Navalny director Daniel Roher and his partners on the Oscar- and Bafta-winning 2022 documentary have reacted to the news that Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, is reported to have died in a Russian prison camp aged 47.
Speaking to Screendaily on Friday night Roher said: “From a political perspective Navalny was steadfast in his commitment to democracy, fighting corruption, and ushering in what he called the Russia of the future. That was his dream and everything he did was focused on achieving those objectives.”
He added, “From a personal standpoint he was someone who had an extremely moral clarity. He lived by his conscience,...
Speaking to Screendaily on Friday night Roher said: “From a political perspective Navalny was steadfast in his commitment to democracy, fighting corruption, and ushering in what he called the Russia of the future. That was his dream and everything he did was focused on achieving those objectives.”
He added, “From a personal standpoint he was someone who had an extremely moral clarity. He lived by his conscience,...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The former engineer tells Jeremy Kay why he wanted his sci-fi TV series to be the first from the Middle East to come to the annual San Diego pop culture convention.
Eric Roberts, Natasha Henstridge, and Eyad Hourani star in Medinah, which takes place in the near future in Qatar as a catastrophic rocket mission to stop global warming plunges humans into a fight for survival against monsters, parallel realities, and their own demons.
Al Baker is polishing off the first season, which shot from January to June this year in English and Arabic, and is funded entirely by Qatar’s privately backed Katara Studios.
Al Baker previously directed short films and a feature debut, sci-fi The Package: Volume 1. He screened the first episode of Medinah at Comic-Con and heads to Los Angeles for meetings before returning to Qatar to write the second season.
Medinah has no distribution anywhere yet, so why bring...
Eric Roberts, Natasha Henstridge, and Eyad Hourani star in Medinah, which takes place in the near future in Qatar as a catastrophic rocket mission to stop global warming plunges humans into a fight for survival against monsters, parallel realities, and their own demons.
Al Baker is polishing off the first season, which shot from January to June this year in English and Arabic, and is funded entirely by Qatar’s privately backed Katara Studios.
Al Baker previously directed short films and a feature debut, sci-fi The Package: Volume 1. He screened the first episode of Medinah at Comic-Con and heads to Los Angeles for meetings before returning to Qatar to write the second season.
Medinah has no distribution anywhere yet, so why bring...
- 7/23/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The former engineer tells Jeremy Kay why he wanted his sci-fi TV series to be the first from the Middle East to come to Comic-Con.
Eric Roberts, Natasha Henstridge, and Eyad Hourani star in Medinah, which takes place in the near future in Qatar as a catastrophic rocket mission to stop global warming plunges humans into a fight for survival against monsters, parallel realities, and their own demons.
Al Baker is polishing off the first season, which shot from January to June this year in English and Arabic, and is funded entirely by Qatar’s privately backed Katara Studios.
Al Baker previously directed short films and a feature debut, sci-fi The Package: Volume 1. He screened the first episode of Medinah at Comic-Con and heads to Los Angeles for meetings before returning to Qatar to write the second season.
Medinah has no distribution anywhere yet, so why bring it to Comic-Con?
The model in...
Eric Roberts, Natasha Henstridge, and Eyad Hourani star in Medinah, which takes place in the near future in Qatar as a catastrophic rocket mission to stop global warming plunges humans into a fight for survival against monsters, parallel realities, and their own demons.
Al Baker is polishing off the first season, which shot from January to June this year in English and Arabic, and is funded entirely by Qatar’s privately backed Katara Studios.
Al Baker previously directed short films and a feature debut, sci-fi The Package: Volume 1. He screened the first episode of Medinah at Comic-Con and heads to Los Angeles for meetings before returning to Qatar to write the second season.
Medinah has no distribution anywhere yet, so why bring it to Comic-Con?
The model in...
- 7/23/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.
With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.
Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.
Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.
Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...
With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.
Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.
Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.
Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...
- 3/13/2017
- ScreenDaily
Screen launches new editorial strands Screen TV and Screen Time.
Elbert Wyche has joined Screen International as Us reporter.
Based in Los Angeles, Wyche will focus primarily on building Screen’s coverage of the high-end television business and will also handle select film news.
He will report on a daily basis to Americas editor Jeremy Kay.
Wyche, who has written at Screen since 2014, studied screenwriting through the UCLA extension writers’ programme and has interned at CBS Television, Furst Films and Madhouse Entertainment.
“Elbert is a talented, diligent self-starter and is wonderful to work with,” Kay said.
“He is already familiar to many of our contacts and I’m sure he will run with this new role as we develop Screen into a must-read destination for insightful reporting on the global television business. We’re lucky to have him.”
New strands
The addition comes as Screen International is launching editorial strands Screen TV and Screen Time.
The former...
Elbert Wyche has joined Screen International as Us reporter.
Based in Los Angeles, Wyche will focus primarily on building Screen’s coverage of the high-end television business and will also handle select film news.
He will report on a daily basis to Americas editor Jeremy Kay.
Wyche, who has written at Screen since 2014, studied screenwriting through the UCLA extension writers’ programme and has interned at CBS Television, Furst Films and Madhouse Entertainment.
“Elbert is a talented, diligent self-starter and is wonderful to work with,” Kay said.
“He is already familiar to many of our contacts and I’m sure he will run with this new role as we develop Screen into a must-read destination for insightful reporting on the global television business. We’re lucky to have him.”
New strands
The addition comes as Screen International is launching editorial strands Screen TV and Screen Time.
The former...
- 2/14/2017
- ScreenDaily
Find out what made our top 10 films of 2016 - and which films feature on Team Screen’s overall top 10.Scroll down for Screen’s overall top 10
Screen’s esteemed critics have had their turn. Now, Screen staff, contributors and correspondents reveal their favourite films seen in 2016. Festival premieres and UK/Us theatrical releases are deemed eligible.
Matt Mueller (editor)
Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins)La La Land (dir. Damien Chazelle)Aquarius (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)Mustang (dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven)Hell Or High Water (dir. David Mackenzie)Embrace Of The Serpent (dir. Ciro Guerra)Little Men (dir. Ira Sachs)Suntan (dir. Argyris Papadimitropoulos)Love & Friendship (dir. Whit Stillman)Nocturnal Animals (dir Tom Ford)Jeremy Kay (Us editor)
Manchester By The Sea (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)Neruda (dir. Pablo Larrain)Aquarius (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)Deadpool (dir Tim Miller)Fire At Sea (dir. Gianfranco Rosi)Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins)Oj: Made In America (dir. Ezra Edelman)[link=tt...
Screen’s esteemed critics have had their turn. Now, Screen staff, contributors and correspondents reveal their favourite films seen in 2016. Festival premieres and UK/Us theatrical releases are deemed eligible.
Matt Mueller (editor)
Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins)La La Land (dir. Damien Chazelle)Aquarius (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)Mustang (dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven)Hell Or High Water (dir. David Mackenzie)Embrace Of The Serpent (dir. Ciro Guerra)Little Men (dir. Ira Sachs)Suntan (dir. Argyris Papadimitropoulos)Love & Friendship (dir. Whit Stillman)Nocturnal Animals (dir Tom Ford)Jeremy Kay (Us editor)
Manchester By The Sea (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)Neruda (dir. Pablo Larrain)Aquarius (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)Deadpool (dir Tim Miller)Fire At Sea (dir. Gianfranco Rosi)Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins)Oj: Made In America (dir. Ezra Edelman)[link=tt...
- 12/20/2016
- ScreenDaily
The 11th edition of the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s (Omdc) International Financing Forum (iff) 2016 kicked off Sunday when it presented an exclusive panel discussion to 40 select Canadian and international film producers.
In Conversation With: Digital & Theatrical Distribution And Diversity heard from Netflix director of acquisitions for original film, Matt Brodlie; Gamechanger Films president, producer and financier Mynette Louie; and The Birth Of A Nation producer Preston L. Holmes, who runs development and acquisitions at NStar Entertainment.
Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay moderated the panel, which touched on the changing distribution and production landscape, diversity and opportunites for emerging producers, among other issues.
The Omdc’s iff is a two-day event held in association with the Toronto International Film Festival that serves as a networking opportunity for film executives, sales agents, producers, financiers and distributors. It runs until September 12.
In Conversation With: Digital & Theatrical Distribution And Diversity heard from Netflix director of acquisitions for original film, Matt Brodlie; Gamechanger Films president, producer and financier Mynette Louie; and The Birth Of A Nation producer Preston L. Holmes, who runs development and acquisitions at NStar Entertainment.
Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay moderated the panel, which touched on the changing distribution and production landscape, diversity and opportunites for emerging producers, among other issues.
The Omdc’s iff is a two-day event held in association with the Toronto International Film Festival that serves as a networking opportunity for film executives, sales agents, producers, financiers and distributors. It runs until September 12.
- 9/12/2016
- ScreenDaily
“We are in unknown territory” but “everyone is pulling in the same direction”, suggested the speakers.
Opening this year’s Industry Conference at Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18), a panel of UK experts moved to calm fears over the British public’s decision to leave the European union. BFI head of international Isabel Davis, Creative Scotland senior executive Robbie Allen, the British Film Commission’s evp, Us productions, Kattie Kotok, and producer Paul Webster of Shoebox Films were all present to disclose their opinions on the looming spectre of Brexit.
Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay, moderating the panel, set the scene by stating that “we are in unknown territory”: “With Article 50 yet to be triggered, we are still at least two to three years away from leaving the EU”, noted Kay.
Davies revealed that the BFI has put together a bespoke taskforce featuring key figures from the film, television and videogames...
Opening this year’s Industry Conference at Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18), a panel of UK experts moved to calm fears over the British public’s decision to leave the European union. BFI head of international Isabel Davis, Creative Scotland senior executive Robbie Allen, the British Film Commission’s evp, Us productions, Kattie Kotok, and producer Paul Webster of Shoebox Films were all present to disclose their opinions on the looming spectre of Brexit.
Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay, moderating the panel, set the scene by stating that “we are in unknown territory”: “With Article 50 yet to be triggered, we are still at least two to three years away from leaving the EU”, noted Kay.
Davies revealed that the BFI has put together a bespoke taskforce featuring key figures from the film, television and videogames...
- 9/10/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Tiff audiences will get the chance to see the first three episodes of the new season of Jill Soloway’s acclaimed Emmy-winning Amazon Studios series Transparent.
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18 and the Tiff Industry Conference runs from September 9-15.
Primetime...
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18 and the Tiff Industry Conference runs from September 9-15.
Primetime...
- 8/18/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Tiff audiences will get the chance to see the first three episodes of the new season of Jill Soloway’s acclaimed Emmy-winning Amazon Studios series Transparent.
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18 and the Tiff Industry Conference runs from September 9-15.
Primetime...
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18 and the Tiff Industry Conference runs from September 9-15.
Primetime...
- 8/18/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Tiff audiences will get the chance to see the first three episodes of the new season of Jill Soloway’s acclaimed Emmy-winning Amazon Studios series Transparent.
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18.
Primetime
“This peak era for television has ushered in a gold...
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18.
Primetime
“This peak era for television has ushered in a gold...
- 8/18/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Audiences will get the chance to see the first three episodes of the new season of Jill Soloway’s acclaimed Emmy-winning Amazon Studios series Transparent.
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18.
Primetime
“This peak era for television has ushered in a gold...
The return for the second year of the Primetime television roster includes new episodes from Charlie Brooker’s unsettling anthology series Black Mirror, a look at Kenyan procedural Tuko Macho, mystery series Wasteland from the Czech Republic and the previously announced nirvanna the band the show from Canada.
Highlights at the seven-day Tiff Industry Conference are expected to include Mogul sessions with Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser.
Doug Liman will give a Master Class address on Vr, while panel discussions will cover the potential impact of Brexit on the UK film industry, East-West alliances, gender, and conversations with Jonathan Demme and Steve James.
The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18.
Primetime
“This peak era for television has ushered in a gold...
- 8/18/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Ahead of its world premiere at Iff Panama on April 12, the director tells Jeremy Kay why Kenke is more than a ‘silly stoner film that promotes the use of cannabis.’
Kenke was part of the Primera Mirada works-in-progress line-up at the festival last year.
Where did the idea for your film come from?
Panamá is a country well known for its economic prosperity but very few are aware of its disadvantages in cultural development and lack of critical thinking among its citizens. As the politics around cannabis started to chance around the world, I couldn’t help notice that in my country the consumption of this plant was still very frowned upon. The irony is that a large number of Panamanians share this habit in secret. This struck me as a very funny situation. Then I decided to translate this situation into a screenplay and later on it became the movie Kenke.
What do you...
Kenke was part of the Primera Mirada works-in-progress line-up at the festival last year.
Where did the idea for your film come from?
Panamá is a country well known for its economic prosperity but very few are aware of its disadvantages in cultural development and lack of critical thinking among its citizens. As the politics around cannabis started to chance around the world, I couldn’t help notice that in my country the consumption of this plant was still very frowned upon. The irony is that a large number of Panamanians share this habit in secret. This struck me as a very funny situation. Then I decided to translate this situation into a screenplay and later on it became the movie Kenke.
What do you...
- 4/10/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Director Mike Flanagan and producer and Intrepid Pictures principal Trevor Macy talk to Jeremy Kay about their latest horror film and Netflix acquisition ahead of its world premiere at SXSW on Saturday.
Intrepid and Blumhouse Pictures co-financed and produced the story of a deaf-mute woman alone in a remote house who is terrorised by a man.
Kate Siegel stars and co-wrote the screenplay with Flanagan. It was announced on Thursday that Netflix had acquired global streaming rights and will launch the film on April 8.
Firstly, sound is so important in horror/thrillers, so talk a bit about what you wanted to achieve, especially given that the lead character is deaf-mute.
Mike Flanagan: We knew from the beginning that sound design would be have to be a full-blown character in this film. There is so little dialogue; it forces the sound design to carry huge stretches of the movie without support. People take sound...
Intrepid and Blumhouse Pictures co-financed and produced the story of a deaf-mute woman alone in a remote house who is terrorised by a man.
Kate Siegel stars and co-wrote the screenplay with Flanagan. It was announced on Thursday that Netflix had acquired global streaming rights and will launch the film on April 8.
Firstly, sound is so important in horror/thrillers, so talk a bit about what you wanted to achieve, especially given that the lead character is deaf-mute.
Mike Flanagan: We knew from the beginning that sound design would be have to be a full-blown character in this film. There is so little dialogue; it forces the sound design to carry huge stretches of the movie without support. People take sound...
- 3/10/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Will The Revenant sweep the boards? Screen’s staff run down their predictions for the 2016 Oscars…Best Picture
Finn Halligan, reviews editor and chief film critic
Will win: The Revenant.
Should win: The Revenant, probably, though The Big Short would also be a good winner. It felt somehow more fresh and relevant and sharp than Alejandro G. Inarritu’s man-vs-nature epic struggle. But The Revenant has a critical and business force behind it – domestic box office at $165m as opposed to The Big Short’s $67m, and the business does tend to vote for the business.
Jeremy Kay, Us editor
Will win: Spotlight. The race is too tight for The Revenant to scoop up everything, so this could be the upset. Spotlight has sputtered towards the finish line, but it has the right combination of smarts and righteousness so beloved by the Academy.
Should win: Spotlight.
Matt Mueller, editor
Will win: Post-BAFTAs, The Revenant has the...
Finn Halligan, reviews editor and chief film critic
Will win: The Revenant.
Should win: The Revenant, probably, though The Big Short would also be a good winner. It felt somehow more fresh and relevant and sharp than Alejandro G. Inarritu’s man-vs-nature epic struggle. But The Revenant has a critical and business force behind it – domestic box office at $165m as opposed to The Big Short’s $67m, and the business does tend to vote for the business.
Jeremy Kay, Us editor
Will win: Spotlight. The race is too tight for The Revenant to scoop up everything, so this could be the upset. Spotlight has sputtered towards the finish line, but it has the right combination of smarts and righteousness so beloved by the Academy.
Should win: Spotlight.
Matt Mueller, editor
Will win: Post-BAFTAs, The Revenant has the...
- 2/25/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Bort joins film rights online marketplace from Expression Entertainment.
Film rights online marketplace Digital Film Cloud Network (Dfcn) has appointed Daniel Bort evp of customer marketplace development.
Bort arrives from Expression Entertainment where as president he was responsible for commercial operations, film acquisitions and sales.
He will lead all customer acquisition, service, licensing and delivery of the approximately 14,000 titles on Dfcn, which launched in late 2014. Bort will maintain a close relationship with Expression and will keep them as a client on the platform.
Commercially launched in late 2014, the Dfcn Movie Rights Marketplace has rapidly grown to be the largest collection of movie rights in the world. Daniel will lead all activities related to customer acquisition, service, and success, and will be responsible for driving the licensing and secure delivery of the 14,000+ available movie titles currently trading in the marketplace.
“With over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry including roles as president of Continental Media, vp of...
Film rights online marketplace Digital Film Cloud Network (Dfcn) has appointed Daniel Bort evp of customer marketplace development.
Bort arrives from Expression Entertainment where as president he was responsible for commercial operations, film acquisitions and sales.
He will lead all customer acquisition, service, licensing and delivery of the approximately 14,000 titles on Dfcn, which launched in late 2014. Bort will maintain a close relationship with Expression and will keep them as a client on the platform.
Commercially launched in late 2014, the Dfcn Movie Rights Marketplace has rapidly grown to be the largest collection of movie rights in the world. Daniel will lead all activities related to customer acquisition, service, and success, and will be responsible for driving the licensing and secure delivery of the 14,000+ available movie titles currently trading in the marketplace.
“With over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry including roles as president of Continental Media, vp of...
- 2/16/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Star Wars: The Force Awakens toppled Avatar's domestic box-office record after only three weeks in theaters, but it's still a long way off from surpassing the James Cameron sci-fi film's global record of $2.7 billion. So what are Episode VII's chances of becoming the worldwide box-office champ? HitFix asked four box-office experts for their predictions, and the consensus is pretty clear: there's not a snowball's chance in hell. "I think the chances are slim, slim to none I would say at this point," said Bruce Nash, founder of the TheNumbers.com. "You know, it's still got a long way to go. I think it will overtake Titanic probably, but I think that based on the numbers we've got so far, it is going to fall short of Avatar's global gross." Jeremy Kay, U.S. editor of Screen International, concurs with Nash, noting that The Force Awakens has too much...
- 1/15/2016
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
Find out what made our top 10 films of 2015 - and which films racked up the most mentions from Team Screen.Scroll down for Screen’s overall top 10
Screen’s esteemed critics have had their turn. Now, Screen staff, contributors and correspondents reveal their favourite films of 2015.
Matt Mueller (Editor)
Force Majeure (dir. Ruben Ostlund)Mad Max: Fury Road (dir. George Miller)The Look Of Silence (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)The Revenant (dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)Ex Machina (dir. Alex Garland)Amy (dir. Asif Kapadia)Sunset Song (dir. Terence Davies)Tangerine (dir. Sean Baker)The Martian (dir. Ridley Scott)Anomalisa (dirs. Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman)Michael Rosser (Managing editor)
Son Of Saul (dir. Laszlo Nemes)Star Wars: The Force Awakens (dir. Jj Abrams)Ex Machina (dir. Alex Garland)Room (dir. Lenny Abrahamson)The Martian (dir. Ridley Scott)Inside Out (dirs. Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen)Amy (dir. Asif Kapadia)45 Years (dir. Andrew Haigh)Slow West (dir. John Maclean)[link=tt...
Screen’s esteemed critics have had their turn. Now, Screen staff, contributors and correspondents reveal their favourite films of 2015.
Matt Mueller (Editor)
Force Majeure (dir. Ruben Ostlund)Mad Max: Fury Road (dir. George Miller)The Look Of Silence (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)The Revenant (dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)Ex Machina (dir. Alex Garland)Amy (dir. Asif Kapadia)Sunset Song (dir. Terence Davies)Tangerine (dir. Sean Baker)The Martian (dir. Ridley Scott)Anomalisa (dirs. Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman)Michael Rosser (Managing editor)
Son Of Saul (dir. Laszlo Nemes)Star Wars: The Force Awakens (dir. Jj Abrams)Ex Machina (dir. Alex Garland)Room (dir. Lenny Abrahamson)The Martian (dir. Ridley Scott)Inside Out (dirs. Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen)Amy (dir. Asif Kapadia)45 Years (dir. Andrew Haigh)Slow West (dir. John Maclean)[link=tt...
- 12/23/2015
- ScreenDaily
An innovative way of tackling piracy in Peru was among the topics up for discussion at a panel hosted by Ventana Sur genre sidebar Blood Window on Wednesday.
Peruvian director Dorian Fernández-Moris told the audience in a session moderated by Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay how the counterfeiters wasted no time going after his first film Cementario General.
“My movie opened and next day they were selling my movie at the traffic lights for $2,” said Fernández-Moris. “I wanted to kick them but I understand this is part of a huge machine.”
What happened next was even more eye-opening. The filmmaker explained how the people who distributed pirate copies formed Fencopac, an association that acquired home distribution rights to Peruvian films.
Fencopac sells legal DVDs and Blu-ray discs at around $4 and returns $1 from each sale to the producers.
“We don’t have piracy any more. I received $35,000 for Cemetary 2 and a similar amount for another film. Now...
Peruvian director Dorian Fernández-Moris told the audience in a session moderated by Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay how the counterfeiters wasted no time going after his first film Cementario General.
“My movie opened and next day they were selling my movie at the traffic lights for $2,” said Fernández-Moris. “I wanted to kick them but I understand this is part of a huge machine.”
What happened next was even more eye-opening. The filmmaker explained how the people who distributed pirate copies formed Fencopac, an association that acquired home distribution rights to Peruvian films.
Fencopac sells legal DVDs and Blu-ray discs at around $4 and returns $1 from each sale to the producers.
“We don’t have piracy any more. I received $35,000 for Cemetary 2 and a similar amount for another film. Now...
- 12/2/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) has been in the making for several years and in September its debut took place at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) . Bruce Paddington, a filmmaker himself as well as an academic and the Founder and Director of the Festival, along with Annebelle Alcazar, Jonathan Ali and Nneka Luke, and spearheading the Cfm and the Caribbean Film Database (Cfdb) , Emilie Upczak and Melanie Archer, have created an A level event which after 10 years now encompasses three important aspects of film beyond the showcasing of the Caribbean and international docs and fiction films: filmmaking, film marketing and film education which this year included an academic symposium through the University of the West Indies, a Youth Jury of young people from 16 to 21 and sold out matinees for school children.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
- 10/7/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This year’s Afm programme will offer new conference sessions on China and festivals and speakers including Glen Basner, John Sloss, Cassian Elwes and the president of China Film Co-Production Corporation.
The 2015 American Film Market (Afm) has unveiled an initial line-up of speakers that includes FilmNation CEO Glen Basner, Cinetic Media’s John Sloss, producer/agent Cassian Elwes and China Film Co-production Corporation president Miao Xiaotian.
The event, which runs Nov 4-11 in Santa Monica, will include roundtables starting on Nov 5 and conferences, starting on Nov 7, covering finance, pitching, production and distribution.
Included in the programme for the first time will be a China Conference, a Festival Conference and a Festival Focus.
Other confirmed speakers are:
Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival;Tobin Armbrust, president, worldwide production and acquisition at Virgin Produced;John Burke, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Llp;Jamie Carmichael,president of film at Content;Paul Davidson, Svp film and...
The 2015 American Film Market (Afm) has unveiled an initial line-up of speakers that includes FilmNation CEO Glen Basner, Cinetic Media’s John Sloss, producer/agent Cassian Elwes and China Film Co-production Corporation president Miao Xiaotian.
The event, which runs Nov 4-11 in Santa Monica, will include roundtables starting on Nov 5 and conferences, starting on Nov 7, covering finance, pitching, production and distribution.
Included in the programme for the first time will be a China Conference, a Festival Conference and a Festival Focus.
Other confirmed speakers are:
Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival;Tobin Armbrust, president, worldwide production and acquisition at Virgin Produced;John Burke, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Llp;Jamie Carmichael,president of film at Content;Paul Davidson, Svp film and...
- 10/6/2015
- ScreenDaily
This year’s Afm programme will offer new conference sessions on China and festivals and speakers including Glen Basner, John Sloss, Cassian Elwes and the president of China Film Co-Production Corporation.
The 2015 American Film Market (Afm) has unveiled an initial line-up of speakers that includes FilmNation CEO Glen Basner (pictured), Cinetic Media’s John Sloss, producer/agent Cassian Elwes and China Film Co-production Corporation president Miao Xiaotian.
The event, which runs November 4-11 in Santa Monica, will include roundtables starting on Nov 5 and conferences, starting on Nov 7, covering finance, pitching, production and distribution. Included in the programme for the first time will be a China Conference, a Festival Conference and a Festival Focus.
Other confirmed speakers are: Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival; Tobin Armbrust, president, worldwide production and acquisition at Virgin Produced; P John Burke, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Llp; Jamie Carmichael,presidentof film at...
The 2015 American Film Market (Afm) has unveiled an initial line-up of speakers that includes FilmNation CEO Glen Basner (pictured), Cinetic Media’s John Sloss, producer/agent Cassian Elwes and China Film Co-production Corporation president Miao Xiaotian.
The event, which runs November 4-11 in Santa Monica, will include roundtables starting on Nov 5 and conferences, starting on Nov 7, covering finance, pitching, production and distribution. Included in the programme for the first time will be a China Conference, a Festival Conference and a Festival Focus.
Other confirmed speakers are: Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival; Tobin Armbrust, president, worldwide production and acquisition at Virgin Produced; P John Burke, partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Llp; Jamie Carmichael,presidentof film at...
- 10/6/2015
- ScreenDaily
The Oscar-winning producer and CEO of Voltage Pictures launched into an impassioned attack on IP theft at an industry discussion in Toronto.
Chartier, in Toronto with festival selection A Tale Of Love And Darkness and sales title The Headhunter’s Calling, argued that piracy debilitates filmmakers’ capacity to work on worthwhile projects.
“The more that movies will be pirated, the fewer movies we’ll be making, and the more boring content you’re going to get, because we’re not going to take risks. We’re going to go for the lowest common denominator and we’re going to make movies that for sure will sell.
“Your culture is going to diminish. You’re going to have fewer quality movies because these are the risky ones,” Chartier said during an on-stage conversation with Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay.
Chartier’s disdain for piracy is well documented. Back in 2010, Voltage Pictures filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against...
Chartier, in Toronto with festival selection A Tale Of Love And Darkness and sales title The Headhunter’s Calling, argued that piracy debilitates filmmakers’ capacity to work on worthwhile projects.
“The more that movies will be pirated, the fewer movies we’ll be making, and the more boring content you’re going to get, because we’re not going to take risks. We’re going to go for the lowest common denominator and we’re going to make movies that for sure will sell.
“Your culture is going to diminish. You’re going to have fewer quality movies because these are the risky ones,” Chartier said during an on-stage conversation with Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay.
Chartier’s disdain for piracy is well documented. Back in 2010, Voltage Pictures filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against...
- 9/13/2015
- ScreenDaily
British romcoms such as Notting Hill and Bridget Jones used to woo audiences at home and abroad. Now, film-goers and studios have turned their backs on romance. How did the relationship go so wrong?
Love don’t live here any more. “Here” being the immaculately kept townhouses of west London, home to sweary upper-middle-class romantics prone to airport dashes and damp declarations of love. The British romcom, typified by Richard Curtis and his Working Title collaborations, was our most reliably profitable cinematic export for a considerable – some might say interminable – time. As well as packing UK cinemas, the films were big hits abroad (the global take for the 2003 film Love Actually was $247m (£158m), Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), $282m, Notting Hill (1999), $364m) and led to Hugh Grant becoming every American’s idea of what to expect from a British man. Inevitably, disappointment followed.
“In the UK – and many international markets – the...
Love don’t live here any more. “Here” being the immaculately kept townhouses of west London, home to sweary upper-middle-class romantics prone to airport dashes and damp declarations of love. The British romcom, typified by Richard Curtis and his Working Title collaborations, was our most reliably profitable cinematic export for a considerable – some might say interminable – time. As well as packing UK cinemas, the films were big hits abroad (the global take for the 2003 film Love Actually was $247m (£158m), Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), $282m, Notting Hill (1999), $364m) and led to Hugh Grant becoming every American’s idea of what to expect from a British man. Inevitably, disappointment followed.
“In the UK – and many international markets – the...
- 7/2/2015
- by Benjamin Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
The Whitewater Roundtable strives to facilitate community-building within the independent film industry. Through a series of face-to-face, lunch-time discussions addressing the art and craft of filmmaking, industry professionals share the freshest information on a wide spectrum of topics.
Their most recent panel featured a lively discussion on the art and commerce of short films, presented in conjunction with the Hollyshorts Film Festival. Other Roundtables, featured in The Hollywood Reporter , The Huffington Post , The Wrap and Film Closings , have addressed: how to successfully market indie films in the post-print media era, the interplay of image and music, piracy and its effect on independent films, the rise of Transmedia, the impact casting continues to have on foreign pre-sales and domestic deals, and much more. Check out highlights from the State of Independent Film roundtable on Ondi Timoner's a Total Disruption.
The Whitewater Roundtable is moderated by a professional member of the press, previously Jeremy Kay of Screen International and our very own Dana Harris of Indiewire, and guests are encouraged to participate in the discussions that follow a lunch hosted by Rick Rosenthal and the team at Whitewater Films.
A special 5th Year Anniversary Whitewater Film Roundtable titled "#Tbt - Whitewater Films Roundtable - 5 Years Later How has Independent Film Changed," featuring the original panelists from the very first Whitewater Films Roundtable will take place on April 30, 2015 from 1- 3pm in the courtyard at Whitewater Films, 2013 Beloit Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90025.
You can RSVP to rsvp@whitewaterfilms.com
Previous panelists have included:
Lynette Howell / Silverwood Films Liesl Copland / Wme Nadine DeBarros / Voltage Pictures Austin Wintory / Composer Anne Goursaud / Editor iZLER / Composer Jordan Passman / scoreAscore Jay Fernandez / Hollywood Reporter (moderator) Sharon Waxman / The Wrap (moderator) Jeremy Kay / Screen International (moderator) Sara Vizcarrondo / Boxoffice Magazine (moderator) Dana Harris / Indiewire (Moderator) Nancy Collet / Cinema Collet Eric d'Aberloff / Roadside Attractions Naomi Despres / Producer Tom Clary / Scoundrel FX Michael Cioni / Lightiron Digital David Cole / LaserPacific Sylvia Desrochers / Big Time PR Harris Done / Writer, director, cameraman Jacob Aaron Estes / Filmmaker And many more.....
Their most recent panel featured a lively discussion on the art and commerce of short films, presented in conjunction with the Hollyshorts Film Festival. Other Roundtables, featured in The Hollywood Reporter , The Huffington Post , The Wrap and Film Closings , have addressed: how to successfully market indie films in the post-print media era, the interplay of image and music, piracy and its effect on independent films, the rise of Transmedia, the impact casting continues to have on foreign pre-sales and domestic deals, and much more. Check out highlights from the State of Independent Film roundtable on Ondi Timoner's a Total Disruption.
The Whitewater Roundtable is moderated by a professional member of the press, previously Jeremy Kay of Screen International and our very own Dana Harris of Indiewire, and guests are encouraged to participate in the discussions that follow a lunch hosted by Rick Rosenthal and the team at Whitewater Films.
A special 5th Year Anniversary Whitewater Film Roundtable titled "#Tbt - Whitewater Films Roundtable - 5 Years Later How has Independent Film Changed," featuring the original panelists from the very first Whitewater Films Roundtable will take place on April 30, 2015 from 1- 3pm in the courtyard at Whitewater Films, 2013 Beloit Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90025.
You can RSVP to rsvp@whitewaterfilms.com
Previous panelists have included:
Lynette Howell / Silverwood Films Liesl Copland / Wme Nadine DeBarros / Voltage Pictures Austin Wintory / Composer Anne Goursaud / Editor iZLER / Composer Jordan Passman / scoreAscore Jay Fernandez / Hollywood Reporter (moderator) Sharon Waxman / The Wrap (moderator) Jeremy Kay / Screen International (moderator) Sara Vizcarrondo / Boxoffice Magazine (moderator) Dana Harris / Indiewire (Moderator) Nancy Collet / Cinema Collet Eric d'Aberloff / Roadside Attractions Naomi Despres / Producer Tom Clary / Scoundrel FX Michael Cioni / Lightiron Digital David Cole / LaserPacific Sylvia Desrochers / Big Time PR Harris Done / Writer, director, cameraman Jacob Aaron Estes / Filmmaker And many more.....
- 4/22/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Gazing into the crystal ball, Screen rounds up its Cannes predictions.
With the unveiling of Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection now exactly three weeks away buzz over the titles that Thierry Fremaux and his team will select for the 68th edition is hitting fever pitch.
Official teaser announcements have started to roll this week, led by the confirmation on Wednesday that George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road would premiere in an Out of Competition screening on May 14.
Earlier the week, Cannes unveiled its poster featuring Ingrid Bergman to mark the centenary of the late big screen’s birth and it was announced that Stig Bjorkman’s documentary Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words would show in Cannes Classics as part of the commemorations.
For the rest of the Official Selection, except perhaps the opening film which is traditionally revealed in advance, Cannes watchers will have to wait for the announcement press conference in Paris on April...
With the unveiling of Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection now exactly three weeks away buzz over the titles that Thierry Fremaux and his team will select for the 68th edition is hitting fever pitch.
Official teaser announcements have started to roll this week, led by the confirmation on Wednesday that George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road would premiere in an Out of Competition screening on May 14.
Earlier the week, Cannes unveiled its poster featuring Ingrid Bergman to mark the centenary of the late big screen’s birth and it was announced that Stig Bjorkman’s documentary Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words would show in Cannes Classics as part of the commemorations.
For the rest of the Official Selection, except perhaps the opening film which is traditionally revealed in advance, Cannes watchers will have to wait for the announcement press conference in Paris on April...
- 3/26/2015
- ScreenDaily
The Toronto-born child of Korean parents who left their homeland in the 1960s returns to Sundance after 1998 selection Miss Monday with a unique spin on the teen movie genre based on his own experiences.
Seoul Searching takes place in the South Korean capital in 1986 as a cosmopolitan gaggle of high school students born to expatriate Korean parents arrive for summer camp to reconnect with their roots.
Lee and Andrea Chung produced and Seoul Searching stars Justin Chon, Jessika Van, In-Pyo Cha, Teo Yoo, Esteban Ahn and Byul Kang.
Lee talks to Jeremy Kay about his homage to John Hughes and his own journey to self-discovery.
Wme Global and Preferred Content represent world rights. The film screens for press and industry on January 23 followed by the public world premiere in Premieres on January 30.
What was the inspiration for the story?
It’s based on a personal experience of mine that took place in 1986. My parents were from Seoul...
Seoul Searching takes place in the South Korean capital in 1986 as a cosmopolitan gaggle of high school students born to expatriate Korean parents arrive for summer camp to reconnect with their roots.
Lee and Andrea Chung produced and Seoul Searching stars Justin Chon, Jessika Van, In-Pyo Cha, Teo Yoo, Esteban Ahn and Byul Kang.
Lee talks to Jeremy Kay about his homage to John Hughes and his own journey to self-discovery.
Wme Global and Preferred Content represent world rights. The film screens for press and industry on January 23 followed by the public world premiere in Premieres on January 30.
What was the inspiration for the story?
It’s based on a personal experience of mine that took place in 1986. My parents were from Seoul...
- 1/22/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Eddie Redmayne tells of ‘once in a lifetime’ experience and Benedict Cumberbatch is knocked for six while Emma Stone finds the whole occasion ‘surreal’. Hear what the nominees had to say.Oscars 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman lead chargeTimothy Spall, David Oyelowo among shutoutsNominations in fullNominees reactionsBest Film nominees in detail
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
The 87th annual Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood on February 22. This story will continue to update for several hours.
Motion Picture / Executives
“I am very happy for the whole Birdman flock because it took a lot of courage to make this film out of conventions. These nominations reflect the recognition of our colleagues as well as the members of the Academy. I am proud, thankful and humbled.”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
“Thank you Academy for recognizing Birdman. Nine nominations is a huge feather in our cap. I am particularly...
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
The 87th annual Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood on February 22. This story will continue to update for several hours.
Motion Picture / Executives
“I am very happy for the whole Birdman flock because it took a lot of courage to make this film out of conventions. These nominations reflect the recognition of our colleagues as well as the members of the Academy. I am proud, thankful and humbled.”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
“Thank you Academy for recognizing Birdman. Nine nominations is a huge feather in our cap. I am particularly...
- 1/15/2015
- ScreenDaily
The omission of Timothy Spall and David Oyelowo from the lead actor nominations were among a thunderous volley of upsets in Thursday’s (January 15) announcement by the Academy.Oscars 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman lead chargeNominations in fullNominees reactionsBest Film nominees in detail
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
Spall, who won the Palme d’Or in Cannes for a widely acclaimed performance in Mr. Turner, had been regarded as a strong contender, even though the Hollywood Foreign Press Association overlooked his work at the Golden Globes.
Perhaps even more shocking was the omission of British actor Oyelowo, whose stock had been rising on the back of a stand-out performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.
The Civil Rights film itself ended a disappointing day with a meagre two nods for best feature and best song, the category in which it triumphed at the Globes last weekend.
Controversy...
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
Spall, who won the Palme d’Or in Cannes for a widely acclaimed performance in Mr. Turner, had been regarded as a strong contender, even though the Hollywood Foreign Press Association overlooked his work at the Golden Globes.
Perhaps even more shocking was the omission of British actor Oyelowo, whose stock had been rising on the back of a stand-out performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.
The Civil Rights film itself ended a disappointing day with a meagre two nods for best feature and best song, the category in which it triumphed at the Globes last weekend.
Controversy...
- 1/15/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman joined Boyhood in the Oscar heavyweight contender category as the Fox Searchlight pair earned nine nods apiece in a nominations announcement that otherwise bristled with surprises.Oscars 2015Timothy Spall, David Oyelowo among shutoutsNominations in fullNominees reactionsBest Film nominees in detail
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
The nominations underscored the strength of independent cinema and studio specialty divisions in awards season and capped a sensational week for Fox Searchlight following Golden Globes success for both Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel at the weekend and a record 24 BAFTA nominations last week.
Today’s news delivered a record 20 Oscar nominations for Fox Searchlight and a record 18 for Sony Pictures Classics, whose wide portfolio of films was led by five nods for Foxcatcher.
The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman took their place among eight best feature nominees and delivered best director nods for Wes Anderson and Alejandro...
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement
The nominations underscored the strength of independent cinema and studio specialty divisions in awards season and capped a sensational week for Fox Searchlight following Golden Globes success for both Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel at the weekend and a record 24 BAFTA nominations last week.
Today’s news delivered a record 20 Oscar nominations for Fox Searchlight and a record 18 for Sony Pictures Classics, whose wide portfolio of films was led by five nods for Foxcatcher.
The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman took their place among eight best feature nominees and delivered best director nods for Wes Anderson and Alejandro...
- 1/15/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Full list of nominations for the 87th Academy Awards.Oscars 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman lead chargeTimothy Spall, David Oyelowo among shutoutsNominees reactionsBest Film nominees in detail
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement2014 Nominations
(presented in 2015)Best motion picture of the year“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, ProducersPerformance by an actor in a leading roleSteve Carell in “[link...
Comment: Jeremy Kay reflects on who’s in and outGALLERIES: Films / ActorsVIDEO: Nominations announcement2014 Nominations
(presented in 2015)Best motion picture of the year“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, ProducersPerformance by an actor in a leading roleSteve Carell in “[link...
- 1/15/2015
- ScreenDaily
Two suspects on the run after French magazine massacre leaves 12 dead.
French cinema industry guild L’Arp and its counterparts in the Us have condemned a terrorist attack on the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were shot dead by two armed gunmen. At least four people were critically wounded in the attack.
At time of writing early on Thursday morning local time two men remained at large. They were identified as brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi and are understood to be in their 30s.
Afp reported that a third man believed to be 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad surrendered close to the Belgian border.
“The cineastes of L’Arp learned with horror about the base attack on the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo and are devastated by this inexplicable act,” L’Arp said in a statement hours after the attack.
“They wish to express their full solidarity for the journalists and staff at Charlie...
French cinema industry guild L’Arp and its counterparts in the Us have condemned a terrorist attack on the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were shot dead by two armed gunmen. At least four people were critically wounded in the attack.
At time of writing early on Thursday morning local time two men remained at large. They were identified as brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi and are understood to be in their 30s.
Afp reported that a third man believed to be 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad surrendered close to the Belgian border.
“The cineastes of L’Arp learned with horror about the base attack on the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo and are devastated by this inexplicable act,” L’Arp said in a statement hours after the attack.
“They wish to express their full solidarity for the journalists and staff at Charlie...
- 1/8/2015
- ScreenDaily
Five UCLA students have won Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards, which have honored excellent dramatic writing since 1955. Winners receive $15,000 for first place, $7,500 for second place, $4,000 for third place and $1,000 for the honorable mention. They are: First Prize: Han-Yee Ling, "Spaghetti Bridges" Second Prize (tie): Kevin Human, "Hell Is Other Cowboys" Second Prize (tie): Gaia Violo, "Absentia" Third Prize: Teresa Sullivan and A.J. Marchisello, "Doublelind" Honorable Mention: Dan Patrick, "The Village of Sweet Dreams" Past winners include Francis Ford Coppola, Pamela Gray, Colin Higgins, Eric Roth and novelist Jonathan Kellerman. This year's judges were Allison Anders, director/writer/producer and Goldwyn Award winner; Ben Feingold, producer and former President Worldwide Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Product Acquisitions at Sony Pictures; and Jeremy Kay, U.S. Editor, Screen International. The prize was...
- 11/4/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Han-Yee Ling scooped first prize at a ceremony for the 59th annual Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards in Los Angeles on November 3 for her screenplay for Spaghetti Bridges.
Ling (pictured centre with UCLA Tft Dean Teri Schwartz and The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation vice-president John Goldwyn) was one of five UCLA finallists to follow in the footsteps of previous winners such as Francis Ford Coppola, Pamela Gray, Colin Higgins, Eric Roth and novellist Jonathan Kellerman.
Kevin Human for Hell Is Other Cowboys and Gaia Violo for Absentia tied for second place, while Teresa Sullivan and Aj Marchisello earned third for Doubleblind and an honourable mention went to The Village Of Sweet Dreams writer Dan Patrick.
First place received a $15,000 prize, second place $7,500, third $4,000 and honourable mention $1,000.
This year’s judges were filmmaker and former winner Allison Anders, producer and former president of worldwide home entertainment, digital distribution and product acquisitions at Sony Pictures, Ben Feingold, and Screen...
Ling (pictured centre with UCLA Tft Dean Teri Schwartz and The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation vice-president John Goldwyn) was one of five UCLA finallists to follow in the footsteps of previous winners such as Francis Ford Coppola, Pamela Gray, Colin Higgins, Eric Roth and novellist Jonathan Kellerman.
Kevin Human for Hell Is Other Cowboys and Gaia Violo for Absentia tied for second place, while Teresa Sullivan and Aj Marchisello earned third for Doubleblind and an honourable mention went to The Village Of Sweet Dreams writer Dan Patrick.
First place received a $15,000 prize, second place $7,500, third $4,000 and honourable mention $1,000.
This year’s judges were filmmaker and former winner Allison Anders, producer and former president of worldwide home entertainment, digital distribution and product acquisitions at Sony Pictures, Ben Feingold, and Screen...
- 11/3/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation president Samuel Goldwyn Jr has announced the five finallists and judges for the 2014 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards.
The finallists in the awards, now in its 59th year, are:
Kevin Human (UCLA), Hell Is Other Cowboys;
Han-Yee Ling (UCLA), Spaghetti Bridges;
Dan Patrick (UCLA), Village Of Sweet Dreams;
Teresa Sullivan and Aj Marchisello (UCLA), Doubleblind; and
Gaia Violo (UCLA), Absentia.
This year’s judges are: Goldwyn Award-winning filmmaker Allison Anders; producer and former Sony president of worldwide home entertainment, digital distribution and product acquisitions Ben Feingold; and Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay.
Samuel Goldwyn Sr launched the awards in 1955 at UCLA to encourage young film, stage and television writers.
The awards are open to all students at any University Of California campus and cover screenplays, teleplays and stage plays.
Past winners include Francis Ford Coppola, Eric Roth, and Jonathan Kellerman.
“The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation has always been an ardent supporter of great screenwriters...
The finallists in the awards, now in its 59th year, are:
Kevin Human (UCLA), Hell Is Other Cowboys;
Han-Yee Ling (UCLA), Spaghetti Bridges;
Dan Patrick (UCLA), Village Of Sweet Dreams;
Teresa Sullivan and Aj Marchisello (UCLA), Doubleblind; and
Gaia Violo (UCLA), Absentia.
This year’s judges are: Goldwyn Award-winning filmmaker Allison Anders; producer and former Sony president of worldwide home entertainment, digital distribution and product acquisitions Ben Feingold; and Screen International Us editor Jeremy Kay.
Samuel Goldwyn Sr launched the awards in 1955 at UCLA to encourage young film, stage and television writers.
The awards are open to all students at any University Of California campus and cover screenplays, teleplays and stage plays.
Past winners include Francis Ford Coppola, Eric Roth, and Jonathan Kellerman.
“The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation has always been an ardent supporter of great screenwriters...
- 9/16/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Mark Strong stars for his Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy screenwriter Peter Straughan in the darkly comic slice of life.
Meanwhile Josh Tanner’s The Landing was named best foreign film, Eric Kissack’s The Gunfighter won best comedy and Andrej Gontcharov claimed best drama for Berlin Troika.
Ned McNeilage’s Showfolk won best documentary, Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story earned best animation, Roman Kaelin claimed best experimental honours for Wrapped and Bouha Kazmi took best music video for The Ramona Flowers ‘Tokyo’.
The screenplay competition prize went to Kevin Walsh for Grocery Day.
The festival ran from July 24-31 and presented 233 films from 17 countries. ScreenDaily Us editor Jeremy Kay was among the jurors.
Meanwhile Josh Tanner’s The Landing was named best foreign film, Eric Kissack’s The Gunfighter won best comedy and Andrej Gontcharov claimed best drama for Berlin Troika.
Ned McNeilage’s Showfolk won best documentary, Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story earned best animation, Roman Kaelin claimed best experimental honours for Wrapped and Bouha Kazmi took best music video for The Ramona Flowers ‘Tokyo’.
The screenplay competition prize went to Kevin Walsh for Grocery Day.
The festival ran from July 24-31 and presented 233 films from 17 countries. ScreenDaily Us editor Jeremy Kay was among the jurors.
- 8/5/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
In Life Itself, veteran documentarian Steve James adapts Roger Ebert’s memoirs to throw a light on the life of the celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic, who died in 2013 following a long battle with thyroid cancer.
Jeremy Kay talks to James about his revealing film, Ebert’s period of dramatic self-discovery, a unique time in film criticism and a remarkable voice actor. Magnolia releases Life Itself in the Us on July 4.
How did the movie come about?
It was [executive producer] Steve Zaillian’s idea. He read Roger’s memoir and they reached out to Roger with the idea of it and Roger was intrigued. They reached out to me and I hadn’t read the memoir and fell in love with it and thought it was a great piece of writing. I wouldn’t have done the movie if it had just been about Roger the film critic and parsing his career as a critic and what he...
Jeremy Kay talks to James about his revealing film, Ebert’s period of dramatic self-discovery, a unique time in film criticism and a remarkable voice actor. Magnolia releases Life Itself in the Us on July 4.
How did the movie come about?
It was [executive producer] Steve Zaillian’s idea. He read Roger’s memoir and they reached out to Roger with the idea of it and Roger was intrigued. They reached out to me and I hadn’t read the memoir and fell in love with it and thought it was a great piece of writing. I wouldn’t have done the movie if it had just been about Roger the film critic and parsing his career as a critic and what he...
- 7/2/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Yatao Li’s Chinese entry Carry On won the Best Of Festival Award, while Aneta Kopacz’s Joanna from Poland prevailed in the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau Grand Jury Award.
Timothy Yeung’s 90 Days took the Panavision Best North American Short honours.
The festival ran from June 17-23 and screened 330 films from more than 3,000 submissions. Organisers handed out more than $115,000 in prizes, including $21,000 in cash awards, in 21 categories.
“The 2014 Palm Springs ShortFest far surpassed all of our expectations,” said festival director Kathleen McInnis (pictured at the Australian reception). “Our audience, filmmaker and industry attendance all soared, as did the striking talent we were able to showcase during our 20th anniversary year.
“Well over 800 filmmaker and industry guests made our Filmmaker Forums one of the most dynamic we have ever had, and most of the screenings had all filmmakers in attendance — a great bonus for our audience who love their Q&A sessions. Filmmakers brought...
Timothy Yeung’s 90 Days took the Panavision Best North American Short honours.
The festival ran from June 17-23 and screened 330 films from more than 3,000 submissions. Organisers handed out more than $115,000 in prizes, including $21,000 in cash awards, in 21 categories.
“The 2014 Palm Springs ShortFest far surpassed all of our expectations,” said festival director Kathleen McInnis (pictured at the Australian reception). “Our audience, filmmaker and industry attendance all soared, as did the striking talent we were able to showcase during our 20th anniversary year.
“Well over 800 filmmaker and industry guests made our Filmmaker Forums one of the most dynamic we have ever had, and most of the screenings had all filmmakers in attendance — a great bonus for our audience who love their Q&A sessions. Filmmakers brought...
- 6/23/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Chicago-based Kartemquin Films will receive the North Carolina festival’s Master Of Cinema award.
Kartemquin’s credits include Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters (pictured) and PBS miniseries The New Americans.
Founder and artistic director Gordon Quinn will attend the festival to accept the award alongside executive director Justine Nagan and frequent collaborators Steve James and Peter Gilbert.
Previous Master Of Cinema honourees include Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler of Killer Film, Peter Bogdanovich, Bill Pullman, Pam Grier, Ned Beatty and Cliff Robertson.
Emerging Master Awards will go to Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik and actress Melanie Lynskey. Previous honourees include Jeff Nichols, Paul Schneider, Michael Shannon, Ramin Bahrani and David Gordon Green.
Spark Awards will go to actors Sophie Desmarais, Tye Sheridan and Tyler James Williams. Previous recipients include Anna Margaret Hollyman, Madeleine Martin, Terence Nance, David Oyelowo, Brady Corbet and Amy Seimetz.
Narrative Features jurors are UK director Andrea Arnold, critic [link=nm...
Kartemquin’s credits include Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters (pictured) and PBS miniseries The New Americans.
Founder and artistic director Gordon Quinn will attend the festival to accept the award alongside executive director Justine Nagan and frequent collaborators Steve James and Peter Gilbert.
Previous Master Of Cinema honourees include Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler of Killer Film, Peter Bogdanovich, Bill Pullman, Pam Grier, Ned Beatty and Cliff Robertson.
Emerging Master Awards will go to Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik and actress Melanie Lynskey. Previous honourees include Jeff Nichols, Paul Schneider, Michael Shannon, Ramin Bahrani and David Gordon Green.
Spark Awards will go to actors Sophie Desmarais, Tye Sheridan and Tyler James Williams. Previous recipients include Anna Margaret Hollyman, Madeleine Martin, Terence Nance, David Oyelowo, Brady Corbet and Amy Seimetz.
Narrative Features jurors are UK director Andrea Arnold, critic [link=nm...
- 3/27/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
José Padilha's remake of the 80s action classic meets mixed results, while a budget romcom reaps solid spoils
• More from Us box office analysis
RoboCop in modest launch
The sentiment among many insiders is you can't beat the original, but MGM and Columbia Pictures gave it a go nonetheless with a rebooted RoboCop. Twenty-seven years after Paul Verhoeven's dazzling Hollywood debut left a dent in the zeitgeist, the gifted Brazilian director José Padilha has had a go, with mixed results. The new movie has earned fans and detractors and while it still has a pop at corporate greed, there is also a fresh focus on the perils of drone warfare. The number three launch on $21.5m (£12.8m) was not the best start in an admittedly crowded weekend and RoboCop 2.0 will need to fire its turbo boosters if the North American box office is to play a part in recouping the reported $100m budget.
• More from Us box office analysis
RoboCop in modest launch
The sentiment among many insiders is you can't beat the original, but MGM and Columbia Pictures gave it a go nonetheless with a rebooted RoboCop. Twenty-seven years after Paul Verhoeven's dazzling Hollywood debut left a dent in the zeitgeist, the gifted Brazilian director José Padilha has had a go, with mixed results. The new movie has earned fans and detractors and while it still has a pop at corporate greed, there is also a fresh focus on the perils of drone warfare. The number three launch on $21.5m (£12.8m) was not the best start in an admittedly crowded weekend and RoboCop 2.0 will need to fire its turbo boosters if the North American box office is to play a part in recouping the reported $100m budget.
- 2/17/2014
- by Jeremy Kay
- The Guardian - Film News
Jeremy Kay on the 2014 European Film Market in Berlin.
It was the warmest of Berlins, it was the coolest of Berlins. As the Efm began to wind down this week, only the mild weather offered succour to the lack of heat in the market.
The proximity of the holidays, Sundance and the Iffr in Rotterdam routinely makes preparing for Berlin a perplexing time, yet this year there were fewer marquee titles on offer than usual.
Nonetheless the low number of must-haves, which included FilmNation’s The Whole Truth, Im Global’s Labor Of Love, K5’s Vice and Qed International’s Rock The Kasbah, did not preclude a sustainable if unflashy volume of trade.
Naturally there were talking points. The plight of Exclusive Media came into sharp focus and will dominate conversations in the weeks to come, while The Weinstein Company swooped in a $7m preemptive deal for potential Oscar contender The Imitation Game.
The out-of-competition...
It was the warmest of Berlins, it was the coolest of Berlins. As the Efm began to wind down this week, only the mild weather offered succour to the lack of heat in the market.
The proximity of the holidays, Sundance and the Iffr in Rotterdam routinely makes preparing for Berlin a perplexing time, yet this year there were fewer marquee titles on offer than usual.
Nonetheless the low number of must-haves, which included FilmNation’s The Whole Truth, Im Global’s Labor Of Love, K5’s Vice and Qed International’s Rock The Kasbah, did not preclude a sustainable if unflashy volume of trade.
Naturally there were talking points. The plight of Exclusive Media came into sharp focus and will dominate conversations in the weeks to come, while The Weinstein Company swooped in a $7m preemptive deal for potential Oscar contender The Imitation Game.
The out-of-competition...
- 2/12/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Jeremy Kay on this year’s European Film Market in Berlin.
It was the warmest of Berlins, it was the coolest of Berlins. As the Efm began to wind down this week, only the mild weather offered succour to the lack of heat in the market.
The proximity of the holidays, Sundance and the Iffr in Rotterdam routinely makes preparing for Berlin a perplexing time, yet this year there were fewer marquee titles on offer than usual.
Nonetheless the low number of must-haves, which included FilmNation’s The Whole Truth, Im Global’s Labor Of Love, K5’s Vice and Qed International’s Rock The Kasbah, did not preclude a sustainable if unflashy volume of trade.
Naturally there were talking points. The plight of Exclusive Media came into sharp focus and will dominate conversations in the weeks to come, while The Weinstein Company swooped in a $7m preemptive deal for potential Oscar contender The Imitation Game.
The...
It was the warmest of Berlins, it was the coolest of Berlins. As the Efm began to wind down this week, only the mild weather offered succour to the lack of heat in the market.
The proximity of the holidays, Sundance and the Iffr in Rotterdam routinely makes preparing for Berlin a perplexing time, yet this year there were fewer marquee titles on offer than usual.
Nonetheless the low number of must-haves, which included FilmNation’s The Whole Truth, Im Global’s Labor Of Love, K5’s Vice and Qed International’s Rock The Kasbah, did not preclude a sustainable if unflashy volume of trade.
Naturally there were talking points. The plight of Exclusive Media came into sharp focus and will dominate conversations in the weeks to come, while The Weinstein Company swooped in a $7m preemptive deal for potential Oscar contender The Imitation Game.
The...
- 2/12/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Today's film news is counting its pennies, just in case it gets to be a bigshot movie investor
On the site today
• Adam Sandler tops Forbes annual list of overpaid actors
• The AFI names its top 10 films of 2013 - it's a big Oscars bellwether
• Co-star Lesley Manville says Susan Boyle's casting in The Christmas Candle was "disturbing"
• Tom Cruise set for second Jack Reacher film
• Martin Scorsese hints at retirement
• We have an exclusive trailer of Calvary, John Michael McDonagh's follow up to The Guard
• Cinefiles sings the praises of Wyeside Arts Centre
• A quiz, on Anchorman, we're fairly sure
• Number 9 on out countdown of the year's best films: Koreeda's I Wish
• Week in geek steps out early, to run the rule over the Jupiter Ascending trailer
You may have missed
• Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of...
On the site today
• Adam Sandler tops Forbes annual list of overpaid actors
• The AFI names its top 10 films of 2013 - it's a big Oscars bellwether
• Co-star Lesley Manville says Susan Boyle's casting in The Christmas Candle was "disturbing"
• Tom Cruise set for second Jack Reacher film
• Martin Scorsese hints at retirement
• We have an exclusive trailer of Calvary, John Michael McDonagh's follow up to The Guard
• Cinefiles sings the praises of Wyeside Arts Centre
• A quiz, on Anchorman, we're fairly sure
• Number 9 on out countdown of the year's best films: Koreeda's I Wish
• Week in geek steps out early, to run the rule over the Jupiter Ascending trailer
You may have missed
• Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of...
- 12/10/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
The critics of La, New York and Boston have spoken. We'll be reporting on their films of the year. Plus: all the rest of today's film news
In the news
- Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of 2013.
- Christian Bale says his love/hate relationship with acting started when he was a kiddie-wink.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is really not bad at all, say reviewers from pretty much everywhere.
- And Edouard Molinaro, director of Cage aux Folles, has died aged 85.
Elsewhere on the site today
- The Us box office report will see Jeremy Kay explain how Frozen is putting the competition on ice.
- We'll be starting our own countdown of the top ten films of 2013. Wadjda's in at number 10.
- Mark Brown reports from the British Independent Film Awards, where Sean Ellis's Metro Manila won big.
In the news
- Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of 2013.
- Christian Bale says his love/hate relationship with acting started when he was a kiddie-wink.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is really not bad at all, say reviewers from pretty much everywhere.
- And Edouard Molinaro, director of Cage aux Folles, has died aged 85.
Elsewhere on the site today
- The Us box office report will see Jeremy Kay explain how Frozen is putting the competition on ice.
- We'll be starting our own countdown of the top ten films of 2013. Wadjda's in at number 10.
- Mark Brown reports from the British Independent Film Awards, where Sean Ellis's Metro Manila won big.
- 12/9/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Latest in street racing franchise will be released despite star's death in a car crash. Plus: the rest of today's film news
In the news
- Fast and Furious 7 will be delayed, but not scrapped, in light of star Paul Walker's death.
- Han Solo's Star Wars blaster is to be sold at auction.
- Director Zhang Yimou has apologised for breaking China's one child policy.
Elsewhere on the site today
- Gary Younge meets Spike Lee in our G2 cover interview with the Oldboy director.
- Jeremy Kay's Us box office report will fill us in on which films got tills ringing in the states last weekend.
- We've a video clip of Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan in Beat generation drama Kill Your Darlings.
You may have missed
- Fast and Furious star Paul Walker died in a car crash over the weekend. Peter Bradshaw wrote an appreciation,...
In the news
- Fast and Furious 7 will be delayed, but not scrapped, in light of star Paul Walker's death.
- Han Solo's Star Wars blaster is to be sold at auction.
- Director Zhang Yimou has apologised for breaking China's one child policy.
Elsewhere on the site today
- Gary Younge meets Spike Lee in our G2 cover interview with the Oldboy director.
- Jeremy Kay's Us box office report will fill us in on which films got tills ringing in the states last weekend.
- We've a video clip of Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan in Beat generation drama Kill Your Darlings.
You may have missed
- Fast and Furious star Paul Walker died in a car crash over the weekend. Peter Bradshaw wrote an appreciation,...
- 12/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
As the Jj Abrams audition juggernaut hits London, we've all the news and more coming up today
Coming up on the site today
• Star Wars auditions held in London
• Rick Santorum's first faith-based movie proves huge Xmas turkey in Us
• Workers to protest Obama Dreamworks visit over "decimated" Californian VFX industry as Pixar to lay off 60 at HQ
• Cary Elwes to write Princess Bride memoir
• First reactions to American Hustle very positive
• Alice in Wonderland 2 signs Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska
• Jeremy Kay tells us how well Hunger Games 2 did in the Us. Spoiler: pretty well.
• We round up the top 10 sports movies
You may have missed
• Alexander Payne on Nebraska, road trips, families and black and white
• Harry Dean Stanton gives a rare interview
• And so does Billy Bob Thornton
• Simon Pegg goes all Slavoj Žižek
• Daniel Radcliffe talks to Simon Hattenstone
• Mark Kermode reviews all the big...
Coming up on the site today
• Star Wars auditions held in London
• Rick Santorum's first faith-based movie proves huge Xmas turkey in Us
• Workers to protest Obama Dreamworks visit over "decimated" Californian VFX industry as Pixar to lay off 60 at HQ
• Cary Elwes to write Princess Bride memoir
• First reactions to American Hustle very positive
• Alice in Wonderland 2 signs Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska
• Jeremy Kay tells us how well Hunger Games 2 did in the Us. Spoiler: pretty well.
• We round up the top 10 sports movies
You may have missed
• Alexander Payne on Nebraska, road trips, families and black and white
• Harry Dean Stanton gives a rare interview
• And so does Billy Bob Thornton
• Simon Pegg goes all Slavoj Žižek
• Daniel Radcliffe talks to Simon Hattenstone
• Mark Kermode reviews all the big...
- 11/25/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Today's film news is going to lasso the moon
On the site today
• It's a Wonderful Life to get sequel treatment
• Toxicology tests suggests Brittany Murphy may have ingested poison
• Christian Bale offers Ben Affleck advice over Bat-urination
• Alan Turing's niece questions accuracy of upcoming biopic
• James Cameron reveals Avatar almost didn't get made
• Alex Cox is writing about The Parallax View and 1970s conspiracy movies
• Cine-files bigs up the Phoenix in Dingle, Co Kerry
• Quiz: in homage to Scarlett Johannson's role in Her, it's guess the voice
• Q&A with our one-minute film competition winner Fin McMorran. (The winning film is called Heat; go on, take a look.)
You may have missed
• Disney banned Walt Disney from smoking in Saving Mr Banks
• Mike Leigh and Greg Cruttwell on making Naked
• Al Pacino as the vampire Lestat? Which alternative casting would you most like to see?
• Fifty-year battle over James...
On the site today
• It's a Wonderful Life to get sequel treatment
• Toxicology tests suggests Brittany Murphy may have ingested poison
• Christian Bale offers Ben Affleck advice over Bat-urination
• Alan Turing's niece questions accuracy of upcoming biopic
• James Cameron reveals Avatar almost didn't get made
• Alex Cox is writing about The Parallax View and 1970s conspiracy movies
• Cine-files bigs up the Phoenix in Dingle, Co Kerry
• Quiz: in homage to Scarlett Johannson's role in Her, it's guess the voice
• Q&A with our one-minute film competition winner Fin McMorran. (The winning film is called Heat; go on, take a look.)
You may have missed
• Disney banned Walt Disney from smoking in Saving Mr Banks
• Mike Leigh and Greg Cruttwell on making Naked
• Al Pacino as the vampire Lestat? Which alternative casting would you most like to see?
• Fifty-year battle over James...
- 11/19/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
As it's revealed that Sam Taylor-Johnson's El James adaptation may be released in a softcore and a not-so-softcore version (less than a week after Lars von Trier announced he was hardcore only), we've the full lowdown on what's happening in movies today
What did you watch over the weekend?
Did you get served by the Butler, or lend an ear to the Counselor? Get down and dirty with Don Jon or Dom Hemingway? Or might you have finally caught up with Black Swan for its network TV premiere. Let us know in the comments below, and chip in below the line on last week's Guardian Film Show and tell our critics how wrong (or right) they got it.
On the site today
• Fifty-year battle over James Bond ends as Kevin McClory's family give up rights - could this mean the return of Blofeld and Spectre?
• Fifty Shades of Grey...
What did you watch over the weekend?
Did you get served by the Butler, or lend an ear to the Counselor? Get down and dirty with Don Jon or Dom Hemingway? Or might you have finally caught up with Black Swan for its network TV premiere. Let us know in the comments below, and chip in below the line on last week's Guardian Film Show and tell our critics how wrong (or right) they got it.
On the site today
• Fifty-year battle over James Bond ends as Kevin McClory's family give up rights - could this mean the return of Blofeld and Spectre?
• Fifty Shades of Grey...
- 11/18/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Today's film news is hot under the collar
On the site today
• Lars Von Trier ditches plans for "softcore" Nymphomaniac after handing in 5.5 hour cut
• First look review of Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Jason Statham wants Daniel Craig role in Layer Cake sequel
• Spike Lee sued over Zimmermann tweet
• Joe Wright in talks for new Peter Pan film
• Martin Scorsese names top scary movies
• Idris Elba set for Parisian thriller Bastille Day
• Hayao Miyazaki "working on manga serialisation" as his retirement may not be permanent
• Final film rented at Blockbuster is ... This is the End
• Our latest critics' top 10: documentaries
• Joseph Gordon Levitt video interview on his directorial debut Don Jon
You may have missed
• Hunger Games stars tease Jennifer Lawrence by telling her to return Oscar for forgetting lines
• Saoirse Ronan miserable after failing to win Star Wars role
• Lynne Ramsay rebutted talk of a Jane Got a...
On the site today
• Lars Von Trier ditches plans for "softcore" Nymphomaniac after handing in 5.5 hour cut
• First look review of Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Jason Statham wants Daniel Craig role in Layer Cake sequel
• Spike Lee sued over Zimmermann tweet
• Joe Wright in talks for new Peter Pan film
• Martin Scorsese names top scary movies
• Idris Elba set for Parisian thriller Bastille Day
• Hayao Miyazaki "working on manga serialisation" as his retirement may not be permanent
• Final film rented at Blockbuster is ... This is the End
• Our latest critics' top 10: documentaries
• Joseph Gordon Levitt video interview on his directorial debut Don Jon
You may have missed
• Hunger Games stars tease Jennifer Lawrence by telling her to return Oscar for forgetting lines
• Saoirse Ronan miserable after failing to win Star Wars role
• Lynne Ramsay rebutted talk of a Jane Got a...
- 11/12/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
We want to know what you saw – and whether our reviews were right about it. Plus: all the film news and more coming up today
What did you watch this weekend?
The atmosphere in UK cinemas was full of one thing only: Gravity. The Sandra Bullock/George Clooney thriller exerted such a pull over distributors that few other new releases even bothered competing this week. But is the space saga suck you in or leave your orbiting? Let us know what you watched in the comment thread below, or watch the Guardian Film Show (this week: Gravity, Seduced & Abandoned, How to Survive a Plague) and pitch into the debate there.
In the headlines today
• Saoirse Ronan failed to win Star Wars role, Jj Abrams praised English actors and Star Wars open auditions headed to Chicago
• Lynne Ramsay dismissed the Jane Got a Gun suit
• Zack Snyder: Superman and Batman...
What did you watch this weekend?
The atmosphere in UK cinemas was full of one thing only: Gravity. The Sandra Bullock/George Clooney thriller exerted such a pull over distributors that few other new releases even bothered competing this week. But is the space saga suck you in or leave your orbiting? Let us know what you watched in the comment thread below, or watch the Guardian Film Show (this week: Gravity, Seduced & Abandoned, How to Survive a Plague) and pitch into the debate there.
In the headlines today
• Saoirse Ronan failed to win Star Wars role, Jj Abrams praised English actors and Star Wars open auditions headed to Chicago
• Lynne Ramsay dismissed the Jane Got a Gun suit
• Zack Snyder: Superman and Batman...
- 11/11/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
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