TULLY[/caption]
Jason Reitman latest film Tully, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, will premiere as the Opening Night film of the 35th edition of Miami Film Festival, on Friday, March 9th at the Olympia Theater.
“Charlize Theron’s fearless performance as a struggling suburban mother on the brink of losing mental control is made possible by another brilliant collaboration by the creators of Juno and Young Adult,” said Festival director Jaie Laplante. “Tully is both a parable and a salve for our stressed-out times – it reminds us all of who we are, and there is no more beautiful way to open our 35th edition than with this film.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRtBP07gIHY
The Festival will give its Precious Gem – Icon Award to the great French actress Isabelle Huppert, recent Oscar nominee for Elle and the most nominated actress in César Award history – a total of 16 nominations from France’s Academy – winning twice. She has also twice won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, in a career that has seen her work with some of the greatest directors of contemporary times. Huppert will be honored on Friday, March 16th at the Olympia Theater.
“Isabelle Huppert has made profound contributions to cinema over the course of her illustrious career,” Laplante said. “With her recent performances in Things to Come and Elle, as well as Souvenir and Claire’s Camera, both of which we will be screening in conjunction with her Festival appearance, Ms. Huppert reaches ever-new pinnacles that continually astonish us, and add to her iconic status.”
The Festival will give its Precious Gem – Master Award to Spain’s greatest living filmmaker, Carlos Saura, on the occasion of a new documentary about the master’s career and family life, Félix Viscarret’s Goya-lauded Saura(s), on Sunday, March 11th at the Olympia Theater.
“Carlos Saura returns to Miami after receiving the Festival’s Career Achievement Tribute Award at our 20th edition in 2003,” said Laplante. “At that time, he was 71. Now, he’s 86 and has made eight more brilliant films since his last visit to Miami – but with Saura(s), we see him in a new light, as both a filmmaker and a family-maker. He is a peerless master, and we celebrate the life that continues to nourish his art.”
In all, the Festival will present 148 feature narratives, documentaries and short films of all genres, from 50 different countries, including three countries being represented in the Festival’s Official Selection for the first time– Benin, Georgia and Swaziland. The 35th edition of the Festival runs March 9th – 18th. Thirty-eight of the films are directed or co-directed by women filmmakers. The Festival will wrap up with an Awards Night Gala screening at Olympia Theater of the International premiere of Curro Velázquez’s smash hit Spanish comedy Holy Goalie (Que baje Dios y lo vea), with star Alain Hernández in attendance. All Olympia Theater screenings are part of the Festival’s CINEDWNTWN GALA series, sponsored by Miami Downtown Development Authority. A KORBEL Awards Night Party at The Historic Alfred I. Dupont Building will follow the Awards Night ceremony and screening.
Academy Award winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and revered American screenwriter and director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Affliction) will attend the Festival for Marquee presentations of their newest films. The Festival’s Marquee series features screenings accompanied by on-stage conversations with major film personalities of the moment, discussing their career and sharing an exciting new work. Hazanavicius will present Godard Mon Amour, his serio-comic look at Jean-Luc Godard’s love affair with the actress Anne Wiazemsky during the shooting of his classic films La Chinoise and Weekend. Schrader will present First Reformed, a dramatic thriller starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric The Entertainer. They join (previously announced) Mateo Gil and Jean-Marc Barr in the Marquee section.
Ten finalists were selected for the Festival’s signature $40,000 Knight Competition, open to feature films directed by filmmakers who have presented at least one feature in a previous edition of the Festival. Three of these films will also screen as CINEDWNTWN GALAS at the Olympia Theater.
The finalists are:
Another Story of the World (Uruguay, directed by Guillermo Casanova).
April’s Daughter (Mexico, directed by Michel Franco).
In Love & In Hate (Argentina, directed by Alejandro Maci). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
The Laws of Thermodynamics (Spain, directed by Mateo Gil). *WORLD PREMIERE
My Love or My Passion (Argentina, directed by Marcos Carnevale). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Sergio and Sergei (Cuba/Spain, directed by Ernesto Daranás).
A Sort of Family (Argentina, directed by Diego Lerman).
The Summit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Santiago Mitre). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Time Share (Mexico, directed by Sebastián Hofmann).
The Warning (Spain, directed by Daniel Calparsoro).
Eleven finalists were selected for the Festival’s inaugural $10,000 Knight Made in MIA Competition, which is open to any film – short or feature, documentary or narrative – in the Festival’s Official Selection that features a qualitatively/quantitatively substantial portion of its content (story, setting and actual filming location) in South Florida, from West Palm Beach to the Florida Keys, and that most universally demonstrates a common ground of pride, emotion, and faith for the South Florida community. The new award was inspired by the international success and 2017 Best Picture Oscar win by the Miami-set Moonlight, directed by former Miami resident Barry Jenkins and co-written by Tarell McCraney. The finalists are:
“#THECONNECTEDMAN”, directed by Fabián Cárdenas.
“Ayita’s Dream”, directed by Isis Masoud, Roger Ingraham.
“Fight Like a Girl”, directed by Agustín Gonzalez, Nicole Wulf.
Gladesmen: The Last of The Sawgrass Cowboys, directed by David Abel.
Latinegras: The Journey of Self-Love Through An Afrolatina Lens, directed by Omilani Alarcón. *WORLD PREMIERE
Love in Youth, directed by Quincy Perkins. *WORLD PREMIERE
Make Love Great Again, directed by Aaron Agrasanchez.
“Noa”, directed by Angel Barrota. *WORLD PREMIERE
Operation Odessa, directed by Tiller Russell.
“Roadside Attraction”, directed by Ivette Lucas, Patrick Bresnan.
“Supermarket”, directed by Rhonda Mitrani. *WORLD PREMIERE
Two significant Soiree nights will pair a major film event with one of Miami Film Festival’s world-famous parties. An Evening with Tim Clancy, the showrunner of HBO’s acclaimed Vice series through six seasons, will present a big-screen return look at three significant Vice episodes, followed by an in-depth, on-stage conversation about Vice’s Emmy Award-winning approach, philosophies and techniques. “HBO NIGHT” continues with a party at downtown Miami’s newest hotspot, The Wharf. Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon will have its Festival premiere at the Regal Cinemas South Beach and continue with a Light Box Love Story soiree at Miami Light Project’s Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood.
The fiercely-contested, audience-voted $10,000 Knight Documentary Achievement Award, sponsored by Knight Foundation, returns with 24 finalists, including 4 world premieres, and new films from Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, In America), Goya winners Félix Viscarret and Gustavo Salmerón, Emmy winner Rene Balcer (Law & Order), Sundance 2018 prize winners Tim Wardle and Maxim Pozdorovkin, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Abel and the late Oscar winner Jonathan Demme, as executive producer on The Foreigner’s Home. Subjects featured in the films include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Edwidge Danticat, Toni Morrison, Mr. Rogers, Andre Agassi, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds in the Live Nation production Believer, Cuban-America playwright María Irene Fornés and Miami’s Rene Lecour. The finalists are:
6 Weeks To Mother’s Day (USA, directed by Marvin Blunte).
Above The Drowning Sea (Canada, directed by Rene Balcer, Nicola Zavaglia).
Amigo Skate, Cuba (USA, directed by Vanesa Wilkey-Escobar). *WORLD PREMIERE
Believer (USA, directed by Don Argott).
Cuban Food Stories (USA, directed by Asori Soto).
Dolphin Man (Greece/Canada/France/Japan, directed by Lefteris Charitos).
Foreign Land (Israel, directed by Shlomi Eldar).
The Foreigner’s Home (USA/France, directed by Rian Brown, Geoff Pingree).
Gladesmen: The Last of The Sawgrass Cowboys (USA, directed by David Abel).
In Search of Voodoo: Roots To Heaven (USA/Benin, directed by Djimon Hounsou). *WORLD PREMIERE
Liyana (USA/Qatar/Swaziland, directed by Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp).
Lots of Kids, A Monkey and a Castle (Spain, directed by Gustavo Salmerón).
Love Means Zero (USA, directed by Jason Kohn).
The Music of the Spheres (Cuba/USA, directed by Marcel Beltrán). *WORLD PREMIERE
Nuyorican Basquet (Puerto Rico, directed by Julio César Torres, Ricardo Olivero Lora).
The Oldies (Cuba/USA/Venezuela, directed by Rosana Matecki).
Operation Odessa (USA, directed by Tiller Russell).
Our New President (USA, directed by Maxim Pozdorovkin).
RBG (USA, directed by Betsy West, Julie Cohen).
The Rest I Make Up (USA, directed by Michelle Memran).
Saura(s) (Spain, directed by Félix Viscarret).
Three Identical Strangers (USA, directed by Tim Wardle).
When The Beat Drops (USA, directed by Jamal Sims). *WORLD PREMIERE
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (USA, directed by Morgan Neville).
HBO returns as sponsor of the Festival’s $10,000 Ibero-American Feature Film Competition, this year featuring 25 finalists, including three world premieres. Three of the films in this section star Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi, prompting Festival organizers to declare Monday, March 12th “DOLORES FONZI DAY” at Miami Film Festival. The finalists are:
Al Berto (Portugal, directed by Vicente Alves do Ó).
Another Story of the World (Uruguay, directed by Guillermo Casanova).
April’s Daughter (Mexico, directed by Michel Franco).
Ashes (Ecuador/Uruguay, directed by Juan Sebastián Jácome). *WORLD PREMIERE
Bingo: The King of the Mornings (Brazil, directed by Daniel Rezende).
Candelaria (Colombia/Cuba/Argentina/Germany/Norway, directed by Jhonny Hendrix-Hinestroza).
Cocote (Dominican Republic, directed by Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias).
The Eternal Feminine (Mexico, directed by Natalia Beristáin).
The Future Ahead (Argentina, directed by Constanza Novick). *DOLORES FONZI DAY Film
Hunting Season (Argentina/USA/Germany/France, directed by Natalia Garagiola).
In Love & In Hate (Argentina, directed by Alejandro Maci). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Killing Jesus (Colombia/Argentina, directed by Laura Mora).
La Familia (Venezuela/Chile/Norway, directed by Gustavo Rondón Córdova).
The Last Suit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Pablo Solarz).
The Laws of Thermodynamics (Spain, directed by Mateo Gil). *WORLD PREMIERE
On The Seventh Day (USA, directed by Jim McKay).
The River (Bolivia/Ecuador, directed by Juan Pablo Richter). *WORLD PREMIERE
Sergio and Sergei (Cuba/Spain, directed by Ernesto Daranás).
The Skin of the Wolf (Spain, directed by Samu Fuentes).
A Sort of Family (Argentina, directed by Diego Lerman).
The Summit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Santiago Mitre). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Tigre (Argentina, directed by Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra Guardiola).
Time Share (Mexico, directed by Sebastián Hofmann).
The Warning (Spain, directed by Daniel Calparsoro).
Wind Traces (Mexico, directed by Jimena Montemayor Loyo). *DOLORES FONZI DAY Film
The highly sought-after $10,000 Jordan Ressler Screenwriting Award, won in recent years by Oscar nominated Theeb, Venice Golden Lion winner From Afar and Chilean world premiere launch Little White Lie, has 20 diverse and intriguing first-produced screenplays in competition. All but two of the finalists also directed his or her screenplay. The finalists are:
Michael Pearce for Beast (UK).
Cory Bowles for Black Cop (Canada).
Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan for Chappaquiddick (USA).
Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias for Cocote (Dominican Republic).
Xavier Legrand for Custody (France).
Feifei Wang for From Where We’ve Fallen (China).
Constanza Novick for The Future Ahead (Argentina).
Sonja Maria Kröner for The Garden (Germany).
Lucien Bourjeily for Heaven Without People (Lebanon).
Natalia Garagiola for Hunting Season (Argentina).
Christian Papierniak for Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town (USA).
Blake Jenner for Juvenile (USA).
Quincy Perkins for Love in Youth (USA). *WORLD PREMIERE
Molly McGlynn for Mary Goes Round (Canada).
Ziyang Zhou for Old Beast (China).
Juan Pablo Richter for The River (Bolivia/Ecuador). *WORLD PREMIERE
Ana Urushadze for Scary Mother (Georgia).
Samu Fuentes for The Skin of the Wolf (Spain).
Silvina Schnicer for Tigre (Argentina).
Hlynur Palmason for Winter Brothers (Denmark).
Films showing out of competition include selections by Oscar-nominee Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead), Oscar-nominee and Emmy-winner Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, HBO’s Veep), and a US premiere starring retired NFL veteran and South Florida resident, actor/producer Thomas Q. Jones (A Violent Man). The films are:
Ali’s Wedding (Australia, directed by Jeffrey Walker).
Darling (Denmark, directed by Birgitte Stærmose).
The Death of Stalin (UK, directed by Armando Iannucci).
“The Driver is Red” (USA, directed by Randall Christopher).
Grace and Splendor (Panama/Dominican Republic, directed by Arturo Montenegro).
The Journey (Iran/UK/France/Qatar/The Netherlands, directed by Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji).
Kiss Me Not (Egypt, directed by Ahmed Amer).
Life is a Bitch (Brazil, directed by Julia Rezende).
Racer and the Jailbird (Belgium/France, directed by Michaël R. Roskam).
Sollers Point (USA, directed by Matthew Porterfield).
Three Peaks (Germany/Italy, directed by Jan Zabeil).
Under The Tree (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany, directed by Hafsteinn Gummar).
A Violent Man (USA, directed by Matthew Berkowitz).
Wajib (Palestine/France/Germany/Colombia/Norway/Qatar, directed by Annemarie Jacir).
The Festival takes a special look at the Chinese film market this year in Cinema & China. This section features the Florida premiere of the Cannes Film Festival 2017’s Palme d’Or winner for Best Short Film, “A Gentle Night”, directed by Yang Qui, and the documentary Above the Drowning Sea, a historical look at an amazing story of European Jews being safeguarded by Shanghai and Chinese diplomats during World War II. A day-long symposium on the trends and markets will be held, in conjunction with the Festival screening of four Chinese-produced features:
From Where We’ve Fallen, directed by Feifei Wang.
Love Education, directed by Sylvia Chang.
Old Beast, directed by Ziyang Zhou. *KEYNOTE FILM
Walking Past The Future, directed by Li Ruijun.
The Festival’s exceedingly popular Reel Music section returns with five outstanding selections, including a world premiere from Panama and a feature about famed flamenco star Diego “El Cigala” as he explores the world of salsa in Cuba and beyond:
Guaco: Semblanza (Venezuela, directed by Alberto Arvelo).
I Tita, A Life of Tango (Argentina, directed by Teresa Constantini).
Indestructible: The Soul of Salsa (Spain, directed by David Pareja).
Me, My Father and the Cariocas: 70 Years of Music in Brazil (Brazil, directed by Lucia Verissimo).
A Night of Calypso (Panama, directed by Fernando Muñoz). *WORLD PREMIERE
MIFFecito, the beloved Films for Families section, returns with four new feature films for film fans of all ages. This section includes Fishtronaut The Movie (Brazil), Home Team (Uruguay/Brazil/Argentina), Lila’s Book (Colombia/Uruguay) and Zombillenium (France/Belgium). An animated short film winner from MDC’s Miami Animation and Gaming International Complex 2017 MIA Animation Conference & Festival will also be shown in this section.
South Florida’s college film students will again battle it out in Cinemaslam 2018. The nine finalists include films from Center of Cinematography, Arts & Television’s Lidia Rosa Hernandez; Miami Dade College’s Armando Stephano Rivero, Robert Requejo Ramos, Christopher Foode and Fernando Dumas; and University of Miami’s Chantal Gabriel, Jorge Martinez and Vasisth Sukul.
The Festival’s parallel industry activities include a French film market sponsored by Unifrance, and a Producing in South Florida panel moderated by Kevin Sharpley.
The Festival will co-present three special events during this year’s event. A “From The Vault” of Todd Haynes’ classic Velvet Goldmine will be held on Sunday, March 11th in partnership with Flaming Classics. On Friday, March 16th, in partnership with The Black Lounge Series, a screening of In The Morning with filmmaker Nefertiti Nguvu in person. In celebration of the Festival’s Tribute to Carlos Saura, one of Saura’s greatest classics, Cría cuervos, will screen on Sunday, March 18th at Miami Beach Cinematheque.Black Cop
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Jason Reitman’s TULLY Starring Charlize Theron to Open 35th Miami Film Festival | Trailier
[caption id="attachment_26870" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] TULLY[/caption]
Jason Reitman latest film Tully, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, will premiere as the Opening Night film of the 35th edition of Miami Film Festival, on Friday, March 9th at the Olympia Theater.
“Charlize Theron’s fearless performance as a struggling suburban mother on the brink of losing mental control is made possible by another brilliant collaboration by the creators of Juno and Young Adult,” said Festival director Jaie Laplante. “Tully is both a parable and a salve for our stressed-out times – it reminds us all of who we are, and there is no more beautiful way to open our 35th edition than with this film.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRtBP07gIHY
The Festival will give its Precious Gem – Icon Award to the great French actress Isabelle Huppert, recent Oscar nominee for Elle and the most nominated actress in César Award history – a total of 16 nominations from France’s Academy – winning twice. She has also twice won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, in a career that has seen her work with some of the greatest directors of contemporary times. Huppert will be honored on Friday, March 16th at the Olympia Theater.
“Isabelle Huppert has made profound contributions to cinema over the course of her illustrious career,” Laplante said. “With her recent performances in Things to Come and Elle, as well as Souvenir and Claire’s Camera, both of which we will be screening in conjunction with her Festival appearance, Ms. Huppert reaches ever-new pinnacles that continually astonish us, and add to her iconic status.”
The Festival will give its Precious Gem – Master Award to Spain’s greatest living filmmaker, Carlos Saura, on the occasion of a new documentary about the master’s career and family life, Félix Viscarret’s Goya-lauded Saura(s), on Sunday, March 11th at the Olympia Theater.
“Carlos Saura returns to Miami after receiving the Festival’s Career Achievement Tribute Award at our 20th edition in 2003,” said Laplante. “At that time, he was 71. Now, he’s 86 and has made eight more brilliant films since his last visit to Miami – but with Saura(s), we see him in a new light, as both a filmmaker and a family-maker. He is a peerless master, and we celebrate the life that continues to nourish his art.”
In all, the Festival will present 148 feature narratives, documentaries and short films of all genres, from 50 different countries, including three countries being represented in the Festival’s Official Selection for the first time– Benin, Georgia and Swaziland. The 35th edition of the Festival runs March 9th – 18th. Thirty-eight of the films are directed or co-directed by women filmmakers. The Festival will wrap up with an Awards Night Gala screening at Olympia Theater of the International premiere of Curro Velázquez’s smash hit Spanish comedy Holy Goalie (Que baje Dios y lo vea), with star Alain Hernández in attendance. All Olympia Theater screenings are part of the Festival’s CINEDWNTWN GALA series, sponsored by Miami Downtown Development Authority. A KORBEL Awards Night Party at The Historic Alfred I. Dupont Building will follow the Awards Night ceremony and screening.
Academy Award winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and revered American screenwriter and director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Affliction) will attend the Festival for Marquee presentations of their newest films. The Festival’s Marquee series features screenings accompanied by on-stage conversations with major film personalities of the moment, discussing their career and sharing an exciting new work. Hazanavicius will present Godard Mon Amour, his serio-comic look at Jean-Luc Godard’s love affair with the actress Anne Wiazemsky during the shooting of his classic films La Chinoise and Weekend. Schrader will present First Reformed, a dramatic thriller starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric The Entertainer. They join (previously announced) Mateo Gil and Jean-Marc Barr in the Marquee section.
Ten finalists were selected for the Festival’s signature $40,000 Knight Competition, open to feature films directed by filmmakers who have presented at least one feature in a previous edition of the Festival. Three of these films will also screen as CINEDWNTWN GALAS at the Olympia Theater.
The finalists are:
Another Story of the World (Uruguay, directed by Guillermo Casanova).
April’s Daughter (Mexico, directed by Michel Franco).
In Love & In Hate (Argentina, directed by Alejandro Maci). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
The Laws of Thermodynamics (Spain, directed by Mateo Gil). *WORLD PREMIERE
My Love or My Passion (Argentina, directed by Marcos Carnevale). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Sergio and Sergei (Cuba/Spain, directed by Ernesto Daranás).
A Sort of Family (Argentina, directed by Diego Lerman).
The Summit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Santiago Mitre). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Time Share (Mexico, directed by Sebastián Hofmann).
The Warning (Spain, directed by Daniel Calparsoro).
Eleven finalists were selected for the Festival’s inaugural $10,000 Knight Made in MIA Competition, which is open to any film – short or feature, documentary or narrative – in the Festival’s Official Selection that features a qualitatively/quantitatively substantial portion of its content (story, setting and actual filming location) in South Florida, from West Palm Beach to the Florida Keys, and that most universally demonstrates a common ground of pride, emotion, and faith for the South Florida community. The new award was inspired by the international success and 2017 Best Picture Oscar win by the Miami-set Moonlight, directed by former Miami resident Barry Jenkins and co-written by Tarell McCraney. The finalists are:
“#THECONNECTEDMAN”, directed by Fabián Cárdenas.
“Ayita’s Dream”, directed by Isis Masoud, Roger Ingraham.
“Fight Like a Girl”, directed by Agustín Gonzalez, Nicole Wulf.
Gladesmen: The Last of The Sawgrass Cowboys, directed by David Abel.
Latinegras: The Journey of Self-Love Through An Afrolatina Lens, directed by Omilani Alarcón. *WORLD PREMIERE
Love in Youth, directed by Quincy Perkins. *WORLD PREMIERE
Make Love Great Again, directed by Aaron Agrasanchez.
“Noa”, directed by Angel Barrota. *WORLD PREMIERE
Operation Odessa, directed by Tiller Russell.
“Roadside Attraction”, directed by Ivette Lucas, Patrick Bresnan.
“Supermarket”, directed by Rhonda Mitrani. *WORLD PREMIERE
Two significant Soiree nights will pair a major film event with one of Miami Film Festival’s world-famous parties. An Evening with Tim Clancy, the showrunner of HBO’s acclaimed Vice series through six seasons, will present a big-screen return look at three significant Vice episodes, followed by an in-depth, on-stage conversation about Vice’s Emmy Award-winning approach, philosophies and techniques. “HBO NIGHT” continues with a party at downtown Miami’s newest hotspot, The Wharf. Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon will have its Festival premiere at the Regal Cinemas South Beach and continue with a Light Box Love Story soiree at Miami Light Project’s Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood.
The fiercely-contested, audience-voted $10,000 Knight Documentary Achievement Award, sponsored by Knight Foundation, returns with 24 finalists, including 4 world premieres, and new films from Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, In America), Goya winners Félix Viscarret and Gustavo Salmerón, Emmy winner Rene Balcer (Law & Order), Sundance 2018 prize winners Tim Wardle and Maxim Pozdorovkin, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Abel and the late Oscar winner Jonathan Demme, as executive producer on The Foreigner’s Home. Subjects featured in the films include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Edwidge Danticat, Toni Morrison, Mr. Rogers, Andre Agassi, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds in the Live Nation production Believer, Cuban-America playwright María Irene Fornés and Miami’s Rene Lecour. The finalists are:
6 Weeks To Mother’s Day (USA, directed by Marvin Blunte).
Above The Drowning Sea (Canada, directed by Rene Balcer, Nicola Zavaglia).
Amigo Skate, Cuba (USA, directed by Vanesa Wilkey-Escobar). *WORLD PREMIERE
Believer (USA, directed by Don Argott).
Cuban Food Stories (USA, directed by Asori Soto).
Dolphin Man (Greece/Canada/France/Japan, directed by Lefteris Charitos).
Foreign Land (Israel, directed by Shlomi Eldar).
The Foreigner’s Home (USA/France, directed by Rian Brown, Geoff Pingree).
Gladesmen: The Last of The Sawgrass Cowboys (USA, directed by David Abel).
In Search of Voodoo: Roots To Heaven (USA/Benin, directed by Djimon Hounsou). *WORLD PREMIERE
Liyana (USA/Qatar/Swaziland, directed by Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp).
Lots of Kids, A Monkey and a Castle (Spain, directed by Gustavo Salmerón).
Love Means Zero (USA, directed by Jason Kohn).
The Music of the Spheres (Cuba/USA, directed by Marcel Beltrán). *WORLD PREMIERE
Nuyorican Basquet (Puerto Rico, directed by Julio César Torres, Ricardo Olivero Lora).
The Oldies (Cuba/USA/Venezuela, directed by Rosana Matecki).
Operation Odessa (USA, directed by Tiller Russell).
Our New President (USA, directed by Maxim Pozdorovkin).
RBG (USA, directed by Betsy West, Julie Cohen).
The Rest I Make Up (USA, directed by Michelle Memran).
Saura(s) (Spain, directed by Félix Viscarret).
Three Identical Strangers (USA, directed by Tim Wardle).
When The Beat Drops (USA, directed by Jamal Sims). *WORLD PREMIERE
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (USA, directed by Morgan Neville).
HBO returns as sponsor of the Festival’s $10,000 Ibero-American Feature Film Competition, this year featuring 25 finalists, including three world premieres. Three of the films in this section star Argentine actress Dolores Fonzi, prompting Festival organizers to declare Monday, March 12th “DOLORES FONZI DAY” at Miami Film Festival. The finalists are:
Al Berto (Portugal, directed by Vicente Alves do Ó).
Another Story of the World (Uruguay, directed by Guillermo Casanova).
April’s Daughter (Mexico, directed by Michel Franco).
Ashes (Ecuador/Uruguay, directed by Juan Sebastián Jácome). *WORLD PREMIERE
Bingo: The King of the Mornings (Brazil, directed by Daniel Rezende).
Candelaria (Colombia/Cuba/Argentina/Germany/Norway, directed by Jhonny Hendrix-Hinestroza).
Cocote (Dominican Republic, directed by Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias).
The Eternal Feminine (Mexico, directed by Natalia Beristáin).
The Future Ahead (Argentina, directed by Constanza Novick). *DOLORES FONZI DAY Film
Hunting Season (Argentina/USA/Germany/France, directed by Natalia Garagiola).
In Love & In Hate (Argentina, directed by Alejandro Maci). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Killing Jesus (Colombia/Argentina, directed by Laura Mora).
La Familia (Venezuela/Chile/Norway, directed by Gustavo Rondón Córdova).
The Last Suit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Pablo Solarz).
The Laws of Thermodynamics (Spain, directed by Mateo Gil). *WORLD PREMIERE
On The Seventh Day (USA, directed by Jim McKay).
The River (Bolivia/Ecuador, directed by Juan Pablo Richter). *WORLD PREMIERE
Sergio and Sergei (Cuba/Spain, directed by Ernesto Daranás).
The Skin of the Wolf (Spain, directed by Samu Fuentes).
A Sort of Family (Argentina, directed by Diego Lerman).
The Summit (Argentina/Spain, directed by Santiago Mitre). *CINEDWNTWN GALA
Tigre (Argentina, directed by Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra Guardiola).
Time Share (Mexico, directed by Sebastián Hofmann).
The Warning (Spain, directed by Daniel Calparsoro).
Wind Traces (Mexico, directed by Jimena Montemayor Loyo). *DOLORES FONZI DAY Film
The highly sought-after $10,000 Jordan Ressler Screenwriting Award, won in recent years by Oscar nominated Theeb, Venice Golden Lion winner From Afar and Chilean world premiere launch Little White Lie, has 20 diverse and intriguing first-produced screenplays in competition. All but two of the finalists also directed his or her screenplay. The finalists are:
Michael Pearce for Beast (UK).
Cory Bowles for Black Cop (Canada).
Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan for Chappaquiddick (USA).
Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias for Cocote (Dominican Republic).
Xavier Legrand for Custody (France).
Feifei Wang for From Where We’ve Fallen (China).
Constanza Novick for The Future Ahead (Argentina).
Sonja Maria Kröner for The Garden (Germany).
Lucien Bourjeily for Heaven Without People (Lebanon).
Natalia Garagiola for Hunting Season (Argentina).
Christian Papierniak for Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town (USA).
Blake Jenner for Juvenile (USA).
Quincy Perkins for Love in Youth (USA). *WORLD PREMIERE
Molly McGlynn for Mary Goes Round (Canada).
Ziyang Zhou for Old Beast (China).
Juan Pablo Richter for The River (Bolivia/Ecuador). *WORLD PREMIERE
Ana Urushadze for Scary Mother (Georgia).
Samu Fuentes for The Skin of the Wolf (Spain).
Silvina Schnicer for Tigre (Argentina).
Hlynur Palmason for Winter Brothers (Denmark).
Films showing out of competition include selections by Oscar-nominee Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead), Oscar-nominee and Emmy-winner Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, HBO’s Veep), and a US premiere starring retired NFL veteran and South Florida resident, actor/producer Thomas Q. Jones (A Violent Man). The films are:
Ali’s Wedding (Australia, directed by Jeffrey Walker).
Darling (Denmark, directed by Birgitte Stærmose).
The Death of Stalin (UK, directed by Armando Iannucci).
“The Driver is Red” (USA, directed by Randall Christopher).
Grace and Splendor (Panama/Dominican Republic, directed by Arturo Montenegro).
The Journey (Iran/UK/France/Qatar/The Netherlands, directed by Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji).
Kiss Me Not (Egypt, directed by Ahmed Amer).
Life is a Bitch (Brazil, directed by Julia Rezende).
Racer and the Jailbird (Belgium/France, directed by Michaël R. Roskam).
Sollers Point (USA, directed by Matthew Porterfield).
Three Peaks (Germany/Italy, directed by Jan Zabeil).
Under The Tree (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany, directed by Hafsteinn Gummar).
A Violent Man (USA, directed by Matthew Berkowitz).
Wajib (Palestine/France/Germany/Colombia/Norway/Qatar, directed by Annemarie Jacir).
The Festival takes a special look at the Chinese film market this year in Cinema & China. This section features the Florida premiere of the Cannes Film Festival 2017’s Palme d’Or winner for Best Short Film, “A Gentle Night”, directed by Yang Qui, and the documentary Above the Drowning Sea, a historical look at an amazing story of European Jews being safeguarded by Shanghai and Chinese diplomats during World War II. A day-long symposium on the trends and markets will be held, in conjunction with the Festival screening of four Chinese-produced features:
From Where We’ve Fallen, directed by Feifei Wang.
Love Education, directed by Sylvia Chang.
Old Beast, directed by Ziyang Zhou. *KEYNOTE FILM
Walking Past The Future, directed by Li Ruijun.
The Festival’s exceedingly popular Reel Music section returns with five outstanding selections, including a world premiere from Panama and a feature about famed flamenco star Diego “El Cigala” as he explores the world of salsa in Cuba and beyond:
Guaco: Semblanza (Venezuela, directed by Alberto Arvelo).
I Tita, A Life of Tango (Argentina, directed by Teresa Constantini).
Indestructible: The Soul of Salsa (Spain, directed by David Pareja).
Me, My Father and the Cariocas: 70 Years of Music in Brazil (Brazil, directed by Lucia Verissimo).
A Night of Calypso (Panama, directed by Fernando Muñoz). *WORLD PREMIERE
MIFFecito, the beloved Films for Families section, returns with four new feature films for film fans of all ages. This section includes Fishtronaut The Movie (Brazil), Home Team (Uruguay/Brazil/Argentina), Lila’s Book (Colombia/Uruguay) and Zombillenium (France/Belgium). An animated short film winner from MDC’s Miami Animation and Gaming International Complex 2017 MIA Animation Conference & Festival will also be shown in this section.
South Florida’s college film students will again battle it out in Cinemaslam 2018. The nine finalists include films from Center of Cinematography, Arts & Television’s Lidia Rosa Hernandez; Miami Dade College’s Armando Stephano Rivero, Robert Requejo Ramos, Christopher Foode and Fernando Dumas; and University of Miami’s Chantal Gabriel, Jorge Martinez and Vasisth Sukul.
The Festival’s parallel industry activities include a French film market sponsored by Unifrance, and a Producing in South Florida panel moderated by Kevin Sharpley.
The Festival will co-present three special events during this year’s event. A “From The Vault” of Todd Haynes’ classic Velvet Goldmine will be held on Sunday, March 11th in partnership with Flaming Classics. On Friday, March 16th, in partnership with The Black Lounge Series, a screening of In The Morning with filmmaker Nefertiti Nguvu in person. In celebration of the Festival’s Tribute to Carlos Saura, one of Saura’s greatest classics, Cría cuervos, will screen on Sunday, March 18th at Miami Beach Cinematheque.
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BOMB CITY, BIG SONIA and GAME Win Audience Awards at Tallgrass Film Festival
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Bomb City[/caption]
Bomb City, Big Sonia and Game wowed the audience at the 2017 Tallgrass Film Festival and were voted winners of the Audience Awards. Bomb City directed by Jameson Brooks won the Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Narrative, and Big Sonia directed by Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday won the Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Documentary. Game directed by Jeannie Donohoe won the prize for Audience Award Winning Short .
Bomb City is a crime-drama about the cultural aversion of teenage punks in a conservative Texas town and their ongoing battle with a rival, more-affluent group of jocks. The film is based on the true story of Brian Deneke.
In Big Sonia, Holocaust survivor and diva, Sonia Warshawski, has just been served an eviction notice for her popular tailor shop in suburban Kansas City. Sonia’s trauma comes to the surface as she struggles with the concept of retirement.
Gook, directed Justin Chon was awarded the prize for Outstanding Narrative Feature, along with Outstanding Rising Star for Simone Baker. In the film, set in 1992, two Korean-American brothers strike up an unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African-American girl, while racial tensions build to a breaking point as the L.A. riots break out.
For Ahkeem directed by Jeremy S. Levin and Landon Van Soest took the award for Outstanding Documentary Feature. After a school fight lands 17-year old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised alternative high school, she’s determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself, despite challenges both personally and in society.
2017 Tallgrass Film Festival Award Winners
Best Kansas & Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Best Emerging Student Award Documentary: Yellow, Director Rowyn Mottershead Best Emerging Student Award – Narrative: Reverse, Director Andrew Kivett Best Kansas Short Film Award – Documentary: Dragtivists, Director, Savannah Rodgers Best Kansas Short Film Award -Narrative: Rabbits, Director Patrick ClementGolden Strands Programming Awards
Outstanding Cinematography: Seat 25, CInematographer Joe Kaufman Outstanding Screenplay: Lucky, Screenwriters Logan Sparks & Drago Sumonja Best Editing: 20 Weeks, Editor David Hopper Outstanding Film Animation: Two Trains Runnin’ Outstanding Rising Star: Simone Baker, Gook Outstanding Male Actor: Christopher Marquette, I Hate the Man in the Basement Outstanding Female Actor: Simone Nortman, For the Birds Outstanding Ensemble Cast: Badsville, Ian McLaren, Benjamin Barrett, Tamara Duarte, Emilio Rivera, Robert Knepper Outstanding Courage in Filmmaking: City of Joy, Director, Madeleine Gavin Excellence in the Art of Filmmaking: Black Cop, Director, Cory Bowles Venus Award for the Teddie Barlow Outstanding Female Filmmaker: Skye Borgman, Forever ‘B’ Outstanding First Feature: Whose Streets?, Directors, Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis Outstanding Documentary Short Film: Edith + Eddie, Director, Laura Checkoway Outstanding Narrative Short Film: Real Artist, Director, Cameo Wood Outstanding Documentary Feature: For Ahkeem, Directors, Jeremy S. Levin, Landon Van Soest Outstanding Narrative Feature: Gook, Director Justin ChonAudience Awards
Audience Award Winning Short ($1,000 Cash Prize): GAME, Director, Jeannie Donohoe Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Documentary ($2,500 Cash Prize): BIG SONIA, Directors, Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Narrative ($2,500 Cash Prize): BOMB CITY, Director Jameson Brooks
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Chicago Film Festival will Honor Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard + Announces Black Perspectives Program
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Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard[/caption]
Film and theater legend Sir Patrick Stewart, and actress Alfre Woodard will be honored with Career Achievement Awards at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival.
Sir Patrick Stewart will be honored with the Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award, and Alfre Woodard will be honored with a Career Achievement Award as part of the 21st edition of the Festival’s Black Perspectives Program. The “Tribute to Alfre Woodard” and “Tribute to Patrick Stewart” will feature an onstage discussion, showcasing clips highlighting their decades-spanning career.
The Black Perspectives Program was founded in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee to showcase excellence in African American filmmaking. Since the Festival began its annual Black Perspectives Tribute, Cinema/Chicago has consistently honored actors and filmmakers of the highest caliber, including Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry, Ruby Dee, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, and Steve McQueen, among others. By arranging select screenings and panel discussions, the Festival creates a unique environment in which audiences can gain valuable insights into the challenges and triumphs of African American filmmakers and actors.
This year’s Black Perspectives Program will present 13 compelling programs, including feature films, documentaries, short films, a film industry panel and a master class with Oscar-nominated director Sam Pollard. Among this year’s exciting lineup: the Sundance hit and award-season contender Mudbound; the French comedy Chateau; two documentaries about celebrated black artists, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Lorraine Hansberry; the world premiere of Kartemquin Films’ founder and Chicago filmmaker Gordon Quinn’s ‘63 Boycott, to be shown on the October 22nd anniversary of the famous Chicago public school march; and other highly anticipated and acclaimed films.
Other films and events included in the Festival’s 2017 Black Perspectives Program include:
Black Cop — Dir. Cory Bowles, Canada
It’s not easy being a black cop: Your community doesn’t trust you and your colleagues are wary of you. But for one officer, the tension between duty and moral obligation eventually pushes him over the edge, and he sets out, vigilante-style, to exact a twisted kind of vengeance on the white and privileged in his city. Timely and bitingly funny, Black Cop is an unapologetic, confrontational satire about racial tension today. 91 min.
Can’t Turn Back: Edith + Eddie and ‘63 Boycott
From Chicago-based Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams) comes two new powerful half-hour documentaries about interracial harmony, conflict, and societal injustice. In Laura Checkoway’s award-winning Edith and Eddie, America’s oldest interracial newlyweds, ages 96 and 95, find their happy union threatened by a family feud. ‘63 Boycott, by Gordon Quinn (Golub), chronicles the Chicago Public School Boycott of Oct. 22, 1963 when more than 200,000 Chicagoans, mostly students, marched to protest segregationist policies. 60 min. With 30-minute post-screening discussion.
Chateau (La Vie de Château) — Dirs. Modi Barry and Cédric Ido, France
In the Château d’Eau district, a bustling African neighborhood in the heart of Paris, the always natty, fast-talking Charles (Jacky Ido) works the streets trying to lure clients into local hair salons. At odds with other hustlers, Charles sees the rise in competition as a sign that he needs to leave, but can he realize his own entrepreneurial dreams? This smart, fast-paced comedy brings wit and heart to the immigrant tale of trying to stay ahead of the game and out of the way of the law. French with subtitles. 81 min.
Félicité — Dir. Alain Gomis, France/Belgium/Senegal
Single mother and chanteuse Félicité ekes out a living performing in a rough Kinshasa bar. Her fiercely guarded independence is threatened after her son is involved in a life-altering accident, and she must find a way to pay for his care. A love letter to persistence and the power of song, Félicité is buoyed by one woman’s irrepressible spirit in the face of overwhelming odds. Lingala, French with subtitles. 123 min.
For Ahkeem — Dirs. Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest, U.S.
Daje Shelton, a 17-year-old girl from St. Louis, just wants to do the right thing. But growing up in a tough neighborhood, she can’t catch a break: she’s struggling in school; she’s distracted by boys; and she’s surrounded by a culture of violence and brutality. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. provides a powerful backdrop for this masterfully crafted portrait of working-class urban life. 90 min.
Mudbound — Dir. Dee Rees, U.S.
This powerful epic set in the 1940s follows the entangled lives of two families—one white, one black—on a single farm in rural Mississippi. Based on the bestselling novel, the film focuses on the unlikely friendship forged between each of the family’s oldest sons—both WWII veterans—and its catastrophic consequences. Featuring committed performances from Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, and Jason Mitchell, Mudbound is a monumental and resonant tale about race in America. 134 min.
The Rape of Recy Taylor — Dir. Nancy Buirski. U.S.
From the director of the highly acclaimed The Loving Story comes another dramatic tale of racial conflict. In 1944, six young white men raped 24-year-old mother Recy Taylor in Alabama. Rather than stay silent, Taylor spoke up against her attackers. With the help of the NAACP and its chief investigator Rosa Parks, Taylor waged a battle for justice that is powerfully brought to life through archival footage, early “race films,” and heartbreaking personal interviews. 91 min.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me — Dir. Sam Pollard, U.S.
Singer, dancer, and actor; “Rat Pack” legend; civil rights activist; Jewish convert; and Nixon supporter—the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. defies expectations and easy categorization. Charting the performer’s surprising journey across the major flashpoints of contemporary American history, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard interviews such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Jerry Lewis, and Whoopi Goldberg and culls together an array of electric performances for this captivating exploration of the man, his talents and the struggle for identity. 100 min.
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart — Dir. Tracy Heather Strain, U.S.
The title of her posthumous autobiography To Be Young, Gifted and Black only partly sums up the trailblazing life of Southside Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Although best known for her landmark 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry forged an expansive path as an African-American female artist and activist—while also wrestling with self-doubt and questions about her sexual identity. 118 min.
The Work — Dirs. Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous, U.S.
Imposing men break down in tears; convicts embrace each other in emotional catharsis. Such is “the work” that takes place within the walls of Folsom State Prison’s Inside Circle, an intense four-day group therapy program where offenders interact with troubled individuals from the outside hoping to exorcise their own demons. This eye-opening, award-winning documentary chronicles the surprising moments of healing and camaraderie that can occur when confronting the darkest moments of one’s past. 87 min.
Shorts 7 – Another Country: Black Perspectives
A family grapples with the consequences of close-quarters racism in New Neighbors (U.S.). Fastest Man in the State (U.S.) examines the deep-seated racial divides embedded in the history of the University of Virginia. A bathroom attendant working the Night Shift (U.S.) in a Los Angeles nightclub attempts to get his life back on track. Waiting for Hassana (Nigeria) is a haunting recollection of a violent Boko Haram attack. A police Sketch (U.S) artist assumes he has solved a crime when he thinks he encounters a suspect from one of his renderings. Skull & Bone (U.S.) chronicles the costume-clad efforts of a New Orleans group to curb the threat of gun violence. Macho (U.S.) explores ideas of manhood and masculinity as a community reels from the recent murder of a transgender woman.
Industry Days Panel – The Moonlight Effect: The Expanding of Black Cinema – Or Not?
After black cinema triumphs Moonlight and Get Out, is the film industry expanding its definition of what African-American cinema is and can be? Join this provocative discussion about whether the industry is changing. Or are these films the exception and not the new rule?
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45 Films from Fresh Filmmakers on Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Discovery Program
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A Fish Out Of Water (上岸的魚) Lai Kuo-An[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival debuted the 2017 Discovery program lineup with 45 first and second feature films by up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. Good news for the future of global cinema: this is the biggest Discovery program to date, with 25% more titles than the 2016 roster and two-thirds of the selection World Premiering at TIFF.
“Uncovering new talent is one of the key roles of the Festival,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. “The Discovery programme allows us to carve out a space for emerging filmmakers to be seen by the international film industry and has helped launch the careers of award-winning filmmakers like Maren Ade, Barry Jenkins, Steve McQueen, Christopher Nolan, and Dee Rees.”
The films, produced or co-produced in 35 different countries, include fresh, experimental and compelling voices. Life in small, rural communities is portrayed in Miracle, Ravens and The Swan, while families dealing with crises and conflict are addressed in Apostasy, Shuttle Life and Suleiman Mountain. LGBTQ+ themes run through several of the Discovery titles, including Montana, Soldiers. Story from Ferentari and The Poet and the Boy, while teen sexuality is explored in Disappearance, Kissing Candice and Princesita.
“If you don’t support the future of filmmaking, you fall behind. So we’re always looking for new talent,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “The fact that the Discovery programme continues to grow is deeply encouraging, and speaks to the fact that there are a lot of people that want to make films when it is often increasingly more difficult to do so.”
The Toronto International Film Festival also announced an additional title to the Docs program: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, a documentary about Lorraine Hansberry, a black writer, communist, feminist, lesbian and outspoken trailblazer at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Discovery program
1% Stephen McCallum, Australia World Premiere ¾ (Three Quarters) Ilian Metev, Germany/Bulgaria North American Premiere A Fish Out Of Water (上岸的魚) Lai Kuo-An, Taiwan World Premiere A Worthy Companion Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez, Canada World Premiere All You Can Eat Buddha Ian Lagarde, Canada World Premiere Apostasy Daniel Kokotajlo, United Kingdom World Premiere AVA Sadaf Foroughi, Iran/Canada/Qatar World Premiere Black Cop Cory Bowles, Canada World Premiere The Butterfly Tree Priscilla Cameron, Australia International Premiere Cardinals Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere Disappearance (Napadid Shodan) Ali Asgari, Iran/Qatar North American Premiere Five Fingers For Marseilles (Menoana e Mehlano ea Marseilles) Michael Matthews, South Africa World Premiere The Future Ahead (El futuro que viene) Constanza Novick, Argentina World Premiere The Garden (Sommerhäuser) Sonja Maria Kröner, Germany International Premiere The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) Huang Hsin-Yao, Taiwan International Premiere The Lady From Holland Marleen Jonkman, Netherlands/Germany World Premiere Gutland Govinda Van Maele, Luxembourg/Germany/Belgium World Premiere High Fantasy Jenna Bass, South Africa World Premiere Human Traces Nic Gorman, New Zealand North American Premiere Discovery Closing Film. I am not a Witch Rungano Nyoni, United Kingdom/France North American Premiere I Kill Giants Anders Walter, United Kingdom World Premiere Indian Horse Stephen Campanelli, Canada World Premiere Killing Jesus (Matar a Jesús) Laura Mora, Colombia/Argentina World Premiere Kissing Candice Aoife McArdle, Ireland World Premiere Luk’Luk’I Wayne Wapeemukwa, Canada World Premiere Mary Goes Round Molly McGlynn, Canada World Premiere Miracle (Stebuklas) Egle Vertelyte, Lithuania/Bulgaria/Poland World Premiere Montana Limor Shmila, Israel World Premiere Never Steady, Never Still Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World Premiere Oblivion Verses (Los Versos del Olvido) Alireza Khatami, France/Germany/Netherlands/Chile North American Premiere Oh Lucy! Atsuko Hirayanagi, USA/Japan North American Premiere The Poet and the Boy (Si-e-nui Sa-rang) Kim Yang-hee, South Korea International Premiere Princesita Marialy Rivas, Chile/Argentina/Spain World Premiere Ravens Jens Assur, Sweden World Premiere Scaffolding (Pigumim) Matan Yair, Israel/Poland North American Premiere Shuttle Life (分貝人生) Tan Seng Kiat, Malaysia North American Premiere Simulation Abed Abest, Iran North American Premiere Soldiers. Story from Ferentari (Soldaţii. Poveste din Ferentari) Ivana Mladenovic, Romania/Serbia/Belgium World Premiere Suleiman Mountain Elizaveta Stishova, Kyrgyzstan/Russia World Premiere The Swan (Svanurinn) Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir, Iceland World Premiere Discovery Opening Film. Tigre Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra Guardiola, Argentina World Premiere Valley of Shadows (Skyggenes Dal) Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, Norway World Premiere Village Rockstars Rima Das, India World Premiere Waru Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, Paula Jones, New Zealand International Premiere Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre) Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark/Iceland North American PremiereTIFF DOCS
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart Tracy Heather Strain, USA World Premiere
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Mina Shum’s MEDITATION PARK Starring Sandra Oh to Open Vancouver International Film Festival
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Meditation Park[/caption]
Mina Shum’s Meditation Park will be showcased as the Opening Night Gala Film of the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival. On the heels of her critically acclaimed 2015 documentary, Ninth Floor, Shum makes a triumphant return to narrative filmmaking with this bittersweet comedy about a devoted Chinese-Canadian wife and mother (Cheng Pei Pei) who is shaken out of her isolation and stupor by suspicions that her husband (Tzi Ma) has been untrue. Shum makes fantastic use of East Vancouver and Chinatown locations and draws fantastic performances from an all-star cast that also includes Sandra Oh and Don McKellar.
VIFF will present Movie Nights Across Canada as part of its opening night festivities on September 28, 2017.
The festival also revealed 18 additional Canadian feature films in the True North stream and Future//Present film series, which celebrate the extraordinary creativity and craft being demonstrated by Canadian storytellers from coast to coast.
Opening Gala
Meditation Park
DIR. MINA SHUM
Maria (Cheng Pei Pei) has spent decades of devoted marriage dutifully excusing the prejudices and vices of her husband (Tzi Ma). But when she discovers another woman’s thong in his pocket, she embarks on some unintentionally comic sleuthing which soon introduces her to new East Vancouver communities and ultimately sets her on the course to self-discovery. Mina Shum makes an inspired return to narrative feature filmmaking with this richly detailed, emotionally rewarding and unmistakably Vancouver story.
True North Stream
Indian Horse DIR. STEPHEN CAMPANELLI In this moving adaptation of Richard Wagamese’s novel, Stephen Campanelli condemns Canada’s most deplorable transgression while celebrating our national game’s transcendent power. Languishing in a residential school, Saul Indian Horse finds salvation on a sheet of ice. But while a preternatural hockey sense lets him slip bodychecks with a dancer’s grace, he can’t evade the ramifications of past abuses. Saul’s strength in this struggle is a testament to the Indigenous peoples’ indomitable spirit. Infiltration DIR. ROBERT MORIN This dark thriller brings us into the carefully constructed world of narcissistic plastic surgeon Dr. Louis Richard (Christian Bégin) as it comes crashing down around him. Director Robert Morin delivers a voyeuristic and claustrophobic experience. His camera parallels the control-freak doctor’s state of mind as his sense of authority over his wife, his son and his career slips away. A beautifully shot and lit travelogue of a journey into isolation and madness. Like a Pebble in the Boot DIR. HÉLÈNE CHOQUETTE Against the picturesque backdrop of Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Senegalese migrants peddle Chinese trinkets and selfie sticks to tourists – but only if they’re lucky. People are often racist, street vending is illegal and many of the vendors are undocumented. It’s frustrating, and they’re barely scraping by, but their families in Africa depend on them. Filmmaker Hélène Choquette turns her empathetic eye on these harassed peddlers, resilient victims of global inequality. Rebels on Pointe DIR. BOBBI JO HART For over 40 years, the all-male drag troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has been delighting audiences around the world. In size 11 toe shoes, the Trocs send up the high art and formality of classical ballet. Director Bobbi Jo Hart shares the rich archival history of this New York collective, born in the wake of the Stonewall Riots, and their progress from preposterous to phenomenal. Best of all, we get to know the international ballerinos while enjoying their satiric wit and outré virtuosity. A Skin So Soft DIR. DENIS CÔTÉ Iconoclastic director Denis Côté is at his playful best with this equally awe-inspiring and amusing profile of bronzed, inked and bulging-at-the-sinews bodybuilders. While there’s abundant absurd comedy courtesy of the surreal sight of these man-mountains negotiating suburban homes or labouring to meet their caloric needs, Côté’s inquisitive camera reverentially appraises the astonishing frames that their devotion has wrought, while also revealing glimpses of vulnerability lurking in these Goliaths’ eyes. Suck It Up DIR. JORDAN CANNING Determining that Ronnie (Grace Glowicki), her hot mess of a besty, is in desperate need of a change of scenery, obsessive-compulsive Faye (Erin Carter) whisks her away to placid Invermere. However, the best laid recovery program derails into debauchery as the two fall prey to ill-advised hookups and bowling under the influence. And that’s before the MDMA kicks in. Jordan Canning’s wickedly funny, BC-set buddy comedy shirks sentimentality in favour of a barbed sincerity that leaves a lasting mark. Tattoos DIR. PASCAL PLANTE Crossing post-gig paths with Mag (Rose-Marie Perreault), Théo (Anthony Therrien) is all scowling swagger until she calls him on the fake tattoo he’s brandishing. As he sheepishly drops his defences, Pascal Plante’s “punk rock romance” likewise abandons brashness in favour of character-centric drama reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. Demonstrating a remarkable gift for eliciting naturalistic performances, Plante traces the formative experiences that will shape Mag and Théo’s adult lives. Unarmed Verses DIR. CHARLES OFFICER At the cusp of adolescence and facing forced relocation, Francine has a lot on her mind. And while this Toronto ‘tween possesses a way with written words, she has yet to develop the necessary confidence to express herself in full voice. Charles Officer’s luminous, poignant documentary charts this marginalized yet magnetic young woman’s determination to make herself and her community heard. “Like [Jim Jarmusch’s] Paterson, Unarmed Verses is both about poetry and a work of poetry in itself.” – RogerEbert.com Worst Case, We Get Married DIR. LÉA POOL Léa Pool’s 13th film is not for the faint of heart. Working from a novel by Sophie Bienvenu, Pool tells the disturbing, poignant story of 14-year-old Aïcha (a luminous Sophie Nélisse), who spends most of the time roaming around her Montréal neighbourhood. She lives with her distracted mother Isabelle (Karine Vanasse) and the memory of her turfed stepfather. When she encounters Baz (Jean-Simon Leduc), a sympathetic twenty-something musician, she falls hard for him, and teenage fantasy rules. You’re Soaking in It DIR. SCOTT HARPER Advertising is no longer the arcane territory of a few well-lubricated characters. The creative leaps of Mad Men have been replaced by precise, targeted surveillance rooted in complicated computer modelling. The data collected is often very personal information, and it is used to design advertising that influences you at the precise moment you are most ready to spend. Scott Harper documents this chilling shift and introduces us to corporate execs who proudly let us know how much they know about us.Future//Present Series
Black Cop DIR. CORY BOWLES With tension growing and Black Lives Matter putting the heat on law enforcement, a black police officer is torn between his affinity for the badge and the colour of his skin. He decides to take matters into his own hands and changes the priority of his targets from black to white, embarking on a spree of vengeance. With its provocative use of dash-cam and chest-cam footage, Cory Bowles’ film is as stylistically bold as it is politically charged, standing pointedly between the satirical and the dead serious. Fail to Appear DIR. ANTOINE BOURGES Isolde is a caseworker adjusting to the challenges of her new job when she is assigned to a man charged with theft and facing an upcoming court hearing. She does her best to help, but when the two meet she struggles to connect. Antoine Bourges’ film is many things at once: a portrait of those who fall through the cracks and the few who try to help them, a studious analysis of the systems in place and how they operate, and a poignant reflection on the difficulty of human connection across social strata. Forest Movie DIR. MATTHEW TAYLOR BLAIS A young woman dreams of the forest. Upon waking she texts a friend, cancelling their plans. She packs up, compelled to head into the woods. The deeper she moves into the forest, the more it begins to take on a life of its own. What waits for her there? Hypnotic, deceptively simple, and graced with strikingly sensual cinematography, Matthew Taylor Blais’ Forest Movie is a liberating experience that plays like a call to embrace nature, slow down, pay attention and get in touch with your thoughts. In the Waves DIR. JACQUELYN MILLS In Jacquelyn Mills’ impressionistic documentary, her grandmother Joan Alma Mills is struggling to come to terms with the death of her younger sister and searching for answers in the natural beauty that surrounds her coastal village home. With a delicate attention to detail, spoken musings on mortality and meaning are intricately interwoven with elegiac imagery. This is a soulful rumination on the passage of time–its ebbs, flows and eternal mysteries. Maison du bonheur DIR. SOFIA BOHDANOWICZ 2016’s Emerging Canadian Director award-winner Sofia Bohdanowicz (Never Eat Alone) returns with the colourful documentary Maison du bonheur. When asked to make a film about her friend’s mother, a widowed Parisian astrologer named Juliane, the director sets off for Montmartre and produces a lovingly made portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the lovely pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years. Shooting gorgeously on 16mm, Bohdanowicz again transforms quotidian details into beauty. Mass for Shut-Ins DIR. WINSTON DEGIOBBI Amidst poverty in New Waterford, Cape Breton, 25-year old Kay Jay is sleeping on his grandfather’s couch. Without much of anything, the two sit around eating 5-cent candies, drinking pop and watching movies. This film looks squarely at a type of comatose living in which the aging residents are dwindling away and the futures of the young are dim at best. Director Winston DeGiobbi bends the mundane slightly towards the surreal, distilling the directionless daily existence of his characters into poetry. PROTOTYPE DIR. BLAKE WILLIAMS From experimental filmmaker Blake Williams comes this ambitious 3D sci-fi film, which reimagines the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and its aftermath with the presence of a mysterious, futuristic televisual device. Then the cultural centre of Texas, Galveston was devastated by the storm. PROTOTYPE moves from stereoscopic pictures of the city to an awesome visceral conjuring of the storm and then into further sense-engaging abstraction, interrogating notions of origin and historical memory. Still Night, Still Light DIR. SOPHIE GOYETTE An existential meditation on longing, loss and memory, Sophie Goyette’s lyrical drama seamlessly moves between three characters and three distinct locations. Haunted by the death of her parents, Eliane leaves her Montreal home to teach piano in Mexico City. Her student’s father Romes is coping with midlife disappointment. Lastly, Pablo’s father harbours memories of a lost love. Each character is processing their past and unsure about how to move into the future.
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Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Canadian Feature Slate of 26 Films
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Don’t Talk to Irene[/caption]
The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival unveiled today the 26 titles that make up the Festival’s Canadian feature slate. Featuring a crop of provocative first features, this year’s diverse and varied Canadian lineup boasts one of the highest numbers of feature directorial debuts ever, as well as one of the highest numbers of films from Western Canada in recent years. Over 30% of the titles have a first-time feature director, while seven out of nine are TIFF alumni.
This year’s Canadian slate is bolstered by a number of titles from Canadian Festival veterans. Among these titles are: Alanis Obomsawin’s Our People Will Be Healed; Alan Zweig’s There is a House Here; Simon Lavoie’s The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes); Mina Shum’s Meditation Park; Robin Aubert’s vérité zombie flick Les Affamés; Ingrid Veninger’s Porcupine Lake; Pat Mills’ high school misfit comedy Don’t Talk to Irene; Oscar nominee Kim Nguyen’s Eye on Juliet; Adam MacDonald’s Pyewacket; celebrated director Denis Côté’s Ta peau si lisse (A Skin So Soft); and Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier’s previously announced Long Time Running.
Among the Canadian first features at the 2017 Festival are: Sadaf Foroughi’s AVA, a superbly crafted drama about an Iranian teenager at a pivotal crossroad; Ian Lagarde’s All You Can Eat Buddha, which follows a man’s surreal impact on vacationers at a Cuban resort; Carlos and Jason Sanchez’s A Worthy Companion, a psychological thriller about obsession and trauma; Trailer Park Boys star Cory Bowles’ Black Cop, an arresting satirical exploration of police-community relations; Kathleen Hepburn’s powerful family drama Never Steady, Never Still; Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley’s Cardinals, a disturbing look at the impact of a convicted murderer’s return to her community; Wayne Wapeemukwa’s Luk’Luk’I, a look at the denizens of an impoverished Vancouver neighbouhood; and Molly McGlynn’s Mary Goes Round, about an addiction counsellor struggling with her own issues.
Two exciting titles making their World Premieres at the Festival are Mary Harron’s Alias Grace, based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood, written by Sarah Polley and starring Sarah Gadon, Anna Paquin and Paul Gross; and Sean Menard’s The Carter Effect, on how NBA All-Star Vince Carter made an impact on Toronto.
Rounding out the program are Kyle Rideout’s winning comedy about eccentricity and high school Public Schooled; Tarique Qayumi’s powerful Afghanistan-set drama BLACK KITE; and Matt Embry’s shocking and poignant MS doc Living Proof.
The slate also features performances by multiple Canadian and international stars, including Sandra Oh; Sheila McCarthy; Don McKellar; Russell Peters; Evan Rachel Wood; Geena Davis; Sarah Gadon; Sarah Julia Stone; Scott Thompson; Judy Greer; Afghanistan’s most prominent rising star Haji Gul; and beloved Chinese actress Cheng Pei-Pei.
“It is exciting to see a new wave of Canadian first-time feature directors play with genres and take risks,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “This year’s lineup has a truly international feel to it, too, with a number of features shot all over the globe — something that also speaks to the boldness of many of the filmmakers included in the slate.”
“We are thrilled to have a lineup with such a rich diversity of voices and perspectives,” said Magali Simard, Programmer and Theatrical Senior Manager, TIFF. “Not only are different regions of the country represented, but so are multiple age groups, backgrounds, languages and filmmaking styles. This lineup showcases the incredible wealth of talent currently at work in Canada.”
All 25 Canadian feature films at the Festival are eligible for the Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. All nine Canadian feature directorial debuts are eligible for the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. This year’s Canadian awards jury is composed of Mark Adams, Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival; Canadian documentarian and Hillman Prize winner Min Sook Lee (Migrant Dreams); and artist and filmmaker Ella Cooper, who is also the founder of Black Women Film! Canada.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Eye on Juliet Kim Nguyen, Canada North American PremiereMASTERS
Our People Will Be Healed Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World PremiereTIFF DOCS
The Carter Effect Sean Menard, Canada/USA World Premiere Living Proof Matt Embry, Canada World Premiere There is a House Here Alan Zweig, Canada World PremiereDISCOVERY
A Worthy Companion Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez, Canada World Premiere All You Can Eat Buddha Ian Lagarde, Canada World Premiere AVA Sadaf Foroughi, Iran/Canada/Qatar World Premiere Black Cop Cory Bowles, Canada World Premiere Cardinals Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere Luk’Luk’I Wayne Wapeemukwa, Canada World Premiere Mary Goes Round Molly McGlynn, Canada World Premiere Never Steady, Never Still Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World PremiereCONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
BLACK KITE Tarique Qayumi, Canada/Afghanistan World Premiere Don’t Talk to Irene Pat Mills, Canada World Premiere Les Affamés Robin Aubert, France/Canada World Premiere Meditation Park Mina Shum, Canada World Premiere Porcupine Lake Ingrid Veninger, Canada World Premiere Public Schooled Kyle Rideout, Canada World Premiere Pyewacket Adam MacDonald, Canada World Premiere The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes) Simon Lavoie, Canada World PremierePRIMETIME
Alias Grace Mary Harron, Canada/USA World Premiere PROTOTYPE Blake Williams, Canada North American Premiere A Skin so Soft (Ta peau si lisse) Denis Côté, Canada/Switzerland North American Premiere Previously announced Canadian features at the Festival include Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier’s Long Time Running (Gala) and Seth A. Smith’s The Crescent (Midnight Madness).