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Berlinale FILM CAPSULE: Viceroy’s House (Chadha, 2017): Great Britain

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Posted by Larry Gleeson.

Kenyan born and British-reared Gurinder Chadha, best known for Bend It Like Beckham (2002),  presented Viceroy’s House at the Berlinale Palast as part of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. Chadha stated in the press conference immediately following the screening, she felt compelled to make the film in memory of her aunt and grandmother.

Viceroy’s House is set in 1947 India. India had been under British rule for nearly 90 years form 1858 when the East India Company transferred rule to the Royal Crown. In 1947 amid growing tensions and strife, Britain acquiesced authority. Viceroy’s House is Chadha’s truth regarding the political background surrounding the transfer of authority and the ensuing transition to independence.

Chadha’s agenda is a heady one as she attempts to present how the transfer was negotiated among Jawaharial Nehru, Mohammad Jinnah, and Mahatma Ghandi while speculating on the role of the viceroy and his wife. Seemingly, to keep the audience intrigued and to help move the narrative forward, Chadha tosses in a love story between Jeet (Manish Dayal), a handsome young Hindu servant and Aalia (Huma Qureshi), a stunningly beautiful Muslim woman working in the Viceroy’s House.

The film opens with non-diagetic music playing while an establishing wide-angle pan reveals the setting. The musical beat picks up in tempo as a transition is made revealing a multitude of uniformed Indian servants cleaning and dusting. Two servants in a sidebar conversation have heard the British have announced plans to leave India after a presence of almost two centuries due to the high cost World War II inflicted on the treasury. A viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, Queen Victoria’s great grandson, is coming with his wife and daughter to carry out the transfer of authority and to oversee the country’s transition to independence. Mountbatten is to be the last viceroy.

As simple as that may sound, it isn’t. India had three differing groups in the Hindus, the Muslims, and the Sikhs. Mahatma Ghandi implored all the people to stay united as one nation. However, according to Chadha, the British had a private agenda to partition the country into a Muslim Pakistan and a smaller secular India to secure oil futures for the British economy. Repeatedly, the spun phrase “divide and rule,” was proclamated throughout the film.

Viceroy’s House is a large scale, big budgeted production with many extras, extravagant costuming and exquisite production design, and has the feel of a propagandized melodramatic revisionist film. Visually, the film has much to offer with physically attractive characters and strong production values. The acting is solid with Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson as Lord and Lady Mountbatten, the Viceroys appointed to carry out the peaceful transfer. Cinematographer Ben Smithard (My Week With Marilyn) presents nothing short of a visual feast as part of an alluring mise-en-scene. The musical score by A. R. Rahman enhances the narrative nicely evoking the period.

All in all, Viceroy’s House works on the surface. Beware, however, of its dark-sewn agenda. Warmly recommended.

 

*featured photo credit:Kerry Monteen Photography)

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival

Final Portrait (Tucci, 2017): Great Britain

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Posted by Larry Gleeson.

Stanley Tucci’s newest film, Final Portrait, is set in Paris, France, 1964, and is based on James Lord’s biography, “A Giacometti Portrait.”

The film opens in slow motion with voice over narration provided by Armie Hammer. Hammer plays James Lord. Geoffrey Rush turns in a stellar performance as the quirky Alberto Giacometti at the height of his fame having received Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale for Sculpture in 1962. Lots of grays, whites, and a touch of navy blue dominates the film’s studio and cemetery scenes while the cafe scenes allow for color variety.

Lord has come to see Giacometti to have his portrait done and soon discovers no portrait is ever complete. In an agonizingly slow scene with non-diagetic violins and strings, Lord rigidly sits while Giacometti begins his brushwork making comments toward Lord in often side-splitting dead-pan. For example at the first sitting, Giacometti tells Lord he has the “head of a brute.” Later as Giacometi moves in close to gain a greater perspective, he declares Lord has the profile “of a degenerate’ despite Hammer brahmin-like portrayal of Lord.

Soon, Lord realizes the three days he originally scheduled won’t suffice and begins what becomes a pattern of cancelling and rescheduling flights to accommodate Giacometti’s process. And, what a process it is.

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Left, Clemencey Poesy, as prostitute Caroline enjoys the amiance of an evening with artist Alberto Giacometti, right, played by Geoffrey Rush in Stanley Tucci’s biopic Final Portrait. (Photo credit; Parisa Taghizadeh)

Giacometti has a passion and large appetitite for women, food and wine. His women range from a high-end prostitute, Caroline, played by the soft French actress, Clémence Poésy, to the “house maid,” Annette, played by character actress Sylvie Testud.

Finally after nearly three weeks, Lord has realized he needs to take matters into his own hands if the portrait is ever to be completed as Giacometti has a recurring tendency to paint the negative, i.e., whitewash the canvas. However, along the way, the men, including Giacometti’s brother, Diego, an artist as well, and played by Tony Shalhoub engage in some philosophical meanderings and in some male bonding. Giacometti likes control and continually keeps Lord off balance with dialogues on suicide which he thinks about daily, and meaningful death experiences like burning oneself to death or slicing oneself from ear-to-ear. Sadly, Giacometti laments he can only die but once.

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Photo credit: @Parisa Taghizadeh

Tucci has cast a fairly uninhibited look into Giacometti as an artist. Tastefully shot with most frames qualifying as portraits unto themselves. Some repetition detracts form the work as we see the mundane nature of Giacometti’s studio life one time too many. Yet, overall, Tucci tackles Giacometti in fine fashion. The film is entertaining with the strong, masculinity Hammer portrays as James Lord. Rush is very good with emoting and his physicalities are quite excellent. While the women appear as adornments both Poesy and Testud provide significant feminine wiles bringing to fruition Giacometti’s studio confession to Lord that as a young man he had difficulty sleeping until he imagined murdering two women…after raping them.

Fortunately, this episodic scenario is not carried out on screen Instead, Giacometti high-handedly pays off Caroline’s two pimps in a fashion and manner that they can’t refuse.

Final Portrait is a broad stroke for Tucci. With over 122 acting credits and only six directorial credits on imdb.com, Tucci churns out a fairly sophisticated piece of cinema reminiscent of earlier Wood Allen works including the Oscar-winning Annie Hall, as he brings Alberto Giacometti to light. Warmly Recommended.

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival

Felicite (Gomis, 2017): Senegal

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Felicite, a new film written and directed by  Alain Gomis, set in Senegal in modern time, paints a portrait of a community through the trials and tribulations of a full-figured female singer, Felicite, played convincngly by Véro Tshanda Beya. The film received funding from the World Cinema Fund and participated in the Venice Final Cut Program.

Felicite opens with low-key lighting, handheld camera work providing a cinema verite feel characters breaking the fourth wall inviting the viewer into their world.Celine Bozon is credited as the Director of Photography. Slowly, the scene reveals a night club and a Singing begins. Drinking ensues. Mayhem rears its face as the nightclub erupts with brawling instigated by a massive male, Tabu (Papi Mpaka).

When not clubbing, Tabu is a handy man, selling and servicing Felicite’s newly purchased second-hand refrigerator in side Felicite’s sparsely furnished flat. Oumar Sall (le grand) is the film’s Production Designer.

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Vera Tshanda Beya, above, as lead character, Felicite, is on a mission in Alain Gomis new meserizing film, Felicite. (Photo credit: Andolfi)

In addition, the culture depicted has an undercurrent and Gomis stunningly reveals it in the form of religious zealousness, classically trained musicians and singers rivaling any found on the planet. Interestingly, Gomis juxtaposes diagetic and non-diagetic music in convincing fashion melding the worlds into one. The Kasaï Allstars are credited with the music. Jean-Pierre Laforce and Fred Meert are responsible for the Sound Design. And, Benoit De Clerck crafted the film’s sound.

Outside the streets are strewn with trash, scooters dominate the dirt thoroughfares as the towns inhabitants navigate the market area. Not exactly Shangri La. In many respects quite the opposite. Yet, the community has its redeeming virtues and long-standing cultural nomes often found missing in larger, modernized communities..

However, tragedy is quickly introduced as Felicite’s son has been involved in a motor scooter accident.  Frantically, Felicite finds her son, discovers he needs medicine and an operation she can’t afford. The love a mother has for a child radiates as Felicite reaches out to those closest to her to generate the monies necessary for the operation. But, it’s not enough. Felicite is not a woman who takes no for an answer. She manages to get the necessary funds. Unfortunately, the hospital proceeded with an amputation drawing laughter from a patron seated directly behind me.

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Vero Tshanda Beya, left, and Papi Mpaka merge and meld in  as Felicite and Tabu inAlain Gomis’ heartfelt film, Felicite. (Photo credit: Andolfi)

While, I didn’t find a mother discovering her son had an amputation humorous, I did find a warmth in Felicite’s acceptance of her evolved condition after her experience and seeing Tabu bring her son out of despair following his amputation. At her most basic essence, Felicite is a deeply committed woman in a community that values itself, its culture and one another.

Felicite is an artistic delight with surreal mise-en-scen and heartfelt emotions. While, the film delves into the religious aspect too deeply for comfort, Gomis makes his point – spirituality is the driving force behind the community. With singer/mother Felicite, Gomis embodies the community in a human form – imperfect and spirited.

And, while the film could have been made in 65 minutes, Gomez chose to expand the run time to 123 minutes. In doing so, he takes the film to a new level a higher dimension representative of the driving force behind this fictionalized Senegal community. Highly recommended!

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival

UPDATED: Berlinale FILM CAPSULE: On Body and Soul (Enyedi, 2017): Hungary

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By Larry Gleeson

On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről) from Budapest Writer/Director Ildikó Enyedi captured the hearts and minds of the audience early this morning at the spacious Berlinale Palast Theater.

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Director lldiko Enyedi on set during On Body and Soul. (Photo courtesy of Berlinale.de)

Director Enyedi manages to weave together a narrative with parallel story lines for the first half of the film. Beautifully shot, Enyedi’s On Body and Soul showcases a stunning mise-en-scen with the woods setting. The other setting is a slaughterhouse. No details are left out. Everything from immobilizing cattle for fattening to gutting the animals with their entrails and blood pouring from their opened undersides. These, however, are just the details. The real story takes place in the moments in between.

Two co-workers, Maria and Endre, have a thing for each other. Neither one can seem to find the right words or make an appropriate move. Endre is the company’s Director of Finance and acts more like a site general manger. Maria, on the other hand, is relatively new, and operates as a quality control inspector. She is referred throughout as Doctor. She’s smart like an idiot savant and manages to portray aspects of an awkwardness somewhere between addled and autistic. She’s also obsessive compulsive.

One day, a burglary has taken place and a large amount of mating powder has been lifted. The ensuing investigation borders on the macabre. Without credible physical evidence, a annual mental health assessment is ordered to begin immediately. A shapely, auburn woman with a rather sassy hair style conducts interviews with all the employees. Most of the questions revolve around sexual and reproduction issues and histories. Based on the responses, she makes a conclusion about who the thief probably is. One aspect of the study, however, is skewered, and sets in motion a lovely sequence bringing the two awkward co-workers into relationship.

Filled with subtle humor and adult idiosyncrasies, On Body and Soul, is making an early case for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Stay tuned for more. In the meantime, I’ll see you at the cinema!

*UPDATE: On Body and Soul received the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear, the festival’s top prize for a film.

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival

FILM REVIEW: Django (Comar, 2017): France

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Reviewed by Larry Gleeson as part of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.

Django, showing in Competition, from French helmer, Etienne Comar, was the Opening Night Film for the 67th Berlinale, more commonly referred to as the Berlin International Film Festival, tells the story of legendary musician/composer and gypsy-swing jazzman Django Reinhardt. Django is set in France during the German occupation in the years from 1943 to 1945 and backed by strong research. Director Comar delivers an authentic portrait of the artist.

The film opens with a suspenseful rolling of the tiles in blood red accompanied by non-diagetic music. After the titles roll, the gypsy swing music continues as the opening scene reveals a forested, snow-flurried backdrop somewhere in the German Andennes region where a band of gypsies has set up camp. The men are gathered strumming their instruments in a soulful celebration of life. How quickly life changes as the Nazi’s raid the Roma camp. The scene fades as the eldest member of the troop has taken a lethal bullet to the forehead. Two adolescent brothers escaped the gunfire.

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Pictured left to right; Beata Palya, Bim Bam Merstein and Reda Kated from the French film, Django, by Etienne Comar. (Photo credit: Roger Arpajou)

Comar  forwards to Paris where preparations are being made for a concert performance. However, the lead musician has gone missing. The manager is sent to find and retrieve him. Without much effort, the manager finds a man fishing along a river bank. The man is Django Reinhardt, the film’s protagonist, played delicately by French actor, Reda Kateb, and the manger is his brother. As the brother tries to hurry Django, Django slows the tempo pretending to have a greater interest in the 4 ½ inch juvenile catfish he caught. Nevertheless, Django is whisked back to the theater where his mother, played compellingly by Bim Bam Merstein, awaits admonishing her soon for his tardiness. Django hasn’t a care in the world. He’s above such pettiness. And he goes out on stage and captivates the theater audience with his exquisite and complex musicianship.

The situation, however, quickly changes as the Nazis are using the Paris as the “whorehouse for their army.” Django has a blossoming reputation and the Nazis want a German tour to raise the country’s morale. Yet, they dictate “no more nigger music, dancing in the aisles, no tapping of the feet and no solos longer than five seconds.” Naturally, Django refuses to go on tour, is consequently arrested and spends the rest of the film trying to get he and his family to Switzerland with the help of an admirer, played by the lovely Cecile de France (The Young Pope).

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Left, Cecile de France as Louise de Klerk in a vital moment from Django. (Photo credit: Roger Arpajou)

Up to hearing Django Reinhardt for the first time I considered myself fairly astute when it came to jazz. Myself being an avid Django Reinhardt music fan from my first listen when had to ask who was playing the lush syncopated rhythms, I was told by a bewildered Santa Barbara City College Photography Instructor, Seantel Sanders, it was Django Reinhardt. Noticing this film about Reinhardt was opening the Berlin Film Festival, I was on a mission to see it. I sat raptured as Comar makes, in many respects, a period piece with spot-on costuming, made by Pascalene Chavanne, tight production design incorporated by Oliver Radot and smooth cinematography provided by Christoph Beaucarne. Warren Ellis handled the music.

Coming in at a surprisingly quick 117 minutes, Django is an exceptional film illuminating a gifted artist struggling with his sensibility regarding the use of his music for political purposes. Underneath, the narrative is a powerful look at the treatment of the Roma camps and their survivability as the German Army closes in. Working off archival materials, Comar delivers a timely piece on gypsy culture and the improvisational skill and unique sounds that emerged and captivated the Parisian club scene during WWII. Highly recommended.

Chicago Film Festival

Chicago Film Fest CineYouth Challenge 2017 – Entries Now Open

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

CineYouth Film Challenge
Do you know an aspiring young filmmaker? We’ve got a great opportunity for students ages 10-18 to participate in a single day filmmaking experience. Join us for CineYouth Film Challenge on Saturday, April 22, at Columbia College Chicago, where students will collaborate on making a short film from start to finish. The completed films will go on to screen at CineYouth Festival, May 4-6.
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The Film Challenge is generously supported by sponsor Allstate Insurance and partner Columbia College Chicago.

(Source: Chicago Press Office)

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

THE BERLINALE REMEMBERS JOHN HURT

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

The Berlin International Film Festival is presenting a special screening to commemorate the recently deceased actor John Hurt. Since the 1990s he had attended the Berlinale with regularity and starred in twelve films presented at the festival.

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The British actor is considered one of the most brilliant performers of the stage and screen in the last 50 years. Early in his career he gained international acclaim as a character actor. His roles in Midnight Express (dir: Alan Parker, 1978) and The Elephant Man (dir: David Lynch, 1980), for which he garnered Oscar nominations, firmly established him at the top of the league in Hollywood. Younger audiences are acquainted with Hurt from his portrayal of Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter films. Currently moviegoers in Germany can see him in Jackie (dir: Pablo Larraín).

Berlinale entries with John Hurt that screened, for instance in the Competition include The Commissioner (dir: George Sluizer, 1998), V for Vendetta (dir: James McTeigue, out of competition in 2006), and Jayne Mansfield’s Car (dir: Billy Bob Thornton, 2012). John Nossiter’s Resident Alien (1991) and Owning Mahowny by Richard Kwietniowski (2003) were shown in the Panorama.

In memory of John Hurt, the Berlin International Film Festival will present An Englishman in New York by Richard Laxton. In 2009 Hurt received the Teddy Award for his outstanding performance in this film. It will screen in CinemaxX 6 at 6.00 pm on Friday, February 17.

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(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlinale Goes Kiez

Berlinale Goes Kiez: The Festival in Neighbourhood Cinemas

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Once again the Berlinale Goes Kiez special series is bringing the glamour of the festival to Berlin’s very diverse neighborhoods and the city of Potsdam. The Berlinale will screen at seven select arthouse cinemas known for participating in and contributing to cultural life in their respective neighborhoods.

In Neukölln a new cinema  w o l f  will be opening its doors for the first time with the Berlinale. And in the Wrangelkiez, one of Kreuzberg’s most upbeat neighborhoods, the Red Carpet will again be rolled out at the newly converted and enlarged EISZEIT cinema.

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From February 11 to 17, 2017, a selection of films from the official Berlinale program will be shown in neighborhoods, ranging from Berlin-Weißensee to beyond the city limits in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Each evening one arthouse cinema will be turned into a festival venue.

Members of film teams have already announced their intention to present their works personally and discuss them with audiences after the screenings. At each neighborhood cinema a prominent film personality will serve as its patron.

The Berlinale Goes Kiez series will also begin with the official opening film of this year’s Berlinale. Django (Competition) by Etienne Comar will kick off the evening at the Bundesplatz-Kino in Wilmersdorf. Local moviegoers can expect a long and interesting evening, as shortly before midnight a film from the Berlinale Classics program will be presented as well: the digitally restored version of George A. Romero’s horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

For the first time NATIVe, the Berlinale special series on Indigenous cinema, has been invited to participate in Berlinale Goes Kiez. At the EISZEIT cinema in Kreuzberg, two films from Canada will represent this year’s special region of focus, the Artic.
At the  w o l f  in Neukölln, Berlinale Goes Kiez and Berlinale Talents will launch their first collaboration. In public talks titled “Local Heroes: Community Cinema Reloaded”, innovative international cinema operators will discuss with the audience ways to curate, finance, and involve the neighborhood in local movie theatres.

 

Berlinale-Festival Director Dieter Kosslick: “Our ‘local heroes’ are neighborhood cinemas in Berlin and Brandenburg that are open to topics important to the community and foster an on-going dialogue through the stories presented on their screens.”

 

Advance sales start on February 6, 2017; tickets will also be available at the respective cinemas.

Neighbourhood cinemas and programme

Saturday, February 11 at Bundesplatz-Kino, Wilmersdorf
6.00 pm Competition
Django by Etienne Comar

9.00 pm Competition
Teströl és lélekröl (On Body and Soul) by Ildikó Enyedi

11.45 pm Berlinale Classics
Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero

Sunday, February 12 at Toni & Tonino, Weißensee
3.30 pm Generation Kplus
Die Häschenschule – Jagd nach dem Goldenen Ei (Rabbit School – Guardians of the Golden Egg) by Ute von Münchow-Pohl

6.30 pm Competition
Wilde Maus (Wild Mouse) by Josef Hader

9.30 pm Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Back for Good by Mia Spengler

Monday, February 13 at Odeon, Schöneberg
6.30 pm Berlinale Special Gala
Le jeune Karl Marx (The Young Karl Marx) by Raoul Peck

9.30 pm Competition
Una mujer fantástica (A Fantastic Woman) by Sebastián Lelio

Tuesday, February 14 at  w o l f  , Neukölln
4.30 pm Talents Go Kiez
“Local Heroes: Community Cinema Reloaded”
Public talk (in English)

6.30 pm Panorama Special
Tiger Girl by Jakob Lass

9.30 pm Forum
Chemi bednieri ojakhi (My Happy Family) by Nana & Simon

Wednesday, February 15 at Thalia Programmkino, Potsdam-Babelsberg
6.30 pm Competition
Toivon tuolla puolen (The Other Side of Hope) by Aki Kaurismäki

9.30 pm Competition
Beuys by Andres Veiel

Thursday, February 16 at City Kino Wedding
in Centre Français de Berlin, Wedding
6.30 pm Forum
Tiere (Animals) by Greg Zglinski

9.30 pm Berlinale Shorts Go Kiez
Fishing Is Not Done On Tuesdays by Lukas Marxt, Marcel Odenbach
Kometen (The Comet) by Victor Lindgren
Everything by David OReilly
Estás vendo coisas (You are seeing things) by Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca
Os Humores Artificiais (The Artificial Humors) by Gabriel Abrantes

Friday, February 17 at EISZEIT cinema, Kreuzberg
6.30 pm Culinary Cinema Goes Kiez
Theater of Life by Peter Svatek
After the screening menu at Markthalle Neun

9.00 pm NATIVe Goes Kiez
Tungijuq by Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël
Angry Inuk by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Berlinale Goes Kiez is supported by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. Its complete programme can be found at http://www.berlinale.de. Please contact Uschi Feldges for more information ().

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(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals Honors Ryan Reynolds as 2017 Man Of The Year

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

CAMBRIDGE, MA (February 3rd, 2017) – The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, welcomed producer and Golden Globe nominated actor, RYAN REYNOLDS, to Harvard University where he received his Man of the Year award.

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man and Woman of the Year Awards are presented annually to performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. The Man of the Year award was established in 1963. Its past recipients include, among others, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Justin Timberlake, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Pratt and most recently, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was the 50th Man of the Year.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals Honors Ryan Reynolds as 2017 Man Of The Year
CAMBRIDGE, MA – FEBRUARY 03: (L-R) Roaster Natalie Kim, actor Ryan Reynolds and roaster Adam Chiavacci perform on stage during Hasty Pudding Theatricals Honors Ryan Reynolds as 2017 Man Of The Year on February 3, 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images for for Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770)

The Man of the Year festivities, presented by RELATED, started early in the day, when Mr. Reynolds was given a tour of Farkas Hall, followed by a private seminar with the members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. In the evening, Mr. Reynolds was given the Pudding’s traditional roast and was then made to earn his Pudding Pot as punishment for not finishing college degree. Some of the tasks, which Mr. Reynolds had to perform, were acting out a “traditional” Canadian wedding, complete with lap dance, and auditioning for a role in Deadpool 2, which tested his ability to hurl Deadpool-esque insults at beloved figures, like Tom Brady and former Woman of the Year, Meryl Streep.

A press conference followed the presentation, which was the second to be live-streamed free and to the public via the Hasty Pudding’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/thehastypudding), as it happened. To close out the festivities, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals members gave the Opening Night performance of their 169th production, Casino Evil.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 169th production, Casino Evil, contact the HPT Box Office at 617-495-5205 or order online www.hastypudding.org

The show will be performed at Harvard University’s historic Farkas Hall, located at 12 Holyoke Street, from February 3rd until March 5th. The company then travels to New York to perform at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on March 10th and 11th (call 212-772-4448 for tickets), followed by performances on March 15th-17th at Hamilton City Hall in Bermuda.

ABOUT THE HASTY PUDDING INSTITUTE OF 1770

The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770’s philanthropic mission is to provide educational and developmental support in all aspects of the performing arts for the underprivileged, to encourage satire and comedy, and to cultivate young talent around the world. The Institute is comprises the Hasty Pudding Club (the oldest social club in the United States), the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (the third oldest theater group in the world, after the Comédie-Française and the Oberammergau Passion Players) and the Harvard Krokodiloes (the foremost collegiate a cappella group in the United States). Over the last two centuries, it has grown into a premiere performing arts organization, a patron of the arts and comedy, and an advocate for satire and discourse as tools for change worldwide.

(Source: image.net/hastypudding.org)

Oscar, Venice International Film Festival

ACADEMY’S OSCAR® WEEK EVENTS

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, CA — In the week leading up to the 89th Oscars®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a series of public programs celebrating this year’s nominees in the Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Animated and Live Action Short Film categories.  All events will be held at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The Oscar® Week schedule is as follows:

OSCAR WEEK: SHORTS
Tuesday, February 21, 7 p.m.
Hosted by director Tim Miller  

Miller received an Oscar nomination in the Animated Short Film category for “Gopher Broke” and most recently directed last year’s “Deadpool.”  The program will delve into the Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories with complete screenings of all the nominated films as well as onstage panel discussions with the filmmakers (schedules permitting).

OSCAR WEEK: DOCUMENTARIES
Wednesday, February 22, 7:30 p.m. 
Hosted by Documentary Branch governors Kate Amend and Rory Kennedy

Amend is a film editor whose film credits include “The Case against 8” and the Oscar winning documentaries “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” and “The Long Way Home.”  Kennedy is a director-producer who received an Oscar nomination in 2015 for the documentary feature “Last Days in Vietnam.”  Her other credits include “Ethel” and “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.”  All the films nominated in the Documentary Feature and Documentary Short Subject categories this year will be presented in an evening of clips and onstage discussions with the filmmakers (schedules permitting).

OSCAR WEEK: ANIMATED FEATURES
Thursday, February 23, 7:30 p.m.
Hosted by director Pete Docter and Producer Jonas Rivera

Docter and Rivera took home Animated Feature Film Oscars last year for “Inside Out.”  Docter’s other feature credits include “Up, “which Rivera also produced, “Monsters Inc.” and “Toy Story.”  This year’s nominees in the Animated Feature Film category (schedules permitting) will talk about their creative processes and present clips illustrating their techniques.

OSCAR WEEK: FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS
Saturday, February 25, 10 a.m. 
Hosted by Producers Branch governor Mark Johnson

Johnson won the 1988 Best Picture Oscar for “Rain Man” and received a second nomination for “Bugsy.”  The directors of the nominated films in the Foreign Language Film category (schedules permitting) will explore a wide range of topics, from their experiences developing their projects to the specific challenges of their profession.  The program will include clips from each of the nominated films.

OSCAR WEEK: MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, February 25, 3 p.m. 
Moderated by Academy Governors Kathryn L. Blondell, Lois Burwell and Leonard Engelman

Blondell is a BAFTA winning hairstylist for “The Aviator” whose other film credits include “The Revenant,” “Django Unchained,” ” Shampoo,” and “Harold and Maude.”  Burwell won an Oscar for her work on “Braveheart” and was nominated for “Saving Private Ryan.”  Her other feature credits include “Lincoln” and “The Princess Bride.” Engelman, has served as a makeup artist on such features as “Burlesque,” “Heat,” “Moonstruck,” “Rocky IV,” and “Ghostbusters.” In Oscar Week’s final public event, the nominees in the Makeup and Hairstyling category (schedules permitting) will reveal the secrets behind their on-screen work.  Photographs, appliances, molds, wigs and other items will be on display in the theater lobby.

Tickets are now available online at Oscars.org.  Tickets to the Shorts, Docs, Animated Features and Foreign Language Films events are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID (Shorts and Foreign Language Films tickets limited to four per person).  Admission to the Saturday afternoon Makeup and Hairstyling event is free, but advance tickets are required (limited to two per person).  The Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  Doors open one hour prior to each event.  All ticketed seating is unreserved.  For more information, visit Oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.

The 89th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 26, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

 

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ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 7,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is under construction in Los Angeles.

(Source; oscars.org/Academy Publicity Department)