Exclusive: Diego Ramirez’s 64-a Films is touting several projects at the Marche.
Colombian producer Diego Ramirez of 64-a Films is in Cannes talking up several projects in the pipeline, including revenge drama Killing Jesus and an ambitious TV series about the Spanish Conquest of South America.
Killing Jesus is being lined up for an August or September shoot in Medellin, Colombia, with Mexican powerhouse Canana newly on board alongside Argentina’s Az Films.
The true story follows a woman who witnessed the murder of her father, a human rights professor, and dedicates herself to avenging his death by getting to know the killer before exacting revenge.
Ramirez is also assembling a portfolio of “very ambitious TV projects” after he served as executive producer on Caracol Television’s Escobar series and guided 64-a Films into a production services role on the French web series Blanca that shot over four weeks in Colombia.
Top of the...
Colombian producer Diego Ramirez of 64-a Films is in Cannes talking up several projects in the pipeline, including revenge drama Killing Jesus and an ambitious TV series about the Spanish Conquest of South America.
Killing Jesus is being lined up for an August or September shoot in Medellin, Colombia, with Mexican powerhouse Canana newly on board alongside Argentina’s Az Films.
The true story follows a woman who witnessed the murder of her father, a human rights professor, and dedicates herself to avenging his death by getting to know the killer before exacting revenge.
Ramirez is also assembling a portfolio of “very ambitious TV projects” after he served as executive producer on Caracol Television’s Escobar series and guided 64-a Films into a production services role on the French web series Blanca that shot over four weeks in Colombia.
Top of the...
- 5/16/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
This year there are 127 feature-length films, representing 29 countries and 45 first-time filmmakers, including 19 in competition. 103 are world premieres.
You can gather these figures and look up contact information as it pertains to your job in this industry, or you can buy the Sundance by Numbers Report from SydneysBuzz and import an excel sheet of all relevant data with contact names, into your own database. If you are about to go to Sundance and need to know the publicist or if in the future, you are going to need a good publicist, or a producer rep, or a festival oriented international sales agents or U.S. distributor who will surely be on the festival circuit, you need this report now.
All titles are linked to contacts you will need for your particular line of work if you are a professional in the business.
There are 26 women directors ( ♀ ).
‧ U.S. Dramatic Competition: 5 of 16 are directed by women (36%).
‧ U.S. Documentary Competition: 7 of 16 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Dramatic Competition: 5 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Documentary Competition: 6 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ Next: 1 of 10 is directed by a woman.
‧ New Frontiers has Jenni Olson's "The Royal Road"
48% (62) of the films have international sales agents.
Ryan Kempe's Visit Films and Andrew Hurewitz' Film Sales Company both have 5 films.
3 films are being sold by Im Global, HanWay and Protagonist.
2 by Dogwoof, Epic, Films Distribution, The Match Factory, Trust Nordisk and Xyz and Annapurna.
1 film each are represented by the other sales agents:
Alpha Violet, Altitude Film Sales, Autlook, Cargo ,Content, Dreamcatchers, Film Factory Entertainment,Fortitude, Funny Balloons, Hyde Park International, K5 International, Kaleidoscope, Lotus Entertainment, Memento, Studiocanal, The Exchange, The Match Factory, The Solution, Voltage, Wild Bunch
14% (18) have U.S. distribution. Titles and links are in the report.
3 are with HBO
2 are with Roadside Attractions: "’71" and "Z for Zachariah"
The rest are each with:
Entertainment in Motion (airline)
Radius-twc
Universal Pictures
A&E/ Lifetime
Broad Green Pictures
Drafthouse Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Magnolia
Netflix
Sony Pictures Classics – "Wild Tales"
Strand Releasing – "Girlhood"
53% (68) have producer reps
Cinetic - 14
Submarine - 13
ICM - 10
Preferred Content - 8
Wme - 9
UTA -8
CAA - 7
Cassian Elwes - 2
Paradigm - 1
Publicists
Brigade - 9
Stategy - 7
Ryan Werner - 6
Prodigy - 6
David Magdael - 4
Acme - 4
Susan Norget - 4
Steven Rafael, Mj Pakos - 2
Bigtime - 2
Group 2050 - 2
Katleen McGinnis - 2 + 2 shorts
Jazo - 1
Dda - 1
Dish - 1
Sophie Gluck - 1
mPRm - 1
Sundance selected 7 films from Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico). Four are in official competitions - two for American cinema and two for international cinema - divided between fiction and documentary. Two coproductions with Mexico are in the U.S. Documentary Competition, "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, and "Western" by Bill Ross and Turner Ross, two views on life and struggle in the border.
In the International Fiction Competition of 12 films, Brazil's "The Second Mother" ("Que hours ela volta?") by Anna Muylaert, a story about everyday relations between the employees and employers in a home upset by the visit of the nanny's daughter. Anna Muylawert participated in the Carte Blanche at Locarno dedicated to Brazilian cinema. In the Next secton, dedicated to innovative film is "H." a coproduction between the U.S. and Argentina directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia. The film is a reinterpretation of Greek mythology, following two women named Helen whose lives are altered in the small town of Troy, New York. New Frontier Films will premier Colombia-Mexico coproduction "Liveforever", the adaptation of Carlos Moreno("Dog Eat Dog") of the cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
And finally, in the new Sundance Kids section, "The Games Maker", a coproduction between Argentina, Canada and Italy, will premiere.
To purchase the report visit Here...
You can gather these figures and look up contact information as it pertains to your job in this industry, or you can buy the Sundance by Numbers Report from SydneysBuzz and import an excel sheet of all relevant data with contact names, into your own database. If you are about to go to Sundance and need to know the publicist or if in the future, you are going to need a good publicist, or a producer rep, or a festival oriented international sales agents or U.S. distributor who will surely be on the festival circuit, you need this report now.
All titles are linked to contacts you will need for your particular line of work if you are a professional in the business.
There are 26 women directors ( ♀ ).
‧ U.S. Dramatic Competition: 5 of 16 are directed by women (36%).
‧ U.S. Documentary Competition: 7 of 16 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Dramatic Competition: 5 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Documentary Competition: 6 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ Next: 1 of 10 is directed by a woman.
‧ New Frontiers has Jenni Olson's "The Royal Road"
48% (62) of the films have international sales agents.
Ryan Kempe's Visit Films and Andrew Hurewitz' Film Sales Company both have 5 films.
3 films are being sold by Im Global, HanWay and Protagonist.
2 by Dogwoof, Epic, Films Distribution, The Match Factory, Trust Nordisk and Xyz and Annapurna.
1 film each are represented by the other sales agents:
Alpha Violet, Altitude Film Sales, Autlook, Cargo ,Content, Dreamcatchers, Film Factory Entertainment,Fortitude, Funny Balloons, Hyde Park International, K5 International, Kaleidoscope, Lotus Entertainment, Memento, Studiocanal, The Exchange, The Match Factory, The Solution, Voltage, Wild Bunch
14% (18) have U.S. distribution. Titles and links are in the report.
3 are with HBO
2 are with Roadside Attractions: "’71" and "Z for Zachariah"
The rest are each with:
Entertainment in Motion (airline)
Radius-twc
Universal Pictures
A&E/ Lifetime
Broad Green Pictures
Drafthouse Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Magnolia
Netflix
Sony Pictures Classics – "Wild Tales"
Strand Releasing – "Girlhood"
53% (68) have producer reps
Cinetic - 14
Submarine - 13
ICM - 10
Preferred Content - 8
Wme - 9
UTA -8
CAA - 7
Cassian Elwes - 2
Paradigm - 1
Publicists
Brigade - 9
Stategy - 7
Ryan Werner - 6
Prodigy - 6
David Magdael - 4
Acme - 4
Susan Norget - 4
Steven Rafael, Mj Pakos - 2
Bigtime - 2
Group 2050 - 2
Katleen McGinnis - 2 + 2 shorts
Jazo - 1
Dda - 1
Dish - 1
Sophie Gluck - 1
mPRm - 1
Sundance selected 7 films from Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico). Four are in official competitions - two for American cinema and two for international cinema - divided between fiction and documentary. Two coproductions with Mexico are in the U.S. Documentary Competition, "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, and "Western" by Bill Ross and Turner Ross, two views on life and struggle in the border.
In the International Fiction Competition of 12 films, Brazil's "The Second Mother" ("Que hours ela volta?") by Anna Muylaert, a story about everyday relations between the employees and employers in a home upset by the visit of the nanny's daughter. Anna Muylawert participated in the Carte Blanche at Locarno dedicated to Brazilian cinema. In the Next secton, dedicated to innovative film is "H." a coproduction between the U.S. and Argentina directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia. The film is a reinterpretation of Greek mythology, following two women named Helen whose lives are altered in the small town of Troy, New York. New Frontier Films will premier Colombia-Mexico coproduction "Liveforever", the adaptation of Carlos Moreno("Dog Eat Dog") of the cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
And finally, in the new Sundance Kids section, "The Games Maker", a coproduction between Argentina, Canada and Italy, will premiere.
To purchase the report visit Here...
- 1/20/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Announcements for the lineup for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 22nd and February 1st, are starting to roll out. Watch this page for updates as more films and sections are revealed.
Premieres
Brooklyn (John Crowley, UK)
Digging for Fire (Joe Swanberg, USA)
Don Verdean (Jared Hess, USA)
End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt, USA)
Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, USA)
Grandma (Paul Weitz, USA)
I Am Michael (Justin Kelly, USA)
I'll See You In My Dreams (Brett Haley, USA)
Last Days in the Desert (Rodrigo Garcia, USA)
Lila & Eve (Charles Stone III, USA)
Mississipi Grind (Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, USA)
Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, USA)
Seoul Searching (Benson Lee, USA/Korea)
Sleeping with Other People (Leslye Headland, USA)
Ten Thousand Saints (Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, USA)
True Story (Rupert Goold, USA)
A Walk in the Woods (Ken Kwapis, USA)
Zipper (Mora Stephens, USA)
Documentary Premieres
Beaver Trilogy Part IV (Brad Besser,...
Premieres
Brooklyn (John Crowley, UK)
Digging for Fire (Joe Swanberg, USA)
Don Verdean (Jared Hess, USA)
End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt, USA)
Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, USA)
Grandma (Paul Weitz, USA)
I Am Michael (Justin Kelly, USA)
I'll See You In My Dreams (Brett Haley, USA)
Last Days in the Desert (Rodrigo Garcia, USA)
Lila & Eve (Charles Stone III, USA)
Mississipi Grind (Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, USA)
Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, USA)
Seoul Searching (Benson Lee, USA/Korea)
Sleeping with Other People (Leslye Headland, USA)
Ten Thousand Saints (Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, USA)
True Story (Rupert Goold, USA)
A Walk in the Woods (Ken Kwapis, USA)
Zipper (Mora Stephens, USA)
Documentary Premieres
Beaver Trilogy Part IV (Brad Besser,...
- 12/16/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Whenever I go to the Sundance Film Festival, the movies that I look forward to seeing most are the Park City At Midnight films. Those are the crazy fun genre movies that a lot of you would also enjoy watching. Sundance has announced the movie lineup for those film as well as the films in the Spotlight and New Frontier sections. It looks like there are a lot of cool movies that are going to be worth watching this year. Especially in the Park City At Midnight lineup. I'm really excited about going this year! Check out the Competition movie line-up here.
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon,...
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon,...
- 12/6/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
John Nein was not always a Senior Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival — it’s only been eight years. When he began at Sundance in 2002 he was always watching movies of course. More than that, like John Cooper said, he just didn’t shut up when he was in the room; he was opinionated and spoke his opinions. He also always liked international cinema as he was born in Ireland and grew up in The Netherlands, Belgium and London where his father worked for international companies. When he was 12 he came to the U.S.
The programmers at Sundance do not have a strict formal assignment of areas they program; they see all the films of all the sections, but like his father, international was always of great interest. The same is true for myself, although out of the 118 feature films selected out of 4,105 feature length submissions, many of the U.S. films look great to me as well. For instance, I am so happy that Matt Sobel’s “ Take Me To The River ” which won the prize at Us in Progress this past November in Wroclaw, Poland at The American Film Festival is in the Next section.
John: This year on Day One, January 22, 2015, the Festival will feature one of each type of film shown at the Festival: one shorts program, a U.S. documentary, a U.S. dramatic, an international documentary and an international dramatic which will be the first ever Lithuanian film in Competition, a lesbian love story that is stylish and smartly directed by Alanté Kavaïté with two fantastic actors, Julija Steponaitytė and Aistė Diržiūtė. Actually " The Summer of Sangaile” is a coproduction of Lithuania, France, and Holland . I think Alanté lives in France.
There ares 29 countries represented and 45 first-time filmmakers.
Sydney: I know the Chileans love Sundance. Last year Alejandro Fernández Almendras said in our interview about “To Kill a Man” that Sundance is very important for Chile. I am also a longtime fan of Sebastian Silva since “The Maid”. Two years ago he had two films, “Crystal Fairy” and “Magic, Magic” in Sundance, so why is this Chilean film not in World Competition but in Next?
John: I’m glad Alejandro said that. Yes we like Chile too. They make many good films. But “Nasty Baby” by Sebastian Silva is a U.S. film, about people living in Brooklyn.
He lives in U.S. and has spent a lot of time here. He knows Brooklyn and yet his curiosity and his view of it is that of an outsider. He knows these people because he watches and listens so well. “
Sydney: “Bridesmaids” star and co-writer Kristen Wiig stars. A short promo of “Nasty Baby” was shown to buyers while it was in post-production in Cannes and Toronto. The Chilean production company of Juan de Dios Larrain and Pablo Larrain, Fabula, produced “No” as well as Sebastian’s later films. Papi Boye and Violaine Pichon’s production and international sales agent Versatile out of France along with the film’s international sales agent Funny Balloons — also based in France – helped finance this U.S. Production.
John: World Cinema is now 10 years old. Overall, the Competition sections have evolved over the years. We have a sense of emerging directors here. We have come of age.
All our films are of emerging filmmakers. Either first time directors or highly anticipated second or third features. Of all the festivals worldwide, Sundance has the strongest program of emerging talent. Watch these filmmakers over the next years. Like “Homesick” by Anna Sewitsky. Her previous film “Happy, Happy” showed at Sundance in 2011 and took the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. “Happy, Happy” also became the Norwegian Official entry for the Academy Awards® .
Sydney: TrustNordisk sold “Happy, Happy” to more than 50 countries, so they must be poised to sell this one as well.
John: But not all the second and third films are from filmmakers whose first films were at Sundance, although Canada’s “ Chorus” director Francois Delisle showed “The Meteor” at Sundance two years ago.
And “Glassland”, was a very anticipated second film. The first film by director and screenwriter, Gerard Barrett, "Pilgrim Hill” won the Galway Film Festival and was very sought after and was signed with a U.S. agent then. “Sangaile" is also a second feature.
Look at the international films in the Premieres section and you will see some international filmmakers there, like “ Brooklyn” which is an immigrant story directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby whose film “Wild” is now playing .
Sydney: I see from IMDbPro that Hanway has already sold Middle Eastern rights to Front Row Entertainment who must have pre-bought “Brooklyn” in Cannes or Toronto.
John: Of the 12 films in World Cinema the less expected films come from Turkey, “Ivy” by the talented director Tolga Karacelik. This is his second film. His first was “Toll Booth” which Global Initiative distributed in the U.S. The Dp on this was Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter’s Sleep”)’s Dp on “Winter’s Sleep”, Gökhan Tiryaki. It is about guys stuck on a freighter whose company goes bankrupt. Power dynamics play out.
Sydney: Have there been Oscar nominated films in Sundance (Aside from “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”)?
John: Yes, “Man on Wire” was not last year but it was foreign. “Ida” was in Spotlight last year and maybe Sundance increased its visibility. Three others were in Sundance last year:
“To Kill a Man” is Chile’s submission, “Difret” which won the Audience Award is Ethiopia’s submission this year and “Liar’s Dice” from India was in World Competition last year. It is a very artful film. We knew it would do well with the critics, but it did extremely well with the audience too. A couple of films in Spotlight will probably be nominated next year. Watch for them.
Sydney : We haven’t even discussed the World documentaries.
John : Are there any that stand out for you?
Sydney: Yes, “Chuck Norris vs. Communism”, from U.K., Romania and Germany. Chuck Norris?
John: How interesting it is that something like Chuck Norris means something very different to others. It is a sign of cultural differences between us. Chuck Norris shows how independent films built a community of counter culture against an authoritarian government.
Sydney: I also notice that there are six docs from the U.K. Out of 12 films.
John: Yes we noticed and discussed that. U.K. really supports documentary filmmaking. Great work is coming out of the U.K. And many of the films are about different countries, so it doesn’t fit so simply into a U.K. pigeon hole.
Sydney : Yes I see “Chuck Norris” is about Romania, “Dreamcatcher” is about teenage prostitution, “How to Change the World” is about Greenpeace, “Listen to Me Marlon” is about a famous U.S. actor, “The Russian Woodpecker” is about a Ukrainian survivor of Chernobyl.
Thank you John for your insights. I think we have a lot to look at here. Thank you for taking this time to talk with me. See you at Sundance!
For a full list thus far of Sundance films, see below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.
The Bronze / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status.Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. Day One Film
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he's changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the Sat. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
I Smile Back / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, Rj Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Overnight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — Alex, Emily, and their son, Rj, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family "playdate" becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche.
People, Places, Things / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby.
Results / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao) — This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore Hendricks.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith) — A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky.
Unexpected / U.S.A. (Director: Kris Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.
The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Z for Zachariah / U.S.A. (Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
U.S. Documentary Competition
Sixteen world-premiere American documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people, and events that shape the present day.
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan's tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert "Evel" Knievel and his legacy.
Best of Enemies / U.S.A. (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — Best of Enemies is a behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation.
Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
City of Gold / U.S.A. (Director: Laura Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.
Finders Keepers / U.S.A. (Directors: Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be his rightful property.
Hot Girls Wanted / U.S.A. (Directors: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.
How to Dance in Ohio / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12 weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in preparation for the dance.
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A. (Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.
Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Racing Extinction / U.S.A. (Director: Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass extinction. Whether infiltrating notorious black markets or exploring humans' effect on the environment, Racing Extinction will change the way you see the world.
(T)Error / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — (T)Error is the first film to document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds. Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics, and the murky justifications behind them.
Welcome to Leith / U.S.A. (Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.
Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Chlorine / Italy (Director: Lamberto Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) — Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti, Andrea Vergoni. World Premiere
Chorus / Canada (Director and screenwriter: François Delisle) — A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation. Cast: Sébastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre Curzi, Genevieve Bujold. World Premiere
Glassland / Ireland (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley. International Premiere
Homesick / Norway (Director: Anne Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don't know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before?Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad. World Premiere. Isa: TrustNordisk
Ivy / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when the ship's owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş, Seyithan Özdemiroğlu. World Premiere
Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori's idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara. World Premiere
Princess / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz. International Premiere
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother's slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli. World Premiere
Slow West / New Zealand (Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius. World Premiere
Strangerland / Australia, Ireland (Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons) — When Catherine and Matthew Parker's two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple's relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown. World Premiere
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė. World Premiere. Isa: Films Distribution.
Umrika / India (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.
The Amina Profile / Canada (Director: Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World Premiere
Censored Voices / Israel, Germany (Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War, renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the conversations to be published. Censored Voices reveals these recordings for the first time. World Premiere
The Chinese Mayor / China (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city. World Premiere
Chuck Norris vs Communism / United Kingdom, Romania, Germany (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A black market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution. World Premiere. Producers Rep: UTA
Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman's club who decide to take on the elite "sport of kings" and breed themselves a racehorse. World Premiere
Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom (Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. World Premiere
How to Change the World / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. World Premiere. Day One Film
Listen to Me Marlon / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui) — With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in Marlon’s own voice. World Premiere
Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed. International Premiere
The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war. World Premiere
Sembene! / U.S.A., Senegal (Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice. World Premiere
The Visit / Denmark, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Norway (Director: Michael Madsen) — “This film documents an event that has never taken place…” With unprecedented access to the United Nations' Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit explores humans' first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. "Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival." World Premiere
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity promises that the films in this section will shape a “greater” next wave in American cinema. Presented by Adobe.
Bob and the Trees / U.S.A., France (Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere
Christmas, Again / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him. He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift, until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche. North American Premiere
Cronies / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn’t know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski. World Premiere
Entertainment / U.S.A. (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. World Premiere
James White / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O'Hare. World Premiere
The Strongest Man / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes. World Premiere
" Take Me To The River " / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. World Premiere. Producer rep: Cinetic Media
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World Premiere
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
6 Desires: Dh Lawrence and Sardinia / United Kingdom, Italy (Director: Mark Cousins) — In winter 1921, Dh Lawrence and his wife journeyed to Sardinia, and he chronicled their experiences in Sea and Sardinia. Now, Mark Cousins retraces Lawrence’s footsteps. The film is conceived partly as a letter to Lawrence — or “Bert” — a detail that’s typical of the film’s inviting sense of conversational intimacy.International Premiere
'71 / United Kingdom (Director: Yann Demange, Screenwriter: Gregory Burke) — ‘71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Cast: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann.
99 Homes / U.S.A. (Director: Ramin Bahrani, Screenwriters: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi) — A father struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration. Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, Cullen Moss, J.D. Evermore.
Aloft / Spain, France, Canada (Director and screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) — Aloft tells the story of a struggling mother, Nana, and her evolution to becoming a renowned healer. When a young artist tracks down Nana's son 20 years after she abandoned him, she sets in motion an encounter between the two that will bring the meaning of their lives into question. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell. North American Premiere
Eden / France (Director: Mia Hansen-løve, Screenwriters: Mia Hansen-løve, Sven Hansen-løve) — Mia Hansen-løve's electronic-dance-music epic follows the rise and fall of a DJ (based on her brother, Sven, a contemporary of Daft Punk) who gets into the rave scene in 1994 and spends the next 20 years navigating the French club scene. Cast: Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Arsinee Khanjian, Vincent Macaigne.
Girlhood / France (Director and screenwriter: Céline Sciamma) — Oppressed by her family, dead-end school prospects, and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of free-spirited girls. She changes her name and dress, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping to find a way to freedom. Cast: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré, Idrissa Diabaté, Simina Soumaré.
The Tribe / Ukraine (Director and screenwriter: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy) — Set at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, the film’s narrative unfolds purely through sign language without the need for employing subtitles or voiceover, resulting in a unique, never-before-seen cinematic experience that engages the audience on a new level. Cast: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich.
White God / Hungary (Director: Kornél Mundruczó, Screenwriters: Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi) — When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog, Hagen, because its mixed-breed heritage is deemed “unfit” by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back toward each other. Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Sandor Zsótér, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, László Gálffi, Lili Horváth. U.S. Premiere
Wild Tales / Argentina, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Damián Szifrón) — Inequality, injustice, and the demands of the world cause stress and depression for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This is a movie about those people. Vulnerable in the face of an unpredictable reality, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line dividing civilization and barbarism. Cast: Ricardo Darín, Julieta Zyberberg, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Darío Grandinetti, Erica Rivas, Oscar Martínez.
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim. World Premiere
The Hallow / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Corin Hardy, Screenwriters: Corin Hardy, Felipe Marino) — When a London-based conservationist is sent to Ireland to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground, he unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. Cast: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael Smiley. World Premiere
Hellions / Canada (Director: Bruce McDonald, Screenwriter: Pascal Trottier) — Teenage Dora Vogel must survive a Halloween night from hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Peter DaCunha, Luke Bilyk. World Premiere
It Follows / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell) — After a strange sexual encounter, a teenager finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her. Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe.
Knock Knock / U.S.A. (Director: Eli Roth, Screenwriters: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez, Guillermo Amoedo) — Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man's life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, Colleen Camp. World Premiere
The Nightmare / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — A documentary-horror film exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis through the eyes of eight people. They (and a surprisingly large number of others) often find themselves trapped between the sleeping and awake realms, unable to move but aware of their surroundings while subject to disturbing sights and sounds. World Premiere
Reversal / U.S.A. (Director: J.M Cravioto, Screenwriters: Rock Shaink, Keith Kjornes) — A gritty psychological thriller about a young woman chained in a basement of a sexual predator and manages to escape. However, right when she has a chance for freedom, she unravels a hard truth and decides to turn the tables on her captor. Cast: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson, Bianca Malinowski. World Premiere
Turbo Kid / Canada, New Zealand (Directors: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell, Screenwriters: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell) — In a post-apocalyptic future, The Kid, an orphaned outcast, meets a mysterious girl. They become friends until Zeus, the sadistic leader of the Wasteland, kidnaps her. The Kid must face his fears, and journey to rid the Wasteland of evil and save the girl. Cast: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Aaron Jeffery, Edwin Wright. World Premiere
New Frontier Films
The Forbidden Room / Canada (Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Screenwriters: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk) — A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love. Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Dhavernas, Roy Dupuis, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse. World Premiere
Liveforever / Colombia, Mexico (Director: Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters: Alberto Ferreras, Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno) — Driven by the music and dancing she finds along the way, a teenager leaves home willing to try anything her provocative and tolerant city has to offer, even if she burns out in the process. Inspired by the best-selling novel "Que viva la música" by Andres Caicedo. Cast: Paulina Davila, Alejandra Avila, Luis Arrieta, Juan Pablo Barragan, Nelson Camayo, Christian Tappan. World Premiere
The Royal Road / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Olson) — This cinematic essay, a defense of remembering, offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes. Cast: Jenni Olson, Tony Kushner. World Premiere
Sam Klemke's Time Machine / Australia (Director: Matthew Bate) — Sam Klemke has filmed and narrated 50 years of his life, creating a strange and intimate portrait of what it means to be human. World Premiere
Station to Station / U.S.A. (Director: Doug Aitken) — Station to Station is composed of 60 individual one-minute films featuring different artists, musicians, places, and perspectives. This revolutionary feature-length film reveals a larger narrative about modern creativity. World Premiere
Things of the Aimless Wanderer / Rwanda, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Kivu Ruhorahoza) — A white man meets a black girl, then she disappears. The white man tries to understand what happened to her while also trying to finish a travelogue. Things of the Aimless Wanderer is a film about the sensitive topic of relations between “locals” and Westerners, about paranoia, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Cast: Justin Mullikin, Grace Nikuze, Ramadhan Bizimana, Eliane Umuhire, Wesley Ruzibiza, Matt Ray Brown. World Premiere
New Frontier Installations
1979 Revolution Game
Artists: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari
1979 Revolution Game presents an innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling. Designed to engage players with an immersive "on the ground" experience of the Iranian Revolution, the game integrates an emotionally impactful narrative with interactive moral choices and intuitive touchscreen gameplay while remaining true to history.
Assent
Artist: Oscar Raby
This immersive documentary uses virtual reality technology to put the user in the footsteps of Director Oscar Raby's father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment.
Birdly
Artist: Max Rheiner
Flying is one of the oldest dreams of humankind. Birdly is an experiment to capture this dream, to simulate the experience of being a bird from a first-person perspective. This embodiment is conducted through a full-body virtual reality setup.
Dérive
Artist: François Quévillon
This interactive installation uses the audience’s body motions and positions to explore 3-D reconstructions of urban and natural spaces that are transformed according to live environmental data, including meteorological and astronomical phenomena.
Evolution of Verse
Artist: Chris Milk
Chris Milk, working with visual effects powerhouse Digital Domain and virtual reality production company Vrse.works, has created this photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from beginning to new beginning.
Kaiju Fury!
Artist: Ian Hunter
A dark energy experiment leads to a devastating attack by monstrous Kaiju, and you are standing at ground zero — all in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3-D cinematic virtual reality. You will "be there" as the beasts lay waste to a crumbling city and humanity makes its last stand. Cast: Susie Abromeit, Bill Lippincott, Daniel Martin, Brian Dodge, Vincient Chiantelli.
Paradise
Artist: Pleix
Paradise is certainly not paradisiacal if you look at it through our eyes. But neither is it totally devoid of humor, melancholy and absurdity. Perhaps it is first and foremost life as it is, and then a touch exaggerated in the digital overdrive.
Perspective; Chapter I: The Party
Artists: Rose Troche, Morris May
A young college woman attends a party with the intention of shedding her "shy girl" persona. At the same party, a young man is after a similar reinvention. They meet, drink, and misinterpreted signals turn into things that cannot be undone. Virtual reality simulators let viewers experience both characters. Cast: Tabitha Morella, Caleb Thomas, Zachary Zagoria, Anna Grace Barlow.
Possibilia
Artists: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
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The programmers at Sundance do not have a strict formal assignment of areas they program; they see all the films of all the sections, but like his father, international was always of great interest. The same is true for myself, although out of the 118 feature films selected out of 4,105 feature length submissions, many of the U.S. films look great to me as well. For instance, I am so happy that Matt Sobel’s “ Take Me To The River ” which won the prize at Us in Progress this past November in Wroclaw, Poland at The American Film Festival is in the Next section.
John: This year on Day One, January 22, 2015, the Festival will feature one of each type of film shown at the Festival: one shorts program, a U.S. documentary, a U.S. dramatic, an international documentary and an international dramatic which will be the first ever Lithuanian film in Competition, a lesbian love story that is stylish and smartly directed by Alanté Kavaïté with two fantastic actors, Julija Steponaitytė and Aistė Diržiūtė. Actually " The Summer of Sangaile” is a coproduction of Lithuania, France, and Holland . I think Alanté lives in France.
There ares 29 countries represented and 45 first-time filmmakers.
Sydney: I know the Chileans love Sundance. Last year Alejandro Fernández Almendras said in our interview about “To Kill a Man” that Sundance is very important for Chile. I am also a longtime fan of Sebastian Silva since “The Maid”. Two years ago he had two films, “Crystal Fairy” and “Magic, Magic” in Sundance, so why is this Chilean film not in World Competition but in Next?
John: I’m glad Alejandro said that. Yes we like Chile too. They make many good films. But “Nasty Baby” by Sebastian Silva is a U.S. film, about people living in Brooklyn.
He lives in U.S. and has spent a lot of time here. He knows Brooklyn and yet his curiosity and his view of it is that of an outsider. He knows these people because he watches and listens so well. “
Sydney: “Bridesmaids” star and co-writer Kristen Wiig stars. A short promo of “Nasty Baby” was shown to buyers while it was in post-production in Cannes and Toronto. The Chilean production company of Juan de Dios Larrain and Pablo Larrain, Fabula, produced “No” as well as Sebastian’s later films. Papi Boye and Violaine Pichon’s production and international sales agent Versatile out of France along with the film’s international sales agent Funny Balloons — also based in France – helped finance this U.S. Production.
John: World Cinema is now 10 years old. Overall, the Competition sections have evolved over the years. We have a sense of emerging directors here. We have come of age.
All our films are of emerging filmmakers. Either first time directors or highly anticipated second or third features. Of all the festivals worldwide, Sundance has the strongest program of emerging talent. Watch these filmmakers over the next years. Like “Homesick” by Anna Sewitsky. Her previous film “Happy, Happy” showed at Sundance in 2011 and took the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. “Happy, Happy” also became the Norwegian Official entry for the Academy Awards® .
Sydney: TrustNordisk sold “Happy, Happy” to more than 50 countries, so they must be poised to sell this one as well.
John: But not all the second and third films are from filmmakers whose first films were at Sundance, although Canada’s “ Chorus” director Francois Delisle showed “The Meteor” at Sundance two years ago.
And “Glassland”, was a very anticipated second film. The first film by director and screenwriter, Gerard Barrett, "Pilgrim Hill” won the Galway Film Festival and was very sought after and was signed with a U.S. agent then. “Sangaile" is also a second feature.
Look at the international films in the Premieres section and you will see some international filmmakers there, like “ Brooklyn” which is an immigrant story directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby whose film “Wild” is now playing .
Sydney: I see from IMDbPro that Hanway has already sold Middle Eastern rights to Front Row Entertainment who must have pre-bought “Brooklyn” in Cannes or Toronto.
John: Of the 12 films in World Cinema the less expected films come from Turkey, “Ivy” by the talented director Tolga Karacelik. This is his second film. His first was “Toll Booth” which Global Initiative distributed in the U.S. The Dp on this was Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter’s Sleep”)’s Dp on “Winter’s Sleep”, Gökhan Tiryaki. It is about guys stuck on a freighter whose company goes bankrupt. Power dynamics play out.
Sydney: Have there been Oscar nominated films in Sundance (Aside from “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”)?
John: Yes, “Man on Wire” was not last year but it was foreign. “Ida” was in Spotlight last year and maybe Sundance increased its visibility. Three others were in Sundance last year:
“To Kill a Man” is Chile’s submission, “Difret” which won the Audience Award is Ethiopia’s submission this year and “Liar’s Dice” from India was in World Competition last year. It is a very artful film. We knew it would do well with the critics, but it did extremely well with the audience too. A couple of films in Spotlight will probably be nominated next year. Watch for them.
Sydney : We haven’t even discussed the World documentaries.
John : Are there any that stand out for you?
Sydney: Yes, “Chuck Norris vs. Communism”, from U.K., Romania and Germany. Chuck Norris?
John: How interesting it is that something like Chuck Norris means something very different to others. It is a sign of cultural differences between us. Chuck Norris shows how independent films built a community of counter culture against an authoritarian government.
Sydney: I also notice that there are six docs from the U.K. Out of 12 films.
John: Yes we noticed and discussed that. U.K. really supports documentary filmmaking. Great work is coming out of the U.K. And many of the films are about different countries, so it doesn’t fit so simply into a U.K. pigeon hole.
Sydney : Yes I see “Chuck Norris” is about Romania, “Dreamcatcher” is about teenage prostitution, “How to Change the World” is about Greenpeace, “Listen to Me Marlon” is about a famous U.S. actor, “The Russian Woodpecker” is about a Ukrainian survivor of Chernobyl.
Thank you John for your insights. I think we have a lot to look at here. Thank you for taking this time to talk with me. See you at Sundance!
For a full list thus far of Sundance films, see below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.
The Bronze / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status.Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. Day One Film
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he's changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the Sat. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
I Smile Back / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, Rj Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Overnight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — Alex, Emily, and their son, Rj, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family "playdate" becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche.
People, Places, Things / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby.
Results / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao) — This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore Hendricks.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith) — A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky.
Unexpected / U.S.A. (Director: Kris Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.
The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Z for Zachariah / U.S.A. (Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
U.S. Documentary Competition
Sixteen world-premiere American documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people, and events that shape the present day.
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan's tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert "Evel" Knievel and his legacy.
Best of Enemies / U.S.A. (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — Best of Enemies is a behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation.
Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
City of Gold / U.S.A. (Director: Laura Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.
Finders Keepers / U.S.A. (Directors: Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be his rightful property.
Hot Girls Wanted / U.S.A. (Directors: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.
How to Dance in Ohio / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12 weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in preparation for the dance.
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A. (Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.
Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Racing Extinction / U.S.A. (Director: Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass extinction. Whether infiltrating notorious black markets or exploring humans' effect on the environment, Racing Extinction will change the way you see the world.
(T)Error / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — (T)Error is the first film to document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds. Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics, and the murky justifications behind them.
Welcome to Leith / U.S.A. (Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.
Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Chlorine / Italy (Director: Lamberto Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) — Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti, Andrea Vergoni. World Premiere
Chorus / Canada (Director and screenwriter: François Delisle) — A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation. Cast: Sébastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre Curzi, Genevieve Bujold. World Premiere
Glassland / Ireland (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley. International Premiere
Homesick / Norway (Director: Anne Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don't know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before?Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad. World Premiere. Isa: TrustNordisk
Ivy / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when the ship's owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş, Seyithan Özdemiroğlu. World Premiere
Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori's idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara. World Premiere
Princess / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz. International Premiere
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother's slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli. World Premiere
Slow West / New Zealand (Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius. World Premiere
Strangerland / Australia, Ireland (Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons) — When Catherine and Matthew Parker's two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple's relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown. World Premiere
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė. World Premiere. Isa: Films Distribution.
Umrika / India (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.
The Amina Profile / Canada (Director: Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World Premiere
Censored Voices / Israel, Germany (Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War, renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the conversations to be published. Censored Voices reveals these recordings for the first time. World Premiere
The Chinese Mayor / China (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city. World Premiere
Chuck Norris vs Communism / United Kingdom, Romania, Germany (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A black market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution. World Premiere. Producers Rep: UTA
Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman's club who decide to take on the elite "sport of kings" and breed themselves a racehorse. World Premiere
Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom (Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. World Premiere
How to Change the World / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. World Premiere. Day One Film
Listen to Me Marlon / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui) — With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in Marlon’s own voice. World Premiere
Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed. International Premiere
The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war. World Premiere
Sembene! / U.S.A., Senegal (Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice. World Premiere
The Visit / Denmark, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Norway (Director: Michael Madsen) — “This film documents an event that has never taken place…” With unprecedented access to the United Nations' Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit explores humans' first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. "Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival." World Premiere
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity promises that the films in this section will shape a “greater” next wave in American cinema. Presented by Adobe.
Bob and the Trees / U.S.A., France (Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere
Christmas, Again / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him. He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift, until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche. North American Premiere
Cronies / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn’t know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski. World Premiere
Entertainment / U.S.A. (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. World Premiere
James White / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O'Hare. World Premiere
The Strongest Man / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes. World Premiere
" Take Me To The River " / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. World Premiere. Producer rep: Cinetic Media
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World Premiere
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
6 Desires: Dh Lawrence and Sardinia / United Kingdom, Italy (Director: Mark Cousins) — In winter 1921, Dh Lawrence and his wife journeyed to Sardinia, and he chronicled their experiences in Sea and Sardinia. Now, Mark Cousins retraces Lawrence’s footsteps. The film is conceived partly as a letter to Lawrence — or “Bert” — a detail that’s typical of the film’s inviting sense of conversational intimacy.International Premiere
'71 / United Kingdom (Director: Yann Demange, Screenwriter: Gregory Burke) — ‘71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Cast: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann.
99 Homes / U.S.A. (Director: Ramin Bahrani, Screenwriters: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi) — A father struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration. Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, Cullen Moss, J.D. Evermore.
Aloft / Spain, France, Canada (Director and screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) — Aloft tells the story of a struggling mother, Nana, and her evolution to becoming a renowned healer. When a young artist tracks down Nana's son 20 years after she abandoned him, she sets in motion an encounter between the two that will bring the meaning of their lives into question. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell. North American Premiere
Eden / France (Director: Mia Hansen-løve, Screenwriters: Mia Hansen-løve, Sven Hansen-løve) — Mia Hansen-løve's electronic-dance-music epic follows the rise and fall of a DJ (based on her brother, Sven, a contemporary of Daft Punk) who gets into the rave scene in 1994 and spends the next 20 years navigating the French club scene. Cast: Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Arsinee Khanjian, Vincent Macaigne.
Girlhood / France (Director and screenwriter: Céline Sciamma) — Oppressed by her family, dead-end school prospects, and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of free-spirited girls. She changes her name and dress, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping to find a way to freedom. Cast: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré, Idrissa Diabaté, Simina Soumaré.
The Tribe / Ukraine (Director and screenwriter: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy) — Set at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, the film’s narrative unfolds purely through sign language without the need for employing subtitles or voiceover, resulting in a unique, never-before-seen cinematic experience that engages the audience on a new level. Cast: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich.
White God / Hungary (Director: Kornél Mundruczó, Screenwriters: Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi) — When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog, Hagen, because its mixed-breed heritage is deemed “unfit” by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back toward each other. Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Sandor Zsótér, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, László Gálffi, Lili Horváth. U.S. Premiere
Wild Tales / Argentina, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Damián Szifrón) — Inequality, injustice, and the demands of the world cause stress and depression for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This is a movie about those people. Vulnerable in the face of an unpredictable reality, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line dividing civilization and barbarism. Cast: Ricardo Darín, Julieta Zyberberg, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Darío Grandinetti, Erica Rivas, Oscar Martínez.
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim. World Premiere
The Hallow / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Corin Hardy, Screenwriters: Corin Hardy, Felipe Marino) — When a London-based conservationist is sent to Ireland to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground, he unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. Cast: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael Smiley. World Premiere
Hellions / Canada (Director: Bruce McDonald, Screenwriter: Pascal Trottier) — Teenage Dora Vogel must survive a Halloween night from hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Peter DaCunha, Luke Bilyk. World Premiere
It Follows / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell) — After a strange sexual encounter, a teenager finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her. Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe.
Knock Knock / U.S.A. (Director: Eli Roth, Screenwriters: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez, Guillermo Amoedo) — Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man's life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, Colleen Camp. World Premiere
The Nightmare / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — A documentary-horror film exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis through the eyes of eight people. They (and a surprisingly large number of others) often find themselves trapped between the sleeping and awake realms, unable to move but aware of their surroundings while subject to disturbing sights and sounds. World Premiere
Reversal / U.S.A. (Director: J.M Cravioto, Screenwriters: Rock Shaink, Keith Kjornes) — A gritty psychological thriller about a young woman chained in a basement of a sexual predator and manages to escape. However, right when she has a chance for freedom, she unravels a hard truth and decides to turn the tables on her captor. Cast: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson, Bianca Malinowski. World Premiere
Turbo Kid / Canada, New Zealand (Directors: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell, Screenwriters: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell) — In a post-apocalyptic future, The Kid, an orphaned outcast, meets a mysterious girl. They become friends until Zeus, the sadistic leader of the Wasteland, kidnaps her. The Kid must face his fears, and journey to rid the Wasteland of evil and save the girl. Cast: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Aaron Jeffery, Edwin Wright. World Premiere
New Frontier Films
The Forbidden Room / Canada (Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Screenwriters: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk) — A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love. Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Dhavernas, Roy Dupuis, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse. World Premiere
Liveforever / Colombia, Mexico (Director: Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters: Alberto Ferreras, Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno) — Driven by the music and dancing she finds along the way, a teenager leaves home willing to try anything her provocative and tolerant city has to offer, even if she burns out in the process. Inspired by the best-selling novel "Que viva la música" by Andres Caicedo. Cast: Paulina Davila, Alejandra Avila, Luis Arrieta, Juan Pablo Barragan, Nelson Camayo, Christian Tappan. World Premiere
The Royal Road / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Olson) — This cinematic essay, a defense of remembering, offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes. Cast: Jenni Olson, Tony Kushner. World Premiere
Sam Klemke's Time Machine / Australia (Director: Matthew Bate) — Sam Klemke has filmed and narrated 50 years of his life, creating a strange and intimate portrait of what it means to be human. World Premiere
Station to Station / U.S.A. (Director: Doug Aitken) — Station to Station is composed of 60 individual one-minute films featuring different artists, musicians, places, and perspectives. This revolutionary feature-length film reveals a larger narrative about modern creativity. World Premiere
Things of the Aimless Wanderer / Rwanda, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Kivu Ruhorahoza) — A white man meets a black girl, then she disappears. The white man tries to understand what happened to her while also trying to finish a travelogue. Things of the Aimless Wanderer is a film about the sensitive topic of relations between “locals” and Westerners, about paranoia, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Cast: Justin Mullikin, Grace Nikuze, Ramadhan Bizimana, Eliane Umuhire, Wesley Ruzibiza, Matt Ray Brown. World Premiere
New Frontier Installations
1979 Revolution Game
Artists: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari
1979 Revolution Game presents an innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling. Designed to engage players with an immersive "on the ground" experience of the Iranian Revolution, the game integrates an emotionally impactful narrative with interactive moral choices and intuitive touchscreen gameplay while remaining true to history.
Assent
Artist: Oscar Raby
This immersive documentary uses virtual reality technology to put the user in the footsteps of Director Oscar Raby's father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment.
Birdly
Artist: Max Rheiner
Flying is one of the oldest dreams of humankind. Birdly is an experiment to capture this dream, to simulate the experience of being a bird from a first-person perspective. This embodiment is conducted through a full-body virtual reality setup.
Dérive
Artist: François Quévillon
This interactive installation uses the audience’s body motions and positions to explore 3-D reconstructions of urban and natural spaces that are transformed according to live environmental data, including meteorological and astronomical phenomena.
Evolution of Verse
Artist: Chris Milk
Chris Milk, working with visual effects powerhouse Digital Domain and virtual reality production company Vrse.works, has created this photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from beginning to new beginning.
Kaiju Fury!
Artist: Ian Hunter
A dark energy experiment leads to a devastating attack by monstrous Kaiju, and you are standing at ground zero — all in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3-D cinematic virtual reality. You will "be there" as the beasts lay waste to a crumbling city and humanity makes its last stand. Cast: Susie Abromeit, Bill Lippincott, Daniel Martin, Brian Dodge, Vincient Chiantelli.
Paradise
Artist: Pleix
Paradise is certainly not paradisiacal if you look at it through our eyes. But neither is it totally devoid of humor, melancholy and absurdity. Perhaps it is first and foremost life as it is, and then a touch exaggerated in the digital overdrive.
Perspective; Chapter I: The Party
Artists: Rose Troche, Morris May
A young college woman attends a party with the intention of shedding her "shy girl" persona. At the same party, a young man is after a similar reinvention. They meet, drink, and misinterpreted signals turn into things that cannot be undone. Virtual reality simulators let viewers experience both characters. Cast: Tabitha Morella, Caleb Thomas, Zachary Zagoria, Anna Grace Barlow.
Possibilia
Artists: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
tt3694760 autoPossibil...
- 12/6/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
99 Homes
Following yesterday’s announcement of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival’s In-Competition films, the festival has released its lineup of Spotlight, Park City At Midnight and New Frontier Films.
Among the lineup is 99 Homes, Ramin Bahrani’s Middle-America drama on foreclosures starring Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield. The film premiered at Toronto and Venice earlier this year and will finally get a release early in 2015. Joining it are the British Independent Film Award-nominated ’71, and the much hyped Eden from Mia Hansen-Løve and Girlhood from Céline Sciamma.
On the At Midnight circuit, the hot ticket is Knock Knock from Director Eli Roth and starring Keanu Reeves in what Deadline describes as a “psychosexual home invasion pic”.
Also included in this announcement is a lineup of New Frontier art installations that will be visible across Park City, including one called Way to Go by artist Vincent Morisset, a big collaborator with Arcade Fire.
Following yesterday’s announcement of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival’s In-Competition films, the festival has released its lineup of Spotlight, Park City At Midnight and New Frontier Films.
Among the lineup is 99 Homes, Ramin Bahrani’s Middle-America drama on foreclosures starring Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield. The film premiered at Toronto and Venice earlier this year and will finally get a release early in 2015. Joining it are the British Independent Film Award-nominated ’71, and the much hyped Eden from Mia Hansen-Løve and Girlhood from Céline Sciamma.
On the At Midnight circuit, the hot ticket is Knock Knock from Director Eli Roth and starring Keanu Reeves in what Deadline describes as a “psychosexual home invasion pic”.
Also included in this announcement is a lineup of New Frontier art installations that will be visible across Park City, including one called Way to Go by artist Vincent Morisset, a big collaborator with Arcade Fire.
- 12/5/2014
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
It’s less than two months until the streets and theaters of Park City are going to be packed with filmmakers, film fans and buyers attending the 2015 Sundance Film Festival from January 22 to February 1. Yesterday the Robert Redford-founded fest announced its U.S. and World Cinema dramatic and documentary competition selections along with the pics in its Next section. Today, with some Andrew Garfield, Keanu Reeves, Greta Gerwig, Kevin Bacon and Charlotte Rampling starrers among them, Sundance revealed its non-competitive Spotlight and Park City At Midnight slates along with the films and installations of the New Frontier category - see the full list below.
Like yesterday’s slate announcements there are some big, big screen names appearing at Sundance this year. Garfield, who has that other gig as certain webslinger, is in the Ramin Bahrani-directed 99 Homes with Michael Shannon and Laura Dern. Having played at Tiff and Venice,...
Like yesterday’s slate announcements there are some big, big screen names appearing at Sundance this year. Garfield, who has that other gig as certain webslinger, is in the Ramin Bahrani-directed 99 Homes with Michael Shannon and Laura Dern. Having played at Tiff and Venice,...
- 12/4/2014
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline
The 2015 selection includes a strong Latin American flavour, led by Eli Roth’s Chilewood psychosexual Park City At Midnight entry Knock Knock starring Keanu Reeves and Lorenza Izzo.
Mexico-based Dark Factory’s thriller Reversal also premieres in the section, while the New Frontier film slate includes Carlos Moreno’s Liveforever from Colombia-Mexico.
Spotlight — Sundance programmers’ tribute to their favourite films of 2014 — includes Argentinean box office smash and Academy Awards submission Wild Tales (pictured) from Damián Szifrón.
Among the Midnight films are Rodney Ascher’s sleep paralysis documentary The Nightmare, Bruce McDonald’s Hellions from Canada, Cop Car from the Us starring Kevin Bacon and Irish-uk forest-set The Hallow from Corin Hardy.
Spotlight selections also feature Yann Demange’s feted UK thriller ‘71, Kornél Mundruczó’s Hungarian drama White God and Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden from France. Canadian auteur Guy Maddin is back withThe Forbidden Room, which he co-directed with Evan Johnson, in New Frontier...
Mexico-based Dark Factory’s thriller Reversal also premieres in the section, while the New Frontier film slate includes Carlos Moreno’s Liveforever from Colombia-Mexico.
Spotlight — Sundance programmers’ tribute to their favourite films of 2014 — includes Argentinean box office smash and Academy Awards submission Wild Tales (pictured) from Damián Szifrón.
Among the Midnight films are Rodney Ascher’s sleep paralysis documentary The Nightmare, Bruce McDonald’s Hellions from Canada, Cop Car from the Us starring Kevin Bacon and Irish-uk forest-set The Hallow from Corin Hardy.
Spotlight selections also feature Yann Demange’s feted UK thriller ‘71, Kornél Mundruczó’s Hungarian drama White God and Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden from France. Canadian auteur Guy Maddin is back withThe Forbidden Room, which he co-directed with Evan Johnson, in New Frontier...
- 12/4/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Was Game Change a hit? You betcha!
The Sarah Palin-centric TV-movie was HBO’s most watched original film in nearly eight years, with the premiere showing alone bringing in an average audience of 2.1 million viewers. A total of 3.6 million viewers tuned in to watch one of the weekend’s four airings.
Game Change delivered the pay cabler’s best TV-movie audience 2004′s Something the Lord Made, which premiered to 2.6 million viewers.
Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…
• Enrique Murciano is set to return to CSI, EW.com reports. The Without a Trace alum will reprise his...
The Sarah Palin-centric TV-movie was HBO’s most watched original film in nearly eight years, with the premiere showing alone bringing in an average audience of 2.1 million viewers. A total of 3.6 million viewers tuned in to watch one of the weekend’s four airings.
Game Change delivered the pay cabler’s best TV-movie audience 2004′s Something the Lord Made, which premiered to 2.6 million viewers.
Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…
• Enrique Murciano is set to return to CSI, EW.com reports. The Without a Trace alum will reprise his...
- 3/13/2012
- by Megan Masters
- TVLine.com
(All Your Dead Are Not Belong To Us...) It hardly seems like a premise that can be mined for entertainment: a Colombian farmer discovers a huge pile of corpses in his field and tries to warn the police. Yet that is exactly what director Carlos Moreno does in his film "Todos Tus Muertes" ("All Your Dead Ones"), a very black comedy thriller which is almost painfully satirical yet remains eerily plausible. This year the International Film Festival Rotterdam included "Todos Tus Muertes" as a Tiger Award Nominee in its program, and although it didn't win (the Tiger Jury and I hardly ever seem to agree the last few years...) it was in my opinion the best contender I saw....
- 3/30/2011
- Screen Anarchy
Without a Trace alum Enrique Murciano is back at the network with a co-starring role opposite Minnie Driver in the hourlong pilot Hail Mary. The project, from Warner Bros., is a buddy P.I. show centered on Mary Beth (Driver), a suburban single mom in Atlanta who teams up with a streetwise hustler to solve crimes. Murciano will play Carlos Moreno, a detective with the Atlanta P.D. working the Major Crimes Division who went to high school with Mary Beth and has had a crush on her ever since. He winds up being Mary Beth's de facto mentor in criminology, although he yearns for something more. In addition to Hail Mary, Murciano, who was pursued for several pilots this season, just landed a multi-episode arc on CBS' hit NCIS as Garza, new love interest for Ziva (Cote de Pablo). He is with Gersh and Untitled. Lost alumna Rebecca Mader,...
- 3/3/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
One of our favorite foreign films at Sundance was All Your Dead Ones, directed by Colombia’s Carlos Moreno. It’s a slightly absurdist fable in which a poor farmer finds a pile of dead bodies dumped in his field on election day. The story is slow-moving but powerful, the acting is wonderful (especially by lead Alvaro Rodriguez and by Jorge Herrema as the mayor), and the cinematography is marvelous (the film won a Special Jury award for cinematography). Moreno sat down with Paste for a few minutes in Park City, just a few hours before he won his award....
- 2/16/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
The Sundance Film Festival Juries have selected the winners of the 2011 awards. Since they give out so many awards, the list is extremely long. We shound be playing catch up on the festival now that it is over and things are a little less chaotic. In the meantime here are the winners.
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival Juries consisted of:
U.S. Documentary Competition: Jeffrey Blitz, Matt Groening, Laura Poitras, Jess Search, Sloane Klevin U.S. Dramatic Competition: America Ferrera, Todd McCarthy, Tim Orr, Kimberly Peirce, Jason Reitman World Cinema Documentary Competition: José Padilha, Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Lucy Walker World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Susanne Bier, Bong Joon-Ho, Rajendra Roy Shorts Competition: Barry Jenkins, Kim Morgan, Sara Bernstein Alfred P. Sloan Award: Jon Amiel, Paula Apsell, Sean Carroll, Clark Gregg -
2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:
The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D.
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival Juries consisted of:
U.S. Documentary Competition: Jeffrey Blitz, Matt Groening, Laura Poitras, Jess Search, Sloane Klevin U.S. Dramatic Competition: America Ferrera, Todd McCarthy, Tim Orr, Kimberly Peirce, Jason Reitman World Cinema Documentary Competition: José Padilha, Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Lucy Walker World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Susanne Bier, Bong Joon-Ho, Rajendra Roy Shorts Competition: Barry Jenkins, Kim Morgan, Sara Bernstein Alfred P. Sloan Award: Jon Amiel, Paula Apsell, Sean Carroll, Clark Gregg -
2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:
The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D.
- 1/30/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The Sundance Institute announced the award winners for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Like Crazy ended up winning the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, and Circumstance won the dramatic audience award. I thought Like Crazy was a good film, but it definitely was not one of my favorites or one of the best movie there. I didn't end up getting to see Circumstance.
Check out the full list of winners below:
2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:
The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and...
Check out the full list of winners below:
2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:
The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and...
- 1/30/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Festivalgoers came out of screenings of Alrick Brown’s “Kinyarwanda” feeling it had changed their lives. The film, the first to come out of Rwanda since the war, won the World Cinema Audience award
By Christy Karras
(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)
It’s time to wrap up the Sundance blog. I’ll miss you … until next year. In the meantime, here are the award winners (presented Saturday night by Tim Blake Nelson, who appeared wearing a snowflake costume, apparently in honor of the sheer cold of much of this year’s festival), along with some thoughts from me on notable films. In short, here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sundance 2011:
The Good
The world cinema categories have long been among my favorite at the festival, for several reasons. The quality is uniformly higher than that of the U.S. entries. The films tend to...
By Christy Karras
(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)
It’s time to wrap up the Sundance blog. I’ll miss you … until next year. In the meantime, here are the award winners (presented Saturday night by Tim Blake Nelson, who appeared wearing a snowflake costume, apparently in honor of the sheer cold of much of this year’s festival), along with some thoughts from me on notable films. In short, here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sundance 2011:
The Good
The world cinema categories have long been among my favorite at the festival, for several reasons. The quality is uniformly higher than that of the U.S. entries. The films tend to...
- 1/30/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Festivalgoers came out of screenings of Alrick Brown’s “Kinyarwanda” feeling it had changed their lives. The film, the first to come out of Rwanda since the war, won the World Cinema Audience award
By Christy Karras
(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)
It’s time to wrap up the Sundance blog. I’ll miss you … until next year. In the meantime, here are the award winners (presented Saturday night by Tim Blake Nelson, who appeared wearing a snowflake costume, apparently in honor of the sheer cold of much of this year’s festival), along with some thoughts from me on notable films. In short, here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sundance 2011:
The Good
The world cinema categories have long been among my favorite at the festival, for several reasons. The quality is uniformly higher than that of the U.S. entries. The films tend to...
By Christy Karras
(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)
It’s time to wrap up the Sundance blog. I’ll miss you … until next year. In the meantime, here are the award winners (presented Saturday night by Tim Blake Nelson, who appeared wearing a snowflake costume, apparently in honor of the sheer cold of much of this year’s festival), along with some thoughts from me on notable films. In short, here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sundance 2011:
The Good
The world cinema categories have long been among my favorite at the festival, for several reasons. The quality is uniformly higher than that of the U.S. entries. The films tend to...
- 1/30/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Tonight the Sundance Institute announced the award winners for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Like Crazy won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, and Circumstance won the dramatic audience award. You can find the full list of winners in the press release after the jump. 2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards Happy, Happy, Hell and Back Again, How to Die in Oregon and Like Crazy Earn Grand Jury Prizes Audience Favorites Include Buck, Circumstance, Kinyawaranda and Senna to.get.her Awarded Best of Next! Audience Award Park City, Ut–The Jury, Audience, Next! and other special award-winners of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony hosted by Tim Blake Nelson (star of Flypaper which premiered in this year’s Premieres section) in Park City, Utah. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Festival website, www.sundance.org/festival. Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from four categories: U.
- 1/30/2011
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners
The Grand Jury Prize:Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship.
The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Hell and Back Again, directed by Danfung Dennis. Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the U.
The Grand Jury Prize:Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship.
The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Hell and Back Again, directed by Danfung Dennis. Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the U.
- 1/30/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Continuing with indieWIRE's "Meet the 2011 Sundance Filmmakers" series, four additional films and filmmakers are being spotlighted from the festival's U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition and World Cinema Documentary Competition. Tuesday's films include Carlos Moreno's "All Your Dead Ones," Asif Kapadia's "Senna," "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey" by Constance Marks and "Here" by Braden King. Soon after the Sundance Film Festival unveiled its 2011 lineup, ...
- 1/4/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Continuing with indieWIRE's "Meet the 2011 Sundance Filmmakers" series, four additional films and filmmakers are being spotlighted from the festival's U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition and World Cinema Documentary Competition. Tuesday's films include Carlos Moreno's "All Your Dead Ones," Asif Kapadia's "Senna," "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey" by Constance Marks and "Here" by Braden King. Soon after the Sundance Film Festival unveiled its 2011 lineup, ...
- 1/4/2011
- Indiewire
As you no doubt noticed, Uncle Creepy has been busily bringing you early news and photos from several of the recently announced films that will be playing at Sundance 2011, both in competition and out. But he hasn't quite covered everything yet so here's a list of all the even slightly genre-related offerings that are a part of the upcoming Sundance film festival (running January 20-30).
In Competition:
On the Ice (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean) - On the snow-covered Arctic tundra, two teenagers try to get away with murder. Cast: Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, Sierra Jade Sampson. (More thriller than horror, we still thought it worth mentioning).
Take Shelter (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Nichols) - A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he's feared his whole life.
In Competition:
On the Ice (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean) - On the snow-covered Arctic tundra, two teenagers try to get away with murder. Cast: Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, Sierra Jade Sampson. (More thriller than horror, we still thought it worth mentioning).
Take Shelter (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Nichols) - A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he's feared his whole life.
- 12/3/2010
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
It has been another great year of film. I still have but seven movies left to watch before I complete my “Best of the Year List” but we are already looking towards 2011.
The 57 feature films selected for the four competition programs of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, and the titles include some exciting works from returning filmmakers. While the lineup isn’t has loaded with big names it does feature the return of James Marsh whose documentary Man on Wire won the Grand Jury Prize at the fest in 2008. Some interesting movies we should mention that appear on the list are Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos), Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) Rashaad Ernesto Green‘s Gun Hill Road, Sean Durkin‘s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean‘s On the Ice, Dee Rees...
The 57 feature films selected for the four competition programs of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, and the titles include some exciting works from returning filmmakers. While the lineup isn’t has loaded with big names it does feature the return of James Marsh whose documentary Man on Wire won the Grand Jury Prize at the fest in 2008. Some interesting movies we should mention that appear on the list are Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos), Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) Rashaad Ernesto Green‘s Gun Hill Road, Sean Durkin‘s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean‘s On the Ice, Dee Rees...
- 12/2/2010
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Agnes Kittelsen in Anne Sewitsky's Happy Happy World Cinema Dramatic Competition This year's 14 films were selected from 1,073 international narrative feature submissions. Abraxas / Japan (Director: Naoki Kato; Screenwriters: Dai Sako and Naoki Kato) – After botching a speech on career guidance at a local high school, a depressed Zen monk with a heavy metal past realizes that only music can revive his spirit. Cast: Suneohair, Rie Tomosaka, Manami Honjou, Ryouta Murai, Kaoru Kobayashi. International Premiere All Your Dead Ones (Todos Tus Muertos) / Colombia (Director Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno) – One morning, a peasant wakes to find a pile of bodies in the middle of his crops. When he goes to the authorities, he quickly realizes that the dead ones are a problem nobody wants to deal with. Cast: Alvaro Rodríguez, Jorge Herrera, Martha Marquez, Harold Devasten, John Alex Castillo. World Premiere The Cinema Hold Up [...]...
- 12/1/2010
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
It's the first day in December, and whether you want to recognize it or not, January isn't too far away. Today the awesome folks at the Sundance Film Festival unveiled their first list of films, international and domestic, which will be presented at the festival. Check it out, and yes there are more to come. Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films.
- 12/1/2010
- LRMonline.com
As we’re getting ready to wrap up another great year of film, some are already looking to 2011 and what it will have to offer and what better way to look a head than with the first round of titles for the year’s first big festival: Sundance.
The list of festival titles isn’t as loaded with as many big name titles as have made the cut in previous years but there’s are definitely some interesting film in the competition line-up including Mike Cahill’s Another Earth which takes place on the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth (wicked!), Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos) about a guy who finds a pile of dead bodies in the middle of his crops, Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) along with the Canadian/Japanese co-production Vampire.
Loads of great stuff on the line-up.
The list of festival titles isn’t as loaded with as many big name titles as have made the cut in previous years but there’s are definitely some interesting film in the competition line-up including Mike Cahill’s Another Earth which takes place on the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth (wicked!), Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos) about a guy who finds a pile of dead bodies in the middle of his crops, Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) along with the Canadian/Japanese co-production Vampire.
Loads of great stuff on the line-up.
- 12/1/2010
- QuietEarth.us
The announcement of the movies playing the 2011 Sundance Film Festival is like looking into our film futures. It's December and most movie fans are looking back at the last 12 months, picking out award winners, writing top ten lists, and chances are we haven't even heard of the Sundance films. They're just titles, people, words on a computer screen. Then in January they unspool on screens across Park City, Utah and become something more. Finally, months later, these are the movies we discuss with our friends and choose on ballots at awards parties. Yet we get to read about them now, a year in advance. Last year at this time, who had heard of Four Lions, Catfish, Exit Through The Gift Shop, Blue Valentine, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, Restrepo or Animal Kingdom? Sundance, that's who. All those films screened at the 2010 festival and now many have become not only personal favorites,...
- 12/1/2010
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
The Sundance Film Festival has announced the films in competition for the awesome and cold film festival running January 20th through January 30th 2011 in Park City, Utah.
This will be my third year attending the festival, and I'm really excited for it! There's a great line-up of films this year! Check out the list below!
From the press release:
Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.
This will be my third year attending the festival, and I'm really excited for it! There's a great line-up of films this year! Check out the list below!
From the press release:
Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.
- 12/1/2010
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at http://www.sundance.org/.
On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival said, .The Festival is a challenge to narrowly define. It is all at once exciting, fun, crazy, engaging, visceral, and sometimes even painful. We can explain storylines,...
On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival said, .The Festival is a challenge to narrowly define. It is all at once exciting, fun, crazy, engaging, visceral, and sometimes even painful. We can explain storylines,...
- 12/1/2010
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Here's the first Sundance line-up announcement, of the fiction and nonfiction feature competitions, both U.S. and world. A few things of interest, on first scan: Vera Farmiga's directorial debut "Higher Ground," in which she also stars; "The Ledge," which sounds like this year's try for "Buried"; Iñupiaq Arctic thriller "On the Ice"; "Terri," the new film from "Momma's Man" director; Michael Rapaport's doc on A Tribe Called Quest "Beats, Rhymes and Life"; doc about the beloved Muppet "Being Elmo"; "If A Tree Falls," a new film from "Street Fight"'s Marshall Curry; Paddy Considine's feature directorial debut "Tyrannosaur"; and "Vampire," the new film from Japan's Shunji Iwai, a favorite of mine.
Descriptions courtesy of the festival:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) - On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy...
Descriptions courtesy of the festival:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) - On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy...
- 12/1/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
HollywoodNews.com: The 2011 Sundance Film Festival has just announced its lineup for January. John Cooper, director of Sundance Film Festival, said, “With more than 10,000 films submitted this year, we have had to make some very tough choices. Yet in the end, I’m excited about the way the program has come together. It’s an incredible honor to introduce these films and filmmaker…these are the stories that will define not only our Festival, but also the cultural year ahead.”
Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
On Day One, the Festival will...
Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
On Day One, the Festival will...
- 12/1/2010
- by Linny Lum
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Film Stage is headed to Sundance this year and the festival has just announced its line-up. With over 10,00 entries here is what they narrowed it down to. Most initially notable is Vera Farmiga‘s directorial debut, Higher Ground (pictured above). There is a clear lack of stars as NYTimes notes, so the excitement of discovery is back in full swing. The fest will also announce 6 more out-of-competition categories tomorrow. Check out the full list below via the official site.
Us Dramatic
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) – On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers, who begin an unlikely love affair. Cast: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor, Flint Beverage.
Benavides Born (Director: Amy Wendel; Screenwriters: Daniel Meisel and Amy Wendel) – A high school senior in a forgotten town...
Us Dramatic
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) – On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers, who begin an unlikely love affair. Cast: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor, Flint Beverage.
Benavides Born (Director: Amy Wendel; Screenwriters: Daniel Meisel and Amy Wendel) – A high school senior in a forgotten town...
- 12/1/2010
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Well, here they are – the Sundance Film Festival class of 2011, split up into 4 categories as indicated by the headers below. In future posts, I’ll be going over the complete list, highlighting titles that need to be, taking into consideration this blog’s specific interests.
Of note, some titles that I listed on my list of 2011 black films on our radar… Gun Hill Road, Rashaad Ernesto Green’s debut feature (which I actually saw a cut of over the weekend, and gave a thumbs up to; but I’ll talk more about it in detail when the time comes), Dee Rees’ Pariah, and Alrick Brown’s Kinyarwanda. Further, titles we’ve previously covered here… Beats, Rhymes and Life, Michael Rapaport’s documentary on hip-hop legends, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Redemption of General Butt Naked, a documentary on the Liberian warlord turned evangelist.
One film I’m surprised isn...
Of note, some titles that I listed on my list of 2011 black films on our radar… Gun Hill Road, Rashaad Ernesto Green’s debut feature (which I actually saw a cut of over the weekend, and gave a thumbs up to; but I’ll talk more about it in detail when the time comes), Dee Rees’ Pariah, and Alrick Brown’s Kinyarwanda. Further, titles we’ve previously covered here… Beats, Rhymes and Life, Michael Rapaport’s documentary on hip-hop legends, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Redemption of General Butt Naked, a documentary on the Liberian warlord turned evangelist.
One film I’m surprised isn...
- 12/1/2010
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
The Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Tomorrow will see the announcement of the six out-of-competition sections, which will all screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival which runs from January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films. 92 films at the Festival will be world premieres.
The films featured in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic and World Cinema Documentary Competition are listed directly below and I've gone through and highlighted a few of the bigger known names to check out. However, Sundance has been introducing us to a...
For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films. 92 films at the Festival will be world premieres.
The films featured in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic and World Cinema Documentary Competition are listed directly below and I've gone through and highlighted a few of the bigger known names to check out. However, Sundance has been introducing us to a...
- 12/1/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The French sales/production company is supplying this year's Cannes fest with a trio of titles, but you might find me doing cartwheels more for a project that hasn't even began lensing in Marjane Satrapi's Waiting for Azrael. Red, white and green helmer Daniele Luchetti returns to the French festival for the umpteenth time with La Nostra Vita (see pic above) and Takeshi Kitano will break decibel levels with Outrage --- the film's trailer says it all. Celluloid Dreams' is also repping something for doc enthusiasts and tourists who love Paris: Fred Wiseman's Crazy Horse. If I Want To Whistle I Whistle by Florin Serban - Completed La Nostra Vita by Daniele Luchetti - Completed Outrage by Takeshi Kitano - Completed REVOLUCIÓN by Carlos Reygadas - Completed We Are The Night by Dennis Gansel - Post-Production A Prophet (Un Prophete) by Jacques Audiard - Completed Apart Together (Tuan Yuan...
- 5/12/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Without a doubt, the biggest release of the week is the Ak 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa boxed set coming from The Criterion Collection. The 25 disc set (amazon) has been put together for the occasion of the centenary of his birth and is the largest Kurosawa collection ever assembled. It includes most films spanning his 50 year career (1943 to 1993). At $400 retail however, I'll probably have to settle for revisiting my 3-disc Seven Samurai set for now.
Another big release this week is Home Movie (amazon), Christopher Denham's horror festival favorite. It garnered some amazing reviews when it played well over a year ago, including a 10/10 by our own Rick Mcgrath, so it's gotta be good.
Another long awaited release is Tkashi Miike's cult shocker, Gozu (amazon), which is getting a 2-Disc Collector's Edition.
Carlos Moreno's gangland drama, Dog Eat Dog (amazon), about an "agoraphobic kingpin of the Columbian underworld...
Another big release this week is Home Movie (amazon), Christopher Denham's horror festival favorite. It garnered some amazing reviews when it played well over a year ago, including a 10/10 by our own Rick Mcgrath, so it's gotta be good.
Another long awaited release is Tkashi Miike's cult shocker, Gozu (amazon), which is getting a 2-Disc Collector's Edition.
Carlos Moreno's gangland drama, Dog Eat Dog (amazon), about an "agoraphobic kingpin of the Columbian underworld...
- 12/8/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Year: 2008
Release date: Unknown
Director: Carlos Moreno
Writer: Alonso Torres / Carlos Moreno
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Ben Austwick
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
"Dog Eat Dog" is Columbian documentary maker Carlos Moreno's first feature, an unusual crime thriller that although owing a lot to its English language genre contemporaries manages to maintain a distinct flavor, one which isn't necessarily that of Latin American cinema as we know it. Themes of paranoia, individuality, chance and Voodoo witchcraft intertwine in unexpected ways, with tight direction and surprisingly assured performances from its amateur cast making for an impressive and original debut.
A basic, even cliched plot sees gangster Victor Peñaranda steal a bag of his boss's money in his Medallin fiefdom, and he is sent on a blind mission to Cali where fellow gangsters subtly probe him on the whereabouts of the money. During his stay, bizarre phone calls to the hotel...
Release date: Unknown
Director: Carlos Moreno
Writer: Alonso Torres / Carlos Moreno
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Ben Austwick
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
"Dog Eat Dog" is Columbian documentary maker Carlos Moreno's first feature, an unusual crime thriller that although owing a lot to its English language genre contemporaries manages to maintain a distinct flavor, one which isn't necessarily that of Latin American cinema as we know it. Themes of paranoia, individuality, chance and Voodoo witchcraft intertwine in unexpected ways, with tight direction and surprisingly assured performances from its amateur cast making for an impressive and original debut.
A basic, even cliched plot sees gangster Victor Peñaranda steal a bag of his boss's money in his Medallin fiefdom, and he is sent on a blind mission to Cali where fellow gangsters subtly probe him on the whereabouts of the money. During his stay, bizarre phone calls to the hotel...
- 12/9/2008
- QuietEarth.us
A record 67 countries have submitted films for consideration for best foreign-language film for the 81st Academy Awards, Academy president Sid Ganis said Friday. Nominations will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, and the awards will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 22.
The complete list of foreign-language submissions follows. For more details on some of the films, visit THR.com/foreignoscars.
Afghanistan, "Opium War," Siddiq Barmak
Albania, "The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider," Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani
Algeria, "Masquerades," Lyes Salem
Argentina, "Lion's Den," Pablo Trapero
Austria, "Revanche," Gotz Spielmann
Azerbaijan, "Fortress," Shamil Nacafzada
Bangladesh, "Aha!," Enamul Karim Nirjhar
Belgium, "Eldorado," Bouli Lanners
Bosnia and Herzegovina, "Snow," Aida Begic
Brazil, "Last Stop 174," Bruno Barreto
Bulgaria, "Zift," Javor Gardev
Canada, "The Necessities of Life," Benoit Pilon
Chile, "Tony Manero," Pablo Larrain
China, "Dream Weavers," Jun Gu
Colombia, "Dog Eat Dog," Carlos Moreno
Croatia, "No One's Son," Arsen Anton Ostojic
Czech Republic, "The Karamazovs," Petr Zelenka
Denmark,...
The complete list of foreign-language submissions follows. For more details on some of the films, visit THR.com/foreignoscars.
Afghanistan, "Opium War," Siddiq Barmak
Albania, "The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider," Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani
Algeria, "Masquerades," Lyes Salem
Argentina, "Lion's Den," Pablo Trapero
Austria, "Revanche," Gotz Spielmann
Azerbaijan, "Fortress," Shamil Nacafzada
Bangladesh, "Aha!," Enamul Karim Nirjhar
Belgium, "Eldorado," Bouli Lanners
Bosnia and Herzegovina, "Snow," Aida Begic
Brazil, "Last Stop 174," Bruno Barreto
Bulgaria, "Zift," Javor Gardev
Canada, "The Necessities of Life," Benoit Pilon
Chile, "Tony Manero," Pablo Larrain
China, "Dream Weavers," Jun Gu
Colombia, "Dog Eat Dog," Carlos Moreno
Croatia, "No One's Son," Arsen Anton Ostojic
Czech Republic, "The Karamazovs," Petr Zelenka
Denmark,...
- 10/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I haven't been moved at all to do an Oscar Update because nothing has happened that warrants any kind of real attention. Either predictions are being made on films that haven't been seen or much ado is being made about nothing. However, I can't make it seem like I have abandoned "The Contenders" section so I was able to pull a Ton of little tidbits together and bring you what I believe to be a rather impressive update if I may say so myself. We can start with a few of the Oscar contenders I saw recently. I reviewed Blindness (D), Appaloosa (B), The Duchess (C-) and Miracle at St. Anna (D+). Obviously I wasn't all that impressed with three of them and those three are going to struggle for an Oscar nom outside of costume and art noms for The Duchess. As far as any topline awards go, all four are out of contention.
- 10/4/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
<p><img src="img/news/sep08/edgarramirez.jpg" align="right" alt="Edgar Ramirez hunts satanists in Viene el Jaguar" style="padding:6px"><I>The Bourne Ultimatum</I> star Edgar Ramirez is prepping to question his faith for a lead role in <I>Viene el Jaguar</I>, a new thriller being produced by Antorcha Films according to this morning’s Variety. </p> <p>Ramirez will play a tortured former priest who is chasing down an exorcist in the Colombian jungle. The story is based around the recent discovery that some underage Colombians were painting their nails black, practicing Satanic rites and feasting on human flesh to get rid of the spirits of villagers they had killed. </p> <p><I>Dog Eat Dog</I> helmer Carlos Moreno will direct from a script he co-wrote with his partner on that film, Alonso Torres. I wonder if they’re basing this all in reality or if there’ll actually be a Satanic presence when all is said and done...</p> <p>- <b><a href="/form.php?id=5" target="blank">Johnny Butane</a></b></p> <p><center><a href="http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/dread-centrals-poster-store">CHECK OUT DREAD CENTRAL’S NEW POSTER STORE!</A><br /> Got news? <a href=" /form.php?id=12" target="blank "><b>Click here</b> </a>to submit it!
- 9/26/2008
- by Johnny Butane
- DreadCentral.com
New York -- The fifth annual Miami International Film Festival has announced a tribute for director Luc Besson, participants in the Miami Encuentros program for emerging Latino directors, the Reel Education Seminar Series and 16 features in its World & Ibero-American Cinema documentary competition.
Besson, the French helmer of "La Femme Nikita" and "The Fifth Element," will appear at the Career Achievement Tribute and present the East Coast premiere of his tenth film, the black-and-white fable "Angel-a."
The Encuentros program, presented by Eastman Kodak and Entertainment Partners, will give filmmakers from nine Latino projects the chance to present new work to producers, agents, TV stations and distributors. The features set to be screened include Andre Ristum's Brazilian "Square Man," Carlos Moreno's Colombian "Dog Eat Dog," Gonzalo Justiniano's Chilean "Lokas" and Adrian Biniez's Argentinian "Giant." Paramount Vantage's Matt Brodlie, Warner Independent Pictures' Paul Federbush, Kodak's Anne Hubbell, Cinetic Media's Sarah Lash and Wma's Eric Rovner and Jerome Duboz are among the 22 delegates participating as filmmaker advisors.
This year's World & Ibero-American Cinema documentary feature contenders include Tali Shemesh's Holocaust survivor portrait "The Cemetery Club," Marco Williams' tale of post-Civil War discrimination, "Banished," John Fiege's immigration study "Mississippi Chicken" and Jennifer Baichwal's Toronto International Film Festival prizewinner "Manufactured Landscapes."
The winner will receive a $25,000 award sponsored by the John S. and James L. Night Foundation. Two other competitions for dramatic features, World Cinema and Ibero-American Cinema, will also award each winning film a $25,000 prize.
The 2007 World Cinema dramatic features jury includes writer/director Raoul Peck and producers Christine Vachon and Bernardo Zupnik. Sarajevo Film Festival programmer Howard Feinstein and producers Bertha Navarro and Jim Stark will judge the Ibero-American Cinema dramatic competition. American Documentary vp Cynthia Lopez, Film Forum programmer Mike Maggiore and acquisitions exec Rob Williams will judge the World & Ibero-American docu competition.
The fest's Reel Education Seminars Series will feature a hefty 26 panels. including "Agents, Packaging & Financing -- At What Stage Do I Look for Representation?" with The Collective's Shaun Redick, CAA's Roeg Sutherland, Endeavor Independent's Graham Taylor and UTA's Keya Khayatian. Other discussions include "Pitch to the Pros --? Writing Treatments That Sell" with Silverwood Films' Lynette Howell and UTA's Jon Huddle, "Documentaries --? Why Have They Become So Popular Recently?" with Submarine's Josh Braun and ThinkFilm's Daniel Katz, and "Us Distribution" with Brodlie, Federbush, Focus Features' Jason Resnick and IFC Films' Arianna Bocco.
The festival, presented by Miami Dade College, runs March 2-11.
Besson, the French helmer of "La Femme Nikita" and "The Fifth Element," will appear at the Career Achievement Tribute and present the East Coast premiere of his tenth film, the black-and-white fable "Angel-a."
The Encuentros program, presented by Eastman Kodak and Entertainment Partners, will give filmmakers from nine Latino projects the chance to present new work to producers, agents, TV stations and distributors. The features set to be screened include Andre Ristum's Brazilian "Square Man," Carlos Moreno's Colombian "Dog Eat Dog," Gonzalo Justiniano's Chilean "Lokas" and Adrian Biniez's Argentinian "Giant." Paramount Vantage's Matt Brodlie, Warner Independent Pictures' Paul Federbush, Kodak's Anne Hubbell, Cinetic Media's Sarah Lash and Wma's Eric Rovner and Jerome Duboz are among the 22 delegates participating as filmmaker advisors.
This year's World & Ibero-American Cinema documentary feature contenders include Tali Shemesh's Holocaust survivor portrait "The Cemetery Club," Marco Williams' tale of post-Civil War discrimination, "Banished," John Fiege's immigration study "Mississippi Chicken" and Jennifer Baichwal's Toronto International Film Festival prizewinner "Manufactured Landscapes."
The winner will receive a $25,000 award sponsored by the John S. and James L. Night Foundation. Two other competitions for dramatic features, World Cinema and Ibero-American Cinema, will also award each winning film a $25,000 prize.
The 2007 World Cinema dramatic features jury includes writer/director Raoul Peck and producers Christine Vachon and Bernardo Zupnik. Sarajevo Film Festival programmer Howard Feinstein and producers Bertha Navarro and Jim Stark will judge the Ibero-American Cinema dramatic competition. American Documentary vp Cynthia Lopez, Film Forum programmer Mike Maggiore and acquisitions exec Rob Williams will judge the World & Ibero-American docu competition.
The fest's Reel Education Seminars Series will feature a hefty 26 panels. including "Agents, Packaging & Financing -- At What Stage Do I Look for Representation?" with The Collective's Shaun Redick, CAA's Roeg Sutherland, Endeavor Independent's Graham Taylor and UTA's Keya Khayatian. Other discussions include "Pitch to the Pros --? Writing Treatments That Sell" with Silverwood Films' Lynette Howell and UTA's Jon Huddle, "Documentaries --? Why Have They Become So Popular Recently?" with Submarine's Josh Braun and ThinkFilm's Daniel Katz, and "Us Distribution" with Brodlie, Federbush, Focus Features' Jason Resnick and IFC Films' Arianna Bocco.
The festival, presented by Miami Dade College, runs March 2-11.
- 8/18/2008
- by By Gregg Goldstein
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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