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Pop Aye – Kirsten Tan[/caption]
A record 92 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants.
The 2017 submissions are:
Afghanistan, “A Letter to the President,” Roya Sadat, director;
Albania, “Daybreak,” Gentian Koçi, director;
Algeria, “Road to Istanbul,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Argentina, “Zama,” Lucrecia Martel, director;
Armenia, “Yeva,” Anahit Abad, director;
Australia, “The Space Between,” Ruth Borgobello, director;
Austria, “Happy End,” Michael Haneke, director;
Azerbaijan, “Pomegranate Orchard,” Ilgar Najaf, director;
Bangladesh, “The Cage,” Akram Khan, director;
Belgium, “Racer and the Jailbird,” Michaël R. Roskam, director;
Bolivia, “Dark Skull,” Kiro Russo, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Men Don’t Cry,” Alen Drljević, director;
Brazil, “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” Daniel Rezende, director;
Bulgaria, “Glory,” Petar Valchanov, Kristina Grozeva, directors;
Cambodia, “First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie, director;
Canada, “Hochelaga, Land of Souls,” François Girard, director;
Chile, “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio, director;
China, “Wolf Warrior 2,” Wu Jing, director;
Colombia, “Guilty Men,” Iván D. Gaona, director;
Costa Rica, “The Sound of Things,” Ariel Escalante, director;
Croatia, “Quit Staring at My Plate,” Hana Jušić, director;
Czech Republic, “Ice Mother,” Bohdan Sláma, director;
Denmark, “You Disappear,” Peter Schønau Fog, director;
Dominican Republic, “Woodpeckers,” Jose Maria Cabral, director;
Ecuador, “Alba,” Ana Cristina Barragán, director;
Egypt, “Sheikh Jackson,” Amr Salama, director;
Estonia, “November,” Rainer Sarnet, director;
Finland, “Tom of Finland,” Dome Karukoski, director;
France, “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Robin Campillo, director;
Georgia, “Scary Mother,” Ana Urushadze, director;
Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin, director;
Greece, “Amerika Square,” Yannis Sakaridis, director;
Haiti, “Ayiti Mon Amour,” Guetty Felin, director;
Honduras, “Morazán,” Hispano Durón, director;
Hong Kong, “Mad World,” Wong Chun, director;
Hungary, “On Body and Soul,” Ildikó Enyedi, director;
Iceland, “Under the Tree,” Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, director;
India, “Newton,” Amit V Masurkar, director;
Indonesia, “Turah,” Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo, director;
Iran, “Breath,” Narges Abyar, director;
Iraq, “Reseba – The Dark Wind,” Hussein Hassan, director;
Ireland, “Song of Granite,” Pat Collins, director;
Israel, “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz, director;
Italy, “A Ciambra,” Jonas Carpignano, director;
Japan, “Her Love Boils Bathwater,” Ryota Nakano, director;
Kazakhstan, “The Road to Mother,” Akhan Satayev, director;
Kenya, “Kati Kati,” Mbithi Masya, director;
Kosovo, “Unwanted,” Edon Rizvanolli, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Centaur,” Aktan Arym Kubat, director;
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, “Dearest Sister,” Mattie Do, director;
Latvia, “The Chronicles of Melanie,” Viestur Kairish, director;
Lebanon, “The Insult,” Ziad Doueiri, director;
Lithuania, “Frost,” Sharunas Bartas, director;
Luxembourg, “Barrage,” Laura Schroeder, director;
Mexico, “Tempestad,” Tatiana Huezo, director;
Mongolia, “The Children of Genghis,” Zolbayar Dorj, director;
Morocco, “Razzia,” Nabil Ayouch, director;
Mozambique, “The Train of Salt and Sugar,” Licinio Azevedo, director;
Nepal, “White Sun,” Deepak Rauniyar, director;
Netherlands, “Layla M.,” Mijke de Jong, director;
New Zealand, “One Thousand Ropes,” Tusi Tamasese, director;
Norway, “Thelma,” Joachim Trier, director;
Pakistan, “Saawan,” Farhan Alam, director;
Palestine, “Wajib,” Annemarie Jacir, director;
Panama, “Beyond Brotherhood,” Arianne Benedetti, director;
Paraguay, “Los Buscadores,” Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori, directors;
Peru, “Rosa Chumbe,” Jonatan Relayze, director;
Philippines, “Birdshot,” Mikhail Red, director;
Poland, “Spoor,” Agnieszka Holland, Kasia Adamik, directors;
Portugal, “Saint George,” Marco Martins, director;
Romania, “Fixeur,” Adrian Sitaru, director;
Russia, “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Senegal, “Félicité,” Alain Gomis, director;
Serbia, “Requiem for Mrs. J.,” Bojan Vuletic, director;
Singapore, “Pop Aye,” Kirsten Tan, director;
Slovakia, “The Line,” Peter Bebjak, director;
Slovenia, “The Miner,” Hanna A. W. Slak, director;
South Africa, “The Wound,” John Trengove, director;
South Korea, “A Taxi Driver,” Jang Hoon, director;
Spain, “Summer 1993,” Carla Simón, director;
Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund, director;
Switzerland, “The Divine Order,” Petra Volpe, director;
Syria, “Little Gandhi,” Sam Kadi, director;
Taiwan, “Small Talk,” Hui-Chen Huang, director;
Thailand, “By the Time It Gets Dark,” Anocha Suwichakornpong, director;
Tunisia, “The Last of Us,” Ala Eddine Slim, director;
Turkey, “Ayla: The Daughter of War,” Can Ulkay, director;
Ukraine, “Black Level,” Valentyn Vasyanovych, director;
United Kingdom, “My Pure Land,” Sarmad Masud, director;
Uruguay, “Another Story of the World,” Guillermo Casanova, director;
Venezuela, “El Inca,” Ignacio Castillo Cottin, director;
Vietnam, “Father and Son,” Luong Dinh Dung, director.
Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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Singer John Legend, along with his Get Lifted partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius, and actor Jesse Williams will executive-produce “With Drawn Arms”, artists Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi’s incredibly timely documentary about the importance and inspiration of Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith’s powerful salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
In this groundbreaking film, Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi use an ongoing artistic collaboration between Kaino and Smith to connect Smith’s silent but meaningful gesture in 1968 to the critical moments and most important voices of today, exploring the very nature of symbolic action and the critical importance of making images in our time.
“We are excited to collaborate with true artists in Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi to bring this powerful story to the world in a fresh and compelling way,” said John Legend. “In this current climate we are once again being charged to stand up to bigotry, fear, and hate. We are inspired by this story and honored to be a creative partner on this film.”
“Tommie Smith is more than an iconic poster or risky act of defiance that inspires people the world over. He is a living man, whose incredible journey is worthy of examination. I couldn’t be more excited to join forces with this team of filmmakers, to share his reality and challenge our notions of heroism in the process,” said Jesse Williams.
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Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi filming documentation of With Drawn Arms with Executive Producer Jesse Williams. Photo credit Deon Jones[/caption]
Williams, who gained international acclaim with his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award acceptance speech, is an activist, actor and producer whose work spans across television, film, and technology, consistently uplifting the voices of marginalized people.
“We could not be more excited that Get Lifted Film Co. and Jesse Williams will lend their impressive talents to ‘With Drawn Arms,’ a story that began 50 years ago and is as relevant now as it was then,” said Kaino and Shahidi. “We look forward to working with Jesse, John, Mike and Ty, and to benefit from their extensive creative talent as we craft this story.”
“With Drawn Arms” is currently in production in Los Angeles and is targeted for a 2018 release during the 50th anniversary of Tommie Smith’s salute.
With Drawn Arms is written by Glenn Kaino and directed by Kaino and Afshin Shahidi, who also serve as Executive Producers alongside Jesse Williams, Delois Smith, and John Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius of Get Lifted.
Williams recently executive produced the documentary film “Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement” (2016) and the docu-series “America Divided” with Norman Lear. Legend’s Get Lifted banner recently produced the hit TV show “Underground” (2016), Academy Award winning “La La Land” (2016), and HBO Documentary “Southern Rites” (2015).
Actor, director, writer and producer George Clooney will be the recipient of the 46th 
RETURN TO RAINY MOUNTAIN[/caption]
Return to Rainy Mountain is a documentary celebrating the life and legacy of author N. Scott Momaday and the rich cultural history of the Kiowa people. The film will have its premiere viewing during this year’s Santa Fe Independent Film Festival.
Producer/Director Jill Momaday takes viewers on a visual and poetic journey to places that inform the Kiowa ancestral myths and collective identity. Following the film will be a panel discussion including Dr. Momaday, recipient of the SFIFF Lifetime Achievement Award, Jill Momaday, plus mentors to the film, Chris Eyre, multi-award-winning writer and producer, known for Smoke Signals (1998), Skins (2002) and Edge of America (2003) and moderated by Kirk Ellis, Emmy award-winning writer and producer for the HBO mini-series, John Adams (2008).
Momaday’s legacy includes winning the only Pulitzer Prize for Literature awarded to a Native American writer, for his 1969 novel, House Made of Dawn. Also published in 1969, his bestselling The Way to Rainy Mountain (UNM Press) provided parts of the narrative for this film. Momaday earned a Masters and a PhD in English from Stanford University and has 20 honorary doctorates from esteemed universities. A 2005 award-winning PBS documentary Remembered Earth: New Mexico’s High Desert featured Momaday. He also narrated the 1978 documentary More Than Bows and Arrows, which aired on PBS and the Discovery Channel. Momaday was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2007 by President George W. Bush for his writings and his work that celebrates and preserves Native American art and oral tradition.” Among other notable honors are the Oklahoma Centennial State Poet Laureate in 2007, a Guggenheim Fellowship and UNESCO’s Artist for Peace Award.
Return to Rainy Mountain retraces the sacred journey of the Kiowa to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and Rainy Mountain in southwestern Oklahoma, landmarks that inform the Kiowa oral traditions passed along for generations. Director Jill Momaday was inspired in 2014 when her Kiowa Aunt passed away at the age of 95 and she recognized the urgency and importance of capturing the Kiowa oral tradition on film. She was a great-granddaughter of Sitting Bear, the keeper of stories and knowledge, a powerful and amazing woman. “I realized with her passing, that many stories would be lost. It made a profound impression of the importance of preserving them, as my father has done with his writing,” said Momaday.
As early as 1971, Dr. Momaday was recognized as a pioneer of environmental education, authoring “The American Land Ethic” which noted the tradition of respect for nature practiced by many of America’s native people. Jill Momaday steps into the role of a modern spokesperson for this tradition of respect for nature. The 2015 annual honoree for New Mexico Women in the Arts says, “In addition to sharing the Kiowa history and oral tradition, the film gave me time with my father and a chance to really know him. He was absent much of my life as he carved out his brilliant career and legacy. We’ve been fitting the pieces of a puzzle together to tell one big story which is also the bigger story of Humanity: Man’s relationship to nature, animals, the universe, Creator and each other.” The film follows one story arc of the Kiowa legends and another of the Momaday family reconciliation.
The visual/sound and editing team includes Director of Photography/Editor, Doug Crawford, an Emmy and Peabody Award winning Cinematographer (Surviving Columbus: The Story of the Pueblo People, PBS, 1992) also Director of Photography for The Native Americans (TBS, 1994); David Aubrey, nominated for the EDDIE awards, Best Edited Documentary (Baraka, 1993), and Blackhorse Lowe, cinematographer (Among Ravens, 2014).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrd7c2M7T2A
Director Francis Lee intense new drama 
Here is the funny trailer for The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards, a series of vignettes ranging from comical to bittersweet to poignant.
The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards stars James Franco (This is the End), Kate Mara (The Martian), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family), Abigail Spencer (Mad Men), Amber Tamblyn (Django Unchained), Thomas Mann (Kong: Skull Island) and Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters).
Based on short stories from Robert Boswell’s critically acclaimed book of the same name, The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards explores the difference between fantasy and reality, memory and history, and the joy and agony of the human condition, through seven tales.
The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards has a theatrical release date of October 27, 2017. Also releasing on Digital & On Demand on the same day.
Kelly Noonan Gores’ documentary 
A Thousand Junkies[/caption]
A Letter to the President directed by Roya Sadat, has been 
MOLLY’S GAME[/caption]
The 2017 SCAD