Primo Giorno - 68th Venice International Film Festival

With a forgettable not entertaining and truly protocol opening ceremony La Mostra 2011 opened with too much Clooney for my taste and not even a single movie clip from any of the movies in or out of competition. But have to admit that enjoyed the first part of Vittoria Puccini speech and nothing else in particular.

Anyway today was the premiere of George Clooney’s The Ides of March so there was a press conference, a photo call and a red carpet walk with him dominating and stealing the limelight for the day. Nevertheless was able to watch on TV and photos from Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei who star in Clooney’s film.

Before the screening of the Festival and Competition opening film there was a four minute short film called Lido ’28 by Anonymous produced in 1928 that was able to watch as they showed it as part of the opening ceremony on TV. Short made me recall Visconti’s Morte a Venezia (Deatch in Venice) but short shows the real beach and 20’s beauties doing all sort of odd things, including riding horses in the sea.

After the Competition opening film, the Out of Competition opening film follows: ¡VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS! by Victor Kossakovsky, a documentary that is in Spanish, Russian, Setswana, and English; is a Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, and Chile production plus tells about the few land-to-land antipodal places in mother Earth… which makes doc very interesting for me.

Early this afternoon the Giornate degli Autori opened with a special event: the screening of Crazy Horse by Frederick Wiseman an absolute Must-Be-Seen for me since I learned about it a few months back; followed by Di La Dal Vetro (Beyond the Glass) a short by Andrea Di Bari plus Love and Bruises by Lou Ye a French production staring a mesmerizing actor Tahar Rahim (remember A Prophet?) with an interesting story that will made me watch it.

Later in the afternoon the Retrospective section opened with three 1967 Italian medium-length films Hemitage by Carmelo Bene, Il Canto d’Amore di Alfred Prufrock by Nico D’Alessandria, and Bis by Paolo Brunatto; last a longer film with 55 minutes from 1967-68 by Paolo Brunatto Vieni Dolce Morte (Dell ‘Ego) that is a silent film.

As the first day fades away I hope to see tomorrow a lot less of Clooney and a lot more of the Jury President Darren Aronofsky, in the meantime here are some photos from today’s events.

Ci vediamo a Domani!!

The Main Competition Jury

The Ides of March cast and crew

Nice Rachel and George photo.

Watch Biennale 2011 trailers @MOC


Highlights from the First Day

New Poster Design: THE RAID

Apologies guys, I know it's the 2nd time I've promised and not posted the trailer, but I assure you we're working on it. Just happened that we need a bit more time to tweak it. The trailer will be online eventually but we have a few technical hitches that need to be addressed before it is ready to go live. I will keep you all posted when it does.

Anyway, to make up for the delay below are some badass poster designs by @oswarez

First up the main poster for the film...

click to enlarge

And now, the one-sheet character posters (work in progress), click to enlarge...

THE GOOD GUYS

Iko Uwais as Rama

Joe Taslim as Jaka

Pierre Gruno as Wahyu

AND THE BAD GUYS 

Ray Sahetapy as Tama

Donny Alamsyah as Andi

Yayan Ruhian as Mad Dog

Hope you all like the designs, as always any comments you have or questions I'll answer them in the next blog. Awful segue aside....

AND FINALLY THE Q&A...

Q. Mungkinkah bisa milih 35mm cell nya yang adegan Luc??? mauuuu >.< / Can I get a 35mm cell of a scene with Luc? (from PuspitaHassei)

A. We can't guarantee that you'll get one, but will let you know if there is a 35mm cell with Luc in the collection.

Q. Satu hal lagi yang bikin penasaran, kenapa proses post production, sound mixing dan lain-lain itu di lakukan di Bangkok? kenapa tidak di Indonesia? / Why is the post-production process done in Bangkok? Why not Indonesia? (from Ismail Takumi)
A. There are a number of reasons really, right now we are starting to see post-pro facilities emerge in Indonesia but as yet there isn't anywhere that offers us a Dolby License for 5.1 mixing and processing. Also some of our mastering must be done outside because of equipment and materials availability.

And to both Virginie DuChat and PuspitaHassei again, for the trailer - sorry but we have to wait again. It will come out eventually. We're working on it, and as soon as it's out you'll be first to know!

Thanks again everyone for your support and continued comments, keep them coming.

Not going to promise a trailer with the next blog this time. But hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Not the trailer.... But some BTS...

So we're out in Bangkok now at the awesome SIAM FILM DEVELOPMENT Co. (same post-production facility we used for MERANTAU).

We're doing all our color grading, final audio mixing and mastering here and while I finally get a chance to sit back and watch other people work their asses off instead of me - I'm roaming around getting little clips of the "finishing touches".

And here's one of them...

That was our sound team (Fajar, Ogi, Bonar and Sandika - Pak Jack arrived later that evening) over-seeing a mix of one of the earlier scenes in the film as the Swat team work their way up the building.

And here's another...

WARNING: This one isn't suitable for kiddies...

While we're here in Bangkok, Andi (our online editor) is putting some finishing touches to effects that we simply couldn't achieve practically. He is a genius when it comes to digital squibs and blood fx. Here's a very small sample of his work in one of our major fight scenes.

For those hoping to get a more clear view of footage (more than one shot) sorry but I'm trying to keep as much hidden for now as possible. The trailer is coming next week, that will show plenty. 

For now I'm gonna keep on teasing these little clips as I fuck around shooting BTS with the HTC.

AND FINALLY THE Q&A...

Q. Berapa harga DVD specialnya nanti Mr.? / "How much will the special edition DVD cost?" (from Ismail Takumi)

A. I've no idea, that's not a decision made by us, but by Jive Collection. I'm guessing it will be a little bit more expensive than the previous release because they have to cover the manufacturing of the extra disc and all the collectible items.

Q. Babule, yang 35mm film cell itu sepanjang apa yak? / How long is the 35mm film cel? (from Virginie DuChat)

A. It's one frame only, mounted in a card. Similar to the bonus feature on the RUMAH DARA DVD.

Thanks also to Kunderemp and A-Bye for your comments.

Next up I promise will be the trailer for THE RAID....

MIDNIGHT MADNESS!

Put bluntly, I'm fucking ecstatic.

After a mad rush to get a cut of THE RAID submitted in time, I've been overwhelmed by the news that the film will have its WORLD PREMIERE at the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in September.

Selected as the opening film of the MIDNIGHT MADNESS program I absolutely cannot wait to see how its first audience responds to the mayhem and carnage we have lined up.

This is the ultimate achievement we could have hoped for as our film becomes part of an alumni of films and directors I have admired, respected.... and stolen from :)

Please visit the festival's website HERE and also the MIDNIGHT MADNESS section HERE

MERANTAU SPECIAL EDITION DVD

Ok, after reading Ben's comment on buying the Indonesian cut of the film on DVD here in Jakarta, I figure now is as good a time as any to mention on this blog about a planned re-release of the local DVD release by JIVE COLLECTION. 

The original release.

We're finalizing the materials for the release but one thing we all agreed on was that if we were to do a re-release it had to be worth a "double-dip" purchase not to cheat our fans who came out and supported the film on its first release.

So here's a rough outline on what will be featured on the release.

• 2-Disc Edition
• Indonesian Cut (135mins) *WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES*
• International Cut (107mins) *WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES*
• All extra features previously released on US & UK releases including Production Blogs, Making Of, Bloopers, Deleted Scenes, Fight Scene Storyboard Comparisons & a featurette on the Bamboo Pole Stunt (English Subtitles provided)
• Promo Reel & Trailers
• Original Soundtrack (included as DVD-Rom content)
• A Sneak Peak at THE RAID
• Character Poster Postcards
• 35mm Film Cell

We're looking at ways to get this release available for online orders, as soon as something is more concrete regarding release date and availability I will post it here.

AND FINALLY THE Q&A...
 
Q. Does the Madman deal that cover Australia cover New Zealand as well? And Did you shoot a making of the fight choreography while you guys shot the film? (from MattK77)

A. I need to double check, but I would presume it does cover New Zealand also. We did shoot behind the scenes of the fight choreography and will look to produce a side-by-side comparison again like we did for Merantau. Thank you also for your kind words, THE RAID has less drama than Merantau, but again we aimed to make the action sequences feel organic and part of the story rather than just random events. Hope you enjoy! 

Q. Are they pretty strict with violence in Indonesia? I know the states is pretty lax, but not sure about other countries. If so, do you plan on having different versions of the film or sticking to your original concept? (from kmiller)

A. It's really hard to guess how the censors will react. I'm hopeful we will get through unscathed, but we'll see once we submit the film. There won't be different versions of the film, usually when a film is cut here the cuts are made direct to the 35mm prints released in cinemas as opposed to the master material. Internationally I don't see anything in the film that would pose a problem for censors in the US / UK etc. It's a hard "R" rating but we don't overstate the violence. 

Q. Can't wait for the red-band trailer. (from kunderemp)

A. Yes I know this isn't really a question, but it's an opportunity for me to tease regarding the trailer. You sir will not have to wait long - the trailer is coming. Maybe the next blog entry.... Unless I write something else first.

Q. Any idea when it will release officially in Indonesia? In the first Jan. or last one? or perhaps february? (from PuspitaHassei)

A. We are looking at releasing the film in the end of January, possibly the 19th or 26th. Once we finalize a release date I will post it here. Not sure if it helps, but there's a possibility that the November screening would be on a weekend.

And that about does it for this blog. 

Next: THE RAID TRAILER (maybe)

Catch Up #2: Distribution

During the shoot I like to edit all the action sequences on location, it's become a force of habit since MERANTAU as it helps us see if the choreography is working and the shots are connecting properly.

Proof of editing on set: I'm only 98% of the time full of shit.

As a result of this, we ended up with 2 fully edited scenes by the time Todd Brown paid us a visit on set. It was after that visit that he suggested we prep these two scenes and any other rough cuts we had from the shoot to present at the Cannes Film Market back in May.

Initially, our plan was to prepare a promo reel - but shooting the film out of sequence and still having a lot of unfinished scenes meant we would instead send 5 sequences from the film that we had completed by that time. These were the major fight scenes in the film that could give buyers a sense of what they would be getting, and how different our approach would be this time round.

We hoped at best that the scenes would whet the appetite for the buyers leading to potential sales later in the year once the film was complete. However, interest started to mount amongst those that viewed the footage and soon a number of distributors started pre-buying the rights to the film in a number of different territories among them SONY PICTURES for the US, ALLIANCE for CANADA and MOMENTUM PICTURES for the UK.

We have been genuinely humbled by the response and are proud to be able to announce that THE RAID sold to the following territories so far.

Following taken from Twitch.

US (Sony), Canada (Alliance), the UK (Momentum), Australia (Madman), France (SND), Germany (Koch), Japan (Kadokawa), China (HGC) and Turkey (Calinos) with further deals currently being finalized that will cover the Benelux, East Asia and other territories. I'm not going to hit you with the full press release but here's the reaction from Scott Shooman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions:

In a Cannes market filled with serious award-caliber dramas, it was so refreshing to see someone get throat punched!  We knew right away that we needed to get involved.

So there you go, if your country is listed above THE RAID should be coming your way in the near future. If not, I will keep updating any other territories sold as and when that happens. Fingers crossed we can announce more sales in the coming months.

AND FINALLY THE Q&A...

Q.  Will be in Jakarta and Bali from october 17 to oct 31 and was wondering if there is any early viewing schedule for the movie? (Ben)

A. First up, huge thanks for the incredibly kind words in your comment can't begin to explain how amazing it feels to know a film I made connects with a viewer. Your support goes a long way.
To answer your question, unfortunately we don't have a screening in Indonesia during those dates but we do have a sneak screening lined up in Jakarta sometime mid-November. Where are you based? We are touring the film at festivals starting September so who knows, it may play nearby.

Q. When can we expect a trailer? (Kmiller)

A. Our plan is to release a REDBAND trailer sometime this month. It's pretty brutal and action packed, really hope you guys like it. As soon as it's ready for release I'll be posting it on here and I'm sure it will end up on a bunch of other sites also. 

As a sidenote the trailer is pretty violent, so please bear that in mind. I got a lot of complaints locally from people about MERANTAU being too violent for kids, and my response is "absolutely it is too violent for kids - I made it for adults". THE RAID... it's 100% made for adults. I've never been one to dwell on violence in an explicit way but the violence here is like a gut punch, it's fast and brutal but it has a lasting effect.

And Alex thanks for your comment also, hope these updates make up for such a ridiculously long absence!

Next blog will cover the announcement of our World Premiere. 

Until then, thanks for reading!

Midnight in Paris

The 2011 Cannes opening movie is a pleasant surprise as looks and feels like the great movies by Woody Allen especially because Allen is in the film. Well, actually he is not in the screen at all! Let me explain. I don’t particularly care about Owen Wilson and I do dislike most of his performances but I believe that his best role up-to-date is in this movie and he’s playing Woody Allen! Oh yes, I could see (a younger) Woody all over Owen’s performance and maybe now I finally gasped what I miss in Allen’s movies, I miss him, the (younger) actor.

A beautiful love-letter to Paris with breath-taking day/night/rainy views of the gorgeous city (yes, I do LOVE Paris) film tells the impossible dream of many “intellectuals” that wish to alternate, converse and rub elbows with la crème de la crème of the many artists that lived in 20’s Paris, but Gil (Owens) is a “normal” American tourist struggling with writing a novel after being a very successful Hollywood screenplay writer and indeed he could be the opposite to a intellectual prototype. There is a lot of irony in story and dialogues, which absolutely makes it very appealing to me and yes is an enjoyable glimpse into the Parisian lives of the likes of Hemingway, Buñuel, Picasso, Matisse, Dalí, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Fitzgerald, and many others. The only predictable moment for me was going to Maxim where I knew Toulouse-Lautrec was going to appear, but I forgive you Mr. Allen, as most of it was really unexpected.

Best performance in movie belongs to Marion Cotillard that truly steals all scenes she’s in; but I also enjoyed the brief appearance by Léa Seydoux and to be honest, did not recognized Carla Bruni (lol!) and wonder –like someone else also wonders- if her sister Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi played the character instead of her surely character would have been more noticeable and interesting.

It’s a fun to watch film, well, a Woody Allen type of fun to watch film and definitively enjoyed my entertaining moment and I do recommend film to those that like Allen’s oldies and somehow wish to see (the younger version of) him in the screen.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Catch Up #1: The ActionFest Promo & Official Stills

Last year at the first ActionFest in North Carolina, MERANTAU was honored with the prize for Best Film. As a sign of thanks and goodwill to a festival that shows so much passion and respect to a genre that often is neglected and ignored at major awards ceremonies, we decided to prepare little video for the audience that played before one of many truly kick ass films.

The video has since featured on Twitch, you can find the article HERE or play the clip below...

ACTIONFEST PROMO (HD)

PRODUCTION STILLS
 

Also released was a gallery of stills again at Twitch I've added them below along with a few new images...

As you can probably see, there's a bit of action in this film.

Next up we have some distribution news to catch up on...

A shit ton of stuff to catch up on, but first apologies...

Okay so I'm useless at this. I've followed many filmmakers blogs, ones that regularly update with ease and I honestly have no idea how they can stay so disciplined. I tried but failed.

The production process on this flick has been killer, way harder than anything we encountered on MERANTAU. We wrapped on June 8th at around 5.30am after a stupifyingly long day that literally left cast and crew with nothing but fumes to work from. The cheers from that final call of "its a wrap" a mixture of happiness and relief. We all got our normal lives handed back to us, and finally I could spent time with my family (before launching straight into post-production).

I won't even try to cover what happened over the course of the rest of the shoot in one blog. It's futile, there's too much to talk about. From the schedule which changed on a weekly sometimes daily basis, to the action scenes that we adapted to fit our shooting time, stunts that went according to plan, others that took way too long for us to get right. It all culminated in one clear thought.

Filmmaking is a bitch to get right.

But there is nothing I'd rather destroy my health and sanity doing.

I'm so shit at updating you all that I've actually wrapped the film, began and finished the offline edit and in a few days time will be winging my way to Thailand to complete color grading and sound mixing on the final cut of the film ready for it to make it's way to it's World Premiere...but more on that later.

I will at some point get round to writing up an adequate report that covers all the goings on in the shoot and my later equally sleep-deprived editing sessions but before then I need to backtrack a fair few steps and release a shit ton of news that I really should have covered a long time ago along with some recent and just plain amazing news that has left me both excited and terrified in equal measure.

Thanks to Sam and Xino for their kind words in the last blog. Again if anyone has any questions feel free to ask away I will do my best to answer each of them in upcoming blog entries.

Jane Eyre

You read the book. You have seen one or more movie adaptations. You know the story. So how a new adaptation can absolutely take your breath away as well as stimulate all your senses and emotions at the right moments?

Cary Jôji Fukunaga first voyage into a period drama -after his spectacular Sin Nombre- is an amazing visual experience that since the very beginning up to the end marvels your eyes with outstanding visual compositions, amazing framing, great camera takes, and moving sequential –one after another- photographs that you wish to stop the film to admire them more. It’s not a perfect visual experience as Fukunaga chose in some key moments to relegate the visual to the back only to allow drama to build up front with outstanding performances by a perfect cast, which detonates your emotions to the fullest. And the ride continues until the very last scene with breathtaking visuals, emotions explosions and even tension building. Incredible, especially because I really know the story but this movie made me live and feel the story as if was new to me.

Have to give credit to a fresh screenplay by Moira Buffini that in my opinion highlighted the drama by more in-depth developing lead and secondary story characters which allowed Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre), Michael Fassbender (Rochester), Judi Dench (Mrs. Fairfax), Jamie Bell (St John Rivers), and Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Reed) to shine on the screen. But no doubt that is Fukunaga masterful storytelling which allowed all the pieces to come together to make this movie an excellent cinematic experience.

This is not a fast paced movie but neither is slow; somehow made wish it was slower paced to admire more time the many classical framing photos that populate the film. Definitively will watch again to enjoy more the visuals hoping that I won’t be taken again by the emotions, but guess that won’t be an easy task as this is an almost perfect combination of everything I love in a movie. Bravo Master Fukunaga and I’ll be most anxiously waiting for your next film that I do imagine will masterly explore new -for you- cinema territories.

I do praise this movie as truly deserves it but I know that for many will be just another adaptation or if you’re not familiar with story, like another period drama; still if you love very visual movies maybe you will experience as much as I did this great film.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC