Exclusive: Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock will star in Cash Truck, a film inspired by the 2004 French film Le Convoyeur, for Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures. Josef Wladyka, whose credits include Manos Sucias and Narcos, will direct the screenplay by Ethan Erwin, Albert Hughes and John Hodge. The deal came together on the ground here at Cannes. Bullock will star in an intense, emotionally charged action-thriller that explores greed, revenge and the dark heart of human…...
- 5/18/2017
- Deadline
The night before it would go on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, Spotlight wound up having a great night at the Spirit Awards. Yes, Tom McCarthy’s film all but swept the Spirits, beating back what originally seemed like a strong challenge from Todd Haynes’ Carol, not to mention Sean Baker’s Tangerine and Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation. Personally, I’m thrilled that Spotlight won here, but it appeared originally like it was an awards show tailor made for Carol. Go figure. It was a night that would mirror the Academy in more ways than one ultimately, so let’s take a look… Obviously, it was a very good night for Spotlight, perhaps its best all season long. Not only did it take Best Feature, but McCarthy won Best Director as well as Best Screenplay, which he of course shares with Josh Singer. The film...
- 3/1/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Yay! My favorite film of 2015 was the big winner at the recently concluded Film Independent Spirit Awards taking home the best feature, director (Tom McCarthy), screenplay, and editing. It was previously announced that the film was the winner of the prestigious Robert Altman Award (ensemble) as well.
Oh and kudos to the Film Independent Spirit Awards for bestowing their Best Supporting Actress Award to Mya Taylor for "Tangerine!" Taylor becomes the first transgender performer to receive major acting award! See her acceptance speech right here.
Let's see if this will continue with tonight's Oscars. See my full Oscar predictions right here.
Here's the complete list of winners of the Film Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Feature
Award given to the Producer; Executive Producers are not awarded.
"Anomalisa"
"Beasts of No Nation"
"Carol"
*** "Spotlight" (Winner)
"Tangerine"
Best Director
Cary Joji Fukunaga, "Beasts of No Nation"
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, "Anomalisa"
David Robert Mitchell,...
Oh and kudos to the Film Independent Spirit Awards for bestowing their Best Supporting Actress Award to Mya Taylor for "Tangerine!" Taylor becomes the first transgender performer to receive major acting award! See her acceptance speech right here.
Let's see if this will continue with tonight's Oscars. See my full Oscar predictions right here.
Here's the complete list of winners of the Film Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Feature
Award given to the Producer; Executive Producers are not awarded.
"Anomalisa"
"Beasts of No Nation"
"Carol"
*** "Spotlight" (Winner)
"Tangerine"
Best Director
Cary Joji Fukunaga, "Beasts of No Nation"
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, "Anomalisa"
David Robert Mitchell,...
- 2/28/2016
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The 31st Independent Spirt Awards took place this Saturday, February 27 with the fiendishly talented and hilarious Kate McKinnon & Kumail Nanjiani co-hosting the event. Take a look at their parody of one of this year’s best films Room below. The show, as in years past, aligned with the Academy Awards in some moments, but also served to do what the Oscars can’t, or won’t in others. Perhaps that’s just as it should be. Brie Larson won for Best Female Lead for Room, and is very likely to win the Academy Award for Best Actress tomorrow night. However, Spotlight, which won Best Feature, Director, and Screenplay at the Spirit Awards is in a three way race with The Revenant and The Big Short for the top prize at the Oscars. Though it’s likely to take Best Screenplay there as well. Typically, the Academy favors flashier films, so...
- 2/28/2016
- by Roth Cornet
- Hitfix
While it’s true that we’re just about 72 hours out from the Oscars, we’ve also got the Film Independent Spirit Awards coming in just about 48 hours or so. Personally, I find the Spirit Awards to sometimes be preferable to the Academy Awards, since they offer up a chance for more eclectic choices. Where else can I get to see my favorite male (Jason Segel for The End of the Tour) and female (Jennifer Jason Leigh for Anomalisa) performances of 2015 nominated? The same goes for David Robert Mitchell and It Follows in Best Director. It’s things like that which set this apart. It’s not a precursor with any impact on Oscar season, since voting has already ended, but it’s still an enjoyable ceremony to witness. Today, we discuss the nominees a bit, with predictions for it found below as well. It appears like Carol and Spotlight...
- 2/25/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Todd Haynes is in the running for best director and both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are in contention for best female lead alongside Room’s Brie Larson as Carol earned six 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations in Los Angeles on Tuesday.Scroll down for full list of nominations
Close behind were Spotlight and Beasts Of No Nation on five apiece, followed by indie darling Tangerine and Anomalisa on four each.
Not even a glitch that saw the list of nominees temporarily appear on the Film Independent website prior to the official announcement could spoil what turned out by and large to be a recognition of independent film in its myriad forms.
Besides the more predictable contenders like Carol, Spotlight and Room, there was plenty of love for Tangerine, shot on an iPhone, and Beasts Of No Nation from Netflix, whose day-and-date release (and what that portends) infuriated large swathes of the exhibition sector but has clearly...
Close behind were Spotlight and Beasts Of No Nation on five apiece, followed by indie darling Tangerine and Anomalisa on four each.
Not even a glitch that saw the list of nominees temporarily appear on the Film Independent website prior to the official announcement could spoil what turned out by and large to be a recognition of independent film in its myriad forms.
Besides the more predictable contenders like Carol, Spotlight and Room, there was plenty of love for Tangerine, shot on an iPhone, and Beasts Of No Nation from Netflix, whose day-and-date release (and what that portends) infuriated large swathes of the exhibition sector but has clearly...
- 11/24/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Todd Haynes is in the running for best director and both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are in contention for best female lead alongside Room’s Brie Larson as Carol earned six 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Close behind were Spotlight and Beasts Of No Nation on five apiece, followed by indie darling Tangerine and Anomalisa on four each.
Not even a glitch that saw the list of nominees temporarily appear on the Film Independent website prior to the official announcement could spoil what turned out by and large to be a recognition of independent film in its myriad forms.
Besides the more predictable contenders like Carol, Spotlight and Room, there was plenty of love for Tangerine, shot on an iPhone, and Beasts Of No Nation from Netflix, whose day-and-date release (and what that portends) infuriated large swathes of the exhibition sector but has clearly impressed critics.
Magnolia Pictures earned...
Close behind were Spotlight and Beasts Of No Nation on five apiece, followed by indie darling Tangerine and Anomalisa on four each.
Not even a glitch that saw the list of nominees temporarily appear on the Film Independent website prior to the official announcement could spoil what turned out by and large to be a recognition of independent film in its myriad forms.
Besides the more predictable contenders like Carol, Spotlight and Room, there was plenty of love for Tangerine, shot on an iPhone, and Beasts Of No Nation from Netflix, whose day-and-date release (and what that portends) infuriated large swathes of the exhibition sector but has clearly impressed critics.
Magnolia Pictures earned...
- 11/24/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The nominations for the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced Tuesday, giving boosts to several films' Oscars chances.
"Carol" led the pack with six nominations, including nods in most of the major categories (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay), and two Best Lead Actress nominations for its headlining duo, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was followed by Netflix flick "Beasts of No Nation," which scored five nominations in the big categories (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Lead Male) as well as the technical ones (Best Cinematography, Best Editing).
As TheWrap notes, "Beasts" nominations have helped secure it some serious consideration come Oscars time. But another big surprise was the small number of nominations for "Room," considered by many to be a Best Picture contender at the Academy Awards. It was left off the Spirit Awards's Best Feature list, though it did score a Best Female Lead nomination for Best Actress Oscar frontrunner Brie Larson.
"Carol" led the pack with six nominations, including nods in most of the major categories (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay), and two Best Lead Actress nominations for its headlining duo, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was followed by Netflix flick "Beasts of No Nation," which scored five nominations in the big categories (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Lead Male) as well as the technical ones (Best Cinematography, Best Editing).
As TheWrap notes, "Beasts" nominations have helped secure it some serious consideration come Oscars time. But another big surprise was the small number of nominations for "Room," considered by many to be a Best Picture contender at the Academy Awards. It was left off the Spirit Awards's Best Feature list, though it did score a Best Female Lead nomination for Best Actress Oscar frontrunner Brie Larson.
- 11/24/2015
- by Katie Roberts
- Moviefone
Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the La Film Festival and Film Independent at Lacma, announced nominations for the 2016 Spirit Awards this morning. Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at W Hollywood, with actors John Boyega and Elizabeth Olsen presenting the nominations.
Nominees for Best Feature included Anomalisa, Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight and Tangerine.
“This year’s nominees are a testament to the strength, vitality and diversity of independent, artist-driven filmmaking,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “It’s an astonishingly strong group of films and performances this year and we look forward to celebrating them all at the Spirit Awards.”
Spotlight was selected to receive the Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. The Altman Award was created in 2008 in honor of legendary director Robert Altman...
Nominees for Best Feature included Anomalisa, Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight and Tangerine.
“This year’s nominees are a testament to the strength, vitality and diversity of independent, artist-driven filmmaking,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “It’s an astonishingly strong group of films and performances this year and we look forward to celebrating them all at the Spirit Awards.”
Spotlight was selected to receive the Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. The Altman Award was created in 2008 in honor of legendary director Robert Altman...
- 11/24/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring plenty of those little indies which deserve the honor and recognition that, this year, they might not receive at the Oscars. We love featuring these because there's always some gems to find. This is an excellent year of nominees, featuring a wide range of some of the best filmmaking of the year. The five Best Features alone: a stop-motion animated feature (Anomalisa), a film shot on an iPhone starring transsexuals (Tangerine), Todd Haynes' film about lesbian lovers (Carol), and the African fighters thriller (Beasts of No Nation). There's so many outstanding people featured this year, so take a look below. Read on for the list of noms. Here is the complete list of 2015 nominees: Best Feature Anomalisa Beasts of No Nation Carol Spotlight Tangerine Best First Feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl...
- 11/24/2015
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Todd Haynes' "Carol" is shaping up to be the movie to beat this awards season. Based on Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt, the romantic drama stars Cate Blanchett as an older, married woman who is developing some strong feelings towards a seasonal shopgirl played by Rooney Mara. And the actresses may have to prepare their acceptance speeches! "Carol" leads the pack of nominees for the 31st Independent Spirit Awards!
I'm also very happy that "Tangerine" by Sean Baker received 4 nods for Best Feature, Director, Female Lead (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), and Supporting Female for Mya Taylor. shot mostly on iPhone, this small-budget wonder is truly what the Independent Spirit is all about!
Some of my few gripes are not a whole lot of love for the fantastic "Room" (just screenplay, female lead for Brie Larson, and editing -- what about the awesome child actor Jason Tremblay?), and that...
I'm also very happy that "Tangerine" by Sean Baker received 4 nods for Best Feature, Director, Female Lead (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), and Supporting Female for Mya Taylor. shot mostly on iPhone, this small-budget wonder is truly what the Independent Spirit is all about!
Some of my few gripes are not a whole lot of love for the fantastic "Room" (just screenplay, female lead for Brie Larson, and editing -- what about the awesome child actor Jason Tremblay?), and that...
- 11/24/2015
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Todd Haynes's Carol leads the nominations for the 2016 Independent Spirit Awards. Tied for second place with five each are Cary Fukunaga's Beasts of No Nation and Tom McCarthy's Spotlight, which also takes the Robert Altman Award for ensemble work. Also nominated for Best Feature are Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's Anomalisa and Sean Baker's Tangerine. Nominated for Best First Feature are James White, Manos Sucias, Mediterranea, Songs My Brother Taught Me and The Diary of a Teenage Girl. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Todd Haynes's Carol leads the nominations for the 2016 Independent Spirit Awards. Tied for second place with five each are Cary Fukunaga's Beasts of No Nation and Tom McCarthy's Spotlight, which also takes the Robert Altman Award for ensemble work. Also nominated for Best Feature are Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's Anomalisa and Sean Baker's Tangerine. Nominated for Best First Feature are James White, Manos Sucias, Mediterranea, Songs My Brother Taught Me and The Diary of a Teenage Girl. » - David Hudson...
- 11/24/2015
- Keyframe
In its 31st year, the Film Independent Spirt Awards showcase the best that modest (and, occasionally, lower budget) filmmaking has to offer annually. This year, it’s little surprise the the stellar Carol is leading the pack with six nominations, while Spotlight and Beasts of No Nation are close behind with five each. On the actual smaller scale of productions, the iPhone-shot drama Tangerine picked up a heft four nominations, a film that, alongside Anomalisa and the aforementioned titles, rounds out their Best Feature category.
Ahead of a ceremony on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 5Pm Est, check out the full list of nominations below, which also recognize It Follows, Bone Tomahawk, The End of the Tour, Room, The Mend, James White, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Heaven Knows What, and more.
Best Feature
Award given to the Producer; Executive Producers are not awarded.
“Anomalisa”
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol”
“Spotlight...
Ahead of a ceremony on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 5Pm Est, check out the full list of nominations below, which also recognize It Follows, Bone Tomahawk, The End of the Tour, Room, The Mend, James White, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Heaven Knows What, and more.
Best Feature
Award given to the Producer; Executive Producers are not awarded.
“Anomalisa”
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol”
“Spotlight...
- 11/24/2015
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As of this article's publication only five countries have announced their official Oscar entries for the 88th Academy Awards: Hungary ("Son of Saul"), Romania ("Aferim!"), Bosnia & Herzegovina ("Our Everyday Life"), Luxembourg ("Baby(A)lone"), and Kazakhstan ("Stranger"). Taking into account last year's record number of submissions, 83 in total, there are certainly a lot more coming in the next few weeks. Several national film organization have already narrowed the field down to a shortlist of films that qualify to be considered, other countries skip the shortlist and simply announce their participant title without revealing what was being considered.
Trying to predict what a particular nation will enter is a tall order because of the numerous factors that weight in, especially when dealing with countries with a large film industry. In other cases, however, there are usually just a couple standouts that meet the standards to be submitted. Whatever the case, even with the most obvious choices there could be surprises such as Indian choosing not to submitting "The Lunchbox" or Chile choosing another film over Silva's "The Maid."
While there is no sure-fie formula to predict what films will be competing for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, by looking at festivals, release dates, national awards, previous submissions, and with a hefty dose of educated speculation, I've put together a list of 35 titles that, at this point, seem like excellent choices.
Update 08/28: Several countries have announced their official submissions: Croatia ("The High Sun"), Germany ("Labyrinth of Lies"), Guatemala ("Ixcanul"), Switzerland ("Iraqi Odyssey"), and Palestine ("The Wanted 18").
Argentina
"The Clan" (El Clan)
Dir. Pablo Trapero
Isa: Film Factory Entertainment
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Argentine Release Date: August 13th, 2015
Coming off the success of this year’s nominee “Wild Tales,” which also did very well at the U.S. box-office for Sony Pictures Classics and became a spectacular hit back home, Argentina seems to have another strong contender this year with Pablo Trapero’s latest work “The Clan” (El Clan). Two of the director’s previous films have been submitted before (“Lion’s Den” and “Carrancho”), and this one about the Puccio family, which was criminal organization that kidnapped and murdered wealthy people, looks more than promising. “The Clan” is also produced by Almodovar’s El Deso, just as Damian Szifron’s “Tales” was. There are several other films that have enough merits to be considered, but might prove insufficient when faced with Trapero’s film. “Refugiado,” “El Patron,” “Two Shots” and, even “Jauaja,” starring Viggo Mortensen, qualify
Brazil
"The Second Mother"
Dir. Anna Muylaert
Isa: The Match Factory
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Pictures
Brazilian Release Date: August 27, 2015
Undoubtedly the most awarded Brazilian film of the year is also their best bet at the Oscars. Anna Muylaert's “The Second Mother” premiered at Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize for both of its leading actresses Regina Casé and Camila Márdila. It went on to screen in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and took home the C.I.C.A.E. Award and the Audience Award. The film tells the story of a live-in housekeeper and his daughter as they navigate the class divisions prevalent in Brazilian society. Another factor in its favor is the fact that the film has secured U.S. distribution thanks to Oscilloscope. “The Second Mother” opens in Brazil on August 27 and, in a strange turn of events, on August 28 in the U.S. While there are plenty of other great Brazilian works that qualify to be submitted, it’s unlikely that the selection committee will look elsewhere. Other films that could have a shot at being chosen are “August Winds,” “Casa Grande.” “Blue Blood,” and “White Out, Black In”
Bulgaria
"The Judgement"
Dir. Stephan Komandarev
Isa: Premium Film
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Bulgarian Release Date: October 16, 2014
Following last year’s scandalous selection of “Bulgarian Rhapsody” over the more deserving “Viktoria,” the Eastern European country has a two-way race in which both candidates have almost equal chances at being chosen. Stephan Komandarev’s drama “The Judgement” is the larger production of the two and revolves around a desperate father trying to amend his relationship with his estrange son. At the same time the protagonist is also trying to make ends meet and decides to take on the dangerous job of smuggling illegal immigrant from Syria through a remote area of the Turkish-Greek-Bulgarian border. The other film is Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov's “The Lesson,” about a devoted teacher who is faced with corrupt bureaucracy after her classroom is burglarized. Winning awards at the Sofia International Film Festival, San Sebastian, Thessaloniki, and screening at Tiff and Rotterdam, “The Lesson” should be the frontrunner. However, “The Judgement” might have the edge not only because it sports a larger budget and wider appeal, but because Komandarev is the filmmaker behind “The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner,” which is the one Bulgarian film that has gotten the closest to Oscar glory when it was shortlisted by the Academy in 2010. Less likely to be selected but still viable possibilities are “Adultery,”"Buffer Zone," and "The Petrov File."
Canada
"Felix & Meira"
Dir. Maxime Giroux
Isa: Urban Distribution International
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Canadian Release Date: January 30th, 2015
As of now Canada’s ideal representative would be the small, but touching, “Felix & Meir,” about a married woman from the Orthodox Jewish community who falls in love with a secular man, as way to know life beyond the restrictions of her faith. This tiny gem won the Best Canadian Feature award at last year’s Tiff and received four awards at the Whistler Film Festival including Best Film and Best Director. “Felix & Meira” was acquired by Oscilloscope for U.S. distribution and was released last April. To date it has grossed nearly $500,00, which, for a subtle and niche film like this, is a great feat. Giroux’ film should take this easily, unless the new film by Oscar-nominated director Philippe Falardeau decides to push for the opportunity. Falardeau newest film “Guibord Goes to War” (Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre) is a political dark comedy that premiered at Locarno and is scheduled to open in Canada on October 2- just two days after AMPAS’ deadline. If the distributor decides to have a one-week qualifying run ahead of the release, then it would become the new frontrunner to represent Canada. However, it’s still unknown if that is being considered or if the film will just wait till next year. Falardeau was nominated in the category for “Monsieur Lazhar” in 2012. “Chorus,” which premiered at Sundance, Berlin’s “Corbo,” Tiff’s “In Her Place,” and the “Les Loups” also qualify.
Chile
"The Club" (El Club)
Dir. Pablo Larraín
Isa: Funny Balloons
U.S. Distribution: Music Box Films
Chilean Release Date: May 28, 2015
With Pablo Larraín’s Silver Bear-winner film, Chile has an easy choice to make. “The Club,” which was recently picked up for U.S. distribution by Music Box Films, has received universal critical acclaimed and has cemented its director as one of the most important figures in Latin American cinema. Larraín’s latest centers on a group of priests and nuns sent to a beach town to purify their sinful pasts involving everything from pedophilia to kidnapping. The only other film that truly stands a chance is Matias Lira's “El Bosque de Karadima,” which deals with similar themes regarding secrecy and crimes against children within the Catholic Church. But even if this film has been well-received at home, “The Club” has had more much more international visibility and it has the distinction of being the newest work from the director behind “No,” Chile’s only Oscar-nominated film to date. Other notable works that will be part of the conversation include historical drama “Allende en su Laberinto” by veteran director Miguel Littin, Rodrigo Sepúlveda’s touching “Aurora," and indie flick “La Voz en Off.”
China
"Mountains May Depart" (山河故人)
Dir. Zhangke Jia
Isa: MK2
U.S. Distribution: Kino Lorber
Chinese Release Date: Unknown
Censorship has always played a role in China’s decision-making process when it comes to their Oscar submissions. Some of the best Chinese films in recent years are never considered given their controversial topics or because they were made outside of the state-run system. Under this circumstances patriotic epics or lavish period dramas are often selected even when their quality is subpar. The country’s big production this year is “The Lady of the Dynasty,” which was a box-office disappointment and garnered mostly negative reviews locally. With this in mind, the hope is that they will finally look at more compelling films with greater international exposure, such as Jia Zhangke’s “Mountains May Depart.” Premiering at Cannes to mostly positive responses, the film looks at Chinese society from three perspectives scattered over three decades. The film has passed the censors' revisions and will be allowed to screen in mainland Chine, which means it’s possible one of Zhangke’s film might finally represent his homeland. His previous effort, “A Touch of Sin,” was ignored because of its thematic elements. Jean-Jacques Annaud’s stunning “Wolf Totem” is a close second choice, but given the fact that China submitted a film by a French director last, they might want to highlight a homegrown talent this time. There is also “Red Amnesia,” a thriller about a widow that compulsively needs to take careof those around her until strange incidents shake her life. Er Cheng’s “The Wasted Times,” which appears to be a delirious visual treat, but it opens just a few days after the September 30th deadline. A qualifying run prior to that date is possible, but not likely. “Mountains May Depart” is definitely the strongest candidate.
Colombia
"Embrace of the Serpent" (El Abrazo de la Serpiente)
Dir. Ciro Guerra
Isa: Films Boutique
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Colombian Release Date: May 25th, 2015
The Colombian film industry has had an outstanding year and that has produced an impressive lineup of films from which their strongest Oscar entry to date will emerge. Three films that screened at the Cannes Film Festival - two of which earned prizes – are at the top of the list. Winning the Art Cinema Award at the Directors’ Fortnight Ciro Guerra’s black-and-white “Embrace of the Serpent” is the one to beat among these trio of art house wonders. Guerra’s film is a period piece about the clash between the native people of the Amazon and a European explorer, which has received stellar reviews and was picked up for U.S. distribution by Oscilloscope. Two of Guerra’s previous films, “Wandering Shadows” and “The Wind Journey,” also represented Colombia at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, the other films that screen at the Croisette, Golden Camera-winner “Land and Shade” and war drama “Alias Maria,” shouldn’t be completely counted out of the running. Films like Franco Lolli's “Gente de Bien” (Cannes 2014), Josef Wladyka's “Manos Sucias,” "Todos Se Van," and “Ruido Rosa” qualify and testify of the great moment Colombian filmmaking is experiencing, but they will have a difficult time pulling off an upset.
Croatia
"The High Sun" (Zvizdan)
Dir. Dalibor Matanic
Isa: Cercamon
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Croatian Release Date: Septemeber 2015
It’s not often that a Croatian feature manage to grab Cannes’ attention and take home a prestigious award like the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. “The High Sun” achieved such feat and should be almost a lock to become the country’s Oscar entry. This intense drama, that expands over three decades and explores the Balkan region’s turbulent history, also won 7 awards at the Pula Film Festival including Best Film, Director, Leading Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. If there’s another film with a reasonable shot, it would be Ognjen Svilicic's “These Are the Rules” about a family questioning their moral compass after a violent incident, which did well in the festival circuit winning awards in Venice, Warsaw, Stockholm, and Pula. Svilicic’s 2007 feature “Armin” represented the country at the 80th Academy Awards. “The Bridge at the End of the World,” “Ungiven,” “The Reaper,” “Number 55” are other noteworthy Croatian films released during the past year, but Matanic’s highly praised wok should have no trouble becoming the official entry.
Dominican Republic
"Sand Dollar" (Dólares de Arena)
Dir. Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán
Isa: FIGa Films
U.S. Distribution: Breaking Glass Pictures
Dominican Release Date: November 13th, 2014
Thanks to a growing film industry, Dominican films have participated every year starting in 2011 after being absent from the race since 1995. Their submissions have included romantic comedies and low-budget crime dramas that weren’t successful at getting AMPAS’ attention. Fortunately, this year they might have their strongest candidate yet with “Sand Dollars.” In Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán's film starring Geraldine Chaplin, a local girl becomes the object of desire for an older French woman visiting the Caribbean country, influenced by her boyfriend the Dominican beauty decides to take advantage of the foreigner’s interest. “Sand Dollars” has screened at countless festivals around the world winning a handful of awards and has secured U.S. distribution. Guillermo Zouain's road-trip comedy “Algún Lugar” has also been well-received at a couple of international festivals, but is less likely to be picked. “Pueto Pa’ Mí,” a drama about urban music, documentary “Tu y Yo," and biopic “Maria Montez,” might be out of luck. It’s unclear if Agliberto Meléndez political film “Del Color de La Noche,” has premiered yet, so that could a contender next year given that the director was behind the country’s first ever Oscar submission.
Ethiopia
"Lamb"
Dir. Yared Zeleke
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Ethiopian Release Date: Unknown
The East African nation has only sent two films for consideration. Last year it was the Angeline Jolie-supported “Difret,” which was part of the World Cinema competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. This year only two films seem to qualify. “Lamb” is the first-ever Ethiopian film to screen at Cannes, which makes it the unquestionable favorite. It’s a rural story about a boy and his beloved sheep moving in with relatives as his mother goes to work in the city. Reviews were positive praising the film’s cinematography and layered storytelling. The other film that could possibly be selected is Hermon Hailay’s “Prince of Love” about a prostitute and a cab driver struggling to get by in the capital city of Addis Ababa. “Prince of Love” represented the country at Fespaco, one of Africa’s most renowned festivals, and will screen at Tiff in September. Ethiopia might choose to send “Lamb” this time around and save Hailay’s feature for next year depending on release date.
Finland
"The Fencer" (Miekkailija)
Dir. Klaus Härö
Isa: The Little Film Company
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Finnish Release Date: March 13th, 2015
Peculiar teen drama “They Have Escaped” won four Jussi Awards from the Finnish Academy earlier this year including Best Film and Best Director; however, it will probably face an uphill battle to become Finland’s Oscar entry. Instead, Estonian-language period piece, “The Fencer,” looks like a more feasible alternative because of its classic story, elegant cinematography, and the director behind it: Klaus Härö. The film tells the story of a young Estonian fencer who leaves his homeland to become a Pe teacher and escape persecution by the Russian authorities in the 1950s. Some critics have gone as far as to call it “the best Finnish film in a decade.” Three of Härö’s previous films (“Elina: As If I Wasn’t There,””Mother of Mine, “ and Letter to Father Jacob) were selected as Oscar entries. The only obstacle in its path is the fact that this is an Estonian story with mostly Estonian dialogue. If the selection committee can overlook that, this will be their pick. Antti Jokinen's “Wildeye,” a visually arresting war drama that opens in September is another strong option, particularly because Jokinen’s previous film, “Purge,” represent the country in 2013. “Absolution,” “Head First,” ”Homecoming,” and “Tsamo” are proof a strong year in Finnish cinema but won’t make the cut.
France
"Dheepan"
Dir. Jacques Audiard
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Sundance Selects
French Release Date: August 26th, 2015
Given the amount of films produced in France each year, this is the most difficult country to narrow down. However, this year there is a heavyweight contender among the scores of worthy productions. Surprise Palme d’Or-winner “Deephan” by the Academy Award-nominated director of “A Prophet," Jacques Audiard, is a clear favorite. Audiard is a legend and it’s hard to think France won’t support the film that took home one of cinema’s most coveted prizes. Following the relevant immigrant story of a Sri Lankan warrior in France, “Dheepan” is almost a safe bet. If for some unimaginable reason Audiard’s latest is not chosen, the most likely alternative would be well-received “My Golden Days” by Arnaud Desplechin, which has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Magnolia Pictures. While there are dozens of films that could be considered, here are some other important French films that qualify based on their release dates: “Girlhood,” “Standing Tall,” “The Measure of Man,” “The New Girlfriend,” “Valley of Love,” “Eden,”"The Connection."
Germany
"Labyrinth of Lies" (Im Labyrinth des Schweigens)
Dir. Giulio Ricciarelli
Isa: Beta Cinema
U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
German Release Date: November 6th, 2014
After an 8-film shortlist was released, - which sadly doesn’t include “Phoenix” because it opened late last September – things look pretty clear for the German selection committee. It’s really a 3-film race between “13 Minutes,” Labyrinth of Lies,” and “Victoria.” Unfortunately, and despite incredibly positive reviews, Sebastian Schipper's “Victoria” might be considered a risky choice because a big part of it is in English. That leaves Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “13 Minutes,” about a man who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1939. On the surface this looks like the prime title to send to AMPAS since Hirschbiegel’s “Downfall” earned him a nomination and he has worked in Hollywood for several years now. Yet, reception wasn’t as warm for his first German film in a decade. On the other “Labyrinth of Lies,” which deals with Post-World War II Germany and how the government tried to cover up its recent Nazi past, had better luck. Critical reception has been better for this film and it was a financial success in Germany and France, which gives the edge. Both “13 Minutes” and “Labyrinth of Lies” were acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for U.S. distribution. The complete list of shortlisted films can be found Here
Greece
"Xenia" (Ξενία)
Dir. Panos H. Koutras
Isa: Pyramide International
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Greek Release Date: October 2nd, 2014
Although it’s not an official rule, Greece almost-automatically selects the winner of the Best Film Prize at the Hellenic Film Awards as their Oscar submissions. This year’s winner was the Lgbt dramedy “Xenia,” which follows two Albanian brothers searching for their Greek father after their mother’s death. The film was nominated for 15 Hellenic Film Awards and won a total of six. “Xenia” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and will be released in the U.S. in October by Strand Releasing. I can’t see any other film being selected other than Koutras’ Almodovar-infused film, but if that were the case the other Best Film nominees – that meet AMPAS requirements- would be the ones to look to: “Electra,” “A Blast,” and “Forever.”
Guatemala
"Ixcanul"
Dir. Jayro Bustamante
Isa: Film Factory Entertainment
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Guatemalan Release Date: August 27th, 2015
This is a no-brainer. Guatemala has only sent a film once back in 1994, but this year director Jayro Bustamante delivered the most awarded Guatemalan film in history. That should be a good enough reason to enter the race once again. “Ixcanul” won the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlinale and has screened across the world to great success. Bustamante’s film centers on a Mayan girl who wants to escape the arrange marriage that awaits her to see what’s beyond her village. Another Guatemalan film, which also screened in Berlin, Edgar Sajcabún's “La Casa Más Grande del Mundo,” will probably not open theatrically in time and should be considered next year.
Iceland
"Rams" (Hrútar)
Dir. Grímur Hákonarson
Isa: New Europe Film Sales
U.S. Distribution: Cohen Media Group
Icelandic Release Date: May 28th, 2015
Two middle-aged brothers in an Icelandic rural town leave their differences behind and come together to save their beloved farm animals in the Un Certain Regard Award-winner “Rams.” With such recognition under its belt and having just been picked for U.S. distribution by Cohen Media Group, Grímur Hákonarson's film is certainly the handsomest choice. Still, “Rams” is not without a strong rival. Crowd-pleaser “Virgin Mountain,” about a lonely man whose life changes when he meets a new friend, had its U.S. premiere at the Tribecca Film Festival where it won three awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. It could go either way, but the Cannes prestige and having found a U.S. distributor give “Rams” the upper hand. Iceland produced several qualifying features this year including “Brave Men’s Blood,” “East of the Mountain, “ and “The Homecoming.”
Iran
"Muhammad: The Messenger of God"
Dir. Majid Majidi
PC: Nourtaban Film Industry
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Iranian Release Date: August 26, 2015
Iran will have to make an incredibly difficult decision that unfortunately may have political repercussions. Majid Majidi’s latest film “Muhammad: The Messenger of God” is the most expense Iranian feature ever made. The historical epic brings to life the early years of the prophet's life with impressive locations, costumes, and cinematography courtesy of Three-time Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro. Majidi himself is no stranger to the Academy having earned Iran’s first-ever Academy Award nomination with “Children of Heaven.” Taking these facts into consideration, “Muhammad” seems to be the obvious selection, but there are many religious and political concerns that could get in its way. Islam prohibits the depiction of the prophet and other sacred figures in any artistic work. Knowing this, Majidi shot the entire film - which is the first part in what’s to become a trilogy – without ever showing the prophet’s face by shooting most scenes from his point of view or showing him with his back to the camera. This was acceptable for Iran’s censors, as the film will open this week in theaters across the Middle Eastern country. However, other Muslim countries, particularly Sunni Muslims, have been outspoken about their discontent with the film. Whether Iran will still choose to submit the film to AMPAS is a mystery, but it will certainly have more to do with outside influences rather than artistic merit. “Muhammad” will have its North American premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.
“Nahid” by Ida Panahandeh, about a woman’s journey from divorce to remarrying, won the Avenir Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, but - although censors have said the film will be allowed the screen in Iran - it might not open theatrically in time. It also deals with a controversial subject and that might limit it chances. A third, and much safer option, is romantic drama “What’s the Time in Your World?” starring Leila Hatami (“A Speration”) and Ali Mosaffa (“The Past”). Directed by Safi Yazdanian, the film looks beautifully done and sports two of the most talented Iranian actors working today. It could definitely be a good alternative. Other films include “Borderless,” “Track 143,” "Tales” and “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” Perhaps Iran will ignore the risk and submit their most lavish film to date by one of their most celebrated filmmakers who still works within the state’s parameters.
Israel
"The Kind Words" (Ha'milim ha'tovot )
Dir. Shemi Zarhin
Isa: Beta Cinema
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Israeli Release Date: May 28, 2015
With 12 nominations to Israel’s Ophir Awards, “The Kind Words” including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress Shem Zarhin’s film is the one to beat. Since the winner of the Ophir Award for Best Film automatically becomes Israel’s Oscar submission, “The Kind Words” has a strong shot at both honors. The film follows a group of siblings as they travel abroad to uncover a secret. By default the other contenders are the rest of the films nominated for Best Film: “Wounded Land,” ”Afterthought,” “Wedding Doll,” and “Baba Joon.” Of this Elad Keidan's “Afterthought,” which premiered at Cannes to positive reviews, and Erez Tadmor's intense drama “Wounded Land” appear to be the strongest alternatives. Despite being nominated several times Israel has never won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
Italy
"My Mother" (Mia Madre)
Dir. Nanni Moretti
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: Alchemy
Italian Release Date: April 16th, 2015
Nanni Moretti is back with “Mia Madre,” a new family drama that screened in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and won a few awards at the Italian David di Donatello Awards. Since the big winner at the national awards, “Black Souls,” was considered last year, Moretti’s film is the frontrunner. However, there is a wild card that could change things. Veteran filmmaker Marco Bellocchio will release his newest work “Blood of My Blood,” a historical drama about a 17th century woman accused of being a witch, on September 9 - just in time to qualify. It’s likely that Moretti will have enough support to pull it off, but there is still a chance that might not be set in stone. Besides these two films there is Mario Martone’s “Leopardi,” a biopic about poet Giacomo Leopardi, which won several David di Donatello Awards and was also recognized in Venice. With even less possibilities are Sundance’s “Cloro,” “Greenery Will Bloom Again,” and Albanian-language “Sworn Virgin,”
Ivory Coast
"Run"
Dir. Philippe Lacôte
PC: Banshee Films
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Ivorian Release Date: December 17th, 2014
The first and only time a film represent Ivory Coast at the Oscars was back in 1977. That film, “Black and White in Color,” won the first and only Academy Award attributed to a Sub-Saharan African country. Nevertheless, that landmark work was directed by a Frenchmen, Jean-Jacques Annaud, and had mostly French talent in the leading roles. Now, almost 40 years later, an actual Ivorian film looks presents a fantastic opportunity for the country to return to the race. Philippe Lacote’s political drama “Run” screened in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2014, Tiff, and AFI Fest, and later opened commercially in Abidjan, the Ivorian Capital, and Paris. Ivory Coast has only one eligible film to submit as their Oscar entry, and fortunately it’s a good one.
Japan
"Our Little Sister" (海街 diary)
Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
Japanese Release Date: June 13th, 2015
Japan hasn’t had a successful entry since unexpectedly winning the award in 2009 with “Departures.” Their selections are often baffling because they tend to ignore festival winners and critically acclaimed films to pick obscure titles that rarely connect with voters. In recent years outstanding films such as “Like Father, Like Son” have been overlooked. Having said this, one can only hope that this time around they will chose more wisely. This year another film by Hirokazu Koreeda, “Our Little Sister,” debuted at Cannes and has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classic – a powerhouse distributor in the Best Foreign Language Film race. Based on a manga series, the film revolves around a group of young women who decide to adopt their stepsister after their father dies. “Our Little Sister” was also a financial success in its homeland. Even with all these positive qualities on its side, Japan might refuse to submit Koreeda’s film and look elsewhere. Other options from the festival circuit include Naomi Kawase's “An- Sweet Red Bean Paste,” which less positive reviews; “Journey to the Shore,” though it opens on October 1; “Kabukicho Love Hotel,” which screened at Tiff last year, and “Cape Nostalgia.”
Jordan
"Theeb" (ذيب)
Dir. Naji Abu Nowar
Isa: Fortissimo Films
U.S. Distribution: Film Movement
Jordanian Release Date: March 19th, 2015
In 2008 Jordan submitted their first-ever Oscar submission, and the first feature film made in the country in half a century. That film, “Captain Abu Raed,” did very well in festivals like Sundance and Dubai. Since then, Jordanian cinema has been scarce forcing the country to be absent from the race. That could change this year with “Theeb” by UK-born filmmaker Naji Abu Nowar. His period piece about a Bedouin boy during World War I has played at numerous festivals and will have a U.S. theatrical release via Film Movement.
Lithuania
"The Summer of Sangailé" (Sangaile)
Dir. Alanté Kavaïté
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Lithuanian Release Date: August 21st, 2015
The Sundance Film Festival screened its first-ever Lithuanian feature this past January, “The Summer of Sangailé” by Alanté Kavaïté. This Lgbt coming-of-age story showcases captivating cinematography and nuanced performances. “Sangailé” went on to win the Directing Award in the World Cinema Competition at the Park City festival. It will also become one of the very few Lithuanian films to have been distributed in the U.S. when Strand Releasing schedules its theatrical release. Being the most awarded narrative film from the Baltic nation, it should be a shoo-in. "Sangailé" also won three Silver Crane Awards (Lithuanian Oscars): Best Film, Best Actress for Julija Steponaityte and best set design for Ramunas Rastauskas. Its only realistic adversary is the documentary “Master and Tatyana,” which won the Best Documentary, Best Director, and Best Cinematography prizes at the Silver Crane. Lithuania has shown to be fond of submitting documentaries, but one could presume that “Sangaile’s” wider international appeal will help it succeed.
Mexico
"The Thin Yellow Line" (La Delgada Línea Amarilla)
Dir. Celso R. García
Isa: Latido Films
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Mexican Release Date: Unknown
Among the 14 films that the Mexican Academy announced as candidates to become the official Oscar submission, only a handful of them have a real chance at representing Mexico. It’s really a three-way race between “600 Miles,” “La Tirisia,” and “The Thin Yellow Line.” Each of these has distinctive assets as well as factors that could play against them. Gabriel Ripstein's “600 Miles” stars Tim Roth, which could be beneficial because Academy voters would see a familiar face on screen. At the same time Roth’s participation means that there is a considerable amount of English dialogue that could make the film feel less authentic when considered as a “foreign language film” representing a country. Then there is Jorge Pérez Solano's art house marvel, “La Tirisia,” about the role of women in a very traditional Mexican community. This is a film that truly showcases an unseen aspect of Mexican culture and has garnered international recognition, but it might be too small in scope to be selected.
Lastly, “The Yellow Thin Line,” which was awarded at the Guadalajara Film Festival but hasn’t travel much. It will screen at the Chicago International Film Festival in October. “The Thin Yellow Line” tells the story of a group of men working on a deserted road as they are forced to come to terms with their yearnings and failures. The premise seems unique; the cast includes some of Mexico’s most recognizable talents, and it’s partly produced my Guillermo del Toro. That last fact is what could set the film apart from the rest because the general public and Academy voters will be intrigued to see what was it about this story that interested Del Toro, who hasn’t been involved in a Mexican project in several years. It’s a tough race, but having someone like the “Pan’s Labyrinth’s” director supporting the film could be a deal breaker.
Peru
"The Vanished Elephant" (El Elefante Desaparecido)
Dir. Javier Fuentes-León
Isa: Mundial
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Peruvian Release Date: October 9th, 2015
Javier Fuentes-Leon’s “The Vanished Elephant” premiered at last year’s Tiff and was also part of this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival making it the highest profile Peruvian film of the year. At home, the critical response was very positive and the quality of the film, in comparison to other Peruvian works released in the last 12 months, is undeniable. “The Vanished Elephant” tells the cryptic story of a writer whose girlfriend disappears without a trace. After receiving a series of strange photographs, he delves into deceitful conspiracy that defies the lines between reality and fiction. Fuentes-Leon debut feature “Undertow” was submitted to the Academy back in 2010. Enrica Perez’ “Climas” about three Peruvian women from different walks of life and Héctor Gálvez forensic mystery “Nn” have both screened at several international festivals, and though they are much smaller film’s than “The Vanished Elephant,”either of them could be the next best choice to become Peru’s Oscar entry. Less likely titles include “Videophilia,” “Solos,” and historical drama “Gloria del Pacífico.”
The Philippines
"Trap" (Taklub)
Dir. Brillante Mendoza
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Filipino Release Date: Unknown
Brillante Mendoza is one the Philippines most acclaimed auteurs and yet none of his films have ever been selected to represent the Southeast Asian nation at the Oscars. His latest work, “Trap,” won Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes and it’s the prime contender to travel to L.A. this year. “Trap” follows a group of survivors soon after Typhoon Haiyan devastated a great part of the country. The film stars Filipino actress Nora Aunor, who also the lead in Mendoza’s “Thy Womb,” which was the Filipino entry at the Golden Globes a couple years back. Given that Mendoza’s work has never been selected, there is a chance he might miss out once more. If that happens, the film that could benefit is Paul Soriano's Manny Pacquiao biopic titled “Kid Kulafo,” which would evidently ring a bell with Americans. Other films to be considered include “Justice,” also starring Aunor, “Crocodile,” or even lighthearted comedy “English Only, Please.”
Russia
"Sunstroke"
Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Russian Release Date: October 4th, 2014
Even after winning the Golden Globe and being nominated for an Academy Awards, Andrey Zvyagintsev “Leviathan” couldn’t get the Best Film award from the Russian Academy. Instead, they decided to bestow that honor on veteran filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's period piece "Sunstroke.” This is the type of film that Russia loves to submit: patriotic, historical, and epic. Even though last year the Russian selection committee showed they could overlook their political agenda to ensure the best film represented the country, this year they will go back to their old ways. This is not to say “Sunstroke” is a bad film, as hardly anyone outside of Russia has seen, but it does mean that other more daring offers like Yuriy Bykov's festival darling “The Fool” and Aleksey German's “Under Electric Clouds" have little hope at becoming the country’s entry and getting the exposure that comes with it. Mikhalkov won the Oscar in for “Burnt by the Sun” in 1995 and was nominated again for "12" in 2008, which means he will be hard to beat this year. "The Fool" would be a much more interesting selection but its story about a regular citizen fighting the corrupt system might prove too controversial. There is also another war epic titled "Batalion" by Dmitriy Meskhiev, which could pull off a surprise.
Serbia
"Enclave" (Enklava)
Dir. Goran Radovanovic
PC: Nana Filam
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Serbian Eelease Date: March 19, 2015
Serbia’s 6-film shortlist includes worlds that deal with a variety of subjects, from the recurrent tales of war and its aftermath, triumphant sports stories, and even the peculiar case of a boy who grew up wild in the woods. Of all these possibilities, the film that seems to have the most gravitas is Goran Radovanovic's “Enclave,” a film about the ethnic divide in Kosovo and the atrocities that perpetuates. This is definitely not the film with the most international exposure, but the story might be enough to warrant its submission. Films that deal with similar issues like, “Circles,” have been previous selected. But the Serbian committee wants to stay away from both war and sports dramas, they might go with Vuk Rsumovic “No One’s Child” which did very well at a few festivals including Venice and Palm Springs. It could either way. Original comedy "Monument to Michael Jackson" could also be a more lighthearted choice. The shortlist is completed by "We Will Be the World Champions"," The Man Who Defended Gavrilo Princip," and "The Disobedient" (Sundance 2014).
Spain
"Ma Ma"
Dir. Julio Medem
Isa: Seville International
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Spanish Release Date: September 11, 2015
For a long time I had hope that Spain would find a loophole and submit their most honored film at this year’s Goya Awards, “Marshland” (La Isla Minima), but that seems like a farfetched hope now. Luckily, another film that looks like a winner will be released just in time. “Ma Ma” directed by Julio Medem and starring Academy Award-winner Penelope Cruz has Oscar written all over it. Cruz plays a mother diagnosed with cancer and whose ferocious battle with the disease will reinvigorate her love for life. The actress also served as a producer in what has become one of the most anticipated films of the year. The only films that could challenge are coming-of-ager “A Cambio de Nada” and Basque-language drama “Loreak.” The former appears to be feel-good story that might seem slight in comparison to both “Ma Ma” and “Loreak,” which deals with a woman who starts receiving flowers from a mysterious sender. “Magical Girl” is a brilliantly twisty film, but being so edgy it will probably be considered to risky for the Oscar race. Penelope Cruz’ star power will decide this race.
Sweden
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence" (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron)
Dir. Roy Andersson
Isa: Coproduction Office (Paris)
U.S. Distribution: Magnolia Pictures
Swedish Release Date: November 14th, 2014
The two previous chapters sin Andersson’s trilogy about being human were submitted to AMPAS, and even if they didn’t get a nomination, it’s hard to imagine them not submitting “A Pigeon.” The film has been critically acclaimed and it won the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice Film festival. Furthermore, it has already been released in the U.S. by Magnolia, the company that handled last year’s Swedish submission, “Force Majeure.” While I’d love to see Andersson be selected, there are several other films that could prevent that from happening. Kay Pollack, who earned Sweden’s most recent nomination for “As It Is in Heaven,” has a new film opening in early September titled “Heaven on Earth.” Depending on how that film is received the tables may or may not turn. The third strongest option is the romantic costume drama “Gentlemen,” which won several awards from the Swedish Academy and has already been picked up for U.S. distribution by, of course, Magnolia. Smaller, yet worthy candidates, include “My Skinny Sister” and “Flocking,” both of which premiered in Berlin.
Switzerland
"Vanity" (La Vanité)
Dir. Lionel Baier
Isa: Wide
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Swiss Release Date: September 2, 2015
Out of the 7 films shortlisted by the Swiss, the one that immediately stands out is dark comedy “Vanity.” The film just premiered at Locarno and it stars Spanish actress, and one of Almodovar’s favorites, Carmen Maura, as well as Patrick Lapp. Although the film deals with suicide, the approach seems to be very comedic. In a list of several obscure titles, “Vanity” should come out on top. A second option could be Stina Werenfels' “Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents,” which screened in Berlin’s Panorama section and tells the story of a mentally disabled woman discovering her sexuality. “War” by Simon Jaquemet, about a rebellious teenager, had some festival play as well but is less likely to be chosen. The other four titles in the shortlist are: “Pause,” doc “Iraqi Odyssey,” “Chubby,” and “L’oasis des mendiants.”
Taiwan
"The Assassin" (聶隱娘)
Dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Well Go USA Entertainment
Taiwanese Release Date: August 28th, 2015
There is really no race here. “The Assassin” will be Taiwan’s entry almost certainly. Winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and clearly one of the best reviewed films of the year, this martial arts epic, which is said to showcase marvelous imagery, should be consider a strong contender. I can’t see Taiwan not choosing the film, but there are still other films that could be considered. Of those the most viable, but very distant, second choice could be Tso-chi Chang's “Thanatos, Drunk,” which was awarded in Berlin and received six prizes at the Taipei Film Festival. The film revolves around to brothers in Taipei trying to find jobs.
Thailand
"Cemetery of Splendor" (รักที่ขอนแก่น)
Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Isa: The Match Factory
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Thai Release Date: Unknown
It was a great year for Thai art house cinema, which means the country has several prominent titles to choose from. Strangely enough, even when there are films with international recognition, Thailand often decides to submit a quirky romantic comedy or a random horror film. The reasons behind their selections are unknown. Still, assuming that they will pay attention to their most respected filmmakers, the number one choice should be "Cemetery of Splendor." However, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films are not as well liked in his homeland are they are abroad, but it seems irrational for them not consider the film. It might be too abstract for AMPAS’ taste, but it’s still the most prestigious work. Other possibilities include “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)," which is partially in English, “The Blue Hours” (Berlin’s Panorama), and Rotterdam’s “Vanishing Point.” Of course, there are scores of more commercial titles from which the committee might pick.
Turkey
"Mustang"
Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Isa: Kinology
U.S. Distribution: Cohen Media Group
Turkish Release Date: Unknown
Last year Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Palme d’Or-winning film “Winter Sleep” failed to receive a nomination, perhaps due to it’s length and cerebral screenplay. This year another title out of Cannes shows more promise. “Mustang” tells the story of five sisters living in a small village and subjected to the sexist prejudices of the townspeople. With extensive festival play and in the hands of Cohen Media Group - the company behind this year’s nominee “Timbuktu" - Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s film is the ideal pick. Sundance’s “Ivy” by Tolga Karaçelik, about a group of men trapped aboard a ship could definitely be a top contender. Kutlug Ataman's “Kuzu,” winner of the C.I.C.A.E. Award in Berlin’s Panorama section would be the third most likely film to represent Turkey at the Oscars. Lastly, “The Miracle,” a romantic period piece, is a large local production that could be considered, but lacks the festival exposure of the other three.
Venezuela
"Gone With the River" (Dauna, Lo que lleva el río)
Dir. Mario Crespo
Isa: Centro Nacional Autonomo de Cinematografía
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Venezuelan Release Date: March 20, 2015
With Alberto Arvelo’s “The Liberator,” the South American nation got as close as it’s ever been to Oscar glory this year. The biopic about Simón Bolívar starring Edgar Ramírez managed to become one of the 9 shortlisted finalists out of 83 submissions. Venezuela has several options to submit for the 88th Academy Awards, but they are much smaller in magnitude on this occasion. Appearing at the NATIVe sidebar of the Berlinale, “Dauna, lo que lleva el río” or “ Gone with the River” is the most important Venezuelan film of the year and gives voice to the country’s indigenous people by telling story that rarely gets seen on screen. On the other hand, the film “3 Beauties,” about another of Venezuelan’s most well-known obsessions, beauty pageants, has received critical praise at home but it seems to be a lighter satirical comedy. Their Oscar entry could be either one of the two, but I think they will go with the more socially relevant story. A smaller film, “Espejos,” could be part of the conversation but is possibilities are very limited.
Trying to predict what a particular nation will enter is a tall order because of the numerous factors that weight in, especially when dealing with countries with a large film industry. In other cases, however, there are usually just a couple standouts that meet the standards to be submitted. Whatever the case, even with the most obvious choices there could be surprises such as Indian choosing not to submitting "The Lunchbox" or Chile choosing another film over Silva's "The Maid."
While there is no sure-fie formula to predict what films will be competing for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, by looking at festivals, release dates, national awards, previous submissions, and with a hefty dose of educated speculation, I've put together a list of 35 titles that, at this point, seem like excellent choices.
Update 08/28: Several countries have announced their official submissions: Croatia ("The High Sun"), Germany ("Labyrinth of Lies"), Guatemala ("Ixcanul"), Switzerland ("Iraqi Odyssey"), and Palestine ("The Wanted 18").
Argentina
"The Clan" (El Clan)
Dir. Pablo Trapero
Isa: Film Factory Entertainment
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Argentine Release Date: August 13th, 2015
Coming off the success of this year’s nominee “Wild Tales,” which also did very well at the U.S. box-office for Sony Pictures Classics and became a spectacular hit back home, Argentina seems to have another strong contender this year with Pablo Trapero’s latest work “The Clan” (El Clan). Two of the director’s previous films have been submitted before (“Lion’s Den” and “Carrancho”), and this one about the Puccio family, which was criminal organization that kidnapped and murdered wealthy people, looks more than promising. “The Clan” is also produced by Almodovar’s El Deso, just as Damian Szifron’s “Tales” was. There are several other films that have enough merits to be considered, but might prove insufficient when faced with Trapero’s film. “Refugiado,” “El Patron,” “Two Shots” and, even “Jauaja,” starring Viggo Mortensen, qualify
Brazil
"The Second Mother"
Dir. Anna Muylaert
Isa: The Match Factory
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Pictures
Brazilian Release Date: August 27, 2015
Undoubtedly the most awarded Brazilian film of the year is also their best bet at the Oscars. Anna Muylaert's “The Second Mother” premiered at Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize for both of its leading actresses Regina Casé and Camila Márdila. It went on to screen in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and took home the C.I.C.A.E. Award and the Audience Award. The film tells the story of a live-in housekeeper and his daughter as they navigate the class divisions prevalent in Brazilian society. Another factor in its favor is the fact that the film has secured U.S. distribution thanks to Oscilloscope. “The Second Mother” opens in Brazil on August 27 and, in a strange turn of events, on August 28 in the U.S. While there are plenty of other great Brazilian works that qualify to be submitted, it’s unlikely that the selection committee will look elsewhere. Other films that could have a shot at being chosen are “August Winds,” “Casa Grande.” “Blue Blood,” and “White Out, Black In”
Bulgaria
"The Judgement"
Dir. Stephan Komandarev
Isa: Premium Film
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Bulgarian Release Date: October 16, 2014
Following last year’s scandalous selection of “Bulgarian Rhapsody” over the more deserving “Viktoria,” the Eastern European country has a two-way race in which both candidates have almost equal chances at being chosen. Stephan Komandarev’s drama “The Judgement” is the larger production of the two and revolves around a desperate father trying to amend his relationship with his estrange son. At the same time the protagonist is also trying to make ends meet and decides to take on the dangerous job of smuggling illegal immigrant from Syria through a remote area of the Turkish-Greek-Bulgarian border. The other film is Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov's “The Lesson,” about a devoted teacher who is faced with corrupt bureaucracy after her classroom is burglarized. Winning awards at the Sofia International Film Festival, San Sebastian, Thessaloniki, and screening at Tiff and Rotterdam, “The Lesson” should be the frontrunner. However, “The Judgement” might have the edge not only because it sports a larger budget and wider appeal, but because Komandarev is the filmmaker behind “The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner,” which is the one Bulgarian film that has gotten the closest to Oscar glory when it was shortlisted by the Academy in 2010. Less likely to be selected but still viable possibilities are “Adultery,”"Buffer Zone," and "The Petrov File."
Canada
"Felix & Meira"
Dir. Maxime Giroux
Isa: Urban Distribution International
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Canadian Release Date: January 30th, 2015
As of now Canada’s ideal representative would be the small, but touching, “Felix & Meir,” about a married woman from the Orthodox Jewish community who falls in love with a secular man, as way to know life beyond the restrictions of her faith. This tiny gem won the Best Canadian Feature award at last year’s Tiff and received four awards at the Whistler Film Festival including Best Film and Best Director. “Felix & Meira” was acquired by Oscilloscope for U.S. distribution and was released last April. To date it has grossed nearly $500,00, which, for a subtle and niche film like this, is a great feat. Giroux’ film should take this easily, unless the new film by Oscar-nominated director Philippe Falardeau decides to push for the opportunity. Falardeau newest film “Guibord Goes to War” (Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre) is a political dark comedy that premiered at Locarno and is scheduled to open in Canada on October 2- just two days after AMPAS’ deadline. If the distributor decides to have a one-week qualifying run ahead of the release, then it would become the new frontrunner to represent Canada. However, it’s still unknown if that is being considered or if the film will just wait till next year. Falardeau was nominated in the category for “Monsieur Lazhar” in 2012. “Chorus,” which premiered at Sundance, Berlin’s “Corbo,” Tiff’s “In Her Place,” and the “Les Loups” also qualify.
Chile
"The Club" (El Club)
Dir. Pablo Larraín
Isa: Funny Balloons
U.S. Distribution: Music Box Films
Chilean Release Date: May 28, 2015
With Pablo Larraín’s Silver Bear-winner film, Chile has an easy choice to make. “The Club,” which was recently picked up for U.S. distribution by Music Box Films, has received universal critical acclaimed and has cemented its director as one of the most important figures in Latin American cinema. Larraín’s latest centers on a group of priests and nuns sent to a beach town to purify their sinful pasts involving everything from pedophilia to kidnapping. The only other film that truly stands a chance is Matias Lira's “El Bosque de Karadima,” which deals with similar themes regarding secrecy and crimes against children within the Catholic Church. But even if this film has been well-received at home, “The Club” has had more much more international visibility and it has the distinction of being the newest work from the director behind “No,” Chile’s only Oscar-nominated film to date. Other notable works that will be part of the conversation include historical drama “Allende en su Laberinto” by veteran director Miguel Littin, Rodrigo Sepúlveda’s touching “Aurora," and indie flick “La Voz en Off.”
China
"Mountains May Depart" (山河故人)
Dir. Zhangke Jia
Isa: MK2
U.S. Distribution: Kino Lorber
Chinese Release Date: Unknown
Censorship has always played a role in China’s decision-making process when it comes to their Oscar submissions. Some of the best Chinese films in recent years are never considered given their controversial topics or because they were made outside of the state-run system. Under this circumstances patriotic epics or lavish period dramas are often selected even when their quality is subpar. The country’s big production this year is “The Lady of the Dynasty,” which was a box-office disappointment and garnered mostly negative reviews locally. With this in mind, the hope is that they will finally look at more compelling films with greater international exposure, such as Jia Zhangke’s “Mountains May Depart.” Premiering at Cannes to mostly positive responses, the film looks at Chinese society from three perspectives scattered over three decades. The film has passed the censors' revisions and will be allowed to screen in mainland Chine, which means it’s possible one of Zhangke’s film might finally represent his homeland. His previous effort, “A Touch of Sin,” was ignored because of its thematic elements. Jean-Jacques Annaud’s stunning “Wolf Totem” is a close second choice, but given the fact that China submitted a film by a French director last, they might want to highlight a homegrown talent this time. There is also “Red Amnesia,” a thriller about a widow that compulsively needs to take careof those around her until strange incidents shake her life. Er Cheng’s “The Wasted Times,” which appears to be a delirious visual treat, but it opens just a few days after the September 30th deadline. A qualifying run prior to that date is possible, but not likely. “Mountains May Depart” is definitely the strongest candidate.
Colombia
"Embrace of the Serpent" (El Abrazo de la Serpiente)
Dir. Ciro Guerra
Isa: Films Boutique
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Colombian Release Date: May 25th, 2015
The Colombian film industry has had an outstanding year and that has produced an impressive lineup of films from which their strongest Oscar entry to date will emerge. Three films that screened at the Cannes Film Festival - two of which earned prizes – are at the top of the list. Winning the Art Cinema Award at the Directors’ Fortnight Ciro Guerra’s black-and-white “Embrace of the Serpent” is the one to beat among these trio of art house wonders. Guerra’s film is a period piece about the clash between the native people of the Amazon and a European explorer, which has received stellar reviews and was picked up for U.S. distribution by Oscilloscope. Two of Guerra’s previous films, “Wandering Shadows” and “The Wind Journey,” also represented Colombia at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, the other films that screen at the Croisette, Golden Camera-winner “Land and Shade” and war drama “Alias Maria,” shouldn’t be completely counted out of the running. Films like Franco Lolli's “Gente de Bien” (Cannes 2014), Josef Wladyka's “Manos Sucias,” "Todos Se Van," and “Ruido Rosa” qualify and testify of the great moment Colombian filmmaking is experiencing, but they will have a difficult time pulling off an upset.
Croatia
"The High Sun" (Zvizdan)
Dir. Dalibor Matanic
Isa: Cercamon
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Croatian Release Date: Septemeber 2015
It’s not often that a Croatian feature manage to grab Cannes’ attention and take home a prestigious award like the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. “The High Sun” achieved such feat and should be almost a lock to become the country’s Oscar entry. This intense drama, that expands over three decades and explores the Balkan region’s turbulent history, also won 7 awards at the Pula Film Festival including Best Film, Director, Leading Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. If there’s another film with a reasonable shot, it would be Ognjen Svilicic's “These Are the Rules” about a family questioning their moral compass after a violent incident, which did well in the festival circuit winning awards in Venice, Warsaw, Stockholm, and Pula. Svilicic’s 2007 feature “Armin” represented the country at the 80th Academy Awards. “The Bridge at the End of the World,” “Ungiven,” “The Reaper,” “Number 55” are other noteworthy Croatian films released during the past year, but Matanic’s highly praised wok should have no trouble becoming the official entry.
Dominican Republic
"Sand Dollar" (Dólares de Arena)
Dir. Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán
Isa: FIGa Films
U.S. Distribution: Breaking Glass Pictures
Dominican Release Date: November 13th, 2014
Thanks to a growing film industry, Dominican films have participated every year starting in 2011 after being absent from the race since 1995. Their submissions have included romantic comedies and low-budget crime dramas that weren’t successful at getting AMPAS’ attention. Fortunately, this year they might have their strongest candidate yet with “Sand Dollars.” In Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán's film starring Geraldine Chaplin, a local girl becomes the object of desire for an older French woman visiting the Caribbean country, influenced by her boyfriend the Dominican beauty decides to take advantage of the foreigner’s interest. “Sand Dollars” has screened at countless festivals around the world winning a handful of awards and has secured U.S. distribution. Guillermo Zouain's road-trip comedy “Algún Lugar” has also been well-received at a couple of international festivals, but is less likely to be picked. “Pueto Pa’ Mí,” a drama about urban music, documentary “Tu y Yo," and biopic “Maria Montez,” might be out of luck. It’s unclear if Agliberto Meléndez political film “Del Color de La Noche,” has premiered yet, so that could a contender next year given that the director was behind the country’s first ever Oscar submission.
Ethiopia
"Lamb"
Dir. Yared Zeleke
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Ethiopian Release Date: Unknown
The East African nation has only sent two films for consideration. Last year it was the Angeline Jolie-supported “Difret,” which was part of the World Cinema competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. This year only two films seem to qualify. “Lamb” is the first-ever Ethiopian film to screen at Cannes, which makes it the unquestionable favorite. It’s a rural story about a boy and his beloved sheep moving in with relatives as his mother goes to work in the city. Reviews were positive praising the film’s cinematography and layered storytelling. The other film that could possibly be selected is Hermon Hailay’s “Prince of Love” about a prostitute and a cab driver struggling to get by in the capital city of Addis Ababa. “Prince of Love” represented the country at Fespaco, one of Africa’s most renowned festivals, and will screen at Tiff in September. Ethiopia might choose to send “Lamb” this time around and save Hailay’s feature for next year depending on release date.
Finland
"The Fencer" (Miekkailija)
Dir. Klaus Härö
Isa: The Little Film Company
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Finnish Release Date: March 13th, 2015
Peculiar teen drama “They Have Escaped” won four Jussi Awards from the Finnish Academy earlier this year including Best Film and Best Director; however, it will probably face an uphill battle to become Finland’s Oscar entry. Instead, Estonian-language period piece, “The Fencer,” looks like a more feasible alternative because of its classic story, elegant cinematography, and the director behind it: Klaus Härö. The film tells the story of a young Estonian fencer who leaves his homeland to become a Pe teacher and escape persecution by the Russian authorities in the 1950s. Some critics have gone as far as to call it “the best Finnish film in a decade.” Three of Härö’s previous films (“Elina: As If I Wasn’t There,””Mother of Mine, “ and Letter to Father Jacob) were selected as Oscar entries. The only obstacle in its path is the fact that this is an Estonian story with mostly Estonian dialogue. If the selection committee can overlook that, this will be their pick. Antti Jokinen's “Wildeye,” a visually arresting war drama that opens in September is another strong option, particularly because Jokinen’s previous film, “Purge,” represent the country in 2013. “Absolution,” “Head First,” ”Homecoming,” and “Tsamo” are proof a strong year in Finnish cinema but won’t make the cut.
France
"Dheepan"
Dir. Jacques Audiard
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Sundance Selects
French Release Date: August 26th, 2015
Given the amount of films produced in France each year, this is the most difficult country to narrow down. However, this year there is a heavyweight contender among the scores of worthy productions. Surprise Palme d’Or-winner “Deephan” by the Academy Award-nominated director of “A Prophet," Jacques Audiard, is a clear favorite. Audiard is a legend and it’s hard to think France won’t support the film that took home one of cinema’s most coveted prizes. Following the relevant immigrant story of a Sri Lankan warrior in France, “Dheepan” is almost a safe bet. If for some unimaginable reason Audiard’s latest is not chosen, the most likely alternative would be well-received “My Golden Days” by Arnaud Desplechin, which has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Magnolia Pictures. While there are dozens of films that could be considered, here are some other important French films that qualify based on their release dates: “Girlhood,” “Standing Tall,” “The Measure of Man,” “The New Girlfriend,” “Valley of Love,” “Eden,”"The Connection."
Germany
"Labyrinth of Lies" (Im Labyrinth des Schweigens)
Dir. Giulio Ricciarelli
Isa: Beta Cinema
U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
German Release Date: November 6th, 2014
After an 8-film shortlist was released, - which sadly doesn’t include “Phoenix” because it opened late last September – things look pretty clear for the German selection committee. It’s really a 3-film race between “13 Minutes,” Labyrinth of Lies,” and “Victoria.” Unfortunately, and despite incredibly positive reviews, Sebastian Schipper's “Victoria” might be considered a risky choice because a big part of it is in English. That leaves Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “13 Minutes,” about a man who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1939. On the surface this looks like the prime title to send to AMPAS since Hirschbiegel’s “Downfall” earned him a nomination and he has worked in Hollywood for several years now. Yet, reception wasn’t as warm for his first German film in a decade. On the other “Labyrinth of Lies,” which deals with Post-World War II Germany and how the government tried to cover up its recent Nazi past, had better luck. Critical reception has been better for this film and it was a financial success in Germany and France, which gives the edge. Both “13 Minutes” and “Labyrinth of Lies” were acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for U.S. distribution. The complete list of shortlisted films can be found Here
Greece
"Xenia" (Ξενία)
Dir. Panos H. Koutras
Isa: Pyramide International
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Greek Release Date: October 2nd, 2014
Although it’s not an official rule, Greece almost-automatically selects the winner of the Best Film Prize at the Hellenic Film Awards as their Oscar submissions. This year’s winner was the Lgbt dramedy “Xenia,” which follows two Albanian brothers searching for their Greek father after their mother’s death. The film was nominated for 15 Hellenic Film Awards and won a total of six. “Xenia” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and will be released in the U.S. in October by Strand Releasing. I can’t see any other film being selected other than Koutras’ Almodovar-infused film, but if that were the case the other Best Film nominees – that meet AMPAS requirements- would be the ones to look to: “Electra,” “A Blast,” and “Forever.”
Guatemala
"Ixcanul"
Dir. Jayro Bustamante
Isa: Film Factory Entertainment
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Guatemalan Release Date: August 27th, 2015
This is a no-brainer. Guatemala has only sent a film once back in 1994, but this year director Jayro Bustamante delivered the most awarded Guatemalan film in history. That should be a good enough reason to enter the race once again. “Ixcanul” won the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlinale and has screened across the world to great success. Bustamante’s film centers on a Mayan girl who wants to escape the arrange marriage that awaits her to see what’s beyond her village. Another Guatemalan film, which also screened in Berlin, Edgar Sajcabún's “La Casa Más Grande del Mundo,” will probably not open theatrically in time and should be considered next year.
Iceland
"Rams" (Hrútar)
Dir. Grímur Hákonarson
Isa: New Europe Film Sales
U.S. Distribution: Cohen Media Group
Icelandic Release Date: May 28th, 2015
Two middle-aged brothers in an Icelandic rural town leave their differences behind and come together to save their beloved farm animals in the Un Certain Regard Award-winner “Rams.” With such recognition under its belt and having just been picked for U.S. distribution by Cohen Media Group, Grímur Hákonarson's film is certainly the handsomest choice. Still, “Rams” is not without a strong rival. Crowd-pleaser “Virgin Mountain,” about a lonely man whose life changes when he meets a new friend, had its U.S. premiere at the Tribecca Film Festival where it won three awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. It could go either way, but the Cannes prestige and having found a U.S. distributor give “Rams” the upper hand. Iceland produced several qualifying features this year including “Brave Men’s Blood,” “East of the Mountain, “ and “The Homecoming.”
Iran
"Muhammad: The Messenger of God"
Dir. Majid Majidi
PC: Nourtaban Film Industry
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Iranian Release Date: August 26, 2015
Iran will have to make an incredibly difficult decision that unfortunately may have political repercussions. Majid Majidi’s latest film “Muhammad: The Messenger of God” is the most expense Iranian feature ever made. The historical epic brings to life the early years of the prophet's life with impressive locations, costumes, and cinematography courtesy of Three-time Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro. Majidi himself is no stranger to the Academy having earned Iran’s first-ever Academy Award nomination with “Children of Heaven.” Taking these facts into consideration, “Muhammad” seems to be the obvious selection, but there are many religious and political concerns that could get in its way. Islam prohibits the depiction of the prophet and other sacred figures in any artistic work. Knowing this, Majidi shot the entire film - which is the first part in what’s to become a trilogy – without ever showing the prophet’s face by shooting most scenes from his point of view or showing him with his back to the camera. This was acceptable for Iran’s censors, as the film will open this week in theaters across the Middle Eastern country. However, other Muslim countries, particularly Sunni Muslims, have been outspoken about their discontent with the film. Whether Iran will still choose to submit the film to AMPAS is a mystery, but it will certainly have more to do with outside influences rather than artistic merit. “Muhammad” will have its North American premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.
“Nahid” by Ida Panahandeh, about a woman’s journey from divorce to remarrying, won the Avenir Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, but - although censors have said the film will be allowed the screen in Iran - it might not open theatrically in time. It also deals with a controversial subject and that might limit it chances. A third, and much safer option, is romantic drama “What’s the Time in Your World?” starring Leila Hatami (“A Speration”) and Ali Mosaffa (“The Past”). Directed by Safi Yazdanian, the film looks beautifully done and sports two of the most talented Iranian actors working today. It could definitely be a good alternative. Other films include “Borderless,” “Track 143,” "Tales” and “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” Perhaps Iran will ignore the risk and submit their most lavish film to date by one of their most celebrated filmmakers who still works within the state’s parameters.
Israel
"The Kind Words" (Ha'milim ha'tovot )
Dir. Shemi Zarhin
Isa: Beta Cinema
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Israeli Release Date: May 28, 2015
With 12 nominations to Israel’s Ophir Awards, “The Kind Words” including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress Shem Zarhin’s film is the one to beat. Since the winner of the Ophir Award for Best Film automatically becomes Israel’s Oscar submission, “The Kind Words” has a strong shot at both honors. The film follows a group of siblings as they travel abroad to uncover a secret. By default the other contenders are the rest of the films nominated for Best Film: “Wounded Land,” ”Afterthought,” “Wedding Doll,” and “Baba Joon.” Of this Elad Keidan's “Afterthought,” which premiered at Cannes to positive reviews, and Erez Tadmor's intense drama “Wounded Land” appear to be the strongest alternatives. Despite being nominated several times Israel has never won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
Italy
"My Mother" (Mia Madre)
Dir. Nanni Moretti
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: Alchemy
Italian Release Date: April 16th, 2015
Nanni Moretti is back with “Mia Madre,” a new family drama that screened in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and won a few awards at the Italian David di Donatello Awards. Since the big winner at the national awards, “Black Souls,” was considered last year, Moretti’s film is the frontrunner. However, there is a wild card that could change things. Veteran filmmaker Marco Bellocchio will release his newest work “Blood of My Blood,” a historical drama about a 17th century woman accused of being a witch, on September 9 - just in time to qualify. It’s likely that Moretti will have enough support to pull it off, but there is still a chance that might not be set in stone. Besides these two films there is Mario Martone’s “Leopardi,” a biopic about poet Giacomo Leopardi, which won several David di Donatello Awards and was also recognized in Venice. With even less possibilities are Sundance’s “Cloro,” “Greenery Will Bloom Again,” and Albanian-language “Sworn Virgin,”
Ivory Coast
"Run"
Dir. Philippe Lacôte
PC: Banshee Films
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Ivorian Release Date: December 17th, 2014
The first and only time a film represent Ivory Coast at the Oscars was back in 1977. That film, “Black and White in Color,” won the first and only Academy Award attributed to a Sub-Saharan African country. Nevertheless, that landmark work was directed by a Frenchmen, Jean-Jacques Annaud, and had mostly French talent in the leading roles. Now, almost 40 years later, an actual Ivorian film looks presents a fantastic opportunity for the country to return to the race. Philippe Lacote’s political drama “Run” screened in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2014, Tiff, and AFI Fest, and later opened commercially in Abidjan, the Ivorian Capital, and Paris. Ivory Coast has only one eligible film to submit as their Oscar entry, and fortunately it’s a good one.
Japan
"Our Little Sister" (海街 diary)
Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
Japanese Release Date: June 13th, 2015
Japan hasn’t had a successful entry since unexpectedly winning the award in 2009 with “Departures.” Their selections are often baffling because they tend to ignore festival winners and critically acclaimed films to pick obscure titles that rarely connect with voters. In recent years outstanding films such as “Like Father, Like Son” have been overlooked. Having said this, one can only hope that this time around they will chose more wisely. This year another film by Hirokazu Koreeda, “Our Little Sister,” debuted at Cannes and has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classic – a powerhouse distributor in the Best Foreign Language Film race. Based on a manga series, the film revolves around a group of young women who decide to adopt their stepsister after their father dies. “Our Little Sister” was also a financial success in its homeland. Even with all these positive qualities on its side, Japan might refuse to submit Koreeda’s film and look elsewhere. Other options from the festival circuit include Naomi Kawase's “An- Sweet Red Bean Paste,” which less positive reviews; “Journey to the Shore,” though it opens on October 1; “Kabukicho Love Hotel,” which screened at Tiff last year, and “Cape Nostalgia.”
Jordan
"Theeb" (ذيب)
Dir. Naji Abu Nowar
Isa: Fortissimo Films
U.S. Distribution: Film Movement
Jordanian Release Date: March 19th, 2015
In 2008 Jordan submitted their first-ever Oscar submission, and the first feature film made in the country in half a century. That film, “Captain Abu Raed,” did very well in festivals like Sundance and Dubai. Since then, Jordanian cinema has been scarce forcing the country to be absent from the race. That could change this year with “Theeb” by UK-born filmmaker Naji Abu Nowar. His period piece about a Bedouin boy during World War I has played at numerous festivals and will have a U.S. theatrical release via Film Movement.
Lithuania
"The Summer of Sangailé" (Sangaile)
Dir. Alanté Kavaïté
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Lithuanian Release Date: August 21st, 2015
The Sundance Film Festival screened its first-ever Lithuanian feature this past January, “The Summer of Sangailé” by Alanté Kavaïté. This Lgbt coming-of-age story showcases captivating cinematography and nuanced performances. “Sangailé” went on to win the Directing Award in the World Cinema Competition at the Park City festival. It will also become one of the very few Lithuanian films to have been distributed in the U.S. when Strand Releasing schedules its theatrical release. Being the most awarded narrative film from the Baltic nation, it should be a shoo-in. "Sangailé" also won three Silver Crane Awards (Lithuanian Oscars): Best Film, Best Actress for Julija Steponaityte and best set design for Ramunas Rastauskas. Its only realistic adversary is the documentary “Master and Tatyana,” which won the Best Documentary, Best Director, and Best Cinematography prizes at the Silver Crane. Lithuania has shown to be fond of submitting documentaries, but one could presume that “Sangaile’s” wider international appeal will help it succeed.
Mexico
"The Thin Yellow Line" (La Delgada Línea Amarilla)
Dir. Celso R. García
Isa: Latido Films
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Mexican Release Date: Unknown
Among the 14 films that the Mexican Academy announced as candidates to become the official Oscar submission, only a handful of them have a real chance at representing Mexico. It’s really a three-way race between “600 Miles,” “La Tirisia,” and “The Thin Yellow Line.” Each of these has distinctive assets as well as factors that could play against them. Gabriel Ripstein's “600 Miles” stars Tim Roth, which could be beneficial because Academy voters would see a familiar face on screen. At the same time Roth’s participation means that there is a considerable amount of English dialogue that could make the film feel less authentic when considered as a “foreign language film” representing a country. Then there is Jorge Pérez Solano's art house marvel, “La Tirisia,” about the role of women in a very traditional Mexican community. This is a film that truly showcases an unseen aspect of Mexican culture and has garnered international recognition, but it might be too small in scope to be selected.
Lastly, “The Yellow Thin Line,” which was awarded at the Guadalajara Film Festival but hasn’t travel much. It will screen at the Chicago International Film Festival in October. “The Thin Yellow Line” tells the story of a group of men working on a deserted road as they are forced to come to terms with their yearnings and failures. The premise seems unique; the cast includes some of Mexico’s most recognizable talents, and it’s partly produced my Guillermo del Toro. That last fact is what could set the film apart from the rest because the general public and Academy voters will be intrigued to see what was it about this story that interested Del Toro, who hasn’t been involved in a Mexican project in several years. It’s a tough race, but having someone like the “Pan’s Labyrinth’s” director supporting the film could be a deal breaker.
Peru
"The Vanished Elephant" (El Elefante Desaparecido)
Dir. Javier Fuentes-León
Isa: Mundial
U.S. Distribution: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Peruvian Release Date: October 9th, 2015
Javier Fuentes-Leon’s “The Vanished Elephant” premiered at last year’s Tiff and was also part of this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival making it the highest profile Peruvian film of the year. At home, the critical response was very positive and the quality of the film, in comparison to other Peruvian works released in the last 12 months, is undeniable. “The Vanished Elephant” tells the cryptic story of a writer whose girlfriend disappears without a trace. After receiving a series of strange photographs, he delves into deceitful conspiracy that defies the lines between reality and fiction. Fuentes-Leon debut feature “Undertow” was submitted to the Academy back in 2010. Enrica Perez’ “Climas” about three Peruvian women from different walks of life and Héctor Gálvez forensic mystery “Nn” have both screened at several international festivals, and though they are much smaller film’s than “The Vanished Elephant,”either of them could be the next best choice to become Peru’s Oscar entry. Less likely titles include “Videophilia,” “Solos,” and historical drama “Gloria del Pacífico.”
The Philippines
"Trap" (Taklub)
Dir. Brillante Mendoza
Isa: Films Distribution
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Filipino Release Date: Unknown
Brillante Mendoza is one the Philippines most acclaimed auteurs and yet none of his films have ever been selected to represent the Southeast Asian nation at the Oscars. His latest work, “Trap,” won Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes and it’s the prime contender to travel to L.A. this year. “Trap” follows a group of survivors soon after Typhoon Haiyan devastated a great part of the country. The film stars Filipino actress Nora Aunor, who also the lead in Mendoza’s “Thy Womb,” which was the Filipino entry at the Golden Globes a couple years back. Given that Mendoza’s work has never been selected, there is a chance he might miss out once more. If that happens, the film that could benefit is Paul Soriano's Manny Pacquiao biopic titled “Kid Kulafo,” which would evidently ring a bell with Americans. Other films to be considered include “Justice,” also starring Aunor, “Crocodile,” or even lighthearted comedy “English Only, Please.”
Russia
"Sunstroke"
Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Russian Release Date: October 4th, 2014
Even after winning the Golden Globe and being nominated for an Academy Awards, Andrey Zvyagintsev “Leviathan” couldn’t get the Best Film award from the Russian Academy. Instead, they decided to bestow that honor on veteran filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's period piece "Sunstroke.” This is the type of film that Russia loves to submit: patriotic, historical, and epic. Even though last year the Russian selection committee showed they could overlook their political agenda to ensure the best film represented the country, this year they will go back to their old ways. This is not to say “Sunstroke” is a bad film, as hardly anyone outside of Russia has seen, but it does mean that other more daring offers like Yuriy Bykov's festival darling “The Fool” and Aleksey German's “Under Electric Clouds" have little hope at becoming the country’s entry and getting the exposure that comes with it. Mikhalkov won the Oscar in for “Burnt by the Sun” in 1995 and was nominated again for "12" in 2008, which means he will be hard to beat this year. "The Fool" would be a much more interesting selection but its story about a regular citizen fighting the corrupt system might prove too controversial. There is also another war epic titled "Batalion" by Dmitriy Meskhiev, which could pull off a surprise.
Serbia
"Enclave" (Enklava)
Dir. Goran Radovanovic
PC: Nana Filam
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Serbian Eelease Date: March 19, 2015
Serbia’s 6-film shortlist includes worlds that deal with a variety of subjects, from the recurrent tales of war and its aftermath, triumphant sports stories, and even the peculiar case of a boy who grew up wild in the woods. Of all these possibilities, the film that seems to have the most gravitas is Goran Radovanovic's “Enclave,” a film about the ethnic divide in Kosovo and the atrocities that perpetuates. This is definitely not the film with the most international exposure, but the story might be enough to warrant its submission. Films that deal with similar issues like, “Circles,” have been previous selected. But the Serbian committee wants to stay away from both war and sports dramas, they might go with Vuk Rsumovic “No One’s Child” which did very well at a few festivals including Venice and Palm Springs. It could either way. Original comedy "Monument to Michael Jackson" could also be a more lighthearted choice. The shortlist is completed by "We Will Be the World Champions"," The Man Who Defended Gavrilo Princip," and "The Disobedient" (Sundance 2014).
Spain
"Ma Ma"
Dir. Julio Medem
Isa: Seville International
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Spanish Release Date: September 11, 2015
For a long time I had hope that Spain would find a loophole and submit their most honored film at this year’s Goya Awards, “Marshland” (La Isla Minima), but that seems like a farfetched hope now. Luckily, another film that looks like a winner will be released just in time. “Ma Ma” directed by Julio Medem and starring Academy Award-winner Penelope Cruz has Oscar written all over it. Cruz plays a mother diagnosed with cancer and whose ferocious battle with the disease will reinvigorate her love for life. The actress also served as a producer in what has become one of the most anticipated films of the year. The only films that could challenge are coming-of-ager “A Cambio de Nada” and Basque-language drama “Loreak.” The former appears to be feel-good story that might seem slight in comparison to both “Ma Ma” and “Loreak,” which deals with a woman who starts receiving flowers from a mysterious sender. “Magical Girl” is a brilliantly twisty film, but being so edgy it will probably be considered to risky for the Oscar race. Penelope Cruz’ star power will decide this race.
Sweden
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence" (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron)
Dir. Roy Andersson
Isa: Coproduction Office (Paris)
U.S. Distribution: Magnolia Pictures
Swedish Release Date: November 14th, 2014
The two previous chapters sin Andersson’s trilogy about being human were submitted to AMPAS, and even if they didn’t get a nomination, it’s hard to imagine them not submitting “A Pigeon.” The film has been critically acclaimed and it won the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice Film festival. Furthermore, it has already been released in the U.S. by Magnolia, the company that handled last year’s Swedish submission, “Force Majeure.” While I’d love to see Andersson be selected, there are several other films that could prevent that from happening. Kay Pollack, who earned Sweden’s most recent nomination for “As It Is in Heaven,” has a new film opening in early September titled “Heaven on Earth.” Depending on how that film is received the tables may or may not turn. The third strongest option is the romantic costume drama “Gentlemen,” which won several awards from the Swedish Academy and has already been picked up for U.S. distribution by, of course, Magnolia. Smaller, yet worthy candidates, include “My Skinny Sister” and “Flocking,” both of which premiered in Berlin.
Switzerland
"Vanity" (La Vanité)
Dir. Lionel Baier
Isa: Wide
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Swiss Release Date: September 2, 2015
Out of the 7 films shortlisted by the Swiss, the one that immediately stands out is dark comedy “Vanity.” The film just premiered at Locarno and it stars Spanish actress, and one of Almodovar’s favorites, Carmen Maura, as well as Patrick Lapp. Although the film deals with suicide, the approach seems to be very comedic. In a list of several obscure titles, “Vanity” should come out on top. A second option could be Stina Werenfels' “Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents,” which screened in Berlin’s Panorama section and tells the story of a mentally disabled woman discovering her sexuality. “War” by Simon Jaquemet, about a rebellious teenager, had some festival play as well but is less likely to be chosen. The other four titles in the shortlist are: “Pause,” doc “Iraqi Odyssey,” “Chubby,” and “L’oasis des mendiants.”
Taiwan
"The Assassin" (聶隱娘)
Dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou
Isa: Wild Bunch
U.S. Distribution: Well Go USA Entertainment
Taiwanese Release Date: August 28th, 2015
There is really no race here. “The Assassin” will be Taiwan’s entry almost certainly. Winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and clearly one of the best reviewed films of the year, this martial arts epic, which is said to showcase marvelous imagery, should be consider a strong contender. I can’t see Taiwan not choosing the film, but there are still other films that could be considered. Of those the most viable, but very distant, second choice could be Tso-chi Chang's “Thanatos, Drunk,” which was awarded in Berlin and received six prizes at the Taipei Film Festival. The film revolves around to brothers in Taipei trying to find jobs.
Thailand
"Cemetery of Splendor" (รักที่ขอนแก่น)
Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Isa: The Match Factory
U.S. Distribution: Strand Releasing
Thai Release Date: Unknown
It was a great year for Thai art house cinema, which means the country has several prominent titles to choose from. Strangely enough, even when there are films with international recognition, Thailand often decides to submit a quirky romantic comedy or a random horror film. The reasons behind their selections are unknown. Still, assuming that they will pay attention to their most respected filmmakers, the number one choice should be "Cemetery of Splendor." However, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films are not as well liked in his homeland are they are abroad, but it seems irrational for them not consider the film. It might be too abstract for AMPAS’ taste, but it’s still the most prestigious work. Other possibilities include “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)," which is partially in English, “The Blue Hours” (Berlin’s Panorama), and Rotterdam’s “Vanishing Point.” Of course, there are scores of more commercial titles from which the committee might pick.
Turkey
"Mustang"
Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Isa: Kinology
U.S. Distribution: Cohen Media Group
Turkish Release Date: Unknown
Last year Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Palme d’Or-winning film “Winter Sleep” failed to receive a nomination, perhaps due to it’s length and cerebral screenplay. This year another title out of Cannes shows more promise. “Mustang” tells the story of five sisters living in a small village and subjected to the sexist prejudices of the townspeople. With extensive festival play and in the hands of Cohen Media Group - the company behind this year’s nominee “Timbuktu" - Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s film is the ideal pick. Sundance’s “Ivy” by Tolga Karaçelik, about a group of men trapped aboard a ship could definitely be a top contender. Kutlug Ataman's “Kuzu,” winner of the C.I.C.A.E. Award in Berlin’s Panorama section would be the third most likely film to represent Turkey at the Oscars. Lastly, “The Miracle,” a romantic period piece, is a large local production that could be considered, but lacks the festival exposure of the other three.
Venezuela
"Gone With the River" (Dauna, Lo que lleva el río)
Dir. Mario Crespo
Isa: Centro Nacional Autonomo de Cinematografía
U.S. Distribution: None Yet
Venezuelan Release Date: March 20, 2015
With Alberto Arvelo’s “The Liberator,” the South American nation got as close as it’s ever been to Oscar glory this year. The biopic about Simón Bolívar starring Edgar Ramírez managed to become one of the 9 shortlisted finalists out of 83 submissions. Venezuela has several options to submit for the 88th Academy Awards, but they are much smaller in magnitude on this occasion. Appearing at the NATIVe sidebar of the Berlinale, “Dauna, lo que lleva el río” or “ Gone with the River” is the most important Venezuelan film of the year and gives voice to the country’s indigenous people by telling story that rarely gets seen on screen. On the other hand, the film “3 Beauties,” about another of Venezuelan’s most well-known obsessions, beauty pageants, has received critical praise at home but it seems to be a lighter satirical comedy. Their Oscar entry could be either one of the two, but I think they will go with the more socially relevant story. A smaller film, “Espejos,” could be part of the conversation but is possibilities are very limited.
- 8/26/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Bryan Glick is the director of theatrical distribution for The Film Collaborative. Some of his notable releases include "I Am Divine," "Manos Sucias" and "1971". He has also worked for Laff, AFI Fest and Sundance. Below is his take on the top festivals. We at The Film Collaborative frequently hear from filmmakers after the fact that they regretted premiering at festival "A" and wish they had opted for festival "B." Similarly, when we ask a filmmaker why they want to premiere at a particular film festival, we rarely get an answer grounded in research. Read More: Attention, Filmmakers: 9 Tips for Maximizing Your Film's Success on the Festival Circuit The truth is that all the top festivals have certain types of films they gravitate towards, and all attract certain kinds of buyers looking for a particular type of product. With Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Tribeca and Cannes behind us (and many filmmakers going into production to meet.
- 6/26/2015
- by Bryan Glick
- Indiewire
Festival favorite "Manos Sucias" is a story about two estranged brothers Delio (Cristian James Advincula) & Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez), one an aspiring rapper and the other a more grounded fisherman who find themselves wrapped up in narco trafficking. Set in the impoverished but culturally rich port town of Buenaventura, Colombia, director Josef Kubota Wladyka draws rich performances from first time actors and the community, while Alan Blanco’s camera paints the stark beauty of Buenaventura with stunning reality. The film will recall 2012’s "Una Noche" by Lucy Mulloy (probably not a coincidence that "Manos Sucias" Ex-Prod. Spike Lee presented that film also) and 2014’s "Fishing Without Nets" by Cutter Hodierne in that all of them as filmmakers, present gritty realities of the everyday life of people at crossroads yet personally told their stories affectionately. With use of a perfect rhythm "Manos Sucias" portrays a little seen piece of Colombia.
In July 2014, Sydney Levine of SydneysBuzz wrote of the film's genesis as the firs U.S.-Colombian coproduction of its kind and its subsequent international sales when she discovered the film at Cartagena. Read more here.
LatinoBuzz spoke to writer/director Josef Kubota Wladyka, co-writer/cinematographer Alan Blanco and producers Elena Greenlee & Marcia Nunes on this collective managed to bring the film to fruition.
LatinoBuzz: Latin American cinema seems to be exploring the Afro-Latino experience more than before. Was this one of the themes you had in mind when writing the screenplay?
Josef : Buenaventura is more than 85% African descent. After spending time talking to the community, gracious enough to share their stories and experiences with us, it became clear that there is a lot of racism and violence towards the Afro-Colombians. It was important for us to touch on these larger themes by using an intimate story of two estranged brothers. The heart of the story is the relationship between Jacobo and Delio, and the choices they must make.
Márcia : I still think there aren't enough films made about the Afro-Latino experience, and minority experiences in general in the Us and abroad. It's important that we as filmmakers and audience members seek out these stories and keeping pushing for a wider frame of representation.
LatinoBuzz: How important was Spike Lee's involvement and what was the best advice he gave going into production?
Josef : Spike’s involvement was extremely important because having an iconic filmmaker like himself associated with your project opens so many doors, especially in Colombia. He read our script and revisions, and gave his insight on how to make the movie happen. Having been an advocate and mentor to the project over the years, we showed him a fine cut of the film. At that point, he felt comfortable coming on board as our presenter and as an executive producer. Spike has long been a supporter of up-and-coming filmmakers and continues to be an inspiration to us. His best piece of advice was simple… “Get it done, by any means necessary.”
LatinoBuzz: This is your first feature - did anyone say “Maybe shooting in the jungles of Buenaventura, Colombia with unknown actors is not the way to go right now?”
Alan : The script for this film was based on over 6 years of research that Joe carried out on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Even so we heard a lot of people say that shooting in Colombia was too risky and we definitely considered shooting in other places. We even scouted Puerto Rico and discovered that as a team our top priority was to making a film that represented this story authentically.
Josef: We wanted to make the film with people who live the story every day, to the show the real faces, and the real places where this goes on. Most of the locations are unknown to the world and this is a part of the drug trade that is rarely explored in the media. We hope the film leaves audiences thinking and asking questions, particularly about the global nature of these conflicts and how this is an economy that might seem far away and exotic but actually interconnects people from all over the world. If it hadn’t been done in Buenaventura, it simply wouldn’t be the same movie.
LatinoBuzz: How much local support was there for "Manos Sucias"? How did you ensure the production didn’t look like an occupation?
Márcia : As an official Colombia-us co-production we had the support of the Colombian Ministry of Culture and Film Commission, which allowed us to tap into the local tax incentives.
Elena: Once we decided to film in Buenaventura the big question became access, not just to locations, but to people, information, resources. We were outsiders and needed to be invited into the world as guests. An “occupation” was never an option; some of the communities we worked in are places where the police and “official authorities” do not go. So access was built on relationships that Joe had begun forming over years of research, which deepened once we were on the ground in pre-production and people saw that we weren't all talk, that we were serious about making a film. In negotiating with the local communities we were upfront about the kind of subject matter we wanted to tackle, but also about wanting to offer a collaboration that was beneficial for everyone. They expressed a lot of interest in exchanging skills and we decided to offer a free filmmaking workshop, working with available resources like cellphones and small photo cameras. Through that process, we filled out our cast and crew with local people, about half of our crew and almost 100% of our actors were from Buenaventura and their support and contributions were immeasurable.
LatinoBuzz: How much happened on set in the moment rather than what was on paper?
Josef: There was a lot that happened in the moment, but it was only possible because we prepared so much. We did a lot of rehearsing and test shooting on locations during pre-production. This was a key element because it allowed us to be free on set. In Buenaventura, things can change at any moment so we always had to be ready to embrace the circumstances that were presented to us. We did do some improvising but after all the editing most of the scenes ended up close to what was scripted.
LatinoBuzz: What was either the most beautiful moment in the shoot that made you feel everything will turn out fine.
Alan: I’ll never forget shooting the campfire scene with just Jarly and Cristian (Jacobo and Delio). First off, it was the first starry night I’d ever seen in Buenaventura. It’s one of the most humid places in the world and constantly overcast; which, by the way, helped a lot with the photography. The scene is about estranged brothers rediscovering each other. The actors are amazing in the scene. For them to perform so well, in an intimate scene amidst the action and turmoil of the story, and under the stress and challenges of production was just unforgettable. I consider it a privilege to have executed that scene with the crew and actors.
LatinoBuzz: Tell me about the look of the film. Was there a particular film or filmmaker you used as a point of reference?
Alan: While we knew we had a lot of limitations, we always wanted to have a strong artistic point of view for the look of the film. This started back in New York with our preliminary storyboarding and continued as we did camera tests to see the technical limitations we'd face. Geared with that information, we developed a lot of strategies around lens choices and camera movement. In a way this is a road movie, the blocking and shooting of the scenes in the boat needed to be varied in order not to be monotonous.
Josef: We strived to emphasize the visual irony of the vastness of the ocean with the claustrophobia of the boat. We always wanted to have a sense of urgency and immediacy like in many of the Dardenne brothers' films we love. We used many films as references from Hitchcock’s "Lifeboat" and "The Wages of Fear," to "Lawrence of Arabia." Above all else, we knew we wanted to shoot in a way that gave the performers the space to give their best work.
What do you think this moment in their lives meant to the people of Buenaventura?
Alan : I think it’s hard to say. Many of us are still figuring that out for ourselves and I’m not sure I could be so bold as to speculate on their feelings. I can tell you that these are complex people living in a complex situation all with the same capacities for joy and sorrow as anyone else in the world. The experiences we shared while filming helped us to learn more about each other, and also helped me learn how to salsa dance badly. (Thank you, Stefania!) We formed friendships with the cast, crew, and other people in Buenaventura and believe that this film is a testament to those friendships. We hope those moments of working on this project mean as much to them as they do to us.
LatinoBuzz: You obviously immersed yourself in the local culture with the people, dialect, music etc – what sense of void did you and the crew feel once you wrapped production and left Buenaventura to begin the post production process?
Josef: There certainly was a sense of emptiness or even loss right after shooting. While no day was ever predicable, you do develop a sense of routine, of eating meals together, laughing at half-translated dirty jokes, and working all day and dancing all night. Getting back to the States, there was a lot of work to fill the void. The turnaround for the film was pretty quick and editing started almost right away. In a lot of ways, the film never stops moving even now. Now, I don’t think it’s a void. Making the film changed us and that feeling now is one of change, not emptiness.
LatinoBuzz: What’s the next story?
Alan and Joe are working on various new projects, still in early stages of development. Elena and Márcia are working on a film about a psychedelic drug researcher who gets mixed up in the dark side of the Ayahuasca tourism industry in the Amazon, which will shoot on location in the coming year. We're all still interested in exploring little seen corners of the world and bringing them to light on the big screen.
The film opens April 3rd at Cinema Village in NYC. Dig the official "Manos Sucias" website at: http://www.manossuciasmovie.com/ & screening times Here!
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
In July 2014, Sydney Levine of SydneysBuzz wrote of the film's genesis as the firs U.S.-Colombian coproduction of its kind and its subsequent international sales when she discovered the film at Cartagena. Read more here.
LatinoBuzz spoke to writer/director Josef Kubota Wladyka, co-writer/cinematographer Alan Blanco and producers Elena Greenlee & Marcia Nunes on this collective managed to bring the film to fruition.
LatinoBuzz: Latin American cinema seems to be exploring the Afro-Latino experience more than before. Was this one of the themes you had in mind when writing the screenplay?
Josef : Buenaventura is more than 85% African descent. After spending time talking to the community, gracious enough to share their stories and experiences with us, it became clear that there is a lot of racism and violence towards the Afro-Colombians. It was important for us to touch on these larger themes by using an intimate story of two estranged brothers. The heart of the story is the relationship between Jacobo and Delio, and the choices they must make.
Márcia : I still think there aren't enough films made about the Afro-Latino experience, and minority experiences in general in the Us and abroad. It's important that we as filmmakers and audience members seek out these stories and keeping pushing for a wider frame of representation.
LatinoBuzz: How important was Spike Lee's involvement and what was the best advice he gave going into production?
Josef : Spike’s involvement was extremely important because having an iconic filmmaker like himself associated with your project opens so many doors, especially in Colombia. He read our script and revisions, and gave his insight on how to make the movie happen. Having been an advocate and mentor to the project over the years, we showed him a fine cut of the film. At that point, he felt comfortable coming on board as our presenter and as an executive producer. Spike has long been a supporter of up-and-coming filmmakers and continues to be an inspiration to us. His best piece of advice was simple… “Get it done, by any means necessary.”
LatinoBuzz: This is your first feature - did anyone say “Maybe shooting in the jungles of Buenaventura, Colombia with unknown actors is not the way to go right now?”
Alan : The script for this film was based on over 6 years of research that Joe carried out on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Even so we heard a lot of people say that shooting in Colombia was too risky and we definitely considered shooting in other places. We even scouted Puerto Rico and discovered that as a team our top priority was to making a film that represented this story authentically.
Josef: We wanted to make the film with people who live the story every day, to the show the real faces, and the real places where this goes on. Most of the locations are unknown to the world and this is a part of the drug trade that is rarely explored in the media. We hope the film leaves audiences thinking and asking questions, particularly about the global nature of these conflicts and how this is an economy that might seem far away and exotic but actually interconnects people from all over the world. If it hadn’t been done in Buenaventura, it simply wouldn’t be the same movie.
LatinoBuzz: How much local support was there for "Manos Sucias"? How did you ensure the production didn’t look like an occupation?
Márcia : As an official Colombia-us co-production we had the support of the Colombian Ministry of Culture and Film Commission, which allowed us to tap into the local tax incentives.
Elena: Once we decided to film in Buenaventura the big question became access, not just to locations, but to people, information, resources. We were outsiders and needed to be invited into the world as guests. An “occupation” was never an option; some of the communities we worked in are places where the police and “official authorities” do not go. So access was built on relationships that Joe had begun forming over years of research, which deepened once we were on the ground in pre-production and people saw that we weren't all talk, that we were serious about making a film. In negotiating with the local communities we were upfront about the kind of subject matter we wanted to tackle, but also about wanting to offer a collaboration that was beneficial for everyone. They expressed a lot of interest in exchanging skills and we decided to offer a free filmmaking workshop, working with available resources like cellphones and small photo cameras. Through that process, we filled out our cast and crew with local people, about half of our crew and almost 100% of our actors were from Buenaventura and their support and contributions were immeasurable.
LatinoBuzz: How much happened on set in the moment rather than what was on paper?
Josef: There was a lot that happened in the moment, but it was only possible because we prepared so much. We did a lot of rehearsing and test shooting on locations during pre-production. This was a key element because it allowed us to be free on set. In Buenaventura, things can change at any moment so we always had to be ready to embrace the circumstances that were presented to us. We did do some improvising but after all the editing most of the scenes ended up close to what was scripted.
LatinoBuzz: What was either the most beautiful moment in the shoot that made you feel everything will turn out fine.
Alan: I’ll never forget shooting the campfire scene with just Jarly and Cristian (Jacobo and Delio). First off, it was the first starry night I’d ever seen in Buenaventura. It’s one of the most humid places in the world and constantly overcast; which, by the way, helped a lot with the photography. The scene is about estranged brothers rediscovering each other. The actors are amazing in the scene. For them to perform so well, in an intimate scene amidst the action and turmoil of the story, and under the stress and challenges of production was just unforgettable. I consider it a privilege to have executed that scene with the crew and actors.
LatinoBuzz: Tell me about the look of the film. Was there a particular film or filmmaker you used as a point of reference?
Alan: While we knew we had a lot of limitations, we always wanted to have a strong artistic point of view for the look of the film. This started back in New York with our preliminary storyboarding and continued as we did camera tests to see the technical limitations we'd face. Geared with that information, we developed a lot of strategies around lens choices and camera movement. In a way this is a road movie, the blocking and shooting of the scenes in the boat needed to be varied in order not to be monotonous.
Josef: We strived to emphasize the visual irony of the vastness of the ocean with the claustrophobia of the boat. We always wanted to have a sense of urgency and immediacy like in many of the Dardenne brothers' films we love. We used many films as references from Hitchcock’s "Lifeboat" and "The Wages of Fear," to "Lawrence of Arabia." Above all else, we knew we wanted to shoot in a way that gave the performers the space to give their best work.
What do you think this moment in their lives meant to the people of Buenaventura?
Alan : I think it’s hard to say. Many of us are still figuring that out for ourselves and I’m not sure I could be so bold as to speculate on their feelings. I can tell you that these are complex people living in a complex situation all with the same capacities for joy and sorrow as anyone else in the world. The experiences we shared while filming helped us to learn more about each other, and also helped me learn how to salsa dance badly. (Thank you, Stefania!) We formed friendships with the cast, crew, and other people in Buenaventura and believe that this film is a testament to those friendships. We hope those moments of working on this project mean as much to them as they do to us.
LatinoBuzz: You obviously immersed yourself in the local culture with the people, dialect, music etc – what sense of void did you and the crew feel once you wrapped production and left Buenaventura to begin the post production process?
Josef: There certainly was a sense of emptiness or even loss right after shooting. While no day was ever predicable, you do develop a sense of routine, of eating meals together, laughing at half-translated dirty jokes, and working all day and dancing all night. Getting back to the States, there was a lot of work to fill the void. The turnaround for the film was pretty quick and editing started almost right away. In a lot of ways, the film never stops moving even now. Now, I don’t think it’s a void. Making the film changed us and that feeling now is one of change, not emptiness.
LatinoBuzz: What’s the next story?
Alan and Joe are working on various new projects, still in early stages of development. Elena and Márcia are working on a film about a psychedelic drug researcher who gets mixed up in the dark side of the Ayahuasca tourism industry in the Amazon, which will shoot on location in the coming year. We're all still interested in exploring little seen corners of the world and bringing them to light on the big screen.
The film opens April 3rd at Cinema Village in NYC. Dig the official "Manos Sucias" website at: http://www.manossuciasmovie.com/ & screening times Here!
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 4/1/2015
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
For any thinking person, little in Josef Kubota Wladyka's fleet and sweaty Colombian-smuggler thriller Manos Sucias will surprise. Drug-running is work for the broke and desperate; the runners might be less broke after a delivery, but that desperation only grows worse; killing is grim and painful and utterly unlike the balletic fun the movies so often insist. But as it dashes up the coast and railroads through the jungle, the film is vigorous in its evocation of place and prickling and insistent with its suspense. Those punishing truths come to feel like probabilities we hope against hope first-time smuggler Delio (Cristian Abvincula) might beat.
The title translates to Dirty Hands, so you know it's not going to end well. A couple uncertain early scenes fai...
The title translates to Dirty Hands, so you know it's not going to end well. A couple uncertain early scenes fai...
- 4/1/2015
- Village Voice
Executive produced by Spike Lee and directed by Nyu grad Josef Kubota Wladyka, the Colombian production, "Manos Sucias" ("Dirty Hands"), now has an official USA release date, via Tenacious Productions, set for April 3, 2015. Scripted by Alan Blanco and Wladika, "Manos Sucias" stars Cristian Advincula and Jarlin Martinez as Delio and Jacobo; the latter is a desperate fisherman and seasoned trafficker, who along with the naive Delio, decide to traffic millions of dollars worth of cocaine up the Colombian Pacific coast. Towing a submerged torpedo in the wake of their battered fishing boat, ‘Jacobo,’ a desperate fisherman and Delio, a naive kid, embark...
- 3/25/2015
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
Read More: Watch: Nyu Professor Spike Lee on Backing New Models and Young Filmmakers (Exclusive Interview) "Manos Sucias," Josef Kubota Wladyka's feature directorial debut, screened at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, where it garnered the Best New Narrative Director and an Audience Award. Executive produced by Spike Lee, "Manos Sucias" centers on two brothers as they travel up the Pacific coast of Colombia in a boat containing a torpedo filled with 100 kg of cocaine. The film is slated to open in New York's Cinema Village on April 3, followed by the Laemmle NoHo 7 in Los Angeles on April 10. Expansion to additional markets will follow. Read More: 5 Observations About the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival Lineup...
- 3/10/2015
- by Shipra Gupta
- Indiewire
Executive produced by Spike Lee and directed by Nyu grad Joseph Wladika, the Colombian production, "Manos Sucias" ("Dirty Hands"), will open at this year's Toronto Black Film Festival's 3rd edition, presented by Global News, which kicks off today, February 10th – 15th. Scripted by Alan Blanco and Wladika, "Manos Sucias" stars Cristian Advincula and Jarlin Martinez as Delio and Jacobo; the latter is a desperate fisherman and seasoned trafficker, who along with the naive Delio, decide to traffic millions of dollars worth of cocaine up the Colombian Pacific coast: Towing a submerged torpedo in the wake of their...
- 2/10/2015
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
The 20th edition of the festival includes competition titles ’71 and Blind.
The Athens International Film Festival (Sept 17-28) kicks off its 20th edition today with 241 titles selected by artistic director Orestis Andreadakis.
The festival will open with Damian Szifron’s hit Wild Tales, which has proved a critical hit since its world premiere in competition at Cannes, and will close with David Fincher’s Us crime drama Gone Girl, marking its European premiere.
This year’s international competition includes Yann Demange’s Berlinale title, ’71, and Eskil Vogt’s Blind, which has picked up awards in Berlin and Sundance among others.
‘71, Yann Demange (UK)10,000 km, Carlos Marques-Marcet (Spa)Blind, Eskil Vogt (Nor)The Canal, Ivan Kavanagh (Irel)Manos Sucias, Josef Wladyka (Us-Col)The Mend, John Magary (Us)Natural Sciences, Matías Lucchesi (Arg)Thou Wast Mild and Lovely, Josephine Decker (Us)The Way He Looks, Daniel Ribeiro (Bra)When Animals Dream, Jonas Alexander Arnby (De)
A five-member Youth Jury, comprised...
The Athens International Film Festival (Sept 17-28) kicks off its 20th edition today with 241 titles selected by artistic director Orestis Andreadakis.
The festival will open with Damian Szifron’s hit Wild Tales, which has proved a critical hit since its world premiere in competition at Cannes, and will close with David Fincher’s Us crime drama Gone Girl, marking its European premiere.
This year’s international competition includes Yann Demange’s Berlinale title, ’71, and Eskil Vogt’s Blind, which has picked up awards in Berlin and Sundance among others.
‘71, Yann Demange (UK)10,000 km, Carlos Marques-Marcet (Spa)Blind, Eskil Vogt (Nor)The Canal, Ivan Kavanagh (Irel)Manos Sucias, Josef Wladyka (Us-Col)The Mend, John Magary (Us)Natural Sciences, Matías Lucchesi (Arg)Thou Wast Mild and Lovely, Josephine Decker (Us)The Way He Looks, Daniel Ribeiro (Bra)When Animals Dream, Jonas Alexander Arnby (De)
A five-member Youth Jury, comprised...
- 9/17/2014
- by alexisgrivas@yahoo.com (Alexis Grivas)
- ScreenDaily
International and documentary competitions include The Skeleton Twins, ‘71 and The Look of Silence. A total of 17 world premieres secured for the festival, which has received a budget boost.
The 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 – Oct 5) has revealed its full line-up, which comprises 145 features – up from 122 last year – from 29 countries.
Co-director Nadja Schildknecht revealed a rise in budget for the festival as well as growth in anticipated guest numbers.
“This year, we expect some 500 guests (previous year 450) from around the world to accompany their films,” she said.
“And the budget has increased accordingly to CHF6.9m ($7.4m) (previous year CHF6.1m/$6.5m).”
As previously announced, Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic Get On Up will open the festival on Sept 25. The closing film has yet to be revealed.
International competition
The International Feature Film Competition includes 14 titles, some of which have received critical acclaim at previous festivals such as Yann Demange’s action thriller ‘71, which debuted at the...
The 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 – Oct 5) has revealed its full line-up, which comprises 145 features – up from 122 last year – from 29 countries.
Co-director Nadja Schildknecht revealed a rise in budget for the festival as well as growth in anticipated guest numbers.
“This year, we expect some 500 guests (previous year 450) from around the world to accompany their films,” she said.
“And the budget has increased accordingly to CHF6.9m ($7.4m) (previous year CHF6.1m/$6.5m).”
As previously announced, Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic Get On Up will open the festival on Sept 25. The closing film has yet to be revealed.
International competition
The International Feature Film Competition includes 14 titles, some of which have received critical acclaim at previous festivals such as Yann Demange’s action thriller ‘71, which debuted at the...
- 9/11/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Premiering in Cartagena Film Festival 2014 and then going to the filmmakers’ hometown, New York City, where " Manos Sucias" ("Dirty Hands") won Tribeca Film Festival’s Best New Narrative Director Award and 2nd place Audience Award, this film has not yet closed Us distribution, but has been acquired internationally by some of the best distributors.
In Cannes, Marina de la Fuentes’ international sales agency, 6 Sales, sold it to Paris-based Pretty Pictures who acquired not only France – its usual home territory – but also Germany, Austria, Benelux and Switzerland. James Velaise of Pretty Pictures screened the film at Tribeca and “immediately fell madly in love with it,” he said.
“It came totally out of the blue, we were mesmerized by the filmmaking. As a first-time film 'Manos Sucias' is outstanding, as good as anything we’ve seen coming out of Latin America in a long time,” said Velaise.
Shot on location in Colombia, using local actors who speak the patois of Buenaventura, "Manos Sucias" reflects years of painstaking research by Josef Wladyka.
“What is fascinating is that the filmmaker spent five years in Buenaventura learning what was going on there and building up the trust of people. The average filmmaker would never take the time to do that. You feel that in the film: There a sense of genuineness which you don’t get in 99% of indie films today,” said Velaise.
At the same time, 'Manos Sucias' is “incredibly tight: On paper, it has some breakout potential to it, because it is a thriller, ” he added.
Pretty Pictures will now seek to sell the film on to distributors in the other four territories, all significant distributors for arthouse films. Velaise reasons that companies exist in these territories that often buy the same films as Pretty Pictures, and share similar tastes. (e.g., "La Jaula de Oro", premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2013 and was acquired by Belgium-Fourcorners Distribution, France-Pretty Pictures, Germany-Films Boutique, Hong Kong (China)-Encore Inflight Limited, Hungary-Cirko Film Kft., Italy-Parthenos S.R.L., Mexico-Canibal Networks, Netherlands-Wild Bunch Benelux, Norway-As Fidalgo Film Distribution, Poland-Art House, Puerto Rico-Wiesner Distribution, Switzerland-Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Taiwan-Maison Motion, Inc., U.K.- Peccadillo Pictures or "Love is Strange" by Ira Sachs premiered at Sundance 2014 and was acquired by U.S.-Sony Pictures Classics, Australia-Rialto Distribution (Australia), Canada-Métropole Films Distribution, Canada-Mongrel Media Inc., France-Pretty Pictures, Italy-Koch Media, Mexico-Cinemas Nueva Era, Portugal-Midas Filmes, Spain-Golem Distribución, Switzerland-Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Turkey-Kurmaca Film, U.K.- Altitude Film Sales). These distributors are all likely candidates to acquire rights to "Manos Sucias" as well.
U.S. rights to "Manos Sucias" are handled by Wme Global’s Mark Ankner and Christine D’Souza. Distributors seeking to win over the booming Latino audience, and who have an affinity for gritty, action-packed, arthouse thrillers, or any of Pretty Pictures’ recent acquisitions (see below) owe it to themselves to check out this film.
This pioneering U.S.- Colombia production was the debut feature by writer-director, Josef Kubota Wladyka and co-writer-dp Alan Blanco. It was produced by Elena Greenlee, Márcia Nunes, Mirlanda Torres Zapata and Carolina Caicedo and exec-produced by U.S. Film Director Spike Lee.
"Manos Sucias" follows two estranged brothers, both Afro-Colombian fishermen, who embark on a fishing-boat from Buenaventura, Colombia’s biggest Pacific Coast port and a violent drug trade emporium. Their mission is to tow underwater a “narco-torpedo” packed with 100 kilos of cocaine to Panama. En route, they must circumnavigate marauding paramilitaries and impoverished villagers eager for their cargo.
In Cartagena, I interviewed the director, Dp, and producers. Josef Wladyka is a U.S. citizen who is the son of a Japanese mother and a Polish father. He received the Spike Lee Fellowship while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at Nyu.
Josef:
You could say this is a drug story, but you should know it is much more than that. In a fisherman’s village the Afro Colombians are confronted with drug traffic taking place on their ancestral beaches where they have lived for generations.
Before I started Grad Film School at Nyu, I spent several months backpacking with a close friend in South America. We traveled along the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Colombia, and went through these towns that were under siege by narco-trafficking. The locals would tell us stories about homemade submarines, narco-torpedoes, and different armed groups that would fight to control these areas. I became very interested in the subject and wanted to immerse myself more in the world. With the help of a friend from the region, I went back several times to Buenaventura, Tumaco, and other parts of the Pacific coast of Colombia to continue researching and collecting stories.
I also got permission to go to Malaga Naval Base where I saw confiscated narco-torpedoes and submarines first hand. I always had a camera with me and shot lots of footage during my travels. I used that footage to make a pitch video for raising money from Kickstarter and private equity.
The film is an official Colombian production, recognized by the Ley de Cine (The Cinema Law). It is a 50-50 coproduction with Colombian producers Carolina Caicedo and Mirlanda Zapata. With our U.S. producers, Márcia Nunes and Elena Greenlee, that makes four female producers on this film.
Cine Colombia , Colombia’s largest distributor and theater owner, one of the Cartagena Film Festival sponsors as well, invested in the film, as did Caracol, one of Colombia’s top two broadcasters.
Márcia knew Cine Colombia from her previous life in international sales with Goldcrest. Elena, Alan and I scouted in October 2012, one week in Bogotá and through Proimagenes we met many possible co-producers and visited locations. We chose young producers who were hungry for their first film; they were not rigid.
The U.S. producers wanted to do the film U.S. indie style, not in the usual Colombian style. We shot it in Buenaventura, Colombia’s largest port, which has been hit very hard by narco traffickers and violence.
This was the first feature for everyone. Except for Márcia, who got her Masters of Film Business at Gallatin School of Nyu, the others all got their MFAs from Tisch, though some graduated two years ago and others four years ago.
How we, as foreigners, were able to make this film, opening up delicate, sensitive and violent stories, was based on my having no assumptions. And our own cross-cultural backgrounds helped.
We had a great premiere in Cartagena. The festival permits people to see films for free and we were able to test the Colombian audience’s reaction. The film explores the international issue of drug trafficking and the social-exclusion of the Afro-Colombian community on the coast from the mainstream economy in Colombia. The film is genre bending; it is not too arty and is not fully a genre movie. The audience of 800 to 1,000 Colombians laughed and cried, even danced in their seats. Three of the actors also saw the film for the first time, as did the crew. When the actors came up for the Q & A they received a standing ovation from the crowd. It was a beautiful moment.
We offered free audiovisual workshops for the community before we shot the film, and found many of our actors and crewmembers through that process. We used Kickstarter to raise Us $60,000 to greenlight production and fund our community workshops in Buenaventura.
Film Independent bestowed the Canon Filmmaker Award upon the film’s two producers, who are also Film Independent Producing Fellows. The Canon Filmmaker Award Program is a program for Film Independent Fellows, alumni of the Los Angeles Film Festival and Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners. Producers Elena Greenlee and Márcia Nunes who had participated in the Find Producing Lab with the project were awarded with the loan of a Canon camera package for their production. Further support was granted by the San Francisco Film Society, who, together with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, awarded the film with two grants, one during the production phase, and one during post-production.
Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent spoke with Elena and Márcia in those early days about Manos Sucias and its upcoming shoot, and here’s what they had to say then:
Manos Sucias, Canon Filmmaker Award Winner Round 2
"The social exclusion of the Pacific coast — home to much of the Afro-Colombian population — is felt throughout the country, echoed in the sentiment that Colombia “doesn’t really have a black population.” While popular culture glamorizes cocaine “cowboys,” and the Us takes a tough stance in the “war on drugs,” few people acknowledge the oppression and resilience of these citizens.
Our goal is for the film to inspire change in our audience, and in the region. We want audiences to realize that people like Jacobo and Delio are not perpetuating the drug trade, they are trapped in it; and to reflect on the impact their personal choices have on the situation.”
“When Josef and Alan brought us the script in early 2012, we immediately fell in love with it. The characters jumped off the page, and we couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Pretty Pictures roster of films illustrates their exceptional taste in films:
"The Dark Valley" ("Das Finstere Tal") By Andreas Prochaska (Acquired From Films Distribution In Feb 2014)
"Dancing In Jaffa" By Hilla Medalia (Acquired From K5 International In Apr 2013)
"Omar" By Hany Abu-Assad (Acquired From The Match Factory In Feb 2013)
"The Look Of Love" By Winterbottom Michael (Acquired From Studiocanal In Aug 2012)
"Pieta" By Ki-Duk Kim (Acquired From Finecut Co. Ltd. In Aug 2012)
"Wadjda" By Haifa Al-Mansour (Acquired From The Match Factory In May 2012)
"The Hunt" ("Jagten") By Thomas Vinterberg (Acquired From Trust In Apr 2012)
"Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present" By Matthew Akers (Acquired From Dogwoof In Feb 2012)...
In Cannes, Marina de la Fuentes’ international sales agency, 6 Sales, sold it to Paris-based Pretty Pictures who acquired not only France – its usual home territory – but also Germany, Austria, Benelux and Switzerland. James Velaise of Pretty Pictures screened the film at Tribeca and “immediately fell madly in love with it,” he said.
“It came totally out of the blue, we were mesmerized by the filmmaking. As a first-time film 'Manos Sucias' is outstanding, as good as anything we’ve seen coming out of Latin America in a long time,” said Velaise.
Shot on location in Colombia, using local actors who speak the patois of Buenaventura, "Manos Sucias" reflects years of painstaking research by Josef Wladyka.
“What is fascinating is that the filmmaker spent five years in Buenaventura learning what was going on there and building up the trust of people. The average filmmaker would never take the time to do that. You feel that in the film: There a sense of genuineness which you don’t get in 99% of indie films today,” said Velaise.
At the same time, 'Manos Sucias' is “incredibly tight: On paper, it has some breakout potential to it, because it is a thriller, ” he added.
Pretty Pictures will now seek to sell the film on to distributors in the other four territories, all significant distributors for arthouse films. Velaise reasons that companies exist in these territories that often buy the same films as Pretty Pictures, and share similar tastes. (e.g., "La Jaula de Oro", premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2013 and was acquired by Belgium-Fourcorners Distribution, France-Pretty Pictures, Germany-Films Boutique, Hong Kong (China)-Encore Inflight Limited, Hungary-Cirko Film Kft., Italy-Parthenos S.R.L., Mexico-Canibal Networks, Netherlands-Wild Bunch Benelux, Norway-As Fidalgo Film Distribution, Poland-Art House, Puerto Rico-Wiesner Distribution, Switzerland-Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Taiwan-Maison Motion, Inc., U.K.- Peccadillo Pictures or "Love is Strange" by Ira Sachs premiered at Sundance 2014 and was acquired by U.S.-Sony Pictures Classics, Australia-Rialto Distribution (Australia), Canada-Métropole Films Distribution, Canada-Mongrel Media Inc., France-Pretty Pictures, Italy-Koch Media, Mexico-Cinemas Nueva Era, Portugal-Midas Filmes, Spain-Golem Distribución, Switzerland-Xenix Filmdistribution Gmbh, Turkey-Kurmaca Film, U.K.- Altitude Film Sales). These distributors are all likely candidates to acquire rights to "Manos Sucias" as well.
U.S. rights to "Manos Sucias" are handled by Wme Global’s Mark Ankner and Christine D’Souza. Distributors seeking to win over the booming Latino audience, and who have an affinity for gritty, action-packed, arthouse thrillers, or any of Pretty Pictures’ recent acquisitions (see below) owe it to themselves to check out this film.
This pioneering U.S.- Colombia production was the debut feature by writer-director, Josef Kubota Wladyka and co-writer-dp Alan Blanco. It was produced by Elena Greenlee, Márcia Nunes, Mirlanda Torres Zapata and Carolina Caicedo and exec-produced by U.S. Film Director Spike Lee.
"Manos Sucias" follows two estranged brothers, both Afro-Colombian fishermen, who embark on a fishing-boat from Buenaventura, Colombia’s biggest Pacific Coast port and a violent drug trade emporium. Their mission is to tow underwater a “narco-torpedo” packed with 100 kilos of cocaine to Panama. En route, they must circumnavigate marauding paramilitaries and impoverished villagers eager for their cargo.
In Cartagena, I interviewed the director, Dp, and producers. Josef Wladyka is a U.S. citizen who is the son of a Japanese mother and a Polish father. He received the Spike Lee Fellowship while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at Nyu.
Josef:
You could say this is a drug story, but you should know it is much more than that. In a fisherman’s village the Afro Colombians are confronted with drug traffic taking place on their ancestral beaches where they have lived for generations.
Before I started Grad Film School at Nyu, I spent several months backpacking with a close friend in South America. We traveled along the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Colombia, and went through these towns that were under siege by narco-trafficking. The locals would tell us stories about homemade submarines, narco-torpedoes, and different armed groups that would fight to control these areas. I became very interested in the subject and wanted to immerse myself more in the world. With the help of a friend from the region, I went back several times to Buenaventura, Tumaco, and other parts of the Pacific coast of Colombia to continue researching and collecting stories.
I also got permission to go to Malaga Naval Base where I saw confiscated narco-torpedoes and submarines first hand. I always had a camera with me and shot lots of footage during my travels. I used that footage to make a pitch video for raising money from Kickstarter and private equity.
The film is an official Colombian production, recognized by the Ley de Cine (The Cinema Law). It is a 50-50 coproduction with Colombian producers Carolina Caicedo and Mirlanda Zapata. With our U.S. producers, Márcia Nunes and Elena Greenlee, that makes four female producers on this film.
Cine Colombia , Colombia’s largest distributor and theater owner, one of the Cartagena Film Festival sponsors as well, invested in the film, as did Caracol, one of Colombia’s top two broadcasters.
Márcia knew Cine Colombia from her previous life in international sales with Goldcrest. Elena, Alan and I scouted in October 2012, one week in Bogotá and through Proimagenes we met many possible co-producers and visited locations. We chose young producers who were hungry for their first film; they were not rigid.
The U.S. producers wanted to do the film U.S. indie style, not in the usual Colombian style. We shot it in Buenaventura, Colombia’s largest port, which has been hit very hard by narco traffickers and violence.
This was the first feature for everyone. Except for Márcia, who got her Masters of Film Business at Gallatin School of Nyu, the others all got their MFAs from Tisch, though some graduated two years ago and others four years ago.
How we, as foreigners, were able to make this film, opening up delicate, sensitive and violent stories, was based on my having no assumptions. And our own cross-cultural backgrounds helped.
We had a great premiere in Cartagena. The festival permits people to see films for free and we were able to test the Colombian audience’s reaction. The film explores the international issue of drug trafficking and the social-exclusion of the Afro-Colombian community on the coast from the mainstream economy in Colombia. The film is genre bending; it is not too arty and is not fully a genre movie. The audience of 800 to 1,000 Colombians laughed and cried, even danced in their seats. Three of the actors also saw the film for the first time, as did the crew. When the actors came up for the Q & A they received a standing ovation from the crowd. It was a beautiful moment.
We offered free audiovisual workshops for the community before we shot the film, and found many of our actors and crewmembers through that process. We used Kickstarter to raise Us $60,000 to greenlight production and fund our community workshops in Buenaventura.
Film Independent bestowed the Canon Filmmaker Award upon the film’s two producers, who are also Film Independent Producing Fellows. The Canon Filmmaker Award Program is a program for Film Independent Fellows, alumni of the Los Angeles Film Festival and Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners. Producers Elena Greenlee and Márcia Nunes who had participated in the Find Producing Lab with the project were awarded with the loan of a Canon camera package for their production. Further support was granted by the San Francisco Film Society, who, together with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, awarded the film with two grants, one during the production phase, and one during post-production.
Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent spoke with Elena and Márcia in those early days about Manos Sucias and its upcoming shoot, and here’s what they had to say then:
Manos Sucias, Canon Filmmaker Award Winner Round 2
"The social exclusion of the Pacific coast — home to much of the Afro-Colombian population — is felt throughout the country, echoed in the sentiment that Colombia “doesn’t really have a black population.” While popular culture glamorizes cocaine “cowboys,” and the Us takes a tough stance in the “war on drugs,” few people acknowledge the oppression and resilience of these citizens.
Our goal is for the film to inspire change in our audience, and in the region. We want audiences to realize that people like Jacobo and Delio are not perpetuating the drug trade, they are trapped in it; and to reflect on the impact their personal choices have on the situation.”
“When Josef and Alan brought us the script in early 2012, we immediately fell in love with it. The characters jumped off the page, and we couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Pretty Pictures roster of films illustrates their exceptional taste in films:
"The Dark Valley" ("Das Finstere Tal") By Andreas Prochaska (Acquired From Films Distribution In Feb 2014)
"Dancing In Jaffa" By Hilla Medalia (Acquired From K5 International In Apr 2013)
"Omar" By Hany Abu-Assad (Acquired From The Match Factory In Feb 2013)
"The Look Of Love" By Winterbottom Michael (Acquired From Studiocanal In Aug 2012)
"Pieta" By Ki-Duk Kim (Acquired From Finecut Co. Ltd. In Aug 2012)
"Wadjda" By Haifa Al-Mansour (Acquired From The Match Factory In May 2012)
"The Hunt" ("Jagten") By Thomas Vinterberg (Acquired From Trust In Apr 2012)
"Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present" By Matthew Akers (Acquired From Dogwoof In Feb 2012)...
- 7/18/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Joseph Wladyka's "Manos Sucias" is one out of a dozen feature winners from this year's Tribeca Film Festival. It's a startling and authentic slice of harsh life of a forgotten corner of the world, and the jury's reasons for awarding it mention Wladyka's involvement in the community and the months of research he spent getting immersed in the environment in order to shine the most truthful light possible on it. But, even without that knowledge, experiencing "Manos Sucias" in its brief 80 minute running time is all the indication you'll need to know that the award for Best New Narrative Director was deserved. First features are rarely spotless, and Wladyka's is no exception, but with the help of two fierce performances and a savvy cinematographer, this feature will fool you into believing that you're watching a cleverly disguised documentary, and stir up the proper emotions.Delio (Christian James Abvincula) and Jacobo...
- 4/28/2014
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
The Festival began on Wednesday, April 16, with one film about, Nas (a hip hop artist), called Time is Illmatic.
Thursday, April 17, however, was a movie lovers candy store. In One Day, the topics ranged from rock stars/Super Duper Alice Cooper, fashion/Dior and I, drug deals/the Spike Lee executively produced, Manos Sucias, hot dogs/Famous Nathan, Montana/Fishtail,and sports/When the Garden Was Eden.
Manos Sucias Directed by Josef Wladyka, Executive Produced by Spike Lee
Winner: Best New Narrative Director
This film is about the relationship between an experienced trafficker (Jacobo) and a novice (Delio), bonding on a long trafficking mission on a dilapidated skiff, transporting millions of dollars of “merchandise” in tow, up a Columbian river. Coming face to face with the perils and dangers associated within that industry, the two get to know one another very well. In one scene, for example, the pair are sitting around a campfire discussing who is “the rey” or the king of soccer, Pele or Maradona? Jacobo and Delio continue on their journey, when the mission is almost completed, something goes awry, and they have to sort things out quickly, or their lives will be at stake.
Must See.
http://1worldcinema.com
One World Cinema...
Thursday, April 17, however, was a movie lovers candy store. In One Day, the topics ranged from rock stars/Super Duper Alice Cooper, fashion/Dior and I, drug deals/the Spike Lee executively produced, Manos Sucias, hot dogs/Famous Nathan, Montana/Fishtail,and sports/When the Garden Was Eden.
Manos Sucias Directed by Josef Wladyka, Executive Produced by Spike Lee
Winner: Best New Narrative Director
This film is about the relationship between an experienced trafficker (Jacobo) and a novice (Delio), bonding on a long trafficking mission on a dilapidated skiff, transporting millions of dollars of “merchandise” in tow, up a Columbian river. Coming face to face with the perils and dangers associated within that industry, the two get to know one another very well. In one scene, for example, the pair are sitting around a campfire discussing who is “the rey” or the king of soccer, Pele or Maradona? Jacobo and Delio continue on their journey, when the mission is almost completed, something goes awry, and they have to sort things out quickly, or their lives will be at stake.
Must See.
http://1worldcinema.com
One World Cinema...
- 4/28/2014
- by Sharon Abella
- Sydney's Buzz
Talya Lavie’s Israeli film Zero Motivation (pictured) claimed the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature while Marshall Curry’s Point And Shoot was named best documentary feature as the New York festival came to a close at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Jon Favreau’s Chef and Alan Hicks’ Keep On Keepin’ On claimed the narrative and documentary Heineken audience awards.
Returning to the juried awards, Paul Schneider was named best actor in a narrative feature for Goodbye to All That and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi took corresponding best actress honours for Human Capital.
Damian García won the cinematography prize for Güeros, Guillaume Nicloux the screenplay award for The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq and Keith Miller the editing prize for Five Star.
Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden earned documentary editing honours for Ne Me Quitte Pas.
Best New Narrative Director went to Josef Wladyka director for Manos Sucias and Hicks was named best new documentary director for Keep...
Meanwhile, Jon Favreau’s Chef and Alan Hicks’ Keep On Keepin’ On claimed the narrative and documentary Heineken audience awards.
Returning to the juried awards, Paul Schneider was named best actor in a narrative feature for Goodbye to All That and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi took corresponding best actress honours for Human Capital.
Damian García won the cinematography prize for Güeros, Guillaume Nicloux the screenplay award for The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq and Keith Miller the editing prize for Five Star.
Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden earned documentary editing honours for Ne Me Quitte Pas.
Best New Narrative Director went to Josef Wladyka director for Manos Sucias and Hicks was named best new documentary director for Keep...
- 4/27/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Talya Lavie’s Israeli film Zero Motivation (pictured) claimed the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature while Marshall Curry’s Point And Shoot was named best documentary feature as the New York festival came to a close at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Jon Favreau’s Chef and Alan Hicks’ Keep On Keepin’ On claimed the narrative and documentary Heineken audience awards.
Returning to the juried awards, Paul Schneider was named best actor in a narrative feature for Goodbye to All That and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi took corresponding best actress honours for Human Capital.
Damian García won the cinematography prize for Güeros, Guillaume Nicloux the screenplay award for The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq and Keith Miller the editing prize for Five Star.
Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden earned documentary editing honours for Ne Me Quitte Pas.
Best New Narrative Director went to Josef Wladyka director for Manos Sucias and Hicks was named best new documentary director for Keep...
Meanwhile, Jon Favreau’s Chef and Alan Hicks’ Keep On Keepin’ On claimed the narrative and documentary Heineken audience awards.
Returning to the juried awards, Paul Schneider was named best actor in a narrative feature for Goodbye to All That and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi took corresponding best actress honours for Human Capital.
Damian García won the cinematography prize for Güeros, Guillaume Nicloux the screenplay award for The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq and Keith Miller the editing prize for Five Star.
Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden earned documentary editing honours for Ne Me Quitte Pas.
Best New Narrative Director went to Josef Wladyka director for Manos Sucias and Hicks was named best new documentary director for Keep...
- 4/27/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Two Colombian men attempt to smuggle cocaine up the Pacific. That's the slim, basic trajectory of director Josef Kubota Wladyka's first feature, "Manos Sucias," and it rarely ventures beyond those restrictions. But that very minimalism gives its drama a personal quality steeped in the desperation of its lower class anti-heroes. Shot on location in and around Buenaventura, the movie has a frantic, gritty energy attuned to its characters' frustrations—not unlike the fiery sentiments found in the most polemical output of Spike Lee, who serves as an executive producer. Even so, Wladyka's debut has a more claustrophobic feel than anything in Lee's oeuvre; running just under 75 minutes, it's a fierce snapshot of reckless behavior enacted by helpless men. At its center is Delio (Cristian James Abvincula), a pouty young black man eager to leave "that fucking construction job" and find a better life for his wife and infant child. In an early scene,...
- 4/27/2014
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Debating with Paul Haggis on the Third Person at the Us premiere during the Tribeca Film Festival, with Sting by his side. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Director/screenwriter Paul Haggis, at the Us premiere of Third Person, walked the red carpet with Sting, whose daughter Mickey Sumner was on the Tribeca Film Festival Best New Narrative Director Competition jury won by Josef Wladyka for Manos Sucias, with Spike Lee as executive producer.
Third Person stars Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Adrien Brody, James Franco, Mila Kunis with Kim Basinger, Moran Atias, Maria Bello and Loan Chabonal.
Griffin Dunne - a flash on the Third Person premiere red carpet Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Griffin Dunne made a dashing appearance as he did two days earlier at Jann Wenner and Sony Pictures Classics' For No Good Reason premiere and the Ralph Steadman exhibition at Red Bull Studio.
Set mostly in hotel rooms in Paris,...
Director/screenwriter Paul Haggis, at the Us premiere of Third Person, walked the red carpet with Sting, whose daughter Mickey Sumner was on the Tribeca Film Festival Best New Narrative Director Competition jury won by Josef Wladyka for Manos Sucias, with Spike Lee as executive producer.
Third Person stars Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Adrien Brody, James Franco, Mila Kunis with Kim Basinger, Moran Atias, Maria Bello and Loan Chabonal.
Griffin Dunne - a flash on the Third Person premiere red carpet Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Griffin Dunne made a dashing appearance as he did two days earlier at Jann Wenner and Sony Pictures Classics' For No Good Reason premiere and the Ralph Steadman exhibition at Red Bull Studio.
Set mostly in hotel rooms in Paris,...
- 4/26/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Manos Sucias
Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka
Colombia and USA, 2014
Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez), a world-hardened but innocent fisherman, and naïve, 19 year-old Delio (Cristian James Abvincula) set out on a dangerous drug mission on the coast of Colombia in Josef Kubota Wladyka’s directorial debut. This film is reminiscent of the recent La Jaula de Oro: young lives searching for escape, caught amidst a harrowing circle of inevitable violence and peril. Wladyka shoots entirely on-location and it shows. There’s a real sense of place here, made more authentic by small touches: children jumping from waterside bungalows into the bay as a boat approaches; makeshift motorcycle-driven railroad carts, their wheels precariously hugging the thin strips of train-track metal; freestyling teenagers on the street.
Like Jacobo and Delio, Wladyka and cinematographer Alan Blanco’s camera moves frequently forward. It plows through choppy waters, creeps across calm marshes, hurtles on railroad tracks and into tunnels,...
Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka
Colombia and USA, 2014
Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez), a world-hardened but innocent fisherman, and naïve, 19 year-old Delio (Cristian James Abvincula) set out on a dangerous drug mission on the coast of Colombia in Josef Kubota Wladyka’s directorial debut. This film is reminiscent of the recent La Jaula de Oro: young lives searching for escape, caught amidst a harrowing circle of inevitable violence and peril. Wladyka shoots entirely on-location and it shows. There’s a real sense of place here, made more authentic by small touches: children jumping from waterside bungalows into the bay as a boat approaches; makeshift motorcycle-driven railroad carts, their wheels precariously hugging the thin strips of train-track metal; freestyling teenagers on the street.
Like Jacobo and Delio, Wladyka and cinematographer Alan Blanco’s camera moves frequently forward. It plows through choppy waters, creeps across calm marshes, hurtles on railroad tracks and into tunnels,...
- 4/25/2014
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
Zero Motivation, a dark comedy about the lives of Israeli female soldiers, was named the top film at the 13th Tribeca Film Festival. Writer/director Tayla Lavie accepted the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, as well as the Nora Ephron Prize, which goes to the female filmmaker who best embodies Ephron’s spirit and vision. “In her unique and ambitious first feature, deftly handled such difficult themes as the military, sexism, love, ambition, and friendship,” the jury noted. “This filmmaker also pulled off the awesome feat of managing multiple characters and storylines. In what was definitely the most hilarious...
- 4/25/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
2014 Tribeca Film Festival winners were announced Friday, as chosen by the various juries, with the Israeli film Zero Motivation earning top honors including the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature.
Zero Motivation writer/director Talya Lavie also won the Nora Ephron Prize for her film, a dark comedy about female Israeli soldiers.
“We believe a new, powerful, voice has emerged,” the jury said about Lavie.
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature went to Paul Schneider, who stars in Goodbye to All That, the directorial debut from Junebug scribe Angus MacLachlan.
“This performance reminded us that even in the most ordinary settings, our lives can summon extraordinary humor, pain, awkwardness, and if we earn it… dignity,” the jury remarked.
Complete List of Winners:
Best Narrative Feature: Zero Motivation – Talya Lavie
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film: Paul Schneider – Goodbye To All That
Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film: Valeria Bruni...
Zero Motivation writer/director Talya Lavie also won the Nora Ephron Prize for her film, a dark comedy about female Israeli soldiers.
“We believe a new, powerful, voice has emerged,” the jury said about Lavie.
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature went to Paul Schneider, who stars in Goodbye to All That, the directorial debut from Junebug scribe Angus MacLachlan.
“This performance reminded us that even in the most ordinary settings, our lives can summon extraordinary humor, pain, awkwardness, and if we earn it… dignity,” the jury remarked.
Complete List of Winners:
Best Narrative Feature: Zero Motivation – Talya Lavie
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film: Paul Schneider – Goodbye To All That
Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film: Valeria Bruni...
- 4/25/2014
- Uinterview
With two Led panels, one Canon C300 and a crew of no more than a dozen people including locals, co-writer/director Joseph Wladyka and co-writer/cinematographer Alan Blanco went to Buenaventura, Colombia - a heavily narco-trafficked country - to film Manos Sucias ("Dirty Hands")."One of my favorite moments making this film was when me, Joe and the two leads went out to sea in a small boat to get some scenes," says Blanco after their premiere in New York City this week. "The motor didn't work very well and we could have been stranded at sea, but was worth it."It seems that much was worth it on Manos Sucias, an authentic and heart-wrenching portrayal of drug trafficking on the pacific coast of Colombia. After the successful Kickstarter...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 4/24/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Manos Sucias
Directed by Josef Wladyka
Colombia, 2014
It’s not hard to see why the great Spike Lee would want to get his hands on the drug-trafficking dramatic thriller Manos Sucias. It’s exceptionally made and extraordinarily tense. It also profiles a culture that’s both rarely depicted in art and quite underserved in real life. Lee isn’t this film’s director, though. That title, improbably, belongs to rookie filmmaker Josef Wladyka, whose voice is shockingly established for someone as green as he is.
The film introduces us to the drug trade that starts out of the ironically named Colombian port city of Buenaventura (translation: “good luck”). Two young men, Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez) and Delio (Cristian James Abvincula), embark on a deal that will take them into the sometimes treacherous waters off the coast. The former has done this many times, but he wants out. The latter, on the other hand,...
Directed by Josef Wladyka
Colombia, 2014
It’s not hard to see why the great Spike Lee would want to get his hands on the drug-trafficking dramatic thriller Manos Sucias. It’s exceptionally made and extraordinarily tense. It also profiles a culture that’s both rarely depicted in art and quite underserved in real life. Lee isn’t this film’s director, though. That title, improbably, belongs to rookie filmmaker Josef Wladyka, whose voice is shockingly established for someone as green as he is.
The film introduces us to the drug trade that starts out of the ironically named Colombian port city of Buenaventura (translation: “good luck”). Two young men, Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez) and Delio (Cristian James Abvincula), embark on a deal that will take them into the sometimes treacherous waters off the coast. The former has done this many times, but he wants out. The latter, on the other hand,...
- 4/22/2014
- by John Gilpatrick
- SoundOnSight
During the Cartagena International Film Festival (Ficci), the winner of three (3!) prizes here for Audience Favorite, Best Director and Best Picture, was Marmato by Mark Grieco. This is a well told story of universal appeal about mine workers in Colombia, some of whom came for the world premiere of an eye-opening, thought-provoking and empowering movie.
Marmato was work-shopped twice at Sundance labs and it premiered at Sundance this January 2014 (Isa: Ro*co, U.S. contact Ben Weiss at Paradigm). This is a movie which could be used for motivation and film training beyond its traditional viewing stations.
Mark Grieco was having his first experience living and backpacking through Latin America and working as a photographer. After one year, he arrived in Potosi, a world-known silver mine in Bolivia which was the main source of silver when the Spanish began their rape of the Latin American land. Known as Rich Mountain or Cerro Rico because the mountain seemed to be made of silver. , Founded in 1545 as a mining town, Potosi soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world, with a population exceeding 200,000 people. The riches were shipped to Panama City and from there went to Spain in the 16th Century.
In Spanish there is still a saying, vale un Potosí, "to be worth a Potosí" (that is, "to be of a great value").
Part of the tourist industry there today is to give coco leaves and cigarettes to the miners in exchange for taking a photograph with them. It struck him so hard that he refused to take any photos. However, he became very interested in mining and he started to search for a place where there is still mining that is not owned by a big corporation.
And so, Mark discovered Marmato, a small town still using the traditional methods to mine for gold which cycles into the local economy and benefits the community. At some point, a big Canadian company with an interest in buying up all the mines around. The layout of the town is built so that all doors open toward the mountain which has a value of $20 billion in gold. But to get at it, one would need to use open pit mining, removing the mountain in effect and getting rid of the whole town in the process. At a town meeting a percentage of the people were Ok with that and a percentage did not want to leave. A confrontation was pending, and he was a photographer taking pictures. He returned to the U.S. in 2008, saved some money and moved back to film the confrontation one-and a-half years later. During the first filming he worked in TV and had no film experience. During the following five-and-a-half years he was there, he learned that the Canadians were there; most miners sold to them at very low prices. Before all this, previously another Canadian company, Corona had bought the mines and failed, so the miners who had sold to Corona got their land back. They expected the same to happen this time but...
The 5 1/2 years of shooting gave Mark the chance to understand what he had been grappling with throughout his travels; the disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots", and the mining roots in colonial cities like Potosi and Marmato. He had seen the end results and had never seen a film about it, about the process, who is involved in a way that was not about victims and evil-doers. To see and to understand something while making a film about it gives one plenty of time to become an expert. For the first 1 1/2 years of filming he would travel away every 2 months, returning to N.Y. for 2 or 3 months, and then returning. Then he realized he had to be there everyday and so he moved there permanently and he filmed in the mine everyday with the miners as they rose and went into the mine. Sometimes he shoveled and didn't film to gain the trust and experiencing the essence of being a miner. This changed and shaped his perspective in many ways. He originally had a simplified and reductive pov but as he learned more about the complexity of the situation he realized there was no "right" answer.
At first he looked for the pluses and the minuses of the situation but in the end he was more in the middle. He hopes to see and start an unusual dialogue with the film. The audience in Cartagena had a great reaction at its Sundance premiere where much of the Q&As were about the interest in how Marmato is now and how they might get involved. In Cartagena, he brought four of the main miners in the movie to see the film and a great discussion ensued.
The mission of the film is to give voice to those who are the least heard. His own filmmaker's voice is the least important.
The miners saw it, audiences applauded and the Colombians asked how it was possible that they had never heard about any of this before the film. The miners think the film is a great tool is great for them especially because the media does not talk at all about them. The film needs distribution in Colombia on a big screen. Even the miners said that it needs to be seen on the big screen. It is now a typical documentary; Marmato is a unique town and is the essence of their lives.
Another possible form of distribution is traveling the film festivals, though he wants to stay in Colombia with his wife who he met through a mutual friend and married shortly after. They now live in Medellin, about four hours from Marmato where he has spent months on end in the town and he thinks he could take a break of a couple days.
Mark says there is an endless amount of stories there yet to be told. Everyone only sees the bad things and large scale mining is a new phenomenon. La Guajira, the largest open pit coal mine since the 1980s but more money is now pouring in since the country seems more secure. Large corporations are spending bilions just in explorations. Even the people in Marmato see the positive side to big companies, depending of course, on their stage of life, etc. The town is divided. And the big company is not living up to its promises; flipping companies has cause a greater division. Resistance (marches and protests) is not politically useful. These miners are resisting the corportation through working. The Canadians co-own 90% of the mines and they closed them down leaving 800 to 1,000 miners wihtout work. However, the workers have returned to the mines, mining and selling s before and this work is their way of resisting. They are seen as squatters, but the miners believe the company lost its rights to the mine by not using them. Legally, the subsoil of Colombia belongs to the state. Only the houses above the land are owned. The State Equals The People. The law states that during the first six months of purchase, the owner must produce out of the mine and give 4% royalty to the government. There are also state taxes and the minors pay that from their sales. The state has an interest and there is a mining code. The Company states that it too has been paying taxes.
Miners are seeing the State as a betrayer of miners. Colombia President Santos says that mining companies are part of the new locomotive of the country; mining and energy are the new locomotives. The state owns the gold. The workers could work the mine for the next decade or so or the Canadians could remove all the gold in 20 years. The State wants fast returns. The Canadian companies also get tax rebates (as filmmakers do as well) so their 4% tax is nullified by the rebate. The people themselves of Colombia are therefore the ones paying with their own taxes and rebates to bring in international companies to take their resources out of their country, out of their own economy.
The film does not explain this. The film takes a more humanistic approach to 500 years of culture about to be dynamically changed. The story is told through the voice and lives of the people to capture audiences who will become interested in the complex issues by connecting to the people. The film is not an essay on mining in Colombia; it is more of a portrait of the people of Marmato, the region and town and the problem.
Mark is finding support as Colombian, U.S. and Canadian companies and institutions are aligning to make the first steps in what will be a long journey. The chance the film gives to the miners to see the film and talk to audiences has empowered them. They are seeing themseves as articulate and emphatic and are getting their issues across to audiences.
Mark will be making more films...he can't stay there forever but he will always make films with a social action agenda attached.
Once a film receives some funding, the rest followed. Marmato received funding from the Ford Foundation, Mac Arthur Foundation, Sundance, Cinereach, the Fledgling Fund and Brit Doc. Their reaction and involvement helps to crystallize what film can do as cinematic explorations of social issues. At first it is quite difficult to get funding. 90% of the work he did was grant writing and finding funds. One must have money to make money but once someone else is supportive financially, the others come on board.
Just when they needed the help as they started post, 5 years into the film, during the last year, Sundance and Sky Ranch stepped offering the Sundance Music and Editing Labs as Sky Ranch offered help with the sound design and final mix. Once Sundance came on board, everything changed from riding rinky-dink buses across the Andes alone to being the next week at Sky Ranch. Later he went to a Producers Summit where he connected with agents and other producers. At the very end of post-production he did a Kickstarter campaign in which Stuart Reid gave $45,000. Their international sales agent is Annie Rooney of Ro*co. They are now negotiating with a North American distributor through Ben Weiss of Paradigm Agency. They are also exploring festivals with audiences to harness their reactions; On board are Cleveland International, Ashland, River Run and others. Yale shows the film and Mark talks to their Law School's class on international law where there is a broad presence of international companies. Universities, law schools, international business all have uses for this film.
------
In upcoming blogs, we will talk about the other two Colombian films made by gringos, Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka, a film with great pedigrees, directed, produced and shot by a team who have received the highest film and business educations from Tisch and Stern Schools at Nyu, and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz, a work of passion made with love and sweat. We already covered the uniquely beautiful and soulful study of a small part of the underbelly of the underworld in Medellin Mambo Cool by Chris Gude.
Marmato was work-shopped twice at Sundance labs and it premiered at Sundance this January 2014 (Isa: Ro*co, U.S. contact Ben Weiss at Paradigm). This is a movie which could be used for motivation and film training beyond its traditional viewing stations.
Mark Grieco was having his first experience living and backpacking through Latin America and working as a photographer. After one year, he arrived in Potosi, a world-known silver mine in Bolivia which was the main source of silver when the Spanish began their rape of the Latin American land. Known as Rich Mountain or Cerro Rico because the mountain seemed to be made of silver. , Founded in 1545 as a mining town, Potosi soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world, with a population exceeding 200,000 people. The riches were shipped to Panama City and from there went to Spain in the 16th Century.
In Spanish there is still a saying, vale un Potosí, "to be worth a Potosí" (that is, "to be of a great value").
Part of the tourist industry there today is to give coco leaves and cigarettes to the miners in exchange for taking a photograph with them. It struck him so hard that he refused to take any photos. However, he became very interested in mining and he started to search for a place where there is still mining that is not owned by a big corporation.
And so, Mark discovered Marmato, a small town still using the traditional methods to mine for gold which cycles into the local economy and benefits the community. At some point, a big Canadian company with an interest in buying up all the mines around. The layout of the town is built so that all doors open toward the mountain which has a value of $20 billion in gold. But to get at it, one would need to use open pit mining, removing the mountain in effect and getting rid of the whole town in the process. At a town meeting a percentage of the people were Ok with that and a percentage did not want to leave. A confrontation was pending, and he was a photographer taking pictures. He returned to the U.S. in 2008, saved some money and moved back to film the confrontation one-and a-half years later. During the first filming he worked in TV and had no film experience. During the following five-and-a-half years he was there, he learned that the Canadians were there; most miners sold to them at very low prices. Before all this, previously another Canadian company, Corona had bought the mines and failed, so the miners who had sold to Corona got their land back. They expected the same to happen this time but...
The 5 1/2 years of shooting gave Mark the chance to understand what he had been grappling with throughout his travels; the disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots", and the mining roots in colonial cities like Potosi and Marmato. He had seen the end results and had never seen a film about it, about the process, who is involved in a way that was not about victims and evil-doers. To see and to understand something while making a film about it gives one plenty of time to become an expert. For the first 1 1/2 years of filming he would travel away every 2 months, returning to N.Y. for 2 or 3 months, and then returning. Then he realized he had to be there everyday and so he moved there permanently and he filmed in the mine everyday with the miners as they rose and went into the mine. Sometimes he shoveled and didn't film to gain the trust and experiencing the essence of being a miner. This changed and shaped his perspective in many ways. He originally had a simplified and reductive pov but as he learned more about the complexity of the situation he realized there was no "right" answer.
At first he looked for the pluses and the minuses of the situation but in the end he was more in the middle. He hopes to see and start an unusual dialogue with the film. The audience in Cartagena had a great reaction at its Sundance premiere where much of the Q&As were about the interest in how Marmato is now and how they might get involved. In Cartagena, he brought four of the main miners in the movie to see the film and a great discussion ensued.
The mission of the film is to give voice to those who are the least heard. His own filmmaker's voice is the least important.
The miners saw it, audiences applauded and the Colombians asked how it was possible that they had never heard about any of this before the film. The miners think the film is a great tool is great for them especially because the media does not talk at all about them. The film needs distribution in Colombia on a big screen. Even the miners said that it needs to be seen on the big screen. It is now a typical documentary; Marmato is a unique town and is the essence of their lives.
Another possible form of distribution is traveling the film festivals, though he wants to stay in Colombia with his wife who he met through a mutual friend and married shortly after. They now live in Medellin, about four hours from Marmato where he has spent months on end in the town and he thinks he could take a break of a couple days.
Mark says there is an endless amount of stories there yet to be told. Everyone only sees the bad things and large scale mining is a new phenomenon. La Guajira, the largest open pit coal mine since the 1980s but more money is now pouring in since the country seems more secure. Large corporations are spending bilions just in explorations. Even the people in Marmato see the positive side to big companies, depending of course, on their stage of life, etc. The town is divided. And the big company is not living up to its promises; flipping companies has cause a greater division. Resistance (marches and protests) is not politically useful. These miners are resisting the corportation through working. The Canadians co-own 90% of the mines and they closed them down leaving 800 to 1,000 miners wihtout work. However, the workers have returned to the mines, mining and selling s before and this work is their way of resisting. They are seen as squatters, but the miners believe the company lost its rights to the mine by not using them. Legally, the subsoil of Colombia belongs to the state. Only the houses above the land are owned. The State Equals The People. The law states that during the first six months of purchase, the owner must produce out of the mine and give 4% royalty to the government. There are also state taxes and the minors pay that from their sales. The state has an interest and there is a mining code. The Company states that it too has been paying taxes.
Miners are seeing the State as a betrayer of miners. Colombia President Santos says that mining companies are part of the new locomotive of the country; mining and energy are the new locomotives. The state owns the gold. The workers could work the mine for the next decade or so or the Canadians could remove all the gold in 20 years. The State wants fast returns. The Canadian companies also get tax rebates (as filmmakers do as well) so their 4% tax is nullified by the rebate. The people themselves of Colombia are therefore the ones paying with their own taxes and rebates to bring in international companies to take their resources out of their country, out of their own economy.
The film does not explain this. The film takes a more humanistic approach to 500 years of culture about to be dynamically changed. The story is told through the voice and lives of the people to capture audiences who will become interested in the complex issues by connecting to the people. The film is not an essay on mining in Colombia; it is more of a portrait of the people of Marmato, the region and town and the problem.
Mark is finding support as Colombian, U.S. and Canadian companies and institutions are aligning to make the first steps in what will be a long journey. The chance the film gives to the miners to see the film and talk to audiences has empowered them. They are seeing themseves as articulate and emphatic and are getting their issues across to audiences.
Mark will be making more films...he can't stay there forever but he will always make films with a social action agenda attached.
Once a film receives some funding, the rest followed. Marmato received funding from the Ford Foundation, Mac Arthur Foundation, Sundance, Cinereach, the Fledgling Fund and Brit Doc. Their reaction and involvement helps to crystallize what film can do as cinematic explorations of social issues. At first it is quite difficult to get funding. 90% of the work he did was grant writing and finding funds. One must have money to make money but once someone else is supportive financially, the others come on board.
Just when they needed the help as they started post, 5 years into the film, during the last year, Sundance and Sky Ranch stepped offering the Sundance Music and Editing Labs as Sky Ranch offered help with the sound design and final mix. Once Sundance came on board, everything changed from riding rinky-dink buses across the Andes alone to being the next week at Sky Ranch. Later he went to a Producers Summit where he connected with agents and other producers. At the very end of post-production he did a Kickstarter campaign in which Stuart Reid gave $45,000. Their international sales agent is Annie Rooney of Ro*co. They are now negotiating with a North American distributor through Ben Weiss of Paradigm Agency. They are also exploring festivals with audiences to harness their reactions; On board are Cleveland International, Ashland, River Run and others. Yale shows the film and Mark talks to their Law School's class on international law where there is a broad presence of international companies. Universities, law schools, international business all have uses for this film.
------
In upcoming blogs, we will talk about the other two Colombian films made by gringos, Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka, a film with great pedigrees, directed, produced and shot by a team who have received the highest film and business educations from Tisch and Stern Schools at Nyu, and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz, a work of passion made with love and sweat. We already covered the uniquely beautiful and soulful study of a small part of the underbelly of the underworld in Medellin Mambo Cool by Chris Gude.
- 4/18/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
“Manos Sucias” — premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this week — is a gritty and daunting film about Colombian teens who get into drug trafficking, but takes care to remind the viewer that despite their dangerous profession, they are still just normal kids. Spike Lee taught director Josef Wladyka at Nyu, then jumped aboard to executive produce the Spanish language drama that marks Wladyka's feature film debut; he spent years making shorts that won awards at festivals around the world. Lee has long supported young filmmakers, and this was one of the most ambitious of those projects. Also read: Tribeca...
- 4/16/2014
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Wrap
Executive produced by Spike Lee and directed by Nyu grad Joseph Wladika, the Columbian production Manos Sucias (Dirty Hands) will screen at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, which runs April 16 through April 27. Scripted by Alan Blanco and Wladika, Manos Sucias stars Cristian Advincula and Jarlin Martinez as Delio and Jacobo; the latter is a desperate fisherman and seasoned trafficker, who along with the naive Delio, decide to traffic millions of dollars worth of cocaine up the Colombian Pacific coast. Here's the synopsis, courtesy of Tff's website: Towing a submerged torpedo in the wake of their battered fishing boat, ‘Jacobo,’ a desperate fisherman and Delio, a...
- 4/15/2014
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
Reporting from Cartagena Film Festival.
Coproductions are increasing in Colombia.The French are participating as special guests at the Encuentros (Coproduction Meetings) this year but coproductions of the last four years have been with Germany, Norway, Spain in Europe as well as with Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. In 2013 the U.S. joined in as well.
There is a special relationship and notable variations on the coproduction theme between U.S. and Colombia. It doesn’t hurt that there is a direct flight on Jet Blue from N.Y. to Colombia , making travel less difficult to Colombia from the U.S. than it is from Europe.
Colombian directors such as Simon Brand (who lives in U.S.) are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default which Wild Bunch has already sold in Hong Kong, the Middle East and the Netherlands. For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit because they are in English and as such are perceived as more “Hollywood”, a positive marketing point.
There are other such coproductions: Gallows Hill coproduced with Peter Block’s L.A.-based A Bigger Boat, David and Angelique Higgins’ Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung of Bowery Hills Entertainment which has the further distinction of being sold internationally by Im Global. And there is Out of the Dark, a coproduction with the prestigious Participant. These are not represented at the festival, and so they are not really the subject of this blog.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening at the Cartagena Film Festival are Colombian films made by Americans. Each one has been created by unique and different types of Americans. They are the subject of this blog.
The winner of three (3!) prizes here for Audience Favorite, Best Director and Best Picture, Marmato by Mark Grieco was work-shopped twice at Sundance labs and premiered at Sundance this January 2014 (Isa: Ro*co, U.S. contact Ben Weiss at Paradigm). Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka is a film with great pedigrees, directed, produced and shot by a team who have received the highest film and business educations from Tisch and Stern Schools at Nyu, Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz a work of passion made with love and sweat, and Mambo Cool by Chris Gude and uniquely beautiful and soulful study of a small part of the underbelly of the underworld in Medelin.
Following is an interview with Chris Gude, the director of Mambo Cool. Interviews will soon follow with the other three directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is a great place to make movies.
Mambo Cool
While only 60 minutes long, Mambo Cool stirred great interest in the beautiful and packed theater Teatro Adolfo Maijia Cine Colombia (Tam). In a unique impressionistic style, the depiction of a micro-ecology of the underbelly of Medellin. Colombia. At the core of the film is the connection between the characters' passion for mambo dancing, music and history. Drug dealers and drug takers, whores and salsa dancers spend time in the shadows, in rat-hole apartments or in a dance bar which actually exists in Medellin under the name El Bururu Barara, talking poetically and philosophically about the meaning of friendship vs. loyalty. The main salsero of this film gave us 5 minutes of dancing which I am going to post here as soon as I can figure out how.
I interviewed the filmmaker Chris Gude, an American who in 2006 came here to work with an Ngo for displaced persons, met and established a friendship with the people in this fiction film in Medellín. Chris lives in New York. He graduated from Middlebury and attended Columbia grad school in anthropology. Perhaps his anthropology interests were part of the inspiration for this work. He returned to make this film when his friends here suggested he return to make a movie that he wrote in close collaboration with the film’s protagonist, Jorge Gavidor and other protagonist-friends. Jorge, who is the bald guy in the film is self-described as an industrial mechanic and inventor. The dialogue is stylized to communicate the magic of the environment. Cinema veritè would not work to communicate what they wanted about the environment. Chris also says that the film does not come close to fully communicating the community and mythology of the place. But for me it captures an essential rhythm and soulful quality that kept me immersed in the story.
The film has shown in various festivals and has no sales or distribution representation. Fid Marseilles invited it to play and since then it has played at the Transinema Festival in Lima, Split Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, , Free Zone Festival in Belgrade, Serbia, Mar del Plata in Argentina and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
Coproductions are increasing in Colombia.The French are participating as special guests at the Encuentros (Coproduction Meetings) this year but coproductions of the last four years have been with Germany, Norway, Spain in Europe as well as with Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. In 2013 the U.S. joined in as well.
There is a special relationship and notable variations on the coproduction theme between U.S. and Colombia. It doesn’t hurt that there is a direct flight on Jet Blue from N.Y. to Colombia , making travel less difficult to Colombia from the U.S. than it is from Europe.
Colombian directors such as Simon Brand (who lives in U.S.) are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default which Wild Bunch has already sold in Hong Kong, the Middle East and the Netherlands. For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit because they are in English and as such are perceived as more “Hollywood”, a positive marketing point.
There are other such coproductions: Gallows Hill coproduced with Peter Block’s L.A.-based A Bigger Boat, David and Angelique Higgins’ Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung of Bowery Hills Entertainment which has the further distinction of being sold internationally by Im Global. And there is Out of the Dark, a coproduction with the prestigious Participant. These are not represented at the festival, and so they are not really the subject of this blog.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening at the Cartagena Film Festival are Colombian films made by Americans. Each one has been created by unique and different types of Americans. They are the subject of this blog.
The winner of three (3!) prizes here for Audience Favorite, Best Director and Best Picture, Marmato by Mark Grieco was work-shopped twice at Sundance labs and premiered at Sundance this January 2014 (Isa: Ro*co, U.S. contact Ben Weiss at Paradigm). Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka is a film with great pedigrees, directed, produced and shot by a team who have received the highest film and business educations from Tisch and Stern Schools at Nyu, Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz a work of passion made with love and sweat, and Mambo Cool by Chris Gude and uniquely beautiful and soulful study of a small part of the underbelly of the underworld in Medelin.
Following is an interview with Chris Gude, the director of Mambo Cool. Interviews will soon follow with the other three directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is a great place to make movies.
Mambo Cool
While only 60 minutes long, Mambo Cool stirred great interest in the beautiful and packed theater Teatro Adolfo Maijia Cine Colombia (Tam). In a unique impressionistic style, the depiction of a micro-ecology of the underbelly of Medellin. Colombia. At the core of the film is the connection between the characters' passion for mambo dancing, music and history. Drug dealers and drug takers, whores and salsa dancers spend time in the shadows, in rat-hole apartments or in a dance bar which actually exists in Medellin under the name El Bururu Barara, talking poetically and philosophically about the meaning of friendship vs. loyalty. The main salsero of this film gave us 5 minutes of dancing which I am going to post here as soon as I can figure out how.
I interviewed the filmmaker Chris Gude, an American who in 2006 came here to work with an Ngo for displaced persons, met and established a friendship with the people in this fiction film in Medellín. Chris lives in New York. He graduated from Middlebury and attended Columbia grad school in anthropology. Perhaps his anthropology interests were part of the inspiration for this work. He returned to make this film when his friends here suggested he return to make a movie that he wrote in close collaboration with the film’s protagonist, Jorge Gavidor and other protagonist-friends. Jorge, who is the bald guy in the film is self-described as an industrial mechanic and inventor. The dialogue is stylized to communicate the magic of the environment. Cinema veritè would not work to communicate what they wanted about the environment. Chris also says that the film does not come close to fully communicating the community and mythology of the place. But for me it captures an essential rhythm and soulful quality that kept me immersed in the story.
The film has shown in various festivals and has no sales or distribution representation. Fid Marseilles invited it to play and since then it has played at the Transinema Festival in Lima, Split Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, , Free Zone Festival in Belgrade, Serbia, Mar del Plata in Argentina and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
- 4/12/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Today I am writing from Cartagena, Colombia where I attended Ficci, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias.
This former colonial jewel in the crown of Spain offers a huge array of delights, film-wise, art-wise, food-wise and people-wise. Gorgeous arts and gorgeous people, sweet, polite and proud. As much as I love Havana, Cartagena is how Havana should look.
And as much as I loved Careyes where I was last week, the art and artisanal scope here is so wide; from the Colombian painter and sculptor, Botero to indigenous palm weaving – décor for homes (not cheap!), bags, designer clothing, linen and rubies.
Aside from films, my big discoveries of the day are Ruby Rumie, a Colombian artist who spends much of her time here in her studio in the Getsemaní section of town and in Chile. Coincidentally (again) Gary Meyer (Telluride Film Festival) and his wife Cathy who are here with Gary on the Documentary Competition Jury (I just left them in Careyas!) also just discovered her as well. The other artist, Olga Amaral, works in indigenous styles of weaving and textile production and now is favoring gold leaf displays of woven wall tapestries. Stunning. Both are available at the Nh Gallery, a place I just happened to wander into as I was walking from the theater to my equally stunning hotel Casa Pestagua.
The courteous and helpful people here are a proud mix of white, brown and black. They say the blacks will never follow the orders of a white. They say the blood of slaves is embedded in the wall fortifications of the city. The Inquisition here was very powerful, and they say the Jews (Conversos) coming in the conquistadors’ ships went to settle Medellín and the Catholics to Bogotá. Cartagena was the last city to be free of the Spanish crown and as such, it was extremely conservative.
It would take days to visit all the museums throughout the city. The Art Biennale is now in many of them (free entry) including the Museum of the Inquisition with its torture machines. The Museum of Gold with pre-Colombian gold artworks is astounding. All the gold of Latin America (and emeralds, diamonds and silver) went from here in the Spanish galleons back to Spain until the city declared its independence in 1811. We in the North know this history but from a different perspective. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America and Gonzalo Arijon’s documentary Eyes Wide Open, an update of Galeano’s ideas are good starting points for understanding this part of the world. Eye opening indeed!
The beauty of the city and its people is matched by the food. There is great food here here and some very haute cuisine restaurants. Ceviches of many kinds, new sweet fruits like the pitaya and the drink mixing limeade and coconut milk delight the palate. The festival invites enough but not too many industry folks so it can host lunches and dinners in wonderful venues along with cocktail hours where we can all meet and talk. Talk among us is of food and film, film and food…even of food film festivals that are cropping up from Berlin, San Sebastian, here and in Northern California…stay tuned.
The Colombian government is aware of the need for the public to rediscover their own stories and to this end all the festival screenings are free, and all are packed Sro. The government also supports filmmakers with a deliberate, well-planned and well executed strategy to increase production and create an infrastructure.
Colombian films’ biggest challenge is to increase their share of their rapidly growing domestic market, worth $182.3 million in box office in 2012. One way forward is international co-production, where Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) July 14-18, 2014 plays a large role. There is a mini version of this here (Encuentros Cartagena), centering on French and Colombian co-production, but not limited to that, with guests like George Goldenstern from Cinefondation (Cannes), producer/ international sales agent Marie-Pierre Masia and and the ever present Thierry Lenouvel of Cine-Sud whose film Tierra en la lengua aka Dust on the Tongue won the Best Picture Award in Competition. Vincenzo Bugno of World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale is always here too as is Jose Maria Riba on the Jury of the Competition and programmer for San Sebastian and Directors Fortnight. Also on the jury are Wendy Mitchel and Pawel Pawlikowski whose film Ida (Isa: Portobello Film Sales) is playing (outside of the Competition). A look at the winning competition films shows the strength of co-productions today.
Best Picture: Dust on the Tongue of Ruben Mendoza (Colombia) Colombia Film of $15,000. Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, by Celina Murga (Argentina, Netherlands, Germany) (Isa: The Match Factory) Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To kill a man (Matar a un hombre) which premiered in Sundance (Chile, France). Film Factory is selling international rights and Film Movement has U.S. It also won the Fipresci or International Critics’ Award. Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio by El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France), Urban Distribution International is the sales agent.
Cinema in Colombia continues its steep ascent in the international production world. The reasons, according to Bugno, lie in “new political decisions, funding structures, and the developing of a new producing environment that also has to do with new emerging young talent.”
A visit to the festival headquarters proves the point of the extensive government support of film not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all the people, dispossessed, abused, Lgbt, children and women. It is a beautiful sight to see such support, and the people seem to reciprocate; I hear more praise than complaints about the government and everyone seems cautiously optimistic, aware of its current position vis à vis what has thankfully become recent history with the guerillas who had been waging war with the government for the past 40 years and the current elections and competing points of view between the former President Uribe and the current President Juan Manuel Santos.
Aecid , Association Espagnola de Cooperacon Internacional para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Association for International Cooperation for Development), a festival sponsor supports social cohesion, equality of genders, construction of peace, respect for cultural diversity and the reduction of poverty.
Currently in Colombia, national cinema holds a 10% share of the Colombian market and 8% of the box office. In 2012, 213 films were produced in Colombia, a huge increase since 2009 when 19 were produced according to Ocal, the Observotario del Cine f nCl [sic]. In 2012, 23 of the 213 domestic films were released theatrically, a tremendous increase from the 6 Colombian films released in the year 2000. [1],[2] This number surpasses every record in Colombia’s film history
This 10 day spectacular film festival gives free entry to all at 8 theaters and, proving the point that people love the movies, every single screening is packed solid, Sro. More than 135 films come from 27 countries. 48 daily screenings include 14 open air screenings in great locations. There are 40 world premieres and 26 Latin American premieres.
150 invited guests included Abbas Kiarostami, Clive Owen, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Pavel Pawlikowsky with his film Ida, John Sayles with whom I had an interesting talk about U.S. current distribution and of Return of Seacaucus Seven and Sunshine State. The screening of his film Go For Sisters has received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.
Since 2013, coproductions between the U.S. and Colombia with variations on the theme are on the rise. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is proving to be a great place to make movies.
Colombians such as Simon Brand are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default (Isa: Wild Bunch). For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening here are Colombian films made by Americans. The winner to three prizes here for Best Director, Best Documentary and the Audience Prize, Marmato by Marc Grieco was workshopped twice at Sundance where it premiered this January 2014. It is represented internationally by Ro*co and its U.S. representative is Ben Weiss at Paradigm. The other three remarkable debut films are Mambo Cool by Chris Gude,Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka (a Japanese-Polish American) and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz. Look for upcoming interviews with these four directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. My next blog will be interviews with each of these films’ directors.
Secundaria , the first film I saw here was not shot here although it too was directed by an American who made 21 trips to Cuba to make it. Documenting the high school ballet training and competitions held by Cuba’s world famous National Ballet School -- Watch the trailer here -- it was not only beautiful but it magically captured the ever-present economic issues of Cuba. I can’t wait to see Primaria about the grade school of the Nbs.
Director and coproducer Mary Jane Doherty has been an Associate Professor of Film at Boston University since 1990. Proud of her lineage as a student of iconic documentarian Ricky Leacock, she developed B.U.’s Narrative Documentary Program: a novel approach to non-fiction storytelling using the building blocks of fiction film. Lyda Kuth , the coproducer, is founding board member and executive director of the Lef Foundation, which supports independent filmmakers through the Lef Moving Image Fund. In 2005, she established Nadita Productions and was producer/director on her first feature documentary, Love and Other Anxieties.
A cocktail party is given daily at the festival where we can all meet up. It was there I met Gail Gendler VP of Acquisitions for AMC/ Sundance Channel Global (international not domestic) and Gus
Dinner one night was with the jury for Nuevos Creadores (New Creators). Cynthia Garcia Calvo, Editor in Chief of LatamCinema.com, a Latino equivalent to Indiewire.com out of Chile and Argentina and I spoke of possible ways to cooperate. The third member of the jury, Javier Mejia, director of Colombia’s best film of 2008 Apocalypsur also has a documentary here, Duni, about a Chilean filmmaker who left Chile during the dictatorship and came to Colombia where he made political films in Medellin but never discussed his reasons for coming or even his Chilean roots. How happy I was that I had seen and enjoyed the films of the third jury member, Daniel Vega, who with his brother Diego made The Mute aka El Mudo (Isa: Urban Media) which played in Toronto and San Sebastian and his earlier film October, both dark comedies or perhaps dramadies dealing with subjective realities in unique environs of Peru we have never seen. He promised to help me with the Peru chapter of my upcoming book. Peru is in the lower middle of countries which support filmmaking. Their film fund is a rather laid back affair administered by the Ministry of Culture who receives money from the Ministry of Finance when they “get around to it”.
Jury for New Creators: Javier Mejía, Cynthia García Calvo and Diego Vega,displaying the winner for the Best Short Film: Alen Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle) who won a Sony video camera, 2,000, 000 pesos of in kind services from Shock Magazin, and a scholarship for graduate Project Management and Film Production at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga
Second prize went to The murmur of the earth Alejandro Daza (National University) - Win a Sony camera, and a Fellowship for Graduate Record Audio and Sound Design of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga.
Other winners are:
Official Colombian Film Competition
Jurors: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries
Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa
Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.
Additional Awards
Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K
Official Documentary Competition
Jurors: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.
Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)
Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)
Official Short Film Competition
JurorsOswaldo Osorio -Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca
Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.
Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland") (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.
Gems
Jurors: Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez
Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.
Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
[1] http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/ocal/cifras.aspx
[2] http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/cinematografia/estadisticas-del-sector/Documents/Anuario%202012.p...
This former colonial jewel in the crown of Spain offers a huge array of delights, film-wise, art-wise, food-wise and people-wise. Gorgeous arts and gorgeous people, sweet, polite and proud. As much as I love Havana, Cartagena is how Havana should look.
And as much as I loved Careyes where I was last week, the art and artisanal scope here is so wide; from the Colombian painter and sculptor, Botero to indigenous palm weaving – décor for homes (not cheap!), bags, designer clothing, linen and rubies.
Aside from films, my big discoveries of the day are Ruby Rumie, a Colombian artist who spends much of her time here in her studio in the Getsemaní section of town and in Chile. Coincidentally (again) Gary Meyer (Telluride Film Festival) and his wife Cathy who are here with Gary on the Documentary Competition Jury (I just left them in Careyas!) also just discovered her as well. The other artist, Olga Amaral, works in indigenous styles of weaving and textile production and now is favoring gold leaf displays of woven wall tapestries. Stunning. Both are available at the Nh Gallery, a place I just happened to wander into as I was walking from the theater to my equally stunning hotel Casa Pestagua.
The courteous and helpful people here are a proud mix of white, brown and black. They say the blacks will never follow the orders of a white. They say the blood of slaves is embedded in the wall fortifications of the city. The Inquisition here was very powerful, and they say the Jews (Conversos) coming in the conquistadors’ ships went to settle Medellín and the Catholics to Bogotá. Cartagena was the last city to be free of the Spanish crown and as such, it was extremely conservative.
It would take days to visit all the museums throughout the city. The Art Biennale is now in many of them (free entry) including the Museum of the Inquisition with its torture machines. The Museum of Gold with pre-Colombian gold artworks is astounding. All the gold of Latin America (and emeralds, diamonds and silver) went from here in the Spanish galleons back to Spain until the city declared its independence in 1811. We in the North know this history but from a different perspective. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America and Gonzalo Arijon’s documentary Eyes Wide Open, an update of Galeano’s ideas are good starting points for understanding this part of the world. Eye opening indeed!
The beauty of the city and its people is matched by the food. There is great food here here and some very haute cuisine restaurants. Ceviches of many kinds, new sweet fruits like the pitaya and the drink mixing limeade and coconut milk delight the palate. The festival invites enough but not too many industry folks so it can host lunches and dinners in wonderful venues along with cocktail hours where we can all meet and talk. Talk among us is of food and film, film and food…even of food film festivals that are cropping up from Berlin, San Sebastian, here and in Northern California…stay tuned.
The Colombian government is aware of the need for the public to rediscover their own stories and to this end all the festival screenings are free, and all are packed Sro. The government also supports filmmakers with a deliberate, well-planned and well executed strategy to increase production and create an infrastructure.
Colombian films’ biggest challenge is to increase their share of their rapidly growing domestic market, worth $182.3 million in box office in 2012. One way forward is international co-production, where Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) July 14-18, 2014 plays a large role. There is a mini version of this here (Encuentros Cartagena), centering on French and Colombian co-production, but not limited to that, with guests like George Goldenstern from Cinefondation (Cannes), producer/ international sales agent Marie-Pierre Masia and and the ever present Thierry Lenouvel of Cine-Sud whose film Tierra en la lengua aka Dust on the Tongue won the Best Picture Award in Competition. Vincenzo Bugno of World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale is always here too as is Jose Maria Riba on the Jury of the Competition and programmer for San Sebastian and Directors Fortnight. Also on the jury are Wendy Mitchel and Pawel Pawlikowski whose film Ida (Isa: Portobello Film Sales) is playing (outside of the Competition). A look at the winning competition films shows the strength of co-productions today.
Best Picture: Dust on the Tongue of Ruben Mendoza (Colombia) Colombia Film of $15,000. Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, by Celina Murga (Argentina, Netherlands, Germany) (Isa: The Match Factory) Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To kill a man (Matar a un hombre) which premiered in Sundance (Chile, France). Film Factory is selling international rights and Film Movement has U.S. It also won the Fipresci or International Critics’ Award. Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio by El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France), Urban Distribution International is the sales agent.
Cinema in Colombia continues its steep ascent in the international production world. The reasons, according to Bugno, lie in “new political decisions, funding structures, and the developing of a new producing environment that also has to do with new emerging young talent.”
A visit to the festival headquarters proves the point of the extensive government support of film not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all the people, dispossessed, abused, Lgbt, children and women. It is a beautiful sight to see such support, and the people seem to reciprocate; I hear more praise than complaints about the government and everyone seems cautiously optimistic, aware of its current position vis à vis what has thankfully become recent history with the guerillas who had been waging war with the government for the past 40 years and the current elections and competing points of view between the former President Uribe and the current President Juan Manuel Santos.
Aecid , Association Espagnola de Cooperacon Internacional para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Association for International Cooperation for Development), a festival sponsor supports social cohesion, equality of genders, construction of peace, respect for cultural diversity and the reduction of poverty.
Currently in Colombia, national cinema holds a 10% share of the Colombian market and 8% of the box office. In 2012, 213 films were produced in Colombia, a huge increase since 2009 when 19 were produced according to Ocal, the Observotario del Cine f nCl [sic]. In 2012, 23 of the 213 domestic films were released theatrically, a tremendous increase from the 6 Colombian films released in the year 2000. [1],[2] This number surpasses every record in Colombia’s film history
This 10 day spectacular film festival gives free entry to all at 8 theaters and, proving the point that people love the movies, every single screening is packed solid, Sro. More than 135 films come from 27 countries. 48 daily screenings include 14 open air screenings in great locations. There are 40 world premieres and 26 Latin American premieres.
150 invited guests included Abbas Kiarostami, Clive Owen, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Pavel Pawlikowsky with his film Ida, John Sayles with whom I had an interesting talk about U.S. current distribution and of Return of Seacaucus Seven and Sunshine State. The screening of his film Go For Sisters has received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.
Since 2013, coproductions between the U.S. and Colombia with variations on the theme are on the rise. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is proving to be a great place to make movies.
Colombians such as Simon Brand are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default (Isa: Wild Bunch). For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening here are Colombian films made by Americans. The winner to three prizes here for Best Director, Best Documentary and the Audience Prize, Marmato by Marc Grieco was workshopped twice at Sundance where it premiered this January 2014. It is represented internationally by Ro*co and its U.S. representative is Ben Weiss at Paradigm. The other three remarkable debut films are Mambo Cool by Chris Gude,Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka (a Japanese-Polish American) and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz. Look for upcoming interviews with these four directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. My next blog will be interviews with each of these films’ directors.
Secundaria , the first film I saw here was not shot here although it too was directed by an American who made 21 trips to Cuba to make it. Documenting the high school ballet training and competitions held by Cuba’s world famous National Ballet School -- Watch the trailer here -- it was not only beautiful but it magically captured the ever-present economic issues of Cuba. I can’t wait to see Primaria about the grade school of the Nbs.
Director and coproducer Mary Jane Doherty has been an Associate Professor of Film at Boston University since 1990. Proud of her lineage as a student of iconic documentarian Ricky Leacock, she developed B.U.’s Narrative Documentary Program: a novel approach to non-fiction storytelling using the building blocks of fiction film. Lyda Kuth , the coproducer, is founding board member and executive director of the Lef Foundation, which supports independent filmmakers through the Lef Moving Image Fund. In 2005, she established Nadita Productions and was producer/director on her first feature documentary, Love and Other Anxieties.
A cocktail party is given daily at the festival where we can all meet up. It was there I met Gail Gendler VP of Acquisitions for AMC/ Sundance Channel Global (international not domestic) and Gus
Dinner one night was with the jury for Nuevos Creadores (New Creators). Cynthia Garcia Calvo, Editor in Chief of LatamCinema.com, a Latino equivalent to Indiewire.com out of Chile and Argentina and I spoke of possible ways to cooperate. The third member of the jury, Javier Mejia, director of Colombia’s best film of 2008 Apocalypsur also has a documentary here, Duni, about a Chilean filmmaker who left Chile during the dictatorship and came to Colombia where he made political films in Medellin but never discussed his reasons for coming or even his Chilean roots. How happy I was that I had seen and enjoyed the films of the third jury member, Daniel Vega, who with his brother Diego made The Mute aka El Mudo (Isa: Urban Media) which played in Toronto and San Sebastian and his earlier film October, both dark comedies or perhaps dramadies dealing with subjective realities in unique environs of Peru we have never seen. He promised to help me with the Peru chapter of my upcoming book. Peru is in the lower middle of countries which support filmmaking. Their film fund is a rather laid back affair administered by the Ministry of Culture who receives money from the Ministry of Finance when they “get around to it”.
Jury for New Creators: Javier Mejía, Cynthia García Calvo and Diego Vega,displaying the winner for the Best Short Film: Alen Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle) who won a Sony video camera, 2,000, 000 pesos of in kind services from Shock Magazin, and a scholarship for graduate Project Management and Film Production at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga
Second prize went to The murmur of the earth Alejandro Daza (National University) - Win a Sony camera, and a Fellowship for Graduate Record Audio and Sound Design of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga.
Other winners are:
Official Colombian Film Competition
Jurors: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries
Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa
Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.
Additional Awards
Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K
Official Documentary Competition
Jurors: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.
Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)
Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)
Official Short Film Competition
JurorsOswaldo Osorio -Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca
Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.
Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland") (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.
Gems
Jurors: Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez
Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.
Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
[1] http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/ocal/cifras.aspx
[2] http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/cinematografia/estadisticas-del-sector/Documents/Anuario%202012.p...
- 3/26/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Top brass at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (Sfiff) have announced the films in competition for the New Directors Prize and the Golden Gate Award contenders in the documentary category.
The festival will award close to $40,000 in total cash prizes this year.
The New Directors Prize of $10,000 will go to a narrative first feature that exhibits “a unique artistic sensibility and deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.”
The Gga documentary winner will receive $10,000 and the Gga Bay Area documentary feature winner will receive $5,000.
The Sfiff is scheduled to run from April 24-May 8.
The 2014 New Directors Prize (Narrative Feature) Competition entries are:
The Amazing Catfish (pictured, Mexico), dir Claudia Sainte-Luce
The Blue Wave (Turkey-Germany-Netherlands-Greece), dir Zeynep Dadak and Merve Kayan
Difret (Ethiopia), dir Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
The Dune (France-Israel), dir Yossi Aviram
History Of Fear (Argentina-France-Germany-Uruguay-Qatar), dir Benjamin Naishtat
Manos Sucias (Us-Colombia), dir Josef Wladyka
Of Horses And Men (Iceland-Germany), dir Benedikt Erlingsson...
The festival will award close to $40,000 in total cash prizes this year.
The New Directors Prize of $10,000 will go to a narrative first feature that exhibits “a unique artistic sensibility and deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.”
The Gga documentary winner will receive $10,000 and the Gga Bay Area documentary feature winner will receive $5,000.
The Sfiff is scheduled to run from April 24-May 8.
The 2014 New Directors Prize (Narrative Feature) Competition entries are:
The Amazing Catfish (pictured, Mexico), dir Claudia Sainte-Luce
The Blue Wave (Turkey-Germany-Netherlands-Greece), dir Zeynep Dadak and Merve Kayan
Difret (Ethiopia), dir Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
The Dune (France-Israel), dir Yossi Aviram
History Of Fear (Argentina-France-Germany-Uruguay-Qatar), dir Benjamin Naishtat
Manos Sucias (Us-Colombia), dir Josef Wladyka
Of Horses And Men (Iceland-Germany), dir Benedikt Erlingsson...
- 3/6/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival has announced its complete lineup for next month’s New York celebration, which runs April 16-27. Culled from more than 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2014 includes 55 world premieres, 37 first-time filmmakers, and 22 female directors. Half the slate had been announced on Tuesday, with Spotlight, Midnight, and Storyscapes films unveiled today, as well as special screenings. “Spotlight and special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s program, both in range of styles and stories,” said Genna Terranova, Tribeca’s director of programming. “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we...
- 3/6/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Tribeca Film Festival 2014 world premieres include Every Secret Thing, Miss Meadows and Zombeavers.
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
- 3/6/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Tribeca Film Festival 2014 world premieres include Every Secret Thing, Miss Meadows and Zombeavers.
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
Spotlight features 31 films comprising 22 narratives and nine documentaries, of which 20 receive world premieres. The Midnight section will open with Preservation and includes the Efm buzz title Zombeavers.
Special Screenings include 6, a work-in-progress documentary by The Cove director Louie Psihoyos. The transmedia Storyscapes line-up returns for the second year. As previously announced, the festival will open on April 16 with the Nas documentary Time Is Illmatic and runs through April 27.
“Spotlight and Special screenings are an especially dynamic aspect of this year’s programme, both in range of styles and stories,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, “Many films feature real-life personalities who’ve accomplished extraordinary feats, while in other films we see personal relationships at pivotal moments of transition. We look forward to sharing these engaging stories with audiences.”
“Whether they made us laugh, squirm, or plain scared the heck out of us, each of the...
- 3/6/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The San Francisco Film Society (Sffs) in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation (Krf) announced nine narrative projects that will receive a total of $425,000 in funding.
The Film Society’s flagship Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.
The nine film-making teams were granted the funding to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to post.
“These will be exceptional films, and we are honored to have a part in bringing them into being,” the jury noted in a statement. “Each of these projects explores a unique and authentic world and presents compelling characters that we want to see on the screen.”
The Film Society has a track record of success with previous recipients of the Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants like Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience...
The Film Society’s flagship Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.
The nine film-making teams were granted the funding to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to post.
“These will be exceptional films, and we are honored to have a part in bringing them into being,” the jury noted in a statement. “Each of these projects explores a unique and authentic world and presents compelling characters that we want to see on the screen.”
The Film Society has a track record of success with previous recipients of the Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants like Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience...
- 10/31/2013
- ScreenDaily
The San Francisco Film Society and Kenneth Rainin Foundation have selected the 14 finallists for the latest round of Sffs / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants.
The partners will grant more than $300,000 to one or more narrative feature at any stage of production.
The grants are awarded twice a year to projects “that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.”
More than $2m has been awarded since inception of the grant. Recent winners include Sundance hit Fruitvale Station and SXSW favourite Short Term 12. (pictured.)
Winners of the current shortlist will be announced in late October.
The finallists are:
Doctor, dir Musa Syeed;
Escape From Morgantown, dir Peter Nicks;
The Fixer, dir Ian Olds;
G.E.Z.I., dir Aslihan Unaldi;
Hellion, dir Kat Candler;
Kicks, dir Justin Tipping;
Little Accidents, dir Sara Corangelo;
Los Valientes / The Brave Ones, dir Aurora Guerrero;
Love Land, dir Joshua Tate;
Ma, dir [link=nm...
The partners will grant more than $300,000 to one or more narrative feature at any stage of production.
The grants are awarded twice a year to projects “that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.”
More than $2m has been awarded since inception of the grant. Recent winners include Sundance hit Fruitvale Station and SXSW favourite Short Term 12. (pictured.)
Winners of the current shortlist will be announced in late October.
The finallists are:
Doctor, dir Musa Syeed;
Escape From Morgantown, dir Peter Nicks;
The Fixer, dir Ian Olds;
G.E.Z.I., dir Aslihan Unaldi;
Hellion, dir Kat Candler;
Kicks, dir Justin Tipping;
Little Accidents, dir Sara Corangelo;
Los Valientes / The Brave Ones, dir Aurora Guerrero;
Love Land, dir Joshua Tate;
Ma, dir [link=nm...
- 9/19/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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