From writer/director Alex van Warmerdam (BORGMAN). Schneider, a hitman, gets a call from Mertens on the morning of his birthday. He has a last-minute assignment for Schneider. The target is Ramon Bax, a writer who lives alone in a secluded place. “It’s an easy job. With a little luck you’re back home before noon.” What was promised to be a simple hit turns out to be more than expected.
Here’s what other critics are saying:
“Putting the “dead” back in deadpan, the ninth feature of van Warmerdam is his most Coen brothers-like film yet, a western in the Dutch wetlands that’s as unpredictable as it is darkly funny.”
– Body van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter
“…the more absurd the circumstances, the more entertaining the movie gets.”
– Peter Debruge, Variety
“Van Warmerdam unfolds his rapidly escalating comedy of errors here with remarkable precision and craft.”
– Todd Brown, Twitch
Screening as a part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Showcase Series:
Sunday July 31 @ 2:00pm Monday August 1 @ 7:30pm Tuesday August 2 @ 5:00pm Wednesday August 3 @ 7:30pm
at the Riviera Theatre
2044 Alameda Padre Serra
Check back for more on this new film! See you at the movies!
SCHNEIDER VS. BAX
Written and Directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Starring Tom Dewispelaere, Alex van Warmerdam, Maria Kraakman,
Pierre Bokma, Gene Bervoets
Countries of Origin: Netherlands
Running Time: 96 min
Not Rated
Subtitled
ROME — The Venice Film Festival revealed a star-filled line-up for its 73rd annual edition on Thursday, featuring top Hollywood names and auteur directors in a wide selection of U.S. and international movies.
The world’s oldest film festival will open with Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land”, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in a musical romantic comedy-drama about a jazz pianist who falls in love with an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.
Twenty movies will compete for the Venice Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, organizers said this week in announcing the festival’s lineup.
Among them are “The Light Between Oceans,” a drama starring Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz; the thriller “Nocturnal Animals,” from the fashion designer Tom Ford; “Les Beaux Jours d’Aranjuez,” by the “Wings of Desire” director Wim Wenders; and Terrence Malick’s latest venture, “Voyage of Time.” “La La Land,” a musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, by the “Whiplash” writer and director Damien Chazelle, opens the festival on Aug. 31.
The two most recent winners of the Oscar for best picture, “Spotlight” and “Birdman,” had their world premieres in Venice.
Alongside the competition lineup, the festival includes screenings of recent major releases as well as “Orizzonti,” a secondary competition dedicated to the “latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema.” Movies that will be screened out of competition include the Austrian director Ulrich Seidl’s “Safari” and Mel Gibson’s World War II epic “Hacksaw Ridge.”
The British director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty,” “Skyfall”) will be the president of the festival’s jury.
Last year, the little-known Venezuelan movie “From Afar” was a surprise winner of the main competition’s top prize.
Coming this Fall, the 41st Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival from October 29 through November 6 – nine days bursting with stories of profound journeys, unexpected adventures and ground breaking expeditions told by renowned authors, photographers, adventurers and filmmakers from around the globe. The schedule will be announced and tickets on sale Wed, August 3 at 12 p.m.
2016 Film Competition is now open! Enter your film into the Banff Mountain Film Competition and bring the magic of mountain places and cultures, and the adrenaline of exploration and adventure to an appreciative, international audience.
The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival features a number of different competitions which garner hundreds of entries from around the world, each and every year. Genres include filmmaking, writing, photography, and others.
We won’t linger more than necessary over routine questions such as the usefulness of film festivals in the face of the ongoing changes in the demand and offering of works, how they are viewed, how they are produced, etc.
Our recognition of everything that is evolving around us and could influence this demand finds us primarily involved in adopting initiatives which can help address the changes.
All the while holding fast to a number of principles regarding our mission as a cultural institution and maintaining a number of organizational formulas. A certain stability in operating methods encourages rather than hinders the transit of innovations and the aggregation of extra initiatives.
As in other art forms, in film, too, great attention must be paid to the quality and the vitality of the works, above and beyond their genre.
Only through courageous choices and the ability to take risks can a “cultural” function be performed. We will be useful as long as we know how to be fairly unpredictable.
It is no paradox that, as long as we remain faithful to these principles and maintain this specificity, we will also be able to preserve and reinforce our ability to overcome strong international competition and attract quality productions which consider participation in our Festival a way to obtain added value for their commercial launch. The most recent editions of the Festival have shown this very clearly, and this year’s Festival in particular.
The three main innovations of this new phase are: the inauguration of a “new screening room” which is also a new section; increased commitment to the “Biennale College” (an instrument to foster film development from the initial project to the completed production, and whose results have already proven to be more than gratifying); the launch of the “Venice Production Bridge,” a new instrument which can lead to the complete financing of fully planned works.
These innovations mark both our receptiveness toward a greater range of works and genres, and the intensification of our contribution to those energies which conceive, construct and make films. These work commitments go well beyond the actual days of the Festival.
The hole has been covered over! To the municipal authorities, our gratitude for the promptness with which they dealt with the issue, once the knots created by controversy and dispute had been untangled. We finally have a new open-air space which allows us to redraw the map of the Citadel of Cinema; we can integrate traditional programs with new initiatives.
We will continue to oversee the decentralization of the festival’s films to other Italian cities, and of the Italian films to our cultural institutes abroad.
We thank everyone, from Alberto Barbera and his collaborators to everyone at the Biennale who helps organize the Festival and develop our program.
Our thanks to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism , the local authorities, our sponsors and the members of the press who, starting tomorrow, will work with and at the Festival. And to the city of Venice, whose many initiatives help foster greater hospitality and more heartfelt participation.
P.S. Yesterday marked the beginning of the Biennale-Theatre program, which will conclude on August 14th. Directed by Àlex Rigola, it represents a successful alliance between Festival and College: a unique formula which involves a great many young people (307 of them, from 22 countries), who attend works by maestros as spectators and also collaborate with them on specific projects, many of which are later performed in public.
P.P.S. A few days ago, the call was concluded for the selection of the 12 film projects which will participate at the Biennale College; 205 applications were submitted.
“Actress Moon So Ri has been named as one of the jurors for the 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival!
On July 24, her agency, C-JeS Entertainment, announced that the actor had been selected as one of the jurors for the Orizzonti section.
The festival is the oldest of its kind in the world and one of the most prestigious alongside the Cannes Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. The Orizzonti section is a sub-section of the festival with its own awards categories.
She is the first Korean actor to be appointed as juror for the Venice Film Festival. In 2006 director Park Chan Wook was one of the jurors for the official competition, and in 2009 director Kim Jin Ah was one of the jurors for the Orizzonti section.
Moon So Ri has previously won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actor or Actress at the 59th Venice International Film Festival for her 2002 film “Oasis.” Her films “Hill of Freedom” and “A Good Lawyer’s Wife” have also been shown at previous festivals.
A source from the festival said, “Moon So Ri is a brilliant actress who represents the Korean film industry. She has accomplished several milestones in Korean film and it is an honor to have her as juror following her 2002 award.”
Moon So Ri herself made a statement saying, “It’s always difficult to compare films and give them scores. But nothing compares to the experience of meeting filmmakers all around the world and watching films together. I have many good memories of the Venice International Film Festival and I hope to make even more this year.”
Moon So Ri has also been the juror for the Busan International Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, Festival del film Locarno, and the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The 73rd International Film Festival will be held from August 31 to September 10. Meanwhile, Moon So Ri is currently filming the movie “Special Citizen.”
(Source: Post by notclaira on Soompi.com, July 24, 2016)
Zero Days, the latest film by acclaimed documentarian, Alex Gibney, details claims that the US and Israeli governments conducted covert cyber warfare operations against the Iranian government and the Iranians’ nuclear enrichment program.
(From left to right) Alex Gibney, writer and director of Zero Days, alongside actors Eric Chien and Liam O’Murchu, on the red carpet at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., before the Opening Night Film screening of Zero Days at the 2016 AFI DOCS June 22, 2016. (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)
A former employee of the US Nuclear Regulatory Agency went on camera to say that he knew of one or two nation-states that were using cyber weapons for offensive purposes. However, when asked who the states were and were the states involved using Stuxnet, a dance of denial ensued with the former employee back peddling while reiterating he did not mention names of the existence of Stuxnet often uttering “I can’t comment on that” when pressed to name names or the existence of Stuxnet.
Gibney has done his homework with Zero Days as he provides a historical backdrop of the Iranian nuclear program disclosing the US gave Iran its first nuclear reactor under the Shah of Iran’s rule. In addition, he shows the pride the Iranian people have in their nuclear program demonstrated by their national celebrations for Nuclear Enrichment Day, a national nuclear day that has galvanized the republic of Iran. Furthermore, Gibney shows a clip of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comparing contemporary Iran to Germany during the time of Adolph Hitler.
This is a must-see film. Zero Days is screening as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Showcase series tonight, Tuesday July 19 @ 5:00pm and tomorrow, Wednesday July 20 @ 7:30pm at the Riviera Theatre – 2044 Alameda Padre Serra in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Summertime, the latest work from writer/director Catherine Corsini, delivered a wallop yesterday evening at the Santa Barbara Riviera Theater during the second day of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s (SBIFF) The Wave ~ France. Using exquisite lighting and the abundant beauty of her actors, Corsini unveils a highly stylized period piece capturing a mood and the sensitivities of life for young French women.
In its most elemental form, Summertime, tells the story of two young women who, in 1971, meet in Paris by happenchance during the height of the times feminist activities and wind up falling passionately in love. The film received multiple nominations for Cesar and Lumiere awards in categories of Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Director while garnering Lumiere Award for Best Music with the work from Gregoire Hetzel.
Summertime screens again on Sunday, July 17th, at the Riviera Theater, 2044 Alameda Padre Serra, in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Tickets and passes are available at the box office. Prices range from $8 – $10 for single admission and $80 – $250 for festival passes. For more information on passes and scheduling click here.
With ninety-four films from over 30 countries the 2016 AFI DOCS had something for just about every documentary film lover. The Opening Night film dazzled the at-capacity audience at the Newseum with Alex Gibney’s North American Premiere of Zero Days,a detailed account of claims the US and Israeli governments unleashed a sophisticated virus to thwart the Iranian nuclear enrichment program. The film also addressed the issue of retaliation and made for a lively conversation and Q & A following the screening. Highly recommended.
Kicking off the first full day, I had the good fortune of seeing seven short documentaries under the guise of Shorts: Outside In; Tracks, The Great Theatre, Rotatio, Neige, Fundir and Chocolate Mountain Metal, Shorts: Outside In. Warmly recommended.
Winding up a busy Day 2 at the Newseum, an interactive museum of news and journalism in downtown Washington, DC, Newtown, an emotionally, powerful look at the local community two years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre from acclaimed director Kim Snyder, and Audrie & Daisy, a story of two high school girls who were sexually assaulted in indefensible states and their vilification on social media with tragic consequences, were shown. Both are must-see films. Highly recommended.
Day 3 brought After Spring, a telling tale of the relocation of Syrian refugees and the challenges they face at the Zaatari relocation camp inside the Jordanian border. Directors Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez attended the screening and made themselves available to discuss the making of the film. Recommended.
Almost Sunrise, explores an alternative approach to the traditional diagnosis and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Director Michael Collins chronicles the journey of two Iraq War veterans as they share a 2700 mile hike from the Midwest to the state of California to create an awareness of their trauma. Along the way, the two are warmly greeted and supported by fellow veterans and communities alike. Warmly recommended.
Unfortunately, due to an overwhelming demand for seats at the Guggenheim Symposium and Screening, I was not granted a place for the evening’s conversation with Werner Herzog and Ramin Bahrani including clips from Herzog’s storied career and a screening of his latest work, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World. Nevertheless, I made my way over to Silver Spring, MD, AFI Silver Theater for Cinema, Mon Amour,a wonderful story of a Romanian family and their ‘never say quit’ spirit as they work determinedly to keep open the last of Romania’s grand movie palaces.
Day Four began with a visit to the AFI DOCS Lounge for the Filmmakers Forum and the making of short documentaries. Quick and to the point, storytellers and the movers and shakers of the industry engaged in an informative format as filmmakers and producers provided guidance and probed the issues in today’s filmmaking environment.
Full of vigor, the featured Command And Control,directed by Robert Kenner, recounted a 1980 nuclear accident with surreal details. Highly recommended.
Next, I dropped in on Vanessa Gould’s Obit, an insider’s guide to the world of who’s who in the annals of lives lived through the eyes of the legendary New York Times obituaries desk. Obit reveals a unique form of journalism and the idiosyncrasies of the writers and editors who create and compose these celebrations of extraordinary lives lived. Warmly recommended and my personal favorite!
Closing out the evening again at the Newseum with a Spotlight Screening of Check It. Check It, a mesmerizing look at an inner city, Washington DC, gang composed of gay and transgendered teens who allied themselves together for protection and survival out on the streets of the nation’s capitol over a three year period, was directed by Toby Oppenheimer and Dana Flor. Over the course of the film, the Check It gang comes to the realization that while surviving is critical so is leading a productive and useful life. Warmly recommended.
Day 5 kicked into gear with another visit to the AFI DOCS Lounge for Part Four of the Filmmakers Forum. I arrived early and met Discovery’s Gina Scarpulla. Unbeknownst to me, Ms. Scarpulla and her team at Discovery are pioneering virtual reality in film. Virtual headsets, known as lunchboxes were made available before and after the forum. See my full write up here: AFI DOCS Filmmaking Forum on Virtual Reality
Next came the Chicken People, directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes. Chicken People delves into the worlds of the contestants and their contenders, pure bred chickens, as they vie for best fowl at the Ohio National Poultry Show and the title of Super Grand Champion. Warmly recommended and A Don’t Miss!
Doc & Darryl, a soon-to-be-aired ESPN 30 for 30 film, depicts the trials and tribulations of the 1986 Major League Baseball World Champions New York Mets and the meteoric rise and setbacks of the team’s two most talented players, Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. The film was co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. See my write up: Doc & Darryl
Closing out the 2016 AFI DOCS was Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. This is a masterpiece of television history. Breathtaking images of actors, writers and directors watching clips from All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Maude and Good Times juxtaposed against their commentaries, highlight this cinematic gem. Another must see film! And I know Norman Lear wouldn’t have it any other way. Highly recommended.
Norman Lear , center, on the red carpet with filmmakers Heidi Ewing, right, and Rachel Grady, left, before the screening of the 2016 AFI DOCS Closing Night film, Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You, June 26, 2016, at the Newseum in downtown Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson)
This was my first AFI DOCS. Set in our nation’s Capitol, the festival ran smoothly. Two venues were in downtown Washington, DC, and were within walking distance of one another. Also, both venues were easily accessible by the Metro and had plenty of shops, coffee bars, sports bars, and restaurants nearby. The third venue was in Silver Spring, Maryland, home of the AFI DOCS Silver Theater and Cultural Center. Again, plenty of shops and nearby eateries and fairly easy to get to by Metro. The Washington Post calls AFI DOCS “The nation’s leading documentary film festival.” I couldn’t agree more.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s (SBIFF) The Wave Film Festival ~ France opened last night at SBIFF’s new home, the Santa Barbara Riviera Theater. French movie lover̵…
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s (SBIFF) The Wave Film Festival ~ France opened last night at SBIFF’s new home, the Santa Barbara Riviera Theater. French movie lover’s gathered outside while enjoying the expansive, sweeping views from the theater’s front. Once inside, the viewers were treated to a brief introduction from The Wave festival director, Mickey Duzdevich and a cleverly put together, coming of age film, Microbe & Gasoline, written and directed by Michel Gondry. Ange Dargent portrays Daniel (Microbe) with Theophile Baquet as Theo (Gasoline) while Audrey Tautou (Amelie) plays Marie Therese.
The film’s billing reads:
“Microbe, a shy, aspiring artist, has trouble making friends at school until he meets Gasoline, a likeminded outcast. Together they hatch a plan to build a car and spend their summer on an epic road trip across France. This charming adventure from Michel Gondry (MOOD INDIGO, BE KIND REWIND) has been called his “most satisfying movie since ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND,” reminding us how friendships can help us reach our true potential. Also starring Audrey Tautou (AMELIE, DA VINCI CODE).”
Microbe & Gasoline is every bit of this and more. It delves into the teenage angst in a new and unique manner combining costumes, music and the lush French countryside. Microbe & Gasoline is scheduled to screen again on Friday, July 17th, 7:30PM at the Riviera Theater, 2044 Alameda Padre Serra, Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Wave ~ France continues today with Summertime showing at 5:00PM followed by Neither Heaven Nor Earth at 7:30PM. Individual tickets are $10 with festival passes as a Patron for $250 and Cinephile at $80. For more information click here: Passes.
