• Indie Legal Thriller CREATED EQUAL Wins at Action On Film Festival and BronzeLens Film Festival

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    [caption id="attachment_24340" align="aligncenter" width="800"]Thada Catalon, Bill Duke, Edy Ganem - Created Equal at Action on Film Festival. Thada Catalon, Bill Duke, Edy Ganem[/caption] The indie legal thriller Created Equal continues its award winning sweep, winning prizes at the Action On Film Festival in Las Vegas and the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta. At Action On Film Festival, the film won “Best Picture” and “Best Actress,” and legendary actor/director, Bill Duke, received the esteemed Icon Award – the ultimate honor from Action On Film Festival that celebrated his lifetime of achievements in Hollywood. [caption id="attachment_24341" align="aligncenter" width="800"](L to R) John Newberg, Yohance Myles, Thada Catalon, Katheen Bertrand, Jo-Ann Robinson, Spence Maughon and Ketrick "Jazz" Copeland pose on the Bronze Carpet at the closing night screening event at the BronzeLens Film Festival. (L to R) John Newberg, Yohance Myles, Thada Catalon, Katheen Bertrand, Jo-Ann Robinson, Spence Maughon and Ketrick “Jazz” Copeland pose on the Bronze Carpet at the closing night screening event at the BronzeLens Film Festival.[/caption] At BronzeLens Film Festival, Created Equal took home the win for “Best Feature.” Deidre McDonald, artistic director of the BronzeLens Film Festival shared, “BronzeLens is pleased to have awarded Created Equal as our 2017 Best Feature. Bill Duke’s skillful direction made a story of gender equality in the Catholic Church an exciting thriller. Kudos, also, to Thada Catalon, an actress, writer, director and now producer who was able to bring it to the screen. I have no doubt we will see a lot of her films in the years to come!” Created Equal stars Broadway actor and singer Aaron Tveit (Grease Live!), Latina actress Edy Ganem (Devious Maids), Yohance Myles (Shots Fired), veteran actors Lou Diamond Phillips (Longmire) and GregAlan Williams (Greenleaf). In the film, Thomas “Tommy” Reilly ( Aaron Tveit ), a cocky, up-and-coming attorney, begrudgingly takes on a case for Sister Alejandra “Allie” Batista ( Edy Ganem ), who’s desperate to become a priest in the Catholic Church. Against his supervisor’s wishes, Tommy files suit against the Archdiocese of New Orleans for gender discrimination without justifiable cause. As the trial unfolds, an extremist concocts a plot to stop the heresy against the church by attacking and threatening to kill Alejandra if they don’t back off. Tommy’s faith and conviction are tested, and as he questions his purpose, he begins the transformation from an egotistical, arrogant person, to one who is committed to a mission larger than his own self-interests. Based on the novel, Created Equal, written by Roger A. Brown, who also serves as executive producer, the film certainly lives up to its intent, as it sparks a worldwide conversation that explores the disparity between men and women holding the highest leadership positions within the church, as well as other positions that hold the greatest authority in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Bw2UFlonM

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  • QUIT STARING AT MY PLATE is Croatia’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    Quit Staring at My Plate (Ne gledaj mi u pijat) Quit Staring at My Plate (Ne gledaj mi u pijat), the debut feature film from director Hana Jušić’, has been selected by Croatia as its official candidate in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars. The film starring Mia Petričević, Nikša Butijer, Arijana Čulina, Zlatko Buric had its World Premiere at the 2016 Venice Days where the film won the FEDEORA Award for Best European Film. In the film Marijana’s life revolves around her family, whether she likes it or not. They live on top of one another in a tiny apartment, driving one another crazy. Then her controlling father has a stroke and is left completely bedridden, and Marijana takes his place as head of the clan. Soon, she is working two jobs to keep everything afloat, while her mother and disabled brother do their best to scupper the ship. Driven to the edge, Marijana finds comfort in seedy sex with random strangers; and this taste of freedom leaves her wanting more. But now that she has finally found freedom, what’s she meant to do with it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjE6IE9QgNk

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  • Piers Handling Stepping Down as Head of Toronto International Film Festival

    Piers Handling After almost 25 years, Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF, announced today that 2018 will be his final year leading the Toronto International Film Festival.  “Because of Piers’ leadership, TIFF is the leading cultural organization it is today, with a global reach and impact,” said Jennifer Tory, Chair of the Board of Directors of TIFF. “We are all indebted to him for his years of vision, innovation and dedication to the art of film.” Handling’s tenure at TIFF has been both ground-breaking and prolific, with career highlights including:
    • Growing TIFF from a 10-day event into a thriving year-round arts organization with global impact;
    • Leading the Festival into the top tier of internationally recognized film events;
    • Leading and mentoring a strong and seasoned team of executives and management and a passionate and dedicated staff;
    • Supporting the careers of many Canadian and international filmmakers, including David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Deepa Mehta, Guy Maddin, Denys Arcand, Denis Villeneuve, Jean-Marc Vallee, François Girard, Xavier Dolan, Michael Haneke, Danny Boyle, Kathryn Bigelow, Nanni Moretti, Agnieszka Holland, Abbas Kiarostami, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Glazer, Antoine Fuqua, Pedro Almodóvar, Aki Kaurismäki, Patricia Rozema, Jennifer Baichwal, Guillermo Del Toro, Steven Soderbergh; and many others.
    • Leading the campaign to design, fund and build TIFF Bell Lightbox, a permanent home for TIFF and film, now a cornerstone of engaging and innovative programming for audiences and professionals, here and around the world.
    “I joined the festival in 1982 and have been CEO for the past 23 years. I am incredibly proud of the legacy we have achieved during that time. I am completely confident in the future of TIFF. It is now one of the most important film organizations in the world,” said Handling. “We have an exciting and bold new strategic plan — Audience First. While I am excited about what the future holds in store for me, my immediate focus remains leading this wonderful organization through to the end of 2018, and ensuring that TIFF continues to inspire audiences and celebrate the riches of cinema from all over the globe.” In recognition of his many contributions, Handling has achieved some of the highest honours afforded to cultural leaders, including Officer of the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, France’s highest cultural insignia “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”, CEO of the Year by the Canadian Public Relations Society, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award, the Human Rights Watch Award, and in November he will be recognized by Business for the Arts with the Peter Herrndorf Arts Leadership Award. He also holds five Honorary Doctorates from the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, Ryerson University, York University and OCAD University. Over the coming months, TIFF’s Board of Directors will begin the process of identifying and selecting a new Chief Executive Officer.

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  • VIDEO: Watch Trailers for 2 Netflix Documentary Shorts Premiering at 2017 Telluride Film Festival

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    Heroin(e) and The Long Shot Here are the trailers for two Netflix original documentary shorts – Heroin(e) and Long Shot premiering this weekend at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival. Heroin(e), making its world premiere, focuses on the once bustling industrial town, Huntington, West Virginia that has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic. With an overdose rate 10 times the national average, the crisis threatens to tear this community apart. West Virginia native Sheldon highlights three women working to change the town’s narrative and break the devastating cycle of drug abuse one person at a time. Heroin(e) shows how the chain of compassion holds one town together. The Netflix original documentary short, by Peabody award-winning filmmaker, Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Hollow), will launch on September 12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khSO7qEKbvo Also making its’ world premiere, Long Shot, an improbable story where justice prevails with a series of events that could only happen in Hollywood. An innocent man is accused of murder, leading his dedicated attorney on a wild chase to confirm his alibi among thousands of people in a baseball stadium. To tell the whole story, the search would lead him from the LA Dodgers, to a cellphone tower, to the office of the entertainer Larry David. On the night in question, television cameras happened to be positioned throughout the stadium, and captured a story of remarkable circumstance. Directed by Jacob LaMendola (Anosmia), Long Shot launches September 29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxISykYRc4

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  • SCARY MOTHER is Georgia’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    Scary Mother (Sashishi deda) Ana Urushadze’s award-winning debut feature film, Scary Mother (Sashishi deda), has been selected by Georgia as its official candidate in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars. The film starring Nata Murvanidze, Ramaz Ioseliani, Dimitri Tatishvili, and Avtandil Makharadze, World Premiered at the 2017 Locarno Film Festival where the film won the Swatch First Feature Award (Prize for Best First Feature). After the Locarno Film Festival, the film competed at the 2017 Sarajevo Film Festival where it won the the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film; and the Cineuropa Prize. Scary Mother follows the story of a  50-year-old housewife, Manana (Nato Murvanidze), struggling with a dilemma: she has to choose between her family life and a love for writing she has repressed for years. When she finally decides to follow her passion, she is ready to sacrifice everything for it, mentally and physically.

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  • VIDEO: Watch Trailer for THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST on Man Behind Controversial Anti-Vaccination Movement

    The Pathological Optimist Poster Here is the new trailer and poster for The Pathological Optimist directed by Miranda Bailey that documents Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the man behind one of the most highly controversial, intensely debated topics in modern medicine: the anti-vaccination movement.  The film will be released in theaters on September 29th. In The Pathological Optimist, director Miranda Bailey brings us a character study of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, one of 13 co-authors of a notorious 1998 paper in the UK medical Journal The Lancet, but who became the very public face of what has come to be known as “The Anti-Vaccination Movement.” An expat from Britain who currently resides in Austin, Texas, Wakefield allowed Bailey and her team to follow him and his family for five years beginning in 2011 as he fought a defamation battle in the courts against the British Medical Journal and journalist Brian Deer. The results of that case – and the self-reflection, pronouncements, and observations of Wakefield, his legal team, wife, and his children – create a complex and incisive look at one of our era’s most fear-provoking and continuingly provocative figures. The Pathological Optimist takes no sides, instead letting Wakefield and the battles he fought speak for themselves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRA0w1pvFLk

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  • World Premiere of ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. Starring Denzel Washington Added to 2017 Toronto International Film Festival

    Roman J. Israel, Esq., starring Denzel Washington The World Premiere of Dan Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel, Esq., starring Denzel Washington will complete the 2017 Official Program Selection lineup of the Toronto International Film Festival.  Written and directed by Gilroy and featuring an amazing transformation by Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. is the newest and final addition to TIFF’s Special Presentations program. “The Toronto International Film Festival has a wonderful history with both Dan Gilroy and Denzel Washington,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “Three years ago TIFF had the honor of premiering Gilroy’s directorial debut, Nightcrawler, at the Festival. In addition to previously screening The Equalizer and presenting the World Premiere of Training Day, which earned Washington an Oscar for Best Actor, the Washington-starring The Magnificent Seven was our Opening Night film last year. A project that teams up both of these remarkable creators is one not to be missed.” “We always hoped to premiere at Toronto and couldn’t be happier that TIFF audiences will be the first to see the film,” said Gilroy. “Thanks to Cameron and the entire Festival crew for embracing us and bringing Roman Israel to the world.” Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a dramatic thriller set in the underbelly of the overburdened Los Angeles criminal court system. Denzel Washington stars as a driven, idealistic defense attorney whose life is upended when a turbulent series of events challenge the activism that has defined his career. Colin Farrell costars as the ambitious, monied lawyer who recruits Roman to his firm. This star-led cast features Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Lynda Gravatt, Amanda Warren, Hugo Armstrong, Sam Gilroy, Tony Plana, DeRon Horton and Amari Cheatom. R The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.

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  • Annemarie Jacir’s WAJIB is Palestine’s Entry for 2018 Oscar Race for Best Foreign Film | TRAILER

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    wajib Wajib, a film written and directed by Annemarie Jacir, has been selected by Palestine as its official candidate in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars. The film starring Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri, Maria Zreik and Leila Bakri, World Premiered in official competition at the 2017 Locarno Film Festival, and will have its North American premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. In the film, Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a school teacher in his mid-60s living in Nazareth. After his daughter’s wedding in one month he will be living alone. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father in hand delivering the wedding invitations as per local Palestinian custom. As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives. This  is director Annemarie Jacir’s third time representing Palestine at the Academy Awards, having been submitted for Salt of the Sea (2008) and When I Saw You (2012). Click here to see a clip from Wajib

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  • Actor Danny Glover and Producer Joslyn Barnes to Be Honored at Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival

    Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes Actor Danny Glover and Producer Joslyn Barnes of Louveture Films will attend the 2017 Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, where they will receive the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society’s 2017 Global Citizen Award. The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival will take place September 5 to 10, 2017. A screening of White Sun, a film produced by Glover and Barnes will immediately follow the on-stage conversation with Ms. Barnes and Mr. Glover about their careers and achievements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDeqkHyt8Rk Danny Glover Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Louveture Films In addition to being one of the most acclaimed actors of our time, Mr. Glover is also the recipient of countless awards for his humanitarian and advocacy efforts on behalf of economic and social justice causes, Glover is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Amnesty International. His career spans 35 years and includes film classics like “Places in the Heart,” “The Color Purple,” the “Lethal Weapon” series and the acclaimed “To Sleep with Anger.” Mr. Glover has also executive produced numerous projects for film, television and theatre. Among these are “Good Fences,” “3 AM,” “Freedom Song,” “Get on the Bus,” “Deadly Voyage,” “Buffalo Soldiers,” “The Saint of Fort Washington,” and “Mooladé,” as well as the series “Courage and America’s Dream.” Joslyn Barnes Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Louveture Films Joslyn Barnes is a writer and producer. In 2017, Ms. Barnes was the recipient of both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Sundance Institute Amazon Studios Producer Award. Prior to co-founding Louverture, she served as a program officer and expert consultant at the United Nations. She has lived and traveled widely in Africa and Asia, and has written numerous articles covering trade and social development issues, as well as contributing to books on the establishment of electronic communications in developing countries, food security in Africa, and strategic advocacy for the inclusion of gender perspectives on the international development agenda. Ms. Barnes also wrote and directed the short film Prana for Cinétévé France as part of an internationally distributed series of 30 short films to promote awareness of environmental issues.

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  • Michael Winterbottom’s THE TRIP TO SPAIN to Close San Sebastian Film Festival Culinary Zinema Program

    [caption id="attachment_24291" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]THE TRIP TO SPAIN THE TRIP TO SPAIN[/caption] Culinary Zinema, the San Sebastian Film Festival section combining food and film will feature seven films, and close with The Trip to Spain directed by Michael Winterbottom. The opening film, Michelin Stars – Tales from the Kitchen, looks at the highs and lows of the Michelin Guide in this golden age of gastronomy. It is directed by Rasmus Dinesen, author of the films Det forbudte landshold (The Forbidden Team), about the first Tibetan national football team; Verdens bedste kok (World’s Finest Chef), about the victory of Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed at the Bocuse d’Or championship; and the documentary TV series Star Chefs about Michelin-starred restaurants. Laura Collado collaborated with Justin Webster (Muerte en León and El fin de ETA / The Demise of ETA, Zinemira 2016) on the Al Jazeera series People & Power. Jim Loomis has worked as a cinematographer and editor for productions by BBC, ARTE and CNN. Together they helm the feature film Constructing Albert, about the “most underrated chef in the world”, Albert Adrià, brother of the man who created El Bulli. In her first feature film, E il cibo va / Food on the Go, Mercedes Córdova, director of the prize-winning short Acá nunca está nublado, looks at the tradition of Italian food in the diaspora a hundred years after millions of Italians immigrated to Argentina. Another first work is The Cakemaker, by Ofir Raul Graizer, whose short film La discotheque screened in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2015. The film, a co-production between Germany and Israel which competed at Karlovy Vary, tells the tale of a young German pastry chef who heads for Jerusalem in search of answers when his lover dies. Koki Shigeno, a veteran director of TV documentaries, has now made his first feature-length film, Ramen Heads, selected for Hot Docs (Canadian International Documentary Film Festival). The film follows Osamu Tomita, today’s king of the ramen in Japan, on a 15-month tour of the lives of the masters of this dish and its legions of followers. Masakazu Fukatsu debuts in feature films with Papa no obento wa sekaiichi / Dad’s Lunch Box, the true story of a father and his daughter -which went viral on social media- brought together by the bento box in which people carry their packed lunches in Japan. Michael Winterbottom, to whom the Festival dedicated a retrospective in 2003, formerly competed in the Official Selection with Nine Songs (2004), winner of the Best Cinematography Award, Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005) and Genova (2008), recognized with the Silver Shell for Best Director. The Trip to Spain, selected for Tribeca, is his first incursion to Culinary Zinema. After The Trip and The Trip to Italy, Winterbottom renews his collaboration with actors Steve Coogan (Philomena) and Rob Brydon (Would I Lie to You?) to analyze six meals in six places on a road trip through Spain, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean coast. To complete the experience, the screenings will be followed by meals linked to the content of the films.

    2017 San Sebastian Film Festival – Culinary Zinema –  Films

    MICHELIN STARS – TALES FROM THE KITCHEN RASMUS DINESEN (DENMARK) OPENING NIGHT FILM At a moment in time when humanity is obsessed with food –photographing every dish, worshipping cooks and flaunting trophy meals on social media–, this documentary goes under the surface and offers an in-depth, honest and relevant view into the world and day-to-day of Michelin chefs and restaurants. Telling tales from a grand menu of culinary temples as well as digging into the greatness and flaws of the Michelin Guide in this golden age of gastronomy. THE CAKEMAKER OFIR RAUL GRAIZER (GERMANY – ISRAEL) Cast: Tim Kalkhof, Sarah Adler, Zohar Strauss, Sandra Sade, Roy Miller Thomas, a young German pastry maker, is having an affair with Oren, a married Israeli man who makes frequent business trips to Berlin. When Oren dies in a car accident in Israel, Thomas heads for Jerusalem in search of answers to his death. Using a false name, Thomas worms himself into the life of Anat, his lover’s recently widowed wife, to the point of becoming assistant chef in her bar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ7144Mc2lw RAMEN HEADS KOKI SHIGENO (JAPAN) Osamu Tomita, Japan’s reigning king of ramen, takes us deep into his world, revealing every single step of his obsessive approach to creating the perfect soup and noodles, and his relentless search for the highest-quality ingredients. This is a documentary record of 15 months in the lives of Japan’s top ramen masters and their legions of devoted fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3E9MGOK4LY E IL CIBO VA / FOOD ON THE GO MERCEDES CÓRDOVA (ARGENTINA – ITALY – USA) Gastronomic culture is the result of man’s travels in search of new things to eat. For proof, we only have to look at how Italian food journeyed to America with the mass migrations. Almost a hundred years later, retracing the steps of food and its voyage to New York and Buenos Aires, we now find the foundation of a new tradition of Italian food in exile. What relationship does it bear to its country of origin? Can we talk about Italian food outside of Italy? PAPA NO OBENTO WA SEKAIICHI / DAD’S LUNCH BOX MASAKAZU FUKATSU (JAPAN) Cast: Toshimi Watanabe, Reina Takeda This is a heart-warming true story of the father and daughter connected by bento, the Japanese packed lunch in a box. Throughout her three years at high school, the young girl would eat the bento made for her every day by her father. On her last day she found that her lunchbox contained a picture of the very first bento that her father had made for her with a handwritten message from him. The girl tweeted the occurrence, making 350,000 people cry on Twitter. The message was retweeted more than 80,000 times and got 260,000 ‘likes’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftIP00C0Uu0 CONSTRUCTING ALBERT LAURA COLLADO, JIM LOOMIS (SPAIN – ESTONIA) At the dawn of the 21st century, El Bulli restaurant revolutionized the world of gastronomy, making chef Ferran Adrià the king of haute cuisine. Behind such a success, was an unrecognized creative genius: Ferran’s younger brother, Albert. In 2013, Albert Adrià was considered the world’s most underrated chef. Enigma, the crown of his gastronomic empire opens with a clear goal: to become one of the best restaurants in the world. This is Albert’s attempt to escape the shadow of legendary El Bulli and enter the Pantheon of great chefs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdFwpOAR-o4 THE TRIP TO SPAIN MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM (UK) Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon CLOSING NIGHT FILM Michael Winterbottom is on the road for the third time with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, after their success with The Trip and The Trip to Italy. Six meals in six different places on a road trip through Spain from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean coast – visiting Cantabria, the Basque Country, Aragon, Rioja, Castile La Mancha and ending in Andalucia. Steve, now turned 50, is still chasing love – he wants to get back together with his ex-girlfriend Mischa, but she is with another man. Rob’s acting career is going from strength to strength, his family life is fulfilling – he has had another child since Steve last saw him. Steve has just starred as a chef in a US TV series and is asked to do a set of restaurant reviews in Spain to publicise the show. As usual Rob will write the newspaper articles, this time using Don Quixote as inspiration. Meanwhile Steve is hoping to write a more ambitious book based on this trip and his earlier experiences in Spain. He imagines himself in the tradition of writers such as Orwell, Hemingway, and Laurie Lee. After all, Steve is now an Oscar nominated writer… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvy8ab1NSo

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  • VIDEO: Watch Trailer + Poster for Documentary Fairy Tale SPETTACOLO

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    Spettacolo Its finally here, the trailer and poster for Spettacolo, the documentary fairy tale about a tiny Italian farming village that turns their lives into a play. The documentary directed by Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen will be released in theaters in New York on September 8th. Spettacolo poster Once upon a time, villagers in a tiny hill town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer, their piazza became their stage and residents of all ages played a part – the role of themselves. Monticchiello’s annual tradition has attracted worldwide attention and kept the town together for 50 years, but with an aging population and a future generation more interested in Facebook than farming, the town’s 50th anniversary performance just might be its last.  Spettacolo tells the story of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, interweaving episodes from its past with its modern-day process as the villagers turn a series of devastating blows into a new play about the end of their world. Jeff Malmberg is a documentary director and editor based in Los Angeles. In 2017, his feature documentary Spettacolo had it’s world premiere at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. The film is supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Sundance Documentary Fund, Creative Capital, and the Tribeca Film Institute. Jeffʼs debut film Marwencol won over two dozen awards, including two Independent Spirit Awards, Best Documentary of the Year from Boston Society of Film Critics and Rotten Tomatoes, and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Chris Shellen is a writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She produced the award-winning documentary Marwencol and co-authored the companion art book “Welcome to Marwencol,” which was named one of the Best Books of 2015 by Amazon.com. She began her career as a film development executive based at a Paramount Pictures, and has worked in documentary, narrative and new media for over 15 years. Her directorial debut Spettacolo had it’s world premiere at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival.

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  • Busan International Film Festival to Spotlight Sakha Films

    [caption id="attachment_24287" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Marvelous Time │ Nikita ARZHAKOV The Marvelous Time[/caption] The 2017 Busan International Film Festival will hold a Special Program ‘Sakha Cinema: World of Magical Nature and Myth’ to spotlight the unexplored Sakha films for the first time. Special Program in Focus introduces 7 feature-length films and 5 short films to embrace around 30 year-history of the contemporary Sakha cinema from 1990s to 2017, including Mother by Alexey Romanov, a pioneering work of Sakha cinema. The Sakha Republic (also referred as Yakutia), located in far Eastern Russia, is a republic under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. With thousands years of Far East tradition blended with the Russian social system, Sakha has significant socio-cultural features. This year’s special program focuses on Sakha cinema which develops an independent film industry and has exclusive cinematic style, regardless of its short history. Sakha cinema, combines regional legends and folk religions with contemporary values and film, shows authentic charm that is rarely found in other regional films. Sakha cinema is constantly drawing attention from the international society, experiencing growth with the active production of The National Film Company ‘Sakha Film’, a rapid wave of young and independent filmmakers in art-house film scene and success in commercial films in Yakutian. After Bonfire by Dmitri Davidov premiered in 2016 Busan International Film Festival, Sakha cinema has been presented in many international film festivals including Belinale and additional broadcasts outside of Russia. With the attempt to across boundaries of diverse genre and style and the blending of tradition, nature, changes and freshness, Sakha cinema will provide a unique experience to cinephiles visiting the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. Other additional events, where directors and critics from the region will introduce films, will also be placed as part of the special program.

    Focus ‘Sakha Cinema: World of Magical Nature and Myth’

    Feature-length films

    Summer Homestead │ Anatoly VASILIEV A man returns to his village to buy an abandoned house, where he lived as a child. One night, he met the phantoms of his family members in his summer homestead. After a heart attack, he finds himself between this life and eternity. The Marvelous Time │ Nikita ARZHAKOV A story of marvelous time – youth, eternal spring in souls, emotional tumult, problems of growing up, love, friendship, and self-affirmation. The film’s characters are rural high school students in 1960s. A screen version of a classical Yakut novel of Soviet times. His Daughter │ Tatyana EVERSTOVA Little Tanya lives with her grandparents in a remote village in Yakutia. Tanya thinks that the world is beautiful, and always will be so. She doesn’t want anything to change, but changes are coming in her life as the season changes. 24 Snow │ Mikhail BARYNIN Sergey is a horse breeder, who spends the most part of the year in tundra, looking after his herd. Exhausting life in the North makes a man face one of the hardest questions: who is he? This documentary portrays a man who still leads a way of traditional lifestyle in the modern times. While There Is Wind │ Sergey POTAPOV An outcast hero Er Sogotokh kidnaps the daughter of a rich man. A squad of thugs led by her fiancé set out to save her. Meeting with Er Sogotokh changes the life of the beauty. Envy, betrayal, possessiveness are tightly tangled. Can love defeat death? Keskil 2: Rematch │ Dmitry SHADRIN,  Alexey EGOROV, Roman DOROFEYEV How to get the girl that you love, how to find a job, how to settle in a new place? A comedy about adventures of a naive simpleton named Keskil and his enterprising friend Vitka, which became a hit of Yakutian box-office. Outlaw │ Stepan BURNASHOV Three runaway prisoners hide in the winter taiga, leaving a bloody trace behind. Are all the fugitive ruthless criminals? Who will win the fight for life and escape at the peak of winter, when the temperature outside of a secluded hunting hut falls below 50 degrees?

    Short films

    Mother │ Alexey ROMANOV A tragic story of love between a lone traveler and a beautiful girl, who turns out to be a ghost. Restless soul of the dead beauty cannot find peace in this world, and the girl asks her beloved one to bury her according to customs. Deliverance │ Gennady BAGYNANOV Two contrasting men – a mature hunter, keeper of traditional patriarchal values, and his guest, a recently baptized young Christian – collide because of a woman. Only a duel can decide their fate. The film is based on an old legend. Fisherman │ Vyacheslav SEMYONOV A cinematic parable about a lonely old Balyksyt, who has lived his entire life near a big lake. He treats the lake as if it was a living creature with a soul. Once Balyksyt saves a suicide, and brings the desperate man back to confidence. Wooden Horse │ Prokopy NOGOVITSYN A cinematic poem with a nostalgic view on childhood: dreams, happiness, and loneliness of a rural kid. Premonition │ Mikhail LUKACHEVSKY, Prokopy NOGOVITSYN A Sakha tradition of a boy and his grandfather embarking on a fishing trip turns into philosophical thoughts about life and death in this cinematically stunning fragmentation of physical and mental reality.

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