CineFest Brasil NYC 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 10 June 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 9th CineFest Petrobras Brasil - NYC Film Festival is being held June 12  - June 18, 2011 at Tribeca Cinemas in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

This official event of The Inffinito Festival Circuit is presented by international events and production company Inffinito, a valuable resource for introducing Brazil’s finest new films to US audiences. 

World cinema aficionados and neophytes alike will appreciate the diversity of style and topic as Cine Fest presents the best of the most recent Brazilian produced films in both long and short form.

Films presented at Cine Fest range from racy sex comedies and GLBT relevant dramas to magical realism explorations of life after death, coming-of-age stories, documentaries on Jimi Hendrix and the international drug trade, stop-motion animation and the new full-length release from the Silver Bear award-winning director Arnaldo Jabor.

Read more: CineFest Brasil NYC 2011

DocPoint NYC: Finnish Doc Week

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 08 June 2011 07:31

Written by L E Shannon

Finnish Documentary Film Week, or DocPoint NYC, runs June 9 - 13, 2011 at Scandinavia House, 92YTribeca and MoMA in Manhattan and UnionDocs in Brooklyn, New York City.

DocPoint, Helsinki’s documentary film festival and the largest documentary film festival in the Nordic countries, celebrates its 10th birthday in 2011 and returns to New York with a comprehensive program of new Finnish films, as well as a cross section of films ranging the past ten years of the festival’s history.

The program also presents works of celebrated lifetime achievement award winners such as Pirjo Honkasalo and Markku Lehmuskallio.

Panels and discussions will be held with Finnish and American filmmakers.

Some of the films are:

The Face of Death / Kuoleman kasvot
dir. Kiti Luostarinen
A skeleton travels through the film with the director, who volunteers as a nurse in a hospice. She keeps a diary in which she records unanswered questions, and shows life evolving towards death.

The Future Is Not What It Used to Be / Tulevaisuus ei ole entisensä (2002)
dir. Mika Taanila
This is a film about Erkki Kurenniemi, the pioneer of Finnish electronic music, who built a studio for electronic music in the University of Helsinki. He is remembered not only for what he did in the early days of experimental Finnish music, but also for the scandalous band Sperm in the late 1960s. His work also included experimental movies, media art and video installations.
 
The Real McCoy (1998)
dir. Pekka Lehto
"Andy McCoy is the founder of Hanoi Rocks, which is the most successful rock band in Finland. His life has been a blend of success and mishap, of triumph and loss. He is a romantic rock’n’roll icon. This partly fictionalized documentary explores both the creative force that nurtures his talent and the destructive force that obscures his life."

Reindeerspotting - Escape from Santaland / Reindeerspotting - Pako joulumaasta (2010)
dir. Joonas Neuvonen
The director had been a drug user when he trained his camera on his friends. This film depicts one of them, a user of Subutex and other substances, who dreams of an ordinary life somewhere else.

Shadow of the Holy Book / Pyhän kirjan varjo (2008)
dir. Arto Halonen
The Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul) was written by dictator Saparmurat Niyazov as guidance and law for the citizens of Turkmenistan. Ruhnama restricts freedom of speech as well as human rights and, despite the dictator’s death, the book is still a significant influence in the country. International corporations have started translating the propaganda-filled book, which has paid off in significant agreements with the dictatorship. But questions arise about the moral responsibility and obligations of large corporations.
 
War Children / Sotalapset (2003)
dir. Erja Dammert
During World War II, nearly 80,000 Finnish children were evacuated to the neighboring Scandinavian countries, the largest child evacuation in the world. The survivors recount their experiences and memories as they coped in a strange land without their parents, and archival material supplies further history.

The DOKKINO Event will be presented for the audience in New York City. A film screening showing thought-provoking short documentaries targeted to junior high school and high school students will be organized in Scandinavia House on Friday June 10th at 12pm. The program consists of six Finnish short films, some of them made by professionals, but some also by Finnish youngsters during filmmaking workshops organized by DOKKINO. 

The Panels include:

Documentary Distribution Today – Options for connecting with audiences range from signing with a traditional distributors and sales agent to acting as your own distributor or doing a bit of both. This panel reviews the landscape to help filmmakers and producers map out a path for their films.

Documentary Salon: Doc Power with Erja Dammert –  the role of documentary in the changing world.

For more information go to http://tour.docpoint.info/films.

DocPoint NYC - Finnish Documentary Film Week
June 9 - 13, 2011

Scandinavia House – The Nordic Center in America
58 Park Avenue
New York City
www.scandinaviahouse.org

92YTribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York City
www.92YTribeca.org

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York City
www.moma.org

UnionDocs
322 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.uniondocs.org

LA Greek Film Festival 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 5th Annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF) runs from June 9-12, 2011 at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, California.

The Festival showcases new films from Greek filmmakers worldwide to promote and nurture Greek Cinema while bridging the gap between Greek filmmakers and Hollywood.

The Festival also offers screenings of film masterworks, seminars on important contemporary film issues, and tributes to significant filmmakers and performers of Greek origin. Orpheus Awards are given to the most outstanding new films in the dramatic, documentary and short film categories.

"This year's films represent all facets of Greek life - humor, music, wine, erotica, and family... with a twist!  Los Angeles audiences will not be disappointed," says Ersi Danou, LAGFF co-founder.

"The growing Greek film community is rapidly proving itself a formidable source of truly groundbreaking cinema and I am proud to help bring these incredible works to the Los Angeles screen." states Owen Ward, Director of Programming.

The Opening Night film is the documentary Pelican's Watch, directed by Lea Binzer. A small community of elders on the island of Santorini are charged with the unique duty of preserving the traditions of vine-growing and winemaking in the face of changing times that threaten their ancient and world-renowned art.

The screening is followed by a reception featuring some top Greek wines.  Santorini winemakers and the filmmakers are expected to attend.

Also screening is the Los Angeles premiere of the critically acclaimed drama/comedy A Woman's Way / Strella, produced and directed by Panos Koutras, written by Panajotis Evangelidis and Panos Koutras, starring Mina Orfanou, Yanis Kokiasmenos, Minos Theoharis. This is a daring film about the relationship of newly released convict Yorgos and the matriarchal transsexual Strella.

The legendary music composer Mikis Theodorakis will be presented with an Honorary Orpheus Award during the awards ceremony on Sunday, June 12, at the Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills.

The award acknowledges Theodorakis‛ iconic status as a leading figure in a nation's struggle for freedom and peace, as well as his body of work in music, contributing to world cinema with scores for milestone films such as Z, Serpico, State of Siege, and Zorba the Greek.

The Festival comes to a close Sunday, June 12 at the Writers Guild Theater with a Gala event and world premiere of Burning Heads / To Gala, directed by Giorgos Siougas, screenplay by Vassilis Katsikonouris; with Promitheas Aliferopoulos, Ionna Tsirigouli, Omiros Poulakis, Iro Bezou, Demitris Mavros.

This story, based on the Greek play by Katsikonouris, is a hardcore look at immigration and resulting family dynamics in Greece today. When Russian immigrant Adonis introduces his bride-to-be to his mother and schizophrenic brother, deep-rooted rifts within their family explode as Adonis seeks to ease his guilt and his mother tries to restore the bond their family once knew in their long-lost homeland.

Other films are:

Fiction Features

Biloba
Director: Sofia Papchristou
An engineer sets off to build a power generator fueled by toxic waste on an uncharted island, but unexpectedly finds magic amongst the backward islanders and is faced with a difficult choice.

Death I Dreamed of / O Thanatos pou Oneireythika
Director/Producer: Panagiotis Kravvas
Based on a true story, this horror tale follows a group of teenagers as they encounter a mysterious stranger who at first gathers them in a celebration of the occult but eventually unleashes a very real display of death and destruction.

Harisma
Director:  Christina Ioakeimidi
When unsophisticated bus driver Haris thrusts himself into the seemingly controlled life of young teacher Ismini, both have to abandon their safety nets in order to find true love in this light-hearted comedy.

Knifer / Macherovgaltis
Director: Yannis Economides
In this artful B&W account of a decaying middle class, Nikos moves in with his brutish uncle to guard his dogs, but soon finds out that he must pull himself together in order to set things right.

Without Borders / Horis Sinora
Director: Nick Gaitatjis
With the help of his eccentric cousin, Thanasis embarks on a journey across continents in search of his six-year-old adopted daughter, along the way redefining the meaning of familial love.

Documentaries

The Game must Go On / Ta Paidia Den Paizei
Director: Angeli Andrikopoulou, Argyris Tsepelikas
Tired of being hassled by their neighbors for playing soccer in the streets, an ambitious group of children set out to build a playing field of their own by daring what most adults would not: Cutting through the red tape and going up against the machine of local politics.

My Sweet Canary (Israel/France/Greece)
Director/Producer: Roy Sher
The story of Roza Eskenazy, the Diva of Rebetiko or "Greek Blues," whose music shaped the soundtrack of Greece and Asia Minor for almost a century, is unveiled through the journey of three modern musicians who retrace her steps and perform her songs.

With Great Power: the Stan Lee Story
Directors: Will Hess, Terry Dougas, Nikki Frakes
Get up close and personal with Stan Lee, the artist behind world-famous Marvel comics and comic book favorites like Spiderman and The Fantastic Four in this star-studded documentary that explores how one of today's great creative minds came to be.

Short Films

1.2 Million Children / 1.2 Ekatommyria Paidia
Director: Effie Pappa
This animated short brings light to the tragic issue of children being bought and sold across international borders.

13 ½
Director: Haris Vafeiadis
The road to adulthood is fraught with peril for this young teenage girl who comes to understand the value of her lost innocence.

Alter
Director: Petros Antoniadis
An unconventional artist finds that he must embrace all parts of his psyche in order to reach fulfillment.

Commentary
Director: Jonathan Crow
What starts as a simple behind-the-scenes commentary recording session between a film producer and director becomes a hilarious conflict of personal relationships.

Marios and the Raven
Director/Producer: Yiannis Bougioukas
On his 53rd birthday, Marios seems to have everything he ever wished for -- until a bird dropping from the blue reveals his happiness to be far more fragile than it seemed.

Pyramids of Athens / Pyramides tis Athinas
Director/Producer: Yolanda Markopoulou
A young Egyptian immigrant in Athens observes suspicious activity in the abandoned building where he is squatting and decides to take matters into his own hands despite language and cultural barriers.

RF
Director: Stavros Liokalos
One man simply trying to adjust his TV antenna sets off a chain of comic events that bring an entire apartment community together.

The Dog / O Skylos
Director: Nikos Charalabopoulos (aka Labot)
The arrival of a young suitor and his dog means war for a father who compulsively protects his only daughter.

What Time Will You Be Back? / Ti Ora tha Gyrisis?
Director: Maritina Passari
When Eurydice rebels against her mother to follow her dream of becoming a punk-rock singer, she realizes that the mother-daughter relationship is not one-way.

An industry panel, "Crossing Borders: Foreign Films in Hollywood" is being held "with experts who are able to address new avenues outside the traditional route."

For more information, go to www.lagreekfilmfestival.org.

Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
June 9 - 12, 2011

Laemmle's Sunset 5
8000 W. Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA