Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 18, 2008 under Industry | Comments are off for this article
Starting today, holiday gift buyers can purchase the first of many fine independent films in DVD gift sets that include a Seattle Chocolate Company milk chocolate bar for $19.95. filmmaker Rick Stevenson’s award-winning film ‘Expiration Date‘ is the featured title within this gift box available for purchase at the online store.
‘Expiration Date’ is a romantic comedy about Charlie Silver Cloud III, a young man with a deadline. His father and grandfather were killed by milk trucks on their 25th birthdays and he’s about to turn 25. Filmed in Seattle, Washington ‘Expiration Date’ has won 33 independent film awards over six continents.
This milk chocolate bar and movie offering is timed coincident with the December 18 airing of the film on Seattle’s PBS station, KCTS 9. At the same time, Seattle Chocolates are being featured on Smith Brother’s Dairy milk cartons this month in connection with the promotion of this film. [via]
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on November 10, 2008 under Awards, IFP | Comments are off for this article
The year’s best independent films and talent will come to life throughout the city as part of the Gotham Independent Film Awards Series, a three-week program of screenings and panel discussions taking place from November 20th to December 6th.
Presented by IFP, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, the series celebrates the nominees and tribute honorees for the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film AwardsTM. The Gotham Independent Film Awards is one of the leading awards for independent film and the first major honors of the film awards season. The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd at New York City’s Cipriani Wall Street.
The Series will give New York film lovers a range of opportunities to meet the filmmakers and actors behind some of the year’s most acclaimed independent films, including Gus Van Sant (MILK), Rosemarie DeWitt (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED), Rebecca Hall (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), and Melissa Leo (FROZEN RIVER).
The series will also provide New Yorkers with a rare chance to see all of the nominees for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You,” a popular category which honors the year’s best American independent films on the festival circuit that have yet to be picked up for theatrical distribution.
“The Gotham Independent Film Awards Series gives New Yorkers a chance to see up close some of the most talked about and acclaimed independent film talent of the year,” says Michelle Byrd, Executive Director of IFP. “It provides everyone with a backstage pass to the talent that will be celebrated at this year’s awards ceremony.”
The series includes:
“Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM” – For the third year, IFP’s Filmmaker Magazine has teamed with MoMA to select the year’s best films fresh off the festival circuit which have yet to be released theatrically. Among the nominees are three narrative films that blur distinctions between fiction and documentary through vérité techniques, using non-professional actors, handheld cameras, home movie footage, and gritty location shoots. These include Tom Quinn’s THE NEW YEAR PARADE, about a South Philadelphia working-class family torn apart by divorce; Antonio Campos’s AFTERSCHOOL, a disturbing study of violence and voyeurism at a New England prep school; and Jake Mahaffy’s WELLNESS, the tragic and quintessentially American portrait of a door-to-door salesman who unwittingly participates in a pyramid scheme. Also featured is Nina Paley’s delightful animated musical SITA SINGS THE BLUES, in which the filmmaker interweaves the epic saga of ancient Indian lovers with her own romantic travails. The fifth nominee, Taylor Greeson’s MEADOWLARK, is a haunting autobiographical documentary in which the filmmaker’s adolescent experiences of first love and family tragedy become entwined. Screenings run November 20th – 23rd. SITA SINGS THE BLUES (82 min) Thursday, November 20th at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 22nd at 3:00 p.m./ WELLNESS (90 min) Thursday, November 20th at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 22nd at 6:00 p.m. / THE NEW YEAR PARADE (85 min.) Friday, November 21st at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 23rd at 1:30 p.m. / AFTERSCHOOL (106 min.) Friday, November 21st at 8:15 p.m. and Sunday, November 23rd at 5:30 p.m. / MEADOWLARK (77 min) Saturday, November 22nd at 8:15 p.m. and Sunday, November 23rd at 3:45 p.m. / MoMA, consult www.moma.org for tickets
MoMA’s Modern Mondays: “The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM” Nominee Panel – Building upon the Museum’s long tradition of exploring cinematic experimentation, Modern Mondays is the new weekly showcase for innovation on screen. The focus – a moderated conversation and clip reel – featuring the directors nominated for the Gothams “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM” Award. Monday, November 24th from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. / MoMA Education and Research Center, 4 West 54 Street, Theater 3, mezzanine $10
The Breakthrough Director’s Panel – Past winners include Ryan Fleck for HALF NELSON (2006), Bennett Miller for CAPOTE (2005), and Joshua Marston for MARIA FULL OF GRACE (2004). Meet this year’s up-and-coming director nominees: Lance Hammer, whose film, BALLAST, received the most 2008 Gotham Independent Film Awards nominations (four); Antonio Campos (AFTERSCHOOL); Dennis Dortch (A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK & SEXY); Barry Jenkins (MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY); and Alex Rivera (SLEEP DEALER).
Sponsored by Nokia. Sunday, November 30th from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. / DGA Theater $12
VOLVER Screening – BAM will host a screening of VOLVER, Pedro Almodóvar’s award-winner which led this year’s Gotham Independent Awards Tribute honoree Penélope Cruz to her first Oscar nomination in 2007. In Spanish. 121 minutes. Monday, December 1st at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. / BAM Rose Cinemas $11. Screening courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
The Breakthrough Actor’s Panel – Past winners in this closely- watched category include Ellen Page for JUNO (2007) and Amy Adams for JUNEBUG (2005). Find out who will be the next independent film breakout star at a panel discussion with this year’s nominees Pedro Castaneda (AUGUST EVENING), Rosemarie DeWitt (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED), Rebecca Hall (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), Melissa Leo (FROZEN RIVER), Alejandro Polanco (CHOP SHOP), and Micheal J. Smith, Sr. (BALLAST). Monday, December 1st from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. / DGA Theater $12
Melvin Van Peebles Screenings- Probably best known for his revolutionary SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, this “godfather” of independent film and recipient of a Tribute at this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards will introduce his 1968 debut STORY OF A 3-DAY PASS and this year’s, CONFESSIONS OF A EX-DOOFUS-ITCHY FOOTED MUTHA. STORY OF A 3-DAY PASS in French and English. 87 min. Monday, December 1 at 6:15 p.m. / CONFESSIONS OF A EX-DOOFUS-ITCHY FOOTED MUTHA 99 min.
Monday, December 1st at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 6th at 3:00 p.m. / MoMA $10. Filmmaker introductions only at December 1 screenings.
Screenings courtesy of Melvin Van Peebles.
Special Screening of Gus Van Sant’s MILK with Q&A by Director – On the heels of its opening on November 26th, MoMA will host an exclusive screening of MILK followed by one of the only East Coast public appearances by the film’s director and Gotham Tribute honoree Gus Van Sant. The film stars Sean Penn as slain San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. 128 min. Wednesday, December 3rd at 7:00 p.m. / MoMA $10. Screening courtesy of Focus Features.
Conversation with Sheila Nevins – Gotham Tribute honoree Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films, will participate in a conversation with Variety Editor-in-Chief Peter Bart. The conversation will be bookended by screenings of HBO’s original production TAXICAB CONFESSIONS, NY NY (directed by Joe and Harry Gantz; running time approx. 1 hour) and ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED (directed by Marina Zenovich; running time one hour, forty minutes), a Gotham nominee for Best Documentary. Thursday, December 4th. TAXICAB CONFESSIONS, NY NY screens at 6:30 p.m. / Panel at 7:30 p.m. / ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED screens at 8:30 p.m. / Tribeca Film Center Screening Room. Free. Must RSVP. Screenings courtesy of HBO Documentary Films.
Venues & Tickets
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek – 30 Lafayette Avenue at Ashland Place. For tickets: www.bam.org.
Directors Guild Theater – 110 West 57th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. For tickets: www.gotham.ifp.org.
The Museum of Modern Art’s The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters – 11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. For tickets: www.moma.org.
Tribeca Film Center Screening Room – 375 Greenwich Street, between North Moore and Franklin Streets. For tickets: www.gotham.ifp.org.
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