• GODLESS, LADY MACBETH, SUMMER 1993 Among 5 Films Nominated for 2017 European Film Awards European Discovery

    [caption id="attachment_25219" align="aligncenter" width="1296"]BLOODY MILK PETIT PAYSAN BLOODY MILK (PETIT PAYSAN)[/caption] Five films have been nominated for the EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2017 – Prix FIPRESCI, an award presented as part of the European Film Awards to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film. The European Discovery 2017 – Prix FIPRESCI will be presented at the 30th European Film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, December 9, in Berlin. BLOODY MILK PETIT PAYSAN France 90 min DIRECTED BY Hubert Charuel WRITTEN BY Claude Le Pape & Hubert Charuel PRODUCED BY Stephanie Bermann & Alexis Dulguerian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0xM1ox-tJc GODLESS БЕЗБОГ (BEZBOG) Bulgaria, Denmark, France 99 min WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Ralitza Petrova PRODUCED BY Rossitsa Valkanova, Eva Jakobsen & Laurence Clerc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaFsohECLkE LADY MACBETH UK 89 min DIRECTED BY William Oldroyd WRITTEN BY Alice Birch PRODUCED BY Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDhZI4WiQ78 SUMMER 1993 ESTIU 1993 Spain 96 min WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Carla Simón PRODUCED BY Valérie Delpierre, Stefan Schmitz & Maria Zamora https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxWQ5CpDqoA THE EREMITES DIE EINSIEDLER Germany 110 min WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Ronny Trocker PRODUCED BY Paul Zischler & Susanne Mann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh2bI6Vj2tU

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  • AFI FEST 2017 Announces Centerpiece Gala Films and Tribute for Filmmaker Errol Morris

    [caption id="attachment_23476" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]THE DISASTER ARTIST, JAMES FRANCO THE DISASTER ARTIST, JAMES FRANCO[/caption] AFI FEST 2017 today announced the three Centerpiece Galas – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME; THE DISASTER ARTIST and HOSTILES, along with a Tribute for Academy Award®-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris following a screening of WORMWOOD. Errol Morris’credits include the Oscar®-winning THE FOG OF WAR (2003), as well as GATES OF HEAVEN (1978), THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988), A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (1991), TABLOID (2010) and THE UNKNOWN KNOWN (2013). Morris serves on the AFI DOCS Film Festival Advisory Board and, in 2013, was the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honoree. The Centerpiece Galas CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (DIR Luca Guadagnino) will take place on Friday, November 10; THE DISASTER ARTIST (DIR James Franco) on Sunday, November 12; and HOSTILES (DIR Scott Cooper) on Tuesday, November 14. On Saturday, November 11, Academy Award®-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris will be honored with the Tribute.

    CENTERPIECE GALAS

    CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – The new film from Sony Pictures Classics by Luca Guadagnino is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th-century villa, transcribing and playing classical music, reading and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever. THE DISASTER ARTIST – Director James Franco reimagines the tragicomic true story of aspiring filmmaker and infamous Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau — an artist whose passion was as sincere as his methods were questionable — as a celebration of friendship, artistic expression and dreams pursued against insurmountable odds. Based on Greg Sestero’s bestselling tell-all about the making of Wiseau’s cult-classic disaster piece THE ROOM (“The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made”), THE DISASTER ARTIST is a hilarious and welcome reminder that there is more than one way to become a legend — and no limit to what you can achieve when you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing. Franco directs, produces and stars in the film, delivering a transformative performance as Wiseau in this A24 release. HOSTILES – Set in 1892 at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, the buffalo gone, America’s indigenous population vanquished and the frontier rapidly disappearing into settlements and cities, two bitter adversaries of the Indian Wars are forced into a final, unexpected encounter. Cavalry Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), a former war hero turned jailer, and Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), a Northern Cheyenne war chief turned prisoner, are forced to partake in a hollow publicity stunt to bolster the personal and political fortunes of Blocker’s commanding officer. Stuck in Fort Berringer, a miserable New Mexican prison outpost, Yellow Hawk is to be released to Blocker and returned to the Cheyenne homeland in Montana. It’s a particularly cynical gambit, as Yellow Hawk is dying and upon his death, his family will be imprisoned on a reservation. A belligerent Blocker believes the Chief should die in prison and is threatened with court martial when he refuses to accompany his enemy home. The plan is set in motion and Blocker, his men, Yellow Hawk and his family become complicated traveling companions. Not long after their departure, the group happens upon Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike), a traumatized survivor of a Comanche massacre, and she reluctantly joins. Blocker, Yellow Hawk and Quaid turn into the unlikely heart of HOSTILES. They are tenacious fighters who have been shaped by suffering, violence and loss. Compelled to work together to endure and survive a 1,000-mile journey of Odyssey-like proportions, they’re forced to confront their preconceived notions of one another, and realize that the worst of their differences were created by forces beyond their control. Their transformation from a place of antagonism and fear to one of compassion and tolerance is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and our capacity for change. HOSTILES features cinematography by AFI Conservatory alumnus Masanobu Takayanagi (Class of 2002).

    TRIBUTE SCREENING

    WORMWOOD – Directed by boundary-breaking filmmaker Errol Morris, WORMWOOD explores the limits of knowledge about the past and the lengths we’ll go in our search for the truth in a twisting, evolving story of one man’s 60-year quest to identify the circumstances of his father’s mysterious death. Combining a virtuosic performance by Peter Sarsgaard with Morris’ legendary interview style, WORMWOOD examines this case from every possible angle, bringing the viewer face to face with some of the United States’ darkest secrets. A Netflix Original Story told in six chapters.

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  • VIDEO: Watch Adam Christian Clark’s Indie Dark Comedy NEWLY SINGLE Trailer + Poster

    Newly Single Poster Check out the trailer and poster for the new dark comedy Newly Single from writer/director Adam Christian Clark.  The LA set movie, starring Adam Christian Clark, Jennifer Kim, Molly C. Quinn, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Rémy Bennett, Greg Gilreath, Raychel Diane Weiner, and Marguerite Moreau, debuts in Official Competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia on Monday 27th November, 2017. Newly Single is the second feature film by American writer/director Adam Christian Clark. After the successful run of his first film, Caroline and Jackie (Tribeca, 2012), Clark began assembling his next feature, Aaron Baby Superfecta. With considerably more money and A-list talent, Clark was on the verge of the next big step in his career. But when several lead actors dropped out, the financing fell apart, and the film collapsed. Clark found himself newly single, laid-off from a long-term TV directing job, and engulfed in a downward spiral of enthusiastic drinking and restless dating. On the verge of financial collapse and eviction, Clark doubled down, writing and directing the meta-dark-comedy Newly Single. Loosely inspired by recent events in his life, Adam Christian Clark also stepped in front of the camera for the first time to play the bitter and broken Astor Williams Stevenso On the heels of booking a life-changing motion picture, Astor Williams Stevenson drives away his girlfriend and aggressively re-enters the LA dating scene. The film director finds himself alone and prowling; looking for love, sating his lust, and searching through the darkness of downtown Los Angeles. Following Astor on a series of dates with a never ending parade of women, Newly Single explores the inner workings of his heart as well as the modern, urban world of dating, independent filmmaking, and the desire to be anyone but one’s true self. Astor finds himself struggling to compartmentalize the many facets of his life, until his barely restrained acerbic nature, fueled by insecurity and sadness, boils over into his personal and professional lives, leaving both in a flaming pile of ash. A noir-comedy love affair with downtown Los Angeles, Newly Single cuts through the coldness of modern dating, changing male identity, and the mad, sad desire to be loved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UNCqvCb9U&feature=youtu.be

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  • 2017 Gotham Awards Nominations – ‘Get Out’, ‘The Florida Project’, ‘Lady Bird’ Among Nominees

    2017 Gotham Awards Nominations - Get Out, Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, Lady Bird The nominations for the 27th Annual IFP Gotham Awards are out, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out lead with four nods including Best Feature, Breakthrough Director and Screenplay and Best Actor for Daniel Kaluuya.  Next up with three nominations each were Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, and Lady Bird. Mudbound scored an early win for the special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance (actors Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks). The Gotham Awards signals the kick-off to the film awards season. As the first major awards ceremony on the calendar, the IFP Awards provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. “This year offered a bountiful array of diverse, creative work that represents the very best from this community. We’re thrilled to celebrate these achievements,” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. In addition to the film awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman, director Sofia Coppola, producer Jason Blum, cinematographer Ed Lachman, and a Gotham Humanitarian Tribute to Al Gore. The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 27th at Cipriani Wall Street.

    2017 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations

    Best Feature

    Call Me by Your Name Luca Guadagnino, director; Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics) The Florida Project Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou, producers (A24) Get Out Jordan Peele, director; Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm, Jr., Jordan Peele, producers (Universal Pictures) Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis, Terry Dougas, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson, producers (A24) I, Tonya Craig Gillespie, director; Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, producers (NEON)

    Best Documentary

    Ex Libris – The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, director and producer (Zipporah Films) Rat Film Theo Anthony, director; Riel Roch-Decter, Sebastian Pardo, producers (MEMORY and Cinema Guild) Strong Island Yance Ford, director; Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Netflix) Whose Streets? Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, directors; Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, Jennifer MacArthur, Flannery Miller, producers (Magnolia Pictures) The Work Jairus McLeary, director; Gethin Aldous, co-director; Alice Henty, Eon McLeary, Jairus McLeary, Miles McLeary, producers (The Orchard and First Look Media)

    Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

    Maggie Betts for Novitiate (Sony Pictures Classics) Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (A24) Kogonada for Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Jordan Peele for Get Out (Universal Pictures) Joshua Z Weinstein for Menashe (A24)

    Best Screenplay

    The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (Amazon Studios) Brad’s Status, Mike White (Amazon Studios) Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory (Sony Pictures Classics) Columbus, Kogonada (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Get Out, Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures) Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig (A24)

    Best Actor*

    Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project (A24) James Franco in The Disaster Artist (A24) Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (Universal Pictures) Robert Pattinson in Good Time (A24) Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (Netflix) Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky (Magnolia Pictures)

    Best Actress*

    Melanie Lynskey in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Netflix) Haley Lu Richardson in Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Margot Robbie in I, Tonya (NEON) Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird (A24) Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime (FilmRise)

    Breakthrough Actor

    Mary J. Blige in Mudbound (Netflix) Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats (NEON) Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in It Comes at Night (A24) Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project (A24) * The 2017 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating committee also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Mudbound, The award will go to actors Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks.

    Breakthrough Series – Long Form

    Atlanta, Donald Glover, creator; Donald Glover, Dianne McGunigle, Paul Simms, executive producers (FX Networks) Better Things, Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K., creators; Dave Becky, M. Blair Breard, Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon, executive producers (FX Networks) Dear White People, Justin Simien, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Justin Simien, Stephanie Allain, Julia Lebedev, executive producers (Netflix) Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator; Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Harry Williams, Jack Williams, executive producers (Amazon) Search Party, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, creators; Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, executive producers (TBS)

    Breakthrough Series – Short Form

    555, Kate Berlant, Andrew DeYoung and John Early, creators (Vimeo) Inconceivable, Joel Ashton McCarthy, creator (YouTube) Junior, Zoe Cassavetes, creator (Blackpills and VICE) Let Me Die a Nun, Sarah Salovaara, creator (Vimeo) The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes, Nancy Andrews, creator (YouTube) (Additional credits to be determined.)  

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  • First-Ever Meet the Press Film Festival Announces Lineup – “Heroin(e)”, “Election Day 2016,” “Osama and Ayman”

    [caption id="attachment_25202" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Osama and Ayman Osama and Ayman[/caption] The Meet the Press Film Festival in Collaboration with the American Film Institute (AFI) announced its full slate of official selections –  16 short-length political documentaries produced by filmmakers from across the country. The inaugural film festival will be held at the Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema in Washington, D.C. on the evening of November 13. Film screenings will be organized under seven issues and followed by Q&As with the respective filmmakers and an NBC News correspondent. The #1 most-watched Sunday show first announced its collaboration with AFI this past August, as both institutions joined forces in recognition of their milestone anniversaries — 70th and 50th, respectively — at a time when political documentaries are more popular than ever before.

    2017 Meet the Press Film Festival Lineup

    Battling America’s New Epidemic

    “Heroin(e)“: Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, WV has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. This flood of heroin now threatens this Appalachian city with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness and poverty. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (“Hollow”) shows a different side of the fight against drugs — one of hope, highlighting three women working to change the town’s narrative one person at a time.

    Love and the Law

    “62 Days“: Marlise Muñoz was 33 years old and 14 weeks pregnant with her second child when she died, suffering a pulmonary embolism. Pronounced brain-dead in a hospital in Fort Worth, TX, she had discussed her end-of-life wishes with her husband and did not want to be on life support. Director Sharon Liese tells the story of how, despite this, her family was forced to keep Marlise on mechanical support due to a little-known state law. “Edith + Eddie“: Edith and Eddie, at ages 96 and 95, became America’s oldest interracial newlyweds. Their love story, told by director Laura Checkoway, is disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear the couple apart. Life After Prison “Knife Skills“: Over 650,000 people are released from prison every year. Director Thomas Lennon follows the launch of an haute cuisine restaurant in Cleveland, staffed by men and women recently released from behind bars to tell the story of re-entry, second chances and the healing power of fine food.

    Higher (Court) Education

    “Fight for the First“: Director Rebecca Haimowitz addresses the freedom of the press in the Trump era through the eyes of journalists-in-training at the world’s oldest journalism school. “Gavin Grimm vs.“: Director Nadia Hallgren tells the story of transgender teen Gavin Grimm suing his local school board in 2016 after its members refused to let him use the bathroom of his choice. He was ready to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court — and then the election happened.

    The Cost of Justice

    “A Debtors’ Prison“: Across the racially segregated landscape of St. Louis County, MO, thousands are routinely sent to jail because they cannot pay local court fines and fees. The vast majority of those fined are poor and black. Directors Brett Story and Todd Chandler follow two plaintiffs in an unfolding court case, as they describe the matrix of controls that subjected them to incarceration for being poor. “Shawna: Life on the Sex Offender Registry“: After having consensual sex with a younger boy while she was still a teenager, Shawna Baldwin found herself one of the 800,000 people on America’s sex offender registries. Director David Feige explores the effects on her life, as she is now in her mid-30s and a mother of three. “219“: A chilling portrait of the inner-workings of the death penalty in America, directed by Ed Hancox and told by the man once known as “the face of executions.” Living in America “Election Day 2016“: After a long and contentious presidential campaign, 10,000 people spontaneously came to pay tribute to Susan B. Anthony’s grave in Rochester, NY. They placed their “I Voted” stickers upon her headstone and expressed their pride and gratitude to America’s most famous suffragette. “Osama and Ayman“: Osama and Ayman are brothers, skateboarders, entrepreneurs, Americans and Muslims. As they skate through the streets of our nation’s capital, they navigate growing Islamophobia with characteristic style and humor in a film directed by Ben Mullinkosson, Sam Price-Waldman and Chris Cresci. “From Aleppo to L.A.“: Director Julia Meltzer tells the story of Dalya and her mother Rudayna fleeing Aleppo for Los Angeles in 2012. Can they hold on to their Islamic traditions in a country that doesn’t embrace them? “Roadside Attraction“: After a very famous airplane arrives at Palm Beach International Airport, an otherwise ordinary stretch of Florida highway attracts an avid cluster of excited onlookers and selfie-takers, directed by Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan.

    On the Edge

    “Ferryman at the Wall“: Originally proposed as an international peace park with Mexico, Big Bend, TX has a unique relationship with its southern neighbor. For the past 40 years, Mike Davidson has been ferrying tourists across the Rio Grande for a little taste of Mexican life — but now, as director David Freid shows, a great big border wall might divide the park. “Los Lecheros“: The fates of undocumented immigrant workers and Wisconsin’s $43 billion dairy industry are closely intertwined, as director Jim Cricchi tells the story of how both are grappling with their options for survival as fears of ICE raids and deportations under the Trump administration grow. “Monument | Monumento“: Director Laura Gabbert tells the story of Friendship Park, a unique meeting place along the US-Mexico border where family members and loved ones from both countries can see and speak to each other through a meshed fence, but cannot touch.

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  • Ridley Scott’s ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD Starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams to Close AFI FEST 2017

    All the Money in the World Director and producer Ridley Scott will be honored by AFI FEST 2017 with a Tribute and World Premiere Closing Night Gala screening of his latest film All the Money in the World on Thursday, November 16, at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The Tribute will celebrate Scott’s legendary filmmaking career with a moderated discussion of his work followed by the World Premiere screening. Directed by Scott, All the Money in the World stars Michelle Williams, Kevin Spacey, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Charlie Plummer and Timothy Hutton.. “For five decades, Ridley Scott’s tremendous visions of cities, new worlds, histories and science have transformed and influenced not only film, but our culture,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, AFI FEST Director. “We’re honored to be celebrating the artistry of a director whose work has had an indelible influence on cinema culture, and the lexicon of visual style.” All the Money in the World follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Kevin Spacey) to pay the ransom. When Getty, Sr., refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x62O8A8qHw

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  • 62nd Cork Film Festival to Open with Irish Premiere of THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS

    [caption id="attachment_25181" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Man Who Invented Christmas The Man Who Invented Christmas[/caption] Taking place across 10 days from November 10 to 19, 2017, this year’s 62nd Cork Film Festival, will screen more than 200 films, with the majority being Irish premieres. Opening the 2017 Cork Film Festival is the Irish premiere of The Man Who Invented Christmas on Friday, November 10th. Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens assumes the role of Charles Dickens in Bharat Nalluri’s film, a festive romp that recounts how Dickens’ iconic A Christmas Carol was created. The Irish premiere of Alexander Payne’s science-fiction road movie Downsizing will close the Festival on Sunday November 19th. It stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig as a husband and wife who decide to shrink themselves to simplify their lives, though things don’t go to plan. Other highlights include Ruben Östlund’s The Square, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and Documentary Gala, Promised Land, directed by Eugene Jurecki. The film looks at how America has changed since Elvis Presley died 40 years ago. Celebrating the best of home-grown talent, some of the most celebrated Irish films of the year feature across the 10 days. The screening of Frank Berry’s acclaimed Michael Inside takes place on 16 November, telling the story of an 18-year-old living in Dublin who is sentenced to three months in prison after he is caught hiding drugs for his friend’s older brother. Following its successful screening at the Toronto Film Festival, the Irish premiere of gothic horror The Lodgers, takes place on November 12. The Festival will present the world premiere screening of short films produced under the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board’s Focus Shorts and Real Shorts schemes. Over 50 Irish short films feature in the program, and for the first time, a selection will be invited to feature on the RTÉ Player post-Festival, as part of RTÉ’s principal media partnership. Shorts submissions, both nationally and internationally, exceeded 3,200 and the Cork Film Festival is the only Irish festival to have two awards with Academy Awards® accreditation. The winner of the Grand Prix Irish Short, presented by RTÉ Supporting the Arts, and the winner of the Grand Prix International Short, will automatically qualify for the Academy Awards® longlist. Speaking ahead of the launch, Cork Film Festival Producer Fiona Clark said: “The 2017 program is a unique opportunity to see some of the best established and emerging talent working in film today.”  

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  • Watch Bill Pullman in Western Homage THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN Trailer

    THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN The official poster and trailer dropped for the Western homage The Ballad of Lefty Brown, directed by Jared Moshé, and starring Bill Pullman, Kathy Baker, Jim Caviezel, Joe Anderson, Diego Josef, Tommy Flanagan and Peter Fonda. The film opens in theaters on December 15th. When cowboy Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) witnesses the murder of his longtime partner – the newly-elected Senator Edward Johnson (Peter Fonda) – he strikes out to find the killers and avenge his friend’s gruesome death. Tracking the outlaws across the vast and desolate Montana plains, Lefty recruits a young gunslinger, Jeremiah (Diego Josef), and an old friend, a hard-drinking U.S. Marshall (Tommy Flanagan), to help deliver the men to justice. After a gunfight with the outlaws leaves Jeremiah wounded, Lefty returns home with the names of Johnson’s killers only to find that he is being accused of his friend’s murder. With the tables turned, and with his friend in the governor’s mansion (Jim Caviezel) refusing to help, Lefty must evade the law and prove his innocence by exposing the powerful men ultimately responsible for Johnson’s death. A thrilling and action-packed Western, The Ballad of Lefty Brown is a story about loyalty, friendship, and the relentless pursuit of justice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv2khM97ylU

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  • LA Film Festival Moving to September in 2018

    LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival, previously held in June, will now take place in late September starting in 2018. Submissions for the 24th edition of the Festival will open January 1, 2018, exclusively on Withoutabox, as part of a new multi-year collaboration. “The secret to dramatically changing something is to change it,” said Jennifer Cochis, LA Film Festival Director. “My passion for this Festival is unwavering and the time for an evolution has come. Film Independent is so proud of the work we’ve done in showcasing new American and international cinema that embraces diversity, innovation and unique perspectives, but the fact is that summer is a challenging time for artist driven films, and fall is where we clearly belong. This shift in our dates is an important step in enacting my aim to further develop the LA Film Festival, I sincerely look forward to better serving filmmakers, film lovers, the city and the industry in the fall of 2018 and beyond.” “We are proud to be the home of the LA Film Festival. The festival has been a staple for filmmakers and cinephiles in Los Angeles,” said Gretchen McCourt, Executive Vice President at ArcLight Cinemas. “LA is an entertainment mecca and has been home to ArcLight for over 15 years. It is partnerships like this that continue to make our programming unique. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be with them on this journey.” “Great festivals need great partners, and we couldn’t be happier to be entering a multi-year collaboration with ArcLight Cinema and Withoutabox,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “LA audiences know and love the ArcLight experience, and as our submissions continue to grow, Withoutabox is the ideal service for us to accept and evaluate submissions from filmmakers all over the world.”

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  • 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Fest Awards – TRAGEDY GIRLS Wins Best Film

    [caption id="attachment_24718" align="aligncenter" width="1123"]​TRAGEDY GIRLS ​TRAGEDY GIRLS[/caption] Tyler MacIntyre’s internet-age slasher TRAGEDY GIRLS slashed its way to the top of the 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Fest, winning the top awards including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Actress for Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp. Twenty feature films and seventeen short  films were in competition, with Best Short going to Robin Comisar’s GREAT CHOICE. The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival will haunt the borough once again in October 2018.

    FEATURES AWARDS

    Best Picture: TRAGEDY GIRLS, dir. Tyler MacIntyre Director: José Pedro Lopes, THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS Score: Julien Mineau, GAME OF DEATH Actress: Brianna Hildebrand & Alexandra Shipp, TRAGEDY GIRLS Actor: Steven Yuen, MAYHEM Screenplay: Chris Lee Hill, Tyler MacIntyre, Justin Olson, TRAGEDY GIRLS Cinematography: Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, THE BOOK OF BIRDIE Editing: Tom Sainty, FASHIONISTA Effects: Blood Brothers and Rémy Couture, GAME OF DEATH Audience Award: 1974, dir. by Victor Dryere

    SHORTS AWARDS

    Best Short: GREAT CHOICE, dir. Robin Comisar Best Director: Matt Mercer, FEEDING TIME Best Actor: Morgan Spector, GREAT CHOICE Best Actress: Mishka Balilty, INK Best Cinematography: Ellie Smolkin, AMY Best Editing: Alfonso Garcia, iMEDIUM Best Effects: Aislan, A MOTHER OF MONSTERS Best Score: Steve Moore, FEEDING TIME Most Spectacular Location: BESTIA, dir. Gigi Saul Guerrero Special Jury Award: EARWORM, dir. Tara Price

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  • 44th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival Reveals Lineup, PRICED OUT, LANE 1974, PROOF OF LOYALTY, and More..

    44th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival This year’s 44th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival (NWFest44), which takes place November 1 to 5, 2017, will present sixteen features and twenty short form works in the film lineup. Festival film highlights include Portland-based filmmaker Cornelius Swart’s PRICED OUT, a feature-length documentary exploration of the housing crisis in Portland and its disproportion impact on the African-American community; Lucy Ostrander and Don Sellers’ documentary PROOF OF LOYALTY, which relays the story of Kazuo Yamane, a Japanese Nisei, born in Hawaii to Japanese-born immigrants, who, despite suffering prejudice and discrimination after Pearl Harbor, joined up to fight and valiantly serve the US in World War II ; Julie Perini’s THE GENTLEMAN BANK ROBBER: THE STORY OF BUTCH LESBIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER rita bo brown, a portrait of a white, working-class butch from rural Oregon who joined the George Jackson Brigade, a revolutionary prison abolitionist group operating in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, and became known as “The Gentleman Bank Robber”; POW WOW, Robinson Devor’s (ZOO, POLICE BEAT) documentary examining an annual country club party that takes place on former Native American land in the Coachella Valley; director SJ Chiro’s coming-of-age adventure LANE 1974, following life on a commune in Northern California, as witnessed through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl; and Matt McCormick’s BUZZ ONE FOUR, which tells the tale of the director’s grandfather and his involvement in a Cold-War era crash of an aircraft with a thermonuclear payload on board. In addition to features, the Festival offers up three programs of short films. Shorts I: This is Here and Shorts II: Alliances, comprised of films from makers from across the Pacific Northwest, including festival alums Salise Hughes, Jodi Darby, Vanessa Renwick, Jon Behrens, and others, are joined by Ethnographic Visions: An Extended Shorts Program, which highlights longer, short films by Emily Wahl, Pam Minty, and Lynne Siefert. Beyond the numerous screenings on offer, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival also provides opportunities for aspiring and working filmmakers to interact directly with peers and industry professionals through events at the Northwest Filmmakers’ Summit on November 4. A day of guest speakers, panels, and tech demos, the Summit’s aim is to provide information and discussion of issues and trends in independent filmmaking with a focus on regional opportunities and resources. Subjects explored include a presentation on “The Future of Lighting” by Aputure’s Mark Mathers, a panel discussion on cameras and lenses for professional production use, and a roundtable talk on best practices for sound design, working with composers with post-production in mind. The Summit will also host a VR presentation by Digital One and a special live filmmaking event entitled Moving Picture Oregon in which five groups of filmmakers shoot a roll of Super 8 film based on an artwork in the Portland Art Museum’s Picturing Oregon exhibit. Later that night, the band Party Killer will perform a live soundtrack to the Super 8 films shot at the Moving Picture Oregon event in the Whitsell Auditorium for an event dubbed Party Killer Vs. Kodak. This year’s Summit also includes a panel highlighting six Trailblazing Women of Independent Animation in the Northwest. Featuring Joanna Priestley, Rose Bond, Joan Gratz, Ruth Hayes, Marilyn Zornado, and Gail Noonan, the panel directly connects to a NWFest44 showing of the participants work, which in turn serves as a preview for a series of Northwest Tracking screenings focusing on each individual participant in November and December.

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  • 6th Ithaca Fantastik Announces Lineup, LET THE CORPSES TAN, MY FRIEND DAHMER and More..

    [caption id="attachment_24807" align="aligncenter" width="1023"]Let The Corpses Tan LET THE CORPSES TAN[/caption] With little more than two weeks to go, the 6th Ithaca Fantastik (IF) taking place November 3 to 12 in Ithaca, NY, unveiled its full features and short film lineup of 37 films from 20 countries. In LET THE CORPSES TAN, Belgian duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani pay visual homage to Italian gangster films. Marc Meyers’s award-winning MY FRIEND DAHMER, based on the graphic novel of the same name, follows the teenage years of the budding serial killer. Ryan Prows’s mesmerizing and gritty LA tale LOWLIFE takes viewers on a high-energy organ-harvesting misadventure. And Deborah Haywoods’s beautifully disturbing and deeply personal PIN CUSHION explores intergenerational bullying in a small but toxic English town. ​Playing to a full range of IF6’s retrospective theme—Italiano Psichedeliko—with a contemporary eye, Rupert Jones’s murder-mystery, KALEIDOSCOPE, mesmerizes with lush visuals and amazing performances from Sinead Matthews and Toby Jones. Rainer Sarnet’s NOVEMBER plunges vanguard film-lovers into a surrealist maelstrom of faith, witchcraft, and love, while German tale FREDDY/EDDY ushers in a doubled and troubled soul from the mind of Tini Tüllmann. Any pure horror lovers in the room? Giddens Ko’s MON MON MON MONSTER blows minds with its thoughtful subtext on bullying dressed with gory violence. A Taiwanese echo to Haywoods’s PIN CUSHION, this film takes no prisoners. The same can be said about Gabriela Amaral’s FRIENDLY BEAST: What starts out as a classic social drama makes a sharp turn into more graphic territory demanding self-reflection. And for undead action, Robin Aubert’s LES AFFAMÉS – an art house Zombie film full of deep social commentary—is a brilliant homage to maestro George Romero’s ghoul metaphor. Sometimes, real life is more Fantastik than fiction. Brad Abrahams’s documentary, LOVE AND SAUCERS, tells the improbable story of David Higgins’ intimate love for an alien and the art that followed. For sheer genre joy, Australian mockumentary TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce’s madcap love letter to late-night Japanese television—from Lone Wolf and Cub and Mute Samurai to Message from Space and Space Sheriff Gavan. IF completes this year’s smorgasbord with the crazies: Adolfo Kolmerer and William James’s SNOWFLAKE, the prodigal son of Pulp Fiction and Synecdoche NY, with producer Eric Sonnenburg here for the sceening; Thomas Berg and Frederik Waldeland’s super-weird, laugh-out-loud VAMPYR VIDAR; and Jimmy Henderson’s JAILBREAK with its roots in HK martial arts cinema, Jean Paul Ly’s choreography, dynamic camerawork, and the incisive power of a Tony Jaa elbow strike. IF also shines a spotlight on BLUE UNDERGROUND, Bill Lustig’s distribution company, with the 4K restoration of Gary Sherman’s DEATH LINE, a direct transfer from the camera negative—as close as you can get to a director’s true vision! Another new 4K transfer, Bob Clark’s DEAD BY NIGHT, offers a deep meditation on the effects of war …with a zombie trope. Along with this incredible lineup, IF will also present its 2017 art show: THE STRANGE COLORS OF GILLES VRANCKX featuring the work of the Belgian poster genius behind art for Amer, The Strange Colors of Your Body’s Tears, LET THE CORPSES TAN, and more.

    INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

    THE ENDLESS (Ithaca Premiere) Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson, USA THE CRESCENT (Ithaca Premiere) Seth A. Smith, Canada I REMEMBER YOU (Ithaca Premiere) Óskar Thór Axelsson, Iceland PIN CUSHION (East Coast Premiere) Deborah Haywood, UK VAMPYR VIDAR (East Coast Premiere) Thomas Aske Berg & Fredrik Waldeland, Norway FREDDY/EDDY (East Coast Premiere) Tini Tüllmann, Germany FRIENDLY BEAST (US Premiere) Gabriela Amaral, Brazil LES AFFAMÉS (East Coast Premiere) Robin Aubert, Canada SNOWFLAKE (East Coast Premiere) With producer Eric Sonnenburg in attendance! Adolfo J. Kolmerer, Germany

    Opening & Closing

    TRAGEDY GIRLS (Ithaca Premiere) Tyler McIntyre, USA A DAY (East Coast Premiere) Sun-Ho Cho, South Korea

    Cinema Pur

    HAGAZUSSA: A Heathen’s Curse (Ithaca Premiere) Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany INFLAME (East Coast Premiere) Ceylan Özgün Özçelik, Turkey LET THE CORPSES TAN (East Coast Premiere) Bruno Forzani/Hélène Cattet, Belgium NOVEMBER (Ithaca Premiere) Rainer Sarnet, Iceland/Estonia TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (East Coast Premiere) Issa López, Mexico TOP KNOT DETECTIVE (Ithaca Premiere) Aaron McCann & Dominic Pearce, Australia/Japan

    Fantastik Documentary: FOREVER LOVE!

    BIGHT OF THE TWIN (Ithaca Premiere) Hazel Hill McCarthy III, USA LOVE AND SAUCERS (East Coast Premiere) Brad Abrahams, USA

    Midnighters

    BRAVESTORM (North American Premiere) Junya Okabe, Japan SAMURAI RAUNI (North American Premiere) Mika Rättö, Finland ZOMBIOLOGY (Ithaca Premiere) Alan Lo, Hong Kong

    Festival Favorite

    KALEIDOSCOPE (East Coast Premiere) Rupert Jones, UK JAILBREAK (East Coast Premiere) Jimmy Henderson, Cambodia LOWLIFE (East Coast Premiere) Ryan Prows, USA SEQUENCE BREAK (Ithaca Premiere) With director Graham Skipper in attendance! Graham Skipper, USA MY FRIEND DAHMER (Ithaca Premiere) Marc Meyers, USA

    BLUE UNDERGROUND PRESENTS with Bill Lustig in attendance!

    DEATHLINE (Ithaca Premiere) With director Gary Sherman in attendance! Gary Sherman, UK 1972 DEAD OF NIGHT 4K Restoration (North American Premiere) Bob Clark, 1974

    SHUDDER PRESENTS

    Mon Mon Mon Monster (New York Premiere) Giddens Ko, Taiwan

    ITALIANO PSICHEDELIKO: Retrospective

    AUTOPSY Armando Crispino, 1975 BABA YAGA Corrado Farina, 1973 DEADLY SWEET Tinto Brass, 1967 LE ORME Luigi Bazzoni, Mario Fanelli 1975 SUSPIRIA Dario Argento, 1977 BLOW UP Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966 DANGER: DIABOLIK Mario Bava, 1968

    SHORT FILMS

    Born of Sin William Boodell – USA Jenny Secoma In: The Blind Spot Jack Warner – USA No Man’s Land: A Folktale Ty Turley – USA/Sierra Leone Popsy Julien Homsy – France Night Encounter Ludovic de Gaillande – France Bestia Gigi Saul Guerrero – Canada Sol Carlos G. Gananian – Brazil Oh, Dear Raquel Fogel – USA Evocation of a Nightmare Wally Chung – USA Waiting for Pascale Guillaume Harvey – Canada Breaker Phillippe McKie – Japan Bon Appétit Erenik Beqiri – Albania Zoey And The Wind-Up Boy Marica Petrey – USA I Am The Doorway Robin Kasparik – Czech Republic Miriam is Going to Mars Michael Lippert – USA Ink Ashlea Wessel – Canada It Began Without Warning Jessica Curtright & Santiago C. Tapia – USA Amy L. Gustavo Cooper – USA Killing Klaus Kinski Spiros Stathoulopoulos – Colombia/Netherlands What Comes From a Swamp Tyler Macri – USA Viola vs. The Vampire King Kevin Fermini – USA Standby Daumon Khakpour & Travis Pulchinski – Canada Sherry Eliane Lima – USA Jules D. Norma Vila – Spain Signal to Noise Jarret Blinkhorn – USA Holiday Fear Nicholas Santos – USA A Father’s Day Mat Johns – UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMxp2BMuHFk

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