Filmmaker to direct two features for Netflix based on The Chronicles Of Narnia books.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie set multiple records with its spectacular $155m North American box office debut, among them the highest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman.
The Warner Bros tentpole overtook the previous mark set by Captain Marvel in 2019. Anna Boden co-directed that film (with Ryan Fleck) and it opened to $153.4m.
Barbie also beat by some margin the $103.3m opening weekend of 2017 tentpole Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins.
Warner Bros’ new hit has already become the highest grossing release of Gerwig’s directorial career.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie set multiple records with its spectacular $155m North American box office debut, among them the highest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman.
The Warner Bros tentpole overtook the previous mark set by Captain Marvel in 2019. Anna Boden co-directed that film (with Ryan Fleck) and it opened to $153.4m.
Barbie also beat by some margin the $103.3m opening weekend of 2017 tentpole Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins.
Warner Bros’ new hit has already become the highest grossing release of Gerwig’s directorial career.
- 7/23/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Society of the Snow, J.A. Bayona’s survival thriller and the director’s first Spanish-language feature in 16 years, is set to bring the 2023 Venice Film Festival to a shivering close.
The Netflix feature will get its world premiere out of the competition on the Lido on Sept. 9 after the festival’s awards ceremony.
Set in 1972, Society of the Snow follows the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile but crashed in the heart of the Andes. Only 29 of its 45 passengers survived the accident. Trapped in one of the most hostile and inaccessible environments on the planet, they have to resort to extreme measures to stay alive.
The news comes as fall festivals brace for the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike and just a day after Venice lost its original opening night film. Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated tennis drama starring Zendaya,...
The Netflix feature will get its world premiere out of the competition on the Lido on Sept. 9 after the festival’s awards ceremony.
Set in 1972, Society of the Snow follows the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile but crashed in the heart of the Andes. Only 29 of its 45 passengers survived the accident. Trapped in one of the most hostile and inaccessible environments on the planet, they have to resort to extreme measures to stay alive.
The news comes as fall festivals brace for the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike and just a day after Venice lost its original opening night film. Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated tennis drama starring Zendaya,...
- 7/22/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Venice Film Festival will close with the world premiere of J. A. Bayona’s Netflix survival thriller La Sociedad De La Nieve (Society Of The Snow).
The latest film from The Orphanage and The Impossible director charts the iconic true story of a 1970s rugby team whose plane crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survived the crash find themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments. The story was told by Frank Marshall in 1993 pic Alive.
The Out Of Competition screening will take place September 9 in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema after the awards ceremony.
Starring in the Spanish-language film are Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Kukuriczka and Tomas Wolf.
Pic is produced by Belén Atienza, Sandra Hermida and J.A. Bayona. Screenplay comes from J.A. Bayona, Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques and Nicolás Casariego from the novel by Pablo Vierci.
The latest film from The Orphanage and The Impossible director charts the iconic true story of a 1970s rugby team whose plane crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survived the crash find themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments. The story was told by Frank Marshall in 1993 pic Alive.
The Out Of Competition screening will take place September 9 in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema after the awards ceremony.
Starring in the Spanish-language film are Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Kukuriczka and Tomas Wolf.
Pic is produced by Belén Atienza, Sandra Hermida and J.A. Bayona. Screenplay comes from J.A. Bayona, Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques and Nicolás Casariego from the novel by Pablo Vierci.
- 7/22/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish director J.A. Bayona’s “Society of the Snow,” a reconstruction of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes that forced survivors to take extreme measures, including cannibalism, has been set as the Venice Film Festival’s closing film.
The deeply immersive Spanish-language saga is a Netflix original film shot in Andalusia’s Sierra Nevada, mainland Spain’s highest mountain range, using a 300-person crew. “Society of the Snow” will world premiere on the Lido out of competition on Sept. 9. Its official screening will be held in the Palazzo del Cinema after the awards ceremony.
In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to bring Montevideo’s Old Christians Rugby Club team to Chile, crashed at an altitude of 11,712 feet in the Andes. Of its 45 passengers – which consisted mostly of the rugby team, friends and family – only 29 survived. Without food, the survivors, who belonged to Uruguay’s elite, were forced...
The deeply immersive Spanish-language saga is a Netflix original film shot in Andalusia’s Sierra Nevada, mainland Spain’s highest mountain range, using a 300-person crew. “Society of the Snow” will world premiere on the Lido out of competition on Sept. 9. Its official screening will be held in the Palazzo del Cinema after the awards ceremony.
In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to bring Montevideo’s Old Christians Rugby Club team to Chile, crashed at an altitude of 11,712 feet in the Andes. Of its 45 passengers – which consisted mostly of the rugby team, friends and family – only 29 survived. Without food, the survivors, who belonged to Uruguay’s elite, were forced...
- 7/22/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival, where it was to be the opening night film, due to the actors strike.
The R-rated “Challengers,” in which Zendaya stars as a tennis coach involved in a love triangle, had been planned to kick off the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30 before opening in theaters Sept. 15. But with actors striking from working or promoting their films — including walking any red carpets — distributor MGM, which is owned by Amazon Studios, will instead open “Challengers” in theaters April 26 next year.
“After thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw ‘Challengers’ from this year’s Venice International Film Festival,” MGM said in a statement Friday. “We look forward to celebrating the film when we can do so with our ensemble cast, director...
The R-rated “Challengers,” in which Zendaya stars as a tennis coach involved in a love triangle, had been planned to kick off the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30 before opening in theaters Sept. 15. But with actors striking from working or promoting their films — including walking any red carpets — distributor MGM, which is owned by Amazon Studios, will instead open “Challengers” in theaters April 26 next year.
“After thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw ‘Challengers’ from this year’s Venice International Film Festival,” MGM said in a statement Friday. “We look forward to celebrating the film when we can do so with our ensemble cast, director...
- 7/21/2023
- by Divya Goyal
- ET Canada
Luca Guadagnino's sexy tennis movie will not be on the fall festival circuit after all: News has broken via The Hollywood Reporter that the Zendaya-led drama "Challengers" is no longer set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It also will not hit theaters this September as originally planned. Instead, its theatrical release has been bumped all the way to April of next year.
"Challengers" already has MGM on board as its distributor, making it easy for the film to sidestep the upcoming festival season and take the theatrical route instead. This decision comes in the wake of the ongoing Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, the former of which asks actors to not promote new projects in the midst of an ongoing fight for fair wages, streaming residuals, and protections against artificial intelligence, among other things. As one source put it to THR, "How...
"Challengers" already has MGM on board as its distributor, making it easy for the film to sidestep the upcoming festival season and take the theatrical route instead. This decision comes in the wake of the ongoing Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, the former of which asks actors to not promote new projects in the midst of an ongoing fight for fair wages, streaming residuals, and protections against artificial intelligence, among other things. As one source put it to THR, "How...
- 7/21/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
While there are plenty of fall film festival subtractions behind the scenes, just this hour we learned that we have our first public casualty with the Venice Film Festival having to find a opening film replacement after Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers has been field goal kicked into 2024 (an April release date by the MGM folks means Berlinale might be looking to nab it). Edoardo De Angelis‘ Comandante now has the spotlight spot. Considered a raising auteur, this features Pierfrancesco Favino front and center as the heroic Sicilian World War II naval officer.
At the start of WWII, Salvatore Todaro commands the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini.…...
At the start of WWII, Salvatore Todaro commands the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini.…...
- 7/21/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Challengers moves into 2024.
Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante is the new Venice Film Festival opening selection on August 30 after MGM pulled Challengers starring Zendaya amid concerns over the ongoing Hollywood strikes.
SAG-AFTRA strike rules prohibit talent from promoting films by struck companies during industrial action. Without Zendaya on a red carpet and talking to press the studio felt the film would be better served by launching later and has pulled it from 2023 entirely.
Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated tennis romance had been set to open on September 15 after its Venice premiere and will now open on April 26 2024.
While sources said...
Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante is the new Venice Film Festival opening selection on August 30 after MGM pulled Challengers starring Zendaya amid concerns over the ongoing Hollywood strikes.
SAG-AFTRA strike rules prohibit talent from promoting films by struck companies during industrial action. Without Zendaya on a red carpet and talking to press the studio felt the film would be better served by launching later and has pulled it from 2023 entirely.
Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated tennis romance had been set to open on September 15 after its Venice premiere and will now open on April 26 2024.
While sources said...
- 7/21/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
MGM is pushing Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers out of 2023. The R-rated tennis drama starring Zendaya was slated to have a buzzy premiere at the Venice Film Festival followed by a theatrical release on Sept. 15. It will now open in theaters on April 26, 2024, and will bow out as the opening night feature at Venice, which is set to run Aug. 30-Sept. 9.
“How do you go to Venice without Zendaya supporting?” notes one source of the release date shift.
In a twinned move, Venice announced a new opener replacing Challengers, with filmmaker Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante taking the spot. The move signals stress ahead for fall festivals as they plan for a season possibly without SAG-AFTRA actors, who are prevented from doing promotional work amid the strike.
In Challengers, Zendaya stars as former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan, who is now a coach whose husband (Mike Faist) is on a losing streak.
“How do you go to Venice without Zendaya supporting?” notes one source of the release date shift.
In a twinned move, Venice announced a new opener replacing Challengers, with filmmaker Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante taking the spot. The move signals stress ahead for fall festivals as they plan for a season possibly without SAG-AFTRA actors, who are prevented from doing promotional work amid the strike.
In Challengers, Zendaya stars as former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan, who is now a coach whose husband (Mike Faist) is on a losing streak.
- 7/21/2023
- by Aaron Couch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The challenge of promoting “Challengers” during the SAG-AFTRA strike has upended its planned fall rollout.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” will no longer be making its world premiere for the opening night of the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, was previously announced to be screening out of competition August 30 to kick off the 80th annual festival.
Instead, the festival will open with “Comandante,” directed by Edoardo De Angelis, instead, the festival announced on Friday. “‘Challengers,’ the movie by Luca Guadagnino that had previously been announced, will not participate at the Festival following a decision made by the production,” Venice representatives said in a statement.
In a statement provided to IndieWire, Amazon said, “After thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw ‘Challengers’ from this year’s Venice International Film Festival.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” will no longer be making its world premiere for the opening night of the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, was previously announced to be screening out of competition August 30 to kick off the 80th annual festival.
Instead, the festival will open with “Comandante,” directed by Edoardo De Angelis, instead, the festival announced on Friday. “‘Challengers,’ the movie by Luca Guadagnino that had previously been announced, will not participate at the Festival following a decision made by the production,” Venice representatives said in a statement.
In a statement provided to IndieWire, Amazon said, “After thoughtful consideration with our partners, and given the parameters that SAG-AFTRA has outlined for its membership, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw ‘Challengers’ from this year’s Venice International Film Festival.
- 7/21/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, which had been set as the Venice Film Festival opener, has been pulled from the festival due to promotional complications prompted by the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Venice has announced that the sexy sports comedy — in which Zendaya plays a former tennis prodigy turned coach entangled in a love triangle with two pro tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist — has changed its distribution strategy. The film’s promotion has been disrupted by the current actors strike, which prohibits SAG-AFTRA union members from doing any type of promotional activity.
This means Zendaya, O’Connor and Faist would not have been able to launch the film on Aug. 30 on the Venice red carpet.
After a week of discussions, Venice organizers confirmed in a statement on Friday that the film “will not participate at the festival following a decision made by the production.”
Variety understands that...
Venice has announced that the sexy sports comedy — in which Zendaya plays a former tennis prodigy turned coach entangled in a love triangle with two pro tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist — has changed its distribution strategy. The film’s promotion has been disrupted by the current actors strike, which prohibits SAG-AFTRA union members from doing any type of promotional activity.
This means Zendaya, O’Connor and Faist would not have been able to launch the film on Aug. 30 on the Venice red carpet.
After a week of discussions, Venice organizers confirmed in a statement on Friday that the film “will not participate at the festival following a decision made by the production.”
Variety understands that...
- 7/21/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Zendaya tennis drama Challengers has become a high-profile casualty of the SAG-AFTRA strike with confirmation that its Venice Film Festival world premiere has been cancelled.
The film has also moved off its September 15 U.S. release date and will now launch next spring instead.
The movie was due to open Venice but the prospect of debuting without support from its high-profile actors — Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist also star — was understandably deemed less than ideal by the filmmakers, talent and studios MGM and Warner Bros which handle U.S and international, respectively.
Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, was due to screen Out of Competition on Wednesday, August 30, in the Sala Grande, and would have marked a high-profile opening for Venice’s 80th edition.
The festival has chosen Italian WWII movie Comandante by Edoardo de Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino, as a replacement opening film.
Related: ‘Challengers’ Trailer: Zendaya Playing Her Own...
The film has also moved off its September 15 U.S. release date and will now launch next spring instead.
The movie was due to open Venice but the prospect of debuting without support from its high-profile actors — Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist also star — was understandably deemed less than ideal by the filmmakers, talent and studios MGM and Warner Bros which handle U.S and international, respectively.
Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, was due to screen Out of Competition on Wednesday, August 30, in the Sala Grande, and would have marked a high-profile opening for Venice’s 80th edition.
The festival has chosen Italian WWII movie Comandante by Edoardo de Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino, as a replacement opening film.
Related: ‘Challengers’ Trailer: Zendaya Playing Her Own...
- 7/21/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
When you think reliable narrator, Oliver Stone doesn’t exactly come to mind. Since his start as a director in the 1970s, the lightning-rod filmmaker, now 74, has leaned into fiction narratives with political points of view, from “Salvador,” “Wall Street,” and “W.” to Best Director Oscar-winners “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” His last Oscar nomination came in 1996, for “Nixon,” arguably his peak of high regard in Hollywood. It’s hard to recall that in 1992, controversial global smash “JFK” earned three Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
Times change, and Stone’s complex historic and global point of view is far more layered and nuanced than current American partisanship will accept. That’s why the Yale-grad-turned-Vietnam-vet has managed to alienate folks on every side of the political spectrum, including accusations of promulgating violence with “Natural Born Killers,” promoting a whistleblower in “Snowden,” and conducting friendly documentary interviews with dictators,...
Times change, and Stone’s complex historic and global point of view is far more layered and nuanced than current American partisanship will accept. That’s why the Yale-grad-turned-Vietnam-vet has managed to alienate folks on every side of the political spectrum, including accusations of promulgating violence with “Natural Born Killers,” promoting a whistleblower in “Snowden,” and conducting friendly documentary interviews with dictators,...
- 7/24/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
When you think reliable narrator, Oliver Stone doesn’t exactly come to mind. Since his start as a director in the 1970s, the lightning-rod filmmaker, now 74, has leaned into fiction narratives with political points of view, from “Salvador,” “Wall Street,” and “W.” to Best Director Oscar-winners “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” His last Oscar nomination came in 1996, for “Nixon,” arguably his peak of high regard in Hollywood. It’s hard to recall that in 1992, controversial global smash “JFK” earned three Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
Times change, and Stone’s complex historic and global point of view is far more layered and nuanced than current American partisanship will accept. That’s why the Yale-grad-turned-Vietnam-vet has managed to alienate folks on every side of the political spectrum, including accusations of promulgating violence with “Natural Born Killers,” promoting a whistleblower in “Snowden,” and conducting friendly documentary interviews with dictators,...
Times change, and Stone’s complex historic and global point of view is far more layered and nuanced than current American partisanship will accept. That’s why the Yale-grad-turned-Vietnam-vet has managed to alienate folks on every side of the political spectrum, including accusations of promulgating violence with “Natural Born Killers,” promoting a whistleblower in “Snowden,” and conducting friendly documentary interviews with dictators,...
- 7/24/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Madrid — Spain’s biggest national box office hit of the year, “Campeones” (Champions), has been selected by the Spain’s Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as the country’s submission for a foreign-language Academy Award.
Grossing €18.5 million ($$21.4 million) in Spain for Universal Pictures Intl. Spain, “Campeones” beat out two other contenders in a submission shortlist: Ashgar Farhadi’s Cannes Festival opening film “Everybody Knows,” starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, which was shot in Spain and produced out of Spain, like “Champions,” by Spain’s Morena Films; and Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi “Handía,” a flagship production of the building Basque cinema which won a Special Jury Prize at last September’s San Sebastian festival and then 10 Goya Academy Awards this January.
On paper, “Campeones” could have disappeared without trace at the Spanish box office, taking a difficult subject – intellectual discapacity – and rolling it into a drama-comedy about...
Grossing €18.5 million ($$21.4 million) in Spain for Universal Pictures Intl. Spain, “Campeones” beat out two other contenders in a submission shortlist: Ashgar Farhadi’s Cannes Festival opening film “Everybody Knows,” starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, which was shot in Spain and produced out of Spain, like “Champions,” by Spain’s Morena Films; and Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi “Handía,” a flagship production of the building Basque cinema which won a Special Jury Prize at last September’s San Sebastian festival and then 10 Goya Academy Awards this January.
On paper, “Campeones” could have disappeared without trace at the Spanish box office, taking a difficult subject – intellectual discapacity – and rolling it into a drama-comedy about...
- 9/6/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to attracting foreign shoots in Spain, the motto could well be: “It’s the tax breaks, stupid.”
Of course, Spain has long been a foreign shoot locale: Think Samuel Bronston’s ’60s epics such as “El Cid.” International movies have always sought stunning locations, Mediterranean climate and low-cost labor. Since 2015, however, Spain has offered tax rebates for international shoots of up to 20%; 40% in the Canary Islands.
Tax credits are available to Spanish shoots and co-productions, reaching 25% in the Peninsula, 45% in the Canaries. Also, Navarre is dangling a 35% tax credit for local and international productions.
Three years after their launch, the rebates are having a huge impact on the sector: As a shooting locale, the country has never been more active in the past half century.
Benefits attract a wide range of projects. The biggest, among TV dramas, is “Game of Thrones,” which first lensed part of Season...
Of course, Spain has long been a foreign shoot locale: Think Samuel Bronston’s ’60s epics such as “El Cid.” International movies have always sought stunning locations, Mediterranean climate and low-cost labor. Since 2015, however, Spain has offered tax rebates for international shoots of up to 20%; 40% in the Canary Islands.
Tax credits are available to Spanish shoots and co-productions, reaching 25% in the Peninsula, 45% in the Canaries. Also, Navarre is dangling a 35% tax credit for local and international productions.
Three years after their launch, the rebates are having a huge impact on the sector: As a shooting locale, the country has never been more active in the past half century.
Benefits attract a wide range of projects. The biggest, among TV dramas, is “Game of Thrones,” which first lensed part of Season...
- 5/11/2018
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Morena Films, producer of Cannes Festival opening movie “Everybody Knows,” is teaming with David Martínez, a reputed TV executive who helped catapult Spanish fiction into a modern age, to launch Morena TV.
The new TV company will focus on fiction production. Martínez will serve as its CEO, overseeing the development and production of projects.
Backing movies by Oliver Stone (“Comandante”), Steven Soderbergh (“Che”), Pablo Trapero (“The White Elephant”) and Iciar Bollaín (“Ever the Rain”) as well as box office hits such as “Cell 211” and now “Champions,” the biggest Spanish hit of 2018, Morena Films produced entertainment formats in its early years, linking to Argentina’s Cuatro Cabezas to make “El Rayo” and El Trip” for Atresmedia.
Morena Films producers Juan Gordon and Pedro Uriol are currently producing “Diablero,” the first supernatural Mexican Netflix Original Series, show-run by J.M. Cravioto, which is finalizing production in Mexico.
Partnering with Martínez on Morena TV,...
The new TV company will focus on fiction production. Martínez will serve as its CEO, overseeing the development and production of projects.
Backing movies by Oliver Stone (“Comandante”), Steven Soderbergh (“Che”), Pablo Trapero (“The White Elephant”) and Iciar Bollaín (“Ever the Rain”) as well as box office hits such as “Cell 211” and now “Champions,” the biggest Spanish hit of 2018, Morena Films produced entertainment formats in its early years, linking to Argentina’s Cuatro Cabezas to make “El Rayo” and El Trip” for Atresmedia.
Morena Films producers Juan Gordon and Pedro Uriol are currently producing “Diablero,” the first supernatural Mexican Netflix Original Series, show-run by J.M. Cravioto, which is finalizing production in Mexico.
Partnering with Martínez on Morena TV,...
- 5/1/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Oliver Stone and Vladimir Putin are a match made in heaven. Stone’s upcoming documentary series “The Putin Interviews” could be just the project to give the filmmaker’s career the shot in the arm in desperately needs. The director of iconic films like “Platoon” and “JFK” has never wavered from tackling challenging political stories, both documentaries and narrative features, but the results as of late have been lackluster.
Read More: Michael Moore on Broadway: 5 Things You Should Know About His Attack on Trump
“The Putin Interviews,” a four-night series airing on Showtime this June, could change all that. While Stone has always been an outspoken critic of governments around the world, the recent rise of issues like surveillance, hacking and cyberwarfare have made him even more energized, and concerned, about current events.
“What’s going on right now is pretty shocking,” Stone said at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Read More: Michael Moore on Broadway: 5 Things You Should Know About His Attack on Trump
“The Putin Interviews,” a four-night series airing on Showtime this June, could change all that. While Stone has always been an outspoken critic of governments around the world, the recent rise of issues like surveillance, hacking and cyberwarfare have made him even more energized, and concerned, about current events.
“What’s going on right now is pretty shocking,” Stone said at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
- 5/2/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Oliver Stone has interviewed Russian president Vladimir Putin more than a dozen times over the past two years. Now, Stone and his documentary producer Fernando Sulichin have turned those chats into “The Putin Interviews,” a four-hour documentary series airing over four nights this June on Showtime.
Check out a first look at “The Putin Interviews” below. Stone most recently interviewed Putin in February, after the U.S. presidential elections (in which Putin and Russia are believed to have actively influenced). Showtime compares “The Putin Interviews” to David Frost’s famed conversations with Richard Nixon in 1977.
Stone and Sulichin were granted wide access to Putin’s personal and professional lives. “It’s not a documentary as much as a question and answer session,” Stone told the Sydney Morning Herald. “”It opens up a whole viewpoint that we as Americans haven’t heard… He talks pretty straight. I think we did him...
Check out a first look at “The Putin Interviews” below. Stone most recently interviewed Putin in February, after the U.S. presidential elections (in which Putin and Russia are believed to have actively influenced). Showtime compares “The Putin Interviews” to David Frost’s famed conversations with Richard Nixon in 1977.
Stone and Sulichin were granted wide access to Putin’s personal and professional lives. “It’s not a documentary as much as a question and answer session,” Stone told the Sydney Morning Herald. “”It opens up a whole viewpoint that we as Americans haven’t heard… He talks pretty straight. I think we did him...
- 5/1/2017
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
Fidel Castro (Courtesy: Jorge Rey/Getty Images)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
No matter how you felt or reacted when you heard the news, Fidel Castro’s death on November 25 shook the world. There’s no argument that the late Cuban leader definitely left a legacy, but what was the state of the film industry throughout his reign — and where does it go from here?
Castro was a controversial and revolutionary ruler who served as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 as well as President from 1976 to 2006 and turned Cuba into a one-party socialist state. Siding mostly with Russia (previously the Soviet Union), he largely opposed the U.S. throughout his dominion. In 2006, health issues forced Castro to hand over control of the country to his younger brother, Raúl. Raúl is the last surviving Castro brother as the eldest, Ramón, passed away earlier in 2016. Now, Castro has been cremated with little details about his death known.
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
No matter how you felt or reacted when you heard the news, Fidel Castro’s death on November 25 shook the world. There’s no argument that the late Cuban leader definitely left a legacy, but what was the state of the film industry throughout his reign — and where does it go from here?
Castro was a controversial and revolutionary ruler who served as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 as well as President from 1976 to 2006 and turned Cuba into a one-party socialist state. Siding mostly with Russia (previously the Soviet Union), he largely opposed the U.S. throughout his dominion. In 2006, health issues forced Castro to hand over control of the country to his younger brother, Raúl. Raúl is the last surviving Castro brother as the eldest, Ramón, passed away earlier in 2016. Now, Castro has been cremated with little details about his death known.
- 11/29/2016
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Back in 2002, Oliver Stone and his film crew flew to Cuba for three days and visited the country’s leader Fidel Castro for his documentary “Comandante.” The dictator, who died this past Friday, November 25, and the filmmaker discussed many topics ranging from his love life, political repression, free elections, among other subjects.
Stone’s doc, partly produced by HBO, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was planned for broadcast on the cable network. Unfortunately, two weeks before it was supposed to air, the film was pulled after Castro executed three hijackers of a ferry to the Us and imprisoned more than 70 political dissidents.
“I was heartbroken,” Stone told the New York Times at the time. “Comandante” was never theatrically released in the states but Stone created two other documentaries about the Cuban President, “Looking for Fidel” (2003) and “Castro in Winter” (2012), which chronicles Castro’s deteriorating heath and position in Cuba.
Stone’s doc, partly produced by HBO, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was planned for broadcast on the cable network. Unfortunately, two weeks before it was supposed to air, the film was pulled after Castro executed three hijackers of a ferry to the Us and imprisoned more than 70 political dissidents.
“I was heartbroken,” Stone told the New York Times at the time. “Comandante” was never theatrically released in the states but Stone created two other documentaries about the Cuban President, “Looking for Fidel” (2003) and “Castro in Winter” (2012), which chronicles Castro’s deteriorating heath and position in Cuba.
- 11/26/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Nobody owns Oliver Stone. I’ve talked with this filmmaker for decades, and he’s consistent to a fault. The Oscar-winning writer-director (“Platoon,” “JFK,” “Wall Street”) has always gone his own way. If there’s an impediment, he’ll find a way around it. Hell, he’ll even con the El Salvador government to give him army soldiers for a movie critical of El Salvador.
Which is one reason why Stone met with Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow, not once, or twice, but nine times. Stone will tell you: You can’t trust the United States government. You can’t trust the Nsa, CIA, or FBI. You can’t trust the Hollywood studios, because those are corporations run by lawyers. And you certainly can’t trust the media.
Related‘Snowden’ Trailer: Oliver Stone And Joseph Gordon-Levitt Take Down The Nsa
So who does he trust? His wife and kids.
Which is one reason why Stone met with Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow, not once, or twice, but nine times. Stone will tell you: You can’t trust the United States government. You can’t trust the Nsa, CIA, or FBI. You can’t trust the Hollywood studios, because those are corporations run by lawyers. And you certainly can’t trust the media.
Related‘Snowden’ Trailer: Oliver Stone And Joseph Gordon-Levitt Take Down The Nsa
So who does he trust? His wife and kids.
- 9/9/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Nobody owns Oliver Stone. I’ve talked with this filmmaker for decades, and he’s consistent to a fault. The Oscar-winning writer-director (“Platoon,” “JFK,” “Wall Street”) has always gone his own way. If there’s an impediment, he’ll find a way around it. Hell, he’ll even con the El Salvador government to give him army soldiers for a movie critical of El Salvador.
Which is one reason why Stone met with Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow, not once, or twice, but nine times. Stone will tell you: You can’t trust the United States government. You can’t trust the Nsa, CIA, or FBI. You can’t trust the Hollywood studios, because those are corporations run by lawyers. And you certainly can’t trust the media.
Related‘Snowden’ Trailer: Oliver Stone And Joseph Gordon-Levitt Take Down The Nsa
So who does he trust? His wife and kids.
Which is one reason why Stone met with Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow, not once, or twice, but nine times. Stone will tell you: You can’t trust the United States government. You can’t trust the Nsa, CIA, or FBI. You can’t trust the Hollywood studios, because those are corporations run by lawyers. And you certainly can’t trust the media.
Related‘Snowden’ Trailer: Oliver Stone And Joseph Gordon-Levitt Take Down The Nsa
So who does he trust? His wife and kids.
- 9/9/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
In 2003, Oliver Stone, the provocative director behind Platoon and Natural Born Killers, debuted his documentary on Fidel Castro. The hour-and-a-half feature was an intimate showcase of the communist and revolutionary figure. Exploring the hierarchy of power within communist Cuba through archival footage and the fascinations of its figurehead, Stone’s Comandante marries the director’s political musings with a challenging man. Flash forward to today, Stone […]...
- 8/29/2014
- by Zade Constantine
- The Film Stage
No stranger to controversy through films that have delved into American history and politics, often blurring the lines reality between and fiction, Oliver Stone's little seen 2003 documentary "Comandante" was another one that stirred up debate. Called everything from "an opportunity frustratingly squandered" to "a backslapping love-in" to something "that Stone is bending...for his own personal interest," many believed that the filmmaker wasn't able to make an objective documentary on the controversial Cuban leader. Well, now you can judge for yourself. Over on Vimeo (and we'd imagine it's only a matter of time until it gets yanked), the entire film has been posted for your viewing pleasure. So now you can see how Stone and Castro interact, as the director tries to get El Caballo's perspective on a number of topics. Vintage footage is mixed with handheld filming and in person interviews, with the 99-minute film (likely culled from hours of.
- 6/23/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In a move that could make for the hottest political thriller since Ben Affleck’s Argo, Oliver Stone has taken on the task of bringing Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden’s story to the big screen.
Never one to shy away from political or controversial issues, Stone’s career heights have seen him tackle the Vietnam War (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July), Us Presidents (JFK, W., Nixon), Cuban leader Fidel Castro (Comandante, Looking for Fidel), and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (South of the Border).
Recent efforts like Savages and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps have largely been regarded as minor works from the renowned filmmaker, and taking on a project like Snowden’s story has ignited hope that Stone is about to return to form.
The writer-director has a history of working with some of the biggest names in the industry, and all eyes are turning to who he...
Never one to shy away from political or controversial issues, Stone’s career heights have seen him tackle the Vietnam War (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July), Us Presidents (JFK, W., Nixon), Cuban leader Fidel Castro (Comandante, Looking for Fidel), and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (South of the Border).
Recent efforts like Savages and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps have largely been regarded as minor works from the renowned filmmaker, and taking on a project like Snowden’s story has ignited hope that Stone is about to return to form.
The writer-director has a history of working with some of the biggest names in the industry, and all eyes are turning to who he...
- 6/6/2014
- by Kenji Lloyd
- Obsessed with Film
The first day of the Havana Film Festival I was at the Hotel Nacional, registering for the festival, seeing familiar faces from Cuba and the Caribbean and old friends from the USA: Oleg Vidov and his wife Joan Borsten were there as Oleg who had starred in 3 Soviet films made in Cuba was an honored guest. Havana regulars were there: Marlene Dermer, director of Laliff and Laurie Anne Schag, VP of International Documentary Association. Laurie Anne not only gives tours of Cuba with her colleague Geo Darder, but this year she also screened her film at the festival, the documentary Oshun’s 11 about a tour of the Yoruba Orisha religion in Cuba.
Harlan Jacobson of Talk Cinema and Sarah Miller brought in tours as well and we went together to the Acapulco theater to see the Puerto Rican romantic heist movie Hope, Despair (La Espera Desespera) by writer/ director Coraly Santaliz Perez (♀) . Im Global’s Bonnie Voland the VP of Marketing was there with with Stuart Ford and his friend. Bonnie gave a great presentation on marketing which I will report on in these pages soon. Im Global and Mundial, their their new joint venture with Gael Garcia Bernal, showed The Butler and Bolivar: The Liberator. This new Mundial title was oddly programmed at the same time as the Venezuelan version of the exact same story, Bolivar, el hombre de las dificultades by Luis Alberto Lamata, a Venezuelan-Cuban-Spanish co-production. I wonder if both cinemas were packed or if one was more popular than the other. Publicity and marketing at this festival is a strange and unknown process, though I know Caroline Libresco-produced and Grace Lee-directed American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs brought in audience after a radio interview with Caroline and Grace had aired.
Ruby Rich was also here giving a very interesting presentation on Queer Cinema whose historical roots (Todd Haynes, Derek Jarman) were mostly unknown to the young Cuban audience. She is an old hand in Havana, having attended the festival in the heady days of the 1970s. The theme of homosexuality was prevalent in many of the films this year. A government Institute of Human Sexuality has been established under the leadership of the daughter of Raul Castro, and Cuba has apologized for its past treatment of homosexuality. This reversal has opened the doors of freedom. Filmmaker Enrique Pineda Barnet, the writer of Soy Cuba, the great Russian-Cuban epic, used to have to work underground with his personal homosexual films (After his fame was established with La Bella del Alhambra he was “allowed” to work underground). He is now able to be officially accepted with his works like Verde, Verde which showed in the Festival. Venezuelan Miguel Ferrari’s Azul y no tan rosa was feted for his treatment of this little-discussed issues in his home country.
Enrique Pineda Barnet’s meditation on what it means to be gay in Havana (Verde, Verde) marks his first film in years to be accepted into the official festival.
The U.S. invitees who give workshops here and at the international film school Eictv makes me wonder who is making the connections and how. Last year Hawk Koch and Annette Benning were here and created a support mechanism of AMPAS with the festival. This year, aside from Oleg Vidov Bonnie Voland and Ruby Rich, other American invitees giving workshops included Robert Kraft (Avatar, Titanic, Moulin Rouge) on film music was obviously brought in by the Academy. Mike S. Ryan, an independent filmmaker from New York was the big surprise as we never knew his role as producer of such films as Todd Solondz’s Palindromes and Life During Wartime, Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy and Ira Sach’s Forty Shades of Blue, Hal Hartley’s Fay Grim and many more including Liberty Kid, the winner of HBO’s Latino Film Festival 2007 and Bela Tarr’s final film, The Turin Horse. His newly finished film is Last Weekend starring Patricia Clarkson and Zachary Booth. This Independent Spirit “Producer of the Year” winner was here working with filmmakers at Eictv, the international film school and also did a presentation in the festival conference series.
Im Global’s Stuart Ford and friend with Bonnie Voland at the Hotel Nacional
Oliver Stone, a favorite of Cuba since his HBO films Comandante and Persona Non Grata, brought in a History Channel doc series called The Untold History of the United States, made up basically of interviews with key people in the eras of World War II: Roosevelt, Truman and Wallace [sic],The Bomb, Cold War: Truman, Wallace [sic], Stalin, Churchill and the Bomb, The 1950s: Eisenhower, The Bomb and The Third World.
A fruit vendor on our walk to the Infanta Theater
Laurie Anne Schag secured radio promotion for Caroline Libresco of Sundance Institute and Grace Lee, here as a producer and director to show their new film: American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. The audience at the Infanta Theater was mainly brought in by the radio show but also included us, the friends, and the Trinidad + Tobago delegation. The Q&A sessions were informed and informative as the Cubans and Americans discussed the notion of Revolution as put forward by Grace Lee Boggs a 90+ year old community organizer who came out of Barnard College in the 40s to Detroit and has never abandoned her Marxist Socialist standards but recognizes that social revolution can only succeed if the people themselves are revolutionized from grassroots action and within the individuals carrying out the action. Without transformation from within, action to change the government is only a rebellion. So what about the Cuban Revolution? The discussions were very enlightening and the audience felt that this film was new and interesting.
I attended the first of four screenings of Caribbean films hosted by ttff (Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival) at the Infanta Theater. My readers know from my blogs of last November how astonished and moved I was by the population makeup of Trinidad + Tobago and of the Caribbean in general. This area of small islands, formerly colonized by Spanish, French, German and Dutch has created a particular island culture society whose film culture is taking the next evolutionary step. Forming a marketplace and a place of cultural exchange among its constituents, ttff’s director Bruce Paddington is working with Cuba’s national film organization, Icaic’s Luis Notario to develop a real film market for Caribbean film. Apropos, Bruce was also showing his documentary on the Revolution in Grenada, called Foreward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution, which was the motto of Maurice Bishop the elected president who was forcefully removed and murdered by the opposition when the U.S. army under the Commander-in-Chief, President Ronald Reagan sent in forces presumably to protect the American medical students attending medical school there in 1983.
Twenty-five Cubans were also killed in the fighting which ensued on this otherwise always peaceful island where now a reconciliation among neighbors is still in process.
The other four screenings of ttff were varied and interesting in their unique Caribbean points of view. The opening film, Poetry is an Island: Derek Walcott was a portrait of the St. Lucia poet and Nobel Prize winner for literature. The short film, Passage, by Kareem Mortimer, a filmmaker I have known for many years from the Bahamas and Trinidad, was astounding in its recall of one of the most degrading aspects of the slave trade, as black Haitians huddled in the tiny hold of a decrepit fishing boat as they were smuggled into Florida from Haiti. Another short, Auntie, from the Barbados by Lisa Harewood told of a current social issue in which “Aunts” take care of young children while their single mothers go abroad to earn money for their care. As the child in this movie reaches her teen years, her mother sends for her which leaves a grieving single woman “Auntie” alone with no thanks and no child to care for in her older years. Other shorts included The Gardener by Jo Henriquez from Aruba and One Good Deed by Juliette McCawley from Trinidad + Tobago.
The window on Caribbean issues was opened wide. The Barbados comedy Payday in which two friends decide to leave their job as security guards and open their own business was made on a shoe string but gave a picture of how the youth are living today with ganga, grinding dancing, sexy encounters told with a sweet mischievous naughtiness. Songs of Redemption, by Miquel Galofre and Amanda Sans, winner of ttff’s Jury Prize and the Audience Award goes inside what had been Kingston Jamaica’s worst prison until the new prison director introduced classes to educate the prisoners, including a music rehabilition program which goes beyond all expectation… Truly redeeming.
Trinidad + Tobago filmmakers Karim Mortimer from Bahamas, Lisa Harewood from Barbaddos, Alex (Egyptian/ Austrian / Bahamanian business partner of Karim, Shakira Bourne
The film program was suspended for a full day in which all cultural and entertainment events throughout Cuba were cancelled to observe a national day of mourning for Nelson Mandela.
Harlan Jacobson of Talk Cinema and Sarah Miller brought in tours as well and we went together to the Acapulco theater to see the Puerto Rican romantic heist movie Hope, Despair (La Espera Desespera) by writer/ director Coraly Santaliz Perez (♀) . Im Global’s Bonnie Voland the VP of Marketing was there with with Stuart Ford and his friend. Bonnie gave a great presentation on marketing which I will report on in these pages soon. Im Global and Mundial, their their new joint venture with Gael Garcia Bernal, showed The Butler and Bolivar: The Liberator. This new Mundial title was oddly programmed at the same time as the Venezuelan version of the exact same story, Bolivar, el hombre de las dificultades by Luis Alberto Lamata, a Venezuelan-Cuban-Spanish co-production. I wonder if both cinemas were packed or if one was more popular than the other. Publicity and marketing at this festival is a strange and unknown process, though I know Caroline Libresco-produced and Grace Lee-directed American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs brought in audience after a radio interview with Caroline and Grace had aired.
Ruby Rich was also here giving a very interesting presentation on Queer Cinema whose historical roots (Todd Haynes, Derek Jarman) were mostly unknown to the young Cuban audience. She is an old hand in Havana, having attended the festival in the heady days of the 1970s. The theme of homosexuality was prevalent in many of the films this year. A government Institute of Human Sexuality has been established under the leadership of the daughter of Raul Castro, and Cuba has apologized for its past treatment of homosexuality. This reversal has opened the doors of freedom. Filmmaker Enrique Pineda Barnet, the writer of Soy Cuba, the great Russian-Cuban epic, used to have to work underground with his personal homosexual films (After his fame was established with La Bella del Alhambra he was “allowed” to work underground). He is now able to be officially accepted with his works like Verde, Verde which showed in the Festival. Venezuelan Miguel Ferrari’s Azul y no tan rosa was feted for his treatment of this little-discussed issues in his home country.
Enrique Pineda Barnet’s meditation on what it means to be gay in Havana (Verde, Verde) marks his first film in years to be accepted into the official festival.
The U.S. invitees who give workshops here and at the international film school Eictv makes me wonder who is making the connections and how. Last year Hawk Koch and Annette Benning were here and created a support mechanism of AMPAS with the festival. This year, aside from Oleg Vidov Bonnie Voland and Ruby Rich, other American invitees giving workshops included Robert Kraft (Avatar, Titanic, Moulin Rouge) on film music was obviously brought in by the Academy. Mike S. Ryan, an independent filmmaker from New York was the big surprise as we never knew his role as producer of such films as Todd Solondz’s Palindromes and Life During Wartime, Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy and Ira Sach’s Forty Shades of Blue, Hal Hartley’s Fay Grim and many more including Liberty Kid, the winner of HBO’s Latino Film Festival 2007 and Bela Tarr’s final film, The Turin Horse. His newly finished film is Last Weekend starring Patricia Clarkson and Zachary Booth. This Independent Spirit “Producer of the Year” winner was here working with filmmakers at Eictv, the international film school and also did a presentation in the festival conference series.
Im Global’s Stuart Ford and friend with Bonnie Voland at the Hotel Nacional
Oliver Stone, a favorite of Cuba since his HBO films Comandante and Persona Non Grata, brought in a History Channel doc series called The Untold History of the United States, made up basically of interviews with key people in the eras of World War II: Roosevelt, Truman and Wallace [sic],The Bomb, Cold War: Truman, Wallace [sic], Stalin, Churchill and the Bomb, The 1950s: Eisenhower, The Bomb and The Third World.
A fruit vendor on our walk to the Infanta Theater
Laurie Anne Schag secured radio promotion for Caroline Libresco of Sundance Institute and Grace Lee, here as a producer and director to show their new film: American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. The audience at the Infanta Theater was mainly brought in by the radio show but also included us, the friends, and the Trinidad + Tobago delegation. The Q&A sessions were informed and informative as the Cubans and Americans discussed the notion of Revolution as put forward by Grace Lee Boggs a 90+ year old community organizer who came out of Barnard College in the 40s to Detroit and has never abandoned her Marxist Socialist standards but recognizes that social revolution can only succeed if the people themselves are revolutionized from grassroots action and within the individuals carrying out the action. Without transformation from within, action to change the government is only a rebellion. So what about the Cuban Revolution? The discussions were very enlightening and the audience felt that this film was new and interesting.
I attended the first of four screenings of Caribbean films hosted by ttff (Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival) at the Infanta Theater. My readers know from my blogs of last November how astonished and moved I was by the population makeup of Trinidad + Tobago and of the Caribbean in general. This area of small islands, formerly colonized by Spanish, French, German and Dutch has created a particular island culture society whose film culture is taking the next evolutionary step. Forming a marketplace and a place of cultural exchange among its constituents, ttff’s director Bruce Paddington is working with Cuba’s national film organization, Icaic’s Luis Notario to develop a real film market for Caribbean film. Apropos, Bruce was also showing his documentary on the Revolution in Grenada, called Foreward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution, which was the motto of Maurice Bishop the elected president who was forcefully removed and murdered by the opposition when the U.S. army under the Commander-in-Chief, President Ronald Reagan sent in forces presumably to protect the American medical students attending medical school there in 1983.
Twenty-five Cubans were also killed in the fighting which ensued on this otherwise always peaceful island where now a reconciliation among neighbors is still in process.
The other four screenings of ttff were varied and interesting in their unique Caribbean points of view. The opening film, Poetry is an Island: Derek Walcott was a portrait of the St. Lucia poet and Nobel Prize winner for literature. The short film, Passage, by Kareem Mortimer, a filmmaker I have known for many years from the Bahamas and Trinidad, was astounding in its recall of one of the most degrading aspects of the slave trade, as black Haitians huddled in the tiny hold of a decrepit fishing boat as they were smuggled into Florida from Haiti. Another short, Auntie, from the Barbados by Lisa Harewood told of a current social issue in which “Aunts” take care of young children while their single mothers go abroad to earn money for their care. As the child in this movie reaches her teen years, her mother sends for her which leaves a grieving single woman “Auntie” alone with no thanks and no child to care for in her older years. Other shorts included The Gardener by Jo Henriquez from Aruba and One Good Deed by Juliette McCawley from Trinidad + Tobago.
The window on Caribbean issues was opened wide. The Barbados comedy Payday in which two friends decide to leave their job as security guards and open their own business was made on a shoe string but gave a picture of how the youth are living today with ganga, grinding dancing, sexy encounters told with a sweet mischievous naughtiness. Songs of Redemption, by Miquel Galofre and Amanda Sans, winner of ttff’s Jury Prize and the Audience Award goes inside what had been Kingston Jamaica’s worst prison until the new prison director introduced classes to educate the prisoners, including a music rehabilition program which goes beyond all expectation… Truly redeeming.
Trinidad + Tobago filmmakers Karim Mortimer from Bahamas, Lisa Harewood from Barbaddos, Alex (Egyptian/ Austrian / Bahamanian business partner of Karim, Shakira Bourne
The film program was suspended for a full day in which all cultural and entertainment events throughout Cuba were cancelled to observe a national day of mourning for Nelson Mandela.
- 1/9/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The highlight of the 22nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff), held Nov. 14- 24, (aside from the Ray Harryhausen Tribute November 15th) is an appearance by famed writer/director Oliver Stone. A three-time Academy Award® winner, Stone has written and directed more than 20 feature films, among them some of the most influential and iconic films of the last decades. Stone will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd. Directors who have previously been honored with a Sliff Lifetime Achievement Award include Paul Schrader, John Sayles, Michael Apted, and Joe Dante.
Held on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the program will feature a screening of the director’s cut of Stone’s “JFK.” The evening will begin with a clip reel surveying Stone’s career, the presentation of the award, and a conversation between Stone and St.
Held on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the program will feature a screening of the director’s cut of Stone’s “JFK.” The evening will begin with a clip reel surveying Stone’s career, the presentation of the award, and a conversation between Stone and St.
- 11/10/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Oliver Stone to receive DonostiaOliver Stone will receive the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award during the 60th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain next month.
The Oscar-winning writer and director has never shied away from politics or controversy but has also made his mark in the mainstream, with films as diverse as the Academy Award winning Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July and (as a writer) crowdpleasers including Conan The Barbarian and Scarface. In a career spanning more than four decades, the 65-year-old's films have also included Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, JFK and Fidel Castro documentary Comandante.
The New York born director’s latest film, Savages, will also receive its premiere at the festival, which runs from September 21 to 29. Savages, is a fast-moving thriller, starring ohn Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and...
The Oscar-winning writer and director has never shied away from politics or controversy but has also made his mark in the mainstream, with films as diverse as the Academy Award winning Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July and (as a writer) crowdpleasers including Conan The Barbarian and Scarface. In a career spanning more than four decades, the 65-year-old's films have also included Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, JFK and Fidel Castro documentary Comandante.
The New York born director’s latest film, Savages, will also receive its premiere at the festival, which runs from September 21 to 29. Savages, is a fast-moving thriller, starring ohn Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and...
- 8/26/2012
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
George Clooney and girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, met up with Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber for dinner last night in La. Rande and Cindy are longtime pals of George, and love spending their vacations with him at exotic locations like Cabo or the Clooney compound at Italy's Lake Como. In fact, George and Stacy were just in Cabo enjoying their latest getaway. The couple are coming up on their one-year anniversary, and are reportedly heading to his European home to mark the milestone. George, Stacy, Rande, and Cindy's double date came just ahead of Best Friends Day. We're marking the fun holiday with a look at the closest celebrity BFFs. George is enjoying time with his nearest and dearest before diving into his next work project. George Clooney will direct The Yankee Comandante, a story about an American who helped Fidel Castro overthrow the Cuban government in the 1950s. View Slideshow...
- 6/8/2012
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
After George Clooney received critical acclaim for 2011's "Ides of March," which he produced, wrote, starred in and directed, he's stretching his directorial chops once again to helm "The Young Commandte."
The film is based on a 23-page article by David Grann in the May 28, 2012 issue of The New Yorker, "The Yankee Comandante." The piece tells the story of U.S. citizen William Alexander Morgan who aided Cuban rebels in 1959 as they sought to overthrow then-President Fulgencio Batista, paving the way for Fidel Castro to take on the role of Cuba's Prime Minister.
For his efforts, his status reached that of Comandante, a great honor for an outsider. The only other foreigner to be as highly regarded was Argentinian Che Guevara. But Morgan's mysterious demeanor worked against him as some questioned his motives. Shortly after being awarded his rank, Morgan faced imprisonment and a firing squad as a traitor based...
The film is based on a 23-page article by David Grann in the May 28, 2012 issue of The New Yorker, "The Yankee Comandante." The piece tells the story of U.S. citizen William Alexander Morgan who aided Cuban rebels in 1959 as they sought to overthrow then-President Fulgencio Batista, paving the way for Fidel Castro to take on the role of Cuba's Prime Minister.
For his efforts, his status reached that of Comandante, a great honor for an outsider. The only other foreigner to be as highly regarded was Argentinian Che Guevara. But Morgan's mysterious demeanor worked against him as some questioned his motives. Shortly after being awarded his rank, Morgan faced imprisonment and a firing squad as a traitor based...
- 6/7/2012
- by Fallon Prinzivalli
- MTV Movies Blog
George Clooney has lined up his next film as a director. He's attached to direct Focus Features' historical drama "The Yankee Comandante," "Yankee" tells the tale of William Alexander Morgan, a mysterious American who helped Fidel Castro overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1950s Cuba. Morgan was the only non-Cuban other than Che Guevara to earn the title of "Comandante." Unsurprisingly, his role in the revolution raised the ire of J. Edgar Hoover (maybe Leonardo Di Caprio can reprise the part). The script is based on a recent New Yorker article written by David Grann. Clooney will co-produce along with his Smokehouse Productions...
- 6/7/2012
- by HitFix Staff
- Hitfix
First Showing is reporting that George Clooney's Smokehouse Pictures will join with Focus Features to adapt The Yankee Comandante, an article written by David Grann that appeared in The New Yorker a few weeks ago. The political article follows U.S. Army veteran William Alexander Morgan in the late 1950s as "he aided Fidel Castro and his rebels in the Cuban revolution and went on to become the only American with a Comandante title among the forces."
Read more at We Got This Covered...
Read more at We Got This Covered...
- 6/7/2012
- by Karen Benardello
- We Got This Covered
As a filmmaker George Clooney has a checkered record thus far. Good Night and Good Luck, his black-and-white biopic about American journalist Edward G. Murrow, was critically heralded and scored six Oscar nods, while its football-centered follow-up Leatherheads was both a critical and financial flop. But with the success of Ides of March, his stern adaptation of the Beau Willimon play Farragut North, Clooney is once more on an upswing. And it seems one Focus Features wants to capitalize on as Deadline reports they've lined Clooney up to helm the biopic The Yankee Comandante. Focus Features is currently cutting a deal to buy the rights to The Yankee Comandante, an involved article that journalist David Grann penned about the extraordinary life and times of William Alexander Morgan, an American who became an unlikely Comandante under Fidel Castro. The original article unfolded how Morgan had assisted Castro and his rebel forces...
- 6/7/2012
- cinemablend.com
Back when Fidel Castro was a younger man, trying hard to overthrow the mustache-twirling Fulgencio Batista and declare Cuba free from his tyranny, an American named William Alexander Morgan apparently helped him with the cause. According to the extensive “New Yorker” profile from writer David Grann, Morgan was only the second non-Cuban to earn the title of Comandante – the other being T-shirt logo Che Guevara. According to The Hollywood Reporter, George Clooney and Grant Heslov have optioned the article, “The Yankee Comandante,” to produce as a directorial project for Clooney. It probably won’t be soon though. Clooney is attached to several other projects as an actor and director. However, it’s a fascinating topic – and Grann’s writing is thorough and engrossing. Morgan is a complicated figure – one in the middle of three governments, trying to stay alive during brutal fighting and to maintain his very existence. Give the piece a read and tell me that...
- 6/7/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
William Alexander Morgan, the great Yankee comandante was the one who had helped to overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista, bringing Fidel Castro to power. The Ides of March George Clooney is the one who will once again helm a political movie The Yankee Comandante, a Focus Features drama based on a David Grann’s New Yorker [...]
Continue reading George Clooney to Direct Political Thriller The Yankee Comandante on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: Darren Aronofsky to Direct Sci-Fi ‘Human Nature’ With George Clooney? George Clooney to Direct Farragut North Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Chris Pine George Clooney is “The Tourist”...
Continue reading George Clooney to Direct Political Thriller The Yankee Comandante on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: Darren Aronofsky to Direct Sci-Fi ‘Human Nature’ With George Clooney? George Clooney to Direct Farragut North Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Chris Pine George Clooney is “The Tourist”...
- 6/7/2012
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
Always the one to lean towards politically-charged stories, filmmaker George Clooney has now turned his attention to a project called The Yankee Comandante, an adaptation of the massive New Yorker article from writer David Grann about William Alexander Morgan, an American who helped Fidel Castro and the Cuban rebels overthrow Fulgencio Batista. According to Deadline, Morgan "reached the status of Comandante, the sole foreigner other than Argentinian Che Guevara to be so highly...
- 6/7/2012
- by George Merchan
- JoBlo.com
George Clooney has set his sights on adapting David Grann's recent New Yorker article, The Yankee Comandante into a feature film. Deadline has the news, saying that Clooney will produce the film with his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov at Focus Features. The article, published just days ago, tells the true story William Alexander Morgan, an American who, in 1959, joined Cuban rebels and helped to overthrow then-President Fulgencio Batista, paving the way for Fidel Castro to become the nation's Prime Minister. Two years after the revolution, however, Morgan was suspected of being a traitor and a U.S. spy and was sentenced to death by firing squad. Late last year, Clooney starred in The Descendants and both directed and starred in The Ides of March . He can be seen...
- 6/6/2012
- Comingsoon.net
Director Will Receive Honor at Film Society Awards Night at Bimbo’s 365 Club and Onstage Tribute at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society has announced that Oliver Stone will be the recipient of the Founder’s Directing Award at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5). The Fda will be presented to Stone at Film Society Awards Night, Thursday, April 28 at Bimbo’s 365 Club.
The Film Society’s highly regarded Youth Education program will be the beneficiary of the glamorous fundraiser honoring Stone. The soon-to-be-announced recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award for excellence in acting and Frank Pierson, recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting will also be honored at the star-studded event. Melanie and Lawrence Blum are chairs of this year’s Film Society Awards Night, and Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein are the honorary chairs.
“We are thrilled...
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society has announced that Oliver Stone will be the recipient of the Founder’s Directing Award at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5). The Fda will be presented to Stone at Film Society Awards Night, Thursday, April 28 at Bimbo’s 365 Club.
The Film Society’s highly regarded Youth Education program will be the beneficiary of the glamorous fundraiser honoring Stone. The soon-to-be-announced recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award for excellence in acting and Frank Pierson, recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting will also be honored at the star-studded event. Melanie and Lawrence Blum are chairs of this year’s Film Society Awards Night, and Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein are the honorary chairs.
“We are thrilled...
- 4/12/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Eighteen months ago, Tariq Ali got a call from Oliver Stone: could he help with his new film? The result was a powerful documentary about Latin America – and a new friendship
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
- 7/26/2010
- by Tariq Ali
- The Guardian - Film News
There's no let-up for Hollywod's most controversial director – the sequel to Wall Street, a documentary about Hugo Chávez and his most ambitious and personal project to date, the secret history of America
Oliver Stone is a man's man. Of this I have no doubt before meeting him. Not just because of his status as a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and then an Oscar for reproducing his experiences on celluloid. But because the most compelling sequences from his latest film, a documentary called South of the Border, show him hanging out with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, chewing the cud about politics and war, talking very much mano a mano.
It's an impression that's reinforced moments before I meet him in his Los Angeles office when the photographer appears and shows me...
Oliver Stone is a man's man. Of this I have no doubt before meeting him. Not just because of his status as a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and then an Oscar for reproducing his experiences on celluloid. But because the most compelling sequences from his latest film, a documentary called South of the Border, show him hanging out with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, chewing the cud about politics and war, talking very much mano a mano.
It's an impression that's reinforced moments before I meet him in his Los Angeles office when the photographer appears and shows me...
- 7/21/2010
- by Carole Cadwalladr
- The Guardian - Film News
Before American audiences can get their greedy eyes on Oliver Stone's long-anticipated sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" this fall, the three-time Oscar winner will release an even more politically minded film, if you don't mind Hugo Chávez standing in for Shia Labeouf. As genial as it is revealing, "South of the Border" sees Stone on a road trip in the titular direction, conducting humanizing interviews with presidents who -- as is the refuting point of Stone's doc -- have been unfairly maligned by the American government and media.
Stone gets up close and personal with the aforementioned Venezuelan leader, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (and her husband, ex-President Nėstor Kirchner) and, most predictably from the director of "Comandante" and "Looking for Fidel," Cuban top dog Raúl Castro.
Stone mentioned to me that the film was partly shot...
Stone gets up close and personal with the aforementioned Venezuelan leader, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (and her husband, ex-President Nėstor Kirchner) and, most predictably from the director of "Comandante" and "Looking for Fidel," Cuban top dog Raúl Castro.
Stone mentioned to me that the film was partly shot...
- 6/23/2010
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
Buenos Aires -- American director Oliver Stone deflected criticism that his film about South American presidents provided a glossed-over picture of the region's political landscape and its controversial leaders.
In a packed auditorium at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, Stone presented "South of the Border" with a public interview alongside producer Fernando Sulichin and scriptwriter Mark Weisbrot. Moderated by local journalist Jorge Lanata, the dialogue would later turn into a press conference that included an open microphone for the public.
The interview was the final event in his promotional tour through the region, which had started last week in Caracas with the premiere of his film, which is based on a series of interviews with Latin American presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, and Raul Castro of Cuba.
In a packed auditorium at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, Stone presented "South of the Border" with a public interview alongside producer Fernando Sulichin and scriptwriter Mark Weisbrot. Moderated by local journalist Jorge Lanata, the dialogue would later turn into a press conference that included an open microphone for the public.
The interview was the final event in his promotional tour through the region, which had started last week in Caracas with the premiere of his film, which is based on a series of interviews with Latin American presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, and Raul Castro of Cuba.
- 6/4/2010
- by By Agustin Mango
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar-winning director announces controversial 10-hour crash course in 20th century for American television
In a film-making career spanning almost 40 years, Oliver Stone has turned political controversy in America into an art form. He has upset financiers with his caustic portrayal of Wall Street; conservatives with his depiction of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and George Bush; and Democrats with his conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F Kennedy.
All of which may come to look like a tea party – of the social as opposed to right-wing protest variety – when his next big venture hits the screens.
Stone announced yesterday that a 10-hour crash course in the history of the 20th century he is putting together for American TV is designed as an antidote to the inaccuracies and biases he believes exist in the conventional historical narrative dished out in American schools and mainstream media. The title alone gives an inkling...
In a film-making career spanning almost 40 years, Oliver Stone has turned political controversy in America into an art form. He has upset financiers with his caustic portrayal of Wall Street; conservatives with his depiction of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and George Bush; and Democrats with his conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F Kennedy.
All of which may come to look like a tea party – of the social as opposed to right-wing protest variety – when his next big venture hits the screens.
Stone announced yesterday that a 10-hour crash course in the history of the 20th century he is putting together for American TV is designed as an antidote to the inaccuracies and biases he believes exist in the conventional historical narrative dished out in American schools and mainstream media. The title alone gives an inkling...
- 1/11/2010
- by Ed Pilkington
- The Guardian - Film News
While working on the George W Bush biopic "W" and planning the "Wall Street" sequel, director Oliver Stone was also gathering footage for his documentary about Venezuela's controversial President Hugo Chavez. We now have the trailer for the new movie, called "South of the Border," and you can check it out below. The documentary will focus on the opposition Chavez has faced at home and abroad, especially from the Bush administration, which has been vocal in its distaste for the populist socialism espoused by Venezuela's president. Stone's previous documentaries include "Comandante," about Cuban President Fidel Castro, and "Persona Non Grata," which began as a project about Yasser Arafat but eventually became about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when Arafat died. "South of the Border" will make its premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2nd. It has yet to acquire domestic distribution. Trailer: If you cannot see the player, click here.
- 9/5/2009
- WorstPreviews.com
W. director Oliver Stone is developing a documentary on Venezuela's controversial President Hugo Chavez, report the trades. The filmmaker has been working on the untitled doc for six months and is hoping to have it ready for next year. Stone was with Chavez in February during the dramatic rescue of hostages that Chavez helped to broker from the militant Columbian Farc group. The doc will not focus on the rescue but rather the opposition Chavez has faced at home and abroad, especially from the Bush administration, which has been vocal in its distaste for the populist socialism espoused by Venezuela's president. Stone's previous docs include Comandante, about Cuban President Fidel Castro, and Persona Non Grata, which began as a project about Yasser Arafat but eventually became a wider-reaching primer on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, after interviewing the now-dead Arafat proved an impossible task. The director also revealed he has another doc in development,...
- 12/11/2008
- by James Cook
- TheMovingPicture.net
Filmmaker Oliver Stone is moving from George W. Bush to Hugo Chavez.
According to Variety, Stone is currently working on a documentary about Venezuela's president. He's been on it for several months already, and he plans to have it ready next year.
The trade says the film will mostly focus on the criticism Chavez has faced both nationally and internationally. The Bush administration was also among his strongest critics.
Stone certainly has previous experience making docs. In 2003, he directed "Comandante," a film documenting his meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro. He also helmed "Persona Non Grata" as part of the "American Undercover" series.
Stone most recently directed "W.," a drama based on the life and political career of George W. Bush.
According to Variety, Stone is currently working on a documentary about Venezuela's president. He's been on it for several months already, and he plans to have it ready next year.
The trade says the film will mostly focus on the criticism Chavez has faced both nationally and internationally. The Bush administration was also among his strongest critics.
Stone certainly has previous experience making docs. In 2003, he directed "Comandante," a film documenting his meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro. He also helmed "Persona Non Grata" as part of the "American Undercover" series.
Stone most recently directed "W.," a drama based on the life and political career of George W. Bush.
- 12/11/2008
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
MADRID -- Woody Allen has signed on to shoot a film with Spanish production house Mediapro in 2007, the Barcelona-based producer said Monday. Allen will write and direct the English-language script that will use international and Spanish actors and is expected to shoot in the first half of 2007. No other details were immediately available. "I'm happy to be able to work with Mediapro and make a film in Spain," Allen said in a statement released by the production house. "I hope that I'll be able to enjoy my stay in Spain, a country that has become very special to me." In recent years, Mediapro produced Oliver Stone's Comandante, along with Isabel Coixet's The Secret Life of Words and Fernando Leon's Mondays in the Sun.
MADRID -- Woody Allen has signed on to shoot a film with Spanish production house Mediapro in 2007, the Barcelona-based producer said Monday. Allen will write and direct the English-language script that will use international and Spanish actors and is expected to shoot in the first half of 2007. No other details were immediately available. "I'm happy to be able to work with Mediapro and make a film in Spain," Allen said in a statement released by the production house. "I hope that I'll be able to enjoy my stay in Spain, a country that has become very special to me." In recent years, Mediapro produced Oliver Stone's Comandante, along with Isabel Coixet's The Secret Life of Words and Fernando Leon's Mondays in the Sun.
Director Oliver Stone is so distraught over the criticism targeted at his last two big screen projects, he's preparing to flee America for France. The JFK movie-maker sparked controversy by meeting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for his 2003 documentary Comandante - forcing TV network HBO to axe it from their schedule. Stone's recent historical epic, Alexander, was also subjected to scathing reviews in the US for portraying Macedonian warrior Alexander The Great as a bisexual. And Stone can't understand why years of hard work have failed to produce a positive reaction, so is desperate to seek comfort in his mother's homeland, to escape the bad vibes that are crippling his confidence in America. He says, "Since the Castro movie I did, things have been tough. Everyone was against it. Then I put my heart into Alexander, which wasn't appreciated either. The right thing is for me to stay out of America for a while. I'm planning to spend a lot more time in France."...
- 1/14/2005
- WENN
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