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You may have noticed that there’s been a lot of talk about Lily Gladstone and her Indigenous heritage and what that fact will mean for her chances in the Academy Award Best Actress race as her epic feature “Killers of the Flower Moon” from director Martin Scorsese preps for liftoff in wide theatrical release this Friday (October 20). Gladstone is running a solid second place behind Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) in the Gold Derby combined Oscar odds for her much-praised performance as Osage Nation member Mollie Burkhart in the tragic fact-based saga.

Gladstone herself is of Blackfeet and Nimiipuu heritage and raised on a Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana. One would presume this fact won’t work against the actress in 2024 as it might have in, say, 1954 or even ’74. And in fact it was only earlier this year that Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian actress to win Best Actress...

Exclusive: Red, White & Brass is the debut feature from director Damon Fepulea’i and we’ve got the first trailer for the Taika Waititi-exec produced inspiring underdog tale. Check it out above.

Based on a true story, the film follows a community of passionate Tongans led by Maka, a superfan who will do whatever it takes to get tickets to the Tonga vs France 2011 Rugby World Cup game – even if that means promising to deliver a brass band for the pre-match entertainment. The only problem is, the band doesn’t exist and Maka has four weeks to create one.

The cast includes John-Paul Foliaki (Popstars), Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (Panthers), Ilaisaane Green (Brutal Lives), Onetoto Ikavuka, Mikey Falesiu (Toke), Lupeti Finau, Lotima Pome’e (Under the Vines) and Haanz Fa’avae-Jackson (Savage).

Fepulea’i co-wrote the script with co-producer Halaifonua (Nua) Finau. The film hails from the producers behind such New Zealand-produced features as The Breaker Upperers,...

Array Releasing, the distribution arm of Ava DuVernay’s Peabody Award-winning narrative change collective, has picked up rights to the feature drama Learn to Swim for the U.S., the UK, Australia and New Zealand, slating it for release on select screens and on Netflix on August 15.

The first feature from director Thyrone Tommy dives into the world of contemporary jazz with a musical meditation on love and loss, following the doggedly private and talented saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and a vivacious, but less experienced singer named Selma (Emma Ferreira). When the two meet, sparks fly, but their respective emotional baggage and temperaments make the road to romance bumpy at best.

An official selection of the 2021 Toronto Film Festival, Learn to Swim was written by Tommy and Marni Van Dyk, with Alona Metzer producing.

“With Array Releasing’s summer acquisition of Learn To Swim, we are thrilled to...

The inaugural season of CBC and HBO Max series “Sort Of” leads both the television and overall 2022 Canadian Screen Award nominations with 13 nods. CBC’s “Pretty Hard Cases” and CTV Sci-Fi Channel’s “Wynonna Earp” with 11 each, and CBC’s “Coroner” and “Kim’s Convenience” with 10 each are the other leading television nominees.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television revealed on Tuesday 145 nominations across television, film and digital media categories. In film, Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s “Scarborough” and Danis Goulet’s “Night Raiders” top the nominations with 11 each, while Michael McGowan’s “All My Puny Sorrows” has eight and Bretten Hannam’s “Wildhood” and Ivan Grbovic’s “Drunken Birds” six each.

“21 Black Futures” and “For the Record” lead the digital media nominations with eight each, followed by “The Communist’s Daughter” with six.

Beth Janson, CEO, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, said: “We are so fortunate to...

The world premiere of Danis Goulet’s first feature, “Night Raiders,” in Berlin generated positive reviews and led to a U.S. sale to Samuel Goldwyn. But to the Toronto-based, Cree-Métis filmmaker it all felt a little abstract.

“I haven’t seen an audience reaction, so Toronto feels like the premiere,” she told Variety during a break from directing the Netflix thriller “Ivy,” which shot around Toronto this summer.

“Bringing ‘Raiders’ home is important because it talks about what’s happened here, in Canada, on this land,” added Goulet, referring to Canada’s residential school system — which operated from the 1870s to the 1990s and tore 150,000 Indigenous children from their families and cultures — and the discoveries this spring of unmarked graves of children at the sites of former schools.

Set in 2043 in a divided post-civil-war North America, “Raiders” follows a Cree woman (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) who returns from the forest to...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Arab Blues (Manele Labidi)

The original French-language title of Arab Bles is Un divan à Tunis, and true to the echo of Chantal Akerman’s psychotherapeutic meet-cute A Couch in New York, Manele Labidi’s debut feature is the frothy tale of an analyst coming to terms with her own sense of dislocation, while tending to the many seriocomic needs of her flock. In this case, the psychoanalyst is Selma (Golshifteh Farahani), who leaves Paris and returns to her family’s apartment building in Tunisia, where a neighbor looks at her poster of Sigmund Freud and asks her: Who is he, your father? – Mark A. (full review)

Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)

Cousins (Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith)

They...

They only spent one summer together as children, but the connection they share from blood and heritage ultimately lasts a lifetime, whether they know it could or not. Makareta (Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels) promised young Mata (Te Raukura Gray) that she’d never give up looking for her—because even though they were together now, British laws had intervened to ensure that moment remained brief. It didn’t matter that Makareta, Missy (Keyahne Patrick Williams), and the rest of their Māori family wanted to keep her in their arms and raise her in the land where her mother now rested. Mata’s father had already given her to a woman in England only too willing to use her as a revenue stream upon graduating from a school for desolate children.

Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith’s (who adapted Patricia Grace’s renowned novel) Cousins is thus the decades-long journey...

"Returns to your mountains..." Array has unveiled a new US trailer for a New Zealand film titled Cousins, which is soon getting an official Netflix release in the US this summer. Ava DuVernay's Array Releasing is proud to announce the debut of Cousins, directed by Ainsley Gardiner & Briar Grace-Smith. The film follows three Māori cousins—Mata, Missy and Makareta—who lead separate lives, yet are bound together forever. The story entwines the very different lives of three Maori girls, cousins, through tumultuous decades, after one of them is taken from her family and raised in an orphanage. Cousins' ensemble cast includes Rachel House, Tanea Heke, co-director Briar Grace Smith, Ana Scotney, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Hariata Moriarty, Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels, Te Raukura Gray, and Keyahne Patrick-Williams. Cousins is based on the novel of the same name, that's written by one of New Zealand's most prominent and celebrated authors, Patricia Grace.

Based on the novel by celebrated New Zealand author Patricia Grace, “Cousins” tells the story of three women bound by ancestry and separated by time. The film was helmed by Māori filmmaking duo Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith and debuted at number one at New Zealand’s box office when it was released earlier this year. Gardiner is best known as producer on the early films by Taika Waititi, including his acclaimed directorial debut “Eagle vs Shark.” Both Gardiner and Grace-Smith directed segments of the critically beloved 2017 drama “Waru,” which was directed cooperatively.

Here’s the official synopsis: “‘Cousins’ follows three Māori cousins—Mata, Missy and Makareta—who lead separate lives, yet are bound together forever. Orphaned Mata believes she has no whānau (family) and lives out her lonely childhood in fear and bewilderment. Back home on the land in New Zealand, driven and educated Makareta flees an arranged marriage...

Actor and director Wayne Blair and producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne and Darren Dale are among the Australians that have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Other invitees include VFX artists Genevieve Camilleri and Matt Everitt, who were nominated for an Oscar this year for their work on Love and Monsters, costume designer Margot Wilson and composer Amanda Brown.

Joining the short film and animation branch is Charles Williams, whose All These Creatures won the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Palme d’Or in 2018.

This year the Oscars body invited 395 new members from 50 countries. Forty-six per cent of all invitees identify as women, while 39 per cent are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. More than half (53 per cent) come from outside the United States. Some 25 are Oscar winners, and 89 nominees.

Blair has been invited to join the directing branch, recognising his work in...

More than half of invitees hail from 49 countries outside the US.

The UK’s Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell and One Night In Miami star Kingsley Ben-Adir and Bulgarian Borat 2 breakout Maria Bakalova are among a new class of 395 talent and executives invited to join the Academy.

The new intake announced on Thursday (July 1) comprises 46% women, 39% from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and more than half (53%) of invitees hailing from 49 countries outside the US.

Besides Promising Young Woman writer-director Fennell and Ben-Adir, UK talent includes the upcoming star of The Batman, Robert Pattinson, as well as Borat 2...

Eva Longoria and Sid Ganis Appointed to Academy Museum Board of Trustees

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced that Eva Longoria has been appointed to its board of trustees, while Sid Ganis will become the museum’s first honorary trustee.

Since starring in “Desperate Housewives,” Longoria has led the charge for female representation in Hollywood and cemented herself as an entertainment industry staple known for her work both in front of and behind the camera. Ganis, a film executive and producer, has been integral to securing the future of the Academy Museum. He will now serve on the board in a lifetime position.

Longoria and Ganis join existing board members Ted Sarandos, chair; Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee) vice-chair; Kimberly Steward, secretary; Jim Gianopulos, treasurer; Patricia S. Bellinger, Jason Blum, Arnaud Boetsch, Olivier de Givenchy, Laura Dern, David Dolby, Sidonie Seydoux Dumas, Ray Halbritter, Tom Hanks, Dawn Hudson, Bill Kramer,...

Array Releasing, the distribution arm of Ava DuVernay’s Array collective, has picked up North America, UK and Ireland rights on the feature Cousins, helmed by Māori filmmaking duo Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith.

Pic debuted at No. 1 at the New Zealand box office when it was released earlier this year. It follows three Māori cousins—Mata, Missy and Makareta—who lead separate lives, yet are bound together forever. Cast includes Rachel House (Moana), Tanea Heke (No .2), co-director Briar Grace Smith (Waru), Ana Scotney (The Breaker Upperers), Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne (Hunt For The Wilderpeople), Hariata Moriarty (Savage), Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels, Te Raukura Gray and Keyahne Patrick-Williams.

Array will release on July 2 in U.S. select theaters, while the pic will steam on Netflix beginning July 22.

The acquisition was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw on behalf of Array, and Gardner and Grace-Smith on behalf of the film.

“Cousins is a beautiful story exploring identity,...

Family drama to debut on Netflix on July 22.

Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing has acquired New Zealand indigenous drama Cousins from Maori filmmaking duo Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith for North America, the UK and Ireland.

Cousins will launch in select cinemas in the US including Angelika Film Center in New York, and two Consolidated Theatres sites in Hawaii on July 2 ahead of a Netflix debut on July 22.

The story centres on three Maori cousins who shared a magical time as children and whose lives diverge over the course of several decades after one of them is taken from her...

New releases Dream Horse and Spirit Untamed failed to make a major dent in the box office over the weekend, with audiences continuing to flock to The Conjuring 3, A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella.

In Melbourne, cinemagoers were treated to all the aforementioned titles for the first time, with results suggesting some pent up demand. Cinemas reopened on Friday following more than two weeks of lockdown, albeit under restriction – theatres can only reopen up to 25 per cent of capacity, or 50 people per venue.

Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis, follows the true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely racehorse bred by small-town bartender Jan Vokes. The drama bowed on a reasonable $684,875 for Sony (Thursday-Sunday) from 301 screens, and with previews is on $771,581.

Close behind was Dreamworks/Universal’s animated feature Spirit Untamed, the second film in the franchise, which amassed a respectable $663,711 from 234, taking it to $1.3 million with previews.

Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Night Raiders, a dystopian sci-fi feature executive produced by Oscar winner Taika Waititi.

The debut feature of writer/director Danis Goulet is set in 2043, exploring a future in which a military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. In this world, where children are considered property of the regime which trains them to fight, a desperate Cree woman joins an underground band of vigilantes and infiltrates a State children’s academy, so that she can get her daughter back. A parable about the experience of the Indigenous peoples of North America, Night Riders is billed as “a female-driven sci-fi drama about resilience, courage and love.”

Night Raiders stars Elle-Maija Tailfeathers (Blood Quantum), Brooklyn Letexier-Hart (Burden of Truth), Alex Tarrant (800 Words), Amanda Plummer, Gail Maurice (The Twilight Zone) and Violet Nelson (The Twilight Zone...

Exclusive: XYZ Films has boarded world sales, excluding Canada and Australia/Nz, on Berlin Panorama entry Night Raiders, the apocalyptic sci-fi exec-produced by Taika Waititi.

Set in the year 2043 when a military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in North America and children are property of the state, the female-driven dystopian story follows a woman who joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a ‘children’s academy’ and get her daughter back.

The Canada-New Zealand co-production from writer-director Danis Goulet stars Elle-Maija Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) with Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction), Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Violet Nelson and Gail Maurice.

XYZ Films, which was previously aboard for U.S. rights only has upped its involvement to world rights ahead of the virtual EFM.

Producing are Paul Barkin, Tara Woodbury, Georgina Condor, Chelsea Winstanley (JoJo Rabbit) and Ainsley Gardiner (The Breaker Uppers). Thor: Ragnarok director Waititi is exec-producing along with Noah Segal,...

Out now in theaters and on VOD / digital platforms is Reunion, starring Julia Ormond, and we have an exclusive clip just for Daily Dead readers!

"A pregnant woman returns to her recently deceased grandparents’ old family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a tenuous reunion slowly turns terrifying.

A psychological thriller that preys upon perception, Reunion sees veteran actress Julia Ormond deliver a tour-de-force performance of threateningly quiet intensity and features a twisty narrative that will burrow itself into the darkest corners of your mind."

Written and Directed by: Jake Mahaffy (Free in Deed) Produced by: Nadia Maxwell, Ainsley Gardiner, Georgina Conder, Mike S. Ryan Cast: Julia Ormond (TV's The Walking Dead: World Beyond, My Week With Marilyn), Emma Draper (Wellington Paranormal), Cohen Holloway (Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do In The Shadows), Ava Keane (Daffodils), Gina Laverty (Wellington Paranormal), John Bach (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...

Due out in theaters and on VOD / digital platforms on February 5th is Reunion, starring Julia Ormond! Here's a look at the brand-new trailer:

"A pregnant woman returns to her recently deceased grandparents’ old family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a tenuous reunion slowly turns terrifying.

A psychological thriller that preys upon perception, Reunion sees veteran actress Julia Ormond deliver a tour-de-force performance of threateningly quiet intensity and features a twisty narrative that will burrow itself into the darkest corners of your mind."

Written and Directed by: Jake Mahaffy (Free in Deed) Produced by: Nadia Maxwell, Ainsley Gardiner, Georgina Conder, Mike S. Ryan Cast: Julia Ormond (TV's The Walking Dead: World Beyond, My Week With Marilyn), Emma Draper (Wellington Paranormal), Cohen Holloway (Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do In The Shadows), Ava Keane (Daffodils), Gina Laverty (Wellington Paranormal), John Bach (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...

It signals a move by the Scandinavian distributor into development and co-production.

Scandinavian distributor NonStop is moving into development and co-production, with its first project set as a Swedish-language remake of 2018 New Zealand hit The Breaker Upperers.

The original film was written, directed by and stars Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami. It was produced by Piki Films’s Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi alongside Miss Conception Film’s Ainsley Gardiner and Georgina Conder.

The story is about two women who are cynical about love and run an agency that helps break up unhappy couples. When one of them grows a conscience,...

Cliff Curtis.

After appearing in more than 50 films and TV series Cliff Curtis will make his directing debut on a family film based on the true story of a boy whose dog is lost overboard, feared dead.

Produced by William McKegg and Belle Avery, Herbert is one of three films funded by the New Zealand Film Commission.

The others are Mothers of the Revolution, which will chronicle the lasting impact of the Women’s Peace Camp at the UK’s Greenham Common, and Cousins, a drama about three disconnected cousins who spend a lifetime in search of each other.

Amanda Beatson and McKegg wrote the screenplay for Herbert, adapted from the book Herbert the Brave Sea Dog by Robyn Belton.

The book recounts the day 10-year-old Tim Snadden’s dog Herbert fell off a boat into the treacherous waters of French Pass in the Marlborough Sounds. Those on the boat...

Cliff Curtis and Taika Waititi at the Nz premiere of ‘Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen’.

Cliff Curtis has more 50 screen credits as an actor but he is just as passionate about his role as a producer and executive producer – and he may soon direct his first feature.

“My interest in trying to understand my trade and craft took me behind the camera,” Curtis tells If on the line from his home in Rotorua. “When I got into producing I discovered there is a totally different aspect of my brain and how I think about things.

“With acting you are expected to play to the crowd and to be gregarious. I have that part to my nature but there is another part where I’m very private and I like to spend time on my own, isolated and within my head.

”As a producer you are there at the genesis of the project,...

Project comes from The Breaker Upperers producers Ainsley Gardiner and Georgina Conder.

Howards End and Legends Of The Fall actress Julia Ormond is leading the cast of Jake Mahaffy’s upcoming thriller Reunion.

The project has begun principal photography in New Zealand’s capital Wellington. Ormond will star with Emma Draper, Cohen Holloway and John Bach.

The film tells the story of a mother and daughter packing up the old family home for sale, when tensions become supernatural the daughter must confront the trauma of her lineage.

Producers are Ainsley Gardiner and Georgina Conder, whose credits include The Breaker Upperers,...

Exclusive: You have to give Ava DuVernay credit for great timing today as the A Wrinkle in Time director’s Array acquired the Sundance Film Festival documentary Merata.

The pick-up by the film collective comes on the very same day that the Robert Redford founded fest announced the latest recipients of the annual Merata Mita Fellowship named in honor of the late Māori filmmaker.

The 20th feature film acquisition by the nine-year old Array, Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen spotlights the barrier smashing life and work of Mita as long time Sundance Institute advisor and activist became the first Indigenous woman in the world to direct a film on her own. An official Sff selection in the Documentary Premieres category, the never-seen-before-footage rich Merata debuted today in Park City and will have three more screenings this Sundance.

Gordon Bobb of the Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano law firm...

Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith.

Māori filmmakers Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith have won the 2019 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship, selected after a global call for applicants.

Each will receive cash grants and a year-long program of support from the Sundance Institute including mentorships and attending the Sundance Film Festival.

Shortly after the fellowships were announced, A Wrinkle in Time director Ava DuVernay’s distribution company Array acquired Us rights to Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, a documentary feature directed by Mita’s youngest son Heperi Mita, which had its international premiere at Sundance and will next screen in the NATIVe special presentation section of the Berlinale.

Now in its fourth year, the Merata Mita Fellowship is named in honour of pioneering Māori filmmaker Merata Mita, who died suddenly in 2010. The first and only Māori woman to write and direct a feature film, 1988’s Mauri, she was adviser and...

Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival returns to London in September with the second part of this year’s programme with a focus on Southeast Asia (15-27 Sep), kindly supported by Purin Pictures, and a focus on New Zealand (29-30 Sep), kindly supported by the New Zealand High Commission.

Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival is a UK-wide film festival dedicated to screening some of the boldest, most daring, challenging, and striking films from the Asian and Pacific regions. The festival focuses particularly on underrepresented areas of cinema, and seeks to reframe the ‘idea’ of Asia through cinema, while also exploring cinema from the Pacific particularly in relation to its remoteness. Aperture is the only film festival in the UK to focus on the whole of the Asian continent as well as the Pacific region.

Forthcoming screenings:

Newcastle:

12 Sep: People Power Bombshell: The Diary Of Vietnam Rose (John Torres, Philippines) – Star and...

Unmissable and compelling this brave Maori sisterhood movie is a precious occasion to feel the force coming from a community that is often neglected, and not just in terms of cinematic visibility.

The film was released last summer in New Zealand with the aid of the New Zealand Film Commission and was picked up straight away by the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. It has consequently generated a buzz and is making its way within the festival circuit.

“Waru” is screening at Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival

Some explanations are needed. “Waru” is the collective effort of 8 (actually 9 as one is a joined work) woman Maori filmmakers who were asked by producers Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton to follow a set of strict rules; their 8 short films had to be shot in one single take of exactly 10 minutes, in real time, all set at 10am of the day of a...

Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek direct and star in comedy.

Netflix has secured all rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to comedy duo Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek’s The Breaker Upperers.

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was an executive producer on the project, having previously worked with directors Sami and van Beek when they acted in his features What We Do In The Shadows and Eagle vs Shark.

In The Breaker Upperers, Sami and van Beek star as two women who are cynical in love and decide to set up an agency to break up couples for...

“Searching,” from director Aneesh Chaganty and starring John Cho and Debra Messing, won the audience award for North American narrative film at the 34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The thriller will open nationally in August in theaters through Screen Gems.

The documentary “Minding the Gap,” directed by Bing Liu, won the audience award for documentary feature, and also was given the special jury prize for best director.

The festival gives out awards in both North American and international categories. For international narrative feature divisions, “In the Life of Music,” directed by Caylee So and Visal Sok, was a double winner, with both the audience award and special jury prize.

The international documentary-feature audience award was given to “Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story,” directed by Frank W. Chen.

Other winners: “Call Her Ganda,” directed by Pj Raval, grand jury prize for North American docu feature; “Anote’s Ark” from director Matthieu Rytz,...

Film programs include a retrospective on Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad, a new film from one of the most-recognizable artists in Asia, Sylvia Chang (“Love Education”) and another from veteran Asian Canadian director Mina Shum (“Meditation Park”).

Eight Māori female directors deliver “Waru,” a film in which all eight parts start at 10 a.m., are told in real time, are a single 10-minute take and each feature a Māori female lead.

San Diego, California – March 22, 2018 – The 8th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sdaff) Spring Showcase , presented by Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts), today announced its lineup of 15 films from nine countries, including four North American premieres, one west coast premiere and the only third-ever U.S. retrospective on prolific Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad.

“Once again, Asian filmmakers took our breath away with wide-ranging works that demonstrate the diversity of experiences and sensibilities on three continents,” says Pac Arts Artistic Director Brian Hu.

The New Zealand Film Commission (Nzfc) has introduced a three-year $2.4m (Nz$3m) business development scheme aimed at creating more substantial companies and has made the new company Libertine Pictures the first recipient.

The chosen few recipients will use the Nzfc funding for development, overheads and travel. The ambition is to award two more companies funding in February 2014.

“We need to foster the development of businesses with the scale and connections to attract more private and overseas investment to New Zealand projects,” said outgoing Nzfc chief executive Graeme Mason. “This scheme could be a game-changer.”

Producer Richard Fletcher and one-time Majestic and Intermedia executive Paul Davis are the joint managing directors of Libertine, which officially opens its doors on September 1.

The pair has worked together previously on projects and Fletcher and Libertine’s third key principal, creative director Neil Cross, have been developing adaptations of Cross’s novels and an original screenplay, all of which...

Vol. I Issue 10 February 2013

Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.

As this last weekend approached I was faced with marking my Academy Award ballot. This process is always really difficult. How does one sort out the “best” film or accomplishment of five or nine in the case of the Best Picture? For me it has been over 30 years of screenings. Thousand of films. Some really great films and many not so great. I also try to think what it means to be one of the nominees. What was the off-screen story but always more importantly what their contribution was to the work and how the film compares to others. What’s great about short films is that they can be made for almost nothing by a few filmmakers without a large budget, crew or cast.

The Academy has three nomination categories for films less than 41 minutes in length: short fiction, documentary and animation. Once nominated, there are public screenings and panels to celebrate the nominated films at the Academy in Beverly Hills. A group photograph of all the nominees is taken with a large Oscar in the lobby of the Academy headquarters. It is really a wonderful experience.

It wasn’t always like that. There were no special celebrations for the short or documentary films until the l980s. While the Foreign Language films had their seminar, nothing was done for these films. We tried to remedy that in the 1980s and started the Direct Cinema receptions and screenings with UCLA, USC and, a few years later, the Ida sponsored “Docuday” and the Academy started doing an annual reception for the shorts and documentary filmmakers. Today the Academy’s evening receptions for the short films, animated features (a relatively new Oscar category) and the documentaries are annual sell-out events. The filmmakers and their works are celebrated and it has become a highlight of the Oscar week for the filmmakers and those associated with the films.

When I first became a member of the Academy the short films and animation branch was headed by a number of extraordinary talents: T Hee, Saul Bass and June Forey. These three remarkable artists represented classic Disney animation (T. Hee), fiction and narrative short films (Saul Bass), and the television and theatrical films (June Forey, who voiced hundreds of characters.)

Saul Bass articulated the branch’s membership policy, “We want them to be part of our branch.” This liberal interpretation allowed documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns as well as voice artists and creatives like Stan Friedberg (and June Forey) to be part of a group that included IMAX filmmakers as well as classic character animation directors, colorists, layout artists, producers and other key short film and animation filmmakers. The animation filmmakers represent both the studio animators and the independent animators who work globally doing personal work as well as studio work. Other governors from 1979 to the present have included Hal Elias, who served on the Academy board for 37 years and was a short film publicist for MGM among other things; Bill Littlejohn, who worked on over 90 films as an animator ranging from Charley Brown, Peanuts Christmas Specials to working with the Hubleys’; Bill Scott, who acted and wrote over a hundred animated films, and Carl Bell, who worked on over 35 films at Disney in its animation department.

Unlike most of the other branches, the Short Films branch screens all of the submitted films in 16mm and 35mm and now in Digital Cinema, in an effort to find and nominate the best short films produced in the world. The branch rules allowed films to qualify in an effort to encourage more international entries in the 1990s by taking a first prize at key festivals in addition to the method that all Academy films can use to qualify, a theatrical week long (now three day for shorts) run in a theater in Los Angeles County. Branch screenings were expanded to New York to permit more members to participate in the nomination process in the 1990s. The final short listed screenings are in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Over one-third of the branch participates in the voting. The best change took place this year, sending DVD screeners to all Academy members of the short live action and animated nominated films. While this still won’t force members to watch them, members can’t claim they can’t see them. This is not only great for the branch but great for the nominated filmmakers. Who would not want to screen their short film for Academy members?

The process of the branch for selecting Nominees has remained unchanged for years—members screen the films in a theater rather than on DVDs, which is how the Documentary branch is dealing with the flood of feature docs and their unwillingness to trust committees. Nothing beats seeing films projected on a large screen with perfect sound and that is now lost. In a two step process, a committee (self selected from the branch membership) screens the films and the 15 films with the highest scores are short listed. The short listed films are then screened again and members vote.

The current Short Film Branch governors are Jon Bloom (pictured with the 2007 nominees), a 1983 fiction short nominee, filmmaker, editor and producer who chairs the branch, animator and Disney Creative Head and multi-Oscar winner, John Lasseter, and William "Bill" Kroyer,an award-winning director of animation and computer graphics commercials, short films, movie titles and theatrical films and faculty member Chapman College.

One of the challenges for the branch is how to grow live action producing members. With the addition of feature animation to the awards and the large number of feature animation films being released, the branch would like to have the most qualified animators to become members. The number of animators grows at a far faster rate than that of the live action filmmakers since only a few live action filmmakers can qualify for membership. The commercial success of animated features, the long production schedules and the large number of animators who work in qualifying positions allows for six plus individuals per picture to be eligible for membership. With five nominees a year, the number of individuals who can play a key role in two or three features becoming eligible for membership can easily approach 30 plus individuals annually. Add in the short animation nominees and competition for the limited new slots allocated to the branch can be brutal. The talent pool of animators is both astonishingly strong and suggests that Hollywood can easily double production from the 15 or so films made annually to 25 or 30 without having to compromise on talent.

Many of the filmmakers in the branch who make their Oscar nominated or winning live action short have made or are interested in making feature length works. A number of recent nominees or winners have made that transition. The following list looks at all of the live action nominees from 2001 to 2011, using the Internet Movie Database I looked up each nominee and listed what they reported they were doing professionally. Obviously, this is not intended to show everything. In each case, I listed credits or summarized credits shown in the IMDb listing.

Some observations about 11 years of Live Action Short Film Academy Award Nominees:

There were 86 nominations (out of a possible 110) This is because in some years only three films were nominated and in some cases only one filmmaker from a film was eligible for a nomination. Non-us based filmmakers dominate this category. Despite the huge number of short films being made annually in the Us, a majority of the nominated films come from filmmakers based abroad. In part this is due to the government subsidies available, but it is also due to the strong training programs, commercial support for the short films and a rich tradition of theatrical shorts. This year (2012) four of the five films in the live action category are from Us filmmakers. This is an unusual year. Few filmmakers have more than one nomination, only a handful of the nominees have made multiple Academy worthy short films. As one might expect, many of the filmmakers have continued their film work in television, some in features. The European Oscar winners (vs nominees) have done better at snagging features after a win than have their American counterparts. Again, this is likely a function of government support for entry features. Perhaps one of the short films seem to have been turned into a feature (or television) film. Some of the short films are intended to be sizzle reels for features, but it is not clear why so few of the nominated short films have been turned into features. A number of the Oscar winners have not continued working in film. No record of future productions are shown on IMDb. It would be interesting to see what they are doing now. Two of the Oscar winners have written critically award winning screenplays, one received two Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting. None of these nominees have gone on to win Oscars in directing or producing for feature films.

The data is from the Academy and the IMDb databases.

Apologies in advance, if credits were missed or other factual errors were made. In a week we’ll be able to add this year's winner.

2001 (74th)

Short Film (Live Action) (* won Academy Award)

*the accountant -- Ray McKinnon: Two Features: Randy and the Mob 2007 and Crystal 2004 Lisa Blount: Produced these features. Copy Shop -- Virgil Widrich Gregor's Greatest Invention -- Johannes Kiefer A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa) -- Slawomir Fabicki, Two Features: Loving 2012, Retrieval 2006 (Also wrote) Bogumil Godfrejow Has shot multiple features Speed for Thespians -- Kalman Apple, Shameela Bakhsh

2002 (75th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Fait D'Hiver -- Dirk Beliën, Anja Daelemans produced Comrade Kim Goes North I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai Le Suivant...) -- Philippe Orreindy, Thomas Gaudin Inja (Dog) -- Steven Pasvolsky Feature, Deck Dogz Joe Weatherstone, produced episodic television. Johnny Flynton -- Lexi Alexander, directed 3 features: Lifted, Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans Alexander Buono as a Dp has shot series and features *This Charming Manon (Der Er En Yndig Mand) -- Martin Strange-Hansen, Mie Andreasen produced both features, series and documentaries.

2003 (76th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) -- Florian Baxmeyer Multiple television films and series Most (The Bridge) -- Bobby Garabedian, William Zabka Mr. Zabka has appeared as an actor in numerous films and television shows Squash -- Lionel Bailliu Features: Fair Play and Denis (in post) (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] -- Stefan Arsenijevic Directed: Lost and Found, Love and Other Crimes, and Do Not Forget Me Istanbul *Two Soldiers -- Aaron Schneider,Asc (Cinematographer numerous credits) and feature, Kiss the Girls, Andrew J. Sacks Series The Closer (98 episodes) and Major Crimes.

2004 (77th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Everything in This Country Must -- Gary McKendry Directed Killer Elite, Joseph and the Girl Little Terrorist -- Ashvin Kumar Produced and Directed features (2) and documentaries (2) 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana) -- Nacho Vigalondo Directed and written multiple films, series, shorts Two Cars, One Night -- Taika Waititi, Acted and directed and written multi television and films Ainsley Gardiner Nz based producer of multiple shorts, television and feature films *Wasp -- Andrea Arnold Actor, director and writer of numbers films, television programs

2005 (78th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Ausreisser (The Runaway) -- Ulrike Grote Ms. Grote has acted in over 42 programs, features, television series and films Cashback -- Sean Ellis, Director/Writer Metro Manila, The Broken Lene Bausager Producer, The Broken, Ginger and Rosa The Last Farm -- Rúnar Rúnarsson, Director/Writer Volcano, Thor S. Sigurjónsson Produced multiple features Our Time Is Up -- Rob Pearlstein, Director/Writer multiple television and a feature Pia Clemente Producer, documentaries *Six Shooter -- Martin McDonagh Writer/Director Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges

2006 (79th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea) -- Javier Fesser, no other credits shown Luis Manso Produced multiple features Éramos Pocos (One Too Many) -- Borja Cobeaga Writer, multi films and television series Helmer & Son -- Søren Pilmark no other credits, Kim Magnusso Producer over 100 film, television films (4 Best Short Film Academy Award nominations) Won for Ernst & Lyset The Saviour -- Peter Templeman, no other credits Stuart Parkyn, Producer, multi-short film credits *West Bank Story -- Ari Sandel Director, one short, one documentary

2007 (80th)

Short Film (Live Action)

At Night -- Christian E. Christiansen, Directed, Features and television series Louise Vesth Producer, multi features Il Supplente (The Substitute) -- Andrea Jublin

*Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) -- Philippe Pollet-Villard Actor and director short films, a television film

Tanghi Argentini -- Guido Thys, Director, Multiple television series Anja Daelemans, nominated for 2 Short Film nominations (Gridlock, 2002) Producer/Pm various The Tonto Woman -- Daniel Barber, Directed The Keeping Room, Harry Brown Matthew Brown Produced 2 shorts

2008 (81st)

Short Film (Live Action)

Auf der Strecke (On the Line) -- Reto Caffi Manon on the Asphalt -- Elizabeth Marre, Director, Television series Olivier Pont Director, Television series New Boy -- Steph Green, Director Run and Jump Tamara Anghie Producer Run and Jump The Pig -- Tivi Magnusson, Producer Over 64 titles many short films, Dorte Høgh Writer multiple series, (Directed The Pig) *Spielzeugland (Toyland) -- Jochen Alexander Freydank Producer of multiple television series

2009 (82nd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Door -- Juanita Wilson, Director As If I Am Not There James Flynn Multiple Producer credits for over 50 titles, television and theatrical Instead of Abracadabra -- Patrik Eklund, Director, Television film and feature Mathias Fjellström Kavi -- Gregg Helvey Miracle Fish -- Luke Doolan, Multiple credits as editor Drew Bailey Multiple credits as Assistant Director *The New Tenants -- Joachim Back, no other credits shown as a director, Tivi Magnusson This is Mr. Magnusson’s first Academy Award and second nomination. See 2008.

2010 (83rd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession -- Tanel Toom The Crush -- Michael Creagh *God of Love -- Luke Matheny Feature Love Sick and multiple Television series episode Na Wewe -- Ivan Goldschmidt Wish 143 -- Ian Barnes, Multiple directing credits Television Samantha Waite Credits as production coordinator on multiple titles

2011 (84th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost -- Peter McDonald, Credits as actor Eimear O'Kane Credits as Producer on The Shadows and on television programs. Raju -- Max Zähle, Director, Television series Stefan Gieren Producer-Writer credit on feature film, Kunduz: The Incident at Hadji Ghafur *The Shore -- Terry George, Writer Two Oscar nominations for screenplays In the Name of the Father and Hotel Riwanda Producer and director on films and television series Oorlagh George Numerous credits as Assistant on features, documentaries and television shows Time Freak -- Andrew Bowler Writer and actor in a short film Gigi Causey Production manager, producer shorts, series and films

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Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz

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Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).

Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.

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©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.

A film set during the 1974 Turkish innovation of Cyprus has won Flickerfest’s Best Australian Short Film.

It marked a successful day for the film, which also won best screenplay for a short film, and best fiction short film at the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AACTAs) earlier in the day.

The Palace, written and directed by Anthony Maras and produced by Maras, Kate Croser, and Andros Achilleos won took out the local competition at the Festival, now in its 21 year.

In The Palace a Cypriot family takes refuge in an abandoned Ottoman era palace as the Turkish forces advance. A young Turkish conscript games face to face with the family and confronted with the brutality of war.

The film has previously won best short film at both the Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals and the audience award at Adelaide Film Festival.

The special Jury Award went to the film Julian,...

Bran Nue Dae and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole have been nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in the Best Children’s Film and Best Animated Film categories respectively.

New Zealand’s Boy was also nominated for Best Children’s Film, and Australian actor Tony Barry has been recognised for his performance in that country’s feature Home by Christmas.

The Jury is headed by producer Lord David Puttnam, and winners will be announced on the Gold Coast on December 2.

The nominees are:

Best Feature Film

Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock)

People’s Republic of China (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

Produced by Guo Yanhong, Han Sanping, Wang Zhonjun, Peter Lam Kin Ngok, Wang Tonguan and Albert Yeung.

Bal (Honey)

Turkey / Germany

Produced by Semih Kaplanoðlu.

Co-Produced by Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper.

Mengjia (Monga)

Taiwan

Produced by Lee Lieh and Doze Niu Chen-zer.

Paju

Republic of Korea

Produced...

PARK CITY -- "Eagle vs. Shark", from Kiwi director Taika Waititi, is like the romantic version of "Napoleon Dynamite". Story of a misfit couple sort of getting together features goofy characters doing not very much in painfully oddball situations. Miramax picked up the film hoping a young audience will find this funny and original, but don't bank on it.

In this sub-genre of Gen Y comedies, quirky has somehow come to mean dumb. Perhaps teens, especially guys, enjoy seeing people on screen who are not as smart as they are. It's the real revenge of the nerds.

In "Eagle vs. Shark", Lily (Loren Horsley) works behind the counter at Meaty Boy, a cheesy hamburger joint in a Wellington, New Zealand, where she waits for her Mr. Right to come in. Unfortunately, Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) possesses, as Waititi freely admits, "all the worst traits of every male you've ever known." He's egotistical, self-absorbed, macho, obnoxious, immature and not that interesting. But for Lily, love is blind.

Their romance, such as it is, takes off when he invites her to a come-as-your-favorite-animal party. She dresses up as a sad shark and he's a preening eagle. They come together over a match of Fight Man, where Jarrod says she's the best female video game player he's ever seen. Obviously, it's a deep bond.

Pretty soon they're off to his hometown where he's on a mission to extract revenge from the guy who tormented him in high school. Jarrod goes into heavy training for the event and soon loses interest in Lily, who hangs around with his family anyway. It turns out his nemesis is now confined to a wheelchair but kicks Jarrod's butt anyway. Very funny. But despite being dumped, Lily is there for him, and together they learn something or other about each other and themselves.

Presumably, these characters are meant to be appealing in their ordinariness, but just seem inane. The Farrelly Brothers can get away with it because their writing is smart, even if their characters aren't. For Waititi, who developed the screenplay at the Sundance Lab, wisdom consists of lines like, "life is full of hard bits but in between there are lovely bits."

The film cultivates a hyper-real look, nicely shot by Adam Clark, and also features some animated flights of fancy with an apple and insects devouring it. That must mean it's a cruel world out there, redeemed only by love. A nice idea, if only it seemed remotely real.

EAGLE VS. SHARK

Icon, Miramax Films, Whenua Films, in association with NZ Film Commission and Unison Films

Credits:

Director: Taika Waititi

Writer: Waititi

Producers: Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis

Executive producer: Emanuel Michael

Director of photography: Adam Clark

Production designer: Joe Bleakley

Music: The Phoenix Foundation

Costume designer: Amanda Neale

Editor: Jono Woodford-Robinson

Cast:

Lily: Loren Horsley

Jarrod: Jemaine Clement

Doug: Craig Hall

Nancy: Rachel House

Jonah: Brian Sergent

Damon: Joel Tobeck

Running time -- 87 minutes

No MPAA rating...

As business begun at the Festival de Cannes wraps up, Miramax Films has acquired North American rights to the comedy Eagle vs. Shark, the debut feature from New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi. Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to Ten Canoes, an Australian feature directed by Rolf de Heer and co-directed by Peter Djigirr. Waititi's short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Oscar as best live-action short in 2005, and his second short Tamu tu received the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival that same year. His first feature Eagle, a comic account of two misfits searching for acceptance, was developed at the Directors and Screenwriters Lab at the Sundance Institute. Currently in postproduction after shooting in and around Wellington, N.Z., it stars New Zealanders Loren Horsley and Jemaine Clement. Horsley developed the character while collaborating with Waititi on the script. Ainsley Gardiner and Cliff Curtis of Whenua Films are producers.