Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard[/caption]
Film and theater legend Sir Patrick Stewart, and actress Alfre Woodard will be honored with Career Achievement Awards at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival.
Sir Patrick Stewart will be honored with the Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award, and Alfre Woodard will be honored with a Career Achievement Award as part of the 21st edition of the Festival’s Black Perspectives Program. The “Tribute to Alfre Woodard” and “Tribute to Patrick Stewart” will feature an onstage discussion, showcasing clips highlighting their decades-spanning career.
The Black Perspectives Program was founded in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee to showcase excellence in African American filmmaking. Since the Festival began its annual Black Perspectives Tribute, Cinema/Chicago has consistently honored actors and filmmakers of the highest caliber, including Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry, Ruby Dee, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, and Steve McQueen, among others. By arranging select screenings and panel discussions, the Festival creates a unique environment in which audiences can gain valuable insights into the challenges and triumphs of African American filmmakers and actors.
This year’s Black Perspectives Program will present 13 compelling programs, including feature films, documentaries, short films, a film industry panel and a master class with Oscar-nominated director Sam Pollard. Among this year’s exciting lineup: the Sundance hit and award-season contender Mudbound; the French comedy Chateau; two documentaries about celebrated black artists, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Lorraine Hansberry; the world premiere of Kartemquin Films’ founder and Chicago filmmaker Gordon Quinn’s ‘63 Boycott, to be shown on the October 22nd anniversary of the famous Chicago public school march; and other highly anticipated and acclaimed films.
Other films and events included in the Festival’s 2017 Black Perspectives Program include:
Black Cop — Dir. Cory Bowles, Canada
It’s not easy being a black cop: Your community doesn’t trust you and your colleagues are wary of you. But for one officer, the tension between duty and moral obligation eventually pushes him over the edge, and he sets out, vigilante-style, to exact a twisted kind of vengeance on the white and privileged in his city. Timely and bitingly funny, Black Cop is an unapologetic, confrontational satire about racial tension today. 91 min.
Can’t Turn Back: Edith + Eddie and ‘63 Boycott
From Chicago-based Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams) comes two new powerful half-hour documentaries about interracial harmony, conflict, and societal injustice. In Laura Checkoway’s award-winning Edith and Eddie, America’s oldest interracial newlyweds, ages 96 and 95, find their happy union threatened by a family feud. ‘63 Boycott, by Gordon Quinn (Golub), chronicles the Chicago Public School Boycott of Oct. 22, 1963 when more than 200,000 Chicagoans, mostly students, marched to protest segregationist policies. 60 min. With 30-minute post-screening discussion.
Chateau (La Vie de Château) — Dirs. Modi Barry and Cédric Ido, France
In the Château d’Eau district, a bustling African neighborhood in the heart of Paris, the always natty, fast-talking Charles (Jacky Ido) works the streets trying to lure clients into local hair salons. At odds with other hustlers, Charles sees the rise in competition as a sign that he needs to leave, but can he realize his own entrepreneurial dreams? This smart, fast-paced comedy brings wit and heart to the immigrant tale of trying to stay ahead of the game and out of the way of the law. French with subtitles. 81 min.
Félicité — Dir. Alain Gomis, France/Belgium/Senegal
Single mother and chanteuse Félicité ekes out a living performing in a rough Kinshasa bar. Her fiercely guarded independence is threatened after her son is involved in a life-altering accident, and she must find a way to pay for his care. A love letter to persistence and the power of song, Félicité is buoyed by one woman’s irrepressible spirit in the face of overwhelming odds. Lingala, French with subtitles. 123 min.
For Ahkeem — Dirs. Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest, U.S.
Daje Shelton, a 17-year-old girl from St. Louis, just wants to do the right thing. But growing up in a tough neighborhood, she can’t catch a break: she’s struggling in school; she’s distracted by boys; and she’s surrounded by a culture of violence and brutality. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. provides a powerful backdrop for this masterfully crafted portrait of working-class urban life. 90 min.
Mudbound — Dir. Dee Rees, U.S.
This powerful epic set in the 1940s follows the entangled lives of two families—one white, one black—on a single farm in rural Mississippi. Based on the bestselling novel, the film focuses on the unlikely friendship forged between each of the family’s oldest sons—both WWII veterans—and its catastrophic consequences. Featuring committed performances from Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, and Jason Mitchell, Mudbound is a monumental and resonant tale about race in America. 134 min.
The Rape of Recy Taylor — Dir. Nancy Buirski. U.S.
From the director of the highly acclaimed The Loving Story comes another dramatic tale of racial conflict. In 1944, six young white men raped 24-year-old mother Recy Taylor in Alabama. Rather than stay silent, Taylor spoke up against her attackers. With the help of the NAACP and its chief investigator Rosa Parks, Taylor waged a battle for justice that is powerfully brought to life through archival footage, early “race films,” and heartbreaking personal interviews. 91 min.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me — Dir. Sam Pollard, U.S.
Singer, dancer, and actor; “Rat Pack” legend; civil rights activist; Jewish convert; and Nixon supporter—the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. defies expectations and easy categorization. Charting the performer’s surprising journey across the major flashpoints of contemporary American history, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard interviews such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Jerry Lewis, and Whoopi Goldberg and culls together an array of electric performances for this captivating exploration of the man, his talents and the struggle for identity. 100 min.
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart — Dir. Tracy Heather Strain, U.S.
The title of her posthumous autobiography To Be Young, Gifted and Black only partly sums up the trailblazing life of Southside Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Although best known for her landmark 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry forged an expansive path as an African-American female artist and activist—while also wrestling with self-doubt and questions about her sexual identity. 118 min.
The Work — Dirs. Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous, U.S.
Imposing men break down in tears; convicts embrace each other in emotional catharsis. Such is “the work” that takes place within the walls of Folsom State Prison’s Inside Circle, an intense four-day group therapy program where offenders interact with troubled individuals from the outside hoping to exorcise their own demons. This eye-opening, award-winning documentary chronicles the surprising moments of healing and camaraderie that can occur when confronting the darkest moments of one’s past. 87 min.
Shorts 7 – Another Country: Black Perspectives
A family grapples with the consequences of close-quarters racism in New Neighbors (U.S.). Fastest Man in the State (U.S.) examines the deep-seated racial divides embedded in the history of the University of Virginia. A bathroom attendant working the Night Shift (U.S.) in a Los Angeles nightclub attempts to get his life back on track. Waiting for Hassana (Nigeria) is a haunting recollection of a violent Boko Haram attack. A police Sketch (U.S) artist assumes he has solved a crime when he thinks he encounters a suspect from one of his renderings. Skull & Bone (U.S.) chronicles the costume-clad efforts of a New Orleans group to curb the threat of gun violence. Macho (U.S.) explores ideas of manhood and masculinity as a community reels from the recent murder of a transgender woman.
Industry Days Panel – The Moonlight Effect: The Expanding of Black Cinema – Or Not?
After black cinema triumphs Moonlight and Get Out, is the film industry expanding its definition of what African-American cinema is and can be? Join this provocative discussion about whether the industry is changing. Or are these films the exception and not the new rule?-
Chicago Film Festival will Honor Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard + Announces Black Perspectives Program
[caption id="attachment_24891" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard[/caption]
Film and theater legend Sir Patrick Stewart, and actress Alfre Woodard will be honored with Career Achievement Awards at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival.
Sir Patrick Stewart will be honored with the Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award, and Alfre Woodard will be honored with a Career Achievement Award as part of the 21st edition of the Festival’s Black Perspectives Program. The “Tribute to Alfre Woodard” and “Tribute to Patrick Stewart” will feature an onstage discussion, showcasing clips highlighting their decades-spanning career.
The Black Perspectives Program was founded in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee to showcase excellence in African American filmmaking. Since the Festival began its annual Black Perspectives Tribute, Cinema/Chicago has consistently honored actors and filmmakers of the highest caliber, including Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry, Ruby Dee, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, and Steve McQueen, among others. By arranging select screenings and panel discussions, the Festival creates a unique environment in which audiences can gain valuable insights into the challenges and triumphs of African American filmmakers and actors.
This year’s Black Perspectives Program will present 13 compelling programs, including feature films, documentaries, short films, a film industry panel and a master class with Oscar-nominated director Sam Pollard. Among this year’s exciting lineup: the Sundance hit and award-season contender Mudbound; the French comedy Chateau; two documentaries about celebrated black artists, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Lorraine Hansberry; the world premiere of Kartemquin Films’ founder and Chicago filmmaker Gordon Quinn’s ‘63 Boycott, to be shown on the October 22nd anniversary of the famous Chicago public school march; and other highly anticipated and acclaimed films.
Other films and events included in the Festival’s 2017 Black Perspectives Program include:
Black Cop — Dir. Cory Bowles, Canada
It’s not easy being a black cop: Your community doesn’t trust you and your colleagues are wary of you. But for one officer, the tension between duty and moral obligation eventually pushes him over the edge, and he sets out, vigilante-style, to exact a twisted kind of vengeance on the white and privileged in his city. Timely and bitingly funny, Black Cop is an unapologetic, confrontational satire about racial tension today. 91 min.
Can’t Turn Back: Edith + Eddie and ‘63 Boycott
From Chicago-based Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams) comes two new powerful half-hour documentaries about interracial harmony, conflict, and societal injustice. In Laura Checkoway’s award-winning Edith and Eddie, America’s oldest interracial newlyweds, ages 96 and 95, find their happy union threatened by a family feud. ‘63 Boycott, by Gordon Quinn (Golub), chronicles the Chicago Public School Boycott of Oct. 22, 1963 when more than 200,000 Chicagoans, mostly students, marched to protest segregationist policies. 60 min. With 30-minute post-screening discussion.
Chateau (La Vie de Château) — Dirs. Modi Barry and Cédric Ido, France
In the Château d’Eau district, a bustling African neighborhood in the heart of Paris, the always natty, fast-talking Charles (Jacky Ido) works the streets trying to lure clients into local hair salons. At odds with other hustlers, Charles sees the rise in competition as a sign that he needs to leave, but can he realize his own entrepreneurial dreams? This smart, fast-paced comedy brings wit and heart to the immigrant tale of trying to stay ahead of the game and out of the way of the law. French with subtitles. 81 min.
Félicité — Dir. Alain Gomis, France/Belgium/Senegal
Single mother and chanteuse Félicité ekes out a living performing in a rough Kinshasa bar. Her fiercely guarded independence is threatened after her son is involved in a life-altering accident, and she must find a way to pay for his care. A love letter to persistence and the power of song, Félicité is buoyed by one woman’s irrepressible spirit in the face of overwhelming odds. Lingala, French with subtitles. 123 min.
For Ahkeem — Dirs. Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest, U.S.
Daje Shelton, a 17-year-old girl from St. Louis, just wants to do the right thing. But growing up in a tough neighborhood, she can’t catch a break: she’s struggling in school; she’s distracted by boys; and she’s surrounded by a culture of violence and brutality. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. provides a powerful backdrop for this masterfully crafted portrait of working-class urban life. 90 min.
Mudbound — Dir. Dee Rees, U.S.
This powerful epic set in the 1940s follows the entangled lives of two families—one white, one black—on a single farm in rural Mississippi. Based on the bestselling novel, the film focuses on the unlikely friendship forged between each of the family’s oldest sons—both WWII veterans—and its catastrophic consequences. Featuring committed performances from Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, and Jason Mitchell, Mudbound is a monumental and resonant tale about race in America. 134 min.
The Rape of Recy Taylor — Dir. Nancy Buirski. U.S.
From the director of the highly acclaimed The Loving Story comes another dramatic tale of racial conflict. In 1944, six young white men raped 24-year-old mother Recy Taylor in Alabama. Rather than stay silent, Taylor spoke up against her attackers. With the help of the NAACP and its chief investigator Rosa Parks, Taylor waged a battle for justice that is powerfully brought to life through archival footage, early “race films,” and heartbreaking personal interviews. 91 min.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me — Dir. Sam Pollard, U.S.
Singer, dancer, and actor; “Rat Pack” legend; civil rights activist; Jewish convert; and Nixon supporter—the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. defies expectations and easy categorization. Charting the performer’s surprising journey across the major flashpoints of contemporary American history, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard interviews such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Jerry Lewis, and Whoopi Goldberg and culls together an array of electric performances for this captivating exploration of the man, his talents and the struggle for identity. 100 min.
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart — Dir. Tracy Heather Strain, U.S.
The title of her posthumous autobiography To Be Young, Gifted and Black only partly sums up the trailblazing life of Southside Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Although best known for her landmark 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry forged an expansive path as an African-American female artist and activist—while also wrestling with self-doubt and questions about her sexual identity. 118 min.
The Work — Dirs. Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous, U.S.
Imposing men break down in tears; convicts embrace each other in emotional catharsis. Such is “the work” that takes place within the walls of Folsom State Prison’s Inside Circle, an intense four-day group therapy program where offenders interact with troubled individuals from the outside hoping to exorcise their own demons. This eye-opening, award-winning documentary chronicles the surprising moments of healing and camaraderie that can occur when confronting the darkest moments of one’s past. 87 min.
Shorts 7 – Another Country: Black Perspectives
A family grapples with the consequences of close-quarters racism in New Neighbors (U.S.). Fastest Man in the State (U.S.) examines the deep-seated racial divides embedded in the history of the University of Virginia. A bathroom attendant working the Night Shift (U.S.) in a Los Angeles nightclub attempts to get his life back on track. Waiting for Hassana (Nigeria) is a haunting recollection of a violent Boko Haram attack. A police Sketch (U.S) artist assumes he has solved a crime when he thinks he encounters a suspect from one of his renderings. Skull & Bone (U.S.) chronicles the costume-clad efforts of a New Orleans group to curb the threat of gun violence. Macho (U.S.) explores ideas of manhood and masculinity as a community reels from the recent murder of a transgender woman.
Industry Days Panel – The Moonlight Effect: The Expanding of Black Cinema – Or Not?
After black cinema triumphs Moonlight and Get Out, is the film industry expanding its definition of what African-American cinema is and can be? Join this provocative discussion about whether the industry is changing. Or are these films the exception and not the new rule?
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THE WOUND is South Africa’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | Trailer
The Wound (“Inxeba”), directed by John Trengove, has been selected as South Africa’s submission in the foreign-language category at the 2018 Oscars.
The film explores tradition and masculinity, and the clash between age-old rituals and modernity. The Wound stars musician and novelist Nakhane Touré as Xolani, a lonely factory worker who joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini), a defiant initiate from the city, discovers his mentor’s secret, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel.
The Wound is the first feature from writer-director John Trengove, and is co-written by Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu. The Xhosa initiation ritual which forms the landscape of the film is also the subject of ‘Inxeba’ co-writer Mgqolozana’s novel, ‘A Man Who Is Not a Man’.
The Wound premiered at this year’s 2017 Sundance Film Festival and later opened Berlinale Panorama; and went on to win a string of awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSlj-G4P6I
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MANKILLER will Open and CHARGED: THE EDUARDO GARCIA STORY will Close 2017 Rome International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_24880" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Mankiller[/caption]
Two documentaries, Mankiller directed by Valerie Red-Horse Mohl, and Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story will bookend the 2017 Rome International Film Festival (RIFF) taking place November 9 to 12, 2017.
To kick-off the fest, RIFF will showcase feature length documentary MANKILLER as the Opening Night Presentation on Thursday, November 9, 2017 at Rome’s historic DeSoto Theatre. From Director/Producer Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (NATURALLY NATIVE) and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd (THE TERMINATOR, “The Walking Dead”), MANKILLER explores the legacy of the Cherokee Nation’s first woman Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller.
On Sunday, November 12, 2017 , RIFF will conclude its 2017 festivities with CHARGED: THE EDUARDO GARCIA STORY. Directed by Phillip Baribeau, CHARGED examines the life and recovery of chef Eduardo Garcia after he was shocked with 2400 volts of electricity while hiking in Montana. CHARGED had its World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and has since won several awards, including an Audience Award at the Sidewalk Film Festival.
MANKILLER
DIRECTED BY VALERIE RED-HORSE MOHL
USA, 2017, ENGLISH, 74 MINUTES
In 1985, after serving as Deputy Chief under a conservative leader, Wilma Mankiller took office as the Cherokee Nation’s first woman Principal Chief. Having relocated from Oklahoma to San Francisco earlier in her life, Mankiller worked with both the nascent Black Panther and the Alcatraz occupation movements, eventually bringing the passion and experience she gained there back to her people. During her decade-long tenure as Principal Chief and beyond, Mankiller’s leadership enabled the Cherokee Nation to become one of the most economically and culturally successful tribes in America. Through rare archival footage and intimate interviews with activists including Gloria Steinem, as well as with Wilma herself, MANKILLER gives us insight into how this remarkable woman successfully navigated through the minefield of bipartisan politics. Veteran filmmaker Valerie Red-Horse Mohl and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd present a portrait of a composed and assured leader who persevered through sexism and devastating personal setbacks to become one of the greatest leaders in American history.
CHARGED: THE EDUARDO GARCIA STORY
DIRECTED BY PHILLIP BARIBEAU
USA, 2017, ENGLISH, 86 MINUTES
A successful chef and adventurer, Eduardo Garcia’s life was forever changed after he was shocked with 2400 volts of electricity in a backcountry freak accident while hiking in Montana. Garcia lost his left hand, ribs, muscle mass and nearly his life, but more important than what he lost was what he found. Through the caregiving and patience of his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Jane, he was nursed back to health and learned to embrace his past, his family, and his future. A love story unlike any other, CHARGED is about both a physical recovery and a life newly and fully realized.
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GREGOIRE, LIVING PROOF, INDIAN HORSE Win Top Awards at 2017 Calgary International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_24871" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
INDIAN HORSE[/caption]
Gregoire, the first feature-length film from Alberta filmmaker Cody Bown won the Best Canadian Narrative Feature Prize at the 2017 Calgary International Film Festival. In the dark coming-of-age film, four young adults in Fort McMurray, Alberta, struggle to deal with the consequences of their actions and how it affects their friends and families.
The documentary Living Proof, in which Calgary filmmaker Matt Embry meets fellow sufferers of multiple sclerosis and investigates treatment options, was voted winner of the Audience Favorite, Alberta Feature.
2017 Calgary International Film Festival Award Winners
JURY AWARDS
BEST CANADIAN NARRATIVE FEATURE GREGOIRE directed by Cody Bown Jury Statement: For its authenticity of story and performance, uncompromising commitment to detail, carefully calibrated aesthetic and ultimately for its freshness of character and situation, the jury unanimously awards the award for Best Canadian Narrative Feature to Cody Bown for GREGOIRE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7qrxzWNCdM SPECIAL JURY MENTION: MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES directed by Daniel Leo Jury Statement: For its audacious visual style, innovative mise-en-scene and intuitive storytelling rhythm, the jury awards a Special Jury Mention to Daniel Leo for MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSESBEST OF SHORTS
Best Overall Short (Live Action or Animated): SKIN FOR SKIN directed by Carol Beecher and Kevin Kurytnik. SKIN FOR SKIN, the winner of the Best Overall Short Film (Live Action or Animated) Award, qualifies for Academy Award consideration, as part of our accredited status. Best Alberta Short: BREATHING THROUGH A STRAW directed by Leigh Rivenbark Best Documentary Short: AFTER LIFE directed by Prisca Bouchet and Nick MayowAUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Favorite, Alberta Feature – LIVING PROOF, directed by Matt Embry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kaa6ZoNpfs Audience Favorite, Narrative Feature – INDIAN HORSE, directed by Stephen Campanelli Audience Favorite, Documentary Feature – MIGHTY GROUND, directed by Delila Vallot Audience Favorite, Alberta Short – SKIN FOR SKIN, directed by Carol Beecher and Kevin Kurytnik Audience Favorite, Narrative Short (Live Action or Animated) – LA MADRE BUENA, directed by Sarah Clift Audience Favorite, Documentary Short – STATE OF (THE) ART, directed by Chris Dowsett
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KHACHA is Bangladesh’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film
Khacha directed by Akram Khan has been selected as Bangladesh’s entry to represent the country in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards.
Based on author Hasan Azizul Haque’s short story Khacha, the screenplay for the film was co-written by actor Azad Abul Kalam and the film’s director Akram Khan. The film also stars Mamunur Rashid, and Jaya Ahsan; and chronicles the plight of a Hindu family trying to migrate to India after the Indian Parition of 1947.
Khacha and Shonabondhu directed by the Jahangir Alam Sumon, were the only two films submitted to the Bangladesh Oscar selection committee this year.
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ONE THOUSAND ROPES is New Zealand’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Tusi Tamasese’s One Thousand Ropes is New Zealand’s submission for the best foreign language category of the 90th Academy Awards.
Written and directed by Tamasese and produced by Catherine Fitzgerald, One Thousand Ropes is the story of a Samoan family living in suburban New Zealand, re-connecting and putting to rest the ghosts that haunt them.
Starring Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Beulah Koale and Sima Urale, One Thousand Ropes is Tamasese’s follow up to his much-awarded feature debut, The Orator. The film had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival.
One Thousand Ropes is a powerful character drama of a father reconnecting with his youngest daughter and together putting to rest the ghosts that haunt them.
She arrives vulnerable: badly beaten and heavily pregnant. He struggles on one hand, with the inner temptation and the encouragement from the men in his life to take revenge in the way he knows best, and on the other, to build the new family and companionship so desperately missing from his life.
One Thousand Ropes is a deeply moving film about connections, redemption and new beginnings.
One Thousand Ropes will next be seen in October’s London Film Festival and Adelaide Film Festivals, with more festival outings to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWsfITbkkTc
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BIRDSHOT is Philippines’ Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
The Film Academy of the Philippines has officially selected Birdshot as the Philippine entry to the best foreign language film category of the 90th Oscar Awards.
The other films reviewed by the committee were Die Beautiful by Jun Lana; 1st SEM by Dexter Hernandez and Allan Ibanez; Ang Araw sa Likod Mo by Dominic Nuesa; Kita Kita by Sigfrid Bernardo; Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B by Prime Cruz; Patay na si Hesus by Victor Villanueva; Triptiko by Miguel Franco Micelena; and Sunday Beauty Queen by Baby Ruth Villarama.
Birdshot is directed by Mikhail Red and stars Mary Joy Apostol, Arnold Reyes, Ku Aquino and John Arcilla.
Birdshot is a coming-of-age thriller that tells the story of a young farm girl who wanders off into a Philippine forest reserve. Deep within the reservation she mistakenly shoots and kills a critically endangered and protected Philippine Eagle. As the local authorities begin a manhunt to track down the poacher of a national bird, their investigation leads them to an even more horrific discovery.
Maya, a naïve 14-year-old girl is tasked to watch over cornfields with her caretaker father Diego. Their isolated farmland is situated in the valley of the Sierra Madre in Isabela Northern Luzon. Often at conflict with her world-weary father, Maya dreams of an escape from her rural life. One day Diego entrusts Maya with his birdshot shotgun after teaching her how to hunt in the wilderness. Maya ventures on her own into the nearby protected forest, she later mistakenly shoots and kills an endangered Philippine Eagle in hopes to prove herself to her father. Upon discovering her crime, Diego decides to bury the shotgun and consume the carcass of the eagle to conceal the evidence. Later, authorities begin a manhunt to track down the eagle’s killer. Diego is ultimately apprehended as he surrenders himself to protect his daughter. Towards the end of the film Maya comes face to face with the consequences of her crime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Z6ShPLtbw
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Hamptons Film Festival will Honor Dick Cavett, Patrick Stewart + Announces Jury Members
[caption id="attachment_22981" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Annette Bening[/caption]
The Hamptons International Film Festival has revealed a brand new annual award, The Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award. The inaugural award will be given to Emmy Award winning television personality and former talk show host Dick Cavett by HIFF Co-Chairman Alec Baldwin at the opening night of the 25th Festival on Thursday, October 5th. The award will honor a person who throughout their career has continued to support the arts and has made a significant impact and contribution within the industry.
The 2017 festival will take place October 5 to 9, Columbus Day Weekend, with over 65 features and 50 shorts representing a total of 40 countries across the globe.
Dick Cavett is one of the most well respected television personalities and interviewers in the industry. He has been on television for over five decades and has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards, winning three awards. Cavett started his career as a writer on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson and hosted his own late night TV show, The Dick Cavett Show. Cavett has published four books: “Cavett,” “Eye on Cavett,” “Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets,” and “Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks.” He has also written for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
Four-time Academy Award-nominee, two-time Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award winner renowned actress Annette Bening will participate in one of the festival’s signature programs, “A Conversation With…” The event will take place on Sunday, October 8th at 7:30PM at East Hampton Middle School, moderated by HIFF Board Member and actor Bob Balaban. Bening also stars in one of the festival’s Spotlight films, Paul McGuigan’s FILMS STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL, opposite Jamie Bell, which will screen during the festival on Sunday, October 8th and Monday, October 9th at Guild Hall. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film on December 15th.
Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony-nominated actor Patrick Stewart will be the recipient of the Variety Creative Impact in ACTING Award at the Festival. Stewart will also participate in “A Conversation With…,” one of HIFF’s signature programs, on Saturday, October 7th at East Hampton Middle School at 1:00pm. Stewart will be presented with the award at the conversation by Steven Gaydos, Vice President and Executive Editor of Variety.
HIFF also announced the jury members for the 2017 festival. The Narrative Jury will include Eric Kohn, chief film critic and a deputy editor for Indiewire and chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle; actor Harris Yulin, who has starred in films including WANDERLAND (HIFF25), TRAINING DAY, SCARFACE, and television series Ozark and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; and producer Daniela Taplin Lundberg, who recently launched Stay Gold Features and has produced over 25 features, including PATTI CAKE$, BEASTS OF NO NATION, HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS and THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. The Documentary Jury will include Oscar-nominated and Emmy- winning producer Julie Goldman, founder of Motto Pictures, who has produced films including LIFE, ANIMATED and THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS, and executive produced WEINER and BEST OF ENEMIES; artist and ceramist Toni Ross, the founder of HIFF and the Founding Chair for five years; and director Roger Ross Williams, who is the first African American director to win an Oscar, and who directed films including LIFE, ANIMATED and MUSIC BY PRUDENCE.
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HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS is Canada’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Director François Girard’s Hochelaga, Land of Souls (Hochelaga, Terre des Âmes) will represent Canada in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards.
This is François Girard’s first time representing Canada in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the Academy Awards.
“This is a great honour that reflects on Hochelaga, Land of Souls and on all those who worked on the film, starting with my dear friend and producer Roger Frappier,” said director François Girard. “In the film, French is heard alongside Mohawk and Algonquin, the languages of the two great founding nations of our people.”
In the film, a tremendous downpour hits Montreal, and a spectacular sinkhole opens up in Percival-Molson Stadium in the middle of a football game. The stadium is evacuated, and a few hours later, it becomes a protected archaeological site. Centuries of history are revealed beneath the field. Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny begins investigating, and he will discover the multitude of generations who have occupied this land, each with buried secrets. Baptiste then sets out to find what he has spent his career searching for: the vestiges of the village of Hochelaga where his Iroquoian ancestors met French explorer Jacques Cartier in October 1535. Hochelaga, Land of Souls explores 750 years of history in one single spot where the souls of all centuries and all cultures come together.
The impressive cast includes Samian, Vincent Perez, Wahiakeron Gilbert, Raoul Trujillo, Sébastien Ricard, Siân Phillips, Linus Roache, Emmanuel Schwartz, David La Haye, Tanaya Beatty, Gilles Renaud and Naïade Aoun, to name just a few.
The film will be released theatrically in Canada in Fall 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BzSP0ztC9E
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WOODPECKERS, GUILTY MEN, GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN will be Featured in Australia’s Cine Latino Festival
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GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN (GABRIEL E A MONTANHA)[/caption]
Cine Latino, Australia’s largest festival of Latin American cinema returns for its second year with screenings in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide – as well as adding Hobart to its 2017 itinerary.
The festival’s 2016 partnership with Los Angeles based ‘Hola Mexico Film Festival’ continues this year, bringing a selection of the best contemporary Mexican films to Australia. This year’s line up will also include a new sidebar: Cine Argentina, focusing on the best new films from Argentina.
Cine Latino announced five films that will screen as part of its 2017 program.
Following its history-making screening at Sundance is the Dominican Republic’s WOODPECKERS (CARPINTEROS), directed by José María Cabral. Blending documentary and fiction, the film is set in corresponding male and female prisons where inhabitants use a special sign language called ‘woodpecking’ to forge connections.
Peruvian film CRAZY IN LOVE (LOCOS DE AMOR), from director Frank Pérez-Garland, embraces an energetic musical format to tell the stories of several couples living in the country’s capital, Lima. Equally charming and sincere, the film is performed to a brilliant soundtrack of Latin American hit songs from yesteryear.
Iván Gaona’s GUILTY MEN (PARIENTE), Colombia’s nail-biting entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, is the story of a trucker/DJ engaging in a dangerous game with Santander’s paramilitaries, as he attempts to reunite with a former flame.
Winner of two major prizes at Cannes 2017, and based on true events, Brazilian writer/director Fellipe Barbosa’s spectacular GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN (GABRIEL E A MONTANHA) is a moving and richly-layered road movie; a re-creation of a journey through Kilimanjaro, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, as through the eyes of the eponymous traveller.
Manane Rodriguez (The Lost Steps) directs BREADCRUMBS (MIGAS DE PAN), a film centered around the Uruguayan dictatorship of the 70s and 80s and its impact on a young woman after she is captured by the military. The film stars award-winning Argentine actor Cecilia Roth.
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Action Comedy KILLS ON WHEELS Sets Release Date | Trailer
In the action-comedy Kills on Wheels,, two teenaged boys living with disabilities find escape from their humdrum lives when they’re enlisted by an ex-con to be his accomplice … as wheelchair hitmen!
Thrust into a surreal world of gangsters and guns, the partnership soon blossoms into friendship as their mentor reveals a soft heart beneath his tough exterior and the boys help him come to terms with his own disability.
Kills on Wheels, written and directed by Attila Till (Panic), will open in theaters on Friday, October 20, 2017, at Village East Cinema in New York City. The film played at last year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was Hungary’s official submission to the 89th Academy Awards®.
Kills on Wheels features stellar cinematography, a mix of live action and comic book-style animation, and a wickedly dark sense of humor. It deftly blends genres, confronting issues of invisibility, prejudice, and loneliness as it boldly flouts all stereotypes and expectations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGMUgDyD-go
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Chicago Film Festival Reveals Centerpiece and Closing Night Films + Special Tribute for Michael Shannon
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Michael Shannon, The Shape of Water[/caption]
Lady Bird will screen as the Centerpiece Film; and The Shape of Water, winner of Golden Lion at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, will screen as the Closing Night Film of the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival, with a special tribute to star Michael Shannon.
”The Festival has a longstanding tradition of not only showcasing first features by emerging directors but also the filmmaking debuts of celebrated actors, from Alan Rickman and Faye Dunaway to Liv Ullman and, more recently, William H. Macy,” said Artistic Director Mimi Plauche.”We are excited to add Greta Gerwig to this list with her funny and bittersweet portrait of a girl learning to become a young woman as she negotiates life’s thornier issues of love, friendship and independence.”
“We’re also thrilled to present the most recent work of one of the Festival’s favorite auteurs Guillermo del Toro as our Closing Night film,” added Festival Founder and CEO Michael Kutza. “Mr. del Toro has been a long-time friend of the Festival. We paid Tribute to del Toro’s creative genius when we honored him at the 46th Festival. The Shape of Water is a stunning work that gorgeously combines a delicate love story with a Cold War spy thriller woven together by a magical thread.”
“The Festival finale will include a tribute to Michael Shannon, an actor who first started out in Chicago theater and has now achieved international recognition,” said Plauché. “Over the years, we have showcased Michael’s immense talents, starting in 1997 with the Chicago-made features The Ride and Chicago Cab. In between, we presented his first collaboration with director Jeff Nichols, 2006’s Shotgun Stories. And he was last at the Festival in 2013 with John McNaughton’s The Harvest. It is fitting that we celebrate his outstanding talents in the city that helped to shape his creative process as an actor.”
Centerpiece Film: Lady Bird — Dir. Greta Gerwig, U.S.
Greta Gerwig (Francis Ha) arrives as a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a strong-willed teenage girl (Saoirse Ronan) and her opinionated mother (Laurie Metcalf). Set in Sacramento, in 2002, amid the shifting economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the beauty of a place called home. 93 min.
Closing Night Film: The Shape of Water — Dir. Guillermo del Toro, U.S.
From master storyteller Guillermo del Toro comes The Shape of Water, an otherworldly fairy tale set against the backdrop of Cold War-era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. But the facility’s single-minded authoritarian, Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), threatens to stand in the way of her happiness. Rounding out the cast are Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones and Michael Stuhlbarg. English, ASL with subtitles. With in-person tribute to Michael Shannon.
Michael Shannon, Recipient of Artistic Achievement Award
Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and Tony Award-nominated actor Michael Shannon has worked with the industry’s most respected talent and treaded the boards in notable theaters around the world, including in Chicago, A Red Orchid (where he is an ensemble member, Lookingglass and Steppenwolf.) Shannon most recently was seen in Bart Freundlich’s Wolves and can also be seen in Werner Herzog’s thriller, Salt and Fire. Later this year, Shannon will be seen in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s The Current War and in Seth Henrikson’s Pottersville. Shannon also lensed Meredith Danluck’s State Like Sleep and will be seen in the Nicolai Fuglsig-directed Horse Soldiers. Shannon is currently in production in writer-director Elizabeth Chomko’s drama, What They Had and will star and co-executive produce the mini-series Waco. In 2016, Shannon was seen in Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, receiving an Academy Award and Critics Choice nomination. Earlier that year, Shannon marked his fifth collaboration with director Jeff Nichols with a cameo in his drama Loving, and starred in his sci-fi thriller Midnight Special. Shannon’s previous collaborations with Nichols include Take Shelter, for which he received a 2011 Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor; as well as the films Mud and Shotgun Stories. Most notably, Shannon garnered critical acclaim for his Oscar-nominated supporting role in Revolutionary Road. He went on to receive additional acclaim for Ramin Bahrani’s timely drama 99 Homes and was nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, Gotham Award and Film Independent Spirit Award on behalf of this performance. He has had more than forty roles in films, with credit in Martin Scorsese’s HBO series, Boardwalk Empire, which recently completed its fifth and final season.