Category Archives: Arts and Culture

Andrei Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice”, New 4K Restoration Opens October 25 at Film Forum

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Andrei-Tarkovsky-THE-SACRIFICETHE SACRIFICE (1986), Russian expat master Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, will run at Film Forum in a new 4K restoration from Friday, October 25 through Thursday, October 31.

Opening with a small group of familiar players in a tense isolated situation, THE SACRIFICE unfolds to encompass the director’s cosmic view as, faced with nuclear holocaust, a mystic sacrifice must be offered to restore the world — with unforeseen results.

Produced in Sweden with a cast headed by Bergman star Erland Josephson (Scenes from a Marriage, Cries and Whispers) the film was shot by Bergman’s longtime cinematographer, two-time Oscar winner Sven Nykvist. The director’s last work – made as he was dying of cancer – THE SACRIFICE is Tarkovsky’s personal statement, a profoundly moving, redemptive tragedy steeped in unforgettable imagery, including an astounding long take at the film’s finale.

The film was awarded the Grand Prix and a prize for artistic contribution (in recognition of Nykvist’s cinematography) at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, and won the 1988 BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Japan Society Announces First North American Retrospective on Kaizo Hayashi

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Kaizo-Hayashi

To Sleep So as to Dream © Video Detective Agency

Japan Society Announces First North American Retrospective on Kaizo Hayashi, Independent Luminary of 80s and 90s Cinema

Japan Society has announced the first North American retrospective on director Kaizo Hayashi, one of the great luminaries of independent Japanese cinema in the 1980s and 1990s.

The world of Kaizo Hayashi is one of cinematic reverie and enchantment, whose reverence for film history—transposing genre and stylistic conventions from benshi and silent era serials to jidaigeki and hardboiled noir—results in one of the most imaginative and inspiring filmographies of the post-studio era. Invoking the mystery and intrigue of the moving image, amidst the flutter of celluloid frames, his cinema of the past brims with ingenuity and far-flung imagination, conjuring fantasies of what dreams may come.
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SDCC 2024: The National Association of Voice Actors Returns to San Diego Comic-Con

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NAVANAVA is returning to SDCC after a successful panel last year. NAVA is the leading advocate for voice actors and AI protections, will lead a discussion on how new standards need to be built for artists, performers, and producers to collaborate on great products, while still protecting individual rights to intellectual property, performance, and publicity.

One issues that is ever looming is the threat of AI, and very likely to be a major panel issue. “Entertainment performers and artists of all kinds must adapt to this groundbreaking technology that can not only replicate their words, art, images, voices, and movements but also feed machine learning to create entirely new content,” according to the release.

Moderated by voice actor Linsay Rousseau (Transformers: War for Cybertron, media affairs director for NAVA), panelists include voice actors Tim Friedlander (president/founder of NAVA, Like a Dragon), JP Karliak (founder/president of QueerVox, X-Men ’97), Carin Gilfry (co-founder of NAVA, Starfield), Matthew “Reazon” Parham (director of operations for NAVA, Marvel’s MechStrike), and lawyer Scott Mortman (founder/CEO of global business consulting and legal advisory services AREDA Ventures, council for NAVA).

“AI in Entertainment: The Threat to Performers Writers and Artists” will be on Saturday July 27, 2024 4:00pm – 5:00pm PDT, at Omni San Diego Hotel, Omni Grand Ballroom DE, 4th Floor.

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Film Forum Set To Premiere Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border”

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green-borderWinner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, “Green Border” immediately drew controversy from the Polish government for its depiction of the European migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border.

Shot in stark black-and-white, this riveting thriller explores the intractable conflict from multiple perspectives: a Syrian family fleeing ISIS caught between cruel border guards in both countries; young guards instructed to brutally reject the migrants; and activists who, at great risk, aid the refugees.

Holland (three-time Academy Award® nominee for Angry Harvest, Europa Europa, and In Darkness) brings an unflinching eye and deep compassion to this blistering critique of a humanitarian calamity that continues to unfold.

The Museum of the Moving Image will present a series of films by Agnieszka Holland from June 7–21, 2024.

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Japan Society Announces May Screening Events: Sans Soleil, Lumberjack the Monster, and Tampopo

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tampopo-janus-filmsJapan Society, a 116-year-old nonprofit organization bridging the U.S. and Japan, today announced it will host three special screenings in May spanning classic Japanese cinema, a lauded documentary, and a major North American premiere. Japan Society is a storied institution that has presented Japanese art and culture for over a century, and its robust Film Program presents over 60 screenings from the silent era through to contemporary cinema all across the year.

Japan Society’s May events begin on May 1 with French filmmaker Chris Marker’s influential 1983 documentary Sans Soleil presented on rare imported 35mm. Driven by the desire to “capture life in the process of becoming history,” Marker traveled the globe and made a sprawling body of work that ruminates on the nature of memory and time. Of the several films he made in Japan, Sans Soleil remains the late director’s greatest achievement.

An unnamed woman narrates the poetic letters and philosophical reflections of an invisible world traveler accompanied by footage of Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Iceland, Paris, San Francisco, and, most significantly, Tokyo—a city whose people, streets, malls, and temples inspire the traveler’s richest observations.
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Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative Spotlights Three SFFILM Festival Titles

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SFFILM-2024Today, SFFILM announced the program slate of the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative at the 67th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) which runs April 24–28. Presented in partnership between the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and SFFILM, this year’s programs include three films and participation by Sloan Fellows and grant recipients at events throughout the Festival. 

“We are thrilled to partner with SFFILM on our continuing Science in Cinema initiatives,” said Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “This year’s program features three original films, each of which recounts a very personal journey that links to broader scientific themes and addresses universal questions. We’ll be joined on the ground by the 2023 SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Fellows, and recipients of our Stories of Science Development Fund grantees who are all at the screenwriting phase of filmmaking. I am excited to have filmmakers from every part of the process together to benefit from each other and from audience interaction.”

Curated programs include three titles, selected by Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s Director of Programming. “It is thrilling to present such a strong slate of Sloan titles at the festival.
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Comic Book Legend Rob Liefeld to Release Memoir “Robservations” in Early 2025

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Comic-Book-Legend-Rob-LiefeldComic book legend Rob Liefeld, known for his groundbreaking contributions to Marvel and the revolutionary formation of Image Comics, is set to unveil his highly anticipated memoir, “Robservations,” in early 2025 through BenBella Publishing. Offering a rare peek into his remarkable career, Liefeld’s memoir promises to provide readers with an intimate look at his journey from a pastor’s son in Orange County, CA, to becoming one of the most celebrated figures in the comic book industry.

From his beginnings as a teen sensation at DC Comics to becoming one of the industry’s most celebrated figures, Liefeld’s journey has been nothing short of legendary. In the early 90’s at Marvel Comics, he introduced the world to iconic characters such as Deadpool, Cable, and X-Force, catapulting sales to unprecedented heights with record-shattering single book sales of 5 million copies of X-Force #1.
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Charles Crichton’s Classic Caper Comedy THE LAVENDER HILL MOB New 4K Restoration

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THE-LAVENDER-HILL-MOBCharles Crichton’s THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951), a classic heist comedy starring Alec Guinness, will run in a new 4K restoration at Film Forum from Friday, May 10 through Thursday, May 16.

“It’s a good job we’re both honest men,” remarks seedy Cockney knickknack manufacturer and hustler Stanley Holloway (13 years later, My Fair Lady’s Alfred Doolittle) as he gets the gist of fastidious bank clerk Guinness’ scheme: to smuggle Bank of England gold bullion out of the country by melting them down into seemingly tacky Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

One of the highlights of the golden years of British comedies from Britain’s famed Ealing Studios, THE LAVENDER HILL MOB was an international smash hit that won screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke an Oscar for Best Writing and a Best Actor nomination for Guinness, as well as a BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Its dénouement atop the real (filmed on location) Eiffel Tower features the most dizzying comedy chase ever.
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Oscar Micheaux and the Birth of Black Independent Cinema 15-Film Festival Opens May 3 at Film Forum

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Oscar-Micheaux-and-the-Birth-of-Black-Independent-CinemaOscar Micheaux and the Birth of Black Independent Cinema, an 18-film festival, including 7 new restorations, of work by the prolific independent director whose pioneering explorations of contemporary Black life paved the way for generations, will run at Film Forum from Friday, May 3 through Thursday, May 9.

Operating on shoestring budgets, Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) directed and produced more than 40 films between 1919 and 1948, shifting from silent to talkies, and depicting such complex and taboo subjects as religious hypocrisy, interracial marriage, police violence, and lynching, often with all-Black casts and producers. His work explored the Black experience with nuance and depth, often challenging the negative stereotypes so commonly portrayed in films of the era. Micheaux’s films were the first made by a Black filmmaker to be shown in white cinemas, and they were often hugely successful, with Micheaux working directly with theater owners to finance, distribute, and market them.
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LAIKA and Portland Community College Announce Landmark Partnership to Foster Diversity in Animation

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At LAIKA’s studios. From left, Multimedia Instructor Eric Fauske, PCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer David Burke and Production Supervisor Jesselee Kahaloa

Portland Community College has announced a transformative partnership aimed at fostering diversity and inclusivity in the animation industry with LAIKA, the renowned film studio known for its groundbreaking and award-winning animated films “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” “The Boxtrolls,” “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Missing Link.” This collaboration reaffirms PCC and LAIKA’s commitment to supporting educational initiatives and promoting equity within the creative arts.
 
The cornerstone of this partnership is a $60,000 pledge from LAIKA to the PCC Foundation. Over two years, LAIKA will contribute annual gifts of $30,000 to support the newly established LAIKA Scholarship and program funds. This funding aims to create an associate degree in Animation & Motion Graphics, enhancing educational opportunities for aspiring animators in Oregon.
 
PCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “This collaboration aligns with PCC’s commitment to providing accessible, culturally responsive education. By working closely with LAIKA, we can ensure that our students receive the training and support they need to succeed in the animation industry.”
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