The Workshop (L’atelier) (2017)

  • ‘ANGELS WEAR WHITE’, ‘MINDING THE GAP’ Among Winners of 2018 RiverRun International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_28797" align="aligncenter" width="1249"]ANGELS WEAR WHITE ANGELS WEAR WHITE[/caption] RiverRun International Film Festival announced the Audience and Jury Awards for the 2018 Festival, which ran April 19 to 29 and presented 165 films. “We had more than 2,000 submissions for our 2018 Festival and we had many difficult choices to make in completing the program. The juries were very impressed with our competition films and agreed it was difficult to make their final decisions,” said Rob Davis, RiverRun Executive Director.

    NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION

    Best Narrative Feature Award : ANGELS WEAR WHITE / China (Director: Vivian Qu) Jury statement: “In giving the narrative feature award to ANGELS WEAR WHITE we were enthralled by the thematic resonance and poignancy of the film as well as the brutality of the subject matter. Shot against a backdrop of natural beauty it drove a remarkable narrative that straddled the line between hope and devastation.” The Peter Brunette Award for Best Director – Narrative Feature was presented to: Vivian Qu, ANGELS WEAR WHITE / China Best Actor / Thomas Gioria / CUSTODY Best Actress / Meijun Zhou / ANGELS WEAR WHITE Jury Statement: “Additionally, in giving out the acting awards we were particularly impressed with the magnetic performances of young actors who brought a harsh reality to the plight of their characters.” Best Screenplay / Laurent Cantet & Robin Campillo / THE WORKSHOP RiverRun’s 2018 Narrative Features jurors included: Amman Abbasi, Benjamin Crossley-Marra, Neil Soffer and Lauren Vilchik. Previous winners of RiverRun’s Best Narrative Feature Jury Award include: After Love (2017), The Fits (2016), Memories on Stone (2015), Ida (2014), In the House (2013), Found Memories (2012), Bal (2011), Katalin Varga (2010), Three Monkeys (2009), The Edge of Heaven (2008), For the Living and the Dead (2007), A Wonderful Night in Split (2006), and Innocent Voices (2005).

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION

    Best Documentary Feature: MINDING THE GAP / USA (Director: Bing Liu) Jury Statement: “For the Best Documentary prize, told with deep dedication and investment – both in terms of time and of heart – Bing Liu’s MINDING THE GAP is an astonishingly accomplished film that explores race, class, and masculinity, transcending cliches for a deeply honest and moving coming-of-age portrait of three young men.” Best Director / Mila Turajlic / THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING Jury Statement: “Mira Turajlic deftly mines the political for the personal in this complex double-portrait of her mother, Sribijanka—a university professor and activist—and the war-torn Serbia she has fought to call home. It’s a stunning directorial balancing act: too complicated to be a mere fawning portrait, it nevertheless gives life to Sribijanka’s fiery ideas with depth, rigor, and love.” Best Editing / Kieran Gosney & Dino Jonsäter / TIME TRIAL Jury Statement: “With precise and commanding technique, the editors take us on a ride into the middle of a sporting event most of us never watch or even understand… and into the experience of a rider on the ride of his life.” Best Cinematography / Julian Schwanitz / DONKEYOTE Jury Statement: “Lush, grounded, and patient. These words best describe the cinematography of Julian Schwanitz in DONKEYOTE. His gorgeous renderings of Southern Spain, his crisp capturing of sound, and the intimacy in which he portrays the film’s two main characters – Manolo, and his donkey, Gorrión, provide a tenderness and poetry that help this film soar.” RiverRun’s 2018 Documentary Features Competition jurors included: K. Austin Collins, Tom Haneke, Sierra Pettengill and Stan Wright. Previous winners of RiverRun’s Best Documentary Feature Jury Award include: Quest (2017), Salero (2016), The Chinese Mayor (2015), The Case Against 8 (2014), I Am Breathing (2013), The Boy Who Was a King (2012), Armadillo (2011), Last Train Home (2010), Unmistaken Child (2009), Up the Yangtze (2008), Manufactured Landscapes (2007), Taimagura Grandma (2006) and Parallel Lines (2005).

    SHORTS COMPETITION

    Best Documentary Short : XAVIER CORBERO: PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST IN WINTER / Spain / Director: Nathalie Biancheri Jury Statement: “The film is so funny, its central character so outrageous, that it’s easy to miss the meticulousness of the filmmaker’s work – the slowly circular camera movements that perfectly match the rounded forms of Corbero’s architecture and sculpture. It’s what a short film should be: an immersion into character without an extraneous moment.” Special Jury Prize: WHILE I YET LIVE / USA / Director: Maris Curran Jury Statement: “A group of women so unpretentious that they might not think to describe themselves as artists yet who unarguably are. We are grateful for a film that has perfectly captured this precious American artistic movement before it vanishes.” Best Student Documentary Short: THE SANDMAN / USA / Director: Lauren Knapp / Stanford University Jury Statement: “No film can do justice to an issue as fraught as the death penalty. This short film adds an unexpected and valuable contrarian voice.” RiverRun’s 2018 Documentary Shorts jurors included: Laura Coxson, Peter Gilbert, Thomas Lennon and Xiao Xiao. Best Narrative Short : GARAGE AT NIGHT / Canada / Director: Daniel Daigle Jury Statement: “With innovative uses of the cut, off-camera action, silence, and truly alive performances, our selection for Best Narrative Short tells the story of a brotherhood without ever leaving one room. Never making a false choice, we believe this film exemplifies what’s possible in the form, and we’re delighted to present the award to GARAGE AT NIGHT, directed by Daniel Daigle.” Special Jury Prize: WELCOME HOME / Norway / Director: Armita Keyani Jury Statement: “We chose to give an honorable mention to a charming and refreshing comedy about an Iranian couple who take an unconventional route to making friends in their new Scandinavian neighborhood. With super charismatic performances from leads Ashkan Ghorbani and Elnaz Asghari, we can see this short as the first chapter of a series about these two funny lovebirds. Our Special Jury Mention goes to WELCOME HOME by Armita Keyani.” Best Animated Short : SOG / Germany / Director: Jonatan Schwenk Jury Statement: “We give the Best Animated Short Award to SOG for its nuanced exploration of the conflicts that arise between neighboring groups, and its innovative blending of techniques.” Special Jury Prize: WEEKENDS / USA / Director: Trevor Jimenez Jury Statement: “As Honorable Mention, we would like to acknowledge WEEKENDS for its elegant storytelling, beautiful production design, and its ability to portray the subject of divorce from a child’s perspective in a non-judgemental way.” Special Jury Prize: Carlotta’s Face / Germany / Directors: Valentin Riedl & Frédéric Schuld Jury Statement: “As Honorable Mention, we would like to acknowledge CARLOTTA’S FACE for its poetic use of animation to help visualize the condition of face blindness and showcase it as an artistic tool to overcome adversity.” RiverRun’s 2018 Animated Shorts jurors included: Lizzi Akana, Joel Frenzer and Andy Kennedy.

    AUDIENCE AWARDS

    Overall Audience Award: IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE / USA / Director: Gregg Jamback Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton Narrative Feature Audience Award: BYE BYE GERMANY / Germany / Luxembourg / Belgium / Director: Sam Garbarski Documentary Feature Audience Award: SILAS / Canada / South Africa / Kenya / Directors: Hawa Essuman and Anjali Nayar Altered States Audience Award: SAINTS REST / USA / Director: Noga Ashkenazi

    PITCHFEST

    In an effort to further promote the development of new filmmaking talent, RiverRun partnered with universities around the state to present the fifth annual PitchFest competition. Pre-selected student filmmakers from The Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest University, Elon University, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington pitched their documentary shorts projects to a panel of industry experts, received advice on how to proceed, and vied for prizes and industry recognition. The Piedmont Federal Savings Bank First Place winner received a $500 prize and the Runner Up received a $250 prize to assist in the production and completion of their films. Piedmont Federal Savings Bank First Place: NO SANCTUARY / UNCSA / Directors: Moriah Hall & Nathan Knox Second Place: DEAD IN THE WATER / UNC – Wilmington / Director: Lizzie Bankowsk RiverRun PitchFest 2018 jurors included: Celia Weston, Brett Ingram and Nick Price.

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  • Film Society of Lincoln Center Announces Lineup for 23rd Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

    Barbara - Mathieu Amalric
    Barbara

    Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, the celebrated annual series showcasing the variety and vitality of contemporary French filmmaking, returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for the 23rd edition, from March 8 to 18, 2018, with 24 diverse films on display.

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  • AFI FEST 2017 Announces World Cinema, Midnight and Youth and Family Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_25295" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]APRIL'S DAUGHTER (LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL) APRIL’S DAUGHTER (LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL)[/caption] The American Film Institute announced today the films that will be featured in the World Cinema, Midnight and Youth and Family sections at AFI FEST 2017 presented by Audi. The World Cinema section showcases the most celebrated international films of the year and features 30 films from 39 countries. The section includes 13 official Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® entries: A CIAMBRA (DIR Jonas Carpignano), A FANTASTIC WOMAN (UNA MUJER FANTASTICA) (DIR Sebastián Lelio), FOXTROT (DIR Samuel Maoz), HAPPY END (DIR Michael Haneke), HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS (DIR François Girard), IN THE FADE (AUS DEM NICHTS) (DIR Fatih Akin), THE INSULT (L’INSULTE) (DIR Ziad Doueiri), LOVELESS (NELYUBOV) (DIR Andrey Zvyagintsev), NEWTON (DIR Amit V Masurkar), ON BODY AND SOUL (TESTRŐL ÉS LÉLEKRŐL) (DIR Ildikó Enyedi), SPOOR (POKOT) (DIR Agnieszka Holland), THELMA (DIR Joachim Trier) and WAJIB (DIR Annemarie Jacir). The festival’s Midnight section will enthrall and petrify audiences with three international, genre-bending films: GOOD MANNERS (DIR Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra), LET THE CORPSES TAN (DIR Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani) and V.I.P. (DIR Park Hoon-Jung). AFI FEST will offer Youth and Family Programming for the next generation of storytellers and moviegoers, with the films THE BREADWINNER (DIR Nora Twomey) and MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER (DIR Hiromasa Yonebayashi). At these screenings, AFI FEST will host students from several public middle and high schools across Los Angeles County for educational experiences. MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER will also screen for the festival’s public audience.

    WORLD CINEMA

    APRIL’S DAUGHTER (LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL) – ­­In AFI FEST alum Michel Franco’s latest feature, a domineering mother suddenly arrives to assist with her teenage daughter’s pregnancy. But her true motives will soon emerge. DIR Michel Franco. SCR Michel Franco. CAST Emma Suárez, Ana Valeria Becerril, Enrique Arrizon, Joanna Larequi, Hernán Mendoza. Mexico BEAUTY AND THE DOGS – Following a sexual assault, a young Tunisian woman must descend into a bureaucratic hell to report the incident and find justice. DIR Kaouther Ben Hania. SCR Kaouther Ben Hania. CAST Mariam Al Ferjani, Ghanem Zrelli, Noomane Hamda, Mohamed Akkari, Chedly Arfaoui, Anissa Daoud, Mourad Gharsalli. Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Qatar, Switzerland BRIGHT SUNSHINE IN (UN BEAU SOLEIL INTÉRIEUR) – Juliette Binoche shines in the latest work from auteur Claire Denis, centering on a middle-aged woman hungry to find and hold onto love. DIR Claire Denis. SCR Claire Denis, Christine Angot. CAST Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Sandrine Dumas, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Alex Descas, Laurent Grévill. France A CIAMBRA – Jonas Carpignano’s sophomore feature follows Pio, a streetwise teen in Calabria who must step up when his older brother lands in trouble with the police. DIR Jonas Carpignano. SCR Jonas Carpignano. CAST Pio Amato, Koudous Seihon, Iolanda Amato, Damiano Amato, Francesco Pio Amato, Patrizia Amato, Rocco Amato, Susanna Amato. Italy, USA, France, Sweden CLAIRE’S CAMERA (KEUL-LE-EO-UI-KA-ME-LA) – This charming entry from Hong Sang-soo centers on the friendship between a Korean woman (Kim Min-hee) who’s recently lost her job and a wise Parisian teacher (Isabelle Huppert). DIR Hong Sang-soo. SCR Hong Sang-soo. CAST Isabelle Huppert, Kim Min-hee, Chang Mi-hee, Jung Jin-young. South Korea THE DAY AFTER (GEU-HU) – Infused with director Hong Sang-soo’s signature realism and humor, this film follows an aspiring writer who gets caught up in the spectacular drama of her boss’ personal life. DIR Hong Sang-soo. SCR Hong Sang-soo. CAST Kwon Haehyo, Kim Min-hee, Kim Sae-byuk, Cho Yun-hee, Ki Ju-bong, Park Yea-ju, Kang Taeu. South Korea A FANTASTIC WOMAN (UNA MUJER FANTASTICA) – In Sebastián Lelio’s follow-up to GLORIA, trans actress Daniela Vega gives an astonishing debut performance as a woman who must navigate a hostile society after the death of her lover. DIR Sebastián Lelio. SCR Sebastián Lelio, Gonzalo Maza. CAST Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Kuppenheim, Nicolás Saavedra, Amparo Noguera, Néstor Cantillana, Alejandro Goic, Antonia Zegers, Sergio Hernández. Chile, USA, Germany, Spain FOXTROT – An Israeli couple mourns the death of their soldier son in this audacious depiction of war and loss. DIR Samuel Maoz. SCR Samuel Maoz. CAST Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonatan Shiray, Gefen Barkai, Dekel Adin, Shaul Amir, Itay Exlroad. Israel, Germany, France, Switzerland A GENTLE CREATURE (KROTKAYA) – An unnamed woman, trying to reach her imprisoned husband, descends into the bureaucratic hell of the Russian penal system in this masterful epic. DIR Sergei Loznitsa. SCR Sergei Loznitsa. CAST Vasilina Makovtseva, Marina Kleshcheva, Lia Akhedzhakova, Valeriu Andriuta, Boris Kamorzin, Sergei Kolesov. France, Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands HAPPY END – Austrian auteur Michael Haneke returns with another chilling masterwork starring Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant, focusing on a dysfunctional wealthy family. DIR Michael Haneke. SCR Michael Haneke. CAST Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz, Fantine Harduin, Franz Rogowski, Laura Verlinden, Aurelia Petit, Toby Jones. France, Austria, Germany HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS (HOCHELAGA, TERRE DES ÂMES) – The history of Montreal is told with a poetic, episodic structure in this time-jumping drama, arriving in the year of Canada’s 150th anniversary. DIR François Girard. SCR François Girard. CAST Samian, Vincent Perez, Raoul Trujillo, Wahiakeron Gilbert, Emmanuel Schwartz, Tanaya Beatty, David La Haye, Sébastien Ricard, Siân Phillips, Linus Roache, Gilles Renaud, Naïade Aoun, Tony Nardi. Canada IN THE FADE (AUS DEM NICHTS) – Diane Kruger gives a career-topping performance in Fatih Akin’s complex thriller that follows a woman’s search for justice after an act of terrorism shatters her life. DIR Fatih Akin. SCR Fatih Akin, Hark Bohm. CAST Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Johannes Krisch, Samia Chancrin, Numan Acar, Ulrich Tukur, Rafael Santana, Hanna Hilsdorf. Germany, France THE INSULT (L’INSULTE) – When a Palestinian refugee and a Christian nationalist have a fateful crossing of paths, long-simmering tensions in modern-day Lebanon rise to the surface — and spiral out of control. DIR Ziad Doueiri. SCR Ziad Doueiri, Joëlle Touma. CAST Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Camille Salameh, Diamand Bou Abboud, Rita Hayek, Talal El Jurdi, Christine Choueiri, Julia Kassar, Rifaat Torbey, Carlos Chahine. Lebanon, France LOVELESS (NELYUBOV) – Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev returns to AFI FEST with a gut-wrenching drama about a divorcing couple who just want to offload their young son — that is, until he disappears. DIR Andrey Zvyagintsev. SCR Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev. CAST Maryana Spivak, Alexey Rozin, Matvey Novikov, Marina Vasilyeva, Andris Keishs, Alexey Fateev. Russia, France, Belgium, Germany A MAN OF INTEGRITY – When an Iranian farmer refuses to play ball with corrupt local thugs, he soon learns the steep price for holding onto his principles. DIR Mohammad Rasoulof. SCR Mohammad Rasoulof. CAST Reza Akhlaghirad, Soudabeh Beizaee, Nasim Adabi, Missagh Zareh, Zeinab Shabani, Zhila Shahi, Majib Potki. Iran MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS (MARLINA SI PEMBUNUH DALAM EMPAT BABAK) – A humble Indonesian woman becomes a stealthy master of revenge in this modern feminist Western. DIR Mouly Surya. SCR Mouly Surya, Rama Adi. CAST Marsha Timothy, Dea Panendra, Yoga Pratama, Egi Fedly. Indonesia, France, Malaysia, Thailand MR. LONG – In this deft, soulful work of genre filmmaking, a notorious hitman trying to allude gangsters finds refuge in a dilapidated part of Tokyo, where he befriends a troubled mother and her child. DIR SABU. SCR SABU. CAST Chang Chen, Sho Aoyagi, Yiti Yao, Runyin Bai. Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Germany MRS HYDE (MADAME HYDE) – Isabelle Huppert is sublime as MADAME HYDE, a meek chemistry teacher who experiences a fantastic awakening following a lab accident. DIR Serge Bozon. SCR Axelle Ropert, Serge Bozon. CAST Isabelle Huppert, Romain Duris, José Garcia, Adda Senani, Guillaume Verdier, Patricia Barzyk, Pierre Léon, Jamal Barbouche. France, Belgium NEWTON – An idealistic election monitor is determined to make the voices of 76 villagers heard in this humorous and humanistic portrait of Indian democracy. DIR Amit V Masurkar. SCR Mayank Tewari, Amit V Masurkar. CAST Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Raghubir Yadav. India ON BODY AND SOUL (TESTRŐL ÉS LÉLEKRŐL) – In this Berlinale Golden Bear winner, two very different employees at a slaughterhouse discover they share the same dreams at night. DIR Ildikó Enyedi. SCR Ildikó Enyedi. CAST Alexandra Borbély, Géza Morcsányi, Réka Tenki, Zoltán Schneider, Ervin Nagy, Pál Mácsai, Itala Békés, Tamás Jordán, Éva Bata. Hungary THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (TOIVON TUOLLA PUOLEN) – Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki turns his sights on a Syrian refugee in Helsinki in this moving, hopeful and hilariously deadpan masterwork. DIR Aki Kaurismäki. SCR Aki Kaurismäki. CAST Sherwan Haji, Sakari Kuosmanen, Ilkka Koivula, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu, Kaija Pakarinen, Niroz Haji, Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon. Finland, Germany A SEASON IN FRANCE (UNE SAISON EN FRANCE) – A migrant from the Central African Republic struggles to gain asylum in France and raise his two children in this urgently empathetic new work from Chadian auteur Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. DIR Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. SCR Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. CAST Eriq Ebouaney, Sandrine Bonnaire, Aalayna Lys, Ibrahim Burama Darboe, Bibi Tanga, Léonie Simaga, Régine Conas, Khampha Thammavongsa. France A SKIN SO SOFT (TA PEAU SI LISSE) – Denis Côté returns to AFI FEST with this hybrid documentary examining hyper-masculinity within a group of Québécois bodybuilders. DIR Denis Côté. SCR Denis Côté. CAST Alexis Légaré, Benoit Lapierre, Cédric Doyon, Jean-François Bouchard, Ronald Yang, Maxim Lemire. Canada SPOOR (POKOT) – Polish master Agnieszka Holland delivers an animal rights murder mystery for the ages in this genre-bending, gloriously twisted thriller. DIR Agnieszka Holland. SCR Olga Tokarczuk, Agnieszka Holland. CAST Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Miroslav Krobot, Jakub Gierszał, Patricia Volny, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Andrzej Grabowski. Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovak Republic SWEET COUNTRY – An Aboriginal man and his wife are forced to go on the run into the Outback in this brilliant, heart-rending revisionist Western set in 1929 Australia. DIR Warwick Thornton. SCR David Tranter, Steven McGregor. CAST Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Ewen Leslie, Hamilton Morris, Thomas M. Wright, Matt Day, Natassia Gorey-Furber. Australia THELMA – A young Norwegian woman from a devoutly Christian background begins experiencing fantastic powers in the latest work from Joachim Trier. DIR Joachim Trier. SCR Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier. CAST Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervåg, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Anders Mossling, Vanessa Borgli, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Ingrid Giæver, Oskar Pask, Gorm Grømer, Camilla Belsvik, Martha Kjørven. Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark WAJIB – A Palestinian father and son deal with ideological differences as they drive around Nazareth delivering wedding invitations in this moving, subtle drama. DIR Annemarie Jacir. SCR Annemarie Jacir. CAST Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri, Maria Zreik, Rana Alamuddin. Palestine, France, Germany, Colombia, Norway, Qatar, United Arab Emirates WALKING PAST THE FUTURE (LU GUO WEI LAI) – A young woman and her family deal with the fallout of widespread factory layoffs in this elegant portrait of the socioeconomic realities of contemporary China. DIR Li Ruijun. SCR Li Ruijun. CAST Yang Zishan, Yin Fang. China WESTERN – Masculine hostility and violence simmer to the surface in this slow-burn masterstroke from new German auteur Valeska Grisebach. DIR Valeska Grisebach. SCR Valeska Grisebach. CAST Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek, Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, Veneta Frangova, Vyara Borisova, Kevin Bashev. Germany, Bulgaria, Austria THE WORKSHOP (L’ATELIER) – Facing a dangerous threat, a Parisian teacher must teach her students how to stand up for what’s right in the latest film from Laurent Cantet (Palme d’Or winner THE CLASS). DIR Laurent Cantet. SCR Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet. CAST Marina Foïs, Matthieu Lucci, Warda Rammach, Issam Talbi, Florian Beaujean, Mamadou Doumbia, Julien Souve, Mélissa Guilbert, Olivier Thouret, Lény Sellam. France

    MIDNIGHT

    GOOD MANNERS (AS BOAS MANEIRAS) – Clara gets a nanny job for a high-class woman with an intensifying hunger for meat in this genre-bending tale of love, sacrifice and compassion. DIR Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra. SCR Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra. CAST Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Miguel Lobo. Brazil, France LET THE CORPSES TAN (LAISSEZ BRONZER LES CADAVRES) – A sun-soaked adventure fueled by machine-gunfire and leather, LET THE CORPSES TAN is an audacious heist film with style to burn. DIR Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani. SCR Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani. CAST Elina Löwensohn, Stéphane Ferrara, Hervé Sogne, Bernie Bonvoisin, Pierre Nisse, Marc Barbé, Michelangelo Marchese. Belgium, France V.I.P. – A buttoned-up federal agent, a world-weary cop and a mysterious lone wolf join forces to take down a serial killer in this tense Korean thriller. DIR Park Hoon-Jung. SCR Park Hoon-Jung. CAST Jang Dong-gun, Kim Myung-min, Park Hee-soon, Lee Jong-suk. South Korea

    YOUTH AND FAMILY

    THE BREADWINNER – This timely, inspiring and beautifully animated tale follows an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan, who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family. DIR Nora Twomey. SCR Anita Doron. CAST Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq, Shaista Latif, Ali Badshah, Kawa Ada, Noorin Gulamgaus. Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER (MEARI TO MAJO NO HANA) – Based on Mary Stewart’s 1971 children’s book “The Little Broomstick,” this film tells the story of a young girl who discovers a flower that grants magical powers, but only for one night. DIR Hiromasa Yonebayashi. SCR Riko Sakaguchi, Hiromasa Yonebayashi. CAST Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Ewen Bremner, Lynda Baron. Japan AFI FEST takes place November 9 to 16, 2017, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and other events will be held at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre, Dolby Cinema at the Vine, the Mark Goodson Screening Room at the American Film Institute and The Hollywood Roosevelt.

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  • 28th Stockholm International Film Festival Announces Lineup, THE SHAPE OF WATER, DOWNSIZING and More

    [caption id="attachment_25167" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Shape Of Water 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.

    Stockholm International Film Festival – Program 2017

    Stockholm XXVIII Competition

    A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano (Italy, France, USA, Germany, 120 min) Ava by Léa Mysius (France, 106 min) Beach Rats by Eliza Hittman Co (USA, 95 min) Beast by Michael Pearce (Great Britain, 107 min) Falling by Marina Stepanska (Ukraine, 105 min) Gabriel And The Mountain by Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa (Brazil, France, 127min) God’s Own Country by Francis Lee (Great Britain, 104 min) I Am Not A Witch by Rungano Nyoni (Great Britain, France, 92 min) Insyriated by Philippe Van Leeuw (Belgium, France, Liban, 85 min) Jeune Femme by Léonor Serraille (France, 97 min) King Of Peking by Sam Voutas (USA, Australia, China, 88 min) La familia by Gustavo Rondón Córdova (Venezuela, Chili, Norway, 82 min) Los Perros by Marcela Said (Chile, France, 94 min) No Date, No Signature by Vahid Jalilvand (Iran, 100 min) One Thousand Ropes by Tusi Tamasese (New Zealand, 98 min) The Rider by Chloé Zhao (USA, 105 min) Son of Sofia by Elina Psikou (Bulgaria, France, Greece, 105 min) Where The Shadows Fall by Valentina Pedicini (Italy, 95 min)

    Stockholm XXVIII Documentary Competition

    A Gray State by Erik Nelson (USA, 93 min) Copwatch by Camilla Hall (USA, 99 min) For Ahkeem by Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest (USA, 89 min) The Force by Peter Nicks (USA, 93 min) Lots of Kids, A Monkey, And A Castle by Gustavo Salmerón (Spain, 90 min) The New Radical by Adam Bhala Lough (USA, 120 min) Step by Amanda Lipitz (USA, 83 min) Tarzan’s Testicles by Alexandru Solomon (Romania, France, 107 min) This is Congo by Daniel McCabe (Democratic Republic of Congo, USA, Canada, 91 min) This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous by Barbara Kopple (USA, 91 min) True Conviction by Jamie Meltzer (USA, 84 min) The Venerable W by Barbet Schroeder (France, Switzerland, 100 min)

    Stockholm Impact

    Cardinals by Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley (Canada, 84 min) The Last Verse by Ying`Ting Tseng (Taiwan, 100 min) My Pure Land by Sarmad Masud (Great Britain, 92 min) Searing Summer by Ebrahim Irajzad (Iran, 83 min) Wild Roses by Anna Jadowska (Poland, 89 min)

    Open Zone

    A Fantastic Woman by Sebastián Lelio (Chile, USA, Germany, Spain, 104 min) A Man Of Integrity by Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran, 117 min) Amant Double by François Ozon (France, 110 min) April’s Daughter by Michel Franco (Mexico, 102 min) Based On A True Story by Roman Polanski (France, 110 min) Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino (Italy, France, 130 min) Free And Easy by Jun Geng (Honk Kong, 97 minutes) Gisslan by Rezo Gigineishvili (Russian Federation, Georgia, Poland, 103 min) Have A Nice Day by Liu Jian (China, 75 min) Ice Mother by Bohdan Sláma (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, 105 min) Mr. Long by Sabu (Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Germany, 129 min) On The Beach At Night Alone by Hong Sang`Soo (South Korea, 101 min) Our Time Will Come by Ann Hui (Honk Kong, 130 min) Radiance by Naomi Kawase (Japan, France, 101 min) Thelma by Joachin Trier (Norway, France, 109 min) The Shape Of Water by Guillermo del Toro (USA, 119 min) The Wandering Soap Opera by Raúl Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento (Chile, 80 min) The Workshop by Laurent Cantet (France, 113 min)

    American Independents

    Band Aid by Zoe Lister`Jones (USA, 94 min) The Boy Downstairs by Sophie Brooks (USA, 91 min) Brigsby Bear by Dave McCary (USA, 100 min) Crown Heights by Matt Ruskin (USA, 99 min) The Endless by Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson ( USA, 111 min) The Florida Project by Sean Baker (USA, 115 min) Gemini by Aaron Katz (USA, 93 min) Ingrid Goes West by Matt Spicer (USA, 97 min) Kings by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (France, Belgium, 86 min Life And Nothing More by Antonio Méndez Esparza (USA, 113 min) The Lovers by Azazel Jacobs (USA, 98 min) Keep The Change by Rachel Israel (USA, 94 min) Most Beautiful Island by Ana Asensio (USA, Spain, 80 min) Permanent by Colette Burson (USA, 97 min) Sollers Point by Matthew Porterfield (USA, France, 101 min) Who We Are Now by Matthew Newton (USA, 99 min)

    Icons

    Battle Of The Sexes by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Great Britain, USA, 121 min) Breathe by Andy Serkis (Great Britain, 117 min) Downsizing by Alexander Payne (USA, 135 min) The Final Journey by Nick Baker`Monteys (Germany, 100 min) Final Portrait by Stanley Tucci (USA, 90 min) Hannah by Andrea Pallaoro (France, 80 min) The Hero by Brett Haley (USA, 96 min) Let The Sunshine In by Claire Denis (France, 94 min) The Party by Sally Potter (Great Britain, 71 min) Reinventing Marvin by Anne Fontaine (France, 115 min) Rodin by Jacques Doillon (France, 119 min) Suburbicon by George Clooney (USA, 105 min) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri by Martin McDonagh (USA, UK, 115 min) You disappear by Peter Schønau Fog (Denmark, 118 min) Wonder Wheel by Woody Allen (USA, 101 min)

    Discovery

    Axolotl Overkill by Helene Hegemann (Germany, 94 min) Daybreak by Gentian Koçi (Albania, Greece, 85 min) Disappearance by Ali Asgari (Iran, Qatar, 88 min) Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! by Felipe Bragança (Brazil, Netherlands, France, Paraguay, 108 min) If You Saw His Heart by Joan Chemla (France, 86 min) Killing Jesus by Laura Mora (Colombia, Argentina, 100 min) Menashe by Joshua Z Weinstein (USA, 82 min) Oh Lucy! by Atsuko Hirayanagi (Japan, USA, 97 min) The Testament by Amichai Greenberg (Israel, 88 min) Vazante by Daniela Thomas (Brazil, Portugal, 116 min)

    Documania

    Chavela by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi (USA, 90 min) Dina by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini (USA, 101 min) Hondros directed by Greg Campbell (USA, 93 min) The Paris Opera by Jean`Stéphane Bron (France, 110 min) Return Of A President – After The Coup In Madagascar by Lotte Mik`Meyer (Denmark, South Africa, France, Madagascar, 78 min) Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana (Canada, 103 min) Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda by Stephen Nomura Schible (USA, 102 min) Served Like A Girl by Lysa Heslov (USA, 93 min) Shadowman by Oren Jacoby (USA, 83 min) Take Every Wave: The Life Of Laird Hamilton by Rory Kennedy (USA, 118 min) Walk with me by Max Pugh and Marc J. Francis (Great Britain, 94 min)

    Twilight Zone

    A Day by Sun`Ho Cho (South Korea, 90 min) Blade Of The Immortal by Takashi Miike (Japan, 140 min) The Cured by David Freyne (Ireland, Great Britain, France, 95 min) Double Date by Benjamin Barfoot (Great Britain, 90 min) Les Affamés by Robin Aubert (Canada, 100 min) Jailbreak by Jimmy Henderson (Cambodia, 92 min) Lowlife by Ryan Prows (USA, 98 min) The Merciless by Sung`Hyun Byun (South Korea, 120 min) Ugly Nasty People by Cosimo Gomez (Italy, France, 87 min) The Villainess by Byung`Gil Jung (South Korea, 129 min)

    Spotlight

    An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (USA, 99 min) Human Flow by Ai Wei Wei (Germany, 140 min) More by Onur Saylak (Turkey, 115 min) This Is Our Land by Lucas Belvaux (France, Belgium, 118 min) Wasted! The Story Of Food Waste by Anna Chai and Nari Kye (USA, 85 min) Zagros by Sahim Omar Kalifa (Belgium, 100 min)

    Stockholm XXVIII Short Film Competition

    A Gentle Night by Qui Yang (China, 15 min) Aria by Myrsini Aristidou (Cyprus, France, 14 min) Atelier by Elsa María Jakobsdóttir (Denmark, 30 min) Bonboné by Rakan Mayasi (Lebanon, Palestine, 15 min) Hombre by Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz (Chile, 21 min) Into the Blue by Antoneta Kusijanovic (Croatia, Slovenia, 22 min) Kudzu by Connor Simpson (USA, 15 min) Lost Property Office by Daniel Agdag (Australia, 10 min) Marlon by Jessica Palud (France, Belgium, 19 min) The Ogre by Laurène Braibant (France, 10 min) Retouch by Kaveh Mazaheri (Iran, 20 min) Signature by Kei Chikaura (Japan, 13 min) Superpower Girl by Soo`Young Kim (South Korea, 24 min) Time To Go by Grzegorz Mołda (Poland, 15 min) You Will Be Fine by Céline Devaux (France, 15 min)

    Special Event

    Neruda by Pablo Larraín (Chile, Argentina, France, Spain, USA, 107 min) Varg by Frida Kempff and Erik Andersson (Sverige, 11 min) Sea Sorrow by Vanessa Redgrave (Great Britain, 74 min) Surprise film

    1 Km Film

    Förebilder by Elin Övergaard (Sweden,13 min) In Love by Ville Gideon Sörman (Denmark, 29 min) Intercourse by Jonatan Etzler (Sweden, 10 min) Mephobia by Mika Gustafsson (Sweden, 24 min) Min Homosyster by Lia Hietala (Sweden,15 min) Push It by Julia Thelin (Sweden, 8 min) Skuggdjur by Jerry Carlsson (Sweden, 21 min) Stay Ups by Joanna Rytel (Sweden, 11 min) Stranded by Viktor Johansson (Sweden, 11 min) Turkkiosken by Bahar Pars (Sweden, 7 min) Image: Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER. Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

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  • Miami GEMS Festival Lineup is Here – THE FLORIDA PROJECT, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and More

    [caption id="attachment_23729" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Florida Project THE FLORIDA PROJECT[/caption] Miami Film Festival unveiled the full line-up of their acclaimed 2017 Miami GEMS Festival, and among the many highlights will be the Miami premiere of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project and the US premiere of Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Florida film Life and Nothing More. Miami GEMS 2017 Festival, now in its third year, will take place October 12 to 15 at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami. It’s a fall extension of the annual, internationally-renowned Miami Film Festival that will celebrate its 35th edition on March 9 to 18, 2018. The Florida premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name is the Opening Night Film of Miami GEMS 2017. Another major highlight is Ruben Östlund’s The Square, winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, from a jury presided over by Pedro Almodóvar. A special presentation of Miami GEMS 2017 Festival will be a seminar conversation entitled Don’t Take Yes For An Answer, featuring Miami-Haitian filmmakers Edson Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste speaking about their recently-wrapped, eight-episode web series “Vakabon”, 100% filmed in Miami and due for release in 2018. The $2.5 million series was born out of a winning pitch that the Miami duo made to the Project Greenlight Digital Studio’s first “Get The Greenlight Digital Series” contest in early 2016. For the first time, Miami Film Festival will introduce a Virtual Reality (VR) sidebar throughout the Miami GEMS 2017 weekend, VR Escape, in partnership with MDC’s Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex (MAGIC). Festivalgoers will experience four 360° videos by Angel Manuel Soto, an L.A. based Puerto Rican artist and filmmaker and Miami Film Festival alumni (Soto’s feature The Farm (La granja) played in competition at the Festival’s 2015 edition).

    Miami GEMS 2017 Film Lineup

    Call Me By Your Name (Italy / France), directed by Luca Guadagnino *OPENING NIGHT FILM A work of tenderness and beauty from the acclaimed director of splashy, sensual films as I Am Love and A Bigger Splash. An antiquities academic invites a young American Jewish scholar to stay with his family for a summer in Lombardy, with unexpected results. Starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg. A Sony Pictures Classics release. Can’t Say Goodbye (No se decir adios) (Spain), directed by Lino Escalera NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Spanish stars Nathalie Poza, Lola Dueñas and Juan Diego deliver some of the finest performances of their careers in this multi-award winning hit from the 2017 Malaga Film Festival. A family in crisis, a daughter in denial, a moment of truth… The Desert Bride (La novia del desierto) (Argentina/Chile), directed by Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato Starring the incomparable Chilean star Paulina Garcia (Gloria), this Cannes Un Certain Regard competitor is a beautiful road trip across the Argentine countryside. A Buenos Aires housekeeper who is let go after 3 decades of working for the same family must travel 700 miles for a new position in San Juan, but early in the voyage she loses all of her earthly possessions. Don’t Take Yes For An Answer: Edson Jean, Joshua Jean-Baptiste and VAKABON (USA), in conversation with Festival director Jaie Laplante Co-creators of the upcoming eight-episode web series “Vakabon” Edson Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste will candidly discuss the journey from shooting no-budget test-episodes to working with a 70-person crew and over 50 Miami-based actors on one epic Miami summer shoot. Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (UK), directed by Lili Fini Zanuck Only the second woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, Lili Fini Zanuck (Driving Miss Daisy) has made an epic and emotionally overwhelming portrait of one of the great rock musicians of all-time. This will be a rare chance to see this incredible documentary in a big-screen, theatrical setting. Faces Places (France), directed by Agnès Varda and JR. Winner of the L’Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) awarded by the French Writers Society as Best Documentary at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the legendary French director, a pioneer of the French New Wave alongside Jean-Luc Godard, partners with a young street artist with an enormous Instagram following for a whimsical exploration of the small French villages of Varda’s memories. The Florida Project (USA), directed by Sean Baker MIAMI GEMS 2017 PREVIEW FILM In constructing the most magical place on Earth, Disney planners would refer what would eventually become Walt Disney World in Orlando as “the Florida project”. Yet on the outskirts of the world’s most visited vacation resort lies a less cheerful façade, where a 22-year-old single mother of a six-year-old struggles to survive and create a sense of family on the margins. Willem Dafoe stars as the manager and sometimes father figure of a roadside motel on the outskirts of Orlando, in Sean Baker’s acclaimed film from Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2017. In The Fade (Germany), directed by Fatih Akin *GERMANY OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS With a ferocious performance by Diane Kruger (the Best Actress winner at 2017 Cannes Film Festival), Fatih Akin explores our new world realities of terrorism impinging ever closer to home. A German woman’s world collapses when her Turkish husband and young son are murdered in a domestic radicalist’s bomb attack. Life and Nothing More (Spain/USA), directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza US PREMIERE An invigorating work of modern neorealism set on the fringes of urban Florida, Spanish writer-director Esparza displays an astonishing grasp of the conundrum of race, family and justice that suffuse our contemporary America. Life and Nothing More is essential cinema for our present moment. My Friend Dahmer (USA), directed by Marc Meyers With an astonishing central performance by Disney star Ross Lynch, this Tribeca Film Festival 2017 special presentation is a brilliant re-creation of pre-psycho 1970s jitters, and a devastating indictment of our society’s ability to cope with early detection signs of mental illness. No, a Flamenco Tale (Spain), directed by José Luis Tirado A beguiling fusion of thrilling cinema and passionate music, NO, a Flamenco Tale sweeps us off to a land where the joys and hardships of life are expressed in breathtaking spectacle and song. Son of Sofia (Greece / France / Bulgaria), directed by Elina Psikou Winner of Best International Narrative Feature at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. A fantastical journey through an 11-year-old Russian boy’s fraught collision with the bewildering logic of the world of adults, when his mother sends for him to join her in Athens, Greece, where she introduces him to his harsh new Greek stepfather. The Square (Sweden), directed by Ruben Östlund *SWEDEN OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS The 2017 Palme d’Or winner is the first comedy to win the top prize at Cannes Film Festival in 23 years. From Ruben Östlund, director of the international hit Force Majeure, a jaw-dropping art-world satire. Starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) (Spain), directed by Carla Simón SPAIN OFFICIAL SUBMISSION TO 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS Winner of the Best First Feature Film award at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, and the Grand Prize for Best Spanish Film at the 2017 Malaga Film Festival. In one sun-dappled, perfect summer, Frida will grow up more than any six-year-old should ever be expected to, as her new young step-parents struggle with the smiles and the tears. The Workshop (France), directed by Laurent Cantet Cantet’s follow-up to his Havana, Cuba film Return to Ithaca is a profound examination of contemporary education in all its social and pedagogical complexities. Returning to his native France, The Workshop is also a nail-biting thriller. VR Escape (USA), four works by Angel Manuel Soto An installation at MDC’s Tower Theater for the entire GEMS weekend will allow Festivalgoers to experience the new frontier of content creation via four short new works by Miami Film Festival alumni Soto.

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