Bay Area Women Filmmakers at 8th Annual Albany Film Festival on Sunday, March 25.
|
||||
|
Film
Trans Drama A Fantastic Woman Wins Best Foreign Language Film
A drama about a transgender woman has won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Chilean film A Fantastic Woman has taken home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, its only nomination.
A Fantastic Woman’s director Sebastián Lelio, thanked star Daniela Vega when accepting the award.
He said: “I want to thank the cast of the film, especially the brilliant actor Francisco Reyes Morandé and the inspiration for this movie, Daniela Vega.
28-year-old Vega has been receiving rave reviews for her central role in the film.
Vega’s character Marina has to deal with her partner’s death and his family’s subsequent transphobia, while simultaneously trying to find her identity without her beloved Orlando.
Screening in several film festivals internationally, A Fantastic Woman had been very well received, particularly for Vega’s performance.
The magazine said she deserved “so much more than political praise,” and was one of many publications heaping compliments on the actress.
The film has been praised both for Vega’s performance and the artistic merit of the film, but for also ensuring that a transgender character was played by a transgender actress.
After his win, director Lelio said that it was critically important that the main character in the film be played by a transgender actress.
He said: “I felt that, for me, it was [a] very instinctive and strong decision knowing that I was not going to make this film without a transgender actress in main role.
“That put [the] film in a different dimension because of everything that Daniela brought to the film.”
The Season 4 IKEA Home Tour Squad Is Back & Ready to Tackle Your Biggest Design Challenges
Once again, IKEA is sending a team of design experts on the road to help America solve real home furnishing challenges.
Ad by IKEA®
After it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival, Variety called Vega’s performance “a multi-layered, emotionally polymorphous feat of acting.”
However, Vega herself missed out on a nomination for Best Actress.
Vega became the first openly trans person to ever present at the Oscars, introducing Sufjan Stevens’s performance of “Mystery of Love” from the acclaimed film Call Me By Your Name.
As Vega took the stage at the 90th Academy Awards, she said: “Thank you for this moment. I want to invite you to open your hearts and your feelings to feel the reality, to feel love. Can you feel it?”
Director Yance Ford became the first trans director to be nominated for an Oscar in this year’s Academy Awards, but was sadly beaten by the documentary Icarus.
Sonoma International Film Festival Announces 2018 Lineup
The Sonoma International Film Festival has earned a reputation for blending Wine Country lifestyle with world-class films from around the world.
This year’s festival, which takes place March 21-25, will feature 110 films from 18 countries and 200 filmmakers. The festival will celebrate food, wine and film and, in the wake of widespread sexual harassment and assault accusations in the movie industry, it will also explore gender roles in Hollywood.
The opening night headline film is Borg vs McEnroe, which explores the story of the legendary 1980 Wimbledon match between Björn Borg and John McEnroe. The film is directed by Janus Metz and stars Sverrir Gudnason as Borg and Shia LaBeouf as McEnroe.
Two other films will headline the festival: Back to Burgundy, a French film, directed by Cédric Klapisch, about three siblings trying to save their family winery, and Chef, an Indian remake of the 2014 American hit film.
Film star Karen Allen (Animal House, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Malcolm X, The Perfect Storm, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), will grace the historic Sonoma Plaza. Allen will serve on the film jury and will participate in a panel discussion titled “Reversing Gender Inequality by 2020.” The panel will also include Academy Award-nominated actress Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, August: Osage County), actor and casting director Pamela Guest (Blue Velvet), JD Heyman, Deputy Entertainment Editor for People, Anna Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute, and Ingrid Rudefors, former head of the Stockholm Film Commission.
Additional star power will be provided by actor and director Ed Begley, Jr. (Ghostbusters, Better Call Saul, Arrested Development), who also serves on the film jury.
As usual, food and drink will rule at the festival. Local restaurants including Oso, the girl & the fig, and Umbria will serve small bites paired with wine from Gloria Ferrer, Petroni, Adastra and more. There will be parties from opening to closing night at the backlot located just blocks from the Sonoma Plaza.
Thursday, March 22, features a unique five-course dinner. Each course will be prepared by a celebrity chef and will be paired with a short film. Foodie stars include Dominique Crenn of San Francisco, Evan Funke (Felix Trattoria) from LA, and two local favorites: John McReynolds (Stone Edge Farms) and John Toulze (the girl & the fig).
The Sonoma International Film Festival runs March 21-25 in Sonoma. Tickets start at $35. sonomafilmfest.org
Film Review: “Thelma”
Starring: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervåg
Director: Joachim Trier
Running Time: 116 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: February 26th 2018 (UK)
Director: Joachim Trier
Running Time: 116 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: February 26th 2018 (UK)
Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his much-praised movie, Louder Than Bombs, has found much acclaim. It’s the sort of intriguing film that builds tension by living in a moral grey area and maintaining an enigmatic, sexual air.
Thelma (Eili Harboe) is a young woman who’s led an incredibly sheltered life. Her strongly religious parents have completely controlled her existence, but now she’s getting her first taste of freedom by going away to university. As she settles into college life – which still includes the need to contact her parents everyday so they can keep an eye on her – she starts to have feelings for one of her female friends.
While she initially tries to deny what’s happening, it begins to unlock deeply suppressed psychokinetic powers which she may not be able to control. They are powers which could be extremely dangerous if fully unleashed.
Thelma is a movie that starts as it means to go on, with a father and his daughter hunting in the woods. All seems fine until the dad points the gun at his child. From there the movie builds an eerie, unsettled feel, where what should be simple and natural becomes dangerous and full of tension.
It would be easy to dismiss it as a Carrie rip-off, but it’s more than that. It is a modern examination of suppression and denial, looking at how things such as religion can be used to avoid dealing with a problem, and ultimately make things worse. It presents a complex morality, designed to get the viewer thinking. A few years ago, Thelma’s emerging sexuality would probably have been presented salaciously and as just another ‘symptom’ of her strangeness. However, Trier carefully presents her as an innocent – despite what we learn about her. Her sexual awakening is shown as something beautiful that is threatened with destruction not by the supernatural powers inside her, but by the control and repression that has been thrust upon her which means she now has no idea what she’s dealing with.
Click here to watch the trailer for Thelma
It is at times unnerving and often intriguing, using some beautiful imagery to something something both familiar and otherworldly. That intimacy between the mundane and the strange also allows it to build empathy for its central character, played sublimely by Eili Harboe. It feels like an extremely timely movie – an allegory for sexuality, female power and the generational divide. At times it may have uncomfortable things to say about those things, but it’s a tantalising and sometimes darkly humorous movie that lingers in the brain. There are also echoes of the effect of ‘gay cure’ therapies and the devastation they can wreak, which goes far beyond the person ‘cured’.
Overall Verdict: A haunting, morally complex and sometimes tense movie that takes modern issues to the edge with empathy and supernatural eeriness.
Announcing the 2018 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival Film Line-up!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GLAAD Announces Nominees for 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards
GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, announced today the nominees for the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards live from the Sundance Film Festival. The 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Delta Air Lines, Ketel One Vodka, and Wells Fargo.
The GLAAD Media Awards honor media for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate acceptance of the LGBTQ community. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in Los Angeles on April 12, 2018 at The Beverly Hilton, and in New York on May 5 at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Actress Trace Lysette (Transparent) and actor Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery, 13 Reasons Why) today announced the nominees live on GLAAD’s Facebook page from Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival.
A full list of nominees can be found at http://glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees or by following #glaadawards
Among the nominees: Golden Globe winner Lady Bird; Golden Globe nominees Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, A Fantastic Woman, The Handmaid’s Tale, Will & Grace, Feud: Bette and Joan, and This Is Us; ABC’s When We Rise, Modern Family, 20/20, and Good Morning America,; The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; Netflix’s One Day at a Time, Sense8, Easy, Las chicas del cable, and Godless; Amazon’s One Mississippi and Transparent; Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse; Univision’s La doble vida de Estela Carrillo; HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Room 104; The New Yorker and Nightline for their coverage of the persecution of gay and bi men in Chechnya; Rolling Stone and VICE on HBO for its coverage of trans youth; CNN en Español for its report on survivors, families, and first responders one year after the Pulse Nightclub massacre; and Grammy-nominated artist Kehlani for her album SweetSexySavage.
GLAAD announced a Special Recognition Award for Jay-Z’s song and music video “Smile” featuring his mother Gloria Carter who used the song to come out as a lesbian. A Special Recognition Award was also given to the animated short film In A Heartbeat.
For the first time this year, GLAAD will honor LGBTQ-inclusive content in Kids & Family Programming. The inaugural round of nominees includes Disney Channel’s Andi Mack and Doc McStuffins for its “The Emergency Plan” episode, Amazon’s Danger & Eggs for its “Chosen Family” episode, Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, and Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe.
“What people see in the media has a powerful impact on how they treat others and the GLAAD Media Awards raise the bar for media to tell LGBTQ stories that accelerate acceptance,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “At a time when anti-LGBTQ policies and harassment are on the rise, it is imperative that Hollywood and news media tell more LGBTQ stories that reflect the community’s rich diversity – and build understanding that brings all communities closer together. This year’s nominees showcase stories that span races, genres, ages, and geographies, challenge misconceptions, and broaden understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ people across the globe.”
GLAAD announced 125 nominees in 21 English-language categories and 16 nominees in 4 Spanish-language categories. Among all categories, broadcast networks earned 30 nominations, and cable networks picked up 29 nominations. Netflix received seven nominations and ABC, CBS, and NBC each received six. Streaming services received 13 nominations in total: Netflix’s seven nominations included One Day at a Time, Sense8, Easy, Las chicas del cable, and Godless; Amazon received three nominations for One Mississippi, Transparent, and Danger & Eggs; and Hulu, CBS All Access, and YouTube Red received one nomination each, for The Handmaid’s Tale, Star Trek: Discovery, and This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, respectively.
Special Honorees for the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 12, 2018, and in New York City on May 5, 2018 will be announced in coming weeks.
To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use #glaadawards.
The 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards corporate partners include Presenting Partners Delta Air Lines, Ketel One Vodka, and Wells Fargo. GLAAD is also grateful to: Official Partner Bud Light; Platinum Partners Allstate Insurance Company, MetLife, Omnicom Group, Southwest Airlines, and Turner. For a full list of corporate partners and information on how to become a corporate partner, purchase tickets, and place a tribute in the tribute book, please visit www.glaad.org/mediaawards
LGBTQ Films to Premiere at the 20th SF Independent Film Festival
|
|
‘The Shape of Water’ lands a leading 13 Oscar nominations
The cascading fallout of sexual harassment scandals throughout Hollywood put particular focus on the best director category, which for many is a symbol of gender inequality in the film industry. Gerwig follows only Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, the sole woman to win (for “The Hurt Locker”).
Also nominated for best director was “Get Out” director Jordan Peele. He becomes the fifth black filmmaker nominated for best director, and third to helm a best-picture nominee, following Barry Jenkins last year for “Moonlight.”
Though all of the front-runners — Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards”) — landed their expected nominations, there were surprises.
Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”) was nominated for best actor, likely eclipsing James Franco (“Disaster Artist”). Franco was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, just days before Oscar voting closed.
Last year’s Oscars broadcast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, drew 32.9 million viewers for ABC, a four percent drop from the prior year. More worrisome, however, was a steeper slide in the key demographic of adults aged 18-49, whose viewership was down 14 percent from 2016.
Though the show ran especially long, at three hours and 49 minutes, it finished with a bang: the infamous envelope mix-up that led to “La La Land” being incorrectly announced as the best picture before “Moonlight” was crowned.
This year, the academy has prohibited the PwC accountants who handle the envelopes from using cellphones or social media during the show. The accounting firm on Monday also unveiled several reforms including the addition of a third balloting partner in the show’s control room. Neither of the PwC representatives involved in the mishap last year, Brian Cullinan or Martha Ruiz, will return to the show.
But the movie business has larger accounting problems. Movie attendance hit a 24-year low in 2017 despite the firepower of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” ”Beauty and the Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.” An especially dismal summer movie season was 92 million admissions shy of summer 2016, according to the National Alliance of Theater Owners.
Still, the summer produced one best-picture favorite, “Dunkirk,” which grossed $525.6 million worldwide. Warner Bros.’ Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” released in June to $821.8 million in ticket sales, became the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman, though it did not receive any Oscar nods.
But the box-office hit that carved the most unlikely path to the Oscars is “Get Out.” It opened back in February on Oscar weekend, and went on to pocket $254.7 million worldwide. Though “Get Out” and “Dunkirk” lend a blockbuster punch to the best-picture field — something that has historically helped ratings of the broadcast — the other films in the mix are smaller indies.
It was a dominant if bittersweet day for 20th Century Fox. Its specialty label, Fox Searchlight, is behind both “Three Billboards” and “The Shape of Water,” and Fox released The Post.” Yet those wins may soon count for the Walt Disney Co., which last month reached a deal to purchase Fox for $52.4 billion.
Both Amazon and Netflix failed to crack the best picture category but earned nominations elsewhere. Netflix’s “Mudbound” scored a best-supporting nod for Mary J. Blige and Amazon’s “The Big Sick” grabbed a nomination for Holly Hunter in the same category. “The Big Sick” also scored an original screenplay nod.
22nd Berlin & Beyond Begins February 9 at the Castro
|
|
Opening Night Film: Fri. Feb. 9, 2018 at 6:30 PM Director: Simon Verhoeven Recently retired teacher Angelika decides, against her skeptical husband Richard’s will, to take in a refugee. Soon afterward, the young Nigerian Diallo moves into the Hartmann home, and a whirlwind of complications ensue. These events not only disrupt the lives of Angelika and Richard’s adult children Philip and Sophie; they also put their own marriage as well as Diallo’s chances of integration to the test. Despite all the chaos, hope prevails that the family will recover its stability, confidence, and peace. A timely social comedy, “Welcome to Germany” was the highest grossing German film at the local box office in 2016 and first part of 2017 with more than 3.5 million admissions. CENTERPIECE FILM: Director: Chris Kraus Totila Blumen (Lars Eidinger, “Personal Shopper“, “Clouds of Sils Maria“) is a Holocaust researcher. As such, he has no sense of fun. This applies in a general sense and specifically when his colleagues try to turn an Auschwitz conference into a corporate-sponsored media event. In the process, they trample all over the memory of the recently deceased Professor Norkus – whom Totila revered. On top of all this, Totila is lumped with an intern: a young and irritating French student named Zazie (Adèle Haenel). As she follows Totila around and has a fling with his boss, the otherwise serious and measured academic becomes a nervous wreck. But it’s no good moaning about it – certainly not to his stressed wife, who demands that he gripe less and learn to accept what his life has to offer. And so Totila ploughs on with his work, aided by the overwrought, eccentric Zazie. She, however, appears to have an agenda of her own – and it’s closely related to Totila’s background and well-guarded family secret. CASTRO CLOSING NIGHT FILM: Director: Dieter Berner Producers: Franz Novotny, Alexander Glehr, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu TICKETS BERLIN & BEYOND FILM FESTIVAL Official Website: berlinbeyond.com GOETHE-INSTITUT Official Website: goethe.de/sf |
The work of East Village Photographer Peter Hujat is Recognized in a NY Exhibit
There is a new Exhibit of the work of PETER HUJAR a quintessential East Village photographer in the 1970’s and 1980’s whose stark black and white images beautifully captured a shifting generation who would soon be almost decimated by the AIDS pandemic, which would kill him too.
The show, Peter Hujar: Speed of Life, looks at the work the legend left behind, three decades after his death. It is composed of 140 photographs drawn from the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, the most comprehensive public collection of the artist’s work. Curated by Joel Smith, the exhibition adopts the traditional retrospective format while staying true to Hujar’s vision.
Peter Hujar: Speed of Life January 26, 2018 through May 20, 2018 The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street New York, NY 10016
Photography © Peter Hujar Archive, LLC, courtesy of Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco