Ruben Ostlund’s art-world satire The Square will open this year’s ninth Santa Fe Independent Film Festival (SFIFF) on Wednesday October 18, 2017. “After first seeing it in Cannes, we are excited to present the New Mexico premiere of this fascinating picture to Santa Fe’s dedicated movie-going audience,” said Jacques Paisner, executive director.
SFIFF presents more than 300 hours of programming, the latest international and independent films, and one-of-a-kind interactive events over five (5) days of films including, Only the Brave, Becoming Who I Was, and the world premiere of Ol’ Max Evans: The First Thousand Years. John Sayles and Maggie Renzi will receive the SFIFF Lifetime Achievement Award, and John Waters will perform his live one-man show.
In The Square directed by Ruben Ostlund, 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. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Claes Bang, Dominic West, and Terry Notary-
Palm D’or Winner THE SQUARE to Open Santa Fe Independent Film Festival
Ruben Ostlund’s art-world satire The Square will open this year’s ninth Santa Fe Independent Film Festival (SFIFF) on Wednesday October 18, 2017. “After first seeing it in Cannes, we are excited to present the New Mexico premiere of this fascinating picture to Santa Fe’s dedicated movie-going audience,” said Jacques Paisner, executive director.
SFIFF presents more than 300 hours of programming, the latest international and independent films, and one-of-a-kind interactive events over five (5) days of films including, Only the Brave, Becoming Who I Was, and the world premiere of Ol’ Max Evans: The First Thousand Years. John Sayles and Maggie Renzi will receive the SFIFF Lifetime Achievement Award, and John Waters will perform his live one-man show.
In The Square directed by Ruben Ostlund, 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. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Claes Bang, Dominic West, and Terry Notary
-
VIDEO: Lena Olin Captivates in MAYA DARDEL Trailer + Film Sets Release Date
Here is the trailer for Maya Dardel, the story of poet and novelist, Maya Dardel, who announces she is going to kill herself and needs an heir and executor. Young male writers drive up the mountain to compete for the position. The film that world premiered at 2017 SXSW Film Festival, will open in theaters on October 27, 2017 in New York at Village East Cinema, on October 27. 2017 in Los Angeles at Laemmle Santa Monica. Additional cities nationwide to follow.
Maya Dardel is directed by Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak, and stars Lena Olin, Rosanna Arquette, Nathan Keyes, Alexander Koch, Jordan Gavaris and Chris Voss.
Maya Dardel depicts the final weeks leading to the ambiguous disappearance of Maya Dardel (Olin), an internationally respected poet and novelist, who lived until 2016 in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. Maya announces on National Public Radio that she intends to end her life and that young male writers may compete to become the executor of her estate. They are challenged intellectually, emotionally, erotically, until one of them begins to fathom Maya’s end game.
-
Insightful and Funny Docu Film TAKE MY NOSE… PLEASE! Sets Release Date | Trailer
The insightful and funny Take My Nose… Please! by Joan Kron goes in depth with a comedic take from the top female comedians on the subject of women and plastic surgery and their career as artists. Interviews, clips and commentary from some of our legendary comics including Roseanne Barr, Phyllis Diller, the late Joan Rivers,Judy Gold, Julie Halston, Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykies, Lisa Lampanelli, Giulia Rozzi, and Adrianne Tolsch add to the magic of this film.
Take My Nose… Please! is the debut feature film from longtime former Allure Magazine editor now turned filmmaker, Joan Kron. For Joan, at the amazing age of 89 years-old, documentary film making is now her new career.
The film will open exclusive one week engagements in New York on October 6 at the Village East Cinemas, and then October 13 in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Monica in Santa Monica. It will open nationally following these cities.
Take My Nose… Please! is a seriously funny and wickedly subversive look at the role comedy has played in exposing the pressures on women to be attractive and society’s desire/shame relationship with plastic surgery. More than 15 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the US in 2014. And 90% of them on were done on women. Yet, for those who elect to tinker with Mother Nature, especially for high-profile women, plastic surgery is still a very dark secret. Funny women, though, are the exception. From Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers to Roseanne Barr and Kathy Griffin, comedians have been unashamed to talk about their perceived flaws, and the steps taken to remedy them. For these dames, cosmetic surgery isn’t vanity, it is affirmative action – compensation for the unfair distribution of youthfulness and beauty.
By admitting what their sisters in drama deny, comic performers speak to women who feel the same pressures, giving them permission to pursue change (or not to) while entertaining us.
Take My Nose… Please! follows two comedians as they deliberate about going under the knife. Emily Askin, an up-and coming improv performer, has always wanted her nose refined. Jackie Hoffman, a seasoned headliner on Broadway and on TV, considers herself ugly and regrets not having the nose job offered in her teens. And maybe she’d like a face-lift, as well. As we follow their surprisingly emotional stories, we meet other who have taken the leap – or held out.
Putting it all in perspective are psychologists, sociologists, the medical community and cultural critics. And for comic relief and the profundity only comedians can supply. The film includes commentary from Roseanne Barr, Phyllis Diller, the late Joan Rivers,Judy Gold, Julie Halston, Lisa Lampanelli, Giulia Rozzi, Bill Scheft, and Adrianne Tolsch.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS:
Audience Award – Miami International Film Festival Audience Award – Berkshire International Film Festival Official Selection – Newport Beach International Film Festival; San Francisco Doc Fest; Arizona International Film Festival; Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival; San Luis Obispo Film Festival; Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival; and more
-
VIDEO: Watch ALL I SEE IS YOU Trailer Starring Blake Lively as Blind Wife
Blake Lively and Jason Clarke play a couple with an almost perfect marriage in All I See Is You, which opens in select theaters on October 27th. All I See Is You is directed by Marc Forster, and also stars Danny Huston and Yvonne Strahovski.
Gina (Blake Lively) and husband James (Jason Clarke) have an almost perfect marriage. After being blinded as a child in a nearly fatal car crash that claimed her parent’s lives, Gina depends on James to be her eyes—a dependence that appears to solidify their passionate relationship. She sees her world in her own vivid imagination with help from James’ descriptions. Despite her disability, the two enjoy a colorful existence in Bangkok, Thailand where James works in insurance and Gina explores life in a foreign country. It seems the only real hardship this loving couple faces is difficulty conceiving a child but when Gina is given the opportunity to have a corneal transplant and regains her vision, their life and relationship are upended. Gina now sees the world with a new sense of wonder and independence which James finds threatening. It is only when Gina suddenly begins to lose her sight again that she finally realizes the disturbing reality of their marriage and their lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTTaFg2Sq9Y
-
Indie Films THE FLORIDA PROJECT to Open and CALL ME BY YOUR NAME to Close 2017 New Orleans Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_24746" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
The Florida Project[/caption]
Lauded for its artistry and authenticity, The Florida Project starring Willem Dafoe will open the 28th New Orleans Film Festival on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. The Florida Project also stars child actress Brooklynn Prince and a debut performance by Bria Vinaite, whom writer-director Sean Baker discovered via Instagram. The Florida Project is the newest movie from writer-director Sean Baker, who staked his claim two years ago with Tangerine, an indie feature shot entirely with his iPhone camera.
Call Me By Your Name, which created major buzz when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, will close the festival on Thursday, October 19, 2017. Call Me By Your Name stars Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg. Director Luca Guadagnino continues his exploration of complicated intimate relationships that he’s addressed in prior critically-acclaimed films like I Am Love and A Bigger Splash.
Several Spotlight films have also been announced, including Darkest Hour, Last Flag Flying, The Upside, and Marshall.
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino | 132 min | Italy, France, Brazil, United States
Summer is a perpetual state of being at the Perlmans’ Italian villa. Lush, lazy mornings become long, wine-filled evenings, ensconced in discussions of Greco-Roman art and the sounds of Mahler on piano. Oliver, a 24-year-old research assistant (Armie Hammer), joins the Perlmans for six weeks of study before returning to his position at Columbia. 17-year old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is immediately infatuated. They begin a tense series of furtive glances and curt conversations, both enchanted but unwilling to meet the other halfway. A coming of age story. A tale of first love. Americans summering in beautiful, foreign locales. Any categorization would be an oversimplification of the evocative and intoxicating world of Call Me By Your Name.
The Florida Project
Sean Baker | 115 min| USA
Set on a stretch of highway just outside Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee and her rebellious mother Halley over the course of a single summer. The two live week-to-week at “The Magic Castle,” a budget motel managed by Bobby. Despite her harsh surroundings, the precocious Moonee has no trouble making each day a celebration of life, her endless afternoons overflowing with mischief and grand adventure as she and her ragtag playmates fearlessly explore the utterly unique world into which they’ve been thrown. Unbeknownst to Moonee, however, her delicate fantasy is supported by the toil and sacrifice of Halley, who is forced to explore increasingly dangerous possibilities in order to provide for her daughter.
Last Flag Flying
Richard Linklater | 124 min| USA
Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) reunites with his old military buddies, Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne), to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. With the casket, the three friends take a bittersweet road trip up the East Coast, reflecting on the impact of war and reminisce about their times together. Marking a new direction for Linklater after his joyful college romp, Everybody Wants Some!!, Last Flag Flying is a poignant exploration of aging, masculinity, and friendship.
Marshall
Reginald Hudlin | 118 min | USA
As the nation teeters on the brink of WWII, a nearly bankrupt NAACP sends Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) to conservative Connecticut to defend a black chauffeur against his wealthy socialite employer in a sexual assault and attempted murder trial that quickly became tabloid fodder. In need of a high profile victory but muzzled by a segregationist court, Marshall is partnered with Samuel Friedman (Josh Gad), a young Jewish lawyer who has never tried a case.
The Upside
Dir. Neil Burger | 118 min | USA
Based on the film The Intouchables by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano Based on a true story, The Upside chronicles the unexpected friendship between Phillip Lacasse (Bryan Cranston), a Park Avenue billionaire left paralyzed after a hang-gliding accident, and ex-con Dell Scott (Kevin Hart), in need of a job and a fresh start. From worlds apart, Phillip and Dell form an unlikely bond, bridging their differences and gaining invaluable wisdom in the process, giving each man a renewed sense of passion for all of life’s possibilities. Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless) and written by Jon Hartmere, THE UPSIDE also stars Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman.
The Darkest Hour
Joe Wright | 2017 | UK
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty, and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
-
Short Film TOKYO PROJECT Starring Elisabeth Moss to Debut on HBO | Trailer
The short film “Tokyo Project,” starring Elisabeth Moss, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Shu Kakizawa, explores a mysterious romance between two strangers. The film, written And directed By Richard Shepard, had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and will debuts Saturday, October 14, on HBO.
Sebastian (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is on a business trip to Tokyo. Handsome and hip, he represents a high-end Brooklyn men’s grooming product company that has been successful in Japan. But there’s a sadness in Sebastian that’s not hard to notice, a past that’s haunting him. He’s also a film nerd, fascinated by Tokyo’s visual splendor and its rich cinematic history. Sebastian is also fascinated by Claire (Elisabeth Moss), a beautiful and mysterious woman he keeps running into, first at a noodle shop, and later at a hidden jewel of a sake bar.
There’s clearly something between them. Claire is a photographer, and roams the rich streets of this amazing city in search of images that will linger. Like Sebastian, there’s more to her than meets the eye – a haunted sadness that proves an undeniable attraction for him. “Tokyo is a city of ghosts,” she says.
Out with Shu (Shu Kakizawa), his local business partner, Sebastian reveals what is haunting him. He and his wife lost a child, and many months later are barely hanging on as a couple. Shu jokes that after all this time Sebastian should have an affair with a stranger. “It’s easier with strangers. No history,” Shu says. His idea lingers in Sebastian’s mind, as he’s already intrigued with Claire.
So begins an erotic, highly charged night between two Americans in a foreign land. But all is not what it seems. Truth is fiction, and fiction the new reality. And though the film has a haunted feel, this intimate story is also hopeful. Tokyo may be a city of ghosts, but it’s also a mysterious, romantic city of rebirth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8k576d4nkg
-
VIDEO: Watch “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” Trailer Starring Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller
[caption id="attachment_24242" align="aligncenter" width="1144"]
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)[/caption]
Writer/Director Noah Baumbach brings razor-sharp humor and bittersweet heart to his latest film The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) starring Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel, Grace Van Patten and Emma Thompson.
An Official Selection of Cannes Film Festival 2017, the film will make its North American premiere at this year’s New York Film Festival. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) will launch on Netflix and in select theaters on October 13.
From writer/director Noah Baumbach, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) is the emotional and comic intergenerational tale of adult siblings (Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Elizabeth Marvel) contending with the long shadow their strong-willed father (Dustin Hoffman) has cast over their lives. With an original screenplay by Baumbach, the film also stars Emma Thompson, Grace Van Patten, Adam Driver, Candice Bergen, Judd Hirsch, and Rebecca Miller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYzFieit8dI
-
Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival in Wash. DC to Open with ONE OF US
[caption id="attachment_23413" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
One of Us[/caption]
The third edition of Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival & Symposium will kick-off on Thursday, October 19 in DC with One of Us, the highly anticipated new documentary from Academy nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, 12th and Delaware, Detropia, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You). In One of Us, three Hasidic Jews leave their ultra-Orthodox community to join the secular world. Unprepared for life outside the tightly-knit community, they experience ostracism, lost relationships and even danger.
No Stone Unturned, the latest work from Academy Award and Emmy-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) is the festival’s centerpiece film and will screen on Friday, October 20. Gibney’s documentary re-opens a 1994 investigation into the massacre of six men as they watched a World Cup soccer match in their local Northern Ireland pub. Gibney exposes a complex web of lies and corruption, and reveals something that a criminal investigation spanning over twenty years did not: the identities of the suspected killers.
And Voyeur, from directors Myles Kane and Josh Koury, is the festival’s closing night film on Saturday, October 21. Voyeur follows journalist Gay Talese as he reports on one of the most controversial stories of his career: a portrait of a Colorado motel owner, Gerald Foos, who spent decades spying on his guests and recording their private moments.
“We are very proud to screen these wonderful, new investigative documentaries,” said Diana Jean Schemo, founder and co-director of Double Exposure. “Each film illustrates a different aspect of investigative storytelling: the first takes audiences deep inside a community usually closed to outsiders; the second investigates a mystery that has gone unsolved for decades; and the third interrogates the investigative process itself.”
“These three extraordinary films from some of today’s most visionary filmmakers embody the very essence of what we aim to achieve at Double Exposure,” said Sky Sitney, festival co-director. “They are works that seek to uncover something otherwise hidden from view, expressed through a distinctive cinematic language.”
-
SXSW Grand Jury Winner MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND Sets November Release Date
Most Beautiful Island is a psychological thriller set in the world of undocumented female immigrants hoping to make a life in New York City.
The film written and directed by Ana Asensio; and starring Ana Asensio, Natasha Romanova, David Little, Nicholas Tucci, Larry Fessenden, and Caprice Benedetti, is the winner of SXSW 2017 – Grand Jury Prize.
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films will release Most Beautiful Island in select cities on November 3rd.
Shot on Super 16mm with an intimate, voyeuristic sensibility, Most Beautiful Island chronicles one harrowing day in the life of Luciana, a young immigrant woman struggling to make ends meet while striving to escape her past. As Luciana’s day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome and unforeseeable extremes.
-
Miami GEMS Festival Lineup is Here – THE FLORIDA PROJECT, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and More
[caption id="attachment_23729" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
THE FLORIDA PROJECT[/caption]
Miami Film Festival unveiled the full line-up of their acclaimed 2017 Miami GEMS Festival, and among the many highlights will be the Miami premiere of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project and the US premiere of Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Florida film Life and Nothing More.
Miami GEMS 2017 Festival, now in its third year, will take place October 12 to 15 at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami. It’s a fall extension of the annual, internationally-renowned Miami Film Festival that will celebrate its 35th edition on March 9 to 18, 2018.
The Florida premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name is the Opening Night Film of Miami GEMS 2017. Another major highlight is Ruben Östlund’s The Square, winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, from a jury presided over by Pedro Almodóvar.
A special presentation of Miami GEMS 2017 Festival will be a seminar conversation entitled Don’t Take Yes For An Answer, featuring Miami-Haitian filmmakers Edson Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste speaking about their recently-wrapped, eight-episode web series “Vakabon”, 100% filmed in Miami and due for release in 2018. The $2.5 million series was born out of a winning pitch that the Miami duo made to the Project Greenlight Digital Studio’s first “Get The Greenlight Digital Series” contest in early 2016.
For the first time, Miami Film Festival will introduce a Virtual Reality (VR) sidebar throughout the Miami GEMS 2017 weekend, VR Escape, in partnership with MDC’s Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex (MAGIC). Festivalgoers will experience four 360° videos by Angel Manuel Soto, an L.A. based Puerto Rican artist and filmmaker and Miami Film Festival alumni (Soto’s feature The Farm (La granja) played in competition at the Festival’s 2015 edition).
Miami GEMS 2017 Film Lineup
Call Me By Your Name (Italy / France), directed by Luca Guadagnino *OPENING NIGHT FILM A work of tenderness and beauty from the acclaimed director of splashy, sensual films as I Am Love and A Bigger Splash. An antiquities academic invites a young American Jewish scholar to stay with his family for a summer in Lombardy, with unexpected results. Starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg. A Sony Pictures Classics release. Can’t Say Goodbye (No se decir adios) (Spain), directed by Lino Escalera NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Spanish stars Nathalie Poza, Lola Dueñas and Juan Diego deliver some of the finest performances of their careers in this multi-award winning hit from the 2017 Malaga Film Festival. A family in crisis, a daughter in denial, a moment of truth… The Desert Bride (La novia del desierto) (Argentina/Chile), directed by Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato Starring the incomparable Chilean star Paulina Garcia (Gloria), this Cannes Un Certain Regard competitor is a beautiful road trip across the Argentine countryside. A Buenos Aires housekeeper who is let go after 3 decades of working for the same family must travel 700 miles for a new position in San Juan, but early in the voyage she loses all of her earthly possessions. Don’t Take Yes For An Answer: Edson Jean, Joshua Jean-Baptiste and VAKABON (USA), in conversation with Festival director Jaie Laplante Co-creators of the upcoming eight-episode web series “Vakabon” Edson Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste will candidly discuss the journey from shooting no-budget test-episodes to working with a 70-person crew and over 50 Miami-based actors on one epic Miami summer shoot. Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (UK), directed by Lili Fini Zanuck Only the second woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, Lili Fini Zanuck (Driving Miss Daisy) has made an epic and emotionally overwhelming portrait of one of the great rock musicians of all-time. This will be a rare chance to see this incredible documentary in a big-screen, theatrical setting. Faces Places (France), directed by Agnès Varda and JR. Winner of the L’Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) awarded by the French Writers Society as Best Documentary at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the legendary French director, a pioneer of the French New Wave alongside Jean-Luc Godard, partners with a young street artist with an enormous Instagram following for a whimsical exploration of the small French villages of Varda’s memories. The Florida Project (USA), directed by Sean Baker MIAMI GEMS 2017 PREVIEW FILM In constructing the most magical place on Earth, Disney planners would refer what would eventually become Walt Disney World in Orlando as “the Florida project”. Yet on the outskirts of the world’s most visited vacation resort lies a less cheerful façade, where a 22-year-old single mother of a six-year-old struggles to survive and create a sense of family on the margins. Willem Dafoe stars as the manager and sometimes father figure of a roadside motel on the outskirts of Orlando, in Sean Baker’s acclaimed film from Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2017. In The Fade (Germany), directed by Fatih Akin *GERMANY OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS With a ferocious performance by Diane Kruger (the Best Actress winner at 2017 Cannes Film Festival), Fatih Akin explores our new world realities of terrorism impinging ever closer to home. A German woman’s world collapses when her Turkish husband and young son are murdered in a domestic radicalist’s bomb attack. Life and Nothing More (Spain/USA), directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza US PREMIERE An invigorating work of modern neorealism set on the fringes of urban Florida, Spanish writer-director Esparza displays an astonishing grasp of the conundrum of race, family and justice that suffuse our contemporary America. Life and Nothing More is essential cinema for our present moment. My Friend Dahmer (USA), directed by Marc Meyers With an astonishing central performance by Disney star Ross Lynch, this Tribeca Film Festival 2017 special presentation is a brilliant re-creation of pre-psycho 1970s jitters, and a devastating indictment of our society’s ability to cope with early detection signs of mental illness. No, a Flamenco Tale (Spain), directed by José Luis Tirado A beguiling fusion of thrilling cinema and passionate music, NO, a Flamenco Tale sweeps us off to a land where the joys and hardships of life are expressed in breathtaking spectacle and song. Son of Sofia (Greece / France / Bulgaria), directed by Elina Psikou Winner of Best International Narrative Feature at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. A fantastical journey through an 11-year-old Russian boy’s fraught collision with the bewildering logic of the world of adults, when his mother sends for him to join her in Athens, Greece, where she introduces him to his harsh new Greek stepfather. The Square (Sweden), directed by Ruben Östlund *SWEDEN OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS The 2017 Palme d’Or winner is the first comedy to win the top prize at Cannes Film Festival in 23 years. From Ruben Östlund, director of the international hit Force Majeure, a jaw-dropping art-world satire. Starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) (Spain), directed by Carla Simón SPAIN OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS Winner of the Best First Feature Film award at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, and the Grand Prize for Best Spanish Film at the 2017 Malaga Film Festival. In one sun-dappled, perfect summer, Frida will grow up more than any six-year-old should ever be expected to, as her new young step-parents struggle with the smiles and the tears. The Workshop (France), directed by Laurent Cantet Cantet’s follow-up to his Havana, Cuba film Return to Ithaca is a profound examination of contemporary education in all its social and pedagogical complexities. Returning to his native France, The Workshop is also a nail-biting thriller. VR Escape (USA), four works by Angel Manuel Soto An installation at MDC’s Tower Theater for the entire GEMS weekend will allow Festivalgoers to experience the new frontier of content creation via four short new works by Miami Film Festival alumni Soto.
-
YOU DISAPPEAR is Denmark’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER
Peter Schønau Fog’s drama “You Disappear” has been selected as Denmark’s official entry to the Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Academy Awards.
The film was chosen from a shortlist of three titles that also comprised Henrik Ruben Genz’ “Word of God” and Fenar Ahmad’s “Darkland.”
Peter Schønau Fog’s drama is based on Danish writer Christian Jungersen’s bestselling novel. Mia is married to the successful headmaster Frederik who is caught embezzling from his own school. But did he do this of his own free will – or has his personality been altered by the tumour lurking in his brain? The film is a story about the challenges we face as neuroscience forces us to rethink what we are as human beings.
“You Disappear” made its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, where critics emphasized Trine Dyrholm and Nikolaj Lie Kaas’ “powerful” and “moving” performances as Mia and Frederik. The cast also features Mikkel Boe Følsgaard and the late Michael Nyqvist.
“You Disappear” is Schønau Fog’s second film after his critically acclaimed feature debut “The Art of Crying” (2007), which was also selected for the Toronto Film Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf4kORjB04w&t=30s
-
Six Documentary Films Win 2017 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund Awards
[caption id="attachment_23721" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
The Feeling of Being Watched[/caption]
SFFILM announced the six winners of the 2017 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund awards totaling $125,000, which support feature-length documentaries in postproduction.
Assia Boundaoui’s The Feeling of Being Watched, RaMell Ross’ Hale County, This Morning, This Evening, Leslie Tai’s How to Have an American Baby, Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family, Heaven Through the Back Door by Anna Fitch and Banker White, and A Machine to Live In by Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke, were each awarded significant funding that will help push them towards completion.
The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has an excellent track record for championing important films that have gone on to earn great acclaim. Previous DFF winners include Peter Nicks’s The Force, which won the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for documentary and SFFILM Festival’s Bay Area Documentary Award, and will be released this fall by Kino Lorber; Peter Bratt’s Dolores, which won the 2017 SFFILM Festival Audience Award for Documentary Feature following its Sundance premiere; Jamie Meltzer’s True Conviction, which won a Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival; and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary and was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature; among many others.
Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has distributed nearly half a million dollars to advance new work by filmmakers nationwide. The 2017 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to an expanded gift from the Jenerosity Foundation.
The panelists who reviewed the ten finalists’ submissions are Jennifer Battat, founder of the Jenerosity Foundation; Noah Cowan, SFFILM Executive Director; Caroline von Kühn, Director of Artist Development at SFFILM; Jenny Slattery, Associate Director of Foundations and Artist Development at SFFILM and independent producer Corey Tong.
“We are thrilled to support these six filmmaking teams, each of which is telling an important story with boldness and passion,” remarked the jury. “This group of projects represents a wide range of artistic visions, subjects, and approaches to nonfiction filmmaking—from the intimate portrayal of an independent woman’s last days to an arresting journey into the surreal, futuristic city of Brasilia. We very much look forward to supporting these films as they evolve, make their way into the world, and leave their imprint on audiences, fellow filmmakers, and our collective sense of what can be achieved through the documentary form.”
2017 DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND WINNERS
The Feeling of Being Watched – Assia Boundaoui, director/producer; Jessica Devaney, producer – $25,000 When a filmmaker investigates rumors of surveillance in her Arab-American neighborhood in Chicago, she uncovers one of the largest FBI terrorism probes conducted before 9/11 and reveals its enduring impact on the community. Hale County, This Morning, This Evening – RaMell Ross, director; Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim, producers – $15,000 What is the experience of coming-of-age in the Black Belt region of the US? This film presents the lives of two young men in a series of visual movements that replace narrative arc with orchestral form. Heaven Through the Back Door – Anna Fitch and Banker White, co-director/producers; Sara Dosa, producer – $20,000 Heaven Through the Backdoor is a contemplative documentary that tells the story of Yo (Yolanda Shae), a fiercely independent 88-year old woman whose unique brand of individualist feminism impacts how she chooses to live in the final years of her life. (Former SFFILM FilmHouse resident; Bay Area-based project) How to Have an American Baby – Leslie Tai, director/producer; Jillian Schultz, co-producer – $20,000 There is a city in Southern California that abounds with pregnant women from China. Told through multiple perspectives, How to Have an American Baby is a kaleidoscopic voyage behind the closed doors of the Chinese birth tourism industry. (SFFILM FilmHouse resident; SFFILM fiscally sponsored filmmaker; Bay Area-based project) A Machine to Live In – Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke, co-directors; Sebastian Alvarez, producer; Andrew Benz, co-producer – $20,000 Hovering over what remains of Brazil’s modernist future, this film looks at how social control, rational design, and space-age architecture gave rise to a vast landscape of transcendental and mystical utopias. (Bay Area-based project) Midnight Family – Luke Lorentzen, director; Kellen Quinn, producer; Daniela Alatorre,and Elena Fortes, co-producers – $25,000 In Mexico City, 16-year-old Juan Ochoa struggles to legitimize his family’s unlicensed ambulance business, as corrupt police in the neighborhood begin to target this cutthroat industry.