Kazik Radwanski’s Matt and Mara is now streaming exclusively on Mubi in many countries.Deragh Campbell in Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto. Styled by Mara Zigler. Photograph by the author.To the horror and delight of Toronto filmgoers, there is a moment in Kazik Radwanski’s Matt and Mara (2024) when the lead actress cups a palmful of water from the outdoor fountains at Yonge-Dundas Square and splashes her face, her mouth slightly agape. One does not do this (locals will note a vague air of urine around the intersection). The action is especially baffling for this previously reserved character, who then jetés over the spurting jets. It’s a moment of modest physical comedy that reveals the protean mannerisms of both the character and the actress, Canadian indie stalwart Deragh Campbell.There was a certain hum around this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with the double-barrelled Canadian premieres of...
- 2/3/2025
- MUBI
The Adults.If Dustin Guy Defa’s third feature, The Adults, has all the makings of a breakthrough, it does so not solely due to its enthusiastic reception at the Berlinale or its Universal-assisted distribution deal, but because it’s the first of the 45-year-old writer-director’s films to combine his knack for offbeat characterizations with the kind of deeply felt emotion only sporadically seen in his prior work. Unlike many of his more prolific American contemporaries, Defa’s career has progressed in oddly fitful fashion, with lengthy gaps between features broken up by a number of singular short films that, until now, have best displayed his seriocomic approach to matters of urban millennial angst and alienation. The Adults both extends and expands on these themes in ways that open up Defa’s previously cloistered world of neurotic New Yorkers, eccentric artist types, and emotionally unavailable twentysomethings.Starring Michael Cera,...
- 8/15/2023
- MUBI
“Write about what you know,” the saying goes, and the same rule of thumb often applies to independent movies, with many a debuting filmmaker turning the camera on their own lives and families to create their first dramas. Such features as Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and even Ari Aster’s Hereditary are prime examples of the genre, and there are surely countless others.
Writer-director Lucy Kerr’s Family Portrait could be added to that list, except there’s a catch: If there’s drama, it exists somewhere beneath the surface, in a movie that’s filled with anxiety and foreboding without ever showcasing much of a plot. There is, in fact, a bare-bones narrative about a family coming together for their annual group photo — per the press notes, this happens just before the start of the Covid pandemic — but Kerr is less...
Writer-director Lucy Kerr’s Family Portrait could be added to that list, except there’s a catch: If there’s drama, it exists somewhere beneath the surface, in a movie that’s filled with anxiety and foreboding without ever showcasing much of a plot. There is, in fact, a bare-bones narrative about a family coming together for their annual group photo — per the press notes, this happens just before the start of the Covid pandemic — but Kerr is less...
- 8/9/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSZhang Yimou's One SecondZhang Yimou's latest One Second has been pulled from its competition slot at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film's official Weibo account cites "technical reasons," though some have speculated that the Cultural Revolution-set drama may have run into censorship troubles. Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito are both in talks to join Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, about African American veterans who return to Vietnam in search of a body and some hidden gold. “'I’ve done everything I need to do, I made a million films, I’ve been around the world,' she told CBS2’s Cindy Hsu. 'It’s been a pleasure to live and living has been terrific.'" One of the great pioneers of queer cinema, Barbara Hammer, speaks to CBS New York about "right to die" laws.
- 2/21/2019
- MUBI
Editor’s Note: Matthew Porterfield is an independent filmmaker who has made four feature films, including “Hamilton,” “Putty Hill,” and “I Used To Be Darker,” which have screened at Sundance, the Berlinale, SXSW, and the Whitney Biennial. His films are all set in his hometown of Baltimore, where now teaches at the Film and Media Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University.
Porterfield’s new film “Sollers Point” – which is being distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories and opening in New York this Friday – tells the story of Keith (McCaul Lombardi), a twenty-four-year-old newly released from prison and living with his father (Jim Belushi) under house arrest in Baltimore. IndieWire recently ask Porterfield to share with our readers what he learned making his fourth feature.
When I began making movies, I imagined I’d work best when I had it all figured out. I thought it required unwavering vision to carry a project through from beginning to end.
Porterfield’s new film “Sollers Point” – which is being distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories and opening in New York this Friday – tells the story of Keith (McCaul Lombardi), a twenty-four-year-old newly released from prison and living with his father (Jim Belushi) under house arrest in Baltimore. IndieWire recently ask Porterfield to share with our readers what he learned making his fourth feature.
When I began making movies, I imagined I’d work best when I had it all figured out. I thought it required unwavering vision to carry a project through from beginning to end.
- 5/17/2018
- by Matthew Porterfield
- Indiewire
"We're going to start practicing waking up like normal people." Oscilloscope Labs has released an official trailer for an indie drama titled Sollers Point, the latest film from indie director Matthew Porterfield. The film stars McCaul Lombardi as a 24-year-old kid fresh from prison, now living with his father under house arrest in Baltimore, Maryland. He's struggling to find his place again and trying to stay away from old habits that will get him into new trouble. The cast includes Zazie Beetz, Tom Guiry, Everleigh Brenner, and Jim Belushi as his father Carol. This looks like a damn fine film, with a great lead performance from this newcomer - those eyes, McCaul! And the way this trailer opens is fantastic - it's such a powerful, convincing scene to start with right away. This is very much worth a watch. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Matthew Porterfield's Sollers Point,...
- 4/10/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Now in its eighth year, the American Film Festival offers a unique perspective on recent developments in U.S. indie filmmaking. That’s because it happens in Poland, staged at the stylish Kino Nowe Horyzonty film center in Wroclaw, also home to the summer New Horizons festival, which has more of a European tilt.
Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.
That spirit is...
Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.
That spirit is...
- 11/14/2017
- by Steve Dollar
- Indiewire
Out of jail but not yet back in the swing of things — that in-between state has sparked countless movies, from genre thrillers to quiet character studies. In Sollers Point, Matthew Porterfield puts his distinctive stamp on this classic setup with the story of a young man who's caught between the impulse to slide back and the longing to leap forward. Working again in his native Baltimore, the writer-director maintains the documentary-style feel for place that has infused all his features. But like his previous outing, I Used to Be Darker, the new work mines more straightforward, less impressionistic...
- 9/20/2017
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
- 6/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Paris Co-pro Village buzz titles include 'Afronauts', 'Blood-Drenched Beard', 'Dark Lies The Island'
A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
- 6/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Us in Progress Paris, a three-day works in progress event targeted at American independent filmmakers and European buyers, will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 07-14 2016 in Paris.
The event is looking for 5 U.S. independent films at post-production stage (rough & fine cuts). The call for entries is open till April 8th 2016.
The application requirements for the films are the following:
* Narrative feature projects in post-production are eligible.
* Production Company needs to be Us based.
* Films looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution should apply.
* Films in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by June 1st 2016. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented on June 08-10. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
* Films with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 10th 2016 are eligible.
Us in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival), Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Black Rabbit Film. It presents independent Us films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. Us in Progress involves two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in October). The next event will take form of two days of exclusive screenings of the 5 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings on June 10th 2016.
As a bonus to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer’s Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra-Tvs, Kickstarter, Centre Phi) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will get post-production and promotion services in kind.
The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 40 buyers and producers. Alumni of the workshop were selected in Sundance 2013 ("I Used to Be Darker," "Milkshake," "A Teacher"), Berlinale 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "I Used to Be Darker"), SXSW 2013 ("A Teacher"), Tribeca 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "Bluebird"), Karlovy Vary 2013 ("Bluebird"), Toronto International Film Festival 2013 ("1982"), Sundance 2014 ("Ping Pong Summer"), SXSW 2015 ("Creative Control"), Rotterdam 2016 ("Actor Martinez"), Berlinale 2016 ("Nakom").
The fifth edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival is to take place in Paris on June 07th to 14th 2016.
Apply now: Entry Form...
The event is looking for 5 U.S. independent films at post-production stage (rough & fine cuts). The call for entries is open till April 8th 2016.
The application requirements for the films are the following:
* Narrative feature projects in post-production are eligible.
* Production Company needs to be Us based.
* Films looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution should apply.
* Films in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by June 1st 2016. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented on June 08-10. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
* Films with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 10th 2016 are eligible.
Us in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival), Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Black Rabbit Film. It presents independent Us films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. Us in Progress involves two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in October). The next event will take form of two days of exclusive screenings of the 5 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings on June 10th 2016.
As a bonus to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer’s Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra-Tvs, Kickstarter, Centre Phi) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will get post-production and promotion services in kind.
The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 40 buyers and producers. Alumni of the workshop were selected in Sundance 2013 ("I Used to Be Darker," "Milkshake," "A Teacher"), Berlinale 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "I Used to Be Darker"), SXSW 2013 ("A Teacher"), Tribeca 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "Bluebird"), Karlovy Vary 2013 ("Bluebird"), Toronto International Film Festival 2013 ("1982"), Sundance 2014 ("Ping Pong Summer"), SXSW 2015 ("Creative Control"), Rotterdam 2016 ("Actor Martinez"), Berlinale 2016 ("Nakom").
The fifth edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival is to take place in Paris on June 07th to 14th 2016.
Apply now: Entry Form...
- 2/22/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Just in time for a post-Christmas read, here’s a conversation with Charles Poekel, the writer/director of Christmas, Again, a wonderful little movie about a lonely Christmas tree salesman, played by Kentucker Audley.
Poekel’s been working in the industry for years, moving from documentary to narrative fiction in his directorial debut. We talk about that transition, owning a Christmas tree stand and making Christmas lights look like tiny Christmas trees. Check out the conversation below.
So you still have that tree stand where you filmed the movie?
Yeah, yeah. I think this is the last year I’m going to do it. I’m doing it still just kind of — well, I enjoy it. I kind of fell in love with it. But also for promotional tie-ins with the movie and that kind of stuff. So a lot of my customers are excited about the movie so that...
Poekel’s been working in the industry for years, moving from documentary to narrative fiction in his directorial debut. We talk about that transition, owning a Christmas tree stand and making Christmas lights look like tiny Christmas trees. Check out the conversation below.
So you still have that tree stand where you filmed the movie?
Yeah, yeah. I think this is the last year I’m going to do it. I’m doing it still just kind of — well, I enjoy it. I kind of fell in love with it. But also for promotional tie-ins with the movie and that kind of stuff. So a lot of my customers are excited about the movie so that...
- 12/28/2015
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
A Place on Earth: Silver’s Period Commune Channels Cinema-Verite
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
- 12/10/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Filmmaker‘s Taylor Hess recently attended and reported on the U.S. in Progress series at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival. While there, she spoke to a number of female directors, producers and actresses. Below, her conversation with Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, who both appear in Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven. Filmmaker: I Used To be Darker was your first film together, and Deragh, your first time acting? Campbell: Right, I’m not trained. My college degree is in writing and my background is publishing and writing. In a lot of ways I look at acting as another way of interacting with material and […]...
- 6/27/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Filmmaker‘s Taylor Hess recently attended and reported on the U.S. in Progress series at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival. While there, she spoke to a number of female directors, producers and actresses. Below, her conversation with Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, who both appear in Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven. Filmmaker: I Used To be Darker was your first film together, and Deragh, your first time acting? Campbell: Right, I’m not trained. My college degree is in writing and my background is publishing and writing. In a lot of ways I look at acting as another way of interacting with material and […]...
- 6/27/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Rebounds and Role-play: Silver’s Latest Returns to Uncomfortable Interactions
With his fourth feature film, Uncertain Terms, indie film director Nathan Silver advances the knack he has for exploring awkward and uncomfortable human interactions within the confines of people suffering through displaced, temporary scenarios. Perhaps more thematically aligned with his 2012 film, Exit Elena, Silver’s penchant for characters seemingly hell bent on making wrong decisions, (a la his aggravating protagonist in Soft in the Head) takes center stage here. Relationships and the nascent notion of responsibility are hardly finite fixtures, something playfully, agonizingly explored.
Robbie (David Dahlbom) has left Brooklyn to works as a handyman for his Aunt Carla (Cindy Silver) in the Hudson Valley. It’s not at first clear why, but he seems to be running away from something back home and without much of a plan. Carol runs a home for pregnant teen girls in the countryside,...
With his fourth feature film, Uncertain Terms, indie film director Nathan Silver advances the knack he has for exploring awkward and uncomfortable human interactions within the confines of people suffering through displaced, temporary scenarios. Perhaps more thematically aligned with his 2012 film, Exit Elena, Silver’s penchant for characters seemingly hell bent on making wrong decisions, (a la his aggravating protagonist in Soft in the Head) takes center stage here. Relationships and the nascent notion of responsibility are hardly finite fixtures, something playfully, agonizingly explored.
Robbie (David Dahlbom) has left Brooklyn to works as a handyman for his Aunt Carla (Cindy Silver) in the Hudson Valley. It’s not at first clear why, but he seems to be running away from something back home and without much of a plan. Carol runs a home for pregnant teen girls in the countryside,...
- 6/3/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The new 24th issue of The Seventh Art features a video interview with Matt Porterfield, Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, the director and stars of I Used to Be Darker and a video essay on Ann Hui's Boat People. Also in today's roundup: The Paris Review on Better Call Saul and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Tales of Hoffmann, Criterion's Michael Koresky on Yasujiro Ozu's Walk Cheerfully, That Night’s Wife and Dragnet Girl, Salon on Elia Kazan's America America, the best of Carl Theodor Dreyer, David Thomson on Marlon Brando, news of forthcoming work by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Marco Bellocchio and more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/26/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new 24th issue of The Seventh Art features a video interview with Matt Porterfield, Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, the director and stars of I Used to Be Darker and a video essay on Ann Hui's Boat People. Also in today's roundup: The Paris Review on Better Call Saul and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Tales of Hoffmann, Criterion's Michael Koresky on Yasujiro Ozu's Walk Cheerfully, That Night’s Wife and Dragnet Girl, Salon on Elia Kazan's America America, the best of Carl Theodor Dreyer, David Thomson on Marlon Brando, news of forthcoming work by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Marco Bellocchio and more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/26/2015
- Keyframe
"Art of the Real" is returning to the Film Society of Lincoln Center with a celebration of Agnès Varda (who will attend!) and more:
"The 2015 edition, taking place April 10-26, will again feature dozens of new works from around the world and in a variety of genres alongside retrospective and thematic selections. Opening Night will premiere new works by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (The Last Time I Saw Macao, Mahjong), Eduardo Williams, and Matt Porterfield (I Used to Be Darker), with all filmmakers attending the evening."
Above: For The Criterion Collection, kogonada's new video essay, "Mirrors of Bergman." Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Timbuktu, will be heading Cannes' Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury. In his NY Times home video column, J. Hoberman writes on Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. Richard Brody writes about Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of...
"The 2015 edition, taking place April 10-26, will again feature dozens of new works from around the world and in a variety of genres alongside retrospective and thematic selections. Opening Night will premiere new works by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (The Last Time I Saw Macao, Mahjong), Eduardo Williams, and Matt Porterfield (I Used to Be Darker), with all filmmakers attending the evening."
Above: For The Criterion Collection, kogonada's new video essay, "Mirrors of Bergman." Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Timbuktu, will be heading Cannes' Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury. In his NY Times home video column, J. Hoberman writes on Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. Richard Brody writes about Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of...
- 2/18/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
"A sober-living safe house is neither safe nor sober in Stinking Heaven, the fifth feature (and fourth in 3 years) from director Nathan Silver," writes Jesse Knight at Movie Mezzanine. "In New Jersey circa 1990, a young married couple, Jim (Keith Poulson, Listen Up Philip) and Lucy (Deragh Campbell, I Used to Be Darker) run a commune providing refuge for recovering drug addicts of any age who pass the time making and selling bathtub kombucha ('fermented healthy drink')…. It’s Short Term 12 by way of the Marquis de Sade." We're collecting a first round of strong reviews for the film that also features Eleonore Hendricks, Henri Douvry and Hannah Gross. » - David Hudson...
- 1/31/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
"A sober-living safe house is neither safe nor sober in Stinking Heaven, the fifth feature (and fourth in 3 years) from director Nathan Silver," writes Jesse Knight at Movie Mezzanine. "In New Jersey circa 1990, a young married couple, Jim (Keith Poulson, Listen Up Philip) and Lucy (Deragh Campbell, I Used to Be Darker) run a commune providing refuge for recovering drug addicts of any age who pass the time making and selling bathtub kombucha ('fermented healthy drink')…. It’s Short Term 12 by way of the Marquis de Sade." We're collecting a first round of strong reviews for the film that also features Eleonore Hendricks, Henri Douvry and Hannah Gross. » - David Hudson...
- 1/31/2015
- Keyframe
Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…
Ryan Zacarias: 1. Thomas Dinger‘s Fur Mich (album), Manabu Yamanaka (photographer), Ricardo Silva’s Navajazo (film).
Lavallee: I Used to Be Darker, Ping Pong Summer, and now Entertainment — you’ve had a trio of films featured in the Next section. Using this cross-section of films, could you describe what kind of DNA is needed for you to throw your weight behind a given film as a producer.
Zacarias: I think I gravitate towards projects (and filmmakers) that have a bit of a skewed sensibility. I tend to find stuff that focuses heavily on image, whether its observing a character, the atmosphere of the location, or photographic movements (or stillness). I’d rather you tell me your story through imagery and tone, than force your way through with a bunch of nonsensical dialogue to make me understand. I kinda of lose interest at that point.
Ryan Zacarias: 1. Thomas Dinger‘s Fur Mich (album), Manabu Yamanaka (photographer), Ricardo Silva’s Navajazo (film).
Lavallee: I Used to Be Darker, Ping Pong Summer, and now Entertainment — you’ve had a trio of films featured in the Next section. Using this cross-section of films, could you describe what kind of DNA is needed for you to throw your weight behind a given film as a producer.
Zacarias: I think I gravitate towards projects (and filmmakers) that have a bit of a skewed sensibility. I tend to find stuff that focuses heavily on image, whether its observing a character, the atmosphere of the location, or photographic movements (or stillness). I’d rather you tell me your story through imagery and tone, than force your way through with a bunch of nonsensical dialogue to make me understand. I kinda of lose interest at that point.
- 1/26/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Accompanied by a strong presence of Tap producers at this year’s Tiff line-up, Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), renowned international co-production training and networking program launches Module 2 of the 2014 edition in Halifax September 8th. Tap Producers will tackle a vast range of training topics and networking opportunities leading into the international coproduction market Strategic Partners, as part of the program.
Potsdam, Germany – After completing Module 1 in Berlin in June, The Erich Pommer Institut – Epi (Germany), new Presenting Partner Canadian Media Production Association – Cmpa (Canada), and the Independent Filmmaker Project – Ifp (USA) proudly present Module 2 of their annual intensive training and networking program for established producers from Europe, Canada, and the United States, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 8th- 14th. 22 experienced producers were selected from the target countries including, the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Canada and USA to participate in the 6th edition.
Looking forward to the upcoming training unit, Tap Head of Studies, Jan Miller, comments, “With the strong presence of Tap producers at Tiff this year, we’re seeing tangible evidence that the training program in Berlin and Halifax is supporting the best in international producer talent.”
The Tap producers’ highlight list of films that premiere at Tiff include:
"Bang Bang Baby" produced by Daniel Bekerman (Tap 2013)
"Big Muddy"produced by Bob Crowe (Tap 2009)
"Cub" produced by Peter De Maegd (Tap 2009) and co-produced by Femke Wolting (Tap 2011)
"Dukhtar" co-produced by Shrihari Sathe (Tap 2013)
"Guidance" produced by Mike MacMillan (Tap 2014)
"Hole" produced by Laura Perlmutter and Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith (both Tap 2014)
"Shelter" produced by Katie Mustard (Tap 2014)
"Tigers" produced by Guneet Monga (Tap 2011)
"Voice Over" co-produced by Nicolas Comeau (Tap 2014)
"Wet Bum" produced by Paula Devonshire and Lauren Grant (both Tap 2013)
In Module 2, producers take part in a multi-facetted training programme including up-to-date topics on marketing and distribution and case studies. The list of experts and trainers is broad: Susan Shopmaker (Susan Shopmaker Casting, USA), Mark Horowitz (H20 Motion Pictures, USA), Mia Bays (Missing In Action Films, UK), Evan Schwartz (FilmBuff, USA), Jay van Hoy (Parts and Labor Films, USA), Marc Almon (Story Engine Pictures), Andrew Noble (Filmoption International) and Belgium producer Jean-Yves Roubin (Frakas Productions) as well as Phyllis Laing (Buffalo Gal Pictures). The Tap training leads directly into Strategic Partners where producers will participate in 3 days of b2b meetings, panels and keynote speakers at one of the world’s pre-eminent international co-production markets.
About Trans Atlantic Partners
Tap offers a unique combination of intensive, hands-on training with effective networking among potential partners, and targeted project feedback from resource trainers.
Tap alumni include internationally acclaimed producers such as Sol Bondy, Germany (Youth – bfi Award-nomination 2013), Peter Bouckaert, Belgium (Bullhead – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Marc- Daniel Dichant, Germany (In Darkness – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Anne-Marie Gelinas, Canada (Mars and Avril – Canadian Screen Awards 4 nominations 2013), Alexandra Johnes, USA (The House I Live in – Sundance Grand Jury Prize 2012), Bob Moore, Canada (China Heavyweight – Sundance Grand Jury Prize nomination 2012), Guneet Monga, India (Gangs of Wasseypur– Toronto & Cannes 2012, The Lunchbox – 2013 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’ Or), and Ryan Zacharias, USA (I Used to Be Darker – Sundance & Berlin 2013). Presenting
Partners
The Erich Pommer Institut (Epi) is one of the leading centers in Europe for media law, media management, and media research. As a non-profit independent institute, our curriculum follows the process of media convergence through research, consultation and advanced training. Each year, Epi organizes and hosts close to 40 seminars, workshops, conferences and panels – for the German as well as the European media industry. www.epi-medieninstitut.de
The Canadian Media Production Association (Cmpa) is Canada's leading trade association for independent producers. The Cmpa represents more than 350 companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language television programs, feature films and digital media. Together, the production sector generates almost $6 billion of activity annually and sustains 127,700 high-quality, full-time jobs. The Cmpa works on behalf of members to promote and stimulate the Canadian production industry to ensure the continued success of Canada's independent production sector and a future for Canadian content. www.cmpa.ca
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) is the U.S.'s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Ifp represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world, with a mission of ensuring that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness and fostering activism. www.ifp.org
Tap is supported by Telefilm Canada, Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany, and Creative BC, Canada. Associate partner: Strategic Partners...
Potsdam, Germany – After completing Module 1 in Berlin in June, The Erich Pommer Institut – Epi (Germany), new Presenting Partner Canadian Media Production Association – Cmpa (Canada), and the Independent Filmmaker Project – Ifp (USA) proudly present Module 2 of their annual intensive training and networking program for established producers from Europe, Canada, and the United States, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 8th- 14th. 22 experienced producers were selected from the target countries including, the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Canada and USA to participate in the 6th edition.
Looking forward to the upcoming training unit, Tap Head of Studies, Jan Miller, comments, “With the strong presence of Tap producers at Tiff this year, we’re seeing tangible evidence that the training program in Berlin and Halifax is supporting the best in international producer talent.”
The Tap producers’ highlight list of films that premiere at Tiff include:
"Bang Bang Baby" produced by Daniel Bekerman (Tap 2013)
"Big Muddy"produced by Bob Crowe (Tap 2009)
"Cub" produced by Peter De Maegd (Tap 2009) and co-produced by Femke Wolting (Tap 2011)
"Dukhtar" co-produced by Shrihari Sathe (Tap 2013)
"Guidance" produced by Mike MacMillan (Tap 2014)
"Hole" produced by Laura Perlmutter and Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith (both Tap 2014)
"Shelter" produced by Katie Mustard (Tap 2014)
"Tigers" produced by Guneet Monga (Tap 2011)
"Voice Over" co-produced by Nicolas Comeau (Tap 2014)
"Wet Bum" produced by Paula Devonshire and Lauren Grant (both Tap 2013)
In Module 2, producers take part in a multi-facetted training programme including up-to-date topics on marketing and distribution and case studies. The list of experts and trainers is broad: Susan Shopmaker (Susan Shopmaker Casting, USA), Mark Horowitz (H20 Motion Pictures, USA), Mia Bays (Missing In Action Films, UK), Evan Schwartz (FilmBuff, USA), Jay van Hoy (Parts and Labor Films, USA), Marc Almon (Story Engine Pictures), Andrew Noble (Filmoption International) and Belgium producer Jean-Yves Roubin (Frakas Productions) as well as Phyllis Laing (Buffalo Gal Pictures). The Tap training leads directly into Strategic Partners where producers will participate in 3 days of b2b meetings, panels and keynote speakers at one of the world’s pre-eminent international co-production markets.
About Trans Atlantic Partners
Tap offers a unique combination of intensive, hands-on training with effective networking among potential partners, and targeted project feedback from resource trainers.
Tap alumni include internationally acclaimed producers such as Sol Bondy, Germany (Youth – bfi Award-nomination 2013), Peter Bouckaert, Belgium (Bullhead – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Marc- Daniel Dichant, Germany (In Darkness – Oscar®-nomination 2012), Anne-Marie Gelinas, Canada (Mars and Avril – Canadian Screen Awards 4 nominations 2013), Alexandra Johnes, USA (The House I Live in – Sundance Grand Jury Prize 2012), Bob Moore, Canada (China Heavyweight – Sundance Grand Jury Prize nomination 2012), Guneet Monga, India (Gangs of Wasseypur– Toronto & Cannes 2012, The Lunchbox – 2013 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’ Or), and Ryan Zacharias, USA (I Used to Be Darker – Sundance & Berlin 2013). Presenting
Partners
The Erich Pommer Institut (Epi) is one of the leading centers in Europe for media law, media management, and media research. As a non-profit independent institute, our curriculum follows the process of media convergence through research, consultation and advanced training. Each year, Epi organizes and hosts close to 40 seminars, workshops, conferences and panels – for the German as well as the European media industry. www.epi-medieninstitut.de
The Canadian Media Production Association (Cmpa) is Canada's leading trade association for independent producers. The Cmpa represents more than 350 companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language television programs, feature films and digital media. Together, the production sector generates almost $6 billion of activity annually and sustains 127,700 high-quality, full-time jobs. The Cmpa works on behalf of members to promote and stimulate the Canadian production industry to ensure the continued success of Canada's independent production sector and a future for Canadian content. www.cmpa.ca
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) is the U.S.'s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Ifp represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world, with a mission of ensuring that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness and fostering activism. www.ifp.org
Tap is supported by Telefilm Canada, Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany, and Creative BC, Canada. Associate partner: Strategic Partners...
- 9/7/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Following their win of the 2014 Audience Award at Sundance for their short film Chapel Perilous , writer/director Matthew Lessner and producer David Gerson's new feature film Automatic at Sea has been selected as 1 of 4 auteur American films to screen at the Black Rabbit U.S. In Progress Paris program as a work in progress.
U.S. in Progress Paris will take place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program will present 4 Us indie films in post-production to European buyers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
We are excited to announce the selection for the third edition of Us in Progress Paris:
« Automatic at Sea » by Matthew Lessner
« Creative Control » by Benjamin Dickinson
« Eugenia and John » by Hossein Keshavarz
« Plastic Jesus » by Erica Dunton
Previous participants of Us in Progress included:
1982
by Tommy Oliver (Toronto 2013),
Ping Pong Summer
by Michael Tully (Sundance 2014, world sales by Films Boutique),
Bluebird
by Lance Edmands (Tribeca 2013, Karlovy Vary 2013),
I Used To Be Darker
by Matthew Porterfield (Sundance 2013, Berlinale 2013),
Milkshake
by David Andalman (Sundance 2013),
Hide Your Smiling Faces
by Daniel Patrick Carbone (Berlinale Generation 14Plus 2013, Tribeca 2013),
A Teacher
by Hannah Fidell (Sundance 2013, SXSW 2013), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s
Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi
by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin (Rotterdam 2012, New Directors/New Films 2012, Gotham Awards nominee)
Sun Don’t Shine
by Amy Seimetz (SXSW 2012, Edinburgh Iff 2013, Gotham Awards nominee 2012)
Not Waving But Drowning
by Devyn Waitt (Sarasota Ff, world sales by Premium Films).
More information here:
http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
www.montelomax.com
http://www.ioncinema.com/news/us-in-progress-paris-tully-meyerhoff-and-zinn-among-6-selected...
U.S. in Progress Paris will take place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program will present 4 Us indie films in post-production to European buyers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
We are excited to announce the selection for the third edition of Us in Progress Paris:
« Automatic at Sea » by Matthew Lessner
« Creative Control » by Benjamin Dickinson
« Eugenia and John » by Hossein Keshavarz
« Plastic Jesus » by Erica Dunton
Previous participants of Us in Progress included:
1982
by Tommy Oliver (Toronto 2013),
Ping Pong Summer
by Michael Tully (Sundance 2014, world sales by Films Boutique),
Bluebird
by Lance Edmands (Tribeca 2013, Karlovy Vary 2013),
I Used To Be Darker
by Matthew Porterfield (Sundance 2013, Berlinale 2013),
Milkshake
by David Andalman (Sundance 2013),
Hide Your Smiling Faces
by Daniel Patrick Carbone (Berlinale Generation 14Plus 2013, Tribeca 2013),
A Teacher
by Hannah Fidell (Sundance 2013, SXSW 2013), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s
Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi
by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin (Rotterdam 2012, New Directors/New Films 2012, Gotham Awards nominee)
Sun Don’t Shine
by Amy Seimetz (SXSW 2012, Edinburgh Iff 2013, Gotham Awards nominee 2012)
Not Waving But Drowning
by Devyn Waitt (Sarasota Ff, world sales by Premium Films).
More information here:
http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
www.montelomax.com
http://www.ioncinema.com/news/us-in-progress-paris-tully-meyerhoff-and-zinn-among-6-selected...
- 5/23/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Renowned Swiss artist and set designer H.R. Giger, best known for his incredible work on Ridley Scott's Alien, has passed away at the age of 74. Oscar-winning filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul (Searching For Sugar Man) has shockingly been found dead in his home at the age of 36. We've been big fans of Critics Round Up, an alternative aggregator for movie reviews, so we were pretty choked to hear it was shutting down...But now it appears, in Lazarus-fashion, the site will be sticking around. Above: Film Comment has made available (for 99 cents!) a digital anthology that "collects 35 years of analysis of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's films and profiles of his closest collaborators." This coincides with the "Fassbinder: Romantic Anarchist" retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center starting May 16th. If you're lucky enough to attend, you may want to grab one of these. Check out the series' trailer:
For Cinema Scope Online,...
For Cinema Scope Online,...
- 5/14/2014
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Blue Ruin is a barebones thriller that takes the motivations of revenge to the psyche of non-killers. Echoing the lawless nature of a western, the film from writer/director Jeremy Saulnier follows a broken man named by Dwight (Macon Blair) as he learns firsthand about the capacity for violence, by ways of self-defense and in offense aggression. His act of revenge against someone who hurt his family 17 years ago begins a cycle of violence that threatens to destroy two entire families.
Saulnier had directed one movie previously, 2007′s Murder Party. In between that feature, he was the director of photography for acclaimed indies like Putty Hill, In Our Nature, and I Used To Be Darker.
I sat down with Saulnier in an exclusive interview where we discuss the film’s rules of violence, his new understanding about race in the film market, the strong women that surround him, and more.
Saulnier had directed one movie previously, 2007′s Murder Party. In between that feature, he was the director of photography for acclaimed indies like Putty Hill, In Our Nature, and I Used To Be Darker.
I sat down with Saulnier in an exclusive interview where we discuss the film’s rules of violence, his new understanding about race in the film market, the strong women that surround him, and more.
- 5/6/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Here's your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. "Stinking Heaven" Tweetable Logline: A black as tar comedy following a commune of recovering drug addicts in 1990 suburban New York. Elevator Pitch: Married couple, Jim (30) and Lucy (22), run a commune for recovering drug addicts. In the spring of 1990, there are seven motley members in the house ranging in age from 17 to 50. They spend their days preparing ritualistic meals, doing housework, playing games and bathing together. With the arrival of Ann (20), recovering addict and ex-girlfriend of one of the members, the harmony of the house is thrown out of whack. Members flee, relapse, and start to question the very foundations of the commune as Jim and Lucy struggle to maintain their power.
- 4/23/2014
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
We found out this morning (via ThePlaylist folks) that Sean Penn (the filmmaker) was among the curious Blue Is the Warmest Color onlookers and proving that a Palme d’Or win can pay out huge dividends (it was a major showcase for it’s lead actress Adèle Exarchapoulos) we now learn that (thanks to TheWrap), Charlize Theron will also board The Last Space which might be something close to his humanitarian heart. Lensing is expected to begin in July.
Gist: This is based on the Liberian and Sudanese conflict and unfolds in refuge camps.
Worth Noting: Exarchapoulos got her debut in Matthew Porterfield’s I Used to Be Darker.
Do We Care?: We became fans of the filmmaker with his meditative Into the Wild and knowing very little here: we feel that this might hit the right notes or make us want to pull our hair out.
Gist: This is based on the Liberian and Sudanese conflict and unfolds in refuge camps.
Worth Noting: Exarchapoulos got her debut in Matthew Porterfield’s I Used to Be Darker.
Do We Care?: We became fans of the filmmaker with his meditative Into the Wild and knowing very little here: we feel that this might hit the right notes or make us want to pull our hair out.
- 4/9/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: New Europe Film Sales signs the Tribeca Film Festival Viewpoints opening film - vampire comedy Summer of Blood by Onur Tukel.
Polish company New Europe Film Sales has picked up Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer of Blood, the opening film of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Viewpoints section.
The Us film tells the story of egocentric Eric Sparrow, who turns into a sex god after being bitten by a vampire.
The film stars actor-writer-director Tukel in the main role and includes cameos from New York indie film directors Alex Karpovsky and Jonathan Caouette.
Tukel previously acted in Michael Tully’s Septien and Alex Karpovsky’s Red Flag among others. His previous feature was 2012 ensemble comedy Richard’s Wedding.
Summer of Blood will receive its world premiere this month at Tribeca as the opening film of the Viewpoints section. New Europe will handle all rights outside North America, where Xyz is...
Polish company New Europe Film Sales has picked up Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer of Blood, the opening film of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Viewpoints section.
The Us film tells the story of egocentric Eric Sparrow, who turns into a sex god after being bitten by a vampire.
The film stars actor-writer-director Tukel in the main role and includes cameos from New York indie film directors Alex Karpovsky and Jonathan Caouette.
Tukel previously acted in Michael Tully’s Septien and Alex Karpovsky’s Red Flag among others. His previous feature was 2012 ensemble comedy Richard’s Wedding.
Summer of Blood will receive its world premiere this month at Tribeca as the opening film of the Viewpoints section. New Europe will handle all rights outside North America, where Xyz is...
- 4/3/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
New Europe Film Sales also records new deals on Thou Wast Mild and Lovely.
New Wave has acquired UK rights to Papusza [pictured].
Polish sales agency New Europe Film Sales also announced that Joanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze’s biopic has sold to Macedonia (KT Film & Media Dooel).
It had previously sold to Japan (Moviola) and Germany (Kairos)
Josephine Decker’s Berlinale Forum title Thou Wast Mild and Lovely has been sold to Arsenal for Germany, the same distributor who released New Europe’s I Used to be Darker.
New Wave has acquired UK rights to Papusza [pictured].
Polish sales agency New Europe Film Sales also announced that Joanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze’s biopic has sold to Macedonia (KT Film & Media Dooel).
It had previously sold to Japan (Moviola) and Germany (Kairos)
Josephine Decker’s Berlinale Forum title Thou Wast Mild and Lovely has been sold to Arsenal for Germany, the same distributor who released New Europe’s I Used to be Darker.
- 3/25/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Deadline: April 1st 2014, no entry fee
Once again the initiative known as U.S. In Progress Paris, a two-day works in progress event targeted at American independent filmmakers and European buyers, will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 10-12 2014 in Paris.
The event is looking for 4 U.S. independent films at post-production stage (rough & fine cuts). The call for entries is open till April 1st 2014.
Application form and Terms and Conditions can be found online: http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
The application requirements for the films are the following:
- Narrative feature projects in post-production are eligible.
- Production Company needs to be U.S. based.
- Films looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution should apply.
- Films in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by June 1st 2014. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented on June 10-12. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
- Films with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 10 2014 are eligible.
U.S. in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival), Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Black Rabbit Film. It presents independent U.S. films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
The program is conformed of two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in November). The next event will includes two days of exclusive screenings of the 4 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings on June 10-12 2013.
As a bonus to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer's Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra Tvs, Touscoprod) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will get post-production and promotion services in kind.
The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 60 buyers and producers. Alumni of the Programme were selected in Sundance 2013 (I Used To Be Darker, Milkshake, A Teacher), Berlinale 2013 (Hide your Smiling Faces, I Used To Be Darker), SXSW 2013 ( A Teacher), Tribeca 2013 (Hide Your Smiling Faces, Bluebird), Karlovy Vary 2013 (Bluebird), Toronto 2013 (1982), Sundance 2014 (Ping Pong Summer).
The third edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival (http://www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com/en) is to take place in Paris on June 11-17 2014.
Once again the initiative known as U.S. In Progress Paris, a two-day works in progress event targeted at American independent filmmakers and European buyers, will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 10-12 2014 in Paris.
The event is looking for 4 U.S. independent films at post-production stage (rough & fine cuts). The call for entries is open till April 1st 2014.
Application form and Terms and Conditions can be found online: http://www.blackrabbitfilm.com/us-in-progress/paris-2014-edition/
The application requirements for the films are the following:
- Narrative feature projects in post-production are eligible.
- Production Company needs to be U.S. based.
- Films looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution should apply.
- Films in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by June 1st 2014. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented on June 10-12. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
- Films with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 10 2014 are eligible.
U.S. in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival), Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Black Rabbit Film. It presents independent U.S. films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
The program is conformed of two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in November). The next event will includes two days of exclusive screenings of the 4 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings on June 10-12 2013.
As a bonus to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer's Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra Tvs, Touscoprod) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will get post-production and promotion services in kind.
The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 60 buyers and producers. Alumni of the Programme were selected in Sundance 2013 (I Used To Be Darker, Milkshake, A Teacher), Berlinale 2013 (Hide your Smiling Faces, I Used To Be Darker), SXSW 2013 ( A Teacher), Tribeca 2013 (Hide Your Smiling Faces, Bluebird), Karlovy Vary 2013 (Bluebird), Toronto 2013 (1982), Sundance 2014 (Ping Pong Summer).
The third edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival (http://www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com/en) is to take place in Paris on June 11-17 2014.
- 2/5/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This is not production designer Bart Mangrum’s first movie at the Sundance Film Festival. He designed Septien (2011, directed by Michael Tully) and I Used To Be Darker (2013, directed by Matt Porterfield), and was both an on-set dresser and extra in Stoker (2012, directed by Chan-wook Park). But this is the first time Mangrum has been at Sundance as the production designer of two feature films screening in the same category. Mangrum was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and still lives there. His father ignited his enthusiasm for art by teaching him how to draw during church around […]...
- 1/20/2014
- by Alexandra Byer
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This is not production designer Bart Mangrum’s first movie at the Sundance Film Festival. He designed Septien (2011, directed by Michael Tully) and I Used To Be Darker (2013, directed by Matt Porterfield), and was both an on-set dresser and extra in Stoker (2012, directed by Chan-wook Park). But this is the first time Mangrum has been at Sundance as the production designer of two feature films screening in the same category. Mangrum was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and still lives there. His father ignited his enthusiasm for art by teaching him how to draw during church around […]...
- 1/20/2014
- by Alexandra Byer
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2013—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2013 to create a unique double feature.
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
- 1/13/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
When I first started preparing my year-end lists for 2013, I knew for certain that I was going to continue my trend of creating one post with my favorite theatrically released narrative films of 2013 and a separate post with my favorite documentary films of 2o13. This is because I have a difficult enough time ranking films that share no common elements other than they were all shot on a medium that can capture both moving images and sound. The ranking of anything (especially art) seems completely arbitrary to me and the fact that most year-end lists focus on the "top" or "best" really makes no sense. While I guess there are certain basic mechanisms of filmmaking that can be done well (thus making a "good" movie) or can be done poorly (thus making a "bad" movie), for the most part it is all just personal opinion. I prefer to approach talking...
- 12/26/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Sundance’s Spotlight section works as a sampling of quality items that dug their knees in the sand of the Croisette, or hit the asphalt payment in Toronto. It’s an acknowledgment of U.S film distributors (in this case: Radius-twc, Magnolia, Music Box Films, A24, Sony Pictures Classics, Strand Releasing) who’ve all contributed to my favorite disease – one that is called cinephilia. It’s also a look into 2014 – which is when they’ll be unveiled theatrically. And finally, it’s a way in which to receive the extended Sundance family once again such as Richard Ayoade (preemed his debut feautre here – Submarine) and Jeremy Saulnier (was at the fest as a cinematographer for Matthew Porterfield’s I Used to Be Darker). Here are the eight selections:
Blue Ruin / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy Saulnier) — A mysterious outsider’s quiet life turns upside down when he returns...
Blue Ruin / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy Saulnier) — A mysterious outsider’s quiet life turns upside down when he returns...
- 12/5/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Clearly if Michael Tully receives an invite to Sundance this year, it won’t be for a return visit in the Park City at Midnight section. Moving from dramatic in 2006′s Cocaine Angel (Rotterdam, SXSW), to docu Silver Jew (2007 – SXSW), to the Sundance preemed atypical Southern gothic horror Septien (2011), the filmmaker (who runs one of our fave portals for American indie film worshipping – HammerToNail.com) managed to lasso Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, John Hannah, Amy Sedaris, Judah Friedlander and Sundance vet Robert Longstreet (makes his second Tully film appearance) along with a cast of pre-teens for another 180° switch from his previous material. In something that should do the summer set coming-of-ager film done right and remind me why I Love The 80s, Ping Pong Summer and received mentorship/coin helping hands from the U.S in Progress and Sffs/Krf Filmmaking Grant and completed filming in late 2012. This is ready for some tournament action.
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Compared with other first time filmmaker peers, Travis Gutiérrez Senger’s feature debut appears to have benefited from an abundance of post prod time, when admittedly, the helmer unearthed more info on his subject which meant he added another creative coat of paint. Senger who got his start in the docu format and retains the true story aspect in his 2014 offering, got a taste for the film fest circuit with White Lines and the Fever – a documentary short that won big with the Special Jury Prize at SXSW and the Grand Jury Prize at Tribeca in 2010. Shot in Seattle, Washington in late 2011, Desert Cathedral was a featured project in the Us in Progress Paris edition 2012 (which included Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher) and will surely benefit from tech folk presence of the excellent composer team of Saunder Juriaans and Daniel Bensi (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and film editor Marc Vives...
- 11/18/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
With Matthew Porterfield, it is all about drifting and floating, just that there is not much travelling going on. A dreamy feeling of detachment conquers I Used To Be Darker and makes it a cinematographic pleasure. Undoubtedly the film does not get rid of its clichés dealing with a family in crisis and Porterfield has been less conventional before, but there is an honesty about the characters that makes the director's latest, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, a captivating picture. There are four protagonists in a story about a dysfunctional family and their ways of dealing with separation of certain kinds. Northern Irish teenager Taryn escapes from her European home and a failed love affair, arriving at the home of her aunt Kim,...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 11/3/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles win main prizes.
The third Us in Progress Wrocław - a works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers - has handed its main prizes to Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles.
This year, six films selected from around 40 submissions competed for prizes consisting of post-production and promotional services worth $60,000.
The main awards went to Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum, produced by Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd, and Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott, produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Sun Belt Express received Di image post-production from Platige Image studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), final sound mix from Alvernia Studios (Kraków) and soundtrack from composer Maciej Zieliński of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw).
Lake Los Angeles was offered Di image post-production from Di Factory studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), Dcp creation from Dcinex, subtitling from Vsi Paris/Chinkel and the promotional award from Europa...
The third Us in Progress Wrocław - a works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers - has handed its main prizes to Sun Belt Express and Lake Los Angeles.
This year, six films selected from around 40 submissions competed for prizes consisting of post-production and promotional services worth $60,000.
The main awards went to Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum, produced by Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd, and Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott, produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Sun Belt Express received Di image post-production from Platige Image studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), final sound mix from Alvernia Studios (Kraków) and soundtrack from composer Maciej Zieliński of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw).
Lake Los Angeles was offered Di image post-production from Di Factory studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), Dcp creation from Dcinex, subtitling from Vsi Paris/Chinkel and the promotional award from Europa...
- 10/27/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Opening with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive the latest edition of the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland (22-27 October 2013) has screened some of the most important American independent films of the year. Being the only festival of its class in Eastern and Central Europe the festival has become the most important venue to connect American filmmakers with European buyers and audiences through programs like U.S. in Progress Wrocław (23-25 October 2013).
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
- 10/26/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave to open festival; director Peter Greenaway to receive Visionary Award.Scroll down for full line-up
Steve McQueen’s historic drama 12 Years a Slave is to open the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 6-17) and is nominated in the Stockholm Xxiv Competition.
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the drama about free black man kidnapped from his family and sold into slavery in the 1850s debuted at Telluride and has received positive reactions throughout its festival tour of Toronto, New York and London among others.
It will be released in Sweden on Dec 20 by Ab Svensk Filmindustri.
Screenwriter John Ridley, who will be present during the festival, is nominated for the Aluminum Horse in the category Best Script.
McQueen’s Hunger won Best Directorial Debut at Stockholm in 2008.
Line-up
The 24th Siff includes more than 180 films from more than 50 countries.
As previously announced, the spotlight of this year’s festival is freedom but Chinese artist...
Steve McQueen’s historic drama 12 Years a Slave is to open the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 6-17) and is nominated in the Stockholm Xxiv Competition.
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the drama about free black man kidnapped from his family and sold into slavery in the 1850s debuted at Telluride and has received positive reactions throughout its festival tour of Toronto, New York and London among others.
It will be released in Sweden on Dec 20 by Ab Svensk Filmindustri.
Screenwriter John Ridley, who will be present during the festival, is nominated for the Aluminum Horse in the category Best Script.
McQueen’s Hunger won Best Directorial Debut at Stockholm in 2008.
Line-up
The 24th Siff includes more than 180 films from more than 50 countries.
As previously announced, the spotlight of this year’s festival is freedom but Chinese artist...
- 10/22/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
American Film Festival in Wroclaw to close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra; competition and programme highlights announced.Scroll down for competition titles
The fourth American Film Festival (Aff) in Wrocław, Poland is to feature 80 films comprising 42 Polish premieres; three European premieres and one world premiere.
The event, which is focused on independent Us cinema, will run from Oct 22-27.
It will open with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, both of which played in competition at Cannes.
Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra recently picked up 11 Emmy awards, including best television movie, best leading actor for Michael Douglas and best director.
Dutch experimental lutenist Jozef van Wissem will conduct a live performance of the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, which won the Cannes Soundtrack Award, on Oct 23 - the day after its opening night screening.
Competitions
A total of 10 documentaries and 16 narrative feature films will compete...
The fourth American Film Festival (Aff) in Wrocław, Poland is to feature 80 films comprising 42 Polish premieres; three European premieres and one world premiere.
The event, which is focused on independent Us cinema, will run from Oct 22-27.
It will open with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, both of which played in competition at Cannes.
Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra recently picked up 11 Emmy awards, including best television movie, best leading actor for Michael Douglas and best director.
Dutch experimental lutenist Jozef van Wissem will conduct a live performance of the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, which won the Cannes Soundtrack Award, on Oct 23 - the day after its opening night screening.
Competitions
A total of 10 documentaries and 16 narrative feature films will compete...
- 10/8/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Two limited films in fewer than 500 theaters-- the Mexican "Pulling Strings" (Lionsgate/Pantelion) and Fox Searchlight's "Enough Said"-- made the top 10 this weekend as "Gravity" soared across the country with substantial adult audience support. Two new mid-level releases, the Christian-themed "Grace Unplugged" (Roadside Attractions) and "Parkland" (Exclusive/Millennium) yielded modest results in their mostly non-art house debuts. The basketball doc "Linsanity" and Chinese drama "A Touch of Sin" were the standouts among more limited releases, with no other fresh films having much strength. Twenty-eight new films actually opened this week in at least one of the two biggest markets. Several of the more notable newbies --IFC's "The Summit," Magnolia's "Bad Milo!," Anchor Bay's "Argento's Dracula 3D," Strand's "I Used to Be Darker" and "The Missing Picture," Phase IV's "The Dirties" -- most with impressive major festival pedigrees - haven't reported yet. Opening "Linsanity" (Ketchup...
- 10/6/2013
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Thompson on Hollywood
Building to moments that are "true and satisfying," Matt Porterfield's "I Used To Be Darker" is the kind of the character-driven film that rewards the patient viewer. Following the success of his sophomore effort "Putty Hill," the director hit Kickstarter and ran a successful campaign to fund his third feature. And after a debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, "I Used To Be Darker" is now headed to theaters. Starring Deragh Campbell, Kim Taylor, Hannah Gross and Ned Oldham, the Baltimore-set film tells the story of a pregnant Northern Irish runaway who shacks up with American relatives who are in the beginnings of a potential divorce themselves. And in this exclusive clip we see Oldham, who plays one half of the married couple, singing his band The Anomoanon's “One That Got Away” before finishing it off with a gesture that reveals the coiled emotions the character has been keeping inside.
- 10/3/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In between the big events that mark our lives—the births, the deaths, the falling-in-loves, the breaking-ups, the runnings-away, the reconciliations—there often exists a kind of pause moment. And it’s one such moment that Matt Porterfield’s Sundance-approved third feature, “I Used to be Darker,” deals with; a caesura that punctuates the Big Life Business that is going on in the disparate lives of one fragmented family. This a film that largely takes place either before or after the real dramas, so Porterfield sets himself a difficult task from the outset: how to dramatize that which is determinedly anti-dramatic? It’s an issue that the film, for all its small, well-observed pleasures, never really overcomes. It’s not helped by Porterfield taking his time with his largely non-professional or first-timer cast either; the film’s considered pacing takes a little getting used to. But by its end, the...
- 10/2/2013
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
This October we’ve got a handful of gems from Sundance in indie dramatic items such as Stacie Passon’s Concussion, Matthew Porterfield’s I Used to Be Darker (both open this Friday) and John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings (October 18th) and docs such as Joe Brewster & Michele Stephenson’s American Promise and Steve Hoover’s Blood Brother (both Oct.18th). We’ve got a formidable piece that played in Berlin with Bruno Dumont’s Camille Claudel, 1915 (October 16th) but what makes October an exceptional month, is that we have four bonafide, almost unheard of gold star items. We trimmed a future Oscar nominee just waiting to collect its loot in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (October 18th) – which is being touted as the best of his early career and was graded with a rare, perfect score on our site. Here are this month’s Top 3 Critic’s Picks!
- 10/2/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
I Used to be Darker offers a window onto a family in crisis, whose turmoil is dramatized by director Matthew Porterfield (Putty Hill) and screenwriter Amy Belk with the same sort of detachment felt by the clan's visiting Irish niece, Taryn (Deragh Campbell). Having run away from home and, later, Ocean City, Maryland, the secretly pregnant Taryn arrives in Baltimore to find uncle Bill (Ned Oldham) and aunt Kim (Kim Taylor) in the middle of a tense separation, which is wreaking havoc on their aspiring actress daughter, Abby (Hannah Gross). Porterfield's camera is inquisitive even as it operates at a remove, with shots of characters framed in doorways to visualize their isolation, and long takes of musical numbers by Bill (who's abandoned his artistic career ambitions) and K...
- 10/2/2013
- Village Voice
Matt Porterfield is back following his critically acclaimed sophomore feature "Putty Hill," with the affecting drama "I Used to Be Darker," which premiered at Sundance this year before playing at Berlin and winning Best Narrative Feature at the Atlanta Film Festival. The Baltimore-set film stars Kim Taylor and Ned Oldham as two musicians struggling to end their marriage on graceful terms for the sake of their college freshman daughter Abby (Hannah Gross). The film is now playing in Baltimore, and opens across the country on October 4th. Below, Porterfield shares an exclusive scene from the film, one that features French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, who would later go on to win the Palme d'Or for her devastating performance in "Blue is the Warmest Color." The Scene: The first three minutes of "I Used To Be Darker" take place in Ocean City, MD. Taryn (Deragh Campbell) and Camille (Adèle Exarchopoulos, Palme d...
- 10/1/2013
- by Matthew Porterfield
- Indiewire
Six projects selected for this year’s works-in-progress event targeted at Us independent filmmakers and European buyers.
Poland’s Us in Progress Wrocław event has announced the six projects that will feature in its 2013 edition.
The two-day works-in-progress event presents Us films in the final stages of production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of Us indie films in Europe.
The invite-only screenings and one-to-one meetings will take place as part of of the 4th American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland (Oct 23-25).
The films, selected from around 40 submissions, include:
Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari),
Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell )
Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware)
Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh)
Sun Belt Express by [link...
Poland’s Us in Progress Wrocław event has announced the six projects that will feature in its 2013 edition.
The two-day works-in-progress event presents Us films in the final stages of production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of Us indie films in Europe.
The invite-only screenings and one-to-one meetings will take place as part of of the 4th American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland (Oct 23-25).
The films, selected from around 40 submissions, include:
Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari),
Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell )
Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware)
Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh)
Sun Belt Express by [link...
- 9/27/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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