BEYOND FEST ANNOUNCES ITS FULL SLATE FOR THE RETURN OF LA’S BIGGEST GENRE FILM FESTIVAL
Beyond Fest announces the first physical genre festival of the year with week-long drive-in residence including world premieres of Christopher Landon’s from Blumhouse FREAKY, Adam Egypt Mortimer’s ARCHENEMY, and Jim Cummings’ THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW.
Los Angeles, CA – Friday, September 18th, 2020 - Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce its complete slate of 2020 programming comprising of seven nights of double-bill features including three world premieres, one North American Premiere, and two US premieres of unadulterated cinematic excess. Following a sold-out Summer residence with the American Cinematheque at the Mission Tiki Drive-In, Beyond Fest returns to the socially-distanced safety of the drive-in Friday, October 2nd - Thursday, October 8th to generate funds for the 501c3 non-profit film institution.
With a diverse slate celebrating all corners of genre cinema, Beyond Fest is proud to open with a double-barreled-double-bill curated by director Jim Cummings including the World Premiere of his electric werewolf tale, THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW, paired with Joe Dante’s classic, THE BURBS. Closing night honors are bestowed upon Blumhouse and Beyond Fest alumni Christopher Landon for the World Premiere of their gloriously outrageous body-swap-slasher FREAKY, billed with a special rep screening of TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL selected by the director himself.
Festival alumni are celebrated as agitator-extraordinaire Adam Egypt Mortimer returns to conquer Beyond Fest with the World Premiere of his newest Spectrevision mindmelt, ARCHENEMY, Steven Kostanski blasts his OTT midnight vibes with the North American Premiere of PSYCHO GOREMAN, and Bryan Bertino brings the terror, unleashing THE DARK AND THE WICKED for its US theatrical bow.
“We covet the theatrical experience above all and following the overwhelming success of our drive-in program we never hesitated in keeping Beyond Fest a physical experience” said Beyond Fest Co-Founder, Christian Parkes. “We specifically wanted to give COVID-19 a resilient middle finger and provide a safe, communal respite for filmmakers and film fans to celebrate the best genre cinema on the biggest screens possible.”
Other hotly anticipated titles making their West Coast debuts include Rose Glass’ stunning first feature SAINT MAUD, alongside her selection of Rob Reiner’s MISERY, Moorhead and Benson’s latest genre-melting, time-bending, head trip SYNCHRONIC, Justin Simien’s satirical Sundance stunner BAD HAIR, and the US Premiere of medieval-gothic-horror, THE RECKONING, from longtime agent provocateur, Neil Marshall.
A timely dissolution of the American Dream is given center stage as the Maestro David Lynch is saluted with a triple bill consisting of three of his finest features: BLUE VELVET, LOST HIGHWAY, and MULHOLLAND DRIVE.
“In a year that has seen the world turn upside-down, it’s good to see some things never change” Head Programmer Evrim Ersoy added. “Beyond Fest stands tall with an eclectic slate of programming that will challenge audiences and transform the drive-in experience into something never before done.”
Finally, Beyond Fest celebrates Brandon Cronenberg with a special pre-festival event featuring the West Coast Premiere of his stunning body-horror, POSSESSOR UNCUT, paired with John Frakenheimer’s sci-fi classic SECONDS as picked by Brandon himself. This special warm-up event is scheduled the week before the festival opens on Thursday September 24th, 2020.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced feature film titles for Beyond Fest 2020. Tickets will be on sale via Eventbrite on September 18th at 9 AM PST. Visit BeyondFest.com and the American Cinematheque for details. Full lineup below
Nicholas Britell and Hildur Guðnadóttir crowned winners at the 19th World Soundtrack Awards
After winning the Discovery of the Year Award in 2017, Nicholas Britell took home another award this year: he was named Best Film Composer of the Year by the World Soundtrack Academy for his soundtrack for 'If Beale Street Could Talk.'
The prize for Best Television Composer of the Year went to special guest and Emmy winner Hildur Guðnadóttir, who created the score for the popular HBO series 'Chernobyl'. Last year, Guðnadóttir was one of the Discovery of the Year nominees for 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado'. In the meantime, both Britell and Guðnadóttir have made a name for themselves worldwide with their scores for the HBO series 'Succession' and Todd Philips' 'Joker' respectively.
The prize for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film was awarded to the track 'Shallow' from 'A Star is Born'. This composition was written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson, and was performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
African-American composer Michael Abels was named Discovery of the Year for the score he created for Jordan Peele's 'Us'. The pair had already collaborated before on the film 'Get Out'.
In the category of Best Original Score for a Belgian Production, Belgian Frédéric Vercheval was awarded for his score for Olivier Masset-Depasse's 'Duelles'. The composer has already been nominated four times for the Magritte Award for Best Original Score for 'Diamant 13' (2009), 'Krach' (2010), 'Not My Type' (2014) and 'Melody' (2014).
Young American jazz pianist and composer Pierre Charles won the SABAM Award for the Most Original Composition by a Young International Composer. The Public Choice Award went to John Powell for his music in Dean Deblois' 'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'.
As previously announced, Krzysztof Penderecki was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Polish composer undoubtedly put his mark on film music history with his innovative and unconventional music. He collaborated with world famous composers such as Stanley Kubrick ('The Shining'), David Lynch ('Inland Empire', 'Twin Peaks'), Martin Scorsese ('Shutter Island') and William Friedkin ('The Exorcist').
Frédéric Devreese was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award. In light of his 90th birthday, Brussels Philharmonic honoured the father of Belgian film music. Devreese is known for his collaboration with André Delvaux on Palme D'or nominee 'L'oeuvre au noir', but also 'Du bout des lèvres' (Jean-Marie Degesves) and 'Les Noces Barbares' and 'Il Maëstro' (Marion Hansëm).
During the award ceremony, compositions were performed live by Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by maestro Dirk Brossé, with accompanying clips on the big screen. Guest of honour this year was Marco Beltrami, known for his horror scores including the 'Scream' franchise. He recently composed the music for box office hit 'A Quiet Place', nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Score, Netflix's 'Velvet Buzzsaw' and Oscar-winning National Geographic documentary 'Free Solo', for which he received an Emmy Award.
If you couldn't make it to the World Soundtrack Awards, there is still a possibility to enjoy the collaboration between Marco Beltrami and Brussels Philharmonic. Following our yearly tradition, a selection of our guest of honour's masterpieces were recorded with MotorMusic in Flagey's legendary Studio 4. The result is the album 'Marco Beltrami: Music for Film', featuring unique suites from 'Snowpiercer', 'World War Z' and 'A Quiet Place'.
Winners 19th World Soundtrack Awards
Best Film Composer of the Year
Nicholas Britell ('If Beale Street Could Talk', 'Vice')
Best TV Composer of the Year
Hildur Guðnadóttir (‘Chernobyl’, ‘Ófærð’)
Best Original Song written directly for a Film
'Shallow' ('A Star Is Born'). Music & lyrics by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson. Performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Discovery of the Year 2019
Michael Abels ('Us')
Best Original Score for a Belgian Production
‘Duelles’ (Frédéric Vercheval)
SABAM Award for the Most Original Composition By a Young International Composer
Pierre Charles
Public Choice Award
‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ (John Powell)
Watch: The Adrenaline Pumping Teaser for New Indie Action Short “The Cure”
If you got your action rocks off to the badass trailer of last year’s “Mission Impossible: Fallout,” you have seasoned trailer editor Ahmet Atalay to thank for it. Perhaps tired of editing other people’s action, Atalay took it upon himself to direct, co-write, and co-produce his own balls-to-the-wall short film that should satisfy even the most cynical fans of the genre. Shot on a meager budget of 15K and a skeleton crew of just three people, “The Cure” looks and sounds far above its means, giving big-budget fare a run for their money. The film recently had its North American premiere on July 26th at Los Angeles’ Raleigh Studios, and is now making a run for film festivals. You can read the synopsis and watch the teaser below.
“In the near future, a mysterious virus has wiped out a large portion of the world’s population. Upon contamination, it kills the host within a day. There is no permanent cure, only a temporary serum that resets every 24 hours. Special forces mercenary Noah’s young daughter is one of the infected. When a permanent cure is stolen from a top-secret lab by a mysterious terrorist organization, Noah is recruited to retrieve it and ultimately save his daughter’s life. What starts as an already dangerous mission turns into a deathtrap when the terrorists’ bring fifteen armored vehicles filled with a hundred trained killers armed to the teeth with assault rifles, grenades, and even a rocket launcher. On top of this, the covert government organization that hired Noah might also have ulterior motives for the cure. Now Noah has to race against time to protect the one thing that can save his daughter’s life as the chase turns into a symphony of ultraviolent action; filled with vehicular carnage, adrenaline-fueled gunfights, brutal hand-to-hand combat, and lots, and lots of explosions.”
VARDA BY AGNÈS, the beloved filmmaker's final film set to open November 22 alongside career-spanning retrospective
Janus Films announces the theatrical release of VARDA BY AGNÈS, the final work from the late, beloved filmmaker, which will open on November 22 in New York at Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center, followed by a nationwide rollout.
To coincide with the release, Janus Films will also mount a touring retrospective of Varda's work, the most comprehensive to date, featuring more than 30 films from the filmmaker's 60-plus-year career. The retrospective will begin December 20 in New York at Film at Lincoln Center.
"Agnès Varda's final film is a canny valedictory by one of the greatest filmmakers ever to wield a camera," said Peter Becker, a partner in Janus Films. "Her tremendous creativity, determination, and empathy only increased over the seven decades she spent making cinema, and with VARDA BY AGNÈS, she turns the lens on herself, taking us on her own cinematic journey. It is a quintessential Varda film that not only gives us new ways of looking at her life and work, but new ways of looking at the world. Agnès was a friend and mentor to many of us at Janus Films, and we are especially happy and honored to join with Rosalie and the Ciné-tamaris family in celebrating her legacy with this grand retrospective."
Attn NYC: @FilmLinc's FREE Summer 50th Mixtape: Free Double Features is awesome. 📽️🎞️🍿
FREE DOUBLE FEATURES
June 27 – Cléo from 5 to 7 (6pm) and The Portrait of a Lady (9pm)
July 11 – Two English Girls (6pm) and Mulholland Dr. (8:45pm)
July 18 – Come Drink with Me (6pm) and The Assassin (8pm)
July 25 – The Leopard (6pm) and Happy as Lazzaro (9:30pm)
August 1 – Stalker (6pm) and High Life (9:15pm)
August 8 – School Daze (6pm) and Sorry to Bother You (8:30pm)
August 15 – Nocturama (6pm) and Burning (8:45pm)
August 22 – demonlover (6pm) and Elle (8:45pm)
August 29 – Velvet Goldmine (6pm) and Her Smell (8:30pm)
September 5 – Three Times (6pm) and Moonlight (8:30pm)
September 11 – Audience Choice! (Voting to launch June 27.)
More details
Plus...
SUMMER 2019 NEW RELEASES
June 21
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, USA, 2019, 119m
With the peerless style and rich perspective on Black America she brought to such acclaimed novels as Beloved, The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison has earned a reputation as one America’s greatest living writers. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is an artful and intimate documentary about Morrison’s life and work—from her working class upbringing in Lorain, Ohio, and her 1970s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, to the front lines with Angela Davis and her own riverfront writing room—and the countless people she has inspired. Featuring interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Hilton Als, Fran Lebowitz, and Morrison herself. A Magnolia Pictures release.
Filmmaker in person opening weekend!
June 28
The Plagiarists
Peter Parlow, USA, 2019, 76m
Co-written by experimental filmmakers James N. Kienitz Wilkins and Robin Schavoir, The Plagiarists is at once a hilarious send-up of low-budget American indie filmmaking and a probing inquiry into race, relationships, and the social uncanny. A young novelist (Lucy Kaminsky) and her cinematographer boyfriend (Eamon Monaghan) are waylaid by a snowstorm on their way to visit a friend in upstate New York and are taken in by the kindly yet enigmatic Clip (Michael “Clip” Payne of Parliament Funkadelic), who puts them up for the night. But an accidental discovery months later recasts in an unnerving light what had seemed like an agreeable evening, stoking resentments both latent and not-so-latent. Exhilaratingly intelligent and distinctively shot on a vintage TV-news camera, The Plagiarists is a work whose provocations are inseparable from its pleasures. A 2019 New Directors/New Films selection. A KimStim release.
Filmmakers in person opening weekend!
July 12
Rojo
Benjamín Naishtat, Argentina/Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany/Belgium/Switzerland, 2018, 109m
English and Spanish with English subtitles
In mid-’70s Argentina, at the height of that country’s infamous Dirty War, Claudio (Darío Grandinetti) is a well-heeled, cool-headed lawyer living with his wife and teenage daughter in a comfortable provincial suburb. When an innocuous dinner date ends in a startling altercation with a stranger, Claudio’s apparently placid lifestyle is disrupted, and fault lines begin to appear in the frictionless surface of his professional and domestic existence. What follows is a brooding, warm-hued fugue, where political calculations, economic stratagems, and tenuous social mores are played out with slow-burning ferocity against a harmonic bassline of barely repressed indignation and simmering paranoia. A Distrib Films release.
August 2
La Flor
Mariano Llinás, Argentina, 2018, 803m (screening in 4 parts)
A decade in the making, Mariano Llinás’s follow-up to his 2008 cult classic Extraordinary Stories is an unrepeatable labor of love and madness that redefines the concept of binge-viewing. The director himself appears at the start to preview the six disparate episodes that await, each starring the same four remarkable actresses: Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, and Laura Paredes. Overflowing with nested subplots and whiplash digressions, La Flor shape-shifts from a B-movie to a musical to a spy thriller to a category-defying metafiction—all of them without endings—to a remake of a very well-known French classic and, finally, to an enigmatic period piece that lacks a beginning (granted, all notions of beginnings and endings become fuzzy after 14 hours). An adventure in scale and duration, La Flor is a marvelously entertaining exploration of the possibilities of fiction that lands somewhere close to its outer limits. An NYFF56 selection. A Grasshopper Film release.
Filmmaker in person opening weekend!
Part 1: 203m / Part 2: 188m / Part 3: 205m / Part 4: 207m
Parts 1 & 2 screen August 2-8 and parts 3 & 4 screen August 9-15; check filmlinc.org for more details.
Piranhas / La paranza dei bambini
Claudio Giovannesi, Italy, 2019, 112m
Italian with English subtitles
The latest from Claudio Giovannesi (Fiore) is this singular coming-of-age story that won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival. Newcomer Francesco Di Napoli stars as 15-year-old Nicola, who leads a pack of cocksure hellions captivated by the lifestyle of the local Camorra as they descend into the violent, paranoid world of Naples’s dominant crime group. Based on the novel by Roberto Saviano, who co-wrote the screenplay and mined similar territory in his devastating Gomorrah, Piranhas is a haunting reflection on doomed adolescence. A 2019 Open Roads selection. A Music Box Films release.
August 16
What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?
Roberto Minervini, Italy/USA/France, 2018, 123m
Italian-born, American South–based filmmaker Roberto Minervini’s follow-up to his Texas Trilogy is a portrait of African-Americans in New Orleans struggling to maintain their unique cultural identity and to find social justice. Shot in very sharp black and white, the film is focused on Judy, trying to keep her family afloat and save her bar before it’s snapped up by speculators; Ronaldo and Titus, two brothers growing up surrounded by violence and with a father in jail; Kevin, trying to keep the glorious local traditions of the Mardi Gras Indians alive; and the local Black Panthers, trying to stand up against a new, deadly wave of racism. This is a passionately urgent and strangely lyrical film experience. An NYFF56 selection. A KimStim release.
August 23
Genesis
Philippe Lesage, Canada, 2018, 130m
French with English subtitles
Following his autobiographical 2015 narrative debut The Demons, Philippe Lesage continues to chronicle the life of young Felix (Édouard Tremblay-Grenier), now diverging to capture the romantic trials and tribulations of two Quebecois teen siblings. While the charismatic, Salinger-reading Guillaume (Théodore Pellerin) wrestles with his sexual identity at his all-boys boarding school, the more ostensibly grown-up Charlotte (Noée Abita) discovers the casual cruelty of the adult world that awaits her post-graduation. Lesage and his young actors depict the aches of becoming oneself with nuance, honesty, and compassion, and the result is one of the most beautiful coming-of-age stories in years. A 2019 New Directors/New Films selection. A Film Movement release.
August 30
The Load
Ognjen Glavonić, Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar, 2018, 98m
Serbian with English subtitles
Ognjen Glavonić’s wintry road movie concerns a truck driver (Leon Lucev) tasked with transporting mysterious cargo across a scorched landscape from Kosovo to Belgrade during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. A companion piece to the director’s 2016 documentary Depth Two, The Load is a work of enveloping atmosphere that puts a politically charged twist on the highway thrillers it recalls: Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear and William Friedkin’s retelling, Sorcerer. The streamlined premise gives way to a slow-dawning reckoning, in which implications of guilt and complicity slowly but surely sink in. A 2019 New Directors/New Films selection. A Grasshopper Film release.
September 6
Say Amen, Somebody
George T. Nierenberg, USA, 1982, 101m
One of the most acclaimed music documentaries of all time, Say Amen, Somebody is George T. Nierenberg’s exuberant, funny, and deeply moving celebration of 20th-century American gospel music. With unrivaled access to the movement’s luminaries, Thomas Dorsey and Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, Nierenberg masterfully records their fascinating stories alongside earth-shaking, show-stopping performances by the Barrett Sisters, the O’Neal Twins, and others. As much a fascinating time capsule as it is a peerless concert movie, Say Amen, Somebody returns to Film at Lincoln Center in a gorgeous 4K restoration by Milestone Films, with support from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. An NYFF20 selection. A Milestone Films release.
New releases are organized by Dennis Lim and Florence Almozini.
One of our favorite films of the 2018 festival circuit is finally hitting the US on March 15. And in honor of “Ash is Purest White” arriving in theaters, we are thrilled to be giving away a poster signed by the film’s incredible helmer Jia Zhangke.
To win the poster, all you have to do is follow us on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter, and tweet: “I want to win the ‘Ash is Purest White’ Signed Poster from @ThePlaylist. #WinThePlaylistContest,” and include the URL of the contest. Your final step: just email us your tweet to [email protected], with your full name and address, and tell us the name of your favorite foreign-language film.
“Ash is Purest White” hits theaters on March 15. You can watch the trailer here.
Here’s the synopsis for “Ash is Purest White:”
ASH IS PUREST WHITE follows the quick-witted Qiao (Tao Zhao) and her mobster boyfriend Bin (Fan Liao) as they stake out their turf against rivals and upstarts in 2001 postindustrial Datong before expanding out into an epic narrative of how abstract forces shape individual lives. ASH continues Jia Zhangke’s epic body of work as a record of 21st-century China and its warp-speed transformations.
The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, will open its 18th edition with the world premiere of the HBO Documentary Film The Apollo. Helmed by Academy and Emmy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams, The Apollo chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of the New York City landmark, the Apollo Theater. The film will debut at the iconic theater itself on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 and later this year on HBO. The feature-length documentary weaves together archival footage, music, comedy and danceperformances, and behind-the-scenes verité with the team that makes the theater run. The Apollofeatures interviews with artists including Patti LaBelle, Pharrell Williams, Smokey Robinson, and Jamie Foxx. The documentary is produced by Lisa Cortés, Nigel Sinclair’s White Horse Pictures, and Williams. The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival runs April 24-May 5.
The Apollo Theater sits at the crossroads of race, class, and culture. The documentary covers the rich history of the storied performance space over its 85 years and follows a new production of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me as it comes to the theater’s grand stage. The creation of this vibrant multi-media stage show frames the way in which The Apollo explores the current struggle of black lives in America, the role that art plays in that struggle and the broad range of African American achievement that the Apollo Theater represents.
The Apollo Theater is internationally renowned for having influenced American and pop culture more than any other entertainment venue. The space has created opportunities for new talent to be seen and has served as a launchpad for a myriad of artists including Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Luther Vandross, Dave Chappelle, Lauryn Hill, Jimi Hendrix, and more.
“We’re excited to finally be going uptown to play the Apollo.” said Jane Rosenthal, Co-Founder and CEO of the Tribeca Film Festival. “The Apollo gives audiences an inside look at the major role this institution has played for the past 85 years. It’s seen the emergence of everything from Jazz to R&B to Soul and Gospel - all quintessential American music genres, and this is the time to remind people of our nation’s rich history. ”
“The Apollo is about so much more than just music, it’s about how we used music and art to lift ourselves out of oppression,“ commented director Roger Ross Williams. “The story of the Apollo is the story of the evolution of black American identity and how it grew to become the defining cultural movement of our time. I was fortunate to make my first film with HBO and I am thrilled to be coming back home with The Apollo. Premiering at The Tribeca Film Festival, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem is a dream come true.”
“The Apollo Theater is a symbol of the creative spirit of New York and beyond, and I’m very happy that we’re kicking off our 18th Festival celebrating it with this documentary from Roger Ross Williams,” said Tribeca Co-Founder Robert De Niro.
The Apollo, directed by Academy Award-winning and Tribeca alumnus Roger Ross Williams (Music by Prudence; Life, Animated) and is produced by Lisa Cortés (Precious), White Horse’s Nigel Sinclair (George Harrison: Living in the Material World; Undefeated), Jeanne Elfant Festa (Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Pavarotti) and Cassidy Hartmann (The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, Pavarotti) along with Williams.
The Apollo will have additional screenings during the Festival. Passes and packages to attend the Festival go on sale on February 19, 2019.
The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival will announce its feature film slate on March 5.
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO CHLOÉ ZHAO’S “NOMADLAND” WITH FRANCES MCDORMAND
Fox Searchlight Pictures Chairmen Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula together with Presidents of Production Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum announced today that the company has acquired worldwide rights to writer-director Chloé Zhao’s (THE RIDER) third feature NOMADLAND. The film stars Frances McDormand in her first role since winning the Oscar® for THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, David Strathairn (LINCOLN), Linda May and Charlene Swankie. A Highwayman Films, Hear/Say Productions and Cor Cordium Production, the film is produced by Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao.
“We are thrilled to work with visionary filmmaker Chloé Zhao on NOMADLAND. Her unique voice, combined with the extraordinary talent of Frances McDormand, makes it an important and compelling story,” said Gilula and Utley.
NOMADLAND is a road movie following Fern (McDormand), a woman in her sixties, who after losing everything in the Great Recession embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. A signature of Zhao’s, the film includes real people turned actors including Linda May and Charlene Swankie.
“As I fell in love with the American west, it was impossible not to become fascinated with the roads that lead to the many adventures beyond the horizon. I’m very fortunate to be able to hit the road with a talented team and collaborate with a cast of professional and non-professional actors who are deeply giving and inspiring. I can’t wait to share their stories and what we’ve discovered along the way,” said Zhao.
EXCLUSIVE: Poster for Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro's DIVINE LOVE. Premieres at the Sundance Film Festival tonight in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section and will play the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section in February.
SYNOPSIS:
In the year 2027, in a dystopian Brazil, a deeply religious woman uses her position in a notary’s office to advance her mission to save struggling couples from divorce. Whilst waiting for a Sign in recognition of her efforts, she is confronted with a crisis in her own marriage that ultimately brings her closer to God.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
Brazil is traditionally referred to as a liberal and united country, where the annual Carnaval celebrations espouse the country’s diversity and cordiality. But during the past few years, a cultural, social and political transformation led by powerful, ultraconservative forces, with substantial support from media outlets, has taken hold in the country.
The film takes place in 2027 when the majority of the population is Evangelical, but the state still claims to be secular. It is a film that speculates about the near future through an extraordinary allegory, despite the fact that the present day displays ever stronger signs of this reality.
Instead of telling the story of a character fighting against this conservative shift - a strategy that would have been easier for me, perhaps - I wanted to challenge myself to do the opposite, to tell the story of a woman consumed by a desire to radically advance the conservative religious agenda in a very personal way. I am interested in creating characters that have different values to my own as I believe that within the differences that separate us you can find openings and fissures that provide opportunities to connect us. I wanted to make a humane movie, as a means of bringing me closer to a character who, a priori, I might reject.
If a societal chasm has emerged as a result of hatred and misunderstanding, cinema is a space where we can fantasize improbable encounters. DIVINE LOVE is a universal story about the pulsating desire of a woman whose faith is the cornerstone of her life. About a woman who waits and searches for a divine sign, and ends up receiving a greater sign than she was prepared for, that will either lead her to question everything or bring her even closer to God.
This is not a film only about Brazil, it is a commentary on the conservative, fanatical and nationalist agenda that is spreading throughout the world and the way that those who don’t espouse it, might engage with it.
“EXPLODES IN THE GUT with a powerful mix of pain and pleasure. Like the reggae music that pulses through it, Babylon is RICH ROUGH and REAL. And like the street life of the young black Londoners it portrays, it’s THREATENING, TOUCHING, VIOLENT and FUNNY. ” —Simon Perry, Variety
“REMARKABLE. Its hard edge is undeniable. Never lets go for a moment.”
—Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
@kinolorber Repertory, in partnership with Seventy-Seven, announce their acquisition of the North American rights to Babylon, one of the most highly regarded British cult films. An incendiary portrait of racial tension and police brutality set in Brixton, London, the late Franco Rosso’s Babylon has never been released in the United States until now. Rated X in the U.K., it world premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week in 1980, went to Toronto for its North American premiere, but was passed on by the New York Film Festival: the Time Out headline from the film’s cover story upon its British release in November 1980 read, “the movie the New York Film Festival found too hot to handle.” Punk doyenne Vivien Goldman, who wrote the article, cited the reasons: “being too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension.”
Babylon follows a young dancehall DJ (Brinsley Forde, MBE, frontman of British reggae group Aswad) in Thatcher-era South London as he pursues his musical ambitions, while battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbors, police, and the National Front. Written by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia) and shot by two-time Oscar® winner Chris Menges (The Killing Fields) with beautiful, smoky cinematography that has been compared to Taxi Driver, Babylon is fearless and unsentimental, yet tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall set to a blistering reggae, dub, and lovers rock soundtrack featuring Aswad, Johnny Clarke, Dennis Bovell, and more.
Long in the making and taking inspiration from both Mean Streets and The Warriors, Babylon was written by Rosso and Stellman in 1973-74 as a “Play for Today”: the BBC’s acclaimed weekly filmed play series at which many directors cut their teeth, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, Alan Clarke, and others. But the BBC wouldn’t touch it: “There was absolutely nothing that was about the life of young Londoners. Absolutely nothing. We were operating in a complete vacuum,” (Stellman). It took Gavrik Losey, director Joseph Losey’s son, to sign on as the producer and convince Chrysalis Records and Mamoun Hassan, the visionary new head of the National Film Finance Corporation, to back the project.
Babylon was negotiated by Kino Lorber President Richard Lorber and Director of Repertory Theatrical Distribution and Acquisitions Jonathan Hertzberg and AMBI. “Like many of the films we champion on our Kino Lorber Repertory label, Franco Rosso’s Babylon is a great movie from the past that remains relevant today and which, for various reasons, has flown under the radar in our country up until now,” says Hertzberg. “When we found out that our friend and collaborator Gabriele Caroti was as passionate about this lost classic as we were, it was an easy decision to team up and ensure that the film’s rollout is as tallawah—strong and robust—as it so richly deserves.”
This will mark the debut of boutique film label Seventy-Seven, which will release Babylon alongside Kino Lorber Repertory. Seventy-Seven is Gabriele Caroti’s label focusing on vintage, underseen, and underappreciated fare. Back in 2012, Caroti curated a reggae film series pegged to Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence in which he programmed the film: “Babylon forms the trinity of great reggae films alongside The Harder They Come and Rockers, but this one’s the best—toppa top. It transcends. It’s extremely powerful and very relevant 40 years later,” says Caroti. “When discovering it was never released stateside, I was shocked and then thought that I had to be the one to do it—also being an Italian expatriate reggae-head. So after leaving BAM, I started exploring that possibility and, lo and behold, my friends at Kino Lorber were as well so we’ve decided to join forces. I’m thrilled. It’s been a dream to make this happen.”
Babylon will be rolled out March 8, followed by streaming, VOD, and home video.
“What we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal. Does that answer your question?" #WonderWoman1984
It feels like a strange thing to say, but you try to reap what you sow, and I try to put good vibes out into the world - and I thought they all came flooding back to me at that one time.
Sterling K. Brown
2018 Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations – Complete List
