Declare Your Independents — Vol. 32
GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome back to Declare Your Independents, our new series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film!
This week…
Indiewire’s 14 Films to See in October
The Films of David Fincher, Ranked
How the Oscar Race Is Shaping Up During New York Film Festival
10 Female Directors Who Deserve More Attention From Hollywood
Scott and I encourage any of you who go to see an independent movie to post your reactions to the film in these posts. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever. If there’s a film you want to recommend, do it. Use your words to inspire readers to transport themselves into a local cinema.
INDIE SPOTLIGHT: MOVIES TO SEE IN THEATERS THIS WEEK
OPENING FRIDAY (10/3)
Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher and based upon the global bestseller by Gillian Flynn — unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his beautiful wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick’s portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?
Watch an interview with Gillian Flynn, the film’s writer (and author of the book upon which the movie was based) here.
Men, Women & Children follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives. The film attempts to stare down social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting, and the proliferation of illicit material on the internet. As each character and each relationship is tested, we are shown the variety of roads people choose — some tragic, some hopeful — as it becomes clear that no one is immune to this enormous social change that has come through our phones, our tablets, and our computers.
Watch an interview with Jason Reitman, the film’s director and co-writer, here.
They were known simply as “The Lost Boys.” Orphaned by the brutal Civil war in Sudan that began in 1983, these young victims traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring 3600 lost boys and girls to America. In “The Good Lie,” Philippe Falardeau, (writer and director of the Oscar-nominated Foreign Language film “Monsieur Lazhar”) brings the story of their survival and triumph to life. Sudanese actors Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and newcomer Nyakuoth Weil, many of whom were also children of war, star alongside Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon and Corey Stoll.
Watch an interview with the film’s writer, Margaret Nagle, here.
When her husband (Anthony LaPaglia) of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson (Joan Allen) looks for batteries in the garage. Instead she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It’s a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.
Two adulterous lovers go from pillow talk to possible murder in this sexy, brain-teasing thriller. Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Grand Budapest Hotel) directs and stars as Julien, a middle-aged salesman embroiled in a steamy love affair with a married woman who, after a round of kinky sex, makes a startling suggestion. Suddenly Julien is caught up in a police investigation — but just what exactly happened? Based on a novel by celebrated crime writer Georges Simenon, this beguiling cinematic puzzle unfolds in an elliptical style that keeps the audience guessing every step of the way.
Watch an interview with the film’s director, Mathieu Amalric, here.
After weeks of traveling through Europe the immature William finds himself at a crossroads in Copenhagen. Not just another European city, Copenhagen is also the birthplace of his father. When the youthful Effy befriends the older William they set off on an adventure to find William’s grandfather. Effy’s mix of youthful exuberance and wisdom challenges William unlike any woman ever has. As the attraction builds and William truly connects with someone for the first time in his life, he must come to grips with destabilizing elements of his family’s sordid past.
Tired of being overlooked for bigger roles, a struggling dwarf actor sets out to be cast as the Tin Man in Martin Scorsese’s remake of The Wizard of Oz.
Best known to the masses as the man fired from his own network sitcom Community — but known to podcast fans as the center of gravity on the long-running, freeform joint “Harmontown” — Dan Harmon trawls his deepest depths of shame and self-doubt for humor and humanity on this rollicking party bus full of genuinely heartwarming moments. This seriously funny road trip doc follows the descent and uneasy redemption of genius/vessel-of-god Harmon (both his own ironic phrases) on tour with girlfriend Erin and podcast co-stars Jeff and Spencer, as they record their show to packed houses across the country, and as they hang with friends like Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman and Jack Black along the way. Helmed by Neil Berkeley (director of the Wayne White doc Beauty Is Embarrassing), Harmontown earns every deliciously gooey minute of moonshine-fueled, intimate fun. And, as it offers up a touching celebration of the universal need to connect and create happiness, Harmontown reveals what it truly means to be a Harmenian: “a nerd who’s filled with love.”
Watch an interview with director Neil Berkeley and Dan Harmon here.
Simón Bolívar fought over 100 battles against the Spanish Empire in South America. He rode over 70,000 miles on horseback. His military campaigns covered twice the territory of Alexander the Great. His army never conquered — it liberated. Starring Édgar Ramírez, with a soundtrack by Gustavo Dudamel.
Georgiana Halmac turns 15 this winter. She lives with her six brothers and sisters in a social housing condo on the outskirts of Bacau, Romania. Their mother Liliana was forced to leave her family behind to go to Turin, Italy, to earn money. She won’t be back before summer. During their mother’s absence, Georgiana has been catapulted into the role of head of the family, responsible for her siblings. Her adolescence is cut brutally short. Caught between puberty and responsibility, Georgiana moves ahead, improvising as she goes. Phone conversations with her mom are her only guidelines. Intimate scenes from the daily life of the seven siblings show us — in an uncensored, fly-on-the-wall style — how real events are experienced and interpreted with great imagination by the children. You can’t help being amazed by their ingenuity, while also realizing how precarious their daily equilibrium is.
Watch an interview with the film’s director, Teodora Ana Mihai, her.
NOW IN THEATERS
1962. A glamorous American couple, the charismatic Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his alluring younger wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst), arrive in Athens by boat via the Corinthian Canal. While sightseeing at the Acropolis they encounter Rydal (Oscar Issac), a young, Greek-speaking American who is working as a tour guide, scamming tourists on the side. Drawn to Colette’s beauty and impressed by Chester’s wealth and sophistication, Rydal gladly accepts their invitation to dinner. All is not as it seems with the MacFarlands, Chester’s affable exterior hides darker secrets. When Rydal visits the couple at their exclusive hotel, Chester presses him to help move the body of a seemingly unconscious man who he claims attacked him. In the heat of the moment, Rydal agrees but as events take a more sinister turn he finds himself compromised and unable to pull himself free. His increasing infatuation with the vulnerable and responsive Colette gives rise to Chester’s jealousy and paranoia, leading to a tense and dangerous battle of wits between the two men.Their journey takes them from Greece to Turkey, and to a dramatic finale played out in the back alleys of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.
Watch The Telegraph’s interview with the film’s writer/director Hossein Amini here.
When Edmond (Michel Bouquet), a man quickly facing the loss of his independence, is placed in a care facility after taking a bad fall, he discovers that his son has sold his apartment. Determined to reclaim his autonomy, he leaves the care facility with Rose (Florence Loiret Caille), an empathetic nurse still suffering from the loss of her unborn child. She takes him into her home to allow him the measure of freedom he deserves. Through this new living situation they develop a bond, which helps them move forward with their lives. However, the unlikely friends must face the consequences when Edmond is reported missing.
PRIDE is inspired by an extraordinary true story. It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers’ families. Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.
Watch an interview with the film’s director Matthew Warchus and screenwriter Stephen Beresford here.
OutKast’s André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this revealing biopic from Academy Award-winning writer-director John Ridley (12 Years A Slave). Covering a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966–67 as an unknown backup guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to making his mark in London’s music scene up until his Monterey Pop triumph, the film presents an intimate portrait of the sensitive young musician on the verge of becoming a rock legend.
Tracks tells the incredible true story of Robyn Davidson, a young woman who in 1977 undertook a perilous solo trek across 1,700 miles of stunning Australian outback. Abandoning city life, Robyn arrives in Alice Springs and declares her ambition to cross the desert to the Indian Ocean to the amusement of the locals. However after months of camping out and working on a camel farm people begin to take her seriously. A chance meeting with National Geographic photographer Rick Smoland provides her with the necessary financing for her expedition under the condition that he be allowed to photograph parts of her journey for the magazine. With only her dog and four unpredictable camels for company, she embarks on an inspiring and life changing journey of self-discovery.
Watch an interview with the film’s director, John Curran, here.
Many thanks to Wendy for today’s post. Remember to Declare Your Independents by going to a theater or use V.O.D. to watch an indie feature this weekend.
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