• 2011 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival to feature 31 films

    [caption id="attachment_1445" align="alignnone" width="560"]Eugene Domingo in ‘Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank’[/caption]

    Thirty-one  films will compete in the 2011 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in Manila next month. Nine films will compete in the New Breed Full-length Feature category, 10 films in the Short Feature category, and 4 in the Directors’ Showcase.

    New Breed category

    “Amok” by Lawrence Fajardo
    “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” by Chris Martinez
    “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa” by Alemberg Ang and Alvin Yapan
    “Baby Factory” by Eduardo W. Roy, Jr. and Jerome Zamora
    “Cuchera” by Joseph Israel M. Laban and Janice O’Hara
    “I-libings: Your Loss, Our Luck” by Rommel Andreo Sales
    “Ligo na U, Lapit Na Me” by Noel Ferrer, Jerry Gracio and Erick Salud
    “Niño” by Loy Arcenas
    “Teoriya (Father’s Way)” by Alistaire Christian E. Chan

    Short Feature category

    “Oliver’s Apartment” by Misha Balangue
    “Hanapbuhay” by Henry Frejas
    “Un Diutay Mundo (One Small World)” by Ana Carlyn V. Lim
    “Immanuel” by Gabriel “Gio” Puyat
    “Hazard” by Mikhail Red
    “Walang Katapusang Kwarto” by Emerson Reyes
    “Debut” by Pamela Llanes Reyes
    “Samarito” by Rafael L. Santos
    “Every Other Time” by Gino M. Santos
    “Nino Bonito” by Rommel “Milo” Tolentino

    Directors Showcase

    “Bisperas” by Jeffrey Jeturian
    “Busong” by Auraeus Solito
    “Isda” by Adolfo Alix, Jr.
    “Patikul” by Joel C. Lamangan

    This year’s Cinemalaya Festival will for the first time include a section called Focus Asia that will feature 8 independent works by Asian directors.

    The Cinemalaya Awards Night will be held on July 2, 2011.

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  • The 2011 Honolulu Film Awards; Annie Perkins’ “Mila’s Journey” awarded Grand Jury Prize

    [caption id="attachment_1443" align="alignnone" width="560"]Mila’s Journey[/caption]

    The 2011 Honolulu Film Awards Ceremony Dinner was held last month at the Sarento’s Top of the “I” restaurant located on the top floor of the beautiful Ilikai Hotel & Suites with breathtaking views of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Honolulu Film Awards honor the best from around the world in several competition categories including Feature Films, Documentaries, Short Films, Foreign Films, Hawaiian Films, Action Sports Films, Music Videos, Experimental Films, Television Pilots, Environmental Films, Screenplays and more.

    Annie Perkins’ “Mila’s Journey” was awarded the Grand Jury Prize and was in attendance to pick up the prize. Mila’s Journey follows Mila & her decision to return to India after more than 30 years. The film juxtaposes modern images with the old 8mm footage & pays homage to romance, adventure, spirituality, freedom and female independence. The film shows one Dutch woman’s attempt to answer the question ‘what would happen if I went back?’

    Other winning filmmakers in attendance included Dana Neves, Director, “The Green Tie Affair” – Best of Hawaii; Bret Malley, Director, “Greenwashers” – Best Documentary Short; Mary Piller, Director, “Greenwashers” – Best Environmental Film; and Yurij Luhovy, Director, “Genocide Revealed” – Best Historical Film.

    Additional Best of Category Winners include:
    Special Jury Award: Minnie Loves Junior – Directed By Andy Mullins
    Special Jury Award: Lychee Thieves – Directed By Kathleen Kwai Ching Man
    Special Jury Award: Little Gobie – Directed By Tony Tang
    Jury Prize: OnAir – Directed By Carsten Vauth & Marco J. Riedl
    Jury Prize: Down This Road – Directed By Vinz Feller
    Jury Prize: The Buck Johnson Story – Directed By Blake McCray
    Best Feature Film: 5th & Alameda – Directed By Richard Friedman
    Best Actor: Dryerthèque – Lead Actor Trevor Wissink-Adams
    Best Actress: An Affair with Dolls – Lead Actress Alexandra Chalupa
    Best Animation: For a Fistful of Snow – Directed By: Julien Ezri
    Best Cinematography: The Two Escobars – Directed By Jeff Zimbalist & Michael Zimbalist
    Best Coming of Age: Fast Times and Fast Food – Directed By Kyle Niemier
    Best Director: Das Tub – Directed By James Cunningham
    Best Documentary Feature: Hollywood, 90038 – Directed By Jennifer Kes Remington
    Best Documentary Short: Greenwashers – Directed By Bret Malley     
    Best Drama: Mental – Directed By Joy Gohring
    Best Educational Film: Out of the Darkness – Directed By Stefano Levi
    Best Family Film: My Father, Joe – Directed By Nikila Cole
    Best Foreign Film: Suburbs of Downtown – Directed By Sergio García Locatelli
    Best Human Rights Film: Via Gori – Directed By George Barbakadze
    Best Independent Short: Apocalypse Story – Directed By Jeffrey P. Nesker
    Best Music Video: To The Death – Directed By Danielle French
    Best Screenplay: Not Worth A Bullet – Directed By Markus F. Adrian
    Best Short Film: Bathing and the Single Girl – Directed By Christine Elise McCarthy
    Best Student Film: Falling Apart – Directed By Christopher Valori

    Screenplay Competition Winners
    1st Place: Finding Thomas written by Jaimee Campbell
    2nd Place: Molokai written by Tuesday Rose
    3rd Place: Hogwild written by Dayan Paul

    Short Screenplay Competition Winners
    1st Place: The Wedding Bet written by Vicki Bartholomew
    2nd Place: Sunset Fire written by A. Wayne Carter
    3rd Place: Assassins written by JimmyLee Smith

    Screenplay Official Finalists
    180 Proof written by Adam Sumner
    Are You Lonesome Tonight? written by Robert Factor
    Blink of an Eye written by Anthony Williams
    Courting Death written by Heather Silvio
    DAM 999 Script written by Sohan Roy
    Kill Haole Day written by Shelley Krawchuk
    Nisei Warrior written by Sandie Vea
    Olohana written by Daniel Fan
    On Any Other Day written by Lee Vehe
    Pot Shop written by Judah Ray Neiditch
    Sedah High written by Mpaki Molapo
    The Hickory Horse written by Vicki Bartholomew
    The Last Mermaid written by Shanon Culiner
    Walking In The Sand written by Curt Lambert
    Wrigley & King written by Cornelius Murphy

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  • Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure to be relased on VOD from Tribeca Film

    [caption id="attachment_1441" align="alignnone" width="560"]Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure[/caption]

    Tribeca Film will release Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, written and directed by Matthew Bate and produced by Bate and Sophie Hyde. Shut Up Little Man! will be released nationwide on VOD August 25, 2011, and theatrically the same day (expanding on September 9), by Tribeca Film, a comprehensive distribution label operated by Tribeca Enterprises. The documentary premiered in competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and has played in New Directors/New Films and the True/False Film Festival.

    In 1987, Eddie and Mitch, two young punks from the Midwest, moved into a low-rent tenement apartment in the Lower Haight district of San Francisco. Through paper-thin walls, they were informally introduced to their middle-aged alcoholic neighbors, the most unlikely of roommates—Raymond Huffman, a raging homophobe, and Peter Haskett, a flamboyant gay man. Night after night, the boys were treated to a seemingly endless stream of vodka-fueled altercations between the two and for 18 months, they hung a microphone from their kitchen window to chronicle the bizarre and violent relationship between their insane neighbors. Oftentimes nonsensical and always vitriolic, the diatribes of Peter and Ray were an audio goldmine just begging to be recorded and passed around on the underground tape market. Their tapes went on to inspire a cult following, spawning sell-out CD’s, comic artworks by Dan Clowes (Ghostworld), stage-plays, music from the likes of Devo and a Hollywood feeding Frenzy.

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  • Jennifer Garner and John Musker to Present at 2011 Student Academy Awards

    [caption id="attachment_1439" align="alignnone" width="560"]Jennifer Garner (pictured) and Oscar®-nominated animator John Musker have been tapped to present at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 11, at 6 p.m., at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.[/caption]

    Jennifer Garner and Oscar-nominated animator John Musker have been tapped to present at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 11, at 6 p.m., at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.  The awards ceremony is the culmination of a week of industry-related activities and social events that the Academy is hosting for the 15 students from the U.S. and abroad who have been selected as winners this year.

    Garner was most recently seen in “Arthur,” released earlier this year.  Her other acting credits include “Valentine’s Day,” “Juno” and “13 Going on 30.”  She will next be seen in “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” due out later this year.

    Musker received an Oscar nomination in 2009 for the animated feature “The Princess and the Frog.”  His other credits include “Treasure Planet,” “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid,” all of which he co-wrote and co-directed.

    [AMPAS]

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  • REVIEWS: One Lucky Elephant and Queen of the Sun:What are the Bees Telling Us– Two essential new docs

    This week two documentaries open in New York that examine relationships between humans and animals. Though two very different kinds of animals are presented in these two films, and their stories told in very different styles, the overall ideas explored in both films, about humans and animals coexisting, are quite similar.

    A realistic examination of wild animals living in captivity through the unique story of an elephant and a circus director, One Lucky Elephant is an intimate documentary about a cross-species relationship. Director Lisa Leeman has said that she wanted her film to be character-driven, and she succeeded—the film revolves around the characters David Balding and his elephant that he raised and founded his circus around, Flora. David gives personal accounts of his close relationship to Flora—she is like a daughter to him—and the camera follows him through his struggle to find her a new home, as she has grown out of circus performing. The film crew followed the story for ten years, beginning in 2000, when the idea came up to send her back to Africa to give safari rides; when that fell through the crew stuck with David and Flora as they considered different possible residences for her, from zoos to an elephant refuge in Tennessee. The dramatic pull comes from the question of whether, once Flora is placed somewhere new, it may be time for her to remain independent from David forever.

    Leeman focuses much of the time on David but is careful to get every viewpoint of Flora’s situation. One can see from the intimate footage of Flora what a wonderful and smart elephant she is, but to give the audience more of an understanding of the complex inner minds of elephants, and the specific experiences of elephants taken from the wild and put into circuses or zoos, other elephant experts (the co-founder of the Tennessee refuge, and a Miami Zoo elephant keeper) are also interviewed and give their own account of the situation. There is no direct statement against having these animals in captivity—most of the main people interviewed worked in the circus and got their experience with elephants there—but the film presents all the information at hand about how captivity affects elephants’ physical, emotional and psychological well-being. The audience is at once moved by the relationship between David and Flora, but, as the film progresses, unsure if they would wish the fate of being brought up in a circus on any other elephant, no matter how loving the trainer. The technique of initially “breaking” elephants is revealed late in the film as still being less than humane, and other factors of being in captivity are weighed in, but through most of the film, Leeman focuses on this specific elephant’s experiences, and the importance of her bond with a human. In the end, the bond might be greater for David, but the effect his love has had on Flora is also undeniable. Their unique relationship is captured in a bittersweet film that honestly depicts both the positive and negative aspects of a wild animal being raised by a human.

    Opens June 8th in NYC

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    Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? is a refreshing new documentary by Taggart Siegel, exploring the very serious subject of the disappearance of honeybees across North America and Europe. The film is straightforward in some ways; Siegel interviews a host of people around the world about bees, and covers many aspects of the scientific phenomenon, presenting an abundance of relevant information. But this is done with a unique style—the shots meditate on nature, on beehives, or beekeepers as they muse about their love for these essential insects. The opening of the film, for example, gives us the odd image of a woman covered from chin to waist in bees, moving in a slow dance. This is never explained, it is simply a strong image, both beautiful and unsettling, and Siegel presents it to the audience to let them make of it what they will.

    The film is not always surreal, however. The focused subject is the major problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, in which a beehive is suddenly deserted—the honey is there, but the bees have vanished. There are many discussions presented in the film on this subject, but the main argument is an environmental one: the use of pesticides are affecting the bees’ nervous system, making them forget where their hive is, and monocultures of crops are removing the plants that bees depend on to survive. The disappearance of bees (which is rapidly happening; five million colonies have already been lost in North America alone) is extremely significant. Not only do bees make honey, they also pollinate forty percent of our food; there are no plants without their pollinators.

    The film presents all of these facts and many more to give a broad understanding of the situation that honeybees are in, but it also does more than that. It gives a historical context of the importance of bees throughout human culture, and most of all, presents a variety of colorful characters who passionately express their love for bees, not just because of their practical uses, but because they are extraordinary creatures. Gunther Hauk, a biodynamic beekeeper and farmer who owns a bee sanctuary, is a main focus of the film for his knowledge of the bees’ situation, as is Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of multiple books exploring our modern relationship to food, but many other individuals are presented to give their own insight into the importance of bees. Some of the beekeepers interviewed include an eccentric French yogi in Grenoble; a boy in London who started beekeeping with his dad when he was only nine, and has named each of their queen bees after a queen of England; and a woman fighting to legalize beekeeping in Manhattan so that she can continue keeping them on her Harlem rooftop.These characters’ meditations on bees may at times alienate viewers who are not fond of hippie-ish sensibilities, but hopefully they will serve to intrigue rather than repel.

    Siegel includes philosophical meditations about bees and hives, animation sequences, and lovely cinematography of bees in the process of pollinating or building a hive, as well as the aforementioned moments of surrealism, to tell the story of the honeybees’ plight, and simply to illustrate the impact bees have on the world, and on people. The relationship between humans and bees is now more significant than ever, since we have the responsibility of making sure they survive.

    Opens June 10th in NYC

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  • Winners of the 1st Gold Coast International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1435" align="alignnone" width="560"]Bob And The Monster[/caption]

    The first annual Gold Coast International Film Festival in North Hempstead, Long Island, New york wrapped and held its first awards ceremony Sunday night at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point reports Port Washington Patch.

    Keirda Bahruth’s “Bob And The Monster” won the New York Post 2011 Gold Coast International Film Festival Trailer Contest and the audience award for best documentary film.  The film is a documentary chronicling the life of charismatic singer/songwriter Bob Forrest, from his days as front man for indie rock band Thelonious Monster, through his life-threatening struggle with addiction, to his triumph and transformation into one of the most influential addiction counselors in the US today.

    “My Afternoons with Margueritte,” directed by Jean Becker won the audience appreciation award for best narrative film.  My Afternoons With Margueritte is the story of a illiterate and lonely man who bonds with an older and well-read woman.

    Meghan Shea’s “In The Spirit of Laxmi,” won best short documentary and Domhnall Gleeson’s “Noreen” won best narrative short.

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  • Elton John Documentary ‘The Union’ to debut on HBO in Jan. 2012

    The Elton John documentary film, THE UNION, had its world premiere as the opening night selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, will debut on HBO in Jan. 2012.

    Directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire”), THE UNION takes an unprecedented look at the creative life of Elton John and his remarkable collaborative album with his early-career idol, Leon Russell, produced by award-winning music producer T Bone Burnett.  Never before filmed in his composing process, John is captured by Crowe in this candid portrait of one of the world’s most treasured artists and performers.  Begun in Nov. 2009, THE UNION chronicles the entire writing and recording process of the heralded album John recorded with Russell.

    “I’m a great fan of HBO and their extraordinary programming, so I’m particularly thrilled that they will be airing THE UNION,” commented Elton John.

     

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  • Award Winning Documentary, One Lucky Elephant, Opens in NY on Wednesday, June 8

    [caption id="attachment_1432" align="alignnone" width="560"]Flora, as seen in the documentary ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT, directed by Lisa Leeman, produced by Cristina Colissimo & Jordana Glick-Franzheim. Courtesy of David Balding.[/caption]

    One Lucky Elephant, a documentary film directed by Lisa Leeman and produced by Cristina Colissimo and Jordana Jordana Glick-Franzheim, will open at Film Forum in New York on Wednesday, June 8 and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on Friday, June 24.  Ten years in the making, this poignant, compelling saga of Flora the Circus Elephant has screened to enthusiastic audience and critical reception at numerous international film festivals, winning Best Editing Award at the Woodstock Film Festival.

    Where does an elephant go after a life in the circus?  Sixteen years have passed since circus producer David Balding adopted Flora, the orphaned baby African elephant. As Flora approaches adulthood, David realizes that she is not happy performing. Ultimately, he must face the difficult truth that the circus is no place for Flora; she needs to be with other elephants. The road to Flora’s retirement, however, is a difficult and emotional journey which tests their bond in unexpected ways.  ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT eschews easy sentimentality and doesn’t shy away from examining the problems and mysteries posed by keeping wild animals in captivity, while never losing sight of the delicate love story between a man and a 10,000 pound elephant, who share feelings of loyalty, sorrow, admiration and joy.  The film is suitable for children, 10 and older.

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  • 2011 MTV Movie Awards Winners

    [caption id="attachment_1430" align="alignnone" width="560"]Jason Sudeikis hosted the 2011 MTV Movie Awards[/caption]

    The offbeat 2011 MTV Movie Awards went down on Sunday night and the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was the big winner taking home a total of five golden popcorn awards including “BEST MOVIE,” “BEST FEMALE” and “BEST MALE PERFORMANCE,” “BEST KISS” and “BEST FIGHT.”

    Actress Reese Witherspoon was honored with this year’s “MTV Generation Award” and took the opportunity to send a not-too subtle message to some fellow female celebrities. “I know it’s cool to be bad, I get it … but it’s also possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show,” Witherspoon said. “When I came up in this business, you made a sex tape and you were embarrassed and hid it under your bed and like if you took naked pictures of yourself on your cell phone, you hid your face.”

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    The complete list of winners is as follows:

    Best Male Performance
    Robert Pattinson, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

    Best Female Performance
    Kristen Stewart, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

    Best Fight
    Robert Pattinson vs. Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

    Best Kiss
    Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

    Best Jaw-Dropping Moment
    Justin Bieber, “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” Performance Spectacular

    Best Villain
    Tom Felton, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”

    Best Line From A Movie (New Category)
    Alexys Nycole Sanchez, “Grown Ups”: “I want to get chocolate wasted.”

    Best Scared-As-Sh*t Performance
    Ellen Page, “Inception”

    Best Movie
    “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

    Best Comedic Performance
    Emma Stone, “Easy A”

    Best Breakout Star
    Chloë Grace Moretz, “Kick-Ass”

    Biggest Badass Star
    Chloë Grace Moretz, “Kick-Ass”

     

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  • Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Erykah Badu and composer Daniele Luppi are Artists in Residence for 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1428" align="alignnone" width="560"]Erykah Badu[/caption]

    The 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival announced Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Erykah Badu and composer Daniele Luppi as Artists in Residence, as well as a conversation with Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine, stars of the Festival’s opening night film Bernie.  Screen Gems’ Attack the Block and Lionsgate’s The Devil’s Double have also been added to the Galas section.  

    As an Artist in Residence, Erykah Badu will present a screening of Ricky Gervais’ The Invention of Lying, followed by a conversation.  Universal Motown artist Erykah Badu is a Grammy Award-winning American soul singer and songwriter. Daniele Luppi will present a screening of Italian genre maestro Sergio Corbucci’s Navajo Joe, followed by a conversation about movies and music.  Italian-born composer, record producer and arranger, Daniele Luppi has worked on Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s epic “Dark Night of the Soul,” Gnarls Barkley’s Grammy-winning “St. Elsewhere” and John Legend’s platinum-selling “Once Again.”

    As part of the Festival Conversations, Bernie co-stars Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine — two beloved and celebrated actors — (try to) answer questions about their careers and body of work in a fun, game show approach to the old career discussion.  This freewheeling evening will be moderated by Leonard Maltin.

    The Festival has added two more high-profile films to its Gala section. Screen Gems’ Attack the Block is written and directed by Joe Cornish and stars Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter and Nick Frost.  From the producers of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Attack the Block follows a gang of tough inner-city kids who defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an extraterrestrial warzone.

    Lionsgate’s The Devil’s Double is directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Michal Thomas and stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Mimoun Oaissa, Raad Rawi and Philip Quast.  Based on an unbelievable, but true story of money, power and opulent decadence, The Devil’s Double is about an Iraqi army lieutenant ordered to become the body double for “Black Prince” Uday Hussein, a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality.

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  • 58th Sydney Film Festival Official Lineup; June 8-19, 2011

    [caption id="attachment_942" align="alignnone"]Closing Night Film – Beginners[/caption]

    The full 12 day film festival program for the 58th Sydney Film Festival, which opens on Wednesday, June 8-19, 2011 encompasses 161 titles: 75 features, 39 documentaries, 34 short films, 13 retrospective titles, 10 World premieres, 86 Australian premieres, 42 countries, 47 languages and 29 Australian productions (1 retrospective, 6 features, 10 documentaries, 12 short films).

    OPENING NIGHT GALA
    The Australian premiere of espionage thriller Hanna – directed by Joe Wright (Atonement) and starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana – will kick start the 2011 Sydney Film Festival.

    CLOSING NIGHT GALA
    The festival will host its Closing Night Gala at the State Theatre on Sunday 19 June at 7.45pm, with the Australian premiere of Beginners, directed by Mike Mills and featuring Ewan McGregor (SFF’s 2010 guest for Ghost Writer), Christopher Plummer and Mélanie
    Laurent.

    FAMILY GALA
    Stars Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and CEO of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg will be at Sydney Film Festival to introduce the Australian premiere of Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. The stellar cast also includes Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, James Hong, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber.

    Competitive Sections

    OFFICIAL COMPETITION
    The 12 titles in this year’s Official Competition line-up are:
    • Direct from the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, two Australian films will have their Australian premieres at the 2011 Sydney Film Festival: Sleeping Beauty (Official Competition at Cannes) and Ivan Sen’s Toomelah (Un Certain Regard at Cannes)
    • Also direct from screenings at Cannes are The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain, directed by Terrence Malick (Official Competition at Cannes) and Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, starring Academy Award® Nominee Michael Shannon (Critics’ Week at Cannes)
    • Two award-winners from Berlin Film Festival will also compete: Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation which won Best Film and both Best Acting awards for its ensemble cast and Joshua Marston’s The Forgiveness of Blood which won Best Screenplay.
    • Bold and inventive films from Spain – Fernando León de Aranoa’s Amador; Russia – Alexander Zeldovich’s Target and Egypt – Mohamed Diab’s Cairo 678 are also having their Australian Premieres in the Official Competition selection.
    • Completing the line-up are the three previously announced films – Attenberg by Athina Rachel Tsangari; The Future by Miranda July and Norwegian Wood directed by Tran Anh Hung.

    FOXTEL AUSTRALIAN DOCUMENTARY PRIZE
    The FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize acknowledges excellence in local documentary production and is open to factual films of any length. The jury awards a cash prize of $10,000 which is presented at SFF’s Closing Night ceremony on Sunday 19 June.

    The 10 selected finalists to be shortlisted for this year’s FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize include films on subjects as diverse as climate change, rollerskating and sexual expression.

    The finalists are:
    Carnival Queen: Director, Producer: Amy Gebhardt
    A Common Purpose: Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Mitzi Goldman
    Dancing with Dictators: Director: Hugh Piper | Producer: Helen Barrow
    The Hungry Tide: Director, Producer: Tom Zubrycki
    I’m Not Dead Yet: Director, Producer: Janine Hosking
    Life In Movement: Directors, Screenwriters, Producers: Bryan Mason, Sophie Hyde
    My America: Director: Peter Hegedus | Producers: Peter Hegedus, Jane Jeffes, Trish Lake
    Rollerboy: Directors, Screenwriters: Jayson Sutcliffe, Polly Watkins | Producer: Beth Frey
    Scarlet Road: Director: Catherine Scott. Producer: Pat Fiske.
    Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure: Director, Screenwriter: Matthew Bate | Producers: Sophie Hyde, Matthew Bate

    THE DENDY AWARDS FOR AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILMS
    The prestigious Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films have launched and aided the careers of many Australian filmmakers and have been sponsored by Dendy Cinemas for 23 years.

    The nominees are:

    Live Action:
    • At the Formal: Director, Screenwriter: Andrew Kavanagh. Producer: Ramona Telicican.
    • Comfortable: Director, Screenwriter: Laura Dudgeon. Producers: Mathew Chuang, Laura Dudgeon.
    • Cropped: Director, Screenwriter: Dave Wade. Producer: Bettina Hamilton.
    • The Palace: Director, Screenwriter: Anthony Maras. Producers: Anthony Maras, Kate Croser.
    • Peekaboo: Director, Screenwriter: Damien Power. Producer: Joe Weatherstone.
    • Tethered: Director, Screenwriter: Craig Irvin. Producer: Ashley Harris.
    • Two Laps: Director, Screenwriter: Owen Trevor. Producer: Lucas Jenner.

    Animation:
    • Fragments: Directors, Producers: George Varettas, Cosmin Hrincu
    • The Missing Key: Director, Screenwriter: Jonathan Nix. Producers: Garth Nix, Anna McFarlane, Jonathan Nix.
    • Nullarbor: Directors: Alister Lockhart, Patrick Sarell. Producers: Katrina Mathers, Merrin Jensen, Patrick Sarell, Daryl Munton.


    Pathways
    SFF developed the Pathways concept to establish an intuitive, experiential set of categories that would help Sydneysiders answer the question “What sort of film do I feel like seeing tonight?”

    FIRE ME UP
    Gear up for some high-octane action or fuel the fires of controversy with:13 Assassins (Miike Takashi, Japan), Cirkus Columbia (Danis Tanovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (José Padilha, Brazil), Even the Rain (Icíar Bollaín; Spain, France, Mexico), POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Morgan Spurlock, USA), Senna (Asif Kapadia, UK) and Tabloid (Errol Morris, USA). Sponsored by Maurice Lacroix.

    LOVE ME
    Art from the heart of cinema’s foremost emotional explorers, sometimes sweet and often passionate: 33 Postcards (Pauline Chan; Australia, China), All About Love (Ann Hui, Hong Kong) The Beaver (Jodie Foster, USA), Black & White & Sex (John Winter, Australia), The Good Life (Eva Mulvad, Denmark), Jane Eyre (Cary Joji Fukunaga, UK), Medianeras (Gustavo Taretto; Argentina, Germany, Spain), Old Cats (Sebastián Silva and Pedro Peirano, Chile), Project Nim (James Marsh, USA), Sacrifice (Chen Kaige, China), The Salt of Life (Gianni di Gregorio, Italy), Terri (Azazel Jacobs, USA), Three (Tom Tykwer, Germany) and Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, France). Supported by SBS.

    MAKE ME LAUGH
    Be amused, amazed and sometimes appalled at what’s so funny: Animals Distract Me (Isabella Rossellini, USA), Cedar Rapids (Miguel Arteta, USA), Exporting Raymond (Phil Rosenthal, USA, Russia), The Guard (John Michael McDonagh, Ireland), Happy, Happy (Anne Sewitzsky, Norway), Surviving Life (Jan Švankmajer; Czech Republic, Slovakia), The Trip (Michael Winterbottom, UK), Top Floor Left Wing (Angelo Cianci, France) and Win Win (Tom McCarthy, USA).

    FREAK ME OUT
    Guest programmer Richard Kuipers’ screamadelic selections mean you no longer have to wait until midnight for a serious fright: Corridor (Johan Lundborg and Johan Storm, Sweden), End of Animal (Jo Sung-hee, South Korea), Hobo with a Shotgun (Jason Eisener; Canada, USA), Kill List (Ben Wheatley, UK), Mutant Girls Squad (Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi, Japan), Septien (Michael Tully, USA), Stake Land (Jim Mickle, USA), The Troll Hunter (André Øvredal, Norway) and Tucker & Dale vs Evil (Eli Craig, Canada).

    TAKE ME ON A JOURNEY
    The journeys are endless and they start right here: Boxing Gym (Frederick Wiseman, USA), HERE (Braden King, USA), How to Start Your Own Country (Jody Shapiro, Canada),
    I Wish I Knew (Jia Zhangke, China, The Netherlands), Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, USA), My Reincarnation (Jennifer Fox; USA, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland), Position Among the Stars (Leonard Retel Helmrich, Netherlands), Le Quattro Volte (Michelangelo Frammartino; Italy, Germany, Switzerland), Silent Souls (Alexei Fedorchenko, Russia) and Sleeping Sickness (Ulrich Köhler; France, Germany, Netherlands). Sponsored by Tourism NT.

    PUSH ME TO THE EDGE
    Test your emotional boundaries and find the edge where the personal and the political are contested: The Arbor (Clio Barnard, UK), Armadillo (Janus Metz, Denmark), Black Venus (Abdellatif Kechiche, France), Brownian Movement (Nanouk Leopold; Netherlands, Germany, Belgium), The Ditch (Wang Bing; Hong Kong, France, Belgium), Hail (Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Australia), How to Die in Oregon (Peter D Richardson, USA), Khodorkovsky (Cyril Tuschi, Germany), Life, Above All (Oliver Schmitz; South Africa, Germany), Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, USA), Post Mortem (Pablo Larraín; Chile, Mexico, Germany), Third Star (Hattie Dalton, UK), The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr; Hungary, France, Switzerland, Germany) and Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, UK).
    Specialised Programs

    FAMILY FILMS
    Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and CEO of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg will be at Sydney Film Festival to introduce the Australian premiere of Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D on the public holiday Monday 13 June, 6.30pm, at Vmax 1 & 2, Event Cinemas George Street.

    Other great family films screening in the Festival are:
    • Africa United – an energetic and enjoyable story featuring three Rwandan kids as they hit the road to soccer’s World Cup.
    • The charming animated feature The Great Bear, a Nordic tale (in English) featuring a host of wonderful creatures including a giant beer, a herd of mini-moose and puddles full of rainmaking frogs.
    • The 3D animation Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage, is a romantic turtle tale voiced by John Hurt and Dominic Cooper.
    • A new 35mm print of Jafar Panahi’s classic The White Balloon screening as part of the Free Panahi and Rasoulof tribute program.

    CREATIVE DRIVE
    Processes are uncovered, approaches are dissected and results are revealed in mediums ranging from the painting to the plate: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, USA), Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (Alex Stapleton, USA), El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (Gereon Wetzel, Germany), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (David Gelb, USA), A Letter to Elia (Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, USA), and The Mill and the Cross (Lech Majewski; Poland, Sweden).

    SOUNDS ON SCREEN
    Music and film are inseparable dance partners,and films about music make for some of the most compelling cinema created: Ain’t in it for My Healt: A film About Levon Helm (Jacob Hatley, USA) Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (Michael Rapaport, USA), LENNONYC (Michael Epstein, USA), Mama Africa, a film about Miriam Makeba(Mika Kaurismäki; Germany, South Africa, Finland), Microphone (Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt) and Sing Your Song a film about Harry Belefonte(Susanne Rostock, USA).

    Also as part of SOUNDS ON SCREEN:
    • SFF & Vivid Creative Sydney present the Australian Premiere of Alex Munt’s musically-inspired ‘pop art film’ LBF. The film’s screening on Friday 10 June will be following by a live performance from bands featured in the film Fergus Brown, Kids at Risk and Tortoiseshell DJ set.
    • Dingo – A new preservation of print of Rolf De Heer’s 1991 feature, Dingo, starring Colin Friels and Miles Davis.

    GREEN SCREEN
    These films tackle the issues impacting on our environment with fresh and often surprising perspectives: Cool It (Ondi Timoner, USA), If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Marshall Curry, USA), Letters from the Big Man (Christopher Munch, USA) and Windfall (Laura Israel, USA). Sponsored by Toshiba.

    SHORT FILMS
    The festival’s line-up of short films which screen before features are: Bear (Nash Edgerton,Australia); Bird (Jane Shearer, Steve Ayson, Gregory King; New Zealand); Bunce (Peter Cattaneo, UK); Charcoal Burners (Piotr Zlotorowicz, Poland); Deerfall (Kate McLaughlin, UK); Hackney Lullabies (Kyoko Miyake, Germany); Heavy Heads (Helena Frank, Denmark); Il Capo (Yuri Ancarini, Italy); James Dean (Lucy Asten Elliot, UK); The Lady with the Dog (Damien Manivel, France); Library Of Dust (Ondi Timoner, Robert James, UK); A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation (Martin Wallner, Stefan Leuchtenberg; Germany); Pass the Salt, Please (Tatjana Najdanovic,USA); Paths of Hate (Damian Nenow, Poland); Scenes from the Suburbs (Spike Jonze; USA, Canada);
    A Screening at the Tatry Cinema (Igor Chojna, Poland); Sugar (Jeroen Annokkeé,
    The Netherlands); Susya (Dani Rosenberg, Yoav Gross; Israel, Palestinian Territories);
    The Wind (Marcio Salem, Brazil); Tiong Bahru (Desperate Optimists – Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor with Singapore community; Singapore); Tremblay-en-France (Vincent Vizioz, France).

    TV MARATHONS
    All-day cable marathons and full-season DVD sets of shows like Mad Men, Twin Peaks and The Wire have changed the way we watch TV. Immersing ourselves entirely in an imagined world one episode after another is now one of our most popular pastimes. SFF, in partnership with AFTRS, brings you Australian premieres of two stunning examples of cinematic television in mini-marathons at AFTRS’ comfy theatrette.

    This Is England ’86 Shane Meadows’ first foray into television-making sees him return to the characters of his provocative, BAFTA-winning feature film This is England (2006). Three years on and things have changed for the motley band of outsiders just as things have changed in Thatcher’s Britain.

    Dreileben: Pt. 1 Beats Being Dead; Pt. 2 Don’t Follow Me Around; Pt. 3 One Minute of Darkness This compelling three-part series plays like the love-child of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom born in the Thuringian Forest of former East Germany. Three directors – Dominik Graf, Christian Petzold and Christoph Hochhäusler – approach the same tabloid article, about a criminal escaping from police custody, each from a different story perspective.

    Retrospectives
    FREE PANAHI AND RASOULOF – A TRIBUTE
    There would be few cinephiles unaware of events over the last year concerning Jafar Panahi and his younger filmmaking colleague, Mohammad Rasoulof, which culminated in their receiving a six-year jail sentence and a twenty-year prohibition on leaving Iran or participating in the film industry. (The sentence is currently, as of May 2011, under appeal.)

    The Sydney Film Festival will honour award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi and his colleague Mohammad Rasoulof by screening a selection of their work: Panahi’s The Circle, The Mirror, Crimson Gold, Offside, The White Balloon and short film The Accordion; Mohammad Rasoulof’s Iron Island and The White Meadows and the Australian Premiere of Gesher, directed by Vahid Vikilifar, produced by Rasoulof and edited by Panahi.
    SFF is proud to have acquired a new 35mm print of the White Balloon to ensure the film will remain accessible for audiences in years to come. Rated G, The White Balloon screens as a family matinee on Public Holiday Monday 13 June at 12.20pm, State Theatre.

    Cannes Film Festival has announced that this year the Carrosse d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award for courage will be bestowed on Panahi.

    MAGNIFICENT OBSESSIONS: THE HOLLYWOOD MELODRAMAS OF DOUGLAS SIRK
    SFF invites you to flounce down a sweeping staircase past a patently-fake vista and into five of the best 1950s Hollywood melodramas of Douglas Sirk. Commercial successes for Universal Studios, they were critically maligned at the time. Reinterpreted by filmmakers from Reiner Werner Fassbinder (Fear Eats the Soul) to Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), and reclaimed by feminist and neo-Marxist critics in the 70s and 80s for their social critiques, they remain pervasively influential, with hit TV series Mad Men also drawing deep from the Sirkian well of stylistic excesses, loaded subtexts and shimmering surfaces. His five showcased films are Magnificent Obsession, All that Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, There’s Always Tomorrow and Imitation of Life.

    New projects

    USER GENERATED
    The premieres of two new films created from up-loaded content give a glimpse of a powerful new direction in cinema. YouTube has revolutionised and democratised the moving image around the world. It was instrumental in creating both Life in a Day and WE WERE HERE: The Map My Summer Film – the latter of which is a special collaboration between Screen Australia, YouTube and Sydney Film Festival.
    Life in a Day For this ground-breaking user-generated project, Academy Award®-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void) teamed up with YouTube and executive producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott to create a feature-length documentary shot in a single day – 24 July 2010 – from thousands of hours of footage submitted by people all over the world. Australian Premiere
    http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeinaday

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  • Mountainfilm in Telluride 2011 Winners; Happy Wins Student Award and Audience Award

    [caption id="attachment_1425" align="alignnone" width="560"]Happy[/caption]

    Mountainfilm in Telluride, one of America’s longest-running film festivals, wrapped its Memorial Day weekend run, May 27 – 30, 2011 and announced its film awards at the Closing Picnic & Awards Ceremony. The documentary ‘Happy” was the big winner, taking home the Student Award and the Audience Award. ‘Happy’ is described as a documentary infused with wisdom and warmth and abounds with life lessons. Filmed in more than fourteen countries, the film takes you around the world looking for universal truths about happiness, inquiring of scientists and surfers alike. But what happens quite naturally is that you learn something about your own state of mind and how you best might be, yes, happy.

    Winners

    2011 Student Award
    Winner: Happy

    2011 Moving Mountains Prize
    Winner: We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean

    2011 Festival Director’s Award
    Winner: Undercity

    2011 Cinematography Award
    Winner: Into Eternity
    Life Cycles

    2011 Charlie Fowler Award
    Winner: Cold
    Towers of the Ennedi

    2011 Audience Award
    Winner: Happy

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