Declare Your Independents — Vol. 47
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…
The Story Behind Sundance Smash Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
10 Filmmaking Tips from Mark and Jay Duplass
Sundance Film Festival Announces 2015 Short Film Winners
The Bronze’s Melissa Rauch Wants to Make Movies Where Women Don’t Have to Apologize
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 (1/30)
Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who slaughtered “GPS,” his beloved cow. He now has to face the new laws of the foreign occupants. Timbuktu is Mauritania’s first entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
Watch DP/30’s interview with the film’s writer/director Abderrahmane Sissako here.
Tracing the relationship between Sam (Martin Starr, Knocked Up, “Freaks & Geeks”) an Iraq war veteran, and Amira (Dina Shihabi), an Iraqi immigrant on the verge of deportation, Sean Mullin’s feature film debut is an assured romantic drama that packs a true emotional punch.
Watch a Q&A with writer/director Sean Mullin and the film’s cast here.
Fed up with her abusive family situation, lack of school prospects and the “boys’ law” in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her style, drops out of school and starts stealing to be accepted into the gang. When her home situation becomes unbearable, Marieme seeks solace in an older man who promises her money and protection. Realizing this sort of lifestyle will never result in the freedom and independence she truly desires, she finally decides to take matters into her own hands.
Watch the British Film Institute’s Q&A with writer/director Céline Sciamma here.
Superstar violinist David Garrett makes his acting debut as the legendary and notorious Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini whose talent was so great he was called “The Devil’s Violinist.” Paganini is at the height of his career and under the strong control of his manager Urbani (Jared Harris), who will risk anything and anyone to bring Paganini to England. Urbani’s plan, helped along by a British couple and a newspaper writer Ethel Langham (Joely Richardson) is brought to fruition as Paganini conquers the crowds of London and the hearts of women. When he falls in love with a young singer, Urbani must find a way to separate them and keep his hold on the larger than life superstar. This turbulent tale of love, lust, power, and the lure of fame is set against a glorious score by David Garret and composer Franck van der Heijden.
Simon West directs this remake of the 1987 Burt Reynold action thriller in this Sierra/Affinity production starring Jason Statham as a paid enforcer who goes after a gang leader when a group of thugs beat up a personal friend. William Goldman provides the script.
The film tells the heartwarming story of a young man from a small Mexican town who travels to Germany to find work to support his family and becomes stranded without shelter or money. He struggles to survive on the streets until he meets Ruth, a lonely senior citizen with whom he develops an astonishing and touching friendship that transcends borders and prejudices.
Raymond has a prestigious MBA, but he can’t find work. He can channel the paranormal, but chatting with a cute girl mystifies him. Kicked out of his big city apartment, Raymond returns home to his overbearing mother, ex-jock father, and beer-bellied classmates. But when a vengeful ghost terrorizes the small town, the city-boy recruits Becca, a badass local bartender, to solve the mystery of the spirit threatening everyone’s lives.
NOW IN THEATERS
A passionate widowed single mom (Anne Dorval) finds herself burdened with the full-time custody of her unpredictable 15-year-old ADHD son (Antoine Olivier Pilon). As they struggle to make ends meet, Kyla (Suzanne Clément), the peculiar new neighbor across the street, offers her help. Together, they strive for a new sense of balance.
Watch THR’s interview with writer/director Xavier Dolan here.
From Oscar-nominated and Emmy award-winning filmmakers, RED ARMY is a feature documentary about the Soviet Union and the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Red Army hockey team. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy. From the USSR to Russia, the film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union. RED ARMY is an inspiring story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and a man who stood up to a powerful system and paved the way for change for generations of Russians.
Watch an interview with the film’s director, Gabe Polsky, here.
Claire Simmons (Jennifer Aniston) is in pain. Her physical pain is evident in the scars that line her body and the way she carries herself, wincing with each tentative step. She’s no good at hiding her emotional pain either. Blunt to the point of searing insult, Claire’s anger seethes out of her with nearly every interaction. She has driven away her husband, her friends — even her chronic-pain support group has kicked her out. The only one left in Claire’s otherwise solitary existence is her housekeeper-cum-caretaker, Silvana (Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza), who barely tolerates her boss’ need for liquor and prescription pills. But the suicide of Nina (Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick), one of Claire’s fellow chronic-pain group members, prompts another fixation. In pursuing questions about the death of a woman she barely knew, Claire explores the boundaries between life and death, abandonment and heartbreak, danger and salvation. As she inserts herself into the lives of Nina’s husband (Sam Worthington) and the son Nina left behind, Claire just might find salvation.
Watch a Q&A with director Daniel Barnz and screenwriter Patrick Tobin here.
Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway (Interstellar, Les Miserables) stars as Franny in SONG ONE, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s vibrant modern-folk music scene. After Franny’s musician brother Henry (Ben Rosenfield, Boardwalk Empire) is injured and hospitalized in a coma following a car accident, Franny returns home after a long estrangement and begins to use his notebook as a guide to how his life has evolved in her absence. Franny seeks out the musicians and artists Henry loved, in the course of her journey meeting James Forester (Johnny Flynn), his musical idol, whose success and fame belie a shy and private man. As a strong romantic connection develops between Franny and James, the question becomes if love can bloom even under the most adverse circumstances. The film also stars Oscar-winner Mary Steenburgen (The Help) and features original music composed by Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice.
Watch Vanity Fair’s interview with writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland and star Anne Hathaway here.
A suspenseful adventure thriller directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald, centering on a rogue submarine captain (two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law) who pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control onboard their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.
Watch an interview with screenwriter Dennis Kelly here.
Sandra (Cotillard) has just been released from the hospital to find that she no longer has a job. According to management, the only way Sandra can hope to regain her position at the factory is to convince her co-workers to sacrifice their much-needed yearly bonuses. Now, over the course of one weekend, Sandra must confront each co-worker individually in order to win a majority of their votes before time runs out. With TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT, the Dardennes have turned a relevant social inquiry into a powerful statement on community solidarity, once again delivering a film that is simple on the surface but alive with both compassion and wisdom.
Watch an interview with writer/directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne 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.