Patti Cake$[/caption]
The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival‘s Centerpiece film will be Patti Cake$ (USA 2016), first-time feature director Geremy Jasper’s dynamic and inspiring film which tells the story of Patricia “Patti Cake$” Dombrowski, a big girl with a big mouth and big dreams of hip-hop superstardom. Patti Cake$ was a Spring 2014 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner.
The celebratory Centerpiece screening will take place on Wednesday, April 12, 7:30 pm at the historic Castro Theatre.
In addition to Patti Cake$, three documentary features, one narrative feature, one narrative short and three documentary shorts-all of which received funding or creative support through various SF Film Society artist development programs-will be included in this year’s Festival lineup.
San Francisco native Peter Bratt’s feature documentary Dolores and Oakland-based filmmaker Peter Nicks’ feature documentary The Force both received Documentary Film Fund Awards. Directing and screenwriting team Alex and Andrew Smith’s Walking Out was a SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner, and Andrew Smith is a current FilmHouse Resident. Joe Talbot, director of the narrative short American Paradise, is a current FilmHouse Resident and the feature film expansion of his short recently won a SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant. Mohammad Gorjestani, director of the documentary shorts Happy Birthday Mario Woods and The Boombox Collection: Zion I, and Mario Furloni and Kate McLean, co-directors of the documentary short Gut Hack, were all FilmHouse Residents during the development of their films. McLean’s FilmHouse residency also included the development of Festival documentary feature Bill Nye: Science Guy, on which she is a producer.
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY-SUPPORTED FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Centerpiece: Patti Cake$ (Geremy Jasper, USA)
The unqualified breakout hit of this year’s Sundance Festival, Geremy Jasper’s debut feature erupts with head-nodding beats from the opening scene and features the dynamic and stirring performance of Danielle Macdonald as the title character, a young woman who uses her lyrics to escape, daring to dream of something better outside of her New Jersey working class life. She gathers an emotionally damaged multi-racial motley crew around her to create funny and invigorating musical sequences.
Spring 2014 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner for packaging
Bill Nye: Science Guy (David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg, USA)
The effortlessly charming, bow-tie sporting scientist Bill Nye is beloved by all generations who grew up watching his show Bill Nye the Science Guy, but vilified by climate change deniers and religious fundamentalists. Skilled documentarians (and fans!) David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg travel along with Nye as he works tirelessly to make the world a better place through science advocacy and education and reflects on his life and career as one of America’s most famous science minds.
Kate McLean, a producer on the film, was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during its development.
Dolores (Peter Bratt, USA)
Lifelong community organizer Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in 1962 and directed the decisive national boycott of Delano grapes. San Francisco native Peter Bratt’s vibrant historical documentary revisits those landmark accomplishments and Huerta’s tireless activism against poverty, pesticides, racism, and injustice. Huerta’s myriad battles and sacrifices as the lone woman on the UFW board and the mother of 11 children are integral to her story, and to the times.
2016 SF Film Society Documentary Film Fund winner for postproduction
The Force (Peter Nicks, USA)
For the powerful second chapter in his projected trilogy of films centered on the relationship between public institutions and community, Pete Nicks takes a powerful, immersive look at the Oakland Police Department. Filming from 2014-2016 with unprecedented access, Nicks captures a particularly turbulent time at the agency. Intended as a catalyst for conversation and change, Nick’s empathetic observational style avoids easy generalizations and upends expectations resulting in a rich, thought-provoking depiction of what policing looks like at a watershed moment.
2015 SF Film Society Documentary Film Fund winner for postproduction
Walking Out (Alex Smith, Andrew Smith, USA)
A moose hunting trip into Montana’s mountains, meant as a rite of passage and to bridge a growing divide between a divorced dad (Matt Bomer, A Normal Heart) and his young teenage son (Josh Wiggins, Hellion, Festival 2014), takes a dangerous turn under wintry conditions in Alex and Andrew Smith’s haunting adaptation of David Quammen’s short story, a thrilling, deceptively simple drama that packs an emotional wallop and features some of the year’s best performances.
Andrew Smith is a current SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident
Fall 2016 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner for postproduction
SHORT FILMS
American Paradise (Joe Talbot, USA)
A desperate man plans a bank heist and comes up against the stark realities of white privilege in this extraordinary story inspired by true events.
Joe Talbot is a current SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident
Fall 2016 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant for packaging of the feature film expansion of American Paradise
The Boombox Collection: Zion I (Mohammad Gorjestani, USA)
In this intimate portrait and performance piece, Oakland resident Stephen Gaines, frontman of underground hip-hop duo Zion 1, reflects on his legacy and the question of artistic integrity vs. mainstream success.
Mohammad Gorjestani was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during the development of this film.
Gut Hack (Mario Furloni, Kate McLean, USA)
To treat his chronic gastro-intestinal problems, Josiah devises a bold biological experiment that involves the exchange of bodily excretions.
Mario Furloni and Kate McLean were SF Film Society FilmHouse Residents during the development of this film.
Happy Birthday Mario Woods (Mohammad Gorjestani, USA)
A bereaved mother in Oakland, CA, tends the grave of her son and remembers his life.
Mohammad Gorjestani was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during the development of this film.-
Hip Hop Indie Film PATTI CAKE$ is Centerpiece of San Francisco International Film Festival Lineup
[caption id="attachment_19920" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Patti Cake$[/caption]
The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival‘s Centerpiece film will be Patti Cake$ (USA 2016), first-time feature director Geremy Jasper’s dynamic and inspiring film which tells the story of Patricia “Patti Cake$” Dombrowski, a big girl with a big mouth and big dreams of hip-hop superstardom. Patti Cake$ was a Spring 2014 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner.
The celebratory Centerpiece screening will take place on Wednesday, April 12, 7:30 pm at the historic Castro Theatre.
In addition to Patti Cake$, three documentary features, one narrative feature, one narrative short and three documentary shorts-all of which received funding or creative support through various SF Film Society artist development programs-will be included in this year’s Festival lineup.
San Francisco native Peter Bratt’s feature documentary Dolores and Oakland-based filmmaker Peter Nicks’ feature documentary The Force both received Documentary Film Fund Awards. Directing and screenwriting team Alex and Andrew Smith’s Walking Out was a SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner, and Andrew Smith is a current FilmHouse Resident. Joe Talbot, director of the narrative short American Paradise, is a current FilmHouse Resident and the feature film expansion of his short recently won a SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant. Mohammad Gorjestani, director of the documentary shorts Happy Birthday Mario Woods and The Boombox Collection: Zion I, and Mario Furloni and Kate McLean, co-directors of the documentary short Gut Hack, were all FilmHouse Residents during the development of their films. McLean’s FilmHouse residency also included the development of Festival documentary feature Bill Nye: Science Guy, on which she is a producer.
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY-SUPPORTED FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Centerpiece: Patti Cake$ (Geremy Jasper, USA)
The unqualified breakout hit of this year’s Sundance Festival, Geremy Jasper’s debut feature erupts with head-nodding beats from the opening scene and features the dynamic and stirring performance of Danielle Macdonald as the title character, a young woman who uses her lyrics to escape, daring to dream of something better outside of her New Jersey working class life. She gathers an emotionally damaged multi-racial motley crew around her to create funny and invigorating musical sequences.
Spring 2014 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner for packaging
Bill Nye: Science Guy (David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg, USA)
The effortlessly charming, bow-tie sporting scientist Bill Nye is beloved by all generations who grew up watching his show Bill Nye the Science Guy, but vilified by climate change deniers and religious fundamentalists. Skilled documentarians (and fans!) David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg travel along with Nye as he works tirelessly to make the world a better place through science advocacy and education and reflects on his life and career as one of America’s most famous science minds.
Kate McLean, a producer on the film, was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during its development.
Dolores (Peter Bratt, USA)
Lifelong community organizer Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in 1962 and directed the decisive national boycott of Delano grapes. San Francisco native Peter Bratt’s vibrant historical documentary revisits those landmark accomplishments and Huerta’s tireless activism against poverty, pesticides, racism, and injustice. Huerta’s myriad battles and sacrifices as the lone woman on the UFW board and the mother of 11 children are integral to her story, and to the times.
2016 SF Film Society Documentary Film Fund winner for postproduction
The Force (Peter Nicks, USA)
For the powerful second chapter in his projected trilogy of films centered on the relationship between public institutions and community, Pete Nicks takes a powerful, immersive look at the Oakland Police Department. Filming from 2014-2016 with unprecedented access, Nicks captures a particularly turbulent time at the agency. Intended as a catalyst for conversation and change, Nick’s empathetic observational style avoids easy generalizations and upends expectations resulting in a rich, thought-provoking depiction of what policing looks like at a watershed moment.
2015 SF Film Society Documentary Film Fund winner for postproduction
Walking Out (Alex Smith, Andrew Smith, USA)
A moose hunting trip into Montana’s mountains, meant as a rite of passage and to bridge a growing divide between a divorced dad (Matt Bomer, A Normal Heart) and his young teenage son (Josh Wiggins, Hellion, Festival 2014), takes a dangerous turn under wintry conditions in Alex and Andrew Smith’s haunting adaptation of David Quammen’s short story, a thrilling, deceptively simple drama that packs an emotional wallop and features some of the year’s best performances.
Andrew Smith is a current SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident
Fall 2016 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner for postproduction
SHORT FILMS
American Paradise (Joe Talbot, USA)
A desperate man plans a bank heist and comes up against the stark realities of white privilege in this extraordinary story inspired by true events.
Joe Talbot is a current SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident
Fall 2016 SF Film Society / KRF Filmmaking Grant for packaging of the feature film expansion of American Paradise
The Boombox Collection: Zion I (Mohammad Gorjestani, USA)
In this intimate portrait and performance piece, Oakland resident Stephen Gaines, frontman of underground hip-hop duo Zion 1, reflects on his legacy and the question of artistic integrity vs. mainstream success.
Mohammad Gorjestani was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during the development of this film.
Gut Hack (Mario Furloni, Kate McLean, USA)
To treat his chronic gastro-intestinal problems, Josiah devises a bold biological experiment that involves the exchange of bodily excretions.
Mario Furloni and Kate McLean were SF Film Society FilmHouse Residents during the development of this film.
Happy Birthday Mario Woods (Mohammad Gorjestani, USA)
A bereaved mother in Oakland, CA, tends the grave of her son and remembers his life.
Mohammad Gorjestani was a SF Film Society FilmHouse Resident during the development of this film.
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THROW, CANYON SONG, VOYAGERS WITHOUT TRACE Among Winners of 2017 Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival
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Throw[/caption]
After screening nearly 100 films in six days, the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival has announced the winners of the 15th Anniversary edition. Voyagers Without Trace directed by Ian McCluskey was awarded the prize for Best Feature, and Throw directed by Darren Durlach and David Larson won the People’s Choice award.
15th Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival Award Winners
People’s Choice: Throw Director(s): Darren Durlach, David Larson The first installment of Invisible Thread, an ongoing Early Light Media passion project series, Throw tells the story of an outsider from East Baltimore, an area challenged by gang violence and poverty. Often misunderstood, Coffin Nachtmahr found acceptance among a subculture of “throwers” and it turns out, he’s a virtuoso. He now helps others find a creative and social outlet by sharing the very toy that inspired him. The Invisible Thread series is fueled by our passion for telling people-driven stories and will be an ongoing project that explores human connectivity, life, death, and all the moments in between. We want it to be diverse, funny, serious, and informative. Director’s Choice: Canyon Song Director(s): Dana Romanoff and Amy Marquis Within the sacred walls of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, two young sisters, Tonisha and Tonielle Draper, learn about their Navajo culture and history. Above the rim, the girls compete in “royalty” pageants by singing songs in Navajo. But throughout the region, Navajo culture is fading. Beginning in the 1890s, native children were ripped out of their homes and forced into boarding schools in an effort to assimilate Indian tribes into the “American way of life.” Today, elders have less cultural knowledge to pass down to youth, and fewer than half of the country’s Navajo children entering school know their native language. This makes the Drapers’ story especially compelling. While their lives reflect many of the familiar aspects of a modern American family, they keep close ties to the land and work hard to teach their children the Navajo Way. This film illustrates the sacredness of a people and a place, the effort to define identities in both modern and traditional worlds, and the movement to honor Navajo culture for generations to come—all while reminding viewers of the critical role national parks play in preserving our country’s greatest stories, cultures, and landscapes. This is the second film in the National Park Experience film series. Tuckman Young Voice: To Scale: The Solar System Director(s): Wylie Overstreet, Alex Gorosh Every image of the solar system we ever encounter is not to scale: Nature’s real proportions will never fit within a textbook page or computer screen–they are simply too vast. The only way to see the real appearance of the solar system is to build a massive, physical scale model. [caption id="attachment_21186" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Voyagers Without Trace[/caption]
Best Feature: Voyagers Without Trace
Director(s): Ian McCluskey
With the help of a few friends, filmmakers Alex Gorosh and Wylie Overstreet did exactly that. Using the dry lakebed of Black Rock Desert in Nevada and an earth the size of the marble, they constructed the first complete model of the solar system, measuring over seven miles wide.
Do you know those stories where a kid finds a hidden treasure map in an attic or a lost letter in an old book? Growing up, I always dreamed someday I’d find a mysterious clue that set me on an adventure.
In the remote southwest corner of Wyoming, I came across a curious historic marker. On the sign was a faded photograph: two handsome men and a fetching blonde. They didn’t look like the rugged mountain men or explorers of the American West that I’d seen before on historic signs. Instead, they seemed like they could have been my friends. The sign hinted at an incredible voyage.
In the summer of 1938, newlyweds Genevieve and Bernard de Colmont and their friend, Antoine de Seynes, set off from France on the biggest adventure of their lives. They had a bold, perhaps even foolhardy plan: be the first to take kayaks down the mighty Green and Colorado rivers. They launched from Green River, Wyoming, and emerged 900 miles and two months later in Lee’s Ferry, Arizona, with their travels vividly documented on 16 millimeter color film—a year before Hollywood’s first color movie.
And Genevieve, just age 21, would become the first woman to paddle her own boat on these rivers. A vanguard of recreational adventurers, the French Trio’s journey offers a unique and previously unseen window into a transitional moment in America: the last chapter of the Wild West, and the first chapter of the Modern era.
What led an explorer, his new bride, and his best friend halfway around the world, on the eve of World War II? What ever happened to them? And what did these “Voyagers Without Trace” leave to be found? To go further on this search meant one unavoidable thing: I had to go down the river. There was just one problem: I didn’t know how to kayak! But that hadn’t stopped the French Trio; they weren’t professional kayakers, but just beginners. So I assembled my own trio, with acclaimed adventure athlete Paul Kuthe and his fiancée, Kate.
We set off down the dangerous whitewater to search for any remaining traces of this journey. What I found was more than I could have expected: the original color film documenting their 1938 trip, unseen photos, a diary… and even one of the original kayaks, held in a 16th century fortress in the peaks of the Pyrenees, with an unexpected connection to the French Resistance.
From my discoveries emerged a story more remarkable than I could have imagined, revealing the possibilities that free-spirited risk-taking offers to all.
Best Short: Dodo’s Delight
Director(s): Sean Villanueva-O’Driscoll, Josh Lowell, Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer
Jump on board a madcap sailing adventure to the biggest rock walls in the Arctic Circle with a team of elite climbers as zany as they are talented. Sean Villanueva, Nico Favresse, Olivier Favresse and Ben Ditto have made cutting edge first ascents in remote mountain ranges around the world — climbing hard, making music and goofing off thousands of feet in the air. Now they embark on their greatest expedition yet, voyaging to the massive walls of Greenland and Baffin Island on the good ship Dodo’s Delight, skippered by the spry 79-year old Captain Bob Shepton. Amongst rough seas, falling rocks and freezing temperatures, this hilarious and badass gang of adventurers forge bold new routes and have the time of their lives.
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NEWTOWN, Documentary on Deadliest Mass Shooting of Schoolchildren in American History, to Air on PBS | Trailer
[caption id="attachment_21180" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Newtown[/caption]
Kim A. Snyder’s documentary Newtown that tells the story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history will air on Independent Lens on PBS April 3.
On December 14, 2012, a disturbed young man committed a horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that took the lives of 20 elementary school children and six educators. Kim A. Snyder’s searing new documentary Newtown, filmed over the course of nearly three years, uses deeply personal, never-before-heard testimonies to relate the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history. Through raw and heartbreaking interviews with parents, siblings, teachers, doctors and first responders, Newtown documents a traumatized community still reeling from the senseless tragedy, fractured by grief but driven toward a sense of purpose.
Newtown premieres on Independent Lens Monday, April 3, 2017, 10:00-11:30PM ET (check local listings) on PBS.
There are no words of compassion or reassurance that can bring back those who lost their lives during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Instead, Snyder delves into the lives and homes of those who remain, all of whom have been indelibly changed by the events. They speak candidly about their grief, anger and disbelief over what occurred and their disappointment that nothing has truly changed with regard to the country’s legal response to gun violence. Newtown bears witness to their profound grief and allows it to reverberate within our collective conscience, exploring what happens to a community after it becomes the epicenter of a national discussion and what it must cope with after the cameras leave.
“Working with Kim on this film has been a deeply rewarding experience,” said Lois Vossen, Independent Lens executive producer. “The team was committed to making a film that was incisive without being exploitative. Newtown shows the impact of trauma on a community, the grief gun violence causes and how we begin to heal and move forward.”
About the Participants
in Alphabetical Order: Mark Barden, the father of Daniel, who at age seven was killed at Sandy Hook. Mark’s journey from isolation to reconnection with family, community and ultimately with his murdered son is intimate, raw and informed by strength. Dr. William Begg, ER doctor, Danbury Hospital. Sgt. Bill Cario, Connecticut State Trooper. Abbey Clements, Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher. Sarah Clements, daughter of surviving Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher. Nicole Hockley, mother of Dylan, one of the children murdered at Sandy Hook. Her son, Jake, a third grade survivor, is manifesting symptoms of PTSD. In the midst of all this, her unrelenting conviction to effect change connects her with fellow bereaved parent Mark Barden. Mary Ann Jacob, Sandy Hook Elementary School library clerk. Melissa Malin, Newtown resident and neighbor of the Barden family. Gene Rosen, Sandy Hook Elementary School neighbor. Rick Thorne, Sandy Hook Elementary School custodian. Laurie Veillette, volunteer EMT. David Wheeler, whose youngest son Ben was killed at Sandy Hook.Active in the Newtown community, he shares his story out of the desire to protect the rest of the world from going through what his family endured.About the Filmmakers
Kim A. Snyder (Director/Producer) Newtown, Kim Snyder’s most recent film, premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was hailed in Entertainment Weekly as among the “Best of Sundance.” The film will continue to screen at premiere festivals worldwide and is poised to have a theatrical release in September 2016, followed by a national broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens. Snyder’s last feature documentary, Welcome to Shelbyville, was also nationally broadcast on Independent Lens. In 2007, Snyder co-founded the BeCause Foundation to direct and produce a series of socially conscious documentaries, which have won numerous awards with campaigns furthering the work of the social innovators they highlight. Her award-winning directorial debut feature documentary, I Remember Me, was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, she associate produced the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor, directed by Peggy Rajski. Snyder graduated with a Masters in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and resides in New York City. Maria Cuomo Cole (Producer) Maria Cuomo Cole is the award-winning producer of Newtown, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. In her career, she has tackled such subjects as gun violence, homelessness, veterans’ PTSD, domestic violence and sexual assault. Most recently, she executive produced The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick. This Emmy and Peabody Award-winning film has been lauded as a powerful investigation into the epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses. In 2012, Cuomo Cole worked with the same film team, executive producing the 2014 Oscar®-nominated documentary The Invisible War. This groundbreaking documentary about the epidemic of rape and sexual violence in the U.S. military served as a catalyst for federal legislation and influenced federal policy reforms. Cuomo Cole’s 2011 documentary Living for 32, about gun laws in America, was short-listed for an Academy Award® and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In collaboration with national communities of gun violence survivors, faith leaders, political leaders and nonprofits, the film has served as a catalyst for awareness and advocacy on the subject of federal and state legislative reform across the country. Since 1992, she has led HELP USA, the national nonprofit leader in both homeless and permanent supportive service housing and employment programs for veterans, families and survivors of domestic violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V0QuGuFf2k
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2017 Boston Underground Film Festival Unleashes First Wave of Films – PREVENGE, THE VOID, BITCH and More
[caption id="attachment_21176" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
THE VOID[/caption]
The 19th Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square with what the festival describes as a “smorgasbord of phantasmagoria, dark comedy, thrillers, killers, and chillers” from March 22nd through the 26th, 2017.
Veteran actress, co-writer of 2012’s Sightseers, and first-time director/writer/star Alice Lowe’s bloody British baby bump (off) slasher comedy Prevenge will open the festival on Wednesday March 22nd, and filmmaking triple-threat director/writer/actor Marianna Palka’s delightfully disturbing dive into dissociative doggone delirium, Bitch will close out the festival on March 26th.
Bubbling up from down-under, also coming to Boston fresh from SXSW 2017, is not-to-be-missed Aussie crime thriller Hounds of Love, a masterful feat of tension, terror, and restraint from Perth-based, wildly talented first-time feature filmmaker Ben Young. In stark contrast to some of BUFF’s darker fare, prepare to meet your new obsession with first-time filmmaker Bill Watterson’s Slamdance 2017 standout Dave Made a Maze, which will beguile and a-maze with its hilarious odyssey through one man’s intricately crafted, booby trapped, living room box fort labyrinth; awe-inspiring stop-motion animation and strong lulz await.
BUFF will also host the East Coast Premiere of 68 Kill from mad genius Trent Haaga, director of BUFF’s 2011 Director’s Choice Award-winner Chop and writer of 2013’s Cheap Thrills & 2008’s Deadgirl. Haaga’s highly anticipated punk rock heist film unites BUFF regulars AnnaLynne McCord & Matthew Gray Gubler in the ultimate highway to hell road film.
2017 BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL FIRST WAVE OF FILMS
BITCH – East Coast Premiere Marianna Palka | USA | 2017 Caged in the suburbs of our discontent, a woman (Marianna Palka) snaps and enters a fugue state, consumed by the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, stay-at-work husband (Jason Ritter) must grudgingly assume the role of family caretaker, forcing him to engage with his four children and sister-in-law (Jaime King) as they attempt to strengthen their familial unit and entice mom back to reality. Marianna Palka writes, directs, and stars in her bitingly funny and profound fourth feature. DAVE MADE A MAZE – East Coast Premiere Bill Watterson | USA | 2017 Dave (Nick Thune) is an artist who has yet to complete anything of significance in his short career; out of frustration, he builds an elaborate box fort in his living room. When his girlfriend and friends (including Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Busch, and Meera Rohit Kumbhani) enter against his protests, he must save them all from a series of fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and creatures of his own creation. Actor Bill Watterson writes and directs his hilarious and idiosyncratic first feature. HOUNDS OF LOVE – East Coast Premiere Ben Young | Australia | 2016 In Ben Young’s tense, chilling feature debut, 17-year-old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by a disturbed couple and held prisoner in their home. As she observes the volatile dynamic between her captors, she soon realizes the key to survival lies in driving a wedge between them. PREVENGE – East Coast Premiere Alice Lowe | UK | 2016 In her directorial debut, Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Hot Fuzz, Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place) writes, directs and stars in a pitch black comedic tale of vengeance about seven-months-pregnant Widow Ruth and the unborn serial killer that compels her on her homicidal rampage. SAINT BERNARD – North American Premiere Gabe Bartalos | USA/France | 2013 Prolific creature designer Gabe Bartalos (Brain Damage, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Gremlins 2, and the Leprechaun series) crafts a phantasmagoric vision of a classical music conductor descending into insanity with his sophomore feature. Seemingly vanished from a short-lived run on the festival circuit in 2014, BUFF is proud to give this must-see nightmare, and the visionary filmmaker who created it, a proper North American premiere. 68 KILL – East Coast Premiere Trent Haaga | USA | 2017 Trent Haaga (writer of Deadgirl, Cheap Thrills) returns to the director’s chair following 2011’s Chop with a punk-rock after hours thriller about femininity, masculinity and the theft of $68,000. When Liza (AnnaLynne McCord) asks her boyfriend Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler) to help her rob her wealthy sugar daddy, he can’t say no. Once they step into the man’s home, Chip & Liza embark on a breakneck roadtrip to hell. Adapted from Bryan Smith’s 2013, no-holds-barred crime novel of the same name. THE VOID – New England Premiere Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski | Canada | 2016 ASTRON-6’s Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski return with a Carpenteresque saga of brutal, cosmic dread, packed with creatures straight out of hell. In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole) happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road in the middle of the night. When he rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital, he finds that patients and personnel are transforming into something… inhuman. As the horror intensifies, Carter must lead the other survivors into the subterranean depths of the hospital in a desperate bid to save their lives and end the nightmare before it’s too late. TRINITY – Boston Premiere Skip Shea | USA | 2016 Award-winning Massachusetts-based filmmaker, writer, artist and actor Skip Shea brings to life a deeply personal and disturbing first feature based on the true story about a moment in the life of a clergy abuse survivor. While at a coffee shop, a man accidentally bumps into the priest who abused him when he was a child, triggering a surreal, PTSD-induced dissociative moment that sends him on a twisted journey through his past.
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Slamdance Grand Jury Winner DIM THE FLUORESCENTS to Be Released in Canada | Trailer
[caption id="attachment_21146" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Dim The Fluorescents – director Daniel Warth and producer Josh Clavir,[/caption]
Dim The Fluorescents, the feature film debut of director Daniel Warth and producer Josh Clavir, and winner of the 2017 Slamdance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize will be released in Canada by Films We Like. The film will have a cross-Canada fall theatrical release, followed by a wide digital release targeting SVOD, streaming and airline services.
FWL has been following the film since before its debut at Slamdance Film Festival, and shortly after the fest, finalized the deal.
Dim the Fluorescents tells the story of struggling actor Audrey (Claire Armstrong) and aspiring playwright Lillian (Naomi Skwarna), who pour all of their creative energy into the only paying work they can find: corporate role-playing demonstrations. When they book the biggest gig of their careers at a hotel conference, work commences on their most ambitious production to date, and the ensuing tensions threaten to derail both the production and their friendship.
As wryly funny as it is unexpectedly poignant, Dim the Fluorescents is a one-of-a-kind portrait of the artistic life and process in the unlikeliest of settings. A labour of love painstakingly constructed over the course of four years, the film was written by Daniel Warth and Miles Barstead – who also composed the score – and produced by Josh Clavir.
“I honestly can’t think of a better Canadian home for Dim the Fluorescents than Films We Like,” said Warth. “They have put out so many of my favorite films of the new century: Tabu, Berberian Sound Studio, Like Someone in Love, and far too many others to mention. I am beyond excited for this partnership, and I know they’re going to do an incredible job bringing the film to Canadian audiences.”
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Rob Meyer’s LITTLE BOXES from Tribeca 2016 Gets April 14th Delivery Date
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Little Boxes[/caption]
Rob Meyer’s LITTLE BOXES starring Melanie Lynskey (“Togetherness”), Nelsan Ellis (GET ON UP), Armani Jackson (THE LAST WITCH HUNTER), Oona Laurence (Broadway’s MATILDA), and Janeane Garofalo, will be released in theaters on April 14th by Gunpowder & Sky Distribution.
It’s the summer before 6th grade, and Clark (Jackson) is the new biracial kid in a very white town. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act ‘more black’, he fumbles to meet expectations. Meanwhile, his urban intellectual parents Mack (Ellis) and Gina (Lynskey) try to adjust to small-town living. Accustomed to life in New York, the tight-knit family is ill-prepared for the drastically different set of obstacles that their new community presents. They soon find themselves struggling to understand themselves and each other in this new context.
Written by Annie J. Howell, LITTLE BOXES premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, where it received a warm reception from critics. IndieWire praised Lynskey’s performance as “radiantly real” and called Howell’s script “knowing and perceptive”, noting approvingly that the film “addresses delicate questions about how our national conversations shape and seep into younger generations.” Variety concurred, hailing Ellis and Lynskey as “warm, funny and credible” and the film’s gentle touch on “issues of race, class and privilege”.
“LITTLE BOXES is as heartwarming as it is timely,” said Gunpowder & Sky Distribution’s Jake Hanly. “Rob unpacked a very complex issue in a way any audience can understand and relate to.”
Director Rob Meyer said, “It’s a thrill and an honor to team up with Gunpowder & Sky Distribution for the theatrical and VOD release. They distribute the kind of movies that I want to watch.” Producer Jared Ian Goldman added, “The Gunpowder & Sky team love the heart, humor and commentary of LITTLE BOXES as much as those of us who made it. They understand the timeliness and nuance to the mix-ups, misunderstandings, and stereotyping that the story utilizes so successfully.”
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2017 Oscars: MOONLIGHT Wins Best Picture After LA LA LAND Was Mistakenly Given The Award
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Adele Romanski, Berry Jenkins, and Jeremy Kleiner accept the Oscar® for Best motion picture of the year, for work on “Moonlight” with host Jimmy Kimmel during the live ABC Telecast of The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017.[/caption]
And the Academy Award for Best Picture goes to La La Land. Oops sorry, Moonlight. That’s pretty much how it went last night at the 2017 Oscars. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were presenting the best-picture award when Faye Dunaway announced that La La Land was the winner. The La La Land team excitedly accepted the award and the speeches began, before one of the film’s producer realized the mixup and announced that Moonlight was instead the winner.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that tallies the Oscars voting, told ABC News in a statement that presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were given the wrong envelope when they went on stage to announce the winner of the coveted best picture award.
PricewaterhouseCoopers issued a statement shortly after apologizing, “We sincerely apologize to “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.”
Winners of the 89th Academy Awards
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE CASEY AFFLECK Manchester by the Sea ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE MAHERSHALA ALI Moonlight ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE EMMA STONE La La Land ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE VIOLA DAVIS Fences ANIMATED FEATURE FILM ZOOTOPIA Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer CINEMATOGRAPHY LA LA LAND Linus Sandgren COSTUME DESIGN FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Colleen Atwood DIRECTING LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT) THE WHITE HELMETS Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara FILM EDITING HACKSAW RIDGE John Gilbert FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM THE SALESMAN Iran MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING SUICIDE SQUAD Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) LA LA LAND Justin Hurwitz MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) CITY OF STARS from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul BEST PICTURE MOONLIGHT Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers PRODUCTION DESIGN LA LA LAND Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) PIPER Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) SING Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy SOUND EDITING ARRIVAL Sylvain Bellemare SOUND MIXING HACKSAW RIDGE Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace VISUAL EFFECTS THE JUNGLE BOOK Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) WINNER MOONLIGHT Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Written by Kenneth Lonergan
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Faith-Based Human Trafficking Thriller RUN Starring Stephen Baldwin Sets Premiere Date | Trailer
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RUN starring Stephen Baldwin[/caption]
The new faith-based feature film, RUN, starring Stephen Baldwin, will premiere on March 9, 2017 at the Palladium IMAX in San Antonio, TX before expanding to select cities nationwide.
The faith-based dramatic thriller stars Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects; Bio-Dome; Born on the Fourth of July), Taylor Murphy (Scream: The TV Series; The Middle; MTV’s Awkward) and Josiah Warren (The Prophet’s Son; Scarlett; In Over My Head) who also directs the film. RUN follows Levi (Warren), a young businessman who marries a passionate journalist who reports on human trafficking and fights to expose it. On their wedding night, Natalie (Murphy) is kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. Levi goes on the hunt for his wife chasing clues wherever he can find them, leading him to Jeff Conners (Baldwin) – a crime lord with no mercy. Will Levi be able to find his wife before she is moved out of the country? Only with the help of God can Levi find the strength to fight.
Numerous anti-human trafficking organizations will be participating in the RUN premiere including Alamo Area Coalition Against Trafficking (AACAT), Embassy of Hope, Freedom Youth Project, Rape Crisis Center, Alamo Youth Center, Ransomed Life, A21 Freedom Chasers, Path Now Global, Heidi Search Center, No Strings Attached and New Life Refuge Ministries.
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RIP: Actor, Director Bill Paxton Dead at 61
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Bill Paxton in Haywire[/caption]
TMZ is reporting that actor and director Bill Paxton died on Saturday February 25, 2017, due to complications of surgery. He was 61 years.
He appeared in a number of films, including The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Predator 2 (1990), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997).
The family released a statement “It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery.” The family accurately describes his “illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker. Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable.”
Paxton was married to Louise Newbury, and the father of two children.
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2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Winning Films
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100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE[/caption]
The 2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announced the winning films, awarding the Big Sky Award to 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE by Melinda Janko.
Says Festival Director Rachel Gregg: “We’re extremely proud to have been able to share these incredibly accomplished films with the people of Montana and all our visiting guests. We’re thrilled to provide an opportunity for these movies to find an even larger audience thanks to the reach of these prestigious awards. Thanks to our juries for making the hard decisions!”
With over 200 films in the festival, the following competition films have been given awards in the four categories.
Big Sky Award: Presented to one film that artistically honors the character, history, tradition and imagination of the American West
WINNER: 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
Melinda Janko, 2016, USA, 76 minutes / Montana Premiere
100 Years is the David vs. Goliath story of Elouise Cobell’s courageous fight for justice for 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral rich lands were mismanaged by the United States Government. For 30 years Elouise Cobell fought “the good fight.” This is the compelling true story of how she prevailed and made history.
Big Sky Artistic Vision Award
WINNER: OYATE
Dan Girmus , 2016, USA, 73 minutes / World Premiere
OYATE is a film about life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. It follows two families as they go about their daily activities over the course of a single summer. They attend rodeos, shoot clay pigeons, and participate in pow wows. Family members get married, have children, and celebrate the 4th of July. All the while, the difficult, often intractable realities of modern reservation life threaten to encroach upon them.
Jury statement: In recognition of the film’s artistic merit, approach and cinematography, the jury presents Dan Grimus’s OYATE the Artistic Vision Award for its cinematic eye, observational gaze, and ability to capture the beauty in the everyday.
Mini-Doc Competition – films 15 minutes and under
WINNER: THE FOURTH KINGDOM
Alex Lora, Adan Aliaga, 2017, Spain, USA, 14 minutes / World Premiere
The Fourth Kingdom is the kingdom of plastics, a redemption center in NY for immigrants and underdogs where the American Dream becomes possible indeed.
Short Competition – films between 15 and 40 minutes in length
WINNER: KAYAYO: THE LIVING SHOPPING BASKETS
Mari Bakke Riise, 2016, Norway, 32 minutes / North American Premiere
In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets – called Kayayo, carrying heavy loads on their head (from 130 to 220 pounds), earning very little and some end up in prostitution to make ends meet. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a Kayayo to support her family. We follow her incessant longing to get away from the harsh markets, her journey back home and what awaits there.
Shorts Competition Artistic Vision Award
WINNER: THE RAIN WILL FOLLOW
Eugene Richards, 2016, USA — 15 minutes / Northwest Premiere
Though confined to a nursing home, 90-year-old Melvin Wisdahl lives an interior life, filled with images of the war he fought in, the struggles of the early Norwegian settlers of North Dakota, his ghost town of a home, his love of the ever-evolving and threatened land.
Jury Statement: The jury presents an Artistic Vision Award to THE RAIN WILL FOLLOW, which beautifully marries internal and external landscape imagery in a way that infuses the whole film with a third complete and powerful through line.
Feature Competition – films over 40 minutes in length
WINNER: CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS
Bartle B Bull, 2017, USA, 100 minutes / Northwest Premiere
Fighting for your life in the city of dreams. Three extraordinary young people battle to change their lives through the three-month odyssey of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves—the biggest, oldest, most important amateur boxing tournament in the world.
Feature Competition Artistic Vision Award
WINNER: LET THERE BE LIGHT
Mila Aung-Thwin, 2017, Canada, 100 minutes / World Premiere
LET THERE BE LIGHT follows the story of dedicated scientists working to build a small sun on Earth, which would unleash perpetual, cheap, clean energy for mankind. After decades of failed attempts, a massive push is now underway to crack the holy grail of energy.
Jury Statement – In recognition of the film’s artistic merit and educational value, the jury presents LET THERE BE LIGHT with an Artistic Vision Award for its cinematic eye, innovative animation, and engaging (passionate) investigation into the future of fusion (clean energy).
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2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners – MOONLIGHT Wins Best Film
Moonlight shined bright at the 32nd Film Independent Spirit Awards, winning Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and the Robert Altman Award.
The Witch, Other People, Manchester by the Sea, Elle and Hell or High Water along with Spa Night, O.J.: Made in America and Toni Erdman also received awards at the ceremony, which was held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday.
The Witch won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay; Manchester by the Sea won Best Male Lead; Elle won Best Female Lead; Hell or High Water won Best Supporting Male; Other People won Best Supporting Female; Spa Night won the John Cassavetes Award; O.J.: Made in America won Best Documentary and Toni Erdmann won Best International Film.
The 10th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight received this award, along with casting director Yesi Ramirez and ensemble cast members Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders.
The 2017 Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship, which includes a cash grant of $10,000, was awarded to Project Involve Fellow, Jomo Fray. This annual award is given to a filmmaker currently participating in a Film Independent Artist Development program with the mission of diversity in mind. Film Independent also awarded the inaugural Turner Fellowship, which includes a $10,000 cash grant, to Project Involve Fellow Kady Kamakate.
The following is a complete list of 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards winners:
Best Feature:
Moonlight (A24)
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski
Best Director:
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight (A24)
Best Screenplay:
Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Story By), Moonlight (A24)
Best First Feature:
The Witch (A24)
Director: Robert Eggers
Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond,
Rodrigo Teixeira
Best First Screenplay:
Robert Eggers, The Witch (A24)
John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000):
Spa Night (Strand Releasing)
Writer/Director: Andrew Ahn
Producers: David Ariniello, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Kelly Thomas
Best Supporting Female:
Molly Shannon, Other People (Vertical Entertainment)
Best Supporting Male:
Ben Foster, Hell or High Water (CBS Films/Lionsgate)
Best Female Lead:
Isabelle Huppert, Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Male Lead:
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
Robert Altman Award:
Moonlight (A24)
Director: Barry Jenkins
Casting Director: Yesi Ramirez
Ensemble Cast: Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders
Best Cinematography:
James Laxton, Moonlight (A24)
Best Editing:
Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Moonlight (A24)
Best International Film:
Toni Erdmann (Germany and Romania– Sony Pictures Classics)
Director: Maren Ade
Best Documentary:
O.J.: Made in America (ESPN Films)
Director/Producer: Ezra Edelman
Producers: Deirdre Fenton, Libby Geist, Nina Krstic, Erin Leyden, Tamara Rosenberg, Connor Schell, Caroline Waterlow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLpPm9s-eElkGWipG86oC8ajjdlit2qJKl&v=aSTBp1yW6vQ
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A QUIET PASSION, starring Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson Sets Release Dates | Trailer
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A Quiet Passion[/caption]
A QUIET PASSION starring Cynthia Nixon, and an official selection at the 2016 New York, Toronto and Berlin film festivals, will open in New York on April 14, and at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on April 21. A national release will follow.
Following Sunset Song, acclaimed British director Terence Davies turns to 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson, and exquisitely evokes Dickinson’s deep attachment to her close-knit family along with the manners, mores and spiritual convictions of her time that she struggled with and transcended in her poetry. Cynthia Nixon delivers a triumphant performance as Emily Dickinson as she personifies the wit, intellectual independence and pathos of the poet whose genius only came to be recognized after her death.
In addition to his two acclaimed semi-autobiographical features Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, Mr. Davies’ films include the gorgeous literary adaptations The House of Mirth, The Neon Bible, The Deep Blue Sea, Sunset Song, as well as Of Time and the City, his masterful exploration of his native city, Liverpool.
A QUIET PASSION written and directed by Terence Davies, reunites Davies with his Deep Blue Sea cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister to create a luminous rendering of the poet’s universe.
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Not publicly recognized during her lifetime, her first volume of works was published posthumously in 1890 after her family discovered forty hardbound volumes containing nearly 1,800 poems.