Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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“All Films are about the Tugging of the Heart”: 5 Questions for Jeremy Irons
After attending the inaugural edition in 2001, English actor Jeremy Irons returned to the Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday night to receive a career tribute award. The Academy Award-winning star greeted fans at the fest’s opening film The Theory of Everything and accepted his award before the screening The Imitation Game the following night. The festival opened with two films about geniuses, and Irons himself plays a mathematician in the upcoming The Man Who Knew Infinity, across from Dev Patel as the famed Ramanujan. Irons has come a long way since his entry into the Hollywood elite with 1981’s […]
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Sundance Announces 2015’s Premieres and Documentary Premieres Lineups
Here’s the last of Sundance’s slate announcements for 2015, this time with the films screening in its Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections, as well as the selections for a new Special Events section and participants for two panels. Previously announced: U.S., World and NEXT sections, and the Spotlight, Midnight and New Frontiers slates. PREMIERES A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year. Brooklyn / United Kingdom (Director: John Crowley, Screenwriter: Nick Hornby, based on the book by Colm Tóibín) — 1950s Ireland: Eilis must confront a terrible dilemma — a heartbreaking […]
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Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2015 Heterodex Nominees
The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking today announced the five nominees for its annual Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine, a publication of IFP. The Cinema Eye Heterodox Award honors a narrative fiction film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production. The five films nominated this year for the Cinema Eye Heterodox Award are: Boyhood directed by Richard Linklater Heaven Knows What directed by Josh and Benny Safdie A Spell to Ward off the Darkness directed by Ben Rivers and Ben Russell Stop the Pounding Heart directed by Roberto Minervini Under the Skin directed […]
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Sundance Announces 2015 Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontiers Sections
A day after unveiling the Competition and NEXT lineups, the Sundance Institute has announced the 2015 Sundance Film Festival’s Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontiers sections. Of the Midnight section, which contains new films by Eli Roth, Rodney Ascher and, from Cannes, David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, Director of Programming Trevor Groth said in a press release, “This year’s Park City at Midnight selections have much to offer genre enthusiasts. With everything from futuristic fantasies to paranormal nightmares, it’s an all-out trip to the cinematic edge.” Of the New Frontiers section of films and installations — the latter […]
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Sundance Announces 2015 U.S. and World Competitions and NEXT Titles
The Sundance Institute today announced its 2015 Competition Titles as well as the 10 titles comprising its NEXT section. In what is always independent film’s biggest announcement of the year, Sundance revealed films that, says Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper, “take audiences on a wild ride of emotional extremes.” Submissions for 2015 hit a new high, with 4,105 feature films and 8,061 shorts submitted to the Park City, UT event. Said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam, “Independent artists are embracing diverse forms of storytelling – from feature film to New Frontier to episodic content. In response to their […]
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Birdman, Citizenfour Top the Gotham Independent Film Awards
One of the more enjoyable aspects of the Gotham Independent Film Awards is that there aren’t really any politics involved. The nominees are selected by critics, and the juries are comprised of filmmakers and actors, resulting in your fair share of wild cards, while the rest of awards season continually awards the pre-ordained “frontrunner.” Last year, it was great to see Inside Llewyn Davis take home the top prize, even if it was scarcely nominated elsewhere. Last evening, at Cipriani Wall Street, there were a few surprises, but I’d wager that Julianne Moore and Michael Keaton are going to continue apace all the way […]
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Top 10 Round-Up: John Waters, Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight and Sound
Year end top 10 lists are, for some reason, an inflammatory exercise. There are those who balk at the notion of reducing 365-ish days of output to tiers, others who seem to pride themselves on plucking unreleased titles from obscurity, along with the underlying question of authority — as though a given arrangement must be the chosen one. In any event, I just think they’re fun, and few, year after year, are as pithy as John Waters’ list for Artforum. Unsurprisingly, Maps to the Stars and Nymphomaniac make the cut, but he also gives a shout-out to the more middle of the road charmer Gloria, […]
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Slamdance Announces its 2015 Narrative and Documentary Slates
The initial lineups for the 21st edition of the Slamdance Film Festival are here via Variety‘s Dave McNary. This year’s edition sports 13 world premieres, two North American premieres and three US premieres; their statuses are noted below. For trailers and links to more information as available, turn to Fandor’s David Hudson. NARRATIVE FEATURES PROGRAM Across the Sea. Directors & Screenwriters: Nisan Dağ, Esra Saydam. (Turkey/USA). North American Premiere. Young, beautiful and pregnant, Damla has to confront her first love in a Turkish summer town before she can fully embrace her new life in New York. Cast: Damla Sönmez, Jacob Fishel, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Hakan […]
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Filmmakers Launch #BlackoutBlackFriday Day of Activism, Events and Retail Boycott
In the wake of the decision not to prosecute Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler has joined with Selma director and AFFRM founder Ava DuVernay to launch Blackout for Human Rights, “a network committed to ending human rights violations at the hands of public servants.” The group, which includes a number of directors, actors and others, builds on this week’s nationwide protests with events and actions, including today’s #BlackoutBlackFriday. From the group’s Tumblr: About #BlackoutBlackFriday: We ask those who stand with Ferguson, victims of police brutality and us to refrain […]
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2014 “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Series Announced
IFP, Filmmaker and the Museum of Modern Art are pleased to present this year’s slate for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, the annual series that spotlights films currently without theatrical distribution. Screening at MoMA from December 12 – 15, this year’s five films are Approaching the Elephant, Evaporating Borders, The Mend, L for Leisure, and Uncertain Terms. Past selections include It Felt Like Love, Frownland, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and Sun Don’t Shine, all of which eventually secured distribution. Read below for a full description of each of this year’s titles. Approaching the Elephant 2014. USA. Directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Little Falls, NJ, 2007: the new Teddy […]
