TransFatty Lives, directed by Patrick O’Brien, a DJ and internet personality who goes by ‘TransFatty’, and winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in theaters and On Demand on November 20, 2015 via FilmBuff.
Ten years in the making, TransFatty Lives has quietly been amassing 35mm footage in filmmaker Patrick O’Brien’s epic battle with ALS.
At 30, Patrick O’Brien was TransFatty, a New York City DJ, internet personality, and filmmaker. He spent his days as a beer-drinking creative force, making art films about perverts, vulnerable souls, and Howard Johnson’s restaurants. Then his legs started shaking.
Defying sentimentality, TRANSFATTY LIVES takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from Patrick’s wild, fun-loving days into the dark heart of ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease). Given 2 to 5 years to live, Patrick first loses his ability to walk, then move his arms, then to swallow, and even to breathe.
With the support of his bewildered friends and family Patrick braves the unthinkable and turns his camera onto himself. As the director and star of his own documentary, Patrick films every step of his debilitating journey from first diagnosis through his current paralysis. Forcefully lacking self-pity, he captures the emotion, humor, and absurdity of real life as he makes art, gets political, falls in love, fathers a son, and fights extreme depression and paranoia.
At 40, Patrick has completed this film by typing directions to his editors with the movements of his pupils. Miraculously, TRANSFATTY LIVES is not a movie about death. Because, while Patrick’s brain stopped being able to control his muscles, it remains brilliantly alive, allowing him to ask: “What if my diminishing physical abilities can be inversely proportional to my journey inward? And, more importantly, “will there be bacon and unicorns once I get there?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqPqbpHageQ-
TRANSFATTY LIVES, Patrick O’Brien’s Battle with ALS, Sets Fall 2015 Release Date
TransFatty Lives, directed by Patrick O’Brien, a DJ and internet personality who goes by ‘TransFatty’, and winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in theaters and On Demand on November 20, 2015 via FilmBuff.
Ten years in the making, TransFatty Lives has quietly been amassing 35mm footage in filmmaker Patrick O’Brien’s epic battle with ALS.
At 30, Patrick O’Brien was TransFatty, a New York City DJ, internet personality, and filmmaker. He spent his days as a beer-drinking creative force, making art films about perverts, vulnerable souls, and Howard Johnson’s restaurants. Then his legs started shaking.
Defying sentimentality, TRANSFATTY LIVES takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from Patrick’s wild, fun-loving days into the dark heart of ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease). Given 2 to 5 years to live, Patrick first loses his ability to walk, then move his arms, then to swallow, and even to breathe.
With the support of his bewildered friends and family Patrick braves the unthinkable and turns his camera onto himself. As the director and star of his own documentary, Patrick films every step of his debilitating journey from first diagnosis through his current paralysis. Forcefully lacking self-pity, he captures the emotion, humor, and absurdity of real life as he makes art, gets political, falls in love, fathers a son, and fights extreme depression and paranoia.
At 40, Patrick has completed this film by typing directions to his editors with the movements of his pupils. Miraculously, TRANSFATTY LIVES is not a movie about death. Because, while Patrick’s brain stopped being able to control his muscles, it remains brilliantly alive, allowing him to ask: “What if my diminishing physical abilities can be inversely proportional to my journey inward? And, more importantly, “will there be bacon and unicorns once I get there?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqPqbpHageQ
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10 Documentary Shorts on 2015 Oscar’s Shortlist | TRAILERS
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 88th Academy Awards® has been narrowed to 10 films, of which five will earn Oscar® nominations.
Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 74 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation.
The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:
“Body Team 12,” RYOT Films and Vulcan Productions (pictured above)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eT2P1TfB8
“Chau, beyond the Lines,” Cynasty Films
“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah,” Jet Black Iris America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJPWP3udqE8
“50 Feet from Syria,” Spin Film
https://vimeo.com/141567000
“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” SOC Films
“Last Day of Freedom,” Living Condition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5diBuNHV75U
“Minerita,” Kanaki Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY5mbbmN0V4
“My Enemy, My Brother,” Fathom Film Group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42YFUwCnWzE
“Starting Point,” Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAUTn6q2TVo
“The Testimony,” Atria Film in association with Escape Artists
The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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Benjamin Barber to Present Film Program at 2015 IDFA Reflecting on Jihad vs. McWorld
The 1995 book Jihad vs. McWorld by American political theorist Benjamin Barber forms the starting point for the special program Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015 at the upcoming 2015 IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. This year a new 20th anniversary edition of the book will be published with the subtitle ‘ISIS on the Internet’.
At IDFA, Benjamin Barber, an internationally renowned political theorist and the author of eighteen books, will present his own selection of documentaries from the IDFA program that engage with many contemporary themes, including global capitalism, terrorism, the politics of fear, refugees, populism and economic inequality.
3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA) by Marc Silver
A Syrian Love Story (UK) by Sean McAllister
Among the Believers (Pakistan/USA/India) by Mohammed Ali Naqvi & Hemal Trivedi
At Home in the World (Denmark) by Andreas Koefoed
Cartel Land (USA/Mexico) by Matthew Heineman
Checks and Balances (France/Algeria) by Malek Bensmaïl
The Chinese Mayor (China) by Hao Zhou
The Dybbuk: A Tale of Wandering Souls (Poland/Ukraine/Sweden) by Krzysztof Kopczynski
For Kibera! (Finland) by Kati Juurus
Land Grabbing (Austria) by Kurt Langbein
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (USA) by Alex Gibney
This Is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees (England) by Mani Y. Benchelah (pictured above)
Ukrainian Sheriffs (Ukraine/Latvia/Germany) by Roman Bondarchuk
We Are Not Alone (Spain) by Pere Joan Ventura
Welcome to Leith (USA) by Christopher K. Walker & Michael Nichols
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THE JUDGEMENT Bulgarian Oscar Entry Wins Best Film at 2015 Heartland Film Festival
The 2015 Heartland Film Festival which ran October 16 to 25, 2015, announced its full slate of winners. “The Judgment” (pictured above) Bulgarian entry in the foreign-language film category of the 2016 Academy Awards® wins $45,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature. “Romeo is Bleeding” wins $45,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature, “The Way of Tea” wins $5,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short and “The 100 Years Show” wins $5,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Short.
The Heartland Film Festival has earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards® within the Short Films category. This means that the winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short Film, “The Way of Tea,” directed by Marc Fouchard, will qualify for consideration in the Live Action Short Subject category of the Annual Academy Awards®.
The 2015 Heartland Film Festival winners include:
$45,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature
“The Judgment,” directed by Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCAYsrl37s
$45,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature
“Romeo is Bleeding,” directed by Jason Zeldes (USA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjdh-TmRQCQ
$5,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment’s Sparks Vision Award
“The Way of Tea,” directed by Marc Fouchard (France)
$5,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Short
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment’s Sparks Vision Award
“The 100 Years Show,” directed by Alison Klayman (USA)
$5,000 Best Premiere for Narrative Feature
“Borderless,” directed by Amir Hossein Asgari (Iran)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVF7DtgDDG4
$5,000 Best Premiere for Documentary Feature
“Big Voice,” directed by Varda Bar-Kar (USA)
$5,000 Indiana Spotlight Winner
“Citizen Teklit,” directed by Tim Taylor (USA)
$3,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Award Winner – High School Film Competition Grand Prize
Underwritten by Gary D. & Marlene Cohen
“This Home Is Not Empty,” directed by Carol Nguyen (Canada)
$2,000 prizes for the Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Awards
“The Heart Thief,” directed by Ella Rubeli (Australia)
“Leidi,” directed by Simon Mesa Soto (Columbia, UK)
Audience Choice Award Winner, Narrative Feature
“Marie’s Story,” directed by Jean-Pierre Améris (France)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5qJv_I7K6M
Audience Choice Award Winner, Documentary Feature
“dream/killer,” directed by Andrew Jenks (USA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1hl5rgAI4
Audience Choice Award Winner, Narrative Short
“Moving On,” directed by Marcia Fields and Mike Spear (USA)
Audience Choice Award Winner, Documentary Short
“Teen Press,” directed by T.C. Johnstone (USA)
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Female Indian Buddy Movie “Angry Indian Goddesses” Wins People’s Choice Award at 2015 Rome Film Fest | TRAILER
Angry Indian Goddesses “the first female Indian “buddy movie”” by Pan Nalin is the winner of the BNL People’s Choice Award at the 10th Rome Film Fest. Angry Indian Goddesses stars Sarah-Jane Dias, Rajshri Deshpande, Sandhya Mridul, Amrit Maghera, Pavleen Gujral, Anushka Manchanda, and Tannishtha Chatterjee.
In the film, Frieda, a fashion-commercial photographer trying to find her own art, gathers her closest girlfriends from all over India to travel to Goa for a surprise announcement: she is getting married! Thus begins an impromptu bachelorette celebration that lasts for a full week. A riotous roller-coaster ride of girl bonding; friendships, break ups, make ups, fuck ups, passion, devastation, hesitation, terrorization and self realization. Amidst the fun and frenzy, heartbreak and heartache, passion and obsession, youth and innocence, secrets tumble out, tensions emerge, bonds are formed and emotions run high. Soon events will take a more serious turn, but for the moment these women are determined to seize the day.
Director Pan Nalin states, “For years I longed to do a film with firebrand Indian women in lead roles, because shockingly 96% of female roles in Indian cinema portray the woman as an accessory, a decoration, or a lover, or playing a mother, or sister whose “izzat”(honour) the hero or “big bro” must protect. Alternatively, she is the ultimate ‘IT’ girl! Her male lead must have a gun and a female counterpart but the film caters to males: it must be a testosterone-driven film. Female roles are glamourized and there’s always a dance or ‘gaana’ (song). Of course, the glamour doesn’t dignify the woman and it’s still the guy’s movie!”
“Be it action, rom-com, thriller… the man must dominate more screen time, say the real lines and win the women over. Even the recent Bollywood buddy movies run high on male testosterone, as if women don’t “buddy” or connect with each other! As a filmmaker who loves women and everything feminine, I have been witnessing an outcry from Indian women for gender equality, respect and dignity. Thus, I was compelled to use their fury as my fuel to fire up the Angry Indian Goddesses!”
A self-taught filmmaker, Nalin was born in a remote village in Gujarat, India. He came into the global spotlight in 2001 with his debut feature film Samsara. The movie was a commercial and critical success worldwide and won over thirty awards. His multiple award-winning feature documentary Ayurveda: Art of Being was released in theatres worldwide and to date remains the highest grossing Indian documentary film. Nalin’s romantic epic Valley of Flowers, filmed in Japan and in the remote, high altitudes of the Himalayas, won Best Picture at IFFLA Los Angeles. His latest feature documentary, Faith Connections (2013) was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival (2013) and won the Audience Choice Award at the IFFLA Los Angeles. In 2014 Pan Nalin was included in The Better India’s prestigious list of “25 NRI Across The World Who Have Made India Proud”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feRWnYXe0X4
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“Carol” “Remember” Added to Gala Program of 2015 Los Cabos International Film Festival
Carol directed by Todd Haynes, and Remember by the Canadian director, Atom Egoyan, (pictured above) have been added to the Galas Program of the upcoming 2015 Los Cabos International Film Festival; in addition 3 films have been confirmed to the World Highlights program.
The Festival will hold the Gala Screening of Carol as a Latin American Premiere. This film had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival where Rooney Mara won the award for Best Actress. Atom Egoyan’s Remember will have its Mexican premiere at Los Cabos Film Festival. This film was part of Venice Film Festival’s competition, and won the Vittorio Veneto Award. Featuring an extraordinary performance by Christopher Plummer, who plays a sick widower who leaves his nursing home to take vengeance on the Nazi commander who killed his family 70 years earlier, Remember shines a spotlight on Canadian talent celebrated in the Festival.
The Festival presents its World Highlights program, a carefully chosen selection of films from different parts of the world, with a curatorship focused on the works that have been acclaimed at the world’s most important film festivals:
The films in this program are:
45 YEARS
Director: Andrew Haigh (Gladiator, Weekend)
Starring: Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling
Premiered and won the Silver Bear at Berlinale.
UK
THE CLAN (Premiere in Mexico)
Director: Pablo Trapero (Carancho, Elefante Blanco, Leonera)
Cast: Antonia Bengoechea, Gastón Cocchiarale and Guillermo Francella
Premiered and won the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival.
Argentina
THE CLUB (Premiere in Mexico)
Director: Pablo Larraín (No, Tony Manero, Post Mortem)
Cast: Roberto Farías, Antonia Zegers and Alfredo Castro
Premiered and won the Jury Prize at Berlinale.
Chile
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‘A Childhood’ ‘Volta à Terra’ ‘Underground Fragrance’ Win Gold Hugos at 51st Chicago International Film Festival
The French film A Childhood directed by Philippe Claudel won the Gold Hugo for Best Film at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival. In this tender, keenly observed look at growing up in poverty in small town France, 13-year-old Jimmy dreams of a bourgeois life with family vacations and games of tennis. Trapped in an unstable household with a drug-addicted mother and her criminal boyfriend, Jimmy is forced to grow up too quickly. Over the course of a sweltering summer, Jimmy must find moments of hope in a world full of strife.
The Gold Hugo for Best Documentary went to Volta à Terra, directed by João Pedro Plácido, and in the New Directors Competition, the Gold Hugo went to Underground Fragrance directed by Pengfei Song.
The 51st Chicago International Film Festival also presented Director Michael Moore with the Founder’s Award for his film “Where To Invade Next.” “Chicago is the Capital of the Midwest and I just won the Founder’s Award here,” said Michael Moore.
The winners of the 2015 Chicago International Film Festival
International Film Competition
Gold Hugo, Best Film:
A Childhood
Country: France
Director: Philippe Claudel
Silver Hugo, Special Jury Prize:
Paulina
Country: Argentina, Brazil
Director: Santiago Mitre
Silver Hugo, Best Director:
The Club
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Hugo, Best Male Actor:
Alexi Mathieu, Jules Gauzelin (A Childhood)
Country: France
Director: Philippe Claudel
Silver Hugo, Best Female Actor:
Lizzie Brochere (Full Contact)
Country: Netherlands, Croatia
Director: David Verbeek
Silver Plaque, Best Ensemble:
The Club
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Plaque, Best Cinematography:
Frank Van den Eeden (Full Contact)
Country: Netherlands, Croatia
Director: David Verbeek
Silver Plaque for Best Screenplay:
Writers Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos, Pablo Larrain (The Club)
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Plaque for Best Art Direction:
Toma Baqueni (My Golden Days)
Country: France
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
New Directors Competition
Gold Hugo:
Underground Fragrance
Country: China
Director: Pengfei Song
Silver Hugo:
Sparrows
Country: Iceland
Director: Runar Runarsson
Roger Ebert Award: The Roger Ebert Award will be presented annually to an emerging filmmaker whose film presents a fresh and uncompromising vision. Films competing in the Festival’s New Directors Competition are eligible for this award.
Nahid
Country: Iran
Director: Ida Panahandeh
Documentary Competition
This selection of international documentaries competing for the Gold Hugo go beyond the headlines in telling those true stories that surprise, entertain and challenge us.
Gold Hugo:
Volta à Terra
Country: Portugal, Switzerland
Director: João Pedro Plácido
Silver Hugo:
In The Underground
Country: China
Director: Song Zhantao
Gold Plaque Special Mention:
Time Suspended
Country: Mexico, Argentina
Director: Natalia Bruschtein
Q Hugo Award
Chosen from the Festival’s OUT-Look program, the winners of this award exhibit new artistic perspectives on sexuality and identity.
Gold Q Hugo:
Carol
Country: USA
Director: Todd Haynes
Silver Q Hugo:
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Country: USA
Director: Stephen Cone
Short Film Awards
Gold Hugo, Live Action:
Leidi
Country: Colombia, UK
Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Silver Hugo, Live Action:
The Exquisite Corpus
Country: Austria
Director: Peter Tscherkassky
Gold Plaque, Live Action:
One-minded
Country: South Korea
Director: Sébastien Simon and Forest Ian Estler
Silver Plaque, Live Action:
over
Country: UK
Director: Jörn Threlfall
Silver Plaque, Live Action:
Ramona
Country: Romania
Director: Andrei Cretulescu
Silver Hugo, Documentary:
Santa Cruz del Islote
Country: US, Colombia
Director: Luke Lorentzen
Gold Plaque, Documentary:
A Tale of Love, Madness and Death
Country: Chile
Director: Mijael Bustos Gutiérrez
Silver Hugo, Animated:
Sunday Lunch
Country: France
Director: Céline Devaux
Gold Plaque, Animated:
The Same River Twice
Country: USA
Director: Weijia Ma
Silver Plaque, Animated:
Waves ’98
Country: Lebanon, Qatar
Director: Ely Dagher
Chicago Award
Chicago Plaque
Radical Grace
Country: USA
Director: Rebecca Parrish
INTERCOM
One of the longest-running international competitions of its kind, INTERCOM honors a wide range of corporate-sponsored, educational and branded films.
Gold Hugo, Business – Communications
Patrick Frost
Company/Entrant: Seed Audio-Visual Communications
Silver Hugo, Sales & Marketing
Black Ink
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Gold Plaque, Public Relations
Porsche at Le Mans 2015
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Gold Plaque, Business – Communications
Argyle Pink Diamonds, Beyond Rare
Company/Entrant: Bengar Films
Silver Plaque, Business – Promotion
Soapbox Race 2015
Company/Entrant: Strange Loop Studios
Silver Plaque, Business – Communications
Australia Post, Privacy and You
Company/Entrant: Bengar Films
Silver Plaque, Educational – Youth Audience
Summiteers
Company/Entrant: Seed Audio-Visual Communications
Certificate of Merit, Sports & Recreation
Spa 2015
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Certificate of Merit, Science/Research/Technology
Antarctic Edge: 70 Degrees South
Company/Entrant: Rutgers Film Bureau
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124 Documentary Features Submitted For 2015 Oscar Race
One hundred twenty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 88th Academy Awards®.
The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:
“Above and Beyond”
“All Things Must Pass”
“Amy”
“The Armor of Light”
“Ballet 422”
“Batkid Begins”
“Becoming Bulletproof”
“Being Evel”
“Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery”
“Best of Enemies”
“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
“Bolshoi Babylon”
“Brand: A Second Coming”
“A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story”
“Call Me Lucky”
“Cartel Land”
“Censored Voices”
“Champs”
“CodeGirl”
“Coming Home”
“Dark Horse”
“Deli Man”
“Dior and I”
“The Diplomat”
“(Dis)Honesty – The Truth about Lies”
“Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll”
“Dreamcatcher”
“dream/killer”
“Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon”
“Eating Happiness”
“Every Last Child”
“Evidence of Harm”
“Farewell to Hollywood”
“Finders Keepers”
“The Forecaster”
“Frame by Frame”
“Gardeners of Eden”
“A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile”
“Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones”
“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”
“He Named Me Malala”
“Heart of a Dog”
“Hitchcock/Truffaut”
“How to Change the World”
“Human”
“The Hunting Ground”
“I Am Chris Farley”
“In Jackson Heights”
“In My Father’s House”
“India’s Daughter”
“Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words”
“Iraqi Odyssey”
“Iris”
“Janis: Little Girl Blue”
“Karski & the Lords of Humanity”
“Killing Them Safely”
“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”
“Lambert & Stamp”
“A Lego Brickumentary”
“Listen to Me Marlon”
“Live from New York!”
“The Look of Silence”
“Meet the Patels”
“Meru”
“The Mind of Mark DeFriest”
“Misery Loves Comedy”
“Monkey Kingdom”
“A Murder in the Park”
“My Italian Secret”
“My Voice, My Life”
“1971”
“Of Men and War”
“One Cut, One Life”
“Only the Dead See the End of War”
“The Outrageous Sophie Tucker”
“Peace Officer”
“The Pearl Button”
“Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer”
“Poached”
“Polyfaces”
“The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers”
“Prophet’s Prey”
“Racing Extinction”
“The Resurrection of Jake the Snake”
“Ride the Thunder – A Vietnam War Story of Victory & Betrayal”
“Rosenwald”
“The Russian Woodpecker”
“Searching for Home: Coming Back from War”
“Seeds of Time”
“Sembene!”
“The Seven Five”
“Seymour: An Introduction”
“Sherpa”
“A Sinner in Mecca”
“Something Better to Come”
“Song from the Forest”
“Song of Lahore”
“Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine”
“Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans”
“Stray Dog”
“Sunshine Superman”
“Sweet Micky for President”
“Tab Hunter Confidential”
“The Tainted Veil”
“Tap World”
“(T)error”
“Thao’s Library”
“Those Who Feel the Fire Burning”
“3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets”
“The Touch of an Angel”
“TransFatty Lives”
“The True Cost”
“Twinsters”
“Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists”
“The Wanted 18”
“We Are Many”
“We Come as Friends”
“We Were Not Just…Bicycle Thieves. Neorealism”
“Welcome to Leith”
“What Happened, Miss Simone?”
“What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy”
“Where to Invade Next”
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (pictured above)
“The Wolfpack”
Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December.
Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.
The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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THE POET OF HAVANA Documentary on Cuban Singer Carlos Varela to Air on HBO Latino
The Poet of Havana which pulls back the curtain on internationally renowned Cuban singer, songwriter, and lyricist Carlos Varela as he celebrates his 30th anniversary as an artist, will air on October 23, 2015 at 8PM ET/7PM CT on HBO Latino. Filmed in Havana, this moving documentary reveals how Varela was influenced by his country, politics and people, and how he has influenced them in return through his music.
Featuring exclusive access and backstage moments during a variety of concerts, the film includes interviews with Jackson Browne, Benicio del Toro, Ivan Lins, Luis Enrique, and more as they discuss one of the most beloved artists of our time – some even joining him on stage. Also featured throughout the special are many of his emotionally-charged performances and songs.
Having endured many censorship battles with the Cuban government, Varela’s music is personal, poignant, and poetic; he has even been called “Cuba’s Bob Dylan” and a voice of his generation. That voice has loudly struggled for the individual freedoms of his homeland and has gone through great effort to build bridges between Cuba, the US, disenfranchised Cubans and the people of the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0mLUQ4PMtQ
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THE 33, True Story of The Chilean Mine Rescue, Begins Film Festival Run | TRAILER
THE 33 tells the never-before-seen actual events that unfolded above and below ground surrounding the terrifying mine collapse and the desperate international efforts to reach the trapped men. The film has been selected to screen at film festivals from Korea to Brazil and across the United States.
On October 13, 2010, the world held its collective breath as the global media broadcast the miraculous rescue of 33 Chilean miners that had been trapped 200 stories below ground for 69 days following the disastrous collapse of a copper-gold mine in Copiapo, Chile. Spurred on by the support and faith of the miners’ families encamped outside the mine, the Chilean miners’ rescue is one of the most moving real-life events of modern times. Made with the cooperation of the real-life miners, their families and their rescuers, “The 33” opens nationwide on November 13, 2015, exactly one month after the five-year anniversary of the rescue.
The festival screenings kicked off halfway around the world in Korea, where “The 33” was presented at the Busan International Film Festival on October 5. The film was then shown at the Rio De Janeiro Film Festival in Brazil on October 10. Internationally, “The 33” will also screen at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival in November.
In the United States, “The 33” will be shown at the following film festivals:
The Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis on October 23
The Chicago International Film Festival on October 24
The GEMS/Miami International Film Festival on October 25
The Philadelphia Film Festival on October 26
The Twin Cities Film Fest in Minneapolis on October 31
The Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on November 3
The St. Louis International Film Festival on November 7
The Kansas International Film Festival in Kansas City on November 8
The Napa Valley Film Festival on November 10
The film’s award-winning director, Patricia Riggen, will be in attendance at many of the U.S. events to present The 33 to the festival attendees.
In addition, on October 27, the Chilean Ambassador to the United States will attend a special VIP screening of the film at the Newseum in Washington D.C., hosted by Alcon and Warner Bros. with key cast and filmmakers in attendance.
Capping the events, on November 9, The 33 will have its Hollywood premiere at the American Film Institute. The premiere will be attended by the cast and filmmakers, including Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips and Patricia Riggen, along with industry guests.
The festival screenings of The 33 surround the five-year anniversary of the rescue of the miners, on October 13, which was commemorated with special screenings with Chilean Consulates in New York, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto and Chicago, as well as the Chilean Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
The 33 features an international cast led by Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”), James Brolin, and Lou Diamond Phillips, with Bob Gunton and Gabriel Byrne. The cast also includes Mario Casas, Jacob Vargas, Juan Pablo Raba, Oscar Nuñez, Tenoch Huerta, Marco Treviño, Adriana Barraza, Kate Del Castillo, Cote de Pablo, Elizabeth De Razzo and Naomi Scott.
Patricia Riggen directed “The 33” from a screenplay by Mikko Alanne, Oscar nominee Craig Borten (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Michael Thomas, based on the screen story by Oscar nominee José Rivera (“The Motorcycle Diaries”) and the book Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar. The film was produced by Oscar nominee Mike Medavoy (“Black Swan”), Robert Katz and Edward McGurn. Carlos Eugenio Lavin, Leopoldo Enriquez, Alan Zhang and José Luis Escolar served as executive producers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOoIBOYqHyw
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Israeli Music Documentary ROCK IN THE RED ZONE Sets Fall 2015 Release Date | TRAILER
The Israeli documentary Rock In The Red Zone will be released in the U.S. in the Fall 2015 via Abramorama. The film will open on November 12 in New York, followed by Los Angeles December 2, with additional cities to follow.
Rock In The Red Zone chronicles the experience of filmmaker Laura Bialis, who in the Israeli city of Sderot encounters a creative community that captivates her to love and changes the course of her life. The city of factory workers and rock musicians – the children of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, despite being pummeled for years by homemade rockets, persevere, enjoying raucous Moroccan celebrations, embracing newcomers while creating a unique Sderot musical sound that has transformed Israeli music by injecting Middle Eastern influences into Western Rock.
Rock In The Red Zone features the people and the musicians of Sderot, including Avi Vaknin, Robby Elmaliah, Hagit Yaso (who won the Kohav Nolad TV competition, a show based on the British Pop Idol) and Micha Biton, as well as the music of Kobi Oz & The Teapacks, Knesiyat Hasechel, Sfatayim, Micha Biton and Avi Vaknin.
Bialis wrote and directed the film, and produced it along with Elana Horwich, Korelan Matteson and Ravit Markus. Her previous films include Refusenik, View from the Bridge: Stories from Kosovo, and Tak for Alt: Survival of a Human Spirit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnSEMvfBTJM
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THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, SPOTLIGHT and TANGERINE Lead 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations
The nominees for the 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced today, signaling the kick-off to the film awards season. For 2015, the eight competitive film awards include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress (presenting sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein), Breakthrough Actor, Best Screenplay, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director award, and the Gotham Audience Award. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Helen Mirren and Robert Redford, director Todd Haynes, and Industry Tribute recipient producer Steve Golin.
Twenty-five films received nominations this year. THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (pictured above) lead with 4 nominations for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Breakthrough Director. CAROL, SPOTLIGHT and TANGERINE closely followed with 3 nominations each. Carol received nods for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Actress; Spotlight received nods for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Special Jury Award – Ensemble Performance; and Tangerine also nominated for Best Feature in addition to Breakthrough Actors for Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor.
As noted, the nominating committee for the Best Actor and Best Actress categories category voted to award a Special Jury Award jointly to cast members Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. Beyond these individual actors, the committee cited the Spotlight cast as “an outstanding ensemble in which every performance, in every role, of every size, is beautifully realized.” In recognition of the strong work by female actors this year, the jury also chose to include six nominees for Best Actress.
The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 30th at Cipriani Wall Street.
The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are:
Best Feature
Carol
Todd Haynes, director; Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley, producers (The Weinstein Company)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4z7Px68ywk
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Marielle Heller, director; Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit, Miranda Bailey, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2M9kqb5wVw
Heaven Knows What
Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear-McClard, producers (RADiUS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBThfoOQI04
Spotlight
Tom McCarthy, director; Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagan Faust, producers (Open Road Films)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXymzwz0V2g
Tangerine
Sean Baker, director; Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox & Karrie Cox, producers (Magnolia Pictures)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
Best Documentary
Approaching the Elephant
Amanda Rose Wilder, director; Jay Craven, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, producers (Kingdom County Productions)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdGIkBSkEdc
Cartel Land
Matthew Heineman, director; Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin, producers (The Orchard and A&E IndieFilms)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JD7hPM_yxg
Heart of a Dog
Laurie Anderson, director; Dan Janvey, Laurie Anderson, producers (Abramorama and HBO Documentary Films)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ClaELWDqHU
Listen to Me Marlon
Stevan Riley, director; John Battsek, RJ Cutler, George Chignell, producers (Showtime Documentary Films)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZlWjE_NJfI
The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer (Drafthouse Films)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbPN8-juZUI
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Desiree Akhavan for Appropriate Behavior (Gravitas Ventures)
Jonas Carpignano for Mediterranea (Sundance Selects)
Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics)
John Magary for The Mend (Cinelicious Pics)
Josh Mond for James White (The Film Arcade)
Best Screenplay
Carol, Phyllis Nagy (The Weinstein Company)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Marielle Heller (Sony Pictures Classics)
Love & Mercy, Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)
Spotlight, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Open Road Films)
While We’re Young, Noah Baumbach (A24)
Best Actor*
Christopher Abbott in James White (The Film Arcade)
Kevin Corrigan in Results (Magnolia Pictures)
Paul Dano in Love & Mercy (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)
Peter Sarsgaard in Experimenter (Magnolia Pictures)
Michael Shannon in 99 Homes (Broad Green Pictures)
Best Actress*
Cate Blanchett in Carol (The Weinstein Company)
Blythe Danner in I’ll See You in My Dreams (Bleecker Street)
Brie Larson in Room (A24 Films)
Bel Powley in The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics)
Lily Tomlin in Grandma (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kristen Wiig in Welcome to Me (Alchemy)
Breakthrough Actor
Rory Culkin in Gabriel (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Arielle Holmes in Heaven Knows What (RADiUS)
Lola Kirke in Mistress America (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
Mya Taylor in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
* The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. (Open Road Films).
Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ Grant
For the sixth consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. In 2015, Screen Forward Lab directors have been included in this opportunity for the first time. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are:
Claire Carré, director, Embers
Deb Shoval, director, AWOL
Chanelle Aponte Pearson, director, 195 Lewis
Gotham Appreciation Award
A Gothams Appreciation Award will be given to Ellen Cotter for her contribution to theatrical distribution, including leadership of the Angelika Film Centers.