Updated with video: Former Veep Joe Biden told Today he hasn’t made up his mind about a White House bid in 2020, but when Megyn Kelly noted “the blue-collar Rust Belt-ers you need to win already love Donald Trump,” he shot back, “They love me more.” NBC News has got Biden all morning Monday as he officially launched his so-called American Promise Tour promoting his new memoir Promise Me, Dad, about the last year of his son Beau's life. But across most of the morning…...
- 11/13/2017
- Deadline TV
Joe Biden will be Stephen Colbert’s guest on Late Show this coming Monday, November 13. Elton John will guest on the show that night too, and will perform. His new greatest hits album Diamonds is set to be released on November 10. It’s John’s first time visiting the show, and Biden’s third. The former vice president will be traveling the country on what he’s calling his American Promise Tour, promoting his new book, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.…...
- 11/8/2017
- Deadline TV
Native American Perspectives on Race Offer a Chilling Reminder of the Country’s Violent Past — Watch
As the nation reels from the violence in Charlottesville and a disgraceful response from the White House, many Americans find themselves stunned at the outpouring of racism in our own backyards. But the United States has a long history with racism, right down to the very first colonizers. Native American identities and perspectives have been silenced for too long, as evidenced in this powerful short documentary, “A Conversation With Native Americans on Race.”
Read More:Documentary Filmmaking Has a Race Problem, and This Festival May Have the Solution
Much like Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the film sets its subjects against a simple background, their words leading the narrative. Their pain is palpable as they discuss their Native identity and what it means to them, revealing the divisive practice of counting one’s Native blood, known as blood quantum. One interviewee relates this to the way purebred animals are discussed, another points...
Read More:Documentary Filmmaking Has a Race Problem, and This Festival May Have the Solution
Much like Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the film sets its subjects against a simple background, their words leading the narrative. Their pain is palpable as they discuss their Native identity and what it means to them, revealing the divisive practice of counting one’s Native blood, known as blood quantum. One interviewee relates this to the way purebred animals are discussed, another points...
- 8/16/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The San Francisco Film Society has just unveiled the three winners of the 2016 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards. Totaling $75,000, the funds will support the feature-length documentaries in post-production and help push them towards completion. Chosen for their compelling stories, intriguing characters and innovative visual approach, the winners are: “For Ahkeem” by Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest, “The Rescue List” by Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink and Peter Bratt’s “Woman in Motion.”
“These projects are great examples of balance between artistic vision and social impact,” stated the jury in a statement. “They tell neglected or overlooked stories by exploring the lives of very interesting characters who stand for larger social issues. For ‘Ahkeem’ is an extremely patient verité film, yet with a sense of political urgency in the way it tackles its complex subject. ‘The Rescue List’ portrays an artful balance of ethnography and visual poetry while it brings...
“These projects are great examples of balance between artistic vision and social impact,” stated the jury in a statement. “They tell neglected or overlooked stories by exploring the lives of very interesting characters who stand for larger social issues. For ‘Ahkeem’ is an extremely patient verité film, yet with a sense of political urgency in the way it tackles its complex subject. ‘The Rescue List’ portrays an artful balance of ethnography and visual poetry while it brings...
- 9/20/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Today, the San Francisco Film Society today announced the ten finalists for the 2016 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards totaling $75,000. The Sffs Documentary Film Fund supports feature-length documentaries in postproduction and was created to support singular nonfiction film work. Finalists were selected from more than 200 applications, and winners will be announced in mid-September.
Read More: How the San Francisco Film Society is Empowering Filmmakers With Technology
Dff has an excellent track record for championing compelling films that have gone on to earn great acclaim. Previous winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s “Cutie and the Boxer,” which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s “American Promise,”which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the festival’s Special Jury Prize in the documentary category; and Moby Longinotto’s “The Joneses,” which premiered at the 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Read More: How the San Francisco Film Society is Empowering Filmmakers With Technology
Dff has an excellent track record for championing compelling films that have gone on to earn great acclaim. Previous winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s “Cutie and the Boxer,” which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s “American Promise,”which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the festival’s Special Jury Prize in the documentary category; and Moby Longinotto’s “The Joneses,” which premiered at the 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival.
- 8/18/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Jack Schlossberg's first year out of college has brought plenty of changes and made him appreciate his roots, the 23-year-old son of Caroline Kennedy and only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy revealed while presenting the Profile In Courage Award to Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy Sunday. Following up his 2015, headline-making hosting gig, the Yale graduate seemed more at ease in front of the audience, and said that he's transitioned from "naive college student," joking, "Why didn't any of you warn about life after school?" Schlossberg, who's recently been living in Tokyo, revealed that he hadn't "been in a room...
- 5/1/2016
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
Jack Schlossberg's first year out of college has brought plenty of changes and made him appreciate his roots, the 23-year-old son of Caroline Kennedy and only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy revealed while presenting the Profile In Courage Award to Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, Sunday. Following up his 2015, headline-making hosting gig, the Yale graduate seemed more at ease in front of the audience, and said that he's transitioned from "naive college student," joking, "Why didn't any of you warn about life after school?" Schlossberg, who's recently been living in Tokyo, revealed that he hadn't "been in a room...
- 5/1/2016
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
Crowdfund This: New Project Aims to Shift Narrative of Lives Lost by Police Brutality (20 Days Left)
An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for an upcoming project that you should consider getting behind... Below you'll find details courtesy of the award-winning filmmakers - Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster - who produced and directed "American Promise," and are currently working on the New York Times Op-Doc "Conversations on Race" series, both (the film and the series) featured on this blog. The campaign goal is $50,000, with 20 days to go until it ends. For much more on the project and the campaign, watch a video pitch below, and then visit the project's Indiegogo page here: *** "Say Their Names" is a bold and groundbreaking multimedia...
- 3/28/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for an upcoming project that you should consider getting behind... Below you'll find details courtesy of the award-winning filmmakers - Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster - who produced and directed "American Promise," and are currently working on the New York Times Op-Doc "Conversations on Race" series, both (the film and the series) featured on this blog. *** "Say Their Names" is a bold and groundbreaking multimedia project that shifts the narratives of the Black lives lost unjustly to law enforcement and vigilante violence. The stories told will serve to magnify the humanity of loved ones stolen from...
- 2/23/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Read More: Emmy Award-Winning Chicken & Egg Pictures is Putting a Spotlight on Criminal Justice Chicken & Egg Pictures, a leader in supporting female non-fiction filmmakers, have announced the five recipients of their inaugural Breakthrough Filmmaker Awards. The five chosen filmmakers are Kristi Jacobson ("A Place at the Table"), Julia Reichert ("The Last Truck"), Yoruba Richen ("The New Black"), Elaine McMillion Sheldon ("Hollow") and Michèle Stephenson ("American Promise"). Jacobson is a NY-based filmmaker whose films capture nuanced, intimate and provocative portrayals of individuals and communities; her most recent film, "A Place at the Table," premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival before its theatrical release in over 35 U.S. cities. Reichert, meanwhile is a three-time Academy Award nominee for her documentary work, while Richen is a documentary filmmaker whose work explores issues of race,...
- 1/19/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Read More: 'Blackfish,' 'American Promise,' 'The House I Live In" Among Winners of 2014 Britdoc Impact Awards Pulse Films and BritDoc have announced they have launched The Genesis Film Fund in order to help put original documentary films on the map. The fund will give out up to ten £5,000 awards per year to help filmmakers experiment with form and approach, and Pulse Films and BritDoc don't even require seeing any footage. The first director to benefit from the £5,000 boost is Khalik Allah for his upcoming project "Jamaica. "Receiving the Genesis Fund marks a huge milestone in my emerging career as a filmmaker," said Allah. "Above all else, it lets me know that BritDoc and Pulse are very serious about supporting directors who are not afraid to take risks." The formal requirements for applying are: - Filmmakers don’t need to be already working with Pulse Films or BritDoc,...
- 11/11/2015
- by Elle Leonsis
- Indiewire
Beware the Chupacabra! Directed by R. Patrick Alberty (book and lyrics) and Christian De Gré (music and orchestrations) Mind the Art Entertainment Lynn Redgrave Theater, NYC August 26-30, 2015
Teddy Baskins (Vinnie Urdea) is a creative guy. Teddy designs and sews sought-after dresses. Teddy also invents sci-fi-worthy gadgets. An earnest, good-hearted, unassuming type, he works long hours in Jasper Sloan’s (Nicholas Connolly) dress shop and dreams of finding a woman who shares his enthusiasm for gadgets. A chance encounter with heiress Victoria “V” Warner (Caitlin Wees) on New Year’s Eve 1920 pulls Teddy out of his routine and his shop, ultimately steering his path to Mexico and a hunt for the eponymous creature of Beware the Chupacabra!
R. Patrick Alberty and Christian De Gré’s musical comedy, part of the 19th annual New York International Fringe Festival, begins with characters who, in parallel to Teddy’s dreams of changing the world through his gadgets,...
Teddy Baskins (Vinnie Urdea) is a creative guy. Teddy designs and sews sought-after dresses. Teddy also invents sci-fi-worthy gadgets. An earnest, good-hearted, unassuming type, he works long hours in Jasper Sloan’s (Nicholas Connolly) dress shop and dreams of finding a woman who shares his enthusiasm for gadgets. A chance encounter with heiress Victoria “V” Warner (Caitlin Wees) on New Year’s Eve 1920 pulls Teddy out of his routine and his shop, ultimately steering his path to Mexico and a hunt for the eponymous creature of Beware the Chupacabra!
R. Patrick Alberty and Christian De Gré’s musical comedy, part of the 19th annual New York International Fringe Festival, begins with characters who, in parallel to Teddy’s dreams of changing the world through his gadgets,...
- 9/1/2015
- by Leah Richards
- www.culturecatch.com
This year's Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards total $75,000 to support feature-length docs in postproduction. Esteemed past winners include Zachary Heinzerling's 2014 Oscar-nominated "Cutie and the Boxer," Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s 2013 Sundance winner "American Promise" and Jason Zeldes' "Romeo Is Bleeding," which just premiered at the Sf International Film Festival. The Fund has distributed over $450,000 to national filmmakers since 2011. The panelists who reviewed the 11 finalists’ submissions are Jennifer Battat, founder of the Jenerosity Foundation; Noah Cowan, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society; Lisa Kleiner-Chanoff, cofounder of Catapult Film Fund; filmmaker Dan Krauss; and Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of the Film Society’s Filmmaker360 program. Watch: Homegrown Bay Area Doc "Romeo Is Bleeding" Hits Sf Film Fest (Exclusive Clip) 2015 Documentary Film Fund Winners: "The Island...
- 4/30/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Read More: 5 Questions for Jennie Livingston, Director of "Paris Is Burning" and "Who's The Top?" On Saturday, April 18, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship hosted a half-day of panel discussions with a gathering of documentary film editors, directors and producers to discuss the art of editing. The goal of the day and future events is to shine a light on the role of the editor in the filmmaking process, build community and celebrate an under-explored and often misunderstood collaboration between director and editor. Panelists included editors Toby Shimin ("How to Dance in Ohio"), Nels Bangerter ("Let the Fire Burn"), Mona Davis ("Running from Crazy"), Colin Nusbaum ("Tough Love"), and Mary Manhardt ("American Promise") and moderators Tom Roston ("Doc Soup") and Doug Block ("112 Weddings"). The day began with a Keynote from...
- 4/30/2015
- by Jonathan Oppenheim
- Indiewire
The San Francisco Film Society today announced the 11 finalists for the 2015 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards totaling more than $75,000, which support feature-length documentaries in post-production. The Sffs Documentary Film Fund was created to support singular nonfiction film work that is distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Previous Dff winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s "Cutie and the Boxer," which won Sundance's Directing Award and was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson's "American Promise," which premiered at Sundance in 2013 and won the festival's Special Jury Prize in the Documentary category. This year's winners will be announced in early April. The finalists, selected from over 300 applications, are listed below (with descriptions courtesy of Sffs): The Bad Kids – Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, co-directors The Bad Kids...
- 2/19/2015
- by Elizabeth Logan
- Indiewire
The San Francisco Film Society today announces the 11 finalists for the 2015 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards totaling more than $75,000, which support feature-length docs in postproduction. Finalists were culled from more than 300 applications, and winners will be announced in early April. Past Documentary Film Fund winners include Zachary Heinzerling's "Cutie and the Boxer," winner of Sundance's Directing Award for documentary and nominee for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s "American Promise," which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the festival’s Special Jury Prize for documentary; and Shaul Schwarz’s harrowing "Narco Cultura," which premiered to strong reviews at Sundance the same year. The 11 Documentary Film Fund finalists projects are: The Bad Kids – Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, codirectors The Bad Kids brings...
- 2/19/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
With year end lists already flooding the interwebs a full month before the actual year’s end, its hard to ignore the fact that awards season is now in full swing. Tons of documentary awards have already been handed out, whether its for Ida (not Pawel Pawlikowski’s gorgeous new film) or for Cinema Eye Honors, there are plenty of worthy films getting their due recognition. Plus, several international festivals have handed out major awards this month, including Idfa, which hosted their awards ceremony just minutes ago. The full roundup is just below:
Dok Leipzig – Germany – October 27th – November 2nd
At the close of the 57th edition of the German documentary festival the Golden Dove Award, the festival’s highest honor, was given to Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s Rules of the Game, while the Leipziger Ring Film Prize went to Laura Poitras’s Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour, the...
Dok Leipzig – Germany – October 27th – November 2nd
At the close of the 57th edition of the German documentary festival the Golden Dove Award, the festival’s highest honor, was given to Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s Rules of the Game, while the Leipziger Ring Film Prize went to Laura Poitras’s Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour, the...
- 11/29/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Fourth annual award for docs having greatest impact on society has five winners this year.
The prize for documentaries having the greatest impact on society, supported by Netflix, Puma, Knight Foundation & Compton Foundation, is to “reward their extraordinary commitment, passion and achievements in using storytelling to provoke change.”
Each team receives a $15,000 cash award.
The winners are:
American Promise, dirs. Michele Stepehnson & Joe BrewsterBlackfish, dir Gabriela CowperthwaiteGranito, dir Pamela YatesThe House I Live In, dir Eugene JareckiNo Fire Zone, dir Callum Macrae
This year introduces the #NetflixHi5 Award; recognising the winning film that receives the highest number of Tweets in the days following the announcement. That time period closes on Monday; the prize is worth and additional $5,000.
The awards also recognise the outstanding partner on a film, and that goes to United Way which worked with American Promise.
Jess Search of Britdoc said, “We’re thrilled to be celebrating these five fantastic films, not only bringing...
The prize for documentaries having the greatest impact on society, supported by Netflix, Puma, Knight Foundation & Compton Foundation, is to “reward their extraordinary commitment, passion and achievements in using storytelling to provoke change.”
Each team receives a $15,000 cash award.
The winners are:
American Promise, dirs. Michele Stepehnson & Joe BrewsterBlackfish, dir Gabriela CowperthwaiteGranito, dir Pamela YatesThe House I Live In, dir Eugene JareckiNo Fire Zone, dir Callum Macrae
This year introduces the #NetflixHi5 Award; recognising the winning film that receives the highest number of Tweets in the days following the announcement. That time period closes on Monday; the prize is worth and additional $5,000.
The awards also recognise the outstanding partner on a film, and that goes to United Way which worked with American Promise.
Jess Search of Britdoc said, “We’re thrilled to be celebrating these five fantastic films, not only bringing...
- 11/21/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Winner of the Us Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance, "American Promise" is a deeply personal examination of the American education system, focusing specifically on how it affects young black boys. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson embarked upon a twelve year journey in making the film, chronicling the arduous academic and emotional progress of their son, Idris, and his friend Seun. From ages six to eighteen, we watch Idris and Seun navigate the competitive New York private school world that their middle-class families believe to be the only hope of them succeeding. Both families enroll their sons at the Dalton School, an upper crust preparatory...
- 10/7/2014
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
Born of a Small Town: Droz Tragos & Droz Palermo Regard Three Boys Living With Ingrained Poverty and Troubled Pedigree
With increasing frequency, documentary filmmakers are examining the developing lives of youngsters, observing the rapid transformation of their bodies and their transitioning self images in reciprocating unrest, their puberty ridden psyches an emotional microcosm often illuminating the family and communities in which they’re raised. Some indulge juvenile subversion like 12 O’Clock Boys, some investigate race relations as in American Promise, some observe the fragile state of growing relationships like Young Ones, some conjure the spirit of youthful wonder à la Tchoupitoulas, and some document the naive resilience of young minds stuck in dire situations as co-directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo have with their visually sumptuous collaboration, Rich Hill. Following a trio of teenage boys who’ve inherited the heartbreak of poverty and domestic disputes, the film calls...
With increasing frequency, documentary filmmakers are examining the developing lives of youngsters, observing the rapid transformation of their bodies and their transitioning self images in reciprocating unrest, their puberty ridden psyches an emotional microcosm often illuminating the family and communities in which they’re raised. Some indulge juvenile subversion like 12 O’Clock Boys, some investigate race relations as in American Promise, some observe the fragile state of growing relationships like Young Ones, some conjure the spirit of youthful wonder à la Tchoupitoulas, and some document the naive resilience of young minds stuck in dire situations as co-directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo have with their visually sumptuous collaboration, Rich Hill. Following a trio of teenage boys who’ve inherited the heartbreak of poverty and domestic disputes, the film calls...
- 8/1/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The raves are flying thick around Boyhood, the long-time-in-the-making new film from director Richard Linklater which finally opens in theaters this weekend. Linklater and his crew shot the movie over the course of 12 years, so that they could capture the main character age in real time, from a young boy to a high school graduate. I can vouch for pretty much every good thing you’ve heard about the movie. It’s a fantastically moving, incredibly true-to-life piece of work, and an impressive accomplishment. It is not, however, a unique accomplishment, no matter how many critics may think it is. While the scope of Boyhood‘s production period may rival any completed fiction film, there are numerous documentary projects of equal or greater scale. An easy example is the Paradise Lost trilogy, which revisited the same legal case over a 17-year period. An even easier example is the Up series, which...
- 7/11/2014
- by Nonfics.com
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Paris! What could be better than to be in Paris, when it sizzles and drizzles, with spectacular lightning, and an evening view of the Arc de Triomphe every night as the participants of the Champs Elysees Film Festival, U.S. in Progress and Paris Coproduction Village drink champagne and eat exciting and uniquely presented hors d’oevres.
Even as we left for the airport after our five nights at the festival, at 6 am we were treated to a full moon and the Eiffel Tower on our right, still enveloped by the navy blue night and on our left, the Seine River and the sun turning the sky rose with its long fingers of dawn.
The beautiful and erudite Jacqueline Bisset, Bertrand Tavernier, Agnes Varda, Keanu Reeves, Whit Stillman and Mike Figges were all here in this intimate and quintessentially Parisian film festival, being celebrated and giving master classes to a public which is eager to soak in American films and French films in the only film festival in Paris.
The American films showing here are indies, relevant, funny, and all special. The Official Selection of American features include Sundance premiere films “Obvious Child” which also screened in Rotterdam and is now playing in U.S., “See You Next Tuesday”, “American Promise”, “Rich Hill” (also played in Hot Docs) and “Test”; the Toronto hit about the French photographer of U.S. street scenes in 1940s and ‘50s U.S. “Searching for Vivian Maier”; Tiff’s “Fort Bliss”; Urbanworld Ff’s “The Magic City” the debut film of R. Malcolm Jones; the critical hit “Locke”; last year’s U.S. in Progress and Tiff films “ 1982”; “Summer of Blood” which went on to play in Tribeca and “Sunbelt Express” in its world premiere.
I have to mention that very relevant French films, both new and classic, are also showing. For me the standout is Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” with English subtitles by Art Buchwald which came out 1967 to the great surprise and delight of the American public lucky enough to see it. In this adventure, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. (Written By Leon Wolters <wolters [at] strw.LeidenUniv.nl>)
Writing this after “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award is great because I loved that film.
That it could avoid the clichés expected to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan was a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.
Between the two stints in the Army, Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous.
Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.
The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.
The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia), and Phase 4 for North America.
If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played by if the two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version. The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure. The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of Bambi on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.
The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,
American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).
Also playing were my favorite Tiff film “Searching for Vivian Maier” and “1982” which we (the jury) voted Best Film of Us in Progress last year in Paris and which also went on to play in Toronto. We’re waiting to see how Tommy Oliver releases it. He is now producing two other films: “ Halfway” and “Black Eyed Dog”.
Watch this moving picture of Tommy Oliver lighting up for the Us in Progress organizer Ula Sniegowska, Trust Nordisk’s Silje Glimsdal and others last year in Paris at the Champs Elysees Film Festival
My other personal favorites and wonderful discoveries were “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”. The next blog will be about these two films and their filmmakers.
The Champs Elysees Film Festival: American Independent Film Competition
My runner-ups to the Audience Favorite, “Fort Bliss” are “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”.
“Sun Belt Express” was named in 2012 as the Indiewire Project of the Day as it began its trajectory by raising money on Kickstarter.
See the article Here
"Sun Belt Express" is a funny movie about illegal immigration, set to the south of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. The story follows Allen King, an offbeat ethics professor who ends up on a run across the Mexican border with his conservative teenage daughter in tow - and four illegal immigrants in the trunk. What follows is a family road trip where anything that can go wrong – does. Set on both sides of the border, the film is a testament to the enduring power of humor, even in the most trying of situations.
My interview with the Writer – Director Evan Buxbaum and the Producer Noah Lang took place at the Hotel Marceau, not far from the Champs Elysees where seven theaters were showing films from the Champs Elysees Film Festival, put on for the third year by Sophie Dulac – producer, distributor, arthouse exhibitor and vice-president of family-founded, Publicis, the third largest advertising agency in the world.
Women to Watch: Sophie Dulac and the Champs Elysees Film Festival
Evan Buxbaum started life as a totally unexposed-to-the-world upper Westside (NY) Jewish boy. He didn’t even go to film school. He studied political science and political conflict resolution at Swarthmore. He graduated in ’06 and learned filmmaking by making three or four shorts at the same time as he tended bar.
His “barback” (that is the busboy for bars) Gregorio Castro, shared his story of how he came to U.S. As they became better friends, Evan met other Latinos who had some insane stories about crossing the border which were oddly uplifting. They always showed an indominable spirit in telling these tough stories; they always laughed. It was a unique way to approach life with such a sense of humor.
He and Gregorio set about writing a script and made a 10 minute short, “La Linea” about people in the trunk of a car, as a test of the concept, to see if it would resonate in the way they wanted. They wanted to create a film in a space that didn’t exist. Terrible things happen on the border and the film gave him the opportunity to explore humor in adversity.
The short played in a lot of festivals and some people wanted to finance his feature and so his life was shaped over the next five years (from ages 20 to 30).
Producer Noah Lang -- who incidently is the son of actor Stephen Lang, who played a cameo in this film and was the bad guy in “Avatar” and will be again in “Avatar” 2, 3 and 4 – also went to Swarthmore but did not know Evan there. Noah was working at Cinetic when he went to Headsets and Highballs, a networking operation in NYC where a producer, telling a funny story, got him interested him in reading the script. Over the next four months, while working at Cinetic, he helped out in the development of the script and subsequently left Cinetic to produce independently and subsequently was accepted into a program The Dogfish Accelerator. There he met one of the producers and got involved. That was two years ago…and he didn’t grow broke.
A first feature is usually sheer blindness, stupidity and luck. Financing began with Kickstarter to raise seed money. That was the most difficult part of making the movie. Kickstarter is a great platform to make you do something! They had 650 donors and raised $40,000 to hire actors, an attorney, asting director and location scout. Kickstarter also created a big following. From crowdfunding they moved to private equity and cash flowed through New Mexico tax credit. They raised some money from Indiegogo for post-production and their very rough cut won the Us in Progress prize in the fall of 2013 in Wroclaw, Poland, sharing with “Lake Los Angeles ” for color, sound, foley and a full music mix. They will still use the Polish Us in Progress prize to do a final print mix and color pass and get a Dcp.
Says Noah: “This account of how we raised money is not a replicating model. The first film is a constant bargain for what you can do.”
The creative notes they received during Us in Progress were very important. It was the first time they knew what they needed to do.
“In editing you’re blind. The emotional connection is very powerful, the process however is a slog, filled with doubts,” Evan says.
The speed dating model of networking gave Evan and Noah a way to approach problems.
One French distribution company showed interest in the film and lots of international sales agents gave them advice. Some told them that the film would do well in U.K. and Russia, but would not play to a French audience.
Here in Paris, however, many people gave them their cards for French distribution. The French audience was very good and made them optimistic as their reception was overwhelmingly positive, in fact some in the audience were very passionate about the immigration issue.
“And this was supposed to be the difficult audience”, they said.
Even the French international sales agents had underestimated the French audiences. The strength of this well told story was in dealing with the issue of transplantation in a humanized, humanitarian way. The audience was very emotional and spoke of their own or their great-grandparents’ coming to France. I noticed questions were asked by Africans and North Africans as well as by French.
They are now in talks with sales agents and a domestic distributor. Stay tuned!
They have several projects jockeying for priority now. One is to work with the “Summer of Blood” team on a coproduction. This is still pre-script stage. More on “Summer of Blood” and their team to follow. Both the investors in “Summer of Blood” and “Sunbelt Express” are interested in continuing.
For more information, go to SunBeltExpressMovie.com.
Based on Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum’s recommendations and on the fact that like it had also been in Us in Progress and in Tribeca Film Festival, I went to see “Summer of Blood” and was not disappointed.
In fact, I was surprised by the humor of this so-called “mumble gore” movie which Mpi is releasing in the U.S. The best of it all was the presentation and post screening Q&A by the director and star Onur Tukel, a Turkish Woody Allen. This is a New York story of a guy who is afraid to commit and becomes a vampire and is still afraid to commit but has a great time having sex until he realizes his former girlfriend is still the one he loves.
Onur, a Turkish guy who grew up in North Carolina, and his producer Clifford McCurdy were in Paris with “Summer of Blood”. The two could not appear more disparate. One loose, dresses in plaid shirts, has a beard and long hair, the other straight-laced, short haired, reserved. When Onur begins talking, you don’t know if he is serious or joking and he gets pretty outrageous. He says this film is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “True Blood” and it is very Woody Allen. One of the actresses, Juliette Fairley was also there. She was sexy, drole, perky and funny in the movie. Her mother – French Jewish, her father African American met when he went to France during World War 2. She has a script about it which she is also beginning to show people. At one point in the Q&A, someone in the audience asked how Onur could be so brazen about how he portrayed his Jewish landlord or the African American date in one scene (Juliette) and he had no shame or trace of bigotry in his answer. As a Turkish American growing up in North Carolina, he had never met a Jew until he moved to New York and his landlord was actually like the landlord in the movie…why not? The question was made to seem like one in “Sunbelt Express” when the daughter asks her father how he can dare to call these people “Mexicans” and he replies, “but they are Mexicans”. The fun of poking holes in peoples’ politically corrected prejudices make both of these comedies subversively funny.
See the movie when Mpi releases it. As for “Sun Belt Express”, you’ll have to wait until they sign a distribution deal.
Even as we left for the airport after our five nights at the festival, at 6 am we were treated to a full moon and the Eiffel Tower on our right, still enveloped by the navy blue night and on our left, the Seine River and the sun turning the sky rose with its long fingers of dawn.
The beautiful and erudite Jacqueline Bisset, Bertrand Tavernier, Agnes Varda, Keanu Reeves, Whit Stillman and Mike Figges were all here in this intimate and quintessentially Parisian film festival, being celebrated and giving master classes to a public which is eager to soak in American films and French films in the only film festival in Paris.
The American films showing here are indies, relevant, funny, and all special. The Official Selection of American features include Sundance premiere films “Obvious Child” which also screened in Rotterdam and is now playing in U.S., “See You Next Tuesday”, “American Promise”, “Rich Hill” (also played in Hot Docs) and “Test”; the Toronto hit about the French photographer of U.S. street scenes in 1940s and ‘50s U.S. “Searching for Vivian Maier”; Tiff’s “Fort Bliss”; Urbanworld Ff’s “The Magic City” the debut film of R. Malcolm Jones; the critical hit “Locke”; last year’s U.S. in Progress and Tiff films “ 1982”; “Summer of Blood” which went on to play in Tribeca and “Sunbelt Express” in its world premiere.
I have to mention that very relevant French films, both new and classic, are also showing. For me the standout is Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” with English subtitles by Art Buchwald which came out 1967 to the great surprise and delight of the American public lucky enough to see it. In this adventure, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. (Written By Leon Wolters <wolters [at] strw.LeidenUniv.nl>)
Writing this after “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award is great because I loved that film.
That it could avoid the clichés expected to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan was a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.
Between the two stints in the Army, Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous.
Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.
The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.
The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia), and Phase 4 for North America.
If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played by if the two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version. The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure. The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of Bambi on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.
The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,
American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).
Also playing were my favorite Tiff film “Searching for Vivian Maier” and “1982” which we (the jury) voted Best Film of Us in Progress last year in Paris and which also went on to play in Toronto. We’re waiting to see how Tommy Oliver releases it. He is now producing two other films: “ Halfway” and “Black Eyed Dog”.
Watch this moving picture of Tommy Oliver lighting up for the Us in Progress organizer Ula Sniegowska, Trust Nordisk’s Silje Glimsdal and others last year in Paris at the Champs Elysees Film Festival
My other personal favorites and wonderful discoveries were “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”. The next blog will be about these two films and their filmmakers.
The Champs Elysees Film Festival: American Independent Film Competition
My runner-ups to the Audience Favorite, “Fort Bliss” are “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”.
“Sun Belt Express” was named in 2012 as the Indiewire Project of the Day as it began its trajectory by raising money on Kickstarter.
See the article Here
"Sun Belt Express" is a funny movie about illegal immigration, set to the south of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. The story follows Allen King, an offbeat ethics professor who ends up on a run across the Mexican border with his conservative teenage daughter in tow - and four illegal immigrants in the trunk. What follows is a family road trip where anything that can go wrong – does. Set on both sides of the border, the film is a testament to the enduring power of humor, even in the most trying of situations.
My interview with the Writer – Director Evan Buxbaum and the Producer Noah Lang took place at the Hotel Marceau, not far from the Champs Elysees where seven theaters were showing films from the Champs Elysees Film Festival, put on for the third year by Sophie Dulac – producer, distributor, arthouse exhibitor and vice-president of family-founded, Publicis, the third largest advertising agency in the world.
Women to Watch: Sophie Dulac and the Champs Elysees Film Festival
Evan Buxbaum started life as a totally unexposed-to-the-world upper Westside (NY) Jewish boy. He didn’t even go to film school. He studied political science and political conflict resolution at Swarthmore. He graduated in ’06 and learned filmmaking by making three or four shorts at the same time as he tended bar.
His “barback” (that is the busboy for bars) Gregorio Castro, shared his story of how he came to U.S. As they became better friends, Evan met other Latinos who had some insane stories about crossing the border which were oddly uplifting. They always showed an indominable spirit in telling these tough stories; they always laughed. It was a unique way to approach life with such a sense of humor.
He and Gregorio set about writing a script and made a 10 minute short, “La Linea” about people in the trunk of a car, as a test of the concept, to see if it would resonate in the way they wanted. They wanted to create a film in a space that didn’t exist. Terrible things happen on the border and the film gave him the opportunity to explore humor in adversity.
The short played in a lot of festivals and some people wanted to finance his feature and so his life was shaped over the next five years (from ages 20 to 30).
Producer Noah Lang -- who incidently is the son of actor Stephen Lang, who played a cameo in this film and was the bad guy in “Avatar” and will be again in “Avatar” 2, 3 and 4 – also went to Swarthmore but did not know Evan there. Noah was working at Cinetic when he went to Headsets and Highballs, a networking operation in NYC where a producer, telling a funny story, got him interested him in reading the script. Over the next four months, while working at Cinetic, he helped out in the development of the script and subsequently left Cinetic to produce independently and subsequently was accepted into a program The Dogfish Accelerator. There he met one of the producers and got involved. That was two years ago…and he didn’t grow broke.
A first feature is usually sheer blindness, stupidity and luck. Financing began with Kickstarter to raise seed money. That was the most difficult part of making the movie. Kickstarter is a great platform to make you do something! They had 650 donors and raised $40,000 to hire actors, an attorney, asting director and location scout. Kickstarter also created a big following. From crowdfunding they moved to private equity and cash flowed through New Mexico tax credit. They raised some money from Indiegogo for post-production and their very rough cut won the Us in Progress prize in the fall of 2013 in Wroclaw, Poland, sharing with “Lake Los Angeles ” for color, sound, foley and a full music mix. They will still use the Polish Us in Progress prize to do a final print mix and color pass and get a Dcp.
Says Noah: “This account of how we raised money is not a replicating model. The first film is a constant bargain for what you can do.”
The creative notes they received during Us in Progress were very important. It was the first time they knew what they needed to do.
“In editing you’re blind. The emotional connection is very powerful, the process however is a slog, filled with doubts,” Evan says.
The speed dating model of networking gave Evan and Noah a way to approach problems.
One French distribution company showed interest in the film and lots of international sales agents gave them advice. Some told them that the film would do well in U.K. and Russia, but would not play to a French audience.
Here in Paris, however, many people gave them their cards for French distribution. The French audience was very good and made them optimistic as their reception was overwhelmingly positive, in fact some in the audience were very passionate about the immigration issue.
“And this was supposed to be the difficult audience”, they said.
Even the French international sales agents had underestimated the French audiences. The strength of this well told story was in dealing with the issue of transplantation in a humanized, humanitarian way. The audience was very emotional and spoke of their own or their great-grandparents’ coming to France. I noticed questions were asked by Africans and North Africans as well as by French.
They are now in talks with sales agents and a domestic distributor. Stay tuned!
They have several projects jockeying for priority now. One is to work with the “Summer of Blood” team on a coproduction. This is still pre-script stage. More on “Summer of Blood” and their team to follow. Both the investors in “Summer of Blood” and “Sunbelt Express” are interested in continuing.
For more information, go to SunBeltExpressMovie.com.
Based on Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum’s recommendations and on the fact that like it had also been in Us in Progress and in Tribeca Film Festival, I went to see “Summer of Blood” and was not disappointed.
In fact, I was surprised by the humor of this so-called “mumble gore” movie which Mpi is releasing in the U.S. The best of it all was the presentation and post screening Q&A by the director and star Onur Tukel, a Turkish Woody Allen. This is a New York story of a guy who is afraid to commit and becomes a vampire and is still afraid to commit but has a great time having sex until he realizes his former girlfriend is still the one he loves.
Onur, a Turkish guy who grew up in North Carolina, and his producer Clifford McCurdy were in Paris with “Summer of Blood”. The two could not appear more disparate. One loose, dresses in plaid shirts, has a beard and long hair, the other straight-laced, short haired, reserved. When Onur begins talking, you don’t know if he is serious or joking and he gets pretty outrageous. He says this film is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “True Blood” and it is very Woody Allen. One of the actresses, Juliette Fairley was also there. She was sexy, drole, perky and funny in the movie. Her mother – French Jewish, her father African American met when he went to France during World War 2. She has a script about it which she is also beginning to show people. At one point in the Q&A, someone in the audience asked how Onur could be so brazen about how he portrayed his Jewish landlord or the African American date in one scene (Juliette) and he had no shame or trace of bigotry in his answer. As a Turkish American growing up in North Carolina, he had never met a Jew until he moved to New York and his landlord was actually like the landlord in the movie…why not? The question was made to seem like one in “Sunbelt Express” when the daughter asks her father how he can dare to call these people “Mexicans” and he replies, “but they are Mexicans”. The fun of poking holes in peoples’ politically corrected prejudices make both of these comedies subversively funny.
See the movie when Mpi releases it. As for “Sun Belt Express”, you’ll have to wait until they sign a distribution deal.
- 6/22/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Once again I have the good fortune of spending some time with Sophie Dulac who is not only President of the Champs Elysees Film Festival but producer currently of three coproductions, one with Germany and one with Armenia and whose past co-productions include "Hannah Arendt" by Margarethe Von Trotta, "Last Days in Jerusalem" by Tawfik Abu-Wael and "The Band's Visit". She is also a distributor of over 70 films since the 2003 founding of Sophie Dulac Distribution with films of Bela Tarr, Frederick Wiseman, Alexandre Sokourov, Jacques Doillon and Theo Angelopoulos as well as new talents like Katel Quillévéré or Eva Ionesco, from festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, Berlin, Toronto, Sundance or Venice among others.
She also owns key theaters in Paris without whose support films would flounder and die. The company, Screens in Paris (Les Ecrans de Paris), is a circuit of five independent cinemas with 13 screens and 2,300 seats on Paris: Harlequin, the Medici Reflection Panorama El Escorial, the Majestic and Majestic Passy Bastille. When a film shows in some of these, then its success is nearly guaranteed. And last, but hardly least, she is Vice President of Publicis, founded by her grandfather, Marcel Blaustein, in 1926, abandoned while he fought in the Resistance and reclaimed after the war and rebuilt into the third largest public relations/ advertising corporation in the world. Marcel Blaustein was first to use radio as a means of advertising,
When we spoke two years ago, the Champs Elysees Film Festival was just beginning.
See Women to Watch.
Now in its third edition, taking place June 11 - 17, 2014, it has grown in recognition among professionals and the public worldwide, and it is enhancing the Champs Elysees as a place for the French to attend cinema once again. It is also creating ties between the French and American cineastes in many new ways. This popular and festive Franco-American film festival taking place on the most prestigious avenue offered an even more eclectic and exciting program this year. It was presided over by Bertrand Tavernier and Jacqueline Bisset.
Guests of Honor giving master classes include :
- Agnès Varda, present to talk about her films shot in the States
- Keanu Reeves, who presented the documentary "Side by Side" which he produced
- Whit Stillman whose cult film "Metropolitan" was shown in the festival and will shortly be released in France. He spoke French as did many other American filmmakers during their presentations.
- Mike Figgis spoke about fashion and film following a documentary and several short films he has made this subject
The Feature Film Competition of newly released American Independent films includes "1982" by Tommy Oliver which won U.S. in Progress in 2013 and will soon be released in the U.S., "American Promise", a documentary by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, "Fort Bliss" by Claudia Myers, "Obvious Child" by Gillian Robespierre, "Rich Hill" a documentary by Andrew Droz Palermo & Tacy Droz Tragos, "See You Next Tuesday" by Drew Tobia, "Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel, a former U.S. in Progress entry, "Sun Belt Express" by Evan Buxbaum - another former U.S. in Progress entry, "The Magic City" by R. Malcolm Jones.
There is also a short film competition of over 35 French and American shorts, including a selection from film schools (AFI, USC and Columbia in the States and La Fémis, Eicar, ArtFx and Les Gobelins schools in France).
Since the Paris Film Festival lost its funding by the city earlier this year, Ceff is the only Film Festival in the city and the Paris Coproduction Village moved over to it with 12 features. Run by the same team which runs the Les Arcs Coproduction Village in the French Alps in December, CEO Pierre Emmanuel Fleurantin, head of industry Vanja Kaludjercic, general manager Guillaume Calop and consultant co-founder Jeremy Zelni, it kept up the high quality of its projects. More than 130 companies registered and 160 professionals attended. There were 560 one-to-one meetings over the two days. The main focus of the event is to connect international filmmakers with potential French sales agents and producers but alongside representatives of companies such as Bac Films, Other Angle, Les Films d’ici 2 a number of international companies also attended including the UK’s WestEnd Films, Bankside, The Match Factory and The Works.
The festival poster is a cross between movie icon Marilyn Monroe and the icon of French Liberty, Marianne. Nicknamed "Marilyanne", it is being featured on T shirts, buttons, post cards and are all for sale. A new pass for full entry for the week is offered for 50 Euros.
She also owns key theaters in Paris without whose support films would flounder and die. The company, Screens in Paris (Les Ecrans de Paris), is a circuit of five independent cinemas with 13 screens and 2,300 seats on Paris: Harlequin, the Medici Reflection Panorama El Escorial, the Majestic and Majestic Passy Bastille. When a film shows in some of these, then its success is nearly guaranteed. And last, but hardly least, she is Vice President of Publicis, founded by her grandfather, Marcel Blaustein, in 1926, abandoned while he fought in the Resistance and reclaimed after the war and rebuilt into the third largest public relations/ advertising corporation in the world. Marcel Blaustein was first to use radio as a means of advertising,
When we spoke two years ago, the Champs Elysees Film Festival was just beginning.
See Women to Watch.
Now in its third edition, taking place June 11 - 17, 2014, it has grown in recognition among professionals and the public worldwide, and it is enhancing the Champs Elysees as a place for the French to attend cinema once again. It is also creating ties between the French and American cineastes in many new ways. This popular and festive Franco-American film festival taking place on the most prestigious avenue offered an even more eclectic and exciting program this year. It was presided over by Bertrand Tavernier and Jacqueline Bisset.
Guests of Honor giving master classes include :
- Agnès Varda, present to talk about her films shot in the States
- Keanu Reeves, who presented the documentary "Side by Side" which he produced
- Whit Stillman whose cult film "Metropolitan" was shown in the festival and will shortly be released in France. He spoke French as did many other American filmmakers during their presentations.
- Mike Figgis spoke about fashion and film following a documentary and several short films he has made this subject
The Feature Film Competition of newly released American Independent films includes "1982" by Tommy Oliver which won U.S. in Progress in 2013 and will soon be released in the U.S., "American Promise", a documentary by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, "Fort Bliss" by Claudia Myers, "Obvious Child" by Gillian Robespierre, "Rich Hill" a documentary by Andrew Droz Palermo & Tacy Droz Tragos, "See You Next Tuesday" by Drew Tobia, "Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel, a former U.S. in Progress entry, "Sun Belt Express" by Evan Buxbaum - another former U.S. in Progress entry, "The Magic City" by R. Malcolm Jones.
There is also a short film competition of over 35 French and American shorts, including a selection from film schools (AFI, USC and Columbia in the States and La Fémis, Eicar, ArtFx and Les Gobelins schools in France).
Since the Paris Film Festival lost its funding by the city earlier this year, Ceff is the only Film Festival in the city and the Paris Coproduction Village moved over to it with 12 features. Run by the same team which runs the Les Arcs Coproduction Village in the French Alps in December, CEO Pierre Emmanuel Fleurantin, head of industry Vanja Kaludjercic, general manager Guillaume Calop and consultant co-founder Jeremy Zelni, it kept up the high quality of its projects. More than 130 companies registered and 160 professionals attended. There were 560 one-to-one meetings over the two days. The main focus of the event is to connect international filmmakers with potential French sales agents and producers but alongside representatives of companies such as Bac Films, Other Angle, Les Films d’ici 2 a number of international companies also attended including the UK’s WestEnd Films, Bankside, The Match Factory and The Works.
The festival poster is a cross between movie icon Marilyn Monroe and the icon of French Liberty, Marianne. Nicknamed "Marilyanne", it is being featured on T shirts, buttons, post cards and are all for sale. A new pass for full entry for the week is offered for 50 Euros.
- 6/17/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The third annual Champs-Elysées Film Festival, created by producer, distributor and exhibitor Sophie Dulac, in association with Turner Classic Movies, will take place during the week of June 11th – 17th in Paris.And this year, among the some 60 films that will be screened, will be a special selection of independent African-American films, including Tommy Oliver’s 1982, with Hill Harper and Wayne Brady, The Magic City by filmmaker R. Malcolm Jones starring Keith David, Jenifer Lewis and Erika Alexander, and the documentary American Promise by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (pictured above).All the festival screenings will take place at the theatres that line the...
- 5/14/2014
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
The San Francisco Film Society has revealed the three winners of its 2014 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards, which total more than $75,000 and support feature-length documentaries in post-production. Moby Longinotto’s “The Joneses,” Jason Zeldes's “Romeo Is Bleeding” and Andrew James's “Street Fighting Man” were each given funding to help push them towards completion. (More details on each project below.)Previous winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s Oscar nominated “Cutie and the Boxer,” Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Sundance Special Jury Prize winner “American Promise” and Shaul Schwarz’s strongly reviewed 2013 Sundance entry “Narco Cultura.” 2014 Documentary Film Fund Winners:The Joneses — Moby Longinotto, director and Aviva Wishnow, producer — $30,627The Joneses is a portrait of Jheri, a 73-year-old transgender trailer park matriarch, who lives in bible belt Mississippi. Reconciled with her family after years of estrangement, and now living with two of her sons,...
- 4/9/2014
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the 11 finalists for their 2014 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards, which total more than $75,000 and support feature-length documentaries in post-production. The fund was created to support nonfiction film work marked by compelling stories, intriguing characters and innovative visual approach. Previous winners include "Cutie and the Boxer," which the Sundance Audience Award for Directing and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, "American Promise," which won Sundance's 2013 Special Jury Prize in the documentary category, and the acclaimed "Narco Cultura." The Sffs also recently awarded funds to "Love Is Strange," "Hellion," and "Little Accidents." The winners will be announced in March. The finalists, which were selected from more than 200 applications, are listed below. Anatomy of an American Dream -- John Ryan Johnson, director Antoine Hood is a charismatic 28-year-old former college basketball star and...
- 2/6/2014
- by Max O'Connell
- Indiewire
The San Francisco Film Society has announced this year’s finalists for the Documentary Film Fund, which is set to divy up $75,000 next month. Open to nonfiction films in post-production, the Fund has previously supported such Sundance titles as Narco Cultura, American Promise and the Oscar-nominated Cutie and the Boxer. Making the list is Western, the Ross Brothers’ follow-up to Tchoupitoulas, and Blood Brother director Steve Hoover’s Gennadly. The Fund is made possible by Jennifer Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation, and you can view the full list of finalists below. Anatomy of an American Dream — John Ryan Johnson, director Antoine Hood is a charismatic 28-year-old former college basketball […]...
- 2/6/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The San Francisco Film Society has announced this year’s finalists for the Documentary Film Fund, which is set to divy up $75,000 next month. Open to nonfiction films in post-production, the Fund has previously supported such Sundance titles as Narco Cultura, American Promise and the Oscar-nominated Cutie and the Boxer. Making the list is Western, the Ross Brothers’ follow-up to Tchoupitoulas, and Blood Brother director Steve Hoover’s Gennadly. The Fund is made possible by Jennifer Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation, and you can view the full list of finalists below. Anatomy of an American Dream — John Ryan Johnson, director Antoine Hood is a charismatic 28-year-old former college basketball […]...
- 2/6/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sure, Sunday tends to be overcrowded with high-end TV like "Downton Abbey," "Girls," "The Good Wife," "House of Lies," "Shameless" and "True Detective" (not to mention the Super Bowl) but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week. "Almost Human": "Unbound" Monday, February 3rd at 8pm on Fox "Haywire" star Gina Carano guests on J.J. Abrams' futuristic cop series this week, playing Danica, a discontinued and highly dangerous android called an Xrn, capable of laying waste to dozens of cops -- something Carano's proven herself perfectly capable of in her big screen turns to date, from Soderbergh's highly enjoyable action film to "Fast & Furious 6." John Larroquette also appears in the episode as Dr. Nigel Vaughn, Dorian's (Michael Ealy) creator. "Pov": "American Promise" Monday, February 3rd at 10pm on PBS For 13 years,...
- 2/3/2014
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
In the final minutes of the documentary "American Promise," winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, high school student Idris Brewster checks his University of California, Berkeley application, only to find out that he has not been accepted. Idris and I both applied to college the same year, we both struggled with exams and we both navigated through what may be one of the toughest periods of our lives. Still, the pressure Idris faced throughout his schooling was another level of intense. Premieres on PBS tonight, Monday, February 3rd at 10pm, via the doc series "Pov," "American Promise" is a compelling and sometimes devastating film that follows African-American students Idris and Seun Summers through 13 years of their lives -- their school lives. Directed by Idris' parents, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, the film begins with the kids entering The Dalton School, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country,...
- 2/3/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
In theory, the movies that I'm most anticipating based on the buzz out of Sundance should be those with the highest praises. That can be dangerous, though, as festival hype can easily lead to expectations that are impossible to meet. At the same time, I am way too curious about Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which is being called nothing short of "a masterpiece," to not be at least very curious. I realize there has to be something to it more than the gimmick of it being filmed over 12 years in order to follow its characters as they age right before our eyes. I've seen that plenty in docs like the Up series, American Promise and to a smaller degree current Slamdance selection Sometimes I Dream I'm Flying. Then there's Whiplash, which seems to still be...
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- 1/23/2014
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
It's that time of the year again when my email inbox is flooded with press releases announcing Black History Month programming from TV networks, as well as events celebrating the month, from various organizations, etc. So, expect a few more after this one... Highlights include the broadcast premieres of documentaries we've been following on this blog, including American Promise, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and Spies of Mississippi. These are films that I know most of us haven't seen, so this makes all 3 of them available to much of the country. Arlington, Va - January 16, 2014 - In commemoration of Black History Month and as part of its year-round commitment to provide...
- 1/17/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Tracy Letts has adapted his Pulitzer prize-winning play for the screen. The actor and writer talks about fighting to keep it faithful to the original
When Tracy Letts accepted the Tony for best play in 2008, he finished his speech with a bitter kicker. "They did an amazing thing," he said, in reference to the backers of August: Osage County. "They decided to produce an American play, on Broadway, with theatre actors."
Those theatre actors who made Letts's mammoth play a sensation in Chicago, on Broadway and then in London have now been swapped for movie stars in the film version. The producers this time round, including George Clooney and Harvey Weinstein, have also done an amazing thing: produced a foul-mouthed and dark movie for grownups, maintaining the bulk of Letts's riotously funny but brutal three-hour play. The film has had varying degrees of Oscar buzz since the first trailer debuted – horse-race chatter that irritates Letts.
When Tracy Letts accepted the Tony for best play in 2008, he finished his speech with a bitter kicker. "They did an amazing thing," he said, in reference to the backers of August: Osage County. "They decided to produce an American play, on Broadway, with theatre actors."
Those theatre actors who made Letts's mammoth play a sensation in Chicago, on Broadway and then in London have now been swapped for movie stars in the film version. The producers this time round, including George Clooney and Harvey Weinstein, have also done an amazing thing: produced a foul-mouthed and dark movie for grownups, maintaining the bulk of Letts's riotously funny but brutal three-hour play. The film has had varying degrees of Oscar buzz since the first trailer debuted – horse-race chatter that irritates Letts.
- 1/17/2014
- by Katey Rich
- The Guardian - Film News
As the leading presenter of Latin American Cinema in the U.S. Cinema Tropical advocates for the Latino filmmaking community and honors their achievements. Cinema Tropical Awards now in its fourth edition have announced this year's nominees
The winners of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards will be announced at a special event at The New York Times Company headquarters in New York City in late January, 2014.
The nominees for this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a nine-member jury panel from a list of Latin American and U.S. Latino feature films of a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, for U.S. Latino productions). The list was culled by a nominating committee composed of 17 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times Company. Media Sponsors: LatAm Cinema and Remezcla. Special thanks to Mario Díaz, Andrea Betanzos, and Tatiana García.
Best Feature Film
- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, Chile/Spain, 2013)
- No (Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- VIolA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- Sebastián Silva, Crystal Fairy (Chile, 2013)
- Pablo Larraín, No (Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/ France/ Germany/ Netherlands, 2012)
-Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Tanta Agua | So Much Water
(Uruguay/ Germany/ Mexico, 2013)
- Matías Piñeiro, Viola (Argentina, 2012)
Best Documentary Film
- El Alcalde | The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego Osorno, Mexico, 2012)
- La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (José Luis García, Argentina, 2012)
- La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo, Argentina, 2012)
- El Huaso (Carlo Guillermo Proto, Chile/Canada, 2012)
- El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Ignacio Agüero, Chile, 2012)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- José Luis García, La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (Argentina, 2012)
- Priscilla Padilla, La Eterna Noche De Las Doce Lunas | The Eternal Night of the Twelve Moons (Colombia, 2013)
- Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo, La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Argentina, 2012)
- Mercedes Moncada, Palabras MÁGICAS (Para Romper Un Encantamiento) | Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)
- Ignacio Agüero, El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Chile, 2012)
Best First Film
- Carne De Perro | Dog Flesh (Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/France/Germany, 2012)
- El Limpiador | The Cleaner (Adrián Saba, Peru, 2012)
- Melaza | Molasses (Carlos Díaz Lechuga, Cuba/France/Panama, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- Los Salvajes | The Wild Ones (Alejandro Fadel, Argentina, 2012)
Best U.S. Latino Film
- American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA, 2013)
- Filly Brown (Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, USA, 2012)
- Mosquita Y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, USA, 2012)
- Reportero (Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2012)
- Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA, 2012)
2013 Jury:
Chris Allen, founder and director, UnionDocs; Melissa Anderson, film critic, Artforum; Beth Janson, executive director, Tribeca Film Institute; Daniel Loría, overseas editor, BoxOffice; Mike Maggiore, programmer, Film Forum; Paco de Onís, filmmaker; Anita Reher, executive director, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar; Julia Solomonoff, filmmaker; Maria-Christina Villaseñor, film curator and writer.
2013 Nominating Committee:
Cecilia Barrionuevo, programmer, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; Raúl Camargo, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile; John Campos Gómez, director, Transcinema Film Festival, Peru; Inti Cordera, director, DocsDF Film Festival, Mexico; Christine Davila, programmer, Sundance, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ambulante USA; Eugenio del Bosque, director, Cine Las Américas, USA; Raciel del Toro, Cinergia, Costa Rica; Vanessa Erazo, film programmer and journalist, indieWIRE/LatinoBuzz, Remezcla, USA; Lisa Franek, programmer, San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA; Robert A. Gomez, film journalist, Cinemathon, Venezuela; Jaie Laplante, director, Miami Film Festival, USA; Agustín Mango, film journalist, Hollywood Reporter, Argentina; Jim Mendiola, programmer, CineFestival, San Antonio, USA; Luis Ortiz, director, Latino Public Broadcasting, USA; Rafael Sampaio, programmer, Sao Paulo Latin American Film Festival, Brazil; Eva Sangiorgi, programmer, Ficunam, Mexico; Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands.
The winners of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards will be announced at a special event at The New York Times Company headquarters in New York City in late January, 2014.
The nominees for this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a nine-member jury panel from a list of Latin American and U.S. Latino feature films of a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, for U.S. Latino productions). The list was culled by a nominating committee composed of 17 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times Company. Media Sponsors: LatAm Cinema and Remezcla. Special thanks to Mario Díaz, Andrea Betanzos, and Tatiana García.
Best Feature Film
- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, Chile/Spain, 2013)
- No (Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- VIolA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- Sebastián Silva, Crystal Fairy (Chile, 2013)
- Pablo Larraín, No (Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/ France/ Germany/ Netherlands, 2012)
-Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Tanta Agua | So Much Water
(Uruguay/ Germany/ Mexico, 2013)
- Matías Piñeiro, Viola (Argentina, 2012)
Best Documentary Film
- El Alcalde | The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego Osorno, Mexico, 2012)
- La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (José Luis García, Argentina, 2012)
- La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo, Argentina, 2012)
- El Huaso (Carlo Guillermo Proto, Chile/Canada, 2012)
- El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Ignacio Agüero, Chile, 2012)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- José Luis García, La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (Argentina, 2012)
- Priscilla Padilla, La Eterna Noche De Las Doce Lunas | The Eternal Night of the Twelve Moons (Colombia, 2013)
- Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo, La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Argentina, 2012)
- Mercedes Moncada, Palabras MÁGICAS (Para Romper Un Encantamiento) | Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)
- Ignacio Agüero, El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Chile, 2012)
Best First Film
- Carne De Perro | Dog Flesh (Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/France/Germany, 2012)
- El Limpiador | The Cleaner (Adrián Saba, Peru, 2012)
- Melaza | Molasses (Carlos Díaz Lechuga, Cuba/France/Panama, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- Los Salvajes | The Wild Ones (Alejandro Fadel, Argentina, 2012)
Best U.S. Latino Film
- American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA, 2013)
- Filly Brown (Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, USA, 2012)
- Mosquita Y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, USA, 2012)
- Reportero (Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2012)
- Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA, 2012)
2013 Jury:
Chris Allen, founder and director, UnionDocs; Melissa Anderson, film critic, Artforum; Beth Janson, executive director, Tribeca Film Institute; Daniel Loría, overseas editor, BoxOffice; Mike Maggiore, programmer, Film Forum; Paco de Onís, filmmaker; Anita Reher, executive director, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar; Julia Solomonoff, filmmaker; Maria-Christina Villaseñor, film curator and writer.
2013 Nominating Committee:
Cecilia Barrionuevo, programmer, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; Raúl Camargo, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile; John Campos Gómez, director, Transcinema Film Festival, Peru; Inti Cordera, director, DocsDF Film Festival, Mexico; Christine Davila, programmer, Sundance, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ambulante USA; Eugenio del Bosque, director, Cine Las Américas, USA; Raciel del Toro, Cinergia, Costa Rica; Vanessa Erazo, film programmer and journalist, indieWIRE/LatinoBuzz, Remezcla, USA; Lisa Franek, programmer, San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA; Robert A. Gomez, film journalist, Cinemathon, Venezuela; Jaie Laplante, director, Miami Film Festival, USA; Agustín Mango, film journalist, Hollywood Reporter, Argentina; Jim Mendiola, programmer, CineFestival, San Antonio, USA; Luis Ortiz, director, Latino Public Broadcasting, USA; Rafael Sampaio, programmer, Sao Paulo Latin American Film Festival, Brazil; Eva Sangiorgi, programmer, Ficunam, Mexico; Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands.
- 1/8/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Deborah is a dear friend, family and business, for many years.
She is a lifelong dedicated documentary filmmaker, one of our best. Her docu Oscar and Emmy awards attest to the talent and dedication.
Recently she has been discussing with me what she feels are the current shortcomings in this year's nominating Documentary Oscar process and especially the recently published 'short list' by the Academy.
We are very interested in hearing your feedback or comments on this issue which is Not likely to be discussed or raised in any other forum but which we consider Very important!!
Following is her statement on the present situation and the omission of certain very important titles from the AMPAS 'short list' of this year's documentaries..
by Deborah Shaffer -
As an Academy Award-winning documentary director and member of the doc branch of AMPAS, I was the lucky recipient of all 149 qualified documentaries in 2013. It has certainly been one of the more bountiful and exciting years ever. I wish that, as with fiction features, we had the option to nominate up to 10 titles. There are certainly enough excellent, strong candidates to fill a slate of 10. But there is something about this year's short list that has made me sad and disappointed and I don't know whether the fault lies in the process or the end result, but it's certainly the latter where it shows up.
Among the qualified films this year were an incredibly strong number of docs on African American history and culture, including Let the Fire Burn, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Gideon's Army, The New Black, and American Promise. Not One Of These Films Is On The Short List despite having been recognized at numerous other festivals and year end award events. It suggests a distressing pattern of oversight, and even more disappointing since 4 of the above films were directed by Black women.
I don't have any quick or easy solutions about how to address this. We are all bemoaning the nearly impossible burden of watching approximately 150 documentaries, yet I don't think anyone wants to go back to the bad old committee system. Certainly continuing the trend to diversifying the branch membership across gender, age, and race should help. Personally I would also like to see a system where fewer films qualify, making it more possible for more members to screen those docs that do make it through the gate.
As it stands now, anyone with enough money to four wall a theatrical opening in New York and La can meet the qualifications, essentially buying their way into the Oscar pool. There should be a way to close this loophole, which I estimate would cut the numbers by at least one third to one half. Our field has grown so much in recent years, and the overall quality of the films that have made it to the short list is staggeringly high. We need to find a way to make sure we reward the best, and not just the best known.
She is a lifelong dedicated documentary filmmaker, one of our best. Her docu Oscar and Emmy awards attest to the talent and dedication.
Recently she has been discussing with me what she feels are the current shortcomings in this year's nominating Documentary Oscar process and especially the recently published 'short list' by the Academy.
We are very interested in hearing your feedback or comments on this issue which is Not likely to be discussed or raised in any other forum but which we consider Very important!!
Following is her statement on the present situation and the omission of certain very important titles from the AMPAS 'short list' of this year's documentaries..
by Deborah Shaffer -
As an Academy Award-winning documentary director and member of the doc branch of AMPAS, I was the lucky recipient of all 149 qualified documentaries in 2013. It has certainly been one of the more bountiful and exciting years ever. I wish that, as with fiction features, we had the option to nominate up to 10 titles. There are certainly enough excellent, strong candidates to fill a slate of 10. But there is something about this year's short list that has made me sad and disappointed and I don't know whether the fault lies in the process or the end result, but it's certainly the latter where it shows up.
Among the qualified films this year were an incredibly strong number of docs on African American history and culture, including Let the Fire Burn, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Gideon's Army, The New Black, and American Promise. Not One Of These Films Is On The Short List despite having been recognized at numerous other festivals and year end award events. It suggests a distressing pattern of oversight, and even more disappointing since 4 of the above films were directed by Black women.
I don't have any quick or easy solutions about how to address this. We are all bemoaning the nearly impossible burden of watching approximately 150 documentaries, yet I don't think anyone wants to go back to the bad old committee system. Certainly continuing the trend to diversifying the branch membership across gender, age, and race should help. Personally I would also like to see a system where fewer films qualify, making it more possible for more members to screen those docs that do make it through the gate.
As it stands now, anyone with enough money to four wall a theatrical opening in New York and La can meet the qualifications, essentially buying their way into the Oscar pool. There should be a way to close this loophole, which I estimate would cut the numbers by at least one third to one half. Our field has grown so much in recent years, and the overall quality of the films that have made it to the short list is staggeringly high. We need to find a way to make sure we reward the best, and not just the best known.
- 12/18/2013
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
The International Press Academy has announced its nominations for the 18th annual Satellite Awards and Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," David O. Russell's "American Hustle," and Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" led the pack.
Winners will be announced on March 9, 2014 at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Here's the complete nominations:
Motion Pictures
Actress in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams American Hustle (Sony)
Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock Gravity (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench Philomena (The Weinstein Company)
Adèle Exarchopoulos Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Enough Said (Fox Searchlight)
Meryl Streep August: Osage County (The Weinstein Company)
Emma Thompson Saving Mr. Banks (Disney)
Actor in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale American Hustle (Sony)
Bruce Dern Nebraska (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio The Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight)
Tom Hanks Captain Phillips (Sony)
Matthew McConaughey Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features...
Winners will be announced on March 9, 2014 at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Here's the complete nominations:
Motion Pictures
Actress in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams American Hustle (Sony)
Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock Gravity (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench Philomena (The Weinstein Company)
Adèle Exarchopoulos Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Enough Said (Fox Searchlight)
Meryl Streep August: Osage County (The Weinstein Company)
Emma Thompson Saving Mr. Banks (Disney)
Actor in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale American Hustle (Sony)
Bruce Dern Nebraska (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio The Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight)
Tom Hanks Captain Phillips (Sony)
Matthew McConaughey Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features...
- 12/16/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The African-American Film Critics Association has announced their Top 10 Films of the year, as well as the winners of their year-end film awards. Here's the full list:
Top 10 films:
1. "12 Years a Slave"
2. "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
3. "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
4. "American Hustle"
5. "Gravity"
6. "Fruitvale Station"
7. "Dallas Buyers Club"
8. "Saving Mr. Banks"
9. "Out of the Furnace"
10. "42"
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"
Best Supporting Actress: Oprah Winfrey, "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"
Best World Cinema: "Mother of George"
Breakout Performance: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Director: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Screenplay: John Ridley, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Music: "Black Nativity," Raphael Sadiq
Best Independent Film: "Fruitvale Station"
Best Animation: "Frozen"
Best Documentary: "American Promise"...
Top 10 films:
1. "12 Years a Slave"
2. "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
3. "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
4. "American Hustle"
5. "Gravity"
6. "Fruitvale Station"
7. "Dallas Buyers Club"
8. "Saving Mr. Banks"
9. "Out of the Furnace"
10. "42"
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"
Best Supporting Actress: Oprah Winfrey, "Lee Daniels' The Butler"
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"
Best World Cinema: "Mother of George"
Breakout Performance: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Director: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Screenplay: John Ridley, "12 Years a Slave"
Best Music: "Black Nativity," Raphael Sadiq
Best Independent Film: "Fruitvale Station"
Best Animation: "Frozen"
Best Documentary: "American Promise"...
- 12/16/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
A follow up to our recent discussion on contenders for the 2014 Best Documentary Oscar. The Academy has culled its list down to 15 feature documentary films still in consideration. None of the five black female-directed films in our earlier post - Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, American Promise, Gideon's Army, Valentine Road, or The New Black - were selected for the short list. However, two more projects we've followed at length - Roger Ross Williams' exploration of the African missionary movement, God Loves Uganda, and 20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville's profile of powerhouse background vocalists - have been included in the top...
- 12/4/2013
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
It’s been an extremely rich year for doc film and while The Academy appear to have included some of the year’s most critically acclaimed items (mostly Sundance preemed) in Dirty Wars, The Act of Killing (Gotham award winner yesterday), Cutie and the Boxer (pictured above) and Stories We Tell (Nyfcc winner today) among their 15 short film list (semi-finalists are then lassoed into a category containing five), there are always a handful of titles that receive a cold shoulder and this year After Tiller, Let the Fire Burn and the too experimental, but nonetheless brilliant Leviathan were among those snubbed. Update: Jordan mentions that quality docs such as Caucus, American Promise, 12 O’Clock Boys and Narco Cultura are no shows that in some circles could have made the cut.
Here’s the list of fifteen.
The Act of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
The Crash Reel
Cutie and the Boxer...
Here’s the list of fifteen.
The Act of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
The Crash Reel
Cutie and the Boxer...
- 12/3/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
12 Years a Slave continues to be the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to nominations. After leading the Spirit Award nominations it now leads the International Press Academy's (Ipa) 2013 Satellite Award nominations with a total of ten noms, followed by American Hustle and Gravity, each with eight nominations. The top five nominees were rounded out by Rush with seven nominations and Inside Llewyn Davis and Saving Mr. Banks with six nominations each. The Satellites, however, are an interesting bunch. As you can see there are several nominations in each category, leaving pretty much no stone unturned. I guess you could say no nomination for Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station) is a surprise and, in my personal opinion, with such a large field of nominees I'd like to see Joaquin Phoenix (Her) get a nomination, but that certainly isn't going to be a film for everyone even though Arcade Fire was...
- 12/2/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Woefully underreported by major news outlets to date is the fact that this year, there are at least five feature documentaries directed by black women qualifying for Academy Award consideration, including Gideon's Army by Dawn Porter; Free Angela and All Political Prisoners by Shola Lynch; Valentine Road by Marta Cunningham; The New Black by Yoruba Richen; and American Promise by Michele Stephenson. I've written often here on S&A about the work being done in the documentary world and how it tends to fly under the radar. Even critically acclaimed docs tend to receive less attention,...
- 11/12/2013
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
New Release
Diana
PG-13, 1 Hr., 47 Mins.
From the layered blond ‘do to the furtive gazes and deer-in-the-headlights facial expressions, Naomi Watts comes reasonably close to capturing the iconic look of the late Princess of Wales. But director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s biopic, recounting the last two years of the British royal’s life and her supposedly grand affair with a Pakistani-born heart surgeon (Naveen Andrews), is simultaneously tawdry and opaque. And the dialogue is clunkier than a Bond villain’s. D+ —Thom Geier
American Promise
Not Rated, 2 Hrs., 15 Mins.
This documentary follows two African-American students at New York’s elite Dalton School.
Diana
PG-13, 1 Hr., 47 Mins.
From the layered blond ‘do to the furtive gazes and deer-in-the-headlights facial expressions, Naomi Watts comes reasonably close to capturing the iconic look of the late Princess of Wales. But director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s biopic, recounting the last two years of the British royal’s life and her supposedly grand affair with a Pakistani-born heart surgeon (Naveen Andrews), is simultaneously tawdry and opaque. And the dialogue is clunkier than a Bond villain’s. D+ —Thom Geier
American Promise
Not Rated, 2 Hrs., 15 Mins.
This documentary follows two African-American students at New York’s elite Dalton School.
- 10/30/2013
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
We have certainly been fully-covering the new documentary American Promise, and, no doubt, it’s because it’s one of the most important documentaries of the year. Zeba Blay has already reviewed the film for us last week (Here) and the film is currently playing in New York, and opens today in Los Angeles, before its national theatrical roll-out (Here). Now the dates for the Chicago screenings are set. The film will play next month at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago, from November 22 to 27, twice a day, with three showings on Saturday Nov. 23rd at 2Pm, 5Pm and 8Pm. Even better, the directors of the film - Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson - will be...
- 10/25/2013
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
It opened in New York City last weekend, and will gradually expand to other cities, starting this weekend in Los Angeles, followed by releases in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia next weekend, and then Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago and Detroit shortly after. While you wait for it to reach your neck of the woods, here are 2 new clips from Joe Brewster's and Michèle Stephenson's acclaimed feature documentary, American Promise - a 13-year personal journey that follows the directors’ son (Idris) and his best friend (Seun), from their first day of kindergarten through high school...
- 10/24/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
An Education: Brewster and Stephenson’s 12 Year Docu
Documentarians Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson have been investigating the multicultural divide that pervades American culture for years, but when they decided to take a step back from filmmaking to start a family, they couldn’t help but turn the cameras on themselves and their beloved new son, Idris. When he turned five, his parents began to actively document him and his best friend, Seun, as they mounted the threshold of the convoluted landscape that is the American education system. Twelve years later, the cameras were still rolling, but lives took veering paths, expectations were drastically altered, and proof of the remaining cultural gap seemed to be in the scholastic pudding. Their second docu feature together, American Promise is a grandiose illustration of the immense hope and crushing disappointment inherent in the American dream that promises with a good education, anything is possible.
Documentarians Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson have been investigating the multicultural divide that pervades American culture for years, but when they decided to take a step back from filmmaking to start a family, they couldn’t help but turn the cameras on themselves and their beloved new son, Idris. When he turned five, his parents began to actively document him and his best friend, Seun, as they mounted the threshold of the convoluted landscape that is the American education system. Twelve years later, the cameras were still rolling, but lives took veering paths, expectations were drastically altered, and proof of the remaining cultural gap seemed to be in the scholastic pudding. Their second docu feature together, American Promise is a grandiose illustration of the immense hope and crushing disappointment inherent in the American dream that promises with a good education, anything is possible.
- 10/18/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Winner of the Us Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance, American Promise is a deeply personal examination of the American education system, focusing specifically on how it affects young black boys. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson embarked upon a twelve year journey in making the film, chronicling the arduous academic and emotional progress of their son, Idris, and his friend Seun. From ages six to eighteen, we watch Idris and Seun navigate the competitive New York private school world that their middle-class families believe to be the only hope of them succeeding. Both families enroll their sons at the Dalton School, an upper crust preparatory institution known...
- 10/17/2013
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
The characters of this week’s releases are at the end of their ropes. That might even be literal for Robert Redford’s character in All Is Lost unless sailors have a different word for “rope.” And they probably do. Some of the film figures of the week are covered in blood, some have been kidnapped into slavery, some have been falsely imprisoned, some are fighting the system, and some are losing the battle against it. Desperation seems like a common theme. Of course, it’s October, so “ghosts” are another big one. And who’s more desperate than they are? There’s also a lot more going on in a week with a massive amount of movies. Here’s your trailer-ized guide to what’s coming out: The Major Names 12 Years A Slave Read Our Review And our interview with Sarah Paulson Carrie Escape Plan The Fifth Estate Read our review All Is Lost Read our...
- 10/16/2013
- by Scott Beggs
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
A group of black parents sits noshing at a dining room table in Brooklyn, brought together out of concern for the unforeseen consequences of having enrolled their sons in the exclusive, almost all-white Dalton School in Manhattan. The boys' academic strengths are withering, and their self-esteem is plummeting. "Have we helped or hindered our sons?" asks one mother in frustration. With the documentary American Promise, married co-directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson set out to record the journey of their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, when the two were enrolled at Dalton as five-year-olds. The plan was to capture a privileged education trajectory that would set the boys up for all the advantages in life. Instead, viewers are treated to two incredibly rich ...
- 10/16/2013
- Village Voice
Glenn here. After decades of trying to attain the same critical and cultural awareness as feature films, it appears documentaries are now suffering from a case of too much of a good thing. We’re in a day and age where documentaries are so common that it’s impossible for the Academy’s documentary branch to keep up. Apparently 151 docos have been submitted - an average of three a week! - for this year’s Oscars and just like Diane Keaton, something’s gotta give.
Last year the Academy set up a secret online forum of sorts for documentary branchmembers so they could post recommendations of titles to help whittle down the number of contenders. “Nobody’s recommended that anthopological documentary about North Atlantic fishermen? Fine, I’ll just watch Blackfish.” I like the idea in concept, but Leviathan was highly acclaimed so what then? Admittedly, it would be nice...
Last year the Academy set up a secret online forum of sorts for documentary branchmembers so they could post recommendations of titles to help whittle down the number of contenders. “Nobody’s recommended that anthopological documentary about North Atlantic fishermen? Fine, I’ll just watch Blackfish.” I like the idea in concept, but Leviathan was highly acclaimed so what then? Admittedly, it would be nice...
- 10/10/2013
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
American Promise
Directed by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson
USA, 2013
In 2000, Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson had a simple idea: document the education of their son Idris on film. They were planning to enter him into New York City’s prestigious Dalton School, and Dalton was planning to dedicate itself anew to creating a more diverse learning environment (Idris is black, and Dalton had an overwhelmingly white student body). They selected several other students on the same path, and intended to document them all, but only one other stayed attached to the project all the way through to his high school graduation: Idris’ friend Seun “Shay” Summers (who is also black). The finished movie that tells their story is American Promise, and it demands to be seen.
There are two things one might expect a story such as this: adorable precociousness when the boys are young, and tear-jerking parent/child moments when they are older.
Directed by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson
USA, 2013
In 2000, Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson had a simple idea: document the education of their son Idris on film. They were planning to enter him into New York City’s prestigious Dalton School, and Dalton was planning to dedicate itself anew to creating a more diverse learning environment (Idris is black, and Dalton had an overwhelmingly white student body). They selected several other students on the same path, and intended to document them all, but only one other stayed attached to the project all the way through to his high school graduation: Idris’ friend Seun “Shay” Summers (who is also black). The finished movie that tells their story is American Promise, and it demands to be seen.
There are two things one might expect a story such as this: adorable precociousness when the boys are young, and tear-jerking parent/child moments when they are older.
- 10/6/2013
- by Mark Young
- SoundOnSight
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