Editor’s note: British director Roger Michell died this week at the age of 65. Here, Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker, who distributed several of Michell’s films — including the upcoming “The Duke” — remembers his colleague.
Life stopped for many of us this week when writer/director Roger Michell passed away suddenly at the age of 65. He was a gentle, warm, soft-spoken, eloquent, witty, beautiful human being, in addition to being a strong, uncompromising artist of range and brilliance.
Only three weeks ago, he was in Telluride with us accompanied by Helen Mirren and producer Nicky Bentham to present his latest wonderfully rich picture, “The Duke.” He was seen zipping up and down the streets of Telluride on his rented bicycle, his fifth time there (three of them with us), introducing his film, enjoying the company of locals whose friendships he had continued with each visit, at dinners trading legendary...
Life stopped for many of us this week when writer/director Roger Michell passed away suddenly at the age of 65. He was a gentle, warm, soft-spoken, eloquent, witty, beautiful human being, in addition to being a strong, uncompromising artist of range and brilliance.
Only three weeks ago, he was in Telluride with us accompanied by Helen Mirren and producer Nicky Bentham to present his latest wonderfully rich picture, “The Duke.” He was seen zipping up and down the streets of Telluride on his rented bicycle, his fifth time there (three of them with us), introducing his film, enjoying the company of locals whose friendships he had continued with each visit, at dinners trading legendary...
- 9/25/2021
- by Michael Barker
- Indiewire
Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel International Film Lab will honor Michael Barker, Sony Pictures Classic’s co-president and co-founder, with this year’s Force-of-Nature filmmaking award.
The accolade seeks to honor extraordinary personalities committed to the development of cinema. Barker is being recognized for his work as a “cultural master-builder” at United Artists Classics, Orion Classics, and most recently Sony Pictures Classics. Longtime Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick was presented with the inaugural award in 2018.
“Over the last 35 years, passionately as a distributor and producer, Michael Barker (along with Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom) has opened the doors to the finest works of world cinema – from Kurosawa to Fassbinder, from Almodovar to Zhang Yimou and so many more,” said Renen Schorr, the film lab’s founder and director. “Both in art-house and in mainstream — and everything in-between — he chiefly created a cinematic and challenging dialogue between world continents and human beings.”
Barker...
The accolade seeks to honor extraordinary personalities committed to the development of cinema. Barker is being recognized for his work as a “cultural master-builder” at United Artists Classics, Orion Classics, and most recently Sony Pictures Classics. Longtime Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick was presented with the inaugural award in 2018.
“Over the last 35 years, passionately as a distributor and producer, Michael Barker (along with Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom) has opened the doors to the finest works of world cinema – from Kurosawa to Fassbinder, from Almodovar to Zhang Yimou and so many more,” said Renen Schorr, the film lab’s founder and director. “Both in art-house and in mainstream — and everything in-between — he chiefly created a cinematic and challenging dialogue between world continents and human beings.”
Barker...
- 2/6/2019
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
In the summer, Outfest celebrates the latest Lgbtq movies and short films in downtown L.A. During the fall, the non-profit organization turns its attention to legacy: It honors key entertainment figures working today, while raising money to help ensure that past landmark Lgbtq movies do not vanish before our eyes.
The annual Outfest Legacy Awards serve as the key fundraiser for Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, a preservation initiative in conjunction with UCLA Film & Television Archive. UCLA’s archive contains more than 40,000 Lgbtq pieces — from fiction to nonfiction films, home movies and news reports. Among the project’s restored films: “Different From the Others,” the earliest known movie with a gay protagonist.
The German silent feature from 1919 was nearly destroyed by the Nazis, who objected to the story about two male musicians whose love is threatened by blackmail. Within a year of its release, the movie was banned from public...
The annual Outfest Legacy Awards serve as the key fundraiser for Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, a preservation initiative in conjunction with UCLA Film & Television Archive. UCLA’s archive contains more than 40,000 Lgbtq pieces — from fiction to nonfiction films, home movies and news reports. Among the project’s restored films: “Different From the Others,” the earliest known movie with a gay protagonist.
The German silent feature from 1919 was nearly destroyed by the Nazis, who objected to the story about two male musicians whose love is threatened by blackmail. Within a year of its release, the movie was banned from public...
- 10/26/2018
- by Matthew Carey
- Variety Film + TV
“Distant Constellation,’ a documentary featuring residents of a Turkish old age home sharing stories of their youth, might not sound riveting to all tastes — but through the lens of director-cinematographer Shevaun Mizrahi, it is one of the more exciting achievements in nonfiction cinema in recent memory. Raised in Massachusetts by her mother, Mizrahi would often visit her Turkish-born father in Istanbul, where she would volunteer at the government run facility for the elderly and spend time with its residents. Many of them were minorities, and spoke different languages, making it easy for Mizrahi to communicate.
“They lacked bitterness, despite the tragedies some had through,” said Mizrahi in an interview with IndieWire in New York, where she was in town for a screening of the film at BAMcinemafest. “It was a place that felt familiar and those relationships built over years. I was studying cinematography [at NYU’s graduate program] and my camera was like a sketchbook.
“They lacked bitterness, despite the tragedies some had through,” said Mizrahi in an interview with IndieWire in New York, where she was in town for a screening of the film at BAMcinemafest. “It was a place that felt familiar and those relationships built over years. I was studying cinematography [at NYU’s graduate program] and my camera was like a sketchbook.
- 6/29/2018
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
The Bloom/Spiegel Partnership, an alliance between New York’s Ifp Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film and Jerusalem’s prestigious Sam Spiegel Film School, has selected 8 filmmakers from around the world who will participate in the program’s second edition.
This year’s participants, Alik Barsoumian, Daliso Leslie, Clare Sackler, Ostin Fam (selected by Bloom), and Dana Blankstein-Cohen, Avishay Kahana, Maya Fischer and Sol Goodman (selected by Sam Spiegel), will spend time with other directors, industry professionals, and attend screenings and events over a period of five days. Tribeca Film Festival provided passes to all participants of the Bloom/Spiegel Partnership.
“We started this program last year as a bit of an experiment and the experience was so inspiring that we have entered into a second year of the partnership. Through this program we seek to expand our community, build international friendships and enrich the next generation of filmmakers,” said Dylan Leiner and Alex Uhlmann,...
This year’s participants, Alik Barsoumian, Daliso Leslie, Clare Sackler, Ostin Fam (selected by Bloom), and Dana Blankstein-Cohen, Avishay Kahana, Maya Fischer and Sol Goodman (selected by Sam Spiegel), will spend time with other directors, industry professionals, and attend screenings and events over a period of five days. Tribeca Film Festival provided passes to all participants of the Bloom/Spiegel Partnership.
“We started this program last year as a bit of an experiment and the experience was so inspiring that we have entered into a second year of the partnership. Through this program we seek to expand our community, build international friendships and enrich the next generation of filmmakers,” said Dylan Leiner and Alex Uhlmann,...
- 4/24/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Ifp Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film has announced four fellows for the 2015-2016 fellowship year: Alik Barsoumian (New York University), Antoneta Kusijanovic (Columbia University), Julie O’Leary (Columbia University) and Susanna Locascio (Columbia University). Since 2007, this intimate mentorship has become a staple of the New York independent film community. Past fellows have hailed from schools including Nyu, Columbia, Yale, Wesleyan, Harvard, Bard College and the University of Chicago, among others. Once a month, the four fellows will spend an evening with a guest -- from the cream of Gotham's indie filmmaking crop -- at Marcie Bloom’s Upper West side apartment. The fellowship is an "intimate, casual environment we imagine to be reminiscent of Gertrude Stein's Parisian salons of the 1920s and 1930s," Bloom has said. The idea is to "foster ideas, hopes, inspiration, and provide real-life contact with some of the very people the fellows aspire to become.
- 9/30/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
While we've seen no shortage of movies over the past year that have seen man facing the end times ("The World's End," "This Is The End," "World War Z," and many more), few if any have stopped to consider what will become of Earth's history. But leave it filmmaker Bernardo Britto to explore just that question. Arriving at the Sundance Film Festival this week, the animated short film "Yearbook" follows a man hired to compile the definitive history of human existence before the planet blows up. And in this exclusive teaser trailer, we see the blend of the surreal and funny that Britto is bringing to his picture, which looks like a bite-sized treat. And as a recipient of the National Board of Review animation grant in 2011 and selected as a Marcie Bloom fellow in 2012, Britto may be a name to keep an eye on down the line. "Yearbook" starts screening at Sundance this weekend.
- 1/15/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The Hamptons International Film Festival has announced that Focus Features CEO James Schamus will be honored at the festival's annual industry toast. The event will come during the 20th anniversary edition of the fest, taking place October 5th at East Hampton Point. The festival itself runs October 4-8, 2012. Past recipients of the honor have included Marcie Bloom, Bob Berney, Ted Hope, Wouter Barendrecht, and Ben Barenholtz. Full press release below. East Hampton, NY (June 18, 2012) – The 20th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival is honored to present Focus Features CEO James Schamus with this year’s Industry Toast. Mr. Schamus will be fêted by his peers on Friday, October 5th at East Hampton Point. The 20th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place this year over Columbus Day Weekend, from October 4th – 8th. As a screenwriter, producer, and academic, Mr. Schamus has enjoyed a prolific career in...
- 6/19/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
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