Tag Archives: film review

First-ever Sundance London Short Film Competition Winner Announced.

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EXTRANJERO WINS FIRST-EVER SUNDANCE LONDON SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Film by Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell from north London to screen at Sundance London

Extranjero, a five-minute film from Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell, was announced today as the winner of the Short Film Competition at the first-ever Sundance London film and music festival, 26-29 April at The O2. The film will screen as part of the official Short Film programme at the festival and is available for immediate viewing here.

Extranjero, shot over just two days, gives the viewer a unique and unusual take on immigration as it follows a refugee trying to run from his past as well as the confusion in his own mind. Lumb, 32, from north London, and Campbell, 31, also from north London, met as flat mates six years ago and submitted the short film after friends encouraged them to.

Launched in November 2011, the Short Film Competition, a collaborative effort with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Ravensbourne, invited UK-based filmmakers to enter original pieces between three and five minutes in length around the theme ‘Story of Our Time.’ In addition to Extranjero, finalists for the competition were: Bonsai, by Ben Williams; Two Doors Down, by Scott Ward; The Story of Our Time, by Sam Gould; and This Film Was Shot on Digital, by Ian Waldron Mantgani.

Lumb said: “Extranjero is quite an experimental film. We wanted to comment on people you don’t really know about, and Extranjero was the result. Winning the competition is a dream for both us. As film geeks it’s amazing to be associated with Sundance.”

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said: “The jury was struck by the high level of craft and ingenuity in the submissions. Filmmakers embraced the theme ‘Story of Our Time’ and created wonderfully diverse and entertaining films. Ultimately the jury selected Extranjero for its commanding cinematic storytelling and arresting visuals that offer an alternate perspective on an imperative global issue.”

Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council added: “We are delighted to support Sundance London, and this competition will help showcase our local filmmakers to the world. The Royal Borough of Greenwich has a wealth of locations that includes everything from industrial warehouses, the largest expanse of parkland in London, historic buildings and a wealth of riverfront locations. The rich diversity of locations makes Royal Greenwich an ideal backdrop to film and have attracted productions as diverse as Children of Men and Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Previously announced events and performances for Sundance London include: a rare intimate concert performance by Placebo; Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird performing Maxinquaye; a performance by Rufus and Martha Wainwright following the world premiere of Lian Lunson’s film about the music of their mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle; and screenings of 14 feature-length and eight short films from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.

Sundance London, supported by Presenting Partner Sony Entertainment Network, takes place 26-29 April at The O2. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.sundance-london.com.

Romantics Anonymous | Film Review

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This is an absolutely wonderful film. It just made me smile all the way through it.

Romantics Anonymous is a film about Jean-René, the boss of a small chocolate factory which is about to go bankrupt, and Angélique, a gifted chocolate maker he has just hired as a sales rep. They are both highly emotional and shy. They fall in love but neither of them have the emotional capacity to handle it. Will they work out their differences and live happily ever after? Maybe. And will Angélique get over her shyness and save the Chocolate Mill with her talent for making chocolate? There are a few false starts, especially when Angélique gets stood up by Jean- René. They love each other but can they make it work?

Romantics Anonymous is a very smart film. It has a good premise and the plot does not let you down. This film is the perfect anecdote to depression or a bad day. It is just brilliant. Well-written, well-acted, a little gem of a film. Even if you don’t like French films, or subtitles; watch it.

Five stars. I would definitely watch this again.

 

The Hunger Games Review

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Some have dismissed ‘The Hunger Games’ as another film for the teen masses. But this no ‘Twilight Saga’, nor is it a cheap copy of ‘Battle Royale’ as some have claimed. The film is fantastic and original. Its message is important. It is an absolute must watch for all (although I was a little surprised at the lowly 12A rating).

Set in the future, every year the Capitol randomly selects a boy and girl  from the surrounding twelve districts to fight to the death on live television in a tournament known as ‘The Hunger Games’. The games are a reminder of a rebellion the districts took part in against the Capitol 75 years earlier.

When I first read the summary I was worried the plot would be a little far fetched. I always want films to be believable. I shouldn’t have worried. The film takes itself seriously. At no point does it feel overly fantastical or unrealistic, in fact it does a very good job of feeling real. We should not forget that it is not so long ago in our history that these sorts of events existed, and people did fight each other to the death for others entertainment.

Unlike ‘Battle Royale’ there is a long build up to the actual tournament itself, and it is this which makes the film work so well.

The focus is on the horrific perversity of the whole event. Competitors are taken from the starving poverty of their districts to a world of opulence. As an extra dynamic to the contest the competitors are forced to try and gain sponsors in the lead up to the event by going on chat shows and doing well in test events. Sponsors help during the event will be vital if they want to have any chance of winning. The whole process is brilliantly sickening.

Unlike ‘Battle Royale’ most of the focus is on a single lead character ‘Katniss Everdeen’ who is played superbly by the brilliant Jennifer Lawrence. She is ably supported by a very strong cast.

All in all a superb film. Probably the film of the year and a must see. 9/10

 

Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life by Daniel McCarthy

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With an output rate that would make Woody Allen envious and a string of classics ranging across four decades, the prolific German filmmaker Werner Herzog has built up a devoted international following and critically gilded canon of work that most directors can only aspire to. This includes a recent spate of documentaries that look with awe at the power of nature such as last year’s brilliant Cave Of Forgotten Dreams. Herzog is fascinated however with the sometimes cataclysmic clash of nature and man, both fictional and factual, from the likes of Aguirre Wrath Of God and to Grizzly Man. Now Herzog has taken a more definitive step towards the flawed nature of man with his latest work Into The Abyss, a calm yet unflinching examination of the death penalty in America shown through the prism of one particular crime. Many of Herzog’s films can claim to look into an abyss, whether it is literal or metaphorical. Whichever way you view this latest work, it is arguably one of his strongest pieces yet.
In October of 2001 Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, two teenagers with troubled backgrounds living in Texas, broke into the house of a fifty year old nurse Sandra Stotler with the intention of stealing her sports car.

The crime ended with her death, as well as that of her son and his friend who were ambushed upon their return to the house, led into a wooded area and killed in order to gain possession of the remote control device needed to open the gates of the housing community where they lived. It is a crime noticeable for both its callousness and stupidity. Perry and Burkett where arrested days later after a shootout with police and proceeded to blame each other for the events that took place. Burkett was sentenced to life imprisonment whilst Perry was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out in the summer of 2010. Herzog interviews the two men at their respective prisons (Perry was only eight days from execution during his interview) as well as members of the victims’ families and some of those directly involved with the process of state executions.

From the outset Herzog makes his views clear to the two men and to the viewer; ‘I don’t have to like you, but I don’t think human beings should be executed.’ His view is a humanist one, not political despite its release coming just ahead of the Republican presidential nomination in America. Despite not shunning away from the horror of the crimes committed, judgement is not heaped upon the convicted men. The conversations with them are quietly unnerving; despite having claimed his innocence Perry views his impending death with serene calm whilst Burkett discusses the troubled relationship with his father who is also imprisoned in an adjunct prison ward for a separate crime. Their pasts and backgrounds are referenced but are not used as an excuse. Instead a complex tableau is woven on both sides with family members of the victims revealing how they have been affected by the tragedy and whether or not they feel the execution will heal their pain whilst Burkett’s father holds himself responsible for his son’s wayward lifestyle. Compared to the pacing of Herzog’s fictional work and some of the documentaries, there is a unique stillness to the imagery and the tone that is tremendously sombre and effecting. The camera roves effortlessly and holds on the smallest of details; the scattered, rural landscape that prisoners pass through on their way to the ‘Death House’, the faces of interviewees left hanging at the end of questioning and not given the mercy of a quit cutaway. Rather than adhere to standard rules of documentary film-making, Herzog is drawn to what he refers to an ‘ecstatic truth’. The point is made not through a deluge of facts and figures but instead a hidden narrative construct takes us on a journey through the incredible true story and in doing so deepens the emotional response.

There’s plenty of emotion on display here. The tale is tragic on both sides and the interviews are to the point, precise and devastating. Herzog’s trademark accented narration is toned right down and he never appears directly onscreen. There is a stillness in both the one to one and interviews and the establishing shots between them as though the camera itself is respectfully treading away from anything exploitive. Crime scene footage is seen but never lingered over. Out of the remnants of the tragedy, it is the small fleeting moments of humanity that move the deepest. An anecdote about squirrels on a golf course manages to evoke tears from a prison chaplain whilst a former captain of the ‘execution team’ recalls the exact moment when he realized he could no longer carry on with his job. The film is separated into individual chapters covering the crime, the aftermath and the debate surrounding capital punishment. The last chapter is optimistically titled ‘The Urgency Of Life’, and we focus on the acceptance of the various parties involved as they discuss how the execution has and has not restored equilibrium to the situation. Rather than end on a bleak epilogue Herzog pulls off an odd, vaguely amusing and hopeful vignette. One of the final shots is a phone screen capture of an ultrasound scan revealing a child. To say anymore may rob its power, but it’s a beautiful little grace note that only this director could pull off.

I had the good fortune to see Into The Abyss at a preview screening followed by a live stream Q and A session with Herzog himself. It was a fascinating experience to hear the man give insight into his method and viewpoint on his work and how he tackled the more stressful aspects of the production. The film is being released as a companion series, On Death Row screens on Channel 4. Though at time of writing I have only seen half of the episodes, it has all the merits of the main work itself; sombre, thoughtful and astonishingly balanced in approach to its subject. With these projects Herzog is staring death in the face. And death stares straight back.

Jean Gabin: Working Class Hero to Godfather at BFI Southbank in May

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Jean Gabin (1904–1976) is one of the most renowned stars of French cinema. Throughout May BFI Southbank celebrates a career that spanned over four decades and which featured performances in both silent cinema and the talkies. Beginning with Jean Gabin: Anatomy of a Myth, on Wed 2 May, an introduction from season curator Ginette Vincendeau, Professor in Film Studies at King’s College London, the centrepiece of this season is the nationwide release and extended run of a newly restored classic of ‘poetic realism’ Le Quai des brumes (France 1939) from 4 May.

Between 1930 and 1976, magnetic French star Jean Gabin built an unparalleled screen image that encompassed the tragic working-class hero with a rugged charisma to underworld Godfather figures. He remains one of the great icons of cinema, and this season explores the appeal of his mythical vision of the ‘ordinary’ Frenchman.

Born Jean Alexis Moncorgé in 1904 to a family of performers, Gabin started out as a comic singer at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928. Two years later, he easily made the transition to the talkies, and soon switched to dramatic parts in cinema. From 1935 to 1939, he was the most popular French matinee idol of the pre-war period and gave performances in an extraordinary run of masterpieces Pépé le Moko (Dir, Julien Duvivier, 1937), La Bête humaine (Dir, Jean Renoir, 1938) and Le Jour se lève (Dir, Marcel Carné, 1939).

It was Renoir’s anti-war masterpiece La Grande Illusion (1937) (on extended run at BFI Southbank throughout April) that cemented Gabin’s international superstar status, and the film received universal critical acclaim. A certified classic of world cinema, the film has recently been re-released to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Gabin’s fame was reinforced by a series of hits, including Marcel Carné’s marvellously moody crime thriller Le Quai des brumes (1939) playing one of his most memorably iconic roles as an army deserter on the run.

The war propelled Gabin to a brief stint in Hollywood, where he made Moontide (Dir, Archie Mayo, 1942) under contract with Fox. It was a fascinating attempt at ‘Americanising’ his image but Gabin felt uncomfortable speaking English. At Universal, he and Duvivier were reunited for The Impostor (1944). While working for RKO Pictures, Gabin’s difficult personality did serious damage to his Hollywood career. Scheduled to star in an RKO film The Temptress, he demanded Marlene Dietrich to be cast as his co-star (they were ensconced in a torrid, real-life affair throughout the early-to-mid 1940s). The studio refused. Gabin remained stubborn in his demand, yet he was fired and the project was shelved. RKO issued the warning that he would never work in Hollywood again; Gabin shrugged off the threat and proceeded to rejoin the French troops in North Africa.

However by the early 1950s it looked as if Gabin’s era had passed. But then Jacques Becker’s Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) and Renoir’s French Cancan (1955) catapulted him back to the top of the box-office. Suddenly Gabin was again a global star. Over the next twenty years until his death in 1976, Gabin made many more films, most of them very successful, commercially and critically. The season includes his later films such as Maigret tend un piège (Dir, Jean Delannoy, 1958), the first and best of three films in which he tackles Georges Simenon’s illustrious Commissaire Maigret; the nail-biting thriller Melodie en sous-sol (Dir, Henri Verneuil, 1963) co-starring Alain Delon who would always credit Gabin as a great influence; and the most poignant of his later films, Le Chat (Dir, Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1971) with tour-de-force performances by Gabin and the great Simone Signoret as an ageing and feuding husband and wife.

Gabin’s career lasted over 40 years and he became a mythical figure of French cinema. His rugged looks, rough voice and Parisian accent still anchored his characters in the same social milieu, and this is why he kept his popular following. Ultimately Gabin’s charisma endowed the ordinary man with dignity and prestige.

International Buddhist Film Festival

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International Buddhist Film Festival

11–15 April

In conjunction with the Buddhist Art Forum at the Courtauld Institute of Art

This is a film festival with a difference, the program is below, lots of good films to see.

The International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) is returning to London this Spring, bringing a compelling selection of Buddhist cinema to the capital from 11-15 April at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus.

The diverse programme will showcase more than a dozen feature films and documentaries, most of which are European and UK premieres – from a Thai murder mystery and a Nepali road movie about a Tibetan nun’s journey to Katmandu to recover a debt, to a host of docs including a Richard Gere-narrated exploration of the life of Buddha and a self-portrait by a filmmaker who was identified as the reincarnation of a renowned Buddhist teacher when he was three years old.

Now celebrating its 10th year, the IBFF has presented festivals in cities across the world from LA, Washington DC and Mexico City to Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong. This will be the first time the IBFF has visited the UK since 2009. “We are delighted to be returning to London with a wonderful new selection of world cinema with a Buddhist touch,” said Gaetano Kazuo Maida, Executive Director of IBFF. “Drawing on themes from karma, self and happiness to redemption, compassion, community and creativity – often treated with humour – there is something here for everyone, regardless of how much they already know about Buddhism,” he added.

The IBFF is being held in conjunction with the Buddhist Art Forum at the Courtauld Institute of Art at Somerset House, offering Londoners a feast of Buddhist cultural delights across cinema and art.

PROGRAM

Shugendo Now
Directed by Jean-Marc Abela and Mark Patrick McGuire
Japan, Canada / 2010 / Japanese with English subtitles / 88 min / Documentary
EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Wednesday, April 11, 6:30 pm

There is a unique school of Japanese asceticism called Shugendo, the Way of Acquiring Power, a blend of Shinto, Daoism and Buddhism. Followers practice arduous rituals in mountain wildernesses and are deeply committed to protecting the natural environment. The film is a poetic and intimate journey into a rarely seen world between the developed and the wild, between the present and the infinite. Filmed on location in Japan’s Kumano Mountains, Tokyo and Osaka.

The Buddha
Directed by David Grubin
USA / 2010 / English / 112 min / Documentary
Narrated by Richard Gere
UK PREMIERE
Wednesday, April 11, 8:45 pm

The story of Buddha, the 6th century BCE prince who became a great spiritual teacher, has been told in many ways and media. This is an ambitious and imaginative film by veteran documentary director David Grubin (RFK, FDR, LBJ, The Jewish Americans, Napoleon), narrated by Richard Gere. The film features location footage plus animation and contemporary voices including poets Jane Hirshfield and US Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin, and Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman to explore the life and meaning of the man who became “awake” and continues to inspire the diverse Buddhist cultures all over the world. Filmed on location in India, Nepal and the US.

Mindfulness and Murder
Directed by Tom Waller
Thailand / 2011 / Thai with English subtitles / 90 min / Dramatic Feature
UK PREMIERE
Thursday, April 11, 6:30 pm
Director and Producer expected to attend

The body of a dead homeless youth turns up in a Bangkok monastery and the police don’t want to get involved. Former homicide detective Father Ananda is now a senior monk and is asked by the abbot to solve the murder. Based on a novel by Bangkok resident Nick Wilgis, the film explores the intimate world of a Thai Buddhist monastery while following the rules of a classic whodunit. And as usual, not everything turns out to be what it at first seems. Starring Vithaya Pansringarm as Father Ananda, with two pop music personalities in leading roles, Prinya “Way” Intachai, one of the rappers in Thaitanium, and Charina Sirisinha of the ZaZa.

Karma
Directed by Tsering Rhitar Sherpa
Nepal / 2006 / Tibetan with English subtitles / 104 min / Dramatic Feature

EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Thursday, April 11, 8:45 pm

A road movie with Tibetan Buddhist nuns: an intimate story that begins behind the walls of a nunnery in remote Mustang. Karma is a free-spirited nun, and when the abbess dies, there’s an urgent need for money to pay for the rites after her death; Karma is assigned to go with another nun to try to retrieve funds on loan to a mysterious man once known to the abbess. Her search, and her journey within, take us to Katmandu, and beyond the obvious, beyond expectations, even beyond Buddhism at one point. She gets some advice along the way, “You’re desperately after something… you won’t get it, but you won’t fail.” And the movies play a part, of course. A rare and intriguing glimpse into the inner life of Tibetan nuns in a changing world. (Karma also means “actions”…) Starring Tsering Dolkar, Ani Yeshi Lhamo, Mithila Sharma and Jampa Kalsang.

The Great Pilgrim
Directed by Jin Tiemu
China / 2009 / Chinese with English subtitles / 98 min / Documentary

EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Friday, April 13, 6:30 pm

One of the most celebrated journeys in history is that of Tang dynasty Chinese monk Xuanzang. His quest to obtain original Buddhist texts took him on a nineteen year pilgrimage to India where he studied for several years at the famous Nalanda University. Upon his return to China in 645, bearing many Sanskrit texts, he was sponsored by Emperor Taizang to translate all the texts into Chinese and to record the story of his journey. His autobiography, Great Tang Records of the Western Region, is considered so accurate in its observations that it is consulted by archeologists and historians to this day. It is also the inspiration for the many popular Journey to the West and Monkey stories in novels, comic books, and animated and live action films and television from several countries in Asia. Reenactments, location filming and animation are compellingly deployed in The Great Pilgrim to introduce a truly legendary figure.

Abraxas
Directed by Naoki Kato
Japan / 2010 / Japanese with English subtitles / 113 min / Dramatic Feature
Friday, April 13, 8:45 pm

A punk rock veteran, now a married Buddhist priest, has a crisis of identity. This film touches on karma, self, compassion, community, impermanence, a dog, fathers and sons, relative and absolute, noise and music… and weaves bravely between heartfelt emotion and borderline jaunty farce. A soft spot for thrash punk (and Leonard Cohen) will add to the pleasure. Perhaps this is something of a glimpse into the place of Buddhism in contemporary Japan… A not-too-distant kin to Juzo Itami’s The Funeral (1984), Masayuki Suo’s Fanshi Dansu (1989) and Yojiro Katika’s Departures (2008)…. A Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Competition film starring Japanese rock star Suneohair, with Rie Tomosaka and Kaoru Kobayashi.

Tulku
Directed by Gesar Mukpo
Canada / 2010 / English / 76 min / Documentary
EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Saturday, April 14, 3:00 pm

At age three, Gesar Tsewang Arthur Mukpo, son of renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his British wife Diana, was identified as the reincarnation of the late Jamgon Kongtrul of Sechen, one of his father’s own teachers in Tibet. Living in Boulder, Colorado and then Halifax, Nova Scotia, Gesar balanced competing cultures and strikingly different definitions of self. His life was far from that of an ordinary contemporary American or Canadian—his father was a world famous Buddhist teacher and author—but there was no monastery upbringing like that of perhaps the best known tulku, the Dalai Lama, or even like his father. The film goes beyond autobiography to explore the Tibetan tradition of recognition of reincarnations of Buddhist teachers. Other non-Tibetan tulkus are interviewed as well as renowned Tibetan teachers including Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and H.H. Ogyen Trinley the 17th Karmapa.

Crazy Wisdom
Directed by Johanna Demetrakas
USA / 2011 / English / 92 min / Documentary
EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Saturday, April 14, 6:30 pm

This is the long-awaited feature documentary that explores the life, teachings, and “crazy wisdom” of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a pivotal figure in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. Raised and trained in the rigorous Tibetan monastic tradition, Trungpa shattered preconceived notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave—he openly smoked, drank, and had intimate relations with students—yet his teachings are recognized as authentic, vast, and influential. Trungpa taught Buddhism as though it were a matter of life and death. Allen Ginsberg considered him his guru; Thomas Merton wanted to write a book with him; Joni Mitchell wrote a song about him. Filmed in the UK, Tibet, Canada, and the US, twenty years after Trungpa’s death, with unprecedented access and exclusive archival material.

My Reincarnation
Directed by Jennifer Fox
Italy, USA / 2011 / English, Italian, and Tibetan with English subtitles / 82 min / Documentary
OFFICIAL UK PREMIERE
Saturday, April 14, 8:45 pm
Director expected to attend

Working with over a thousand hours of remarkable footage taken over an unprecedented twenty year span with extraordinary access to Tibetan Buddhist teacher Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, My Reincarnation is the intimate story of a father and son, tradition and change, dreams and realities, destiny and desire, and Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world. Director Jennifer Fox is a veteran world-class filmmaker with a number of award-winning productions to her credit including Beirut: The Last Home Movie, An American Love Story and Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman. Filmed on location in Italy, China and fifteen other countries.
SPOTLIGHT ON BURMA

Aung San Suu Kyi: Lady of No Fear
Directed by Anne-Gyrithe Bonne
Denmark / 2012 / English / 64 min / Documentary

Compelling and fascinating glimpses into the life of the Nobel Laureate. This new film details some of the consequences her freedom struggle has had, not only for her, but also for her closest friends and family, as she emerges from years of detention to take her place again at the forefront of her country’s transition to democracy.

Into the Current
Directed by Jeanne Hallacy
Myanmar, Thailand, USA / 2011 / English and Burmese with English
subtitles / 76 min / Documentary

This film honors the leaders of Burma’s nonviolent democracy movement and their personal sacrifices for the freedom of their people. The film explores the commitment of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, poet Min Ko Naing, comedian Zarganar and women’s leader Nilar Thein. Their stories are told through scenes of political activities filmed at great risk by the Democratic Voice of Burma, with rare archival footage and new material filmed with Burmese exiles. Bo Kyi, a former prisoner, carries the voices and the plight of 2,000 other political prisoners to the international stage.
KanZeOn

Directed by Tim Grabham and Neil Cantwell
UK, Japan / 2011 / English subtitles / 86 min / Documentary
Directors expected to attend

A mysterious and innovative meditation on sound, song, story, ritual, performance, nature, tradition and Japanese Buddhism… a fearless merging of medieval and modern, beautifully filmed with a variety of cinematic techniques on location in Japan, intimate and deeply seen. Kanzeon, another way of saying Kannon, the embodiment of compassion (in Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara, in Tibetan: Chenrezi, in Chinese: Kuan Yin), can also be written in Japanese as “to see sounds.” Filmed on location in Kyushu, Japan.
Summer Pasture
Directed by Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Tsering Perlo
USA, China / 2010 / Tibetan with English subtitles / 85 min / Documentary

Summer Pasture is a complex and intimate portrayal of the world of a nomadic family on the Tibetan plateau at a time of profound historic change. Locho and Yama are nomadic herders who carve their existence from the land as their ancestors have for generations. But now, as traditional nomadic life confronts rapid modernization, Summer Pasture captures a family at a crossroads, ultimately revealing the profound sacrifice they will make to ensure their daughter’s future. Filmed on location in China.

For ticketing and venue information, please visit Apollo Piccadilly Circus. The booking schedule is expected soon.

Reel Syria Film Festival 2012

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REEL SYRIA 2012
London
March 15-18

 

Following the successful REEL FESTIVALS 2011: SYRIA, LEBANON, SCOTLAND – a trilateral exchange of contemporary music, film and literature from Syria, Lebanon and Scotland, Reel Festivals returns for its fifth year with Reel Syria 2012, in association with Mosaic Initiative for Syria, supporting Syrian artists and showcasing Syrian culture to a UK audience.

At a time when Syria is engulfed in violent conflict, the festival will present a nuanced portrait of the country and its people. On the anniversary of the uprising, Mosaic Initiative for Syria will also raise funds for Syrians displaced and affected by the current violent crackdown.

Highlights of the festival include a performance of Score 328: SURROUND by ‘The 17’ an international public performance project conceived by artist/author/musician Bill Drummond (KLF). A Syrian film programme by DoxBox including a screening of ‘A Flood in Ba’ath Country’ directed by the late, celebrated Syrian documentary maker Omar Amiralay, an evening panel discussion on creative resistance with guests, including Asian Dub Foundation’s Steve Chandra Savale, Syrian novelists Manhal Alsarraj and Mamdouh Azzam, and other participants TBC. There will also be a fundraising Syrian-style bazaar at Kensington Town Hall.

A major fundraising music concert is scheduled, but at time of going to press, details are still being confirmed. More information will follow shortly

They have a blog that can be read here.

EVENT DETAILS

Thursday 15th March

7:00 pm – Reel Syria in association with Frontline, screening of Syrian documentary film, ‘A Flood in Ba’ath Country’ by Omar Amiralay as part of DoxBox Global Day. Q+A with Syrian Director Reem Ali £10/£8 (Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ)

Friday 16th March

5:00-7:00 pm – Literary panel discussion and readings – Culture Under Fire: Creative resistance in Syria. Join some of Syria’s best known authors, artists and poets for a discussion of cultural repression and resistance. Featuring: novelist, Manhal Alsarraj, novelist, Mamdouh Azzam, musician Steve Chandra Savale, academic, Donatella Della Ratta + more tbc (Free Word Centre)
8.30-10pm – Screening of Syrian film(s) + Q&A
Free Entry (Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA)

Saturday 17th March

4:00 pm – Mosaic Initiative for Syria Fundraising Syrian Bazaar (Kensington Town Hall)
7:00 pm – Art of the Revolution, Mosaic Initiative fundraising concert featuring top Syrian musicians – further programming and price info TBC (Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London, W8 7NX)

Sunday 18th March:

1:00 pm – Bill Drummond – ‘SURROUND in Damascus’, a piece of work created for Syria in 2011 by legendary artist and musician Bill Drummond, will now take place in exile in London. 100 volunteers are needed; all will become members of The17, Bill Drummond’s international choir.
To take part, please email surround@reelfestivals.org

DoxBox is Syria’s only independent documentary film festival and has hosted guests such as D.A. Pennebaker, Kim Longinotto, Mark Isaacs and many more. In 2012 it will take place in exile, with a programme of Syrian documentary film. The film aspect of Reel Syria will come from DoxBox.
Reem Ali is one of Syria’s best known contemporary actresses. She is the director of ‘Zabad’, a 2006 searing critique of the Assad regime, subsequently banned in Syria; it premiered at Reel Festivals 2011.

Manhal Alsarraj is an award winning Syrian author. She has published a number of books including Overcoming The Bridge (1997) and As Should Be For The River (2000), which was banned from publication in Syria due to its political connotations. Her most recent novel On My Chest (2007) was published by Cadmus books in Damascus in 2007.

Mamdouh Azzam, is a Syrian novelist, whose works are a damning portrait of life under a dictatorship, as well as being beautiful works of literature. His novel Rain Palace was banned by the Ministry of Culture for religious/political reasons and his latest novel, Women of the Imagination, is a story of a book-obsessed teacher living under the Baathist regime

Steve Chandra Savale, also known by his stage names Chandrasonic and best known for his punk rave aesthetic as the guitarist for the ground-breaking British band Asian Dub Foundation. In 2009, He presented a series of documentaries for Al-Jazeera English called Music of Resistance.

Donatella Della Ratta is an academic specializing in the study of Syrian cultural production at the University of Copenhagen. Author of several articles for leading scholarly journals, she focuses on culture of resistance in Syria and its implications.

Bill Drummond has been the bestselling musician in the world, burnt £1,000,000 as a work of performance art and written a manual on how to have a number one record. His energies are now focused on a choir called The17 and he will be presenting a piece made to take place in Syria during the festival. http://www.the17.org/scores/328,
http://www.penkilnburn.com/events/events.php

 

Reel Festivals was made possible by the generous support of the British Council .

Reel Festivals is a Firefly International project. Firefly is a charity which breaks down barriers through shared creative and cultural dialogue.

Twitter: reelfestivals / Facebook: reelfestivals

Info about Reel Festivals:
http://www.reelfestivals.org/reel-syria/

 

SUNDANCE LONDON: FILM PROGRAMME UNVEILED FOR INAUGURAL EVENT

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London can never have enough film festivals, and the film legend that is Robert Redford has brought Sundance to our door. I am so excited.

14 Films Make Their UK Premieres, 26-29 April at The O2

London, 7 March 2012 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of 14 narrative and documentary feature films that will make their UK premieres at the inaugural Sundance London festival, taking place at The O2 from 26-29 April. These films premiered in January at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – the premier independent film festival in the United States.

“I welcome the opportunity to see how people in the UK experience these films,” said Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute. “While they are American productions they speak to universal experiences and global challenges.”

He went on to add, “Sundance London also is the perfect opportunity to continue our long-time commitment to growing a broader international community around new voices and new perspectives.”

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Sundance London grew out of our desire to help American independent filmmakers expand their reach, and we are happy that these 14 filmmakers are joining us on this adventure. Their participation has helped us to not only create a programme for Sundance London that reflects the diversity of our film festival in Park City, but also that helps build an enduring legacy of American stories that speak to international audiences.”

Alex Hill, Chief Finance and Strategy Officer of AEG Europe, owners of host venue The O2, adds: “All at The O2 are very excited that the inaugural Sundance London film and music festival is nearly upon us. The 14 films which Sundance Institute is bringing to London reflect the strength, depth and breadth of American independent cinema that showcased earlier in the year at the Sundance Film Festival. They complement an exciting music component with performances from Tricky and Placebo, and our opening night event An Evening With Robert Redford and T Bone Burnett. In what is arguably the world’s most culturally diverse city, The O2 is proud to be hosting such a prestigious festival.”

In addition to film screenings, Sundance London will host live music performances and events each evening, including the previously announced Opening Night event An Evening With Robert Redford And T Bone Burnett, Placebo in concert and Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird performing Maxinquaye. Also on offer to Sundance London audiences will be unique opportunities to attend panels and hear guest speakers talk about the part they play in making films, documentaries and the role of music in modern cinema.

Forthcoming announcements include the festival’s short film programme, special events and additional music performers.

Programme information and ticket packages are available at www.sundance-london.com. Individual tickets will be on sale in early April.