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When you’re David O. Russell and you have the money of fashion powerhouse Prada behind you to make a short film for the brand, you can pretty much get whoever you want to come join in the fun. And that’s just what Russell did, working his phone and snagging Allison Williams, Freida Pinto, and Kuoth Wiel to lead “Past Forward,” with appearances by John Krasinski, Sinqua Walls, Sacha Baron Cohen, Connie Britton, Thomas Matthews, Miuccia Prada, Sarah Paulson, Zoey Deutch, Milla Jovovich, Logan Lerman, Zosia Mamet, Demi Moore, Mandy Moore, Olivia Munn, Fuschia Kate Sumner, Christoph Waltz, and Kate Mara.

Continue reading David O. Russell Goes Black & White With Prada Short ‘Past Forward’ With Allison Williams, John Krasinski, Sacha Baron Cohen & More at The Playlist.

Last night, Prada held a special event to showcase a film collaboration between Miuccia Prada and film director David O. Russell, which starred Allison Williams, Freida Pinto and Kuoth Wiel. Allison Williams Attends Prada Presents Event The work of art was a multi-platform short film collaboration called Past Forward. Each of the stars showed up appropriately […]

The post Allison Williams Wears Prada To ‘Past Forward’ Presentation appeared first on uInterview.

The curtain has finally been lifted on David O. Russell and Prada’s short film “Past Forward.” The full 12-minute, black-and-white silent film was screened at a private event in Los Angeles this week and was released worldwide on Thursday morning.

Previously described as “a surreal dreamscape with an eclectic cast replaying scenes in shifting combinations,” the movie boasts an impressive ensemble including Allison Williams, Freida Pinto and Kuoth Wiel portraying the same role – a woman trapped in a suspenseful dream. John Krasinski, Connie Britton, Paula Patton, Sacha Baron Cohen, among others also co-star.

Read More: ‘Flirting with Disaster’ 20th Anniversary: David O. Russell and Lily Tomlin Reunite and Reminisce

For Russell, it was a very special opportunity to work with fashion designer Miuccia Prada. The “Joy” helmer told Vogue that the project was based on emotions, memories and movies that he remembered. When asked if he received any directive from Mrs.

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To celebrate release of The Good Lie on DVD, available now, we are giving 3 lucky WhatCulture readers the chance to win 1 of 3 copies courtesy of Entertainment One.

The Good Lie features heart-rendering and powerful performances led by; Oscar® winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line, Wild) as strong and independent employment counsellor, Carrie; Corey Stoll (House Of Cards, Non-Stop) as Carrie’s boss and ex-husband, Jack; Arnold Oceng (My Brother The Devil, Adulthood) as ‘The Chief’ orphan, Mamere; Ger Duany (I Heart Huckabees, Isn’t It Delicious) as his orphan brother, Jeremiah; Emmanuel Jal (Africa United, War Child) as his other orphan brother, Paul; Sarah Baker (Tammy, The Campaign) as Carrie’s acquaintance and volunteer, Pamela; and introducing Kuoth Wiel as Abital, the orphan sister of “The Lost Boys”.

They were known simply as “The Lost Boys”. Orphaned during the Sudanese Civil War, a group of young refugees are given...

Director: Philippe Falardeau; Screenwriter: Margaret Nagle; Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Corey Stoll, Sarah Baker, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal; Running time: 110 mins; Certificate: 12A

You cannot fail to be moved by this story of young Sudanese refugees - and not just to tears either. Director Philippe Falardeau (working in similar territory to his Oscar-nominated Monsieur Lazhar) deftly treads the boundaries between tragedy and comedy to depict major upheaval for three brothers who eventually look to Reese Witherspoon's brassy employment agent to settle them into the American way of life.

The changing tone is marked by bends in a very long road, first leading from a small Sudanese village to a refugee camp in Kenya. Mamere (Brixton-based actor Arnold Oceng), Jeremiah (Ger Duany) and Paul (Emmanuel Jal), along with their sister Abital (Kuoth Wiel) and the eldest, Theo (Femi Ogun), survive a massacre by soldiers in the country's second civil...

The Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film (Faaaf) announced its nominees for the 15th Annual Black Reel Awards Wednesday morning. Justin Simien's "Dear White People" and Ava DuVernay's "Selma" led the way with 10 nominations each. They were joined by "Belle," "Beyond the Lights" and "Top Five" in the organization's best picture category. Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be announced on Feb. 22, 2015. And learn more about what's going on this season at The Circuit. Motion Picture Outstanding Motion Picture "Belle" "Beyond the Lights" "Dear White People" "Selma" "Top Five" Outstanding Actor Chadwick Boseman, "Get on Up" David Oyelowo, "Selma" Nate Parker, "Beyond the Lights" Chris Rock, "Top Five" Denzel Washington, "The Equalizer" Outstanding Actress Rosario Dawson, "Top Five" Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Belle" Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Beyond the Lights" Tessa Thompson, "Dear White People" Quvenzhané Wallis, "Annie" Outstanding Supporting Actor Nelsan Ellis, "Get On Up" David Oyelowo,...

The Good Lie

Written by Margaret Nagle

Directed by Philippe Falardeau

Kenya/India/USA, 2014

The Good Lie is an earnest, well-meaning film that overcomes its many flaws to tell a life-affirming story about survival and second chances. No work of fiction could ever convey the atrocities of the Second Sudanese Civil War, but this is an effective glimpse into the lives of a lucky few who escaped. It’s not looking to raise awareness or rabble-rouse. It only wants to show us that as long as there is life, there is hope. On that count, it most certainly succeeds.

Mamere (Arnold Oceng) and his older brother, Theo (Femi Oguns), are like any other young boys; they fight, they test each other’s limits, they play games reciting their familial names down through the generations. To the cattlemen of the Sudan, tribal connections are a source of both history and renewal.

The Good Lie gets its title from a classroom discussion of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that takes place halfway through the narrative. Mamere (Arnold Oceng), a twenty-something Sudanese refugee at a Kansas City night school, raises his hand enthusiastically to explain the concept. A “good lie” is told with good intentions, such as when Huck fibs to protect Jim, so that the latter will not be sold back into slavery. Mamere knows all about good lies: many years earlier, during an 800-mile walk from war-ravaged South Sudan to a refugee camp in Kenya, his older brother, Theo, told a good lie. Theo stood up to a pair of soldiers approaching Mamere and his pals, and gave himself up, explaining that there was nobody else with him.

As a result of that “good lie,” the South Sudan orphans could evade capture and continue their walk. It is powerful, poignant moments...

The Good Lie Warner Bros Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: B+ Director: Philippe Falardeau Screenplay: Margaret Nagle Cast: Corey Stoll, Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, Femi Oguns, Lindsay Garrett Screened at: Lincoln Square, NYC, 10/1/14 Opens: October 3, 2014 You jumped the turnstile at the #4 train at Grand Central Station and the police are on your trail. You read about Riker’s Detention Center in a recent issue of New York magazine, and you’re not going to Rikers. You toss a dart at a map of the world. It lands on London. No good. Toss another and [ Read More ]

The post The Good Lie Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Now playing in theaters is the inspiring film The Good Lie. Directed by Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), the film tells the story of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” who were uprooted by the brutal Sudanese Civil War that started in 1983. Young orphans of war, both boys and girls, trekked thousands of miles on foot through hostile, treacherous terrain to escape the violence and find safety. Before 9/11, the United States had a program to bring survivors to America and help them get acclimated to their new lives. Thousands were brought over. The Good Lie tells the story of a few of these survivors. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, and Sarah Baker, The Good Lie will remind you about what’s really important. For more on the film, watch this featurette or the trailer. At the Nashville press day, I spoke to Corey Stoll,...

"The Good Lie" opened on October 3 in limited release following a September bow at the Toronto Film Festival. It features Reese Witherspoon as an American woman who helps four Sudanese refugees – among more than 20,000 children known as the Lost Boys of Sudan – adjust to life in the United States, but the real stars of the film are the Lost Boys themselves. Actors Emmanuel Jal, Ger Duany, and Kuoth Wiel were among the real Lost Boys, and Arnold Oceng, in a noteworthy breakthrough performance, is a British-raised son of a Sudanese man. -Break- Oscars: Black Performers--Filmmakers After a screening on September 30, the Us ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, made sure to remind the audience that the violence and displacement that plagued the nation aren't finished. South Sudan broke off from Sudan in 2011 after a long fight for independence, but it erupted into another civil war in 2013. Of the film,...

Don’t be fooled by The Good Lie’s poster, in which Reese Witherspoon appears to be at the center of the film. Director Philippe Falardeau and writer Margaret Nagle have managed to pull off something rather remarkable here, and that is that they’ve managed to tell the story of a group of South Sudanese refugees in the U.S. from their perspective rather than from a western one.

After making it out of their war-torn homeland, the four refugees (played by Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal and Kuoth Wiel) are given the chance to live in Kansas City and find work – with the help of Carrie (Witherspoon), an employment officer. Among those aiding there adjustment to their new lives are Carrie’s compassionate boss (Corey Stoll) and a spunky charity worker (Sarah Baker). In the end, two vastly different worlds come together to tell a single heartbreaking...

Now playing in theaters is the inspiring film The Good Lie. Directed by Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), the film tells the story of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” who were uprooted by the brutal Sudanese Civil War that started in 1983. Young orphans of war, both boys and girls, trekked thousands of miles on foot through hostile, treacherous terrain to escape the violence and find safety. Before 9/11, the United States had a program to bring survivors to America and help them get acclimated to their new lives. Thousands were brought over. The Good Lie tells the story of a few of these survivors. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, and Sarah Baker, The Good Lie will remind you about what’s really important. For more on the film, watch this featurette or the trailer. At the Nashville press day, I spoke to Arnold Oceng,...

Reese Witherspoon may be the most famous face in The Good Lie, but the film's real stars are the actors who play the four Sudanese immigrants at the heart of the story: Arnold Oceng, Ger ­Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and Kuoth Wiel. Set during the Second Sudanese Civil War, which raged from 1983 to 2005, the film follows four children who survive the slaughter and then walk 800 miles to a refugee camp in Kenya. Though only two are biologically related, they ­become the only family any of them know, and 13 years later, they immigrate to the U.S. as part of the group...

The cast of "The Good Lie" came by the HitFix studios this week so we could sit down to discuss the work they did in the film, and the way the movie manages to avoid some of Hollywood's most irritating bad habits. First up, I spoke with Arnold Oceng and Kuoth Wiel. Oceng is the film's ostensible lead, although I think it's a fairly balanced movie overall in terms of the way it treats its ensemble cast. He's also the one cast member of the four main refugees with the most acting experience, and unsurprisingly, he was fairly poised in our interview. Both Ger Duany and Emmanuel Jal have made documentaries about their experiences as Sudanese refugees, and they've built careers for themselves as artists as well. Jal is a rapper and musician, and Duany's been in other films, including "I Heart Huckabees." Anyone who can survive being a child...

The Good Lie is titled after the lies in Huckleberry Finn, the type of lie that is a lie for the greater good, even if lying is wrong. The Good Lie, the movie, has a small opening this weekend in under 500 theaters and will hopefully begin to slowly expand to more theaters with it’s poster of smiling Reese Witherspoon’s head miraculously floating over an African desert. The poster for The Good Lie and the trailer for The Good Lie are, themselves, actual good lies because what looks like The Blind Side but with Reese Witherspoon is not, instead it’s one of those movies that will be shown to our children in school.

You remember the type of movie I’m talking about: you have a substitute or your teacher got a little ahead in the lesson plan or you have a half-holiday day so the class gets...

Reese Witherspoon is the most famous star in the movie The Good Lie - but the real scene-stealers are her castmates. The drama, inspired by true events, recounts Sudan's second civil war and the stories of a few of the thousands of children it orphaned and displaced, who became known as the "Lost Boys." The Good Lie follows four refugees (played by Arnold Oceng, 28, Ger Duany, 35, Emmanuel Jal, 34, and Kuoth Wiel, 25) as they flee soldiers, walk hundreds of miles to a refugee camp and eventually relocate to the United States, where they struggle to reconcile their tragic pasts with a...

Reese Witherspoon is the most famous star in the movie The Good Lie - but the real scene-stealers are her castmates. The drama, inspired by true events, recounts Sudan's second civil war and the stories of a few of the thousands of children it orphaned and displaced, who became known as the "Lost Boys." The Good Lie follows four refugees (played by Arnold Oceng, 28, Ger Duany, 35, Emmanuel Jal, 34, and Kuoth Wiel, 25) as they flee soldiers, walk hundreds of miles to a refugee camp and eventually relocate to the United States, where they struggle to reconcile their tragic pasts with a...

The Good Lie discussion moderated by Pen American Center president Peter Godwin Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Joanna Coles, Peter Godwin, Dr. Amanda Foreman, Gayle King, Diane Sawyer, Mike Nichols, George Stephanopoulos, Fareed Zakaria, Tina Brown and Sir Harold Evans with the Us Fund for Unicef, and Samantha Power, Us Ambassador to the United Nations, hosted a special screening of Philippe Falardeau's The Good Lie starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal and Kuoth Wiel with a screenplay by Margaret Nagle.

Soon-Yi Previn, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Karen Sherwood, Nile Rodgers, Lynn Stratford, John Prendergast, Chuck Scarborough, Ed Lloyd, Angelina Jacob, Jennifer Duneier, Felicia Taylor, Jill Martin, Bill Blakemore and Phyllis Lee were among those joining in with our hosts for the Warner Bros. screening at Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle near Central Park.

Screenwriter Margaret Nagle with The Good Lie star Kuoth Wiel: "And suddenly I hear,...

As the temps continue to fall, the studios inch closer to serious film time (and Oscar season) by releasing another movie with the nebulous ad line “inspired by true events”. That phrase has been attached to everything from the Nicholas Sparks adapted weeper The Vow to sports flicks such as Million Dollar Arm, often basing the story on just part of an incident. But for this new release the phrase could be amended to “inspired by ongoing true events”. Like 2011′s Machine Gun Preacher, this new film concerns the ongoing conflicts in the Sudan in North Africa. Now the title of this new film is somewhat ironic. It refers to a literary work read by one of the characters, but the title could also be a comment on the film’s marketing, which we’ll discuss a bit later. First let’s explore The Good Lie.

This begins a couple...

Opening this weekend is the inspiring film The Good Lie. Director Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), the film tells the story of “Lost Boys of Sudan" who were uprooted by the brutal Sudanese Civil War that started in 1983. Young orphans of war, both boys and girls, trekked thousands of miles on foot through hostile, treacherous terrain to escape the violence and find safety. Before 9/11, the United States had a program to bring survivors to America and help them get acclimated to their new lives. Thousands were brought over. The Good Lie tells the story of a few of these survivors. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, and Sarah Baker, The Good Lie will remind you about what's really important. For more on the film, watch this featurette or the trailer. Last week at the Nashville press day, I spoke to producers Thad Luckinbill, Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill.

Arnold Oceng (Mamere), scriptwriter Margaret Nagle, and Kuoth Wiel (Abital) were in high spirits for the press junket of .The Good Lie. in Nashville. They are all proud of the film starring Reese Witherspoon. In this interview, we talked about the inspiration in writing .The Good Lie,. how Oceng got the part, and Kuoth.s passion to helping refugees. .The Good Lie. opens nationwide on Friday, October 3rd.

Official Synopis:

.The Good Lie.

They were known simply as "The Lost Boys." Orphaned by the brutal Civil war in Sudan that began in 1983, these young victims traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring 3600 lost boys and girls to America. In "The Good Lie," Philippe Falardeau, (writer and director of the Oscar(R)- nominated Foreign Language film "Monsieur Lazhar") brings the story of their survival and triumph to life.

The Good Lie is an inspiring film about love, survival and triumph over adversity and a powerful reminder of what’s really important in life. Philippe Falardeau directs the moving story of “The Lost Boys” who were uprooted by the brutal Sudanese Civil War that lasted from 1983 to 2005. Young orphans of war, both boys and girls, trekked thousands of miles on foot through hostile, treacherous terrain to escape the violence and find safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring 3600 of them from Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp to America. The entertaining drama stars Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, Corey Stoll, Kuoth Wiel, and Sarah Baker. At a recent press conference in Nashville, Witherspoon, Oceng, Duany, Wiel, Stoll, Baker, screenwriter Margaret Nagle, producers Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill and Trent Luckinbill, and Unicef’s Kent Page talked about the importance of telling the story with integrity, Nagle’s exhaustive research,...

With two big films at the Toronto International Film Festival, it would be easy for that to get to your head, butReese Witherspoon was conscious that her film, The Good Lie, was bigger than herself: "This has nothing to do with you, Reese."

 

At the press conference for the film, French-Canadian director Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar) agreed, and Witherspoon recalled a conversation where the director said, "I really like you and respect you, Reese, but this movie has nothing to do with that."

It's about the Lost Boys and Girls of South Sudan.

In The Good Lie, Witherspoon plays an American who is assigned to help four young Sudanese refugees (Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Kuoth Wiel, and Emmanuel Jal) who are relocating to the United States. The film also stars Corey Stoll (Midnight In Paris, "House of Cards"), and is produced by Ron Howard and Brian Glazer -- both of...

The 39th Toronto International Film Festival has announced its initial slate of galas and special presentations, which includes 37 world premieres and several films with Oscar ambitions. The Judge, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as a big-city lawyer who reluctantly returns home and ends up defending his revered father (Robert Duvall) against criminal charges, will have its world premiere in Toronto. His Avengers pal, Chris Evans, will unveil his own directorial debut in Toronto, titled Before We Go.

Also noteworthy: James Gandolfini’s final film, The Drop, which also stars Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace; another Jason Reitman Toronto world premiere,...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its initial wave of 2014 premieres and galas this morning and it features some familiar awards titles, some big stars and some unexpected studio titles. Among the major studio films, David Dobkin's "The Judge" with Robert Downey Jr. and Antoine Fuqua's "The Equalizer" each received gala slots and should premiere over the festival's opening weekend. Other announced galas so far include Bennett Miller's acclaimed "Foxcatcher," which debuted at Cannes, and Mike Binder's "Black and White" starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer and Anthony Mackie. Toronto has also scheduled special gala screenings for David Cronenberg's "Map to the Stars" with Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson, François Ozon's "The New Girlfriend," Ed Zwick's "Pawn Sacrifice" with Tobey Maguire, Lone Scherfig's "The Riot Club," Jean-Marc Vallée's "Wild," Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's "Samba" and Shawn Levy's "This is Where I Leave You...