• Cinematographer Frederick Elmes to Receive AFI 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal

    [caption id="attachment_22051" align="aligncenter" width="960"]Frederick Elmes Frederick Elmes[/caption] Cinematographer Frederick Elmes (AFI Class of 1972) will receive the American Film Institute (AFI) 2017 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal. This honor recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of an AFI alumnus or alumna who embodies the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television. Applauding the ongoing career of the influential artist who has lensed such films as ERASERHEAD (1977), RIVER’S EDGE (1986), BLUE VELVET (1986), WILD AT HEART (1990) and THE ICE STORM (1997), as well as TV’s OLIVE KITTERIDGE and THE NIGHT OF, the presentation of the Schaffner Medal will take place at the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton in Hollywood on June 8, 2017. Over the past five decades, Elmes has brought to life stories from cinema’s most fearless iconoclasts — including John Cassavetes, David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, Ang Lee and AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Diane Keaton, with whom he collaborated on her directorial debut HEAVEN (1987). He has received a Primetime Emmy® nomination, two Film Independent Spirit Awards and a New York Film Critics Circle Award, among other accolades, and is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). From among an elite community of nearly 5,000 AFI graduates, Elmes joins an esteemed group of past recipients that includes Darren Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN), Lesli Link Glatter (HOMELAND), Patty Jenkins (WONDER WOMAN), Janusz Kamiński (SCHINDLER’S LIST), David Lynch (BLUE VELVET), Terrence Malick (THE TREE OF LIFE) and Wally Pfister (THE DARK KNIGHT). The Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of a graduate of the AFI Conservatory or the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women who symbolizes the legacy of Franklin J. Schaffner. The distinguished recipients of the Schaffner Alumni Medal are: David Lynch (1991), Edward Zwick (1992), Randa Haines (1993), Martin Brest (1994), Jon Avnet (1995), Carl Franklin (1996), John McTiernan (1997), Amy Heckerling (1998), Mimi Leder (1999), Terrence Malick (2000), Darren Aronofsky (2001), Todd Field (2002), John Dahl (2003), Patty Jenkins (2004), Paul Schrader (2005), Marshall Herskovitz (2006), Gary Winick (2007), Mark Waters (2008), Steve Golin (2009), Janusz Kamiński (2010), Steven Rosenblum (2011), Wally Pfister (2012), Stuart Cornfeld (2013), Anne Garefino (2014), Caleb Deschanel (2015) and Lesli Linka Glatter (2016).

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  • Cannes Film Festival Unveils 2017 Jury, Pedro Almodóvar, Will Smith, Jessica Chastain and More

    [caption id="attachment_20336" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar[/caption] Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar will preside over the Jury for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The jury will be made up of eight key figures from cinema world to judge the films in Competition.  The winners will be announced on Sunday 28th May at the Closing Ceremony, following which the Palme d’or will be awarded. THE 2017 JURY Pedro Almodóvar – President (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – Spain) Maren Ade (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – Germany) Jessica Chastain (Actress, Producer – United States) Fan Bingbing (Actress, Producer – China) Agnès Jaoui (Actress, Screenwriter, Director, Singer – France) Park Chan-Wook (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – South Korea) Will Smith (Actor, Producer, Musician – United States Paolo Sorrentino (Director, Screenwriter – Italy) Gabriel Yared (Composer – France) Maren Ade, director, screenwriter, producer – Germany In 1998, Maren Ade began studying film production and direction in Munich. During her studies, she co-founded the film production company Komplizen Film. In 2004, Maren Ade first film, The Forest for the Trees, premiered in Toronto and won the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2009, her second film Everyone Else received the Silver Bear for Best Film and for Best Actress. Maren Ade third film, Toni Erdmann, debuted in Competition at the 2016 Festival de Cannes and won numerous awards like the European Film Award. As a producer, she worked on productions like Tabu by Miguel Gomes and Sleeping Sickness by Ulrich Köhler. Jessica Chastain, actress, producer – United States Two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought after actresses of her generation. She has received numerous nominations and accolades for her work, in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, A Most Violent Year by J.C. Chandor, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby by Ned Benson and Ridley Scott’s The Martian. Jessica Chastain launched a production company Freckle Films. She is currently in production for Susanna White’s period drama Woman Walks Ahead and will be seen in Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan Fan Bingbing, actress, producer – China Born in 1981, Fan Bingbing rose to fame in 1998 with the mega-hit TV series My Fair Princess. In 2003, she starred in Cell Phone, which became the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year. Since then, she has starred in many films, most notably Lost in Beijing (2007), Buddha Mountain (2011), and Double Xposure (2012). In 2014, she participated in the Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past. In 2016, she starred in I Am not Madame Bovary and received the San Sebastian Film Festival Best Actress Award as well as the 11th Asian Film Best Actress Award. Fan is selected for the 2017 TIME 100. Agnès Jaoui, actress, screenwriter, director, singer – France Multi-award winning artist Agnès Jaoui joined forces with Jean-Pierre Bacri to develop a theatre and film style of which Kitchen with Apartment and Family Resemblances were first to meet with success. They worked with Alain Resnais on Smoking/No Smoking and Same Old Song. In 2000, Agnès Jaoui directed The Taste of Others which won four César. She wrote and directed Look at Me, which won Best Screenplay Award at the 2004 Festival de Cannes, followed by Let’s Talk about the Rain (2008) and Under the Rainbow (2013). She is a singer, and her Latin “Canta” album won a Victoire de la Musique award in 2007. She can be currently seen in Aurore by Blandine Lenoir. Park Chan-Wook, director, screenwriter, producer – South Korea Ever since his Korean box office record breaking Joint Security Area in the year 2000, Park Chan-wook’s diverse body of work has garnered recognition both at home and abroad. These include his successes at the Festival de Cannes in 2004 with the Grand Prix for Old Boy and the Jury Prize for Thirst in 2009. In 2013, Park Chan-wook expanded his œuvre to include English language films with Stoker and also produced Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer. In 2016, Park Chan-wook returned to Cannes in Competition with The Handmaiden and won the Vulcan Prize, once again establishing him as one of the most significant talents working in cinema today. Will Smith, actor, producer, musician – United States Two-time Academy Award nominee Will Smith has a vast filmography including portrayals of true-life icons in Ali, The Pursuit of Happiness and Concussion. His headlining credits include Independence Day, I, Robot, Hitch, I Am Legend, Men in Black I, II, & III, and last summer’s Suicide Squad. The two-time Grammy Award winner began his career as a musician selling millions of records worldwide before crossing over into television with The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Will Smith is dedicated to working toward the advancement of communities and individuals through the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation. Paolo Sorrentino, director, screenwriter – Italy Paolo Sorrentino, director and screenwriter, was born in Naples in 1970. Seven of his 8 films have been presented in Competition at the Festival de Cannes, where Il Divo won the Prix du Jury in 2008. In 2014, his film La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as a BAFTA. In 2016, La Giovinezza (Youth) gained an Oscar nomination and won three European Film Awards. In 2016, he made his first TV Series: The Young Pope. He has also published a novel “Hanno tutti ragione” in 2010, and two collections of short stories: “Tony Pagoda e i suoi amici” (2012), and “Gli aspetti irrilevanti” (2016). Gabriel Yared, composer – France After spending his childhood in Lebanon, Gabriel Yared attended the composition classes of Henri Dutilleux in Paris. He stayed in Brazil and returned to France in 1972, and quickly became an orchestrator and producer sought after by the biggest European singers of the time. Since 1980, he devoted most of his time to film composition. He has written more than a hundred scores to date, of which many have earned him prestigious international awards. He wrote his first score for Jean-Luc Godard, which was followed by successful notable collaborations with Jean-Jacques Beineix, Jean-Jacques Annaud (Cesar for The Lover), Anthony Minghella (Oscar for The English Patient) and Xavier Dolan.

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  • Anjelica Huston to Receive Award + World Premiere TROUBLE at Seattle International Film Festival

    Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston will be honored at this year’s 43rd Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) along with the world premiere of her newest film, Trouble, written and directed by Theresa Rebeck. In her new film Trouble, Anjelica Huston stars alongside Bill Pullman as a feuding brother and sister whose differences entangle the fate of an old friend, played by David Morse. Both written and directed by Theresa Rebeck (creator of Smash) and executive-produced by Huston, Trouble features strong performances that illuminate the honest realities of familial obligations and misunderstandings. Trouble also stars: Julia Stiles, Jim Parrack, Brian d’Arcy James, and Victor Williams. Sarah Wilke, SIFF’s Executive Director says, “It is an honor to welcome such a talented, exquisite, and tenacious actress to this year’s festival. Anjelica Huston has graced the theater screen for many years and we at SIFF are elated to celebrate her success as an artist with our Career Achievement in Acting Award.” In addition to the Tribute event and screening of Trouble, the Seattle International Film Festival will present two films pivotal to Huston’s career: The Grifters and The Witches.

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  • Tribeca 2017: Who Killed Marsha P Johnson “street queen” of NY’s Gay Ghetto? | Trailer

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    [caption id="attachment_22039" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON[/caption] Marsha P Johnson, the beloved, self-described “street queen” of NY’s gay ghetto was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, the NYPD chalked it up as a suicide and refused to investigate. Who killed Marsha P. Johnson? When the beloved, self-described “street queen” of NY’s Christopher Street was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, the NYPD called her death a suicide. Protests erupted but the police remained impassive and refused to investigate. Now, twenty-five years on, Academy Award® nominated director and journalist David France (HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE) examines Marsha’s death—and her extraordinary life—in his new film. Marsha arrived in the Village in the 1960s where she teamed up with Sylvia Rivera when both claimed their identities as “drag queens,” to use the vernacular of the times. Together, the radical duo fought arrests, condemned police brutality, organized street kids, battled the intolerant majority within the gay community, and helped spearhead the Stonewall Riots. In 1970 they formed the world’s first trans-rights organization, STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries). Despite their many challenges over the years—bias, homelessness, illness —Marsha and Sylvia ignited a powerful and lasting civil rights movement for gender nonconforming people. Now, a quarter century later, at a time of unprecedented visibility and escalating violence in the transgender community, a dynamic activist named Victoria Cruz has taken it upon herself to reexamine what happened at the end of Marsha’s life. As the film dips in and out of jawdropping archival footage from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON follows as this champion pursues leads, mobilizes officials, and works to get to the bottom of Marsha’s death. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON Poster In an interview with director David France, he described what inspired to make the film now,”Marsha died twenty-five years ago this July and her fame—and mythology—has only increased over that quarter century. She’s become a very well-known touchstone within the LGBT movement but very little is really known about her. I wanted to fill in the historical record. In addition, I knew that her death was never thoroughly investigated by the police. In fact, as a print journalist I had begun to investigate her case back in 1992, but never did follow through on that work, so I felt a personal obligation to go back to it, and I felt that that offered an opportunity to reallyput flesh on this mythical character of Marsha P. Johnson.” THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, with additional screenings through Friday, Apr. 28th.

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  • Tribeca 2017: rag & bone Debuts HAIR Directed by and Starring John Turturro | Trailer

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    [caption id="attachment_22032" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Hair Bobby Cannavale and John Turturro in HAIR. Photo credit: Marissa Kraxberger.[/caption] Hair, a short film, directed by and starring Golden Globe-nominated actor John Turturro alongside two-time Emmy-winner Bobby Cannavale debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Delving deeper into the medium of film, the film is as a rag & bone production, marking yet another engaging initiative under the ‘rag & bone Films’ umbrella.  Hair will be available to view in full on rag-bone.com beginning May 2nd. “For us, projects like these are about creating a paradigm shift in the way people view fashion. Film and photography are engrained in our brand DNA and we love exploring both mediums in different ways every season. This project was a joy to be part of and it was a real honor to work with John and Bobby on it.” – Marcus Wainwright, rag & bone CEO, Founder and Creative Director [gallery size="large" ids="22033,22034,22035"] Shot by Fred Elmes (Blue Velvet, The Night Of, Broken Flowers) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn the film features an improvised conversation about a man’s particularity for his hair. Truly masters of their craft, Turturro and Cannavale deliver a lightheartedly engrossing and completely unscripted performance while dressed in the rag & bone Spring/Summer 2017 collection. “It was fun to find the right location that would complement the rag & bone clothing. I scouted several places with Fred Elmes and we felt that this specific classic barber shop was the perfect location. Clothes and hair go together; they’re part of your social identity.” – John Turturro Hair follows on from the 2016 Men’s Project, based on a concept that showcases the actors’ authentic personalities with each outfitted in pieces from the latest collection that are reflective of their own personal taste. Turturro continues, “Working with rag & bone was very creative and collaborative, with this short, I wanted to convey the spirit of their brand which is fun, lively, and urban with a focus on quality and craftsmanship.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlE76iGwC8

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  • Tribeca 2017: Watch Animated Short Film ESCAPE that World Premiered at Festival | Video

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    [caption id="attachment_22027" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Escape “Looking for a solution.” Film still from ESCAPE.[/caption] The animated short film Escape, a sequel to two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning short Silent, premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 22, in New York. Escape is the story of a lone space explorer who crash-lands on a desolate planet and must find a way to make her new home habitable. Dolby Laboratories united the creative talents of Emmy® winning director Limbert Fabian and Academy Award® winning co-director Brandon Oldenburg, who represent the creative leadership of the newly formed Flight School Studio, with the musical talents of Imogen Heap, the only solo recording artist and also the first woman to win a Grammy for engineering. In addition, Dolby’s Angus McGilpin and Vince Voron, the team behind Silent, collaborated to bring visual design and audio expertise to Escape. Combining techniques such as miniatures and animation with the spectacular imaging of Dolby Vision and the moving audio of Dolby Atmos, Escape invites the audience to experience a joyous vision of the future. With her love of technology and her passion for the project, the Grammy-winning solo recording artist Imogen Heap composed, performed and produced the song Magic Me for the film. Heap added her amazing voice and music to an original soundtrack, working alongside BAFTA winning sound designer Nick Ryan to mesh the sound fx into the music, creating a truly unique listening experience to complement the animation. Heap will release Magic Me in conjunction with the film’s premiere. To create the beautiful and dynamic world, the team developed a model of the planet’s landscape that was designed to combine purposeful structures with organic, vine-like elements in a way that permitted light to flow throughout the space. The film avoids dialogue and instead uses facial expressions, visual effects and music to communicate with a global audience, making sound an integral part of the movie experience. “The film is a cinematic poem about the world-changing power of invention and is a fitting sequel to Silent in which our character experienced the evolution of film technology from the silent-film era to the present day,” said Vince Voron, the film’s Executive Producer and Vice President and Executive Creative Director of Dolby Laboratories. “We have been investing in original branded content to inspire our consumers, filmmakers and partners and celebrate the powerful storytelling possibilities when art and science come together.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H46Kil1k-m8

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  • Tribeca 2017: Rapper Common Joined Director Nelson George for a Tribeca Talk: Storytellers Conversation

    Common, Nelson George 2017 Tribeca Talk: Storytellers Academy Award, Golden Globe, and three time Grammy winner Common joined director/screenwriter Nelson George on stage Sunday night, April 23, for a Tribeca Talk: Storytellers conversation, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. A never-before-seen extended version of Letter to the Free from director Bradford Young debuted prior to the conversation. Common closed out the sold-out event with a live performance, during which the renowned hip-hop artist and actor debuted a new song, “Black Kennedy,” in front of a standing room only crowd. The conversation spanned musical influences of the 80s and 90s, social justice flashpoints, Common’s first acting gig on Tracee Ellis Ross & Mara Brock Akil’s Girlfriends, his respect for director Ava DuVernay, and activism in hip-hop today, name-dropping Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. Excerpts from transcript of the conversation: Question: Do you believe that when artists, rappers, musicians face some sort of social injustice flashpoint like a Donald Trump or the LA riots to react to, that it drives up the creativity and the timelessness of art, as opposed to when things are going well and the art suffers? Nelson George: Every historical epoch where there’s conflict, it does help certain artists. Some people can be explicitly political but for others, it becomes an internal journey that can also be just as powerful. One of the best eras of hip hop was the crack era, which was terrible time in the country and under Reagan. And some great art came out of that. Often artists respond with some of their best work because it touches their friends and their community in a way that’s inspiring. And anger, as much as love, inspires art. Common: Artists, when we have something we’re passionate about, we speak up. It’s the truth that comes out at that time. But you have to be passionate about it. I think this era we’re in now is just as tough as the Reagan era in many instances, but the artists are speaking up. They feel it. They feel it in their spirits. I think the one thing we have in hip hop that you had in that 80s era is a lot of people were kind of educated politically to a certain degree; socially and politically so they knew what to talk about. I was learning about things from Chuck D and from KRS-One and I learned from them. They had something to say. They knew what was going on. I don’t know if it was age or whatever the case, but they knew. And even in this crucial era, I think that the music can be more powerful, the art can be more powerful when people are passionate about it and they really do care. Nelson George: Ava [DuVernay]has had a profound effect on you. This film is dedicated to her. Can you talk a little bit about her impact? Tell me a little bit about how that relationship has shaped your thinking. Common: Well, one day my daughter hit me and was like “You know if Ava is Malcolm X, you Martin Luther King” She’s at Howard now and she was trying to say I was softer than Ava I when it comes to the revolutionary aspect. And I was like embarrassed that she would say that about me. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel like Ava does have an unapologetic and unashamedly Blackness about her and she embraces that and does it universally but I was like DAMN. I do that too. But I think I’m always talking about love and extending the hand of love and embracing people. I’ve learned to embrace people that may not think the way I think or may be on the opposite side when it comes to politics. They may be on the opposite side of many things but my first step is to do what our former First Lady says “Go high when they go low” so that’s my mentality. So when my daughter said that, I said this is what it really is- I tried to explain to her. My relationship with Ava is really inspiring. She’s like for me…through working with her. And talking with her, I see somebody who is dedicated to putting Black culture and Black faces out in the world in the purest way. In a truthful way. In a way we don’t get to see all the time. And it reminds me – you know when you get around those friends, Nelson? well you Black like that so…but you know when you get around friends who just remind you of like who you are and what your mission is and to not be afraid. I think she has a lot of that in her and she’s very talented. And to me, one of her biggest gifts is knowing how to put people together. Because I’ve met some of the most talented and some of my best friends in the industry are people that I’ve met working on projects with Ava. Common: I definitely have to first say that it was music in the late 80s and 90s was truly reflective of a movement. It was the movement of Black empowerment, Black love, consciousness, just being aware. It was all of the above and obviously, things go through evolutions, it changes. I don’t think right now as a whole, that we have that in hip hop. At that time, the majority of hip hop was a pro-Black movement. We had PE. We had Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubians, Big Daddy Kane would do his pro-Black song. Moe Dee, N.W.A. had stuff that was saying something too. So, I don’t feel like we have that as a whole. I don’t think hip hop is the place we go to listen to that voice of ‘ok this is the revolution. this is how we’re changing things,’ but there are artists that do it, like Kendrick Lamar. And I also think that the chance that we may not speak about like ‘ok this is Black consciousness. He has a Black consciousness about him, a self-awareness and spirituality,’ and I don’t want to overlook that because spirituality is something that is powerful in hip hop, whether it’s Islamic, the five percenters. In hip hop, we don’t have it as much, but it still exists. I still can’t go to some hip hop but now, you know, I go to great speakers like Brian Stevenson or books to learn or listen to the people who talk about politics and I honestly try to give my own discernment to decide where I think the world is. Image Credit: Carolyn Amuaro for Street Dreams

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  • Tribeca 2017: 80’s NY Street Artist Richard Hambleton is Still Here in SHADOWMAN | Trailer

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    [caption id="attachment_22015" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Shadowman Richard Hambleton in SHADOWMAN. Photographer: Hank OíNeal.[/caption] Richard Hambleton is not here for your consumption, you consumer. Richard is here to paint, and get your money so that he can be happy with his best friend “his drugs.” Yes you the consumer thought you were playing Richard by commissioning and controlling him with your promises of fame, apartments, and money, but in the end it’s Richard the addict that’s pulling the strings, he is the puppet master. Richard Hambleton is the subject of the documentary Shadowman, directed by Oren Jacoby, that world premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. shadowman poster As an artist, I connected with Richard; he ran within the circles of Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat and now he’s the only living legend that comes to my mind from that era. Everybody wanted and wants a piece of that art era, which tormented the soul of Basquiat and Harring, and they both verbally expressed their distaste at being commissioned and controlled by the money.  But, unlike Haring and Basquiat, at the height of his career Richard QUIT,  yes he quit and traveled the world.  Richard is a non conformist, he knows his talent, he knows his value, and just like he knows his drugs,  he also knows that to the art dealer his art is their drug. He dangles his best work in front of their greedy faces, but refuses to sell that painting – once again showing he is in control. In the film, an art dealer offers Richard an apartment in the Trump Hotel, and in return Richard had to give him only one painting a month.  The gallery that brokered that deal called Richard to check the status of the painting and explained to him that the dealer was being generous by letting him stay at the Trump Hotel for free because the rooms go for $40,000 a month, Richard’s response was yes but I’m giving him one painting a month and my paintings sell for over a million dollars each – leaving the gallery rep speechless. As I stated before Richard knows his drug, but he also knows theirs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUPXecA3Isg I give Shadowman 5  stars and would highly recommend this documentary I felt a range of emotions as I watched it from sadness, empathy to victory because as an artist I definitely related. Great job to the entire team. Director: Oren Jacoby Cinematographer: Oren Jacoby, Tom Hurwitz, Bob Richman Editor: Abhay Sofsky Composer: Joel Goodman Executive Producer: Andy Valmorbida, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, Producer: Oren Jacoby Co-Producer: Hank O’Neal, Eric Forman, Clayton Patterson Field Producer: Maria Gabriella Pezzo Coordinating Producer: Sam Jinishian Cast: Richard Hambleton

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  • Tribeca 2017: A RIVER BELOW Documents the Efforts to Save the Pink River Dolphin in the Amazon | Trailer

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    [caption id="attachment_22009" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]A River Below The Amazon River. Film still from A RIVER BELOW. Photo credit: Helkin RenÈ Diaz.[/caption] A River Below directed by Mark Greico is an investigative journey into the Amazon that follows a TV star and a renowned marine biologist as they each attempt to save the endangered pink river dolphin from being hunted to extinction. The film has its World Premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in the Documentary competition. A River Below captures the Amazon in all its complexity as it examines the actions of environmental activists using the media in an age where truth is a relative term. The film follows a reality TV star and a renowned marine biologist as they each attempt to save the Amazon pink river dolphin from being hunted to extinction. With gorgeous, sweeping aerial views we gain perspective from above, but as the film plunges deep into the murky, tangled rivers, we uncover a scandal that has no simple solution. A RIVER BELOW is a completely unexpected film – a knotty poem of duality and dissonance and a journey into ourselves as we attempt to better this world. Director Mark Greico’s last film MARMATO was an official selection at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and went to win numerous awards.

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  • Tribeca 2017: Hillary Clinton Makes a Surprise Appearance as a Panelist for Kathryn Bigelow’s VR Short Premiere

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    Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday to participate in the world premiere of Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s virtual reality short, The Protectors: Walk in the Rangers’ Shoes. National Geographic’s The Protectors: Walk in the Ranger’s Shoes, is a documentary short shot in Virtual Reality that chronicles a day in the life of a ranger in Garamba National Park, managed by African Parks, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These rangers are often the last line of defense in a race against extinction as poachers continue to slaughter elephants for their ivory tusks. The rangers face constant danger and even death at the service of these sentient, noble creatures and can therefore truly be called the unsung heroes in this race against time. Clinton was an unannounced panelist, alongside directors Bigelow and Imraan Ismail, African Parks’ Andrea Heydlauf, and National Geographic’s Rachel Webber. In her remarks, Clinton spoke about her work to save elephants from poachers slaughtering them for their ivory tusks, saying “I’m proud we passed a near total ban of ivory and proud that the Chinese made a very important announcement last year on the ivory trade. Large mammals like elephants have a large role to play both in reality and in our imaginations. China had been the number one market, but the US is the second biggest market for illegal ivory.” Clinton also referenced march Earth Day and the marches taking place earlier in New York City, Washington DC, other US cities and around the world, saying, ‘It is Earth Day and we are marching on behalf of science, and part of science is understanding the intricate relationships we share with those on this planet.” image via Twitter

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  • Tribeca 2017: COPWATCH Profiles WeCopwatch whose Mission is to Film Police Activity and Brutality | Trailer

    COPWATCH Copwatch, directed by Camilla Hall, is a true story of WeCopwatch, an organization whose mission is to film police activity as a non-violent form of protest and deterrent to police brutality.  The documentary will premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 23rd. The Copwatch documentary profiles several WeCopwatch members – revealing how their mission to film police activity and brutality has impacted their lives. “Copwatch is not about what happened in front of the cameras, but it’s about those who stood behind them. It’s about a sense brotherhood that developed through the shared trauma of standing up to police brutality,” shares Camilla. Some of the people featured in the documentary include: Jacob Crawford (co-founder) who has spent the last 15 years with a camera in his hand documenting police activity. David Whitt (co-founder) a young father who lived in Ferguson and started filming after Michael Brown’s “Hands Up” shooting. Kevin Moore (Baltimore) awoke to the screams of his friend and neighbor Freddie Gray. He grabbed a camera and ran outside, filming as police dragged the injured young man into the back of a paddy wagon. Freddie Gray would die from the injuries and Kevin’s video, like those before his, were shown to the entire world by news broadcast and online. Like Ramsey, Kevin became a target for making his voice heard and was arrested shortly after he filmed the video while attending a protest. Ramsey Orta who captured Eric Garner’s final words “I Can’t Breathe” on his cell phone in currently incarcerated, however we’re looking into phone opportunities for him.  Capturing Garner’s death was life changing for Ramsey, the only person from the scene of the fatal Staten Island arrest to go to jail. The director Camilla Hall explains the inspiration for Copwatch: “The idea for COPWATCH came out of a call I had with an ex-cop some time ago. He told me how it was normal to go after people who had filmed the police, whether looking up warrants or enforcing traffic stops, anything possible to harass people who had tried to film them. I had been reading about Ramsey Orta and Kevin Moore, who had both been arrested after they filmed their videos. I tried to get in contact with Ramsey, only to be shut down by his lawyers, but refused to give up and managed to reach him through Jacob Crawford, the founder of WeCopwatch. Those initial conversations started a bigger conversation about how to tell the story of the group as a whole. I couldn’t understand why no one was telling the story behind people who film the police. I started to raise the money from friends and family to scrape through shoots with a young DP, Adriel Gonzalez. We’d borrow lavalier mics and anything we could to make sure we didn’t miss a moment. The story moved very fast but we had to keep shooting. Bow and Arrow Entertainment jumped on board and helped us to take the film to the next level.” “In many ways, I am an unlikely director for this film, but at the time, there were no other options. I spent weeks at the start looking for others to direct but the story moved faster and faster; the story mattered more to me than the role. I had the access and, for whatever reason, the group trusted me as I was willing to go through hell to shoot what I needed to get. We were shot at on numerous occasions, spent a week without running water, and dealt with situations where we had no idea what was going to play out. In many ways, I became a confidant for each person in WeCopwatch, they opened up and revealed themselves in a way that seemed to be part of a process for them. I was drawn to them because they had allowed me to understand – for the first time – what it was like to grow up hounded and harassed by the cops because of where they’d been born or what they looked like. As a journalist, I knew that if they were communicating this to me, then others would also be able to learn from them.”

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  • Tribeca 2017: Watch a Clip from THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN Documentary on Sex Pistols’ John Lydon | Trailer

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    [caption id="attachment_21995" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Public Image Is Rotten John Lydon in THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN. Photographer: Yamit Shimonovitz.[/caption] The documentary The Public Image Is Rotten directed by Tabbert Fiiller on John Lydon formerly of Sex Pistols is World Premiering tonight, Friday April 21, at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. After the breakup of the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten), formed Public Image Ltd (PiL)- his groundbreaking band which has lived on nearly ten times as long as his first one. He has struggled to keep the band alive ever since, through personnel and stylistic changes, fighting to constantly reinvent new ways of approaching music, while adhering to radical ideals of artistic integrity. John Lydon has not only redefined music, but also the true meaning of originality. Former and current bandmates, as well as fellow icons like Flea, Ad-Rock and Thurston Moore, add testimony to electrifying archival footage (including stills and audio from the infamous Ritz Show). With his trademark acerbic wit and unpredictable candor, Lydon offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of music’s most influential and controversial careers.

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