The American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland has announced the eight feature film projects selected for the 12th edition of the U.S. in Progress co-production forum, taking place November 9 – 11, 2022 at the festival. Invite-only work-in-progress screenings of American independent films in their final editing stages, curated from a record number of submissions, will be screened for European and Polish film professionals, festival programmers and buyers. Additionally, projects will compete for in-kind awards of post-production service pcckages. The selected projects are: Crooked Finger directed by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund, produced by Julia Halperin and Todd Remis Falling […]
The post U.S. in Progress Wroclaw Announces 8 Selected 2022 Edition Projects first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post U.S. in Progress Wroclaw Announces 8 Selected 2022 Edition Projects first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/4/2022
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sometimes you have to travel half the world to find your family, and that notion sparks the indie drama “Barracuda.” Directed by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund, the film tells the story of a family fractured and stitched back together, and today we have the exclusive look at the first five minutes of the film.
Starring Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams, Luis Bordonada, and Larry Jack Dotson, the story follows two half-sisters, connected by their deceased musician father, and darker secret that lies between them.
Continue reading Family Reconnects In First 5 Minutes Of ‘Barracuda’ [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Starring Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams, Luis Bordonada, and Larry Jack Dotson, the story follows two half-sisters, connected by their deceased musician father, and darker secret that lies between them.
Continue reading Family Reconnects In First 5 Minutes Of ‘Barracuda’ [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 10/20/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Sibling bonds have sinister consequences in “Barracuda,” Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin’s Austin-set drama about two sisters connecting for the first time in the wake of their famous father’s death. With their sophomore feature, Cortlund and Halperin (“Now, Forager”) demonstrate a gift for not only creating beautiful images in unexpected moments, but also avoiding narrative shortcuts or tonal clichés to tell a story that covers familiar territory while ultimately defying easy categorization. Newcomer Sophie Reid (“Beauty and the Beast”) plays Sinaloa, a vagabond singer-songwriter who turns up on the doorstep of Merle’s (Alison Tolman, TV’s “Fargo”) Austin fixer-upper claiming to.
- 10/5/2017
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
Not sure how Dread-worthy this one’s gonna end up, but on tap for you right now we have your first look at the trailer for the new thriller Barracuda, starring “Fargo’s” Allison Tolman. Directed by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund, Barracuda‘s… Continue Reading →
The post Barracuda Surfaces in October appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Barracuda Surfaces in October appeared first on Dread Central.
- 9/25/2017
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
Consider it an old lesson: If a stranger shows up on your porch, claiming to be your long-lost sister, maybe don’t automatically believe them. Such is the pickle that Allison Tolman’s Merle finds herself confronting in “Barracuda,” when young Sinaloa (newcomer Sophie Reid) appears, touting a shared genealogy that is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg.
While the sisters eventually bond, long-simmering resentments on Sinaloa’s side — the pair apparently share a father, a country music star who influences her own musicianship — threaten to pull them apart. Or perhaps that’s what Sinaloa wanted the entire time? After the film debuted at this year’s SXSW, our Eric Kohn wrote that “Barracuda” is a “beautiful, haunting drama,” with a particular focus on how music ties together people (and maybe even pulls them apart).
Read More:‘Downward Dog’: Allison Tolman Talks About Strong Single Women, Smart Pups...
While the sisters eventually bond, long-simmering resentments on Sinaloa’s side — the pair apparently share a father, a country music star who influences her own musicianship — threaten to pull them apart. Or perhaps that’s what Sinaloa wanted the entire time? After the film debuted at this year’s SXSW, our Eric Kohn wrote that “Barracuda” is a “beautiful, haunting drama,” with a particular focus on how music ties together people (and maybe even pulls them apart).
Read More:‘Downward Dog’: Allison Tolman Talks About Strong Single Women, Smart Pups...
- 9/19/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired the U.S. rights to Julie Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s suspense drama “Barracuda.” The film premiered in competition at SXSW and was nominated for a Grand Jury Award in the Narrative Feature category.
Read MoreGuillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ Trailer Breakdown: Sally Hawkins Befriends Doug Jones’ Man-Fish in Gorgeous Fairy Tale
Co-directed by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin and written by Cortlund, “Barracuda” stars Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams and Luis Bordonada and features live music performances by Butch Hancock, Bob Livingston, Colin Gilmore, The Mastersons, and The Harvest Thieves.
The film follows a woman named Merle (Tolman), whose life begins to splinter when...
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired the U.S. rights to Julie Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s suspense drama “Barracuda.” The film premiered in competition at SXSW and was nominated for a Grand Jury Award in the Narrative Feature category.
Read MoreGuillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ Trailer Breakdown: Sally Hawkins Befriends Doug Jones’ Man-Fish in Gorgeous Fairy Tale
Co-directed by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin and written by Cortlund, “Barracuda” stars Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams and Luis Bordonada and features live music performances by Butch Hancock, Bob Livingston, Colin Gilmore, The Mastersons, and The Harvest Thieves.
The film follows a woman named Merle (Tolman), whose life begins to splinter when...
- 7/14/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
The film received world premiere in competition at SXSW.
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have secured Us rights to Julie Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s suspense drama Barracuda, previously titled La Barracuda.
The film centres on Merle, whose life begins to splinter when Sinaloa, the half-sister she never knew existed, appears on her doorstep in Texas. Initially distrustful of this enigmatic woman, a bond quickly forms between the two sisters.
As Merle allows Sinaloa into her life, Sinaloa reveals a quiet fury to Merle through her music. Sinaloa’s fierce attachment jeopardises Merle’s career aspirations, her relationship with her mother, and even her impending marriage. Merle fights to keep her world together while Sinaloa’s increasingly intense and erratic behavior threatens to erupt into something much darker.
Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams and Luis Bordonada star in the film, which premiered in competition at this year’s SXSW .
David Hartstein and Nancy Schafer produced...
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have secured Us rights to Julie Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s suspense drama Barracuda, previously titled La Barracuda.
The film centres on Merle, whose life begins to splinter when Sinaloa, the half-sister she never knew existed, appears on her doorstep in Texas. Initially distrustful of this enigmatic woman, a bond quickly forms between the two sisters.
As Merle allows Sinaloa into her life, Sinaloa reveals a quiet fury to Merle through her music. Sinaloa’s fierce attachment jeopardises Merle’s career aspirations, her relationship with her mother, and even her impending marriage. Merle fights to keep her world together while Sinaloa’s increasingly intense and erratic behavior threatens to erupt into something much darker.
Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams and Luis Bordonada star in the film, which premiered in competition at this year’s SXSW .
David Hartstein and Nancy Schafer produced...
- 7/11/2017
- ScreenDaily
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have teamed for U.S. rights to Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund's suspense drama Barracuda. The film premiered in competition at SXSW and won top prizes at the Oak Cliff and Hill Country film festivals. Barracuda stars Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams and Luis Bordonada and features live music performances by Butch Hancock, Bob Livingston, Colin Gilmore, the Mastersons and the Harvest Thieves. Tolman plays Merle, whose…...
- 7/11/2017
- Deadline
While resisting the urge to hyperbolically and lazily link any one film I see at this year’s SXSW to another, allow me to quickly note that Nanfu Wang’s I Am Another You (a world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition section) and Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s La Barracuda (which world premiered in Narrative Feature Competition) are, at their core, about women voluntarily visiting a piece of America foreign to them (Florida and Texas, respectively) to reveal their bare selves in the process. Wang is from China, the character of Sinoloa is from England; both come to town with a purpose that may not always be clear, […]...
- 3/20/2017
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
An enlightening conversation with the team behind one of the best films at this year’s SXSW.
“Patricia Highsmith is Texas-born. A lot of people think she’s English, or from New York or something, but she’s Fort Worth born and bred.” Jason Cortlund, who along with Julia Halperin wrote and directed the SXSW narrative competition entry La Barracuda, is telling me about how the famed writer of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train was an influence on the film’s screenplay. Indeed, Cortlund and Halperin’s engrossing Austin-set thriller evokes shades of those page-turning mysteries, albeit with a Texas-fried perspective that is entirely their own. La Barracuda is one of those films you can only hope to catch at a festival, an utterly new take on familiar conventions that leaves you with the unshakeable feeling that you have witnessed a breakout for all involved. You’ve seen the dysfunctional Texas family drama...
“Patricia Highsmith is Texas-born. A lot of people think she’s English, or from New York or something, but she’s Fort Worth born and bred.” Jason Cortlund, who along with Julia Halperin wrote and directed the SXSW narrative competition entry La Barracuda, is telling me about how the famed writer of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train was an influence on the film’s screenplay. Indeed, Cortlund and Halperin’s engrossing Austin-set thriller evokes shades of those page-turning mysteries, albeit with a Texas-fried perspective that is entirely their own. La Barracuda is one of those films you can only hope to catch at a festival, an utterly new take on familiar conventions that leaves you with the unshakeable feeling that you have witnessed a breakout for all involved. You’ve seen the dysfunctional Texas family drama...
- 3/19/2017
- by Fernando Andrés
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
“Most Beautiful Island”
A short, stressful, and utterly spellbinding debut that transforms the immigrant experience into the stuff of an early Polanski psychodrama, “Most Beautiful Island” was a worthy winner of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature, and might prove to be a breakthrough moment for a major new talent: Spanish actress Ana Asensio not only wrote, directed, and produced this fraught metropolitan thriller, she also appears in just about every frame.
It would be criminal to reveal too much about what happens to her character, a Manhattan immigrant who’s struggling to make a life for herself in the big city and in for the longest night of her life, but it’s thrilling to watch the anxiety of neo-realism as it slowly bleeds into something that resembles the suspense of the orgy sequence from “Eyes Wide Shut.” Creating a lucid sense of reality only so...
A short, stressful, and utterly spellbinding debut that transforms the immigrant experience into the stuff of an early Polanski psychodrama, “Most Beautiful Island” was a worthy winner of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature, and might prove to be a breakthrough moment for a major new talent: Spanish actress Ana Asensio not only wrote, directed, and produced this fraught metropolitan thriller, she also appears in just about every frame.
It would be criminal to reveal too much about what happens to her character, a Manhattan immigrant who’s struggling to make a life for herself in the big city and in for the longest night of her life, but it’s thrilling to watch the anxiety of neo-realism as it slowly bleeds into something that resembles the suspense of the orgy sequence from “Eyes Wide Shut.” Creating a lucid sense of reality only so...
- 3/18/2017
- by Chris O'Falt, David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Kate Erbland and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
There were juicier performances to savor, but Allison Tolman was the quiet revelation in season one of FX's Fargo, her grounded realness and humanity providing an anchor for all the destabilizing weirdness and startling violence in her character's orbit — just as Frances McDormand had in the Coen brothers' movie. Tolman serves a similar function to pleasing effect in La Barracuda, playing the daughter of a dead country musician, whose safe, stable existence in Austin, Texas, gets ruptured when the half-sister she's never met drifts into her life with unclear intent.
Co-directors Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund (Now, Forager), working...
Co-directors Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund (Now, Forager), working...
- 3/11/2017
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Not all family reunions are happy ones. In Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund’s “La Barracuda,” premiering this Saturday as part of SXSW’s narrative feature competition, sometimes they’re just downright sinister.
The duo’s new film, starring Allison Tolman and Sophie Reid, explores the unease of a new familial discovery when a so-called sister shows up unannounced. “Sisters. Strangers.” the film’s first teaser hints, and it looks like that’s only the beginning.
Read More: SXSW 2017: 13 Must-See Films At This Year’s Festival
Per the film’s official synopsis, the film follows “a young British woman named Sinaloa [who] comes to Texas to find Merle, her half-sister by way of their dead country musician father. It doesn’t take long for Sinaloa to charm her way into Merle’s life. Her singing awakens something in Merle and erases some of the lingering doubts about their shared bloodline.
The duo’s new film, starring Allison Tolman and Sophie Reid, explores the unease of a new familial discovery when a so-called sister shows up unannounced. “Sisters. Strangers.” the film’s first teaser hints, and it looks like that’s only the beginning.
Read More: SXSW 2017: 13 Must-See Films At This Year’s Festival
Per the film’s official synopsis, the film follows “a young British woman named Sinaloa [who] comes to Texas to find Merle, her half-sister by way of their dead country musician father. It doesn’t take long for Sinaloa to charm her way into Merle’s life. Her singing awakens something in Merle and erases some of the lingering doubts about their shared bloodline.
- 3/9/2017
- by Kerry Levielle
- Indiewire
After drawing attention to the festival’s annual Gaming Awards, organizers behind the South by Southwest Film Festival have posted the full, comprehensive lineup, revealing that the likes of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and Free Fire, the riotous ensemble thriller from Ben Wheatley, are among those films that will screen for critics and attendees.
Per SXSW 2017‘s website, this year’s showcase will host “84 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres, and 6 Us Premieres. First-time filmmakers account for 51 films, continuing our tradition of unearthing the emergent talent of tomorrow.” British auteur Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England) is a regular of the Texas festival, and will be rubbing shoulders with other favorites including Michael Winterbottom, Nacho Vigalondo, Michael Showalter.
SXSW 2017 begins on March 10th in Austin, Texas and you can get up to speed on everything the festival has to offer down below.
Narrative Feature Competition
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong...
Per SXSW 2017‘s website, this year’s showcase will host “84 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres, and 6 Us Premieres. First-time filmmakers account for 51 films, continuing our tradition of unearthing the emergent talent of tomorrow.” British auteur Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England) is a regular of the Texas festival, and will be rubbing shoulders with other favorites including Michael Winterbottom, Nacho Vigalondo, Michael Showalter.
SXSW 2017 begins on March 10th in Austin, Texas and you can get up to speed on everything the festival has to offer down below.
Narrative Feature Competition
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong...
- 1/31/2017
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
With Sundance behind us, the next major American festival is waiting in the wings. The SXSW Film Festival lineup has landed, and there’s a lot to dig through.
Read More: SXSW 2017 Episodic Lineup to Include ‘Dear White People,’ ‘American Gods’
Unlike Sundance, which attracts a lot of industry attention around a handful of high-profile titles, SXSW is more about discovery. As usual, there are a lot of compelling possibilities in the program, from the newcomers in its competition sections through the more peculiar and surprising offerings in the Visions section. IndieWire got a few tips from SXSW Film director Janet Pierson and extracted these promising possibilities.
Small Stories, Big Steps
The festival’s narrative feature competition is often the place where filmmakers on their first or second feature get a sudden boost. It was there that Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture” and Destin Cretton’s “Short Term 12” both took off.
Read More: SXSW 2017 Episodic Lineup to Include ‘Dear White People,’ ‘American Gods’
Unlike Sundance, which attracts a lot of industry attention around a handful of high-profile titles, SXSW is more about discovery. As usual, there are a lot of compelling possibilities in the program, from the newcomers in its competition sections through the more peculiar and surprising offerings in the Visions section. IndieWire got a few tips from SXSW Film director Janet Pierson and extracted these promising possibilities.
Small Stories, Big Steps
The festival’s narrative feature competition is often the place where filmmakers on their first or second feature get a sudden boost. It was there that Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture” and Destin Cretton’s “Short Term 12” both took off.
- 1/31/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
On Tuesday, Americans go to the voting booth to determine what kind of country they want theirs to be. Months of the most polarized, and polarizing, presidential campaign in recent memory have left many of us with battle fatigue and gnawing pangs of cynicism and nausea. To quote Thomas McGuane, in the opening line of his 1973 novel “92 in the Shade”: “Nobody knows, from sea to shining sea, why we are having all this trouble with our republic.”
Our filmmakers might have a clue. And a little distance brings perspective. The American Film Festival just celebrated its seventh annual survey of new (and mostly) independent cinema made in the U.S.A., as assembled for and viewed by eager European audiences in Wroclaw, Poland. Though not without some escapist and experimental tangents, the selections couldn’t help but offer a provocative composite of work that serves as a kind of state of the union address.
Our filmmakers might have a clue. And a little distance brings perspective. The American Film Festival just celebrated its seventh annual survey of new (and mostly) independent cinema made in the U.S.A., as assembled for and viewed by eager European audiences in Wroclaw, Poland. Though not without some escapist and experimental tangents, the selections couldn’t help but offer a provocative composite of work that serves as a kind of state of the union address.
- 11/7/2016
- by Steve Dollar
- Indiewire
It’s a thrill to see two out of three of the CineMart Awards are to filmmakers we are tracking: “Luxembourg” by Myroslav Slaboshptyskly from Ukraine and Cuba’s Claudia Calvino and Carlos Lechuga's “Santa y Delfin” won the inaugural Wouter Barendrecht Award. Best unpublished screenplay prize was awarded to the team this past December at Havana’s Festival de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano. The Ukrainian-German production to be produced by Miff’s Business Square founder Anna Katchko, “Luxembourg”, was awarded the €7,000 Arte International Prize after winning the Sundance Aj+ sponsored Global Filmmaking Award of Us $10,000.
The project has a budget of €1.5 million and is half financed by the Ukrainean State Film Agency. It received a grant from Hubert Bals Fund earlier and will be at Berlin’s Efm Coproduction Market next week. This U.K.-German-French coproduction is being sold internationally by Ultra Violet who sold writer-director Myroslav Slaboshptyskly’s first film “The Tribe” to 35 territories. Myroslav and I spoke at Sundance and he gave me a link to his short “Nuclear Waste” which is a pilot for this film, shot in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and awarded the Silver Leopard of Tomorrow at the Locarno Film Festival and showed at many festivals.
CineMart 2015 awards were announced recently, marking the close of the 32nd edition of the co-production market. Dutch/French/Belgian production “Tonic Immobility” was awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, which is given to a project presented by a European producer.
CineMart selected 24 international projects to participate in the four day event which has been one of the most successful in recent years. A panel discussion to launch Iffr’s new VoD initiative, Tiger Release, was well attended with several filmmakers now in discussion with the Iffr team on releasing their new films via this platform. Multiple conferences and panels covering topics ranging from “Making the most of a film festival” to “The Director-Producer Partnership” were held in front of packed audiences who were invited to be involved in the debates and receive advice. The "Creative Europe Day" on Tuesday, January 27th which offered advice and guidance on creating beyond the boundaries of Europe proved one of the highlights of Iffr 2015.
On making the announcement Head of Industry & CineMart, Marit van den Elshout commented “The quality of our line-up this year is something the whole team is very proud of - so many standout projects with talented teams behind them, the award winners exemplify this. We hosted multiple extremely well attended panels and conversations, experienced great success with the launch of Tiger Release and the enthusiasm with which our Creative Europe day was received all adds up to one of the strongest CineMart’s in a long time. ”
This year’s Eurimages Co-Production Development Award winner, “Tonic Immobility” by Nathalie Teirlinck, (The Netherlands, France, Belgium), is a Bart van Langendonck, Xavier Rombaut, Savage Film production. It tells the story of Alice, an escort who abandons her baby son Robin. Unexpectedly, seven years later Alice is reunited with the boy and they must find a way to co-exist while Alice is confronted with the fact that true emotions can't be controlled and that intimacy can lead to vulnerability. On the Jury’s decision Dorien van de Pas commented “ The award is being given to a project from a multitalented first time feature director who will tell a very emotional, universal story. His short films demonstrate a strong visual style in combination with a great focus on sound. ”
The Arte International Prize winner “Luxembourg”, (Ukraine, Germany) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, and produced by Anna Katchko with Tandem Production is a film noir with touches of a western. A great project by a very talented director, stunningly set up for a strong and cinematic story. On presenting the award Annamaria Lodato commented. “This year the Arte International Prize is awarded to a talented, daring and radical director. He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl. Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with its own rules, an almost primitive community that the director knows from the inside. ”
The Wouter Barendrecht Award winner “Santa y Delfin” (Cuba), by Carlos Lechuga is produced by Claudia Calvino and Producciones de la 5ta Avenida. Cuba, homosexuality, censorship, working class and intellectuals, a young talented director and a real story - real potential for a hit project.
On presenting the award Managing Director of Fortissimo Films, Nelleke Driessen commented “The Wouter Barendrecht Foundation (Wbf) encourages the work of talented young filmmakers, we encourage daring films, films that oppose social conventions, with a large urgency. There were 8 films eligible for this award, but in the end only one can win and 'Santa y Delfin' stood out amongst all - if Wouter were here he would be thrilled with the choice. ”
CineMart Selected Projects
"A Shining Flaw" by Erwin Olaf
Eyeworks Film & TV Drama, Netherlands
"Cobain" by Nanouk Leopold
Circe Films/Waterland Film, Netherlands
"Vita & Virginia" by Sacha Polak
Mirror Productions/Viking Film, United Kingdom/Netherlands
"Tonic Immobility" by Nathalie Teirlinck
Savage Film/Ctm Pictures, Belgium/France/Netherlands
"The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea" by Syllas Tzoumerkas
Homemade Films/Prpl, Greece/Netherlands
"Angel" by Koen Mortier
Czar Film/Tobina Films/Anonymes Films, Belgium/Senegal/France
"Ceux qui travaillent" by Antoine Russbach
Box Productions, Switzerland
"Cunningham" by Alla Kovgan
Arsam International/Chance Operations, France/USA
"La Fille de l’Estuaire" by Gaëlle Denis
Life to Live Films, United Kingdom/France
"Holiday" by Isabella Eklöf
Dharmafilm/Beofilm, Denmark
"Luxembourg" by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Tandem Production/Garmata Film, Ukraine/Germany
"Bat, Butterfly, Moth" by Sergio Caballero
Corte y Confección de Películas/Am Films, Spain
"The Gray Beyond" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Jirafa Films/Wa Entertainment, Chile/Japan
"Only the Dead Have Seen the End of the War" by Khavn
Kamias Overground, Philippines
"Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat
Pucará Cine, Argentina
"La Barracuda" by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin
Small Drama/Hot Metal Films/Blue Suitcase Productions, USA
"Boyfriend" by Ashim Ahluwalia
Future East Film, India
"Gabriel and the Mountain" by Fellipe Barbosa
TvZero/Gamarosa Filmes, Brazil
"Los Delincuentes" by Rodrigo Moreno
Compañía Amateur/Rizoma, Argentina
"Santa y Delfín" by Carlos Lechuga
Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, Cuba
"Kodokushi" by Janus Victoria
Paperheart, Philippines/Malaysia/Japan
Art:Film projects "Cactus Flower" by Hala Elkoussy
Transit Films, Egypt
"Hurrah, Wir Leben Noch" by Agnieszka Polska
Kijora Anna Gawlita/Museum of Modern Art Poland, Poland/Germany
"Mr Sing Sing" by Phil Collins
Shady Lane Productions, Germany/USA
Audience Awards Winners
The awards, as voted for by the public audience attending the Festival, were announced this evening at the Iffr 2015 Closing Night Ceremony, hosted by Festival Director, Rutger Wolfson and Managing Director, Janneke Staarink. James Napier Robertson was awarded the Iffr Audience Award 2015 of €10,000 for his film "The Dark Horse." The award is Napier’s second of the Festival following the MovieZone Iffr Award which was presented on Friday, January 30th at the Iffr Awards Ceremony. The Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, also of €10,000, presented to the most popular film which received support from the Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) went to Oscar Ruiz Navia for "Los Hongos," an autobiographical drama centering on the youth culture of Cali, Colombia.
Read More - Toronto Review: Cliff Curtis is a Fallen Champion Turned Mentor in "The Dark Horse"
On the announcement of the Iffr Audience Award 2015 Wolfson commented “The audiences who come from all over the Netherlands and around the world to participate in the Festival and explore our diverse, thought provoking programme are integral to Iffr. It would not be the special Festival it is without them so we would like to thank all who joined us in celebrating cinema this year and of course congratulations to James who created a wonderful, personal film.”
On the announcement of the Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, Manager of the Hubert Bals Fund, Iwana Chronis commented “I am thrilled with the reception the Hbf supported films received throughout the twelve days of the Festival. Oscar Ruiz Navia is a talented filmmaker with a long and successful career ahead of him, this recognition is fully deserved, we are so pleased to have been a part of helping getting this film to the big screen .”
A highly acclaimed drama, "The Dark Horse" tells the true and moving story of Genesis Potini, who fought for the future of disadvantaged children in New Zealand until his death in 2011. In spite of his own bipolar disorder, he taught them to play chess and fight for opportunities. "The Dark Horse" is both amusing and raw, and above all intensely moving. Born in New Zealand, director James Napier Robertson made a name for himself in the world of television before switching to cinema. He appeared as an actor in the series "The Tribe" and "Shortland Street." He directed his first feature film "I’m Not Harry Jenson" in 2009.
Directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia, "Los Hongos" is an autobiographically inspired drama based around two skater friends who are at the heart of the colorful, noisy street and youth culture of Cali, Colombia. With a warm heart, Ruiz tells the story of Ras and Calvin, who are looking for their own voice, a stage and of course freedom, love and fun. Born in Colombia, Oscar Ruiz Navia’s debut film "Crab Trap" won a Fipresci Award at the Berlinale in 2010. Prior to that he was focused on the development and production of independent cinema in Colombia and founded the production company Contravia Films having previously studied Social Communications and Journalism.
Top 5 Audience Award Iffr 2015
"The Dark Horse" "The Farewell Party" "Loin des Hommes" "La Vie de Jean-Marie" "Alice Cares" Top 5 Hbf Dioraphte Award 2015
"Los Hongos" "La Mujer de los Perros" (Dog Lady) "Nn" "Court" "The Tribe" The full list can be found on the Festival's website:
www.iffr.com/professionals/iffr-2015/iffr-audience-award-2015...
The project has a budget of €1.5 million and is half financed by the Ukrainean State Film Agency. It received a grant from Hubert Bals Fund earlier and will be at Berlin’s Efm Coproduction Market next week. This U.K.-German-French coproduction is being sold internationally by Ultra Violet who sold writer-director Myroslav Slaboshptyskly’s first film “The Tribe” to 35 territories. Myroslav and I spoke at Sundance and he gave me a link to his short “Nuclear Waste” which is a pilot for this film, shot in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and awarded the Silver Leopard of Tomorrow at the Locarno Film Festival and showed at many festivals.
CineMart 2015 awards were announced recently, marking the close of the 32nd edition of the co-production market. Dutch/French/Belgian production “Tonic Immobility” was awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, which is given to a project presented by a European producer.
CineMart selected 24 international projects to participate in the four day event which has been one of the most successful in recent years. A panel discussion to launch Iffr’s new VoD initiative, Tiger Release, was well attended with several filmmakers now in discussion with the Iffr team on releasing their new films via this platform. Multiple conferences and panels covering topics ranging from “Making the most of a film festival” to “The Director-Producer Partnership” were held in front of packed audiences who were invited to be involved in the debates and receive advice. The "Creative Europe Day" on Tuesday, January 27th which offered advice and guidance on creating beyond the boundaries of Europe proved one of the highlights of Iffr 2015.
On making the announcement Head of Industry & CineMart, Marit van den Elshout commented “The quality of our line-up this year is something the whole team is very proud of - so many standout projects with talented teams behind them, the award winners exemplify this. We hosted multiple extremely well attended panels and conversations, experienced great success with the launch of Tiger Release and the enthusiasm with which our Creative Europe day was received all adds up to one of the strongest CineMart’s in a long time. ”
This year’s Eurimages Co-Production Development Award winner, “Tonic Immobility” by Nathalie Teirlinck, (The Netherlands, France, Belgium), is a Bart van Langendonck, Xavier Rombaut, Savage Film production. It tells the story of Alice, an escort who abandons her baby son Robin. Unexpectedly, seven years later Alice is reunited with the boy and they must find a way to co-exist while Alice is confronted with the fact that true emotions can't be controlled and that intimacy can lead to vulnerability. On the Jury’s decision Dorien van de Pas commented “ The award is being given to a project from a multitalented first time feature director who will tell a very emotional, universal story. His short films demonstrate a strong visual style in combination with a great focus on sound. ”
The Arte International Prize winner “Luxembourg”, (Ukraine, Germany) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, and produced by Anna Katchko with Tandem Production is a film noir with touches of a western. A great project by a very talented director, stunningly set up for a strong and cinematic story. On presenting the award Annamaria Lodato commented. “This year the Arte International Prize is awarded to a talented, daring and radical director. He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl. Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with its own rules, an almost primitive community that the director knows from the inside. ”
The Wouter Barendrecht Award winner “Santa y Delfin” (Cuba), by Carlos Lechuga is produced by Claudia Calvino and Producciones de la 5ta Avenida. Cuba, homosexuality, censorship, working class and intellectuals, a young talented director and a real story - real potential for a hit project.
On presenting the award Managing Director of Fortissimo Films, Nelleke Driessen commented “The Wouter Barendrecht Foundation (Wbf) encourages the work of talented young filmmakers, we encourage daring films, films that oppose social conventions, with a large urgency. There were 8 films eligible for this award, but in the end only one can win and 'Santa y Delfin' stood out amongst all - if Wouter were here he would be thrilled with the choice. ”
CineMart Selected Projects
"A Shining Flaw" by Erwin Olaf
Eyeworks Film & TV Drama, Netherlands
"Cobain" by Nanouk Leopold
Circe Films/Waterland Film, Netherlands
"Vita & Virginia" by Sacha Polak
Mirror Productions/Viking Film, United Kingdom/Netherlands
"Tonic Immobility" by Nathalie Teirlinck
Savage Film/Ctm Pictures, Belgium/France/Netherlands
"The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea" by Syllas Tzoumerkas
Homemade Films/Prpl, Greece/Netherlands
"Angel" by Koen Mortier
Czar Film/Tobina Films/Anonymes Films, Belgium/Senegal/France
"Ceux qui travaillent" by Antoine Russbach
Box Productions, Switzerland
"Cunningham" by Alla Kovgan
Arsam International/Chance Operations, France/USA
"La Fille de l’Estuaire" by Gaëlle Denis
Life to Live Films, United Kingdom/France
"Holiday" by Isabella Eklöf
Dharmafilm/Beofilm, Denmark
"Luxembourg" by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Tandem Production/Garmata Film, Ukraine/Germany
"Bat, Butterfly, Moth" by Sergio Caballero
Corte y Confección de Películas/Am Films, Spain
"The Gray Beyond" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Jirafa Films/Wa Entertainment, Chile/Japan
"Only the Dead Have Seen the End of the War" by Khavn
Kamias Overground, Philippines
"Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat
Pucará Cine, Argentina
"La Barracuda" by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin
Small Drama/Hot Metal Films/Blue Suitcase Productions, USA
"Boyfriend" by Ashim Ahluwalia
Future East Film, India
"Gabriel and the Mountain" by Fellipe Barbosa
TvZero/Gamarosa Filmes, Brazil
"Los Delincuentes" by Rodrigo Moreno
Compañía Amateur/Rizoma, Argentina
"Santa y Delfín" by Carlos Lechuga
Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, Cuba
"Kodokushi" by Janus Victoria
Paperheart, Philippines/Malaysia/Japan
Art:Film projects "Cactus Flower" by Hala Elkoussy
Transit Films, Egypt
"Hurrah, Wir Leben Noch" by Agnieszka Polska
Kijora Anna Gawlita/Museum of Modern Art Poland, Poland/Germany
"Mr Sing Sing" by Phil Collins
Shady Lane Productions, Germany/USA
Audience Awards Winners
The awards, as voted for by the public audience attending the Festival, were announced this evening at the Iffr 2015 Closing Night Ceremony, hosted by Festival Director, Rutger Wolfson and Managing Director, Janneke Staarink. James Napier Robertson was awarded the Iffr Audience Award 2015 of €10,000 for his film "The Dark Horse." The award is Napier’s second of the Festival following the MovieZone Iffr Award which was presented on Friday, January 30th at the Iffr Awards Ceremony. The Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, also of €10,000, presented to the most popular film which received support from the Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) went to Oscar Ruiz Navia for "Los Hongos," an autobiographical drama centering on the youth culture of Cali, Colombia.
Read More - Toronto Review: Cliff Curtis is a Fallen Champion Turned Mentor in "The Dark Horse"
On the announcement of the Iffr Audience Award 2015 Wolfson commented “The audiences who come from all over the Netherlands and around the world to participate in the Festival and explore our diverse, thought provoking programme are integral to Iffr. It would not be the special Festival it is without them so we would like to thank all who joined us in celebrating cinema this year and of course congratulations to James who created a wonderful, personal film.”
On the announcement of the Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, Manager of the Hubert Bals Fund, Iwana Chronis commented “I am thrilled with the reception the Hbf supported films received throughout the twelve days of the Festival. Oscar Ruiz Navia is a talented filmmaker with a long and successful career ahead of him, this recognition is fully deserved, we are so pleased to have been a part of helping getting this film to the big screen .”
A highly acclaimed drama, "The Dark Horse" tells the true and moving story of Genesis Potini, who fought for the future of disadvantaged children in New Zealand until his death in 2011. In spite of his own bipolar disorder, he taught them to play chess and fight for opportunities. "The Dark Horse" is both amusing and raw, and above all intensely moving. Born in New Zealand, director James Napier Robertson made a name for himself in the world of television before switching to cinema. He appeared as an actor in the series "The Tribe" and "Shortland Street." He directed his first feature film "I’m Not Harry Jenson" in 2009.
Directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia, "Los Hongos" is an autobiographically inspired drama based around two skater friends who are at the heart of the colorful, noisy street and youth culture of Cali, Colombia. With a warm heart, Ruiz tells the story of Ras and Calvin, who are looking for their own voice, a stage and of course freedom, love and fun. Born in Colombia, Oscar Ruiz Navia’s debut film "Crab Trap" won a Fipresci Award at the Berlinale in 2010. Prior to that he was focused on the development and production of independent cinema in Colombia and founded the production company Contravia Films having previously studied Social Communications and Journalism.
Top 5 Audience Award Iffr 2015
"The Dark Horse" "The Farewell Party" "Loin des Hommes" "La Vie de Jean-Marie" "Alice Cares" Top 5 Hbf Dioraphte Award 2015
"Los Hongos" "La Mujer de los Perros" (Dog Lady) "Nn" "Court" "The Tribe" The full list can be found on the Festival's website:
www.iffr.com/professionals/iffr-2015/iffr-audience-award-2015...
- 2/5/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s Chernobyl-based drama wins one of three awards at International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market.
Rotterdam co-production market CineMart closed last night (Jan 28) with a hat trick of awards.
Ukrainian-German production Luxembourg was awarded the €7,000 ($7,900) Arte International Prize.
Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (The Tribe), the film tells a story of love and revenge based in the the area around Chernobyl - the city that was decimated during the notorious nuclear power plant disaster in 1986.
Slaboshpytskiy, who won Cannes’ Critics Week Grand Prize with deaf boarding school drama The Tribe, has based Luxembourg on his 2012 short, Nuclear Waste.
On presenting the award, producer Annamaria Lodato described Slaboshpytskiy as “a talented, daring and radical director”.
“He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl,” she added. “Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with...
Rotterdam co-production market CineMart closed last night (Jan 28) with a hat trick of awards.
Ukrainian-German production Luxembourg was awarded the €7,000 ($7,900) Arte International Prize.
Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (The Tribe), the film tells a story of love and revenge based in the the area around Chernobyl - the city that was decimated during the notorious nuclear power plant disaster in 1986.
Slaboshpytskiy, who won Cannes’ Critics Week Grand Prize with deaf boarding school drama The Tribe, has based Luxembourg on his 2012 short, Nuclear Waste.
On presenting the award, producer Annamaria Lodato described Slaboshpytskiy as “a talented, daring and radical director”.
“He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl,” she added. “Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with...
- 1/29/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Co-production market has three prizes including new Wouter Barendrecht Award in conjunction with Fortissimo Films.
A host of global auteurs, along with new voices, have been selected for The International FIlm Festival Rotterdam’s famed CineMart co-production market.
Filmmakers who have projects selected include Miss Lovely director Ashim Ahluwalia from India; Ukranian director of multi-award-winning The Tribe Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; Argentina’s Benjamin Naishtat (History of Fear); Fellipe Barbosa (Casa Grande); American duo Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, whose previous film Now, Forager played at Rotterdam; Dutch director Nanouk Leopold [pictured]; and Sacha Polak (Hemel). Full list of selected projects below.
CineMart is one of the industry’s first co-production markets, now in its 32nd edition. There are three awards — The Eurimages Co-production Development Award of €20,000, The Arte International Price of €7,000 and the inaugural Wouter Barendrecht Award of €5,000 which is awarded by CineMart in conjunction with Fortissimo Films.
CineMart runs Jan 25-28 as part of Iffr which runs Jan...
A host of global auteurs, along with new voices, have been selected for The International FIlm Festival Rotterdam’s famed CineMart co-production market.
Filmmakers who have projects selected include Miss Lovely director Ashim Ahluwalia from India; Ukranian director of multi-award-winning The Tribe Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; Argentina’s Benjamin Naishtat (History of Fear); Fellipe Barbosa (Casa Grande); American duo Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, whose previous film Now, Forager played at Rotterdam; Dutch director Nanouk Leopold [pictured]; and Sacha Polak (Hemel). Full list of selected projects below.
CineMart is one of the industry’s first co-production markets, now in its 32nd edition. There are three awards — The Eurimages Co-production Development Award of €20,000, The Arte International Price of €7,000 and the inaugural Wouter Barendrecht Award of €5,000 which is awarded by CineMart in conjunction with Fortissimo Films.
CineMart runs Jan 25-28 as part of Iffr which runs Jan...
- 12/16/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Ifp announced its 2014 slate of 133 new films in development and works in progress selected for its esteemed Project Forum at Independent Film Week. This one-of-a-kind event brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new projects by nurturing the work of both emerging and established independent artists and filmmakers. Through the Project Forum, creatives connect with 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. Under the curatorial leadership of Deputy Director/Head of Programming Amy Dotson & Senior Director of Programming Milton Tabbot, this one-of-a-kind event takes place September 14-18, 2014 at Lincoln Center supporting bold new content from a wide variety of domestic and international artists.
“As we set to embark on our 36th Independent Film Week, we are impressed by the outstanding slate of both U.S. and international projects selected for this year’s Project Forum,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of Ifp. “We know that the industry will be as excited as we are with the accomplished storytellers and their diverse and boundary pushing films.”
Featured works at the 2014 Independent Film Week include filmmakers and content creators from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. From documentarians Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How To Nail A Dictator"), and Penny Lane ("Our Nixon") to Michelangelo Frammartino ("Quattro Volte") and Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), as well as new work from critically acclaimed artists and directors Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"), Travis Matthews ("Interior. Leather. Bar") and Yen Tan ("Pit Stop").
Independent Film Week brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new documentary and narrative works-in-progress and support the future of storytelling. The program nurtures the work of both emerging and established independent artists and filmmakers through the facilitation of over 3,500+ custom, one-to-one meetings 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. In recent years, it has also played a vital role in launching the first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Rama Burshtein ("Fill The Void"), Derek Cianfrance ("Blue Valentine"), Marshall Curry ("If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth LIberation Front"), Laura Poitras ("The Oath"), Denis Villeneuve ("Incendies") and Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild").
For the full 2014 Project Forum slate visit Here
New For 2014
Evenly split between documentary and narrative features, selected projects hail from throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada, as well Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. New this year, Ifp will be including web series in it programming, as well as spotlighting Latin & Central American artists and content with 15 projects featured across all programs in the Forum.
In a joint effort to recognize the importance of career and creative sustainability, Ifp and Durga Entertainment have partnered on a new $20,000 filmmaker grant for an alumnus of Ifp. The grant is intended for active, working filmmakers who are also balancing a filmmaking career with parenting. The grant provides a $20,000 unrestricted prize to encourage the recipient to continue on her or his career path of making quality independent films. American directors or screenwriters working in narrative film who have participated in the Ifp Filmmaker Labs or Ifp Independent Film Week's Emerging Storytellers or No-Borders International Co-Production market are encouraged to apply by the deadline of August 8, 2014.
Narrative Feature Highlights
Narrative features and webseries in Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers and No Borders International Co-Production Market sections highlight new work from top emerging and established creative visionaries on the U.S. and international independent scene.
This year’s slate includes new feature scripts featuring directors Dev Benegal ("Road, Movie"), Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin ("Now, Forager"), Michelangelo Frammartino ("Le Quattro Volte"),Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"), Rashaad Ernesto Green ("Gun Hill Road"), Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita Y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"),Alison Klayman ("Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry"), Travis Mathews ("Interior. Leather Bar"), Stacie Passon ("Concussion"), Yen Tan ("Pit Stop"), as well as up-an-coming actor/directors Karrie Crouse ("Land Ho!") and Peter Vack ("Fort Tilden""I Believe in Unicorns").
Producers and executive producers of note attached to participating projects include Jennifer Dubin and Cora Olson ("Good Dick"), Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams ("Hellion"),Laura Heberton ("Gayby"), Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Kishori Rajan ("Gimme the Loot"), Adele Romanski ("The Myth of the American Sleepover"), Kim Sherman ("A Teacher"), Susan Stover ("High Art"), and Alicia Van Couvering ("Tiny Furniture").
Web Storytellers Highlights
For the first time this year, Ifp presents a dedicated spotlight within the Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program for creators developing episodic content for digital platforms. The inaugural slate for the Web Storytellers spotlight includes new works from filmmakers Desiree Akhavan ("Appropriate Behavior", HBO’s Girls), Calvin Reeder ("The Rambler"), and Gregory Bayne ("Person of Interest"), as well as producers Elisabeth Holm ("Obvious Child"), Susan Leber ( "Down to the Bone"), and Amanda Warman ("The Outs,"Whatever This Is"). Two of the series participating are currently in post-production, and will be making their online debut in the coming months – Rachel Morgan’s Middle Americans, starring Scott Thompson, Carlen Altman, and Alex Rennie, and Daniel Zimbler and Elisabeth Gray’s Understudies, starring Richard Kind and David Rasche. [p Spotlight On Documentaries Highlights
The documentary selection includes new work from seasoned non-fiction directors such as Emmy winners Robert Bahar andAlmudena Carracedo ("Made in La"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How to Nail a Dictator"),Ramona Diaz ("Imelda," "Don’t Stop Believin’") Gini Reticker ("Pray the Devil Back to Hell") Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"); from producers such as Court 13’s Benh Zeitlin and Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Liran Atzmor ("The Law in These Parts"), Tim Williams ("Once In A Lifetime") and Hilla Medalia ("Web Junkie"), and follow-up second features from recent doc world “breakouts”Steve Hoover ("Blood Brother") Penny Lane ("Our Nixon"), Michael Collins ("Give Up Tomorrow"), and Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker ("Flex is Kings").
Exciting new work from debut documentary directors previously known for fiction films include Alex Sichel ("All over Me") with her personal doc The Movie about Anna, Lisa Cortés (producer, "Precious") with "Mothership: The Untold Story of Women and Hip Hop," and Daniel Patrick Carbone ("Hide Your Smiling Faces") with Phantom Cowboys.
Sponsors
Independent Film Week’s Premier sponsors are Royal Bank of Canada (Rbc) and HBO. Gold sponsors are A&E IndieFilms and SAGIndie. Silver sponsors are Durga Entertainment, Eastman Kodak Company, National Film & Video Foundation of South Africa and Telefilm Canada. Official Independent Film Week Partner is Film Society of Lincoln Center. Independent Film Week is supported, in part, by funds provided by the Ford Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council for the Arts and Time Warner Foundation.
About Ifp
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages of development and distribution. The organization fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Independent Film Week, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Made in NY Media Center by Ifp, a new incubator space developed with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Ifp represents a growing network of 10,000 storytellers around the world, and plays a key role in developing 350 new feature and documentary works each year. During its 35-year history, Ifp has supported over 8,000 projects and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, including Debra Granik, Miranda July, Michael Moore, Dee Rees, and Benh Zeitlin. More info at www.ifp.org.
“As we set to embark on our 36th Independent Film Week, we are impressed by the outstanding slate of both U.S. and international projects selected for this year’s Project Forum,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of Ifp. “We know that the industry will be as excited as we are with the accomplished storytellers and their diverse and boundary pushing films.”
Featured works at the 2014 Independent Film Week include filmmakers and content creators from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. From documentarians Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How To Nail A Dictator"), and Penny Lane ("Our Nixon") to Michelangelo Frammartino ("Quattro Volte") and Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), as well as new work from critically acclaimed artists and directors Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"), Travis Matthews ("Interior. Leather. Bar") and Yen Tan ("Pit Stop").
Independent Film Week brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new documentary and narrative works-in-progress and support the future of storytelling. The program nurtures the work of both emerging and established independent artists and filmmakers through the facilitation of over 3,500+ custom, one-to-one meetings 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. In recent years, it has also played a vital role in launching the first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Rama Burshtein ("Fill The Void"), Derek Cianfrance ("Blue Valentine"), Marshall Curry ("If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth LIberation Front"), Laura Poitras ("The Oath"), Denis Villeneuve ("Incendies") and Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild").
For the full 2014 Project Forum slate visit Here
New For 2014
Evenly split between documentary and narrative features, selected projects hail from throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada, as well Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. New this year, Ifp will be including web series in it programming, as well as spotlighting Latin & Central American artists and content with 15 projects featured across all programs in the Forum.
In a joint effort to recognize the importance of career and creative sustainability, Ifp and Durga Entertainment have partnered on a new $20,000 filmmaker grant for an alumnus of Ifp. The grant is intended for active, working filmmakers who are also balancing a filmmaking career with parenting. The grant provides a $20,000 unrestricted prize to encourage the recipient to continue on her or his career path of making quality independent films. American directors or screenwriters working in narrative film who have participated in the Ifp Filmmaker Labs or Ifp Independent Film Week's Emerging Storytellers or No-Borders International Co-Production market are encouraged to apply by the deadline of August 8, 2014.
Narrative Feature Highlights
Narrative features and webseries in Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers and No Borders International Co-Production Market sections highlight new work from top emerging and established creative visionaries on the U.S. and international independent scene.
This year’s slate includes new feature scripts featuring directors Dev Benegal ("Road, Movie"), Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin ("Now, Forager"), Michelangelo Frammartino ("Le Quattro Volte"),Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"), Rashaad Ernesto Green ("Gun Hill Road"), Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita Y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"),Alison Klayman ("Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry"), Travis Mathews ("Interior. Leather Bar"), Stacie Passon ("Concussion"), Yen Tan ("Pit Stop"), as well as up-an-coming actor/directors Karrie Crouse ("Land Ho!") and Peter Vack ("Fort Tilden""I Believe in Unicorns").
Producers and executive producers of note attached to participating projects include Jennifer Dubin and Cora Olson ("Good Dick"), Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams ("Hellion"),Laura Heberton ("Gayby"), Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Kishori Rajan ("Gimme the Loot"), Adele Romanski ("The Myth of the American Sleepover"), Kim Sherman ("A Teacher"), Susan Stover ("High Art"), and Alicia Van Couvering ("Tiny Furniture").
Web Storytellers Highlights
For the first time this year, Ifp presents a dedicated spotlight within the Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program for creators developing episodic content for digital platforms. The inaugural slate for the Web Storytellers spotlight includes new works from filmmakers Desiree Akhavan ("Appropriate Behavior", HBO’s Girls), Calvin Reeder ("The Rambler"), and Gregory Bayne ("Person of Interest"), as well as producers Elisabeth Holm ("Obvious Child"), Susan Leber ( "Down to the Bone"), and Amanda Warman ("The Outs,"Whatever This Is"). Two of the series participating are currently in post-production, and will be making their online debut in the coming months – Rachel Morgan’s Middle Americans, starring Scott Thompson, Carlen Altman, and Alex Rennie, and Daniel Zimbler and Elisabeth Gray’s Understudies, starring Richard Kind and David Rasche. [p Spotlight On Documentaries Highlights
The documentary selection includes new work from seasoned non-fiction directors such as Emmy winners Robert Bahar andAlmudena Carracedo ("Made in La"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How to Nail a Dictator"),Ramona Diaz ("Imelda," "Don’t Stop Believin’") Gini Reticker ("Pray the Devil Back to Hell") Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"); from producers such as Court 13’s Benh Zeitlin and Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Liran Atzmor ("The Law in These Parts"), Tim Williams ("Once In A Lifetime") and Hilla Medalia ("Web Junkie"), and follow-up second features from recent doc world “breakouts”Steve Hoover ("Blood Brother") Penny Lane ("Our Nixon"), Michael Collins ("Give Up Tomorrow"), and Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker ("Flex is Kings").
Exciting new work from debut documentary directors previously known for fiction films include Alex Sichel ("All over Me") with her personal doc The Movie about Anna, Lisa Cortés (producer, "Precious") with "Mothership: The Untold Story of Women and Hip Hop," and Daniel Patrick Carbone ("Hide Your Smiling Faces") with Phantom Cowboys.
Sponsors
Independent Film Week’s Premier sponsors are Royal Bank of Canada (Rbc) and HBO. Gold sponsors are A&E IndieFilms and SAGIndie. Silver sponsors are Durga Entertainment, Eastman Kodak Company, National Film & Video Foundation of South Africa and Telefilm Canada. Official Independent Film Week Partner is Film Society of Lincoln Center. Independent Film Week is supported, in part, by funds provided by the Ford Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council for the Arts and Time Warner Foundation.
About Ifp
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages of development and distribution. The organization fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Independent Film Week, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Made in NY Media Center by Ifp, a new incubator space developed with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Ifp represents a growing network of 10,000 storytellers around the world, and plays a key role in developing 350 new feature and documentary works each year. During its 35-year history, Ifp has supported over 8,000 projects and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, including Debra Granik, Miranda July, Michael Moore, Dee Rees, and Benh Zeitlin. More info at www.ifp.org.
- 7/25/2014
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
On the heels of the 39th edition of the Toronto Int. Film Festival (Sept 4-14), Ifp’s Independent Film Week is where a plethora of fiction, non-fiction and new this year, web-based series from the likes of Desiree Akhavan and Calvin Reeder find future coin. Sectioned off as projects at the very beginning of financing to those that are nearing completion, there happens to be tons of Sundance alumni in the names below. Among those that caught our attention we have Medicine for Melancholy‘s Barry Jenkins’ sophomore feature, produced by Bad Milo!‘s Adele Romanski, Moonlight is about “two Miami boys navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality in this triptych drama about black queer youth”. Concussion‘s Stacie Passon digs into the thriller genre with Strange Things Started Happening. Produced by vet Mary Jane Skalski (Mysterious Skin), this is about “a woman who has...
- 7/24/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.
The Austin Film Society has teamed up with The Nature Conservancy to present a screening of Hanna Ranch, a documentary about a fourth-generation cattle ranch in Colorado, tonight at 7:30 pm at the Marchesa Hall. In more Afs news, the nonprofit recently announced the participants of this year's Artist Intensive, a workshop for emerging narrative feature writer-directors in Austin with projects in various stages of development or pre-production. Filmmaking husband/wife team Julia Halperin's and Jason Cortlund's La Barracuda (Jordan's interview), Stephen Belyeu's and Gregory Day's The Father, filmmaker-musicians Karen Skloss's and Jay Tonne Jr.'s The Honor Farm and local filmmaker Clay Liford's Slash (an expansion of his short of the same name; Debbie's interview) were selected by the programming committee of Afs's board of directors. Each writer-director team will be matched with mentors who will...
The Austin Film Society has teamed up with The Nature Conservancy to present a screening of Hanna Ranch, a documentary about a fourth-generation cattle ranch in Colorado, tonight at 7:30 pm at the Marchesa Hall. In more Afs news, the nonprofit recently announced the participants of this year's Artist Intensive, a workshop for emerging narrative feature writer-directors in Austin with projects in various stages of development or pre-production. Filmmaking husband/wife team Julia Halperin's and Jason Cortlund's La Barracuda (Jordan's interview), Stephen Belyeu's and Gregory Day's The Father, filmmaker-musicians Karen Skloss's and Jay Tonne Jr.'s The Honor Farm and local filmmaker Clay Liford's Slash (an expansion of his short of the same name; Debbie's interview) were selected by the programming committee of Afs's board of directors. Each writer-director team will be matched with mentors who will...
- 6/2/2014
- by Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Slackerwood
Following their win of the 2014 Audience Award at Sundance for their short film Chapel Perilous , writer/director Matthew Lessner and producer David Gerson's new feature film Automatic at Sea has been selected as 1 of 4 auteur American films to screen at the Black Rabbit U.S. In Progress Paris program as a work in progress.
U.S. in Progress Paris will take place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program will present 4 Us indie films in post-production to European buyers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
We are excited to announce the selection for the third edition of Us in Progress Paris:
« Automatic at Sea » by Matthew Lessner
« Creative Control » by Benjamin Dickinson
« Eugenia and John » by Hossein Keshavarz
« Plastic Jesus » by Erica Dunton
Previous participants of Us in Progress included:
1982
by Tommy Oliver (Toronto 2013),
Ping Pong Summer
by Michael Tully (Sundance 2014, world sales by Films Boutique),
Bluebird
by Lance Edmands (Tribeca 2013, Karlovy Vary 2013),
I Used To Be Darker
by Matthew Porterfield (Sundance 2013, Berlinale 2013),
Milkshake
by David Andalman (Sundance 2013),
Hide Your Smiling Faces
by Daniel Patrick Carbone (Berlinale Generation 14Plus 2013, Tribeca 2013),
A Teacher
by Hannah Fidell (Sundance 2013, SXSW 2013), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s
Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi
by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin (Rotterdam 2012, New Directors/New Films 2012, Gotham Awards nominee)
Sun Don’t Shine
by Amy Seimetz (SXSW 2012, Edinburgh Iff 2013, Gotham Awards nominee 2012)
Not Waving But Drowning
by Devyn Waitt (Sarasota Ff, world sales by Premium Films).
More information here:
http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
www.montelomax.com
http://www.ioncinema.com/news/us-in-progress-paris-tully-meyerhoff-and-zinn-among-6-selected...
U.S. in Progress Paris will take place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program will present 4 Us indie films in post-production to European buyers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
We are excited to announce the selection for the third edition of Us in Progress Paris:
« Automatic at Sea » by Matthew Lessner
« Creative Control » by Benjamin Dickinson
« Eugenia and John » by Hossein Keshavarz
« Plastic Jesus » by Erica Dunton
Previous participants of Us in Progress included:
1982
by Tommy Oliver (Toronto 2013),
Ping Pong Summer
by Michael Tully (Sundance 2014, world sales by Films Boutique),
Bluebird
by Lance Edmands (Tribeca 2013, Karlovy Vary 2013),
I Used To Be Darker
by Matthew Porterfield (Sundance 2013, Berlinale 2013),
Milkshake
by David Andalman (Sundance 2013),
Hide Your Smiling Faces
by Daniel Patrick Carbone (Berlinale Generation 14Plus 2013, Tribeca 2013),
A Teacher
by Hannah Fidell (Sundance 2013, SXSW 2013), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s
Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi
by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin (Rotterdam 2012, New Directors/New Films 2012, Gotham Awards nominee)
Sun Don’t Shine
by Amy Seimetz (SXSW 2012, Edinburgh Iff 2013, Gotham Awards nominee 2012)
Not Waving But Drowning
by Devyn Waitt (Sarasota Ff, world sales by Premium Films).
More information here:
http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
www.montelomax.com
http://www.ioncinema.com/news/us-in-progress-paris-tully-meyerhoff-and-zinn-among-6-selected...
- 5/23/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: New Europe Film Sales signs the Tribeca Film Festival Viewpoints opening film - vampire comedy Summer of Blood by Onur Tukel.
Polish company New Europe Film Sales has picked up Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer of Blood, the opening film of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Viewpoints section.
The Us film tells the story of egocentric Eric Sparrow, who turns into a sex god after being bitten by a vampire.
The film stars actor-writer-director Tukel in the main role and includes cameos from New York indie film directors Alex Karpovsky and Jonathan Caouette.
Tukel previously acted in Michael Tully’s Septien and Alex Karpovsky’s Red Flag among others. His previous feature was 2012 ensemble comedy Richard’s Wedding.
Summer of Blood will receive its world premiere this month at Tribeca as the opening film of the Viewpoints section. New Europe will handle all rights outside North America, where Xyz is...
Polish company New Europe Film Sales has picked up Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer of Blood, the opening film of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Viewpoints section.
The Us film tells the story of egocentric Eric Sparrow, who turns into a sex god after being bitten by a vampire.
The film stars actor-writer-director Tukel in the main role and includes cameos from New York indie film directors Alex Karpovsky and Jonathan Caouette.
Tukel previously acted in Michael Tully’s Septien and Alex Karpovsky’s Red Flag among others. His previous feature was 2012 ensemble comedy Richard’s Wedding.
Summer of Blood will receive its world premiere this month at Tribeca as the opening film of the Viewpoints section. New Europe will handle all rights outside North America, where Xyz is...
- 4/3/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Halifax -- "When I saw their menu, and what they were preparing, I knew they'd seen my movie," says Jason Cortlund, who directed the U.S. indie Now, Forager with Julia Halperin. Cortlund, the Austin, Texas-based filmmaker, is talking about Canadian chefs Michael Blackie and David Smart, whose food pairing with his U.S. indie Thursday night at the Devour: The Food Film Fest included a local seafood bounty of octopus, lobster and striped bass. And a lot of mushrooms. Now, Forager is a bittersweet drama about Lucien and Regina, Basque-Americans who gather wild mushrooms in the woodlands of
read more...
read more...
- 11/15/2013
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles win main prizes.
The third Us in Progress Wrocław - a works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers - has handed its main prizes to Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles.
This year, six films selected from around 40 submissions competed for prizes consisting of post-production and promotional services worth $60,000.
The main awards went to Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum, produced by Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd, and Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott, produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Sun Belt Express received Di image post-production from Platige Image studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), final sound mix from Alvernia Studios (Kraków) and soundtrack from composer Maciej Zieliński of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw).
Lake Los Angeles was offered Di image post-production from Di Factory studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), Dcp creation from Dcinex, subtitling from Vsi Paris/Chinkel and the promotional award from Europa...
The third Us in Progress Wrocław - a works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers - has handed its main prizes to Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles.
This year, six films selected from around 40 submissions competed for prizes consisting of post-production and promotional services worth $60,000.
The main awards went to Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum, produced by Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd, and Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott, produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Sun Belt Express received Di image post-production from Platige Image studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), final sound mix from Alvernia Studios (Kraków) and soundtrack from composer Maciej Zieliński of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw).
Lake Los Angeles was offered Di image post-production from Di Factory studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), Dcp creation from Dcinex, subtitling from Vsi Paris/Chinkel and the promotional award from Europa...
- 10/27/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Opening with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive the latest edition of the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland (22-27 October 2013) has screened some of the most important American independent films of the year. Being the only festival of its class in Eastern and Central Europe the festival has become the most important venue to connect American filmmakers with European buyers and audiences through programs like U.S. in Progress Wrocław (23-25 October 2013).
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
- 10/26/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
A total of 12 projects have been selected for the second edition of Venice filmmaking scheme, the Biennale College - Cinema, a programme for training young filmmakers and producing micro-budget films.
The 12 teams, made up of directors and producers, come from Argentina, Belgium, UK, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Romania, Hungary and the Us.
They will introduce their projects at a special session held today (October 14) in Venice introduced by president Paolo Baratta and the director of the Venice International Film Festival Alberto Barbera.
Three teams will then be chosen to take part in two further workshops to be held in December 2013 and January 2014, before going into production on their microbudget films, each of which will receive a €150,000 contribution and will be screened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.
The sessions will be led by Michel Reilhac, Gino Ventriglia and Amy Dotson, with industry support from production and script consultants including Vincent Wang, Mike Ryan, [link...
The 12 teams, made up of directors and producers, come from Argentina, Belgium, UK, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Romania, Hungary and the Us.
They will introduce their projects at a special session held today (October 14) in Venice introduced by president Paolo Baratta and the director of the Venice International Film Festival Alberto Barbera.
Three teams will then be chosen to take part in two further workshops to be held in December 2013 and January 2014, before going into production on their microbudget films, each of which will receive a €150,000 contribution and will be screened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.
The sessions will be led by Michel Reilhac, Gino Ventriglia and Amy Dotson, with industry support from production and script consultants including Vincent Wang, Mike Ryan, [link...
- 10/14/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
Six projects selected for this year’s works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers.
Poland’s Us in Progress Wrocław event has announced the six projects that will feature in its 2013 edition.
The two-day works-in-progress event presents Us films in the final stages of production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of Us indie films in Europe.
The invite-only screenings and one-to-one meetings will take place as part of of the 4th American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland (Oct 23-25).
The films, selected from around 40 submissions, include:
Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari),
Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell )
Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware)
Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh)
Sun Belt Express by [link...
Poland’s Us in Progress Wrocław event has announced the six projects that will feature in its 2013 edition.
The two-day works-in-progress event presents Us films in the final stages of production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of Us indie films in Europe.
The invite-only screenings and one-to-one meetings will take place as part of of the 4th American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland (Oct 23-25).
The films, selected from around 40 submissions, include:
Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari),
Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell )
Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware)
Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh)
Sun Belt Express by [link...
- 9/27/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.
Fantastic Fest's international co-production market for genre films called Fantastic Market/Mercado Fantastico, which aims to connect international genre film projects with potential production partners, sales agents and distributors, has announced 16 projects for its inaugural edition. Selected films includes The Wrong Place by director Alejandro Brugues, whose film Juan of the Dead, which marked Cuba's first entry into Fantastic Fest, screened at the festival in 2011. The market will premiere in conjunction with this year's Fantastic Fest from Sept. 19-21. Austinite Robert Rodriguez's El Rey network will collaborate with Mexican production and distribution outlet Canana Films to produce the Fantastic Market.In more festival news, Cine Las Americas will hold a season launch party on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 6-10 pm at Malverde (400-b, W. 2nd St.) to celebrate the festival, which is in its 17th year, and hear announcements about its 2014 season.
Fantastic Fest's international co-production market for genre films called Fantastic Market/Mercado Fantastico, which aims to connect international genre film projects with potential production partners, sales agents and distributors, has announced 16 projects for its inaugural edition. Selected films includes The Wrong Place by director Alejandro Brugues, whose film Juan of the Dead, which marked Cuba's first entry into Fantastic Fest, screened at the festival in 2011. The market will premiere in conjunction with this year's Fantastic Fest from Sept. 19-21. Austinite Robert Rodriguez's El Rey network will collaborate with Mexican production and distribution outlet Canana Films to produce the Fantastic Market.In more festival news, Cine Las Americas will hold a season launch party on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 6-10 pm at Malverde (400-b, W. 2nd St.) to celebrate the festival, which is in its 17th year, and hear announcements about its 2014 season.
- 8/26/2013
- by Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Slackerwood
Austinites and University of Texas alums Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin will hit the road with the Texas Independent Film Network for a month-long, statewide promotional tour of their film Now, Forager. They're starting here in town with a screening on Tuesday night at Violet Crown Cinema. (Tickets are available via the Violet Crown website.)
The drama follows Lucian (Cortlund) and Regina (Tiffany Esteb), a married couple who by trade gather wild mushrooms in New Jersey's woodlands and sell them to New York restaurants. As the seasons change, so does their relationship, which is put to the test by the couple's individual hungers. Cortlund wrote Now, Forager, which previously played locally at Fusebox Festival 2012, and also is credited with crafting additional close-ups of fungi for the movie.
Much like filmmaking, foraging is a risky business, for both the supplier and the consumer: Lucian's narration details how eating certain mycological specimens can result in "vomiting,...
- 3/4/2013
- by Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Slackerwood
The first major awards ceremony of the season, the Gotham Awards, was held last night in, of course, New York City, and while the main thrust of the ceremony is to honor indie filmmaking, the big winners could definitely impact the awards conversation for the Oscars.
Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" took the top prize for Best Feature and one big step toward becoming a contender when Oscar time rolls around. For the last few months, the film starring Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Edward Norton has been just outside the race for a Best Picture nomination, but all that could change in the next coming weeks, depending on how the Gotham win is perceived.
Check out a complete winners list after the jump!
Best Feature
Bernie
The Loneliest Planet
The Master
Middle of Nowhere
*Moonrise Kingdom*
Best Ensemble Performance
Bernie
Moonrise Kingdom
Safety Not Guaranteed
Silver Linings Playbook
*Your Sister's Sister...
Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" took the top prize for Best Feature and one big step toward becoming a contender when Oscar time rolls around. For the last few months, the film starring Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Edward Norton has been just outside the race for a Best Picture nomination, but all that could change in the next coming weeks, depending on how the Gotham win is perceived.
Check out a complete winners list after the jump!
Best Feature
Bernie
The Loneliest Planet
The Master
Middle of Nowhere
*Moonrise Kingdom*
Best Ensemble Performance
Bernie
Moonrise Kingdom
Safety Not Guaranteed
Silver Linings Playbook
*Your Sister's Sister...
- 11/27/2012
- by Kevin P. Sullivan
- MTV Movies Blog
In the battle of the Andersons, it was Wes who beat P.T for Best Feature at the 2012 Gotham Awards. Moonrise Kingdom would go 1 for 2 as Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister easily among the year’s the best, for its natural, on-screen chemistry was handsomely awarded the Best Ensemble Performance prize. Making it an almost all Sundance Film Festival takes Gotham kind of year, in the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You it’s Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty which gets an extra boost for theatrical play. Pic was produced by Andrew Corkin who is lining up Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are for festival play next year.
The heavy favorite in all categories combined was Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Benh Zeitlin as Best Breakthrough Director and Audience award, while in the Breakthrough Actor category, it’s Emayatzy Corinealdi...
The heavy favorite in all categories combined was Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Benh Zeitlin as Best Breakthrough Director and Audience award, while in the Breakthrough Actor category, it’s Emayatzy Corinealdi...
- 11/27/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Breaking: The Wes Anderson-directed Moonrise Kingdom captured the Best Picture Award at the 22nd Independent Feature Project’s Gotham Awards. Tonight’s fete at Cipriani Wall Street is the first of many awards gatherings, with this one specifically dedicated to the celebration of the best of independent film. The awards were hosted by Mike Birbiglia, who was up for a Breakthrough Actor Award for Sleepwalk With Me. Hate to say it, but he seemed to sleepwalk through his opening monologue, though it’s kind of a Gotham Award tradition to see awkward openings of the show. Birbiglia did a word for word recitation of David O Russell’s fit of anger toward Lily Tomlin in the virally distributed clip caught on the set of the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees. Nobody laughed, and after The Fighter and now Silver Linings Playbook, didn’t Russell (who was among those being honored...
- 11/27/2012
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Independent Feature Project’s Gotham Awards were dished out tonight at Cipriani Wall Street, celebrating the best of independent film. The awards are being hosted by Mike Birbiglia, who is up for a Breakthrough Actor Award for Sleepwalk With Me. Hate to say it, but he seemed to sleepwalk through his opening monologue, though it’s kind of a Gotham Award tradition to see awkward openings of the show. Keep refreshing as we add winners. Breakthrough Director: Benh Zeitlin won for Beasts of the Southern Wild. The other nominees were Zal Batmanglij for Sound of My Voice Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for Francine Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for Now, Forager Antonio Méndez Esparza for Aquí y Allá (Here and There) Gotham Independence Film Audience Award Winner: Artifact: the documentary directed by Bartholomew Cubbins beat out nominees that included Beasts of the Southern Wild, which Jared Leto...
- 11/27/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING JR.
- Deadline
The 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) has announced its lineup. The festival will run from 7th to 14th December, 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
- 11/2/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Us in Progress in Wrocław Poland is the only international event I know of which awards American independent films in post-production with cash awards worth Us$ 40,000 and distribution support. This two-day works-in-progress event is targeted to European buyers and as such gives American independent filmmakers the chance to expand their horizons when looking for financing and international distribution.
The event takes place during the third American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland on November 14-16. It shows a selection of U.S. independent films seeking completion funding to a group of European buyers, programmers and post-production companies in a series of closed screenings.
Titles selected for this year’s edition are: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield (prod. Steve Holmgren & Ryan Zacharias), Milkshake by David Andalman (prod. Vinay Singh), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (prod. Kyle Martin) which was in both the Sundance Creative Producing Lab and the Directing Lab, A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins (prod. Patricia Beaury & Rodrigo Lopresti) and two Ifp Labs titles: Cantuckee by Kimberly Levin (prod. Kurt Pitzer), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (prod. Matthew Petock).
Around 25 key European buyers will attend the event, among them Wild Bunch (France), Artificial Eye (U.K.), The Works (U.K.), Reel Suspects (France), Sophie Dulac Distribution (France), Imagine Film (Belgium), Gutek Film and Polsat . Programmers from Berlin, Cannes and Locarno Film Festivals will also be present.
The projects will have a chance to find a world sales agent and distributor as well as secure post-production partners at the event. A jury made of professionals will award one of the works in progress with a package of post-production services from partner companies including Di service worth $10,000.00 at Platige Image, a leading Polish post-production and special effects company, up to 150 hours of sound editing or soundtrack at Warsaw-based Soundflower Studio worth $10,000.00, post-production services by the Krakow-based Alvernia Studios worth up to $10.000. Another award will contribute to the promotion and distribution of a film provided by DCinex (Dcp worth $5,000), Vsi Paris (subtitling), Europa Distribution and Cicae, the Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas. One producer will also receive free registration at Producers Network, an exclusive network of Meet-and-Greet, during Cannes Marche du Film.
Us in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 in Wrocław, Poland by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. In 2012, the event expanded to Paris, where it was part of Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival. 2011 Wrocław edition’s success stories include Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi which went on to Rotterdam Film Festival, New Directors/New Films and is now in U.S. distribution via Argot Pictures. Roger Ebert says, "***½ The images of wild mushrooms by Cortlund himself and the shots of food prep by cinematographer Jonathan Nastasi, approach art. Now, Forager is an uncompromising film about two people who don't deserve each other...." The title was sold for distribution to 8 other countries by New Europe Film Sales.
Amy Seimetz' Sun Don’t Shine won the Jury Award at SXSW and played in Edinburgh Iff. Patricia Benoit's Stones in the Sun played Tribeca and won Best New Narrative Director and Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. Us in Progress Us$ 60,000 prize winner, Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning has Sarasota Ff and was picked up for world sales by Premium Films. The winning film of the Paris edition, Champs Elysees Film Festival, was A Teacher by Hannah Fidell.
Us in Progress runs concurrently with the American Film Festival which will be honoring Wes Anderson whose Moonrise Kingdom will have its Polish premiere and Jerry Schatzberg, the legendary director and accomplished photographer who will receive the annual Indie Star award, given by the festival to helmers of American independent cinema (first one given to Todd Solondz in 2011). The festival will screen his most important films including Puzzle of a Downfall Child, The Panic in Needle Park and Scarecrow.
The event takes place during the third American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland on November 14-16. It shows a selection of U.S. independent films seeking completion funding to a group of European buyers, programmers and post-production companies in a series of closed screenings.
Titles selected for this year’s edition are: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield (prod. Steve Holmgren & Ryan Zacharias), Milkshake by David Andalman (prod. Vinay Singh), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (prod. Kyle Martin) which was in both the Sundance Creative Producing Lab and the Directing Lab, A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins (prod. Patricia Beaury & Rodrigo Lopresti) and two Ifp Labs titles: Cantuckee by Kimberly Levin (prod. Kurt Pitzer), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (prod. Matthew Petock).
Around 25 key European buyers will attend the event, among them Wild Bunch (France), Artificial Eye (U.K.), The Works (U.K.), Reel Suspects (France), Sophie Dulac Distribution (France), Imagine Film (Belgium), Gutek Film and Polsat . Programmers from Berlin, Cannes and Locarno Film Festivals will also be present.
The projects will have a chance to find a world sales agent and distributor as well as secure post-production partners at the event. A jury made of professionals will award one of the works in progress with a package of post-production services from partner companies including Di service worth $10,000.00 at Platige Image, a leading Polish post-production and special effects company, up to 150 hours of sound editing or soundtrack at Warsaw-based Soundflower Studio worth $10,000.00, post-production services by the Krakow-based Alvernia Studios worth up to $10.000. Another award will contribute to the promotion and distribution of a film provided by DCinex (Dcp worth $5,000), Vsi Paris (subtitling), Europa Distribution and Cicae, the Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas. One producer will also receive free registration at Producers Network, an exclusive network of Meet-and-Greet, during Cannes Marche du Film.
Us in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 in Wrocław, Poland by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. In 2012, the event expanded to Paris, where it was part of Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival. 2011 Wrocław edition’s success stories include Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi which went on to Rotterdam Film Festival, New Directors/New Films and is now in U.S. distribution via Argot Pictures. Roger Ebert says, "***½ The images of wild mushrooms by Cortlund himself and the shots of food prep by cinematographer Jonathan Nastasi, approach art. Now, Forager is an uncompromising film about two people who don't deserve each other...." The title was sold for distribution to 8 other countries by New Europe Film Sales.
Amy Seimetz' Sun Don’t Shine won the Jury Award at SXSW and played in Edinburgh Iff. Patricia Benoit's Stones in the Sun played Tribeca and won Best New Narrative Director and Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. Us in Progress Us$ 60,000 prize winner, Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning has Sarasota Ff and was picked up for world sales by Premium Films. The winning film of the Paris edition, Champs Elysees Film Festival, was A Teacher by Hannah Fidell.
Us in Progress runs concurrently with the American Film Festival which will be honoring Wes Anderson whose Moonrise Kingdom will have its Polish premiere and Jerry Schatzberg, the legendary director and accomplished photographer who will receive the annual Indie Star award, given by the festival to helmers of American independent cinema (first one given to Todd Solondz in 2011). The festival will screen his most important films including Puzzle of a Downfall Child, The Panic in Needle Park and Scarecrow.
- 10/19/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Bernie, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild each received a pair of nominations for the 22nd Gotham Independent Film Awards, but the big surprise has to be the Best Picture snub of Benh Zeitlin’s Sundance and Cannes winner. The jury of five favored Moonrise Kingdom, Bernie, Middle of Nowhere, The Loneliest Planet and The Master over other well-received truly indie titles such as Craig Zobel’s Compliance and James Ponsoldt’s Smashed. The awards will be handed out on November 26th.
Best Feature
Bernie
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Ginger Sledge, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer, Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Judd Payne, Dete Meserve, producers (Millennium Entertainment)
The Loneliest Planet
Julia Loktev, director; Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Helge Albers, Marie Therese Guirgis, producers (Sundance Selects)
The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson, director; Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, producers (The...
Best Feature
Bernie
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Ginger Sledge, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer, Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Judd Payne, Dete Meserve, producers (Millennium Entertainment)
The Loneliest Planet
Julia Loktev, director; Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Helge Albers, Marie Therese Guirgis, producers (Sundance Selects)
The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson, director; Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, producers (The...
- 10/18/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Last year, two of the films nominated for Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards went on to earn Oscar Best Picture nominations -- The Descendents and Tree of Life -- and this year two films nominated for Best Feature are currently on my list to be nominated for Best Picture. Those two are Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which are joined by Bernie, The Loneliest Planet and the buzzy Middle of Nowhere. Bernie and Moonrise also find themselves nominated for Best Ensemble along with awards season heavyweight Silver Linings Playbook, while Beasts of the Southern Wild enjoys some Breakthrough attention with Benh Zeitlin nominated for Breakthrough Director and 8-year-old star Quvenzhane Wallis nominated for Breakthrough Actor. The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26 and I have included the complete list of nominations for the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards...
- 10/18/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Master, Bernie, and Moonrise Kingdom were nominated by the Gotham Independent Film Awards for Best Feature. One of the first major awards ceremonies of the Oscar season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards focus attention on worthy independent films and breakthrough performances. Mike Birbiglia, who was nominated for a Breakthough Actor award for his performance in Sleepwalk With Me, will also host the ceremony on Nov. 26.
Click below for complete nominations.
Best Feature
Bernie
The Loneliest Planet
The Master
Middle of Nowhere
Moonrise Kingdom
Best Documentary
Detropia
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
Room 237...
Click below for complete nominations.
Best Feature
Bernie
The Loneliest Planet
The Master
Middle of Nowhere
Moonrise Kingdom
Best Documentary
Detropia
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
Room 237...
- 10/18/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
New York, NY – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™. Signaling the kick-off to the film awards season, IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards™ nominations were given to a total of 26 films across six competitive categories for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.
The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, actors Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll will each be presented with a career tribute.
As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners...
The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, actors Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll will each be presented with a career tribute.
As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners...
- 10/18/2012
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
By Olivia Calderon-Stucky
It was an unsurprisingly hot summer night at Butterfly Bar last Monday evening, but neither the heat nor the mosquitoes could diminish the pleasant ambience of the Austin Film Society's "Meet the Filmmakers" event, featuring excerpts from the movie Now, Forager. With proceeds benefiting the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, the never-before-offered event had 40 or so people mingling in the backyard-like setting and indulging in two of the greatest things on Earth: food and film.
Six dinner tables were prepared for a family-style meal of locally sourced food from Farmhouse Delivery. The menu was lovingly prepared by chef Sonya Coté, executive chef of Hillside Farmacy, and included a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
Dishes inspired by selected film clips began with hen yolks in mushrooms basted with shallot butter and herb. After this intoxicating appetizer, diners moved onto a wild cornbread soufflé, followed by...
It was an unsurprisingly hot summer night at Butterfly Bar last Monday evening, but neither the heat nor the mosquitoes could diminish the pleasant ambience of the Austin Film Society's "Meet the Filmmakers" event, featuring excerpts from the movie Now, Forager. With proceeds benefiting the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, the never-before-offered event had 40 or so people mingling in the backyard-like setting and indulging in two of the greatest things on Earth: food and film.
Six dinner tables were prepared for a family-style meal of locally sourced food from Farmhouse Delivery. The menu was lovingly prepared by chef Sonya Coté, executive chef of Hillside Farmacy, and included a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
Dishes inspired by selected film clips began with hen yolks in mushrooms basted with shallot butter and herb. After this intoxicating appetizer, diners moved onto a wild cornbread soufflé, followed by...
- 7/2/2012
- by Contributors
- Slackerwood
First, indieWIRE's Eric Kohn hosted a "Meet the New Directors" panel at the Film Society of Lincoln Center earlier this week and you can watch it here. It runs 63'12" and the guests are Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin (Now, Forager); Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi (5 Broken Cameras); Adam Leon (Gimme the Loot); Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds); Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty); Joann Sfar (The Rabbi's Cat); Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st); and Clarissa Knoll (Street Vendor Cinema).
And the Fslc has posted separate Q&A sessions with Leon (Gimme), Pablo Giorgelli (Las Acacias) and Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), all on one page.
Meantime, we've entered the home stretch. New Directors/New Films rolls on through the weekend and closes on Sunday night with a surprise — whatever it may be, it'll probably rank a roundup of its own. That aside, here's where we wrap it up.
And the Fslc has posted separate Q&A sessions with Leon (Gimme), Pablo Giorgelli (Las Acacias) and Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), all on one page.
Meantime, we've entered the home stretch. New Directors/New Films rolls on through the weekend and closes on Sunday night with a surprise — whatever it may be, it'll probably rank a roundup of its own. That aside, here's where we wrap it up.
- 3/29/2012
- MUBI
For over 40 years, New Directors/New Films has introduced up-and-coming filmmakers to New York audiences each spring. This year, get to know a batch of this year's Nd/Nf filmmakers by attending a free panel discussion presented by Indiewire. When: 7:30pm-8:30pm, Monday, March 26 Where: Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, 144 W. 65th St. Guests include: Jason Cortlandt and Julia Halperin ("Now, Forager"); Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi ("5 Broken Cameras"); Adam Leon ("Gimme the Loot"); Kleber Mendonca Filho ("Neighboring Sounds"); Terence Nance ("An Oversimplification of Her Beauty"); Joachim Trier ("Oslo, August 31st"); and Clarissa Knoll ("Street Vendor Cinema"). Go Here to see Indiewire's 10 picks of the festival. Below find bios for each participant (courtesy of Nd/Nf): Jason Cortlandt & Julia Halperin Jason Cortlund...
- 3/23/2012
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Today's announcement from the International Film Festival Rotterdam lays out the full lineup for the Bright Future program. With descriptions from the festival:
World premieres
A la cantábrica (To La Cantábrica), Ezequiel Erriquez, Argentina. A "coming of age film set in the outskirts of Buenos Aires during the economic crisis of the late 1990s." Blog.
Corta, Felipe Guerrero, Colombia, Argentina, France. Guerrero "associates the work of sugar cane harvesters with the process of 16mm filmmaking. This film is a beautiful, cinematic meditation reminiscent of the work of Sharon Lockhart or Ben Russell." The Ultimate Pranx Case, Influenz Films, Canada. "In 2010, three boys had a prank with a girl at school and streamed it live on Internet. What started as an innocent joke soon got completely out of hand." Par exemple, Electre (Electre, For Instance), Jeanne Balibar and Pierre Léon, France. "In this eclectic homage to the Greek tragedy, Balibar and...
World premieres
A la cantábrica (To La Cantábrica), Ezequiel Erriquez, Argentina. A "coming of age film set in the outskirts of Buenos Aires during the economic crisis of the late 1990s." Blog.
Corta, Felipe Guerrero, Colombia, Argentina, France. Guerrero "associates the work of sugar cane harvesters with the process of 16mm filmmaking. This film is a beautiful, cinematic meditation reminiscent of the work of Sharon Lockhart or Ben Russell." The Ultimate Pranx Case, Influenz Films, Canada. "In 2010, three boys had a prank with a girl at school and streamed it live on Internet. What started as an innocent joke soon got completely out of hand." Par exemple, Electre (Electre, For Instance), Jeanne Balibar and Pierre Léon, France. "In this eclectic homage to the Greek tragedy, Balibar and...
- 1/15/2012
- MUBI
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