With the release of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Bardo: False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths,” Netflix invited guests to experience the sights and sounds of the Academy Award-winning director’s most personal film.
Through a series of conversations, the audience learned more about the design and craft of the project and had the opportunity to view concept art, costumes, and pieces from the sets.
Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Silverio Gama, a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Silverio finds himself on a surreal journey into memories and dreams when he returns to Mexico after many years away.
“Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths” will stream globally on Netflix beginning December 16.
Cinematographer Darius Khondji agreed to work on the film without reading the script
Darius Khondji has worked on films from “Seven” to “Uncut Gems,” earning an Academy Award nomination for “Evita” in 1996. Sitting...
Through a series of conversations, the audience learned more about the design and craft of the project and had the opportunity to view concept art, costumes, and pieces from the sets.
Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Silverio Gama, a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Silverio finds himself on a surreal journey into memories and dreams when he returns to Mexico after many years away.
“Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths” will stream globally on Netflix beginning December 16.
Cinematographer Darius Khondji agreed to work on the film without reading the script
Darius Khondji has worked on films from “Seven” to “Uncut Gems,” earning an Academy Award nomination for “Evita” in 1996. Sitting...
- 12/12/2022
- by Karen M. Peterson
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Alejandro Gonzalez
In Netflix’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Silverio Gama, a renowned documentarian who is set to receive a prestigious award for his career as a journalist upon his return to his native Mexico after living with his family in Los Angeles for decades. The epic black comedy, which is Mexico’s official Oscar submission for best international feature, is an extremely personal project from four-time Oscar-winning writer-director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who likens his latest film to the Mexican soup called pozole — “a mix of an enormous amount of things” — that speaks to the shared loneliness of the immigrant experience, particularly for those who feel without a homeland. The film sees Gama weaving throughout his own memories and the present day as well as interacting with figures central to Mexico’s complex history and culture.
Alejandro Gonzalez
In Netflix’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Silverio Gama, a renowned documentarian who is set to receive a prestigious award for his career as a journalist upon his return to his native Mexico after living with his family in Los Angeles for decades. The epic black comedy, which is Mexico’s official Oscar submission for best international feature, is an extremely personal project from four-time Oscar-winning writer-director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who likens his latest film to the Mexican soup called pozole — “a mix of an enormous amount of things” — that speaks to the shared loneliness of the immigrant experience, particularly for those who feel without a homeland. The film sees Gama weaving throughout his own memories and the present day as well as interacting with figures central to Mexico’s complex history and culture.
- 11/16/2022
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In the 94-year history of the Oscars, there is only one category, besides Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, that has never been won by a woman. That would be Best Cinematography, which honors a movie’s lighting, framing and camerawork.
Those are hardly gender-specific achievements, though the Oscars, for better or worse, are a reflection of the opportunities offered in the film industry. And as such, there are deep institutional reasons why this specific category has such a poor track record for women.
The trivia stat could change on Sunday night. Ari Wegner, the Australian cinematographer of Jane Campion’s nomination-leader “The Power of the Dog,” is nominated for her thoughtful, intuitive work on the film. TheWrap’s Steve Pond predicts that Wegner will take home the trophy, giving her the edge over “Dune” Dp Greig Fraser (the cinematographer of Campion’s previous movie “Bright Star”), who has scored the BAFTA and ASC precursors.
Those are hardly gender-specific achievements, though the Oscars, for better or worse, are a reflection of the opportunities offered in the film industry. And as such, there are deep institutional reasons why this specific category has such a poor track record for women.
The trivia stat could change on Sunday night. Ari Wegner, the Australian cinematographer of Jane Campion’s nomination-leader “The Power of the Dog,” is nominated for her thoughtful, intuitive work on the film. TheWrap’s Steve Pond predicts that Wegner will take home the trophy, giving her the edge over “Dune” Dp Greig Fraser (the cinematographer of Campion’s previous movie “Bright Star”), who has scored the BAFTA and ASC precursors.
- 3/24/2022
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Marking the end of a remarkable four decade run at its parent company, IFC Films co-president Jonathan Sehring is stepping down at year end. The decision is his, and he will take some time for himself, but retains the right to do other things in the indie film space where he has been an important figure for years. The affable Long Islander helped launch the Independent Film Channel in 1994 and later created IFC Films.
Stepping up to lead IFC Films into the future is Sehring’s co-president Lisa Schwartz, Arianna Bocco, who’s currently Evp Acquisitions and Productions, and John Vanco, who will continue in his role as Senior Vice President/General Manager of the IFC Center. The company encompasses IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, the multi-platform film distribution labels owned and operated by AMC Networks.
“I’ve been contemplating this move for several years and on...
Stepping up to lead IFC Films into the future is Sehring’s co-president Lisa Schwartz, Arianna Bocco, who’s currently Evp Acquisitions and Productions, and John Vanco, who will continue in his role as Senior Vice President/General Manager of the IFC Center. The company encompasses IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, the multi-platform film distribution labels owned and operated by AMC Networks.
“I’ve been contemplating this move for several years and on...
- 11/28/2018
- by Patrick Hipes and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Blame (Quinn Shephard)
Written, directed, edited, and starring 22-year-old Quinn Shephard, Blame premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last spring. We said in our review, “It’s an impressive debut feature that’s confident and assured, yet feels less like a feature film and more like an effective television drama with a few well-drawn characters and a multi-episode arc. Its asymmetric narrative doesn’t always work as it withholds information...
Blame (Quinn Shephard)
Written, directed, edited, and starring 22-year-old Quinn Shephard, Blame premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last spring. We said in our review, “It’s an impressive debut feature that’s confident and assured, yet feels less like a feature film and more like an effective television drama with a few well-drawn characters and a multi-episode arc. Its asymmetric narrative doesn’t always work as it withholds information...
- 1/12/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Film makers Charlie Siskel (left) and John Maloof (right)
2014 turned out to be an exceptional year for feature-length documentaries about artists. A film from 2013, Tim’S Vermeer, opened wide that January and was soon followed by Jodorowsky’S Dune, For No Good Reason, Life, Itself, and Glen Campbell: I’LL Be Me. However, the only art doc to be included in the five nominees for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards is the acclaimed Finding Vivian Maier. You can read my review here. Recently Wamg was able to speak to the two men behind the film, producer/writer/directors John Maloof (who also narrates the film) and Charlie Siskel.
Wamg: I suppose we should start with you John, since this journey began back in 2007 with your purchase of a box of Maier’s negatives at an auction. You mention in the film that you’d hoped...
2014 turned out to be an exceptional year for feature-length documentaries about artists. A film from 2013, Tim’S Vermeer, opened wide that January and was soon followed by Jodorowsky’S Dune, For No Good Reason, Life, Itself, and Glen Campbell: I’LL Be Me. However, the only art doc to be included in the five nominees for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards is the acclaimed Finding Vivian Maier. You can read my review here. Recently Wamg was able to speak to the two men behind the film, producer/writer/directors John Maloof (who also narrates the film) and Charlie Siskel.
Wamg: I suppose we should start with you John, since this journey began back in 2007 with your purchase of a box of Maier’s negatives at an auction. You mention in the film that you’d hoped...
- 2/17/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Phil Donahue
The Hollywood Reporter
Phil Donahue hosted the syndicated talk show, Donahue, for 29 years. He now lives in New York with his wife, Marlo Thomas.
Vivian Maier was hiding a secret. I met her in a Chicago diner in the late ’70s and hired her. She was our nanny. Decades later, over 150,000 photographs were discovered in storage lockers, the work of a brilliant but unknown artist. That secret genius was Vivian, our nanny, now considered one of the great photographers of the 20th century. The Oscar-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier tells this story and not only is it a great film, it is a film that will be watched for years to come.
Read the rest of this entry…...
The Hollywood Reporter
Phil Donahue hosted the syndicated talk show, Donahue, for 29 years. He now lives in New York with his wife, Marlo Thomas.
Vivian Maier was hiding a secret. I met her in a Chicago diner in the late ’70s and hired her. She was our nanny. Decades later, over 150,000 photographs were discovered in storage lockers, the work of a brilliant but unknown artist. That secret genius was Vivian, our nanny, now considered one of the great photographers of the 20th century. The Oscar-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier tells this story and not only is it a great film, it is a film that will be watched for years to come.
Read the rest of this entry…...
- 2/13/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
The work of street photographer Vivian Maier is highly prized by art critics and collectors today, but was largely unseen until after her death in 2009. In her lifetime, Maier was known as an eccentric nanny and housekeeper, so her employers were surprised to learn about her secret life when filmmakers Charlie Siskel and John Maloof recently interviewed them for "Finding Vivian Maier," an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature. "She wanted to express herself in her art, but I think the validation of the art community obviously wasn't as important to her as it is to a lot of people," Siskel tells Gold Derby. "So, as we sometimes say, she was an artist masquerading around as a nanny, because she put her art first, and her job was the second-most important thing in her life. -Break- "She's not the first artist to have to keep a day job," he adds.
- 2/12/2015
- Gold Derby
The work of street photographer Vivian Maier is highly prized by art critics and collectors today, but was largely unseen until after her death in 2009. In her lifetime, Maier was known as an eccentric nanny and housekeeper, so her employers were surprised to learn about her secret life when filmmakers Charlie Siskel and John Maloof recently interviewed them for "Finding Vivian Maier," an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature. "She wanted to express herself in her art, but I think the validation of the art community obviously wasn't as important to her as it is to a lot of people," Siskel tells Gold Derby. "So, as we sometimes say, she was an artist masquerading around as a nanny, because she put her art first, and her job was the second-most important thing in her life. -Break- "She's not the first artist to have to keep a day job," he adds.
- 2/12/2015
- Gold Derby
"Finding Vivian Maier" is a portrait of the artist who lived in secrecy. The self-sworn mystery woman who worked as a nanny in Chicago from family to family, without ever really having one of her own, took over 100,000 photographs that co-director and collector John Maloof unearthed at a junk auction in 2007. A few years later, Maloof had mounted the first show of her work, an elegiac collection of B&W street photography, self-portraits and images of everyday people caught unaware. At that point, he met the film's eventual co-director Charlie Siskel (yes, he's the nephew of Gene), a friend of producer Jeff Garlin and a former protégé of Michael Moore. Together, Maloof and Siskel leapt into the "rabbit hole," as Siskel calls it, of Vivian Maier to co-create a beautiful documentary about the unknowable interiors of The Artist that is now a Best Documentary Oscar nominee. Charlie Siskel and I spoke on the phone,...
- 2/11/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Palm Springs International Film Festival is the most accommodating to the industry, the easiest to get around with a frequent shuttle, the easiest to see great films, the best environment, the best audiences (all the shows are sold out) of festivals.
However, it is strange being surrounded by old people who are all my age. My prejudices against “old people” remains the same as when I considered them to be a part of my mother’s generation. However, some of these “old people” know so much more about the films, and their educated way of making choices of what to see are so much better than mine. I thought I knew everything...what a laugh. They know every director, all their past films, and they painstakingly plan with handwritten schedules and lots of discussion which films they will see.
I have been coming to the festival, almost “dropping in” on it since it is a mere 2 hour drive from L.A. for many years and everyone is always so helpful. It is totally familiar to me; it’s leisurely, very few restaurants (if any) are really great, there is a certain tackiness to the shops And there are always new film adventures and new folks to see.
This year I was happily hanging out the first weekend with Nancy Gerstman from Zeitgeist, and on the second weekend with Fortissimo’s Michael Werner and Tom Davia whose new company CineMaven (www.Cinemaven.com) sounds like a great company for festivals, filmmakers and companies needing acquisition help. We had a great dinner at Spencer’s where the Awards Luncheon was held.
On the recommendation of Mattijs Wouter Knol, the new head of the European Film Market at Berlin – on Facebook as he is now preparing the Efm and was not here – I watched “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas. Opinions on this film as with most films by Assayas, vary, but mine is that this languid study on acting and real life and how aging and death fit into the mix was a major treat. Like Polanski’s “Venus in Fur”, the alternating currents of acting and real life flow electrically with shocks and illumination included. Rather than aging, let’s call ourselves “ageless” and have an end to confusion about the inevitable life processes.
Like “Winters Sleep," another of my favorite “intellectual cinema” choices, in “Sils Maria”, the interior processes of the protagonists are revealed only in the unfolding of the story.
Kirsten Stewart played an amazing role as the actress’s young assistant in this deeply felt, intellectually worked out study of aging vs. ageless.
By biting off what seems like more than she can chew in consenting to play opposite the great Juliette Binoche who is at the height of her career, a young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) gives Juliette Binoche the resolution to the unhappiness that has been nagging at her throughout the film.
Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years earlier. But back then, she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She doesn’t want to play this role but is coaxed by circumstances into playing it and when she discusses it with the young actress who blithely tells her it’s time to move on, she becomes the Eve of “All About Eve” and Juliette “gets” it.
Cinematography is by Yorick Le Saux (“Only Lovers Left Alive," “Potiche," “Carlos”). IFC has North American rights.
Moving on, I can’t wait to see Juliette Binoche in her next role, the Opening Night film of the Berlinale, Isabel Croixet's “Nobody Wants the Night ”. The film co-stars Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”) and Gabriel Byrne (as explorer Robert Peary) and takes place in 1908 in the Arctic and Greenland. (Isa: Elle Driver
The other film I saw that first weekend was “Dancing Arabs” (Isa: The Match Factory) by Eran Riklis who was there to discuss the film as well. He had been a soldier in Israel’s worst war. He witnessed Sadat making peace with Israel. However, when Perez was assassinated, he saw Israel declining into a violent nation as peace became more and more elusive.
Dancing Arabs is a very popular novel in Israel. It is an odd title for this film, but it derives from a saying, “you can't dance at two weddings at the same time”. The film is also loosely based on another novel...Second Person Singular. But after filming a while, the characters took on lives of their own and the novels were more or less forgotten in the process of making the movie.
Lots of questions are left open in this film because there are no answers. In a way, the film is experimental. It opens as a charming family film, but changes and actually becomes almost morbid. People however do change, and the young “genius” living in a small Arab town in Israel/ Palestine becomes a mature man living in Berlin at the end of the story.
This is the first film of the male lead, Tawfeek Barhom. Who plays Eyad. While casting, Riklis said that the young actor told him he had known him since he was ten when he saw him making the movie “The Syrian Bride” in his village. He went to set every day for three weeks, and he knew he wanted to be an actor. On screen he is playing himself, and a lot of the story was true...he lived too long with the Jews, his Arab was no longer good. This he said at a screening held in the north of Israel to an audience of mostly Arabs who do not go to many movies, but were invited by Israel to see the film.
In the film he gives up his education for love of girl and she gives up her love for him for the love of her country. This is how minority relationships often turn out.
Eyad’s father’s reaction to the relationship of his university student son with an Israeli Jewish student is unexpected, but he too is buried by tradition whereas the mother with her small smile gives a ray of hope.
The scriptwriter-novelist, Sayed Kashua is brilliant, and this is a part of his real life. Kashua and Riklis have a love-hate relationship: when Kashua, who based the novel on his own life, saw the fine cut...he fainted. His wife said, “What are you complaining about, did your mother look like that?”
Sayed said complained that his own kids don't speak Arabic anymore, and so he took a sabbatical and is now in Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois.
The audience in Israel, judging by the 20 to 30 Facebook comments, they get daily consists of 20% Arabs which is great because they don't normally go to movies. Even a right wing Israeli said he liked the movie. The goes beyond right and left.
It is not a blockbuster, but it doing well. The word “Arab” might keep some people away.
On the second weekend I went to see “Salt of the Earth” (Isa: Ndm), now nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards, and “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” by her grandniece Michelle Boyaner.
Sebastião Salgado’s photographs are linked by his son and director Wim Wenders to his life. With his own voice and that of his son, Juliano, they discover the undiscovered in photography and in their own lives.
“Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” is the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1925 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.
Read More: Sydney Levine on "Finding Vivian Maier"
In many ways this is similar to “Finding Vivian Maier," which also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Feature Documentary category, in that both recover long lost and never acknowledged art which is astoundingly good art. This one goes further into the lesbian relationships of artists Edith and Jane and takes another unexpected step into the psychic world of a medium who actually solves the mystery of why Edith was committed and then forgotten. This is a must-see for art lovers and would make a great fiction film as well.
Another notable aspect of Psiff that is how, just before the Awards begin for Golden Globe and for the Academy, all the big name stars are here for two awards events. One, the opening night gala raises millions for the festival. The other, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch, brings more stars and that funny speech by Chris Rock (See Video Here).
Read More: Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev on his Oscar-Nominated "Leviathan"
Also remarkable is that, aside from the above Awards and then the final festival awards bestowed, the Golden Globes mirrored the Palm Springs Fest’s awards:
Actress in a drama: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (Isa: Memento) won Psiff’s Achievement Award
Actor in a drama: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” (Uip) also received the Psiff Desert Palm Achievement Award.
Supporting actor, drama: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash” (Isa: Sierra/ Affinity) received the Psiff Spotlight Award.
Director Richard Linklater, “Boyhood” (Uip/ Paramount) received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.
Foreign Language Film: "Leviathan” (Isa: Pyramide) received the PSiFF Best Foreign Language Film.
Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, “Birdman” (Fox Searchlight), Inarritu received Psiff Director of the Year Award which was bestowed by “Birdman” star Michael Keaton. And the Golden Globe Award for Actor, musical or comedy, went to Michael Keaton for “Birdman”...
However, it is strange being surrounded by old people who are all my age. My prejudices against “old people” remains the same as when I considered them to be a part of my mother’s generation. However, some of these “old people” know so much more about the films, and their educated way of making choices of what to see are so much better than mine. I thought I knew everything...what a laugh. They know every director, all their past films, and they painstakingly plan with handwritten schedules and lots of discussion which films they will see.
I have been coming to the festival, almost “dropping in” on it since it is a mere 2 hour drive from L.A. for many years and everyone is always so helpful. It is totally familiar to me; it’s leisurely, very few restaurants (if any) are really great, there is a certain tackiness to the shops And there are always new film adventures and new folks to see.
This year I was happily hanging out the first weekend with Nancy Gerstman from Zeitgeist, and on the second weekend with Fortissimo’s Michael Werner and Tom Davia whose new company CineMaven (www.Cinemaven.com) sounds like a great company for festivals, filmmakers and companies needing acquisition help. We had a great dinner at Spencer’s where the Awards Luncheon was held.
On the recommendation of Mattijs Wouter Knol, the new head of the European Film Market at Berlin – on Facebook as he is now preparing the Efm and was not here – I watched “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas. Opinions on this film as with most films by Assayas, vary, but mine is that this languid study on acting and real life and how aging and death fit into the mix was a major treat. Like Polanski’s “Venus in Fur”, the alternating currents of acting and real life flow electrically with shocks and illumination included. Rather than aging, let’s call ourselves “ageless” and have an end to confusion about the inevitable life processes.
Like “Winters Sleep," another of my favorite “intellectual cinema” choices, in “Sils Maria”, the interior processes of the protagonists are revealed only in the unfolding of the story.
Kirsten Stewart played an amazing role as the actress’s young assistant in this deeply felt, intellectually worked out study of aging vs. ageless.
By biting off what seems like more than she can chew in consenting to play opposite the great Juliette Binoche who is at the height of her career, a young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) gives Juliette Binoche the resolution to the unhappiness that has been nagging at her throughout the film.
Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years earlier. But back then, she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She doesn’t want to play this role but is coaxed by circumstances into playing it and when she discusses it with the young actress who blithely tells her it’s time to move on, she becomes the Eve of “All About Eve” and Juliette “gets” it.
Cinematography is by Yorick Le Saux (“Only Lovers Left Alive," “Potiche," “Carlos”). IFC has North American rights.
Moving on, I can’t wait to see Juliette Binoche in her next role, the Opening Night film of the Berlinale, Isabel Croixet's “Nobody Wants the Night ”. The film co-stars Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”) and Gabriel Byrne (as explorer Robert Peary) and takes place in 1908 in the Arctic and Greenland. (Isa: Elle Driver
The other film I saw that first weekend was “Dancing Arabs” (Isa: The Match Factory) by Eran Riklis who was there to discuss the film as well. He had been a soldier in Israel’s worst war. He witnessed Sadat making peace with Israel. However, when Perez was assassinated, he saw Israel declining into a violent nation as peace became more and more elusive.
Dancing Arabs is a very popular novel in Israel. It is an odd title for this film, but it derives from a saying, “you can't dance at two weddings at the same time”. The film is also loosely based on another novel...Second Person Singular. But after filming a while, the characters took on lives of their own and the novels were more or less forgotten in the process of making the movie.
Lots of questions are left open in this film because there are no answers. In a way, the film is experimental. It opens as a charming family film, but changes and actually becomes almost morbid. People however do change, and the young “genius” living in a small Arab town in Israel/ Palestine becomes a mature man living in Berlin at the end of the story.
This is the first film of the male lead, Tawfeek Barhom. Who plays Eyad. While casting, Riklis said that the young actor told him he had known him since he was ten when he saw him making the movie “The Syrian Bride” in his village. He went to set every day for three weeks, and he knew he wanted to be an actor. On screen he is playing himself, and a lot of the story was true...he lived too long with the Jews, his Arab was no longer good. This he said at a screening held in the north of Israel to an audience of mostly Arabs who do not go to many movies, but were invited by Israel to see the film.
In the film he gives up his education for love of girl and she gives up her love for him for the love of her country. This is how minority relationships often turn out.
Eyad’s father’s reaction to the relationship of his university student son with an Israeli Jewish student is unexpected, but he too is buried by tradition whereas the mother with her small smile gives a ray of hope.
The scriptwriter-novelist, Sayed Kashua is brilliant, and this is a part of his real life. Kashua and Riklis have a love-hate relationship: when Kashua, who based the novel on his own life, saw the fine cut...he fainted. His wife said, “What are you complaining about, did your mother look like that?”
Sayed said complained that his own kids don't speak Arabic anymore, and so he took a sabbatical and is now in Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois.
The audience in Israel, judging by the 20 to 30 Facebook comments, they get daily consists of 20% Arabs which is great because they don't normally go to movies. Even a right wing Israeli said he liked the movie. The goes beyond right and left.
It is not a blockbuster, but it doing well. The word “Arab” might keep some people away.
On the second weekend I went to see “Salt of the Earth” (Isa: Ndm), now nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards, and “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” by her grandniece Michelle Boyaner.
Sebastião Salgado’s photographs are linked by his son and director Wim Wenders to his life. With his own voice and that of his son, Juliano, they discover the undiscovered in photography and in their own lives.
“Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” is the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1925 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.
Read More: Sydney Levine on "Finding Vivian Maier"
In many ways this is similar to “Finding Vivian Maier," which also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Feature Documentary category, in that both recover long lost and never acknowledged art which is astoundingly good art. This one goes further into the lesbian relationships of artists Edith and Jane and takes another unexpected step into the psychic world of a medium who actually solves the mystery of why Edith was committed and then forgotten. This is a must-see for art lovers and would make a great fiction film as well.
Another notable aspect of Psiff that is how, just before the Awards begin for Golden Globe and for the Academy, all the big name stars are here for two awards events. One, the opening night gala raises millions for the festival. The other, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch, brings more stars and that funny speech by Chris Rock (See Video Here).
Read More: Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev on his Oscar-Nominated "Leviathan"
Also remarkable is that, aside from the above Awards and then the final festival awards bestowed, the Golden Globes mirrored the Palm Springs Fest’s awards:
Actress in a drama: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (Isa: Memento) won Psiff’s Achievement Award
Actor in a drama: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” (Uip) also received the Psiff Desert Palm Achievement Award.
Supporting actor, drama: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash” (Isa: Sierra/ Affinity) received the Psiff Spotlight Award.
Director Richard Linklater, “Boyhood” (Uip/ Paramount) received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.
Foreign Language Film: "Leviathan” (Isa: Pyramide) received the PSiFF Best Foreign Language Film.
Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, “Birdman” (Fox Searchlight), Inarritu received Psiff Director of the Year Award which was bestowed by “Birdman” star Michael Keaton. And the Golden Globe Award for Actor, musical or comedy, went to Michael Keaton for “Birdman”...
- 1/17/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
My look at 2014 continues as I review the best documentaries of 2014. Documentaries can serve a multitude of purposes. You will have your change the world docs that pick a certain cause and attempt to spread the word so people will rise up and do something. You have those that are just about a particular story that is just too incredible to believe. You also have those experimental docs that are all about playing with the perimeters with film and experience. My list covers those categories and much more. It shows documentaries can really be used to do just about anything.
10. Kids for Cash Directed By: Robert May
Synopsis: Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, Kids For Cash exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small...
10. Kids for Cash Directed By: Robert May
Synopsis: Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, Kids For Cash exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small...
- 1/6/2015
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
It's sort of a bummer to me that the two films at the forefront of this year's Best Documentary Oscar race — Laura Poitros' "Citizenfour" and Steve James' "Life Itself," each of which I like just fine — can't really hold a candle to some of the very best films in contention, whether "The Overnighters" (my favorite), "Tales of the Grim Sleeper," "Virunga," etc. Alas, that's how it's shaping up. And that's just, like, my opinion, man. But I get it. We must protect whistleblowers and the spotlight of the Oscars is important for this kind of thing, yada, yada, yada. (Not that there isn't a ton of nuance in this situation to be chewed on no matter what side of the political line you fall on.) But... Anyway, Poitros' film won the International Documentary Association's Best Feature prize Friday night, out of a field of nominees that included the aforementioned "Grim...
- 12/6/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Finding Vivian Maier co-director Charlie Siskel: "I think that Vivian had in mind an audience for her work, that some day people would see it." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Finding Vivian Maier directors Charlie Siskel and John Maloof at a reception for Vivian Maier: In Her Own Hands at the Howard Greenberg Gallery gave me a tour of the exhibition. There are more than 40 Maier photographs including Lena Horne in 1954, marvelous cityscapes, and people whose thoughts can be felt in the twist of a shapely leg. Emily Dickinson, Franz Kafka, Henry Darger and Pippi Longstocking entered into our conversations.
Finding Vivian Maier co-director John Maloof: "In this one with the building being demolished you can see the beautiful gothic architecture behind it." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
nm6381264 autoVivian Maier[/link]: A Photographer Found with a foreword by Laura Lippman - writer for Amy Berg's Every Secret Thing -...
Finding Vivian Maier directors Charlie Siskel and John Maloof at a reception for Vivian Maier: In Her Own Hands at the Howard Greenberg Gallery gave me a tour of the exhibition. There are more than 40 Maier photographs including Lena Horne in 1954, marvelous cityscapes, and people whose thoughts can be felt in the twist of a shapely leg. Emily Dickinson, Franz Kafka, Henry Darger and Pippi Longstocking entered into our conversations.
Finding Vivian Maier co-director John Maloof: "In this one with the building being demolished you can see the beautiful gothic architecture behind it." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
nm6381264 autoVivian Maier[/link]: A Photographer Found with a foreword by Laura Lippman - writer for Amy Berg's Every Secret Thing -...
- 12/4/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Yesterday, the Academy’s documentary branch narrowed down the list of 134 documentaries to 15 for the shortlist. Of these 15, five will be announced Jan. 15 as the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards, which will be held on Feb. 22.
Over the past few months, I wrote about three documentaries and the precedent past nominees set for them: Rory Kennedy’s Last Days in Vietnam, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s Finding Vivian Maier and Orlando von Einsiedel’s Virunga. All three films made the shortlist. The lists of related documentaries that landed nominations for best documentary consist of eleven Vietnam documentaries, six photography-related documentaries and eight documentaries about the animal world.
Two weeks ago, I looked at ten of the top documentary contenders that debuted at Sundance, and five made the shortlist: The Case Against 8, about the battle to overturn California’s Proposition 8; Last Days in Vietnam,...
Managing Editor
Yesterday, the Academy’s documentary branch narrowed down the list of 134 documentaries to 15 for the shortlist. Of these 15, five will be announced Jan. 15 as the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards, which will be held on Feb. 22.
Over the past few months, I wrote about three documentaries and the precedent past nominees set for them: Rory Kennedy’s Last Days in Vietnam, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s Finding Vivian Maier and Orlando von Einsiedel’s Virunga. All three films made the shortlist. The lists of related documentaries that landed nominations for best documentary consist of eleven Vietnam documentaries, six photography-related documentaries and eight documentaries about the animal world.
Two weeks ago, I looked at ten of the top documentary contenders that debuted at Sundance, and five made the shortlist: The Case Against 8, about the battle to overturn California’s Proposition 8; Last Days in Vietnam,...
- 12/3/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
In preparation for the Oscars, the Academy has chosen its short list of documentaries. Originally based on a list of 134 films, 15 have been selected, and from that, it'll choose the final five nominees. Notable films that made the list include: Steve James's remembrance of film critic Roger Ebert, Life Itself; docs about internet revolutionaries Aaron Swartz (Brian Knappenberger's The Internet's Own Boy) and Edward Snowden (Laura Poitras's Citizenfour); Charles's Siskel's doc about mysterious photographer Vivian Maier, Finding Vivian Maier; Rory Kennedy's enlightening Last Days in Vietnam; and Frank Pavich's obsessive deep-dive into Jodorowsky’s Dune. The full list is below.Art and Craft The Case Against 8 Citizen KochCitizenfourFinding Vivian MaierThe Internet’s Own BoyJodorowsky’s DuneKeep On Keepin’ OnThe Kill TeamLast Days in VietnamLife ItselfThe OvernightersThe Salt of the EarthTales of the Grim SleeperVirunga In the list of films skipped over that you still might...
- 12/2/2014
- by Lindsey Weber
- Vulture
★★★☆☆ Vivian Maier was a ghost, a recluse, an enigma, a mystery, and quite possibly one of the greatest street photographers of the 20th century. And, in truth, despite the intentions of John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, she is no closer to being found than she ever was. Maloof and Siskel’s documentary Finding Vivian Maier (2013) seeks to illuminate the discovery of 150,000 photographs of astonishing quality, all taken by a painfully private New York nanny - most of which were never even developed. John Maloof chanced upon this extraordinary collection when he discovered an intriguing box of negatives whilst researching a book on the history of Chicago.
- 11/13/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Following the Ida Awards nominations last month, the year’s top documentary contenders come into crisper focus with Thursday’s announcement of Cinema Eye’s 8th Annual Nonfiction Film Awards nominations. Laura Poitras’ "Citizenfour" leads the pack with six nominations, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature. The inside look at Edward Snowden’s Nsa leak also earned praise in Directing, Editing, Production, Cinematography, and the Audience Choice category. Poitras is no stranger to Cinema Eye’s awards — she won the 2011 Directing Award for "The Oath." Familiar faces rounded out the Oustanding Feature category, including Steve James’ Roger Ebert portrait "Life Itself," Jesse Moss’ tale of a North Dakota oil boom town, "The Overnighters," Iain Forsythe & Jane Pollard’s "20,000 Days on Earth," a look musician Nick Cave, and Orlando von Einsiedel’s environment-minded "Virunga." Thirty-six feature films and six shorts will vie for this year’s Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking. Other...
- 11/13/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Finding Vivian Maier documents Maloof’s journey to discover more about Vivian Maier after purchasing a box of her negatives in 2007. He began the search a few years later, after he realized the negatives consisted of some of the best undeveloped street photography of the 20th century. After some searching, it was revealed that Maier was a career-nanny who had died in 2009.
Since the documentary is in serious contention for a best documentary feature Oscar, we thought we’d check to see how many other photography-related films have managed to resonate with the Academy’s documentary branch and land a nomination in the same category. We found six.
The Naked Eye (1956)
Directed by two-time Oscar winner Louis Clyde Stoumen, this documentary celebrates photography through history by looking at pioneers in the field, such as Margaret Bourke-White. Though he covers works by multiple photographers,...
Managing Editor
Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Finding Vivian Maier documents Maloof’s journey to discover more about Vivian Maier after purchasing a box of her negatives in 2007. He began the search a few years later, after he realized the negatives consisted of some of the best undeveloped street photography of the 20th century. After some searching, it was revealed that Maier was a career-nanny who had died in 2009.
Since the documentary is in serious contention for a best documentary feature Oscar, we thought we’d check to see how many other photography-related films have managed to resonate with the Academy’s documentary branch and land a nomination in the same category. We found six.
The Naked Eye (1956)
Directed by two-time Oscar winner Louis Clyde Stoumen, this documentary celebrates photography through history by looking at pioneers in the field, such as Margaret Bourke-White. Though he covers works by multiple photographers,...
- 11/7/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Serendipity played a part in turning Vivian Maier into a celebrated photographer, as well as turning comedic actor Jeff Garlin into a documentary filmmaker. “I'm not known for my documentaries,” Garlin admitted at TheWrap‘s Award Series screening of “Finding Vivian Maier.” But after watching a news report about Maier — a mysterious woman who spent her life as a nanny but secretly took extraordinary street photography — Garlin said he instantly realized, “Wow. This would make a great documentary. That was my first thought.” See photos: The Scene at TheGrill 2014: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference “Finding Vivian Maier” is one of five.
- 10/29/2014
- by Matt Carey, Special to TheWrap
- The Wrap
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