A coming of age documentary film unlike any coming of age film in recent memory. SCHEME BIRD centers on Scottish teenager Gemma and the people in her life trying to survive in an impoverished town.
Category: Film
AFTER PARKLAND Red Carpet, Tribeca Film Festival 2019 – April 26
The effort that goes into making those money shots for photorgraphers, vidoemakers, filmmakers …
The 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival Jury Is Comprised of …
This year’s jury features acclaimed filmmakers, award-winning actors, noteworthy producers, and cultural leaders including Angela Bassett, Rebecca Miller, Orlando von Einsiedel, Steve Zaillian, Drake Doremus, Famke Janssen, Jenny Lumet, Tig Notaro, Chloë Sevigny, and more.
Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute to Ester Krumbachová, Master of the Czechoslovak New Wave
A costume and set designer, scriptwriter, and director, the multi-hyphenate artist shared her puckishly surreal and trenchant, radical vision with such trailblazing New Wave directors as Chytilová, Karel Kachyňa, Jaromil Jireš, and Jan Němec, who married Krumbachová and considered her a muse.
2019 TRIBECA TV® and N.O.W. Lineup: April 24 – May 5
Debuting highly-anticipated new and returning TV series and spotlight creative online storytelling work. The Tribeca TV lineup will include 16 shows made up of eight series premieres, two season premieres, one feature documentary, and five indie pilots. The N.O.W. (New Online Work) section, sponsored by HBO, will showcase 12 projects from creators using digital platforms to tell original stories in addition to special spotlight programs. The N.O.W. Creators Market will return to connect online creators with industry professionals.
WORKING WOMAN Preview
OPENING
New York City – Wednesday, March 27 at the IFC Center; Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan
Director Michal Laviad
Orna (Liron Ben Shlush), the mother of three young children, wearing a lot of care taking hats, wants to help her husband struggling to start his own restaurant by wearing another hat. She takes a job, and, cutting to the chase, her boss sexually harasses her even as she her financial success is good for the company. His escalating, menacing sexual harassment creates a crisis for her.
“Slow Burning – builds its tension so subtly you don’t realize you’ve been holding your breath” – Elizabeth Kerr, Hollywood Reporter.
Holding our breaths? Uh oh!
Director Laviad says about the time she started identifying herself as a feminist, she began directing films in San Francisco in the 1980s. Her 10 documentary and narrative films look at complex social and political issues from the point of view of female protagonists, she says in a statement. “Making films from the point of view of women is a way to remind us that women’s ways of understanding and acting in the world matter, and are worth showing – and this theme is recurrent in all my work.”
Review coming soon.
Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu
hillbilly
Winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Festival and made its New York City premiere at DOC NYC. Debuts Tuesday, January 8, 2019, on Digital, Cable and Satellite.
Directed by Sally Rubin and Ashley York
Cast – bell hooks, Amythyst Kiah, Frank X Walker, Crystal Good, Ronny Cox, Billy Redden, Michael Apted, Silas House
1:25:1 Run Time
What the Filmmakers Say
Since the presidential election, cultural divide in America has been the source of riveting and visceral discussions and arguments. Stereotyping and slurs are rampant, finger-pointing and name-calling abound. hillbilly is a personal and political journey by the filmmakers into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media misrepresentation in their creation of the iconic American “hillbilly,” and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype.
hillbilly will surprise if not shock imaginations because of its revelations, such as the renown artists, poets, activists, queer musicians, “Affrilachian” poets, and intersectional feminists who are unexpected voices emerging from this historically misunderstood region. Author, feminist, and social activist bell hooks is a hillbilly.
Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edi
THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS – Oscar Shortlisted Documentary
One of 15 contenders for Best Documentary Feature at 91st Academy Awards. The nominations to be released 22 January, 2019, and the winner to be announced at the 91st Academy Awards February 24, 2019.
What the Film Makers Say
Set in Eastern Ukraine on the front-line of the war, following the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of war. Oleg lives with his beloved grandmother, Alexandra, in the small village of Hnutove. Having no other place to go, Oleg and Alexandra stay and watch as others leave the village. Life becomes increasingly difficult with each passing day, and the war offers no end in sight. In this now half-deserted village where Oleg and Alexandra are the only true constants in each other’s lives, the film shows just how fragile, but crucial, close relationships are for survival.
Through Oleg’s perspective, the film examines what it means to grow up in a war zone: A child’s growing universal struggle to discover what the world is interlaced with all the dangers and challenges the war presents.
Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont.
Produced by Monica Hellström (THE ACT OF KILLING), Final Cut For Real
Spotlight Award Nominee – Cinema Eye Honors 2019
Honorable Mention – Pare Lorentz Award – 2018 IDA Awards
Winner – First Appearance Award – IDFA 2017
Winner – Best Nordic Documentary – Göteborg Film Festival 2018
Winner – Golden Gate Award – SFFILM 2018
Winner – Fipresci Award – Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2018
Winner – Best International Film – DocAviv Film Festival 2018
Nominee – Best European Documentary – European Film Awards 2018
Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu
Russian Film Week in New York City, December 8-14
This year’s diverse program of 14 films includes Russia’s submission for the 2019 Academy Awards®, SOBIBOR, directed by, and starring, Konstantin Khabensky; ANNA KARENINA: VRONSKY’S STORY, directed by Karen Shakhnazarov; a dramatic biopic THE STORY OF ONE APPOINTMENT, directed by Avdotya Smirnova. Visiting filmmakers and actors include filmmaker Alexey Uchitel, founder of Rock Studio Films; directors Karen Shakhnazarov, Olya Zueva, Susanna Alperina, and many others.
Error in Article Or Clarification Needed?
Clarification of facts about Linnea Larsdotter, Founder / Creative Director, Nordic International Film Festival.