LOVE GILDA

  • 165 Films Documentary Feature Films Submitted for 2018 Oscar Race

    [caption id="attachment_28784" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind[/caption] One hundred sixty-six features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards®.  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. This year, for the first time, films that have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival or have been submitted in the Foreign Language Film category as their country’s official selection, are also eligible in the category. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 17. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The 91st Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: “Above and Beyond: NASA’S Journey to Tomorrow” “Active Measures” “Amazing Grace” “American Chaos” “Andy Irons: Kissed by God” [caption id="attachment_25696" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco[/caption] “Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco” “Avicii: True Stories” “Bali: Beats of Paradise” “Bathtubs over Broadway” “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” “Believer” “Better Angels” “Bill Coors: The Will to Live” “Bisbee ’17” “The Bleeding Edge” “Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat” “Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine” “Call Her Ganda” “Charm City” “Chef Flynn” “The China Hustle” “Christian Audigier The Vif” “The Cleaners” “Communion” “Crime + Punishment” “Dark Money” “Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” “The Dawn Wall” “The Distant Barking of Dogs” “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” “Drug$” “Eating Animals” “Eldorado” “Fahrenheit 11/9” “Fail State” “Family in Transition” “Far from the Tree” “Filmworker” “The First Patient” “Foreign Land” “40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie” “Free Solo” “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable” “Generation Wealth” “Ghost Hunting” “Ghosthunter” “The Gilligan Manifesto” “The Gospel According to André” “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” “Graves without a Name” “The Great Buster: A Celebration” “Hal” “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” “Half the Picture” “The Heart of Nuba” “Hillbilly” “The Homeless Chorus Speaks” “Hondros” “Howard” “In Search of Greatness” “In the Land of Pomegranates” “Inventing Tomorrow” “Invisible Hands” “Itzhak” “Jane Fonda in Five Acts” “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” “The Judge” “Kangaroo: A Love Hate Story” “Killer Bees” “The King” “King in the Wilderness” “Kusama – Infinity” “The Last Race” “Leaning into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy” “Letter from Masanjia” “Licu, a Romanian Story” “Living in the Future’s Past” “Liyana” “Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle” “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story” “Love, Cecil” “Love, Gilda” “Love Is Tolerance – Tolerance Is Love – Make Tolerance Great Again!” “Making The Five Heartbeats” “Maria by Callas” “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” “McQueen” “Minding the Gap” “Monrovia, Indiana” “The Most Unknown” “New Moon” “93Queen” “Nossa Chape” “Of Fathers and Sons” “Of Love & Law” “On Her Shoulders” “Opera about Poland” “The Opera House” “The Oslo Diaries” “The Other Side of Everything” “The Panama Papers” “Path of Blood” “People’s Republic of Desire” “Philosopher King – Lee Teng-hui’s Dialogue” “Pick of the Litter” “Piripkura” “Police Killing” “Pope Francis – A Man of His Word” “The Price of Everything” “The Price of Free” “Qiu (Inmates)” “Quincy” “RBG” “The Rachel Divide” “The Raft” “Recovery Boys” “Restoring Tomorrow” “Reversing Roe” “The Road Movie” “Robin Williams: Come inside My Mind” “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name” “Samouni Road” “Saving Brinton” “Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland” “Science Fair” “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” “Searching for Ingmar Bergman” “Seeing Allred” “The Sentence” “Shirkers” “Shot in the Dark” “The Silence of Others” “Sisters of the Wilderness” “A Son of Man” “Songwriter” “Stan” “Studio 54” “Summer in the Forest” “Tea with the Dames” “That Summer” “That Way Madness Lies…” “They Fight” “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” “This Is Congo” “This Is Home: A Refugee Story” “Three Identical Strangers” “To Be Continued” “Transformer” “Travel Ban” “The Trial” “Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace” “Trust Machine” “Under the Wire” “United Skates” “Unknown Distance” “Up Down and Sideways” “The Waldheim Waltz” “We Could Be Heroes” “Weed the People” “What Haunts Us” “What Lies Upstream” “Whitney” “Wonderful Losers: A Different World” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” “Yellow Is Forbidden” “Yellowing”

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  • Martha’s Vineyard Film Society Reveals Lineup for 4th Documentary Week

    [caption id="attachment_30984" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]A PAINTER WHO FARMS: ALLEN WHITING - PAINTER AND FARMER A PAINTER WHO FARMS: ALLEN WHITING – PAINTER AND FARMER[/caption] The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society will host its 4th Annual Documentary Week, which begins Monday, July 30th and runs through Saturday, August 4th at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in Vineyard Haven. LOVE, GILDA featuring Director Lisa D’Apolito will open Documentary Week on Monday, July 30th; the festival concludes on Saturday, August 4th with JANE FONDA IN FIVE ACTS with Director Susan Lacy and Producer Jessica Levin. Other documentaries featured include BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY on Tuesday, July 31st with Steve Young, former writer for the Late Show with David Letterman the subject of the film, and Director Dava Whisenant.  A PAINTER WHO FARMS: ALLEN WHITING on Wednesday, August 1st with Painter and Vineyard-resident Allen Whiting. Q&A with Allen Whiting and Co-directors David Fokos and Barbarella Fokos This film is a joint benefit for the MV Museum and the MV Film Society; Tickets are $20 for everyone. SAY HER NAME on Thursday, August 2nd with Kate Davis and David Heilbroner (co directed, produced and edited by), Sandra Bland’s sisters: Shante Needham and Sharon Cooper, both national spokespeople for Sandra Bland, and Cannon Lambert, lead attorney from Chicago. The Vineyard screening will be a rare chance for folks to see the film with filmmakers and 2 of Sandra Bland sisters and their lead attorney present for the Q&A, and moderated by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. On Friday, August 3rd the Film Society screens 306 HOLLYWOOD with Co-directors Elan and Jonathan Bogarin. LOVE, GILDA: In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner looks back and reflects on her life and career. Weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends (Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Laraine Newman, Paul Shaffer and Martin Short), rare home movies and diaries read by modern-day comedians inspired by Gilda (Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong). LOVE, GILDA opens up a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story. BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY: Steve Young, writer for the Late Show, stumbles on a hidden world of bizarre corporate entertainment and finds an unexpected connection to his fellow man. With David Letterman, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, Jello Biafra, and more. A PAINTER WHO FARMS: ALLEN WHITING – PAINTER AND FARMER: Allen Whiting is a farmer who has been living off the land as his family has for 12 generations. Allen Whiting is also a plein-air painter, whose depictions of island landscapes can be found in the collections of the rich and famous who have been visiting his home gallery since the 70s. From his taciturn delivery to his creative expression of the beauty that surrounds him, Allen Whiting is the human embodiment of the island in which his roots run deep, and from which he derives his inspiration: Martha’s Vineyard. SAY HER NAME: Sandra Bland was pulled over and arrested for failing to signal a lane change in Waller County, Texas, in 2015. Three days later, she was dead, having apparently committed suicide while in police custody. But, as the case took on nationwide notoriety and sparked street protests, family and friends were left with nothing but questions: What, after all, took a bright, energetic Black Lives Matter activist from the promise of a new job to a mysterious jail cell death in just three days? Academy Award®-nominated nominated filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner accompanied Bland’s family on their search for answers during the two years following her death. 306 HOLLYWOOD: a magical realist documentary of two siblings who undertake an archaeological excavation of their late grandmother’s house. They embark on a journey from her home in New Jersey to ancient Rome, from fashion to physics, in search of what life remains in the objects we leave behind. JANE FONDA IN FIVE ACTS: Girl next door, sex kitten, activist, fitness tycoon: Oscar-winner Jane Fonda has lived a life marked by controversy, tragedy and transformation, and she’s done it all in the public eye. Directed and produced by award-winning documentarian Susan Lacy. Jane Fonda has been vilified as “Hanoi Jane,” lusted after as “Barbarella” and heralded as a beacon of the women’s movement. This film goes to the heart of who she really is, a blend of deep vulnerability, magnetism, naiveté and bravery, revealing a life transformed over time.

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  • AFI DOCS 2018 Unveils Full Slate of 92 Films

    [caption id="attachment_29156" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]UNITED SKATES UNITED SKATES[/caption] AFI DOCS has finally revealed its full slate of 92 films representing 22 countries for the 16th edition of the American Film Institute’s five-day documentary film festival in the nation’s capital.  AFI DOCS 2018 runs June 13 to 17 in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD. As previously announced, the festival will open with the world premiere of PERSONAL STATEMENT and will close with UNITED SKATES. ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW screens as the Centerpiece Screening. Special Screenings include THE COLD BLUE, KINSHASA MAKAMBO, MR. SOUL! and WITKIN & WITKIN.

    AFI DOCS 2018 PROGRAM

    OPENING NIGHT SCREENING

    PERSONAL STATEMENT: DIRS Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez. USA. Karoline, Enoch and Christine are Brooklyn high school seniors who just want to go to college, but like so many public-school students throughout the country, their schools don’t have enough college guidance support. Refusing to give up, they decide to work as college counselors in their schools, becoming the very resource they don’t have themselves. World Premiere.

    CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING

    UNITED SKATES: DIRS Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown. USA. Roller-skating has played a critical role in modern African-American culture, with rinks serving as both a haven of community and of artistic expression, and a flashpoint in the civil rights movement. UNITED SKATES chronicles the fight to save these rinks, and the souls of communities nationwide.

    CENTERPIECE SCREENING

    ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW: DIR Rory Kennedy. USA. Rory Kennedy tells the stories of the women and men behind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s decades-long exploration of our solar system, our universe and our planet, in this enlightening film that celebrates NASA’s triumphs, mourns its tragedies and affirms the importance of its mission both in space and on Earth.

    SPECIAL SCREENINGS

    THE COLD BLUE: DIR Erik Nelson. USA. In 1943, legendary Hollywood director William Wyler crafted MEMPHIS BELLE, a celebrated tribute to the titular WWII bomber. Using footage shot by Wyler from the National Archives, director Erik Nelson has made a new film, featuring gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots. A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery. World Premiere. KINSHASA MAKAMBO: DIR Dieudo Hamadi. DRC, France, Germany. Amid the backdrop of seemingly the neverending political and social unrest that hangs over the Democratic Republic of Congo, three young activists take to the streets with their fellow countrymen to overthrow their country’s President and help enact much needed change in their politically beleaguered country. East Coast Premiere. MR. SOUL!: DIRS Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip. USA. An in-depth look at the late 1960s WNET public television series SOUL! and its producer Ellis Haizlip. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. WITKIN + WITKIN: DIR Trisha Ziff. Mexico. The artwork of septuagenarian twins Joel-Peter and Jerome Witkin transcends genres and traditional form. WITKIN & WITKIN explores the brothers’ complicated relationship with one another, and examines depths and divisions in their work. Joel-Peter’s stunning photography and Jerome’s powerful figurative paintings distinctly capture the human condition, reflecting differing emotional and intellectual approaches. U.S. Premiere.

    FEATURE FILM SELECTIONS

    209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, PARIS 10ÈME – THE NEIGHBOURS: DIR Ruth Zylberman. France. After selecting a building at random in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris, French director Ruth Zylberman meticulously reconstructed its community of inhabitants during the German occupation. What results is the spellbinding 209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, an experimental historiography that tells the emotional story of lives uprooted and destroyed under the Nazis. U.S. Premiere. ALONE IN THE GAME: DIRS Natalie Metzger and Michael Rohrbaugh. USA. Outdated ideas and outright prejudice have made competitive sports one of the gay rights movement’s final frontiers. ALONE IN THE GAME reveals how a new generation of queer and transgender athletes are scoring victories on and off the field by standing up for their rights — including the right to compete. World Premiere. AMÉRICA: DIRS Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside. USA. At the heart of this film is 93-year-old matriarch América. When an accidental fall lands her son in jail for neglect, her three freewheeling grandsons must reunite to get their father out of prison and their grandmother out of bed. What emerges is an unforgettable and tender tale of familial love. AMERICA TO ME: DIR Steve James. USA. In this first episode of his excellent miniseries, Steve James returns to the subjects that have marked his career — class, race, and how the two affect social and economic mobility. James follows students at a public high school in suburban Chicago that is considered the gold standard of diversity, yet on the ground, he discovers a different story. BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY: DIR Dava Whisenant. USA. Steve Young is obsessed with industrial musicals, the often bizarre and hilarious productions commissioned by companies to celebrate their products at corporate conventions. Follow him as he investigates this odd aspect of midcentury corporate culture, while continuing his search for gems like “Diesel Dazzle” and “The Bathrooms Are Coming!” BISBEE ’17: DIR Robert Greene. USA. Bisbee, Arizona, an old copper-mining town on the Mexican border, finally reckons with its darkest day: the deportation of 1,200 immigrant miners left to die in the middle of the desert in 1917. Filmmaker Robert Greene captures the city’s residents as they commemorate this tragic event by staging a reenactment on its 100th anniversary. BLOWIN’ UP: DIR Stephanie Wang-Breal. USA. A New York City courtroom recommends a unique and compassionate intervention option to young women charged with prostitution: submit to free counseling sessions designed by a mentoring program to get you off the street, and your record will be expunged. Are they ready to make that change? CENTRAL AIRPORT THF: DIR Karim Aïnouz. Germany, France, Brazil. A decade after ceasing operations, Berlin’s historic Tempelhof Airport has found a second life serving a new group of arrivals and departures: refugees now seeking asylum in Germany. CENTRAL AIRPORT THF looks at the absurdity of life for migrants making the most of the long layover. CHARM CITY: DIR Marilyn Ness. USA. On the streets of Baltimore, the murder rate is approaching an all-time high, and distrust of the police reaches a fever pitch. With neighborhoods in peril, residents attempt to diffuse the violence through cooperative efforts helmed by community leaders, compassionate law-enforcement officers and a progressive young city councilman. COMBAT OBSCURA: DIR Miles Lagoze. USA. Miles Lagoze was deployed as a combat photographer in Afghanistan, making videos for official Marine Corps recruitment purposes. Compiled of outtakes from those videos, this disturbingly raw portrait of the conflict in Afghanistan exposes the gulf between the war we’re meant to see and the war as it really is. East Coast Premiere. CRIME + PUNISHMENT: DIR Stephen Maing. USA. In 2015, a group of 12 whistleblower cops sued the NYPD for using illegal quotas despite a 2010 statewide ban on the practice. A blood-boiling investigation into a corrupt organization, CRIME + PUNISHMENT follows these officers as they face retaliation for attempting to resist against racist practices. DARK MONEY: DIR Kimberly Reed. USA. A portrait of democracy under fire, DARK MONEY pulls back the curtain on big money in national politics. Revealing how right-wing giants like the Koch brothers hide behind super PACs to do their bidding — in the forms of corporate-funded smear campaigns and dangerous legislation — this film is as timely as it is eye-opening. THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS: DIR Simon Lereng Wilmont. Denmark, Finland, Sweden. Taking an observational approach, this masterful film follows 10-year-old Oleg and his grandmother as they cope with life mere miles from the frontline of the war in Ukraine, showing how children navigate the trauma of conflict, while still seeing the world with naiveté and wonder. DON’T BE NICE: DIR Max Powers. USA. Following a diverse team of slam poets as they mine their feelings and personal experiences about race, sexuality, gender and popular culture to craft poems for national competition, DON’T BE NICE demonstrates how collaboration and communication between artists can allow them to better understand who they are and what they want to say. U.S. Premiere. FOR THE BIRDS: DIR Richard Miron. USA. In Richard Miron’s surprising and empathetic film, we follow a woman named Kathy who lives with 200 pet birds. What starts as a story about Kathy’s battle with local animal advocacy groups slowly transforms into an intimate drama about the toll of Kathy’s bird-hoarding — on her marriage and mental health. North American Premiere. FOSTER: DIR Mark Jonathan Harris. USA. Oscar® winners Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer (INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT) roam courtrooms, foster homes, juvenile halls and the streets of Los Angeles to tell the moving human stories behind the largest county child protection agency in the United States. World Premiere. THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA: DIRS Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher. USA. A tiny Arkansas town is home to a popular live-action Passion Play — and a tightknit gay community centered around a lively drag bar. A touching, upbeat look at an enlightened town that maintains a peaceful coexistence of two seemingly divergent groups through tolerance, love and inclusion. GURRUMUL: DIR Paul Williams. Australia. With the release of his debut album, blind indigenous Australian musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu became an unlikely star in both his homeland and in the larger world music scene. But as Gurrumul’s fame grew, the balance between his culture’s way of life and a career in music proved tricky to maintain. U.S. Premiere. HAL: DIR Amy Scott. USA. Surveying the works of iconoclastic filmmaker Hal Ashby (HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, COMING HOME), director Amy Scott identifies how Ashby’s brilliant and seminal works helped define both the New Hollywood of the 1970s and the American experience for a decade. HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING: DIR RaMell Ross. USA. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, RaMell Ross’ assured feature debut is a lyrical look at the lives of two young African-American men born and raised in Alabama’s Hale County, the community that surrounds them and the paths they follow throughout the years. HAPPY WINTER: DIR Giovanni Totaro. Italy. The escapism of being on holiday gets a fascinating twist in Giovanni Totaro’s shrewdly observant HAPPY WINTER. Mondello beach in Palermo, Italy, is a seemingly pleasant circus of bronzed vacationers milling about. But behind the happy goings-on is a different story of collective denial about the looming economic crisis. U.S. Premiere. HESBURGH: DIR Patrick Creadon. USA. He counseled presidents and popes, served on corporate boards and infuriated Richard Nixon. He was one of the only friends to whom Ann Landers turned for advice. During his 35 years as president of the University of Notre Dame, Theodore Hesburgh became one of the most influential and inspiring people of the 20th century. World Premiere. INTO THE OKAVANGO: DIR Neil Gelinas. USA. National Geographic photographer Neil Gelinas makes his directorial debut with INTO THE OKAVANGO. This visually stunning film follows three passionate individuals as they embark on a four-month journey along the titular river — witnessing Africa’s animal and bird population in visceral, jaw-dropping close-up — to discover why the Okavango Delta is rapidly drying up. INVENTING TOMORROW: DIR Laura Nix. USA. Laura Nix’s inspiring film follows high school students from around the world, many of whom hail from dangerously polluted countries, as they tackle daunting environmental issues affecting their communities. Watch as the teens then bring their ingeniously proposed solutions to “the science fair of science fairs” — the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. IT WILL BE CHAOS: DIRS Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo. USA. Follow an Eritrean man and a Syrian family on dual quests for freedom amid the refugee crisis in the eastern Mediterranean. Tension mounts as they battle the rough seas, harsh conditions and red tape standing in their way. Will they make it to a new life in Europe? THE LIBERATION: DIRS Christoph Green and Brendan Canty. USA. Therapy sessions, cooking lessons and raw personal stories provide the drama in THE LIBERATION, DC-based filmmakers Christoph Green and Brendan Canty’s story of the formerly incarcerated men and women struggling to get through DC Central Kitchen’s 14-week culinary training program. Can they make it and turn their lives around? East Coast Premiere. LOVE, GILDA: DIR Lisa D’Apolito. USA. Lisa D’Apolito’s moving documentary LOVE, GILDA looks back at the exuberant life and courageous death of Gilda Radner, the first female superstar of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Using an abundance of archival photos and clips, along with confessional narration by Radner, the film paints a loving portrait of her short but spectacularly eventful life. MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.: DIR Stephen Loveridge. UK. Drawn from 22 years’ worth of personal video footage, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. is an intimate look at the life of rapper, songwriter and activist M.I.A., from her childhood in war-torn Sri Lanka, to her eventual rise to international stardom as one of the most thought-provoking artists working in music today. MCQUEEN: DIRS Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. UK. This intimate profile offers unparalleled access to one of the fashion industry’s brightest stars, Alexander McQueen. Brilliant, bold and informed by a British punk aesthetic, the designer was known for his exquisite and strikingly original clothes and his legendary runway shows — theatrical spectacles influenced by contemporary art, theater and photography. MINDING THE GAP: DIR Bing Liu. USA. First-time filmmaker Bing Liu turns the camera on himself, his family members and his skateboarder friends in this deeply moving depiction of three young men in a small Midwestern town grappling with issues of class, race and learning to overcome the cycles of family violence. A MURDER IN MANSFIELD: DIR Barbara Kopple. USA. Two-time Oscar® winner Barbara Kopple takes on true crime, revisiting a horrific 1989 domestic murder in Ohio. Collier Boyle was 12 when his father killed and buried his wife under the flooring of a remote countryside home. Now an adult, Collier returns to Mansfield to face the lingering impact of his mother’s murder. ON HER SHOULDERS: DIR Alexandria Bombach. USA. Filmmaker Alexandria Bombach follows Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who gained international attention after escaping captivity by the Islamic State. Forgoing sensationalism, Bombach’s award-winning film offers a fresh perspective on Nadia’s new life as a human rights activist raising awareness for her people and their plight. OVER THE LIMIT: DIR Marta Prus. Poland, Germany, Finland. As the 2016 Summer Olympics loom, Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun prepares to represent her country at this historic event. But the path to the Olympics is not an easy one in this unflinching portrait of an athlete straining to retain her humanity while going for gold. U.S. Premiere. PICK OF THE LITTER: DIRS Dana Nachman and Don Hardy. USA. Shortly after birth, five Labrador puppies enter the intensive two-year training program at California’s Guide Dogs for the Blind. Here, only the best pups will make the cut to protect and serve blind partners, while others will have to change careers for good. THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING: DIR Nathaniel Kahn. USA. An examination of the contemporary art market through the eyes of artists, dealers and collectors, THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING is the latest work from Oscar® nominee Nathaniel Kahn. Illuminating complex dynamics between artistic intention and consumer behavior, the film begs the question: What value do we place on the priceless? THE PROVIDERS: DIRS Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green. USA. THE PROVIDERS follows three “country doctors” — health care providers working for a small network of clinics in northern New Mexico — as they confront the challenges of keeping those in their poor and opioid-plagued communities safe. As the film movingly shows each doctor’s day-to-day responsibilities, a complex portrait emerges of small-town America. SHIRKERS: DIR Sandi Tan. USA. In 1992, Sandi Tan shot a film in Singapore with her friends and her American mentor, Georges. As the film neared completion, Georges disappeared with the footage, leaving Sandi heartbroken. Twenty years later, the footage is discovered, and the strange mystery of Georges begins to unravel. THE SILENCE OF OTHERS: DIRS Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. USA, Spain. A quest for justice by those who suffered under the repressive regime of General Francisco Franco is at the heart of this powerful and provocative film. Those who were tortured or had family members murdered are demanding the truth be told to the Spanish people, and the remaining perpetrators put on trial. U.S. Premiere. STUDIO 54: DIR Matt Tyrnauer. USA. An Icarus tale unfolds to a disco beat in STUDIO 54, an intimate peek behind the velvet ropes, where mirror balls twinkled over Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol in Matt Tyrnauer’s illuminating history of the rise and fall of the legendary New York nightclub. THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES: DIR Gene Graham. USA. Diving inside an unexpected subculture of Newark, THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES follows a group of women who throw weekly underground male exotic dance parties. Exploring sexual identity and the meaning of community, the film is a unique portrait of the black experience in 21st-century America. TRANSMILITARY: DIRS Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson. USA. Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson make their stirring feature debut with TRANSMILITARY, following four individuals who come out as transgender to top officials at the Pentagon — a brave move that puts their military careers in jeopardy, and shows a struggle for equality that is more relevant than ever. TRE MAISON DASAN: DIR Denali Tiller. USA. With a parent in prison, three Rhode Island boys tackle adult realities few of their peers can even imagine. Unfettered access to three troubled but promising young lives produces an unforgettable perspective on the multigenerational consequences of U.S. incarceration, where one out of 14 kids has a parent with a prison history. UNDER THE WIRE: DIR Chris Martin. UK. In 2012, acclaimed journalist Marie Colvin illegally crossed the Syrian border to cover the country’s civil war. She became one of the only voices reporting on the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people. With breathtaking footage, UNDER THE WIRE profiles one woman’s drive to uncover the truth, no matter the cost. International Premiere. UNITED WE FAN: DIR Michael Sparaga. Canada. UNITED WE FAN follows the ingenious save-our-show campaigns that have been spurred by passionate television uber-fans throughout the decades. From STAR TREK to CAGNEY AND LACEY and CHUCK — plus many more — this delightful doc highlights the grassroots efforts needed to save beloved TV shows. U.S. Premiere. YOURS IN SISTERHOOD: DIR Irene Lusztig. USA. More than four decades after the birth of Ms. Magazine, director Irene Lusztig combs the publication’s archives and pairs some of the most memorable letters, many never published, with contemporary readers to comment on just how far we’ve come — and what we still have to accomplish.

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  • Magnolia Pictures Acquires LOVE, GILDA, Documentary on Comedian Gilda Radner, for a 2018 Release

    [caption id="attachment_26877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Love, Gilda Love, Gilda[/caption] Magnolia Pictures has acquired the documentary, Love, Gilda, director Lisa D’Apolito’s touching tribute to comedic trailblazer Gilda Radner and her enduring cultural impact for a planned 2018 theatrical release. Love, Gilda, which world premiered as the Opening Night Selection of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, uses rare personal recordings and journal entries to tell Radner’s story in her own voice. Along with interviews from those closest to her, including her brother Michael Radner and Saturday Night Live alumni Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Alan Zweibel, Laraine Newman and Martin Short, Gilda’s writings are read by modern-day comedians inspired by her including Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong. Love, Gilda opens a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of beloved performer Gilda Radner, whose greatest role was sharing her story. Working with the Radner estate, D’Apolito unearthed a collection of diaries and personal audio and videotapes documenting her childhood, her comedy career, her relationships and ultimately, her struggles with cancer. This never-before-seen-or-heard footage and journal entries form the narrative spine of the documentary, allowing Gilda to tell her own story – through laughter and sometimes tears. “Love, Gilda is a beautiful tribute to an incandescent spirit,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Lisa D’Apolito has crafted an incredibly moving, inspirational look at a groundbreaking comedian.” “I am honored that Love, Gilda has been acquired by such a prestigious company as Magnolia Pictures,” said D’Apolito. “I am excited by their passion and commitment to bringing Gilda’s story to the public and I am happy the film has a home along with some of my favorite films past and present.” Directed by Lisa D’Apolito, Love, Gilda is produced by D’Apolito, Bronwyn Berry, Meryl Goldsmith, and James Tumminia. Executive producers are Edie Baskin, Christopher Clements, Amy Entelis, Julie Goldman, Meryl Goldsmith, Carolyn Hepburn, Courtney Sexton, Alan Zweibel, and Robin Zweibel. Associate producers are Griffin Lichtenson and Nina Guzman. CNN Films, which began collaboration with D’Apolito more than a year ago, retains North American broadcast rights to the film.  

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  • 2018 Nantucket Film Festival to Open with BOUNDARIES, Close with LOVE, GILDA

    [caption id="attachment_28675" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Boundaries Boundaries[/caption] The 23rd Nantucket Film Festival taking place June 2 to 25, 2018, will open with  “Boundaries,” written and directed by Shana Feste. The film tells the story of single mom Laura (Vera Farmiga) who is forced to drive her estranged, pot-dealing father Jack (Christopher Plummer) from Seattle to Los Angeles after he is kicked out of a retirement home. The comedy also stars Bobby Cannavale, Peter Fonda, Christopher Lloyd and Kristen Schaal. [caption id="attachment_26877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Love, Gilda Love, Gilda[/caption]

    Love, Gilda,” directed by Lisa D’Apolito, will close the festival. The documentary reveals the personal side of iconic comedian Gilda Radner through rare personal recordings and journal entries.

    Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor? will screen as the festival’s centerpiece film. The documentary depicts the life and legacy of the late Fred Rogers, host of the popular children’s television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and a longtime Nantucket summer resident.

    For the ninth year in a row, the festival will screen a Disney‒Pixar film on opening day. This year the studio will showcase the animated feature “Incredibles 2,” with Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson, John Ratzenberger and director Brad Bird reprising their characters from the first film.

    The festival will also continue its relationship with the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra in screening a classic silent film accompanied by a new orchestral score. This year, Berklee students will perform their original score for the new restoration of “The Man Who Laughs”(1928), based on the Victor Hugo novel and starring Mary Philbin and Conrad Veidt. Veidt’s character is widely acknowledged to have been the genesis of the iconic Batman villain, the Joker.

    Nearly 50 feature selections have been announced, including two world premieres: Galt Niederhoffer’s “10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up,” starring Christina Ricci and Hamish Linklater as strangers who decide to try to be a couple when a one-night stand results in pregnancy; and Donal Lardner Ward’s “We Only Know So Much,” a multigenerational family drama featuring Jeanne Tripplehorn and “Stranger Things’ ” Noah Schnapp.

    The festival will also present four Sundance Audience Award winners: Andrew Heckler’s KKK drama “Burden,” starring Garrett Hedlund, Forest Whitaker and Andrea Riseborough; Aneesh Chaganty’s “Searching,” a thriller starring John Cho and Debra Messing which takes place entirely on a laptop screen; Rudy Valdez’s personal documentary about his incarcerated sister, “The Sentence;” and Alexandra Shiva’s “This Is Home,” a documentary about Syrian refugees adjusting to life in Baltimore.

    Notable among this year’s narrative titles are several which highlight strong female leads, including Susanna White’s “Woman Walks Ahead,” starring Jessica Chastain; Isabel Coixet’s “The Bookshop,” starring Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson; Marianna Palka’s “Egg,” starring Christina Hendricks and Alysia Reiner; Marc Turtletaub’s “Puzzle,” starring Kelly Macdonald; Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade,” starring newcomer Elsie Fisher; Björn Runge’s “The Wife,” starring Glenn Close; and Richard Eyre’s “The Children Act,” starring Emma Thompson.

    Other highlights include new films by acclaimed documentary filmmakers, including Marina Zenovich’s “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind,” Lauren Greenfield’s “Generation Wealth,” Susan Lacy’s “Jane Fonda In Five Acts,” Rory Kennedy’s “Above And Beyond: NASA’s Journey To Tomorrow,” Barbara Kopple’s “A Murder In Mansfield,” Eugene Jarecki’s “The King” and Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Daughters Of The Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story Of The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”

    “We always aim to bring a mix of programming that is equally entertaining, eye-opening and engaging to the festival each year, and this year’s lineup continues that tradition,” festival film-program director Basil Tsiokos said. “And, of course, foremost in our minds is to share with our audience really great stories, artfully told, and these films won’t disappoint.”

    Oscar-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach will receive the 2018 Screenwriters Tribute Saturday, June 23. Neville, also an Oscar winner, will receive the Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling Award and Andrew Heckler the New Voices in Screenwriting Award. Ben Stiller will present and participate in The All-Star Comedy Roundtable, “The Improv Takeover,” an evening of spontaneous storytelling and improvisational comedy, featuring actors and comedians Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley”) and Ben Schwartz (“Parks and Recreation”) on Friday, June 22. In addition, the festival will present a live taping of NPR’s “Ask Me Another” with host Ophira Eisenberg Thursday, June 21.

    Over the past 22 years the festival has mixed highly-anticipated awards contenders with the films of emerging and established filmmakers, and brought together the film industry’s most recognized screenwriters and storytellers, including Oliver Stone, Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Tom McCarthy, Beau Willimon, Kathryn Bigelow, Sarah Silverman, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell, Diane Keaton, Robert Towne, Glenn Close and Aaron Sorkin.

    It has also produced the All-Star Comedy Roundtable Presented by Ben Stiller, and the conversation series “In Their Shoes With . . .,” which has included Robin Wright and Beau Willimon with Chris Matthews, Tom McCarthy with Bobby Cannavale, Molly Shannon with Michael Ian Black and Bradley Whitford with Matthews.

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  • Mammoth Lakes Film Festival Announces 2018 Line-Up + Opening and Closing Films

    [caption id="attachment_26511" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson. Damsel. Regie/director: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson in Damsel.[/caption] The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) announced their feature film line-up, as well as the Opening and Closing Night films, for the fourth edition of the festival, taking place May 23 through 27 at venues across Mammoth Lakes. The 2018 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival will open with Damsel on Wednesday, May 23. Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska star in a comedic homage to classic Westerns. Samuel (Pattinson), is a businessman who sets out to rescue his kidnapped fiancée Penelope (Wasikowska). The situation turns out to be more complicated than it first appears, and Penelope is no mere damsel in distress. The film from Magnolia Pictures is directed and written by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner. [caption id="attachment_26877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Love, Gilda Love, Gilda[/caption] The festival will close with the documentary film Love, Gilda on Sunday, May 27. In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner reflects on her life and career. Weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with friends (Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Laraine Newman, Paul Shaffer and Martin Short), rare home movies and diaries read by modern-day comedians inspired by Gilda (Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong), Love, Gilda opens up a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story. The film from CNN Films is directed by Lisa D’Apolito. “We’re excited to bring such a dynamic and diverse lineup to this year’s festival,” said Festival Director Shira Dubrovner. “In four short years, we’ve already begun to establish MLFF as a must-attend festival thanks to our scenic and majestic backdrop of the Eastern Sierra and world-class cinema.” “MLFF focuses on films that have powerful, innovative artistic voices,” said Director of Programming Paul Sbrizzi. “We look forward to bringing our festival-goers the bold style and thought-provoking stories found in this year’s slate.”

    The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival line-up

    Core Competitions

    Narrative Features:

    Birds Without Feathers – In this pitch-black comedy, six broken individuals unable to make a human connection will give everything away in an attempt to receive love. Directed and written by Wendy McColm. West Coast Premiere Fort Maria – A sensitive, lyrical look at an agoraphobic Bulgarian woman and her adopted African-American daughter, as they each evaluate their lives and their relationship after the death of the beloved family dog. Directed and written by S. Cagney Gentry and Thom Southerland. My Name Is Myeisha – A charming, talented teenage girl crosses over into a candy-coated hip-hop-musical dreamscape on the fateful night she crosses paths with police. Directed by Gus Krieger, written by Rickerby Hinds. The Queen of Hollywood Blvd. – On her 60th birthday, the proud owner of a Los Angeles strip club finds herself in hot water, leading her on a downward spiral of violence and revenge. Directed and written by Orson Oblowitz. West Coast Premiere Rock Steady Row – A college freshman’s bike is stolen and he’s compelled to go to battle with the comic-book villain that rules the reigning fraternity using Walkmen and No. 2 pencils as weapons. Directed by Trevor Stevens, written by Bomani J. Story.

    Documentary Features:

    Buddha.mov – Lured by the chance of being the protagonist of a documentary film, Buddha Dev starts authorizing unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life. Directed by Kabir Mehta. West Coast Premiere Crime + Punishment – A group of brave officers risk it all to expose the truth about illegal quota practices in the NYPD. Directed by Steven Maing. Minding the Gap – The lives of three young skateboarding friends grow together and apart as they try to process childhood trauma and escape the cycle of domestic violence in their Rust Belt hometown. Directed by Bing Liu. Tourists – A disturbing and hilarious trip around the world, observed through the amateur cinematography of naïve, outspoken and judgmental middle-class tourists. Directed by Mateusz Romaszkan and Marta Wójtowicz-Wcislo. North American Premiere Vianey – New Jersey and Bronx based underground hip hop artist Vianey Otero (Icey Trap) discusses growing up on the streets, the lure of escorting, everyday life in jail, and being a female artist in the music industry. Directed by Marko Vuorinen. West Coast Premiere White Tide: The Legend of Culebra – There’s an island, there’s a map, there’s buried treasure… $2 million dollars just waiting for someone to dig it up. There’s just one slight problem: it happens to be in cocaine form. Directed by Theo Love. West Coast Premiere

    Foreign Features:

    Barren and Empty the Sea (Spain) – Esteban wakes up one morning and everybody accuses him of being a stranger that happens to look just like Esteban.Directed and written by Lucas Parnes Pereira and Jesus Serna. International Premiere Melodrama / Random / Melbourne! (Australia) – A feminist documentarian, a pick up artist and a virgin’s lives collide, and blood will be shed on neon-lit streets of Melbourne. Directed by Matthew Pastor, written by Celina Yuen and Matthew Victor Pastor. North American Premiere Tower. A Bright Day (Poland) Just before her daughter’s First Holy Communion, Mula’s long lost sister Kaja pays them a visit, harboring a secret. The family believes in reconciliation, but Mula has her reasons to be afraid. Directed and written by Jagoda Szelc. North American Premiere Vidar the Vampire (Norway) – The wildly hilarious adventure of a Christian farmer searching for a higher purpose to life, who falls into sin and wakes up as the Prince of Darkness in the city of Stavanger, Norway. Directed and written by Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland.

    Spotlight Presentations:

    Dyna Does Dressage – Documentary about the first mule ever to compete at the national level in the competitive equestrian sport of dressage. Directed by Sarah Crowe. Home + Away – A group of students with family on both sides of the US/Mexico border navigate academics, athletic competition, a school in need of greater funding and familial strife during the their final year at a Texas high school. Directed by Matt Ogens. West Coast Premiere On Her Shoulders – Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi genocide and ISIS sex slave survivor, becomes the voice of her people and their best hope to spur the world to action.Directed by Alexandria Bombach. Pick of the Litter –  The story of puppies from the moment they’re born through their quest to become guide dogs for the blind, the ultimate canine career. Directed by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy Jr. A Woman Captured – Director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter’s incredible document of the evolving consciousness of a Hungarian woman who has been held as a domestic slave for 10 years and decides to undertake a daring escape. Directed by Bernadett Tuza-Ritter. West Coast Premiere The festival will also feature Short Film Programs of 26 Narrative Shorts, 10 Documentary Shorts, 11 Animation Shorts and a program of classic animation from East Germany. Over $40,000 in cash and prizes will be given out in nine categories to this year’s films in competition.  Winners will be announced on Sunday, May 27 at a Closing Night reception.

    The 2018 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival Jurors

    Allison Amon (EVP Sales & Development, Bullitt) Lindsey Bahr (Associated Press) Peter Baxter (Filmmaker; President/Co-Founder, Slamdance) Shalini Dore (Variety) Alonso Duralde (TheWrap) Tim Rhys (MovieMaker Magazine) Vincent Spano (Actor) Nicole Sperling (Vanity Fair) Rachel Winter (Producer) Ana Souza (Sundance Film Festival) Scenery Samundra (Tru Thoughts, NTS Radio)

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  • LOVE, GILDA, Documentary on Comedian Gilda Radner, to Open 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_26877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Love, Gilda Love, Gilda[/caption] The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival will open with the world premiere of the documentary Love, Gilda on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.  Love, Gilda opens a window into the world of celebrated Emmy® and Grammy® award-winning comedian Gilda Radner who became a cultural icon the moment audiences first laughed with her on Saturday Night Live’s debut episode. A trailblazer for female comedians, her impact on the entertainment industry has endured almost four decades. The film will premiere opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the city she called home when she catapulted to fame. The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival runs April 18-29. Love, Gilda is directed and produced by Lisa D’Apolito with the support of the Gilda Radner estate. The film is a true autobiography of a pioneering woman, told in her own words and in her own voice. It weaves together audiotapes, rare home movies, diary entries, and interviews with her friends and those inspired by her including: Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong; SNL original cast members Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, and Paul Shaffer; as well as Lorne Michaels (SNL creator and producer), Alan Zweibel (SNL writer), Stephen Schwartz (Broadway composer); Andrew Alexander (CEO of Second City), and long-time friend and actor Martin Short. Gilda Radner captivated millions of television viewers as an original cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1975-1980. The popularity of her now classic comedic characters Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, and Lisa Loopner fueled the young talent to meteoric fame in television, movies, and on Broadway. After finding happiness in love with Gene Wilder she received the cruelest joke of all, cancer. Her fight against the disease served as an inspiration to people impacted by the illness to stay positive and to keep laughing no matter what challenges life brings you. “As a Festival that has always supported women’s voices and is largely run by women we are incredibly proud to celebrate the inimitable voice of Gilda during the opening night of our Festival,” said Jane Rosenthal, Co-Founder and CEO of the Tribeca Film Festival. “Gilda Radner was a powerful comedic force of nature who opened doors and thrilled audiences while becoming one of the most prolific comedians of a generation. Her cutting edge humor was only second to her dedicated leadership in cancer care with her eponymous Gilda’s Club.” “Love, Gilda is the right film at the right time and the perfect way to open our Festival,” said Paula Weinstein, EVP of Tribeca Enterprises. “Gilda is a woman for the ages, an extraordinary talent in film, television, and theater who overcame her personal struggles to make us laugh, to make us cry. She understood the healing power of laughter not simply for her audience but in her own life as she struggled with cancer and lead the way for all of us to make the world a better place.” First time feature filmmaker Lisa D’Apolito commented, “I fell in love with Gilda Radner while doing pro bono work at Gilda’s Club, the cancer support organization Gene Wilder founded in honor of Gilda, in Greenwich Village where I grew up. This started my journey to discover who Gilda was as a person and as a performer. Gilda inspired me and many other women with her remarkable spirit and unique talent that changed the world of comedy. I’m grateful and honored to share the extraordinary legacy of Gilda Radner at the Tribeca Film Festival.”

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