Question: what would you do if your doctor told you your leg would be amputated in half an hour? For Kim Chambers the answer was this: swim 30 miles through shark infested waters. With exquisite timing, on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2018 – the San Francisco based International Ocean Film Festival opens its 15th anniversary year with Kim Swims – the stirring documentary based on Chamber’s epic journey.
A special preview of the film will be shown on Saturday, February 10 during the Festival’s “Off the Reef” gala fundraiser at The Pearl (601 9th Street, San Francisco). The evening will feature food, fine wine and a silent auction: 5:30pm – 7pm cocktail reception; 7pm-9pm dinner and program; 9pm ’til 10:30pm music by DJ Bryce and remarks by this year’s “Ocean Champion” honoree, Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Louie Psihoyos. Individual tickets are $ 250 and can be purchased online.
“It would be hard to find a greater example of personal heroism matched with a love of the ocean than the story of Kim Chambers,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the International Ocean Film Festival. “As told on the screen by Kate Webber and David Orr alongside Oscar-and-Emmy-winner Brad Herschberger, it is the perfect film to open our 15th anniversary season.”
Kim Swims is a documentary about the inspiring story of Chambers, once facing a radical amputation following a freak accident, and her attempt to become the first woman to complete a solo swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge – a 30-mile stretch of water known for frigid temperatures, swirling currents and the world’s largest Great White sharks. Many consider it to be the hardest marathon swim in the world, and rightfully so, as only four other men have completed the swim. Through the physically and emotionally challenging lead-up to the swim, the swim itself, and the candid interviews with her and others, we present a look into what propels Kim to conquer her fear, pursue her passion and achieve her greatest potential, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 50 films from 15 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the 11th Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.
The full slate of films for the 15th Anniversary International Ocean Film Festival will be announced January 19.
The 15th Annual International Ocean Film Festival will take place March 8 to 11, 2018 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture.
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International Ocean Film Festival Opens on International Women’s Day with KIM SWIMS
Question: what would you do if your doctor told you your leg would be amputated in half an hour? For Kim Chambers the answer was this: swim 30 miles through shark infested waters. With exquisite timing, on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2018 – the San Francisco based International Ocean Film Festival opens its 15th anniversary year with Kim Swims – the stirring documentary based on Chamber’s epic journey.
A special preview of the film will be shown on Saturday, February 10 during the Festival’s “Off the Reef” gala fundraiser at The Pearl (601 9th Street, San Francisco). The evening will feature food, fine wine and a silent auction: 5:30pm – 7pm cocktail reception; 7pm-9pm dinner and program; 9pm ’til 10:30pm music by DJ Bryce and remarks by this year’s “Ocean Champion” honoree, Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Louie Psihoyos. Individual tickets are $ 250 and can be purchased online.
“It would be hard to find a greater example of personal heroism matched with a love of the ocean than the story of Kim Chambers,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the International Ocean Film Festival. “As told on the screen by Kate Webber and David Orr alongside Oscar-and-Emmy-winner Brad Herschberger, it is the perfect film to open our 15th anniversary season.”
Kim Swims is a documentary about the inspiring story of Chambers, once facing a radical amputation following a freak accident, and her attempt to become the first woman to complete a solo swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge – a 30-mile stretch of water known for frigid temperatures, swirling currents and the world’s largest Great White sharks. Many consider it to be the hardest marathon swim in the world, and rightfully so, as only four other men have completed the swim. Through the physically and emotionally challenging lead-up to the swim, the swim itself, and the candid interviews with her and others, we present a look into what propels Kim to conquer her fear, pursue her passion and achieve her greatest potential, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 50 films from 15 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the 11th Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.
The full slate of films for the 15th Anniversary International Ocean Film Festival will be announced January 19.
The 15th Annual International Ocean Film Festival will take place March 8 to 11, 2018 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture.
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VIDEO: Watch New Trailer for David Moscow’s Horror/Thriller DESOLATION
You should never fall in love with a movie star. Check out the new trailer for David Moscow’s horror/thriller Desolation, starring Dominik García-Lorido. Desolation opens theatrically in New York City and Los Angeles on January 26th, 2018.
Small town Katie (Dominik García-Lorido, City Island) meets heartthrob actor Jay (Brock Kelly, Pitch Perfect). Jay charms Katie, brings her to L.A. where she falls hard for him. When Jay gets a movie and has to leave town, Katie awaits his return. That’s when everything begins to unravel. Katie is robbed, her keys and wallet taken. When she reports it, the police question and then attack her. Terrified, with no money, and stuck in L.A., she keeps calling her friends at home, but just gets a ‘wrong number.’ Frantically, she asks Jay to wire her money and come back, but neither he nor the money show. When Katie’s home town newspaper is delivered to her door in L.A., it includes her obituary. And she realizes there is some greater evil at play.
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The Holocaust Documentary THE NUMBER ON GREAT-GRANDPA’S ARM to Debut on HBO
When 10-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.
Directed and produced by Emmy® winner Amy Schatz, the short film The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm weaves in haunting historical footage and hand-painted animation to tell a heartbreaking story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before and during the Holocaust. The film, presented by HBO with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, debuts Saturday, January 27, 2018 (6:00-6:20 pm ET/PT), International Holocaust Remembrance Day, exclusively on HBO.
The film will also be available on HBO On Demand, HBO NOW, HBO GO and affiliate portals.
This gently powerful family documentary centers on Elliott’s love for his beloved great-grandfather and his wish to keep alive Jack’s memories and lessons from that terrible time. “His story has changed a lot of people,” 10-year-old Elliott says. “You need to know it to understand and stop it from happening in future generations.”
Jack’s story is brought to life through documentary and archival footage and stills, as well as the dynamic rotoscope animation of acclaimed artist Jeff Scher.
The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm will be included in a signature initiative that is part of the robust education program offered by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. This effort is designed to use the film, a companion special installation, and curriculum to connect stories of the Holocaust across generations.
Director-producer Amy Schatz’s notable HBO projects include the recent “Saving My Tomorrow” series, “An Apology to Elephants,” the “Classical Baby” series, “A Child’s Garden of Poetry,” “‘Twas the Night,” “Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales” and “Through a Child’s Eyes: September 11, 2001.” Schatz’s work has won five DGA Awards, seven Emmy® Awards, and three Peabody Awards.
Animator Jeff Scher’s work is found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archives, Hirshhorn Museum and the Pompidou Centre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VntlYm0u7B0
The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm was directed and produced by Amy Schatz; executive producer, Sheila Nevins; producer, Lynn Sadofsky; edited by Tom Patterson; animation by Jeff Scher; director of photography, Alex Rappoport; music composed by Keith Kenniff; production executive, Susan Benaroya; supervising producer, Lisa Heller.
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Berlin Film Fest Selects First 6 Films in 2018 Perspektive Deutsches Kino
The Berlin International Film Festival has selected the first six films in the 2018 Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. The program will open with the new feature film by Philipp Eichholtz Rückenwind von vorn (Away You Go) (production: Von Oma gefördert). Staying true to himself, director Eichholtz lovingly and energetically tells the story of self-discovery against the wind. Headwind is uncomfortable and slows down forward motion unless you dress warmly, overcome the obstacles and occasionally change direction or take a detour. The young Berlin schoolteacher Charlie (Victoria Schulz) no longer wants to continue as usual on her chosen path and asks herself what she really wants and needs.
“When confronted with powerful winds from ahead, one must push harder to achieve one’s goals. That’s the challenge we accept, and one that transforms the headwind into a mobilizing tailwind from ahead,” comments section head Linda Söffker on her selection.
In Feierabendbier (After-work Beer), the directorial debut by Ben Brummer, and a production of the new Munich production company GAZE Film, barkeeper Magnus (Tilman Strauß) experiences an identity crisis when his precious classic car is stolen. Sporting a cool’n’casual attitude at all times, Magnus and especially his friend Dimi (Johann Jürgens) perfectly personify the hipster cliché: self-realisation through visible symbols of understatement. With the help of props, dress and music, director Brummer sketches a setting that creates a highly entertaining larger-than-life, comic-esque world for adults.
Three mid-length fiction works delve into love and farewells, each approaching the themes with a different aesthetic: Kineski zid (Great Wall of China) by dffb student Aleksandra Odić is a poetic narrative on the Bosnian mentality and spirited warmth of a family as experienced through the eyes of eight-year-old Maja. They all meet one summer day and Maja is the only family member who understands that her favourite aunt Ljilja is secretly emigrating to Germany later that day.
In Storkow Kalifornia by directing student Kolja Malik (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg), 30-year-old outlaw Sunny (Daniel Roth) of Storkow is torn between his mother and his new love (Lana Cooper), and between staying and going. A film like a road trip: Goodbye Storkow, hello Berlin!
Rå by Filmuniversität Babelsberg student Sophia Bösch is the story of an initiation. 16-year-old Linn (Sofia Aspholm) wants to be accepted into her father’s hunting group at all costs and realises, little by little, that she will never truly belong. A film on growing up and discovering how difficult it is for a woman to find her place in a community of men with antiquated hierarchies.
The documentary film draußen (outside), produced by Titus Kreyenberg (unafilm) and directed by Johanna Sunder-Plassmann and Tama Tobias-Macht, paints a portrait of the homeless individuals Matze, Elvis, Filzlaus and Sergio with the help of personal objects laden with memories and emotions that act as witnesses to their lives. The film takes the viewer out onto the streets and opens our minds to ideas on alternative lifestyles.
The complete Perspektive Deutsches Kino program will be available in January 2018.
draußen (outside)
By Johanna Sunder-Plassmann, Tama Tobias-Macht
Documentary
World premiere
Feierabendbier (After-work Beer)
By Ben Brummer
With Tilman Strauß, Julia Dietze, Johann Jürgens, Christian Tramitz
Feature film
World premiere
Kineski zid (Great Wall of China)
By Aleksandra Odić
With Elena Matić, Tina Keserović, Faketa Salihbegović-Avdagić, Anja Stanić, Mugdim Avdagić
Medium-long feature film
German premiere
Rå
By Sophia Bösch
With Sofia Aspholm, Lennart Jähkel, Lars T. Johansson, Ingmar Virta, Ivan Mathias Petersson
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Rückenwind von vorn (Away You Go)
By Philipp Eichholtz
With Victoria Schulz, Aleksandar Radenković, Daniel Zillmann, Angelika Waller
Feature film
World premiere
Storkow Kalifornia
By Kolja Malik
With Daniel Roth, Lana Cooper, Franziska Ponitz
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Image: Victoria Schulz, Daniel Zillmann. Rückenwind von vorn (Away You Go). Regie/director: Philipp Eichholtz
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2018 Berlin International Film Festival Unveils Official Posters
When the 68th Berlin International Film Festival takes place from February 15 to 25, 2018, Berlin will once again belong to the bears.
The festival today unveiled the 2018 poster series, featuring six different scenes, again designed by the Swiss agency Velvet. The posters will go up city-wide and be available for purchase at the Berlinale Online Shop starting on January 22.
“It’s that time of year again: The bears are out and about! On this year’s posters they’ll be popping up at well-known Berlin landmarks to get us in the mood for terrific festival days,” comments Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.
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Documentary DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS to Debut on HBO on January 8
In the last years of his life, David Bowie ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical. Exploring this unexpected end to a remarkable career, the illuminating documentary DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS, debuts Monday, January. 8, 2018, (8:00-9:35 p.m. ET/PT), on what would have been his 71st birthday, exclusively on HBO.
On the 2003-2004 “Reality” tour, David Bowie had a frightening brush with mortality, suffering a heart attack during what was to be his final full concert. He then disappeared from public view, only re-emerging in the last five years of his life to make some of the most important music of his career. Made with remarkable access, Francis Whately’s documentary is a revelatory follow-up to his acclaimed 2013 documentary “David Bowie: Five Years,” which chronicled Bowie’s golden ’70s and early-’80s period.
While illuminating iconic moments of his extraordinary and prolific career, DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS focuses on three major projects: the albums “The Next Day” and the jazz-infused “Blackstar” (released on Bowie’s 69th birthday, two days before his death in 2016), and the musical “Lazarus,” which was inspired by the character he played in the 1976 film “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”
Dispelling the simplistic view that his career was simply predicated on change, the film includes revealing interviews with many of Bowie’s closest creative collaborators, including: Tony Visconti, Bowie’s longtime producer; musicians who contributed to “The Next Day” and “Blackstar”; Jonathan Barnbrook, the graphic designer of both albums; Robert Fox, producer of “Lazarus,” along with cast members from the show, providing a unique behind-the-scenes look at Bowie’s creative process; and Johan Renck, director of Bowie’s final music video, “Lazarus,” which was widely discussed as foreshadowing his death.
The documentary also features excerpts from many of Bowie’s biggest hits, including “Fame,” “Rebel Rebel,” “‘Heroes'” and “Space Oddity,” as well as songs from his last two albums, juxtaposing footage from the music videos “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” “Blackstar” and “Lazarus” with studio performances by the musicians on the albums.
On Feb. 12, 2017, David Bowie posthumously swept the 2017 Grammy Awards with five wins for “Blackstar,” including: Best Rock Performance, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Recording Package, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and Best Rock Song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwuuDpwPYxo
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TROPHY, Documentary on Big-game Hunting and Wildlife Conservation, to Debut on CNN
TROPHY, the critically-acclaimed film exploring big-game hunting and wildlife conservation, will premiere on CNN on Sunday, January 14, 2018, at 9:00pm Eastern & Pacific, with limited commercial interruption. The film is directed by award-winning photojournalist, cinematographer, and filmmaker Shaul Schwarz and co-directed by award-winning photojournalist, cinematographer, and filmmaker Christina Clusiau.
“TROPHY explores the complex stakes surrounding sport hunting and wildlife conservation,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, “and then lets viewers make up their own minds about the value of these majestic creatures.”
From the film’s opening images of an American father and child hunting together in Texas, the filmmakers immediately frame the multidimensional nature of the controversy at the heart of the film. Character stories featuring hunters, anti-poaching security officials, reserve owners, animal welfare organizations, government officials, and hunting clubs establish why the intersecting issues are rippled with emotion and, in respect to those species which are endangered, the issues are also urgent.
“We wanted to explore the idea of what it means when we place economic value on wildlife. Could it be a tool to help conserve wildlife populations or does it hinder conservation efforts?” asked the filmmakers.
TROPHY takes viewers on an international visual safari, visiting the countries that are home to the ‘big five,’ the African wildlife most-prized by big-game hunters: lion, buffalo, rhino, leopard, and elephant. Pausing at the conference for Safari Club International (SCI) held annually in Las Vegas, the film lingers at exhibits for hunting outfitters, guns, taxidermy services, conservation seminars, and safari licenses. SCI, which attracts 20,000 visitors from around the world each year, hosts this broad array of interests and businesses, all at the same convention.
Hunting clubs and organizations like SCI argue that the trophy permit fees secured by hunters engaged in legal activity make important contributions to African economies and also fund conservation efforts. But even legal hunting can have unintended consequences. While countries like South Africa sell big-game hunting licenses which partially-fund its conservation activities, hunting instructor Tim Fallon says, “man has kind of screwed this up. We have encroached on so much natural land, that the species, all the species, have to be managed…”
Since just 1970, the film says the world has lost more than 60% of all wild animals, and some species seem to have fared even worse. Populations of elephants have plummeted from 10,000,000 animals in 1900 to 1,300,000 in 1979, to only 350,000 elephants in 2015. In 2008, the year prior to South Africa’s moratorium on the sale of rhino horn, 83 rhinos were poached. In the year after the ban, 333 rhinos were poached, and in 2014, more than 1200 rhinos were illegally killed.
Extraordinary aerial footage of vast African vistas shown in the film is interwoven with close images of swaths of cultivated lands. The film demonstrates that while hunting and habitat encroachment have an impact on wildlife reduction, it’s poaching, often connected to both corruption and terrorism, that’s having the most dramatic and deleterious impacts.
John Hume, owner of the world’s largest rhino breeding reserve, sees harvesting the horns from farm-raised rhinos as integral to saving his beloved animals. Rhino horn is “more expensive than gold or heroin by weight” Hume says. But, Hume asserts, animals do not go extinct while farmers can make money from breeding them. Hume’s procedure for harvesting rhino horn keeps the animals alive and re-growing more keratin horn. Hume feels that if he can demonstrate that raising rhinos and safely harvesting their horns offers an income, others may also similarly cultivate the animals, and thereby rescue them from being endangered. Ecologist Craig Packer believes Hume’s farm is a potential model success story for saving the rhino.
The film explores most of the challenges of balancing conservation, sport, human population growth, and the commerce associated with big-game hunting. Central to TROPHY, are the open questions of the appropriate economic value of wildlife. The film leaves the unanswered questions for viewers to ponder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPPlH_yKgr4
Image: Buffalo Dream Ranch, North West Province, South Africa – November 2016: John Hume, the worlds largest rhino breeder walks among his Rhinos. Mr. Hume had invested more than 50 Million US dollars into his rhino project. He currently is the custodian of over 1500 Rhinos, and fears that without legalization in the trade of Rhino Horn his project will come to an end.
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CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS Lead 7th AACTA International Awards Nominations
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LADY BIRD[/caption]
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI lead the way with five nominations each for the 7th AACTA International Awards from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts .
Best Film nominations follow American Film Institute Movie of the Year acknowledgements for all five nominees: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, DUNKIRK, LADY BIRD, THE SHAPE OF WATER and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI.
Winners of the 7th AACTA International Awards will be announced in Los Angeles on Friday January 5, 2018.
7th AACTA International Awards NOMINEES
AACTA International Award for Best Film
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME DUNKIRK LADY BIRD THE SHAPE OF WATER THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURIAACTA International Award for Best Direction
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – Luca Guadagnino DUNKIRK – Christopher Nolan I, TONYA – Craig Gillespie LADY BIRD – Greta Gerwig THE SHAPE OF WATER – Guillermo del ToroAACTA International Award for Best Screenplay
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – James Ivory DUNKIRK – Christopher Nolan GET OUT – Jordan Peele LADY BIRD – Greta Gerwig THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Martin McDonaghAACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress
Judi Dench – VICTORIA & ABDUL Sally Hawkins – THE SHAPE OF WATER Frances McDormand – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Margot Robbie – I, TONYA Saoirse Ronan – LADY BIRDAACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor
Timothée Chalamet – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Daniel Day-Lewis – PHANTOM THREAD Hugh Jackman – LOGAN Daniel Kaluuya – GET OUT Gary Oldman – DARKEST HOURAACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
Mary J. Blige – MUDBOUND Abbie Cornish – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Allison Janney – I, TONYA Nicole Kidman – THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Laurie Metcalf – LADY BIRDAACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe – THE FLORIDA PROJECT Armie Hammer – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Tom Hardy – DUNKIRK Ben Mendelsohn – DARKEST HOUR Sam Rockwell – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
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VIDEO: Watch New HOSTILES Trailer Starring Christian Bale
Here is the new trailer for Hostiles directed by Scott Cooper and starring Christian Bale. Hostiles opens on December 22nd in New York & Los Angeles, expands into top 10 US markets and the U.K. on January 5th. The film opens nationwide on January 19th.
Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary Army Captain (Christian Bale), who after stern resistance, reluctantly agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief (Wes Studi) and his family back to tribal lands. Making the harrowing and perilous journey from Fort Berringer, an isolated Army outpost in New Mexico, to the grasslands of Montana, the former rivals encounter a young widow (Rosamund Pike), whose family was murdered on the plains. Together, they must join forces to overcome the punishing landscape, hostile Comanche and vicious outliers that they encounter along the way.
It features a cast that also includes Q’Orianka Kilcher, Adam Beach, Timothée Chalamet, Ben Foster, Tanaya Beatty, Jonathan Majors, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Ryan Bingham, David Midthunder and John Benjamin Hickey.
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THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Leads 38th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards Nominations
[caption id="attachment_23572" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri[/caption]
Martin McDonagh’s drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri lead the nominations for the 38th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards with seven nominations, including Film, Director, Screenwriter, Actress for Frances McDormand, and Supporting Actor for both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. In addition, as a British production the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year.
Following close behind with six nominations each are William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Four films earned five nominations each: Luca Guagadino’s Call Me By Your Name, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Paul King’s Paddington 2, and Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country.
The 10 films contending for Film of the Year are Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk, The Florida Project, Get Out, God’s Own Country, Lady Bird, Loveless, Phantom Thread, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Sunday, January 28th at The May Fair Hotel, at which Kate Winslet will receive the critics’ highest honor, The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.
Full List of Nominations:
FILM OF THE YEAR
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
The Florida Project
Get Out
God’s Own Country
Lady Bird
Loveless
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Aquarius
Elle
The Handmaiden
Loveless
Raw
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
78/52
Human Flow
I Am Not Your Negro
Jane
The Work
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: The Attenborough Award
Dunkirk
God’s Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Paddington 2
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Sean Baker – The Florida Project
Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water
Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name
Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread
Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
James Ivory – Call Me By Your Name
Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Jordan Peele – Get Out
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Annette Bening – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Florence Pugh – Lady Macbeth
ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Timothée Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
James Franco – The Disaster Artist
Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Lily Gladstone – Certain Women
Holly Hunter – The Big Sick
Allison Janney – I, Tonya
Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project
Hugh Grant – Paddington 2
Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Michael Stuhlbarg – Call Me By Your Name
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Emily Beecham – Daphne
Judi Dench – Victoria & Abdul/Murder on the Orient Express
Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water/Maudie/Paddington 2
Florence Pugh – Lady Macbeth
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird/Loving Vincent
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
Colin Farrell – The Killing of a Sacred Deer/The Beguiled
Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out
Josh O’Connor – God’s Own Country
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour/The Space Between Us
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Harris Dickinson – Beach Rats
Tom Holland – The Lost City of Z/Spider-Man: Homecoming
Noah Jupe – Suburbicon/Wonder/The Man With the Iron Heart
Dafne Keen – Logan
Fionn Whitehead – Dunkirk
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: The Philip French Award
Alice Birch – Lady Macbeth
Simon Farnaby – Paddington 2/Mindhorn
Francis Lee – God’s Own Country
Rungano Nyoni – I Am Not a Witch
William Oldroyd – Lady Macbeth
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
The Cloud of Unknowing – Mike Hannon
The Dog and the Elephant – Mike Sharpe
Tuesday – Charlotte Wells
We Love Moses – Dionne Edwards
Your Mother and I – Anna Maguire
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Baby Driver – Darrin Prescott, stunts
Blade Runner 2049 – Dennis Gassner, production design
Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer, music
God’s Own Country – Joshua James Richards, cinematography
Lady Macbeth – Holly Waddington, costumes
The Lost City of Z – Darius Khondji, cinematography
The Love Witch – Emma Willis, hair & makeup
Paddington 2 – Pablo Grillo, visual effects
Phantom Thread – Mark Bridges, costumes
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Ben Morris, visual effects
EXCELLENCE IN FILM: The Dilys Powell Award
Kate Winslet
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Horror Themed Unnamed Footage Festival to Debut at Balboa Theater in San Francisco in March 2018
The Unnamed Footage Festival, a weekend of found footage horror, first person cinema, and faux documentary, is coming to the historic Balboa Theater in San Francisco March 24th to 25th, 2018. A collaboration between Philadelphia’s Unnamed Film Festival and the Bay Area-based organization, The Overlook Theatre, The Unnamed Footage Festival will include in-competition new selections from around the world and a series of revival screenings. The two-day event will feature in-person talks and Q&As with filmmakers who contribute to this niche subgenre, as well limited edition art and collectibles for badge holders.
The Balboa Theater resides in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond District and has been an operating movie house since 1926, splitting its single screen in two in the late 70’s. Rumors of paranormal activity at the classic cinema, which is built over a former cemetery, have been circulated by staff and patrons for years, making it the perfect location for UFF.
The slate of films will consist of narratives shot in the first person, and show the exciting diversity within the medium that has gone uncelebrated until now. While THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY defined the genre, many others went under the radar. UFF will offer audiences the chance to revisit older titles and discover new ones, while exploring comedy, science fiction, and drama, with an emphasis on the genre most often linked to found footage — horror movies.
“There’s nothing scarier than watching a found footage horror film in a creepy old theater ” says an Unnamed Representative, speaking through a phone with a voice modulator. “But the idea behind UFF isn’t just to scare the audience, we want to dissect the way these are made. We want to talk about how the forced perspective is used to manipulate the viewer, and the creativity in the use of different cameras.”
UFF is currently looking for films made by anyone, anytime — there are no limits regarding completion date or release status. Due to the nature of this genre, sometimes films take years to complete and slip through the cracks, and UFF’s goal is to hunt down and revive these movies and give new films the chance to screen theatrically.
Submissions are being accepted through February 15th, with a flat submission rate of $5 per short and $10 per feature. “Just go out and shoot something,” says the garbled voice of the Unnamed Representative. “A big part of this is to encourage filmmakers to play in this underappreciated storytelling format. There is so much room for exploration, and we want to see what strange and exciting things artists can do with it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B3nuQaJEHg
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HEARTS BEAT LOUD is Closing Night Film + New Films and More Added to 2018 Sundance Film Festival
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Hearts Beat Loud[/caption]
Eight feature films, a VR experience, the NEXT Innovator’s Award juror and hosted retrospectives were added today to the lineup for 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
RuPaul will convene a retrospective of VH1’s Emmy-winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on the heels of its 10th season, and host a panel with executive producers and Sundance Film Festival veterans Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, along with Tom Campbell and Pamela Post, senior vice president of Original Programming for MTV, VH1 and Logo. RuPaul will also serve as the Festival’s inaugural and sole NEXT Innovator Award juror, and will present the NEXT Innovator Award to his favorite film in that category, which showcases pure, bold works distinguished by innovative, forward-thinking approaches to storytelling.
Other additions to the program include features Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock, Hereditary, Lords of Chaos, The Long Dumb Road, Private Life, You Were Never Really Here and Sweet Country and New Frontier work Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in Virtual Reality). Hearts Beat Loud, a feature announced earlier in the Premieres section, is now confirmed as a Closing Night Film.
These latest additions are joined by archive film Smoke Signals, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998, and a selection of early work by filmmaker Todd Haynes, whose feature film directorial debut Poison won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. The archive films are selections from the Sundance Institute Collection at UCLA, a partnership between UCLA Film & Television Archive and Sundance Institute.
The latest additions to the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Program are:
FROM THE COLLECTION
An Evening with Todd Haynes / In the thirty years since he burst onto the indie scene, Todd Haynes has established himself as one of most distinctive voices in American cinema. A special conversation with Haynes and longtime collaborator, producer Christine Vachon, explores Haynes’ early work, including clips from notable, recently restored gems. Smoke Signals / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Eyre, Screenwriter: Sherman Alexie, Producers: Larry Estes, Scott Rosenfelt) — When Victor’s estranged father Arnold dies in Arizona, he must leave his home on an Idaho reservation to retrieve Arnold’s ashes. Victor’s friend Thomas offers to fund the trip, but only if he can accompany Victor. Together they undertake a journey filled with discovery about their personal and cultural identities. Cast: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal.DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock / U.S.A. (Director: Cody Lucich, Producers: Heather Rae, Gingger Shankar, Ben-Alex Dupris) — Standing Rock, 2016: the largest Native American occupation since Wounded Knee. Thousands of activists, environmentalists and militarized police descend on the Dakota Access Pipeline in a standoff between oil corporations and a new generation of Native Warriors. This chronicle captures the sweeping struggle, spirit and havoc of a People’s uprising. World Premiere. THE NEW CLIMATEMIDNIGHT
Hereditary / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ari Aster, Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick) — After their reclusive grandmother passes away, the Graham family tries to escape the dark fate they’ve inherited. Cast: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd, Milly Shapiro. World Premiere Lords of Chaos / U.S.A. (Director: Jonas Åkerlund, Screenwriters: Jonas Åkerlund, Dennis Magnusson, Producers: Kwesi Dickson, Danny Gabai, Jim Czarnecki, Erik Gordon, Jack Arbuthnott, Ko Mori) — Based on truth (and lies), Lords of Chaos is a dark drama about a precocious teenager, Euronymous, who wants to spread evil, chaos, and true Norwegian black metal. When Euronymous invites a mysterious loner, Varg, to join his “Black Circle,” a rivalry sparks, leading to unexpected consequences. Cast: Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Sky Ferreira, Jack Kilmer, Valter Skarsgård. World PremiereNEW FRONTIER
Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in Virtual Reality) / (Lead Artists: A collaboration between Felix Lajeunesse & Paul Raphael and the Isle of Dogs production team) — This virtual reality experience places the viewer inside the miniature world of Wes Anderson’s upcoming stop-motion animated film, face to face with the cast of dogs as they are interviewed on set, while the crew of the film works around you to create the animation you are seeing. Cast: A selection of actors from the cast of Isle of Dogs.PREMIERES
The Long Dumb Road / U.S.A. (Director: Hannah Fidell, Screenwriters: Hannah Fidell, Carson Mell, Producers: Hannah Fidell, Jacqueline “JJ” Ingram, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams) — Two very different men, at personal crossroads, meet serendipitously and take an unpredictable journey through the American Southwest. Cast: Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas, Taissa Farmiga, Grace Gummer, Ron Livingston, Casey Wilson, Ciara Bravo. World Premiere Private Life / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Tamara Jenkins, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Stefanie Azpiazu) — A couple in the throes of infertility try to maintain their marriage as they descend deeper into the weird world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption. When their doctor suggests third-party reproduction, they bristle. But when Sadie, a recent college dropout, re-enters their life, they reconsider. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Kayli Carter. World PremiereSPECIAL EVENTS
“RuPaul’s Drag Race:” A Retrospective of the Cultural Phenomenon / U.S.A. (Lead Artist: RuPaul Charles) — A retrospective of VH1’s Emmy-winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on the heels of its10th season, and a panel hosted by RuPaul with executive producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, along with Tom Campbell and Pamela Post, senior vice president of Original Programming for MTV, VH1 and Logo. Cast: RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews. World PremiereSPOTLIGHT
You Were Never Really Here / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynne Ramsay, Producers: Pascal Caucheteux, Rosa Attab, James Wilson, Rebecca O’Brien, Lynne Ramsay) — A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Alex Manette. North American Premiere Sweet Country / Australia (Director and screenwriter: Warwick Thornton, Producers: David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin) — In 1920s Australia, a middle-aged Aboriginal man’s comfortable life is upended by a newcomer’s arrival. Wanted for murder in the bloody aftermath of a violent shootout, he must flee into the dangerous outback with his wife. Cast: Bryan Brown, Sam Neill, Hamilton Morris, Ewen Leslie, Thomas M. Wright, Matt Day. Utah Premiere