Tag Archives: Director

#AFIDOCS, Documentary, Short Film

The AFI DOCS Interview: TRAIN SURFERS Director Adrien Cothier

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June 21, 2016

In Adrien Cothier’s short film TRAIN SURFERS, thrill-seeking young men tempt fate doing stunts on Mumbai’s high-speed trains. AFI spoke to director Adrien Cothier ahead of the film’s AFI DOCS premiere. He is a New York-based filmmaker who cut his teeth working on the set of Wes Anderson’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX.

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Adrien Cothier on Twitter: “Very proud to have TRAIN SURFERS premiere at this year’s @AFIDOCS festival. <3 https://t.co/aeK67ooI4X&#8221;

 

What led you to documentary filmmaking?

My background is in narrative filmmaking and advertising. In both, I always try to recreate a certain reality whereas in documentaries, you have to use reality in order to create a narrative. This organic creative process led me to docs. There is definitely something pure about a documentary. The goal with TRAIN SURFERS was not to make a commercial film, clearly, but rather, to expose a certain truth about the world we live in.

What inspired you to tell this story?

I was finishing my first semester of grad school and had decided that I needed to get out of my comfort zone and explore a part of the world I had never seen. India seemed like a perfect mix of spiritual and adventurous journey. While I was researching where to go, I ended up on a viral video of a “train surfer” in Mumbai. I had never seen anything like it. It was a strange mix of absolute beauty and danger. I instantly called my friend and producer. I told him that if there’s a chance we can meet somebody like this, we had to document it, no matter the cost. That’s how it all started.

How did you find your subjects?

It wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. I started researching local news stories of teenagers getting arrested for train-surfing. The more I accumulated information, the closer I came to understanding that this phenomenon happened in a few specific areas of Mumbai. Then, I hired a local translator in order to get in touch with the surfers in case we encountered them. After two days of waiting in train stations, we saw a teenager on the roof of a speeding train. We chased him down and convinced him to let us meet him again with his friends. The next day we went to visit him in his home.

What was a particular obstacle you faced while making the film?

Filming on the trains or outside the tracks is completely forbidden in India. I think this phobia came from the terrorist attacks in south Mumbai in 2008. Since then the police have been extremely weary, especially with tourists like myself. We had to hide the camera as much as we could and shoot without any permits. At the end, I think that our gorilla approach gave us incredible footage in which the audience can really feel taken on a forbidden ride in the world of the kids.

What do you want audiences to walk away with after screening your film?

I’d like them to realize that all around world, the exact same human dynamics are happening but under very different social circumstances. Whether in the rugged outskirts of Mumbai, these kids are in many ways behaving in the same way that New York kids would. In this way it’s a story about friendship and I’d like people to feel it. But I cannot deny that it’s also a story about how being trapped in a life of poverty with very few chances of changing your life and how this will impact the decisions you make as a young person.

Why do you think Washington, DC, is a valuable location to screen your film?

This doc is definitely not political but its intrinsic message deals with the notions of freedom, poverty and the pursuit of happiness, which to me are clear American values emanating from the declaration of independence displayed in DC.

TRAIN SURFERS plays before the feature film VISITOR’S DAY on Thursday, June 23 and Sunday, June 26. Buy tickets here.

(Source: American Film Institute Magazine/AFI Blog)

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New BEN-HUR Featurette

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BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Also starring Morgan Freeman and Rodrigo Santoro. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov

 

See how the team brought the chariot race to life in this new featurette!

 

In theaters August 19, 2016

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(Materials courtesy of ©2015 Paramount Pictures. All Right Reserved.
5555 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90038)

#TIFF, Anime

#ANIME NEWS: Top directors Hosoda and Iwai to take center stage at #TIFF

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June 9, 2016 at 11:00 JST

Animated works by director Mamoru Hosoda are to be showcased in the Animation Focus program at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which will run from Oct. 25 to Nov. 3.

The festival’s 2016 edition will also shine a spotlight on leading film director Shunji Iwai, who will provide the theme for the Japan Now section, which focuses on outstanding Japanese filmmakers.

Having celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, the TIFF, which was launched in 1985, is widely known as one of the leading film festivals held in Asia. In recent years, the festival has been putting extra emphasis on promoting Japanese culture trends including anime.

In 2014, the TIFF featured “Evangelion” anime creator Hideaki Anno in the Animation Focus program under the title of “The World of Hideaki Anno.” The festival also covered the “Mobile Suit Gundam” robot anime franchise last year.

Known for many hit anime films such as “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” “Summer Wars” and “The Boy and the Beast,” Hosoda will be the third anime creator to be featured in the Animation Focus program.

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“The Boy and the Beast” ((c) 2015 The Boy and the Beast Film Partners)

In addition to screening his recent films, the TIFF will also showcase Hosoda’s early works including “One Piece” and “Digimon Adventure” to offer a retrospective look at his career and wide-ranging creative expertise.

The Japan Now section deals with filmmakers most worthy of promoting internationally at the moment.

Known for “Love Letter,” his latest movie “A Bride for Rip Van Winkle” and other critically acclaimed films, Iwai is popular at home and abroad, particularly in Asia. He drew international attention with his animated feature film effort “Hana and Alice,” in 2015.

His artistic abilities will be brought to light in the program.

Details of the TIFF will be updated at its official website at (http://2016.tiff-jp.net/en/).

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To learn more about the latest developments in Japanese anime, visit the official site of Anime Anime (http://animeanime.jp/).

(Sourced and translated by The Asahi Shimbun from the website of Anime Anime Japan Ltd.)

#SBIFF, #TheWave, The Wave

2016 The Wave Film Festival ~ France #SBIFF

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Dear Cinephiles,

At The Wave Film Festivals over that last two years we have visited France twice, Spain, Latin America, and East Asia. From these countries we have seen 44 amazing films that we would not have been able to see otherwise.

The Wave Director Mickey Duzdevich and programmer Whitney Murdy are currently working on yet another exciting line up of 11 new French films of which will be announced shortly.

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Passes are now on sale for the upcoming Wave which will be July 11th through 17th at the Riviera Theatre. Come take another cinematic trip to France with us!

Patron Pass ~ $250
• Reserved Seating
• Access to ALL Film Screenings
• Access to the Passholder Reception (date/location TBA)
• Pass is non-transferable

Cinephile Pass ~ $80
• Access to Eleven (11) Film Screenings (one screening of each film)
• Access to the Passholder Reception (date/location TBA)

Individual Tickets
• Not available for purchase until film schedule is released in early July
• General Admission $10
• Senior/Student $8

Purchase passes here!

(Source: sbiff.org)

#AFIDOCS, AFIDocs, Documentary, Spotlight Screening

AUDRIE & DAISY

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Spotlight Screening
AUDRIE & DAISY tells the story of two teenage girls who went to parties, drank alcohol, passed out, and were sexually assaulted by guys they thought were their friends.  In the aftermath, both girls discovered that the crimes were documented on cell phones.  Video and pictures were passed around.  Their lives were changed forever.

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A riveting examination of the frightening consequences of social media gone out of control, AUDRIE & DAISY focuses on the traumatic aftermath for two teenage girls who were sexually assaulted in 2012. As evidence of the crimes went viral, the victims were scorned by their communities and cyber-bullied by their peers — to tragic ends. This heartbreaking film makes a powerful plea to end the cultures of shame and silence surrounding rape in the digital age. — Chuck Willett

 

Director’s Statement

As directors and parents of teenagers, we are struck by the frequency of sexual assaults in high schools across the country and have been even more shocked by the pictures and videos, posted online – almost as trophies – by teens that have committed these crimes.  This has become the new public square of shame for our adolescents.   Unfortunately, the story of drunken high school parties and sexual assault is not new.  But today, the events of the night are recorded on smartphones and disseminated to an entire community and, sometimes, the nation.  Such was the case for Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman, two teenage girls, living thousands of miles apart but experiencing the same shame from their communities.  While the subject matter is dark, we are inspired by these stories to make a film that captures these truths but can also help audiences digest the complexities of the world teenagers live in today.

As we began our research, the Steubenville, Ohio High School rape case was underway.  At the time, there was wide criticism directed at national news outlets for their lack of focus on the victim and perceived sympathy for the perpetrators.  As more cases have come to light since then, this damaging attitude – stemming from what many refer to as pervasive “rape culture” in American society – has remained largely in tact.  However, journalists need stories and stories require characters.  As is the norm in underage rape cases, in Steubenville, the survivor chose (understandably) to maintain her anonymity as a “Jane Doe.” We decided then that a genuinely emotional, meaningful film about teenage sexual assault required the affirmative on- camera participation of the survivor.  Our main subjects, Daisy Coleman and Audrie Pott, involuntarily lost their anonymity when rumors, insults and photos about their assaults circulated around school and on social media.  Identified by name and subjected to online character assassination, Daisy decided with great courage to speak out publicly.  Audrie’s parents chose to go public with their daughter’s story after the unspeakable tragedy of Audrie’s suicide, as well. Thus, using their deeply personal – and, now public – stories as a starting point, we launched into production of our film.

AUDRIE & DAISY, directed by Bonni Cohen and Joe Shenk is screening Thursday, June 23rd, 2016, at the Newseum at 8:15 P.M. Click here for tickets.

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#AFIDOCS, Documentary, Feature Film

The AFI DOCS Interview: #NEWTOWN Director Kim A. Snyder

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June 1, 2016

On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and murdered 20 schoolchildren and six educators. In the aftermath of the killings, filmmaker Kim Snyder traveled to Newtown and trained her lens on a grieving community, following several families who came face to face with tragedy. NEWTOWN reveals both the indelible scars gun violence leaves behind and the resilience of people who come together to heal.

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AFI spoke to director Snyder ahead of the film’s AFI DOCS premiere.

What led you to documentary filmmaking?

I was working on the production side of narrative filmmaking when a turn in my personal life compelled me to direct my first documentary. I have been doing it ever since.

What inspired you to tell this story?

I was drawn to the profound effects of collective trauma and the need for many people in Newtown to be heard on their own terms in an effort to make meaning out of the unthinkable. I wanted to pierce through a growing desensitization to these escalating incidents of mass gun violence through creating an emotional experience that humanizes the issue in a universal way.

How did your subjects?

It was like peeling an onion. In that first year, I did not feel comfortable penetrating the privacy of those most affected. My first connections were with the Interfaith community, which informed an intimacy and framing that was at once philosophic, existential and spiritual to some extent; it lent a holistic approach to a community wrestling with the darkest of journeys. Friar Bob, the priest who buried eight of the 20 children, was among those severely affected in terms of trauma. As I organically developed relationships with others through careful trust building, I began to develop a story of a town through a number of prisms, including that of parents of loss, educators, first responders, neighbors, youth — faces that render a portrait of any town and one that would redefine what it means to be a victim, while exploring the profound effects of survivor guilt and the resilience required to repair the social fabric of the entire community in the wake of the tragedy.

What was a particular obstacle you faced while making the film?

I faced a profound sense of responsibility in not wanting the process of the film to add to the ongoing trauma of those who participated, and in keeping my own psychological and emotion reactions to the material in check.

What do you want audiences to walk away with?

I want them to take away a profoundly emotional but rewarding journey to experience in their own community. I want them to experience perspective, anger and uplift from a community that offers profound truth and life perspective. Most importantly, I want them to leave with the conviction to participate in effecting change.

Why is Washington, DC, a valuable location to screen your film?

It is perhaps the most essential place for us to screen. Presenting an intimate exploration of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history in the seat of government and policymaking will be extremely powerful. We hope to maximize this potential.

NEWTOWN plays AFI DOCS on Thursday, June 23 at 5:45. Buy tickets here.

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[Source: American Film Magazine (blog)]

#AFIDOCS, AFIDocs, Documentary

ZERO DAYS: Opening Night Gala @AFIDOCS

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North American Premiere

ZERO DAYS, directed by Alex Gibney is slated for Opening Night Film for the 2016 American Film Institute’s AFI DOCS. The film will be making its North American Premiere on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 7:30 P.M., at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

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When independent Internet technicians discovered a chillingly powerful computer virus unlike anything they’d seen before, signs pointed not merely to recreational or criminal hackers, but to a high-stakes game of cyber warfare between nations. Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney returns to the festival with ZERO DAYS, a fascinating exposé of American and Israeli covert operations aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF) is a master of investigative documentary filmmaking, shining a light on institutions as diverse as WikiLeaks, the Church of Scientology, Apple Inc., Enron and the U.S. military. His latest work poses compelling and critically important questions about the role of technology in war and foreign policy, and its worldwide implications. — Mimi Brody

For more details click here.

#AFIDOCS, AFIDocs, Documentary, Featured

COMMAND AND CONTROL

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How do you manage weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? It’s the great dilemma the world has faced since the dawn of the nuclear age. From the director of the groundbreaking film Food, Inc., and the executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film Last Days in Vietnam, comes Command and Control, the long-hidden story of a deadly accident at a Titan II missile complex in Damascus, Arkansas in 1980. The chilling documentary features the minute-by-minute accounts of Air Force personnel, weapon designers, and first responders who were on the scene that night, and recounts the feverish efforts to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States. (http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/)

Director Robert Kenner ratchets up the tension in a film that is both a thrilling disaster movie and a probing documentary about the threat posed by aging nuclear warheads in our midst. The action centers on a true account of a nuclear accident in 1980 and the workers who raced to repair a damaged missile before it exploded. Suspenseful and thought-provoking, COMMAND AND CONTROL is a compelling cautionary tale. — Mark Page

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COMMAND AND CONTROL is screening at AFI DOCS on Saturday, June 25th, 2016 at 3:00 P.M. at Landmark 1. For more details visit: Command and Control

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AFIDocs, Documentary, World Premiere

“Doc & Darryl” World Premiere

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One of three documentary world premiere’s at the 2016 AFI DOCS, Doc & Darryl, tells the story of the men behind the headlines of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets phenomenons Dwight “Doc” Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. The film is directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio and will be screened on Sunday, June 25th, 2016, at 5:15 P.M., at the Landmark 1 in downtown Washington, D.C.  Get tickets here: Doc & Darryl

 

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Doc & Darryl Film Summary

When they were good, they were the biggest stars on a team that captured New York City and the 1986 World Series. But when they were bad, Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry broke the hearts of Mets fans. “They were going to be our guys for years,” laments Jon Stewart in this evocative yet searing 30 for 30 documentary directed by Judd Apatow (“Trainwreck”) and Michael Bonfiglio (“You Don’t Know Bo”). Reunited at a diner in Queens, the pitcher and the power hitter look back on the glory days of the mid-’80s and the harrowing nights that turned them from surefire Hall of Famers into prisoners of their own addictions. Listening to Doc talk about missing the parade down the Canyon of Heroes, or Darryl counsel others at his ministry, you can only wish that these two very different men had not followed the same destructive path.

Director’s Take

The stories of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden seem inextricably linked, whether the lives of these two very different men are actually intertwined or not. Both phenoms drafted by the Mets straight out of high school, their parallel meteoric rises in early-1980s New York and the demons that plagued them turned these two superstars and franchise saviors into tabloid fodder and punchlines. We were interested in understanding the men behind the headlines, and what drove them to their spectacular highs and lows. We hope that this film humanizes Doc and Darryl, and in doing so sheds light on issues that we can all relate to in our own lives or the lives of those around us.

 

Get tickets here: Doc & Darryl

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(Source: espn.go.com)

 

#AFIDOCS, Documentary, Spotlight Screening

CHECK IT Advance tickets sold out @AFIDOCS

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The AFI DOCS Spotlight Screening of Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer’s riveting documentary, Check It, has sold out its advance ticket sales for its Saturday, June 25th, 9:00 P.M. show at the downtown, Washington, D.C., Newseum. However, there will be a standby line at the screening for any unclaimed seats.

Brief synopsis of Check It

In the heart of the nation’s capital, the Check It is a street gang comprised of gay and transgender teens who support each other in the face of outside bullying, attacks and discrimination. The group struggles with an existence underscored by violence, poverty and prostitution, but when a young mentor comes into their lives, he endeavors to help them find a more productive outlet: through the creative world of fashion. Finally faced with a better option, the Check It members must now attempt to beat the odds by getting off the street and working toward lives of purpose and accomplishment. — Chuck Willett

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