This watchable documentary, focusing on New York as the crucible of gay liberation politics, brings together performers from the Truth or Dare tour
An emotionally effusive film, this – sometimes excitable and indulgent but watchable, and an interesting addition to a growing documentary genre focusing on New York City as the crucible of gay liberation politics. Film-makers Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan seek out and reunite the backing dancers recruited by Madonna for her 1990 Truth or Dare tour and its accompanying documentary. This became a scandal for “backstage” footage of an all-male kiss, noted here as an under-remembered historical moment in gay openness. But it also became a cause of terrible legal acrimony as the men involved were not ready for it to be used in the film.
Some of the dancers reveal that, for all the tour’s emphasis on defiant openness, they had not revealed that they were HIV positive.
An emotionally effusive film, this – sometimes excitable and indulgent but watchable, and an interesting addition to a growing documentary genre focusing on New York City as the crucible of gay liberation politics. Film-makers Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan seek out and reunite the backing dancers recruited by Madonna for her 1990 Truth or Dare tour and its accompanying documentary. This became a scandal for “backstage” footage of an all-male kiss, noted here as an under-remembered historical moment in gay openness. But it also became a cause of terrible legal acrimony as the men involved were not ready for it to be used in the film.
Some of the dancers reveal that, for all the tour’s emphasis on defiant openness, they had not revealed that they were HIV positive.
- 2/2/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Open Road Films has announced that it has acquired domestic distribution rights to “Spark,” an animated space adventure starring voice talent from Academy Award-winning actresses Hilary Swank and Susan Sarandon, Golden Globe nominee Patrick Stewart, Jessica Biel, and introducing Jace Norman. The animated film is directed by Canadian filmmaker Aaron Woodley. Open Road Films plans to release the film in theatres on April 14, 2017.
– IFC Films has announced at the American Film Market conference that the company has acquired U.S. rights to Werner Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert.” The film, written and directed by Herzog, stars Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson and Damian Lewis. They will the release the film in the spring of next year.
– Open Road Films has announced that it has acquired domestic distribution rights to “Spark,” an animated space adventure starring voice talent from Academy Award-winning actresses Hilary Swank and Susan Sarandon, Golden Globe nominee Patrick Stewart, Jessica Biel, and introducing Jace Norman. The animated film is directed by Canadian filmmaker Aaron Woodley. Open Road Films plans to release the film in theatres on April 14, 2017.
– IFC Films has announced at the American Film Market conference that the company has acquired U.S. rights to Werner Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert.” The film, written and directed by Herzog, stars Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson and Damian Lewis. They will the release the film in the spring of next year.
- 11/4/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The distributor has acquired Us rights to the animation Spark, which Double Dutch International represents for sales at the Afm outside the Us with the exception of China and South Korea.
Hilary Swank, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Stewart, Jessica Biel and newcomer Jace Norman star in the ToonBox Entertainment, Redrover Co, Shanghai Hoongman Technology Co, and Gulfstream Pictures.
Open Road Films plans an April 14, 2017, theatrical release on the space adventure inspired by the 16th century Chinese novel Journey To The West. Canadian Aaron Woodley directed.
Hoe Jin Ha, Hong Kim, Jay Hj Ahn and Daniel Woo served as executive producers alongside Gulfstream Pictures’ Mike Karz and Bill Bindley.
Covert Media is fully financing, producing and will handle worldwide sales on Ya adaptation Need. Covert’s Elissa Friedman and Media Content Capital’s Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine serve as executive producers on the thriller about a social networking site. Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann will write and direct...
Hilary Swank, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Stewart, Jessica Biel and newcomer Jace Norman star in the ToonBox Entertainment, Redrover Co, Shanghai Hoongman Technology Co, and Gulfstream Pictures.
Open Road Films plans an April 14, 2017, theatrical release on the space adventure inspired by the 16th century Chinese novel Journey To The West. Canadian Aaron Woodley directed.
Hoe Jin Ha, Hong Kim, Jay Hj Ahn and Daniel Woo served as executive producers alongside Gulfstream Pictures’ Mike Karz and Bill Bindley.
Covert Media is fully financing, producing and will handle worldwide sales on Ya adaptation Need. Covert’s Elissa Friedman and Media Content Capital’s Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine serve as executive producers on the thriller about a social networking site. Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann will write and direct...
- 11/2/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The 5th Annual Key West Film Festival has announced its official 2016 lineup, including the opening night film, “20th Century Women,” directed by Mike Mills and starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig and Billy Crudup. As part of the festival’s signature Critics Focus program, MTV’s Chief Film Critic Amy Nicholson will present and lead a conversation around the film, alongside David Fear, Senior Film/TV Editor of Rolling Stone.
Director of Programming Michael Tuckman said of Nicholson’s pick, “I could not be more thrilled with Amy Nicholson’s choice of ’20th Century Women’ to kick off our 5th Anniversary edition of festival. Annette Bening’s performance is Oscar-deserving and the rich depth of the balance of the leading cast is Altman-esque in its quality. Amy’s discussion after the film will bring a cunning critic’s eye to this fabulous film for audiences.”
Read More: ’20th Century...
Director of Programming Michael Tuckman said of Nicholson’s pick, “I could not be more thrilled with Amy Nicholson’s choice of ’20th Century Women’ to kick off our 5th Anniversary edition of festival. Annette Bening’s performance is Oscar-deserving and the rich depth of the balance of the leading cast is Altman-esque in its quality. Amy’s discussion after the film will bring a cunning critic’s eye to this fabulous film for audiences.”
Read More: ’20th Century...
- 10/19/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Italian distributor buys docs including Zero Days and Lo And Behold and a number of narrative dramas.
Italian distributor I Wonder Pictures has struck deals for a number of documentaries, confirming its place as a key player in the doc market.
Andrea Romeo, I Wonder managing director, has picked up a number of films that screened at the recent Italian Biografilm festival, of which he is also the artistic director.
Acquisitions include Alex Gibney’s Zero Days, Werner Herzog’s Lo And Behold and Morgan Neville’s Music Of Strangers about cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
Also picked up were the Paula Vaccaro and Jim Jarmusch-produced celebration of Howard Bookner, Uncle Howard; refugee story Those Who Jump; doc thriller The Lovers And The Despot; and Ester Gould’s Strike A Pose, the what-happened-next chronicle about the dancers of Madonna’s 1990 music tour.
I Wonder, which has previously released documentaries Citizenfour, The Look Of Silence and [link...
Italian distributor I Wonder Pictures has struck deals for a number of documentaries, confirming its place as a key player in the doc market.
Andrea Romeo, I Wonder managing director, has picked up a number of films that screened at the recent Italian Biografilm festival, of which he is also the artistic director.
Acquisitions include Alex Gibney’s Zero Days, Werner Herzog’s Lo And Behold and Morgan Neville’s Music Of Strangers about cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
Also picked up were the Paula Vaccaro and Jim Jarmusch-produced celebration of Howard Bookner, Uncle Howard; refugee story Those Who Jump; doc thriller The Lovers And The Despot; and Ester Gould’s Strike A Pose, the what-happened-next chronicle about the dancers of Madonna’s 1990 music tour.
I Wonder, which has previously released documentaries Citizenfour, The Look Of Silence and [link...
- 7/12/2016
- ScreenDaily
Full programme revealed for this year’s East End Film Festival.
Hellboy star Ron Perlman and Suffragette director Sarah Gavron have joined the jury of the 15th East End Film Festival (June 23 – July 3).
It marks a return to the East End for Us star Perlman, who attended Eeff in 2014 when Dermaphoria - in which he starred - opened the festival.
Ivy director Tolga Karaçelik, who won best feature at last year’s festival, returns as the 2016 director in residence and jury chair alongside Perlman and Gavron.
Also awarding the Best Feature prize will be film writer and producer Kaleem Aftab and Bangladeshi film-maker Mostofa Sarwar (Television).
This year’s country focus will be Turkey, with screenings including the UK premiere of Emin Alper’s Turkey-France-Qatar co-pro Frenzy.
Opening film
The festival will open with the world premiere of Ian Bonhote’s Alleycats, with a cast that includes Screen Stars of Tomorrow Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Sam Keeley ([link...
Hellboy star Ron Perlman and Suffragette director Sarah Gavron have joined the jury of the 15th East End Film Festival (June 23 – July 3).
It marks a return to the East End for Us star Perlman, who attended Eeff in 2014 when Dermaphoria - in which he starred - opened the festival.
Ivy director Tolga Karaçelik, who won best feature at last year’s festival, returns as the 2016 director in residence and jury chair alongside Perlman and Gavron.
Also awarding the Best Feature prize will be film writer and producer Kaleem Aftab and Bangladeshi film-maker Mostofa Sarwar (Television).
This year’s country focus will be Turkey, with screenings including the UK premiere of Emin Alper’s Turkey-France-Qatar co-pro Frenzy.
Opening film
The festival will open with the world premiere of Ian Bonhote’s Alleycats, with a cast that includes Screen Stars of Tomorrow Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Sam Keeley ([link...
- 5/26/2016
- ScreenDaily
As the main topic of this year’s festival, Docaviv will feature a select group of thought-provoking films about a world that is changing with the collapse of physical and social boundaries, growing economic disparities, the waves of refugees and immigrants, civil wars, international terrorism, and the ultimate undoing of social solidarity.
Within the framework of this theme the program does not only include documentaries about terror and refugees, but also about a fragmented society which is losing its solidarity. Both in Israel and elsewhere the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening, and so are the frustrations and the unrest. Israeli and international titles correlating to these themes can be found throughout the entire festival program:
“Death in the terminal” - Directors Tali Shemesh (“The Cemetery Club”) and Assaf Surd
A tense, minute-by-minute, Rashomon-style account of a tragic day. On October 18, 2015, a terrorist armed with a gun and a knife entered Beersheba’s bus terminal. Within 18 minutes Omri Levy, a soldier was killed and Abtum Zarhum, Eritrean immigrant asylum seeker, was lynched after being mistaken for a terrorist.
“The Settlers” - Premiered in Sundance, Director Shimon Dotan.
A far-reaching, comprehensive look at the Jewish settlement enterprise in the West Bank. It examines the origins of the settlement movement and the religious and ideological visions that propelled it, while providing an intimate look at the people at the center of the greatest geopolitical challenge now facing Israel and the international community. (Isa Contact: Cinephil)
“Town on a Wire” - premiered at Cph: Dox Dir: Uri Rosenwaks
While Tel Aviv is thriving, just ten minutes away lies the town of Lod, right in the backyard of Israel’s bustling urban center. Unlike its affluent neighbor, Lod is a city that suffers from the blight of racism, crime, and sheer desperation. Can it be saved? Is there some way to bring hope to Lod’s Arab and Jewish residents?
“Foucoammare”/ “Fire at Sea” - by Gianfranco Rosi - winner of Golden Bear, Berlinale 2016 -every day the inhabitants of the Italian Island Lampedusa are confronted with the flight of refugees to Europe . These people long for peace and freedom and often only their dead bodies are pulled out of the water. (Contact Isa: Doc & Film Int’l. U.S.: Kino Lorber)
“Between fences” – by Avi Mograbi -. In an Israeli detention center asylum-seekers from Eritrea and Sudan can’t be sent back to their own countries, but have no prospects in Israel either thanks to the country’s policies. Chen Alon and Avi Mograbi, initiate a theatre workshop to give these people the opportunity to address their own experiences of forced migration and discrimination and to confront an Israeli society that views them as dangerous infiltrators.
“A Syrian Love Story” – by Sean McAllister -You can’t be Che Guevara and a mother Amer tells Raghda, but maybe she can't do it any other way. After years of struggle, life without her homeland and the revolution has no meaning for her. It is hard to determine what is more demanding in this bold film: the revolution, or the search for inner peace. (Contact Isa: Cat & Docs)
“Homo Sapiens” – by Nikolaus Geyrhalter - what does humanity leave behind when its gone? It sometimes seems as if the mark that humans leave on this planet will last forever. The truth is that the iron, bricks, cement, and steel – the human traces everywhere abandoned and forgotten – are erased by the forces of nature. This unusually beautiful film may lack people and words, but that leaves even more room for thought.(Contact Isa: Autlook)
“Land of the Enlightened” – Premiered at Sundance Ff 2016. Shot over seven years on evocative 16mm footage, first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue paints a whimsical yet haunting look at the condition of Afghanistan left for the next generation. As American soldiers prepare to leave, we follow De Pue deep into this hidden land where young boys form wild gangs to control trade routes, sell explosives from mines left over from war, making the new rules of war based on the harsh landscape left to them. (Contact Isa: Films Boutique)
“Flickering Truth” - Premiered at Toronto Ff 2015. Director Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins) directs this harrowing, compelling film about the power of cinema to preserve our history and in so doing potentially change our futures. (Contact Isa: Film Sales Company)
“Requiem for the American Dream” - Directed by Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott. In ten chilling but lucid chapters, Noam Chomsky, one of the great intellectuals of our time, analyzes the “system,” which allows wealthy capitalists to seize the reins of government and turn those without wealth into a passive herd, willing to forego power, solidarity, and democracy itself. (U.S.: Gravitas. Contact Isa: Films Transit)
The festival will open with a first film by Israeli director Roman Shumunov
“Babylon Dreamers” Directed by Roman Somonob. An intimate report about a troupe of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from one of Ashdod’s poorest neighborhoods; they struggle to survive facing harsh conditions - poverty, mental illness, and broken families. They channel their anger and cling to their dream of attending and winning the International Breakdance Championship.
Israeli Competition
Some 70 Israeli films produced over the last year were submitted out of which 13 films have been selected for the Israeli Competition. They will be competing for the largest cash prize for documentary filmmaking in Israel 70,000 Nis (Us$ 15,000). Other awards in the competition include the Mayor’s Prize for the Most Promising Filmmaker, the Prize for Editing, the Prize for Cinematography, the Prize for Research, and the Prize for Original Score.
"The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev," directors Tal Barda, Noam Pinchas -Tajikistan’s answer to the Jackson Family. A modern-day Shakespearean tale about a famous Tajik musical family, controlled by their charismatic patriarch-grandfather - Papa Alaev.
"A Tale of Two Balloons" by Zohar Wagner - The tale of a women who thought a pair of perfect breasts would help her find true love. But when that love came along, those perfect breasts had to go.
"Aida's Secrets," director Alon Schwarz - At 68, Izak learns he has a brother he never knew about. As part of the discoveries about the family, the film uncovers the story of the Displaced Persons camps- the vibrant and often wild social life that flourished immediately after WW2.
"Child Mother" by Yael Kipper and Ronen Zaretzky - The story of elderly women born in Morocco and Yemen, who were married off when they were still little girls. Only now, as they enter the final chapter of their lives, do they openly face their past and the ways it still affects them and their families.
"The Last Shaman" directed by Raz Degan - Inspired by an article he read, James decides to travel to the Amazon rainforests, in search of a shaman whom he thinks can save him from a clinical depression that haunts him.
"The Patriarch's Room" by Danae Elon -The bizarre imprisonment of the former head of the Greek Orthodox Church in a tiny monastic cell in Jerusalem’s Old City leads to a fascinating journey in search of the truth, penetrating the remote world of the priesthood. The complex and unfamiliar picture that emerges is revealed here, on camera, for the very first time.
"Poetics of the Brain" by Nurith Aviv –weaving associative links between her personal biographical stories and neuroscientists’ accounts of their work. They discuss topics such as memory, bilingualism, reading, mirror neurons, smell, traces of experience.
"Shalom Italia," by Tamar Tal Anati (winner of Docaviv for Life in Stills) -Three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened.
"Week 23" by Ohad Milstein - Rahel, the daughter of a Swiss bishop, is coping with a difficult pregnancy in Israel. One of the identical twins she is carrying has died in utero, and now poses an almost certain threat to its sibling. The doctors are unequivocal about it. They tell Rahel that she should abort the surviving fetus and end her pregnancy.
"The Settlers" by Shimon Dotan; Town On A Wire directed by Uri Rosenwaksand Eyal Blachson; Death in the Terminal by Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry, and Babylon Dreamers by Roman Shumunov.
The Members of the selection committee included Sinai Abt, artistic director of the Docaviv Film Festival; director Reuven Brodsky, winner of Docaviv in 2012 for his film Home Movie and of Honorable Mention at Docaviv in 2015 and film editor Ayelet Ofarim.
Twelve films have been selected for the International Competition, which will open with the The Happy Film by Stefan Seigmeister. Also competing are Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan, winner of the Idfa Award; Author: The J.T. LeRoy Story about the imaginary cult figure who became the darling of New York society and nightlife, picked up by Amazon at Sundance as its first doc title. Another festival favorite is A Flickering Truth and Sean McAllister's daring award winning documentary A Syrian Love Story.
The Depth of Field Competition will open with LoveTrue by director Alma Har’el, who will be a juror for the Israeli Film Competition. This is the Competition’s third year, held in conjunction with the Film Critics’ Forum that will award films for an outstanding and daring artistic vision. Other films that will be screened as part of the competition include Sundance winners Kate Plays Christine by Robert Greene, and Pieter-Jan De Pue’s hybrid documentary The Land of the Enlightened; other titles that will be shown are Hotel Dallas by wife and husband artist duo Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, The Hong Kong Trilogy by noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle , and the musical- turned into documentary London Road by Rufus Norris and Alecky Blythe.
The Masters Section, a new category in the festival, highlighting new films by world renowned directors will be opened by Fire at Sea by director Gianfranco Rosi, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale. Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences will be accompanied by a play by the Holot Legislative Theater, with a cast of actors that includes Israelis and African asylum seekers.
Other films in this section include amongst others Junun, Paul Thomas Anderson’s portrayal of a musical project involving Shye Ben-Tzur and Jonny Greenwood, Homo Sapiens by director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine by director Alex Gibney, To the Desert by director Judd Neeman, Unlocking the Cage by directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, De Palma by co-director Noah Baumbach and He Named Me Malala by David Guggenheim.
The Panorama selection of films will include amongst others the moving Strike a Pose, by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan about the dancers who accompanied Madonna on her “Blond Ambition” tour, Roger Ross Williams ‘Life, Animated depicting the remarkable story of an autistic boy, who learned how to communicate with his surroundings through Disney films, Those Who Jump about an African refugee who films attempts by other refugees to jump the barbed wire border fence in North Africa and Louis Theroux: My Scientology Film.
This year’s Arts Section will include Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville; I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman, which was produced shortly before her tragic death, Listen to Me, Marlon, which tells the story of Marlon Brando through the audio recordings he made throughout his life, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, the salacious story of art collector Peggy Guggenheim, Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, Gilad Baram’s film about famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka’s travels along the Separation Fence, and more.
Seven films produced by the top film schools in Israel were selected to compete in the annual Student Film Competition. The prize for the competition was donated by the Gottesman family in memory of Ruti Gottesman, a leading supporter of Docaviv and of documentary.
The Members of the selection committee included Karin Ryvind Segal, programming director for Docaviv, Hila Avraham, curator and expert on film and audiovisual media preservation and screenwriter Danny Rosenberg, whose work includes the films My Father’s House , Susia and the television series Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee.
Special Guests attending the Festival:
Award winning Director Ondi Timoner, will be attending the Israeli premiere of her film Russell Brand: A Second Coming. Her Sundance-winning film Dig! will be among the music documentaries screened at the Tel Aviv Port. In conjunction with the Film Department of Beit Berl College, Timoner will also be conducting a special master class for students, professionals, and amateurs.
This year’s festival will include a special tribute to acclaimed director Nikolaus Geyrhalter who will be attending the festival with his recent Homo Sapiens. This year’s festival will also include two previous films of his, Our Daily Bread and Abendland,.
International jury members attending the festival include:
Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Director of the Idfa industry office; Gary Kam, producer of Planet of Snail; film director Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach; LoveTrue) ; Nilotpal, Director of Docedge Kolkata, Sascha Lara Bleuler, Director of the Human Rights Film Festival in Zurich, and film director Tatiana Brandrup.
The Israeli jurors include:
Director Dror Moreh, director and producer Barak Heymann, director Robby Elmaliah, producer Elinor Kowarsky, photographer David Adika, and film editor Tal Rabiner.
Around town. A record number of twelve screening venues spread out across Tel Aviv will offer free screenings. These are: Habima Square, the Beit Danny Community Center, the Hatikvah neighborhood, the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa, the rooftop of Tel Aviv City Hall, WeWork, Levinsky Park, Bar Kayma, Beit Romano, the Nalaga’at Center, Picnic Little Italy-Sarona Tel Aviv, and Artport.
Outdoors. The Tel Aviv Port will continue to host the festival this year, with outdoor screenings of music films with guest deejays from KZRadio. Films to be screened at the port include Janis: Little Girl Blue, The Reflektor Tapes about the band Arcade Fire, P.T Andersoan’s Junun about the musical collaboration between Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Godrich, and a dozen Indian musicians.
Festival Firsts. DocaviVR: a collaboration between Docaviv and Steamer, Israel’s first Interactive and Virtual Reality Film Festival, presents original documentary projects from Israel and around the world, created especially for viewing with Vr gear. The event will take place at Beit Romano. A cinema will pop up in one of Tel Aviv’s trendy hubs, with 25 stations equipped with Vr gear.
The Docommunity conference aims to promote dcomentary across the country by bringing together cultural coordinators and artistic directors from across the country to introduce them to the latest documentary films from Israel and around the world.
The Platform for Alternative Documentation at Artport art space: A performative piece that brings together film artists, social activists, and researchers studying the various aesthetic, social, and philosophical aspects of documentation. Curated by Laliv Melamed and Gilad Reich.
Young audiences. For the first time, films from The Next Doc will be screened, a special initiative of Docaviv, the Second Channel, and the New Fund for Film and Television, which led to the production of three films created especially for a teenage audience.
Docaviv will also be hosting the final event of Docu Young, at which films by students in residential schools, who participated in film workshops , will be screened.
The Docyouth Competition will feature the best documentary films produced by students in high school film programs throughout the country. For the first time, voting for this year’s competition will be held online and open to high school students across the country.
Among the Screenings of docs for kids are Victor Kosakovsky’s “Varicella”, and “Landfilharmonic”.
Over the course of the festival, 110 films will be screened.
Within the framework of this theme the program does not only include documentaries about terror and refugees, but also about a fragmented society which is losing its solidarity. Both in Israel and elsewhere the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening, and so are the frustrations and the unrest. Israeli and international titles correlating to these themes can be found throughout the entire festival program:
“Death in the terminal” - Directors Tali Shemesh (“The Cemetery Club”) and Assaf Surd
A tense, minute-by-minute, Rashomon-style account of a tragic day. On October 18, 2015, a terrorist armed with a gun and a knife entered Beersheba’s bus terminal. Within 18 minutes Omri Levy, a soldier was killed and Abtum Zarhum, Eritrean immigrant asylum seeker, was lynched after being mistaken for a terrorist.
“The Settlers” - Premiered in Sundance, Director Shimon Dotan.
A far-reaching, comprehensive look at the Jewish settlement enterprise in the West Bank. It examines the origins of the settlement movement and the religious and ideological visions that propelled it, while providing an intimate look at the people at the center of the greatest geopolitical challenge now facing Israel and the international community. (Isa Contact: Cinephil)
“Town on a Wire” - premiered at Cph: Dox Dir: Uri Rosenwaks
While Tel Aviv is thriving, just ten minutes away lies the town of Lod, right in the backyard of Israel’s bustling urban center. Unlike its affluent neighbor, Lod is a city that suffers from the blight of racism, crime, and sheer desperation. Can it be saved? Is there some way to bring hope to Lod’s Arab and Jewish residents?
“Foucoammare”/ “Fire at Sea” - by Gianfranco Rosi - winner of Golden Bear, Berlinale 2016 -every day the inhabitants of the Italian Island Lampedusa are confronted with the flight of refugees to Europe . These people long for peace and freedom and often only their dead bodies are pulled out of the water. (Contact Isa: Doc & Film Int’l. U.S.: Kino Lorber)
“Between fences” – by Avi Mograbi -. In an Israeli detention center asylum-seekers from Eritrea and Sudan can’t be sent back to their own countries, but have no prospects in Israel either thanks to the country’s policies. Chen Alon and Avi Mograbi, initiate a theatre workshop to give these people the opportunity to address their own experiences of forced migration and discrimination and to confront an Israeli society that views them as dangerous infiltrators.
“A Syrian Love Story” – by Sean McAllister -You can’t be Che Guevara and a mother Amer tells Raghda, but maybe she can't do it any other way. After years of struggle, life without her homeland and the revolution has no meaning for her. It is hard to determine what is more demanding in this bold film: the revolution, or the search for inner peace. (Contact Isa: Cat & Docs)
“Homo Sapiens” – by Nikolaus Geyrhalter - what does humanity leave behind when its gone? It sometimes seems as if the mark that humans leave on this planet will last forever. The truth is that the iron, bricks, cement, and steel – the human traces everywhere abandoned and forgotten – are erased by the forces of nature. This unusually beautiful film may lack people and words, but that leaves even more room for thought.(Contact Isa: Autlook)
“Land of the Enlightened” – Premiered at Sundance Ff 2016. Shot over seven years on evocative 16mm footage, first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue paints a whimsical yet haunting look at the condition of Afghanistan left for the next generation. As American soldiers prepare to leave, we follow De Pue deep into this hidden land where young boys form wild gangs to control trade routes, sell explosives from mines left over from war, making the new rules of war based on the harsh landscape left to them. (Contact Isa: Films Boutique)
“Flickering Truth” - Premiered at Toronto Ff 2015. Director Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins) directs this harrowing, compelling film about the power of cinema to preserve our history and in so doing potentially change our futures. (Contact Isa: Film Sales Company)
“Requiem for the American Dream” - Directed by Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott. In ten chilling but lucid chapters, Noam Chomsky, one of the great intellectuals of our time, analyzes the “system,” which allows wealthy capitalists to seize the reins of government and turn those without wealth into a passive herd, willing to forego power, solidarity, and democracy itself. (U.S.: Gravitas. Contact Isa: Films Transit)
The festival will open with a first film by Israeli director Roman Shumunov
“Babylon Dreamers” Directed by Roman Somonob. An intimate report about a troupe of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from one of Ashdod’s poorest neighborhoods; they struggle to survive facing harsh conditions - poverty, mental illness, and broken families. They channel their anger and cling to their dream of attending and winning the International Breakdance Championship.
Israeli Competition
Some 70 Israeli films produced over the last year were submitted out of which 13 films have been selected for the Israeli Competition. They will be competing for the largest cash prize for documentary filmmaking in Israel 70,000 Nis (Us$ 15,000). Other awards in the competition include the Mayor’s Prize for the Most Promising Filmmaker, the Prize for Editing, the Prize for Cinematography, the Prize for Research, and the Prize for Original Score.
"The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev," directors Tal Barda, Noam Pinchas -Tajikistan’s answer to the Jackson Family. A modern-day Shakespearean tale about a famous Tajik musical family, controlled by their charismatic patriarch-grandfather - Papa Alaev.
"A Tale of Two Balloons" by Zohar Wagner - The tale of a women who thought a pair of perfect breasts would help her find true love. But when that love came along, those perfect breasts had to go.
"Aida's Secrets," director Alon Schwarz - At 68, Izak learns he has a brother he never knew about. As part of the discoveries about the family, the film uncovers the story of the Displaced Persons camps- the vibrant and often wild social life that flourished immediately after WW2.
"Child Mother" by Yael Kipper and Ronen Zaretzky - The story of elderly women born in Morocco and Yemen, who were married off when they were still little girls. Only now, as they enter the final chapter of their lives, do they openly face their past and the ways it still affects them and their families.
"The Last Shaman" directed by Raz Degan - Inspired by an article he read, James decides to travel to the Amazon rainforests, in search of a shaman whom he thinks can save him from a clinical depression that haunts him.
"The Patriarch's Room" by Danae Elon -The bizarre imprisonment of the former head of the Greek Orthodox Church in a tiny monastic cell in Jerusalem’s Old City leads to a fascinating journey in search of the truth, penetrating the remote world of the priesthood. The complex and unfamiliar picture that emerges is revealed here, on camera, for the very first time.
"Poetics of the Brain" by Nurith Aviv –weaving associative links between her personal biographical stories and neuroscientists’ accounts of their work. They discuss topics such as memory, bilingualism, reading, mirror neurons, smell, traces of experience.
"Shalom Italia," by Tamar Tal Anati (winner of Docaviv for Life in Stills) -Three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened.
"Week 23" by Ohad Milstein - Rahel, the daughter of a Swiss bishop, is coping with a difficult pregnancy in Israel. One of the identical twins she is carrying has died in utero, and now poses an almost certain threat to its sibling. The doctors are unequivocal about it. They tell Rahel that she should abort the surviving fetus and end her pregnancy.
"The Settlers" by Shimon Dotan; Town On A Wire directed by Uri Rosenwaksand Eyal Blachson; Death in the Terminal by Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry, and Babylon Dreamers by Roman Shumunov.
The Members of the selection committee included Sinai Abt, artistic director of the Docaviv Film Festival; director Reuven Brodsky, winner of Docaviv in 2012 for his film Home Movie and of Honorable Mention at Docaviv in 2015 and film editor Ayelet Ofarim.
Twelve films have been selected for the International Competition, which will open with the The Happy Film by Stefan Seigmeister. Also competing are Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan, winner of the Idfa Award; Author: The J.T. LeRoy Story about the imaginary cult figure who became the darling of New York society and nightlife, picked up by Amazon at Sundance as its first doc title. Another festival favorite is A Flickering Truth and Sean McAllister's daring award winning documentary A Syrian Love Story.
The Depth of Field Competition will open with LoveTrue by director Alma Har’el, who will be a juror for the Israeli Film Competition. This is the Competition’s third year, held in conjunction with the Film Critics’ Forum that will award films for an outstanding and daring artistic vision. Other films that will be screened as part of the competition include Sundance winners Kate Plays Christine by Robert Greene, and Pieter-Jan De Pue’s hybrid documentary The Land of the Enlightened; other titles that will be shown are Hotel Dallas by wife and husband artist duo Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, The Hong Kong Trilogy by noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle , and the musical- turned into documentary London Road by Rufus Norris and Alecky Blythe.
The Masters Section, a new category in the festival, highlighting new films by world renowned directors will be opened by Fire at Sea by director Gianfranco Rosi, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale. Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences will be accompanied by a play by the Holot Legislative Theater, with a cast of actors that includes Israelis and African asylum seekers.
Other films in this section include amongst others Junun, Paul Thomas Anderson’s portrayal of a musical project involving Shye Ben-Tzur and Jonny Greenwood, Homo Sapiens by director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine by director Alex Gibney, To the Desert by director Judd Neeman, Unlocking the Cage by directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, De Palma by co-director Noah Baumbach and He Named Me Malala by David Guggenheim.
The Panorama selection of films will include amongst others the moving Strike a Pose, by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan about the dancers who accompanied Madonna on her “Blond Ambition” tour, Roger Ross Williams ‘Life, Animated depicting the remarkable story of an autistic boy, who learned how to communicate with his surroundings through Disney films, Those Who Jump about an African refugee who films attempts by other refugees to jump the barbed wire border fence in North Africa and Louis Theroux: My Scientology Film.
This year’s Arts Section will include Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville; I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman, which was produced shortly before her tragic death, Listen to Me, Marlon, which tells the story of Marlon Brando through the audio recordings he made throughout his life, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, the salacious story of art collector Peggy Guggenheim, Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, Gilad Baram’s film about famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka’s travels along the Separation Fence, and more.
Seven films produced by the top film schools in Israel were selected to compete in the annual Student Film Competition. The prize for the competition was donated by the Gottesman family in memory of Ruti Gottesman, a leading supporter of Docaviv and of documentary.
The Members of the selection committee included Karin Ryvind Segal, programming director for Docaviv, Hila Avraham, curator and expert on film and audiovisual media preservation and screenwriter Danny Rosenberg, whose work includes the films My Father’s House , Susia and the television series Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee.
Special Guests attending the Festival:
Award winning Director Ondi Timoner, will be attending the Israeli premiere of her film Russell Brand: A Second Coming. Her Sundance-winning film Dig! will be among the music documentaries screened at the Tel Aviv Port. In conjunction with the Film Department of Beit Berl College, Timoner will also be conducting a special master class for students, professionals, and amateurs.
This year’s festival will include a special tribute to acclaimed director Nikolaus Geyrhalter who will be attending the festival with his recent Homo Sapiens. This year’s festival will also include two previous films of his, Our Daily Bread and Abendland,.
International jury members attending the festival include:
Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Director of the Idfa industry office; Gary Kam, producer of Planet of Snail; film director Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach; LoveTrue) ; Nilotpal, Director of Docedge Kolkata, Sascha Lara Bleuler, Director of the Human Rights Film Festival in Zurich, and film director Tatiana Brandrup.
The Israeli jurors include:
Director Dror Moreh, director and producer Barak Heymann, director Robby Elmaliah, producer Elinor Kowarsky, photographer David Adika, and film editor Tal Rabiner.
Around town. A record number of twelve screening venues spread out across Tel Aviv will offer free screenings. These are: Habima Square, the Beit Danny Community Center, the Hatikvah neighborhood, the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa, the rooftop of Tel Aviv City Hall, WeWork, Levinsky Park, Bar Kayma, Beit Romano, the Nalaga’at Center, Picnic Little Italy-Sarona Tel Aviv, and Artport.
Outdoors. The Tel Aviv Port will continue to host the festival this year, with outdoor screenings of music films with guest deejays from KZRadio. Films to be screened at the port include Janis: Little Girl Blue, The Reflektor Tapes about the band Arcade Fire, P.T Andersoan’s Junun about the musical collaboration between Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Godrich, and a dozen Indian musicians.
Festival Firsts. DocaviVR: a collaboration between Docaviv and Steamer, Israel’s first Interactive and Virtual Reality Film Festival, presents original documentary projects from Israel and around the world, created especially for viewing with Vr gear. The event will take place at Beit Romano. A cinema will pop up in one of Tel Aviv’s trendy hubs, with 25 stations equipped with Vr gear.
The Docommunity conference aims to promote dcomentary across the country by bringing together cultural coordinators and artistic directors from across the country to introduce them to the latest documentary films from Israel and around the world.
The Platform for Alternative Documentation at Artport art space: A performative piece that brings together film artists, social activists, and researchers studying the various aesthetic, social, and philosophical aspects of documentation. Curated by Laliv Melamed and Gilad Reich.
Young audiences. For the first time, films from The Next Doc will be screened, a special initiative of Docaviv, the Second Channel, and the New Fund for Film and Television, which led to the production of three films created especially for a teenage audience.
Docaviv will also be hosting the final event of Docu Young, at which films by students in residential schools, who participated in film workshops , will be screened.
The Docyouth Competition will feature the best documentary films produced by students in high school film programs throughout the country. For the first time, voting for this year’s competition will be held online and open to high school students across the country.
Among the Screenings of docs for kids are Victor Kosakovsky’s “Varicella”, and “Landfilharmonic”.
Over the course of the festival, 110 films will be screened.
- 5/11/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
We're celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Truth or Dare" this week. Here's Jose having a brilliantly fun chat with its dancers who have an unofficial sequel, if you will, making the festival rounds...
Clockwise from top: Carlton, Madonna, Luis, Gabriel (Rip), Jose, Kevin, Oliver, and Salim (aka "Slam")
Jose here. I was four years old when Madonna went on her Blonde Ambition Tour, but I distinctly remember being hypnotized by the woman with the pointy bra on TV that was making the Pope very upset. Fast forward a couple of decades and not only am I a huge Madonna fan, but I’ve made more sense of that specific era in her career thanks to the revolutionary documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. So I was thrilled when I found out Dutch filmmakers Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan had made Strike a Pose, a documentary about the male dancers that were...
Clockwise from top: Carlton, Madonna, Luis, Gabriel (Rip), Jose, Kevin, Oliver, and Salim (aka "Slam")
Jose here. I was four years old when Madonna went on her Blonde Ambition Tour, but I distinctly remember being hypnotized by the woman with the pointy bra on TV that was making the Pope very upset. Fast forward a couple of decades and not only am I a huge Madonna fan, but I’ve made more sense of that specific era in her career thanks to the revolutionary documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. So I was thrilled when I found out Dutch filmmakers Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan had made Strike a Pose, a documentary about the male dancers that were...
- 5/10/2016
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
Directors Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaans hit something of a gold mine with the subject matter for their documentary Strike A Pose. The Dutch duo gained access to all of the surviving dancers who backed up Madonna nightly on her Truth Or Dare tour - the highly controversial tour known for championing gay rights but one which, as we learn, took a very particular emotional toll on those involved. Here's how the Tribeca film festival described it: To the fans they were the unforgettably sleek, talented, and beautiful men that helped support the career of one of the world's most beloved and controversial music artists. But behind the scenes they were Kevin, Oliver, Luis, Carlton, Jose, Gabriel, and Salim; a diverse, impressionable group of young...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 4/28/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Premiering in the Panorama program of the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year was "Strike a Pose," a feature documentary from Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, which now has an official trailer. The story, courtesy of the filmmakers: In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour - her "Blond Ambition" world tour. Their journey was captured in her rockumentary, "Truth or Dare." As a self-proclaimed "mother" to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of pride, inspiring people...
- 4/20/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Team Experience is at the Tribeca Film Festival. Here's Manuel on Strike a Pose.
Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Strike a Pose with Madonna: Truth or Dare. After all, that now iconic documentary is really on a league of its own. Then again, this newer doc, which focuses on the male dancers from that 1991 film (and from the Material Girl’s Blond Ambition Tour) cannot help but drum up the comparisons. As a pseudo-sequel to Truth or Dare, Strike a Pose is perhaps less enthralling—no Warren Beatty or Antonio Banderas here—but just as entertaining. And while the first twenty or so minutes of the film do indeed feel like a sequel in spirit if not in name (we get to revisit the tour and the doc in ways that show us how much these dancers kept to themselves even as they seemingly opened up their lives for...
Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Strike a Pose with Madonna: Truth or Dare. After all, that now iconic documentary is really on a league of its own. Then again, this newer doc, which focuses on the male dancers from that 1991 film (and from the Material Girl’s Blond Ambition Tour) cannot help but drum up the comparisons. As a pseudo-sequel to Truth or Dare, Strike a Pose is perhaps less enthralling—no Warren Beatty or Antonio Banderas here—but just as entertaining. And while the first twenty or so minutes of the film do indeed feel like a sequel in spirit if not in name (we get to revisit the tour and the doc in ways that show us how much these dancers kept to themselves even as they seemingly opened up their lives for...
- 4/19/2016
- by Manuel Betancourt
- FilmExperience
From over-the-top onstage antics to life on the road, Truth or Dare gave the world an intimate look at Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. And while the arrest threats in Canada, beef with the Pope and relationship drama with Warren Beatty are now legendary, nothing in the film is as famous as the shocking game of truth or dare the pop icon and her backup dancers play at the dinner table. People caught up with six of Madonna's Blond Ambition dancers, who are the focus of the new Dutch documentary Strike a Pose, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday.
- 4/15/2016
- by Jeff Nelson, @nelson_jeff
- PEOPLE.com
From over-the-top onstage antics to life on the road, Truth or Dare gave the world an intimate look at Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. And while the arrest threats in Canada, beef with the Pope and relationship drama with Warren Beatty are now legendary, nothing in the film is as famous as the shocking game of truth or dare the pop icon and her backup dancers play at the dinner table. People caught up with six of Madonna's Blond Ambition dancers, who are the focus of the new Dutch documentary Strike a Pose, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday.
- 4/15/2016
- by Jeff Nelson, @nelson_jeff
- PEOPLE.com
In 1990, Madonna launched her Blond Ambition World Tour. As over-the-top sexual as it was groundbreaking, the modern-pop spectacle was one of the most controversial concert events in music history. And it changed her life - and the lives of her seven backup dancers. The tour and the 1991 movie about it that followed, Truth or Dare, skyrocketed the pop icon's career to the next level and made her dancers - Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes, Salim "Slam" Gauwloos, Jose Gutierez, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin and Carlton Wilborn - celebrities in their own right. As Truth or Dare turns 25, Duth filmmakers Reijer Zwaan...
- 4/13/2016
- by Jeff Nelson, @nelson_jeff
- PEOPLE.com
In 1990, Madonna launched her Blond Ambition World Tour. As over-the-top sexual as it was groundbreaking, the modern-pop spectacle was one of the most controversial concert events in music history. And it changed her life - and the lives of her seven backup dancers. The tour and the 1991 movie about it that followed, Truth or Dare, skyrocketed the pop icon's career to the next level and made her dancers - Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes, Salim "Slam" Gauwloos, Jose Gutierez, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin and Carlton Wilborn - celebrities in their own right. As Truth or Dare turns 25, Duth filmmakers Reijer Zwaan...
- 4/13/2016
- by Jeff Nelson, @nelson_jeff
- PEOPLE.com
Berlin Review: Moving Documentary 'Strike A Pose' Catches Up With Madonna's 'Blond Ambition' Dancers
There is something eternally fascinating about survival stories — not necessarily the ones that involve Robert Redford on a sinking boat or Sandra Bullock in a leaky spacecraft, but real survival stories, of people going on with their lives after the sometimes brief period that defined them. That fascination is multiplied, shaded with regret, nostalgia, and maybe even bitterness, when those defining moments involved youthful beauty, a physicality that time has eroded, or at least changed. Ester Gould and Reijer Zwann's crowd-pleasing, where-are-they-now-style documentary catches up with the troupe of dancers from Madonna's 1990 "Blond Ambition" tour, several of whom were subsequently featured in her then-controversial movie "Truth or Dare," as well as the iconic video for "Vogue." Of the seven — Slam, Kevin, Carlton, José, Luis, Gabriel, and Oliver (the straight cuckoo in this gay nest) — not all survived. Some contended with HIV/AIDS, some had...
- 2/21/2016
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Backing singers are rarely name-checked, let alone encouraged to let their own personalities shine alongside that of the star they’re supporting. So the fact that an extraordinarily gifted group of male dancers was front and centre of Madonna’s acclaimed and controversial Blond Ambition Tour of 1990, and the accompanying backstage documentary "Truth or Dare," was incredibly significant. For the seven dancers — six gay, one straight — who were plucked from obscurity by Madonna herself, this was a life-changing experience. But it was also, inevitability, short-lived. Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan’s very touching documentary "Strike a Pose" considers two things: the complicated, even messy reality behind that heady moment — backstage of the backstage, if you like — and what happens to those left behind when the superstar and her spotlight have moved on. Twenty-five years after the tour, the directors have found six of the seven dancers (one...
- 2/15/2016
- by Demetrios Matheou
- Thompson on Hollywood
Exclusive: Film premieres in Berlin’s Panorama Documentary strand.
In advance of its Berlin premiere in Panorama Documentary, Madonna dancer doc Strike A Pose has been acquired for Benelux distribution by Cinemien.
The film, directed by Reijer Zwaan and Ester Gould, tells the extraordinary story of seven young male dancers who joined Madonna on her Blond Ambition tour in the early 1990s ands who featured in the Truth or Dare documentary.
They became celebrities in their own right and were regarded as role models by many young gay fans. The film looks at how they adapted to life after their time with Madonna.
Five of the dancers are due in Berlin for the premiere. Attending are Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes III, Jose Gutierez, Carlton Wilborn and Salim Gauwloos. Kevin Stea couldn’t make it. (The seventh dancer Gabriel Trupin died of Aids-related illness in 1995.)
“We’ve been very much in touch with them and they’re really...
In advance of its Berlin premiere in Panorama Documentary, Madonna dancer doc Strike A Pose has been acquired for Benelux distribution by Cinemien.
The film, directed by Reijer Zwaan and Ester Gould, tells the extraordinary story of seven young male dancers who joined Madonna on her Blond Ambition tour in the early 1990s ands who featured in the Truth or Dare documentary.
They became celebrities in their own right and were regarded as role models by many young gay fans. The film looks at how they adapted to life after their time with Madonna.
Five of the dancers are due in Berlin for the premiere. Attending are Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes III, Jose Gutierez, Carlton Wilborn and Salim Gauwloos. Kevin Stea couldn’t make it. (The seventh dancer Gabriel Trupin died of Aids-related illness in 1995.)
“We’ve been very much in touch with them and they’re really...
- 2/14/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
The Panorama main program of the Berlin International Film Festival which kicks off next month, includes "Strike a Pose," a feature documentary from Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, which makes it premiere at the Berlinale. The story courtesy of the filmmakers: In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour - her "Blonde Ambition" world tour. Their journey was captured in her rockumentary, "Truth or Dare." As a self-proclaimed "mother" to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of...
- 1/21/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The lineup for the Berlinale's Panorama section is now complete. Today's additions include new work by Sérgio Andrade and Fábio Baldo, Aslı Özge, Alejandro Fernández Almendras, E J-yong, Rachid Bouchareb, Anna Muylaert, Alex Anwandter, Jordan Schiele, Ali Abbasi, Oliver Schmitz, Patric Chiha, Marcos Prado, Jan Gassmann, Sophia Luvarà, Sara Jordenö, Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Rob Cannan and Ross Adam, Lee Dong-ha, Fan Jian, Monika Treut—and Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann and Alexander Bodin Saphir. The festival's 66th edition runs from February 11 through 21. » - David Hudson...
- 1/21/2016
- Keyframe
The lineup for the Berlinale's Panorama section is now complete. Today's additions include new work by Sérgio Andrade and Fábio Baldo, Aslı Özge, Alejandro Fernández Almendras, E J-yong, Rachid Bouchareb, Anna Muylaert, Alex Anwandter, Jordan Schiele, Ali Abbasi, Oliver Schmitz, Patric Chiha, Marcos Prado, Jan Gassmann, Sophia Luvarà, Sara Jordenö, Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Rob Cannan and Ross Adam, Lee Dong-ha, Fan Jian, Monika Treut—and Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann and Alexander Bodin Saphir. The festival's 66th edition runs from February 11 through 21. » - David Hudson...
- 1/21/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Festival also confirms Michael Moore set to compile next year’s ‘Top 10’.
At a packed ceremony in Amsterdam last night, the 28th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) announced its prizes.
In previous years, the Idfa award ceremony was held during the festival’s final weekend but the event was brought forward to Wednesday night so that more industry delegates and filmmakers could attend.
Among the main prizes, Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan won the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and Ukrainian Sheriffs by Roman Bondarchuk won the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary.
The prize for the best Dutch documentary went to Ester Gould for A Strange Love Affair With Ego.
The festival’s opening film A Family Affair by Tom Fassaert was awarded the Idfa Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary.
Attendance / Michael Moore
Festival organisers expressed their happiness at ticket sales. Attendances fell sharply at the beginning of the festival as a direct...
At a packed ceremony in Amsterdam last night, the 28th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) announced its prizes.
In previous years, the Idfa award ceremony was held during the festival’s final weekend but the event was brought forward to Wednesday night so that more industry delegates and filmmakers could attend.
Among the main prizes, Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan won the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and Ukrainian Sheriffs by Roman Bondarchuk won the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary.
The prize for the best Dutch documentary went to Ester Gould for A Strange Love Affair With Ego.
The festival’s opening film A Family Affair by Tom Fassaert was awarded the Idfa Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary.
Attendance / Michael Moore
Festival organisers expressed their happiness at ticket sales. Attendances fell sharply at the beginning of the festival as a direct...
- 11/26/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
George Gittoes. Snow Monkey and Bill Guttentag and Michael Ware.s Only the Dead will screen at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa).
Filmed in Afghanistan in 2014 when foreign forces leave and an internal power struggle begins, Snow Monkey will screen in official competition at the festival which runs November 18-29.
Produced by Lizzette Atkins and Gittoes, the final film in his What the World Needs Now! trilogy premiered at Miff this year and followed the lives of those living in the Yellow House at Jalalabad, a collective of artists, film makers and social revolutionaries as they again face the threat of a Taliban-ruled society. It was funded through Screen Australia's Signature Documentary program.
Only the Dead, which follows Ware, an Australian journalist for CNN and Time Magazine as he journeys through the deepest recesses of the Iraq War, will unspool in the Best of Fests section. Patrick McDonald produced with Ware.
Filmed in Afghanistan in 2014 when foreign forces leave and an internal power struggle begins, Snow Monkey will screen in official competition at the festival which runs November 18-29.
Produced by Lizzette Atkins and Gittoes, the final film in his What the World Needs Now! trilogy premiered at Miff this year and followed the lives of those living in the Yellow House at Jalalabad, a collective of artists, film makers and social revolutionaries as they again face the threat of a Taliban-ruled society. It was funded through Screen Australia's Signature Documentary program.
Only the Dead, which follows Ware, an Australian journalist for CNN and Time Magazine as he journeys through the deepest recesses of the Iraq War, will unspool in the Best of Fests section. Patrick McDonald produced with Ware.
- 10/13/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
George Gittoes’s Snow Monkey (pictured) and Nick Read’s Bolshoi Babylon among the 15 titles in competition.
The 28th Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled its line-up, including its main competition.
The festival, which runs Nov 18-29, will comprise 319 titles (from 3,425 submissions), 78 of which receive their world premieres at Idfa. A total of 50 Dutch productions are included in the program, spread across the various strands.
A total of 15 films will compete in the Idfa Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, including Tom Fassaert’s A Family Affair, which opens the festival on Nov 18.
The jury, made up of Laurent Bécue-Renard (France), Mahamat Saleh Haroun (Chad), Hanna Polak (Poland), Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA) and Barbara Visser (the Netherlands) will present the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, a cash prize of €12,500 ($14,000) and the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary worth €2,500 ($2,800).
The titles include (synopses provided by Idfa):
Bolshoi Babylon by Nick Read (Russia / UK)
A revealing...
The 28th Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled its line-up, including its main competition.
The festival, which runs Nov 18-29, will comprise 319 titles (from 3,425 submissions), 78 of which receive their world premieres at Idfa. A total of 50 Dutch productions are included in the program, spread across the various strands.
A total of 15 films will compete in the Idfa Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, including Tom Fassaert’s A Family Affair, which opens the festival on Nov 18.
The jury, made up of Laurent Bécue-Renard (France), Mahamat Saleh Haroun (Chad), Hanna Polak (Poland), Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA) and Barbara Visser (the Netherlands) will present the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, a cash prize of €12,500 ($14,000) and the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary worth €2,500 ($2,800).
The titles include (synopses provided by Idfa):
Bolshoi Babylon by Nick Read (Russia / UK)
A revealing...
- 10/9/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Projects range from a film about centenarians to documentaries about renowned hunger striker Bobby Sands, Winnie Mandela, Ratko Mladic and Madonna’s backing dancers.Scroll down for full list of projects
Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled the 50 titles that will be presented at its international co-finance and production market, the Idfa Forum (Nov 24-26).
At the market, filmmakers and producers will present their documentary projects to commissioning editors from international television stations and other financiers with the aim of completing finance for their documentary projects.
A total of 50 projects have been selected for the upcoming Idfa Forum, including new projects by Heddy Honigmann, Janus Metz and Vitaly Mansky.
The Idfa 2014 programme contains 17 documentaries that were presented as projects at previous editions of the Idfa Forum.
Projects selected for this year’s Idfa Forum will be pitched in a variety of settings: the central pitches in the main auditorium of the Compagnietheater, the round table...
Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled the 50 titles that will be presented at its international co-finance and production market, the Idfa Forum (Nov 24-26).
At the market, filmmakers and producers will present their documentary projects to commissioning editors from international television stations and other financiers with the aim of completing finance for their documentary projects.
A total of 50 projects have been selected for the upcoming Idfa Forum, including new projects by Heddy Honigmann, Janus Metz and Vitaly Mansky.
The Idfa 2014 programme contains 17 documentaries that were presented as projects at previous editions of the Idfa Forum.
Projects selected for this year’s Idfa Forum will be pitched in a variety of settings: the central pitches in the main auditorium of the Compagnietheater, the round table...
- 10/14/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The two Belgian directors Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden only met recently in Amsterdam, but were keen to make "Ne Me Quitte Pas," a documentary film that focuses on two Belgian men, both alcoholics, both broken. The directors spoke to Indiewire and spoke about how their collaboration came about. It started when Lubbe Bakker approached van Koevorden and "wanted to make a porn movie about hormonal cows," with van Koevorden enthusiastically replying, "that's funny, my father deals in bull sperm." And so their project came to be. Tell us about yourself? We were both raised in Belgium. And even went to neighboring high schools although we only met 3 years ago in Amsterdam. Before we met, Sabine had made one feature length documentary (co-directed by Ester Gould) titled "Shout," which had won best doc at the London International Documentary festival and Niels just graduated from the Film Academy, his...
- 4/7/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
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