In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to to Richard Holmes, film producer and inventor about his latest creation: Vox Box sound booth – Foldable, Portable, Storable, Durable, Affordable and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life”
The Last Waltz (1978) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) The Producers (1967)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
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The Last Waltz (1978) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) The Producers (1967)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
Powered by RedCircle...
- 9/22/2023
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
There’s a reason Carlota Pereda films Sara (Laura Galán) urinating through her clothes as an old friend (Irene Ferreiro’s Claudia), who’s drifted away towards the clique that bullies her, puts a bloody hand on the back window of a serial killer’s van while screaming for help. We need to understand her fear. Just because Sara is a teenager who’s been brutally victimized by an entire town of peers doesn’t mean she’s measuring the situation and deciding to let Claudia, Maca (Claudia Salas), and Roci (Camille Aguilar) die. She’s afraid for her own life. What if she tries to save them and the killer (Richard Holmes) watching from the driver’s seat simply throws her in the back? So she freezes. And, to her surprise, he helps her instead.
Therein lies the complexity of Piggy, a feature expansion of Pereda’s short film of the same name.
Therein lies the complexity of Piggy, a feature expansion of Pereda’s short film of the same name.
- 10/4/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Avoiding the heady and idyllic world of adolescent coming-of-age tales ever-familiar to viewers, Spanish writer-director Carlota Pereda presents a brazen look into the psyches of youth; their faults, rage, and insecurity. In this award-winning short-turned-feature, Pereda, known for nudging the boundaries of genre, delivers a roundhouse kick, annihilating them.
“Piggy” (“Cerdita”) is set in a serene but suspect rural town, Extremadura, where our anti-heroine Sara (Laura Galán) emerges, wrought with anxiety and crippling trauma from the abuse she endures at the hands of her hostile and popular peers. Untamed cruelty ensues and, with each heartbreaking take, the viewer becomes Sara and all of those mixed-up emotions she holds tightly inside.
Sold by Charades in international and represented for the U.S. by XYZ Films, “Piggy” relays an unnerving tale that sets the tone for introspection. The trouble lies not only with the youth and its folly but within the town...
“Piggy” (“Cerdita”) is set in a serene but suspect rural town, Extremadura, where our anti-heroine Sara (Laura Galán) emerges, wrought with anxiety and crippling trauma from the abuse she endures at the hands of her hostile and popular peers. Untamed cruelty ensues and, with each heartbreaking take, the viewer becomes Sara and all of those mixed-up emotions she holds tightly inside.
Sold by Charades in international and represented for the U.S. by XYZ Films, “Piggy” relays an unnerving tale that sets the tone for introspection. The trouble lies not only with the youth and its folly but within the town...
- 1/23/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix today unveiled a slate of new Spanish content, including two fiction series and a pair of feature films.
The streamer renewed its popular Spanish YA drama series Elite for a sixth season, well ahead of the series’ Season 5 premiere. Created and written by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, Elite is one of the streamer’s best performing Spanish originals.
Netflix also confirmed three new holiday-themed installments of the short-form spinoff Elite: Short Stories: Phillipe, Caye, & Felipe, premiering Wednesday, Dec. 15, Samuel & Omar, premiering Monday, Dec. 20 and Patrick, premiering Thursday, Dec. 23.
On the film side, Patxi Amezcua is writing and directing Infiesto (working title). Isak Férriz and Iria del Río star in the pic, which is set on the first day of a national emergency involving a virus and follows two detectives who are called to a small mining town in the Asturian mountains where a young woman who had...
The streamer renewed its popular Spanish YA drama series Elite for a sixth season, well ahead of the series’ Season 5 premiere. Created and written by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, Elite is one of the streamer’s best performing Spanish originals.
Netflix also confirmed three new holiday-themed installments of the short-form spinoff Elite: Short Stories: Phillipe, Caye, & Felipe, premiering Wednesday, Dec. 15, Samuel & Omar, premiering Monday, Dec. 20 and Patrick, premiering Thursday, Dec. 23.
On the film side, Patxi Amezcua is writing and directing Infiesto (working title). Isak Férriz and Iria del Río star in the pic, which is set on the first day of a national emergency involving a virus and follows two detectives who are called to a small mining town in the Asturian mountains where a young woman who had...
- 10/28/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
“Midas Man,” the biopic about legendary music manager Brian Epstein, has begun shooting in Liverpool, U.K., giving fans the first look at Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s transformation into the title role (above left).
The actor, who has starred in “Medici” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” will portray the always dapper Epstein in the StudioPOW and Trevor Beattie Films production alongside Emily Watson (“Everest”) as Epstein’s mother, Eddie Marsan (“Ridley Road”) as his father Harry, Lukas Gage (“Euphoria”) as his lover Tex Ellington and Charley Palmer Rothwell (“Jack Ryan”) who will play The Beatles’ record producer George Martin
The film has also cast “Outlander” star Rosie Day as another one of Epstein’s acts, singer Cilla Black. Jonas Åkerlund (“Lords of Chaos”) directs.
The film will shoot across Liverpool, London and the U.S. this fall.
Epstein, who died of an overdose at the age of 32, was responsible for discovering and...
The actor, who has starred in “Medici” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” will portray the always dapper Epstein in the StudioPOW and Trevor Beattie Films production alongside Emily Watson (“Everest”) as Epstein’s mother, Eddie Marsan (“Ridley Road”) as his father Harry, Lukas Gage (“Euphoria”) as his lover Tex Ellington and Charley Palmer Rothwell (“Jack Ryan”) who will play The Beatles’ record producer George Martin
The film has also cast “Outlander” star Rosie Day as another one of Epstein’s acts, singer Cilla Black. Jonas Åkerlund (“Lords of Chaos”) directs.
The film will shoot across Liverpool, London and the U.S. this fall.
Epstein, who died of an overdose at the age of 32, was responsible for discovering and...
- 10/22/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Author: Zehra Phelan
Mixing up a bit of witty banter with terrifying scenes, the debut trailer for The Signal’s David Bruckner’s next project, The Ritual, has landed.
Starring Rafe Spall (The Big Short, Life of Pi), Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey, Spike Island), Arsher Ali (Line of Duty, Four Lions) and Sam Troughton (Robin Hood, Alien vs. Predator), The Ritual tells the story of a group of friends who take on a hiking holiday in honour of a friend who was murdered at the hands of a criminal. What lays ahead of them in a remote Scandinavian forest proves it might not have been the best idea they’ve ever had.
The trailer begins with the two friends in conversation before Rafe Spall dips behind the shelving of a shop in the midsts of a violent robbery. With his friend dying at the hands of one of the robbers,...
Mixing up a bit of witty banter with terrifying scenes, the debut trailer for The Signal’s David Bruckner’s next project, The Ritual, has landed.
Starring Rafe Spall (The Big Short, Life of Pi), Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey, Spike Island), Arsher Ali (Line of Duty, Four Lions) and Sam Troughton (Robin Hood, Alien vs. Predator), The Ritual tells the story of a group of friends who take on a hiking holiday in honour of a friend who was murdered at the hands of a criminal. What lays ahead of them in a remote Scandinavian forest proves it might not have been the best idea they’ve ever had.
The trailer begins with the two friends in conversation before Rafe Spall dips behind the shelving of a shop in the midsts of a violent robbery. With his friend dying at the hands of one of the robbers,...
- 7/6/2017
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: Grindstone nabs UK drama with Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane.
Sales outfit Independent and Us buyer Grindstone Entertainment Group have closed a deal for all North American rights on Johnny Harris and Thomas Napper’s UK boxing drama Jawbone.
The film will be distributed through Lionsgate Home Entertainment in the territory.
The deal was negotiated by Grindstone’s head of acquisitions Stan Wertlieb and Independent’s head of sales Nada Cirjanic.
Jawbone marks the writing debut of Snow White And The Huntsman and This Is England actor Johnny Harris, who also stars in the film alongside Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane, with Thomas Napper making his feature directional debut.
In the movie, a former youth boxing champion (Harris) returns to his childhood boxing club in the hope of rekindling past glory after hitting rock bottom.
Music comes from Paul Weller, former frontman of The Jam. Former boxers...
Sales outfit Independent and Us buyer Grindstone Entertainment Group have closed a deal for all North American rights on Johnny Harris and Thomas Napper’s UK boxing drama Jawbone.
The film will be distributed through Lionsgate Home Entertainment in the territory.
The deal was negotiated by Grindstone’s head of acquisitions Stan Wertlieb and Independent’s head of sales Nada Cirjanic.
Jawbone marks the writing debut of Snow White And The Huntsman and This Is England actor Johnny Harris, who also stars in the film alongside Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane, with Thomas Napper making his feature directional debut.
In the movie, a former youth boxing champion (Harris) returns to his childhood boxing club in the hope of rekindling past glory after hitting rock bottom.
Music comes from Paul Weller, former frontman of The Jam. Former boxers...
- 6/19/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Crime film from director Justin Edgar is being launched at Efm.
London-based sales outfit Truffle Pictures has boarded Justin Edgar’s dark thriller The Marker and will launch the completed film at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin.
Starring Frederick Schmidt (Starred Up), Ana Ularu (Inferno) and John Hannah (Four Weddings And A Funeral), the film follows a criminal seeking redemption by tracking down the daughter of a woman he killed. Along the way, he is haunted by guilt in the guise of the woman’s ghost.
The project was backed by Creative England, Sharp House and Met Film Post, with Film Finances providing the completed bond.
Ian Sharp, Rebecca Joerin-Sharp, Alex Usborne and director Edgar are producing for 104 films. Paul Ashton and Cavan Ash serve as executive producers for Creative England and Met Film Post respectively. Former Creative England exec Richard Holmes (who was made redundant in March last year) continues to executive...
London-based sales outfit Truffle Pictures has boarded Justin Edgar’s dark thriller The Marker and will launch the completed film at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin.
Starring Frederick Schmidt (Starred Up), Ana Ularu (Inferno) and John Hannah (Four Weddings And A Funeral), the film follows a criminal seeking redemption by tracking down the daughter of a woman he killed. Along the way, he is haunted by guilt in the guise of the woman’s ghost.
The project was backed by Creative England, Sharp House and Met Film Post, with Film Finances providing the completed bond.
Ian Sharp, Rebecca Joerin-Sharp, Alex Usborne and director Edgar are producing for 104 films. Paul Ashton and Cavan Ash serve as executive producers for Creative England and Met Film Post respectively. Former Creative England exec Richard Holmes (who was made redundant in March last year) continues to executive...
- 2/8/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Andy Serkis serves as executive producer on Scandinavia-set horror tale.
Nick Meyer, Jonathan Kier and the sales team head to the Efm with the horror story starring Rafe Spall (pictured) of The Bfg and J A Bayona’s upcoming Jurassic World sequel.
David Bruckner directs from a screenplay by Joe Barton, the Bafta-nominated writer of Our World War whose credits include Humans and who adapted Adam Nevill’s award-winning novel of the same name.
eOne fully finances and produces The Ritual and will distribute directly in the UK, Canada, Australia/New Zealand, Spain and Benelux, while Sierra/Affinity will introduce to buyers in the balance of international markets.
eOne will look to secure a Us distributor during the Efm.
The story centres on four old university friends on a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness following the death of their best friend.
When a wrong turn leads them into the ancient forests of Norse legend they encounter...
Nick Meyer, Jonathan Kier and the sales team head to the Efm with the horror story starring Rafe Spall (pictured) of The Bfg and J A Bayona’s upcoming Jurassic World sequel.
David Bruckner directs from a screenplay by Joe Barton, the Bafta-nominated writer of Our World War whose credits include Humans and who adapted Adam Nevill’s award-winning novel of the same name.
eOne fully finances and produces The Ritual and will distribute directly in the UK, Canada, Australia/New Zealand, Spain and Benelux, while Sierra/Affinity will introduce to buyers in the balance of international markets.
eOne will look to secure a Us distributor during the Efm.
The story centres on four old university friends on a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness following the death of their best friend.
When a wrong turn leads them into the ancient forests of Norse legend they encounter...
- 2/1/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: 45 Years, Spooks: The Greater Good executive Richard Holmes made redundant amid company cuts.
Creative England’s senior film executive for production Richard Holmes has been made redundant amid staff cuts aimed at reducing overhead.
Holmes, who joined Creative England in 2013, was instrumental in Creative England film investments including Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed second feature 45 Years and Kit Harrington thriller Spooks: The Greater Good.
He was an executive producer for Creative England on titles including Notes On Blindness, The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson, Keeping Rosy, Burn Burn Burn and upcoming films The Girl With All The Gifts by Colm McCarthy and Rachel Tunnard’s Tribeca-bound Adult Life Skills.
Creative England declined to comment on the decision.
Holmes’ credits as an independent producer prior to his stint at Creative England include James Watkins’ Eden Lake, war drama Resistance, Waking Ned Devine and Shooting Fish.
Earlier this month Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury told Screen that the company would need...
Creative England’s senior film executive for production Richard Holmes has been made redundant amid staff cuts aimed at reducing overhead.
Holmes, who joined Creative England in 2013, was instrumental in Creative England film investments including Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed second feature 45 Years and Kit Harrington thriller Spooks: The Greater Good.
He was an executive producer for Creative England on titles including Notes On Blindness, The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson, Keeping Rosy, Burn Burn Burn and upcoming films The Girl With All The Gifts by Colm McCarthy and Rachel Tunnard’s Tribeca-bound Adult Life Skills.
Creative England declined to comment on the decision.
Holmes’ credits as an independent producer prior to his stint at Creative England include James Watkins’ Eden Lake, war drama Resistance, Waking Ned Devine and Shooting Fish.
Earlier this month Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury told Screen that the company would need...
- 3/14/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jodie Whittaker comedy gets international sales company and deal with new UK distributor.
Tribeca-bound UK comedy Adult Life Skills (formerly known as How To Live Yours) has secured an international sales deal with Independent and a UK distribution deal with fledgling London-based outfit Lorton Distribution, which will make the film its first release.
Broadchurch actress Jodie Whittaker (Black Sea) stars in writer-director Rachel Tunnard’s Tribeca world-premiere about a young woman experiencing an early ‘mid-life crisis’ who lives in a shed at the bottom of her mum’s garden and makes videos using her thumbs as characters.
Supporting cast include Lorraine Ashbourne (The Selfish Giant), Brett Goldstein (SuperBob), Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Eileen Davies (Sightseers) Rachael Deering (The Last Hours Of Laura K), Edward Hogg (Jupiter Ascending) and newcomer Ozzy Myers.
The film is the feature adaptation of Tunnard’s 2015 BAFTA-nominated short Emotional Fusebox, which starred much of the same cast.
Former Screen...
Tribeca-bound UK comedy Adult Life Skills (formerly known as How To Live Yours) has secured an international sales deal with Independent and a UK distribution deal with fledgling London-based outfit Lorton Distribution, which will make the film its first release.
Broadchurch actress Jodie Whittaker (Black Sea) stars in writer-director Rachel Tunnard’s Tribeca world-premiere about a young woman experiencing an early ‘mid-life crisis’ who lives in a shed at the bottom of her mum’s garden and makes videos using her thumbs as characters.
Supporting cast include Lorraine Ashbourne (The Selfish Giant), Brett Goldstein (SuperBob), Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Eileen Davies (Sightseers) Rachael Deering (The Last Hours Of Laura K), Edward Hogg (Jupiter Ascending) and newcomer Ozzy Myers.
The film is the feature adaptation of Tunnard’s 2015 BAFTA-nominated short Emotional Fusebox, which starred much of the same cast.
Former Screen...
- 3/3/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Creative England backs feature about gay couple who plot revenge against a conservative B&B owner.
UK production outfit Hummingbird Films has begun shooting in Bristol on thriller B&B, the directorial debut of Trance co-writer Joe Ahearne.
Paul McGann (Withnail & I), Tom Bateman (Jekyll & Hyde) and Sean Teale (Reign) star in the story of a gay couple who return to bait the owner of a remote B&B one year after they successfully sued him for not allowing them to share a bed.
However, events take a deadly turn when a guest with even more sinister intentions arrives.
B&B is backed by Creative England, Ffilm Cymru Wales and Isabelle Georgeaux of Pont Neuf Productions. 4SquareFilms handles international sales.
Joe Ahearne writes and directs the feature, which is produced by Jayne Chard (Dartmoor Killing) of Hummingbird Films. Ahearne, creator of BBC TV series The Secret Of Crickley Hall and Apparitions, was also a...
UK production outfit Hummingbird Films has begun shooting in Bristol on thriller B&B, the directorial debut of Trance co-writer Joe Ahearne.
Paul McGann (Withnail & I), Tom Bateman (Jekyll & Hyde) and Sean Teale (Reign) star in the story of a gay couple who return to bait the owner of a remote B&B one year after they successfully sued him for not allowing them to share a bed.
However, events take a deadly turn when a guest with even more sinister intentions arrives.
B&B is backed by Creative England, Ffilm Cymru Wales and Isabelle Georgeaux of Pont Neuf Productions. 4SquareFilms handles international sales.
Joe Ahearne writes and directs the feature, which is produced by Jayne Chard (Dartmoor Killing) of Hummingbird Films. Ahearne, creator of BBC TV series The Secret Of Crickley Hall and Apparitions, was also a...
- 1/26/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: UK, Australia, Japan also among key pacts for sci-fi starring Max Deacon.
Altitude Film Sales has secured distribution deals in a number of key territories for Charles Barker’s debut feature The Call Up.
Vertical Entertainment has picked up Us rights with Mongrel Media taking Canada. Deals were also finalised with Altitude Film Distribution for the UK, Nikkatsu for Japan, Defiant for Australia/New Zealand, Betta Pictures for Spain and Gate 23 for Airlines.
The Call Up follows a group of online gamers who are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality game, but what starts out like a dream encounter with cutting edge video technology – a perfect representation of soldiers in a warzone – takes a turn for the sinister when the stakes are raised to fatal.
Max Deacon (Into The Storm) plays the lead role alongside Morfydd Clark (Pride And Prejudice and Zombies), Ali Cook (Kilo Two Bravo), Parker Sawyers (Southside With You), Tom Benedict Knight ([link...
Altitude Film Sales has secured distribution deals in a number of key territories for Charles Barker’s debut feature The Call Up.
Vertical Entertainment has picked up Us rights with Mongrel Media taking Canada. Deals were also finalised with Altitude Film Distribution for the UK, Nikkatsu for Japan, Defiant for Australia/New Zealand, Betta Pictures for Spain and Gate 23 for Airlines.
The Call Up follows a group of online gamers who are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality game, but what starts out like a dream encounter with cutting edge video technology – a perfect representation of soldiers in a warzone – takes a turn for the sinister when the stakes are raised to fatal.
Max Deacon (Into The Storm) plays the lead role alongside Morfydd Clark (Pride And Prejudice and Zombies), Ali Cook (Kilo Two Bravo), Parker Sawyers (Southside With You), Tom Benedict Knight ([link...
- 1/13/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Sundance Selects plans Dec 4 release theatrically and on demand.
Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, the feature documentary written and directed by Jeanie Finlay.
The film tells the story of Jimmy Ellis, “an unknown singer plucked from obscurity and thrust into the spotlight as part of a crazy scheme that had him masquerade as Elvis back from the grave”.
The film, which had its world premiere at Tribeca and won the Grand Jury Prize in Nashville, will be released theatrically and on demand on Dec 4.
Producers are Dewi Gregory and Finlay, with executive producers Al Morrow, Suzanne Alizart, Kate Townsend, Nick Fraser, Hannah Thomas, Richard Holmes, John Tobin, Andy Copping and Alexander Preston.
Production companies are Glimmer Films, Truth Department and Met Film, and the film’s supporters include Creative England, Ffilm Cymru Wales, BBC Storyville and Broadway.
Finlay, a former Screen Star of Tomorrow, previously directed...
Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, the feature documentary written and directed by Jeanie Finlay.
The film tells the story of Jimmy Ellis, “an unknown singer plucked from obscurity and thrust into the spotlight as part of a crazy scheme that had him masquerade as Elvis back from the grave”.
The film, which had its world premiere at Tribeca and won the Grand Jury Prize in Nashville, will be released theatrically and on demand on Dec 4.
Producers are Dewi Gregory and Finlay, with executive producers Al Morrow, Suzanne Alizart, Kate Townsend, Nick Fraser, Hannah Thomas, Richard Holmes, John Tobin, Andy Copping and Alexander Preston.
Production companies are Glimmer Films, Truth Department and Met Film, and the film’s supporters include Creative England, Ffilm Cymru Wales, BBC Storyville and Broadway.
Finlay, a former Screen Star of Tomorrow, previously directed...
- 10/27/2015
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Brit List action-sci-fi to get underway on November 10; Max Deacon to star.
Principal photography is due to get underway on November 10 in Birmingham, UK, on Charles Barker’s action-sci-fi The Call Up.
Max Deacon (Into the Storm, Hatfields & McCoys) takes the lead role and is joined by a cast of up-and-comers including Morfydd Clark (Madame Bovary), Ali Cook (The Anomaly), Parker Sawyers (Monsters: Dark Continent), Tom Benedict Knight (Dracula Untold), Boris Ler (In the Land of Blood and Honey), and newcomers Douggie McMeekin and Adriana Randall.
The Call Up follows a group of online gamers who are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality game, but what starts out like a dream encounter with cutting edge video technology – a perfect representation of soldiers in a warzone – takes a turn for the sinister when the stakes are raised to fatal.
Directed by Charles Barker from his own Brit List screenplay, the film is produced by Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma...
Principal photography is due to get underway on November 10 in Birmingham, UK, on Charles Barker’s action-sci-fi The Call Up.
Max Deacon (Into the Storm, Hatfields & McCoys) takes the lead role and is joined by a cast of up-and-comers including Morfydd Clark (Madame Bovary), Ali Cook (The Anomaly), Parker Sawyers (Monsters: Dark Continent), Tom Benedict Knight (Dracula Untold), Boris Ler (In the Land of Blood and Honey), and newcomers Douggie McMeekin and Adriana Randall.
The Call Up follows a group of online gamers who are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality game, but what starts out like a dream encounter with cutting edge video technology – a perfect representation of soldiers in a warzone – takes a turn for the sinister when the stakes are raised to fatal.
Directed by Charles Barker from his own Brit List screenplay, the film is produced by Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma...
- 10/28/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: UK sales outfit boards psychological thriller ahead of Toronto.
London-based sales outfit Parkland Pictures has boarded world rights to Steve Reeves’s thriller, Keeping Rosy, which will play at Dinard Film Festival (Oct 8-12).
Parkland will introduce the film to international buyers at Toronto.
Maxine Peake stars as a career-driven woman who is passed over for a long-expected promotion, leading to frustration which boils over with dire consequences.
The film also stars The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison and was produced by Richard Holmes (Eden Lake, Waking Ned), his third collaboration with French producer Isabelle Georgeaux after Jadoo and Resistance.
It marks Reeves’ first feature film, accompanied by DoP Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Chocolat) and composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot).
The deal was negotiated by John Cairns and Pierre-Louis Manes-Murphy for Parkland Pictures and by Richard Holmes and Isabelle Georgeaux on behalf of Redemption Films.
London-based sales outfit Parkland Pictures has boarded world rights to Steve Reeves’s thriller, Keeping Rosy, which will play at Dinard Film Festival (Oct 8-12).
Parkland will introduce the film to international buyers at Toronto.
Maxine Peake stars as a career-driven woman who is passed over for a long-expected promotion, leading to frustration which boils over with dire consequences.
The film also stars The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison and was produced by Richard Holmes (Eden Lake, Waking Ned), his third collaboration with French producer Isabelle Georgeaux after Jadoo and Resistance.
It marks Reeves’ first feature film, accompanied by DoP Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Chocolat) and composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot).
The deal was negotiated by John Cairns and Pierre-Louis Manes-Murphy for Parkland Pictures and by Richard Holmes and Isabelle Georgeaux on behalf of Redemption Films.
- 8/20/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
★★☆☆☆ The feature debut from commercials director Steve Reeves and produced by Isabelle Georgeaux and Richard Holmes - the pair behind Amit Gupta's Resistance (2011) -Keeping Rosy (2014) is a compact and modest low budget drama that nevertheless showcases the clear talent of its first-time helmer. Maxine Peake, last seen in cinemas with Steph Green's superior Run & Jump (2013), stars as a hard-nosed careerist forced to embrace her maternal side after a tragic altercation involving her Eastern European cleaner. Though largely unremarkable, solid performances from Peake and Christine Bottomley (The Arbor) as her straight-talking sister help to lift the occasionally uninspiring material.
- 6/28/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
This year the 12th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) includes a lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films. The impressive program reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers and emerging voices bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles.
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
- 4/8/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
From April 8th to the 11th, Indian films will once again be showcased in the Us at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla). In its 12th year, Iffla boasts an incredible lineup of fabulous films that reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema. Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani says, “I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora.”
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
- 3/21/2014
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
New funds aimed at helping regional filmmakers and production companies across England have been launched this week by Creative England.
The funds, intended to support regional film companies and help develop new talent, are being managed by industry experts from both film and television.
The Creative England Production Fund, managed by Richard Holmes, is an all-England fund, focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories.
Holmes, producer of Eden Lake, Jadoo and the upcoming Keeping Rosy, said: “We’ll be looking for ambitious films that can be made by committed filmmakers for under £1.5m.”
The fund will support between 10% and 50% of total budget with individual awards typically in the range of £50-£150k.
The West Midlands Production Fund (Wmpf), also managed by Richard Holmes, and supported through the European Regional Development Fund, can invest in both film and TV drama production.
Productions must be based in the West Midlands, and must demonstrate a positive impact on the region...
The funds, intended to support regional film companies and help develop new talent, are being managed by industry experts from both film and television.
The Creative England Production Fund, managed by Richard Holmes, is an all-England fund, focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories.
Holmes, producer of Eden Lake, Jadoo and the upcoming Keeping Rosy, said: “We’ll be looking for ambitious films that can be made by committed filmmakers for under £1.5m.”
The fund will support between 10% and 50% of total budget with individual awards typically in the range of £50-£150k.
The West Midlands Production Fund (Wmpf), also managed by Richard Holmes, and supported through the European Regional Development Fund, can invest in both film and TV drama production.
Productions must be based in the West Midlands, and must demonstrate a positive impact on the region...
- 10/16/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
London – U.K. regional funding giant Creative England is to go live Monday Oct. 14 with its two production funds to boost filmmakers and has hired veteran U.K. producer Richard Holmes to head up its both production cashpools. Holmes, whose resume as a producer boasts Jadoo, Eden Lake, Shooting Fish and Waking Ned will be sitting on the other side of the negotiating table holding the purse strings. Holmes is charged with looking after both the Creative England Production Fund, the all-England cashpool focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories and the West Midlands production fund (Wmpf) for
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- 10/13/2013
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Poster for Roadie, starring Ron Eldard, Bobby Cannavale and Jill Hennessy After receiving news recently that Magnolia Pictures just picked the Michael Cuesta's Roadie, we've added the first poster for the film. Michael Cuesta scripts the drama which follows Jimmy Testagross (Ron Eldard) who, after 20 years of touring for a defunct 80s hair band, goes back home to live with his mother. Also in the cast of the Richard Holmes and Amanda Faber-produced film are Mike Downey and Sirad Balducci. Since his debut feature L.I.E. back in 2001, director Michael Cuesta's credits have included several episodes of Six Feet Under, Twelve and Holding and Dexter and the current Homeland series, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis.
- 10/20/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Mark Bradshaw has signed on to score the upcoming World War II drama Resistance. The film based on a novel by Owen Sheer takes place in an alternative 1944, where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed. The story centers on a group of women in an isolated Welsh village who wake up to discover all of the their husbands have mysteriously vanished. The movie is directed by Amit Gupta and stars Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wlaschiha and Michael Sheen. Richard Holmes (Waking Ned Devine, Eden Lake) and Amanda Faber are producing. Rachel Portman was originally attached to score the project as reported by the Hollywood Reporter last fall, but had to leave the production due to a scheduling conflict. Bradshaw is best known for his music for Jane Campion’s Bright Star starring Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw and Paul Schneider, which received an Academy Award nomination...
- 5/20/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
The new novel by Sheri Holman, Witches on the Road Tonight, is the first literary novel to feature a television horror host as a central character, and it makes an emotional impact as a story of “lonely horror.” That’s the kind of horror that haunts Eddie Alley. Alley works as “Captain Casket”, a monster movie host for an independent television station. He has devoted fans but is deeply afraid of never being understood by his family. He describes his life as “a real ghost story,” which he sees as “colliding” with the lives of those close to him.
The first collision in the book is a literal one which happens early in the novel. Tucker Hayes, a writer driving through Depression-era rural Virginia as part of the Federal Writer’s Project, striking an eight year old Eddie Alley with his car. The boy is only bruised, and Hayes takes...
The first collision in the book is a literal one which happens early in the novel. Tucker Hayes, a writer driving through Depression-era rural Virginia as part of the Federal Writer’s Project, striking an eight year old Eddie Alley with his car. The boy is only bruised, and Hayes takes...
- 5/3/2011
- by Max Cheney
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
With their new film set to premiere at midnight, Bigger Than the Sound looks back at the Beasties' authentic but odd history.
By James Montgomery
Danny McBride, Seth Rogen and Elijah Wood in the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right Revisted" video
Photo: Capitol
Back in the summer of 1992, I wasn't really concerned with the Beastie Boys' legacy. I wasn't aware of the seismic shift they had undergone with Check Your Head or the to-the-brink-and-back journey they'd taken just to make the album. Instead, I was focused on getting my Dickies to sag just so and tracking down a pom-pom beanie like McA wore on the album's cover. So deep was my Beastie-mania that I was willing to wear a knit cap and khakis in July. In Florida.
And I wasn't alone (at least not in my high school). Because in 1992, everyone I knew lived and breathed the Beastie Boys,...
By James Montgomery
Danny McBride, Seth Rogen and Elijah Wood in the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right Revisted" video
Photo: Capitol
Back in the summer of 1992, I wasn't really concerned with the Beastie Boys' legacy. I wasn't aware of the seismic shift they had undergone with Check Your Head or the to-the-brink-and-back journey they'd taken just to make the album. Instead, I was focused on getting my Dickies to sag just so and tracking down a pom-pom beanie like McA wore on the album's cover. So deep was my Beastie-mania that I was willing to wear a knit cap and khakis in July. In Florida.
And I wasn't alone (at least not in my high school). Because in 1992, everyone I knew lived and breathed the Beastie Boys,...
- 4/20/2011
- MTV Music News
London – Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wlaschiha and Michael Sheen have signed to star in Amit Gupta’s debut feature, "Resistance," based on Owen Sheers' World War II novel.
Sheen, who earned a BAFTA nomination for his role in “The Queen,” has boarded to play a secret service agent in the adaptation of Sheers’ debut novel.
The movie is set in an alternative 1944 where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed. With Britain partly occupied by German forces, a group of Welsh villagers wake to discover that their husbands have mysteriously disappeared.
Riseborough, who earned a BAFTA TV nomination for her role in ”Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk To Finchley,” is signed to play a young farmer's wife whose husband is one of the missing men.
The script has been penned by Gupta and Sheers for the big screen and has secured backing from Munich-based...
Sheen, who earned a BAFTA nomination for his role in “The Queen,” has boarded to play a secret service agent in the adaptation of Sheers’ debut novel.
The movie is set in an alternative 1944 where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed. With Britain partly occupied by German forces, a group of Welsh villagers wake to discover that their husbands have mysteriously disappeared.
Riseborough, who earned a BAFTA TV nomination for her role in ”Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk To Finchley,” is signed to play a young farmer's wife whose husband is one of the missing men.
The script has been penned by Gupta and Sheers for the big screen and has secured backing from Munich-based...
- 10/7/2010
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
London -- Ruth Wilson and Ulrich Thomsen are in discussions to star in Amit Gupta's debut feature, "Resistance," based on Owen Sheers' World War II novel.
German-speaking Dane Thomsen, who turned heads with his performance in "Festen" and "The International," is being lined up to play the leader of a German patrol in the film.
"Resistance" is set in an alternative 1944 where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed. With Britain partly occupied by German forces, a group of Welsh villagers wake to discover that their husbands have mysteriously disappeared. Wilson, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in TV miniseries "Jane Eyre," is lined up to play a young farmer's wife whose husband is one of the missing men.
The script has been penned by Gupta and Sheers for the big screen and has secured backing from Munich-based Square One Entertainment...
German-speaking Dane Thomsen, who turned heads with his performance in "Festen" and "The International," is being lined up to play the leader of a German patrol in the film.
"Resistance" is set in an alternative 1944 where Russia has fallen to Nazi Germany and the D-Day landings have failed. With Britain partly occupied by German forces, a group of Welsh villagers wake to discover that their husbands have mysteriously disappeared. Wilson, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in TV miniseries "Jane Eyre," is lined up to play a young farmer's wife whose husband is one of the missing men.
The script has been penned by Gupta and Sheers for the big screen and has secured backing from Munich-based Square One Entertainment...
- 3/18/2010
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 1974, Richard Holmes announced his arrival as one of the Romantic era’s best biographers with 800-plus pages on Shelley; volumes on Coleridge and less-remembered contemporaries have arrived steadily since. His ambitious new tome, The Age Of Wonder: How The Romantic Generation Discovered The Beauty And Terror Of Science, clumps his well-known previous subjects in the background, re-reading their work through their era’s scientific breakthroughs. Holmes examines the age’s big discoveries—bookended by Joseph Banks’ 1769 arrival in Tahiti and Charles Darwin’s embarkation for the Galapagos in 1831—through a masterfully done group portrait. In 1769 ...
- 7/23/2009
- avclub.com
London -- It's quiet out there, too damn quiet as this year's first quarter for film production collapsed in on itself here, according to statistics from the U.K. Film Council.
Figures from the government-backed organization make for uncomfortable reading for indie producers with just 19 pictures with budgets over £500,000 ($800,000) going into production in the first three months of 2009, compared to 31 in the same period last year.
The collapse in movies being made comes -- according to the Council and indie observers alike -- on the back of a continuing fall in co-productions here and a slump in movies backed overseas coming to the U.K. to shoot.
The research shows that only two co-productions mounted shoots in the first quarter, compared to seven in 2008.
But the factoids from inward investment projects -- those titles which include pictures backed by the U.S. studios -- will provide a fillip for those producers working with Hollywood.
Figures from the government-backed organization make for uncomfortable reading for indie producers with just 19 pictures with budgets over £500,000 ($800,000) going into production in the first three months of 2009, compared to 31 in the same period last year.
The collapse in movies being made comes -- according to the Council and indie observers alike -- on the back of a continuing fall in co-productions here and a slump in movies backed overseas coming to the U.K. to shoot.
The research shows that only two co-productions mounted shoots in the first quarter, compared to seven in 2008.
But the factoids from inward investment projects -- those titles which include pictures backed by the U.S. studios -- will provide a fillip for those producers working with Hollywood.
- 6/4/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
#1: Mad Max 4 is Still Coming... As a Cartoon?
Word is that Max creator, George Miller, is developing a 3-D anime Mad Max feature that will be loosely based on the story idea already developed for the Mad Max: Fury Road project that fell apart a few years back. Mel Gibson will not reprise his role as the titular post-apocalyptic gunslinger, though Miller says that the cartoon is phase one of a Mad Max renaissance that will be followed by a video game. (Via: MTV)
#2: Re-Animator to be Re-animated!
In case that title confused you, Dr. Herbert West will indeed be back in a remake of Stuart Gordon's original cult classic, except this time it might be in 3-D. (Via: Styd)
#3: Keira Knightly Gets Cloned By Alex Garland!
No, you won't be seeing double, the actress has signed on to a scifi film concerned with cloning Called "Never Let Me Go.
Word is that Max creator, George Miller, is developing a 3-D anime Mad Max feature that will be loosely based on the story idea already developed for the Mad Max: Fury Road project that fell apart a few years back. Mel Gibson will not reprise his role as the titular post-apocalyptic gunslinger, though Miller says that the cartoon is phase one of a Mad Max renaissance that will be followed by a video game. (Via: MTV)
#2: Re-Animator to be Re-animated!
In case that title confused you, Dr. Herbert West will indeed be back in a remake of Stuart Gordon's original cult classic, except this time it might be in 3-D. (Via: Styd)
#3: Keira Knightly Gets Cloned By Alex Garland!
No, you won't be seeing double, the actress has signed on to a scifi film concerned with cloning Called "Never Let Me Go.
- 3/5/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Actors: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender Director: James Watkins Synopsis: Like a bad dream turned worst nightmare, Eden Lake is a “relentlessly tense and immaculately paced” (Twitch Film) horror-thriller about modern youth gone wild. When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing becomes a bloody battle for survival. Eden Lake is “fierce, thought-provoking … and genuinely shocking” (Time Out London). Writer: James Watkins Producer: Christian Colson, Richard Holmes Genre: Horror, Thriller Street Date: January 6, 2009 Product Info: Runtime: 90 Languages: English Screen Format: Ws Audio: [...]...
- 12/15/2008
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
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