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Venice International Film Festival

Liev Schreiber to receive the Persol Tribute to Visionary Talent Award 2016

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Screen Shot 2016-08-10 at 7.26.39 AMLa Biennale di Venezia and Persol are pleased to announce that American actor and director Liev Schreiber (Spotlight, X Men Origins: Wolverine, Everything is Illuminated) is the recipient of the Persol Tribute to Visionary Talent Award at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (31 August – 10 September 2016).
The awards ceremony to confer the Persol Tribute to Visionary Talent Award 2016 to Liev Schreiber will take place on Friday September 2nd at 10 pm in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema, Lido di Venezia), on the occasion of the screening Out of Competition of the film The Bleeder (USA/Canada, 93’) directed by Philippe Falardeau, starring Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts. This biopic tells the true story of American boxer Chuck Wepner, who inspired the character of Rocky Balboa in the famous Rocky film series.

Liev Schreiber has participated in the Venice Film Festival several times in the past:
as the star last year of the Oscar-winning film Spotlight by Tom McCarthy, in 2012 with the opening film The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mira Nair, in 2004 with The Manchurian Candidate (2004) by Jonathan Demme; and as a director in 2005 with his debut film Everything is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood. for which he won the Lanterna Magica Prize and the Biografilm Award.
The Director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, made the following statement in regards to this award: “My admiration for Liev Schreiber is boundless. He has the ability to fully invest his talent both in starring roles in many independent films and as a costar in many mainstream Hollywood productions, as well as in a spectacular TV series like Ray Donovan which he produced and partially directed. The solid grounding he received as a Shakespearean actor when he was starting out continues to foster some unpredictable and complex performances, imbued with deep compassion. Each time he appears on screen it is as though the film’s tone has risen, making every appearance of his something unique and memorable. His essential qualities of sensitivity, intuition and intelligence can also be found in Everything is Illuminated, the one feature he has directed to date– and I hope it will not remain the only directorial effort by this singularly talented person.”
Chiara Occulti, Luxottica Group Senior Vice President Brand and Communication Management, stated: “We are particularly proud to continue our collaboration with the Venice International Film Festival of the Biennale di Venezia, which has reached its twelfth consecutive edition this year. In 2016, the PERSOL TRIBUTE TO VISIONARY TALENT AWARD celebrates Liev Schreiber, a talent who reflects the personality of Persol to its fullest. We are proud that an artist such as Schreiber has accepted to be the recipient and to associate his talent with that of Persol.”
Liev Schreiber is considered one of the most talented actors in contemporary cinema, as well as a respected director and actor for the theatre. His biggest hits include the film Spotlight (2015) directed by Tom McCarthy, winner of the Oscar for Best Film, Salt (2010) by Phillip Noyce, X Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) by Gavin Hood, Taking Woodstock (2009) by Ang Lee, Defiance (2008) by Edward Zwick, The Manchurian Candidate (2004) by Jonathan Demme, Kate & Leopold (2002) by James Mangold alongside Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, A Walk on the Moon (1999) by Tony Goldwyn, The Hurricane (1999) by Norman Jewison, RKO 281 (1999) by Benjamin Ross, Big Night (1996) by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci and the Scream trilogy (1996, 1997, 2000) directed by Wes Craven. In 2005 Schreiber directed Everything is Illuminated, with Elijah Wood. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the most famous drama schools in the world and one of the oldest in Great Britain, and graduated in 1992 from the Yale School of Drama. He won a Tony Award in 2005 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for Glengarry Glen Ross, and has received two additional nominations for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Play for his starring roles in A View From the Bridge (2010) and Talk Radio (2007).
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will be held on the Lido from August 31st to September 10th 2016, directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Venice International Film Festival

A new title in the lineup of the 73rd Venice Film Festival: The Man Who Didn’t Change History

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The Biennale di Venezia announces a new title in the lineup of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (August 31st – September 10th), presented in collaboration with the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days.
Screen Shot 2016-08-09 at 3.05.00 PMIt is the documentary film by Enrico Caria The Man Who Didn’t Change History, freely inspired by the diaries of archaeologist and art historian Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, “Il viaggio del Fuehrer in Italia”, and made with the images from the archives of Istituto Luce – Cinecittà.

“Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli is a renowned figure among Italian art historians and archaeologists,” declared Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival. “A lesser-known fact is that, forced to serve as a guide for Hitler and Mussolini during the Nazi leader’s trip to Italy, he considered the idea of organizing an assassination attempt to get rid of the two unwelcome dictators. Caria reconstructs the incredible affair with irony and documentary precision, raising questions that continue to be relevant today”.

 

“I am thankful to Alberto Barbera,” says Giorgio Gosetti, director of the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days, “for having agreed to let us join him in an event that not only highlights Enrico Caria’s vivid talent, but opens up a chapter in Italian history that has much to teach our present time. The protection of Italy’s historical legacy, the power of beauty versus the brutality of dictatorship, the figure of a great intellectual such as archaeologist Bianchi Bandinelli, and the paradoxical affair with Mussolini and Hitler, are all elements of cultural and political consideration to which this fictional documentary (rigorous, however, in its use of sources) gives extraordinary relevance”.
Enrico Caria is an Italian director, writer and journalist. Born in Rome (1957), he has worked as a cartoonist and journalist for “Paese Sera”, “Cuore” “Repubblica”, “L’Unità”, “Il Mattino”, “Il Fatto quotidiano”, “Le Iene”. He is a screenwriter for radio, television and cinema. He has directed dark or satirical comedies (17, ovvero: l’incredibile e triste storia del cinico Rudy Caino, Carogne, Blek Giek, L’era legale) and the docu-film Vedi Napoli e poi muori. He has published two books “Bandidos” (for Feltrinelli) and “L’uomo che cambiava idee” (for Rizzoli).
Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (Siena, 1900 – Rome, 1975), an archaeologist and art historian, contributed significantly to renewing the study of archaeology and ancient art in Italy, in tune with the European culture of his time. In the 1930s he taught archaeology at the universities of Cagliari, Pisa, Groningen (Holland) and Florence. In 1935 he founded the “Critica d’arte” review (1935) with Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti. In 1938 he was commissioned by the Ministry of Popular Culture to serve as a guide for Adolf Hitler during his visit to Rome and Florence. He later accepted to hold lectures in Germany and to guide Hermann Goering during his visit to Rome. The following year he refused the offer to direct the Italian Archaeological School in Athens, which had just dismissed its Jewish director Alessandro Della Seta, and in 1942 refused the offer by the Ministry to teach the “History of Italian Civilization” in Berlin. He then demonstrated his definitive opposition to Fascism by joining the clandestine liberal-socialist movement (which later developed into the Partito d’Azione). After the war and through 1964, he taught at the University of Rome. He founded the magazine “Società” (1947). His many publications include: Storicità dell’arte classica (1943), Archeologia e cultura (1961), Dal diario di un borghese (1962), Rome: The Center of Power, 500 B.C. to A.D. 200 (1969), Rome: The Late Empire, Roman Art A.D. 200–400 (1970).
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will be held on the Lido from August 31st to September 10th 2016, directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Festival Director, Alberto Barbera
Festival Chairman, Paolo Baratta

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(Source: http://www.labiennale.org)

#SBIFF, Showcase Series

Miss Sharon Jones! Tonight at the #SBIFF Showcase Series

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Two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA) shines a powerful, inspiring and entertaining spotlight on the legendary R&B queen Sharon Jones, whose wonder is a force to behold both on and off stage. Always told she was never good enough (“you’re too black, too short, too old”); Sharon finally broke-through as a renowned soul singer being hailed as a modern-day female James Brown. Now as she prepares for her most important tour, Sharon comes face-to-face with the most difficult adversity of her life: a diagnosis with cancer. Follow this tour de force over the course of an eventful year as she struggles to hold her band The Dap Kings together while battling her diagnosis with an unstoppable determination to come out triumphantly as a true soul survivor.

Miss Sharon Jones!

Directed by Barbara Kopple
Starring Sharon Jones, the Dap-Kings
Country of Origin: USA
Running Time: 94 min

Tonight, Tuesday August 9 @ 5:00pm
and Wednesday, August 10 @ 7:30pm
at the Riviera Theatre – 2044 Alameda Padre Serra

(Source: http://www.sbiff.org)

Venice International Film Festival

A Euro-Atlantic twist at the 73rd Venice Film Festival

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By Federico Grandesso
Italian Editor, Journalist

If the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival was dominated by important and consolidated “cinema masters,” the red carpet at the 73rd Venice Film Festival will be taken over by marvelous authors.

Looking at the lineup recently presented in Rome, next year’s festival could be defined as the best of Alberto Barbera, Venice’s artistic director. If the key challenge is always to combine “cinema d’auteur” with the legitimate tastes of the general public, this “Mostra” will potentially bring a perfect balance to the lagoon city.

A closer look at the main competition, with six American films, reveals a strong comeback by the big American players in an edition that can be defined as Euro-Atlantic. On one side of the Atlantic Ocean, there is Malick, Larrain, Villeneuve, Ford and Chazelle. On the other side, there is Konchalovsky, Wenders, Kusturica, Brize and Ozon.

In between these two titanic armadas there will be a lonely Asian director, Filipino Lav Diaz (The Woman Who Left), making the 73rd with one of the smallest Asian representations in recent history. But next year’s festival will not only lack Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Iranian filmmakers. Africa, with its vibrant Magreb cinematography, will be also out of the picture.

Compared to the recent Berlin and Cannes festivals, the Venice selection goes into another direction – one that prefers films based on literature (novels and theatrical plays) and history over socio-political stories. The world’s immigration and economic crises have been forgotten, at least for now. Instead, there is a more intellectual approach based on the past as source of inspiration and detector of contemporary conflicts.

Venice has always been synonymous with innovation.

As for the film that will kick off the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, it’s “La La Land” by Damien Chazelle with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, as well as two documentaries, Terrence Malick’s “Voyage of Time” and “Spira Mirabilis” by Italian directing duo Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti.

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Meanwhile, among the futurist genres there will be 3D films “Les Beaux Jours D’Aranjuez” by Wim Wenders and a UFO story “Arrival” by Denis Villeneuve, another big risk taken by the festival’s art director Barbera.

Another unmissable film will be the TV series episodes of “The Young Pope” by the Italian Oscar-winning  director Paolo Sorrentino with a stellar cast starring Jude Law, Diane Keaton and Cecile de France. Italy will have several films in competition, such as “Piuma” (Feather) and “Questi Giorni” (These Days). The younger generations will be the protagonists of contemporary stories about the difficulties of growing up.

 

The “European” surprise could come from “Brimstone,” a western thriller film conceived, written and directed by the Dutch film-maker Martin Koolhoven and starring Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Kit Harington and Carice van Houten. It is a triumphant tale of powerful womanhood and resistance against a violent past that refuses to fade. Just like at the Cannes this year, the red carpet in Venice is expected, for the joy of paparazzi and fans, to be one of the best ever, with a stunning Natalie Portman together with Emma Stone, Alicia Vikander and the Italian star Monica Bellucci.

 

 

Just as impressive will be the “battalion” of male stars such as Jude Law, Mel Gibson, Michael Fassbender, James Franco, Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves, Jake Gyllenhaal, Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt.

 

 

As for the international jury that will be awarding the golden lions, its president will be British director Sam Mendes. Also on the jury will be American artist, singer, director and writer Laurie Anderson, British actress Gemma Arterton, Italian magistrate, writer, playwright and screenwriter Giancarlo De Cataldo, German actress Nina Hoss, French actress Chiara Mastroianni, American director Joshua Oppenheimer, Venezuelan Golden Lion director Lorenzo Vigas and the Chinese actress, director and singer Zhao Wei.

 

 

The Venice International Film Festival runs August 30 through September 10th, 2016. For more information on ticketing click here.

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(Source material: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/euro-atlantic-twist-73rd-venice-film-festival/, http://www.labiennale.org)

Venice International Film Festival

Pre-opening event (Tuesday August 30th 2016) of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival

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Dedicated to the great director Luigi Comencini (1916 – 2007) on the centennial of his birth, the Pre-opening event of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival will be held on Tuesday August 30th at the Sala Darsena (Palazzo del Cinema) on the Lido.
Screen Shot 2016-08-02 at 5.51.25 AMFeatured will be the screening of Comencini’s masterpiece Tutti a casa (Everybody Go Home, Italy/France, 1960) in the copy digitally restored by Filmauro and CSC – Cineteca Nazionale di Roma, starring Alberto Sordi, Serge Reggiani, Carla Gravina and Eduardo De Filippo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, with screenplay by Age and Scarpelli, winner at the time of two David di Donatello awards and one Nastro d’argento.
The restored version will be presented in its world premiere screening, remastered in 4K on the basis of the original negatives provided by Filmauro. The digital processing was performed in the laboratories of Cinecittà Digital Factory in Rome. The transfer to 35mm film was done in the laboratories of Augustus Color in Rome.
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will take place on the Lido from August 31st to September 10th 2016, directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.
 
Tutti a casa by Luigi Comencini is one of the most famous and successful examples of what made the “commedia all’italiana” immortal: the blend of comedy and drama, of real and grotesque, of courage and determination to survive. Comencini, with the autobiographical complicity of the two great screenwriters Age and Scarpelli and the bitter laughs provoked by the remarkable performance of Alberto Sordi, tells the story of the chaos that ensued on September 8th 1943, when Badoglio signed the armistice and the soldiers loyal to the King and Mussolini were abandoned to their own destinies, to face many dangers alone. In the film, Alberto Sordi, on the phone under German gunfire, asks his superiors: “Colonel, Sir, this is Lieutenant Innocenzi, something amazing just happened, the Germans have become allies of the Americans. What are we supposed to do?”
Tutti a casa is a film “on the road” across the ruins and confusion reigning in Italy at that time, when the soldiers had no one to give them orders and one after another they decided to head back home: tutti a casa, everybody go home. In the story, Second Lieutenant Alberto Innocenzi (Sordi), who is used to obeying and not answering back, is abandoned by his soldiers and flees from north to south with his friend, the Neapolitan military engineer Ceccarelli (Serge Reggiani). He runs into German soldiers eager for retaliation who shoot at them, witnesses the odyssey of an Jewish girl attempting to escape (for whom a young Venetian soldier gives his life), meets an American prisoner hiding in an attic, is united with his father (Eduardo De Filippo) who wants to send him back to the Fascist army, until the final redemption during the 4 days of Naples. At the time Comencini stated: “On the 8th of September, people were abandoned to themselves, and that is what I wanted to describe”. The film was a box office hit, bringing in over a billion lire in ticket sales.
Luigi Comencini (1916-2007) who was awarded a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 1987 by the Biennale di Venezia, is considered one of the greatest masters of Italian-style comedy, as well as “the children’s director“. Among his comedies, his first masterpiece was Pane, amore e fantasia (Bread, Love and Dreams, 1953), with Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica, winner of the Silver Bear in Berlin, the prototype for what is known “neorealismo rosa” and one of the highest-grossing films in the history of Italian cinema, followed over the years by other hit comedies such as Pane, amore e gelosia (Bread, Love and Jealousy, 1954), Mariti in città (Husbands in the City, 1957), Lo scopone scientifico (The Scientific Cardplayer, 1957) and Mio Dio, come sono caduta in basso! (Till Marriage Do Us Part, 1974).
Comencini addressed the theme of childhood early on in 1946 with Bambini in città, his first short documentary (which won an award in Venice and a Nastro d’argento), while Proibito rubare (Hey Boy, 1948), set among the street children in Naples, was his first feature-length film. His significant production of films on the theme of “childhood” continued with La finestra sul Luna Park (The Window to Luna Park, 1956), Incompreso (Misunderstood, 1966, in competition at Cannes and winner of a David di Donatello), Voltati Eugenio (1980, presented at the Venice Film Festival), Un ragazzo di Calabria (A Boy from Calabria, 1987, in competition in Venice) and Marcellino pane e vino (1991) his last film directed with his daughter Francesca. Also worthy of note are his versions of two classics of children’s literature, such as Le avventure di Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, 1972) and Cuore (1984).
A co-founder in 1935 with Alberto Lattuada and Mario Ferrari of the Cineteca italiana di Milano, Comencini directed a total of forty feature-length films, without counting his documentaries, screenplays, and investigative reports for Rai television. He experimented with many genres other than comedy, such as murder mysteries (La donna della domenica, The Sunday Woman, 1975), melodrama (Incompreso, 1966), literary films (La ragazza di Bube, 1963), period films (Infanzia, vocazione e prime esperienze di Giacomo Casanova veneziano, 1974), film-operas (La Bohème,  1987), but also experimented with more particular films (Cercasi Gesù, 1982, winner of a Nastro d’argento). In an interview he granted in the early 1980s, Comencini declared that he was willing to defend ten of his films, that “would never have seen the light of day if I had not made other flawed films, wholly or in part. But I have never made a film in bad faith”.
Venice International Film Festival

The three international Juries of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival

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Screen Shot 2016-07-31 at 7.57.00 PMThe selection is complete for the members of the three international Juries (Venezia 73, Orizzonti, “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for Best Debut Film) of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (31 August-10 September 2016), directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Venezia 73
The personalities convened as members of the Jury for the Venezia 73 Competition, in addition to the president, director Sam Mendes, are:
  • American artist, singer, director and writer Laurie Anderson, one of the most important and courageous exponents of the creative avant-garde in America today. She is renowned for her vocal and multimedia performances, which cross-pollinate art, theatre and experimental music. In 2015 she directed Heart of a Dog, screenedin Competition in Venice, which won unanimous critical acclaim around the world.
  • British actress Gemma Arterton moved into the limelight in 2008 when she appeared as a Bond Girl in the film Quantum of Solace by Marc Forster. In 2009 she won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer. The star of Tamara Drewe (2010) by Stephen Frears and of Byzantium (2012) by Neil Jordan, she has also appeared in major productions such as Prince of Persia (2010) by Mike Newell.
  • the Italian magistrate, writer, playwright and screenwriter Giancarlo De Cataldo,author of the best-selling novel Romanzo criminale (2002) which inspired the film by Michele Placido (2005) and the television series by Stefano Sollima (2008). He is a two-time winner of the David di Donatello for the screenplays of Romanzo criminale, and of Noi credevamo (2010) by Mario Martone (which also won a Nastro d’argento for the screenplay).
  • German actress Nina Hoss, who works in both film and the theatre, won the Silver Bear as Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007 with Yella (2007) by Christian Petzold, a director with whom she has worked many times: in Jerichow (2008), screened in Competition in Venice, and in the recent Phoenix (2014), a performance for which she won many important international awards.
  • French actress Chiara Mastroianni, a famous star of European auteur films, who acted alongside her mother Catherine Deneuve at a very young age in Ma maison préférée by André Téchiné (1993, nominated at the César awards for Most Promising Actress). In 2010 she won the Excellence Award at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2014 she participated in the Venice International Film Festival with two films in Competition, Trois Coeurs by Benoît Jacquot and La Rançon de la gloire by Xavier Beauvois.
  • American director Joshua Oppenheimer, who attracted international attention with his two documentaries, both nominated for an Oscar, The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014), the latter in Competition at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Since then, the film has won 70 awards, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
  • Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas, who won the Golden Lion for Best Film at last year’s Venice International Film Festival with his debut film Desde allà, the first Latin-American director to win the most important prize on the Lido. The film was later screened at many international festivals and won many awards.
  • Chinese actress, director and singer Zhao Wei, who rose to international fame in the films of Stephen Chow, Ann Hui, He Ping, John Woo and Johnnie To. For her role in Dearest (2014) by Peter Chan, screened Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival, she won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In 2013 she made her debut as a director with So Young, the highest-grossing film ever in China for a female director.
The Jury will award the following official prizes to the feature films in Competition:
Golden Lion for Best Film; Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize; Silver Lion for Best Director; Coppa Volpi for Best Actor; Coppa Volpi for Best Actress; “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress; Award for Best Screenplay; and the SpecialJury Prize.
Orizzonti
The members of the international Jury of the Orizzonti section, in addition to its president, French director Robert Guédiguian, are:
  • American film critic and historian Jim Hoberman, long the “senior critic” of the “Village Voice” in New York, who writes a column in “The New York Times”, and is one of the most influential voices in international film criticism. A teacher and exhibition curator, he has been a member of international juries and of the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has written thirteen books on cinema.
  • Egyptian actress Nelly Karim, who won the Best Actress Award at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2004 for My Soulmate by Khaled Youssef. In 2012, her performance in Cairo 678 by Mohamed Diab, won her the Best Actress Award at the Arab Film Festival. She took part in the penultimate film by Youssef Chahine, Alexandria…New York (2004). Nelly Karim was the main actress of Clash (2016) by Mohamed Diab, which was in Cannes in Official Competition in Un Certain Regard.
  • Italian actress Valentina Lodovini, one of the most important actresses in Italian cinema in recent years, starting with her role as the star of La giusta distanza (2007) by Carlo Mazzacurati. Winner of the David di Donatello in 2010 for Benvenuti al Sud by Luca Miniero, in 2011 she starred in Cose dell’altro mondo by Francesco Patierno, presented at the Venice Film Festival.
  • The Korean actress and director Moon So-ri has set a milestone in Korean film history with her passionate acting in Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis which earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actress at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, for the first time as a Korean actress.
  • Spanish film critic and scholar José Maria (Chema) Prado, the long-standing director (since 1989) of the Filmoteca Española in Madrid. He has been a member of the jury at many international film festivals, including Cannes and Locarno, and has collaborated with the San Sebastian Festival. In 2015 he won the Premio Fénix por la Contribución a la Cultura Cinematográfica de Iberoamérica.
  • Indian director Chaitanya Tamhane, whose debut feature film, Court (2014), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future award and the Orizzonti award for Best film. Since then, the film has gone on to win 32 international awards, and it was India’s official entry to the Oscars. He has recently been selected for the Rolex Mentor-Protégé Arts Initiative under the mentorship of Alfonso Cuarón.
The Jury will award the following prizes, with no ex-aequo awards permitted:
Orizzonti Award for Best Film; Orizzonti Award for Best Director; Special Orizzonti Jury Prize; Orizzonti Award for Best Actor or Actress; Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay; Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film; Venice Short Film Nomination for the European Film Awards 2016.
“Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future
The members of the international Jury ofthe “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future, in addition to its president, Italian actor Kim Rossi Stuart, are:
  • Spanish producer Rosa Bosch, former Deputy Director of the London Film Festival/National Film Theatre. As a producer, she has worked with directors such as Wim Wenders, Guillermo Del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and Gus Van Sant. In 2003 she became co-managing director of HBO Films in London. She now runs the Havana-based production company CubanStar, which has recently worked for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, House of Lies, Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz, and Chanel.
  • American actor and director Brady Corbet won the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and the Orizzonti Award for Best Director. Previously he had been one of America’s most interesting young actors, as the star, among others, of Mysterious Skin (2004) by Gregg Araki, presented at the Venice Film Festival.
  • Spanish actress Pilar López de Ayala, one of the most highly considered and beloved Iberian stars, won the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Goya Prize for her performance as Queen Juana de Castilla in Mad Love (2001) by Vicente Aranda. She was the star of The Strange Case of Angelica (2010) by Manoel de Oliveira, presented in the Un certain regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
  • French film critic Serge Toubiana, one of the most important film scholars of his generation, critic for Cahiers du cinéma from 1974 to 2000 (and its director for many years), director of the Cinémathèque Française from 2003 through January 2016. He is the author of many books and documentaries. With Kent Jones, he co-authored the documentary Hitchcock Truffaut (2015).
The Jury will award, with no ex-aequo awards permitted, the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film to one of the debut feature-length films selected from the various competition sections of the Venice Film Festival (Official Selection and Independent and Parallel Sidebars). It comes with a cash prize of 100,000 USD donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis, to be divided equally between the director and the producer.

 

Biographies


Venezia73
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring- creative pioneers. As writer, director, visual artist and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance The End of the Moon. In 2007 she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2011 her exhibition of all new work titled Forty-Nine Days In the Bardo opened at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. That same year she was awarded with the Pratt Institute’s Honorary Legends Award.  She has recently finished residencies at both CAP in UCLA in Los Angeles and EMPAC in Troy New York.  In 2015 her film Heart of a Dog was chosen in Competition at the 2015 Venice and as an official selection of theToronto Film Festivals and her exhibition Habeas Corpus opened at the Park Avenue Armory to wide critical acclaim.  Anderson lives in New York City.
Gemma Arterton
Beautiful English actress Gemma Arterton is well known for her stage and screen presence. After gaining an award for Best Supporting Actress for Kent, she gained a full scholarship to RADA where she took lead roles in productions such as An Ideal Husband, Titus Andronicus and The Beggar’s Opera. In 2008, Gemma starred as iconic Bond Girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster. Her other film credits include Guy Ritchie’s gangster film RocknRolla. In 2010 she played the lead female role in Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time directed by Mike Newell. In 2012 she starred in the title role in Tamara Drewe directed by award-winning director Stephen Frears. In 2013, Gemma starred in four feature films; Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters by Tommy Wirkola, Song for Marion by Paul Andrew Williams, in Neil Jordan’s Byzantium and in the Brad Furman thriller Runner, Runner. September 2014 saw Gemma play the title lead in Gemma Bovery directed by Anne Fontaine and starring Fabrice Luchini. The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival.
Giancarlo De Cataldo
Giancarlo De Cataldo was born in Taranto but has lived in Rome since 1978, where he is a Judge for the Court of Assizes of Appeal. He is a writer, translator, playwright and screenwriter. He writes for the daily newspaper Repubblica and Espresso newsmagazine. His works include Romanzo criminale (Einaudi, Stile Libero, 2002) which inspired a film directed by Michele Placido and two television series for Sky directed by Stefano Sollima; Cocaina (Einaudi Stilelibero 2013, with Carlo Lucarelli and Gianrico Carofiglio) and Suburra (Einaudi, Stilelibero, 2013), written with Carlo Bonini, and adapted by Stefano Sollima for the eponymous film. His novels have been translated into French, Spanish, German, English, Dutch. With Mario Marton, he wrote the screenplay for Noi credevamo, presented in Competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2010. He won the David di Donatello for Best Screenplay twice (Romanzo Criminale and Noi credevamo), and the Nastro d’argento for Best Screenplay (Noi credevamo).
Nina Hoss
Known for her extensive career in both theatre and film, Nina Hoss won the Silver Bear at the 2007 Berlinale for her performance in Christian Petzold’s Yella and returned to the festival in 2011 as one of their jurors. A year later she collaborated with Petzold again in the multi-award winning film Barbara, a role for which she received international acclaim. In 2014 she returned to Schaubuehne Berlin where she worked with Thomas Ostermeier and was on screen in Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, for which she was rewarded the Golden Space Needle as best actress at Seattle International Film Festival in 2015 and as well the Toronto film critics award in the same category. Recently she played in the US hit series Homeland. This year she worked under Volker Schlöndorff with Stellan Skarsgard in Return to Montauk. Nina Hoss lives in Berlin.
Chiara Mastroianni
Chiara Mastroianni  is a French actress born in Paris in 1972. She was offered her first role in 1993 by André Techine in Ma saison préférée (a film that won her a nomination for a César award as Most Promising Actress. She then worked with Arnaud Desplechin in Comment je me suis disputé (ma vie sexuelle), followed by Xavier Beauvois in N’oublie pas que tu vas mourir (winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival), Raoul Ruiz in Trois vies et une seule mort (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1996), Robert Altman in Prêt-à-porter”, Laetitia Masson in “À vendre, and Nowhere by Gregg Araki. She worked again with Raoul Ruiz in Le temps retrouvé (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival), Manoel de Oliveira in La Lettre (a modern adaptation of La princesse de Clèves, and winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998); with Francesca Comencini in Zeno: Le parole di mio padre (selected for the Un certain regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001), Delphine Gleize in Carnages (selected for the Un certain regard section at the Cannes Film Festival); with Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi in Il est plus facile pour un chameau. In 2007, she worked with Arnaud Desplechin again in Un conte de Noël, selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival; with Marjane Satrapi  in Persepolis which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2007 and the César award for Best First Feature Film;  with Christophe Honoré in Les chansons d’amour (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival), in Non ma fille tu n’iras pas danser (nominated for the César award for Best Actress, and for the Globe de crystal) and in Bien-Aimés, presented in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. In 2013, Chiara starred in Les salauds directed by Claire Denis, ( in the “un certain regard” section at Cannes) and in 2013 in Trois coeurs by Benoit Jacquot (presented in Competition at the Venice International Film Festival). She is currently starring in Good luck Algeria.
Joshua Oppenheimer
Born in 1974, USA, his debut feature film, The Act of Killing (2014 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary), was named Film of the Year in the 2013 by the Guardian and the Sight and Sound Film Poll, and won 72 international awards, including a European Film Award, a BAFTA, an Asia Pacific Screen Award, a Berlinale Audience Award. His second film, The Look of Silence (2016 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won five awards, including the Grand Jury Prize, the international critics award (FIPRESCI Prize) and the European film critics award (FEDEORA Prize). Since then, The Look of Silence has received 70 international awards, including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, an International Documentary Association Award for Best Documentary. In 2015, Joshua Oppenheimer received a MacArthur Fellowship.
Lorenzo Vigas
In 2015, the Venezuelan filmmaker Lorenzo Vigas, became the first Latin-American to receive the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, for his directorial debut Desde allá  (From Afar). After graduating in biology in 1994, and while doing a master in molecular biology, he decided to move to New York and enroll in filmmaking workshops at New York University. Subsequently, he worked in Caracas directing the documentary TV series  Expedición, produced by RCTV, and also directing institutional documentaries for the production company Cinesa.       In 2004, he premiered at Cannes’s International Critics Week, his short film Los Elefantes Nunca Olvidan (Elephants never forget), the first part of the trilogy that delves into the father figure in Latin America. Currently, he is working in the last part of the trilogy, the feature film La caja, to be filmed in Mexico during 2017.
Zhao Wei
One of Asia’s most coveted actresses, director and singer, Zhao Wei burst into international limelight with Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer (2001), He Ping’s Warriors of Heaven and Heart (2004), John Woo’s Red Clift (2009) and Johnnie To’s Three (2016). She has also worked with filmmakers like Ann Hui, Zhang Yuan, Doze Niu and Wu’ersan. Her performance in Peter Chan’s Dearest (2014)- shown out of competition at 71st Venice Film Festival – won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. In 2013, Zhao released her directorial debut So Young was a critical hit and commercial success. It set the record of the highest grossing film by a female director in China. She recently finished primary shooting for her second directorial feature.
Orizzonti
Jim Hoberman
J. Hoberman is a New York City-based author and cultural critic. He began reviewing films for The Village Voice in 1978, initially specializing in avant-garde cinema, and continued for 33 years, succeeding Andrew Sarris as senior film critic in 1988. Since leaving the Voice, Hoberman has written on art and cinema for Artforum, The New York Review of Books, and Film Comment, among other publications; he also has a regular column in The New York Times. He has lectured widely, and taught cinema history at the Cooper Union in New York, where he was the Gelb Professor of Humanities, as well as courses in cinema studies at New York University, Harvard University and Columbia University. He has served on juries at the Berlin, Jerusalem, Naples, and Rotterdam film festivals, as well as the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. Several of his essays were anthologized in the Library of America collection, American Movie Critics.
Nelly Karim
Born in Alexandria, from an Egyptian father and a Russian mother, Nelly Karim started out as a ballet dancer, trained at the Academy of Arts in Cairo, before she became a model and an actress. She has played in about 25 films and television series, including Youssef Chahine’s second to last film, Alexandria…New York (2004). She was  awarded the Best My soulmate Actress prize at the Cairo International Film Festival for Khaled Youssef’s. She was one of the heroines in Mohamed Diab’s Cairo 678 (2012), and together with her partners on screen Bushra and Hajed El Sebai, she won the Jury Grand Prize at the 2011 Asian Pacific Screen Awards. For her role in Cairo 678 she has also received the Award for best actress at Arab Film Festival in 2012. Nelly Karim was the main actress of Clash (2016) by Mohamed Diab, which was in Cannes in Official Competition in Un Certain Regard.
Valentina Lodovini
Valentina Lodovini is an Italian actress. A student of Nicolaj Karpov, she earned her diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and made her debut as an actress in 2006 in the film The Family Friend (L’Amico di famiglia) by Paolo Sorrentino. She has worked with Italian directors such as Carlo Mazzucurati, Francesca Comencini, Daniele Vicari and Marco Risi. Her commitment to independent cinema took her to the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 with the film Good Morning Heartache (Riprendimi); she also worked beside Shirley MacLaine and Malcolm McDowell in the television production Coco Chanel by Christian Duguay. In 2010 she starred in the comedy box-office hit Benvenuti al Sud and won the David di Donatello for her performance. In 2008 she won the Guglielmo Biraghi prize for her performance in the film The Right Distance (La giusta distanza).She participated in the Venice International Film Festival in 2011 in the Controcampo Italiano section as the star of the film Things from Another World (Cose dell’altro mondo) by Francesco Patierno.
Moon So-ri
Moon So-ri is a representative actress in the Korea’s movie circles. After debuted in Lee Chang-dong’s acclaimed movie Peppermint Candy in 1999, Moon has set a milestone in the Korean film history with her passionate acting in Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis which earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actor or Actress at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, for the first time as a Korean actress. Moon has been described as a towering presence in the domestic film domain which received such praises as ‘Not a single work of Moon has disappointed the public and critics.’ In addition to building an impressive filmography as an actress, Moon has turned into a movie director, actively pursuing her career in various areas of the film world.
Josè Maria (Chema) Prado
After earning his degree in interior architecture, and collaborating with specialized film magazines, he began to work for the Filmoteca Española as director of programming through 1987, the year in which he was appointed Deputy Director. In 1989 he was appointed Director of the Filmoteca, a position he would hold through 2016. From 1993 to 1999, he was a member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Film Archives. He was a consultant to the San Sebastian Film Festival, and has been a member of the jury in many film festivals, including Cannes, Sundance, Valladolid, Locarno, Los Angeles, Montpellier, Guadalajara, La Havana, Miami and Venice. He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic in 1995, Gold Medalist of the Accademia Gallega dell’Audiovisivo in 2004, and was honoured with a medal for Civil Merit in 2011. Since 1993 he has dedicated himself to artistic photography, and regularly exhibits his work.
Chaitanya Tamhane
Born in Mumbai in 1987, Chaitanya Tamhane is an English literature graduate from Mithibai College of Arts. Six Strands (2010), his first fictional short film was screened at various international film festivals including Rotterdam International Film Festival, Clermont- Ferrand International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Slamdance, and many others. Chaitanya’s debut feature film, Court (2014), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future award and the Orizzonti award for Best film. Since then, the film has gone on to win 32 international awards at various prestigious film festivals as well as India’s National Award for Best Feature Film. It was India’s official entry to the Oscars. In 2016, Chaitanya was featured in Forbes Asia’s list of 300 young achievers under the age of 30. He has recently been selected for the Rolex Mentor-Protégé Arts Initiative under the mentorship of Alfonso Cuarón.
“Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future
Rosa Bosch
Deputy Director of the London Film Festival/National Film Theatre where she remained for 10 years, Rosa moved to the industry side as co-founder of the Mexican company Tequila Gang. During this time she was involved with Buena Vista Social Club by Wim Wenders, El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil’s Backbone) by Guillermo del Toro, Lost in la Mancha by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, and Amores Perros by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. In 2003, she established and was Co-Managing Director of HBO Films in London, where she handled Elephant (double winner of the Palme d’Or and Best Director at Cannes) amongst others. Rosa is a member of the European Film Academy and BAFTA. She now runs the Havana-based production company CubanStar which develops new content and provides film services on the island, recently for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, House of Lies, Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz and Chanel.
Brady Corbet
Writer/Director/Actor Brady Corbet began his career at age eleven, acting in acclaimed films such as Thirteen (2003), Mysterious Skin (2004), Funny Games (2007), Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), Simon Killer (2012), Clouds Of Sils Maria (2014), and Melancholia (2011). Corbet’s television acting credits include 24, Law & Order and The King of Queens. He presented his writing and directorial debut, the short film Protect Me and You at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. The film was shot by legendary cinematographer Darius Khondji, and recognized for “Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking.” In 2015, Corbet made his feature directorial debut with the visionary film The Childhood of a Leader, which was lauded at the Venice Film Festival with the Orizzonti Best Director and Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future awards.  He currently resides in New York City.
Pilar López de Ayala
One of the most valued and loved Spanish actresses, Pilar has participated in films that have enjoyed recognition in important film festivals with some of the most renowned independent directors on the international scene, such as José Luis Guerín (In the City of Sylvia), Golden Lion Nominated Venice Film Festival; Manoel de Oliveira (The Strange case of Angelica) Nominated Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival, and for which the Cahiers du Cinéma France valued Pilar´s role as one of the top ones of that year; or Raya Martin (Buenas Noches, España). Mad Love, by Vicente Aranda, led her to win the Silver Shell of San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Goya Award for Best Leading Actress for her performance as Queen Joanna of Castile. She has repeatedly been Goya Award nominated but has also earned numerous international awards, as the New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress in Obaba (Montxo Armendáriz), French Raimu de la Comédie Award New Actress in Comme les Autres (Vincent Garenq), or Best Actress Award Toulouse Film Festival in Hand in Globe (Josetxo San Mateo). Her recent works include Night Has Settled (Steve Clark), Jury Prize and Festival Prize Award Winner at the International Soho Film Festival.
Serge Toubiana
Born in Sousse in Tunisia in 1949, Serge Toubiana was a critic for the Cahiers du Cinema from 1974 to 2000, during which the magazine reached the height of its circulation. From 1993 to 1995 he was a General Delegate for the Premier siècle du cinéma association, the purpose of which was to organize the Centennial of the birth of Cinema in France. From 2003 to 2016 he was director of the Cinémathèque française, and from 2014 to 2015 he was president of the Commission d’avance sur recettes at the Centre National du Cinéma. He is the author and co-author of many books on the history of cinema and on illustrious exponents of French cinema and others. His many works include the documentary François Truffaut, Portraits volés (with Michel Pascal, 1993), the biography François Truffaut (Gallimard, 1996, with Antoine de Baecque), Amos Gitai, exils et territoires (Cahiers du Cinéma, 1999), Isabelle Huppert, Une vie pour jouer (MK2 TV/Arte, 2001), the series of 10 documentaries Chaplin aujourd’hui (MK2 TV, 2003).
Venice International Film Festival

@la_Biennale di Venezia will pay a Special Tribute to U.S. producer Chris Meledandri

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La Biennale di Venezia will pay a Special Tribute to U.S. producer Chris Meledandri, the Academy Award®-nominated founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of the field of animated films.

Meledandri will be presented on Monday, September 5th 2016, at 3 pm, at the Sala Giardino in the Lido, during the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. In addition to receiving this prestigious tribute, Meledandri will participate in an exclusive festival “In Conversation” event, culminating in a presentation of footage from the forthcoming Illumination Entertainment movie SING (2017).

Here’s a peak at the film’s Official Trailer:

 

The tribute will begin with the Italian Public Premiere of Illumination Entertainment’s THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (2016) at the Sala Giardino on September 4th at 9:00 pm.
Here’s a look at the film’s Official Teaser Trailer:
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS opens in theaters in Italy on October 6, 2016.
Festival Director Alberto Barbera comments:
alberto-barbera-1-foto-asac-e1438170611394“Chris Meledandri has revolutionized our way of understanding and making animated film with his more than excellent achievements, both in terms of quality and box office, thanks to careful and skilfully-targeted investments. Under his leadership, Illumination Entertainment has grown into one of the most dynamic and innovative creative hubs in the world of animation in a matter of years. This tribute from the Festival wishes to spotlight the artist’s extraordinary contribution, leading to worldwide hits such as Despicable Me and Minions, both of which changed our relationship with cartoons forever”.
Chris Meledandri, the Academy Award®-nominated founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, is responsible for the hugely successful Despicable Me, Ice Age and animated Dr. Seuss franchises, which have collectively grossed close to $6 billion worldwide. Meledandri has built Illumination Entertainment into one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of all-audience event films.
 
Illumination Entertainment, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions, the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, as well as the Academy Award®-nominated film for Best Animated Feature Film Despicable Me 2. In all, Illumination Entertainment’s films, which also include Hop (2011) and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012), have grossed more than $3.5 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world’s most renowned talent.
 
Upcoming Illumination Entertainment films include Sing (2016), Despicable Me 3 (2017) and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2018).
Meledandri also oversees Illumination Entertainment’s creation of content for marketing campaigns, mobile platforms, consumer goods, social media and theme parks such as Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem in 3D at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, ensuring the same high level of quality he brings to his feature productions. The company’s first mobile game, “Despicable Me: Minion Rush,” has been downloaded more than 750 million times.
 
Prior to Illumination Entertainment, Meledandri was a senior executive at 20th Century Fox. He became the founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation, where he created original material with the birth of the Ice Age franchise and also shepherded existing brands into the feature space, including The Simpsons and the Dr. Seuss library (Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!).
 
Meledandri has received numerous awards for his work with Illumination Entertainment including the Producers Guild of America’s 2014 Visionary Award as well as being named to Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” list and by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “most powerful people in entertainment” on The THR 100 list.
 

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS – For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. The Secret Life of Pets opens in theaters October 6th 2016.

SING – Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. In theaters January 26th 2017.

 

(Source: http://www.labiennale.org)

#AFIDOCS, AFIDocs, Documentary, Feature Film, Featured, Short Film, Spotlight Screening, World Premiere

AFI DOCS 2016 Wrap Up

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With ninety-four films from over 30 countries the 2016 AFI DOCS had something for just about every documentary film lover. The Opening Night film dazzled the at-capacity audience at the Newseum with Alex Gibney’s North American Premiere of Zero Days,a detailed account of claims the US and Israeli governments unleashed a sophisticated virus to thwart the Iranian nuclear enrichment program. The film also addressed the issue of retaliation and made for a lively conversation and Q & A following the screening. Highly recommended.

 

 

Kicking off the first full day, I had the good fortune of seeing seven short documentaries under the guise of Shorts: Outside In; Tracks, The Great Theatre, Rotatio, Neige, Fundir and Chocolate Mountain Metal, Shorts: Outside In. Warmly recommended.

Winding up a busy Day 2 at the Newseum, an interactive museum of news and journalism in downtown Washington, DC, Newtown, an emotionally, powerful look at the local community two years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre from acclaimed director Kim Snyder, and Audrie & Daisy, a story of two high school girls who were sexually assaulted in indefensible states and their vilification on social media with tragic consequences, were shown. Both are must-see films. Highly recommended.

 

Day 3 brought  After Spring, a telling tale of the relocation of Syrian refugees and the challenges they face at the Zaatari relocation camp inside the Jordanian border. Directors Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez attended the screening and made themselves available to discuss the making of the film. Recommended.


Almost Sunrise, explores an alternative approach to the traditional diagnosis and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Director Michael Collins chronicles the journey of two Iraq War veterans as they share a 2700 mile hike from the Midwest to the state of California to create an awareness of their trauma. Along the way, the two are warmly greeted and supported by fellow veterans and communities alike. Warmly recommended.

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Unfortunately, due to an overwhelming demand for seats at the Guggenheim Symposium and Screening, I was not granted a place for the evening’s conversation with Werner Herzog and Ramin Bahrani including clips from Herzog’s storied career and a screening of his latest work, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World. Nevertheless, I made my way over to Silver Spring, MD, AFI Silver Theater for Cinema, Mon Amour, a wonderful story of a Romanian family and their ‘never say quit’ spirit as they work determinedly to keep open the last of Romania’s grand movie palaces.

Day Four began with a visit to the AFI DOCS Lounge for the Filmmakers Forum and the making of short documentaries. Quick and to the point, storytellers and the movers and shakers of the industry engaged in an informative format as filmmakers and producers provided guidance and probed the issues in today’s filmmaking environment.

Full of vigor, the featured Command And Control,directed by Robert Kenner, recounted a 1980 nuclear accident with surreal details. Highly recommended.command-and-control-tribeca

Next, I dropped in on Vanessa Gould’s Obit, an insider’s guide to the world of who’s who in the annals of lives lived through the eyes of the legendary New York Times obituaries desk. Obit reveals a unique form of journalism and the idiosyncrasies of the writers and editors who create and compose these celebrations of extraordinary lives lived. Warmly recommended and my personal favorite!

Closing out the evening again at the Newseum with a Spotlight Screening of Check It.  Check It, a mesmerizing look at an inner city, Washington DC, gang composed of gay and transgendered teens who allied themselves together for protection and survival out on the streets of the nation’s capitol over a three year period, was directed by Toby Oppenheimer and Dana Flor. Over the course of the film, the Check It gang comes to the realization that while surviving is critical so is leading a productive and useful life. Warmly recommended.

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Day 5 kicked into gear with another visit to the AFI DOCS Lounge for Part Four of the Filmmakers Forum. I arrived early and met Discovery’s Gina Scarpulla. Unbeknownst to me, Ms. Scarpulla and her team at Discovery are pioneering virtual reality in film. Virtual headsets, known as lunchboxes were made available before and after the forum. See my full write up here: AFI DOCS Filmmaking Forum on Virtual Reality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next came the Chicken People, directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes. Chicken People delves into the worlds of the contestants and their contenders, pure bred chickens,  as they vie for best fowl at the Ohio National Poultry Show and the title of Super Grand Champion. Warmly recommended and A Don’t Miss!

chickenpeople

Doc & Darryl, a soon-to-be-aired ESPN 30 for 30 film, depicts the trials and tribulations of the 1986 Major League Baseball World Champions New York Mets and the meteoric rise and setbacks of the team’s two most talented players, Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. The film was co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. See my write up: Doc & Darryl

Closing out the 2016 AFI DOCS was Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. This is a masterpiece of television history. Breathtaking images of actors, writers and directors watching clips from  All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Maude and Good Times juxtaposed against their commentaries, highlight this cinematic gem. Another must see film! And I know Norman Lear wouldn’t have it any other way. Highly recommended.

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Norman Lear , center, on the red carpet with filmmakers Heidi Ewing, right, and Rachel Grady, left, before the screening of the 2016 AFI DOCS Closing Night film, Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You, June 26, 2016, at the Newseum in downtown Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson)

This was my first AFI DOCS. Set in our nation’s Capitol, the festival ran smoothly. Two venues were in downtown Washington, DC, and were within walking distance of one another. Also, both venues were easily accessible by the Metro and had plenty of shops, coffee bars, sports bars, and restaurants nearby. The third venue was in Silver Spring, Maryland, home of the AFI DOCS Silver Theater and Cultural Center. Again, plenty of shops and nearby eateries and fairly easy to get to by Metro. The Washington Post calls AFI DOCS “The nation’s leading documentary film festival.” I couldn’t agree more.

AFI DOCS 2016 (1 of 1)

Until next year, I’ll see you at the movies!

Documentary, Uncategorized

Art Bastard

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Yesterday, I had the good fortune to meet Robert Cenedella, the subject of a heartfelt, insightful documentary, Art Bastard. Open and candid, Mr. Cenedella has a message about the state of today’s business of art: “It’s not what they show, It’s what they don’t show.”

Art Bastard is a new documentary produced by Chris T. Concannon, Concannon Productions, in association with Cavu Pictures, and celebrates the extraordinary life and work of painter Cenedella. Ten years in the making Concannon doggedly pursued the project rifling through directors until meeting writer and director, Victor Kanefsky.

Pictured left to right, Art Bastard, Robert Cenedella and writer/director Victor Kanefsky at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, Calif., during a Q & A following the pre-Opening Weekend screening of the new Cris Concannon documentary, Art Bastard.
Executive Producer, Chris Concannon, at Laemmle Monica Film Center during a Q & A, following the pre-OPening Weekend screening of his first feature documentary, Art Bastard.

 

In a Q & A, following last night’s Los Angeles pre-opening screening, Concannon quipped “in two days with Victor (Kanefsky) I accomplished more than I did with any other director in two years.”

In taking on the project, Kanefsy painstakingly poured through the hundred plus hours of film and pensively scoured the transcripts to reveal the truth of Robert Cenedella, the Art Bastard. Utilizing telling interviews with family members, New York power brokers, art students, art critics, museum curators and Mr. Cenedella himself, Kanefsky takes the viewer on an adventure through the Andy Warhol Pop Art era into the present day with Cenedella reflecting on his body of work as well as his current role as mentor and teacher at the Art Students League of New York.

What is revealed is an intimate portrait of the heart and soul of a young man who, upon being expelled for penning and distributing a satirical expose on the mundane routine of his high school’s Atom Bomb Drill, discovers himself and comes to terms with life on life’s terms through his commitment to his art. On more than one occasion, Cenedella mouths his mantra “I have a moral obligation to my artwork.”

Editor Jim MacDonald and Director of Photography Douglas Meltzer combine forces in presenting a dazzling array of shots zooming into the paintings of the Art Bastard mesmerizing the audience as minute details become postcard portraits unto themselves punctuated by Mario Sprouse’s musical score. And behind each painting lies a story.

Santa Fe Rider by Robert Cenedella
Heinz 57 by Robert Cenedella

A variety of Cenedella’s artwork is featured throughout Art Bastard including “Impeachment Off The Table” (2008), “Southern Dogs” (1965), “Heinz 57” (1963), “The Balcony” , “2001 – A Stock Odyssey” (1986) , “Santa Fe Rider” , “The Death of George Grosz” (1962) , the highly controversial “The Presence of Man” (1988) and the widely popular “Le Cirque – The First Generation” (1998). Other artists included are Warhol, Jackson Pollock, George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, Rembrandt, Raphael, El Greco and Hans Holbein the Elder. In addition, works by his Art Student League mentor George Grosz, whom Cenedella credits with forming his technique and claims he was the first adult he ever respected, are illustrated, presented and intertwined with the telling of the Art Bastard’s journey.

 

Cenedella lays claim to being “the most widely written about unknown artist in America.” Not for long, however. As the Art Bastard navigates the festival circuit, awards are being bestowed upon the filmmakers as they have garnered three 2016 winners, including Best Documentary at the Manchester Film Festival, Best Documentary at Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema, and Best Director, Documentary at Idyllwild. These follow the 2015 Focus On Art Award from the Orlando Film Festival and the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Creativity at the Utopia Film Festival. Furthermore, Art Bastard was named an official selection for the Santa Fe Film Festival, the Big Apple Film Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Art Bastard opened June 3rd in New York and is scheduled to open this weekend, in Los Angeles, Calif., at the Laemmle’s Monica Film Center followed by Q & A’s with Robert Cenedella, The Art Bastard, after the Friday, June 17th 7:30 P.M. show and on Saturday June 18th after the 2:30 P.M., 5:00 P.M., and the 7:30 P.M. shows. His art exhibit will also be featured at the theater. The Los Angeles opening will be proceeded by a June 24th opening in Pasadena and Orange County.

Highly recommended.

 

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#TIFF, Anime

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

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June 9, 2016 at 11:00 JST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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