Latest news with #filmfestival
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kites Director Walter Thompson-Hernandez on Violence the Poetry in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro
In the favelas of major Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro, it's common to see colorful kites punctuating the skies. The informal settlements, or slums, have become synonymous with their kites and kite festivals, where residents use bamboo and paper to keep the traditional activity alive. That image was a memorable one for filmmaker Walter Thompson-Hernandez, who was struck by the juxtaposition of the innocent activity with the police brutality happening in the same areas. It was enough to inspire him to craft the Tribeca entry Kites, which made its world premiere during the festival. 'I knew there was a story here, a film that speaks to the complexity of how heartbreaking but how beautiful life can be,' he tells MovieMaker. 'On one hand, there's kite flying and how earnest and how pure that is. On the other, there's death and police violence. For me, Kites is a long visual poem that isn't rooted in traditional acts. It's vignettes about three or four different people who live in this community.' Kites took five years to make. Thompson-Hernandez put together $100,000 and convinced a group of friends in Brazil to star. He had another friend do the music, and used a constantly evolving outline to follow the characters in the most natural ways possible. There was no script and plenty of improvisation, and what emerged were themes of life, love and duality. We spoke with Thompson-Hernandez about his unique process for this film, shooting in Brazil, and the importance of representing these characters and real-life favelas internationally. Amber Dowling: Did this process take longer than you potentially anticipated because of how you shot it and put it together? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: It took as long as I think it was supposed to have taken. We took six different trips to Brazil and each time we stayed for five or six days. After the third trip, I thought we were done. But then I would go to edit and find more beats and more discovery. Eventually, I realized there could be a really beautiful component of protection if we saw these guardian angels in heaven. So it just continued to grow in a way that feels beautiful and interesting and provocative. Amber Dowling: The scenes of angels and magical realism tie your vignettes together. Tell me more about threading them into the film. Walter Thompson-Hernandez: They arose from conversations with my friends who had relatives and people they knew who were victims of police violence. It led to these deep, late night conversations about what protection looks like and what safety looks like and what God looks like in spirituality. I came to the conclusion that so many of us believe in protection and have a guardian angel of sorts. Well, what would it look like if our protective angel smoked cigarettes in heaven or got their hair braided by an angel friend? It's just so ridiculous, but also so beautiful and so honest, like the movie. It's imperfect and it's beautiful and it's unpolished, and it just feels like a really honest, longer poem. Amber Dowling: For a film that took half a decade to make, your friends don't seem to age onscreen. Did you use any tricks? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: No, it's funny, because the actors look so great. The children, though, their voices really evolved over five years. Sometimes I'd go back to Brazil and someone's voice was a little deeper. Or their personalities had evolved. We never knew what kind of child we would get. Amber Dowling: What does it mean for you to bring this film out of Brazil? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: I have so much fondness for the work that my friends did. They're all first-time actors, and they're really excited to watch this movie. It just feels really special. This is a story that is both rooted in the specificity of a place, of Rio, of a neighborhood there, but it also has an incredibly universal message. Of hope, of protection, of redemption. It asks this question about our deeds: How are they understood in the eyes of God and the eyes of each other? What does it look like for us to try to do well sometimes and hope for the best? Also Read: Nobu Documentary Director Matt Tyrnauer on Capturing the Beauty of a Food Revolution Amber Dowling: Your main character is a drug dealer but also the funder of a community kite festival. What messages were you going for with that duality? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: This movie is an incredibly existential film. We start the movie right in the middle of what I imagine is this existential crisis. Someone who was a drug dealer but also wants to do well and is kind. He has a mother and a family that he thinks he's doing right by. It's asking deep questions about life and our roles and what we do with our time on earth. Amber Dowling: How did you want to represent the kites themselves in the film? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: Every favela has a kind of annual kite festival that is probably one of the most important days of the year outside of Carnival. I wanted to structure that as the sort of endpoint. It was important to show that these favelas have this beautiful, multi-generational experience in a way that most neighborhoods in the US aren't as connected to each other in terms of generations. There are men and women and boys and girls who fly kites every day and really love kites. That's the most beautiful thing in terms of the importance of people like our main character in an underserved community. Amber Dowling: Why premiere at Tribeca, and what are your next goals for the film? Walter Thompson-Hernandez: It just feels like a city and a festival that is incredibly international. I've always been a fan of Tribeca, and it felt like the right place to have a world premiere. We're still waiting to hear back from a bunch of other festivals, but this was the first. There's already some interest for distribution, and we're hoping to make that happen. I hope people are drawn to the poetry of the movie. It's not a movie that is traditionally made or traditionally structured. If someone is hoping to find a clean and neat three-act structure, they're not going to find that here. It's a long visual poem that is slower in some moments, but there's an interesting moment towards the end where it brings everything together. I'm excited for the conversations that we can have. Main image: Kites, courtesy of Tribeca. Related Headlines Goldfinger: 12 Behind the Scenes Photos of James Bond at His Best 8 Horror Movie Remakes Nobody Really Needed 13 Slasher Movies to Watch for Friday the 13th
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Plainclothes Wins Best Narrative Feature at Provincetown International Film Festival
Plainclothes, the debut feature from director Carmen Emmi, won the Provincetown International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 27th annual PIFF this past weekend. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White. The festival, held in the arts and LGBTQ+ mecca of Provincetown, Massachusetts, hosted a robust and boundary-pushing slate of top-notch films, including James Sweeney's Twinless and Annapurna Sriram's Fucktoys. Highlights included a Q&A between Ari Aster and John Waters, the patron saint of the festival, as Waters presented Aster the Filmmaker on the Edge Award. Murray Bartlett was presented with the Excellence in Acting Award by iconic producer Christine Vachon. Eva Victor, director of Sorry Baby, and River Gallo, director of Ponyboi, both received the Next Wave Award. Additional guests include Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, whose delightful Honey Don't received a very warm reception, as well as Sweeney and Dylan O'Brien, who co-star in the twisty, fascinating Twinless. Other guests included Linus O'Brien, whose lovely Rocky Horror Picture Show documentary Strange Journey opened the festival, as well as Brandon Flynn, François Arnaud, Michael Koehler, Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, Aud Mason-Hyde, Carmen Emmi, Ryan White, Michael Strassner, Yashaddai Owens, Alexi Wasser, Kahane Corn Cooperman, Zackary Drucker, Allison Argo, Elegance Bratton, John Cooper, and Sundance Film Festival director Eugene Hernandez. The festival closed with Michael Koehler's Spiritus: No Business Like Dough Business, about a pizzeria and cafe that is one of PTown's most beloved and enduring businesses. Plainclothes, shot in Emmi's hometown of Syracuse, New York, is the story of a cop who is assigned to bust gay men for having sex in public places — but ends up falling for one of his targets. Come See Me in the Good Light is the story of two poet lovers who embark on an exploraton of love and morality — with unexpected humor — after a terminal diagnosis. The John Schlesinger Awards, presented to a first-time narrative and documentary feature filmmaker, went to Sarah Friedland for the narrative Familiar Touch and Brittany Shyne for the documentary Seeds. The winers of the Juried Short Awards were "Dragfox," directed by Lisa Ott, for best animated short; "Signs From the Mainland," by Michael Cestaro, for Best New England Short; "Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites," by Chheangkea, for Best Queer Short; "Susana," directed by Gerardo Coello Escalante and Amandine Thomas, for Best Narrative Short; and "We'll Carry On Alright," directed by Megan Rossman, for Best Documentary Short. "Yú Cì (Fish Bones)," by Kevin X. Yu, and "Tiger," by Loren Waters, received special jury mentions. (MovieMaker's house style is to italicize feature titles and put short film titles in quotes. ) Main image: Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth in Plainclothes, directed by Carmen Emmi. Related Headlines 5 Ugly Abraham Lincoln Facts No One Likes to Talk About 12 Sleazy '70s Movies That Don't Care About Your Respect 12 Fathers Day Movies About Dads Saving Daughters
Mail & Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Mail & Guardian
Stories that shift us: Mandisa Zitha on what makes a great documentary
Reel impact: Encounters director Mandisa Zitha. Photo: Shunyu Gu What makes a great documentary? It's a deceptively simple question — one that has been floating around my mind for a while. When I put it to Mandisa Zitha, the long-serving director of the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, she responds without hesitation: 'I watch a lot of documentaries for my work; a lot, for months,' she says with a soft laugh. 'But I can say, for me, personally, a good documentary is able to move me from where I am now to somewhere else.' That 'somewhere else' could be emotional, intellectual, spiritual. Zitha describes the best documentaries as those that 'shift you in a particular way, whether it's a mindset shift or creating awareness or having an emotional impact.' It's not about production budgets or running time. It's about transformation. That response resonates deeply with me, as a writer. I tell Zitha that I've always believed that good books make you think, but great books change the way you think, and that surely, the same must be true for great documentaries. She agrees. And it's that kind of storytelling — the kind that lingers, that challenges, that awakens — that Zitha and her team have consistently sought to showcase during her 11 years at the helm of Encounters. Now in its 27th edition, the festival returns this month with a slate of powerful films screening in Cape Town and Johannesburg. And while Zitha resists picking favourites, she does offer a few highlights to look out for, including films that explore both familiar histories and lesser-known legacies. One such title is Sam Nzima: A Journey Through His Lens, which comes to screens not long after the June 16 holiday. The film revisits the iconic image of 12-year-old Hector Pieterson's lifeless body, captured by Nzima during the 1976 Soweto Uprising. But it's not just about the photo: 'It's the story behind the photograph and the story of the photographer,' Zitha explains. 'It really speaks to the theme of art and impact.' District Six Museum Homecoming Centre's Mandy Sanger at a previous festival. Photo: Shunyu Gui Also fitting that theme is Anselm, a stunning 3D documentary by acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders, exploring the life and work of visual artist Anselm Kiefer. 'It's a cinematic pleasure,' says Zitha. 'You just immerse yourself in the cinematography and the art.' Closer to home, Matabeleland by Zimbabwean filmmaker Nyasha Kadandara promises to strike a chord with South African audiences, particularly the large diaspora. The film explores the long shadow of the Gukurahundi massacres, which saw thousands killed during Robert Mugabe's early years in power. Told through the eyes of a young man grappling with the disappearance of his father, the film weaves together personal loss, ancestral reckoning and the complexities of a life between two countries. 'It's about people living with double lives and unfinished business,' says Zitha. 'And it will have a lot of resonance in our region.' Other highlights include The Walk, a globe-trotting film about Amal, a giant puppet created by South Africa's own Handspring Puppet Company. Amal, representing a Syrian refugee child, journeyed from Türkiye to Europe meeting dignitaries, activists, and even the pope, raising awareness about the struggles of displaced children. 'It's a feel-good story,' Zitha says, 'but it also addresses very real issues of migration and children's rights.' The festival's opening night film How to Build a Library is another standout. Directed by Kenyan duo Maia Lekow and Chris King (whose previous film The Letter was a hit at Encounters), it tells the story of two women fighting to decolonise one of Nairobi's oldest libraries. 'They realised the library was full of colonial writings and very little from Kenyan writers,' Zitha explains. 'It took them years to fight bureaucracy and transform that space into something that reflects their own stories.' That feels especially relevant after the recent death of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the Kenyan literary giant whose life's work was committed to decolonising language and literature. His presence looms large over the questions this film asks and the futures it imagines. There's also Blue Road, a film about an outspoken Irish feminist writer who challenged her country's religious and political orthodoxy. Hearing Zitha describe the film reminded me of another iconoclast: Sinead O'Connor, who faced brutal backlash after daring to criticise the Catholic Church. 'It's a similar story, from a similar place, with similar themes,' she notes. Screen time: A symposium at last year's Encounters Documentary Film Festival, which is taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg until 29 June. Photo: Shunyu Gui Alongside the film screenings, Encounters is running a robust programme of talks and panel discussions. These explore everything from climate justice (Climate is Colonial)and historical memory and trauma (Wounds and Whispers), to the intersection of AI and education (Rewiring Knowledge). 'These aren't just for filmmakers,' says Zitha. 'They're for anyone who wants to dive deeper into the issues the films are raising.' And then, of course, there are the awards. Encounters is offering cash prizes, ranging from $500 to $1 000 (R9 000 to R18 000), for winners in several categories, including Best African Documentary (sponsored by Al Jazeera), Best International Documentary, and Best African Short (sponsored by Ster-Kinekor). This year sees the introduction of the Ronelle Loots Best Edit Award and the DFA Liezel Vermeulen Award for Service to the Documentary Sector. 'It's a privilege for us to be able to secure funds for these awards,' says Zitha. 'But, beyond the money, it's about recognising the craft and commitment of the filmmakers who tell these stories.' And ultimately, that's what the festival is about: stories. The kinds that move us. That inform and inspire us. That shift us from where we are now to somewhere else entirely.
ABC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Australian director accused of plagiarising film
An Australian writer-director is vehemently rejecting claims his latest movie is a rip-off of an American release from two years ago. Michael Shanks' horror movie, Together, received positive reviews after screening at the Sydney and Sundance Film Festivals. However, ahead of its release in cinemas, its makers are being sued for breach of copyright.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kristin Froseth & Daniel Zolghadri Are Lovers Under The Influence In First Trailer For ‘Snorkeling', The Debut Film Of Music Video Director Emil Nava; Release Date Set
EXCLUSIVE: Buffalo 8 has set a July 25 digital release for Emil Nava's coming-of-age drama, Snorkeling, whose producers include filmmaker David Ayer and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. You can see a first trailer above. The film marks the feature debut of Nava, one of the world's most well-known music video directors and a five MTV VMA winner, who has worked with stars including Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Post Malone and more. More from Deadline 2026 Golden Globes Sets Timeline, Eligibility Rules & Award Guidelines Paramount Declares Comedies Are Back With New 'Naked Gun' Footage; Trots Out Extended 'Running Man' Look - CineEurope Mike Vecchione To Unveil New Comedy Special Through Nateland Entertainment This Month Starring in the film are Kristine Froseth (The Buccaneers), Daniel Zolghadri (Funny Pages), and Tim Johnson Jr. (Pacific Rim: Uprising). The movie follows teenagers Michael and Jameson. As their romance blossoms, a new hallucinogenic street drug called Snorkeling concocts a fantasy where the user feels invincible: they can interact with the world without fear or inhibition, a true out-of-body experience, but the drug also comes with danger. Snorkeling debuted at the Manchester Film Festival two years ago, winning Best Cinematography. Nava produced the film alongside Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious), Mark Gillespie (Vox Lux), David Ayer (Training Day), and Chris Ferguson (Child's Play). David Ayer commented: 'Snorkeling perfectly captures a dreamy snapshot of life, love addiction and navigating our odd world. It's delicate and beautiful, Emil's vision is felt, not just seen.' [youtube Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
