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Independent Filmmaker Project Week Announces Massive Slate of Films
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 05 September 2017 19:30
- Written by Brad Balfour
The IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project) announced its 2017 IFP Week feature film slate in their latest press release. The festival features over 110 narrative and documentary projects in development from over 15 countries. This follows the earlier announcement of 37 television, digital and web series in development that have also been selected for the annual event. Combined, over 145 projects will be presented in DUMBO, Brooklyn September 17-21, 2017 (final venue TBA).
Under the curatorial leadership of Amy Dotson (Deputy Director/Head of Programming, IFP) and Milton Tabbot (Senior Director of Programming, IFP), the slate showcases original and provocative work, across a broad range of budgets, genres, sensibilities and platforms. Selections ranges from highly commercial indie fare to as well as work that tackles controversial subject matter, introduces wildly engaging and often hilarious worldviews, and challenges traditional form. Selected directors and producers will attend IFP Project Forum during IFP Week, the only International Co-Production Market in the U.S. featuring stories for all platforms.
IFP has played a vital role in launching the first and second features of now-established directors including Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), Robert Eggers (The Witch), Ciro Guerrra (Embrace of the Serpent), David Lowery (A Ghost Story), Laura Poitras (CitizenFour), Dee Rees (Mudbound), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Roger Ross Williams (Life, Animated), and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild).
“This year’s feature film program doesn’t shy away from tackling the controversial and key issues of our time. Art often reflects the times we live in, and this slate certainly represents a multitude of points of view and perspectives on America today,” says IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente. “Through the lens of race, religious expression, disability, female empowerment, immigration, truth, political correctness, radical inclusion and disenfranchisement, our artists pull no punches sharing their stories, demanding attention for the visions they share. ”
Highlighted projects include:
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The directorial debuts of singular actors Franke Potente (Run, Lola, Run), Clea DuVall (Better Call Saul), Colman Domingo (The Scottsboro Boys) as well as a new feature project produced by Elisabeth Moss (Handmaid’s Tale).
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Second features from Tahir Jetter (How to Tell You’re a Douchebag), Adam Pinney (The Arbalest), Clay Liford (Slash), and Meera Menon (Equity).
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New talent supported by established producers include Jason Michael Berman (The Birth of a Nation), Marttise Hill & Julius Pryor (Cronies), James M. Johnston (A Ghost Story), Amy Lo (If Not Love), Seith Mann (The Breaks), Billy Mulligan (Yelling to the Sky), Sev Ohanian (Fruitvale Station), Pacho Velez (Manakamana), and Shin Yamaguchi (Enter The Void).
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International features in development from over 15 countries include new work from producers Eilon Razkovsky (Zero Motivation), Cristina Gallego (Embrace of the Serpent), Gaston Pavlovich (Silence), Alice Braga (City of Gods) Luc Dery & Kim McCraw (Incendies), Sylvain Corbell (It’s Only The End of the World), Martin Katz (Cosmopolis), and Ryan Zacarias (Mediterranea).
To learn more, go to: http://www.ifp.org/programs/independent-film-week/
IFP Filmmaker Week
September 17 - 21, 2017
DUMBO
Brooklyn, NY
Rooftop Films 2017: Cinema & Skylines
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Thursday, 29 June 2017 15:32
- Written by Brad Balfour
Encompassing shorts, documentaries, features, animation, foreign directors, and home-grown heroes, the Rooftop Films series features daring films set against New York’s skyline. Running through August 19, multiple venues in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Long Island City play host to the film series, with each venue providing a unique backdrop and personality to the fest.
Films include:
- The Challenge (Yuri Ancarani)
On the roof of The Old American Can Factory. 232 Third St. Brooklyn
If you have it, spend it: Italian artist Yuri Ancarani’s visually striking documentary enters the surreal world of wealthy Qatari sheikhs who moonlight as amateur falconers, with no expenses spared along the way. The Challenge follows these men through the rituals that define their lives: perilously racing blacked-out SUVs up and down sand dunes; sharing communal meals; taking their Ferraris out for a spin with their pet cheetahs riding shotgun; and much more. Ancarani’s film is a sly meditation on the collective pursuit of idiosyncratic desires.
- Brigsby Bear (Dave McCary)
On the roof of New Design High School. 350 Grand St. Manhattan
After 25 years of secluded existence with his protective parents in their isolated, off-the-grid home, James (Kyle Mooney) is tossed out into a new life in relatively daunting Cedar Hills, Utah. As his world upends, the most shocking revelation to James is that he’s the only person who has ever watched his favorite television program, Brigsby Bear Adventures. Struggling to adjust to the show’s abrupt end, he begins to see Brigsby’s lessons as his only way to make sense of a big, scary new world, and James decides to make a movie to end Brigsby’s story—and re-begin his own.
- The Incredible Jessica James (Jim Strouse)
On the roof of The William Vale. 111 N 12th St. Brooklyn
Jessica Williams (“The Daily Show”) stars as a young, aspiring playwright in New York City who is struggling to get over a recent breakup. She is forced to go on a date with the recently divorced Boone, played by Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) and the unlikely duo discover how to make it through the tough times in a social media obsessed post-relationship universe. Lakeith Stanfield (FX’s “Atlanta”, Straight Outta Compton) and Noël Wells (Netflix’s “Master of None”) co-star. The film was written and directed by Jim Strouse and produced by Michael B. Clark and Alex Turtletaub of Beachside. Jessica Williams and Kerri Hundley serve as executive producers.
- Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators (Ema Ryan Yamazaki)
On the roof of the JCC in Manhattan. 334 Amsterdam Ave. Manhattan
Featuring a narrow escape from the Nazis on makeshift bicycles, Monkey Business explores the extraordinary lives of Hans and Margret Rey, the authors of the beloved Curious George children’s books.
New York Premiere.
- Trapped: Uncanny Short Films
In the courtyard of Industry City. 274 36 St. Brooklyn
Join us for a program of stories most unusual: the meeting of a spaceman and a cave man; an encounter with an alien phenomenon via public access television; and the imagined experiences of the forgotten subject of a famous photograph. These amusing and disquieting short films offer mix-tape portraits, analytic tragicomedies of infinite human desire and potentially-killer workplace procedurals. Experience startling cinematic spectacles you won’t soon forget.
And many more films!
To learn more, go to: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/
Rooftop Films
Through August 19
Various Venues
A Year After The Los Angeles Film Festival, Ethiopian filmmaker Salome Mulugeta's Career Soars
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 23 May 2017 13:53
- Written by Lapacazo Sandoval
Less than a year ago— at last year’s LAFF — filmmaker/producer/actress/ Salome Mulugeta and her team were biting their nails, trying to get Hollywood’s attention and a distribution deal for “Woven,” her first independent film. The feature’s a sweet, heart-felt family drama about a close-knit, New York-based Ethiopian family dealing with a family tragedy.
In that short time span, director Mulugeta’s film career has taken such gigantic leaps forward that her journey could turn out to be a real-life Cinderella story but one in which the princess saves herself.
Determination is described as “[a] firmness of purpose; resoluteness — [s]he advanced with an unflinching determination.” Using that definition, Mulugeta is the very picture of creative determination. To wit, it took her 17 years to get financing for “Woven.”
Mulugeta resume reads as such: born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she left at an early age to attend a boarding school for girls in Bedford, England, where she won many prestigious acting competitions. She now contributes content for the US-based Africa Channel and has produced and directed shows for Muziki Ni: The African Restaurant Week. She currently directs and hosts a show called “A Day in the Life of…” In 2016, Mulugeta was awarded the Achievement and Perseverance Award by the Women’s Journey Foundation. She’s been featured in Vibe Magazine and mynewyorkeye.com.
It bears repeating that it took 17 long years for Mulugeta to get “Woven” completed and the film almost didn’t make the cut for 2016’s LAFF. It was the push of two, creative women, the Los Angeles Film Festival Director of Programming Roya Rastegar, and powerhouse film producer Stephanie Allain, who was the LAFF Director, that got the fest to make room for the intimate family drama. At that time (she resigned the post in 2016), Allain saw something in the film, story and Mulugeta.
Asked why she fought to get “Woven” into LAFF, this is what LAFF’s Rastegar said: “‘Woven’ is an emotionally compelling directorial debut from first time directors Salome Mulugeta and Nagwa Ibrahim and we selected the film because the vision, energy, and voice of the film stood out amongst the thousands of feature film submissions we received.
“I had never before seen an Ethiopian-American woman on screen navigating both cultures, and the story’s arc about forgiveness and redemption, even in the face of great tragedy, continues to resonate for me. Plus, Salome is also the star of the film! Talk about ambitious! Starring in your own film, which you also wrote and directed. I see immense talent in her, and I look forward to all the work she will make in the future.”
Love it. Loathe it. Ignore it. Embrace it. The fact is, when someone of power, a respected player in the game, stands up for you — everything changes in an instant. Shares producer Allain, “I met Salome after her film was selected for the LA Film Festival in 2016. We were looking for films from an authentic point of view and she brought her Ethiopian, female sensibilities to the story of survival despite life’s obstacles. Her poise and passion to tell stories close to her heart was palpable. We immediately connected as spiritual sisters unbeknownst to me, my producing partner Mel Jones, had her own meeting with Salome and when we compared notes, we knew we wanted to keep an eye out for what she would do next.”
What’s next is a big deal. Producer Allain was so impressed by Mulugeta’s storytelling abilities that she introduced her to Amy Tofte, a Nicholl Fellowship winner for Screenwriting (a fellowship program founded to aid screenwriters and administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts) in order for to write “Addis Abeka.” Tofte and Salome clicked. “Addis Abeka” tells the journey a young Ethiopian boy who loses his family and must navigate the world on his own for 10 years until he can be reunited with his brother.
Helping shape a director’s career takes a “village” and Mulugeta was one of the six young filmmakers chosen to participate in Film Independent’s 2017 Directing Lab where she worked on “Addis Abeka.” Mulugeta will direct and executive produce with Allain and Jones producing for Homegrown Pictures. “Addis Abeka” is set to go into production this fall — with “Woven” DP Pedro Gomez Millan stepping behind the camera. The film will be shot entirely in Ethiopia.
Money is power in Hollywood. For indie filmmakers that simple fact is very challenging as they are often seek financing from non-industry sources. The funding for “Addis Abeka” was secured by Mulugeta’s efforts, a natural producer. It’s a rare and sought-after talent, and once Hollywood really wakes up, she might be the very thing that makes her a wealthy woman and a power broker in the Hollywood game.
Cinema Systers: The Daring All Lesbian Film Fest
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Monday, 22 May 2017 20:57
- Written by Brad Balfour
Paducah, Kentucky is a city that, at a glance, may seem unassuming, but this May 26 to 28, they will be hosting the substantial Cinema Systers Film Festival for lesbian filmmakers. Held at the Maiden Alley Cinema (112 Maiden Alley, Paducah, KY.), the fest is in it’s second year and is the only all lesbian film fest, with sixteen films mixing shorts, features, narratives and documentaries screening. This year’s festival will feature an "Artist Meets Audience" filmmaker Q&A with Denmark filmmakers Lone Falster and Iben Haahr Andersen, directors of In Light of the Revolution, a film on the experiences of women artists in Egypt in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
Cinema Systers will also include live musical acts including Von Strantz, Kristen Ford, Weep, and more. Filmmaker Catherine Crouch will be doing a reading from “3 Days in August 2001”, a personal tale of sex, drugs, blood, and magic.
To learn more, go to: https://www.cinemasysters.com/
Cinema Systers Film Festival
May 26 - 28, 2017
Maiden Alley Cinema
112 Maiden Alley
Paducah, KY 42001
