VIMooZ

Hot Docs Announced 14 Documentary Features to Screen at 2014 Festival; Incl. Films about Donald Trump, Big Bird, Wrestler Iron Sheik

I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY

Hot Docs announced 14 documentary features that will be part of the Special Presentations program at the 2014 Hot Docs Festival, taking place April 24 to May 4. Packed full of premieres, festival award winners, works by master filmmakers or featuring star subjects, films on the lineup include the World Premiere of the anti-Donald Trump film, A DANGEROUS GAME; I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY about the creator of Big Bird; and THE SHEIK about Olympic wrestler to American pop culture icon, Iron Sheik .

Oscilloscope Laboratories to Release Offbeat Comedy, BUZZARD that Premiered at SXSW

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it has acquired all North American rights to Joel Potrykus’ audacious, offbeat comedy, BUZZARD. The film had its World Premiere on Saturday at South by Southwest; it will then immediately go to NYC’s prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival at Lincoln Center. O-Scope plans further festival play followed by a theatrical release later this year.

RiverRun International Film Festival is Now Qualifying Festival for Oscars in the Documentary Short Subject Award; Announces Opening Films for 2014 Festival

LE CHEF, directed by Daniel Cohen

Good news for RiverRun Film Festival. The festival announced that it has been accepted as a qualifying festival for the Oscars® in the Documentary Short Subject award category. Beginning with this year’s Festival, recipients of RiverRun’s Jury Award for Best Documentary Short will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards®. The Festival also announced it’s two opening night fllms and closing night film for the 2014 festival. The first opening night film, LE CHEF, is an uproarious comedy in which a famous veteran chef faces off against his restaurant’s new CEO. The second opening night film is TO BE TAKEI, a documentary about 76 year-old George Takei, who has become more popular than his Sulu days on “Star Trek” through his active social media presence in the movements for marriage equality and for reparations for the victims of Japanese internment camps. The Festival will close on April 13 with BICYCLING WITH MOLIÈRE, in which a retired actor Serge (Fabrice Luchini) is approached by Gauthier to star in a revival of Molière’s The Misanthrope, but he plays hard to get.

HORSES OF GOD, Morocco’s Foreign-Language Oscar Entry to Be Released in the U.S.

Nabil Ayouch’s HORSES OF GOD, Morocco’s Submission for the 2014 Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, will be released in the U.S. by Kino Lorber, with a planned release in May, 2014. “HORSES OF GOD” had its World Premiere in’ Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win multiple awards including Best Director at the Seattle International Film Festival. The film, inspired by the terrorist attacks of May 16th, 2003 in Casablanca, follows two young men living in the slum of Sidi Moumen in Casablanca, caught up in Islamic fundamentalism and become martyrs.

2014 Dallas International Film Festival Unveils First 10 Films; Incl. World Premiere of BELIEVE ME, North American Premiere of FIRESTORM

FIRESTORM

The 8th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival, taking place April 3 to 13, 2014 unveiled the first 10 films to screen at the festival. “Approximately 150 films from all over the world will be screened during the 11-day Festival and selecting the first ten films is like completing the first mile in a marathon,” said James Faust, artistic director, Dallas Film Society. It’s exhilarating and exhausting selecting the best among the thousands of outstanding entries we receive and announcing the entire line-up is the moment I reach the finish line and the fun of the festival begins!”

WHEN MY SORROW DIED Leads Winners of 2014 Byron Bay International Film Festival

This weekend, the 8th Byron Bay International Film Festival in Byron Bay, Australia, came to a close, and announced the awarding winning films and filmmakers. Opening Night’s film, WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN, took two of the most coveted awards, Best Film and Best Documentary. It’s subject, master theremin player Armen Ra, attending from Los Angeles said, “I was honestly really surprised and grateful and humbled to win these awards. This town has shown us so much love that it’s going to be very hard to leave; however, I will return!”

“I think we won these awards because the people of Byron Bay resonated with the message we’re trying to get across in their own ways: embracing and celebrating individuality”.

The 8th Byron Bay international Film Festival awards were announced as follows:

RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE to Screen at American Documentary Film Festival

RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE will screen at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, California, on March 28, 2014. This cinematic adventure explores the compelling life of a modern day renaissance man and true hero to the earth. Hyde is an old style cowboy and steadfast conservationist who dedicated his life to protecting the wild horses, land, and water of the American West. RUNNING WILD is a captivating story of determination and accomplishment, featuring wild mustangs running free on Hyde’s breathtaking 13,000-acre Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota, and scenes shot at his beautiful Yamsi Ranch in Oregon and boyhood lake house in Michigan. RUNNING WILD is directed by Emmy Award winner Suzanne Mitchell and is executive produced by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple. The film garnered awards for best documentary at several festivals where it received standing ovations, as audiences were awed and inspired by Hyde’s passion.

DISRUPTED to Kick Off 14th Annual aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival in Toronto Canada

DISRUPTED by Roberto Fiesco

aluCine celebrates the launch of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month with the 14th Annual aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival, taking place in Toronto for 10 days, from from April 3 to12, 2014. Award-winning Mexican Director, Roberto Fiesco will kick off the festival with his critically acclaimed film, DISRUPTED, which has been celebrated at various international festivals including Raindance Film Festival (Best Documentary), Guadalajara International Film Festival (Best Film) and Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián (Sebastian Award).

New Leadership at Film Society of Lincoln Center; Lesli Klainberg appointed Executive Director, Eugene Hernandez Deputy Director

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the appointment of Lesli Klainberg as Executive Director and Eugene Hernandez as Deputy Director, a newly created post at the organization. Klainberg has been in place as the Film Society’s Interim Executive Director since December, and will now officially take the helm. Both will also assume the role of Co-Publisher for Film Comment magazine.

FORGET ME NOT; An Intimate Chronicle of the Filmmaker’s Mother, and Her Battle With Alzheimer’s to Screen at 2014 American Documentary Film Festival

When David Sieveking left home to study filmmaking, he left behind parents who were active, intelligent and involved. Several years later, on a visit home for Christmas, he noticed that his once spirited mother, Gretal, had become somewhat hesitant, and overly forgetful. Shortly after that came the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease – a particularly aggressive case that, over the next four years left Gretal unable to remember many things, unable to care for herself, and unable to be left alone.

Directors Abbas Kiarostami, Joachim Trier, Noémie Lvovsky Among Cannes Film Festival 2014 Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury

The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival will be presided over by Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), and includes directors Noémie Lvovsky (France), Daniela Thomas (Brazil), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), and Joachim Trier (Norway). They will be tasked with awarding three prizes to films submitted by students from film schools the world over, which will be presented in the Cinéfondation Selection.

2014 San Francisco International Film Festival Announces Feature Films in Competition

The Amazing Catfish

The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 24 to May 8, 2014, announced the films in competition for the New Directors Prize and the Golden Gate Award (GGA) contenders in the documentary feature category. SFIFF will award nearly $40,000 in total cash prizes this year. The New Directors Prize of $10,000 will be given to a narrative first feature that exhibits a unique artistic sensibility and deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. The GGA documentary feature winner will receive $10,000 and the GGA Bay Area documentary feature winner will receive $5,000. A total of 25 countries are represented in this year’s competing feature films. Independent juries will select the winners, which will be announced at the Golden Gate Awards, Wednesday, May 7.

Trending Films