16 short and feature-length fiction and documentary films from the Pacific region will screen in the NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival. Characteristic of the program is the presence of women on both sides of the camera: the special series’ opening film Vai alone features the collaborative efforts of a group of eight female filmmakers.
Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.[/caption]
150 films from 60 different countries have been selected to be screened at the 28th Stockholm International Film Festival that takes place from the November 8th to the 19th.
A third of the films in this year’s festival program are directed by first-time filmmakers, the festival is also joined by legends such as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave.
After a long and successful Hollywood-career 80 year old Vanessa Redgrave makes her debut as a director with the documentary Sea Sorrow. The film focuses on the global refugee crisis and is a part of this years Spotlight – Change.
This years Visionary Award recipient is the director Pablo Larraín. Larraín is the director behind the Academy Award-nominated Jackie (2016); he is now attending the Stockholm Film festival with his latest film Neruda.
The premiere movie of this year’s film festival is the critically acclaimed film The Shape Of Water by the director behind the Academy Award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro also won the Gold Lion at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.
A selection of other films that will be screened are: Thelma by Joachim Trier, Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino, The Party by Sally Porter, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri by Martin McDonagh and last but not least Downsizing by Alexander Payne.
The 26th Heartland Film Festival will debut the inaugural “Foreign Language Best Picture Contender” sidebar featuring 10 films submitted as the respective country’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Academy Awards®. Each selection will play once during Heartland’s 11-day celebration of international independent film.
“Each year, Heartland Film Festival proudly showcases a healthy percentage of foreign language films which are much admired, roundly discussed and debated by our audiences,” said International Film Programmer Hannah Fisher. “We present this year – for the first time – a section of films submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration in the category known as ‘Best Foreign Language Film.‘
“We anticipate this program will grow and evolve in stature, in much the same way that that Heartland Film Festival continues to gain international recognition and prominence. Heartland is thrilled to be among the first North American film festivals to showcase these foreign language contenders,” concluded Fisher.
Set to award more than $100,000 in cash prizes across various categories, the 2017 Heartland Film Festival will bestow a $5,000 cash prize to one of these 10 films, as selected by the Festival’s foreign language contender jury.
Pop Aye – Kirsten Tan[/caption]
A record 92 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants.
The 2017 submissions are:
Afghanistan, “A Letter to the President,” Roya Sadat, director;
Albania, “Daybreak,” Gentian Koçi, director;
Algeria, “Road to Istanbul,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Argentina, “Zama,” Lucrecia Martel, director;
Armenia, “Yeva,” Anahit Abad, director;
Australia, “The Space Between,” Ruth Borgobello, director;
Austria, “Happy End,” Michael Haneke, director;
Azerbaijan, “Pomegranate Orchard,” Ilgar Najaf, director;
Bangladesh, “The Cage,” Akram Khan, director;
Belgium, “Racer and the Jailbird,” Michaël R. Roskam, director;
Bolivia, “Dark Skull,” Kiro Russo, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Men Don’t Cry,” Alen Drljević, director;
Brazil, “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” Daniel Rezende, director;
Bulgaria, “Glory,” Petar Valchanov, Kristina Grozeva, directors;
Cambodia, “First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie, director;
Canada, “Hochelaga, Land of Souls,” François Girard, director;
Chile, “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio, director;
China, “Wolf Warrior 2,” Wu Jing, director;
Colombia, “Guilty Men,” Iván D. Gaona, director;
Costa Rica, “The Sound of Things,” Ariel Escalante, director;
Croatia, “Quit Staring at My Plate,” Hana Jušić, director;
Czech Republic, “Ice Mother,” Bohdan Sláma, director;
Denmark, “You Disappear,” Peter Schønau Fog, director;
Dominican Republic, “Woodpeckers,” Jose Maria Cabral, director;
Ecuador, “Alba,” Ana Cristina Barragán, director;
Egypt, “Sheikh Jackson,” Amr Salama, director;
Estonia, “November,” Rainer Sarnet, director;
Finland, “Tom of Finland,” Dome Karukoski, director;
France, “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Robin Campillo, director;
Georgia, “Scary Mother,” Ana Urushadze, director;
Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin, director;
Greece, “Amerika Square,” Yannis Sakaridis, director;
Haiti, “Ayiti Mon Amour,” Guetty Felin, director;
Honduras, “Morazán,” Hispano Durón, director;
Hong Kong, “Mad World,” Wong Chun, director;
Hungary, “On Body and Soul,” Ildikó Enyedi, director;
Iceland, “Under the Tree,” Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, director;
India, “Newton,” Amit V Masurkar, director;
Indonesia, “Turah,” Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo, director;
Iran, “Breath,” Narges Abyar, director;
Iraq, “Reseba – The Dark Wind,” Hussein Hassan, director;
Ireland, “Song of Granite,” Pat Collins, director;
Israel, “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz, director;
Italy, “A Ciambra,” Jonas Carpignano, director;
Japan, “Her Love Boils Bathwater,” Ryota Nakano, director;
Kazakhstan, “The Road to Mother,” Akhan Satayev, director;
Kenya, “Kati Kati,” Mbithi Masya, director;
Kosovo, “Unwanted,” Edon Rizvanolli, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Centaur,” Aktan Arym Kubat, director;
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, “Dearest Sister,” Mattie Do, director;
Latvia, “The Chronicles of Melanie,” Viestur Kairish, director;
Lebanon, “The Insult,” Ziad Doueiri, director;
Lithuania, “Frost,” Sharunas Bartas, director;
Luxembourg, “Barrage,” Laura Schroeder, director;
Mexico, “Tempestad,” Tatiana Huezo, director;
Mongolia, “The Children of Genghis,” Zolbayar Dorj, director;
Morocco, “Razzia,” Nabil Ayouch, director;
Mozambique, “The Train of Salt and Sugar,” Licinio Azevedo, director;
Nepal, “White Sun,” Deepak Rauniyar, director;
Netherlands, “Layla M.,” Mijke de Jong, director;
New Zealand, “One Thousand Ropes,” Tusi Tamasese, director;
Norway, “Thelma,” Joachim Trier, director;
Pakistan, “Saawan,” Farhan Alam, director;
Palestine, “Wajib,” Annemarie Jacir, director;
Panama, “Beyond Brotherhood,” Arianne Benedetti, director;
Paraguay, “Los Buscadores,” Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori, directors;
Peru, “Rosa Chumbe,” Jonatan Relayze, director;
Philippines, “Birdshot,” Mikhail Red, director;
Poland, “Spoor,” Agnieszka Holland, Kasia Adamik, directors;
Portugal, “Saint George,” Marco Martins, director;
Romania, “Fixeur,” Adrian Sitaru, director;
Russia, “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Senegal, “Félicité,” Alain Gomis, director;
Serbia, “Requiem for Mrs. J.,” Bojan Vuletic, director;
Singapore, “Pop Aye,” Kirsten Tan, director;
Slovakia, “The Line,” Peter Bebjak, director;
Slovenia, “The Miner,” Hanna A. W. Slak, director;
South Africa, “The Wound,” John Trengove, director;
South Korea, “A Taxi Driver,” Jang Hoon, director;
Spain, “Summer 1993,” Carla Simón, director;
Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund, director;
Switzerland, “The Divine Order,” Petra Volpe, director;
Syria, “Little Gandhi,” Sam Kadi, director;
Taiwan, “Small Talk,” Hui-Chen Huang, director;
Thailand, “By the Time It Gets Dark,” Anocha Suwichakornpong, director;
Tunisia, “The Last of Us,” Ala Eddine Slim, director;
Turkey, “Ayla: The Daughter of War,” Can Ulkay, director;
Ukraine, “Black Level,” Valentyn Vasyanovych, director;
United Kingdom, “My Pure Land,” Sarmad Masud, director;
Uruguay, “Another Story of the World,” Guillermo Casanova, director;
Venezuela, “El Inca,” Ignacio Castillo Cottin, director;
Vietnam, “Father and Son,” Luong Dinh Dung, director.
Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
Tusi Tamasese’s One Thousand Ropes is New Zealand’s submission for the best foreign language category of the 90th Academy Awards.
Written and directed by Tamasese and produced by Catherine Fitzgerald, One Thousand Ropes is the story of a Samoan family living in suburban New Zealand, re-connecting and putting to rest the ghosts that haunt them.
Starring Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Beulah Koale and Sima Urale, One Thousand Ropes is Tamasese’s follow up to his much-awarded feature debut, The Orator. The film had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival.
One Thousand Ropes is a powerful character drama of a father reconnecting with his youngest daughter and together putting to rest the ghosts that haunt them.
She arrives vulnerable: badly beaten and heavily pregnant. He struggles on one hand, with the inner temptation and the encouragement from the men in his life to take revenge in the way he knows best, and on the other, to build the new family and companionship so desperately missing from his life.
One Thousand Ropes is a deeply moving film about connections, redemption and new beginnings.
One Thousand Ropes will next be seen in October’s London Film Festival and Adelaide Film Festivals, with more festival outings to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWsfITbkkTc