Jairus McLeary in the Soho House screening room on The Work: "It's very masculine. That's why Amy Foote, our editor, and Alice Henty, the producer, they were the first women to see this footage." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Rebecca Miller's Arthur Miller: Writer; Doug Nichol's California Typewriter; Andrew Rossi on Okwui Okpokwasili's Bronx Gothic; Elvira Lind's Bobbi Jene; Michael Almereyda's Escapes on Hampton Fancher; Brett Morgen's Jane on Jane Goodall; Ceyda Torun's KEDi; Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum's Letters From Baghdad with Tilda Swinton voicing Getrude Bell; Griffin Dunne's Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold; Agnès Varda and Jr's Faces Places; Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane's School Life; Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh; Lara Stolman's Swim Team; Kirk Simon's The Pulitzer At 100, and Josh Koury and Myles Kane's Voyeur on Gay Talese...
Rebecca Miller's Arthur Miller: Writer; Doug Nichol's California Typewriter; Andrew Rossi on Okwui Okpokwasili's Bronx Gothic; Elvira Lind's Bobbi Jene; Michael Almereyda's Escapes on Hampton Fancher; Brett Morgen's Jane on Jane Goodall; Ceyda Torun's KEDi; Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum's Letters From Baghdad with Tilda Swinton voicing Getrude Bell; Griffin Dunne's Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold; Agnès Varda and Jr's Faces Places; Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane's School Life; Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh; Lara Stolman's Swim Team; Kirk Simon's The Pulitzer At 100, and Josh Koury and Myles Kane's Voyeur on Gay Talese...
- 11/17/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“Blazing Saddles” has long been considered an all-time-great comedy, as have several other movies directed by Mel Brooks. In a new BBC Radio 4 interview, the revered actor and filmmaker was asked whether he thought he’d be able to make such films as “Young Frankenstein” and “The Producers” today. His response touched on a hot topic in the comedy world of late: political correctness.
Read More:Mel Brooks Jokes With President Obama as He Receives Medal of Arts at White House
“Maybe ‘Young Frankenstein,’ but never ‘Blazing Saddles,’” said Brooks. “Because we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy. It’s okay not to hurt feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it’s not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behavior.
Read More:Mel Brooks Jokes With President Obama as He Receives Medal of Arts at White House
“Maybe ‘Young Frankenstein,’ but never ‘Blazing Saddles,’” said Brooks. “Because we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy. It’s okay not to hurt feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it’s not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behavior.
- 9/23/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Jessica Oreck with Sloan Foundation's Doron Weber Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Tribeca Film Institute and Alfred P Sloan Foundation Works-In-Progress Reading had Paul Schneider directing readings by Victor Slezak, Dascha Polanco, Tom Lipinski, Britne Olford and Marshall Factora of Emily Lobsenz's Invisible Islands; Eric Talbach, Olford and Lipinski of Thor Klein's Adventures of a Mathematician, and a clip from Jessica Oreck's One Man Dies A Million Times.
Jessica, the director of The Vanquishing Of The Witch Baba Yaga and cameraperson for David Byrne's Contemporary Color, directed by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, spoke with me at the cocktail reception. Amy Hobby, producer of Rachel Israel's Keep the Change, Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh, and Treva Wurmfeld's Sam Shepard doc, Shepard & Dark, is the Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Institute.
Jessica Oreck's One Man Dies A Million Times at NeueHouse Photo: Anne-Katrin...
The Tribeca Film Institute and Alfred P Sloan Foundation Works-In-Progress Reading had Paul Schneider directing readings by Victor Slezak, Dascha Polanco, Tom Lipinski, Britne Olford and Marshall Factora of Emily Lobsenz's Invisible Islands; Eric Talbach, Olford and Lipinski of Thor Klein's Adventures of a Mathematician, and a clip from Jessica Oreck's One Man Dies A Million Times.
Jessica, the director of The Vanquishing Of The Witch Baba Yaga and cameraperson for David Byrne's Contemporary Color, directed by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, spoke with me at the cocktail reception. Amy Hobby, producer of Rachel Israel's Keep the Change, Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh, and Treva Wurmfeld's Sam Shepard doc, Shepard & Dark, is the Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Institute.
Jessica Oreck's One Man Dies A Million Times at NeueHouse Photo: Anne-Katrin...
- 4/24/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Last Laugh Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B Director: Ferne Pearlstein Written by: Ferne Pearlstein, Robert Edwards, inspired by Kent Kirshenbaum’s “The Last Laugh: Humor and the Holocaust.” Cast: Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Renee Firestone, Sarah Silverman, Rob Reiner, Larry Charles, Abraham Foxman Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 3/13/17 Opens: April 12, 2017 […]
The post The Last Laugh Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Last Laugh Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/14/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Ferne Pearlstein’s “The Last Laugh” is a rather safe and genteel documentary about the limits of humor (especially as they pertain to the Holocaust), but it opens with a subtly provocative sequence of events that’s hard to shake. Rob Reiner, but one of the film’s many different talking heads, tells a very benign joke about two Jews who tried to kill Hitler. Gilbert Gottfried pops up to get in on the action. Then we cut to Mel Brooks — perhaps the single most significant figure in permitting modern Jews to make light of their darkness — and he performs some light Hitler shtick, culminating in a shoutout to “The guy who made me money.”
Finally, and seamlessly, the film cuts to survivor and educator Renee Firestone, introducing the nonagenarian just as she launches into a bit about Dr. Josef Mengele inspecting some of the young women on whom he was hoping to experiment.
Finally, and seamlessly, the film cuts to survivor and educator Renee Firestone, introducing the nonagenarian just as she launches into a bit about Dr. Josef Mengele inspecting some of the young women on whom he was hoping to experiment.
- 3/3/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Originally published during the Tribeca Film Festival, where the doc on humor and the Holocaust had its premiere, here is Paula Bernstein’s interview with director Ferne Pearlstein about The Last Laugh. The film is opening in theaters today and plays in New York at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. There has been no shortage of documentaries about the Holocaust but, until now, none of them have featured Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock and Louis C.K. In Ferne Pearlstein’s The Last Laugh, which premieres today at the Tribeca Film Festival, she delves into the history of humor about the Holocaust, exploring the ethical questions […]...
- 3/3/2017
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
George Carlin had a famously controversial stand-up routine, in which he attempted to prove rape can be funny. Taken at face value, and especially if you aren’t familiar with Carlin, this sounds like it could be a shock-value gag. In delivery, it is not, and by the end of the act – which is a thinly veiled rant against political correctness — his point resonates.
But are some topics truly off limits? This is the compelling question of Ferne Pearlstein’s The Last Laugh, a documentary that questions whether the Holocaust is something that can ever be a source of humor.
Pearlstein interviews many noteworthy figures from the comedy world — Mel Brooks, Gilbert Gottfried, Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Rob Reiner and Carl Reiner, to name but a few – and what’s surprising is the disparity in their opinions on the subject. For example, one might be surprised to hear Brooks opine...
But are some topics truly off limits? This is the compelling question of Ferne Pearlstein’s The Last Laugh, a documentary that questions whether the Holocaust is something that can ever be a source of humor.
Pearlstein interviews many noteworthy figures from the comedy world — Mel Brooks, Gilbert Gottfried, Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Rob Reiner and Carl Reiner, to name but a few – and what’s surprising is the disparity in their opinions on the subject. For example, one might be surprised to hear Brooks opine...
- 3/3/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
MaryAnn’s quick take… Analyzing jokes can ruin humor, but not here. This is a provocative, hilarious, and important discussion of comedy taboos, who gets to transgress them, and why. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
If there’s one thing we should never joke about, it’s the Holocaust, surely? Mel Brooks — the guy who wrote “Springtime for Hitler” — would beg to differ, of course. As would Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Harry Shearer, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Larry Charles, and a whole bunch of other professionally very funny people. Documentarian Ferne Pearlstein gets them all on camera in The Last Laugh to talk about taboos in comedy mostly as concerns this particular difficult topic, though it clearly has a much wider application.
Analyzing comedy can tend to ruin the humor, but that...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
If there’s one thing we should never joke about, it’s the Holocaust, surely? Mel Brooks — the guy who wrote “Springtime for Hitler” — would beg to differ, of course. As would Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Harry Shearer, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Larry Charles, and a whole bunch of other professionally very funny people. Documentarian Ferne Pearlstein gets them all on camera in The Last Laugh to talk about taboos in comedy mostly as concerns this particular difficult topic, though it clearly has a much wider application.
Analyzing comedy can tend to ruin the humor, but that...
- 3/3/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The Holocaust might seem like a topic that’s completely off-limits for comedy, but a new documentary strives to challenge that assumption. “The Last Laugh” examines whether it’s acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other taboo topics in a society that prizes free speech. Shot on 16mm, it weaves together a portrait of Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone alongside interviews with comedians like Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and Gilbert Gottfried. It also features archival material ranging from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to Jerry Lewis’ never-released film Holocaust comedy “The Day the Clown Cried,” as well as rare footage of cabarets inside the concentration camps themselves. Watch an exclusive trailer from the film below and check out the poster as well.
Read More: Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ferne Pearlstein – ‘The Last Laugh’
The film is directed by Ferne Pearlstein. She previously directed “Sumo East and West,...
Read More: Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ferne Pearlstein – ‘The Last Laugh’
The film is directed by Ferne Pearlstein. She previously directed “Sumo East and West,...
- 1/13/2017
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
The 5th Annual Key West Film Festival has announced its official 2016 lineup, including the opening night film, “20th Century Women,” directed by Mike Mills and starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig and Billy Crudup. As part of the festival’s signature Critics Focus program, MTV’s Chief Film Critic Amy Nicholson will present and lead a conversation around the film, alongside David Fear, Senior Film/TV Editor of Rolling Stone.
Director of Programming Michael Tuckman said of Nicholson’s pick, “I could not be more thrilled with Amy Nicholson’s choice of ’20th Century Women’ to kick off our 5th Anniversary edition of festival. Annette Bening’s performance is Oscar-deserving and the rich depth of the balance of the leading cast is Altman-esque in its quality. Amy’s discussion after the film will bring a cunning critic’s eye to this fabulous film for audiences.”
Read More: ’20th Century...
Director of Programming Michael Tuckman said of Nicholson’s pick, “I could not be more thrilled with Amy Nicholson’s choice of ’20th Century Women’ to kick off our 5th Anniversary edition of festival. Annette Bening’s performance is Oscar-deserving and the rich depth of the balance of the leading cast is Altman-esque in its quality. Amy’s discussion after the film will bring a cunning critic’s eye to this fabulous film for audiences.”
Read More: ’20th Century...
- 10/19/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Guests attending this year to include Bernardo Bertolucci, Don DeLillo, Ralph Fiennes.Scroll down for full line-up
The Rome Film Festival (Oct 13-23) has revealed its line-up for 2016.
The festival will present 44 films and documentaries in its official programme, selected from 26 countries.
Rome will open with Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which premiered in Toronto.
Further titles in the Official Selection include Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant [pictured], starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick, Nate Parker’s The Birth Of A Nation, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, and Oliver Stone’s Snowden.
The festival’s previously announced Alice In The City line-up will include John Carney’s Sing Street and Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic.
The Everybody’s Talking About It strand, which highlights films that has generated exceptional buzz following their international debuts, will showcase Yeon Sang-ho’s Train To Busan, Michael Grandage’s Genius, David Mackenzie’s Hell Or High Water, and [link=nm...
The Rome Film Festival (Oct 13-23) has revealed its line-up for 2016.
The festival will present 44 films and documentaries in its official programme, selected from 26 countries.
Rome will open with Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which premiered in Toronto.
Further titles in the Official Selection include Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant [pictured], starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick, Nate Parker’s The Birth Of A Nation, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, and Oliver Stone’s Snowden.
The festival’s previously announced Alice In The City line-up will include John Carney’s Sing Street and Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic.
The Everybody’s Talking About It strand, which highlights films that has generated exceptional buzz following their international debuts, will showcase Yeon Sang-ho’s Train To Busan, Michael Grandage’s Genius, David Mackenzie’s Hell Or High Water, and [link=nm...
- 10/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
Documentary asks survivors as well as comedians including Mel Brooks and Sarah Silverman to consider whether it’s right to make jokes about death camps
Did you hear the one about the murder of 6 million Jews? In the documentary The Last Laugh, writer and director Ferne Pearlstein canvasses comedians ranging from Mel Brooks to Sarah Silverman, Holocaust survivors and anti-racism activists to ask whether the Nazi death camps are an appropriate subject for humour.
Naturally, this gives rise to an incredible wealth of comic material ranging from Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi (which Roz Weinman, who was in charge of standards and practices for NBC at the time, regrets approving as she believes the way it passed into pop culture ended up trivialising the Holocaust) to Joan Rivers’s 2013 shock-and-awe one-liner about Heidi Klum: “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into ovens.
Did you hear the one about the murder of 6 million Jews? In the documentary The Last Laugh, writer and director Ferne Pearlstein canvasses comedians ranging from Mel Brooks to Sarah Silverman, Holocaust survivors and anti-racism activists to ask whether the Nazi death camps are an appropriate subject for humour.
Naturally, this gives rise to an incredible wealth of comic material ranging from Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi (which Roz Weinman, who was in charge of standards and practices for NBC at the time, regrets approving as she believes the way it passed into pop culture ended up trivialising the Holocaust) to Joan Rivers’s 2013 shock-and-awe one-liner about Heidi Klum: “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into ovens.
- 4/24/2016
- by Alex Needham
- The Guardian - Film News
Documentary asks survivors as well as comedians including Mel Brooks and Sarah Silverman to consider whether it’s right to make jokes about death camps
Did you hear the one about the murder of 6 million Jews? In the documentary The Last Laugh, writer and director Ferne Pearlstein canvasses comedians ranging from Mel Brooks to Sarah Silverman, Holocaust survivors and anti-racism activists to ask whether the Nazi death camps are an appropriate subject for humour.
Naturally, this gives rise to an incredible wealth of comic material ranging from Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi (which Roz Weinman, who was in charge of standards and practices for NBC at the time, regrets approving as she believes the way it passed into pop culture ended up trivialising the Holocaust) to Joan Rivers’s 2013 shock-and-awe one-liner about Heidi Klum: “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into ovens.
Did you hear the one about the murder of 6 million Jews? In the documentary The Last Laugh, writer and director Ferne Pearlstein canvasses comedians ranging from Mel Brooks to Sarah Silverman, Holocaust survivors and anti-racism activists to ask whether the Nazi death camps are an appropriate subject for humour.
Naturally, this gives rise to an incredible wealth of comic material ranging from Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi (which Roz Weinman, who was in charge of standards and practices for NBC at the time, regrets approving as she believes the way it passed into pop culture ended up trivialising the Holocaust) to Joan Rivers’s 2013 shock-and-awe one-liner about Heidi Klum: “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into ovens.
- 4/24/2016
- by Alex Needham
- The Guardian - Film News
Benedikt Erlingsson, Gréta Olafsdóttir and Margrét Jónasdóttir in the arms of Frédéric Boyer Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer met me for a conversation at Benedikt Erlingsson's The Show Of Shows at MoMA PS1's Vw Dome, where Michelangelo Frammartino's Alberi, Tsai Ming-liang's Journey To The West and Celia Rowlson-Hall's Ma premiered. Parents came to mind as a theme with Halkawt Mustafa's El Clásico, Lorene Scafaria's The Meddler, Robert Schwartzman's Dreamland, Jason Bateman's The Family Fang, Kadri Kõusaar's Mother, Bart Freundlich's Wolves and Christian Tafdrup's Parents (Forældre). Andrew Rossi's The First Monday In May, John Dower's My Scientology Movie, Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai's Reset, Benjamin Ree's Magnus, Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh and Dylan Harvey and Ian Roderick Gray's The Banksy Job are some of the original documentaries of note.
Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer met me for a conversation at Benedikt Erlingsson's The Show Of Shows at MoMA PS1's Vw Dome, where Michelangelo Frammartino's Alberi, Tsai Ming-liang's Journey To The West and Celia Rowlson-Hall's Ma premiered. Parents came to mind as a theme with Halkawt Mustafa's El Clásico, Lorene Scafaria's The Meddler, Robert Schwartzman's Dreamland, Jason Bateman's The Family Fang, Kadri Kõusaar's Mother, Bart Freundlich's Wolves and Christian Tafdrup's Parents (Forældre). Andrew Rossi's The First Monday In May, John Dower's My Scientology Movie, Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai's Reset, Benjamin Ree's Magnus, Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh and Dylan Harvey and Ian Roderick Gray's The Banksy Job are some of the original documentaries of note.
- 4/20/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There’s nothing funny about the Holocaust, which is probably why some comedians think it’s about time to start making jokes about it. The Last Laugh, a documentary by director and cinematographer Ferne Pearlstein, reveals, dissects, and discusses the subject of taboo humor in general and the Holocaust in particular. Pearlstein gathers together interviews with numerous comedians, writers, producers, and activists, including several Holocaust survivors, to present their perspective on what can be joked about and what cannot and where, if anywhere, comedy must draw the line.
Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone represents the major argument for laughing in the face of overwhelming evil, as she recalls her experience in the camps and afterwards. She discusses the use of humor within the camps, up to and including cabaret productions by performers that tacitly made fun of the Nazis and the SS guards. While Firestone is the most personally profiled survivor,...
Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone represents the major argument for laughing in the face of overwhelming evil, as she recalls her experience in the camps and afterwards. She discusses the use of humor within the camps, up to and including cabaret productions by performers that tacitly made fun of the Nazis and the SS guards. While Firestone is the most personally profiled survivor,...
- 4/19/2016
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
David Byrne conceives Contemporary Color by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Of Horses And Men director Benedikt Erlingsson's latest The Show Of Shows (Storyville); Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Robert Clary, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Jeffrey Ross, Alan Zweibel, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Larry Charles, David Steinberg, Susie Essman, Lisa Lampanelli and Hanala Sagal (co-writer of Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon); Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Maryann Plunkett, Kathryn Hahn and Marin Ireland in Jason Bateman's The Family Fang, screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire; Contemporary Color, with camerawork by Jessica Oreck, Sean Price Williams, Michael Palmieri, Robert Greene, Wyatt Gerfield, Amanda Rose Wilder, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne...
Of Horses And Men director Benedikt Erlingsson's latest The Show Of Shows (Storyville); Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Robert Clary, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Jeffrey Ross, Alan Zweibel, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Larry Charles, David Steinberg, Susie Essman, Lisa Lampanelli and Hanala Sagal (co-writer of Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon); Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Maryann Plunkett, Kathryn Hahn and Marin Ireland in Jason Bateman's The Family Fang, screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire; Contemporary Color, with camerawork by Jessica Oreck, Sean Price Williams, Michael Palmieri, Robert Greene, Wyatt Gerfield, Amanda Rose Wilder, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne...
- 4/11/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Hot Docs has announced 14 documentary features that will screen in this year¹s Special Presentations program, joining 15 selections previously announced. Special Presentations features a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the recent international festival circuit and works by master filmmakers or featuring some star subjects.
Notable subjects featured as part of the Special Presentations program include activist Bobby Sands ("Bobby Sands: 66 Days"), musicians David Byrne, Nelly Furtado and St. Vincent ("Contemporary Color"), filmmaker Brian de Palma ("De Palma"), former NFL defensive back Steve Gleason ("Gleason"), Canadian rapper Shad and hip-hop stars Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash ("Hip-Hop Evolution"), Afghan rapper and activist Sonita Alizadeh ("Sonita"), artist Frida Kahlo ( "The Legacy Of Frida Kahlo"), and comedians Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and Carl Reiner ("The Last Laugh").
Award winners from the recent international festival circuit include "Life, Animated" (Directing Award: U.S. Documentary, Sundance 2016), "Trapped" (U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking, Sundance 2016), and "Sonita" (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Sundance 2016).
Special Presentations will screen as part of the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, running April 28 to May 8. Ticket packages and passes as well as single tickets are now on sale online and at the CraveTV Box Office at Hot Docs House, located at 610 Markham Street.
Special Presentation titles are below:
"The Age of Consequences"
D: Jared P. Scott | USA | 2016 | 78 min | World Premiere
Sounding an alarm over the critical and disturbing effects of societal inaction, this revealing film highlights the irreversible impacts of climate change‹resource scarcity, mass migration and conflict‹through the lens of global stability and national security.
"American Movie"
D: Chris Smith | USA | 1999 | 107 min | Cinema Eye Legacy Screening
In this beloved cult classic, an aspiring filmmaker struggles to complete a hilariously lo-fi horror film, only to be derailed by personal demons and the staggering ineptitude of his production team.
"Bobby Sands: 66 Days"
D: Brendan Byrne | Ireland, UK | 2016 | 105 min | World Premiere
This riveting account of a turning point in the Troubles in Northern Ireland is taken straight from the diary of Bobby Sands, who led protests of imprisoned Irish Republicans and a hunger strike with momentous consequences.
"Contemporary Color"
D: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross | USA | 2016 | 96 min | International Premiere
An extraordinary lineup of top music stars including event mastermind David Byrne of The Talking Heads, Nelly Furtado, St. Vincent and more perform live with 10 ³colour guard² teams‹perfectly synchronized students in pep-rally choreography‹in this one-of-a-kind, kaleidoscopic event.
"De Palma"
D: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow | USA | 2015 | 107 min | Canadian Premiere
From Carrie to Mission: Impossible to Scarface and beyond, Brian de Palma has created some of cinema¹s most iconic work. In this career-spanning, funny and candid conversation, he reveals his unique perspective on life, work and the past 50 years in film.
"Gleason"
D: Clay Tweel | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere
At age 34, former NFL defensive back and New Orleans hero Steve Gleason was diagnosed with Als. With limited time left to live, he purposefully records his spirited and inspiring life‹a heartfelt time capsule for his newborn son.
"Hip-Hop Evolution"
D: Darby Wheeler | Co-d: Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn | Canada | 2016 | 90 min | World Premiere
Acclaimed Canadian rapper Shad travels to the Bronx and Harlem to talk with hip-hop¹s originators and biggest stars‹Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash among others‹tracing its evolution from underground to global phenomenon.
"The Last Laugh"
D: Ferne Pearlstein | USA | 2016 | 85 min | International Premiere
Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Carl Reiner, a 90-year-old Auschwitz survivor and others uproariously debate and test the limits of comedy¹s ultimate taboo: how to joke about the Holocaust, or if it¹s even ethical to try.
"The Legacy of Frida Kahlo"
D: Tadasuke Kotani | Japan | 2015 | 89 min | Canadian Premiere
A renowned Japanese photographer inventories iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo¹s wardrobe and personal belongings, recently discovered 58 years after her death, lending deserved importance to fashion and ³women¹s work,² while resurrecting the dead through clothing and talismans.
"Life,Animated"
D: Roger Ross Williams | USA | 2015 | 91 min | International Premiere
Disney cartoons play a key role in helping a young autistic boy communicate and understand the world around him in this moving testament to coming-of-age through fantasy, from Academy Awardwinning director Roger Ross Williams.
"Sonita"
D: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami | Iran, Germany, Switzerland | 2015 | 90 min | Canadian Premiere
After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music. Grabbing the mic, she spits fiery rhymes in the face of oppressive traditions.
"Sour Grapes"
D: Jerry Rothwell | USA, France | 2016 | 96 min | World Premiere
Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling wine snobs and the super-wealthy alike, in this suspenseful tale of excess on the eve of the 2008 crash.
"Trapped"
D: Dawn Porter | USA | 2016 | 80 min | International Premiere
American women¹s right to abortion is no longer clear, as 288 dubious laws slyly crafted by the right have decimated access. While a watershed Supreme Court battle looms, witness the human stakes of the right to choose.
"Under the Gun"
D: Stephanie Soechtig | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere
With razor-sharp arguments and insight, Stephanie Soechtig and Katie Couric (the team behind Fed Up) craft a gripping indictment of American gun culture, meeting communities shattered by shootings and exposing the politics that allow the epidemic of violence to persist.
Notable subjects featured as part of the Special Presentations program include activist Bobby Sands ("Bobby Sands: 66 Days"), musicians David Byrne, Nelly Furtado and St. Vincent ("Contemporary Color"), filmmaker Brian de Palma ("De Palma"), former NFL defensive back Steve Gleason ("Gleason"), Canadian rapper Shad and hip-hop stars Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash ("Hip-Hop Evolution"), Afghan rapper and activist Sonita Alizadeh ("Sonita"), artist Frida Kahlo ( "The Legacy Of Frida Kahlo"), and comedians Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and Carl Reiner ("The Last Laugh").
Award winners from the recent international festival circuit include "Life, Animated" (Directing Award: U.S. Documentary, Sundance 2016), "Trapped" (U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking, Sundance 2016), and "Sonita" (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Sundance 2016).
Special Presentations will screen as part of the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, running April 28 to May 8. Ticket packages and passes as well as single tickets are now on sale online and at the CraveTV Box Office at Hot Docs House, located at 610 Markham Street.
Special Presentation titles are below:
"The Age of Consequences"
D: Jared P. Scott | USA | 2016 | 78 min | World Premiere
Sounding an alarm over the critical and disturbing effects of societal inaction, this revealing film highlights the irreversible impacts of climate change‹resource scarcity, mass migration and conflict‹through the lens of global stability and national security.
"American Movie"
D: Chris Smith | USA | 1999 | 107 min | Cinema Eye Legacy Screening
In this beloved cult classic, an aspiring filmmaker struggles to complete a hilariously lo-fi horror film, only to be derailed by personal demons and the staggering ineptitude of his production team.
"Bobby Sands: 66 Days"
D: Brendan Byrne | Ireland, UK | 2016 | 105 min | World Premiere
This riveting account of a turning point in the Troubles in Northern Ireland is taken straight from the diary of Bobby Sands, who led protests of imprisoned Irish Republicans and a hunger strike with momentous consequences.
"Contemporary Color"
D: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross | USA | 2016 | 96 min | International Premiere
An extraordinary lineup of top music stars including event mastermind David Byrne of The Talking Heads, Nelly Furtado, St. Vincent and more perform live with 10 ³colour guard² teams‹perfectly synchronized students in pep-rally choreography‹in this one-of-a-kind, kaleidoscopic event.
"De Palma"
D: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow | USA | 2015 | 107 min | Canadian Premiere
From Carrie to Mission: Impossible to Scarface and beyond, Brian de Palma has created some of cinema¹s most iconic work. In this career-spanning, funny and candid conversation, he reveals his unique perspective on life, work and the past 50 years in film.
"Gleason"
D: Clay Tweel | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere
At age 34, former NFL defensive back and New Orleans hero Steve Gleason was diagnosed with Als. With limited time left to live, he purposefully records his spirited and inspiring life‹a heartfelt time capsule for his newborn son.
"Hip-Hop Evolution"
D: Darby Wheeler | Co-d: Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn | Canada | 2016 | 90 min | World Premiere
Acclaimed Canadian rapper Shad travels to the Bronx and Harlem to talk with hip-hop¹s originators and biggest stars‹Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash among others‹tracing its evolution from underground to global phenomenon.
"The Last Laugh"
D: Ferne Pearlstein | USA | 2016 | 85 min | International Premiere
Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Carl Reiner, a 90-year-old Auschwitz survivor and others uproariously debate and test the limits of comedy¹s ultimate taboo: how to joke about the Holocaust, or if it¹s even ethical to try.
"The Legacy of Frida Kahlo"
D: Tadasuke Kotani | Japan | 2015 | 89 min | Canadian Premiere
A renowned Japanese photographer inventories iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo¹s wardrobe and personal belongings, recently discovered 58 years after her death, lending deserved importance to fashion and ³women¹s work,² while resurrecting the dead through clothing and talismans.
"Life,Animated"
D: Roger Ross Williams | USA | 2015 | 91 min | International Premiere
Disney cartoons play a key role in helping a young autistic boy communicate and understand the world around him in this moving testament to coming-of-age through fantasy, from Academy Awardwinning director Roger Ross Williams.
"Sonita"
D: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami | Iran, Germany, Switzerland | 2015 | 90 min | Canadian Premiere
After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music. Grabbing the mic, she spits fiery rhymes in the face of oppressive traditions.
"Sour Grapes"
D: Jerry Rothwell | USA, France | 2016 | 96 min | World Premiere
Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling wine snobs and the super-wealthy alike, in this suspenseful tale of excess on the eve of the 2008 crash.
"Trapped"
D: Dawn Porter | USA | 2016 | 80 min | International Premiere
American women¹s right to abortion is no longer clear, as 288 dubious laws slyly crafted by the right have decimated access. While a watershed Supreme Court battle looms, witness the human stakes of the right to choose.
"Under the Gun"
D: Stephanie Soechtig | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere
With razor-sharp arguments and insight, Stephanie Soechtig and Katie Couric (the team behind Fed Up) craft a gripping indictment of American gun culture, meeting communities shattered by shootings and exposing the politics that allow the epidemic of violence to persist.
- 4/6/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Michael Shannon stars with Kevin Spacey in Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai's look at Benjamin Millepied (Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan choreographer) in Reset; Everybody Knows...Elizabeth Murray by Kristi Zea (two-time Oscar nominee for Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and James L. Brooks' As Good As It Gets), with journals performed by Meryl Streep; Christian Tafdrup's Parents (Forældre) with Søren Malling (Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair) and Bodil Jørgensen (Cæcilia Holbek Trier's Agnus Dei) soon in Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chicken with Mads Mikkelsen; Elvis Presley (Shannon) and Richard Nixon (Spacey) meeting in Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon, co-written by Joey Sagal, Cary Elwes and Hanala Sagal (seen in Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh) are some of the highlights of this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
Bart Freundlich's Wolves and Robert Scott Wildes' Poor Boy,...
Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai's look at Benjamin Millepied (Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan choreographer) in Reset; Everybody Knows...Elizabeth Murray by Kristi Zea (two-time Oscar nominee for Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and James L. Brooks' As Good As It Gets), with journals performed by Meryl Streep; Christian Tafdrup's Parents (Forældre) with Søren Malling (Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair) and Bodil Jørgensen (Cæcilia Holbek Trier's Agnus Dei) soon in Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chicken with Mads Mikkelsen; Elvis Presley (Shannon) and Richard Nixon (Spacey) meeting in Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon, co-written by Joey Sagal, Cary Elwes and Hanala Sagal (seen in Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh) are some of the highlights of this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
Bart Freundlich's Wolves and Robert Scott Wildes' Poor Boy,...
- 4/4/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
North America's largest documentary film festival just announced its full line-up and schedule. Hot Docs returns to Toronto in its 23rd year, and as per usual, it features a massive number of titles for lovers of non-fiction cinema: 232 features and shorts from 51 countries, to be exact. Offering a slew of new docs, including Jay Cheel's time travel reverie How To Build A Time Machine, De Palma, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's feature interview with the film director on his 50 year career, Espn's epic 7.5 hour Oj Simpson: Made In America, The Ross Brothers 'pep rally' doc Contempory Color and Ferne Perlstein's The Last Laugh, a primer on how to (or not to) make jokes about the Holocuast featuring Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Sarah Sliverman and...
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- 3/23/2016
- Screen Anarchy
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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