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6 items from 2009

Living in a "Pressure Cooker"

23 August 2009 1:19 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »

As the clock ticks and a cooking competition is coming to a close, a small figure wraps her hands together and paces in circles nervously. “Where are our kids? All the others have their food down already,” she asks aloud, tinged with worry.

This is Wilma Stephenson, a culinary arts teacher at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, who has helped many of her inner city students get out of a dead-end life by winning college scholarships through cooking. Her reputation is that of a no-nonsense coach, scary and disliked by those who fail to meet her standards of discipline. Of course, the jumpy lady praying for her students is a far cry from the image of the so-called boot camp teacher, but what’s on display at that moment is the true compassionate side of Wilma Stephenson that you have to earn first to see.

Pressure Cooker depicts one school »

- Arya Ponto

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Indie Roundup: Kristen Stewart's 'Handkerchief,' Philly 'Pressure,' Fest News

3 June 2009 7:02 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

Rewinding the past seven days of the wonderful world of independent films:

Deals. Twilight fans will have the opportunity to see Kristen Stewart in a different type of role later this year. In Udayan Prasad's The Yellow Handkerchief, based on a story by Pete Hamill, Stewart jumps into a stranger's car. She and the driver (Eddie Redmayne) are soon joined by a newly-released convict (William Hurt) as they travel through rural Louisiana toward a hoped-for reunion with the ex-con's beloved (Maria Bello). Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights and is planning a theatrical release, according to indieWIRE.

Hans-Christian Schmid's legal thriller Storm will also hit theaters later this year, indieWIRE says, courtesy of Film Movement. Kerry Fox stars as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague; she must convince a witness (Anamaria Marinca from 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) to »

- Peter Martin

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Box Office Beat Down: Up Floats to the Top of the Box Office with $68 Million

31 May 2009 10:15 AM, PDT | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »

Weekend Box Office

1) Up $68.2 million

2) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $25.5 million

3) Drag Me to Hell $16.6 million

4) Terminator Salvation $16.1 million

5) Star Trek $12.8 million

6) Angels & Demons $11.2 million

7) Dance Flick $$4.9 million

8) X-Men Origins: Wolverine $3.9 million

9) Ghosts of Girlfriends Past $1.9 million

10) Obsessed $665,000

Disney/Pixar's Up drifted to the top of the box office charts this weekend, pulling in an estimated $68.2 million. The film, which follows a 78-year-old balloon salesman named Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as he fulfils his lifelong dream of visiting the wilds of South America, is Pixar's tenth feature length animated movie. While it's opening didn't beat the box office debut of Finding Nemo, which made $70.2 million in May of 2003, or The Incredibles, which holds Pixar's biggest premier with $70.4 million, Up now stands as the third biggest opening for the computer-animation based company. Strong word of mouth should keep it adrift through most of June.

The Ben Stiller sequel »

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Watch. Learn. Meet.

28 May 2009 7:23 AM, PDT | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »

Internet Week New York kicks off next week and social fundraising site IndieGoGo will bookend the event with a screening of Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman's Pressure Cooker on Monday night at the IFC Center (followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by yours truly), then on Sunday they will host a panel discussion on film funding, promotion and distribution on the Internet at the Apple Store in SoHo (panelists include filmmaker Lance Weiler, Christopher Roberts, and CinemaTech's Scott Kirsner will moderate) ending with a party in the evening. Details for all events are here. »

- Jason Guerrasio

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'Pressure' cookin' at Bev Pictures

27 March 2009 3:00 PM, PDT | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

Bev Pictures will release Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker's documentary "Pressure Cooker," a look at a culinary arts class in a Philadelphia high school. The film will bow May 27 at New York's IFC Center and June 5 in Los Angeles.

A new distribution outfit founded by Emily Woodburne, Bridget Stokes and Vicky Wight, Bev Pictures plans to release a slate of films that will use grass-roots networking and online marketing.

"Pressure," which won a special jury prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival and audience awards at the Aspen Film Festival and Portland International Film Festival, was executive produced by Participant Media.

"We are very excited about working with Bev Pictures," Grausman said. "They understand how to reach many different audiences and are deft at thinking about the grass-roots aspect of distribution." »

- By Gregg Kilday

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32nd Portland International Film Festival - Audience Awards

4 March 2009 10:31 AM, PST | The Scorecard Review | See recent Scorecard Review news »

Here are the final results for Portland own film festival. Great turnout, great films. And now on to the press release ... The Northwest Film Center Announces The 32nd Portland International Film Festival’s Audience Awards The 31,000 audience members at this year’s 32nd Portland International Film Festival have selected their favorite films from among the 78 feature and 36 shorts screened February 6-22. Tying for first place for Best Feature Award are Toa Frazer’s Dean Spanley (New Zealand) and Dorie Dörrie’s Cherry Blossoms (Germany). Two films also tied for the Best Documentary Award—Festival guest Jennifer Grausman’s film Pressure Cooker (Us), co-directed with Mark Becker, and Agnés Varda’s The Beaches Of AGNÉS (France), both of which tied for second place in the overall balloting. The winner »

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6 items from 2009

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