RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Feb 9-11)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Migration (Universal) £2.5m £6.7m 2 2. Argylle (Universal) £994,542 £3.7m 2 3. The Iron Claw (Lionsgate) £671,297 £754,153 1 4. All Of Us Strangers (Disney) £510,000 £3.8m 3 5. Peppa Pig’s Cinema Party (Trafalgar) £490,405 £490,405 1
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.26
Universal maintained a one-two at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as animation Migration held off Matthew Vaughn’s spy comedy Argylle.
Migration, from Minions creators Illumination, added £2.5m on its second session – a 31% drop. The film has £6.7m in total.
On its second weekend, Argylle dropped 43%, with £994,542 taking it to £3.7m – down on the usual level of Vaughn’s directorial output.
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.26
Universal maintained a one-two at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as animation Migration held off Matthew Vaughn’s spy comedy Argylle.
Migration, from Minions creators Illumination, added £2.5m on its second session – a 31% drop. The film has £6.7m in total.
On its second weekend, Argylle dropped 43%, with £994,542 taking it to £3.7m – down on the usual level of Vaughn’s directorial output.
- 2/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sean Durkin’s wrestling drama The Iron Claw will look to become box office champion on its opening weekend, starting in 517 UK-Ireland cinemas through Lionsgate.
The film tells the true story of the Von Erich brothers, who made history in the competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.
Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, 2017 Screen Star of Tomorrow Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons star as the Von Erich brothers, with Lily James and Maura Tierney also on the cast; Arcade Fire member Richard Reed Parry wrote the film’s score.
The Iron Claw premiered in Dallas, Texas just hours...
The film tells the true story of the Von Erich brothers, who made history in the competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.
Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, 2017 Screen Star of Tomorrow Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons star as the Von Erich brothers, with Lily James and Maura Tierney also on the cast; Arcade Fire member Richard Reed Parry wrote the film’s score.
The Iron Claw premiered in Dallas, Texas just hours...
- 2/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
This London crime drama steers clear of the usual cliches thanks to a strong cast and some dynamic direction from George Amponsah
Here is a solidly made high-energy London crime drama, which skirts around the Sumotherhood cliches … just about. A moped gang is making money and having toxic fun stealing smartphones and wallets out of people’s hands – then they escalate to robbing jewellery shops, with calamitous results. It’s co-written by Taz Skylar, who plays one of the robbers, and directed by George Amponsah, who in 2015 made the important documentary The Hard Stop about the Mark Duggan case.
Stephen Odubola plays Ash, a basically decent young guy with a talent for riding and maintaining bikes, but drawn into the phone-jacking business due to an absent dad; he also has to provide for his kid sister Jas (a nice performance from Rawdat Quadri) and save money for rehab treatment for his addicted mum,...
Here is a solidly made high-energy London crime drama, which skirts around the Sumotherhood cliches … just about. A moped gang is making money and having toxic fun stealing smartphones and wallets out of people’s hands – then they escalate to robbing jewellery shops, with calamitous results. It’s co-written by Taz Skylar, who plays one of the robbers, and directed by George Amponsah, who in 2015 made the important documentary The Hard Stop about the Mark Duggan case.
Stephen Odubola plays Ash, a basically decent young guy with a talent for riding and maintaining bikes, but drawn into the phone-jacking business due to an absent dad; he also has to provide for his kid sister Jas (a nice performance from Rawdat Quadri) and save money for rehab treatment for his addicted mum,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Black Dog, the debut feature of Screen Star of Tomorrow George Jaques, has been acquired for UK-Ireland distribution by Vertigo Releasing.
Vertigo acquired the film from Independent Entertainment, and will set a theatrical release for later in 2024.
Black Dog was written by Jaques with fellow 2022 Star Jamie Flatters. Flatters stars in the film alongside newcomer Keenan Munn-Francis, in the story of two teenage boys from different London backgrounds, who open up to each other while on a road trip up to the north of England.
The film is produced by Jaques, Flatters, Ken Petrie and Ian Sharp; and executive produced by David Parfitt.
Vertigo acquired the film from Independent Entertainment, and will set a theatrical release for later in 2024.
Black Dog was written by Jaques with fellow 2022 Star Jamie Flatters. Flatters stars in the film alongside newcomer Keenan Munn-Francis, in the story of two teenage boys from different London backgrounds, who open up to each other while on a road trip up to the north of England.
The film is produced by Jaques, Flatters, Ken Petrie and Ian Sharp; and executive produced by David Parfitt.
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
He was obsessed with Scorsese while growing up. Now he’s made his own Mean Streets, about thieves falling into serious crime. The incendiary director talks about riots, police killings and redemption
George Amponsah once had his mobile phone stolen by a thief on a moped. The British director was on his bike at a stop sign in London, looking up directions, when the device was swiped from his hand. “I just saw this youngster accelerating away,” he recalls with an exasperated smile. “I tried to give chase but I didn’t get very far. He swerved into an estate and I never saw that phone again.”
So when Amponsah was later approached by a producer to make a film about a moped gang, he wasn’t too enthused. At the time, newspapers were filled with stories about a huge wave of moped robberies. Headlines, politicians and police took turns...
George Amponsah once had his mobile phone stolen by a thief on a moped. The British director was on his bike at a stop sign in London, looking up directions, when the device was swiped from his hand. “I just saw this youngster accelerating away,” he recalls with an exasperated smile. “I tried to give chase but I didn’t get very far. He swerved into an estate and I never saw that phone again.”
So when Amponsah was later approached by a producer to make a film about a moped gang, he wasn’t too enthused. At the time, newspapers were filled with stories about a huge wave of moped robberies. Headlines, politicians and police took turns...
- 2/5/2024
- by Nadia Khomami
- The Guardian - Film News
UK director George Amponsah’s thriller Gassed Up has won the London Film Festival (Lff) Audience Award for Best Feature in the 67th edition running from October 4 to 15, as the event also posts record participation.
Further Audiences Award winners, which were announced on Monday, went to The Taste of Mango for Best Documentary, Festival of Slaps for Best British Film/Work and Murals for Best Immersive Work/Xr.
Amponsah’s London-set thriller stars Stephen Odubola as a member of a moped street crime gang, who gets on the wrong side of an Albanian crime family.
Archie Maddocks co-wrote the screenplay with One Piece breakout Taz Skylar, who also appears in the film, with other cast including including Steve Toussaint (House Of The Dragon) and Tobias Jowett, soon to be seen in Nick Hamm’s upcoming epic William Tell.
The thriller marks Amponsah’s first fiction feature...
Further Audiences Award winners, which were announced on Monday, went to The Taste of Mango for Best Documentary, Festival of Slaps for Best British Film/Work and Murals for Best Immersive Work/Xr.
Amponsah’s London-set thriller stars Stephen Odubola as a member of a moped street crime gang, who gets on the wrong side of an Albanian crime family.
Archie Maddocks co-wrote the screenplay with One Piece breakout Taz Skylar, who also appears in the film, with other cast including including Steve Toussaint (House Of The Dragon) and Tobias Jowett, soon to be seen in Nick Hamm’s upcoming epic William Tell.
The thriller marks Amponsah’s first fiction feature...
- 10/30/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Almost 200,000 in-person attendees tops the 2019 figure.
BFI London Film Festival (Lff) recorded its highest in-person attendance in five years at its 2023 edition, with 195,665 attendees this year.
That figure, which includes the Screen Talks programme that featured Martin Scorsese and Greta Gerwig, tops each of the previous four editions of the festival, including the 190,000 figure from the pre-pandemic 2019 edition. The last edition to record more attendees was in 2018, with 205,630.
The festival’s occupancy levels were at an impressive 90% across its London paid-for and free in-person screenings – up from 87% last year and 84% and 83% in 2018 and 2019 respectively. 54% of ticket bookers this year were new to Lff,...
BFI London Film Festival (Lff) recorded its highest in-person attendance in five years at its 2023 edition, with 195,665 attendees this year.
That figure, which includes the Screen Talks programme that featured Martin Scorsese and Greta Gerwig, tops each of the previous four editions of the festival, including the 190,000 figure from the pre-pandemic 2019 edition. The last edition to record more attendees was in 2018, with 205,630.
The festival’s occupancy levels were at an impressive 90% across its London paid-for and free in-person screenings – up from 87% last year and 84% and 83% in 2018 and 2019 respectively. 54% of ticket bookers this year were new to Lff,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Vertigo Releasing has launched the trailer for the upcoming London-based youth drama ‘Gassed Up.’
Set in London, the film follows a group of young men in a moped gang, who, desperate to make ends meet, have turned to petty theft. At the centre of the story is 20-year-old Ash (Odubola) who is trying to support his younger sister and help his struggling mother. Fighting to balance his pure intentions and the allure of fast cash, he and his friends soon get drawn into the web of an Albanian crime family. He must choose between loyalty to his friends and family, and the draw of a fast, thrilling lifestyle.
Directed by George Amponsah, Stephen Odubola, Taz Skylar, Steve Toussaint, Craige Middleburg, Jelena Gavrilovic, Mohammed Mansaray, Tobias Jowett, Tomi May,
Ben Shafik, Rawdat Quadri star.
Also in trailers – Trailer drops for Hammer Films’ reimagining of ‘Doctor Jekyll’
The movie is screening at...
Set in London, the film follows a group of young men in a moped gang, who, desperate to make ends meet, have turned to petty theft. At the centre of the story is 20-year-old Ash (Odubola) who is trying to support his younger sister and help his struggling mother. Fighting to balance his pure intentions and the allure of fast cash, he and his friends soon get drawn into the web of an Albanian crime family. He must choose between loyalty to his friends and family, and the draw of a fast, thrilling lifestyle.
Directed by George Amponsah, Stephen Odubola, Taz Skylar, Steve Toussaint, Craige Middleburg, Jelena Gavrilovic, Mohammed Mansaray, Tobias Jowett, Tomi May,
Ben Shafik, Rawdat Quadri star.
Also in trailers – Trailer drops for Hammer Films’ reimagining of ‘Doctor Jekyll’
The movie is screening at...
- 10/9/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Ascendant Fox, one of the producers behind hit Stephen Graham indie pic Boiling Point, which is being made into a BBC TV series, has struck a development deal with BBC Studios and signed the commissioner of Netflix’s Bank of Dave.
The deal, which will see BBC Studios invest in Ascendant’s slate and gives its distribution arm a first-look on projects, comes as Bank of Dave‘s Hannah Perks joins the outfit as Head of Development, while Victoria Zalin becomes Head of Production.
The indie was one of those behind the multiple-bifa-winning one-camera movie that follows Andy’s (Graham) catastrophic evening as head chef of his own restaurant. The BBC TV series will come out later this year, with Graham reprising his role alongside Vinette Robinson, Ray Panthaki and Hannah Walters.
Ascendant, which was forged by the recent coming together of Ascendant Films and Burton Fox Films, is also...
The deal, which will see BBC Studios invest in Ascendant’s slate and gives its distribution arm a first-look on projects, comes as Bank of Dave‘s Hannah Perks joins the outfit as Head of Development, while Victoria Zalin becomes Head of Production.
The indie was one of those behind the multiple-bifa-winning one-camera movie that follows Andy’s (Graham) catastrophic evening as head chef of his own restaurant. The BBC TV series will come out later this year, with Graham reprising his role alongside Vinette Robinson, Ray Panthaki and Hannah Walters.
Ascendant, which was forged by the recent coming together of Ascendant Films and Burton Fox Films, is also...
- 7/5/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Amazon Prime Video has greenlit BAFTA-nominated “Hard Stop” director George Amponsah’s feature film debut, action thriller “Gassed Up.”
Now in production in London, the movie will launch on Prime Video in the U.K. and Ireland in 2023. Directed by Amponsah, and written by Archie Maddocks and Taz Skylar, the film stars Stephen Odubola, Skylar and singer Mae Muller, as well as Ms Banks, Yung Filly and Harry Pinero.
Set during the peak of a wave of moped crimes sweeping London, “Gassed Up” follows 20-year-old Ash (Odubola), who is trying to earn money to raise his 14-year-old sister and send his mother to rehab, but gets caught up with an organized crime ring led by a young and charismatic Albanian immigrant (Skylar).
As the crimes get bigger and the attention becomes addictive, Ash struggles to keep his head above water. Soon, he has to choose between the people he loves,...
Now in production in London, the movie will launch on Prime Video in the U.K. and Ireland in 2023. Directed by Amponsah, and written by Archie Maddocks and Taz Skylar, the film stars Stephen Odubola, Skylar and singer Mae Muller, as well as Ms Banks, Yung Filly and Harry Pinero.
Set during the peak of a wave of moped crimes sweeping London, “Gassed Up” follows 20-year-old Ash (Odubola), who is trying to earn money to raise his 14-year-old sister and send his mother to rehab, but gets caught up with an organized crime ring led by a young and charismatic Albanian immigrant (Skylar).
As the crimes get bigger and the attention becomes addictive, Ash struggles to keep his head above water. Soon, he has to choose between the people he loves,...
- 7/20/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Ascendant Films and Burton Fox Films, two of the production companies behind multi-bafta and BIFA-nominated restaurant drama “Boiling Point,” have merged to create Ascendant Fox.
Since wrapping the critically acclaimed Stephen Graham vehicle, producer Bart Ruspoli’s Ascendant Films and Hester Ruoff’s Burton Fox Films have forged a partnership that’s currently developing a number of projects with various studios.
Ascendant Fox’s first project, “Gassed Up,” as revealed by Variety, is the narrative feature debut by George Amponsah, the filmmaker behind the BAFTA-winning documentary “The Hard Stop.” The pic stars Stephen Odubola, Taz Skylar and singer Mae Muller with Yung Filly, Harry Pinero and Ms Banks. The project, which is now in production, is a co-production with Amazon Studios U.K. and Sunrise Films.
Also in the works is “Society,” the follow-up to “Boiling Point” from director Philip Barantini, as well as a TV series by BAFTA-nominated “Boiling Point...
Since wrapping the critically acclaimed Stephen Graham vehicle, producer Bart Ruspoli’s Ascendant Films and Hester Ruoff’s Burton Fox Films have forged a partnership that’s currently developing a number of projects with various studios.
Ascendant Fox’s first project, “Gassed Up,” as revealed by Variety, is the narrative feature debut by George Amponsah, the filmmaker behind the BAFTA-winning documentary “The Hard Stop.” The pic stars Stephen Odubola, Taz Skylar and singer Mae Muller with Yung Filly, Harry Pinero and Ms Banks. The project, which is now in production, is a co-production with Amazon Studios U.K. and Sunrise Films.
Also in the works is “Society,” the follow-up to “Boiling Point” from director Philip Barantini, as well as a TV series by BAFTA-nominated “Boiling Point...
- 7/20/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Channel 4 and HBO’s lauded drama It’s a Sin missed out in several major categories at the BAFTA TV Awards this evening, as the BBC and ITV emerged as the big winners. Scroll down for the full list.
Russell T Davies’ Red Production Company-created drama was up for Best Mini-Series, with Olly Alexander in contention for Leading Actor and Lydia West competing for Leading Actress.
However, BBC prison drama Time won the Mini-Series category, Sean Bean won Leading Actor for the same drama and Jodie Comer’s performance in Channel 4’s Help pipped West and Kate Winslet in the Leading Actress Category.
Compounding a disappointing evening for the hotly-tipped show, Callum Scott Howells, Omari Douglas and David Carlyle lost out to Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen in the Supporting Actor category. It’s a Sin writer Davies, who earlier today unveiled Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who’s next Time Lord,...
Russell T Davies’ Red Production Company-created drama was up for Best Mini-Series, with Olly Alexander in contention for Leading Actor and Lydia West competing for Leading Actress.
However, BBC prison drama Time won the Mini-Series category, Sean Bean won Leading Actor for the same drama and Jodie Comer’s performance in Channel 4’s Help pipped West and Kate Winslet in the Leading Actress Category.
Compounding a disappointing evening for the hotly-tipped show, Callum Scott Howells, Omari Douglas and David Carlyle lost out to Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen in the Supporting Actor category. It’s a Sin writer Davies, who earlier today unveiled Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who’s next Time Lord,...
- 5/8/2022
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
If 2021 has been a calvacade of bad decisions, dashed hopes, and warning signs for cinema’s strength, the Criterion Channel’s monthly programming has at least buttressed our hopes for something like a better tomorrow. Anyway. The Channel will let us ride out distended (holi)days in the family home with an extensive Alfred Hitchcock series to bring the family together—from the established Rear Window and Vertigo to the (let’s just guess) lesser-seen Downhill and Young and Innocent—Johnnie To’s Throw Down and Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons in their Criterion editions, and some streaming premieres: Ste. Anne, Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over, and The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love.
Special notice to Yvonne Rainer’s brain-expanding Film About a Woman Who . . .—debuting in “Female Gaze: Women Directors + Women Cinematographers,” a series that does as it says on the tin—and a Joseph Cotten retro boasting Ambersons,...
Special notice to Yvonne Rainer’s brain-expanding Film About a Woman Who . . .—debuting in “Female Gaze: Women Directors + Women Cinematographers,” a series that does as it says on the tin—and a Joseph Cotten retro boasting Ambersons,...
- 11/21/2021
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The International Documentary Association came out with its shortlist of the year’s best documentaries today, a list as notable for what was left out as what made it in.
A total of 29 feature films earned a spot on the IDA shortlist, including some considered Oscar frontrunners: Summer of Soul, Ascension, and Flee—each of which earned nominations last week for both the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards. But several other films making a strong bid for Oscar attention were snubbed, among them The Rescue, Becoming Cousteau, Attica, Procession, and My Name Is Pauli Murray.
The IDA gave recognition to several documentaries with an international dimension, like Faya Dayi, from Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Bashir, Chinese-born filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s Covid-19-related doc In The Same Breath, and Miguel’s War, the story of a gay Lebanese man who exiles himself to Spain. The IDA-shortlisted President focuses on...
A total of 29 feature films earned a spot on the IDA shortlist, including some considered Oscar frontrunners: Summer of Soul, Ascension, and Flee—each of which earned nominations last week for both the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards. But several other films making a strong bid for Oscar attention were snubbed, among them The Rescue, Becoming Cousteau, Attica, Procession, and My Name Is Pauli Murray.
The IDA gave recognition to several documentaries with an international dimension, like Faya Dayi, from Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Bashir, Chinese-born filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s Covid-19-related doc In The Same Breath, and Miguel’s War, the story of a gay Lebanese man who exiles himself to Spain. The IDA-shortlisted President focuses on...
- 10/25/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Steve McQueen’s 2020 anthology film series “Small Axe” grew out of a desire to shed light on Black resistance movements in Britain, between the 1960s and 1980s. So, too, does a complementary new franchise of individual documentaries, executive produced by McQueen, which chronicle pivotal stories from recent British history largely ignored by media. Viewed collectively, the films make it clear that McQueen almost single-handedly aims to disrupt the preferred timeline with films that detail tumultuous crusades for change that cross borders, and still very much resonate today.
“When I was growing up, we did not learn about our own history unfortunately, which is why ‘Roots’ was so popular,” McQueen said, referring to the multiple Emmy-winning 1977 television miniseries. “Anything about any kind of Black history, even if it wasn’t great, or even if it wasn’t necessarily positive, Black people would flock to the television. I remember the streets were...
“When I was growing up, we did not learn about our own history unfortunately, which is why ‘Roots’ was so popular,” McQueen said, referring to the multiple Emmy-winning 1977 television miniseries. “Anything about any kind of Black history, even if it wasn’t great, or even if it wasn’t necessarily positive, Black people would flock to the television. I remember the streets were...
- 9/20/2021
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
September is shaping up to be a great month for fans of Steve McQueen. Amazon announced on Monday that three of the Academy Award-winning filmmaker’s new documentaries will premiere on the Prime Video streaming service in September. McQueen co-directed one of the three films and produced each one.
All three documentaries — “Uprising,” “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance,” and “Subnormal: A British Scandal” — explore key themes and events depicted in McQueen’s award-winning “Small Axe“ anthology, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. Each documentary features first-hand interviews with key participants in the events, many of whom are telling their stories for the first time. McQueen is an executive producer on all three documentaries alongside James Rogan, Tracey Scoffield, and Soleta Rogan. The documentaries will premiere on September 17.
Per Amazon, “Uprising” is a vivid and visceral three-part documentary series (comprised of three hour-long episodes) examining three events from...
All three documentaries — “Uprising,” “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance,” and “Subnormal: A British Scandal” — explore key themes and events depicted in McQueen’s award-winning “Small Axe“ anthology, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. Each documentary features first-hand interviews with key participants in the events, many of whom are telling their stories for the first time. McQueen is an executive producer on all three documentaries alongside James Rogan, Tracey Scoffield, and Soleta Rogan. The documentaries will premiere on September 17.
Per Amazon, “Uprising” is a vivid and visceral three-part documentary series (comprised of three hour-long episodes) examining three events from...
- 8/31/2021
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Steve McQueen will premiere three new documentaries — “Uprising,” “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance” and “Subnormal: A British Scandal” — on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 17.
Directed by McQueen and James Rogan, “Uprising” is a three-part docuseries that examines three events from 1981 in the U.K. — The New Cross Fire, which killed 13 Black youths; the Black People’s Day of Action, which saw over 20,000 join the first organized mass protest of Black British people; and the Brixton riots, a series of clashes between Black youths and the Metropolitan Police. “Uprising” will explore how these events are intertwined and how they defined race relations for a generation.
Helmed by George Amponsah, “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance” tells the story of the Black Power movement in Britain. Featuring rare archival footage of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in the U.K. — along with footage...
Directed by McQueen and James Rogan, “Uprising” is a three-part docuseries that examines three events from 1981 in the U.K. — The New Cross Fire, which killed 13 Black youths; the Black People’s Day of Action, which saw over 20,000 join the first organized mass protest of Black British people; and the Brixton riots, a series of clashes between Black youths and the Metropolitan Police. “Uprising” will explore how these events are intertwined and how they defined race relations for a generation.
Helmed by George Amponsah, “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance” tells the story of the Black Power movement in Britain. Featuring rare archival footage of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in the U.K. — along with footage...
- 8/30/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Sheffield DocFest is spotlighting and celebrating Black British screen culture this month with a Retrospective titled “Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.” The Retrospective brings together a wide and diverse range of films that have been largely overlooked and undervalued in film history and criticism.
To give breadth to the selection, the films have been selected by guest curators. They are film exhibition company We Are Parable’s Anthony Andrews and Teanne Andrews; writer and director Campbell X; British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and filmmaker David Olusoga; filmmaker George Amponsah; filmmaker Judah Attille; curator and cultural historian Mark Sealy; and a group of film studies/screenwriting and film students from Sheffield Hallam University as part of a partnership project led by principal lecturer in film studies Chi-Yun Shin.
For example, the We Are Parable program – titled “Remember / Re-evaluate / Review” – examines the portrayal of...
To give breadth to the selection, the films have been selected by guest curators. They are film exhibition company We Are Parable’s Anthony Andrews and Teanne Andrews; writer and director Campbell X; British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and filmmaker David Olusoga; filmmaker George Amponsah; filmmaker Judah Attille; curator and cultural historian Mark Sealy; and a group of film studies/screenwriting and film students from Sheffield Hallam University as part of a partnership project led by principal lecturer in film studies Chi-Yun Shin.
For example, the We Are Parable program – titled “Remember / Re-evaluate / Review” – examines the portrayal of...
- 6/2/2021
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Retrospective to be curated by filmmakers including George Amponsah and David Olusoga.
Sheffield Doc/Fest is to celebrate the history of black British cinema at its upcoming edition, set to take place as a hybrid edition from June 4-13.
For the first time, the UK documentary festival has recruited several guest curators to compile the retrospective, which is titled Films belong to those who need them - fragments from the history of black British Cinema.
These curators include director George Amponsah, who was Bafta-nominated for his 2015 documentary The Hard Stop and recently directed Black Power: A British Story of Resistance,...
Sheffield Doc/Fest is to celebrate the history of black British cinema at its upcoming edition, set to take place as a hybrid edition from June 4-13.
For the first time, the UK documentary festival has recruited several guest curators to compile the retrospective, which is titled Films belong to those who need them - fragments from the history of black British Cinema.
These curators include director George Amponsah, who was Bafta-nominated for his 2015 documentary The Hard Stop and recently directed Black Power: A British Story of Resistance,...
- 3/31/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Historian, broadcaster and filmmaker David Olusoga and BAFTA-nominated director George Amponsah are among a wealth of talent curating a celebration of Black British cinema, the subject of the 2021 Sheffield Doc/Fest retrospective.
The program – titled “Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema” – aims to spotlight the history of Black British screen culture. It seeks to find connections between past and present, and to spark a conversation about how this filmography resonates with contemporary filmmakers and artists.
To achieve this, the festival has invited guest curators who bring a breadth of perspective to select the program.
Olusoga’s work includes BBC series “Black and British: A Forgotten History” and “The World’s War.” He electrified the Edinburgh TV Festival last year as he candidly called out racism in the media industry while delivering the MacTaggart Lecture.
Fellow curator Amponsah was BAFTA-nominated for his 2015 documentary “The Hard Stop,...
The program – titled “Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema” – aims to spotlight the history of Black British screen culture. It seeks to find connections between past and present, and to spark a conversation about how this filmography resonates with contemporary filmmakers and artists.
To achieve this, the festival has invited guest curators who bring a breadth of perspective to select the program.
Olusoga’s work includes BBC series “Black and British: A Forgotten History” and “The World’s War.” He electrified the Edinburgh TV Festival last year as he candidly called out racism in the media industry while delivering the MacTaggart Lecture.
Fellow curator Amponsah was BAFTA-nominated for his 2015 documentary “The Hard Stop,...
- 3/31/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
‘Small Axe’ Filmmaker Steve McQueen to Executive Produce BBC Films on Black Power, Education Scandal
Steve McQueen, currently riding a wave of global acclaim for his BBC/Amazon anthology “Small Axe,” will executive produce two Black-themed documentaries for the BBC.
“Black Power,” which originated from an idea McQueen had while filming “Small Axe,” will examine how the Black Power movement came into being in the late 1960s and fought back against police brutality and racism.
The films features rare archive of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in Britain, as well as footage of leading figures in the movement in the U.K., Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Darcus Howe and Roy Sawh. They shed fresh light on the stories of Black youth in the ’60s and ’70s who challenged the British establishment and helped to shape a new political and cultural landscape in the U.K.
BAFTA-nominated George Amponsah will direct the documentary, which will play on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
“Subnormal,...
“Black Power,” which originated from an idea McQueen had while filming “Small Axe,” will examine how the Black Power movement came into being in the late 1960s and fought back against police brutality and racism.
The films features rare archive of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in Britain, as well as footage of leading figures in the movement in the U.K., Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Darcus Howe and Roy Sawh. They shed fresh light on the stories of Black youth in the ’60s and ’70s who challenged the British establishment and helped to shape a new political and cultural landscape in the U.K.
BAFTA-nominated George Amponsah will direct the documentary, which will play on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
“Subnormal,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Steve McQueen is to executive produce two documentaries for the BBC that were conceived while shooting Small Axe. One will examine Black power in Britain, while the second film investigates how Black children in the 1960s and 1970s were disproportionately sent to schools for the so-called “educationally subnormal.”
Black Power (working title) is directed by BAFTA-nominated George Amponsah (Hard Stop) and looks at how the movement came into being in the late 1960s, when it fought back against police brutality and racism. The film will include rare footage of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in Britain, as well as footage of leading figures in the movement in the UK, including Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Darcus Howe, and Roy Sawh.
Subnormal is helmed by new talent Lyttanya Shannon. It tells the story of the UK schools scandal through the eyes of Black parents, teachers, and activists who banded...
Black Power (working title) is directed by BAFTA-nominated George Amponsah (Hard Stop) and looks at how the movement came into being in the late 1960s, when it fought back against police brutality and racism. The film will include rare footage of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in Britain, as well as footage of leading figures in the movement in the UK, including Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Darcus Howe, and Roy Sawh.
Subnormal is helmed by new talent Lyttanya Shannon. It tells the story of the UK schools scandal through the eyes of Black parents, teachers, and activists who banded...
- 1/29/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a hybrid observational work of non-fiction with the Sundance stamp on it, which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, under the name “The Hard Stop,” from director George Amponsah (it was previously-titled “Down By Law”). The very… Continue Reading →...
- 8/4/2016
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
George Amponsah’s documentary explores the aftermath of Mark Duggan’s death, which sparked unrest in Tottenham and across the UK
The killing of Mark Duggan in 2011 sparked riots in Tottenham, which in turn triggered an unprecedented wave of civil unrest around Britain. This documentary is an attempt to look beneath the inflammatory headlines and at the context for the explosion of grassroots anger. Film-maker George Amponsah returns to the neighbourhood where Duggan grew up, following two of his closest friends as they try to make sense of Duggan’s death and their own embattled lives. The film is not always as focused as it could be, but it gives a voice to a community that is routinely denied one and a platform to Duggan’s relatives, who claim that justice has yet to be done.
Continue reading...
The killing of Mark Duggan in 2011 sparked riots in Tottenham, which in turn triggered an unprecedented wave of civil unrest around Britain. This documentary is an attempt to look beneath the inflammatory headlines and at the context for the explosion of grassroots anger. Film-maker George Amponsah returns to the neighbourhood where Duggan grew up, following two of his closest friends as they try to make sense of Duggan’s death and their own embattled lives. The film is not always as focused as it could be, but it gives a voice to a community that is routinely denied one and a platform to Duggan’s relatives, who claim that justice has yet to be done.
Continue reading...
- 7/17/2016
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★★☆ To open his new documentary The Hard Stop, George Amponsah uses a Martin Luther King quote that acts almost as a catalyst for what follows: "A riot is the language of the unheard." It's with a view to providing the unheard with a voice that the filmmaker sought to understand the 2011 London riots and his search led him to two close friends of Mark Duggan, the Tottenham resident whose shooting by police sparked the unrest. The resulting film is an exemplar of fine balance, managing to be both a humane character study and issue-driven polemic, looking at the ongoing personal and social repercussions and contextualising the events.
- 7/14/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Depressing as it is to say, George Amponsah’s documentary could hardly be more timely. It’s set for cinema release shortly after controversial police shootings and fatal retaliation in the United States – the divide between community and law enforcement stretched far beyond breaking point. A similar story played out closer to home in the […]
The post The Hard Stop Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post The Hard Stop Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 7/13/2016
- by Guest
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: UK distributor to donate 20% of theatrical receipts for Mark Duggan documentary to UK charity.
UK distributor Metrodome Distribution is to donate 20% of the theatrical revenue from Toronto 2015 documentary The Hard Stop to charity Inquest, which specialises in advising bereaved people on deaths in police custody or detention.
Directed by George Amponsah and produced by Dionne Walker, The Hard Stop follows the friends and family of Mark Duggan following his death.
Duggan was shot and killed in a ‘Hard Stop’ police procedure in 2011, sparking violent riots across London and other parts of the UK.
Amponsah (The Fighting Spirit) filmed for 28 months around Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, where Duggan grew up, capturing his family’s distress and focusing on two of his best friends, Marcus Knox and Kurtis Henville.
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and has since played at numerous festivals. Metrodome will release on July 15.
“We’re delighted to be receiving...
UK distributor Metrodome Distribution is to donate 20% of the theatrical revenue from Toronto 2015 documentary The Hard Stop to charity Inquest, which specialises in advising bereaved people on deaths in police custody or detention.
Directed by George Amponsah and produced by Dionne Walker, The Hard Stop follows the friends and family of Mark Duggan following his death.
Duggan was shot and killed in a ‘Hard Stop’ police procedure in 2011, sparking violent riots across London and other parts of the UK.
Amponsah (The Fighting Spirit) filmed for 28 months around Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, where Duggan grew up, capturing his family’s distress and focusing on two of his best friends, Marcus Knox and Kurtis Henville.
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and has since played at numerous festivals. Metrodome will release on July 15.
“We’re delighted to be receiving...
- 7/5/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Sonita - if 18-year-old Sonita had a say, Michael Jackson and Rihanna would be her parents and she'd be a rapper who tells the story of Afghan women and their fate as child brides. She finds out that her family plans to sell her to an unknown husband for $9,000. Photo: Behrouz Badrouj The 20th edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will run in London from March 9 to 18, featuring 16 documentaries and dramas. The films include George Amponsah’s The Hard Stop about Mark Duggan and the Tottenham riots, Sundance World Documentary Grand Jury and Audience award winner Sonita, and Dalibor Matanić’s Cannes Film Festival winner The High Sun.
To celebrate this 20th anniversary edition the festival also includes four additional special programmes combining visual media with in-depth discussions about filmmaking and human rights between Human Rights Watch experts and independent human rights advocates including Charif Kiwan, spokesman for a Syrian film collective,...
To celebrate this 20th anniversary edition the festival also includes four additional special programmes combining visual media with in-depth discussions about filmmaking and human rights between Human Rights Watch experts and independent human rights advocates including Charif Kiwan, spokesman for a Syrian film collective,...
- 2/3/2016
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: Metrodome haul includes Toronto doc, Partisan and 2000Ad.
UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on a collection of festival titles including Toronto documentary The Hard Stop, comic book documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000Ad and Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan.
UK documentary The Hard Stop, directed by George Amponsah, charts the story and background of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who in 2011 was shot and killed whilst being arrested by armed police in Tottenham.
The incident ignited riots that escalated into a week of the worst civil unrest across the country in recent history.
Metrodome will release the Toronto and Lff title, produced by Dionne Walker, next summer, which will be the fifth anniversary of the 2011 riots.
The deal was negotiated between Metrodome MD Jezz Vernon and Cinephil.
From Protagonist, Metrodome has picked up UK rights to Ariel Kleiman’s Sundance thriller Partisan and Berlin thriller One & Two.
Vincent Cassel stars in the former, about an 11 year-old...
UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on a collection of festival titles including Toronto documentary The Hard Stop, comic book documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000Ad and Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan.
UK documentary The Hard Stop, directed by George Amponsah, charts the story and background of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who in 2011 was shot and killed whilst being arrested by armed police in Tottenham.
The incident ignited riots that escalated into a week of the worst civil unrest across the country in recent history.
Metrodome will release the Toronto and Lff title, produced by Dionne Walker, next summer, which will be the fifth anniversary of the 2011 riots.
The deal was negotiated between Metrodome MD Jezz Vernon and Cinephil.
From Protagonist, Metrodome has picked up UK rights to Ariel Kleiman’s Sundance thriller Partisan and Berlin thriller One & Two.
Vincent Cassel stars in the former, about an 11 year-old...
- 10/16/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Prior to the outrage manifested within the ‘I Can’t Breathe’ movement in the wake of several high profile murders of unarmed black men by overzealous police officers in the Us, a young British black man named Mark Duggan was shot twice by London’s Metropolitan Police officers, killing him in cold blood, instantly sparking the disastrous London riots of 2011. It was later found that despite Duggan was not wielding a weapon as was originally claimed by the officers, the murder was deemed a lawful killing in court, setting a chilling, unjust precedent. Outlining the horrific events, George Amponsah‘s thin but upsetting The Hard Stop humanizes the departed by getting to know his closest confidants, Kurtis Henville and Marcus Knox-Hooke, revealing an imperfect, but hustling family man with a loving community behind him.
Striking with an unfortunate aptness, Amponsah’s film composites wrongly reported news footage with lyrical slow-mo...
Striking with an unfortunate aptness, Amponsah’s film composites wrongly reported news footage with lyrical slow-mo...
- 9/17/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
George Amponsah’s documentary The Hard Stop, premiering at the Toronto film festival, follows the lives of two of Duggan’s friends in the wake of 2011 shooting
In the early evening of 4 August 2011, a minicab driving through Tottenham, north London, was stopped by armed police. They surrounded the vehicle and shouted for the passenger, 29-year-old Mark Duggan, to get out of the car. When he did an officer (known as V53 at the subsequent inquest), thought he saw a gun in Duggan’s right hand. He fired twice, killing him.
Duggan’s death ignited the worst riots in modern English history. Starting in London, before spreading to other UK cities, the unrest lasted six days and resulted in more than 3,000 arrests across the country.
Continue reading...
In the early evening of 4 August 2011, a minicab driving through Tottenham, north London, was stopped by armed police. They surrounded the vehicle and shouted for the passenger, 29-year-old Mark Duggan, to get out of the car. When he did an officer (known as V53 at the subsequent inquest), thought he saw a gun in Duggan’s right hand. He fired twice, killing him.
Duggan’s death ignited the worst riots in modern English history. Starting in London, before spreading to other UK cities, the unrest lasted six days and resulted in more than 3,000 arrests across the country.
Continue reading...
- 9/13/2015
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
The 59Th BFI London Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Programme
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
- 9/1/2015
- by John
- SoundOnSight
Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...
- 8/25/2015
- ScreenDaily
One of the key aspects of the Toronto International Film Festival is the City to City Programme, which takes a look at a specific city every year, screening films that focus on the events of that specific city, as well as showcasing the latest projects by filmmakers from the city. The 2015 incarnation of the festival will focus on London, England, with eight films in the Tiff programme this year.
The films that will be part of the lineup have now been announced, alongside an additional set of films that will be part of the Tiff Wavelengths Programme, joining the previously announced entries in the programme. The complete list of films in both programmes, along with their official synopses, can be seen below.
City To City
Couple in a Hole, directed by Tom Geens, making its World Premiere
A middle class British couple end up living like feral creatures in a...
The films that will be part of the lineup have now been announced, alongside an additional set of films that will be part of the Tiff Wavelengths Programme, joining the previously announced entries in the programme. The complete list of films in both programmes, along with their official synopses, can be seen below.
City To City
Couple in a Hole, directed by Tom Geens, making its World Premiere
A middle class British couple end up living like feral creatures in a...
- 8/18/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
An upcoming documentary feature with the Sundance stamp on it (selected for the Sundance Institute's Documentary Edit and Story Lab 2014, Creative Producing Summit 2013, and was a Sundance Documentary Film grant recipient), from director George Amponsah, described as a hybrid observational work of non-fiction, previously-titled "Down By Law," it'll make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival under the name "The Hard Stop." The very timely film centers on Mark Duggan, a young black man who was killed by armed police in London, on August 4, 2011 - an event regarded as the spark that set the London riots in motion later that year. Mark Duggan, a...
- 8/18/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Potential awards season contenders Truth from James Vanderbilt and Marc Abraham’s I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams land world premiere slots, while Paco Cabezas’s Mr. Right will close the festival.
London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.
The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.
Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.
Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...
London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.
The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.
Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.
Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...
- 8/18/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Well folks, after a rather long and brutal winter (at least for me here in Buffalo), we are finally heading into the wonderful warmth of summer, but with that blast of sunshine and steamy humidity comes the mid-year drought of major film fests. After the Sheffield Doc/Fest concludes on June 10th and AFI Docs wraps on June 21st, we likely won’t see any major influx in our charts until Locarno, Venice, Telluride and Tiff announce their line-ups in rapid succession. In the meantime, we can look forward to the intriguing onslaught of films making their debut in Sheffield, including Brian Hill’s intriguing examination of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, The Confessions of Thomas Quick, and Sean McAllister’s film for which he himself was jailed in the process of making, A Syrian Love Story, the only two films world premiering in the festival’s main competition.
- 6/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
It should come as no surprise that Cannes Film Festival will play host to Kent Jones’s doc on the touchstone of filmmaking interview tomes, Hitchcock/Truffaut (see photo above). The film has been floating near the top of this list since it was announced last year as in development, while Jones himself has a history with the festival, having co-written both Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy P. and Martin Scorsese’s My Voyage To Italy, both of which premiered in Cannes. The film is scheduled to screen as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar alongside the likes of Stig Björkman’s Ingrid Bergman, in Her Own Words, which will play as part of the festival’s tribute to the late starlet, and Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna’s Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (see trailer below). As someone who grew up watching road races with my dad in Watkins Glen,...
- 5/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Now that the busy winter fest schedule of Sundance, Rotterdam and the Berlinale has concluded, we’ve now got our eyes on the likes of True/False and SXSW. While, True/False does not specialize in attention grabbing world premieres, it does provide a late winter haven for cream of the crop non-fiction fare from all the previously mentioned fests and a selection of overlooked genre blending films presented in a down home setting. This year will mark my first trip to the Columbia, Missouri based fest, where I hope to catch a little of everything, from their hush-hush secret screenings, to selections from their Neither/Nor series, this year featuring chimeric Polish cinema of decades past, to a spotlight of Adam Curtis’s incisive oeuvre. But truth be told, it is SXSW, with its slew of high profile world premieres being announced, such as Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs...
- 2/27/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
With a trio of short films under his belt, Zachary Sluser hit indie film pay dirt with a measuring cup full of Sundance vets for his directorial debut. Starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes and supporting perfs from Alia Shawkat, Aubrey Plaza, Frank Langella and Ciaran Hinds, The Driftless Area wouldn’t be out of place at the fest as it is being tipped as a neo-noir dark romantic dramedy. Production began this past May in Vancouver, Canada with cinematographer Fjord Daniel Voldheim (Ragnarok) collaborating with a score supplied by Saunder Jurriaans & Daniel Bensi (Enemy).
Gist: Based on the novel of the same title by Tom Drury who co-wrote the screenplay with Sluser, this tells the story of a young man by the name of Pierre Hunter (Yelchin) who falls in love with a mysterious woman named Stella (Deschanel) and finds himself in a game out of cat and...
Gist: Based on the novel of the same title by Tom Drury who co-wrote the screenplay with Sluser, this tells the story of a young man by the name of Pierre Hunter (Yelchin) who falls in love with a mysterious woman named Stella (Deschanel) and finds himself in a game out of cat and...
- 11/12/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Garnering fund and lab support on both sides of the Atlantic, Down By Law has been tailored with BFI coin support and with the giving hands of three recent Institute initiatives: Sundance’s 2013 Documentary Film Grant, 2014 July Documentary Edit and Story Lab, and the 2014 Creative Producing Summit. George Amponsah’s third docu film looks to be an explosive, observational hybrid type docu that is surely being readied for the World Docu section and Mark Duggan’s story might echo some of the issues that have been brought up with Ferguson, Missouri.
Gist: This follows several years in the lives of two of the closest friends of Mark Duggan, the man whose death at the hands of armed police sparked the UK riots of 2011.
Production Co./Producers: Dionne Walker.
Prediction: World Documentary Competition.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic). Tbd (international)
More 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions:...
Gist: This follows several years in the lives of two of the closest friends of Mark Duggan, the man whose death at the hands of armed police sparked the UK riots of 2011.
Production Co./Producers: Dionne Walker.
Prediction: World Documentary Competition.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic). Tbd (international)
More 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions:...
- 11/12/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
When you think of the overall Sundance docu selections, programmers may want to balance the hard-hitting slate with this, the curiously titled (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies. Thanks to Dan Ariely’s bookshelf favorite “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty – How We Lie To Everyone, Especially Ourselves,” it benefits from an already built-in aud and via the smart talking heads package, it comes across as an intriguing-sounding “lite” docu experiment. In a Moneyball-ian kind of way, it treats moral and ethical flaws in making minor and major fibs almost in a data analysis argumentative measuring stick. Why finger point when everyone is accountable? Having recently landed some kickstarter funds for completion, we’re not sure if this talking heads package is in the final innings of the edit, but fittingly this is producer Yael Melamede’s (see pic above) first outing as a director – she produced a dozen of items...
- 11/12/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
They often get quite a bit less attention than their fictional brethren, and it doesn’t help that many films fly under the radar while development and filming is underway. To chart this course with a little more precision, I’m launching Ioncinema.com’s latest feature, What’s Up Doc?, our monthly Top 50 Most Anticipated films, a sort of hitlist and/or snapshot of the most alluring, the most promising documentary film projects from the established documentarian guard, the new crop of future voices or the fiction filmmakers who on occasion dip their toes in the form. Curated by me, Jordan M. Smith, you’ll find docu items that are in their beginning stages to being moments away from their film festival berth. Like any such list, we can expect film items to fluctuate in ranking, with the cut-off being publicly items — such recent examples include Laura Poitras’s white hot Edward Snowden project,...
- 10/23/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Not all docu films that make the cut into the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Labs are fortunate enough to then land a coveted spot at the festival (recent examples include Roger Ross Williams’ God Loves Uganda and Tracy Draz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo’s Rich Hill) but some fresh air and supportive pounding from the Institute’s Advisors surely contributes to the realization of passion projects that are buckets filled in blood, sweat and tears. Among the press release mentions below, we’ll surely be discussing them in Park City setting in a January to too far off from now. Here are the selection of 20 Fellows representing eight documentary film projects to participate in the 2014 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, June 20-28 and July 4-12 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.
Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:
A Flickering...
Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:
A Flickering...
- 6/19/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Grace Jones - The Musical of My Life, The Lovers and the Despot and Irene’s Ghost to receive funding following Sheffield Doc/Fest pitching session.
Three feature documentaries are to receive support from the BFI Film Fund following a pitching session at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The three projects are Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones - The Musical of My Life, a journey into the private and public worlds of Grace Jones, Robert Cannan & Ross Adam’s The Lovers and the Despot, about a celebrity director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films, and Iain Cunningham’s Irene’s Ghost, chronicling the journey of the film-maker to build a picture of the mother he never knew.
Lizzie Francke, BFI Film Fund senior executive, commented: “We were blown away by the quality of all the projects selected to pitch at the Sheffield Doc/Fest session. The pitch session provides a valuable opportunity to pinpoint...
Three feature documentaries are to receive support from the BFI Film Fund following a pitching session at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The three projects are Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones - The Musical of My Life, a journey into the private and public worlds of Grace Jones, Robert Cannan & Ross Adam’s The Lovers and the Despot, about a celebrity director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films, and Iain Cunningham’s Irene’s Ghost, chronicling the journey of the film-maker to build a picture of the mother he never knew.
Lizzie Francke, BFI Film Fund senior executive, commented: “We were blown away by the quality of all the projects selected to pitch at the Sheffield Doc/Fest session. The pitch session provides a valuable opportunity to pinpoint...
- 6/11/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
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