• Kino Lorber to Release Tribeca Film Festival Award-Winning Romantic Comedy KEEP THE CHANGE

    Keep The Change The New York-set award-winning romantic comedy Keep The Change, written and directed by Rachel Israel, and starring newcomers Brandon Polansky (as David) and Samantha Elisofon (as Sarah), centers around David and Sarah’s unexpected encounter and ensuing romance.   Jessica Walter (Arrested Development, Archer), Tibor Feldman (The Devil Wears Prada), Sondra James (Royal Pains), and Johnathan Tchaikovsky (The Wolf of Wall Street) round up the cast. While David struggles to come to terms with his own high-functioning autism, he unexpectedly falls for Sarah, a quirky and outgoing woman whose lust for life both irks and fascinates him. As David and Sarah’s relationship evolves, Keep The Change blossoms into a refreshingly off-kilter story about the ups-and-downs of romantic love – and the rewards of acceptance, self-love and mutual trust. Painting an honest portrait of a community seldom depicted on the big screen, Keep The Change is based on the award-winning short film developed by Rachel Israel and lead actor Brandon Polansky that was inspired by Polansky’s experiences at Adaptations, a community for adults on the autism spectrum that meets at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Manhattan. Film Director Rachel Israel cast Keep The Change with non-professional actors from Adaptations, and she worked closely with them to create fictional versions of themselves for the film. Keep The Change premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won two of the festival’s most coveted awards: Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best New Narrative Director. It also received Special Mention for the Nora Ephron Prize. At last summer’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the film won the Best Debut and FIPRESCI awards. Keep The Change will be released by Kino Lorber and opens in New York on March 16, following its prominent berth as opening night feature of the 2018 ReelAbilities Film Festival in March. A national expansion will follow. Director Rachel Israel wrote in a prepared statement: “Keep The Change has been a labor of love for all involved, from our cast to our crew, our producers, and our community partners at the JCC’s Center for Special Needs. We made a unique, risk-taking film and it is wonderful to see it come to light on the big screen. We are absolutely thrilled to be partnered with Kino Lorber, and to have their exceptional taste and reputation behind the film.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKyivROX8MI

    Read more

  • Miami Film Festival to Spotlight Filmmakers Jean-Marc Barr and Mateo Gil as First Two Marquee Events

    [caption id="attachment_26547" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS (Las leyes de la termodinámica) THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS (Las leyes de la termodinámica)[/caption] Filmmakers Jean-Marc Barr and Mateo Gil have been confirmed as headliners of the first two Marquee events of the upcoming 35th anniversary edition of the Miami Film Festival to be held March 9 to 18, 2018. The Festival’s Marquee series features film screenings accompanied by on-stage conversations with major film personalities of the moment, discussing their career and sharing an exciting new work. Spanish filmmaker Mateo Gil will present the World premiere of his latest film, The Laws of Thermodynamics (Las leyes de la termodinámica), a unique romantic comedy co-produced by Spain’s Zeta Cinema and Atresmedia. The film stars Vito Sanz (Maria (and the Others)) as a Sciences graduate student who blames his disastrous love life, such as being dumped by his girlfriend (played by Berta Vázquez of Palm Trees in the Snow), on the mysteriously comic laws of cosmic thermodynamics. Prior to presenting his high-profile new film, Gil will participate in an extended conversation about his career, which includes such highlights as co-writing the Academy Award-winning film The Sea Inside, co-writing Open Your Eyes, later remade as Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise; and his numerous Goya Award wins from Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts & Sciences. As a director, Gil’s films “Allanamiento de morada”, Nobody Knows Anybody, Blackthorn and Realive have all been presented in the US by Miami Film Festival. “The Laws of Thermodynamics is Mateo Gil’s most astoundingly original creation yet, in which he brilliantly dissects the romantic comedy genre at the same time he elevates it with explosive new levels of movie-star chemistry and expertly-timed wit,” said Festival director Jaie Laplante. “We could not be more honored to present the world premiere of a film that will be the talk of 2018 in Spain and beyond.” French-American actor and filmmaker Jean-Marc Barr will attend the North American premiere of the new documentary Dolphin Man, about the life and legacy of the French free diving legend Jacques Mayol, whom Barr played in Luc Besson’s 1988 international blockbuster hit, The Big Blue. Barr is featured prominently in Dolphin Man, which is directed by Lefteris Charitos and includes prominent coverage of the beginning of Mayol’s career working with dolphins at Miami Seaquarium in the 1950s. The Marquee evening will feature an extended conversation with Barr, and be paired with a 4K digital retrospective screening of The Big Blue. After the international success of The Big Blue, Barr continued to make an international mark in a long association with Danish provocateur Lars von Trier, as the star of such films as Europa, Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville and many others. As a director, screenwriter and producer he has made numerous films in collaboration with Pascal Arnold, including Lovers and American Translation. His most recent film is Grain, winner of the 2017 Grand Prize at Tokyo Film Festival. “After making Jacques Mayol’s incredible life known the world over in the 1980s, Jean-Marc Barr honors Mayol and Miami by personally presenting this wonderous new documentary about Mayol,” added Laplante. “Presenting the film to North America for the first time in the same community that Mayol began his journey is all the more special for Miami.” In addition to The Laws of Thermodynamics, the Festival also announced two more high-profile new Spanish films which will screen for the first time to US audiences. DOLPHIN MAN (Greece, Canada, France / Directed by Lefteris Charitos) Tells the life story of Jacques Mayol, the greatest free-diver in recorded history, whose life became the inspiration for Luc Besson’s cult-movie The Big Blue (Le Grand Bleu). Dolphin Man will additionally compete for the audience-voted Knight Documentary Achievement Award, and as a Canadian co-production, is in part presented in Miami by Telefilm Canada.
    THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS (Las leyes de la termodinámica) (Spain / Directed by Mateo Gil) A unique romantic comedy about a Sciences graduate student who blames his disastrous love life, such as being dumped by his girlfriend (played by Berta Vázquez of Palm Trees in the Snow), on the mysteriously comic laws of cosmic thermodynamics. The Laws of Thermodynamics will additionally compete in Knight Competition and HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Competition.
    THE WARNING (El aviso) (Spain / Directed by Daniel Calparsoro) A high-octane thriller from Chris Sparling, the American screenwriter of Ryan Reynolds’ hit film Buried, and Alex de la Iglesia’s frequent screenwriter Jorge Guerricaechevarría, directed by Daniel Calparsoro, and starring Raúl Arévalo and Aura Garrido, will premiere in Miami just a week following its opening in Spanish theaters. The supernatural thriller is being compared to the Brad Pitt-Terry Gilliam hit 12 Monkeys, and will debut in two of the Festival’s competition sections, Knight Competition and HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Competition. Calparsoro’s most recent film, Cien años de perdón, was an official selection of Miami Film Festival in 2016. THE SKIN OF THE WOLF (Bajo la piel de lobo) (Spain / Directed by Samu Fuentes) A dramatic thriller with stunning wide-screen photography set in Spain’s spectacular Asturias-Huescas region from first-time feature writer-director Samu Fuentes, will debut in the Festival’s Jordan Ressler Screenwriting Competition, as well as the HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Competition. Starring Spanish mega-star Mario Casas, Ruth Díaz (The Fury of a Patient Man) and Irene Escolar, The Skin of the Wolf is a film of sparse dialogue connected to a complex visual storytelling design, making it a top contender for the Ressler Award.

    Read more

  • Film Comment Selects Reveals 2018 Lineup, Opens with “Life and Nothing More”

    [caption id="attachment_26540" align="aligncenter" width="1296"]Life and Nothing More Life and Nothing More[/caption] The Film Comment magazine’s annual cinematic showcase series, Film Comment Selects, returns for the 18th edition, February 23 to 27, 2018, featuring films curated by the magazine’s editors. The festival opens with the New York premiere of Antonio Mendez Esparza’s Life and Nothing More, an intimate chronicle of an African American family living on the margins in Florida, starring an astonishing non-professional cast. Other new works in the lineup are Ildikó Enyedi’s Berlinale Golden Bear-winner On Body and Soul; Mrs. Fang, Wang Bing’s unflinching document of an elderly woman in her final days, which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno; the North American premiere of Katharina Wyss’s powerful debut feature Sarah Plays a Werewolf, about a woman who channels her fears into theater; Govinda Van Maele’s fiction feature debut Gutland, featuring Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps; the U.S. premiere of Slovenian director Rok Biček‘s The Family, a compassionate portrait of a young man’s life over the course of 10 years; and experimental artist Bertrand Mandico’s exhilarating, gender-bending Wild Boys. In addition to these anticipated new works, the 2018 slate features a retrospective of radical filmmaker Nico Papatakis, who had a “body of work that blends anarchic fury with visceral and transcendent poetry” (Yonca Talu, Film Comment). All five features directed by Papatakis, who subversively and provocatively explored themes of race, class, gender, and politics and produced films by Cassavetes and Genet, will be screened, including the meta terrorist drama Gloria Mundi, Cannes selection Les Abysses, and Walking a Tightrope, which stars Michel Piccoli as writer Jean Genet (a personal friend of the filmmaker). Film Comment Selects will also present a 25th anniversary screening of Tom Joslin & Peter Friedman’s extraordinarily powerful documentary Silverlake Life: The View from Here, which follows Joslin and his partner Mark Massi as they struggle to live with AIDS. “It’s a rare chance to see the lively mix of films that our critics have raved about but that haven’t hit New York theaters yet,” said Nicolas Rapold, Editor-in-Chief of Film Comment. “This year’s edition is made especially exciting by a rare retrospective of the inimitable Nico Papatakis, whose work will be exciting for many to discover.”

    FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS

    Opening Night Life and Nothing More Antonio Mendez Esparza, U.S./Spain, 2017, 114m “The African American single mom and teenage son at the center of this drama are lifelong residents of northern Florida but remain, at best, provisional citizens of their own country. Rendering characters they developed in tandem with their director, these non-professional but astoundingly gifted performers convey so much of what matters in so many working-class black lives.” —Nick Davis, Toronto Film Festival 2017 online coverage New York premiere The Family Rok Biček, Slovenia/Austria, 2017, 106m “Slovenian director Rok Biček started The Family as a film-school student and proceeded to film a life in full: a boy, Matej, seen growing up, watching his father die and becoming a father himself, breaking up with his girlfriend, and battling her for child custody. A twist on observational cinema, Biček’s portrait of the anti-heroic young man defies stereotypes of working-class and dysfunctional families, refrains from passing moral judgments, and retains an open fondness of his subject.” —Tina Poglajen, Nov/Dec 2017 issue U.S. premiere Gutland Govinda Van Maele, Luxembourg/Belgium/Germany/France, 2017, 107m “A stranger wends through twilit wheat fields in the exquisite opening moments of Govinda Van Maele’s fiction feature debut [starring Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps] … By the following morning he’s courted by an elder who finds him a gig and lodging—and then Gutland quietly maunders from folktale to pastoral noir to Polanski-esque uncanny and, finally, back to folk tale. Call it a ‘village film,’ with an eerie ambiance of secrets, insularity, and sinister solidarity.” —José Teodoro, Nov/Dec 2017 issue New York premiere Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, China, 2017, 86m “Wang Bing’s latest documentary trains its camera very tightly on the face of a bedridden elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s in a small rural Chinese village. For a while, it seems as though Mrs. Fang is content to use the camera as a tool to unflinchingly record a human being close to her final breath. Yet Wang Bing is after something completely different, as the filmmaker goes into other territory, somehow more and less tangible than a portrait of dying.” —Michael Koresky, Toronto Film Festival 2017 online coverage New York premiere On Body and Soul Ildikó Enyedi, 2017, Hungary, 116m Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin, Ildikó Enyedi’s visually imaginative film tracks the highs and lows of an unforeseen romance conducted partly through dreams. Film Comment celebrated Enyedi’s “ludic, freewheeling storytelling” with last year’s home-video release of her 1989 favorite My Twentieth Century, and her newest marks a triumphant return for this Hungarian filmmaker. A Netflix release. New York premiere Sarah Plays a Werewolf Katharina Wyss, Switzerland/Germany, 2017, 86m “Katharina Wyss’s heady debut feature centers on Sarah, a young woman channeling her powerful depth of feeling into the artistic and psychological outlet of theater. As the 17-year-old protagonist in a staid Swiss town, Loane Balthasar is unnervingly transparent, giving herself over to her character—and, like Sarah, 20 times more present than anyone around her. The film’s title captures a life fraught with energy.” —Nicolas Rapold, Jan/Feb 2018 issue North American premiere Wild Boys Bertrand Mandico, France, 2017, 110m “Some might be quick to suggest Mandico’s similarities with Guy Maddin due to his new film’s whacked-out narrative, alienating use of studio sets, and brusquely outré acting. Exiled teenagers are sentenced to hard labor on a mysterious island, left to their own devices and then transformed… All the teens are played by actresses, with ever-fearless, weather-beaten Elina Löwensohn leading the way. Little else in 2017 was quite as exhilarating, eye-popping, intoxicating, seductive, carefree, funky, sexy, and fun.” —Olaf Möller, Jan/Feb 2018 issue New York premiere 25th Anniversary Screening Silverlake Life: The View from Here Tom Joslin & Peter Friedman, U.S., 1993, 99m Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this is one of the cornerstone documentaries abot the AIDS crisis. “Silverlake Life is about a couple, and one of the guys is filming his boyfriend, who is ill and dying. I didn’t want to represent the disease too much [in BPM (Beats Per Minute)], because I thought it was so real in Silverlake Life. I didn’t want to make the same thing because you can’t do more than this film, because it was real and it’s a very, very moving film. I love it so much.”—Robin Campillo, director of BPM (Beats Per Minute), interviewed in July/Aug 2017 issue Special Section: Five Films by Nico Papatakis “It’s become a cliché to call a filmmaker ‘rebellious,’ but from Gance to Eisenstein to Pasolini to Buñuel, the 20th century saw true rebels who fiercely defied both the cinematic and political establishments of their time. Nikos Papatakis (1918-2010)—nicknamed Nico in France—holds a profound and unique place in this lineage through a body of work that blends anarchic fury with visceral and transcendent poetry. Born in Addis Ababa to an Ethiopian mother and a Greek father, Papatakis was an outcast by nature, mocked and ostracized as a child for being biracial. Deeply rooted in personal experience, Papatakis’s films are politically, morally, and formally subversive explorations of race, gender, and class that use the medium as a vehicle of opposition and dissent.” —Yonca Talu, Sept/Oct 2017 issue Les Abysses Nico Papatakis, France, 1963, 90m This allegorical portrait of the Algerian resistance was inspired by the real-life story of the Papin sisters, two maids who brutally murdered their employers in 1930s France—also the basis for Jean Genet’s influential 1947 play The Maids and Claude Chabrol’s 1995 psychological thriller La Cérémonie. The Shepherds of Disorder Nico Papatakis, Greece, 1967, 117m The Shepherds of Disorder (aka Thanos and Despina) juxtaposes an anthropological and materialist study of a rigid rural community with the mythologically imbued, forbidden romance between a rebellious shepherd and the angelic and compliant daughter (Olga Karlatos) of a rich conservative family, engaged in an erotically charged power game. Gloria Mundi Nico Papatakis, France, 1976, 115m Papatakis’s most psychedelic film, Gloria Mundi centers on an actress (Olga Karlatos) playing an Arab terrorist who takes her role to another level. Papatakis’s virulent denunciation of consumer capitalism and a hypocritical left-wing intelligentsia that deems itself political but does not take any action, begins with a scream and ends with an explosion. The Photograph Nico Papatakis, Greece/France, 1986, 102m Papatakis’s most accessible, gripping, and poignant work is a meticulously crafted, intimate meditation on immigration and exile centering on a 26-year-old Greek man fresh out of prison (where he was tortured for being a communist’s son) who leaves for France in hopes of a better life and strikes up a complicated friendship with a distant relative. Walking a Tightrope / Les Équilibristes Nico Papatakis, France, 1992, 120m The director’s final film—starring Michel Piccoli as a fictional version of Papatakis’s friend Jean Genet—is a compendium of the themes and motifs that pervade his distinctive filmography, including the torturous nature of love, the suffering induced by exile, and suicide as an act of rebellion.

    Read more

  • Jada Pinkett Smith, Octavia Spencer, Ruben Östlund and More Among Jury for 2018 Sundance Film Festival

    sundance film festival 24 “experts in film, art, culture and science” will adjudicate the award feature-length work shown at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with 28 prizes, handed out at the Awards ceremony on January 27. Hosting the Awards ceremony is  Jason Mantzoukas, actor, comedian and star of Hannah Fidell’s The Long Dumb Road (Premieres section). The awards, which recognize standout artistic and story elements, are voted on by each of seven section juries, including, in the case of the new-this-year NEXT Innovator’s Award, a jury of one. As in years past, Festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2018 Audience Awards, which will recognize five films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT categories; new this year, audiences will vote on a Festival Favorite film across categories, which will be announced the week following the Festival. Search, which premiered in the NEXT section, won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, announced previously. The 2018 Sundance Film Festival Jury members are:

    U.S. Documentary Jury

    Barbara Chai Barbara Chai is head of arts and culture coverage at Dow Jones Media Group, a suite of publications including Barron’s, Penta, MarketWatch and the U.K.’s Financial News. She is also the editor of MarketWatch Entertainment. She was previously a longtime arts and news editor at The Wall Street Journal and was the managing editor of Speakeasy, the WSJ’s pop culture and entertainment site. In 2012, Chai traveled to Dharamsala, India, to blog about Buddhism and conduct the first of two video interviews with the Dalai Lama. She has lived and worked overseas for a decade, in Brussels and Hong Kong as an international news editor, and in Taiwan as a volunteer English teacher. Chai received her M.F.A. in fiction and poetry from Hollins University, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing as a fellow. Simon Chinn Simon Chinn conceived and produced Man on Wire, which won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win an Academy Award and 40 other international awards. He followed that up with a string of award-winning feature documentaries including The Imposter, Project Nim, and Searching for Sugar Man, which also won an Academy Award and two prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2014 Simon launched Lightbox with his LA-based cousin, Jonathan Chinn. Focused on producing high-end nonfiction for multiple platforms, Lightbox has produced major projects for big and small screen alike, including LA 92 for National Geographic and the only authorized documentary about Whitney Houston, directed by Kevin Macdonald, which will be released theatrically around the world in 2018. Chaz Ebert Chaz Ebert is the CEO of the movie review site RogerEbert.com, heads the TV and movie production company Ebert Productions LLC, and is the co-founder of Ebertfest (Roger Ebert’s Film Festival), now entering its 20th year. As president of the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, her civic interests include endowing programs to help break the glass ceiling for women and people of color, providing education and arts for women, children, and families, and encouraging empathy, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Through these programs she also supports emerging writers, filmmakers, and technologists at various film festivals and universities. Ebert’s affiliation with Sundance Institute includes supporting a program for Ebert Fellowship recipients at the Sundance Film Festival and participating as a creative investor in both the Catalyst Forum and Catalyst Women. She has also provided grants to many documentary films, among them Radical Grace, Strong Island, and They Call Us Monsters. Ezra Edelman Ezra Edelman is an award-winning filmmaker. He directed O.J.: Made in America, which won the 2016 Academy Award for best documentary feature and is the third film Edelman has made for ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. Edelman has also produced and directed three films for HBO, including the Peabody Award–winning Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals and the Emmy-winning Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush. In 2013, Edelman co-produced the Academy Award–nominated documentary Cutie and the Boxer. A native of Washington, DC, Edelman graduated from Yale University and currently lives in Brooklyn. Matt Holzman Matt Holzman is host and producer of The Document, a new mash-up of radio and documentaries from NPR’s Southern California flagship station, KCRW. A veteran public radio producer and reporter for film, culture, and the arts, Holzman previously created The Business, KCRW’s weekly radio show about the entertainment industry, and has appeared regularly on PRI’s Studio 360 and The World. On his new program, Holzman works with documentary filmmakers to tell riveting stories—with no pictures. Holzman is also the creator and host of KCRW’s documentary screening series.

    U.S. Dramatic Jury

    Rachel Morrison, A.S.C. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison has emerged as a refreshing talent in contemporary cinema. She has shot several features that have played at the Sundance Film Festival in recent years, including Fruitvale Station (which won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award); indie breakout Dope; What Happened, Miss Simone? (an Academy Award nominee for best documentary feature); and most recently, the period drama Mudbound. Morrison has a background in photojournalism and completed a master’s degree in cinematography at the American Film Institute. She has also been nominated for two Emmys and received the Kodak Vision Award. Morrison’s next film, Black Panther, reunited her with Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler and made her the first woman to be director of photography on a blockbuster superhero film. Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Pinkett Smith was born in Baltimore and has starred in many successful films. Her most recent film, Girls Trip, became the first film that starred and was produced, directed, and written by African Americans to break $100 million at the U.S. box office. Smith has also produced several films, including The Secret Life of Bees, The Karate Kid, and Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Other films she has starred in include The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Nutty Professor, as well as voicing Gloria in the Madagascar films. The Will and Jada Smith Foundation launched Careers in Entertainment—an initiative to help underrepresented voices enter the entertainment industry—in 2016, and then in 2017 the Foundation partnered with Sundance Institute to support diverse independent filmmakers through the Screenwriters Intensive. Octavia Spencer As a veteran character actress and one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents, Octavia Spencer has become a familiar fixture on both television and the silver screen. Her critically acclaimed performance as Minny in the DreamWorks film The Help won her an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award, among numerous other accolades. Earlier this year, Spencer portrayed real-life mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the Academy Award-nominated drama Hidden Figures, for which she also received her second individual Academy Award nomination. She can currently be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy drama, The Shape of Water, which won the coveted Golden Lion Award at this year’s Venice Film Festival and has since been awarded a wide range of accolades including individual Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Spencer. Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stuhlbarg can currently be seen in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and Steven Spielberg’s The Post. His other film credits include Doctor Strange, Arrival, Miles Ahead, Trumbo, Lincoln, Hugo, and A Serious Man, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Stuhlbarg received his BFA from The Juilliard School; he also studied at UCLA, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the British American Drama Academy, Balliol College and Keble College (both of the University of Oxford), and with Marcel Marceau. Stuhlbarg is also known for his acting on the stage, having worked numerous times with Shakespeare in the Park and earning a Tony nomination for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Joe Swanberg Joe Swanberg has directed several films, including Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas, and Win It All. He contributed to the anthology horror film V/H/S and has acted in Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, Ti West’s The Sacrament, and Annie Clark’s segment of XX. He is the creator of the Netflix original series Easy, which he produces, writes, and directs, and his directing work in television includes episodes of HBO’s Looking and Netflix’s Love. In addition to his own work, Swanberg finances and produces films through his Forager Films production company, including Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth and Golden Exits, Zach Clark’s Little Sister, and Dustin Guy Defa’s Person to Person. Swanberg works in Chicago, where he lives with his wife – filmmaker Kris Swanberg – and their two children.

    World Cinema Dramatic Jury

    Hanaa Issa Hanaa Issa has held several senior responsibilities through the founding and establishment of the Doha Film Institute in Qatar. Currently, as director of strategy and development, she oversees initiatives for film funding, training, and development, as well as the institute’s programming, and she ensures that DFI’s core programs deliver on their mission of nurturing and strengthening local and regional film industries. Some of the films supported by the institute include the Academy Award nominees Timbuktu (by Abderrahmane Sissako) and Mustang (by Deniz Gamze Ergüven), Loving Vincent (by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman), and the Academy Award–winning The Salesman (by Asghar Farhadi). Issa is also the deputy director of Qumra, DFI’s annual industry event that provides mentorship, hands-on development, and international market access to emerging filmmakers from around the world. Ruben Östlund As an avid skier, Ruben Östlund directed ski films for five years, solidifying his taste for long sequence shots. In his mid 20s he went on to study film at the University of Gothenburg, where he developed his skill in constructing well-thought-out sequence shots, and this knowledge has continued to evolve through all his films. His works are best described as both humorous and accurate observations of human social behavior—film blended with sociology. His last four feature films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; Force Majeure won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2014, and his latest film, The Square, won the Palme d’Or, was distributed in over 75 territories, and became a box-office success. Östlund is also a professor of film at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Michael J. Werner Michael J. Werner is an American-born, Hong Kong–based producer, strategic consultant, and producer’s representative. He has been credited as a producer or executive producer on nearly 30 high-profile independent films, including Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster, Tran Anh Hung’s Norwegian Wood, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, and Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin. Werner was a partner in the pioneering foreign-sales company Fortissimo Films. He has served as a consultant or advisor to numerous industry and festival events in Asia, including the Hong Kong’s HAF, the Asian Film Awards, Screen Singapore, the Busan International Film Festival, and the International Film Festival and Awards of Macao. He most recently was a consultant to Fox International Productions and was an executive producer on 212 Warriors, their new Indonesian-language co-production. Currently he is producing a new film (Suk Suk) from Hong Kong director Ray Yeung.

    World Cinema Documentary Jury

    Joslyn Barnes Among the films Joslyn Barnes has been involved with producing since co-founding Louverture Films are Bamako (directed by Abderrahmane Sissako), Trouble the Water (Carl Deal and Tia Lessin), The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 and Concerning Violence (both directed by Göran Hugo Olsson), The House I Live In (Eugene Jarecki), The Time that Remains (Elia Suleiman), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Cemetery of Splendour (both directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul), House in the Fields (Tala Hadid), White Sun (Deepak Rauniyar), Zama (Lucrecia Martel), and Strong Island (Yance Ford). Forthcoming films include Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross); Angels Are Made of Light (James Longley); and Aquarela (Victor Kossakovsky). In 2017, Barnes received both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Amazon Studios Producers Award. Billy Luther Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo) is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary Miss Navajo, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS’s Independent Lens. He studied film at Hampshire College and worked on various projects for the National Museum of the American Indian’s film and video center. His second documentary feature, Grab, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on public television. His latest short documentary film, Red Lake, premiered at the 2016 LA Film Festival and was nominated for best short at the 2016 International Documentary Association Awards. He is currently in production on alter-NATIVE, a docuseries exploring the world of Native American fashion designers. Paulina Suárez Paulina Suárez is director of Ambulante, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes documentary cinema culture across Mexico. She holds a BA from UNAM (Mexico’s national university), an MA from the University of Chicago, and is completing her PhD at NYU. Her research and writing have focused on Mexican cinematic modernity, fictional and nonfictional melodramas, and expanded documentary cultures. Since 2016, Suárez has directed Ambulante’s film training program and its annual traveling festival, which screens nonfiction works at over 140 venues across Mexico. Suárez is committed to cinema’s vocation as a public art and to exploring its potential as a catalyst for social change.

    Short Film Jury

    Cherien Dabis Cherien Dabis is an award-winning filmmaker and television writer/director who made her feature debut with Amreeka, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the coveted FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It went on to win several more international awards (including the Humanitas Prize), was nominated for the IFP Gotham Award for best feature, and was named one of the top 10 independent films of the year by the National Board of Review. Dabis made her onscreen debut in her second feature, May in the Summer, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Dabis has also written and directed for several television series, such as Showtime’s groundbreaking The L Word, Fox’s hit Empire, and USA Network’s critically acclaimed crime thriller The Sinner. Shirley Manson Shirley Manson is best known as the lead vocalist of the critically acclaimed alternative rock band Garbage and has been an active recording artist for more than 30 years. Garbage has sold over 12 million records during the course of an award-winning career that includes the recording of the James Bond movie theme “The World Is Not Enough” and the formation of their own independent record label, STUNVOLUME. Last year they released an autobiographical coffee-table book titled This Is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake and embarked upon a co-headline tour across North America with the legendary post-punk band Blondie. They are currently in the studio working on their seventh record, and they expect to be hitting the road later in 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Grammy-nominated record, Version 2.0. Chris Ware Chris Ware is the author of Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth and Building Stories, which was named a top 10 book of the year by the New York Times and a top 10 fiction book of the year by Time. A regular contributor of comic strips and over two dozen covers to the New Yorker, his work has been exhibited at MOCA Los Angeles, the MCA Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and he was a focus of the “Chicago” episode of the PBS program Art in the 21st Century in late 2016. His book Monograph by Chris Ware was released by Rizzoli in October 2017.

    NEXT

    RuPaul Charles RuPaul Charles is an actor, singer, songwriter, and the two-time Emmy-winning host and executive producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race. RuPaul studied theatre before moving to New York City in the mid-eighties, where he was crowned the Queen of Manhattan in 1989. RuPaul shot to international fame with the 1992 hit song “Supermodel (You Better Work),” followed by a seven-year contract as the first face of MAC Cosmetics. In addition to Drag Race, RuPaul has appeared in more than 50 films and television sitcoms, released 13 solo albums, published 2 books, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2017. RuPaul currently hosts the weekly podcast What’s the Tee? with Michelle Visage as well as the bi-annual drag convention RuPaul’s DragCon.

    Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Jury

    Robert Benezra Dr. Robert Benezra is a member of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor of biological sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University. He received his doctoral degree in biological sciences at Columbia University and completed his postdoctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Heather Berlin Dr. Heather Berlin is a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Passionate about science communication, Berlin is a committee member of the National Academy of Science’s Science & Entertainment Exchange and the New York Times series TimesTalks. She hosts StarTalk All-Stars with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and she hosted the CUNY TV series Science Goes to the Movies and the Discovery Channel series Superhuman Showdown. Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an actor and writer for theatre, film, and television. Her work can be seen in movies including Argo, Red State, and Blue Highway. She played computer engineer Donna Clark on AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire. Kerry is an ardent science enthusiast who works to expand access to computer science education and help scientists articulate their message for a broad audience. Nancy Buirski Nancy Buirski is the director/producer/writer of The Rape of Recy Taylor, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Human Rights Nights Award. It is also a nominee for the NAACP Image Award for outstanding documentary. Buirski is also the director/producer of By Sidney Lumet (2015), Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (2013), and the Peabody Award–winning and Emmy-winning The Loving Story (2012). Buirski is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

    Read more

  • Sundance 2018: Watch Trailer for Gloria Allred Documentary SEEING ALLRED

    ,
    Gloria Allred appears in Seeing Allred by Sophie Sartain and Roberta Grossman As sexual-violence allegations grip the nation, the revealing Gloria Allred documentary “Seeing Allred” provides a candid look at one of the most public crusaders against the war on women.  Seeing Allred will World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and debut on Netflix February 9, 2018. Through rare archival footage and revealing interviews with both her supporters and critics, this fascinating biographical portrait examines Gloria Allred’s personal trauma and assesses both her wins and setbacks on high-profile cases against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. Featuring interviews with Gloria Steinem, Don Lemon, Alan Dershowitz, Allred’s daughter Lisa Bloom and others, Seeing Allred is a portrait of a woman everyone thinks they know, at a time when women need her the most. Seeing Allred is directed by Sophie Sartain (Mimi and Dona, 2015) and Roberta Grossman (Above and Beyond, 2014); and produced by Grossman, Sartain, Marta Kauffman (co-creator of Friends and Grace & Frankie), Robbie Rowe Tollin (The Zookeeper’s Wife), and Hannah KS Canter (Grace & Frankie). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC8Eg0odTfY

    Read more

  • Women Directed + Horror Themed 3rd Final Girls Berlin Film Festival Announces Lineup, Opens with THE BOOK OF BIRDIE

    [caption id="attachment_24277" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Book of Birdie The Book of Birdie[/caption] The 3rd edition of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival will take place in Berlin, Germany from February1st to the 3rd, 2018, showcasing horror films that were directed, written, and/or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers.   The 2018 Final Girls Berlin Film Festival lineup consists of 5 feature films, six curated short blocks, a horror storyboarding workshop, a talk on vampires and women, and a filmmaker panel. Festival co-director Eli Lewy says “this year we have selected a range of unnerving feature films – most of which are also exclusive German premieres!” Fellow co-director Sara Neidorf adds “we’re excited for another three days of communal fear and challenging discussions with filmmakers and spectators. Underground horror cinema is alive and well with the works of women who are steadily reshaping the landscape of the genre.” ​The opening night feature is Anami Tara Shucart and Elizabeth E. Schuch’s offering THE BOOK OF BIRDIE. When a fragile, imaginative teenager is placed in a remote convent, will her unusual obsessions and hallucinations become a mark of sainthood or dark heresy? Reserved teen Birdie is sequestered to a life of religious servitude by her grandmother, in the hope that it will suppress the young girl‘s dark thoughts. Now far from home, her interests remain far from pious, as she develops a fascination with blood and sparks a romance with the groundkeeper’s daughter. This haunting and aesthetically arresting directorial debut of Elizabeth E. Schuch features an all-woman cast. UK, dir. Elizabeth E. Schuch (2017, German Premiere) ​A mother’s grief turns to paranoia when she begins to suspect her eccentric neighbors are involved in a satanic pact. Starring Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Girls) and Ingrid Jungermann (WOMEN WHO KILL), and paying homage to ROSEMARY’S BABY, this queer psychological horror LYLE, brings the viewer through a nightmarish journey of gaslighting, loss, loneliness, and mistrust. USA, dir. Stewart Thorndike (2014, Berlin Premiere) ​Iona and her mother are new in town and excited about starting a new chapter in their lives, but things don’t go as they hoped in this off-kilter, heart-wrenching film about two generations of outcasts. This ‘social horror’ film PIN CUSHION world premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. UK, dir. Deborah Haywood (2017, German Premiere) ​A pitch black, wryly British comedy, PREVENGE follows Ruth, a pregnant woman on a killing spree that’s as funny as it is vicious. It’s her misanthropic unborn baby dictating Ruth’s actions, holding society responsible for the absence of a father. The child speaks to Ruth from the womb, coaching her to lure and ultimately kill her unsuspecting victims. Struggling with her conscience, loneliness, and a strange strain of prepartum madness, Ruth must ultimately choose between redemption and destruction at the moment of motherhood. UK, dir. Alice Lowe (2016) MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND is a psychological thriller set in the world of undocumented female immigrants hoping to make a life in New York City. Shot on Super 16mm with an intimate, voyeuristic sensibility, MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND chronicles one harrowing day in the life of Luciana, a young woman struggling to make ends meet while striving to escape her past. As Luciana’s day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome and unforeseeable extremes. USA, Dir. Ana Asensio (2017, German Premiere)

    Short Film Programs

    Obsession

    PLEASE LOVE ME FOREVER (Dir. Holy Fatma, France, 2016) FRY DAY (Dir. Laura Moss, USA, 2017) NOTHING A LITTLE SOAP AND WATER CAN’T FIX (Dir. Jennifer Proctor, USA, 2017) 🙁 (Dir. Sydney Clara Brafman, USA, 2017) WASTE (Dir. Justine Raczkiewicz, USA, 2016) DON’T EVER CHANGE (Dir. Don Swaynos, US, 2017) DEAD. TISSUE. LOVE (Dir. Tasha Austin-Green, UK, 2017)

    Mind Games

    BBROWN WRECK-LOOSE (Dir. Tristian Montgomery, USA, 2017) LIZ DRIVES (Dir. Mia’kate Russell, Australia, 2017) THE HEAVY ATOMS (Dir. Alice Evermore, Germany, 2017) THE CLIP (Dir. Maria Forslin, Sweden, 2016) TONE DEATH (Dir. Sinnead Stoddart, UK, 2017) HIGHWAY (Dir. Vanessa Gazy, Australia, 2016) BLACK COAT (Dir. Tatiana Vyshegorodseva, Russia, 2017) DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES (Dirs. Adrián García Bogliano & Andrea Quiroz, Sweden, 2017)

    Dark Gatherings

    WHAT METAL GIRLS ARE INTO (Dir. Laurel Veil, USA, 2017) BLOOD SISTERS (Dir. Caitlin Koller, Australia, 2017) SPOTLIGHT (Dir. Joe Savage, UK, 2017) MADDER ISLE (Dir. Laura Spark, UK, 2017) THE PENNY DROPPED (Dir. A D Cooper, UK, 2016) MAB (Dir. Katie Bonham, UK, 2017) PRAYERS (Dir. Edda Manriquez, USA, 2016) THE CONTEST (Dir. Aimee Morgan, USA, 2017) DEVIL IS ON HIS WAY (Dir. Ophelie Neve, Belgium, 2017)

    Metamorphosis

    TALKING HEADS (Dir. Alyx Melone, Canada, 2017) THE DAY MUM BECAME A MONSTER (Dir. Joséphine Hopkins, France, 2017) APOCALYPSE BABIES (Dir. Anabelle Berkani, Canada, 2017) BEAUTIFUL INJURIES (Dir. Judith Beauvallet, France, 2017) NANA (Dir. Yunxuan Wang, China 2017) LE PEAU SAUVAGE (Dir. Ariane Louis-Seize, Canada, 2016)

    Family Dysfunction

    UNBEARING (Dir. Aidan Weaver, USA, 2016) MADAME MACABRE TELLS A TERRIBLE TALE ABOUT RONGUES (Dir. Tracy Rosenblum, USA, 2017) METAMORPHOSIS (Dir. Elaine Xia, USA/China, 2017) HOME EDUCATION (Dir. Andrea Niada, UK, 2017) CRESWICK (Dir. Natalie Erika James, Australia, 2016)

    Serial Killers

    STRANGE AS ANGELS (Dir. Austin Elston, USA, 2017) HOBBY SHOP (Dirs. Stephanie Liquorish & Isabel Stanfield, Australia, 2017) MARTA (Dir. Lucia Forner Segarra, Spain, 2017) DON’T EVER CHANGE (Dir. Don Swaynos, USA, 2017) SHOES (Dir. Ray Kermani, Belgium, 2017) FRY DAY (Dir. Laura Moss, USA, 2017)

    Read more

  • DAMSEL Starring Robert Pattinson + More Films Added to 2018 Berlin Film Festival Competition and Berlinale Special Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_26511" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson. Damsel. Regie/director: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson in Damsel.[/caption] Another ten films including Damsel starring Robert Pattinson, have been added to the Competition of the 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.  Three more have also been selected for the program of the Berlinale Special. Joining the eight Competition films and two Berlinale Special titles are 13 productions from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong – China, Iran, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA. Further films of the Competition and Berlinale Special programme will be revealed soon.

    Competition

    The following films will be celebrating world or international premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2018. 3 Tage in Quiberon (3 Days in Quiberon) Germany / Austria / France By Emily Atef (Molly’s Way, The Stranger In Me) With Marie Bäumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hübner, Robert Gwisdek, Denis Lavant World premiere Black 47 Ireland / Luxembourg By Lance Daly (Kisses, The Good Doctor) With Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Stephen Rea, Freddie Fox, Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, Sarah Greene, Jim Broadbent World premiere – Out of competition Damsel USA By David Zellner, Nathan Zellner (Kid-Thing, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter) With Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Robert Forster, Joe Billingiere International premiere Eldorado – Documentary Switzerland / Germany By Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full, More Than Honey) World premiere – Out of competition Las herederas (The Heiresses) Paraguay / Germany / Uruguay / Norway / Brazil / France By Marcelo Martinessi With Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova World premiere – First Feature Khook (Pig) Iran By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, A Dragon Arrives!) With Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Ali Bagheri World premiere La prière (The Prayer) France By Cédric Kahn (Red Lights, Wild Life) With Anthony Bajon, Damien Chapelle, Alex Brendemühl, Louise Grinberg, Hanna Schygulla World premiere Toppen av ingenting (The Real Estate) Sweden / United Kingdom By Måns Månsson (The Yard, Mr Governor), Axel Petersén (Avalon) With Léonore Ekstrand, Christer Levin, Christian Saldert, Olof Rhodin, Carl Johan Merner, Don Bennechi World premiere Touch Me Not Romania / Germany / Czech Republic / Bulgaria / France By Adina Pintilie (Don’t Get Me Wrong) With Laura Benson, Tómas Lemarquis, Christian Bayerlein, Grit Uhlemann, Hanna Hofmann, Seani Love, Irmena Chichikova World premiere – First Feature Transit Germany / France By Christian Petzold (Yella, Barbara, Phoenix) With Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, Sebastian Hülk, Emilie de Preissac, Antoine Oppenheim World premiere

    Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

    Monster Hunt 2 People’s Republic of China / Hong Kong, China By Raman Hui (Monster Hunt) With Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Baihe Bai, Boran Jing European premiere

    Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

    Gurrumul – Documentary Australia By Paul Williams International premiere – Debut film In Cooperation with NATIVe Viaje a los Pueblos Fumigados – Documentary Argentina By Fernando Solanas (The Hour Of The Furnaces, Tangos, The Exile Of Gardel, Memoria del saqueo – A Social Genocide) World premiere

    Read more

  • “Finding Your Feet” and “Skid Row Marathon” Win Audience Awards at Palm Springs International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_26505" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Finding Your Feet Finding Your Feet[/caption] Finding Your Feet and Skid Row Marathon have been voted the winners of the Audience Awards at the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) held from January 2 to 15, 2018. Finding Your Feet (UK), directed by Richard Loncraine received the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. When snooty “Lady” Sandra Abbott discovers that her husband of 40 years has been having an affair, she packs her designer bags and flees to the shabby council flat of her estranged older sister. A sterling British cast give their all in this heartwarming romantic comedy. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Skid Row Marathon (US) directed by Mark Hayes. Judge Craig Mitchell believes in second chances. This inspiring documentary tracks the running club Mitchell founded for the homeless on L.A.’s Skid Row, hoping that through the discipline of running, these men and women who had lost everything, could reclaim a sense of dignity.

    Read more

  • LADY BIRD Saoirse Ronan to Receive Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

    Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig Saoirse Ronan will receive the prestigious Santa Barbara Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for her critically acclaimed role in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird.  Given to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film, the award will be presented to her at a ceremony on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at the historic Arlington Theatre. “In Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan has once again proven that she is a force of nature and one of her generation’s most exciting young talents,” stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “She embodies her characters with a poignant accuracy and ease every time she appears on screen.” Ronan’s numerous film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hanna, The Lovely Bones, and The Way Back. She has received Academy Award nominations for her performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, and recently was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in Lady Bird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo Past recipients of the award include Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon, and Naomi Watts. The 33rd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, January 31st through Saturday, February 10th, 2018. The festival honored Judi Dench with its Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. The festival will also honor Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) with its Maltin Modern Master Award, Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) with its Cinema Vanguard Award, and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Hong Chau (Downsizing), John Boyega (Detroit), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) with the Virtuosos Award.

    Read more

  • ELVIS PRESLEY: THE SEARCHER, Documentary Exploring His Creative Journey, Debuts April 14 on HBO

    Elvis Presley The new documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher will debut Saturday, April 14 on HBO.  This three-hour, two-film presentation focuses on Elvis Presley the musical artist, taking the audience on a comprehensive creative journey from his childhood through the final 1976 Jungle Room recording sessions. The films include stunning atmospheric shots taken inside Graceland, Elvis’ iconic home, and feature more than 20 new, primary source interviews with session players, producers, engineers, directors and other artists who knew him or who were profoundly influenced by him. The documentary also features never-before-seen photos and footage from private collections worldwide, and includes an original musical score composed by Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready. Priscilla Presley, David Porter (legendary Memphis music writer and producer), Thom Zimny (director), Jon Landau (producer) and moderator John Jackson (SVP A&R, Sony Music) will discuss the film, the cultural impact of Elvis’ music and how that impact became the embodiment of rock’n’roll at the 2018 SXSW Festival in March. The panel is expected to cover:
    • how Elvis found inspiration in black and white gospel music of Tupelo
    • his early experience with the great African-American blues and r’n’b of Memphis
    • his evolution as an artist with Sam Phillips
    • the creative impact of his time serving in the U.S. Army in Germany
    • the creative highs and lows of his career in the 1960s, culminating in the triumphant ’68 special
    • an assessment of Elvis as a performing artist in the early ’70s, featuring a discussion of Jon Landau’s seminal 1971 review of Elvis in concert
    • a discussion of the interviews conducted for the film, including insights into the conversations with Scotty Moore, Red West, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, among others
    • insight into the creation of the film’s score by Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready
    • an inquiry into the artistic and personal struggles that preceded his death in 1977
    RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release “Elvis Presley: The Searcher”, the musical companion to the HBO/Sony Pictures documentary, on Friday, April 6.  

    Read more

  • Documentaries on Martin Luther King, Jr., Arthur Miller and More Set to Debut on HBO

    [caption id="attachment_26489" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael appear in King In The Wilderness by Peter Kunhardt Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael appear in King In The Wilderness by Peter Kunhardt[/caption] HBO has confirmed a diverse array of timely and thought-provoking documentaries for the first half of 2018, including: Peter Kunhardt’s KING IN THE WILDERNESS, about the last years of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Judd Apatow’s two-part, four-and-a-half-hour documentary THE ZEN DAIRIES OF GARRY SHANDLING; Rebecca Miller’s ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER, an intimate portrait of one the greatest playwrights of the 20th century; and I AM EVIDENCE, produced by Mariska Hargitay, about the untested rape kit backlog in the U.S. Upcoming HBO documentaries include (in chronological order): THE NUMBER ON GREAT GRANDPA’S ARM (debuts Jan. 27). When ten-year-old Elliott asks his 90-year-old great-grandfather, Jack, about the number tattooed on his arm, he sparks an intimate conversation about Jack’s life that spans happy memories of childhood in Poland, the loss of his family, surviving Auschwitz, and finding a new life in America. Drawing on haunting historical footage, photos and hand-painted watercolor animation, the short film tells a heartbreaking story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before and during the Holocaust. Debuting on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this gently powerful documentary centers on Elliott’s love for his beloved great-grandfather and his wish to keep Jack’s memories and lessons from that terrible time alive. Directed and produced by Amy Schatz. MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS (Jan. 29). From longtime fans Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, and filmed with extensive access over the course of more than two years, this intimate portrait of the acclaimed North Carolina band charts their decade-and-a half rise, while chronicling the Avetts’ present-day collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin on the multi-Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness.” With the recording process as a backdrop, it depicts a lifelong bond and unique creative partnership, as band members experience marriage, divorce, parenthood, illness, and the challenges of the music business. More than just a music documentary, the film is a meditation on family, love and the passage of time. An Apatow Production in association with RadicalMedia. ATOMIC HOMEFRONT (Feb. 12). This timely film shines an urgent light on the lasting toxic effects nuclear waste can have on communities. Focusing on a group of moms-turned-advocates in St Louis, it follows them as they confront the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and the corporations behind the illegal dumping of dangerous radioactive waste in their neighborhoods. Directed by Rebecca Cammisa. ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (March 19). This intimate portrait of one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century is told from the unique perspective of his daughter, Rebecca Miller, who filmed interviews with her father over decades. Drawing on a wealth of personal archival material, the film provides new insights into Miller’s life as an artist and explores his character in all its complexity. Directed by Rebecca Miller. THE ZEN DIARIES OF GARRY SHANDLING (March 26 and 27). Judd Apatow’s two-part, four-and-a-half-hour documentary explores the remarkable life of the legendary comedian, who was Apatow’s mentor and friend. It features interviews from nearly four dozen friends, family and colleagues; four decades’ worth of television appearances; and a lifetime of personal journals, private letters and home audio and video footage that reveal Shandling’s brilliant mind and restless soul. KING IN THE WILDERNESS (April). Drawing on stories from the people around him, this film follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the last years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968. The documentary provides a clear window into King’s character, showing him to be a man with an unshakeable commitment to nonviolence in the face of an increasingly unstable country. With the U.S. currently in one of the most divided periods in 50 years, King’s words underscore why nonviolence is still vital today. Directed by Peter Kunhardt and produced by George and Teddy Kunhardt. TRAFFIC STOP (April). This film tells the story of Breaion King, a 26-year-old African-American school teacher from Austin, Texas, who was stopped for a routine traffic violation that escalated into a dramatic arrest. Caught on police dashcams, King was pulled from her car by the arresting officer, repeatedly thrown to the ground and handcuffed. En route to jail in a squad car, she engaged in a revealing conversation with her escorting officer about race and law enforcement in America. The documentary juxtaposes dashcam footage with scenes from King’s everyday life, offering a fuller portrait of the woman caught up in this unsettling encounter. Directed by Kate Davis; produced by David Heilbroner. I AM EVIDENCE (April). Produced by Mariska Hargitay, this documentary reveals the shocking number of untested rape kits in the United States today. Despite the power of DNA to solve and prevent crimes, hundreds of thousands of these kits, containing potentially crucial DNA evidence, languish untested in police evidence storage rooms across the country. The film tells stories of survivors who have waited years for their kits to be tested, as well as the law enforcement officials who are leading the charge to work through the backlog and pursue long-awaited justice. Directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir. THE FINAL YEAR (May). This documentary is a unique insiders’ account of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team during its last year in office. Featuring unprecedented access inside the White House and State Department, the film offers an uncompromising view of the inner workings of the Obama administration as it prepares to leave power after eight years. Directed by Greg Barker.

    Read more

  • “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” Documentary by Judd Apatow on the Legendary Comedian to Debut on HBO

    Garry Shandling When Garry Shandling passed away in 2016, he was widely remembered as a top stand-up comic and the star of two of the most innovative sitcoms in TV history. But to those who knew him, the “real” Garry Shandling was a far more complex person. Now, Judd Apatow has created a remarkable portrait of this iconic comedian in the four-and-a-half-hour documentary The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, which debuts in two parts Monday, March 26 and Tuesday, March 27, exclusively on HBO. Epic in scope and intimate in detail, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling features conversations with more than 40 of Shandling’s family and friends, including James L. Brooks, Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, David Coulier, Jon Favreau, Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Conan O’Brien, Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman, and four decades’ worth of TV appearances, along with personal journals, private letters and candid home audio and video footage that reveal his brilliant mind and restless soul. “Give what you didn’t get,” wrote Shandling in a journal late in his life, the mantra of a self-proclaimed “spiritual warrior” still challenging himself to transcend his own insecurities, despite achieving so much in the face of loss, betrayal and tragic twists of fate. From childhood tragedy to heartbreak, professional betrayal and unexpected physical trauma, to his emergence as a powerful teacher, friend and guiding spirit for a new generation of talent, Apatow’s documentary not only chronicles one man’s ability to survive the ups and downs of a life in show business, but also offers a profound investigation into the power of comedy to elevate the human spirit. Shandling experienced a normal existence growing up in Tucson until age ten, when his older brother and only sibling, Barry, died from cystic fibrosis. His parents barely discussed their older son’s passing, and his mother, Muriel, began clinging to her younger son, developing an intense and sometimes troubling bond that would later generate some of his comedy material. Shandling’s unlikely path towards success, through an encounter with George Carlin and an impulsive move to Los Angeles after college, took a turn in 1976, when he was involved in a serious traffic accident, resulting in a near-death experience. As he recovered, he noted in his diaries, which he began keeping in 1977, “Do it – you are ready, be a comedian. It is the real me. The secret is to be myself.” Explains Jim Carrey, “I thought of Garry as someone who told the audience, ‘You’re alright, because I have all these problems.’ But he did it in a way that was so incredibly clever, you had to respect him at the same time.” Shandling made the leap from the pinnacle of stand-up success, appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” to develop his comic persona into something that would redefine television comedy. Realizing that one of his strengths as a standup was simply the ability to “talk to people,” he created a show where talking to the audience was the central focus – “a show that allows Garry to be Garry,” as his journals read. “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” was a decade ahead of its time, the first modern “meta”-sitcom that brought him a new legion of devoted fans and elevated his profile in the industry. “It was kind of a revelation,” remembers Conan O’Brien about the show’s three-season run. “It showed everybody, this is what kind of show can exist.” He also met Linda Doucett, who became his fiancée, began building a new home, and was even rumored to be heir apparent for the host seat on “The Tonight Show.” Part two of The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling offers an extensive examination of “The Larry Sanders Show,” his landmark HBO comedy series. Colleagues remember the demands of producing material that met Shandling’s high standards, while his diaries reveal an ongoing struggle with complacency and search for authenticity. The impact of “Larry Sanders” was immeasurable. “That show will outlast all of us,” says Jay Leno. But in the wake of the show’s success, soul-wrenching tragedy, fueled at times by Shandling’s own demons, played itself out. Sanders and Doucett broke up and he fired her from the show, leading to a lawsuit, which in turn raised financial questions that led Shandling to sue his manager, Brad Grey, for $100 million, a case that took years to resolve and cost him many friendships, as well as threatening his ongoing pursuit of spiritual peace. “I see him as a tortured person, because he was always trying to rise above,” remembers Kevin Nealon. “I mean, his core was good. I think it was the skin around that core that he was trying to break away from.” After “The Larry Sanders Show” ended, Shandling’s neuroses and insecurities became more evident, as he worked through unexpected emotional, physical and professional crises. The ailing Shandling found solace in community. Sunday morning basketball games on his home courtyard brought friends together and kept him emotionally connected, while a mentorship of younger comics gave his life fresh meaning. “He was a comic angel,” recalls Sacha Baron Cohen. A successful gig hosting the Emmys(R), creating unique extras for the DVD release of “The Larry Sanders Show” and an appearance with his friend Jerry Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (where Shandling opined about death and mortality) hinted at some of the lessons he’d learned in his lifelong quest for peace. As his friends say farewell and some of Shandling’s most personal, heartfelt letters and thoughts are shared, Apatow’s documentary, like its subject, transcends easy definition, being at once hilarious, sad, fascinating and, above all, completely authentic.

    Read more