Emerging star Lux Pascal, whose credits include Narcos, has joined the cast of Chilean director Alicia Scherson’s next film Summer War.
The co-production reunites Chile’s Araucaria Cine, Le Tiro from Argentina, and Nadador Cine from Uruguay.
Summer War will centre on a US champion of the board game Third Reich whose peaceful summer holiday in 1989 is shattered when a tourist mysteriously disappears at sea.
Scherson is adapting the screenplay from celebrated Chilean author Roberto Bolaño’s novel The Third Reich, which was discovered among his papers following his death in 2010.
Pascal, who is the sister of The Last Of Us...
The co-production reunites Chile’s Araucaria Cine, Le Tiro from Argentina, and Nadador Cine from Uruguay.
Summer War will centre on a US champion of the board game Third Reich whose peaceful summer holiday in 1989 is shattered when a tourist mysteriously disappears at sea.
Scherson is adapting the screenplay from celebrated Chilean author Roberto Bolaño’s novel The Third Reich, which was discovered among his papers following his death in 2010.
Pascal, who is the sister of The Last Of Us...
- 2/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Europe-Latin American Co-Production Forum and Wip Latam industry events are showcasing a wealth of new projects.
The Europe-Latin American Co-Production Forum and Wip Latam industry events are showcasing a selection of upcoming projects from Latin America to potential international partners at San Sebastian this month. Regional trends and financing models will also be in the spotlight.
Fifteen titles are in the Forum - from 222 submissions - and six films will showing a first cut in the Wip section. Both sections will take place from September 25-27.
There is a strong showing from Argentina in the Forum, despite the country’s long-running instability,...
The Europe-Latin American Co-Production Forum and Wip Latam industry events are showcasing a selection of upcoming projects from Latin America to potential international partners at San Sebastian this month. Regional trends and financing models will also be in the spotlight.
Fifteen titles are in the Forum - from 222 submissions - and six films will showing a first cut in the Wip section. Both sections will take place from September 25-27.
There is a strong showing from Argentina in the Forum, despite the country’s long-running instability,...
- 9/22/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Camila José Donoso (“Naomi Campbel”) is gearing up to shoot her fourth pic, “Antitropical,” with Roberto Doveris’ Niña Niño Films producing. The docu-fiction hybrid will be filmed much like a documentary over various months, starting late October, that will stretch into the next year. It’s also received some additional support from Chile’s Audiovisual Production Fund.
At the 18th Santiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic), Niña Niño Films is screening docu “Me gustaría que vivieras mi juventud de nuevo” (“I’d Like You to Live My Youth Again”), Nicolás Guzmán’s third film, co-produced with Francisca Soto and renowned filmmaker Alicia Scherson (“Il Futuro”).
As in her previous films, Donoso plays on the limits between fiction and documentary. “It is a project that I began to develop when I was researching the world of café brothels [dubbed cafes con pierna in Chile] for my first film, almost 10 years ago,” said Donoso. “There I met two...
At the 18th Santiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic), Niña Niño Films is screening docu “Me gustaría que vivieras mi juventud de nuevo” (“I’d Like You to Live My Youth Again”), Nicolás Guzmán’s third film, co-produced with Francisca Soto and renowned filmmaker Alicia Scherson (“Il Futuro”).
As in her previous films, Donoso plays on the limits between fiction and documentary. “It is a project that I began to develop when I was researching the world of café brothels [dubbed cafes con pierna in Chile] for my first film, almost 10 years ago,” said Donoso. “There I met two...
- 8/16/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Focusing on Chile’s large cinematic prowess, Sanfic’s Chilean Film Competition is set to hone in on national filmmaking and a few promising co-productions from budding and established Latin American talent.
Efforts backed by industry leaders Roberto Doveris, Alicia Scherson and Mexico’s Inti Cordera illustrate that Chilean filmmakers are pulling in further support by relaying poignant, far-reaching narratives.
The Chilean Film Competition was announced by the Sanfic 18, Santiago International Film Festival which will run Aug. 14-21 as a hybrid event.
Highly-anticipated projects include “Villa Olímpica,” produced, in part, by Cordera, who’s previously partnered with the likes of National Geographic and Discovery to bring engaging documentary series to the fore, and fantasy feature “Piedra Noche,” which reunites ingenious Argentine filmmaking duo Santiago Loza (“Extraño”) and Iván Fund (“Hoy No Me Tuve Miedo”)
Young talents bowing their first feature attempts are also represented in projects like Fernando Saldivia Yañez...
Efforts backed by industry leaders Roberto Doveris, Alicia Scherson and Mexico’s Inti Cordera illustrate that Chilean filmmakers are pulling in further support by relaying poignant, far-reaching narratives.
The Chilean Film Competition was announced by the Sanfic 18, Santiago International Film Festival which will run Aug. 14-21 as a hybrid event.
Highly-anticipated projects include “Villa Olímpica,” produced, in part, by Cordera, who’s previously partnered with the likes of National Geographic and Discovery to bring engaging documentary series to the fore, and fantasy feature “Piedra Noche,” which reunites ingenious Argentine filmmaking duo Santiago Loza (“Extraño”) and Iván Fund (“Hoy No Me Tuve Miedo”)
Young talents bowing their first feature attempts are also represented in projects like Fernando Saldivia Yañez...
- 7/29/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes— Chile’s Jirafa Films, producer of Christopher Murray’s “The Blind Christ” and Alicia Scherson’s “Il Futuro” has teamed with Zafiro Cinema in Mexico, Chile’s Calamar Cine and Bolivia’s Color Monster to produce Vinko Tomičić sophomore outing, “Dogs” (“Perros”).
“Dogs” won the Best Pitch Award at the spring session of Cannes’ Cinéfondation Résidence. It will follow 13-year-old Martín, an orphan shoeshine boy from La Paz, Bolivia, who has lived his entire life on the streets and still hopes to find his father. Driven by his imagination, Martín begins to suspect that one of his best clients – Mr. Novoa, a lonely tailor– might be his father. Martín devises a plan: to kidnap Mr. Novoa’s dog so as to be able to be closer to him.
“Through documentary techniques, the director immerses the spectator in the world of young shoe shines from La Paz.
Second, he has an ethical take,...
“Dogs” won the Best Pitch Award at the spring session of Cannes’ Cinéfondation Résidence. It will follow 13-year-old Martín, an orphan shoeshine boy from La Paz, Bolivia, who has lived his entire life on the streets and still hopes to find his father. Driven by his imagination, Martín begins to suspect that one of his best clients – Mr. Novoa, a lonely tailor– might be his father. Martín devises a plan: to kidnap Mr. Novoa’s dog so as to be able to be closer to him.
“Through documentary techniques, the director immerses the spectator in the world of young shoe shines from La Paz.
Second, he has an ethical take,...
- 5/18/2019
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Chilean Manuela Martelli’s “1976,” Argentine Maximiliano Schonfeld’s “Jesús Lopez” and Cuban Marcos Díaz Sosa’s “Obra de choque” have all made the cut of Proyecta, a movie project showcase which represents one of the major innovations at this year’s Ventana Sur, Latin America’s biggest film-tv market and co-production meet.
Though, two weeks and more out from Ventana Sur, buzz still has to build on many new projects in the section, there’s also a good word on Andrew Sala’s “La barbarie,” Natalia Lopez Gallardo’s “Supernova” and Colombian Jennifer Yuribe’s “Sandra” – and curiosity to learn more about Uruguayan Aparicio Garcia’s “Matufia” after his one-of-kind debut earlier this year, the grindhouse rural mobster comedy “La noche que no se repite.”
An initiative of Ventana Sur and the San Sebastian Festival, Proyecta sees four projects segueing from the Basque Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum,...
Though, two weeks and more out from Ventana Sur, buzz still has to build on many new projects in the section, there’s also a good word on Andrew Sala’s “La barbarie,” Natalia Lopez Gallardo’s “Supernova” and Colombian Jennifer Yuribe’s “Sandra” – and curiosity to learn more about Uruguayan Aparicio Garcia’s “Matufia” after his one-of-kind debut earlier this year, the grindhouse rural mobster comedy “La noche que no se repite.”
An initiative of Ventana Sur and the San Sebastian Festival, Proyecta sees four projects segueing from the Basque Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum,...
- 11/23/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Lleida, Spain — The feature directorial debut of producer Sebastián Perillo “Amateur” scooped both best feature and director at the 24th Lleida Catalonia Latin America Festival, hosted by the city known by gourmets as the Mecca of grilled snails.
Internationally sold by Switzerland-based Kafilms, “Amateur” is an erotic thriller produced by Argentina’s Rispo Films, Amada Films and Tecno Films, and world-premiered at Mar del Plata festival where it took the best original music award.
“Amateur” follows Martin (Esteban Lamothe), a solitary TV director who becomes obsessed with his neighbor and boss’ wife Isabel (Jazmín Stuart), when he finds a porno in which she appears. The jury described Perillo’s debut as “a surprising genre feature made with courage, and without prejudices.”
Best screenplay was granted to “Family Life,” co-helmed by Alicia Scherson (“Il futuro”) and Alejandro Zambra (co-writer of Cristián Jiménez’s “Bonsái”). International sales on “Family Life” are handled...
Internationally sold by Switzerland-based Kafilms, “Amateur” is an erotic thriller produced by Argentina’s Rispo Films, Amada Films and Tecno Films, and world-premiered at Mar del Plata festival where it took the best original music award.
“Amateur” follows Martin (Esteban Lamothe), a solitary TV director who becomes obsessed with his neighbor and boss’ wife Isabel (Jazmín Stuart), when he finds a porno in which she appears. The jury described Perillo’s debut as “a surprising genre feature made with courage, and without prejudices.”
Best screenplay was granted to “Family Life,” co-helmed by Alicia Scherson (“Il futuro”) and Alejandro Zambra (co-writer of Cristián Jiménez’s “Bonsái”). International sales on “Family Life” are handled...
- 4/28/2018
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Now that a new year is upon us let's reflect back on 2013. Something like a year in Latino film. Latin American filmmakers continued to kill it on the international film festival circuit. Chile, in particular, has been conquering the world one film festival award at a time.
Sadly, American Latino filmmakers were mostly absent from big name festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and Cannes. Normally, the major Latino film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Diego offer a home to these overlooked films. The surprising collapse of the New York International Latino Film Festival this past summer and with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival barely recovering from financial difficulties, the exhibition of American Latino indies remains in a precarious position.
Still, there is much to celebrate. Starting in the early part of the year, at Sundance, Chilean director Sebastian Silva joined a very elite club of filmmakers -- those who have premiered two films at the same festival. His mescaline-fueled odyssey Crystal Fairy won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award and the psychological thriller Magic, Magic starring Michael Cera went on to play Director's Fortnight in Cannes.
The Berlinale, in February, brought the much anticipated world premiere of Sebastian Lelio's fourth film Gloria and the charming Uruguayan family comedy Tanta Agua. Cementing 2013 as the year of Chile, actress Paulina Garcia won the Silver Bear for her dazzling and dynamic performance as a middle-aged divorcee in Gloria.
Mid-year, Mexican filmmakers took Cannes by storm again, winning the Best Director prize for the second year in a row. In 2013, the victor was Amat Escalante for his feature film Heli. The year prior Carlos Reygadas took home the prize for Post Tenebras Lux.
In the fall, Toronto spoiled us with Latin American riches. The gargantuan fest showcased more than 300 films from 70 different countries including the Mexican documentary El Alcalde, Venezuela's Pelo Malo (Bad Hair), Peruvian black comedy El Mudo (The Mute), the Brazilian drama O lobo atras da porta (A Wolf at the Door), and the world premiere of Fernando Eimbcke's Club Sandwich. Costa Rica made a first-time appearance at the Toronto Film Festival with Por las plumas (All About the Feathers) and the Dominican Republic showcased Cristo Rey.
Over Labor Day weekend, Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor most Americans had never heard of released his sleeper hit Instructions Not Included. Totally ignored by mainstream film critics, the Spanish-language family comedy went on to shatter box office records. It beat out Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and critical darling 12 Years a Slave making it the top grossing indie film of the year. It also became the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever in the United States. A few weeks later, when Instructions opened in Derbez's home country, it became the most-watched Mexican film of all time.
Despite being snubbed by the Academy Awards (no Latin American productions made the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film), Latino films ended the year on a high note. The triumph of our films abroad coupled with a Spanish-language box office hit at home bodes well for the Latino films of 2014.
In case you were living under a rock this past year and missed it all, we've got you covered. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what Latino movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, "What are your top 5 Latino films of 2013?"
Christine Davila, Director of Ambulante California
There is no shortage of original and compelling Us Latino writer/directors working across different genres out there, and this list proves it. These confident artists have captured fresh and mighty perspectives far too underrepresented, and they are storming through the cluster neck of homogeneity that continues to reign in film content.
Water & Power (Richard Montoya, USA)
Los Wild Ones (Elise Salomon, USA)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Sleeping with the Fishes (Nicole Gomez Fisher, USA)
The House that Jack Built (Henry Barrial, USA)
Marcela Goglio, Programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
No special criteria in these choices, just some of the many accomplished Latin American films that, in my opinion, create universes or make statements in beautiful, original and/or powerful ways.
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
El alcalde (Emiliano Altuna/Carlos Rossini/Diego Osorno, Mexico)
La eterna noche de las doce lunas (Priscilla Padilla, Colombia)
El futuro (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
Carlos A. Gutierrez, Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical
For practical purposes, my list features five Latin American films (my area of expertise) that I highly recommend, and that screened in the U.S. in 2013 (in alphabetical order):
El Alcalde / The Mayor (Carlos F. Rossini, Emiliano Altuna and Diego Osorno, Mexico)
El otro dia / The Other Day (Ignacio Aguero, Chile)
Los mejores temas / Greatest Hits (Nicolas Pereda, Mexico)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
Lucho Ramirez, Founder & Executive Director of Cine+Mas Sf, presenter of the Cm San Francisco Latino Film Festival
There are so many works by Latino and Latin American filmmakers that merit the public and the tastemaker's attention. Compiling a list of 5 is difficult for me as a festival director because each film that we program is beloved. In addition, there are the other films I see at other fests or at theaters, particularly the bigger ones replete with distribution, celebrity, and marketing budgets. It's hard for independent, quality films to break through and that's part of the reason I seek those out. I believe there is an audience for artisanal films with substance, creativity, and diversity.
I went on memory for this list. Included are films that I saw this year that really stuck with me long after watching them. What's important to me is seeing images of Latinos by Latinos on the screen. This doesn't mean sanitized. Bless Me, Ultima is an important literary work. It was a huge accomplishment to get this on the screen for all us non-readers. Sex, Love, & Salsa packs all the punch of a big romantic comedy in very local and Latino way; Tlatelolco is a historical drama that's really well done, revisiting a chaotic time in Mexico's history but interpreted in a narrow sliver of a relationship that can't be; Porcelain Horse mixes sex, drugs, and rich-kid problems and really does something different with a crime-drama; Delusions of Grandeuer is purely Latino hipster fun.
Bless Me, Ultima (Carl Franklin, USA)
Sex, Love, & Salsa (Adrian Manzano, USA)
Tlatelolco, Summer of 68 (Carlos Bolado, Mexico)
Porcelain Horse (Javier Andrade, Ecuador)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Glenn Heath Jr., Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival
De Jueves a Domingo is a fascinating and subtext-heavy debut from director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo about a family road trip that could be the beginning of the end. In Viola Shakespeare is reinvented, it's art house cinema meets the off-note pacing of jazz. My Sister's Quinceañera is an honest and poignant look at the complexities of family and identity in small town America. Aqui y Alla is riveting in its acute understanding of how the mundane adds up to something grand. Fecha de Caducidad is dark comedy at its finest.
De Jueves a Domingo (Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, Chile)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
My Sister's Quinceanera (Aaron Douglas Johnston, USA)
Aqui y Alla (Antonio Mendez Esparza, Mexico)
Fecha de Caducidad (Kenya Marquez , Mexico)
Diana Vargas, Artistic Director at the Havana Film Festival New York
In Gloria Paulina Garcia's performance is unforgettable and the way the director talks about the middle life crisis of a woman that seems unremarkable until she finds out she can make her own choices and maybe to be single is not that bad, haha. La Sirga portrays the crude reality of the Colombian conflict without showing explicit violence, through impeccable cinematography. In a cinema verite style, La jaula de oro shows 3 Guatemalan adolescents experiencing the harshness of the journey of those who want to immigrate to U.S. 7 Cajas, the biggest Paraguayan box office hit, is as entertaining as well done. With an impeccable screenplay and Guarani dialogues, the film shows a country that usually don't have a strong representation in the festivals around the world. Sibila de Teresa Arredondo (Chile). Sibila Arguedas is the widow of one of the most iconic public figures in Peruvian literature. She's also Chilean and a political prisoner, accused of being a Sendero Luminoso collaborator. This documentary made by Sibila's niece brings to light one of the most fascinating, enimagtic and contradictory characters of the last century.
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
La Sirga (William Vega, Colombia).
La jaula de oro (Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico)
7 Cajas (Tana Schembori, Juan Carlos Maneglia, Paraguay)
Sibila (Teresa Arredondo, Chile)
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
2013 was a great year for Latin American films. Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala and Paraguay, countries with no real infrastructure for filmmaking, all were present in festivals. Chile in particular showed no sign of slowing down their own presence on the festival circuit, taking home prizes at the major festivals. I think it's no coincidence that they share this wonderful genuine camaraderie where there is a support system that includes producing each others projects to simply rooting for one another when it comes to award nominations (you can go to all their Fb pages and occasionally they have each others films as their cover pics! It's uber dope). It's as real as it gets and I think it's something lacking here in the Us. So my list is the Chilean films you should not miss.
Gloria, (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
No (Pablo Larrain, Chile)
Il Futuro / The Future (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
El verano de los peces voladores / The Summer of Flying Fish (Marcela Said, Chile)
Las cosas como son / Things The Way They Are (Fernando Lavanderos, Chile)
Marlene Dermer, Director/Programmer at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
It has been really hard to narrow it to five I have to say. I find Latino cinema and its creators in a wonderful period. It’s alive and beats like a heart. There is so much talent in our communities and they are doing some of the most interesting work in world cinema. It's thought provoking or personal and universal. It's also tough to include U.S. works with Latin American work because there are many more countries and many with support. This year in our festival we had the largest showcase of U.S.A. films which was very exciting to see. As a programmer for 22 years I find it stimulating to discover all these new voices coming up in our community and truly sharing the screens at festivals and theaters around the world. There is a new generation in every country, that is very exciting and promising for the future of cinema, our community and the audio visual world.
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico)
Pelo Malo (Mariana Rondón, Venezuela)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
O lobo atras da porta (Fernando Coimbra, Brazil)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Written by Vanessa Erazo. LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook.
Sadly, American Latino filmmakers were mostly absent from big name festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and Cannes. Normally, the major Latino film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Diego offer a home to these overlooked films. The surprising collapse of the New York International Latino Film Festival this past summer and with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival barely recovering from financial difficulties, the exhibition of American Latino indies remains in a precarious position.
Still, there is much to celebrate. Starting in the early part of the year, at Sundance, Chilean director Sebastian Silva joined a very elite club of filmmakers -- those who have premiered two films at the same festival. His mescaline-fueled odyssey Crystal Fairy won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award and the psychological thriller Magic, Magic starring Michael Cera went on to play Director's Fortnight in Cannes.
The Berlinale, in February, brought the much anticipated world premiere of Sebastian Lelio's fourth film Gloria and the charming Uruguayan family comedy Tanta Agua. Cementing 2013 as the year of Chile, actress Paulina Garcia won the Silver Bear for her dazzling and dynamic performance as a middle-aged divorcee in Gloria.
Mid-year, Mexican filmmakers took Cannes by storm again, winning the Best Director prize for the second year in a row. In 2013, the victor was Amat Escalante for his feature film Heli. The year prior Carlos Reygadas took home the prize for Post Tenebras Lux.
In the fall, Toronto spoiled us with Latin American riches. The gargantuan fest showcased more than 300 films from 70 different countries including the Mexican documentary El Alcalde, Venezuela's Pelo Malo (Bad Hair), Peruvian black comedy El Mudo (The Mute), the Brazilian drama O lobo atras da porta (A Wolf at the Door), and the world premiere of Fernando Eimbcke's Club Sandwich. Costa Rica made a first-time appearance at the Toronto Film Festival with Por las plumas (All About the Feathers) and the Dominican Republic showcased Cristo Rey.
Over Labor Day weekend, Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor most Americans had never heard of released his sleeper hit Instructions Not Included. Totally ignored by mainstream film critics, the Spanish-language family comedy went on to shatter box office records. It beat out Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and critical darling 12 Years a Slave making it the top grossing indie film of the year. It also became the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever in the United States. A few weeks later, when Instructions opened in Derbez's home country, it became the most-watched Mexican film of all time.
Despite being snubbed by the Academy Awards (no Latin American productions made the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film), Latino films ended the year on a high note. The triumph of our films abroad coupled with a Spanish-language box office hit at home bodes well for the Latino films of 2014.
In case you were living under a rock this past year and missed it all, we've got you covered. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what Latino movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, "What are your top 5 Latino films of 2013?"
Christine Davila, Director of Ambulante California
There is no shortage of original and compelling Us Latino writer/directors working across different genres out there, and this list proves it. These confident artists have captured fresh and mighty perspectives far too underrepresented, and they are storming through the cluster neck of homogeneity that continues to reign in film content.
Water & Power (Richard Montoya, USA)
Los Wild Ones (Elise Salomon, USA)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Sleeping with the Fishes (Nicole Gomez Fisher, USA)
The House that Jack Built (Henry Barrial, USA)
Marcela Goglio, Programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
No special criteria in these choices, just some of the many accomplished Latin American films that, in my opinion, create universes or make statements in beautiful, original and/or powerful ways.
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
El alcalde (Emiliano Altuna/Carlos Rossini/Diego Osorno, Mexico)
La eterna noche de las doce lunas (Priscilla Padilla, Colombia)
El futuro (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
Carlos A. Gutierrez, Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical
For practical purposes, my list features five Latin American films (my area of expertise) that I highly recommend, and that screened in the U.S. in 2013 (in alphabetical order):
El Alcalde / The Mayor (Carlos F. Rossini, Emiliano Altuna and Diego Osorno, Mexico)
El otro dia / The Other Day (Ignacio Aguero, Chile)
Los mejores temas / Greatest Hits (Nicolas Pereda, Mexico)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
Lucho Ramirez, Founder & Executive Director of Cine+Mas Sf, presenter of the Cm San Francisco Latino Film Festival
There are so many works by Latino and Latin American filmmakers that merit the public and the tastemaker's attention. Compiling a list of 5 is difficult for me as a festival director because each film that we program is beloved. In addition, there are the other films I see at other fests or at theaters, particularly the bigger ones replete with distribution, celebrity, and marketing budgets. It's hard for independent, quality films to break through and that's part of the reason I seek those out. I believe there is an audience for artisanal films with substance, creativity, and diversity.
I went on memory for this list. Included are films that I saw this year that really stuck with me long after watching them. What's important to me is seeing images of Latinos by Latinos on the screen. This doesn't mean sanitized. Bless Me, Ultima is an important literary work. It was a huge accomplishment to get this on the screen for all us non-readers. Sex, Love, & Salsa packs all the punch of a big romantic comedy in very local and Latino way; Tlatelolco is a historical drama that's really well done, revisiting a chaotic time in Mexico's history but interpreted in a narrow sliver of a relationship that can't be; Porcelain Horse mixes sex, drugs, and rich-kid problems and really does something different with a crime-drama; Delusions of Grandeuer is purely Latino hipster fun.
Bless Me, Ultima (Carl Franklin, USA)
Sex, Love, & Salsa (Adrian Manzano, USA)
Tlatelolco, Summer of 68 (Carlos Bolado, Mexico)
Porcelain Horse (Javier Andrade, Ecuador)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Glenn Heath Jr., Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival
De Jueves a Domingo is a fascinating and subtext-heavy debut from director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo about a family road trip that could be the beginning of the end. In Viola Shakespeare is reinvented, it's art house cinema meets the off-note pacing of jazz. My Sister's Quinceañera is an honest and poignant look at the complexities of family and identity in small town America. Aqui y Alla is riveting in its acute understanding of how the mundane adds up to something grand. Fecha de Caducidad is dark comedy at its finest.
De Jueves a Domingo (Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, Chile)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
My Sister's Quinceanera (Aaron Douglas Johnston, USA)
Aqui y Alla (Antonio Mendez Esparza, Mexico)
Fecha de Caducidad (Kenya Marquez , Mexico)
Diana Vargas, Artistic Director at the Havana Film Festival New York
In Gloria Paulina Garcia's performance is unforgettable and the way the director talks about the middle life crisis of a woman that seems unremarkable until she finds out she can make her own choices and maybe to be single is not that bad, haha. La Sirga portrays the crude reality of the Colombian conflict without showing explicit violence, through impeccable cinematography. In a cinema verite style, La jaula de oro shows 3 Guatemalan adolescents experiencing the harshness of the journey of those who want to immigrate to U.S. 7 Cajas, the biggest Paraguayan box office hit, is as entertaining as well done. With an impeccable screenplay and Guarani dialogues, the film shows a country that usually don't have a strong representation in the festivals around the world. Sibila de Teresa Arredondo (Chile). Sibila Arguedas is the widow of one of the most iconic public figures in Peruvian literature. She's also Chilean and a political prisoner, accused of being a Sendero Luminoso collaborator. This documentary made by Sibila's niece brings to light one of the most fascinating, enimagtic and contradictory characters of the last century.
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
La Sirga (William Vega, Colombia).
La jaula de oro (Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico)
7 Cajas (Tana Schembori, Juan Carlos Maneglia, Paraguay)
Sibila (Teresa Arredondo, Chile)
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
2013 was a great year for Latin American films. Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala and Paraguay, countries with no real infrastructure for filmmaking, all were present in festivals. Chile in particular showed no sign of slowing down their own presence on the festival circuit, taking home prizes at the major festivals. I think it's no coincidence that they share this wonderful genuine camaraderie where there is a support system that includes producing each others projects to simply rooting for one another when it comes to award nominations (you can go to all their Fb pages and occasionally they have each others films as their cover pics! It's uber dope). It's as real as it gets and I think it's something lacking here in the Us. So my list is the Chilean films you should not miss.
Gloria, (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
No (Pablo Larrain, Chile)
Il Futuro / The Future (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
El verano de los peces voladores / The Summer of Flying Fish (Marcela Said, Chile)
Las cosas como son / Things The Way They Are (Fernando Lavanderos, Chile)
Marlene Dermer, Director/Programmer at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
It has been really hard to narrow it to five I have to say. I find Latino cinema and its creators in a wonderful period. It’s alive and beats like a heart. There is so much talent in our communities and they are doing some of the most interesting work in world cinema. It's thought provoking or personal and universal. It's also tough to include U.S. works with Latin American work because there are many more countries and many with support. This year in our festival we had the largest showcase of U.S.A. films which was very exciting to see. As a programmer for 22 years I find it stimulating to discover all these new voices coming up in our community and truly sharing the screens at festivals and theaters around the world. There is a new generation in every country, that is very exciting and promising for the future of cinema, our community and the audio visual world.
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico)
Pelo Malo (Mariana Rondón, Venezuela)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
O lobo atras da porta (Fernando Coimbra, Brazil)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Written by Vanessa Erazo. LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook.
- 1/1/2014
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Organisers at the Festival do Rio, the Rio Film Festival, have brought in an extra 11 titles ahead of the September 26 opening night gala screening of Thierry Ragobert’s France-Brazil co-production Amazonia 3D.
The late arrivals include Gianfranco Rosi’s fresh Venice Golden Lion winner Sacro Gra as well as Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra, Shane Salerno’s Salinger and Kim Ki-duck’s Moebius.
Rounding out the additions are Greg Mottola’s Clear History, Nimrod Antal’s Metallica Through The Never, Hong Sangsoo’s Our Sunhi, Bruce Labruce’s Gerontophilia, Catherine Breillat’s Abuse Of Weakness, Shinji Aoyama’s Backwater and John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s Finding Vivian Maier.
Festival top brass also announced the full line-up of films in the Latin Première and Environment sections.
The Latin Première selection will present 21 features, of which five will be Latin American premieres. All films in the section are eligible for the Fipresci Best Latin American Film award...
The late arrivals include Gianfranco Rosi’s fresh Venice Golden Lion winner Sacro Gra as well as Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra, Shane Salerno’s Salinger and Kim Ki-duck’s Moebius.
Rounding out the additions are Greg Mottola’s Clear History, Nimrod Antal’s Metallica Through The Never, Hong Sangsoo’s Our Sunhi, Bruce Labruce’s Gerontophilia, Catherine Breillat’s Abuse Of Weakness, Shinji Aoyama’s Backwater and John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s Finding Vivian Maier.
Festival top brass also announced the full line-up of films in the Latin Première and Environment sections.
The Latin Première selection will present 21 features, of which five will be Latin American premieres. All films in the section are eligible for the Fipresci Best Latin American Film award...
- 9/18/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Alicia Scherson's enthralling Il Futuro asks the question no one wants to hear: How would you see the world after a personal tragedy? When her parents are killed in a car accident, teenage Bianca (Manuela Martelli) is forced to face this existential quandary, not only in regards to her own uncertain future but also as the impromptu caretaker of younger brother Tomas (Luigi Ciardo). Bearing a striking resemblance to dragon-tattooed Noomi Rapace, Bianca navigates this new reality to the best of her ability, but an unqualifiable malaise slowly clouds her perceptions. Matters complicate when two of Tomas's friends from the local gym, Boloñes (Alessandro Giallocosta) and Libio (Nicolas Vaporidis), awkwardly embed themselves within the familial unit, proposing a get-rich scheme...
- 9/4/2013
- Village Voice
Future Starts Slow: Scherson’s Adaptation a Densely Structured Puzzle For her third feature film, Chilean born director Alicia Scherson adapts cult Latin American author Roberto Bolano’s novel The Future, an Italian language oddity that’s basically a coming of age tale dressed up in a puzzling narrative of symbolism. Throw in a possible heist angle and you have what sounds like an instant cult item. While intriguing, and at moments, striking, there’s an unfortunate distance from the events and characters in Scherson’s film, and an undeniable indifference to what’s unfolding before us. Their parents having just died in a tragic car accident, Bianca (Manuella Martelli) and her brother Tomas (Luigi Ciardo) are left to fend for themselves. Thankfully, Bianca is of legal age and so has the option to be the legal guardian of Tomas, but must be responsible for him until he also comes of age.
- 9/3/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The latest film by Chilean director Fernando Lavanderos, Las cosas como son (Things the way they are), is maybe one of the best fiction films that has come out of Chile in a long time, even better than the Italian co-produced film The Future directed by Alicia Scherson and all the Sebastián Silva-Michael Cera pictures that you can come up with. This is the real deal, and I wish that this movie makes it out there for all people to see, as it plays with universal values and, above all, it's just an entertaining and thrilling story.It has won the Best Latinamerican Film award at last year's Mar del Plata Film Festival, it took the Best Director prize at the Havana Film Festival in New...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 8/8/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Mario Sesti programmes retrospective and preview strand in new museum Maxxi.
The Rome Film Festival (Nov 8 -17) is renewing Cinema at Maxxi, the series of film events curated by Mario Sesti.
Before the festival, between September 14 – November 6, recently launched museum Maxxi (the National Museum of 21st Century Arts) will host retrospectives, meetings with actors and directors, lectures and previews of documentaries and features.
Series The Forgotten will offer a retrospective of classics spanning postwar Italian cinema to the end of the seventies, opening with Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all’Italiana), followed by a conversation with Italian actor and director Carlo Verdone and curator Mario Sesti.
The strand will also include films by Mario Monicelli, Antonio Pietrangeli, Riccardo Freda, and Steno among others.
Doc series Meet Exceptional Men and Women launches with Girl Models, by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin. The festival’s preview series will include Alicia Scherson’s The Future with Rutger Hauer and Nicholas...
The Rome Film Festival (Nov 8 -17) is renewing Cinema at Maxxi, the series of film events curated by Mario Sesti.
Before the festival, between September 14 – November 6, recently launched museum Maxxi (the National Museum of 21st Century Arts) will host retrospectives, meetings with actors and directors, lectures and previews of documentaries and features.
Series The Forgotten will offer a retrospective of classics spanning postwar Italian cinema to the end of the seventies, opening with Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all’Italiana), followed by a conversation with Italian actor and director Carlo Verdone and curator Mario Sesti.
The strand will also include films by Mario Monicelli, Antonio Pietrangeli, Riccardo Freda, and Steno among others.
Doc series Meet Exceptional Men and Women launches with Girl Models, by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin. The festival’s preview series will include Alicia Scherson’s The Future with Rutger Hauer and Nicholas...
- 8/6/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Luigi Ciardo, Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta, Pino Calabrese | Written and Directed by Alicia Scherson
Review by Andrew MacArthur of Cinehouse
Alicia Scherson’s third feature-length film, Il Futuro, is a staggeringly impressive watch. Adapted from Chilean novel Una Novelita Lumpen by Roberto Bolano, Il Futuro is a thrilling tale of suspense, eroticism, and intrigue set against a backdrop of vintage Hollywood Gothic noir.
Il Futuro follows two teenage orphans, Bianca and Tomas, who become intertwined with two untrustworthy opportunists from the local gym. These acquaintances persuade Bianca (the eldest of the orphans, played by Manuela Martelli) to infiltrate and rob the home of one of their ex-clients, Marciste (Rutger Hauer) – a blind, former Mister Universe and movie star who has become something of a recluse. However, Bianca’s developing feelings for Marciste seem set to compromise her original intentions.
From the onset Scherson’s distinct...
Review by Andrew MacArthur of Cinehouse
Alicia Scherson’s third feature-length film, Il Futuro, is a staggeringly impressive watch. Adapted from Chilean novel Una Novelita Lumpen by Roberto Bolano, Il Futuro is a thrilling tale of suspense, eroticism, and intrigue set against a backdrop of vintage Hollywood Gothic noir.
Il Futuro follows two teenage orphans, Bianca and Tomas, who become intertwined with two untrustworthy opportunists from the local gym. These acquaintances persuade Bianca (the eldest of the orphans, played by Manuela Martelli) to infiltrate and rob the home of one of their ex-clients, Marciste (Rutger Hauer) – a blind, former Mister Universe and movie star who has become something of a recluse. However, Bianca’s developing feelings for Marciste seem set to compromise her original intentions.
From the onset Scherson’s distinct...
- 6/28/2013
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Attention people in Chile, Chileans or tourists visiting, there's a new movie opening today (June 6) and it's one of the most long-awaited Chilean productions of all year (besides the two films starring Michael Cera and directed by Sebastiàn Silva). Directed by Alicia Scherson and starring the international star Rutger Hauer (Hobo with a Shotgun, Blade Runner) and the most beloved young actress of Chile, Manuela Martelli (Machuca, B-Happy), The Future opens on more than 12 screens all over Chile, including the always classic "Cine Normandie," as well as in major chains.The film, based on the novel "Una novelita lumpen" by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, follows Bianca (Martelli) and her brother after the death of their parents and how they reflect their life in a lonely apartment...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/6/2013
- Screen Anarchy
If May was a good month for Latin America cinema, June has also its highlights.Last week Chilean cinemas saw the premiere of Carne De Perro (Dog Flesh) from Fernando Guzzoni, winner of the Kutxa-New Directors Award of the San Sebastian International Film Festival 2013. We have yet to see its impact after its first weekend. Don't miss this gruesome and disturbing film about a former torturer facing his past during the Pinochet dictatorship. Disclaimer: no dogs were harmed in the making of this film. Alicia Scherson's third film will be hitting the screens on 6 June. Scherson first read Roberto Bolaño's book in 2005, the same year her sophomore film Play was being premiered around the globe. Il Futuro, with Manuela Martelli (Machuca) and Rutger Hauer in the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/3/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Title: The Future Director: Alicia Scherson Starring: Manuela Martelli, Nicolas Vaporidis, Luigi Ciardo, Alessandro Giallocosta, Rutger Hauer. ‘Il Futuro’ (The Future) has surprisingly managed to be part of the world dramatic competition programme of Sundance 2013. The grand opening of the movie, which homages Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining,’ (with a yellow Fiat taking the place of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle), creates great expectations. But as soon as the two lead actors are left on their own, everything collapses. For her third feature film, Chilean born director Alicia Scherson adapts cult Latin American author Roberto Bolano’s novel, ‘Un Romanzetto Lumpen,’ on a peculiar coming-of-age story, that begins when the parents of [ Read More ]
The post The Future Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Future Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/25/2013
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
Several films which premiered at Sundance -- Soldier Jane (Isa: Premium Films), Fat Shaker, What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love, Stoker (Fox and Fox Searchlight) and Il Futuro (Isa: Visit Films) -- have gone on to take awards at the recently wrapped International Film Festival Rotterdam.
And the winners are…
Hivos Tiger Awards
The three winners of the equal Hivos Tiger Awards 2013 are:
My Dog Killer (Môj pes Killer) (Isa: M-appeal) by Mira Fornay (Slovakia/Czech Republic, 2013). An unflinching study of a troubled teen in small-town Slovakia, the film was praised by its jury for 'showing a very strong subject from the inside' Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane) (Isa: Premium Films) by Daniel Hoesl (Austria, 2012). A provocative portrait of two women from different ends of the social spectrum, Hoesl's debut feature was commended for it 'strong imagery and visual power.' Fat Shaker (Larzanandeye charbi) by Mohammad Shirvani (Iran, 2013). Shirvani's drama about a stern patriarch was, the jury stated, 'a fascinating story with superb characters.' Apparently the film’s showing in the West has caused some problems at home. See Indiewire story here.
The jury of the 2013 Hivos Tiger Awards Competition (prize €15.000) consisted of distinguished Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamedarya; Russian scriptwriter and filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa; Dutch filmmaker Kees Hin; José Luis Cienfuegos, artistic director of the Seville European Film Festival (Spain) and Chinese visual artist and filmmaker Ai Weiwei(who was not be able to attend the festival and commented on his jury duty in a prerecorded video message). They made their announcement of the winners at the Awards Ceremony in Rotterdam.
The winners of the Netpac, Fipresci and Knf awards were also announced. Two of the winners were supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, and one was a CineMart project.
Netpac Award
The Netpac Jury (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) awards the best Asian film in Iffr 2013 official selection. The winner of the Netpac Award 2013 is What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love (Indonesia, 2013). It also had received money earlier from the Hubert Bals Fund.
Fipresci Award
The winner of the Rotterdam Fipresci Award 2013 (see photo on this page for selected jury members) is The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser by Alberto Gracia (Spain, 2013)
The Big Screen Award
Introduced this year, the Big Screen Award Competition aims to support the distribution of films in Dutch cinemas. The Iffr named Pretty Butterflies (Bellas mariposas) by Salvatore Mereu (Italy, 2012) as winner of its new Big Screen Award Competition. The film follows a day in the life of a young Sardinian girl.
Knf Award
The Dutch Circle of Film Critics (Knf) Jury award – chosen from the ten films in The Big Screen Award Competition – went to The Future (Il futuro) by Alicia Scherson (Chile/Germany/Italy/Spain, 2013).
And the winners are…
Hivos Tiger Awards
The three winners of the equal Hivos Tiger Awards 2013 are:
My Dog Killer (Môj pes Killer) (Isa: M-appeal) by Mira Fornay (Slovakia/Czech Republic, 2013). An unflinching study of a troubled teen in small-town Slovakia, the film was praised by its jury for 'showing a very strong subject from the inside' Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane) (Isa: Premium Films) by Daniel Hoesl (Austria, 2012). A provocative portrait of two women from different ends of the social spectrum, Hoesl's debut feature was commended for it 'strong imagery and visual power.' Fat Shaker (Larzanandeye charbi) by Mohammad Shirvani (Iran, 2013). Shirvani's drama about a stern patriarch was, the jury stated, 'a fascinating story with superb characters.' Apparently the film’s showing in the West has caused some problems at home. See Indiewire story here.
The jury of the 2013 Hivos Tiger Awards Competition (prize €15.000) consisted of distinguished Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamedarya; Russian scriptwriter and filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa; Dutch filmmaker Kees Hin; José Luis Cienfuegos, artistic director of the Seville European Film Festival (Spain) and Chinese visual artist and filmmaker Ai Weiwei(who was not be able to attend the festival and commented on his jury duty in a prerecorded video message). They made their announcement of the winners at the Awards Ceremony in Rotterdam.
The winners of the Netpac, Fipresci and Knf awards were also announced. Two of the winners were supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, and one was a CineMart project.
Netpac Award
The Netpac Jury (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) awards the best Asian film in Iffr 2013 official selection. The winner of the Netpac Award 2013 is What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love (Indonesia, 2013). It also had received money earlier from the Hubert Bals Fund.
Fipresci Award
The winner of the Rotterdam Fipresci Award 2013 (see photo on this page for selected jury members) is The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser by Alberto Gracia (Spain, 2013)
The Big Screen Award
Introduced this year, the Big Screen Award Competition aims to support the distribution of films in Dutch cinemas. The Iffr named Pretty Butterflies (Bellas mariposas) by Salvatore Mereu (Italy, 2012) as winner of its new Big Screen Award Competition. The film follows a day in the life of a young Sardinian girl.
Knf Award
The Dutch Circle of Film Critics (Knf) Jury award – chosen from the ten films in The Big Screen Award Competition – went to The Future (Il futuro) by Alicia Scherson (Chile/Germany/Italy/Spain, 2013).
- 2/6/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Daniel Hoesl’s serenely composed film, that invites the mind to go on safari without a script, Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane) from Austria, shared top honors as one of three Tiger Award winners at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam. The other Tiger Award winners are Mira Fornay’s My Dog Killer, a Slovakia-Czech Republic production and Mohammad Shirvani’s Fat Shaker from Iran. Each Tiger Award winner receives a cash prize of €15,000.
Soldate Jeannette Director Daniel Hoesl goes on safari and bags a Tiger.
The Fipresci Award was presented to Alberto Gracia from Spain, for his film The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser.
Salvatore Mereu's Pretty Butterflies from Italy wins the newly launched Big Screen Award and Indonesian film What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love by Mouly Surya, the Netpac Award.
The Dutch Circle of Film Critics Jury award went to Alicia Scherson...
Soldate Jeannette Director Daniel Hoesl goes on safari and bags a Tiger.
The Fipresci Award was presented to Alberto Gracia from Spain, for his film The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser.
Salvatore Mereu's Pretty Butterflies from Italy wins the newly launched Big Screen Award and Indonesian film What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love by Mouly Surya, the Netpac Award.
The Dutch Circle of Film Critics Jury award went to Alicia Scherson...
- 2/3/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Still from My Dog Killer
Mira Fornay’s My Dog Killer (Slovakia-Czech Republic), Daniel Hoesl’s Soldier Jane (Austria) and Mohammad Shirvani’s Fat Shaker (Iran) won the Tiger Awards at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam. The award comprises of cash prize of Euro 15,000 for each winner.
The newly introduced Big Screen Award was bagged by Italian film Pretty Butterflies by Salvatore Mereu. The Netpac Award went to Indonesian film What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love by Mouly Surya and the Fipresci Award was presented to The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser by Alberto Gracia from Spain. The Future, a Chile-Germany-Italy-Spain co-production directed by Alicia Scherson won the Knf Award 2013.
Slovakia-CzechRepublic co-production My Dog Killer narrates the tale of 18 year-old Merek whose only friend and true company is his dog. Merek, neglected by his family, blindly follows the local goons. One day, his mother and half-brother return,...
Mira Fornay’s My Dog Killer (Slovakia-Czech Republic), Daniel Hoesl’s Soldier Jane (Austria) and Mohammad Shirvani’s Fat Shaker (Iran) won the Tiger Awards at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam. The award comprises of cash prize of Euro 15,000 for each winner.
The newly introduced Big Screen Award was bagged by Italian film Pretty Butterflies by Salvatore Mereu. The Netpac Award went to Indonesian film What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love by Mouly Surya and the Fipresci Award was presented to The Fifth Gospel of Kaspar Hauser by Alberto Gracia from Spain. The Future, a Chile-Germany-Italy-Spain co-production directed by Alicia Scherson won the Knf Award 2013.
Slovakia-CzechRepublic co-production My Dog Killer narrates the tale of 18 year-old Merek whose only friend and true company is his dog. Merek, neglected by his family, blindly follows the local goons. One day, his mother and half-brother return,...
- 2/2/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Here is a complete listing of the films that were shown/covered by the Ioncinema.com team comprised of Nicholas Bell (Nb), Jordan M. Smith (Js) and Eric Lavallee (El). We’ll be populating this page up until March.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Afternoon Delight – Jill Soloway: Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Ain’T Them Bodies Saints – David Lowery: El (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review // Interview
Austenland- Jerusha Hess: Nb (★): Review
C.O.G.- Kyle Patrick Alvarez: Js (★★ 1/2), Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Concussion – Stacie Passon: El (★★★), Js (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★): Review // Interview
Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes – Francesca Gregorini: Js (★★★), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review
Fruitvale – Ryan Coogler: El (★★★), Js (★★★★★), Nb (★★★★): Review // Interview // Video
In A World… – Lake Bell: El (★★★): Review
Kill Your Darlings – John Krokidas: El (★★★), Nb (★★★): Review
The Lifeguard – Liz W. Garcia: El (★★ 1/2): Review
May In The Summer...
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Afternoon Delight – Jill Soloway: Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Ain’T Them Bodies Saints – David Lowery: El (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review // Interview
Austenland- Jerusha Hess: Nb (★): Review
C.O.G.- Kyle Patrick Alvarez: Js (★★ 1/2), Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Concussion – Stacie Passon: El (★★★), Js (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★): Review // Interview
Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes – Francesca Gregorini: Js (★★★), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review
Fruitvale – Ryan Coogler: El (★★★), Js (★★★★★), Nb (★★★★): Review // Interview // Video
In A World… – Lake Bell: El (★★★): Review
Kill Your Darlings – John Krokidas: El (★★★), Nb (★★★): Review
The Lifeguard – Liz W. Garcia: El (★★ 1/2): Review
May In The Summer...
- 1/29/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Il Futuro had me at the opening homage to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, with a yellow Fiat taking the place of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. As it turns out, that Fiat is the very vessel in which Bianca (Manuela Martelli) and Tomas' (Luigi Ciardo) parents die, leaving Bianca and Tomas to manage their home in Rome. Bianca is old enough to become Tomas' guardian and they are able to get money from their father's trust while their mother's funds are inexplicably tied up. Bianca is still forced to find a job to supplement the trust funds and Tomas willingly volunteers at the gym in exchange for being able to work out there. It is at the gym that Tomas meets two strange friends (Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta). Soon Bianca and Tomas are entwined in a risky scheme that involves a former Mr. Universe-cum-actor who goes by the name of his most famous character,...
- 1/22/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Chilean budding-biologist-turned-filmmaker Alicia Scherson debuted her first film "Play" at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, where it took home an award for Best Director. She's at Sundancw with the World Dramatic Competition contender (her third feature-length film) "Il Futuro (The Future)." What It's About: Il Futuro is about Bianca and her brother Tomas who are suddenly orphaned after their parents die in a car crash. They are teenagers, they are virgins, and they are all alone in the world. They welcome two strangers into their parents house in Rome and together they come up with a plan to get money: to steal from Maciste, an ex-Mr Universe living alone in an abandoned dark mansion. And So It's Really About: Il Futuro is about finding weird ways of surviving tragedy so you can keep going after everything goes really wrong. It's also about old movies, tired heroes, ancient Rome, contemporary Europe, bodybuilders,...
- 1/22/2013
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
*Note Updates in next blog: Sundance By Numbers Update
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
- 1/20/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
#5. Interior. Leather Bar
Who: While everyone may be familiar with actor/director James Franco, they not be as aware of the filmmaker he’s paired with to direct Interior. Leather Bar, Travis Mathews. With a background in documentary, Mathews professes to use this and his Masters in Counseling Psychology to make films that focus on gay men and intimacy. He already has a series of short films about gay men and bedrooms and a well received 2012 feature film, I Want Your Love to his name.
What: His pairing with Franco on a project aims to recreate the lost 40 minutes of footage that William Friedkin was forced to cut from his controversial 1980 film Cruising.
Where: Franco’s interview also features a clip, while Franco’s co-director posted the trailer on his vimeo channel.
When: Shot in Los Angeles, CA over the course of a day in July, 2012, produced by RabbitBandini Productions...
Who: While everyone may be familiar with actor/director James Franco, they not be as aware of the filmmaker he’s paired with to direct Interior. Leather Bar, Travis Mathews. With a background in documentary, Mathews professes to use this and his Masters in Counseling Psychology to make films that focus on gay men and intimacy. He already has a series of short films about gay men and bedrooms and a well received 2012 feature film, I Want Your Love to his name.
What: His pairing with Franco on a project aims to recreate the lost 40 minutes of footage that William Friedkin was forced to cut from his controversial 1980 film Cruising.
Where: Franco’s interview also features a clip, while Franco’s co-director posted the trailer on his vimeo channel.
When: Shot in Los Angeles, CA over the course of a day in July, 2012, produced by RabbitBandini Productions...
- 1/17/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Here are some of the twitter feeds for those participating in the Sundance Film Festival’s 2013 Premieres and Docu Premieres section including (image featured above) Who is Dayani Cristal?. If you know of any other twitter feeds (producers, production houses, editors, Dps, scribes – etc.) we can add for each individual film – please let us know.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
The Future
Director and screenwriter Alicia Scherson – @scherson
Houston
Actor Garret Dillahunt – @garretdillahunt
Metro Manila
Actors Jake Macapagal – @jakepromac, John Arcilla – @JohnArcilla, Althea Vega – @altheavega
Soldate Jeannette – @Jeannette_film
What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love
Director and screenwriter Mouly Surya – @moulysurya
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Fire in the Blood – @fitbmovie
Director Dylan Mohan Gray – @DylanMohanGray
Google and the World Brain
Director Ben Lewis – @artsafarist
The Moo Man
Directors Andy Heathcote – @moomanmovie, Heike Bachelier – @HeikeBachelier
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer – @PussyRiotDoc
Co-director Maxim Pozdorovkin – @pozdor
A River...
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
The Future
Director and screenwriter Alicia Scherson – @scherson
Houston
Actor Garret Dillahunt – @garretdillahunt
Metro Manila
Actors Jake Macapagal – @jakepromac, John Arcilla – @JohnArcilla, Althea Vega – @altheavega
Soldate Jeannette – @Jeannette_film
What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love
Director and screenwriter Mouly Surya – @moulysurya
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Fire in the Blood – @fitbmovie
Director Dylan Mohan Gray – @DylanMohanGray
Google and the World Brain
Director Ben Lewis – @artsafarist
The Moo Man
Directors Andy Heathcote – @moomanmovie, Heike Bachelier – @HeikeBachelier
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer – @PussyRiotDoc
Co-director Maxim Pozdorovkin – @pozdor
A River...
- 1/17/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The Future Trailer, Poster, Photo. Alicia Scherson‘s The Future / Il Futuro (2012) movie trailer stars Rutger Hauer, Manuela Martelli, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, and Pino Calabrese. The Future‘s plot synopsis: based on the novel Una Novelita Lumpen by Robert Bolaño, “When their parents die, Bianca (Manuela Martelli) starts to smoke and Tomas [...]
Continue reading: The Future / Il Futuro (2012) Movie Trailer, Poster, Photos...
Continue reading: The Future / Il Futuro (2012) Movie Trailer, Poster, Photos...
- 1/15/2013
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Today we have the trailer for the upcoming "Il Futuro (The Future)" film, starring Rutger Hauer (Batman Begins, Blade Runner), in which he plays a retired bodybuilder and B-movie actor. Check out the trailer below. Plot: Maciste (Hauer), a retired Mr. Universe, lives alone in his mansion, until the beautiful, and recently orphaned Bianca (Manuela Martelli), begins a relationship with him as part of a heist to help her brother and friends. The new movie is directed by Alicia Scherson and will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in a few days. A release date has yet to be announced. Trailer:...
- 1/15/2013
- WorstPreviews.com
It's hard to believe, but the 2013 Sundance Film Festival is just a few days away. Myself and Alex Billington will be heading to the mountains in Park City, Utah to start the buzz on the latest (and hopefully greatest) independent films to hit the big screen. We've already featured trailers for films like Google and the World Brain and Big Sur, and now a sexy trailer for a foreign film called Il Futuro (or The Future) has emerged. Rutger Hauer plays a retired Mr. Universe and B-movie star living along in his mansion until the beautiful recently orphaned Bianca (Manuela Martelli), begins a relationship with him as part of a heist to help her brother and friends get back on their feet. It looks saucy, thrilling and provoking. Watch! Here's the somewhat Nsfw first trailer for Alicia Scherson's Il Futuro from The Playlist: When their parents die, Bianca (Manuela Martelli...
- 1/14/2013
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
There are few actors on the big screen who command the kind of presence Rutger Hauer brings to the various roles he plays. While he's mostly known to North American audiences for his roles in genre films such as "Blade Runner," "Sin City," "Hobo With A Shotgun" and more, Hauer is also a gifted dramatic actor, and he heads to the Sundance Film Festival this week with a tantalizing drama that should shed some new light on his talent. Hauer stars in Alicia Scherson's "Il Futuro," an adaptation of the novel by the acclaimed author Roberto Bolano. The actor plays Maciste, a blind former B-movie star who lives alone in a beautiful mansion. He soon crosses paths with the beautiful Bianca (Manuela Martelli), who begins a relationship with him, but is hiding a secret -- she has been sent by her brother and his friends, to get close to...
- 1/14/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
If you’re attending Sundance this year and have already started thinking, “man, I would really love to see a dramatic feature that stars Rutger Hauer as an aging and blind B-movie star who is also a hermit and who was also Mr. Universe and who also lives in a rococo mansion in Rome,” then we have got the only film you’ll need to see at this month’s film festival. Based on Roberto Bolano‘s novel “Una Novelita Lumpen,” Alicia Scherson‘s Il Futuro stars Hauer as, well, an aging and blind B-movie star who is also a hermit and who was also Mr. Universe and who also lives in a rococo mansion in Rome – but wait! there’s also romantic intrigue here! Co-starring Manuela Martelli as a recently-orphaned adolescent who is tricked by her dirtbag friends into seducing Hauer’s Maciste, the film centers on the unexpected relationship that blossoms between the pair. The...
- 1/7/2013
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute said, “Every great film starts with an idea, and it is a testament to artists that they continually find new ideas, new stories, new points of view and new ways of sharing them, year after year. We look forward to hearing from these artists not just through their words and images onscreen but also through the larger dialogue they create with audiences at our Festival and beyond.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever. Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition. These films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
In addition, the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as selections for the Short Film section, are forthcoming.
On Day One, January 17, 2013, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
A selection of films from the 2013 Festival will also be presented at the second Sundance London film and music festival, April 25-28 at The O2.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Each year at this time we look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the discovery of new voices at the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival continues to reflect the spirit of innovation and creativity in independent cinema, not only in the stories themselves but also in how the films are produced and making their way to audiences.”
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Afternoon Delight/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.
Austenland/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined.Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
C.O.G./ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris' work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario.
Concussion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
Fruitvale/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
In a World.../ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen.
The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert.
May in the Summer/ U.S.A., Qatar, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Cherien Dabis) — A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. Cast: Cherien Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Alexander Siddig. Day One Film
Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.
The Spectacular Now/ U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.
Touchy Feely/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais.
Toy's House/ U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
Upstream Color/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer.Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch/ U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
The Good Life/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from Progeria, a rare and fatal disease for which there is no treatment or cure. In less than a decade, their work has led to significant advances.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Manhunt/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Circles/ Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. World Premiere
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
The Future/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Houston/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Bastian Günther) — Clemens Trunschka is a corporate headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. While searching for a CEO candidate in Houston, his addiction submerges him into his own darkness. Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Garret Dillahunt, Wolfram Koch, Jenny Schily, Jason Douglas, Jens Münchow. World Premiere
Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul Sung, Jung-won Yang, Young-soon Oh, Soon-dong Park, Suk-bum Moon, Kyung-sub Jang. International Premiere
Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere
Shopping / New Zealand (Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Screenwriters: Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston) — New Zealand, 1981: Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies – with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning. World Premiere
Soldate Jeannette/ Austria (Director: Daniel Hoesl) — Fanni has had enough of money and leaves to buy a tent. Anna has had enough of pigs and leaves a needle in the hay. Cars crash and money burns to shape their mutual journey toward a rising liberty. Cast: Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Christina Reichsthaler, Josef Kleindienst, Aurelia Burckhardt, Julia Schranz, Ines Rössl. World Premiere
There Will Come a Day/ Italy, France (Director: Giorgio Diritti, Screenwriters: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Tania Pedroni) — Painful issues push Augusta, a young Italian woman, to doubt the certainties on which she has built her existence. On a small boat in the immensity of the Amazon rain forest, she faces the adventure of searching for herself. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Anne Alvaro, Pia Engleberth. World Premiere
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)/ Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. World Premiere
What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love/ Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Mouly Surya) — Mouly Surya’s film explores the odds of love and deception among the blind, the deaf and the unlucky sighted people at a high school for the visually impaired. Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.
Fallen City / China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet, Google has been scanning the world's books for 10 years. They said the intention was to build a giant digital library, but that involved scanning millions of copyrighted works. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (El Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.
Blue Caprice/ U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
Computer Chess /U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
Escape from Tomorrow/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
I Used to Be Darker/ U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
Milkshake/ U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
Newlyweeds/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Pit Stop/ U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn't quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
A Teacher/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.
This is Martin Bonner/ U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever. Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition. These films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
In addition, the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as selections for the Short Film section, are forthcoming.
On Day One, January 17, 2013, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
A selection of films from the 2013 Festival will also be presented at the second Sundance London film and music festival, April 25-28 at The O2.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Each year at this time we look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the discovery of new voices at the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival continues to reflect the spirit of innovation and creativity in independent cinema, not only in the stories themselves but also in how the films are produced and making their way to audiences.”
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Afternoon Delight/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.
Austenland/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined.Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
C.O.G./ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris' work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario.
Concussion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
Fruitvale/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
In a World.../ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen.
The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert.
May in the Summer/ U.S.A., Qatar, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Cherien Dabis) — A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. Cast: Cherien Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Alexander Siddig. Day One Film
Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.
The Spectacular Now/ U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.
Touchy Feely/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais.
Toy's House/ U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
Upstream Color/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer.Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch/ U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
The Good Life/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from Progeria, a rare and fatal disease for which there is no treatment or cure. In less than a decade, their work has led to significant advances.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Manhunt/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Circles/ Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. World Premiere
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
The Future/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Houston/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Bastian Günther) — Clemens Trunschka is a corporate headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. While searching for a CEO candidate in Houston, his addiction submerges him into his own darkness. Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Garret Dillahunt, Wolfram Koch, Jenny Schily, Jason Douglas, Jens Münchow. World Premiere
Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul Sung, Jung-won Yang, Young-soon Oh, Soon-dong Park, Suk-bum Moon, Kyung-sub Jang. International Premiere
Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere
Shopping / New Zealand (Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Screenwriters: Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston) — New Zealand, 1981: Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies – with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning. World Premiere
Soldate Jeannette/ Austria (Director: Daniel Hoesl) — Fanni has had enough of money and leaves to buy a tent. Anna has had enough of pigs and leaves a needle in the hay. Cars crash and money burns to shape their mutual journey toward a rising liberty. Cast: Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Christina Reichsthaler, Josef Kleindienst, Aurelia Burckhardt, Julia Schranz, Ines Rössl. World Premiere
There Will Come a Day/ Italy, France (Director: Giorgio Diritti, Screenwriters: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Tania Pedroni) — Painful issues push Augusta, a young Italian woman, to doubt the certainties on which she has built her existence. On a small boat in the immensity of the Amazon rain forest, she faces the adventure of searching for herself. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Anne Alvaro, Pia Engleberth. World Premiere
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)/ Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. World Premiere
What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love/ Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Mouly Surya) — Mouly Surya’s film explores the odds of love and deception among the blind, the deaf and the unlucky sighted people at a high school for the visually impaired. Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.
Fallen City / China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet, Google has been scanning the world's books for 10 years. They said the intention was to build a giant digital library, but that involved scanning millions of copyrighted works. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (El Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
Next <=>
Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.
Blue Caprice/ U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
Computer Chess /U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
Escape from Tomorrow/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
I Used to Be Darker/ U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
Milkshake/ U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
Newlyweeds/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Pit Stop/ U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn't quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
A Teacher/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.
This is Martin Bonner/ U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- 12/27/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Two much talked about horror flicks will be making their premieres at the 42nd International Film Festival at Rotterdam. Rotterdam will announce its full 2013 lineup on January 9. The acclaimed art-house festival runs January 23 to February 3.
According to THR, new works by acclaimed Japanese horror director Nakata Hideo (The Ring), Romania's Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu), and French filmmaker Marion Hansel (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) will unspool at the fest.
Hideo's latest horror fest, The Complex, will have its world premiere in Rotterdam, as will Hansel's Tenderness. A trio of new titles from Puiu - The Cat Is on the Chair, The Monkey Is on the Branch, and The Mouse Is Under the Table - will all have their international premieres at the Iffr.
Other highlights at Rotterdam include Japan's Tragedy, a family drama from director Kobayashi Masahiro (The Rebirth), which is dedicated to the...
According to THR, new works by acclaimed Japanese horror director Nakata Hideo (The Ring), Romania's Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu), and French filmmaker Marion Hansel (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) will unspool at the fest.
Hideo's latest horror fest, The Complex, will have its world premiere in Rotterdam, as will Hansel's Tenderness. A trio of new titles from Puiu - The Cat Is on the Chair, The Monkey Is on the Branch, and The Mouse Is Under the Table - will all have their international premieres at the Iffr.
Other highlights at Rotterdam include Japan's Tragedy, a family drama from director Kobayashi Masahiro (The Rebirth), which is dedicated to the...
- 12/17/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Glad you asked. Now that the entire programming slate has been announced for the 2013 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, let’s take a look at the representation of Latinos in the broadest, most diverse sense, because that is what that ill-defined lump category encompasses. {Full disclosure: I work as a Programming Associate for the Festival. These are not reviews but an insider breaking-it-down preview}
At first glance the Latino representation may not seem obvious. Nor may it seem as strong as the films and filmmakers from the African-American and Lgbt community representing, or the record breaking number of female directors’ – each group highly visible by their nature. We may not have a Mosquita y Mari or Filly Brown, two fiction films, which broke out of the festival this past year, but we do have two hugely relevant and urgent documentaries, Narco Cultura which explores the phenomenal music and social culture being shaped and perpetuated by the influence of Mexico’s violent drug cartels, and Who Is Dayani Cristal? an innovative doc-fiction hybrid produced by Gael Garcia Bernal that will hopefully re-divert much needed attention back to the Us/Mexico border. By the way, Who is Dayani Cristal? screens in the high profile Day One slot.
What’s Latino anyway?
I personally embrace the responsibility of changing the conversation as to what constitutes representing American Latinos. First, by focusing on both the above-the- line-talent (filmmaker or actor) And storyline/subject. The second part is highlighting the second, third, fourth and so-on generations of filmmakers. What about the filmmakers in the festival like Kyle Patrick Alvarez (C.O.G), Liz W. Garcia (The Lifeguard) and Eduardo Sanchez (S-vhs horror anthology and co-director of the infamous Blair Witch Project)? I don’t know these filmmakers personally so I can’t speak to how they might view their cultural identities and how it informs their work, if at all. But I do believe it is worth pointing out and feeling good about these last names being out there as part of the mainstream fabric. It is similar to how Robert Rodriguez does not identify himself as a Mexican-American yet his last name has been key to driving the younger Latino generation in feeling a proud connection as an American and not just “dash” American.
Chile is still hot
There are three films from Chilean filmmakers. In unprecedented fashion – because that’s how Sundance likes to roll- there is a repeat of last year with two in competition, El Futuro by Alicia Scherson (mostly taking place in Italy) and Magic Fairy by Sebastian Silva, an alumnus who broke out in 2009 with La Nana. In the section Spotlight aka “Movies we love and don’t care if they’ve traveled the festival circuit”, is Pablo Larrain’s No starring Gael Garcia Bernal. Chilean cinema is hot and king of engrossing character-driven fare. What we are seeing is a boom on two fronts; an invigorating new generation of provocateurs (Marialy Rivas’s Young & Wild comes to mind) and a slightly older generation of equally exciting filmmakers who continue to sustain their careers with their distinct voice (like Pablo Larrain along with Andres Wood).
So now lets dive in and look at the list. Loglines copied from official press release – Bold Italics are my comments.
Us Dramatic Competition
Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
Puerto-Rican Diaz delivers a fiercely moving performance embodying the girlfriend of Oscar Grant who was with him that fateful day. Diaz is no stranger to the festival. She’s previously been at the festival with four films including seminal indie American Latino story, Raising Victor Vargas 2002 and comedies like Hamlet 2 20008. Why homegirl hasn’t gotten more props for her mad acting skills I don’t know, but this girl is wildly talented and Fruitvale showcases her dramatic chops.
Us Documentary Competition
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Absolutely arresting photography that works in giving weight to the violent images the public has become numb from seeing. I predict some of my hard core brown and proud friends might focus and hence diminish this film based on the fact that this bi-cultural, Mexican-American subject is made by non-Latino filmmakers. It could be argued as a valid point. When it comes to documentaries a legit question to make when evaluating is “What makes This person the right one to tackle This subject? What is their connection?” Let’s watch it to find out, then give consideration to what other docs are currently out there on this same timely topic made by Latinos, and without bias regard their depth and artistic merit.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
This marks Sebastian’s third appearance at the festival following La Nana and Gatos Viejos. Remember what I said about character driven? Silva excels at getting at spilling out the insides of his protagonists.
The Future / Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Scherson’s last film, Turistas screened at various film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009. Shot in another country and in a different language, The Future continues the filmmaker’s incisive capturing of the strong female led journey.
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
An extraordinary cinematic and symbolic approach to the border crossing genre, this meta reflexive journey retraced by none other than Gael Garcia Bernal imagines the grueling experience of a migrant and who he might have been. Bernal has been lending his star power to the social justice causes that move him and you can tell its genuine.
New Frontier
Halley / Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores
As unsettling it is watch, its as deep to ponder, this incredibly-shot first feature had its world premiere at the Morelia Film Festival and its inclusion in the most daring section of the festival speaks to the highly diverse and radical new cinema coming from Mexico.
Spotlight
No / Chile, U.S.A. (Director: Pablo Larraín, Screenwriter: Pedro Peirano) — When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet calls for a referendum to decide his permanence in power, the opposition persuades a young advertising executive to head its campaign. With limited resources and under scrutiny, he conceives a plan to win the election. Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Antonia Zegers, Luis Gnecco, Marcial Tagle, Néstor Cantillana.
There have been many films about the Pinochet regime and its wide-reaching after effects. But none have had as unique an entry point as No. Trust.
Midnight
We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.
Okay, I only include this because this is based on the Mexican cult hit, Somos Lo que Hay by Jorge Michel Grau. Jim Mickle of Stakeland has promised to “Not Fuck it Up per Twitch interview
To cap off the features; Stalwart Spanish actor Alfred Molina is in Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes by Francesca Gregorini in Us Dramatic Competition, and we have a strong acting splash by Marcus DeAnda, a co-lead in Pit Stop directed by Yen Tan and co-written by David Lowery. The film about two gay working class lovers in small town Texas is in the Next section.
And lets not forget about shorts!
Short Film Competition
Broken Night / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga) — A young woman and her four-year-old daughter drive across desolated hills. Everything looks fine and they seem to enjoy the ride, until an accident sends them into the nightmare of darkness.
Ever since writing and directing team Arriga and Innaritu broke up (Amores Perros, Babel) Arriaga has been trying to make his stamp directing his own material.
The Companion / Peru (Director and screenwriter: Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio) — On the outskirts of Lima, a young prostitute tends to his father, a fallen-from-grace artisan. However, the young man feels that his efforts are never enough. He tries to break free, but his father’s dependence is stronger than his son’s will.
Intriguing and highly atmospheric gem from Peru!
Chicago? Check. Mexicans check! No, but really this intimate glimpse is poetic and moving.
A Story for the Modlins / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriter: Sergio Oksman) —The tale of Elmer Modlin, who, after appearing in Rosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years.
Must see. Fascinating and inventive ‘Found family photos’ yarn.
#PostModem / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.
My favorite locos from Miami. After making the rounds with Life & Freaky Times of Uncle Luke, which played last year, these rump-shakers have been busy with their work in and out of their funky audiovisual collective Borscht Corp.
If you are heading to Park City I highly recommend you register to purchase Advance tickets here. See you on the mountain!
At first glance the Latino representation may not seem obvious. Nor may it seem as strong as the films and filmmakers from the African-American and Lgbt community representing, or the record breaking number of female directors’ – each group highly visible by their nature. We may not have a Mosquita y Mari or Filly Brown, two fiction films, which broke out of the festival this past year, but we do have two hugely relevant and urgent documentaries, Narco Cultura which explores the phenomenal music and social culture being shaped and perpetuated by the influence of Mexico’s violent drug cartels, and Who Is Dayani Cristal? an innovative doc-fiction hybrid produced by Gael Garcia Bernal that will hopefully re-divert much needed attention back to the Us/Mexico border. By the way, Who is Dayani Cristal? screens in the high profile Day One slot.
What’s Latino anyway?
I personally embrace the responsibility of changing the conversation as to what constitutes representing American Latinos. First, by focusing on both the above-the- line-talent (filmmaker or actor) And storyline/subject. The second part is highlighting the second, third, fourth and so-on generations of filmmakers. What about the filmmakers in the festival like Kyle Patrick Alvarez (C.O.G), Liz W. Garcia (The Lifeguard) and Eduardo Sanchez (S-vhs horror anthology and co-director of the infamous Blair Witch Project)? I don’t know these filmmakers personally so I can’t speak to how they might view their cultural identities and how it informs their work, if at all. But I do believe it is worth pointing out and feeling good about these last names being out there as part of the mainstream fabric. It is similar to how Robert Rodriguez does not identify himself as a Mexican-American yet his last name has been key to driving the younger Latino generation in feeling a proud connection as an American and not just “dash” American.
Chile is still hot
There are three films from Chilean filmmakers. In unprecedented fashion – because that’s how Sundance likes to roll- there is a repeat of last year with two in competition, El Futuro by Alicia Scherson (mostly taking place in Italy) and Magic Fairy by Sebastian Silva, an alumnus who broke out in 2009 with La Nana. In the section Spotlight aka “Movies we love and don’t care if they’ve traveled the festival circuit”, is Pablo Larrain’s No starring Gael Garcia Bernal. Chilean cinema is hot and king of engrossing character-driven fare. What we are seeing is a boom on two fronts; an invigorating new generation of provocateurs (Marialy Rivas’s Young & Wild comes to mind) and a slightly older generation of equally exciting filmmakers who continue to sustain their careers with their distinct voice (like Pablo Larrain along with Andres Wood).
So now lets dive in and look at the list. Loglines copied from official press release – Bold Italics are my comments.
Us Dramatic Competition
Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
Puerto-Rican Diaz delivers a fiercely moving performance embodying the girlfriend of Oscar Grant who was with him that fateful day. Diaz is no stranger to the festival. She’s previously been at the festival with four films including seminal indie American Latino story, Raising Victor Vargas 2002 and comedies like Hamlet 2 20008. Why homegirl hasn’t gotten more props for her mad acting skills I don’t know, but this girl is wildly talented and Fruitvale showcases her dramatic chops.
Us Documentary Competition
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Absolutely arresting photography that works in giving weight to the violent images the public has become numb from seeing. I predict some of my hard core brown and proud friends might focus and hence diminish this film based on the fact that this bi-cultural, Mexican-American subject is made by non-Latino filmmakers. It could be argued as a valid point. When it comes to documentaries a legit question to make when evaluating is “What makes This person the right one to tackle This subject? What is their connection?” Let’s watch it to find out, then give consideration to what other docs are currently out there on this same timely topic made by Latinos, and without bias regard their depth and artistic merit.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
This marks Sebastian’s third appearance at the festival following La Nana and Gatos Viejos. Remember what I said about character driven? Silva excels at getting at spilling out the insides of his protagonists.
The Future / Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Scherson’s last film, Turistas screened at various film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009. Shot in another country and in a different language, The Future continues the filmmaker’s incisive capturing of the strong female led journey.
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
An extraordinary cinematic and symbolic approach to the border crossing genre, this meta reflexive journey retraced by none other than Gael Garcia Bernal imagines the grueling experience of a migrant and who he might have been. Bernal has been lending his star power to the social justice causes that move him and you can tell its genuine.
New Frontier
Halley / Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores
As unsettling it is watch, its as deep to ponder, this incredibly-shot first feature had its world premiere at the Morelia Film Festival and its inclusion in the most daring section of the festival speaks to the highly diverse and radical new cinema coming from Mexico.
Spotlight
No / Chile, U.S.A. (Director: Pablo Larraín, Screenwriter: Pedro Peirano) — When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet calls for a referendum to decide his permanence in power, the opposition persuades a young advertising executive to head its campaign. With limited resources and under scrutiny, he conceives a plan to win the election. Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Antonia Zegers, Luis Gnecco, Marcial Tagle, Néstor Cantillana.
There have been many films about the Pinochet regime and its wide-reaching after effects. But none have had as unique an entry point as No. Trust.
Midnight
We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.
Okay, I only include this because this is based on the Mexican cult hit, Somos Lo que Hay by Jorge Michel Grau. Jim Mickle of Stakeland has promised to “Not Fuck it Up per Twitch interview
To cap off the features; Stalwart Spanish actor Alfred Molina is in Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes by Francesca Gregorini in Us Dramatic Competition, and we have a strong acting splash by Marcus DeAnda, a co-lead in Pit Stop directed by Yen Tan and co-written by David Lowery. The film about two gay working class lovers in small town Texas is in the Next section.
And lets not forget about shorts!
Short Film Competition
Broken Night / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga) — A young woman and her four-year-old daughter drive across desolated hills. Everything looks fine and they seem to enjoy the ride, until an accident sends them into the nightmare of darkness.
Ever since writing and directing team Arriga and Innaritu broke up (Amores Perros, Babel) Arriaga has been trying to make his stamp directing his own material.
The Companion / Peru (Director and screenwriter: Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio) — On the outskirts of Lima, a young prostitute tends to his father, a fallen-from-grace artisan. However, the young man feels that his efforts are never enough. He tries to break free, but his father’s dependence is stronger than his son’s will.
Intriguing and highly atmospheric gem from Peru!
Chicago? Check. Mexicans check! No, but really this intimate glimpse is poetic and moving.
A Story for the Modlins / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriter: Sergio Oksman) —The tale of Elmer Modlin, who, after appearing in Rosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years.
Must see. Fascinating and inventive ‘Found family photos’ yarn.
#PostModem / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.
My favorite locos from Miami. After making the rounds with Life & Freaky Times of Uncle Luke, which played last year, these rump-shakers have been busy with their work in and out of their funky audiovisual collective Borscht Corp.
If you are heading to Park City I highly recommend you register to purchase Advance tickets here. See you on the mountain!
- 12/5/2012
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
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