“Hold Me Right,” a documentary by first-time Serbian director Danijela Stajnfeld, is certain to shake this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival with its exploration of sexual assault and its impact on survivors.
Stajnfeld, a celebrated actress in Serbia, left the country for the U.S. a few years ago after she was sexually assaulted by a powerful and well-known industry figure. The attack left her traumatized and unable to speak about it for a long time.
She ultimately made “Hold Me Right” about the experience and those of other victims of sexual assault who she met in the U.S. The film, which screens in Sarajevo’s documentary competition section, highlights the plight of survivors whose voices still go unheard even in today’s post-#MeToo era.
Still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when she arrived in the U.S., Stajnfeld says she slowly recovered with the help of friends.
Stajnfeld, a celebrated actress in Serbia, left the country for the U.S. a few years ago after she was sexually assaulted by a powerful and well-known industry figure. The attack left her traumatized and unable to speak about it for a long time.
She ultimately made “Hold Me Right” about the experience and those of other victims of sexual assault who she met in the U.S. The film, which screens in Sarajevo’s documentary competition section, highlights the plight of survivors whose voices still go unheard even in today’s post-#MeToo era.
Still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when she arrived in the U.S., Stajnfeld says she slowly recovered with the help of friends.
- 8/16/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Vertical Entertainment has acquired all Us rights to the college comedy Hairbrained starring Brendan Fraser and Alex Wolff. Premiere Entertainment will handle international sales at Afm.
Billy Kent directed from the screenplay he co-wrote with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski about a teenage prodigy and Harvard reject who strikes up a friendship at college with a 41-year-old gambler.
Hairbrained is scheduled for release in February 2014.
Bird, Kent and Avram Ludwig produced and Stacy Blain, Stephanie Ingrassia, Tim Ingrassia and Jason Mraz served as executive producers.
Vertical and Premiere struck the deal.
Billy Kent directed from the screenplay he co-wrote with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski about a teenage prodigy and Harvard reject who strikes up a friendship at college with a 41-year-old gambler.
Hairbrained is scheduled for release in February 2014.
Bird, Kent and Avram Ludwig produced and Stacy Blain, Stephanie Ingrassia, Tim Ingrassia and Jason Mraz served as executive producers.
Vertical and Premiere struck the deal.
- 11/1/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Feminist author Naomi Wolf was detained by police at an Occupy Wall Street protest outside Skylight Studios in Manhattan Tuesday (Oct. 18), where Gov. Andrew Cuomo was being honored with the "Game Changer of the Year Award" from the Huffington Post, reports the AP.
The anti-corporate greed protest contained a crowd of around 50, though Wolf was not initially among them. She was there to attend the ceremony and noticed the police were ordering the activists away from the event. Wolf was trying to help the protestors because the police were unlawfully shepherding them away from the HuffPo event, which the HuffPo's permit did not call for.
"I was taken into custody for disobeying an unlawful order," Wolf tells the Huffington Post. "The issue is that I actually know New York City permit law ... I didn't choose to get myself arrested. I chose to obey the law and that didn't protect me.
The anti-corporate greed protest contained a crowd of around 50, though Wolf was not initially among them. She was there to attend the ceremony and noticed the police were ordering the activists away from the event. Wolf was trying to help the protestors because the police were unlawfully shepherding them away from the HuffPo event, which the HuffPo's permit did not call for.
"I was taken into custody for disobeying an unlawful order," Wolf tells the Huffington Post. "The issue is that I actually know New York City permit law ... I didn't choose to get myself arrested. I chose to obey the law and that didn't protect me.
- 10/20/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Ralph Fiennes will next be seen shortly as Lord Voldemort in the final Harry Potter films, and after that we’ll get his directorial debut with Shakespeare adaptation Corolianus. But what after that, Ralpheroo? Well the British thesp is currently mulling over Burmese Days, based on George Orwell’s 1934 novel.
The Playlist have it Fiennes is only looking to star in the film and is mad keen on Morning Glory director Roger Michell to helm it. Burmese Days was conceived by the famous English author before he made his debut with the non-fiction Down and Out in Paris and London, but it took him years to write about his experiences as a policeman in Burma in a fictional manner.
Burmese Days is a fictional tale of a man undergoing a sort of inner conflict related to ideas of politics, society and art. It would make a pretty good film if done correctly.
The Playlist have it Fiennes is only looking to star in the film and is mad keen on Morning Glory director Roger Michell to helm it. Burmese Days was conceived by the famous English author before he made his debut with the non-fiction Down and Out in Paris and London, but it took him years to write about his experiences as a policeman in Burma in a fictional manner.
Burmese Days is a fictional tale of a man undergoing a sort of inner conflict related to ideas of politics, society and art. It would make a pretty good film if done correctly.
- 11/10/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
Looking To Bring 'Morning Glory' Helmer Roger Mitchell On Board Fresh from his behind-the-camera debut with a modern reimagining of William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," Ralph Fiennes is reportedly already circling his next project, an adaptation of George Orwell's "Burmese Days." The actor, though, is presumably eyeing it as a starring vehicle rather than a directing gig as he is also looking to bring "Morning Glory" helmer Roger Michell on board the project, which is being produced by Avram Ludwig with a script by "Fair Game" scribe John Henry Butterworth. No doubt inspired by Orwell's own years as a police officer in…...
- 11/10/2010
- The Playlist
Director Doug Liman (Go, The Bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith) and producer Avram Ludwig were on their sailboat on the river in New York around 1 am Wednesday when they saw a black cargo ship and a speedboat on a collision course. They said they watched in horror as the large craft crashed into the smaller boat and kept going. Both Liman and Ludwig said they didn't expect to find any survivors, but found four people screaming for help when they motored to the scene. Liman and Ludwig said they rescued three passengers from the water, while the owner of the vessel refused to leave his speedboat. All four were brought to shore and taken to St. Vincent's hospital with minor injuries. Police said the cargo ship probably did not notice the smaller boat. "I make action movies for a living," said Liman. "If I had Jason Bourne survive that,...
- 8/7/2009
- WorstPreviews.com
Wow. It's been just 8 months since the greatest hero who ever lived, Sully Sullenberger, successfully emergency landed an airplane in the Hudson River, allowing all his passengers to survive the accident. Now a new hero of the Hudson has emerged-- and it's Doug Liman? The Bourne Identity director was on a sailboat on the river just outside of New York City when he and his producer Avram Ludwig noticed a cargo ship barrel into a small boat and keep on moving. According to THR, Liman and Ludwig rescued three of the passengers from the water, while the fourth-- the owner-- clung to the wreckage until emergency crews arrived. Hilariously, Ludwig told THR that making action movies like Bourne may have prepared them for the incident. "Simulating life-threatening situations prepares you for real life. We can keep a level head under a lot of pressure." I don't care what it is...
- 8/7/2009
- cinemablend.com
Excessively moody and mired in muddy storytelling overall, writer-director Eric Drilling's feature debut is based on his play of the same name about two brothers caught in the stormy aftermath of patricide, committed by the eldest against their violent sire.
"River Red" stars Tom Everett Scott ("An American Werewolf in Paris") as insecure, repressed Dave Holden, a New Hampshire guy going nowhere who becomes a killer and masked bandit to protect his younger Brother Tom (David Moscow). But starting with the shaky performances, Drilling's downer drama is not memorably involving, and boxoffice potential for the Castle Hill limited release is light.
Scott is appropriately sweaty and nervous, with an unruly crop of hair and twitchy body -- he might have made a good Norman Bates. His character is able to instantly concoct a plan to have minor Tom serve the time for Dave's impulsive fatal stabbing of their punching pop (Denis O'Hare).
But after that fateful event, given a "second chance," Dave is apparently rendered dumb by his guilt and paranoia. While Tom has a bumpy ride in the pokey, Dave hits the sauce and holds up gas stations to pay off a stack of bills left by Dad. He has enough cash to also date a nice girl (Cara Buono), who doesn't suspect he's turning into his own worse nightmare.
Tom gets the picture soon enough when he's released (after years?) and sees what a cold, self-destructive thing Dave has become. Meanwhile, it's hard to believe Dave could get away with his cover story of a rich relative leaving a large inheritance.
While it strives to be a probing character study, "River Red" is all but swamped by Drilling's fudging on details, while the filmmaker relies far too much on Johnny Hickman's oppressive score to underline every portentous moment and simmering emotion.
RIVER RED
Castle Hill
Drilling Films in association with
Miller Entertainment and Frontier Films
Writer-director: Eric Drilling
Producers: Eric Drilling, Stephen Schlueter, Avram Ludwig, Tom Everett Scott, Tischa Gomez
Executive producers: David Miller, Gary Kauffman
Director of photography: Stephen Schlueter
Production designer: Roshelle Berliner
Editor: Paul Streicher
Costume designer: Cindy Evans
Music: Johnny Hickman
Casting: Gabriella Leff
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dave Holden: Tom Everett Scott
Tom Holden: David Moscow
Rachel: Cara Buono
Father: Denis O'Hare
Billy: David Lowery
Frankie: Michael Kelly
Judge Perkins: Leo Burmester
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
"River Red" stars Tom Everett Scott ("An American Werewolf in Paris") as insecure, repressed Dave Holden, a New Hampshire guy going nowhere who becomes a killer and masked bandit to protect his younger Brother Tom (David Moscow). But starting with the shaky performances, Drilling's downer drama is not memorably involving, and boxoffice potential for the Castle Hill limited release is light.
Scott is appropriately sweaty and nervous, with an unruly crop of hair and twitchy body -- he might have made a good Norman Bates. His character is able to instantly concoct a plan to have minor Tom serve the time for Dave's impulsive fatal stabbing of their punching pop (Denis O'Hare).
But after that fateful event, given a "second chance," Dave is apparently rendered dumb by his guilt and paranoia. While Tom has a bumpy ride in the pokey, Dave hits the sauce and holds up gas stations to pay off a stack of bills left by Dad. He has enough cash to also date a nice girl (Cara Buono), who doesn't suspect he's turning into his own worse nightmare.
Tom gets the picture soon enough when he's released (after years?) and sees what a cold, self-destructive thing Dave has become. Meanwhile, it's hard to believe Dave could get away with his cover story of a rich relative leaving a large inheritance.
While it strives to be a probing character study, "River Red" is all but swamped by Drilling's fudging on details, while the filmmaker relies far too much on Johnny Hickman's oppressive score to underline every portentous moment and simmering emotion.
RIVER RED
Castle Hill
Drilling Films in association with
Miller Entertainment and Frontier Films
Writer-director: Eric Drilling
Producers: Eric Drilling, Stephen Schlueter, Avram Ludwig, Tom Everett Scott, Tischa Gomez
Executive producers: David Miller, Gary Kauffman
Director of photography: Stephen Schlueter
Production designer: Roshelle Berliner
Editor: Paul Streicher
Costume designer: Cindy Evans
Music: Johnny Hickman
Casting: Gabriella Leff
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dave Holden: Tom Everett Scott
Tom Holden: David Moscow
Rachel: Cara Buono
Father: Denis O'Hare
Billy: David Lowery
Frankie: Michael Kelly
Judge Perkins: Leo Burmester
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 11/23/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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