The 2015 Seattle International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2015 Golden Space Needle Audience and Competition Awards. The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson is the big winner, taking the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Film, and Best Actor for Cliff Curtis. In The Dark Horse – winner of six New Zealand Film Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Actor – Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider) gives a stunning and inspirational performance as New Zealand legend Genesis Potini, a bipolar speed chess champion who helps turn around the lives of some 15,000 Maori children by teaching them the intricacies the game.
Other winners include Alfonso Gomez-Rejon of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” wins Best Director, “Romeo is Bleeding” wins Best Documentary; Nina Hoss (“Phoenix”) wins Best Actress, “Liza, The Fox-Fairy,” “The Great Alone,” and “Chatty Catties” Win Grand Jury Prize Awards for Best New Director, Documentary and New American Film
Carl Spence, SIFF’s Artistic Director, says, “Our 41st Festival was another fantastic celebration of storytelling in all its forms. We presented everything from the storied cinematic past (archival screenings celebrating Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation and live read of the late Stewart Stern’s Rebel Without a Cause), to the iconic (Kevin Bacon!), to the independent (Jason Schwartzman and his new comedy 7 Chinese Brothers). With a record 92 countries represented this year and sold-out shows every night, this year’s Festival was bigger than ever, but it also fittingly included a proper send-off of an iconic movie house, the Harvard Exit. It also highlighted Seattle’s great continuing movie houses including our own SIFF Cinema Egyptian and SIFF Cinema Uptown. And I love that we bookended the Festival this year with two stellar comedies, kicking off with our Opening Night film Spy (the number one movie in America this weekend) and finishing with our hilarious Closing Night indie The Overnight. Starting and ending with laughter while traveling the world in between is a great way to mark another whirlwind 25-day celebration of cinema.”
SIFF 2015 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AUDIENCE AWARDS
SIFF celebrates its films and filmmakers with the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards. Selected by Festival audiences, awards are given in five categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Short Film. This year, nearly 90,000 ballots were submitted.
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST FILM
The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson (New Zealand 2014)
First runner-up: Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter (USA 2015)
Second runner-up: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (USA 2015)
Third runner-up: Shaun the Sheep, directed by Richard Starzak, Mark Burton (UK 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Good Ol’ Boy, directed by Frank Lotito (USA 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST DOCUMENTARY
Romeo is Bleeding, directed by Jason Zeldes (USA 2015)
First runner-up: Paper Tigers, directed by James Redford (USA 2015)
Second runner-up: The Glamour & The Squalor, directed by Marq Evans (USA 2015)
Third runner-up: The Great Alone, directed by Greg Kohs (USA 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Frame by Frame, directed by Mo Scarpelli, Alexandria Bombach (Afghanistan 2014)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (USA 2015)
First runner-up: George Ovashvili, Corn Island (Georgia 2014)
Second runner-up: Peter Greenaway, Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Netherlands 2015)
Third runner-up: Susanne Bier, ASecond Chance (Denmark 2014)
Fourth runner-up: Ross Partridge, Lamb (USA 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST ACTOR
Cliff Curtis, The Dark Horse (New Zealand 2014)
First runner-up: Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes (UK 2015)
Second runner-up: Jason Segel, End of the Tour (USA 2014)
Third runner-up: Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon, Henri Henri (Canada (Québec) 2014)
Fourth runner-up: Jacir Eid, Theeb (Jordan 2014)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST ACTRESS
Nina Hoss, Phoenix (Germany 2014)
First runner-up: Kalki Koechlin, Margarita, with a Straw (India 2014)
Second runner-up: Rebecka Josephson, My Skinny Sister (Sweden 2015)
Third runner-up: Regina Case, The Second Mother (Brazil 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Ghita Nørby, Key House Mirror (Denmark 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST SHORT FILM
Even the Walls, directed by Sarah Kuck, Saman Maydáni (USA 2015)
First runner-up: Submarine Sandwich, directed by PES (USA 2014)
Second runner-up: Stealth, directed by Bennett Lasseter (USA 2014)
Third runner-up: Personal Development, directed by Tom Sullivan (Ireland 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Bihttoš, directed by Elie-Máijá Tailfeathers (Canada 2014)
LENA SHARPE AWARD FOR PERSISTENCE OF VISION
Frame by Frame, directed by Mo Scarpelli, Alexandria Bombach (Afghanistan 2014)
This award is given to the female director’s film that receives the most votes in public balloting at the Festival. Lena Sharpe was co-founder and managing director of Seattle’s Festival of Films by Women Directors and a KCTS-TV associate who died in a plane crash while on assignment. As a tribute to her efforts in bringing the work of women filmmakers to prominence, SIFF created this special award and asked Women in Film Seattle to bestow it.
SIFF 2015 COMPETITION AWARDS
SIFF announced three Competition Awards for Best New Director, Best Documentary, and Best New American Film (FIPRESCI). Winners in each juried competition received $2,500 in cash, while the New American Cinema competition winner was also awarded the FIPRESCI prize.
SIFF 2015 BEST NEW DIRECTOR
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Liza, the Fox-Fairy (Hungary 2015), directed by Károly Ujj-Mészáros
JURY STATEMENT: For its lively, inventive visual wit and offbeat look at romantic delusion involving a haunted Hungarian nurse, a long-suffering police sergeant, and the ghost of a ’50s Japanese pop singer, we have given this year’s New Directors Prize to Károly Ujj-Mészáros.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Corrections Class (Russia/Germany 2014), directed by Ivan I. Tverdovsky
JURY STATEMENT: For the director’s brave and unflinching handling of a young ensemble.
Festival programmers select 12 films remarkable for their original concept, striking style, and overall excellence. To be eligible, films must be a director’s first or second feature and without U.S. distribution at the time of their selection. The New Directors Jury is comprised of Brandon Harris (Filmmaker Magazine), Amy Nicholson (L.A. Weekly), and Alison Willmore (Buzzfeed).
2015 Entries:
A Blast (d: Syllas Tzoumerkas, Greece/Germany/Netherlands 2014, North American Premiere)
Bonifacio (d: Enzo Williams, Philippines 2014, North American Premiere)
Corrections Class (d: Ivan I. Tverdovsky, Russia/Germany 2014, North American Premiere)
Liza, the Fox-Fairy (d: Károly Ujj-Mészáros, Hungary 2015, North American Premiere)
Love, Theft and Other Entanglements (d: Muayad Alayan, Palestine 2015, North American Premiere)
A Matter of Interpretation (d: Kwang-kuk Lee, South Korea 2014, North American Premiere)
Morbayassa (d: Cheick Fantamady Camara, Guinea 2015, North American Premiere)
My Skinny Sister (d: Sanna Lenken, Sweden/Germany 2015, North American Premiere)
Short Skin (d: Duccio Chiarini, Italy 2014, North American Premiere)
Under Construction (d: Rubaiyat Hossain, Bangladesh 2015, World Premiere)
Vincent (d: Thomas Salvador, France 2014)
Waterline (d: Michal Otlowski, Poland 2014, North American Premiere)
SIFF 2015 BEST DOCUMENTARY
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Great Alone (USA 2015), directed by Greg Kohs
JURY STATEMENT: Our Grand Jury Prize goes to a film that stopped all of us in our tracks. One of the joys of the film festival experience is discovering a film that works so well on every level. This is an inspiring film about one man’s story that is both intimate and epic – we were knocked out by the filmmaker’s achievement in crafting a visually stunning, completely engrossing narrative about one extraordinary human being.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
Romeo is Bleeding (USA 2015), directed by Jason Zeldes
JURY STATEMENT: For its strength in demonstrating the power of art to change lives.
Sergio Herman: F**king Perfect (Netherlands 2015), directed by Willemiek Kluijfhout
JURY STATEMENT: Which we found to be an exquisitely made film about a FUCKING PERFECT artist.
Unscripted and uncut, the world is a resource of unexpected, informative, and altogether exciting storytelling. Documentary filmmakers have, for years, brought these untold stories to life and introduced us to a vast number of fascinating topics we may have never known existed-let alone known were so fascinating. The Documentary Jury is comprised of Jannat Gargi (Vulcan Productions), Janet Pierson (SXSW), and Anne Rosellini (producer, Stray Dog, Winter’s Bone).
2015 Entries:
Cooking Up a Tribute (d: Luis González & Andrea Gómez, Spain 2015, North American Premiere)
Dreams Rewired (d: Martin Reinhart, Thomas Tode, & Manu Luksch, Austria 2015, North American Premiere)
The Glamour & The Squalor (d: Marq Evans, USA 2015, World Premiere)
The Great Alone (d: Greg Kohs, USA 2015, World Premiere)
In Utero (d: Kathleen Gyllenhaal, USA 2015, World Premiere)
License to Operate (d: James Lipetzky, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Mountain Spirits (d: Singing Chen & Kuo-Liang Chiang, Taiwan 2014, US Premiere)
Paper Tigers (d: James Redford, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Romeo Is Bleeding (d: Jason Zeldes, USA 2015)
Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT (d: Willemiek Kluijfhout, Netherlands 2015, North American Premiere)
War of Lies (d: Matthias Bittner, Germany 2014, US Premiere)
SIFF 2015 BEST NEW AMERICAN CINEMA
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Chatty Catties (USA 2015), directed by Pablo Valencia
JURY STATEMENT: The FIPRESCI jury at the 41st edition of the Seattle International Film Festival bestows its International Critics’ Prize to a film that – with an enormous amount of risk-taking – innovatively expands stylistic and narrative boundaries. With a fresh view on intimate relationships, director Pablo Valencia creates an unexpected and utterly original emotional landscape in Chatty Catties.
Festival programmers select 9 films without U.S. distribution that are sure to delight audiences looking to explore the exciting vanguard of New American Cinema and compete for the FIPRESCI Award for Best New American Film. The New American Cinema Jury is comprised of members of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI): Pamela Cohn, André Roy, and Dennis West.
2015 Entries:
Chatty Catties (d: Pablo Valencia, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Circle (d: Aaron Hann & Mario Miscione, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Fourth Man Out (d: Andrew Nackman, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Front Cover (d: Ray Yeung, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Good Ol’ Boy (d: Frank Lotito, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Happy 40th (d: Madoka Raine, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Me Him Her (d: Max Landis, USA 2015, World Premiere)
A Rising Tide (d: Ben Hickernell, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Those People (d: Joey Kuhn, USA 2015, World Premiere)
SIFF 2015 FUTUREWAVE AND YOUTH JURY AWARDS
YOUTH JURY AWARD FOR BEST FUTUREWAVE FEATURE
Seoul Searching (USA/South Korea 2015), directed by Benson Lee
JURY STATEMENT: For its diverse and relatable characters, quality mix of emotion and comedy, and accurate and respectful representation of teens, the 2015 FutureWave Youth Jury Prize goes to Seoul Searching.
YOUTH JURY AWARD FOR BEST FILMS4FAMILIES FEATURE
When Marnie Was There (Japan 2014), directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
JURY STATEMENT: For its beautiful and detailed animation, realistic sound design, and original, bittersweet tale of mystery the Films4Families Jury awards When Marnie Was There.
WAVEMAKER AWARD (GRAND PRIZE)
In recognition of superior artistic and technical achievement.
Audio Input(USA), directed by Sho Schrock-Manabe
JURY STATEMENT: For its insightful and engaging portrait of podcasting, an audio art form, through a collage of interviews and images.
FUTUREWAVE AUDIENCE AWARD
Minimum Max (USA), directed by Josh Ovalle
PRODIGY CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS
Each winner will be awarded a $1000 scholarship to the Prodigy Camp.
I’m Not Here (South Africa), directed by Jack Markovitz
Minimum Max (USA), directed by Josh Ovalle
SIFF 2015 SHORT FILM JURY AWARDS
All short films shown at the Festival are eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and Jury Award. Jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each jury winner will receive $1,000 and winners in any of the three categories may also qualify to enter their respective films in the Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.
LIVE ACTION
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Chicken (Croatia, Germany), directed by Una Gunjak
JURY STATEMENT: An expertly crafted narrative that explores life and death through the eyes of a young girl. With a film full of authentic performances, Iman Alibalic is extraordinary as the six-year-old protagonist who receives a live chicken from her father for her birthday, and soon realizes it’s meant for dinner. This is an emotional film with a production quality that continues to move the story along and underscore the realities of life in a war zone.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Hole (Canada), directed by Martin Edralin
JURY STATEMENT: Hole is a brave exploration of human sexuality and yearning for intimacy through the eyes of a lonely, forgotten, disabled man in the heart of Toronto. Ken Harrower delivers a captivating performance that transcends any labels or limitations and speaks to the need for human connection.
DOCUMENTARY
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Bihttos (Canada), directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
JURY STATEMENT: For its ambitious approaches to visual storytelling and imaginative recounting of an exceptional family history.
ANIMATION
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Mill at Calder’s End (USA), directed by Kevin McTurk
JURY STATEMENT: There exists a tendency to laud the new-new stories, new techniques, new talent. With the animation award, the jury is pleased to celebrate a film that is decidedly old-school, breathing life into a bygone style, iterating in a story tradition that is centuries old. For this fusion of the modern and classic, we are happy to award Kevin McTurk for The Mill at Calder’s End.
Short Film Juries 2015:
Live Action: Stefanie Malone (NFFTY), Bobby McHugh (World Famous), and Tracy Rector (Longhouse Media).
Documentary and Animation: Courtney Sheehan (Northwest Film Forum), Jason Sondhi (Vimeo curator), Alex Stonehill (Seattle Globalist).-
THE DARK HORSE, ROMEO IS BLEEDING Win Top Awards at 2015 Seattle International Film Festival
The 2015 Seattle International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2015 Golden Space Needle Audience and Competition Awards. The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson is the big winner, taking the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Film, and Best Actor for Cliff Curtis. In The Dark Horse – winner of six New Zealand Film Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Actor – Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider) gives a stunning and inspirational performance as New Zealand legend Genesis Potini, a bipolar speed chess champion who helps turn around the lives of some 15,000 Maori children by teaching them the intricacies the game.
Other winners include Alfonso Gomez-Rejon of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” wins Best Director, “Romeo is Bleeding” wins Best Documentary; Nina Hoss (“Phoenix”) wins Best Actress, “Liza, The Fox-Fairy,” “The Great Alone,” and “Chatty Catties” Win Grand Jury Prize Awards for Best New Director, Documentary and New American Film
Carl Spence, SIFF’s Artistic Director, says, “Our 41st Festival was another fantastic celebration of storytelling in all its forms. We presented everything from the storied cinematic past (archival screenings celebrating Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation and live read of the late Stewart Stern’s Rebel Without a Cause), to the iconic (Kevin Bacon!), to the independent (Jason Schwartzman and his new comedy 7 Chinese Brothers). With a record 92 countries represented this year and sold-out shows every night, this year’s Festival was bigger than ever, but it also fittingly included a proper send-off of an iconic movie house, the Harvard Exit. It also highlighted Seattle’s great continuing movie houses including our own SIFF Cinema Egyptian and SIFF Cinema Uptown. And I love that we bookended the Festival this year with two stellar comedies, kicking off with our Opening Night film Spy (the number one movie in America this weekend) and finishing with our hilarious Closing Night indie The Overnight. Starting and ending with laughter while traveling the world in between is a great way to mark another whirlwind 25-day celebration of cinema.”
SIFF 2015 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AUDIENCE AWARDS
SIFF celebrates its films and filmmakers with the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards. Selected by Festival audiences, awards are given in five categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Short Film. This year, nearly 90,000 ballots were submitted.
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST FILM
The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson (New Zealand 2014)
First runner-up: Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter (USA 2015)
Second runner-up: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (USA 2015)
Third runner-up: Shaun the Sheep, directed by Richard Starzak, Mark Burton (UK 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Good Ol’ Boy, directed by Frank Lotito (USA 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST DOCUMENTARY
Romeo is Bleeding, directed by Jason Zeldes (USA 2015)
First runner-up: Paper Tigers, directed by James Redford (USA 2015)
Second runner-up: The Glamour & The Squalor, directed by Marq Evans (USA 2015)
Third runner-up: The Great Alone, directed by Greg Kohs (USA 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Frame by Frame, directed by Mo Scarpelli, Alexandria Bombach (Afghanistan 2014)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (USA 2015)
First runner-up: George Ovashvili, Corn Island (Georgia 2014)
Second runner-up: Peter Greenaway, Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Netherlands 2015)
Third runner-up: Susanne Bier, ASecond Chance (Denmark 2014)
Fourth runner-up: Ross Partridge, Lamb (USA 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST ACTOR
Cliff Curtis, The Dark Horse (New Zealand 2014)
First runner-up: Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes (UK 2015)
Second runner-up: Jason Segel, End of the Tour (USA 2014)
Third runner-up: Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon, Henri Henri (Canada (Québec) 2014)
Fourth runner-up: Jacir Eid, Theeb (Jordan 2014)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST ACTRESS
Nina Hoss, Phoenix (Germany 2014)
First runner-up: Kalki Koechlin, Margarita, with a Straw (India 2014)
Second runner-up: Rebecka Josephson, My Skinny Sister (Sweden 2015)
Third runner-up: Regina Case, The Second Mother (Brazil 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Ghita Nørby, Key House Mirror (Denmark 2015)
GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD – BEST SHORT FILM
Even the Walls, directed by Sarah Kuck, Saman Maydáni (USA 2015)
First runner-up: Submarine Sandwich, directed by PES (USA 2014)
Second runner-up: Stealth, directed by Bennett Lasseter (USA 2014)
Third runner-up: Personal Development, directed by Tom Sullivan (Ireland 2015)
Fourth runner-up: Bihttoš, directed by Elie-Máijá Tailfeathers (Canada 2014)
LENA SHARPE AWARD FOR PERSISTENCE OF VISION
Frame by Frame, directed by Mo Scarpelli, Alexandria Bombach (Afghanistan 2014)
This award is given to the female director’s film that receives the most votes in public balloting at the Festival. Lena Sharpe was co-founder and managing director of Seattle’s Festival of Films by Women Directors and a KCTS-TV associate who died in a plane crash while on assignment. As a tribute to her efforts in bringing the work of women filmmakers to prominence, SIFF created this special award and asked Women in Film Seattle to bestow it.
SIFF 2015 COMPETITION AWARDS
SIFF announced three Competition Awards for Best New Director, Best Documentary, and Best New American Film (FIPRESCI). Winners in each juried competition received $2,500 in cash, while the New American Cinema competition winner was also awarded the FIPRESCI prize.
SIFF 2015 BEST NEW DIRECTOR
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Liza, the Fox-Fairy (Hungary 2015), directed by Károly Ujj-Mészáros
JURY STATEMENT: For its lively, inventive visual wit and offbeat look at romantic delusion involving a haunted Hungarian nurse, a long-suffering police sergeant, and the ghost of a ’50s Japanese pop singer, we have given this year’s New Directors Prize to Károly Ujj-Mészáros.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Corrections Class (Russia/Germany 2014), directed by Ivan I. Tverdovsky
JURY STATEMENT: For the director’s brave and unflinching handling of a young ensemble.
Festival programmers select 12 films remarkable for their original concept, striking style, and overall excellence. To be eligible, films must be a director’s first or second feature and without U.S. distribution at the time of their selection. The New Directors Jury is comprised of Brandon Harris (Filmmaker Magazine), Amy Nicholson (L.A. Weekly), and Alison Willmore (Buzzfeed).
2015 Entries:
A Blast (d: Syllas Tzoumerkas, Greece/Germany/Netherlands 2014, North American Premiere)
Bonifacio (d: Enzo Williams, Philippines 2014, North American Premiere)
Corrections Class (d: Ivan I. Tverdovsky, Russia/Germany 2014, North American Premiere)
Liza, the Fox-Fairy (d: Károly Ujj-Mészáros, Hungary 2015, North American Premiere)
Love, Theft and Other Entanglements (d: Muayad Alayan, Palestine 2015, North American Premiere)
A Matter of Interpretation (d: Kwang-kuk Lee, South Korea 2014, North American Premiere)
Morbayassa (d: Cheick Fantamady Camara, Guinea 2015, North American Premiere)
My Skinny Sister (d: Sanna Lenken, Sweden/Germany 2015, North American Premiere)
Short Skin (d: Duccio Chiarini, Italy 2014, North American Premiere)
Under Construction (d: Rubaiyat Hossain, Bangladesh 2015, World Premiere)
Vincent (d: Thomas Salvador, France 2014)
Waterline (d: Michal Otlowski, Poland 2014, North American Premiere)
SIFF 2015 BEST DOCUMENTARY
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Great Alone (USA 2015), directed by Greg Kohs
JURY STATEMENT: Our Grand Jury Prize goes to a film that stopped all of us in our tracks. One of the joys of the film festival experience is discovering a film that works so well on every level. This is an inspiring film about one man’s story that is both intimate and epic – we were knocked out by the filmmaker’s achievement in crafting a visually stunning, completely engrossing narrative about one extraordinary human being.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
Romeo is Bleeding (USA 2015), directed by Jason Zeldes
JURY STATEMENT: For its strength in demonstrating the power of art to change lives.
Sergio Herman: F**king Perfect (Netherlands 2015), directed by Willemiek Kluijfhout
JURY STATEMENT: Which we found to be an exquisitely made film about a FUCKING PERFECT artist.
Unscripted and uncut, the world is a resource of unexpected, informative, and altogether exciting storytelling. Documentary filmmakers have, for years, brought these untold stories to life and introduced us to a vast number of fascinating topics we may have never known existed-let alone known were so fascinating. The Documentary Jury is comprised of Jannat Gargi (Vulcan Productions), Janet Pierson (SXSW), and Anne Rosellini (producer, Stray Dog, Winter’s Bone).
2015 Entries:
Cooking Up a Tribute (d: Luis González & Andrea Gómez, Spain 2015, North American Premiere)
Dreams Rewired (d: Martin Reinhart, Thomas Tode, & Manu Luksch, Austria 2015, North American Premiere)
The Glamour & The Squalor (d: Marq Evans, USA 2015, World Premiere)
The Great Alone (d: Greg Kohs, USA 2015, World Premiere)
In Utero (d: Kathleen Gyllenhaal, USA 2015, World Premiere)
License to Operate (d: James Lipetzky, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Mountain Spirits (d: Singing Chen & Kuo-Liang Chiang, Taiwan 2014, US Premiere)
Paper Tigers (d: James Redford, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Romeo Is Bleeding (d: Jason Zeldes, USA 2015)
Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT (d: Willemiek Kluijfhout, Netherlands 2015, North American Premiere)
War of Lies (d: Matthias Bittner, Germany 2014, US Premiere)
SIFF 2015 BEST NEW AMERICAN CINEMA
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Chatty Catties (USA 2015), directed by Pablo Valencia
JURY STATEMENT: The FIPRESCI jury at the 41st edition of the Seattle International Film Festival bestows its International Critics’ Prize to a film that – with an enormous amount of risk-taking – innovatively expands stylistic and narrative boundaries. With a fresh view on intimate relationships, director Pablo Valencia creates an unexpected and utterly original emotional landscape in Chatty Catties.
Festival programmers select 9 films without U.S. distribution that are sure to delight audiences looking to explore the exciting vanguard of New American Cinema and compete for the FIPRESCI Award for Best New American Film. The New American Cinema Jury is comprised of members of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI): Pamela Cohn, André Roy, and Dennis West.
2015 Entries:
Chatty Catties (d: Pablo Valencia, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Circle (d: Aaron Hann & Mario Miscione, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Fourth Man Out (d: Andrew Nackman, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Front Cover (d: Ray Yeung, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Good Ol’ Boy (d: Frank Lotito, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Happy 40th (d: Madoka Raine, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Me Him Her (d: Max Landis, USA 2015, World Premiere)
A Rising Tide (d: Ben Hickernell, USA 2015, World Premiere)
Those People (d: Joey Kuhn, USA 2015, World Premiere)
SIFF 2015 FUTUREWAVE AND YOUTH JURY AWARDS
YOUTH JURY AWARD FOR BEST FUTUREWAVE FEATURE
Seoul Searching (USA/South Korea 2015), directed by Benson Lee
JURY STATEMENT: For its diverse and relatable characters, quality mix of emotion and comedy, and accurate and respectful representation of teens, the 2015 FutureWave Youth Jury Prize goes to Seoul Searching.
YOUTH JURY AWARD FOR BEST FILMS4FAMILIES FEATURE
When Marnie Was There (Japan 2014), directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
JURY STATEMENT: For its beautiful and detailed animation, realistic sound design, and original, bittersweet tale of mystery the Films4Families Jury awards When Marnie Was There.
WAVEMAKER AWARD (GRAND PRIZE)
In recognition of superior artistic and technical achievement.
Audio Input(USA), directed by Sho Schrock-Manabe
JURY STATEMENT: For its insightful and engaging portrait of podcasting, an audio art form, through a collage of interviews and images.
FUTUREWAVE AUDIENCE AWARD
Minimum Max (USA), directed by Josh Ovalle
PRODIGY CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS
Each winner will be awarded a $1000 scholarship to the Prodigy Camp.
I’m Not Here (South Africa), directed by Jack Markovitz
Minimum Max (USA), directed by Josh Ovalle
SIFF 2015 SHORT FILM JURY AWARDS
All short films shown at the Festival are eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and Jury Award. Jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each jury winner will receive $1,000 and winners in any of the three categories may also qualify to enter their respective films in the Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.
LIVE ACTION
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Chicken (Croatia, Germany), directed by Una Gunjak
JURY STATEMENT: An expertly crafted narrative that explores life and death through the eyes of a young girl. With a film full of authentic performances, Iman Alibalic is extraordinary as the six-year-old protagonist who receives a live chicken from her father for her birthday, and soon realizes it’s meant for dinner. This is an emotional film with a production quality that continues to move the story along and underscore the realities of life in a war zone.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Hole (Canada), directed by Martin Edralin
JURY STATEMENT: Hole is a brave exploration of human sexuality and yearning for intimacy through the eyes of a lonely, forgotten, disabled man in the heart of Toronto. Ken Harrower delivers a captivating performance that transcends any labels or limitations and speaks to the need for human connection.
DOCUMENTARY
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Bihttos (Canada), directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
JURY STATEMENT: For its ambitious approaches to visual storytelling and imaginative recounting of an exceptional family history.
ANIMATION
GRAND JURY PRIZE
The Mill at Calder’s End (USA), directed by Kevin McTurk
JURY STATEMENT: There exists a tendency to laud the new-new stories, new techniques, new talent. With the animation award, the jury is pleased to celebrate a film that is decidedly old-school, breathing life into a bygone style, iterating in a story tradition that is centuries old. For this fusion of the modern and classic, we are happy to award Kevin McTurk for The Mill at Calder’s End.
Short Film Juries 2015:
Live Action: Stefanie Malone (NFFTY), Bobby McHugh (World Famous), and Tracy Rector (Longhouse Media).
Documentary and Animation: Courtney Sheehan (Northwest Film Forum), Jason Sondhi (Vimeo curator), Alex Stonehill (Seattle Globalist).
-
See Poster, Watch Trailer for Horror Film CREEP Starring Mark Duplass
Here is the poster and trailer for CREEP, directed by and starring Patrick Brice, arriving on Itunes on June 23rd and to Netflix on July 14th.
Looking for work, Aaron (Patrick Brice) comes across a cryptic online ad: “$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated.”
Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef (Mark Duplass), his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.
The directorial debut of Patrick Brice and produced by Jason Blum (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, INSIDIOUS) and Mark Duplass (SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED), CREEP’s intense interplay between its two protagonists upends expectations at every turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBR8VcdpE4Y
-
Rose McGowan To Release Short Film Directorial Debut DAWN on Youtube
After the critically acclaimed world premiere at Sundance Film Festival and theatrical run, DAWN, the short film directorial debut from Rose McGowan, will debut this month on YouTube.
“I’m so pleased to be able to share my Sundance Grand jury prize nominated film, Dawn, on my Youtube page. I want to promote thought and art, free of charge. I hope you’ll enjoy”, said Rose.
Realizing that her passion lies in filmmaking, Rose McGowan’s breakthrough directorial debut, DAWN, is a disturbing tale of a young girl’s budding sexuality and one’s desire to experience the unknown. Dawn (Tara Barr) is a quiet young teenager living in Kennedy era America who longs for something or someone to free her from her sheltered life. When she strikes up an innocent flirtation with the boy who works at her local gas station (Reiley McClendon), she thinks that he is perhaps the answer to her teenage dreams. Though when she invites the boy and his friends into her otherwise cloistered world, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.
-
2015 New York Asian Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens With PORT OF CALL
The 2015 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), which will take place from June 26 to July 8 at the Film Society and July 9 to 11 at SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd Street) unveiled the film lineup, which will showcase 52 feature films, including 1 World Premiere, 3 International Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, 5 U.S. Premieres, and 14 films making their New York City debuts. The festival will be attended by 18 international filmmakers and celebrity guests traveling from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. The New York Asian Film Festival is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema.
NYAFF’s Opening Night presentation will be the North American Premiere of Philip Yung’s Port of Call (pictured above). The film centers on the brutal murder of a 16-year-old Hunan girl who moves to Hong Kong with her family and falls into prostitution. Winding through time and grounded by Christopher Doyle’s gauzy cinematography, the film follows both the story of the young girl’s descent into sex work and the grizzled detective (Aaron Kwok) who obsessively works to solve the murder. Kwok is astonishing here in a career-best performance, with all the tics and haggard body language of a man beaten down by the violence that threatens to drown him at every turn.
The Centerpiece Presentation will be the North American premiere of Sabu’s Chasuke’s Journey, which was in Competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. According to Variety, the film finds “Sabu in his most fun-loving element, stirring Okinawa’s magical folk art into a Capraesque yarn that flirts with ideas of fate and self-determination, but really just revels in a rich tapestry of human experience. [The film is also] full of whimsical twists and high-octane action.”
The lineup also includes the World Premiere of Fire Lee’s black comedy Robbery; the International Premiere of Anh Sang-hoon’s erotic period actioner Empire of Lust; the North American Premieres of Chen Jiabin’s directorial debut A Fool, Daihachi Yoshida’s fantasy-drama Pale Moon, Lau Ho-leung’s action-comedy Two Thumbs Up, and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s slacker/rock drama La La La at Rock Bottom (previously announced); and the U.S. premiere of Yee Chih-yen’s high-school noirMeeting Dr. Sun. Other exciting highlights include Kulikar Sotho’s gorgeous meditation on Cambodia’s tragic Khmer Rouge past and its impact on the present, The Last Reel; Ryuichi Hiroki’s ensemble love-and-sex drama Kabukicho Love Hotel; Boo Ji-young’s superb labor-rights underdog drama Cart; and Sion Sono’s berserk rap musical Tokyo Tribe.
The 14th edition of the NYAFF will feature five focus programs: “Hong Kong Panorama”; “New Cinema from Japan”; “Taiwan Cinema Now!”; “Myung Films: Pioneers and Women Behind the Camera in Korean Film”; and “The Last Men in Japanese Film,” a joint tribute to Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, both of whom passed away last November.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v3Ghk52i4o
The 2015 New York Asian Film Festival lineup
OPENING NIGHT FILM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
PORT OF CALL | 踏血尋梅
PHILIP YUNG, 2015 | CAST: AARON KWOK, MICHAEL NING, JESSIE LI
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 121 MINUTES
A police detective (Aaron Kwok, in a career-defining role) tracks down the murderer of a young prostitute in this brutal thriller directed by Philip Yung and shot by master cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
CENTERPIECE PRESENTATION
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
CHASUKE’S JOURNEY | 天の茶助
SABU, 2015 | CAST: KENICHI MATSUYAMA, ITO OHNO, REN OHSUGI, YUSUKE ISEYA
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 105 MINUTES
A celestial tea server descends to Okinawa in order to save a young girl, falls in with a gang of losers, enjoys ramen, finds unwarranted celebrity, and fights against predestination written by heavenly hacks who copy Hollywood blockbusters.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
To be announced
ABASHIRI PRISON | 網走番外地
TERUO ISHII, 1965 | CAST: KEN TAKAKURA, KOJI NANBARA, TETSURO TAMBA, TORU ABE
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH LIVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 92 MINUTES
The first entry in Toei’s hugely successful Abashiri Prison yakuza film series, directed by Teruo Ishii, established Ken Takakura’s superstar status. If you want to understand Ken’s enormous popularity, this is the film that started it all. In many ways, this is the invention of the Japanese man.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
BANGLASIA 孟加拉殺手
NAMEWEE, 2015 | CAST: NIRAB HOSSAIN, SAIFUL APEK, NAMEWEE, ATIKAH SUHAIME
MALAYSIA | MALAY, ENGLISH, MANDARIN, AND HOKKIEN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 91 MINUTES
From the director of festival fave foodie flick Nasi Lemak 2.0 comes this wild and crazy Western full of musical numbers and humor so slaphappy it’ll leave your head spinning. It was banned in Malaysia for being too political, so we’re proud to screen it.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF THE NEW DIGITAL REMASTER
BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY | 仁義なき戦い
KINJI FUKASAKU, 1973 | CAST: BUNTA SUGAWARA, HIROKI MATSUKATA, NOBUO KANEKO, KUNIE TANAKA, GORO IBUKI
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH LIVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES | DCP | 99 MINUTES
Quite possibly the ultimate yakuza movie, Kinji Fukasaku’s dark, gritty classic stars Bunta Sugawara (in the role that made his career) as a former soldier who turns to organized crime and claws his way up the yakuza underworld in postwar Hiroshima. .
BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES | 繡春刀
LU YANG, 2014 | CAST: CHANG CHEN, CECILIA LIU, WANG QIANYUAN, ETHAN LI, NIE YUAN
CHINA | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DIGITAL PROJECTION | 106 MINUTES
One of the best Chinese period action films in recent memory, this overlooked blood-red gem is packed with superbly choreographed fight scenes, riveting drama, and performances to match.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
CAFÉ. WAITING. LOVE | 等一個人咖啡
CHIANG CHIN-LIN, 2014 | CAST: VIVIAN SUNG, BRUCE, MEGAN LAI, MARCUS CHANG
TAIWAN | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 120 MINUTES
Three years after his record-breaking debut, You Are the Apple of My Eye, writer-director Giddens Ko penned this irresistibly zany romantic comedy, based on his book of the same name—but this time with Chiang Chin-lin in the director’s seat.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
CART | 카트
BOO JI-YOUNG, 2014 | CAST: YUM JUNG-AH, MOON JUNG-HEE, KIM YOUNG-AE, KIM KANG-WOO, HWANG JEONG-MIN, CHUN WOO-HEE
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 103 MINUTES
In this pro-union flick, the 99% rise up after a bunch of female employees at a chain retail giant (think Wal-Mart) get laid off via text message. When they decide to go on strike, management calls in the thugs…
CITY ON FIRE | 龍虎風雲
RINGO LAM, 1987 | CAST: CHOW YUN-FAT, DANNY LEE, SUEN YUET, ROY CHEUNG
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35mm | 100 MINUTES
Ringo Lam’s classic heist-gone-bad flick is the movie that made Chow Yun-fat (playing an undercover cop) a star and provided Quentin Tarantino with the basis for Reservoir Dogs. The film features heartbreak to spare for the little people trying to eke out a living at the end of a gun.
COLD WAR | 寒戰
LONGMAN LEUNG, SUNNY LUK, 2012 | CAST: AARON KWOK, TONY LEUNG KAR-FAI, ANDY LAU
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | DCP | 102 MINUTES
Winner of nine Hong Kong Film Awards, including “Best Film,” Best Director,” “Best Screenplay,” “Best Actor,” and “Best New Performer,” COLD WAR was Hong Kong’s 2012 box office sensation. This cop thriller stars Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Kar-Fai as two high-ranking officers whose rivalry leads to an intense power struggle over an explosive rescue operation.
COPS VS. THUGS | 県警対組織暴力
KINJI FUKASAKU, 1975 | CAST: BUNTA SUGAWARA, HIROKI MATSUKATA, KEN TAKAKURA, MIKIO NARITA, NOBUO KANEKO
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 35MM | 100 MINUTES
Bunta Sugawara plays a cop so corrupt he’s basically a member of the yakuza—delivering witnesses to his criminal buddies and looking the other way when they murder rivals. But now a war is breaking out and this bad lieutenant is going to have to choose sides.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
EMPIRE OF LUST | 순수의시대
AHN SANG-HOON, 2015 | CAST: SHIN HA-KYUN, JANG HYUK, KANG HANNA, KANG HA-NEUL
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH LIVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES | DCP | 113 MINUTES
A gorgeous period actioner set during the founding days of Joseon Dynasty in the early 14th century, Empire of Lust follows three men who engage in a power struggle within the palace walls, caught in the whirlwind of love, lust, greed, betrayal, and revenge.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
A FOOL | 一個勺子
CHEN JIANBIN, 2014 | CAST: CHEN JIAN BIN, WANG XUEBING, JIN SHIJIA
CHINA | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 105 MINUTES
Chen Jianbin’s directorial debut is a harsh noir about an honest farmer’s efforts to help a young homeless man that instead set off a chain of disasters, serving as a reminder of man’s inhumanity when faced with greed.
FULL ALERT | 高度戒備
RINGO LAM, 1997 | CAST: LAU CHING-WAN, FRANCIS NG, AMANDA LEE, MONICA CHAN, JACK KAO
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 98 MINUTES
Ringo Lam’s last great movie before his 12-year retirement is a dark, glittering gem of a police procedural that works both as a heist flick and as a tombstone for both pre-Handover Hong Kong and the action genre.
U.S. PREMIERE
FULL STRIKE | 全力扣殺
DEREK KWOK & HENRI WONG, 2015 | CAST: JOSIE HO, EKIN CHENG, RONALD CHENG, TSE KWAN-HO, ANDREW LAM, WILFRED LAU
HONG KONG/CHINA | CANTONESE, HAKKA, AND ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 108 MINUTES
Racquet sport becomes martial art when a down-and-out gang of has-beens form a badminton team to win back their self-respect in this hyperactive, totally surreal comedy from Derek Kwok, the co-director of Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West.
FUNUKE, SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS! | 腑抜けども、悲しみの愛を見せろ
DAIHACHI YOSHIDA, 2007 | CAST: ERIKA SATO, MASATOSHI NAGASE, HIROMI NAGASAKU
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 112 MINUTES
Seduction, persecution, prostitution, suicide, and more greet the Wago family’s three siblings who return home for their parent’s funeral after they’re killed while trying to save a kitten. Yoshida’s twisted, smart, and deftly handled first film is as black as a comedy can get, yet wrapped in a lighthearted exterior.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
INSANITY | 暴瘋語
DAVID LEE, 2014 | CAST: LAU CHING-WAN, HUANG XIAOMING, ALEX FONG, FIONA SIT, NINA PAW
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 99 MINUTES
In this psychological thriller produced by Derek Yee (The Great Magician,One Night in Mongkok), a psychiatrist (Huang Xiaoming) is lured to the dark side of the mind by his patient and convicted murderer (Lau Ching-Wan).
THE ISLE | 섬
KIM KI-DUK, 2000 | CAST: CHO JAE-HYUN, SUH JUNG, PARK SEONG-HEE, JANG HANG-SEON
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 85 MINUTES
Kim Ki-duk helped put Korean cinema on the map with this art-house exploitation shocker about a cop on the run who winds up at a floating hotel owned by a woman who might be insane, or just really in love. You are not prepared.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
IT’S ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG
EMILY TING, 2014 | CAST: JAMIE CHUNG, BRYAN GREENBERG, RICHARD NG
HONG KONG/USA | ENGLISH | FORMAT: DCP | 78 MINUTES
This compelling walk-and-talk romance à laRichard Linklater, centered on two Hong Kong expats who randomly cross paths one night, is as much about the attraction between the leads as it is about the love of Hong Kong.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
KABUKICHO LOVE HOTEL | さよなら歌舞伎町
RYUICHI HIROKI, 2014 | CAST: SHOTA SOMETANI, ATSUKO MAEDA, LEE EUN-WOO, ROY (SON IL-KWON)
JAPAN | JAPANESE AND KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 136 MINUTES
Taking place over 24 hours in a Tokyo love hotel, this steamy and poignant character-driven ensemble drama from director Ryuichi Hiroki (Vibrator) looks at ordinary people as they experience life-changing events.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM | 味園ユニバース
NOBUHIRO YAMASHITA, 2015 | CAST: SUBARU SHIBUTANI, FUMI NIKAIDO, SARINA SUZUKI, KATSUMI KAWAHARA
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 103 MINUTES
From Nobuhiro Yamashita (director of Linda Linda Linda and Tamako in Moratorium) comes this romantic comedy about an amnesiac man who, as the memory of his criminal past slowly returns, tries to find redemption and love through rock music.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
THE LAST REEL |ដុំហ្វីលចុងកាាយ
KULIKAR SOTHO, 2014 | CAST: MA RYNET, ROUS MONY, DY SAVETH, HUN SOPHY
CAMBODIA | KHMER WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 106 MINUTES
This gorgeous and engaging drama about a rebellious Cambodian girl determined to shoot the missing ending of a 40-year-old movie starring her mother is a meditation on Cambodia’s past and present, and the power of art.
LITTLE BIG MASTER | 五個小孩的校長
ADRIAN KWAN, 2015 | CAST: MIRIAM YEUNG, LOUIS KOO, WINNIE HO
HONG KONG/CHINA | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 112 MINUTES
Hong Kong’s runaway box-office hit is a powerful drama based on the true story of a principal assigned to a failing rural kindergarten with only five students: if one of them drops out, the school closes.
THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN | 太陽を盗んだ男
KAZUHIKO HASEGAWA, 1979 | CAST: BUNTA SUGAWARA, KENJI SAWADA
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 147 MINUTES
A ballsy satire about a high-school science teacher (rock-star Kenji Sawada) who builds an atomic bomb at home and uses it to try to get The Rolling Stones to play in Japan, all the while playing cat and mouse with a police detective sporting a buzz cut (Bunta Sugawara).
U.S. PREMIERE
MEETING DR. SUN | 行動代號孫中山
YEE CHIH-YEN, 2014 | CAST: ZHAN HUAI-TING, MATTHEW WEI, JOSEPH CHANG, BRYAN CHANG
TAIWAN | MANDARIN AND TAIWANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 94 MINUTES
A deadpan high-school noir about two gangs of impoverished boys competing to steal a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (the founding father of the Republic of China) so they can sell it as scrap metal. Schoolyard slapstick becomes a call for Taiwan’s youth to wake up.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER | 님아, 그강을건너지마오
JIN MO-YOUNG, 2014 | CAST: JO BYEONG-MAN, KANG KYE-YEOL
KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 85 MINUTES
In Jin Mo-young’s critically acclaimed documentary—which is also the most successful independent film in Korean history—a couple who have been married for 76 years face death with dignity and the strength of love.
NIHON KYOKAKU-DEN (TALES OF CHIVALRY IN JAPAN) | 日本侠客伝
MASAHIRO MAKINO, 1964 | CAST: KEN TAKAKURA, KINNOSUKE NAKAMURA, HIROKI MATSUKATA
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 35MM | 98 MINUTES
The first film in Toei’s immensely popular ninkyo film series chronicles a bitter feud that brews and breaks out between two rival yakuza clans. Honor is stained, blood is shed, hilarity does not ensue.
U.S. PREMIERE
PALE MOON | 紙の月
DAIHACHI YOSHIDA, 2014 CAST: RIE MIYAZAWA, MITSUYO KAKUTA, SOSUKE IKEMATSU
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 126 MINUTES
A housewife turns to a sophisticated embezzlement scheme to support an affair with a college student in NYAFF director-in-focus Daihachi Yoshida’s mesmerizing fantasy-drama.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
PARTNERS IN CRIME | 共犯
CHANG JUNG-CHI, 2014 | CAST: WU CHIEN-HO, TENG YU-KAI, CHENG KAI-YUAN, YAO AI-NING
TAIWAN-HONG KONG | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 88 MINUTES
Director Chang Jung-chi’s second feature and follow-up to Touch of the Light (Taiwan’s foreign-language Oscar entry in 2012) is an atmospheric and taut high-school mystery-drama centered on the apparent suicide of a student.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
PERMANENT NOBARA | パーマネント野ばら
DAIHACHI YOSHIDA, 2010 | CAST: MIHO KANNO, EIKO KOIKE, CHIZURU IKEWAKI, YOSUKE EGUCHI
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: HDCAM | 99 MINUTES
A happy-go-wacky relationship film about a recently divorced woman (Miho Kanno) who returns with her young daughter to her tiny hometown. There, she reunites with her mother (Mari Natsuki) who runs the only hair salon in town, Permanent Nobara, an extraordinary place that provides a signature perm and a shame-free confessional for the local women to discuss their most personal love and sex issues.
THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG | 그때그사람들
IM SANG-SOO, 2005 | CAST: HAN SUK-KYU, BAEK YOON-SIK, SONG JAE-HO
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 104 MINUTES
One of the most controversial Korean movies of all time, Im Sang-soo’s black comedy tells the tale of the 1979 assassination of military dictator President Park by the head of the Korean CIA. It’s all the more relevant today because Park’s daughter is currently president of Korea.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
RED AMNESIA |闖入者
WANG XIAOSHUAI, 2014 | CAST: LU ZHONG, SHI LIU, FENG YUANZHENG, QIN HAO, AMANDA QIN
CHINA | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 115 MINUTES
Beijing Bicycle director Wang Xiaoshuai’s latest film is a blood-curdling mystery about the harassment of an elderly widow, and her haunting by a mysterious young boy who brings back ghosts of past choices, moral compromises, and the long shadows of the Cultural Revolution.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
REVIVRE | 화장
IM KWON-TAEK, 2014 | CAST: AHN SUNG-KI, KIM QYU-RI, KIM HO-JUNG
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 93 MINUTES
Legendary 78-year-old Korean filmmaker Im Kwon-taek (Beyond the Years, Chihwaseon: Painted Fire) delivers a powerful and vital film—his 102nd!—about the indignities of old age and the inferno of suppressed desire, anchored by a commanding performance from veteran actor Ahn Sung-gi (Nowhere to Hide) as a marketing director who finds himself attracted to a younger employee while dutifully tending to his dying wife.
U.S. PREMIERE
RIVER ROAD | 家在水草丰茂的地方
LI RUIJIN, 2014 | CAST: TANG LONG, GUO SONGTAO
CHINA | YUGUR WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 103 MINUTES
Bartel and Adikeer, two Yugur ethnic minority brothers, set out with their camel across the deserts of northwestern China in search of their parents in this masterfully lensed nomadic road movie.
WORLD PREMIERE
ROBBERY | 老笠
FIRE LEE, 2015 | CAST: DEREK TSANG, J. AIRE, LAM SUET, STANLEY FUNG
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 90 MINUTES
An absurdist blood-soaked Grand Guignol with attitude to burn, Fire Lee’s indie black comedy about an overnight shift in a convenience store starts with a simple robbery, then moves on to mass murder, terrorist bombings, police shoot-outs, and even the afterlife.
NEW YORK PREMIERE (U.S. CONTINENTAL PREMIERE)
THE ROYAL TAILOR | 상의원
LEE WON-SUK, 2014 | CAST: HAN SUK-KYU, KO SOO, PARK SHIN-HYE, YOO YEON-SEOK
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 127 MINUTES
An eye-popping historical comedy about the king’s tailor (played by Korean icon Han Suk-kyu) encountering a younger rival. It’s a stylish fashion showdown as the queen favors the younger needle-slinger, while the king sticks with his more stately (and stodgy) designer.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
RUINED HEART: ANOTHER LOVE STORY BETWEEN A CRIMINAL AND A WHORE
KHAVN (aka KHAVN DE LA CRUZ), 2014 | CAST: TADANOBU ASANO, NATHALIA ACEVEDO, ELENA KAZAN
THE PHILIPPINES/GERMANY | FORMAT: DCP | 73 MINUTES
Neon-smeared pop poetry materializes on screen in this (almost) dialogue-free gangland art flick shot in the slums of Manila and starring Tadanobu Asano (Ichi the Killer) and shot by longtime Wong Kar Wai cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
EAST COAST PREMIERE
SECOND CHANCE | 逆轉勝
KUNG WEN-YEN, 2014 | CAST: WEN SHANG-YI, P.J. HUANG, ANGEL YAO, JASON WANG
TAIWAN | MANDARIN AND TAIWANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 105 MINUTES
Like Rocky except for billiards instead of boxing, and if Rocky Balboa was a Type-A, overachieving schoolgirl, this flick features a who’s who of billiard champs as it becomes a fist-pumping sports movie.
U.S. PREMIERE
SOCIALPHOBIA | 소셜포비아
HONG SEOK-JAE, 2014 | CAST: BYUN YO-HAN, LEE JOO-SEUNG
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 100 MINUTES
Four friends track down a cyberbully only to find that she’s hung herself. But two of them are convinced it’s murder, and the film becomes a grungy, realistic murder mystery set in the twitchy world of social media.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
SOLOMON’S PERJURY PART 1: SUSPICION | ソロモンの偽証 前編
IZURU NARUSHIMA, 2015 | CAST:RYOKO FUJINO, ANNA ISHII, TOMITA MIU, SHIMIZU HIROYA
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 121 MINUTES
In the first of a twisty two-parter, high-school students find the dead body of one of their classmates in the snow. Not convinced by the conclusion that he killed himself, they begin an investigation that eventually leads them to conducting a mock trial at school.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
SOLOMON’S PERJURY PART 2: JUDGEMENT | ソロモンの偽証 後編
IZURU NARUSHIMA, 2015 | CAST: RYOKO FUJINO, ANNA ISHII, MIU TOMITA, HIROYA SHIMIZU
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 149 MINUTES
Wrapping up the multitude of mysteries from the first part, the second film focuses on the trial, where both shocking and subtle revelations send irrevocable tremors through the high school and the adults surrounding the case.
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D | 智取威虎山
TSUI HARK, 2014 | CAST: ZHANG HANYU, TONY LEUNG KA-FAI, LIN GENGXIN, YU NAN, TONG LIYA, HAN GENG, CHEN XIAO
CHINA | MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 141 MINUTES
Tsui Hark (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame) is back doing what he does best: delivering a popcorn thrillride. This adaptation of Qu Bo’s adventure novel, set in the late 1940s, mixes elements of spy movies, Chinese civil war sagas, and Mainland People’s Liberation Army actioners into a 3D blockbuster spectacle that was custom-made for the big screen.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
TAKSU | 欲動
KIKI SUGINO, 2014 | CAST: YOKO MITSUYA, TAKUMI SAITOH, KIKI SUGINO, TOM MES
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 97 MINUTES
Two couples find their needs and desires driving them further apart in this intensely erotic and melancholy drama set in Bali.
NEW YORK PREMIERE
TOKYO TRIBE
SION SONO, 2014 | CAST: RYOHEI SUZUKI, DAIS YOUNG, NANA SEINO, SHUNSUKE DAITO, TAKUYA ISHIDA, YUI ICHIKAWA, MIKA KANO, SHOTA SOMETANI, SHOKO NAKAGAWA, RYUTA SATO
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 116 MINUTES
Told almost entirely in hip-hop, Sion Sono’s berserk rap musical about warring gangs in Tokyo is full of tanks, B-boy battles, and so many baroque visual flourishes that the entire movie feels like Versailles stabbing you in both eyes.
Tokyo Tribe will be released in the U.S. by XLrator Media in the Fall of 2015.
NEW YORK PREMIERE (INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL PREMIERE)
TWENTY | 스물
LEE BYEONG-HEON, 2015 | CAST: KIM WOO-BIN, LEE JOON-HO, KANG HA-NEUL
KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 115 MINUTES
Three friends enter their twenties with sex on the mind, easy access to soju, and absolutely no clue how to navigate college, money, or women… or really anything else in the world. A painfully hilarious reminder about how awkward the transition into adulthood can be.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
TWO THUMBS UP | 衝鋒車
LAU HO-LEUNG, 2015 | CAST: FRANCIS NG, SIMON YAM, PATRICK TAM, MARK CHENG
HONG KONG | CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 102 MINUTES
Old-school Hong Kong action-comedy at its finest, Two Thumbs Up stars Simon Yam and Francis Ng as ex-cons who disguise themselves as policemen to pull a heist. But it turns out they kind of like being cops…
NORTH AMERICAN FESTIVAL PREMIERE
VENGEANCE OF AN ASSASSIN | เร็วทะลุเร็ว
PANNA RITTIKRAI, 2014 | CAST: CHUPONG CHANGPRUNG, NATHAWUT BOONRUBSU, PING LUMPRAPLOENG, NISACHON TUAMSUNGNOEN
THAILAND | THAI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | DIGITAL PROJECTION | 99 MINUTES
The final film from action legend Panna Rittikrai (Ong-Bak films)—the kinetic master of mayhem—pulls out all the stops to deliver a rough-and-ready action flick sporting everything from badass games of soccer to gun fu.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
VIOLATOR
DODO DAYAO, 2014 | CAST: VICTOR NERI, ANTHONY FALCON, R.K. BAGATSING
THE PHILIPPINES | TAGALOG WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 115 MINUTES
The sole horror movie in this year’s lineup, Violator sees five men become trapped at a police station during a typhoon with a young man who claims to be Satan. A barebones indie that achieves a kind of monumental evil majesty as it progresses.
WAIKIKI BROTHERS | 와이키키브라더스
YIM SOON-RYE, 2001 | CAST: LEE EOL, PARK WON-SANG, HWANG JUN-MIN
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 35MM | 109 MINUTES
In this modern Korean classic, a failed cover band returns to the lead guitarist’s hometown to try to get a fresh start, but the past, women, booze, and drugs threaten to break them apart.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
THE WHISTLEBLOWER | 제보자
YIM SOON-RYE, 2014
SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: DCP | 113 MINUTES
The All The President’s Men of bioresearch, Yim Soon-Rye (one of Korea’s few female directors) turns in a sharply suspenseful powerhouse thriller based on the true story of one of the biggest scientific frauds of the 21st century.
WOLVES, PIGS AND MEN | 狼と豚と人間
KINJI FUKASAKU, 1964 | CAST: KEN TAKAKURA, SANAE NAKAHARA, SHINJIRO EBARA, KINYA KITAOJI
JAPAN | JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | FORMAT: 35MM | 95 MINUTES
Kinji Fukasaku’s first yakuza masterpiece is an angry tale of three brothers who walk and work the mean streets of a postwar Tokyo slum and buy themselves a world of trouble over a bag of stolen cash.
-
Julie Taymor’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM to Open in Theaters June 22 | TRAILER
Julie Taymor’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will open in select cinemas on June 22 followed by showings at select theaters nationwide . The production is directed by Julie Taymor (Frida, The Magic Flute, Across The Universe, Titus) the visionary director of the smash hit Broadway show The Lion King. Taymor presents a multi-camera film capturing the original 2014 live performance at the Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn and blends the worlds of cinema and theater in the process. The film opened to rave reviews at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and boasts a stellar cast, including David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond), Kathryn Hunter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Tina Benko (The Avengers) and Max Casella (Blue Jasmine).
Of all Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most phantasmagorical, featuring fairies, spells, and hallucinatory lovers. Julie Taymor turns out a production that’s visually breathtaking, funny, sexy and darkly poetic. Produced by Ealing Studios, Londinium Films, in association with Theatre for a New Audience Producers, Lynn Hendee (Ender’s Game, The Tempest) and Ben Latham-Jones (Nina, The D-Train) joined forces with Taymor to create this exclusive filmed production. With cinematography by the Academy Award nominee, Rodrigo Prieto (The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo), and music by Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Frida, Heat ), this immersive, inventive cinematic experience brings Taymor’s acclaimed production to the big screen, giving audiences from around the world the opportunity to see this critically lauded, sell-out show.
https://vimeo.com/103802510
-
Strand Releasing Grabs Puerto Rican Transgender Documentary MALA MALA For Release in U.S. | TRAILER
Strand Releasing is acquiring North American rights to Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ critically acclaimed documentary MALA MALA. A celebration of the trans and drag communities in Puerto Rico, the film made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will have its highly anticipated debut in theaters on July 1st at the IFC Center.
Strand has a rich history of distributing a wide array of LGBT films from around the world, including Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Daniel Ribeiro’s THE WAY HE LOOKS, James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., and Hong Khaou’s LILTING. They are also distributing the upcoming Alanté Kavaïté’s THE SUMMER OF SANGAILÉ, Anucha Boonyawatana’s THE BLUE HOUR, and Dean Francis’ DROWN.
MALA MALA is a unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ activists, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, MALA MALA portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows. Filmed over the course of a historic three-year period, MALA MALA records the beginning of a new transliberation movement in Puerto Rico, as trans people came out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Santini and Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctly binary human experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzEy6pJ80nw
-
Award-Winning Thriller TWO STEP Sets Release Date, Opens July 31st | TRAILER
Director Alex R. Johnson’s award-winning thriller TWO STEP begins its limited theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles, premiering on July 31st at the Village East Cinema, and opening in LA the following week. TWO STEP will be available across major iVOD/cVOD platforms starting on September 1st.
TWO STEP is a throwback Texas thriller in which the lives of James, a directionless college dropout, and Webb, a career criminal with his back against the wall, violently collide. Kicked out of college, James visits Grams, his only remaining family, who dies shortly after his arrival. He finds consolation in the company of Grams’ neighbor, Dot, a dance teacher, as he figures out his next move. While settling Grams’ affairs, James learns she’s been the victim of the ‘Grandparent Scam’, in which someone posing as James has been slowly bilking her out of thousands. But before James can go looking for the culprit, he shows up at the front door, desperate for money. The culprit, Webb, has his own problems in the form of Duane, who has ordered Webb to pay an old debt or else. And if Webb can’t get it from Grams, James will have to do – no matter who stands in his way.
Jason Tyrrell, Director of Acquisitions and Distribution for Traverse Media said, ‘TWO STEP is one of the most riveting films to come out of the festival circuit in 2014, and every moment of the fantastic imagery and powerful performances stick with you long after the credits roll. We are thrilled to be bringing Alex’s vision to a wider audience this summer’.
After premiering at the 2014 SXSW film festival, TWO STEP went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the New Hampshire International Film Festival and the Best Narrative Feature award at the Flyaway Film Festival. It has also played at the International Film Festival of India, Cucalorus Film Festival, Vancouver International, Reykjavik International and many more.
https://vimeo.com/93220155
-
South African film AYANDA to Open 36th Durban International Film Festival
The South African film AYANDA, directed by Sara Blecher has been selected as the opening night film of the 36th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) which takes place from July16 to 26 this year.
Set in the vibrant, Afropolitan community of Johannesburg’s Yeoville, Ayanda is a coming-of-age story of a twenty-one year old Afro-hipster, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery when she has to fight to save her late father’s legacy – a motor repair shop – when it is threatened with closure. She’s thrown into a world of greasy overalls, gender stereotypes and abandoned vintage cars once loved, now in need of a young woman’s re-inventive touch to bring them back to life again.
The film stars Fulu Mugovhani (of Scandal fame) and Nigerian actor OC Ukeje, with a star South African cast including Ntathi Moshesh, Kenneth Nkosi, Jafta Mamabola, Thomas Gumede, Sihle Xaba and veteran star of stage and screen Vanessa Cooke.
“We are pleased that this feel-good film will open this year’s festival,” says Pedro Pimenta, Director of the DIFF. “The opening film of this, the most prestigious international film event in SA, needs to reflect a clear priority established by the festival to reach and develop local audiences.”
This is the second opening night film at DIFF for director Sara Blecher. Her film Otelo Burning opened the 2011 edition of DIFF to critical acclaim. “We are very proud of Ayanda and are thrilled to have it selected as the opening film at this year’s festival. The film had a very successful screening in Cannes last monthwe look forward to screening it to festival-goers in Durban,” says Blecher.
“Ayanda offers an interesting and positive convergence of talents style , resources and distribution potential for the film market.” says Pimenta. “There is a real sense that reaching an audience has been the most important motivation equally shared by the filmmakers and their financiers in its creation.”
“Ayanda celebrates the diversity of our country and revels in the fact that we are a multi-cultural, colourful and exciting melting pot of Africa,” says co-producer Terry Pheto. “With this film we have tried to capture the Afropolitan nature of our country and the energy of its people.”
“What is also particularly encouraging in terms of the South African film industry is that the film, originally titled, Andani and the Mechanic, was a project in the 2013 Durban FilmMart, the co-production and finance forum of the DIFF and the Durban Film Office.” says Pimenta. “The film is one of five titles that have been part of the DFM process over the years that will be screened this year at DIFF.”
The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescapes Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 8th Talents Durban (presented in cooperation with the Berlinale Talents) and the 6th Durban FilmMart co-production market (presented in partnership with the Durban Film Office).
-
Cinedigm to Release LIFE Starring Robert Pattinson in Fall 2015 | VIDEO
Following its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, Cinedigm has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Anton Corbijn’s LIFE, starring Dane DeHaan (Life After Beth; Kill Your Darlings; Place Beyond The Pines), Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Cosmopolis, Maps To The Stars), and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Sexy Beast, Schindler’s List ). LIFE will open with a theatrical, digital and television VOD release beginning in Fall 2015.
Corbijn’s follow-up to A Most Wanted Man, LIFE captures the nuances and complexities of the relationship between photographer and subject in a way rarely seen or understood by someone outside the business. In a nod to Corbijn’s own past experience, the film is told from the perspective of the Life photographer Dennis Stock (played by Pattinson) who meets and profiles Dean (DeHaan) for the magazine, turning out some of Dean’s most iconic photographs.
“Life gorgeously chronicles the back story behind the 1955 photo spread that brought moody young heartthrob James Dean to the attention of the American public seven months before his death,” said Yolanda Macias, Cinedigm’s Executive Vice President of Acquisitions. “Beautiful to look at, powerful to experience, Life, using an Eisenhower-era America as prism, brilliantly presages America’s coming celebrity culture.”
The film was produced by Iain Canning’s See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech, Slow West), and is the second project in an ongoing collaboration between Corbijn and Canning, following their work together on Control. The script was written by Luke Davies (Candy, Lion).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-0Zym0vFWw
-
World Premiere of The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Open 53rd New York Film Festival | TRAILER
Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will make its World Premiere as the Opening Night selection of the 53rd New York Film Festival taking place September 25 to October 11, 2015, and which will kick off at Alice Tully Hall.
A true story, the film is based on Philippe Petit’s memoir To Reach the Clouds and stars Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit, the French high-wire artist who achieved the feat of walking between the Twin Towers in 1974. The Walk will be the second 3D feature selected for the Opening Night Gala since Ang Lee’s Life of Pi in 2012 and also marks Zemeckis’s return to the Festival after Flight, the 2012 Closing Night Gala selection. The film will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on October 2, 2015.
The film also stars Academy Award® winner Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, Steve Valentine, Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony, Caesar Domboy and Benedict Samuel. Directed by Zemeckis, the screenplay is by Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne, based on the book To Reach the Clouds by Philippe Petit, and produced by Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke.
Robert Zemeckis said: “I am extremely honored and grateful that our film has been selected to open the 53rd New York Film Festival. The Walk is a New York story, so I am delighted to be presenting the film to New York audiences first. My hope is that Festival audiences will be immersed in the spectacle, but also to be enraptured by the celebration of a passionate artist who helped give the wonderful towers a soul.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1EmTKAWIw
-
SUFFRAGETTE Starring Meryl Streep to Open 59th BFI London Film Festival| TRAILER
SUFFRAGETTE, starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep, will receive its European premiere on Wednesday October 7, 2015, as the Opening Night film of the 59th BFI London Film Festival. SUFFRAGETTE is the first feature film to tell the story of the ordinary British women at the turn of the last century who risked everything in the fight for equality and the right to vote.
The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. It is directed by Sarah Gavron, who returns to the Festival for a third time, re-teaming with her Brick Lane screenwriter Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady).
SUFFRAGETTE is an intense drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement as they fought for the right to vote, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with an increasingly brutal State. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalized and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality – their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. The character of Maud, played by Carey Mulligan, is one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is both heart-breaking and inspirational.
The 59th BFI London Film Festival runs from Wednesday October 7, to Sunday October 18, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dVtVekGbjE
-
2015 deadCENTER Film Festival to Open With ‘Best of Enemies’ and ‘Rolling Papers’
For the first time in its 15-year history, 2015 deadCENTER Film Festival will roll-out two official Opening Night films: “Best of Enemies,” at 6 p.m. and “Rolling Papers” at 8:30 p.m.at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr.
The 15th Annual deadCENTER Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 14 at five locations in downtown Oklahoma City.
“Best of Enemies” is a feature documentary directed by Robert Gordon and Oscar winner Moran Neville that follows William F. Buckley, leader of the new conservative movement, and Gore Vidal, leftist novelist and polemicist, as they battle for the soul of America in a series of debates hosted by ABC during the 1968 Presidential Conventions. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Running time: 87 min.
“Rolling Papers” (pictured above) is a feature documentary directed by Mitch Dickman about the Denver Post’s Ricardo Baca, the world’s first marijuana editor of a major newspaper. Policy news, strain reviews, parenting advice and edible recipes are the new norm on a new beat: pot journalism. Running time: 79 min.