Declare Your Independents: Volume 9
GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome to yet another edition of Declare Your Independents, our new series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film.
This week…
The 10 Best Movies Of Summer 2013
Women and Hollywood’s September Film Preview
“The Obama Effect”: Harvey Weinstein Explains Why More African-American Movies Are Being Made
Hamptons Sets “Kill Your Darlings” To Open Film Fest; “12 Years A Slave” Will Close It
The Best And Worst From TIFF 2013
A REMINDER:
- 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.
- When you go to the theater, why not whip out your cellphone and snap a shot of something that demonstrates you were there? A photo of the movie poster in the lobby. A shot of your ticket stubs. An image of the movie theater itself. You and youriconoclastic indie film freaks.
- For any conversations on Twitter re: this initiative, let’s use these two hashtags: #independents and #declareyourindependents
- While we’re at it, why not add our photos to CydM’s fantastic Pintrest page for everyone to enjoy?
- And if we come up with a nifty Declaration of Independents, we could try to make it go viral. If you were going to write aDeclaration of Independents, what would you include? What if we made it a video manifesto?
We can’t make this work without your participation. Share your experiences with the community so we can open up readers to the fantastically diverse, exciting and evolving world of independent film. We’ll all be extremely grateful that you did!
INDIE SPOTLIGHT: MOVIES TO SEE IN THEATERS THIS WEEK
OPENING FRIDAY (9/13)
An American ex-Mafia boss and his family are transplanted to France through the witness-protection program, but draw the attention of underworld figures who are determined to see them dead in this darkly humorous action comedy starring Robert De Niro, and directed by Luc Besson. Brooklyn kingpin Fred Manzoni (De Niro) had it all until the day he became a snitch. Now no matter how many times Agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) relocates Fred and his family, danger is never far behind. When they blow their cover once again, Fred, his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and their two kids Warren (John D’Leo) and Belle (Dianna Agron) are shipped off to a sleepy village in France. It seems like the perfect place to escape the long arm of the lawless until the criminally-inclined family resorts to their treacherous old ways, once again becoming a blip on the syndicate radar. Now the thugs are moving in, and they mean business. As the Manzonis use their unique set of skills to survive the relentless storm of bullets, bombs, and rockets, the citizens of this peaceful French village suddenly find themselves in the middle of an all-out Mafia war zone.
Read CraveOnline’s interview with writer/director Luc Besson here.
WADJDA is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn’t be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda’s mother won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. At first, Wadjda’s mother is too preoccupied with convincing her husband not to take a second wife to realize what’s going on. And soon enough Wadjda’s plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Koran recitation competition at her school.
Watch The Guardian’s interview with director Haifaa Al-Mansour here.
The striking feature film debut of writer-director Alexandre Moors, BLUE CAPRICE is a harrowing yet restrained psychological thriller about an abandoned boy lured to America into the shadows of a dangerous father figure. Inspired by true events, BLUE CAPRICE investigates the notorious and horrific Beltway sniper attacks from the point of view of the two perpetrators, whose distorted father-son relationship facilitated their long and bloody journey across America. Marked by captivating performances by Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond, lyrical camerawork, and a unique and bold structure, BLUE CAPRICE documents the mechanisms that lead its subjects to embrace physical violence. BLUE CAPRICE paints a haunting depiction of two cold-blooded killers and a riveting portrait of 21st-century America.
Q&A with stars Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond to come.
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
HARRY DEAN STANTON: PARTLY FICTION is a mesmerizing, impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor. The film explores the actor’s enigmatic outlook on his life, his unexploited talents as a musician, and includes candid reminiscences by David Lynch, Wim Wenders, Sam Shepard, Kris Kristofferson and Debbie Harry. The fragile soul of an actor emerges from the poignant collage. Uncensored, unguarded moments with wry humor pockmark scenes filmed at locations including Stanton’s home and his favorite local watering hole, Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood. Stanton discusses his friends Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, how his family influenced his musical leanings, the women he almost wed, and his preference for film over theatre. In the end it is an unflinching, unabashed, romantic Valentine from one artist to another, from a galvanizing truth teller to a yarn-spinning survivor.
An ensemble drama set in the 1960s about families, co-written and directed by Academy Award-winner Billy Bob Thornton, Jayne Mansfield’s Car looks at two colorful clans brought together by the death of a woman who was married, first to the Southerner Jim Caldwell (Robert Duvall) and then to the British Kingsley Bedford (John Hurt). When she is brought back home for burial, the two families meet for the first time at the Caldwells’ Alabama home with uneasy curiosity. The culture clash of the Vietnam Era, and of the Old World versus the Old South, become a backdrop for the Caldwells’ and the Bedfords’ heartfelt and sometimes hilarious struggles with long-held resentments, family rivalries and secrets, and the memories of war and how it shaped three generations of fathers and sons.
Q&A with star Katherine LaNasa and writer Tom Epperson to come.
After the joyous wedding between Adenike (Gurira) and Ayodele (Isaach De Bankolé, WHITE MATERIAL, NIGHT ON EARTH), a Nigerian couple living in Brooklyn, marital complications arise out of their inability to conceive a child. The problem devastates their family and defies cultural expectations, leading Adenike to make a shocking decision that could either save her family or destroy it. Dosunmu captures the nuances of this unique and fascinating culture by creating a beautiful, vibrant, and moving portrait of a couple whose joys and struggles are at once intimate and universal. The film also stars Yaya Decosta Alafia (THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT) and Tony Okungbowa (The Ellen DeGeneres Show).
Watch The New York Times’ “Anatomy of a Scene” segment with director Andrew Dosunmu here.
Developed as the follow-up film to Megumi Sasaki’s award-winning documentary HERB & DOROTHY (2008) that moved millions of art-lovers worldwide, HERB & DOROTHY 50X50 captures the last chapter of the Vogel’s extraordinary life and their gift to the nation, raising various questions on art, and what it takes to support art in today’s society.
Writer/director Kat Coiro drew inspiration from her late grandmother’s memoirs to craft this sun-soaked romance set on the scenic island of Ischia, off the coast of southern Italy. Jane (Kate Bosworth) is attempting to complete a book based on taped interviews she had conducted with her beloved grandmother when she travels to Naples with her husband Leonard (Iddo Goldberg) — a viola player preparing for an important performance. In a bid to overcome a debilitating case of writer’s block, Jane ventures to Ischia, where she soon crosses paths with wandering, free-spirited American Caleb (Jamie Blackley). Their emotional bond strengthening as they explore their picturesque surroundings, Jane and Caleb succumb to an attraction that is much too powerful to deny, prompting the unsatisfied wife to consider the prospect that she may have settled for what she thinks she deserves, rather than what she really wants out of life.
After losing his job David is pushed by his roommate to hire a life coach named Joyce. A decision aided in part by how pretty David finds this life coach, but also a desire to get unstuck in life. When Joyce invites him to join the volunteer group she takes to a retirement home David discovers his manipulative ex-boss, William, is part of the group and interested in Joyce. The retirees instantly recognize the potential for drama with this love triangle, and two wily old men goad the boys to battle for Joyce. David’s path to finding himself gets twisted by this competition and in the end causes him to make a decision that nearly ruins his progress on both fronts.
Informant is a fascinating portrait of Brandon Darby, a radical left-wing activist turned FBI informant. In 2005, Darby became an overnight hero when he traveled to Katrina-devastated New Orleans and braved toxic floodwaters to rescue a stranded friend. Soon after, he co-founded Common Ground, a successful grassroots relief organization. But over the next few years, he began hiding a shocking secret. After two young protestors were arrested at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Darby revealed he had been instrumental in their indictment as an FBI informant. Today, having renounced his left-wing past, he is a tea-party darling who writes regularly for the right-leaning web site Breitbart.com.
A marvelous, highly influential cinéma-vérité examination of a specific time and place: Paris in May 1962, going through its first spring of peace since 1939 (the signing of the Evian agreement in March 1962 having finally put an end to the long-running Algerian troubles). The basic method is simple: Marker and his colleagues (unseen) elicit comments on work, money, happiness, etc, from a cross-section of Parisians. But these personal thoughts are firmly and evocatively placed within a wider socio-political context, as the film proceeds to show footage of police charges, rioters, strikers, and so forth. What distinguishes the film most, however, is its wit, both verbal and visual, so that it is simultaneously illuminating and funny.
Carine Roitfeld ran French Vogue for 10 years, building a reputation as one of fashion’s most influential movers. Her inner circle of friends includes Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld, Mario Testino, Riccardo Tisci, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Alexander Wang. Yet few people outside the fashion world have heard of her…until now. Mademoiselle C chronicles Carine’s launch of her new magazine “CR Fashion Book.” It gives a rare inside glimpse at the inner workings not only of Roitfeld’s professional world but also her personal life. It is a film about transition, letting the audience watch as Carine moves to New York, starts a new business, and prepares to become a grandmother. And of course, its filled the the models, celebrities, and eccentric personalities that make the fashion world so entertaining.
Read The Washington Post’s interview with the subject, Carine Roitfeld, here.
SAMPLE THIS is the true story of how unknown music producer Michael Viner brought together the greatest studio musicians of the 1970’s to create an album that ultimately went nowhere… until the summer of 1973, when DJ Herc took the percussion breaks from that obscure album and extended them by playing them back to back. His beats became an anthem on the streets of the Bronx and ultimately the genre of Hip Hop, becoming one of the most sampled tracks in history and used by artists from Will Smith and Missy Elliot to Amy Winehouse and Jay-Z.
NOW IN THEATERS
Diana (Lindsay Burdge), a young, attractive teacher at a suburban Texas high school, is well-liked by her students and colleagues. Her life seems to be following the status quo, but in reality she’s having a secret affair with her student Eric (Will Brittain). She confides in no one but him, reveling in the teenage terrain of sexting and backseat quickies. Even when the risk of discovery looms over their relationship, her investment in the fantasy remains stronger than reality. Unable to control herself, she heads down a reckless path of self-destruction.
Watch the Sundance Institute’s interview with director Hannah Fidell here.
Q&A with director Hannah Fidell to come.
SALINGER features interviews with 150 subjects including Salinger’s friends, colleagues and members of his inner circle who have never spoken on the record before as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never been seen. Additionally, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal and Pulitzer Prize winners A. Scott Berg and Elizabeth Frank talk about Salinger’s influence on their lives, their work and the broader culture. The film is the first work to get beyond the Catcher in the Rye author’s meticulously built up wall: his childhood, painstaking work methods, marriages, private world and the secrets he left behind after his death in 2010.
Read The Huffington Post’s interview with director Shane Salerno here.
Q&A with director Shane Salerno to come.
Moving from a remote tribal village to the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg, South Africa, a proud young Winnie (Jennifer Hudson) soon found love with a rising political star, Nelson Mandela (Terrence Howard). When Nelson was imprisoned for protesting the brutal Apartheid government, Winnie worked tirelessly to win his freedom and to carry on his message of peace and equality. Her struggle to keep the Mandela dream alive was rewarded by years of persecution and imprisonment, including 18 months of solitary confinement. Throughout, her resolve to fight for her freedom, her family and her country never wavered. Her leadership and unconquerable spirit caught the attention of the world and earned her the name “the mother of the nation.”
Set in an Australian seaside town of otherworldly beauty and shot in lush 35mm Cinemascope, ADORE establishes an aura of fable as it follows two women’s plunge into uncharted waters. Watts and Wright fearlessly engage with both the physical and psychological components of the story, capturing the complex emotions and powerful desires driving their characters. Strong performances from relative newcomers Xavier Samuel (THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE) and James Frecheville (ANIMAL KINGDOM) complement Watts and Wright’s and add another layer of intricacy to the story.
Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. Though she had no concept of how far they would go, Freda had faith in The Beatles from the beginning, and The Beatles had faith in her. History notes that The Beatles were together for 10 years, but Freda worked for them for 11. Many people came in and out of the band’s circle as they grew to international stardom, but Freda remained a staple because of her unfaltering loyalty and dedication. As the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution — advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges — of the greatest band in history.
Q&A with director Ryan White to come.
Short Term 12 is told through the eyes of Grace (Brie Larson), a 20-something supervisor at a facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge — and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.). But Grace’s own difficult past — and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself — throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility: a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection. While the subject matter is complex, this lovingly realized film finds truth — and humor — in unexpected places.
Read /Film’s coverage of the movie here.
Q&A with director Destin Cretton and cast to come.
Thanks, Wendy! This week, Declare Your Independents by checking out some of these movies via VOD or in a theater near you!