The 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Retrospect

By Editorial

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Retrospect

Film festivals are indeed a great way to showcase one’s work as well as provide credence to a film made well. The Sundance Film Festival 2013, held recently, is one of the biggest in the US and was attended by some of the biggest names of Hollywood. Over 120 films were showcased in the 11-day run of this year’s festival.

Ryan Coogler’s ‘Fruitvale’ bagged the coveted American jury grand prize for dramatics and the U.S. dramatic audience award amidst a standing ovation from the crowd. This was the first time since 2009’s Precious wherein the same movie was adjudged the best both by the jury as well as the audience. The film is a dramatic depiction of the BART shooting that took place in 2009, and is also a debut for the filmmaker.

Among the showcased films, there were movies by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Gordon Green and Richard Linklater among other renowned as well as first-time directors Steve Hoover’s ‘Blood Brother’, which won hands down in the documentary section with both the Grand Jury Price and the Audience Award. This documentary tracks the journey of Rocky Braat, Hoover’s friend, as he works at an orphanage in India with children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Other recognised films in the festival include A.C.O.D, a comedy directed by Stu Zicherman; and After Tiller, a documentary by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. Jill Soloway won the prestigious ‘Directing Award: US Dramatics’ for Afternoon Delight, a movie about a woman who invites a dancer from a strip club to become her child’s nanny. Another movie that earned praise from critics and audiences alike in the festival was ‘Before Midnight’, the sequel to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

‘Blackfish’, a documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, was successful in making a strong case against the captivity of wild animals, while the crime drama ‘Blue Caprice’ was acclaimed to be a ‘beautifully shot, sensitively acted drama.’ Another comedy ‘Computer Chess’ by Andrew Bujalski about a weekend chess tournament between a man and machine won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize.

Many other movies were successful in making their mark in the festival this year which include ‘Concussion’ by Stacie Passon, ‘Crystal Fairy’ by Sebastian Silva, ‘The East’ by Zal Batmanglij, ‘In a World’ by Lake Bell, ‘Jobs’ by Joshua Michael Stern, and ‘May in the Summer’ by Cherian Dabis. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival has lent a winning start to many movies and directors, making them strong contenders for the Oscars this year.

While many outstanding movies were showcased at the festival, most of them will also be among the DVD new releases at Tesco, which is certainly great news for movie enthusiasts.

Full news at: www.filmytown.com 

One Stop-Shop for filming in Dubai

The Dubai Film and TV Commission, instituted earlier this year, launched its website yesterday with details of its products and services intended to increase local production and attract international players from the film and TV sectors.

“The idea of creating the Commission was to introduce a proper framework to control and manage local production and give local companies an edge,” explained Jamal Al Sharif, chairman, Dubai Film and TV Commission.

The Commission requires international companies filming in Dubai to hire a local production company. “We’re not stipulating percentages of local hires as Dubai’s a free market, but we are actively encouraging local companies, even universities to engage their students with film units as interns or volunteers.”

In addition to simplifying the process of securing permits to film, the Commission serves as a one-stop shop for international film crews and has also regularised the private location fees that were earlier unregulated. “You want to film at iconic Dubai landmarks? We’ve fixed the rate for all private venues

[such as Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Arabian Ranches] at AED15,000 per day (that is roughly Rs 2,25,000 per day) and we sort out the permissions,” added Al Sharif.

Since MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL, interest in Dubai as a location has skyrocketed with several big-budget and blockbuster films from Bollywood, China and South India and popular Arab TV dramas filming in the emirate, and although Al Sharif is keen on bringing back “another MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE type film”, he wants the Commission to help nurture Emirati film production as well.

“There’s no industry if we can’t help the local film-makers. The immediate strategy is to help them meet with the right fund sources and introduce more training and talent development programmes and of course, the goal of attracting high-profile international projects is also to involve local crews and increase opportunities for them,” he said.

                      Jameel Al Sharif, Chairman Dubai Film and TV Commission

On the web
Log on to the Dubai Film and TV Commission website
on dubaifilmcommission.ae

full article on:  www.filmytown.com

Gangoobai - The original Santu Rangeeli is back as Gangoobai

NFDC (an Indian Government body) now funds a film about a simpleton titled ‘Gangoobai’ who is an aged Maharashtrian maid servant, a resident of Matheran, in Maharashtra, India.

Gangoobai is a childless, elderly widow, who have lived her life in the hill station of Matheran, near Mumbai. Old enough to be a grand mother in a typical conservative Indian lifestyle.
She loves tending to flowers in the garden where she is working as domestic help. She is concerned about tending to her beloved flowers and working as domestic help in a few homes. One of the weekend bungalows in Matheran is owned by the wealthy Hodiwala family.

This lady falls instantly in love with an exotic, custom-made saree – Gara saree, when she sees the daughter of her land lady and yearns to own one in her lifetime. 

For full review and more pics of this film, visiti - www.filmytown.com