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: Canyons
• Image Gallery: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Press Release: Focus Features’ Africa First Program Begins Sixth Year
• Press Release: Brigade’s 2013 Fall Movie Preview
• Press Release: “Evergreen” Challenges to End War on Marijuana
• Press Release: “Gasland Part II” Debuts on HBO
• Press Release: dGenerate Films Home Video Collection Announced

Image Gallery: Canyons

Image Gallery: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

See the Gallery Here

Press Release: Focus Features’ Africa First Program Begins Sixth Year

FOCUS FEATURES’ AFRICA FIRST PROGRAM BEGINS SIXTH YEAR, ACCEPTING ENTRIES; $10,000 IN FINANCING APIECE EARMARKED FOR NEW FILMMAKERS

NEW YORK, June 11th, 2013 – To commence its sixth year, Focus Features’ Africa First Program will accept entries continuing through Monday, August 19th, with applications needing to be received by Thursday, August 29th. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

The uniquely conceived initiative, with funds earmarked exclusively for emerging filmmakers of African nationality and residence, is for the sixth consecutive year offering eligible and participating filmmakers the chance to be awarded $10,000 in financing for pre-production, production, and/or post-production on their narrative short film made in continental Africa and tapping into the resources of the film industry there. The program also brings the filmmakers together with each other and with a renowned group of advisors, major figures in the African film world, for support and mentorship. Past short films to come out of the Program have been showcased at the Sundance, Toronto, London, and Berlin Film Festivals; on The Africa Channel; and with the Museum of the Moving Image and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, among other venues worldwide. Compilations of films completed through the Program are available on DVD and across VOD and EST platforms. Complete details on Africa First – including application information – can be accessed year-round through www.focusfeatures.com/africafirst.

Africa First is supervised by Executive Director and producer Kisha Cameron Dingle (…Sometimes in April), whose company, Completion Films, has a first-look and consulting deal with Focus, and who coordinates the Program’s submissions and evaluations with Focus director of development & production Christopher Kopp and production coordinator Jess Kwan. In addition to on-site work in Africa, the winning filmmakers of Africa First will visit New York City in the fall of 2013 for a weekend of one-on-one workshop discussions with each other; members of the advisory board of experts in African cinema; such Focus executives as Mr. Schamus and president of production Jeb Brody, covering topics like international distribution and the economics of studio financing; and Mrs. Dingle, Mr. Kopp, and Ms. Kwan.

Mr. Schamus said, “The Africa First Program’s commitment to short films and new filmmakers continues into a new digital age, when it is particularly exciting to be moving the program forward and to help get these storytellers’ works made and seen.”

In 2008, the Africa First Program selected these filmmakers and their respective films; Mr. Edouard Bamporiki (from Rwanda) for Long Coat, Ms. Jenna Bass (from South Africa) for The Tunnel, Mr. Jan-Hendrik Beetge (from South Africa) for The Abyss Boys, Ms. Dyana Gaye (from Senegal) for N’Dar (a.k.a. St. Louis Blues), and Ms. Wanuri Kahiu (from Kenya) for Pumzi [Breath]. The winning filmmakers for 2009 were Mr. Stephen Abbott (from South Africa) for Dirty Laundry, Mr. Matt Bishanga (from Uganda) for A Good Catholic Girl, Mr. Daouda Coulibaly (from Mali) for Tinye So, Mr. Matthew Jankes (from South Africa) for Umkhungo, and Ms. Rungano Nyoni (from Zambia) for The Adventures of Mwansa the Great. The 2010 filmmakers chosen were Ms. Chika Anadu (from Nigeria) for The Marriage Factor; Mr. Lev David (from South Africa) for Down; Ms. Jacqueline Kalimunda (from Rwanda) for Sky Burning Down; Ms. Ebele Okoye (from Nigeria) for The Legacy of Rubies; and Mr. Julius Onah (from Nigeria) for Nepa Don Quench. The filmmakers selected in 2011 were Ms. Oshosheni Hiveluah (from Namibia) for 100 Bucks; Mr. Cedric Ido (from Burkina Faso) for Twaaga [Invincible]; Mr. Mark Middlewick (from South Africa) for Late Night Security; Ms. Akosua Adoma Owusu (from Ghana) for Kwaku Ananse; and Mr. Zelalem Woldemariam (from Ethiopia) for Adamet [Listen]. The winning filmmakers for 2012 were Mr. Vincent Moloi (from South Africa) for Berea; Mr. Jeremiah Mosese (from Lesotho) for Mosongoa [The Mocked One]; Ms. Ekwa Msangi-Omari (from Tanzania) for Soko [The Market]; Ms. Samantha Nell (from South Africa) for One Way Ticket; and Mr. William Nicholson (from South Africa) for The Second Law.

For 2013, the submissions period begins on Monday, June 10th and runs through Monday, August 19th, with applications needing to be received by Thursday, August 29th. The five filmmakers selected will be notified by October and will retain the copyrights and the distribution rights to their completed shorts, with the exception of North American rights; Focus retains those, as well as the right of first negotiation to productions derived from the shorts, such as a feature-length expansion.

Completion is developing feature, documentary, and television projects. Its president, Mrs. Dingle, previously worked as director of development at Walden Media, and as an executive at New Line Cinema, where she oversaw the development and production of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.

The Africa First Program advisory board members are Ms. Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival; journalist and documentary filmmaker Ms. Jihan El-Tahiri; Ms. June Givanni, who for four years programmed the Toronto International Film Festival’s Planet Africa series; Ms. Sharifa Johka, film programmer and independent producer; Mr. Pedro Pimenta, producer and manager of training programs throughout South Africa; and Mr. Keith Shiri, founder/director of the Africa at the Pictures film festival in the U.K.

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 Derek Cianfrance’s drama The Place Beyond the Pines, starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes; The World’s End, the new comedy reuniting director Edgar Wright with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; Closed Circuit, the suspense thriller directed by John Crowley and starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall; the true-life dramatic thriller Kill the Messenger, to be directed by Michael Cuesta and star Jeremy Renner; 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; Black Sea, the adventure thriller to star Jude Law for Academy Award-wining director Kevin Macdonald; and Dallas Buyers Club, the fact-based drama directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are 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, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast Corporation.

Press Release: Brigade’s 2013 Fall Movie Preview

2013 FALL MOVIE PREVIEW

Lynn Shelton’s TOUCHY FEELY

(September 6, 2013)

Screenwriter: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy,Ellen Page, Josh Pais, Tomo Nakayama

A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”

Hannah Fidell’s A TEACHER

(September 6, 2013)

Screenwriter: Hannah Fidell
Starring:: Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain

A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end.

Alexandre Moors’ BLUE CAPRICE

(September 20, 2013)

Screenwriter: R. F. I. Porto & Alexandre Moors
Starring:: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson

An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks.

Jim Mickle’s WE ARE WHAT WE ARE

(September/October 2013)

Screenwriters: Nick Damici & Jim Mickle

Starring: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis

A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer to uncovering the macabre secretthe Parker family has held for many years.

***

TOUCHY FEELY

Written and Directed by: Lynn Shelton
Starring:: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Josh Pais, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy,Ellen Page, Tomo Nakayama
Studio:: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date:: September 6th
Genre:: Drama
Festivals:: Sundance 2013

TOUCHY FEELY is a closely observed examination of a family whose delicate psychic balance suddenly unravels. Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), is a sought after massage therapist and a free spirit, while her brother Paul (Josh Pais) thrives on routine and convention, running a flagging dental practice and co-dependently enlisting the assistance of his emotionally stunted daughter Jenny (Ellen Page). Suddenly, transformation touches everyone. Abby develops an uncontrollable aversion to bodily contact, which not only makes her occupation impossible but severely hinders the passionate love life between her and her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy.) Meanwhile, rumors of Paul’s “healing touch” begin to miraculously invigorate his practice as well as his life outside the office. As Abby navigates her way through a soul-searching identity crisis, her formerly skeptical brother discovers a whole new side of himself. TOUCHY FEELY is about the experience of living in one’s own skin, both literally and figuratively. The film, written and directed by Shelton, and co-starring Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, and newcomer Tomo Nakayama (of the indie rock band Grand Hallway), is filmed on location in Shelton’s hometown and urban muse of Seattle.

TRT: 90 minutes

***

A TEACHER

Written and Directed by: Hannah Fidell
Starring:: Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittan
Studio:: Oscillioscope Laboratories
Release Date:: September 6th
Genre:: Psychological Thriller
Festivals:: Sundance 2013, SXSW 2013

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.

The subject of a teacher-student affair may be tabloid fodder, but writer/director Hannah Fidell resists sensationalism or the temptation to pathologize her protagonist. With bold vision, Fidell uses highly controlled pacing, silky camera movements, and a tense percussive sound aesthetic to free its narrative from the confines of convention, while a fascinating performance by Lindsay Burdge transports us into Diana’s head space, where her unabated obsession lives.

TRT: 76 minutes

***

BLUE CAPRICE

Directed and Written by:: Alexandre Moors
Starring:: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams and Tim Blake Nelson
Studio:: IFC Films
Release Date:: September 20, 2013
Genre:: Thriller
Festivals:: Sundance 2013, New Directors/New Films

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 shooters, 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 riveting portrait of 21st-century America and a haunting depiction of two cold-blooded killers that will endure long after the lights come up. 2012, 93 minutes, color, U.S.A.

TRT: 95 minutes

***

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE

Directed by: Jim Mickle
Written by: Jim Mickle & Nick Damici
Starring: Bill Sage, Julia Garner, Ambyr Childers, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis, Michael Parks, Nick Damici & Jack Gore
Studio: eOne
Release Date: September/October 2013
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Festivals: Sundance 2013, Cannes Film Festival 2013: Directors’ Fortnight

In WE ARE WHAT WE ARE, a re-imagining of the 2010 Mexican film of the same name, Jim Mickle paints a gripping and gruesome portrait of an introverted family struggling to keep their macabre traditions alive.

A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank (Bill Sage, “Boardwalk Empire”) rules his family with a rigorous ferver, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris (Ambyr Childers, THE MASTER) and Rose (Julia Garner, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR) are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, the local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE also stars Michael Parks (DJANGO UNCHAINED), Kelly McGillis (STAKELAND), Nick Damici (STAKELAND), Wyatt Russell (THIS IS 40) and newcomer Jack Gore who will soon be seen this fall on NBC’s “The Michael J. Fox Show.”

TRT: 100 minutes

Press Release: “Evergreen” Challenges to End War on Marijuana

“Evergreen” Film Challenges President Obama to End War on Marijuana

I-502 documentary sparks debate after World Premiere at SIFF

SEATTLE, Wash. – The new feature documentary “Evergreen: The Road to Legalization in Washington” received critical acclaim and enthusiastic audience response during its World Premiere last week at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).

“Evergreen” is a behind-the-scenes examination of Washington State Initiative 502, which legalized recreational marijuana for the first time in America. The 86-minute film shines a light on the heated process that led to I-502’s passage, including the controversial impact of its implementation on the future of United States drug policy.

In the closing moments of the documentary, Vivian McPeak, Executive Director of Seattle Hempfest, makes a hopeful plea to the President for policy reform at the Federal level:

“President Obama, we’ve lived under the specter of the iron curtain of prohibition all of our lives. President Obama, tear down this wall.”

“Evergreen” finished as one of the Top Ten Documentaries screened this year at SIFF, the largest and most well-attended film festival in the United States. The “Evergreen” producers are currently shopping the film for wider distribution as cannabis reform news continues to break daily across the nation.

Media members may request a private Vimeo link or DVD Press Screener of “Evergreen” by replying to this release. Director Riley Morton and producers Nils Cowan and Jason Reid are available for interviews.

Press Release: “Gasland Part II” Debuts on HBO

GASLAND PART II, JOSH FOX’S FOLLOW-UP TO HIS OSCAR®-NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY, DEBUTS JULY 8, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

——–

Film Reveals How Stakes Have Been Raised On All Sides In

One Of The Most Important Environmental Issues Facing The Nation Today

——–

In the explosive follow-up to his Oscar®-nominated documentary “Gasland,” filmmaker Josh Fox uses his trademark dark humor to take a deeper, broader look at the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil, now occurring on a global level (in 32 countries worldwide).

Debuting MONDAY, JULY 8 (9:00-11:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, GASLAND PART II shows how the stakes have been raised on all sides in one of the most important environmental issues facing the nation today. The film argues that the gas industry’s portrayal of natural gas as a clean and safe alternative to oil is a myth, and that fracked wells inevitably leak over time, contaminating water and air, hurting families, and endangering the earth’s climate with the potent greenhouse gas, methane. In addition, the film looks at how the powerful oil and gas industries are, in Fox’s words, “contaminating our democracy.” The timely documentary premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

Other HBO playdates: July 8 (4:55 a.m.), 11 (8:15 a.m., 4:15 p.m.), 14 (3:15 p.m.), 17 (1:45 p.m., midnight) and 20 (9:10 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: July 10 (8:00 p.m.) and 25 (3:50 a.m.)

HBO Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting provocative new specials every Monday through August 12. Other July films include: “Gideon’s Army” (July 1); “The Crash Reel” (July 15); “The Cheshire Murders” (July 24); and “First Comes Love” (July 29).

Ever since theater director-turned-filmmaker Josh Fox was approached five years ago with an unexpected offer of $100,000 for the natural gas drilling rights to his property in the Delaware River Basin, on the border of New York and Pennsylvania, he has been on a mission to investigate and expose the environmental risks of hydraulic facturing. His first film, “Gasland,” debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize, and made its HBO debut later that year. The film was subsequently shown in more than 30 countries to an estimated 50 million viewers. In addition to an Oscar® nomination for Best Documentary Feature, “Gasland” won an Emmy® for Best Nonfiction Directing and was nominated for three other Emmys®. As a result of his activism, Fox was awarded the 2010 Lennon Ono Grant for Peace by Yoko Ono.

GASLAND PART II begins with the 2012 State of the Union Address, in which President Obama declares his support for the safe development of natural gas production, something Fox and the anti-fracking community believe is impossible. Beneath the continental U.S., some contend, lies a vast underground ocean of natural gas waiting to be harvested, with the potential to supply energy to millions of Americans.

However, as Fox explained in “Gasland,” the drilling process, called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is exempted by the Bush-Cheney Energy Policy Act of 2005 from the United States’ most basic environmental regulations, including the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act, and poses many environmental threats to water and air.

In “Gasland,” Fox discovered tap water so contaminated it could be set on fire right out of the tap, chronically ill residents with similar symptoms in drilling areas across the country, and huge pools of toxic waste that kill livestock and vegetation. In GASLAND PART ll, he revisits families whose lives have been upended from living near fracking wells and introduces new characters. Fox interviews politicians who have been trying to stop fracking and help the people affected by it, as well as experts who support Fox’s concerns about the dangers of fracking and the urgent need for a shift to truly clean renewable energy.

Fox returns to Dimock, Pa., Pavilion, Wyo., and Dish, Tex. to see how the residents are faring in their fight to secure clean water from local governments and the E.P.A., and ventures to Australia to see what is happening outside the U.S. as fracking becomes a global practice.

In order to understand the potential dangers of fracking, Fox interviews Tony Ingraffea, Professor of Engineering, Cornell University, a former researcher for the gas industry. Ingraffea, who was named one of Time magazine’s People Who Matter in 2011, explains why in his opinion, fracking can never be done safely. He illustrates how cement in wells can be vulnerable to cracking and that once it has cracked, methane gas can migrate into any underground source of drinking water.

In GASLAND PART ll, Fox also argues that new choices must be made about where the nation gets its energy. He talks to Stanford professor Mark Jacobson, who argues that the U.S. could stop drilling for coal, oil and natural gas altogether and bundle together the renewable resources of wind, high-concentrated solar power, geothermal power, hydroelectric power and tidal power to handle the country’s current energy needs.

But Fox’s biggest concern in GASLAND PART ll is perhaps his belief that “the enormously powerful oil and gas industry has not only contaminated our water, air and land, but also our democracy.”

Towards the film’s conclusion, Fox is arrested trying to film a congressional hearing regarding the E.P.A. results in Pavilion. But as the fight to protect the earth from extreme energy development seems even more challenging, Fox remains determined and undeterred.

GASLAND PART II is directed and produced by Josh Fox; produced by Trish Adlesic; produced by Deborah Wallace; co-producer, Matthew Sanchez; cinematography, Josh Fox and Matthew Sanchez; editor, Matthew Sanchez. For HBO: senior producer, Nancy Abraham; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.

Press Release: dGenerate Films Home Video Collection Announced

ICARUS FILMS HOME VIDEO announces the launch of the dGENERATE FILMS HOME VIDEO COLLECTION

Pema Tseden’s Tibetan-language OLD DOG the first release

June 13, 2013: Icarus Films is excited to announce the launch of the dGenerate Films Home Video Collection for consumer DVD and online audiences.

Founded in 2008, dGenerate Films is the leading distributor of independent cinema from mainland China in North America. This new line, handled by Icarus Films Home Video, will bring its unrivaled collection of cutting-edge dramatic feature films and documentaries to North American audiences.

Awards & Festivals:
Best Narrative Feature, Brooklyn Film Festival
Grand Prize, Tokyo FILMeX
Audience, Press, and Jury Awards, Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival
Rotterdam International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
Slamdance Film Festival