• Award Winning BLOOD STRIPE, Indie Drama on Combat Female Soldier, Gets Release Date | Trailer

    Blood Stripe Blood Stripe explores a character that is relatively new to both U.S. policy and to movies – a fully-combat-participatory female soldier.  The film, directed by Remy Auberjonois, and winner of the U.S. Fiction Prize at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival will open in New York on September 29, 2017, and in Los Angeles on October 13, 2017. Our Sergeant (Kate Nowlin) returns home to a small town after a third tour with the Marines in Afghanistan. Unable to sleep and wracked by anxiety, it is clear that in addition to the scars she bears on her torso, Our Sergeant carries unseen wounds. When a homecoming party provokes her into an explosive outburst, Our Sergeant has nowhere to turn, and so she runs… deep into the North Woods. Discovering a picturesque summer camp on the shores of a lake, Our Sergeant seeks refuge and solace. But she cannot outrun her own heart of darkness and the pristine wilderness becomes fraught with peril. Blood Stripe explores a character that is relatively new to both U.S. policy and to movies – a fully-combat-participatory female soldier. Co-filmmakers Remy Auberjonois and Kate Nowlin (the pair co-wrote the film, while Auberjonois directed and Nowlin stars) deftly feminize the warrior archetype while building the story to an emotional crescendo, reminding us of how little we understand post-traumatic stress beyond its definition. It is both an unusual and universal portrait of trauma and war’s cost to the individual and society. Blood Stripe poster The film received the U.S. Best Fiction Feature Film Award at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival. Additional accolades include: The Audience Award at the 2016 Austin Film Festival, The John Schlesinger Award for First-Time Filmmaker at the 2016 Provincetown International Film Festival, and both the Audience Award and the Indie Vision Breakthrough Performance Award at the 2016 Twin Cities Film Festival. Blood Stripe is directed by Remy Auberjonois and co-written by Kate Nowlin and Auberjonois. Starring Kate Nowlin, Tom Lipinski, Chris Sullivan, Rusty Schwimmer, Ashlie Atkinson, Ken Marks, and Rene Auberjonois. Produced by Schuyler Weiss, Julie Christeas, Remy Auberjonois, and Kate Nowlin. Executive Producers are G. Mac Brown, Stephanie Dillon and Biz Stone. Co-EP is Christopher Conover. With Radium Cheung as director of Photography.

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  • Calgary International Film Festival Reveals 68 Short Films on 2017 Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_24135" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]WICKED GIRL (Kötü Kiz) WICKED GIRL (Kötü Kiz)[/caption] 68 shorts films will be screened across eight different shorts programs, and play before features at this year’s 2017 Calgary International Film Festival. The 11 Alberta short films selected this year will vie for a $2,500 cash prize for the Best Alberta Short. The festival has also added a new Audience Award for the Favorite Alberta Short. The Calgary International Film Festival is an Oscar-qualifying event for short films. The recipient of Calgary Film’s annual Best of Shorts Award is eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards, without the standard theatrical run that a film typically needs to qualify for an Oscar nomination.

    2017 Calgary International Film Festival Shorts Programs

    (1) INTERSPECIES AND INTERGALACTIC

    ANIMAL (Heyvan) – Iran – 15 min – Bahman Ark / Bahram Ark A man becomes a beast in an attempt to cross a border. This deftly crafted Iranian student short questions a man’s worth within a flawed human system. THE NOISE OF LICKING (A Nyalintás Nesze) – Hungary – 9 min – Nadja Andrasev Every day, a cat watches a woman taking care of her exotic plants, but their voyeuristic ritual comes to an end when the cat disappears. The next spring a peculiar man pays her a visit. ANNA & THE ASTEROID – United States – 25 min – Scott Sherman Your classic “girl-loves-boy, boy-loves-girl, four-mile-wide talking asteroid also loves girl” story. When you only see the woman you love every 17 years, annihilating her and everyone she knows is sometimes on the table. LABORATORY CONDITIONS – United States – 16 min – jocelyn stamat A physician’s investigation into a missing body leads to the discovery of an unlawful experiment. Marisa Tomei and Minnie Driver square off in a battle about death and what lies beyond. PILLOW TALK – United States – 10 min – Tony Yacenda Rapper Lil Dicky’s post-sex conversation covers vegetarianism, aliens, dinosaurs, God as played by John C Reilly, and whether it is possible to compare fruit, among many other topics. SPIRITUS LEPUS – Sweden – 20 min – Kristofer Kiggs Carlsson Six rabbit-humanoid surgeons obsessed with the human spirit operate on a damaged soul in a grimy room hidden within a mythical forest. SEA MONSTER – Canada – 15 min – Dan Rocque / Kassandra Tomczyk Aria’s monstrous pain has become too much to digest, lurking in the depths of her subconsciousness until now. In a seaside motel, she transmutes trauma into empowerment.

    (2) FRAME BY FRAME

    THE LEGEND OF THE BUNNY PHANTOM – Canada – 5 min – Simon Chan / Vinson Chan In a race against time to save his city from imminent destruction, the Bunny Phantom must face his greatest challenge, Turtler. AMALIMBO – Estonia/Sweden – 15 min – Juan Pablo Libossart When a young girl’s father dies, her grief takes the form of a surreal limbo state in this beautiful and surreal short. NIGHTHAWK (Nocna Ptica) – Croatia/Slovenia – 8 min – pela Cadež A badger lies motionless on a road, and when a police patrol approaches, they soon realize that the animal is not dead; but dead drunk. A surreal cutout animation and multiple award-winner about the experience of drunk driving. UGLY – Germany – 11 min – Nikita Diakur / Redbear Easterman An ugly cat struggles to coexist in a fragmented and broken world, eventually finding a soulmate in a mystical chief. Inspired by the internet story ‘Ugly the Cat’. THE OGRE (L’ogre) – France – 9 min – Laurène Braibant An insecure giant politely holds back his appetite at a business banquet, in this colourful gluttonous fantasy of huge portions. POLES APART – United Kingdom – 11 min – Paloma Baeza In a harsh Arctic landscape, a hungry and solitary polar bear (voice by Helena Bonham Carter) has to decide if a naïve Canadian grizzly bear is her food or her friend. WICKED GIRL (Kötü Kiz) – France/Turkey – 8 min – AYCE KARTAL Expressed in exquisitely drawn line animation, this Annecy Award-winning short captures the free-flowing imagination of an eight-year old Turkish girl. Her seemingly carefree memories build to a darker picture of time spent at her grandparents’ village. AMONG THE BLACK WAVES (Sredi Chernyh Voln) – Russia – 11 min – Anna Budanova This stark and beautifully crafted award-winning animation is based on an ancient northern legend in which the souls of the drowned people turn into sea animals. When a hunter takes seal-girl’s skin, she can’t turn back into an animal – she becomes his wife, but still longs for the sea. SKIN FOR SKIN – Canada – 15 min – Carol Beecher / Kevin D.A. Kurytnik A visually stunning dark allegory of greed and spiritual reckoning, set during the early days of the fur trade. In man’s brutal world of profit and loss, animals are slaughtered to the brink of extinction, until the forces of nature exact their own terrible price.

    (3) REAL LIFE, REALIZED

    SEVEN DATES WITH DEATH – United States – 11 min – Mike Holland The story of Moreese Bickham, the oldest living survivor of Death Row in the United States. Committed to Death Row for the murders of two clansmen, Bickham’s story is one of justice, that captures a humble man’s inspirational view on life following almost four decades in prison. THE COLLECTION – United States – 11 min – Adam Roffman A joyous portrait of two women who discovered a unique collection of movie memorabilia, comprised of over 40,000 printer blocks and 20,000 printer plates used to create the original newspaper advertisements for virtually every movie released in the United States from the silent period through 1984. LOST HORIZONS: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF GEORGE WEBBER – Canada – 18 min – Laura O’Grady Internationally renowned Canadian photographer George Webber delves into the little-known lives and stories of vanishing Western prairie towns. Returning to the same areas over several decades, Webber has created a remarkable black and white archive of Canada’s changing landscapes. AFTER LIFE – New Zealand – 15 min – Prisca Bouchet and Nick Mayow A compelling glimpse inside a New Zealand funeral home – a place where the daily work deals with our deepest fear. UMBRELLA – United States – 15 min – Rhys Ernst Four transgender individuals share their struggles for identity, validity and equality. Whether serving their country’s military, building successful businesses or advocating for policy advancements, they push for representation. VOICES OF KIDNAPPING (Voces Del Secuestro) – Canada – 14 min – Ryan McKenna Family members of kidnapping victims being held deep in the Amazon jungle attempt to reach them by submitting messages to a radio program that has served this purpose for more than 20 years. STATE OF (THE) ART – Canada – 20 min – Chris Dowsett Four Calgary-based artists (Mandy Stobo, Curtis Van Charles, Katie Green and Daniel J. Kirk), share their outlook on emerging technology and how it influences the creation of art, finding a balance between an analog mind and a digital skillset.

    (4) PROS AND CONSEQUENCES

    FRY DAY – United States – 16 min – Laura Moss In January 1989, Ted Bundy is set to be executed in Florida. As crowds gather for the last night in the life of America’s handsome nightmare, an adolescent girl comes of age. BALLET JAZZ – Canada – 16 min – Maxime Robin Two wannabe ballerinas share a dream: to dance in the musical Cats on Broadway. But every great adventure ultimately has bumps along the road. When a trip to New York goes awry, the ambitious dancers must use all their creativity to make curtain-up. LES MISERABLES – France – 15 min – Ladj Ly A new cop learns abusive policing practices while shadowing two veterans. When a young boy records them going too far, the community threatens to explode. ONE WEEK IN APRIL – United States – 9 min – Matthew Palmer On average, in America, a toddler shoots him or herself or someone else once a week. Some weeks are different. In April 2016, four American toddlers accidentally shot and killed themselves over the course of six days. DEAD COOL – United Kingdom – 19 min – Simon Ross Romance is in the air as Maurice hosts a dinner party for new friends, but when the police show up for a routine search, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems. DOLLAR KING – United States – 15 min – Andrew Pollins Three incompetent robbers attempt to hold up the Dollar King on Halloween. As the heist goes horribly wrong around them, the boys are ultimately confronted with a choice: accept the status quo they’ve been stuck in since high school, or finally make a change. DEKALB ELEMENTARY – United States – 20 min – Reed Van Dyk This multiple award-winner was inspired by a 911 call placed during a school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia.

    (5) ROCK BOTTOM BLUES

    BREATHING THROUGH A STRAW – Canada – 18 min – Leigh Rivenbark A closeted gay man discovers an internet craze that might provide relief to his despair. A surprising text message puts him on a path of reflection, discovery and redemption. MORNING HAS BROKEN (Kobieta Budzi Sie Rano) – Poland – 15 min – Olga Chajdas The morning after a woman stabs her husband and drowns her daughter, she starts her daily routine. CANCEL THE F—ING INTERNET – Canada – 12 min – Ryan Kayet Gerald is a ruthless retention agent at an internet provider who does not hesitate to leverage his knowledge of Dan’s browsing history to meet his quotas. CONSUME – Canada – 18 min – Michael Peterson A residential school survivor struggles to feed his family and protect his ancestral land as he fights against the evil impulses of the wendigo spirit that wants to bring about his destruction. THE CEILING (Katto) – Finland – 14 min – Teppo Airaksinen A middle-aged man on the brink of divorce finds the ceiling of his cabin is becoming as restrictive as his mental state. An old friend may have the solution in this recipient of Special Jury Distinction at Cannes 2017. INDIAN GIVER – Canada – 10 min – Trevor Solway After a 15 year absence, a deadbeat dad goes on a journey to win back his lady’s heart, with a prized jingle dress. RETOUCH – Iran – 19 min – Kaveh Mazaheri When an accident puts Maryam’s husband between life and death she must make a decision that will forever alter her reality.

    (6) FAMILY FIRST

    UPSET BODY (Corps Contrarié) – Canada – 20 min – Delphine Le Courtois A young, independent woman believes she is in control of her life. Unexpected news changes her outlook and forces her to make difficult decisions THE LICENSE (Die Lizenz) – Germany – 10 min – Nora Fingscheidt Adam and Ella’s application for a license to procreate is in the final stages of review. The only thing standing in their way is the bureaucratic license clerk, and a spot-on performance. FRIGID – Canada – 14 min – Joe Kicak In the blurry, exhausting first days of motherhood, a woman’s maternal instincts sense a sinister threat to her newborn in her own home. THE CAMERAMAN – Canada – 16 min – Connor Gaston Filmmaker Connor Gaston adapts his father’s novel in a story of two brothers coming to terms with their abusive father who suffers from Huntington’s Disease. The youngest brother Ed records their dysfunctional lives with his Super 8 camera. LUNCH TIME – Iran – 15 min – Alireza Ghasemi In the wake of her mother’s death, a 16-year-old girl from a crime-ridden family with no legal guardian must identify the body. THROUGH THE SUPERMARKET IN FIVE EASY PIECES – Finland – 8 min – Anna-Maria Joakimsdottir-Hutri Parenthood is an elaborate dance, as a family tries to manage the weekly grocery shopping without disintegrating. A GENTLE NIGHT – China – 15 min – Qiu Yang A mother’s guilt spurs her to keep searching the night for her missing daughter. This taut and deceptively quiet drama from China was awarded the Cannes 2017 Short Film Palme d’Or. BONBONé – Lebanon/Palestine – 15 min – Rakan Mayasi A Palestinian couple reunites during a visit to the Israeli jail where the husband is held. The journey is far, dangerous, and infrequent, and the bold couple is determined to make the most of their visit.

    (7) SMALL VICTORIES

    BIRD – Canada – 11 min – Molly Parker When Sam, a woman mired in regret, goes to visit her aged parents, the disappearance of her mother’s pet bird threatens to unravel her tenuous hold on life. The nuanced and poetic directorial debut of Canadian actress Molly Parker (HOUSE OF CARDS). GLAMOROUS GLADYS – Canada – 11 min – Michal Lavi and Berkley Brady 93-year-old Gladys has an unfailing passion for music, and her life has been a consummate performance. An eternal optimist, her story is a testament to the indefatigable spirit of life. FACING MECCA – Switzerland – 25 min – Jan-Eric Mack In this poetic, multiple award winner from Palm Springs ShortsFest, a retiree comes to a Syrian refugee’s assistance when he is faced with the burial of his wife. Together they navigate bureaucracy and misconceptions in their small Swiss town. CALGARY “UGLY” – Canada – 13 min – Guillaume Carlier Calgary painter Chris Flodberg sees beauty in banality. Paintings of the often ugly city he calls home feature landscapes of pavement, desolation, and abstract inspiration. 40 WINTERS – Canada – 11 min – Simon Donato / Drew Goldsack In this exquisite Alberta short set in the iconic landscape of Banff National Park, three adventurers attempt to post the fastest time for a traverse of 11 peaks on Mt. Rundle’s ridge in a single winter’s day. It features interviews from mountain legends like Chic Scott, Charlie Lock, Will Gadd and Jack Firth, and breathtaking landscapes from our own backyard. RUBY FULL OF SHIT (Ruby Pleine De Marde) – Canada – 18 min – Jean-Guillaume Bastien Denis finds himself spending Christmas dinner with his lover Carl’s fiercely Catholic and traditional family. The family is completely unaware of their relationship, except for Ruby – a spoiled six-year-old. FIX AND RELEASE – Canada – 15 min – Scott Dobson An Ontario turtle trauma centre fights for the survival of turtles facing habitat loss and motorized vehicles. This visually stunning film shows turtles in a way that few have seen before, and how the centre is working to save the world one turtle at a time.

    (8) LOVERS IN A DIFFERENT TIME

    STATE OF EMERGENCY MOTHERFUCKER! – Belgium – 5 min – Sébastien Petretti In a society where police violence has become routine and banal, two young men focus on what’s really important – screwing on Valentine’s Day. NO DROWNING – France – 17 min – Mélanie Laleu In a pay-per-use future, it might just be love when a stripper mermaid and a thieving diver meet. TIME IS A PLACE – United States – 8 min – Tim Nackashi Katie loves Daniel, a man she’s never met. A surreal story of finding the love of your dreams. MEMENTO MORI – United Kingdom – 19 min – Scott James Bassett A blind dinner date takes an unexpected turn in this dark comedy about the notion of “til death do us part”. Featuring Joel Fry from GAME OF THRONES. STANDBY – Canada – 16 min – Daumoun Khakpour and Travis Pulchinski A man hopes smuggling his wife inside his luggage will lead to a better life. When the luggage does not arrive, his journey takes a detour to the surreal. #SELFIE – Germany – 7 min – David M. A boyfriend obsessed with selfies curates a picture-perfect online relationship while on vacation with his girlfriend in Berlin. Outside the lens, not everything is as it seems. COMPANIONSHIP – Canada – 16 min – Alex Loubert / Zach Ramelan A frustrated career woman tries a new dating app that promises the perfect match. But a perfect passionate relationship is a hard thing to manufacture. TRY A LITTLE TENDERNSA – United Kingdom – 10 min – Michelle Craig Marion is looking for love in all the analog places. She believes in the old-fashioned method – a mix of desperation, drastic measures, and dating without an online profile.

    SHORTS BEFORE FEATURES

    EINSTEIN-ROSEN – Spain – 9 min – Olga Osorio It’s the summer of 1982, and Teo claims he has found a wormhole. His brother Óscar does not believe him… at least, not for now. ICONOCLAST – United States – 5 min – Alex Haney In this magical realist take on coming out, a teen must navigate the intersectional identities of being African-American, Jewish, and gay. IMEDIUM – Spain – 6 min – ALFONSO GARCÍA iMedium is an app that connects you directly with dead people. What it reveals is not always comforting. MADRE BUENA, LA – Mexico/United Kingdom – 5 min – Sarah Clift A Mexican mother embarks on an epic journey through the countryside to find a Donald Trump pinata for her son’s birthday. PUNCHLINE – Switzerland – 8 min – Christophe M.Saber Two wannabe gangsters can’t decide on the coolest thing to say before shooting Michel. STORIES OF THE HIP: ONE NIGHT IN KINGSTON – Canada – 6 min – Braden Dragomir Three fans of the Tragically Hip take separate journeys to Kingston to be among the 30,000 there for the culmination of the band’s Man Machine Poem tour, a concert tuned into by almost 1/3 of Canadians. THE GOATMAN OF KANANASKIS – Canada – 8 min – Tristin Deveau A group of campers gather around the fire with scary stories about the legendary Goatman of Kananaskis. TRAIN TO PEACE (Zug Nach Peace) – Germany – 9 min – Jost Althoff / Jakob Weyde While travelling on a Berlin subway, a man’s recollections of his past in Iraq are drawn out by the sights and sounds around him.

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  • RACER AND THE JAILBIRD is Belgium’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    Michaël R Roskam's Racer and the Jailbird (Le Fidèle) Michaël R Roskam’s Racer and the Jailbird (Le Fidèle), has been selected as Belgium’s official candidate for the best foreign-language film at the 2018 Oscar. In Racer and the Jailbird, starring Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead, Our Souls at Night) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color), it’s love at first sight at a racing circuit when gangster Gino (‘Gigi’) meets Benedicte (‘Bibi’), a wealthy and fearless racing driver. Fierce and loyal, Gigi and Bibi fight for their love against fate, but also against reason and their own weaknesses. But how far can endurance be stretched? How far can they go to try and save what may already be lost? Michaël R Roskam’s was previously nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar for his feature debut Bullhead in 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onPQ8MnfZl4

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  • Can Ulkay’s AYLA is Turkey’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    Ayla: The Daughter of War Can Ulkay Can Ulkay’s debut feature Ayla: The Daughter of War has been selected as Turkey’s official candidate for the best foreign-language film at the 2018 Oscar. The film tells the story of a soldier (played by Ismail Hacioglu as the young soldier, and Cetin Tekindor as an older man) who risks his own life to save a young girl Ayla ( played by Kim Seol as a young girl and Lee Kyung-Jin as an older woman) he finds half-frozen and on the verge of death, smuggling her into his army base. Despite being unable to communicate with each other, the two form a strong bond. When the war ends and the soldier must return home, he cannot bear to abandon the girl but is forced to hand her over to an orphanage, hoping one day to be reunited with her. The pair were finally reunited 60 years later. The film is based on the true story of Korean War veteran Süleyman Astsubay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PELOIYaEiw

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  • World Premiere of THE CHARMER to Open New Directors of San Sebastian International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_24122" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]CHARMØREN / THE CHARMER MILAD ALAMI THE CHARMER (CHARMØREN ) MILAD ALAMI[/caption] The world premiere of  The Charmer (Charmøren) by Iranian director Milad Alami, will open the New Directors section of the San Sebastian International Film Festival.  The Charmer, his first feature, stars a young Iranian desperately trying to meet women who can secure his stay in Denmark. Other films added to the lineup include Daniel Kokotajlo (Manchester, UK), first feature film, Apostasy that follows a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses; and Village Rockstars, the second feature from Rima Das (Assam, India) starring a 10 year-old girl desperate to own a guitar. These three films join the list of thirteen films already announced from Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Chile, China, France, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan, and will compete for the New Directors-Kutxabank Award. The films in this section are also candidates for the EROSKI Youth Award, voted by a jury of a maximum of 300 students between the ages of 18 and 25 years. CHARMØREN / THE CHARMER MILAD ALAMI (DENMARK) Cast: Ardalan Esmaili, Soho Rezanejad, Susan Taslimi, Lars Brygmann OPENING NIGHT FILM Charmøren / The Charmer is an intense psychological drama about Esmail, a young Iranian man who is desperately trying to meet women who can secure his stay in Denmark. As time runs out, he falls in love and his past catches up with him. The film deals with themes of race, class, and the struggle for a better life. APOSTASY DANIEL KOKOTAJLO (UK) Cast: Siobhan Finneran, Molly Wright, Sacha Parkinson, Robert Emms As devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, sisters Alex and Luisa and their mother, Ivanna, are united in The Truth. Alex looks up to her confident older sister, while striving to follow in Ivanna’s footsteps as a ‘good Witness’. But when Luisa starts to question the advice of the Elders, she makes a life-altering transgression that threatens to expel her from the congregation. Unless Ivanna and Alex can persuade her to return, they must shun her completely. This challenge becomes more painful when their family is faced with another heartbreaking test of faith. Written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, a former Jehovah’s Witness, Apostasy provides rare insight into the complex nature of faith, family, duty and love. VILLAGE ROCKSTARS RIMA DAS (INDIA) Cast: Bhanita Das, Basanti Das Ten year-old Dhunu lives in a remote village in Assam, India, amidst raging deprivation. She is a free spirit, while her widowed mother struggles daily to put food on the table and raise her children. But this doesn’t prevent her from having dreams, like owning a guitar for the tiny band she wants to put together with some local boys, the ‘Village Rockstars’. Dhunu considers herself to be as capable as boys her age. When the boys eventually relinquish their dream, Dhunu refuses to give up on her ambition to own a guitar.

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  • New York Film Festival FREE Convergence Section will Feature VR, Augmented Reality Projects

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    [caption id="attachment_24118" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Reality Jockeys Reality Jockeys[/caption] The sixth edition of the highly anticipated FREE Convergence section of the 2017 New York Film Festival delves into the world of immersive storytelling via interactive experiences, featuring virtual reality, augmented reality, live labs and demos, and more. The Convergence section will include three Virtual Reality horror experiences from Dark Corner Studios, highlighted by the World Premiere of their terrifying project Night Night; Sanctuaries of Silence, which takes viewers virtually through Olympic National Park in search of the quietest place in North America; Reality Jockeys, where audience members collaborate with the creators to form their own immersive, surreal virtual worlds; Virtual Virtual Reality, which imagines the purpose of humans in a future run by machines; and Look But With Love, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s VR documentary series exploring the lives of Pakistani citizens. Complementing these experiential works is an exciting partnership with Lucasfilm to publicly present never-before-seen technology showcasing the future of Virtual Production, which harnesses the power of VR as a tool for filmmakers to compose shots, create virtual storyboards, and more. Its uses within the film community could be boundless, and creators of the technology will be on hand to participate in a conversation about its potential applications, followed by a demonstration allowing audiences to experience the system firsthand. As part of this, Convergence will also host a special workshop with handpicked industry creators, filmmakers, and cinematographers, allowing them to test out how it could be applied to their daily work. Other highlights of Convergence include the return of Gamescape, an exploration of narrative games and the artists who make them—which this year focuses on the comeback of Full Motion Video with a selection of new, playable work from a number of creators; and De-Escalation Room, a live lab with Columbia University’s Digital Storytelling Lab, where audiences will be allowed to take a peek into their process and actively participate in creating the group’s latest project, which tackles the negative behavior of social media. Convergence will take place Friday, September 29, 3-6pm, and Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1, from 12-6pm in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. All Convergence events are free and open to the public!

    2017 New York Film Festival Convergence

    VIRTUAL REALITY PROJECTS

    Dark Corner VR: Night Night, Mule, & Catatonic The team at Dark Corner Studios have made a name for themselves on 360-degree virtual reality projects that explore the boundaries of horror cinema by placing audiences in the center of thrilling—and often terrifying—scenarios. Convergence will feature the world premiere of their latest piece Night Night as well Dark Corner’s Mule and Catatonic. Night Night Guy Shelmerdine, USA, 7m World Premiere Night Night takes you from the safety of your childhood bed to a clown filled nightmare dreamscape. A Dark Corner Studios, MPC, and Unit Sofa production. Mule Guy Shelmerdine, USA, 6m A thrilling, emotional journey through the last moments of a man’s life. Choose your ending—do you want to be buried or cremated? A Dark Corner Studios production. Catatonic Guy Shelmerdine, USA, 5m This pioneering horror experience places you in the POV of a new patient as you are welcomed into a sinister psychiatric hospital. A Dark Corner Studios & Here Be Dragons production.

    Look But With Love – Episodes 1 & 2 Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, USA, 2017 Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and presented by WITHIN, this documentary series follows extraordinary people in Pakistan actively working to change their communities through causes they care deeply about. From a doctor in the slums of Karachi who has dedicated his life to providing free emergency care to children, to a courageous community of women in Nowshera, the epicenter of the terrorist insurgency, Look But With Love explores the lives of Pakistan’s most fearless and passionate citizens one story at a time. Audiences are invited to experience the first two episodes of this exciting project, “A Story of Women” and “A Story of Dance.” The documentary is produced by SOC Films and Here Be Dragons, and will be available on the WITHIN app. Reality Jockeys Virtual Reality Experience Vizor, Finland, 2017 At parties, DJs control the mood by selecting the music, and VJs set the ambience by displaying visuals on screens. With VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, the experience is more than that, as everything around you can be changed on the fly. Finnish visual artists Fthr and Lintu specialize in creating surreal worlds in real time while interacting with the audience. Using custom software (Vizor Patches) and a variety of materials, they guide you through a trip that starts from nothing and ends in a living, breathing virtual world. Each participant walks away with a personalized piece that is saved on the web and can be relived at home. Sanctuaries of Silence Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, USA, 2017 Virtual Reality Project One of the defining characteristics of virtual reality is its fully immersive nature: we gear up, covering our eyes and ears in order to briefly live another person’s story. In Loften and Vaughan-Lee’s piece, the story that we’re asked to experience is that of silence itself, as told through the unique perspective of acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. “Sanctuaries of Silence” invites its audience to join Hempton as he travels through Olympic National Park, one of the quietest places in North America, searching for a place not impacted by noise pollution—which is fast becoming as threatened as any endangered species. A New York Times Op-Docs production. Virtual Virtual Reality Tender Claws, USA, 2017 The brainchild of Tender Claws, the collective behind PRY (2015), Virtual Virtual Reality ponders humanity’s purpose in a future where our jobs have been co-opted by machines. Will we be little more than relics, reminders…even pets? Activitude, a Virtual Labor System, is here to help, creating an A.I. manager that’s a perfect match for your meaningfulness quotient. It’s Inception meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets The Wizard of Oz, only there is not just one wizard but a network of wizards living inside wizards, splitting themselves open like nesting dolls, pulling back infinite tiny curtains to reveal a churning multitude of unstable realities. VR and the Future of Virtual Production by Lucasfilm Demo and Talk Rachel Rose, Jose Perez and Nick Rasmussen From the depths of earth’s oceans to galaxies far, far away, VR allows us to be anyone, go anywhere, and see anything. Lucasfilm and its visual effects division, Industrial Light & Magic, have harnessed the power of this medium to create a new Virtual Production toolset, allowing filmmakers to build and scout a virtual set, manipulate props, puppeteer characters and vehicles, even compose shots to create virtual storyboards. It’s a game changing application that is easy to learn, allowing storytellers to focus on the elements that blend together to form great stories. The creators of the toolset will participate in a conversation about the development of the platform and its potential to impact the filmmaking process, followed on Saturday by a public demonstration that will allow audiences to experience the system first hand.

    EXPERIENCES AND TALKS

    Arilyn Augmented Reality Installation With Augmented Reality, which superimposes images, video, and other content onto our flesh and bone world, the line between the virtual and the real can blur to the point of being indistinguishable—with little more than a cell phone. Helsinki-based Arylin has created a number of installations and activations that leverage the power of AR to great effect: paintings that come to life and everyday objects that spawn interactive videos. A number of these pieces will be on display throughout the festival venues—simply download the Arilyn app to experience AR for yourself. Gamescape: The Revenge of Full Motion Video It’s 1983. You find yourself in an arcade in the ’burbs. Among the future classics—Galaga, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong—you find something different: Sega’s Astron Belt or Cinematronics’ Dragon’s Lair, games that eschewed pixelated sprites for video and vivid animation. Full Motion Video games were movies you could play—to a point: the technical execution left something to be desired. Games were unreliable, systems crashed, and FMV all but disappeared. But FMV is making a comeback as creators breathe new life into this 35-year-old form. The 2017 edition of Gamescape celebrates some of the best new FMV work and looks back on titles both famous and infamous from the golden age of the arcade. GameScape is co-curated by Clara Fernandez-Vara, of the NYU Game Lab. Featuring: Her Story (Sam Barlow, UK, 2015) Mind Trapped (Claire Carre, USA, 2017) Loop Record (Nicolai Troshinsky, Spain, 2017) PRY (Tender Claws, 2015) Cibele (Nina Freeman, 2016) Last Night (Dejobaan Games, 2018) De-Escalation Room: Live Lab with Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab Talk and Rapid Prototyping Session Presented by Lance Weiler Founded in 2014, Columbia University’s Digital Storytelling Lab was created to explore ways of telling stories that incorporate technology and disciplines from across the humanities. A champion of iterative, collaborative design, the DSL will pull back the curtain on its creative process during this special session, and invite the festival audience to become participants in developing the group’s next project, the De-Escalation Room. A collaboration with SAFELab, the De-Escalation Room aims to create an immersive storytelling space that reckons with the negative behaviors of social media, forcing its players to work together to defuse an otherwise dangerous situation.

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  • Ruben Östlund’s THE SQUARE is Sweden’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    The Square by Ruben Östlund Ruben Östlund’s The Square, 2017 Palme d’Or winner, has been selected as Sweden’s official entry for the 2018 Foreign Language Oscar category. Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West and Terry Notary star in the satirical drama set in the art world,  about an art museum chief curator whose plans to promote an exhibit spiral out of control. Christian is the respected curator of a contemporary art museum, a divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes. His next show is “The Square”, an installation which invites passersby to altruism, reminding them of their role as responsible fellow human beings. But sometimes, it is difficult to live up to your own ideals: Christian’s foolish response to the theft of his phone drags him into shameful situations. Meanwhile, the museum’s PR agency has created an unexpected campaign for ”The Square”. The response is overblown and sends Christian, as well as the museum, into an existential crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcmMYzyVt5Y This is Ruben Ostlund’s third time representing Sweden at the Oscars – Involuntary was the official submission in 2009, and he made the shortlist in 2014 with Force Majeure but was disappointedly not nominated. In response he made the YouTube video “Swedish director freaks out when he misses out on Oscar nomination.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYTWqLmnjt0

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  • Fatih Akin’s IN THE FADE is Germany’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    In the Fade (Aus dem Nichts) Fatih Akin’s In the Fade (Aus dem Nichts) will represent Germany as the country’s official submission for the 90th Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. In the film, Katja’s (played by Diane Kruger) life collapses after the death of her husband and son in a bomb attack. The police arrest two suspects: a young neo-Nazi couple. Katja wants justice – for her, there is no alternative. In the Fade world premiere in competition at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, where Diane Kruger won the award for Best Actress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKBqOE3WNu0

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  • 6 Films on Calgary International Film Festival Late Shows Series Lineup, ‘BITCH’ and More

    [caption id="attachment_24104" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]BITCH – Directed by Marianna Palka BITCH – Directed by Marianna Palka[/caption] The Late Shows Series, known for presenting the darker, creepier side of Calgary International Film Festival will feature six films at this year’s festival. “This year’s lineup is a mix of genres,” said Brenda Lieberman, the Calgary International Film Festival’s Programming Manager and Late Shows Programmer. “We’ll be screening everything from comedy to horror, crime, thriller, docu-drama, and just different levels of fun. These films all push boundaries in different ways, and we’re looking forward to unleashing them on our audience. Keep an eye on calgaryfilm.com for late additions too!”

    2017 Calgary International Film Festival Late Shows Series

    BITCH – Directed by Marianna Palka Lonely housewife Jill is transformed by her monotonous lifestyle in this strange tragic comedy from the United States. Actor Jason Ritter stars alongside Marianna Palka, who multitasks as screenwriter and director. BUCKOUT ROAD – Directed by Matthew Currie Holmes (previously featured in our Alberta announcement) The first feature for this Calgarian director pays homage to the midnight movies of the ’80s while still freshening up its genre. FAKE BLOOD – Directed by Rob Grant Co-produced by local Calgary Film alumnus Mike Peterson (director of the 2017 short film selection CONSUME) and directed by Vancouver’s Rob Grant FAKE BLOOD is a compelling film that blurs the line between fiction and reality. LOWLIFE – Directed by Ryan Prows Three unlikely criminal allies must unite to save a pregnant woman in this wacky violent dark comedy. This first time feature took home the Silver Prize Audience Award and a special jury mention from the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival. THE MISANDRISTS – Directed by Bruce LaBruce Directed by Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce (GERONTOPHILIA) this dark comedy was nominated for a Teddy for Best Feature Film at Berlinale and stars a cast of dynamic women, led by Susanne Sachße, Kita Updike, and Olivia Kundisch. TRAGEDY GIRLS – Directed by Tyler MacIntyre (previously featured in our Alberta announcement) In this dark satire from Alberta’s Tyler MacIntyre, two teen girls with a popular blog manipulate a local serial killer into doing their bidding.

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  • Former VP Al Gore and Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum to Be Honored at 2017 IFP Gotham Awards

    Former VP Al Gore and Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum Former Vice President Al Gore will receive the Humanitarian Tribute and Film Producer and Founder of Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum will receive the Industry Tribute at the 2017 IFP Gotham Awards.  The ceremony will be held on Monday, November 27, 2017, at Cipriani Wall Street, New York City. “We are thrilled to be presenting Vice President Al Gore with the Humanitarian Tribute and Jason Blum with the Industry Tribute” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. “Mr. Gore’s urgent message on the dangers of climate change has been heard and seen around the globe, motivating individuals, communities, businesses, and world leaders to take action, reminding us of the power of cinema and its ability to affect change. Jason Blum has shown the industry how creative and innovative models that support smart, original filmmakers- and produced with an economy of means –can be a potent force in connecting with audiences and achieving popular success.” The IFP Humanitarian Tribute recognizes an individual who, through cinema, has had a profound, transformative global impact.  Vice President Gore is the ideal recipient recognizing his decades of work on the climate crisis, most recently brought to the attention of audiences through his films Academy Award®-winner AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (2006) and AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER (2017).   The Industry Tribute is awarded each year to an individual whose unique vision, innovation and contributions have made a significant impact on the motion picture and television industry. Jason Blum has proven himself to be such by pioneering a new model of high-quality micro-budget films. As founder of the multi-media company, Blumhouse Productions, Blum has produced more than 70 films and as well as numerous television projects, making Blumhouse one of the most prolific production companies in the industry. Earlier this year, Blum expanded his television footprint by launching an indie TV Studio. Blum founded Blumhouse Productions, known for leading the “low budget” horror film genre in 2000. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, which was made for $15,000 and grossed nearly $200 million worldwide, launched the Blumhouse model and became the most profitable film of all time. In 2017 Blumhouse produced the blockbusters SPLIT from M. Night Shyamalan and GET OUT from Jordan Peele, which with combined budgets of less than $15 million, have already grossed more than $500 million worldwide.  In addition, Blumhouse has produced the highly profitable THE PURGE, INSIDIOUS, SINISTER and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchises which together have grossed more than $1.7 billion at the global box office. In addition to his staggering commercial success, Blum is an Academy Award®-nominated and two-time Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award® for producing WHIPLASH, won Emmys® for producing HBO’s The Normal Heart and The Jinx and two Peabody Awards for The Jinx and the documentary How to Dance in Ohio. In addition, Blum received the 2016 Producer of the Year Award at CinemaCon and was named to the TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people in 2017. Before launching Blumhouse, Blum served as Co-President of Acquisitions at Miramax.

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  • Actor Bill Pullman (THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN) to Receive Acting Award at Woodstock Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_20966" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Ballad of Lefty Brown Bill Pullman (THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN)[/caption] Actor Bill Pullman will receive the 2017 Excellence in Acting Award at the Woodstock Film Festival on Saturday October 14. Director Jared Moshe (The Ballad of Lefty Brown) will present Bill Pullman with the award In addition to receiving the award, the Woodstock Film Festival will screen The Ballad of Lefty Brown in which Bill Pullman gives a tour de force performance as the title character. Festival attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with Pullman, at the annual Actor’s Dialogue on Sunday, October 15. Bill Pullman commented that he was “Honored to be receiving the Excellence in Acting Award at this year’s Woodstock film festival. I am particularly looking forward to screening The Ballad of Lefty Brown at the Woodstock Film Festival in October – audiences there are ready for an unusually intimate Western that is the coming of age story of a sixty-something sidekick. It was shot in the fall in Montana, so we can see how it stacks up against the foliage colors in Woodstock – both so spectacular.” Bill Pullman’s versatile acting spans from dramatic roles to comedic roles. Pullman’s acting career also led him into the role of Clyde in Andrew and Alex Smith’s Walking Out, which recently screened as part of the Woodstock Film Festival’s summer screening series. “Bill Pullman is one of the finest and most versatile actors today,” said Woodstock Film Festival executive director Meira Blaustein. “His performance in The Ballad of Lefty Brown is absolutely outstanding. It is a privilege to recognize his diverse body of work at this year’s festival and we look forward to having him here with us this fall”.

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  • 2017 Whistler Film Festival Reveals First 15 Films, PRODIGALS, NOBODY FAMOUS and More

    [caption id="attachment_24091" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle[/caption] The 2017 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) taking place from November 29th to December 3rd, today offered a sneak peek including the first 15 confirmed films, plus industry and event programming highlights. WFF’s Director of Programming Paul Gratton had this to say about the 2017 lineup confirmed to date: “The Whistler Film Festival is a must-attend event for film fans, emerging filmmakers and anyone who cares about quality cinema. We continue to pursue our own unique festival niche by offering an impressive selection of films, featuring Oscar hopefuls and emerging talent, with a particular focus on female directors. Our Summit will complement our film programming by addressing key trends and opportunities facing the industry, and our Signature Series events will shine the spotlight on some of the top filmmakers of the day. While our final programming is far from complete, we will continue to build on the momentum established over our last few years, and are confident that this will be our best year ever. This year, we are particularly gratified to note the large number of alumni returning to Whistler with their new films. Toplining this year’s Canadian titles are the following World Premiere selections, some of which are eligible for WFF’s coveted Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature, featuring a $15,000 cash prize sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada, British Columbia PRODIGALS: After the success of After-Party at WFF 2013, BC director Michelle Ouellet returns with a searing drama about a man who revisits his home town for a trial, where an ex-girlfriend and a checkered past await him, with David Alpay and Sara Canning (I PUT A HIT ON YOU, 2014). THE MOMENT: Whistler is the perfect location to World Premiere BC filmmaker Darcy Turenne’s exhaustive and definitive history of dirt bike mountain racing that features breathtaking archival footage and stunt biking. SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING: Following 2013’s THREE NIGHT STAND, director Pat Kiely offers up another hilarious comedy about a family gathering for an unusual wedding in Montreal, featuring Kathleen Turner, Jessica Paré, Jacob Tierney, Wallace Shawn, Frances Fisher, Kevin Zegers and Luke Kirby. THE OTHER SIDE OF PORCUPINE LAKE: Director Julian Papas captures the unique camaraderie and DIY craziness on the set of Ingrid Veninger’s PORCUPINE LAKE. 8 MINUTES AHEAD: Director Ben Hoskyn’s first feature film shot in Vancouver and Hong Kong is about two brothers who have never met, but who fight over their late father’s business inheritance, even though they live in entirely different socioeconomic worlds and two very different cities. NOBODY FAMOUS: A scathing black comedy from director Sarah Rotella about the jealousies and competitiveness of aspiring actors, as one gets a great role while spending a friendly weekend at the cottage with other wannabes. Canadian Premieres include: THE LEARS: Award winning filmmaker Carl Bessai met producer Irwin Olian from NeoClassics Films during the Whistler Film Festival in 2016 and the result is this well acted drama about a dysfunctional family gathering around their aging, cantankerous architect dad (Bruce Dern) hoping to score some inheritance points as he is about to retire. Also featuring Sean Astin and Anthony Michael Hall. SANTA STOLE OUR DOG: A MERRY DOGGONE CHRISTMAS: Peterborough-born Bryan Michael Stoller is another master of the DIY school of filmmaking. Bryan moved to Hollywood many years ago, wrote the best-selling book “Filmmaking for Dummies”, and makes his own charming indie films, the last three of which have also starred his own pet dog. This one features Ed Asner as Santa, Eric Roberts and internet sensation Yvette Rachelle, who also serves as co-producer on the project. PAINLESS: Canadian actor Joey Klein gives a remarkable performance as a man who is incapable of feeling any pain, but spends his life seeking a scientific cure for his ailment. Directed by Jordan Horowitz. Other programming highlights confirmed for this year include: PORCUPINE LAKE: After the success of THE ANIMAL PROJECT in 2013 and the Borsos cinematography win for HE HATED PIGEONS in 2015, Ingrid Veninger returns to present her latest feature, a charming study of that special inexplicable best girlfriends forever bond that consumes many young women at the onset of puberty. THE PRODIGAL DAD: Vancouver based filmmaker Robert Wenzek’s first feature is a delightful character comedy about a young woman’s dad who shows up on her doorstep uninvited and becomes a hit with her friends, much to her embarrassment. A sort of Canadian Toni Erdmann. With Michelle Harrison and Mackenzie Gray. CARDINALS: Sheila McCarthy gives one of her finest screen performances as a self-described recovering alcoholic stalked by the son of a man she killed in a car accident. Directed by Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley, with Katie Boland and Noah Reid. MOBILE HOMES: Imogen Poots, Callum Turner and Callum Keith Rennie star in this dark drama about a directionless young mother, saddled with an eight year old son and a shiftless druggie boyfriend. A French co production directed by Vladimir de Fontenay. Poots is outstanding in the lead role. OCTAVIO IS DEAD: Sarah Gadon in a role that will surprise her fans, as she slowly discovers the secrets of her late father’s life, including his sexual predilections, which began to fascinate her. The latest gender bending provocation from director Sook-Yin Lee, with Rosanna Arquette. BECOMING BURLESQUE: A shy Muslim woman takes a great risk when she joins a local burlesque repertory company of extraordinary women on the burlesque stage. Featuring many real-life burlesque dancers and many exotic routines. Directed by Jackie English, with Shiva Negar and Pastel Supernova. TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE: A beautiful story about a romantic Dutch man who cycles to Italy and plants a field of tulips in the sweltering heat of Puglia. Co-produced by Don Carmody, directed by award winning Mike Van Diem and starring Giancarlo Giannini and Ksenia Solo. The full film lineup will be released on November 1.  

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