Teaser Poster

Quick update, just to post this teaser poster we made specifically for the press con to announce the film...

 

We will be making more posters later throughout the shoot, once they are ready for release I'll post them online.

You can also follow the film's progress on Facebook and eventually on the OFFICIAL SITE.

Fright Night (2011)

Description:  The "Fright Night is a 2011 3D comedy horror film directed by Craig Gillespie. It is a remake of Tom Holland's 1985 film of the same name.”

Directed by:  Craig Gillespie
Produced by:  Michael De Luca and Alison R. Rosenzweig
Screenplay by:  Marti Noxon
Story by:  Tom Holland
Based on:  Original Screenplay by Tom Holland
Starring:  Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, Imogen Poots and Toni Collette
Music by:  Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by:  Javier Aguirresarobe
Editing by:  Tatiana S. Riege

Synopsis:  “A teenager suspects that his new neighbor is a vampire.”

Categories by FTI Movie House: Horror and Comedy

38th César Awards - Short Films Official Selection

For the first time the French Academy has published a schedule of their activities for the 2012-2013 award season which makes me think that they are becoming more "online professional" as not only recently changed and improved their official site but also now they are sharing with the world information about all their activities, voting process and more. Very interesting and most welcomed by us that love French cinema of the great kind.

Most interesting is to discover that next year the César Awards ceremony will be on Friday, February 22, 2013 two days before the American Academy awards and one day before the Spirit Awards, so February last weekend will be very busy for many of us. Also, worth noting is that the press conference where the nominations will be announced will take place on Friday, January 25, 2013.

Now we officially know that the voting process includes two rounds, the first to select the nominees and the second to select the winners. The first round starts on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 and closes at midnight Thursday, January 24. The second round starts on Friday, February 1, 2013 and closes on Friday, February 22 at 4pm for online voting and Tuesday, February 19 for paper voting. Can't deny that is interesting to notice that online voting is closed the same day the award winners will be announced as suggests that the Academy has gone "full force" into believing in the power of the Internet. Great.

As the Academy becomes more tech savvy, covering these awards becomes more interesting for me as now information will be available and to start the more detailed coverage of a cinema I truly love, today I'm sharing the first available information regarding short films.

Short Films Official Selection

The Academy Short Films committee selected the following twelve (12) short films that will be screened to Academy members at Le Balzac in Paris from December 1 to 8, 2012. Screenings ALSO are open to the public, so if you are near Le Balzac theater I suggest you do not skip this great opportunity. Last, Academy members will receive the DVD will all the shorts at the end of December for private viewing. This is the voting first round that will select the five (5) nominees that will be announced on January 25, 2013

These are the short films

Ce n'est pas un film de cow-boys (It's Not a Cowboy Movie), Benjamin Parent, 12'
Ce qu'il restera de nous, Vincent Macaigne, 40'
Le cri du homard (The Lobster Cry), Nicolas Guiot, 30'
Cross, Maryna Vroda, 15'
Et ils gravirent la montagne, Jean-Sébastien Chauvin, 35'
Fais Croquer, Yassine Qnia, 35'
Jeunesses françaises (French Kids), Stéphan Castang, 19'
Les Meutes, Manuel Schapira, 14'
Oh Willy..., Emma de Swaef and Marc Roels, 17'
Sur la Route du Paraids, Houda Benyamina, 44'
La Vie Parisienne, Vincent Dietschy, 36'
Vilaine fille mauvais garçon (Two Ships), Justine Triet, 30'

As we can see the short films category includes short and medium-lenght films; worth noting that some short films come from famous festivals. Read films info and see trailer or photos @MOC

25th European Film Awards Discovery Award Nominations

The European Film Academy announced today the nominees for the EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2012 – Prix FIPRESCI, an award presented annually as part of the European Film Awards to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film.

This year’s nominations were determined by a committee comprised of EFA Board Members Helena Danielsson (Sweden) and Els Vandevorst (Netherlands), EFA Members Pierre-Henri Deleau (France) and Jacob Neiiendam (Denmark), as well as Alin Tasciyan (Turkey), Paulo Portugal (Portugal), and Mihai Chirilov (Romania) as members of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.

These are the five (5) nominated films

10 Timer Til Paradis (Teddy Bear), Mads Matthiesen, Denmark
Broken, Rufus Norris, UK
Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Портрет в сумерках Portret V Sumerkhak (Twilight Portrait), Angelina Nikonova, Russia
Die Vermissten (Reported Missing), Jan Speckenbach, Germany

Among the nominees we find the 2012 Sundance Festival Directing Award to Mads Mathiensen for his film Teddy Bear about a 38-year-old bodybuilder Dennis would really like to find true love. He has never had a girlfriend and lives alone with his mother in a suburb of Copenhagen. When his uncle marries a girl from Thailand, Dennis decides to try his own luck on a trip to Pattaya, as it seems that love is easier to find in Thailand. He knows that his mother would never accept another woman in his life, so he lies and tells her that he is going to Germany. Dennis has never been out traveling before and the hectic Pattaya is a huge cultural shock for him. The intrusive Thai girls give big bruises to Dennis' naive picture of what love should be like, and he is about to lose hope when he unexpectedly meets the Thai woman Toi.

The opening film of the 2012 Cannes Semaine de la Critique with a very interesting cast and story about a young girl in North London whose life changes after witnessing a violent attack, Broken by award-winning theatre director Rufus Norris. Synopsis: Skunk is 11, diabetic, and pretty cool. The summer holidays have just begun and her days are full of easy hopes. Then Mr. Oswald, the ugly man who lives opposite, beats up Rick, the sweet, but unstable boy next door after his daughter accuses the boy of rape, and Skunk's innocence begins to be drained away at a speed and in a way she cannot control. Her home, her neighborhood, her school - all become treacherous environments where the happy certainties of childhood give way to a fear-filled doubt, and a complex, broken world fills her future. Skunk seeks solace in the last remaining place where she knows she can find it - the unspoken friendship with sweet, damaged Rick - and falls into a chaos where suddenly, joyfully, she has choice thrust back into her hands. The choice to remain in this place she was never promised, or to leave it entirely - to live or to die. Film is currently in competition for Best British Newcomer Award at 2012 BFI London Film festival.

The 2012 Berlinale Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix winner and First Movie Award, Kawboy by Boudewijn Koole that also won 2012 EFA's Young Audience Award, is Netherlands' submission to Oscar, has more honors in the festival circuit and a story about a lively 10-year-old with a difficult home life marked by a volatile father and an absent mother, finds solace in an abandoned baby jackdaw. Through the special friendship he builds with the bird, the wall between him and his father will be brought down.

The winner of the Golden Puffin at the 2011 Reykjavik IFF, Golden Alexander and Hellenic Association of Film Critics Award at 2011 Thessaloniki Festival, Grand Prize winner of the 2011 Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema: Twilight Portrait by Angelina Nikonova with what seems has to be a hard to watch story about Marina, an upper-crust social worker with a doting husband and an enviable downtown apartment, is suddenly transformed into a bizarre twilight version of herself when she is raped by three policemen.

The 2012 Berlinale Perspektive Deutches Kino official selection Reported Missing by Jan Spekenbach with the following story synopsis: All of a sudden, 16-year-old Martha vanishes. Her father Lothar, who for years has had no contact with her or his ex-wife, sets off unwilling to find her. He soon realizes other young people are also vanishing from the city inexplicably. Lothar follows their trail across the country. He meets the occasional young person but the trail goes cold. In the next city he encounters militia groups and a reinforced police presence. Children are forbidden to be on the streets unless accompanied by adults. The world has changed...

As we can see nominees have quite impressive credentials, compelling stories (some surely not easy to watch) and debut directors with films that show their great master potential.

Night of the Demons 2

Description:  The “Night of the Demons 2  is the 1994 sequel to [the] Night of the Demons and was released on home video … [then] by [the] Republic Pictures …. The film was followed by the 1997 Night of the Demons 3."

Produced by:  Jeff Geoffray
Written by:  Joe Augustyn and James Penzi
Starring:  Merle Kennedy, Amelia Kinkade, Cristi Harris, Rick Peters,  Jennifer Rhodes and Christine Taylor
Music by:  Jim Manzie
Cinematography:  David Lewis
Editing by:  Daniel Duncan

Synopsis:   Some “[h]igh-schoolers throw a Halloween party in a mansion haunted by a young demon.”

Category by FTI Movie House: Horror

6th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

As stated by organizers, an unprecedented total of 264 films were entered in this year's competition and 34 films from 18 Asia Pacific countries/areas were honored with a nomination.

The following are the nominated films.

Best Feature Film
Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time), Jong-bin Yun, Korea
Khers (Bear), Khosro Masoumi, Iran
Орда Orda (The Horde), Andrei Proshkin, Russia
Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Wu Xia (Dragon), Peter Chan, Hong Kong and China

Best Animated Feature Film
Happy Feet Two, George Miller, Gary Eck and David Peers, Australia and USA
Kokurikozaka Kara (From Up on Poppy Hill), Goro Miyazaki, Japan
Momo e no tegami (A Letter to Momo), Hiroyuki Okiura, Japan
Nijiiro Hotaru (Rainbow Fireflies), Kōnosuke Uda, Japan
Ookamikodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children), Mamoru Hosoda, Japan

Best Children's Feature film
Australia Sheli (My Australia), Ami Drozd, Poland and Israel
Gattu, Rajan Khosa, India
Kiseki (I Wish), Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan
Launt Bercemin (The Mirror Never Lies), Kamila Andini, Indonesia
Orchim Lerega (Off White Lies), Maya Kening, Israel

Achievement in Directing
Anurag Kashyap for Gangs of Wasseypur, India
Brillante Mendoza for Sinapupunan (Thy Womb), Philippines
Cheng Er for Bian jing feng yun (Lethal Hostage), China
Khosro Masoumi for Khers (Bear), Iran
Reis Çelik for Lal gece (Night of Silence), Turkey

Best Performance by an Actress
Cho Min-soo in Pieta, Kim Ki-duk, Korea
Darya Ekamasova in Жила-была одна баба Zila bila odna baba (Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman), Andrey Smirnov, Russia
Humaima Malick in Bol, Shoaib Mansoor, Pakistan
Nora Aunor in Sinapupunan (Thy Womb), Brillante Mendoza, Philippines
Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture, Milan Luthria, India

Best Performance by an Actor
Choi Min-sik in Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time), Jong-bin Yun, Korea
Lior Ashkenazi in Hearat shulayim (Footnote), Joseph Cedar, Israel
Manoj Bajpayee in Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, India
Tamer Levent in Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Wu Tianming in Fei Yue Lao Ren Yuan (Full Circle), Zhang Yang China

Achievement in Cinematography
Charin Pengpanich for Bunohan (Bunohan: Return to Murder), Dain Said, Malaysia
Chin Ting-Chang for Seediq Bale (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale), Te-Sheng Wei, Taiwan
Jake Pollock and Lai Yiu-fai for Wu Xia, Peter Chan, Hong Kong and China
Touraj Aslani for Fasle Kargadan (Rhino Season), Bahman Ghobadi, Iraqi-Kurdistan and Turkey
Yury Raysky for Орда Orda (The Horde), Andrei Proshkin, Russia

Best Screenplay
Cheng Er for Bian jing feng yun (Lethal Hostage), Cheng Er, China
Chris Martinez for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Marlon Rivera, Philippines
Emin Alper for Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Reis Çelik for Lal gece (Night of Silence), Reis Çelik, Turkey
Shoaib Mansoor for Bol, Shoaib Mansoor, Pakistan

Best Documentary Feature Film
Hamesh Matzlemot Shvurot (Five Broken Cameras), Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, Israel, Palestine and France
In My Mother's Arms, Atea Al Daradji and Mohamed Al Daradji, Iraq, UK and Netherlands
Negeri di Bawah Kabut (The Land Beneath the Fog), Shalahuddin Siregar, Indonesia and Germany
Planet of Snail, Yi Seung-jun, Korea, Japan and Finland
Shiton Hachok (The Law in These Parts), Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, Israel, USA and Germany

My first impression from those films I was not aware is that the one that really called my attention is the story of a female convict on death row with her last wish to tell her story to the media in Shoaib Mansoor's Bol. Also because of trailer and photos know that epic Andrei Proshkin's Orda (photo) has some breathtaking visuals.

A six-member International Jury headed by acclaimed Australian producer Jan Chapman will determine the winner of Best Feature Film as well as winners of the five major craft awards, the Screen International Jury Grand Prize and the UNESCO Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film. APSA Academy members will determine the winners in the Best Children’s, Documentary and Animated Feature Film categories.

All winners in the sixth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be announced at a ceremony on Friday November 23 in Brisbane, Australia.

85th Academy Awards Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

AMPAS today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 85th Academy Awards has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar nominations. A total of 31 films were submitted and the 8 films are the following.

Inocente, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix, USA, 42'
Kings Point, Sari Gilman, USA, 40'
Mondays at Racine, Cynthia Wade, USA, 39'
Open Heart, Kief Davidson, USA, 39'
Paraíso (Paradise), Nadav Kurtz, USA, 10'
Redemption, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, 35'
The Education of Mohammad Hussein, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, USA, 38'
The Perfect Fit, Tali Yankelevich, UK, 9'

As noted before the nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 5:30 a.m. PT.

The above films tell stories about immigrants, retirees in Florida, ballet shoemakers and more; take a look at some info about each film.

Inocente: A personal and vibrant coming of age story about a young artist's determination never to surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by being an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Color is her personal revolution and its sweep on her canvases creates a world that looks nothing like her own dark past. Both a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America: children. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in her story proves that the hand she has been dealt does not define her, her dreams do.

Kings Point: In the 1970s and 80s, hundreds of thousands of senior citizens migrated from New York City to Kings Point, a typical retirement community, located just outside West Palm Beach, Florida. Lured by blue skies, sunshine, palm trees, and the promise of a rich social life, they bought their way to paradise for just a $1,500 down payment. Now, as an aging community faces its own mortality, paradise has begun to exact a higher price. Through the experiences of six longtime residents, 'Kings Point' captures both the allure and the darker complexities of living in a world where 'nobody gets too close.' Poignant, funny and dark, 'Kings Point' is a deeply empathetic portrait of the last act of the American Dream.

Mondays at Racine: Every third Monday of the month, two bold, brassy sisters open the doors of their Long Island hair salon to women diagnosed with cancer. As locks of hair fall to the floor, women gossip, giggle, weep, face their fears, and discover unexpected beauty

Open Heart: Eight Rwandan children leave their families behind to embark on a life or death journey seeking high-risk heart surgery in Sudan. Their hearts ravaged by a treatable disease from childhood strep throat, they have only months to live. Open Heart reveals the intertwined endeavors of Dr. Emmanuel, Rwanda’s lone government cardiologist as he fights to save the lives of his young patients and Italian Dr. Gino Strada, the Salam Center’s head surgeon, who must also fight to save his hospital, Africa’s only link to life-saving free cardiac surgery for the millions who need it.

Paraíso: Three immigrant window cleaners risk their lives every day rappelling down some of Chicago's tallest sky-scrapers. Paradise reveals the beauty and danger of their job and what they see on the way down.

Redemption: New York City's canners - the men and women who survive by redeeming bottles and cans they collect from curbs, garbage cans and apartment complexes

The Education of Mohammad Hussein: An intimate look at how the largest Muslim community in America responds to the provocations of an anti-Islamic preacher. Through the eyes of children, the film examines what it is like to come of age as a Muslim in the United States ten years post 9/11.

The Perfect Fit: Ballet shoes might be worn by delicate girls, but they are crafted by burly men, whose hands tell a different story. A perfectionist shoemaker pounds his soul out making each pair, as he tries to ease the burden on the dancers’ feet.