• Sarah Palin documentary to air on Reelz Channel in March

    It basically bombed at the Box Office but Sarah Palin documentary movie “The Undefeated” is getting a second life and will make its network television premiere on REELZ on Sunday, March 11 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

    “The Undefeated” chronicles the rise from obscurity to national prominence of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Starting during the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989 when Palin worked a commercial fishing boat she owned with her blue-collar husband, “The Undefeated” shows the struggles, the victories and the setbacks during a controversial career. “The Undefeated” was written / directed by Stephen K. Bannon and produced by Glenn Evans and Dan Fleuette of the Victory Film Group.

    The film also includes leading prominent political commentators Mark Levin, Tammy Bruce and Andrew Breitbart as well as conservative activists Kate Obenshain, Sonnie Johnson and Jamie Radtke. Additionally, the film features interviews with Alaskan civil servants, elected officials and advisors who were involved in Alaskan politics during Governor Palin’s tenure.

    Encore Presentations for “The Undefeated” on REELZ:

    -Monday, March 12 at 10pm ET/ 7pm PT

    -Sunday, March 25 at 5:30pm ET/ 2:30pm PT

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  • Louisville filmmakers, IT’S IN THE BLOOD, wins multiple awards at the Derby City Film Festival

    Louisville natives Scooter Downey and Sean Elliot’s film It’s in the Blood was a big winner at the 2012 Derby City Film Festival.  The film which had its Kentucky premier at the film festival in Louisville, KY was awarded Best Picture, Audience Choice Award, Grand Jury Prize, and Elliot was awarded Best Actor (October).  Lead actor. Lance Henriksen (Russell) received a Lifetime Achievement Award in front of an audience of nearly 500.

    Directed by Scooter Downey, It’s In The Blood is described as a wholly unique cinematic movement.  At its core a father son story, the film is a deconstruction of the prototypical “creature feature”, incorporating elements of mystical realism and psychological thriller.  This new motion in film is called a Psyche-Saga.  Lance Henriksen stars in this nightmarish descent into the wilderness, the very heart of darkness where more than your guilt can eat you alive.

    The Film premiered at the New Jersey Film Festival where it received Honorable Mention.  At the Derby City Film Festival, Sean Elliot received Best Actor for his roll as October, the troubled son of Russell, portrayed by Lance Henriksen.  The picture received every award it was nominated for, including the Audience Choice Award and the Grand Jury Prize.

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  • Tropfest Las Vegas to run June 1 thru June 3

    [caption id="attachment_2471" align="alignnone"]Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan[/caption]

    Tropfest and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas are teaming up for Tropfest Las Vegas.  The weekend-long event, which celebrates the short film festival’s 20th Anniversary will also feature indie spirited emerging musical performances, film-themed anniversary events and will culminate with a Tropfest “All-Star” competition featuring the best Tropfest films from the past 20 years. 

    Over the past two decades, dozens of successful directors, writers, actors and others got their start at Tropfest.  Festival alumni include: Sam Worthington (Avatar, Last Night); Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Warrior, Animal Kingdom); Alister Grierson (director of the James Cameron-produced Sanctum); and Jason Gann and Tony Rogers, whose Tropfest short, Wilfred, was the genesis of the popular U.S. TV series of the same name starring Elijah Wood.

    Tropfest Las Vegas Schedule of Events at the Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan:

    Tropfest Las Vegas Kick-Off Party – Friday, June 1 – 8:00 PM

    Tropfest 20th Anniversary Party – Saturday, June 2 – 8:00 PM

    Tropfest All-Star Competition – Sunday, June 3 – 8:00 PM

    Performance by Musical Artist LP – 11:00 PM

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  • The Descendants and Better This World Win WGA Awards

    [caption id="attachment_2469" align="alignnone"]Better This World[/caption]

    The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2011. Among the winners, The Descendants won the award for Adapted Screenplay and Better This World won the award for Documentary Screenplay.

    MOTION PICTURE WINNERS

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

    Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

    The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings; Fox Searchlight

    DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY 

    Better This World, Written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega; Loteria Films

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  • The Descendants, The Artist and Freedom Riders Among Winners of 62nd Annual ACE Eddie awards

    [caption id="attachment_2467" align="alignnone" width="550"]Best Edited Documentary – Freedom Riders[/caption]

    ACE, the AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS, an honorary society of motion picture editors founded in 1950, presented the 62nd ACE Eddie awards. The Artist and The Descendants won the awards for Best Edited Feature Films and Freedom Riders won the award for Best Edited Documentary.

    The winners of the 62nd Annual ACE Eddie awards are:

    Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
    The Descendants
    Kevin Tent, ACE

    Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
    The Artist
    Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

    Best Edited Animated Feature Film
    Rango
    Craig Wood, ACE

    Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television
    Curb Your Enthusiasm, “Palestinian Chicken”
    Steven Rasch, ACE

    Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television
    Breaking Bad, “Face Off”
    Skip MacDonald

    Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television
    Homeland, “Pilot”
    Jordan Goldman and David Latham

    Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television
    Cinema Verite
    Sarah Flack, ACE and Robert Pulcini

    Best Edited Documentary
    Freedom Riders
    Lewis Erskine and Aljernon Tunsil

    Best Edited Reality Series
    Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, “Haiti”
    Eric Lasby

    Student Competition
    Eric Kench, Video Symphony

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  • Happy New Year and Awaken the Dragon Win at 2012 Beaufort International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_2464" align="alignnone"]Happy New Year[/caption]

    New York filmmaker K. Lorrel Manning’s Happy New Year won the Best Feature Film award at the 6th Beaufort International Film Festival in Beaufort, South Carolina. In Happy New Year, Sgt. Cole Lewis, mentally and physically scarred by his time served in Iraq and Afghanistan, finds humanity, compassion and friendship in a group of similarly injured veterans in the psychiatric ward at a remote Veterans Hospital. Through humor and pathos, Lewis becomes a ray of hope in the ward, as the men find a way to combat their post-war grief. However, just as their luck starts to change, Lewis soon faces his fiercest battle yet. Happy New Year will also screen at the upcoming South by Southwest Film Festival.

    [caption id="attachment_2465" align="alignnone" width="550"]Awaken The Dragon[/caption]

    Awaken the Dragon directed by Liz Oakley won the award for Best Documentary. Awaken the Dragon, a 90 minute documentary, filmmaker Liz Oakley introduces us to an unlikely crew of cancer survivors who have found an unconventional path to wellness through the ancient Chinese sport of dragon boating. Through a stunning array of colors and sounds, nail-biting competition, and intimate revelations, the film will take viewers on a journey of hope and healing. Awaken the Dragon is a story beyond survival… a story of reclaiming life… a story of awakening the dragon within.

    2012 Beaufort International Film Festival Winners

    Jean Ribaut Award for Excellence in Acting
    Powers Boothe

    Jean Ribaut Award for Excellent in Stunt Coordination
    Cal Johnson

    Jean Ribaut Award for Excellence in Editing
    Craig McKay

    Best Screenplay
    “The Wedding Photographer,” Teresa Bruce, Beaufort

    Best Animated Film
    “Stitched and Sown,” Austin Taylor, Winston-Salem, N.C.

    Best Student Film
    “The Road to Jacob,” Matt Allen,” Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah.

    Best Short Film
    “Quirk of Fate,” Marco J. Riedel, Cologne, Germany

    Best Documentary
    “Awaken the Dragon,” Liz Oakley, Charleston.

    Best Feature Film: “Happy New Year,” K. Lorrel Manning, New York, N.Y.

    Audience Choice Award
    “Awaken the Dragon,” Liz Oakley, Charleston.

    Best Director
    Feliz Martiz, Southgate, Calif., “Santiago”

    Best Actor
    Jesus Guevara, “Santiago”

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  • High Ground and Monsieur Lazhar Win Top Awards at 2012 Boulder International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1958" align="alignnone"]Monsieur Lazhar[/caption]

    High Ground directed by Michael Brown won the People’s Choice Award at the 2012 Boulder International Film Festival. High Gound tells the story of 11 U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq whose road to recovery takes them to one of the guardians of Everest—the 20,075-foot Himalayan peak known as Lobuche.

    The Academy Award nominated film, Monsieur Lazhar, directed by Phillippe Faiardeau won the award for Best Feature. Everyone has had some tough days in grade school, but few have had to deal with finding their teacher’s body hanging from their classroom ceiling. This is the class that Bachir Lazhar, a recent immigrant, faces on his first day as a substitute teacher in Canada. Monsieur Lazhar was a civil servant and restaurant owner in Algeria, but he’s a fish out of water in Canada and his religion is suspect. Moreover, he has a tragic past in Algeria. But in this grief-stricken classroom, Lazhar shines—he sings, he dances, he answers students’ questions about suicide with honesty and humor.

    Chasing Ice won the award for Best Adventure Film. Produced in Boulder by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jerry Aronson (The Divided Trail) and Oscar-winning producer Paula DuPré Pesmen (The Cove), this breathtakingly beautiful film is one of the most anticipated documentaries of 2012. Famed National Geographic photographer James Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras throughout the Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. His electrifying videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking—and rapidly accelerating—rate. Chasing Ice is a hair-raising adventure story as cinematographer and director Jeff Orlowski follows Balog and his team through brutal weather on three continents while Balog bravely documents the biggest story facing humanity.

    And Wild Horse, Wild Ride directed by Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus won the Best Documentary award. This intimate film follows a handful of men and women trainers as they tame wild horses rounded up by the federal government to ready them for the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge.

    2012 Boulder International Film Festival awards

    PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD:
    “High Ground”

    BEST ADVENTURE FILM:
    “Chasing Ice” directed by Jeff Orlowski

    BEST FEATURE:
    “Monsieur Lazhar” directed by Phillippe Faiardeau

    BEST DOCUMENTARY:
    “Wild Horse, Wild Ride” directed by Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
    “Incident in New Baghdad” directed by James Spione

    BEST CALL 2 ACTION FILM:
    “High Ground” directed by Michael Brown

    BEST SHORT FILM:
    “A Finger, Two Dots Then Me” directed by David and Daniel Holocheck


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  • Pariah and Sing Your Song Win at 43rd NAACP Image Awards

    [caption id="attachment_774" align="alignnone"]Pariah [/caption]

    The 43rd NAACP Image Awards was held over the weekend and Pariah triumphed over I Will Follow, Kinyarwanda, MOOZ-lum and The First Grader to win the award for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture. Other award winners include Sing Your Song won the award for Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television) and In the Land of Blood and Honey won the award for Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture.

    Winners of the 43rd annual NAACP Image Awards for Motion Pictures

    Motion Picture- The Help

    Actor in a motion picture – Laz Alonso, Jumping the Broom

    Actress in a motion picture- Viola Davis, The Help

    Supporting actor in a motion picture – Mike Epps, Jumping the Broom

    Supporting actress in a motion picture – Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

    Independent motion picture – Pariah

    Foreign motion picture – In the Land of Blood and Honey

    Documentary, theatrical or television – Sing Your Song

     

     

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  • Adopt Films to release in the US ‘Barbara’ Winner of Silver Bear for Best Director at 2012 Berlin Film Festival

    Adopt Films has acquired for release in the U.S., Christian Petzold’s “Barbara,” only hours before it was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director at the just-concluded 2012 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival).

    Adopt Films plans to release the film theatrically in December and will mount an Academy Award campaign for Petzold and his lead actors.

    Set in East Berlin in 1980 “Barbara” is the riveting and compassionate story of the eponymous pediatric surgeon whose desire to emigrate to the west has banished her to a small country hospital far from freedom, and Andre, a fellow doctor who also finds himself a prisoner of sorts, having recently overseen a procedure which resulted in tragedy for two of his patients.  It is a story of two doctors who, by dint of circumstance, discover feelings of trust they thought were no longer possible on their side of the fence.  It’s about the attraction that ignites between Barbara and Andre, and the improbable bonds that Barbara forms with her patients, often putting herself in jeopardy in the process.

    Nina Hoss plays the lead role in “Barbara,” marking her fifth collaboration with writer-director Petzold.  Ronald Zehrfeld, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Mark Waschke, and Rainer Bock co-star in the film.

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  • Italian Documentary Caesar Must Die Wins Golden Bear at 2012 Berlin International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_2457" align="alignnone" width="550"]Paolo and Vittorio Taviani[/caption]

    The Italian film, Caesar Must Die, (Cesare deve morire) by directors Paolo & Vittorio Taviani was awarded the top prize, the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival.

    [caption id="attachment_2458" align="alignnone"]Caesar Must Die, (Cesare deve morire)[/caption]

    Filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani spent six months following rehearsals for the stage production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; their film demonstrates how the universality of Shakespeare’s language helps the actors to understand their roles and immerse themselves in the bard’s interplay of friendship and betrayal, power, dishonesty and violence. This documentary does not dwell on the crimes these men have committed in their ‘real’ lives; rather, it draws parallels between this classical drama and the world of today, describes the commitment displayed by all those involved and shows how their personal hopes and fears also flow into the performance.

    All the awards – official and independent juries – of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival 

    GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
    Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die) by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani

    JURY GRAND PRIX-SILVER BEAR
    Csak a szél (Just The Wind) by Bence Fliegauf

    SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR
    Christian Petzold for Barbara (Barbara)

    SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS
    Rachel Mwanza in Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen

    SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR
    Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) by Nikolaj Arcel

    SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION
    Lutz Reitemeier for the photography in Bai lu yuan (White Deer Plain) by Wang Quan’an

    SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT
    Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg for En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) by Nikolaj Arcel

    ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation
    Tabu by Miguel Gomes

    SPECIAL AWARD-SILVER BEAR
    L’enfant d’en haut (Sister) by Ursula Meier

    BEST FIRST FEATURE JURY

    BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD, endowed with 50,000 Euros, funded by GWFF
    Kauwboy by Boudewijn Koole
    (Generation Kplus)

    SPECIAL MENTION
    Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill) by Emin Alper
    (Forum)

    PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM JURY

    GOLDEN BEAR
    Rafa by João Salaviza

    THE JURY PRIZE – SILVER BEAR
    Gurehto Rabitto (The Great Rabbit) by Atsushi Wada

    SPECIAL MENTION
    Licuri Surf by Guile Martins

    EFA SHORT FILM NOMINEE BERLIN
    Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon (Two Ships) by Justine Triet

    DAAD SHORT FILM PRIZE
    The Man that Got Away by Trevor Anderson

    PRIZES OF THE JURIES GENERATION
    Children’s Jury Generation Kplus

    CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
    Arcadia by Olivia Silver

    SPECIAL MENTION
    Kikoeteru, furi wo sita dake (Just Pretended To Hear) by Kaori Imaizumi

    CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
    Julian by Matthew Moore

    SPECIAL MENTION
    B I N O by Billie Pleffer
    Youth Jury Generation 14plus

    CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
    Lal Gece (Night of Silence) by Reis Çelik

    SPECIAL MENTION
    Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels) by Ella Lemhagen

    CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
    Meathead by Sam Holst

    SPECIAL MENTION
    663114 by Isamu Hirabayashi

    International Jury Generation Kplus

    THE GRAND PRIX OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR THE BEST FILM
    Kauwboy by Boudewijn Koole

    SPECIAL MENTION
    GATTU by Rajan Khosa

    THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
    B I N O by Billie Pleffer

    SPECIAL MENTION
    L by Thais Fujinaga

    PRIZES OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
    Competition: Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
    Special Mention: Rebelle (War Witch), by Kim Nguyen
    Panorama: Die Wand (The Wall), by Julian Roman Pölsler
    Special Mention: Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic
    Forum: La demora (The Delay), by Rodrigo Plá

    FIPRESCI PRIZES
    Competition: Tabu (Tabu), by Miguel Gomes
    Panorama: L’âge atomique (Atomic Age), by Héléna Klotz
    Forum: Hemel (Hemel), by Sacha Polak

    PRIZE OF THE GUILD OF GERMAN ART HOUSE CINEMAS
    À moi seule (Coming Home), by Frédéric Videau

    C.I.C.A.E. PRIZE
    Panorama Death: For Sale (Death for Sale), by Faouzi Bensaïdi
    Forum: Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland), by Yang Yonghi

    LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS
    My Brother The Devil (My Brother The Devil), by Sally El Hosaini

    Special Mention
    Dollhouse (Dollhouse), by Kirsten Sheridan

    TEDDY AWARDS
    Best Feature Film: Keep The Lights On (Keep The Lights On), by Ira Sachs
    Best Documentary Film: Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright
    Best Short: Film Loxoro (Loxoro), by Claudia Llosa
    Teddy Jury Award: Jaurés (Jaurés), by Vincent Dieutre

    MADE IN GERMANY – PERSPEKTIVE FELLOWSHIP, endowed with 15,000 Euros, funded by Glashütte Original
    Annekatrin Hendel for Disko (Disco)

    DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE, funded by the German-French Youth Office
    This Ain’t California (This Ain’t California), by Marten Persiel

    CALIGARI FILM PRIZE
    Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill), by Emin Alper

    Special Mentions
    Bagrut Lochamim (Soldier / Citizen), by Silvina Landsmann
    Escuela normal (Normal School), by Celina Murga
    Jaurès (Jaurès), by Vincent Dieutre

    NETPAC PRIZE
    Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception), by Mani Haghighi

    PEACE FILM AWARD
    Csak a szél (Just The Wind), by Bence Fliegauf

    AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE
    Csak a szél (Just The Wind), by Bence Fliegauf

    CINEMA FAIRBINDET PRIZE
    Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright

    READERS’ JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARDS

    PanoramaAudienceAward PPP – fiction film
    Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic

    PanoramaAudienceAward PPP – documentary film
    Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present (Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present), by Matthew Akers

    BERLINER MORGENPOST READERS’ PRIZE
    Barbara (Barbara), by Christian Petzold

    TAGESSPIEGEL READERS’ PRIZE
    La demora (The Delay), by Rodrigo Plá

    SIEGESSÄULE READERS’ AWARD
    Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic

    Special Mention
    Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright

    PRIZE OF THE BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS

    SCORE COMPETITION
    Christoph Fleischmann (Germany)

    BERLIN TODAY AWARD
    Rafael Balulu (Israel) for Batman At The Checkpoint (Batman At The Checkpoint)

    Special Mention
    David Lalé (United Kingdom) for White Lobster (White Lobster)

     

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  • Awards to Return for 2012 Edinburgh International Film Festival

    Chris Fujiwara, Artistic Director, Edinburgh International Film Festival, announced today that this year’s edition of the Festival will see the return of major awards.

    Three awards including Best International Feature Film by an Emerging Director, Best Performance in a British Feature Film and The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature will all be available for 2012.

    In previous years The Michael Powell Award honored the best British feature film selected from the British Gala section; in a significant change this year documentaries will also be eligible.  The Award for Best Performance will be presented to an individual for his or her exceptional performance in a UK feature-length production.

    The International Feature Film award will be bestowed on an emerging director at the helm of an international (non-UK) feature-length production, again either fiction or documentary.

    Both the British and international competition sections will be judged by international juries. 

    Eligibility for the awards will be at the Artistic Director’s discretion. It will be possible for international and British features to screen as part of the programme but out of competition.

    Chris Fujiwara commented, “I am delighted to re-introduce these awards for the Festival this year and am pleased to give both documentary and fiction films the opportunity to win the awards.  I feel very strongly that having noteworthy awards is important for an international film festival. Awards can stimulate creative dialogue and above all help shine the spotlight on emerging talent, which is part of the mission of EIFF.”

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  • My Week With Marilyn Expanding to 600 theaters

    In the wake of two Academy Award® Nominations for Michelle Williams, Best Actress, and Kenneth Branagh, Best Supporting Actor, the Weinstein Company announced today that they are expanding MY WEEK WITH MARILYN into 600 theaters nationwide.

    MY WEEK WITH MARILYN is currently in select theaters and will be expanding on February 24th.  

    In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott).  Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn – this is the story of that week.  When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

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