Chairman Jamie Redford and Executive Director Jill Tidman of The Redford Center[/caption]
The Sun Valley Film Festival will present the Snow Angel Award to Chairman Jamie Redford and Executive Director Jill Tidman of The Redford Center, on Saturday, March 18. The Redford Center is a San Francisco based nonprofit organization supporting storytellers bringing social and environmental issues to life with the goal of producing films that foster awareness and action.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Sun Valley Film Festival for this recognition and support of our work,” said Tidman. “It means a great deal to our team to be headed to Idaho to celebrate with the wonderful community of filmmakers and audiences there.”
Heather Rae, Idaho-raised native filmmaker (Frozen River, Tallulah), will moderate Conversation with the Originals, a new SVFF panel that brings together the indigenous voices of the Idaho community and Standing Rock movement for an in-depth discussion. The panel includes Dr. LaNada War Jack, Sarah Sunshine Manning and Cody Lucich. War Jack is a Ft. Hall tribal member and long time activist and educator. Manning is a Duck Valley tribal member and from a family of leadership. Lucich is from the Maidu nation and a conscious filmmaker. All are a part of the Standing Rock movement and will bring the spirit of water protection to this powerful evening. The panel will include clips from Lucich’s documentary ‘Akicita’ about the Standing Rock uprising on the evening of Saturday, March 18.
SVFF’s Content panel, The Score, focuses this year on the art of scoring and supervising the key ingredient to all great films: music. On Friday, March 17, KCRW DJ and music supervisor Chris Douridas (American Beauty, Captain Fantastic, Shrek 2) and composer Nick Urata (Crazy, Stupid Love, Naledi) will take us on a behind-the-scenes journey through what it takes to create the soundtrack to your favorite films.-
Sun Valley Film Festival Reveals Snow Angel Award Honorees, New Panels and Additions to Lineup
[caption id="attachment_21570" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Chairman Jamie Redford and Executive Director Jill Tidman of The Redford Center[/caption]
The Sun Valley Film Festival will present the Snow Angel Award to Chairman Jamie Redford and Executive Director Jill Tidman of The Redford Center, on Saturday, March 18. The Redford Center is a San Francisco based nonprofit organization supporting storytellers bringing social and environmental issues to life with the goal of producing films that foster awareness and action.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Sun Valley Film Festival for this recognition and support of our work,” said Tidman. “It means a great deal to our team to be headed to Idaho to celebrate with the wonderful community of filmmakers and audiences there.”
Heather Rae, Idaho-raised native filmmaker (Frozen River, Tallulah), will moderate Conversation with the Originals, a new SVFF panel that brings together the indigenous voices of the Idaho community and Standing Rock movement for an in-depth discussion. The panel includes Dr. LaNada War Jack, Sarah Sunshine Manning and Cody Lucich. War Jack is a Ft. Hall tribal member and long time activist and educator. Manning is a Duck Valley tribal member and from a family of leadership. Lucich is from the Maidu nation and a conscious filmmaker. All are a part of the Standing Rock movement and will bring the spirit of water protection to this powerful evening. The panel will include clips from Lucich’s documentary ‘Akicita’ about the Standing Rock uprising on the evening of Saturday, March 18.
SVFF’s Content panel, The Score, focuses this year on the art of scoring and supervising the key ingredient to all great films: music. On Friday, March 17, KCRW DJ and music supervisor Chris Douridas (American Beauty, Captain Fantastic, Shrek 2) and composer Nick Urata (Crazy, Stupid Love, Naledi) will take us on a behind-the-scenes journey through what it takes to create the soundtrack to your favorite films.
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HBO Likes Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio’s Documentary on Avett Brothers’ Band
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MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS[/caption]
HBO quickly snapped up the documentary MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS, co-directed and produced by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, ahead of its March 15 world premiere in the 24 Beats Per Second section of the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival. The documentary is expected to air on HBO later this year.
Filmed with extraordinary access over the course of more than two years, MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS chronicles the band, fronted by brothers Scott and Seth Avett, on the long journey from their rural North Carolina childhoods to topping the charts and selling out arenas, experiencing heartbreak, tragedy and joy along the way. The film also provides an inside look at their collaboration with legendary producer Rick Rubin while recording the 2017 Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness,” which was released on American Recordings/Republic Records.
With the recording process as the backdrop, MAY IT LAST intimately depicts the deeply personal, lifelong bond between brothers, and shows how that dynamic helps shape their creative process as musicians and songwriters.
“This film has been a true labor of love for us for more than three years now, and we could not be happier that HBO – with their incredible lineage of documentary programming – believes in it as much as we do,” say Apatow and Bonfiglio.
“The accuracy with which Apatow and Bonfiglio present this moment in our lives and process is stunning,” says Seth Avett. “From the vantage point of my brother and I, the film is almost surreal in its level of personal truth-telling.”
Featuring a wealth of exclusive footage of the Avetts in the studio and at home, never-before-seen family photographs, concert footage and revealing interviews with band members Scott (banjo, lead vocals) and Seth (guitar, lead vocals) Avett, Bob Crawford (bass), Joe Kwon (cello), Tania Elizabeth (fiddle), Paul DeFiglia (keyboards) and Mike Marsh (drums), as well as producer Rick Rubin and intimate family and friends, the film takes an in-depth look at the personal and creative relationship between the brothers that helps define America’s biggest roots band.
Apatow and Bonfiglio previously co-directed the ESPN documentary “Doc & Darryl” as part of the network’s “30 for 30” series, which was Apatow’s first foray into the documentary world.
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World Premiere of Song to Song starring Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender Kicks off 2017 SXSW (PICS)
The 2017 SXSW kicked off on Friday night with the World Premiere of Song to Song starring Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman. The film opens in theatres this coming Friday, March 17.
In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples-struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman)-chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.
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2017 Sun Valley Film Festival Announces Film Lineup – BLOOD ROAD, BITCH, BIG SONIA and More
Big Sonia directed by Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday The 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF) film line-up of 30 feature films includes 16 documentaries and 14 narrative features.
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Nashville Film Festival Announces Competition Feature Films with Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Aisha Tyler
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Tom Hanks in CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER[/caption]
Following the earlier announcement of the Music Films/Music City selection, Nashville Film Festival announced 48 additional feature films in the Narrative, Documentary, New Directors and Graveyard Shift competitions. The selections include familiar faces such as Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Jonathan Pryce, Maggie Grace, Aisha Tyler, Anthony Michael Hall, Katee Sackhoff, Jeremy Sisto and Heather Matarazzo.
“The films present a wide view of the world from contemporary issues to historic dramas; from deeply intimate personal dramas to wide open epics,” said Artistic Director, Brian Owens. “Diversity is really on display in these films.”
The 48th Annual Nashville Film Festival will open April 20 and conclude April 29.
NARRATIVE COMPETITION
Egon Schiele – Death and The Maiden / Austria | Luxembourg (Director: Dieter Berner) — At the beginning of the 20th Century, Egon Schiele is one of the most provocative artists in Vienna. His life and work are driven by beautiful women and an era that is coming to an end. Two women will have a lasting impact on him – his sister and first muse Gerti, and 17-year-old Wally, arguably Schiele’s one true love, immortalised in his famous painting ‘Death and the Maiden’. Cast: Noah Saavedra | Maresi Riegner | Valerie Pachner. Southeast US Premiere Flowers of Evil / Finland (Director: Antti J. Jokinen) — With unrest long simmering below the surface in a majority immigrant Helsinki suburb, half-brothers Sipe and Juno struggle for a better future, an end to their alienation and to find new opportunities in life. Cast: Viljami Nojonen | Juno | Eero Aho | Mikael Gabriel | Diana Tenkorang. North American Premiere Krotoa / South Africa (Director: Roberta Durrant) — Krotoa, a feisty, bright, young 11-year-old girl is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve her uncle’s trading partner with the Dutch East India Company in 1652. She grows into a visionary young woman and an influential translator who takes to the Dutch language and culture but is rejected by her own people as she tries to navigate two cultures about to collide. Cast: Crystal-Donna Roberts | Armand Aucamp | Jacques Bessenger | Brendon Daniels | Deon Lotz | Roeline Daneel. US Premiere The Lears / USA (Director: Carl Bessai) — Writer-director Carl Bessai’s modern day homage to Shakespeare’s KING LEAR is a black comedy about a dysfunctional family headed by patriarch Davenport Lear who tests the love and worthiness of his children at a family retreat as he contemplates his death and legacy. Cast: Anthony Michael Hall | Bruce Dern | Sean Astin | Victoria Smurfit | Aly Michalka | Nic Bishop. World Premiere The Migrumpies / Austria (Director: Arman T. Riahi) — For a TV documentary, two unemployed friends, Benny and Marko, pretend to be petty criminals with immigrant background until the coin flips and reality turns against them. Cast: Faris Rahoma | Aleksandar Petrović | Doris Schretzmayer | Zijah A. Sokolović | Daniela Zacherl | Josef Hader. North American Premiere Play the Devil / Trinidad and Tobago (Director: Maria Govan) — Set against the backdrop of Trinidad and Tobago’s mystical Carnival, a gifted and struggling young man becomes the object of intrigue for an older, well-meaning businessman until their worlds collide. Cast: Petrice Jones | Gareth Jenkins | Akil Nicholas | Penelope Spencer. Tennessee Premiere The Relationtrip / USA (Director: Renée Felice Smith, C.A. Gabriel) — At an age when everyone around them is settling down and finding love, Beck and Liam are self proclaimed loners, emotionally hibernating through adulthood. After bonding over their mutual disinterest in relationships, they decide to go away together on a ‘friend’ trip. And that’s when things get weird. Really, really weird. Cast: | Matt Bush | Eric Christian Olsen | Linda Hunt | Nelson Franklin | Brandon Kyle Goodman.Southeast US Premiere The Scent of Rain and Lightning / USA (Director: Blake Robbins) — When Jody Linder learns her parents’ killer has been released from jail, she is forced to revisit old wounds while discovering the destructive power of hate and the true cost of family secrets. Based on the novel THE SCENT OF RAIN & LIGHTNING by Nancy Pickard. Cast: Maika Monroe | Maggie Grace | Mark Webber | Will Patton | Justin Chatwin | Logan Miller. Tennessee Premiere Signature Move / USA (Director: Jennifer Reeder) — A new romance with Alma forces Zaynab to confront her relationship with her recently widowed mother who escapes to TV dramas and finding her daughter a husband. As a result, Zaynab copes by taking up Lucha-style wrestling in this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama. Cast: Fawzia Mirza | Shabana Azmi | Sari Sanchez | Charin Alvarez | Audrey Francis. Southeast US Premiere Some Freaks / USA (Director: Ian MacAllister McDonald) — A charming romance develops between a boy with one eye and an overweight girl, though when she loses her weight after going to college, their relationship is tested in devastating ways they never dreamed would happen. Cast: Lachlan Buchanan | Lily Mae Harrington | Marin Ireland | Thomas Mann | John Thorsen. Tennessee Premiere The Student / Russia (Director: Kirill Serebrennikov) — A high school student becomes convinced that the world has been lost to evil, and begins to challenge the morals and beliefs of the adults around him. Cast: Yuliya Aug | Pyotr Skvortsov | Viktoriya Isakova | Aleksandra Revenko | Svetlana Vragarnik | Aleksandr Gorchilin. Southeast US Premiere Sundowners / Canada (Director: Pavan Moondi) — Filming weddings is a thankless job, so when Alex and Justin get the chance to shoot a destination wedding in Mexico, they take the opportunity to escape their sheltered lives. But, with their boss playing fast and loose with the details, they’ll be lucky to even find it. Cast: Phil Hanley | Luke Lalonde | Tim Heidecker | Nick Thorbun | Nick Flanagan | Cara Gee. World Premiere Tatara Samurai / Japan (Director: Yoshinari Nishikori) — In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there. Cast: Sho Aoyagi | Naoki Kobayahsi | Akira | Tomoko Tabata | Anna Ishii | Masahiko Tsugawa. Southeast US Premiere We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew / USA (Director: Thomas Woodrow) — In the aftermath of an unknown calamity, two survivors travel through a hostile wilderness, guided only by a distant memory of home. When they encounter the ruins of a vanished society, everything they know is called into question, threatening their relationship, their memories and their future. Cast: Louisa Krause | Aaron Stanford | Doug Jones. Tennessee Premiere The White King / UK (Director: Alex Helfrecht | Jorg Tittel) — Djata is a care-free 12-year-old growing up in a brutal dictatorship shut off from the outside world. When the government imprisons his father, Djata and his mother must survive a world of savage lies and abuse as they try to find out what exactly has happened to him. Cast: Lorenzo Allchurch | Jonathan Pryce | Agyness Deyn | Fiona Shaw | Greta Scacchi | Clare Hope Ashitey. Southeast US PremiereDOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
44 Pages / USA (Director: Tony Shaff) — Following the creation of HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE’S 70th Anniversary issue, from the first editorial meeting to its arrival in homes, this film introduces the people who passionately produce the monthly publication for “the world’s most important people,”…children. Tennessee Premiere Actors of Sound / USA (Director: Lalo Molina) — From footsteps to bone cracks, Foley artists bring films to life with their imaginative sound effects. As digital technology goes full speed ahead in 21st century moviemaking, can Hollywood’s low tech Foley artist survive in this high tech age? Cast: Gregg Barbanell | Marko A. Costanzo | Catherine Harper | John Roesch | Kitty Malone | Charles L. Campbell. Southeast US Premiere Augie / USA (Director: James Keach) — Armed with irreverent humor and the love of his life by his side, paralysis has done little to slow down the beast inside the genius entrepreneur and LifeFitness mogul, Augie Nieto, who continues to work everyday to find the cure for ALS. Backpack Full of Cash / USA (Director: Sarah Mondale) — Filmed in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Nashville and other cities, BACKPACK FULL OF CASH explores the privatization of public education and its devastating impact on the nation’s most vulnerable children. Cast: Matt Damon (Narrator). Southeast US Premiere California Typewriter / USA (Director: Doug Nichol) — CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER shows a portrait of artists, writers, and collectors who remain steadfastly loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse. The film also movingly documents the struggles of one of the last standing repair shops in America dedicated to keeping the aging machines clicking. Cast: Tom Hanks | John Mayer | Sam Shepard | David McCullough | Mason Williams. Southeast US Premiere Chasing Evel: The Robbie Knievel Story / Canada (Director: Jesse James Miller) — Robbie Knievel, 52 years old and the owner of 20 world records and 350 jumps worldwide, life is uncovered through his personal pursuit of sobriety and the need of continuing his father’s legacy by jumping once again. Tennessee Premiere Finding Kim / USA (Director: Aaron Bear) — 50 year-old Kim has made a decision a lifetime in the making: transitioning to a man. FINDING KIM bears witness to the entire process, both physical and emotional, as he experiences life the way he always felt he should: as a happy and confident human being. Cast: Kim B. | Dan Savage | Buck Angel | Carmen Carerra | Calpernia Addams | Jamison Green |. Southeast US Premiere The Gateway Bug / USA (Director: Johanna B Kelly) — Over 2 billion people on earth eat insects for protein. Following the rise and dramatic fall of edible insect start-ups in America, this inspiring film exposes America’s disconnect with food as climate catastrophe and explores how changing daily eating habits can feed humanity in an uncertain age, one meal at a time. Cast: Andrew Zimmern | Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy | Kevin Bachhuber | Pat Crowley | Tyler Isaac. Southeast US Premiere Quest / USA (Director: Jonathan Olshefski) — QUEST intimately captures ten years in the life of an African-American family living in North Philadelphia. Cast: Christopher Rainey | Christine’a Rainey | Patricia (PJ) Rainey | William Withers | PRICE.Southeast US Premiere The Road Movie / Belarus | Russia | Serbia | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia (Director: Dmitrii Kalashnikov) — Objective dashboard cam videos takes us on a raucous, occasionally hopeful tour of the Russian countryside and national character. Southeast US Premiere Small Talk / Taiwan (Director: Hui-Chen Huang) — A few simple questions spark a series of conversations revealing some things that neither the filmmaker nor her mother are ready to face. Southeast US Premiere Spettacolo / USA (Director: Jeff Malmberg | Chris Shellen) — Once upon a time there was a tiny hill town in Tuscany that found a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer for the past 50 years, their piazza becomes their stage and villagers from 6 to 90 play a part – the role of themselves. Cast: Andrea Cresti | Chiara Del Ciondolo | Alpo Mangiavacchi. Tennessee Premiere Swim Team / USA (Director: Lara Stolman) — SWIM TEAM chronicles the extraordinary rise of the Jersey Hammerheads, a competitive team of diverse teens on the autism spectrum, capturing a moving quest for inclusion, independence and a life that feels winning. Cast: Robert Justino | Michael McQuay, Jr. | Kelvin Truong. Tennessee Premiere Unrest / USA (Director: Jennifer Brea) — When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s “all in her head.” Determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and her community, a hidden world of millions confined to their homes and bedrooms by myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly called chronic fatigue syndrome. Southeast US PremiereNEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION
Apricot Groves / Armenia (Director: Pouria Heidary Oureh) — Aram, a young Iranian-Armenian man who immigrated to the US as a child, returns to Armenia for the first time to propose to his Armenian-American girlfriend. Cast: Pedram Ansari | Narbe Vartan | Samvel Sarkisyan | Hovhannes Azoyan | Allison Gangi | Araik Sargsyan. Tennessee Premiere AXIS / USA (Director: Aisha Tyler) — On the day he is set to star in a career-changing blockbuster film, an Irish actor with a rocky and self-destructive past confronts a series of devastating events that threaten to disrupt his newfound sobriety and potentially, his life. Cast: Emmett Hughes | Ciarán Hinds | Thomas Gibson | Paula Malcomson | Adam Rodriguez | Bronagh Waugh. Tennessee Premiere Bomb City / USA (Director: Jameson Brooks) — Based on the 1997 true story of Brian Deneke, BOMB CITY is a crime-drama about a group of punk rockers in a conservative Texas town. Their ongoing battle with a rival, more-affluent group of jocks leads to a controversial hate crime that raises questions about the morality of American justice. Cast: Dave Davis | Glenn Morshower | Logan Huffman | Henry Knotts | Lorelei Linklater | Luke Shelton. Southeast US Premiere Boomtown / USA (Director: Sabyn Mayfield) — In an effort to make ends meet, John “JT” Turner leaves his family behind to pursue a grueling, yet highly coveted, job in a now booming oil industry. Along the way, he encounters the trials and tribulations shared by thousands of Americans every year as they stake their claim on the American Dream. Cast: Tyler Riggs | Boyd Holbrook | Rachel Brosnahan | Jocelin Donahue | Dwight Yoakam. World Premiere Easy Living / USA (Director: Adam Keleman) — Sherry, a self-destructive makeup saleswoman, hopes a new man and business venture will provide her a fresh start. After her plans are foiled, she takes control of her life in a dramatic turn of events. Cast: Caroline Dhavernas | McCaleb Burnett | Elizabeth Marvel | Jen Richards | Charlie Hofheimer | C.J. Wilson |.Southeast US Premiere The Eremites / Germany (Director: Ronny Trocker) — Like an abandoned animal that keeps coming back to its territory, an introverted farmer’s son keeps returning to his childhood Alpine home despite his mother’s wishes. Cast: Ingrid Burkhard | Andreas Lust | Orsi Tóth | Hannes Perkmann | Peter Mitterrutzner | Georg Kaser. North American Premiere Girl Flu / USA (Director: Dorie Barton) — Bird, 12, has to become a woman whether she wants to or not when – in the worst week of her life – she gets her first period, is ditched by her impulsive, free spirited mom, and learns that you can never really go back to where you came from. Cast: Katee Sackhoff | Jade Pettyjohn | Jeremy Sisto | Heather Matarazzo | Judy Reyes | Diego Josef. Tennessee Premiere Park / Greece | Poland (Director: Sofia Exarchou) — Athens Olympic Village, ten years after the Games: wilding youths, injured retired athletes and stray dogs among ruins and decaying sports venues. Cast: Dimitris Kitsos | Dimitra Vlagopoulou | Enuki Gvenatadze | Lena Kitsopoulou | Yorgos Pandeleakis | Thomas Bo Larsen. Southeast US Premiere La Soledad / Venezuela (Director: Jorge Thielen Armand) — José, a young father, discovers that the dilapidated mansion he inhabits will soon be demolished. Desperate to save his family from homelessness, he begins a search for a cursed treasure that is said to be buried in the house. Cast: José Dolores López | Jorge Roque Thielen | María Agámez Palomino | Adrializ López | Marley Alvillares. Tennessee PremiereGRAVEYARD SHIFT COMPETITION
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children / Spain (Director: Pedro Rivero | Alberto Vázquez) — An ecological event has devastated an entire island. Birdboy hides himself away, his inner turmoil gnawing at him while avoiding the island’s scavenging inhabitants and local police, who suspect he is dealing drugs. Cast: Andrea Alzuri | Eva Ojanguren | Josu Cubero.Tennessee Premiere Bloodlands / Albania | Australia (Director: Steven Kastrissios) — A struggling family in Albania, wrestling with tradition, must unite against a mysterious clan’s aggressions, leading to a ‘blood feud’ that is all too familiar in the Balkans. Cast: Gëzim Rudi | Emiljano Palali | Suela Bako | Alesia Xhemalaj. US Premiere A Closer Walk With Thee / USA (Director: John C. Clark | Brie Williams) — An Evangelical boy with homosexual urges agrees to a gay-curing exorcism, performed by the object of his desire, in this queer erotic horror. Cast: Aj Knight | Gregory Shelby | Kelsey Boze | Megan Hensley. Southeast US Premiere Industrial Accident – The Story of Wax Trax! Records / USA (Director: Julia Nash) — The true story of a Chicago record store and label that united punks, queers and criminals and accidentally changed music history along the way. Cast: Al Jourgensen | Dave Grohl | Paul Barker | Groovie Mann | Richard 23 | Jello Biafra. World Premiere Insomnium / USA (Director: Scott Powers) — As George investigates his roommate’s increasingly disturbing nocturnal behavior, he suspects that his friend has become possessed by a dark entity. Cast: Brad Pennington | Clint Browning | Gena Shaw | Larena Reyna | Leon Shparaga | Brian Julian. Tennessee Premiere JackRabbit 29 / USA (Director: Kyle Klubal) — When a young couple goes missing in Texas, a large reward is issued for their return. The reward attracts an eccentric mix of characters to the town including bounty hunters, hit-men, and more. Cast: Jason Johnson | Izzy Pollak. Tennessee Premiere The Night Watchmen / USA (Director: Mitchell Altieri) — A mistaken warehouse delivery unleashes a horde of hungry vampires, and three inept night watchmen, aided by a young rookie and a fearless tabloid journalist, must not only save themselves but also stop the scourge that threatens to take over the city of Baltimore. Cast: Ken Arnold | Kevin Jiggetts | Dan DeLuca | Kara Luiz | Max Gray Wilbur | Matt Servitto. Nashville Premiere Show Yourself / USA (Director: Billy Ray Brewton) — When his friend Paul dies unexpectedly, Travis heads into the woods to say goodbye. As Travis deals with his grief, and the way it has affected the relationships in his life, he starts to realize that he actually might not be alone in the woods. Curiosity turns to horror as Travis comes face-to-face with something both inexplicable and frighteningly familiar. Cast: Ben Hethcoat | Corsica Wilson | Barak Hardley | David McElwee | Stephen Cone | Robert Longstreet. Southeast US Premiere The Void / Canada (Director: Jeremy Gillespie | Steven Kostanski) — A blood-soaked man limping down a deserted road is rushed by Officer Carter to a nearby hospital with a skeleton crew. Trapped inside by hooded figures, Carter discovers that the patients and staff are transforming into something inhuman. Cast: Aaron Poole | Ellen Wong | Kenneth Walsh | Kathleen Munroe. Nashville Premiere Without Name / Ireland (Director: Lorcan Finnegan) — You‘re not alone in the woods. Cast: Alan McKenna | Niamh Algar | James Browne. Tennessee Premiere
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Geena Davis, Brett Ratner and Allison Williams will be Honored at Sun Valley Film Festival
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Geena Davis, Brett Ratner and Allison Williams will be honored at the 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF)[/caption]
Geena Davis, Brett Ratner and Allison Williams will be honored at the 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF), taking place over the weekend of March 15 to 19.
Geena Davis will receive the Vision Award, Brett Ratner will receive the Pioneer Award and Allison Williams will receive the Rising Star Award. Other Festival attendees include Chace Crawford, Charles Randolph, Chris Moore, Dree Hemingway, Jonathan Glickman, and Tony Hale; along with Peter and Bobby Farrelly who will attend for Coffee Talks.
Academy Award winning actor Geena Davis will receive the Vision Award on Saturday, March 18 and is this year’s honoree and guest speaker at the Grande Dame Brunch. In addition to being one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and started the Bentonville Film Festival in support of women and diversity in the entertainment industry.
Director / Producer Brett Ratner will receive Nat Geo WILD’s Pioneer Award on Friday, March 17, and be part of the Festival’s Coffee Talk Series with producer and President of MGM’s Film division, Jonathan Glickman.
Allison Williams will receive the Festival’s inaugural Rising Star Award on Thursday, March 16, as well as participate in a Coffee Talk discussion. Williams makes her feature film debut in number one box office hit Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele. She is currently starring in the final season of HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning television series, Girls.
Brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly join the Festival this year for the Coffee Talks Series- the Festival’s most loved event. Coffee Talks are an opportunity for award-winning filmmakers and industry insiders to share their war stories in an intimate and accessible environment. The writer/producer team responsible for classic comedies such as Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, Shallow Hal, There’s Something about Mary, and The Heartbreak Kid will take the stage Sunday, March 19th for a discussion of comedy filmmaking.
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LBJ, Directed by Rob Reiner and Starring Woody Harrelson as LBJ, to Kick off 2017 Annapolis Film Festival
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LBJ[/caption]
LBJ, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Woody Harrelson as LBJ, Jeffrey Donovan as John F. Kennedy, Richard Jenkins as Senator Richard Russell, Jr., and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird Johnson, will be the opening night film of the 2017 Annapolis Film Festival on Thursday, March 30 at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. The film is expected to be released this summer.
LBJ shows Johnson confronting the challenge of leading a nation still grieving its beloved President Kennedy, even as he grapples with urgent calls for social justice led by Martin Luther King Jr. Shrewd by nature even when he was appallingly coarse, Johnson emerges in Harrelson’s full-blooded characterization as a man willing to drive through landmark legislation partly on principle and largely on guts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMkl2fYM–E
Now in its fifth year, the Annapolis Film Festival (AFF) brings independent cinema to the Chesapeake with an extraordinary lineup of narrative, short, and documentary films. The Festival takes place March 30th to April 2nd, 2017 in downtown Annapolis.
Signature AFF programs include the Friday night African-American Experience Showcase, Chasing Trane, a Denzel Washington-narrated documentary about the origins and worldwide impact of jazz titan John Coltrane. This year’s Environmental Showcase presents the documentary The Islands and the Whales, directed by Mike Day and featuring pioneering ambisonic sound design by George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound. Other film topics include our Jewish Experience showcase, sailing, the military, politics, food, the LGBTQ community, global issues, current events, and the fine arts.
Some of the full-length features and documentaries on the 2017 film line-up are:
Narrative Features:
Burn Your Maps, directed by Jordan Roberts, shows the emotional turmoil experienced by an all-American family when their eccentric eight year old insists he is a goat herder from Mongolia. Interlude: City of a Dead Woman, directed by Angela Ismailos, a USA/France/Greece co-production. Set on the Greek Island of Patmos, this is a story of three travelers’ heartbreak and loss. Lilly and the Magic Pearl, directed by Anri Koulev. This Bulgarian family-friendly film tells of Lilly’s adventure under the water with the deep sea creatures. A tale of friendship and hope. One Week and A Day, directed by Asaph Polonsky, from Israel. A modern, Jewish comedy about two grieving parents and how they attempt to regain a sense of control after loss. The Tiger Hunter, directed by Lena Khan. A broad comedy about a young, Indian man who relocates to swinging 70’s Chicago. Stars Danny Pudi from Community and Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite.Documentaries:
Before the West Coast, directed by Oyd Craddock. Follows the 1960’s ruling that integrated all-black Augustine High School into Louisiana’s all-white Catholic high school sports association. Bezness as Usual, directed by Alex Pitstra, a Netherlands/Germany/Sweden/Switzerland/Tunisia co-production. This broad appeal film shows unconventional families and a global perspective on cultural misunderstandings and failed expectations. Breaking Point: the War for Democracy in Ukraine, directed by Mark Jonathan Harris and Oles Sanin. A harrowing examination of the Ukrainian lives violently disrupted by Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Check It, directed by Toby Oppenheimer and Dana Flor. This film, set in Washington, DC, shows the first gang of gay and transgender youth led by an ex-convict, Mo, who band together to fight other gangs and, unexpectedly, create a fashion line. Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table, directed by Leslie Iwerks. The story of the doyenne of Creole cuisine and the force behind New Orleans’ restaurants, Brennan’s and Commander’s Palace. Following Seas, directed by Tyler J. Kelley and Araby Williams, tells the tale of two sailors who steer their 53 foot cutter to places no small boat has been before. Jackson, directed by Maisie Crow. Jackson, Mississippi has become ground zero in the nation’s battle over reproductive healthcare. The film tells the story of two women with very different viewpoints. The Islands and the Whales, directed by Mike Day, a UK/Denmark co-production. The whale hunters of the Faroe Islands see their way of life threatened forever by changes in their environment.
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Watch Mr. Robot’s Rami Malek in First Trailer for Indie Thriller BUSTER’S MAL HEART
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BUSTER’S MAL HEART[/caption]
BUSTER’S MAL HEART starring Rami Malek of the USA Network hit Mr. Robot, has released the official trailer.
In this bold thriller peppered with dark humor and interlocking mystery, an eccentric mountain man is on the run from the authorities, surviving the winter by breaking into empty vacation homes in a remote community. Regularly calling into radio talk shows — where he has acquired the nickname “Buster” — to rant about the impending Inversion at the turn of the millennium, he is haunted by visions of being lost at sea, and memories of his former life as a family man.
Buster (Rami Malek) was once Jonah, a hard-working husband and father whose job as the night-shift concierge at a hotel took its toll on his psyche and, consequently, his marriage to the sensitive Marty (Kate Lyn Sheil) — until a chance encounter with a conspiracy-obsessed drifter (DJ Qualls) changed the course of their lives forever. As the solitary present-day Buster drifts from house to house, eluding the local sheriff at every turn, we gradually piece together the events that fractured his life and left him alone on top of a snowy mountain, or perhaps in a small rowboat in the middle of a vast ocean — or both, in this visceral mind bender that will provoke discussion long after it turns your world upside-down.
BUSTER’S MAL HEART, written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, opens theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on April 28th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-NGiCB-6js
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Music Films Featuring Snoop Dogg, Bonnie Raitt Among First 9 Titles Announced for 2017 Nashville Film Festival
Films featuring artists as diverse as Snoop Dogg, John Williams and Bonnie Raitt are among the first nine titles announced for the 2017 Nashville Film Festival taking place April 20 to 29, 2017. These nine titles are part of the Music Films/Music City Competition celebrating films about music, musicians and the impact music has on our lives.
Nashville Film Festival Artisict Director Brian Owens said of the selection, “I really love the variety of voices present in this selection – from a rapper working in a nearly extinct language to composers creating some of the most familiart tunes known to us all – there is a little bit of everything in these nine exciting films.” 2017 marks the Nashville Film Festival’s 48th annual event.
2017 Nashville Film Festival Music Films/Music City Competition
Arctic Superstar / Norway (Director: Simen Braathen) — A Sami rapper dreams of becoming world famous. The only problem is that less than 20,000 people speak his endangered language. Cast: Nils Rune Utsi. Southeast US Premiere Bill Frisell: A Portrait / Australia (Director: Emma Franz) — A character portrait of anti-archetype guitar hero, Bill Frisell, and the ideas and processes that shaped his music. Featuring Bonnie Raitt, Hal Willner, Paul Simon, Joey Baron, Jim Hall and Jason Moran. Cast: Bill Frisell | Paul Motian | Jim Hall | Mike Gibbs | Jason Moran | Jim Woodring. Southeast US Premiere Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape / USA (Director: Zack Taylor) — Cassette tape inventor Lou Ottens digs through his past to figure out why his invention won’t die. Rock veterans like Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, and Ian MacKaye join a new generation of bands releasing music on tape to push Lou along on his journey to remember. Cast: Lou Ottens | Henry Rollins | Thurston Moore | Rob Sheffield | Lily Rothman | Damien Jurado. Tennessee Premiere Davi’s Way / USA (Director: Tom Donahue) — DAVI’S WAY is a character portrait of Robert Davi as he makes a shift from acting to singing professionally and his quest to put on a concert celebrating Sinatra’s 100th Birthday. Cast: Robert Davi.Southeast US Premiere G Funk / USA (Director: Karam Gill) — G FUNK is the untold story of three childhood friends from East Long Beach who helped commercialize hip hop by developing a sophisticated and melodic new approach – merging Gangsta Rap with elements of Motown, Funk, and R&B. Cast: Warren G | Snoop Dogg | Ice Cube | Russell Simmons | Wiz Khalifa | Ice T.Southeast US Premiere The Last Songwriter / USA (Director: Mark Barger Elliott) — Featuring Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, and Jason Isbell, THE LAST SONGWRITER spotlights a young writer struggling to make a living in the age of streaming as well as those who have crafted the most influential songs of the past twenty-five years. Cast: Garth Brooks | Emmylou Harris | Jason Isbell.World Premiere Score: A Film Music Documentary / USA (Director: Matt Schrader) — SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY follows the creative struggles of designing a modern soundtrack from scratch, featuring some of cinema’s most recognized names in film music. Cast: Hans Zimmer | Danny Elfman | John Williams | Trent Reznor | Randy Newman | Quincy Jones. Tennessee Premiere Straight Into a Storm / USA (Director: William Miller) — Centered around Deer Tick’s 10th anniversary, STRAIGHT INTO A STORM is a portrait of a hard rocking band known for their substance-fueled live performances on their evolutionary journey to become one of the greatest cult rock bands of our time. Cast: John McCauley | Dennis Ryan | Chris Ryan | Ian O’Neill | Robbie Crowell. World Premiere Tokyo Idols / United Kingdom | Canada (Director: Kyoko Miyake) — This exploration of Japan’s fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies. Southeast US Premiere
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Watch Trailer for Michael O’Shea’s Indie Vampire Thriller THE TRANSFIGURATION
Here is the new trailer for The Transfiguration written and directed by Michael O’Shea, and starring Eric Ruffin and Chloe Levine, that will screen at the upcoming 2017 SXSW Film Festival. The film will open in New York on Friday, April 7th at the Angelika Film Center, and in Los Angeles on Friday, April 21st at The Nuart Theatre.
An official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Michael O’Shea’s debut feature The Transfiguration follows troubled teen Milo who hides behind his fascination with vampire lore. When he meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to challenge Milo’s dark obsession, blurring his fantasy into reality. A chilling portrait of violence, The Transfiguration is an atmospheric thriller set against the grit of New York City.
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Poster + Trailer for I, OLGA HEPNAROVA Based on Crimes of Olga Hepnarova, a Lonely 23 Year Old Czech Lesbian
Here is the new poster and trailer for the award-winning Czech film I, Olga Hepnarova, based on the crimes of Olga Hepnarova, a young, lonely lesbian who on July 10, 1973, drove a rented truck into a group of people waiting for a tram in Prague, Czechoslovakia, killing 8 of them.
I, Olga Hepnarova will open theatrically in NYC on Friday, March 24 with a national release to follow.
Olga Hepnarová (b. June 30, 1951) was a young, lonely lesbian outsider from a coldhearted family who couldn’t play the part society desired of her. Her paranoid self-examination and inability to connect with other people eventually drove her over the edge of humanity when she was only twenty-two years old.
On July 10, 1973, Olga drove a rented truck into a group of about 25 people waiting for a tram in Prague, Czechoslovakia, all aged between 60 to 79, killing 8 of them. Before the murder, she sent a letter to two newspapers explaining her action as revenge for all the hatred against her by her family and the world. She was found to be sane and sentenced to death. The execution took place on March 12, 1975 in the Pankrác Prison in Prague. She was the last woman executed in Czechoslovakia.
The film shows the human being behind the mass murderer without glorifying or downplaying the terrible crime she committed. Guided by her letters we delve into Olga’s psyche and witness the worsening of her loneliness and alienation as we reconstruct the events that led up to her disastrous actions.
Although the story is set in the seventies, young people worldwide today still face problems of not belonging, being different, and being bullied because of race, gender or sexual orientation.
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Robert McGinley’s DANGER DIVA Starring Molly Sides of THUNDERPUSSY to World Premiere on April 13 | Trailer
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DANGER DIVA[/caption]
DANGER DIVA, a new cyberpunk musical thriller, written, directed and produced by Robert McGinley (award-winning filmmaker of JIMMY ZIP and SHREDDER ORPHEUS), will have it’s World Premiere at the SIFF Egyptian Theater in Seattle, Washington on Thursday, April 13.
Danger Diva was filmed entirely in Seattle with a local cast and crew. The film stars Molly Sides, lead singer of the all-girl rock/pop band, THUNDERPUSSY. Also starring in Danger Diva are Seattle theater/film standouts Tim Gouran, Ray Tagavilla, Amy Thone and Conner Neddersen. After the screening, THUNDERPUSSY will mount the stage and unleash a set of their fiery brand of rock.
In Danger Diva, audiences are taken on a journey into the near future with hard rock singer Devi Danger as she is coerced into becoming an electronically enhanced new-music diva. Her singing voice is used to control and energize the brains of indoctrinated employees (also known as “Brain Cattle”) that are being used as external processors for the advancement of corporate high tech clients. Operating in a digital sweatshop, these “Brain Cattle” process binary algorithms that serve as a chorus for Devi Danger. McGinley’s influences for the film came mainly from cyberpunk literature and films; in particular, William Gibson’s “NEUROMANCER” and the science-fiction classic, BLADE RUNNER. Further inspired by the Ella Fitzgerald “Is it live, or is it Memorex” commercial, DANGER DIVA explores the conflict between high tech vs. high touch, and what it means to be human in a digitally enhanced bio-tech future. Music anchors these themes with an eclectic rocking score with songs by Seattle-based rock band THUNDERPUSSY and composer Regan Remy. McGinley explains, “In the midst of this rock ‘n roll saga, the audience will have an opportunity to ponder future technology nightmares like the use of enslaved human brains as external hard drive processors, or employing human offspring as vehicles for life extension.”