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.
METRO MANILA
METRO MANILA was the big winner at the 16th Moët British Independent Film Awards, picking up three trophies, including Best British Independent Film and Best Director for the film’s director Sean Ellis. Lindsay Duncan won Best Actress for LE WEEK-END and James McAvoy won Best Actor for FILTH. Imogen Poots collected her BIFA for Best Supporting Actress for THE LOOK OF LOVE and Ben Mendelsohn took home Best Supporting Actor for STARRED UP.
HER
It’s a tie. “GRAVITY” and “HER” were selected by the Los Angeles Film Critics as Best Picture of 2013. Alfonso Cuarón went on to win Best Director for GRAVITY, with Spike Jonze receiving runner-up honors for HER. Other notable awards include “STORIES WE TELL” directed by Sarah Polley winning Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film, and “BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR” directed by Abdellatif Kechiche winning Best Foreign-Language Film.
THE SQUARE
Jehane Noujaim’s THE SQUARE won top honors with the Best Feature Award at 2013 (International Documentary Association) IDA Documentary Awards. The Square follows a group of Egyptian activists as they battle leaders and regimes, and risk their lives to build a new society of conscience. The Best Short Award,went to Josh Izenberg’s SLOMO, an inspirational portrait of neurologist turned rollerblader, Dr. John Kitchin. IDA’s Career Achievement Award was presented to Academy Award– and Emmy Award-winning director, producer and writer Alex Gibney whose latest films include We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks and The Armstrong Lie.
WAITING FOR MAMU
After nearly shutting its doors nine years ago because of severe financial challenges, the Sedona International Film Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary from February 23 to March 2, 2014. Selections are underway for up to 160 films which will screen at the upcoming festival. Films that have already been accepted into the Festival include THE GIRL ON THE BICYCLE from Nicholas Sparks who wrote The Notebook; Forrest Whitaker’s new film, REPENTANCES; BRIDEGROOM from writer-producer-director Linda Bloodworth Thomason and her husband, Harry; and the premiere of THESE STORIED STREETS from producer Thomas Morgan. Morgan also produced WAITING FOR MAMU, a documentary about what it means for a child to grow up in prison and the impact of Pushpa Basnet’s organization on those children.
MY PRAIRIE HOME, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary-musical about indie singer Rae Spoon, directed by Chelsea McMullan, will have its U.S. premiere in January 2014, at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition.
The Source (evolving) by artist Doug Aitken
The Sundance Film Festival unveiled the films and installations to be featured in the 2014 edition of New Frontier at the upcoming festival taking place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. New Frontier champions films that expand, experiment with, and explode traditional storytelling. The 2014 edition of New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival will host the U.S. premiere of The Source (evolving) by renowned artist Doug Aitken. The Source (evolving) is a series of filmed conversations about creativity in the 21st Century in which Aitken conducts short candid conversations with groundbreaking pioneers in different artistic disciplines. The Festival will also include a Klip Collectives designed showcase of the Festival’s 30-year legacy as told through a pre-roll trailer showing 3D-mapped projections of clips from iconic Festival films on the façade of Park City’s legendary Egyptian Theatre. Featured film clips include Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Little Miss Sunshine and Beasts of the Southern Wild.