When Victoria Villegas learned how her cousin had fled the Dominican Republic, and was gay like her, she was moved to chart his life
There have been experimental, freestyling essay films and memoiristic documentaries around for years, going back to Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil or Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I. But just lately it feels like the sprawling poetic-realist subgenre is flourishing, especially in the sunny uplands of film festivals. Like an extension of the creative-writing exhortation to “write about what you know” young documentary-makers are increasingly shooting movies about not just who they are but also their family history. Sometimes family members are even corralled into play themselves or others, like some cinematic family drama-therapy experiment.
If you want a few recent examples, check out Miryam Charles’s recent Cette Maison, or Moroccan director Asmae el Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, both of which...
There have been experimental, freestyling essay films and memoiristic documentaries around for years, going back to Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil or Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I. But just lately it feels like the sprawling poetic-realist subgenre is flourishing, especially in the sunny uplands of film festivals. Like an extension of the creative-writing exhortation to “write about what you know” young documentary-makers are increasingly shooting movies about not just who they are but also their family history. Sometimes family members are even corralled into play themselves or others, like some cinematic family drama-therapy experiment.
If you want a few recent examples, check out Miryam Charles’s recent Cette Maison, or Moroccan director Asmae el Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, both of which...
- 4/15/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Working through familial memory is often as complicated as it is difficult. Dominican filmmaker Victoria Linares embarks on this very process in her feature debut Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family), about the near-erasure of her cousin Oscar Torres’s existence in their native Dominican Republic. As the film unfolds, Linares learns how similar she is to Torres, despite the two being separated by an entire generation. Lo que se hereda is hinged upon Linares’s personal discovery of her cousin’s unproduced screenplays and film reviews he wrote in the ’50s during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. From 1930 until his […]
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/21/2022
- by Michael Piantini
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Working through familial memory is often as complicated as it is difficult. Dominican filmmaker Victoria Linares embarks on this very process in her feature debut Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family), about the near-erasure of her cousin Oscar Torres’s existence in their native Dominican Republic. As the film unfolds, Linares learns how similar she is to Torres, despite the two being separated by an entire generation. Lo que se hereda is hinged upon Linares’s personal discovery of her cousin’s unproduced screenplays and film reviews he wrote in the ’50s during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. From 1930 until his […]
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/21/2022
- by Michael Piantini
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Isa of the day is a continuing series of profiles of very special international sales agents. Shoreline Entertainment, one of the longest running independent film production companies and international sales agencies, has expanded its management arm to foster Latin American and women driven projects. You can see its Cannes lineup here.
The company was founded in 1992 by CEO and film producer Morris Ruskin whose production “Glengarry Glen Ross” launched him into the top level of indie producers. Shoreline’s Latin American Division for Management and Production is meeting with great success in repping over 25 directors, writers, actors, DPs and more.
Two interviews here, one with Alex Flores, the head of the division and the other with Diana Elizabeth Torres, a California based actress and writer illuminate their strategy and mission.
Alex and Morris’s friendship dates back 20 years, and their professional relationship flourished with films “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School” starring Robert Carlyle,...
The company was founded in 1992 by CEO and film producer Morris Ruskin whose production “Glengarry Glen Ross” launched him into the top level of indie producers. Shoreline’s Latin American Division for Management and Production is meeting with great success in repping over 25 directors, writers, actors, DPs and more.
Two interviews here, one with Alex Flores, the head of the division and the other with Diana Elizabeth Torres, a California based actress and writer illuminate their strategy and mission.
Alex and Morris’s friendship dates back 20 years, and their professional relationship flourished with films “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School” starring Robert Carlyle,...
- 4/20/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Now in its fourth edition, the International Project Discovery Forum (Ipdf), Los Angeles Greek Film Festival’s Industry Section and development workshop will present six impressive new projects by filmmakers from the Balkans and the Middle East region.
Ipdf Director Araceli Lemos, in talking about this year’s selections remarks,"For this edition,we chose projects which are bold, diverse and thoughtprovoking. We are excited to meet all the filmmakers in person and work with them."
The 2016 Ipdf projects are from both new and established filmmakers. They are Alexis Alexiou's (“Wednesday 4:45”) third feature project "As Long As You Bleed." Vassilis Katsoupis and producer Giorgos Karnavas present "Inside," Katsoupis'debut fiction feature. His documentary “My Friends Larry Gus” is screening on Friday, June 3rd.Karnavas is a prominent Greek producer, whose previous work “The Eternal Paraskevas of Antonis Paraskevas” and “Boy Eating Bird’s Food” were worldwide festival favorites and screened in past editions of Lagff.
Sol Goodman,an American producer with projects in the Middle East and NorthAfrica, will present "The Taste of Apples is Red," a Syrian film by Ehab Tarabieh.
Three debut features will also be pitched: from Turkey, Nazlı Elif Durlu andand her producer Anna Maria Aslanoglu present
"Zuhal." From Greece's Harris Raftogiannis,comes "The River," and Serbia’s Stefan Malešević will offer up "Usud."
A four member jury of entertainment professionals will decide the winning project after hearing the final pitches on Sunday, June 5th. The 2016 Ipdf Jury member sare producer at Gunpowder & Sky, David Harris, Rebecca Katz from the Creative Producing Initiative of the Sundance Institute; Participant Media’s Ioanna Varikos, and producer and cofounder of Extraordinary Renditions, Kelly Thomas (“Spa Night”).
The winnersof the competition will receive the Aegean Award and a scholarship to attend the Mfi Script2Pitch Workshops during the Orpheus Award Ceremony on Closing Night, June 5th.
Before the Jury pitch, each filmmaker will receive group training and one-on-one meetingswith a diverse group of professionals sharing expertise in financing, directing, writing, producing, marketing and distribution. This year's experts include: K Street Pictures' president Charles Agron; writer/producer David Ariniello (“Arcadia Lost”), acclaimed director and cinematographer Steven Bernstein (“Decoding Annie Parker”), cofounder of L.A.based La Panda Productions Pau Brunet, director of creative initiatives for technology leader Bittorrent Missy Laney, film festival programmer and strategist Kathleen McInnis, manager for the feature film program’s international work at Sundance Institute Matthew Takata, and writer/Producer of the award-winning “Innocent Voices” (Voces Inocentes), Oscar Torres.
"We strive to change and grow every year, looking at what is happening in the independent film world around us, and pair our filmmakers with the best experts that can help them. Not only with these projects but for their careers as independent filmmakers," adds Ipdf ProducerGiulia Caruso.
The Ipdf Industry Events, free and open to the public, take place on Saturday, June 4.
At 12:30 p.m. the Writing for Diversity in TV panel will take place. During this group session esteemed television writers, and personalities discuss and share their experiences, challenges and efforts to promote diversity on TV – both within the writer’s room and the characters they create. Panelists are; writers Aida Croal ("Luke Cage"), Julia Fontana ("Lucifer"), Maikiko James from the newly launched Women In Film's Women Writing Lab, musician/ writer Our Lady J ("Transparent"), producer Benoni Tagoe ("Awkward Black Girl") and director/ producer Greg Yaitanes ("Banshee," "House M.D.").
At 3:00 p.m. How a Director Finds Her Characters presented by writer/director Athina Tsangari. Tsangari, one of the principal instigators of the New Greek Wave, offers a unique Masterclass on directing. Her latest awardwinning feature "Chevalier" is screening at the festival on Thursday, June 2. The masterclass will be moderated by film critic Carlos Aguilar, who has written for outlets such as Indiewire, MovieMaker Magazine, and Variety Latino.
"Every year we are amazed at the variety and quality of projects that filmmakers submit for consideration to Ipdf. It's a complicated selection process, and we always struggle to let some great projects go. To best serve the participants and their projects, we select only six films from the hundreds we receive each year.," notes Lemos.
For more information on the Ipdf projects and filmmakers go to http://lagff.org/festival/internationalprojectdiscoveryforum
The International Project Discovery Forum is the industry program of Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
The International Project Discovery Forum is a Los Angeles pioneer in the promotion of international independent film development and coproduction. Utilizing the innumerable resources that exist in Los Angeles, the festival aims to create a bridge between two very different worlds – the American Independent Film and the Greek/Balkan Independent Film.
They look for films that have an original approach, made by independent producers and filmmakers that have a unique voice. The stage of development of the selected projects varies from inspiring and promising scripts in an early stage, which they want to nurture through their journey, to more advanced projects in the financing stage that they connect with producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers that can actively support the film. The festival wants to create a circle of collaborators who share the same vision – a network of creative professionals from Greece, the Balkans and the Us that share the same idea of how they want to make films.
Besides their open call for entries, they look for projects in other industry forums in the Balkan region such as Thessaloniki Iff’s Crossroads, Sofia Meetings, Mfi Script Workshop.
The Forum includes a development lab only for Ipdf selected Filmmakers and a series of roundtables that are free and open to the public.
The goal is not only to promote Greek and Balkan filmmakers by helping strong, local stories with international appeal get told, but they also want to create an occasion for a true and lively exchange between European and American cinema. The forum provide a venue where dialogue is encouraged and creative collaborations are formed...
Ipdf Director Araceli Lemos, in talking about this year’s selections remarks,"For this edition,we chose projects which are bold, diverse and thoughtprovoking. We are excited to meet all the filmmakers in person and work with them."
The 2016 Ipdf projects are from both new and established filmmakers. They are Alexis Alexiou's (“Wednesday 4:45”) third feature project "As Long As You Bleed." Vassilis Katsoupis and producer Giorgos Karnavas present "Inside," Katsoupis'debut fiction feature. His documentary “My Friends Larry Gus” is screening on Friday, June 3rd.Karnavas is a prominent Greek producer, whose previous work “The Eternal Paraskevas of Antonis Paraskevas” and “Boy Eating Bird’s Food” were worldwide festival favorites and screened in past editions of Lagff.
Sol Goodman,an American producer with projects in the Middle East and NorthAfrica, will present "The Taste of Apples is Red," a Syrian film by Ehab Tarabieh.
Three debut features will also be pitched: from Turkey, Nazlı Elif Durlu andand her producer Anna Maria Aslanoglu present
"Zuhal." From Greece's Harris Raftogiannis,comes "The River," and Serbia’s Stefan Malešević will offer up "Usud."
A four member jury of entertainment professionals will decide the winning project after hearing the final pitches on Sunday, June 5th. The 2016 Ipdf Jury member sare producer at Gunpowder & Sky, David Harris, Rebecca Katz from the Creative Producing Initiative of the Sundance Institute; Participant Media’s Ioanna Varikos, and producer and cofounder of Extraordinary Renditions, Kelly Thomas (“Spa Night”).
The winnersof the competition will receive the Aegean Award and a scholarship to attend the Mfi Script2Pitch Workshops during the Orpheus Award Ceremony on Closing Night, June 5th.
Before the Jury pitch, each filmmaker will receive group training and one-on-one meetingswith a diverse group of professionals sharing expertise in financing, directing, writing, producing, marketing and distribution. This year's experts include: K Street Pictures' president Charles Agron; writer/producer David Ariniello (“Arcadia Lost”), acclaimed director and cinematographer Steven Bernstein (“Decoding Annie Parker”), cofounder of L.A.based La Panda Productions Pau Brunet, director of creative initiatives for technology leader Bittorrent Missy Laney, film festival programmer and strategist Kathleen McInnis, manager for the feature film program’s international work at Sundance Institute Matthew Takata, and writer/Producer of the award-winning “Innocent Voices” (Voces Inocentes), Oscar Torres.
"We strive to change and grow every year, looking at what is happening in the independent film world around us, and pair our filmmakers with the best experts that can help them. Not only with these projects but for their careers as independent filmmakers," adds Ipdf ProducerGiulia Caruso.
The Ipdf Industry Events, free and open to the public, take place on Saturday, June 4.
At 12:30 p.m. the Writing for Diversity in TV panel will take place. During this group session esteemed television writers, and personalities discuss and share their experiences, challenges and efforts to promote diversity on TV – both within the writer’s room and the characters they create. Panelists are; writers Aida Croal ("Luke Cage"), Julia Fontana ("Lucifer"), Maikiko James from the newly launched Women In Film's Women Writing Lab, musician/ writer Our Lady J ("Transparent"), producer Benoni Tagoe ("Awkward Black Girl") and director/ producer Greg Yaitanes ("Banshee," "House M.D.").
At 3:00 p.m. How a Director Finds Her Characters presented by writer/director Athina Tsangari. Tsangari, one of the principal instigators of the New Greek Wave, offers a unique Masterclass on directing. Her latest awardwinning feature "Chevalier" is screening at the festival on Thursday, June 2. The masterclass will be moderated by film critic Carlos Aguilar, who has written for outlets such as Indiewire, MovieMaker Magazine, and Variety Latino.
"Every year we are amazed at the variety and quality of projects that filmmakers submit for consideration to Ipdf. It's a complicated selection process, and we always struggle to let some great projects go. To best serve the participants and their projects, we select only six films from the hundreds we receive each year.," notes Lemos.
For more information on the Ipdf projects and filmmakers go to http://lagff.org/festival/internationalprojectdiscoveryforum
The International Project Discovery Forum is the industry program of Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
The International Project Discovery Forum is a Los Angeles pioneer in the promotion of international independent film development and coproduction. Utilizing the innumerable resources that exist in Los Angeles, the festival aims to create a bridge between two very different worlds – the American Independent Film and the Greek/Balkan Independent Film.
They look for films that have an original approach, made by independent producers and filmmakers that have a unique voice. The stage of development of the selected projects varies from inspiring and promising scripts in an early stage, which they want to nurture through their journey, to more advanced projects in the financing stage that they connect with producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers that can actively support the film. The festival wants to create a circle of collaborators who share the same vision – a network of creative professionals from Greece, the Balkans and the Us that share the same idea of how they want to make films.
Besides their open call for entries, they look for projects in other industry forums in the Balkan region such as Thessaloniki Iff’s Crossroads, Sofia Meetings, Mfi Script Workshop.
The Forum includes a development lab only for Ipdf selected Filmmakers and a series of roundtables that are free and open to the public.
The goal is not only to promote Greek and Balkan filmmakers by helping strong, local stories with international appeal get told, but they also want to create an occasion for a true and lively exchange between European and American cinema. The forum provide a venue where dialogue is encouraged and creative collaborations are formed...
- 5/24/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Home of the Brave: Duran’s Debut a Neutered Examination of Grief During Wartime
There’s a war going on, though not one specifically referenced, mentioned or discussed. But then Daniel Duran’s directorial debut, Bravetown, seems happy examining exactly that, the ways in which people are unable to communicate clearly their emotions relating to the traumas that war has inflicted on them. Perhaps in an effort to elevate the material to a timeless realm, screenwriter Oscar Orlando Torres (Instructions Not Included) remains curiously vague on details, the only definitive reference pertaining to the Gulf War.
Josh Harvest (Josh Till) is a moderately troubled teen living with his single mother (Maria Bello) in New York. A rising DJ, a mistaken overdose lands him in court with a mandated sentence of twelve months rehabilitation. His overworked mother is done worrying about him and sends him off to live with his...
There’s a war going on, though not one specifically referenced, mentioned or discussed. But then Daniel Duran’s directorial debut, Bravetown, seems happy examining exactly that, the ways in which people are unable to communicate clearly their emotions relating to the traumas that war has inflicted on them. Perhaps in an effort to elevate the material to a timeless realm, screenwriter Oscar Orlando Torres (Instructions Not Included) remains curiously vague on details, the only definitive reference pertaining to the Gulf War.
Josh Harvest (Josh Till) is a moderately troubled teen living with his single mother (Maria Bello) in New York. A rising DJ, a mistaken overdose lands him in court with a mandated sentence of twelve months rehabilitation. His overworked mother is done worrying about him and sends him off to live with his...
- 5/7/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Josh Duhamel is a lifeline for a troubled teen in the trailer for Bravetown.
Stoker and X-Men: Days of Future Past star Lucas Till has the lead role in Bravetown as musically-gifted teen Josh Harvest, who is forced into counselling in the wake of hard times.
Josh has to face up to his troubled past in order to explore his passion for music and find love with a local girl (Katrina Norman).
Tom Everett Scott, Laura Dern and Maria Bello all have supporting roles as the adults whose lives are impacted by Josh on his journey of self-discovery.
This will be the feature film directorial debut for Daniel Duran, who is bringing Innocent Voices writer Oscar Orlando Torres's screenplay to life.
Bravetown opens on May 8 in the Us. A UK release is yet to be set.
Stoker and X-Men: Days of Future Past star Lucas Till has the lead role in Bravetown as musically-gifted teen Josh Harvest, who is forced into counselling in the wake of hard times.
Josh has to face up to his troubled past in order to explore his passion for music and find love with a local girl (Katrina Norman).
Tom Everett Scott, Laura Dern and Maria Bello all have supporting roles as the adults whose lives are impacted by Josh on his journey of self-discovery.
This will be the feature film directorial debut for Daniel Duran, who is bringing Innocent Voices writer Oscar Orlando Torres's screenplay to life.
Bravetown opens on May 8 in the Us. A UK release is yet to be set.
- 4/10/2015
- Digital Spy
We've upgraded the photo gallery with new images from Pantelion Films' Pulling Strings comedy, starring Laura Ramsey, Jamie Camil, Omar Chaparro, Tom Arnold, Stockard Channing, Roberto Sosa, Aurora Papile and Renata Ybarra. This one gets an October 4th release date under the direction of Pitipol Ybarra, helming from the script by Oscar Torres, Issa Lopez and Gabriel Ripstein. Alejandro (Camil) and his loyal best friend Canicas (Chaparro) are hardworking mariachi singers looking for fame in Mexico City. More than just a mariachi, Alejandro has a second full time job – he’s a single dad. When Alejandro tries to secure a visa for his young daughter to visit her grandparents in the U.S. Alejandro’s request...
- 9/13/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch the trailer for the comedy Pulling Strings, starring Laura Ramsey, Jamie Camil and Omar Chaparro. The Pantelion Films release hits theaters on October 4th, 2013. I have to admit this looks far better than I thought it would, and actually has some very funny moments shown in the trailer. I'll definitely give it a watch at some point myself. Pitipol Ybarra directs from the script by Oscar Torres, Issa Lopez, Gabriel Ripstein. Pulling Strings is produced by Leonardo ZimbronHere's the official synopsis: Alejandro (Jaime Camil) and his loyal best friend Canicas (Omar Chaparro) are hardworking mariachi singers looking for fame in Mexico City. More than just a mariachi, Alejandro has a second full time job...
- 8/15/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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