Festival also unveils finalists for brand new micro-shorts competition
Slamdance Film Festival has selected the documentary, narrative and shorts competition jury members for its upcoming 21st anniversary festival, running in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29.
Narrative feature jury members including filmmaker Todd Looby, trinidad+tobago film festival Creative Director Emilie Upczak, and Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber. Documentary jury members are producer-director Josh Leake and filmmakers Paige Williams and Bryan Storkel.
See Photos: TheWrap’s 2014 ShortList Film Fest Rocks YouTube Space La
The jury members for the narrative and animation shorts include actor-filmmaker Sarah Cornell, Blacklist screenwriter Rory Haines and Elle Schneider,...
Slamdance Film Festival has selected the documentary, narrative and shorts competition jury members for its upcoming 21st anniversary festival, running in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29.
Narrative feature jury members including filmmaker Todd Looby, trinidad+tobago film festival Creative Director Emilie Upczak, and Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber. Documentary jury members are producer-director Josh Leake and filmmakers Paige Williams and Bryan Storkel.
See Photos: TheWrap’s 2014 ShortList Film Fest Rocks YouTube Space La
The jury members for the narrative and animation shorts include actor-filmmaker Sarah Cornell, Blacklist screenwriter Rory Haines and Elle Schneider,...
- 1/19/2015
- by Travis Reilly
- The Wrap
Film review: 'The Magic of Marciano'
A very fine follow-up to his 1998 debut feature "One", writer- director Tony Barbieri's real-life-inspired "The Magic of Marciano" concerns a troubled but bright boy's difficult life with a mentally unbalanced single mother whose boyfriend is physically abusive to her and her son.
Featuring a career-highlight performance by Nastassja Kinski and a promising debut by newcomer Cody Morgan, "Magic" premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and has a hopeful atmosphere that softens the difficult core subject matter. Robert Forster's presence as a calming and ultimately healing influence for the boy should help this low-budget production get modest theatrical exposure, with possibilities of connecting with a much wider audience on cable and video.
During the first few sequences of "Marciano", we get a full measure of the problems facing young James (Morgan) and how he desperately wants to rid waitress mom Katie (Kinski) of TV- and beeraholic lover Curt (Jason Cairns, one of the two leads in "One"). James is clever, a little malicious, imaginative and creative. He's also naturally happy, a mood that can be highly contagious to those around him.
While Katie goes through a potentially endless cycle of good and bad periods with Curt, James' love of boats and dreams of sailing take him to the marina of the Canadian seaboard town where they live. There, he latches on to retired psychologist and widower Henry (Forster), who is taking his time restoring a small yacht he plans to sail around the world. Their easygoing relationship includes James' revealing some of his problems, but mostly the scheming kid is thinking of a better future when Henry pairs with Katie.
That almost happens, but Henry is of a different stripe than Katie's usual casual lovers, and he doesn't respond immediately to her romantic interest. Nervous, eager-to-please Katie is struggling with outliving her troubled past and not neglecting the responsibilities of the present. Early on, when Curt lashes out at James, Katie fetches her gun and threatens to kill him. But she's lost without a man in her bed, and Curt eventually returns with no change in attitude.
Deeply troubled by what James tells him of Curt, Henry takes action, but Katie, masking her self-loathing, denies that anything bad is going on. But when she catches Curt cheating on her, she practically kills the woman he's with and is jailed in a highly unhinged state of mind. The court is understanding of her condition and sends her to a psychiatric institution, but the separation from James sends her into hysterics and a steep decline.
James is sent to live with a foster family and tries to make the best of it, but he runs away to Henry's boat. A visit to the now-comatose Katie has the boy poignantly imagining her old self. Other daydreams and dark desires he indulges during the course of the movie include fantasizing that he shoots Curt dead, the film's most disturbing sequence in all of its implications of firearms kept unsafely in the home and childhood trauma possibly unleashing a violent revenge.
Given the role's demand and the project's delicate nature, Morgan comes through with a highly disciplined, engaging performance that helps hold "Marciano" together. Kinski seems immersed in the character and radiates conflicting strong emotions in almost every scene, earning viewers' sympathies yet capturing how unnerving it must be to live with a person like her. Forster plays another solid supporting role as a strong man who wants to help and is not easily discouraged.
Visually, the film is more mainstream than the neo-realist "One", with Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing many gorgeous locations. But San Francisco-based Barbieri still has a pleasingly restrained style that's manipulative only in the use of Harry Gregson Williams' sometimes heavy-handed score.
THE MAGIC OF MARCIANO
Lumiere Films
Screenwriter-director: Tony Barbieri
Producer: Lila Cazes
Executive producers: Claude Leger, Luciano Lisi, Wendy Cary, Mickey Cottrell
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Victor R. Sypersek
Editor: Jeffrey Stephens
Costume designer: Victoria Dobson
Music: Harry Gregson Williams
Casting: John Dunsworth, Susan Shopmaker
Color/stereo
Cast:
James: Cody Morgan
Katie: Nastassja Kinski
Henry: Robert Forster
Curt: Jason Cairns
Running time -- 100 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Featuring a career-highlight performance by Nastassja Kinski and a promising debut by newcomer Cody Morgan, "Magic" premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and has a hopeful atmosphere that softens the difficult core subject matter. Robert Forster's presence as a calming and ultimately healing influence for the boy should help this low-budget production get modest theatrical exposure, with possibilities of connecting with a much wider audience on cable and video.
During the first few sequences of "Marciano", we get a full measure of the problems facing young James (Morgan) and how he desperately wants to rid waitress mom Katie (Kinski) of TV- and beeraholic lover Curt (Jason Cairns, one of the two leads in "One"). James is clever, a little malicious, imaginative and creative. He's also naturally happy, a mood that can be highly contagious to those around him.
While Katie goes through a potentially endless cycle of good and bad periods with Curt, James' love of boats and dreams of sailing take him to the marina of the Canadian seaboard town where they live. There, he latches on to retired psychologist and widower Henry (Forster), who is taking his time restoring a small yacht he plans to sail around the world. Their easygoing relationship includes James' revealing some of his problems, but mostly the scheming kid is thinking of a better future when Henry pairs with Katie.
That almost happens, but Henry is of a different stripe than Katie's usual casual lovers, and he doesn't respond immediately to her romantic interest. Nervous, eager-to-please Katie is struggling with outliving her troubled past and not neglecting the responsibilities of the present. Early on, when Curt lashes out at James, Katie fetches her gun and threatens to kill him. But she's lost without a man in her bed, and Curt eventually returns with no change in attitude.
Deeply troubled by what James tells him of Curt, Henry takes action, but Katie, masking her self-loathing, denies that anything bad is going on. But when she catches Curt cheating on her, she practically kills the woman he's with and is jailed in a highly unhinged state of mind. The court is understanding of her condition and sends her to a psychiatric institution, but the separation from James sends her into hysterics and a steep decline.
James is sent to live with a foster family and tries to make the best of it, but he runs away to Henry's boat. A visit to the now-comatose Katie has the boy poignantly imagining her old self. Other daydreams and dark desires he indulges during the course of the movie include fantasizing that he shoots Curt dead, the film's most disturbing sequence in all of its implications of firearms kept unsafely in the home and childhood trauma possibly unleashing a violent revenge.
Given the role's demand and the project's delicate nature, Morgan comes through with a highly disciplined, engaging performance that helps hold "Marciano" together. Kinski seems immersed in the character and radiates conflicting strong emotions in almost every scene, earning viewers' sympathies yet capturing how unnerving it must be to live with a person like her. Forster plays another solid supporting role as a strong man who wants to help and is not easily discouraged.
Visually, the film is more mainstream than the neo-realist "One", with Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing many gorgeous locations. But San Francisco-based Barbieri still has a pleasingly restrained style that's manipulative only in the use of Harry Gregson Williams' sometimes heavy-handed score.
THE MAGIC OF MARCIANO
Lumiere Films
Screenwriter-director: Tony Barbieri
Producer: Lila Cazes
Executive producers: Claude Leger, Luciano Lisi, Wendy Cary, Mickey Cottrell
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Victor R. Sypersek
Editor: Jeffrey Stephens
Costume designer: Victoria Dobson
Music: Harry Gregson Williams
Casting: John Dunsworth, Susan Shopmaker
Color/stereo
Cast:
James: Cody Morgan
Katie: Nastassja Kinski
Henry: Robert Forster
Curt: Jason Cairns
Running time -- 100 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 4/19/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'One'
Honest and realistic, not compromising but not always engrossing in the process, debut filmmaker Tony Barbieri's "One" is a subdued blue-collar drama about friendship, loyalty and trying to turn one's life around.
Well-received at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, "One" is a sure bet with critics and aficionados of truly adult movies -- the Bay Area filmmaker cites Bernardo Bertolucci and Krzysztof Kieslowski as primary influences.
Occasionally a commercially successful film ("Sling Blade", "The Apostle") eschews the contrived rhythms, conflicts and emotions of the majority of features. "One", produced by Barbieri's wife Wendy Cary, is almost in that league, and a savvy distributor could find it a classy, select-site asset over time.
Set in contemporary San Francisco and co-written by Jason Cairns, one of the lead actors, Barbieri's semiautobiographical film is somber and most of the characters are cold and distant from one another. The visual style, with static shots and fly-on-the-wall compositions, takes getting used to but has its rewards.
Nick Kane Picoy) is a garbage man who played minor-league baseball and now lives at home with his critical, belligerent father (Paul Herman). A loner with no ambitions, Nick goes through inner turmoil when he's accused of squandering his gifts as an athlete because of a bad attitude.
The film opens with Nick picking up longtime friend Charlie (Cairns), who has just been released from prison for helping his grandfather commit suicide. Charlie, who wants to become a teacher, is Nick's polar opposite but also haunted by his mistakes and threatened by his role in past events.
Charlie wants to rebuild his life, and he moves into Nick's house. He starts working with Nick and tells his matter-of-fact parole officer (Muhammed Hasan) about his ambitions. Soon he's delivering medical supplies to disabled children and meets attractive Sarah (Autumn MacIntosh).
While Nick is eventually inspired to seek out his old coach and revive his baseball career, Charlie moves out and falls in love with Sarah. Although Charlie's criminal record presents seemingly unsurmountable problems and Nick in turn moving in with him is straining their friendship, things are looking up when the film opts for a downbeat ending.
The low-key, organic charisma of the fine cast is a crucial element, but overall, "One" is a well-realized cinematic journey into the sad lives of two young men with great potential and talents they come to desperately not want to waste.
ONE
Two Nine Prods.
in association with 3 Ring Circus
Director: Tony Barbieri
Screenwriters: Tony Barbieri, Jason Cairns
Producer: Wendy Cary
Executive producers: Jeffrey Boortz,
John Sideropoulos, Johnny Wow
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Editor: Jeffrey Stephens
Music: Todd Boekelheide
Production designer: Wendy Cary
Casting: Malia Levine
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick: Kane Picoy
Charlie: Jason Cairns
Sarah: Autumn MacIntosh
Ted: Paul Herman
Dan: Muhammed Hasan
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Well-received at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, "One" is a sure bet with critics and aficionados of truly adult movies -- the Bay Area filmmaker cites Bernardo Bertolucci and Krzysztof Kieslowski as primary influences.
Occasionally a commercially successful film ("Sling Blade", "The Apostle") eschews the contrived rhythms, conflicts and emotions of the majority of features. "One", produced by Barbieri's wife Wendy Cary, is almost in that league, and a savvy distributor could find it a classy, select-site asset over time.
Set in contemporary San Francisco and co-written by Jason Cairns, one of the lead actors, Barbieri's semiautobiographical film is somber and most of the characters are cold and distant from one another. The visual style, with static shots and fly-on-the-wall compositions, takes getting used to but has its rewards.
Nick Kane Picoy) is a garbage man who played minor-league baseball and now lives at home with his critical, belligerent father (Paul Herman). A loner with no ambitions, Nick goes through inner turmoil when he's accused of squandering his gifts as an athlete because of a bad attitude.
The film opens with Nick picking up longtime friend Charlie (Cairns), who has just been released from prison for helping his grandfather commit suicide. Charlie, who wants to become a teacher, is Nick's polar opposite but also haunted by his mistakes and threatened by his role in past events.
Charlie wants to rebuild his life, and he moves into Nick's house. He starts working with Nick and tells his matter-of-fact parole officer (Muhammed Hasan) about his ambitions. Soon he's delivering medical supplies to disabled children and meets attractive Sarah (Autumn MacIntosh).
While Nick is eventually inspired to seek out his old coach and revive his baseball career, Charlie moves out and falls in love with Sarah. Although Charlie's criminal record presents seemingly unsurmountable problems and Nick in turn moving in with him is straining their friendship, things are looking up when the film opts for a downbeat ending.
The low-key, organic charisma of the fine cast is a crucial element, but overall, "One" is a well-realized cinematic journey into the sad lives of two young men with great potential and talents they come to desperately not want to waste.
ONE
Two Nine Prods.
in association with 3 Ring Circus
Director: Tony Barbieri
Screenwriters: Tony Barbieri, Jason Cairns
Producer: Wendy Cary
Executive producers: Jeffrey Boortz,
John Sideropoulos, Johnny Wow
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Editor: Jeffrey Stephens
Music: Todd Boekelheide
Production designer: Wendy Cary
Casting: Malia Levine
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick: Kane Picoy
Charlie: Jason Cairns
Sarah: Autumn MacIntosh
Ted: Paul Herman
Dan: Muhammed Hasan
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/26/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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