Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announced the official selections for the 10th annual festival, being held February 15-24, 2013 at the Historic Wilma and Crystal Theaters in downtown Missoula, Montana. The 2013 program was curated from more than 1000 entries from around the globe. The opening night film, Nina Davenport’s “First Comes Love,” will be free and open to the public, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films.
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An Oversimplification of Her Beauty[/caption]
Five films are nominated for the 2013 Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking Heterodox Award. The Cinema Eye Heterodox Award honors a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production. The nominees are: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Ceasar Must Die (Cesare deve morire), Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours, Pablo Larraín’s No, and Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. Previous winners of the award were Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill (2011) and Mike Mills’ Beginners(2012).
The 2013 Heterodox Award will be presented at the 6th Annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking on January 9 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, New York.
The Five Nominees for the 2013 Cinema Eye Heterodox Award:
Ceasar Must Die (Cesare deve morire)
Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
In Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s bracing and politically astute blend of documentary and fiction, real-life Italian inmates of a high-security prison audition for, rehearse and stage a version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Through its fascinating recontextualization of Shakespeare’s classic, Caesar Must Die explores criminal identity while reflecting the larger tensions of Italian society itself.
Compliance
Directed by Craig Zobel
Drawing its dialogue from phone records and real-life court transcripts, writer/director Craig Zobel’s Compliance turns the true story of a prank phone caller and sexual predator into a disturbing meditation on the politics of authority.
Museum Hours
Directed by Jem Cohen
In Jem Cohen’s lovely meditation on culture, friendship, and the dialogue carried across centuries through art, a lonely woman and quiet museum guard strike a quiet bond while while surveying the paintings of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. Cohen’s camera captures the subtlety of their interaction while also evoking the majesty of this museum and its collection.
No
Directed by Pablo Larrain
Detailing the 1988 ouster of Chile’s General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte via constitutional referendum, Pablo Larrain’s No uses footage from the referendum’s actual advertising campaign along with an artfully lo-fi U-matic camera aesthetic to recall the politics as well as the media of its era.
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Directed by Terence Nance
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty engagingly obsesses over the filmmaker’s “friend-zone’d” relationship with a charismatic young woman, played in the film by the real-life object of his affection. “One-sided non-fiction” is how Nance describes his picture, which mixes multiple formats as well as animation to present an exhilarating portrait of love, longing and artmaking in the digital age.
In addition, this year’s nominees for the 2013 Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize are: 5 Broken Cameras(Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi), Beauty is Embarrassing(Directed by Neil Berkeley), Bully(Directed by Lee Hirsch), How to Survive a Plague(Directed by David France), The Imposter(Directed by Bart Layton), Jiro Dreams of Sushi(Directed by David Gelb), Kumaré(Directed by Vikram Gandhi), Marina Abramović The Artist is Present(Directed by Matthew Akers), Searching for Sugar Man(Directed by Malik Bendjelloul) and Trash Dance(Directed by Andrew Garrison). Last year, more than 10,000 people voted for the award, which went to Cindy Meehl’s Buck.
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MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD[/caption]
HBO has released its lineup of documentaries for the first half of 2013. Among the films are MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, from Alex Gibney (HBO’s Oscar(R)-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side), exposing the systematic abuse of power in the Catholic Church; WHICH WAY IS THE FRONTLINE FROM HERE?: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM HETHERINGTON, from Sebastian Junger (the Oscar(R)-nominated “Restrepo”), an unflinching portrait of the late war photographer and filmmaker; and 50 CHILDREN: THE RESCUE MISSION OF MR. AND MRS. KRAUS, the never-before-told story of one couple’s courage during the Holocaust.
Upcoming HBO documentaries include (in chronological order):
MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD (debuting Feb. 4), directed by Alex Gibney (HBO’s Oscar(R)-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side), examines the abuse of power in the Catholic Church through the story of four courageous Deaf men who set out to expose the priest who sexually abused them. The film follows a cover-up that stretches from the row houses of Milwaukee through the bare ruined choirs of Ireland’s churches, all the way to the highest office of the Vatican.
KINGS POINT (March) tells stories of five seniors in an American retirement resort who struggle with love, loss and the changing nature of relationships after losing their spouses. This bittersweet study explores the tension between the desire for independence and the need for community, underscoring America’s ambivalence about growing old. Directed by Sari Gilman.
AMERICAN WINTER (March) shines a light on people struggling through the country’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, spotlighting families in Portland, Ore., as well as the 211 call centers that offer social service assistance. Produced and directed by Joe and Harry Gantz (HBO’s Emmy(R)-winning “Taxicab Confessions”).
50 CHILDREN: THE RESCUE MISSION OF MR. AND MRS. KRAUS (April), directed by Steven Pressman and narrated by Alan Alda and Mamie Gummer, tells the dramatic, previously untold story of Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, who traveled to Nazi Germany in spring 1939 to save 50 Jewish children. Amid the impending horrors of the Holocaust, they brought what was to date the largest known group of children to the United States, despite the country’s rigid immigration laws.
WHICH WAY IS THE FRONTLINE FROM HERE?: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM HETHERINGTON (April) focuses on the famed war photographer and filmmaker. Through interviews with family and friends, the film paints an in-depth portrait of Hetherington, who was killed by mortar shells in Libya on April 20, 2011 while covering the Libyan civil war. Directed by Sebastian Junger, who co-directed the Oscar(R)-nominated “Restrepo” with Hetherington.
MANHUNT: THE SEARCH FOR BIN LADEN (May) recounts the tumultuous decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, culminating in the dramatic raid and assassination in April 2011. Through exclusive footage and dramatic first-person interviews with key figures in Washington, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere inThe Middle East, director Greg Barker (HBO’s “Sergio” and “Koran by Heart”) reveals previously hidden truths about one of the most-examined stories of modern times.
TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE (May) investigates international organ trafficking and the role the internet plays in the black market exchange. The film explores life-and-death issues surrounding the high demand for organs through candid interviews with people seeking an organ on the black or “grey” market, the traffickers who buy and sell organs to them, and the individuals selling their organs. Produced by Roc Bienstock, Simcha Jacabovici, Bill Cobbin and BrIan Edwards.
Upcoming HBO Family programming includes:
A YOUNGARTS MASTERCLASS (Feb., March, April), an ongoing series of half-hour documentaries, follows some of the thousands of high-school students who participate in a program to be mentored by America’s greatest artists in an intimate, interactive classroom environment. Among the legends who serve as mentors on the show are Grammy-winning musician Bobby McFerrin, Tony-winning playwright John Guareand Tony-winning performer Patti LuPone. Directed by Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman (HBO’s Oscar(R)-winning “Strangers No More”).
Actor, writer and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt who has appeared in seven films at the Sundance Film Festival, including Mysterious Skin, Brick, and (500) Days of Summer will host this year’s, 2013 Sundance Film Festival feature film Awards Ceremony on January 26, 2013, in Park City, Utah.
Gordon-Levitt’s feature film directorial debut, Don Jon’s Addiction, will also screen in the out-of-competition Premieres section at the 2013 Festival, and Gordon-Levitt is an Artist Trustee of Sundance Institute.
The Festival takes place January 17-27, 2013 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
The 2013 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, in its 28th year, will honor Academy Award® nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio with the American Riviera Award. DiCaprio, whose latest film Django Unchained was released to critical acclaim and box office success this Christmas, will be honored on Friday, February 1 at the Arlington Theatre.
“We are thrilled to be honoring Leonardo DiCaprio with the American Riviera Award, in a year where he has shown us another layer of his immeasurable talent” commented Durling. “His performance in Django Unchained reaffirms that he is the most relevant actor of this generation.”
The American Riviera Award was established to recognize an artist who has had a strong influence on American Cinema. DiCaprio will join an illustrious group of past recipients, including frequent collaborator director Martin Scorsese (2012): Annette Bening (2011), Sandra Bullock (2010), Mickey Rourke (2009), Tommy Lee Jones (2008), Forrest Whitaker (2007), Philip Seymour Hoffman (2006), Kevin Bacon (2005) and Diane Lane (2004).
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Disconnect[/caption]
The 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (January 24-February 3), will open the 2013 Festival with the U.S. Premiere of LD Entertainment’s Disconnect, directed by Henry-Alex Rubin and starring Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård and Max Thieriot. Opening night will take place at the Arlington Theatre on Thursday, January 24, 2013, with director and cast expected to attend.
“Disconnect is a visceral and timely film experience – and an extraordinary way to start the 28th edition of SBIFF,” remarked Executive Director Roger Durling.
Disconnect holds a mirror up to our community and our obsession with all things technical. The story introduces us to a vast collection of characters: A lawyer, an estranged couple, a widowed ex-cop and an ambitious journalist who are all strangers, neighbors and colleagues whose stories collide in this compelling drama about ordinary people desperate for a human connection.
Filmed with a somewhat voyeuristic style, Disconnect marks the first fiction feature from Henry-Alex Rubin, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Murderball, and is produced by Mickey Liddell and Jennifer Monroe of LD Entertainment and William Horberg of Wonderful Films from an original screenplay by Andrew Stern. Disconnect screened at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, and will be released by LD Entertainment on April 19, 2013.
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GINGER & ROSA[/caption]
The Seattle International Film Festival announced today the official lineup for the 2013 Women in Cinema festival. The Women in Cinema, produced by SIFF, and sponsored by OSKA in addition to LUNAFEST, will run January 23-27, 2013.
“After a ten-year hiatus, we are excited to revive SIFF’s popular festival devoted to women directors. There is an abundance of extraordinary films directed by women this year and we look forward to showcasing a lively selection of the best new films from around the world,” said SIFF Artistic Director, Carl Spence. The 2013 Women in Cinema festival will showcase 10 feature films and a program of shorts from women filmmakers all around the globe.
Women in Cinema 2013 will open with Margarethe von Trotta’s biopic, HANNAH ARENDT (Germany, 2012) about the philosopher famous for her controversial reporting on the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann and her shocking conclusion of “the banality of evil,” to describe the ordinariness of the Holocaust’s perpetrators. Actress Barbara Sukowa gives what is “
The festival will close with GINGER & ROSA (United Kingdom, 2012), the story of two best friends (Elle Fanning and Alice Englert) growing up in Great Britain during the sixties. The girls discover that with the newfound freedom of the sexual revolution comes a heavy price in this salutary tale. Turning her lens on her own generation, ORLANDO writer-director Sally Potter looks back on the roots of feminism with admiration for the idealism of her young heroine, and also with a keen eye for the naïveté of that age and that time. The film also stars Oliver Platt, Timothy Spall, Jodhi May, Alessandro Nivola, Christina Hendricks and Annette Bening.
“With women directors working in every cinematic genre, SIFF celebrates a broad range of films with women at the helm at the Women in Cinema festival,” said SIFF Director of Programming, Beth Barrett. Women in Cinema will also include presentations of following celebrated films: THE DANDELIONS (dir. Carine Tardieu, France), 2012 Locarno Film Festival Audience Award-winner LORE (dir. Cate Shortland, Australia/Germany/UK), MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN (dir. Deepa Mehta, Canada/UK), SATELLITE BOY ((dir. Catriona McKenzie, Australia), 2012 Fantastic Fest Award-winner VANISHING WAVES (dir. Kristina Buozyte, Lithuania/France/Belgium), and THE WORLD BEFORE HER (dir. Nisha Pahuja, Canada).
Additional Women in Cinema programs will include a selection of female-helmed short films and the festival forum, Beyond the Director.
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La Playa D. C.[/caption]
The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival(PSIFF) announced the new Cine Latino Award, which will be presented to the best Iberoamerican film screening at the Festival scheduled to run January 3-14, 2013. Sponsored by the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA, the winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
This year’s eligible films are:
7 Boxes (Paraguay), Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori
After Lucia (Mexico), Director: Michel Franco
Beauty (Argentina), Director: Daniela Seggiaro
Blancanieves (Spain/France), Director: Pablo Berger
Checkmate (Dominican Republic), Director: José María Cabral
Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/Brazil/Spain), Director: Benjamín Ávila
The Cleaner (Peru), Director: Adrian Saba
The Clown (Brazil), Director: Selton Mello
The Dead Man and Being Happy (Spain), Director: Javier Rebollo
Drought (Mexico), Director: Everardo González
The Girl (USA/Mexico), Director: David Riker
Here and There (Spain/USA/Mexico), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza
La Playa D. C. (Colombia/Brazil/France), Director: Juan Andrés Arango García
Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain), Director: Emilio Maillé
The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France), Director: Esteban Larraín
Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina), Director: Darío Nardi
The Sleeping Voice (Spain), Director: Benito Zambrano
The Snitch Cartel (Colombia), Director: Carlos Moreno
Tabu (Portugal/Brazil/France/Germany), Director: Miguel Gomes
The End (Spain), Director: Jorge Torregrossa
Una Noche (Cuba/UK/USA), Director: Lucy Mulloy
White Elephant (Argentina/Spain/France), Director: Pablo Trapero
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Beasts of the Southern Wild[/caption]
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture nominations for the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures and The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were already announced by the Guild in November 2012.
All 2013 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 26th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Producers Guild will also present special honors to Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Milestone Award), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner(David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), J.J. Abrams (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Russell Simmons (Visionary Award) and BULLY (Stanley Kramer Award).
The 2013 Producers Guild nominated films are listed below in alphabetical order by category, along with producers. The producers’ names listed for each nominated production are listed in alphabetical order and are not necessarily the proper order of credits.
The theatrical motion picture nominees are:
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“Argo” (Warner Bros.)
Producers: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
“Django Unchained” (The Weinstein Company)
Producers: Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone, Stacey Sher
“Les Misérables” (Universal Pictures)
Producers: Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi” (Fox 2000 Pictures)
Producers: Ang Lee, Gil Netter, David Womark
“Lincoln” (Touchstone Pictures)
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
“Moonrise Kingdom” (Focus Features)
Producers: Wes Anderson & Scott Rudin, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales
“Silver Linings Playbook” (The Weinstein Company)
Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon
“Skyfall” (MGM/Columbia Pictures)
Producers: Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson
“Zero Dark Thirty” (Columbia Pictures)
Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Megan Ellison
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“Brave” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Producer: Katherine Sarafian
“Frankenweenie” (Walt Disney Pictures)
Producers: Allison Abbate, Tim Burton
“ParaNorman” (Focus Features)
Producers: Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner
“Rise of the Guardians” (Paramount Pictures)
Producers: Nancy Bernstein, Christina Steinberg
“Wreck-It Ralph” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Producer: Clark Spencer
The Producers Guild of America earlier announced the Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture, Television Series and Non-Fiction Television Nominations; the following list includes complete producer credits.
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“A People Uncounted” (Urbinder Films)
Producers: Marc Swenker, Aaron Yeger
“The Gatekeepers” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky, Dror Moreh
“The Island President” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Producers: Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen
“The Other Dream Team” (The Film Arcade)
Producers: Marius Markevicius, Jon Weinbach
“Searching For Sugar Man” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apparently hit a snafu with the introduction of online balloting and will extended the deadline for members to vote for Oscar nominations by one day to Friday, January 4, 2013, 5.p.m. PT. (The original date was Thursday, January 3, 5 p.m. PT). Members may vote online or submit a paper ballot. Any votes received after the deadline will not be counted.
“By extending the voting deadline we are providing every opportunity available to make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible,” said Ric Robertson, Academy COO. “We’re grateful to our global membership for joining us in this process.”
The 85th Academy Awards® nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.
by Cecily Witcher
Django Unchained is a shootem-up-bang-bang western-style movie that strives hard to convey the feeling of being in the 1800’s during the period when slavery was the law of the land in some parts of the USA. The film is set in the South where a slave, Django, (played by Jamie Foxx) ends up partnering with Dr.King Schultz, a white German bounty hunter (played by Christoph Waltz.) Shultz is looking for the Brittle Brothers as they have a huge bounty on their head and are wanted “Dead or Alive.” Django promises Schultz that he will lead him to the brothers if he will help him find his wife, a German-speaking slave named Broomhilda (played by Kerry Washington) from whom he was separated during a slave trade.
Schultz teaches Django how to be a precise marksman and they start their journey to find the Brittle Brothers and Broomhilda. Their hunt for the brothers was successful. The search for Broomhilda leads them to a plantation known as “Candy Land.” The master of Candy Land, Calvin Candie is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Schultz and Django are welcomed to the plantation with the understanding that they are offering to buy a nigger to fight “kind of like dog fighting” but they used the slaves instead as a form of “entertainment”. Calvin Candie couldn’t resist that type of offer and the scheme to buy a nigger to fight and then include Broomhilda in the package would’ve went off without a hitch until a loyal house slave, Stephen (Samuel Jackson) who had been with the plantation for years told Calvin Candie that he was getting conned by a nigger. He told him that they were not interested in buying a fighting nigger; they came for the gal Broomhilda. This infuriated Calvin Candie and he forced Django and Schultz to pay $12,000 for Broomhilda or he was going to kill her right there, so they paid up and Broomhilda freedom papers were drawn up and signed. As a final condition, Calvin insisted that Schultz shake his hand to seal the deal before he would give him her emancipation papers. Schultz declined, but Calvin insisted and finally, Schultz acted as if he was going to shake Calvin’s hand and shot him directly in the chest. This started a chain of more bloody events with tons of shooting, nigger calling, explosions and more blood.
If you want to know if Django was able to rescue Broomhilda since Schultz didn’t shake Calvin Candi’s hand and Calvin still held her freedom papers, or even if Django, Schultz and Broomhilda survived the shootout following the killing of Calvin Candi, you will have to go check out the film.
This film is rated R and for very good reason. There is so much violence, bloodshed and every other word is nigger. I literally had a nightmare when I went to bed that night. So I will say this film is not for the squeamish. Over all I give it 2 stars out of 5
Rated: R, 2 hr. 46 min.
Western, Drama
Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Written By: Quentin Tarantino
In Theaters: Dec 25, 2012 Wide
The Weinstein Co.
The 7th Rome Film Festival (Festival Internazionale del Film di Roma) will honor director Quentin Tarantino with the Career Achievement Award. The American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, winner of an Oscar® for Pulp Fiction, the author of Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill:Vol.1, Kill Bill:Vol.2 and Inglourious Basterds, will receive the award on January 4th on the occasion of the gala screening of the new film he has written and directed, Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Di Caprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington. The celebrated film-composer Ennio Morricone will be presenting the award to the director.