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"He said just the words you needed to be happy." Peccadillo Pictures in the UK has released an official UK trailer for a French drama titled Don't Look Down, which already opened in France last year. Don’t Look Down is the latest offering from the French directing duo Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau. In a high-rise apartment, a woman and four men gather to share their experiences of a man that they have all been involved with, to their cost. In the main room, they talk, drink, dance, while one by one, each goes next door for a private moment of truth. Starring Geoffrey Couet, Manika Auxire, Simon Frenay, Francois Nambot, and Lawrence Valin. It looks like a conceptual drama attempting to address sexual abuse and how it can happen to anyone. This has a some cool visuals, not sure about the rest. Here's the full UK trailer (+ French poster) for...

Amid the cinema closures, redundancies and cancellations across the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic, institutions big and small are exploring myriad ways to stay in business — some more controversial than others.

Genesis, an independent cinema in East London, remained open until Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all cinemas and theaters to shut down Friday to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Cinema director Tyrone Walker-Hebborn tells Variety that Genesis stayed open in order to “offer a moment of entertainment and escapism” during the crisis. Walker-Hebborn was personally on site every day to manage and assess the situation on a daily basis while the cinema was open.

Genesis took precautions by halving its capacity due to social distancing requirements, advising staff to self-isolate if they displayed any coronavirus symptoms, and requiring all customers and staff to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds. At any given time, only 3.5% of the cinema was occupied.

A day after London’s Covid-19-canceled BFI Flare festival dedicated to Lgbtiq+ cinema was due to begin, organizers have outlined a plan for a digital edition, dubbed BFI Flare at Home, to run through the British Film Institute’s BFI Player application. Festivalgoers will be invited to screen a number of BFI Flare’s planned shorts and features from March 20th through March 29th, with those who had booked tickets offered a special deal on a subscription to the BFI Player service, and general audiences given a two-week trial.

“BFI Flare is a very special and long standing festival with a loyal and dedicated following,” the BFI’s director of festivals Tricia Tuttle said in a statement. “When the decision was made to cancel the ‘live’ festival the team knew that they wanted to share some elements of BFI Flare digitally to celebrate the spirit of BFI Flare and...

Lgbtiq+ festival to launch BFI Flare at Home on streaming service BFI Player.

The BFI Flare: London Lgbtiq+ Film Festival is to make a raft of titles and live Q&As available online following its cancellation on Monday due to the coronavirus pandemic.

BFI Flare at Home will host several features and shorts that were due to screen at the festival on BFI Player from March 20-29.

New titles will include Levan Akin’s Cannes award-winner And Then We Danced; Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s chamber piece Don’t Look Down; and Daniel Karslake’s documentary For They Know Not What They Do.

Founder and managing director of the UK’s Peccadillo Pictures awarded last night.

Tom Abell, founder and managing director of the UK’s Peccadillo Pictures, was presented last night (April 11) with the inaugural Iris Fellowship, honouring those who have made a significant contribution to the Lgbt+ film industry.

The award is an extension of the Iris Prize, which awards £30,000 annually to the best short film shown at Cardiff’s Lgbt+ Iris Prize Film Festival, with entries selected by multiple international partner festivals, and £20,000 to the best British short. The prizes are supported annually by a £50,000 donation by the Michael Bishop Foundation.

Premiering at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo received a limited theatrical release in January of 2017 courtesy of Wolfe Releasing, which was meant to coincide with the film screening at the IFC Center in New York.

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It’s almost time to get your Q on, St. Louis!!

The 10h Annual QFest St. Louis, presented by Cinema St. Louis, runs March 29th – April 2nd at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103)

The St. Louis-based Lgbtq film festival, QFest will present an eclectic slate of films from filmmakers that represent a wide variety of voices in contemporary queer world cinema. The mission of the film festival is to use the art of contemporary gay cinema to illustrate the diversity of the Lgbtq community and to explore the complexities of living an alternative lifestyle.

All screenings at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103). Individual tickets are $13 for general admission, $10 for students and Cinema St. Louis members with valid and current photo IDs.

Advance tickets may be purchased at the Hi-Pointe Backlot box office or website. For more info, visit the Cinema St. Louis site Here

http://www.

The Night is Young: Ducastel & Martineau’s Procedural Queer Romance

For their seventh theatrical feature, Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (also known for its more thoughtful French language title, which translates to Theo and Hugo in the Same Boat), Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau offer a vibrant portrait of young love between two twentysomething men who meet in the midst of orgiastic pleasure at a bathhouse and spend the wee hours of the morning perambulating around Paris.

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In the global furor over President Donald Trump’s ban on Muslims entering the United States, Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian Oscar nominee “The Salesman” (Cohen Media) opened to strong numbers in New York and Los Angeles. This drama had the best initial limited subtitled release in several years, bettering several films that won the Foreign Language Oscar. (Farhadi, who won the Oscar for “A Separation” in 2012, has just announced that he will not attend the Oscars in light of Trump’s ban.)

“The Salesman” was the sole limited opener to make a major impact; other noteworthy titles are films trying to capitalize on this week’s nomination hauls. Platform titles like “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land” (both now over $100 million), “Moonlight,” and “Manchester By the Sea” are now playing in wider breaks. Among the rest, Weinstein’s “Lion” is performing best, with over $2 million in 575 theaters.

See More‘The Salesman...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

This Past Weekend:

As per my Thursday update, M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Split ended up winning the weekend but with way more than anyone, including myself, predicted, with more than $40 million for its opening weekend. That’s pretty impressive, and his first movie to open at that level since 2010’s The Last Airbender. Meanwhile, Vin Diesel’s sequel xXx: The Return of Xander Cage ended up making around where I predicted, taking second place with $20.1 million, not a great sign for the continuation of that franchise. Michael Keaton’s The Founder ended up right around where I predicted with $3.4 million, ending up just outside the Top 10. Hidden Figures, La La Land and Sing continued to do well with minimal drop-offs.

This...

The romantic two-hander has become a genre in and of itself thanks to such great films as “Before Sunrise” and “Weekend” (even the Obamas got their own version in this year’s “Southside With You”), but few ever dare to hit the erotic limits of Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel’s “Paris 05:59: Theo & Hugo.” Winner of the Audience Award at the Berlin Film Festival Teddy Awards earlier this year, the film is told in real time and evolves from a 20-minute orgy into a sweet duet between two Frenchmen who have fallen in love at first sight.

Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup

The official synopsis reads: “Theo and Hugo encounter each other in a sex club, where their overwhelming desire creates an unexpected intimacy. Leaving the club they drift down the deserted streets of nocturnal Paris, but reality suddenly confronts them in an unexpected way.

To mark the release of the incredibly compelling Lgbt love story Theo and Hugo, we managed to catch up with the talented French filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, who wrote and directed this wonderful little film together – and here’s what they had to say. You have worked on a few films together now, […]

The post Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau on Theo and Hugo appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Chicago – The recently completed 52nd Chicago International Film Festival offered a world perspective on cinema, and honors the films that will influence the arts culture for years to come. Their Awards Night was October 21st, 2016, and was hosted by Richard Roeper, film critic of the Chicago Sun Times. The recipient of the top prize of the fest, the Gold Hugo, was “Sieranevada” (Romania), directed by Cristi Puiu.

The 52nd Chicago International Film Festival Awards Night was Oct. 21, 2016

Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The awards event took place at the AMC River East Theatre. Presenters included Programming Director Mimi Plauché, programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher, plus various jury members – which included Geraldine Chapman (actress and daughter of Charlie Chaplin), who presided over the International Feature Film Competition Jury. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com sat on the Animation Shorts jury. The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named...

Though beginning with a lengthy, explicit sex scene, filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau latest venture Theo and Hugo is an independent diamond amongst cheap summer imitations that presents us with so much more than just sex. It’s real, it’s raw and this is a Lgbt film that should certainly not be missed. Our two eponymous […]

The post Theo & Hugo Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Unfolding in real time, the aftermath of an encounter in a gay sex club is rich with feeling and an immersive sense of the milieu

The latest drama from French collaborators Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (The Adventures of Felix) is an intensely flavoured slice of life, salty-sweet, rich with feeling.

It offers 97 compact minutes that unfold in real time, starting from the moments when the title characters (Geoffrey Couët and François Nambot, respectively) meet in a gay sex club and get it on in explicit, unfaked detail. But when it turns out one of them is HIV positive, that sweaty bout of unprotected sex changes everything, prompting a trip to the hospital and a great deal of soul searching as they traverse the city, getting to know each other.

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Don’t They Know?: Dolan Delivers a Dud with Familial Drama

Though no stranger to working with French stars, Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan makes his first film in France with the anticipated It’s Only the End of the World, an adaptation of a stage play by Jean-Luc Lagarce (material previously made into a television feature in 2010 by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau).

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The International Film Festival in Guadalajara (FICG31) celebrated its 31th anniversary this year and moved to the center of town, a move toward regaining its early luster within the galaxy of younger festivals now competing for resources in México. With its myriad of activities beyond the mere programming of films, its mentoring other festivals such as Puerto Vallarta and Oaxaca, I would give it two thumbs up.

On Friday, March 11, it announced its awards and officially announced next year’s Guest of Honor, Germany, closing with the German film, Doris Dörrie’s “Fukushima Mon Amour” (Isa: The Match Factory). This film is a deeply moving homage to the spirit of humanity, recovery and love as a German clown, played by Rosalie Thomass and her clown partners, the wonderful Moshe Cohen of San Francisco and Nami Kamata, visit the people remaining at the devastated town of Fukushima and Rosalie bonds with the last geisha of Fukushima played by the beautiful Aya Irizuki. It premiered at the Panorama of the Berlinale where Doris won the C.I.C.A.E. Award and the Heiner Carow Prize.

Official Competition Winners FICG31

Mezcal Award for Best Mexican Film to “Maquinaria Panamericana”/ “Panamerican Machinery”

Mezcal jury

The jury consists of 30 students from related fields from universities or major schools of Mexico, Latin American, Europe and Canada. Serving as a sort of tutor, Jose Ramon Mikelajauregui, Director of Dis was responsible for the academic program held at FICG31.

The Mezcal Award consisting of 500,000 Mexican pesos went to the director, Joaquín del Paso for “Maquinaria Panamericana”/ “Panamerican Machinery”, a portrait of an inefficient factory on the edge of Mexico City where the workers lock themselves in when the owner is found dead in the back of the warehouse and they discover he has been bankrolling the wages out of his own pocket for years.

A coproduction of Mantarraya Producciones, it also won the Fipresci Prize at its premiere in the Forum of the Berlinale. International sales agent (Isa) is the new Paris-based sales and co-production company Luxbox whose

co-ceo Fiorella Moretti was formerly head of sales at Ndm, the Mexico City-based sales company she set up with director Carlos Reygadas and producer Jaime Romandia of Mantarraya Productions in 2012 to sell “Post Tenebras Lux”.

Co-ceo Hédi Zardi previously worked in sales for Fortissimo and went on to Unifrance, the French cinema promotions agency and then to the PR and events company Le Public Systeme, where he was in charge of industry initiatives at Marrakesh and Deauville festivals.

The pair got to know one another through Gabriel Ripstein’s “600 Miles”, winner of the best first feature last year at the Berlinale, which Zardi associate produced and Moretti sold.

Special Mention went to “Margarita” directed by Bruno Santamaría Razo

Infinitum Aaward Grante dby the Public, consisting of 150,000 pesos, went to " El Charro de Toluquilla" (Isa: Imcine) by José Villalobos Romero, a doc about mariachi singer Jaime Garcia Dominguez who became fascinated by the recklessness and ladies´ man lifestyle of the classic Mexican movie characters with one difference: he´s got HIV. Jaime faces an inner maturing process as he decides between keeping this lifestyle or becoming a family man. It also won the award for Best Iberoamerican Documentary of 150,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars to the director.

Best Latin American Fiction Film consisting of 250,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars went to the production company of Felipe Guerrero’s film “ Oscuro animal”, about three women forced to flee their homes in a war torn region in Colombia. The film also won Best Actress Award (s) for Marleyda Soto, Luisa Galiano and Jocelyn Vides Meneses and Best Photography Award to Fernando Lockett.

A coproduction of Argentina, Greece, Netherlands, Germany and Colombia, it is being sold internationally by FiGa. It previously played in the Rotterdam Film Festival’s Tiger Competition and Ficci Cartagena 2016’s Official Dramatic Competition. At the Berlinale’s Efm 2016 it was part of the World Cinema Fund’s First Look section. Financing for the film came from Colombia’s Proimágenes, Argentina’s Incaa, Netherlands’ Hubert Bals Fund, Fundación Typa, and Germany’s Nrw and World Cinema Fund.

It also won the award for Award for Best Iberoamerican Director consisting off 150,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars, because “almost wordlessly it portrays a complex and painful situation in Colombia which is all too common in Latin America.”

Special Feature Film Jury Award Iberoamerican Fiction of 125,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars, went to the production company of “The 4th Company”/ ”La 4a Compañía” by Amir Galván Cervera and Mitzi Vanessa Arreola, based upon a true story about an underdog prison (American-style) football team that, against all odds, wins against the police force team. The jury stated that it “considers it a cinematic achievement about a shameful moment in the history of Mexico to be remembered and not to be repeated”. Adrian Thief also won for Best Actor, and he is that! There is no Isa of record, so those ISAs reading this should check it out on Cinando! It’s a seller!

Award for Best Latin American Film of 125,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars went to the superb debuting director from Puerto Rico, Angel Manuel Soto for“La Granja”/ “The Farm”. Also the first film produced independently by Tom Davia’s Cinemaven (but check out his credits!), this film is a full-circle “Crash”-style story that rivals “Gemorrah” in its look at the barrio called “The Farm” or “La Granja” in which the lives of a midwife, a young boxer, a janitor, a mute kid and a young couple collide in a story about the desperate pursuit of happiness on the mean streets of La Granja. Shot on a budget of $250,000, this film took four years to complete as the Puerto Rican government film establishment sought to block its production and release – and you can see why. It previously played in Fantastic Fest.

This is another discovery film with no Isa, and I am sure the agents have already locked their eyes upon writer-director Angel Manuel Soto. He lives in Los Angeles. “Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Son of a car salesman and a flight attendant. Studied architecture and advertising. Always loved films. Now he makes them. He is a cinephile. He travels all over the world doing it, including Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, France, USA, and Puerto Rico. He is not planning on stopping.”

Best Screenplay Award went to Marina Seresesky for “La Puerta Abierta”/ “Open Door” (pictured above). Marina also directed this first film. She has made two shorts previously. After Ficg it will play at Sofia Iff 2016 in International Competition, San Diego Latino 2016 and Chicago Latino 2016 Film Festivals.

Movies Recommended for Selection for the Golden Globes Awards 2017 are “The 4th Company” and “Ciudades Desiertas” / “Deserted Cities” by Roberto Sneider.

Documentary Jury Special Award of 100,000 Mexican pesos or its equivalent in dollars to the director Jorge Caballero for“Patient”/ "Paciente" Isa Rise and Shine, a new company in Germany, picked up the film at its world premiere in Competition at Idfa.

Best Iberoamerican Short Film Award D of 75,000 pesos or its equivalent in dollars to the directors Miguel de Olaso and Bruno Zacharias for the 10 minute short “ Los Angeles 1991”.

Special Mention went to “Juan's Sundown”/ "El Ocaso de Juan" by Omar Deneb Vargas Juárez

Rigo Mora Award for Best Mexican Animated Short Film of 100,000 Mexican pesos went to the director Alejandro Rios for “ The Cats”/"Los Gatos."

Maguey Award for best Lgbt film went to "Theo et Hugo dans le meme bateau"/ "Paris 05:59" of France, directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau.

Special Mention went to “Neon Bull” of Brazil, directed by Gabriel Mascaro for its poetic and innovative illustrating of how traditional ideas of masculinity slowly have been made obsolete inviting us to question our own perspectives on gender bias.

After the Awards, Ficg gave a great closing night party. Lots of good people, new and old friends, great salsa band, danced til 3! Here’s me with my friend David Martinez of Raindance Film Festival. Coming from Guadalajara, living in London, this year he came home with Elliot Grove of Founder and Director of Raindance, and Aaron Wileman of Imaginative Exposure who gave a Master Class on Film Funds and Product Placement.

And of course I presented my own book in its abridged, Spanish language format, published by the University of Guadalajara Press, Cine Iberoamerican Industria y financiamiento por pais (Iberoamerican Cinema: Industry and Financing by Country). Read more about it here.

The Berlin International Film Festival continued to challenge expectations in its 66th edition, landing another auteur heavy competition line-up, albeit a slightly less sensational one than the landmark 2015 program. Although an attempt continues to be made to establish grand motifs between films in competition and the more experimental sidebars, topical issues seemed to be the name of the game across the board, particularly immigration. This culminated with this year’s Golden Bear winner, Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea, a documentary which was the clear early favorite and remained so up until the awards ceremony. Rosi has now won two major film festivals with his documentary work (previously taking home the top prize at Venice 2013 for Sacro Gra), and further solidifies an argument for the Cannes Film Festival to follow suit and allow documentary titles to play in the main competition. Berlin notably had two documentaries in the main competition this year,...

In 2004, it looked as if Team America: World Police had hammered the last nail in the coffin for cinema’s definitive sex scene. Then, last year, in Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman — also working with puppets — found new and interesting nuances in that most hackneyed of cinematic clichés. The opening sequence of writers-directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s latest film — where, in the red-lit basement of a Parisian sex club, two young men feel about, lock eyes and elope before walking the streets together — also breaks new ground in this regard. It’s a scene with a purpose to drop the audience into this world with apparently genuine onscreen sex, real-time shooting, and a brilliant surrealist flourish combining to make one of the most dazzling set pieces of this year’s Berlinale.

Paris 05:59 won’t return to such dizzying heights again in the scenes that follow, but the second and...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...

As if new films from the Coens and Jeff Nichols weren’t enough, the 2016 Berlin Film Festival has further expanded their line-up, adding some of our most-anticipated films of the year. Mia Hansen-Løve, following up her incredible, sadly overlooked drama Eden, will premiere the Isabelle Huppert-led Things to Come, while Thomas Vinterberg, Lav Diaz, André Téchiné, and many more will stop by with their new features. Check out the new additions below, followed by some previously announced films, notably John Michael McDonagh‘s War on Everyone.

Competition

Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)

Portugal

By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)

With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova

World premiere

Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)

Iran

By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)

With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol

International premiere

Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary

Italy / France

By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...

GeniusThe films included in the lineup for the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, taking place between February 11 - 21, are starting to be announced.Opening FILMHail, Caesar! (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA)COMPETITIONBoris without Béatrice (Denis Côté, Canada)Genius (Michael Grandage, UK/USA)Alone in Berlin (Vincent Perez, Germany/France/UK)Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols, USA)Zero Days (Alex Gibney, USA)Berlinale SPECIALThe Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Morgan Neville, USA)The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger (Colin MacCabe, Christopher Roth, bartek Dziadosz, Tilda Swinton, UK)Where to Invade Next (Michael Moore, USA)PANORAMAJá, Olga Hepnarová (Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Czech Republic/Poland/Slowak Republic/France)Junction 48 (Udi Aloni, Israel/Germany/USA)Les Premiers, les Derniers (Bouli Lanners, France/Belgium)Maggie's Plan (Rebecca Miller, USA)Nakom (Kelly Daniela Norris, Tw Pittman, Ghana/USA)Remainder (Omer Fast, United Kingdom/Germany)S one strane (Zrinko Ogresta,...

Other titles include Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan, starring Greta Gerwig, and David Farr’s The Ones Below, starring David Morrissey.Scroll down for full lists

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has announced the first titles in Panorama – its strand that comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles.

The initial features include three from the UK, with John Michael McDonagh returning to Berlin for the world premiere of War On Everyone.

The film, a satire centred on two corrupt cops in New Mexico, stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, Theo James and Tessa Thompson.

McDonagh was previously in Panorama in 2011 with The Guard and 2013 with Calvary.

Also from the UK is David Farr’s The Ones Below, which revolves around a couple expecting their first child who discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below. Receiving its European...

• Bill Stamets and Roger Ebert

The 46th Chicago International Film Festival will play this year at one central location, on the many screens of the AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois. A festivalgoers and filmmakers' lounge will be open during festival hours at the Lucky Strike on the second level. Tickets can be ordered online at Ciff's website, which also organizes the films by title, director and country. Tickets also at AMC; sold out films have Rush Lines. More capsules will be added here.

"127 Hours" (USA)A tour de force by James Franco and Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"). Many are familiar with the true story, and just as many probably thought it could never be filmed. Boyle succeeds. A climber named Aron Ralston went climbing by himself in remote canyons, and was trapped deep in a crevice when a falling rock pinned his arm. He had limited food and water, no...

Andres Escobar in Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist‘s The Two Escobars (top); Guy Marchand in Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel‘s Family Tree (middle); Elsa Daniel in Leopoldo Torre Nilsson‘s The House of the Angel (bottom) Below are a few highlights at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Friday, June 18: Following a screening of Pink Floyd: The Wall, The Dark Knight‘s and the upcoming Inception‘s filmmaker Christopher Nolan will talk with film critic Elvis Mitchell about the influence of Alan Parker‘s 1982 feature/music video on his work. John Kastner‘s Canadian documentary Life with Murder shows how the parents of a murdered young woman do what they can to protect their son, the accused murderer, while Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist‘s documentary The Two Escobars shows how sports, big money, and tribalism can be an explosive mix. The two Escobars in question...

Two highly-anticipated second feature films from U.S. underground filmmakers will be making their World Premieres all the way over at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will run for twelve days on June 16-27. The films are Rona Mark’s The Crab and Zach Clark’s Vacation!.

The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.

Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...

Gregg Araki's "Kaboom" was announced today as the winner of the inaugural Queer Palm, awarded to an Lgbt film at the Cannes Film Festival, at a ceremony held at Zanzibar, the oldest gay bar in Europe and popular with gay fest goers. Sponsored by Gallic filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau ("Cote d'Azur," "The Adventures of Felix"), the Queer Palm joins Berlin's Teddy and Venice's Queer Lion, similar Lgbt-themed awards at ...

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival is set to run June 17-27 in a brand new location. Oh, it’s still in L.A, but it’s moving across town, from Westwood — where it’s been held the past few years — all the way over to Downtown.

The main “hub” for the fest will be the new L.A. Live complex, but there will also be screenings at other locations, such as the Downtown Independent and Redcat theaters. The city is really trying to build downtown up into a major arts and culture hub, so the festival moving there fits in with that agenda. Film Independent, the organization that runs Laff, also runs the annual Independent Spirit Awards, an event that also moved downtown — from Santa Monica — this year.

On Bad Lit, I tend to like to put up festival lineups that include days and times of screenings. However, since I...

With three in the Director's Fortnight and one in the Main Comp for good measure, Films Distribution are making a significant contribution to Cannes this year – my money is on Katell Quillevere's Un Poison Violent (see pic above) but Wang Xiaoshuai, Jean-Stéphane Bron's doc on white collar crimes that hinder the working man and an immigrant tale gone wrong portrait from Olivier Masset-Depasse could make this a great year for the distributor. Something to look forward to in the near future: Yann Samuell's next effort. - With three in the Director's Fortnight and one in the Main Comp for good measure, Films Distribution are making a significant contribution to Cannes this year – my money is on Katell Quillevere's Un Poison Violent (see pic above) but Wang Xiaoshuai, Jean-Stéphane Bron's doc on white collar crimes that hinder the working man and an immigrant...

With three in the Director's Fortnight and one in the Main Comp for good measure, Films Distribution are making a significant contribution to Cannes this year – my money is on Katell Quillevere's Un Poison Violent (see pic above) but Wang Xiaoshuai, Jean-Stéphane Bron's doc on white collar crimes that hinder the working man and an immigrant tale gone wrong portrait from Olivier Masset-Depasse could make this a great year for the distributor. Something to look forward to in the near future: Yann Samuell's next effort. Chongqing Blues (Rizhao Chongqing) by Wang Xiaoshuai - Completed Cleveland Vs Wall Street by Jean-Stéphane Bron - Completed Illegal by Olivier Masset-depasse - Completed L'amour Fou by Pierre Thoretton - Completed With Love... From The Age Of Reason (L'ÂGE De Raison) by Yann Samuell - Completed A Cat In Paris (Une Vie De Chat) by Alain Gagnol - Production Family Tree (L'arbre Et La FORÊT...

There are plenty of films to be excited about at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, but sadly they’ll probably be overshadowed by one. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will make its world debut at the festival on June 24th, six days before the film’s release date. However, the screening is invitation-only. How do you get an invitation? I have no idea. Maybe if you sign a contract saying your shrieking won’t rise above a certain decibel level.

As for the other films that aren’t invitation-only, there’s also the Sundance hit The Kids Are Alright, the closing night film Despicable Me, the Duplass Brother’s Cyrus, Neil Marshall’s Centurion, the education documentary Waiting for Superman, and Golden Lion-winner Lebanon.

Hit the jump to check out the full line-up. The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival will from June 17 – 27.

Here’s the full line-up. For more details,...

Like the headline says, the complete lineup for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival has been announced and it's a fascinating, eclectic mix. How happy am I to see music doc Separado! in there? Pretty damn happy, as it's one of my absolute favorites of the year and has been resoundingly overlooked.  Read the complete announcement below!

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Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American...

Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema and providing the movie-loving public with access to critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the world.

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 40 countries. This year, the Festival received more than 4,700 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represent 28 World, North American, and U.S. premieres, which more...

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- Focus Features' The Kids Are All Right to Kick Off Festival   -

- World Premiere of Universal Pictures' 3-D CGI Feature Despicable Me Selected for Closing Night   -

- Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to have World Premiere -

- Galas include Animal Kingdom, Cyrus, Mahler on the Couch, Revolución,& Waiting for Superman   -

Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing...

One week in, Berlin correspondent Meredith Brody shows no signs of flagging in her quest to ingest the perfect mix of festival movies. I start the day at a screening of L’Arbre et La Foret, wittily (as it turns out) translated as Family Tree rather than The Tree and the Forest, by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau. I’ve seen a couple of their earlier films (brightly-hued musicals and comedies), and–truth be told—I’m just hungry to see a French film. (Part of the allure of a festival film orgy is the inevitable mix of nationalities, budgets, and genres that weave themselves through your day.) The story unfolds slowly, deliberately and talkily. Assorted family members, visiting the chateau-like home of their parents set in the forests that support ...

Half of the films screening as part of the Panorama section of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Berlin International Film Festival were announced this morning. Back with new works are Lothar Lambert, Peter Kern, directorial duo Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel, Isao Yukisada, E J-Yong and Sebastien Lifshitz. Young feature filmmakers are represented by Mat Whitecross, Anahi Berneri and Scud, while the documentaries of Lucy Walker, Tamara Trampe and Johann …...

  Berlin -- Brit director Mat Whitecross, who shook up the Berlin film festival with his last two documentaries, "The Shock Doctrine" (2009) and "Road to Guantanamo" (2006) is returning this year with "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," a biopic of British punk icon Ian Dury starring Andy Serkis.

"Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" is certain to be one of the highlights of this year's Panorama lineup, which was announced Friday.

Other returning veterans include French filmmakers Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel, whose new drama "Family Tree" will have its world premiere in Berlin; Hong Kong helmer Skud, coming to town with "Amphetamine" and Austrian director Peter Kern, whose "Initiation" looks at the relationship between an octogenarian and a 16-year-old boy.

Art and gay cinema have always had pride of place at the Panorama, and are well represented in the 2010 lineup. Panorama's non-fiction section, the Dokumente, includes "Waste Land," Lucy Walker's portrait of artist...

Photos: V. Francesco (Ducastel/Martineau), Luca Gallizio (Pansittivorakul, Keegan, Treut) Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (with festival programmers Cosimo Santoro and Luca Castelletti) were at the 2009 Torino Glbt Film Festival to present their feature film Nés en 68 /Born in 68, which spans twenty years in the lives of three students. Thusnka Pansittivorakul (above, with festival programmer Santoro) presented the documentary This Area Is Under Quarantine, about two young Thai men — one Buddhist, one Muslim — who discuss political, personal, and sexual issues. Tom Keegan introduced his documentary Out in India: A Family’s Journey, in which a gay couple from Los Angeles sets out to India to raise AIDS awareness. German filmmaker Monika Treut was given a special award at the 2009 Torino Glbt Film Festival, which also screened her latest effort, Ghosted, a cross-cultural tale (Germany-Taiwan) mixing romance, murder, and the supernatural.

PARIS -- Love was in the air as Chico Teixeira's Brazilian film "A casa de Alice" won the Golden Swann prize for best film at the 22nd Cabourg Romantic Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday night in the French seaside town.

A jury presided by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Denis named Patrick Bruel best actor for his role in Claude Miller's Holocaust drama "A Secret". Gallic actress Laetitia Casta took home the best actress award for her performance in Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's dramatic comedy "Nes en 68" (Born in '68).

Other members of the fest's jury included director-actresses Anne Le Ny and Maiwenn, actresses Claire Nebout, Lolita Chammah and Hafsia Herzi, actor Clement Sibony and writer Emmanuelle Cosso-Merad.

Emmanuel Mouret won the best director award for "Un baiser, s'il vous plait" (A kiss, please). "Welcome to the Sticks" star Anne Marivin was named most promising actress and Yannick Renier was given the most promising actor prize for his role in "Nes en 68".

Local High School students gave their young jury prize to Doris Dorrie's German title "Cherry Blossoms".

Cote d'Azur, a French farce directed by Olivier Duscatel and Jacques Martineau, will open the 23rd edition of Outfest, the gay and lesbian film festival, which runs July 7-18 at nine venues around Los Angeles. Boasting 232 narrative and documentary shorts and features from 28 countries, the fest will conclude with The Dying Gaul, written and directed by Craig Lucas and starring Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott and Patricia Clarkson. The opening- and closing-night galas will take place at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. As part of the opening-night ceremonies, director Gregg Araki, whose latest film Mysterious Skin is in release, will be honored with the ninth annual Outfest Achievement Award.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea, Sally Potter's romantic drama Yes and the latest from Canadian cult directors Bruce McDonald and Don McKellar are among the films selected for the Panorama sidebar section at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama organizers said Thursday. Joining McKellar's comedy Childstar and McDonald's comedy-thriller The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess on the Panorama slate are the French comedy Mariscos Beach, from Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau; Ira Sachs' music-tinged drama Forty Shades of Blue; Dallas, from Romanian helmer Robert-Adrian Pejo; Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu's Waiting for the Clouds; Finnish drama For the Living and the Dead, by Kari Paljakka; and Saratan, a Germany-Kyrgyzstan co-production from Ernest Abdyjaparov.

PARIS -- As it announced its debut slate Tuesday, Bac Films International -- the newly formed international sales arm of French distributor Bac Films -- also named Silvere Moreau as head of the company. Moreau, until recently head of sales at Bac Films, said in a statement that the new division will distribute about six international films a year at the start. Bahman Ghobadi's Turtles Can Fly, which bagged the top honor at the San Sebastian Film Festival last month, will be the first film to be distributed. Turtles already has been sold in more than 10 territories, including Britain, Canada, Benelux, Australia, Spain and Latin America, Moreau said. Other films on Bac International's debut slate include Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Coquillages et Crustaces (Shellfish and Crustaceans), Pierre Jolivet's La Caisse (The Crate) and La Planete Blanche (White Planet), a documentary directed by Stephane Milliere and Thierry Piantanida and produced by Gedeon Programmes -- which, like Bac Films, is part of French animation and production group Millimages.

Apparently, Europeans have far more time on their hands than Americans do, as evidenced by the seemingly endless spate of "road movies" that spring forth from that continent. The latest example, "Adventures of Felix", by the team of Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (also responsible for the musical "Jeanne and the Perfect Guy"), follows the adventures of the title character as he hitchhikes his way from northern France to Marseilles to track down the father he never knew. Although not without its picaresque moments, the film is sufficiently aimless to make moviegoers wish he had taken the train.

As the film begins, Felix (Sami Bouajila), who is HIV-positive, leaves his schoolteacher boyfriend, packs his medication and his kite and embarks on his journey, which is depicted in a series of episodic vignettes. Along the way, he comes into contact with various members of an imaginary "family," each of whom is introduced via that most alarming of film conventions, the title card. Thus, he meets a "little brother," a 17-year-old who has more than a familial interest in him; a "grandmother," who shares her home and her philosophies of life; a "cousin," with whom Felix indulges in a little road sex; etc.

Suffusing these lighthearted adventures is a pervasive darkness, thanks to such plot elements as Felix witnessing a brutal, racially motivated murder that he fails to report to the authorities, as well as the underlying sadness of many of the people with whom he comes into contact. But while Felix -- who times taking his numerous medications to coincide with the soap operas to which he is addicted -- might have reason to complain, he remains cheerfully optimistic throughout.

The film never gathers any narrative steam, the individual episodes have neither the comedic nor dramatic punch necessary to hold our interest, and the characterizations are little more than paper-thin. While the filmmakers' intention to deal with highly relevant social issues in a basically lighthearted way is admirable, they don't resist the urge to lapse into sentimentality, with the result that "Adventures" is far mushier than it needs to be. That French countryside is lovelier than ever, though.

ADVENTURES OF FELIX

Winstar Cinema

Director-screenwriters: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

Producers: Philippe Martin, Les Films Pelleas

Director of photography: Matthieu Poirot-Delpech

Editor: Sabine Mamou

Production designer: Louis Soubrier

Color/stereo

Cast:

Felix: Sami Bouajila

Mathilde: Patachou

Isabelle: Ariane Ascaride

Daniel: Pierre-Loup Rajot

Jules: Charly Sergue

Fisherman: Maurice Benichou

Running time -- 95 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Apparently, Europeans have far more time on their hands than Americans do, as evidenced by the seemingly endless spate of "road movies" that spring forth from that continent. The latest example, "Adventures of Felix", by the team of Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (also responsible for the musical "Jeanne and the Perfect Guy"), follows the adventures of the title character as he hitchhikes his way from northern France to Marseilles to track down the father he never knew. Although not without its picaresque moments, the film is sufficiently aimless to make moviegoers wish he had taken the train.

As the film begins, Felix (Sami Bouajila), who is HIV-positive, leaves his schoolteacher boyfriend, packs his medication and his kite and embarks on his journey, which is depicted in a series of episodic vignettes. Along the way, he comes into contact with various members of an imaginary "family," each of whom is introduced via that most alarming of film conventions, the title card. Thus, he meets a "little brother," a 17-year-old who has more than a familial interest in him; a "grandmother," who shares her home and her philosophies of life; a "cousin," with whom Felix indulges in a little road sex; etc.

Suffusing these lighthearted adventures is a pervasive darkness, thanks to such plot elements as Felix witnessing a brutal, racially motivated murder that he fails to report to the authorities, as well as the underlying sadness of many of the people with whom he comes into contact. But while Felix -- who times taking his numerous medications to coincide with the soap operas to which he is addicted -- might have reason to complain, he remains cheerfully optimistic throughout.

The film never gathers any narrative steam, the individual episodes have neither the comedic nor dramatic punch necessary to hold our interest, and the characterizations are little more than paper-thin. While the filmmakers' intention to deal with highly relevant social issues in a basically lighthearted way is admirable, they don't resist the urge to lapse into sentimentality, with the result that "Adventures" is far mushier than it needs to be. That French countryside is lovelier than ever, though.

ADVENTURES OF FELIX

Winstar Cinema

Director-screenwriters: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

Producers: Philippe Martin, Les Films Pelleas

Director of photography: Matthieu Poirot-Delpech

Editor: Sabine Mamou

Production designer: Louis Soubrier

Color/stereo

Cast:

Felix: Sami Bouajila

Mathilde: Patachou

Isabelle: Ariane Ascaride

Daniel: Pierre-Loup Rajot

Jules: Charly Sergue

Fisherman: Maurice Benichou

Running time -- 95 minutes

No MPAA rating...