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November 20, 2008 FIRST PERSON | Basil Tsiokos: The Challenging State of Film Fests Today
At the end of October, after 12 years with the organization, I officially stepped down from my position as the Artistic Director of NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, which just celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Within the last year, three of the other best-known U.S. LGBT film fests have also experienced significant staff changes, beginning with the departure of Outfest's Executive Director Stephen Gutwillig, followed by Frameline's Artistic Director Michael Lumpkin, and, most dramatically, by the wholesale staff restructuring of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. While some of these changes were simply career shifts after long tenures, others were unfortunately borne out of economic necessity. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under First Person, Lead Story, Queer Cinema ] November 18, 2008 "I Don't Live On This Planet": Tilda Swinton On Her Post-Oscar Career and the Evolution of Independent Film
A short time ago in Los Angeles, actress Tilda Swinton had a very busy few days. She was there promoting her work in Erick Zonca's "Julia," screening at AFI Fest 2008. But in the two nights preceding its screening, she continued her newfound role as a staple honoree with back-to-back fetes: a tribute at AFI, and an award of excellence at the 2008 BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards. "It's very strange this getting awards," Swinton said upon accepting her award from BAFTA/LA. "I have to confess until so recently that the only thing I'd ever won was a raffle when I was twelve. I got a bottle of aftershave I gave my brother for Christmas and he still has it." [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Profiles ] November 17, 2008 BOX OFFICE REPORT | "Slumdog" Pays Off; And Ohh la-la "Xmas Tale"
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical [ read more in Biz ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Box Office ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Academy Shortlists 15 for Best Doc Race
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have named 15 films that made the short-list in the Documentary Feature category for the 81st Academy Awards, whittling the number down from a record 94 that had originally qualified. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist. The Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and the awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. [ read more in Biz ] [ 10 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ]  indieWIRE INTERVIEW | Taking it all On: Ellen Kuras Directs "The Betrayal"
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Lead Story ]  iW INSIDER | Eugene Hernandez: The Battle for Marriage Equality and the Intersection with Indie Film
For a full week now, many friends, colleagues and co-workers have asked me if and when I'd write more personally about the intensifying fight for marriage equality and its intersection with the indie film community. Last week brought calls for a Sundance Film Festival boycott and then the focus shifted slightly to Film Independent and its Los Angeles Film Festival. Folks are clearly at odds over how to deal with the two festivals, arguing that each has some link to the Mormon church, which aggressively funneled some $20 million into the campaign to defeat Prop 8. But, the situation isn't black and white. Like most issues, it is complicated. There are no simple solutions and even at the indieWIRE office we've had passionate debates on the matter. It goes without saying that I don't speak for any of my colleagues here. [ read more in Biz ] [ 37 comments ] [ filed under Advocacy, Lead Story ] November 16, 2008 iW BOT | Weekend Estimates: "Slumdog" Scores Huge Numbers
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Box Office, Lead Story ] November 14, 2008 indieWIRE | The End of Cancer? Director Steve Kroschel Speaks of "The Beautiful Truth"
Steve Kroschel's "The Beautiful Truth" follows the story of 15-year old Garrett. After the unexpected and tragic death of his mother, Garret, who is an animal-loving teenager, spirals downward and fast. His father withdraws Garrett to be home-schooled to avoid flunking out. Growing up on an Alaskan animal reserve, Garrett's father recognized his son's interest in the dietary habits of their animals. This prompts him to assign a book written by Dr. Max Gerson, which maintains that there is a direct link between diet and a cure for cancer. Fascinated and curious, Garrett embarks on a cross-country road trip to investigate the merits of The Gerson Therapy. He meets with scientists, doctors and cancer survivors who reveal how the multi-billion dollar medical industry has made it their mission to dismiss the notion of alternative and natural cures. The film opens in limited release today (Friday), November 14. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Back and Forth: Buzzing Best Picture, Underdogs
Continuing this year's awards season coverage in indieWIRE, editor-in-chief Eugene Hernandez and assistant editor Peter Knegt chatted yesterday via instant message about the ever-evolving race. Topics for this installment include a look at emerging best picture contenders, from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to "Milk," and potential dark horses that might play a larger role in this race than people are expecting. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ]  indieWIRE PROFILE | "A Christmas Tale" Director Arnaud Desplechin
Fresh on the heels of 2005's critical hit "Kings And Queen," Arnaud Desplechin is returning to American screens this fall with his new film, "A Christmas Tale" (Un Conte de Noel). Already a hit on the international festival circuit, "A Christmas Tale" is also Desplechin's most successful release to date; international box-office receipts for the film have exceeded $4,000,000. indieWIRE caught up with Desplechin after his recent New York Film Festival screenings to discuss the film and his thoughts on the prospects for commercial success in the United States. The film launched its VOD release earlier this week and debuts today in theaters (and a retrospective of Desplechin's work opened recently in New York City). [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story ] November 13, 2008 indieWIRE INTERVIEW | Dreaming Kawabatas: "House of Sleeping Beauties" Director Vadim Glowna
Based on Yasunari Kawabata's novel, Vadim Glowna's "House of Sleeping Beauties" follows Edmond, a man in his sixties whose wife has recently passed away, and who is told about a secret establishment where men can spend an entire night in bed alongside beautiful, sleeping young women who never awaken. The German film is being released stateside by First Run Features, and opens at the Quad Cinema in New York this Friday, November 14. indieWIRE talked to Glowna about the film and its U.S. release. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, World Cinema ]  "Milk" and the Movement: Visibility, Politics and Writer Dustin Lance Black
While attending a party with both gay and straight members of the film and music communities last weekend in Los Angeles, I was struck by the parallels between the current post-Prop 8 environment and the anti-gay Prop 6 that late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk campaigned to defeat in the '70s. "There were no gay people shown in the early anti-8 commercials," one attendee told me over the weekend. "They made it an abstract rights issue, while the pro-8 people made it personal. It was only after [the Yes vote] went up in the polls that they started rolling out Ellen [DeGeneres] on TV." As seen in Gus Vant Sant's new film, ""Milk," Harvey Milk advocated way back in the 1970s that gay people need to make themselves visible in order to change perceptions in society, a subject I discussed with "Milk" writer Dustin Lance Black recently in California. [ read more in People ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Profiles ] November 12, 2008 indieWIRE INTERVIEW | Going Full Frontal: Yair Hochner's "Antarctica"
Director Yair Hochner's "Antarctica" is set in Tel Aviv and centers on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the crux is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn't found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen. Frozen in place, they and their assorted family members and lovers all seek the same thing--a guiding light to show them that love is still out there. Regent Releasing opens "Antarctica" in Los Angeles Friday, November 14 with other cities to follow. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story, Queer Cinema ]  indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "We Are Wizards" Director Josh Koury
EDITORS NOTE: This interview was originally published as part of our coverage of the 2008 South By Southwest Film Festival. Josh Koury's "We Are Wizards" had its world premiere at the 2008 South By Southwest Film Festival and has since screened in festivals around the world. The doc is a portrait of the unusual and passionate culture of Harry Potter fans. As the SXSW catalog described the film, "The 'Harry Potter' mythos allows the nerdy, the average, the young, the downtrodden, and the bored a chance to borrow a little inspiration and step out of their respective worlds to be a part of something 'big.'" The film opens in theatrical release this Friday, November 14th at the Cinema Village in New York City. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews ]  iW PROFILE | "Eden" Director Declan Recks
In Irish director Declan Recks' remarkably tense romantic drama "Eden," actions speak louder than words -- or, at least, more coherently, as far as American audiences are concerned. For those inexperienced in the careful discernment of regional accents, "Eden" offers no subtitles, but the central themes are thankfully not lost in translation. Recks relied on visual lyricism as much as dialogue when translating Eugene O'Brien's devastating 2002 play about an estranged young married couple from the stage to the screen. As a result, he doesn't mind if a few lines remain unintelligible to certain viewers. "It makes them pay attention more," Recks told indieWIRE. "People might not get every single word, but they know what's going on from the performances. It's not a very heavily plotted film; it's a character study." [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Profiles ] November 11, 2008 indieWIRE INTERVIEW | A Decade in the Making: Director Dave McLaughlin and Producer Lance Greene Talk "On Broadway"
Director Dave McLaughlin and producer Lance Greene's "On Broadway" tells the story of Jack O'Toole, a 30-something Boston everyman, who writes a play about his dead uncle as a way to reconnect with his hard-nosed dad. With no money and just his gut to guide him, Jack quits his job as a carpenter so that he can mount a production of his play on the only stage he can afford: in the back room of his neighborhood pub, on a little street called Broadway. "On Broadway" is available exclusively on Amazon VOD for the next month, via a special deal brokered by Cinetic Rights Management. The film premiered at the Independent Film Festival of Boston in April 2007, and then screened at the Galway Film Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews ]  indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "The Dukes" Director Robert Davi
Robert Davi's "The Dukes" stars Davi and Chazz Palminteri as a Doo Wop group struggling for survival. Their manager (Peter Bogdanovich) is trying to get them work but things aren't working out, leading them to attempt to pull of a heist. The film screened at last year's Rome International Film Festival and has since won the Coup de Coeur at the Alpe d'Huez International Comedy Film Festival. CAVU Pictures is opening the film in New York on November 14th, and then nationwide on November 21st. indieWIRE spoke to Davi about the film and its upcoming release. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story ] November 9, 2008 iW BOT | Weekend Estimates: "Pajamas" Leads
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Box Office ]  iW NEWS | IFC Adds Honore Film to Growing Fest Direct Slate
Christophe Honore's "La Belle Personne," the final film in the French director's Parisian youth trilogy, has been acquired for U.S. distribution by IFC Films. The acquisition marks the latest in a string of deals for the company's Festival Direct VOD label and the third time that IFC will distribute an Honore film (following "Love Songs" and "Dans Paris"). The news at the of the deal came on Saturday night at the American Film Market, one day after IFC announced a ten film Festival Direct pact with sales company Celluloid Dreams. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Acquistions, Lead Story ] November 8, 2008 AWARDS WATCH | With "Gomorrah" and "Il Divo," Italy In Spotlight at 21st European Film Award Nominations
Matteo Garrone's "Gomorrah" and Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo," both from Italy, lead the nominations for the 21st European Film Awards which were announced this morning at the Seville European Film Festival. Each film received five nominations today. The complete list of nominees is available now. Winners will be chosen by the 1,800 members of the European Film Academy and announced December 6th in Copenhagen, Denmark. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ] November 6, 2008 HBO Scores Obama Doc
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. [ read more in Biz ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Acquistions, Documentary, Lead Story ]  iW PROFILE | "Otto; Or Up With Dead People!" Director Bruce LaBruce
"Honestly, I started getting tired of movies that treat zombies like worthless, homeless people who can be cruelly annihilated for sport," "Otto; Or Up With Dead People!" director Bruce LaBruce told indieWIRE. "I thought it was high time for a zombie uprising, so to speak. I also thought it was time for a new homosexual revolution, so it made sense to combine the two uprisings." Perhaps Canada's best known and most controversial contributor to queer cinema, with films like "Super 8 1/2" and "The Raspberry Reich," LaBruce's "Otto" makes its way to US theatres this Friday at New York's IFC Center. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Profiles ] November 5, 2008 indieWIRE INTERVIEW | Apartheid and Woman Love in Sarif's "The World Unseen" and "I Can't Think Straight"
Director Shamim Sarif's "The World Unseen" is adapted from her novel, and is set in 1950s apartheid South Africa amongst the Indian community. The themes are universal - that whatever family, societal or even political constraints you find around you, you can question those constraints, and then take small steps to change them. Her other film, "I Can't Think Straight," meanwhile is a contemporary urban romantic comedy set in London and Jordan. It is a love story between two women of different Eastern cultures and whether or not they can come to terms with the implications of accepting their own sexuality. Sarif describes it as "a light-hearted piece." Regent Releasing opens "I Can't Think Straight" on November 21 and "The World Unseen" this Friday, November 7 in limited release. [ read more in People ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story ] November 4, 2008 PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "The Guitar" Director Amy Redford
EDITORS NOTE: This interview was first published in January profiling first-time feature directors who had films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Amy Redford's "The Guitar" opens in limited edition via Lightning Media November 7. Amy Redford, who has acted in such films as "The Music Inside" as well as Sundance 2008 offering "Sunshine Cleaning," and is also he daughter of Robert Redford, will premiere her first feature film, "The Guitar," at Sundance. What the festival's Geoffrey Gilmore calls a "whimsical fairy tale," "The Guitar" follows Mel (Saffron Borrows), a unfortunate young woman who loses her job and boyfriend and finds out she has terminal cancer all on the same morning. Instead of giving in she embarks on a journey that Gilmore claims has the "kind of self-indulgent wish fulfillment that we have all fantasized about." Based on a true story adapted by Amos Poe, "The Guitar" is "overflowing with an energy and vitality that belie the initial darkness of its narrative." [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story ] November 3, 2008 iW BOT | Sony Classics Trio Help Lead Out Fall Season
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Box Office, Lead Story ] November 2, 2008 iW BOT | Weekend Estimates: "Bruce" Leads, "Lake" Bombs
Box Office coverage presented by Rentrak Theatrical [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Box Office, Lead Story ] November 1, 2008 iW NEWS | MSNBC Deal for "Witch Hunt" Ahead of AFI Fest Debut
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. [ read more in Biz ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Acquistions, Documentary, Lead Story ] October 30, 2008 Cash Crunch: Seeking Film Financing in Lean Times
"Call me when the economy is better." That's what one New York-based indie producer heard from a potential investor recently. With Wall Street crashing, hedge funds shaking out, and a possible global depression on the horizon, it's not exactly the best time to be looking for film financing these days. While some producers say it's too soon to see fallout from the economic turmoil, many are seeing immediate and substantial effects. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Trends ] October 28, 2008 "Kassim," "Wire," "Stranded," "Waltz" and "Young" Compete for IDA Honors
The five feature film nominations were announced today for the International Documentary Association's 2008 IDA Documentary Awards competition. "Kassim The Dream," "Man On Wire," "Stranded: I Have Come From A Plane That Crashed On the Mountains," "Waltz With Bashir" and "Young @ Heart" will compete for the group's Distinguished Documentary Achievement nod. Winners will be feted on December 5th at the Directors Guild, in a ceremony hosted by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. [ read more in Biz ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Documentary, Lead Story ]  indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "Dear Zachary" Director Kurt Kuenne
Documentary coverage sponsored by SnagFilms. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Lead Story ] | |
