Panorama Europe Film Festival Starts Next Week!

Panorama Europe Film Festival Returns for its Seventh Year,

with a Slate of Sixteen Outstanding New Movies

FESTIVAL to Run from May 29 – June 14, 2015 at Museum of the Moving Image and Bohemian National Hall

Festival Kick-Off Event and Party at Tribeca Cinemas on Thursday, May 28

Panorama Europe 2015, the seventh edition of this vital festival of new European cinema (formerly known as Disappearing Act), presented by Museum of the Moving Image and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), returns to the Museum and the Bohemian National Hall with a slate of sixteen new features from May 29 through June 14.

The opening weekend includes special screenings of GODS (Poland, 2014), with director Lukasz Palkowski in person on Friday, May 29, and BOTA(THE WORLD) (Albania, 2014), with co-director Iris Elezi in person, on Sunday, May 31. Both screenings will be followed by conversations with the filmmakers, and receptions. Other festival titles include films from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain.

The festival informally kicks off on Thursday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of short European films at Tribeca Cinemas, followed by a party, as part of the NY Portuguese Short Film Festival (NYPSFF). 

The Closing Night film is Bas Devos’s award-winning VIOLET (Belgium, 2014), which screened as part of this year’s New Directors/New Films series. The screening will be preceded by live musc by the Flemish band St. Grandson in the Museum’s courtyard and followed by a reception.
The festival continues its mission of showcasing the best in European filmmaking by introducing a wide-ranging selection of contemporary cinema in varying genres that cover many current social and cultural themes. Panorama Europe offers New York audiences what may be their only chance to see these acclaimed films on the big screen. Some of the highlights of this year’s edition include Petr Václav’s 2015 Czech Lion best film THE WAY OUT, Panos H. Koutras’s multiple award-winning XENIA (Greece), Virág Zomborácz’s AFTERLIFE (Hungary), Ignas Jonynas’s THE GAMBLER (Lithuania), with star Oona Mekas attending, and BREATHE (RESPIRE) (France), the sophomore feature directed by the actress Mélanie Laurent (INGLORIOUSBASTERDS , BEGINNERS).

The full lineup of Panorama Europe 2015:

  • Bota (The World), Albania, Dir. Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci / Opening Weekend Film & Reception
  • Gods, Poland, Dir. Lukasz Palkowski / Opening Weekend Film & Reception
  • Violet, Belgium, Dir. Bas Devos / Closing Night Film & Reception
  • Afterlife, Hungary, Dir. Virág Zomborácz
  • Age of Cannibals, Germany, Dir. Johannes Naber
  • Breathe, France, Dir. Mélanie Laurent
  • Cowboys, Croatia, Dir. Tomislav Mrsic
  • The Gambler, Lithuania, Dir. Ignas Jonynas
  • I Can Quit Whenever I Want, Italy, Dir. Sydney Sibilia
  • In the Basement, Austria. Dir. Ulrich Seidel and the short film Exterior Extended
  • In the Crosswind, Estonia, Dir. Martti Helde
  • Magical Girl, Spain, Dir. Carlos Vermut
  • The Tree, Slovenia, Dir. Sonja Prosenc
  • The Unexpected Life, Spain, Dir. Jorge Torregrossa
  • The Way Out, Czech Republic, Dir. Petr Václav
  • Xenia, Greece, Dir. Panos H. Koutras

OPENING WEEKEND FILM

  • Gods

With Lukasz Palkowski in person, followed by reception
FRIDAY, MAY 29, 7:00 P.M.
Poland. Dir. Lukasz Palkowski. 2014, 120 mins. With Tomasz Kot, Piotr Glowacki, Szymon Piotr Warszawski. This enormously entertaining biopic chronicles the groundbreaking work of Zbigniew Religa, the pioneering Polish surgeon who defied the Communist bureaucracy of the 1980s to perform the country’s first heart transplant. Told with wit, verve, and a fastidious attention to period detail, Gods is an engrossing portrait of a larger-than-life personality.

  • Afterlife

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2:00 P.M.
Also showing: Thursday, June 4, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall
Hungary. Dir. Virág Zomborácz. 2014, 93 mins. With Márton Kristóf, László Gálffi, Eszter Csákányi. A pastor and son with a strained relationship get a shot at reconciliation—after the older man’s unexpected death. Part tender coming-of-age tale, part darkly comic ghost story, Afterlife is a surprising, poignant fable from one of the most distinctive new voices in Hungarian cinema.

  • The Tree

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 4:00 P.M.
Slovenia. Dir. Sonja Prosenc. 2014, 90 mins. With Katarina Stegnar, Jernej Kogovsek, Lukas Matija. A mother and her two sons live as prisoners in their own home. But what is it about the outside world they fear? Told from three points of view, a riveting family tragedy gradually reveals itself in this acclaimed Slovenian chamber drama, which masterfully maintains an air of steadily mounting tension. 

  • I Can Quit Whenever I Want

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2:00 P.M.
Italy. Dir. Sydney Sibilia. 2014, 100 mins. With Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino, Valerio Aprea. A group of underemployed academics hope to earn quick cash by entering the drug racket. But when their new designer drug turns out to be all the rage, can they handle the success? One of the funniest Italian comedies in years, this ultra-entertaining box office smash plays like Breaking Bad meets Reservoir Dogs.

  • Xenia

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 4:00 P.M.
Greece. Dir. Panos H. Koutras. 2014, 128 mins. With Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia, Aggelos Papadimitriou. A gay teen and his older brother journey across Greece in search of their estranged father in this alternately surreal and stirring road movie. Juxtaposing the realities of present-day Greece with imaginative slips into dream logic, this bold coming-of-age saga swept this year’s Hellenic Film Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and six other awards.

OPENING WEEKEND FILM 

  • Bota (The World)

With co-director Iris Elezi in person; followed by reception
SUNDAY, MAY 31, 7:00 P.M. 
Albania. Dir. Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci. 2014, 104 mins. With Flonja Kodheli, Artur Gorishti, Fioralba Kryemadhi. The intersecting lives of three people working at an offbeat café in a small village form a captivating portrait of modern day Albania in this poetic drama, which confronts a particularly troubling chapter of the country’s Communist past.

  • The Way Out

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 7:00 P.M.
Also showing: Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall 
Czech Republic/France. Dir. Petr Václav. 2014, 102 mins. With Klaudia Dudová, David Ištok, Sára Makulová. The Way Out follows a young Romany woman who perseveres in the face of anti-gypsy racism to find steady employment. This heartrending drama, shown in competition at Cannes, is rendered with admirable understatement and an almost documentary-like realism. The Way Out, winner of the Czech Film Critics Award,
was named Best Film at the Czech Lion awards.  New York Premiere.

  • Cowboys

SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2:00 P.M.
Croatia. Dir. Tomislav Mrsic. 2013, 107 mins. With Sasa Anocic, Zivko Anocic, Matija Antolic. The Wild West and Eastern Europe collide in this infectious Croatian comedy, in which a prominent theater director mounts a hilariously bizarre cowboy musical in a bleak industrial town. Croatia’s Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film “is a nifty blend of social drama and absurdist comedy” (Variety).

  • In the Crosswind

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2:00 P.M.
Estonia. Dir. Martti Helde. 2014, 87 mins. With Ingrid Isotamm, Laura Peterson, Mirt Preegel, Einar Hillep, Tarmo Song. This startlingly original “landmark film” (The Hollywood Reporter) recounts one woman’s harrowing, true-life tale of survival in the midst of Stalin’s ethnic cleansing of the Baltic region. Told via stunning, monochrome tableaux vivants that freeze characters in time and space, In the Crosswind is both a visually and emotionally overwhelming experience.

  • The Gambler

With actress Oona Mekas in person
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 4:00 P.M.
Lithuania. Dir. Ignas Jonynas. 2013, 109 mins. With Vytautas Kaniusonis, Oona Mekas, Rimas Blockis. This twisted, ultra-stylish thriller serves up a shocking premise: Vincentas, a paramedic with a gambling addiction, collects big time when he starts taking bets on whether his patients live or die. As the scheme spreads throughout the hospital, Vincentas begins raking in the money—but has he sold his soul? The Gambler is a noirish plunge into the darkest depths of amorality, and was Lithuania’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language film.

  • In the Basement

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 7:00 P.M.
Austria. Dir. Ulrich Seidl. 2014, 85 mins. With Fritz Lang, Alfreda Klebinger, Manfred Ellinger. Best known for his “Paradise” narrative trilogy, Seidl returns to the documentary form by visiting the basements of middle-class Austrians to share the odd, disturbing, and touching findings in these intimate private spaces. Preceded by Exterior Extended (Austria. Dir. Siegfried A. Fruhauf. 2013, 8 mins. 35mm).

  • Breathe (Respire)

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2:00 P.M.
France. Dir. Mélanie Laurent. 2014, 91 mins. With Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré. Two teenage girls’ seemingly perfect friendship turns toxic in this gripping sophomore feature from actress-turned-director Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds, Beginners). Boasting standout, César Award-nominated performances from its lead actresses, Respire captures the turbulence of the adolescent years with raw emotional honesty.

  • The Unexpected Life

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 4:00 P.M.
Spain. Dir. Jorge Torregrossa. 2014, 107 mins. With Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Tammy Blanchard. An actor and Spanish ex-pat living in Manhattan bonds with his more conventional cousin in this bittersweet comedy. A charming valentine to New York City, The Unexpected Life offers wise and witty insights into what it means to be a foreigner in a new country.

  • Magical Girl

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 12:00 P.M.
Spain. Dir. Carlos Vermut, 2014, 127 mins. With Marina Andruix, Julio Arrojo, Luis Bermejo. This mind-bending neo-noir begins as a tale of a father desperate to fulfill his dying daughter's last wish: to own an extravagantly expensive dress from her favorite Japanese anime. The lengths to which he goes to secure the garment lead him down a rabbit hole of depravity. The film won the Golden Shell award for Best Film and the Silver Shell for Best Director at the 62nd International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain. 

  • Age of Cannibals

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 3:00 P.M.
Also showing: Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall
Germany. Dir. Johannes Naber. 2014, 93 mins. With Sebastian Blomberg, Devid Striesow, Katharina Schüttler. Passed over for a promotion, two slimy international business consultants head for a breakdown of epic proportions in this scorching satire of capitalism at its dirtiest. Propelled by tour-de-force performances, Age of Cannibals goes to extremes to expose the dehumanizing effects of the corporate rat race. The film won multiple German Film Critics Awards, including Best Feature Film, among others.

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

  • Violet

Preceded by live music by the Flemish band St. Grandson in the Museum Courtyard (5.45 – 6:45 pm ) 
Followed by reception offered by The General Representation of the Government of Flanders to the U.S.
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 7:00 P.M.
Belgium. Dir. Bas Devos. 2014, 82 mins. With César De Sutter, Raf Walschaerts, Mira Helmer. This “intensely stylized, highly original and utterly mesmerizing” (Variety) film viscerally evokes the disorientation of grief as a troubled teen deals with the emotional fallout of witnessing his friend’s murder. Stunningly shot partly in 65mm, Violet favorably recalls Gus Van Sant’s portraits of teenage angst as it builds towards a heart-stopping climax.

For more information and to order tickets, visit http://www.movingimage.us/panorama-europe

Israel Film Center Festival Announces Full Line-Up, Special Events and Guests

The Israel Film Center Festival, presented by JCC Manhattan, announced special events and a detailed program for the 2015 edition of the festival, to take place in New York and Westchester from June 4-11. The festival features U.S. and New York premieres of the top recent films out of Israel's budding cinema industry.

Guests include renowned Israeli directors whose works will be presented at the festival, including Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride) director of A Borrowed Identity and Shira Geffen (Jellyfish), director of the closing night film,Self Made, among many other emerging voices in the burgeoning Israeli film scene. The festival will also present events with celebrated actors such as Alon Aboutboul (The Dark Knight Rises) who stars in Is That You? and Mili Avital (Stargate).  

The Israel Film Center Festival hosts a diverse array of films, talent and themes which will be embraced at JCC Manhattan’s signature post-film discussions. Post-film conversations include guests from the Berlin Film Festival favorite Youth, directed by Tom Shoval, about rebellious teenagers in Israel who decide to kidnap a local girl in order to overcome their family’s financial issues.  Other films with timely themes are the Cannes Film Festival favorites, The Kindergarten Teacher, directed by Nadav Lapid, about the disturbing relationship between a teacher and a child prodigy, as well as Next To Her directed by Asaf Korman, about a young woman taking care of a sister on the autistic spectrum.

Isaac Zablocki, Artistic Director of the festival, states, “All of the films in this year’s festival follow a new trend in Israeli cinema to relate to social issues in Israeli society, while finding levers to resonate with global audiences as well.”

The more traditional modern Israeli cinema themes of military and religion will also be presented from new perspectives and through a new light with films includingTuviansky, directed by Riki Shelach.
Tuviansky is a historical narrative feature film about an officer in the early days of the Israeli army who is the only other man apart from Adolf Eichmann to have been executed in Israel. This forgotten tale in Israel’s history evokes social questions on the misuse of power that are still very much alive today.

The Holocaust confronted from the point of view of young, third generation of Israelis who move back to Berlin in the film Anderswo — Anywhere Else, directed by Ester Amrami.  Apples From the Desert, directed by Matti Harari and Arik Lubetzki and based on Savyon Libbrecht’s celebrated eponymous novel, tells the story of a woman who leaves the orthodox community in Jerusalem for secular life on a kibbutz. And, in the bold documentary Sacred Sperm, director Ori Gruder deals with sex in the ultra orthodox community. 

Finally, the 2015 edition of the festival presents the first film on Israel’s emerging football league in Touchdown Israel, directed by Paul Hirchberger, which brings together diverse sectors of the population including Arabs, Jews, the religious and the secular. 

Special events include a roof top screening of the classic Sallah Shabati by Ephraim Kishon, in honor of the 50 year anniversary of the film’s release. Kishon’s son will present the film.

The complete line up of films is as follows:
 
A Borrowed Identity 
(Dir. Eran Riklis, 105 min)
Eyad, who grew up in an Arab town in Israel, is given the chance to go to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. He tries desperately to fit in with his schoolmates and is isolated until Jewish classmate Naomi befriends him. Eyad's other lifeline is Yonatan (Michael Moshonov), whom Eyad is assigned to help with schoolwork. Both are misfits: one in a wheelchair, the other an Arab. Through love, friendship, tradition, and conflict, Eyad struggles to find his identity. Based on the books of Sayed Kashua.
 
Anderswo — Anywhere Else 
(Dir. Ester Amrami, 84 min)
In this amusing drama, Noa decides to fly back to Israel after nine years in Berlin, where she felt misunderstood and alone. Before long, old conflicts resurface and are joined by new ones in her old homeland. When her boyfriend Jörg shows up in Israel, her two carefully separated worlds collide as she tries to come to terms with herself and others.    
 
Apples from the Desert 
(Dir. Matti Harari, Arik Lubetzki, 87 min)
Based on the acclaimed novel by Savyon Liebrecht. Rebecca, the only daughter of ultra-Orthodox parents from Jerusalem, begins to secretly expose herself to the secular world. When her strict father decides to set her up to marry an older widower, she runs away from her family to a kibbutz in the desert with a young man.   

Is That You?
(Dir. Dani Menkin, 81 min)
After Ronnie (Alon Abutbul) is fired from his job at the age of 60, he sets off to America in search of his childhood love. His road trip through the ins and outs of multiple states turns into a life-changing journey.   
 
Kicking Out Shoshana 
(Dir. Shay Kanot, 100 min)
In this comedy starring Oshri Cohen and Gal Gadot, an Israeli soccer player, Ami Shoshan, is forced to pose as a gay man after being caught flirting with the girlfriend of an Israeli mobster. Shunned by his teammates and fans alike, Shoshan nevertheless finds himself a hero of the gay community in Jerusalem.
 
The Kindergarten Teacher 
(Dir. Nadav Lapid, 120 min)
A kindergarten teacher discovers a five-year-old child has a prodigious gift for poetry. Amazed and inspired by this young boy, her fascination becomes an obsession as she is determined to protect his primal talent before the passage from boyhood to adolescence changes his purity.   
 
Next to Her 
(Dir. Asaf Korman, 90 min)
Chelli is raising her sister Gabby (Dana Ivgy) who has developmental disabilities. When Chelli meets a man, her complicated life gets further tangled and her relationship with her sister begins to play a new role.  
 
Sacred Sperm 
(Dir. Ori Gruder, 60 min)
An eye-opening documentary exploring one of the biggest taboos in Orthodox Judaism. The ultra-Orthodox director candidly searches his community of parents and rabbis on how to educate their male children about sex and how to keep the commandments that call to abstain.  
 
Special Screening in honor of Ephraim Kishon: Sallah Shabati on the Roof!
In commemoration of 50 years since the release of Sallah Shabati and 10 years since the passing of Ephraim Kishon, join us for an outdoor screening of the Israeli classic starring Chaim Topol.
 
Touchdown Israel 
(Dir. Paul Hirschberger, 81 min)
America's favorite sport is spreading to Israel and bringing together a diverse cast of characters. Osraeli Jews, Muslims, Christians, Americans living in Israel and religious settlers all play together. The film explores the power of sports as a unifier in a complex, multifaceted society. 
 
Tuviansky 
(Dir. Riki Shelach, 82 min)
In 1948, six weeks after the state of Israel was established and amidst the chaos of the formation of a new military force, Captain Meyer Tuviansky was accused of treason. He was arrested, tried, sentenced and executed, only to be exonerated one year later. Based on a true story.
 
Youth Noar
(Dir. Tom Shoval, 107 min)
Two teenaged brothers share a strong, almost telepathic connection. They feel their family is falling apart due to a financial crisis. They decide to take action, and kidnap a young classmate in an effort to solve the family’s problems.
 
Self Made: Closing Night Film
(Dir. Shira Geffen, 89 min)
In this surrealistic drama, an Israeli artist and a Palestinian employee of a furniture company are both trapped within their respective worlds. When the artist finds her furniture is missing a screw, the two women’s worlds collide and they find themselves living the life of the other on the opposite side of the border. 
 
AUDIENCE SELECT
Vote for your favorite Israeli film that was released in the U.S. this year. The winning film will be announced on opening night and screened on Thursday, Jun 11 at 9pm.
 
Zero Motivation: Female Israeli soldiers are posted to a remote desert base and spend their time pushing paper until they can return to civilian life.
 
Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem: An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) fights for three years to obtain a divorce from her devout husband, who refuses to grant his permission to dissolve the marriage.
 
The Farewell Party: Levana and Yehezkel, a married couple in a retirement home, love being together until a pair of devastating challenges suddenly threatens to divide them.

For more information, please visit: israelfilmcenter.org/festival

Brooklyn Film Festival Announces 18th Annual Festival Lineup

  • Kicks Off May 29 With Manson Family Vacation
  • Event To Feature 108 Films From 26 Countries

The Brooklyn Film Festival has announced their full slate of films for the 2015 edition of this Brooklyn cultural mainstay. For their 18th edition, the festival will open with the East Coast premiere of J. Davis’ Manson Family Vacation , starring Jay Duplass, Linas Phillips, Tobin Bell, Leonora Pitts, Adam Chernick and Davie-Blue, screening at new BFF venue the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. Executive produced by Jay & Mark Duplass, the film was acquired by Netflix at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival.

This year’s festival is comprised of 108 features and shorts from 26 countries spread over 5 continents and of these, 17 are world premieres and 30 US premieres, with Ryan Carmichael’s But Not For Me as the lone narrative feature world premiere. This New York City film stars Marcus Carl Franklin, Elena Urioste, Maria Vermeulen and Roger Guenveur Smith.

In addition to But Not For Me, BFF films with a NYC connection include Matthew Yeager’s US premiere Valedictorian, starring Brian Dell, Jennifer Prediger and Eleonore Hendricks; Onur Turkel’s Abby Singer/Songwriter , also starring Prediger, along with Turkel and Josephine Decker, Harvey Mitkas’ Devil Town, starring Lindsay Burdge, Alex Karpovsky, Lawrence Michael Levine, Jennifer Prediger (no, we’re not kidding), Sophia Takal, Brooke Bloom, Noah Gershman, Jen Kim, Alex Ross Perry and Caveh Zahedi; Alison Bagnall’s Funny Bunny , starring Kentucker Audley, Joslyn Jensen, Olly Alexander, Louis Cancelmi, Josephine Decker, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Grace Gonglewski, Caridad de la Luz and Nicholas Webber; Frank Hall Green’s Wildlike, starring Ella Purnell, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Teddy Kyle Smith, Nolan Gerard Funk, Ann Dowd, Diane Farr, Joshua Leonard, and Jack & Robert Schurman’s documentary Wild Home.

"The 2015 fest has a number of fantastic films from local filmmakers that shows the diverse creative visions of our city's filmmakers," says Director of Programming Bryce J. Renninger. "Work from across the country and the world round out the lineup, exploring and exemplifying this year's theme of Illuminate with their intelligence and ingenuity."

Expanding on the theme, BFF executive director Marco Ursino says “Illuminate is designed to showcase a new generation of filmmakers and their visions as part of the larger Brooklyn creative story,” adding “The festival hopes to spotlight storytelling without boundaries and welcome multi-layered stories, including the abstract and the inspirational, the intriguing and the ironic. The festival is simply looking for projects that reflect a creative, furious, explosive, and uncontainable intelligence.”

Other special events during the fest include the 11th annual KidsFilmFest 2015 on Saturday, May 30th at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP; the Filmmakers Party on  June 3rd at Billet & Bellows; the BFF Exchange series of panels and a pitch session on June 6th; “The Illuminate Party,” also on  June 6th, and the June 7th Awards Ceremony.

Main BFF venues are the Wythe Hotel and Windmill Studios in Greenpoint. Satellite locations include Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Made in New York Media Center By IFP in Dumbo, and BRIC House in Fort Greene.

The complete Feature lineup is as follows. Winners of the various festival awards as chosen by the fest juries and Board of Directors receive a total of $50,000 in prizes and film services from festival sponsors Panavision NY, Abelcine, Xeno Lights, Media Services, Film Friends, Mik Cribben Steady-Cam, Cinecall Soundtracks and Windmill Studios.

Opening Night

  • Manson Family Vacation Director: J. Davis - Two brothers (Jay Duplass and Linas Phillips) reunite when the more free-spirited brother shows up at the other's door with nothing but a backpack. Together, they get to know each other again while touring the sites of Charles Manson's exploits and exploring Manson's contemporary life. EAST COAST PREMIERE

Narrative Features

  • Abby Singer/Songwriter Director: Onur Tukel - Divorced stockbroker Jamie Block was once an indie-rock star. Going through a life crisis, he teams up with a filmmaker to make a series of music videos in this trippy, funny film. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • But Not for Me Director: Ryan Carmichael - Will is a young writer working at an ad agency as a copywriter. Like many others his age, he is hiding his true passion for philosophy and music and holding back his true thoughts, until a relationship with a young woman inspires him. WORLD PREMIERE
  • Devil Town Director: Harvey Mitkas - A young woman enlists a shady detective to help her find her missing sister in this neo-noir with a cast of indie film favorites.
  • Eadweard Director: Kyle Rideout - A psychological biopic that explores the mind of Eadweard Muybridge, the godfather of cinema, who was also the last American to receive a justifiable homicide verdict after killing his wife’s lover. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • Funny Bunny Director: Alison Bagnall - A young canvasser and a loner teenager who is estranged from his parents go on a journey to meet Ginger, the animal activist with whom the teen has developed an online relationship. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • God Bless the Child Directors: Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck - In this beautifully realized observational narrative, Harper, the oldest of five siblings, must take care of her siblings. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • Inferno Director: Vinko Moderndorfer - In this Slovenian realist drama, young working class family must deal with the struggles of unemployment while the global economy crumbles and local labor rebels. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • Sweaty Betty Directors: Joe Frank and Zachary Reed - Two stories come out of the row houses on the border of Washington, D.C. — a pig, Ms. Charlotte, is carted around, vying for a chance to be a team mascot for the Washington Redskins; and two teenage best friends come into ownership of a dog that they attempt to sell. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • Valedictorian Director: Matthew Yeager - Ben feels less and less in touch with his life in New York City, and over a year, he must confront the connections — or lack thereof — he feels with those he considers close. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
  • Wildlike Director: Frank Hall Green - When teenage Mackenzie is sent to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska, she knows it’s not right for her. Shortly after arriving, she embarks on a journey headed south to find her mother.

Documentary Features

  • 20 Years of Madness Director: Jeremy Royce - The founder of a mid-90’s Public Access TV show in Detroit reunites the cast twenty years later to make a new episode and discovers that his friends and former collaborators are struggling with the hard realities of adulthood.
  • Chameleon Director: Ryan Mullins - The elusive undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas is one of Ghana’s most popular figures. Though the charismatic investigator has named and shamed various high profile malfeasants, his identity remains hidden. U.S. PREMIERE
  • Deep Web Director: Alex Winter - Thirty-year-old entrepreneur Ross William Ulbricht has been convicted for operating the online black market Silk Road. This comprehensive documentary tracks the history of the site and the vigorously pursued case against Ulbricht.
  • Frame by Frame Directors: Alexandria Bombach and Mo Scarpelli - Photography was outlawed in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan; however, with the fall of the Taliban, photographers have been key documenters of the changing nation.
  • Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi Director: Neal Broffman - Four weeks after disappearing from his apartment as a student at Brown University, Sunil Tripathi was accused of being Suspect #2 in the Boston Marathon bombings. The false accusations disrupted his family, steadfastly working with his friends to find him.
  • I Am Thor Director: Ryan Wise - Jon Mikl Thor was a bodybuilder, steel gender, and rock star in the 70’s and 80’s who led the theatrical band THOR. Today, he seeks to reclaim his mantle as a high-energy rock star. EAST COAST PREMIERE
  • Paradiso Director: Omar A. Razzak - Projectionist Rafael works hard to tidy up and maintain Madrid’s last remaining adult movie theater, Duque de Alba. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
  • Placebo Director: Abhay Kumar - One of the most competitive medical schools, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has an acceptance rate of less than 0.1%. The high academic standards leave a harsh toll on the students. U.S. PREMIERE
  • We Were Rebels Directors: Katharina von Schroeder and Florian Schewe - Agel took up arms when he was ten to participate in the fight for an independent South Sudan. After leaving the conflict, Agel has returned to an independent South Sudan, where he is the captain of the national basketball team and worries over the young nation's fragile democracy.
  • Wild Home Directors: Jack Schurman and Robert Schurman - Deep in the woods of Maine, Bob Miner, a Vietnam Veteran rehabilitates abused and abandoned animals. He and his wife have built a kingdom for lions, tigers, hyenas, kangaroos, black bears, and over 200 other species of animals that attracts a diverse set of visitors.

For more information, please visit: www.brooklynfilmfestival.org.

FESTIVAL CELEBRATING LEGENDARY MEXICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AT FILM FORUM, JUNE 5-18

PRESENTED IN CONJUNCTION
WITH EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO EXHIBITION 
***


A tribute to the great Mexican cinematographer GABRIEL FIGUEROA (1907-1997) will run at Film Forum from Friday, June 5 through Thursday, June 18.

The two-week, 19-film retrospective is presented in conjunction with the exhibition “UNDER THE MEXICAN SKY: GABRIEL FIGUEROA – ART AND FILM,” now on view at El Museo del Barrio (1230 Fifth Avenue at 104 Street) through June 27.

Other national cinemas like Italy and Japan had a Big Three, but they were always directors. Mexico alone had a Big Four: stars Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, director Emilio Fernández, and Director of Photography Figueroa. Influenced by Eisenstein’s ¡Que Viva México!, and taught byCitizen Kane’s Gregg Toland, Figueroa worked with every luminary at home — including directors Fernández, Roberto Gavaldón, and Luis Buñuel— and internationally with John Huston, John Ford, Don Siegel, and Clint Eastwood. Often counted as Mexico’s fourth great muralist along with Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco, Figueroa was nominated for the Ariel Award (Mexico’s Oscars) for Best Cinematography every year from 1946 to 1954, 11 nominations overall, winning 7 times (once against himself). No cameraman has ever dominated a national cinema as he did or created so majestic and instantly recognizable an image of it.

The series kicks off June 5 with Enamorada, often called “the Gone with the Wind of Mexican cinema.” A “deliriously romantic re-working ofThe Taming of the Shrew” (Time Out) set during the Mexican Revolution, it stars Armendáriz as a general who starts to shake down the rich after taking the town of Cholul, but then falls for a staunch conservative’s spitfire daughter, played by Mexican diva María Félix. Enamorada swept the Ariels, winning for Best Film, Director, Actress, Editing, and Figueroa’s cinematography.

Among the many highlights in the series are Figueroa’s collaborations with director Emilio Fernández, including:

  • Wildflower, the first collaboration of the “Big Four,” with Armendáriz as a landowner who makes a desperate sacrifice for the love of idealistic peasant girl del Río.
  • ·Victims of Sin, the Film Noir soap opera musical starring Cuban rumba legend Ninón Sevilla. The screening will be introduced by Eddie Muller, author and founder of Film Noir Foundation.
  • ·María Candelaria, the co-Grand Prize winner and Best Cinematography prize to Figueroa at Cannes, starring Armendáriz and del Río in the title role.
  • ·Salón México, with Marga López sexily dancing up a storm to support her younger sister.
  • ·The Pearl, based on the John Steinbeck novel and shot by Figueroa on Mexico’s Pacific coast, with Armendáriz as a down-on-his-luck diver who happens upon the biggest pearl he’s ever seen.
  •  Pueblerina, the last of Fernández’ films about village life.
  • Río Escondido, starring Félix as a dedicated schoolteacher who faces a rape attempt, shooting and peasant revolt as she fights to bring education to a remote Mexican village.

Figueroa’s prolific international work is represented as well, including John Ford’s The Fugitive, starring Henry Fonda as the last priest in an anti-clerical state pursued by Armendáriz’s nationalistic priest killer - one of Ford’s personal favorites; Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine on the run in Don Seigel’s Two Mules for Sister Sara; and two by John Huston: Under the Volcano, with Albert Finney, and The Night of the Iguana, Figueroa’s only Oscar nomination, photographed in Puerto Vallarta with Richard Burton as the object of desire for Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon.

The festival also includes Buñuel masterworks Los Olvidados and Nazarín; Mexican Film Noir Another Dawn; Pedro Páramo, starring half-Mexican Psychostar John Gavin (later the U.S. ambassador to Mexico); and three films directed by the great Roberto Gavaldón: Autumn Days, Rosa Blanca(based on a novel by Treasure of the Sierra Madreauthor B. Traven), and Macario, the first Mexican film ever to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

All films will be screened in 35mm (except María Candelaria, which will be shown in 16mm).

The GABRIEL FIGUEROA retrospective is presented in association with FUNDACIÓN TELEVISA, EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO, CINEMA TROPICAL, and THE MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK, with the support of FILMOTECA DE LA UNAM, THE MEXICAN AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION, and the CONSULATE GENERAL OF MEXICO IN NEW YORK.