Lynn Shelton’s drama Outside In, starring Jay Duplass and Edie Falco which will premiere next month at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival has been acquired by The Orchard for a release in early 2018. Outside In also stars Kaitlyn Dever and Ben Schwartz.
The screenplay for Outside In was written by Lynn Shelton and Jay Duplass. Shelton has directed six previous feature films including Humpday, Your Sister’s Sister, and Laggies. She’s received two Independent Spirit Awards, and has directed a number of television shows including “Mad Men,” “Master of None,” “The Mindy Project,” “Love,” “New Girl,” “Shameless,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Glow.”
Jay Duplass is currently starring on the hit Amazon series “Transparent,” producing the acclaimed HBO anthology series “Room 104,” and recently starred in Beatriz at Dinner and Landline. Four-time Emmy® Award winner Edie Falco most recently starred Landline (alongside Jay), Megan Leavey, and Louis C.K.’s drama series “Horace and Pete.”
Outside In follows Carol (Falco), a high school teacher, and Chris (Duplass), her ex-student, as they explore a relationship after his release from a 20-year prison sentence. While Chris navigates his re-entry into the world, Carol works to rebuild her family, and reconnect with her teenage daughter (Dever). Featuring an original score from singer-songwriter Andrew Bird and shot on location in Washington state,Outside Inwas produced by Mel Eslyn and Lacey Leavitt.
Outside In marks the most recent release in the ongoing relationship between Duplass Brothers Productions and The Orchard. Since acquiring The Overnight at Sundance in 2015, DBP and The Orchard have collaborated on a variety of films including Take Me, Blue Jay, 6 Years, Manson Family Vacation, Rainbow Time and Creep.
Following The Orchard’s theatrical and digital release, Netflix will be releasing the film on its worldwide streaming platform.
Lynn Shelton commented, “I couldn’t be happier that Outside In will be included in the incredible catalog of films that The Orchard has acquired as a distributor.”-
Lynn Shelton’s Drama OUTSIDE IN Acquired by The Orchard for 2018 Release
Lynn Shelton’s drama Outside In, starring Jay Duplass and Edie Falco which will premiere next month at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival has been acquired by The Orchard for a release in early 2018. Outside In also stars Kaitlyn Dever and Ben Schwartz.
The screenplay for Outside In was written by Lynn Shelton and Jay Duplass. Shelton has directed six previous feature films including Humpday, Your Sister’s Sister, and Laggies. She’s received two Independent Spirit Awards, and has directed a number of television shows including “Mad Men,” “Master of None,” “The Mindy Project,” “Love,” “New Girl,” “Shameless,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Glow.”
Jay Duplass is currently starring on the hit Amazon series “Transparent,” producing the acclaimed HBO anthology series “Room 104,” and recently starred in Beatriz at Dinner and Landline. Four-time Emmy® Award winner Edie Falco most recently starred Landline (alongside Jay), Megan Leavey, and Louis C.K.’s drama series “Horace and Pete.”
Outside In follows Carol (Falco), a high school teacher, and Chris (Duplass), her ex-student, as they explore a relationship after his release from a 20-year prison sentence. While Chris navigates his re-entry into the world, Carol works to rebuild her family, and reconnect with her teenage daughter (Dever). Featuring an original score from singer-songwriter Andrew Bird and shot on location in Washington state,Outside Inwas produced by Mel Eslyn and Lacey Leavitt.
Outside In marks the most recent release in the ongoing relationship between Duplass Brothers Productions and The Orchard. Since acquiring The Overnight at Sundance in 2015, DBP and The Orchard have collaborated on a variety of films including Take Me, Blue Jay, 6 Years, Manson Family Vacation, Rainbow Time and Creep.
Following The Orchard’s theatrical and digital release, Netflix will be releasing the film on its worldwide streaming platform.
Lynn Shelton commented, “I couldn’t be happier that Outside In will be included in the incredible catalog of films that The Orchard has acquired as a distributor.”
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Mina Shum’s MEDITATION PARK Starring Sandra Oh to Open Vancouver International Film Festival
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Meditation Park[/caption]
Mina Shum’s Meditation Park will be showcased as the Opening Night Gala Film of the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival. On the heels of her critically acclaimed 2015 documentary, Ninth Floor, Shum makes a triumphant return to narrative filmmaking with this bittersweet comedy about a devoted Chinese-Canadian wife and mother (Cheng Pei Pei) who is shaken out of her isolation and stupor by suspicions that her husband (Tzi Ma) has been untrue. Shum makes fantastic use of East Vancouver and Chinatown locations and draws fantastic performances from an all-star cast that also includes Sandra Oh and Don McKellar.
VIFF will present Movie Nights Across Canada as part of its opening night festivities on September 28, 2017.
The festival also revealed 18 additional Canadian feature films in the True North stream and Future//Present film series, which celebrate the extraordinary creativity and craft being demonstrated by Canadian storytellers from coast to coast.
Opening Gala
Meditation Park
DIR. MINA SHUM
Maria (Cheng Pei Pei) has spent decades of devoted marriage dutifully excusing the prejudices and vices of her husband (Tzi Ma). But when she discovers another woman’s thong in his pocket, she embarks on some unintentionally comic sleuthing which soon introduces her to new East Vancouver communities and ultimately sets her on the course to self-discovery. Mina Shum makes an inspired return to narrative feature filmmaking with this richly detailed, emotionally rewarding and unmistakably Vancouver story.
True North Stream
Indian Horse DIR. STEPHEN CAMPANELLI In this moving adaptation of Richard Wagamese’s novel, Stephen Campanelli condemns Canada’s most deplorable transgression while celebrating our national game’s transcendent power. Languishing in a residential school, Saul Indian Horse finds salvation on a sheet of ice. But while a preternatural hockey sense lets him slip bodychecks with a dancer’s grace, he can’t evade the ramifications of past abuses. Saul’s strength in this struggle is a testament to the Indigenous peoples’ indomitable spirit. Infiltration DIR. ROBERT MORIN This dark thriller brings us into the carefully constructed world of narcissistic plastic surgeon Dr. Louis Richard (Christian Bégin) as it comes crashing down around him. Director Robert Morin delivers a voyeuristic and claustrophobic experience. His camera parallels the control-freak doctor’s state of mind as his sense of authority over his wife, his son and his career slips away. A beautifully shot and lit travelogue of a journey into isolation and madness. Like a Pebble in the Boot DIR. HÉLÈNE CHOQUETTE Against the picturesque backdrop of Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Senegalese migrants peddle Chinese trinkets and selfie sticks to tourists – but only if they’re lucky. People are often racist, street vending is illegal and many of the vendors are undocumented. It’s frustrating, and they’re barely scraping by, but their families in Africa depend on them. Filmmaker Hélène Choquette turns her empathetic eye on these harassed peddlers, resilient victims of global inequality. Rebels on Pointe DIR. BOBBI JO HART For over 40 years, the all-male drag troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has been delighting audiences around the world. In size 11 toe shoes, the Trocs send up the high art and formality of classical ballet. Director Bobbi Jo Hart shares the rich archival history of this New York collective, born in the wake of the Stonewall Riots, and their progress from preposterous to phenomenal. Best of all, we get to know the international ballerinos while enjoying their satiric wit and outré virtuosity. A Skin So Soft DIR. DENIS CÔTÉ Iconoclastic director Denis Côté is at his playful best with this equally awe-inspiring and amusing profile of bronzed, inked and bulging-at-the-sinews bodybuilders. While there’s abundant absurd comedy courtesy of the surreal sight of these man-mountains negotiating suburban homes or labouring to meet their caloric needs, Côté’s inquisitive camera reverentially appraises the astonishing frames that their devotion has wrought, while also revealing glimpses of vulnerability lurking in these Goliaths’ eyes. Suck It Up DIR. JORDAN CANNING Determining that Ronnie (Grace Glowicki), her hot mess of a besty, is in desperate need of a change of scenery, obsessive-compulsive Faye (Erin Carter) whisks her away to placid Invermere. However, the best laid recovery program derails into debauchery as the two fall prey to ill-advised hookups and bowling under the influence. And that’s before the MDMA kicks in. Jordan Canning’s wickedly funny, BC-set buddy comedy shirks sentimentality in favour of a barbed sincerity that leaves a lasting mark. Tattoos DIR. PASCAL PLANTE Crossing post-gig paths with Mag (Rose-Marie Perreault), Théo (Anthony Therrien) is all scowling swagger until she calls him on the fake tattoo he’s brandishing. As he sheepishly drops his defences, Pascal Plante’s “punk rock romance” likewise abandons brashness in favour of character-centric drama reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. Demonstrating a remarkable gift for eliciting naturalistic performances, Plante traces the formative experiences that will shape Mag and Théo’s adult lives. Unarmed Verses DIR. CHARLES OFFICER At the cusp of adolescence and facing forced relocation, Francine has a lot on her mind. And while this Toronto ‘tween possesses a way with written words, she has yet to develop the necessary confidence to express herself in full voice. Charles Officer’s luminous, poignant documentary charts this marginalized yet magnetic young woman’s determination to make herself and her community heard. “Like [Jim Jarmusch’s] Paterson, Unarmed Verses is both about poetry and a work of poetry in itself.” – RogerEbert.com Worst Case, We Get Married DIR. LÉA POOL Léa Pool’s 13th film is not for the faint of heart. Working from a novel by Sophie Bienvenu, Pool tells the disturbing, poignant story of 14-year-old Aïcha (a luminous Sophie Nélisse), who spends most of the time roaming around her Montréal neighbourhood. She lives with her distracted mother Isabelle (Karine Vanasse) and the memory of her turfed stepfather. When she encounters Baz (Jean-Simon Leduc), a sympathetic twenty-something musician, she falls hard for him, and teenage fantasy rules. You’re Soaking in It DIR. SCOTT HARPER Advertising is no longer the arcane territory of a few well-lubricated characters. The creative leaps of Mad Men have been replaced by precise, targeted surveillance rooted in complicated computer modelling. The data collected is often very personal information, and it is used to design advertising that influences you at the precise moment you are most ready to spend. Scott Harper documents this chilling shift and introduces us to corporate execs who proudly let us know how much they know about us.Future//Present Series
Black Cop DIR. CORY BOWLES With tension growing and Black Lives Matter putting the heat on law enforcement, a black police officer is torn between his affinity for the badge and the colour of his skin. He decides to take matters into his own hands and changes the priority of his targets from black to white, embarking on a spree of vengeance. With its provocative use of dash-cam and chest-cam footage, Cory Bowles’ film is as stylistically bold as it is politically charged, standing pointedly between the satirical and the dead serious. Fail to Appear DIR. ANTOINE BOURGES Isolde is a caseworker adjusting to the challenges of her new job when she is assigned to a man charged with theft and facing an upcoming court hearing. She does her best to help, but when the two meet she struggles to connect. Antoine Bourges’ film is many things at once: a portrait of those who fall through the cracks and the few who try to help them, a studious analysis of the systems in place and how they operate, and a poignant reflection on the difficulty of human connection across social strata. Forest Movie DIR. MATTHEW TAYLOR BLAIS A young woman dreams of the forest. Upon waking she texts a friend, cancelling their plans. She packs up, compelled to head into the woods. The deeper she moves into the forest, the more it begins to take on a life of its own. What waits for her there? Hypnotic, deceptively simple, and graced with strikingly sensual cinematography, Matthew Taylor Blais’ Forest Movie is a liberating experience that plays like a call to embrace nature, slow down, pay attention and get in touch with your thoughts. In the Waves DIR. JACQUELYN MILLS In Jacquelyn Mills’ impressionistic documentary, her grandmother Joan Alma Mills is struggling to come to terms with the death of her younger sister and searching for answers in the natural beauty that surrounds her coastal village home. With a delicate attention to detail, spoken musings on mortality and meaning are intricately interwoven with elegiac imagery. This is a soulful rumination on the passage of time–its ebbs, flows and eternal mysteries. Maison du bonheur DIR. SOFIA BOHDANOWICZ 2016’s Emerging Canadian Director award-winner Sofia Bohdanowicz (Never Eat Alone) returns with the colourful documentary Maison du bonheur. When asked to make a film about her friend’s mother, a widowed Parisian astrologer named Juliane, the director sets off for Montmartre and produces a lovingly made portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the lovely pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years. Shooting gorgeously on 16mm, Bohdanowicz again transforms quotidian details into beauty. Mass for Shut-Ins DIR. WINSTON DEGIOBBI Amidst poverty in New Waterford, Cape Breton, 25-year old Kay Jay is sleeping on his grandfather’s couch. Without much of anything, the two sit around eating 5-cent candies, drinking pop and watching movies. This film looks squarely at a type of comatose living in which the aging residents are dwindling away and the futures of the young are dim at best. Director Winston DeGiobbi bends the mundane slightly towards the surreal, distilling the directionless daily existence of his characters into poetry. PROTOTYPE DIR. BLAKE WILLIAMS From experimental filmmaker Blake Williams comes this ambitious 3D sci-fi film, which reimagines the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and its aftermath with the presence of a mysterious, futuristic televisual device. Then the cultural centre of Texas, Galveston was devastated by the storm. PROTOTYPE moves from stereoscopic pictures of the city to an awesome visceral conjuring of the storm and then into further sense-engaging abstraction, interrogating notions of origin and historical memory. Still Night, Still Light DIR. SOPHIE GOYETTE An existential meditation on longing, loss and memory, Sophie Goyette’s lyrical drama seamlessly moves between three characters and three distinct locations. Haunted by the death of her parents, Eliane leaves her Montreal home to teach piano in Mexico City. Her student’s father Romes is coping with midlife disappointment. Lastly, Pablo’s father harbours memories of a lost love. Each character is processing their past and unsure about how to move into the future.
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Director Stephen Frears to Receive Award at Venice International Film Festival
Director Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons) will receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, dedicated to a personality who has made an original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.
Stephen Frears will be awarded the prize at a ceremony to be held on Sunday September 3rd, before the Out of Competition screening of his new film Victoria & Abdul, receiving its world premiere screening in Venice. The film is set in 1887, when Abdul travels from India to present a ceremonial medal as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee but surprisingly finds favor with the elderly Queen. The unprecedented and unlikely relationship causes a battle royale within the royal household, pitting the Queen against court and family. Victoria & Abdul humorously explores questions of race, religion, power, and the farce of Empire through the prism of a highly unusual and deeply moving friendship.
The Director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, made the following statement about the award: “Prolific and unpredictable, eclectic and provocative, Stephen Frears seems to challenge the very idea of a monolithic definition of his cinema. Along with Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, he is one of the most vibrant and representative exponents of contemporary British cinema. As opposed to many other directors, he is not afraid of seeming self-contradictory: he nonchalantly passes from the social realism of the 1980s to biographies, from comedies to historical dramas, alternating British and American movies, low-budget and high-budget productions, cinema and television, and each time he is at ease. This evident contrast might be the most interesting aspect of his work, along with his universally recognized qualities: an uncommon sensitivity in the way he directs his actors; the ability to get the most out of his relationship with famous authors (Alan Bennet, Christopher Hampton, Hanif Kureishi, Nick Hornby); his apparent modesty, which consists in subordinating style to the demands of the material. A great narrator of stories with recurring topics, such as his attention to oppressed and marginalized characters, in his best movies Frears has the rare gift of creating a portrait of British society: sharp, caustic, unconventional, and simultaneously disturbing and amusing.”
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15 Films in EFA Documentary Selection 2017: ‘SCHOOL LIFE’ ‘THE WAR SHOW’ and More
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DEAD DONKEYS FEAR NO HYENAS[/caption]
15 European documentaries have been recommended for a nomination for this year’s 2017 European Film Awards.
Ten documentary festivals have recommended to the committee one film each which has had its world premiere at the respective festival’s latest edition. Based on their recommendations and the films individually submitted, the EFA documentary committee decided on the EFA Documentary Selection.
EFA Members will now vote for five documentary nominations. Based on these nominations, the EFA Members will then elect the ‘European Documentary 2017’ which will be announced during the awards ceremony on December 9 in Berlin.
EFA Documentary Selection 2017
AUSTERLITZ Germany 94 min DIRECTED BY Sergei Loznitsa PRODUCED BY Sergei Loznitsa COMMUNION KOMUNIA Poland 72 min DIRECTED BY Anna Zamecka PRODUCED BY Zuzanna Krol, Anna Wydra, Izabela Lopuch & Hanka Kastelicova DEAD DONKEYS FEAR NO HYENAS Sweden, Germany, Finland 80 min DIRECTED BY Joakim Demmer PRODUCED BY Margarete Jangård, Heino Deckert & John Webster HOW TO MEET A MERMAID Netherlands, Denmark 90 min DIRECTED BY Coco Schrijber PRODUCED BY Frank van den Engel LA CHANA Spain, Iceland, USA 86 min DIRECTED BY Lucija Stojevic PRODUCED BY Lucija Stojevic, Greta Olafsdottir, Deirdre Towers & Susan Muska LIBERA NOS LIBERAMI Italy, France 90 min DIRECTED BY Federica Di Giacomo PRODUCED BY Francesco Virga & Paolo Santoni NOTHINGWOOD France, Germany 85 min DIRECTED BY Sonia Kronlund PRODUCED BY Laurent Lavolé & Melanie Andernach SCHOOL LIFE IN LOCO PARENTIS Ireland, Spain 99 min DIRECTED BY Neasa Ní Chianáin & David Rane PRODUCED BY David Rane, Montse Portabella, Angelo Orlando & Efthymia Zymvragaki STRANGER IN PARADISE Netherlands 72 min DIRECTED BY Guido Hendrikx PRODUCED BY Frank van den Engel TASTE OF CEMENT Germany, Lebanon, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar 85 min DIRECTED BY Ziad Kalthoum PRODUCED BY Ansgar Frerich, Tobias Siebert & Eva Kemme THE GOOD POSTMAN Finland, Bulgaria 80 min DIRECTED BY Tonislav Hristov PRODUCED BY Kaarle Aho THE VENERABLE W LE VENERABLE W France, Switzerland 100 min DIRECTED BY Barbet Schroeder PRODUCED BY Margaret Menegoz & Lionel Baier THE WAR SHOW Denmark, Syria, Finland 100 min DIRECTED BY Andreas Dalsgaard & Obaidah Zytoon PRODUCED BY Miriam Nørgaard & Alaa Hassan ULTRA Hungary, Greece 81 min DIRECTED BY Balazs Simonyi PRODUCED BY Laszlo Jozsa, Balazs Simonyi, Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Hanka Kastelicova & Anna Zavorszky WEST OF THE JORDAN RIVER A L’OUEST DU JOURDAIN France 124 min DIRECTED BY Amos Gitai PRODUCED BY Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, Romain Icard, Stéphanie Schorter, Amos Gitai, Shuki Friedman & Laurent Truchotv
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World Premiere of COUSIN, COUSINE An Unreleased Short by French Filmmaker Jean Rouch Added to Venice Film Festival
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Jean Rouch[/caption]
For the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great French director and ethnographer Jean Rouch, the Venice Film Festival adds to its line-up the world-premiere screening of Cousin, cousine (1985-1987, 31′, color), the only film that Rouch made in Venice, the very unusual and previously unreleased short film, with Damouré Zika and Mariama Hima (Venice Classics).
Cousin, cousine has been fully restored by the French CNC (Centre national du cinéma e de l’image animée) in collaboration with the Fondation Jean Rouch and the Association Centenaire Jean Rouch 2017.
Cousin, cousine is a “caprice” invented in Venice by Jean Rouch and by his two friends and performers, Nigerian actor Damouré Zika and Nigerian filmmaker Mariama Hima, who came to the Venice Film Festival in 1985 to present Mariama Hima’s film Baabu Banza in the “Venezia Genti” section, where it won an award. On that occasion, they decided to make a film fantasy built around a painting by Gentile Bellini and several locations and stories within the city. The plot has Mariama and Damouré, two cousins, meeting in Venice to look for a long-lost relic, like in one of Gentile Bellini’s most famous paintings. Mariama thus introduces Damouré to the city, taking him to a “squero”, a boatyard where he can study how gondolas are made (which is very different from building pirogues).
Cousin, cousine will screen at the 74th Venice Film Festival in the Venice Classics section, following the documentary L’Enigma di Jean Rouch a Torino – Cronaca di un film raté by Marco di Castri, Paolo Favaro and Daniele Pianciola.
Jean Rouch (1917-2004), a French ethnographer and director, made over 180 films (some unfinished), along with a great number of photographs, sound recordings and writings of various kinds. He founded important centres and institutions such as the Comité du film ethnographique and events such as the Cinéma du Réel festival. He taught, defended and promoted ethnographic and documentary filmmaking, and visual anthropology.
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FILMMAKERS: Film Independent Now Accepting Entries for 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Film Independent is now accepting entries for the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, with the Regular Deadline on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 and the Final Deadline on Tuesday, October 10, 2017.
The nominations will be announced on Tuesday, November 21, 2017, and the Awards will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 and will premiere exclusively on IFC.
In addition to celebrating the broad spectrum of independent filmmaking, the Spirit Awards is also the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity in the industry.
Film Independent Members comprise the exclusive voting body who determines the winners of the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Members are filmmakers, film industry leaders and film lovers. Anyone passionate about film can join by December 7, 2017 to be eligible to vote for the winners of the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards and receive full nominee screening privileges.
Artists who have received industry recognition first at the Spirit Awards include Joel and Ethan Coen, Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, Lynn Shelton, Oliver Stone, Ashley Judd, Steve McQueen, Robert Rodriguez, David O. Russell, Aaron Eckhart, Neil LaBute, Darren Aronofsky, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Hilary Swank, Marc Forster, Todd Field, Christopher Nolan, Zach Braff, Amy Adams, Lena Dunham, Justin Simien and many more.
The Film Independent Spirit Awards include the following categories: Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best Screenplay, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for a budget under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best International Film and Best Documentary. This year Film Independent introduces the Bonnie Award to recognize a talented, mid-career female director. Other grants, for emerging filmmakers include the Producers Award funded by Piaget, the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award, funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851 and the Truer Than Fiction Award.
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Filmmakers: Apply for Sundance Ignite Short Film Challenge
Seeking the next generation of emerging filmmakers, Sundance Institute and Adobe Project 1324 are now accepting filmmaker submissions for the Sundance Ignite Short Film Challenge. Fifteen winners will be selected from narrative and documentary short film submissions to win a career-launching opportunity: a full year of support and mentorship from Sundance Institute, starting with a free trip to attend a specialized program at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
For the third year of this program, one- to eight-minute original film submissions will be accepted through September 26 at sundanceignite2018.com. Entries addressing the prompt, “What stories ignite you?” will also be evaluated for technical excellence, demonstration of an original voice, innovative storytelling and strong character or subject development.
On top of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Festival, Sundance Ignite fellows are paired with a Sundance alumni professional for a full year of guidance and development, gaining industry exposure and meaningful mentorship. Past Sundance Ignite mentors include Effie Brown (Dear White People), producer Jason Berman, and Jeff Orlowski (Chasing Coral).
With Sundance Ignite as their launchpad, past fellows have springboarded into opportunities on the festival circuit, film school, and beyond. Past Sundance Ignite Fellows include Charlotte Regan, whose winning submission Standby (Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2016) was nominated for a BAFTA; Kayla Briët, whose short film submission Smoke That Travels was featured in Teen Vogue; and social impact documentary filmmaker Leah Galant (The Provider, Official Selection SXSW 2016).
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12 Latino Films to Screen in 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival Horizontes Latinos Program
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TO THE DESERT[/caption]
Twelve films produced in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela, make up the Horizontes Latinos section of the 2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The Horizontes Latinos section is a selection of feature films not yet screened in Spain, produced totally or partially in Latin America, directed by filmmakers of Latin origin or which have as their setting or subject matter Latino communities in the rest of the world. Half of the titles in the section are first or second works.
Among the films is premiere of the winner of the two Films in Progress 30 awards in San Sebastian, La educación del Rey (Rey’s Education), first feature film from Santiago Esteves (Mendoza, Argentina, 1983), who has written and directed short films including Los crímenes (Best Iberoamerican Short Film and Critics’ Award at Huesca 2011) and has worked as an editor for Pablo Trapero, Mariano Llinás or Juan Villegas.
Another of the selected first films is La novia del desierto (The Desert Bride) by directors Cecilia Atán (Buenos Aires, 1978) and Valeria Pivato (Buenos Aires, 1973), which, having landed the Films in Progress Toulouse Award, was premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Festival and has just won the Jury Award for Best Debut Feature at the Lima Film Festival. The documentary by Atán, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, la historia (2016), was nominated for the Emmy Awards, and Pivato, who has worked with directors including Juan José Campanella, Walter Salles or Pablo Trapero, won the Patagonik International Screenwriters Competition with his Project Antes y después… y después otra vez.
Temporada de caza (Hunting Season, Films in Progress 31) is the first feature film by Natalia Garagiola (Buenos Aires, 1982), who will compete in Venice at the International Critics’ Week, an independent section organised by the Italian Union of Film Critics. One of Garagiola’s shorts, Yeguas y Cotorras (2012), was selected for the Critic’s Week at Cannes.
Gustavo Rondón (Caracas, 1977) has written, helmed and produced numerous shorts later screened at festivals such as Tribeca, Biarritz, Toulouse and Havana. The most recent, Nostalgia (2012) was selected to compete in Berlin. La familia (Films in Progress 30), which was screened at the Cannes Critics’ Week and has just won Jury Award for Best Film at Lima Film Festival, brings his feature directorial debut.
The filmography of Alexandra Latishev (San José, Costa Rica) contains the prizewinning short Irene (2014) and the documentary Los volátiles, winner of the Best Documentary Feature Film and Audience Awards at the Costa Rica Festival. Medea (Films in Progress 30), which competed at the BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival), marks her debut in feature films.
After numerous experiences in the non-fictional field, in 2013 Marcela Said (Santiago de Chile, 1972) directed her first feature-length fiction, El verano de los peces voladores, Films in Progress Toulouse Award in 2013 which had its premiere at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Horizontes Latinos will see the screening of her second film, Los perros (Films in Progress 31), after its presentation at the Cannes Critics’ Week.
Las olas (The Waves, Films in Progress, 30) is the third feature film from the director, screenwriter, actor and singer Adrián Biniez (Remedios de Escalada, Argentina, 1974), whose debut, Gigante (2009) won the Grand Jury Prize, the Alfred Bauer Award – in recognition of a film that “opens new perspectives on cinematic art” – and the Best First Feature Award at the Berlinale, as well as the Horizontes Award in San Sebastian.
Michel Franco (Mexico City, 1979) landed a special mention in San Sebastian with Después de Lucía (After Lucía, 2012), Best Feature Film in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. As a moviemaker he also won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes for Chronic (2015). He also has a long and outstanding background as a producer: in 2015 he won the Best First Feature Award in Berlin for 600 millas (600 Miles,Gabriel Ripstein) plus the Golden Lion in Venice and a Special Mention in San Sebastian for Desde allá (From Afar, Lorenzo Vigas), both selected for Horizontes Latinos. Now he returns to the Festival as a director with Las hijas de Abril (April’s Daughters), having won the Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard.
Sebastián Lelio (Mendoza, Argentina, 1974) has a trajectory closely related to San Sebastian. His first film, La Sagrada Familia, competed in Horizontes Latinos in 2005 after its screening in Films in Progress. His fourth feature, Gloria, won the Films in Progress Award in San Sebastian in 2012. His latest film, Una mujer fantástica (A Fantastic Woman), Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale, will open the section.
Affonso Uchôa (Contagem, Brazil) and João Dumans (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) jointly wrote A vizinhança do tigre / The Hidden Tiger (2014). Here they repeat their collaboration as the directors of Arábia /Araby, selected for the Rotterdam Festival official competition and winner of a special mention at the BAFICI. Uchôa is the director of Mulher à tarde / Afternoon Woman (2010) and wrote with Marília Rocha A cidade onde envelheço / Where I Grow Old (2016), selected for Films in Progress Toulouse in 2015 and for Zabaltegi-Tabakalera last year.
Al desierto (To the Desert) is the new feature film by Ulises Rosell (Buenos Aires, 1970), after the award-winning Sofacama / Sofabed (2006) and El etnógrafo / The Ethnographer (2012). Rosell wrote and directed this story of a kidnapping and hike across the Patagonia desert to premier in San Sebastian.
Lastly, Cocote, which has just won the Signs of Life section Award at the Locarno Festival, is the third film from the Dominican director Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias (Santo Domingo, 1985), who in 2015 shot Santa Teresa y otras historias,a radical adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s novel 2666, screened in Toronto and winner of awards in Marseille and Mar del Plata.
All twelve feature films compete for the Horizontes Award and its 35,000 euros. The six first and second films in the selection (La educación de Rey, La familia, Medea, Arábia, La novia del desierto and Temporada de caza) are also contenders for the EROSKI Youth Award.
2017 San Sebastian International Film Festival Horizontes Latinos Program
UNA MUJER FANTÁSTICA (A FANTASTIC WOMAN) SEBASTIÁN LELIO (CHILE- GERMANY – SPAIN – USA) Cast: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Paulina García, Néstor Cantillana, Alonso Torres, Cristián Chaparro, Senén Arancibia OPENING FILM (IN COMPETITION) Marina is a young waitress and wannabe singer; Orlando owns a printing company. Together they plan their future. When Orlando dies suddenly, Marina has to stand up to his family and society to show them what she truly is: a complex, strong, forthright and… fantastic woman. Teddy Award and Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale 2017. AL DESIERTO (TO THE DESERT) ULISES ROSELL (ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Valentina Bassi, Jorge Sesán, José María Marcos, Germán De Silva, Gastón Salgado Driven by the insecurity of her working situation, Julia, an employee at the Comodoro Rivadavia (Argentina) casino, gives in to the temptations of Gwynfor, a laconic man of Welsh descent, who promises her an administrative job with the oil company he works for. By the time she realises her mistake they are already well into the desert as they set out on an arduous hike across the Patagonia plain. Hunting, sheltering in caves and abandoned buildings, with no way out in the middle of infinite distances, the difficult coexistence will change as the days pass. In a pickup truck, on horseback, guided by trackers, superintendent Hermes Prieto is hot on their heels, convinced of finding some kind of trace in the midst of the desert. ARÁBIA / ARABY AFFONSO UCHÔA, JOÃO DUMANS (BRAZIL) Cast: Aristides de Sousa, Murilo Caliari, Glaucia Vandeveld, Renato Novaes, Adriano Araújo, Renan Rovida, Wederson Neguinho, Renata Cabral Young André lives in an industrial neighbourhood in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, near an old aluminium factory. Once a week, his aunt Márcia, a voluntary nurse at the community hospital, visits himself and his younger brother to help them with the household chores while their mother is away. One day, one of the factory workers, Cristiano, a foreigner with a stormy background in the neighbourhood, suffers an accident at the factory. Márcia gives him first aid right in front of the factory, and asks André to go to Cristiano’s house to get his documents and some clothes. Entering the house, André comes across a mysterious notebook… COCOTE NELSON CARLO DE LOS SANTOS ARIAS (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – ARGENTINA – GERMANY – QATAR) Cast: Vicente Santos, Judith Rodríguez, Yuberbi de la Rosa, Pedro Sierra, Isabel Spencer, José Miguel Fernander Alberto, an evangelical gardener, returns to his hometown for the funeral of his father, murdered by an influential man. To mourn the dead man, he is forced to participate in religious celebrations that go against both his will and his beliefs. LA EDUCACIÓN DEL REY (REY’S EDUCATION) SANTIAGO ESTEVES (ARGENTINA – SPAIN) Cast: Germán De Silva, Matías Encinas, Jorge Prado, Mario Jara, Martín Arrojo, Elena Schnell, Marcelo Lacerna, Esteban Lamothe Films in Progress 30 Bolting from his first ever heist, Reynaldo Galíndez, alias ‘Rey’, lands in the patio of the house inhabited by Carlos Vargas, a retired security guard. Vargas offers a deal: the young boy will repair the damage to his home in return for not being handed over to the police. The lessons given to the teenager by the former guard develop into a relationship not unlike the old legends of educating a king (for the “Rey” of his name, meaning “king”). But the agreement will start to fall apart when the loose ends of the robbery Reynaldo had been involved in start closing in around them. Films in Progress Industry Award and CAACI / Ibermedia TV Films in Progress Award in 2016. LA FAMILIA GUSTAVO RONDÓN CÓRDOVA (VENEZUELA – CHILE – NORWAY) Cast: Giovanny Garcia, Reggie Reyes Films in Progress 30 Twelve year-old Pedro roams the streets with his friends in the violent urban atmosphere of a working-class district of Caracas. When Pedro seriously injures another boy in a fight, his single father, Andrés, decides that they must make a run for it and hide. Although Andrés will realise that as a father he is incapable of controlling his son, the situation will bring them closer than they have ever been. LA NOVIA DEL DESIERTO ( THE DESERT BRIDE) CECILIA ATÁN, VALERIA PIVATO (ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Paulina García, Claudio Rissi Films in Progress 31 Teresa (54) has worked for decades as a live-in maid in Buenos Aires. When the family sells the house, she is forced to take a job in a distant town. Though not particularly comfortable with the idea, she embarks on a journey through the desert. During her first stop in the land of the miracle-producing ‘Difunta Correa’ saint, she loses her bag with all her belongings. This incident leads her to cross paths with a travelling salesman, the only person who can help her. What seemed like the end of her world will prove to be her salvation. LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL (APRIL’S DAUGHTERS) MICHEL FRANCO (MEXICO) Cast: Emma Suárez, Ana Valeria Becerril, Hernán Mendoza, Joanna Larequi, Enrique Arrizon, Iván Cortés, Giovanna Zacarías, José Ángel García, Tony Dalton Valeria is 17 and pregnant. She lives in Puerto Vallarta with her step-sister Clara. Valeria doesn’t want April – the mother they haven’t seen for some time – to find out about her pregnancy. However Clara, compelled by financial difficulties and the responsibilities of having a baby in the house, decides to call her. Abril arrives with the intention of helping her daughters, but we soon understand why Valeria would have preferred her to stay away. LAS OLAS (THE WAVES) ADRIÁN BINIEZ (URUGUAY – ARGENTINA) Cast: Alfonso Tort, Julieta Zylberberg, Fabiana Charlo, Victoria Jorge, Ilana Hojman Films in Progress 30 Alfonso leaves work and heads for the beach. He dives into the sea and starts swimming. He surfaces on a beach where he and his family had been on holiday five years earlier. This is the start of a fantastic voyage through the different holidays and resorts he has visited during his lifetime: as a boy with his parents, on a mysterious island with his ex-wife, as a teenager with his friends, with Malaysian pirates and when camping in the same place with two different girlfriends in two consecutive years. LOS PERROS MARCELA SAID (CHILE – FRANCE) Cast: Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro, Rafael Spregelburd, Alejandro Sieveking Films in Progress 31 Mariana (42) belongs to the Chilean upper class; she spends her days managing an art gallery and learning how to ride a horse. Her riding instructor, Juan, 20 years her senior, is an ex-cavalry officer known as El Coronel, under investigation for human rights abuses committed during the Chilean dictatorship. When Mariana embarks on a romance with her mysterious teacher, she finds herself caught up in a complex situation from which she is loathe to escape on discovering her father’s close relationship with the man being investigated. MEDEA ALEXANDRA LATISHEV (COSTA RICA – ARGENTINA – CHILE) Cast: Liliana Biamonte, Javier Montenegro, Eric Calderón Films in Progress 30 María José’s life swings back and forth between the monotony of classes at the university, her eternally distant parents, rugby training and dares with her gay friend. Emotionally disconnected from her environment, when she meets Javier she tries to start a relationship with him. But none of her efforts to live a ‘normal’ life succeed. She harbours a secret that nobody notices: she’s a few months into her pregnancy. TEMPORADA DE CAZA (HUNTING SEASON ) NATALIA GARAGIOLA (ARGENTINA) Cast: Lautaro Bettoni, Germán Palacios, Boy Olmi, Rita Pauls Films in Progress 31 Nahuel is a teenager with an innate violent conduct. After his mother dies, he travels to Patagonia in Southern Argentina, where he encounters his biological father, who he hasn’t seen for more than a decade. Ernesto is a respected hunting guide who lives in the mountains with his second wife and daughters. The reunion is not an easy one, pride and resentment prevail in both father and son. They stubbornly resist any possible contact with one another. However, as the weeks go by and winter settles in, Nahuel starts giving in. Initial hostility gives place to curiosity, both towards his father’s universe of hunting and the life of a group of teenagers that he meets in the area. On his side, Ernesto’s roughness gives in to the undeniable love he has for his son…
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Tribeca Film Festival Award-Winning Documentary BOBBI JENE Dances into Theaters on September 22 | Trailer
The Tribeca Film Festival award-winning documentary Bobbi Jene directed by Elvira Lind, looks at the exhilarating journey of a dancer finding her place in the world. The film swept the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival documentary awards, winning for Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Bobbi Jene will be released in New York at the Quad Cinema on Friday, September 22, with additional cities to follow.
After a decade of stardom in Israel, American dancer Bobbi Jene Smith decides to leave behind her prominent position at the world-famous Batsheva Dance Company, as well as the love of her life, to return to the US to create her own boundary-breaking art. Tracking the personal and professional challenges that await her, Lind’s film lovingly and intimately documents the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. Observing the artist in both private and public settings, the film moves between uninhibited scenes of life at home, grueling rehearsals, and Bobbi Jene’s revealing choreography. Baring her body, her new work explores both the physical and emotional complexities of female sexuality. Bobbi Jene delves into what it takes for a woman to gain her own independence in the extremely competitive world of dance and to find self-fulfillment in the process.
Trailer: Bobbi Jene
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VIDEO: Watch Trailer for Coming-of-Age Indie Drama DAYVEON
Check out the new trailer for Amman Abbasi’s Dayveon, starring newcomer Devin Blackmon, which premiered earlier this year at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The film will be open in theaters on September 13, 2017 in Los Angeles at Laemmle Monica Film Center, and in New York City at Quad Cinema.
In the film, 13-year-old Dayveon (newcomer Devin Blackmon) struggling with his older brother’s death, spends the sweltering summer days roaming around his rural Arkansan town. With no parents and few role models, he soon falls in with the local gang. Though his sister’s boyfriend tries to provide stability and comfort as a reluctant father figure, Dayveon becomes increasingly drawn into the camaraderie and violence of his new world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnjos7t076A
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VIDEO: Watch First Trailer for THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman
A24 today released the first trailer for psychological horror-thriller film The Killing Of A Sacred Deer from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (THE LOBSTER, DOGTOOTH), and starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman.
The film also starring Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Bill Camp and Alicia Silverstone will be released in theaters on October 27.
The film’s synopsis: A prominent surgeon adopts a teenager into his family, but as the teen’s actions grow increasingly sinister, the doctor is forced to make a terrible decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQFdGfwChtw

The Silent Child, directed by Chris Overton won the the award for Best Live Action Short at 2017 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival[/caption]
Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (