  

    AMOUR Michael Haneke, Margaret Ménégoz
    HEADHUNTERS Morten Tyldum, Marianne Gray, Asle Vatn
    THE HUNT Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Morten Kaufmann 
    RUST AND BONE Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
    UNTOUCHABLE Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun

    DOCUMENTARY 

    THE IMPOSTER Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis
    MARLEY Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel
    McCULLIN David Morris, Jacqui Morris
    SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
    WEST OF MEMPHIS Amy Berg

    ANIMATED FILM 

    BRAVE Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
    FRANKENWEENIE Tim Burton
    PARANORMAN Sam Fell, Chris Butler

    DIRECTOR 

    AMOUR Michael Haneke
    ARGO Ben Affleck
    DJANGO UNCHAINED Quentin Tarantino
    LIFE OF PI Ang Lee
    ZERO DARK THIRTY Kathryn Bigelow

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

    AMOUR Michael Haneke
    DJANGO UNCHAINED Quentin Tarantino
    THE MASTER Paul Thomas Anderson
    MOONRISE KINGDOM Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
    ZERO DARK THIRTY Mark Boal

    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

    ARGO Chris Terrio 
    BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
    LIFE OF PI David Magee
    LINCOLN Tony Kushner
    SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK David O. Russell

    LEADING ACTOR 

    BEN AFFLECK Argo
    BRADLEY COOPER Silver Linings Playbook
    DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Lincoln
    HUGH JACKMAN Les Misérables
    JOAQUIN PHOENIX The Master

    LEADING ACTRESS 

    EMMANUELLE RIVA Amour
    HELEN MIRREN Hitchcock
    JENNIFER LAWRENCE Silver Linings Playbook
    JESSICA CHASTAIN Zero Dark Thirty
    MARION COTILLARD Rust and Bone

    SUPPORTING ACTOR 

    ALAN ARKIN Argo
    CHRISTOPH WALTZ Django Unchained
    JAVIER BARDEM Skyfall
    PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Master
    TOMMY LEE JONES Lincoln

    SUPPORTING ACTRESS 

    AMY ADAMS The Master
    ANNE HATHAWAY Les Misérables
    HELEN HUNT The Sessions
    JUDI DENCH Skyfall 
    SALLY FIELD Lincoln

    ORIGINAL MUSIC 

    ANNA KARENINA Dario Marianelli
    ARGO Alexandre Desplat
    LIFE OF PI Mychael Danna
    LINCOLN John Williams
    SKYFALL Thomas Newman 

    CINEMATOGRAPHY 

    ANNA KARENINA Seamus McGarvey
    LES MISÉRABLES Danny Cohen
    LIFE OF PI Claudio Miranda
    LINCOLN Janusz Kaminski
    SKYFALL Roger Deakins

    EDITING  

    ARGO William Goldenberg
    DJANGO UNCHAINED Fred Raskin
    LIFE OF PI Tim Squyres
    SKYFALL Stuart Baird
    ZERO DARK THIRTY Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg

    PRODUCTION DESIGN 

    ANNA KARENINA Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
    LES MISÉRABLES Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
    LIFE OF PI David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
    LINCOLN Rick Carter, Jim Erickson
    SKYFALL Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock

    COSTUME DESIGN 

    ANNA KARENINA Jacqueline Durran
    GREAT EXPECTATIONS Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
    LES MISÉRABLES Paco Delgado
    LINCOLN Joanna Johnston
    SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN Colleen Atwood

    MAKE UP & HAIR 

    ANNA KARENINA Ivana Primorac
    HITCHCOCK Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger
    THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater
    LES MISÉRABLES Lisa Westcott
    LINCOLN Lois Burwell, Kay Georgiou

    SOUND 

    DJANGO UNCHAINED Mark Ulano, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman
    THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Tony Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, 
    Michael Semanick, Brent Burge, Chris Ward
    LES MISÉRABLES Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst
    LIFE OF PI Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill
    SKYFALL Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers

    SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS 

    THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Peter Bebb, Andrew Lockley
    THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
    LIFE OF PI Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer 
    MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE Nominees TBC 
    PROMETHEUS Richard Stammers, Charley Henley, Trevor Wood, Paul Butterworth

    SHORT ANIMATION  

    HERE TO FALL Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
    I’M FINE THANKS Eamonn O’Neill
    THE MAKING OF LONGBIRD Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson

    SHORT FILM  

    THE CURSE Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries
    GOOD NIGHT Muriel d’Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir
    SWIMMER Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw 
    TUMULT Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews
    THE VOORMAN PROBLEM Mark Gill, Baldwin Li

    THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public) 

    ELIZABETH OLSEN 
    ANDREA RISEBOROUGH 
    SURAJ SHARMA 
    JUNO TEMPLE 
    ALICIA VIKANDER

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