Adopt Films has acquired for release in the U.S., Christian Petzold’s “Barbara,” only hours before it was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director at the just-concluded 2012 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival). Adopt Films plans to release the film theatrically in December and will mount an Academy Award campaign for Petzold and his lead actors. Set in East Berlin in 1980 “Barbara” is the riveting and compassionate story of the eponymous pediatric surgeon whose […]
The Italian film, Caesar Must Die, (Cesare deve morire) by directors Paolo & Vittorio Taviani was awarded the top prize, the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival.
Filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani spent six months following rehearsals for the stage production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; their film demonstrates how the universality of Shakespeare’s language helps the actors to understand their roles and immerse themselves in the bard’s interplay of friendship and betrayal, power, dishonesty and violence. This documentary does not dwell on the crimes these men have committed in their ‘real’ lives; rather, it draws parallels between this classical drama and the world of today, describes the commitment displayed by all those involved and shows how their personal hopes and fears also flow into the performance.
All the awards – official and independent juries – of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival {jathumbnail off}
Chris Fujiwara, Artistic Director, Edinburgh International Film Festival, announced today that this year’s edition of the Festival will see the return of major awards. Three awards including Best International Feature Film by an Emerging Director, Best Performance in a British Feature Film and The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature will all be available for 2012. In previous years The Michael Powell Award honored the best British feature film selected from the British Gala […]
In the wake of two Academy Award® Nominations for Michelle Williams, Best Actress, and Kenneth Branagh, Best Supporting Actor, the Weinstein Company announced today that they are expanding MY WEEK WITH MARILYN into 600 theaters nationwide. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN is currently in select theaters and will be expanding on February 24th. In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in […]
The Moët British Independent Film Awards announced today that this year’s awards will be held on Sunday December 9th 2012. At the Moët BIFA’s Tyrannosaur also won the coveted Best British Independent Film, with Lynne Ramsay taking home Best Director for We Need to Talk About Kevin, Olivia Colman Best Actress for Tyrannosaur and Michael Fassbender Best Actor for Shame. Vanessa Redgrave won Best Supporting Actress for Coriolanus and Michael Smiley Best Supporting Actor for […]
The 4th Annual Derby City Film Festival opens today Friday, February 17th and will screen 56 films through Sunday the 19th. The lineup includes 24 International films representing 16 countries as well as 8 World Premieres, 5 US Premieres, and 28 KY Premieres. Eight films were produced in the Bluegrass State and another 5 have ties to Kentucky. Legendary actor Lance Henriksen will be the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday evening before the […]
New Panel and Film Titles Announced have been added to the 2012 South by Southwest festival, joining the74 world premieres, 17 North American premieres and 11 US premieres in the full lineup.
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Blue Like Jazz
Director: Steve Taylor | Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson
A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at ‘the most godless campus in America.’ Based on the New York Times bestseller by Donald Miller.
Cast: Marshall Allman, Claire Holt, Tania Raymonde, Justin Welborn, Eric Lange
(World Premiere)
Nature Calls
Director & Screenwriter Todd Rohal
Polar-opposite brothers Randy (Oswalt) and Kirk (Knoxville) never saw eye-to-eye, but their rivalry is taken to a new level when Randy hijacks Kirk’s son’s sleepover, taking the boys on a Scout Trip to remember.
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville, Rob Riggle, Maura Tierney, Patrice O’Neal, Darrell Hammond
(World Premiere)
EMERGING VISIONS
King Kelly
Director: Andrew Neel | Screenwriters: Mike Roberts
Made entirely from camera-phone footage, King Kelly is a sensational journey into hedonistic American youth culture and the YouTube generation.
Cast: Louisa Krause, Libby Woodbridge, Roderick Hill, Will Brill, Patrick Murney
(World Premiere)
Low & Clear
Directors: Kahlil Hudson, Tyler Hughen
Two formerly close friends reunite for a fly-fishing trip and struggle to understand how much they’ve each changed – and how these changes now threaten the friendship.
(World Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Lost and Sound (UK)
Director: Lindsey Dryden
Music may be an essential part of being human – but what if you lost the ability to hear it? A dancer, a pianist and a music critic attempt to re-discover music after deafness, with astonishing results.
(World Premiere)
Searching for Sugar Man (Sweden, UK)
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
The true story of the greatest ‘70s US rock icon who never was, how he was rediscovered and finally became the legend he deserved to be. A story of hope, inspiration and the power of music.
Shut Up and Play the Hits
Directors: Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern
The final days of LCD Soundsystem.
SXGLOBAL
GLOBAL HOME (Germany)
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Director Eva Stotz visited interesting people all over the world whom she found through online-host-networks and emerged for a limited time in their every-day-life.
(World Premiere)
The Will (Denmark)
Director: Christian Sønderby Jepsen
Henrik dreams of a new beginning. But when Henrik’s grandfather dies, leaving behind a fortune of millions, old skeletons come to light.
(North American Premiere)
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Chasing Ice
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change, but he discovers undeniable evidence. Balog reveals hauntingly beautiful, time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers, while delivering hope to our carbon-powered planet.
Compliance
Director & Screenwriter: Craig Zobel
When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unscathed. Based on true events.
Cast: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Phil Ettinger, Ashlie Atkinson, James McCaffrey
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Director & Screenwriter: Philippe Falardeau
The story of an Algerian immigrant substitute teacher who brings emotional stability to a Montreal middle school class shaken by the tragic death of their well-liked teacher.
Cast: Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Emilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Brigitte Poupart
Safety Not Guaranteed
Director: Colin Trevorrow | Screenwriter: Derek Connolly
A trio of magazine employees investigate a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel.
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni
Director: Mike Birbiglia | Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish
An aspiring comedian reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up; a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking.
Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, Carol Kane, Cristin Milioti {jathumbnail off}
The 2012 Northwest Ohio Independent Film Festival will officially open with Karma, an avant-garde film written and produced by Lima native Gregory Pitts. “I am blown away by how striking this film is,” says Executive Director Len Archibald. “It is the perfect film to re-introduce Gregory Pitts to the Lima public, as well as make a bold statement about the diversity of films we intend to screen at the Festival.” Karma is a film that […]
The 2012 Dallas International Film Festival announced the first fifteen films chosen to screen at the festival scheduled to run April 12 – 22, 2012. The lineup includes two world premieres and nine Texas premieres. Legendary animator, director, author and illustrator Glen Keane, best known for his work on Disney classics such as ALADDIN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, TARZAN, THE LITTLE MERMAID and TANGLED, was named this year’s honoree for the Texas Avery Animation Award […]
The fourth Amazigh Film Festival returns to Los Angeles, Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 22, 2012, with documentaries, films, art, music and food of indigenous North Africa, the Berber and Tuareg cultures of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, the Canary Islands, Egypt and the Sahara desert. In keeping with the Moroccan theme selected for this year, the event will open with a montage of photos of Chechaouen, Northern Morocco city of the Rif Mountains, created […]
New Poster and trailer have been released for BELOW ZERO, the closing film of the 2012 Derby City Film Festival. The film will be also screening at the following festivals in the coming months: Derby City Film Festival (Louisville, Kentucky), 6pm Feb 19th Garden State Film Festival (New Jersey), March 24 Indie Horror Film Festival (Chicago), March 24 International Horror & Sci Fi / Phoenix Film Fest (Phoenix), TBA Dead By Dawn (Edinburgh, Scotland), TBA […]
Tribeca Film will release Side by Side, a film described as a provocative and illuminating journey through the technical and aesthetic implications of the transition from traditional film to digital technology. Produced and presented by Keanu Reeves and directed by Chris Kenneally, Reeves takes you on a tour of the past and the future of filmmaking in Side by Side. A summer release is planned for the film, which is having its world premiere at […]
The Artist was named Best Film at Orange British Academy Film Awards. The film also won six other awards: Director, Original Screenplay, Original Music, Cinematography, Costume Design as well as a performance award for Jean Dujardin who won the Leading Actor BAFTA. Other acting awards included Meryl Streep for Leading Actress for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady and Christopher Plummer for Supporting Actor for his performance in Beginners. Outstanding British Film […]
Louisville natives Scooter Downey and Sean Elliot will have the Kentucky premiere of their film It’s In The Blood, a character-driven horror story starring veteran character actor Lance Henriksen, at the 2012 Derby City Film Festival. The public premiere at the festival is 8:00 PM February 18th at the Clifton Center in Louisville. The festival runs February 17th-19th. It’s In The Blood has been nominated for best picture, and Lance Henriksen and Sean Elliot are […]
The documentary RAISING RENEE will premiere on HBO 2 on February 22. The documentary is a touching look at two sisters, Renee, who is is a mentally disabled 43-year old named Renee who functions at the level of a third grader and her sister Beverly, a painter who vows to their mother that she will care for Renee. Filmed over the course of six years, the film takes a look at the lives of Renee […]
Tribeca Film will release in the Spring, The Giant Mechanical Man, a character-driven, romantic comedy written and directed by Lee Kirk. Produced by and starring Jenna Fischer (The Office) the film features a cast that includes Chris Messina (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Topher Grace (Too Big to Fail), Malin Akerman (Watchmen, Rock of Ages), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Lucy Punch (Dinner for Schmucks) and Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Mr. Show). The Giant Mechanical Man is a […]
by Francesca McCaffery There has rarely been such a non-formulaic and genuinely touching portrayal of a soldier returning home as Liza Johnson’s “Return,” starring the phenomenal Linda Cardelinni (“E.R.”) and always terrific Michael Shannon, opening today in limited release. To say a movie is independent film at is finest doesn’t even translate any longer, of course, but if it still does in any vernacular, this tiny, perfectly on-point little film is exactly it. Cardelinni plays […]
Grammy® Award-winning rapper/producer/actor/entrepreneur Sean Combs has signed on as an executive producer of the studio’s new documentary UNDEFEATED, which has been nominated for the 2012 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. Combs will also be an executive producer on TWC’s planned feature remake of UNDEFEATED. It opens in limited release on February 17. Set against the backdrop of a high school football season, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s documentary UNDEFEATED is an intimate chronicle of […]
NESTING, directed by Cleveland native John Chuldenko, and starring Todd Grinnell and Ali Hillis, will open the 2012 Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, March 22nd. Nesting is the story of what happens when a thirty-something couple set aside the home furnishings catalogue and decide to rekindle their relationship when they return to their old neighborhood and end up squatting illegally in their twenty-something lives. The 36th Cleveland International Film Festival opens on […]
Mohamed Nasheed featured in the documentary ‘The Island President’ has been ousted from his post as president of the Maldives. Nasheed says he expects to be jailed after being ousted from his post earlier in the week in what he said was a coup at gunpoint. The Vice president Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was installed as president. Protests against Mr Nasheed’s government started after he ordered the military to arrest the criminal court chief justice. […]
The 2012 South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival has unveiled its film line-up for the Midnighters section and 135 short films will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs. The festival will run from March 9 – 17, 2012 in Austin, Texas.
Though our regular program already includes a healthy sampling of genre fare, the Midnighters section highlights those that go a bit crazier, gorier, and all-around balls out-ier,” said SXSW Senior Programmer & Operations Manager Jarod Neece.The additions to the 2012 SXSW lineup are:
FEATURES
MIDNIGHTERS
Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.
The Aggression Scale
Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell
4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = WAR
Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph
McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)
CITADEL (Ireland, Scotland)
Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy
An agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children.
Cast: Anuerin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wumni Mosaku, Jake Wilson, Amy Shiels (World Premiere)
Girls Against Boys
Director/Screenwriter: Austin Chick
A psychological thriller about two girls on a killing spree. With edgy and ironic humor and a darkly meditative tone, it is also a coming-of-age story about a girl learning how the world really works.
Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Nicole LaLiberte, Liam Aiken, Michael Stahl-David, Andrew Howard (World Premiere)
Intruders (Spain, UK)
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Screenwriters: Nicolás Casariego, Jaime Marques
The haunting story of two children living in different countries, each visited nightly by a faceless being who wants to take possession of them.
Cast: Clive Owen, Carice Van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala (U.S. Premiere)
Iron Sky (Finland, Germany, Australia)
Director: Timo Vuorensola, Screenwriters: Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vuorensola
In 1945 the Nazis went to the moon; in 2018 they are coming back.
Cast: Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Christopher Kirby, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Tilo Prückner, Michael Cullen, Udo Kier (North American Premiere)
John Dies At The End
Director & Screenwriter: Don Coscarelli
On the street it’s called “soy sauce,” a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway. Can college dropouts John and Dave save humanity? No, they can’t.
Cast: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman
Modus Anomali (Indonesia)
Director/Screenwriter: Joko Anwar
A man tries to save his family who go missing during a vacation in the forest.
Cast: Rio Dewanto, Hannah Al Rashid, Izziati Amara Isman, Aridh Tritama, Surya Saputra, Marsha Timothy, Sadha Triyudha, Jose Gamo (World Premiere)
[REC] ³ GENESIS (Spain)
Director: Paco Plaza
Screenwriters: Luiso Berdejo, Paco Plaza
Koldo and Clara’s wedding is horrifically interrupted when some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness. Before they know what’s happening, the bride and groom find themselves in the middle of a hellish ordeal, as an uncontrollable torrent of violence is unleashed on the wedding.
Cast: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin (World Premiere)
Super Secret Screening
Be the first to see this feature film coming to theaters near you.
The Tall Man
Director/Screenwriter: Pascal Laugier
When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.
Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B.Davis (World Premiere)
V/H/S
Directors: Ti West, Adam Wingard, Joe Swanberg, David Bruckner, Glenn Mcquaid, Radio Silence,
Screenwriter: Ti West, Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Radio Silence, Glenn Mcquaid
A group of misfits are hired to burglarize a house in the countryside and acquire a rare tape. The guys are confronted with a dead body and an endless supply of cryptic footage, each video stranger than the last…
Cast: Joe Swanberg, Calvin Reeder, Kate Lynn Shiel, Sophia Takal, Lane Hughes, Helen Rogers, Adam Wingard {jathumbnail off}
The 27th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2012 festival competition and awarded UP THERE, directed by Zam Salim won the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema. The winning films are as follows: The Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema, given to a unique independent feature that has been made outside mainstream Hollywood, went to UP THERE, directed by Zam Salim, about Martin, whois stuck in a dead-end job, welcoming […]
The UPC Audience Award of the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2012 was awarded to Philippe Falardeau’s MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Canada, 2011). The Dioraphte Award for the highest-scoring film in the audience poll among the seventeen festival films made with support from the Hubert Bals Fund was won by GOODBYE by Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. The winner of the UPC Audience Award, MONSIEUR LAZHAR, is a film in the spirit of ÊTRE ET AVOIR, in which the […]
The winning films of the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam were announced at the IFFR 2012 Awards Ceremony. The three Hivos Tiger Awards were granted to feature débuts EGG AND STONE by Huang Ji (China), THURSDAY TILL SUNDAY by Dominga Sotomayor (Chile/Netherlands) and CLIP by Maja Miloš (Serbia), which also took the KNF Award of the Dutch film critics. NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS by Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil) took the FIPRESCI Award and Chinese film SENTIMENTAL ANIMAL […]