• Finland’s Oscar submission LE HAVRE – opens in LA and NYC on October 21

    [caption id="attachment_1724" align="alignnone" width="550"]Le Havre[/caption]

    Finland’s official submission for 2012 Academy Awards – Best Foreign Language Film, ‘Le Havre’ by director Aki Kaurismäki will be released in NYC and LA on Friday, October 21 with an expected national release to follow.

    The film premiered at 2011 Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded the FIPRESCI Critic’s prize, and was screened at the recent Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals.

    In his wry and warm-hearted portrait of the French harbor city that gives the film its name, legendary Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (The Man Without a Past, The Match Factory Girl) pays tribute to the Gallic cinema he loves with a film that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville and Michel Carné.

    LE HAVRE, Kaurismäki’s 16th feature concerns a young African refugee (newcomer Blondin Miguel) who is thrown by fate into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a well-read bohemian who works as a shoe-shiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. Kati Outinen, Kaurismäki’s muse who appears in most of his films, plays Marcel’s wife Arletty.

    2011  35 mm  In French with English Subtitles   Not Rated   93 min  Sound: Dolby SRD  Aspect Ratio: 1.85

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  • San Francisco International Animation Festival announces 2011 Lineup and Program

    [caption id="attachment_1722" align="alignnone" width="550"]A scene from FOUR ANIMAL CARTOONS TO HELP KIDS DEAL WITH DIVORCE, part of the Anthropomorphlolz shorts program at the San Francisco International Animartion Festival, November 10 – 13 at San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema. [/caption]

    The 6th annual San Francisco International Animation Festival, returns Thursday, November 10 through Sunday, November 13, 2011 at the Film Society’s new theatrical home, San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema.

    The San Francisco International Animation Festival includes an ‘enticing mix of the latest anime, family-friendly fare, documentaries, wonderfully unclassifiable shorts from around the world and a fabulous Opening Night party.’

    This year’s festival includes Cannes entry and multiaward-winning Tatsumi by Eric Khoo, the Bay Area-produced Annecy competitor Glitch in the Grid, the long-awaited feature-length film by Keita Kurosaka, Midori-ko and several shorts programs, including the always popular Best of Annecy compilation.

    Complete lineup and program information:

     

    Thursday, November 10  Opening Night
    7:00 pm Glitch in the Grid
    Eric Leiser
    A reclusive, talented artist, Jay, seldom leaves his small town home. Hoping to cheer him up, his cousins invite him to live with them in Hollywood, but the glitz and partying cannot satisfy his longing for spiritual renewal. Director Eric Leiser uses a hybrid live action/stop motion approach to reveal Jay’s inner life, pushing the boundaries of what we think of as animation. USA/England 2011, 83 min. Written by Eric Leiser, Photographed by Rory Owen Delaney, Marco Menestrina. With Jay Masonek, Jeffrey Leiser, Eric Leiser, Linda Darnall.
    8:30 pm Opening Night Party at Yoshi’s San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore Street (Ellis/Eddy) featuring modern Japanese cuisine inspired hors d’oeuvres and beverages.
    9:30 pm Glitch in the Grid


    Friday, November 11
    5:00 pm Top Drawers
    Is there anything more beautiful than the romance left in the trace of an artist’s absent hand? Animation sometimes leaves the impression that we come into direct contact with an artist’s personal vision, that we can experience their talent through their recorded gestures. This shorts program explores wondrous artistic effects produced through drawing, puppetry and even computing. Total running time 73 min.
    7:00 pm The Best of Annecy
    The Annecy International Animated Film Festival is widely regarded as the most important festival for animation in Europe. SFIAF is pleased to once again present a selection of the best shorts to have appeared in Annecy this year. An annual highlight of SFIAF, this year’s edition will again include a dynamic and entertaining range of styles, techniques and genres. Total running time 81 min.
    9:00 pm Tatsumi
    Eric Khoo
    Alternating between a memoir-like, first-person recounting of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s life and presentations of his manga works as animation, Tatsumi celebrates the life and work of the legendary Japanese comics artist. Realistic and disquieting, Tatsumi’s work redefined the manga landscape and elevated the genre to a whole new level of creative expression influenced by adult themes. Singapore 2011, 96 min. Written by Eric Khoo. With Tetsuya Bessho, Motoko Gollent, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Mike Wiluan. In Japanese with subtitles, not recommended for children.


    Saturday, November 12
    3:00 pm Nocturna
    Adrià García, Víctor Maldonado
    Nocturna reveals a child’s vision of the night sky as a wondrous landscape. Young orphan Tim is afraid of the dark, so when the stars start disappearing, he teams up with a cat named Tobermory to bring them back. The two become immersed in a world of strange powers, where their ultimate destination is as surprising as the journey itself. Spain/France 2007, 80 min. Written by Adrià García, Víctor Maldonado, Teresa Vilardell, With Imanol Arias, Natalia Rodríguez, Carlos Sobera. In Spanish with subtitles, recommended for ages eight and up.
    5:30 pm Ball of Confusion
    What if the world were constructed of impossible amusement park rides that appear to grow and breathe? What if tiny Lego-like creatures populated all of Paris? What if two chicken-ish things sang opera? These questions and many more await to be answered in this program of counterfactuals and a few music videos. Total running time 80 min.
    7:30 pm Midori-ko
    Keita Kurosaka
    Beloved artist Keita Kurosaka has fashioned an exquisitely dark sci-fi tale. Scientists work to develop a “dream food” that is both meat and vegetable to prevent an impending famine. One day, a magical light produces what they’ve been seeking: an animal/vegetable hybrid named Midori-ko, who promptly flies away. The culmination of a ten-year labor of love, Midori-ko is a spectacular achievement. Japan 2010, 55 min. Written by Keita Kurosaka. Photographed by Keita Kurosaka. With Sayaka Suzuki, Rina Yûki, Chicapan, Miwako Mishima. In Japanese with subtitles.
    9:00 pm Anthropomorphlolz
    Welcome to the strange and charmed world of guest programmer Jay Wertzler. In it you’ll find LCD Soundsystem, Tiny Fuppets and an array of current and potential cultural memes. During this shorts program, Wertzler will guide us through his animated universe, one that is as sweet and dangerous as a gingerbread house located deep in the forest of your hipster-critical mind. Total running time 77 min.


    Sunday, November 13
    2:00 pm The Best of Annecy  see 11/11
    4:00 pm Top Drawers  see 11/11
    6:00 pm Tatsumi  see 11/11
    8:30 pm Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
    Kazuya Murata
    One of the most highly anticipated anime releases slated for 2012, this anime epic features a fugitive alchemist with mysterious abilities who leads the Elric brothers to a distant valley inhabited by the Milos, a proud people struggling against oppression. Director Murata creates an alternate reality in which alchemy is the most advanced form of science. Hagane no renkinjutsushi: Mirosu no seinaru hoshi, Japan 2011, 110 min. Written by Yuichi Shinpo. Photographed by Yoshiyuki Takei. With Romi Park, Rie Kugimiya, Maaya Sakamoto, Toshiyuki Morikawa. In Japanese with subtitles.

     

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  • My Week With Marilyn Added to 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival

    The new drama film, My Week With Marilyn has just been added to the 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival lineup. The film screens Saturday, October 16th at Guild Hall. My Week With Marilyn is directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges; and stars Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh

    Early in the summer of 1956, American film star Marilyn Monroe set foot on British soil for the first time. On honeymoon with her husband, the celebrated playwright Arthur Miller, Monroe came to England to shoot THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL – the film that famously united her with Sir Laurence Olivier, the British theatre and film legend who directed and co-starred in the film.

    That same summer, 23-year-old Colin Clark set foot on a film set for the first time in his life. Newly graduated from Oxford, Clark aspired to be a filmmaker and found a job as a lowly production hand on the set of THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL. Forty years later, he recounted his experiences of the six-month shoot in a diary-style memoir entitled The Prince, the Showgirl and Me.

    But one week in Clark’s account was missing.

    It wasn’t until years later that Clark revealed why. In a follow-up memoir entitled My Week with Marilyn, he recounted the true story of one magical week he spent alone with the world’s biggest star… the week he spent with Marilyn.
    By turns comic and poignant, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN offers an uncommonly intimate look at the Hollywood icon, charting the brief, charged connection she forged with a young man who came to understand her better than anyone.

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  • 11 Nonfiction Short Film Finalists for 2012 Cinema Eye Honors

    Eleven films from six countries have been named as finalists for the 2012 Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking.  This is the second year that Cinema Eye has presented an award for Nonfiction Short Filmmaking.  Last year the award went to The Poodle Trainer, directed by Vance Malone.

    2012 Cinema Eye Honors Short Film Finalists:

    Bathing Micky (MICKY BADER) (Sweden/Denmark)
    Directed by Frida Kempff

    Diary (United Kingdom)
    Directed by Tim Hetherington

    Guanape Sur (Italy)
    Directed by János Richter

    Il Capo (The Chief) (Italy)
    Directed by Yuri Ancarani

    Incident by a Bank (Sweden)
    Directed by Ruben Östlund

    Minka (USA)
    Directed by Davina Pardo

    Out of Reach (POZA ZASIEGIEM)     (Poland)
    Directed by Jakub Stozek

    Poster Girl (USA)
    Directed by Sara Nesson

    Ray’s Birds (USA)
    Directed by Deborah Stratman

    This Chair is Not Me (United Kingdom)
    Directed by Andy Taylor Smith

    Tussilago (Sweden)
    Directed by Jonas Odell

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  • Award winning film, Vegucated, kicks off Fall Tour in NY

     

    The new documentary Vegucated, recently awarded “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2011 Toronto Independent Film Festival is going on the road.

     

    The tour kicks off tonight in New York City with the U.S. premiere at the at the SVA Theatre, then to Midwest Premiere at the Show Me Justice Film Festival, on Saturday, October 15th, at University of Central Missouri. Other cities follow.

    Vegucated is a feature-length documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time, Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking, and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the fate of the world may fall on their plates. Lured with true tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover hidden sides of animal agriculture and soon start to wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. Before long, they find themselves risking everything to expose an industry they supported just weeks before.

    But can their conviction carry them when times get tough? What about on family vacations fraught with skeptical step-dads, carnivorous cousins, and breakfast buffets?

    Part sociological experiment, part science class, and part adventure story, Vegucated showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who share one journey and ultimately discover their own paths in creating a kinder, cleaner, greener world, one bite at a time

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  • Actress Famke Janssen’s Directorial Debut ‘Bringing Up Bobby’ Gets a Theatrical Distribution Deal

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    monterey media has acquired North American rights to actress Famke Janssen’s writing and directorial debut, “Bringing Up Bobby” with a late 2011 theatrical release date planned. “Bringing Up Bobby ” stars Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, The Three Musketeers), Bill Pullman (Independence Day, Sleepless in Seattle, The Grudge) and Marcia Cross (star of “Desperate Housewives”). The film premiered recently at the Deauville American Film Festival and will have its US premiere at The Savannah Film Festival this November.

    About Bringing Up Bobby
    In an effort to escape her past and build a better future, Olive (Milla Jovovich), an attractive European con artist, and her 10-year-old American-born son, Bobby (Spencer List), find themselves living in Oklahoma.  But as Olive and Bobby blithely charm their way from one comical adventure to another, Olive’s criminal past finally catches up with her, forcing her to make the toughest judgment of all.

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  • Hollywood Film Festival to honor George Clooney

    George Clooney in The Descendants

    The 15th annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, will honor Oscar winner George Clooney with the “Hollywood Actor Award” for his critically acclaimed performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.”

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  • Gotham Screen International Film Festival Moves To A New Home for 2011

    This year’s Annual Gotham Screen International Film Festival (GSIFF) moves to a new home — NY’s QUAD Cinema. GSIFF. This year’s festival showcases more than 10 ‘cutting-edge’ features, documentaries and three programs of short films from independent, first- or second-time directors as well as international releases making their East Coast or US debut. This year’s Festival is highlighted by the World Premiere of Henry Miller’s OCCUPANT; the World Premiere of Dana Packard’s, 40 WEST, starring Wayne Newton; and the East Coast premiere of the Indian film SHUTTLECOCK BOYS directed by Hemant Gaba.

    Gotham Screen International Film Festival Opens October 13-23, 2011 at NY’s QUAD Cinema on 34th Street.

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  • International Film Festival Rotterdam appoints Bianca Taal as programmer for 2012 edition

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed Bianca Taal as programmer for its upcoming edition. Bianca will oversee the 2012 selection of feature length films from Greece, Turkey, Israel, Iran and the Arab world. She is also a member of the CineMart Selection Committee.

    After finishing her Film and Television Studies at the University of Utrecht, Bianca Taal started working with the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2001 as a staff member of the Hubert Bals Fund and the CineMart. From 2005 – 2007 Bianca was co-Head of the CineMart. Consecutively Bianca has been director of the Hubert Bals Fund from 2007 – 2009.

    From 2009 – November 2011, Bianca worked as Head of Programmes at the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam. Bianca was an advisor on the Committee Feature Fiction Film of the Dutch Film Fund from 2006 – 2010. Furthermore she is a member of the CineMart selection committee as well as the commission moving images of the Rotterdam Culture Council and she is a board member of the Holland Animation Festival in Utrecht.

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a quality selection of independent, innovative and experimental cinema, video and media art. During twelve festival days, hundreds of filmmakers and other artists present their work to a large audience (2011: 340,000 admissions) and 3,000 film professionals. The 41st edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from Wednesday January 25 up to and including Sunday February 5, 2012.

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  • Reeling 2011: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Releases the Film Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_1710" align="alignnone" width="550"]Opening Night , The Wise Kids [/caption]

    Reeling 2011: The 30th Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, running November 3-12, kicks off its 10-day festival with the Opening Night Gala presentation of The Wise Kids by Chicago-based filmmaker Stephen Cone, to be held at the Music Box Theatre on Thursday, November 3. The Wise Kids is a coming-of-age drama set in the South, featuring a “brilliant cast of young actors” (Variety). The film has garnered Best Feature awards at Outfest and Newfest (the Los Angeles and New York gay film festivals).

    Reeling closes on Saturday, November 12, at the Portage Theater with dual closing night selections: Lorene Machado’s Margaret Cho performance film, Cho Dependent(6:00 pm) and Casper Andreas’ satire on “making it” in Hollywood, Going Down in La-La Land (9:30 pm).

    Documentaries take center stage this year with three centerpiece films. On Saturday, November 5, Reeling presents Wish Me Away, about country music sensation Chely Wright’s struggle and fears around publicly coming out. The film has already won best documentary awards at the Los Angeles Film Festival and Frameline (San Francisco’s gay film festival). Fresh from its New York Film Festival world premiere, Vito is about activist and author of The Celluloid Closet, Vito Russo. The film screens on Monday, November 7 (on the anniversary of Russo’s death from AIDS). Sundance documentary We Were Here is a moving look back at the onset of the HIV epidemic 30 years ago at its epicenter, San Francisco, screening on Sunday, November 6.

    The full festival line-up

     


    FEATURE FILMS IN REELING30:

    (A)Sexual
    Angela Tucker (USA)
    Never in the mood? This groundbreaking documentary explores the topic of “asexuality.”

    August
    Eldar Rapaport (USA)
    After a painful break-up and many years of estrangement, former lovers re-unite over a cup of coffee and find themselves swept away, once again.

    Bashment
    Rikki Beadle-Blair (UK)
    When a gay white boy from the English countryside tries to break into London’s underground hip-hop scene, he is met by homophobia so brutal it nearly destroys his life.

    Bite Marks
    Mark Bessenger (USA)
    After a redneck truck-driver picks up a hitchhiking gay couple, the journey turns into a night of terror when they discover the shipment of coffins they’re hauling are far from empty.

    Blackmail Boys
    Bernard & Richard Shumanski (USA)
    What begins as a sweet and sexually explicit love story set in Chicago becomes a tale of extortion and moral hypocrisy when lovers Aaron and Sam hatch a scheme to blackmail a prominent religious figure and anti-gay activist (played by local “Mumblecore” director Joe Swanberg).

    Break My Fall
    Kanchi Wichmann (UK)
    In East London’s gay community, friends, lovers, and bandmates are plunged into an emotional meltdown at an illegal rave.

    Buffering
    Christian Martin (UK)
    Credit cards maxed out, mortgage unpaid, and on the verge of financial ruin, Aaron secretly films his erotic encounters with lover Seb and peddles the videos online.

    Bumblefuck, USA
    Aaron Douglas Johnston (USA/Netherlands)
    After the suicide of her gay friend, Alexa travels to his small Iowa hometown to make a documentary about what it must have been like to grow up gay in “Bumblefuck, USA.” When she meets an out lesbian artist to whom she is attracted, her preconceptions about the town and about herself are both changed.

    Cho Dependent
    Lorene Machado (USA)
    Margaret Cho performs her brash and uncensored new comedy act, with her barbed commentary targeted at topics like Lady Gaga, her stint on Dancing with the Stars, and her culture shock at moving to the South for her Lifetime TV series, Drop Dead Diva.

    Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
    Madeleine Olnek (USA)
    Olnek’s hilarious take on low budget sci-fi 1950’s B-movie kitsch (think tin foil hats and cardboard spaceships) follows three shiny-headed space aliens who descend on New York City to discover whether love can survive the trials and tribulations of intergalactic travel.

    Community Action Center 
    A.L. Steiner & A.K. Burns (USA)
    This experimental video combines provocative performance pieces – both “real” and fantastical – that explore the aesthetics of eroticism and illuminate how sexuality and the complexities of gendered bodies are inherently political.

    Dirty Drawings…With Happy Endings
    Bruno Irizarry (USA)
    This documentary tracks the journey of a group of gay male artists in NYC who are blurring the line between art and pornography as they struggle to create a commercial market for their sexually-explicit artwork.

    Eating Out: The Open Weekend?
    Q. Allan Brocka (USA) 
    The “Eating Out” franchise returns with this Palm Springs resort romp, where boyfriends Zack and Benji decide to have an open relationship for a weekend of fun. Of course, once the relationship is declared open, complications rush in.

    A Few Days of Respite
    Amor Hakkar (France)
    Facing imprisonment or death because of their homosexuality, Iranian lovers Mohsen and Hassan flee their home country bound for Paris, traveling separately to avoid suspicion. Passing through a small town in France, Mohsen is befriended by an older French woman who tries to help him, but unintentionally drives a wedge between the two lovers.

    Gigola
    Laure Charpentier (France) 
    Set in 1960’s Paris, Gigola is a sought-after female gigolo whose debonair butch style and cool attitude cause the femmes to swoon and wealthy cougars to shower her with gifts. Based on director Charpentier’s previously censored 1972 novel Gigola.

    Going Down in La-La Land
    Casper Andreas (USA)
    Prolific director Casper Andreas has given us plenty of gay romantic comedies and even a gay musical. Here, he shows us his dark side with a satire on “making it” in Hollywood, shining a harsh light on washed-up starlets, closeted celebrities, down-and-out directors, and the seamy underworld of gay porn. With surprising appearances by comics Judy Tenuta and Bruce Vilanch – neither playing their roles for laughs.

    The Green 
    Steven Williford (USA)
    Michael and his partner Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson, 30 Rock) leave New York City with hopes of leading a simple harmonious life on the Connecticut shoreline. When a male student accuses Michael of “inappropriate behavior,” his job, relationship, and freedom are all in jeopardy.

    Hannah and the Hasbian
    Gordon Napier (Australia)
    Hannah gives up her former hetero life for a blissful union with charismatic lesbian Breigh, only to have Breigh wake up one day and decide that she’s no longer a lesbian. Hilarity ensues as Hannah plots to win back her woman.

    Heart Breaks Open
    Billie Rain (USA)
    A queer activist and poet in Seattle, Jesus’ world implodes when he discovers that he is HIV positive after having unprotected sex when cheating on his long-time partner.

    Hit So Hard
    P. David Ebersole (USA)
    A raw, pull-no-punches documentary of the hell-and-back life of Patty Schemel, the hard-hitting drummer of Courtney Love’s seminal rock band “Hole” during its peak years.

    Hollywood to Dollywood
    John Lavin (USA)
    On the fumes of a dream, twin brothers write a screenplay with a role for Dolly Parton, and set out in an RV from Hollywood, CA to Dollywood, TN to deliver the script personally to their idol.

    I Am
    Sonali Gulati (USA/India)
    In a country where, until recently, being gay was a criminal offense, a young Indian filmmaker travels across India to meet the parents of other gay and lesbian South Asians, wishing she had been able to come out to her own mother before her death.

    Into the Lion’s Den
    Dan Lantz (USA)
    Three best friends on a cross-country road trip celebrate their last night on the road at a secluded backwoods bar. As closing time draws near, a night of unspeakable horror is about to begin.

    Jitters (Órói)
    Baldwin Zophoníasson (Iceland)
    Nominated for an EDDA Award (Iceland’s Oscars), Jitters has been compared favorably to the popular British teen drama Skins as it tells the story of a sixteen year-old whose life takes a surprising turn when he’s kissed by another boy.

    Judas Kiss
    J.T. Tepnapa (USA)
    In this science fiction drama, a phantasmal blip in time gives failed filmmaker Zach Wells (Charlie David, Mulligans) a chance to change his destiny.

    Kink Crusaders
    Michael Skiff (USA)
    This sexy, smart, and surprisingly upbeat doc traces the history of the world’s oldest fetish/kink competition – the International Mr. Leather contest, held in Chicago each year.

    Leave it on The Floor
    Sheldon Larry (USA)
    A gay youth thrown out of his home rediscovers the meaning of family after stumbling upon the LA ball scene in this “stand up and shout” musical drama, featuring music by Kim Burse (Beyonce’s music director) and choreography by Frank Gastson, Jr. (Beyonce’s dance master).

    Longhorns
    David Lewis (USA)
    The 1980s come roaring back in this risqué and sexy comedy involving a group of Texas frat-boys, a remote cabin in the Hill Country, and lots of beers, that will give “ride ’em cowboy” a whole new meaning!

    Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti)
    Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy)
    In order to escape an unwanted future in the family pasta factory, Tommaso plans to come out to his conservative Italian family, but his brother comes out first, beating him to the punch, in this endearing ensemble drama with an eccentric cast of characters.

    The Night Watch
    Richard Laxton (UK)
    Following up the acclaimed BBC productions of two other Sarah Waters’ novels, Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, comes her World War II drama about four interconnected Londoners trying to rebuild their shattered lives after the war.

    The Love Patient
    Michael Simon (USA)
    When brash ad exec Paul realizes he has lost his ex-boyfriend for good, he concocts an outrageous scheme to win him back: he stages his own cancer diagnosis.

    The LuLu Sessions
    S. Casper Wong (USA)
    The LuLu Sessions is a cinematic love letter by filmmaker S. Casper Wong to her lifelong best friend and love LuLu Nutter, a celebrated cancer researcher who has been diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer.

    Mangus!
    Ash Christian (USA)
    All Mangus has ever wanted was to play Jesus Christ in his high school’s production of Jesus Christ Spectacular, but just when he thinks he will step into Jesus’ sandals, a freak accident threatens to crush his dreams. This dark comedy stars Jennifer Coolidge, Heather Matarazzo, and Leslie Jordan.

    Mary Marie
    Alexandra Roxo (USA)
    In this otherworldly tale, two sisters return to their childhood home after their mother’s death to enjoy one last summer there together and find the boundaries of sisterly affection are becoming blurred.

    Morgan
    Michael Akers (USA)
    After a bicycling accident, Morgan has a tough time accepting life as a paraplegic, but his zest for life is reignited when he meets someone new on the basketball court.

    My Last Round (Mi Último Round)
    Julio Jorquera (Argentina/Chile)
    In this quiet but affecting drama, Octavio, a boxer living in a small town in Chile, must give up his sport or risk death. He moves to the city to start a new life with his male lover, but when their relationship becomes rocky Octavio is driven back to the macho world he knows best and considers stepping into the ring for one last fight.

    Our Lips Are Sealed
    John Gallino (USA) 
    Two gutsy gay college students vie for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest continuous kiss, a feat that culminates in a media sensation, and is hailed as “the kiss heard around the world.”

    Pariah
    Dee Rees (USA)
    In the Sundance hit Pariah, African-American teenager Alike revels in her identity as a butch lesbian while clubbing in Manhattan, but must return to the feminine obedient girl her family expects when she returns home to Brooklyn.

    Photos of Angie
    Alan Dominquez (USA)
    This haunting documentary tells the story of Angie Zapata, a transgender teen from Greeley, Colorado, who was brutally killed in 2008.

    Private Romeo
    Alan Brown (USA)
    After eight cadets are left behind at an isolated military high school, the greatest romantic drama ever written seeps off the page and permeates their lives.

    Romeos
    Sabine Bernardi (Germany)
    Lukas is a pre-op transman who pretends a mistake has been made when he is assigned to the girl’s dormitory for his compulsory term of civil service. As if his life needed any more complications, he falls head over heels for, Fabio, the über-masculine leader of the gay pack.

    Rosa Morena
    Carlos Augusto de Oliveira (Denmark/Brazil)
    Unable to adopt a child in his own country, a gay man from Denmark agrees to buy the unborn child of Maria, an alcoholic single mother living in the slums of Brazil.

    Round Trip (Viaje Redondo)
    Gerardo Tort (Mexico)
    Winner of Best Mexican Film and Best Actress prizes at the Guadalajara Film Festival, Round Trip is a road movie about two women from different social classes thrown together by chance when they find themselves stranded in the desert after their car breaks down.

    This Is What Love in Action Looks Like
    Morgan Jon Fox (USA)
    When Zach comes out to his fundamentalist parents and is sent to a Christian camp that pledges to turn gay teens straight, he has no idea that the blog entries he makes about his experience will inspire protests outside the organization’s gates. Filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox not only documents the unfolding of Zach’s situation, he also participates in the protest.

    Three Veils
    Rolla Selbak (USA)
    A sensitive and powerfully told drama about three young Middle Eastern women living in
    the US whose lives intertwine as they each defy tradition.

    Tomboy
    Celine Sciamma (France)
    When her family moves to a new town, a ten year-old tomboy gets the chance to pass herself off as a boy to her new friends and develops a crush on a neighborhood girl. As the end of summer approaches, reality begins to set in.

    Trigger
    Bruce McDonald (Canada)
    Two ex-bandmates (and probable ex-lovers?) reunite for a tribute concert in honor of women in rock, an occasion that opens old wounds and exhumes buried emotions. Deadwood’s Molly Parker and the late Tracy Wright (battling terminal cancer during the making of the film) give poignant performances that earned them both best actress nominations for the Genie Award (Canada’s Oscar equivalent).

    Vamperifica
    Bruce Ornstein (USA)
    A flamboyant would-be actor discovers that he is the reincarnation of a 200 year-old vampire king in this action-musical-horror-comedy.

    Vito
    Jeffrey Schwarz (USA)
    A loving tribute to author, cinephile, and activist Vito Russo, who, in addition to his involvement with ACT UP, GAA, and GLAAD, brought attention to Hollywood’s portrayal of gays and lesbians on screen through his landmark book The Celluloid Closet.

    We Have to Stop Now, 2
    Robyn Dettman, Cathy DeBuono & Jill Bennett (USA)
    When a quirky lesbian therapist couple writes a best-selling self-help book on marriage, despite their own troubled union, they must fake it for a documentary film crew chronicling their every move.

    We Were Here
    David Weissman & Bill Weber (USA)
    We Were Here revisits the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic, told through the reminiscences of five individuals in San Francisco whose lives were forever changed when their beloved city went from a hotbed of sexual freedom to the epicenter of the gay plague.

    The Wise Kids
    Stephen Cone (USA)
    As they make decisions about college, three friends from a small religious town must come to terms with the prospect of separations – physical, emotional and spiritual.

    Wish Me Away
    Bobbie Birleffi & Beverly Kopf (USA)
    An intimate and moving documentary about the difficult journey of country music star Chely Wright, as she finds the strength to come out to friends, family, and the public.

    SHORTS PROGRAMS

    Seventy-eight short films are combined in several comedy, drama, and documentary programs, including: Funny Boner; Funny Lingus; International Men’s Shorts; International Women’s Shorts; In His Eyes; It Takes All Kinds; It’s Not Me, It’s You; Names, Planes & James…Dean; Rainbow People; Scared Stiff; T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness; and Sex, Guns, and Luche Libre. Additional shorts will be screened with the featurettes Community Action Center, Our Lips Are Sealed, Dirty Drawings…With Happy Endings, and Photos of Angie.

     

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  • 37 films nominated in this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    Band Baaja Baaraat (Wedding Planners, India)

    The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) announced that 37 films from 19 countries and areas have been nominated in this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

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  • Iran Sentences Actress to 90 lashes For Appearing in Film

    [caption id="attachment_1706" align="alignnone" width="550"]Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr in My Tehran for Sale[/caption]

    Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr has been sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes for her starring role in Australian film My Tehran for Sale.

    Although the exact charges are not clear, Vafamehr do appear with a shaved head and no headscarf in the film, which also explores cultural oppression in Iran and taboos such as drug use, all no-no’s under Iranian tough laws.

    Shot in secret in Iran with a local crew in 2008, My Tehran for Sale is described as a groundbreaking film, revealing fresh truths behind the facade of contemporary Iran. Marzieh is an actress living in Tehran where, like most young people, she is forced to lead a secret life to express her art. At an underage rave party she meets Saman, now an Australian citizen, who offers a way out–until things go terribly wrong. Is Australia a place of hope, or simply another regime whose aim is to freeze the soul? shot entirely on location in Tehran, with the assistance of Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles can Fly) and post-producedin Adelaide, this is a uniquely daring project. it explores a woman’s struggle for independence and for the courage necessary to break from everything in your life. Adelaide-based filmmaker Granaz Moussavi is one of the most prominent poets of her generation in Iran. She has based this uncompromising debut feature on friends and acquaintances n Tehran’s underground arts community.
    Vafamehr will reportedly appeal her sentence.
    In related news, two of eight documentary film-makers detained in Iran were released, the website of the organization of documentary filmmakers said.

    “Our colleagues Naser Safarian and Mohsen Shahrnazdar were released,” a statement said. However, no additional details were available.

    Filmmakers Mojtaba Mir Tahmaseb, Katayoon Shahabi, Hadi Afarideh, Naser Safarian, Shahnam Bazdar and Mohsen Shahrnazdar were arrested on September 17, accused of espionage and other charges related to a BBC documentary they were working on.

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