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RADiUS-twc Makes First Major Deal Of Cannes: Jeremy Saulnier's 'Blue Ruin'
11 hours ago
RADiUS-twc has made the first major deal of a film screening at Cannes: Jeremy Saulnier's "Blue Ruin," which is world premiering in the Director's Fortnight. Full press release below. Cannes - May 18, 2013: RADiUS - TWC proudly announced tonight that it has acquired North American rights to Blue Ruin, one of the select few American films world premiering in Director's Fortnight. Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier's whose first feature Murder Party was a cult hit, Blue Ruin tells the story of a man who finds his quiet life upended by unwelcome news and subsequently sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of revenge. Proving an improbable assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family." Blue Ruin was produced by Anish Savjani, Richard Peete and Vincent Savino. RADiUS will release the film theatrically this Fall. According to RADiUS co-presidents »
- Peter Knegt
Kino Lorber Takes Berlin and Tribeca Winner 'The Rocket' Out of Cannes
12 hours ago
Kino Lorber has acquired all U.S. and Canadian rights to "The Rocket," the first feature film by director and writer Kim Mordaunt. Produced by Sylvia Wilczynski at Red Lamp Films, with funding from Screen Australia, the film had its Us premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival and won three major awards: Best Narrative Feature prize, the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film and the Best Actor in a Narrative Feature award (given to 10-year-old Sitthiphon Disamoe). At this year's Berlinale, "The Rocket" also won the "Crystal Bear" (Generation Kplus prize for Best Film) as well as the Best First Feature award and The Amnesty International Award. Kino Lorber is planning a national theatrical release for the film during the fall, followed by a digital, VOD and home media release in 2014. KinoLorber CEO Richard Lorber negotiated the deal for the film with Natja Noviani Rosner, LevelK's Sales Director out of the Cannes Market. »
- Indiewire
Cannes: Why 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Isn't the Minor Coen Bros. Movie It Looks Like
12 hours ago
"That's a folk song," says Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) in the opening scene of Joel and Ethan Coen's aptly titled "Inside Llewyn Davis," after playing a tender melody for the cozy room at New York's Gaslight Café circa 1961. One could usually make a similar pronouncement about the Coen brothers' usually eccentric works -- yep, that's a Coen movie, folks -- but this one's a different story. Light on plot, heavy on melody and feeling, "Inside Llewyn Davis" takes some inspiration from the career of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, but avoids focusing the trappings of a biopic or making broad pronouncements about the era. Instead, the nomadic Llewyn's fleeting misadventures, which find him drifting from one couch to the next while struggling to justify his career, lead to a delicate, restrained portrait that results in a different kind of movie than anything else the sibling have produced. Littered with »
- Eric Kohn
IFC Midnight Takes on Femme-Empowered Slugfest 'Raze'
14 hours ago
IFC Midnight bought North American rights to Cinipix’s action/thriller "Raze." Directed by Josh Waller and written by Robert Beaucage, the film stars Zoe Bell, Rachel Nichols, Tracie Thoms and Sherilyn Fenn. "Raze" made its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Read More: Tarantino's Go-To Stuntwoman Zoe Bell on Headlining the Bloody 'Raze' and What She Learned From the 'Death Proof' Director "Raze" follows a woman who's abducted to an underground lair where she's forced to battle for the amusement of unseen spectators. Said reviewer Gabe Toro from The Playlist in his review out of Tribeca: The women-in-prison genre gets a contemporary reworking in the grisly slugfest... Bechdel Test enthusiasts especially should take note of how insignificant men are in these womens’ lives. But perhaps it’s how we find titillation in the modern world – the cast takes turns getting brutalized by each other while under the rule of sadistic prison. »
- Indiewire
Cannes Review: 'The Dance of Reality,' Alejandro Jodoroworsky's First Film in 23 Years, Is a Return to Form
18 hours ago
In the opening minutes of "The Dance of Reality," cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky's first movie in 23 years, he appears onscreen reciting a poem that compares money to blood, Christ and Buddha, then equates death to consciousness and wealth. It's that combination of evocative prose and bizarre associations that define the director's appeal, which stretches back to the glory days of his midnight movie stardom with "El Topo" and "The Holy Mountain." While lacking their polished lunacy, "The Dance of Reality" maintains the gonzo spirit of its creator, virtually emerging directly from his psyche. The movie finds Jodorowsky reteaming with French producer Michel Seydoux, with whom the director collaborated on a famously ambitious, uncompleted adaptation of "Dune" (a story told in the documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune," premiering at Cannes' Directors Fortnight section alongside the new work). In contrast to that costly endeavor, "The Dance of Reality" is a noticeably small, »
- Eric Kohn
Paladin and 108 Media Acquire Sundance Hit 'Metro Manila'
19 hours ago
Paladin and 108 Media have partnered to acquire all North American rights to Sean Ellis' Sundance Film Festival prize winning "Metro Manila." The film -- which won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic program at Sundance -- has been picked up internationally , including France (Haut et Court),Spain (Festival Films), Scandinavia (NonStop), Japan (New Selects), Middle East (Front Row), Latin America (HBO), Hungary (Vertigo), Greece (Seven Group), Ex Yugoslavia (Cinemania), Singapore (indies Entertainment), and the Philippines (Captive). Full press release below. Cannes (May 18, 2013) - Distribution partners 108 Media and Paladin have acquired all North American rights to Sean Ellis’ acclaimed thriller, Metro Manila, it was announced by 108 CEO Abhi Rastogi and Paladin President Mark Urman. The film had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for “Best Film” in the World Cinema dramatic competition. Urman and »
- Peter Knegt
Julianne Moore Tells Us About Getting In Touch With Her Inner Bookworm in 'The English Teacher'
20 hours ago
After romancing Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the Sundance/Berlinale hit "Don Jon," Julianne Moore is again putting the moves on a much younger co-star (Michael Angarano) in the indie comedy "The English Teacher," currently playing in select theaters and available on VOD. In the Cinedigm/Tribeca Film release, Moore plays Linda, a 40-year-old unmarried high school English teacher who mounts a play by a former student (Angarano), only to find herself falling for him. Greg Kinnear co-stars as the aspiring playwright's overbearing father, while Nathan Lane pops up as a wacky colleague. Read More: Julianne Moore On Playing a Troubled Rock Star in 'What Maisie Knew' and Why Acting Doesn't Scare Her Indiewire sat down with Moore and Angarano to discuss working together, that age difference and Moore's busy year (she also stars is "What Maisie Knew," currently out in limited release). Michael, when you learned that you were »
- Nigel M Smith
Phase 4 Acquires Lucy Walker's Snowboarding Documentary 'The Crash Reel' for Winter Release
20 hours ago
Phase 4 Films announced today from Cannes that the company has acquired all North American rights to Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker's documentary "The Crash Reel." HBO, who helped to finance the film, will retain U.S. television broadcast rights. Phase 4 is planning an early Winter 2013 theatrical release for the film, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Weaving 15 years of verite footage with a soundtrack that includes music from Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Moby, "The Crash Wheel" tracks the surprising journey of Shaun White and Kevin Pierce, childhood friends who became legends in the world of competitive snowboarding. "'The Crash Reel' is an extraordinary film for audiences of all ages, and it is the type of film that surely requires more than one viewing," said Meyerowitz. Walker was nominated for an Oscar for for her feature documentary "Waste Land" and for her documentary short "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. »
- Nigel M Smith
Perverts Uprising! Zeitgeist Films Will Distribute Two New Documentaries
20 hours ago
Zeitgeist Films will release two new documentaries: Sophie Fiennes’ "The Perverts' Guide to Ideology" and Fredrik Stanton’s "Uprising." "The Perverts' Guide to Ideology" follows philosophy superstar Slavoj Zizek ("The Perverts' Guide to Cinema") as he uses cinema and psychoanalysis "to explore the mechanisms that shape what we believe and how we behave." The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and will open at the IFC Center this Fall, with a national release to follow. "Uprising"examines the spontaneous social media eruption that brought millions of Egyptians into the streets to protest -- and eventually overthrow -- dictator Hosni Mubarek after years of oppression. It will play selected cities this summer and fall. Zeitgeist’s other 2013 theatrical releases are Neil Barsky’s "Koch," "One Track Heart" by Jeremy Frindel and Margarethe von Trotta’s "Hannah Arendt." »
- Indiewire
Watch: Kristin Scott Thomas Like You've Never Seen Her Before in Three Nsfw Clips From 'Only God Forgives'
23 hours ago
At last night's Weinstein Co. annual Cannes preview, the clear standout of the evening was a scene from "Drive" director Nicolas Winding Refn's Palme d'Or contender "Only God Forgives," that featured Kristin Scott Thomas like you're never her seen before. Read More: Five Minutes of Nicole Kidman As 'Grace of Monaco' Is Not Enough: The Weinstein Co. Underwhelms With Cannes Preview In the thriller, an icy blond Thomas plays Crystal, the menacing matriarch of a drug empire and mother to Julian (Ryan Gosling), a manager of an illegal Thai boxing ring, who she orders to hunt down his brother (and her son's) killer. As evidenced by the scene, Crystal is the type of mother you don't want to cross. Upon meeting Julian's new squeeze, who introduces herself as an "entertainer," Crystal greets her by scoffing, "How many cocks can you entertain in that cum dumpster of yours?" Later, she »
- Nigel M Smith
How Jeremy Saulnier Went From Corporate Videos to Premiering 'Blue Ruin' at Cannes
23 hours ago
In early April, Brooklyn-based cinematographer and filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier was en route to shooting a corporate video in Cleveland when he learned that his movie had been accepted to the Cannes Film Festival. It was quite the validation: To make the tense, violent crime drama "Blue Ruin," the first feature Saulnier directed since his scrappy horror-satire "Murder Party" in 2007, Saulnier relied on financing from his wife's retirement fund, his own Amex card, and a last-minute Kickstarter campaign. But Sundance had rejected him and he had started to think the movie might not get out there for another year. Instead, Cannes' esteemed Directors Fortnight section catapulted "Blue Ruin" to international attention at the biggest film gathering in the world. Recalling that day, Saulnier said, "it made it a lot easier to go shoot B-roll for Ibm, knowing what was in store for me." A month and a half later, Saulnier sat »
- Eric Kohn
Five Minutes of Nicole Kidman as 'Grace of Monaco' is Not Enough: The Weinstein Co. Underwhelms With Their Cannes Preview
17 May 2013 2:24 PM, PDT
Coming off a banner year thanks to "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Django Unchained" netting over $100 million each domestically and three Oscars (two for "Django" and one for "Silver"), The Weinstein Company sailed into Cannes this year eager to kick off a follow-up via their annual slate preview. While last year saw their auteur-driven heavy hitters "Django," "Silver" and "The Master" debut pre-trailer footage that set the industry abuzz, this year's big reveal landed with more of a "meh." Or, as a journalist seated next to me to said, "Well, that was underwhelming." Not to say that their slate is unimpressive this year. Among their 2013 Oscar hopefuls are the Meryl Streep-Julia Roberts headlined family drama "August: Osage Country," Lee Daniel’s ridiculously star-studded "The Butler," Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize-winning sensation "Fruitvale Station" (aka "Fruitvale"), David Lowery's somber crime love story "Ain’t Them Bodies Saints" (they are handling foreign), and the Nicole. »
- Nigel M Smith
Watch: The Trailer for the Eighth and Final Season of 'Dexter' Features Guest Star Charlotte Rampling
17 May 2013 2:16 PM, PDT
Sunday, June 30th will mark the beginning of the end for "Dexter" -- Showtime made it official last month that the eighth season of its popular serial killer drama will also be its last. The premium network has released a trailer for the final season showing Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) relationship with his adoptive sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) in shambles and a new potential foe on the horizon -- an expert on psychopathy played by the regal Charlotte Rampling. Will Dexter survive his show, or go down with it? The endgame promises to be interesting. »
- Alison Willmore
From Alfonso Cuarón to Sam Raimi: The Directors of the 2013-2014 New Network Shows
17 May 2013 1:29 PM, PDT
While conversations about film revolve around directors, TV, it is often pointed out, is a writer's medium, led by story and dialog more than visuals. But lately TV has seen an influx of name directors, indie and otherwise, coming in to helm episodes of shows. Even more interesting has been the growing trend for series to hire recognizable filmmakers to direct their pilots. While overseeing an episode once a series has started means working within a set framework with relatively little ability to put a personal stamp on things, getting to direct a pilot offers more freedom to determine the look of a show in a way that everyone after will follow. It's also potentially lucrative, since it tends comes with an executive producer title. Here's a look at who's directing pilots in the upcoming 2013-2014 season -- and these are on the big networks, not even looking to cable. »
- Alison Willmore
Movie Lovers We Love: Nick Dawson Unleashes the Clues to Ifp & Filmmaker Magazine's Secret Film Club Screenings
17 May 2013 9:24 AM, PDT
A few months after film critic Aaron Hillis left his post as the curator of the microcinema in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood, reRun, Ifp and Filmmaker Magazine have taken his place as the space's programmers. In order to mix things up at the space, Filmmaker Magazine Managing Editor Nick Dawson thought back to his time growing up in Edinburgh, when the Edinburgh Film Festival would have a secret screening every year that set the whole city abuzz. Dawson, who along with other members of Ifp and Filmmaker Magazine, shares responsibility for programming first-run films at reRun, headed up a search for festival favorites and films too fresh to have a public screening in New York to screen at reRun starting tonight and running weekdays until next Thursday. Thus reRun's Secret Film Club was born. Secret Screenings have become popular on the festival circuit, especially at smaller festivals that crop up before »
- Bryce J. Renninger
Vote for Project of the Week! Will It Be 'Nowhere,' 'New,' 'Rodents' or 'Hackers'?
17 May 2013 8:52 AM, PDT
Vote below for this week's Project of the Week. The winning filmmaker will receive a digital distribution consultation from SnagFilms and will become a candidate for Project of the Month. That winner will be awarded with a creative consultation from the fine folks at the Tribeca Film Institute! The four projects up for the prize: and "Nowhere Girl," "New," "Rodents of Unusual Size" and "Hackers in Uganda." Voting will end on Monday May 20, at 11Am Eastern. Note: Votes are confirmed by email. After voting, please look for an email from Poll Daddy and confirm your vote. Indiewire nor PollDaddy use your email address after the confirmation, but if you do want to sign up for our newsletter, why Don't you mosey on over here and do so! Which">http://polldaddy.com/poll/7110870/">Which Project Do You Most Want to See? »
- Indiewire
Cassian Elwes and Rob Barnum: A Look at Two of Indie Film's Artisanal Sausagemakers
17 May 2013 8:34 AM, PDT
At the Cannes Film Festival, the lawn of the Grand Hotel is where the sausage gets made. This is where producers, financiers, consultants -- and whose who only wish they were -- drink hundreds of wildly overpriced bottles of water, cups of cappuccino and glasses of rose' as they discuss deals, projects and pitches all day and all night, jet lag and hangovers be damned. What they don't do is see movies. Under duress, they will; for example, if they've produced something that's screening in the festival. (As one producer said to me today, "It kind of gets in the way.") It's also a great place for non-announcement announcements like the launch of Cassian Elwes and Rob Barnum's e2b Capital. By their own admission, it's not exactly a new company; e2b basically represents what they've been doing since they began working together back in 2009, some six months »
- Dana Harris
A Niche Destination Fest in the Making: Reykjavik Shorts&Docs Festival
17 May 2013 7:45 AM, PDT
The eleventh edition of the Reykjavik Shorts&Docs Festival came to an end last night after eight days spent presenting nearly 90 films in Iceland's capital. Though one year older than September's Reykjavik International Film Festival, Shorts&Docs is a decidedly smaller affair, and, until recently, one that catered almost exclusively to local audiences. Things started to change last year, the first edition under Festival Director Heather Millard. Millard, a transplant to Iceland from the UK, is a documentary and factual producer and sales agent who came to Iceland four years ago to produce a project and ended up staying. With extensive experience within the larger international film world, regularly attending festivals and markets, Millard saw the possibility of contributing to Iceland's film culture and helping it make more of an impact internationally. She specifically noted that Icelandic documentary filmmakers seemed to be largely thinking locally, both in their »
- Basil Tsiokos
Telephilia: Has Television Become a More Relevant American Medium Than Art Film?
17 May 2013 7:31 AM, PDT
"Television is a formidable thinking tool. You are like an analyst to whom society's subconscious would be offered wide open…" --Serge Daney Every medium stimulates and meets the sensibility of an audience as well as, impacting its orientation, political and otherwise. Television has been historically associated with distracted cultural consumption, a medium more suited to influence viewers rather than make them think. While the written word allowed for deeper reflections and articulated, complex thoughts, TV had to rely on the superficiality of spectacular images to attract viewers' attention. Cinema somehow bridges these two realms by constituting an art form that is both entertaining and enlightening. As the 21st century started rolling, both cinema and the press started experiencing a paradigm-shifting, economic and existential crisis fuelled by the availability of free content on the internet. In the bid to preserve their traction, both cinema and editorial products lowered »
- Celluloid Liberation Front
Cannes: Asghar Farhadi On Why He Still Feels Censored as a Filmmaker Despite Making 'The Past' in France and Not in Iran
17 May 2013 6:00 AM, PDT
Even before it screened this morning for press at Cannes, Asghar Farhadi's anticipated French-language follow up to his Oscar-winning foreign smash "A Separation" had been touted by many here as a top contender for the Palme d'Or, given the director's track record and a story that calls to mind many of the themes at the center of his international breakthrough. While there's no way of knowing how Steven Spielberg and co. will react to the drama when it premieres tonight, the majority of press in attendance responded very favorably to the film, boding good things to come. Shot over a whopping four months in Paris, as Farhadi revealed during the film's press conference following the screening, "The Past" centers on Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa), who after returning to Paris from Tehran in order to finalize his divorce to Marie ("The Artist" star Berenice Bejo), discovers all is not well at »
- Nigel M Smith
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