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Principal photography began earlier this week in Asturias, Spain.

Mickey Rourke, Lance Henriksen, Max Matveev, and Bai Ling will star in the action adventure Legionnaire’s Trail that Premiere Entertainment Group will introduce to Cannes buyers next month.

Asiel Norton directs from a screenplay by Pedro Santamaría and Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa about Noreno, a half-Roman who must cross the treacherous mountains of Armenia and evade Parthian patrols in a quest to find help for his dying men.

Principal photography began earlier this week in Asturias, Spain, with additional filming also taking place in Morocco and Los Angeles. José Magán is producing for Magol Films,...

Presented by Deadhouse Films, The 10th annual A Night of Horror International Film Festival, and Fantastic Planet: Sydney Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival, screen simultaneously at Dendy Cinemas Newtown from November 24 to December 4, 2016. Says festival director Dean Bertram:

The 10th annual festival is going to be our biggest event yet. Featuring over 100 films, several international filmmaker guests, multiple parties and a horror filmmaking master class; Sydney’s genre fans and filmmaking community are going to be treated to eleven days of the best and freshest horror, sci-fi, and fantasy from around the globe.

The festival opens on Thursday November 24, with the Australian premiere of the international festival hit Peelers, plus a Q&A with special international guest: Canadian director Sevé Schelenz. And in keeping with the spirit of the bloody hilarious film, the screening will be followed by a “zombie and strippers” themed after party.

The closing night film,...

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One of the most exciting premieres at this year's Fantasia had to be Orion, the follow-up feature from American director Asiel Norton who impressed us a few years ago with his debut Redland (review).

I loved Orion and Norton's somewhat magical approach to survival in the world after an apocalypse and when given the opportunity to pic [Continued ...]...

The 2008/2009 festival circuit is particularly ingrained in my mind because of two American movies which, though they came out a year apart and sit on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, have been marked in my mid as the high point in American Cinema of the last 10 years. Lance Hammer's Ballast, a beautiful minimalist realist drama while Asiel Norton's Redland (review) is an avant-garde, dreamlike experience. Both movies deal with survival but they approach the subject in very disparate ways.

Considering how challenging Redland was to watch, it was a welcome surprise to discover that the director was working on a follow-up. It's been over two years since [Continued ...]...

Asiel Norton's mystical post-apocalyptic film Orion is on the verge of having its world premier at Fantasia Fest and, as such, the first bit of footage has emerged from the film (that is, besides the footage we premiered months ago). In it, Lily Cole delivers a dark message to drifter David Arquette.

Written and directed by Spirit Award nominee Asiel Norton, and starring David Arquette, Lily Cole, and Goran Kostic, the story is set in a dark age after civilization has collapsed, and follows a maiden who is being held by a cannibal shaman. However, an illiterate hunter stumbles across the shaman's cottage, and the maiden promises to lead him to a city containing the world's last survivors.

Full Synopsis:

Nothing is left of our civilization but ruin and misery. In this w [Continued ...]...

The Fantasia Film Festival is under way in Montreal, with three weeks of genre programming from around the world. It's the perfect venue for a sci-fi fantasy film like "Orion" to make its World Premiere, and today we have an exclusive clip from the picture. Written and directed by Spirit Award nominee Asiel Norton, and starring David Arquette, Lily Cole, and Goran Kostic, the story is set in a dark age after civilization has collapsed, and follows a maiden who is being held by a cannibal shaman. However, an illiterate hunter stumbles across the shaman's cottage, and the maiden promises to lead him to a city containing the world's last survivors. And as you'll see in this scene, the film seems to have a mystical energy running through it. "Orion" screens at Fantasia on August 1st. Watch below.

Montreal’s genre film festival to showcase 135 features and almost 300 shorts across its three-week run from July 14-Aug 4.Scroll down for line-up

Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its full line-up for its upcoming 19th edition which kicks off next Tuesday [July 14].

Over its three-week run, the Montreal-based genre film festival will showcase 135 features, including 22 world, 13 international premieres and 21 North American premieres, and almost 300 short films.

Shinji Higuchi’s Attack on Titan will receive its Canadian premiere as the closing film of this year’s edition on Aug 4. The live-action film is based on Hajime Isyama’s steampunk fantasy war opera manga series.

Additional highlights of the final wave of titles include the world premieres of Malik Bader’s thriller Cash Only and Ken Ochiai’s Ninja the Monster, as well as the Canadian premiere of Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion’s horror comedy Cooties starring Elijah Wood.

A trio of Sion Sono films will also be shown at this...

When we heard Asiel Norton, director of the brilliant art-house western Redland (Review), was working on a post-apocalyptic fairy tale called Orion, we knew it would be something special. That was more than two years ago, when the film's star David Arquette tweeted a crazy photo of himself dressed up like a junkyard Zardoz. We weren't really sure what to think, but we still had faith the film would be wholly original.

Now that we've obtained the first footage from Norton's film, we think it's safe to say Orion is destined to be a transcendent experience.

[Continued ...]...

If you've been wondering what David Arquette (Scream) has been up to, he has a new photo that answers that question. He's been in the gym. The actor posted a shot of himself on Twitter wearing nothing but chains and a loincloth, thanking his personal trainer for getting him in shape. Check it out below. The photo is from the set of Arquette's upcoming post-apocalyptic movie, called "Orion," in which he plays a savage hunter searching for his missing brother. The film co-stars Lily Cole (Snow White and the Huntsman). "Orion" is directed by Asiel Norton and is currently filming in Detroit. Photo: (click to enlarge)...

Never one to be outdone by a half-naked Alexa Vega in her new, revealing outfit for Machete Kills, David Arquette (Scream) recently tweeted a three-quarters-naked picture of himself from the post-apocalyptic picture, Orion.  Directed by Asiel Norton (Redland), Orion centers on a savage hunter (Arquette) who searches for his missing brother in a post-apocalyptic wasteland devoid of infrastructure.  The picture, currently filming in Detroit, also stars Lily Cole (Snow White and the Huntsman) and Goran Kostic (Taken).  Hit the jump to see the pictures. The images of Arquette from Orion come courtesy of his Twitter account (via Heat Vision):...

(Redland is distributed by Zyzak Film Company. After playing at several festivals in 2009, it opened theatrically at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in Los Angeles on Friday, March 11, 2011. See here for a list of future showings.)

Though the influence of its cinematic forebears is readily apparent, nary a film comes to mind whose approach is as singularly visual as Asiel Norton’s Redland. Words prove woefully insufficient in conveying its imagistic intensity, but a few descriptions nonetheless come to mind: an aged photograph come to life, key aspects of which are out of focus or otherwise difficult to discern; a visual tone poem saturated in golden light from the seemingly alien sun hovering over it. Complemented by ruminative voiceovers that serve mostly as further reminders of words’ inability to express what images so easily can, this light dominates tonally as well as visually. And though they lean into the sun, Norton’s...

Reviewed by Chris Allsop

(March 2011)

Directed by: Asiel Norton

Written by: Asiel Norton and Magdalena Zyzak

Starring: Lucy Adden, Toben Seymour and Mark Aaron

When the title for “Redland” appears on the screen with the stark power of a Rothko, you know you’re in for something primal.

The story, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, involves an isolated family living among the redwoods of Oregon. Our first point of contact is Mary-Ann, the only daughter of three siblings. Cyndi Lauper sang that “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and if this was true in the frivolous ’80s, it’s a matter of life and death for Mary-Ann (Lucy Adden) as she struggles with the absolutism of her family’s suffocating patriarchy. She’s involved in a secret romance, and it’s a vital distraction from the endless diet of prayers, washing and thin stews — a doorway to...

Reviewed by Chris Allsop

(March 2011)

Directed by: Asiel Norton

Written by: Asiel Norton and Magdalena Zyzak

Starring: Lucy Adden, Toben Seymour and Mark Aaron

When the title for “Redland” appears on the screen with the stark power of a Rothko, you know you’re in for something primal.

The story, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, involves an isolated family living among the redwoods of Oregon. Our first point of contact is Mary-Ann, the only daughter of three siblings. Cyndi Lauper sang that “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and if this was true in the frivolous ’80s, it’s a matter of life and death for Mary-Ann (Lucy Adden) as she struggles with the absolutism of her family’s suffocating patriarchy. She’s involved in a secret romance, and it’s a vital distraction from the endless diet of prayers, washing and thin stews — a doorway to...

One of the films out of Cannes this year which really caught my attention, even though there was nothing more than a few stills floating around, was Alistair Banks Griffin’s feature film debut Two Gates of Sleep.

The reviews of the film as its made its way through the festival circuits over the last few months have been generally positive though audience response doesn’t really correlate with critical reaction. Perhaps it’s the slowness of the film that’s putting people off but one thing’s for certain: this looks like one not to be missed if you’re a fan of American arthouse cinema.

Somewhat reminiscent of Asiel Norton’s Redland (review) without the trippy visuals, Two Gates of Sleep takes place in a remote shack on the Louisiana-Mississippi border. It features two brothers who are “fiercely devoted” to their sick mother and have little to do...

They all say this show changed a little bit, but we guess it was expected for the 25th annual ceremony from Stapless Center, or if you prefer – the Spirit Awards.

Last week we were all occupied with Oscar, but it’s always the right time to take a look at (maybe) less popular ceremony, but still – the good one! We’re going to remind you of this ceremony highlights.

The Spirits, run by the nonprofit Film Independent, threw in some of its typically enjoyable ironic touches.

One of them was definitely David Spade who presented the best foreign award, starting with:

“You may not know this, but my movies play in other countries. They’re huge in Poland. I can’t set foot in Bulgaria.” Thanks for letting us know Spade!

On the other hand, we had a chance to see Ben Stiller, known for studio comedies more than any boutique film,...

While clearly not as closely followed as the Guild Awards, let alone the Golden Globes, the Independent Spirit Awards casts a much wider net in terms of nominees by accepting any film that is screened at various festivals, even if it's not released in theatres. It does, however, limit the film's budget to $20 million.

Precious won Best Feature and Lee Daniels nabbed the Best Director award. Precious ladies, Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique also won the female acting awards while Jeff Bridges and Woody Harrelson got the male acting gongs.

Here's the full list of the nominess and winners...

Best Feature

Precious

Amreeka

500 Days of Summer

Sin Nombre

The Last Station

Best First Feature

Crazy Heart

A Single Man

Easier with Practice

Paranormal Activity

The Messenger

Best Director

Lee Daniels - Precious

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen - A Serious Man

Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre

James Gray - Two Lovers

Michael Hoffman...

Los Angeles (March 5, 2010) – Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, handed out top honors to Precious and Crazy Heart at this evening’s 25th Spirit Awards. (500) Days of Summer, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, An Education, Humpday, The Messenger, and A Serious Man also received awards at the milestone ceremony, held at La Live’s event deck in downtown Los Angeles and broadcast live and uncut on IFC. Acclaimed comedian Eddie Izzard was Master of Ceremonies, and Ben Stiller served as Honorary Chair.

The Spirit Awards was the first event to exclusively honor independent film, and over the past 25 years, has become the premier awards show for the independent film community, celebrating films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Artists receiving industry recognition first at the Spirit Awards include Joel & Ethan Coen, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Ashley Judd,...

Last night the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards at La Live's panoramic event deck in downtown Los Angeles and talk about predictable as I nailed 12 of the 13 winners in the categories I predicted, with Precious being the night's biggest winner taking home Best Feature, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress and First Screenplay. The only category I missed was Best First Feature, which I predicted Oren Moverman's The Messenger would take home the award, but instead it went to Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart, which also won for Best Actor, awarding Jeff Bridges on his way to an Oscar win this Sunday.

I have listed all the winners below, see you Sunday for the Oscars.

Best Feature Amreeka (500) Days of Summer The Last Station Precious Sin Nombre Best Director Michael Hoffman, The Last Station Lee Daniels, Precious Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man Cary Fukunaga, Sin Nombre James Gray, Two Lovers Best Actor Jeff Bridges,...

"Precious" took home five major honors at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards including Gabourey Sidibe's first Best Actress win.

"Precious" won awards for Best Feature, Lee Daniels for Best Director, Geoffrey Fletcher for Best First Screenplay and Sidibe and Mo'Nique took home Best Actress and Best Supporting, respectively.

Best Feature

500 Days of Summer, Producers Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Mason Novick, Steven J. Wolfe

Amreeka, Producers Christina Piovesan, Paul Barkin

Precious, Producers Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness

Sin Nombre, Producer Amy Kaufman

The Last Station, Producers Chris Curling, Jens Meurer, Boonie Arnold

Best Director

The Coen Brothers for A Serious Man

Lee Daniels for Precious

Cary Fukunaga for Sin Nombre

James Grey for Two Lovers

Michael Hoffman for The Last Station

Best First Feature

A Single Man

Crazy Heart

Easier With Practice

The Messenger

Paranormal Activity

John Cassavetes Award

Big Fan

Humpday

The New Year Parade

Treeless Mountain

Zero Bridge

Best Screenplay

Alessandro Camon,...

The 16th annual Bradford International Film Festival, which will run March 18-28, is a total celebration of all forms of cinema, from classic films to modern world cinema to a tribute to Cinerama and more. But, most excitingly, is a bombastic collection of some of the best, most exciting underground films being made today.

From Bad Lit’s perspective, the most thrilling screening of the entire 10-day affair is the new film by British filmmaker Peter Whitehead, Terrorism Considered as One of the Fine Arts. In the U.S., Whitehead is a “lost” filmmaker from the underground’s heyday in the ’60s, being left out of most histories of the underground movement. Whitehead directed several influential films, including Wholly Communion and The Fall, before dropping out of filmmaking in the mid-’70s.

Film historian Jack Sargeant wrote extensively about and interviewed Whitehead for his wonderful book on Beat cinema, Naked Lens.

Film Independent's Spirit Awards marked their 25th anniversary this year and shook things up by trading their afternoon beachside luncheon for a nighttime party downtown. The show was hosted by comedian Eddie Izzard and a handful of the actors who attended and presented were Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart"), Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Vera Farmiga ("Up in the Air"). Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges performed a song from his film "Crazy Heart" with Oscar-nominated songwriters T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham. The rock band Anvil whose career was chronicled in the independent film "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" also performed live and took home Best Documentary.

The Spirit Awards have supported and rewarded independent films throughout the years and MakingOf is proud to have interviewed many of this year's nominees and winners. I've included the full list of nominated films and talent below along with links to our exclusive interviews.

"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" has come out as one of the nominations leaders at 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. The drama film, which sees Mariah Carey as a social worker, was on Tuesday, December 1 announced to be collecting five nods from the awards honoring independent filmmakers, and thus shared similar number with another drama "The Last Station".

The movie about an abused teen mother nabbed nominations for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, Best First Screenplay and Best Supporting Female. It will battle against "Last Station" in the first three categories. For the Best Feature title, it is also up against "500 Days of Summer" "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre".

"Precious" fails to bring recognition to Carey, but it does land two of its other major cast Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique. Sidibe is listed against Maria Bello, Nisreen Faour, Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen Mirren for Best Female Lead, while...

The Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees earlier today. Listed below is the complete list of this year's nominated films, cast and crew members. MakingOf would like to congratulate the nominees and applaud the diverse roster of talented filmmakers. Please scroll down for links to exclusive interviews we've conducted with some of the nominated directors and writers.

The Independent Spirit Awards eligibility requirements for consideration are that the feature film must be 70 minutes in length and the total cost must be below $20 million. A film also must have screened at a major film festival or had a one-week engagement at a commercial theater.

The awards' ceremony has taken place the past 24 years the Saturday afternoon before the Academy Awards in Santa Monica. The ceremony is moving this year to downtown L.A. and will be held in the evening on Friday, March 5th.

This year's Independent Spirit Awards Nominees:

Best...

The Spirit Awards are coming! In 95 days. The nominees have a long time to decide which pair of jeans or casual designer wear would best suit the event. Though the Spirits have traditionally passed out their ever-so-slightly off mainstream prizes the day before the Oscars this year they’re moving to a Friday night situation on March 5th. All the better for partying? Still time to use those hangover cures before the Oscars on Sunday.

Sin Nombre, a 3 time nomineeHere are the nominees

Best Feature(500) Days Of Summer | Amreeka |Precious | Sin Nombre | The Last StationI warned y'all that The Last Station would have more awards strength than many pundits are indicating. I must get around to Sin Nombre before the end of this year. I suspect Precious is your winner since the Spirits generally award the actual Oscar hopefuls.

Best Director

The Coen Bros A Serious Man | Lee Daniels Precious...

Although the nominees for the Academy Awards won't be announced until sometime next year, a few of the other award ceremonies are already in full swing including the Independent Spirit Awards, which recognize the best films shot for $20 million or less. This year's Spirit Award nominees were announced earlier today, and I think there are definitely some interesting choices. First off, the big one that everyone is picking up on is the fact that Paranormal Activity was nominated for Best First Feature. And why shouldn't it be? The Blair Witch Project won the exact same award back in 2000. Anvil! The Story of Anvil has been redeemed somewhat for the Oscar snub by getting a nod here for Best Documentary, and surprisingly, Jemaine Clement picked up a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Gentlemen Broncos. Other than that, some of the movies that scored multiple nominations include Precious, (500) Days of Summer,...

Actors Taraji P. Henson and Matt Dillon announced the nominees for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards on Tuesday morning. Dramatic films "The Last Station" and "Precious" lead the pack with five nods each.

The winners will be announced on Friday, March 5, 2010 in L.A.

2010 Spirit Award Nominations

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)

(500) Days of Summer - Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe

Amreeka - Producers: Paul Barkin,...

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and The Last Station led the nominations for the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards with five each.

Both were nominated for best feature along with (500) Days of Summer, Amreeka, and Sin Nombre.

If you’re wondering where indie favorite and Oscar hopeful The Hurt Locker is, the movie was submitted for consideration last year and was no eligible for this year’s list. Though Kathryn Bigelow picked up “Best Feature” for the film at the Gotham Independent Film Awards last night.

As far as I know, Duncan Jones’ Moon is considered a British film and was correctly included in the British Indie Film nominees with several other solid picks (though I didn’t care for Fish Tank).

I was glad to see Anvil! included in the documentaries after it was left off the Oscar short list — though where’s The Cove? — plus love for 500 Days and Adventureland,...

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization behind the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations this morning for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Nominees for Best Feature include "(500) Days Of Summer," "Amreeka," "Precious," "Sin Nombre," and "The Last Station."

Taraji P. Henson and Matt Dillon also announced finalists for the Acura Someone to Watch Award, the Truer Than Fiction Award, and the Piaget Producers Award.

A Serious Man was selected for the Robert Altman Award, which is given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast.

The awards show will be held March 5, two days before the Oscars. The event will be held at the La Live campus downtown.

Visit the Spirit Awards official site right here.

And now, the nominees of the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature

"(500) Days Of Summer" - Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe

"Amreeka" - Producers: Paul Barkin,...

Film Independent’s Spirit Awards are meant to honor “indie” films, i.e. no blockbuster movies allowed but if you played at some festivals and didn’t cost a lot of money, you’re in consideration. The Spirit Awards are a good indicator of what smaller films could be getting a shot at Oscar nominations in various categories. Usually, their nominees are pretty solid and play like a nice alternative universe where the Oscars went to more deserving nominees (last year The Wrestler won Best Film and Best Actor).

But this year’s choices are obvious mixed with disappointingly bizarre. In a year where some strong, hard-sell films came out of Sundance with strong buzz, the Spirit Awards have instead shown love to movies like Two Lovers, Cold Souls, and (500) Days of Summer. It’s not that any of these films are resoundingly bad, but when placed alongside obvious contenders...

This morning, Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced the nominees for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards. The leading nomination getters where Sony Pictures Classics' The Last Station and Lionsgate's Precious, both of which earned five nominations including Best Feature along with Amreeka, 500 Days of Summer and Sin Nombre. Precious also enjoyed nominations in Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique) and Best First Screenplay.

The leading studios where Fox Searchlight and Sony Classics, each of which took home 7 nominations, Searchlight even earning one for the critically loathed Gentlemen Broncos with Jemaine Clement earning a Best Supporting Male nod.

I'm very happy to see Christian McKay for Me and Orson Welles enjoying some love and hope it can translate to an Oscar nomination and I wonder if Samantha Morton's nomination for...

Precious and The Last Station have the most nods with 5 nominations a piece. So glad to see Jeff Bridges’ nomination for Crazy Heart. Even Paranormal Activity saw a nomination in Best First feature category.

The ceremony will air live and uncut on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Pst/11:00 p.m. Est on IFC from downtown Los Angeles.

The complete list of nominations:

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer)

“(500) Days Of Summer,” Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe

“Amreeka,” Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan

“Precious,” Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness

“Sin Nombre,” Producer: Amy Kaufman

“The Last Station,” Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

Best Director

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “A Serious Man”

Lee Daniels, “Precious”

Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Sin Nombre”

James Gray, “Two Lovers”

Michael Hoffman, “The Last Station”

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)

A Single Man...

"The Last Station," which looks at Russian author Leo Tolstoy's final days, and "Precious," the portrait of a troubled inner-city teenager, led the 2010 Spirit Award nominations, with five each.

Both movies were nominated Tuesday morning for best feature along with "(500) Days of Summer," "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre."

The Coen brothers' "A Serious Man" was awarded the group's Robert Altman Award, which goes to the film's cast and its casting director. And the indie horror hit "Paranormal Activity" even made an appearance with a nomination as best first feature.

"The Hurt Locker," one of the higher-profile indie films of the year, did not figure in the nominations, since the Spirit Awards nominated it in two categories last year.

Among distributors, Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics led the parade with seven nominations each.

Presented by the indie film organization Film Independent, the Spirit Awards, celebrating their 25th anniversary, will be handed out March 5 at L.

"The Last Station," which looks at Russian author Leo Tolstoy's final days, and "Precious," the portrait of a troubled inner-city teenager, led the 2010 Spirit Award nominations announced Tuesday morning with five noms each.Both movies were nominated for best feature along with "(500) Days of Summer," "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre."The Coen brothers' "A Serious Man" was awarded the group's Robert Altman Award, which goes to the film's cast and its casting director. And the indie horror hit "Paranormal Activity" even made an appearance with a nomination as best first feature."The Hurt Locker," one of the higher profile indie films of the year, did not figure in the nominations, since the Spirit Awards nominated it in two categories last year.Among distributors, Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics led the parade with seven nominations each.Presented by the indie film organization Film Independent, the Spirit Awards, celebrating their 25th anniversary,...

London -- U.S. filmmaker David Lee Miller's "My Suicide" and "25 Kilates," directed by Spain's Patxi Amezcua shared this year's best international nod at the close of the Raindance Film Festival here Sunday evening.

The festival also heralded Asiel Norton's "Redland" as the event's best debut winner and gave "Down Terrace" the nod in the best British film category.

Stephen Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience" closed out this year's event at Apollo West End Oct. 11.

The 28th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (Viff) will be held October 1-16, 2009. Founded in 1982, Viff's mandate is "...to encourage the understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia and Canada..." Over 150,000 people are expected to attend 640 screenings of 360 films from 80 countries. Here is an up-to-date list of directors, confirmed to attend Viff 2009, along with their films : "1428" Du Haibin "1999" Lenin Sivam "65_RedRoses" Philip Lyall & Nimisha Mukerji "Adelaide" Liliana Greenfield-Sanders "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector" Vikram Jayanti "Ana & Arthur" Larry Young "The Anchorage" Anders Edström & Curtis Winter "Antoine" Laura Bari "Argippo Resurrected" Dan Krames "The Art of Drowning" Diego Maclean "At Home By Myself... With You" Kris Booth "At The Edge Of The World" Dan Stone...

London -- U.S. filmmakers may come out on top in the competition strands during this year's upcoming Raindance Film Festival with nominees popping up in best international, best debut and best documentary categories.

Ry Russo-Young's "You Won't Miss Me" and David Lee Miller's "My Suicide" are among the five titles competing for best international nod.

For the best debut, Asiel Norton's "Redland" and Daniel Stamm's "A Necessary Death" find themselves in the running.

The documentary competition is dominated by titles from the U.S. with three out of the five.

Patrick Shen's "The Philosopher Kings," "It Came from Kuchar," directed by Jennifer M. Kroot and Tony Zierra's "My Big Break" feature in the doc competition.

The festival also dishes out nods for best U.K. feature and best micro budget work at the event, which runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 11.

All award winners will...

Montreal -- The Montreal World Film Festival looks to have its mojo back, as it enters its first weekend.

"Everyone is back and everyone is behind us," Montreal festival director Serge Losique said Friday as he counted the local politicians and sponsors once again underwriting his festival after years of fractious infighting between the city's summer film festivals.

Losique made good on his promise to glam up his 33rd edition by including an acrobatic performance by Cirque Eloise just before the opening ceremony Thursday night, which was followed by the upbeat Quebecois comedy "1981" from local filmmaker Ricardo Trogi.

And the paparazzi had a field day at the afterparty at the Intercontinental Hotel in old Montreal, where the attendees were decidedly younger and hipper than in past years when the Canadian industry shunned Losique and his event.

Summed up one local distributor as he considered the return of celebrity-studded premieres and...

• The current issue of Filmmaker Magazine has hit kiosks and the only reason why I'd be pointing this out is because it includes its annual "25 New Faces" feature (available here) which is basically: a sampling of the future voices, filmmakers, editors, actors and cinematographers who in the opinion of the magazine's editors represent the future of independent filmmaking and who, I admittedly know only two of the twenty-five. Sebastián Silva helmed The Maid, got rave reviews at Sundance and got picked up by Elephant Eye (read here), and Derek Cianfrance, who finally commenced filming Blue Valentine with thesps Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams on board - 2 bucks says that this preems in Park City. Here are the names of those who made the cut: docu-filmmaker Ian Olds (Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi), filmmaking duo Eleanor Burke & Ron Eyal (Stranger Things), editor Nat Sanders (The Freebie), filmmaker Jessica Oreck

...

Year: 2009

Directors: Asiel Norton

Writers: Asiel Norton / Magdalena Zyzak

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: agentorange

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

If Stan Brakhage tried his hand at narrative filmmaking, I imagine the results would look a lot like Redland – that is to say, the film is a visual and thematic powerhouse. It is a one-of-a-kind, avant-garde film experience where every shot is a painting, every utterance a poem. And, though the film often transgresses its storytelling to meander through the realms of the lyrical (reminding me of Terrence Malick’s work at times), the simple story of a family trying to subsist in the wilderness during the “great depression” is made no less of an intoxicating tale of humanity laid bare.

At the heart of the film is a story of two lovers who were thrown together at the worst possible moment in history and now have to deal with the consequences of their ill-timed affair.

Of the seven features I watched in full whilst at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival, it seemed that the bravest endeavors, those that took the greatest stabs into the unknown both formally and conceptually, were actually shot on film. If this isn’t notable enough in a space increasingly dominated by digital photography (and, all too often, an aesthetic indifference that fails to push beyond the ease of use of the tools), the fact that films like Impolex, Modus Operandi and Redland are all the first features of men either barely or not quite the age of 30 is astounding. While other young filmmakers exploit ever-changing technology to shrink production budgets and experiment with non-theatrical models of distribution, Alex Ross Perry, Frankie Latina and Asiel Norton have made uncompromising films that defy contemporary technological trends and notions of financial convenience. ...

If there's a throughline to the films screening within the various competions and sidebars at CineVegas, it's that those marked by qualities that would make them anomalies at other festivals here play as standard fare. You come here expecting to see genre hybrids (such as Alex Ross Perry's verite-style comic WWII fantasy Impolex, or Cory McAbee's half-animated space cowboy sci-fi musical Stingray Sam, about which much more later); stylish art films that push the boundaries of craft and form but may not offer the pleasures of a traditional narrative (see Asiel Norton's Redland -- or don't, if gorgeous experimental cinematography isn't enough to interest you in a story that drowns ...

Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of interviews with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. “Redland” (USA, 2008) Director: Asiel Norton Cast: Lucy Adden, Mark Aaron, Sean Thomas, Kathan Fors, Bernadette Murray, Toben Seymour As a family struggles to survive in rural isolation during the Great Depression, their daughter’s secret affair begins a journey into the unknown. What initially attracted you to filmmaking and …...

Film School Rejects has just received an exclusive clip from the upcoming indie premiere Redland, which will be making its debut in mid-June at the CineVegas Film Festival in Las Vegas. The film tells the story of a family struggling to survive in rural America during the great depression. All the while, a secret affair of their daughter's begins a journey into the unknown. From writer/director, Asiel Norton, comes this story about the eternal laws of survival and existence, and how one act can begin the dissolution as well as the rebirth of a family. Have a look at the first clip from the film below. The film will screen on the following dates and times at CineVegas: Thursday, June 11th, 6:00pm at the Palms Casino Friday, June 12th, 1:00pm at the Palms Casino...

Next month Cinematical will once again invade the CineVegas Film Festival (check out our post on the fest's premiere slate), and we thought it'd be nice to give these smaller films a plug before their big dance so that you're aware they're coming. That said, we've just received this exclusive image for the film Redland, which will be one of nine world premieres landing in Vegas this year. Click image below to enlarge.

Gallery: Redland

Written and directed by first-timer Asiel Norton, word on the street tells us Redland is a beautifully shot film that calls to mind the work of Terrence Malick. Set in rural America during the Great Depression, the film tells of an isolated family who must deal with their daughter's secret affair. You can check out more of Redland on its official website (also watch a trailer below), and find out all you need to know about CineVegas right over here.

Hue Rhodes' "Saint John of Las Vegas" will have its world premiere as the opening-night film at the 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival, which will be held June 10-15 at the Palms Casino Resort and Brenden Theatres in Las Vegas. The film stars Steve Buscemi as an ex-gambler-turned-fraud investigator who returns to Vegas to investigate an insurance claim.

"Saint John" also stars Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho and Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Eight other films will have their world premieres at the fest, overseen by artistic director Trevor Groth.

Slated in the narrative competition, they are Rania Ajami's "Asylum Seekers," a story of six people trying to escape modern life; David Barker's "Daylight," about a pregnant woman caught in a life-or-death situation; Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice," based on the true story of a writer's long-distance relationship with a mysterious woman; Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!