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: First Image from Eli Roth’s “The Green Inferno”
• Image: Poster for “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”
• Press Release: Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival Announces Line Up
• Press Release: “ParaNorman” Props to be Auctioned for Charity

Image: First Image from Eli Roth’s “The Green Inferno”

Image: Poster for “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST – Directed by Mira Nair

Starring Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland and Kate Hudson

From Award-winning director Mira Nair, and based on the acclaimed novel by Mohsin Hamid, comes the explosive new film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. In 2010, as student demonstrations rage in Lahore, a young Pakistani professor Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed) is interviewed by American journalist Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Princeton-educated Changez tells Lincoln of his past as a brilliant business analyst on Wall Street. He talks of the glittering future that lay before him, his mentor, Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland), and the beautiful and sophisticated Erica (Kate Hudson), with whom he was set to share that future.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the alienation and suspicion he is suddenly met with leads him back to his homeland, and the family to whom he is very close. Charisma and intelligence catapult him to become a leader both in the eyes of the Pakistani students that adore him, and the American government that suspects him.

The collegial pretense of the meeting in a Lahore tea house, between Lincoln and Changez, slowly gives way to why the unlikely pair is meeting on a summer day—a foreign professor has been kidnapped by extremists, and the clock is ticking toward the deadline for his execution. Changez’s family is being harassed and is in real danger. Bobby listens carefully, but with an agenda of his own. Leading us through the culturally rich and beguiling worlds of New York, Lahore and Istanbul, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an exploration of bias and the phenomenon of globalization that is both brilliant and unsettling.

Press Release: Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival Announces Line Up

SECOND ANNUAL LOS ANGELES TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2013 FEATURE FILM LINE UP

Festival Shorts Competition Programmed by Elvis Mitchell; Jurors Include WGAw’s VP Howard A. Rodman and the Academy’s Foreign Language Committee Co-Chair Ron Yerxa

Los Angeles, CA (February 11, 2013)–The LA Turkish Film Festival has announced today their final slate of four feature films that will screen at their second annual festival at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater. The festival opens on Thursday, February 28th at 7:00pm with the screening of Yilmaz Erdogan’s THE BUTTERFLY’S DREAM (Kelebegin Ruyasi), which is the tale of two poets who fall in love with the same woman. Starting the following evening, a new feature from Turkish filmmakers will screen nightly at the Egyptian, followed by a Q & A that will be moderated by industry professionals. The festival concludes on March 3rd.

The LA Turkish Film Festival will also screen a series of nine shorts in a competition that was programmed by film critic and NPR’s The Treatment host Elvis Mitchell. This competition has been designed to showcase up and coming Turkish filmmakers, some of whom have never screened their work outside of Turkey. The nine finalists will be flown to Hollywood for their festival screening.

This year’s festival jury is composed of international and American veterans of the film industry including screenwriter and Vice President of the Writers Guild of America West Howard A. Rodman, Academy Award Foreign Language Film Committee Co-Chair Ron Yerxa, director Rob Nilsson, actress Belcim Bilgin and Semih Kaplanoglu, the Jury President and the director of Bal, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.

In addition to THE BUTTERFLY’S DREAM, three additional features have been programmed for the weekend festival:

On Friday March 1st at 7:30pm will be MOLD (Kuf), from writer/director Ali Aydin. MOLD is the story of a lonely father petitioning authorities for information on the son who disappeared 18 years earlier. The director won the Best First Feature Award at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.

On Saturday, March 2nd at 8:00pm BEYOND THE HILL (Tepenin Ardi) from writer/director Emin Alper will be the third feature screened at the festival. The film is a Western parable about a family who confronts nomads trying to infringe on their Anatolian farm land. The film was the winner of the Caligari prize at the 2012 Berlinale and was also the winner for Best Feature at the 2012 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Finally, INSIDE (Yeralti), from writer/director Zeki Demirkubuz, is a stylistic adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground and will screen on Sunday, March 3rd at 5:00pm. The film was the winner of multiple awards at the 2012 Istanbul Film Festival, including Best Director, as well as the Best Feature Film Asia/Africa at the 2012 Dubai Film Festival.

Please note that THE BUTTERFLY’S DREAM will have one additional screening on March 2nd at 1:30pm.

See the festival’s English-language website for more information on the schedule, shorts competition and to purchase tickets to all screenings: http://www.latff.org

About the Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival:
Now in their second celebratory year, the Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival (LATFF) is a new and important medium that voices the fresh and productive recent developments in Turkish cinema. The festival prides itself on being a place where internationally awarded Turkish filmmakers meet a new generation of young directors, with the support of many names from the American film industry.

For more information on the festival and for ticket information please visit http://www.latff.org

Press Release: “ParaNorman” Props to be Auctioned for Charity

UNIQUE HAND-CRAFTED PROPS FROM ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED ANIMATED FEATURE PARANORMAN TO BE AUCTIONED NEXT WEEK

Proceeds to benefit Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California

LOS ANGELES, February 15th, 2013 – Animation buffs, movie fans, and memorabilia collectors will all have the chance to own unique hand-crafted materials from one of this year’s Academy Award nominees when Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California next week begins hosting the online auction of two props used in LAIKA and Focus Features’ comedy thriller ParaNorman, which is Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

The internet auction is coordinated through Profiles in History, the world’s largest auctioneer of original Hollywood Memorabilia, www.profilesinhistory.com, and will begin on Friday, February 22nd and will end Monday, March 4th. Proceeds from the auction will go to help inspire hope, enrich lives and build a better future for children with special needs in Southern California.

Including a letter of authenticity from LAIKA’s studios in Oregon, where the stop-motion-animated feature was lovingly hand-crafted on-site, the auction lot is for two props that were made in-studio and then featured on-screen; in the film’s story, the town of Blithe Hollow, where ParaNorman’s 11-year-old hero Norman Babcock lives with his family, commissioned a historical plaque commemorating the famous capture of a witch from 300 years ago, along with the accompanying mold “cast” of the witch’s head. In the frightfully funny, magically emotional, and hilariously spooky ParaNorman, the revelation comes that the centuries-old witch’s curse is real and is about to come true – and only Norman will be able to stop it from going into overdrive and harming the townspeople, by summoning up courage and compassion in a wild race against time.

In addition to its Academy Award nomination, ParaNorman has won two Annie Awards (the animation community’s Oscars equivalent) and been cited as best animated feature film by 14 critics’ groups, more than any other 2012 animated feature. ParaNorman was directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler from an original screenplay by Mr. Butler; and was produced by Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner.

Elizabeth O’Neil, Executive Director of Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California, said, “The movies that LAIKA and Focus have made together have thrilled and delighted millions. With its anti-bullying theme, ParaNorman has proved particularly impactful for kids. We’re so pleased that beautifully detailed and painstakingly created props from this wondrous tale will now be offered for auction to benefit children in need in our community.”

About Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California
Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California, founded in 1941, is a 501(c)3 organization made up of men and women primarily in the entertainment industry who raise the much-needed funds to provide lifesaving support for disabled, abused, physically-challenged and underprivileged children in the Southern California community. The Southern California chapter is part of a worldwide network, Variety International. Founded in 1928, Variety has raised over $1.8 billion to aid children with special needs worldwide. For more information please visit www.varietysocal.org.
In November 2005, the charity launched its “Variety’s Kids” Auction Program and has since raised over one million dollars by auctioning off unique Hollywood items, including signed movie memorabilia; the iconic shirts worn by the stars of Focus’ Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain; the famed green dress worn by Keira Knightley in Focus’ Atonement; the suit worn by Sean Penn in his Academy Award-winning portrayal of real-life hero Harvey Milk in Focus’ Milk; and the 1966 Dodge Coronet used in Focus’ A Serious Man. Proceeds from the auctions go directly to helping children.

About LAIKA
Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President & CEO Travis Knight, LAIKA (www.laika.com) is an animation company specializing in feature films and commercials. LAIKA, located in Portland, Oregon, has a 30-year history of presenting the artistry of award-winning filmmakers, designers, and animators in the field of animation. In addition to its division focused on feature films, LAIKA has a short-form division, LAIKA/house, which produces some of the most iconic animated content across all mediums for advertising clients worldwide. The company has won two Academy Awards, 11 Emmy Awards, 11 Clio Awards, two Bronze Cannes Lion Awards, three London International Advertising & Design Awards, five Mobius Advertising Awards, nine Annie Awards, and two Annecy Cristals.

LAIKA’s Coraline (2009), its first movie made in partnership with Focus Features, earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI).

About Focus Features
Focus Features and Focus Features International (www.focusfeatures.com) comprise a singular global company. This worldwide studio makes original and daring films that challenge the mainstream to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world that deliver global commercial success. The company operates as Focus Features in North America, and as Focus Features International (FFI) in the rest of the world. Current and upcoming Focus Features releases include Joe Wright’s epic love story Anna Karenina, nominated for 4 Academy Awards; Paul Weitz’s comedy/drama Admission, starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd; Derek Cianfrance’s drama The Place Beyond the Pines, starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes; Closed Circuit, the suspense thriller directed by John Crowley and starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall; The World’s End, the third installment of Edgar Wright’s trilogy of comedies starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; and the comedic fable The Boxtrolls, the new animated feature from LAIKA, directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable with a voice cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, and Tracy Morgan.

Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.