Jonathan Demme’s ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFE to Kick Off 2013 Maine International Film Festival

Jonathan Demme’s ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFE to Kick Off 2013 Maine International Film Festival

ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFE

ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFE directed by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme (Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia, Stop Making Sense) will kick off the Opening Night of the 16th Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) on Friday, July 12 at the Waterville Opera House. Jonathan Demme, the MIFF 2002 Midlife Achievement Honoree, will introduce his new film, which centers on Enzo Avitabile, the Neapolitan musician who’s blazing a world music trail in his collaborations with other musicians from around the Mediterranean and around the world, including Buena Vista Social Club’s Eliades Ochoa.

Director Paris Barclay Elected First African American President of the Directors Guild of America

Director Paris Barclay Elected First African American President of the Directors Guild of America

Paris Barclay

Director Paris Barclay was elected President of the Directors Guild of America by acclamation at the Guild’s National Biennial Convention held over the weekend at DGA National Headquarters in Los Angeles.

“I am profoundly honored to be elected President of the DGA,” said Barclay to the assembled delegates after the vote. “The DGA has worked for more than three-quarters of a century to advance the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams and I look forward to continuing this strong tradition of service. As the son of a glass blower and a tile maker from Chicago, I am extremely humbled to have the honor to serve in the footsteps of the legendary leaders of the DGA like Frank Capra, Robert Wise and Gil Cates.”

2013 LA Film Festival Winners; MOTHER, I LOVE YOU and CODE BLACK Win Top Awards

2013 LA Film Festival Winners; MOTHER, I LOVE YOU and CODE BLACK Win Top Awards

MOTHER, I LOVE YOUMOTHER, I LOVE YOU

The Los Angeles Film Festival announced the jury and audience award winners for the 2013 Festival;  the top awards –  the DIRECTV Narrative Award went to Janis Nords for MOTHER, I LOVE YOU, which made its United States premiere at the Festival; and the DIRECTV Documentary Award went to Ryan McGarry for CODE BLACK, which made its world premiere at the Festival.

The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to SHORT TERM 12 directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS, directed by Grace Lee. Wadjda, a Sony Pictures Classics release directed by Haifaa Al Mansour won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

REVIEW: Unfinished Song

REVIEW: Unfinished Song

Unfinished Song (Song for Marion)

Thank goodness UNFINISHED SONG (titled “Song for Marion” overseas) was made by an English filmmaker. I say that because Hollywood would have completely destroyed this wonderful story by overfilling it with cheesy, contrived moments. Hollywood doesn’t have the guts to make this kind of film without a “star.” Instead of the wonderful performances from Terrence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave we’d likely get Steve Martin in one of his less-than-great performances and Cher.

11 Artists and Filmmakers Selected for 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program

11 Artists and Filmmakers Selected for 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program

 sundance-institute1

11 artists and filmmakers have been selected for the 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program. The Fellowship program promotes cultural, socio-economic and gender diversity as well as artistic collaboration and innovation among emerging film and theatre storytellers, documentary filmmakers and film composers.  Each Fellow was identified by one of the following core programs of the Institute: Documentary Film Program, Feature Film Program, Film Music Program, Native American & Indigenous Film Program and Theatre Program.  Time Warner Foundation has supported the Institute since 2007, enabling direct support of 37 film and theatre artists, including Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Aurora Guerrero (Mosquita y Mari) and Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation).

Sundance Institute Selects 22 Fellows Representing 9 Documentary Films for 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs

Sundance Institute Selects 22 Fellows Representing 9 Documentary Films for 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs

 sundance-institute

22 Fellows representing nine documentary film projects have been selected to participate in the Sundance Institute 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, June 21-29 and July 5-13 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.

Built upon the immersive Lab model launched in 1981 by Sundance Institute President & Founder Robert Redford, each session of the Documentary Edit and Story Labs brings together director and editor teams with world-renowned documentary filmmakers and Sundance Institute staff to support creative risk-taking around issues of story, dramatic structure and character development.

WATCH Trailer for Award Winning Indie Film “FULL CIRCLE”

WATCH Trailer for Award Winning Indie Film “FULL CIRCLE”

full circle

See the trailer for FULL CIRCLE, directed by Olli Koivula and Solvan Naim, and winner of the Award for Best New York Feature Film at the 2013 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF). FULL CIRCLE also features Solvan Niam (aka Slick the Misfit) the 23-year-old Algerian-American rapper and music video director from Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York, in the lead starring role as young pizza delivery boy, Anthoni, who faces a life-changing crisis when his curiosity pulls him away from his delivery order into an adjacent apartment’s open door.

FULL CIRCLE, THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE and SPENCER Among Winning Films at 2013 New York City International Film Festival

FULL CIRCLE, THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE and SPENCER Among Winning Films at 2013 New York City International Film Festival

FULL CIRCLE won the Award for Best New York Feature Film at New York International Film FestivalFULL CIRCLE won the Award for Best New York Feature Film at New York International Film Festival

The Vietnamese documentary film “THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE”  directed by Ivan Tankushev won the Award for Best feature Documentary Film at the 2013 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF).  “THE TALE OF AN PHUC HOUSE” follows the everyday lives of twenty disabled children – third generation victims of the Agent Orange warfare that occurred during the Vietnam War ( 1963-1973). JIHAD IN AMERICA: THE GRAND DECEPTION, a 70-minute documentary film exploring the Muslim Brotherhood in America, and directed by Investigative Project on Terrorism Executive Director Steven Emerson won an honorary award. 

FULL CIRCLE won the Award for Best New York Feature Film, SPENCER won the Award for Best U.S.A. Feature Film and the South African film, LITTLE ONE won the Award for Best International Feature Film. FULL CIRCLE directed by Olli Koivula and Solvan Naim is about a young pizza delivery boy, Anthoni, who faces a life-changing crisis when his curiosity pulls him away from his delivery order into an adjacent apartment’s open door.  SPENCER, written by, starring, and directed by Geoff Lerer, follows the travails of Spencer Berg, an aspiring filmmaker trying to make his first movie in Brooklyn.  LITTLE ONE directed by Darrell Roodt and South Africa’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, is the story about a six-year-old girl found left for dead outside a township in Johannesburg.

WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt Opens 35th Moscow International Film Festival

WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt Opens 35th Moscow International Film Festival

Brad Pitt attends the "World War Z" Screening during the Moscow International Film Festival at Pushkinsky Cinema on June 20, 2013 in Moscow, Russia.Brad Pitt attends the “World War Z” Screening during the Moscow International Film Festival at Pushkinsky Cinema on June 20, 2013 in Moscow, Russia.

The 35th Moscow International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday, June 20, 2013 with the opening gala premiere of Marc Forster’s WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt. The film revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

TaorminaFilmFest Pays Tribute to James Gandolfini

TaorminaFilmFest Pays Tribute to James Gandolfini

 gandolfini

TaorminaFilmFest released a statement today on behalf of actor James Gandolfini, who died of a heart attack yesteday in Italy.  Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the 59th TaorminaFilmFest. In a statement on it’s website, the festival said that Gandolfini had been confirmed to attend the TaorminaFilmFest on June 22 to preside over a TaoClass that the festival dedicated to what it calls “the great interpreters of film and television” and to receive the Taormina City Prize.

First Time Feature Directors Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian Indie Film FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY

First Time Feature Directors Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian Indie Film FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY

Forty Years From Yesterday 

Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian’s feature film debut FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY premiered on Sunday at the 203 Los Angeles Film Festival.  Starring Bruce Graham, Suzette Graham, Robert Eddington, Wyatt Eddington, Matt Valdez, Chelsea Word, Elizabeth Overton and Rebekah Mott, the film follows Bruce, a quietly spiritual man with three grown daughters, returns home from his morning jog to discover Suzette, his beloved wife of forty years, has passed away. The film then goes on to capture moments with each family member as they grieve. FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY screens again on Saturday at the festival.