“Gundam Seed Freedom” Anime Film To Have East Coast Premiere

gundam-seed-freedomJapan Society, a 116-year-old nonprofit organization with a goal of bringing the U.S. and Japan together, today announced it will host the East Coast Premiere of the record-breaking Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM. The Gundam saga, often called the “Star Wars of Japan”, is a beloved 40+ year franchise. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM is its latest entry and a sequel to 2002’s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, one of the most popular series in the Gundam multiverse. This special event is presented together with Bandai Namco Filmworks and Anime NYC, and it will take place simultaneously with a West Coast Premiere hosted by Bandai Namco Filmworks in LA.
 
The subtitled premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM will take place on Sunday, March 31 at 4 PM and the English dubbed premiere will take place on Monday, April 1 at 7 PM. Both screenings will be held at Japan Society.
 
Japan Society is a storied institution that has presented Japanese art, culture, business and policy for over a century, including visits from U.S. Presidents, Japanese Prime Ministers, and Nobel Prize winners. It presents this new Gundam film in recognition of Gundam’s cultural significance in Japan and global place as a pillar in the U.S.-Japan relationship and our shared popular arts.
 
Mobile Suit Gundam began in 1979 in Japan with a 43-episode animated television series. Acclaimed for its revolutionary storytelling, it told a gritty, realistic story about the traumas of war in a future conflict dominated by massive human-shaped war machines called “Gundam”. This series would go on to captivate generations of audiences around the planet across over 50 sequel television series, films, comics, and video games.
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Tarkovsky’s Haunting Late Masterpiece NOSTALGHIA New 4K Restoration Opens Feb. 21 at Film Forum

ANDREI-TARKOVSKY---NOSTALGHIAAndrei Tarkovsky’s haunting late masterpiece NOSTALGHIA (1983) will run at Film Forum in a new 4K restoration from Wednesday, February 21 through Tuesday, February 29.

In Tarkovsky’s first film made outside the USSR, Russian expatriate Andrei (Oleg Yankovsky, THE MIRROR), wanders wintry Italian landscapes while returning in memory to his homeland. He becomes obsessed with the Botticelli-like beauty of his translator Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), as well as with the apocalyptic ramblings of a self-destructive wanderer named Domenico (Erland Josephson, THE SACRIFICE). In one of cinema’s most agonizingly suspenseful sequences, the fate of the world is found hanging on a candle’s flight across a dry pool, culminating in an overwhelming final shot.

Written with Tonino Guerra, frequent collaborator of Michelangelo Antonioni (on every film from L’AVVENTURA through BLOW-UP), Federico Fellini (AMARCORD), and Francesco Rosi (ILLUSTRIOUS CORPSES, CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI), NOSTALGHIA is a mystical and mysterious collision of East and West, shot with the tactile beauty that only Tarkovsky could provide.

NOSTALGHIA won the Grand Prix du cinéma de creation prize for Best Director (shared with Robert Bresson for L’ARGENT) and the international film critics prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. Soviet authorities prevented the film from winning the Palme d’Or, which hardened Tarkovsky’s resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again.

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Cinema Tropical Awards: Argentina’s TRENQUE LAUQUEN Named Best Latin American Film of the Year

cinema-tropical-awardsThe Argentine feature Trenque Lauquen by Laura Citarella was announced as the winner of the top award for Best Latin American Film of the Year at the 14th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards, which were announced this evening in a special event at Film at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The Chilean filmmaker Manuela Martelli was the winner of the Cinema Tropical Award for Best Director for her debut feature Chile ‘76, while the Costa Rican feature, I Have Electric Dreams (Tengo sueños eléctricos) by Valentina Maurel was announced winner of the award for Best First Film. The jury gave the award for Best Documentary to The Trial (El juicio) by Ulises de la Órden.

In the U.S. Latinx Cinema competition, the winner of the award for Best Film was the fiction film Story Ave, the debut feature by Aristotle Torres.

The Latin American winners of this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a jury panel composed of Mónica Castillo, Senior Film Programer Curator at the Jacob Burns Film Center; Mara Fortes, Senior Curator at the Telluride Film Festival; María Paula Lorgia, Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival; Marian Luntz, Film Curator at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Manuel Santini, Senior Manager, Programming at Film at Lincoln Center.
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Trailer and Poster For “The Settlers” Released

the-settlersDebut writer-director Felipe Gálvez asserts himself as a revelatory new cinematic voice with The Settlers, a searing and indelible take on the Western. Blending historical specificity with vivid visual style, this Cannes Un Certain Regard FIPRESCI Prize winner creates a singular immersive vision, arresting in both content and form.

The film follows three horsemen at the turn of the 20th century who embark on an expedition across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the behest of a wealthy landowner, tasked with securing his vast state-appointed property. Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary is mestizo marksman Segundo, who comes to realize, amidst rising tensions within the group, their true mission is to murderously “remove” the indigenous population.

Set against stunning mountain landscapes, Chile’s Best International Feature Film entry to the 96th Academy Awards is a visceral reckoning with national myth and the attendant violence. Painterly yet piercing, this acclaimed frontier epic turns a bold eye to the past, daring to reimagine its depiction in the present and for the future.

Felipe Gálvez (b. 1983) is a Chilean filmmaker, writer and editor based in Paris. The Settlers (2023) is his debut feature. His previous works includes the short film Rapaz (2018), which also premiered in Cannes as part of the Critics’ Week program. His other short films have been awarded by festivals around the world. As an editor, Felipe collaborated with filmmakers such as Marialy Rivas, Kiro Russo and Alex Anwandter, among others.

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Cinema Tropical Announces the Best Latin American and US Latinx Films of 2023

cinema-tropicalCinema Tropical, the non-profit media arts organization that is leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, has announced its annual list of Best Latin American Films of the Year, comprised of 25 Latin American titles from eight different countries, plus seven US Latinx productions, that the New York-based organization has selected as the best of the year.

Featuring productions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States, the films selected in this list will compete for the 14th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards.

The winners for Best Film, Best Director, Best First Film, Best Documentary, and Best U.S. Latinx Film, will be announced in an in-person event on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, at Film at Lincoln Center in New York City.

A jury composed of Mónica Castillo, Senior Film Programer Curator at the Jacob Burns Film Center; Mara Fortes, Senior Curator at the Telluride Film Festival; María Paula Lorgia, Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival; Marian Luntz, Film Curator at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Manuel Santini, Senior Manager, Programming at Film at Lincoln Center; will choose the winners of the 14th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards in the Latin American cinema category.
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The Job of Songs – Embrace the Power of Irish Music Documentary Sets Release

Tourists flock to the west coast of Ireland to take in the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, but the real treasure lies in the soulful, acoustic sounds wafting out of pubs and living rooms of Doolin, County Clare. The denizens of this unspoiled coastal village of tight-knit neighbors and unlocked doors revel in the passion and history of their traditional folk songs, using music as a thread through generations to create community, connection, and joy.

THE JOB OF SONGS was made by a crew of three women, who are first time feature filmmakers: LILA SCHMITZ (director, producer, editor), ANIKA KAN GREVSTAD (director of photography, producer), and FENGYI XU (producer). The film was made with the support of acclaimed documentarians double Oscar-winning writer-producer-director Bill Guttentag and Emmy and Grammy Award winning documentarian Doug Pray. The film has screened at numerous prestigious International Film Festivals including DOC NYC, Galway Film Fleadh, Newport Beach Film Festival, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, and many others. It won Best International Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh.

Gravitas Ventures will release the film on digital platforms on November 21, 2023. The film has a running time of 74 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA.

See the official trailer below:

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves International Trailer Released

Dungeons and Dragons Final International Trailer Released“5 thieves, 5 questions, so many creatures”

Paramount Pictures has released the final new international trailer for its upcoming “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”, along with new character posters.

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, from the story by Chris McKay & Michael Gilio, the film stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head and Hugh Grant.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is set to open in theaters on March 31, 2023.

Here is the film’s official synopsis:
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.

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Kodansha Announces More New Print Releases Coming Fall 2023

Kodansha Announces More New Print Releases Coming Fall 2023Following-up with the initial Fall 2023 New Print Licenses first revealed at Anime NYC 2022, Kodansha USA announced even more new manga, premium editions, book reissues and even a special box set, all debuting Fall 2023.

All of Kodansha’s Fall 2023 print titles is set to be available to purchase at local and online book vendors like Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, and more. Visib kodansha.us. for the full list of the amazing Kodansha titles coming later this year.

A subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha USA Publishing is the English-language publisher of some of the world’s most recognizable manga properties, including Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA and Naoko Takeuchi’s Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, along with a robust catalog of English-language Japanese novels, cookbooks, craft guides, historical and cultural literature, and more.

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