Tag Archives: Art

Palm Springs International Film Festival

Casey Affleck to Receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award

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Palm Springs, CA (November 11, 2016) – The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Casey Affleck with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor at its annual Film Awards Gala for his performance in Manchester By the Sea. Each year the festival selects an actor and actress to receive this award. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-16.

“Casey Affleck delivers his finest performance in Manchester By the Sea, playing a Boston screen-shot-2016-11-24-at-4-21-37-pmjanitor living a lonely and isolated existence,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “He has earned rave reviews from critics and is sure to garner awards attention. It is our honor to present the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, to Casey Affleck.”

Past actor recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Jeff Bridges, Bradley Cooper, Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Firth, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt and Eddie Redmayne. In the years they were honored, Bridges, Day-Lewis, McConaughey, Penn and Redmayne went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Actor, while Cooper, Firth and Pitt received Oscar® nominations.

Affleck stars in Manchester by the Sea, the latest film from award-winning writer and director Kenneth Lonergan, about the life of a solitary Boston janitor who is haunted by his past when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew. The story of the Chandlers, a working-class family living in a Massachusetts fishing village for generations, Manchester by the Sea is a deeply poignant, exploration of the power of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope.  The film also stars Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol and C.J. Wilson.

Casey Affleck was nominated for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe Award® and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in the character drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. His film credits include Gone Baby Gone, Gerry, Good Will Hunting, To Die For, Interstellar, Out of the Furnace, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Steven Soderbergh’s Oceans trilogy, Triple 9, and The Finest Hours.

About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, an upscale black-tie event attended by 2,500, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

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For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Steven Wilson / Lauren Peteroy
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
steven.wilson@bwr-pr.com / lauren.peteroy@bwr-pr.com

David Lee
Palm Springs International Film Society
760-322-2930
david@psfilmfest.org

(Source:www.psfilmfest.org)

#AFI, #AFIFEST, Feature Film, Featured, Hollywood

FILM REVIEW: Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941): USA

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Viewed by Larry Gleeson as part of the American Film Institute’s (AFI) AFIFEST 2016 presented by Audi. Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, was first on AFI’s first 100 Greatest American Movies Movies of All Time in 1998. Ten years later, a 10th Anniversary Edition of AFI’s 100 Greatest American Movies found Citizen Kane still perched in the top spot.

Loosely based on newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, Citizen Kane was the first feature film by Welles. Hearst forbad any mention of the film in his newspapers upon the film’s release.

After signing his contract, Welles had been green-lighted for his film with a directorial final cut by RKO Pictures after his string of successes on Broadway with his Mercury Theater, including the thrilling radio broadcast of ‘The War Of The Worlds.’ Welles also brought several of his Mercury Theater actors on board for the project, several of whom would go on to have substantial Hollywood film careers including Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane and Ruth Warrick.

Welles shared writing credits for Citizen Kane with Herman Mankiewicz and the two won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1942. The film received a total of nine Oscar nominations in 1942 including Best Picture, Best Director (Welles), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Welles), Best Cinematography (Gregg Toland), Best Sound, Recording (John Aalberg), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture (Bernard Herrmann), Best Film Editing (Robert Wise), and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White (Perry Ferguson, Van Ness Polglase, A. Roland Fields, Darrell Silvera).

The film opens in what appears to be a surreal reflection with a Bengali Tiger and ominous non-diagetic music with snow falling inside a crystal with an utterance of “Rosebud.” A strong, deep-toned, narrative voice-over begins informing the viewer with wartime newsreel clips from “News on The March,” mentioning among others Khubla Khan. After a series of quick edits, a low-angle shot of a large, stone-built castle the narrator refers to as “Xanadu, a pleasure dome,” is held for a moment.

Without missing much of a beat the narration continues with quick frames of paintings, pictures and statues that have been “looted” from the finest European museums. Not stopping, the narration intensifies as the narrator projects powerfully about animals of the land, foul of the air – two of each – in creation of the world’s largest private zoo since Noah and the largest monument a man has built to himself since the pyramids using 100,000 tons of concrete and 200,00 tons of marble in its construction culminating in a crescendo as the narrator introduces by name only the film’s protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, the great yellow journalist and heir of the Colorado Lode. News stories and the biography of the his life and death are flashed on screen as the story begins with a smoke-filled room of newsmen trying to determine the significance of the last word the newspaper tycoon uttered, ‘rosebud.’

Told primarily through flashbacks as the mystery of rosebud is explored, Citizen Kane contains a highly structured narrative coupled with revolutionary deep focus cinematography, mostly unseen before in mainstream cinema. Cinematographer Gregg Toland provided the deep focus effect with his specially treated lenses and light-sensitive film stock. The deep focus cinematography allowed the entire scene being shot to have primary focus and thus allowing the subjects to have equal importance visually. In addition, Welles and Toland removed floorboards in another groundbreaking scene to create ultra low-angle shots of the newspaper men following Kane’s unsuccessful pursuit of the American Presidency. The effect visually is stunning as rather ordinary, though influential, men are now seen as overly large, powerful titans squaring off.

In its essence, Citizen Kane, is the tragic tale of a man who has high ideals to be the people’s voice, the voice of the common everyday man. Slowly, however, the benevolence of the man becomes consumed with a passionate pursuit for power.

Tellingly, Citizen Kane’s message is still pertinent today. After Kane is defeated at the ballot box by the ‘sleaze factor’ (a decidedly distasteful tactic that can skewer even the most accurate polling data) he uses his newspapers to declare “Fraud at the Polls” in large-type newsprint headlines. Historians often cite Welles’ depiction of Susan Alexander Kane (a character purportedly representative of Hurst’s long-time, close intimate, Marion Davies) as the basis for Hurst strong negative reaction to Citizen Kane. More recently, several news outlets cite President Obama’s infamous roasting of President-elect Donald Trump at a 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner as the catalyst for Trump’s headlong dive into the 2016 race for the White House. Interestingly, even before Election Day, Trump declared fraud on the election. Interesting indeed. Citizen Kane is a must-see film for any serious cinephile and is highly recommended for all filmgoers.

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

Nowhere to Hide wins IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary

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Nowhere to Hide by Zaradasht Ahmed won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and Still Tomorrow by Jian Fan won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary.


The award for best Dutch documentary went to Reber Dosky for Radio Kobanî. Guido Hendrikx’s Stranger in Paradise, which opened the festival, received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary.


At the beginning of the evening, Heddy Honigmann presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Award (€ 50,000) to filmmaker Ester Gould.
A total of 16 awards were presented, following last night’s presentation of the IDFA Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary to Maite Alberdi for The Grown-Ups.
The festival continues through Sunday, when the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award will be announced.

Zaradasht Ahmed won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (€ 12,500) for Nowhere to Hide (Norway/Sweden). The film is an eyewitness report by an Iraqi nurse forced to flee when his home falls into the hands of IS.
From the jury report: There are those films which are wonderful to see and there are films that the world needs to see. The film we choose is both of these things. The experience was immersive and left us deeply touched. The director respected the unique perspective that only the subject could have and in doing so he gave us an unprecedented window into the real life lasting consequences of war.

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In addition, the jury presented the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) to Still Tomorrow (China) by Jian Fan. The documentary is a portrait of Chinese poet Xiuhua Yu, who blossoms from a disabled farmer caught in a loveless marriage into an internet sensation and Chinese media darling.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary consisted of chair Tom Paul (USA), Yuri Ancarini (Italy), Jordana Berg (Brazil), Ingrid van Tol (the Netherlands) and Debra Zimmerman (USA).
Jury report VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary

  • The IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€ 5,000) went to DeathTolls Experience (Iran) by Ali Eslami.
    Mia Donovan received the Scenic IDFA DocLab Immersive Non-Fiction Award (€ 2,500) for Deprogrammed (Canada).

    The jury of the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling consisted of Brett Gaylor (Canada), Anna Higgs (UK) and Jan Rothuizen (the Netherlands).
    Jury report IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling

  • The IDFA Award for First Appearance (€ 7,500) was presented to Sine Skibsholt for Who We Were (Denmark).
    The Special Jury Award for First Appearance (€ 2,500), dedicated to the memory of Peter Wintonick, was presented to Plastic China (China) by Jiu-liang Wang. Plastic China was made with financial support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.

    The jury of the IDFA Competition for First Appearance was made up of Marjoleine Boonstra (the Netherlands), Uldis Cekulis (Latvia), Kahane Cooperman (USA), Samir Mehanovic (Scotland) and Bob Moore (Canada).
    Jury report IDFA Award for First Appearance

  • Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry won the IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (€ 10,000) for Death in the Terminal (Israel).
    Ksenia Okhapkina won de IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) for Come Back Free (Estonia).

    The jury of the IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary consisted of Ryan Harrington (USA), Noe Mendelle (Scotland), Jake Perlin (USA), Andrea Prenghyová (Czech Republic) and Digna Sinke (the Netherlands).
    Jury report IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary

  • The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 7,500) went to Radio Kobanî by Reber Dosky.
    Guido Hendrikx received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 2,500) for Stranger in Paradise.

    The jury of the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary was made up of Tine Fischer (Denmark), Maureen Gosling (USA), Ester Gould (the Netherlands), Nilotpal Majumdar (India) and Qi Zhao (China).
    Jury report Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary

  • The ARRI IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary (€ 5,000) was awarded to When Will This Wind Stop (Poland) by Aniela Astrid Gabryel.
    Close Ties (Poland) by Zofia Kowalewska won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Student Documentary (€ 2,500). Alongside the cash prize, both winners were given an Amira camera, made available by ARRI for the makers’ next productions.

    The jury of the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary was made up of Judy Kibinge (Kenya), Salome Machaidze (Georgia) and Daan Veldhuizen (the Netherlands).
    Jury report IDFA Award for Student Competition

  • The IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary (€ 2,500) was awarded to Rocknrollers (the Netherlands) by Daan Bol.
    Saskia Gubbels won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children’s Documentary (€ 1,000) for Naomi’s Secret (the Netherlands).

    The jury of the IDFA Kids & Docs Competition consisted of Monica Hellström (Denmark), Ollie Huddleston (UK) and Niki Padidar (Nederland).
    Jury report IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary

  • Other awards
    At the beginning of the evening, Heddy Honigmann presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Award to filmmaker Ester Gould (A Strange Love Affair with Ego, Strike a Pose). This bursary is made available by an anonymous donor and was set up by the Cultuurfonds. It consists of an amount of € 50,000 for the production of a new documentary.

    On Tuesday evening, the IDFA Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary(€ 2,500) was presented to The Grown-Ups (Chile/the Netherlands/France) by Maite Alberdi.
    The Grown-Ups was made with financial support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.

The festival runs until Sunday, 27 November, when the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award (€ 5,000) will be announced.

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(Source: http://www.idfa.nl)

Palm Springs International Film Festival

Ruth Negga to Receive the Rising Star Award at Palm Springs

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Palm Springs, CA (November 16, 2016) – The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Ruth Negga with the Rising Star Award at its annual Ruth NeggaFilm Awards Gala for her performance in Loving. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-16.

“Ruth Negga’s performance as Mildred Loving is one of the year’s most luminous and striking portrayals,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “This timeless love story about an interracial couple reminds us of the unstoppable power of love in the face of hate and prejudice – a story that could not be more resonant and powerful today. This will certainly be just one of many breathtaking performances in a long career. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present Ruth Negga with this year’s Rising Star Award.”

Past recipients of the Rising Star Award include Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Dakota Fanning, and Terrence Howard.

New in theaters this month from Focus Features, Loving is written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga as Richard and Mildred Loving. Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of the interracial couple who fell in love and were married in 1958. The couple had grown up in Central Point, a small town in Virginia that was more integrated than surrounding areas in the American South. Yet it was the state of Virginia, where they were making their home and starting a family, that first jailed and then banished them. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. Richard and Mildred returned home and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since.

Ruth Negga’s body of work spans award-winning theatre productions, big-screen dramas, independent films, and innovative television series. Her film work includes World War Z, The Samaritan, Breakfast on Pluto, Una Vida (a.k.a. Of Mind and Music), Noble; Jimi: All Is by My Side, Warcraft; and Iona. Negga won the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of legendary singer Shirley Bassey in the telefilm Shirley. Her other TV work includes Misfits, Love/Hate, the miniseries Coup (a.k.a. Secret State), Five Daughters, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., She currently stars on AMC’s series Preacher.

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About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, an upscale black-tie event attended by 2,500, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Steven Wilson / Lauren Peteroy
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
steven.wilson@bwr-pr.com / lauren.peteroy@bwr-pr.com

David Lee
Palm Springs International Film Society
760-322-2930
david@psfilmfest.org

(Source: http://www.psfilmfest.org)

#AFI, #AFIFEST, Feature Film, Hollywood

FILM CAPSULE: Live Cargo (Sandler, 2016): USA, Bahamas

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Viewed by Larry Gleeson during AFIFEST 2016 presented by Audi.

copy-of-live-cargo-poster-w_-afi-fest-laurelBased on writer-director Logan Sandler’s own experience growing up in and around the Bahamas, Live Cargo is a powerful meditation on love, loss and healing in a post-colonial world. Shot entirely in black and white, the film upends the “tropical paradise” archetype through its sharp, neorealist focus on the day-to-day of the island community. Live Cargo is co-written and produced by fellow American Film Institute alum Thymaya Payne, director and producer of the award-winning documentary Stolen Seas.

Newcomer Sam Dillon delivers a breakout performance as Myron, a mysterious, homeless youth who is desperate to belong.  He stars alongside Independent Spirit Award nominee Keith Stanfield (Short Term 12), Robert Altman Spirit Award recipient Dree Hemingway (Starlet), Robert Wisdom (“The Wire”) and Leonard Earl Howze (“Kevin Can Wait”).

Following a devastating loss, Nadine (Hemingway) and Lewis (Stanfield) retreat to a small Bahamian island where Nadine’s family has kept a house for many years. As they try to heal and move forward with their relationship, the community on the island shows signs of unraveling — with the island’s mayor, Roy (Wisdom), squaring off against Doughboy (Howze), a human trafficker who manipulates the impressionable homeless teenager Myron (Dillon) into assisting with his smuggling operation.

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Live Cargo proves a welcome addition to Bahaman Regional Cinema and marks a stylistic entrance for Logan Sandler on the American Cinema front. Worthy of consideration.

Contact: Justin Cook
Justin Cook Public Relations
#: 973.800.7278
E: m.justincook@gmail.com

(Source: Press notes provided by Justin Cook Public Relations)

 

#SBIFF, Documentary

Note from Roger – Notes on Blindness

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11162014-Roger-Durling_t479Dear Cinephiles,

Notes on Blindness is like no other film you’re likely to see this year.   It traces one man’s difficult journey and emerges with a reflection on the human condition that’s as uplifting and edifying as it is simply moving.

Below find the New York Times Review which named it Critic’s Pick. It plays throughout the week; tonight at 5:00pm, tomorrow at 7:30pm, and Thursday/Friday/Saturday at 11:00am at the Riviera Theatre.

See you at the movies!
Roger Durling

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‘Notes on Blindness’ Is John Hull’s Trip From Darkness to Light
By Stephen Holden – The New York Times

In 1983, John M. Hull, a professor of religion at the University of Birmingham in England, lost his eyesight and began the agonizing personal journey to hell and back that he describes in the magnificent documentary “Notes on Blindness.”

Adapted from Professor Hull’s memoir, “On Sight and Insight: A Journey Into the World of Blindness,” the film, using mostly his words, describes with extraordinary eloquence, precision and poetic sensitivity his physical and psychological metamorphosis as he felt the world retreat until it seemed mostly out of reach.

Not only his vision faded, but his visual memory to the extent that he felt his past disappearing as well as his future. At his lowest point, he was overwhelmed by a profound loneliness and isolation, a sense of being forever cut off and trapped in darkness.

The spine of the film — the first feature directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney — is an audiocassette diary that Professor Hull kept for three years and published in 1990 as “Touching the Rock.” A decade earlier, while awaiting the birth of his first son, Professor Hull became alarmed by black discs interfering with his vision and underwent a series of unsuccessful operations to correct the condition. In 1983, he went completely blind and by September of that year, he began forgetting what his wife and children looked like, except their images in still photos. “I knew that if I didn’t understand blindness, it would destroy me,” he says.

One of his first responses was to amass a collection of recorded books related mostly to his academic career. But behind his determination lurked fearful dreams and fantasies. In the most vivid nightmare, restaged in the film, he is in a supermarket aisle as a torrential wave rounds a corner and rushes toward him. A low point came at Christmastime 1983 when he suffered panic attacks and decided he could never accept blindness. He describes a desperate sense of being enclosed and “entirely alone.”

But he was not alone. By his side until his death in 2015, at the age of 80, was his wife, Marilyn. The couple are portrayed by Dan Skinner and Simone Kirby, who lip-sync his words with such impeccable precision and delicacy you quickly forget they’re actors. The intensity of their bond is evoked in a scene of the pair slow dancing to the Mamas and the Papas’ recording of “Dedicated to the One I Love.”

Shortly after this nadir, Professor Hull was roused from his despair by the sound of rainfall, which gave a shape and texture to his environment, and he began using the tape recorder to document his interactions with his wife and children, as well as his inner thoughts.

Because he was born in Australia, he decided that reconnecting with his roots might provide solace. But the trip was a disaster when he discovered that his homeland had changed so much that the comforting sense of familiarity he expected was not to be had. He struggled to communicate with his aging parents, and to rediscover a landscape that he thought he remembered but didn’t.

Returning to England, he felt re-engaged with the world and determined to live not in nostalgia but in reality, and to accept his blindness. After a profound spiritual revelation and sense of renewal, his despair miraculously lifted and he was filled with joy and appreciation of the fullness of life.

“Notes on Blindness” avoids the sentimental pitfalls of a documentary this personal. Its overt religiosity is minimal. The tone of the narration is so wrenchingly honest that the film never lapses into self-pity or relies on mystical platitudes.

(Source: http://www.sbiff.org)

Palm Springs International Film Festival, Press Conference, Venice International Film Festival

LA LA LAND to Receive the Vanguard Award at Palm Springs

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Palm Springs, CA (November 21, 2016) – The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present the film La La Land with the Vanguard Award at its annual Film Awards Gala.  The award is presented to the film’s cast and director recognizing its outstanding creative ensemble. Cast members Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and director/writer Damien Chazelle are expected to attend. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mart Hart, will be held Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-16.

“Director and writer Damien Chazelle delivers a resonant cinematic masterpiece with La La Land,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “This visually stunning film pays tribute to classic Hollywood musicals with a contemporary love story driven by pitch-perfect performances by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.  It is our honor to present the Vanguard Award to La La Land.”

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La La Land Director/Writer Damien Chazelle  (Photo courtesy of ASCA Images/Biennale Cinema di Venezia)

Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Damien Chazelle, La La Land, from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label, tells the story of an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone), and a dedicated jazz musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), both struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams.

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About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, an upscale black-tie event attended by 2,500, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Steven Wilson / Lauren Peteroy
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
steven.wilson@bwr-pr.com / lauren.peteroy@bwr-pr.com

David Lee
Palm Springs International Film Society
760-322-2930
david@psfilmfest.org

psiff16_logo_01_360

(www.psfilmfest.org)

 

Palm Springs International Film Festival

Tom Hanks to Receive Palm Springs Film Festival Icon Award

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The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Tom Hanks with the Icon Award at its annual FilmAwards Gala for his performance in Sully. The Film Awards Gala will be held Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and hosted by Mary Hart. The Festival runs January 2-16.

“Tom Hanks delivers yet another career-defining performance bringing to life the heroism of airline pilot Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “This is sure to be remembered in his long list of iconic character roles, including those in Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips, Castaway, Philadelphia, Saving Private Ryan, the Toy Story films and so many others.  The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present this year’s Icon Award to Tom Hanks.”

Past recipients of the Icon Award include Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall and Meryl Streep. In 2014, Hanks received the Festival’s Chairman’s Award.

The film Sully is from Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood, starring Oscar winner Tom Hanks as Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.  On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard.  However, even as he was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career. The film also stars Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney.

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Tom Hanks is an award-winning actor, producer and director.  He won back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards® for his work in Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia and the title role in Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump.  He also won Golden Globe Awards for both films, as well as a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® for the latter. His other feature credits include Bridge of Spies, A Hologram for the King, Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks, Cloud Atlas, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Larry Crowne, The Ladykillers, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan, Road to Perdition, That Thing You Do, The Green Mile, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Inferno, Splash and the animated Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Cars and The Polar Express.  His next film will be James Ponsoldt’s The Circle.

About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, an upscale black-tie event attended by 2,500, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Steven Wilson / Lauren Peteroy
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
steven.wilson@bwr-pr.com / lauren.peteroy@bwr-pr.com

David Lee
Palm Springs International Film Society
760-322-2930
david@psfilmfest.org

(Source: http://www.psfilmfest.org)

#SBIFF, Documentary, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Film Capsule: The Art of Conflict (Vaughn, 2012): USA

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The Art of Conflict, reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, is a well-researched documentary directed by Valeri Vaughn and narrated by younger brother, comedic actor, Vince Vaughn. The Art of Conflict tells the acrimonious story of the conflict in Northern Ireland with large wall-sized building murals scattered throughout the various neighborhoods in Northern Ireland. The conflict originated from the territory’s religious, social and economic struggles of the mid to late nineteenth century. Vaughn focuses her storytelling on the period known as “The Troubles” (the early 1970’s) and thereafter brings the conflict into present day.

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During the Q & A following the viewing, both Vaughns presented and fielded questions from the audience. Vince tended to dominate the conversation as he began by providing the background to the film’s birth. He happened to be in Ireland and decided to partake in a Black Cab taxi tour. Along the way he began noticing several murals as the cabbie showed him the sights while filling his ears with some local history. As the Vaughns are of Irish heritage Vince became intrigued. This was in 2005.

Without missing a beat, he claims he immediately telephoned Valeri about the possibility of her undertaking the subject matter of the murals as a project knowing Valeri’s early penchant for making documentaries. Valeri acquiesced and agreed to do it.

The Art of Conflict was seven years in the making including several visits to the Emerald Isle. Numerous interviews and many hours of footage later, a very real piece of art began to emerge as the peace process undertaken at the time began showing aspects of progress evidenced by thematic changes in the mural landscape.

Some of the changes were a concerted effort by the two primary opposing groups, the Catholics and the Protestants, as they tried to peacefully co-exist and to allow the peace process to provide some relief from the tensions of an existing war carried out in their respective neighborhoods and business establishments.

It seemed that the Irish Nationalists, predominantly Catholic, wanted peace a bit more. I don’t believe the Vaughn’s depiction of the conflict was tilted towards either side. A point was made during the Q & A that every effort was made to ensure the piece was as balanced as possible.

With the long history of repression, to me it stands to reason, that the Catholic Nationalists would want peace more as they have fought for rights historically back to the Land Use Agreement.

Literally, Vaughn very well could have produced a Burnsian-style documentary detailing the conflict and its origin. On one hand it’s remarkable she didn’t. While on the other hand, it’s remarkable what she did do.

She captured a very unique time in history using wall murals as an impetus for further inquiry. She delved into the major events and characters of the times and bars no holds eschewing historical photographs, archival footage and present day interviews in telling the story of a bloody, soulless conflict pounded home by the murals and their shapelessness and faceless depictions.

It appears Ms. Vaughn has embarked on a journey of storytelling here that is just beginning. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Palm Springs International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival

PSIFF Announces 2017 Dates

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The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) has announced the dates of the 28th edition. The Awards Gala will take place on Monday, January 2, 2017, followed by the screening portion of the festival, which will open on January 5 and run through January 16, 2017.

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The festival’s Awards Gala will be held on Monday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. This past year’s star-studded event, hosted by Mary Hart, honored Cate Blanchett, Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Michael Fassbender, Brie Larson, Rooney Mara, Tom McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander and the cast of The Big Short.

The festival will begin on Thursday, January 5 with an Opening Night screening followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Closing Night will take place on Sunday, January 15 with the Best of the Fest screenings on Monday, January 16.

The festival will begin accepting film submissions on July 1, 2016. Awards gala tickets and screening passes will go on sale August 1, 2016.

For additional information visit http://www.psfilmfest.org.

About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries.  The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit http://www.psfilmfest.org .

MEDIA CONTACT:
Steve Wilson
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3954 / 310-248-6126
Steven.Wilson@bwr-pr.com

David Lee
PSIFF
760-322-2930
david@psfilmfest.org

(Source: http://www.psfilmfest.org)