Every week, I get several press releases, screening invitations and other notifications from a handful of studio contacts. While I won’t be sharing any information regarding my screening invites, some of the press releases might be of interest to my readers, so I thought I’d start sharing them in toto with all of you. These could include new image galleries for various films or important updates to upcoming releases from various smaller studios and art house production companies.

• Image Gallery: Chernobyl Diaries
• Press Release: Principle Photography on ‘Thérèse’ Begins
• Press Release: ‘Sunlight Jr’ Playing Cannes
• Press Release: ‘My Reincarnation’ to Kick Off POV Series
• Press Release: ‘The Invitation’ Inviting Sales at Cannes

Image Gallery: Chernobyl Diaries

Click Here to go to the Gallery

Press Release: Principle Photography on ‘Thérèse’ Begins

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMMENCES ON EROTIC THRILLER “THÉRÈSE” STARRING ELIZABETH OLSEN, OSCAR ISAAC, TOM FELTON and JESSICA LANGE

LD Entertainment producing and distributing in North America and Exclusive Media handling international sales

LOS ANGELES, CA – May 9, 2012 – Production has begun on THÉRÈSE, an erotic thriller based on Émile Zola’s scandalous novel, THÉRÈSE RAQUIN. Filming is taking place in Belgrade, Serbia and Budapest, Hungary.

Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Thérèse Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen of “Martha Marcy May Marlene”), a sexually repressed and beautiful young woman, is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille (Tom Felton of the “Harry Potter” franchise), by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin (two-time Oscar, SAG, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange). Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent (Oscar Isaacs of “Drive”), she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences.

Rounding out the cast of THÉRÈSE are Shirley Henderson (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Trainspotting”), John Kavanagh (HBO’s “The Tudors”), Mackenzie Crook (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), and Matt Lucas (“Bridesmaids”).

Directed and written by Charlie Stratton, THÉRÈSE is produced by Mickey Liddell (“The Grey”), CEO of LD Entertainment, and William Horberg of Wonderful Films (“The Kite Runner,” “Cold Mountain”). Michael Zelman and Richard Sharkey serve as the film’s executive producers. LD Entertainment will also distribute the film.

The film’s creative team includes cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister (“The Deep Blue Sea”), production designer Uli Hanisch (“Cloud Atlas”), and costume designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud (“Albert Nobbs”). The editor is Paul Tothill (“Atonement”) and the composer is Oscar-winner Gabriel Yared (“In the Land of Blood and Honey”).

Alex Walton, Exclusive Media’s President of International Sales and Distribution, is handling international sales and will be actively selling the title at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

Press Release: ‘Sunlight Jr’ Playing Cannes

‘SUNLIGHT JR.’ SHINES WITH HYDE PARK INTERNATIONAL AT CANNES

Matt Dillon and Naomi Watts Headline Inspirational Drama from Director Laurie Collyer

Los Angeles, CA– (May 8, 2012) – The gritty, inspirational drama SUNLIGHT JR. will be unveiled to international buyers by Hyde Park International at this year’s Marche du Film. Written and directed by the award-winning Laurie Collyer (SHERRYBABY) and starring Naomi Watts (J. EDGAR, KING KONG), Matt Dillon (CRASH, THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) and Norman Reedus (THE BOONDOCK SAINTS, THE WALKING DEAD). The film is produced by Original Media’s Charlie Corwin (HALF NELSON, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE), Freight Yard Films’ Andrea Roa and Ariel Elia, who is producing on behalf of Empyrean Pictures. Joshua Skurla and Dan Klabin are executive producers for Empyrean, which fully financed the film, and are joined by Simon Fawcett (HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE, IN THE LOOP) as executive producer.

SUNLIGHT JR. is currently in post production and a promo will be shown at Cannes. Shot on location in southern Florida, the story spotlights hard-working convenience store clerk Melissa (Naomi Watts) and her paraplegic boyfriend, Richie (Matt Dillon), who are trapped in a generational cycle of poverty and ignorance. They are genuinely excited, however, once they learn that Melissa is pregnant. But when she loses her job and they are evicted from the motel they live in, things go from bad to worse. Through this adversity, the couple realizes that they can never lose everything as long as they have each other.

Hyde Park International has built a robust slate for the 2012 Marche du Film, including Hugh Hudson’s MIDNIGHT SUN, which has already generated significant interest among buyers; Medusa purchased Italian rights and Alliance Atlantis purchased Canadian rights. They are also selling ADULT WORLD, the latest comedy from Award-winning commercial and music video director Scott Coffey (ELLIE PARKER) starring Emma Roberts, Evan Peters and John Cusack.

About Hyde Park International
Hyde Park International has become one of the most important foreign sales companies in the world and is a permanent fixture at Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, and the American Film Market. The company is focused on representing commercial fare as well as award-winning films that serve the global marketplace. Hyde Park’s recent slate includes GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE 3D in partnership with Sony and starring Nic Cage which opened worldwide in February, 2012; the spy thriller THE DOUBLE starring Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stephen Moyer, Stana Katic and Martin Sheen which opened nationwide in the US in October, 2011; as well as indie favorites such as Richard Linklater’s BERNIE starring Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Shirley Maclaine; the award-winning BLUE VALENTINE starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams; and the Paul Rudd comedy OUR IDIOT BROTHER.

About Original Media
Founded in 2002, Charlie Corwin’s Original Media has built a strong reputation for cutting-edge content and quality production. Original Media produces hundreds of hours of award-winning content across multiple media formats including Academy Award nominated feature films, reality television, scripted television and digital programming and currently has thirteen television series on air. Original Media produced the Academy Award nominated films THE SQUID AND THE WHALE and HALF NELSON. The company, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of Endemol USA.

Freight Yard Films
Andrea Roa started the production company Freight Yard in 2011 and produced the feature film, BOOSTER, which premiered in competition at SXSW in 2012. She produced SUNLIGHT JR. currently in post-production and is in development on two other films with writer/director Laurie Collyer. Along with Charlie Corwin and Original Media, Andrea is in development on several features including Ti West’s WHICH WAY IS OUT and Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s FROM THE SHADOWS IT WILL COME.

Empyrean Pictures
Empyrean is a newly formed production entity dedicated to the financing and production of world-class motion pictures. Empyrean fully financed SUNLIGHT JR. and is actively developing a slate of projects for a global audience. The company’s partners are Joshua Skurla, Dan Klabin, Ariel Elia and Marcos Tellechea.

Press Release: ‘My Reincarnation’ to Kick Off POV Series

POV Kicks Off 25th Season with ‘My Reincarnation,’ an Intimate yet Epic Story Of Spiritual Struggle Between Father and Son, Thursday, June 21, 2012 on PBS

High Tibetan Buddhist Teacher and Scholar Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche Believes his Italian-born Son, Yeshi, Is the Reincarnation of a Buddhist Master, but Yeshi Just Wants to Live a Normal Italian Life

“A remarkable documentary.”— Daniel M. Gold, The New York Times

The 25th anniversary season of POV (Point of View) is replete with films that offer remarkable and individual takes on stories of national and global significance, and Jennifer Fox’s My Reincarnation is no exception. It tells of the tireless work of exiled Tibetan Buddhist Master Namkhai Norbu to transmit the highest path of Tibetan Buddhism—called Dzogchen—around the world. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (“Rinpoche” is a Tibetan honorific title for Reincarnate Teachers meaning “precious one”) feels enormously responsibility for keeping an ancient spiritual and cultural tradition alive in the face of a 50-year long diaspora that threatens Tibetan identity.

But Fox’s film goes beyond reporting on the state of Tibetan Buddhism in exile. It enters Namkhai Norbu’s story in unprecedented fashion. Filmed over 20 years, My Reincarnation follows a long, gentle, sometimes amusing, yet intense struggle between him and his Italian-born son, Yeshi. Namkhai Norbu, along with the Tibetan Buddhist community, is convinced Yeshi is the reincarnation of his own master and destined to take up Namkhai Norbu’s work. Yeshi, however, was raised in Italy and feels and looks more like an up-and-coming young businessman than anybody’s spiritual master. Yet he can’t quite turn away from his father’s legacy. There are physical proofs of his reincarnation according to Buddhist tradition and his own spiritual yearnings. And there is the quiet, implacable determination of his father.

My Reincarnation opens POV’s 25th anniversary season on Thursday, June 21, 2012, at 10 p.m. on PBS. The season continues on Thursdays at 10 p.m. through Oct. 25 and concludes with fall and winter specials. (Check local listings.) American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, POV is the winner of a Special Emmy for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, two IDA awards for Best Continuing Series and the NALIP award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity.

Fox began filming Namkhai Norbu in 1988 when, as a filmmaker and student of the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, she took a four-year sabbatical from filmmaking and worked as his secretary. She started out recording his everyday life, including his work, family and travels, intent on documenting a spiritual life to which she’d been given unusual access. She returned 13 years later, and periodically after that, until 2009, amassing more than 1,000 hours of footage from Italy and the family’s travels all over the world, including Venezuela, Russia and the United States (in Massachusetts and New York).

Using this footage plus archival material, My Reincarnation achieves a remarkably intimate and vivid account of Namkhai Norbu’s life and work. Fleeing Tibet in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese takeover, along with thousands of other Tibetans including the H.H. the Dalai Lama, he settled in Italy, married an Italian woman, Rosa, had two children and began the work that brought him worldwide recognition as a Spiritual Master and Scholar. The film shows 20 years of constant travel as he lectures, counsels, leads ritual Buddhist observances and Tibetan gatherings and hosts the Dalai Lama. He ages, of course, but also appears to take on an extra burdens—not only the hopes, fears and challenges of spiritual seekers and Tibetans scattered in foreign lands, but also the survival of Tibetan Buddhism itself.

And so a movie-within-the-movie unfolds, because the struggle to preserve Tibetan Buddhism—to pass it on as a living legacy—extends to Namkhai Norbu’s family. Tibetan Buddhism depends greatly on unbroken lines of reincarnated lamas, who continue to teach and interpret the scriptures. Namkhai Norbu is himself a reincarnate master, and Yeshi, his first-born son, was recognized from birth as the reincarnation of his great-uncle, another famous Buddhist master, who died imprisoned by the Chinese after their invasion of Tibet. Various traditional proofs of reincarnation, particularly involving a child’s familiarity with the late lama’s objects, convinced not only Namkhai Norbu but also other Tibetans that Yeshi is a reincarnate master. The only one who isn’t convinced is Yeshi himself.

Yeshi is first seen in My Reincarnation as an intense, intelligent 18-year-old (he ages to 39 and Namkhai Norbu ages from 49 to 70 in the film) listening to his father’s teaching or helping with ceremonies, but hanging on the margins of events. Later, he’s an intense, intelligent young man on a fast-track to business success and all the things this can bring in Western society. Alternately amused and awe-struck by his Tibetan status, he can’t quite shake the overwhelming implications of it. He’s drawn along in his father’s wake but resists all the way. He doesn’t want to take up Buddhist study or teaching or to go to Tibet, as his father urges. Yeshi is especially unnerved by the idea of visiting the very monastery where his great-uncle had been master and where students await Yeshi as their master’s reincarnation.

One of the delights of My Reincarnation is sharing Yeshi’s views of his father and thoughts about the spiritual legacy to which he is heir. Even more striking is witnessing Yeshi’s spiritual evolution, the highlight of which is his visit to the Tibetan monastery of his great uncle, where the local monks and villagers greet him with ancient ceremony and respect as their reincarnate Master. Such a profound demonstration of faith and spiritual continuity cannot help but have a great impact on Yeshi, and begins to awaken the heir to Namkhai Norbu’s great mission.

“At first, I didn’t know what I was filming,” says director Fox. “I just knew I had incredible access to this High Tibetan Master. For all that is so interesting about Tibetan Buddhism in today’s world, I was always drawn by the universal father-son struggle. Namkhai Norbu wants to save his traditional culture and faith by passing them onto Yeshi. But Yeshi wants nothing more than to be modern. What is extraordinary for Yeshi is that questions of personal identity become entangled in the fate of a 2,500-year-old spiritual tradition.

“The father-son story is a narrative that we can all relate to, as the protagonists discover that love often doesn’t look the way we expect it to look,” she continues. “By the same token, the film is an entry into this world of esoteric Buddhism, which acknowledges that there is so much more to the universe than what we see. On a deep level, most religions share the core of this belief. I’ve been really gratified that My Reincarnation has inspired people to talk about their spirituality, to open up conversations among Tibetan Buddhists, rabbis, shamans and priests. It’s been an incredible journey in faith.”

My Reincarnation is a co-production of Zohe Film Productions, Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation, Lichblick Film, Ventura Film and Vivo Film.

About the Filmmaker:
Jennifer Fox (Director, Co-producer, Cinematographer)
Jennifer Fox is an internationally acclaimed director, producer, camerawoman and educator. Her first film, Beirut: The Last Home Movie won seven international awards, including Best Documentary Film and Best Cinematography at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the 1988 Cinema Du Reel Festival, Paris.

She produced, directed and shot the groundbreaking ten-hour PBS/BBC/ARTE series An American Love Story, which received a Gracie Award for Best Television Series and was named “One of the Top Ten Television Series of 1999” by The New York Times, Time Out, The Boston Globe, Time magazine and the New York Daily News. Fox also co-produced, directed and shot the Danish co-production/Sundance Channel’s internationally acclaimed six-part film Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman. Fox’s credits include serving as executive producer of many award-winning films including Love & Diane (POV 2003); On the Ropes; Double Exposure; Cowboys, Lawyers and Indians; Absolutely Safe?; Project Ten: Real Stories From a Free South Africa; and the dramatic feature Upstate. She has consulted on numerous documentaries, including Sundance Grand Prize winner Southern Comfort and the Slamdance Grand Prize winner Stone Reader.

Fox, who was born in Philadelphia and now lives in New York and Zurich, lectures and teaches filmmaking nationally and internationally.

Credits:
Director: Jennifer Fox
Co-producers: Jennifer Fox, Babeth M. Vanloo, Carl Ludwig Rettinger, Andres Pfaeffli, Elda Guidinetti, Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Paonessa
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Adrian Melnikov, Joanna Plafsky
Cinematographer: Jennifer Fox
Editor: Sabine Krayenbuhl
Original Music: Jan Tilman Schade, Moe Jaksch

Running Time: 86:46

POV Series Credits:
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry
Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López
VP, Production & Programming: Chris White
Series Producer: Yance Ford
Coordinating Producer: Andrew Catauro

For a complete list of festivals and screenings, visit http://myreincarnationfilm.com/. Meet the film’s protagonist, Tibetan Buddhist Master Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, in-person during his 2012 U.S. Summer Teaching Tour! For more information, visit www.tsegyalgar.org/. Read more: The Crystal and the Way of Light by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (Snow Lion Publications, www.snowlionpub.com).

Press Release: ‘The Invitation’ Inviting Sales at Cannes

XYZ FILMS’ THRILLER “THE INVITATION” TO START SALES IN CANNES

Celluloid Nightmares to Handle Sales with Karyn Kusama directing ensemble cast that includes Luke Wilson, Zachary Quinto, Topher Grace and Johnny Galecki

Los Angeles, CA(May 11, 2012) – XYZ Films has announced that the thriller THE INVITATION will begin principal photography in Los Angeles in the summer of 2012. Directed by Karyn Kusama (“Jennifer’s Body,” “Girlfight”), the film was scripted by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (“Clash of the Titans,” “R.I.P.D.”) and will star Luke Wilson (Enlightened) and an ensemble that includes Zachary Quinto (“Star Trek”), Topher Grace (“Traffic”) and Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory). XYZ Films (“The Raid: Redemption”) will produce alongside Martha Griffin (“Girlfight”) and Hay and Manfredi. Foreign sales will be handled at Cannes by Celluloid Nightmares, the partnership between XYZ Films and Celluloid Dreams. XYZ Films and ICM are representing domestic sales.

On a dark night, Will (Luke Wilson) is invited to his estranged ex-wife’s dinner party. Over the course of the evening, he is gripped by mounting evidence that something insidious has taken hold of his ex-wife, and that she and her new friends have a mysterious and horrifying agenda. By the end of the night, the ramifications of what happens in this house will spread far beyond its doors.

Currently, XYZ has the hit action film THE RAID: REDEMPTION in theaters via Sony Pictures Classics. The company has also completed production on FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY which just completed shooting in Prague.

About XYZ Films
XYZ is an LA-based production and sales company founded by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian. In addition to handling North American sales at top-tier film festivals, XYZ is also partnered with French international sales outfit, Celluloid Dreams, for international sales. The partnership, launched in May of 2010 as “Celluloid Nightmares,” brings together the pedigree of Celluloid Dreams with the genre savvy of XYZ. XYZ has been a leader in the independent film space since it acquired an ownership stake in leading international film site Twitch (www.twitchfilm.com) and partnered with Twitch founder, Todd Brown, to expand XYZ’s sales initiative.