Cancer movie wins top prize at Sundance

LOS ANGELES -- "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," a moving drama about a teenager who befriends a classmate with cancer, won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday.

The US documentary award, meanwhile, went to "The Wolfpack," while in the non-US categories the main prizes went to a Scottish filmmaker and a movie about Ukraine's ongoing struggle in the shadow of its former Soviet masters.

Sundance winners regularly go on to critical and awards success at Hollywood's main prize-giving ceremonies. Last year's top winner, "Whiplash," is nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars.

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon took the Grand Jury Prize for a US drama at the end of a two-hour awards ceremony in the Utah mountain resort Park City.

The best director for US drama was named as Robert Eggers for his horror movie "The Witch."

Among US documentaries, "The Wolfpack" by Crystal Moselle took the Grand Jury Prize, while best director went to Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land," about drug wars in Mexico.

In the world cinema categories, the Grand Jury Prize for a drama went to "Slow West" by Scottish filmmaker John Maclean, which follows a teenager on a journey across 19th century frontier America in search of the woman he loves.

"Thanks to dad for taking me to see Westerns when I was a wee boy," he said in a message to the festival.

The world documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to "The Russian Woodpecker," which takes a stab at Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a story about the revolution in Ukraine and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"I don't think we can stop Russia with bombs, but I think with a little bit of art and truth maybe we can make some progress," said the movie's American director Chad Gracia.

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival opened on January 22 and officially ends on Sunday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Snowden film 'CitizenFour' wins top documentary award

LOS ANGELES - "CitizenFour," filmmaker Laura Poitras's documentary about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, was given the top award for best feature by the International Documentary Association on Friday.

The IDA award for "CitizenFour" follows the film's best documentary win at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards this week. It was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award last month and is among 15 films advancing in the Oscars best documentary race.

"CitizenFour" gives a fly-on-the-wall account of Snowden's tense days in a Hong Kong hotel and encounters with journalists as newspapers published details of NSA programs that gathered data from the Internet activities and phone records of millions of Americans and dozens of world leaders.

U.S. filmmaker Poitras shared a Pulitzer Prize this year for her role in publicizing the Snowden documents. She was awarded IDA's Courage Under Fire award last year for her "conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth."

The IDA, a 30-year-old non-profit organization that aims to support documentary films and culture, also bestowed honors on veteran actor-filmmaker and Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, who was given the career achievement award.

Cable network Show time's "Time of Death" was named best limited series, while best short documentary went to HBO Films' "Tashi and the Monk," about a Buddhist monk and his 5-year-old charge Tashi.

Last year's IDA best feature winner, Jehane Noujaim's "The Square," was nominated for an Oscar this year, losing out to "20 Feet From Stardom."

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DiCaprio teams with Netflix on gorilla documentary

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio has teamed up with online streaming service Netflix for a documentary about endangered mountain gorillas in east Africa, filmmakers said Friday.

The "Titanic" star is an executive producer on "Virunga," described as "part investigative journalism and part nature documentary" and directed by Orlando von Einsiedel.

The documentary follows an embattled team of park rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo "as they are caught in the crossfire of poachers, militia and industry in Africa's oldest national park," Netflix said in a statement.

Eastern Congo's protected Virunga sanctuary is home to about a quarter of the world's critically endangered mountain gorillas.

The film will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 7, and via Netflix on the same day.

DiCaprio said films like "Virunga" offer "a window into the incredible cultural and natural diversity of our world, the forces that are threatening to destroy it, and the people who are fighting to protect it.

"Partnering with Netflix on this film is an exciting opportunity to inform and inspire individuals to engage on this topic."

Netflix has pioneered the streaming of original content, including TV shows and films, to rival traditional network and cable broadcasters.

Earlier this month it announced it had signed comic actor Adam Sandler to produce four films to be exclusively distributed to its subscribers, expanding its foray into cinema.

Netflix also recently unveiled plans for a sequel to the Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that will simultaneously premiere on the online streaming service and in selected theaters next year.

The streaming content giant claims some 50 million subscribers in nearly 50 countries, following an expansion into several European nations.

In its latest announcement, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said DiCaprio "intuitively understands that there is nothing like the power of film to reach people's hearts and minds.

"With 'Virunga,' we'll work with Leo to introduce viewers around the world to an incredible, gripping story that will have audiences guessing right up until the final act."

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Gay film to open 2013 Cinemalaya

MANILA – A gay film based on a true story will open the 9th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition next week.

“Jazz in Love,” the first independent documentary film of Baby Ruth Villarama, will be shown at 7 p.m. on July 26 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, right after the Cinemalaya opening ceremony.

The event is open to the public.

A recipient of the Regal Prize during the Manila Film Financing Forum of the 2012 Cinemalaya, “Jazz in Love” tells the story of a gay Filipino named Jazz who prepares for the visit of his German boyfriend by taking a qualifying language exam at the Goethe Institut.

The German visitor, however, is overwhelmed by Philippine realities that may not end happily for Jazz, the CCP said, describing the film.

“’Jazz in Love’ is a deconstruction of love in a country where migration is rampant every day… the film hopes to capture an aspiration to follow the dream of true love and known happy endings,” Villarama said in a statement.

“An average of 350 Filipinos depart daily overseas as partners of foreign nationals. That would picture an estimate of 127,750 documented Filipinos leaving the country every year and getting married to foreign nationals. I hope this little film project will shed wisdom on the truth about the universal language of love and leaving.”

This year’s Cinemalaya will run from July 26 to August 4 at the CCP and at three malls – TriNoma in Quezon City, Greenbelt 3 in Makati, and Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa. The festival will feature 25 new digital films in competition, and about 70 films on exhibition.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com