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Category: Hollywood

  • ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ screenwriter Stewart Stern dies at 92

    ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ screenwriter Stewart Stern dies at 92

    MUMBAI: Two-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and Emmy-winning television writer Stewart Stern (Rebel Without a Cause, The Last Movie, TV’s Sybil) died on 2 February, at the Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington, at age 92 after a battle with cancer.

     

    According to his family, he was “surrounded by the next generation of filmmakers and screenwriters he had mentored and inspired, as well as friends and family who came from all parts of the country for a two-week vigil before his death.”

     

    Over the course of his career, Stern’s screenwriting credits included the iconic ’50s teen rebellion drama, Rebel Without a Cause as well as a related documentary feature on the late actor, The James Dean Story (1957), 1971’s notorious counter-culture indie drama, The Last Movie, The Ugly American starring Marlon Brando, which earned him a Writers Guild Award nomination for Best Written American Drama, Rachel, Rachel starring Joanne Woodward, for which he earned an Oscar nomination (Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) as well as a WGA nomination for Best Written American Drama.

     

    His other screenwriting credits included Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), The Rack (1956, From a Teleplay by Rod Serling), The Outsider (1961), Thunder in the Sun (1959) and his debut feature film, Teresa, for which he earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, shared with Hayes. He also wrote the Oscar-winning short film, Benjy (1951).

     

    “Stewart Stern lived so many lives! He was a great screenwriter, a tireless mentor, a WWII hero, an interlocutor with the primates at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle – and a man possessed of greater generosity of spirit than most anyone I’ve ever met. He had such access to his feelings, and in his presence you had the same. In so many conversations I can recall having with him I ended up near tears – not in sorrow, but in recognition of the truths he so wisely and gently shared. This is the saddest thing. He was 92 but should have been with us forever,” said WGAW vice president Howard A. Rodman.

     

    On the small screen, Stern also wrote several telefilms, including the acclaimed 1976 miniseries Sybil (From the book by Flora Rheta Schreiber) starring Sally Field, which memorably explored multiple personality disorder, earning Stern an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy – Adaptation, as well as a lead actress Emmy Award for Field and the program (Outstanding Special – Drama or Comedy), as well as the holiday TV movie A Christmas to Remember (1978), which earned Stern a Writers Guild Award for Anthology Adaptation.

     

    During the ’50s, Stern also wrote several productions for TV drama anthologies such as Playhouse 90, Goodyear Playhouse and The Gulf Playhouse.

     

    Born on March 22, 1922, Stern was raised in New York City. After graduating from the University of Iowa, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the 106th Infantry Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. For his military service, Stern received a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, and Combat Infantry Badge. According to his family, Stern felt his writing “was always informed by that profound experience and the relations formed with his Army buddies.”

     

    A WGAW member since 1951, Stern served on the Guild’s Screen Council Branch (1970-72). Stern is survived by his wife, Marilee Stiles Stern.

  • Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘Court’ acquired by Zeitgeist Films for US distribution

    Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘Court’ acquired by Zeitgeist Films for US distribution

    MUMBAI: Chaitanya Tamhane’s provocative film, Court, which premiered and won two major awards at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, has been acquired by New York based Zeitgeist Films, for US distribution. 

     

    Opening to rave reviews, Court won two coveted awards at Venice – the Orizzonti award for Best Film and the Lion of the Future award for a Debut Film. Lauded for its thought-provoking take on India’s judicial system, it generated a strong buzz on the festival circuit last year, playing at 19 festivals and winning sixteen awards.

     

    Zeitgeist is renowned for bringing path breaking, auteur-driven films to theatres, and has previously distributed films such as Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste Of Cherry, Christopher Nolan’s Following, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys and many more. 

     

    Zeitgeist Films co-president Nancy Gerstman said, “Anyone who is interested in the constantly changing face of India — with its fascinating contradictions — will appreciate Court. We don’t use the word ‘amazing’ too often, but there is no other way to describe this film and the amount of awards it has collected confirms that others feel the same way.”

     

    Among its other accolades, Court won best film and best director in the international category, honouring the first film by a director, at the Mumbai Film Festival. This was the first time an Indian film won in this section. From there on, it went on to win a FIPRESCI award at the Vienna International Film Festival, the New Talent award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, and the Grand Prix at the Auteur Film Festival in Serbia.

     

    The 27 year old debutant writer-director, Chaitanya Tamhane said, “We could not have asked for a better collaborator for our US release. Given the fact that over the past two decades, Zeitgeist has discovered and supported the films of some of my favourite filmmakers, this feels like a true honour.”

     

    The young producer, Vivek Gomber, who also stars in the film added, “I am thrilled to have Zeitgeist on board. As filmmakers, we want our work to reach as many audiences as possible, across the world. With such an established, well respected, and fearless distributor supporting us, I feel we are in good hands for our American release.” 

     

    A Zoo Entertainment production, Court is slated for an early summer release in India.

  • Beyonce‘s ‘Crazy In Love’ scorches up ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

    Beyonce‘s ‘Crazy In Love’ scorches up ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

    MUMBAI: Soon to be released film, Fifty Shades of Grey, has charts souring with Beyonce‘s “Crazy In Love” song.

    The solo debut of the pop singer, more than a decade later, has been chopped up for a haunting remix for the film’s soundtrack.

    In the film which tells the story of obsessive romance, the song starts off with just a piano before Beyoncé enters with her sultry vocals.

    The soundtrack also features Michael Diamond’s remix of Beyoncé’s “Haunted” and Ellie Goulding’s Max Martin-produced power ballad “Love Me Like You Do.” It also includes music from Skylar Grey, Sia, the Weeknd, Jessie Ware and many more.

  • Kodak inks deals with six Hollywood studios

    Kodak inks deals with six Hollywood studios

    MUMBAI: Kodak has finalised new film supply agreements with all six major Hollywood studios. As part of these agreements, Kodak will continue to provide motion picture film to 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., NBC Universal Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp. and Sony Pictures for their movie and television productions. 

     

    “Film has long been – and will remain – a vital part of our culture. With the support of the studios, we will continue to provide motion picture film, with its unparalleled richness and unique textures, to enable filmmakers to tell their stories and demonstrate their art,” said Kodak chief executive officer Jeff Clarke.

     

    Kodak has been engaged in broad discussions with prominent filmmakers, studios, independent artists, production companies, and film processors to enable film to remain a fundamental medium. Last July, the studios made known their intent to play a key role in leading this industry-wide effort.

     

    Prior to the agreements being finalized, several highly acclaimed films were produced on film, including Oscar nominees Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Interstellar, Foxcatcher, Into the Woods, Leviathan, Inherent Vice and The Judge. Additionally, some of the most-anticipated films of 2015 are being shot on Kodak film, such as Star Wars: Episode VII –The Force Awakens, Mission: Impossible 5, Batman v. Superman – Dawn of Justice, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, Cinderella, Entourage and Trainwreck.

     

    These agreements make it possible for Kodak to continue to manufacture motion picture film while also pursuing new opportunities to leverage film production technologies in growth applications, such as touchscreens for smartphones and tablet computers. This also positions the company to remain the premier supplier of camera negative, intermediate stock for post production, and archival and print film.

     

    “With the support of the major studios, the creative community can continue to confidently choose film for their projects. We’ve been asking filmmakers, what makes a project ‘FilmWorthy.’ Their responses have varied from the need for its exceptional depth to its distinctive grain, but overwhelmingly, the answer is ‘the story.’ They need film to tell their stories the way they envision them, and hold a strong desire for it to remain a critical part of their visual language. Enabling artists to use film will help them to create the moments that make cinema history. The agreements announced today are a powerful testament to the power of film and the creative vision of the artists telling them,” said Kodak president of entertainment and commercial films Andrew Evenski.

  • Mike Leigh to be honoured with BAFTA Fellowship

    Mike Leigh to be honoured with BAFTA Fellowship

    MUMBAI: On 8 February, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts will present Mike Leigh with the Fellowship at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London.

     

    Awarded annually, the Fellowship is the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA upon an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, television or games.

     

    Fellows previously honoured for their work in film include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Martin Scorsese and Alan Parker. Helen Mirren received the Fellowship at last year’s Film Awards.

     

    Leigh said, “What a privilege to be honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship. I’m moved, delighted and surprised.”

     

    BAFTA chief executive officer Amanda Berry OBE added, “Mike Leigh is one of Britain’s finest filmmakers, so I am delighted that we will honour him with the Fellowship, recognising his outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, at this Sunday’s EE British Academy Film Awards. He is a true innovator, an artist and an exceptional filmmaker, which is why last year the Film Committee voted unanimously to award him the Fellowship, the highest honour that BAFTA bestows. We look forward to celebrating his remarkable career.”

     

    A day before the ceremony, Leigh will join a number of close colleagues and friends at a special BAFTA lunch held in his honour at the Awards’ Official Hotel, The Savoy. The lunch will be hosted by Jeremy Hackett of Hackett London, BAFTA’s Official Menswear partner.

     

    Writer-director Leigh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, at the Camberwell and Central Schools of Art and at the London Film School, of which he is now the chairman.

     

    Leigh’s award-winning career features three BAFTA wins, a BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema and a John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence from BAFTA Los Angeles last year, as well as a further 11 BAFTA nominations. He has seven Academy Award nominations and has been celebrated in Cannes, winning the prestigious Palme D’Or for Secrets & Lies, and at Venice, where Vera Drake won the Golden Lion.

     

    Leigh’s first feature film was Bleak Moments; this was followed by the full-length television films Hard Labour, Nuts In May, The Kiss of Death, Who’s Who, Grown-Ups, Home Sweet Home, Meantime and Four Days In July, as well as the television studio version of Abigail’s Party.

     

    Leigh’s other feature films are BAFTA-nominated Naked and BAFTA-winning Secrets & Lies (for Outstanding British Film and Original Screenplay), which also received five Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations, and Career Girls, Topsy-Turvy, All Or Nothing, Vera Drake (for which he won BAFTA for director), Happy-Go-Lucky and Another Year. Most recently he has written and directed Mr. Turner, which received four nominations at this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards and four Academy Award nominations.

     

    Leigh has also written and directed over twenty stage plays, which include Babies Grow Old, Abigail’s Party, Ecstasy, Goose-Pimples, Smelling A Rat, Greek.

  • Ang Lee to direct ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ for TriStar & Studio 8

    Ang Lee to direct ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ for TriStar & Studio 8

    MUMBAI: Jeff Robinov’s Fosun-backed Studio 8, together with Chinese distribution company Bona Film Group, will partner with Tom Rothman’s TriStar and Film4 on the adaptation of Ben Fountain’s acclaimed novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, to be directed by three-time Oscar-winner Ang Lee.

     

    The deal brings together several members of the family of companies at Sony Pictures, which will distribute the film worldwide, except for Greater China, which Bona Film Group Ltd will handle. Film 4 will have UK free television.

     

    The film is now set for start of principal photography in mid-April and casting is underway.

     

    In the film, Bravo Company, and 19-year-old private Billy Lynn, survive a harrowing Iraq battle that is captured by news cameras. They are brought home by the US administration for a promotional tour, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of a Thanksgiving Day football game, all while facing an imminent return to the war. Almost the entire movie takes place during the day of the game, with flashes back to the underlying events and Billy’s heroism.

     

    The film will explore new methods, both technological and artistic, with the goal of further engaging the audience. Lee will use the Sony F65 camera shooting in native 3D, high resolution, and with an ultra-high frame rate to create a different cinematic syntax in service of the story. He envisions creating a new way for audiences to experience drama, including the heightened sensation that soldiers really feel on the battlefield and on the home front.

     

    Rothman said, “Ang is pushing the envelope even beyond what we achieved in Life of Pi. Innovation is key to getting audiences out to cinemas now, but such advances often take a brave village. I have long admired Jeff personally and have great respect for Studio 8 and Bona. It’s a neat fit as we are all in the business of trying to do cool things for Sony, not to mention we park right next to each other.”

     

    Robinov added, “Ang Lee’s vision for this remarkable story is incredibly exciting to all of the partners involved and perfectly captures the types of filmmaker-driven movies we want to make at Studio 8. We are thankful that Tom Rothman included us in this fantastic project and are looking forward to working on this together.”

     

    Bona founder, chairman and CEO Yu Dong said, “Since last year, we’ve been working closely with our strategic partner Fosun to explore their resources in the entertainment industry as we roll out our international strategy to grow a significant presence in Hollywood. Having the opportunity to work on Ang Lee’s next film and being the only partner in China speaks to our strong film production and distribution capabilities, as well as marks a very important first step for Bona to gain international recognition. We look forward to participating in more Hollywood mainstream films while at the same time bringing high-quality foreign films to the domestic market.”

     

    Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk will be produced by Marc Platt, Ink Factory’s Stephen Cornwell, Rhodri Thomas and Simon Cornwell, and Ang Lee. The film is being made in association with Film4, which developed the original draft of the script with Simon Beaufoy. The current screenplay revisions are by Jean-Christophe Castelli.

     

    Studio 8, based in Culver City, California on the SPE lot, is funded in partnership with the Chinese investment management firm Fosun Group and with SPE which will distribute up to six films worldwide annually. Studio 8 has secured 1 billion in financing.

  • Film director Marcel Ophüls and Naum Kleiman to receive Berlinale Camera

    Film director Marcel Ophüls and Naum Kleiman to receive Berlinale Camera

    NEW DELHI: Renowned director Marcel Ophüls and film historian and former director of the Moscow Film Museum Naum Kleiman will be awarded the Berlinale Camera at the 65th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival starting 3 February.

     

    Since 1986 the Berlin International Film Festival has presented the Berlinale Camera to film personalities or institutions to which it feels particularly indebted and wishes to express its thanks. The Berlin International Film Festival will conclude on 15 February.

     

    Ophüls is one of the world’s most important contemporary filmmakers and chroniclers, and a proponent of critical remembrance. By the 1960s he had already made a name for himself as documentary filmmaker. He had started his career as television journalist and assistant director for John Huston, Julien Duvivier and his father, the famous theatre and film director, Max Ophüls.

     

    In his documentary works, he has often focussed on topics related to National Socialism and sought to trace the roots of totalitarianism.

     

    In 1989 Marcel Ophüls presented Hotel Terminus – Leben und Zeit des Klaus Barbie (Hotel Terminus: The Life And Time of Klaus Barbie), the story of Lyon’s local Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, in the Forum programme. Among many other awards, the film won the Peace Film Prize and the Academy Award for Best Documentary. In 1991, Ophüls was again invited to participate in the Forum withNovember Days (Novembertage – Stimmen und Wege). Shot one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he explores the reactions and opinions of, for instance, ordinary citizens whom he discovered in footage from 9 November 1989. The last film he presented in the Forum was in 1995: Veillées d’armes (The Trouble We’ve Seen), in which he criticizes the coverage of war in the media.

     

    In The Memory of Justice (1976) Marcel Ophüls interviews some of the accused at the Nuremberg Trials, veterans of the Vietnam War and survivors of the Algerian War of Independence. In doing so, he explores their awareness of guilt and responsibility. To celebrate the Berlinale Camera for Naum Kleiman, the festival will screen this nearly five-hour monumental work, which has been restored for its premiere at the Berlinale by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation with the support of Transit Film.

     

    “Marcel Ophüls’ oeuvre has contributed significantly to the investigation of anti-Semitism. The Memory of Justice is also a reminder that we must never stop examining the question of collective and individual responsibility,” states Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.

     

    The presentation of the Berlinale Camera to Marcel Ophüls will take place at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele at 3.00 pm on 11 February. Following the screening of The Memory of Justice (1976), there will be a discussion moderated by Sandra Schulberg. In 1948 her father, Stuart Schulberg, made Nuremberg, the first documentary about the Nuremburg Trials. Sandra Schulberg was responsible for its restoration in 2011. In addition to Marcel Ophüls, Scorsese producer Margaret Bodde and Hamilton Fish, President of The Film Foundation will participate in the discussion.

     

    The presentation of the Berlinale Camera to Naum Kleiman will take place at the Delphi Filmpalast in 12 February. To celebrate the occasion, Tatiana Brandrup’s documentary Cinema: A Public Affair (2015) about Kleiman and events leading up to his dismissal will be screened afterwards.

     

    Film historian, author, lecturer and curator Naum Kleiman – born in 1937 in Kishinev (now Moldova) – is one of the most important advocates of film culture in contemporary Russia. He was co-founder of the legendary Eisenstein Archives, and their director from 1967 to 1985. In 1989 he founded the Moscow Cinema Museum, the Musei Kino, whose director he became in 1992. In these years of upheaval, it was a place of great significance for Moscow and an entire generation of young Russian filmmakers. In 2005 the Cinema Museum lost its premises due to a property scandal and since then has only existed as an archive. From 2005 up into 2014, Naum Kleiman and his team fought for a new building. With unflagging commitment, they kept the “Cinema Museum in exile” alive by organising almost daily screenings in movie theatres and museums all over Moscow. In July 2014, the Russian culture minister replaced Kleiman with a new director. In protest at how the new director was managing the museum, the entire staff resigned in October 2014.

     

    As a scholar Kleiman has published extensively on the work of Sergei Eisenstein, film theory and the history of Soviet and Russian cinema. He has received numerous awards, including a FIPRESCI Prize (1987) for the retrospectives he organised during the Moscow International Film Festival, the French L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1992), a “Felix” from the European Film Academy (EFA, 1993), as well as a Goethe Medal (1995). Kleiman has been on juries at many film festivals worldwide, including the International Jury of the Berlinale Competition. For years he was also an advisor and active supporter of the Berlinale’s Forum section.

     

    The Berlinale Camera has been awarded since 1986. Until 2003 it was donated by Berlin-based jeweller David Goldberg. From 2004 through 2013 Georg Hornemann Objects, a Dusseldorf-based atelier, sponsored the trophy, which goldsmith Hornemann then redesigned for the Berlinale in 2008: Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera has 128 finely crafted individual components. Many of these silver and titanium parts, such as the swivel head and tripod, are movable.

  • Colin Firth’s ‘Kingsman Secret Service’ to release in India on 27 Feb

    Colin Firth’s ‘Kingsman Secret Service’ to release in India on 27 Feb

    MUMBAI: One of Colin Firth’s much awaited action film Kingsman Secret Service is all set for an India release on 27 February in English and Hindi.

     

    Based on the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman Secret Service tells the story of Kingsman; a super-secret spy organisation that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into his agency’s ultra-competitive training programme just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

     

    Directed and co-written by Matthew Vaughn with Jane Goldman, Kingsman stars: Colin Firth, Michael Caine and Samuel Jackson with fresh talent – Taron Egerton and Sophie Cookson.

  • Sundance awards announced before commencement of festival

    Sundance awards announced before commencement of festival

    NEW DELHI: Sundance Institute has announced the Science-in Film-Prizes that support the development and exhibition of new independent film projects that explore science and technology themes or that depict scientists, engineers and mathematicians in engaging and innovative ways.

     

    The winning projects and grantees are: The Stanford Prison Experiment by director Kyle Patrick Alvarez, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize; Jonathan Minard and Scott Rashap (Archive), winners of the Sundance Institute / Sloan Fellowship; and Jon Noble (Tyfus), Cutter Hodierne and John Hibey (Otzi), winners of the Sundance Institute / Sloan Commissioning Grants, presented through Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program.

     

    The Stanford Prison Experiment, directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez, will receive a $20,000 cash award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to outstanding feature films focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.

     

    Jonathan Minard and Scott Rashap will receive a $15,000 cash award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

     

    Through the Sundance Institute Feature Film Programme, the award grants $10,000 to an emerging producer of a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The award recognises bold vision and a commitment to continuing work as a creative producer in the independent space.  Past award recipients include: Elisabeth Holm (Obvious Child), James Johnston & Toby Halbrooks (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) and Josh Penn & Dan Janvey (Beasts of the Southern Wild). The award was announced at the annual Producers Lunch at the Sundance Film Festival designed to celebrate producers across the Festival.

    This year’s Short Film programme comprises 60 short films selected from 8,061 submissions.

     

    The Short Film Grand Jury Prize is being awarded to World of Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt) — A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.

    The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction is being presented to SMILF / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Frankie Shaw) — A young single mother struggles to balance her old life of freedom with her new one as mom. It all comes to a head during one particular nap-time when Bridgette invites an old friend over for a visit.

    The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction goes to Oh Lucy! / Japan, Singapore, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi) — Setsuko, a 55-year-old single so-called office lady in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and a new identity, Lucy, by her young unconventional English-language teacher. “Lucy” awakens desires in Setsuko she never knew existed.

  • Frieda Pinto starrer ‘Desert Dancer’ premieres at Santa Barabara Filmfest

    Frieda Pinto starrer ‘Desert Dancer’ premieres at Santa Barabara Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Frieda Pinto-starrer Desert Dancer opened the Santa Barbara International Film Festival presented by UGG Australia in California earlier this week, the Festival presented the Attenborough Award For Excellence in Nature Filmmaking to the Cousteau Family – Jean-Michel and his son and daughter Fabien and Celine — for their decades-long commitment to educating the public and discovering the mysteries of the ocean. 

     

    The screening of Relativity Studios’ Desert Dancer marked the American premiere of the film. Directed by Richard Raymond and starring Freida Pinto, Reece Ritchie, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Cullen and Marmama Corlett, Desert Dancer tells the true story of a self-taught dancer pursuing a dream in a suppressed society. 

     
    “Raymond has delivered an extremely timely and thought-provoking movie about love, truth and the freedom that comes from following your passions,” stated SBIFF executive director Roger Durling. “What better way to kick off our 30th anniversary!”

     

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. Dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema, SBIFF this year is offering 12 days of over 200 films, tributes and symposiums that range from American indie films to world cinema and everything in-between. The Festival in downtown Santa Barbara attracts more than 85,000 attendees.

     

    SBIFF brings to the forefront the importance and power of the art of filmmaking and continues its commitment to providing free children’s education and community outreach programmes through its 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competitions, Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies, AppleBox Family Films, 3rd Weekend and educational seminars.  

     

    Durling said, “The name Cousteau is synonymous with ocean exploration and preservation, something the Santa Barbara community is equally passionate about. Acknowledging them for their dedication to continue their mission through action and education is both an honour and a privilege.”

     
    Desert Dancer is a powerful and unbelievable true story set in Iran that follows the brave ambition of Afshin Ghaffarian. During the volatile climate of the 2009 presidential election, where many cultural freedoms were threatened, Afshin and some friends (including Elaheh played by Freida Pinto) risk their lives and form an underground dance company.  Through banned online videos, they learn from timeless legends who cross all cultural divides, such as Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev.  Afshin and Elaheh also learn much from each other, most importantly how to embrace their passion for dance and for one another.  Richard Raymond directs the film, which was written by Jon Croker, based on the life story of Afshin Ghaffarian.  

     

    The film will be released by Relativity Studios in select cities on 20 March and expanding on 27 March.