• 10 Animated Shorts Move Ahead in 2012 Oscar Race

     

    [caption id="attachment_2904" align="alignnone" width="550"] Tram – Michaela Pavlátová[/caption]

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 85th Academy Awards®. Fifty-six pictures had originally qualified in the category.

    The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

    Adam and Dog,” Minkyu Lee, director (Lodge Films)

    “Combustible,” Katsuhiro Otomo, director (Sunrise Inc.)

    “Dripped,” Léo Verrier, director (ChezEddy)

    “The Eagleman Stag,” Mikey Please, director, and Benedict Please, music scores and sound design (Royal College of Art)

    “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Raul Garcia, director, and Stephan Roelants, producer (Melusine Productions, R&R Communications Inc., Les Armateurs, The Big Farm)

    “Fresh Guacamole,” PES, director (PES)

    “Head over Heels,” Timothy Reckart, director, and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, producer (National Film and Television School)

    “Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”,” David Silverman, director (Gracie Films)

    “Paperman,” John Kahrs, director (Disney Animation Studios)

    “Tram,” Michaela Pavlátová, director, and Ron Dyens, producer (Sacrebleu Productions)

    The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

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  • French, Jewish, Gay comedy Let My People Go to be Released in US in January 2013

     [caption id="attachment_2902" align="alignnone" width="1020"]Nicolas Maury as Ruben and Carmen Maura as Rachel in LET MY PEOPLE GO! A film by Mikael Buch. A Zeitgeist Films release.[/caption]

    The French, Jewish, Gay comedy Let My People Go! is coming to America; the film by Mikael Buch will
    open at the Quad Cinema in New York on January 11 and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal and Town Center on January 18, 2013.  A national release will follow.

    Described as, A sweet and hilarious fusion of gay romantic comedy, Jewish family drama and French bedroom farce, Mikael Buch’s Let My People Go! follows the travails and daydreams of the lovelorn Reuben (Regular Lovers’ Nicolas Maury), a French-Jewish gay mailman living in fairytale Finland (where he got his MA in “Comparative Sauna Cultures”) with his gorgeous Nordic boyfriend. But just before Passover, a series of mishaps and a lovers’ quarrel exile the heartbroken Reuben back to Paris and his zany family—including Almodovar goddess Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver) as his ditzy mom, and Truffaut regular Jean-François Stévenin as his lothario father.

     

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  • The Show Still Goes On: Doc NYC Starts Tonight at IFC Center in NYC


    DOC NYC – Yes- The Show (Still) Goes On!

    November 8-15 at the IFC Center and SVA Theatre

    Festival to Partner with Echelon Donates for City Harvest Food Drive
    During Event to Benefit Hurricane’s Neediest Victims

    “One of the city’s grandest events.” The Wall Street Journal

    “[Has] shot to the top tier of our most essential festivals list.” New York Magazine

    Jared Leto brings his film-about-his-band Artifact to the Opening Night of the Doc NYC Festival, Thursday, November 8th, 2012, and will be there in person.

    NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2012 – Despite the setbacks Hurricane Sandy put in its way, DOC NYC organizers are pleased to say that the 3rd annual festival is set to launch, as planned, this Thursday, November 8 through November 15, with eight documentary-filled days of films, special events, panels, and masterclasses at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Ave.) and SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd St.).

    With the festival’s production hub, the IFC Center, closed last week, most of its staff dealing with power outages and displacement, and the serious effect the storm has had on ticket sales, there’s been a big impact on preparations—but the show will indeed go on. Said DOC NYC Artistic Director, Thom Powers: “There’s no question that the hurricane was a blow to us. Normally, we’d anticipate 40% of our ticket sales to happen during the week of the power outage, so we have a lot to make up. But we’re determined give our filmmakers and audiences the best festival possible.”

    And it’s set to be a terrific festival! In addition to the 115 films and events, starting with opening night presentations Artifact and Venus and Serena, the festival will welcome dozens of special guests (several from out of town): Jared Leto, Andy Summers, Antony Hegarty, Pete Seeger, Rufus Wainwright, Ice-T, and some of the country’s top documentary filmmakers, including Ken Burns, Barbara Kopple, Alex Gibney, Jonathan Demme, Joe Berlinger, Rory Kennedy, and Michael Moore. In addition to post-screening discussions with these and other participating filmmakers and film subjects, the five men wrongly incarcerated for the crime detailed in the closing night film, The Central Park Five, will be brought together for the first time since their release for an onstage discussion.

    DOC NYC organizers are also pleased to announce that the festival has partnered with Echelon Donates—a non-profit founded by fans of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured in Artifact—to run a food drive to help those most seriously affected by Hurricane Sandy, during this year’s event. From November 8-11, film-goers will be able to drop off non-perishable items for City Harvest, at collection boxes located in the SVA Theatre.

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  • Korean Film Nameless Gangster Among Nominees for 2012 Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, Republic of Korea)

    Nominees in the sixth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) were announced with 34 films from 18 Asia Pacific countries and areas nominated in the region’s highest accolade in film.

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  • 8 Doc Shorts on Oscar’s 2012 Shortlist

    [caption id="attachment_2896" align="alignnone" width="550"]Open Heart[/caption]

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 85th Academy Awards® has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar® nominations.

    The eight films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: 

     


      “The Education of Mohammad Hussein,” Loki Films 

     “Inocente,” Shine Global, Inc. 

     “Kings Point,” Kings Point Documentary, Inc. 

     “Mondays at Racine,” Cynthia Wade Productions 

     “Open Heart,” Urban Landscapes Inc. 

     “ParaÍso,” The Strangebird Company 

     “The Perfect Fit,” SDI Productions Ltd. 

     “Redemption,” Downtown Docs

    The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

    Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at The Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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  • Three Documentaries Nominated for European Film Awards

    [caption id="attachment_2894" align="alignnone" width="550"]HIVER NOMADE (Winter Nomads) [/caption]

    The European Film Academy announced the three films nominated in the category EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2012. 

    HIVER NOMADE (Winter Nomads)
    Switzerland, 90 min
    DIRECTED BY: Manuel von Stürler
    WRITTEN BY: Claude Muret & Manuel von Stürler
    PRODUCED BY: Elisabeth Garbar & Heinz Dill

    LONDON – THE MODERN BABYLON
    UK, 128 min
    DIRECTED BY: Julien Temple
    PRODUCED BY: Amanda Temple & Stephen Malit

    LE THÉ OU L‘ELECTRICITÉ
    (Tea or Electricity)
    Belgium / France / Morocco, 93 min
    WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Jérôme le Maire
    PRODUCED BY: Isabelle Truc, Isabelle Mathy & Khadija Alami

    The winner will be announced at the 25th European Film Awards on December 1, 2012, in Malta.

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  • Five Debut Films Nominated for EFA Discovery Award

    ,

    [caption id="attachment_2332" align="alignnone" width="553"]10 TIMER TIL PARADIS (Teddy Bear)[/caption]

    The European Film Academy announced the nominees for the EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2012 – Prix FIPRESCI, an award presented annually as part of the European Film Awards to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film. 

    NOMINATED ARE:

     

    10 TIMER TIL PARADIS (Teddy Bear)
    Denmark, 92 min
    DIRECTED BY: Mads Matthiesen
    WRITTEN BY: Mads Matthiesen & Martin Pieter Zandvliet
    PRODUCED BY: Morten Kjems Juhl

    BROKEN
    UK, 90 min
    DIRECTED BY: Rufus Norris
    WRITTEN BY: Mark O’Rowe 
    PRODUCED BY: Dixie Linder, Tally Garner, Nick Marston & 
    Bill Kenwright

    KAUWBOY
    The Netherlands, 81 min
    DIRECTED BY: Boudewijn Koole 
    WRITTEN BY: Boudewijn Koole & Jolein Laarman 
    PRODUCED BY: Jan van der Zanden & Wilant Boekelman

    ПОРТРЕТ В СУМЕРКАХ / PORTRET V SUMERKHAK 
    (Twilight Portrait)
    Russia, 105 min
    DIRECTED BY: Angelina Nikonova  
    WRITTEN BY: Angelina Nikonova & Olga Dihovichnaya 
    PRODUCED BY: Leonid Ogaryov, Angelina Nikonova & 
    Olga Dihovichnaya

    DIE VERMISSTEN (Reported Missing)
    Germany, 86 min
    DIRECTED BY: Jan Speckenbach  
    WRITTEN BY: Jan Speckenbach & Melanie Rohde 
    PRODUCED BY: Anke Hartwig

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  • Starlet from SXSW Festival to Open in NY and LA on November 9th

    Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and official selections at SXSW Film Festival 2012 and Locarno Film Festival 2012, will open in New York and Los Angeles on November 9th.

    Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane played by Dree Hemingway, and 85-year-old Sadie played by Besedka Johnson. Besedka Johnson is the winner of the OUTSTANDING ACTING award at SXSW Film Festival 2012.

     

    [ Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane (Dree Hemingway), and 85-year-old Sadie (Besedka Johnson), two women whose worlds collide in California’s San Fernando Valley. Jane spends her time getting high with her dysfunctional roommates, Melissa and Mikey, while taking care of her Chihuahua, Starlet. Sadie, an elderly widow, passes her days alone, tending to her flower garden.

    After a confrontation between the two women at Sadie’s yard sale, Jane uncovers a hidden stash of money inside a relic from Sadie’s past. Jane attempts to befriend the caustic older woman in an effort to solve her dilemma and secrets emerge as their relationship grows.

    Starlet is Sean Baker’s follow-up to the acclaimed Prince of Broadway, winner of the Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival. ]

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  • 71 Countries Vie for 2012 Foreign Language Film Oscar

    [caption id="attachment_2889" align="alignnone" width="550"]After Lucia[/caption]

    A record 71 countries, including first-time entrant Kenya, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards®.

    The 2012 submissions are:

     

    Afghanistan, “The Patience Stone,” Atiq Rahimi, director;
    Albania, “Pharmakon,” Joni Shanaj, director;
    Algeria, “Zabana!” Said Ould Khelifa, director; 
    Argentina, “Clandestine Childhood,” Benjamín Ávila, director;
    Armenia, “If Only Everyone,” Natalia Belyauskene, director; 
    Australia, “Lore,” Cate Shortland, director;
    Austria, “Amour,” Michael Haneke, director; 
    Azerbaijan, “Buta,” Ilgar Najaf, director;
    Bangladesh, “Pleasure Boy Komola,” Humayun Ahmed, director;
    Belgium, “Our Children,” Joachim Lafosse, director;
    Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Children of Sarajevo,” Aida Begic, director;
    Brazil, “The Clown,” Selton Mello, director;
    Bulgaria, “Sneakers,” Valeri Yordanov and Ivan Vladimirov, directors;
    Cambodia, “Lost Loves,” Chhay Bora, director;
    Canada, “War Witch,” Kim Nguyen, director;
    Chile, “No,” Pablo Larraín, director;
    China, “Caught in the Web,” Chen Kaige, director;
    Colombia, “The Snitch Cartel,” Carlos Moreno, director;
    Croatia, “Vegetarian Cannibal,” Branko Schmidt, director;
    Czech Republic, “In the Shadow,” David Ondrícek, director;
    Denmark, “A Royal Affair,” Nikolaj Arcel, director;
    Dominican Republic, “Jaque Mate,” José María Cabral, director; 
    Estonia, “Mushrooming,” Toomas Hussar, director;
    Finland, “Purge,” Antti J. Jokinen, director;
    France, “The Intouchables,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors;
    Georgia, “Keep Smiling,” Rusudan Chkonia, director;
    Germany, “Barbara,” Christian Petzold, director;
    Greece, “Unfair World,” Filippos Tsitos, director;
    Greenland, “Inuk,” Mike Magidson, director;
    Hong Kong, “Life without Principle,” Johnnie To, director;
    Hungary, “Just the Wind,” Bence Fliegauf, director;
    Iceland, “The Deep,” Baltasar Kormákur, director;
    India, “Barfi!” Anurag Basu, director; 
    Indonesia, “The Dancer,” Ifa Isfansyah, director;
    Israel, “Fill the Void,” Rama Burshtein, director;
    Italy, “Caesar Must Die,” Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, directors;
    Japan, “Our Homeland,” Yang Yonghi, director; 
    Kazakhstan, “Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe,” Akan Satayev, director;
    Kenya, “Nairobi Half Life,” David ‘Tosh’ Gitonga, director;
    Kyrgyzstan, “The Empty Home,” Nurbek Egen, director;
    Latvia, “Gulf Stream under the Iceberg,” Yevgeny Pashkevich, director;
    Lithuania, “Ramin,” Audrius Stonys, director;
    Macedonia, “The Third Half,” Darko Mitrevski, director;
    Malaysia, “Bunohan,” Dain Iskandar Said, director; 
    Mexico, “After Lucia,” Michel Franco, director;
    Morocco, “Death for Sale,” Faouzi Bensaïdi, director;
    Netherlands, “Kauwboy,” Boudewijn Koole, director;
    Norway, “Kon-Tiki,” Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors;
    Palestine, “When I Saw You,” Annemarie Jacir, director; 
    Peru, “The Bad Intentions,” Rosario García-Montero, director;
    Philippines, “Bwakaw,” Jun Robles Lana, director;
    Poland, “80 Million,” Waldemar Krzystek, director;
    Portugal, “Blood of My Blood,” João Canijo, director;
    Romania, “Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu, director;
    Russia, “White Tiger,” Karen Shakhnazarov, director;
    Serbia, “When Day Breaks,” Goran Paskaljevic, director;
    Singapore, “Already Famous,” Michelle Chong, director;
    Slovak Republic, “Made in Ash,” Iveta Grófová, director;
    Slovenia, “A Trip,” Nejc Gazvoda, director;
    South Africa, “Little One,” Darrell James Roodt, director;
    South Korea, “Pieta,” Kim Ki-duk, director; 
    Spain, “Blancanieves,” Pablo Berger, director;
    Sweden, “The Hypnotist,” Lasse Hallström, director;
    Switzerland, “Sister,” Ursula Meier, director;
    Taiwan, “Touch of the Light,” Chang Jung-Chi, director;
    Thailand, “Headshot,” Pen-ek Ratanaruang, director;
    Turkey, “Where the Fire Burns,” Ismail Gunes, director;
    Ukraine, “The Firecrosser,” Mykhailo Illienko, director;
    Uruguay, “The Delay,” Rodrigo Plá, director;
    Venezuela, “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” Hernán Jabes, director;
    Vietnam, “The Scent of Burning Grass,” Nguyen Huu Muoi, director.

    The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

    Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at The Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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  • Gulf Film Festival Announces 2013 Dates

    The Gulf Film Festival (GFF), described by the festival as “the home of bold, experimental, and the best of Arab cinema from the Gulf countries and the rest of the world” have announced that the sixth edition will be held from April 11 to 17, 2013 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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  • Ben Affleck’s Argo to Open 2012 Leeds International Film Festival on Thursday

     [caption id="attachment_2885" align="alignnone" width="550"]Argo[/caption]

    Ben Affleck’s new thriller Argo has been announced as the Opening Gala film of this year’s Leeds International Film Festival. Argo, based on the remarkable true story of a CIA expert posing as a fake film producer in order to infiltrate Iran at the time of the hostage crisis in 1979 and rescue a group of stranded Americans, will open the annual festival at Leeds Town Hall on Thursday November 1, 2012. 

    The Official Selection will close with Michael Haneke’s second Palme d’Or winnerAmour, a drama about the bond of love between an elderly couple in their eighties, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva.

    Other new feature film highlights in the Official Selection include Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, Tribeca award winners Lucy Mulloy’sUna Noche and Kim Nguyen’s War Witch, and Dominga Sotomayor’s Rotterdam Tiger Award winner From Thursday Till Sunday.

     

    The Retrospectives section will include an appearance by leading Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, who will attend the festival as part of a focus on his early work. Best known for cult favorite Runaway Train, the focus will screen five of his early Soviet works from his directorial debut The First Teacher in 1965 to Asya’s Happiness, A Nest of Gentlefolk, Uncle Vanya, and his Cannes prize-winner Siberiade. The work of legendary Japanese actress and filmmaker Kinuyo Tanaka (1909-77) will also be honored at the festival with a selection of her finest performances in films by Yasujirô Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and Kenji Mizoguchi, and two rarely shown features she directed herself, The Eternal Breasts (1955) and Girls of Dark(1961). 

    Fanomenon section, considered the home of cult films at Leeds International Film Festival,will include Ben Wheatley’s long-awaited Sightseers, a pitch-black story of a camping holiday killing spree across Yorkshire and the Lakes, together with some of the most anticipated genre films of the year: Antiviral (Dir. Brandon Cronenburg), Citadel (Dir. Ciaran Foy), John Dies at the End (Dir. Don Coscarelli),The Legend of Kaspar Hauser (Dir. Davide Manuli), and V/H/S (Dirs. Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg). Fanomenon 2012 also features a special focus on the growth of genre filmmaking in Yorkshire with screenings of Before Dawn (Dir. Dominic Brunt), When the Lights Went Out (Dir. Pat Holden), and the world premiere of new feature Heretic (Dir. Peter Handford).

    Cinema Versa section is the home of documentaries inspired by the underground festival aesthetic with two major themes of human rights and music films. Highlights among the human rights films selection for 2012 include: Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed epic Jai Bhim Comrade, one of the best documentaries of the year, about the culture of India’s Dalits, dehumanized in the traditional caste system as ‘untouchables’; the extraordinary 1/2 Revolution, featuring unmissable first person camcorder reportage from the streets of Cairo, smuggled out of the country in a pram after the filmmakers were arrested by the secret police; and the UK Premiere of Back to the Square, tracking the changes in the lives of five ordinary Egyptians after the overthrow of Mubarak. Music films in Cinema Versa 2012 range across every style and genre including: the UK Premiere of Charles Bradley: Soul of Americaabout the world-weary Brooklyn soul man, who made it big in his ‘60s after paying his dues over the decades as a James Brown impersonator; the wonderfully entertaining tale of the first tour of China by a UK punk band, dogged veterans Sham 69 in This Band is so Gorgeous; and Jobriath AD, profiling the fascinating career of the first openly gay pop star.

     

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  • 14 Shorts Nominated for European Film Awards

     [caption id="attachment_2883" align="alignnone" width="550"]Little Children Big Words[/caption]

    This year’s list of 14 short films nominated for the European Film Academy were announced earlier this month at the International Short Film Festival in Drama (Greece). The nominees will be presented to the over 2,700 members of the European Film Academy and it is they who will elect the overall winner: the European Film Academy Short Film 2012 which will be presented at the 25th European Film Awards Ceremony on December 1, 2012 in Malta. 

    NOMINATED ARE: 

    Ghent Short Film Nominee 

    DEMAIN, ÇA SERA BIEN (Tomorrow Will Be Good) 
    directed by Pauline Gay 
    France, 16 min, fiction 

    Valladolid Short Film Nominee 
    SUPERMAN, SPIDERMAN SAU BATMAN (Superman, Spiderman or Batman) 
    directed by Tudor Giurgiu 
    Romania, 11 min, fiction 

    Cork Short Film Nominee 
    TWO HEARTS 
    directed by Darren Thornton 
    Ireland, 17 min, fiction 

    Bristol Short Film Nominee 
    MITEN MARJOJA POIMITAAN (How To Pick Berries) 
    directed by Elina Talvensaari 
    Finland, 18 min, documentary 

    Angers Short Film Nominee 
    L’AMBASSADEUR ET MOI (The Ambassador And Me) 
    directed by Jan Czarlewski 
    Switzerland, 15 min, documentary 

    Rotterdam Short Film Nominee 
    IM FREIEN (In the Open) 
    directed by Albert Sackl 
    Austria, 23 min, experimental 

    Berlin Short Film Nominee 
    VILAINE FILLE MAUVAIS GARÇON (Two Ships) 
    directed by Justine Triet 
    France, 30 min, fiction 

    Tampere Short Film Nominee 
    CSICSKA (Beast) 
    directed by Attila Till 
    Hungary, 20 min, fiction 

    Krakow Short Film Nominee 
    VILLA ANTROPOFF 
    directed by Vladimir Leschiov & Kaspar Jancis 
    Latvia/Estonia, 13 min, animation 

    Grimstad Short Film Nominee 
    SESSIZ / BÉ DENG (Silent) 
    directed by L. Rezan Yeşilbaş 
    Turkey, 14 min, fiction 

    Vila do Conde Short Film Nominee 
    MANHÃ DE SANTO ANTÓNIO (Morning of Saint Anthony’s Day) 
    directed by João Pedro Rodrigues 
    Portugal, 25 min, fiction 

    Locarno Short Film Nominee 
    BACK OF BEYOND 
    directed by Michael Lennox 
    UK, 25 min, fiction 

    Venice Short Film Nominee 
    TITLOI TELOUS (Out of Frame) 
    directed by Yorgos Zois 
    Greece, 10 min, experimental 

    Drama Short Film Nominee 
    EINSPRUCH VI (Objection VI) 
    directed by Rolando Colla 
    Switzerland, 17 min, fiction 

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