Each year, World War II stories continue to fill streaming libraries. Just last year, two prominent series in the genre were released: A Small Light, the story of a Dutch woman who helped Anne Frank's family, and Transatlantic, an uplifting tale of activists who evacuated refugees from occupied France. We Were the Lucky Ones stands alongside these projects – it's a heartbreaking story of ordinary people in war.
If you don't have time for TV shows, these five movies about love in wartime are just what you need.
1. Allied, 2016
In 1942, Max, an intelligence officer, arrives in Casablanca to assassinate the German ambassador. Marianne, a member of the French Resistance, becomes his accomplice. Working together, the two fall in love and decide to settle in London. A happy family life, a child, a cozy home – all this can collapse in an instant because of Marianne's secrets.
Allied is an espionage thriller by Robert Zemeckis,...
If you don't have time for TV shows, these five movies about love in wartime are just what you need.
1. Allied, 2016
In 1942, Max, an intelligence officer, arrives in Casablanca to assassinate the German ambassador. Marianne, a member of the French Resistance, becomes his accomplice. Working together, the two fall in love and decide to settle in London. A happy family life, a child, a cozy home – all this can collapse in an instant because of Marianne's secrets.
Allied is an espionage thriller by Robert Zemeckis,...
- 5/13/2024
- by zoe-wallace@startefacts.com (Zoe Wallace)
- STartefacts.com
The University of Southern California Libraries revealed the winners for the 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award on Saturday. The awards, which honor the year’s best film and television adaptations (along with the works on which they are based), returned live to USC’s elegant Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library for the annual black tie awards fete.
This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race, presaging 14 eventual Oscar winners, including in the last decade “Argo” (2013), “12 Years a Slave” (2014), “The Imitation Game” (2015), “The Big Short” (2016), “Moonlight” (2017), and “Call Me By Your Name” (2018).
Screenwriter Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews won the film award for “Women Talking,” which is nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars, while the television prize went to English stand-up comedian and screenwriter Will Smith for the episode “Failure’s Contagious,” from “Slow Horses,” based...
This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race, presaging 14 eventual Oscar winners, including in the last decade “Argo” (2013), “12 Years a Slave” (2014), “The Imitation Game” (2015), “The Big Short” (2016), “Moonlight” (2017), and “Call Me By Your Name” (2018).
Screenwriter Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews won the film award for “Women Talking,” which is nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars, while the television prize went to English stand-up comedian and screenwriter Will Smith for the episode “Failure’s Contagious,” from “Slow Horses,” based...
- 3/5/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Partners to champion new voices, explore growth in global markets.
Mediawan and Miramax TV have struck a deal to partner on development and production of prestige international scripted content kicking off with adaptations of The Immortals and Chocolat.
The Immortals is a series adaptation of René Barjavel’s best-selling sci-fi conspiracy novel Le Grand Secret (The Immortals) about world leaders who cover up a virus that causes immortality.
Miramax’s global head of television Marc Helwig and vice president of television development Mirsada Abdool Raman will handle production for Miramax alongside head of Mediawan Pictures’ Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Atlantique Productions’ general director Nathalie Perus.
Mediawan and Miramax TV have struck a deal to partner on development and production of prestige international scripted content kicking off with adaptations of The Immortals and Chocolat.
The Immortals is a series adaptation of René Barjavel’s best-selling sci-fi conspiracy novel Le Grand Secret (The Immortals) about world leaders who cover up a virus that causes immortality.
Miramax’s global head of television Marc Helwig and vice president of television development Mirsada Abdool Raman will handle production for Miramax alongside head of Mediawan Pictures’ Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Atlantique Productions’ general director Nathalie Perus.
- 2/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The USC Libraries on Wednesday unveiled nominees for its 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the screenwriters of the year’s best film and episodic series adaptations, along with the writers of the works on which they are based.
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Grammys, Guilds & More Related Story Charles White Dies: USC Running Back And Heisman Trophy Winner Was 64 Related Story Hollywood Studies Show Few Gains For Women, People Of Color Directing Films In 2022
This year’s film nominees are the screenwriters and original authors from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Living, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking. In TV, screenwriters were nominated for penning episodes of The Crown, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Slow Horses, Tokyo Vice and Under the Banner of Heaven.
Winners will be announced March 4 at a ceremony at USC’s Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library,...
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Grammys, Guilds & More Related Story Charles White Dies: USC Running Back And Heisman Trophy Winner Was 64 Related Story Hollywood Studies Show Few Gains For Women, People Of Color Directing Films In 2022
This year’s film nominees are the screenwriters and original authors from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Living, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking. In TV, screenwriters were nominated for penning episodes of The Crown, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Slow Horses, Tokyo Vice and Under the Banner of Heaven.
Winners will be announced March 4 at a ceremony at USC’s Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library,...
- 1/18/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Until recently, the literary pedigree of a motion picture could clear a path to an Oscar nomination and often a win. Best Picture champs such as “No Country for Old Men” (2007), “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) and “The English Patient” (1996) all began their lives on the page in works by Cormac McCarthy, F.X. Toole and Michael Ondaatje, respectively. This year, “White Noise,” Noah Baumbach‘s Netflix film based on Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, is angling for such a Best Picture nomination.
The tradition dates back to the earliest days of the Academy Awards when classic novels were regularly adapted for the screen. The 1930s saw “All Quiet on the Western Front” (by Erich Maria Remarque), “Mutiny on the Bounty” (by Charles Nordoff and James Norman Hall) and “Gone With the Wind” (by Margaret Mitchell) walk off with the top prize. The subsequent decade was also fortunate for novelists, as adaptations of “Rebecca...
The tradition dates back to the earliest days of the Academy Awards when classic novels were regularly adapted for the screen. The 1930s saw “All Quiet on the Western Front” (by Erich Maria Remarque), “Mutiny on the Bounty” (by Charles Nordoff and James Norman Hall) and “Gone With the Wind” (by Margaret Mitchell) walk off with the top prize. The subsequent decade was also fortunate for novelists, as adaptations of “Rebecca...
- 11/30/2022
- by Robert Rorke
- Gold Derby
The 2000 film starred Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.
Miramax TV is partnering with Mediawan’s Atlantique Productions for a French-language adaptation of 2000 Oscar-nominated box office hit Chocolat which starred Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.
The film was directed by Lasse Hallstrom and based on the novel by Joanne Harris. It garnered five Academy Award nominations including best picture and grossed more than 152m at the global box office. The Miramax-Atlantique series adaptation will draw from both the original book and feature film as well as additional novels by Harris.
The series will follow a woman and her daughter who settle...
Miramax TV is partnering with Mediawan’s Atlantique Productions for a French-language adaptation of 2000 Oscar-nominated box office hit Chocolat which starred Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.
The film was directed by Lasse Hallstrom and based on the novel by Joanne Harris. It garnered five Academy Award nominations including best picture and grossed more than 152m at the global box office. The Miramax-Atlantique series adaptation will draw from both the original book and feature film as well as additional novels by Harris.
The series will follow a woman and her daughter who settle...
- 11/29/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Some people may be slow to go to cinemas as the pandemic eases, but here in Los Angeles, they’re certainly not sluggish to head to awards season events, and Netflix took over the old Amoeba Records space on Sunset Blvd Monday (aka The Lighthouse Artspace) for their very swanky, in-person concert Playlist event which touted a lineup of platinum composers and music supervisors working on their projects.
Not only did the event serve as a music sampling of Q4 Netflix series and movies, but it also doubled as an awards season preview for voters as well. Miramax broke ground on these types of awards events back in the late 1990s, read their English Patient In Word And Music which featured director/scribe Anthony Minghella reading parts of the script, author Michael Ondaatje reading from the book, and composer Gabriel Yared conducting the score before a chamber orchestra in a...
Not only did the event serve as a music sampling of Q4 Netflix series and movies, but it also doubled as an awards season preview for voters as well. Miramax broke ground on these types of awards events back in the late 1990s, read their English Patient In Word And Music which featured director/scribe Anthony Minghella reading parts of the script, author Michael Ondaatje reading from the book, and composer Gabriel Yared conducting the score before a chamber orchestra in a...
- 11/9/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Miramax is bolstering its team with the hire of three executives who all come to the independent studio from Netflix. Mirsada Abdool Raman has been named VP of Television Development. In her new role, she will oversee all aspects of development across Miramax TV’s slate, reporting to Head of Global TV Marc Helwig.
Miramax also has named Meg Norton as VP of Film Production Finance. She will report to Andrew Golov, EVP Production. Rounding out the executive team additions is Kathrene Gawel who has been tapped as VP of Business & Legal Affairs, reporting to Thom Zadra, General Counsel & EVP, Business and Legal Affairs.
Raman started her career at CAA in the TV Scripted International department before transitioning to Netflix where she helped develop U.S. projects and co-productions. There, she returned to her international roots, moving to Mumbai, India, where she formed content strategy for the India slate and set up shows,...
Miramax also has named Meg Norton as VP of Film Production Finance. She will report to Andrew Golov, EVP Production. Rounding out the executive team additions is Kathrene Gawel who has been tapped as VP of Business & Legal Affairs, reporting to Thom Zadra, General Counsel & EVP, Business and Legal Affairs.
Raman started her career at CAA in the TV Scripted International department before transitioning to Netflix where she helped develop U.S. projects and co-productions. There, she returned to her international roots, moving to Mumbai, India, where she formed content strategy for the India slate and set up shows,...
- 7/22/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Robert Lantos, the veteran Canadian producer of David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” is set to produce a film adaptation of novelist Michael Ondaatje’s “In the Skin of a Lion,” with Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning writer of “Slumdog Millionaire,” on board. Tom Harper, the BAFTA-nominated director of “Wild Rose” will direct.
The movie was co-developed by Lantos’ Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films, and Film4. Amazon Studios has boarded the project. Casting is underway.
Set in Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s, “In the Skin of a Lion” weaves romance, mystery and adventure through the story of Patrick Lewis, who arrives in Toronto and earns a living searching for a vanished millionaire. His life intersects with the orphaned girl Hana and the thief Caravaggio, who reappear in “The English Patient,” Ondaatje’s award-winning novel that was adapted into Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-winning movie with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes.
“As with ‘Crimes of the Future,...
The movie was co-developed by Lantos’ Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films, and Film4. Amazon Studios has boarded the project. Casting is underway.
Set in Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s, “In the Skin of a Lion” weaves romance, mystery and adventure through the story of Patrick Lewis, who arrives in Toronto and earns a living searching for a vanished millionaire. His life intersects with the orphaned girl Hana and the thief Caravaggio, who reappear in “The English Patient,” Ondaatje’s award-winning novel that was adapted into Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-winning movie with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes.
“As with ‘Crimes of the Future,...
- 5/19/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“The English Patient” co-stars Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes will reunite in Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return,” a gritty retelling of Odysseus’ return home from war.
The film is an original take on Homer’s “The Odyssey” with a script by John Collee (“Master & Commander”) and U.K. playwright Edward Bond, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-Up.”
“The Return” is produced by James Clayton and Pasolini for Red Wave Films, while Roberto Sessa’s Picomedia is providing funding. HanWay Films will handle worldwide sales, and will introduce the pic to buyers at next month’s Cannes Film Festival.
Binoche and Fiennes last starred together in Anthony Minghella’s masterful 1996 adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s Booker Prize-winning novel “The English Patient.” The film won nine Oscars in 1997, include best film, and best supporting actress for Binoche. Fiennes was also nominated for best actor.
The film is an original take on Homer’s “The Odyssey” with a script by John Collee (“Master & Commander”) and U.K. playwright Edward Bond, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-Up.”
“The Return” is produced by James Clayton and Pasolini for Red Wave Films, while Roberto Sessa’s Picomedia is providing funding. HanWay Films will handle worldwide sales, and will introduce the pic to buyers at next month’s Cannes Film Festival.
Binoche and Fiennes last starred together in Anthony Minghella’s masterful 1996 adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s Booker Prize-winning novel “The English Patient.” The film won nine Oscars in 1997, include best film, and best supporting actress for Binoche. Fiennes was also nominated for best actor.
- 4/28/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Miramax TV has optioned the rights to Nina de Gramont’s upcoming novel The Christie Affair, a reimagining of Agatha Christie’s 11-day disappearance, to develop and produce as a limited series. British writer Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls) is set to pen the adaptation.
In 1926, when her husband’s affair became public, Agatha Christie vanished for eleven days. This reimagining is told through the eyes of her husband’s mistress, Nan O’Dea. Agatha and Nan transform from competitors to unlikely allies while the world around them remains cloaked in the dark, unable to grasp the complexities of each woman’s relationship to her past and her female identity. Set mostly in the beautiful and historic British spa town of Harrogate, The Christie Affair is part sweeping love story– but not the one you expect — part exploration of the bonds...
In 1926, when her husband’s affair became public, Agatha Christie vanished for eleven days. This reimagining is told through the eyes of her husband’s mistress, Nan O’Dea. Agatha and Nan transform from competitors to unlikely allies while the world around them remains cloaked in the dark, unable to grasp the complexities of each woman’s relationship to her past and her female identity. Set mostly in the beautiful and historic British spa town of Harrogate, The Christie Affair is part sweeping love story– but not the one you expect — part exploration of the bonds...
- 12/1/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
There was a time in the 1990s when not liking Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-winning film, The English Patient, could lead to social ostracization, at least for sitcom characters on a show called Seinfeld. Now comes word that the BBC is developing a television adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel that provided the source material for The […]
The post New ‘The English Patient’ Adaptation in the Works and as ‘Seinfeld’ Predicted, It Will Be Longer appeared first on /Film.
The post New ‘The English Patient’ Adaptation in the Works and as ‘Seinfeld’ Predicted, It Will Be Longer appeared first on /Film.
- 8/19/2021
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Exclusive: The BBC is developing a small screen adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s novel The English Patient.
The British public broadcaster is in the early stages of development of the drama project, which comes from Run and Taboo writer Emily Ballou. It is a co-production between Miramax Television and Paramount Television Studios.
Deadline understands that the drama series represents a new interpretation of Ondaatje’s book, which follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during World War II, and not a remake of the 1996 Miramax feature film adaptation directed by Anthony Minghella that won nine Oscars including Best Picture.
The book, which was published in 1992, follows a unrecognisably burned man — the eponymous patient, presumed to be English — his Canadian Army nurse, a Sikh British Army sapper and a Canadian thief. Set behind the North African and Italian campaigns of the Second World War, the book is told...
The British public broadcaster is in the early stages of development of the drama project, which comes from Run and Taboo writer Emily Ballou. It is a co-production between Miramax Television and Paramount Television Studios.
Deadline understands that the drama series represents a new interpretation of Ondaatje’s book, which follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during World War II, and not a remake of the 1996 Miramax feature film adaptation directed by Anthony Minghella that won nine Oscars including Best Picture.
The book, which was published in 1992, follows a unrecognisably burned man — the eponymous patient, presumed to be English — his Canadian Army nurse, a Sikh British Army sapper and a Canadian thief. Set behind the North African and Italian campaigns of the Second World War, the book is told...
- 8/18/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva and Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Sacred Hunger, the Booker Prize-winning novel by Barry Unsworth, is set for a small-screen remake.
Plan B and Marshall exec producer Chris Bongirne and his production company Smokestack Films have teamed up with financier Stephen Leist to acquire the rights to the book, which follows the journey of a struggling young English doctor aboard 18th century slave ship the Liverpool Merchant.
The book was published in 1992 and it shared the Booker Prize that year with Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which went on to become Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-winning film starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Sacred Hunger begins when the ship is stricken by disease, watching as its crew and their cargo of African prisoners, meant for the slave trade, unite in mutiny, a move that will ultimately free both from the period’s oppressive and dehumanizing grip of commerce and greed.
Bongirne recently exec produced...
Plan B and Marshall exec producer Chris Bongirne and his production company Smokestack Films have teamed up with financier Stephen Leist to acquire the rights to the book, which follows the journey of a struggling young English doctor aboard 18th century slave ship the Liverpool Merchant.
The book was published in 1992 and it shared the Booker Prize that year with Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which went on to become Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-winning film starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Sacred Hunger begins when the ship is stricken by disease, watching as its crew and their cargo of African prisoners, meant for the slave trade, unite in mutiny, a move that will ultimately free both from the period’s oppressive and dehumanizing grip of commerce and greed.
Bongirne recently exec produced...
- 6/28/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins will serve as the guest director of this year’s Telluride Film Festival, the festival announced on Thursday.
Jenkins will select a series of films to present at the 48th Telluride Film Festival, which will take place Sept. 2-6, 2021.
“Each year as we think about who a good Guest Director would be, Tom and I weigh different factors,” executive director Julie Huntsinger said in a statement. “Many are based in the intellectual realm: film knowledge, appreciation and, of course, serious talent. But our recipe always includes something more ephemeral – something that has to do with the quality of the human heart. Rare is the person who exceeds on each of these criteria. Barry Jenkins checks every box and more. We feel lucky and a little incredulous that our long-time friend and very talented colleague has agreed to join us as Guest Director this year. The...
Jenkins will select a series of films to present at the 48th Telluride Film Festival, which will take place Sept. 2-6, 2021.
“Each year as we think about who a good Guest Director would be, Tom and I weigh different factors,” executive director Julie Huntsinger said in a statement. “Many are based in the intellectual realm: film knowledge, appreciation and, of course, serious talent. But our recipe always includes something more ephemeral – something that has to do with the quality of the human heart. Rare is the person who exceeds on each of these criteria. Barry Jenkins checks every box and more. We feel lucky and a little incredulous that our long-time friend and very talented colleague has agreed to join us as Guest Director this year. The...
- 6/17/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
The USC Libraries Scripter Awards honor the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
While Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts, for movies “The Irishman” (Steve Zaillian adapted Charles Brandt’s “I Heard You Paint Houses”) and “The Two Popes” (Anthony McCarten adapted his own play), and Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman’s limited series “Unbelievable,” the winners were Amazon’s “Fleabag” (play and series author Phoebe Waller-Bridge was in London), and Sony’s “Little Women,” whose scribe Greta Gerwig gave a heartfelt speech. This could presage another win at the WGA Awards next week and on Oscar night in the Adapted Screenplay category.
“It’s the book of my life,” Gerwig said...
While Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts, for movies “The Irishman” (Steve Zaillian adapted Charles Brandt’s “I Heard You Paint Houses”) and “The Two Popes” (Anthony McCarten adapted his own play), and Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman’s limited series “Unbelievable,” the winners were Amazon’s “Fleabag” (play and series author Phoebe Waller-Bridge was in London), and Sony’s “Little Women,” whose scribe Greta Gerwig gave a heartfelt speech. This could presage another win at the WGA Awards next week and on Oscar night in the Adapted Screenplay category.
“It’s the book of my life,” Gerwig said...
- 1/26/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The USC Libraries Scripter Awards honor the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
While Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts, for movies “The Irishman” (Steve Zaillian adapted Charles Brandt’s “I Heard You Paint Houses”) and “The Two Popes” (Anthony McCarten adapted his own play), and Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman’s limited series “Unbelievable,” the winners were Amazon’s “Fleabag” (play and series author Phoebe Waller-Bridge was in London), and Sony’s “Little Women,” whose scribe Greta Gerwig gave a heartfelt speech. This could presage another win at the WGA Awards next week and on Oscar night in the Adapted Screenplay category.
“It’s the book of my life,” Gerwig said...
While Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts, for movies “The Irishman” (Steve Zaillian adapted Charles Brandt’s “I Heard You Paint Houses”) and “The Two Popes” (Anthony McCarten adapted his own play), and Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman’s limited series “Unbelievable,” the winners were Amazon’s “Fleabag” (play and series author Phoebe Waller-Bridge was in London), and Sony’s “Little Women,” whose scribe Greta Gerwig gave a heartfelt speech. This could presage another win at the WGA Awards next week and on Oscar night in the Adapted Screenplay category.
“It’s the book of my life,” Gerwig said...
- 1/26/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Ann Roth won an Oscar for Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient
For Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, shot by John Seale, Oscar-winner Ann Roth and her then assistant Carlo Poggioli dressed Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine, Ralph Fiennes as Almásy, Juliette Binoche as Hana, Naveen Andrews as Kip, Willem Dafoe as Caravaggio, and Colin Firth as Katharine’s husband Geoffrey.
Ralph Fiennes as Almásy
The English Patient won Oscars for Best Picture (producer Saul Zaentz), Director, Actress in a Supporting Role (Binoche), Cinematography, Editing (Walter Murch), Original Dramatic Score (Gabriel Yared), Art Direction, and Sound, and BAFTAs for Best...
For Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, shot by John Seale, Oscar-winner Ann Roth and her then assistant Carlo Poggioli dressed Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine, Ralph Fiennes as Almásy, Juliette Binoche as Hana, Naveen Andrews as Kip, Willem Dafoe as Caravaggio, and Colin Firth as Katharine’s husband Geoffrey.
Ralph Fiennes as Almásy
The English Patient won Oscars for Best Picture (producer Saul Zaentz), Director, Actress in a Supporting Role (Binoche), Cinematography, Editing (Walter Murch), Original Dramatic Score (Gabriel Yared), Art Direction, and Sound, and BAFTAs for Best...
- 1/20/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 32nd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were the exception that prove the rule: “Leave No Trace” screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini were not nominated for the Oscar; they adapted Peter Rock, author of “My Abandonment.”
The year before was more typical, as the Scripter Award went to “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019 eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.
Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts,...
Last year’s Scripter winners were the exception that prove the rule: “Leave No Trace” screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini were not nominated for the Oscar; they adapted Peter Rock, author of “My Abandonment.”
The year before was more typical, as the Scripter Award went to “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019 eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.
Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts,...
- 12/18/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 32nd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were the exception that prove the rule: “Leave No Trace” screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini were not nominated for the Oscar; they adapted Peter Rock, author of “My Abandonment.”
The year before was more typical, as the Scripter Award went to “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019 eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.
Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts,...
Last year’s Scripter winners were the exception that prove the rule: “Leave No Trace” screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini were not nominated for the Oscar; they adapted Peter Rock, author of “My Abandonment.”
The year before was more typical, as the Scripter Award went to “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019 eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.
Netflix dominated this year’s nominations with three adapted scripts,...
- 12/18/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Simon Beaufoy, who won the adapted screenplay Academy Award for “Slumdog Millionaire,” tells what went into writing See-Saw Film’s “A Special Relationship,” which depicts how Elizabeth Taylor’s close relationship with her assistant inspired her to become an HIV/AIDs activist.
Where did the initial idea come from for the script and how did it evolve?
From [Taylor’s] estate. … Everybody focuses on the tempestuous relationships, the many marriages, the whole Richard Burton love story, but nobody really knows what she spent over 30 years doing, which is raising money for people who had HIV and AIDS. She started at a time when it was a deeply unpopular thing to do, and received a lot of negative press for doing it. She didn’t care at all, of course, being the sort of woman she was. She saw a huge need to raise awareness and raise money for people who were in a terrible state.
Where did the initial idea come from for the script and how did it evolve?
From [Taylor’s] estate. … Everybody focuses on the tempestuous relationships, the many marriages, the whole Richard Burton love story, but nobody really knows what she spent over 30 years doing, which is raising money for people who had HIV and AIDS. She started at a time when it was a deeply unpopular thing to do, and received a lot of negative press for doing it. She didn’t care at all, of course, being the sort of woman she was. She saw a huge need to raise awareness and raise money for people who were in a terrible state.
- 11/8/2019
- by Paula Hendrickson
- Variety Film + TV
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Testaments, her long-awaited follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, shared the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction at a ceremony in London last night (October 15).
The literary award was split with Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other. Evaristo became the first black woman to win the prize.
The Testaments was published last month, 34 years after the release of The Handmaid’s Tale. The popular TV adaptation of the original text starring Elisabeth Moss debuted on Hulu in 2017 and has run for three seasons, with a fourth on the horizon.
The novel sequel is set 15 years after events in The Handmaid’s Tale. The series has outstripped the original source material across its four seasons (Atwood is a consulting producer) but that temporal leap means events in the second book will likely come into play further down the line. MGM and Hulu are jointly developing the second...
The literary award was split with Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other. Evaristo became the first black woman to win the prize.
The Testaments was published last month, 34 years after the release of The Handmaid’s Tale. The popular TV adaptation of the original text starring Elisabeth Moss debuted on Hulu in 2017 and has run for three seasons, with a fourth on the horizon.
The novel sequel is set 15 years after events in The Handmaid’s Tale. The series has outstripped the original source material across its four seasons (Atwood is a consulting producer) but that temporal leap means events in the second book will likely come into play further down the line. MGM and Hulu are jointly developing the second...
- 10/15/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Barack Obama has offered some top-notch Summer book recommendations over the past 10 years, and we're steadily making our way through them all. His most recent compilation features the work of Toni Morrison, as well as Ted Chiang and Haruki Murakami. But his picks from years past - including Michael Ondaatje's Warlight and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train - are also worth a read. If you're looking to expand your book collection, we've assembled every captivating title from all of the former president's Summer reading lists!
Related: Popsugar Book Club Readers Share Their Favorite Books of the Summer, So Grab Your Beach Bag!
Related: Popsugar Book Club Readers Share Their Favorite Books of the Summer, So Grab Your Beach Bag!
- 9/2/2019
- by Brea Cubit
- Popsugar.com
If you were thinking of attending this year’s annual Labor Day weekend cinephile celebration high in the Rocky Mountains, it’s too late. Coveted passes to the 46th Telluride Film Festival sold out months ago, and the Los Angeles charter flights to Montrose, Colorado are booked.
Every year the Telluride Film Festival welcomes a new round of filmmakers and cinephiles seeking mutual satisfaction. And it marks the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “The Farewell,” “The Report,” and “Clemency” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded “Rocketman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders. But all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.
Some...
Every year the Telluride Film Festival welcomes a new round of filmmakers and cinephiles seeking mutual satisfaction. And it marks the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “The Farewell,” “The Report,” and “Clemency” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded “Rocketman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders. But all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.
Some...
- 6/19/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
If you were thinking of attending this year’s annual Labor Day weekend cinephile celebration high in the Rocky Mountains, it’s too late. Coveted passes to the 46th Telluride Film Festival sold out months ago, and the Los Angeles charter flights to Montrose, Colorado are booked.
Every year the Telluride Film Festival welcomes a new round of filmmakers and cinephiles seeking mutual satisfaction. And it marks the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “The Farewell,” “The Report,” and “Clemency” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded “Rocketman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders. But all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.
Some...
Every year the Telluride Film Festival welcomes a new round of filmmakers and cinephiles seeking mutual satisfaction. And it marks the real start of the Oscar conversation. Sure, Sundance launched “The Farewell,” “The Report,” and “Clemency” and a raft of strong documentaries, and Cannes yielded “Rocketman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and a rich crop of likely foreign-language contenders. But all these films must withstand a powerful riptide of Oscar-bound movies with massive awards campaigns behind them. Distributors don’t head for Telluride if they aren’t confident that their entries will emerge with buzz and momentum heading into Toronto.
Some...
- 6/19/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 31st-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award honored the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based, at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday in the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library at the University of Southern California. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
Not this year. Amazon Studios’ limited series “A Very English Scandal,” adapted by Russell T Davies from the book by John Preston, took home the USC Libraries Scripter Award for television, which will compete in the 2019 Emmy race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
Not this year. Amazon Studios’ limited series “A Very English Scandal,” adapted by Russell T Davies from the book by John Preston, took home the USC Libraries Scripter Award for television, which will compete in the 2019 Emmy race.
- 2/10/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 31st-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award honored the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based, at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday in the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library at the University of Southern California. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
Not this year. Amazon Studios’ limited series “A Very English Scandal,” adapted by Russell T Davies from the book by John Preston, took home the USC Libraries Scripter Award for television, which already competed in the 2018 Emmy race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
Not this year. Amazon Studios’ limited series “A Very English Scandal,” adapted by Russell T Davies from the book by John Preston, took home the USC Libraries Scripter Award for television, which already competed in the 2018 Emmy race.
- 2/10/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival jury forewoman, Juliette Binoche, is a longtime friend of the fest.
Her film The Night Is Young screened in competition in 1987, and The Lovers on the Bridge appeared in the Forum section in 1992. And in 1997, she took home the Silver Bear for best actress for her work in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient.
The adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel was a success in every sense of the word. Produced by the Harvey Weinstein-topped Miramax, it follows a French-Canadian nurse (Binoche) who, in an Italian monastery, cares for a severely burned Englishman ...
Her film The Night Is Young screened in competition in 1987, and The Lovers on the Bridge appeared in the Forum section in 1992. And in 1997, she took home the Silver Bear for best actress for her work in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient.
The adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel was a success in every sense of the word. Produced by the Harvey Weinstein-topped Miramax, it follows a French-Canadian nurse (Binoche) who, in an Italian monastery, cares for a severely burned Englishman ...
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival jury forewoman, Juliette Binoche, is a longtime friend of the fest.
Her film The Night Is Young screened in competition in 1987, and The Lovers on the Bridge appeared in the Forum section in 1992. And in 1997, she took home the Silver Bear for best actress for her work in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient.
The adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel was a success in every sense of the word. Produced by the Harvey Weinstein-topped Miramax, it follows a French-Canadian nurse (Binoche) who, in an Italian monastery, cares for a severely burned Englishman ...
Her film The Night Is Young screened in competition in 1987, and The Lovers on the Bridge appeared in the Forum section in 1992. And in 1997, she took home the Silver Bear for best actress for her work in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient.
The adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel was a success in every sense of the word. Produced by the Harvey Weinstein-topped Miramax, it follows a French-Canadian nurse (Binoche) who, in an Italian monastery, cares for a severely burned Englishman ...
The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 31st-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
The finalist writers for film adaptation (listed in alphabetical order by film title):
Screenwriters Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole for “Black Panther,” based on the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and author Lee Israel...
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
The finalist writers for film adaptation (listed in alphabetical order by film title):
Screenwriters Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole for “Black Panther,” based on the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and author Lee Israel...
- 1/15/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 31st-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
The finalist writers for film adaptation (listed in alphabetical order by film title):
Screenwriters Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole for “Black Panther,” based on the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and author Lee Israel...
Last year’s Scripter winners were “Call Me by Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory (who won the Oscar), and author André Aciman; past winners include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact the past eight Scripter Award winners have gone on to win Oscars.
The finalist writers for film adaptation (listed in alphabetical order by film title):
Screenwriters Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole for “Black Panther,” based on the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and author Lee Israel...
- 1/15/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Barack Obama continues to be America’s pop culture president. On Friday, Obama shared his list of his 15 favorite movies of 2018, which featured nine directors who are nonwhite.
Those directors include Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), Bing Liu (“Minding the Gap”) Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Shoplifters”), Lee Chang-dong (“Burning”), Chloé Zhao (“The Rider”), Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”), Carlos Lopez Estrada (“Blindspotting”), Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) and Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”).
Obama also listed his favorite books and songs of the year.
Also Read: Michelle Obama Ends Hillary Clinton's 17-Year Run as Most Admired Woman in Us
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama wrote on Instagram.
Obama also shouted out his wife Michelle’s new biography,...
Those directors include Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), Bing Liu (“Minding the Gap”) Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Shoplifters”), Lee Chang-dong (“Burning”), Chloé Zhao (“The Rider”), Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”), Carlos Lopez Estrada (“Blindspotting”), Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) and Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”).
Obama also listed his favorite books and songs of the year.
Also Read: Michelle Obama Ends Hillary Clinton's 17-Year Run as Most Admired Woman in Us
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama wrote on Instagram.
Obama also shouted out his wife Michelle’s new biography,...
- 12/28/2018
- by Omar Sanchez
- The Wrap
Former President Barack Obama has released his annual year-end list of favorites films, books, and music, a tradition he started while in the office.
Among the favorite movies of 2018, Obama listed award faviorites and Oscar Best Picture hopefuls Black Panther, Roma, and Eighth Grade.
Foreign films such as the Lee Chang-dong-directed adapation Burning and Golden Globe nominated Japanese drama Shoplifters were also a favorite for the 44th U.S. President, along with skateboarding documentary Minding the Gap and Mister Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor.
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama shared on his Facebook account. “It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists,...
Among the favorite movies of 2018, Obama listed award faviorites and Oscar Best Picture hopefuls Black Panther, Roma, and Eighth Grade.
Foreign films such as the Lee Chang-dong-directed adapation Burning and Golden Globe nominated Japanese drama Shoplifters were also a favorite for the 44th U.S. President, along with skateboarding documentary Minding the Gap and Mister Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor.
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama shared on his Facebook account. “It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists,...
- 12/28/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Barack Obama may be a couple of years removed from the Oval Office, but the president ex officio is continuing a tradition he started as commander-in-chief of sharing his year-end list of his favorite movies, music, and books. He did not share his favorite shows and streaming series.
“It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama wrote on social media. “It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers — some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before.”
It’s a best-of list that boasts Oscar contenders and box office hits such as “Black Panther,” “Eighth Grade,” and “Roma”; chart-toppers such as Leon Bridges’ “Bad Bad News” and Cardi B’s “I Like It”; and best-sellers such as Michael Ondaatje...
“It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved,” Obama wrote on social media. “It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers — some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before.”
It’s a best-of list that boasts Oscar contenders and box office hits such as “Black Panther,” “Eighth Grade,” and “Roma”; chart-toppers such as Leon Bridges’ “Bad Bad News” and Cardi B’s “I Like It”; and best-sellers such as Michael Ondaatje...
- 12/28/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
by Murtada
The English Patient, the novel by Michael Ondaatje, has won the Golden Booker prize. The one-off award, voted for by the public, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Man Booker prize. The shortlist of five novels was selected by a panel of judges from the 51 previous winners of the Man Booker, which honors the best novels written in English and published in Britain or Ireland. The book, which I read after the film won 9 Oscars in 1996, has always been a favorite. Not only for its beautifully written lyrical romantic love story but for its exploration of the fallacy of nationalism.
The characters in The English Patient - Hungarian, Indian, Canadian and English - form artistic allegiances rather than arbitrary ones based along geographical lines. Those themes resonate even more today, as we are in the midst of a of a volatile debate about immigration...
The English Patient, the novel by Michael Ondaatje, has won the Golden Booker prize. The one-off award, voted for by the public, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Man Booker prize. The shortlist of five novels was selected by a panel of judges from the 51 previous winners of the Man Booker, which honors the best novels written in English and published in Britain or Ireland. The book, which I read after the film won 9 Oscars in 1996, has always been a favorite. Not only for its beautifully written lyrical romantic love story but for its exploration of the fallacy of nationalism.
The characters in The English Patient - Hungarian, Indian, Canadian and English - form artistic allegiances rather than arbitrary ones based along geographical lines. Those themes resonate even more today, as we are in the midst of a of a volatile debate about immigration...
- 7/10/2018
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
The novel has been translated into 38 languages and the film scooped nine Oscars. Now, as The English Patient wins the Golden Booker prize – voted readers’ favourite in 50 years – the author reveals why he could never have been a writer if he’d stayed in Britain
On Sunday night, Michael Ondaatje stepped on to the wide stage of the Royal Festival Hall in London. He found a lectern and, white head bowed, reached into his pocket for a small piece of paper. “It began with a small night conversation between a burned patient and a nurse,” he said. “I did not know at first where it was taking place, or who the two characters were. I thought it might be a brief novella – all dialogue, European-style, big type.”
The audience laughed. Because what actually turned up, of course, was The English Patient: 300-plus pages about four people inhabiting the mined rooms...
On Sunday night, Michael Ondaatje stepped on to the wide stage of the Royal Festival Hall in London. He found a lectern and, white head bowed, reached into his pocket for a small piece of paper. “It began with a small night conversation between a burned patient and a nurse,” he said. “I did not know at first where it was taking place, or who the two characters were. I thought it might be a brief novella – all dialogue, European-style, big type.”
The audience laughed. Because what actually turned up, of course, was The English Patient: 300-plus pages about four people inhabiting the mined rooms...
- 7/9/2018
- by Aida Edemariam
- The Guardian - Film News
The Telluride Film Festival has selected novelist Jonathan Lethem as its guest director for its 45th annual fest.
The festival, running over Labor Day weekend on Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, announced the selection on Friday. Lethem will pick a series of films to screen at the festival and plans to participate in discussions at the screenings.
Lethem has written 10 novels, five short story collections, a novella, two books of essays, a comic series, and articles in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and McSweeney’s. He’s best known for his fifth novel, “Motherless Brooklyn,” the 1999 book that won the National Book Critics Circle Award, Macallan Gold Dagger for Crime Fiction, and Salon Book Award.
The film adaptation of “Motherless Brooklyn” — directed by Edward Norton, and starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, and Leslie Mann — is currently in production and slated for release in 2019. Lethem’s more recent novels include New York Times...
The festival, running over Labor Day weekend on Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, announced the selection on Friday. Lethem will pick a series of films to screen at the festival and plans to participate in discussions at the screenings.
Lethem has written 10 novels, five short story collections, a novella, two books of essays, a comic series, and articles in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and McSweeney’s. He’s best known for his fifth novel, “Motherless Brooklyn,” the 1999 book that won the National Book Critics Circle Award, Macallan Gold Dagger for Crime Fiction, and Salon Book Award.
The film adaptation of “Motherless Brooklyn” — directed by Edward Norton, and starring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, and Leslie Mann — is currently in production and slated for release in 2019. Lethem’s more recent novels include New York Times...
- 6/15/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
The jury vote for the 30th USC Libraries Scripter Award nominees was so close that two ties resulted for the film and television categories. Due to a three-way tie in the nomination round, the writers of seven films and the works on which the films are based will compete for the honors this year.
The winner of the Scripter Award often goes on to other honors, including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Winners in recent years include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” “The Imitation Game,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Argo,” which all won the Oscar in that category.
The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:
Author André Aciman and screenwriter James Ivory for “Call Me By Your Name” Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist” and authors Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell for their nonfiction book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,...
The winner of the Scripter Award often goes on to other honors, including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Winners in recent years include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” “The Imitation Game,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Argo,” which all won the Oscar in that category.
The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:
Author André Aciman and screenwriter James Ivory for “Call Me By Your Name” Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist” and authors Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell for their nonfiction book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,...
- 1/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The jury vote for the 30th USC Libraries Scripter Award nominees was so close that two ties resulted for the film and television categories. Due to a three-way tie in the nomination round, the writers of seven films and the works on which the films are based will compete for the honors this year.
The winner of the Scripter Award often goes on to other honors, including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Winners in recent years include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” “The Imitation Game,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Argo,” which all won the Oscar in that category.
The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:
Author André Aciman and screenwriter James Ivory for “Call Me By Your Name” Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist” and authors Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell for their nonfiction book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,...
The winner of the Scripter Award often goes on to other honors, including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Winners in recent years include “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” “The Imitation Game,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Argo,” which all won the Oscar in that category.
The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:
Author André Aciman and screenwriter James Ivory for “Call Me By Your Name” Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist” and authors Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell for their nonfiction book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,...
- 1/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Rick Mercer is saying goodbye to the “Rick Mercer Report” after 15 seasons on the air. Related: Rick Mercer And Author Michael Ondaatje Demand Release Of Jailed Canadian Journalist The Canadian comic icon announced the news in one of his signature rants, posted to Twitter. A message from the alley… pic.twitter.com/rMnDIEqjmd — Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) September […]...
- 9/25/2017
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
Max Minghella follows in father Anthony’s footsteps as a screenwriter and director
The late Anthony Minghella was one of Britain’s most admired film-makers, winning nine Oscars for The English Patient, the war drama he wrote and directed, inspired by Michael Ondaatje’s novel. A decade after his death, his son is following in his footsteps as a writer and director, working with the producer of La La Land, the musical that won six Oscars this year.
Actor Max Minghella is making his directorial debut with a British feature film set on the Isle of Wight, where his father’s family ran an ice-cream business. The new film, Teen Spirit, is a coming-of-age drama about a shy girl who has dreams of becoming a pop star and enters an international music competition.
Continue reading...
The late Anthony Minghella was one of Britain’s most admired film-makers, winning nine Oscars for The English Patient, the war drama he wrote and directed, inspired by Michael Ondaatje’s novel. A decade after his death, his son is following in his footsteps as a writer and director, working with the producer of La La Land, the musical that won six Oscars this year.
Actor Max Minghella is making his directorial debut with a British feature film set on the Isle of Wight, where his father’s family ran an ice-cream business. The new film, Teen Spirit, is a coming-of-age drama about a shy girl who has dreams of becoming a pop star and enters an international music competition.
Continue reading...
- 7/22/2017
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
Slumdog Millionaire scribe Simon Beaufoy is set to adapt a feature film based on Michael Ondaatje's Giller Prize-winning novel In The Skin of A Lion for Serendipity Point Films, Potboiler Productions and Film4. The story, which will be produced by Serendipity's Robert Lantos and Potboiler's Andrea Calderwood, is an epic tale of romance and class conflict, where love soars above tragedy as a city is built amidst the clash between its immigrant workers and the ruling…...
- 6/19/2017
- Deadline
Simon Beaufoy to adapt screenplay about immigrant workers in Toronto.
Serendipity Point Films, Film4 and Potboiler Productions are partnering on a feature version of Michael Ondaatje’s novel In The Skin Of A Lion.
Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire writer whose credits include 127 Hours and The Full Monty, will adapt the screenplay.
Serendipity’s Robert Lantos and Potboiler’s Andrea Calderwood are on board as producers on Ondaatje’s sweeping 1987 saga of love and class.
In The Skin Of A Lion takes place in Toronto in the early 1900s and chronicles the lives and loves of immigrant workers who built the city.
The book set the scene for Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which is regarded as a sequel of sorts. The late Anthony Minghella adapted that novel, which famously went on to win nine Oscars .
Serendipity Point’s recent productions include Barney’s Version and the drama Remember starring Christopher Plummer.
Calderwood and [link...
Serendipity Point Films, Film4 and Potboiler Productions are partnering on a feature version of Michael Ondaatje’s novel In The Skin Of A Lion.
Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire writer whose credits include 127 Hours and The Full Monty, will adapt the screenplay.
Serendipity’s Robert Lantos and Potboiler’s Andrea Calderwood are on board as producers on Ondaatje’s sweeping 1987 saga of love and class.
In The Skin Of A Lion takes place in Toronto in the early 1900s and chronicles the lives and loves of immigrant workers who built the city.
The book set the scene for Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which is regarded as a sequel of sorts. The late Anthony Minghella adapted that novel, which famously went on to win nine Oscars .
Serendipity Point’s recent productions include Barney’s Version and the drama Remember starring Christopher Plummer.
Calderwood and [link...
- 6/19/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Clément Cogitore on Michelangelo Antonioni and Apichatpong Weerasethakul: "who are my masters" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Nicholas Ray's Bitter Victory starring Richard Burton and Curd Jürgens to Stanley Kubrick's Paths Of Glory with Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker and Adolphe Menjou come to mind or the tension built with Kip (Naveen Andrews) checking for mines in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient, based on Michael Ondaatje's novel when reflecting on Neither Heaven Nor Earth (Ni Le Ciel Ni La Terre).
Jérémie Renier is Captain Antarès Bonassieu
Clément Cogitore's haunting debut feature stars Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne discovery Jérémie Renier with Kévin Azaïs (Thomas Cailley's Love At First Fight, Catherine Corsini's Summertime), Swann Arlaud (Axelle Ropert's The Apple Of My Eye), Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys, Eva Husson's Bang Gang), Sâm Mirhosseini, Marc Robert, Hamid Reza Javdan (Atiq Rahimi's The Patience Stone), Edouard Court,...
Nicholas Ray's Bitter Victory starring Richard Burton and Curd Jürgens to Stanley Kubrick's Paths Of Glory with Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker and Adolphe Menjou come to mind or the tension built with Kip (Naveen Andrews) checking for mines in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient, based on Michael Ondaatje's novel when reflecting on Neither Heaven Nor Earth (Ni Le Ciel Ni La Terre).
Jérémie Renier is Captain Antarès Bonassieu
Clément Cogitore's haunting debut feature stars Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne discovery Jérémie Renier with Kévin Azaïs (Thomas Cailley's Love At First Fight, Catherine Corsini's Summertime), Swann Arlaud (Axelle Ropert's The Apple Of My Eye), Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys, Eva Husson's Bang Gang), Sâm Mirhosseini, Marc Robert, Hamid Reza Javdan (Atiq Rahimi's The Patience Stone), Edouard Court,...
- 8/4/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column.
– Exclusive: The 6th Annual Lower East Side Film Festival and their 2016 panel of judges, including Ethan Hawke, Cindy Tolan, Steve Farneth and Raul Castillo have announced their winners. Check them out below.
Best Feature Film – “Americana” – By Zachary Shedd
Best Live Action Short Film – “Killer” – By Matt Kazman
Best Animated Short Film – “The Mega Plush: Episode I” – By Matt Burniston
Best Music Video – The Knocks’ “Collect My Love” – By Austin Peters, Music by The Knocks, featuring Alex Newell
Best Documentary Short Film – “Erosion” – By Brandon Bloch, Tim Sessler and Brandon Bray
The Advocacy Award Presented by Here TV – “Video” – By Randy Yang
The Lesff Neighborhood Award – “Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream” – By Michael Levine
Best of Fest, The Lesff Prix D’Or – “Art of the Prank” – By Andrea Marini
Audience Award...
– Exclusive: The 6th Annual Lower East Side Film Festival and their 2016 panel of judges, including Ethan Hawke, Cindy Tolan, Steve Farneth and Raul Castillo have announced their winners. Check them out below.
Best Feature Film – “Americana” – By Zachary Shedd
Best Live Action Short Film – “Killer” – By Matt Kazman
Best Animated Short Film – “The Mega Plush: Episode I” – By Matt Burniston
Best Music Video – The Knocks’ “Collect My Love” – By Austin Peters, Music by The Knocks, featuring Alex Newell
Best Documentary Short Film – “Erosion” – By Brandon Bloch, Tim Sessler and Brandon Bray
The Advocacy Award Presented by Here TV – “Video” – By Randy Yang
The Lesff Neighborhood Award – “Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream” – By Michael Levine
Best of Fest, The Lesff Prix D’Or – “Art of the Prank” – By Andrea Marini
Audience Award...
- 6/17/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Two years after screening Volker Schlöndorff’s “Diplomacy,” the Telluride Film Festival has named the German filmmaker its 2016 Guest Director. Tucked away in a hard-to-reach ski-resort town in Colorado, the festival has long invited filmmakers, writers, artists and musicians to curate a small selection of movies for its Labor Day Weekend festivities.
Read More: The 2015 Indiewire Telluride Bible: All the Reviews, Interviews and News Posted During The Festival
“Since 1981 Telluride has been part of my life, my favorite festival for the uniqueness of the location and the number of friends I met and made there,” said Schlöndorff, whose best-known work remains 1979’s “The Tin Drum.” “It’s not just about our love of movies, but of life and conviviality and good will for a lot of lost causes. Julie Huntsinger and Tom Luddy are in touch with me all around the year, exchanging funny links and gossip. Of all honours, it’s one of the greatest to curate a program in the mountains.” Julie Huntsinger, executive director of the festival, is equally enthusiastic: “Volker is the type of person Tom Luddy and I dream about when we begin the Guest Director selection process. His love and knowledge of the cinema allows for limitless possibilities; films we could never imagine being shown on the big screen again.”
Read More: Critics Pick the Best Films and Performances from Telluride 2015
Past Guest Directors include Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Errol Morris, Laurie Anderson and Don DeLillo. This year’s edition of the festival, its 43rd, runs from September 2 – 5.
Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
Related storiesAmazon Renews Emmy Winner 'Transparent' For Season 4 -- Indiewire's Tuesday RundownMichelle Williams Joins Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes' 'Wonderstruck' -- Indiewire's Monday RundownWatch: 'Marguerite' Hits a High Note in Feel-Good Trailer for Festival Sensation...
Read More: The 2015 Indiewire Telluride Bible: All the Reviews, Interviews and News Posted During The Festival
“Since 1981 Telluride has been part of my life, my favorite festival for the uniqueness of the location and the number of friends I met and made there,” said Schlöndorff, whose best-known work remains 1979’s “The Tin Drum.” “It’s not just about our love of movies, but of life and conviviality and good will for a lot of lost causes. Julie Huntsinger and Tom Luddy are in touch with me all around the year, exchanging funny links and gossip. Of all honours, it’s one of the greatest to curate a program in the mountains.” Julie Huntsinger, executive director of the festival, is equally enthusiastic: “Volker is the type of person Tom Luddy and I dream about when we begin the Guest Director selection process. His love and knowledge of the cinema allows for limitless possibilities; films we could never imagine being shown on the big screen again.”
Read More: Critics Pick the Best Films and Performances from Telluride 2015
Past Guest Directors include Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Errol Morris, Laurie Anderson and Don DeLillo. This year’s edition of the festival, its 43rd, runs from September 2 – 5.
Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
Related storiesAmazon Renews Emmy Winner 'Transparent' For Season 4 -- Indiewire's Tuesday RundownMichelle Williams Joins Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes' 'Wonderstruck' -- Indiewire's Monday RundownWatch: 'Marguerite' Hits a High Note in Feel-Good Trailer for Festival Sensation...
- 6/16/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Was it Godard or was it Truffaut who said “critics make the best directors”?
A film critic by trade and a poet in his heart, Brian D. Johnson began his film “Al Purdy Was Here” as a fundraising tool to save the A-frame cabin in the woods built by Canadian poet Al Purdy and his wife Eurithe. As making the film progressed, Johnson began to see much more in the film than merely a vehicle [piece] to raise money. “Al Purdy Was Here” soon evolved into something much greater, something deeply poetic by a writer who himself treasures poetry even as he critiques films….
Brian says, “It is about art and life and the fact that they are often in conflict as we try to make our lives. Poetry is my aim…finding poetry in cinema. But music was the reason I made the film.”
Canada's leading musicians and artists come together to tell the tale of Al Purdy.
The documentary features archival materials and first-hand accounts, including interviews with his publisher Howard White, editor Sam Solecki, widow Eurithe Purdy, poets Dennis Lee, Steven Heighton and George Bowering—and Bowering's wife Jean Baird, the powerhouse behind the campaign to save and restore Purdy's A-Frame cabin.
Read Indiewire for more about the movie here.
Gordon Pinsent (“Away from Her”), Michael Ondaatje (“The English Patient”), Leonard Cohen (“Natural Born Killers”), Margaret Atwood (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) all pay tribute to him along with other well known writers, actors, directors and singers who adapt his poetry.
This film premiered, naturally enough, at Tiff 2015 but I only caught up with it at Iff Panama this year because Brian – whom I met one year in Havana and loaned him $100 to pay his hotel bill -- was at Iff Panama where his film was screening. With him was our friend-in-common, Latinaphile, Helga Stephenson, so I tagged along as a friend to see a film about a person I had never heard of before. And I was entranced by what I saw.
Al Purdy was known to be a raucous, barroom brawling Canadian poet, something on a par with Charles Bukowski. In fact they were friends and corresponded extensively, but there is some question as to whether Purdy’s character as a barroom brawler was put on as his persona to help popularize his poetry. Was he actually such a rough person? His wife, Eurithe Purdy, who survived him and is featured in the movie said that at home he was quite a peaceable man (when he was not boozing it up with his pals). He was also a philosophical soul, enraptured by nature—Canada's Walt Whitman as well as its Bukowski.
Sl: How did you get these musicians?
I went to the pantheon of famous Canadian singer-songwriters and asked them to compose and record music inspired by Purdy's work. We paid engineers and musicians. But the artists licensed their songs to us for free, and in return they got to own the rights to the songs.
I got in touch with Neil Young through his brother. I loved Neil's music, and interviewed him for one of his films. Remember Neil Young: Heart of Gold directed by Jonathan Demme?
I sent Neil a Purdy poem called "My 48 Pontiac", written from the Pov of a car in a junk yard—knowing Neil loves old cars. He never did get around to recording an original number for us, but he loved the poem, and the project. So when we wanted to use "Journey Through the Past" (from Neil's 1971 Massey Hall concert album) on the soundtrack, he gave us the rights at no cost.
We selected half a dozen songs for the movie but commissioned and recorded six more, and we're assembling all of them on an album called "The Al Purdy Songbook".
Meanwhile, the film's score was composed by my son, Casey Johnson, who recorded it all with purely analog technology—in the spirit of Purdy's rough and raw esthetic.
The music played at a 2013 benefit concert to save Purdy's cabin in the woods become the impetus for me to make the movie. I remember leaving the show and telling the organizers, "The next thing you should do is an Al Purdy Songbook.") I didn't know I'd end up doing it myself. And as it turned out, it was the music that made the film possible. Musicians are more famous than poets. They have an audience. And this is a movie about a dead poet. How do you make a movie about a dead poet?
The music brings it to life . . . I suppose I could have made a zombie movie instead.
Sl: How did you cast the movie?
You get the most famous people lined up and then the rest follow. I’m friends with Michael Ondaatje. I know Margaret Atwood. I know Leonard Cohen. So I started there.
Sl: How did you finance the film?
The CBC Documentary Channel gave us 25% of the budget and that triggered the rest of the financing. The Rogers Documentary Fund and the Rogers Cable Fund became the other principal contributors.
But Ron Mann, who exec produced, got the ball rolling, and his company, Films We Like, came onboard as the Canadian distributor. We're still looking for international distribution.
The movie felt like a barn-raising, with everyone pitching in to help make it work.
Brian D. Johnson is former film critic for Maclean's, Canada's weekly newsmagazine, is the current president of the Toronto Film Critics Association. Over the years, he also worked as a musician and published poetry, a novel, and several works of non-fiction, including a 25th-anniversary history of Tiff, "Brave Films, Wild Nights, 25 Years of Festival Fever. "Al Purdy was Here” (2015) is his first feature documentary. Once again he'll be writing about film for Maclean's in May at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
A film critic by trade and a poet in his heart, Brian D. Johnson began his film “Al Purdy Was Here” as a fundraising tool to save the A-frame cabin in the woods built by Canadian poet Al Purdy and his wife Eurithe. As making the film progressed, Johnson began to see much more in the film than merely a vehicle [piece] to raise money. “Al Purdy Was Here” soon evolved into something much greater, something deeply poetic by a writer who himself treasures poetry even as he critiques films….
Brian says, “It is about art and life and the fact that they are often in conflict as we try to make our lives. Poetry is my aim…finding poetry in cinema. But music was the reason I made the film.”
Canada's leading musicians and artists come together to tell the tale of Al Purdy.
The documentary features archival materials and first-hand accounts, including interviews with his publisher Howard White, editor Sam Solecki, widow Eurithe Purdy, poets Dennis Lee, Steven Heighton and George Bowering—and Bowering's wife Jean Baird, the powerhouse behind the campaign to save and restore Purdy's A-Frame cabin.
Read Indiewire for more about the movie here.
Gordon Pinsent (“Away from Her”), Michael Ondaatje (“The English Patient”), Leonard Cohen (“Natural Born Killers”), Margaret Atwood (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) all pay tribute to him along with other well known writers, actors, directors and singers who adapt his poetry.
This film premiered, naturally enough, at Tiff 2015 but I only caught up with it at Iff Panama this year because Brian – whom I met one year in Havana and loaned him $100 to pay his hotel bill -- was at Iff Panama where his film was screening. With him was our friend-in-common, Latinaphile, Helga Stephenson, so I tagged along as a friend to see a film about a person I had never heard of before. And I was entranced by what I saw.
Al Purdy was known to be a raucous, barroom brawling Canadian poet, something on a par with Charles Bukowski. In fact they were friends and corresponded extensively, but there is some question as to whether Purdy’s character as a barroom brawler was put on as his persona to help popularize his poetry. Was he actually such a rough person? His wife, Eurithe Purdy, who survived him and is featured in the movie said that at home he was quite a peaceable man (when he was not boozing it up with his pals). He was also a philosophical soul, enraptured by nature—Canada's Walt Whitman as well as its Bukowski.
Sl: How did you get these musicians?
I went to the pantheon of famous Canadian singer-songwriters and asked them to compose and record music inspired by Purdy's work. We paid engineers and musicians. But the artists licensed their songs to us for free, and in return they got to own the rights to the songs.
I got in touch with Neil Young through his brother. I loved Neil's music, and interviewed him for one of his films. Remember Neil Young: Heart of Gold directed by Jonathan Demme?
I sent Neil a Purdy poem called "My 48 Pontiac", written from the Pov of a car in a junk yard—knowing Neil loves old cars. He never did get around to recording an original number for us, but he loved the poem, and the project. So when we wanted to use "Journey Through the Past" (from Neil's 1971 Massey Hall concert album) on the soundtrack, he gave us the rights at no cost.
We selected half a dozen songs for the movie but commissioned and recorded six more, and we're assembling all of them on an album called "The Al Purdy Songbook".
Meanwhile, the film's score was composed by my son, Casey Johnson, who recorded it all with purely analog technology—in the spirit of Purdy's rough and raw esthetic.
The music played at a 2013 benefit concert to save Purdy's cabin in the woods become the impetus for me to make the movie. I remember leaving the show and telling the organizers, "The next thing you should do is an Al Purdy Songbook.") I didn't know I'd end up doing it myself. And as it turned out, it was the music that made the film possible. Musicians are more famous than poets. They have an audience. And this is a movie about a dead poet. How do you make a movie about a dead poet?
The music brings it to life . . . I suppose I could have made a zombie movie instead.
Sl: How did you cast the movie?
You get the most famous people lined up and then the rest follow. I’m friends with Michael Ondaatje. I know Margaret Atwood. I know Leonard Cohen. So I started there.
Sl: How did you finance the film?
The CBC Documentary Channel gave us 25% of the budget and that triggered the rest of the financing. The Rogers Documentary Fund and the Rogers Cable Fund became the other principal contributors.
But Ron Mann, who exec produced, got the ball rolling, and his company, Films We Like, came onboard as the Canadian distributor. We're still looking for international distribution.
The movie felt like a barn-raising, with everyone pitching in to help make it work.
Brian D. Johnson is former film critic for Maclean's, Canada's weekly newsmagazine, is the current president of the Toronto Film Critics Association. Over the years, he also worked as a musician and published poetry, a novel, and several works of non-fiction, including a 25th-anniversary history of Tiff, "Brave Films, Wild Nights, 25 Years of Festival Fever. "Al Purdy was Here” (2015) is his first feature documentary. Once again he'll be writing about film for Maclean's in May at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
- 4/26/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Read More: Toronto International Film Festival Announces Documentary Slate; Frederick Wiseman and Amy Berg Features Top List One man revolutionized and revitalized Canadian literature, and he his finally getting the cinematic attention he deserves in Brian D. Johnson's documentary, "Al Purdy Was Here." The documentary follows Canadian poet Al Purdy both musically and cinematically throughout his career. It also focuses on the revival of a grassroots movement after his death to preserve Purdy's A-Frame cabin as a writing retreat. The cabin became a famous hangout for Canadian literature pioneers, including Margaret Lawrence, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. The documentary features archival materials and first-hand accounts, including interviews with his publisher Howard White, editor Sam Solecki, wife Jean Baird and writers Dennis Lee, Steven Heighton and George Bowering. "Al Purdy Was Here" will have its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto...
- 8/19/2015
- by Kaeli Van Cott
- Indiewire
Author Rachel Kushner will select a batch of films at the 42nd Telluride Film Festival, set to run from September 4-7.
Kushner’s selections along with the rest of the Telluride line-up will remain secret until opening day.
In what festival organisers hailed as a rare co-presentation between Telluride and the San Francisco International Film Festival, Kushner will present the 1970 film Wanda on April 25 at the Castro Theatre.
Barbara Loden’s film screened at the 2005 Telluride Film Festival as guest director Don DeLillo’s selection.
“Rachel was a natural choice as the 42nd Tff guest director,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger.
“Our audience will be as grateful as Tom and I have been to listen to her thoughts and insight and see the outstanding film choices she has made. We actually owe a huge debt of thanks to our past guest director Michael Ondaatje for urging us to work with her. “
Kushner is the...
Kushner’s selections along with the rest of the Telluride line-up will remain secret until opening day.
In what festival organisers hailed as a rare co-presentation between Telluride and the San Francisco International Film Festival, Kushner will present the 1970 film Wanda on April 25 at the Castro Theatre.
Barbara Loden’s film screened at the 2005 Telluride Film Festival as guest director Don DeLillo’s selection.
“Rachel was a natural choice as the 42nd Tff guest director,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger.
“Our audience will be as grateful as Tom and I have been to listen to her thoughts and insight and see the outstanding film choices she has made. We actually owe a huge debt of thanks to our past guest director Michael Ondaatje for urging us to work with her. “
Kushner is the...
- 3/31/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Continuing the festival’s policy of recognizing those individuals whose intuitions and skills have left their mark on film history, the 68th edition will see the Vision Award - Nescens awarded to Walter Murch, the editor and sound designer (a term he coined himself). This award follows those previously attributed to such major creative talents in American cinema as special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull and “Mister Steadicam®” Garrett Brown.
Murch’s career has embraced first sound and then film editing as well, pursuing a concept of audio-visual composition that treats the two as inseparable.
His name is closely linked to the new generation of directors who emerged in the 1970s, such as George Lucas ("Thx 1138," 1971; "American Graffiti," 1973) and Francis Ford Coppola ("The Rain People," 1969; "The Godfather," 1972; "The Conversation," "The Godfather: Part II," 1974). His hugely impressive work with the latter filmmaker, as sound designer on "Apocalypse Now," won him his first Oscar in 1980.
Following his own directorial debut in 1985 with "Return to Oz," he subsequently won two more Academy Award statuettes for both sound and film editing on Anthony Minghella’s "The English Patient" (1996) – the first and only time in history the same person has won the Oscar in both categories. Although in this respect he was repeating an earlier record set when he won double BAFTA awards in 1975 for "The Conversation."
Murch has continually developed his editing talent and versatility, experimenting with every new and emerging system, from analogue to digital. His knowledge and artistry were distilled in his 2001 book, In the Blink of an Eye, an indispensable work of reference in the film editing world. He is also the subject of Michael Ondaatje's The Conversations: Walter Murch and The Art of Film Editing and Charles Koppelman's Behind the Seen.
Carlo Chatrian, the Festival’s Artistic Director, comments: “Having Walter Murch here, apart from the honor of his presence, also highlights the thinking behind this award, instituted two years ago. As Francis F. Coppola has written, « he is a true pioneer. A man we should listen to with great attention – and pleasure » . The way he works goes far beyond conventional notions of collaboration. The work on "The Godfather: Part II" or "Apocalypse Now," for example, prove that the great films are nearly always the outcome of a close working relationship between major creative talents. And it is to one of the most subtle and influential of these that the Locarno Festival pays tribute this year .”
Both the general public and the guests of the Festival will have an opportunity to meet Walter Murch and discover the secrets of his methods during a masterclass in Locarno. The Vision Award is supported for the second consecutive year by Nescens, Swiss anti-aging science.
The 68th edition of the Festival del film Locarno will take place 5 – 15 of August.
Murch’s career has embraced first sound and then film editing as well, pursuing a concept of audio-visual composition that treats the two as inseparable.
His name is closely linked to the new generation of directors who emerged in the 1970s, such as George Lucas ("Thx 1138," 1971; "American Graffiti," 1973) and Francis Ford Coppola ("The Rain People," 1969; "The Godfather," 1972; "The Conversation," "The Godfather: Part II," 1974). His hugely impressive work with the latter filmmaker, as sound designer on "Apocalypse Now," won him his first Oscar in 1980.
Following his own directorial debut in 1985 with "Return to Oz," he subsequently won two more Academy Award statuettes for both sound and film editing on Anthony Minghella’s "The English Patient" (1996) – the first and only time in history the same person has won the Oscar in both categories. Although in this respect he was repeating an earlier record set when he won double BAFTA awards in 1975 for "The Conversation."
Murch has continually developed his editing talent and versatility, experimenting with every new and emerging system, from analogue to digital. His knowledge and artistry were distilled in his 2001 book, In the Blink of an Eye, an indispensable work of reference in the film editing world. He is also the subject of Michael Ondaatje's The Conversations: Walter Murch and The Art of Film Editing and Charles Koppelman's Behind the Seen.
Carlo Chatrian, the Festival’s Artistic Director, comments: “Having Walter Murch here, apart from the honor of his presence, also highlights the thinking behind this award, instituted two years ago. As Francis F. Coppola has written, « he is a true pioneer. A man we should listen to with great attention – and pleasure » . The way he works goes far beyond conventional notions of collaboration. The work on "The Godfather: Part II" or "Apocalypse Now," for example, prove that the great films are nearly always the outcome of a close working relationship between major creative talents. And it is to one of the most subtle and influential of these that the Locarno Festival pays tribute this year .”
Both the general public and the guests of the Festival will have an opportunity to meet Walter Murch and discover the secrets of his methods during a masterclass in Locarno. The Vision Award is supported for the second consecutive year by Nescens, Swiss anti-aging science.
The 68th edition of the Festival del film Locarno will take place 5 – 15 of August.
- 2/13/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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