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When things work, we take them for granted. Call it hedonic adaptation if you will, but the unfortunate truth about successful science, technology, or governmental policy is that when it actually works, it's not long before people stop noticing the problem was solved or even existed in the first place. In 1916, the infant mortality rate was 99.9 per 1,000 (via Nih); literally 10% of infants would die (and 18.5% of Black infants). In 2017, the average infant mortality rate was 0.57%. That's incredible improvement, and we've seen health and quality of life increase in so many areas (while still in proportion with social and racial inequality).

It wasn't really that long ago, across the span of our speck in time, that diseases ran rampant, killing and disabling large portions of humanity. Today, most of us don't even know what diphtheria is; smallpox has literally been eradicated; polio morbidity has decreased by a full 100%. But the generations...

Anti-vaxxers, as they're often called, began sprouting up in the late '90s after one factually erroneous paper — released by an alleged slimy grifter named Andrew Wakefield — made vague connections between vaccines and autism. As the 'truthiness' era of George W. Bush transformed into the post-truth era of the late Obama and then Trump administrations, the idea of 'vaccine skepticism' only grew more. Shot in the Arm is a powerful new documentary about the dangers of anti-scientific messaging, and the ramifications of this among society at large.

It's a potent message that actually began before the Covid pandemic, when Oscar-nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy decided to make a film about a then-growing measles outbreak and the anti-vaxxers with (perhaps more than) figurative blood on their hands like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was interviewed here prior to his current presidential run. But as the world shut down and scientists everywhere...

Although it doesn’t break any new ground, Shot in the Arm — a documentary that had its world premiere recently in Palm Springs — tackles a pertinent topic about resistance to vaccines and the craziness that continues to swirl around this issue. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden, Food Evolution) and prominent scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson collaborated on the illuminating and sometimes depressing chronicle of anti-vax vehemence that began before Covid but took on deadlier implications during the pandemic.

Kennedy actually began working on the film in 2019, during a surprising uptick in cases of measles around the world. He found that the causes could be found in a growing resistance to vaccines, fueled by prominent people like environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr. and TV personality Del Bigtree. Their primary argument, refuted by almost all prominent scientists, was that the measles vaccine led to cases of autism. Of course it was...

The 34th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) is set to return in-person from Jan. 5-16 for the first time since 2020, and this year’s line-up of screenings is the most diverse the festival has ever seen, according to Psiff artistic director Lili Rodriguez.

“We always have drama, we always have comedy, we always have docs, but we have sci-fi this year, we have horror, we have animation,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think you’ll find two movies that are similar in the line-up.”

The celebration kicks off with the Film Awards at Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 5, which will honor seasoned filmmakers and performers like “Women Talking” director Sarah Polley, “The Banshees of Inisherin” star Colin Farrell, “Tár” lead performer Cate Blanchett and “The Whale” star Brendan Fraser.

Director Kyle Marvin’s sports comedy, “80 for Brady” will have its global debut Friday evening. Stars Lily Tomlin,...

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The Kyle Marvin-directed 80 for Brady — a Paramount Pictures comedy starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field and produced by NFL superstar Tom Brady — will touch down in Palm Springs on Jan. 6.

The film has been selected to open the 34th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival by making its world premiere at the Richards Center for the Arts. The film’s stars and director are expected to attend the opening night festivities. Inspired by a true story, it follows four best friends who take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl Li to see their hero, Brady, play in the big game. In addition to making his producing debut, Brady appears in the film, which is scheduled to hit theaters Feb. 3.

The fest will close with The Lost King on Jan. 15. The Warner Bros. Pictures film stars Sally Hawkins,...

The Palm Springs Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 34th annual edition, announcing that Paramount Pictures’ 80 for Brady will world premiere as its opening night film on January 6, with IFC Films’ The Lost King closing it out on January 15.

Directed by Kyle Marvin, 80 for Brady is inspired by the true story of four best friends living life to the fullest when they take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl Li to see their hero Tom Brady play. Cast members including Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin, Academy Award winner Jane Fonda, Academy Award winner Rita Moreno and Academy Award winner Sally Field are expected to be among those in attendance at the fest to rep the film slated for release in theaters on February 3, 2023.

Related Story Palm Springs Film Festival Awards: Austin Butler Latest Honoree For January Gala Related Story '80 For Brady' Trailer: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda,...

Exclusive: Hulu has acquired the exclusive U.S. VOD rights to Food Evolution from Academy Award-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden). The highly polarizing film is narrated by science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson. The film will premiere on Hulu on Sept. 21. The doc is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it is one of the most controversial and contentious docs on the food industry because it delves into the positive side of GMOs on sustaining…...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– IFC Films has acquired the U.S rights to director Jamie M. Dagg’s thriller “Sweet Virginia,” starring Jon Bernthal, Christopher Abbott, Imogen Poots, Rosemarie DeWitt and Odessa Young. The film, which premiered at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, was written by Ben and Paul China from their Black List script, and was produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones for Automatik, Chris Ferguson for Oddfellows and Fernando Loureiro and Roberto Vasconcellos for Exhibit, who also financed.

Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Focus Features Picks Up ‘Tully,’ Electric Entertainment Buys ‘Lbj’ and More

Xyz Films is currently handling international sales and will screen the film at the upcoming Marché du Film at Cannes. “Sweet Virginia” is a riveting thriller that...

Food Evolution, the documentary about GMOs and how they have infiltrated our food supply from Oscar nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy, has been picked up for distribution by Abramorama. The film will bow in in the U.S. initially on June 23 at the Village East Cinemas in New York before it rolls out for a nationwide release to select cities. Traveling from Hawaiian papaya groves to banana farms in Uganda to the cornfields of Iowa, Food Evolution wrestles with the…...

Syria doc Last Men In Aleppo will open the Copenhagen documentary festival.

Cph:dox has announced the full programme for its first spring edition (March 16-26), boasting 200 films including 75 world premieres.

The festival will open with Last Men In Aleppo [pictured], which was directed by Firas Fayyad and co-directed by Steen Johannessen.

Other highlights include a new cultural summit Cph:meetings – about the political and social role of art in society; a Vr cinema; a new children’s programme; a new science section; a focus on the rise of populism; and an 11-film programme curated by musician Anohni.

Themes to be explored include the rise of populism and a “talk show” about the alternative facts of Donald Trump and Steve Bannon.

The children’s programme will include titles such as Obscure about kids with Ptsd; Childhood about a Norwegian kindergarten in the forest, and a film about Chinese children whose parents are in prison, Waiting For The...

A necessary contribution to ongoing debates over food and farm policy worldwide, Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Food Evolution — which defends the place of GMOs in agriculture — sounds on paper like it might be one of those hack-job rebuttals in which moneyed right-wing interests disguise propaganda as a documentary. Many on the left will likely dismiss it as such, which is a shame: Though it doesn't address all of their complaints, the movie makes an excellent case against those who seek blanket prohibitions against genetically modified organisms — and, maybe more importantly, against those of us who support such bans just...

Brett Berns and Bob Sarles's Bang! The Bert Berns Story narrator Steven Van Zandt Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Paul G Allen's Vulcan Productions' Ben Bowie and Geoff Luck's Naledi: A Baby Elephant's Tale and Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson's The Ivory Game; Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes and Olivia Neergaard-Holm's David Lynch: The Art Life and the making of Eraserhead; Claire Simon's Venezia Classici Award winner Le Concours; Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Food Evolution, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bang! The Bert Berns Story (featuring Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Keith Richards, Cissy Houston, Andrew Loog Oldham, Jerry Ragovoy, Ronald Isley), and the voice of Steven Van Zandt come up in my conversation with Thom Powers.

Naledi: A Baby Elephant's Tale

Jimm Lasser and Biff Butler's Long Live Benjamin (about a Capuchin monkey and artist Allen Hirsch) and Markie Hancock's Feral Love (on Central...

This story first appeared in the Feb. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Los Angeles “My husband [screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh] and I will be watching at our condominium in Pasadena,” says 49ers fan Gale Anne Hurd. “I would have been attending a party at my restaurant, Vertical Wine Bistro, but it’s already been rented out!” … Soho House will screen the game on six televisions, including a 70-incher in the Sitting Room, and silk-screen T-shirts for its members on-site. In Silver Lake, the street in front of filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy's home will become a gridiron

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The 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival has just been voted Best Film Festival Ever!……..maybe……if it hasn’t it should because this year’s fest has provided a breathtaking variety of docs, dramas, foreign flix, comedies, shorts, and….you name it!

Sliff.s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University.s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University.s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Friday, November 16th

Alter Egos

Alter Egos plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre – Read The Wamg Review By Dana Jung Here

In the alternative world of Ârdizes an important mission with he discovers his...

Reviewer: Philip Tatler IV

Ratings (out of five): ****

Foreign Parts (directed by the team of Verena Paravel and J.P. Sniadecki) has all the makings of a groan-inducing activist documentary along the lines of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s The Garden or (worse) a ghoulish voyeur’s-eye-view of extreme poverty in America. Instead, Paravel/Sniadecki have pulled off the rare verite documentary that manages a formal grace and doesn’t patronize or fetishize its subjects.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy (who studied theater in college) was Oscar-nominated for his documentary "The Garden." His first film "Ot: our town" chronicled a student production of the classic play. And yet it was still a surprise when the exclusive Los Angeles County High School for the Arts allowed him inside to shoot "Fame High." The director says: "We live in a culture that puts a very high premium on fame. The idea of overnight success, exposure, and acclaim are aided by glossy reality television and a celebrity-obsessed populace. 'Fame High' is the counter argument to this illusion. It shows the unending hours of training and discipline needed to hone one’s craft." What he'd like audiences to get out of the movie: "Embedded in our story are compelling characters and entertaining performances while also subtly showing the absolute importance of art education, especially in public schools. Many today young...

The Tribeca Film Festival is known for bringing some of the best documentaries in the world to New York City each spring. The 2012 festival, running April 18-29, is no exception. Back Stage highlights some of the docs in this year's lineup that were made with actors in mind."Fame High" The World Documentary Competition includes the world premiere of this coming-of-age feature which follows a group of struggling students at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts from the uncertainty of freshman auditions to a triumphant senior graduation performance. By capturing the onstage and behind-the-scenes drama, competition, heartbreak, and achievements of these young artists, director Scott Hamilton Kennedy shows that reality can be even more inspiring than an episode of "Glee.""Fame High" premieres Saturday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. Kennedy's "The Garden" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2009. "Ot: Our Town," his.

HollywoodNews.com: The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, today announced the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections, along with selections for the out-of-competition Viewpoints section—the program established last year that highlights personal stories in international and independent cinema. Forty-six of the 90 feature-length films were announced. The 11th edition of the Festival will take place from April 18 to April 29 at locations around New York City.

The Festival was curated by a new programming team this year. Frédéric Boyer has joined Tff as Artistic Director, having most recently served as Artistic Director and Head of Programming for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises, has expanded his role in overseeing the Festival program. Genna Terranova has been promoted to Director of Programming and Cara Cusumano returns as Programmer.

“It’s been so gratifying to watch the new programming...

The Tribeca Film Festival announced half of this year’s movie showcase, the 11th edition of the New York celebration set for April 18-29. James Franco’s behind-the-scenes General Hospital feature, Francophrenia, will have its North American premiere in the Viewpoints section – the program established last year that highlights more personal stories. “He’s kind of constructed this really interesting and well-crafted film about that experience that plays with the boundaries of documentary,” says Genna Terranova, Tribeca’s director of programming. “It’s a bit tongue in cheek, as James himself can be. He’s a bit enigmatic and the film is as well.

With The Five-Year Engagement set as the opening title for the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, they’ve announced more of the line-up today with World Narrative & Documentary Features as the Viewpoint titles. We’ve got the next film from The Exploding Girl director Bradley Rust Gray, Jack and Diane (as well as a first look about featuring Juno Temple, thanks to Styd).

There is a new Harmony Korine short as well Kate Bosworth‘s While We Were Here and The Girl, starring Abbie Cornish. James Franco also has his latest film, Francophrenia, featuring footage from his performance on General Hospital. Nothing sticks out too greatly yet, but if I see something as interesting as Beyond the Black Rainbow or Magic Valley like last year, I’ll be a happy man. Check it out below and come back Thursday for the rest of the announcement.

World Narrative Feature Competition

• All In (La Suerte En Tus Manos...

SXSW kicks off later this week, but once your done slurping the BBQ sauce off your fingers, pack your backs and head north to Manhattan as the Tribeca Film Festival is gearing up to unspool in April. To whet cinephile appetites, organizers have dropped the lineup for the World Narrative Feature Competition, World Documentary Feature Competition and Viewpoints lineups and there are plenty of titles to take note of.

Among the narratives, the anticipated "Jack And Diane" from Bradley Rust Gray will make its world premiere. Starring Juno Temple and Riley Keough, the film takes a teenage lesbian love tale and twists the formula, with one of them revealing she's a werewolf. Add to that a cast rounded out by Dane DeHaan, Jena Malone and pop star Kylie Minogue (as a tattooed lesbian, of course) and you can see why this will be one of the hottest tickets at the fest.

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (April 18-29) today revealed the films screening in the World Narrative and Documentary Competitions, along with the selection for the out-of-competition Viewpoints section. Highlights in the Competition include: The world premiere of the horror love story "Jack and Diane," from "The Exploding Girl" director Bradley Rust Gray; the North American premiere Edwin's ("Bling Pig Who Wants to Fly") Indonesian fairty tale, "Postcards From the Zoo"; "While We Were Here," a romantic drama starring Kate Bosworth; Eytan Fox's follow-up to his Tff award-winning "Yossi & Jagger," "Yossi"; and the world premiere of the coming-of-age documentary, "Fame High," from Oscar-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy ("The Garden"). The Viewpoints section includes edgy titles from the likes of Harmony Korine ("Trash Humpers"), who will be world...

Laura Gabbert, Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Caroline Libresco, Doug Pray, Heather Rae, Eddie Schmidt, Aj Schnack to Serve as Lab Mentors .

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has launched a new Documentary Lab, sponsored by Latino Public Broadcasting, with 14 filmmakers and 9 projects participating. Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program, with a main focus of assisting documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and providing creative feedback. All of the Film Independent Labs are designed to support strong, original voices develop their filmmaking careers in a nurturing, yet challenging creative environment. Documentary Lab Mentors include filmmakers Laura Gabbert (No Impact Man), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden), Doug Pray (Art & Copy), Aj Schnack (Convention),Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer Caroline Libresco, and producers Heather Rae (Frozen River) and Eddie Schmidt (Troubadours). filmmakers Jen Arnold (A Small Act), Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol), Chicken & Egg.s Julie Benello,...

Film Independent has launched a new seven-week Documentary Lab, with 14 filmmakers and nine projects participating. The main focus of the program: assist documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and provide creative feedback. Lab mentors include slated to take part include Laura Gabbert ("No Impact Man"), Scott Hamilton Kennedy ("The Garden"), Doug Pray ("Art & Copy"), Aj Schnack ("Convention"), Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer Caroline Libresco, and producers Heather Rae ("Frozen ...

Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy Featuring: Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Antonio Villaraigosa Writer-director Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s The Garden tells the saga of the South Central Farm – an urban farm that was located at the intersection of 41st Street and Alameda Avenue in South Central Los Angeles. In the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. riots, the city government granted a revocable permit to the L.A. Regional Food Bank (a private, nonprofit food-distribution network) who converted the bleak landscape of rubble, litter and debris into a lush 14-acre farm (the largest urban farm in the U.S.). Simply dubbed the South Central Farm, the garden began to produce fresh fruits and vegetables and the local farmers were able to enjoy their own home-grown crops rather than rely on food stamps for subsistence. For over a decade the South Central Farm thrived, but in January 2004 the farmers received an eviction notice. The revocable permit was being revoked.

The cast of Fox's "Glee" will be presented the Favorite New Television Cast Ensemble Award at the Multicultural Motion Picture Assn.'s 17th annual Diversity Awards on Nov. 22 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.The event will also honor NBC's "Parks and Recreation" as Favorite New Comedy Ensemble; CBS' "Ncsi: Los Angeles" as Favorite New Television Action Drama; ABC Family's "Lincoln Heights" as Favorite Family Drama Ensemble Cast; and HBO as the 2009 Diversity Programming Network.Justin Chon will be recognized with the Male Nova Award, while Hope Olaide Wilson is set to receive the Female Nova Award.Taraji P. Henson will be honored as best actress in a drama for the film "I Can Do Bad All By Myself." Masi Oka has been named best actor in a TV drama for "Heroes."Scott Hamilton Kennedy, who directed "The Garden," will be celebrated as audience favorite -- best documentary feature director.

The cast of Fox's "Glee" will be presented the Favorite New Television Cast Ensemble Award at the Multicultural Motion Picture Assn.'s 17th annual Diversity Awards on Nov. 22 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The event will also honor NBC's "Parks and Recreation" as Favorite New Comedy Ensemble; CBS' "Ncsi: Los Angeles" as Favorite New Television Action Drama; ABC Family's "Lincoln Heights" as Favorite Family Drama Ensemble Cast; and HBO as the 2009 Diversity Programming Network.

Justin Chon will be recognized with the Male Nova Award, while Hope Olaide Wilson is set to receive the Female Nova Award.

Taraji P. Henson will be honored as best actress in a drama for the film "I Can Do Bad All By Myself." Masi Oka has been named best actor in a TV drama for "Heroes."

Scott Hamilton Kennedy, who directed "The Garden," will be celebrated as audience favorite -- best documentary feature director.

Scenes of violent street protests tend to capture the attention of the news media during major political summits. Is aggression the only meaningful method of activism in a world in which people feel detached from world leaders, though? That is a question asked by Canadian independent filmmaker Velcrow Ripper in his latest documentary, Fierce Light.

Velcrow Ripper has been directing fiction and documentary films since his teenage years and even his earliest productions had political themes. He is no militant, though. Inspired by such activists as Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he seems more intent on encouraging introspection than persuasion. Fierce Light exemplifies that. The film essentially chronicles Ripper's personal exploration of different methods of activism and raises more questions than it answers. His approach, combined with some beautiful and striking images from some of the world's most exotic places, makes Fierce Light feel more like Baraka than An Inconvenient Truth...

Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Deals. Ahead of the Toronto film festival, distributors are firming up their release schedules for the next few weeks, which means acquisitions a-plenty are being announced. Our friends at indieWIRE have posted details in the last seven days about Police, Adjective (IFC, release next year, after playing at the Toronto and New York film festivals); Trucker (Monterey Media, October 9); Black Dynamite (Apparition, October 16); and Vincere (IFC, no release date yet, will also play at the Toronto and New York fests).

Online / On-Demand Viewing. Starting this week, Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Our Town will be available at iTunes. Kennedy is a skilled documentary filmmaker whose most recent work, The Garden, was nominated for an Academy Award and was recently released on DVD and online. So this is a great time to catch up with Mr.

• A very busy Monday for the ed-in-chief of Ioncinema.com. Caught press screenings for The Time Traveler and Ponyo, sandwiched by tons of news to report on. Here is the best of the rest of the news for August 10th. 1. Not Thirst-y South Korea goes with Bong Joon-ho's Mother for Foreign Oscar nom consideration. 2. Milking the "Cash" Chow Sony moves quickly on Michael Jackson concert experience. This Is It becomes a Halloween experience. on October 30th. (Via THR) 3. Ifp’s Project ForumJodie Foster's “Cockeyed,” The Guatemalan Handshake's Todd Rohal’s “Scoutmasters”, (see pic) produced by Lisa Muskat, Fred Schepisi’s “The Secret River”, “Earth Camp One” by Jennie Livingston, “Fame High” by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, and “Hungry in America” by Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush are among 116 selected projects for Project Forum of Ifp’s Independent Film Week. (Via IndieWIRE.com) 4. Out of the Womb Benedek Fliegauf is now in post production with Womb.

...

IFP, the New York-based indie film organization, has invited 116 projects to take part in its Project Forum during its 31st annual Independent Film Work, which runs Sept. 19-24 in New York. Among the projects are such titles as "Cockeyed," written by Ryan Knighton and directed by Jodie Foster, and "The Secret River," written by Jan Sardi and directed by Fred Schepisi.

Additionally, IFP announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with the Sundance Institute and new partnerships with B-Side, a tech company that runs Web sites that handle ticketing and audience response data for more than 250 fests in North America, and the Good Pitch, a forum produced by Channel 4 Britdoc Foundation that brings together socially minded film projects and experts from charities, foundations, brands, government and media.

At the Ifp Market, producers, funders, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents and festival programmers are broguht together to preview projects in development that are...

Tff alumni director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (Ot: Our Town, Tff 2002) was nominated this year for an Academy Award for his latest doc, The Garden. A multi-layered story that weaves together communal initiative, green politics, urban sustenance, and democracy for all, The Garden chronicles the triumphs and struggles of a 14-acre (!) community garden in post-1992-riots South Central Los Angeles. As a model for the power of documentary filmmaking, Kennedy was asked to take part in the American Documentary Showcase, sponsored in part by the U.S. State Department. Upon his return, Tribeca Film asked Kennedy to share the story of his initial trip to Indonesia, which took place earlier this summer. Scott petting elephant at Borobudur Temple. Note the Tff hat! Photo credit: Lauren Oakes/Ads Indonesia, May 28-June 14, 2009 On May 28, 2009, I departed from Los Angeles on a two-week journey to Indonesia, where, through the American Documentary Showcase (Ads), sponsored...

Yesterday came the yearly announcement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it extended 134 invitations to several artists and executives "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures" read the press release. Of course all of them can decline, but I wouldn't necessarily expect that to happen as all who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2009 to the Academy's roster of voting members. "These filmmakers have, over the course of their careers, captured the imagination of audiences around the world," said Academy President Sid Ganis. "It's this kind of talent and creativity that make up the Academy, and I welcome each of them to our ranks." The list follows below and reading around the best analysis I saw of it came from Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience who, among other things, pointed out the addition of longtime Darren Aronofsky's...

On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued invitations to 134 members of the film community to join the group. There were a maximum of 166 open slots to fill this year, but the various branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them.

Hugh Jackman, who hosted the most recent Oscar show, has been invited to join. So have Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, James Franco and Michelle Williams. The list even includes a number of comic performers like Michael Cera, Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd.

Voting membership in the organization has held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception at the Academy's Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills in September.

"These filmmakers have, over the course of their careers, captured the imagination of audiences around the world," Academy president Sid Ganis. Said. "It's...

The Garden

Directed by: Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Cast: Tezozomoc, Rufina Juarez, Jan Perry, Juanita Tate

Running Time: 1 hr 20 min

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: June 12, 2009

Plot: Documentary about a community garden in South Central, Los Angeles that’s going to be shut down. The gardeners get together to try to keep the developer who bought the property from evicting them. From City Hall to celebrities, the gardeners try everything they can think of to keep their farm.

Who’s It For? Anyone who likes documentaries, especially when they have a strong point of view.

Expectations: The Garden is up for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, so I expected good things. I was looking for an underdog story with a triumphant ending.

Scorecard (0-10)

Actors:

Tezozomoc and Rufina Juarez: When the gardeners come together after their receipt of the first eviction notice, they elect Tezo and Rufina to lead their attempt to save the garden.

Politics, power, greed and the working class take the focus of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s Oscar-nominated doc, “The Garden.” A follow up to his film, “Ot: Our Town,” Kennedy’s film lays out how backroom deals, land developing, green politics, money and corruption intersect with working class families who rely on this communal garden for their livelihood. “The Garden” exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about …...

Politics, power, greed and the working class take the focus of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s Oscar-nominated doc, “The Garden.” A follow up to his film, “Ot: Our Town,” Kennedy’s film lays out how backroom deals, land developing, green politics, money and corruption intersect with working class families who rely on this communal garden for their livelihood. “The Garden” exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about …...

Politics, power, greed and the working class take the focus of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s Oscar-nominated doc, “The Garden.” A follow up to his film, “Ot: Our Town,” Kennedy’s film lays out how backroom deals, land developing, green politics, money and corruption intersect with working class families who rely on this communal garden for their livelihood. “The Garden” exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about …...

• [Editor's note: This was originally published on 02.15.2009] A powerful documentary about a 14 acre garden in Los Angeles that was at the center of a decade long dispute, The Garden details how a piece of land in South Central which was once considered a wasteland by the owner, good for garbage or warehouses by the city, but was turned into a lush garden by a mostly Latino community. After a dubious deal between the city and the owner, the gardeners are driven out but not without a fight which is at heart of this film by multi-tasking writer and director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. With a story as complex and rich as you would expect it in any piece of great literature full with noble characters, shady characters and everything in between. The complex documentary film (one of the five Academy Award nominees for Best Doc) equally works as a social commentary of culture clashes between the powerful rich and helpless poor,

...

"All politics is local," the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill famously said. And politics don't get much more local than The Garden, an infuriatingly clear-eyed documentary. The Oscar-nominated film, by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, shows in a microcosm what happens at all levels. The Garden is a 14-acre tract in South Central Los Angeles that was turned into a series of small plots for individual farmers to work. Established from the wreckage of the 1992 Rodney King riots, the garden provides fresh produce -- everything from corn and tomatoes to mangoes and avocados -- for the mostly immigrant population that works the patchwork of urban gardens. But 10 years later, the developer who claims to own the land announces that he is reclaiming it. He will evict the farmers, plow under the gardens and build a warehouse. It seems to be a...

On the nonfiction side of cinema this week, you've got portraits of a famous banjo player, an infamous boxer and, er, nature, while the fiction side delves into a dystopic, mutant-infested future, a bedraggled small town in Korea and Bret Easton Ellis' decadent '80s Los Angeles.

Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:06 minutes, 9.54 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]

"Earth"

The Mouse House launches its brand new nature documentary arm Disneynature with an Earth Day premiere of this year-in-the-life-of-our-planet feature. The bad news is that "Earth" recycles a lot of the footage from the BBC series "Planet Earth," which anyone who feels the least bit smug about their TV already owns. The good news is that "Planet Earth" is pretty sick, and seeing it on the big screen is bound to be an improvement over even the glossiest home HD experience.. Patrick Stewart narrated the U.

In this week's edition of Indie Roundup, we look back on a busy week for acquisitions, upcoming film awards, and two fests.

Deals. The Garden, nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, was picked up by Oscilloscope and will be released to theaters in the spring and on DVD this summer, according to indieWIRE. Directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, the film follows a long court battle to save the South Central Farm, a community produce garden that sprang up in the wake of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles.

With the unfortunate demise of New Yorker Films, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's critically-acclaimed Three Monkeys will now be distributed by Zeitgeist Films. The theatrical release planned for this month will be delayed to April.

Other films receiving deals, per indieWIRE, with distributor and release dates noted: Roger Spottiswoode's Shake Hands with the Devil (Regent Releasing, Summer 2009); Lee Isaac Chung's Munyurangabo (Film Movement,...

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American distribution rights to Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Oscar-nominated feature documentary "The Garden," which looks at a community garden in South Central Los Angeles. A spring theatrical release is planned.

Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope, said, "Urban gardens, especially those that provide a source of food, are so rare that it's painful to see how they can be crushed by the greed of an entitled few. I'm honored to be a part of getting this powerful film out in front people. Hopefully it will bring attention to the issue and seed more urban gardening in our cities."

The deal was negotiated by David Fenkel for Oscilloscope and David Garber of Lantern Lane Entertainment on behalf of Impact Partners and Kennedy.

• I'm liking what nm2584969 autoDavid Fenkel

[/link] is bringing to the table with Adam Yauch's less than two-year old label Oscilloscope Pictures. This Spring, the company plans to bring some fresh produce (in terms of socially relevant documentary fair) to market. As the least known title and the only one of the final five noms without a distribution deal in place, The Garden's fate in terms of theatrical play, was imminent according to doc filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy (read our interview with him the week prior to the Oscars) and I'm glad he has found a deal with this company who've touched upon our water supply (Flow: For the Love of Water), and the electoral system at the beginner's level (Frontrunners). The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form...

List Source: Variety

Okay, so another year and now it's the final show of the awards season. I don't know why but I'm not that enthuastic about the Oscars this year. Maybe it was last year's underwhelming show or maybe it's because The Dark Knight isn't nominated this year, probably both, but never-the-less the show is done and I want to put up the post of how the show went. Time for the ultimate post-oscar show breakdown...

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Best Motion Picture Of The Year

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)

"Frost/Nixon" (Universal)

"Milk" (Focus Features)

"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

Winner: "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

Best Picture was a major disappointment. Less said about The Dark Knight - the better. For me, Milk is the most deserving of best picture this year. It's issues are more relevant and more original than all films on the list this year.

Fox Searchlight Pictures' "Slumdog Millionaire" has almost completely swept the Oscars® with awards including Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture and both original song and score music categories. Other notable wins included: - Sean Penn who took home the Best Actor award, his second after 2004's "Mystic River."- Heath Ledger for his astounding performance in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Dark Knight"- Kate Winslet - Once again for her work in "The Reader" after a two Golden Globe's earned for "Revolutionary Road" and "The Reader"- Penelope Cruz - In Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" comedy As announced, here are the winners (noted in bold) of the 2009 Academy Awards which were announced on Sunday, February 22nd. Performance by an actor in a leading role Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films) Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features) Brad Pitt in...

Did your favorite movies and stars win? Read on to find out! Performance by an actor in a leading role: Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features) Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight) Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features) Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax) Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Performance by an actress in a leading role: Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics) Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal) Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics) Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax) Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Performance by an actress in a...

Click here for the 2009 Academy Award winners! This year I opted not to break down every category and discuss the merits of each individual nominee. Mostly because it takes a ridiculous amount of time, but also because there doesn’t seem to be as much excitement as in previous years. Maybe it’s the fact that the populist picks of the year (Dark Knight, for example) were snubbed in the major categories and replaced with little seen films like The Reader. Or maybe because many of the categories are foregone conclusions.

Either way, I wanted to post my favorites/predictions and hopefully get some discussion going on what you think will win and why. I’m posting my picks here, but included the full list of nominations below.

Best Picture

Slumdog Millionaire - It’s clearly the favorite going into the ballot counting having swept every major awards ceremony leading up to the Oscars.

The Garden Directed by: Scott Hamilton Kennedy Cast: Tezozomoc, Rufina Juarez, Jan Perry, Juanita Tate Running Time: 1 hr 20 min Rating: Unrated 32nd Portland International Film Festival Country: United States Plot: Documentary about a community garden in South Central Los Angeles that's going to be shut down. The gardeners get together to try to keep the developer who bought the property from evicting them. From city hall to celebrities, the gardeners try everything they can think of to keep their farm. Who’s It For? Anyone who likes documentaries, especially when they have a strong point of view. Expectations: The Garden is up for this year's Best Documentary Oscar, so I expected good things. I was looking for an underdog story with a triumphant ending. Overall The Garden begins with a group of people coming together...

On Thursday morning, January 22, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have unveiled to the world their selection of nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Announced by Academy president Sid Ganis and Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, the nominations were dominated by "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

Having been shunned away from any kudos at the 66th Golden Globe Awards, the David Fincher's drama has picked up 13 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson and Best Leading Actor for Brad Pitt. The movie about a man born in his eighties has landed a Best Original Score nomination for composer Alexandre Desplat, and received seven gongs for technical categories as well.

The success of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in collecting multiple nominations was followed by "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Dark Knight...