An Expanded DOC NYC Is In Its 5th Edition

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 06 November 2014 14:31

Written by Brad Balfour

The fifth edition of America's largest documentary festival, DOC NYC, runs from November 13-20, 2014, at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea's SVA Theatre and Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas. Through an expansion from last year's event, this year's festival will showcase 153 films and events, with over 200 documentary makers and special guests expected in person to present their films to New York City audiences.

DOC NYC's expanded programming includes 19 world premieres, seven US premieres and 40 New York City premieres among this year's feature-length films. A total of 92 features, 37 shorts and 24 panel discussions and masterclasses make up the fifth edition's offerings.

The opening night film Do I Sound Gay?, directed by David Thorpe and in its US premiere, is bookended this year's closing night film, The Yes Men Are Revolting, directed by Laura Nix, which is also having its US premiere. Both films debuted in September 2014's Toronto International Film Festival.

Said artistic director Thom Powers, who has led the festival alongside executive director Raphaela Neihausen since its launch: "Over the past five years, DOC NYC has brought together an exciting mix of filmmakers, special guests and influential audiences—providing the kind of experiences that happen only in New York. Our mix of premieres, classics, in-depth panels, and masterclasses span documentary past, present and future."

Among the world premieres are the debuts of: 

• An Open Secret
  An exposé about sexual abuse in Hollywood, by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil, West of Memphis)

• Still Dreaming
  The residents of an actors' retirement home perform Shakespeare, direced by Hank Rogerson and Jilann Spitzmiller.
  
  
• Almost There
  A portrait of an outsider artist with a surprising past, by Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden


In addition to an expanded Short List -- DOC NYC's selection of the best docs of the year -- and the increase of the festival's panel series, Doc-A-Thon, by two days, this year's event debuts four new thematic programming strands: 

• Fight the Power celebrates activism.
• Centerstage highlights performance.
• Jock Docs focuses on sports.
• Docs Redux revisits classic films.


Said director of programming Basil Tsiokos, "We're pleased that DOC NYC's expansion this year enables us to expose New York audiences to a greater breadth of documentary storytelling and subject matter. 
"Our competition sections and thematic sidebars offer wonderful new discoveries, while the larger Short List enables us to showcase even more of the year's most acclaimed docs as we head into awards season."


DOC NYC is made possible by its sponsors, including Leadership Sponsor HBO Documentary Films; Media Sponsors WNET and New York magazine; and Major Sponsors A&E IndieFilms, History Films and SundanceNow Doc Club. The festival is produced by IFC Center.

To learn more, go to: http://www.docnyc.net/

DOC NYC
November 13th - 20th

IFC Center
323 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10014

SVA Theater
333 W 23rd St
New York, NY 10011

Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas
260 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Israel Film Festival Spotlights Israeli Culture

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 05 November 2014 21:05

Written by Jessica Beard

The 28th Israeli Film Festival brings its international industry and cultural showcase to the world's entertainment capital this year -- as befits the U.S.'s biggest offering of Israeli film. The yearly celebration takes place from October 23 - November 6 in Los Angeles, aiming to connect American audiences with the fullness and vibrancy of Israel life and society.

With such an abundance of features, documentaries, television shows and student shorts to choose from, the IFF has cherry-picked a "Best of the Fest" slate of multiple screenings to offer filmgoers expanded chances to see 2014's most buzzed-about pieces. The festival opened October 25 with U.S. premiere Is That You?, a romantic drama about a 60-year-old film projectionist (Alon Abouboul) who gets fired from his job and sets out in search of his long-ago teenage love. The 2014 Israeli Academy (Ophir) Awards Best Picture nominee screens again Sunday, November 2.

Fellow festival-opener and U.S. Premiere Kicking Out Shoshana is director Shay Kanot's comedy about an Israeli soccer player (Oshri Cohen) forced to pose as a homosexual as punishment for flirting with a mafia boss's girlfriend. Predictably, he loses support from fans and teammates in conservative Jerusalem -- but attains heroic status in its gay community under his guise. The film screens again on November 5.

Also headlining the festival's second-chance screenings are The Dove Flyer (Farewell Bagdad) (2013) and Apples from the Desert (2014). The Dove Flyer is director Nissam Diyam's adaptation of Eli Amir's novel about the 130 million Jews who fled Iraq between 1950 and 1951. Apples from the Desert (directors: Matti Harari and Arik Lubetzkiis) is about a young girl named Rebecca (Moran Rosenblatt) who runs away from her Jewish Orthodox home in Jerusalem to join a kibbutz with a young man in the desert.

The Opening Night Gala on October 23 honored film producer Arnon Milchan, film and television producer Mace Neufeld and actress Dana Ivgy. Arnon's 130-plus films include 2014 releases Gone Girl and Birdman -- both currently in theaters -- as well as 12 Years a Slave (2013), A Time to Kill (1996) and Pretty Woman (1990). Neufeld boasts the recent Denzel Washington/Antoine Fuqua team-up The Equalizer (2014) and the classic The Hunt for Red October (1990) while Ivgy stars in two festival entries, gala feature Next to Her (2014) and Zero Motivation (2014). Next to Her tells the story of Chelli (Liron Ben-Shlush), a young woman whose codependent relationship with her younger, developmentaly-challenged sister Gabby (Ivgy) compicates when Chelli's love interest Zohar (Yaakov Zada Daniel) enters the picture.

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

Other Israel Film Fest 2014 Shines Light on Unity & Conflict

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 05 November 2014 11:21

Written by Renzo Adler

Almost Friends

In a land of seemingly perpetual strife and conflict, The Other Israel Film Festival (November 6 - 13, 2014), founded in 2007, sheds light on the history of Israel as well as the lives of its minority, Arab, and Palestinian citizens. Through documentaries, dramatic films, and panel discussion, the Other Israel Film Fest promotes understanding and provides a forum for discussion on current affairs in Israel.

The highlight of the fest is the music documentary East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, which follows singer/songwriter and peace activist David Broza. Sharing the title with Broza’s latest album, this documentary will have its NYC premiere at Other Israel. After the screening, Broza will also have a discussion interwoven with a music performance that will include singer Mira Awad and musician/producer Steve Earle.

Having its US premiere at the fest, Almost Friends, directed by Nitzan Ofir and Barak Heymann follows the growing friendship between two girls, one living in a secular part of Israel, the other in the deeply religious neighborhoods, who reach across boundaries as pen pals.

Fire Lines, directed by David Viola and Avi Goldstein, documents how Israeli and Palestinian fire-fighters worked together to fight the Carmel fireof 2010.

The Village of Peace, directed by Ben Schuder and Niko Philipides shows the lives of a group of African-Americans who left Chicago in 1967 and moved to Dimona, Israel to build a new life and community.

Other events include:

the Other Perspectives panel where filmmakers Sayed Kashua, Menashe Noy, Lucy Aharish, Dana Ivgy and others discuss Israeli current affairs, culture, and the perception of Israel abroad.

The Challenges of a Young Country, a discussion with David Blight and Ari Shavit, moderated by Emily Bazelon, examines parallels between Israel today and the United States when it was only 66 years old, and the challenges both face, and what Israel can learn from America’s past.

The Other Israel Film Festival gives an enlightening look at a world of conflict, and through cinema, aims to promote better cultural understanding.

Carole Zabar, a festival founder said, "The Other Israel Film Festival was founded to be a vehicle for cultural change and social insights into the nature of Israel as a democracy and the complex condition of the lives of its minorities that are living in the Jewish State."

To learn more, go to: http://www.otherisrael.org/

The Other Israel Film Festival
November 6 - 13, 2014

Various Venues