At the time of this posting, it appears that there are still tickets available to most films playing at the upcoming Whistler Film Festival. Although it's not on the original Film Fest Connect film fest destination list, Whistler is an excellent skiing destination, so you can hit twice as many great venues in the same tourist space.
You can see all of the film information at the festival's Films+Events Film Guide page. Here are a few trailers to get you started:
Two Frogs In The West
The closing night gala film, set in Whistler itself, is an emotional whirlwind, if the trailer is any indication:
The Bang Bang Club
A poor-quality trailer, but potentially an important, if disturbing, movie. An inside view of conflict-zone photographers based on the book of the same name, it chronicles the lives of several white South African photographers and the personal impacts of their quest for the perfect shot in the midst of South Africa's often violent transition from apartheid to democracy. (Joe Utichi wrote a piece on the film for Rotten Tomatoes when it played at Cannes, last May.)
Blue Valentine
Selling well across both the domestic and international festival circuit, Ryan Gosling's and Michelle Williams' portrayal of their idyllic love and dissolving marriage first gained traction at the Sundance Film Festival, where it sold out theaters, last January. Check out the movie's web site for the trailer: http://www.bluevalentinemovie.com/
The official site is spare, but the Facebook page is filled with recent news.
Matthew Thrift of Cinephile offered this review:
"This stunning portrait of a disintegrating relationship features career best performances from its two leads, which alongside Derek Cianfrance’s bravura direction serve to make Blue Valentine the strongest contender for the best film I’ve seen at the London Film Festival so far. Recalling Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage (1973) in its juxtaposition of couple Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy‘s (Michelle Williams) courtship and marital breakdown, it’s an emotionally devastating picture full of wit, passion and heartbreak."
Read more...
Hævnen (In A Better World)
Denmark’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®.
Here's a brief description from the Whistler Film Fest:
"The latest drama from Academy Award nominated director Susanne Bier (After The Wedding, Brothers) centres on Anton, a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark and his work at an African refugee camp. Within these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness."
Wednesday 1 December 2010
Saturday 27 November 2010
Packing for the Sundance Film Festival: The Agony of Advance Planning
Article first published as "Packing for the Sundance Film Festival: The Agony of Advance Planning" on Blogcritics.org.
I’m just a wee bit excited about my third trip to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, next January.
So I started packing in October.
This is always a bad idea; it gives me too much time (and too many holiday sales) to throw in extra gear, making the final consolidation that much more painful. When I came across Jason Cochran’s WalletPop.com article, Savings Experiment: Packing light and cheap, I thought I’d give it a try. I mean, it’s already Thanksgiving, for goodness sake--I need to get cracking. January 20th is right around the corner!
I pulled out my suitcase and laid everything out, using Cochran's helpful suggestions:
I’m just a wee bit excited about my third trip to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, next January.So I started packing in October.
This is always a bad idea; it gives me too much time (and too many holiday sales) to throw in extra gear, making the final consolidation that much more painful. When I came across Jason Cochran’s WalletPop.com article, Savings Experiment: Packing light and cheap, I thought I’d give it a try. I mean, it’s already Thanksgiving, for goodness sake--I need to get cracking. January 20th is right around the corner!
I pulled out my suitcase and laid everything out, using Cochran's helpful suggestions:
Friday 19 November 2010
As It Happens: Filmmaking in Real Time
If you're unable to make it to the Adventure Film Fest in Boulder, then catch As It Happens, an intense, direct-experience mountaineering short by award-winning filmmaker Renan Ozturk and photographer Cory Richards, in its entirety online.
Shot and shared in real time, Ozturk and Richards posted their dispatches from their climb in the Nepalese Himalayas, to the delight of thousands of online viewers following their exploits as they happened. Ozturk and Richards' attention to lighting, focus, arresting camera angles and use of time lapse creates a high-quality movie experience, unexpected for the conditions under which much of the film is shot. The cinematography is laudable in its own right. To have carried the extra equipment necessary to edit and share their experiences, while navigating dangerous terrain at tens of thousands of feet--especially during the final legs of their two-man ascent--seems nuts. And brave. And hyper-real. If you've ever wondered...or ever been there...this is a film you'll want to chew on.
(Don't miss the rest of Ozturk's blog, filled with "dispatches" from other mountain adventures, large and small. The links to Ozturk and Richards, posted above, will take you to each man's own site.)
As It Happens screens at 8 p.m. tonight at Neptune Mountaineering, along with four additional short films. See the Adventure Film Festival page for schedule and ticket info.
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Shot and shared in real time, Ozturk and Richards posted their dispatches from their climb in the Nepalese Himalayas, to the delight of thousands of online viewers following their exploits as they happened. Ozturk and Richards' attention to lighting, focus, arresting camera angles and use of time lapse creates a high-quality movie experience, unexpected for the conditions under which much of the film is shot. The cinematography is laudable in its own right. To have carried the extra equipment necessary to edit and share their experiences, while navigating dangerous terrain at tens of thousands of feet--especially during the final legs of their two-man ascent--seems nuts. And brave. And hyper-real. If you've ever wondered...or ever been there...this is a film you'll want to chew on.
(Don't miss the rest of Ozturk's blog, filled with "dispatches" from other mountain adventures, large and small. The links to Ozturk and Richards, posted above, will take you to each man's own site.)
As It Happens screens at 8 p.m. tonight at Neptune Mountaineering, along with four additional short films. See the Adventure Film Festival page for schedule and ticket info.
XEY6G5H8W6MV
Thursday 18 November 2010
Get Off Your Seat: Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, CO
If you would rather frolic in the rapids of a torrential river than play World of Warcraft until 3 a.m., this film fest might inspire you sit still long enough to formulate your next daring plan. The Adventure Film Festival opens today at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. This evening's program runs from 7-9 p.m. (Click here for a PDF of the full festival schedule.) Sponsored by Patagonia and a number of other forward-thinking, community-minded partners, Adventure Film also hosts screenings in Chamonix, France and Santiago, Chile, as well as a touring program that visits Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Boston throughout the year.
The week's program begins on Thursday with the short, Skateistan, which examines how skateboarding is pushing the boundaries of change for two teens (one of them a young woman) in Afghanistan. On Skateistan's heels follows Ben Knight's thoughtful Eastern Rises, as a group of fly fisherman explore the pristine environments of the Kamchatka Peninsula of Pacific Russia in their search for "the most wild and beautiful trout in the world." Knight's deadpan narration is spot on. The trailer on the film fest site had me laughing out loud at his description of a fly hook that looks "like the half-eaten rodent your cat wheezed up on the kitchen floor." (It does.) This second trailer strikes a more awe-struck tone:
After intermission are two killer-looking ski flicks: the short, Desert River, and Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey. In Australis, a group of experienced, daring (I'd venture "crazy") skiers take on the slopes of Antarctica--with no guidebook, no lift, and not much between the end of the slope and the near-freezing polar waters, below. I suppose, given the rate at which the planet's poles are melting, these folks might have discovered the next great ski resort destination--all they need is a hot tub and a bit more beach.
The week's program begins on Thursday with the short, Skateistan, which examines how skateboarding is pushing the boundaries of change for two teens (one of them a young woman) in Afghanistan. On Skateistan's heels follows Ben Knight's thoughtful Eastern Rises, as a group of fly fisherman explore the pristine environments of the Kamchatka Peninsula of Pacific Russia in their search for "the most wild and beautiful trout in the world." Knight's deadpan narration is spot on. The trailer on the film fest site had me laughing out loud at his description of a fly hook that looks "like the half-eaten rodent your cat wheezed up on the kitchen floor." (It does.) This second trailer strikes a more awe-struck tone:
After intermission are two killer-looking ski flicks: the short, Desert River, and Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey. In Australis, a group of experienced, daring (I'd venture "crazy") skiers take on the slopes of Antarctica--with no guidebook, no lift, and not much between the end of the slope and the near-freezing polar waters, below. I suppose, given the rate at which the planet's poles are melting, these folks might have discovered the next great ski resort destination--all they need is a hot tub and a bit more beach.
Saturday 13 November 2010
With Love, Dad: The Kids Grow Up
Doug Block's The Kids Grow Up isn't playing in the western states yet, but when I read this profile of the film, I had to share:
"Filmmaker Documents a Year of Saying Goodbye to His College-Bound Daughter"
by Ilyssa Panitz of Parent Dish
"Filmmaker Documents a Year of Saying Goodbye to His College-Bound Daughter"
by Ilyssa Panitz of Parent Dish
Wednesday 10 November 2010
S.F. International Animation Festival, Nov. 11
The San Francisco International Animation Festival opens its 5th year tomorrow with some beautiful pieces, including the inspired, 60-minute visual feast, Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, featuring the alternately toe-tappingly tranquil and torridly soul-stirring music of The Decemberists:
There are several shorts selections and a few features, including Mai Mai Miracle from Sunao Katabuchi, who honed his craft at the elbow of the great Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Ponyo). A review of Mai Mai Miracle from its recent screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival offered it high praise (review includes trailer).
Tickets to Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinemas are $12.50 for most shows (senior discount available). Click here for more ticketing information.
There are several shorts selections and a few features, including Mai Mai Miracle from Sunao Katabuchi, who honed his craft at the elbow of the great Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Ponyo). A review of Mai Mai Miracle from its recent screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival offered it high praise (review includes trailer).
Tickets to Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinemas are $12.50 for most shows (senior discount available). Click here for more ticketing information.
Sunday 7 November 2010
Made In Dagenham at AFI Film Fest, Hollywood
Made In Dagenham is winning over reviewers with its feisty humor and inspirational story. Already garnering Oscar thought bubbles above the heads of media watchers, this film looks like one not to be missed. Here's the synopsis from the AFI Film Festival website:
"In the 1960s, the Ford factory in Dagenham, England was one of the largest assembly plants in Europe. Alongside 55,000 men, 187 women worked as machinists stitching car seats. Despite their highly specialized work, the women were classified as unskilled workers and paid only a fraction of what the men earned. In 1968, the feisty women decided to take a stand for their rights and they went on strike. When the factory eventually ran out of finished seat upholstery, the entire operation closed, leading to a national crisis. Based on true events, director Nigel Cole (CALENDAR GIRLS) celebrates the courage and joyous spirit of these women who fought to achieve social change. With warm, exuberant performances from a terrific ensemble cast including Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson and Rosamund Pike, the film chronicles a crucial moment in a decade of upheaval, when the fight for equality was lead by ordinary women. —Dilcia Barrera"
It opens to a wider release in the U.S. on November 19th. Follow the buzz and check it out for free on Monday night, 8 p.m., at the Mann Chinese 6:
The best trailer is the one found on Made In Dagenham's own website, which is loaded with detailed information about the film.
"In the 1960s, the Ford factory in Dagenham, England was one of the largest assembly plants in Europe. Alongside 55,000 men, 187 women worked as machinists stitching car seats. Despite their highly specialized work, the women were classified as unskilled workers and paid only a fraction of what the men earned. In 1968, the feisty women decided to take a stand for their rights and they went on strike. When the factory eventually ran out of finished seat upholstery, the entire operation closed, leading to a national crisis. Based on true events, director Nigel Cole (CALENDAR GIRLS) celebrates the courage and joyous spirit of these women who fought to achieve social change. With warm, exuberant performances from a terrific ensemble cast including Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson and Rosamund Pike, the film chronicles a crucial moment in a decade of upheaval, when the fight for equality was lead by ordinary women. —Dilcia Barrera"
It opens to a wider release in the U.S. on November 19th. Follow the buzz and check it out for free on Monday night, 8 p.m., at the Mann Chinese 6:
The best trailer is the one found on Made In Dagenham's own website, which is loaded with detailed information about the film.
Saturday 6 November 2010
2011 Sundance Film Festival Tips
See you in the theater!
Friday 5 November 2010
A Killer Run-down of 3rd i's San Francisco South Asian Film Festival
FFC couldn't possibly report on 3rd i's San Francisco South Asian Film Festival as thoroughly as Michael Guillen of The Evening Class. He rolls through the whole line-up with a practiced eye.
Here's the kickin' festival trailer to get you hyped for the weekend:
Here's the kickin' festival trailer to get you hyped for the weekend:
Deal of the Week: $40 Passes to Oregon's Northwest Film & Video Festival
The best film festival deals are often found off the heavily-trampled path. This week's Northwest Film & Video Festival in Portland, Oregon, is offering festival passes, which allow holders into everything (screenings, parties, and all but 2 events) for $40! This is a deal worth swiping up. Here's a fascinating trailer to the short, The Thomas Beale Cipher, from Director Andrew S. Allen, to whet your appetite:
The Thomas Beale Cipher: Official Trailer from Polymix on Vimeo.
Note: This film is also playing at the Starz Denver Film Festival, this weekend.Not Just Films: Join the 3-D Debate at the Ojai Film Fest
Film festivals host more than just eye candy. They're places for industry experts to share their knowledge and discuss important topics. This weekend's Ojai Film Fest hosts a number of panels in the lovely Ojai Valley, just a stone's throw from L.A., nestled between the metro sprawl and Santa Barbara's cool, vineyard-covered mountains. Here's one that sounds timely, especially if you're contemplating splurging on a 3-D television during the holidays:
Randall Dark, premiere HD expert and international authority on technological advances in modern filmmaking, discusses Film Technology - 3D, the Good, The Bad and The Ugly! at Ojai's Art Center Gallery this Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m.
As quickly as 3-D technology was embraced by the film industry, it's lately been vilified by critics for its overuse in films that never should have been so in-your-face (or pocket-gouging) to begin with. With the advent of new 3-D televisions, what's the outlook for this artistic media innovation?
Randall Dark, premiere HD expert and international authority on technological advances in modern filmmaking, discusses Film Technology - 3D, the Good, The Bad and The Ugly! at Ojai's Art Center Gallery this Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m.
As quickly as 3-D technology was embraced by the film industry, it's lately been vilified by critics for its overuse in films that never should have been so in-your-face (or pocket-gouging) to begin with. With the advent of new 3-D televisions, what's the outlook for this artistic media innovation?
American Indian Film Institute Film Festival, San Francisco Opens Tonight
The American Indian Film Festival celebrates it's 35th year when it opens tonight at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema, in San Francisco. While there appear to be several good films, I'm most intrigued by the animation program that opens on Saturday, a collection of 12 shorts anchored by the 75-minute CGI feature The Legend of Secret Pass. The main feature is in post-production, but the trailer is compelling. A number of seasoned actors provided the voice talent (Frankie Muniz; the iconic Graham Greene; David Cross, who voiced Crane in Kung Fu Panda; as well as David Chiklis, Debi Derryberry, and Ron Perlman, among others):
It should be noted that not all of the films are small-child friendly in theme, though older teens might be able to handle some of the material. (To be fair, I haven't seen any of these, myself.) The potentially most disturbing shorts appear after the main feature: Waseteg, a story of a mother trying to protect her children from domestic abuse; and Lumaajuuq, about a boy seeking revenge against his mother, who deliberately blinded him and fed him dog meat. While each of these may have a redemptive moral appropriate for teens (in Lumaajuuq, the boy discovers that revenge is not the wisest path), the lesson might possibly be lost on little ones. That said, perhaps you'll want to take them to get more popcorn during each of these, and come back to catch the other, evidently charming short films.
It should be noted that not all of the films are small-child friendly in theme, though older teens might be able to handle some of the material. (To be fair, I haven't seen any of these, myself.) The potentially most disturbing shorts appear after the main feature: Waseteg, a story of a mother trying to protect her children from domestic abuse; and Lumaajuuq, about a boy seeking revenge against his mother, who deliberately blinded him and fed him dog meat. While each of these may have a redemptive moral appropriate for teens (in Lumaajuuq, the boy discovers that revenge is not the wisest path), the lesson might possibly be lost on little ones. That said, perhaps you'll want to take them to get more popcorn during each of these, and come back to catch the other, evidently charming short films.
Thursday 4 November 2010
AFI Film Fest, Hollywood: Free Tickets!
For the second year running, the AFI Film Fest in Hollywood is offering free tickets to ALL of it's screenings. There's some good stuff here!
Here are some tips and tricks for scoring tickets--a great article from LA WEEKLY Blogs guides you through the lines on your way to a seat: How To See Movies For Free: A Guide to AFI Fest Ticketing By Karina Longworth
Have fun, L.A.!
P.S. If you get the chance, please see BOY. It's a touching and head-shakingly hilarious film by Taika Waititi, of Flight of the Conchords fame. The film is playing Sat., Nov 6th at 6:15pm, at the Mann Chinese Theater 6.
Here are some tips and tricks for scoring tickets--a great article from LA WEEKLY Blogs guides you through the lines on your way to a seat: How To See Movies For Free: A Guide to AFI Fest Ticketing By Karina Longworth
Have fun, L.A.!
P.S. If you get the chance, please see BOY. It's a touching and head-shakingly hilarious film by Taika Waititi, of Flight of the Conchords fame. The film is playing Sat., Nov 6th at 6:15pm, at the Mann Chinese Theater 6.
Ojai Film Fest: Feature of the Weekend
There Once Was An Island, an award-winning documentary, details the effect of rising seas on the Polynesian people of Takuu atoll in the South Western Pacific. If you've ever wondered weather climate change would have any measurable effect in your lifetime, here's your answer. (Screening at both the Ojai Film Festival and the Starz Denver Film Festival this Saturday and Sunday.)
Trailer for There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho from On The Level Productions on Vimeo.
2010 Starz Denver Film Festival
If you're in Denver tonight, you still have a chance to wait list Casino Jack, a wild ride through the world of wicked lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Anything starring the iconic Kevin Spacey is sure to be worth the time spent in line, and the screenplay was written after hours of interviews with Abramoff himself. Here's the trailer:
If rehashing political power plays isn't your thing but you still crave excitement, try 127 Hours...if you dare. The latest film by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), based on a true story, comes HIGHLY recommended. (Entertainment Weekly just arrived in the mail. According to The Bullseye: "James Franco's riveting performance in 127 Hours: like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, except in a canyon. And without Wilson." --EW #1128, p.80)
If rehashing political power plays isn't your thing but you still crave excitement, try 127 Hours...if you dare. The latest film by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), based on a true story, comes HIGHLY recommended. (Entertainment Weekly just arrived in the mail. According to The Bullseye: "James Franco's riveting performance in 127 Hours: like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, except in a canyon. And without Wilson." --EW #1128, p.80)
Leg Stretch: Film Fest Connect Is Warming Up
The goal of Film Fest Connect is to bring audiences to film festivals--and festivals to audiences--in any way they're able to connect. Films have the power to educate, enlighten, and embolden communities. They can bring about change, positive and negative, personal and social, local and global, in ways no other form of media is able to do. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that roughly fifty percent of the human brain is hardwired to process visual information. This is THE medium for reaching people.
What's The Point?
A good movie can change lives. Some have changed the world.
But paradigm-shifting films are rarely industry blockbusters from the moment they leave the studio. Some never will be. Film festivals, then, provide audiences with a unique opportunity to see films that might otherwise be seen by very few--or not at all. Audiences (audies, in Twitterspeak) can use the power of social media and direct conversation to share, or even create, a popular culture "moment in time".
If you love the thrill of a festival atmosphere...
If you believe in the transformative power of film...
If you can't wait to lord it over your friends that you asked Steven Soderbergh, during a panel Q&A, what he thinks about streaming films online; or that you sat 20 feet away from Liam Neeson in a theater and got his autograph; or that you think you've just discovered the next Kathryn Bigelow...
This is the site for you.
For filmmakers, film festivals offer opportunities to gauge audience reaction, score a distribution deal, gain enough notoriety to fund future projects, and connect in a very personal way with the people who love (and, sometimes, hate) their work. Film is an impersonal medium in so many ways. Festivals offer the chance to communicate, confront, and connect with all the immediacy and humanity good films--and filmmakers--deserve.
Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow...!
Become part of that humanity and follow Film Fest Connect as we highlight the Best Fests in the West in 2011. Anything west of the Rockies is fair game (AK, HI, WA, OR CA, ID, NV, AZ, UT, and possibly WY, MT, and CO).
Follow Film Fest Connect on Twitter. Help build your film festival social network through our Film Fest Connect Facebook page. Share what you know about the festivals in your area. Give us your best tips and tricks, tell us your horror stories, share some pictures. FFC can't possibly be everywhere at once--we need all the boots on the ground that we can get!
Promoters are welcome to send more information on film events for inclusion in future posts (for now, please use the comments section). Respect our readers (be kind, don't spam) and we'll be happy to honor your event with coverage. If you have already sent us your links through Twitter, we'll be keeping up with you.
Plans are afoot to kick off the official launch of FFC at the Sundance Film Festival, beginning on January 24th. (The festival itself begins on the 20th.) Once FFC is launched, we'll stop stretching our legs and take off running. Join us.
What's The Point?
A good movie can change lives. Some have changed the world.
But paradigm-shifting films are rarely industry blockbusters from the moment they leave the studio. Some never will be. Film festivals, then, provide audiences with a unique opportunity to see films that might otherwise be seen by very few--or not at all. Audiences (audies, in Twitterspeak) can use the power of social media and direct conversation to share, or even create, a popular culture "moment in time".
If you love the thrill of a festival atmosphere...
If you believe in the transformative power of film...
If you can't wait to lord it over your friends that you asked Steven Soderbergh, during a panel Q&A, what he thinks about streaming films online; or that you sat 20 feet away from Liam Neeson in a theater and got his autograph; or that you think you've just discovered the next Kathryn Bigelow...
This is the site for you.
For filmmakers, film festivals offer opportunities to gauge audience reaction, score a distribution deal, gain enough notoriety to fund future projects, and connect in a very personal way with the people who love (and, sometimes, hate) their work. Film is an impersonal medium in so many ways. Festivals offer the chance to communicate, confront, and connect with all the immediacy and humanity good films--and filmmakers--deserve.
Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow...!
Become part of that humanity and follow Film Fest Connect as we highlight the Best Fests in the West in 2011. Anything west of the Rockies is fair game (AK, HI, WA, OR CA, ID, NV, AZ, UT, and possibly WY, MT, and CO).
Follow Film Fest Connect on Twitter. Help build your film festival social network through our Film Fest Connect Facebook page. Share what you know about the festivals in your area. Give us your best tips and tricks, tell us your horror stories, share some pictures. FFC can't possibly be everywhere at once--we need all the boots on the ground that we can get!
Promoters are welcome to send more information on film events for inclusion in future posts (for now, please use the comments section). Respect our readers (be kind, don't spam) and we'll be happy to honor your event with coverage. If you have already sent us your links through Twitter, we'll be keeping up with you.
Plans are afoot to kick off the official launch of FFC at the Sundance Film Festival, beginning on January 24th. (The festival itself begins on the 20th.) Once FFC is launched, we'll stop stretching our legs and take off running. Join us.
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