March 24, 2010

Don’t cry no tears. All good things come to an end. So do our tardy previews. The New Directors/New Films festival lights up the spring season by bringing to New York the best debuts from festivals like Cannes and Sundance. In the final assortment, there’s a lauded love letter to cinema from Mia Hansen-Løve, the welcome return of Judy Berlin director Eric Mendelsohn and a notable French addition to the “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” genre.
Read the first part of our New Directors/New Films preview.
Read the second part of our New Directors/New Films preview.
The Oath
Abu Jandal and Salim Hamdan are buddies who took very different routes through al-Qaeda’s militant network. Jandal now works with Yemeni youth to temper their fundamentalism. Hamdan sits in Guantanamo, notorious as Osama bin Laden’s onetime chauffeur. The latest film from My Country, My Country director Laura Poitras is another unique look at the Middle East.
Le Pere de Mes Enfants (The Father of My Children)
French film producer Humbert Balsan helped bring works by Bela Tarr and Claire Denis to the public. His life and death inspired this acclaimed new feature from Mia Hansen-Løve, partner of Olivier Assayas. It’s a fresh take on Day for Night, with an overworked producer (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) juggling family and the fact that there isn’t enough hours in the day to achieve cinematic greatness.
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Tags:3 Backyards, Abu Jandal, Det rode kapel, Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Embeth Davidtz, Eric Mendelsohn, Evening Dress, Humbert Balsan, Jacob Nossell, Judy Berlin, La Pivellina, La robe du soir, Laura Poitras, Le Pere de Mes Enfants, Lio, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Mads Brugger, Marissa Gibson, Marissa McNamara, Mia Hansen-Løve, My Country My Country, Myriam Aziza, Nader T. Homayoun, NDNF Film Festival, Olivier Assayas, Patrizia Gerardi, Rainer Frimmel, Salim Hamdan, Samson and Delilah, Shirin Neshat, Simon Jul Jorgensen, Tehroun, The Father of My Children, The Oath, The Red Chapel, Tizza Covi, Venice Film Festival, Warwick Thornton, Women Without Men, Zanan-e badun-e mardan
Posted in 2010, Australia, Denmark, Festivals, France, Iran, Italy | Leave a Comment »
January 31, 2010

Last night the Sundance Jury handed out its prizes and audience awards. The big winners were the hill people noir Winter’s Bone and Obselidia, a romance which was only lacking a stamp reading “Sundance-approved.” More eyes will turn to the backrooms, where lucrative deals were being cut. Focus Features picked up Lisa Cholodeniko’s The Kids Are All Right, with Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as a lesbian couple. Lionsgate agreed to distribute Buried, where Ryan Reynolds struggles to escape a coffin armed only with his cellphone (and some great reception). Harvey Weinstein worked his silver-tongued magic and went home with the rights to The Tillman Story (formerly I’m Pat _________ Tillman) and Blue Valentine, which created Oscar talk for its leads Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Other buzz films included the Interwebs documentary Catfish and Banksy’s debut Exit Through the Gift Shop. Anyway, we’ve got some envelopes to open …
Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Film
Winter’s Bone. A clear favorite among critics, Debra Granik’s adaptation of a novel by Daniel Woodrell is a chilling thriller set in the Ozarks. A teenager (Jennifer Lawrence) goes in search for her father, who skips jail after a bust for running a meth lab. Big trouble awaits. “My advice? Discover this one now.” said Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir. It’s been picked up for distribution by Roadside Attractions.
Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary
Restrepo. The documentary follows humpy journalist Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) as he spends a year with the 173rd Airborne’s Second Platoon. The unit has been assigned to the deadliest valley in Afghanistan. “I’ve never seen combat footage like Junger and [co-director Tim] Hetherington get in Restrepo,” wrote Noel Murray in The Onion. “It’s raw, relentless, and made all the more unsettling by the fact that the soldiers can’t see who’s shooting at them.” National Geographic have the broadcast rights.
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Tags:3 Backyards, Amat Escalante, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Animal Kingdom, Anne Rosellini, Annette Bening, Banksy, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, Blue Valentine, Bombay Eunuch, Buried, Catfish, Daisuke Yamaoka, Daniel Woodrell, David Michod, Davis Guggenheim, Deadline, Debra Granik, Derrida, Down to the Bone, Edie Falco, Elena, Elias Koteas, Embeth Davidtz, Eric Mendelsohn, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Gasland, Give Please, happythankyoumoreplease, Harvey Weinstein, Heli, I'm Not Me, Jennifer Lawrence, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Josh Fox, Josh Radnor, Judy Berlin, Julianne Moore, Kirsten Johnson, Laura Poitras, Leon Gast, Lisa Cholodenko, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Nicole Holofcener, Obselidia, Penelope Falk, Restrepo, Ron Galella, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Sebastian Junger, Smash His Camera, Stagedoor, Sundance Film Festival, Sympathy for Delicious, The Kids Are All Right, The Oath, The Tillman Story, The Wonderful Life at Asahigaoka, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Tim Hetherington, Vera Farmiga, Waiting for Superman, When We Were Kings, Winter's Bone, Zak Mulligan
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