Kacey Musgraves has shared a short documentary chronicling the making of her 2021 album, Star-Crossed, with the film arriving ahead of the LP’s first anniversary, Sept. 10.
Star-Crossed followed Musgraves’ 2018 Grammy-winning album, Golden Hour, and found her exploring the process of healing from heartbreak following her divorce. In the new doc’s first scene, she talks about the mix of relief and anxiety she feels about the LP, saying, “A lot of people are about to hear things that were very personal ruminations at one point. Yeah, it’s just a mindfuck.
Star-Crossed followed Musgraves’ 2018 Grammy-winning album, Golden Hour, and found her exploring the process of healing from heartbreak following her divorce. In the new doc’s first scene, she talks about the mix of relief and anxiety she feels about the LP, saying, “A lot of people are about to hear things that were very personal ruminations at one point. Yeah, it’s just a mindfuck.
- 9/9/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
For this year’s Icons & Influences issue, we asked 10 artists to pay tribute to the women who have shaped their sound, provided an example, and inspired them to break down barriers. Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power, reveres the late Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, who revitalized her country’s folk-music traditions and wrote the modern standard “Gracias a la Vida” before her death in 1967.
I was in Santiago, Chile, probably 2006, and I went to a used-record store where this guy said, “I think you’ll really like this.” It...
I was in Santiago, Chile, probably 2006, and I went to a used-record store where this guy said, “I think you’ll really like this.” It...
- 3/10/2022
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
“Do we really have to grow up?” Kacey Musgraves asked on 2015’s Pageant Material, the last time the singer-songwriter was staring down impossible expectations. Back then she was figuring out where to go next after her standard-setting 2013 debut Same Trailer Different Park, which established the blueprint for daring millennial country storytelling.
On 2018’s Golden Hour Musgraves proved just how effortlessly an artist can mature and have fun at the same time. Golden Hour was a Grammy-winning rodeo-zen opus that set her witty wordplay to a blissed-out blend of banjos and vocoder,...
On 2018’s Golden Hour Musgraves proved just how effortlessly an artist can mature and have fun at the same time. Golden Hour was a Grammy-winning rodeo-zen opus that set her witty wordplay to a blissed-out blend of banjos and vocoder,...
- 8/30/2021
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Joan Baez played the final American concert of her five decade career at Port Chester, New York’s Capitol Theater on May 5th. She heads over to Europe next month for her final shows anywhere, wrapping up July 28th at Madrid’s Universal Music Festival. “I love Europe and my public over there,” she told Rolling Stone last month. “It’ll bring a nice closure.”
As always, her current show is packed with protest songs. When we spoke to her recently, she shared her five favorites and explained why they...
As always, her current show is packed with protest songs. When we spoke to her recently, she shared her five favorites and explained why they...
- 6/10/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
The extraordinary success of Chilean filmmakers will be celebrated in the 2019 Week of Chilean Cinema, which launches in Madrid, then travels to Paris and Berlin. The week offers a larger narrative: the Chileans have won more awards, festival acclaim and global box office in the past decade than any other filmmaking industry in all of Latin America.
Backed by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, Sebastián Lelio and a who’s who of Chilean cineasts who will conduct Q&As after screenings, the Week also celebrates 10 years of CinemaChile, the producer-backed international film-tv promotion org.
Titles will play May 30-June 2 at Madrid’s Golem Cinema arthouse over, then June 5-9 at Cinematheque Française and finally June 19-23 at Berlin’s Babylon Kino, another iconic arthouse. A fourth strand will unspool in a “surprise” city, says CinemaChile executive director Constanza Arena.
Chosen by programmers at the Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto festivals among others,...
Backed by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, Sebastián Lelio and a who’s who of Chilean cineasts who will conduct Q&As after screenings, the Week also celebrates 10 years of CinemaChile, the producer-backed international film-tv promotion org.
Titles will play May 30-June 2 at Madrid’s Golem Cinema arthouse over, then June 5-9 at Cinematheque Française and finally June 19-23 at Berlin’s Babylon Kino, another iconic arthouse. A fourth strand will unspool in a “surprise” city, says CinemaChile executive director Constanza Arena.
Chosen by programmers at the Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto festivals among others,...
- 2/10/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Gepe, Chilean pop’s resident mad scientist, released his new album Folclor Imaginario early Friday, honoring the late Chilean singer-songwriter Margot Loyola Palacios on the eve of what would have been her 100th birthday. For the album, Gepe recruited his fellow countrymen — Miguel Molina, Claudio Constanzo and Claudia Mena — to cook up a genre-spanning compilation of original songs and covers sourced from Palacios’ vibrant catalog.
“The album started [as] an idea that Pablo Flores and I had 18 years ago,” Gepe told Rolling Stone via email. “We invited underground bands from Santiago...
“The album started [as] an idea that Pablo Flores and I had 18 years ago,” Gepe told Rolling Stone via email. “We invited underground bands from Santiago...
- 9/14/2018
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
With stories of the Trump administration’s newest border policy decision causing children to be separated from their families and locked in cages, it’s no surprise the entertainment industry’s most prominent figures have spoken out against the policy this past week.
The topic was unavoidable at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ Latino Media Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood on Saturday.
“Flatliners” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” star Diego Luna, who received the outstanding achievement in film award, told Variety he believes it is the duty of Latino creators to bring their stories to light, including the stories of the children being separated from their families.
“What’s been in happening in this country these last few days, this cruelty cannot be accepted or tolerated,” Luna said. “We have to remind ourselves that we are the ones telling our stories, so we...
The topic was unavoidable at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ Latino Media Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood on Saturday.
“Flatliners” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” star Diego Luna, who received the outstanding achievement in film award, told Variety he believes it is the duty of Latino creators to bring their stories to light, including the stories of the children being separated from their families.
“What’s been in happening in this country these last few days, this cruelty cannot be accepted or tolerated,” Luna said. “We have to remind ourselves that we are the ones telling our stories, so we...
- 6/25/2018
- by Ellis Clopton
- Variety Film + TV
Saturday, April 7 marked the debut edition of the Quirino Awards ceremony. Held in the Canary Island city of Tenerife, the event was created to celebrate Ibero-American animation, and to create links within the industry across the Atlantic.
In addition to Saturday night’s awards ceremony, an Ibero-American co-production forum was held over the two days which included: Presentations of the state of the animation industry in different countries and regions; B2B coproduction meetings: and industry work tables.
Additionally, an international congress was held as a forum for debate and discussion on the rapid evolution of animation technologies and techniques, as well as the platforms which host that content.
Saturday’s awards ceremony was the culmination of the two-day event, named in honor of Argentina’s Quirino Cristiani who, in 1917, directed “El Apóstol,” the world’s first animated feature. Unfortunately, the film was destroyed in a fire.
The inaugural best...
In addition to Saturday night’s awards ceremony, an Ibero-American co-production forum was held over the two days which included: Presentations of the state of the animation industry in different countries and regions; B2B coproduction meetings: and industry work tables.
Additionally, an international congress was held as a forum for debate and discussion on the rapid evolution of animation technologies and techniques, as well as the platforms which host that content.
Saturday’s awards ceremony was the culmination of the two-day event, named in honor of Argentina’s Quirino Cristiani who, in 1917, directed “El Apóstol,” the world’s first animated feature. Unfortunately, the film was destroyed in a fire.
The inaugural best...
- 4/8/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Children’s and Family films often get short shrift from the professional film community. They are shunted to a special section. But at some festivals, they get their due. Panama International Film Festival is one of Latin America’s best stages to show these films.
Read More: Panama: The Next Big Country for Latin American Films?
Andrés Waissbluth’s "Elephant, the Horse" is inspired by the lives of Lalo and Roberto Parra. 80’, Chile/Mexico/Colombia, 2016. World Premiere.
Lalo wants nothing more than to grow up to be a valiant adventurer, just like his grandfather was. Grandpa who is on his deathbed—for the third time— charges Lalo and his brother Roberto with a task of great importance: the boys must promise to look after Grandpa’s beloved horse Elephant, that has been abducted by a traveling circus. Lalo and Roberto set out to rescue Elephant, but wind up involved in an even bigger quest than either could have imagined. Blending live-action with an alluring animation style that resembles a comic book come to life, “Elephant, the Horse” is fun, suspenseful, and light-hearted even when dealing with more serious plot developments. Chilean-American director Andrés Waissbluth’s delightful third feature fuses fantasy with stories taken from the childhoods of Lalo and Roberto Parra, the brothers of Chile’s legendary singer Violeta Parra.
Read More: How 'Boy and the World' Ale Abreu Handcrafted His Heartfelt Dazzling Animated Masterpiece
“Caroline and the Magic Potion” is Virginia Curiá’s feature debut. Brazil/Spain, 78’, 2015. Isa: Latido. USA: Viva.
Everyone in the neighborhood turns to Caroline’s grandmother for sure-fire home remedies. But for Caroline, being a healer’s apprentice, learning about what cream to apply to what allergy, can get dull. Caroline is a restless girl. She would rather fly through the air than fiddle with herbs—and she gets her chance to do just that when she discovers a magic potion amongst her granny’s cache of cures. As it happens, Caroline starts to master her new power just in time: a nefarious cosmetic company has kidnapped Granny with the hope of stealing her recipes. With her umbrella-turned-flying broomstick and mischievous pet cat in tow, Caroline is determined to come to the rescue. Fun, witty and bursting with surprises, “Caroline and the Magic Potion” is an animated adventure set in a rapidly changing world, where witchy powers and high-tech gizmos come into conflict, but in the end it’s a combination of smarts, courage and love that provide our heroine with her best chance at defeating her foes. “Caroline and the Magic Potion” is Galician Virginia Curiá’s feature debut.
Read More: Why Ale Abreu's Sublime 'Boy and the World' is the Best Animated Film of the Year
“Boy & the World” by Alê Abreu was an Oscar-Nominee this year for Best Animated Feature Film Brazil, 80’, 2013. Isa: Elo. USA: GKIds
Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 88th Academy Awards, Alê Abreu’s “Boy & the World” will be screened at Iff Panama’s Family Corner. This dialogue-free, picaresque film about a country boy searching for his father fuses endearingly primitive, crayon-like visual elements with highly sophisticated imagery. Equal parts dread and wonder, Alê Abreu’s powerful feature warns against the corruption and contamination that threaten our world while retaining a stubborn belief in some fundamental goodness that can keep our hope alive.
Read More: Panama: The Next Big Country for Latin American Films?
Andrés Waissbluth’s "Elephant, the Horse" is inspired by the lives of Lalo and Roberto Parra. 80’, Chile/Mexico/Colombia, 2016. World Premiere.
Lalo wants nothing more than to grow up to be a valiant adventurer, just like his grandfather was. Grandpa who is on his deathbed—for the third time— charges Lalo and his brother Roberto with a task of great importance: the boys must promise to look after Grandpa’s beloved horse Elephant, that has been abducted by a traveling circus. Lalo and Roberto set out to rescue Elephant, but wind up involved in an even bigger quest than either could have imagined. Blending live-action with an alluring animation style that resembles a comic book come to life, “Elephant, the Horse” is fun, suspenseful, and light-hearted even when dealing with more serious plot developments. Chilean-American director Andrés Waissbluth’s delightful third feature fuses fantasy with stories taken from the childhoods of Lalo and Roberto Parra, the brothers of Chile’s legendary singer Violeta Parra.
Read More: How 'Boy and the World' Ale Abreu Handcrafted His Heartfelt Dazzling Animated Masterpiece
“Caroline and the Magic Potion” is Virginia Curiá’s feature debut. Brazil/Spain, 78’, 2015. Isa: Latido. USA: Viva.
Everyone in the neighborhood turns to Caroline’s grandmother for sure-fire home remedies. But for Caroline, being a healer’s apprentice, learning about what cream to apply to what allergy, can get dull. Caroline is a restless girl. She would rather fly through the air than fiddle with herbs—and she gets her chance to do just that when she discovers a magic potion amongst her granny’s cache of cures. As it happens, Caroline starts to master her new power just in time: a nefarious cosmetic company has kidnapped Granny with the hope of stealing her recipes. With her umbrella-turned-flying broomstick and mischievous pet cat in tow, Caroline is determined to come to the rescue. Fun, witty and bursting with surprises, “Caroline and the Magic Potion” is an animated adventure set in a rapidly changing world, where witchy powers and high-tech gizmos come into conflict, but in the end it’s a combination of smarts, courage and love that provide our heroine with her best chance at defeating her foes. “Caroline and the Magic Potion” is Galician Virginia Curiá’s feature debut.
Read More: Why Ale Abreu's Sublime 'Boy and the World' is the Best Animated Film of the Year
“Boy & the World” by Alê Abreu was an Oscar-Nominee this year for Best Animated Feature Film Brazil, 80’, 2013. Isa: Elo. USA: GKIds
Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 88th Academy Awards, Alê Abreu’s “Boy & the World” will be screened at Iff Panama’s Family Corner. This dialogue-free, picaresque film about a country boy searching for his father fuses endearingly primitive, crayon-like visual elements with highly sophisticated imagery. Equal parts dread and wonder, Alê Abreu’s powerful feature warns against the corruption and contamination that threaten our world while retaining a stubborn belief in some fundamental goodness that can keep our hope alive.
- 4/1/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
At Locarno recently, of all places, I sat down with NYC buddy and one of my favorite film people and Us distributor Kino Lorber's head honcho Richard Lorber.
As always he has an amazing lineup. Richard likes art films and intelligent subject matters. He also distributes many documentaries and non English language films. Very good taste I might add.
He bought the controversial Chinese film shown at Cannes this year, A Touch Of Sin.
It begins shockingly as it opens with a punchy bout of bloodshed as three kids brandishing hatchets hold up passing motorcyclist Zhou San (Wang Baoqiang) on a stretch of lonely road. But they are foiled when he calmly pulls out a gun and dispatches them. That drifter, with his taste for firearms and robbery, resurfaces later in one of the film’s four narrative strands.
At Cannes it won Best Screenplay. Kino Lorber will open this in 50 Us cities and in New York at the prestigious IFC Center, in Greenwich Village on 6th Avenue.
Richard will soon open theatrically in 40 cities the amazing documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
The film covers Ali's toughest bout: his battle to overturn a five-year prison sentence for refusing Us military service in Vietnam.
Prior to becoming the most recognizable face on earth, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali and found himself in the crosshairs of conflicts concerning race, religion, and wartime dissent. 'Trials' zeroes in on the most controversial years of Ali's life, when an emerging sports superhero chooses faith and conscience over fame and fortune.
La Maison de la Radio is a French documentary Richard bought from the company Films de Losange.
The story covers twenty-four hours in the life of Radio France, called the 'BBC of France' and the film goes from one dawn to another.
The film trails along its corridors, inside its recording studios, with its producers, presenters, journalists and various guests.
And outside on a motorbike with a microphone it follows in the wake of the Tour de France or in the company of an adventurous thunderstorm photographer.
It appears this week at the prestigious New York City theater The Film Forum.
Camille Claudel 1915 stars the great Juliette Binoche.
Set in winter, 1915.
The artist is confined by her family to an asylum in the South of France - where she will never sculpt again - the chronicle of Camille Claudel's tragic reclusive life, as she waits for a visit from her brother, Paul Claudel.
In October this film screens at New York's The Film Forum.
Violeta Went to Heaven is just now out on DVD.
It was a New York Times Critic's Pick and in Sundance 2012 it won the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize.
A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes. She began as an impoverished child and went on to become Chile's national heroine.
As always he has an amazing lineup. Richard likes art films and intelligent subject matters. He also distributes many documentaries and non English language films. Very good taste I might add.
He bought the controversial Chinese film shown at Cannes this year, A Touch Of Sin.
It begins shockingly as it opens with a punchy bout of bloodshed as three kids brandishing hatchets hold up passing motorcyclist Zhou San (Wang Baoqiang) on a stretch of lonely road. But they are foiled when he calmly pulls out a gun and dispatches them. That drifter, with his taste for firearms and robbery, resurfaces later in one of the film’s four narrative strands.
At Cannes it won Best Screenplay. Kino Lorber will open this in 50 Us cities and in New York at the prestigious IFC Center, in Greenwich Village on 6th Avenue.
Richard will soon open theatrically in 40 cities the amazing documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
The film covers Ali's toughest bout: his battle to overturn a five-year prison sentence for refusing Us military service in Vietnam.
Prior to becoming the most recognizable face on earth, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali and found himself in the crosshairs of conflicts concerning race, religion, and wartime dissent. 'Trials' zeroes in on the most controversial years of Ali's life, when an emerging sports superhero chooses faith and conscience over fame and fortune.
La Maison de la Radio is a French documentary Richard bought from the company Films de Losange.
The story covers twenty-four hours in the life of Radio France, called the 'BBC of France' and the film goes from one dawn to another.
The film trails along its corridors, inside its recording studios, with its producers, presenters, journalists and various guests.
And outside on a motorbike with a microphone it follows in the wake of the Tour de France or in the company of an adventurous thunderstorm photographer.
It appears this week at the prestigious New York City theater The Film Forum.
Camille Claudel 1915 stars the great Juliette Binoche.
Set in winter, 1915.
The artist is confined by her family to an asylum in the South of France - where she will never sculpt again - the chronicle of Camille Claudel's tragic reclusive life, as she waits for a visit from her brother, Paul Claudel.
In October this film screens at New York's The Film Forum.
Violeta Went to Heaven is just now out on DVD.
It was a New York Times Critic's Pick and in Sundance 2012 it won the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize.
A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes. She began as an impoverished child and went on to become Chile's national heroine.
- 9/16/2013
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
This year started off with a Bang (with a capital 'B') for Latino film festivals. Although Latino representation at Miami is a given, it wasn't as obvious at Sundance as in previous years and is a ghost town at Tribeca leaving SXSW, as always, to pick up the slack for the “mainstream” festivals. But, it was the Latino film festivals that really pushed the rainbow of Latino cinema upon the festival landscape. San Diego Latino (Sdlff) had, in my opinion, its strongest lineup in many years. They celebrated their 20th anniversary by showcasing classics that Sdlff had screened over the years, giving the audience a chance to fall in love with them on the big screen all over again. CineFestival in Tejas, who has always played by the beat of their own drum, dropped the mic on everyone by announcing the Latino Writers Project Lab, a collaboration with Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, which will give filmmakers telling 'American Latino' stories a venue to have their projects mentored. Next up we have three diverse festivals with the Chicago Latino Film Festival celebrating its 29th year, Cine Las Americas in Austin, TX who very much embody their local community with an 'Hecho en Texas' and Youth specific programs, and then there's a new kid on the block in Philly, the Filadelfia Latin American Film Festival. In only its 2nd year, they have put together a two day event to bring Latino films to an underserved vibrant city. LatinoBuzz painstakingly selected our personal top picks that we think are a “must-see.” But don't just take our word for it, check out their websites for full listings and see for yourself how fly Latino cinema really is!
Chicago Latino Film Festival
The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas (La Vida Precoz y Breve de Sabina Rivas) – Mexico
Dir. Luis Mandoki
Honduran teenager Sabina Rivas intends to get to the United States, harboring dreams of becoming a famous singer and distancing herself from her former young lover, Jovany, now a vicious gang member.
The Wild Ones (Los niños salvajes) – Spain
Dir. Patricia Ferreira
Alex, Oky and Gabi are three angry, misunderstood teens from Barcelona who have to deal with parents who have completely forgotten that they too were once teens; parents who, on most occasions, blame their children for their unfulfilled dreams. The trio has dreams and ambitions of their own and they love to test the limits imposed by society. But push comes to shove and Oky commits an unforgivable act that will leave many in shock in this thoughtful and sober drama.
Nevertheless (Y Sin Embargo) - Cuba
Dir. Rudy Mora
Lapatun is late for his math exam at a music school; to justify his tardiness he invents a wild story about having seen a UFO and spoken with its crew. The school is turned upside down by Lapatun’s claims; with some students demanding his expulsion and some teachers questioning the role creativity plays in a child’s education.
Cine Las Americas
Dust (Polvo) – Guatemala
Dir. Julio Hernández Cordón
In a small Guatemalan village where many were "disappeared" during the country's civil war, a troubled young man struggles with the memory of his murdered father — and the nearby presence of the man who turned his father in.
From Tuesday To Sunday (De Jueves A Domingo) – Chile
Dir. Dominga Sotomayor
Two children travel with their parents from Santiago Chile to the north of Chile for a family holiday. The landscape's loneliness and the car's confinement help bring out the couple's troubles and the children learn that this might turn out to be their father's farewell and their last family vacation.
Delusions of Grandeur – USA
Dir. Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos
In the mid-1990s a medicated grungy girl stopped taking her medication (Prozac), crossed over a rainbow, and became a woman in a crazy, wonderful place called San Francisco. Lulu, Rocio, and Illusion are struggling with the sexuality and gender roles that we all play. It is said that there is someone for everyone, and the heroines in this story put that theory to the test in a city with a history of love at its core - but will they respect themselves in the morning?
Filadelfia Latin American Film Festival
Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos) – Chile
Dir. Andres Wood
Violeta Went To Heaven tells the story of the iconic Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra, tracing her evolution from impoverished child to international sensation and Chile's national hero, while capturing the swirling intensity of her inner contradictions, fallibilities, and passions.
Lemon – USA
Dir. Laura Brownson, Beth Levison
Three-time felon. One-time Tony award winner. Lemon Andersen is a pioneering poet whose words speak for a generation. But Lemon has landed back in the 'hood, living in the projects with thirteen family members and desperate for a way out. So he turns to the only thing he has left, his pen and his past
7 Boxes (7 Cajas) – Paraguay
Dir. Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbor
Víctor receives an unusual proposal, to carry 7 boxes of unknown content through the Market Number 4 but things get complicated along the way.
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 and Facebook.
Chicago Latino Film Festival
The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas (La Vida Precoz y Breve de Sabina Rivas) – Mexico
Dir. Luis Mandoki
Honduran teenager Sabina Rivas intends to get to the United States, harboring dreams of becoming a famous singer and distancing herself from her former young lover, Jovany, now a vicious gang member.
The Wild Ones (Los niños salvajes) – Spain
Dir. Patricia Ferreira
Alex, Oky and Gabi are three angry, misunderstood teens from Barcelona who have to deal with parents who have completely forgotten that they too were once teens; parents who, on most occasions, blame their children for their unfulfilled dreams. The trio has dreams and ambitions of their own and they love to test the limits imposed by society. But push comes to shove and Oky commits an unforgivable act that will leave many in shock in this thoughtful and sober drama.
Nevertheless (Y Sin Embargo) - Cuba
Dir. Rudy Mora
Lapatun is late for his math exam at a music school; to justify his tardiness he invents a wild story about having seen a UFO and spoken with its crew. The school is turned upside down by Lapatun’s claims; with some students demanding his expulsion and some teachers questioning the role creativity plays in a child’s education.
Cine Las Americas
Dust (Polvo) – Guatemala
Dir. Julio Hernández Cordón
In a small Guatemalan village where many were "disappeared" during the country's civil war, a troubled young man struggles with the memory of his murdered father — and the nearby presence of the man who turned his father in.
From Tuesday To Sunday (De Jueves A Domingo) – Chile
Dir. Dominga Sotomayor
Two children travel with their parents from Santiago Chile to the north of Chile for a family holiday. The landscape's loneliness and the car's confinement help bring out the couple's troubles and the children learn that this might turn out to be their father's farewell and their last family vacation.
Delusions of Grandeur – USA
Dir. Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos
In the mid-1990s a medicated grungy girl stopped taking her medication (Prozac), crossed over a rainbow, and became a woman in a crazy, wonderful place called San Francisco. Lulu, Rocio, and Illusion are struggling with the sexuality and gender roles that we all play. It is said that there is someone for everyone, and the heroines in this story put that theory to the test in a city with a history of love at its core - but will they respect themselves in the morning?
Filadelfia Latin American Film Festival
Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos) – Chile
Dir. Andres Wood
Violeta Went To Heaven tells the story of the iconic Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra, tracing her evolution from impoverished child to international sensation and Chile's national hero, while capturing the swirling intensity of her inner contradictions, fallibilities, and passions.
Lemon – USA
Dir. Laura Brownson, Beth Levison
Three-time felon. One-time Tony award winner. Lemon Andersen is a pioneering poet whose words speak for a generation. But Lemon has landed back in the 'hood, living in the projects with thirteen family members and desperate for a way out. So he turns to the only thing he has left, his pen and his past
7 Boxes (7 Cajas) – Paraguay
Dir. Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbor
Víctor receives an unusual proposal, to carry 7 boxes of unknown content through the Market Number 4 but things get complicated along the way.
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 and Facebook.
- 4/17/2013
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
There's a lot to be said about the new wave of Chilean filmmakers these days that are drawing much deserved attention to that region of South America. Arguably one of the most noted has been Andres Wood whose latest film, 'Violeta fue a los cielos' (Violeta went to heaven) a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who helped pioneer the Nueva Cancion movement in Chile that would soon play pivotal roles in the social unrest in other Latin America countries. Francisca Gavilán poignantly and lyrically unfolds before us as Violeta in this beautiful rendering of an artist who believed she had a song to sing and she sang it to the end.
LatinoBuzz: I think you have a way of capturing the identity and soul of Chile at particular periods in its history. Was making films about Chile something you felt you always wanted or needed to do?
Andres Wood: When I start thinking of a film to make, I don't have any "big" concept or idea like to represent the soul of the country. I would be paralyzed. First I get in love with the characters, then with small anecdotes and at the end something like the context. I do believe that film has to be very personal. And my imagination is Chilean. The way we see things, the way we talk, the landscape, our contradictions. So, it is not something that I look at intentionally but it is something that I like a lot that is in the films.
LatinoBuzz: Why film?
Andres Wood: I have been always a film lover. I got in love with the process of making a film. I believe in the power of a film to help, at least, create a conversation.
LatinoBuzz: With this incredible wave of Chilean filmmakers winning awards and the Oscar nod for 'No' - given the filmmakers are not too far apart in age - how much did living under the dictatorship do you think influenced the filmmaking and voices of you all as artists?
Andres Wood: The dictatorship affected all the society in different ways. Some people were politically affected, others were affected because they were not aware of what was happening, others were in favor, others against, some were victims, some were murderers. Everyone was affected due to economic changes (for good and bad). It is impossible to do a film that doesn't have some footprint of the dictatorship.
LatinoBuzz: With Violeta now immortalized in a beautiful film of her complex life, do you think it's time that Victor Jara's story should now be told also?
Andres Wood: I would love to see a film about Victor Jara. It is still to make one complex because the trail against his murderers is still open. He is one of the inheritors (with Angel Parra and others) of Violeta Parra's legacy. And as Violeta he is a true and complex artist with many talents and incredible bravery.
LatinoBuzz: Violeta was obviously a public figure - what was the casting process like? And what was the collaboration with Francisca as a director like?
Andres Wood: The film is based on the performance of the actress. We were so lucky to find Francisca. She worked almost a year preparing for the role. We didn't expect her to sing but after her work with Angel Parra, she sang all the songs in the film. Her understanding of the character helped us to rewrite and improvise a lot. It was a joy to work with her.
LatinoBuzz: Was there anything about Violeta that you related to most.
Andres Wood: I wish I have something of her. I can tell you only my big admiration.
LatinoBuzz: With a lot of Latin American film's being co-productions with companies overseas and in some cases, between several countries, does that ever affect the creative process?
Andres Wood: Co-production between production companies between different countries is an act of faith. You have to choose your partner believing that they want to do the most original film that we can. Of course there are legal restrictions but I have been lucky enough that our partners always have helped us to keep the soul of the film.
LatinoBuzz: Who is the person that you admire the most?
Andres Wood: My wife. Admiration and love go together.
LatinoBuzz: Your favorite journey?
Andres Wood: The South of Chile.
LatinoBuzz: What's your next film?
Andres Wood: I am in pre-production of a miniseries for Chilean TV related with the 40 years of the military coup.
For information about Violeta Went to Heaven and screening times, check out: http://bit.ly/10eHD8X
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 and Facebook...
LatinoBuzz: I think you have a way of capturing the identity and soul of Chile at particular periods in its history. Was making films about Chile something you felt you always wanted or needed to do?
Andres Wood: When I start thinking of a film to make, I don't have any "big" concept or idea like to represent the soul of the country. I would be paralyzed. First I get in love with the characters, then with small anecdotes and at the end something like the context. I do believe that film has to be very personal. And my imagination is Chilean. The way we see things, the way we talk, the landscape, our contradictions. So, it is not something that I look at intentionally but it is something that I like a lot that is in the films.
LatinoBuzz: Why film?
Andres Wood: I have been always a film lover. I got in love with the process of making a film. I believe in the power of a film to help, at least, create a conversation.
LatinoBuzz: With this incredible wave of Chilean filmmakers winning awards and the Oscar nod for 'No' - given the filmmakers are not too far apart in age - how much did living under the dictatorship do you think influenced the filmmaking and voices of you all as artists?
Andres Wood: The dictatorship affected all the society in different ways. Some people were politically affected, others were affected because they were not aware of what was happening, others were in favor, others against, some were victims, some were murderers. Everyone was affected due to economic changes (for good and bad). It is impossible to do a film that doesn't have some footprint of the dictatorship.
LatinoBuzz: With Violeta now immortalized in a beautiful film of her complex life, do you think it's time that Victor Jara's story should now be told also?
Andres Wood: I would love to see a film about Victor Jara. It is still to make one complex because the trail against his murderers is still open. He is one of the inheritors (with Angel Parra and others) of Violeta Parra's legacy. And as Violeta he is a true and complex artist with many talents and incredible bravery.
LatinoBuzz: Violeta was obviously a public figure - what was the casting process like? And what was the collaboration with Francisca as a director like?
Andres Wood: The film is based on the performance of the actress. We were so lucky to find Francisca. She worked almost a year preparing for the role. We didn't expect her to sing but after her work with Angel Parra, she sang all the songs in the film. Her understanding of the character helped us to rewrite and improvise a lot. It was a joy to work with her.
LatinoBuzz: Was there anything about Violeta that you related to most.
Andres Wood: I wish I have something of her. I can tell you only my big admiration.
LatinoBuzz: With a lot of Latin American film's being co-productions with companies overseas and in some cases, between several countries, does that ever affect the creative process?
Andres Wood: Co-production between production companies between different countries is an act of faith. You have to choose your partner believing that they want to do the most original film that we can. Of course there are legal restrictions but I have been lucky enough that our partners always have helped us to keep the soul of the film.
LatinoBuzz: Who is the person that you admire the most?
Andres Wood: My wife. Admiration and love go together.
LatinoBuzz: Your favorite journey?
Andres Wood: The South of Chile.
LatinoBuzz: What's your next film?
Andres Wood: I am in pre-production of a miniseries for Chilean TV related with the 40 years of the military coup.
For information about Violeta Went to Heaven and screening times, check out: http://bit.ly/10eHD8X
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 and Facebook...
- 4/3/2013
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
Actress Francisca Gavilán grew up listening to the music of folksinger Violeta Parra in her home, quietly. Parra’s music wasn’t exactly forbidden during Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship, but the authorities frowned upon it.
“We sang it silently,” Gavilán says.
Now, as the star of the biopic “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Gavilán sings Parra’s music professionally. The film opened Friday in New York, bringing the story of one of Latin America’s most famous musicians and iconic figures to the big screen in the United States. The movie will also play in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities.
One of the early exponents of Latin America’s “nueva canción,” or “new song” movement, a style of folk music that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and continues today, Parra dedicated her life to both songwriting and documenting Chile’s traditional music. Parra penned some of the genre’s classics,...
“We sang it silently,” Gavilán says.
Now, as the star of the biopic “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Gavilán sings Parra’s music professionally. The film opened Friday in New York, bringing the story of one of Latin America’s most famous musicians and iconic figures to the big screen in the United States. The movie will also play in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities.
One of the early exponents of Latin America’s “nueva canción,” or “new song” movement, a style of folk music that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and continues today, Parra dedicated her life to both songwriting and documenting Chile’s traditional music. Parra penned some of the genre’s classics,...
- 3/30/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Violeta Went to Heaven's creators do a disservice to Chilean singer and multi-hyphenate artist Violeta Parra's legacy by making her suicide the logical climax to her working life. Because Parra (Francisca Gavilán) killed herself at age 49, and her work was a reflection of her struggles as an impoverished bohemian, director Andrés Wood (Machuca) and screenwriter Eliseo Altunaga's miserablist adaptation of Parra's memoirs is death-obsessed, and it characterizes Parra as a mercurial talent with no sense of propriety. Speaking of her lover and artistic collaborator Gilbert Favre (Thomas Durand), Parra matter-of-factly tells her daughter, "I just want to get him into bed, and suck all of his juices." Parra's also characterized as a stubborn autodidact who demanded...
- 3/29/2013
- Village Voice
An Argentine legend is about to hit the big screen.
“Mercedes Sosa, The Voice of Latin America,” a documentary about one of Latin America’s most popular folksingers, will debut at the Panama International Film Festival next month, Mexican news agency Notimex reports.
From a look at the trailer above, it seems like a high-energy portrayal of the singer’s life, focusing on the politics of the Argentine military dictatorship that she -- unlike the newly installed pope -- publicly challenged.
Directed by Rodrigo Vila, the film features interviews with some of Latin America’s finest singer-songwriters, including Cuba’s Pablo Milanés and Brazil’s Chico Buarque, along with former Talking Heads frontman and Latin American music aficionado David Byrne.
"Mercedes was a symbol of freedom," Buarque says in the trailer.
The daughter of a sugarcane worker in the northern province of Tucumán, Sosa grew famous for singing songs that championed the poor.
“Mercedes Sosa, The Voice of Latin America,” a documentary about one of Latin America’s most popular folksingers, will debut at the Panama International Film Festival next month, Mexican news agency Notimex reports.
From a look at the trailer above, it seems like a high-energy portrayal of the singer’s life, focusing on the politics of the Argentine military dictatorship that she -- unlike the newly installed pope -- publicly challenged.
Directed by Rodrigo Vila, the film features interviews with some of Latin America’s finest singer-songwriters, including Cuba’s Pablo Milanés and Brazil’s Chico Buarque, along with former Talking Heads frontman and Latin American music aficionado David Byrne.
"Mercedes was a symbol of freedom," Buarque says in the trailer.
The daughter of a sugarcane worker in the northern province of Tucumán, Sosa grew famous for singing songs that championed the poor.
- 3/21/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
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
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
While you might not have heard of Chilean folk musician and all-round cultural icon Violeta Parra, that’s not to say Andrés Wood doesn’t do a bang-up job of introducing us to her in this stately, jovial ode to her life’s work. By recreating one of her TV interviews and using it as a framing device to cherry-pick the most important moments of her life, we come to learn the fastidious, fiery and lyrical quality with which she chose to live her life, riffing on the joy of living, and the pain of heartbreak.
Even those not typically privy to Chilean ditties are likely to appreciate some of the renditions of Parra’s work here, which compliment what is certainly a fidgety account of her life and serve as the film’s most broadly successful achievement. Francisca Gavilán’s stellar performance encompasses the entirety of Parra’s soul,...
While you might not have heard of Chilean folk musician and all-round cultural icon Violeta Parra, that’s not to say Andrés Wood doesn’t do a bang-up job of introducing us to her in this stately, jovial ode to her life’s work. By recreating one of her TV interviews and using it as a framing device to cherry-pick the most important moments of her life, we come to learn the fastidious, fiery and lyrical quality with which she chose to live her life, riffing on the joy of living, and the pain of heartbreak.
Even those not typically privy to Chilean ditties are likely to appreciate some of the renditions of Parra’s work here, which compliment what is certainly a fidgety account of her life and serve as the film’s most broadly successful achievement. Francisca Gavilán’s stellar performance encompasses the entirety of Parra’s soul,...
- 10/21/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
The first photo of former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko in Michael French's $100 million 3D undersea epic Empires of the Deep, several new shots from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a shot of Dwayne Johnson on the set of Fast Six, and photos of Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford on the set of Paranoia.
Posters for Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall, Seven Psychopaths, Resident Evil: Retribution, On the Road, The Sessions and The Last Stand.
Sony Pictures has posted an interactive website for Rian Johnson's sci-fi action film "Looper" which allows fans to sign on and create digital Loopers.
"Vin Diesel recently changed his Facebook profile pic to Marvel comics character ‘Vision’, prompting talk that he'll be starring in 'The Avengers' sequel. Diesel quickly changed it back…" (full details)
"He starred as He-Man in the 80's, now Dolph Lundgren says if the casting were up...
Posters for Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall, Seven Psychopaths, Resident Evil: Retribution, On the Road, The Sessions and The Last Stand.
Sony Pictures has posted an interactive website for Rian Johnson's sci-fi action film "Looper" which allows fans to sign on and create digital Loopers.
"Vin Diesel recently changed his Facebook profile pic to Marvel comics character ‘Vision’, prompting talk that he'll be starring in 'The Avengers' sequel. Diesel quickly changed it back…" (full details)
"He starred as He-Man in the 80's, now Dolph Lundgren says if the casting were up...
- 8/19/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
"Violeta Went to Heaven," winner of Sundance's World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize, will be released in North America by Kino Lorber later this year. The film, from Andrés Wood, tells the story of legendary musician, folksinger and poet Violeta Parra. A full synopsis and the trailer are below. Kino Lorber's Richard Lorber states, "Although [Violeta] is not a household name here, her story is poignantly universal and enhanced by her phenomenal music throughout; she's sort of the Edith Piaf of Latin America. North America audiences on seeing Violeta will be in heaven too." After a November or December theatrical release, the film will be available on VOD early 2013. "Violeta Went to Heaven" is also debuting in NYC this week at part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Latinbeat film series. Tracing the evolution of an iconic woman, from an impoverished childhood to international sensation, Violeta Went To Heaven...
- 8/16/2012
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
Who wins the World Cinema Screenwriting Award at Sundance and accepts it with: “I don’t speak very well English, but I want to say thanks and have a lot of sex”? Marialy Rivas does. That’s how dope she is. Marialy is part of a new generation of Chilean filmmakers such as Pablo Larrain, Cristian Jimenez, Dominga Sotomayor and Alicia Scherson, that are a re-birth in the country’s cinema much like La Nouvelle Vague. It’s provocative, daring, exciting and it’s especially non conforming. Her feature debut, the hyperactive and sexy ‘Joven Y Alocada’ (‘Young And Wild’)(Isa: Elle Driver) had its New York premiere recently at NewFest.
LatinoBuzz:How can you best describe the wave of young daring filmmakers that are coming out of Chile? Where did it come from? And is it a result of a generation of artists that were born under the dictatorship?
Marialy Rivas:I think that we had great Chilean filmmakers during the 70's that where killed during the dictatorship, only a few like Raul Ruiz or Patricio Guzman survived but they were exiled or they move to other countries in fear for their lives. All Cinema Schools were closed. Somehow, after more than 20 years of democracy, finally there is a new wave of filmmakers able to reconnect with those voices that were erased from our lives. The support of the State through grants (that mostly seeks a strong art proposal), the fact that we are all first timers and that there is no "industry" in the country has two consequences that I guess are resulting in a good mix; in one hand we are very free because we have no proper training or the pressures to answer to any kind of industry standard and at the same time because our country is small and so far away we are very conscious that we have to have a loud and clear voice to speak to the world.
LatinoBuzz: Why film?
Marialy Rivas:Because I was never able to love anything else. When I was 7 years old I decided to become a filmmaker, it felt like a calling and I have pursued that calling my whole life. In retrospective I think it had a lot to do with the fact that my parents around that age kicked off the TV from the house so I started going to the movies, any kind of movies three times a weeks. I remember being 10 or 12 and going alone to watch an American blockbuster like "No Retreat, No Surrender" and the next day Andrey Tarkovskiy's ‘Offret’. It felt like a ritual, like something so personal and intimate that was only mine, it was like being in love.
LatinoBuzz:If you could re-make a film which is it and who do you cast?
Marialy Rivas:I would do Saló all over again with American indie stars like Carey Mulligan, Fassbender, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Gosling so they get fully naked all together once and for all.
LatinoBuzz:If two filmmakers were lovers and named their child Marialy Rivas, who are they?
Marialy Rivas: I wish my dad was Godard and my mom Leni Riefenstahl (scary) or a fantastic mom can also be Gus Van Sant.
LatinoBuzz:What song describes you best?
MarialyRivas: A mash up between ‘Gracias a la Vida’ by Violeta Parra and ‘Erotica’ by Madonna.
LatinoBuzz: Is there a film from your childhood that you thought was great but in retrospect was so goddamn awful?
Marialy Rivas:I was in love with Footloose, the story of this guy rebelling against the town religious craziness just killed me. I watched again with a friend like a week ago and realized that it wasn’t as good as in my memory, specially the camera and the light work. I keep loving the story and the dance scenes though.
I also used to watch “The Sound of Music” once a week on my neighbors house, we did planed to make it as a musical with all the kids from the Neighborhood. That one I still love very much.
LatinoBuzz:When you make a film, are you thinking about receiving acceptance?
Marialy Rivas:I think the experience of cinema is not complete till it arrives to an audience, is the coronation of the experience; you are ultimately having a conversation with them. I moved to NY for a couple of years and I remember being in the middle of the street standing up between hundreds of people passing me by. I kept thinking, we are crossing each other for this split tiny second and never again, I felt like hugging each one of them. And there I thought, “I hope that when I make a movie I will be able to reach out to most of them.
Acceptance is not what I think about though, I fall in love with the stories, madly in love and I can't think or do anything else, but I do wanna connect with an audience at the end, to show them the beauty I saw in the story to begin with, to provoke them, to communicate with them in as many ways as possible.
LatinoBuzz:What was the happiest moment in your life?
Marialy Rivas: Uff, so many. I am a very happy person I must say. If I have to summarize I can recount three:
1. The first time I had sex.
2. When they called me from Cannes to tell me I was being selected in the official competition with my short film ‘Blokes’.
3. When I was driving home after my last birthday this April and this feeling of perfection suddenly hit me. It was like a state of grace. Nothing in particular triggered it, I wasn’t drunk or high, I just realized how wonderful my life was and I was so deeply grateful and in joy for it that I stay up till 10am looking at the ceiling crying and smiling (again I don’t drink or do drugs and I’m not a hippie either).
LatinoBuzz: Let’s say Pablo Neruda and Matilde invited you over to their home on La Isla Negra. Who’s your date and what wine do you take?
Marialy Rivas: I imagine taking a modern version of Amelia Earhart with the face and body of Greta Garbo (yes, I aim high) and Vino Navegado, a Chilean preparation of hot wine, orange, cinnamon and more, to be able to actually drink it.
LatinoBuzz: Five years from now people will people say about Marialy?
Marialy Rivas: Wow, I wish they were talking at least about two more movies that I have done. Ah! And: How hot and smart her wife is and such beautiful kids!
For info on ‘Joven Y Alocada’ visit: www.facebook.com/jovenyalocadalapelicula
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights emerging and established 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.
LatinoBuzz:How can you best describe the wave of young daring filmmakers that are coming out of Chile? Where did it come from? And is it a result of a generation of artists that were born under the dictatorship?
Marialy Rivas:I think that we had great Chilean filmmakers during the 70's that where killed during the dictatorship, only a few like Raul Ruiz or Patricio Guzman survived but they were exiled or they move to other countries in fear for their lives. All Cinema Schools were closed. Somehow, after more than 20 years of democracy, finally there is a new wave of filmmakers able to reconnect with those voices that were erased from our lives. The support of the State through grants (that mostly seeks a strong art proposal), the fact that we are all first timers and that there is no "industry" in the country has two consequences that I guess are resulting in a good mix; in one hand we are very free because we have no proper training or the pressures to answer to any kind of industry standard and at the same time because our country is small and so far away we are very conscious that we have to have a loud and clear voice to speak to the world.
LatinoBuzz: Why film?
Marialy Rivas:Because I was never able to love anything else. When I was 7 years old I decided to become a filmmaker, it felt like a calling and I have pursued that calling my whole life. In retrospective I think it had a lot to do with the fact that my parents around that age kicked off the TV from the house so I started going to the movies, any kind of movies three times a weeks. I remember being 10 or 12 and going alone to watch an American blockbuster like "No Retreat, No Surrender" and the next day Andrey Tarkovskiy's ‘Offret’. It felt like a ritual, like something so personal and intimate that was only mine, it was like being in love.
LatinoBuzz:If you could re-make a film which is it and who do you cast?
Marialy Rivas:I would do Saló all over again with American indie stars like Carey Mulligan, Fassbender, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Gosling so they get fully naked all together once and for all.
LatinoBuzz:If two filmmakers were lovers and named their child Marialy Rivas, who are they?
Marialy Rivas: I wish my dad was Godard and my mom Leni Riefenstahl (scary) or a fantastic mom can also be Gus Van Sant.
LatinoBuzz:What song describes you best?
MarialyRivas: A mash up between ‘Gracias a la Vida’ by Violeta Parra and ‘Erotica’ by Madonna.
LatinoBuzz: Is there a film from your childhood that you thought was great but in retrospect was so goddamn awful?
Marialy Rivas:I was in love with Footloose, the story of this guy rebelling against the town religious craziness just killed me. I watched again with a friend like a week ago and realized that it wasn’t as good as in my memory, specially the camera and the light work. I keep loving the story and the dance scenes though.
I also used to watch “The Sound of Music” once a week on my neighbors house, we did planed to make it as a musical with all the kids from the Neighborhood. That one I still love very much.
LatinoBuzz:When you make a film, are you thinking about receiving acceptance?
Marialy Rivas:I think the experience of cinema is not complete till it arrives to an audience, is the coronation of the experience; you are ultimately having a conversation with them. I moved to NY for a couple of years and I remember being in the middle of the street standing up between hundreds of people passing me by. I kept thinking, we are crossing each other for this split tiny second and never again, I felt like hugging each one of them. And there I thought, “I hope that when I make a movie I will be able to reach out to most of them.
Acceptance is not what I think about though, I fall in love with the stories, madly in love and I can't think or do anything else, but I do wanna connect with an audience at the end, to show them the beauty I saw in the story to begin with, to provoke them, to communicate with them in as many ways as possible.
LatinoBuzz:What was the happiest moment in your life?
Marialy Rivas: Uff, so many. I am a very happy person I must say. If I have to summarize I can recount three:
1. The first time I had sex.
2. When they called me from Cannes to tell me I was being selected in the official competition with my short film ‘Blokes’.
3. When I was driving home after my last birthday this April and this feeling of perfection suddenly hit me. It was like a state of grace. Nothing in particular triggered it, I wasn’t drunk or high, I just realized how wonderful my life was and I was so deeply grateful and in joy for it that I stay up till 10am looking at the ceiling crying and smiling (again I don’t drink or do drugs and I’m not a hippie either).
LatinoBuzz: Let’s say Pablo Neruda and Matilde invited you over to their home on La Isla Negra. Who’s your date and what wine do you take?
Marialy Rivas: I imagine taking a modern version of Amelia Earhart with the face and body of Greta Garbo (yes, I aim high) and Vino Navegado, a Chilean preparation of hot wine, orange, cinnamon and more, to be able to actually drink it.
LatinoBuzz: Five years from now people will people say about Marialy?
Marialy Rivas: Wow, I wish they were talking at least about two more movies that I have done. Ah! And: How hot and smart her wife is and such beautiful kids!
For info on ‘Joven Y Alocada’ visit: www.facebook.com/jovenyalocadalapelicula
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights emerging and established 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.
- 8/8/2012
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
Fortaleza – Andres Wood’s Violeta Went to Heaven, a biopic of Chilean songwriter and folklorist Violeta Parra, topped the Ceara Ibero American Film Fest, which closed last night at the Jose Alencar Theater in the city of Fortaleza with a screening of Halder Gomes’ Cine Hollyudi. Violeta received the Usd 10,000 Mucuripe Award for Best Film, as well as Best Editing (to Andrea Chignoli) and Best Script (to writers Eliseo Altunaga, Rodrigo Bazaes, Guillermo Calderon and Andres Wood) The film, starring Francisca Gavilan recently picked up a Grand Jury Prize in Sundance. Story: Social Struggles Take Over Brazilian Festival
read more...
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- 6/9/2012
- by Agustin Mango
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The French director talks about the teenage love affair that led her to make films, and the thrill of discovering a new star actress
Your forthcoming film, Goodbye First Love, is about teenage romance. What were you like as a teenager?
Love was everything to me. My parents were both philosophy teachers, so I was brought up to value it more than money or possessions. It was all about beauty, truth, freedom and love. I did have a big, very real, very powerful relationship with someone from when I was 15 till 19. I thought he would be the only one I could ever love, and when it was gone it left a void in me. I think I've tried to turn that void into some kind of creativity ever since, using the sadness to do something poetic.
Love is universal as a topic for a film. I mean, everyone has a...
Your forthcoming film, Goodbye First Love, is about teenage romance. What were you like as a teenager?
Love was everything to me. My parents were both philosophy teachers, so I was brought up to value it more than money or possessions. It was all about beauty, truth, freedom and love. I did have a big, very real, very powerful relationship with someone from when I was 15 till 19. I thought he would be the only one I could ever love, and when it was gone it left a void in me. I think I've tried to turn that void into some kind of creativity ever since, using the sadness to do something poetic.
Love is universal as a topic for a film. I mean, everyone has a...
- 4/30/2012
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Parker Posey was all set to host last night's awards ceremony, but fell ill — and so, as live-bloggers Eric Hynes and Claiborne Smith report, Sundance festival director John Cooper reluctantly took the helm, choking up a bit right at the top as he drove himself through a remembrance of Bingham Ray. Rebounding, he brought on director and actress Katie Aselton as co-host and it was on to the awards. You can actually watch all this here (select "2012 Sundance Film Festival"). An overview of what the critics are saying about the winners:
Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. The House I Live In, "a lucid, long-view unpacking of the War on Drugs from Eugene Jarecki, who ably dissected the lead-up to the Iraq War in Why We Fight." The Boston Globe's Ty Burr: "The movie marshals a wide selection of talking heads, from Oklahoma prison guards and Reagan-era appointees to street dealers and Jarecki's own nanny,...
Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. The House I Live In, "a lucid, long-view unpacking of the War on Drugs from Eugene Jarecki, who ably dissected the lead-up to the Iraq War in Why We Fight." The Boston Globe's Ty Burr: "The movie marshals a wide selection of talking heads, from Oklahoma prison guards and Reagan-era appointees to street dealers and Jarecki's own nanny,...
- 1/30/2012
- MUBI
Washington, Jan 30 (Ians/Efe) The films "Violeta se fue a los cielos" (Violeta went to Heaven) and "Young & Wild" took the prizes for best international film and best international screenwriting at the Sundance Film Festival.
The judging panel at the main showcase for independent film in the Us selected "Violeta went to Heaven", a co-production by Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Spain, which tells about the tumultuous and exciting life of Chilean singer and popular icon Violeta Parra.
Cinematography in the South American country was also honoured when the prize for best international screenwriting went to Chile's.
The judging panel at the main showcase for independent film in the Us selected "Violeta went to Heaven", a co-production by Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Spain, which tells about the tumultuous and exciting life of Chilean singer and popular icon Violeta Parra.
Cinematography in the South American country was also honoured when the prize for best international screenwriting went to Chile's.
- 1/30/2012
- by Ketali Mehta
- RealBollywood.com
Sundance is wrapping up once again this year and as with every year, quite a few films are generating quite the buzz. Among them is The House I Live In, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven who all earned Jury Prizes. The Sundance awards (while I rarely agree with the choices) are always interesting to follow each year, since the winners are sometimes entirely unexpected. This year there’s no surprise that the most talked about film – Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, took home the top prize.
Here is the full list of winners from the press release, including the five Audience Award winners.
2012 Sundance Film Festival Jury Awards:
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under,...
Here is the full list of winners from the press release, including the five Audience Award winners.
2012 Sundance Film Festival Jury Awards:
The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under,...
- 1/30/2012
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – “Art is not a competition. But if it were, these would be the winners,” quipped filmmaker Mike Birbiglia at the Jan. 28 awards presentation for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Birbiglia’s deadpan humor would’ve made him an ideal host for the event, and his appearance was one of the few bright spots in a rather disappointing ceremony.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, stepped in to replace Indie Queen Parker Posey, whose inspired comic turn in Michael Walker’s “Price Check” garnered positive buzz among festivalgoers. The show opened in tears and solemnity as Cooper paid heartfelt tribute to the late film executive Bingham Ray, who suffered a fatal stroke during the festival.
One of the evening’s big winners was Benh Zeitlin’s visually arresting drama “Beasts of the Southern Wild” about a six-year-old girl (Quvenzhané Wallis) who embarks on a search...
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, stepped in to replace Indie Queen Parker Posey, whose inspired comic turn in Michael Walker’s “Price Check” garnered positive buzz among festivalgoers. The show opened in tears and solemnity as Cooper paid heartfelt tribute to the late film executive Bingham Ray, who suffered a fatal stroke during the festival.
One of the evening’s big winners was Benh Zeitlin’s visually arresting drama “Beasts of the Southern Wild” about a six-year-old girl (Quvenzhané Wallis) who embarks on a search...
- 1/29/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival has come to an end, and the winners of the Jury, Audience, and Next <=> awards have been announced. There was a great selection of films this year at the festival, and I've seen more good than bad. I'm ultimately happy with the outcome. Beasts of the Southern Wild was this year's most buzzed about film and took home the top Grand Jury Prize. I didn't like it as much as everyone else, but it was still good, and it won. I think it was just way too over hyped for what I ended up seeing. Maybe I would have liked it more had I gone in with no expectations.
Here's the full breakdown of winners:
Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, Next <=> and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah. An archived video...
Here's the full breakdown of winners:
Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, Next <=> and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah. An archived video...
- 1/29/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Park City, Utah -- A mythical film starring an 8-year-old girl and a documentary about the war on drugs took top honors at the Sundance Film Festival.
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition, and "The House I Live In" won the same honor in the U.S. documentary category Saturday at the independent film festival's awards ceremony.
Directed and co-written by 29-year-old first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" follows a girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father in the southern Delta. The film also won the cinematography prize.
Zeitlin said he was grateful to the Sundance Institute and labs, where he worked on the film for more than three years.
"This project was such a runt, this sort of messy-hair, dirty, wild child, and we just have been taken care of and just eased along until...
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition, and "The House I Live In" won the same honor in the U.S. documentary category Saturday at the independent film festival's awards ceremony.
Directed and co-written by 29-year-old first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" follows a girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father in the southern Delta. The film also won the cinematography prize.
Zeitlin said he was grateful to the Sundance Institute and labs, where he worked on the film for more than three years.
"This project was such a runt, this sort of messy-hair, dirty, wild child, and we just have been taken care of and just eased along until...
- 1/29/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
The Sundance Film Festival prepared to come to a close for 2012 tonight as the festival held its some of its last screenings and mounted an awards ceremony to celebrate the best films of this year's festival. The biggest jury prizes went to Beasts of the Southern Wild (reviewed here [1]) and Eugene Jarecki's war on drugs documentary The House I Live In. The Surrogate (reviewed here [2]) took an Audience Award, as did the doc Searching for Sugar Man (reviewed here [3]) and the film Valley of Saints. The full list of awards is below. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards presented this evening were: The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Charles Ferguson to: The House I Live In / U.S.A. (Director: Eugene Jarecki) — For over 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer and damaged poor communities at home and abroad.
- 1/29/2012
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The House I Live In, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven Earn Grand Jury Prizes
Audience Favorites Include The Invisible War, The Surrogate, Searching For Sugar Man and Valley of Saints
Sleepwalk With Me Receives Best of Audience Award
Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival.s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/live.
.Every year the Sundance Film Festival brings to light exciting new directions and fresh voices in independent film, and this year is no different,. said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. .While these awards further distinguish those that have had the most impact on audiences and our jury,...
The House I Live In, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven Earn Grand Jury Prizes
Audience Favorites Include The Invisible War, The Surrogate, Searching For Sugar Man and Valley of Saints
Sleepwalk With Me Receives Best of Audience Award
Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival.s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/live.
.Every year the Sundance Film Festival brings to light exciting new directions and fresh voices in independent film, and this year is no different,. said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. .While these awards further distinguish those that have had the most impact on audiences and our jury,...
- 1/29/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Fox Searchlight was the big winner at the Sundance Film Festival 2012, as two of their acquired titles won top awards. It is no surprise that Benh Zeitlin‘s Beast of the Southern Wild (our review here) picked up the grand jury dramatic prize, as it was the most-buzzed of the fest. The Surrogate, starring John Hawkes, won the dramatic audience award and one can read our review of that drama here. It was great to see other fest favorites like Mike Birbiglia‘s Sleepwalk With Me and The Queen of Versailles among other winners. Check them all out below and see our full coverage here.
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, Next <=> and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, Next <=> and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.
- 1/29/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Ra'anan Alexandrovicz's The Law in These Parts Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, the story of a young girl growing up in Louisiana (to be released by Fox Searchlight) was the top U.S. narrative feature at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Eugene Jarecki's The House I Live In, a documentary about the United States' inane, costly, deadly, and corruptive war on drugs (good for cops and prison profiteers; bad for everybody else, especially the poor and the disenfranchised), was the winner in the U.S. documentary category. [Full list of Sundance 2012 Winners.] Considering the recent changes made to the voting rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch, expect The House I Live In to be shortlisted for Oscar 2013. By the way, Jarecki's 2005 documentary Why We Fight, about the reasons for the United States getting into one war after another, also received top honors at Sundance. The 2012 World...
- 1/29/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joel Edgerton, Wish You Were Here World Cinema Dramatic Competition 4 Suns / Czech Republic (Director/screenwriter: Bohdan Sláma) — Immature Fogi attempts to straighten up and accept his responsibilities as a new husband and father, as well as role model to his troubled son from a previous relationship, but finds himself unable to change his nature, leaving him to watch haplessly as his family begins to crumble. Cast: Jaroslav Plesl, Ana Geislerová, Karel Roden, Klára Melíšková. World Premiere About the Pink Sky / Japan (Director/screenwriter: Keiichi Kobayashi) — A high school girl finds a wallet full of money and tracks down its owner, leading to unexpected consequences for the girl and her friends. Cast: Ai Ikeda, Ena Koshino, Reiko Fujiwara, Tsubasa Takayama. International Premiere Can / Turkey (Director/screenwriter: Rasit Celikezer) — A young married couple live happily in Istanbul, but their decision to illegally procure a child threatens their future together. Cast: Selen Ucer,...
- 12/2/2011
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
“Valley of Saints”, a love story set in Kashmir is all set to compete for the top award in the World Dramatics category of Sundance Film Festival 2012. The film, directed by an American filmmaker Musa Sayeed, had earlier won Film Independent and Sloan Foundation Producer’s Grant for the same films.
“Valley of Saints” is about a Kashmiri boatman Gulzar, who plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future. Sundance Film Festival announced its competition line up on November 30, 2011. Here is the complete lineup:- U.S. Dramatic Competition The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and...
“Valley of Saints” is about a Kashmiri boatman Gulzar, who plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future. Sundance Film Festival announced its competition line up on November 30, 2011. Here is the complete lineup:- U.S. Dramatic Competition The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and...
- 12/1/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
For Ellen, Luv, and the other competition films have been announced for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is “a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States…the festival is the premier showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers.” For the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, “110 feature-length films were selected, representing 31 countries and 44 first-time filmmakers, including 26 in competition. These films were selected from 4,042 feature-length film submissions composed of 2,059 U.S. and 1,983 international feature-length films. 88 films at the Festival will be world premieres.”
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 19, 2011 to January 29, 2011 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
The full listing of the competition films in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival are below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 19, 2011 to January 29, 2011 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
The full listing of the competition films in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival are below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
- 12/1/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
I love the Sundance Film Festival. The winners of the fest normally have long legs enough to last all the way until the Oscars. This year, for example, "Pariah" was one of the breakout hits from Sundance, and the Dee Rees coming-of-age flick is being distributed by Focus this month. Its star, Adepero Oduye, recently received the Best Female Lead nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards.
So now, Sundance has unveiled its in-competition slate for 2012 and the films, as always, are quite intriguing. The fest runs from Jan. 19th to the 29th in Park City, Utah. Check out the full list below:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) . Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin. under,...
So now, Sundance has unveiled its in-competition slate for 2012 and the films, as always, are quite intriguing. The fest runs from Jan. 19th to the 29th in Park City, Utah. Check out the full list below:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) . Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin. under,...
- 11/30/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Park City, Ut – Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking.
Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking.
- 11/30/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The Festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent creators from outside the Hollywood system to a media extravaganza for Hollywood celebrity actors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies that are not affiliated with Sundance.
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the films competing in all categories.
Here is the Sundance press release.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under,...
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the films competing in all categories.
Here is the Sundance press release.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under,...
- 11/30/2011
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: The 2012 Sundance Film Festival unveiled the first wave of programming for its upcoming event, scheduled for Jan. 19-29, 2012. Multiple titles have been handpicked for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions. Additional programming announcements will come over the following week.
“We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that,” said Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute.
Information on the full slate of announced titles follows, directly from the Sundance press release. For more details, visit www.sundance.org/festival.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Hollywoodnews.com: The 2012 Sundance Film Festival unveiled the first wave of programming for its upcoming event, scheduled for Jan. 19-29, 2012. Multiple titles have been handpicked for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions. Additional programming announcements will come over the following week.
“We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that,” said Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute.
Information on the full slate of announced titles follows, directly from the Sundance press release. For more details, visit www.sundance.org/festival.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
- 11/30/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
Every January, a little film festival called the Sundance Film Festival is held in Park City, Utah, and Sundance has officially announced the first half of this year’s Sundance 2012 competition line-up. This year 58 individual films are gunning for the top award in four different competition categories. The second half of the Sundance lineup will be introduced tomorrow. Some of the biggest names on this Sundance list includes Antonio Campos, Mark Webber, Ry Russo-Young and So Yong Kim. Check out the list below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world.
- 11/30/2011
- by Mike Lee
- FusedFilm
Grab your ski jackets and swag bags and start warming up your eyeballs: the Sundance Film Festival is almost upon us. 2012's Sundance runs from January 19 to 29 in Park City, Utah, and today the fest announced their first wave of programming, 58 titles in the Us and World Dramatic and Documentary Competitions.
The slate so far includes plenty of familiar faces. Sundancers in 2012 will get the first crack at new movies from Antonio Campos ("Afterschool"), Kirby Dick ("This Film is Not Yet Rated"), Ira Sachs ("Forty Shades of Blue"), and Mark Webber ("Explicit Ills"). I'm also intrigued by "Nobody Walks" from "You Won't Miss Me" director Ry Russo-Young and "Tiny Furniture" director Lena Dunham (Russo-Young directed, the two co-wrote the screenplay) and a cast that includes John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, and Rosemarie DeWitt. Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass star in "Safety Not Guaranteed" about "a trio of magazine employees investigating a...
The slate so far includes plenty of familiar faces. Sundancers in 2012 will get the first crack at new movies from Antonio Campos ("Afterschool"), Kirby Dick ("This Film is Not Yet Rated"), Ira Sachs ("Forty Shades of Blue"), and Mark Webber ("Explicit Ills"). I'm also intrigued by "Nobody Walks" from "You Won't Miss Me" director Ry Russo-Young and "Tiny Furniture" director Lena Dunham (Russo-Young directed, the two co-wrote the screenplay) and a cast that includes John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, and Rosemarie DeWitt. Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass star in "Safety Not Guaranteed" about "a trio of magazine employees investigating a...
- 11/30/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Going to the Sundance Film Festival is one of my favorite movie events of the year, and I'm excited for what they have going on for 2012. I just love hanging around in cold snowy weather and watching movies all day. Today the 2012 Sundance Film Festival has announced its line-up for competition films. These are all the films eligible for awards, and you most likely haven't heard of any of them. Each film has a little description next to it. The festival will take place January 19th to the 29th.
Check out the press release and full list of movies below and tell us what you think! Will you be attending the festival?
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City,...
Check out the press release and full list of movies below and tell us what you think! Will you be attending the festival?
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City,...
- 11/30/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Snow is falling, the temperature is dropping, movies are getting better. Some might say it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas but I say it's beginning to look a lot like Sundance. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival announced its first batch of films Wednesday, all of which are in competition. Meaning these are the films eligible for awards. It also means that, as of right now, these are the films you probably haven't heard of. But, at this time last year [1], the competition films included a ton that you've surely now heard of such as Another Earth, Circumstance, Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Pariah, The Guard, Tyrannosaur and Take Shelter. Those were just the narratives. In last year's documentary competition, films like Beats, Rhymes and Life, Being Elmo, How to Die in Oregon, Page One, Knuckle, Project Nim and Senna all played. Basically, while you probably haven't heard of these movies yet,...
- 11/30/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
Getty Images The marquee of the Egyptian Theater announces the Sundance Film Festival.
Aging hipsters, Argentinian Elvis impersonators and the dissident Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei are just some of the subjects that will be featured during the Sundance Film Festival this coming January.
The Sundance Institute announced its in-competition film selections for the 2012 fest Wednesday afternoon, debuting a typically eclectic mix of narrative and documentary projects from both veteran filmmakers and festival newcomers. (The full list is below.) In total,...
Aging hipsters, Argentinian Elvis impersonators and the dissident Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei are just some of the subjects that will be featured during the Sundance Film Festival this coming January.
The Sundance Institute announced its in-competition film selections for the 2012 fest Wednesday afternoon, debuting a typically eclectic mix of narrative and documentary projects from both veteran filmmakers and festival newcomers. (The full list is below.) In total,...
- 11/30/2011
- by Michelle Kung
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
It seems like we are only just diving into the awards season, but the 2012 film year is right around the corner. There is no better place to get a tast of what is to come than Park City Utah in late January. We’ll be attending the fest again (read last year’s round-up) and today we have the first competition titles. This is the same group from last year which titles include Martha Marcy May Marlene, Like Crazy, Another Earth, Pariah, Being Elmo, Take Shelter and many more. Are there more great films to be found this year? I have no doubt the line-up below will include break-out titles, so lets get to it.
At first glance, the most notable film is Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer, who last directed Afterschool and is in the Martha Marcy trio. It is easily my most-anticipated from this group, along with Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber follow-up Wrong.
At first glance, the most notable film is Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer, who last directed Afterschool and is in the Martha Marcy trio. It is easily my most-anticipated from this group, along with Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber follow-up Wrong.
- 11/30/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
The Sundance Institute revealed their Us and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competition titles today for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The question, of course, is which films will break out this year after the 2011 Sundance Film Festival brought titles such as ,i>Martha Marcy May Marlene, Pariah, Like Crazy and Take Shelter to the forefront. I have never attended the Sundance Film Festival, primarily because I have never heard good things about the experience, plus it means I can save my money for my trip to Cannes where I have typically seen the some of the best films Sundance had to offer including Blue Valentine two years ago and Martha Marcy May Marlene this year. Which means it serves as a good way for me to find films to make sure I add to my Cannes 2012 must see list... can you figure out which ones they may be? When it...
- 11/30/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Gisele Bundchen supports the United Nations Environment Programme, designed a limited edition necklace for St. Jude Children's Hospital, and a portion of proceeds from a line of sandals bearing her name go to protect Amazon rainforest water sources. Miguel Bose, of Spain, is one of several green celebrity singers who participated on a 2010 release of "Gracias a la Vida" ("Thanks to Life"), a charity song originally penned by Chilean folklorist Violeta Parra in 1966; profits from sales on iTunes went to Habitat for Humanity. Sir Paul McCartney is active with No More Landmines. Who is the best international green celebrity? Keep reading...
- 10/22/2011
- by Jason Grant
- Green Celebrity
"It can take me months to write a poem! I correct it endlessly," Octavio Paz once confessed to Argentine photographer Sara Facio, when she was taking his portrait for a book about writers. That was in 1970, and he was marveling to Facio about the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, during a conversation at Cambridge University in England. Paz found it incredible that Neruda had written a poem dedicated to the Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra during the short trip from Isla Negra to Valparaiso. And Neruda's work would go straight to the printer without major corrections. Pablo...
- 9/18/2010
- by Jaime Perales Contreras, Latin Cinema Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
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