By Sidney Lumet[/caption]
Prolific and versatile filmmaker Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) made 44 films in 50 years, earning the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement after four Oscar nominations. Considered a quintessential New York filmmaker, Lumet frequently used New York City’s urban mettle to infuse his films with a realism and intensity that kept audiences in suspense while prodding them to consider their own morality.
In American Masters: By Sidney Lumet, he tells his own story in a never-before-seen interview shot in 2008 by late filmmaker Daniel Anker and producer Thane Rosenbaum. With candor, humor and grace, Lumet reveals what matters to him as an artist and as a human being. Launching Season 31, American Masters: By Sidney Lumet premieres nationwide Tuesday, January 3 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and features a new, exclusive interview with Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-nominated actor Treat Williams, who starred in Lumet’s Prince of the City, afterward.
Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski (Afternoon of a Faun, The Loving Story, Loving) weaves Lumet’s personal stories and commentary with scenes from his films to create a portrait of one of the most accomplished, influential and socially conscious directors in the history of cinema. Clips spanning his canon, from 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Prince of the City, The Verdict, and many more, reveal the spiritual and ethical lessons at the core of his work.
Looking back over his career, Lumet speaks intimately about the experiences that informed his work, which he loved. His Depression-era, working-class Lower East Side beginnings as a child actor with his father in Yiddish theater, on Broadway, and his gradual transition to directing live TV, informed the stories he chose and his ability to translate important stage works into film, such as The Sea Gull, The Fugitive Kind and Long Day’s Journey into Night. In clips from these films, American Masters: By Sidney Lumet underscores Lumet’s own journey: his relationship with his father mirrored in Long Day’s Journey into Night, Daniel, Running on Empty and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
Marching for workers’ rights in the 1930s, standing up to McCarthy-era blacklist interrogation and finding ways to employ his blacklisted friends, Lumet developed an appreciation for people who question authority. His movies often featured characters fighting for justice, standing up to the crowd and questioning personal responsibility. First and foremost a storyteller, Lumet’s strongly moral tales captured the dilemmas and concerns of a society struggling with essentials: how does one behave to others and to oneself?
“Sidney Lumet started in theater, learned about directing in television and made a career in film,” said Michael Kantor, American Masters series executive producer. “His work is legendary, and Nancy Buirski and her team were able to pull insights from the 14-hour goldmine of an interview and couple them with Lumet’s remarkable work to create a deeply insightful master class for the ages.”
“It was my job to distill what I felt were the crucial threads, the story Lumet most wanted to tell,” said Buirski. “What our film reveals is a man whose life experiences infused his movies with a sense of fairness and conscience, and whose strong moral code, conscious or not, found expression in his art.”
By Sidney Lumet had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival and was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film will be available on digital video on demand and DVD/Blu-ray from FilmRise on January 9.-
Next American Masters Season to Kick Off with Exclusive U.S. Broadcast Premiere of BY SIDNEY LUMET
[caption id="attachment_19177" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] By Sidney Lumet[/caption]
Prolific and versatile filmmaker Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) made 44 films in 50 years, earning the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement after four Oscar nominations. Considered a quintessential New York filmmaker, Lumet frequently used New York City’s urban mettle to infuse his films with a realism and intensity that kept audiences in suspense while prodding them to consider their own morality.
In American Masters: By Sidney Lumet, he tells his own story in a never-before-seen interview shot in 2008 by late filmmaker Daniel Anker and producer Thane Rosenbaum. With candor, humor and grace, Lumet reveals what matters to him as an artist and as a human being. Launching Season 31, American Masters: By Sidney Lumet premieres nationwide Tuesday, January 3 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and features a new, exclusive interview with Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-nominated actor Treat Williams, who starred in Lumet’s Prince of the City, afterward.
Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski (Afternoon of a Faun, The Loving Story, Loving) weaves Lumet’s personal stories and commentary with scenes from his films to create a portrait of one of the most accomplished, influential and socially conscious directors in the history of cinema. Clips spanning his canon, from 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Prince of the City, The Verdict, and many more, reveal the spiritual and ethical lessons at the core of his work.
Looking back over his career, Lumet speaks intimately about the experiences that informed his work, which he loved. His Depression-era, working-class Lower East Side beginnings as a child actor with his father in Yiddish theater, on Broadway, and his gradual transition to directing live TV, informed the stories he chose and his ability to translate important stage works into film, such as The Sea Gull, The Fugitive Kind and Long Day’s Journey into Night. In clips from these films, American Masters: By Sidney Lumet underscores Lumet’s own journey: his relationship with his father mirrored in Long Day’s Journey into Night, Daniel, Running on Empty and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
Marching for workers’ rights in the 1930s, standing up to McCarthy-era blacklist interrogation and finding ways to employ his blacklisted friends, Lumet developed an appreciation for people who question authority. His movies often featured characters fighting for justice, standing up to the crowd and questioning personal responsibility. First and foremost a storyteller, Lumet’s strongly moral tales captured the dilemmas and concerns of a society struggling with essentials: how does one behave to others and to oneself?
“Sidney Lumet started in theater, learned about directing in television and made a career in film,” said Michael Kantor, American Masters series executive producer. “His work is legendary, and Nancy Buirski and her team were able to pull insights from the 14-hour goldmine of an interview and couple them with Lumet’s remarkable work to create a deeply insightful master class for the ages.”
“It was my job to distill what I felt were the crucial threads, the story Lumet most wanted to tell,” said Buirski. “What our film reveals is a man whose life experiences infused his movies with a sense of fairness and conscience, and whose strong moral code, conscious or not, found expression in his art.”
By Sidney Lumet had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival and was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film will be available on digital video on demand and DVD/Blu-ray from FilmRise on January 9.
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Eve Ensler, Patricia Riggen, Regina K. Scully and David Oyelowo to be Honored at Athena Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_19173" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Eve Ensler, Patricia Riggen, Regina K. Scully and David Oyelowo[/caption]
Eve Ensler, Patricia Riggen, Regina K. Scully and David Oyelowo will be honored at the 2017 Athena Film Festival (AFF), set to run February 9 to 12, 2017, at Barnard College in New York City. Eve Ensler is a Tony Award®-winning playwright, activist, performer and author; Patricia Riggen is a director, producer and screenwriter ; and Regina K. Scully is an Emmy Award®-winning producer, media activist and social entrepreneur. Actor and producer David Oyelowo will receive the Athena Leading Man Award.
The Athena Film Festival celebrates the leadership and creative accomplishments of trailblazers in the entertainment industry who continue to break boundaries. The festival showcases films about powerful and courageous women leaders in real life and the fictional world; it is a weekend dedicated to elevating female voices and stories to inspire and empower a new generation of filmmakers and individuals.
Previous Athena Film Festival awardees include Jodie Foster, Ava DuVernay, Mira Nair, Diablo Cody, Kasi Lemmons, Karyn Kusama, Callie Khouri, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Sheila Nevins, Julie Taymor, Sherry Lansing and Gale Anne Hurd, among others.
“Our 2017 Athena Film Festival honorees celebrate an incredible group of people whose work promotes the advancement of women in film,” said Kathryn Kolbert, co-founder of the Athena Film Festival and the Constance Hess Williams ‘66 Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College. “We are grateful to be giving our second Athena Leading Man Award to David Oyelowo. We feel it is crucial to highlight the men who support women in the industry.”
“We are thrilled to highlight four individuals who are shining examples of empowering women in the industry and are role models in their fields,” said Melissa Silverstein, Athena Film Festival artistic director co-founder and and founder of Women and Hollywood. “We are delighted to add these names to the festival’s prestigious list of honorees, which shines a spotlight on the remarkable progress, and the ongoing battles of women in the entertainment industry.”
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Animated Film SGT. STUBBY: AN AMERICAN HERO Sets April 2018 Release Date
[caption id="attachment_19168" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero[/caption]
Fun Academy™ Motion Pictures, an innovator in educational entertainment for digital cinemas, has set an April 13, 2018 U.S. release date for “Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero,” a new animated feature based on the life and times of the United States Army’s most decorated dog.
The film is produced by Labyrinth Media & Publishing, Ltd. with animation by Mikros Image, a Technicolor company, from their studios in Paris and Montreal. Fun Academy will distribute the film throughout North America.
Academy Award® nominees Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Harry Potter” franchise) and Gérard Depardieu (“The Life of Pi”) will star, with more voice cast to be announced. The film will also feature a score by award-winning composer Patrick Doyle (“Brave,” “Cinderella”).
Production of “Sgt. Stubby” is led by Laurent Rodon and Richard Lanni, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Mike Stokey. César Award-nominated filmmaker Bibo Bergeron (“Shark Tale”) will serve as director of story and 2016 Annie Award nominee Céline Desrumaux (“The Little Prince”) as production designer.
“Sgt. Stubby” tells the incredible true story of a stray dog and the bond he forged with the doughboys of the 26th “Yankee” Division at the onset of America’s entry into World War I.
As writer and executive producer Richard Lanni explains, “2018 marks the 100th anniversary of American involvement in the WWI, leading up to the armistice in November. Our film will be part of the global conversation about the Great War and remembering those who served.”
After being adopted off the streets by Private Robert Conroy, Stubby saved hundreds of lives by sounding the alarm for incoming attacks and catching an enemy spy in the trenches. For his valorous actions, Stubby was the first dog to be promoted in U.S. Army history.
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First Wave of Films Announced for 2017 Atlanta Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_19166" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
No Light and No Land Anywhere[/caption]
The first slate of programming, comprising feature length and short films, narratives, documentaries, pilot episodes, music videos, animation, puppetry, experimental and virtual reality has been revealed for the upcoming 41st Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF).
“We are really excited to release a first wave of films that represents every category of our festival programming,” said ATLFS Executive Director Christopher Escobar. “ATLFF isn’t just one thing, and by including short films, pilots and virtual reality alongside features, we are presenting a greater picture of what to expect this year.”
This group of fourteen films represents the first selections out of a new ATLFF record of 6,085 submissions. Hailing from Austria, Brazil, China, France, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and USA, these films showcase a tremendously diverse swath of work, both artistically and geographically.
Among the feature films represented, themes range from Iranian transgender rights in “Cold Breath” to poverty-stricken Beyoncé super-fans from Brazil in “Waiting for B.” The Tunisian documentary short “El Hara” was co-directed by ATLFF ‘15 alum Mo Scarpelli, who saw great success with her debut film “Frame by Frame.” Famed Japanese animator Keiichi Tanaami created “The Laughing Spider” using inspiration from his childhood memories of air-raids. Virtual reality short film “Traces” explores memory loss and reconstruction by placing the viewer inside the mind of a woman with Alzheimer’s.
These films will be joined by over 150 others for the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival, taking place March 24 through April 2, 2017.
Narrative Feature
Cold Breath (دم سرد) — directed by Abbas Raziji
Iran, 2016, Persian, 83 minutes
Maryam has just turned 30-years-old. She was born as a girl but she passed through puberty like a boy. In the way of love and subsistence, she has tried hard everyday to live just like a normal man.
No Light and No Land Anywhere — directed by Amber Sealey
USA, 2016, English, 75 minutes
Grieving her mother’s death and her own failing marriage, Lexi boards a plane from London to Los Angeles in search of the estranged father who abandoned her when she was three-years-old. Based out of a seedy Hollywood motel, she follows a tenuous trail of breadcrumbs, beginning with his aging former in-laws, collecting numbers and addresses in the hopes that one will lead to her father. Along the way, she establishes other unexpected connections: her father’s ailing former second wife, her bitter half-sister Tanya and her caregiver girlfriend, and two local barflies.
Documentary Feature
Black Memorabilia — directed by Chico Colvard
USA/China, 2017, English/Chinese, 62 minutes
At the intersection of international commerce, racial identity, and historical narrative, BLACK MEMORABILIA follows the propagation of demeaning representations of African Americans. From industrial China to the rural American south to contemporary Brooklyn, the viewer observes people and places that reproduce, consume and reclaim black memorabilia. This feature documentary takes us on a journey into the material culture of racialized artifacts and confronts us with the incendiary features of these objects.
Waiting for B. — directed by Paulo Cesar Toledo, Abigail Spindel
Brazil, 2016, Portuguese, 72 minutes
WAITING FOR B. takes the viewer on a journey with young Beyoncé super-fans who, lacking the money to buy their way to the front, camped out for two months in order to be closer to the front of the stage. A story about victims of hype, a community of hope, and the contradictions of humility and vanity at the heart of diva worship.
Narrative Short
Submarine — directed by Mounia Akl
Lebanon, 2016, Arabic, 21 minutes
Under the imminent threat of Lebanon’s garbage crisis, Hala—a wild child inside of a woman—is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.
They Charge For the Sun — directed by Terence Nance
USA, 2016, English, 17 minutes
In a dystopian future where people live nocturnally to avoid the harmful rays of the sun, a young black girl unravels the lie that has kept her and her sister in the dark.
Documentary Short
El Hara — directed by Margaux Fitoussi, Mo Scarpelli
Tunisia/France, 2016, French, 16 minutes
EL HARA poetically explores how the places we grow up in haunt who we become, forever.
Se Shin Sa — directed by Eunhye Hong Kim
USA, 2016, Korean, 11 minutes
A hybrid of fiction and documentary, SE SHIN SA follows an undocumented woman living and working as a masseuse in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
Animated Short
The Laughing Spider — directed by Keiichi Tanaami
Japan, 2016, Japanese, 7 minutes
A psychedelic fantasmagoria from Japan’s greatest veteran animator, based on childhood memories of air-raids.
Virtual Reality Short
Traces — directed by Gabriela Arp
USA, 2016, English, 8 minutes
TRACES is a cinematic virtual reality film exploring the meaning of memory for one woman living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Puppetry Short
Good Night (Gute Nacht) — directed by Henning Backhaus
Austria, 2016, German, 7 minutes
A sock puppet strolls through niveous winter worlds; the dark, expressionist black-and-white imagery oscillating between comedy and tragedy. Soon the protagonist will choose to end his life, while the lonesome journey by Schubert has only just begun.
Experimental Short
Forged From the Love of Liberty — directed by Vashti Harrison
Trinidad and Tobago/USA, 2016, English, 5 minutes
A visual poem about a family’s curse, and two superstitions surround it.
Pilot Episode
The Benefits of Gusbandry — directed by Alicia J. Rose
USA, 2016, English, 9 minutes
One woman, one man, a lot of weed, a little crying and NO sexual attraction whatsoever. Love is so gay.
Music Video
“Left & Right” by Pazes — directed by Camila Lima
Brazil, 2016, 3 minutes
Left and right. Fire and water. Night and day. Heavy and light. Masculine and feminine. From a divided individual in search of its whole.
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Southeastern Film Critics Association Named MOONLIGHT the Best Movie of 2016
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MOONLIGHT[/caption]
The Southeastern Film Critics Association has named “Moonlight” the best film of 2016. The film was also the winner or runner-up in seven of the nine other categories in which it was eligible.
The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) represents print, broadcast and online journalists in nine Southern states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Virginia and North and South Carolina.
The organization’s Gene Wyatt Award, dedicated to the film that best represents “the spirit of the South,” went to Arkansas-born writer-director Jeff Nichols’ “Loving,” a drama based on the true-life story of the Virginia couple whose interracial marriage led to the Supreme Court’s ruling against “miscegenation” laws. Nichols — the brother of Ben Nichols, frontman of the Memphis rock band Lucero — previously won the Wyatt for “Mud” (2012) and his debut feature, “Shotgun Stories” (2007). “Moonlight,” set mostly in Florida, was the Wyatt runner-up.
The complete results of 2016 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards:
Top 10 Films
1. “Moonlight.”
2.”Manchester by the Sea.”
3. “La La Land.”
4. “Hell or High Water.”
5. “Loving.”
6. “Arrival.”
7. “Fences” and “Jackie” (tie).
8. “Nocturnal Animals.”
9. “Hidden Figures.”
Best Actor:
Winner — Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea.”
Runner-up — Denzel Washington, “Fences.”
Best Actress:
Winner — Natalie Portman, “Jackie.”
Runner-up — Ruth Negga, “Loving.”
Best Supporting Actor:
Winner — Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight.”
Runner-up — Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water.”
Best Supporting Actress:
Winner – Viola Davis, “Fences.”
Runner-up – Naomie Harris, “Moonlight.”
Best Ensemble:
Winner — “Moonlight.”
Runner-up — “Manchester by the Sea.”
Best Director:
Winner (tie) — Damien Chazelle, “La La Land,” and Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight.”
Best Original Screenplay:
Winner — Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea.
Runner-up — “Hell or High Water.”
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Winner — Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight” (from the play by Tarell Alvin McCraney).
Runner-up — Eric Heisserer, “Arrival” (from the short story by Ted Chiang).
Best Documentary:
Winner — “I Am Not Your Negro.”
Runner-up — “OJ: Made in America.”
Best Foreign Language Film:
Winner — “The Handmaiden” (South Korea).
Runner-up — “Elle” (France).
Best Animated Film:
Winner — “Zootopia.”
Runner-up — “Kubo and the Two Strings.”
Best Cinematography:
Winner — Linus Sandgren, “La La Land.”
Runner-up — James Laxton, “Moonlight.”
The Gene Wyatt Award:
Winner — “Loving.”
Runner-up — “Moonlight.”
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Mia Spengler’s BACK FOR GOOD to Open Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2017 at Berlin Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_19143" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Angie (Kim Riedle) in Back for Good von / by Mia Spengler © Zum Goldenen Lamm[/caption]
The first seven films have been invited to participate in Perspektive Deutsches Kino program at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, and Back for Good, Mia Spengler’s graduation film will open the program. “More so than ever it’s worth going to the Perspektive’s opening film and then making yourself comfortable in Berlinale cinemas for the subsequent nine days. Coming and staying guarantees you’ll feel lucky ten times over,” section head Linda Söffker says in anticipation of these ten fiery days in icy February.
Mia Spengler’s graduation film, Back for Good (prod: Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion, co-prod: Filmakademie Ludwigsburg) will open the Perspektive with the story of Angie, a former trash-TV starlet (Kim Riedle), her despised mother (Juliane Köhler), and her pubescent sister (Leonie Wesselow). By returning to the hick town of her childhood, Angie wreaks havoc on their relationships, so that all three have to redefine their roles in life. Back for Good is an ode to humanity – softly hummed while an auto-tuned pop song blares from the radio.
The fiction film Ein Weg (Paths, dir: Chris Miera, co-prod: Miera Film, Hildebrandt Film) was made while studying at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf and is the cautious exploration of a long love relationship that ends in separation. Over 15 years, as son Max gradually grows up, we accompany Andreas (Mike Hoffmann) and Martin (Mathis Reinhardt) through the highs and lows in the daily life of a partnership. Shot like a documentary, with a small team and budget at real locations, Ein Weg develops with great intensity and flexibility – and through the process of editing finds its special form of telling a story over time.
Director Tian Dong grew up in China and attended the KHM in Cologne. He has now completed his studies with the documentary Eisenkopf (Ironhead), about a young soccer team skilled in Shaolin kung fu. Tian Dong visits its young members at their sports school, and talks to them about their everyday lives and dreams. In doing so he paints an unsettling picture of China’s political situation.
In Julian Radlmaier’s new film, Selbstkritik eines bürgerlichen Hundes (Self-criticism of a Bourgeois Dog, prod: Faktura Film, co-prod: dffb), a bourgeois dog confesses how he has gone through multiple transformations, from a love-struck filmmaker, to an apple picker, a traitor of the revolution, and, last but not least, a four-legged creature. In a political comedy full of burlesque escapades, we meet Camille, a young Canadian (Deragh Campbell); Hong and Sancho, a pair of proletarians who believe in miracles; a mute monk with magical powers; and a bunch of strange field labourers who indulge in idealistic visions.
All three of the medium-long works contemplate Europe and its future in quite similar yet different ways. What would happen if one day people in Europe had to flee, director Felicitas Sonvilla asks in her poetic science fiction film, Tara (prod: MOTEL Film Kollektiv; co-prod: HFF Munich). A young woman called Mira (Sasha Davydova) tells of her flight from Paris. In search of a different life she takes a train heading east to the utopianesque town of Tara. Kontener (Container) was the first medium-long fiction film that Sebastian Lang made at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. In it he portrays “two Polish ladies” who work at a dairy in Brandenburg. From the perspective of Maryna (Joanna Drozda), who narrates the story, the film depicts the last night before Tava (Anka Graczyk) disappears. The third film, titled Mikel, is about a young refugee who has left Nigeria for Berlin in search of a decent life with a properly paid job. It is the first medium-long film by Cavo Kernich, who with this work has completed his studies in “narrative film” under Thomas Arslan at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
The following films have been invited so far:
Back for Good
By Mia Spengler
With Kim Riedle, Juliane Köhler, Leonie Wesselow
Feature film
World premiere
Eisenkopf (Ironhead)
By Tian Dong
Documentary film
World premiere
Kontener (Container)
By Sebastian Lang
With Joanna Drozda, Anka Graczyk
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Mikel
By Cavo Kernich
With Jonathan Aikins
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Selbstkritik eines bürgerlichen Hundes (Self-criticism of a Bourgeois Dog)
By Julian Radlmaier
With Julian Radlmaier, Deragh Campbell, Beniamin Forti, Kyung-Taek Lie, Ilia Korkashvili
Feature film
German premiere
Tara
By Felicitas Sonvilla
With Sasha Davydova, Leo van Kann, Lena Lauzemis
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Ein Weg (Paths)
By Chris Miera
With Mike Hoffmann, Mathis Reinhardt
Feature film
World premiere
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MOONLIGHT is Big Winner with Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Wins 7 Awards Incl. Best Film
[caption id="attachment_18892" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Moonlight[/caption]
Moonlight is the big winner in this year’s 10th Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) EDA Awards, winning awards in seven categories. AWFJ voters show love for director/activist Ava DuVernay with three EDAs, followed by Manchester By The Sea won two.
In the ‘Best Of’ section, this year’s big winner is Moonlight, garnering EDA Awards in seven categories, including Best Film, Best Director for Barry Jenkins, Best Screenplay (Adapted) for Jenkins, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Mahershala Ali, Best Ensemble Cast for Casting Director Yesi Ramirez, Best Cinematography for James Laxton and Best Editing for Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders.
Manchester By the Sea won EDA Awards for Best Actor for Casey Affleck and Best Screenplay (Original) for Kenneth Lonergan.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay won three EDAs for Best Documentary for 13th, Best Female Director for 13th and Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry for 13th and for raising awareness about the need for diversity and gender equality in Hollywood
The 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards reflect the organizations commitment to greater gender parity and diversity in the movie industry.
AWFJ EDA BEST OF AWARDS
These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.
Best Film: Moonlight
Best Director: Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Best Screenplay, Original: Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
Best Screenplay, Adapted: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins
Best Documentary: 13th – Ava DuVernay
Best Animated Film: Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Best Actress: Ruth Negga – Loving
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Viola Davis – Fences
Best Actor: Casey Affleck – Manchester By The Sea
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director: Moonlight – Yesi Ramirez
Best Cinematography: Moonlight – James Laxton
Best Editing: Moonlight – Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders
Best Non-English-Language Film: The Handmaiden – Park Chan-Wook, South Korea
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.
Best Woman Director: Ava DuVernay – 13th
Best Woman Screenwriter: Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women
Best Animated Female (tie): Judy in Zootopia – Ginnifer Goodwin; and Moana in Moana – Auli’i Cravalho
Best Breakthrough Performance: Ruth Negga – Loving
Outstanding Achievement by A Woman in The Film Industry:
Ava DuVernay – For 13th and raising awareness about the need for diversity and gender equality in Hollywood
EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
Actress Defying Age and Ageism (tie): Annette Bening – 20th Century Women; and Isabelle Huppert – Elle and Things to Come
Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Lead and The Love Interest Award: Rules Don’t Apply – Warren Beatty (b. 1937) and Lily Collins (b. 1989)
Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent: Jennifer Aniston – Mother’s Day and Office Christmas Party
Bravest Performance: Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Remake or Sequel That Shouldn’t have been Made: Ben Hur
AWFJ Hall of Shame Award: Sharon Maguire and Renee Zellwegger for Bridget Jones’s Baby
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Artemis Women in Action Film Festival to Honor Tom Cruise and Nichelle Nichols
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Tom Cruise[/caption]
The Artemis Women in Action Film Festival will present The Artemis Action Rebel Award to actor/producer Tom Cruise for his illustrious body of work which, in addition to cementing his place in Hollywood acting history, has also championed strong female heroes in film. Mr. Cruise’s films commonly feature women in physically strong, empowered action roles offering an opportunity for worldwide audiences to see powerful women on screen. The 2016 recipient of the Action Rebel Award was given to Mr. Paul Feig (director Ghostbusters, Spy, The Heat).
Also being honored is sci-fi film and TV legend, Nichelle Nichols, the beloved Lt. Uhura from Star Trek. Her role as Uhura shattered barriers for women, particularly women of color, in the sci-fi genre and created an icon which inspired generations of girls. Ms. Nichols has also championed breaking barriers in the wider culture beyond film and as such has been a model of dignity and strength for her millions of fans.
The festival’s headlining event will be the Friday April 21, 2017 Red Carpet Gala featuring the Honoree Award Ceremony and premiere headlining screenings. Our Honoree Award ceremony will also recognize iconic stunt legends Andy Armstrong, a renowned stuntman and stunt coordinator for over four decades (Ragtime, Hoffa, Highlander, Planet of the Apes, The Amazing Spider-Man) will receive the Artemis Stunt Rebel Award and beloved stuntwoman Jennifer Caputo (Batman Forever, From Dusk Till Dawn, Charlie’s Angels, Thor, Paranormal Activity) will receive the Artemis Stunt Lifetime Achievement Award for her two plus decades of breathtaking stunt performances and stunt choreography respected by stunt men and women throughout the industry. World renowned stuntwoman Tammie Baird (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Iron Man, Taken 3) will receive the Artemis Stunt Warrior Award for her unique and fearless stunt expertise ranging from car hits to high heeled stunt fights.
“Our modern day has all but stripped physicality, save sex out of femininity. We have not explored female physical potential, and we do not encourage its exploration,” said film festival Founder Melanie Wise. “I’ve said for quite a while, until women are seen as physically equal, we will always be seen as less.”
“Women in action are nothing new. Women have been in action since the dawn of time. The films we screen reflect that,” remarks Co-Founder Sean Marlon Newcombe. “Female action films are popular, profitable and people are clamoring for them.”
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Jeff Bridges to Receive SBIFF’s 2017 American Riviera Award for Role in HELL OR HIGH WATER
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Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water[/caption]
Jeff Bridges will be honored with the American Riviera Award at the 2017 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). Bridges will be fêted with a Tribute, moderated by Scott Feinberg, celebrating his illustrious career, culminating with his captivating performance in David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water, a CBS Films release. The film opened in August to critical acclaim.
For his role in Hell or High Water, Bridges has received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor. Bridges’ renowned career includes celebrated roles in films such as The Big Lebowski, Fearless, The Contender, The Mirror Has Two Faces, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Door in the Floor, True Grit, Starman, The Morning After, Jagged Edge, The Last Picture Show, Against All Odds, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Fisher King, Seabiscuit, and Crazy Heart (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor).
“Jeff Bridges shows us in Hell or High Water that an already great artist can continue his growth. I may go as far as saying that this is his best performance,” stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “It’s truly special to be able to celebrate Jeff – for he’s not only a dear friend of SBIFF – but he is a timeless legend in our industry.”
The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema. Bridges will join a prestigious group of past recipients, including last year’s honorees Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Mark Ruffalo (2016), Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke (2015), Robert Redford (2014), Quentin Tarantino (2013) and Martin Scorsese (2012), Annette Bening (2011), Sandra Bullock (2010), Mickey Rourke (2009), Tommy Lee Jones (2008), Forrest Whitaker (2007), Philip Seymour Hoffman (2006), Kevin Bacon (2005) and Diane Lane (2004).
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MOONLIGHT and LOVE & FRIENDSHIP Lead Nominations for London’s Critics’ Circle Film Awards
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Love & Friendship[/caption]
Barry Jenkins’ drama Moonlight and Whit Stillman’s comedy Love & Friendship lead the nominations for the 37th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, garnering seven nominations each. Both are up for Film of the Year, as well as multiple acting honors. The gala ceremony will be held on Sunday January 22nd, 2017, in London, at The May Fair Hotel.
Following close behind is Maren Ade’s German comedy Toni Erdmann with six nominations, while La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and American Honey have five citations each. The winners will be voted on by 140 members of The Critics’ Circle Film Section.
The nominations were announced at The May Fair today by actress Chloe Pirrie and actor-filmmaker Craig Roberts. The 22nd January ceremony will again be hosted by actor-filmmakers Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who won the critics’ Breakthrough Filmmakers prize in 2012 for their screenplay for Sightseers and have gone on to write and direct Prevenge and Aaaaaaaah!, respectively.
“Our critics nominated more than 160 titles for Film of the Year alone, representing the range of wide opinions and the sheer number of movies critics watch each year,” says Rich Cline, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Awards. “There was love for everything from Aferim to Zootropolis, including Captains America and Fantastic, plus acclaimed women from Jackie, Julieta, Moana, Christine, Krisha and Victoria to Miss Sloane and Florence Foster Jenkins. Making it onto that final list of nominees is never easy.”
British actors Naomie Harris, Andrew Garfield, Kate Beckinsale and Tom Bennett each received nominations both for specific performances and for their body of work in 2016. Unusually, the writer-directors of four Film of the Year contenders are also nominated for both Screenwriter and Director: Moonlight’s Jenkins, Toni Erdmann’s Ade, La La Land’s Damien Chazelle and Manchester by the Sea’s Kenneth Lonergan.
In addition to Film of the Year, Gianfranco Rosi’s immigration-themed film Fire at Sea is also nominated for both Foreign-Language Film and Documentary. Also contending for Film of the Year are Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, László Nemes’ Son of Saul and Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake.
Last year’s ceremony saw George Miller winning both Film and Director for Mad Max: Fury Road, with three awards going to Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years and the Dilys Powell Award presented to Kenneth Branagh.
The full list of nominees for the 37th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards:
FILM OF THE YEAR
American Honey
Fire at Sea
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land
Love & Friendship
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals
Son of Saul
Toni Erdmann
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Fire at Sea
Son of Saul
Things to Come
Toni Erdmann
Victoria
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years
Cameraperson
The Eagle Huntress
Fire at Sea
Life, Animated
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
American Honey
High-Rise
I, Daniel Blake
Love & Friendship
Sing Street
ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
Adam Driver – Paterson
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nocturnal Animals
Peter Simonischek – Toni Erdmann
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Amy Adams – Arrival
Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship
Sandra Hüller – Toni Erdmann
Isabelle Huppert – Things to Come
Emma Stone – La La Land
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Tom Bennett – Love & Friendship
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
Shia LaBeouf – American Honey
Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Viola Davis – Fences
Greta Gerwig – 20th Century Women
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Riley Keough – American Honey
Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Maren Ade – Toni Erdmann
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
László Nemes – Son of Saul
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Maren Ade – Toni Erdmann
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
Whit Stillman – Love & Friendship
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR
Tom Bennett – Love & Friendship, Life on the Road
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge, Silence
Hugh Grant – Florence Foster Jenkins
Dave Johns – I, Daniel Blake
David Oyelowo – A United Kingdom, Queen of Katwe
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship
Rebecca Hall – Christine
Naomie Harris – Moonlight, Our Kind of Traitor, Collateral Beauty
Ruth Negga – Loving, Iona
Hayley Squires – I, Daniel Blake
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
Ruby Barnhill – The BFG
Lewis MacDougall – A Monster Calls
Sennia Nanua – The Girl With All the Gifts
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch, Morgan
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo – Sing Street
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER
Babak Anvari – Under the Shadow
Mike Carey – The Girl With All the Gifts
Guy Hibbert – Eye in the Sky, A United Kingdom
Peter Middleton & James Spinney – Notes on Blindness
Rachel Tunnard – Adult Life Skills
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
Isabella – Duncan Cowles & Ross Hogg
Jacked – Rene Pannevis
Sweet Maddie Stone – Brady Hood
Tamara – Sofia Safonova
Terminal – Natasha Waugh
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
American Honey – Robbie Ryan, cinematography
Arrival – Sylvain Bellemare, sound design
High-Rise – Mark Tildesley, production design
Jackie – Mica Levi, music
Jason Bourne – Gary Powell, stunts
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz, music
Moonlight – Nat Sanders & Joi McMillon, editing
Sing Street – Gary Clark & John Carney, music
Rogue One – Neal Scanlan, visual effects
Victoria – Sturla Brandth Grovlen, cinematography
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Forum Expanded 2017 for Berlin Film Festival is Themed “The Stars Down to Earth”
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Studies on the Ecology of Drama[/caption]
The selection process for the 12th Forum Expanded of the Berlin International Film Festival is currently being finalized. This year’s theme is “The Stars Down to Earth”.
The search for ways to enable art to deal with an increasingly intangible reality forms an essential similarity between the selected works. Bringing one’s gaze back down to earth now seems more necessary than ever before. Yet how can one use film to take hold of something real when that very concept is ever harder to grasp?
The films and installations in the programme approach this question by attempting to both look and listen as closely as possible. In the video installation Twelve, for example, Jeamin Cha examines the pragmatic process underpinning the annual secret wage negotiations held between Korean employer and employee associations. Berlin artist Sandra Schäfer’s video installation Constructed Futures: Haret Hreik investigates city planning and redevelopment in Beirut and the political and religious ideologies they contain.
In her film Studies on the Ecology of Drama, Eija-Liisa Ahtila explores ways of finding film images that move beyond cinematographic anthropocentrism by shifting her gaze away from people and onto their environment.
The Karrabing Film Collective from Australia, whose work Wutharr, Saltwater Dreams is being presented in the group exhibition, shows three different variants of one and the same story, demonstrating how different approaches to a problem don’t just bring forth contradictory solutions but also mutually complimentary ones.
For his part, Joe Namy does away with pictorial representation almost entirely. His installation Purple, Bodies in Translation – Part II of “A Yellow Memory from the Yellow Age” merely shows a purple-colour surface, while the soundtrack explores the question of which details are lost in translation and what additional elements and contradictions are created by the differences between subtitles and image.
The central event location is once again the Akademie der Künste at Hanseatenweg. A group exhibition of works by 14 artists takes place here together with screenings of numerous films. The artists already invited include Haig Aivazian, James Benning, Duncan Campbell, Anja Dornieden and Juan Gonzales, Noam Enbar, Mohamed A. Gawad and Lina Attalah, Eva Heldmann, Laura Horelli, Oliver Hussain, Ken Jacobs, Mahmoud Lotfy, Bernd Lützeler, Peter Miller, Rawane Nassif, Tomonari Nishikawa, Marouan Omara and Islam Kamal, Lukasz Ronduda, Ginan Seidl, Philip Scheffner, Merle Kröger and Izadora Nistor, Fern Silva, and Mohanad Yaqubi.
Forum Expanded will also be presenting different film archives and archive projects as part of a symposium to be held at the Kuppelhalle at the silent green Kulturquartier in Wedding, including ones from Nigeria, Indonesia, and the Palestinian Territories. SAVVY Contemporary are presenting an installation by Israeli filmmaker and artist Amos Gitai in their own exhibition space at the same location.
The full list of participating artists will be announced in mid-January.
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First 15 Films Announced for Generation Kplus and 14plus at Berlin Film Fest
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Red Dog: True Blue[/caption]
The first 15 feature films have already been selected for the 40th edition of Generation at the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival, in the two competitions Kplus and 14plus. Exhibiting an impressive range of cinematic approaches, these productions tell the stories of young people on inner and outer journeys and capture a sense of longing for new and altered horizons. The complete program for Generation will be made public in mid-January.
Michael Winterbottom is slated to open the program of Generation 14plus in the newly renovated Haus der Kulturen der Welt with a special screening of his vibrant music documentary On the Road. Shot in the characteristic hybrid style that has become the English director’s trademark, his newest outing follows the members of the band Wolf Alice on tour as they travel back and forth across their native Great Britain, where they have caused quite a stir in recent years. The film intimately portrays life on the road, in all its ecstasy and exhaustion. The connection between the musicians and their fans is palpable and there is a fine interplay between watching and listening amongst concert and film audiences.
Generation 14plus
Almost Heaven
United Kingdom
By Carol Salter
World premiere
Far from home, 17-year-old Ying Ling practices for her examination to become a mortician at one of China’s largest funeral homes. In addition to frequent qualms and farewell ceremonies, the everyday routine of this unusual occupation also serves up both humorous and life affirming moments. Carol Salter’s debut outing is an empathetic documentary portrait touching on fears, friendship and coming of age amidst ghosts and the dearly departed.
Butterfly Kisses
United Kingdom
By Rafael Kapelinski
World premiere
Jake and his friends pass their time hanging out in the courtyards of their high-rise development or in pool halls, talking about girls, watching pornos and getting drunk. Jake is burdened by a dark secret that distances him more and more from the others and drives him into dangerous isolation. Rafael Kapelinski stages his debut film in contrasting black and white, moving in respectful proximity to his characters, brought to life vividly here by an ensemble cast of new discoveries and young talents (including Thomas Turgoose – This Is England, Generation 2007).
Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves)
Canada
By Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie
European premiere
With epic scope and stunning polymorphism, the film follows a group of young people in Québec who resolve to form a revolutionary cell together in the aftermath of student protests. This unflinching work from Mathieu Denis (Corbo, Generation 2015) and Simon Lavoie employs its protagonists to play through what it might mean to instigate a revolution and devote one’s life to a cause in today’s world.
Emo the Musical
Australia
By Neil Triffett
International premiere
The forbidden high school love between Ethan, the shy Emo kid with suicidal tendencies, and chipper Christian activist Trinity previously delighted Generation audiences as a short film in 2014. Director Neil Triffett is back with his heartbreakingly funny musical grotesque, now in feature-film length, and chock full of even more colourful characters to light up the big screen.
Mulher do pai (A Woman and the Father)
Brazil / Uruguay
By Cristiane Oliveira
International premiere
After the death of her grandmother, 16-year-old Nalu is left to care for her father alone. Any hope of leaving her dismal village now seems to have receded far off into the distance. Cristiane Oliveira’s coming-of-age drama, a work of slowly paced cinema characterised by respectful intimacy and subtle physicality, paints the complex portrait of a relationship between an adolescent daughter and her blind father.
My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea
USA
By Dash Shaw
European premiere
He’s not exactly popular, he’s got friend problems, he wants to make it big with the school paper and he goes by the name of his inventor, Dash. In the school basement, he discovers a secret that rocks the very foundations of his world. Graphic novelist Shaw hopes that his film will reach 15-year-old nerds who are just as crazy about drawings and paintings as he himself was at their age. This work of animation virtually spilling over with ingenuity (and featuring the voice-over talents of Jason Schwartzman, Maya Rudolph, Lena Dunham and Susan Sarandon) is sure to delight young viewers outside of this particular demographic as well.
Krolewicz Olch (The Erlprince)
Poland
By Kuba Czekaj
European premiere
The action in The Erlprince builds and surges as dramatically as the ballad by Goethe from which it borrows its title. The boundaries between reality, desire and appearance are blurred in this futuristically tinged film about an extraordinarily gifted young man and his ambitious and wondrous mother. Expressed in a form as unconventional as the characters it portrays, the film oscillates between the poles of both science and nature and love and violence.
Weirdos
Canada
By Bruce McDonald
European premiere
Just after the end of the Vietnam War and in the midst of the American bicentennial celebrations of 1976, runaway Kit and his girlfriend Alice hitchhike their way along the east coast of Canada. Bruce McDonald (The Tracey Fragments, Panorama 2007) has managed to create a coming-of-age film that shines equally as a road movie, one driven by a fantastic soundtrack composed of deep cuts from the era in question. A rebellious trip in black and white, in which all sense of certainty gets left by the wayside.
Generation Kplus
As duas Irenes (Two Irenes)
Brazil
By Fabio Meira
World premiere
In the shimmering heat of Brazil, 13-year-old Irene discovers a dark secret her father’s been hiding: he has another family and even another daughter with the same name. Irene embarks on a risky game that could blow up in her face at any moment. The languid summer atmosphere of Fabio Meira’s feature film debut can’t hide the fact that something is simmering right under the surface.
Die Häschenschule – Jagd nach dem Goldenen Ei (Rabbit School – Guardians of the Golden Egg)
Germany
By Ute von Münchow-Pohl
World premiere
Scrappy city rabbit Max finds shelter in a hidden Easter bunny school after a misadventure with a model plane leaves him stranded far beyond the city limits. Here he encounters the keepers of the legendary Golden Egg, itself the coveted prize of scheming foxes. After an initial bout with boredom, the secret techniques of the Easter bunnies finally arouse Max’s curiosity. This lovingly drawn German animation film, based on the 1924 classic, is a pure delight buoyed by imagination and brisk pacing and graced with the voices of Senta Berger, Friedrich von Thun, Jule Böwe and Noah Levi.
Primero enero (January)
Argentina
By Darío Mascambroni
European premiere
Primero enero is the directorial debut of Argentinian filmmaker Darío Mascambroni. 11-year-old Valentino’s life goes off the rails when his parents get divorced, challenging him to see the world from a different angle. In a tender and moving father-son story, the director takes his protagonists and his viewers out to the countryside, into a world of heightened sensitivity.
Red Dog: True Blue
Australia
By Kriv Stenders
European premiere
Australian director Stenders delighted Generation audiences in 2011 with a legendary story about a very special dog. Now, at the centre of this sequel – which is also a prequel- the red canine is joined by 11-year-old Mick, who treasures his bond with his four-legged friend above all else. Destiny has brought the duo together on a farm in the Australian outback, where the two partake in mystical adventures and Mick encounters his first true love. With great humour and sensitivity, the film is a tale of growing up in a time of transformation.
Richard the Stork
Germany / Belgium / Luxemburg / Norway
By Toby Genkel, Reza Memari
World premiere
Even though everybody else thinks he’s a sparrow – Richard himself holds tight to the conviction that he is in fact a stork. In this fast-paced adventure, Toby Genkel and Reza Memari tell the story of a bird who sets off self-confidently on a winter trip to Africa in a literal rite of passage that simultaneously serves as an empathetic tale about otherness and self-discovery. This German-international co-production provides spellbinding entertainment with its fantastic and fanciful fable showcasing top-shelf animation.
Tesoros
Mexico
By María Novaro
World premiere
Siblings Dylan and Andrea set off with their new friends on a marvellous journey of discovery in search of long lost pirate loot. In refreshingly sunny images, María Novaro gets up close to her characters to tell a story of children confidently indulging their lust for life and curiosity. In a commune on Mexico’s Pacific coast, they are given space to go their own ways and together find something much more valuable than buried treasure.
Shi Tou (Stonehead)
People’s Republic of China
By Xiang Zhao
World premiere
10-year-old Shi Tou, the son of a migrant labourer, grows up alone with his grandmother. It’s so hard to tell right from wrong! Sharing a reward with a classmate or waiting until his father returns, obeying his teacher of protecting his friend – which one should he choose? With documental authenticity, Xiang Zhao paints a portrait of life in rural China and a society in which an entire generation has too often been left to grow up in the absence of their parents.