News

Neon has acquired the North American rights to Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning director, Raoul Peck’s (I Am Not Your Negro) documentary Orwell, the definitive feature-length documentary on visionary author George Orwell, with the exclusive cooperation of the Orwell Estate.

Producers include Alex Gibney for Jigsaw Productions, Raoul Peck for Velvet Films, and Nick Shumaker for Anonymous Content. Stacey Offman and Richard Perello will executive produce for Jigsaw. Zhang Xin, Joey Marra, and William Horberg will executive produce for Closer Media, alongside Jessica Grimshaw, Dawn Olmstead, and David Levine of Anonymous, and Jeff Skoll and Courtney Sexton of Participant. Johnny Fewings of Universal Pictures Content Group will serve as executive producer on the film, which is currently in production.

“’Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past…,’ wrote Orwell in his novel, 1984. Today, the “newspeak” of authoritarian rule is alive and well and in unexpected places,...

After Sundance Film Festival concludes in late January, the next big cinematic event on the globe is the Berlin International Film Festival. With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, they’ve now announced their first line-up of titles, including Aki Kaurismäki‘s The Other Side of Hope (pictured above), Oren Moverman‘s Richard Gere-led The Dinner, Sally Potter‘s The Party (pictured below), and Agnieszka Holland‘s Spoor, as well as a restoration of a Rainer Werner Fassbinder TV show.

Check out the first titles below, and return for our coverage from the festival.

Competition

A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul)

Hungary

By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)

With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider

World premiere

Ana, mon amour

Romania/Germany/France

By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)

With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti,...

Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Sally Potter among competition lineup.

The first 14 films have been announced for the Competition and Berlinale Special sections of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.

Among directors with movies in competition are Aki Kaurismäki, Oren Moverman, Agnieszka Holland, Andres Veiel, Sebastián Lelio and Sally Potter.

Moverman’s (The Messenger) mystery-drama The Dinner stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloë Sevigny.

Fernando Trueba’s comedy-drama The Queen of Spain, starring Penelope Cruz, will get its international premiere in the Berlinale Special strand.

More to follow…

Competition

A teströl és a lélekröl (On Body and Soul) (Hungary)

By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)

With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider

World premiere

Ana, mon amour (Romania / Germany / France)

By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)

With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti, Carmen Tănase, Adrian Titieni, Vlad Ivanov

World premiere

Beuys - Documentary (Germany)

By Andres Veiel ([link...

Raoul Peck has been called many things: "political", "postcolonial public intellectual", and a provocateur. But he is, of course, best known as a filmmaker and one of the most incisive and powerful ones working today. Born in Haiti, because of his father's profession working at the U.N., he and his family traveled constantly from the Congo, to the U.S. and to France, which might explain why he makes films like "Sometimes in April" and "Moloch Tropical" which explore universal concerns, and how the powerful forces of politics, nature and personalities, mold and shape his characters and their actions, no matter in what country they're in. Since his...

The Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) has been in the making for several years and in September its debut took place at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) . Bruce Paddington, a filmmaker himself as well as an academic and the Founder and Director of the Festival, along with Annebelle Alcazar, Jonathan Ali and Nneka Luke, and spearheading the Cfm and the Caribbean Film Database (Cfdb) , Emilie Upczak and Melanie Archer, have created an A level event which after 10 years now encompasses three important aspects of film beyond the showcasing of the Caribbean and international docs and fiction films: filmmaking, film marketing and film education which this year included an academic symposium through the University of the West Indies, a Youth Jury of young people from 16 to 21 and sold out matinees for school children.

Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.

For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.

This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.

The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.

The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.

“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.

The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.

The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.

The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.

Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.

The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:

1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.

Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.

“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.

This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.

Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.

2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.

The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.

Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.

Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.

The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.

3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.

This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.

In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.

“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”

The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.

4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).

This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.

5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.

Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.

In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."

Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.

Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011

Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)

Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:

filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/

Watch the short Here.

6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.

Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.

What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.

Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”

http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida

7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.

The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.

8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.

This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.

http://www.miquelgalofre.com .

You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice

9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.

The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.

10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.

The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.

11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.

12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.

Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.

13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.

This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.

It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.

14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.

Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.

The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.

The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.

Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.

Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.

15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.

Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.

They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.

Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.

Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer

Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171

Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include

16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.

“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.

17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.

The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.

18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.

This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.

19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams

“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“

“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.

“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”

The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.

Editor's Note: New Yorkers should take advantage of a retrospective of the filmmaker, set to run at Maysles Cinema, starting today, January 22nd to January 25th, 2015 - a series curated by Michelle Materre and the Creatively Speaking Film Series, co-sponsored by the Haiti Cultural Exchange and The Ddpa (Durban Declaration & Programme of Action) Watch Group. Titled "Raoul Peck: Après the Earthquake," the filmmaker himself will be present for part of the series, to participate in post-screening chats. "Moloch Tropical" opens the series tonight, screening at 7:30 Pm. It's a film I first saw about 4 years ago, and one that I...

Mubi, the online streaming service, has partnered with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival to bring past festival highlights to over 200 countries around the globe. Mubi will screen a selection of retrospective titles from the Human Rights Watch Film Festival via its popular website, making these thought-provoking films available to audiences across the world to watch and discuss. Titles began screening on Mubi 2 days ago, March 18, and they include a few titles previously highlighted on this blog, like Hatian filmmaker Raoul Peck's Moloch Tropical, and the Senegalese drama Tall as the Baobab Tree, directed by Jeremy Teicher. "This is another great film festival to...

Mubi is excited and proud to announce a partnership with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, whose London festival begins today and runs through March 28. To celebrate the 2014 festival, Mubi is mounting a retrospective of highlights from the festival's past. The following films—all shown at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival—will be given 30-day runs on Mubi in an extensive range of countries around the world beginning today.

Moloch Tropical (Raoul Peck, 2009)

The Red Chapel (Mads Brügger, 2009)

! Women Art Revolution (Lynn Hershmann-Leeson, 2010)

5 Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, 2011)

Brother Number One (Annie Goldson, Peter Gilbert, 2011)

99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film (Aaron Aites, Audrey Ewell, Nina Krstic, Lucian Read, 2013)

Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution (Alex Meillier, 2013)

Tall as the Baobab Tree (Jeremy Teicher, 2013)

The festival will continue its on-the-ground events throughout the year, including its other central film festival in New York in June.

For those in the Philly area, this one's for you! Film screenings of the filmmaker's 2 most recent films (both covered heavily on this blog, and both I strongly recommend) - one a work of narrative fiction, the other a documentary. Plus he'll be present for each screening, both followed a Master Class with the filmmaker. Go! Neither is readily available (read my review of Molock Tropical Here), so this might be your one chance to see them.Philadelphia, Pa – On Tuesday, February 4, Scribe Video Center hosts internationally acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck for screenings of two of his latest films: Moloch Tropical and the provocative documentary Fatal Assistance. The...

Glad to announce that Hatian filmmaker Raoul Peck's follow-up to Moloch Tropical, a feature documentary titled Assistance Mortelle (or Deadly Assistance in English), will make its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next month. What promises to be an exposé that will offer the world a look at the international community's response and reaction to the devastating 2010 earthquake Haiti suffered, through the eyes of Haitians in Haiti, the 100-minute fim (culled from a total of over 500 hours of footage) was shot over 2 years, starting soon after the January 2010 earthquake, through last year. ...

I'm running this based on limited info I have in front of me; Hatian filmmaker Raoul Peck is currently in post-production on his follow-up to Moloch Tropical (one of the best films I saw in 2010), with a feature documentary titled Assistance Mortelle (or Deadly Assistance in English), which, from what I understand, will offer the world a look at the international community's response and reaction to the devastating 2010 earthquake the country suffered, through the eyes of Haitians in Haiti.  Seemingly promising what will be an exposé, the 100-minute fim (culled from a total of over 500 hours of footage) was shot over 2 years, starting after the...

It's unfortunate that his excellent Moloch Tropical isn't yet readily available for rent here in the USA. You can buy it from Sankofa.com for $30, but it's not really available widely, and definitely not as a Netflix rental. His Lumumba (which was really my intro to his work, about a decade ago) is far more accessible however. Anyway... the details on the above call for papers follows, from Toni Pressley-Sanon in the Department of Transnational Studies at the University at Buffalo, and Sophie Saint-Just in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Fordham University. The critically acclaimed filmmaker, Raoul Peck, has a long and...

We have no right to speak in the name of others without legitimacy. Africa, for example, often serves as a backdrop in movies. Yet we see nothing of Africa, we don’t understand its problems. I think that we must get accustomed, and accustom our audiences, to other viewpoints. To adopt this stance, we must understand their problems, put ourselves in their shoes and, with certain humility, give them a voice. The cinema should be conceived in that way. Otherwise it remains a power trip. It is just a question of being ethically and politically sound. Words from Raoul Peck, the Haitian filmmaker (Lumumba, Moloch Tropical, Sometimes In April) in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival...

Staring exactly a week from today… the 22nd Edition of the Pan-African Film Festival; not the festival currently happening in Los Angeles by the way. I’m referring to the largest, and most prominent film festival in all of Africa, that takes place once every 2 years, in Ouagagadougou, Burkina Faso, also known as Fespaco.

The festival will run from February 28th through March 5th, 2011.

I’ve been searching for a proper listing of all the films scheduled to screen at this year’s event, but haven’t found one. All I have is the 22-page screening schedule, which is somewhat cumbersome to go through. Regardless, I plan on doing so, and highlighting noteworthy titles on this site.

I immediately identified a few that we’ve already given some ink to – specifically, John Akomfrah’s Nine Muses, Andrew Dosunmu’s Restless City, and Mahamat Saleh Haroun’s Cannes winner Un Homme Qui Crie...

In 2004, filmmaker Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay!, Mississipi Masala & others) founded Maisha Film Labs - a Uganda-based film training initiative by (not-so unlike the Sundance Film Festival’s filmmaker labs, or the Ifp’s filmmaker labs).

The goal of the Maisha Film Labs is to give aspiring filmmakers in the East African country the tools & knowledge they currently lack, to tell their own stories through film, which would then help foster a self-sustaining film industry in Uganda and vicinity, that will support and represent the interests of local audiences.

So, why Uganda? Well… Mira Nair’s award-winning 1991 film, Mississipi Masala (which starred Denzel Washington, by the way, and probably my favorite of all her films), was shot, on location in Kampala, Uganda! And, it’s also in Uganda, in 1988, that she met her husband, scholar, Mahmood Mamdani, while she was doing research for the film.

The first Maisha workshop...

A film I’ve been touting on this blog since seeing it last December, is available on DVD, for those who missed past screenings (Click Here to read my review).

Moloch Tropical, the latest from Raoul Peck (Lumumba), shot entirely in Haiti, wasn’t and still hasn’t been given a proper theatrical release, and, frankly, I’m not so sure it will at this point – specifically here in the USA. And that’s unfortunate – especially in this climate of homogenized, uninspired cinema.

It screened 4 times in New York City alone, and I posted each event on this blog, so I certainly hope some of you made the effort to check it out!

It deserves to be seen on the big screen, but, since that opportunity is likely unlikely to happen for most of you, may I suggest you pick up a copy for yourself right now, Here, for about $40. Yes,...

A program I’ve highlighter previously on this blog… the Creatively Speaking Film Series, now in its 15th year (its 4th year collaborating with BAMcinématek).

Highlights of this year’s program includes: a film I’ve praised many times on this blog – Raoul Peck’s latest, Moloch Tropical; also, a shorts series commemorating the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – Katrina: The Untold Stories; a new shorts program exploring Speculative Fiction on Film; a retrospective of the West Coast renegades, The Black Op, directed by Ka’Ramuu Kush & produced by Beatriz Eliza.

Check out the poster below for more, and visit the Bam website Here for full lineup and to purchase tickets.

Here’s another clip from Raoul Peck’s latest, Moloch Tropical, currently traveling the country, from one screening event to the next. Still no word on a theatrical release; however, as I said in my last post on the film, the film can be purchased on DVD, for $40, right now! So, if it doesn’t make it to your city (and I’m sure it won’t reach many cities), you can order yourself a copy Here.

Watch the clip below; obviously you’ll best understand what’s going on if you see the whole film:...

A film I’ve been touting on this blog since seeing it last December, is available on DVD (Click Here to read my review), for those who missed past screenings.

Moloch Tropical, the latest from Raoul Peck (Lumumba), shot entirely in Haiti, hasn’t yet been given a proper theatrical release, and, frankly, I’m not so sure it will at this point – specifically here in the USA.

It’s already screened 4 times in New York City alone, and the upcoming screenings listed on the production company’s website don’t list any future USA play dates.

Some upcoming festival screenings of the film include:

- Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême (France, August 25th – 28th)

- Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival (September 22nd – October 5th)

- Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur (Belgium, October 1st – 8th)

- Oslo Film From the South (Norway, October 7th – 17th )

- Restrospective of...

Finally, we get to see some footage from the film! I’m surprised that, at this point in its travels, a trailer has yet to be released for Raoul Peck’s latest offering, Moloch Tropical. It hurts the film in terms of audience attraction.

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been touting it since I saw it last December. It’s been almost a year that the film has been playing the festival and screening series circuit, and I’d think that we’d have seen something more than a few stills by now! Unless a trailer does exist, and I just don’t know about it; but, I’m pretty thorough with my research, so I doubt one is in circulation. If I’m wrong about that, I’m sure someone will let me know.

Anyway, as I said, I’ve seen the film (my...

If you live in New York City and you missed the 4 previous screenings of Raoul Peck’s latest offering, Moloch Tropical, well, you’ll get a 5th chance to see it! Come on folks – you have Zero excuses now!

I expect every (ok, maybe not every) New Yorker who reads this blog to have seen this film already, and if you haven’t, make an effort to see it when it screens again, as part of Michelle Materre’s Creatively Speaking screening series at Bam Cinematek, later this month. So, mark your calendars: the series runs Friday, September 24th, through Sunday the 26th – essentially a weekend.

I saw the film last December, and reviewed it on this blog (read my review Here); I really dug it, and recommend that you see it if you can! Opportunities like this in African Diasporic cinema, here in the USA, don’t come around often.

Bob Ellis looks back at this year’s Sydney Film Festival.

We are forbidden urination after a three-hour film and herded bursting out into the rain and pushed in front of speeding traffic by big Tongan guardians of the Red Carpet while inside, in the ever-gorgeous art-deco foyer, barmen and pie vendors gazed on its lovely emptiness planning their bankruptcies and other careers and cursing, like all of us, the Clare Stewart Effect on world cinema.

Audiences entering successive sessions without hellish incident these last 113 years have not educated this woman; clamour, ticketless offices, caffeine deprivation, pissed trousers and lack of a chance to chat between sessions (or even sit on the marble steps) have characterised her Cromwellian rule for years now and several deaths, I calculate, from the pelting rain and it is wrong for her to preen her ghastly dress sense in golden spotlight just because certain films...

Leading up to the screening of his film this weekend at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck talked to Ted Hope at TrulyFreeFilm.blogspot.com about his inspiration for Moloch Tropical, his latest effort.

By the way, I’ve seen the film, and shared my thoughts about it Here last December.

If you’re in New York City this weekend, I encourage you to add this screening on your list of things to do. It screens on Sunday, the 20th (details Here). And now here’s Peck in his own words:

“Moloch Tropical” tells the last 24 hours of power of a democratic elected president.

It could have easily been in Africa, Asia or South America or even in some western countries (think Nixon, Clinton, Berlusconi, Yeltsin…), I choose Haiti, for course.

With this film I wanted to explore the often hidden side of power. No doubt,...

I wish the Human Rights Watch Film Festival didn't exist. I wish it didn't have to. That there was no need for it. Of course, what I really wish is that the issues and causes it presented through cinema weren't still abound. But unfortunately, war, genocide, injustice, hate crime, poverty and too many other human rights violations and crises continue throughout the world. Wouldn't it be nice if even half of them could disappear, and the Hrw only had enough content for one week instead of two? Well, as long as there is so much suffering on Earth, we must have these films, and therefore we must have this fest, which continues its 2010 run this Friday at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, in New York City.

NYC's event -- which follows Human Rights Watch fests in Toronto, London, Ottawa and Chicago -- does last two weeks (ending June 24) and consists of 30 films,...

If you live in New York City and you missed the 3 previous screenings of Raoul Peck’s latest offering, Moloch Tropical, well, you’ll get a 4th chance to see it! Come on folks – you have zero excuses now! I expect every (ok, maybe not every) New Yorker who reads this blog to have seen this film already, and if you haven’t, make an effort to see it when it screens this weekend, the 20th, as a selection of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, which begins tomorrow, the 10th, and runs through the 24th of June.

There are a number of other films worth checking out, including: In the Land of the Free (a NY premiere), Vadim Jean’s documentary on the Angola 3, who were convicted of the murder of a prison guard (sans physical evidence and credible eyewitnesses), after they were targeted by prison officials for...

Directors Shirley Barrett and Yonfan (Hong Kong) have joined the jury for the Sydney Film Festival’s Official Competition.

They will judge the 12 films under the direction of jury president Jan Chapman, working with the director of the Sundance Film Festival, John Cooper, and a fifth jury member yet to be announced.

Barrett’s latest project, South Solitary, will premiere on June 2, opening the festival. It will be released by Icon on July 29.

The director’s 1996 Love Serenade will also screen, as part of the Deluxe/Kodak film preservation program (June 12).

Yonfan’s Prince of Tears - Hong Kong’s entry for the 2010 Academy Awards – will also premiere at the festival on June 9.

The wining film will be announced on closing night, June 14.

The 12 films are:

• Four Lions, Dir Christopher Morris

• Heartbeats, Dir-Scr Xavier Dolan

• How I Ended This Summer, Dir-Scr Alexej Popogrebski

• If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle,...

Tribeca Film Festival is partnering with Human Rights Watch and the Film Society of Lincoln Center to present Tff 2010's Moloch Tropical, the centerpiece screening in next month's Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. From the Tff 2010 Film Guide: Haitian auteur Raoul Peck meticulously drapes the poetic across the political in his reflection on the universal malady of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Inspired by the last days of 19th-century Haitian king Henri Christophe but set in the 21st century in the palace of Port-au-Prince, Moloch Tropical unnervingly resonates in the contemporary moment across different leaders and nations - from Saddam Hussein to Bill Clinton. Win two tickets to this Sunday's screening from the TribecaFilm.com Swagbag! Festival Centerpiece Moloch Tropical + Q and A With Filmmakers And Special Guest Sunday, June 20 7:00 at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater Master filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us to a hilltop...

Sydney Film Festival (Sff) has unleashed the Official Program for the 2010 Festival, which runs from 2-14 June 2010. The festival will present 157 Films from 47 Countries out of which 92 are Australian Premieres, 2 international Premieres and 7 World Premieres.

The 2010 Festival kicks off with the World Premiere of Shirley Barrett’s South Solitary. The Australian Premiere of The Kids Are All Right directed by Lisa Cholodenko will close the festival.

2010 Jury President is Australian Producer Jan Chapman whose list of credits includes The Piano, Lantana and most recently, Bright Star. Jan will be joined by Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper.

Official Competition

Featured in this year’s Official Competition line-up include:

• Three films direct from 2010 Cannes Film Festival – including Cannes Closing Night film, Julie Bertucelli’s Australian/French Co-Production The Tree, along with Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (screening in Cannes Official Competition) and Canadian...

Ok New York, listen up!

If you missed it when it premiered at MoMA in December, last year, you’ll get another chance to do so. Raoul Peck’s dynamic new film, Moloch Tropical, will screen at 3pm tomorrow (April 23rd) at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the man himself, Mr Peck, will be present for a Q&A following the screening!

I saw the film at MoMA, and reviewed it on this blog (read my review Here); I dug it, and recommend that you see it if you can! I just checked the Tribeca website, and tickets are Still available for this specific screening, so, head on over there and pick up yours before they sell out!

The film is still without a North American distributor, meaning this may be your one chance to see it, because it may be a long while before it comes this way again,...

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, London

A reminder that "human rights" is a universal issue rather than an empty poltical buzz word, with 28 searing films from around the world. Like Anthony Lapaglia's star turn in The Balibo Conspiracy, a gripping fictionalisation of the disappearance of five Australian TV journalists during the East Timor invasion of 1975, the truth of which lay undiscovered for over 30 years. Or the timely Moloch Tropical, a film from Haitian minister of culture-turned-auteur, Raoul Peck imagining the mental unravelling of the country's prime minister. Other highlights include Iranian artist Shirin Neshat's intimate Women Without Men, and Red Chapel, which finds comedy in North Korea.

Various venues, Wed to 26 Mar, visit hrw.org/iff

Andrea Hubert

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

There's little to galvanise this year's crop (over 75 films and documentaries), besides tragedy, love, religion, schooldays and nestling together under a big rainbow-coloured umbrella.

While most eyes are on Austin, Texas this week for SXSW, many people on the East Coast eagerly await a closer show as this year’s Tribeca Film Festival kicks off on April 21st. The festival is mainly for indie pictures, rather than the larger, blockbuster films, but is also a great place for up-and-coming directors and writers to showcase their work.

With the festival coming up in just over a month, they are already rolling out this year’s schedule and have announced the first 34 films out of a total of 85 feature length and 47 shorts screening at this year’s fest. Among the titles were those submitted to the World Narrative and Documentary competition, as well as the Showcase and Special Events.

Some of the titles look to be quite intriguing, and could include some of the bigger names of the next decade. Be sure to check out the...

9th Annual Festival to Present 85 Feature-Length and 47 Short Film Selections from April 21 – May 2, 2010

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Tribeca Film Festival Virtual and Tribeca Film Boost Festival Reach

New York, NY [March 10, 2010] – The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, the Founding Sponsor of the Festival, today announced the first 34 films to be presented among the 85 feature length and 47 short films at this year’s Festival. The 34 titles include 24 World Narrative and Documentary Competition films, as well as out-of-competition feature film selections in the Showcase and Special Events sections.

The 2010 Tff will take place from April 21 to May 2 in lower Manhattan. The 2010 film selection encompasses feature films from 38 different countries, including 45 World Premieres, 7 International Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, 6 U.S. Premieres and 12 New York Premieres, among which are 7 titles which are part of the fourth annual Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival. 96 directors will be presenting feature works at the Festival, with 38 of these filmmakers presenting...

The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival has announced its scheduled lineup -- and just like its home, New York City, its got a little bit of everything.

The Festival will kick off with the world premiere of DreamWorks' 3D "Shrek Forever After."

But then it launches into a darker realm with documentaries like Alex Gibney's latest. The Oscar-winning director ("Taxi to the Dark Side") will screen his new untitled doc on the former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in 2008 due to a sex scandal, as a work-in-progress. The film will screen as one of three special events that festival organizers announced Wednesday (Mar. 10).

The Special Events section also includes another work-in-progress screening of "The Western Front." This documentary follows its writer/director and Marine, Zachary Iscol, who returns to his battle site in Iraq's Al Anbar province. David Lean's 1965 classic "Doctor Zhivago" got a make-over for its 45th anniversary,...

Tribeca International Film Festival announced the first 34 feature films of the 2010 festival slate. “This year’s competition, the core of the Festival, represents contemporary international filmmaking at its finest, bringing together fresh voices with established storytellers. These stories will leave audiences engaged, as well as entertained, which is what our Festival is all about,” said David Kwok, Director of Programming for the Tribeca Film Festival.

Representing 8 countries, this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition will be an international film collection created by many first- and second-time directors. 7 of the films here in this section are World Premieres. Road, Movie directed by Dev Benegal will be screened in ‘Showcase’ section of the festival. The lineup is as follows:

World Narrative Feature Competition "Buried Land," directed by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, written by Rhodes, Eastwood and Dzenan Medanovic. Set in a war-torn town in Bosnia that attracts tourists visiting ancient pyramids.

Alex Gibney's latest documentary, a portrait of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in 2008 because of a sex scandal, will be spotlighted at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York.

The currently untitled film from the director of the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side," will screen as a work-in-progress as one of three special events that festival organizers unveiled today.

"I think people will be really surprised," said David Kwok, the festival's director of programming. "It doesn't just focus on the scandal. It's more comprehensive than that, looking at Eliot Spitzer as a person and at his entire career."

Also playing in the fest's Special Events section are David Lean's 1965 epic "Doctor Zhivago," marking its 45th anniversary with a new restoration that will be released by Warner Home Video, and a work-in-progress screening of the doc "The Western Front,...

The plot should feel familiar to anyone broadly informed in global politics, and it’s a story that could have taken place in several conflict-laden nations, past and present.

In short, a president of a country with North American interests is elected “democratically,” backed by the Us government, with Obama-like promises of hope and reform that are never fully realized, after he gets comfortable with his power – a limited power, since he’s still very much a puppet for a foreign, more powerful government. But just don’t tell him that; after all, he’s the man in the high castle - literally; and just like the Philip K Dick novel, there are a collection of characters; some of them know each other, while others are connected indirectly, as they all cope with living under near-totalitarianism. Plus, there are multiple subplots, as well as a story-within-the-story.

Eventually, the constituency who appointed the president become impatient,...

Snowstorms like we had last night here in New York City can make any New Yorker long to be anywhere else but here – especially some place with a warmer climate.

However, as the title of this post suggests, one doesn’t have to look too hard to find reasons to love Gotham City – especially if you’re a lover of cinema!

And since you’re reading this blog, you probably are; so it’s with glee that I bring you the following news: I just got word that Moloch Tropical, Raoul Peck’s return to the big screen since 2000’s critically acclaimed Lumumba (an almost 10 year absence; although he did direct some TV projects within that time period), will be screening just Twice at MoMA, as part of their ongoing “The Contenders” screening series – essentially, a program culled from a list of films that includes studio film releases, as well...

Toronto -- Gaul continues to bless America with films, but a slew of French titles await U.S. deals going into the Toronto International Film Festival.

Only 14 of the 31 French films bound for Toronto have U.S. distribution, according to national promotion agency Unifrance.

"Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet will debut his weapons comedy "Micmacs A Tire-Larigot" as a gala at Roy Thomson Hall ahead of an October Gallic release by Warner Bros. France, but has yet to line up theatrical distribution stateside.

French sales agents will also be in Toronto to shop Francois Ozon's "Le Refuge," Claire Denis' "White Material" and Israeli director Amos Gitai's "Carmel," an Israel-France co-production, and Gaspar Noe's "Enter The Void."

And in the high-profile Special Presentations sidebar, French titles up for grabs include Christian Carion's "Farewell," "Hadewijch," by Bruno Dumont, Jean-Marie et Arnaud Larrieu's "Les Derniers jours du monde," and "London River,...