Most people know Matt Dillon as an actor who grew up in front of the cameras. He won two Indie Spirit Awards for “Drugstore Cowboy” and for “Crash;” that one also yielded a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Dillon also made a strong directing debut in 2003 with moody thriller “City of Ghosts” co-starring James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
- 9/17/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Fernanda Valadez’s feature debut “Identifying Features” (“Sin Señas Particulares”) has collected the 18th Morelia Int’l Film Festival’s Best Film Ojo prize as well as Audience Award and best actress plaudit for its lead, Mercedes Hernandez.
In a spare and sparsely attended closing ceremony on Sunday evening, Hernandez was among only two winners who were present to come on stage. A visibly moved Hernandez said: “My son, when asked what I do, says I earn my living by crying, probably because he has seen me act in plays or movies.”
“Paradoxically, my character in this film cannot cry as she has to contain her rage, she has to persist in looking for her son… as there is nothing worse for a mother than not knowing if her son is dead or alive.”
The topical drama, about a mother searching desperately for her son who has vanished while attempting to cross into the U.
In a spare and sparsely attended closing ceremony on Sunday evening, Hernandez was among only two winners who were present to come on stage. A visibly moved Hernandez said: “My son, when asked what I do, says I earn my living by crying, probably because he has seen me act in plays or movies.”
“Paradoxically, my character in this film cannot cry as she has to contain her rage, she has to persist in looking for her son… as there is nothing worse for a mother than not knowing if her son is dead or alive.”
The topical drama, about a mother searching desperately for her son who has vanished while attempting to cross into the U.
- 11/2/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
In a Mexico City recording studio in 1999, the planets aligned. At the center of the jubilant cross-cultural, intergenerational music sessions was Francisco Fellove Valdés, stage name El Gran Fellove, who half a century earlier had combined Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz to create a new style of scat singing. Overseeing the project was Joey Altruda, a Los Angeles-based bandleader and producer, and filming the event “guerrilla-style” was his pal Matt Dillon, who was fresh off the success of There’s Something About Mary and hadn’t yet directed a feature.
The fate of those recorded tracks is revealed at the ...
The fate of those recorded tracks is revealed at the ...
- 9/30/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Matt Dillon is at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival this week for the world premiere of The Great Fellove, his second feature as a director after a 17-year gap since his debut City Of Ghosts. His new film is a documentary that taps into the actor’s passion for Cuban music, telling the story of Francisco Fellove, a singer and songwriter known for his scat singing.
The film chronicles how Dillon and his friend Joey Altruda travelled to Mexico City in the late 90s to meet Fellove, who had long retreated from the limelight, and to record a final album with him (he passed away in 2013). Dillon unearthed that footage after it has spent many years on the shelf, and decided to flesh it out into a feature film, travelling to Cuba and Mexico, recording interviews with many of Fellove’s contemporaries to understand how much he influenced their musical scene.
The film chronicles how Dillon and his friend Joey Altruda travelled to Mexico City in the late 90s to meet Fellove, who had long retreated from the limelight, and to record a final album with him (he passed away in 2013). Dillon unearthed that footage after it has spent many years on the shelf, and decided to flesh it out into a feature film, travelling to Cuba and Mexico, recording interviews with many of Fellove’s contemporaries to understand how much he influenced their musical scene.
- 9/21/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Actor and filmmaker Matt Dillon has released two clips from “The Great Fellove” [“El Gran Fellove”], a long-gestating documentary chronicling the musical career of Cuban scat singer and showman Francisco ‘el Gran’ Fellove and the recording of his last album, “Fellove & Joey.” The film is world premiering at the San Sebastian Film Festival and is being sold by Nick Shumaker of United Talent Agency.
It is Academy-Award nominee Dillon’s second feature film in the director’s chair. In 2003 he co-wrote and made “City of Ghosts” in which he starred alongside James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.
Through a series of interviews, archival photos and videos, as well as new footage, “The Great Fellove” recounts Fellove’s life as a struggling musician in Cuba, his eventual success in Mexico, and the contagious love he had for music until the very end.
The Cuban soul star was born on Oct.
It is Academy-Award nominee Dillon’s second feature film in the director’s chair. In 2003 he co-wrote and made “City of Ghosts” in which he starred alongside James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.
Through a series of interviews, archival photos and videos, as well as new footage, “The Great Fellove” recounts Fellove’s life as a struggling musician in Cuba, his eventual success in Mexico, and the contagious love he had for music until the very end.
The Cuban soul star was born on Oct.
- 9/19/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
The streets of the Spanish town are much quieter than usual.
The San Sebastian International Film Festival opened last night with the world premiere of Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival.
As in Venice earlier this month, face coverings and social distancing rules were required by everyone attending the opening gala and the red carpet was reserved exclusively to press photographers and TV cameras rather than the usual local crowds.
The Covid-19 pandemic means far fewer international names are attending the festival this year and the streets of the picturesque Basque town are much quieter than usual during festival time.
The San Sebastian International Film Festival opened last night with the world premiere of Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival.
As in Venice earlier this month, face coverings and social distancing rules were required by everyone attending the opening gala and the red carpet was reserved exclusively to press photographers and TV cameras rather than the usual local crowds.
The Covid-19 pandemic means far fewer international names are attending the festival this year and the streets of the picturesque Basque town are much quieter than usual during festival time.
- 9/19/2020
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Braving Covid-19, Spain’s 68th San Sebastián Film Festival bowed on-site on Sept. 18, launching a somewhat slimmed edition that maintains, however, all its main sections. Following, seven more takes on the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world as it finally kicks off:
Depp, Dillon, Gershon Confirm Attendance
Stars are rallying round this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival. Viggo Mortensen is already confirmed as the recipient of a Donostia Award. On Thursday, the festival announced that Johnny Depp, who takes a producer credit on Julien Temple’s “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan,” will also be in town, as Matt Dillon, director of Cuban music doc “The Great Fellove,” and Gina Gershon, star of Woody Allen’s “Rifkin’s Festival.” “The Skin I Live In’s” Elena Anaya, Rifkin’s Festival’s” other female lead, also attends along with a strong Spanish star contingent attached to other titles.
Depp, Dillon, Gershon Confirm Attendance
Stars are rallying round this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival. Viggo Mortensen is already confirmed as the recipient of a Donostia Award. On Thursday, the festival announced that Johnny Depp, who takes a producer credit on Julien Temple’s “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan,” will also be in town, as Matt Dillon, director of Cuban music doc “The Great Fellove,” and Gina Gershon, star of Woody Allen’s “Rifkin’s Festival.” “The Skin I Live In’s” Elena Anaya, Rifkin’s Festival’s” other female lead, also attends along with a strong Spanish star contingent attached to other titles.
- 9/18/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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