Check out the new trailer for the documentary film “THE UNKNOWN KNOWN,” directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Errol Morris which opens April 2, 2014. The film offers a mesmerizing portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense whose career will cast a long shadow over the 21st century.
Wayne Wang’s documentary film SOUL OF A BANQUET, is not yet completely finished but it has already been snapped up by Oscilloscope Laboratories for a late 2014 release. Wayne Wang is the director of more than 20 films that include THE JOY LUCK CLUB, MAID IN MANHATTAN and A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS.
FRUITVALE STATION
The nominees for the 45th NAACP Image Awards were announced today and The Weinstein Company lead with 17 nominations, followed by Fox Searchlight Pictures with seven nominations. The awards will be presented during the two-hour TV One telecast on Saturday, February 22. Nominees include The Weinstein Company’s FRUITVALE STATION up for numerous awards include Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Michael B. Jordan, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Octavia Spencer. Other films up for the award for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture include BLUE CAPRICE, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE, and THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI.
VERONICA MARS starring Kristen Bell.
The world premiere of CHEF, Jon Favreau’s new indie film, has been selected to open the South by Southwest Film Festival – SXSW Film 2014 set to take place March 7 to 15, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Favreau wrote, directed and stars in the comedy that also features Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo,Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey Jr. Favreau plays Carl, a chef who loses his job and decides to launch a food truck business, while attempting to reunite his estranged family. Six additional films have been selected to premiere at the festival including VERONICA MARS starring Kristen Bell.
THE ACT OF KILLING, that features former Indonesian death squad leaders re-enacting their crimes, took the top prize – the award for Outstanding Feature at the 7th Annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking. Sarah Polley was named the year’s Outstanding Director for STORIES WE TELL, her personal exploration of memory and storytelling. Zachary Heinzerling’s CUTIE AND THE BOXER, a portrait of the relationship between two New York artists, received three honors, including Outstanding Debut for Heinzerling, Outstanding Graphics and Animation for Art Jail and Outstanding Original Score for Yasuaki Shimizu. Dave Grohl’s SOUND CITY won the Audience Choice Prize, voted on by the public and the Legacy Award was presented to the landmark 1976 film HARLAN COUNTY, USA, about a brutal coal strike in Kentucky.
Sundance Film Festival announced the members of the six juries awarding prizes at the upcoming festival set for January 16 to 26, 2014, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Short Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony on January 21 at Park City’s Jupiter Bowl. Feature film awards will be announced at a separate ceremony on January 25 in Park City.
Check out the trailer for the Japanese comedy R100 directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto and set for the upcoming 2014 Sundance Film Festival. In R100, which premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, Nao Ohmori (star of Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer) plays Takafumi Katayama, a mild-mannered father who escapes the pressures of daily life by joining a mysterious S&M club, where the so-called Queens visit clients in real-life settings. While at first the rough treatment and humiliation he receives from leather-clad women in cafés and restaurants is enjoyable, Takafumi soon realizes that he’s opened a door that cannot be closed.
WATERMARK, directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky, described as a mesmerizing portrait of the planet’s lifeblood, won the Toronto Film Critics Association’s 2013 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. Also nominated for the award were Gabrielle, directed by Louise Archambault, and The Dirties, directed by Matt Johnson. The $100,000 value of the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award makes it by far the richest annual arts prize in Canada. As runners-up, Archambault and Johnson each received $5,000
FRUITVALE STATION
The ABFF Hollywood Awards an online platform created to recognize the work of persons of African descent in the motion picture industry and outstanding films portraying the Black experience announce the nominees for the 2014 award season. FRUITVALE STATION is up for multiple awards including Movie of the Year, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer, Best Screenplay, and Best Director for Ryan Coogler. Other films receiving nominations include MOTHER OF GEORGE grabbed Best Actress for Danai Gurira, and Best Screenplay for THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE.
The road trip comedy MARVIN, SETH AND STANLEY, by writer/director Stephen Gurewitz, who also co-stars with Alex Karpovsky and Marvin Gurewitz heads to theaters in February, after a digital release on January 28 on cable VOD, iTunes, Amazon VUDU, X-Box, Sony Playstation and other digital outlets.
THE DIRTIES
Thomas Vinterberg’s THE HUNT was named Best Foreign Film, while Joshua Oppenheimer’s THE ACT OF KILLING was selected as Best Documentary at the 14th Annual Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards. THE DIRTIES, desribed as a conceptually daring story of two film geeks plotting a high school shooting, led all winners in the Canadian section. Matt Johnson’s debut feature earned accolades for Best Canadian Film and Best First Film by a Canadian Director (a new VFCC award this year). Johnson also picked up Best Actor in a Canadian Film for his efforts in front of the camera. Best Canadian Documentary was awarded to Chelsea McMullan’s My Prairie Home, an evocative portrait of transgender musician Rae Spoon.
The documentary LAMBERT & STAMP directed by James D. Cooper has been added to the lineup for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival taking place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah, U.S.A., and the third Sundance London film and music festival taking place April 25 to 27 at The O2 in London. The screening in Utah in the Festival’s Documentary Premieres section will be the film’s world premiere, and the screening at Sundance London will be its UK premiere. LAMBERT & STAMP is the first film to be announced as part of the 2014 Sundance London program, and the full program for that festival will be announced in March.