Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner will serve as jury president of the jury, or Concorso Internazionale, at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, organizers said on Thursday.
She will oversee the jury that decides the winner of the Pardo d’Oro – the Golden Leopard – at the Swiss film festival, taking place Aug 7-17.
Hausner began her career in short films after studying at the Film Academy of Vienna, creating austere and distinctive films. Locarno was the first international festival at which Hausner’s work made an impression, taking home the main prize in the section Pardi di Domani for the short Flora in 1997.
She moved to Cannes with Inter-View (1999), her 45-minute graduation film, and later co-founded the production company coop99 which, besides Hausner’s own films and those of the other co-founders (Barbara Albert, Antonin Svoboda, and Martin Gschlacht), has also gone on to produce film such as Maren Ade’s Toni...
She will oversee the jury that decides the winner of the Pardo d’Oro – the Golden Leopard – at the Swiss film festival, taking place Aug 7-17.
Hausner began her career in short films after studying at the Film Academy of Vienna, creating austere and distinctive films. Locarno was the first international festival at which Hausner’s work made an impression, taking home the main prize in the section Pardi di Domani for the short Flora in 1997.
She moved to Cannes with Inter-View (1999), her 45-minute graduation film, and later co-founded the production company coop99 which, besides Hausner’s own films and those of the other co-founders (Barbara Albert, Antonin Svoboda, and Martin Gschlacht), has also gone on to produce film such as Maren Ade’s Toni...
- 5/16/2024
- by Lily Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner will serve as jury president at the upcoming Locarno Film Festival, running August 7-17.
Hausner and her jury will hand out the festival’s top honor – the Golden Leopard.
Born in Vienna in 1972, Hausner has a history at the Swiss Festival. She picked up the main prize in Locarno’s Pardi di Domani section for the short Flora in 1997. Following Flora, she screened Inter-View, her 45-minute graduation film, at Cannes in 1999. She has gone on to screen several feature films in competition at Cannes, including Lovely Rita (2001) and Hotel (2004).
Hausner’s other credits include Lourdes (2009), Amour Fou (2014), her English-language debut Little Joe (2019), and last year’s Club Zero (2023).
“It is a great honor and also a great pleasure for me to preside over the main jury of this year’s Locarno Film Festival”, said Hausner.
“The responsibility I feel is to respectfully hear the various opinions of my fellow jury members,...
Hausner and her jury will hand out the festival’s top honor – the Golden Leopard.
Born in Vienna in 1972, Hausner has a history at the Swiss Festival. She picked up the main prize in Locarno’s Pardi di Domani section for the short Flora in 1997. Following Flora, she screened Inter-View, her 45-minute graduation film, at Cannes in 1999. She has gone on to screen several feature films in competition at Cannes, including Lovely Rita (2001) and Hotel (2004).
Hausner’s other credits include Lourdes (2009), Amour Fou (2014), her English-language debut Little Joe (2019), and last year’s Club Zero (2023).
“It is a great honor and also a great pleasure for me to preside over the main jury of this year’s Locarno Film Festival”, said Hausner.
“The responsibility I feel is to respectfully hear the various opinions of my fellow jury members,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner is to serve as jury president for the international competition at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, which takes place August 7-17.
Locarno was the first international festival at which Hausner’s work made an impression, taking home the main prize in the Pardi di Domani section for her short Flora in 1997.
Hausner’s first feature films Lovely Rita (2001) and Hotel (2004) both premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, while Lourdes (2009) debuted in competition at the Venice Film Festival and took home the Fipresci prize. Her subsequent films include Un Certain Regard premiere Amour Fou (2014), and...
Locarno was the first international festival at which Hausner’s work made an impression, taking home the main prize in the Pardi di Domani section for her short Flora in 1997.
Hausner’s first feature films Lovely Rita (2001) and Hotel (2004) both premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, while Lourdes (2009) debuted in competition at the Venice Film Festival and took home the Fipresci prize. Her subsequent films include Un Certain Regard premiere Amour Fou (2014), and...
- 5/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
There’s a new diet trend with sinister intentions, courtesy of Jessica Hausner’s latest dark comedy “Club Zero.”
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, stars Mia Wasikowska as a nefarious teacher who encourages her students to stop eating altogether. The reason? Other than weight loss and pseudo-environmental concerns, it’s a tactic to gain new cult members.
“Club Zero” competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes before going on to become a Best Picture nominee at both the Sitges and Munich International Film Festivals.
The official synopsis reads: “At an international boarding school, an unassuming yet rigorous Miss Novak (Wasikowska) joins the teaching staff to instruct a new class on ‘conscious eating.’ Her impressionable teenage students each have their own reasons for joining the class – to improve fitness, reduce their carbon footprint, or get extra credit. Although early lectures focus on mindful consumption, Miss Novak...
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, stars Mia Wasikowska as a nefarious teacher who encourages her students to stop eating altogether. The reason? Other than weight loss and pseudo-environmental concerns, it’s a tactic to gain new cult members.
“Club Zero” competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes before going on to become a Best Picture nominee at both the Sitges and Munich International Film Festivals.
The official synopsis reads: “At an international boarding school, an unassuming yet rigorous Miss Novak (Wasikowska) joins the teaching staff to instruct a new class on ‘conscious eating.’ Her impressionable teenage students each have their own reasons for joining the class – to improve fitness, reduce their carbon footprint, or get extra credit. Although early lectures focus on mindful consumption, Miss Novak...
- 2/6/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to Jessica Hausner’s thought-provoking dark comedy “Club Zero,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival.
Represented in international markets by Coproduction Office, “Club Zero” stars Mia Wasikowska as an eating instructor at an elite boarding school who exerts a dangerous influence over her students. When parents become concerned, calling for the firing of the teacher, it’s already too late as students are willing to go to a point of no return.
“Cults have been and still are a crucial issue in western societies,” Hausner said. “We believe in nutrition ideas like we used to believe in God, and I’m very happy that Film Movement will be bringing ‘Club Zero’ to U.S. audiences soon. Bon Appétit!”
The film previously won accolades at Munich and Sitges, and played at Karlovy Vary, Chicago, Busan, Sarajevo, Jerusalem, Sydney and Melbourne film festivals.
“Since...
Represented in international markets by Coproduction Office, “Club Zero” stars Mia Wasikowska as an eating instructor at an elite boarding school who exerts a dangerous influence over her students. When parents become concerned, calling for the firing of the teacher, it’s already too late as students are willing to go to a point of no return.
“Cults have been and still are a crucial issue in western societies,” Hausner said. “We believe in nutrition ideas like we used to believe in God, and I’m very happy that Film Movement will be bringing ‘Club Zero’ to U.S. audiences soon. Bon Appétit!”
The film previously won accolades at Munich and Sitges, and played at Karlovy Vary, Chicago, Busan, Sarajevo, Jerusalem, Sydney and Melbourne film festivals.
“Since...
- 10/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Disney+ Asia Slate Takes Shape
Disney+ has set an Aug. 9 upload date for Korean series “Moving” from webtoon pioneer Kang Full.
The previously announced title forms part of a 20-component slate of films and series from East Asia that will release on the Disney-backed streaming platform in the second half of 2023 and through 2024.
Also from Korea is “The Worst of Evil,” a detective series in which a rural policemen is brought to the big city to bring down a DJ dealing in a potent new drug. It stars Ji Changwook, “Squid Game” actor Wi Hajun and Lim Semi.
Highlights from Japan include “Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku Arc,” the latest instalments of a popular anime franchise, and the previously announced “Dragons of Wonderhatch,” a hybrid story set in both the “real world” and an anime land where dragons and humans coexist. The multi-dimensional story stars Nakajima Sena, Okudaira Daiken and Mackenyu.
The...
Disney+ has set an Aug. 9 upload date for Korean series “Moving” from webtoon pioneer Kang Full.
The previously announced title forms part of a 20-component slate of films and series from East Asia that will release on the Disney-backed streaming platform in the second half of 2023 and through 2024.
Also from Korea is “The Worst of Evil,” a detective series in which a rural policemen is brought to the big city to bring down a DJ dealing in a potent new drug. It stars Ji Changwook, “Squid Game” actor Wi Hajun and Lim Semi.
Highlights from Japan include “Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku Arc,” the latest instalments of a popular anime franchise, and the previously announced “Dragons of Wonderhatch,” a hybrid story set in both the “real world” and an anime land where dragons and humans coexist. The multi-dimensional story stars Nakajima Sena, Okudaira Daiken and Mackenyu.
The...
- 7/10/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
She officially graduated to the main competition section in Cannes with Little Joe in 2019 she now cements her status there with her latest film Club Zero. Previously, Jessica Hausner had premiered 2001’s Lovely Rita, 2004’s Hotel and Amour Fou (2014) in the Un Certain Regard section and with 2009’s Lourdes being the only non-Croisette item and preeming at the Venice Film Festival. This odd ball film will likely win her no new fans.
Starring Mia Wasikowska as Miss Novak, who joins the staff of an international boarding school to teach a conscious eating class. She instructs that eating less is healthy.…...
Starring Mia Wasikowska as Miss Novak, who joins the staff of an international boarding school to teach a conscious eating class. She instructs that eating less is healthy.…...
- 5/25/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Jessica Hausner’s film, which avoids spelling out its obvious subject, focuses on a group of schoolgirls encouraged to live without food
Jessica Hausner is the Austrian director whose elegant, refrigerated style has made her a Cannes favourite and her 2009 film Lourdes, about the ordinary world of miracles, is a 21st-century classic. But her recent move to English-language movies has resulted in some nebulous work in the shape of her 2019 picture Little Joe, and so it has proved again with this exasperating and baffling movie.
Club Zero is a strenuous, pointless non-satire which fails to say anything of value about its ostensible subjects: body image, eating disorders and western overconsumption. The “trigger warning” at the beginning of the film about these issues is fatuous, whether intended ironically or not. The deadpan mannerisms are glib, the line readings are torpid in the wrong way and the laborious drama leads us round...
Jessica Hausner is the Austrian director whose elegant, refrigerated style has made her a Cannes favourite and her 2009 film Lourdes, about the ordinary world of miracles, is a 21st-century classic. But her recent move to English-language movies has resulted in some nebulous work in the shape of her 2019 picture Little Joe, and so it has proved again with this exasperating and baffling movie.
Club Zero is a strenuous, pointless non-satire which fails to say anything of value about its ostensible subjects: body image, eating disorders and western overconsumption. The “trigger warning” at the beginning of the film about these issues is fatuous, whether intended ironically or not. The deadpan mannerisms are glib, the line readings are torpid in the wrong way and the laborious drama leads us round...
- 5/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Jessica Hausner’s English-language film stars Mia Wasikowska, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Elsa Zylberstein.
Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office has added new members to Club Zero, Jessica Hausner’s buzzy sixth feature in Competition here at Cannes.
The English-speaking drama set at an elite boarding school continues its global sales sweep, adding Neue Visionen in Germany, Sphere Films in Canada, Aerofilms in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Folkets Bio in Sweden, Another World in Norway, Obala in Bosnia, McF in Former Yugoslavia, A Plus in Bulgaria, Arthouse Traffic in Ukraine, Trt Sinema in Turkey, Shaw in Singapore, Sahamongkol in Thailand and Aardwolf for airline rights.
Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office has added new members to Club Zero, Jessica Hausner’s buzzy sixth feature in Competition here at Cannes.
The English-speaking drama set at an elite boarding school continues its global sales sweep, adding Neue Visionen in Germany, Sphere Films in Canada, Aerofilms in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Folkets Bio in Sweden, Another World in Norway, Obala in Bosnia, McF in Former Yugoslavia, A Plus in Bulgaria, Arthouse Traffic in Ukraine, Trt Sinema in Turkey, Shaw in Singapore, Sahamongkol in Thailand and Aardwolf for airline rights.
- 5/17/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska earned a reputation in the mid-2010s for insidious roles in indies like “Stoker” and “Maps to the Stars.” After Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” films found her briefly courting the mainstream, she largely faded from view to pursue passion projects and more prickly, socially conscious fare like last year’s “Blueback” and this year’s “Club Zero.” The new film set in a boarding school and around new teacher Miss Novak’s (Wasikowska) unusual methods makes Austrian director Jessica Hausner one of seven women in a record-breaking competition section. Within the walls of the boarding school, it’s not long before other teachers notice their new hire is teaching young students of the Gen Z set that eating less is somehow healthier.
Written and directed by Hausner, “Club Zero” is about many things, namely how the idealism of...
Written and directed by Hausner, “Club Zero” is about many things, namely how the idealism of...
- 5/16/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy have also joined the cast, as the UK shoot commences.
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
- 8/12/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Fathom Events and Spain’s Bosco Films are partnering to bring faith-based documentary “Vivo” (“Alive”) to about 700 North American locations on April 25.
Produced by Hakuna Films and directed by Jorge Pareja, “Alive” narrates four real-life stories filmed in Spain of people who tell how Christian’s Eucharist transformed their lives.
“Alive,” which previously bowed by Bosco in Spain and 14 Latin American territories, marks the Spanish indie distributor’s leap into the international market, where it’s been closing a bundle of exhibition agreements with local and international operators.
The peak in “Alive’s” international theatrical career comes with the U.S. release after the Fathom Events deal.
“In the event cinema business, we see that people come to the theater in groups, having a true community experience,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events.
“To be able to bring this same experience to the Spanish speaking community is very important to us.
Produced by Hakuna Films and directed by Jorge Pareja, “Alive” narrates four real-life stories filmed in Spain of people who tell how Christian’s Eucharist transformed their lives.
“Alive,” which previously bowed by Bosco in Spain and 14 Latin American territories, marks the Spanish indie distributor’s leap into the international market, where it’s been closing a bundle of exhibition agreements with local and international operators.
The peak in “Alive’s” international theatrical career comes with the U.S. release after the Fathom Events deal.
“In the event cinema business, we see that people come to the theater in groups, having a true community experience,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events.
“To be able to bring this same experience to the Spanish speaking community is very important to us.
- 4/4/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
‘Rookies’ Directors Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai on Bringing Parisian Hip-Hop to the Big Screen
Hip hop is a popular pastime in Paris and its suburbs, having now made its way into many of the city’s high schools. At The Turgot high school in central Paris, hip hop is now part of the curriculum, as the Berlinale documentary “Rookies” (“Allons Enfants”), by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, shows.
This compelling film follows some of the school’s most talented hip hop aficionados train and battle under the watchful eye of a demanding coach. It served as the opening film this year for the Generation section at the Berlin festival, a sidebar dedicated to new films exploring the lives of teens and children. The film is a testament to the power of embracing raw talent and turning it into potential.
Producer-director Demaizière is best known for the documentaries “Lourdes” and “Rocco,” both of which he collaborated on with Teurlai who is an editor and director.
This compelling film follows some of the school’s most talented hip hop aficionados train and battle under the watchful eye of a demanding coach. It served as the opening film this year for the Generation section at the Berlin festival, a sidebar dedicated to new films exploring the lives of teens and children. The film is a testament to the power of embracing raw talent and turning it into potential.
Producer-director Demaizière is best known for the documentaries “Lourdes” and “Rocco,” both of which he collaborated on with Teurlai who is an editor and director.
- 2/28/2022
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
Mia Wasikowska will take on the lead role in “Little Joe” director Jessica Hausner’s cult thriller “Club Zero,” Variety can reveal.
The Australian actor will portray an unusual schoolteacher in Hausner’s second English-language film, which begins shooting in the U.K. and Austria in July.
Wasikowska was most recently seen in Mia Hansen-Løve’s Cannes-premiering film “Bergman Island.”
In “Club Zero,” Wasikowska’s teacher takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students — a relationship that eventually takes a dangerous turn.
Discussing the film at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event last year, Hausner described the film as “a lot about eating,” relating to eating disorders and “eating behaviors.”
This will be Hausner’s sixth feature. Her last film, “Little Joe,” was in competition in Cannes in 2019 and won the best actress award for Emily Beecham. The Austrian director, who made her debut with “Lovely Rita,...
The Australian actor will portray an unusual schoolteacher in Hausner’s second English-language film, which begins shooting in the U.K. and Austria in July.
Wasikowska was most recently seen in Mia Hansen-Løve’s Cannes-premiering film “Bergman Island.”
In “Club Zero,” Wasikowska’s teacher takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students — a relationship that eventually takes a dangerous turn.
Discussing the film at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event last year, Hausner described the film as “a lot about eating,” relating to eating disorders and “eating behaviors.”
This will be Hausner’s sixth feature. Her last film, “Little Joe,” was in competition in Cannes in 2019 and won the best actress award for Emily Beecham. The Austrian director, who made her debut with “Lovely Rita,...
- 2/13/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Le Pacte to Host Market Premieres for ‘Adieu Paris,’ ‘On the Edge’ at Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris
Le Pacte is set to host market premieres for Édouard Baer’s “Adieu Paris” and Giordano Gederlini’s “On the Edge” at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, which takes place this week.
“Adieu Paris” stars an ensemble cast, including some of France and Belgium’s best-known actors, notably Benoît Poelvoorde, François Damiens, Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Nanty, Pierre Arditi and Ludivine Sagnier. The dialogue-driven comedy takes place entirely at a Parisian bistro. Camille Neel, head of international sales at Le Pacte, said the film will appeal to traditional French films lovers and admirers of iconic actors. “Adieu Paris” is the fourth directorial outing of actor-turned-helmer Baer, who last directed “Ouvert la nuit” in which he starred opposite Audrey Tautou and Sabrina Ouazani. The film, produced by Cinéfrance Studios, Les Films en Cabine, Le Pacte and Artémis Productions, had its world premiere at the Lumiere Festival in Lyon, France.
“On the Edge...
“Adieu Paris” stars an ensemble cast, including some of France and Belgium’s best-known actors, notably Benoît Poelvoorde, François Damiens, Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Nanty, Pierre Arditi and Ludivine Sagnier. The dialogue-driven comedy takes place entirely at a Parisian bistro. Camille Neel, head of international sales at Le Pacte, said the film will appeal to traditional French films lovers and admirers of iconic actors. “Adieu Paris” is the fourth directorial outing of actor-turned-helmer Baer, who last directed “Ouvert la nuit” in which he starred opposite Audrey Tautou and Sabrina Ouazani. The film, produced by Cinéfrance Studios, Les Films en Cabine, Le Pacte and Artémis Productions, had its world premiere at the Lumiere Festival in Lyon, France.
“On the Edge...
- 1/13/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Pedro Almodóvar had a busy 2020. He scored his latest Oscar nomination for “Pain and Glory” in February, shortly before the pandemic took hold, and spent several weeks in lockdown writing a series of essays that were published in English on this site. By midyear, the Spanish auteur was working on his first English-language filmmaking endeavor, the Tilda Swinton-starring “The Human Voice,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the fall and opens in theaters in March 2021. In the midst of all that, Almodóvar also found time to watch some new films. Here is his annotated list of favorites, which he published this week on the site of his production company. It has been translated here into English by Deirdre Mac Closkey with his approval.
This list has been updated to include “Nomadland,” which Almodóvar watched after the initial publication of his favorite films.
“Nomadland,” by Chloé Zhao
After Fern (Frances McDormand) loses all,...
This list has been updated to include “Nomadland,” which Almodóvar watched after the initial publication of his favorite films.
“Nomadland,” by Chloé Zhao
After Fern (Frances McDormand) loses all,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Pedro Almodóvar
- Indiewire
More than 5,000 people watched Curzon’s first in a new series of live-streamed Q&As.
Curzon has revealed that Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is now it’s most successful title to date on its streaming platform as UK audiences flock online in the wake of cinema closures.
Celine Sciamma’s romantic drama had been performing strongly in theatres for Curzon, grossing £557,000 at the UK box office, before theatres closed their doors amid the coronavirus crisis.
It has now become the most purchased title on Curzon Home Cinema (Chc), which overall recorded a 27% increase on premium VOD week-on-week from...
Curzon has revealed that Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is now it’s most successful title to date on its streaming platform as UK audiences flock online in the wake of cinema closures.
Celine Sciamma’s romantic drama had been performing strongly in theatres for Curzon, grossing £557,000 at the UK box office, before theatres closed their doors amid the coronavirus crisis.
It has now become the most purchased title on Curzon Home Cinema (Chc), which overall recorded a 27% increase on premium VOD week-on-week from...
- 3/30/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Yesterday, the César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, were handed out. Taking the top prize, in somewhat of a surprise, was Les Misérables from Ladj Ly. Clearly a top contender for the award, it faced stiff competition from An Officer and a Spy, as well as especially from Portrait of a Lady on Fire. However, France’s submission to the Academy Awards had that upper hand, and in the end, it led the way here. Of course, what was most noteworthy was actress and nominee Adèle Haenel (from Portrait of a Lady on Fire) walked out of the ceremony when it was announced that Roman Polanski had won the Best Director prize for An Officer and a Spy. Her protest made waves throughout the industry, and even thought Polanski was not in attendance, it was a powerful statement, to be sure… Here now are the Cesar Award results: Best Film “La Belle Epoque,...
- 2/29/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Feted film professionals will each deliver a masterclass at talent development event.
Directors James Gray and Jessica Hausner and Hollywood sound designer Mark Mangini have been confirmed as the first three ‘Masters’ at the 2020 edition of Qumra, Doha Film Institute’s annual talent incubator event, which runs from March 20-25 in Qatar.
The three Masters will each deliver a masterclass and also offer one-on-one advice to assigned participants during their time at Qumra.
Now in its sixth year, the event supports the development of a selection of projects awarded grants by the Doha Film Institute (Dfi) as well as their attached directors and producers.
Directors James Gray and Jessica Hausner and Hollywood sound designer Mark Mangini have been confirmed as the first three ‘Masters’ at the 2020 edition of Qumra, Doha Film Institute’s annual talent incubator event, which runs from March 20-25 in Qatar.
The three Masters will each deliver a masterclass and also offer one-on-one advice to assigned participants during their time at Qumra.
Now in its sixth year, the event supports the development of a selection of projects awarded grants by the Doha Film Institute (Dfi) as well as their attached directors and producers.
- 2/4/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Updated: Nominations for the 45th César Awards were unveiled this morning in Paris, led by Roman Polanski’s Dreyfus Affair drama An Officer And A Spy with 12 including Best Film, Director and Actor (for Jean Dujardin). While Polanski remains a controversial figure owing to his 1977 child sex conviction and subsequent flight from the United States, as well as a more recent allegation (which he has denied), there has been a divide between U.S. and European perspectives in the #MeToo era. An Officer And A Spy premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, winning the Grand Jury Prize. In November, it opened No. 1 at the French box office.
France’s equivalent to the Oscars, the Césars are handed out by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. In 2017, the Académie made headlines over its appointment of Polanski as President of that year’s ceremony. The move was followed by...
France’s equivalent to the Oscars, the Césars are handed out by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. In 2017, the Académie made headlines over its appointment of Polanski as President of that year’s ceremony. The move was followed by...
- 1/29/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Like its genre cousin horror, the most compelling science-fiction narratives are ones that use the genre to interrogate contemporary societal fears and anxieties. As “Snowpiercer” did with the threat of dwindling environmental resources, or “Annihilation” did with climate change and pollution, “Little Joe” taps into fears around bio-engineering and dependance on anti-depressants. The film is written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner, a regular presence at the Cannes Film Festival. “Little Joe” stars everyone’s favorite “Paddington” cutie Ben Whishaw opposite Emily Beecham, who was honored with the Best Actress Award at Cannes. The newly released first trailer teases an unnerving premise over a backdrop of saturated colors and chilling performances.
Here’s the official synopsis: “‘Little Joe’ follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for...
Here’s the official synopsis: “‘Little Joe’ follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for...
- 10/28/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Elina Löwensohn, Paula Luna Breitenfelder, Vimala Pons, Agata Buzek, Pauline Lorillard and Camille Rutherford star. An Ecce Films production sold by Kinology. On 12 November 2019 will begin the seven-week shoot for After Blue, the second feature from Bertrand Mandico after The Wild Boys. The cast includes the American actress of Romanian origins Elina Löwensohn, the young Paula Luna Breitenfelder (in her first on-screen appearance), Vimala Pons,...
- 10/17/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Emily Beecham had already returned to Britain from the Cannes Film Festival when she was suddenly summoned back to the Cote D’Azur – where she promptly picked up the fest’s best actress prize for her turn in Jessica Hausner’s competition title, “Little Joe.” Beecham, who starred in “Daphne” and “Into the Badlands,” plays Alice, a scientist and mother who begins to suspect that the plant she has genetically modified may have adverse side effects.
Variety hailed the film as an “artfully unnerving horror movie” and an “‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ for the age of antidepressants,” but it divided critics at the festival. Beecham talks to Variety about the reaction to the film, working with Hausner, and her character’s paranoia.
Congratulations on the best actress award. It seems from your travel plans you weren’t expecting to win?
I was woken up that morning and told to...
Variety hailed the film as an “artfully unnerving horror movie” and an “‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ for the age of antidepressants,” but it divided critics at the festival. Beecham talks to Variety about the reaction to the film, working with Hausner, and her character’s paranoia.
Congratulations on the best actress award. It seems from your travel plans you weren’t expecting to win?
I was woken up that morning and told to...
- 6/6/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Jessica Hausner’s English-language debut Little Joe promises a crossbreed of shrewd science fiction and health care satire, but it scuppers its genre creds in exchange for a sterile arthouse drama that rather muddles its conceit.
Emily Beecham, so good as a bohemian partier in the British flick Dafne, plays Alice, a fastidious employee at a faceless corporation that makes genetically-modified natural remedies. Alice is the creator of a new blood-red flower that changes its scent to make its owner happy, with supposedly antidepressant properties, for a world in the thrall of a mental health crisis. It could make her bosses very rich, but is this to be one of those tales when man plays God and it all goes wrong?
A workaholic, Alice has a difficult, distant relationship with her teenage son Joe (a compelling Kit Connor) and as some sort of recompense for her neglect christens her new plant Little Joe,...
Emily Beecham, so good as a bohemian partier in the British flick Dafne, plays Alice, a fastidious employee at a faceless corporation that makes genetically-modified natural remedies. Alice is the creator of a new blood-red flower that changes its scent to make its owner happy, with supposedly antidepressant properties, for a world in the thrall of a mental health crisis. It could make her bosses very rich, but is this to be one of those tales when man plays God and it all goes wrong?
A workaholic, Alice has a difficult, distant relationship with her teenage son Joe (a compelling Kit Connor) and as some sort of recompense for her neglect christens her new plant Little Joe,...
- 5/21/2019
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
It’s with great pleasure to see Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s fourth feature Amour Fou available on Blu-ray in the Us, considering several of her previous exemplary titles have failed to secure distribution altogether. Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing at Austrian Oscars, premiering her latest at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, it’s an innovative exploration of the strange thing called love. Film Movement released the title in three theaters in early summer of 2015, and only managed to rake in around thirteen thousand in a three month run. Although it ultimately didn’t manage to heighten Hausner’s international profile as much as one would’ve hoped, with a little luck this should end up on some year-end best lists and continue to grasp a wider, more deserving audience.
Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts...
Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts...
- 11/3/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Love Fool: Hausner’s Latest an Exquisitely Shot, Humorous Exploration of Love and Death
With her fourth feature film, Amour Fou, Austrian director Jessica Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts that manages to expertly blend her unique tone with exquisite digital compositions from her longtime cinematographer Martin Gschlacht. In comparison to their first outing together, 2001’s Lovely Rita, their mastery of the digital image couldn’t be more strikingly apparent. Whereas that film’s complex subject suffered greatly from the rather jarring presentation of image and jagged zooms, here they’ve controlled the medium fantastically. The film’s look is so remarkably beautiful that non-German speakers will be hard pressed to keep up with subtitles as they soak in her unique tale of dying for love.
In 1811 during the last several months of German poet Heinrich von Kleist’s (Christian Friedel) life, his search...
With her fourth feature film, Amour Fou, Austrian director Jessica Hausner reveals her strongest work yet, a droll, romantic exploration of sorts that manages to expertly blend her unique tone with exquisite digital compositions from her longtime cinematographer Martin Gschlacht. In comparison to their first outing together, 2001’s Lovely Rita, their mastery of the digital image couldn’t be more strikingly apparent. Whereas that film’s complex subject suffered greatly from the rather jarring presentation of image and jagged zooms, here they’ve controlled the medium fantastically. The film’s look is so remarkably beautiful that non-German speakers will be hard pressed to keep up with subtitles as they soak in her unique tale of dying for love.
In 1811 during the last several months of German poet Heinrich von Kleist’s (Christian Friedel) life, his search...
- 3/19/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Austrian writer-director Jessica Hausner has an unerring talent for examining, skeptically but never cynically, grand notions about destiny: What we perceive as — or have convinced ourselves to be — the workings of fate, whether religious or romantic, is ultimately better understood as arbitrary or coincidental occurrences. In Lourdes (2009), Hausner's previous film, the "miraculous" healing of a woman, who had made a pilgrimage to the eponymous town in southwestern France to be cured of her multiple sclerosis, is soon banalized by bureaucracy, as the former wheelchair-user must have this act of divine intervention officially certified by the village's medical office. Amour Fou, the director's latest, likewise finds the absurdities in the most solemn of ...
- 3/18/2015
- Village Voice
Media Luna's lineup of predominantly women-centric and Spanish language films is very attractive for Ficg's upcoming market this March 6 - 16th.
"Flocking" by Beata Gårdeler won the Crystal Bear for Best Feature at Berlinale 2015
Synopsis: The small village community is convinced that the young Jennifer is lying, when she claims to have been raped by classmate Alexander. Evidence and court decisions mean nothing, where grown-up people lay down their own rules and laws to stick with the flock.
(Sweden 2015; Drama/Thriller) Based on true stories.
"Two Women" by Vera Glagoleva. Starring Ralph Fiennes ("The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The English Patient") and Sylvie Testud ("La Vie en Rose," "Lourdes")
Synopsis: Natalya is married to a land baron. Her feelings for her son’s attractive new tutor will confront her with her own daughter and turn her devoted life into a complex web of unappreciated love, lust and jealousy. (Russia, France, Latvia 2014; Drama)
"3 Beauties"(3 Bellezas) by Carlos Caridad-Montero (Venezuela 2014; Comedy) Miss Venezuela. When obsession for beauty and cosmetic surgery is taken too far.
Synopsis:Perla is obsessed with having a beauty queen in the family and she is willing to do whatever it takes to make her dream come true. Including destroying her own family.
"No Thank You" by Samuli Valkama (Finland 2014; Comedy) - Based on the Anna-Leena Härkönen bestseller, “Ei Kiitos”, published by Otava, the novel now exceeds 110.000 printed exemplars and "No Thank You" became a Box Office hit in Finland!
Synopsis: Heli’s husband is not in the mood. After many years of marriage a shoulder massage is the highest form of intimacy for him. When subtle hints, nice words and fetching clothes won’t help, Heli turns to increasingly direct action — in vain! Then she meets the attractive Jarno, a stunning young man. Soon she will discover what she wants, and what she doesn’t want in life.
"The Mud Woman" (La Mujer de Barro) by Sergio Castro San Martín (Chile & Argentina 2015; Drama) Starring Catalina Saavedra (Best actress at Sundace Film Festival for “The Maid”) World Premiere at Berlinale Forum 2015.
Synopsis: Maria and her daughter Teresa leave near the border between Chile and Argentina. Ten years have passed, since she last worked in the vineyard's harvest season. Now Maria has to earn some extra money and decides to return at the plantation… not knowing she will have to face her unsolved past.
"Baby Steps" by Barney Cheng (USA, Taiwan 2015; Comedy/Drama) From Oscar-winning producer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "The Wedding Banquet" by Ang Lee. Starring the award-winning actress Ah-Leh Gua ("The Wedding Banquet" and" Eat Drink Man Woman").
Synopsis: Danny and his boyfriend long to have a baby. The complex world of international surrogacy is further complicated by Danny's well-meaning but extremely meddlesome Mother who wants to control every aspect of the process all the way from Taipei.
"Internet Junkie" by Alexander Katzowicz (Argentina, Mexico & Israel 2015; Dark Comedy/Erotic) Starring Antonio Birabent ("Wild Tango"), Angela Molina ("That Obscure Object of Desire," "The Things of Love") and special appearance of Arturo Ripstein (Director of "No One Writes to the Colonel," "The Queen of the Night")
Synopsis: Inside the virtual world... A soldier looking for lovers, a teenager searching for porn, a mother in need of friends, a graduated looking for a job, women waiting to find the love of their life and the best –or any- lover in the area... outside the virtual world no one is what they seem.
"Get Married If You Can" (Casese Quien Pueda) by Marco Polo Constandse (Mexico 2014; Comedy) Box Office hit in Mexico! - Third highest-grossing film of all time – Starring Martha Higadera ("Street Kings," "Amar te duele"), Luis Gerardo Méndez ("Cantinflas") and Michel Brown ("Pasión de Gavilanes" – TV)
Synopsis: Ana is obsessed with her big dream wedding. Daniela is focused on her career, no time for marriage. When Ana finds out her fiancé is cheating on her and Daniela falls in love with her best friend they discover that the only true path to marriage is love.
"Sweet Girls" by Jean-Paul Cardinaux & Xavier Ruiz (Switzerland 2015; Dark Comedy) Generational clash, when a hopeless young generation meet an aged population.
Synopsis: Elodie and Marie are two teenagers that face the lack of opportunities offered by the housing crisis. They come up to an extreme solution: empty the apartments unjustly occupied by “the old people” who, at her eyes, are responsible of the current social imbalance. In this journey, they will discover that there are human beings, just as lost and forgotten by society as they are.
"Perfect Obedience" (Obediencia Perfecta) by Luis Urquiza (Mexico 2014; Drama) Based on a true story, the scandal related to the priest Marcial Maciel, the Head of "The Legion of Christ” (Los Legionarios de Cristo). Montreal (Best Film), Cine Ceará (Best Director, Best Actor)
Synopsis: A young seminarian will endure a hard spiritual journey to reach Perfect Obedience. His mentor, captivated by his fragility and innocence, will guide him to complete psychological and physical surrender.
"Buzzard" by Joel Potrykus (USA 2014; Dark Comedy, Drama) Joel Potrykus won Best Emerging Director and Special Mention for Best First Feature at Locarno 2012 for his film “Ape”. At this year’s Locarno, he won Special Mention from the Independent Juries and Prices in 2014 for his new feature “Buzzard”.
Synopsis: Marty is a small-time con artist drifting from one scam to the next. When his latest ruse goes awry, mounting paranoia forces him to leave his lousy temp job and hide out in his co-worker's basement. Until eventually he flees to Detroit with nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his Power Glove, and a bad temper.
"Unlucky Plaza" by Ken Kwek (Singapore 2014; Thriller, Dark Comedy) Ken Kwek’s previous compilation of shortfilms “Sex.Violence.FamilyValues - three dirrty stories from the world's cleanest city-“ was banned by the Singapore and Malaysia government in 2012. World Premiere Toronto 2014.
Synopsis: Sky has a debt to the mafia and hopes to convince his wife to sell her parent’s flat. Looking for a way out, she rents the flat to an evicted single father, while unintentionally setting into motion a series of unfortunate events.
For more information http://www.medialuna.biz/...
"Flocking" by Beata Gårdeler won the Crystal Bear for Best Feature at Berlinale 2015
Synopsis: The small village community is convinced that the young Jennifer is lying, when she claims to have been raped by classmate Alexander. Evidence and court decisions mean nothing, where grown-up people lay down their own rules and laws to stick with the flock.
(Sweden 2015; Drama/Thriller) Based on true stories.
"Two Women" by Vera Glagoleva. Starring Ralph Fiennes ("The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The English Patient") and Sylvie Testud ("La Vie en Rose," "Lourdes")
Synopsis: Natalya is married to a land baron. Her feelings for her son’s attractive new tutor will confront her with her own daughter and turn her devoted life into a complex web of unappreciated love, lust and jealousy. (Russia, France, Latvia 2014; Drama)
"3 Beauties"(3 Bellezas) by Carlos Caridad-Montero (Venezuela 2014; Comedy) Miss Venezuela. When obsession for beauty and cosmetic surgery is taken too far.
Synopsis:Perla is obsessed with having a beauty queen in the family and she is willing to do whatever it takes to make her dream come true. Including destroying her own family.
"No Thank You" by Samuli Valkama (Finland 2014; Comedy) - Based on the Anna-Leena Härkönen bestseller, “Ei Kiitos”, published by Otava, the novel now exceeds 110.000 printed exemplars and "No Thank You" became a Box Office hit in Finland!
Synopsis: Heli’s husband is not in the mood. After many years of marriage a shoulder massage is the highest form of intimacy for him. When subtle hints, nice words and fetching clothes won’t help, Heli turns to increasingly direct action — in vain! Then she meets the attractive Jarno, a stunning young man. Soon she will discover what she wants, and what she doesn’t want in life.
"The Mud Woman" (La Mujer de Barro) by Sergio Castro San Martín (Chile & Argentina 2015; Drama) Starring Catalina Saavedra (Best actress at Sundace Film Festival for “The Maid”) World Premiere at Berlinale Forum 2015.
Synopsis: Maria and her daughter Teresa leave near the border between Chile and Argentina. Ten years have passed, since she last worked in the vineyard's harvest season. Now Maria has to earn some extra money and decides to return at the plantation… not knowing she will have to face her unsolved past.
"Baby Steps" by Barney Cheng (USA, Taiwan 2015; Comedy/Drama) From Oscar-winning producer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "The Wedding Banquet" by Ang Lee. Starring the award-winning actress Ah-Leh Gua ("The Wedding Banquet" and" Eat Drink Man Woman").
Synopsis: Danny and his boyfriend long to have a baby. The complex world of international surrogacy is further complicated by Danny's well-meaning but extremely meddlesome Mother who wants to control every aspect of the process all the way from Taipei.
"Internet Junkie" by Alexander Katzowicz (Argentina, Mexico & Israel 2015; Dark Comedy/Erotic) Starring Antonio Birabent ("Wild Tango"), Angela Molina ("That Obscure Object of Desire," "The Things of Love") and special appearance of Arturo Ripstein (Director of "No One Writes to the Colonel," "The Queen of the Night")
Synopsis: Inside the virtual world... A soldier looking for lovers, a teenager searching for porn, a mother in need of friends, a graduated looking for a job, women waiting to find the love of their life and the best –or any- lover in the area... outside the virtual world no one is what they seem.
"Get Married If You Can" (Casese Quien Pueda) by Marco Polo Constandse (Mexico 2014; Comedy) Box Office hit in Mexico! - Third highest-grossing film of all time – Starring Martha Higadera ("Street Kings," "Amar te duele"), Luis Gerardo Méndez ("Cantinflas") and Michel Brown ("Pasión de Gavilanes" – TV)
Synopsis: Ana is obsessed with her big dream wedding. Daniela is focused on her career, no time for marriage. When Ana finds out her fiancé is cheating on her and Daniela falls in love with her best friend they discover that the only true path to marriage is love.
"Sweet Girls" by Jean-Paul Cardinaux & Xavier Ruiz (Switzerland 2015; Dark Comedy) Generational clash, when a hopeless young generation meet an aged population.
Synopsis: Elodie and Marie are two teenagers that face the lack of opportunities offered by the housing crisis. They come up to an extreme solution: empty the apartments unjustly occupied by “the old people” who, at her eyes, are responsible of the current social imbalance. In this journey, they will discover that there are human beings, just as lost and forgotten by society as they are.
"Perfect Obedience" (Obediencia Perfecta) by Luis Urquiza (Mexico 2014; Drama) Based on a true story, the scandal related to the priest Marcial Maciel, the Head of "The Legion of Christ” (Los Legionarios de Cristo). Montreal (Best Film), Cine Ceará (Best Director, Best Actor)
Synopsis: A young seminarian will endure a hard spiritual journey to reach Perfect Obedience. His mentor, captivated by his fragility and innocence, will guide him to complete psychological and physical surrender.
"Buzzard" by Joel Potrykus (USA 2014; Dark Comedy, Drama) Joel Potrykus won Best Emerging Director and Special Mention for Best First Feature at Locarno 2012 for his film “Ape”. At this year’s Locarno, he won Special Mention from the Independent Juries and Prices in 2014 for his new feature “Buzzard”.
Synopsis: Marty is a small-time con artist drifting from one scam to the next. When his latest ruse goes awry, mounting paranoia forces him to leave his lousy temp job and hide out in his co-worker's basement. Until eventually he flees to Detroit with nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his Power Glove, and a bad temper.
"Unlucky Plaza" by Ken Kwek (Singapore 2014; Thriller, Dark Comedy) Ken Kwek’s previous compilation of shortfilms “Sex.Violence.FamilyValues - three dirrty stories from the world's cleanest city-“ was banned by the Singapore and Malaysia government in 2012. World Premiere Toronto 2014.
Synopsis: Sky has a debt to the mafia and hopes to convince his wife to sell her parent’s flat. Looking for a way out, she rents the flat to an evicted single father, while unintentionally setting into motion a series of unfortunate events.
For more information http://www.medialuna.biz/...
- 2/27/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In today's roundup of news and views: Joan Didion, half a century ago and more relevant than ever, on Hollywood's diversity problem. Jonathan Romney on "conceptual science fiction" (Chris Marker’s La Jetée, Shane Carruth’s Primer and Upstream Color and, from this year alone, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig's Predestination and James Ward Byrkit's Coherence). Chuck Bowen ranks the films of David Cronenberg. Daniel Kasman talks with Guy Maddin and co-director Evan Johnson about The Forbidden Room, David Jenkins talks with Jessica Hausner about Amour Fou and Lourdes, and Anne Thompson has a good long talk with Laura Poitras about Citizenfour. » - David Hudson...
- 2/25/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views: Joan Didion, half a century ago and more relevant than ever, on Hollywood's diversity problem. Jonathan Romney on "conceptual science fiction" (Chris Marker’s La Jetée, Shane Carruth’s Primer and Upstream Color and, from this year alone, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig's Predestination and James Ward Byrkit's Coherence). Chuck Bowen ranks the films of David Cronenberg. Daniel Kasman talks with Guy Maddin and co-director Evan Johnson about The Forbidden Room, David Jenkins talks with Jessica Hausner about Amour Fou and Lourdes, and Anne Thompson has a good long talk with Laura Poitras about Citizenfour. » - David Hudson...
- 2/25/2015
- Keyframe
The weirdly compelling story of 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist’s dark desire for a married woman has an undertone of absurdity
Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is a strange tragicomic chamber piece based on the life of the 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist. The film is as carefully composed and disquieting as earlier Hausner films such as Lourdes (2009) and Hotel (2004) but more inert, more deathly: an effect entirely deliberate.
It is set in the Berlin of the Romantic era, where von Kleist has had a sensational success with his 1808 novel The Marquise of O. Christian Friedel – who played the kindly schoolteacher in Haneke’s The White Ribbon – is Heinrich himself, overwhelmed at despair at the human condition and longing for death. Conceiving a doomed passion for a young married woman Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnoeink), he tries to persuade her to join him in a suicide pact, having failed to...
Jessica Hausner’s Amour Fou is a strange tragicomic chamber piece based on the life of the 19th-century author Heinrich von Kleist. The film is as carefully composed and disquieting as earlier Hausner films such as Lourdes (2009) and Hotel (2004) but more inert, more deathly: an effect entirely deliberate.
It is set in the Berlin of the Romantic era, where von Kleist has had a sensational success with his 1808 novel The Marquise of O. Christian Friedel – who played the kindly schoolteacher in Haneke’s The White Ribbon – is Heinrich himself, overwhelmed at despair at the human condition and longing for death. Conceiving a doomed passion for a young married woman Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnoeink), he tries to persuade her to join him in a suicide pact, having failed to...
- 2/5/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
With the release of her fourth feature film in 13 years Jessica Hausner continues the current flow of quietly antagonistic Austrian auteurs speaking truth against the powerful constructs of a bourgeois society that eats its own for sport and pleasure. After the success of 2009's Lourdes she returns with Amour Fou (2014), a look at the death and suicide pact of romantic poet Heinrich von Kleist and his cousin Marie. The film was a much sought after pleasure via word of mouth after it premiered in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Bizarrely, in the catalogue, the log line for the film referred to it as a 'romantic comedy'. This mischievous labelling seemed a perfect entry point when we had the chance to sit down to talk to Hausner in London late last year.
- 2/5/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
★★★★☆ Jessica Hausner's Amour Fou (2014) has enjoyed considerable praise since it premiered in the Un Certain Regard section back at the Cannes Film Festival last May and is a quietly effective denunciation of the idea of dying for love. It's a reserved period piece, but as with her brilliant Lourdes (2009) it's Hausner's restraint that ends up imbuing her argument with power. We meet German romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist (Christian Friedel, who audiences may recognise from fellow Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning The White Ribbon) as a young, melancholy poet more than a little in love with the notion of death.
- 2/3/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Dear Danny,
I also rode the Tokyo Tribe rollercoaster, and my head hasn’t stopped spinning yet. Slamming together the most rabid excesses of the worlds of manga comics and hip-hop music, it’s a continuous blitzkrieg: Sono’s ne plus ultra of sheer brio, and, along with Godard’s Adieu au language, the festival’s most assaultive sensory experience so far. Its pinwheel neon hues, inflamed camera movements and acrobatic gangland mugging are straight-up dilations of Seijun Suzuki’s vintage gonzo pulp—indeed, the first time I ever heard Japanese rapping on screen was during a brief interlude in Suzuki’s mock-opera Princess Raccoon. I doubt even that veteran iconoclast, however, could have dreamed up the bit in Tokyo Tribe when the vile underworld kingpin (Riki Takeuchi), swollen like an obscene parade float, pulverizes a field of warring gangs with a Gatling gun held, of course, crotch-level. Such moments of absolute glee abound,...
I also rode the Tokyo Tribe rollercoaster, and my head hasn’t stopped spinning yet. Slamming together the most rabid excesses of the worlds of manga comics and hip-hop music, it’s a continuous blitzkrieg: Sono’s ne plus ultra of sheer brio, and, along with Godard’s Adieu au language, the festival’s most assaultive sensory experience so far. Its pinwheel neon hues, inflamed camera movements and acrobatic gangland mugging are straight-up dilations of Seijun Suzuki’s vintage gonzo pulp—indeed, the first time I ever heard Japanese rapping on screen was during a brief interlude in Suzuki’s mock-opera Princess Raccoon. I doubt even that veteran iconoclast, however, could have dreamed up the bit in Tokyo Tribe when the vile underworld kingpin (Riki Takeuchi), swollen like an obscene parade float, pulverizes a field of warring gangs with a Gatling gun held, of course, crotch-level. Such moments of absolute glee abound,...
- 9/9/2014
- by Fernando F. Croce
- MUBI
Before the Fest Starts — Academy Award-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat (pictured) has the enviable or un-enviable task of heading the In Competition jury for Venice. He will either butt heads or lock arms with various members of his eclectic jury including highly-skilled filmmaking artisans such as:
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
- 8/23/2014
- by keithsim
- IMDb Blog - All the Latest
Before the Fest Starts — Academy Award-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat(pictured) has the enviable or un-enviable task of heading the In Competition jury for Venice. He will either butt heads or lock arms with various members of his eclectic jury including highly-skilled filmmaking artisans such as:
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone< (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone< (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
- 8/21/2014
- by keithsim
- IMDb Blog - All the Latest
Before the Fest Starts — Academy Award-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat(pictured) has the enviable or un-enviable task of heading the In Competition jury for Venice. He will either butt heads or lock arms with various members of his eclectic jury including highly-skilled filmmaking artisans such as:
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone< (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
Israeli director Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention) Actress Joan Chen (Lust, Caution) Actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare In Love) Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) Writer/director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes) Writer/director Carlo Verdone< (Me, Them, And Lara) Writer/director Philip Groning (Into Great Silence) ...
- 8/18/2014
- by keithsim
- IMDb Blog - All the Latest
Amour Fou by Jessica Hausner, one of my favorite directors, was, as all her films are, a surprise, rising out of a quietly building plot whose ending punctuates a philosophic idea that plays out like a melodic line of a larger song. Framed in the simple Beidermeyer style of 1811 Berlin, again the question of ownership over a person and a person’s soul is the subtle subject of this film. The shadows cast by the French Revolution, Prussian militarism and Hapsburg conservatism, slavery, the emancipation of the peasants, the birth of the working poor and the place of women as the chattel of their husbands are embodied in the personal drama of a fragile soul and interpreted by society as a tragic love story when in truth it is the story of a woman worn down by the societal tyranny of her pre-Freudian society who perhaps, barely perceives her true self only at the end of the film’s trajectory.
The simplicity of the production design by Katharina Wöppermann,the production designer of Lourdes, Lovely Rita and Raúl Ruiz‘s Klimt as well, was discussed in an interview with Jessica Hausner posted on the Austrian Film Commission site : “And there was wallpaper, there were carpets that covered the floor of the whole room like fitted carpets. Our film is set in the Empire Period, that short time between 1810 and 1815 when people followed the model of ancient Greece. You can also see it in the clothes [by costume designer, Tanja Hausner, Jessica’s sister] with high waists and soft, flowing, light material. In terms of interior design, they used ancient columns, draped curtains and Greek landscapes painted on the walls. This was also connected with the philosophical ideal of antiquity. The patterns and colors don’t really develop until the Biedermeier period, but it all started at the beginning of the 19th century. Another interesting point is that heating, light and comfort were generally concentrated only in one living room, which is why people would sit around a table - five, six or more of them together, and they would hear what the other people were talking about. To a certain extent there was a different kind of privacy in those days.”
Jessica Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter is so lucky to have found in Philippe Bober, founder of The Coproduction Office, a kindred spirit whose patience and warm passion for developing projects fits perfectly with her sparse, introverted and deep examinations of souls whose human owners are not fully cognizant of them.
She has written and directed seven films since 1999 with Philippe Bober. Her first feature film Lovely Rita was developed with Philippe and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Lourdes won the Fipresci and Signis Awards at its debut in Venice Film Festival 2009. Before that, she shot a couple of shorts and was a script girl in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in 1997 and went on to write and direct her first 45 minute feature Inter-View which was developed at Cinefondation where it won an Honorable Mention in 1999.
Philippe Bober works with people with a distinctive signature. In a previous discussion we had , he claims that it takes 10 to 20 years before an “auteur” can create a name for herself or himself which carries a certain weight in terms of raising money and appealing to audiences. Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, the most successful of her films began 12 years before its debut. He and Jessica have been working together since 1999.
Philippe’s job is to bring “auteurs” to audiences via sales and marketing. His work is to help them make decisions which will not compromise their art but will shape the films they want to make during scripting, casting and editing to be more accessible to audiences. One example of this pertains to the decision on casting to result in greater ticket sales. To do that one must know which past films made what box office numbers in which territory. There is no such recipe for scripting or editing in terms of making the message and story clearer to the audience without censuring the auteur. As he explains, sometimes this process takes two years and sometimes it can take up to 10 years.
Jessica Hausner shaped Amour Fou first around the idea of a double suicide, and then, in the course of her research, around the romantic poet, Heinrich von Kleist and his double suicide with Henriette Vogel.
Kleist subverted clichéd ideas of Romantic longing and themes of nature and innocence. He infused them with irony, taking up the subjective emotions and placing them into contextual paradox to show individuals in moments of crises and doubt, with both tragic and comic outcomes. As often as not, his dramatic and narrative situations end without resolution.
Hausner says, “His work is fascinating. I'm thinking particularly of the Marquise of O. It's an unfathomable story. Here I’m completely in agreement with Henriette's mother in my film, who says: ‘What an absurd idea, that a woman who is impregnated against her will by a man can come to love him in the end.’ That's a very male fantasy. And I think that's also what inspired my character of Kleist in the film. What kind of man could think up something like that? He'd have to be somebody who is very caught up in his own extremes, who doesn't step outside, and who can only accept extreme things.”
And so, after watching Amour Fou, we are left with the almost humorous unanswered question of what was Henriette thinking and about to say at the moment the trigger was released.
The simplicity of the production design by Katharina Wöppermann,the production designer of Lourdes, Lovely Rita and Raúl Ruiz‘s Klimt as well, was discussed in an interview with Jessica Hausner posted on the Austrian Film Commission site : “And there was wallpaper, there were carpets that covered the floor of the whole room like fitted carpets. Our film is set in the Empire Period, that short time between 1810 and 1815 when people followed the model of ancient Greece. You can also see it in the clothes [by costume designer, Tanja Hausner, Jessica’s sister] with high waists and soft, flowing, light material. In terms of interior design, they used ancient columns, draped curtains and Greek landscapes painted on the walls. This was also connected with the philosophical ideal of antiquity. The patterns and colors don’t really develop until the Biedermeier period, but it all started at the beginning of the 19th century. Another interesting point is that heating, light and comfort were generally concentrated only in one living room, which is why people would sit around a table - five, six or more of them together, and they would hear what the other people were talking about. To a certain extent there was a different kind of privacy in those days.”
Jessica Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter is so lucky to have found in Philippe Bober, founder of The Coproduction Office, a kindred spirit whose patience and warm passion for developing projects fits perfectly with her sparse, introverted and deep examinations of souls whose human owners are not fully cognizant of them.
She has written and directed seven films since 1999 with Philippe Bober. Her first feature film Lovely Rita was developed with Philippe and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Lourdes won the Fipresci and Signis Awards at its debut in Venice Film Festival 2009. Before that, she shot a couple of shorts and was a script girl in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in 1997 and went on to write and direct her first 45 minute feature Inter-View which was developed at Cinefondation where it won an Honorable Mention in 1999.
Philippe Bober works with people with a distinctive signature. In a previous discussion we had , he claims that it takes 10 to 20 years before an “auteur” can create a name for herself or himself which carries a certain weight in terms of raising money and appealing to audiences. Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, the most successful of her films began 12 years before its debut. He and Jessica have been working together since 1999.
Philippe’s job is to bring “auteurs” to audiences via sales and marketing. His work is to help them make decisions which will not compromise their art but will shape the films they want to make during scripting, casting and editing to be more accessible to audiences. One example of this pertains to the decision on casting to result in greater ticket sales. To do that one must know which past films made what box office numbers in which territory. There is no such recipe for scripting or editing in terms of making the message and story clearer to the audience without censuring the auteur. As he explains, sometimes this process takes two years and sometimes it can take up to 10 years.
Jessica Hausner shaped Amour Fou first around the idea of a double suicide, and then, in the course of her research, around the romantic poet, Heinrich von Kleist and his double suicide with Henriette Vogel.
Kleist subverted clichéd ideas of Romantic longing and themes of nature and innocence. He infused them with irony, taking up the subjective emotions and placing them into contextual paradox to show individuals in moments of crises and doubt, with both tragic and comic outcomes. As often as not, his dramatic and narrative situations end without resolution.
Hausner says, “His work is fascinating. I'm thinking particularly of the Marquise of O. It's an unfathomable story. Here I’m completely in agreement with Henriette's mother in my film, who says: ‘What an absurd idea, that a woman who is impregnated against her will by a man can come to love him in the end.’ That's a very male fantasy. And I think that's also what inspired my character of Kleist in the film. What kind of man could think up something like that? He'd have to be somebody who is very caught up in his own extremes, who doesn't step outside, and who can only accept extreme things.”
And so, after watching Amour Fou, we are left with the almost humorous unanswered question of what was Henriette thinking and about to say at the moment the trigger was released.
- 5/31/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Cannes - Only a few months ago, in the colder climes of the Berlin Film Festival, I had the misfortune of seeing and reviewing "A Long Way Down," a terminally laughless British farce about four suicidal souls who meet and bond on the roof of the same popular London jumping-point. Some critics decried it as tasteless, but it was only the execution that was botched: there is scarcely a taboo subject that can't be made funny in crafty directorial hands, and along comes Jessica Hausner's deft, delightful "Amour Fou" to prove it. A delicate, cerebral romantic comedy based on -- wait for it -- the 1811 suicide pact between German Romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist and his married ally Henriette Vogel, "Amour Fou" is neither romantic nor comedic in the uncompromised, mallow-centered fashion that has given the genre an undeservedly bad name. (There's going to be no Jennifer Aniston-starring remake any time soon,...
- 5/17/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux sent out mixed messages in his -- very long, as usual -- preamble to announcing this year's Cannes Film Festival lineup. First he mentioned a focus on newer, fresher filmmakers, but mentioned elsewhere that "Cannes is an event for the regulars." Predictably enough, the latter statement turned out to be closer to the truth: of the 18 films competing for this year's Palme d'Or, 13 have been to the dance before. (And of the Competition virgins, Bennett Miller and Xavier Dolan are hardly unknowns.) Early on, meanwhile, Fremaux made the initially bold statement that 15 women were in the Official Selection, promising a bounty of female directors for jury president Jane Campion to consider. It turned out to be a slight manipulation of the truth: several of those women are involved in portmanteau films, while only two of them -- Naomi Kawase and surprise inclusion Alice Rohrwacher...
- 4/17/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Amour Fou
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producers: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Philippe Bober
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Christian Friedel, Birte Schnoeink, Stephan Grossmann
We’re excited to see Hausner’s followup to her excellent third feature, 2009’s Lourdes, which starred Sylvie Testud and Lea Seydoux. While many had been hoping her latest would have been ready for a late 2013 release, we can look forward to seeing her latest get a prime slot at a major festival. Starring Christian Friedel, who many will recognize from The White Ribbon, Hausner seems to be positioning a new take on the period piece.
Gist: Amour Fou is inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel. However, rather than being a biographical portrait, the film is to be understood as a parallel about the ambivalence of love.
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producers: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Philippe Bober
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Christian Friedel, Birte Schnoeink, Stephan Grossmann
We’re excited to see Hausner’s followup to her excellent third feature, 2009’s Lourdes, which starred Sylvie Testud and Lea Seydoux. While many had been hoping her latest would have been ready for a late 2013 release, we can look forward to seeing her latest get a prime slot at a major festival. Starring Christian Friedel, who many will recognize from The White Ribbon, Hausner seems to be positioning a new take on the period piece.
Gist: Amour Fou is inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel. However, rather than being a biographical portrait, the film is to be understood as a parallel about the ambivalence of love.
- 2/28/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
*Note Updates in next blog: Sundance By Numbers Update
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
- 1/20/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Amour Fou
Director/Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producer(s): Tba
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Tba
I got to know Jessica Hausner a little late in the game, the Austrian director wowed me with her minimalist portrait Lourdes (a Venice Film Festival selection) but she first made waves back in 2001 with her sophomore film, the Cannes Un Certain Regard selected Lovely Rita. Currently a bit past the funding stages, her sixth aptly titled Amour Fou is probably in the casting portion of the production.
Gist: Inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel, the deals with the ambivalence and absurdity inherent in the very concept of two people committing suicide because of their love for one another. Committing this act is the yearning to escape the inevitability of death through love, to avoid dying alone and to oppose...
Director/Writer: Jessica Hausner
Producer(s): Tba
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Tba
I got to know Jessica Hausner a little late in the game, the Austrian director wowed me with her minimalist portrait Lourdes (a Venice Film Festival selection) but she first made waves back in 2001 with her sophomore film, the Cannes Un Certain Regard selected Lovely Rita. Currently a bit past the funding stages, her sixth aptly titled Amour Fou is probably in the casting portion of the production.
Gist: Inspired by the life and death of the poet Heinrich von Kleist and his partner in death, Henriette Vogel, the deals with the ambivalence and absurdity inherent in the very concept of two people committing suicide because of their love for one another. Committing this act is the yearning to escape the inevitability of death through love, to avoid dying alone and to oppose...
- 1/11/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Frances Farmer
Relax. That's just a hairdresser behind her.
Before today's roundup gets rolling, I want to mention that David Phelps is conducting an experiment you should know about, The Secret History of America.
The liveliest read of the day comes from Matt Evans in the Morning News, a furious pitch for Frances Farmer — the actual woman and actress, not the lobotomized zombie portrayed by Jessica Lange in Frances (1982). Have fun.
"Why I Pirate Movies: A Self-Justification." Mike D'Angelo can't be surprised that he's kicked up a virtual storm. It began in the comments following that entry and has since blown over to Twitter.
Andy Warhol died 25 years ago today. Alex Needham examines the legacy in the Guardian and, in the Voice, Camille Dodero asks, "what does Andy Warhol's New York City look like today?"
Today's review of Geoff Dyer's Zona comes from R Emmet Sweeney at Movie Morlocks.
Relax. That's just a hairdresser behind her.
Before today's roundup gets rolling, I want to mention that David Phelps is conducting an experiment you should know about, The Secret History of America.
The liveliest read of the day comes from Matt Evans in the Morning News, a furious pitch for Frances Farmer — the actual woman and actress, not the lobotomized zombie portrayed by Jessica Lange in Frances (1982). Have fun.
"Why I Pirate Movies: A Self-Justification." Mike D'Angelo can't be surprised that he's kicked up a virtual storm. It began in the comments following that entry and has since blown over to Twitter.
Andy Warhol died 25 years ago today. Alex Needham examines the legacy in the Guardian and, in the Voice, Camille Dodero asks, "what does Andy Warhol's New York City look like today?"
Today's review of Geoff Dyer's Zona comes from R Emmet Sweeney at Movie Morlocks.
- 2/24/2012
- MUBI
In Lourdes, Christine (Sylvie Testud) is traveling to the city of Lourdes in southern France, a place of great importance to Roman Catholics. Many believe that miracle healing still happens in Lourdes, so millions of sick and disabled believers travel to Lourdes every year to bathe in the sacred waters, pray, worship, and receive blessings from members of the clergy. The clergy try to keep expectations in check by emphasizing “spiritual healing” and acceptance of one's condition over physical healing, but people still hold out hope of seeing a real miracle.
Read more...
Read more...
- 9/27/2011
- by Rachel Kolb
- JustPressPlay.net
Led by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Be Kind Rewind,” “The Science of Sleep” “Human Nature”), the following jury members are responsible for selecting the student winners of Cannes Cinéfondation competition (award monies of 15,000€, 11,250€ and 7,500€ go to the top three!), and the winners of the Short Film competition.
Wondering what it takes to get on a Cannes jury? Check out the following juror’s bios and keep us posted!
Julie Gayet, Actress and Producer, France
Julie Gayet began her acting career in A la belle étoile, three years before winning the Romy Schneider Prize in 1996. Since then she has starred in films directed by Michel Deville, Agnès Varda, Merzak Allouache, Emmanuel Mouret and Patrice Leconte, to name but a few. In 2007, she founded her own production company, Rouge International, which would go on to carry out ambitious projects such as Fix me and Huit fois debout.
Jessica Hausner,...
Wondering what it takes to get on a Cannes jury? Check out the following juror’s bios and keep us posted!
Julie Gayet, Actress and Producer, France
Julie Gayet began her acting career in A la belle étoile, three years before winning the Romy Schneider Prize in 1996. Since then she has starred in films directed by Michel Deville, Agnès Varda, Merzak Allouache, Emmanuel Mouret and Patrice Leconte, to name but a few. In 2007, she founded her own production company, Rouge International, which would go on to carry out ambitious projects such as Fix me and Huit fois debout.
Jessica Hausner,...
- 4/21/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Led by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Be Kind Rewind,” “The Science of Sleep” “Human Nature”), the following jury members are responsible for selecting the student winners of Cannes Cinéfondation competition (award monies of 15,000€, 11,250€ and 7,500€ go to the top three!), and the winners of the Short Film competition.
Wondering what it takes to get on a Cannes jury? Check out the following juror’s bios and keep us posted!
Julie Gayet, Actress and Producer, France
Julie Gayet began her acting career in A la belle étoile, three years before winning the Romy Schneider Prize in 1996. Since then she has starred in films directed by Michel Deville, Agnès Varda, Merzak Allouache, Emmanuel Mouret and Patrice Leconte, to name but a few. In 2007, she founded her own production company, Rouge International, which would go on to carry out ambitious projects such as Fix me and Huit fois debout.
Jessica Hausner,...
Wondering what it takes to get on a Cannes jury? Check out the following juror’s bios and keep us posted!
Julie Gayet, Actress and Producer, France
Julie Gayet began her acting career in A la belle étoile, three years before winning the Romy Schneider Prize in 1996. Since then she has starred in films directed by Michel Deville, Agnès Varda, Merzak Allouache, Emmanuel Mouret and Patrice Leconte, to name but a few. In 2007, she founded her own production company, Rouge International, which would go on to carry out ambitious projects such as Fix me and Huit fois debout.
Jessica Hausner,...
- 4/21/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
There are talent labs, and there are cinema funds from festivals (ie. Rotterdam's CineMart; Cannes' Atelier), and then there are the short film sections; every important festival has one, and those who do well get their films promoted and financed to become feature-length debuts. Cannes' Short Film Competition (Court Métrage) awards a full-blown Palme d'Or to its winner, and more often than not, these winning filmmakers become the next big names in cinema. Jane Campion won it with Peel in 1982; as did Marian Crisan with 2008's Megatron (he went on to direct last year's Locarno awardee Morgen), and Cătălin Mitulescu with Traffic in 2004. Lynne Ramsay was a runner-up with a Grand Prix award for her Small Deaths, and while Nuri Bilge Ceylan didn't win with his short Cocoon, it was definitely there in the '95 Competition. The latter 3 names are especially notable right now, as all three have films in...
- 4/20/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
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