IN BLOOM, an award-winning film co-directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, and Georgia’s Official Entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, will open in New York at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center onJanuary 10, 2014. A national release will follow.
Amir Ramses’ award-winning controversial documentary film JEWS OF EGYPT from the 21st Annual New York African Diaspora International Film Festival, will be released in the U.S. by ArtMattan Films. Banned in Egypt for a year by Egyptian authorities, JEWS OF EGYPT is described as a documentary that captures fragments of the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the twentieth century until their second grand exodus after the tripartite attack of 1956
Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE, along with David O. Russell,’s AMERICAN HUSTLE lead the 2014 Golden Globes nominations, with each film receiving 7 nods including including Best Director and Best Picture. In addition to 12 Years a Slave, other nominees for Best Motion Picture, Drama include CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, GRAVITY, PHILOMENA and RUSH. The nominees for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy include AMERICAN HUSTLE, HER, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, NEBRASKA and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (France) was nominated in the Best Foreign-Language Film, along with THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy), THE HUNT (Denmark), THE PAST (Iran) and THE WIND RISES (Japan). The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the second year in a row, will air on Sunday, January 12, 2014.
12 YEARS A SLAVE
The nominations for the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2013 in film and television categories as well as the SAG Awards honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles. 12 YEARS A SLAVE lead with 4 nominations in the film category, including Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for MICHAEL FASSBENDER, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for LUPITA NYONG’O, and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS on Saturday, January 18, 2014.
12 YEARS A SLAVE
“12 YEARS A SLAVE” lead the 2013 Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) awards, winning six awards including Best Film, Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o), Best Ensemble, Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley) and Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer). Best Foreign Language Film went to “THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN,” from Belgium, and Best Documentary honors were awarded to “BLACKFISH.”
A Portrait of Marina Abramović / U.S.A. (Director: Matthu Placek)
Sundance Film Festival unveiled the short films selected for the 2014 festival taking place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The 2014 Short Film program is comprised of 66 short films selected from a record 8,161 submissions (59 more than for the 2013 Festival). Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Short Film program for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival features an astonishing array of new stories, viewpoints and filmmaking talent, positioning it at the core of our work to discover and share independent perspectives on our culture and world.”
FRUITVALE STATION
FRUITVALE STATION, NEBRASKA made the list of official selections of AFI Awards 2013, of 10 outstanding films and 10 outstanding television programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of the year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image. AFI will honor the top 10 films and tv programs on Friday, January 10, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
The Athena Film Festival, that highlights women’s leadership, will return for the 4th edition on Barnard’s campus in Morningside Heights, New York City from February 6 to 9, 2014. Philanthropist Sherry Lansing, former Chair and CEO of Paramount Pictures and former President of 20th Century Fox will be honored as one this year’s recipients of the Athena Film Festival Awards, which honor noted actors, directors, producers and other members of the film industry for their leadership and creative accomplishments. Sherry Lansing will receive The Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award. Additional awardees include Keri Putnam, Executive Director of the Sundance Institute, Callie Khouri, Academy Award winning screenwriter of Thelma and Louise, and creator of the series Nashville, and Kasi Lemmons, actress, director and writer of the current film Black Nativity as well as Talk to Me, Eve’s Bayou and The Caveman’s Valentine.
RUDDERLESS directed by William H. Macy
Sundance Film Festival revealed the films in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the festival taking place January 16 to 26, 2014, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Films include RUDDERLESS directed by William H. Macy and selected as the Closing Night film. RUDDERLESS features a star studded cast including Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne, and William H. Macy , and is about when a grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles upon a box of his deceased son’s original music, he forms a rock ‘n’ roll band, which changes his life.
THE HUSBAND, by Canadian director Bruce McDonald
THE HUSBAND by Canadian director Bruce McDonald, won the prize for Best Canadian Feature Film in the 10th edition of the Borsos Competition at the 2013 Whistler Film Festival. THE HUSBAND is described by the festival as a unique film about the other side of an adulterous affair follows Henry (McCabe-Lokos) as he deals with raising a child while his wife serves a prison sentence for an affair with a 14 year old student. THE HUSBAND had its Western Canadian premiere at the festival and stars Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Sarah Allen, Dylan Authors, August Diehl and Joey Klein.
Bill Plympton’s CHEATIN
The Slamdance Film Festival revealed the films in the Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts programs for the 20th Festival season taking place from January 17th to 23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn. The festival also announced the premiere of the DIY documentary, which follows the historical development of the Do- It-Yourself indie film movement. In addition, Slamdance alumni films will open the festival with Bill Plympton’s “CHEATIN’,” and will close the festival with Lise Raven’s “KINDERWALD.”
Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE
The New York Film Critics Online picked Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE as Best Film of 2013. In other nods to the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor was named Best Actor, and Lupita Nyong’o was named Best Supporting Actress. THE ACT OF KILLING directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous co-director was picked as Best Documentary and BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR was named Best Foreign Language Film.