On Thursday 2 May the legendary Chinese director received the Golden Mulberry and hosted a masterclass.
The last two days are packed with unmissable titles: from cult Philippine comedy Becky and Badette
to the world premiere of high-octane Hong Kong actioner Customs Frontline!
A whole year of preparation for nine days of programming: nine joyful, intense days which, once the countdown starts, slip away at the speed of light... Yes, it's already time to announce the Closing Night of FEFF 26. Actually, scratch that - it's already time to announce the Closing Day, because the flames will be burning brightly right from the morning. And what flames they'll be. Thursday the 2nd of May 2024 is more than just a space on the calendar: it's the date when Zhang Yimou will be taking the stage at the Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine” theatre!
When we talk about him, we're talking about a legend - an auteur around whom there is a "before" and an "after". Talking about him means talking about two Golden Lions in Venice, a Golden Bear in Berlin, a Grand Prix in Cannes and three Oscar nominations - and that's not even all. Talking about him means talking about the giant of cinema who on Thursday the 2nd of May will be receiving the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award on the stage of the Teatro Nuovo "Giovanni da Udine" theatre and will also be hosting a masterclass which will be open to all!
“For us,” say FEFF founders Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, “Zhang Yimou's cinema represents two absolutely fundamental turning points. The first was the one that opened our eyes to the cinematic wonders of mainland China when we were little more than kids. The second is that it was one of the sparks, one of the driving forces, which first brought our festival to life! That's why presenting Zhang Yimou with the Golden Mulberry means something more than just recognition of his genius: it's also our way of saying "Thank you, maestro" and of symbolically giving him back some of what he has given to us."
A leading member of the "Fifth Generation", the famously creative group of filmmakers who revolutionised the aesthetics of 1980s China, Zhang Yimou has always pursued a free and total vision of cinema, identifying his own personal aesthetic in the push towards change. A cinema that, without ever surrendering its auteur essence and thematic depth, manages to use the most diverse languages, expressing itself through, and above all going beyond, genres: from rural drama and wuxia to period thrillers and big budget blockbusters. A cinema where individual stories have always been and continue to be a cultural, ethical and political mirror of collective history.
Over the years the FEFF has documented the nuances of Zhang Yimou's gaze multiple times (Red Sorghum, Under the Hawthorn Tree, Cliff Walkers and Full River Red were all screened in Udine) and will be doing so again this year with the presentation of three titles: thriller Under the Light (Wednesday the 1st of May at 14:30) and the world premiere of the restored versions of Raise the Red Lantern (Thursday the 2nd of May at 9:30, as a prelude to the masterclass) and To Live (Thursday the 2nd of May at 19:30
CANNES ADDS TITLES
We got the announcement Monday that the Cannes Film Festival had, as expected, added some new films to a variety of sections. In all 13 new films were added including three to the Palme D'or competition lineup. Of those three, two have some serious chance at a Telluride play, I believe.
Here's the complete list of added films per Variety:
Un Certain Regard
“When the Light Breaks,” Rúnar Rúnarsson
“Niki,” Céline Sallette
“Flow,” Gints Zilbalodis
Cannes Premiere
“Vivre, Mourir, Renaitre,” Gaël Morel
“Maria,” Jessica Palud
Special Screenings
“Spectateurs,” Arnaud Desplechin
“Nasty,” Tudor Giurgiu
“Lula,” Oliver Stone
“An Unfinished Film,” Lou Ye
Out of Competition
“Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,” Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte
Competition
“The Most Precious of Cargoes,” Michel Hazanavicius
“Trois kilomètres jusqu’à la fin du monde,” Emanuel Parvu
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof
TFF #51 best chances are for Michel Hazanavicius' The Most Precious of Cargoes" and Mohammed Rasoulof's The Seed of the Scared Fig.
Hazanavicius was in Telluride in 2011 with his Best Picture Oscar winner The Artist. Though he hasn't been back sense, the subject matter of thus new film sounds promising vis-a-vis a possible TFF placement. Here's a description from Variety:
[It is] "An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust."
Aspen Film will host the 33rd Annual Shortsfest at the Wheeler Opera House and Isis Theatre from April 1 through 7. The Oscar-qualifying festival will feature works by emerging filmmakers from 24 countries, with 58% of the films directed or co-directed by women. The Sopris Sun spoke with Shortsfest’s programming director, Jason Anderson, by phone […]
Aspen Film has announced the winners of nine awards from last week’s “Shortsfest,” ranging from a three-minute dark comedy about capitalism and consumerism to a 24-minute drama about cultural identity. Five of the winners, chosen by a jury of industry pros, will now be qualified for the Oscars, and all of the top honorees took […]
Even though we’ve been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement rushes through us whenever we reveal the fellows for this year’s labs. It might be because these fresh fellows are joining the ranks of Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Sterlin Harjo, the Daniels, Ryan Coogler, Taika Watiti, A.V. Rockwell, Quentin Tarantino, Ira Sachs, and so many more iconic storytellers. The rush this year also might be due to the fact that these profound and indescribable forays into the world of the purely creative are happening right now.
The 2024 spring/summer labs season is kicking off this morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the start of the Native Lab. This is directly followed by the Directors Lab at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and then the Screenwriters Lab in early June online.
Below get a brief introduction to each of the 2024 fellows, click here for more information about this year’s labs including the creative advisors for each, and stay tuned for more stories from the labs this spring and summer.
The 2024 Native Lab fellows
Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Writer-Director) with Hum (Philippines, U.S.A.): Haunted by the six-year absence of her missing husband, Esther, a single mother who works as a tour guide for mountaineers, embarks on her own treacherous journey of searching for him in the jungle where he had retreated to live with the beasts.
Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan is a filmmaker from the Philippines. Eblahan’s works explore themes of trauma, spirituality, and nature, told through the cosmic lens of post-colonial spaces and Indigenous identities. His film The Headhunter’s Daughter was awarded the Short Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Ryland Walker Knight (Writer-Director) with The Lip of the World (U.S.A.): When Cassandra discovers a young Indigenous woman washed ashore with no memory, the pair journey into the violent underworld of the Northern California psychedelic culture to uncover her true identity.
Ryland Walker Knight is a Cherokee writer and a filmmaker, and once upon a time he was called a film critic. An avid basketball and audiobook enthusiast, Knight lives and works in Oakland and Los Angeles, California.
Charine Pilar Gonzales (Writer-Director) with NDN Time (U.S.A.): A Tewa college student must master her new dimension-bending abilities to expose the nuclear secrets threatening her Pueblo.
Charine Pilar Gonzales wrote and directed the short films River Bank (Pō-Kehgeh) and Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez. She co-produced the 2024 Sundance Film Festival short doc Winding Path. A Tewa filmmaker from San Ildefonso Pueblo and Santa Fe, New Mexico, she aims to intertwine memories, dreams, and truths through story.
Lindsay McIntyre (Writer-Director) with The Words We Can’t Speak (Canada): A terrible Arctic accident leaves an Inuk interpreter unwelcome in her community. She is forced to weather impossible conditions and hateful prejudices, yet still care for her daughter, when she embarks on a dangerous 1,000-mile journey by dog sled with an inexperienced RCMP constable who fancies her for his wife.
Lindsay McIntyre (Inuit/settler) is a filmmaker whose works explores themes of portraiture, place, and personal histories. After 40+ experimental/documentary films and many festival awards, her recent
At our signature labs this spring, emerging artists will develop original projects under the guidance of accomplished advisors
PARK CITY, UTAH, April 29, 2024 — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for the 2024 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs. The Native Lab in New Mexico will support four fellows and two artists in residence, and the Directors Lab in Colorado will support the development of eight projects with nine fellows, with an additional three fellows also joining for the online Screenwriters Lab held immediately after.
For over four decades, Sundance Institute’s signature labs have provided burgeoning filmmakers a nurturing, immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors.
The 2024 Native Lab, taking place in person in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from April 29–May 4, is designed for participants of Native and Indigenous backgrounds and focuses on centering Indigeneity in their storytelling. Fellows will build community and refine their feature film and episodic scripts through one-on-one feedback sections and roundtable discussions with advisors. Four fellows were selected: three who are U.S.-based, and another from Canada. Also attending will be two artists in residence, Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians and Payómkawish) and Shea Vassar (Cherokee), experiencing the lab while in script development. This year’s Native Lab creative advisors are Patrick Brice, Tai Leclaire (Mohawk and Mi’kmaq), Kishori Rajan, and Jon Raymond.
“Our Indigenous Program team looks forward to returning to Santa Fe to spend a week supporting some of the best and brightest Indigenous artists working today,” said Adam Piron, Director of Indigenous Program. “This group is diverse in the work they are bringing to develop and in how their Indigeneity shapes it — their differences are their strengths. We can’t wait to see what those combined strengths help them add to each other’s projects as they collaborate with each other and with our creative advisors.”
The 2024 Directors Lab will take place May 7–22 in person at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, which is hosting a Sundance Institute program for the very first time with support from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). During the Directors Lab, filmmakers will rehearse, shoot, and edit selected scenes from their work-in-progress original screenplays in a workshop environment with support from experienced creative advisors. Directors focus on core elements of filmmaking, including directing actors, workshopping their scripts, and defining their visual language. Led by Artistic Director Gyula Gazdag, the Directors Lab advisor cohort includes Miguel Arteta, Joan Darling, Rick Famuyiwa, Stephen Goldblatt, Keith Gordon, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Andrew Haigh, Randa Haines, Ed Harris, Siân Heder, André Holland, Karyn Kusama, Pam Martin, Estes Tarver, and Dylan Tichenor.
The 2024 Screenwriters Lab will be held online from June 4–7, where fellows will refine their scripts through individual story sessions with screenwriter advisors and group sessions on the art and craft of screenwriting. Led by Artistic Director Howard Rodman, the Screenwriters Lab advisor cohort includes John August, Scott Z. Burns, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Scott Frank, Susannah Grant, Tamara Jenkins, Meg LeFauve, Jenny Lumet, Josh Marston
WHAT: The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 25 - Sunday, May 5, 2024 at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta and virtually.
Media are invited to attend the red carpet Marquee screening of “POWER” on Sunday, May 5, 2024.
About “POWER””: In the United States, police have been granted extraordinary power over our individual lives. The police determine who is suspicious and who ‘fits the description.’ They define the threats and decide how to respond. They demand obedience and carry the constant threat of violence. Thousands of these interactions play out in our cities and towns every day, according to real and perceived ideas of criminality and threats to social order—as decided by the police. Police make the abstract power of the state real.
“POWER” traces the accumulation of money, the consolidation of political power, and the nearly unrestricted bipartisan support that has created the institution of policing as we know it. The film offers a visceral and immersive journey to demonstrate how we’ve arrived at this moment in history, from the slave patrols of the 1700’s and the first publicly funded police departments of the 1800’s to the uprisings of the 1960’s and 2020’s. "POWER" premieres May 17 on Netflix.
Directed by: Yance Ford
Executive Producers: Jon Bardin, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Anya Rous
Producers: Yance Ford, Jess Devaney, Sweta Vohra and Netsanet Negussie
Starring: Wesley Lowery, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Paul Butler, Julian Go
WHO:
Director Yance Ford is expected to participate in red carpet interviews prior to the screening.
About Yance Ford: Ford is an Oscar-nominated director and producer based in New York City. His feature documentary film STRONG ISLAND premiered at Sundance in 2017 to critical acclaim winning a Special Jury Award for storytelling. The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards, where Ford made history as the first openly transgender director nominated for an Oscar. STRONG ISLAND received the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film, the Gotham Award for Best Documentary, and the Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Doc; was nominated for a George Foster Peabody Award; and won for Best Direction, Best Debut, and Best Feature at the Cinema Eye Honors.
WHEN:
Sunday, May 5, 2024
WHERE: The Tara Theatre | Jack Auditorium | 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324
MEDIA RSVP:
Please contact ATLFF@ssmandl.com with your interest in covering on-site or in advance.
For information on Opening and Closing Night red carpet screenings, please click here.
* * *
The Atlanta Film Festival is the annual centerpiece of educational and enriching film programming th
ANOTHER EARLY OSCAR LOOK
Joey Magidson of Awards Radar has posted his first set of picks for the 2025 Oscars and as has been my way, I've looked through them for possible TFF #51 titles. Magidson has divided them into two parts. Part One went up last Friday focusing on "Above the Line" categories. Part Two will be posted later this week.
Here's what I'm seeing from Part One beginning with films Magidson thinks are Best Picture contenders:
Blitz-Steve McQueen
Conclave-Edward Berger
Maria-Pablo Larrain
The Nickel Boys-Ross
SNL 1975-Reitman
Queer-Gaudagnino
Bird-Arnold
The End-Oppenheimer
The Apprentice-Abbasi
The Piano Lesson-Washington
From the other "Above the Line" Categories:
Megalopolis-Coppola
The Actor-Johnson
We Live in Time-Crowley
WILL ABEL SCREEN AT ABEL?
News this week that a newly restores print of Abel Gance's monumental silent film Napoleon will lead off the Cannes Classics section on May 14th.
From Cannes' press release:
"A legend known to cinephiles the world over, a major work of the silent era, one of the most monumental restorations in the history of filmmaking will be unveiled on May 14 as a world premiere: Napoléon by Abel Gance (1st period), in a version resulting from a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française, with the support of the CNC."
Naturally that makes one think that the restoration could be a natural choice for TFF. I can see this screening at Elk Park which is re-christened the Abel Gance Open Air Cinema each year for the festival.
A still from Climate Refugees
By Vanessa Zimmer
Every April 22 since 1970, Americans have celebrated Earth Day, the dawn of the environmental movement. Now, joined by more than 190 countries on the occasion, activists have banded together to battle polluted air, polluted water, the loss of natural spaces and wildlife, and so much more.
Filmmakers take part in their own fashion, using their lenses to bring the reality of these universal dangers to the masses and a sense of humanity to the stories — like the villagers who lose their livelihoods, their homes to disappearing water supplies.
This year, we at the Sundance Institute choose to focus on perhaps the most urgent of all environmental threats: global warming. We have selected eight films about climate change, which take a look at rising temperatures not only across the land, but also in the seas.
From the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth to 2022’s winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Festival, Utama, check out these explorations of the harmful effects of weather changes globally. (For a more in-depth piece on Utama, click here).
An Inconvenient Truth (2006 Sundance Film Festival) — Perhaps the forefather of global warming films, this is the passionate story of former Vice President Al Gore’s dedication to sounding the alarm on the imperative of reversing the trend. “Traveling the world, he has built a visually mesmerizing presentation designed to disabuse doubters of the notion that climate change is debatable,” writes Sundance programmer Caroline Libresco in the Festival Film Guide. The film won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Available on Showtime.
Everything’s Cool (2007 Sundance Film Festival) — Denial and deception play the enemies in this documentary, a character-driven piece focusing on the scientists and activists who tried early on to draw attention to global warming. Those characters include a journalist, a Weather Channel climatologist, and a public servant who whistle-blows on the political manipulation of climate-change research. Co-director Judith Hefland called them the “Paul Reveres” of the energy revolution.
Climate Refugees (2010 Sundance Film Festival) — Drought and rising sea levels, both brought about by global warming, are making emigrants of people in Sudan, Bangladesh, China, the islands of Tuvalu, and elsewhere. Where can they go? Writer-director-cinematographer Michael Nash spent two years traveling the globe to tell these human stories. Available on IMDb, Pluto, and Tubi.
Chasing Ice (2012 Sundance Film Festival) — Director-cinematographer Jeff Orlowski followed National Geographic photographer James Balog, with equipment he developed to withstand extremely harsh weath