Join us on Saturday, March 19 at the Fremont Theatre to pay tribute to one of Hollywood’s most talented and beautiful “triple threats” – Ann-Margret! 2010 King Vidor Award recipient Alan Arkin will be back to present the award to her before the George Sidney Independent Film Awards and TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz will sit down with her for a conversation too! Get tickets here: http://slofilmfest.org/tickets-passes/
(Featured Photo Credit: DeepestDream.com)
Our internationally renowned “Surf Nite in SLO” is back for its 11th year with a new documentary about Big Wave surfer Chris Bertish and the day that changed big wave surfing forever. The famed Maverick’s champion and professional speaker will travel from his home in South Africa to join Maverick’s pioneer, Jeff Clark on the stage of the historic Fremont Theatre in downtown San Luis Obispo on Friday, March 18 after the Central Coast premiere of “Ocean Driven,” scheduled for a 7:30 PM screening. A few tickets are still available here: http://slofilmfest.org/tickets-passes/
Directed by Santa Cruz filmmaker Nadia Tarow and Adrian Charles from Cape Town, OCEAN DRIVEN is a true and gripping story that chronicles the deve
lopment of South African big wave surfer Chris Bertish. At Mavericks, a famed surf break just south of San Francisco, his refusal to let seemingly insurmountable obstacles stand in his way culminates with his winning the world’s most prestigious big wave surfing contest in the largest waves ever seen in a competition. “Ocean Driven” is a tale of overcoming obstacles and fears, redefining what is possible, and inspiring viewers to never give up in pursuit of their dreams.
Bertish travels the world as a motivational keynote and Ted-X guest speaker, and is also the author of “Stoked!” We are delighted to host such an accomplished and articulate sports hero at Surf Nite in SLO.
Local surf legend, “Pismo” the surfing goat will also be in attendance with owner Dana McGregor. A short film will illustrate Pismo’s amazing talents as a surfer, and the celebrity goat will meet his fans and “sign” copies of McGregor’s new children’s book, “Goatee, the Surfing Goat.”
Also in attendance will be Gary Linden, VP of the Big Wave World Tour, along with more big wave surfers TBA. Beer and wine will also be available in the Fremont Theatre lobby beginning at 7pm, with an After-party in the Hollywood & Vines Festival Tent (behind the Fremont Theatre.)
MANY THANKS TO OUR LOYAL SURF NITE SPONSORS:
Apple Farm, City of Pismo Beach, Cliffs Resort, Creeky Tiki, Mother’s Tavern, Q104.5, Quality Suites of San Luis Obispo, Saint Archer Beer, Sea Venture Resort, SLO Wine Country, and Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort.
See you there!
(Press materials from slofilmfest.org)
Markus Horn, A German pianist/composer, mesmerized the audience on a baby grand piano with an original musical score accompaniment to the classic German Expressionist silent film masterpiece, Nosferatu (link to my full review) at the Spanos Theatre on the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo campus, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Nosferatu was presented by SLO Film Fest sponsors BHE Renewables, Union Bank and KZOZ. Film goers arrived early to witness this exciting and noteworthy event and to cast ballots for original art works in competition for for Official SLO Film Fest Poster status.
(Photo Credit: Kevin J. O’Connor/HollywoodGlee)
Throughout the evening’s film Horn brilliantly matched the photographic score in creating a dream like atmosphere for the minimalized intertitled narrative. Horn’s intense symbiosis of film and music culminated in a rousing, standing ovation by an enraptured audience at the film’s end.
(Photos courtesy of San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce)
(Featured photo provided courtesy of San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce)
SLO Film Fest kicked off with an Opening Night Party in the new Hollywood &Vines Festival Tent, located directly behind the historic Fremont Theatre in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo. The Black Market Trio provided live jazz music.
An added feature this year to the festival’s venue, the Hollywood & Vines Tent will serve as hospitality headquarters and a meeting place for filmmakers, media and passholders. In addition, the tent will host several parties including Surf Nite Meet-and-Greet, Surf Night After-Party, a Saturday Happy Hour and Sunday’s Closing Night Party. The tent is being generously sponsored by dozens of local Central Coast restaurants, wineries, breweries and more. For more details on daily/nightly access click here: http://slofilmfest.org/
(Photo Credit: Kevin J. O’Connor/HollywoodGlee)
The complete 2006 digitally restored version of Nosferatu the surreal German Expressionist classic silent film by renowned director, F.W. Murnau, served as the Opening Night film for the 22nd SLO Film Fest with a new piano soundtrack performed live by German composer and pianist, Markus Horn. Most recently, Horn has performed his musical talents to another silent German film, Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. Interestingly, Horn created this composition in the Spanos Theater specifically for Nosferatu . Nosferatu, is similar in a stylistic vein to the classic example of German Expressionism, the 1922 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, with its use of unusual, odd-looking characters, geometric mise-en-scen and its abundant use of light and shadows in its storytelling. A storied production, Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” was shot in 1921 and released the following year in 1922. It is very similar to “Dracula,” retaining its core characters of Jonathan and Nina Harker and the Count while omitting some of the secondary characters. A court ruling ordered all copies of the film destroyed after Prana Film, a short-lived, silent-era German film studio was unable to get the rights to the novel, was sued Bram Stoker’s widow and eventually declared bankrupted in defending itself from copyright infringement. A few copies of the film survived as the studio undauntedly had gone forward with the production changing names and details from the original novel. For example, Count Dracula became Count Orlok, played brilliantly by Max Schreck (Schreck in German translates to terror, fitting for the roles Max Schreck undertook throughout his acting career) and the term vampire became nosferatu. In addition, Count Orlok doesn’t create new vampires. Instead he killed his victims with the town folk blaming the deaths on a black plague. And, while Count Dracula was weakened by sunlight, Orlock sleeps by day as any exposure to sunlight would cause his death. In the end, Count Orlok meets his demise in drinking the blood of a young maiden, Mina, who sacrifices herself by allowing Orlok’s copulation while enticing him to do so into the day’s sunrise culminating in Orlok’s death.
Murnau prided himself on utilizing various angles in his productions and Nosferatu’s cinematographer, Fritz Arno Wagner, delivers. Several shots capture the eye including a film ending low angle shot of a castle in ruin representing the demise of Count Orlok. In addition, several shots on board the ship of stacked wooden coffins and the frenzied scrambling of ship rats as a coffin is opened and its contents spilled become etched in memory. All this withstanding, the evening belonged to Markus Horn, as he mesmerized the audience with a soundtrack that brilliantly matched the photographic score in creating a dream like atmosphere for the minimalized intertitled narrative. Horn’s intense symbiosis of film and music culminated in a rousing, standing ovation by an enraptured audience at the film’s end.
This version of Nosferatu with the Markus Horn accompaniment and a run-time of 94 minutes left the audience wanting more. Much more. An exceptional opening film. Highly, highly recommended.
For the seventh consecutive year, thousands of movie lovers from around the globe will descend upon Hollywood for the TCM Classic Film Festival. The 2016 festival is set to take place Thursday, April 28 – Sunday, May 1, 2016. Over four packed days and nights, attendees will be treated to an extensive lineup of great movies, appearances by legendary stars and filmmakers, fascinating presentations and panel discussions, special events and more.
TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne will once again serve as official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, with TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz introducing various events. The festival’s official hotel and central gathering point for the sixth consecutive year will be The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which has a longstanding role in movie history and was the site of the first Academy Awards® ceremony. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will also offer special rates for festival attendees. Screenings and events during the festival will be held at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX, the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and the Egyptian Theatre, as well as other Hollywood venues.
Description of the 2016 festival theme Moving Pictures:
The magic of movies isn’t just motion, it’s emotion. As we watch cinematic stories play out, they feel like our own. In 2016, the TCM Classic Film Festival explores MOVING PICTURES—the ones that bring us to tears, rouse us to action, inspire us, even project us to a higher plane. In the heart of historic Hollywood we’ll gather to share the big-time emotions of big screen stories, from coming-of-age pictures to terminal tearjerkers, from powerful sports dramas we feel in our bones to religious epics that elevate our spirits. These are the films that that set our love of cinema in motion.
Passes for the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival are on sale now. Fans are able to purchase them through the TCM Classic Film Festival website. As the number of passes available is limited, fans are encouraged to purchase their passes as soon as possible. www.tcm.com/festival
The “Spotlight” Festival Pass: $1,649 – Includes all privileges available to “Classic” and “Essential” passholders, priority entry to all screening events; plus entry to the exclusive opening-night party following the red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre; meet-and-greet events with TCM friends, including Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz; and a limited edition TCM Classic Film Festival poster.
The “Essential” Festival Pass: $749 – Includes all privileges available to “Classic” passholders, plus entry to the opening-night red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre and official TCM Classic Film Festival collectibles.
The “Classic” Festival Pass: $599 – Includes access to all film programs at festival venues Thursday, April 28 – Sunday, May 1 (does not include admittance to the opening-night red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre or the opening-night party); access to all Club TCM events, panels and poolside screenings at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; an opening-night welcome reception at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; and the closing-night event. www.tcm.com
The “Palace” Festival Pass: $299 – Includes access to all screenings and events at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre (excluding the opening-night red-carpet gala) and the Egyptian Theatre Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, as well as poolside screenings at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. www.tcm.com
(Press release courtesy of TCM Pressroom)
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will open the 7th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on April 28th with a 40th Anniversary screening of the Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman political thriller All The President’s Men (1976). Investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, Oscar winning director/ screenwriter Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), along with Oscar Winning screenwriter Josh Singer (Spotlight), join the festivities for opening night’s 40th Anniversary screening of All The President’s Men (1976)
The festival, set to take place April 28 – May 1 in Hollywood, will also include tributes to the following screen legends:
Renowned actor Burt Reynolds is set to participate in a sit-down interview about his life and career. In addition to the interview, Reynolds will be on-hand to introduce a screening of The Longest Yard (1974), for which he received a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor. The interview will be taped Saturday, April 30 in front of a live audience of festival pass holders at The Ricardo Montalbán Theatre.
Director-writer Carl Reiner featuring a screening of Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) and an extended conversation
Actor Elliott Gould featuring screenings of his Golden Globe nominated performance in M*A*S*H (1970), The Long Goodbye (1973) and a conversation in Club TCM.
Beloved Oscar® and Golden Globe® winner Angela Lansbury joins the festival with a screening and conversation of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the combination satire and political thriller.
Oscar winning actress and singer Rita Moreno will introduce a 60th anniversary screening of the cherished musical The King and I (1956).
Emmy nominee Billy Dee Williams will present a screening of Brian’s Song (1971), the true story of friendship between Chicago Bears’ player Gale Sayers (Williams) and Brian Piccolo (James Caan).
This year’s festival will include appearances by:
The 2016 TCM Film Festival will also feature special live events including:
TCM is also pleased to announce the return of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as an official festival partner as well as the co-host of the opening night screening and party. Returning once again as the festival’s exclusive founding partner, Delta Air Lines will serve as the official airline of the TCM Classic Film Festival. Additionally, DIRECTV, The Hollywood Reporter and Bonhams all return as official sponsors of the festival.
Complete bios for each of the artists appearing at the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival can be found at filmfestival.tcm.com
(Press release courtesy of TCM Pressroom)
Producer and Director Gianfranco Rosi accepts the 2016 Berlinale Golden Bear for Best Film: Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea). (Photo credit: Richard Hubner – Berlinale 2016)
On Saturday, the 66th Berlinale drew to a splendid close with the award ceremony. The event turned out to be a touching evening not least because of the Golden Bear awarded to Fuocoammare by Gianfranco Rosi. It reflected the political spirit that had been perceptible throughout the festival.
For eleven days the Berlinale demonstrated the creative power and diversity of cinema, as well as welcomed guests and the public at many panel discussions and talks on the seventh art. With 337,000 tickets sold a new attendance record in the 66-year history of the festival was achieved.
The 67th Berlin International Film Festival Berlin will be held from February 9 to 19, 2017. (Berlinale Press Office)
Since 1986 the Berlin International Film Festival has presented the Berlinale Camera to film personalities or institutions to which it feels particularly indebted and wishes to express its thanks.
At the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, three personalities were awarded the Berlinale Camera: producer, cinema operator and film distributor Ben Barenholtz (USA); actor, director, writer and producer Tim Robbins (USA); and cinema operator Marlies Kirchner (Germany).
Born in Eastern Poland, now part of Ukraine, Ben Barenholtz became one of the most important figures in the American indie film scene. He immigrated to the US in 1947 and began his career as an assistant manager of the RKO Bushwick movie theatre in New York in 1959. From 1966 to 1968, he managed the Village Theater, which became an important venue for the counterculture and anti-Vietnam protests. It also featured many jazz giants of that period, such as Nina Simone and John Coltrane, as well as bands like The Who and Cream. In 1968, he opened the Elgin Cinema, which became a key venue for independent filmmakers and repertory cinema. It provided a home for the early film works by luminaries such as Jack Smith, Andy Warhol, Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and the revival of the Buster Keaton films. He invented the legendary “midnight movie” format, with the screening of El Topo (D: Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970), which helped raise underground filmmaking to cult status. In 1972, Barenholtz founded the distribution company Libra Films, which released films such as Just Before Nightfall (D: Claude Chabrol, 1971), Cousin Cousine (D: Jean-Charles Tacchella, 1975) and Eraserhead (D: David Lynch, 1977). In 1984, he joined Circle Releasing as President, distributing such films as 36 Fillette (D: Catherine Breillat, 1988), Tales from Gimli Hospital (D: Guy Maddin, 1988), Thérèse (D: Alain Cavalier, 1986), and Blood Simple (1984), the Coen brothers’ first feature film.
Barenholtz began his involvement in film production with the Coen brothers, serving as executive producer on Raising Arizona (1987), Miller’s Crossing (1990), and Barton Fink (1991), which swept the three top prizes at the Cannes film festival. He went on to produce many successful films, such as Georgia (D: Ulu Grosbard, 1995) and Requiem for a Dream (D: Darren Aronofsky, 2000). In 2008, he was invited to join the Jury for the Best First Feature Award at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival. He made his directorial debut, Music Inn, about the famous music venue, in 2005, which was followed by Wakaliwood: The Documentary (2012), shot entirely in Kampala, Uganda.
Ben Barenholtz was awarded the Berlinale Camera on Friday, February 12, 2016 in the cinema at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, with the Coen brothers in attendance. A Q&A moderated by Michael Barker followed a screening of the work-in-progress documentary Perseverance, which was produced by Polish Television, and deals with Barenholtz’s life.
The Berlinale Camera award to Ben Barenholtz kicked off a new tradition of honouring an outstanding producer with the prestigious award each year as part of the European Film Market.
American Tim Robbins has been a successful working actor, director, writer and producer in Hollywood for almost 40 years. He won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Mystic River (D: Clint Eastwood, 2003), and a Best Actor Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for his role in Robert Altman’s The Player (1992). His additional acting credits include such films as Bull Durham (D: Ron Shelton, 1988), Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1993), The Shawshank Redemption (D: Frank Darabont, 1994), The Hudsucker Proxy (D: Joel & Ethan Coen, 1994), Isabel Coixet’s The Secret Life of Words (2005) and Fernando León de Aranoa’s A Perfect Day (2015.)
Robbins wrote and directed the 1992 political satire, Bob Roberts, and the 1999 film, Cradle Will Rock, which earned a nomination for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and won two Gran Angular Awards – Best Film and Best Director – at the Sitges Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya.) The death row drama, Dead Man Walking, won several prizes at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival, including a Silver Bear for lead actor Sean Penn, and went on to earn four Academy Award nominations, with Susan Sarandon winning for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Robbins attended the Berlinale once again in 2013 as a member of the International Jury.
In addition to his work on film, Robbins is founder of The Actors’ Gang, a theatre ensemble based in Los Angeles where he has served for over 30 years as Artistic Director. The Gang has been touring throughout the US and internationally with productions of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, George Orwell’s “1984”, “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine” and “Embedded”.
Additionally, the Actors’ Gang Prison Project works to help California prison inmates rehabilitate themselves through the arts, with acting members of the Gang, including Robbins, working with inmates in several California Prisons. To date more than 500 inmates have participated in The Prison Project, which recently received the endorsement of the California Department of Corrections and the U.S. Justice Department.
In 2014, Robbins was honored with the National Guild for Community Arts Education Leadership Award, recognizing his innovative and socially conscious work as a film and theater artist, his passionate commitment to equity and social justice, as well as his steadfast advocacy and support for arts education. The Guild noted that “The Prison Project at The Actors’ Gang is an inspiring, national model for our field which demonstrates the power of arts participation to unlock human potential and creativity, heal, and transform lives.”
The Berlinale Camera was awarded to Tim Robbins on Saturday, February 13, 2016 in the Kino International cinema, with Catalan director Isabel Coixet giving the honorific speech and German actor Louis Klamroth presenting. The award ceremony was followed by a screening of Dead Man Walking (1995).
Cinema operator Marlies Kirchner has been dedicated to film for more than 40 years. She first worked for distributor Neue Filmkunst at Cannes, before becoming co-owner of the arthouse Theatiner Filmkunst in Munich. She initially ran it together with her husband, Walter Kirchner, before becoming sole operator in 1975. The cinema, in a listed building, opened in 1957 with the Italian comedy Cops and Robbers starring Totò and, over the years, has become a Munich institution and mecca for movie devotees. The cinema has always presented a programme of high-quality films. From films banned in the Nazi era to avant-garde films, and European auteur cinema, usually shown in their original language with subtitles, the repertory offers Munich’s moviegoers a diverse and sophisticated selection of films. The distribution arm, Neue Filmkunst, supplements that with discoveries from film festivals. The film theatre’s contribution to keeping art films alive and Marlies Kirchner’s endeavours in sustaining high quality cinema in the Bavarian state capital have been honoured several times with the city’s prize for cinemas (“Kinoprogrammpreis”), most recently in 2015. The Munich film festival also dedicated its 1999 homage to her.
Marlies Kirchner was awarded the Berlinale Camera on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at the Berlinale Lunch Club.
The Berlinale Camera has been awarded since 1986. Until 2003, it was donated by Berlin-based jeweller David Goldberg. From 2004 through 2013, Georg Hornemann Objects, a Dusseldorf-based atelier, sponsored the trophy, which goldsmith Hornemann redesigned for the Berlinale in 2008: Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera now has 128 finely crafted components. Many of these silver and titanium parts, such as the swivel head and tripod, are movable. (Berlinale Press Office)
(Photo Credit: © Amnon Zalait) (Photo Credit: © Heymann Brothers Films
The public has cast its votes: the 18th Panorama Audience Awards – presented by the Berlinale Panorama section in collaboration with radioeins, Berlin-Brandenburg’s public radio and television station (rbb), go to Junction 48 by Udi Aloni for best fiction film and Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? by Tomer and Barak Heymann for best documentary.
Udi Aloni may be called a loyal friend of the Berlinale – since 2003 he has presented all of his films at the festival. Junction 48 was the sixth production to premiere in the Panorama section. For Tomer Heymann it is the second Panorama Audience Award – his film Paper Dolls won in 2006. This time he shares the award: Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? was co-directed by the brothers Tomer and Barak Heymann.
In both the fiction and documentary categories, the winning films took the lead relatively early on and were able to hold this position until all votes were counted.
The official award ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 21, at 5.00 pm in CinemaxX 7 at Potsdamer Platz. The awards will be presented by Panorama curator Wieland Speck and radioeins programme manager Robert Skuppin. Radioeins film expert Knut Elstermann will host the event. Directly after the ceremony, the Panorama Dokumente winner will be shown. The winning fiction film will be screened at 8.00 pm, also in CinemaxX 7.
The Panorama Audience Award has been given since 1999. Since 2011, not only the best fiction film but also the best documentary film have received awards. During the festival, moviegoers are asked to rate the films shown in Panorama on voting cards after the screenings. In 2016 a total of 30.000 votes were cast and counted.
This year Panorama presented 51 feature-length films from 33 countries, of which 17 screened in the Panorama Dokumente series.
Panorama Audience Award Winner Fiction Film 2016:
Junction 48
Israel / Germany / USA 2016
By Udi Aloni
2nd place Panorama Audience Award Fiction Film 2016
Grüße aus Fukushima (Fukushima, mon Amour)
Germany 2016
By Doris Dörrie
3rd place Panorama Audience Award Fiction Film 2016
Shepherds and Butchers
South Africa / USA / Germany 2016
By Oliver Schmitz
Panorama Audience Award Winner Panorama Dokumente 2016:
Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?
Israel / Great Britain 2016
By Tomer & Barak Heymann
2nd place Panorama Audience Award Panorama Dokumente 2016
Strike A Pose
Netherlands / Belgium 2016
By Reijer Zwaan, Ester Gold
3rd place Panorama Audience Award Panorama Dokumente 2016
WEEKENDS
Republic of Korea (South Korea) 2016
By Lee Dong-ha
(Berlinale Press Office)
