It’s A Wonderful Life has become a holiday tradition bolstered by near constant plays on television as the film fell into the public domain in 1975. But in the 90s, a studio would regain control over the film and put copyright to the test.
This lesson is proudly sponsored by RØDE Microphones:
Every year, Adam gives a speech at the Bay Area Maker Faire. He’s talked about intrinsic need for makers to build things, and how to work smart on projects. This year talk are his 10 tips for makers of all ages–the advice Adam would’ve given to himself when he was just starting out.
1. Make something.
Make ANYTHING. You will only improve your skills by making, talk does you no good.2. Make something useful.
Make something that improves your life or the lives of others. Make a thing that solves a problem for you, or highlights an issue you care about.3. Start right now.
Do it with the tools you have. Don’t want for the next cool thing, or the next best camera, or that plugin you desperately want to buy. Make.4. Work on projects with an end goal that interests you.
When you are interested in the material, it doesn’t feel like work.5. Ask.
Ask questions, ask for help, ask for advice, ask for feedback. Cultivate relationships with people you trust, and be vulnerable in asking for feedback. Be specific when asking for feedback.6. Share.
Trade knowledge. Nobody has a monopoly on being you, share technique “secrets” freely. Your technique alone is not what will make you successful in the long run.7. Learn to fail.
Discouragement and failure are part of Every Single Project. Recognize and anticipate that you will fail in some way on every project, learn from it, and learn to push past it.8. Measure carefully.
Know what your tolerances are on the project, where you need to be “tight” and where you need to be “loose.” This is what separates pros from amateurs.9. Make things for other people.
From time to time, give it away. Collaborate with others. Help new people along.10. Use more cooling fluid.
For our industry that could be “Plan for time and budget overages.” They almost always happen.
Screenwriter David Seidler (“The King’s Speech,” “Tucker: The Man and His Dream”) takes viewers inside his creative process in an exploration of where ideas come from.
Can you use everyday consumer LEDs to light your photos and video? Check out this guide with samples:
Photography Tuts + | Read the Full Article
Cheetah-proof flashbulbs, custom wide-angle lenses, and cameras that take two photos at once: It’s all in a day’s work for Kenji Yamaguchi, a master photographic engineer at National Geographic. For 32 years, his custom contraptions have helped photographers capture iconic images on assignments all over the world.
Check out this in depth look at the master of suspense: Alfred Hitchcock
The program shows how, from his earliest childhood in the suburbs of London, Alfred Hitchcock was a precociously sedentary loner. His active imagination helped him gain an apprenticeship in the fledgling British movie business, from where he travelled to Germany to learn the craft of film-making before returning to make Blackmail. With his script editor wife Alma by his side, Hitchcock made a series of British thrillers including The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, which brought him to the attention of top Hollywood producer, David O. Selznick.
David O. Selznick brought Hitchcock to Hollywood to make the film Rebecca, which, despite the pair’s difficult relationship, gained them the Oscar for best picture. As Hitchcock settled into the Hollywood lifestyle, he embarked on a series of thrillers including Spellbound, Rear Window, North By Northwest and Strangers On A Train that proved his mastery of the silver screen. Working with the best Hollywood actors, Hitchcock imposed his methodical regime and darkest imaginings on his performers, creating some of the genre’s finest moments.
In the late 1950s, he became a star in his own right when he presented his series Alfred Hitchcock Presents… for American television. His reputation for taking his audiences on a roller coaster of terror was cemented by his 1960s films, Psycho and The Birds. Hitchcock sought to control the life of his leading lady, Tippi Hedron, resulting in his being outcast from Hollywood, forcing a return to Britain and a gradual and unwelcome descent into obscurity.
Oxford, MS – Oxford Film Festival is proud to announce selections for its 12th annual festival, to be held February 26-March 1, 2015 at the Oxford Commons Malco. The opening night event includes the Mississippi premiere of James Franco’s adaptation of “The Sound and The Fury.”
Directed by James Franco, who also stars alongside Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and Tim Blake Nelson, The Sound and the Fury presents a portrait of the Compson family, former Southern aristocrats struggling to deal with the dissolution of their family and its reputation.
“The caliber of this year’s entries made our programming decisions difficult, but we are excited to present these films to our audience and host some of the filmmakers in Oxford,” head programmer Michelle Emanuel said.
Films that are not in competition for a Spirit of the Hoka award are noted in the category lists below.
Narrative Feature Competition
A is for Alex
Directed by Alex Orr
A struggling inventor works to save the world and become a worthy father and husband.
1 hour 14 minutes
Bluebird
Directed by Lance Edmands
In the northern reaches of Maine, a local school bus driver becomes distracted during her end-of-day inspection, and fails to notice a sleeping boy in the back of the bus. Starring Amy Morton (Chicago P.D.), John Slattery (Mad Men), and Margo Martindale (Justified, The Americans).
1 hour 31 minutes
Burnout
Directed by Lydia Hyslop
When a vote to legalize marijuana passes, Ada finds her unusual—and illegal – livelihood suddenly threatened. What happens if the demand for the girl with the drugs becomes obsolete?
1 hour 17 minutes
The Last Time You Had Fun
Directed by Mo Perkins
When Clark and Will meet Alison and Ida in a wine bar, the foursome set out for an all-night adventure to have the most fun that four decidedly dysfunctional adults are capable of having. Starring Demitri Martin (Taking Woodstock, In a World), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings), Kyle Bornheimer (Bachelorette).
1 hour 19 minutes, non-competition
OzLand
Directed by Michael Williams
In a dry and dusty post-apocalyptic world, two wayfarers wander aimlessly until Leif finds a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a book that challenges the beliefs, friendship, and even the very survival of these two divergent travelers.
1 hour 58 minutes
Shanks
Directed by William Castle (1974)
A mute puppeteer (Marcel Marceau) uses a deceased scientist’s invention to control dead bodies like puppets.
1 hour 33 minutes , non-competition
Stomping Ground
Directed by Dan Riesser
A young couple on a weekend trip to the American south embark on an impromptu “Bigfoot hunt” that threatens their relationship and their lives.
1 hour 20 minutes
Documentary Feature Competition
Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound
Directed by William Saunders
A uniquely talented collective of musicians from Bakersfield, California in the 1950s and 60s challenged the established tastes of the Nashville scene, and permanently altered the landscape of Country music. While artists like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens rode the Bakersfield Sound to national fame, singer-songwriter Billy Mize found touring to be incompatible with the only thing he loved more than music: his family.
1 hour 40 minutes
Dwarves Kingdom
Directed by Matthew Salton
After a chance meeting a little person on a train, a Lord of the Rings-obsessed Chinese real estate investor created an amusement park where people with dwarfism could live and earn money performing. In English and Chinese with English subtitles.
1 hour 11 minutes
Just About Famous
Directed by Matt Mamula
JUST ABOUT FAMOUS shines a spotlight on the often overlooked side of celebrity: the lookalikes. Take a trip into the intriguing, enlightening, and often surreal life of Elvis, Obama, Bush, Madonna and Lady Gaga impersonators, each with a different path, as they converge on an annual convention.
1 hour 29 minutes
Oil & Water
Directed by Alan Robert Davis
This feature documentary explores the complex relationship between coastal Cajuns in Louisiana and the oil and gas industry, following a family and their seafood business as they struggle in the years after the BP oil spill.
1 hour 15 minutes
Yazoo Revisited: Integration and Segregation in a Deep Southern Town
Directed by David Rae Morris
History of race relations and the 1970 integration of the public schools in Yazoo City, Mississippi, the hometown of the filmmaker’s father, the late writer, Willie Morris.
1 hour 24 minutes
Narrative Short Competition
Based On Rosenthal
Directed by Sam Cespedes
BASED ON ROSENTHAL follows a boy, Jerry, touched by the supernatural, and his attempt to help his terminally ill grandmother find some peace and comfort during her last days.
15 minutes
Bingo Night!
Directed by Jordan Liebowitz
A financially-strapped senior citizen finds a creative (and legally dubious) means of getting some quick cash in this sly and high-spirited comic caper. Starring Lynne Marie Stewart (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers, Legit).
14 minutes
Day One
Directed by Michael Steiner
On her first day of deployment in Afghanistan as an interpreter, an Afghan-American woman’s unit searches out the remote house of a bomb-maker. When the bomb-maker’s pregnant wife goes into labor, the interpreter must go beyond the call of duty to deliver her breech child. Inspired by a true story.
25 minutes
The Department of Signs and Magical Intervention
Directed by Melissa Sweazy
Recently-deceased Aidan Crane is put to work at the Department of Signs and Magical Intervention, sorting through the requests from the living for signs from above. When he accidentally sends a sign to the one person who shouldn’t have received it, he is sent back to fix his mistake.
19 minutes
Destroyer
Directed by Andrew Kightlinger
A husband (Alan Ruck, Spin City, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) drives his wife out to the country with a mind for retribution. Also starring Judith Hoag (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, NBC’s Nashville).
8 minutes
Ed is a Portal
Directed by Darrell C. Hazelrig
A sci-fi comedy by the New Puppet Order about all of life’s little headaches: obnoxious co-workers, slovenly roommates, and having an inter-dimensional gateway growing in the back of your head.
10 minutes
The Gunfighter
Directed by Eric Kissack
In the tradition of classic westerns, a narrator (Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation) sets up the story of a lone gunslinger that walks into a saloon. However, the people in this saloon can hear the narrator who may just be a little bit of a jerk.
9 minutes
I Love Art
Directed by Mac Alsfeld
During a fun trip to the art museum with his girlfriend, Carl falls in love with a painting…literally.
9 minutes
Moffino
Directed by Giosuè Petrone
Moffino is obsessed with getting out of work at 6:00 p.m. sharp with the hope of finding a parking place, until one day…. In Italian with English subtitles.
6 minutes
Repeater
Directed by Wade Vanover
A father and son struggle to relate after years apart. Starring David Strathairn (Lincoln, Good Night and Good Luck). Adapted from Chris Offut’s short story, “Target Practice”.
21 minutes
Star Warp’d
Directed by Pete Schuermann
A claymation parody of classic science-fiction films including Star Wars, Star Trek, The Terminator, and many others.
32 minutes, non-competition
Waking Marshall Walker
Directed by Bjorn Thorstad and Gabriel Baron
An encounter with a mysterious stranger brings unsettling premonitions, sending Marshall Walker on a desperate race through memory and time to reunite with his estranged daughter Charlotte and undo a fateful mistake, or risk being trapped between worlds forever.
15 minutes
Documentary Short Competition
Big Bad Art
Directed by Ben Cannon
This no-holds-barred look at the making of a zeitgeisty “house party” might be the funniest documentary to ever come busting out of the art world.
43 minutes
Crooked Candy
Directed by Andrew Rodgers
A ban on Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs in the U.S. isn’t enough to keep one man from following his childhood dream.
7 minutes
The Forgotten (Los Olvidados)
Directed by David Feldman
A young Latino artist advocates for domestic laborers through an art installation in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, in tribute to his immigrant roots.
13 minutes
The Grand Dis-illusion (La gran desilusión)
Directed by Pedro González Kuhn
On September 1, 2012, the Spanish government increased the culture tax from 8% to 21%, causing many theatres to close and many skilled workers to lose their jobs. In Spanish with English subtitles.
11 minutes
Ironman Jackson Wingfield
Directed by Deer Run Media
To become an Ironman, one must complete a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. Jackson Wingfield won a ticket through his job at Kenco Logistics 14 weeks before race day. Couch to Ironman in just 3 months is an unprecedented endeavor. Jackson rose to the challenge.
4 minutes
Jim Dickinson: The Man Behind the Console
Directed by Nan Hackman
Legendary record producer Jim Dickinson (1941-2009) discusses how working with producer Sam Phillips and, later, watching the Rolling Stones record “Sticky Fingers” influenced his role as a future producer, how he taught his sons Luther and Cody of the North Mississippi Allstars, about the world of music, and how he values his work as a producer with Alex Chilton on Big Star’s “Third” album.
16 minutes
Mr. X
Directed by Alex Nicholson
The study of a London tattooist.
7 minutes
Shirley’s Kids
Directed by Michael Paulucci
Shirley Chambers gained nationwide publicity because of the tragic loss of her four children to gun violence in America’s most dangerous city, Chicago.
10 minutes
Wagonmasters
Directed by Sam Smartt and Chris Zaluski
WAGONMASTERS tells the story of the station wagon as it represents a changing America over the last hundred years, and offers glimpses into the lives of lingering wagon enthusiasts.
19 minutes
Animated Short Competition
Between Times
Directed by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter
From the wall of a small town bakery, a cuckoo clock recounts a day where bread was sliced one second thick, lovers fell in sync and time rarely flowed at an even rate.
15 minutes
Humanexus
Directed by Ying-Fang Shen
Tools and technologies have made it easier to reach out and share ideas, but each one presents a new, unforeseen challenge to forming meaningful interpersonal connections.
11 minutes
Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou
Directed by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon
When the chaotically misfortunate Jenkins and the monotonously lucky Lou run into each other one morning, they find a thrilling and fulfilling change of pace as they hurtle down the hills of San Francisco in an ice cream cart.
4 minutes
Love in the time of March Madness
Directed by Melissa Johnson
The true-life story of a 6’4” woman who is a star on the basketball court but struggles to find true love.
10 minutes
Proximity
Directed by Holly Petersen
Two ceramic figures, a Victorian gentleman and a sixties cowgirl, explore the depths of love and betrayal.
4 minutes
Zuzumi
Directed by Mengyi Xu
A story about the friendship between pets and humans, a pet pig turns into a super pig woman save the day and her master.
3 minutes
Experimental Short Competition
Displacements
Directed by Manuel Alvarez Diestro
In Hong Kong, one of the densest cities in the world, new towns are adjacent to cemeteries. The world of the living coexists with that of the dead. Meanwhile, Hong Kong inhabitants move from place to place, awaiting their final displacement.
10 minutes
Flipping
Directed by Jin Kyu Ahn
Using a hand-drawn animation technique called “flipping,” physical objects collide with the sounds made by playing two improvised scores.
8 minutes
Interstates
Jeffery Chong
INTERSTATES captures the essence of a winter drive through rural New Hampshire and Maine by focusing on the journey’s ever-fleeting scenery.
3 minutes
Left
Directed by Daniel Winter
A 3075 individually left-hand drawn rotoscoped frame by frame silent short film about a child, their bear, and moving away from home.
3 minutes
Memory V: Sodankylä
Directed by Gloria Chung
Recollections of a week spent north of the Arctic Circle, under the midnight sun: hazy, dreamlike, disorienting, lovely and surreal.
6 minutes
Memory VI: An Ostrich’s Eye Is Bigger Than Its Brain
Directed by Gloria Chung
How does our memory function? Why do we remember certain trivial or mundane things but cannot recall other seemingly larger ideas, information, events or experiences?
5 minutes
On the Train to Kutná Hora…and Back
Directed by Ann Deborah Levy
Footage shot with a point-and-shoot camera on a day trip in the Czech countryside, is rearranged and heavily edited.
8 minutes
A Perfect Day
Directed by Oguzhan Kaya
In a city far away from nature, a man wakes up, has his breakfast, and starts a perfect day.
5 minutes
The Stars and Stripes Forever in the Eternal City
Directed by Rebekah Flake
This film explores tendencies of exuberance and patriotism “and throwing away money” in Rome, the ancient seat of Western imperialism.
5 minutes
Mississippi Films (music videos, narrative shorts and documentary shorts)
85% Broken
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Alison Fast and Chandler Griffin
What happens when a classical composer from Japan adopts a small Mississippi town? 85% BROKEN is a magical film about one artist’s interpretation of place through sound and a found accordion. Filmed in Water Valley, Miss.
15 minutes
Barry
Mississippi Narrative
Directed by Matthew Graves
Deep beneath a cold, dark forest lies Barry. His world is a dusty coffin and a cherished locket from his dear wife, Mary. He has come to terms with his present situation but strange new noises are coming from outside his solitary home.
10 minutes, non-competition
A Different Kind of Festival
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Ellen Phillips
The first ever Art-er Limits Fringe Festival opens its doors for artists, performers, and musicians from all over Mississippi to come and showcase their work in a different and unique way.
7 minutes, non-competition
From Tribulation to Triumph
Mississippi Music Video
Directed by Jake Wood / Music by Jake Wood
5 minutes
Garage Sale
Mississippi Narrative
Directed by Meaghin Burke
Lydia has never been her father’s favorite, which was her sister Diana, killed in action three years ago while serving in the United States Army. Now as Lydia moves her father in with her and her family, they argue about which of Diana’s possessions should be sold in a garage sale, if any.
13 minutes
A Horror Movie
Mississippi Narrative
Directed by Casey Dillard
Six “teens” are expecting a night of fun, but their cabin party quickly turns into a night of terror, danger and clichés.
11 minutes
In Ten
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Melanie Addington
For 15 years, Oxford’s theater community has held a national 10-minute play contest, with a festival of the winners produced with local talent.
15 minutes, non-competition
Inside Your Head
Mississippi Music Video
Directed by Newt Rayburn / Music by The Heard
3 minutes
Leadway
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Robbie Fisher
Cindi Quong Lofton, a Chinese-American woman in a small town in the rural Mississippi Delta, deals with the violent murder of her father, an iconic figure in the community known simply by the name ‘Leadway’, the name of his store.
10 minutes
A Long Journey
Mississippi Music Video
Directed by Shannon Cohn / Music by Leo ‘Bud’ Welch
4 minutes
Lord Knows I’m a Soldier
Mississippi Music Video
Directed by Danny Klimetz/Oxford Sessions / music by Sean Apple
4 minutes
A Mississippi Love Story
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Robbie Fisher
Against the backdrop of legal battles about same-sex marriage, Eddie and Justin share their personal take on what love really means in their Deep South hometown.
14 minutes
Mississippi Milk
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by David Rogers
A family farmer’s struggle to produce a local product and bring it to the communities of North Mississippi.
13 minutes
PEAs
Mississippi Narrative
Directed by Kelly Buckholdt
A woman goes to a meeting of Picky Eaters Anonymous looking for relationship advice.
10 minutes
Statesboro Blues
Mississippi Music Video
Directed by Danny Klimetz/Oxford Sessions / music by Will Echols
3 minutes
Unquantifiable
Mississippi Documentary
Directed by Ed Foose
Art Place Mississippi is an organization that promotes art education in adolescent offender programs, alternative schools, and senior citizen centers.
21 minutes
Berlinale Film Festival / European Film Market is held between the 5th February to 15th February 2015 has announced the first offerings for the 2015 programming under the program strand: Generation 14plus and Generation Kplus
Generation 14plus
Corbo – Canada
By Mathieu Denis
Quebec in the 1960s: Young Jean is trying to figure out who he is. The stories of his father’s immigration and social climb don’t provide the answers. He then discovers his calling in the FLQ, a radically left separatist organization. Gradually he comes to believe that the only path open is violence.
European premiere
The Beat Beneath My Feet – Great Britain
By John Williams
Tom (Nicholas Galitzine) is a shy teenager whose biggest dream is to play rock guitar. When he finds out that his new, cantankerous neighbour (Luke Perry) is a former superstar, Tom seizes his chance. A gritty rock and blues track sets the beat of this gripping directorial debut.
International premiere
Flocken (Flocking) – Sweden
By Beata Gårdeler
Jennifer’s claim of having been raped by a classmate lies heavily on this idyllic village in the Swedish provinces. In chilling images, the director portrays how this fourteen-year-old and her family are brutally shunned by the close-knit community.
World premiere
Nena – Netherlands / Germany
By Saskia Diesing
Summer ’89 – the world is in turmoil, inside and out: Nena (rising star: Abbey Hoes) is 16. She is in love and embraces life with unbridled joy. In contrast, her paraplegic father (brilliant: Uwe Ochsenknecht) finds his life increasingly pointless.
International premiere
Short Skin – Italy
By Duccio Chiarini
Eduardo has all the normal longings and desires of an adolescent. And he does not lack opportunities to live them out. If it weren’t for that little medical problem. A coming-of-age drama about friendship, yearnings and a too-tight foreskin.
International premiere
Generation Kplus
Cykelmyggen og Minibillen (Mini and the Mozzies) – Denmark
By Jannik Hastrup and Flemming Quist Møller
Mini the Beetle, and her friends are off on another adventure. With their inimitable, charmingly executed style, masters of Danish animation Jannik Hastrup and Flemming Quist Møller have again teamed up to continue their exciting animal saga.
European premiere
Dhanak (Rainbow) – India
By Nagesh Kukunoor
Pari has decided to help her little blind brother Chotu get his eyesight back. So she sets out with him on a magical journey through Rajasthan where they encounter all sorts of colourful characters. More than anything they want to meet Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, who on a poster has promised his viewers “new eyes”.
World premiere
Dorsvloer vol Confetti (Confetti Harvest) – Netherlands
By Tallulah Schwab
Being the only girl in a seven-sibling family, nobody pays much attention to twelve-year-old Katelijne. While other children her age are having fun discovering what it means to become a teen, her strict protestant parents and village community see only the temptations of the devil.
International premiere
Golden Kingdom – USA
By Brian Perkins
In elegiac images, this film captures the meditative life of four novice monks in Myanmar. When they are suddenly left on their own, their world begins to unravel and lose its everyday rhythm. The boys are faced with some of the toughest challenges of their young lives. Then gunshots ring out from the valley far below.
World premiere
Kar Korsanları (Snow Pirates) – Turkey
By Faruk Hacıhafızoğlu
Turkey 1981: on their daily search for bits of coal, three friends defy the bitter cold and poverty by telling each other their hopes and dreams. Their friendship and unwavering courage are stronger than any dangerous obstacle they may encounter.
World premiere
Min lilla syster (My Skinny Sister) – Sweden / Germany
By Sanna Lenken
For Stella (brilliant: Rebecka Josephson), her big sister Katja is beautiful and a divine figure skater. When Stella realizes that Katja vomits nearly everything she eats, she is forced to choose between her concern and her loyalty. At the same time she has her own private worries to deal with.
International premiere
Paper Planes – Australia
By Robert Connolly
Eleven-year-old Dylan’s paper planes fly higher and farther than anyone else’s. With this extraordinary talent, he qualifies to compete in the world championships in Tokyo. But Dylan (outstanding: Ed Oxenbould, who also stars in Julian and The Amber Amulet / Crystal Bear winners Generation 2012, 2013) has first to help his father (Sam Worthington) conquer his depression. A marvellous, uplifting family film.
European premiere
You’re Ugly Too – Ireland
By Mark Noonan
After her mother’s death, Stacey (Lauren Kinsella) moves with her uncle Will (Aiden Gillen) to a remote region in the Irish midlands. As the two cautiously get to know each other, they have to deal with the dark shadows of the past. An astute character-driven study on the need to regain footing and let go, told with a good dose of Irish humour.
World premiere
Berlinale Film Festival announces their competition films for the next edition of the Berlinale:
45 Years
United Kingdom
By Andrew Haigh (Weekend)
With Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
World premiere
Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming)
Germany / France
By Andreas Dresen (Grill Point, Cloud 9, Stopped on Track)
With Merlin Rose, Julius Nitschkoff, Joel Basman, Marcel Heuperman, Frederic Haselon, Ruby O. Fee
World premiere
Cinderella
USA
By Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet)
With Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi und Helena Bonham Carter
International premiere – Out of competition
Eisenstein in Guanajuato
The Netherlands / Mexico / Belgium / Finland
By Peter Greenaway (The Tulse Luper Suitcases)
With Elmer Bäck, Luis Alberti
World premiere
Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano)
Guatemala / France
By Jayro Bustamante
With María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy
World premiere – Debut feature
Knight of Cups
USA
By Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line)
With Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman
World premiere
Pod electricheskimi oblakami (Under Electric Clouds)
Russian Federation / Ukraine / Poland
By Alexey German (Paper Soldier)
With Lui Frank, Merab Ninidze, Viktoriya Korotkova, Chulpan Khamatova, Anastasiya Melnikova, Piotr Gasowski
World premiere
Sundance continues to annouce further titles for the festival, including the festival founder, Robert Redford new film, A Walk in the Woods.
PREMIERES
A Walk in the Woods / U.S.A. (Director: Ken Kwapis, Screenwriters: Rick Kerb, Bill Holderman) — An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled. Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal. World Premiere. SALT LAKE CITY GALA FILM
True Story / U.S.A. (Director: Rupert Goold, Screenwriters: Rupert Goold, David Kajganich) — When disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel meets accused killer Christian Longo — who has taken on Finkel’s identity — his investigation morphs into an unforgettable game of cat and mouse. Based on actual events, Finkel’s relentless pursuit of Longo’s true story encompasses murder, love, deceit, and redemption. Cast: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones.
SUNDANCE KIDS
This section of the Festival is especially for our youngest independent film fans. Programmed in cooperation with Tumbleweeds, Utah’s premiere film festival for children and youth.
The Games Maker / Argentina, Canada, Italy (Director and screenwriter: Juan Pablo Buscarini) — Ivan Drago’s love of board games catapults him into the fantastical world of game invention and pits him against the inventor Morodian, who wants to destroy the city of Zyl. To save his family, Ivan must come to know what it is to be a true Games Maker. Cast: David Mazouz, Joseph Fiennes, Ed Asner, Megan Charpentier, Tom Cavanagh, Valentina Lodovini. U.S. Premiere
Operation Arctic / Norway (Director and screenwriter: Grethe Bøe-Waal) — This modern-day Robinson Crusoe adventure is set in the Arctic. Through a misunderstanding, 13-year-old Julia and her eight-year-old twin siblings, Ida and Sindre, are left on a deserted island. The children have to find ways to survive, battling fierce winter weather, hungry polar bears, and loneliness. Cast: Kaisa Gurine Antonsen, Ida Leonora Valestrand Eike, Leonard Valestrand Eike, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Kristofer Hivju, Line Verndal. International Premiere
Shaun the Sheep / United Kingdom (Directors and screenwriters: Richard Starzak, Mark Burton) — When Shaun’s mischief inadvertently leads to the Farmer being taken away from the farm, Shaun, Bitzer and the flock have to go into the big city to rescue him, setting the stage for an epic adventure. International Premiere
SPECIAL EVENTS
Pioneers Palace B’92 / Romania (Director and screenwriter: Bobby Paunescu) — In the wild days of post-Ceausescu Bucharest, teenagers open a disco at their high school, terrified of an AIDS scare after their visit to a local brothel. Part of the Festival’s new Art of Film program, Pioneers Palace B’92 was produced by film students and supported by Mandragora Film Academy together with Solar Indie Junction. Cast: Toto Dumitrescu, Mihai Dorobantu, Maria Bata, Dragos Savulescu, Alice Halpert, Alice Peneaca. World Premiere
NEW FRONTIER
The following installations will be featured in The VR works of Felix & Paul, a showcase of groundbreaking live-action virtual reality experiences by artists Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël in the Festival’s New Frontier exhibition.
Herders
Artists: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël
Mongolian pastoral herders are one of the world’s last remaining nomadic cultures. For millennia they have lived on the steppes, grazing their livestock on the grasslands. Through a series of virtual reality experiences, the viewer is invited into the reality of a nomadic family of yak herders.
Strangers with Patrick Watson
Artists: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël, Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski
Strangers with Patrick Watson invites the viewer to spend an intimate moment with celebrated Montreal musician Patrick Watson at work in his studio loft on a winter’s day. Cast: Patrick Watson.
WILD – The Experience
Artists: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël
Fox Searchlight and the Fox Innovation Lab present this virtual reality experience drawing from the film Wild. Viewers enter a fully immersive media environment to join an intimate moment on the Pacific Crest Trail between a woman, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon), and her mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern), a vision from the afterlife.
FROM THE COLLECTION
A selection from The Sundance Collection at UCLA, a film preservation program established in 1997. The Collection is specifically devoted to the preservation of independent documentaries, narratives and short films supported by Sundance Institute and has grown to nearly 2,300 holdings representing 1,800 titles, including recent additions such as El Mariachi, Winter’s Bone, Johnny Suede, Working Girls, Crumb, Groove, Better This World, The Oath and Paris, Texas. Titles are generously donated by individual filmmakers, distributors and studios.
Paris is Burning / U.S.A. (Director: Jennie Livingston) — Paris is Burning visits black and Latino drag balls of the 1980s in New York City, where at raucous celebrations, rival Houses create intense competition and provide deep sustenance. This world within a world is instantly familiar, filled with intense yearnings for “Realness” that reflect America itself. Cast: Dorian Corey, Freddie Pendavis, Pepper Labeija, Junior Labeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Willi Ninja.
The screening will feature a DCP of the new digital restoration of Paris is Burning created from original 16mm elements. This recent effort restores the feature to the original uncropped aspect ratio. The project represents the collaborative efforts of the Sundance Institute, the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, and UCLA Film & Television Archive, with permission of Miramax.