Persecuted in Myanmar, forced to seek refuge in neighboring Bangladesh and then exploited and trafficked to places unknown. That’s the reality for many Rohingya Muslims living in Cox’s Bazar – now the world’s largest refugee camp accommodating nearly one million people – as they are targeted by human traffickers and lured from the refugee camp with false promises of employment and better living conditions.
Timely and vital, the documentary Parkland Rising directed by two-time Emmy Award winner Cheryl Horner McDonough, follows the high-school students and families who became fierce leaders of the national movement for gun reform after the February 2018 shooting of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida. The documentary film, executive produced by Katie Couric and will.i.am, will World Premiere at the upcoming 20th anniversary Woodstock Film Festival, taking place October 2 to 6, 2019.
The Whistlers (La Gomera) directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, that premiered at 2019 Cannes Film Festival is Romania’s pick for submission in the Best International Feature Film category of the 2020 Oscars.
The animated film Weathering With You (Tenki no ko) directed by Makoto Shinkai has been selected by Japan Motion Picture Producers Association (Eiren) to represent Japan in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2020 Oscars.
Commitment – Ash (Bağlılık – Aslı) directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu has been selected as Turkey’s candidate for the 92nd Academy Awards in the category of Best International Film.
The 33rd edition of AFI FEST presented by Audi will open with the World Premiere of Makeready and Universal Pictures’ QUEEN & SLIM directed by two-time Grammy winner Melina Matsoukas (AFI Class of 2005) and written by Emmy winner Lena Waithe from a story by Waithe and James Frey. The film is a consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence.
The European Film Academy announced the EFA Documentary Selection, a list of 12 European documentaries recommended for a nomination for this year’s European Film Awards. There are 12 European countries represented in this year’s EFA Documentary Selection.
Three modern classics, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), by Paul Schrader; Dao ma zei / The Horse Thief (1986), by Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Sátántangó (1994), by Béla Tarr, are the films featuring in this year’s Klasikoak section of the 2019 San Sebastian International Film Festival. Following last year’s screening of Ladri di biciclette / Bicycle Thieves (1948), the section increases from one to three films programmed for screening in their restored versions in the Tabakalera cinema.
Actress Jane Seymour will receive the SFiFF Lifetime Achievement Award before introducing the film Somewhere in Time (1980) at the Lensic Performing Arts Center Friday, October 18th at 6:30 pm. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented during the 11th Annual Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, October 16th-20th, 2019 in downtown Santa Fe.
Film at Lincoln Center announced the Retrospective and Revivals sections lineup for the 57th New York Film Festival (September 27–October 13).
The second edition of the North Bend Film Festival came to a close in the scenic town of North Bend, Washington with closing night film Rachel Mason’s personal queer doc Circus of Books taking home the Audience Award. Villains won the prizes for Best Film along with Best Actor for Bill Skarsgård.
Global Digital Releasing has acquired the worldwide rights to writer / director Anderson Cowan’s feature film debut, “GROUPERS”.