Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country draws on the conventions of the American Western to explore the genesis of contemporary Australian racism and the generational neglect of Aboriginal people. The film stars Bryan Brown (Australia), Hamilton Morris (“Gideon”), Thomas M. Wright (Everest), Ewen Leslie (The Daughter), Natassia Gorey-Furber, Gibson John, Matt Day (“Rake”), Anni Finsterer (Teenage Kicks), Treymayne Doolan, Trevon Doolan, and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park).
It’s 1929 on the vast, desert-like Eastern Arrernte Nation lands that are now known as the Central Australian outback. Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris), a middle-aged Aboriginal man, works the land of a kind preacher, Fred Smith (Sam Neill). After an ill-tempered bully arrives in town and Kelly kills him in self-defense, he and his wife, Lizzie, go on the run as a posse gathers to hunt him down.
The film will open in theaters on April 6, 2018 in New York (IFC Center) and Los Angeles (The Landmark).
Directed by Warwick Thornton and written by Steven McGregor and David Tranter, Sweet Country had its world premiere at the 2017 Venice Film Festival where Warwick won a Special Jury Prize. The film then went on to win the coveted Platform prize at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival as well as winning Best Film at the Adelaide Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film was previously screened at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Sam, a middle-aged Aboriginal man, works for a preacher in the outback of Australia’s Northern Territory. When Harry, a bitter war veteran, moves into a neighbouring outpost, the preacher sends Sam and his family to help Harry renovate his cattle yards. But Sam’s relationship with the cruel and ill-tempered Harry quickly deteriorates, culminating in a violent shootout in which Sam kills Harry in self-defence. As a result, Sam becomes a wanted criminal for the murder of a white man, and is forced to flee with his wife across the deadly outback, through glorious but harsh desert country. A hunting party led by the local lawman Sergeant Fletcher is formed to track Sam down. But as the true details of the killing start to surface, the community begins to question whether justice is really being served.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfFYmtPegOI-
Warwick Thornton’s Award Winning Drama SWEET COUNTRY Sets April 2018 Release Date
Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country draws on the conventions of the American Western to explore the genesis of contemporary Australian racism and the generational neglect of Aboriginal people. The film stars Bryan Brown (Australia), Hamilton Morris (“Gideon”), Thomas M. Wright (Everest), Ewen Leslie (The Daughter), Natassia Gorey-Furber, Gibson John, Matt Day (“Rake”), Anni Finsterer (Teenage Kicks), Treymayne Doolan, Trevon Doolan, and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park).
It’s 1929 on the vast, desert-like Eastern Arrernte Nation lands that are now known as the Central Australian outback. Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris), a middle-aged Aboriginal man, works the land of a kind preacher, Fred Smith (Sam Neill). After an ill-tempered bully arrives in town and Kelly kills him in self-defense, he and his wife, Lizzie, go on the run as a posse gathers to hunt him down.
The film will open in theaters on April 6, 2018 in New York (IFC Center) and Los Angeles (The Landmark).
Directed by Warwick Thornton and written by Steven McGregor and David Tranter, Sweet Country had its world premiere at the 2017 Venice Film Festival where Warwick won a Special Jury Prize. The film then went on to win the coveted Platform prize at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival as well as winning Best Film at the Adelaide Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film was previously screened at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Sam, a middle-aged Aboriginal man, works for a preacher in the outback of Australia’s Northern Territory. When Harry, a bitter war veteran, moves into a neighbouring outpost, the preacher sends Sam and his family to help Harry renovate his cattle yards. But Sam’s relationship with the cruel and ill-tempered Harry quickly deteriorates, culminating in a violent shootout in which Sam kills Harry in self-defence. As a result, Sam becomes a wanted criminal for the murder of a white man, and is forced to flee with his wife across the deadly outback, through glorious but harsh desert country. A hunting party led by the local lawman Sergeant Fletcher is formed to track Sam down. But as the true details of the killing start to surface, the community begins to question whether justice is really being served.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfFYmtPegOI
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2018 Vail Film Festival to Celebrate Female Filmmakers + Reveals Lineup
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Leave No Trace[/caption]
The 15th Vail Film Festival will run from Thursday, April 5, to Sunday, April 8, 2018; the festival will celebrate women filmmakers and screen a diverse slate of almost 50 films. Films include the world premiere of Diane Bell’s narrative feature, Of Dust and Bones; the Sundance hit Leave No Trace, directed by Debra Granik; Mary Goes Round, written and directed by Molly McGlynn, starring Aya Cash; Write When You Get Work written and directed by Stacy Cohran; and the U.S. premiere of Kerry David’s documentary Bill Coors: The Will to Live.
VAIL FILM FESTIVAL NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION:
‘Alaska is a Drag’ – Shaz Bennett (Colorado premier) ‘Heaven’s Floor’ – Lori Stoll (Colorado premier) ‘Leave No Trace’ – Debra Granik ‘Mary Goes Round’ – Molly McGlynn (Colorado premier) ‘Of Dust and Bones’ – Diane Bell (Colorado premier) ‘Sun Dogs’ – Jennifer Morrison (Colorado premier) ‘The Long Dumb Road’ – Hannah Fidell ‘Write When You Get Work’ – Stacy Cochran (Colorado premier)DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:
‘Bill Coors: The Will to Live’ – Kerry David (U.S. premiere) ‘De Colores’ – Luz Marina Zamora (Colorado premier) ‘Dragtivists’ – Savannah Rodgers, Alex Robinson (Colorado premier) ‘Love Wins’ – Robin Camp (Colorado premier) ‘My Tourette’s’ – Alessandro Molatore (Colorado premier) ‘Strike a Rock’ – Aliki Saragas (Colorado premier) ‘Surviving Home’ – Jillian Moul, Matthew Moul (Colorado premier) ‘The Faces of PHACS’ – Claire Berman, Megan Reznick, Staffan Hildebrand (world premier) ‘Top Row’ – Karin Argoud ‘Tribal Justice’ – Anne Makepeace ‘To a More Perfect Union: US v. Windsor’ – Donna Zaccaro (Colorado premier)SHORTS COMPETITION:
‘Bedtime Story’ – Kevin Alejandro (Colorado premier) ‘Bigfoot’s Love Slave’ – Heather Tom (Colorado premier) ‘Cuddle Buddy’ – Max Barbakow (Colorado premier) ‘Fevah’ – Randall Dottin ‘Game’ – Jeannie Donohoe (Colorado premier) ‘Girl of the Sky’ – Ariel Martin (Colorado premier) ‘In Wonderland’ – Christopher Haydon (World premier) ‘Internet Gangsters’ – Sam Friedlander (Colorado premier) ‘Love on the Line’ – Nicole McKinnon (Colorado premier) ‘Night Dancing’ – Barney Cokeliss ‘Ovum, Luciano Blotta’ (Colorado premier) ‘Pushing Night Away’ – Jade Hærem Aksnes (Colorado premier) Santa Claus’ – Jeff Man (Colorado premier) ‘The Duel’ – Amanda Barnes, David Speck (Colorado premier) ‘The Invaders’ – Mateo Márquez (World premier) ‘The Killing Game’ – Andrej iliev (Colorado premier) ‘The Language of Ball’ – Ramón Rodríguez ‘The Obituary’ – Jonathan Thompson (Colorado premier) ‘The Real Thing’ – Brandon Kelley (Colorado premier) ‘Uncle Silas’ – Sayra Player, Rebecca Billhart (Colorado premier) ‘Unnatural Selection’ – Geneviève Delouche (Colorado premier) ‘Who Decides’ – Mylissa Fitzsimmons (Colorado premier)STUDENT FILM COMPETITION:
‘Aaron’ – Aviva Neuman (Colorado premier) ‘Bier & Calippo’ – Paul Ploberger (U.S. premier) ‘Night Call’ – Amanda Renee Knox ‘Phototaxis’ – Melissa Ferrari (Colorado premier) ‘Snowplow’ – Mia Niebruegge (Colorado premier) ‘Sputnik: The Shock of the Century’ – Summer Royal (world premier) ‘Vows’ – Mark McKinsey (Colorado premier)SCREENPLAY COMPETITION, 1ST PLACE WINNERS:
Animated: ‘Doodle’ – Jonathan Medici Comedy: ‘New Reality’ – Carolyn Kras Drama: ‘News Gals’– David Dalessandro Faith: ‘Showdown at Damascus’ – Don Driscoll Science Fiction: ‘Pull’ – Marc Messenger Thriller: ‘Phantom’ – Andrea Gibson TV Series: ‘The Biggest Little’ – Craig Page
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Watch Trailer for Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead’s Mind-Bending Thriller THE ENDLESS
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Justin Benson as Justin and Aaron Moorhead as Aaron in THE ENDLESS. [/caption]
Here is the new trailer for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s mind-bending thriller The Endless. The film also starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, along with Callie Hernandez, Emily Montague, Lew Temple, Tate Ellington, and James Jordan will open in New York on April 6th and in Los Angeles on April 13th.
Following their Lovecraftian modern cult classic Spring, acclaimed filmmakers Moorhead and Benson return with this mind-bending thriller that follows two brothers who receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier. Hoping to find the closure that they couldn’t as young men, they’re forced to reconsider the cult’s beliefs when confronted with unexplainable phenomena surrounding the camp. As the members prepare for the coming of a mysterious event, the brothers race to unravel the seemingly impossible truth before their lives become permanently entangled with the cult.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHpWCN0byw
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See the Official Poster for William Friedkin’s Exorcist Documentary “The Devil And Father Amorth”
The Orchard has released the official poster for “The Devil And Father Amorth” directed by William Friedkin. The film will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on April 20th, 2018.

In his latest, William Friedkin returns not only to his documentary roots but to the subject of one of his most towering works, 1973’s THE EXORCIST. Friedkin, a legendary raconteur, leads a tour that moves from the infamous Exorcist steps in Georgetown to Italy, where he meets with the 91-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, official exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, and accompanies Amorth on one of his harrowing house calls. A sprightly, at times gonzo-style investigation into the long history of demonic lore, and a one-of-a-kind insight into the persistence of medieval belief in the supposedly modern world.
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2018 Audi Dublin International Film Festival Winners – Xavier Legrand’s “Custody” Wins Best Film
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CUSTODY (Jusqu’à la garde)[/caption]
The Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018 announced the award winners, with Xavier Legrand’s Custody winning DFCC Best Film, and key Irish awards included DFCC Best Irish Film for Feargal Ward’s The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid, DFCC Best Irish Director for Rebecca Daly (Good Favour) and The George Byrne Maverick Award for Stephen Rea (Black 47). The Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury awarded Best Feature to Room 213 and Best Short to Earthy Encounters.
The three joint winners of the ADIFF Discovery Award were announced as Mia Mullarkey (Mother & Baby), Rua Meegan & Trevor Whelan (Bordalo II: A Life of Waste), and TJ O’Grady Peyton (Wave). The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Irish Short Film was Mia Mullarkey for Mother & Baby. Best International Short Film was awarded to Iranian director Kaveh Mazaheri’s Retouch. The winner of the AUDIence Short Film Award was Steve Kenny’s Time Traveller.
Dublin Film Critics Awards
DFCC BEST FILM – Custody DFCC BEST DIRECTOR – Chloé Zhao, The Rider DFCC BEST IRISH DIRECTOR – Rebecca Daly, Good Favour DFCC BEST SCREENPLAY – Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here DFCC BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Monika Lenczewska, Under the Tree DFCC BEST ACTOR – Charlie Plummer, Lean on Pete DFCC BEST ACTRESS – Charlotte Rampling, Hannah DFCC BEST DOCUMENTARY – So Help Me God DFCC BEST IRISH FILM – The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid DFCC MICHAEL DWYER DISCOVERY AWARD – Coralie Fargeat, Revenge DFCC GEORGE BYRNE MAVERICK AWARD – Stephen Rea – Black 47 DFCC EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT – Bill Morrison, Dawson City: Frozen Time DFCC JURY PRIZE – Warwick Davis, Sweet Country DFCC JURY PRIZE – Kathleen Hepburn, Never Steady, Never Still DFCC JURY PRIZE – Jian Liu, Have a Nice Day DFCC JURY PRIZE – Ryan Killackey, Yasuni ManADIFF Discovery Award Winners
Mia Mullarkey (Mother & Baby), Rua Meegan & Trevor Whelan (Bordalo II: A Life of Waste), and TJ O’Grady Peyton (Wave). Special Mention: Jessie Buckley.ADIFF Short Film Awards
Best Irish Short Film: Mother & Baby Special Mention Irish Short Film: Time Traveller Best International Short Film: Retouch Special Mention International Short Film: Mary Mother AUDI-ence Short Film Award: Time Traveller.Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury Awards
Best Feature – Room 213 Best Short – Earthy Encounters
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2018 Sedona International Film Festival Winners – “Ayla The Daughter Of War” Wins Best of Fest Award
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Ayla: The Daughter of War[/caption]
Can Ulkay’s debut feature Ayla The Daughter of War, based on the true story of a soldier in the Korean War who risks his own life to save a half-frozen little girl, won the Best of Fest Award and the Director’s Choice Award for Best Foreign Film at the 24th Sedona International Film Festival. The film was selected as Turkey’s official candidate for the best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscar.
Rod McCall ‘s Rose, featuring Cybill Shepherd, James Brolin, Pam Grier and Cindy Pickett about a widowed ex-cop who decides to go on a solo road trip to the Southwest in a motorized wheelchair after discovering she may have a life-threatening illness; and Django, the story of guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt and his flight from German-occupied Paris in 1943, tied for Director’s Choice Best Feature Film.
Instrument of War, a film about B-24 bomber pilot Clair Cline’s experience as a POW after being shot down in northern Germany during World War II, and inspired by true events, took the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film. 2018 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film, The Insult, won the Audience Award for Best Foreign Film.
Sedona International Film Festival Winners
2018 DIRECTORS’ CHOICE AWARDS
Best Feature Film – Drama: “Rose” and “Django” (tie) Best Feature Film – Comedy: “Humor Me” Best Foreign Film: “Ayla The Daughter of War” Best Documentary Feature: “Liyana” Best Documentary Short: “Faces of Santa Ana” Best Environmental Film: “The Need to GROW” Best Foreign Documentary: “Blue” Best Short Film: “A Whole World for a Little World” Best Student Short Film: “Silence” Best Animated Film: “Weeds” Best Independent Spirit (Short): “Temporary” Best Independent Spirit (Narrative): “Quality Problems” Best Independent Spirit (Documentary): “I Am Jane Doe” Best Humanitarian (Narrative): “My Name is Vaseline” Best Humanitarian (Documentary): “Bending the Arc” Heart of the Festival Award: “Nathan’s Kingdom” Bill Muller Excellence in Screenwriting Award: “The Drawer Boy” Marion Herrman Excellence in Filmmaking Award: “In Search of Perfect Consonance” Technical Director’s Excellence in Exhibition Award: “Game”2018 AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Best Animated Film: “E-Delivery” Best Student Short Film: “Silence” Best Short Film: “Alternative Math” Best Documentary Short: “Mr. Connolly Has ALS” Best Documentary Mid-Length: “Standing Still/Still Standing” Best Environmental Film: “Yasuni Man” Best Documentary: “I’ll Push You” Best Foreign Film: “The Insult” Best Feature Film – Comedy: “Adios Amigos” Best Feature Film – Drama: “Instrument of War” BEST OF FEST: “Ayla The Daughter of War”2018 SPECIAL FESTIVAL AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane Alexander Global Initiative Humanitarian Award: Keely Shaye Brosnan and Pierce Brosnan
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Complete List of Winners of 90th Academy Awards – “The Shape of Water” Wins Best Picture
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Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.[/caption]
“The Shape of Water” won the top honors – the Oscar for best picture, along with the Oscar for best director for Guillermo del Toro at the 90th Academy Awards. “Icarus” won the Oscar for best documentary and “A Fantastic Woman” from Chile, won for best foreign language film.
Complete List of Winners of 90th Academy Awards
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
WINNER GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour NOMINEES TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out DENZEL WASHINGTON Roman J. Israel, Esq.ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WINNER SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri NOMINEES WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri RICHARD JENKINS The Shape of Water CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the WorldACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
WINNER FRANCES MCDORMAND Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri NOMINEES SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird MERYL STREEP The PostACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WINNER ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya NOMINEES MARY J. BLIGE Mudbound LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of WaterANIMATED FEATURE FILM
WINNER COCO Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson NOMINEES THE BOSS BABY Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito THE BREADWINNER Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo FERDINAND Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan MactaggartCINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger A. Deakins NOMINEES DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema MUDBOUND Rachel Morrison THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan LaustsenCOSTUME DESIGN
WINNER PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges NOMINEES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira VICTORIA & ABDUL Consolata Boyle DIRECTING WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro NOMINEES DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan GET OUT Jordan Peele LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig PHANTOM THREAD Paul Thomas AndersonDOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
WINNER ICARUS Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan NOMINEES ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman FACES PLACES Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda LAST MEN IN ALEPPO Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen STRONG ISLAND Yance Ford and Joslyn BarnesDOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
WINNER HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 Frank Stiefel NOMINEES EDITH+EDDIE Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright HEROIN(E) Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon KNIFE SKILLS Thomas Lennon TRAFFIC STOP Kate Davis and David HeilbronerFILM EDITING
WINNER DUNKIRK Lee Smith NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos I, TONYA Tatiana S. Riegel THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon GregoryFOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WINNER A FANTASTIC WOMAN Chile NOMINEES THE INSULT Lebanon LOVELESS Russia ON BODY AND SOUL Hungary THE SQUARE SwedenMAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
WINNER DARKEST HOUR Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick NOMINEES VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard WONDER Arjen TuitenMUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat NOMINEES DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI John Williams THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Carter BurwellMUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
WINNER REMEMBER ME from Coco; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez NOMINEES MIGHTY RIVER from Mudbound; Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson MYSTERY OF LOVE from Call Me by Your Name; Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens STAND UP FOR SOMETHING from Marshall; Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren THIS IS ME from The Greatest Showman; Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin PaulBEST PICTURE
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers NOMINEES CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers DUNKIRK Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers GET OUT Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers LADY BIRD Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill, Producers PHANTOM THREAD JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers THE POST Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, ProducersPRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeffrey A. Melvin NOMINEES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer BLADE RUNNER 2049 Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola DARKEST HOUR Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer DUNKIRK Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary FettisSHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
WINNER DEAR BASKETBALL Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant NOMINEES GARDEN PARTY Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon LOU Dave Mullins and Dana Murray NEGATIVE SPACE Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata REVOLTING RHYMES Jakob Schuh and Jan LachauerSHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
WINNER THE SILENT CHILD Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton NOMINEES DEKALB ELEMENTARY Reed Van Dyk THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK Derin Seale and Josh Lawson MY NEPHEW EMMETT Kevin Wilson, Jr. WATU WOTE/ALL OF US Katja Benrath and Tobias RosenSOUND EDITING
WINNER DUNKIRK Richard King and Alex Gibson NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Julian Slater BLADE RUNNER 2049 Mark Mangini and Theo Green THE SHAPE OF WATER Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Matthew Wood and Ren KlyceSOUND MIXING
WINNER DUNKIRK Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo and Mark Weingarten NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart WilsonVISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER BLADE RUNNER 2049 John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover NOMINEES GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick KONG: SKULL ISLAND Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel WhistWRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
WINNER CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Screenplay by James Ivory NOMINEES THE DISASTER ARTIST Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber LOGAN Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold MOLLY’S GAME Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin MUDBOUND Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee ReesWRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
WINNER GET OUT Written by Jordan Peele NOMINEES THE BIG SICK Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani LADY BIRD Written by Greta Gerwig THE SHAPE OF WATER Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Written by Martin McDonagh
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Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, I, Tonya Among Winners of 2018 Spirit Awards | Complete List
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SANTA MONICA, CA – MARCH 03: Actor Frances McDormand accepts Best Female Lead for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ onstage during the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 3, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)[/caption]
Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, I, Tonya, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Big Sick, Ingrid Goes West and Lady Bird, all snagged awards at this afternoon’s 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards. Life and Nothing More, Faces Places and A Fantastic Woman also received awards at the ceremony, which was held on the beach in Santa Monica.
This year’s major winners were Get Out, which won Best Feature and Best Director; Call Me by Your Name, which won Best Male Lead and Best Cinematography; I, Tonya, which won Best Supporting Female and Best Editing; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won Best Female Lead and Best Supporting Male; Lady Bird, which won Best Screenplay; Ingrid Goes West, which won Best First Feature; The Big Sick, which won Best First Screenplay; Life and Nothing More, which won the John Cassavetes Award; Faces Places which won Best Documentary and A Fantastic Woman, which won Best International Film.
The 11th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Mudbound director Dee Rees received this award, along with casting directors Billy Hopkins and Ashley Ingram as well as cast members Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan.
The 2018 Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship annually selects an outstanding filmmaker and participant in Project Involve, Film Independent’s longest running diversity and mentorship program, now in its 25th year. The fellowship includes an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000 and was awarded to writer/director Faren Humes, a distinct and bold new voice.
Complete list of the winners of 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards
Best Feature: Get Out (Universal Pictures) Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele Best Director: Jordan Peele, Get Out (Universal Pictures) Best Screenplay: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (A24) Best First Feature: Ingrid Goes West (NEON) Director: Matt Spicer Producers: Jared Ian Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza,Tim White, Trevor White Best First Screenplay: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick (Amazon Studios) John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Life and Nothing More (CFI Releasing) Writer/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza Producers: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos Best Supporting Female: Allison Janney, I, Tonya (NEON) Best Supporting Male: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Best Female Lead: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Best Male Lead: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Robert Altman Award: Mudbound (Netflix) Director: Dee Rees Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan Best Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Best Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya (NEON) Best International Film: A Fantastic Woman (Chile – Sony Pictures Classics) Director: Sebastián Lelio Best Documentary: Faces Places (Cohen Media Group) Directors: Agnés Varda, JR Producer: Rosalie Varda
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2018 Annapolis Film Festival to Screen Over 80 Films, “Beirut” “The Miracle Season” and More..
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Beirut[/caption]
The 2018 Annapolis Film Festival will screen more than 80 films from 28 countries during the festival taking place March 22 to 25, 2018, including a U.S. premiere and four films from Sundance making their East Coast premiere, The Festival’s new theme: Voices Strong. Minds Open, is threaded throughout the four-day program of films, panels, parties, showcases, coffee talks, and Q&As with filmmakers.
“The diversity in this year’s slate is more than we have ever had. Audiences will get to experience firsthand the depth of this slate because many great directors, producers and talent are accompanying their films,” said Patti White, Festival Director. Some films have been sourced locally right here in Maryland, others come from afar including, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Iran, Ireland, France, Georgia, Germany, Norway, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
Narrative films include the Opening Night political thriller, Beirut, directed by Brad Anderson and starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike, at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, which will be followed by a Q&A with producer Monica Levinson and industry professionals.
Other narrative films selected are: Beauty and the Dogs – Khaled Walid Barsaoui, Kaouther Ben Hania; Beauty Mark – Harris Doran; Bernard and Huey – Dan Mirvish; Butterfly Kisses – Erik Kristopher Myers; Cardinals – Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley; Come Sunday – Joshua Marston; A Crooked Somebody– Trevor White; Disappearance – Ali Asgari; Flock of Four – Gregory Caruso; Hearts Beat Loud – Brett Haley; Humor Me – Sam Hoffman; Kiss Me! – Océane Michel, Cyprien Vial; Mary Goes Round – Molly McGlynn; The Miracle Season – Sean McNamara; The Rider – Chloé Zhao; Spinning Man – Simon Kaijser; Wallay – Berni Goldblat, and What Will People Say– Iram Haq.
Documentary features have also been chosen, including: Acorn and the Firestorm – Reuben Atlas, Samuel D. Pollard; Coyote: The Mike Plant Story – Thomas M. Simmons; Finding Home – AB Troen; Itzhak – Alison Chernick; Kim Swims – Kate Webber; Liyana – Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp; Lots of Kids, A Monkey, and a Castle – Gustavo Salmerón; Love Means Zero – Jason Kohn; New Wave: Dare To Be Different – Ellen Goldfarb; Resistance is Life – Apo W. Bazidi; Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me – Samuel D. Pollard; Stumped – Robin Berghaus; Three Identical Strangers – Tim Wardle; True Conviction – Jamie Meltzer; Waiting for the Sun – Kaspar Astrup Schröder; and What Lies Upstream – Cullen Hoback, and a special screening of the NBC Originals documentary Courageous: Ted Turner and the 1977 America’s Cup.
The film debuting for its U.S. premiere is The Miracle Season, directed by Sean McNamara and starring Helen Hunt as the coach of a volleyball team who must unite the team in hopes of winning the state championship in the wake of the tragic death of a star player. The four films making their East Coast premiere include Beirut; Come Sunday, directed by Joshua Marston and starring Martin Sheen and Chiwetel Ejiofor as real-life American evangelical preacher Carlton Pearson, who risks everything when he questions church doctrine and is branded a modern-day heretic; Hearts Beat Loud, directed by Brett Haley and starring Nick Offerman as a record store owner, who is forced to close his shop, and decides to form a band with his college-bound daughter; and documentary Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle, which follows the incredible true story of triplets who learned of one another’s existence only at age 19, their initial joy giving way to increasingly unsettling discoveries.
In addition to award-winning features, AFF has made its mark now in its sixth year by continually bringing a lineup of compelling short films. Two shorts that screened at last year’s AFF landed on the Oscar’s Shortlist for Best Live Action Shorts, with DeKalb Elementary still contending for the Oscar at the upcoming 90th Academy Awards.
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Filmmaker Roger Corman to Receive “Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking” Award at Austin Film Festival
Filmmaker Roger Corman will receive the “Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking” Award at the 25th annual Austin Film Festival, taking place October 25 to November 1, 2018.
For the past sixty years, Roger Corman has been a trailblazer in the world of independent film. He has produced and directed over five hundred movies that have tackled a variety of genres. Notable credits include The Wild Angels, The Pit and the Pendulum, Little Shop of Horrors, Death Race 2000, and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
In the 1970s Corman founded New World Pictures which quickly became the largest independent motion picture distribution company in the United States. In addition to distributing his own productions, New World Pictures was one of the first American distributors to bring foreign cinema to the US; distributing the films of Akira Kurosawa, Francois Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Werner Herzog.
Noted for his keen ability to spot young talent, Corman’s most lasting legacy is the legion of producers, directors, writers, and actors he has discovered and fostered, including Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Fonda, Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Talia Shire, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd, and James Cameron.
Corman will accept his award on Saturday, October 27th during the annual Awards Luncheon. Past recipients of this award have included Danny Boyle, Jonathan Demme, Walter Hill, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, John Singleton, and Oliver Stone. More awardees for this year’s Festival will be announced at a later date.
The 2018 Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference will once again present over 150 panels on the art and craft of storytelling featuring a slate comprised entirely of working film, television, and new media industry professionals. Corman joins a growing list of panelists who already include Megan Amram, John August, Mick Garris, Nicole Perlman, Ed Solomon, and Graham Yost. The 25th annual Austin Film Festival and Conference will take place October 25th through November 1st, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4EGb-DkfXU

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The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival revealed its feature film lineup championing the discovery of emerging voices and celebrating new work from established filmmaking talent. To close the Festival, Tribeca will World Premiere
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The San Francisco International Film Festival announced the feature film in competitions for the 2018 Golden Gate Awards. The upcoming festival will run from April 4th to 17th, 2018, and the Golden Gate Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 15th.
The Golden Gate Awards will distribute nearly $40,000 in total prizes this year in various narrative and documentary categories. The McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature winner will receive $5,000 while the New Directors Prize & the McBaine Documentary Feature winners will receive a cash prize of $10,000.
In addition to the narrative and documentary features in contention, the Golden Gate Awards will include competitors in six short film categories.