‘Roma,’ Alfonso Cuaron‘s nostalgic ode to his ’70s childhood in Mexico City, won over the 84-member Alliance of Women Film Journalists — including me. The stunning black-and-white Netflix release pocketed five Eda wins: Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Non-English Film, Best Editing and Best Director. Coming in second were those cutthroat royals in “The Favourite” with four wins, including Olivia Colman as Best Actress.
The all-female group’s 12th annual competition once again salutes the best – and some of the worst – in the world of film with 25 categories in three sections. There are the general Best of Awards, Female Focus Awards and Eda Special Mention Awards whose nominees are picked by those Awfj members who send in a nominating ballot. There is room for the good, including Viola Davis of “Widows” receiving the “Actress Defying Age and Ageism Award,” and the bad, as in Jennifer Lawrence of “Red Sparrow,” who...
The all-female group’s 12th annual competition once again salutes the best – and some of the worst – in the world of film with 25 categories in three sections. There are the general Best of Awards, Female Focus Awards and Eda Special Mention Awards whose nominees are picked by those Awfj members who send in a nominating ballot. There is room for the good, including Viola Davis of “Widows” receiving the “Actress Defying Age and Ageism Award,” and the bad, as in Jennifer Lawrence of “Red Sparrow,” who...
- 1/11/2019
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
It is through oral storytelling that most key folk tales, myths and histories across African culture have been passed and preserved through the generations. It is by tapping into this rich tradition, meanwhile, that “Liyana” makes authentic a device that might otherwise have seemed cutesy: leaving half its story in the hands, or rather mouths, of five young Swazi orphans, as they collectively weave an epic quest narrative about a resilient tribal girl trying to reunite her family against daunting odds. The rest of Aaron and Amanda Kopp’s short but stout-hearted documentary colors in the challenging reality that shapes the children’s fiction — foremost among them the AIDS epidemic that continues to blight the tiny nation of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland).
“Liyana” uses vibrantly distinctive animation to illustrate the kids’ ongoing, imaginative saga: Fusing static but 3D-sculpted characters with subtly shifting 2D backdrops, this “breathing painting” style lends a picture-book...
“Liyana” uses vibrantly distinctive animation to illustrate the kids’ ongoing, imaginative saga: Fusing static but 3D-sculpted characters with subtly shifting 2D backdrops, this “breathing painting” style lends a picture-book...
- 10/10/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Abramorama announced today that they will release the visually imaginative documentary Liyana from directors Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp (The Hunting Ground). The film is set to open in New York City on Oct. 10 with a theatrical release slated for select cities in the following weeks.
Executive produced by Westworld‘s Thandie Newton and produced by Academy Award-winning director Daniel Junge (Saving Face), the docu features South African storyteller Gcina Mhlophe guiding us in a narrative about five orphaned children from Swaziland who collaborate to craft a collective fairytale drawn from their darkest memories and brightest dreams. Their titular fictional character, Liyana, is brought to life in innovative animated artwork as she embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her young twin brothers. The children’s real and imagined worlds begin to converge, and they must choose what kind of story they will tell — in fiction and in their own lives.
Executive produced by Westworld‘s Thandie Newton and produced by Academy Award-winning director Daniel Junge (Saving Face), the docu features South African storyteller Gcina Mhlophe guiding us in a narrative about five orphaned children from Swaziland who collaborate to craft a collective fairytale drawn from their darkest memories and brightest dreams. Their titular fictional character, Liyana, is brought to life in innovative animated artwork as she embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her young twin brothers. The children’s real and imagined worlds begin to converge, and they must choose what kind of story they will tell — in fiction and in their own lives.
- 9/4/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul Schrader’s First Reformed won the top narrative prize at the Montclair Film Festival Saturday night, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy confirmed he will sign an ambitious tax-incentive bill as a stimulus for film and TV production in the state.
After an introduction by Stephen Colbert (a local resident long tied to the festival), Murphy said, “New Jersey is a world-class location to be the backdrop for any filmmaker – from our small towns, to our big cities, rolling hills, and the Jersey Shore – and we’re ready for our close up. Tonight, through the Montclair Film Festival, we’re sending a message that New Jersey isn’t just a great place to view the arts, but that there isn’t any better place to shoot a film than right here.”
Murphy added, “We have the artists. We have the Art DNA. We have the Film DNA. And so I will tell you,...
After an introduction by Stephen Colbert (a local resident long tied to the festival), Murphy said, “New Jersey is a world-class location to be the backdrop for any filmmaker – from our small towns, to our big cities, rolling hills, and the Jersey Shore – and we’re ready for our close up. Tonight, through the Montclair Film Festival, we’re sending a message that New Jersey isn’t just a great place to view the arts, but that there isn’t any better place to shoot a film than right here.”
Murphy added, “We have the artists. We have the Art DNA. We have the Film DNA. And so I will tell you,...
- 5/6/2018
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Ethan Hawke and Rachel Weisz are heading to New Jersey for the seventh annual Montclair Film Festival.
Kicking off on April 26 with Rachel Dretzin’s “Far From the Tree,” the 11-day fest will feature 77 feature films, 94 shorts and 13 special events including panels, master classes and public parties.
Highlights include favorites from the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto Intl. Film Festival and highly anticipated projects premiering this month at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Sundance hits including Hawke’s music biopic “Blaze,” Brett Haley’s “Hearts Beat Loud” and Morgan Neville’s docu “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” will all screen at Miff. The regional fest will also host Sam Pollard’s “Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me,” Kate Novack’s “The Gospel According to Andre,” and Sebastian Lelio’s “Disobedience” starring Weisz and Rachel McAdams. All three films made their world premiere at Tiff in September.
Kicking off on April 26 with Rachel Dretzin’s “Far From the Tree,” the 11-day fest will feature 77 feature films, 94 shorts and 13 special events including panels, master classes and public parties.
Highlights include favorites from the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto Intl. Film Festival and highly anticipated projects premiering this month at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Sundance hits including Hawke’s music biopic “Blaze,” Brett Haley’s “Hearts Beat Loud” and Morgan Neville’s docu “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” will all screen at Miff. The regional fest will also host Sam Pollard’s “Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me,” Kate Novack’s “The Gospel According to Andre,” and Sebastian Lelio’s “Disobedience” starring Weisz and Rachel McAdams. All three films made their world premiere at Tiff in September.
- 4/5/2018
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Outsider Pictures to release in Us on March 23.
Diego Lerman’s A Sort Of Family (Una Especie de Familia) won the $40,000 Knight Competition grand jury prize for best film as Argentine entries flourished at the 35th annual Miami Film Festival.
A Sort Of Family, nominated for eight Argentinian Academy Awards, was joined the winners’ podium by Pablo Solarz’s Argentina-Spain co-production The Last Suit (El Ultimo Traje), which took the audience award for best feature and opens in the Us this week through Outsider Pictures.
The Audience Award for best short film went to The Driver Is Red, a true-crime...
Diego Lerman’s A Sort Of Family (Una Especie de Familia) won the $40,000 Knight Competition grand jury prize for best film as Argentine entries flourished at the 35th annual Miami Film Festival.
A Sort Of Family, nominated for eight Argentinian Academy Awards, was joined the winners’ podium by Pablo Solarz’s Argentina-Spain co-production The Last Suit (El Ultimo Traje), which took the audience award for best feature and opens in the Us this week through Outsider Pictures.
The Audience Award for best short film went to The Driver Is Red, a true-crime...
- 3/20/2018
- by Jenn Sherman
- ScreenDaily
AIDS, alcoholism, kidnapping and rape — they’re not typical plot elements in the tales children invent. The young storytellers in the deeply moving documentary Liyana aren’t trying to be sensationalistic when they place such obstacles on their fictional heroine’s path; they’re simply drawing on what they know. They’re among the estimated 200,000 orphans in Swaziland, a tiny country with the world’s highest HIV infection rate.
Like their exceptionally charismatic subjects, husband-and-wife filmmakers Aaron Kopp (who grew up in Swaziland) and Amanda Kopp acknowledge these harrowing realities without dwelling on them. The Kopps give the kids center stage, and the...
Like their exceptionally charismatic subjects, husband-and-wife filmmakers Aaron Kopp (who grew up in Swaziland) and Amanda Kopp acknowledge these harrowing realities without dwelling on them. The Kopps give the kids center stage, and the...
- 7/6/2017
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Liyana is a beautiful, creative and inspiring documentary from Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp about a young girl who sets out to rescue her twin brothers from kidnappers. Eight years in the making,...
- 6/24/2017
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
Five competition sections drew 42% female, 40% non-white directors.
Becks (pictured) directed by Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and Daniel Powell won the U.S. Fiction Award. Lena Hall and Mena Suvari star in the drama about a singer-songwriter who moves in with her ultra-Catholic mother after a break-up and strikes up an unexpected friendship with the wife of an old nemesis.
Mexico’s The Night Guard (El Vigilante) by Diego Ros earned the World Fiction Award and tells of a security guard who becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a crime at the construction site he is paid to patrol. Leonardo Alonso, Ari Gallegos,...
Becks (pictured) directed by Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and Daniel Powell won the U.S. Fiction Award. Lena Hall and Mena Suvari star in the drama about a singer-songwriter who moves in with her ultra-Catholic mother after a break-up and strikes up an unexpected friendship with the wife of an old nemesis.
Mexico’s The Night Guard (El Vigilante) by Diego Ros earned the World Fiction Award and tells of a security guard who becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a crime at the construction site he is paid to patrol. Leonardo Alonso, Ari Gallegos,...
- 6/22/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and Daniel Powers’ Becks, inspired by the life of singer-songwriter Alyssa Robbins, took home the U.S. Fiction Award, and Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp’s Liyana, which focuses on a group of orphaned children in Swaziland, claimed the Documentary Award as jury prizes were announced at the Los Angeles Film Festival, which concluded Thursday.
Audience Awards were presented to Karen Moncrieff’s The Keeping Hours, named best fiction feature film, and to Mark Hayes’ Skid Row Marathon for best documentary feature. The latter, a film about a running club organized by Los Angeles Superior Court judge Craig Mitchell,...
Audience Awards were presented to Karen Moncrieff’s The Keeping Hours, named best fiction feature film, and to Mark Hayes’ Skid Row Marathon for best documentary feature. The latter, a film about a running club organized by Los Angeles Superior Court judge Craig Mitchell,...
- 6/22/2017
- by Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, better known as Laff if you’re fun, has unveiled its full slate of 2017 offerings, including new offerings from Vincent Grashaw, Leena Pendharkar, Hong Sangsoo, Lea Thompson and many more. The slate includes 48 feature films, 51 short films, 15 high school short films and 10 short episodic works representing 32 countries. The festival’s five competitions feature 37 World Premieres, 2 International Premieres and 9 North American Premieres. Across the competition categories, 42% of the films are directed by women and 40% are directed by people of color.
“Our competitions reflect who Film Independent is as an organization,” said La Film Festival Director Jennifer Cochis. “Within each section you’ll find discovery, diversity, and promising talent both in front of and behind the camera.” Programming Director Roya Rastegar added, “The films curated for the 2017 competition reflect the changing political climate’s impact on emerging independent filmmakers, who are compelled to tell stories about the power of conviction,...
“Our competitions reflect who Film Independent is as an organization,” said La Film Festival Director Jennifer Cochis. “Within each section you’ll find discovery, diversity, and promising talent both in front of and behind the camera.” Programming Director Roya Rastegar added, “The films curated for the 2017 competition reflect the changing political climate’s impact on emerging independent filmmakers, who are compelled to tell stories about the power of conviction,...
- 5/9/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The days are getting longer and the nights are getting warmer, which means that we're edging ever closer to this year's La Film Festival. Taking place June 14th–22nd, the La Film Festival's 2017 competition lineup has been unveiled, and of particular interest for genre fans is the Nightfall section, which includes Colin Minihan's It Stains the Sands Red, Julius Ramsay's Midnighters, and Amanda Evans' Serpent.
Press Release: Los Angeles (May 9, 2017)— Today the La Film Festival, produced by Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that also produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, unveiled the official U.S. Fiction, Documentary, World Fiction, La Muse and Nightfall sections. The 2017 La Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of feature films, shorts and episodic series, along with programs such as Coffee Talks and Future Filmmakers Showcase. The La Film Festival takes place June 14 – June 22, 2017 headquartered at ArcLight Cinemas Culver City, with additional screenings at ArcLight Hollywood,...
Press Release: Los Angeles (May 9, 2017)— Today the La Film Festival, produced by Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that also produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, unveiled the official U.S. Fiction, Documentary, World Fiction, La Muse and Nightfall sections. The 2017 La Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of feature films, shorts and episodic series, along with programs such as Coffee Talks and Future Filmmakers Showcase. The La Film Festival takes place June 14 – June 22, 2017 headquartered at ArcLight Cinemas Culver City, with additional screenings at ArcLight Hollywood,...
- 5/9/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
New York-based Fork Films announced on Tuesday it will provide grant funding for ten projects in different stages of development centring on human rights and social justice topics.
Recipients include $2 A Day by 2011 best documentary short Oscar nominee Jennifer Redfearn (pictured) and Tim Metzger, as well as Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp’s Liyana.
“We are really encouraged by the fearless nature of this year’s filmmakers in exploring topics of injustice, intolerance and inequality,” said Abigail Disney, CEO and president of Fork Films, and Gini Reticker, the company’s chief creative officer.
“In a year of particularly hateful and purely opinionated rhetoric, these storytellers are diving into challenging topics with empathy, thoughtfulness and nuance. We’re honoured to help these filmmakers share the lives and narratives of their subjects.”
Los Angeles-based non-profit organisation Outfest has announced the five fellows and their projects selected for its 2016 Screenwriting Lab. Michael Colucci, Jen Richards, [link...
Recipients include $2 A Day by 2011 best documentary short Oscar nominee Jennifer Redfearn (pictured) and Tim Metzger, as well as Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp’s Liyana.
“We are really encouraged by the fearless nature of this year’s filmmakers in exploring topics of injustice, intolerance and inequality,” said Abigail Disney, CEO and president of Fork Films, and Gini Reticker, the company’s chief creative officer.
“In a year of particularly hateful and purely opinionated rhetoric, these storytellers are diving into challenging topics with empathy, thoughtfulness and nuance. We’re honoured to help these filmmakers share the lives and narratives of their subjects.”
Los Angeles-based non-profit organisation Outfest has announced the five fellows and their projects selected for its 2016 Screenwriting Lab. Michael Colucci, Jen Richards, [link...
- 7/12/2016
- by govi2016@lawnet.ucla.edu (Alec Govi)
- ScreenDaily
The premiere post-tiff destination (September 20-25th) in the film community and a major leg up for narrative and non-fiction films in development, the Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) announced a whopping 140 projects selected for the Project Forum at the upcoming Ifp Independent Film Week. Made up of several sections (Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program, No Borders International Co-Production Market and Spotlight on Documentaries), we find latest updates from the likes of docu-helmers Doug Block (112 Weddings) and Lana Wilson (After Tiller), and among the narrative items we find headliners in Andrew Haigh (coming off the well received 45 Years), Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls and Madame Bovary), Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty), Lawrence Michael Levine (Wild Canaries), Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are), Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal (Stranger Things) and new faces in Sundance’s large family in Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again) and Olivia Newman (First Match). Here...
- 7/22/2015
- by admin
- IONCINEMA.com
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the 11 contenders for its $75,000-plus 2015 Sffs Documentary Film Fund supporting feature documentaries in post-production.
Organisers selected the finallists from more than 300 applications and the winners will be announced in early April.
Previous fund winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie And The Boxer, which won the Sundance directing award for documentary and Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which also premiered in Park City in 2013.
The fund finallists are:
The Bad Kids – Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, co-directors;
Forever Pure – Maya Zinshtein, director; Geoff Arbourne, producer;
Forty Panes – Laura Dunn, director;
Infanity – Ramona Diaz, director;
The Island And The Whales – Mike Day, director;
Learning To Forget – Kaspar Astrup Schröder, director; Katherine Sahlstrom, producer;
Liyana – Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp, co-directors;
The Oakland Police Project – Peter Nicks, director;
Selling Our Daughters – Dave Adams and Josie Swantek, co-directors; Susan MacLaury, producer;
Uncertain – Ewan McNichol and Anna Sandilands, co-directors; and[p...
Organisers selected the finallists from more than 300 applications and the winners will be announced in early April.
Previous fund winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie And The Boxer, which won the Sundance directing award for documentary and Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which also premiered in Park City in 2013.
The fund finallists are:
The Bad Kids – Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, co-directors;
Forever Pure – Maya Zinshtein, director; Geoff Arbourne, producer;
Forty Panes – Laura Dunn, director;
Infanity – Ramona Diaz, director;
The Island And The Whales – Mike Day, director;
Learning To Forget – Kaspar Astrup Schröder, director; Katherine Sahlstrom, producer;
Liyana – Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp, co-directors;
The Oakland Police Project – Peter Nicks, director;
Selling Our Daughters – Dave Adams and Josie Swantek, co-directors; Susan MacLaury, producer;
Uncertain – Ewan McNichol and Anna Sandilands, co-directors; and[p...
- 2/19/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
One of my favorite documentaries this year, "Searching for Sugar Man," received top honors at the 2012 Ida Documentary Awards winning the Best Feature prize. The documentary about the search for the elusive musician, Rodriguez, is truly a brilliant film illuminating failed dreams and eventual redemption.
Here's the complete winners list of the 2012 Ida Documentary Awards:
Career Achievement Award
Arnold Shapiro
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
David France
Pioneer Award
Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program And Fund
Best Feature Award
Searching For Sugar Man
Director/Producer/Writer: Malik Bendjelloul
Producer: Simon Chinn
Executive Producer: John Battsek
Red Box Films, Sony Pictures Classics
Best Short Award
Saving Face
Director: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Producers: David Coombe, Daniel Junge, Alison Greenberg, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Sabiha Sumar
Co-Producers: Aaron Kopp, Fazeelat Aslam
Senior Producer: Lisa Heller (HBO)
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films, Milkhaus, LLC, and JungeFilm, LLC
Best Limited Series Award...
Here's the complete winners list of the 2012 Ida Documentary Awards:
Career Achievement Award
Arnold Shapiro
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
David France
Pioneer Award
Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program And Fund
Best Feature Award
Searching For Sugar Man
Director/Producer/Writer: Malik Bendjelloul
Producer: Simon Chinn
Executive Producer: John Battsek
Red Box Films, Sony Pictures Classics
Best Short Award
Saving Face
Director: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Producers: David Coombe, Daniel Junge, Alison Greenberg, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Sabiha Sumar
Co-Producers: Aaron Kopp, Fazeelat Aslam
Senior Producer: Lisa Heller (HBO)
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films, Milkhaus, LLC, and JungeFilm, LLC
Best Limited Series Award...
- 12/8/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
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