In honor of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival‘s 20th Anniversary next year, the SLOIFF will celebrate by screening Hollywood movies that have been made in San Luis Obispo County over the past 90 years. SLO County on the Silver Screen will present a wide variety of notable films, and screen each in the part of the County they were principally filmed in. The series will begin in August and run through the next Festival, scheduled for March 5-9, 2014.
THE LAND OF HOPE
The 34th edition of the Durban International Film Festival announced its award-winners, presenting the award for Best Feature Film to the film THE LAND OF HOPE. The International Jury commended Sion Sono for a film that “masterfully and humbly draws together an array of cinematic means of expression to engage us in a story”. The Best South African Feature Film was awarded to South African filmmaker Andrew Worsdale for his film DURBAN POISON.
New trailer was released for Martha Shane’s and Lana Wilson’s directorial debut AFTER TILLER which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film title refers to Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who provided late-term abortions and was assassinated by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder in 2009. AFTER TILLER will be released in theaters September 20, 2013.
163 new films in development have been selected for the Project Forum at 2013 Independent Film Week taking place September 15-19, 2013 at Lincoln Center in New York City. Through the Project Forum, creatives connect with the financiers, executives, influencers and decision-makers in film, television, new media and cross-platform storytelling that can help them complete their latest works and connect with audiences.
WORLD WAR Z Director Marc Forster
Swiss-German director, producer and screenwriter Marc Forster, whose most recent film WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt is currently in theaters will preside over the jury for the 2013 Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), taking place September 26 – October 6.
THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL
Anne Bogart and Holly Morris’ THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, Jamie Meltzer’s FREEDOM FIGHTERS and Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber’s TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR are the winners of the 2013 San Francisco Film Society SFFS Documentary Film Fund award. The awards totaling $100,000 support feature-length documentaries in postproduction.
Keanu Reeves directs MAN OF TAI CHI
Keanu Reeves’ MAN OF TAI CHI is among the initial lineup of films screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest taking place September 19-26 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline. Keanu Reeves stars in and makes his directorial debut in the multi-lingual narrative, MAN OF TAI CHI. Partly inspired by the life of Reeves’ friend, stuntman Tiger Chen, MAN OF TAI CHI tells the story of a young martial artist whose unparalleled Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underground fight club. As the fights intensify so does his will to survive and his desire to protect his way of life.
The 2013 Fantastic Fest will open with the world premiere of Robert Rodriguez’s MACHETE KILLS on September 19, 2013. Robert Rodriguez along with Danny Trejo and Alexa Vega, both featured in the film, are expected to be in attendance at the premiere. The festival will be held in Austin, Texas at the new Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline location from September 19-26, 2013.
Bill Siegel’s documentary THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI, that premiered earlier this year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will be released in the US by Kino Lorber. The documentary film opens in New York at the IFC Center on August 23rd with a national rollout planned through the summer and fall.
Alex Gibney’s Lance Armstrong documentary, THE ARMSTRONG LIE which tells the unfolding story of Armstrong’s life and career over the last four years.will be released by Sony Pictures Classics. No exact release date was announced.
Feel worn out by summer blockbusters yet? You’re not the only one – in a summer in which many $200+ million films seem to be bombing, it seems like audiences are looking for something that doesn’t involve zombies, aliens, explosions, or superheroes… maybe something with more story and less special effects
However, with so many independent releases out there it’s likely some great ones escaped your notice. So here is a list of five films I’ve seen in the first half of 2013 that I think are worth your time. Keep in mind, these aren’t necessarily the best indie films of 2013 – I haven’t seen them all – but here are five that I think should not be overlooked.
The documentary “I AM BREATHING” which played at many prestigious international film festivals will make its U.S. theatrical premiere in New York Sept. 6-12 at IFC Center and in Los Angeles Sept. 13-19 at Laemmle Music Hall with additional national screenings to follow. In I AM BREATHING, filmmakers Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon craft a life-affirming portrait of the last months of Neil Platt, a 34-year-old architect and father from England diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in the UK.