CANNES 2011 LINEUP ANNOUNCED

By Jason Guerrasio

The line up for the 64th Cannes Film Festival was announced today in Paris. Some of the familiar faces headed to the South of France this year include the Dardenne brothers, Nicolas Winding Refn, Pedro Almodovar and Terrence Malick who all have films in competition. Jodi Foster‘s The Beaver and Rob Marshall‘s installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will play out of competition. While Gus Van Stant, Bruno Dumont and Sean Durkin will have films in Un Certain Regard.

The complete list of titles are below. The Cannes Film Festival will take place May 11-22.

Competition:

“La Piel Que Habito” (The Skin that I Live In), directed by Pedro Almodovar
“L’Apollonide,” directed by Bertrand Bonello
“Drive,” directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
“Footnote,” directed by Joseph Cedar
“Ichimei” (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai), directed by Takashi Miike
“Le Havre,” directed by Aki Kaurismäki
“Hanezu No Tsuki,” directed by Naomi Kawase
“The Kid With The Bike,” directed by Dardenne Brothers
“Melancholia,” directed by Lars Von Trier
“Michael,” directed by Markus Schleinzer
“Once Upon A Time in Anatolia,” directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“Parter,” directed by Alain Cavalier
“Polisse,” directed by Maiwenn
“Sleeping Beauty,” directed by Julia Leigh
“La source des femmes,” directed by Radu Mihaileanu
“This Must Be The Place,” directed by Paolo Sorrentino
“The Tree of Life,” directed by Terrence Malick (pictured)
“We Have a Pope,” directed by Nanni Moretti
“We Need To Talk About Kevin,” directed by Lynne Ramsay

Out of Competition:

“The Artist,” directed by Michel Hazanavicius
“The Beaver,” directed by Jodie Foster
“La conquête,” directed by Xavier Durringer
“Kung Fu Panda 2,” directed by Jennifer Yuh
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directed by Rob Marshall

Midnight Screenings:
“Wu Xia,” directed by Chan Peter Ho-Sun
“Dias de Gracia,” directed by Everado Gout

Special Screenings:
“Labrador,” directed by Frederikke Aspöck
“Le maître des forges de l’enfer,” directed by Rithy Panh
“Michel Petrucciani,” directed by Michael Radford
“Tous au Larzac,” directed by Christian Rouaud

Un Certain Regard:

“Bonsaï,” directed by Christian Jimenez
“The Day He Arrives,” directed by … Read the rest

ALISTAIR BANKS GRIFFIN, “TWO GATES OF SLEEP”

By Brandon Harris

American independent films of the narrative variety are rarely hard art films. But in the case of Alastair Banks Griffin’s Two Gates of Sleep, which bowed at last year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes before finding its way to AFI Fest last Fall, one should be ready to enter a long-take heavy, unspeakably gorgeous dirge that is sure of its influences and even more sure that it has something deeply resonant to express to you. It’s the type of movie that, as the cliche goes, requires the audience to “do some work,” that isn’t going to bend over backwards to entertain you, that’s going to leave your questions unanswered and your desires for exposition or denouement unfulfilled. It tells the story of a pair of backwoods brothers (Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene’s Brady Corbett and Tiny Furniture’s David Call) in the rural American South who choose to bury their dead mother (Karen Young) in a pine box of their own making after she dies from some unexplained ailment in a field near their home.

Griffin, a native Southerner and prodigious cinephile making his directorial debut, did the festival rounds in 2008 with his short film Gauge. It was there that he met the producers of his most recent film, Sean Durkin, Josh Mond and Antonio Campos of Borderline Films, who were at NYFF ’08 with Campos’ startling feature debut Afterschool. After discovering a mutual appreciation for austere narratives with young, untraditional protagonists, they banded together to make Two Gates of Sleep, which features the most impressive work yet from Borderline’s house cinematographer/young d.p. of the moment Jody Lee Lipes, who like Durkin and Campos was featured among our 25 New Faces in Independent Film. Two Gates of Sleep opens on Friday at the ReRun GastroPub Theater in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

Filmmaker: Watching your film for a second time recently, it strongly recalls the work of both William Faulkner and Terrence Malick to me.

Griffin: They are big influences. There were some other influences that went into the genesis of the film … Read the rest

IFP’s ANNUAL SCRIPT TO SCREEN CONFERENCE

By Mary Anderson Casavant

Ah, there’s nothing quite like the smell of pitches in the morning. This past Saturday, the IFP kicked off its annual Script to Screen Conference with five brave writers pitching their scripts to a panel of producers and agents.

Although all the panelists agreed that it was useful for writers to compare their projects to other films (a practice known as “using comps”) Peter Van Steemburg, the Director of Acquisitions at Magnolia Pictures, warned against using obvious ones such as “Juno or Napoleon Dynamite,” recommending that if you are pitching something that’s a lot like another movie, you should “immediately say how yours is different.”

Aida LiPera, Director of Acquisitions for Visit Films, encouraged one of the writers not to get lost in the details and to instead focus on “the major conflict” and “the high point” of his story. The panelists emphasized the importance of being specific when it came to both budget and casting ideas. Producer Peter Phok of Glass Eye Pix even recommended coming to a pitch with “visual material,” stating that he “loved it when pitches have art come with it.”

Next up was a case study of Borderline Films, the team behind the recent Sundance favorite, Martha Marcy May Marlene, directed by Sean Durkin and produced by Borderline’s Antonio Campos and Josh Mond (and exec produced by moderator Ted Hope). After meeting as undergraduates at NYU, the trio quickly realized they all shared a common goal: to use the program as a launch pad for a fully functioning production company. While still in the program, the trio were all set to produce their first feature, only to have funding fall through at the last minute, an experience Campos called, “a huge blow.”

The trio kept working, eventually producing Afterschool (directed by Campos), which premiered at Cannes. Hope praised the filmmakers’ “willingness to fail” and cited it as a major reason that trio was able to “move beyond the page.” Mond explained their all for one and one for all production model: when one of the trio is writing, the … Read the rest

JAMIE STUART’S SUNDANCE “MASTERPIECE”

From the shards of our experience shooting interviews and seeing movies at Sundance 2011 comes Jamie Stuart’s “Masterpiece.” With appearances by: Miguel Arteta, Alrick Brown, David Carr, Paddy Considine, Nekisa Cooper, Phife Dawg, Danfung Dennis, Andrew Donsunmu, Sean Durkin, Liz Garbus, Paul Giamatti, Megan Griffiths, Colin Goddard, Rutger Hauer, John Hawkes, Azazel Jacobs, Miranda July, Tom McCarthy, Peter Mullan, Adepero Oduye, Elizabeth Olsen, Jessica Oreck, Lindsay Pulsipher, Michael Rapaport, Calvin Reeder, Dee Rees, Amy Seimetz, Kim Wayans, Vilmos Zsigmond. Shot on the Canon 7D. Download the Quicktime here. (Contains adult language — NSFW.)

Look for the longer edits of these individual pieces throughout the year.

… Read the rest

SUNDANCE ’11 WINNERS ANNOUNCED: “LIKE CRAZY” & “HOW TO DIE IN OREGON” TOP LIST

By Jason Guerrasio

The Sundance Film Festival announced its jury prize winners this evening with Drake Doremus‘ examination of a long-distance relationship, Like Crazy, taking home the Grand Jury Prize. The film’s lead actress, Felicity Jones, also won a Special Jury acting prize. Other top winners include Peter D. Richardson‘s documentary, How to Die in Oregon for Grand Jury doc prize; Circumstance won the dramatic Audience Award while Buck won the audience award for documentary. Sean Durkin won the narrative best directing prize for Martha Marcy May Marlene and best doc directing went to Jon Foy for Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles. Read the complete list of winners below. And go to our dedicated Sundance page for full coverage from the fest.

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Like Crazy, Drake Doremus

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:
How to Die in Oregon, director Peter D. Richardson

World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Happy, Happy, director Anne Sewitsky

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary:
Hell and Back Again, director Danfung Dennis

Dramatic Audience Award:
Circumstance, writer-director Maryam Keshavarz

Documentary Audience Award:
Buck, director Cindy Meehl

World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award:
Kinyarwanda, writer-director Alrick Brown

World Cinema Documentary Audience Award:
Senna, director Asik Kapadia

The Best of NEXT:
to.get.her, writer-director Eric Dunton

Directing Award, Dramatic:
Martha Marcy May Marlene, director Sean Durkin

Directing Award, Documentary:
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, director Jon Foy

World Cinema Directing Award, Dramatic:
Tyrannosaur, writer-director Paddy Considine

World Cinema Directing Award, Documentary:
Project Nim, director James Marsh

Waldo Scott Screenwriting Award:
Another Happy Day

World Cinema Screenwriting Award:
Restoration

Documentary Editing Award:
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award:
Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975

Excellence in Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
Pariah

Excellence in Cinematography Award, Documentary:
The Redemption of General Butt Naked

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
All Your Dead Ones

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Documentary:
Hell and Back Again

Special Jury Prize for Acting: Dramatic:
Like Crazy, actress Felicity Jones

Special … Read the rest

“MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE” ACTORS ELIZABETH OLSEN AND JOHN HAWKES

With two movies — Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, which sold to Fox Searchlight; and the one-shot horror picture Silent House — Elizabeth Olsen was one of Sundance 2011′s breakout stars. And while at the festival, Durkin’s fellow lead John Hawkes was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in last year’s festival Grand Jury Prize-winner Winter’s Bone. Here, from Jamie Stuart, are both actors discussing their roles as, respectively, cult follower and cult leader in Martha Marcy May Marlene. Look for Durkin to appear in our mammoth wrap-up video next week.

… Read the rest

25 NEW FACES – PART 2

By Filmmaker Staff

Jason Byrne

When we caught up with filmmaker Jason Byrne to include him in this year’s “25,” it was via e-mail from Tanzania. At the sa me time Byrne’s hypnotic experimental documentary Scrap Vessel winds its way along the festival circuit, he is working as an audio/visual archivist for the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. “Living in East Africa for the last two years has been a deeply rich experience, and this job has been fascinating but psychologically difficult at times, especially when listening to the many graphically explained testimonies from witnesses to the genocide,” he writes.

Byrne has worked previously as an archivist in Los Angeles, and he also graduated from the Film/Video Masters program at CalArts, where he “received a lot of help in understanding space and time from filmmakers Betzy Bromberg and James Benning.” His understanding of the relationship between film practice and historical memory informed Scrap Vessel, which was his thesis project at CalArts. The film takes place on the final voyage of a former Chinese-owned freighter ship on its way to the breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh. As he explains, “I shot this film in the frame of mind of being alienated from the rest of the crew and of trying to capture my initial understanding of the new environment. Maybe the film is the reverse of an anthropological study. Once I began editing, I realized I also wanted the film to reflect the memories I had aboard the ship, which I created by manipulating shots to give them a dreamlike image. By manipulation, I was able to capture a stronger state of sublime (technically by building heavy contrast by rephotographing the print over and over again), along with sound of Albert Ortega’s haunted-like score, to capture the traces of memory that leave me continuously with the surreal vision of being aboard the vessel. Also, I was interested in creating a similar haunted feeling with the use of the dusty archival material left over from the former mainland Chinese crew, which is interspersed throughout the film, that includes 16mm motion pictures of 1970s/’80s … Read the rest

25 NEW FACES

By Filmmaker Staff

The 25 new faces of independent film.