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Film Awards Gala, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival

Nicole Kidman to Receive the Palm Springs International Star Award

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Palm Springs, CA (November 28, 2016) – The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winning actress Nicole Kidman with Nicole Kidmanthe International Star Award for her performance in Lion at its annual Film Awards Gala.  The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Monday, January 2 at the PalmSprings Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-16.

“One of the world’s most luminous and versatile actresses, Nicole Kidman has filled so many unforgettable roles including her performances in The Hours, Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain, Rabbit Hole and dozens more,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest film, Lion, she gives yet another award-worthy performance as Sue Brierley, an Australian woman who adopts two young boys from India. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the International Star Award to Nicole Kidman.”

Kidman received the Festival’s Chairman’s Award in 2005. Past International Star Award honorees include BAFTA and Academy Award winning actors Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren and BAFTA and Academy Award nominated actress Saoirse Ronan.

In The Weinstein Company film, Lion, five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train traveling away from his home and family. Frightened and bewildered, he ends up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata. Somehow he survives living on the streets, screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-4-07-50-pmescaping all sorts of terrors and close calls in the process, before ending up in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. As an adult, not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents’ feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home. Based on the true story, A Long Way Home, Lion is directed by Garth Davis and written by Luke Davies with performances from Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Sunny Pawar.

Nicole Kidman is an internationally-recognized, award-winning actress and producer known for her range and versatility. Her extensive film work includes To Die For (Golden Globe for Best Actress), Moulin Rouge! (Academy Award® nomination, Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical), The Others (Golden Globe nomination, Saturn Award), The Hours (Academy Award®, BAFTA, Golden Globe for Best Actress and Berlin Silver Bear), Rabbit Hole (Golden Globe for Best Actress, Academy Award® nomination) and The Paperboy (Golden Globe nomination, SAG Award nomination).

Previously announced honorees attending the 2017 Film Awards Gala are Casey Affleck, Tom Hanks, Ruth Negga, the cast of La La Land, including Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and director Damien Chazelle.

 

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 film 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: http://www.psfilmfest.org)

#AFI, #AFIFEST, Venice International Film Festival

AFI FEST 2016 State of the Art Technology Showcase

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AFI FEST 2016 presented by Audi has jumped on the virtual reality (VR) bandwagon in a big way on Saturday, November 12th, with its State of the Art Technology Showcase Presented by Google Spotlight Stories. Keynote Speaker, Anthony Blatt, Co-Founder of Wevr, kicked off the Showcase at 11:00 A.M inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s AFI FEST Cinema Lounge.

Blatt spoke extensively on where VR is today as behemoths Google and Microsoft are investing billions of dollars in an uncertain VR future. Nevertheless, VR filmmaking is presently bringing together filmmakers as they explore emerging VR technologies including 360 degree VR. It is Blatt’s hope these new technologies will continue to bring together filmmakers, introduce them to what is possible and that they will collaborate to present stories in years to come.

Some Hollywood directors have been outspoken and semi-critical of the new VR

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Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg at 2016 Cannes Film Festival (Photo: The Guardian)

filmmaking that attempts to arrange circumstances with bits of code that give the viewer agency. This differs from traditional filmmaking where one view is presented by the director. At the 2106 Cannes Film Festival, veteran Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg was quoted saying, “I think we’re moving into a dangerous medium with virtual reality,” he said. “The only reason I say it is dangerous is because it gives the viewer a lot of latitude not to take direction from the storytellers but make their own choices of where to look. ” (The Guardian)

While Spielberg may have a point, most legitimate VR filmmakers have techniques to gently guide the viewer in a linear or specifically designed narrative through either sound, color schematic or lighting. One intriguing aspect of VR viewing is its capacity to immerse a viewer in the presentation. Once a headset or goggle are in place, peripheral vision that occurs in a theatrical experience is removed. Blatt stipulates this will create a more “real” experience and, in addition, will stimulate lucid dreaming about the experience.

To illustrate and to help substantiate his claims on the VR experience, Blatt related a story of Jon Favreau‘s first VR viewing experience. Favreau was so overwhelmed after donning the VR goggles that upon their removal he stated he had to make a story and began sketching right away.

VR stories are similar to traditional film stories as both initially start in the writing process in script format, proceed to story-boarding and then to analysis. However, as noted earlier, the VR viewer has some agency. So, the VR experience is still a narrative story. However, VR also adds additional aspects of gamesmanship and puzzles. Another aspect under development in VR is the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). The introduction of AI turns a viewing experience into an interactive experience potentially. Here again, is where production design aids the filmmaker in gently leading the viewer towards the pre-defined narrative. Blatt refers to the process as story to puzzle, puzzle to story. And, he strongly asserted that the focus for VR filmmaking needs to be on the story versus the technology or the medium.

In addition to storytelling and production design, Blatt discussed issues in editing VR and some of the challenges filmmakers are facing. He also mentioned the various uses of photogrammetry in storytelling. Ultimately, Mr. Blatt believes VR is a better experience. When asked why a viewer would want to choose VR rather than the traditional theatrical experience in the brief Q & A following the presentation, Blatt cited curiosity. Blatt culminated his remarks saying VR has the power to transform and change lives with its immersive storytelling techniques much like his 1977 Saturday afternoon matinee viewing of George Lucas’s first installment of the Star Wars saga.

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VR Viewing Room at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)

Recently, I attended a 40-minute segment viewing of what is being marketed as the first feature-length VR film with human actors, Jesus VR, set for release on Christmas Day. The portion I viewed contained a scene where a parable was used to illustrate a teaching point. To me, I believe the application of VR for storytelling and teaching is astounding. The issue seems to be how to get there. Currently, the technology costs associated with VR filmmaking are prohibitively high.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, VR is here to stay. So lace up your boots and hop on. You’ll be glad you did. It’s going to be quite a ride!

Documentary, Venice International Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival

‘Unlike anything I’ve ever seen’: Filmmakers create documentary of a documentary

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Jon Hernandez, CBB News

A new film explores the trials, hardships and endless problem solving required in documentary filmmaking — by putting the entire process itself under the lens.

Academy Award-winning Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker John Zaritsky is in front of the camera for the first time in John Zaritsky on TV, a film that follows him as he takes on his latest project, chronicling survivors of the controversial pharmaceutical thalidomide.

The film, co-directed and co-produced by Michael Savoie and Jennifer diCresce, candidly follows Vancouver’s Zaritsky as he embarks on what he believes is his tour de force. It is an official selection for the 2016 Whistler Film Festival.

“I was uncertain about it,” Savoie told host Sheryl MacKay on CBC’s North by Northwest. “But the film is unlike anything I’ve ever seen about the filmmaking process. It’s not the kind of film that gets tacked onto the end of a DVD … this is really getting into the head of a fellow on the top of his game.”

The Thalidomide Saga

The film follows Zaritsky as he shoots No Limits: The Thalidomide Saga — a documentary that explores the after-effects of the controversial drug.

Thalidomide was first synthesized in the former West Germany and marketed worldwide as a “wonder drug” that provided “safe and sound sleep,” according to the Association of Canadian Victims of Thalidomide.

However, when the drug was taken during pregnancy, it led to serious birth defects and many infant deaths. The drug was available in Canada for three years before being pulled off the shelves in 1962.

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John Zaritsky talks to a subject and thalidomide survivor, explaining that he is also the subject of a documentary. (Michael Savoie and Jennifer diCresce/John Zaritsky on TV)

Zaritsky decided to catch up with some of the survivors to showcase how the after-effects of the drug linger, and that it is allegedly being re-branded in Germany. The timing of the project aligned with Savoie’s desire to create a documentary that turned the genre on its head by shining a light on the filmmaking process.

“It seemed to me to be the perfect time to do this,” he said. “But what we didn’t expect was that eight weeks before [production], John wanted me to shoot his film.”

A character in his own film

Savoie, who had worked with Zaritsky in the past as well, accepted the role of cameraman, and in so doing, ended up becoming the subject of his own film. He says at first, being one of the characters was strange — until the harsh reality of documentary filmmaking set it in.

“We just got so tired. Over the course of 25 days we traveled 25,000 kilometers. And eventually, you’re just surviving out there. You’re eating when you can, sleeping when you can, so the crew that was [filming us] really disappeared.”

Michael Savoie

Michael Savoie is both filmmaker and subject as he tiredly looks at his watch after little sleep and many days of shooting for John Zaritsky’s No Limits: The Thalidomide Saga. (Michael Savoie and Jennifer diCresce/John Zaritsky on TV)

“It’s such a difficult way to live your life. Making a documentary is hard. And the whole process of raising funds and bank accounts and tax credits is a really hard thing to do with your life. And when you finally do get to do the fun part and start filming it, you don’t want to make any mistakes.”

And he says once a filmmaker is out on the field, things always fall apart.

For example, at one point, one of Zaritsky’s essential characters drops out of the film. The camera catches the moment as it happens, lingering on the filmmaker as he takes it in and begins to work around it.

Character falls out

Savoie (left) tells Zaritsky (right) a key character has dropped out of the film while they’re in the middle of a shoot.

“A major building block of his film just disappeared, and he had to think fast and get back on his feet … that’s one of my favorite sequences of the film. That’s real cinéma vérité.”

The film premiers at the Whistler Film Festival on Dec. 1.

(Source: http://www.cbc.ca)

Singapore International Film Festival

What Filmmakers Need To Know About Marketing In Digital Space

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Charmalne Lim

The 27th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) kicked off on 23rd November and we delve into the exploration of digital space.

Watching TV used to be a communal activity with the family, and movie theatres were exciting places to hang out with friends as we stuff our faces with popcorn, but now, technology gives us a push and we fall backwards into a couch at home, streaming movies and dramas online with a subscription fee of about $12 a month.

We find out from three SGIFF forum speakers, Missy Laney, Lionel Chok, and Scott Kaplan, via email interviews, on whether Virtual Reality can be a game changer, and how the Internet is a boon and a bane for filmmakers.

Choose The Right Platform, Not Any Platform

The challenge of the new-age behavioral phenomenon is not only finding the platforms to host your show, but also adopting various marketing strategies to promote it.

It boils down to the basics of marketing: Knowing what you really want to achieve.

Scott Kaplan, SVP in Global Sales at Gunpowder & Sky Distribution, points out that film distribution in digital space is a reaction to macro-shifts in human behavior.

“People want to watch WHAT they want to watch, WHERE they feel like it, and WHEN they feel like it.” – Scott Kaplan

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Kaplan outlines the rigmarole of choosing a distributing platform, “Viewership?  Revenue? Awards-recognition?  It comes to knowing how the platforms respond to creatively, what they will pay, what territories, rights and terms they need, [and if] they need exclusivity etc.”

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The Right Audience, Not A Large Audience

“Social media is a tool, not a solution. It can be used to elevate a film or degrade a film. It allows us to measure our audience, dissect our audience demographically, and ultimately communicate with our audience.” – Missy Laney

It’s easy to mistake online marketing as mindless updates, which can dilute your film’s branding.

Missy Laney, Film Strategist and Director of Creative Initiatives at BitTorrent, believes it has been easier than ever to reach your audience, but keeping their attention is tough.

She drops a strategic tip like a giant hotcake:

“To stand out on social media, you have to have a strategy customised for each platform.  Your Twitter strategy should not be the same as your Facebook strategy. Study how your audience engages, learn their language, and build a timeline of when and how you plan to cultivate and activate your fan base.”

Laney raises an issue with most strategies, “The biggest missed opportunity is slowing down once their film has been released.  Once the final release rolls around, they are either too burnt out or funds are too tight to further engage an agency. Make a post release strategy and stick to it for one or two months following the release. The release is just the beginning.”

Money As The Cause Of Frustration & Motivation

A monthly subscription doesn’t really justify the money pumped into physical production. Film creators are losing money and are desperately trying to work the digital space towards their advantage.

Kaplan says, “The decline in box office for independent films and the collapse of the DVD market can’t be replaced by a monthly Netflix subscription. But there is a ton of new money being injected into the film-ecosphere as new platforms launch, and filmmakers are getting smarter and better at making great films for less money.”

“Additionally, fans can also interact with films now as funders and backers using crowd funding so that’s another big shift in the relationship we have with movies now,” says Missy Laney.

“I believe the success of each film is measured by one question, ‘Did it find an audience?’”

Virtual Reality As Our New Reality?

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“The entire scope of cinematography is now changed. We have to change the environment to suit the 360 capture and delivered through a headset. So you cannot just capture it and then watch it on YouTube after.” – Lionel Chok

Lionel Chok is a Singapore filmmaker, director, and many other titles under his belt. From how he sees it, Lionel thinks the digital trend and VR technology are two great things amalgamated.

“This is something very powerful. We are currently developing apps for VR content to be published in an online store. As the cost of app development has reduced, this is definitely going to impact filmmakers, as the Play Store or the iOS store will now become a method of distribution. The platforms are also evolving and content can be priced across different stores for all demographics,” says Lionel.

While the local movie scene in Singapore is still quite dry, VR is a new direction for aspiring local filmmakers. Having a passion in Augmented and Virtual Reality, Lionel is excited about its future.

He says, “The cameras are becoming more affordable with prices matching up to $2000 ~ $4000. In time to come, I see more VR stories that are going to be curated and delivered via apps, headsets and who knows, maybe even communal VR spaces in open spaces.”

Future of Cinema Forum – Independent Film: Navigating the Digital Space, as part of the Singapore International Film Festival, will be held on 26 November 2016, 1pm at *SCAPE.

More information can be found at sgiff.com.

Feature Image Credit: onespacemedia.com

(Source:www.vulcanpost.com)

 

#AFI, #AFIFEST, Documentary, Feature Film, Hollywood, Venice International Film Festival

FILM REVIEW: Mifune: The Last Samurai (Okazaki, 2015): Japan

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Reviewed by Larry Gleeson

Viewed during AFIFEST 2016 presented by Audi, Mifune: The Last Samurai, directed by Steven Okazaki, is a feature-length documentary about the life and films of legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. Okazaki utilizes archival clips, photographic stills and interviews with those who worked with Mifune. The film is narrated by Keanu Reeves.

Interestingly, the film is more of a creative interpretation of specific formative elements, both personal and cultural, that led to Mifune’s distinct personality. Okazaki presents Mifune is a non-linear fashion. He opens the film with the infamous rape scene from Rashomon. From there he discusses Mifune’s approach to some of his Rashomon scenes. Apparently, to embody the untamed animal instinct of his character, Mifune studied the movements and behavior of a lion. To add substance to such a claim, Okazaki shows, much to the audience’s delight, Mifune closing in on his samurai opponent in a lion-like fashion.

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Iconic Japanese Director Akira Kurasaw, left, and legendary Japanese Actor Toshiro Mifune, during a set break.

The 1950’s and 60’s were a Golden Age for Japanese Film. Iconic Japanese Director Akira Kurasawa had won the Golden Lion at Venice with Rashomon in 1951 putting Japanese films on the world scene. Kurasawa and Mifune would go on to collaborate on 16 films over an eighteen year period including renowned, classic films such of Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957) and Yojimbo (1961). 

Telling interviews from Kyoko Kagawa, Takeshi Kato, Haruo Nakajima, Yosuke Natsoki and Sadao Nakajima reveal Mifune’s ardent preparation for roles, painstakingly researching and laborious rehearsal processes. Kurasawa rarely, if ever, gave Mifune specific direction on creating characters. Other interviews came from American directors Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg revealing the admiration and respect Mifune garnered not only in Japan but in Hollywood as well.

With the advent of war in 1931 and Japan invading Manchuria every able-bodied Japanese male was conscripted into service including Mifune. Mifune and his parents were Japanese Nationalists living in China at the time. Mifune’s early experiences in the war consisted of a lot of beatings as his superior officers found his tone of voice off-putting and insubordination charges followed. By war’s end males as young as eleven years old were brought into the army and referred to as Little Citizens and Children of the Emperor. Mifune’s role became training the young men as Kamakazi’s. Both of Mifune’s parents were casualties of the war.

After the war, time were tough for the Japanese. Men sold their suits and women sold their socks just to have enough to eat. Mifune made himself a pair of trousers and a matching coat from his army blanket. Such a look, coupled with his strong voice, gave Mifune a big presence. He applied for a camera assistant position with a film studio and got the position. However, in 1947, Mifune made his entrance as an actor in Kurasawa’s Snow Trail. Kurasawa was impressed with Mifune’s work and began writing bigger and better roles for Mifune. Mifune would not go back to being a camera assistant.

Kurasawa was a well-known director in Japan before the war and continued filmmaking during the war years with propaganda films. The US banned swordplay films after the war for seven years. When the ban was lifted Kurasawa was ready with one of the great films in cinematic history, Seven Samurai, with Mifune playing a often humorous, wanna-be Samurai. Mifune’s father had been a photographer and young Toshiro often posed as a Samurai for photos.

Mifune became an inspiration for young actors who found his minimalist approach accessible. Often referred to as the John Wayne of Japan, Toshiro Mifune is The Last Samurai. Warmly recommended…a cinephile’s dream!

#AFIFEST, Cannes Film Festival, Feature Film, Hollywood

FILM REVIEW: Divines (Benyamina, 2016): France

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Viewed by Larry Gleeson as part of AFIFEST 2016 presented by Audi.

screen-shot-2016-11-18-at-11-01-54-amDivines is the first feature length film by self-taught director Houda Benyamina. Benyamina, Actress Oulaya Amamra, and Divines were AFIFEST 2016 winners of the New Auteurs Audience Award, the Breakthrough Audience Award and a Special Jury Mention for Acting.

The film opens in surreal fashion with an out of focus frame containing a smoke and fog-like effect reminiscent of a meditation and indicative of the filmmaker’s use of dream logic.

Quickly, homage is made to Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver, with lead character, Dounia, played exquisitely by Oulaya Amamra, standing in front of a mirror pretending to fire a pistol while asking, “You looking at me?” Later in the film another homage to Scorcese is made from his early work,  Mean Streets, with Dounia on her knees  in the middle of the street pleading with God.

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And, without too much adieu, Benyamina quickly takes us into the inner world of her lead character, Dounia. In a sacred space Dounia sneaks voyeuristically in a low-key lit, high-angle omniscient shot looking down on a theater stage during an audition. She likes what she sees in the form of Djigui, a dancer with moves and passion, played by Kevin Mishel.

A transition is made to a rambunctious classroom. Soon, Dounia is arguing with hyper intensity as Dounia questions her teacher’s values and choice of vocation. The moment culminates with Dounia quitting school vowing to “show them.” Her vocation is to make money.

Another transition is made to a slow motion sequence in a darkly lit dance club playing diagetic music from a singing disc jockey. Here we see Dounia’s troubled mother inebriated and looking for love in all the wrong places – a common scenario throughout Divines for Dounia’s mother.

screen-shot-2016-11-18-at-11-08-25-amBefore long, Dounia witnesses a drug stash in the back of the theater. Dounia seizes the moment and takes the stash to a local dealer with her best friend, Maimouna, an Iman’s daughter, played by Deborah Lukumuena. The circle is complete as the drug dealer, Rebecca, played handsomely by Jisca Kalvanda, rounds out a strong cast of mostly female characters.

Throughout Divines, Dounia is searching for dignity. She lives in a Roma (gypsy) camp on the outskits of Paris and is frequently called Bastard. She discovers drug dealing as a way to gain respect and power. Before long, however, Dounia finds out the price she must pay for her vocation might be too high.

In Divines, Benyamina illuminates an emerging Parisian subculture made up of colorful, fringe characters steeped in Islam highlighting their highly creative, unique, and authentic stories. In furthering her artistic vision to democratize cinema, Benyamina formed a mutual assistance cinematic trade association, 1000 Visages (Faces).

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Possibly quite coincidentally, American mythologist, Joseph Campbell’s tome, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” a seminal work on archetypal heroes and myths shared by world religions and traditions, contains the association’s name in the book’s title. However, I believe Benyamina has dissected the work drawing extensively from its teachings as we witness the transformation of Dounia.

For a first feature, Benyamina’s Divines is polished. Costuming is realistic. The camera work and editing augment the film’s reality well. The musical score sets the mood and aids in pacing. And the acting is quite good. Highly recommended.

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.

Documentary, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

Nowhere To Hide at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Goeffrey Macnab

It’s late 2011, and the Americans are about to leave Iraq. The local people are rejoicing. “The whole country is now independent and free,” the radio announcer proclaims.

Three years later, and this optimism is well and truly shattered. Male nurse Nori Sharif, working in central Iraq in a part of the country deemed the “triangle of death” and a complete no-go-zone for outsiders, chronicles the slow slide into despair, the increasing sectarianism and the rise of ISIS. The violence seeps into hospitals and schools. Kidnappings shoot up.

Kurdish-Norwegian filmmaker Zaradasht Ahmed was “directing” Nori from a distance. (Ahmed himself was in the town of Sulaymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan.) At first, the idea was that Nori would film what was going on around him – he would be the observer, not the subject.

“We gave him the camera, we gave him the knowledge,” Ahmed says of Nori. He and his collaborators would tell Nori what to shoot and where to point his camera. All the time, the violence was moving closer and closer to Ahmed. By the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, society was close to collapse.

At this point, Sharif himself became the subject of the film. It turned into the story of a man and his family trying to survive. “It was the only way to justify the work, to focus on Nori,” Ahmed remembers. “All material since about 2013 was twisted again. It was more Nori to be in front of the camera, teaching him how to film himself, teaching other people how to film him, to angle it more from a personal point of view.”

By the end, Nori was isolated. He didn’t know whether to stay or to leave. ISIS was in control. This was a world in which anybody could be a victim – and anybody could be an enemy.

Ahmed had between 300 and 400 hours of footage from which to assemble Nowhere to Hide, which runs at 86 minutes. The project involved five years of shooting and a year of research. The director pays tribute to his editor, Eva Hillstöm, and her painstaking work in uncovering the “hidden human feeling” in the story as they attempted to make a “different kind” of war film – one looking at the experiences of “ordinary” people caught up in a conflict they’ve done nothing to provoke. “The film would have been different without her,” the director says.

As for Nori himself, he is not expected at IDFA. “When I was last in Iraq a couple of months ago, I suggested to him that we wanted him to come,” Ahmed recalls. However, over the space of a month, Nori lost two of his brothers. One died in a car accident, the other “because of ISIS.” “He was not in the mood to travel. He said ‘I think I should stay here … I wish he could have been here to see his work.”

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

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)