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2018 African Diaspora International Film Festival: Docs, Animation, Features, & Voices

Details: Parent Category: Film Festivals; Category: Previews; Published on Thursday, 29 November 2018 18:29; Written by Brad Balfour

Kirkikou and the Sorceress

Focusing on black directors and black experiences, the 2018 African Diaspora International Film Festival (running November 29 to December 9) gives these stories a voice. Held at venues across NYC, the festival has a large slate of features, shorts, documentaries and works of animation for audiences of all ages.

Animated works include The Sky Princess, a CG-animated feature film about an ordinary girl who becomes an African princess with the help of a magical bird. Kirkikou and the Sorceress, directed by Michel Ocelot, is an animated tour de force, animated in a painterly style about a boy freeing his village from a terrible curse.

The Citizen, directed by Roland Vranik, follows a refuggee of the civil war in Guinea-Bissau as he seeks to gain citizenship in Hungary while working as a mall security guard in Budapest. One of the special screenings is No Shade, directed by Clare Anyiam-Osigwe which explores the hardships of the modern dating world through the dysmorphic presence of colorism as well as the fetishization of black women in a way that is tactful and honest. The festival also includes special slates of film organized for school screenings, films focusing on the lives of women and films realted to The Black Panthers.

To learn more, go to: https://nyadiff.org/ny-2018/

2018 African Diaspora International Film Festival
November 29 - December 9, 2018

Various Locations

Interfaith Film & Music Festival Tackles Hard Hitting Issues Through Cinema

Details: Parent Category: Film Festivals; Category: Previews; Published on Thursday, 29 November 2018 17:23; Written by Renzo Adler

With film, music, and networking events across NYC, the 2018 Interfaith Film & Music Festival aims to promote diversity and inclusion through music and cinema. Running November 30 to December 2, the IFMF addresses issues of racism, sexism, immigration, and identity through shorts, documentaries, narrative films and animation.

The festival opens with Searching Skies, directed by Vivian Hua, in which a Syrian refugee family is invited to a Christian family's house for Christmas dinne. They are caught between opposing viewpoints for and against their presence, until an unexpected event suddenly occurs. The documentary Sunday’s Best, directed by Marlon Johnson, Dennis Scholl, and Chad Tingle, explores the cherished African-American custom of wearing extraordinary hats to church services on Sundays, and explores the rich tradition with Miami's own fashionable faithful black community. Wilhemina’s War, directed by June Cross, is the story of Wilhemina Dixon, an uneducated daughter of sharecroppers who becomes a force in helping her granddaughter survive the health risks and social stigma of living with HIV in the South, where HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among black women.

The festival will also have community events in Harlem on December 1 as part of World AIDS Day, and a slate of panel discussions to go with the films.

To learn more, go to: http://www.interfaithfilmfest.com/

2018 Interfaith Film & Music Festival
November 30 - December 2, 2018

Various Locations

Unite LA 2018: Future of Storytelling

Details: Parent Category: Film Festivals; Category: Previews; Published on Tuesday, 16 October 2018 13:21; Written by Donna Cheng

Content creators and developers will converge at the Unite Los Angeles 2018 conference this fall, October 23–25, in downtown Los Angeles. The last leg of the Unity Technologies’ world tour ends appropriately in Hollywood, the epicenter of entertainment. Once known primarily as a gaming engine, the Unity software has expanded in the last several years as a cutting-edge media platform for XR (Extended Reality) that encompasses emerging technologies like VR, AR, and real-time 3D rendering.

Filmmakers should pay attention to the power of Unity's real-time CG engine for linear media. The Unite LA conference will hold a Film & Animation Summit on Wednesday, October 24, for content creators to learn how Unity's real-time rendering will revolutionize filmmaking workflows and enhance movie and television production. Innovations include virtual location and production design through VR headsets, Timeline animation sequencing, and pre-visualization through the Unity's Cinemachine virtual cameras.

Film industry notables will be present at these sessions: "Virtual Cinematography & Hollywood: The Tools Powering Ready Player One and Blade Runner 2049"; "Disney TV Animation + Unity: Non-Linear Animation Production on the 'Baymax Dreams' Shorts"; and "CocoVR: Pixar Storytelling in an Interactive, Multiplayer World."

To learn more about the Unite LA conference and register: https://unite.unity.com/2018/los-angeles

Unite Los Angeles 2018
October 23–25, 2018

The Orpheum Theatre and JW Marriott Los Angeles
842 S Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014
United States

19th Annual Woodstock Film Festival: Music & Movies

Details: Parent Category: Film Festivals; Category: Previews; Published on Wednesday, 03 October 2018 19:05; Written by Brad Balfour

Fall ushers in the festival season, and that means the return of the Woodstock Film Festival. Running October 10 - 14 in scenic Woodstock, NY, the festival has a full slate of indie features, animation, documentaires, shorts and more. The festival also features a special segment for VR experiences, as well as panel discussions and awards.

The festival opens with Karl Berger - Music Mind, directed by Julian Benedikt, which follows the life of legendary jazz improvisational pioneer and longtime Woodstock resident Karl Berger. A concert featuring Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Steven Bernstein, Billy Martin, Peter Apfelbaum, Ken Filiano, and special guest Marliyn Crispell will happen after the screening.

There is also a special slate of music video screenings from acts including Japanese Breakfast, Toulouse, Journey Blue Heaven, Boogrov, and more.

Special guests to the festival also include Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Julie Taymor, Rosamund Pike, Bill Plympton, Christopher Lloyd and Stanley Tucci.

Photos from the Woodstock Film Festival preview party, courtesy of John Mazlish Fine Art Photography

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