the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.
Previews
Women Who Fight Back in Film Series
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 05:00
- Written by L E Shannon
African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) presents Women Who Fight Back
Film Series on June 3 - 5, 2011 at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.
"Black women everywhere are fighting to defend women's right to exist as full human beings. ADIFF has compiled some powerful films that tell stories of women who fight to keep their family, their culture and their integrity alive and strong."
The films are:
Friday, June 3
Faraw, Mother of Dunes
dir. Abbdoulaye Ascofaré (Mali)
A mother of two quarrelsome boys and a depressed teenage girl is also the wife of a political prisoner who returns from prison a broken man. She struggles hard to survive in a poor and desolate area, and is ready to face anything to keep the family alive -- except prostituting her beautiful daughter.
Josephine Baker: Black Diva in a White Man's World
dir. Annette von Wangenheim (Germany, USA)
A revealing documentary about one of the most famous and popular performing artists of the 20th century. The film focuses on Baker's life and work, especially in the mirror of European colonial clichés, and presents her as a resistance fighter, an ambulance driver during WWII, and an outspoken activist against racial discrimination.
Saturday, June 4
Family Motel
dir. Helene Klodawsky (Canada)
Ayan, a Somalian refugee living in Canada, is raising teenaged daughters while supporting a husband and two sons left behind in Somalia. Ayan is unable to afford the soaring rents on her two service jobs, and is evicted from her apartment for late payment. Canadian social services are unable to assist in placing her, so she and her daughters must move into a Family Motel.
Soraya, Love Is Not Forgotten 
dir. Marta Rodríguez and Fernando Restrepo (Colombia)
Soraya Palacios' story is that of many Afro-Colombian peasants displaced from their land in the armed conflict between the national army, Colombian guerillas, and the right-wing paramilitary. After her husband's assassination by paramilitaries, Soraya must abandon her home, while trying her best to provide for her six children. Like many other Afro-Colombian women displaced from Choco, she refuses to forget her culture and history.
Shown with
Susana Baca: Memoria Viva
Mark Dixon (Peru, Belgium)
Susana Baca is not only a champion in the performance and preservation of Afro-Peruvian heritage, but also an elegant singer whose shimmering voice sings of love, loss and life. Susana and her husband, Ricardo Pereira, have founded the Instituto Negrocontinuo (Black Continuum) in Lima, a spirited facility for the exploration, expression, and creation of Black Peruvian culture. While Baca has dedicated herself to researching and performing virtually all forms of Afro-Peruvian folklore, it is the lando that has become her trademark. This slow to mid-tempo, highly evocative mix of Spanish, Indigenous and African rhythms has become what the son is to Cuba, or the samba to Brazil -- the lando is the sound of Black Peru.
Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story
dir. Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt)
Hebba Younisis a contemporary, fiercely independent talk show host. She is married to Karim Hassan, an opportunistic newspaper editor for a government-owned daily. Hebba is asked to forfeit the success of her career for the professional ambitions of her husband. She must soften the critical tone of her reports on governmental affairs. As Hebba finally complies and shifts away from hard politics to devote her program to social issues - the so-called "women's stories" -- she discovers lives and struggles that may be even more damaging to reveal.
Sunday, June 5
Hearing Radmilla
dir. Angela Webb (USA)
This film is a portrait of Radmilla Cody, who was Miss Navajo Nation from 1997 to 1998. It follows her reign as the first biracial Miss Navajo, then explores her pursuit of a singing career, and finally addresses the cruel realities that led to serious legal consequences for her.
Umoja: the Village Where Men Are Forbidden 
dir. Jean Crousillac and Jean-Marc Sainclair (France, Kenya)
The film tells the story of brave Samburu women who were raped by British soldiers based in Northern Kenya between 1970 and 2003. Dishonored, the women were beaten and renounced by their husbands. In 1990, a few of those women gathered and created Umoja, a village forbidden to men, which rapidly became a refuge for those in a similar plight. Since then, jealous men have frequently attacked Umoja, causing trouble, and harassing its founder and matriarch Rebecca Lolosoli.
Compensation
dir. Zeinabu irene Davis (USA)
The first feature by award-winning filmmaker Davis (Cycles and A Powerful Thang) presents two unique African-American love stories between a deaf woman and a hearing man, Inspired by a poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. An important film on African-American deaf culture, this narrative shares their struggle to overcome racism, disability and discrimination. Davis innovatively incorporates silent film techniques (such as title cards and vintage photos) to make the piece accessible to hearing and deaf viewers alike, and to share the vast possibilities of language and communication.
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
dir. Lisa Gay Hamilton (USA)
The directorial debut of actress Lisa Gay Hamilton, the film celebrates the life of legendary African American actress, poet and political activist Beah Richards, best known for her Oscar nominated role in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. While Richards struggled to overcome racial stereotypes throughout her long career onstage and onscreen in Hollywood and New York, she also had an influential role in the fight for Civil Rights. Enlightening and moving, the film is a fitting tribute to Richard's life of integrity, leadership and service to the two cultures she loved so deeply: the Arts and the African American community.
You had your fun last weekend. Now it‛s time to be inspired.
For more information, go to www.NYADIFF.org.
Women Who Fight Back Film Series
June 3 - 5, 2011
Teachers College
Columbia University
525 W 120th Street - Room 263 Macy
New York City
Sizzling Screens: Rooftop Films
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 05:00
- Written by L E Shannon
Rooftop Films is presenting its 15th Annual Summer Series every weekend from May 13
through August 20, 2011 on the roof of the New Design High School in the Lower East Side, with further screenings throughout the city.
In conjunction with IFC and New York Magazine, over 50 shows are planned, including:
- 23 feature-length films, with 2 World Premieres and 15 US or NY Premieres
- 183 short films from 26 countries, shown in themed programs such as
Romance Shorts
Thriller Shorts
New York Non-Fiction
- Live music, filmmaker Q&As, and after parties with complimentary drinks
- Special events such as a live wrestling match at the screening of Robert Greene's Fake it So Real, featuring the semi-pro wrestlers from that film
- a sneak attack performance by the musical guerillas from the Swedish comedy Sound of Noise
- 26 bands
- 15 spectacular outdoor venues with stunning views across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx
- Fiction, documentary, comedy, drama, animation and more
'Open Roads' Highlights New Italian Cinema
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 05:00
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Open Roads 2011: New Italian Cinema
This year’s edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual survey, is led by a trio of top-notch non-fiction features. The latest by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), 1960, cannily assembles archival footage to tell a compelling story of a family searching for its son. 71-year-old master Marco Bellocchio
(whose My Mother’s Smile, Good Morning Night and Vincere highlighted recent New York Film Festivals) returns with Sorelle Mai (pictured, right), a personal journey into his family’s life and hometown, Bobbio. Giovanna Taviani’s Return to the Aeolian Islands lovingly explores the isles which were the settings for classics like Antonioni’s L’Avventura and Kaos, the brilliant Pirandello adaptation by the Tavaiani brothers (one of whom is Giovanna’s father, and the other her uncle).
Several of the fiction features take the pulse of contemporary Italian society, with mixed results. 20 Cigarettes, Aureliano Amadei’s pulse-pounding account of an anti-war filmmaker going to Iraq only to become another victim of its random violence, is as volatile and exciting as it is thought-provoking. Contrarily, Love or Slaps (pictured, left) is Sergio Castellitto’s frantically unfunny update of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in which Castellitto and the always dependable 
Laura Morante play good liberal parents who are disappointed their daughter’s new boyfriend isn’t black. Working from his wife Margaret Mazzantini’s flaccid script, Castellitto never finds a consistent tone or point of view, finally just spinning his wheels. (The title’s literal translation is The Beauty of the Donkey, which makes no sense in English unless you’ve seen the movie.)
Director Roberta Torre reteams with her marvelous Angela star (and Bellocchio leading lady) Donatello Finocchiaro in the gentle satire Lost Kisses, in which Finocchiaro burns a hole in the screen as the opportunistic mother of a teenager (the wonderful Carla Marchese) who says that the Virgin Mary spoke to her after a new religious statue lost its head. Whatsoeverly, Giulio Manfredonia’s absurdist take on the intersection of politics, media and celebrity, dishes out as much silliness as it does satiric bulls-eyes. Think Trump or Palin in the land of Berlusconi.
The Woman of My Life, with Stefania Sandrelli as the mother of two sons in love with the same woman, is a trite updating of Gabriele Muccino’s superb The Last Kiss, which also featured Sandrelli. Despite an excellent cast and the magnetic presence of Valentina Lodovini (you definitely believe both brothers would fall for her), the movie becomes exhausting as it goes along. Happily, Giorgia Cecere’s debut, The First Assignment, is a modest, self-assured gem about a young teacher (the terrific Isabelle Ragonese) whose first job in an out of the way village doesn’t go as planned.
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema
Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, NY
http://www.filmlinc.com
June 1-8, 2011
For more by Kevin Filipski, visit The Flip Side blog at http://flipsidereviews.blogspot.com/
Indie Brazil 2011 in Hollywood
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 00:40
- Written by L E Shannon
The 3rd Annual Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival (HBR FEST) takes place June 1 - 4, 
2011 at the Egyptian Theatre and Mann Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood, California. The Festival is dedicated to bringing independent vision and voices from Brazil to Los Angeles audiences.
All films are Los Angeles premieres. This year’s selection represents the newest crop of filmmaking flourishing in Brazil. Many of the films presented have screened at international film festivals, winning awards and receiving critical acclaim.
The Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the cultural and commercial exchange between Hollywood and Brazil. The HBR FEST mission is to create a bridge between the international film community and Brazil, while raising public awareness for the Brazilian culture, as well as production and financing opportunities for international productions shooting in Brazil.
The Opening Night Film is Riscado / Craft, directed by Gustavo Pizzi starring Karine Teles, who co-wrote the script with Pizzi. Teles gives a tour-de-force performance as a talented actress who struggles thro
ugh life with small, humiliating jobs to make ends meet, until she gets what may be her big break. Pizzi and Teles will be in attendance.
The Closing Night Film Is Rosa Morena, directed by Ivan Teixeira. A 40-something a single gay man desperately wants to be a father, but he cannot legally adopt a child in Denmark. So, he decides to visit an old friend in Brazil, where there is a thriving black market for adoption. Maria is beautiful, charming and pregnant, yet she is too poor to support her unborn child. The plan is simple: Thomas will pay Maria and bring her baby back to Denmark as his own. But naturally, complications ensue.
Other films include:
A Fuga Da Mulher Gorila / The Escape of the Gorilla Woman
dir. Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Flora Dias, Morena Catonni, Alberto Moura Jr.
Two sisters decide to embark on a journey through the state of Rio de Janeiro in an old kombi van. Along the way, they offer a lift to an actor who also wants to visit the state, and together the trio decides to organize a spectacular show in which one of them transforms into a gorilla and threatens the audience.
A Alegria / The Joy
dir. Felipe Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Tainá Medina, Junior Moura, Cesar Cardadeiro, Flora Dias, Rikle Miranda
The film follows 16-year-old Luiza, who is tired of hearing about the end of the world. On Christmas Eve, her cousin João disappears in the middle of the night and is shot
in a poor neighborhood. A few weeks later, Luiza finds João, as a ghost, in her living room.
Chantal Akerman De Cá / Chantal Akerman from Here
dir. Gustavo Beck, Leonardo Luiz Ferreira
This documentary features an uncut interview with the prestigious Belgian director as Akerman reflects on her own work and method. She shares the influence of directors such as Jonas Mekas and Michael Snow, her relation with Proust’s novel (which she adapted in La Captive in 2000), and her failed attempt to venture into a more commercial filmmaking.
Estrada Para Ythaca / Road to Ythaca
dir. Guto Parente, Luiz Pretti, Pedro Diógenes, Ricardo Pretti
starring the four directors
This road movie focuses on four friends, played by the four directors, who have recently lost a friend. After a night of heavy drinking, they decide to travel to the mythical Ythaca. They don’t seem to be looking for a real place, but rather for something that has been with them since the beginning of the film: the sprit of friendship.
Por El Camino / Beyond the Road
dir. Charly Braun
A 30-year-old Argentinean travels to Uruguay in search of a piece of land that he inherited from his parents. On his arrival in Montevideo, by chance he meets a young Belgian who came to Uruguay in search of an old love. He offers her a ride, and on the way they realize that they are developing feelings for each other.
Reflexões De Um Liquidificador / Reflections of a Blender
dir. André Klotzel
A hilarious dark comedy about a woman and her talking blender as she searches for her missing husband. The blender narrates the story, weaving between the current investigation and flashbacks of Elvira with her husband. Suddenly they work together to solve the case and find out what really happened to her husband.
Bollywood Dream
dir. Beatriz Seigner (directorial debut)
Three Brazilian women are hoping to make it in Bollywood. But it does not start out well. Their producer doesn’t meet them and their hotel reservations are missing. Forced to fend for themselves, they find a teenage promoter whose lying and choreography skills give them the chance they were hoping for.
Seminars include:
- Film Finance – Topics include international film finance, establishing film funds, securing credit for film production.
- Marketing and Distribution – How to market and secure worldwide distribution.
- Talent Seminars – HBFF will promote Film Project and Script labs to expand the cultural exchange and create world class projects for Brazilian films.
- Technical Seminars – Seminars discuss other technical areas, such as CGI Effects, Film Crew Work, etc.
- Post Production & Labs – HBR Fest will promote the exchange of contact and technical information for post production, including lab visits and technical orientation.
- Film Student Seminars – Top film schools in Hollywood and vicinity will meet film students from Brazil for networking and cultural exchange.
All screenings are FREE and open to the public, other than Opening and Closing night films.
For more information, visit www.hbrfest.com.
Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival
June 1 - 4, 2011
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
323-466-3456
Mann Chinese 6 Theaters
6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
