Thursday, February 28, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Steven Spielberg to Head Cannes Jury

LizaOnFilm: Steven Spielberg to Head Cannes Jury: By Liza Foreman Steven Spielberg is to head up the jury for the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival, making the "Lincoln&...

Steven Spielberg to Head Cannes Jury




By Liza Foreman

Steven Spielberg is to head up the jury for the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival, making the "Lincoln" director the first American helmer to assume the role.
Spielberg agreed in principle to preside over the competition for the coveted Palme D'Or two years ago, say organisers. With his schedule currently clear following delays to sci-fi tale Robopocalypse, he is up for the job.
Insiders long before Robopocalypse stalled warned that the film was unlikely to get made over script issues.
In a statement, Spielberg, 66, said: "My admiration for the steadfast mission of the festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross-cultural and generational medium."
He added: "The memory of my first Cannes film festival, nearly 31 years ago with the debut of ET, is still one of the most vibrant of my career. For over six decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honour and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world."
Cannes president Gilles Jacob said: "As they say across the Atlantic, Steven Spielberg is a Cannes 'regular' – Sugarland Express, Color Purple. But it was with ET that I screened as a world premiere in '82 that ties were made of the type you never forget. Ever since, I've often asked Steven to be jury president, but he's always been shooting a film. So when this year I was told 'ET, phone home', I understood and immediately replied: 'At last!'"
Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux confirmed: "Steven Spielberg accepted in principle two years ago. He was able to make himself available this year to be the new jury president and when meeting him these last few weeks it has been obvious he's excited about the job. Because of his films, and the many causes he holds dear, he's year-in year-out the equal of the very greatest Hollywood film-makers. We are very proud to count him among us."
Spielberg won best director Oscars in 1994 and 1998 for Schindler's Listand Saving Private Ryan. Three of his films, 1975's Jaws, ET and 1993'sJurassic Park, were the highest grossing movies in history at the time of their release, and his films have earned more than $8.5bn worldwide at the box office. At the weekend his historical biopic Lincoln saw Daniel Day Lewis take a record-breaking third best actor Oscar for his turn as the 16th president of the United States. Spielberg follows in the footsteps of other US film-making luminaries who have presided over the Cannes jury, including Martin Scorsese (1998), Clint Eastwood (1994) andQuentin Tarantino (2004).

The Cannes Film Festival runs from 15 to 26 Ma
y. 

Manish Arora in Paris A/W 2013: Glamor and Funky Leather Turbans


By Liza Foreman

Manish Arora sent an autumn/winter 2013 collection down the Paris runway on Thursday inspired by the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

The designer transformed geometric shapes inspired by the psychedelic forms of the desert by using laser to dress up his glamorous and adventurous collection of pencil skirts, over-sized jackets, leather turbans, shoes covered in opulent jewels, and knitwear for the first time. 

Peplum skirts, colors of sky blue, navy and green and fabrics of neoprene, cotton velvet and silk crepe  rounded out the collection.

Whatever the theme, it still made a play on the designer's Indian roots with the magical fantasy of the collection and feminine glamor.


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keyn...

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keyn...: LizaOnFilm: 'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keynote : By Liza Foreman MIPTV announces today that Howard Gordonand Gideon Raff, e...

Ground Zero Hold Second Paris Runway Show

By Liza Foreman

Ground Zero held their second RTW Show during Paris Fashion Week today.

The label was founded by brothers Eri and Philip Chu. The young designers began their journey in London, experimenting between Graphics and Fashion. Their signature paradox plays with prints and silhouettes, transforming concepts into visually aesthetic garments.

Today's AW13 Collection is the evolution of women and machinery, where femininity is challenged by the manifest existence of technology. Regiments of futurism give this collection strong characteristics and modern elegance, consisting new applications of neoprene, cashmere and leather, protecting the body from its transitional surroundings.

Enriched by the classic fabrics vary from delicate silks, chiffon and organza, in contrary to harmonize the contours of lineation. Timeless details can be found in the balance of simplicity, within the form and structures complementing the androgynous prints.

AW13 was described as the reconnaissance of "Ground zero's Galaxy, a vision quest to conquer light-year in the present day.

LizaOnFilm: 'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keynote

LizaOnFilm: 'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keynote: By Liza Foreman MIPTV announces today that Howard Gordonand Gideon Raff, executive producers of multi-award-winning drama “Homeland ,” w...

'Homeland' Producer To Give MipTV Keynote

By Liza Foreman

MIPTV has announced that Howard Gordonand Gideon Raff, one of the executive producers of the multi-award-winning drama “Homeland ,” will give a MIPTV Media Mastermind Keynote in April at the annual television market.

Organised by Reed MIDEM, MIPTV 2013 will take place in Cannes, 8-11 April.

Now in its second season on Showtime in the US, the Fox 21 production “Homeland” won six Primetime Emmy awards, including the 2012 Outstanding Drama Series, and four Golden Globe awards, including the 2013 Best Television Drama Series. “Homeland” is based on Keshet Broadcasting’s critically-acclaimed Israeli series “Hatufim-Prisoners of War.”

An executive producer of “Homeland,” Howard Gordon first gained international attention for his award-winning work as executive producer of Fox's groundbreaking series “The X-Files.” From 2001 to 2010, Gordon was the showrunner and executive producer of the worldwide hit series “24.”

Before executive producing “Homeland,” Gideon Raff created, wrote and directed “Hatufim-Prisoners of War,” the highest-rated drama series in Israel and winner of nine Israeli Academy Awards for Television, including Best Directing and Best Drama Series. For his writing on “Homeland,” Raff received an Emmy® award, a WGA award, an Edgar Allen Poe award, as well as a Peabody award.

In front of the MIPTV audience, Gordon and Raff will reveal the creative process behind the critically-acclaimed and ratings winning dramas, from conception to screen. They will discuss how these compelling dramas have become hits around the world and what considerations were made in adapting an Israeli story for American TV, creating a hit twice-over. Gordon and Raff will be accompanied by Keshet's VP of Programming, Ran Tellem, who oversaw one of TV's most successful scripted adaptations from day one.

Icon Titles Go To Exclusive Media

By Liza Foreman

Exclusive Media is going to represent Icon Entertainment International’s 200 plus title international library, marking a significant expansion of Exclusive Media’s home entertainment portfolio, it was announced on Tuesday.


This substantial addition from Icon’s international stable into Exclusive Media’s existing library, brings notable titles such as  "What Women Want," " An Ideal Husband," "Mean Streets," and "Project Nim," and the recently released d Ralph Fiennes directorial debut "Coriolanus" to the company’s international sales portfolio. Several titles feature the legendary Hammer actor Sir Christopher Lee, including five films from the 1960’s ‘Fu Manchu’ series.

The deal, negotiated by Guy East, Marc Schipper and Peter Naish of Exclusive Media with Aviv Giladi and Estelle Overs of Icon UK Group, sees Exclusive Media take over all Icon Entertainment International’s titles as well as the Majestic Films library. Under the Majestic Films banner, originally founded by Exclusive Media’s Guy East, the library includes titles such as "Into The West."

Guy East, Co-Chairman of Exclusive Media commented: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Icon. This new deal brings a selection of hugely popular and diverse titles to Exclusive Media and further complements our existing Exclusive Media, Hammer, Spitfire Pictures and Newmarket libraries.”

Aviv Giladi, CEO of Icon UK Group added: “We are delighted that Exclusive Media will be handling the Icon and Majestic international library. The history of the library and the Exclusive international sales portfolio makes this a good fit as we continue at Icon UK Group to focus on film finance and production.”

Helmed by Co-Chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East, Exclusive Media is a major force in the film production and international distribution arena. The action thriller "Snitch" starring Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon is currently in theaters through Lionsgate Entertainment.

Exclusive Media is in post-production on Ron Howard’s epic feature film "Rush" starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl produced with production partners Cross Creek Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Working Title, Brian Grazer, and Revolution Films with Universal Pictures set to release theatrically in the US on September 20th, 2013.

Current productions include the recently wrapped "Parkland" staring Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton,Jacki Weaver and Paul Giamatti produced with Playtone Pictures’ Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman and written and directed by Peter Landesman; "Can A Song Save Your Life?" starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green, James Corden and Catherine Keener directed by John Carney; and Hammer’s "The Quiet Ones" directed by John Pogue and starring Jared Harris and Sam Claflin.

Recent releases include "End of Watch" produced by Exclusive Media with John Lesher and director David Ayer and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña which opened at number one in the box office on September 21st through Open Road Films.

Upcoming Exclusive Media productions include include the newly announced "Black Mass" starring Academy Award Nominee Johnny Depp and to be directed by Academy Award Winner Barry Levinson; "Dark Circles" staring Charlize Theron and to be directed by Gilles Pacquet Brenner; "Agent: Century 21" starring Cameron Diaz, written by Greg Brooker, directed by Adam Hashemi and produced by Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance and David Greenblatt with Shane Black attached to executive produce.

Icon UK Group, led by CEO Aviv Giladi, has re-structured in order to focus on in-house film finance and production. Its latest project, Lee Daniels’ "The Butler" has recently finished principal photography in New Orleans. The film stars Forest Whitaker as an African-American man who served as a butler at the White House under eight different presidents, across the course of three decades, and features Oprah Winfrey in her first live action role in over 25 years. 

LizaOnFilm: A Maharaja's Dream by August Field

LizaOnFilm: A Maharaja's Dream by August Field: By Liza Foreman Set to launch in New York on February 28, The August Field Fall/Winter 2013 collection entitled "Maharaja's Dr...

A Maharaja's Dream by August Field




By Liza Foreman

Set to launch in New York on February 28, The August Field Fall/Winter 2013 collection entitled "Maharaja's Dream" is one to be felt and experienced as much as it is to be seen. Combining rich Eastern fabrics such as silk brocade, microfiber velvet and satin with classic Western tailoring, the line envelops the wearer in a cocoon of luxury.

Inspired by a lifestyle of pleasure, leisure, and hedonism, the designer revels in the chic and fabulous. Clothes display a timeless elegance that is at once bold and refined. Standout pieces include a quilted smoking jacket for at-home luxuriating or glamorous evenings in a hotel bar, velvet bomber jackets with satin lapels that redefine louche sophistication and silk brocade suits in retro motifs. "I have always been drawn to glamorous women and I design with this woman in mind," said designer Adrien Field. "She is equal parts chic and irreverent. An August Field woman doesn't think twice about packing Veuve Cliquot and Funyons for long-haul flight via private jet."

The designer's world travels have heavily influenced the collection, which is manufactured entirely in India. Working with master craftsmen, Adrien Field set about creating a line with accessible opulence as its cornerstone. Trousers and skirts are fully lined in satin with no visible seams, microfiber velvet swaddles like a sumptuous cloud and invisible zippers make for seductive garments that are as much a pleasure to take off as they are to wear.

Berlinale on Balance

By Liza Foreman

Despite the current economic situation, interest on the part of professionals in the Berlin International Film Festival has remained constant, the festival reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 19,630 accredited visitors from 124 countries attended the festival, this year including 3,694 representatives of the press. 

The European Film Market (EFM) registered a greater number of exhibitors. Sales were good for Competition films, such as Gloria, The Nun, or Before Midnight, as well as for films from other festival sections, such as the Panorama entry The Broken Circle Breakdown.

On the nine days of the market, a total of 816 films were shown at 1,166 presentations in the EFM’s 40 screening venues; almost 600 of them were market premieres.

With over 8,000 participants from 95 countries, the number of visitors to the EFM was higher than last year. The response to the EFM’sinitiatives and series was also extremely positive. A total of 1,000 visitors came to the EFM Industry Debates presented by the IFA, and different talks for the industry, organized in conjunction with the EFM’s new partner Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.

“We are pleased about the film discoveries at this year’s Berlinale. The eleven days were great fun. The World Cinema Fund (WCF) - a Berlinale initiative that has recently been extended for five more years by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and is supported by Minister of State for Cultural and Media Affairs Bernd Neumann - can be especially proud. Harmony Lessons, the prize-winning film fromKazakhstan, was not only funded by the WCF, but director Emir Baigazin began his career in film at the Berlinale Talent Campus,” says Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick.

The surge of visitors to the Berlinale was even more overwhelming this year: a record number of 303,077 tickets was sold. This is impressive proof of how popular the Festival has become with the public and the enthusiasm with which audiences immerse themselves into the world of film for eleven days.

The Berlinale 2013 reached its highpoint with the award ceremony on February 16. Once again the festival closed with an event that has become a tradition, the Berlinale Kinotag: on Sunday, February 17, 2013, many festival films from the different sections were screened again for the public.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Femme Cuban Filmmakers to Visit U.S.


By Liza Foreman

Marking the first time that a group of Cuban women filmmakers are traveling to the U.S. to present their work in New York, Los Angeles and Miami, a new initiative backed by Women in Film, is to showcase a selection of their films for American audiences.

The showcase includes presentations at USC School of Cinematic Arts, Brooks Institute and Miami International University of Art & Design.

The Cuban women participating in the U.S. showcase represent the island’s preeminent female directors, writers and actors.  They are the award-winning filmmaker and the head of the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque, Marina Ochoa; award-winning Afro-Cuban documentary filmmaker, Gloria Rolando; award-winning feature filmmaker Milena Almira and one of Cuba’s most internationally acclaimed film and theater actresses, Claudia Rojas (pictured).

Honorary hosts include: Annette Bening, Laura Bickford, Jackson Browne, Lisa Cholodenko, Isabel Cueva, Benicio Del Toro, Hector Elizondo, Naomi Foner, Brad Horwitz, Penny Marshall, Mike and Irena Medavoy,  Rick Nicita and Paula Wagner, Sean Penn, Shervin and Anahita Pishevar, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon and Andy Spahn.

Scheduled for Los Angeles (March 6-12), New York (March 13-17) and Miami (March 18-25), the showcases will be complemented by panels to offer educational and cultural opportunities for U.S. and Cuban women in the industry, to forge creative and cultural bonds, and to foster the expansion of a dialogue between nations, creating new spaces wherein to share social, historic and artistic female perspectives.

Screenings and panel discussions are being organized by a collaboration of the most prestigious and proactive institutions that provide a place and an infrastructure for women to grow and excel in the film industry, such as Women In Film.  Ruby Lopez, WIF International Committee co-chair says, “The industry has become a dynamic global community. The Women In Film International Committee mission is to create programming that offers women the opportunity to express and share their voices. Creating this showcase allows for the exploration and expression of multicultural viewpoints that serve to broaden and deepen the art of telling stories through cinema.”

ICAIC, Cuba’s world-famous film institute has a long history of supporting the work of cutting edge filmmakers and producing an unparalleled body of work. Now, with the inception of the Cuban Women Filmmaker’s Mediatheque,  ICAIC is recognizing and supporting the work of Cuban women in the industry. “Cuban women filmmakers have created strong films with significant aesthetic values, that not only raise awareness and inspire action around issues that affect women, but also express a deep penetration into the Cuban culture and contemporary society,” says Luis Notario, Producer/Coordinator of the Cuban Women Filmmakers Showcase and Senior Advisor to the President of ICAIC. “We see this showcase as a unique opportunity to accomplish the long deserved international recognition of their amazing work,” he concludes.

Ellen Harrington, Director of Exhibitions and Special Events for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said: "Over the last three years, the Academy and its International Outreach Committee have been actively working with our counterparts in Cuba, including the ICAIC, to encourage the cultural dialogue between the filmmaking communities in our countries.  It is a pleasure to help welcome these pioneering artists to Los Angeles, much as we have been warmly welcomed on our visits to Cuba. We are excited to build on the current momentum for more creative collaborations between us."

The event has already gained the attention and support of key industry figures including Academy Award nominated producer, Laura Bickford. “I am honored and excited to be a part of this historic professional and cultural exchange,” said Bickford. “Having traveled to Cuba for many years, I have gotten to know the Cuban film industry and look forward to hosting these multi-talented and visionary film professionals coming to the US for the first time,” she added.


The Women In Film International Committee, the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC) and the American Cinematheque, in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, New York Women In Film & Television, MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center,Women Make Movies, Miami Beach Cinematheque, and Coral Gables Art Cinema are behind the event.

Sponsors include Shangri-La Entertainment, Sean Penn, the Shervin & Ana Pishevar Foundation, Brad Horwitz, Cuba Travel Services, SDI Media Group, Aris Anagnos, Hector Elizondo, Harvey Vechery,Councilmember Eric Garcetti, and other generous individuals. KPFK Radio is a media sponsor for Los Angeles.



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Oscar Nominated Director from Palestine Detained a...

LizaOnFilm: Oscar Nominated Director from Palestine Detained a...: By Liza Foreman It's not every day that a Palestinian film gets nominated for an Oscar. It is only days to go until the annual awards cere...

Oscar Nominated Director from Palestine Detained at LAX

By Liza Foreman

It's not every day that a Palestinian film gets nominated for an Oscar. It is only days to go until the annual awards ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles but Emad Burnat, the co-director of "Five Broken Cameras" almost didn't make it.

Herewith his statement upon being detained at LAX airport:

"Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.



"After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: 'Maybe we'll have to go back.' I could see his heart sink.

"Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout he West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day."

-- Emad Burnat, Co-Director of 5 BROKEN CAMERAS

LizaOnFilm: 'Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity' Opens at th...

LizaOnFilm: 'Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity' Opens at th...: By Liza Foreman The exhibition "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity" is to open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Feb...

'Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity' Opens at the Met.

By Liza Foreman

The exhibition "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity" is to open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on February 26.

"Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity," as per the press release, presents a "revealing look at the role of fashion in the works of the Impressionists and their contemporaries."

80 major figure paintings, seen in concert with period costumes, accessories, fashion plates, photographs, and popular prints, highlight the vital relationship between fashion and art during the pivotal years, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, when Paris emerged as the style capital of the world. 

With the rise of the department store, the advent of ready-made wear, and the proliferation of fashion magazines, those at the forefront of the avant-garde—from Manet, Monet, and Renoir to Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Zola—turned a fresh eye to contemporary dress, embracing la mode as the harbinger of la modernité. The novelty, vibrancy, and fleeting allure of the latest trends in fashion proved seductive for a generation of artists and writers who sought to give expression to the pulse of modern life in all its nuanced richness. 

Without rivaling the meticulous detail of society portraitists such as James Tissot or Alfred Stevens or the graphic flair of fashion plates, the Impressionists nonetheless engaged similar strategies in the making (and in the marketing) of their pictures of stylish men and women that sought to reflect the spirit of their age.

This survey, anchored by many of the most celebrated works of the Impressionist era, illustrates the extent to which artists responded to the dictates of fashion between the 1860s, when admiring critics dubbed Monet’s portrait of his future wife “The Green Dress,” and the mid-1880s, when Degas capped off his famous series of milliners and Seurat pinpointed the vogue for the emphatic bustle.

Highlights of the exhibition include Monet’s Luncheon on the Grass (1865-66) and Women in the Garden (1866), Bazille’s Family Reunion (1867), Bartholomé’s In the Conservatory (Madame Bartholomé) (ca. 1881, paired with the sitter’s dress), and 16 other key loans from the Musée d’Orsay; Monet’s Camille (1866) from the Kunsthalle Bremen, Renoir’s Lise (Woman with Umbrella) (1867) from the Museum Folkwang, Essen, and Manet’s The Parisienne (ca. 1875) from the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, which have never before traveled to the U.S.; Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877) and Degas’s The Millinery Shop (ca. 1882-86) from the Art Institute of Chicago; Renoir’s The Loge (1874) from The Courtauld Gallery, London; and Cassatt’s In the Loge (1878) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Representing loans from 40 international lenders and seven of the Museum’s curatorial departments, the Metropolitan’s presentation affords a keen sense of the parallel dictates of style as they evolved in art and fashion over a 20-year period. The fashion component of the exhibition, featuring 16 period costumes and an array of accessories, from hats to shoes and dainty parasols to silver-tipped walking sticks, complements the paintings on view and extends from crinoline dresses and frock coats of the 1860s to the prominent bustle skirts of the mid-1880s. This selection, which showcases the resources of the Museum’s Costume Institute, is supplemented by key loans from European and American collections and is displayed along with a full complement of photographs, fashion illustrations, and journals from the period. This ancillary material of 100 items, largely drawn from the Metropolitan’s encyclopedic holdings, is richly evocative of the late 19th-century Parisian milieu that inspired, provoked, and nurtured the talents—and often, the ambitions—of the painters of modern life.

Fully one-third of the loans will make their debut in New York, and more than three-dozen works of art, costumes, and accessories are shown uniquely at this venue.

The Exhibition Galleries

Organized chronologically and thematically, the installation was conceived with an eye to illustrating the rich and ongoing dialogue between fashion and art in the development of Impressionist painting. It affords a context that illuminates the artistic concerns and ambitions that accorded contemporary dress a defining role in their practice and distinguished their scenes of modern life from those of their contemporaries. The exhibition unfolds in a suite of eight galleries.

Gallery 1. The exhibition opens with large-scale figure paintings of the 1860s that responded to the tenor of the times and the urging of critics who clamored for pictures that were every bit as stylish and elegant as Haussmann’s newly renovated Paris. Artists from Monet to Tissot gravitated to contemporary dress as the key to invigorating threadbare traditions with modern sentiment.

In their various bids for distinction, they chose full-length formats which privileged the latest styles over individual facial features, and, inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s definition of modernity—“the ephemeral, the fugitive, the contingent”—they sought to capture the “look of the moment,” consulting popular carte-de-visite photographs and fashion illustrations. Such practices held sway as artists refashioned figure painting and set forth their own renditions—some designed to please and others to provoke—of “the woman of our time, the French woman, the Parisienne.”

Critics were quick to assess the trend, variously mocking society portraitists as mere “étoffistes”(fabric makers) or, instead, the “current vice” among such innovators as Manet of “valuing a head no more than a slipper.” These distinctions come to the fore in the first gallery, where Manet’s Young Lady in 1866 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1866) and Monet’s Camille(Kunstalle Bremen, 1866) and Madame Louis Joachim Gaudibert (Musée d’Orsay, 1868, paired with a period ensemble from the Metropolitan’s collection) confront pictures by Carolus-Duran and Tissot, with their glossy specificity, tailored to popular taste.

Gallery 2. In the 1860s, artists took their ambitions and palettes out of doors, painting contemporary scenes of leisure that extol the fleeting beauty of a summer’s day. In plein air they sought to arrest the ephemeral qualities of light and shade and the passing whims of the latest trends (such as the vogue for cotton piqué dresses, adorned with black scrollwork embroidery, represented by examples from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, and the Metropolitan).

Conceived on the scale of a grand history painting, Monet’s monumental Luncheon on the Grass(Musée d’Orsay, 1865–66) evolved from plein-air studies onto a 20-foot-wide canvas depicting stylish picnickers. The two large remaining fragments of the scene are shown together for the first time in the United States. Monet returned to the subject in Women in the Garden (Musée d’Orsay, 1866), which is joined by the once-scandalous Young Ladies on the Banks of the Seine(Summer) by Monet’s predecessor Courbet (Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, 1856–57), and Family Reunion, by his good friend Bazille (Musée d’Orsay, 1867).

Galleries 3 and 4. The exhibition continues with two galleries that focus on the white dress and the black dress, and consider the extent to which stylistic choices—in dress and color—combine to make both an artistic and fashion statement. As the poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who launched his own fashion magazine in 1874, observed: “Manet and his school use simple color, fresh, or lightly laid on, and their results appear to have been attained at the first stroke,” animating subjects “composed of a harmony of reflected and ever-changing lights . . . with movement, light, and life.”

Simple white dresses—such as the diaphanous morning and day gowns on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of the City of New York—brought an air of informality and authenticity to scenes of modern life, as exemplified by Renoir’s painting of his 19-year-old mistress, charmingly dressed for the country, in Lise (Woman with Umbrella)(Museum Folkwang, Essen, 1867); and Manet’s depiction of his colleague and future sister-in-law Berthe Morisot in Repose (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, ca. 1871).

Black silk gowns—such as those on view from the Manchester City Galleries and the collection of Gilles Labrosse, Paris—conveyed worldly elegance and sensuous élan. The color black vivified sitters ranging from the beguiling bohemian Nina de Callias in Manet’s Lady with Fans(Musée d’Orsay, 1873); to the quirkily extravagant artist’s model and budding actress Ellen Andrée in Manet’s The Parisienne (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, ca. 1875) and the refined Madame Charpentier in Renoir’s portrait of 1878 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Gallery 5. As the 1870s gave way to the 1880s, and the bustle yielded to the streamlined “princess style,” fashion claimed the interest of an ever-widening circle of artists, from Camille Corot (Lady in Blue, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1874) to Paul Cézanne (The Promenade, private collection, 1871). Painters’ interests shifted along with the changing trends: their attentions, once drawn to the details of embroidered hemlines and flounced underskirts, gradually turned to the dematerializing effect of radiant sunlight on fabric; from the transience of short-lived fashion to the changeability of the weather or the time of day.

In The Swing (1876), Renoir emphasized the play of dappled sunlight shining on the figure’s beribboned dress. The painting is seen side-by-side with In the Conservatory (Madame Bartholomé) (ca. 1881, displayed with the sitter’s gown), in which Bartholomé rendered his wife’s dress with ardent exactitude (all Musée d’Orsay).

Gallery 6. While dress codes for women dictated a full panoply of outfits, the options for men in the late 19th century were simple, limited, and for both wearer and artist not terribly inspiring. Artists met the challenge of adding distinction to their depictions of the modern man with inventive cropping or poses and the novel use of accessories (typified by an assortment of period headwear and canes on view).

For example, in Portraits at the Stock Exchange (Musée d’Orsay, 1878–79) Degas exploited top hats to animate the scene and to define its central figure, the banker and collector Ernest May. Fantin presented the famously controversial Édouard Manet as a fashionable gentleman-flâneur, complete with top hat and silver-tipped walking stick, in his portrait of 1867 (Art Institute of Chicago). Caillebotte portrayed his model in different guises—as a rumpled “barfly” in At the Café (Musée d’Orsay, on deposit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, 1880), and, that same year, as a melancholy bourgeois gent in Portrait of a Man (Cleveland Museum of Art).

Gallery 7. Artists’ appreciation for the newest styles extended to the trappings of consumer culture. Degas’s millinery series—represented by two pastels from the Metropolitan and his largest oil devoted to the subject, from the Art Institute of Chicago—explores the relations between customers and salesgirls, and between women and the objects of their desire. Tissot’sThe Shop Girl (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1883–85) casts the viewer in the role of a satisfied customer leaving a boutique, in which not only money and goods, but also suggestive glances between the sexes, are exchanged; and Manet’s Before the Mirror (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1876) portrays the seductions of the toilette.

Degas’s images of milliners fittingly cap off an era when artists engaged the stuff of fashion—all the “pretty and familiar things” of which Baudelaire spoke—in a rich dialogue that unfolded over a 20-year period. With renewed focus, painters turned from consulting fashion magazines to depicting sitters reading them (Manet’s Woman Reading, Art Institute of Chicago, 1879–80, and Renoir’s Young Woman Reading an Illustrated Journal, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, ca. 1880); from seizing the silhouette at full length to studying the corsets that shaped its form and the hats and shoes that gave it height (Manet’s Before the Mirror, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1876, and Eva Gonzalès’s The White Slippersand The Pink Slippers, both 1879–80, loaned by Vera Wang and another private collection, respectively); and from exploring the effects of light and shade on aniline-dyed fabrics to lingering on underpinnings and accessories, down to a single jet earring (Degas’s eponymous print of ca. 1876–77, The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Their pictures are seen alongside an array of accoutrements coveted by Parisian window-shoppers, from feathered hats and bonnets to lace-trimmed, silk and sateen corsets, drawn from the Metropolitan’s collection; and rosette-adorned slippers from the Museum of the City of New York.

Gallery 8. For the leading critics of the Impressionist age, modernity was an urban phenomenon. The newly widened boulevards of Haussmann’s Paris, like its grand ballrooms and gilded theater boxes, offered new vistas and venues to see, and places to be seen. Many of the paintings that punctuate the Impressionist era are, appropriately, a pavement-walker’s paradise.

Few works are more evocative of modern life or present a more powerful “portrait” of the newly renovated French capital than Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day (Art Institute of Chicago, 1877) in which the anonymity and sterility of the city unfurl beneath a tightly choreographed ensemble of gray silk umbrellas. This picture presides over a gallery of works that highlight the parade of fashion in the city: on the street, after church, at soirées, and at the theater, as depicted in such signature paintings as Renoir’s The Loge (The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1874) and Cassatt’s In the Loge (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1878).

The last Impressionist exhibition took place in 1886. Seurat debuted the Grande Jatte—and his pointillist technique. This monumental park scene (represented here by the final study of 1884, now owned by the Metropolitan), gave memorable form to the striking bustled silhouette of the day, as showcased by two sumptuous silk day dresses from the Museum’s collection. The painting also announced the end of an era. The next generation of artists—the Post-Impressionists—would champion evocation over description, imagination over observation, and timeless sentiment over the fleeting whims of fashion.

From sunny park scenes of women sporting summer dresses and parasols to rainy Paris streets with urban strollers clutching umbrellas—from hats to corsets, promenade day dresses to silk evening gowns—and from large-scale figure paintings of Parisiennes by Manet, Renoir, and Monet of the 1860s to scenes of modern life of the 1870s and 1880s, set in chic townhouses and opera boxes, the exhibition offers a new lens on the Impressionist era. It may be seen as both timely and topical, resonating with the recent conflation of high fashion and art in our time, and responding to recent scholarship.

Golden Bear Winner 'Child's Pose' Sales Hit for Beta


By Liza Foreman

Beta Cinema’s Golden Bear-winner "Child's Pose" has proven a hit with buyers from around the world at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. 

The Romanian family drama by Calin Peter Netzer, which was honored as best film, will be released in theaters in France by Sophie Dulac Distribution, in Italy by Teodora and in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by X-Verleih. 

Also inked were contracts with distributors from the Benelux (Contact Films), Greece (Seven Films), Serbia/Montenegro (Discovery Film and Video Distribution), Australia/New Zealand (Palace Films) and Taiwan (Swallow Wings). Final negotiations all over the world are under way including the U.S. and Great Britain.

Another sales hit in the Beta Cinema line-up is Jan Ole Gerster’s German tragicomedy "Oh Boy," which went to France (Diaphana), Italy (Academy Two), Benelux (ABC-Cinemien), Greece (Strada Films), Australia/New Zealand (Madman) and Taiwan (Fast Forward). The German-Norwegian thriller-drama "Two Lives" starring Juliane Köhler and Liv Ullmann was sold to France (Sophie Dulac Distribution) and Israel (Nachshon Films); Til Schweiger’s comedy sequel "Kokowaah 2" will be distributed in Taiwan by Swallow Wings. Academy Award nominee Marc Rothemund’s new film, "The Girl With Nine Wings," was acquired by Turkey (D Productions) and South Korea (First Run).

Further pre-sales were registered for Philipp Stoelzl‘s lavish screen adaptation of the bestselling novel "The Physician," starring Ben Kingsley, Stellan Skarsgard and Tom Payne. The visually breathtaking adventure epic added Romania and Hungary (Prorom) to its list of pre-sales that comprises all of Eastern Europe. Previously announced deals in these territories include Russia (Luxor), Czech Republic/Slovakia (Bonton), Croatia/Slovenia/Bosnia-Herzegovina (Blitz) and Poland (Monolith).

'The Big Picture' and Catherine Deneuve Coming to Blu Ray


By Liza Foreman

Continuing a recent trend to preserve classic films for the big screen, MPI is bringing the Catherine Deneuve starrer "The Big Picture" to Blu Ray in March.


Romain Duris co-stars in this the psychological thriller which arrives on high-definition Blu-ray and DVD from MPI on March 19, 2013.

The story follows Paul Exben (Romain Duris), a handsome and successful Parisian lawyer with a beautiful wife, two children, and a bright future in the firm he co-owns with his mentor, Anne (Deneuve).

But behind this seemingly perfect facade lies a restless spirit who's uncomfortable in his conformist life and envies the freedom of his neighbor Greg, an uncompromising photojournalist.

After Greg's unexpected death throws his life into chaos, Paul embarks on a cross-continent odyssey of self-discovery and reinvention, leading him to uncover the answer to the question: Is it possible to become someone else?

With "Hitchcockian precision and echoes of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley," director Eric Lartigau explores the themes of identity and creativity through one man's gripping journey from Paris and Brittany to Montenegro, crafting a suspenseful thriller about the dangers that persist even after one engineers the ultimate fresh start.

The film is based on the novel by Douglas Kennedy.

The New York Post's Farran Smith Nehme said: "The movie has the intense psychological focus of the late Claude Chabrol." And The New York Times' Stephen Holden said the film "belongs to a select circle of top-notch Gallic suspense thrillers."

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming ...

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming ...: LizaOnFilm: Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming Live from An... : By Liza Foreman Ever wondered what it is like to be aboard a ship in A...

Hollywood Sirens Toast of Fashion Week


By Liza Foreman


Old Hollywood sirens made their presence felt once again today at London Fashion Week with the Paul Costelloe show, continuing a theme which has been running through the Autumn/Winter 2013 collections.

"Hitchcock heroines, CinemaScope colour schemes and a salute to British heritage set the tone for Paul Costelloe’s autumn winter 2013 comeback catwalk collection at the Portico Room, Somerset House, this morning," as per the the press release.


Combining voluminous cocoon shapes with sharp tailoring, Paul Costelloe presented 30 looks reminiscent of fifties screen sirens, in a palette of saturated pastels and misty tones, including light butterscotch, aquamarine, powder pink, marmalade and seal grey.

Paul Costelloe's autumn winter 2013 Dressage collection was also shown on today's catwalk, along with looks from his Menswear “Cheltenham” Collection, which consists of a range of English heritage styles in bright checks and traditional tweeds.

Paul Costelloe Dressage is a heritage, equestrian-inspired line of weekend wear was launched 25 years ago. Paul Costelloe Dressage autumn winter 2013 was a "salute to the success of the British equestrian team at the London Games last year."

Paul Costelloe said: “After two seasons away, I wanted to return with a womenswear collection that is chic, understated and alive with realism, presented in an intimate location. The Dressage collection has gone from strength to strength and it felt like the right time to finally showcase the line at London Fashion Week.”

LizaOnFilm: Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming Live from An...

LizaOnFilm: Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming Live from An...: By Liza Foreman Ever wondered what it is like to be aboard a ship in Antarctica? Then tune into EZEARTH.TV which breaks ground today by ...

Sea Shepherd To The Rescue: Streaming Live from Antarctica

By Liza Foreman

Ever wondered what it is like to be aboard a ship in Antarctica? Then tune into EZEARTH.TV which breaks ground today by streaming live from Antarctica from aboard the Sea Shepherd flagship vessel, to spread awareness of the crimes against nature as they are happening.

The site was launched by Peter Brown (Entertainment Tonight, Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, Real People) to aid Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians in their fight to save dolphins in Taiji, Japan, the place made infamous by the Academy Award-Winning film "The Cove." The site (EZEARTH.TV) already gets upwards of 10,000 visitors per broadcast.

On the site, Brown shows the newly opened waters via live internet broadcast, streaming real action, in real time from aboard the Steve Irwin, Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel made famous by Animal Planet’s hit series "Whale Wars."

“It’s time we put the real in reality television,” said Brown. “We’re continuing to help the world wake up to what the environmental bad guys are up to and when we catch them live, in action and red-handed, there will be no arguments about it. This platform is the next weapon in helping change the world’s consciousness for a cleaner, safer planet.”

Brown, who was one of the first field producers for Entertainment Tonight and RealPeople as well as one of the earliest members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society utilizes his vast experience in both the entertainment and environmental worlds along with breakthrough technology to bring the truth of the crimes against mother nature to anyone who wants to see it. With his realistic and relatable approach combined with his unique sense of humor and life experience, Brown demonstrates that humanity is not helpless and that each person has the power to make this world a better place.


For more information on Sea Shepherd:

Monday, February 18, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Fashion Sequels: Eugene Lin's LFW Show 'Cupid De L...

LizaOnFilm: Fashion Sequels: Eugene Lin's LFW Show 'Cupid De L...: By Liza Foreman It isn't just Hollywood blockbusters, even fashion collections have sequels. Witness today's London Fashion Week show from...

Fashion Sequels: Eugene Lin's LFW Show 'Cupid De Locke'


By Liza Foreman

It isn't just Hollywood blockbusters, even fashion collections have sequels. Witness today's London Fashion Week show from designer Eugene Lin.

His autumn/winter 2013 collection, "Cupid De Locke" is a sequel to his spring/summer 2013 collection "The Judgment of Paris," picking up on Paris’ sojourn to Troy.

The plot line is far more enticing than your average Hollywood fim, thankfully.

"The collection is a modern interpretation and contrasts between the involuntary violence and fragility of love. It is darker, slicker and sharper than the last collection, and features bullet casings as embellishment, along with a shattered glass print," reads the blurb.

Eugene Lin is a trained pattern cutter from Central St Martins. Eugene studied Fashion Design Womenswear before working with Vivienne Westwood and Roksanda Ilincic. He has been featured in Vogue, among other publications.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

LizaOnFilm: 'The Office' Orla Kiely Style: London Fashion Week...

LizaOnFilm: 'The Office' Orla Kiely Style: London Fashion Week...: By Liza Foreman "The Office" may be one of the best loved British television series. But now consider this London Fashion Week show from...

'The Office' Orla Kiely Style: London Fashion Week

By Liza Foreman

"The Office" may be one of the best loved British television series. But now consider this London Fashion Week show from the Irish designer Orla Kiely, which took place in a faux office setting on Saturday, as the more glamorous answer to Ricky Gervais and co.

LizaOnFilm: From the Runways to the Big Screen: Bikers are Bac...

LizaOnFilm: From the Runways to the Big Screen: Bikers are Bac...: By Liza Foreman A number of films are in the works about motorcycle types, including "Triumph: Aka 40 Summers," a biopic about Steve ...

From the Runways to the Big Screen: Bikers are Back


By Liza Foreman

A number of films are in the works about motorcycle types, including "Triumph: Aka 40 Summers," a biopic about Steve McQueen at Sony.

And so too the trend could be seen on the runways. See the fashion house Bolzoni & Walsh which this week featured a number of biker styles in its London Fashion Week show.

LizaOnFilm: Budapest and Bavaria Move Closer Together

LizaOnFilm: Budapest and Bavaria Move Closer Together: By Liza Foreman Munich’s Bavaria Film Group have agreed on a partnership-based cooperation with Origo Film Studios in ...

Budapest and Bavaria Move Closer Together




















By Liza Foreman

Munich’s Bavaria Film Group have agreed on a partnership-based cooperation with Origo Film Studios in Budapest.

“Over the past two years, we have modernized our studio location, which covers an area of 30 hectares (74 acres) and consists of a total of 12 studios. We have successfully improved and expanded our production facilities and technical services for national and international filmmakers, and equipped the Bavaria studio lot with the utmost technical professionalism, state-of-the-art standards and expertise in all areas,” says Bavaria Film’s group managing director, Achim Rohnke.

“We are glad to have gained an interesting and highly motivated partner with Origo Film Studios, Budapest. This enables us to mutually co-offer and co-operate our studio services and mobile production services for major international productions all over Europe,” as Rohnke explains.

The Bavaria studio lot in Munich/Geiselgasteig is the most integrated production complex in Germany today, providing studios, decoration set-ups, equipment, postproduction, and a costume and prop pool. Europe-wide, it offers one of the most extensive services for film and TV productions. Bavaria’s service providers are among the market leaders in their respective market sector, with locations in Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig, Vienna and Prague. Bavaria Film offices in Los Angeles and Moscow round off the extensive range of expert services offered by the renowned Munich-based film-studio business.

Only three years ago, Hungarian Origo Film Studios were built on the outskirts of Budapest, just a 20-minute drive from the city center and Budapest’s main international airport. Origo Film Studios offer a total available production area of approx. 18,000 square meters on 9 sound stages The studios have already hosted the production “Die Hard V”, starring Bruce Willis. Angelina Jolie gave her debut as a director in the Origo Film Studios. In addition to studio services, production support such as equipment rental, postproduction and decoration set-ups are offered in-house.

Ilona Kecskes is chief executive officer of the Origo Film Group: “We believe that both companies will be able to meet and manage international competitive demands jointly and therefore even more effectively. In Germany and in Hungary, there are film funds and sponsorships with different focuses that can be optimally combined for our customers by our new partnership and cooperation.”

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania: By Liza Foreman If only Dieter Kosslick would move the Berlinale to the summer, I might still visit. Reporting from the heart of...

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania: By Liza Foreman If only Dieter Kosslick would move the Berlinale to the summer, I might still visit. Reporting from the heart of...

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania

LizaOnFilm: Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania: By Liza Foreman If only Dieter Kosslick would move the Berlinale to the summer, I might still visit. Reporting from the heart of...

Berlinale Winners 2013: Cheers to Romania




By Liza Foreman

If only Dieter Kosslick would move the Berlinale to the summer, I might still visit. Reporting from the heart of London Fashion Week, as it only rains here and doesn't get bitter Russian winds, herewith this year's prize winners for the Berlin International Film Festival:


PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY 

GOLDEN BEAR for the Best Film:

Poziţia Copilului 
Child's Pose (pictured)
By Călin Peter Netzer

JURY GRAND PRIX (Silver Bear):

Epizoda u životu berača željeza 
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker 
By Danis Tanovic

ALFRED BAUER PRIZE (Silver Bear):

Vic+Flo ont vu un ours 
Vic+Flo Saw a Bear 
By Denis Côte

AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR (Silver Bear): 

David Gordon Green for
Prince Avalanche (Prince Avalanche)

AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (Silver Bear):

Paulina García in
Gloria (Gloria) by Sebastián Lelio

AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (Silver Bear):
Nazif Mujić in Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker) by Danis Tanovic

AWARD FOR BEST SCRIPT (Silver Bear):


MUSIC SCORE, COSTUME DESIGN OR SET DESIGN (Silver Bear):

Aziz Zhambakiyev for the camera in Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons) by Emir Baigazin

Jafar Panahi for Pardé (Closed Curtain) by Jafar Panahi, Kamboziya Partovi






Friday, February 15, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Brett Easton Ellis Project 'The Curse of Downers G...

LizaOnFilm: Brett Easton Ellis Project 'The Curse of Downers G...: By Liza Foreman Award-winning indie filmmaker Derick Martini has teamed up with Brett Easton Ellis on the new psychological thriller “Th...

Brett Easton Ellis Project 'The Curse of Downers Grove' Nabs Young Talent

By Liza Foreman

Award-winning indie filmmaker Derick Martini has teamed up with Brett Easton Ellis on the new psychological thriller “The Curse Of Downers Grove.”

The film, currently in development, will begin production in the spring. Martini will direct.

Bella Heathcote (pictured) will star. The actress is the winner of the Heath Ledger Scholarship Award and one of Variety’s Top Ten Actors to Watch. She recently starred in Tim Burton’s "Dark Shadows" and David Chase’s “Not Fade Away.”

She will star in the film with Lucas Till (“X-Men: First Class,” “Stoker”) who recently wrapped on “Paranoia” where he stars opposite Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford and Liam Hemsworth. Penelope Mitchell (“Hemlock Grove”) will also take a leading role.

The story is set in a small midwestern town gripped by a curse that claims the life of one high school senior every year. Chrissie Swanson, played by Heathcote, fears she is the next victim of The Curse of Downers Grove.

Heathcote is repped by Medavoy Management and WME, as well as Joanna Milosz in Australia who is also Penelope Mitchell’s Australian agent. Till and Mitchell are both with APA. Till is also repped by Tom Sullivan at WCM Management. Additional cast members to be announced.

The producers are Jason Dubin, Oren Segal and Chiara Trento.

The film is fully financed through private equity.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Cinedigm Secures Rights to 'Berlin Job'

LizaOnFilm: Cinedigm Secures Rights to 'Berlin Job': Berlin at Night  By Liza Foreman Cinedigm has picked up the crime thriller "Berlin Job," it was announced on Saturday by the sales com...

Cinedigm Secures Rights to 'Berlin Job'

Berlin at Night 
By Liza Foreman

Cinedigm has picked up the crime thriller "Berlin Job," it was announced on Saturday by the sales company Arclight in Berlin, during the EFM film market.

"Berlin Job" stars Craig Fairbrass, Vincent Regan, Neil Maskell, Luke Treadaway, Sean Pertwee, Jamie Foreman, AshleyWaIter and Charles Dance. The film is a crime thriller about infamous London gangster cousins, Micky Mannock and Ray Collishaw, who are at the top of the food chain until their world is turned upside down when they lose a shipment of the Russian Mafia's cocaine in rough seas. Set in London, Amsterdam and Berlin, the story races across Europe at breakneck speed asMicky and Ray attempt to stay one step ahead of the police.

“We’ve found the perfect home for the film with Emily Rothschild and the Cinedigm family,” said Clay Epstein, VP of Sales and Acquisitions for Arclight Films. “We’re delighted at the enthusiasm expressed by audiences all over the world with this powerful, commercially viable crime thriller that features an extremely talented cast. We’re excited to be able to bring the film to audiences in North America.”

Cinedigm will release the film on digital platforms as well as DVD and VOD in North America.

The deal was secured by Clay Epstein on behalf of Arclight Films and Emily Rothschild on behalf of Cinedigm.

Image is of Berlin at night.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Robin Williams, Joel McHale Sign on for 'A Friggin' Christmas Miracle'

By Liza Foreman

Joel McHale, Lauren Graham and Academy Award-winner Robin Williams are set to star in Sycamore Pictures dysfunctional holiday comedy "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle."

The screenplay was written by Phil Johnston, ("Wreck-It Ralph"), with Tristram Shapeero attached to direct.

Williams recently wrapped production on Phil Alden Robinson’s "Angriest Man in Brooklyn" and will soon begin production on Dito Montiel’s "Boulevard." The film will be produced by Tom Rice of Sycamore Pictures, and Joe and Anthony Russo.

Production is set to begin on location in Atlanta in late March, 2013.

The film follows Sycamore’s festival hit "The Way, Way Back," starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Sam Rockwell, which premiered last month at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and will be released in theaters this summer by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

"After an extremely exciting and successful week in Park City, Utah, we are very excited to head to Atlanta, Georgia to begin production on Phil’s heartfelt comedy surrounding a lovable but dysfunctional family, with another ensemble cast that is an embarrassment of riches,” says Rice.

The film follows Boyd Mitchler (Joel McHale) and his wife Luann (Lauren Graham), as they spend a dreaded Christmas with Boyd’s father Mitch (Robin Williams) and his family of misfits. Upon realizing that he has left all of his son’s gifts at home, Boyd hits the road with his father and younger brother in an attempt to make the 8-hour round trip before sunrise.

Tristram Shapeero, a veteran director of such acclaimed television shows as “Community,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Veep,” and “The New Girl,” will be making his feature directorial debut.

Sycamore and Hyde Park International have entered into a deal under which HPI will handle international rights. HPI will introduce the film to buyers this week at the EFM in Berlin.

Williams is repped by WME and MBST. McHale and Shapeero are repped by WME. Graham is repped by ICM, and Johnston is repped by CAA.

WME Global packaged the film, arranged financing and will represent North American Rights.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

LizaOnFilm: Charlize Theron to Film 'Dark Places'

LizaOnFilm: Charlize Theron to Film 'Dark Places': By Liza Foreman Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron will star in and produce the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selli...

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content : By Liza Foreman Content has acquired "Crystal Fairy" for all international rights, excludin...

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content

LizaOnFilm: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content: LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content : By Liza Foreman Content has acquired "Crystal Fairy" for all international rights, excludin...

Charlize Theron to Film 'Dark Places'

By Liza Foreman

Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron will star in and produce the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Dark Places to be written and directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner.

Exclusive Media’s Guy East and Nigel Sinclair will produce and fully finance the film alongside Theron’s production company Denver and Delilah Productions with partners Beth Kono and AJ Dix; StephaneMarsil’s Hugo Productions and Mandalay Vision’s Matthew Rhodes. Tobin Armbrust and Alex Brunner of Exclusive Media will executive produce with Peter Safran, and Mandalay’s Cathy Schulman will also produce in some capacity.

Stephane Marsil has developed and produced all of Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s films starting with 2001’s Pretty Things, which garnered star Marion Cotillard a César nomination. When Gilles brought Gillian’s book to Stephane, he immediately optioned it and engaged Gilles to develop his first English language American film.

Charlize Theron will play Libby Day, a woman who, at the age of 7, survives the massacre of her family and testifies against her brother as the murderer. Twenty-five yearslater, a group obsessed with solving notorious crimes confronts her with questions about the horrific event.

Tobin Armbrust, President Worldwide Production and Acquisitions, will oversee the production for Exclusive Media.

Alex Walton, Exclusive Media’s President of International, will introduce the film to overseas buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.

“We are delighted to be teaming up with Charlize, Mandalay Vision, Stephane, and Gilles to bring this riveting thriller based on Gillian’s best-selling book to a worldwide movie audience. Devoted fans of her book will be delighted to learn that the screen adaptation is coming from such a stellar team of creative filmmakers,” said Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.

“I have been working with Gilles for more than ten years now and am very proud of the films we’ve produced. Having developed Dark Places for the past few years as Gilles’ first American film, it is truly gratifying to be working with such fantastic partners in Denver & Delilah, Exclusive Media, and Mandalay Vision,” said producer Stephane Marsil of Hugo Productions.

Mandalay’s Matthew Rhodes & Cathy Schulman said “We knew after our first meeting with Stephane and Gilles that Dark Places would shape up to be a truly special project. Exclusive is a terrific partner, and we’re thrilled they’ve come on board to support Gilles and our stellar creative team in bringing this gripping story to the big screen.”

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content

LizaOnFilm: 'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content: By Liza Foreman Content has acquired "Crystal Fairy" for all international rights, excluding Chile, and will be representing the film at...

'Crystal Fairy' Lands at Content

By Liza Foreman

Content has acquired "Crystal Fairy" for all international rights, excluding Chile, and will be representing the film at this week's Berlinale.

The film had it's world premiere in Sundance where the director Sebastian Silva won the director's award in the World Dramatic Cinema section. The road trip comedy stars Michael Cera ('Juno', 'Superbad'), Gaby Hoffman ('Sleepless in Seattle', 'Field of Dreams') and the Silva brothers, Juan, Jose and Agustin.

Produced by Juan de Dios Larrain and Pablo Larrain (producers of 2013 Oscar nominee 'No'), the film takes us to Chile where self-centered Jamie (Cera) and his friends set off on a wild road trip to experience the legendary hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. The earth loving, free spirited Crystal Fairy (Gabby Hoffman) joins the gang against Jamie's wishes, and the hilarious adventure of psychedelic soul searching begins.

UTA Independent Film Group negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers with Content’s Harry White.

Producer Juan de Dios Larrain said: “This is a story about friends, and humor is the driver. We had a lot of fun working on it. Now its time to present ‘Crystal Fairy’ to the international world, and we are delighted Content has come on board.”

IFC Films has the rights in North America.