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Vic chats with Tommy Pallotta (A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life) about his phenomenal new movie The Last Hijack and gives an incredible insight into the animation process, Somali pirates and all things movies! Subscribe on iTunes – Click here (Click view in iTunes and the click Subscribe) If you’re already a subscriber, the latest episode is ready to download. iPhone / iPad Users– Click here to open your iTunes podcast app and click Subscribe! Stitcher Users Click here – iOS / Android This is our latest, epic, episode!

Read More: FilmBuff Nabs Innovative Somali Pirate Doc 'Last Hijack' Out of SXSW The Los Angeles chapter of StoryCode, the open-source, global community for cross-platform and immersive storytellers, will host a special evening with Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting, directors of "Last Hijack," on June 24 at a shared workspace in the Downtown area. Founded just last year, the Los Angeles chapter of the organization has been host to free, monthly talks given by innovative creators from across the community, including immersive opera director Yuval Sharon, virtual reality pioneer Nonny de la Pena and Yacht frontwoman and futurist Claire Evans. Each program is curated by Kel O'Neill, founder of StoryCode Los Angeles, who said the inspiration to screen "Last Hijack" stemmed from the way the project simultaneously straddles both familiar and groundbreaking territory. "Most people who know about indie film know Tommy's work on 'Waking Life' and 'Scanner.

Whoopsy. I forgot to share this list... Herewith the films that could be up for Best Documentary Feature this year. We'll get a finalist of 15 at some point next month followed by 5 nominees in January "until we crown A Winnah!" If we've reviewed the titles, you'll notice their pretty color which you can then click on to read about them. The magic of the internet. You can also see the animated and documentary Oscar charts here.

The 134 Semi-Finalists

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Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq, Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case, Algorithms, Alive Inside, All You Need Is Love, Altina, America: Imagine the World without Her, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, Anita, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, Art and Craft, Awake: The Life of Yogananda, The Barefoot Artist, The Battered Bastards of Baseball, Before You Know It, Bitter Honey, Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, Botso The Teacher from Tbilisi,...

One hundred thirty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 87th Academy Awards. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

“Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq”

“Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case”

“Algorithms”

“Alive Inside”

“All You Need Is Love”

“Altina”

“America: Imagine the World without Her”

“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs”

“Anita”

“Antarctica: A Year on Ice”

“Art and Craft”

“Awake: The Life of Yogananda”

“The Barefoot Artist”

“The Battered Bastards of Baseball”

“Before You Know It”

“Bitter Honey”

“Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity”

“Botso The Teacher from Tbilisi”

“Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart”

“The Case against 8”

“Cesar’s Last Fast”

“Citizen Koch”

“CitizenFour”

“Code Black”

“Concerning Violence”

“The Culture High”

“Cyber-Seniors”

“DamNation”

“Dancing in Jaffa”

“Death Metal Angola”

“The Decent One”

“Dinosaur 13”

“Do You Know What My Name Is?...

Citizenfour, Life Itself, Red Army, Warsaw Uprising among long-list contenters for the 87th Academy Awards.

The Salt Of The Earth, Happy Valley, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, Food Chains and Point And Shoot are also named.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

20,000 Days On Earth

Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Algorithms

Alive Inside

All You Need Is Love

Altina

America: Imagine The World Without Her

American Revolutionary: The Evolution Of Grace Lee Boggs

Anita

Antarctica: A Year On Ice

Art And Craft

Awake: The Life Of Yogananda

The Barefoot Artist

The Battered Bastards Of Baseball

Before You Know It

Bitter Honey

Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity

Botso The Teacher From Tbilisi

Captivated The Trials Of Pamela Smart

The Case Against 8

Cesar’s Last Fast

Citizen Koch

Citizenfour

Code Black

Concerning Violence

The Culture High

Cyber-Seniors

Damnation

Dancing In Jaffa

Death Metal Angola

The...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its list of 134 film vying for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar at the 87th Annual Academy Awards in February. A number of the nonfic hopefuls have yet to get their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Those that don’t will be cut from the contention. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December. Oscar noms will be revealed January 15, and ABC will broadcast Hollywood’s Big Night live on February 22 from the Dolby Theatre.

Here are the docu feature submissions:

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Algorithms

Alive Inside

All You Need Is Love

Altina

America: Imagine the World without Her

American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs

Anita

Antarctica: A Year on Ice

Art and Craft

Awake: The Life of Yogananda

The Barefoot Artist

The Battered Bastards of Baseball...

One hundred thirty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 87th Academy Awards®. Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category's other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. Pt in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar...

Finnish documentary expert Leena Pasanen has been appointed as the first non-German in the almost 60-year history of Dok Leipzig to succeed Claas Danielsen as its festival director.

Pasanen previously worked in documentary programming at public broadcaster Yle and as the director of the European Documentary Network in Copenhagen, among others.

She will take up her post on January 1, 2015 with an initial five-year contract .

Claas Danielsen, who has headed Dok Leipzig as festival director for the past ten years, will open his swansong edition on Oct 27 with Citizenfour, the final part of Laura Poitras’ 9/11 trilogy, centred on Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Sergei Loznitsa’s Maidan and Ulrich Seidl’s Im Keller are among 12 titles selected for the International Competition for Feature Documentaries to compete for the €10,000 Golden Dove.

Other films in this competitive section include Fernand Melgar’s The Shelter, which premiered at Locarno in August; Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s 15 Corners Of The World; Giovanni Donfrancesco’s [link...

1. Eden | Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Underneath the bass drops and the electronic harmony of the garage music scene of 1990s Paris is melancholy and loneliness. The parties are bursting with verve and energy, but when the music stops, so does that joy. Hansen-Løve’s examination of a young DJ over the course of twenty years is warm and tender, an incredible look at the pros and cons of following your passion, allowing art to be your escape, and the joy of music.

Read Kyle’s full review here.

2. Goodbye to Language 3D | Directed by Jean-Luc Godard

While the audience is trapped by the kamera, the iconoclastic Godard is doing all he can to… not get us out exactly, but perhaps to stage a prison break. The goal in his game changing 3D film is to change the paradigm of what film is and can be, to make those prison bars into something entirely new.

For some reason, we have seen an influx of films about Somali pirates lately, from last year’s Oscar-nominated hit Captain Phillips and the slow-burn Danish thriller A Hijacking, to the recent Somali-language drama Fishing Without Nets. Before this wave settles, there is still room for another terrific title: the documentary Last Hijack, a revealing and often riveting look into the central dilemma of one pirate’s life.

The film, directed by Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta, is a live-action non-fiction movie buoyed by sequences of rotoscoped animation. Much of the present-day action focuses around Mohamed, whose days of ransom collecting and living the high-octane thrill of a pirate may be close to over. Hanging out in Eyl, a Somali shantytown not far from the Indian Ocean, Mohamed is in debt. After many years of pirating, he has to figure out whether to return home to get married and raise...

Plot: An examination of the world of piracy in Somalia through the eyes of a veteran pirate who tries to give up the life. Review: Last Hijack, from directors Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta is kind of like the flip side to Captain Phillips. While that movie did an admirable job depicting the desperate circumstances that have made piracy such a dangerous phenomenon in Somalia, Last Hijack goes even further, giving the pirates themselves a podium from which they can explain...

Last Hijack CineEuropa Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: B Director: Femke Wolting, Tommy Pallotta Screenplay: Femke Wolting, Tommy Pallotta Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 9/10/14 Opens: October 10, 2014 In the Tom Hanks vehicle “Captain Phillips,” which deals with a hijacked ship, one of the criminals calls himself simply the interpreter. He insists that he has no respect for the pirates—that they are low-lifes and that the captain should correspond with the people back home in authority to get the pirates to free the men. This attitude—that piracy is a disrespectful profession—is reflected among the law-abiding families of Somalia, which today is the leading [ Read More ]

The post Last Hijack Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

How many times have we seen this cliché? A charismatic criminal wants to finally go legit and build a family, but he has to pull one last job in order to make enough money to retire for life. After tightly wound thrillers like “A Hijacking” and “Captain Phillips”, which explored the Somali pirate issue from a Western perspective, we get “Last Hijack”, the story of Mohamed, a successful and ruthless Somali pirate, who has to leave his life of crime in order to get married but is enticed by that one last big job that keeps calling him. The big difference "Last Hijack "brings to this tired premise, however, is that Mohamed’s story is completely real. Easily one of the best documentaries of 2014, Tommy Pallotta and Femke Volting’s film explores the motivations, circumstances, fears and dreams of a real-life pirate in an admirably objective fashion, while also visualizing his thoughts via gorgeous,...

Access is always an issue with documentary, creating unique challenges in war zones or similar areas where filmmakers would be in physical danger or simply cannot go. The documentary Last Hijack, produced by Submarine Channel and directed by Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta, doesn’t just deal with these issues but makes them one of the film’s greatest strengths. In documenting piracy in Somalia, the filmmakers turned to techniques like animation — Pallotta produced both Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly — to show what could not be filmed, and then went one step further by creating an interactive documentary to accompany the traditional linear film. […]...

Access is always an issue with documentary, creating unique challenges in war zones or similar areas where filmmakers would be in physical danger or simply cannot go. The documentary Last Hijack, produced by Submarine Channel and directed by Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta, doesn’t just deal with these issues but makes them one of the film’s greatest strengths. In documenting piracy in Somalia, the filmmakers turned to techniques like animation — Pallotta produced both Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly — to show what could not be filmed, and then went one step further by creating an interactive documentary to accompany the traditional linear film. […]...

Documentaries can be just as creative as a feature, especially when it's told in an innovative way, which is the case with Last Hijack, a really thought-provoking and compelling doc the presents itself in a unique way. Chronicling the life and times of a real-life Somali pirate in his homeland, while interpreting his stories and worldview with animation, Last Hijack takes a controversial subject and presents it in a way that draws the viewer in with more than just talking heads and...

Seventeen days might seem like ample breathing room to take in all the tidily curated bounty of the 52nd New York Film Festival, but the sidebars alone are a bit overwhelming. Old Hollywood iconoclast Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve) will be celebrated with a 21-feature tribute, and the forward-thinking "Convergence" series of films and panels explores bold innovations in multi-platform interactivity. One captivating standout is Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting's Somali pirate experience Last Hijack, which blends documentary footage and otherworldly animation with a transmedia supplement. (Thank god the future isn't video games.)

Among the repertory revivals are a 30th-anniversary screening of the everlastingly quotable mock-rock-doc This Is Spin...

Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting’s Last Hijack is due to screen at the New York Film Festival on Sunday, September 28th and it’s bound to be a very unique piece of cinema. The film focuses on a successful Somali pirate with family and friends who don’t approve of his dangerous gig. Rather than tell his story using documentary footage alone, Pallotta and Wolting combine it with animated sequences and an online transmedia experience as well. With the movie’s Nyff screening fast approaching, we got the opportunity to debut a simple yet striking exclusive new poster for the film. Hit the jump to check out the Last Hijack poster and keep an eye out for the full feature, which is due to arrive in select theaters on October 3rd, will have an exclusive run on iTunes from October 7th to October 14th and then hit all other...

Last year, Barkhad Abdi earned an Oscar nomination for playing a Somali pirate in “Captain Phillips.” Now, Mohamed Nura shows audiences the real thing in “Last Hijack.” A new documentary from directors Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta (a producer on Richard Linklater‘s “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly”) enters the forbidden — and thriving — world of Somali pirates. Using animation, documentary footage, and re-enactments, the film explores their tactics and justifications, seeking to understand the issue from the perspective we rarely hear in the news media. The Filmbuff release will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 28, and then open in.

The Venice Film Festival has added two documentaries to its lineup, one on Peter Bogdanovich and the other on Arthur Penn. Also in today's news roundup: Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting's The Last Hijack is part of the first wave of the New York Film Festival's Convergence programming. Revisiting Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Double Life of Véronique (1991). And remembering Marilyn Burns, "the most resilient of the terrified road trippers in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). » - David Hudson...

The Venice Film Festival has added two documentaries to its lineup, one on Peter Bogdanovich and the other on Arthur Penn. Also in today's news roundup: Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting's The Last Hijack is part of the first wave of the New York Film Festival's Convergence programming. Revisiting Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Double Life of Véronique (1991). And remembering Marilyn Burns, "the most resilient of the terrified road trippers in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). » - David Hudson...

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced its initial 3 selections for its 2014 Nyff Convergence event, which takes place September 27-28. Focusing on the intersection of technology and storytelling, Nyff Convergence offers audiences and creators the unique opportunity to experience a curated selection of immersive storytelling projects. The first 3 selections announced include the North American Premiere of the interactive presentation of Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting’s "The Last Hijack," which combines documentary footage, animation, and an online transmedia experience to explore contemporary piracy from the point of view of a Somali man...

★★★☆☆In a world where abstract emotions like fear and terror have been distorted to mobilise society against an invisible foe, pirates have become the latest bogeymen of Western cinema. In Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting's Last Hijack (2014), we're offered the opportunity to explore behind the headlines and experience the world from the pirate's perspective. Opening on a fisherman readying his line, Last Hijack gracefully switches from documentary footage to animated surrealism. The man whisks his hook into the air and zooms up with it into the sky. He transforms into a giant bird of prey, stretching its feathered wings before swooping down onto a cargo ship and carrying it away in its gigantic talons.

Femke Wolting & Tommy Pallotta’s experimental doc Last Hijack sees the venn-diagramming of a rigorous interview style and breakout swatches of rotoscoped animation, ala Waking Life (which Pallotta produced.) In lieu of philosophical digressions or convoluted dream sequences, the filmmakers use animation to depict the unfilmable: nailbiting raids by Somali pirates, led by one Mohamed Nura, who casually recounts his adventures to the filmmakers between mouthfuls of khat. Never feeling doctrinaire, the film takes an earnest stab at correcting the way the West considers seaside piracy, delineating a cycle of corruption and violence starting with Mohamed’s father. Wolting and Pallotta […]...

Femke Wolting & Tommy Pallotta’s experimental doc Last Hijack sees the venn-diagramming of a rigorous interview style and breakout swatches of rotoscoped animation, ala Waking Life (which Pallotta produced.) In lieu of philosophical digressions or convoluted dream sequences, the filmmakers use animation to depict the unfilmable: nailbiting raids by Somali pirates, led by one Mohamed Nura, who casually recounts his adventures to the filmmakers between mouthfuls of khat. Never feeling doctrinaire, the film takes an earnest stab at correcting the way the West considers seaside piracy, delineating a cycle of corruption and violence starting with Mohamed’s father. Wolting and Pallotta […]...

Before I attend film festivals, I sketch out an overloaded schedule and give myself multiple options, sometimes based more on where and when a movie is playing than the subject matter of the film itself.  Monday, I had mainly chosen to see Last Hijack because it was playing at Alamo Drafthouse Village. I figured the doc would be a good counterbalance to Cesar Chavez, and I could get my third Alamo pretzel of the fest.*  A friend happened to tweet the trailer for the documentary/animation earlier that day, and it looked terrific. 

The screening wasn't jam-packed, but most seats were full as we watched the real-life drama unfold.  Filmmakers Femke Wolting and former Austinite Tommy Pallotta depict some months in the life of Mohamed, a Somalian man whose tragic life has eventually led him to piracy hijackings at sea. He hopes to marry a young woman, but her family (and his parents,...

Following its North America premiere at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, the creative Somali pirate documentary "Last Hijack" was picked up by FilmBuff. A theatrical release is to follow, and the doc will be on demand this summer. The film recently had its world premiere at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. Read More: 5 Essential Events Film/Tech Geeks Won't Want to Miss at SXSW "Last Hijack" is directed by collaborative team Tommy Pallotta ("Waking Life") and Femke Wolting ("Eisenstein in Guanajuato"). Using innovative techniques involving animation and doc filmmaking, it tells the story of experienced pirate Mohamed as he hijacks ships off the coast of Africa while also struggling to be a father to his family. “Mohamed’s is a journey that needed to be told,” said the filmmaking team. “We always wanted to tell the story of piracy from the Somali perspective while also highlighting the realities of survival in a failed state.

Google and the government were in the crosshairs as whistleblower Edward Snowden made a rare public appearance on Monday (10) to address the SXSW conference from exile in Russia – ironically using Google+ Hangouts.

The computer specialist and former Nsa contractor took part in a conversation moderated by the Aclu and talk turned inevitably to data security.

When asked whether he considered Google a greater threat than the government, Snowden said the latter represented the more potent risk as it controlled a panoply of powers.

Snowden said software developers needed to build more secure communications methods and urged users of the internet everywhere to takes steps to defend themselves against surveillance.

The whistleblower stressed that his action in leaking thousands of classified documents last year had improved Us national security and went on to say he would do it all over again.

FilmBuff has picked up Tommy Pallotta’s Last Hijack from Match Factory and will release the documentary...

FilmBuff has announced it will release the SXSW documentary “Last Hijack” in theaters and on VOD this summer. Directed by Tommy Pallotta (producer of “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly”) and Femke Wolting, the film combines animation and documentary filmmaking to portray the powerful story of a Somali pirate as he hijacks ships off the coast of Africa while also struggling to become the father figure that his family needs. The film was produced by Wolting and Submarine's Bruno Felix. Also read: SXSW: Watch Live Interviews With Seth Rogen, Robert Duvall, Emmy Rossum, Paul Wesley, Kathryn Hahn and More (Video) “Last Hijack” takes an.

Earlier today, SXSW announced the final eight additional features to screen at the festival this year, as well as announcing featured conversations with Jason Bateman, Mike Myers, Ralph Steadman, Robert Duvall and Tilda Swinton. Check out the line up below. SXSW Film Festival will open on Friday, March 7, 2014 with the world premiere of Jon Favreau’s Chef, and run through March 15 in Austin, Texas. The complete schedule is here.

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Additional Films:

Visions

May the Best Man Win

Director: Andrew O’Connor, Screenwriters: Matthew Robinson, Lee Hupfield, Andrew O’Connor

Two pranksters compete against each other in a series of increasingly outrageous stunts to win the affections of the girl they’ve both fallen for.

Cast: Whit Thomas, Drew Tarver, Rosa Salazar (World Premiere)

Yakona

Directors: Anlo Sepulveda & Paul Collins

A river’s dreams and memories told from the perspective of the water that runs through it – a visual journey from...

A trailer for the forthcoming documentary Last Hijack has been released online, and it looks pretty amazing. Directed by Tommy Pallotta (American Prince) and Femke Wolting (Another Perfect World), Last Hijack, utilizes live action and animation to tell the tale of two Somali pirates and their community on the coastline. The documentary recounts the incentives of the pirates, why did they become pirates, and how did they grew up in a country with political chaos, war and extreme poverty. The narrative structure is built around two interweaving story-lines; one depicting the “present”, the daily lives of the pirates and their community, and the second in the “past”, revealing through epic animation, the unfolding of a recent hijacking. Last Hijack will premiere on Friday, February 7th in Berlin. Watch the trailer below. Enjoy!

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The post Trailer For ‘Last Hijack’ A Documentary That Uses Live Action & Animation To Tell The Story Of...

Part of the reason why Paul Greengrass' "Captain Phillips" was so effective both as a drama and thriller was that it took the time to humanize the antagonists of the film. Less villains and more the product of the society and circumstances they found themselves in, the pirates who board the ship in the film—led by a commanding, Oscar nominated turn by Barkhad Abdi—are complex characters, part of a system that in many ways, is their only means of survival. And now the forthcoming documentary "Last Hijack," premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, is going to dig deeper into what it means to be Somali pirate, and we have compelling, exclusive trailer. Directed by Tommy Pallotta ("American Prince") and Femke Wolting ("Another Perfect World"), "Last Hijack" utilizes live action and animation to tell the tale of Mohamed, an experienced pirate facing middle age dilemmas. The documentary recounts...

Despite receiving heaps of praise for his more mature dramatic work (namely Boyhood and the Before trilogy), filmmaker Richard Linklater is still attached to the upcoming The Incredible Mr. Limpet remake at Warner Bros. We first wrote about his involvement a few years ago, back in 2011, reporting that he was slated to be hired and did get the job. Ever since then he's been working on this project and now seems to be making a few major steps forward. Most importantly, he has hired two animation filmmakers to work on the animation half of the film - Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta, of the project Last Hijack. This latest news comes from ScreenDaily, where they report that "Tommy showed [The Last Hijack] to Richard Linklater, who we’ve collaborated with previously. Richard loved the animation technique that we used." Linklater has previously worked with Tommy Pallotta, a Texas-born filmmaker, and Femke Wolting, a Netherlands-born filmmaker,...

Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman ("A Beautiful Mind") is set to pen a new draft of the script for the "Divergent" sequel "Insurgent". Brian Duffield ("Jane Got a Gun") penned the previous draft, it isn't known to what extent Goldsman's re-write will be.

Summit has confirmed that "Divergent" director Neil Burger will not helm the follow-up which aims to begin filming this Spring. No potential replacement director is yet set.

Meanwhile, filmmakers Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta ("The Last Hijack") have come onboard Warners' upcoming remake of the classic 1964 fantasy adventure "The Incredible Mr Limpet".

Richard Linklater is set to direct the project which will combine live action and animation. Wolting and Pallotta have already begun working on design and animation for the project

Pallotta previously worked with Linklater on both "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly". At last report Zach Galifianakis is tipped to play the lead.

Source: THR and Screen...

Directing duo Femke Wolting and Tommy Pallotta have been recruited to work on the upcoming Warner Bros fantasy adventure.

The two filmmakers are currently in post-production on The Last Hijack, which combines animation and real footage to tell the story of a young Somali pirate preparing for what might be his last mission. It is set to premiere in Berlin’s Panorama Dokumente section next month.

The Incredible Mr Limpet, a remake of a 1964 movie that Richard Linklater is set to direct, is also set to combine live action and animation. Wolting and Pallotta have already begun working on design and animation for the project.

It reunites Pallotta with Linklater after the pair worked together on live action/animation hybrids Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly.

Wolting said: “Tommy showed [The Last Hijack] to Richard Linklater, who we’ve collaborated with previously. Richard loved the animation technique that we used.”

There are few more details about the Limpet remake but [link...

Selection opens with a documentary about what motivates Somali pirates and includes the European premiere of 20,000 Days on Earth, starring Nick Cave, and 10 world premieres.Scroll down for full list

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has unveiled the 16 films that will make up the documentary section of its Panorama strand.

This year’s Panorama Dokumente comprises 16 films, including ten world premieres, and will open on Feb 7 with the world premiere of Dutch co-production The Last Hijack by Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting. The film depicts what motivates piracy in Somalia.

The topic of Africa, which is also reflected in the Ethiopian fictional feature Difret, is also central to Swedish filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson in Concerning Violence. This commentary on Africa’s decolonisation, cites Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth” - and Us singer Lauryn Hill lends these texts her voice.

Olsson previously presented The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 about the Afro-American civil rights...

Sundance Institute has announced the 22 Fellows representing nine documentary film projects participating in the 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, set to run from Jun 21-29 and Jul 5-13 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.

Documentary Film Program (Dfp) staff and creative advisors will join the Fellows in the process.

The Fellows for the Jun 21-29 Documentary Edit and Story Lab are: Director Kirsten Johnson and editor Amanda Laws for A Blind Eye (Us); co-directors and editor Ed Pincus and Lucia Small for Elephant In The Room (Us); co-directors Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting and editor Edgar Burcksen for The Last Hijack (Us-Netherlands); director Andrew James and editor Jason Tippet for Street Fighting Man (Us); and director Alexander Nanau and editor Mirceau Olteanu for Totonel (Romania).

The Fellows for the Jul 5-13 Documentary Edit and Story Lab are: Director Elizabeth ‘Chai’ Vasarhelyi and editor Jay Freund for An African Spring (Us); co-directors Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly and editor...