Viena and The Fantomes is on the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Predictions list by IonCinema!
The Gerardo Naranjo film which stars Dakota Fanning, Zoe Kravitz, Evan Rachel Wood, Frank Dillane & Caleb Landry Jones among others might secure a spot on Sundance Premieres sction, according to Eric Lavallée.
EXCLUSIVE:Poster for Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro’sDIVINE 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.
As professional experts who do the exciting work of protecting and sharing important historical materials, archivists have many stories to share about the work they do every day in preserving fascinating documents, photographs, audio and visual materials, and artifacts. Increasingly, archival work extends beyond the physical and includes digital materials. #AskAnArchivist Day will give you a chance to connect with archivists who are tackling the challenges of preserving our digital heritage for the future.
We’ll be here from 11am MT to 5pm MT answering any curiosities you may have!
Gregory Nava’s El Norte will be rereleased theatrically for the first time since its original run 35 years ago. Thanks to a brand new restoration conducted by the Academy Film Archive and the Getty Foundation, audiences can see it in theaters on September 15—the first day of Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, which coincides with the independence days of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Directed by Nava from a screenplay co-written by Anna Thomas, El Norte tells the story of two indigenous siblings who flee from persecution in their native Guatemala to follow the promise of a better life in the United States. Together Nava and Thomas attended the inaugural 1981 Directors Lab as part of a cohort of filmmakers invited by Robert Redford to develop their screenplays with the newly founded Sundance Institute. At the heart of El Norte is what Redford calls “the pursuit of a sense of place”—a struggle that resonates as deeply today as it did 35 years ago.
If you’re keeping up with all the new releases from the Sundance Film Festival, you’ve got your work cut out for you in August. With 17 films coming to theaters and streaming platforms (including a host of award winners), you could watch one every other day for the entire month, and then some. After the Wedding, featuring stars like Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore, is just one of them.
Film still courtesy of After the Wedding
Isabel (Michelle Williams) has dedicated her life to working with the children in an orphanage in Calcutta. Theresa (Julianne Moore) is the multimillionaire head of a media company who lives with her handsome artist husband (Billy Crudup) and their two adorable twin boys in New York. When word comes to Isabel of a mysterious and generous grant for the financially struggling orphanage, she must travel to New York to meet the benefactor—Theresa—in person. And when Isabel is spontaneously invited to Theresa’s daughter’s wedding, Isabel discovers a connection to Theresa that takes her on an unexpected journey into her own past. Based on the Academy Award–nominated film by Susanne Bier.
Directed by Bart Fruendlich, After the Wedding isn’t the first we’ve seen of power duo Fruendlich and Moore. The two first met on the set of The Myth of Fingerprints, which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, then a few years later with World Travelerat the 2002 Sundance Film Festival (seen above celebrating Fruendlich’s 27th birthday). They married shortly after in 2003 and have been together ever since, acting and directing side by side.
SeeAfter the Wedding playing in select theaters now and more Sundance Film Festival releases here.
Today marks 10 years—or 3652 days—since 500 Days of Summer made its theatrical debut. Prior to the release, the film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and is notable as director Marc Webb’s first feature film.
Earlier this year, stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt sat down with Entertainment Weekly to rewatch and revisit the film in real time. You can read their commentary here.
Every frame of Honeyland pulses with the cycles of life and glows with the film’s subject, Hatidze’s, magical vitality and optimism. This visually sumptuous, vérité glimpse into a forgotten world is an ode to two endangered and priceless treasures: human decency and the delicate balance of nature.
With honey in tow, directors Tamara Kotevska (center) and Ljubomir Stefanov (2nd from left) and theHoneyland team premiered their documentary during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film took home multiple World Cinema Documentary awards including the Grand Jury Prize and two Special Jury Awards for cinematography and impact for change.
Honeyland opens in select cities on Friday, July 26.
The true story of a glove that’s been floating in space forever since 1968.
Directors Bernardo Britto and Alexa Lim Haas were inspired to make this short film by the archival NASA documentary For All Mankind. Fascinated by a brief shot of an astronaut’s glove drifting off into the expanse of space, Britto wrote the original screenplay, Haas developed the hand painted visual style, and they directed the film together (Fuster, 2016, ShortList 2016: ‘Glove’ Turns Space Accident Into Cosmic Cartoon).Gloveplayed during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and coincidentally For All Mankind played at the 1989 festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary competition.
After the record-breaking sales of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Festival films are steadily rolling out for the summer. This month, escape the heat—in theaters or on the couch—and catch three brand-new Festival releases: Share, David Crosby: Remember My Name,and The Farewell.
A heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, The Farewell, opening in theaters July 12, masterfully interweaves a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a thoughtful exploration of how our cultural heritage does and does not travel with us when we leave our homes.
Writer/director Lulu Wang imbues The Farewell with warmth and knowing wit, while the uniformly excellent ensemble cast (anchored by a breakout performance by Awkwafina) invites us to share this extended clan’s joy and sorrow—and to feel, for the length of this remarkable film, like a part of their family.
Director Lulu Wang attends The Farewell premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Film still above courtesy of The Farewell. Read more onSundance.org
