Timeless: A Virgin Island Love Story[/caption]
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) 2018 will celebrate the Caribbean with films from the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Panama, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Barbados, and T&T. The Caribbean is a rich reservoir of stories. Films from the region come in many languages. The characters have many origins and skin tones, and all the countries harbor a particular identity.
Opening Night film Timeless: A Virgin Island Love Story travels in time from 19th Century Ghana to the modern day Caribbean. It is the story of Ajuwa, a Ghanaian warrior, who loses her soulmate to the slave trade; their souls reunite in contemporary US Virgin Islands.
Angelica by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad is set in New York and Puerto Rico. Angelica has spent her whole life escaping from her mixed racial identity, but a family crisis forces her to return to Puerto Rico and rethink her life. Cimarronaje in Panama-Panama by Toshi Sakai explores how, two centuries before George Washington or Simon Bolivar dreamed of liberation from European tyranny, enslaved Africans in Panama fought for and gained their independence.
The festival will feature two revealing documentaries: Barrow, Freedom Fighter by Marcia Weekes from Barbados and Every Cook Can Govern: Documenting the Life, Impact & Works of C.L.R. James by Ceri Dingle from T&T. Barrow is a passionate docu-drama about the courage of one man who relentlessly preached a gospel of economic self-reliance and self-respect to the people of his native country Barbados and beyond. The CLR James documentary, in a historical tour-de-force, interweaves never-before-seen footage of C.L.R. James with personal contributions from those who knew him.
THE WINDRUSH AND THE BUMIDON
The Black presence in Europe is not new, but with time, the ambitions of colonial powers and the increasing extreme right wing waves, being Black in Europe implied different connotations.
Post-war UK experienced a massive arrival of people from the Caribbean, known as the Windrush. In the 1980’s arrived from Africa wealthy Nigerians and Ghanaians alongside rural migrants and refugees from Somalia and Zimbabwe. This massive presence of black people gave the UK a new flavor. ADIFF’s Windursh program illustrates Black life in the UK with the presentation of recent and classic films.
In France, the Bumidon system, a structure implemented by the French government to bring folks from their overseas territories mostly Martinique and Guadeloupe to work in France, contributed to making France a multiracial society.
ADIFF-NY 2018 will showcase a selection of films about the human experience of many men and women who left their native lands looking for a better life in the colonial metropolis.
The Story of Lovers Rock and Time and Judgement, by internationally acclaimed Barbados/UK filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, explore the history of the Black UK life experience through the arts – music, spoken word – with performances, archival footage and testimonies. Playing Away by Horace Ove from T&T is one of the ten best Afro-British films of all times. Love story The Naked Poet by Jason Barrett – whose family is from Jamaica – is representative of the work and interests of a new generation of Black British filmmakers.
The BUMIDOM system and its impact are described in They had a dream / Le Rêve Français which tells a story based on reality. It is both a social and a fictional saga, exploring the interconnected lives of two Guadeloupian families to reveal hidden and obscure aspects of French society.
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) celebrates its 26th anniversary from Nov. 23 to Dec. 9 with screenings to be held in five venues in Manhattan: Teachers College, Columbia University, Cinema Village, Riverside Church, The Dwyer Cultural Center and MIST Harlem.Screenings will be held in five venues in Manhattan: Teachers College, Columbia University, Cinema Village, Riverside Church, The Dwyer Cultural Center and MIST Harlem.-
African Diaspora International Film Festival 2018 in NY to Showcase Caribbean Films
[caption id="attachment_32789" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Timeless: A Virgin Island Love Story[/caption]
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) 2018 will celebrate the Caribbean with films from the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Panama, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Barbados, and T&T. The Caribbean is a rich reservoir of stories. Films from the region come in many languages. The characters have many origins and skin tones, and all the countries harbor a particular identity.
Opening Night film Timeless: A Virgin Island Love Story travels in time from 19th Century Ghana to the modern day Caribbean. It is the story of Ajuwa, a Ghanaian warrior, who loses her soulmate to the slave trade; their souls reunite in contemporary US Virgin Islands.
Angelica by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad is set in New York and Puerto Rico. Angelica has spent her whole life escaping from her mixed racial identity, but a family crisis forces her to return to Puerto Rico and rethink her life. Cimarronaje in Panama-Panama by Toshi Sakai explores how, two centuries before George Washington or Simon Bolivar dreamed of liberation from European tyranny, enslaved Africans in Panama fought for and gained their independence.
The festival will feature two revealing documentaries: Barrow, Freedom Fighter by Marcia Weekes from Barbados and Every Cook Can Govern: Documenting the Life, Impact & Works of C.L.R. James by Ceri Dingle from T&T. Barrow is a passionate docu-drama about the courage of one man who relentlessly preached a gospel of economic self-reliance and self-respect to the people of his native country Barbados and beyond. The CLR James documentary, in a historical tour-de-force, interweaves never-before-seen footage of C.L.R. James with personal contributions from those who knew him.
THE WINDRUSH AND THE BUMIDON
The Black presence in Europe is not new, but with time, the ambitions of colonial powers and the increasing extreme right wing waves, being Black in Europe implied different connotations.
Post-war UK experienced a massive arrival of people from the Caribbean, known as the Windrush. In the 1980’s arrived from Africa wealthy Nigerians and Ghanaians alongside rural migrants and refugees from Somalia and Zimbabwe. This massive presence of black people gave the UK a new flavor. ADIFF’s Windursh program illustrates Black life in the UK with the presentation of recent and classic films.
In France, the Bumidon system, a structure implemented by the French government to bring folks from their overseas territories mostly Martinique and Guadeloupe to work in France, contributed to making France a multiracial society.
ADIFF-NY 2018 will showcase a selection of films about the human experience of many men and women who left their native lands looking for a better life in the colonial metropolis.
The Story of Lovers Rock and Time and Judgement, by internationally acclaimed Barbados/UK filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, explore the history of the Black UK life experience through the arts – music, spoken word – with performances, archival footage and testimonies. Playing Away by Horace Ove from T&T is one of the ten best Afro-British films of all times. Love story The Naked Poet by Jason Barrett – whose family is from Jamaica – is representative of the work and interests of a new generation of Black British filmmakers.
The BUMIDOM system and its impact are described in They had a dream / Le Rêve Français which tells a story based on reality. It is both a social and a fictional saga, exploring the interconnected lives of two Guadeloupian families to reveal hidden and obscure aspects of French society.
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) celebrates its 26th anniversary from Nov. 23 to Dec. 9 with screenings to be held in five venues in Manhattan: Teachers College, Columbia University, Cinema Village, Riverside Church, The Dwyer Cultural Center and MIST Harlem.Screenings will be held in five venues in Manhattan: Teachers College, Columbia University, Cinema Village, Riverside Church, The Dwyer Cultural Center and MIST Harlem.
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“This is Spinal Tap” and “Reality Bites” to get Anniversary Tributes at 2019 Tribeca Film Fest
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This Is Spinal Tap[/caption]
This Is Spinal Tap will return to the big screen for the iconic mockumentary’s 35th anniversary at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival which runs April 24 to May. Generation X will also have a comeback for the 25th anniversary of Reality Bites. The storytellers behind the cult classics will be on hand for cast and creator reunions.
This Is Spinal Tap stars and creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Rob Reiner, who also directed, will turn it up to eleven again with a one-night-only anniversary celebration 35 years in the making. Released in 1984, the mockumentary follows the fictional heavy metal rock band Spinal Tap on tour. After the screening, the four will pay tribute to the band with a special musical performance and a conversation to follow.
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Reality Bites[/caption]
Tribeca will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reality Bites, a film that captured the zeitgeist of the 90s. Starring Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and Ben Stiller, who also directed, the film was released in 1994. A conversation will follow the screening to take a look back at the making of the film and the characters who have come to embody the spirit of Generation X.
Rob Reiner and Ben Stiller brought these two cult classics to life both in front of the camera and from behind – This Is Spinal Tap and Reality Bites were their directorial debuts.
“Spinal Tap proves there is definitely a fine line between stupid and clever,” said director, co-writer, and star Rob Reiner.
“Reality Bites was a formative experience in my life. To have a 25 year anniversary screening is very exciting. Looking forward to seeing the whole cast, and possibly changing the ending so Michael gets Lelaina,” said director and star Ben Stiller.
“From the heavy metal bands of the ‘80s to Generation X in the early ‘90s, This Is Spinal Tap and Reality Bites didn’t just capture the spirit of their respective times – they helped define them,” said Paula Weinstein, EVP of Tribeca Enterprises. “We’re excited to bring these two films back to the big screen for existing fans and also to introduce them to new audiences.”
Tribeca has hosted reunions and anniversary events for some of the most iconic films including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Scarface, Schindler’s List, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and more.
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Oscar Submission SOBIBOR Among 14 Russian Films at 2018 Russian Film Week in New York
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Sobibor[/caption]
Russian Film Week in New York – the showcase of independent and commercial films that represents the dynamic landscape of Russian filmmaking today returns to New York City December 8 to 14, 2018 at the SVA Theatre (333 W 23rd St, Manhattan). The events will include film screenings, discussions and Q&As with renowned Russian film directors, actors, and producers, as well as panels with journalists, and VIP receptions.
This year, the festival’s diverse program of 14 films includes Russia’s submission for the 2019 Academy Awards®, SOBIBOR, directed by, and starring, Konstantin Khabensky; ANNA KARENINA: VRONSKY’S STORY, directed by Karen Shakhnazarov; dramatic biopic THE STORY OF ONE APPOINTMENT, directed by Avdotya Smirnova; documentary film INTO_NATION OF BIG ODESSA, directed by Susanna Alperina, and many other new works that represent the broad spectrum of contemporary Russian cinema. Visiting filmmakers and actors include filmmaker Alexey Uchitel, founder of Rock Studio Films; directors Karen Shakhnazarov, Olya Zueva, Susanna Alperina, and many others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRtC7ERmcQ
2018 Russian Film Week in New York Film Screenings
The Fixies: Top Secret – Animated film by Vasiko Bedoshvili, Andrei Kolpin and Ivan Pshonkin Into_Nation of Big Odessa – Documentary film by Susanna Alperina. Director in person The Story of One Appointment – Drama. Directed by Avdotya Smirnova. Director in person Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story – Drama. Directed by Karen Shakhnazarov. Director in person Hoffmaniada – Animated film by Stanislav Sokolov I Am Losing Weight – Comedy. Directed by Aleksey Nuzhny Eternal Life of Alexander Christoforov – Comedy. Directed by Yevgeny Shelyakin. Director in person How Viktor “the Garlic” Took Alexey “ the Stud” to the Nursing Home – Dark Comedy. Directed by Aleksandr Khant The Coach – Drama. Directed by and starring Danila Kozlovsky. Starring Olya Zueva; produced by Nikita Mikhalkov. Director and actress in person Elephants Can Play Football – Drama. Directed by Mikhail Segal Unforgiven – Drama. Directed by Sarik Andreasyan with Dmitry Nagiyev In The Hood – Drama. Directed by Olya Zueva, starring Danila Kozlovsky. Director and actor in person Sobibor – Drama. Directed by and starring Konstantin Khabensky Yolki Posledniye – Drama. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, Anna Parmas, Egor Branov, Alexander Kott
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Melissa McCarthy to Receive Spotlight Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
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Melissa McCarthy in the film CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved[/caption]
Melissa McCarthy will receive the Spotlight Award at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) annual Film Awards Gala for Can You Ever Forgive Me? The award will be presented by her co-star in the film Richard E. Grant. The Festival runs January 3-14.
McCarthy joins previously announced honoree Glenn Close and Rami Malek. Past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield, Helen Hunt, Allison Janney, Rooney Mara, Julia Roberts and J.K. Simmons. All recipients received Academy Award® nominations in the year they were honored, with Simmons winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Janney receiving an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
In Fox Searchlight’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer, and cat lover, who made her living in the 70s and 80s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant). The Fox Searchlight film is directed by Marielle Heller and also stars Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Ben Falcone, Anna Deavere Smith and Stephen Spinella.
Melissa McCarthy received an Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and SAG Award nominations for her role in Bridesmaids. Her other film credits include Life of the Party, The Boss, St. Vincent, Tammy, The Heat, Identity Thief, This is 40, The Hangover Part III, Ghostbusters, The Back-Up Plan, Life As We Know It, Pretty Ugly People, Just Add Water, The Nines, White Oleander, Pumpkin, Go and The Life of David Gale. Her TV credits include Mike & Molly, Gilmore Girls, Samantha Who? and Nobodies. Her upcoming films include The Kitchen and Superintelligence.
“Melissa McCarthy delivers a heartbreaking performance as author Lee Israel, perfectly portraying Israel’s loneliness as she struggles with her own relevance in society,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “McCarthy’s dramatic turn is truly captivating and deserving of awards recognition. It is our honor to present this year’s Spotlight Award to Melissa McCarthy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvJIaNsf_bY
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AT ETERNITY’S GATE to Open 2018 Marrakech International Film Festival, Fest Unveils Official Selection
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At Eternity’s Gate[/caption]
From November 30 to December 8, 2018, festival-goers and cinema-lovers alike will discover no fewer than 80 films coming from 29 different countries at the 17th Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM). The Festival with open with At Eternity’s Gate directed by Julian Schnabel, the remarkable biopic that depicts the most celebrated period of the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh will open the Festival.
The line-up is divided into several sections, the main ones including the Official Competition; Gala Screenings; Special Screenings; The 11th Continent; Moroccan Panorama; Jamaa El-Fna Square Screenings; Audio-described Cinema; and a Tribute section. International Film Festival.
Fourteen (14) films, six directed by women, are in the running to win the Marrakech Etoile d’Or (or, the Gold Star), in the Official Competition. Tributes will be made to four great names in cinema, namely: Robert De Niro, Jillali Ferhati, Agnès Varda, and Robin Wright.
2018 Marrakech International Film Festival Official Selections
COMPETITION
THE GOOD GIRLS (Las niñas bien) / Mexico By Alejandra Márquez Abella Cast: Ilse Salas, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Paulina Gaitán, Johanna Murillo, Flavio Medina JOY / Austria By Sudabeh Mortezai Cast: Joy Anwulika Alphonsus, Precious Mariam Sanusi, Angela Ekeleme Pius, Gift Igweh, Sandra John, Chika Kipo, Ella Osagie, Christian Ludwig, Mary Kreutzer DIANE / USA By Kent Jones Cast: Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacy, Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, Deirdre O’Connell, Joyce Van Patten, Phyllis Gallagher, Glynnis O’Connor et Paul McIsaac THE LOAD (Teret) / Serbia, France, Croatia, Iran, Qatar By Ognjen Glavonić Cast: Leon Lučev, Pavle Čemerikić THE CHAMBERMAID (La camarista) / Mexico By Lila Avilés Cast: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez RED SNOW (Akai yuki) / Japan By Sayaka Kai Cast: Masotoshi Nagase, Nahana, Arata Lura, Yui Nastukawa, Koichi Sato LOOK AT ME (Fi ‘ainaya / Regarde-moi) / Tunisia By Nejib Belkhadhi Cast: Nidhal Saadi, Idryss Kharroubi, Sawssen Maalej, Aziz Jebali, Mouna Nourredine IRINA / Bulgaria By Nadejda Koseva Cast: Martina Apostolova, Hristo Ushev, Irini Jambonas, Kasiel Noah Asher, Krassimir Dokov, Alexander Kossev VANISHING DAYS (Màn yóu) / China By Zhu Xin Cast: Jlang Li, Huang Jing as, Qiu Xiaqiu, Chen Yan, Li Xiaoxing, Lu Jiahe URGENT (Tafaha al-kail / Une urgence ordinaire) / Morocco, Switzerland By Mohcine Besri Cast: Rachid Mustapha, Fatima Zahra Benacer, Youssef Alaoui, Saïd Bey, Ghalia Ben Zaouia, Ayoub Layoussifi, Younes Bouab. ROJO / Argentina, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Germany By Benjamín Naishtat Cast: Dario Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio, Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi AKASHA / Sudan, South Africa, Germany, Qatar By hajooj kuka Cast: Ekram Marcus, Kamal Ramadan, Ganja Mohamed Chakado, Abdallah Alnur Najla Kamal THE GIRAFFE (La ahdun hunak) / Egypt By Ahmed Magdy Cast: Amr Hosny, Shaza Moharam, Haidy Koussa, Salma Hassan, Rasha Magdy ALL GOOD (Alles ist gut) / Germany By Eva Trobisch Cast: Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lisa Hagmeister, Lina WendelGala Screenings
AT ETERNITY’S GATE / USA, France By Julian Schnabel Cast: Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner EUFORIA / Italy By Valeria Golino Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Valerio Mastandrea, Isabella Ferrari, Valentina Cervi, Jasmine Trinca ROMA / Mexico, USA By Alfonso Cuarón Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira GREEN BOOK / USA By Peter Farrelly Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini YOMEDDINE / Egypt, USA, Austria By A.B.Shawky Cast: Rady Gamal, Ahmed Abdelhafiz, Shahira Fahmy CAPERNAUM (Capharnaüm) / Lebanon, USA By Nadine Labaki Cast: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shifera, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Youssef, Nadine Labaki.SPECIAL SCREENINGS
THE ACCUSED (Acusada) / Argentina By Gonzalo Tobal Cast: Lali Espósito, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Inés Estévez, Daniel Fanego, Ferardo Romano, Gael García Bernal WILDLIFE /USA By Paul Dano Cast: Ed Oxenbould, Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal EXT. NIGHT (Leil kharigi) / Egypt By AhmadAbdalla Cast: Karim Kassem, Mona Hala, Sherief El Desouky, Ahmad Magdy, Aly Kassem HER SMELL / USA By Alex Ross Perry Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Amber Heard, Agyness Deyn THE TOWER / Norway By Mats Grorud Film d’animation LIONHEART / Nigeria By Genevieve Nnaji Cast: Genevieve Nnaji, Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu REAL LOVE (C’est ça l’amour) / France, Belgium By Claire Burger Cast: Bouli Lanners, Justine Lacroix, Sarah Henochsberg RAFIKI / Kenya By Wanuri Kahiu Cast: Samantha Mugatsia, Sheila Munyiva, Jimmi Gathu, Nini Wacera, Dennis Muskoya POISONOUS ROSES (Ward masmum) / Egypt By Fawzi Saleh Cast: Koky, Mahmoud Hemida, Ibrahim El Nagary BIRDS OF PASSAGE (Pájaros de verano) / Colombia, Denmark, Mexico By Cristina Gallego et Ciro Guerra Cast: Carmiña Martínez, Jose Acosta, Natalia Reyes, Jhon Narváez, Greider Meza, José Vicente Cote DIVINE WIND (Rih Rabbani) / Algeria By Merzak Allouache Cast: Sarah Layssac, Mohamed Oughlis, Messaouda Boukhira, Hacene Benzerari, Abdelatif Benahmed, Brahim DerrisTHE 11th CONTINENT
VIEWS FROM MOROCCO AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Presented by Jay Weissberg BURNING / South Korea By Lee Chang-dong Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, Jun Jong-seo ANGELO / Austria, Luxembourg By Markus Schleinzer Cast: Makita Samba, Alba Rohrwacher, Larisa Faber, Kenny Nzogang, Lukas Miko NERVOUS TRANSLATION / The Philippines By Shireen Seno Cast: Jana Agoncillo, Angge Santos, Sid Lucero, Cocoy Lumbao HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING / USA By RaMell Ross Documentary THE DEAD AND THE OTHERS (Chuva é cantoria na aldeia dos mortos) / Brazil By João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora Cast: Henrique Ihjãc Krahô, Raene Kôtô Krahô SRBENKA / Croatia By Nebojša Slijepčević Documentaire ERASED,ASCENTOFTHE INVISIBLE (Tirss, rihlat al sou’oud ila al mar’i) / Lebanon By Ghassan Halwani Documentary ENDLESS TAIL (Beskrajni Rep) / Croatia By Željka Suková Cast: Julie Suková, Kašpar Suk, Prolaznici Tokijom, Željka Suková, Aleš Suk MANTA RAY(Kraben rahu) / Thailand, France, China By Phuttiphong Aroonpheng Cast: Wanlop Rungkumjad, Aphisit Hama, Rasmee Wayrana THE SOUND OF MASKS / South Africa, Portugal By Sara CF de Gouveia Documentary YESTERDAY (Tegnap) / Hungary, France, the Netherlands, Morocco, Sweden, Germany By Kenyeres Bálint Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Djemel Barek, Jacques Weber, Gamil Ratib, Johanna Ter Steege STILL RECORDING (Lisah’am tsajil) / Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Germany By Saeed Al Batal, Ghiath Ayoub RENAULT 12 / France By Mohamed El Khatib Docu-fictionMOROCCAN PANORAMA
VOLUBILIS (Walili) By Faouzi Bensaïdi Cast: Mouhcine Malzi, Nadia Kounda, Abdelhadi Taleb, Nezha Rahil, Faouzi Bensaidi, Mouna Fettou WE COULD BE HEROES By Hind Bensari Documentary THE HEALER (Mbarkaa) By Mohamed Zineddaine Cast: Ahmed Moustafid, Fatima Atif, Mehdi Laarroubi, Hanane Elkabani, Nosrine Adam SOFIA By Meryem Benm’Barek Cast: Maha Alemi, Lubna Azabal, Faouzi Bensaidi, Sarah Perles, Hamza Khafif, Raouia STATELESS (Bila mawtin) By Narjiss Nejjar Cast: El Ghalia Ben Zaouia, Avishay Benazra, Aziz Fadili, Nadia Niazi, Mohamed Nadif, Julie Gayet CATHARSYS, OR THE AFINA TALES OF THE LOST WORLD By Yassine Marco Marroccu Cast: Mohamed Zouaoui, Aziz Dadas, Sonia Okacha, Ljubisa Ristic JAHILIYA By Hicham Lasri Cast: Mostapha Houari, Salma Eddlimi, Hassan Ben Badida, Rami FijjajCINEMA FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
THE TOWER (Al borj) / Norway By Mats Grorud Animated film IQBAL, A TALE OF A FEARLESS CHILD / Italy, France By Michael Fuzellier, Babak Payami Animated film THE PRINCESS BRIDE / USA By Rob Reiner Cast: Robin Wright, Carey Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Fred Savage THE BIG BAD FOX AND OTHER TALES (Le Grand Méchant Renard et autres contes) / France, Belgium By Benjamin Renner, Patrick Imbert Cast: Guillaume Darnault, Jules Bienvenu, Augustin Jahn Sani, Violette Samama, Céline Ronté Film d’animation THE BREADWINNER / Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg By Nora Twomey Animated filmLE CINÉMA EN AUDIODESCRIPTION POUR LES MALVOYANTS
FACES PLACES (Visages villages) / France By Agnès Varda et JR Documentary THE EAVESDROPPER (La Mécanique de l’ombre) / Belgium, France By Thomas Kruithof Cast: François Cluzet, Denis Polalydès, Sami Bouajila, Siman Akbarian, Alba Rohrwacher LAHNECH / Morocco By Driss Mrini Cast: Aziz Dades, Majdouline Idrissi, Fadila Benmoussa, Mouhcine Malzi, Abdelghani Sannak BLADE RUNNER 2049 / USA, United Kingdom, Hungary, Canada By Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, LADY BIRD / USA By Greta Gerwig Cast: Robin Wright, Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée ChalametJEMAA EL FNA
KORSA / Morocco By Abdellah Toukouna Cast: Abdellah Ferkous, Bouchera Ahraich, Khouloud Batioui, Fadilla Ben Moussa, Omar Azzouzi AS LONG AS I LIVE (Jab tak hai jaan) / India By Yash Chopra Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma THE UNTOUCHABLES / USA By Brian De Palma Cast : Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Sean Connery KUNDUN / USA By Martin Scorsese ALEXANDRIA AGAIN AND FOREVER (Iskandariyya Kaman wa Kaman) / Egypt, France By Youssef Chahine Cast: Youssra, Youssef Chahine, Hussein Fahmy, Hesham Selim, Taheya Cariocca FORREST GUMP / USA By Robert Zemeckis Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field BROOKS, MEADOWS AND LOVELY FACES (Al-ma’ wal-khodra wal-wajh al-hassan) / Egypt By Yousry Nasrallah Cast: Laila Elwi, Bassem Samra, Menna Shalabi, Zeina Mansour, Sabreen HUSBAND MATERIAL (Manmarziyaan) / India By Anurag Kashyap Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Abhishek Bachchan ANT-MAN AND THE WASP / USA By Peyton Reed Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas ASTERIX & OBELIX: MISSION CLEOPATRA (Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléôpatre) / France, Italy By Alain Chabat Cast: Gérard Dépardieu, Christian Clavier, Jamel Debbouze, Monica Bellucci, Alain Chabat, Claude Rich, Gérard Darmon LAHNECH / Morocco By Driss Mrini Cast: Aziz Dades, Majdouline Idrissi, Fadila Benmoussa, Mouhcine Malzi, Abdelghani SannakTributes
ROBERT DE NIRO
GOODFELLAS / USA By Martin Scorsese Cast: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino THE UNTOUCHABLES / USA By Brian De Palma Cast: Robert De Niro,Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Sean Connery RAGING BULL / USA By Martin Scorsese Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Frank Vincent, Nicholas ColasantoAGNÈS VARDA
CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7) / France De Agnès Varda Interprétation: Georges de Beauregard, Carlo Ponti, Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray FACES PLACES (Visages villages) / France By Agnès Varda, JR Documentaire VAGABOND (Sans toit ni loi) / France By Agnès Varda Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Méril, Stephane Freiss, Yolande Moreau, Patrick Lepczynski, Yahiaoui AssounaROBIN WRIGHT
THE PRINCESS BRIDE/ USA By Rob Reiner Cast: Robin Wright, Carey Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Fred Savage SHE’S SO LOVELY / USA By Nick Cassavetes Cast: Sean Penn, Robin Wright, Harry Dean Stanton, James Gandolfini, John Travolta FORREST GUMP / USA By Robert Zemeckis Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field BLADE RUNNER 2049 / USA, United Kingdom, Hungary, Canada By Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks
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Astra Taylor’s Timely Documentary WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Explores Meaning of ‘Democracy’
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What Is Democracy?[/caption]
Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, What Is Democracy? is director Astra Taylor’s philosophical essay finding meaning in the word ‘democracy’ we too often take for granted.
Astra Taylor’s (Zizek! and Examined Life) idiosyncratic, philosophical journey spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athens’ groundbreaking experiment in self-government to capitalism’s roots in medieval Italy; from modern-day Greece grappling with financial collapse and a mounting refugee crisis to the United States reckoning with its racist past and the growing gap between rich and poor. The acclaimed documentary, which made its North American premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, will enjoy a theatrical release via Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber starting Jan. 16, 2019, at IFC Center in New York followed by theatrical engagements nationwide.
Featuring a diverse cast—including celebrated theorists, trauma surgeons, activists, factory workers, asylum seekers, and former prime ministers—this urgent film connects the past and the present, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the political, in order to provoke and inspire. If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word even means.
“More than anything else, What Is Democracy? is an invitation to think,” said Taylor. “We live in overwhelming, confounding times and are bombarded by information and bad news. My hope is that this film opens a contemplative space, allowing the viewer to consider the challenge of ruling ourselves from a variety of angles.”
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Cornel West in What is Democracy?[/caption]
Appearing in the film are: Cornel West, a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual and Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University; Angela Davis a political activist and professor emeritus at the Department of History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, regarded as one of the foremost figures in the struggle for human rights and against racial discrimination; Professor Wendy Brown (University of California, Berkeley), whose fields of interest include the history of political theory, 19th- and 20th- century Continental theory, critical theory and theories of contemporary capitalism; Silvia Federici, a researcher, activist, and educator and Emerita Professor at Hofstra University; Zoe Konstantopoulou, the leader of the Course to Freedom political party and a former President of the Greek Parliament, who is also a lawyer specializing in national, European and international criminal law, public international law and human rights; Henry M. “Mickey” Michaux, Jr., who in 1972 became Durham County’s first black representative in the North Carolina state legislature, and is also the longest-serving member of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
ASTRA TAYLOR (Director) is a filmmaker writer, and political organizer. She is the director of the philosophical documentaries What Is Democracy? (TIFF 2018), Examined Life (TIFF 2008), and Zizek! (TIFF 2005); the author of the American Book Award winner The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age; and a co-founder of the Debt Collective. She has written for The New York Times, The London Review of Books, The Guardian, The Walrus, The Baffler, n+1 and many other outlets. She is a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow and a former touring member of the band Neutral Milk Hotel. Her new book, Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, will be out from Metropolitan Books in early 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxRj9JWQMs
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FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, BORDER, BLACK SHEEP Win at 63rd Cork Film Festival
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Float Like a Butterfly[/caption]
Float Like a Butterfly, written and directed by Carmel Winters, which had its European Premiere as the Opening Night Gala film at the 63rd Cork Film Festival, went on to win the The Audience Award at the festival. On winning the award, Carmel Winters said: “Winning the audience prize at the oldest and largest festival in Ireland is the greatest gift I could wish for. So many of us bared heart and soul to make this film. Thank you, thank you, thank you Cork for championing the right of all of us to be our truest and best selves.”
The Gradam Spiorad Na Féile / Spirit of The Festival Award went to Ali Abbasi’s Border (Gräns). Based on a short story by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of Let the Right One In, Ali Abbasi’s second feature is one of the year’s great discoveries – an extraordinary, highly original work that melds modern Nordic noir with the region’s folklore.
Irish short Stigma, directed by Helen Warner, won the prestigious award of Grand Prix Irish Short Award, and now join the longlist for the Academy Awards® in 2020 in the Live Action Short Film category.
The Festival’s second Academy Awards® qualifying award, for the Grand Prix International Short Award, was Maria Eriksson’s Schoolyard Blues (Skolstartssorg) a Swedish short film which the judges recognised as being “both uplifting and heart-breaking and prompts us to consider continuity and change, the struggle for survival on the margins and the enduring and potentially restorative power of love”.
The Cork Film Festival Short Film Candidate for the 2019 European Film Awards is Black Sheep, directed by Ed Perkins, and produced by Academy Awards® winners Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn. This short documentary is about a young man who finds himself the target of extreme racial abuse, and follows his decision to become more like the people who hated him.
The award for Documentary Short went to Black Line, directed by Mark Olexa and Francesca Scalisi (Switzerland), and the Best Cork Short Award, proudly presented by Media Partner RedFM, was won by Megan K Fox for her film, The Shift, set in the final disco of the Gaeltacht, and one 15-year-old who is determined to get the shift against all odds.
The new award for Best Director: Irish Short, supported by Screen Directors’ Guild Ireland, went to Oonagh Kearney, for her short Five Letters for the Stanger Who Will Dissect My Brain. The film provides an insight into the soul-searching journey of first-year medical student Viv, whose first encounter with a cadaver in the anatomy room sends her on a quest into the nature of what it means to be alive.
Other prize winners announced at the Awards ceremony included Hale County This Morning, This Evening, directed by RaMell Ross, which won the Gradam Na Féile Do Scannáin Faisnéise / Award for Cinematic Documentary. The film presents an intimate and heart-breaking depiction of the Southern African American experience and was the recipient of the Special Documentary Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year too.
The Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award went to Crystal Swan (Khrustal), directed by Darya Zhuk, who attended the Festival to present her debut film, a fascinating study of post-communist youth.
Speaking on the 63rd edition of the Cork Film Festival, Cork Film Festival Producer and CEO Fiona Clark stated: “It has been an inspiring 10 days of exceptional cinema in Cork. From the high calibre of award winners, to the strength of the Opening and Closing Gala films, and with over 250 Irish and international features and shorts in between, this year’s Festival has been an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. We welcomed over 170 filmmakers and special guests to Cork this year and 18,000 people joined them for many sold-out screenings.
“We look forward to building on this success for 2019 and beyond, and would like to thank all our funders, sponsors, partners, friends, jurors, filmmakers and audience who together make Cork Film Festival possible.”
63rd Cork Film Festival Award Winners
Stigma, directed by Helen Warner — Grand Prix Irish Short Award Schoolyard Blues (Skolstartssorg), directed by Maria Eriksson — Grand Prix International Short Award Float Like a Butterfly, written and directed by Carmel Winters — Audience Award Border (Gräns) , directed by Ali Abbasi — Gradam Spiorad na Féile (Spirit of the Festival Award) Black Sheep, directed by Ed Perkins — Cork Film Festival Candidate for the European Film Awards 2019 Black Line, directed by Mark Olexa and Francesca Scalisi — Documentary Short Award The Shift, directed by Megan K Fox — Best Cork Short Award Oonagh Kearney (Five Letters for the Stranger Who Will Dissect My Brain) — Best Director: Irish Short Hale County This Morning, This Evening, directed by RaMell Ross — Gradam na Féile do Scannáin Faisnéise (Award for Cinematic Documentary) Crystal Swan (Khrustal), directed by Darya Zhuk — Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award
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DOGMAN, COLD WAR, THE CAPTAIN Among First Winners of 2018 European Film Awards
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DOGMAN[/caption]
DOGMAN is the top film in the first wave of winners who will be honored at this year’s 2018 European Film Awards, grabbing the early awards for European Production Designer 2018 and European Hair & Make-up Artist 2018. The winners were announced for the categories cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, hair & make-up, composer, sound design and, for the first time, visual effects based on the EFA Feature Film Selection. The award recipients will be guests at the 31st European Film Awards on December 15, in Seville.
EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 2018 – PRIX CARLO DI PALMA:
Martin Otterbeck for U – JULY 22 (UTØYA 22. JULI)
Martin Otterbeckʼs cinematography masterfully balances an aesthetic concern with the political meaning of the tragedy of Utøya. With very concentrated one-shot hand-held camera work, the cinematographer had to decide what to follow and what not to follow, thus creating an intense viewing experience as you find yourself on the island with the youngsters. Right-wing extremism is dangerously rising again: Cinema, in each of its parts, has the overwhelming responsibility to bring light into our dark times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpUZGmHJB8
EUROPEAN EDITOR 2018:
Jarosław Kamiński for COLD WAR (ZIMNA WOJNA)
The cuts in COLD WAR are meaningful and emotional, almost like poetry. This poetic way of editing supports and enhances the sensuality of the story. The editor sensitively leads the heroes through time, emphasizing their isolation from each other in space, the fragmentarity of their relationship and the impossibility of being together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvPkDdFeTk8
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2018:
Andrey Ponkratov for THE SUMMER (LETO)
The production design of Andrey Ponkratov makes us really believe and feel like we are in the middle of an early 80s Leningrad summer at the very beginning of major political changes.
The film sets include large open nature locations like a beach, closed flats stuffed with people and things and an almost claustrophobic concert hall. The well-researched work of the whole art department team supports and underlines the authentic atmosphere of that period in a subtle way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlHwIRZLFdc
EUROPEAN COSTUME DESIGNER 2018:
Massimo Cantini Parrini for DOGMAN
Massimo Cantini Parrini’s costumes use the style of Italian neo-realism in a very effective and creative manner, applying it to contemporary times, succeeding to create credible characters in this aesthetic convention. The costumes serve the film very well by skillfully merging with photography and production design, creating, altogether, this particular aesthetics. The color palette was carefully chosen and well balanced, adding a sense of rough poetry to the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI2JE_xjAaY
EUROPEAN HAIR & MAKE-UP ARTIST 2018:
Dalia Colli, Lorenzo Tamburini & Daniela Tartari for DOGMAN
Rather than putting the art on display, the hair & make-up always remains realistic and connected to the story. There are a lot of violent scenes, a lot of fights, and the make-up always is spot on, never overdone and never too much, it is credible right through the movie.
EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2018:
Christoph M. Kaiser & Julian Maas for 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON (3 TAGE IN QUIBERON)
The beautiful score for 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON fulfills the brief of effective film music, both technically and artistically. It serves the film well, working perfectly as a counterpoint to its narrative, and imparts a poetry to the black and white Nouvelle-Vague aesthetic. The main theme is not only touching, but wholly engaging. Nostalgic, romantic, sensual and melancholic, it captures the soul of Romy Schneider. It is rare in contemporary cinema to hear a melodically and harmonically distinguished score of this kind which has also been afforded the space on screen it requires to make a genuine impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY0oaSgWJVQ
EUROPEAN SOUND DESIGNER 2018:
André Bendocchi-Alves & Martin Steyer for THE CAPTAIN (DER HAUPTMANN)
Following the story and the visuals at a perfect pace, the sound designers have created a soundtrack which truly lifts the film to another level. With its technically perfect, fine-tuned, poetic, atmospheric & dynamic approach, the composition adds another layer to the viewing experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cp0Jpz4VAs
EUROPEAN VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR 2018:
Peter Hjorth for BORDER (GRÄNS)
The visual effects in BORDER are subtle and invisible. They support the narrative without ever imposing themselves upon the film or taking the viewer out of the story. At the emotional high point of the film, visual effects are instrumental in telling the story and making us believe the world that we have been drawn into. As such, the visual effects fulfill the number one goal of artists and artisans in filmmaking; to be in service of the story. In addition to this, they elevate the film and take us to a place that would not be possible without the help of world-class, seamless visual effects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cp0Jpz4VAs
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FILM REVIEW: THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES – intimate conversation from the past
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The Eyes of Orson Welles[/caption]
How do you write a letter to someone who has been dead for over 30 years? Mark Cousins’ answer is to look at their sketches that date back from their teenage years all the way their last and create profile through their eyes. The Eyes of Orson Welles has all the potential to be another self aggrandizing portrait of the filmmaker. Diving into the “genius” of the prolific man who has made his name in film, theatre, radio, as well visual art. His legacy could stand alone on having wrote/starred/directed Citizen Kane (1941), noted by many to be the greatest film ever made. However, Mark Cousins, having made a 900-minute comprehensive visual survey of all of cinema up to 2011, has made a film that is not really a film at all.
Orson Welles is dead, he has been since October 10, 1985. But hearing Cousins’ rich cadence describe the Moroccan travels Welles took as a teenager does more than conciliate a certain intimacy in the viewer. There is never a moment that Cousins’ narration addresses anybody that isn’t Welles, the film is literally a letter. This letter structure does more to give a materiality not just in seeing papers that are worn and yellowing but also to make Welles a present kind of living person within the film.
The next question to ask about this film is who is going to see it. Obviously those who are fans of Welles’ or Cousins’ work will get to a screening whenever possible. As Cousins’ opens the box he says “this never before seen” sketches have been dormant for however many years. Perhaps this film can be seen as an unearthing of a past history in a political/social life of filmmaker. Outside of the curiosity to see something new, there is not much for a person outside of niche of film culture. A film for film lovers. That is what I’ll say because The Eyes of Orson Welles says a lot more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh7PqV-259k
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26th African Diaspora International Film Festival To Showcase Films Featuring Miriam Makeba, Sandra Bland, Kofi Annan, Toni Morrison
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Kofi Annan’s Suspended Dream[/caption]
The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) celebrates its 26th anniversary in New York City, with a total of 61 films from 40 countries including 27 World, US and NY Premieres. Screenings will be held in five venues in Manhattan: Teachers College, Columbia University, Cinema Village, Riverside Church, The Dwyer Cultural Center and MIST Harlem.
Some titles come directly from important national and international film festivals such as Sundance, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Pan African Film Festival, FESPACO, Cannes, Slamdance and Berlinale. Some of the films celebrate the contribution of men and women who have resisted and succeeded in affecting major changes in society. Films featuring Miriam Makeba, Sandra Bland, C.L.R. James, Errol Barrow, and Nobel Prize winners Dr. Denis Mukwege, Kofi Annan and Toni Morrison are part of the ADIFF 2018 line-up.
Opening Night film Timeless: A Virgin Island Love Story travels in time from 19th Century Ghana to the modern day Caribbean. It is the story of Ajuwa, a Ghanaian warrior, who loses her soulmate to the slave trade; their souls reunite in contemporary US Virgin Islands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG1CJuoKqxU
Closing Night film Muslimah’s Guide to Marriage is a comedy of manners about Muslimah Muhammad, a twenty-something African-American orthodox Muslim woman who lives in Inglewood, CA and has seven days and fourteen hours left in her Iddah (Muslim separation) before she will officially be divorced from her cheating husband.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FABbhzviyXU
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE PREMIERE SCREENINGS:
*Harlem Legacy by Shushana Dubreil and Genesis Tuyuc (World Premiere, USA, 2018, 26mins).
A film that follows two middle schoolers from P.S 161 Pedro Albizu Campos Middle School, who defy both academic barriers and racial stereotypes through the “rigorous academic sport of debate”.
*Freedom for the Wolf by Rupert Russell (NY Premiere, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kuwait, Tunisia, Usa, 2017, 89mins). Democracy is in crisis. A new generation of elected leaders are dismantling freedom and democracy as we know it. Filmed over three years in five countries, Freedom for the Wolf is an epic investigation into this new regime of illiberal democracy.
*Kinshasa Makambo by Dieudo Hamadi (Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Germany, Norway, Qatar, Switzerland, 2018, 75 mins). Follows young activists who fight for change in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*Kofi Annan’s Suspended Dream by Vasselin Pascal (France, Ghana, USA, 2018, 52mins). Two times UN Secretary-General, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan talks about himself in an exclusive interview.
*Minga and the Broken Spoon by Clay Edou (Cameroun, 2017, 80mins). A charming animation for the entire family, this African fable tells the story of Minga, an orphaned girl living with her stepmother Mami Kaba and her stepsister Abena.
*Black Mexicans / La Negrada by Jorge Perez Solano (Mexico, 2017, 100mins). Black Mexicans / La Negrada is the first Mexican feature film about the Afro-Mexican community, filmed entirely with people from different towns around the Costa Chica in Oaxaca.
*El Jaida by Selma Baccar (Tunisia, 2017, 104mins). Eight months before the Independence of Tunisia, four women meet at a prison for women called Dar Joued.
*No Shade by Clare Anyiam-Osigwe (UK, 2018, 104mins). Told through the prism of love, relationships, dating and marriage, No Shade provides a raw perspective on the issue of colorism.
*Shaihu Umar by Adamu Halilu (Nigeria, 1976, 142mins). Newly restored copy. Set in northern Nigeria towards the end of the 19th century, Shaihu Umar starts with a discussion between Islamic students and their renowned teacher, the wise man Shaihu Umar.
*A Day for Women (Youm Lel Setat) by Kamla Abu Zeki (Egypt, 2016, 110mins). A new swimming pool opens in a poor Cairo district, with the announcement that Sundays are reserved for women.
*They Had a Dream (Le Rêve Français) by Christian Faure (France, 2017, 2x90mins). They had a dream tells a story based on reality. It is both a social and a fictional saga, exploring the interconnected lives of two Guadeloupian families to reveal hidden and obscure aspects of French society.
*Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story by Selma Baccar (Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, 2018, 123mins). Based on true events, Ellen tells of the troubled relationship between a mother and her drug-addicted son – a relationship that will eventually drive her to the edge and lead to his murder.
*Last Life AKA Rise Again by Michael Phillip Edwards (USA, 2018, 82mins). The story of three American spirits as they inhabit 16 different characters moving through America’s racial history from the birth of the nation to the present.
*Singleville by Mary McCallum (USA, 2018, 73mins). Singledom sucks for three feisty ladies with stories to tell and male egos to skewer in this raucously funny mockumentary that boasts an all-female cast.
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Jewish Documentary WHO WILL WRITE OUR HISTORY in U.S. Theaters in January 2019
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Who Will Write Our History[/caption]
Award-winning director Roberta Grossman’s latest film Who Will Write Our History is a remarkable new documentary that tells the story of a clandestine group of journalists, scholars, and community leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto, led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, who vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper.
Who Will Write Our History written, produced and directed by Roberta Grossman; executive produced by Nancy Spielberg, and featuring the voices of three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen and Academy Award winner Adrian Brody will open in New York on Friday, January 18, 2019 at Quad Cinema – New York and in Los Angeles on Friday, February 1, 2019 at Laemmle’s Music Hall – Beverly Hills.
In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. They detailed life in the Ghetto from the Jewish perspective. They commissioned diaries, essays, jokes, poems and songs.They documented Nazi atrocities with eyewitness accounts. They sent reports of mass murder to London via the Polish underground. Then, as trains deported them to the gas chambers of Treblinka and the Ghetto burned to the ground, they buried 60,000 pages of documentation in the hopes that the archive would survive the war, even if they did not.
Now, for the first time, the story of Emanuel Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes archive is told as a feature documentary. Written, produced and directed by Roberta Grossman and executive produced by Nancy Spielberg, Who Will Write Our History mixes the writings of the archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and stunning dramatizations to transport us inside the Ghetto and the lives of these courageous resistance fighters. Featuring the voices of three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen and Academy Award winner Adrian Brody, the film honors the Oyneg Shabes members’ determination in creating the most important cache of eyewitness accounts to survive the war. It follows their moments of hope, as well as their despair, desperation and anger, sometimes at their fellow Jews as much as their Nazi captors. It captures their humor, longing, hunger and their determination to retain their humanity in the face of unspeakable hardships. And ultimately, through their voices, actions and real-time experiences, Who Will Write Our History vanquishes those who distort and dehumanize the “Other” in favor of those who stand up, fight back and, as one Oyneg Shabes member writes,“scream the truth to the world.”
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Award-Winning Documentary HILLBILLY Explores Urban and Rural America Stereotypes
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hillbilly[/caption]
The award winning documentary hillbilly directed by Sally Ruben and Ashley York is a timely and urgent exploration of how we see and think about poverty and rural identity in contemporary America, offering a call for dialogue during this divisive time in U.S. history. The filmmakers go on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American “hillbilly,” and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype.
hillbilly won Best Documentary Feature at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Festival and recently made its New York Premiere at DOC NYC. The film opens in NYC November 23rd at the Cinema Village.
Appalachia is no stranger to the complexity of media representation. Since our country’s inception, there has been a palpable divide between Urban and Rural America. Within this great divide, certain regions are viewed as “other,” and blamed for America’s social ills.
Since the presidential election, the cultural divide in America has expanded. Stereotyping and slurs are rampant, finger-pointing and name-calling abound. hillbilly goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American “hillbilly,” and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype.
Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, hillbilly uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians, “Affrilachian” poets, and intersectional feminists — all unexpected voices emerging from this historically misunderstood region.
hillbilly is a timely and urgent exploration of how we see and think about poverty and rural identity in contemporary America, offering a call for dialogue during this divisive time in U.S. history.
” I’m happy to see somebody trying to cover us as we really are and not what some people think we are. It’s wonderful the attention you’ve paid to so many areas that are so important to all of us. I’m proud to have been mentioned in the film a time or two. ” – Dolly Parton on hillbilly