Ryota Nakano’s Her Love Boils Bathwater (湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛 / Yu o Wakasu Hodo no Atsui Ai) has been selected by Japan as the country’s submission in the foreign-language category at the 2018 Oscars.
The film stars Rie Miyazawa, Hana Sugisaki, Yukiko Shinohara, Taro Suruga, Aoi Ito, Tori Matsuzaka, Joe Odagiri
InHer Love Boils Bathwater, Futaba is a loving but strict single mother whose world is shaken when she discovers she has terminal cancer and has only a few months to live. Newly determined, she decides to use the brief amount of time she has left to bring back her husband, reopen their shut-down bathhouse, and set her teenage daughter on the path to independence. As she attempts to reconcile her splintered family before it is too late, long-repressed revelations rise to the surface.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYrbqO0d48-
HER LOVE BOILS BATHWATER is Japan’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Ryota Nakano’s Her Love Boils Bathwater (湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛 / Yu o Wakasu Hodo no Atsui Ai) has been selected by Japan as the country’s submission in the foreign-language category at the 2018 Oscars.
The film stars Rie Miyazawa, Hana Sugisaki, Yukiko Shinohara, Taro Suruga, Aoi Ito, Tori Matsuzaka, Joe Odagiri
InHer Love Boils Bathwater, Futaba is a loving but strict single mother whose world is shaken when she discovers she has terminal cancer and has only a few months to live. Newly determined, she decides to use the brief amount of time she has left to bring back her husband, reopen their shut-down bathhouse, and set her teenage daughter on the path to independence. As she attempts to reconcile her splintered family before it is too late, long-repressed revelations rise to the surface.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYrbqO0d48
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Spanish Actress Paz Vega to be Honored with Award at San Sebastian Film Festival
The second Jaeger-LeCoultre Prize to Latin Cinema, which honors an outstanding figure in Latin cinema at the San Sebastian Film Festival will be awarded to the Spanish actress Paz Vega. The award, in its inaugural edition, went to the actor, director and producer Gael García Bernal.
Acclaimed major international actress Paz Vega has starred in dozens of films in Europe, the USA and Latin America. After her debut role as Laura for six seasons of Siete vidas (Seven Lives, Telecinco), one of Spain’s longest running sitcoms, the Seville-born actress made her leap to the silver screen, attracting the attention of European audiences in 2001 on winning the Goya for Best New Actress and the prestigious Chopard Trophy for Female Revelation of the Year at the Cannes International Film Festival for her role as Lucía in Julio Medem’s Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucia). Also in 2001, Paz starred in Sólo mia (Only Mine) by Javier Balaguer and was nominated for yet another Goya, this time for Best Actress, marking a milestone in the history of the respected Spanish awards for being the first time an actress had been nominated twice for different roles at one edition.
In 2002, Paz appeared in Hable con ella (Talk to Her) by Pedro Almodóvar. The film received the Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, among others. In 2013, she repeated her collaboration with the celebrated Spanish director in Los amantes pasajeros (I’m So Excited). In 2003, she brought life to Vicente Aranda’s Carmen, based on the homonymous novel by Prosper Mérimée. Since Carmen, Paz has played several emblematic characters in European History, ranging from Saint Teresa of Avila in Teresa by Ray Loriga (2007) to Maria Callas in Olivier Dahan’s Grace, opening film of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and Mary of Hungary in Emperor (2017), opposite Adrien Brody.
After starring in the romantic comedy produced by Columbia Pictures, Di que sí (Say I Do, 2004), she caught the attention of James L. Brooks, who invited her to co-star in Spanglish opposite Adam Sandler as Flor, a role for which she won the Best New Actress Award from the Phoenix Film Critics Society. Since Spanglish, Paz Vega has been directed by acclaimed filmmakers such as Frank Miller, Danis Tanovic, Oliver Parker, Michelle Placido, and the Taviani brothers, having shared the bill with actors including Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Andie McDowell, Eva Mendes, Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Christopher Lee and Morgan Freeman, to name but a few. She also starred in Jada Pinkett Smith’s directorial debut, The Human Contract (2008), produced by Will Smith.
Paz Vega has performed in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. She recently appeared in the romantic comedies All Roads Lead to Rome, opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Claudia Cardinale, Big Time in Hollywood FL, alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Michael Madsen, produced by Ben Affleck, and Beautiful and Twisted opposite Candice Bergen and Rob Lowe, the last two for American TV. In 2016, Paz starred in the new comedy by the Mexican director Manolo Caro, La vida inmoral de la pareja ideal (The Immoral Life of the Ideal Couple), and was the Spanish voice of the campaign for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, alongside Uma Thurman and Juliette Binoche, who respectively provided the English and French voices. She also played the lead part in the 8-episode series for Spain’s hugely popular Telecinco channel, Perdóname (Forgive me).
Paz Vega has come back to Spain after fourteen years based in the United States. In spite of living in Los Angeles, Paz Vega has remained faithful to her Spanish and European roots. The region of Andalusia and the cities of Seville and Malaga have repeatedly recognized her tireless work to represent her native region and city all over the world. Paz Vega has received the Medal of Andalusia, the City of Seville Medal, the Province of Seville Gold Medal and, more recently, the Malaga Sur Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 edition of the Malaga Film Festival. She has also served as Jury Member at multiple international festivals, including the prestigious Orizzonti section at the Venice International Film Festival (2015).
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Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival Announces 2018 Dates + Call for Submissions
The 37th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) will return April 12 to 29, 2018, in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester, MN for 17 days of films, events, panels, and more. Produced by the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, this highly anticipated celebration of international independent cinema annually debuts more than 250 films to a large and diverse audience, and welcomes the attendance of more than 150 filmmakers from around the world.
Submissions are now open for all facets of MSPIFF, from short to feature length films, narratives and documentaries, music videos and animation. Creators are able to submit their feature-length and short films to 2018 MSPIFF through Withoutabox and FilmFreeway.
“For almost four decades, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival has given filmmakers from around the world a platform to present their short and feature films, and engage with enthusiastic audiences, instructors and members of the local, national and international filmmaking community,” said Susan Smoluchowski, Executive Director of the Film Society.
Featured programs include: Asian Frontiers, Childish, Cine Latino, Frame Forward (avant garde and experimental), Images of Africa, Midnight Sun (Nordic films), New American Visions, World Cinema. Shorts programs include Documentary and Narrative, Childish, Dark Out, Frame Forward, Music Videos and Nextwave, the Film Society’s youth cinema program.
In recognition of Minnesota’s filmmaking community, MSPIFF offers one complimentary submission per individual for projects that qualify as “Minnesota Made” and are submitted before the Late Deadline, November 15, 2017. Eligible “Minnesota Made” films submitted between November 16 – December 22, 2017 may request a 50% discounted entry. To qualify as “Minnesota Made”, a film’s director must be a current Minnesota resident OR a combined 50% or more of production and/or post-production must have taken place in Minnesota.
Films completed after January 1, 2017 are now being accepted for consideration. Submitters will be notified of their acceptance status on or around February 23, 2018.
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Duhok International Film Festival in Iraq will Present a Berlinale Spotlight: Berlinale Shorts
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Cidade Pequena (Small Town) by Diogo Costa Amarante[/caption]
For the first time, the Duhok International Film Festival (September 9 – 16, 2017) in Iraq will present a Berlinale Spotlight: Berlinale Shorts. Two short film programs were compiled for the Duhok International Film Festival by Maike Mia Höhne, curator of the Berlinale section Berlinale Shorts.
The programs will present films from the Berlinale Shorts competition of the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, including Cidade Pequena (Small Town) by Diogo Costa Amarante (Golden Bear for Best Short Film), Centauro (Centaur) by Nicolás Suárez (Honorable Mention), Martin Pleure (Martin Cries) by Jonathan Vinel and Everything by David OReilly.
Berlinale Spotlight program at the 5th Duhok International Film Festival:
Program I: UTOPIA UNPLUGGED
Centauro (Centaur) by Nicolás Suárez (Argentina), 14 min. – Honorable Mention 2017 Call of Cuteness by Brenda Lien (Germany), 4 min. The Boy from H2 by Helen Yanovsky (Israel / Palestine), 21 min. Altas Cidades de Ossadas (High Cities of Bone) by João Salaviza (Portugal), 19 min. Estás vendo coisas (You Are Seeing Things) by Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca (Brazil), 18 min. Everything by David OReilly (USA / Ireland), 11 min.Program II: FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN
Cidade Pequena (Small Town) by Diogo Costa Amarante (Portugal), 19 min. – Golden Bear for Best Short Film 2017 Oh Brother Octopus by Florian Kunert (Germany), 27 min. Martin Pleure (Martin Cries) by Jonathan Vinel (France), 16 min. Avant l’envol (Before the Flight) by Laurence Bonvin (Switzerland), 20 min. Fuera de Temporada (Out of Season) by Sabrina Campos (Argentina), 23 min. All films will be shown with English subtitles.
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VIDEO: Watch Breathtaking Magic of Fireworks in Trailer for BRIMSTONE & GLORY
Here is the trailer for Brimstone and Glory, a documentary about the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, in celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework makers.
The film directed by Viktor Jakovleski, will be released in theaters on October 27.
The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. In celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework makers, conflagrant revelry engulfs the town for ten days. Artisans show off their technical virtuosity, up-and-comers create their own rowdy, lofi combustibles, and dozens of teams build larger-than-life papier-mâché bulls to parade into the town square, adorned with fireworks that blow up in all directions. More than three quarters of Tultepec’s residents work in pyrotechnics, making the festival more than revelry for revelry’s sake. It is a celebration that anchors a way of life built around a generations-old, homegrown business of making fireworks by hand. For the people of Tultepec, the National Pyrotechnic Festival is explosive celebration, unrestrained delight and real peril. Plunging headlong into the fire, BRIMSTONE & GLORY honors the spirit of Tultepec’s community and celebrates celebration itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36iHKZmeH60
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THE CHRONICLES OF MELANIE is Latvia’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
The Chronicles of Melanie (Melanijas hronika) directed by Viestur Kairish, has been selected as Latvia’s official candidate for best foreign-language film for the 2018 Oscars.
The film “The Chronicles of Melanie” is based on the life story of Melānija Vanaga, a Latvian woman who managed to survive her deportation to Siberia. It is a truthful account of the miracle of human character, magnitude of the human spirit and the painful destinies, which were a part of the greatest tragedy facing the Latvian nation. It is the story of Latvian women who had to suffer and survive physically and emotionally in order for Latvia to live.
An early morning of 15 June 1941 in Soviet-occupied Latvia. The authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandrs, editor of a newspaper of independent Latvia, make them wake up their eight-year-old son Andrejs and get into a lorry. At the station, the men are separated from their families. On this day, the Soviets deported about 17,000 people from Latvia (the next wave of deportations came in March of 1949).
The deported are taken to Siberia in cattle cars. Melanie and her son first have to survive – the three-week long ride to the remote Tiukhtet village, the first months in the alien environment, famine and illness – and then to live. They have to make peace with the new life and accept it even though everything seems to have lost its point and reason. This drives some to the point of collapse, yet Melanie is aware of “only one string sounding and that string is hope.” She takes detailed notes that later becomes a weighty literary work about the 16 years spent in Siberia.
Out of her notes, Melānija Vanaga prepared a book of documentary prose Veļupes krastā, which was published in 1991, soon after Latvia regained independence. Later, it served as the concluding volume in Vanaga’s seven-book series “The Gathering of Souls” about the personal history of her family and entire Latvia.
For the entire period of her exile (1941–1957), Melānija writes letters to Aleksandrs without sending them and dedicates a handwritten family chronicle to her son Aleksandrs, for she herself no longer hopes to return to Latvia. In 1957, Melānija is freed. She goes to Riga where she finds out that Aleksandrs barely survived a year in the harsh environment to which he was sent. Melānija spends the rest of her life working as a cow herder.
To maintain hope, to preserve in oneself a person who is stronger than famine, cold, cruelty and even death and is capable of taking on responsibility for another person, to help others – such is the confirmation of Melānija Vanaga, her memories and also this film to the light in the world and in every one of us.
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REQUIEM FOR MRS. J is Serbia’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
The black comedy Requiem for Mrs. J (Rekvijem za gospodju J.) directed by Bojan Vuletić Mirjana has been selected by Serbia as its candidate for best foreign-language film in the 2018 Oscars.
The film, starring Mirjana Karanović (Mrs. J), Jovana Gavrilovic (Ana), Danica Nedeljkovic (Koviljka), and Vucic Perovic (Milanče) premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.
In Requiem for Mrs. J, Mrs. J. is a middle-aged widow living in a modest post-communist flat in Belgrade with her mother in law and two daughters. Jelena has had enough of life. Her husband died a year ago, and she feels tired and lonely – in spite of her two daughters and her mother-in-law who all share her flat. She has decided that, at the end of the week, on the anniversary of her husband’s death, she will commit suicide. She has a pistol ready for the job. But beforehand there are a number of things to sort out: she needs to return an armchair she borrowed from a neighbour and she has to terminate her life insurance policy. She also needs to get a mason to put her portrait photograph on her gravestone and renew her health insurance card. In order to do so, Jelena needs proof that she has been a salaried employee for the past twenty years. Gradually, this quiet, humble woman begins to realize that nothing’s simple in a country that’s constantly swinging back and forth between torment and transition. The authorities are unable to cope, Jelena’s former employers are now bankrupt and the remaining staff are just killing time. And the end of the week is drawing near.
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VIDEO: Watch First Greta Gerwig’s LADY BIRD Trailer Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf
Here is the first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird which had its world premiere over the Labor Day weekend at Telluride Film Festival. The film, starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith, will next screen at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and open in theaters on November 10.
In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird’s father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amidst a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo
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THE BAR, SUMMER 1993 Among Films in Made in Spain Showcase at San Sebastian International Film Festival
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THE BAR (EL BAR)[/caption]
Made in Spain, a showcase of Spanish films at the 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival will feature eleven films, including the latest works from acclaimed directors such as Álex de la Iglesia, Agustí Villaronga and Paco Plaza.
Among the debuts are Pieles, by Eduardo Casanova, which had its premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival; Estiu 1993 / Summer 1993, by Carla Simón, winner of Best First Film at the Berlinale and Gold Biznaga at the Malaga Festival, the first awards in a long list of accolades; Júlia ist, Silver Biznaga for Best Film and Best Directing at the Malaga Festival, the first film by Elena Martín, star of Las amigas de Ágata; No sé decir adios (Can’t Say Goodbye), by Lino Escalera, winner of four awards at the Malaga Festival, including Special Jury Prize; and La mano invisible (The Invisible Hand), first feature film by David Macián. The film, inspired in the novel of the same name by Isaac Rosa, premiered in Seville and was selected for the San Sebastian Human Rights Festival, among others.
Gabriel Velázquez participated in Zabaltegi in 2007 with Amateurs, with a screenplay penned by Blanca Torres. The two now present Análisis de sangre azul (Analysis of Blue Blood), selected for the Seville, Nantes, Barcelona and Toulouse festivals.
Demonios tus ojos (Sister of Mine), premiered at the Rotterdam Festival, is the third work from Pedro Aguilera. Both his debut, La influencia (The Influence), premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, and his second film, Naufragio (Wreckage), screened at San Sebastian.
Víctor García León, who competed in the Official Selection with Vete de mí (Silver Shell for Best Actor), will present Selfie, recipient of a Special Jury Mention and the Critics’ Award at Malaga.
Incerta glòria / Uncertain Glory is the latest film by Agustí Villaronga, who made his debut in San Sebastian with Tras el cristal (In a Glass Cage, Zabaltegi-New Directors, 1986) and has harvested two Best Actress Silver Shells at the Festival (with Pa negre /Black Bread and El rey de la Havana / The King of Havana).
El bar (The Bar), which premiered in Berlin, is the latest proposal from the filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia, who has participated in San Sebastian Festival’s Official Selection with several of his films, such as La comunidad (Common Wealth, Silver Shell for Carmen Maura), Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (Witching & Bitching) and Mi gran noche (My Big Night).
Paco Plaza, co-creator of the film REC with Jaume Balagueró, will present his latest genre movie, Verónica.
Made in Spain
ANÁLISIS DE SANGRE AZUL (ANALYSIS OF BLUE BLOOD) BLANCA TORRES, GABRIEL VELÁZQUEZ (SPAIN) Cast: Anders Lindstrom Análisis de sangre azul narrates the adventures of a British aristocrat who suffered a fall in the Pyrenees only to come round in a mental asylum early last century. The doctor in psychiatry Pedro Martínez records with his 16mm camera the progress of this man suffering from disorientation and memory loss. However, the doctor’s hidden intentions will drive him to take advantage of this “rare specimen’s” arrival to test his theories of evolution. DEMONIOS TUS OJOS (SISTER OF MINE) PEDRO AGUILERA (SPAIN – COLOMBIA) Cast: Julio Perillán, Ivana Baquero, Lucía Guerrero, Nicolás Coronado, Elisabet Gelabert, Juan Pablo Shuk One night, Oliver, a young film director living in Los Angeles, discovers on an erotic website that one of the stars of the explicit videos is his younger sister, Aurora. Surprised and bewildered, he decides to go to Madrid; it’s been years since he saw his family. Thus begins an obsessive search for answers, an intimate journey towards confusion and the truth of the image, a tale of domination and manipulation, of moral limits and the loss of vital and audiovisual innocence. EL BAR (THE BAR) ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA (SPAIN – ARGENTINA) Cast: Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi, Secun de la Rosa, Jaime Ordóñez, Terele Pávez, Joaquín Climent, Alejandro Awada Nine in the morning. A motley crew are having breakfast in a bar in the centre of Madrid. One of them is in a hurry; on his way out the door he’s shot in the head. No-one dares to help him. They’re trapped. ESTIU 1993 / SUMMER 1993 CARLA SIMÓN (SPAIN) Cast: Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusí, David Verdaguer In summer 1993 and following the death of her parents, 6 year-old Frida is taken from Barcelona to the Catalonian countryside. She lives with her aunt and uncle, her new legal guardians. Life in the country is a challenge for her – time passes differently in her new home and the surrounding nature is mysterious and distant. Now she has a younger sister to look after. She also has to deal with new feelings, like jealousy. The family works hard to achieve a fragile balance and bring normality to their lives. Occasionally they listen to jazz in the garden, go on family outings to a fiesta or to the swimming pool. These are happy times. Slowly, Frida starts realising she’s there to stay and must adapt to her new environment. Before summer ends, Frida will have to face up to herself. INCERTA GLÒRIA / UNCERTAIN GLORY AGUSTÍ VILLARONGA (SPAIN) Cast: Oriol Pla, Terele Pávez, Luisa Gavasa, Juan Diego, Marcel Borras, Núria Prims, Bruna Cusi The Aragon Front, 1937. Lluís, a young Republican officer sent to a temporarily inactive post, meets and falls for Carlana, an enigmatic widow. The girl convinces him to forge a document giving her the title of Lady of the region. Lluís’s best friend, Solèras, a demoted officer, discovers the fraud and, in exchange for keeping quiet about it, demands that he moves away from the Barcelona bombardments Trini, Lluís’s wife, with whom he is secretly in love, and her son. When Trini comes to the village, it won’t be long before she discovers Lluís’s betrayals as a ‘state of war’ settles in between the two, shaking all of their moral foundations. JÚLIA IST ELENA MARTÍN GIMENO (SPAIN) Cast: Elena Martín, Oriol Puig, Jakob D’Aprile, Laura Weissmahr, Carla Linares Júlia decides to go on Erasmus to Berlin. She will leave home for the first time, giving it little thought, launching herself into adventure. The city, cold and grey, will give her a frostier welcome than expected and she will face her expectations with reality: her existence will seem far removed from the new life she had dreamt of in the lecture rooms of Barcelona School of Architecture. LA MANO INVISIBLE (THE INVISIBLE HAND) DAVID MACIÁN (SPAIN) Cast: Josean Bengoetxea, Bárbara Santa-Cruz, Marta Larralde, Luis Callejo, José Luis Torrijo, Marina Salas, Daniel Pérez Prada, Edu Ferrés, Esther Ortega, Elisabet Gelabert, Bruto Pomeroy In an industrial building, eleven people are hired to go about their work in front of an audience: a bricklayer, a butcher, a seamstress, a telephone operator, a waiter, a message boy, a mechanic, a computer specialist and a cleaner. Artwork, reality show, macabre experiment: they don’t know what’s in store for them, or who is behind the hand that moves the strings of this perverse little puppet theatre. NO SÉ DECIR ADIÓS (CAN´T SAY GOODBYE) LINO ESCALERA (SPAIN) Cast: Nathalie Poza, Juan Diego, Lola Dueñas Carla gets a call from her sister: her father, with whom she fell out some time ago, is ill. That same day, Carla takes a flight to Almeria, to the home of her childhood. There, the doctors say that her father has only months to live. She refuses to accept the diagnosis and, against everyone’s opinion, decides to take him to Barcelona for treatment. The two embark on a journey to escape from a reality that neither dares to confront. And it will be in this flight that they will finally find one another and have the opportunity to say their goodbyes. PIELES (SKINS) EDUARDO CASANOVA (SPAIN) Cast: Macarena Gómez, Jon Kortajarena, Candela Peña, Carmen Machi, Ana Polvorosa, Secun de la Rosa, Joaquín Climent Physical appearance conditions us in regard to society, whether or not it is our choice. Pieles is the tale of physically diverse people whose differences have forced them to hide, shut themselves away or group together. Samantha, a woman with an inverted digestive system, Laura, a girl with no eyes, or Ana, a woman with a deformed face. Lonely people who struggle to find their place in a society that only understands one kind of physical appearance, and which excludes and mistreats those who don’t fit in. SELFIE VÍCTOR GARCÍA LEÓN (SPAIN) Cast: Santiago Alverú, Macarena Sanz, Javier Carramiñana, Pepe Ocio, Alicia Rubio, Clara Alvarado A government minister has just been arrested by the police, accused of corruption, embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and another eighteen money-related crimes. This is the tale of his son. The adventures of Bosco from the moment he is thrown out of his luxurious chalet in Moraleja until he approaches the Podemos HQ to ask for a job; his sentimental torment after his girlfriend of perfect teeth and lazy lip leaves him, until he is accepted by a blind social worker, educator in a school for the disabled; his miseries from the moment he is expelled from his exclusive Master in Directing until his fearful wanderings around the streets of the Lavapiés district. If this was a romantic comedy, Bosco would learn a lesson; life would teach him something… and finally there would be a ray of light, the hope of change. He would find the love of his life. Or perhaps renew his faith in humans. Or simply a new path… or some kind of love for animals. Something. Unfortunately, this is not a romantic comedy. VERÓNICA PACO PLAZA (SPAIN) Cast: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer, Iván Chavero, Consuelo Trujillo, Ana Torrent Madrid, the 90s. In the middle of the night, the police receive a call. Amid screams of terror, they hear children shouting out about the presence of strange phenomena in their flat, deep in a working-class district. Two days earlier, Verónica, their older sister, had used the Ouija board at school. Without realising it, she has just opened the door to something supernatural, inexplicable, which will move into her house over the next hours, becoming increasingly more incontrollable and, above all, very, very dangerous.
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TOM OF FINLAND is Finland’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
The biopic Tom of Finland directed by Dome Karukoski has been selected as Finland’s submission for best foreign film at the 2018 Oscars.
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Busan International Film Festival Creates ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ to Honor Late Founding Member
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival has established the ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ to honor the late Kim Ji-seok who passed away this year after devoting his whole life to discovering young Asian directors and supporting the growth of Asian cinema.
A founding member of the Busan International Film Festival, Kim Ji-seok suffered a fatal heart attack while attending the 2017 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Many Asian filmmakers call the late Kim Ji-seok, the Program Director of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), as the heart of Asian Cinema, and of BIFF. He was always sharing his life with BIFF as a founding member. He also contributed over 20 years to supporting young filmmakers in Asia, and took an essential role to establish BIFF as one of the world’s best film festivals. To follow his spirit and remember the festival identity as the hub of Asian cinema, BIFF launches the ‘Kim Jiseok Award’
The aim of the award is to discover and encourage Asian films, the ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ will be selected among films screening in A Window on Asian Cinema, a section that introduces films from the year’s most talented Asian filmmakers. Approximately 10 World Premieres in A Window on Asian Cinema will be selected as nominees and the jury members will select the final two films as the first ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ recipients. Each film will be awarded a cash prize of 10,000,000 Korean won (about 10,000 US dollars).
Jury members of ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ are Tony Rayns and Darcy Paquet, film critics who have a keen interest and contribute in the globalization of Asian cinema. Garin Nugroho, an acknowledged Indonesian director who has been invited to numerous renowned film festivals, will join the ‘Kim Jiseok Award’ jury as well. Three jurors will award outstanding films with distinct Asian characteristic.
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 12, 2017 to October 21, 2017.
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2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Reveals 2nd Wave of Films, Closes with THE BOOK OF BIRDIE
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The Book of Birdie[/caption]
The 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival will close with the North American premiere of the mesmerizing, all-female casted The Book of Birdie. First-time director Elizabeth E. Schuch impressively blends psychological horror, whimsical fantasy, and feminist ideals in one-of-a-kind The Book of Birdie. Shy and fragile teenager Birdie’s unusual hallucinations, dark obsessions and fascination with blood are triggered as she’s forced into a remote convent and faced with what her fate will be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRWQCoMj-A
Mayhem directed by Joe Lynch will make its New York premiere as the Centerpiece screening of the festival. Mayhem follows office scapegoat Derek Cho (played by The Walking Dead’sSteven Yeun) as he’s fired f rom his cozy legal job just as the dreaded rage-inducing “ID7 virus” quarantines the building. The twist? Thanks to Cho, all acts of violence committed while infected are instantly acquitted, making it the perfect battleground for revenge.
In addition, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival dropped its second wave two of films including, locals only showcase, shorts and more.
The Films
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Mayhem directed by Joe Lynch[/caption]
MAYHEM
USA | 2017 | 86 min | Dir. Joe Lynch
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Making its New York Premiere, MAYHEM follows office scapegoat Derek Cho (played by THE WALKING DEAD’s Steven Yeun) as he’s fired from his cozy legal job just as the dreaded rage-inducing “ID7 virus” quarantines the building. The twist? Thanks to Cho, all acts of violence committed while infected are instantly acquitted, making it the perfect battleground for revenge. Director Joe Lynch (WRONG TURN 2, EVERLY) delivers a fast-paced blend of corporate satire, corporeal brutality and heavy metal in this powerful new feature.
COLD HELL (DIE HÖLLE)
Germany | 2017 | 92 min | Dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky
EAST COAST PREMIERE
After witnessing a brutal murder from the window of her apartment, Turkish-born and taking-no-shit Ozge finds herself the next target of a calculated serial killer. Unfortunately for the killer, she has her own brand of viciousness on tap and is anything but a victim. An intelligent and live-wire cross between Italian Giallo and Jason Bourne, Oscar-winning director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s (THE COUNTERFEITERS) COLD HELL is a first-rate, action-packed genre-bender.
THE CRESCENT
Canada | 2017 | 99 min | Dir. Seth A. Smith
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Plagued by painful memories, a young, recently-widowed mother relocates to a remote town and does her best to overcome emotional trauma. But the town locals have their own plans for her and before long their strange, dark and ancient traditions turn her life into a waking nightmare. Visually ambitious and tonally hypnotic, Canadian filmmaker Seth A. Smith’s haunting THE CRESCENT casts a sneakily powerful spell.
INHERITANCE
USA | 2017 | 93 min | Dir. Tyler Savage
EAST COAST PREMIERE
A man learns of the death of his absentee biological father and inherits his 2.5 million dollar home in the aptly named INHERITANCE. While staying there with his pregnant fiancé, he begins to uncover horrible truths about his father that could destroy his life. Fantastic lead performances and a patient, sinister narrative make this one hell of an impressive debut for director Tyler Savage who will be in attendance.
RIFT (RÖKKUR)
Iceland | 2017 | 111 min | Dir. Erlingur Thoroddson
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Intrigued by an unexpected call, Gunnar heads to a remote outpost to reconnect with his ex-boyfriend Einar. Despite the happy reunion the two men can’t shake the feeling that someone, or something, is there—and has sinister plans. Elegant and assured, the subtly creepy RIFT is the audacious follow-up feature from Icelandic filmmaker Erlingur Thoroddsen, whose debut feature, CHILD EATER, world-premiered at BHFF 2016 as our closing night screening. Director Erlingur Thoroddson will be in attendance.
FASHIONISTA
USA | 2016 | 106 min | Dir. Simon Rumley
NEW YORK PREMIERE
British cinema provocateur Simon Rumley completes his unofficial Texas trilogy (after RED WHITE & BLUE and JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT’S LAST WORD) with a film that proves you can’t spell “distress” without “dress.” RED WHITE & BLUE’s Amanda Fuller is fascinating as April, a clothing-obsessed woman whose suspicions about her husband’s infidelity send her down a rabbit hole of dangerous, self-destructive behavior.
SALVATION (SALVACIÓN)
Spain | 2016 | 80 min | Dir. Denise Castro
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Stuck in a hospital waiting to undergo open heart surgery, Cris finds a reason to stay in another patient named Victor who claims to be a vampire. Surrounded by death, Cris must decide between immortality and leaving her future up to fate. Filled with moments of sadness and paralyzing dread, Salvation is a terrifying new entry in the vampire canon.
GAME OF DEATH
Canada / France | 2017 | 73 min | Dir. Baz Morais & Sebastien Landry
NEW YORK PREMIERE
For a group of party-crazy teens, it’s all about smoking, drinking and sex. But that goes to hell when they play a board game that requires human blood and whose uncontrollable countdowns lead to head explosions. Survival requires killing someone else. Bodies will drop and craniums will burst in this insanely gory and fun-as-hell, splatter feature by Canadian co-directors Sebastien Landry and Laurence Baz Morais.
TO HELL AND BACK: THE KANE HODDER STORY
USA | 2017 | 108 min | Dir. Derek Dennis Herbert
EAST COAST PREMIERE
The man behind two of horror’s greatest slashers, Jason Voorhees and the HATCHET franchise’s Victor Crowley, Kane Hodder has proven himself unbeatable when it comes to offing on-screen victims. But as it turns out he’s even more unbeatable in real life, having persevered through a painful childhood and a nearly fatal accident. Derek Dennis Herbert’s heartfelt documentary TO HELL AND BACK candidly reveals the heart and soul of a horror icon.
I REMEMBER YOU (ÉG MAN BIG)
Iceland | 2017 | 105 min | Dir. Oskar Thór Axelsson
US PREMIERE
While investigating the mysterious suicide of an old woman inside a local church, a psychiatrist learns that she was obsessed his young son’s disappearance. Meanwhile, across the bay, three friends discover that the house they’re restoring is haunted. How these two stories intersect is the ultimate gut punch of Icelandic filmmaker Óskar Thór Axelsson’s I REMEMBER YOU, a haunting and cerebral marriage of the procedural with the supernatural.
INCORPOREAL: A POPUP ART SHOW & VR SHOWCASE
The annual pre-fest art show will feature new artwork from Brooklyn-based artist Andrew Abbott, who’s this year’s poster designer. The critically acclaimed horror VR studio Dark Corner will be presenting two works from director Guy Shelmerdine; the clown-filled and nightmarish journey that is NIGHT NIGHT, and MULE, which sucks you into the last moments of a man’s life and the hellish fate that comes next.THE BK PARANORMAL SOCIETY PRESENTS: MIDNIGHT GHOST HUNT
Join the celebrated BK Paranormal Society as they lead festival goers on a candle-lit ghost hunt through the streets of Brooklyn and provide the tools and know-how needed to keep you safe from spirits and creatures of the night. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies presents THE TIME HAS COME TO TELL THE TALE: PETER STRAUB IN CONVERSATION with DOUGLAS E. WINTER Join us for this rare on-stage conversation between one of the world’s foremost horror authors, Peter Straub – who gave us JULIA, GHOST STORY, MR. X, KOKO and more, as well as collaborating with Stephen King on THE TALISMAN and BLACK HOUSE – as he talks about his writing career and the films that sprung from it with famed horror biographer and critic Douglas E. Winter. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a non-profit community-based curriculum through which established horror writers, directors, scholars and programmers/curators celebrate horror history and culture with a unique blend of enthusiasm and critical perspective.LOCALS ONLY SHOWCASE
This year’s spotlight on NYC-made horror headlined by a World Premiere screening of unadulterated grindhouse flick GET MY GUN! GET MY GUN USA | 2017 | 90 min | Dir. Brian Darwas WORLD PREMIERE BHFF is thrilled to present the World Premiere of Brian Darwas’ homegrown feature GET MY GUN. In line with such films as MS. 45 and INSIDE, GET MY GUN’s Amanda is left pregnant after being raped at work. When a crazed stalker becomes obsessed with her unborn child she is forced to evolve from prey to predator. Director Bryan Darwas and Writer/Producer Jennifer Carchietta in attendance.LOCALS ONLY SHORTS 2017
A NIGHTMARE WAKES Dir. Nora Unkel This proof of concept originally shown at Fantasia’s Frontières Market shares a haunting vision focused on Mary Shelley after a tragic miscarriage. RAZOR Dir. James Clay Jenkins Dark desires and devout religion collide for two sisters and a young priest in early 19th century New England. ARE YOU WILD LIKE ME Dir. Billy Nawrocki A string of missing person cases plagues a small New England town. Could they be related to the infant girl who disappeared in the woods nine years prior? FLUFFERNUTTER Dirs. Adam R. Brown, Kyle I. Kelley Twins Stephen and Clyde are forced to grow up fast “for their own good” in this bloody satirical yarn. IN HERE Dir. James Barton An unknown entity communicates to a girl through refrigerator magnets. SCORCH Dir. Robbie Lemieux Two young lovers think it’s a good idea to mess around with an occult object they’ve recently discovered. It’s a horrible idea. SLAPFACE Dir. Jeremiah Kipp Monsters come in many forms for a boy after the difficult loss of his mother. A TASTE FOR IT Dir. Oliver David An old woman has a strange experience in a parking garage. True WTF material. BEWARE, THE BEAST I WORSHIP Dir. Adam Chitayat A dog with ill intent leads a man through the color-soaked nighttime streets of New York City. RUBY Music Video / Dir. Richard Bates A young woman’s dreamy stroll through the woods is impeded when a sorcerer is allured by her moon necklace. The sorcerer summons an evil spirit from the land to follow the young woman and claim her soul bounded by the necklace.HEAD TRIP 2017: ALTERNATIVE SHORTS
A MOTHER OF MONSTERS Brazil / Dir. Julia Zanin de Paula Welcome to the Freak Show. Twisted and visually hypnotic, this Guy de Maupassant adaptation features a circus troupe with wicked intentions. COVER UP USA / Dir. Satya Bhabha She loves make-up to death. He loves her so. Alison Pill and Jason Ritter star. GREAT CHOICE USA / Dir. Robin Comisar A woman finds herself trapped within a Red Lobster commercial that just…won’t…stop. Carrie Coon stars. TASTE USA / Dir. Adrian Selkowitz All Claire wants to do is throw a fancy dinner party for her husband’s Hollywood power couple friends, hoping it’ll lead to her own cooking show. She just never expected that naked woman lying in her driveway, or what this woman’s past means for Claire’s big night. OTHERS LIKE YOU (ALTRE) Italy / Dir. Eugenio Villani Determined to become pregnant, Ester, having previously been ruled sterile, finally has success after sleeping around with random men. The news displeases Ester’s family doctor, Greta, who has a ghoulishly sinister plan in mind. THE SERVANT Iran / Dir. Farnoosh Abedi A silent and gorgeously animated tale of a bug servant who grows weary of his servitude. INK Canada / Dir. Ashlea Wessel Traumatized by a scarring pregnancy, an emotionally fragile woman seeks solace in covering her body with tattoos. After an alcohol-fueled bender, her worst fears come to pass. DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES (ÖPPNA INTE ÖGONEN) Sweden / Dir. Adrián García Bogliano & Andrea Quiroz Sisters reunite after a year apart. One is suddenly doing incredibly well for herself and it’s all because of a mysterious hypnotic vinyl record with extraordinary powers.NIGHTMARE FUEL 2017: SCARY HORROR SHORTS
AMY USA / Dir. L. Gustavo Cooper During an overwhelming heat wave, a nurse at a home for sick patients warns young resident Amy to stay inside her room. Unfortunately for her, Amy doesn’t listen. FEEDING TIME USA / Dir. Matt Mercer Filling in for her friend on a babysitting gig, Sasha is weirded out after a strange encounter with the child’s parents. Strange doesn’t even begin to describe the night she’s about to have. EARWORM USA / Dir. Tara Price Piercingly loud music continually disrupts a man’s sleep. He’ll wish he didn’t figure out the source of the music. FREDERIK REMEMBERS USA / Dirs. Ben Sottak & Steven Russel Old and senile, Frederik passes the time in solitude. A box of Nazi paraphernalia found inside his apartment is about to disrupt that. BESTIA Canada / Dirs. Gigi Saul Guerrero A man awakes to find himself alone by the frigid woods. Whatever ravaged his people is now stalking him. THE BABY’S CRYING UK / Dir. Bob Pipe It’s every parent’s burden: Answering the cries of a baby late at night. For this mommy and daddy pair, however, it’s more of a nightmare. FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… USA / Dir. Izzy Lee Unbeknownst to the woman involved, a man uploads a homemade sex tape. Upon making a pit stop inside a grungy public bathroom, he’ll receive his comeuppance. BIRTHDAY Italy / Dir. Alberto Viavattene Using her job to hawk prescription drugs and steal from patients, a young nurse goes about her delinquent ways inside an old folks’ home. In Room 12 however, three elderly sisters have a surprise waiting for her. iMEDIUM Spain / Dir. Alfonso García This frenetic techno-terror murder mystery imagines the day we have an app for speaking to the dead.