Brigitte LIN Ching-Hsia has been named the “Filmmaker in Focus” of the 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival, taking place March 19 to April 5, 2018. With a career spanning over two decades and performing in more than a hundred films, LIN is widely recognized as one of the most acclaimed and distinguished actresses in Chinese language cinema. In celebrating her achievements, the Festival will screen 14 of her films and publish a retrospective book. LIN will also attend the “Face to Face” seminar to be held on 31 March, 2018 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, sharing her insights on film, art and life.
Born in Sanchung near Taipei, LIN was spotted by a talent scout at the age of seventeen, and was cast by renowned Taiwanese director SUNG Tsun-Shou as the female lead in his film Outside the Window (1973). Captivating the audience with her astonishing beauty and charisma, she became an overnight sensation. With the trend of romance films emerging in the seventies, the young actress, with an innocent girl image, flourished into a new idol in Taiwanese cinema through her collaborations with novelist and producer CHIUNG Yao, featuring in many of her productions including Cloud of Romance (1977) and A Love Seed (1979). In the eighties she moved her career platform to Hong Kong, where she displayed her versatile acting skills in different film genres, such as Love Massacre (1981), All the Wrong Spies (1983) and Starry is the Night (1988).
Instead of confining her persona to just a beauty icon, she has consciously extended her screen presence, covering historical and contemporary roles, and male and female characters. She is one of the few actresses who has succeeded in both romantic and martial film genres. LIN’s pioneering androgyny has inspired many directors such as LI Han-hsiang, who cast her to play the male role of JIA Baoyu in The Dream of the Red Chamber (1977), and TSUI Hark, who turned her into a handsome, alluring man in Peking Opera Blues (1986). Fusing masculine charm and feminine elegance in Swordsman II (1992) took her career to new heights.
LIN’s remarkable performances have won accolades from the audience and the industry alike. She has received four nominations for Best Actress in the Hong Kong Film Awards, namelyZU: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), Police Story (1985), Swordsman II and Handsome Siblings (1992), and also two nominations at the Golden Horse Awards for Magnificent 72 (1980) and The Switch/Hero vs Hero (1982). She finally took home the Award for Best Actress at the 27th Golden Horse Awards for her role in Red Dust (1990).
Before leaving the industry, LIN capped her career with three iconic roles in the 1990s: a heartbroken femme fatale in Ronny YU’s The Bride with White Hair (1993); a brother-sister duo-in-one in Ashes of Time (1994); and a blonde killer in Chungking Express (1994), both films by WONG Kar Wai.
In addition to being a great actress, LIN has also pursued other artistic endeavors, such as acting in the theatrical production of The Peach Blossom Land (1992), and narrating the films Bishonen (1998) and Peony Pavilion (2001), both directed by Yonfan. She became a writer in 2011 and published two books, Inside and Outside the Window and Cloud Goes, Cloud Comes.
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of her career debut in 2018, and the completion of the restored version of her first film Outside the Window, the Hong Kong International Film Festival will revisit and celebrate her dazzling and pioneering body of work.-
Brigitte LIN Ching-Hsia Named “Filmmaker in Focus” of 2018 Hong Kong International Film Festival
Brigitte LIN Ching-Hsia has been named the “Filmmaker in Focus” of the 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival, taking place March 19 to April 5, 2018. With a career spanning over two decades and performing in more than a hundred films, LIN is widely recognized as one of the most acclaimed and distinguished actresses in Chinese language cinema. In celebrating her achievements, the Festival will screen 14 of her films and publish a retrospective book. LIN will also attend the “Face to Face” seminar to be held on 31 March, 2018 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, sharing her insights on film, art and life.
Born in Sanchung near Taipei, LIN was spotted by a talent scout at the age of seventeen, and was cast by renowned Taiwanese director SUNG Tsun-Shou as the female lead in his film Outside the Window (1973). Captivating the audience with her astonishing beauty and charisma, she became an overnight sensation. With the trend of romance films emerging in the seventies, the young actress, with an innocent girl image, flourished into a new idol in Taiwanese cinema through her collaborations with novelist and producer CHIUNG Yao, featuring in many of her productions including Cloud of Romance (1977) and A Love Seed (1979). In the eighties she moved her career platform to Hong Kong, where she displayed her versatile acting skills in different film genres, such as Love Massacre (1981), All the Wrong Spies (1983) and Starry is the Night (1988).
Instead of confining her persona to just a beauty icon, she has consciously extended her screen presence, covering historical and contemporary roles, and male and female characters. She is one of the few actresses who has succeeded in both romantic and martial film genres. LIN’s pioneering androgyny has inspired many directors such as LI Han-hsiang, who cast her to play the male role of JIA Baoyu in The Dream of the Red Chamber (1977), and TSUI Hark, who turned her into a handsome, alluring man in Peking Opera Blues (1986). Fusing masculine charm and feminine elegance in Swordsman II (1992) took her career to new heights.
LIN’s remarkable performances have won accolades from the audience and the industry alike. She has received four nominations for Best Actress in the Hong Kong Film Awards, namelyZU: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), Police Story (1985), Swordsman II and Handsome Siblings (1992), and also two nominations at the Golden Horse Awards for Magnificent 72 (1980) and The Switch/Hero vs Hero (1982). She finally took home the Award for Best Actress at the 27th Golden Horse Awards for her role in Red Dust (1990).
Before leaving the industry, LIN capped her career with three iconic roles in the 1990s: a heartbroken femme fatale in Ronny YU’s The Bride with White Hair (1993); a brother-sister duo-in-one in Ashes of Time (1994); and a blonde killer in Chungking Express (1994), both films by WONG Kar Wai.
In addition to being a great actress, LIN has also pursued other artistic endeavors, such as acting in the theatrical production of The Peach Blossom Land (1992), and narrating the films Bishonen (1998) and Peony Pavilion (2001), both directed by Yonfan. She became a writer in 2011 and published two books, Inside and Outside the Window and Cloud Goes, Cloud Comes.
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of her career debut in 2018, and the completion of the restored version of her first film Outside the Window, the Hong Kong International Film Festival will revisit and celebrate her dazzling and pioneering body of work.
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“OH, RICK!”, “THE STRANGER”, “ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970” Win 2017 DOC NYC Awards
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Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco[/caption]
Earlier this month three juries selected films from each of the 2017 DOC NYC festival’s Viewfinders, Metropolis and Shorts sections to recognize for their outstanding achievements. Festival audiences voted for the DOC NYC Audience Award, and a panel of industry professionals voted to select the winner of this year’s DOC NYC PRO Pitch Perfect Award, given to a work-in-progress. The winner of last year’s DOC NYC PRO Pitch Perfect Award, Naila and the Uprising from director Julia Bacha, had its World Premiere at the 2017 festival with a sold out screening in the festival’s largest venue, the SVA Theatre.
Viewfinders Competition
Films chosen for their distinct directorial visions. Grand Jury Prize Winner: The Stranger, directed by Nicole N. Horanyi, follows a 25-year-old single mother who meets the man of her dreams on Facebook, but she soon discovers that the charming, worldly man has secrets. Jurors’ statement: “For its multilayered approach to storytelling and challenge to the definition of nonfiction the Viewfinders jury awards The Stranger by filmmaker Nicole N. Horanyi.”Metropolis Competition
Films that exemplify the diverse range of stories in New York City. Grand Jury Prize Winner: Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco, directed by James Crump, is a portrait of the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris, known for discovering talents such as Pat Cleveland and Grace Jones. Jurors’ statement: “For rescuing a vital figure in the fashion industry from the background of New York in the 1970s, when the joy and diversity of a new creative vision helped the city emerge from darkness, the Metropolis jury awards Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco by filmmaker James Crump.”Shorts Competition
Grand Jury Prize Winner: Traffic Stop, directed by Kate Davis, exposes a problematic police force using dashcam footage as a forensic recounting of a routine traffic stop turned brutal assault of Breaion King. Jurors’ statement: “For its powerful portrait of a woman at the center of one of America’s most important current issues, the Shorts jury awards Traffic Stop by filmmaker Kate Davis.” Special Mention: Winter’s Watch, directed by Brian Bolster, about a hotel caretaker embracing the solitude of the off-season. The 2017 winning Short film qualifies for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.Audience Award
Winner: Oh, Rick!, directed by Dustin Sussman and Aaron Rosenbloom, profiles comedian Rick Crom, the long-running emcee at Greenwich Village’s Comedy Cellar, and features Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes.DOC NYC PRO Pitch Perfect Award
Recognizes the best pitch given during DOC NYC PRO’s Pitch Perfect Day, based on the pitch itself, as well as the viability of the project, and is determined by industry professionals taking part in the daylong pitch event. Winner: Blue Code of Silence, directed by Magnus Skatvold and Gregory Mallozzi, tells the forty-year-old story of when policeman Bob Leuci brought down New York City’s most corrupt police unit, but at a grave personal cost.
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RIP: Ken Shapiro Writer and Director of Indie Film THE GROVE TUBE, Dead at 76
Ken Shapiro, writer and director of the 1974 independent film, The Groove Tube died of cancer Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M. He was 76.
The Groove Tube is a collection of skits called “The Groove Tube,” starring Shapiro, Richard Belzer and Chevy Chase, that has been credited as the template for raw sketch comedy, as seen in “Saturday Night Live.”
The low-budget movie satirizes television and the counterculture of the early 1970s. The film was originally produced to be shown at the Channel One Theater on East 60th St. in New York, a venue that featured R-rated video recordings shown on three television sets, which was a novelty to the audiences of the time. The news desk satire, including the signature line “Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow” was later used by Chase for his signature Weekend Update piece on Saturday Night Live, although in the film he does not appear in that segment.
Shapiro is survived by his wife Kelly, step-daughter Danielle-Lampkins; his sister Cookie and brother Stanley. He is also survived by his daughters, Rosy and Emily and his grandchildren Cerulean, Willa, Milo, and Romy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkG6HMPBJoo
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I, TONYA Allison Janney to Receive Spotlight Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
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Allison Janney in I, Tonya[/caption]
Allison Janney will receive the Spotlight Award – Actress at the 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards Gala for her performance in I, Tonya. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2 to 15, 2018.
“Allison Janney delivers a knock-out performance as Tonya Harding’s mother LaVona Golden in I, Tonya. The usually charming Janney takes a compellingly dark turn as Tonya’s abusive, alcoholic mother,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “For this outstanding performance, which is sure to garner awards attention, it is an honor to present Allison Janney with the Spotlight Award.”
Past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield, Helen Hunt, Rooney Mara, Julia Roberts and J.K. Simmons. All recipients received Academy Award® nominations in the year they were honored, with Simmons winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Janney joins previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell.
Based on unbelievable yet true events, I, Tonya is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. The first American woman to complete a triple-axel in competition, Harding’s legacy was instead defined by her association with an ill-conceived, crudely executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, and a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona, Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya is an absurd, irreverent and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career. NEON/30WEST is releasing the film.
Her recently released movies include Tallulah, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Girl on the Train, Minions and Spy. Other film credits include The Way, Way Back, The Help, Juno, Hairspray, Finding Nemo, The Hours, American Beauty, Nurse Betty, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, The Object of My Affection and Big Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZQ5DfSAAc
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Slamdance Film Festival Announces 2018 Feature Film Competition Lineup + Russo Fellowship Award
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Rock Steady Row[/caption]
The Slamdance Film Festival today unveiled its narrative and documentary feature film competition lineup for its 24th edition, taking place January 19 to 25, 2018 in Park City, Utah.
The feature competition lineup will showcase 10 narrative and eight documentary features. All competition films are feature-length directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million and without U.S. distribution.
Captain America: Civil War directors and alumni Anthony and Joe Russo are partnering with Slamdance for the inaugural Russo Fellowship award. The award winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize and mentorship from the Russo brothers in the development of the winner’s next project at their new Los Angeles-based studio. Every participating filmmaker at the 2018 festival is eligible for this prize. The award will be presented annually.
“The Russo brothers exemplify our ‘by filmmakers for filmmakers’ paradigm,” says Slamdance co-founder and president Peter Baxter. “They are joined by a great number of dedicated alumni who’ve shown when it comes to recognizing talent and launching careers, Slamdance’s independent and grassroots film community really can do it themselves.”
“Born out of rejection, Slamdance’s artist-led group continues to discover cutting edge talent creating work outside of convention. Our 2018 competition lineup is daring, varied, and vivid. It represents the spirit of our time and leads us into the future.”
2018 Slamdance Film Festival Feature Film Competition Lineup
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Birds Without Feathers (USA) World Premiere Director: Wendy McColm Screenwriter: Wendy McColm Desperate for human interaction, six emotionally damaged individuals risk self respect, shedding their disillusionment in a last grasp for happiness. A cruel-world comedy populated by struggling Instagram stars, Russian cowboys, Self-help gurus and more, their lives collide and crash in astounding ways. Cast: Wendy McColm, Lenae Day Cooper Oznowicz, William Gabriel Greer, Sara Estefanos, and Alexander Stasko Charlie And Hannah’s Grand Night Out (Belgium) World Premiere Director: Bert Scholiers Screenwriter: Bert Scholiers Two Girls. One Night. Magical Candy Consumed. Twenty-somethings, Charlie and Hannah, find themselves strolling through the city as events take a wildly surreal turn. Transported to a trippy galaxy, filled with cosmic wisdom and contradictions, the pair learn to realize the search for love can take many forms. Cast: Evelien Bosmans, Daphne Wellens, Patrick Vervueren Fake Tattoos (Canada) US Premiere Director: Pascal Plante Screenwriter: Pascal Plante Shy Theo finds himself unexpectedly kicked in the heart by a punk-rock romance on his 18th birthday as Mag bursts into his life for a rollicking encounter. Set against a backdrop of music and mayhem, this coming-of-age tale, explores the thrashing fragility of summer love as life choices and separation loom with no true answers in sight. Cast: Anthony Therrien, Rose-Marie Perreault Fish Bones (USA) World Premiere Director: Joanne Mony Park Screenwriter: Joanne Mony Park Hana, a Korean immigrant on winter break, is caught between worlds. While struggling to find peace with her conservative mother and the expectations surrounding her future, Hana finds herself falling for Nico, a tender and affectionate Latina music producer. Cast: Joony Kim, Cris Gris Human Affairs (USA) World Premiere Director: Charlie Birns Screenwriter: Charlie Birns This richly earnest drama follows Geneviève, a surrogate who must reckon with her ambivalence about the pregnancy and her precarious feelings for the parents-to-be. Cast: Dominic Fumusa, Kerry Condon, David Harbour, Julie Sokolowski Lovers (Denmark) US Premiere Director: Niels Holstein Kaa Screenwriter: Magnus B. B. Lysbakken In the streets, parks and cafes of Copenhagen, a triptych of love stories come to vivid life. Framed with a superb naturalism, these tales through the seasons tackle the ever rising tide of loneliness and self-doubt that can come in the face of new love. Cast: Marie Mailand, Niklas Herskind, Nina Terese Rask M/M (Canada, Germany) World Premiere Director: Drew Lint Screenwriter: Drew Lint Wayward Canadian, Matthew, crushed by the isolation of being new to Berlin, turns his sexual desires toward Matthias that spiral into a dark fixation of assumed identity. Soon, this obsessive power struggle between the two, careens toward brutal passion and violence in a bid for dominance. Cast: Antoine Lahaie, Nicolas Maxim Endlicher Rock Steady Row (USA) World Premiere Director: Trevor Stevens Screenwriter: Bomani Story Demented chaos rules this bizarro-world college campus where the reigning gang-frats target a freshman, who dare crosses their path. Trapped between a blaze of twisted ‘Mad Max’ style power games, he shrewdly plays both sides, fueling apocalyptic-sized battles that escalate to ensnare the school Dean who’s coming unglued. Cast: Heston Horwin, Diamond White, Logan Huffman, Isaac Alisma, Allie Marie Evans, Larry Miller, Peter Gilroy Songs in the Sun (Denmark) US Premiere Director: Kristian Sejrbo Lidegaard Screenwriter: Allan Hyde, Kristian Sejrbo Lidegaard Off the coast of Denmark, young Anna discovers she is the only lifeline to ailing childhood friend Julie and Sonja, Julie’s apathetic mother. Over the course of one momentous afternoon, Anna will learn the healing power of belief and myth-making in everyday living Cast: Emma Sehested Høeg, Charlotte Munck, Victoria Carmen Sonne The Starry Sky Above Me (France) US Premiere Director: Ilan Klipper Screenwriter: Ilan Klipper, Raphaël Neal Bruno is happy to live out his days luxuriating in the existential highs and lows only a brilliant literary mind can appreciate. But when his loved ones seek to intervene with the help of a psychiatrist, Bruno’s bohemian lifestyle may in fact be the perfect anecdote to the colorless, PC lives they didn’t know they hated. Cast: Laurent Poitrenaux, Camille Chamoux, Marilyne Canto, Alma Jodorowsky, François Chattot, Michèle Moretti, Frank WilliamsDOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Circus Ecuador (Ecuador, USA) World Premiere Directors: Ashley Bishop and Jim Brassard James and Ashley travel to the jungles of Ecuador to make a documentary about a school being built for an indigenous community only to discover that the community may or may not be involved in aliens, gold smuggling, human trafficking, and murder. Freedom for the Wolf (Germany, USA) Director: Rupert Russell From Hong Kong to Tunisia to Bollywood, people are fighting against elected leaders dismantling freedom and democracy. These seemingly disparate international stories are cohesively tied into what is happening in the US to reach some very compelling conclusions. Ingrid (USA) World Premiere Director: Morrisa Maltz An intimate look at a woman who left her life as a successful fashion designer and mother in Texas to become a reclusive hermit, immersed in nature, focused solely on creating art. Instant Dreams (Netherlands) North American Premiere Director: Willem Baptist An essayistic quest for the secret of instant film, the magic appeal of Polaroid and what that tells us about the fascinating relationship we have with the photographic image. Man on Fire (USA) World Premiere Director: Joel Fendelman Grand Saline, Texas was a sleepy, unremarkable town–until a white preacher lit himself on fire to protest the town’s racism in 2014. MexMan (USA) World Premiere Director: Josh Polon Germán is a young artist and filmmaker struggling to complete his first feature film and express his undying love to a girl, while secretly living at an airport and trying to stay sane. Mr. Fish: Cartooning From The Deep End (USA) Director: Pablo Bryant This personal documentary follows a controversial political cartoonist as he struggles to provide for his family and stay true to his creativity in a world where biting satiric humor has an ever-diminishing commercial value. Sunnyside (Belgium, Netherlands) North American Premiere Director: Frederik Carbon On a seaside mountain in Northern California two old friends (one a visionary architect and the other an influential sound artist) dream, talk, live, and create.
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Mister Fred Rogers Documentary WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? Gets June 2018 Release
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the new documentary about the life and work of Mister Fred Rogers from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville has been acquired by Focus Features and is set to be released on June 8, 2018.
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” takes an intimate look at America’s favorite neighbor: Mister Fred Rogers. A portrait of a man whom we all think we know, this documentary is an emotional and moving film that takes you beyond zip-up cardigans and the land of make-believe, and into the heart of a creative genius, who inspired generations of children with compassion and limitless imagination.
“Morgan once again avoids making a traditional biodoc and instead takes us behind the curtain to see how Fred Rogers navigated the cultural and social issues of the second half of the twentieth century with his own brand of forward-thinking, compassionate wisdom far beyond his time,” commented Focus chairman Peter Kujawski. “Mister Rogers makes us all want to be better people, and we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of telling his story today.”
“The Fred Rogers I discovered making this film is at once comfortably familiar and completely surprising. I believe Mister Rogers is the kind of voice we need to hear right now,” said director Morgan Neville. “I am thrilled to work with Focus Features on taking this film out into the world, along with my collaborators at Impact Partners and Independent Lens.”
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2017 Gotham Awards- CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Wins Best Feature, STRONG ISLAND Wins Best Documentary
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Call Me By Your Name[/caption]
The Gotham Awards officially signaled the kick-off to the film awards season last night and Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino, was one of the night’s top winners grabbing two awards – Best Feature, and Breakthrough Actor award for twenty one year old Timothee Chalamet.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out took home the most awards of the night – three awards – including Best Director, Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award, and Best Screenplay.
Best Feature
Call Me by Your Name
Best Documentary
Strong Island
Best Actor
James Franco in The Disaster Artist
Best Actress
Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
Atlanta
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Jordan Peele for Get Out
Breakthrough Actor
Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes
Best Screenplay
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance
Mudbound: presented to Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks
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Ava DuVernay to Receive the Industry Visionary Award at 2018 American Black Film Festival Honors
American Black Film Festival Honors will return to the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 25, 2018, with actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer as host. The awards show, created by American Black Film Festival founder Jeff Friday, celebrates individuals of African descent who have made distinguished contributions to American culture through their work, and salutes the year’s best movies and television shows.
In addition to recognizing the top television shows and films of the year, director and producer Ava DuVernay will be presented with the 2018 ABFF Honors Industry Visionary Award.
Winner of four Emmys, the Peabody Award and the BAFTA for Best Documentary, Ava DuVernay’s Academy Award nominated “13th” was one of the most critically-acclaimed films of 2016. Previously, DuVernay directed the award-winning historical drama, “Selma,” which garnered four Golden Globe nominations and two Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Her current directorial work includes the ratings sensation “Queen Sugar” and the upcoming Disney fantasy epic, “A Wrinkle in Time.”
In 2017, she was named one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 Greatest World Leaders. A graduate of UCLA, DuVernay is the founder of ARRAY, a grassroots distribution and advocacy collective dedicated to the amplification of films by people of color and women, which was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.
Ava DuVernay will join an illustrious list of past ABFF Honors celebrants, including actors Denzel Washington, Regina King, Don Cheadle, Diahann Carroll, Queen Latifah, Issa Rae, Terrence Howard and filmmakers and producers Ryan Coogler, F. Gary Gray and Will Packer.
“I am thrilled to honor Ava DuVernay. She is the embodiment of the importance of inclusion in Hollywood and deserves recognition as a creative force, as well as a forward-thinking leader in our industry. I’m equally excited to have the incomparable Cedric the Entertainer at the helm of what will be an enlightening and entertaining show,” says Jeff Friday, ABFF Ventures CEO.
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Women Filmmakers to Shine at 2017 Whistler Film Festival

BECOMING BURLESQUE The Whistler Film Festival will present an unprecedented number of female focused films, talent, events, and awards throughout its 2017 programs.
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Alex de Ronde’s DEAF CHILD Wins IDFA Audience Award
Deaf Child by Alex de Ronde has been voted the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award – the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam’s big audience prize.
Director Alex de Ronde was presented with the VPRO IDFA Audience Award (€ 5,000) by Chairman of the IDFA Board Derk Sauer during the VPRO broadcast Best of IDFA: Audience Award 2017, presented by Marijn Frank.
In Deaf Child, a father looks back over his life, prompted by old photographs, home movies and frank discussions with his two sons, now young adults, and evaluates the choices he has made. Was his fear that his deaf son would live an isolated life justified?
The winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award is decided by the audiences voting at the end of each screening, using ballot cards to express their opinion of the film.

The Kindergarten Teacher[/caption]
The 2018 Sundance Film Festival returns to Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, from January 18 to 28, and today announced the feature films lineup showcasing bold, independent storytelling.
For the 2018 Festival, 110 feature-length films were selected, representing 29 countries and 47 first-time filmmakers, including 30 in competition.These films were selected from 13,468 submissions including 3,901 feature-length films and 8,740 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 1,799 were from the U.S. and 2,102 were international. One-hundred feature films at the Festival will be world premieres
Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “The work of independent storytellers can challenge and possibly change culture, illuminating our world’s imperfections and possibilities. This year’s Festival is full of artfully-told stories that provoke thought, drive empathy and allow the audience to connect, in deeply personal ways, to the universal human experience.”
Lady Bird[/caption]
The National Board of Review today named THE POST as Best Film of the Year, Greta Gerwig as Best Director of the Year for