AFI FEST alums Mike Ott and Nathan Silver collaborate on a film that follows an actor, Arthur Martinez, as he hires two indie filmmakers (Ott and Silver playing themselves) to make a film with him as the star. Once on set, the filmmakers decide to scrap the movie that Arthur had planned to instead explore the actor’s real life. As Arthur becomes aware that the film has gotten away from him, his actions and motivations become unpredictable, forcing the filmmakers to question whether what Arthur does on set is real or just a performance. In their first collaboration together, Ott and Silver go to great lengths to merge fiction and nonfiction, resulting in an enjoyable experiment that blurs the lines between documentary and narrative.
AFI spoke to the directors about the film, which screens as part of AFI FEST’s American Independents section.
AFI: This film has an improvised feel, as your two lead actors play characters that share their real names. Did you work from a script or outline?
Nate Silver: We worked from a two-page outline. We drew a lot from Arthur Martinez’s life and Denver in general. We recreated many events and incidents and pulled in a lot of people we stumbled on during pre-production in Denver, and used these elements to dictate what we would shoot.
AFI: How did you juggle directing and acting in the film?
Mike Ott: The way we structured the film was key to getting inside Arthur’s head. We needed to insert ourselves into the movie in some aspect, so it wasn’t a matter of being difficult. It was frustrating, but that frustration made it easy to play frustrated directors.
AFI: Part of the fun of watching this film is trying to figure out what is documentary and what is narrative. How did you approach this as filmmakers?
MO: We knew that it would be a puzzle before the shoot, but how to structure the puzzle, we didn’t know. We didn’t figure this out until the edit. We knew we wanted multiple layers of fiction and documentary elements in the mix, but just what we would do with these layers, we had to deal with in post.
NS: Maybe it’s just that I have a short-term memory, but the interactions you see between us and the actors on screen probably give you an idea of what went down. I no longer remember what’s true or false about the movie.
Free tickets for ACTOR MARTINEZ will be available on AFI.com beginning November 1.
Raoul Peck joins us in person for the inaugural World Cinema Masters in Conversation section at AFI FEST. He will sit down for an in-depth discussion with Toronto International Film Festival Artistic Director Cameron Bailey at the festival’s screening of I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO.
James Baldwin’s unfinished final book “Remember This House” was entrusted to Peck by the writer’s estate. Drawing on this precious inheritance, Peck has crafted an incisive, elegant lm essay that examines what it means to be black in America. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, the film links racial violence in the 1960s (the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., specifically) to current events surrounding the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, and is edited so that disturbing images spanning almost half a century find even more heightened power together. As a Haitian filmmaker, Peck is able to add an outsider’s viewpoint to the proceedings, while also furthering the idea that the black experience transcends borders and national identities.
AFI: James Baldwin’s unfinished final book “Remember This House” was entrusted to you by the writer’s estate. Did you feel pressure to do it justice?
Raoul Peck: Because it is rare for any estate to give such access to an author’s body of work, and even more unusual when it is one of the most important authors in modern America, it was less the pressure than the responsibility that laid heavy on my shoulders.
If there was any pressure, it was the self-inflicted pressure to do right by Baldwin — to figure how to be faithful to his words, in a world that asked, at every moment, for simple answers to complicated issues. The film industry being what it is, I knew that I only had one shot
I wanted to have Baldwin center-stage, without any talking heads interpreting or second-guessing him. It seems politically urgent to put Baldwin’s word “in the streets,” as he would have personally done, and make sure that these words were uncensored, unapologetic, direct and raw. He was to be the message; I just wanted to be the messenger.
AFI: How did Samuel L. Jackson become involved as the film’s narrator?
RP: As we were approaching the final phase of editing, we started thinking about who would carry this heavy responsibility of Baldwin’s words. For these words, I needed more than an accomplished actor. We knew this person should be renowned, but also someone with the political maturity, credibility and confidence to be self-effacing and convey Baldwin’s forthright language. And finally, we needed a familiar voice and presence that would not distract from what was essential.
I came up with a list of major black actors, and [there were] three who really fit the criteria. But when you do these things you cannot approach everybody at the same time, you need to prioritize. And Samuel L. Jackson was on the top of my personal list. Through my lawyer Nina Shaw, we asked if he could watch the edit and come on board. We got a yes within a few days.
A month later, as Samuel was shooting in Sofia, Bulgaria, we went there in a studio to record the voice. I am very grateful to him that he embraced the film and its approach.
AFI: Can you talk about the process of editing the film, selecting the final images that made it into the film and the emotional toil of working with these images that span almost half a century?
RP: The process was an unusual one for making a documentary. It started with the text. I went through all my James Baldwin books. Most were already heavily underlined from many rereads over the years and with the help of “Remember This House” as the main storyline, I assembled a coherent, dramatically impactful first “manuscript.” And somehow the film was there.
In the meantime, my team had already started working on the archival research and acquisition process and we basically went through everything that existed about, with and around James Baldwin in film, radio and television. I was already familiar with a lot of it and some of it was part of my own emotional iconography. When we identified enough archival material (photos, films and all sort of footage), I put everything on the floor in a very large room and started to formally build a first possible editing structure from start to finish.
The rest is a perpetual back-and-forth between images and text, one affecting the other, with the additional difficulty of rights availability, quality of material and budget requirements.
Except for the footage from Ferguson, where we had someone shooting images for us, all the shooting came last. By then, we knew exactly what we needed.
At the end of the day, a film is also the result of a whole life, not just the actual making of it. This film has been bubbling inside me for the last 35 years, probably since the very first time I read Baldwin.
AFI: Does your experience as a Haitian filmmaker inform this film about being black in America?
RP: I come from a country where we knew from day one who we were and where we came from — most importantly from a country which made history by freeing itself, on the battlefield, from its masters, and got its independence in 1804.
Contrary to the legend, the first totally free Republic of the Americas is not the United States, but Haiti. The slaves had liberated themselves. And we paid a heavy price for it. So, I know where I come from.
Then again, like most children around the world, I also grew up with the mythology of American cinema and its images. At that time it was called cultural imperialism. Today it is called soft power. Like many children in the third world, I learned very early on how to decipher and deconstruct these images.
As Baldwin put it, “I discovered that Gary Cooper killing off the Indians, that the Indians were me.”
This is probably the ideological part of my answer. The other part is just the lessons you learn daily.
As James Baldwin wrote quite eloquently in his very direct and figurative language: “When a nigger quotes the Gospel, he is not quoting. He is telling you what happened to him today.”
Haitian or not, being black is the first identifier people acknowledge. It is part of your daily life. It is life itself, an ongoing experience that never stops, and it will be until there are real, fundamental and structural changes in this country and elsewhere.
Free tickets for the Masters in Conversation screening of I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO will be available on AFI.com beginning November 1.
Michael Moore In TrumpLand is now available on iTunes, and the surprise self-distributed documentary has also lined up presentations around the globe. The film will air on October 30 in the UK (Channel 4), Australia (Ten Network), Netherlands (VPRO), New Zealand (TVNZ), Denmark (TV2), Sweden (SVT), Finland (Nelonen), Norway (NRK) and Iceland (365).
The film, currently available on iTunes for $4.99, broke the house record at the IFC Center cinema in New York on Wednesday, according to a Moore spokesman, who reported ticket sales of $6,972. The film, dubbed Moore’s October Surprise, is also playing at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino in Los Angeles, where it has been the top-grossing film since it opened.
Moore was expected to make appearances at New York screenings this weekend.
AFI FEST presented by Audi has a new section this year. The inaugural year of Masters in Conversation features three longtime international filmmakers who continually turn out provocative, challenging works that push the limits of what is possible in cinema. Films screening in this section are I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, followed by a discussion with director Raoul Peck, and THE WOMAN WHO LEFT, followed by a discussion with director Lav Diaz. Documentarian Gianfranco Rosi also joins this section for a conversation about his lauded documentary on the migrant crisis, FIRE AT SEA.
MASTERS IN CONVERSATION
Lav Diaz works as a director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer, poet, composer, production designer and actor. Known for the daring length of his films, some of which run up to 11 hours, Diaz made his feature debut with THE CRIMINAL OF BARRIO CONCEPCION in 1998. His subsequent features include EVOLUTION OF A FILIPINO FAMILY (2004); CENTURY OF BIRTHING (2011); NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY (2013); FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (AFI FEST 2014), winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival; and A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY (2016). His film THE WOMAN WHO LEFT will screen at AFI FEST.
Raoul Peck’s complex body of work includes THE MAN BY THE SHORE (1993), which competed at the Cannes Film Festival; LUMUMBA (2000), SOMETIMES IN APRIL (2005), MOLOCH TROPICAL (2009) and MURDER IN PACOT (2014), all of which premiered at top international festivals. His documentaries include LUMUMBA: DEATH OF A PROPHET (1990), DESOUNEN: DIALOGUE WITH DEATH (1994) and FATAL ASSISTANCE (2013). He served on the Cannes Jury in 2012, and is presently chairman of the French lm school La Fémis. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch Organization awarded him the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award. His film I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO will screen at AFI FEST.
Gianfranco Rosi is the director of the documentary BELOW SEA LEVEL (2008), which won the Orizzonti Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards; EL SICARIO, ROOM 164 (2010), which won the FIPRESCI Award at Venice; and SACRO GRA (2013), which won the Golden Lion at Venice. Living for a year on Lampedusa resulted in FIRE AT SEA, the Golden Bear and Ecumenical Prize winner at the Berlinale.
Tickets to Masters in Conversations will be available on AFI.com beginning November 1
EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood has begun lining up to help get the word out on Robert Greenwald’s documentary feature Oscar contender Making A Killing:Guns, Greed And The NRA. Michael Douglas, Alec Baldwin and Tony Goldwyn are lending their names and voices and have done videos to help promote the film, which was executive produced by Beasts Of No Nation exec prod Bill Benenson and his wife Laurie. But so has California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. And, Hillary Clinton’s running mate Sen. Tim Kaine — after seeing the film and meeting with the director — is also standing behind the film.
Newsom, who has been leading the charge in California for sensible gun legislation, has also advocated for the film on video as well. You can see all of the videos here.
The documentary about America’s gun issues comes after the fallout of Katie Couric’s editing debacle on Under The Gun. She and director Stephanie Soechtig are being sued for defamation to the tune of $12M after leaving out responses to questions from interviewees in the documentary.
Now that Under The Gun is unlikely to receive attention, Hollywood and political activists are putting their weight behind Making A Killing. The film got its Oscar-qualifying run courtesy of indie distributor Gravitas Ventures in August when it bowed in New York and Los Angeles. Last month, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) scheduled a congressional screening for House members in D.C.
Even Kaine is getting into the act, offering up this promotional quote for the film: “Making a Killing shines a light on the inordinate power that gun manufacturers and the NRA exert on our political system and the countless tragedies that occur because of politicians’ unwillingness to stand up to that power. The stories of the victims of firearm loopholes are instrumental in exposing what’s wrong with our gun laws. I hope my colleagues in Congress will hear the voices in this film and find the courage to side with citizens over the gun lobby.”
The documentary focuses on victims of gun violence while interspersing video and documents showing the amount of money that the NRA and gun manufacturers are amassing. Douglas, Baldwin, Goldwyn and Newsom are encouraging people to view the film and host screenings at their homes and churches.
Greenwald is a well-known documentary filmmaker that previously took on the Koch brothers (Koch Brothers Exposed), Walmart (The High Cost Of Low Price), the lead-up to the Iraq War (through several documentaries), the use of drones (Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars), the price of whistleblowing (War On Whistleblowers: Free Press And The National Security State) and Fox News (Outfoxed) through his Brave New Films moniker.
The filmmaker, who for decades has exposed the dark side of power via film, has yet to be nominated for an Oscar. However, his films have won other awards including a Peabody. Greenwald has also been honored with a DGA Award for his contribution to diversity, two NAACP Awards, and a TV Producer of the Year award from the American Film Institute for his body of work.
LOS ANGELES, CA (OCTOBER 10, 2016) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) have announced the nominees for the inaugural Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. The winners will be presented their awards at a gala event on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at BRIC, in Brooklyn, New York.
Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalist Association’s Joey Berlin. (Photo: zimbio.com)
BFCA and BTJA President Joey Berlin said,
“It is an amazing time for documentaries, with the ever-increasing number of platforms enabling producers to reach enthusiastic and growing audiences for non-fiction storytelling. This is clearly demonstrated in the depth and quality of our inaugural nominees. We have a wealth of brilliant creators who are bringing to light some of the most entertaining and illuminating stories being told today. Indeed, documentary filmmaking is modern investigative journalism. We look forward to celebrating all these fine and important achievements at the first Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards gala on November 3rd.”
13th, 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America and Gleason lead the nominations this year with five each. 13th has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature, Best Political Documentary, Best Documentary Feature (TV/Streaming), Ava DuVernay for Best Director (TV/Streaming) and Best Song in a Documentary.
The nominations for O.J.: Made in America include Best Documentary Feature, Ezra Edelman for Best Direction of a Documentary Feature, Best Limited Documentary Series, Best Political Documentary and Best Sports Documentary.
Gleason received nominations for Best Documentary Feature, Clay Tweel for Best Direction of a Documentary Feature, Best Song in a Documentary, Best Sports Documentary, in addition to the Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary honor for Steve Gleason.
As part of the gala awards ceremony the BFCA and BTJA will be honoring this year’s Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary. Honorees are as follows:
– Danny Fields – Danny Says (Magnolia/Outre Films)
– Iggy Pop – Gimme Danger (Magnolia/Amazon)
– Kirsten Johnson – Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Owen Suskind – Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Sharon Jones – Miss Sharon Jones! (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– Steve Gleason – Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Kate PlaysChristine (Grasshopper Film/4th Row Films/Faliro House Productions/Prewar Cinema Productions)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Nuts (Amazon/mTuckman Media/Cartuna/Gland Power Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film
– Under The Sun (Icarus Films/Vertov Studio/Saxonia Entertainment/Hypermarket Film)
Qualified members of BFCA and BTJA will choose the winners from amongst the nominees in voting October 31 – November 1.
About CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS
The Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards are presented in concert with the Critics’ Choice Awards. The Critics’ Choice Awards are bestowed annually by the BFCA and BTJA to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement. The BFCA is the largest film critics’ organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 300 television, radio and online critics. BFCA members are the primary source of information for today’s film-going public. BTJA is the collective voice of almost 100 journalists who regularly cover television for TV viewers, radio listeners and online audiences. Historically, the ‘Critics’ Choice Awards’ are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.
A&E Networks will again partner with the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) as the exclusive home to the ‘22nd Annual ‘Critics’ Choice Awards’. Accolades for the finest achievements in both movies and television will be presented Sunday, December 11 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and will again be seen live on A&E, 8pm-11pm ET. For more information, visit: www.CriticsChoice.com
About CRITICS’ CHOICE DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
The inaugural Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards will honor the finest achievement in documentary features and non-fiction television. The awards are determined by a committee of BFCA and BTJA members with a background and expertise in the documentary field. The debut awards ceremony will take place, November 3, 2016 in Brooklyn, New York.
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 300 television, radio and online critics. The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) is a partner organization to the BFCA and includes TV, radio and Internet journalists who cover television on a regular basis. For more information, visit: www.CriticsChoice.com
FLiCKERFEST, Australia’s premier international short film festival, will be held at the Bondi Pavilion on Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach in January 2017. The Festival in 2017 will celebrate 26 years of screening the best short films from Australia and around the world in competitions and special showcases. Following the Festival in Sydney, a selection of films will go on tour to 50 capital cities and regional centers around Australia.
The 2017 Festival will include the following competitions and awards:
COMPETITIONS:
The 2017 Festival will include the following competitions:
International: Open to films from anywhere in the world (outside of Australia) under 35mins. *Academy ®Qualifying and BAFTA recognised.
Australian: Open to films made in Australia or by Australian residents under 35mins. *Academy ®Qualifying.
Documentary: Open to Australian & International short documentaries under 35mins. *Academy ®Qualifying.
GreenFlicks: Open to Australian & International films that focus on or have environmental themes under 35mins
Windows On Europe – Competition for Best EU Film.
FlickerUp: Australian Youth & Schools Competition – open to films from students enrolled in primary or secondary schools in Australia, or individuals under 18. (This competition will be divided into 2 sections: one for primary age and one for secondary age students) films under 35mins.
Flickerfest will also screen special showcases out of competition including Comedy, Love Bites Relationship shorts, Flickerkids shorts for shorties and more..
INTERNATIONAL AWARDS:
Award for Best Short Film – (Academy® Accredited)
Special Jury Award
Award for Best Animation – (Academy® Accredited)
Award for Best Documentary (Academy® Accredited)
Award for Best Environmental Short Film
Award for Best Use of Digital Technology in a Short Film
AUSTRALIAN AWARDS:
Award for Best Australian Short Film (Academy® accredited)
Award for Best Direction in an Australian Short Film
Award for Best Cinematography in an Australian Short Film
Award for Best Editing in an Australian Short Film
*Industry and cash prizes will be awarded in the above categories of over $40,000 AUD in value.
Flickerfest is an Academy® Accredited and BAFTA-recognized festival.
All eligible films must be under 35 minutes and produced in the last 2 years.
Terrence Malick is bringing to light consciousness of the universe and what it means to be a human being in the present moment in his latest production, Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey, produced by Dede Gardner, Nicolas Gonda, Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Sophokles Tasioulis, Brad Pitt and Grant Hill. Paul Atkins served as the Cinematographer with Dan Glass handling special effects. Keith Fraase and Rahman Ali provided editing. Cate Blanchett narrated.
Over two decades ago, Malick reached out to a Harvard Professor of Natural History and the author of Life On a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years and Biology: How LIfe Works, Andrew Knoll, and said he wanted to make a picture about natural history and the cosmos grounded in science. Malick had long been an admirer of natural history films drawing inspiration from earlier films such as Cheese Mites, a 1903 landmark film by British cinema pioneer Charles Urban and zoologist Francis Martin Duncan, depicting the microbial world inside a piece of Stilton cheese, and George Melies’ 1902 Le Voyage Dans La Lune. Knoll had seen Malick’s recent film at the time, Badlands. Having enjoyed the film, Knoll agreed to be a part of it. Little did he know of Malick’s appetite to thoroughly investigate and devour subjects and correlating theories.
An ambitious project in the making for over two decades, Voyage runs the gamut of time from the first cells splitting and foraging their way in and through their vacuuous environment to the land of the dinosaurs and Tyrannus Rex to the dawn of man up to today and into the future with sweeping visuals and spectacular effects sure to encapsulate and stimulate the mind’s imagination of time and place.
The result is a journey uncovering what shape and form time has given and what shape and form that time has taken. From the early Primordial III stars that ushered the first sparkles of light to the universe and the Tiktaalik fish that came out of the oceans to walk on land, the question of representation loomed. Four areas of particular importance needed attention: (1) Creating the astrophysical imagery before the solar system existed, and then conceiving and visualizing the futurescape of the universe referencing the latest theories on cosmic destiny; (2) Representing the protoplanetary disk that formed and condensed to become the solar system and the planet within; (3) Imagining the first unicellular forms of life in all their majesty and motion, which would learn to replicate and form increasingly complex organisms; and (4) Reconceiving animals no longer on earth and blending them with analog equivalents.
Accordingly, Producer Grant Hill introduced Malick to Dan Glass who came aboard as the film’s special effects supervisor. The two delved into wide-ranging special effects in an Austin, Texas photographic laboratory they called, Skunkworks, a techie and industry term conoting radical innovation in research and development. Included into the mix were a variety of scientists and artists who collaborated to give representation to abstract images. Conducting chemical experiments, a myriad of liquids, solids, and gasses were filmed at high speeds to generate a spectrum of effects as the team produced an array of stunning images.
In addition, sublime photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s interplanetary space probes, the Solar Dynamic Observatory – a satellite observing the sun, as well as adapted supercomputer simulations and electron-microscopy added to the production’s visual cornucopia of images.
Long time cinematographer Paul Atkins was charged with assembling a series of forest and desertscapes as well as seascapes to provide backdrop for the computer generated imagery of long-lost species. To provide contrast and to remind viewers of the ebb and flow of existence – and its future- , contemporary images of humankind were collected from lo-fi Harinezumi cameras Malick handed out to people across the globe that produced warm,fuzz, colorful images.
Sound designer Joel Dougherty was brought in to create and weave in natural and speculative sounds of the universe. Meanwhile, Music Supervisor Lauren Mikus worked closely with Malick in selecting instrumental pieces evoking the swirling, swelling and creative energy at both ends of the magnitude scale.
To watch Voyage of Time is a journey unto itself. Malick tells his story in a non-linear fashion allowing the viewer to create meaning from what’s being shown and from what’s being seen. Cate Blanchett’s voice has a soothing quality as she vocalizes some pretty heady stuff. If you like stunning visuals, this is a film for you. Warmly recommended.
Voyage of Time will be released in two differing formats. One a 90-minute poetic foray full of open questions narrated by Cate Blanchett and the second a 45-minute giant screen adventure for all ages narrated by Brad Pitt.
Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT) has, for the second time, had one of its movie lovers chosen to represent the UK at Europa Cinemas’ 28 Times Cinema initiative. This year Steven Armour, a Queen’s University graduate and former member of QFT’s Takeover Film club, will represent QFT as a member of the Venice Days jury during the Venice Film Festival between 31st August – 11th September.
28 Times Cinema gives 28 young people from across Europe the opportunity to gain in-depth experience of the world famous Venice Film Festival. QFT is one of 28 cinemas from across the European Union states to be selected to send a young movie goer to spend ten days at the festival watching the Venice Days film selection and sharing their opinions and ideas.
Marion Campbell, QFT Learning Offcier said ‘We are all very proud of Steven! He will represent the UK and Queen’s Film Theatre during the Venice Days and watch all the films presented at Venice Days and the LUX film Prize 2016 Competition. While at the film festival, he will have the chance to meet international filmmakers and other film industry professionals and will be writing an online blog on his experiences.’
Following a tough selection process Steven was the one successful candidate selected from the UK and he is looking forward to the experience. “It’s an amazing opportunity to represent the UK as part of this year’s 28 Times Cinema initiative. Cinema has been a passion of mine from a young age, and so to have this chance to attend one of the world’s best film festivals is a dream come true. I can’t wait to join the 27 other young cinephiles from across Europe to watch new films, work together as a jury, and write reviews, gaining invaluable experience for my future aspirations of working in film.”
Susan Picken, Head of QFT recognises how important opportunities like this can be, “To have the chance to attend such a prestigious Film Festival in this way at the start of your career is priceless. The experience and the networking opportunities that this presents are not to be taken for granted and I know that Steven will make the most of every moment.”
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is proud to announce a special student showcase as part of this year’s 73rd Venice Film Festival Market.
Providing an unprecedented opportunity for exposure and networking to a selection of our talented students, NYFA’s Venice Showcase will feature 5 short films spanning all three academic departments – fiction, documentary and animation. The NYFA event is set to open the brand-new Venice Production Bridge platform in the morning of September 1st at the Spazio Incontri of Venice’s Excelsior Hotel.
Italian actor and NYFA alumnus Giorgio Passoti (The Great Beauty, After Midnight, Salty Air) is scheduled to introduce the showcase and discuss his career after NYFA during a lively and informal Q&A with industry, press and general audience all encouraged to attend.
Following the showcase will be a networking cocktail hour from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., as well as one-on-one info sessions for those interested in learning more about the Film Academy.
The NYFA Venice Showcase will include the following selections:
The Life of Janka, by Luis Henriquez Viloria (fiction)
After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, thousands of kids went to the streets and became a target for organizations of child traffickers. These kids were traded like livestock. “Life of Janka” is a fictional story of two brothers who go through such an experience.
Fumo, by Sean Miyakawa (fiction)
Set in the mid-1920’s, a frustrated sound composer works as one of the first sound engineers in the history of cinema who happened to be madly in love with the main actress of the production. On the day he decides to finally declare his love to her, he finds out about an affair going on between her and the director. The discovery drives him crazy.
Alive & Kicking: The Soccer Grannies of South Africa, by Lara-Ann de Wet (documentary)
In Limpopo, South Africa, the village grannies lace up their soccer boots and start kicking their way down the field – and through centuries of oppressive taboos. They play serious soccer and then break into the laughter and traditional song that help fuel their singular struggle for decent lives and a league of their own.
The Perfumist, by Yukari Akaba, Shannon Lee, Daniela Lobo Dias, Sandra Rivero Ortiz (animation)
“The Perfumist” is a dramatic story highlighting the battle of Machine-Equipped Man against Cosmic Nature. Seeking the perfect scent for his perfume within, what seems to be, an enchanted rainforest, Benedict Malville runs into the consequences of trampling on sacred, natural ground.
The Right Way, by Elena Zobak Alekperov & Flavia Groba Bandeira (animation)
A short animated story of the day in a mom’s life of raising her young child. While the child tests the mother’s patience, there is a final moment of relief after the mom reveals her secret oasis within the confines of the home.
About the 73rd Venice Film Festival
Dedicated to recently deceased Michael Cimino and Abbas Kiarostami, this year’s Venice Film festival includes new films from Natalie Portman, Terrence Malick, Ryan Gosling, Tom Ford, Amy Adams, and Derek Cianfrance competing for the event’s prestigious Golden Lion award, joining two lifetime Achievement Golden Lions for Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jerzy Skolimowski.
About New York Film Academy
With locations all around the world, the New York Film Academy has grown into an international film and performing arts school with a focus on learning by doing, providing its students with hands-on instruction. Students can choose to enroll in one of the Academy’s MFA, MA, BFA, BA, and AFA U.S. accredited degree programs and short-term workshops in filmmaking, acting for film, photography, producing, 3D animation, cinematography, screenwriting, documentary filmmaking, game design, musical theatre, broadcast journalism, music video, graphic design, illustration, and digital editing.
With more than 8,000 students from over 100 countries, NYFA offers courses in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach (Miami), Sydney & Gold Coast in Australia, Florence, and more.
The New York Film Academy’s Florence, Italy location holds film and acting programs in a renovated renaissance era building, across the street from Le Cappelle Medici, moments away from the Duomo.
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Al Pacino, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin James, Jamie Foxx, and Jodie Foster are among the many figures in the film industry that have sent their family members to study at the New York Film Academy.
life and Denver in general. We recreated many events and incidents and pulled in a lot of people we stumbled on during pre-production in Denver, and used these elements to dictate what we would shoot.
and what is narrative. How did you approach this as filmmakers?
work, and even more unusual when it is one of the most important authors in modern America, it was less the pressure than the responsibility that laid heavy on my shoulders.
production designer and actor. Known for the daring length of his films, some of which run up to 11 hours, Diaz made his feature debut with THE CRIMINAL OF BARRIO CONCEPCION in 1998. His subsequent features include EVOLUTION OF A FILIPINO FAMILY (2004); CENTURY OF BIRTHING (2011); NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY (2013); FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (AFI FEST 2014), winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival; and A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY (2016). His film THE WOMAN WHO LEFT will screen at AFI FEST.
competed at the Cannes Film Festival; LUMUMBA (2000), SOMETIMES IN APRIL (2005), MOLOCH TROPICAL (2009) and MURDER IN PACOT (2014), all of which premiered at top international festivals. His documentaries include LUMUMBA: DEATH OF A PROPHET (1990), DESOUNEN: DIALOGUE WITH DEATH (1994) and FATAL ASSISTANCE (2013). He served on the Cannes Jury in 2012, and is presently chairman of the French lm school La Fémis. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch Organization awarded him the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award. His film I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO will screen at AFI FEST.
the Orizzonti Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards; EL SICARIO, ROOM 164 (2010), which won the FIPRESCI Award at Venice; and SACRO GRA (2013), which won the Golden Lion at Venice. Living for a year on Lampedusa resulted in FIRE AT SEA, the Golden Bear and Ecumenical Prize winner at the Berlinale.
a Killing shines a light on the inordinate power that gun manufacturers and the NRA exert on our political system and the countless tragedies that occur because of politicians’ unwillingness to stand up to that power. The stories of the victims of firearm loopholes are instrumental in exposing what’s wrong with our gun laws. I hope my colleagues in Congress will hear the voices in this film and find the courage to side with citizens over the gun lobby.”
The documentary focuses on victims of gun violence while interspersing video and documents showing the amount of money that the NRA and gun manufacturers are amassing. Douglas, Baldwin, Goldwyn and Newsom are encouraging people to view the film and host screenings at their homes and churches.
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is proud to announce a special student showcase as part of this year’s 73rd Venice Film Festival Market.