Shooting a feature film in Cuba comes with a unique set of challenges that make the usual logistical hurdles of filmmaking seem like nothing. Still, those who have had the opportunity to shoot in the socialist country say they wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. As the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba comes to an end, film production in the country is expected to ramp up.
While Hollywood studio productions like “Fast 8” and “Transformers: The Last Knight” claimed to be “making history” earlier this year by being the first American films to shoot in Havana in half a century, two American directors had already shot independent films in Cuba on the heels of the relaxed travel restrictions by the United States government: Bob Yari’s “Papa Hemingway in Cuba” and Ben Chace’s “Sin Alas” (“Without Wings”).
Read More: ‘Sin Alas’ – First American Film Shot in Cuba...
While Hollywood studio productions like “Fast 8” and “Transformers: The Last Knight” claimed to be “making history” earlier this year by being the first American films to shoot in Havana in half a century, two American directors had already shot independent films in Cuba on the heels of the relaxed travel restrictions by the United States government: Bob Yari’s “Papa Hemingway in Cuba” and Ben Chace’s “Sin Alas” (“Without Wings”).
Read More: ‘Sin Alas’ – First American Film Shot in Cuba...
- 6/23/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Festival favorite "Manos Sucias" is a story about two estranged brothers Delio (Cristian James Advincula) & Jacobo (Jarlin Javier Martinez), one an aspiring rapper and the other a more grounded fisherman who find themselves wrapped up in narco trafficking. Set in the impoverished but culturally rich port town of Buenaventura, Colombia, director Josef Kubota Wladyka draws rich performances from first time actors and the community, while Alan Blanco’s camera paints the stark beauty of Buenaventura with stunning reality. The film will recall 2012’s "Una Noche" by Lucy Mulloy (probably not a coincidence that "Manos Sucias" Ex-Prod. Spike Lee presented that film also) and 2014’s "Fishing Without Nets" by Cutter Hodierne in that all of them as filmmakers, present gritty realities of the everyday life of people at crossroads yet personally told their stories affectionately. With use of a perfect rhythm "Manos Sucias" portrays a little seen piece of Colombia.
In July 2014, Sydney Levine of SydneysBuzz wrote of the film's genesis as the firs U.S.-Colombian coproduction of its kind and its subsequent international sales when she discovered the film at Cartagena. Read more here.
LatinoBuzz spoke to writer/director Josef Kubota Wladyka, co-writer/cinematographer Alan Blanco and producers Elena Greenlee & Marcia Nunes on this collective managed to bring the film to fruition.
LatinoBuzz: Latin American cinema seems to be exploring the Afro-Latino experience more than before. Was this one of the themes you had in mind when writing the screenplay?
Josef : Buenaventura is more than 85% African descent. After spending time talking to the community, gracious enough to share their stories and experiences with us, it became clear that there is a lot of racism and violence towards the Afro-Colombians. It was important for us to touch on these larger themes by using an intimate story of two estranged brothers. The heart of the story is the relationship between Jacobo and Delio, and the choices they must make.
Márcia : I still think there aren't enough films made about the Afro-Latino experience, and minority experiences in general in the Us and abroad. It's important that we as filmmakers and audience members seek out these stories and keeping pushing for a wider frame of representation.
LatinoBuzz: How important was Spike Lee's involvement and what was the best advice he gave going into production?
Josef : Spike’s involvement was extremely important because having an iconic filmmaker like himself associated with your project opens so many doors, especially in Colombia. He read our script and revisions, and gave his insight on how to make the movie happen. Having been an advocate and mentor to the project over the years, we showed him a fine cut of the film. At that point, he felt comfortable coming on board as our presenter and as an executive producer. Spike has long been a supporter of up-and-coming filmmakers and continues to be an inspiration to us. His best piece of advice was simple… “Get it done, by any means necessary.”
LatinoBuzz: This is your first feature - did anyone say “Maybe shooting in the jungles of Buenaventura, Colombia with unknown actors is not the way to go right now?”
Alan : The script for this film was based on over 6 years of research that Joe carried out on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Even so we heard a lot of people say that shooting in Colombia was too risky and we definitely considered shooting in other places. We even scouted Puerto Rico and discovered that as a team our top priority was to making a film that represented this story authentically.
Josef: We wanted to make the film with people who live the story every day, to the show the real faces, and the real places where this goes on. Most of the locations are unknown to the world and this is a part of the drug trade that is rarely explored in the media. We hope the film leaves audiences thinking and asking questions, particularly about the global nature of these conflicts and how this is an economy that might seem far away and exotic but actually interconnects people from all over the world. If it hadn’t been done in Buenaventura, it simply wouldn’t be the same movie.
LatinoBuzz: How much local support was there for "Manos Sucias"? How did you ensure the production didn’t look like an occupation?
Márcia : As an official Colombia-us co-production we had the support of the Colombian Ministry of Culture and Film Commission, which allowed us to tap into the local tax incentives.
Elena: Once we decided to film in Buenaventura the big question became access, not just to locations, but to people, information, resources. We were outsiders and needed to be invited into the world as guests. An “occupation” was never an option; some of the communities we worked in are places where the police and “official authorities” do not go. So access was built on relationships that Joe had begun forming over years of research, which deepened once we were on the ground in pre-production and people saw that we weren't all talk, that we were serious about making a film. In negotiating with the local communities we were upfront about the kind of subject matter we wanted to tackle, but also about wanting to offer a collaboration that was beneficial for everyone. They expressed a lot of interest in exchanging skills and we decided to offer a free filmmaking workshop, working with available resources like cellphones and small photo cameras. Through that process, we filled out our cast and crew with local people, about half of our crew and almost 100% of our actors were from Buenaventura and their support and contributions were immeasurable.
LatinoBuzz: How much happened on set in the moment rather than what was on paper?
Josef: There was a lot that happened in the moment, but it was only possible because we prepared so much. We did a lot of rehearsing and test shooting on locations during pre-production. This was a key element because it allowed us to be free on set. In Buenaventura, things can change at any moment so we always had to be ready to embrace the circumstances that were presented to us. We did do some improvising but after all the editing most of the scenes ended up close to what was scripted.
LatinoBuzz: What was either the most beautiful moment in the shoot that made you feel everything will turn out fine.
Alan: I’ll never forget shooting the campfire scene with just Jarly and Cristian (Jacobo and Delio). First off, it was the first starry night I’d ever seen in Buenaventura. It’s one of the most humid places in the world and constantly overcast; which, by the way, helped a lot with the photography. The scene is about estranged brothers rediscovering each other. The actors are amazing in the scene. For them to perform so well, in an intimate scene amidst the action and turmoil of the story, and under the stress and challenges of production was just unforgettable. I consider it a privilege to have executed that scene with the crew and actors.
LatinoBuzz: Tell me about the look of the film. Was there a particular film or filmmaker you used as a point of reference?
Alan: While we knew we had a lot of limitations, we always wanted to have a strong artistic point of view for the look of the film. This started back in New York with our preliminary storyboarding and continued as we did camera tests to see the technical limitations we'd face. Geared with that information, we developed a lot of strategies around lens choices and camera movement. In a way this is a road movie, the blocking and shooting of the scenes in the boat needed to be varied in order not to be monotonous.
Josef: We strived to emphasize the visual irony of the vastness of the ocean with the claustrophobia of the boat. We always wanted to have a sense of urgency and immediacy like in many of the Dardenne brothers' films we love. We used many films as references from Hitchcock’s "Lifeboat" and "The Wages of Fear," to "Lawrence of Arabia." Above all else, we knew we wanted to shoot in a way that gave the performers the space to give their best work.
What do you think this moment in their lives meant to the people of Buenaventura?
Alan : I think it’s hard to say. Many of us are still figuring that out for ourselves and I’m not sure I could be so bold as to speculate on their feelings. I can tell you that these are complex people living in a complex situation all with the same capacities for joy and sorrow as anyone else in the world. The experiences we shared while filming helped us to learn more about each other, and also helped me learn how to salsa dance badly. (Thank you, Stefania!) We formed friendships with the cast, crew, and other people in Buenaventura and believe that this film is a testament to those friendships. We hope those moments of working on this project mean as much to them as they do to us.
LatinoBuzz: You obviously immersed yourself in the local culture with the people, dialect, music etc – what sense of void did you and the crew feel once you wrapped production and left Buenaventura to begin the post production process?
Josef: There certainly was a sense of emptiness or even loss right after shooting. While no day was ever predicable, you do develop a sense of routine, of eating meals together, laughing at half-translated dirty jokes, and working all day and dancing all night. Getting back to the States, there was a lot of work to fill the void. The turnaround for the film was pretty quick and editing started almost right away. In a lot of ways, the film never stops moving even now. Now, I don’t think it’s a void. Making the film changed us and that feeling now is one of change, not emptiness.
LatinoBuzz: What’s the next story?
Alan and Joe are working on various new projects, still in early stages of development. Elena and Márcia are working on a film about a psychedelic drug researcher who gets mixed up in the dark side of the Ayahuasca tourism industry in the Amazon, which will shoot on location in the coming year. We're all still interested in exploring little seen corners of the world and bringing them to light on the big screen.
The film opens April 3rd at Cinema Village in NYC. Dig the official "Manos Sucias" website at: http://www.manossuciasmovie.com/ & screening times Here!
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
In July 2014, Sydney Levine of SydneysBuzz wrote of the film's genesis as the firs U.S.-Colombian coproduction of its kind and its subsequent international sales when she discovered the film at Cartagena. Read more here.
LatinoBuzz spoke to writer/director Josef Kubota Wladyka, co-writer/cinematographer Alan Blanco and producers Elena Greenlee & Marcia Nunes on this collective managed to bring the film to fruition.
LatinoBuzz: Latin American cinema seems to be exploring the Afro-Latino experience more than before. Was this one of the themes you had in mind when writing the screenplay?
Josef : Buenaventura is more than 85% African descent. After spending time talking to the community, gracious enough to share their stories and experiences with us, it became clear that there is a lot of racism and violence towards the Afro-Colombians. It was important for us to touch on these larger themes by using an intimate story of two estranged brothers. The heart of the story is the relationship between Jacobo and Delio, and the choices they must make.
Márcia : I still think there aren't enough films made about the Afro-Latino experience, and minority experiences in general in the Us and abroad. It's important that we as filmmakers and audience members seek out these stories and keeping pushing for a wider frame of representation.
LatinoBuzz: How important was Spike Lee's involvement and what was the best advice he gave going into production?
Josef : Spike’s involvement was extremely important because having an iconic filmmaker like himself associated with your project opens so many doors, especially in Colombia. He read our script and revisions, and gave his insight on how to make the movie happen. Having been an advocate and mentor to the project over the years, we showed him a fine cut of the film. At that point, he felt comfortable coming on board as our presenter and as an executive producer. Spike has long been a supporter of up-and-coming filmmakers and continues to be an inspiration to us. His best piece of advice was simple… “Get it done, by any means necessary.”
LatinoBuzz: This is your first feature - did anyone say “Maybe shooting in the jungles of Buenaventura, Colombia with unknown actors is not the way to go right now?”
Alan : The script for this film was based on over 6 years of research that Joe carried out on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Even so we heard a lot of people say that shooting in Colombia was too risky and we definitely considered shooting in other places. We even scouted Puerto Rico and discovered that as a team our top priority was to making a film that represented this story authentically.
Josef: We wanted to make the film with people who live the story every day, to the show the real faces, and the real places where this goes on. Most of the locations are unknown to the world and this is a part of the drug trade that is rarely explored in the media. We hope the film leaves audiences thinking and asking questions, particularly about the global nature of these conflicts and how this is an economy that might seem far away and exotic but actually interconnects people from all over the world. If it hadn’t been done in Buenaventura, it simply wouldn’t be the same movie.
LatinoBuzz: How much local support was there for "Manos Sucias"? How did you ensure the production didn’t look like an occupation?
Márcia : As an official Colombia-us co-production we had the support of the Colombian Ministry of Culture and Film Commission, which allowed us to tap into the local tax incentives.
Elena: Once we decided to film in Buenaventura the big question became access, not just to locations, but to people, information, resources. We were outsiders and needed to be invited into the world as guests. An “occupation” was never an option; some of the communities we worked in are places where the police and “official authorities” do not go. So access was built on relationships that Joe had begun forming over years of research, which deepened once we were on the ground in pre-production and people saw that we weren't all talk, that we were serious about making a film. In negotiating with the local communities we were upfront about the kind of subject matter we wanted to tackle, but also about wanting to offer a collaboration that was beneficial for everyone. They expressed a lot of interest in exchanging skills and we decided to offer a free filmmaking workshop, working with available resources like cellphones and small photo cameras. Through that process, we filled out our cast and crew with local people, about half of our crew and almost 100% of our actors were from Buenaventura and their support and contributions were immeasurable.
LatinoBuzz: How much happened on set in the moment rather than what was on paper?
Josef: There was a lot that happened in the moment, but it was only possible because we prepared so much. We did a lot of rehearsing and test shooting on locations during pre-production. This was a key element because it allowed us to be free on set. In Buenaventura, things can change at any moment so we always had to be ready to embrace the circumstances that were presented to us. We did do some improvising but after all the editing most of the scenes ended up close to what was scripted.
LatinoBuzz: What was either the most beautiful moment in the shoot that made you feel everything will turn out fine.
Alan: I’ll never forget shooting the campfire scene with just Jarly and Cristian (Jacobo and Delio). First off, it was the first starry night I’d ever seen in Buenaventura. It’s one of the most humid places in the world and constantly overcast; which, by the way, helped a lot with the photography. The scene is about estranged brothers rediscovering each other. The actors are amazing in the scene. For them to perform so well, in an intimate scene amidst the action and turmoil of the story, and under the stress and challenges of production was just unforgettable. I consider it a privilege to have executed that scene with the crew and actors.
LatinoBuzz: Tell me about the look of the film. Was there a particular film or filmmaker you used as a point of reference?
Alan: While we knew we had a lot of limitations, we always wanted to have a strong artistic point of view for the look of the film. This started back in New York with our preliminary storyboarding and continued as we did camera tests to see the technical limitations we'd face. Geared with that information, we developed a lot of strategies around lens choices and camera movement. In a way this is a road movie, the blocking and shooting of the scenes in the boat needed to be varied in order not to be monotonous.
Josef: We strived to emphasize the visual irony of the vastness of the ocean with the claustrophobia of the boat. We always wanted to have a sense of urgency and immediacy like in many of the Dardenne brothers' films we love. We used many films as references from Hitchcock’s "Lifeboat" and "The Wages of Fear," to "Lawrence of Arabia." Above all else, we knew we wanted to shoot in a way that gave the performers the space to give their best work.
What do you think this moment in their lives meant to the people of Buenaventura?
Alan : I think it’s hard to say. Many of us are still figuring that out for ourselves and I’m not sure I could be so bold as to speculate on their feelings. I can tell you that these are complex people living in a complex situation all with the same capacities for joy and sorrow as anyone else in the world. The experiences we shared while filming helped us to learn more about each other, and also helped me learn how to salsa dance badly. (Thank you, Stefania!) We formed friendships with the cast, crew, and other people in Buenaventura and believe that this film is a testament to those friendships. We hope those moments of working on this project mean as much to them as they do to us.
LatinoBuzz: You obviously immersed yourself in the local culture with the people, dialect, music etc – what sense of void did you and the crew feel once you wrapped production and left Buenaventura to begin the post production process?
Josef: There certainly was a sense of emptiness or even loss right after shooting. While no day was ever predicable, you do develop a sense of routine, of eating meals together, laughing at half-translated dirty jokes, and working all day and dancing all night. Getting back to the States, there was a lot of work to fill the void. The turnaround for the film was pretty quick and editing started almost right away. In a lot of ways, the film never stops moving even now. Now, I don’t think it’s a void. Making the film changed us and that feeling now is one of change, not emptiness.
LatinoBuzz: What’s the next story?
Alan and Joe are working on various new projects, still in early stages of development. Elena and Márcia are working on a film about a psychedelic drug researcher who gets mixed up in the dark side of the Ayahuasca tourism industry in the Amazon, which will shoot on location in the coming year. We're all still interested in exploring little seen corners of the world and bringing them to light on the big screen.
The film opens April 3rd at Cinema Village in NYC. Dig the official "Manos Sucias" website at: http://www.manossuciasmovie.com/ & screening times Here!
Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 4/1/2015
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
Shared Tendencies: McGowan’s Debut an Understated Navigation
Palme d’Or winning director Laurent Cantet continues a tour outside of France with his latest feature, the carefully constructed and gently understated Return to Ithaca, which sees the director returning to Cuba, the same lieu where he previously contributed to the 7 Days in Havana ominbus. A dialogue driven character study of several old friends reuniting after some years, the film’s minimalist focus on the everyday dramas that inform our lives is very much in line with Cantet’s earlier pieces, which often deal with life’s tendency to be defined by occupation and income. Yet this marks the first time Cantet examines the perspective of a group of people preoccupied exclusively with happenings of the past.
On a rooftop terrace overlooking Havana’s ocean avenue, the Malecon, a quintet of five middle aged friends reunite for the first time since their youth.
Palme d’Or winning director Laurent Cantet continues a tour outside of France with his latest feature, the carefully constructed and gently understated Return to Ithaca, which sees the director returning to Cuba, the same lieu where he previously contributed to the 7 Days in Havana ominbus. A dialogue driven character study of several old friends reuniting after some years, the film’s minimalist focus on the everyday dramas that inform our lives is very much in line with Cantet’s earlier pieces, which often deal with life’s tendency to be defined by occupation and income. Yet this marks the first time Cantet examines the perspective of a group of people preoccupied exclusively with happenings of the past.
On a rooftop terrace overlooking Havana’s ocean avenue, the Malecon, a quintet of five middle aged friends reunite for the first time since their youth.
- 9/7/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Top brass at the Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) have announced (12) 10 ten documentaries selected for the 2014 Independent Filmmaker Labs for first-time feature directors.
The creative teams of the selected films, chosen from a national pool of more than 200 submissions, are currently attending the first week’s sessions – The Time Warner Foundation Completion Labs – that run from May 12-16 in New York.
The Narrative Lab selections will be announced in June.
“With the ability to support filmmakers and their projects over the long-term, the Labs remain one of Ifp’s most rewarding and successful programmes,” said Ifp executive director Joana Vicente.
“With 80% of previous Lab projects debuted in festivals and released worldwide, the impact of the programme continues to be significant.”
The 2014 labs mark the 10th anniversary edition of the mentorship programme conceived by producer and Filmmaker Magazine editor Scott Macaulay.
The Labs were launched in 2005 as a three-day initiative for eight narrative projects and have evolved into a...
The creative teams of the selected films, chosen from a national pool of more than 200 submissions, are currently attending the first week’s sessions – The Time Warner Foundation Completion Labs – that run from May 12-16 in New York.
The Narrative Lab selections will be announced in June.
“With the ability to support filmmakers and their projects over the long-term, the Labs remain one of Ifp’s most rewarding and successful programmes,” said Ifp executive director Joana Vicente.
“With 80% of previous Lab projects debuted in festivals and released worldwide, the impact of the programme continues to be significant.”
The 2014 labs mark the 10th anniversary edition of the mentorship programme conceived by producer and Filmmaker Magazine editor Scott Macaulay.
The Labs were launched in 2005 as a three-day initiative for eight narrative projects and have evolved into a...
- 5/12/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave pulled a five finger discount at the 2014 Indie Spirit Awards grabbing hardware in the Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography categories. Apart from the larceny in the Best Doc category, the winners in the above mention category (excluding Bobbitt’s work) and the double win pairing of Leto and McConaughey along with Cate Blanchett’s perf win in Blue Jasmine will likely repeat itself less than 24 hours later at tomorrow’s Academy Awards celebrations obviously begging many to ponder the following: who needs the 86th Academy Awards when we have the Indie Spirit Awards? While today’s most pleasurable wins come from the truly indie kudos for Best First Feature (Ryan Coogler for Frutivale Station) the John Cassavetes award for Chad Hartigan’s This is Martin Bonner, and the Piaget Producers Award to Ain’t Them Bodies Saints...
- 3/2/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
This Fyc series brings together all Film Experience contributors to highlight our favorite fringe Oscar contenders. Here's Glenn Dunks on the sound mixing of Spring Breakers.
The neon-infused opening credits to Spring Breakers are accompanied by the peaceful echoes of a beachside before the hordes of teenagers arrive for Spring Break. Director Harmony Korine barely gives audiences a minute to relax before he throws the kitchen sink at the screen and turns the Skrillex up to 11. The images of drunken, sexually open teenagers cavorting about the ocean could hardly come with a better, more abrasively confronting soundtrack. If you were lucky to see this violently satirical black comedy on the big screen then you’ll know the propulsive impact this soundtrack choice had blasting out of the speakers to a crowd of (mostly) unsuspecting victims. Korine wasn’t mincing words: so long to any chance for a nice time at the movies.
The neon-infused opening credits to Spring Breakers are accompanied by the peaceful echoes of a beachside before the hordes of teenagers arrive for Spring Break. Director Harmony Korine barely gives audiences a minute to relax before he throws the kitchen sink at the screen and turns the Skrillex up to 11. The images of drunken, sexually open teenagers cavorting about the ocean could hardly come with a better, more abrasively confronting soundtrack. If you were lucky to see this violently satirical black comedy on the big screen then you’ll know the propulsive impact this soundtrack choice had blasting out of the speakers to a crowd of (mostly) unsuspecting victims. Korine wasn’t mincing words: so long to any chance for a nice time at the movies.
- 12/9/2013
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Adding to the awards show season buzz, the list of hopefuls for 2014 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards was just unveiled.
Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the much-anticipated event is slated to get underway on March 1st in Santa Monica, and there will be plenty of stars to be seen.
Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Redford will all compete in the Best Male Lead Category, while the Best Female Lead nominees are Cate Blanchett, Julie Delpy, Gaby Hoffman, Brie Larson, and Shailene Woodley.
The 29th Spirit Awards contenders are:
Best Feature
12 Years A Slave
All is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director
Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley,...
Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the much-anticipated event is slated to get underway on March 1st in Santa Monica, and there will be plenty of stars to be seen.
Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Redford will all compete in the Best Male Lead Category, while the Best Female Lead nominees are Cate Blanchett, Julie Delpy, Gaby Hoffman, Brie Larson, and Shailene Woodley.
The 29th Spirit Awards contenders are:
Best Feature
12 Years A Slave
All is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director
Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley,...
- 11/26/2013
- GossipCenter
Team Fox Searchlight should be returning to the winner’s circle at the next edition of the Indie Spirits awards. After winning with Black Swan three years back, and losing out in the Best Feature category with Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Descendants, Fox Searchlight’s 12 Years a Slave leads all other films with seven nominations Best Feature, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography and three of the four acting categories. Alexander Payne’s Nebraska follows with six noms. Both Sundance (Fruitvale Station) and SXSW (Short Term 12) winners figure among the noms, but they weren’t as plentiful with only three noms a piece. Among our favorite titles for 2013 which were left off the scorecard, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George Saints got no recognition, while Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love would have got my vote for the Annual Someone To Watch Award.
- 11/26/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominees were announced earlier today, and, as we expected, Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave is well represented, with nominations in 7 different categories, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay (John Ridley), Best Male Lead (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Best Supporting Female (Lupita Nyong'o), Best Supporting Male (Michael Fassbender) and Best Cinematography (Sean Bobbitt). Other notable nominees, with respect to this blog's interests, include Blue Caprice, Fruitvale Station, and Una Noche, all in the Best First Feature category, for directors Alexandre Moors, Ryan Coogler and Lucy Mulloy,...
- 11/26/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" led the pack of the nominations for the 29th Annual Film Independent Spirit Award. The film received 7 nominations including best feature, director, and acting noms for Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, and Michael Fassbender.
Winners of the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 1st at a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening at 10:00 pm Et/Pt exclusively on IFC.
Congrats and good luck to all the nominees!
Here's the complete list of the nominees of the 2014 Spirit Awards:
Best Feature (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not awarded)
12 Years a Slave
Producers: Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad
All Is Lost
Producers: Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb
Frances Ha
Producers: Noah Baumbach, Scott Rudin, Rodrigo Teixeira, Lila Yacoub...
Winners of the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 1st at a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening at 10:00 pm Et/Pt exclusively on IFC.
Congrats and good luck to all the nominees!
Here's the complete list of the nominees of the 2014 Spirit Awards:
Best Feature (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not awarded)
12 Years a Slave
Producers: Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad
All Is Lost
Producers: Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb
Frances Ha
Producers: Noah Baumbach, Scott Rudin, Rodrigo Teixeira, Lila Yacoub...
- 11/26/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave is in contention for seven Spirit Awards followed closely by Alexander Payne’s Nebraska on six as Film Independent top brass announced nominees on November 26.
McQueen earned a director nomination and will compete against Alexander Payne for Nebraska, Jc Chandor for All Is Lost, Jeff Nichols for Mud and Share Carruth for Upstream Color.
Not surprisingly given the strength and depth of this awards season, the categories are strong across the board.
Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty is among a mighty crop of international contenders that includes Abdellatif Kechiche’s Palme d’Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt and A Touch Of Sin from China’s Jia Zhang-Ke.
12 Years A Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor will contest the lead actor race with veterans Bruce Dern for Nebraska and Robert Redford for All Is Lost, as well as...
McQueen earned a director nomination and will compete against Alexander Payne for Nebraska, Jc Chandor for All Is Lost, Jeff Nichols for Mud and Share Carruth for Upstream Color.
Not surprisingly given the strength and depth of this awards season, the categories are strong across the board.
Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty is among a mighty crop of international contenders that includes Abdellatif Kechiche’s Palme d’Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt and A Touch Of Sin from China’s Jia Zhang-Ke.
12 Years A Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor will contest the lead actor race with veterans Bruce Dern for Nebraska and Robert Redford for All Is Lost, as well as...
- 11/26/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Blood is thicker than water. It’s what keeps the twin protagonists in Lucy Mulloy’s award-winning feature debut from keeling over, and perhaps best describes the uniqueness of belonging to a family of filmmakers who’ve worked diligently, and very much on their own terms. Produced by her BAFTA award-winning brother Daniel (who we’ve previously profiled), filmmaking is not only in her blood, but with Una Noche, the filmmaker exceeded the norms of the conventional indie film route by setting up shop in a socialist, not known for film nation of Cuba. Triple award winner at 2012′s Tribeca Film Festival, the portrait best described in our review as a “slickly paced narrative not only manages to click along with surprising agility, but warmly portrays three adolescents as they take action to pursue a courageous and dangerous dream for a better life.”
In our interview with the filmmaker, we...
In our interview with the filmmaker, we...
- 9/14/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
‘Una Noche’: Lucy Mulloy debut feature presented with ‘urgent, rough-hewn simplicity’ (photo: Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre, Javier Núñez Florián, Dariel Arrechaga in the movie ‘Una Noche’) The story of three Havana teenagers attempting to escape Cuba for a better life in America is conveyed with urgent, rough-hewn simplicity in director Lucy Mulloy’s Una Noche. Making very effective use of Cuban non-pro actors, Mulloy takes us around the mean streets of Havana, where the shops are empty, but private homes stock everything from jewelry to motors to HIV meds. What the British-born, first-time feature director might lack in narrative polish, she makes up for with a genuine sense of empathy for her yearning, troubled characters and an artist’s eye for the beauty of decay. Mulloy even went to great trouble to shoot in 35mm instead of digital, a testament to her production moxie and desire for visual authenticity,...
- 9/5/2013
- by Mark Keizer
- Alt Film Guide
In Una Noche, Lucy Mulloy's debut feature film, a brother and sister living in Havana embark on a dangerous journey with their friend, floating on a raft bound for Miami. Even ahead of its release this month, the film has garnered Mulloy numerous accolades, and even a stamp of approval from director Spike Lee. In April, the movie also made waves when lead actors Javier Núñez Florián and Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre (who became a couple during production) disappeared en route to the Tribeca Film Festival, only to resurface days later with the revelation that they were seeking asylum in the United States. At its core, though, Una Noche is a compelling portrait of a teenage girl, a...
- 8/23/2013
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
Una Noche is the impressive directorial debut of Nyu alum Lucy Mulloy. Spike Lee -whose Production Grant Award was given to Mulloy back in January of 2010 - mentored the filmmaker, who also won the Best Director Award when the film (along with awards for Best Actor and Best Cinematography) premiered stateside at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. While Una Noche is certainly not a film which sets out to deliver a socially conscious message, or poses as a cinematic medium to carry out an anti-communist political agenda, the indie drama is - understatedly grim in its realism - a penetrating and searing glimpse into the daily life of disempowered, oppressed people in the Caribbean island...
- 8/23/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
Una Noche is the impressive directorial debut of Nyu alum Lucy Mulloy. Spike Lee -whose Production Grant Award was given to Mulloy back in January of 2010 - mentored the filmmaker, who also won the Best Director Award when the film (along with awards for Best Actor and Best Cinematography) premiered stateside at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. While Una Noche is certainly not a film which sets out to deliver a socially conscious message, or poses as a cinematic medium to carry out an anti-communist political agenda, the indie drama is - understatedly grim in its realism - a penetrating and searing glimpse into the daily life of disempowered, oppressed people in the Caribbean island...
- 8/23/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
As sweltering as it is unforgiving, Havana is a tough place. Tourists rarely travel beyond the district that give the impression of faded tropical glory, but much of the city more or less resembles the Bronx or Newark of the ’80s. Black markets thrive and people have to hustle to survive; especially after their families have poured through there food rations. The nightclubs that fueled a vibrant Western tourist culture are a remnant of their former selves. Cigar salesmen keep busy, but like everyone else, they live with a thinly disguised fear. Lucy Mulloy’s magnificent debut film Una Noche, adapted […]...
- 8/23/2013
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
There’s a youthful energy running through “Una Noche” that threatens to overwhelm, from its sun-kissed first image to its final moments on the sands of the beach. Alive and vibrant, Lucy Mulloy’s often bawdy first feature is narrated by Lila, a blossoming teenage girl confused by her sexuality, alienated from the local girls. The language is Spanish, but teenage cruelty is universal, as her peers mock her slight body hair and tomboyish interest in taekwondo. Lila shares a deep bond with her twin brother Elio, though he has grown distant. She watches as he slaves away in the kitchen of a Cuban hot spot, serving over-privileged tourists as they eat under the safety of vigilant guards. Elio and Lila’s family could starve, and no one would bat an eyelash. But when Elio’s best friend Raul is approached by a young British girl for directions, men with...
- 8/23/2013
- by Gabe Toro
- The Playlist
And the Deep Blue Sea: Mulloy’s Compelling Portrait of Desperation
Granted unprecedented access to film in Havana, Cuba, first time director/screenwriter Lucy Mulloy crafts a vibrantly engrossing tale of desperate youths and their hopeful aspirations, frankly depicting issues of sex tourism and queer identities among an already belabored people. With a locale that threatens to distract, if only for the visual infrequency with which many of us our able to experience it, Mulloy’s slickly paced narrative not only manages to click along with surprising agility, but warmly portrays three adolescents as they take action to pursue a courageous and dangerous dream for a better life. Tenderly observed, Mulloy’s provocative drama is an excitedly assured directorial debut.
Lila’s (Anailin de la Rua de la Torre) opening narration informs us of her profound connection to her twin brother, Elio (Javier Nunez Florian), who has recently begun to distance himself from her.
Granted unprecedented access to film in Havana, Cuba, first time director/screenwriter Lucy Mulloy crafts a vibrantly engrossing tale of desperate youths and their hopeful aspirations, frankly depicting issues of sex tourism and queer identities among an already belabored people. With a locale that threatens to distract, if only for the visual infrequency with which many of us our able to experience it, Mulloy’s slickly paced narrative not only manages to click along with surprising agility, but warmly portrays three adolescents as they take action to pursue a courageous and dangerous dream for a better life. Tenderly observed, Mulloy’s provocative drama is an excitedly assured directorial debut.
Lila’s (Anailin de la Rua de la Torre) opening narration informs us of her profound connection to her twin brother, Elio (Javier Nunez Florian), who has recently begun to distance himself from her.
- 8/22/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Selects will debut Lucy Mulloy's feature film debut Una Noche this Friday, August 23 (followed by a release on iTunes on August 26). This friday, the film will be released in two theaters: at the Koubek Theater, Lincoln Plaza in Miami, Fl and at the IFC Center in New York City. The film will expand to 10 more cities soon after, which will be announced soon. You might recall last year when two of its Cuban stars - Anailin De La Rua De La Torre and Javier Nunez Florian - decided to stay in the USA instead of returning to Cuba, after the film premiered at Tribeca in New York. Una Noche - which most recently screened at the Durban International Film...
- 8/22/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
The Cuban emigre saga earns a surprising love triangle treatment in Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche," a tale of the young and the desperate willing to risk their lives on rafts to get to America. From its earliest moments to its melodramatic finale, writer-director Mulloy manages to trip up our expectations even while telling a version of an oft-told tale.
Lila (Anailin de la Rua de La Torre) narrates our story, a teenager enduring an unhappy home life and the torments of Havana's version of "mean girls." A beauty in most cultures, she gets picked on by the blondes who call her "hairy" because of her arms, armpits and eyebrows.
Her twin brother Elio (Javier Nunez Florian) is her defender and her champion. Don't listen to "the plastic girls," he lectures. But Lila acknowledges in her narration that she is "more comfortable watching people than talking with them. Especially boys.
Lila (Anailin de la Rua de La Torre) narrates our story, a teenager enduring an unhappy home life and the torments of Havana's version of "mean girls." A beauty in most cultures, she gets picked on by the blondes who call her "hairy" because of her arms, armpits and eyebrows.
Her twin brother Elio (Javier Nunez Florian) is her defender and her champion. Don't listen to "the plastic girls," he lectures. But Lila acknowledges in her narration that she is "more comfortable watching people than talking with them. Especially boys.
- 8/22/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
“Write what you know” is the axiom most first time storytellers follow. But English-born writer/director Lucy Mulloy, who studied at Nyu under film studies professor Spike Lee, decided to take on the opposite approach for her feature debut, “Una Noche." “I wasn’t thinking about it being my feature debut or anything grandiose,” Mulloy said about the Cuban-set movie she started as a thesis short and then expanded into a feature. Starring Dariel Arrechaga, Javier Núñez Florián and Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre, the magnetic drama tells the story of three teenagers who dream of escaping Havana for a better life in the U.S. and then are forced to do so when one is accused of assault. And the film was certainly well received. It cleaned up at Tribeca Film Festival in 2012 taking home Best Actor, Cinematography, and New Director honors in the Narrative competition, and...
- 8/21/2013
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Sundance Selects will debut Lucy Mulloy's feature film debut Una Noche this Friday, August 23 (followed by a release on iTunes on August 26). This friday, the film will be released in two theaters: at the Koubek Theater, Lincoln Plaza in Miami, Fl and at the IFC Center in New York City. The film will expand to 10 more cities soon after, which will be announced soon. You might recall last year when two of its Cuban stars - Anailin De La Rua De La Torre and Javier Nunez Florian - decided to stay in the USA instead of returning to Cuba, after the film premiered at Tribeca in New York. Una Noche - which most recently screened at the Durban International Film...
- 8/21/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
"The only things to do down here are sweat and fuck," we're told not too long into Una Noche, a lyric-then-raw drama about a teenage brother and sister who scrape by in Havana, dream of Miami, and ultimately brave the 90 miles of Florida straits between the two. As they get their boat together, writer-director Lucy Mulloy honors—with great energy and even greater compassion—the sweat/fuck lives of the poorest residents of an island that has increasingly become a sex-tourism hot spot. A filmmaker of unstinting frankness, she reveals the harassment faced by young men and women alike, as well as the everyday business of body-selling, straight and trans, sometimes dwelling on the bodies themselves with a surprising tenderness—the prostitutes become people. We also ...
- 8/21/2013
- Village Voice
Una Noche Trailer. Lucy Mulloy‘s Una Noche (2012) movie trailer, a film presented by Spike Lee, stars Dariel Arrechaga, Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre, Javier Núñez Florián, María Adelaida Méndez Bonet, and Greisy del Valle. Una Noche‘s plot synopsis: “Mired in the nervous desperation of Havana, Raul dreams of escaping [...]
Continue reading: Una Noche (2012) Movie Trailer: Miami and Better Lives Await the Bold...
Continue reading: Una Noche (2012) Movie Trailer: Miami and Better Lives Await the Bold...
- 7/29/2013
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Sundance Selects has set a theatrical release date for Lucy Mulloy's feature film debut Una Noche for August 23 (followed by a release on iTunes on August 26). You might recall last year when two of its Cuban stars - Anailin De La Rua De La Torre and Javier Nunez Florian - decided to stay in the USA instead of returning to Cuba, after the film premiered at Tribeca in New York. Una Noche - which most recently screened at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa - centers on two Cuban teens - Raul and Elio - who consider escaping the communist and broken-down country to flee to Miami, Fl. Conflict arises when Raul has no choice to escape after being accused of...
- 7/26/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
It's still without stateside distribution, but last time we posted about Lucy Mulloy's feature film debut Una Noche was when Fortissimo Films acquired international rights to the Us/Cuban production, which has been touring the film festival circuit since its premiere at the Berlin International and Tribeca Film festivals in early 2012, and garnering awards and critical acclaim along the way. You might recall last year when two of its Cuban stars - Anailin De La Rua De La Torre and Javier Nunez Florian - decided to stay in the USA instead of returning to Cuba, after the film premiered at Tribeca in New York. Una Noche - currently screening at the Durban International Film Festival...
- 7/24/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
The highlight of the 2013 edition of the Iff Panama has to be the presence of veteran actress Geraldine Chaplin (Doctor Zhivago) — while I had just a smidgen of an idea of what was being discussed in a Spanish-speaking Q&A which followed Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 treasure, The Kid, I saw that the thesp was animated, generous, delivered crowd-pleasing anecdotes about the memories she had growing up in a household with the silent era’s first star.
The fest’s first party took place at the Frank Gehry’s Museum of Biodiversity in Panama City – equipped with booze, beats and industry types such as (see below) Aram Tertzakian and Nate Bolotin from Xyz Films – an indie prod. house that looks for ideal locations for future productions – they have Frankenstein’s Army premiering at Tribeca next week and have The Raid 2 , and Stage Fright (Top 100 Most Anticipated title of ours) in the works.
The fest’s first party took place at the Frank Gehry’s Museum of Biodiversity in Panama City – equipped with booze, beats and industry types such as (see below) Aram Tertzakian and Nate Bolotin from Xyz Films – an indie prod. house that looks for ideal locations for future productions – they have Frankenstein’s Army premiering at Tribeca next week and have The Raid 2 , and Stage Fright (Top 100 Most Anticipated title of ours) in the works.
- 4/15/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Did you see Una Noche at Tff 2012? Writer/director Lucy Mulloy's harrowing tale of three Cuban teens who dream of fleeing to the United States mesmerized Festival audiences and critics alike. The film won prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival for Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film, Best Actor for both Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nunez Florian, and Best New Narrative Director for Mulloy. Along with support from the Tribeca Film Institute, Mulloy and Una Noche benefited greatly from the help they received at the Ifp's Filmmaker Labs. Ifp's Filmmakers Labs currently are inviting submissions for their 2013 season from first time filmmakers who are in perhaps the most challenging phase of their projects - post-production. The success of Una Noche and other Ifp Labs films such as Pariah, Give Up Tomorrow, and War Don Don is the best testament to the value of the program. Participation in Ifp Filmmaker Labs is free,...
- 2/26/2013
- TribecaFilm.com
The Guadalajara International Film Festival (Ficg) is taking part in the year’s first celebration of the seventh art—the Palm Springs International Film Festival—where it is slated to present the Cine Latino Award to the best Iberoamerican film screened at the 24th edition of the California festival, which will run from January 3rd to 14th, 2013.
The award is accompanied by a cash prize of Us$5,000 contributed by the Guadalajara International Film Festival and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA located in Los Angeles, California.
The Cine Latino Award highlights the enormous creativity of new talents in the world of Iberoamerican cinema, at the same time underlining the commitment of the Ficg and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA to the consolidation of culture and the arts in the region and to the wider interchange of ideas within a global context.
I will have the pleasure of being on the jury along with Juan Carlos Arciniegas (Ccn en Español), a journalist with an established career in the area of motion picture and entertainment criticism and analysis—and Iván Trujillo Bolio, director of the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Listed below are the 22 films eligible for the award. They include some of the productions from Iberoamerican countries nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Foreign Language Film category of the 85th Academy Awards, to be held on February 24th, 2013.
7 Boxes (Paraguay), (Isa:Shoreline Entertainment)
Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori
After Lucia (Mexico), (Isa: Bac Films)
Director: Michel Franco
Beauty (Argentina), (Isa: Campo Cine)
Director: Daniela Seggiaro
Blancanieves (Spain/France) (Dreamcatchers)
Director: Pablo Berger
Checkmate (Dominican Republic)
Director: José María Cabral
Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/Brazil/Spain)
Director: Benjamín Ávil
The Cleaner (Peru) (Isa: Flamingo Films)
Director: Adrian Saba
The Clown (Brazil)
Director: Selton Mellobr
The Dead Man and Being Happy (Spain) (Isa: Udi)
Director: Javier Rebollo
Drought (Mexico) (Isa:imcine)
Director: Everardo González
The Girl (USA/Mexico) (Isa: Goldcrest Fims)
Director: David Riker
Here and There (Spain/USA/Mexico) (Isa: Alpha Violet)
Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza
La Playa D.C. (Colombia/Brazil/France) (Isa: Cineplex)
Director: Juan Andrés Arango García
Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain)
Director: Emilio Maillé
The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France)
Director: Esteban Larraín
Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina)
Director: Darío Nardi
The Sleeping Voice (Spain) (Isa: The Match Factory)
Director: Benito Zambrano
The Snitch Cartel (Colombia)
Director: Carlos Moreno
Tabu (Portugal/Brazil/France/Germany)
Director: Miguel Gomes
The End (Spain)
Director: Jorge Torregrossa
Una Noche (Cuba/UK/USA)
Director: Lucy Mulloy
White Elephant (Argentina/Spain/France)
Director: Pablo Trapero
Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara.
Nebulosa 2916, Jardines del Bosque C.P. 44520 Guadalajara, Jal., México
Teléfonos: +52 (33) 3121-7461, 3122-7827, 3121-6860
Fax: 3121 7426
www.ficg.mx
Todos los derechos reservados ® Pficg | Patronato del Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara.
The award is accompanied by a cash prize of Us$5,000 contributed by the Guadalajara International Film Festival and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA located in Los Angeles, California.
The Cine Latino Award highlights the enormous creativity of new talents in the world of Iberoamerican cinema, at the same time underlining the commitment of the Ficg and the University of Guadalajara Foundation/USA to the consolidation of culture and the arts in the region and to the wider interchange of ideas within a global context.
I will have the pleasure of being on the jury along with Juan Carlos Arciniegas (Ccn en Español), a journalist with an established career in the area of motion picture and entertainment criticism and analysis—and Iván Trujillo Bolio, director of the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Listed below are the 22 films eligible for the award. They include some of the productions from Iberoamerican countries nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Foreign Language Film category of the 85th Academy Awards, to be held on February 24th, 2013.
7 Boxes (Paraguay), (Isa:Shoreline Entertainment)
Director: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori
After Lucia (Mexico), (Isa: Bac Films)
Director: Michel Franco
Beauty (Argentina), (Isa: Campo Cine)
Director: Daniela Seggiaro
Blancanieves (Spain/France) (Dreamcatchers)
Director: Pablo Berger
Checkmate (Dominican Republic)
Director: José María Cabral
Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/Brazil/Spain)
Director: Benjamín Ávil
The Cleaner (Peru) (Isa: Flamingo Films)
Director: Adrian Saba
The Clown (Brazil)
Director: Selton Mellobr
The Dead Man and Being Happy (Spain) (Isa: Udi)
Director: Javier Rebollo
Drought (Mexico) (Isa:imcine)
Director: Everardo González
The Girl (USA/Mexico) (Isa: Goldcrest Fims)
Director: David Riker
Here and There (Spain/USA/Mexico) (Isa: Alpha Violet)
Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza
La Playa D.C. (Colombia/Brazil/France) (Isa: Cineplex)
Director: Juan Andrés Arango García
Multiple Visions (The Crazy Machine) (Mexico/France/Spain)
Director: Emilio Maillé
The Passion of Michelangelo (Chile/France)
Director: Esteban Larraín
Sadourni’s Butterflies (Argentina)
Director: Darío Nardi
The Sleeping Voice (Spain) (Isa: The Match Factory)
Director: Benito Zambrano
The Snitch Cartel (Colombia)
Director: Carlos Moreno
Tabu (Portugal/Brazil/France/Germany)
Director: Miguel Gomes
The End (Spain)
Director: Jorge Torregrossa
Una Noche (Cuba/UK/USA)
Director: Lucy Mulloy
White Elephant (Argentina/Spain/France)
Director: Pablo Trapero
Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara.
Nebulosa 2916, Jardines del Bosque C.P. 44520 Guadalajara, Jal., México
Teléfonos: +52 (33) 3121-7461, 3122-7827, 3121-6860
Fax: 3121 7426
www.ficg.mx
Todos los derechos reservados ® Pficg | Patronato del Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara.
- 1/9/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A look back at 2012 reveals an undeniable fact, it has been a great year for Latino film. Sundance started the year off strong with films like Aurora Guerrero’s sweet and tender Mosquita y Mari and Marialy Rivas’ rambunctious Joven y Alocada (Young & Wild). Gina Rodriguez broke out in Filly Brown, as a rapper who needs to make it big so she can raise money to get her mom out of jail. In the film, Jenni Rivera played the part of Filly’s mom in her first, and sadly last, movie role.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 12/19/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Mira Nair being awarded with the Special Centenary Award by the Australian Film Maker, Paul Cox, at the closing ceremony of the 43rd International Film Festival of India (Iffi-2012), in Panaji, Goa on November 30, 2012.
Gurvinder Singh’s Punjabi film ‘Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan’ bagged Golden Peacock for the best film and a cash prize of Rs. 4 million (Usd 73600) at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2012.
The festival came to a close today with the screening of Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’.
The Iffi this year celebrated the centenary year of Indian Cinema by bestowing the ‘Centenary Film Award’ to Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’. This film was selected by a special jury panel. The award carries Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 1 million (Usd 18000)
Best Director’s award went to Kyu-hwan Jeon for his film ‘The Weight’. He got Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs.
Gurvinder Singh’s Punjabi film ‘Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan’ bagged Golden Peacock for the best film and a cash prize of Rs. 4 million (Usd 73600) at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2012.
The festival came to a close today with the screening of Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’.
The Iffi this year celebrated the centenary year of Indian Cinema by bestowing the ‘Centenary Film Award’ to Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’. This film was selected by a special jury panel. The award carries Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 1 million (Usd 18000)
Best Director’s award went to Kyu-hwan Jeon for his film ‘The Weight’. He got Silver Peacock, Certificate and a cash prize of Rs.
- 11/30/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Ben Affleck’s new thriller Argo has been announced as the Opening Gala film of this year’s Leeds International Film Festival. The widely-acclaimed Argo, based on the remarkable true story of a CIA expert posing as a fake film producer in order to infiltrate Iran at the time of the hostage crisis in 1979 and rescue a group of stranded Americans, will open the annual festival at Leeds Town Hall on Thursday 1 November. Argo will be released in the UK by Warner Bros on Wednesday 7 November.
Now in its 26th year, the biggest film festival in England to be held outside London runs until Sunday 18 November and will present 167 feature films and special programmes in 257 screenings and events. The full programme, available to view at www.leedsfilm.com, is presented in five distinct sections: Official Selection, Retrospectives, Fanomenon, Cinema Versa, and Short Film City.
Amour closes the Official Selection
Opening this year with Argo,...
Now in its 26th year, the biggest film festival in England to be held outside London runs until Sunday 18 November and will present 167 feature films and special programmes in 257 screenings and events. The full programme, available to view at www.leedsfilm.com, is presented in five distinct sections: Official Selection, Retrospectives, Fanomenon, Cinema Versa, and Short Film City.
Amour closes the Official Selection
Opening this year with Argo,...
- 10/12/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Trinidad & Tobago is a very small country filled with every race, as varied as the innumerable species of rice. "One quality we all share as humans is we are all different from each other," to quote Dylan Kerrigan. T&T seems like a microcosm of the world today at its best. I know I am not seeing the daily or the political problems the people must cope with in their lives, but I do have the privilege not to be a tourist but a participant in trinidad + tobago film festival, a seven year old event. Film, one of the seven new industries this oil-rich republic has designated for development, is vibrant and alive here. This country is not only a tropical paradise with its beaches and its forests, its music and its people of indescribable beauty, but its intelligence -- made of Amerindian, African, East Indian, Asian, Arabic, Spanish, French, British and American traditions as translated by the new generation -- is unique. The new and well-educated generation, as we all know, has a special edge over the old and the mainstream. What do I mean with these flaunting words?
I am astounded by what I have discovered here. The Caribbean multiplicity of island cultures, T&T's proximity to Latin America and how the film festival's founder and director Bruce Paddington sees the film industry developing from this pivotal point inspires me and everyone who attends this festival.
To wax a little bit more poetic: the solution to the "immigration problem" can be solved simply by relabeling the state of the world today as one of Diaspora. When I grew up I thought the word Diaspora pertained exclusively to the Jews. We went through numerous diasporas, from the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem to the expulsion from Spain, then from all Europe. I think that if the greatest thinkers of the western world had not perished in the Shoah, we would have found words and formulations to deal with the issues of immigration and integration we are facing today. The words immigration and integration are antipodes. Looking at Trinidad & Tobago, immediately apparent and a constant topic of discussion in the society itself, in music, art and film, is Diaspora. The entire human race is represented here as a product of Diaspora, not immigrants, but citizens of a society of people in Diaspora. And the Diaspora of Trinidadians in the world today mainly to Canada, New York, U.K. and Miami sees more Trinidadians outside than in the country itself. Diaspora is the new synthesis of the world today.
Speaking of Diaspora, the country's genius-created instrument, Pan, or the steel drum, the only new musical instrument created in the 20th century, is now a subject of study in most university music schools and has more adherents and orchestras abroad than in the country itself. Pan is compulsory in Finnish primary schools. In France it builds self-esteem and discipline in schools in rough neighborhoods. There are more steelbands in Switzerland (although they are smaller) than in T&T (where a small orchestra has 120 members). In African it is different. Johannesburg ensembles combine pans and marimbas. In Tokyo they are extensions of large corporations. Soon all will come to pan’s Mecca for a grand family reunion. During Carnival, 1,000 steel drum musicians converge here from all over the world where a giant parade and competition called Panorama transform T&T into a musical paradise. You cannot imagine the transformative power of a steel band orchestra (called "pan") unless you experience it first hand.
A grand transmedia project called Pan is now being planned for 2013 by the film and music producer, Jean Michel Giber (his recently completed Calypso Rose is a doc about a 70 year old Calypso singer) and written by Dr. Kim Johnson a noted authority on the pan in collaboration with story consultant Fernanda Rossi who has doctored films that went on to be nominated for Academy Awards®.
And yet another aspect of Diaspora: Canada whose citizens are also spread throughout the world in diaspora and who has the most coproduction treaties in the world is also here lending strong sponsorship support through its Rbc Royal Bank which has banks throughout the Caribbean and Flow which offers internet, telephone and tv throughout the region. This year's focus is on Canada which is celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations and cultural and creative links between the two countries. Aside from the number of Canadian films screening and the number of Canadian filmmakers attending, Christian Sida-Valenzuela, Director of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival is on the jury.
The film world here is developing on four levels simultaneously and by design. Inclusive of British, French, Dutch and Spanish colonial and slave-trading traditions, Amerindian, African, Indian, Arab and Asian diaspora communities here are working in film education, festival, production and distribution not only at home but throughout the region of the Caribbean nations, already represented in The United Nations in a 15 member Caribbean Community political consortium called Caricom.
The industry has come to ttff to tell of subsidies and coproduction opportunities, possibilities for marketing and distribution in the global marketplace, and to give immersion workshops on filmmaking and film criticism.
Ttff has formed alliances with Tribeca Film Institute, Cba Worldview -- Commonwealth Broadcasting Association aims to improve U.K. public understanding and awareness of the developing world via the mainstream broadcast and digital media. WorldView supports producers bringing the richness and diversity of the wider-world to U.K. audiences. Cba Worldview provides seed funding to producers to enable them to spend time in the developing world researching stories, identifying characters and locations and shooting taster tapes. Cba Worldview itself has alliances with Tribeca, Sundance and Idfa. Other ttff alliances are with Cuba's Icaic and the Havana Film Festival, Curacao Film Festival which is itself an extension of the Rotterdam Film Festival, U.S.'s National Black Programming Consortium, a part of the Public Broadcasting System and Acp which is the European Union's cultural subsidy arm (separate from Eurimages).
Acp has a fund of €12 million to grant in all areas of culture to reinforce and support access to markets, improve the regulatory environment and reduce unemployment, and it grants €10 million of this to cinema and the audiovisual sector. Acp's Director, Mohamed Ben Shabbaz gave their award to the feature which best epitomizes cultural diversity to the feature Stone Street. On presenting the prize, he reiterated Acp's motto, "No future without culture" and presented the prize on behalf of its membership of 79 countries and their 800 million people while encouraging filmmakers to submit projects which are eligible if produced by any member of the Caribbean, African and Latin American nations included in the Acp for grants.
Because Guadaloupe is French, it can access the French Cnc production subsidies and coproductions with them can share this. The BBC seriesDeath in Paradise has been such a hit that the BBC is renewing the series to the benefit of Guadaloupe's coffers.
Another incentive to make movies in this untapped and untrammeled region of the world is the 35% rebate on monies spent on production in Trinidad.
All this bounty would stir me as a filmmaker anywhere in the world to hasten to find coproducers in these countries to make a movie out of the myriad of stories that exist here. Guadaloupe novelist Simone Schwartz-Bart's great novel written in collaboration with her husband, Andre Schwartz-Bart (Last of the Just), A Woman Called Solitude, one of the most emotionally moving novels I 've ever read, has yet to be made into a movie. Dominican writer Jean Rhys' Wide Saragossa Sea, the prequel to Bronte's Jane Eyre, has been made in 1993 and in 2006 and yet remains mostly forgotten. Perhaps it's time for a remake. Or how about the novels of Antiguan Jamaica Kincaid, Cuban Alejo Carpentier or Martiniquese Edward Glissant?
The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Caribbean Film by a non-Caribbean went to Canadian filmmaker Christy Garland for her documentary The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, a documentary that had the strongest buzz here. The trailer alone moved the audience at the awards ceremony to a collective and spontaneous sigh of sympathy. What a fiction adaptation could be made from the stories these people have to tell.
Some filmmakers are already embedding themselves here. Trinidadian native Ian Harnarin comes from Canada and lives in New York. We met at Tiff this year in a mentoring program where he was one of four most promising new filmmakers. His short was executive produced by Spike Lee. He is now working on the feature length film of the short. "I'm extremely happy to be taking my film Doubles With Slight Pepper to the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. The film was shot on location throughout Trinidad with a local cast and a lot of local crew. The film has garnered some amazing awards and screened at other festivals around the world, so Ttff will mark a homecoming for it. It's coming to be very special for the local audience to finally see it with the cast and filmmakers." This film is available on iTunes.
Alrick Brown, the director of Kinyarwanda, a hit of last year 's Sundance Ff, led the immersion workshops in documentaries with Fernanda Rossi, a New York based doc scriptwriter. Alrick also teaches at Rutgers and Nyu. Andrew Donsunmu, the director of Restless City which Ronna Wallace has been actively repping since Sundance (she just made a good digital deal for the film) and which will be released stateside by Affrm (as will Kinyarwanda) was part of a very interesting informal discussion which took place on the bus returning from our day at the beach about movement and the almost genetic styles of dance and choices of sports of the African diaspora...like why so many islanders can't swim, why they don't eat fish in Cuba, how Samba, Calypso, and a certain Jamaican dance use the same steps though to different beats. Such animated discussions of intercultural topics are frequent here and always fascinate and animate the participants and residents.
The filmmakers also participated in panels for the industry, sharing their motivation and modi operandi. Christy Garland, director of Bastards Sing the Sweetest Song, filmed in French Guyana spoke of how she enters an unknown culture with a vague idea for a subject and proceeds to draw people out until the story unveils itself to her. Patricia Benoit, director of Stones in the Sun which participated in Wroclaw's American Film Festival for films in post-production competition spoke of her dislike of people always talking of Haiti's "resilence" in the face of all its troubles and wanted to show the hidden wounds of Haitians with their own history while living in New York. The films title comes from the proverb, “Stones in the water don't know the suffering of stones in the sun.” You can read Indiewire's interview with her from Tribeca Film Festival here. Matias Meyer spoke of The Last Christeros, which showed in Toronto and is being sold by FiGa Films, wanting to show not the battles but the spaces between battles when a segment of the 90% Catholic population of Mexico waged war against the state in the 1920s when the government banned religion. American filmmaker Chris Metzler spoke of his film Everyday Sunshine: the Story of Fishbone as a wonderful tribute to failure. Another Trinidadian in Canada, Richard Fung talked of how when he grew up he loved dhalpuri roti and so set out to discover where this spicy flatbread was born in the film Dal Puri Diaspora. Next month Richard will present his film at Nyu. One entire panel discussion was given to The Jamaican Collective's New Caribbean Cinema collection of shorts all made Guerilla style in one day, Ring di Alarm. Shadow and Act covered this last month.
In addition to this productive work of sharing business ideas and sharing the visions of over 120 feature-length and short films, there is the added bonus of being in one of the most amazing spots on earth. Island people, isolated from mainland civilizations and united among themselves by the water which also separates them, have opened their arms and invited us to join them these past few days in celebrating life. They have shared the natural beauty and the music and other arts of their island paradise And imagine the food-- a mix, (like the people themselves) of Caribbean, Indian, Asian, Arabian and African cuisine, all so fresh and with a homemade touch which rivals your own home cooking. Bake and Shark, a deep fried pita stuffed with delicious fresh and tender shark, or Roti, a variation of a curry dish found in India, Doubles, another street food well loved by the people. The economy, supported by its oil industry which contributes 60% to the Gnp, though 40% is Bp, a cause for some political dissension, does not need to rely on tourism for its sustenance. And though this is the wealthiest of all the Caricom countries because of its oil and natural gas, it still has the ubiquitous poverty seen worldwide including in our own United States of America. It is by no means perfect, but...
In Moscow this past June, the event Doors held similar discussions among 25 American distributors and Russian filmmakers about exporting their films and creating viable co- productions. After those three days in Moscow, we were rewarded with the most spectacular trip any of us had ever experienced, driving to St. Petersburg and Petershof, attending the Mariansky Ballet to see Sleeping Beauty and the star ballet dancer of Russia from the best seats in the house, taking a long cruise through St. Petersburg's canals during the White Nights, when the sun never sets. That trip which we were privileged to participate in (thanks to L.A.'s Russian Film Commissioner Eleonora Granata and her boss Catherine Mtsitouridze who hired us to organize) did not surpass the bonus tour ttff gave us industry-ites to Las Maracas beach where we rode the waves in warm water until a tropical rain storm and hurricane type wind, lightning and thunder drove us out of the water to huddle under a shelter until if passed, and the evening Leslie Fields-Cruz of the National Programming Consortium of PBS and I spent with Trinidadian film and music producer, Jean Michel Gibert of Caribbean Music Group, music scholar extraordinaire Tim Johnson and Nestor Sullivan, music legend, steel drum virtuoso and manager of the prize-winning 120 piece steel band orchestra Pamberi at a steel drum orchestra rehearsal for Carnaval. I can say with authority, this experience was on an equal par with the best Russia has to offer.
Validation of the genius of this country can be found in the story of one man, Anthony Williams, who invented the tuned steelpan, and in a discussion I had with another Trinidad filmmaker, Janine Fung, who won the People's Choice for Best Documentary La Gaita. Janine, as you can guess from her name, is of Chinese descent, though thoroughly international and Trinidadian to boot. Her grandmother's extended family lived in Trinidad. Recently the Chinese embassy called her to see if she might research and make a documentary about a Trinidad woman who brought western ballet to China. When they named her she realized it as her grandmother's first cousin who had left Trinidad to study ballet in London and when she toured to China, she captivated the audience and remained to establish western ballet in China. No one in Trinidad is aware of this and Janine now must make the documentary. I love stories like this. Nestor Sullivan whose father played in the same steel drum orchestra which is 70 years old, told me that his grandmother told him he was the spitting image of her father who came to Trinidad somewhere between 1840 to 60 after slavery had been abolished (1833). His father was a Yoruban prince who was never enslaved except when kidnapped and carried to the New World. Looking at Nestor, you know this to be true. His grandmother was born in 1888. When we did the math, I calculated this was around the same time that my own grandmother was born after her mother had come to USA as a bride in 1881.
Filmmaker, Faisal Lutchmedial (Mr. Crab, a delightful short film of a shy 10 year old boy who idolizes and fears his imposing father and hides and escapes into a dream world, where the frightening Mr Crab with his deadly sharp claws awaits him until he hears the real fear in his father's voice when he cannot find him) resides in Montreal, and tells of his family's home in a section of Trinidad which has, to this day, remained almost exactly as it was when his father was a boy in 1945. In fact, he took a photograph of himself standing in the same spot where his father stood as a child and the surroundings are identical. He was looking forward to going there to "lime" for a few days after the festival.
When the two part France TV feature Toussaint Ouveture won two prizes, one for Audience Award for Best Narrative and the other to Jimmy Jean-Louis for Best Actor in a Caribbean film, Jimmy,whose stunning presence is as sweet as his beautiful face, and who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Creole, spoke sponteously of Haiti's continued plight and of the fact that this historical epic deserves to be seen as widely as possible to remind the world that Haiti was the first nation to liberate itself and its slaves from its colonial masters 200 years before most other Caribbean nations declared or were granted their independence.
One other discovery I made was of Dana Verde of 3Ck Media (meaning 3rd culture kids, a term coined in the 50s by cultural anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem). Dana Verde is a Cuban-Jamaican filmmaker who enjoys telling stories from the Latin American and Caribbean Diaspora. After receiving her Ma in Filmmaking from the London Film School in 2008, the Brooklyn filmmaker returned to New York to work as an independent filmmaker – writing and directing spec commercials, music videos and short films. Currently she divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is venturing into directing feature films that encapsulate a crosscultural perspective. Check out her short Lock and Key on Facebook.
In summation of this whirlwind 4 day trip, it was well worth the 8 hour flight. So immersed was I that I find I must return, and much as I hate to reveal this new untrammeled festival and country, I must tell about it. I was the only press there, but I'm sure it will catch the eye of then rest of the world soon as it is a growth area for film invention and innovation on all fronts, from education (Bruce Paddington who teaches film at the University of The West Indies along with Christopher Meir, a native of Buffalo, New York).to production to marketing and distribution under the aegis of T&T Film Company. Although in the 50s Robert Mitchum filmed The Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in T&T and you can be sure he had a blast there, still I feel like I have discovered it anew!
The awards themselves reflect the complexity of a society which, when its own special voice is raised in unison by its citizens, has the grandly unique and harmonic sound of the music of its own steel band. The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners which can also be found here.
Jury Awards: Best Films
Best Narrative Feature: Distancia, directed by Sergio Ramirez from Guatemala
Best Documentary Feature: The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz
Best Short: Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker: The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland
Special mentions in the best film category:
Best Narrative Feature: Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza
Best Documentary Feature: Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin
Best Short: Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo
Jury Awards: Best Local Films
Best Local Feature: Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown
Best Local Short: Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Jury Awards: Acting
Best Actor in a Caribbean Film: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
Best Actor in a Local Film: Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Best Actress in a Local Film: Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams
People’s Choice Awards
People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature: Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature: La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung
People’s Choice Award: Best Short: Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor
Other Awards
Film in Development Award: Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo
WorldView/Tribeca Film Film Institute Pitch Awards: Ryan Khan, Joaquin Ruano, Natalie Wei
Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award: Michelle Serieux
Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity: Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd
Film Criticism Award: Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy
Film Criticism Special Mentions: Dainia Wright, Renelle White
Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme: Dinesh Maharaj
AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Mandisa Pantin
50-Second Film Competition: M Jay Gonzalez...
I am astounded by what I have discovered here. The Caribbean multiplicity of island cultures, T&T's proximity to Latin America and how the film festival's founder and director Bruce Paddington sees the film industry developing from this pivotal point inspires me and everyone who attends this festival.
To wax a little bit more poetic: the solution to the "immigration problem" can be solved simply by relabeling the state of the world today as one of Diaspora. When I grew up I thought the word Diaspora pertained exclusively to the Jews. We went through numerous diasporas, from the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem to the expulsion from Spain, then from all Europe. I think that if the greatest thinkers of the western world had not perished in the Shoah, we would have found words and formulations to deal with the issues of immigration and integration we are facing today. The words immigration and integration are antipodes. Looking at Trinidad & Tobago, immediately apparent and a constant topic of discussion in the society itself, in music, art and film, is Diaspora. The entire human race is represented here as a product of Diaspora, not immigrants, but citizens of a society of people in Diaspora. And the Diaspora of Trinidadians in the world today mainly to Canada, New York, U.K. and Miami sees more Trinidadians outside than in the country itself. Diaspora is the new synthesis of the world today.
Speaking of Diaspora, the country's genius-created instrument, Pan, or the steel drum, the only new musical instrument created in the 20th century, is now a subject of study in most university music schools and has more adherents and orchestras abroad than in the country itself. Pan is compulsory in Finnish primary schools. In France it builds self-esteem and discipline in schools in rough neighborhoods. There are more steelbands in Switzerland (although they are smaller) than in T&T (where a small orchestra has 120 members). In African it is different. Johannesburg ensembles combine pans and marimbas. In Tokyo they are extensions of large corporations. Soon all will come to pan’s Mecca for a grand family reunion. During Carnival, 1,000 steel drum musicians converge here from all over the world where a giant parade and competition called Panorama transform T&T into a musical paradise. You cannot imagine the transformative power of a steel band orchestra (called "pan") unless you experience it first hand.
A grand transmedia project called Pan is now being planned for 2013 by the film and music producer, Jean Michel Giber (his recently completed Calypso Rose is a doc about a 70 year old Calypso singer) and written by Dr. Kim Johnson a noted authority on the pan in collaboration with story consultant Fernanda Rossi who has doctored films that went on to be nominated for Academy Awards®.
And yet another aspect of Diaspora: Canada whose citizens are also spread throughout the world in diaspora and who has the most coproduction treaties in the world is also here lending strong sponsorship support through its Rbc Royal Bank which has banks throughout the Caribbean and Flow which offers internet, telephone and tv throughout the region. This year's focus is on Canada which is celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations and cultural and creative links between the two countries. Aside from the number of Canadian films screening and the number of Canadian filmmakers attending, Christian Sida-Valenzuela, Director of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival is on the jury.
The film world here is developing on four levels simultaneously and by design. Inclusive of British, French, Dutch and Spanish colonial and slave-trading traditions, Amerindian, African, Indian, Arab and Asian diaspora communities here are working in film education, festival, production and distribution not only at home but throughout the region of the Caribbean nations, already represented in The United Nations in a 15 member Caribbean Community political consortium called Caricom.
The industry has come to ttff to tell of subsidies and coproduction opportunities, possibilities for marketing and distribution in the global marketplace, and to give immersion workshops on filmmaking and film criticism.
Ttff has formed alliances with Tribeca Film Institute, Cba Worldview -- Commonwealth Broadcasting Association aims to improve U.K. public understanding and awareness of the developing world via the mainstream broadcast and digital media. WorldView supports producers bringing the richness and diversity of the wider-world to U.K. audiences. Cba Worldview provides seed funding to producers to enable them to spend time in the developing world researching stories, identifying characters and locations and shooting taster tapes. Cba Worldview itself has alliances with Tribeca, Sundance and Idfa. Other ttff alliances are with Cuba's Icaic and the Havana Film Festival, Curacao Film Festival which is itself an extension of the Rotterdam Film Festival, U.S.'s National Black Programming Consortium, a part of the Public Broadcasting System and Acp which is the European Union's cultural subsidy arm (separate from Eurimages).
Acp has a fund of €12 million to grant in all areas of culture to reinforce and support access to markets, improve the regulatory environment and reduce unemployment, and it grants €10 million of this to cinema and the audiovisual sector. Acp's Director, Mohamed Ben Shabbaz gave their award to the feature which best epitomizes cultural diversity to the feature Stone Street. On presenting the prize, he reiterated Acp's motto, "No future without culture" and presented the prize on behalf of its membership of 79 countries and their 800 million people while encouraging filmmakers to submit projects which are eligible if produced by any member of the Caribbean, African and Latin American nations included in the Acp for grants.
Because Guadaloupe is French, it can access the French Cnc production subsidies and coproductions with them can share this. The BBC seriesDeath in Paradise has been such a hit that the BBC is renewing the series to the benefit of Guadaloupe's coffers.
Another incentive to make movies in this untapped and untrammeled region of the world is the 35% rebate on monies spent on production in Trinidad.
All this bounty would stir me as a filmmaker anywhere in the world to hasten to find coproducers in these countries to make a movie out of the myriad of stories that exist here. Guadaloupe novelist Simone Schwartz-Bart's great novel written in collaboration with her husband, Andre Schwartz-Bart (Last of the Just), A Woman Called Solitude, one of the most emotionally moving novels I 've ever read, has yet to be made into a movie. Dominican writer Jean Rhys' Wide Saragossa Sea, the prequel to Bronte's Jane Eyre, has been made in 1993 and in 2006 and yet remains mostly forgotten. Perhaps it's time for a remake. Or how about the novels of Antiguan Jamaica Kincaid, Cuban Alejo Carpentier or Martiniquese Edward Glissant?
The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Caribbean Film by a non-Caribbean went to Canadian filmmaker Christy Garland for her documentary The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, a documentary that had the strongest buzz here. The trailer alone moved the audience at the awards ceremony to a collective and spontaneous sigh of sympathy. What a fiction adaptation could be made from the stories these people have to tell.
Some filmmakers are already embedding themselves here. Trinidadian native Ian Harnarin comes from Canada and lives in New York. We met at Tiff this year in a mentoring program where he was one of four most promising new filmmakers. His short was executive produced by Spike Lee. He is now working on the feature length film of the short. "I'm extremely happy to be taking my film Doubles With Slight Pepper to the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. The film was shot on location throughout Trinidad with a local cast and a lot of local crew. The film has garnered some amazing awards and screened at other festivals around the world, so Ttff will mark a homecoming for it. It's coming to be very special for the local audience to finally see it with the cast and filmmakers." This film is available on iTunes.
Alrick Brown, the director of Kinyarwanda, a hit of last year 's Sundance Ff, led the immersion workshops in documentaries with Fernanda Rossi, a New York based doc scriptwriter. Alrick also teaches at Rutgers and Nyu. Andrew Donsunmu, the director of Restless City which Ronna Wallace has been actively repping since Sundance (she just made a good digital deal for the film) and which will be released stateside by Affrm (as will Kinyarwanda) was part of a very interesting informal discussion which took place on the bus returning from our day at the beach about movement and the almost genetic styles of dance and choices of sports of the African diaspora...like why so many islanders can't swim, why they don't eat fish in Cuba, how Samba, Calypso, and a certain Jamaican dance use the same steps though to different beats. Such animated discussions of intercultural topics are frequent here and always fascinate and animate the participants and residents.
The filmmakers also participated in panels for the industry, sharing their motivation and modi operandi. Christy Garland, director of Bastards Sing the Sweetest Song, filmed in French Guyana spoke of how she enters an unknown culture with a vague idea for a subject and proceeds to draw people out until the story unveils itself to her. Patricia Benoit, director of Stones in the Sun which participated in Wroclaw's American Film Festival for films in post-production competition spoke of her dislike of people always talking of Haiti's "resilence" in the face of all its troubles and wanted to show the hidden wounds of Haitians with their own history while living in New York. The films title comes from the proverb, “Stones in the water don't know the suffering of stones in the sun.” You can read Indiewire's interview with her from Tribeca Film Festival here. Matias Meyer spoke of The Last Christeros, which showed in Toronto and is being sold by FiGa Films, wanting to show not the battles but the spaces between battles when a segment of the 90% Catholic population of Mexico waged war against the state in the 1920s when the government banned religion. American filmmaker Chris Metzler spoke of his film Everyday Sunshine: the Story of Fishbone as a wonderful tribute to failure. Another Trinidadian in Canada, Richard Fung talked of how when he grew up he loved dhalpuri roti and so set out to discover where this spicy flatbread was born in the film Dal Puri Diaspora. Next month Richard will present his film at Nyu. One entire panel discussion was given to The Jamaican Collective's New Caribbean Cinema collection of shorts all made Guerilla style in one day, Ring di Alarm. Shadow and Act covered this last month.
In addition to this productive work of sharing business ideas and sharing the visions of over 120 feature-length and short films, there is the added bonus of being in one of the most amazing spots on earth. Island people, isolated from mainland civilizations and united among themselves by the water which also separates them, have opened their arms and invited us to join them these past few days in celebrating life. They have shared the natural beauty and the music and other arts of their island paradise And imagine the food-- a mix, (like the people themselves) of Caribbean, Indian, Asian, Arabian and African cuisine, all so fresh and with a homemade touch which rivals your own home cooking. Bake and Shark, a deep fried pita stuffed with delicious fresh and tender shark, or Roti, a variation of a curry dish found in India, Doubles, another street food well loved by the people. The economy, supported by its oil industry which contributes 60% to the Gnp, though 40% is Bp, a cause for some political dissension, does not need to rely on tourism for its sustenance. And though this is the wealthiest of all the Caricom countries because of its oil and natural gas, it still has the ubiquitous poverty seen worldwide including in our own United States of America. It is by no means perfect, but...
In Moscow this past June, the event Doors held similar discussions among 25 American distributors and Russian filmmakers about exporting their films and creating viable co- productions. After those three days in Moscow, we were rewarded with the most spectacular trip any of us had ever experienced, driving to St. Petersburg and Petershof, attending the Mariansky Ballet to see Sleeping Beauty and the star ballet dancer of Russia from the best seats in the house, taking a long cruise through St. Petersburg's canals during the White Nights, when the sun never sets. That trip which we were privileged to participate in (thanks to L.A.'s Russian Film Commissioner Eleonora Granata and her boss Catherine Mtsitouridze who hired us to organize) did not surpass the bonus tour ttff gave us industry-ites to Las Maracas beach where we rode the waves in warm water until a tropical rain storm and hurricane type wind, lightning and thunder drove us out of the water to huddle under a shelter until if passed, and the evening Leslie Fields-Cruz of the National Programming Consortium of PBS and I spent with Trinidadian film and music producer, Jean Michel Gibert of Caribbean Music Group, music scholar extraordinaire Tim Johnson and Nestor Sullivan, music legend, steel drum virtuoso and manager of the prize-winning 120 piece steel band orchestra Pamberi at a steel drum orchestra rehearsal for Carnaval. I can say with authority, this experience was on an equal par with the best Russia has to offer.
Validation of the genius of this country can be found in the story of one man, Anthony Williams, who invented the tuned steelpan, and in a discussion I had with another Trinidad filmmaker, Janine Fung, who won the People's Choice for Best Documentary La Gaita. Janine, as you can guess from her name, is of Chinese descent, though thoroughly international and Trinidadian to boot. Her grandmother's extended family lived in Trinidad. Recently the Chinese embassy called her to see if she might research and make a documentary about a Trinidad woman who brought western ballet to China. When they named her she realized it as her grandmother's first cousin who had left Trinidad to study ballet in London and when she toured to China, she captivated the audience and remained to establish western ballet in China. No one in Trinidad is aware of this and Janine now must make the documentary. I love stories like this. Nestor Sullivan whose father played in the same steel drum orchestra which is 70 years old, told me that his grandmother told him he was the spitting image of her father who came to Trinidad somewhere between 1840 to 60 after slavery had been abolished (1833). His father was a Yoruban prince who was never enslaved except when kidnapped and carried to the New World. Looking at Nestor, you know this to be true. His grandmother was born in 1888. When we did the math, I calculated this was around the same time that my own grandmother was born after her mother had come to USA as a bride in 1881.
Filmmaker, Faisal Lutchmedial (Mr. Crab, a delightful short film of a shy 10 year old boy who idolizes and fears his imposing father and hides and escapes into a dream world, where the frightening Mr Crab with his deadly sharp claws awaits him until he hears the real fear in his father's voice when he cannot find him) resides in Montreal, and tells of his family's home in a section of Trinidad which has, to this day, remained almost exactly as it was when his father was a boy in 1945. In fact, he took a photograph of himself standing in the same spot where his father stood as a child and the surroundings are identical. He was looking forward to going there to "lime" for a few days after the festival.
When the two part France TV feature Toussaint Ouveture won two prizes, one for Audience Award for Best Narrative and the other to Jimmy Jean-Louis for Best Actor in a Caribbean film, Jimmy,whose stunning presence is as sweet as his beautiful face, and who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Creole, spoke sponteously of Haiti's continued plight and of the fact that this historical epic deserves to be seen as widely as possible to remind the world that Haiti was the first nation to liberate itself and its slaves from its colonial masters 200 years before most other Caribbean nations declared or were granted their independence.
One other discovery I made was of Dana Verde of 3Ck Media (meaning 3rd culture kids, a term coined in the 50s by cultural anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem). Dana Verde is a Cuban-Jamaican filmmaker who enjoys telling stories from the Latin American and Caribbean Diaspora. After receiving her Ma in Filmmaking from the London Film School in 2008, the Brooklyn filmmaker returned to New York to work as an independent filmmaker – writing and directing spec commercials, music videos and short films. Currently she divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is venturing into directing feature films that encapsulate a crosscultural perspective. Check out her short Lock and Key on Facebook.
In summation of this whirlwind 4 day trip, it was well worth the 8 hour flight. So immersed was I that I find I must return, and much as I hate to reveal this new untrammeled festival and country, I must tell about it. I was the only press there, but I'm sure it will catch the eye of then rest of the world soon as it is a growth area for film invention and innovation on all fronts, from education (Bruce Paddington who teaches film at the University of The West Indies along with Christopher Meir, a native of Buffalo, New York).to production to marketing and distribution under the aegis of T&T Film Company. Although in the 50s Robert Mitchum filmed The Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in T&T and you can be sure he had a blast there, still I feel like I have discovered it anew!
The awards themselves reflect the complexity of a society which, when its own special voice is raised in unison by its citizens, has the grandly unique and harmonic sound of the music of its own steel band. The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners which can also be found here.
Jury Awards: Best Films
Best Narrative Feature: Distancia, directed by Sergio Ramirez from Guatemala
Best Documentary Feature: The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz
Best Short: Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker: The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland
Special mentions in the best film category:
Best Narrative Feature: Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza
Best Documentary Feature: Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin
Best Short: Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo
Jury Awards: Best Local Films
Best Local Feature: Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown
Best Local Short: Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Jury Awards: Acting
Best Actor in a Caribbean Film: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
Best Actor in a Local Film: Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Best Actress in a Local Film: Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams
People’s Choice Awards
People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature: Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature: La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung
People’s Choice Award: Best Short: Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor
Other Awards
Film in Development Award: Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo
WorldView/Tribeca Film Film Institute Pitch Awards: Ryan Khan, Joaquin Ruano, Natalie Wei
Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award: Michelle Serieux
Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity: Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd
Film Criticism Award: Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy
Film Criticism Special Mentions: Dainia Wright, Renelle White
Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme: Dinesh Maharaj
AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Mandisa Pantin
50-Second Film Competition: M Jay Gonzalez...
- 10/3/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
- 9/24/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The New York-based filmmaker organization, the Independent Filmmaker Project, has announced the 2012 Narrative Independent Filmmaker Lab Lineup. The lab, which gives first-time feature directors a year-long fellowship, selected its ten fellows from a national pool of submissions. The lab at the center of the fellowship will take place from June 11-14 in New York City. Ifp's narrative lab focuses on low-budget features, with budgets below $1 million. Past projects have included Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche," Terence Nance's "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty," and Dee Rees' "Pariah." The 2012 lab will be Ifp's eighth edition. Films included in this year's lab include Stacie Passon's story of a lesbian prostitute mother "Concussion" (produced by Rose Troche) and Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns." [Synopses provided by Ifp] Bastards of Young Four...
- 6/11/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
IFC has been on its annual late Spring buying spree. Its latest pick-up is Brandon Cronenberg’s debut feature “Antiviral,” which had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival last month. The indie distributor picked up U.S. rights for its IFC Midnight label Wednesday. The acquisition comes on the heels of IFC grabbing Jeremy Power Regimbal’s Tribeca fest thriller “Replicas” for IFC Midnight and Lucy Mulloy’s Tribeca fest winner “Una Noche” for sister division Sundance Selects. IFC’s Cannes collection also includes “Sightseers,” “The Taste of Money,” “Like Someone in Love,” “The Angels’ Share” and “On the Road.” Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith and Malcolm McDowell star in “Antiviral,” about a world where fans can buy injections of viruses harvested from sick celebrities. When a clinic...
- 6/6/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
Too much teenage spirit threatens to sink this inside look at today.s Cuba. A good film comes to the surface nonetheless. Filmed in Havana, Cuba, Lucy Mulloy.s directorial debut passes up the chance to see Cuba through the eyes of the tourists. Yes, the tourists are flocking to Cuba from almost everywhere except the USA and the Us will be soon to follow. However, this is not a film about the beaches and crystalline blue waters off Havana. Instead, the movie dives deep into the dark waters of the barrios of the lost children. For one day the lives of three teenagers are under the microscope. Months of their hopes and dreams come together in a fitful nightmare of...
- 6/4/2012
- by Ron Wilkinson
- Monsters and Critics
Fourteen years after he helped launch the Dogme 95 movement with his family drama “The Celebration,” director Thomas Vinterberg returned to Cannes this past month with his latest film, “The Hunt.” As the Croisette is wont to do, reactions were immensely divided, with some calling the film a masterpiece of near-unbearable dread, while others found the film a manipulative soap opera. Luckily for the filmmakers though, those in distribution kept a keen eye, and have now tapped the film for a future Us release.
THR reports Magnolia Pictures have acquired the U.S. rights from sales group TrustNordisk, and we're guessing they plan to release the film by year's end. The drama follows Mads Mikkelsen, who impressed Cannes enough to win Best Actor this past weekend, as a man suddenly plunged into a world of accusations and hatred after his genial relationship with a young girl (Annika Wedderkopp) goes truly awry.
THR reports Magnolia Pictures have acquired the U.S. rights from sales group TrustNordisk, and we're guessing they plan to release the film by year's end. The drama follows Mads Mikkelsen, who impressed Cannes enough to win Best Actor this past weekend, as a man suddenly plunged into a world of accusations and hatred after his genial relationship with a young girl (Annika Wedderkopp) goes truly awry.
- 6/1/2012
- by Charlie Schmidlin
- The Playlist
Lucy Mulloy’s Una Noche, a big winner at Tribeca last month, has been acquired by Sundance Selects for distribution in North America. The film netted the young director an award for Best New Narrative Director at Tribeca Film Festival in April, as well as accolades for cinematography and acting. Mulloy wrote the screenplay, a story of three disillusioned Cuban teenagers who undertake the tense 90-mile journey from Cuba to Miami.
Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects and IFC Films, issued a statement calling Mulloy’s debut feature “a remarkable first film that vividly takes us into the lives of 3 teenagers living in Havana looking for a better life. Lucy Mulloy is a major director to watch and has created a film that is both vibrant and sexy but also powerful. We look forward to working with her and her remarkable cast on the release of this film.”… Read the...
Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects and IFC Films, issued a statement calling Mulloy’s debut feature “a remarkable first film that vividly takes us into the lives of 3 teenagers living in Havana looking for a better life. Lucy Mulloy is a major director to watch and has created a film that is both vibrant and sexy but also powerful. We look forward to working with her and her remarkable cast on the release of this film.”… Read the...
- 5/31/2012
- by Sam Eisen
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Courtesy of Variety, we have learned that Sundance Selects has acquired the North American rights to Lucy Mulloy‘s Una Noche, which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and its Us premiere at Tiff this year. It won three awards at the latter — Best New Narrative Director, Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film as well as Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film.
The film, of which was also scripted by Mulloy, stars Dariel Arrechaga, Anailin de la Rua de la Toree and Javier Nunez Florian. She also served as a producer alongside Daniel Mulloy, Maite Artieda, Sandy Perez and Yunior Santiago. The film “follows a day in the lives of two Cuban teens faced with the stark contrast between the tourists’ lives and their own struggle with poverty.”
In some similar North American distribution news, Variety also reports that Drafthouse Films have acquired the rights...
The film, of which was also scripted by Mulloy, stars Dariel Arrechaga, Anailin de la Rua de la Toree and Javier Nunez Florian. She also served as a producer alongside Daniel Mulloy, Maite Artieda, Sandy Perez and Yunior Santiago. The film “follows a day in the lives of two Cuban teens faced with the stark contrast between the tourists’ lives and their own struggle with poverty.”
In some similar North American distribution news, Variety also reports that Drafthouse Films have acquired the rights...
- 5/31/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche," "Una Noche" made a splash at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, where it took home awards for director Mulloy (who also wrote the screenplay), cinematographers Trevor Forrest and Shlomo Godder and leading actors Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nunez Florian. Also read: 'War Witch,' 'Una Noche' Win Top Tribeca Awards "Una Noche" deals with two Cuban teens; one is forced to flee to the United States, while the other debates whether to follow or remain with his sister. Just prior to...
- 5/31/2012
- by Todd Cunningham
- The Wrap
Acquisitions from the Tribeca Film Festival are starting to trickle in, with Sundance Selects picking up North American rights to Lucy Mulloy’s “Una Noche” Thursday. After its world premiere at the Berlin fest, Mulloy’s debut feature won a trio of awards in competition at Tribeca, including one for best new narrative director. Dariel Arrechaga, Anailin de la Rua de la Torre and Javier Nuñez Florian star in the story of three Cuban teenagers struggling with poverty and stark choices about what a better life in Miami might mean. Mulloy, who wrote the screenplay, produced along with Daniel Mulloy, Maite Artieda, Sandy Perez and Yunior Santiago. "‘Una Noche’ is a remarkable first film that vividly takes us into the lives of 3 teenagers living in Havana looking for a better life,” said Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring. “Lucy Mulloy is a major director to watch and has created a film that is both.
- 5/31/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
It finally lands an American distributor, after Fortissimo Films announced it had acquired international rights to Us/Cuban production Una Noche, which won 3 major awards at last month’s Tribeca Film Festival, including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography. Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to director Lucy Mulloy's feature film debut, which made headlines last month when two of its Cuban stars - Anailin De La Rua De La Torre and Javier Nunez Florian - decided to stay in the USA instead of returning to Cuba, after the film premiered in New York. Here's the synopsis: Fed up with living in poverty while...
- 5/31/2012
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Sundance Selects will release the Lucy Mulloy-directed Una Noche in North America. The film premiered in Berlin and plays in competition at Tribeca where it won Best New Narrative Director, Best Cinematography and Best Actor in a Narrative Film for Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nunez Florian. Pic follows a day in the life of two Cuban teens as they dream of escaping poverty and heading 90 miles to Miami. This is the film where actress Anailin de la Rua and Nunez Florian actually used the trip to New York as a way to escape Cuba and seek political asylum in the U.S. UTA and Xyz Films sold it.
- 5/31/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Michael J. Werner’s Fortissimo Films was surprisingly almost shut out from showing in any of the sections at Cannes (they’re repping the Un Certain Regard title Miss Lovely), which only means they’ll got plenty in the coffers for the near future. Loaded in Asian fare, among the titles that stick out from the pack is recent Tribeca winner Una Noche from Lucy Mulloy, and for the near future Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s next film, What Masie Knew (see pic above), John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties and let us not forget the best picture of the year so far in, Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer.
Beijing Flickers (You-zhong) by Yuan Zhang
Full Circle (Fei Yu Lao Ren Yuan) by Yang Zhang
Marley by Kevin MacDonald
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan
Camera by James Leong
Corman’S World: Exploits Of A...
Beijing Flickers (You-zhong) by Yuan Zhang
Full Circle (Fei Yu Lao Ren Yuan) by Yang Zhang
Marley by Kevin MacDonald
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan
Camera by James Leong
Corman’S World: Exploits Of A...
- 5/17/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Like it or not, filmmaking is undeniably a director's medium. It wasn't always like that, of course: it was only the coming of the auteur theory in the 1950s and 1960s that popularized the idea of the director as the person responsible for all that was great and terrible about a picture. And while anyone who's worked in film knows that it's a collaborative medium, there's still no better way of seeing where the form might be going in the next few years than by looking at the directors who've been making splashes of late.
So, hot on the heels of our On The Rise pieces focusing on actors, actresses and screenwriters, we've picked out ten directors who've arrived in a big way in the last year or so, and look set for even greater things in the near future. Any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments section below.
So, hot on the heels of our On The Rise pieces focusing on actors, actresses and screenwriters, we've picked out ten directors who've arrived in a big way in the last year or so, and look set for even greater things in the near future. Any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments section below.
- 5/15/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
That's it. It's a wrap. The Tribeca Film Festival is over for another 12 months. And while it was an improvement from years past, despite a promising line-up the festival proved to be somewhat disappointing: most of the best regarded films ("2 Days In New York," "Take This Waltz," Searching For Sugar Man" being three prime examples) had premiered elsewhere, while the more high-profile, star-laden of their world or North American exclusives landed with a thud.
However, even while the festival still grapples with its own identity, there were some real gems in the line-up: there are a few films that justify whatever else we had to sit through in the course of the last few weeks. And let's not forget the festival did secure "The Avengers" and "The Five-Year Engagement," two films we loved (though try and ask any civillian who got into either and you'll hear a lot of crickets). Below,...
However, even while the festival still grapples with its own identity, there were some real gems in the line-up: there are a few films that justify whatever else we had to sit through in the course of the last few weeks. And let's not forget the festival did secure "The Avengers" and "The Five-Year Engagement," two films we loved (though try and ask any civillian who got into either and you'll hear a lot of crickets). Below,...
- 5/2/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
And like that it was gone.
Funny thing about film festivals — no one seems to really miss them when they’re over, although within the provisional community that pops up during such events, no one seems to be able to talk about much else (except what they’d rather be doing). So it was with the 11th Tribeca Film Festival, which came to a close on Sunday. Even at the party for The Fourth Dimension, perhaps the most undeniably hip film in the selection (Vice! Grolsch!), the mood was sort of dutiful. As for the actual film, I, like many, left after the Harmony Korine short; I just wanted a gander at Val Kilmer’s practiced, winking crazy, and the experience left me truly sated.
This year, Tribeca’s lineup was revelatory at times, underwhelming at most others, and politically-tinged issues summoned up by the films were perhaps bigger stories than the films themselves.
Funny thing about film festivals — no one seems to really miss them when they’re over, although within the provisional community that pops up during such events, no one seems to be able to talk about much else (except what they’d rather be doing). So it was with the 11th Tribeca Film Festival, which came to a close on Sunday. Even at the party for The Fourth Dimension, perhaps the most undeniably hip film in the selection (Vice! Grolsch!), the mood was sort of dutiful. As for the actual film, I, like many, left after the Harmony Korine short; I just wanted a gander at Val Kilmer’s practiced, winking crazy, and the experience left me truly sated.
This year, Tribeca’s lineup was revelatory at times, underwhelming at most others, and politically-tinged issues summoned up by the films were perhaps bigger stories than the films themselves.
- 5/1/2012
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival opened and closed with two glossy, star-studded premieres, as the raunchy rom-com "The Five-Year Engagement" and the surefire summer blockbuster "The Avengers" bookended the event.
But it was the far more modestly budgeted films in between that made the 11th annual Tribeca fest a success, with audiences and critics alike discovering gems you probably won't see plastered on the side of a bus anytime soon.
Our 10 favorites ranged from music documentaries ("Searching for Sugar Man") to quote-unquote mumblecore ("Your Sister's Sister"), but they share one common thread, at least in our eyes: They deserve a much wider audience. Maybe even on bus ads. – By Jason Guerrasio, Kevin Polowy, Nigel Smith and Brooke Tarnoff
'The Giant Mechanical Man'
Jenna Fischer stars in this charming, off-beat exploration of casual existentialism; the movie, written and directed by her husband, Lee Kirk, makes the most of the regular-person...
But it was the far more modestly budgeted films in between that made the 11th annual Tribeca fest a success, with audiences and critics alike discovering gems you probably won't see plastered on the side of a bus anytime soon.
Our 10 favorites ranged from music documentaries ("Searching for Sugar Man") to quote-unquote mumblecore ("Your Sister's Sister"), but they share one common thread, at least in our eyes: They deserve a much wider audience. Maybe even on bus ads. – By Jason Guerrasio, Kevin Polowy, Nigel Smith and Brooke Tarnoff
'The Giant Mechanical Man'
Jenna Fischer stars in this charming, off-beat exploration of casual existentialism; the movie, written and directed by her husband, Lee Kirk, makes the most of the regular-person...
- 5/1/2012
- by NextMovie Staff
- NextMovie
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